Friday Eve For The Win !

This has been making me laugh all day...yeah..good times.
Rumor has it that they are bringing back " Who's Line Is It Anyway ? " and I am hopeful because it was a true favorite of mine.

On the home front...

Huzzah, the shower in the master bathroom is grouted...the part of the end of the hallway that was fubared is ready for paint and the baseboard, the new doors ( not stained yet ) are up in the master bedroom....the granite for the kitchen counters will be in the first part of next week so all of the counters and pass through have to be cleared off...progress folks , progress.

I think that I am going to get the stuff to make hot dish this weekend , it will keep in the fridge and not having a working kitchen so to speak is both a pain in the ass and $$$$$ .

All in all life is good, I get to sleep in tomorrow and actually have a day off without the contractors there..awkward at best and just another royal pain..

Have a good day off if you get Good Friday.

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

Lookey At My Sweet Pea !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My sweet pea has shoes on...glittery , sparkly , shiney girlie girl shoes ! And sockies with lace and a lace skirt.....oh..the shopping gene is rearing it's head....

And the week has begun on a cold and windy note , it was actually worse yesterday  and I am ready for it to be done...I say that now with all of the pollen but by Memorial day we will be wishing for a breeze ..any breeze. They are genuinely talking about how bad it's going to be...oh joy...we escaped last year with a very mild spring and summer so of course even though it got down to the mid 30's supposedly last night...I just had to have the purple petunias at Lowes....it's a crap shoot..buy too early and take a risk with the cold weather or  wait and watch 'em fry . But it's almost Easter .....I WANT SPRING !..It may have occurred last week when we had a few moderate days...or I may have finally gotten some sleep and missed out .


Dallas Alert : Afton Cooper ( Rebecca Pamela Barnes Ewing's mama  ) makes her appearance tonight y'all !

WOOT !

Not that I am watching it ..lol.

Have a great week !

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

Another Sunday at Lowes

Odd as it may seem at this point, we /I /whatevs are in a good place. We are at the point where we have better communication with our contractors and we can actually envision the end of this Gaia forsaken process. yes, there will be lots of/oh shit/wtf moments but that is to be expected when you take on a renovation of this size.

We were/are insane to do this. I can't add up the number of both well meaning folks and complete ass hats that have told us that fact and I hate to say it but they are right.....and I won't be repeating that any time soon.

I admire beyond belief anyone who has built their house from slab up. I cannot imagine their angst and how they got through it.

Yes, we have had the most stoopy fights and 99% of them are my fault because I just freaked the f out. I need and demand order. I am a perfectionist and am hardest myself which makes me defensive so I lash out...and I know and rely on the fact that SU gets this and while he WILL get pissed, he knows that for the most part this is not my normal mode of behavior and he has/will understand and forgive me . We have wanted to do all of this for so long but had NO F'G idea how involved and slow and tedious and messy this was all gonna be.

I am my mothers daughter.

But on the up side, I can spot the right color for whatever 3 aisles over and zoom in , confident that it is right and sooner than later this will be over.

I have the bones of a linen closet and laundry got done. Pants for to the dry cleaner to be cleaned and or hemmed. I cleaned one flat surface in the kitchen .

I can't ask for more .

Have a great week.

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

For SU

Had to.

Love ,

The Wife Unit.

Birthday Boys

Betty Crocker sent me this picture of the decorations that she and her girls made for her daughter's baby shower this weekend.  One of her two daughters also has a small cake bidness that is really doing some amazing stuff...what a group of talented artistic women ! The only thing I am good making is reservations...I kid you not. I can bake but am not ambitious when it comes to decorations..I can garden a bit but more often than not it's a matter of luck more than anything else...that and trial and error.

This photo also reminded me that my Godson Pyro aka the child of my heart will celebrate his 28'th birthday on Sunday and SU 's " Nephew" Benjamina PO PO is celebrating his birthday today..

So Happy Birthday to my darling boys who are now young men and fathers..I am proud of both of you .


