itsjustme’s blog

The movers are scheduled to be here between 8-9am. I'd like them to be here now (it's just now 8) but I'm sure that they will be here closer to 9. I'm sitting here with butterflies in my belly. They are mostly good butterflies but there are a few that are causing havoc on my nerves. Once they are gone, I have a lot of work to do. I have to lug stuff to the Goodwill, clean the house, pack up stuff that's going in my car, and sleep. I haven't gotten sleep in weeks. I can't wait for OF and I to settle into a routine. Actually, I just can't wait to be living with him. <---- said with much enthusiasm!

I finally saw my busy-body next door neighbors outside yesterday. I had left a large bag of quilting fabric for the mom and her church quilting group. She thanked me profusely. When I told her that I'd be moving out today she was shocked. Says that my house must have a curse on it because no one lives in it for more than a few years. Odd reaction. She tells me for the nine-thousandth time how she and the guy who live across the street from me are the only original owners still left in this neighborhood. (I hate to tell her but these are mostly starter homes so people are going to come and go.) Mother and daughter start asking me pointed questions about if the house will go up for sale or for rent and how they hope that no undesirables move in. Well, I hope so too, but it's not my fault if some do. If you don't want sketchy next door neighbors, buy land out in the middle of nowhere. The father arrives home for lunch and he immediately jumps on the fact that he'd like to park his truck in my driveway while the house is empty. They have a 2 car drive and 3 cars. Maybe they should have thought that out before buying a teeny house with a teeny drive and trying to cram one too many people and cars in the space. I told him that he'd have to ask my landlord, that it wasn't my decision. They never wish me well. They never say goodbye. The entire conversation is about them. Oh, and they kept calling OF "Tim." Weirdos.

I got rid of tons of things but I still have too much stuff. I keep promising myself that I'm going to get on the greener-living wagon. To really try to reduce my footprint. To recycle more. To use less. It's something that OF is interested in too so maybe once we get settled, we can make that a priority. We both do little things already so I guess we just need to keep adding one thing at a time.

The crew at work threw a Mexican themed going away pot-luck for me on Friday night. That was great. I'm going to miss working with them. There are some personalities that I won't miss, but on a whole, I really do enjoy working with them. It was a nice party and there was red velvet cake for dessert and it was quite tasty.

A friend from UB was in town (crazy coincidence) visiting her sister over the weekend. I took a few hours off and went to breakfast with her on Monday morning. We went to the Coffee Cup - a requirement when visiting Pensacola and had a delightful time. It's great to have friends who you haven't seen in ages but you can sit down and chat like you just saw them yesterday.  It really was great to see her.

It's 8:25. Where are these guys????

I need to pay some bills online. I guess I have time to do that now.

Well, they are here so I am off.

The appraisers were in on Tuesday. The carpenter and painters need to come back and finish up a few things and then the house will be finished! Hopefully OF can close soon and we can get settled.

My new job is all lined up and I've put in my notice at my current job. I can't believe that everything is finally falling into place. Now I just have to finish packing. Blech!

 

It's amazing what these guys can accomplish in a few weeks. These pictures are now a week old and already the brick is all up and the inside has drywall and the first coat of mud. OF promises pictures this weekend. I won't be able to go back up to T-town until the first or second week in April and am very jealous of the fact that OF can go walk through the house every day if he wants. (Which he usually does.)

We have picked out interior paint, carpet, floors, tile, countertops, plumbing fixtures, lighting... the list goes on and my brain hurts from all the decisions we've had to make. I'm sure that we'll actually build our next house from the ground up so I'm going to start keeping a file of things that I like so that this whole process will be a smidge easier next time... hopefully!

OF has bought a house. His uncle is building it and it should be done in May.
1600 sq ft
3 bedrooms
2 bathrooms
2 car garage
Jacuzzi tub in the master bath
and a master closet that you could rent out as an apartment if we were in NYC.

