The Bald Chicken

Unfortunately, I have no big news to share. Our situation is pretty much the same as it was before. We seem to be in a holding pattern, but we have hope it will change for the better soon. In the meantime, I thought I would share one of the random moments of our lives.

We've been trying to economize lately and that included pulling the reigns on my culinary experiments. Sometimes good food can be expensive. So, Derek and I decided that for a week, or at least a couple of days, we would only use what we already had to make dinner. Tonight it's scrambled eggs with bacon and spinach mixed in. Sweet! I guess I could have made spinach omelets but ,oddly enough, I have no idea how and was too lazy to look up a recipe. Last night, however, did not go as planned.

We happened to have chicken strips in the freezer, and Gluten-free bread crumbs (basically cornmeal) left over from a recipe tried a couple of weeks before. What about chicken fingers?! I haven't been able to fry anything since I stopped using wheat flour and, man, something fried sounded really good.  Fried chicken!!!! How I miss fried chicken. The golden, crispy skin covering moist, plump meat seasoned and fried to perfection. The salty crunch of the first bite as it revels in your mouth. The joy of licking your fingers clean from a tasty chicken leg! Well, chicken fingers, but it's fried and it's chicken right? Sadly, I must wait a little longer for such enjoyment. I very lovingly breaded the chicken, thoughts of crispy joy dancing about in my head, and slowly began to notice that little corn capsules were forming around the tips of my fingers. If I didn't' know it was corn I would have thought it was thick, liquid concrete with an amazing amount of crazy glue mixed in. No matter, flour does the same thing right? That's where the similarities ended. While the chicken looked very nice breaded and laying on the plate, once they were in the oil they stuck to everything. The sides, the bottom, the fork, the chicken finger next to it, and if there was anything else to stick to I'm sure they would have just to spite me. By the time they were cooked and I was done wrestling them to the plate, most of the breading was gone, leaving behind huge bald spots that reminds one of a vulture with a bad molt. Well, maybe not, but it was pretty sad looking. As there wasn't enough breading left to classify the chicken as fried or fingers, we needed to figure something else to do with it. Thankfully, Derek had the solution. We had Jasmine rice, corn and peas & carrots, so we cut up the chicken, cooked the rice, warmed the veggies and combined them all into a happy bowl of goodness! The slight sweetness of the rice and what was left of the breading mixed with the textures and the veggies and rice were wonderful! Success! An enjoyable meal was had by all! So, sometimes the unplanned is far yummier than sad attempts.

The moral: cornmeal bread crumbs are not for frying, only baking. Oh, and Derek is a genius.

The End.

A little stressful

After a sabbatical from communication on the Internet, and consequently the world at large, I have returned! It's therapeutic to unplug for a while, and I quite enjoyed it, but the season has shifted and it's once again time to rejoin the gazillion data packets that connect me with those I love.

Our little family is at an interesting, and inherently stressful, turning point in our lives. We know that something big is about to happen (nothing can happen right now that wouldn't be a huge change for us) but we don't know when and we don't know what. So, we really don't know anything except this: Derek graduates in 5 1/2 days (Saturday included) and we may, or may not, have to move. That's it, the end. Derek has been, and is, applying for jobs like crazy, looking at possible housing options, and trying to find financial support but he's also trying to focus on his finals. I'm trying to do EVERYTHING and I'm not always helpful about it, and Ethan is trying to live with two crazy adults posing as his parents while attacking Polly at random times of the day. We're coping well and we're happy, but we have our moments.