Love ,

Your Aunty Pol

And It's Not Even Easter Yet !

We've all suspected as much . We've watched the weather  for the last few years anc can still see the damaged trees and lack of rain . One of the attorneys I work with just had a sprinkler system installed and the price was reasonable..so he is going to get me the data, it wasn't much more than we spent on the granite vanity top for the master bath..(.I'll tell you later honey ). We have flower beds along 3 of 4 sides of the house and while I like my flowers I am more concerned about the foundation.

On an up note, I got a hold of the Moron who is pretty stressed because we had said that we hoped to have all of the work done by the end of the month which is so not going to happen....I was and am more than willing into cancel the staycation as I routinely take the first week of April in order to avoid adding another layer on the bean dip of chaos.  I guess the best thing to do is leave notes as his cell was breaking up and this is one of the busiest part of the year at the office , being a tax law firm and all . One thing I realized is that there have been times that I have had to share a bathroom with SU or have had to use a very nice but uber small one..usually on vacation in a nice hotel....so I am going to delude myself as best I can that I am in a hotel....and I want a cupcake and a pony as long as we are at it .


Hang in there , it's Friday Eve.

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

Benzilla

Oh no, there goes Tokyo...
Go Go Benzilla

http://www.click2houston.com/news/Rat-may-have-cut-power-at-Japanese-nuclear-plant/-/1735978/19396744/-/5bb2ho/-/index.html

Slap Mr. Linky for the story.

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

Another Landmark Closes in H Town

Do you recognize this door ?
You had to know where it was to know where it was..

Guesses ?

Bueller ?
Bueller ?

It's Marfreless's and it's closing . You might not actually know the name but I bet if you are a certain age, you've heard of that hidden bar in River Oaks with the Sofas . I'd hazard a guess that many a child was a result of some of the deeper darker corners in that place. It was legendary for it's quality bar, exceptional mix of music..more tawdry than vulgar by today's standards, it was edgy and hip in the pre HIV days......or so  I've heard..LOL.....you never saw me there and you can't prove it ....I have alibi's up the wazoos and work for lawyers...lol .

Slap Mr. Linky for the blurb.

http://www.chron.com/entertainment/restaurants/article/Marfreless-bar-announces-it-will-be-closing-4371293.php#photo-3736937

Wah.

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

I Wish I Could Have This As My Screen Saver At Work !

Laughing out loud at work all day with this one .

Enjoy.

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

W\e're Down to One Bathroom aka KILL ME NOW !

Talk about an OMG moment !
Yep..we are now sharing the guest bath...my crap...er...cosmetics are in a shoe box on the back of the tank and dear Lord how long will this last ? The faux box soffet over the sink is gone, the half privacy wall that was the width if the cabinet is gone..the tile floor is gone...and before you ask..I am married and if I want privacy in the master bathroom......it's called a door and not some bogus bullshit 70's decorator from Hell crap.

Has to be  done , yes of course.

Am I gonna bitch about it ?

HAVE YOU MET ME ?

Unless you are a really really new reader , consider yourself Diniozo'd..yep..I just smacked you upside the head...with love of course....LMAO .

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

Wheee...It's The First Day Of Spring !

Wheeeee !
It's the first day of spring and every year I bless Claudia Baines Johnson and her efforts to keep Texas native wild flowers like the Bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrushes thriving in Texas . Heading north of Houston towards Brenham and the hill country along with Blue Bell Creamery and Chapel Hill Sausage in Brenham, the drive when the wildflowers is well worth  the time and fuel. It is a tradition that when they are really blooming that parents will drag..oops..take their tax deductions out to the fields and have their pictures taken among the blooms. Hopefully said deduction is neither allergy prone nor sitting on a fire ant bed. Trust me..there isn't enough Blue Bell in the company's freezer units at the plant  to hush a child down when ant bit.