I'm pretty excited :)

Here are some pix of the studs (a few are a bit blurry... OF's gotta work on focusing with the new camera)

House2

How do you stay organized? 
Submitted by devillibrarian. 

I don't.

For the last week or so these two phone numbers have continued to pop up on my caller ID. I had not answered these calls because I've been sleeping or doing something much more important than answering unknown phone calls each time the phone rang. Well, today I caved. I'm tired of them calling several times a day, disturbing my sleep, my cooking time, my TV watching etc., and I thought the only way to get them to leave me alone would be to answer and say "I'm not interested in your survey, please take me off your list. Thank you." I was not so lucky.

Survey #1 is a very nice lady calling to ask me about my opinion on nursing. I'm a nurse. I have strong opinions on nursing. I can't tell this incredibly nice-sounding lady to go away. I answer her banal questions. Do I wish there was a better nurse to patient ratio: yes. Do I think that the government should dictate a nurse to patient ratio: no. Do I wish that I got paid more: yes (duh). Do I think that labor unions are a good thing: no. Am I concerned about the national uninsured crisis: yes. Am I registered to vote: yes. Do you consider yourself a Republican: (hell) no. Will health care reform factor into my vote this year: of course. Blah, blah, blah. Finally the nice-sounding lady is done. I wish her a good afternoon and hang up the phone. Not 10 minutes later the phone rings again. It's survey #2.

Mr. Automated Voice comes on the line. "This is a national voting survey. Please take 45 seconds to answer the following few questions." Damn, I can't tell Mr. Voice to go away and there's no option to take my name off my list, I could hang up but I'm slightly intrigued. I stay on the line. A heavy question right off the bat: Do you support George Bush: no (and I think he's an idiot.) Are you registered to vote: yes. Are you a Republican (I'm sensing a theme here): no. Will you be voting in the Republican primary next month: (ummmm, didn't I just say that I wasn't a Republican??) no. Do you feel that America needs a presidential candidate who is more in touch with the average, working American: sure, why not? Do you feel that since McCain and Romney grew up rich and Huckabee grew up poor and was the first person in his family to go to college that Huckabee is a better choice for America: (OH MY GOD) NO. (I really wished that the computer understood my huge objection here.) Do you consider yourself pro-life: (again, a resounding) no. Some nonsense about keeping non-Americans out of the States, and only approving marriage between a man and a woman, and rights for people with guns, and religion: all bad ideas. I'm getting nauseous and worried. This has taken more than 45 seconds. Some other question about would I support Huckabee since he believes in something that I'm sure I find offensive: NO, NO, NO! I'm getting upset. My blood pressure is rising. Finally, are you male: no. Are you over 50: no. "Thank you for your time, this survey is brought to you by whomever and is not directly affiliated with any presidential candidate." (yeah, right) It's good that the computer only recognized yes and no answers and didn't record or respond to the comments I made while it was asking the questions. There'd be a distinct possibility that the Secret Service would pay me a visit.

I don't understand what is happening to our country. I don't know why it is that we are swinging towards the conservative side of the spectrum. I'm all for encouraging families to stay together and be involved with each other, but is that a conservative belief? Why is religion playing such a huge role in what our Nation believes? What's wrong with same-sex marriages and a woman's right to choose? I don't believe that our government has the right to dictate these things or many other issues either. The American public knows more about who was voted off American Idol last night than the presidential candidates' stand on, well, anything. It's scary. I feel very small and insignificant here. I vote but is my voice being heard? What can I do to encourage more people to think for themselves and not believe what they are fed by the conservatives and the media?