Ethan, besides dealing with all the random stress, is showing more of his personality everyday. He's so much fun! He loves to play games, blow kisses, throw things around, dump everything on the floor, run, tickle, laugh, pretty much everything. There was a while he would just walk backwards until he hit something. Then he would lean back as far as he could and throw his arms out and grab whatever was there as if he was thrown there by some invisible rubber band. That, or he would walk backwards, in circles, for ten minutes at a time. Now his favorite things are tickle fights with daddy.
There are a lot of other kids in the complex not too much older than Ethan, so I take him out as often as I can to play. The problem is that while Ethan is very people oriented (he would rather talk and play with you than toys) the other kids are very toy oriented. This leads to a scene where Ethan will go up to another toddler and try to have a conversation (or whatever a toddler version of that would be). Instead of really reacting the other toddler will try and take a toy if Ethan has one, or go somewhere to look for one if he doesn't. Ethan gets confused but not mad, and I like that he keeps trying. If the kids don't play with him he usually starts interacting with their parents instead. Public School will definitely be interesting.
He seems to get smarter everyday. Sadly, that usually means he's trying to find ways around Daddy and I telling him 'no'. I can't describe how cute he is! Oh, I love him and instead of going on and on, like I'm doing, I'll end now. When I have more time I'll take and post pictures.

Stay tuned because somethings gotta give...soon.

A Dangerous Place to Sit

If you have come to visit our little haven you know that, until recently, we had been harboring a dangerous item. Though unassuming in appearance (I did buy it some camouflage after all), it was only a matter of time before our couch turned on us.

We got the couch for free through some wonderful friends of ours. Only time, and coincidence, revealed that its possible previous life included years of abuse from college-aged boys, and it showed. Still, it was doing its job, and being tight on cash, a couch cover was the best fix for the moment. The heinous fabric and dubious stains were covered up and almost forgotten. Almost. I knew that as Ethan got bigger and more mobile the couch could prove a hazard, but I tried to be content. Finally, the time for action came. The other day we found a scratch on Ethan's arm we couldn't account for. We looked everywhere for what could have caused it. I even interrogated the cat until she was reduced to a whimpering ball of fur (to bad that part's not true). Then Derek looked under the couch to find weapons hidden in the dark that seemed related to the goedendag or morningstar. All of the support beams had fallen to the ground and each one was studded with more nails than thought necessary for an essentially peaceful piece of furniture. While Ethan took a nap Derek flipped the couch to see if he could replace the beams, or at least, remove the danger of the nails. It looked like similar repair jobs had been attempted way too many times before (the image of a cheap landlord comes to mind) and the more Derek tried to make things better the faster the couch started to fall apart.

Necessity demanded a newer, safer couch. I cannot say that I was surprised, or upset for that matter, but as these things generally do, it came at a financially inconvenient time. I won't bore you with the details of our shopping exploits; but I will tell you that, after much debate, I was able to talk Derek out of buying one from D.I. I won't lie, it was a close one. Not too long after, we found a quality couch we both liked and that fit into the low end of our budget. So, I got accent pillows! How cool is that! It's like we're grown-ups! We were even blessed with Ben and his great moving know-how that got it from Idaho Falls to here without a single blemish! Sweetness! I took a couple of pictures so I could show it off a bit. Fabulous isn't it?!





Warning: Instead of being taken to the dumpster like I'd hoped, I've been informed that our old, very dangerous, couch (maybe at no fault of Ben's or Derek's) was taken to, and accepted at, D.I. Beware!

Trying Something New

Inspired by Derek's new film blog, I've decided to try something new. While I will continue to update this blog as much as I ever have, I've also started a blog for me called "Run-off Words." Thankfully, its not biographical. Its just a simple blog where I can practice my writing skills. I would love feedback on my writing, but I understand that may be asking too much at the moment, from a blog especially. This is more of a creative outlet. I'll be posting soon so take a look, there's a link in the right column.

No-Bake, All Bite

Thank you, Derek, for the title. :) Those of you who know me have been privy to the sad fact that I, very rarely, have suffered from injuries resulting from odd circumstances. You have been supportive and caring while laughing your heads off and telling as many people about them as possible. You know who you are. You will be glad to know that I now have another black stain on my record. As with the past, I again have been a victim of someone else's bad karma. Let me explain.