Sadly, this year it is a very real possibility that the blooms will be few due to the anticipated drought ...AGAIN. As much as I hate to do it , I am giving up in the Hydrangeas in thee front of the house under the windows. They aren't re blooming much less showing any new shoots off of old wood and the bastards have to be watered EVERY NIGHT !....

EVERY
DAMN
NIGHT
Nope..swore up and down not this year.

Have a good Thursday or as I call it " Friday Eve".

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

Date Nut Bread

http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/food/articles/2010/09/08/recipe_for_date_nut_bread/
Hit Mr. Linky for the recipe.

Did you ever notice that dates, figs and raisins have one thing in common that many people don't first see ?

Yep, they sure do.

Folks either love them or hate them, it's sort of the liver and onions thing..for the record on the liver thingy..sorry..I'm a hater.

I found this on a couple of sites , and of course I had to pin it ..and then I thought..I really need to make this.

Mom used to have a recipe and Dromedary used to have a box mix but I haven't seen a date nut quick bread recipe for ages. Now this sounds like a fall sort of thing and even though we don't have a fall season here on the Gulf Coast , this almost sounds October-ish.

And of course my ass is expanding just writing this post..lmao.

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

OOPS ~ Brain Fart - Again ! ~

I guess you could call it an anniversary , it's the anniversary of the day that I forget and blew past the anniversary of this bloggy.

Think about it  for a minute and you will be surprised that the sentence above actually makes some sense and really does if you know me in real life.

I started this blog on March 13, 2006 ....yeppers...7 years ago .

My very first post was about losing Jakey J . My other blog went kaput for whatever reasons may or may not have offended the Gods of De Blog...I know not nor do I care...whatevs. All I know is that I have a profound need at times , usually crisis ,  to write  . I used to keep journals , yeah ...I am THAT old , and sometimes the simple act of writing something down helps to validate it , choose how to react to a situation or to simply vent.

Sometimes , it's nothing more complicated than wanting to bitch about something.

Sometimes it's about a recipe that I can't wait to try or another blog that I have discovered and want to share and or give a shout out to .

And sometimes it's still all about the shoes .

Very few people I actually know are privy to this blog .  If you are , then that alone should tell you how much I trust you in my real life and how much I value your insight, friendship and kinship in all things either totally fucked up or at least moderately insane.

I've written about profound joy...my great niece, God-Grandbaby, the Sistah of my Heart and my chosen family..the NG's ..even SU ....and even Space Cows ( oh CT , you know I couldn't resist...hugs to all ) . I've also written about profound loss...our mothers, and our babies . The notes and calls in that instance has meant more than you will ever know.

I've written about things that tickle me, confuse me , piss me off and push me to try things ...and give me inspiration to write about some of the more epic failures like the cupcake debacle or never let a 2 year old hobbit handle a hand mixer.

Sometimes I've used this as a vehicle to let SU know that I am upset or hurt by something and by writing it here I can focus on the issue and not the anger . Pissed...he doesn't fret about , he knows my temper and we are still married...he gets it .

But most of all, I write for me.

If I've made you laugh, that's cool. If I've pissed you off...not my problem, and after all..how big a deal was it ? If you still read this drivel, I guess you're not really all that mad at me are you ?

So..enjoy your day  , and thanks for stopping by..now let's go get an adult beverage..I've got monies.

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

National Chocolate Caramel Day Is Today ~ Wheeeeee ! ~

I can always count on Miss Janet over at her blog " Dying For Chocolate " to find somethiong that I have to share and hopefully try soon..as in soon as the dayum kitchen is done.

I love caramel !
I love chocolate !
I love chocolate caramel !

Winner winner chicken dinner !

Don't kill me Lady Lisa .

http://dyingforchocolate.blogspot.com/

Slap Mr. Linky for Miss Janet's post NAOW !

Not that I am being bossy or anything...lol.


Ciao,
Aunty Pol

Good Morning !

I had to share this, it is making me laugh thus far this morning and that is a gift at this point.

