Things I learned this week- Mardi Gras edition

Last week sure was busy. I did a lot, and I learned a few things. Here are some of them.

*I learned that February 13 is Mistress' Day, but I think that's all wrong. I read an article on the internet about how the day before Valentine's day is the day when mistresses get taken out to dinner and romanced, because cheating bastards have to pretend to love their wives on Valentine's Day, which makes them unavailable to the other women on the 14th. But.
I asked Spencer to take me to dinner on the 13th because I thought the restaurants would be crowded on the 14th. So we went to Carino's, and I started looking around for mistresses.
All I have to say is that if the women in that restaurant, myself included, were examples of the kind of women that men stray for, we've got problems, and I am glad we didn't go out on the 14th to see the wretched wives.

* I learned that my kid has grown in the past 6 months, which surprised me. I thought she had plateaued. I think it was a half inch. In June we are going to the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, where she will be part of a Turner Syndrome study. I bet I will learn a lot that week.

The cat story

I've been looking for a Scottish Fold cat for a while. Looking for a Scottish Fold is no like looking for a lab- they are a little more difficult to locate and often more expensive. There is one breeder in Oregon, in Klamath Falls, which for all intents and purposes is California. However, that breeder is the breeder closest to me. Unfortunately, that breeder sold a couple people cats with health problems, and those folks took their beefs (beeves?) to the internet, where I saw them and ruled out ever buying a cat from the Oregon breeder.
So I widen the circle.
In November, I found an adorable teenage Scottish Fold with straight ears for sale from a breeder in South Carolina. The cat was reasonably priced, $75 if I recall correctly, but I would have to pay for him to be shipped to me. I had myself convinced that I wanted that cat for my birthday/ Christmas. But. Animals can only be shipped in aircraft when the temperature is at least 50 degrees at all stops. So I had to wait until Spring. Meanwhile, she sold the cat to someone local.
I check craigslist about weekly to see if any cats are available, and last week to my complete overjoyed surprise, a couple in my town was looking for a new home for their Scottish Fold female because the cat didn't put up with the two-year old daughter's pokes and pulls.
My whole family went to meet the cat, and she was adorable. She was floppy and sweet and as cute as could be. I was smitten. But.
The owner asked for a couple days to make sure she was doing the right thing and to be sure she could bear to part with her cat of eight years. She sent me an email a day later thanking me, and apologizing for deciding to keep the cat. It's not me, it's her. I felt like crying.
Instead of crying, I sat down at the computer and typed in various combinations of "scottish" "fold" "oregon" "adoption" "for sale" "kitten" and then, I found one at a shelter in Klamath Falls. so I picked up the phone.
The nice lady who answered told me that the cat on the internet was a mixed breed, but a nice enough cat. She told me that she had another Scottish Fold that was just yesterday ready for adoption. She sent me a picture of a cat she called Judd who was recovering from a fractured pelvis he got when he had presumably been hit by a car, and I decided to drive to Klamath Falls.
So this morning, after setting up a Girl Scout Cookie booth, Madison, Tina the chihuahua and I headed south. 4 hours later we found ourselves in the fanciest animal shelter I have ever seen. No cages, just cats. Fresh air. Room to roam, light. And there was Judd.
He's on my lap now, we are becoming pretty good friends. Madison is absolutely in love. Even Spencer likes him and Tina seems tolerant. I think he was worth the wait, but he needs a new name. We are thinking Pea Eye.

Photo Friday- 2/19/2010

I've got a couple photos to share today. The first one I maybe should have shared on Wednesday, since it is what we had for dinner on Ptomaine Wednesday. You may recall that I failed to try a new recipe. I had a meeting of one sort or another and so Spencer cooked dinner. Since it was a big Olympic night- halfpipe and short track, we wanted something we could eat without paying too much attention to our plate- so knives and forks were out. He chose nachos. Uninspired? Hardly. I think that Spencer has been secretly inspired by my culinary endeavors. Here is a photo.
You will see that he used black beans instead of refried beans, even though we had refried beans in the pantry. And do you see the Iron Chef ingredient? That's right, corn. Those are Santa Fe Nachos.

My love of all things Olympic has me in front of the TV for hours on end in the evening. I am fascinated by the events, but I find it difficult to just sit and watch. I needed something to do with my hands. So I started this project, a crochet tote bag, and I fully intend to complete it during the closing ceremonies. Isn't it marvelous? I can't remember having more fun crocheting. I love the cables and bobbles. I have the front completed.

A week full of failure.

This week, I failed to use the wiiFit, I failed to try a new recipe yesterday, and although I was pleasant today, I wasn't particularly thoughtful. But I am okay with all of that- I have just been too damned busy to do any of it.

Today, Joe the Pilot flew his airplane into the IRS building in Austin, Texas. He left a suicide manifesto on his blog, which can be found on The Smoking Gun. I read it, and it's sufficiently nutty... but also suprisingly well written and, okay... not crazy. He mentions his disgust with the bailout of GM, which I found to be a disappointment, too. I think GM should have been allowed to fail. If I don't completely disagree with a wacko, does that mean I am a wacko, too?

Eight Olympians I've got my eye on

8. Johnny Weir- I know he isn't going to get on the podium, but I love to watch him be fabulous. I thank him for acknowledging the overwhelming gayness of mens figure skating.

7. Bode Miller- I loved him 4 years ago for not giving a shit. I am rooting for him this year even though I think he gives a little tiny shit now.

6. Lindsey Jacobellis- Even though I know that she didn't get a medal, if I had written this on Monday when I was supposed to I still would have held out hope. She's so darn cute and likeable.