In years past I was involved in an incident, barely worth mentioning, in which I encountered an ill-tempered, furry harbinger of death and disease. I see this as a result of my standing in the way of someone else's bad karma. During a certain trip to Colorado, a squirrel was 'done in.' I was later shocked out of a pleasant after-shower experience by the body of said squirrel being dangled right outside the second-story bathroom window. A member of the guilty party was inside of my apartment during my infamous encounter some time later. Karma, apparently being confused (or worse, not inclined to differentiate but instead punish by association), came after me.

My latest stain is yet another example. For years, Momma and I have argued about the right way to make Preacher cookies. I can see the spark of recognition slowly igniting as you read this. Momma loves them hard, or 'well done.' I love them warm and gooey; a melty, sticky concoction infused with joy and only edible with a spoon. My roommates were seduced to my side by its glorious goodness. Oh yes. There is nothing like a good Preacher cookie. They're not just No-Bakes, they're euphoria. My opinions, being somewhat ridiculous, lead me to have rather high standards when I make them; and sadly, lately I've been losing my touch. The last batch I made was disappointing. This, added with the renewed desire to eat less junk food and lose weight, helped me decide to limit myself to only one or two. The rest were left for Derek. Bless his heart; it takes him forever to eat anything sweet. Cookies, that usually wouldn't last the day, sat on the counter for at least three days in the open air. When you leave Preacher cookies out like that, they become hard as cement; and it finally got to the point that Derek gave up on them. I was attempting to clear them off the counter and into a garbage bag (unheard of, tragic, and unthinkable - I know) when one, feeling a strong desire for retribution, dive-bombed off the counter and nearly cut off the end of one of my toes. It felt like a former Clogger with spike-studded military boots sauntered in just to jump on my toe.

I reacted in the classic style: grabbing my toe and hopping about the kitchen while muttering spells of small words (as if that was going to make anything better). As I calmed down and let go of my foot, I realized I was bleeding. That's right; the falling cookie had sliced a small, but deep, cut on the corner of my toe. I was bitten by a Preacher cookie. Take a moment and enjoy the irony. It took Derek a minute to realize I was serious and get something to clean the blood up and bandage my toe. What's the first thing you do after such an experience? Call your mom. So I did. She couldn't really say anything, but that's probably because she was laughing so hard. She did manage to tell me that this would never have happened if I made Preacher cookies the right way. Why? So I would know they're dangerous? Yes. I have pictures to prove it, but who wants to post a picture of their foot on their blog? Yikes.

Now, I could blame Derek for karma-dodging since he left them out, but it’s more fun to blame my mom. So, after years of arguing, battling, and general disputation; I was felled by an overly-hard Preacher cookie because of my mother's bad Preacher cookie karma.

Was that dramatic enough?

Derek's Update

Well, Jo has been begging me (or demanding, whichever you believe) to do an update on this blog about myself since she feels I can explain better what is going on in my life than she can. Honestly, nothing much has changed for me right now. I am still in school and taking a few more credits so that I can keep working at the school as I continue searching for a job. But since everyone, including myself, thought I would be gone this semester, my job position and such was given away and I have since become a grunt where I work. But I don't mind, it takes a load off of my shoulders. I've sent out several applications and resumes and still have yet to hear back from most of the companies I applied for. All my classes are online so that if a job does pop up, we can still just pack up and leave without affecting my schooling too much. I'm not sure what else to say about myself. Um... I just had a birthday not too long ago. I turned 19... or not. I'm getting up there though. Overall, life is good and I'm basically just in the waiting process. I started my own blog to rant and rave about movies if anyone is interested. You can find the link on the right or just click here: Film Lingo.
P.S. - Jo does not beg. (Ouch, I wrote it! See, honey? There it is!)

Part 2: The Overflow

OK, so I may have gotten a little too ambitious with that last post. It was crazily crowded. Take a moment to de-clutter and recenter the mind. Deep breath in...then out. Ready for more! These are just the last two videos of Ethan's birthday. Enjoy!