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

Another Night At Lowes

Slowly but surely it is coming together  for the master bathroom...lol.
SU found this mirror this past weekend at our home away from home also knows as Lowes. I have been having a hell of a time finding a silver framed mirror. As is my custom, I normally opt for that which in not in the current fashion,..or is out of stock or discontinued....it's a gift. A darker wood would have been okay...and I mean okay in the sense that if asked how I am and I say fine in a certain tone..run like hell...Yeah that kind of okay. I know what I want and I am not willing to compromise beyond a certain point  I thought that the decorative edge to the frame would make the bathroom look a tad less hotel-ish since the fixtures are all going to be a brush finished chrome and the towels are a dark smoky gray. The counter top which is ordered is a super pale gray that us almost white it is so light and the flooring is a faux slate with gray tones with a hint of gray ..TMI ..I know I know.

Photos will follow as it progresses.

Le Sigh.

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

Night Owls And Not Enough ZZZZZZZZZZ's

I have to admit this whole process has been an adventure and by that I do not mean scuba diving in Oz . I am thinking more along the lines of having to deal with the various calamities that have affected some Cruise lines lately.

NOTE : Let me make this perfectly clear. I am in no way equating my journey through the Land Of " Pol Needs A Valium or Run For The Hills If You have Any Sense At All.." to the recent and just flat out awful experiences that those poor folks have had to endure on what is most likely dream vacation. That is the same as comparing the Titanic to the SS Minow . I am talking about the part where you naively expect one thing and get much the other.

It's been 40 years since I have had wood floors on a regular basis .
Read that last bit again.

FORTY YEARS.

Id' forgotten about sound.

Carpet buffers sound.

Glass and wood do not .

Sistah..remember how Doty always bitched about the amplification of sound with all of the glass in the old offices..yeah...LMAO ...And yet she chose glass walls for her habitrail. Virgie and I always thought it was so she could snoop on us .

Anyhoo...I am still struggling to sleep. I am  taking unisom again and know when to drop the hit so that I can crash to get enough sleep. I am also having sinus problems due to pollen and dust. And Loki us being very needy...constantly walking over the top of me..like he's on sentry duty at the border....and SU decided to put the square headed girlfriend back together regardless of the fact that it will have tro be taken apart again and the den is right across the hall from the master and every MF"G time he moves or repositions the chair in any fashion or to any degree I hear the chair against the wood and ;

IT WAKES MY SLEEP DEPRIVED ASS UP AND I STRUGGLE TO GO BACK TO SLEEP BECAUSE NOW LOKI IS BOUNCING ON THE BED .

Honey, I know you are a night owl and you doze on the sofa between 8 and 10 pm  so you wake up and this was not a problem before because you used headphones while you were on the pc in the den and we had the old mat and carpet and we know that we need a new  mat for the chair .....BUT :

A SMOOTH MAT WILL ONLY PRODUCE THE CHAIR ON PLASTIC MAT ON TOP OF WOOD SOUNDS THAT WILL WAKE MY SLEEP DEPRIVED ASS UP AND I AM BUYING A RUG FOR THE DEN TO PUT UNDER SAID MAT ON TOP OF THE WOOD TO DEADEN THE SOUND BUT MOST LIKELY NOT TIL THE END OF THE WEEK SO THERE IS A NEW RULE :

HENCEFORTH : THERE WILL BE NO PC TIME FOR ANY ADULT WITH THUMBS BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 11 PM AND 5 AM ON A SCHOOL NIGHT UNTIL I GET SOME SLEEP, THE RUGS IN THE HALLWAY ARE BACK AND THERE IS A RUG IN THE DEN. I WAKE UP, THEN LOKI WAKES UP AND IT TAKES HALF AN HOUR TO GET HIM CALM BECAUSE HIS CHEESE IS STILL MOVING AND THEN HE GETS BOSHI GOING .

THIS IS NOT NEGOTIABLE.

IF YOU CAN'T SLEEP READ A DAMN BOOK OR WATCH TV.