You don't have to agree with me. It's fine if you think organized religion is the best thing since sliced bread. I don't care if people oppose same-sex marriage or abortion or whatnot, but I wish they could tell me why. And "because the Bible says so" is not a valid reason. Why does the Bible say so? Why do you find it problematic? How do you think that these issues will cause problems in American society? What is a better alternative? Do you truly understand the opposing side? Just because it sounds good on TV doesn't mean it's good for you. Ask questions. Stand up for your beliefs. Do not become a sheep. And please, don't vote for Huckabee. :)

Jamie Oliver has always been one of my favorite television, cooking show personalities. I've never had the guts to try any of his recipes however. I don't know if I was afraid of the non-American cuisine, the difficulty level, or if I was daunted by trying to find British ingredients in the States. He has a wonderful new show on The Food Network called Jamie at Home. It's very earthly and organic and this time the food he's preparing doesn't appear quite as formidable as in his previous shows. (Well, I am a little afraid of the warm duck and pumpkin salad with the Asian-style dressing.) The ingredients he uses are from his garden, the sets are cozy and homey, and the food always looks rustic and wonderful.

Last week I attempted the Spicy Pork and Chili-Pepper Goulash with great results. The recipe was posted online and varies slightly from what he did in the show, but I really enjoyed the dish. The pork melted, the sauce that the peppers and onions made was delightful with just a hint of smoke and spice, and the sour cream, lemon zest, and parsley gave it a crisp, fresh finish. I think that I'd prefer a leaner cut of meat but that's just my preference.

This weekend the episode focused on pastry. I'm not much of a pastry fan. Too many times it's overworked, dry, tough, and flavorless. I don't have a lot of luck making it either. I'm the one who overworks the dough, isn't patient enough to take the necessary steps, etc. There were two pies prepared that I wanted to try. The first is an apple and raspberry pie, the second steak, Guinness, and cheese pie. I was disappointed to see that the steak pie was not one of the two recipes posted and also confused by the changes in the preparation of the apple pie in the online version. I'm unable to find one of the ingredients (stem ginger in syrup) for the apple pie so that will have to wait. But I decided to brave the unknown, re-watch the episode, copy the steak pie recipe to the best of my abilities, and see what sort of results I would get. Here's what I did:

In an oven-safe dutch oven
Cook 2 sliced red onions in olive oil with salt and pepper. (They looked almost caramelized on TV so I caramelized them because caramelized onions are very rarely a bad thing.)
Add to that:
a sprig of rosemary
3 cloves of garlic (he grated his, I used my garlic press)
2 oz butter
2 sticks of sliced celery
2 peeled carrots, sliced
Portobello mushrooms - he used about 6 medium caps that he sliced and broke up, I used an 8 oz box of baby portobellos, sliced
salt & pepper
beef brisket in a 1 inch dice - I have no idea how much he used so I just bought a 1.5 lb pack of lean stew meat because I like it and I could only buy 10 lbs of brisket at the store.
1 can of Guinness
a heaping Tablespoon of flour
and enough water or stock to almost, but not quite, cover the meat (after cooking this, I'd go with less water)

Cook at 350 degrees for 2 hours - he says you should have a dry stew

Mix a handful/100 grams (about 8 oz) of what looks like grated white cheddar cheese into the stew

Divide a package of puff pastry into two pieces, 1/3 for the top and 2/3 for the bottom. I'm guessing that you'd have to adjust that ratio depending on the size casserole dish you are using. Place the larger piece in the casserole and fill with the stew. Add another 100 grams of grated cheese to the top of the filling. Brush the edges of the bottom crust with egg wash and place the top crust on pressing the edges to seal. Paint more egg wash on the top crust.

He did not cut the excess pastry off but instead crumpled the edges up over the top to make a more rustic looking pie. He had also scored the top crust in a criss cross pattern that looked really pretty when the pie was baked. The kind of puff pastry that I can buy here looks different than his so I just did the best I could with what I had. Jamie mentioned that there was no reason that he could think of to make your own. I think he called making puff pastry a "right palaver." :)

Bake the pie in a 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes until it is browned and bubbly. Serve with (frozen) green peas tossed in a little butter.

Very tasty.

The seventh season of "American Idol" premieres tonight.  Will you be watching, or are you over it?

I've never watched an episode of American Idol. I can't figure out why people want to watch others being criticized and demeaned in what amounts to a nationwide popularity contest. Weren't we supposed to grow out of that kind of thing in high school?

Rise above.