5. Quatchi- My husband brought this home from Canada for my daughter last year. It's Quatchi, the official Vancouver Olympics mascot. I've had my eyes peeled for him at the games, but like the real sasquatch, he has proved elusive. Or maybe we have the only one.

4. ski cross(er) Errol Kerr, Jamaica's sole Olympian. I wonder if he will be on primetime TV. I would check nbcolympics.com, but I have to obstain because I just checked over there a minute ago for something else and there was a result from tonight's telecast right there on the front page! bastards. At least it wasn't anything I care about.

3. Shaun White. I am actually rooting against him, now that I know that he owns his own halfpipe on a mountain in Colorado. Seems non-Olympian.

2. Okay, not an olympian, but a gripe: The games are being held in my time zone, and I can't watch them live.

1. Louie Vito. He rides tonight, and I will have my fingers crossed. He's five feet of pure charisma and charm.

Things I learned this week- slippery slope edition

Hmmm.... where was I?

Oh that's right, Sunday.

I've had a busy weekend and there's no rest for me in the foreseeable future. The number one thing I learned this week is really something I already knew about myself- that if I don't keep up on something, if I let it go just a little bit, it all goes to hell. This is how my sink gets overfull of dirty dishes, how my pool turns green, how all the little things get neglected. So I need to get back to daily blogging, no matter how inane my days are.

What else did I learn last week?

It all went by so fast, I can hardly remember. I guess I learned the value of a good nap.

USA! USA!

I love the Olympics. I am super excited for the next two weeks. I am especially looking forward to the 17th, when half pipe starts. Louie Vito is my Olympic boyfriend this go-round. I had to break up with my previous Olympic boyfriend, Apolo Ohno, because he dropped his middle name and went Hollywood. Also, have you seen that NyQuil commercial?Terrible. And I get the feeling that he might not be my type... if you know what I mean. So I'm done wasting my time with him.
Even though I won't be emotionally invested in short track this year, I will be looking forward to all of the speed skating events, particularly Steven Colbert's Vancouver reports.
I'll be watching the luge, of course. I think they ought to just give gold medals to anyone who has the guts to get on that track.
I always say that I am not that interested in the figure skating, but by the time it rolls around, I am spellbound by the chiffon princesses.
I heard Wayne Gretzky say that the best thing for hockey in North America would be a USA vs Canada final. I think that would be terrific, and I like Wayne Gretzky, so I am going to hope for that.
I also really, really, really like Bob Costas. I could do without Chris Collinsworth and I can take or leave Mary Carillo.

Photo Friday- Radiothon edition

On Friday, I answered phones at the KRKT St Jude radiothon. The little girl in the photo above is Gracie, who lives in Albany, in my neighborhood. She shared her St Jude story on the radio and took over the radio station for a couple days. She's a bundle of energy and a terrific kid. Her big brother called in a pledge, and he asked if he could speak to her. She picked up, listened, and said "I love you, too."

I assumed that he was an adult who lives out of town, but I was wrong. He's in high school, and he lives with Gracie, and he called just to say he loved her.

We raised just under $78,000.00, about $20,000.00 less than last year, which was $35,000.00 less than the year before that. I hope this economy turns around so that people can give again.

Thoughtful Thursday- pensive Thursday edition

On Thursday, I had an opportunity to pay a sincere compliment to a stranger, but I didn't, because I didn't think it was appropriate.
A representative from a medical supply company brought lunch in for the doctor and the nurse and me. I had been trading emails with this guy for a while trying to get a lunch set up, and he seemed like a nice enough guy. When he showed up, he was not as good looking as most pharmaceutical sales representatives are, but he was clean and well groomed and nicely dressed.
And he smelled like Heaven.
I wanted to tell him that he smelled good and asked him how he achieved his pleasant aroma so that my husband could duplicate it, but then I thought I ought not.
Because even though I wasn't the least bit attracted to this guy, I think that telling someone they smell nice is the same as saying "I think you're hot."
I have also learned that if a guy is troubled enough, saying "Good morning" to him sounds the same to him as "I am really into you." But that's another story- the long story of why I don't talk to strange men at all.

So on Thursday, I wasn't thoughtful (I made up for it on Friday), but I did a lot of thinking.

Ptomaine Wednesday- Turns out you can go wrong with bacon.

You may remember that last week my family was needing some comfort food. I decided that this week, I would try a venison recipe.
Because I love adventure, I typed "Venison Recipe" into google and here is the first hit I got- a recipe for Grilled Venison Backstrap.

This morning I pulled the white package marked "bs '09" out of the freezer. My husband was a merciful hunter this year, but one of his pals got a deer and an elk and was kind enough to give us six or seven pounds of meat.

When I butcher a deer, I package the backstrap in 6 or 7 inch "rolls", like pork loin, and that is the way I thought everyone did it. Not Spencer's buddy. When the meat was defrosted I found that it was in fact small slices of meat, like carne asada. This presented a small problem since the recipe calls for two inch chunks of meat, but I forged on, deciding to use two small pieces strapped together instead of one chunk.

The recipe also calls for the meat to be cooked on an outdoor grill. Unfortunately, it was raining pretty hard here this evening, so I broiled it.

I thought that my family would really really like small pieces of deer, marinated twice- once in barbecue sauce- and wrapped in bacon. They weren't all that impressed. I think my daughter liked it, or at least the bacon, but my husband didn't finish his.
We decided that this recipe was written by or for someone who doesn't want to taste their meat. The meat almost tasted candied, which is how I feel about anything with barbecue sauce on it.

Also, I really missed Rachael Ray telling me what to serve with the main dish. I went with mac and cheese and asparagus because that is what was easy.