It won't be for very long and we will buy an area rug to help deaden the area but please, I really need to be able to get SOME sleep.

This content has been edited so I don't blow a gasket...trust me..it really has.

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

Happy Friday ~ Bruce Of The Day ~ !

All things considered , this is pretty funny to me right now.

Current Mental State: Irked......I think I have lost the phone / Kindle charger I keep at the office . I  distinctly recall putting it in my purse the other night and I can't find it now .....it's cheap to replace a 10 bucks a pop , but GRRRRR . I guess I will be buying 2 of them.

The flooring is half done in the master bedroom, completed in the guest room and the den..nope..can't get in there yet. The antique dressing table had been moved and is/was blocking the door to my closet and of course I needed to gingerly move it as the hairdryer did it's usual thing at 6:30 am and tripped the breaker....and of course SU was out buying the morning papers so I gingerly shoved it out of the way enough to get to the breaker box . I assume I will have to do the same tonight so that I can get my laundry basket..yeah..well played Pol...well played.

I have no idea what has been done at the house today , it's what fresh hell awaits us tonight sort of stage..aka the usual.

At least we will be getting out of the house tomorrow night....

Eric Clapton and the Wallflowers !

And Carraba's for dinner..woo hoo..mussels and garlic and a decent bottle of wine....

Have a great weekend !

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

Almost As Good As Opus In Bloom County

I miss Bloom County.

Enjoy,

Aunty Pol

Progress Is Being Made, and I'm Hanging On To It

The top photo is the blurry streak of Gracie Marie racing down the hallway . I don't know what they all make of the wood floors yet, the kittehs are content to maintain their freaked out status over the strange noises , men and the fact that someone had the gall to really move their f'g cheese .Loki and Boschka are Olympic class hiders and Gracie Marie is content to go to the girls house and just crash out in the garage or saunter inside as is her custom.

The second photo is the new linen closet !

HUZZAH !

The closet is in the long hallway and used to house the water heater. It is now in the garage and this space will be finished out and shelves will be installed.

I have waited 24 years for a linen closet . I know it may not seem like a great thing to some, and the houses that I grew up in always had one. Why the hell the builder put the water heater inside the house is something that I will personally never comprehend , but I guess in the early 1970's in Texas that is what they did. Now since the Gulf Coast is at or below sea level , neither do we have basements....bummer. A lot of the new builds have the water heater in the attics which is equally as insane to me as positioning it inside the house..hint......GARAGE people ....GARAGE . Now , I won 't have to go out into the garage to get extra toilet paper or paper towels from the top of the freezer and I will have a place other than the captains drawers under the waterbed to store sheets.

It's the little things y'all..it really is .

The guest room is partially done with the floors as is part of the master bedroom. We have yet to tackle the den because we can't get around the Jenga ( boxes o wood floor ) and the granite counter top has been ordered for the new master bath vanity which is boxed in the garage.

So..the house is a wreck and dusty as a seitch ( for the non Dune fan, think Sahara desert )...

It will get worse before it gets better as my father used to say.

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

My Happy Place For Today

Dr.  Who and a kitten.
Yeah, I wonder what disaster awaits tonight ...last night it was the tv cables  and needless to say I stayed out on the deck till he was calmer and it was fixed.

Le sigh .

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

The New Vanity and Poetry In The Park Color

This is the color that the master bedroom and bath will be and this is the vanity. There will be a half wall demo'd in the bath, and all of the tile in the shower will be replaced with the largest white tile that I can find..hey..less grout to clean  !

Because the half wall between the commode and the vanity will be removed, I will lose one towel bar but what the hell..and because of the way that the thing is made, the sink will have to be centered and not present on the left as it does now .

Whatever.

I will adapt.

The counter top will be a very pale gray, the fixtures are all brushed chrome and the area rugs towels etc will be a smoky gray....and yes.. pictures will follow.

When all this is done , I can come back to these posts and see the insanity we survived and I will post more before and afters as it goes along. At least this way, Sistah and Lady Lisa and Betty Crocker can see the madness ..LMAO !


I wonder what surprises await me tonight .

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

Look Ma - No Carpet !

SU had to take off yesterday in the quest to get the car fixed..fun for all let me tell you - NOT , and as I got in the car, he began to share about the mess at the house. I asked/told /demanded that he wait until we get home as I am pretty much overloaded with data right now so he did . As we rounded the corner , my jaw fell open...there in the front yard was a pile o carpet and pad..
                                       


Except for the den due to the worlds largest Jenga set also known as $$$$ worth  of re-engineered wood, and the upper part of the master bedroom where my closet and the waterbed is...all of the carpet is out of the house. The first thing I did was go and get my Croc flip flops off of the deck where I habitually leave them so that I could protect my feet. Yes, the guys swept up but we all know that stuff gets missed.

As I talked to Sistah , I realized that there is quite the echo about the place right now ..lol...and the kittys are freaked out because somebody really moved their cheese.

And the vanity was delivered yesterday !


Huzzah !

I'll keep you posted !

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

Time Flies.

She is 7 now and I think that this is quite possibly my favorite picture of my great niece . It has the ghost of the capeable young woman that I know she can be and that is all I can ask for .

Of course I am not biased in any way ..nope ...not me .

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

Hello, My Name Is Aunty Pol And I Am A Pinner !

A friend at work told me about this thing called Pinterest and me being me, I gave it a looksie.

Mwahahah !

Be afraid, be very afraid.

It is the biggest bag of time wasting, slack jawed brain cell killing fun you can have and be sober.

You sign up/in and the fastest way is via facebook and you create boards . Like kittys ? They are there for the pinning, same for Dr. Who fans, shoe whores , cupcake junkies ..you name it ..they have it . You can gather recipes, ideas for the perfect kitchen or garden what ever.

I took an objective look at my boards and realized that my perfect outfit consists of jeans, heels and a huge ass handbag....I am obsessed with cupcakes, comfort food and Ozzy..and Dr. Who..sarcasm, shoes and Bruce...no surprises there kids..none at all .

More fun for free than the law should allow and if you have friends there, it is an interesting insight into their personalities...or I am over thinking it again in a vain attempt to keep what little sanity I have during the renovation...or as SU says....." Too Late ! "

Ciao,

Aunty Pol...the masked Pinner .

This One Is For All The BBT Science Fiction Nerds Out There !

Bazinga !

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

Happy Friday ~ Bruce Of The Day ~ !

It's Friday folks...crank up the Margarita Machine !
And Grimm is back tonight so set those DVD players if you haven't already !
I'd love to say that we have fab plans for the weekend but..yeah not so much.
The guest room is now painted so that is one more thing off the list and hopefully the granite dudes came today to take the measurements. He has to run some errands and I have the usual laundry to tackle so while he is gone I think I have the following lined up :

1. Finish cleaning out my closet.
2. Clean the pictures that are down from the walls in the guest room.
3. Clean the windows in the dining  room, living room and the guest room...if the sills are painted ..check for dryness first.
4. Clean out 2 or 3 flower pots and plant the geraniums.
5. Hoover what carpet I can..yes I know that we are putting down wood floors but the carpets are crunchy at this point and I just can't take it anymore .
6. Clean the guest bath.

Part of me knows this is the OCD of my life trying to take control and logically it's much like hauling coal to Newcastle, but my intentions are good...LMAO.

I'll let you know what really happened  .

Have a great weekend.

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

Lesson Learned ~ Get Specific Information When Ordering ANYTHING While In Renovation Mode .

My husband picks me up every night after work and last night was no different..mostly . Full disclosure here , I am a smoker .....yeah..don't go there . I do not smoke in my car and I am polite around others. Anyhoo , as is my custom, I have a smoke before getting in the car and during this time , SU and I chat a bit.

Him :  I spoke to Steve ( aka the Moron ) today.
Me :  ( Thinking Uh Oh...this could go badly really fast...) ...And
Him: : Well , it's about the vanity .
Me : WHAT !
Him: Well...it won't leave China until mid March and then it won't ge there until mid April.
Me : Bullshit ! The display said that they can have it here in 7 days at the most. I assumed they were talking Earth Time.
Him: No..the Moron went up to the store and tried to order it and that is what he was told.
Me : OK ...................FINE ! Pull around the block so I can hit the bank ATM..We are going to order a vanity that can be delivered in a reasonable space of time. I am NOT sharing the guest bath with you for 2 months.

So we find the one above . Not what I wanted but quite nice and it will do ....I am past caring about the delivery charge , I just want to get it here . Evidently this is an issue with 60 inch vanities in general.
The moral or lesson learned is to verify, verify and verify delivery dates early and often.

When we got home , we saw that Steve had gotten the flooring in Yeah !
There is a huge Jenga-esque display stacked in the den.....53 boxes.

And a chain saw in the front hallway.

When I told some of my chums aka partners in crime here at the office, oddly no one blinked or thought twice about me and a chain saw....

As one of them said " Sounds about right ."

Well.....I thought it was funny..yeah ..no surprise there.

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

Not pumpkin. Not apple. Not even blueberry. Chocolate Chunk Pecan Pie, anyone?: King Arthur Flour – Baking Banter

Not pumpkin. Not apple. Not even blueberry. Chocolate Chunk Pecan Pie, anyone?: King Arthur Flour – Baking Banter

While pondering another post , I was sorting through e mail that is coming in dibs and dabs here at work and I saw the one from King Arthur....hot diggity dayum.

Bear in mind that SU learned an important lesson on ordering and the time of year..and KA even says that if you live in a hot area such as here...aka the Gulf Coast..if you order stuff that can melt, it will melt. they warn you nicely so we pay heed to that now .

They have an offer now where you can take 20 % off qualifying items..

Oh hell yeah..chocolate and a sale ??????

I'm ordering now.

And..SU ...honey..if perhaps the stuff is done..or hell I'll even take a rain check..but Mama wants this pie for her birthday.

Ciao,

Aunty Pol

The Universal Cure For PMS/The Blues And Whatever Else Ails You .

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2013/02/12/chocolate-loaf-cake-simply-wonderful/

With one thing or another over the course of the last few months ( Xena's illness, renovation, life in general etc.) beside the marked lapse in postings here, I also haven't been able to get a chance to really cook or bake as is my custom.....and I am now just understanding how much I miss it.

As life became one never ending round of meds and cleaning up and vet runs, I pretty much gave up on a lot of things. I guess the last 2 years, losing both our Marys, and then Andy and Munchy and now Xena just wore me out. Some Saturdays I could barely get out of bed and screw housework. SU is the only thing at times that kept us from qualifying for a guest shot on " Hoarders"...I kid...really, but that's how it seemed more often then not to me.

And I just threw my hands up in the air. I tend to over do it on the housework as it is and he is always fussing about me taking care that I don't over do it ..back issues you know..There is a point with her chronic issues...IBS, Enteritis and then the Herpes eye issue , where we could barely keep up. Can you imagine how it felt to have litter boxes all over the house and her still not make it ? It was  not a lack of control or defiance, it just was.

So we quit entertaining.

We both love to have people over ...and we just quit.

And  now we are in renovation mode.

The carpet that is ruined will be gone. I can attest to you that for general purposes , the Hoover or the Bissell carpet cleaners go a very good job..up to a point. We were at the point where even Stanley or Coit would have walked in and said " Oh hell no..! "

As crazy as this is making me..and trust me oh it is...one of the many upsides is that when we get to the point that we can cart crap..oops...treasured belongings back ..that it will be with a clean slate. It's easier to keep up when you are fairly clean to begin with. And we have both gone through clutter, books have been sold, clothes given to charity etc. It is amazing how much clutter you accumulate when you have been in a house for 20 + years. There has been a lot of  " WTF do we have this for or what does it do or why do we have it if it is broken .." .

I miss all my babies dearly, but I do not miss " Poop Patrol " aka " Who Dropped The Dooky ?" I will not miss the awful taupe ( shitty mushroom color ) color choice mistake that I made in the 2 hallways compounded by the darker shade ( shudder ) trim around the hallway doors.. I will not miss that idiotic half wall in the master. I will not miss the water heater in the actual interior hallway closet . I will not miss the fake Formica butcher block counter tops and back splash in the kitchen .

I will not miss being so stressed out that I can barely put one foot in front of the other .

I am actually looking forward to baking and cooking again , I miss the comments from the peanut gallery ( LOL ) but being more than a tad OCD..I miss the order I need in my daily life.

I've even made peace with the financial cost of all of this ...and yes...we are paying for it all...no home improvement loans for us.


Go slap Mr. Linky for the recipe at KAF..this is most likely the first thing that I am going to make.

Ciao,

Aunty Pol

Nerd Alert

http://www.syfy.com/robotcombatleague/about

There was a show on scifi ( yes..that long ago) whose name escapes me, yeah big surprise..anyhoo...that I think was called " Battle Bots". Challengers/Contestants built their own robots and had challenge matches. It was pretty cool , and I enjoyed it a lot. Most of the contestants were guys who were typical audio video club nerds in school...this was before BBT ( Big Bang Theory ) made being a nerd both funny and cool.

I am completely in love with RCL.

Accepting of course that Frank Herbert's concept of the Butlerian Jihad predates the Cylon uprising concept  in BSG , this is about as close to actual conceptual robot fighting as you can get . Yes, the FIRST Transformers movie was   good , and of course Optimus Prime rocks...but....

I have always thought that the study of robotics was really interesting and engaging and RCL makes robotics, engineering and software design cool , at least to some of SyFy's demographic. Lets face it, this is about as close as wrestling or fighting can get representing science fiction concepts .

And it just f'g rocks.

Check it out, you won't be sorry.

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

Am I The Only One ?

Am I the only one so sick of this color that I have declared it " Vomit Worthy ? "

Just curious.

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

The One Where I Have Lost My Mind.

I really didn't think that it was going to be this stressful .
I  believe that cupcakes are their own food group and therefore fat free.

I also did not think that this whole process was going to be as stressful as it is ..ON me.

There, I said it !

Ok..time to get my shit together.

Ciao,

Aunty Pol

Happy Friday ~ Bruce Of The Day ~ !

Happy Friday y'all.

It's been one of those weeks,
I simply cannot understand how frakkin ignorant some people can be...and yes Betty Crocker, I am talking about one of our co-workers.
I lost my shit in the bathroom today because of her.
She knows we just lost Xena 10 days ago.
She knows we have been through a lot with Xena.
I told her time and time again that we are not in the market so to speak.
Gracie is not as socialized as I could wish for and while not quite feral, she would have been if she had been out on the street any longer when we took her in . She is not mean to Boshi and Loki, loves the puppies next door to the point that we have all decided that it's more a case of joint custody than anything else....but because she plays rough at times , I cannot trust her with a kitten.

And the house is torn up and shit is scattered which sends them all into a tail spin and Loki and Boshi are still confused about their sister....

And she still proceeds to tell me that even though I have said all of this , that we need to take in not one but both of the kittens that she knows of that need a forever home.

And then she starts in about this Lab ( you KNOW who this is Betty) and how she wants to take him in but cannot because she cannot afford it...and that's when I had to excuse myself and head into the ladies WC.

Shaking in a wave of fresh grief, I am now angry.

" Oh..I see...it's okay for you to try to force me into taking two more..but you get a free pass because of MONEY ?????

TWATASARUSS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No...let me share how I really feel right now .

See You Next Tuesday.


I really don't look  good in prison orange which is her saving grace.

Ciao,

Aunty Pol