Infused tequila

The infused vodka (strawberries and vanilla beans in a potato vodka) came out so good that I decided to try a sweet and spicy tequila. I used Hornitos with (unfortunately, frozen) strawberries and (from our garden!) jalepenos.

Infusing

I wouldn't drink it straight like the vodka but it would *probably* be okay in margaritas or something.

Thunderbird Cholla Trail

We're making the rounds of some different hiking trails. I liked this cactus surrounded by other cacti.

Pineapple Thai chicken

I bought this sauce at the farmer's market. I like all the ingredients except some "natural" stevia.I made it with some chicken and zucchini and rice. It wasn't bad. I would probably eat it or something like it again but I don't think I'd go out of my way to buy the sauce.

Supine

I can't get up. There's a dog pinning me down. I got a lot done today but now I'm exhausted.

"Lying down is a perfectly good position to be in. I quite recommend it."

Last trial visit of 2014

I got matching bandaids for my arms. Lan rarely (I think maybe never) misses but today...well, right, then left. And they both hurt. Not terribly; I didn't cry, but it hurt.

On the eye exam, I got to Line 10 for the right eye but only Line 8 for the left eye. It was so blurry and there was a red line between 8 and 9 that was superimposed on line 9 when he asked me to read it. I. Just. Couldn't. It kind of made me want to fucking bust out crying. Of course, that's not going to help my vision!

Sensation all seemed good. He had me count backwards from 100 while testing my reflexes, since I barely have any. He said I have abdominal reflexes, which most people don't. See, I have it all!

The 500 meter walk took 9 minutes and I think he said my EDDS is 2.5.

Mint chocolate

Although it has some stevia, I decided to try this lovely idea: mint chocolate coconut milk. Hmm. It was...good, chocolatey, a little mint, thick like coconut milk but not as much as egg nog which I thought it was originally. The only issue that I can't get past is the aftertaste due to the stevia. I drank it but I don't think I'd buy it again.

Classy

Hrm.

You are a:

Classy Wife

You are truly a class act. Both inside and out, you are amazingly beautiful. You have an undeniably jovial nature that always gives off radiant happiness wherever you go. You are a perfect treat that always stays delightful no matter how much time passes by. And believe it or not, you have some of the most contagious smiles. Your significant other must be incredibly grateful for you!

Culinary Dropout

My company decided to do an annual birthday celebration so they could do something bigger and better without costing the firm more. The receptionist wanted to get everyone's orders ahead of time but I was still messaging with someone from the restaurant on FB by the time we went. She also had asked for cupcake orders so I went to Gluten Free Creations Bakery yesterday to get cupcakes.

Pumpkin Spice cupcakes

We went to Culinary Dropout, which is a Fox Concepts Restaurant. I generally have good luck at their restaurants so the chef talked with me and we decided I could have a burger and sauteed veggies (in olive oil.) They don't use any soybean oil. I used the mushrooms and onions on top of the burger so I didn't even need anything else like ketchup.

Looks simple, tastes good.

Culinary Dropout is one of the restaurants around The Yard so we went out there to play some games. There was cornhole, ping pong, and Foosball. I played a couple rounds of Foosball. I'm not good but it was fun! I didn't play any more after that because I was already sweating and was concerned I would be stinky. My over-sweatiness is a problem without end.

J drove back to the office so we stopped by her place to let her dogs out and I got to check out her digs. Cute place. She's making progress on her renovations.

*****

I've been going to a free weekly yoga class (it's only 8 weeks so I'm really trying to take advantage of it while it lasts.) Last week, the instructor told us it's not "zombie yoga" when she was reminding us to breathe.

Free yoga tonight included Halloween themed music. Very weird. I had a lot of trouble with my left hip popping and spasticity in my lower left leg so I wasn't able to really do some things on both sides. So annoying.

Pasta dinner

It took me a little while after I got home to get started on dinner. I had to wait for the Advil to kick in. I'm glad I didn't get my cramps during the weekend but it would be even better if I didn't have to get them at all.

Costco is selling rice pasta in a box containing 4 bags of pasta. The directions are so different from any other pasta I've cooked. It is boiled for a few minutes and then left in the hot water, burner off, for 15 minutes. I kinda messed up, forgot to stir it so it clumped, but it cooked (maybe a little too much.)

Well, it works. My dinner was yummy. And yes, that is zucchini from our garden!

Yum.

Octoberfest 2014

We had a larger group for Octoberfest this year, so in addition to my FIL driving us, dropping us off, and picking us up, we had a second driver, our friend M who lives near us and doesn't drink. And apparently is SO nice--who doesn't drink and then spends his Saturday driving drunks?

This coaster gets a big glass mug!

Someone backed out last minute so my cousin came with us. Mick wanted to be there early so it was a little bit of a slow start but we had a blast.

R bought shots. Of course.

There were lots of "saved" seats and a lot of them never filled up. We liked the signs.

I go both ways. Or do I?

I knew I wouldn't be able to eat anything or drink the beer so I brought chili, cornbread, Tito's and lemonade.

Suns Cheerleaders

Most of the group spent the night. R made breakfast. The person who had backed out of going was also supposed to go to the Cardinals game with R and his girl, so Mick was able to go instead. And I was able to spend the day relaxing.

Saddle Mountain Brewery

Last night, we went to our neighbor's grand opening. As I understand it, this is the first brewery to open in Goodyear. The service was terrible but it looks promising and hopefully they will work it all out. Mick invited our friend M, which surprised me since he doesn't drink (and some other reasons outside the scope of this blog), but it is a restaurant too. My SIL called and said Dr. Q told her to go out with me this weekend so I invited her too since Mick had already invited M. YES, my doctor told my SIL, who I sent to him, to go out with me.

I had sweet tea and a bunless burger with a "bare" side salad. My dinner came much later than everyone else's (pretty sure they messed it up and had to remake it) so I forgot to take a photo. The salad actually came first but since it had no dressing, I thought I'd wait. It was spring mix and spinach with cranberries and tomatoes. I finally decided I couldn't wait and ate most of by the time my burger arrived. The salad and burger were good. I think Mick and M really liked their pizzas and my SIL liked her sandwich. M and my SIL got a flight of beers and found one they both liked.

Even with the service hiccups, we had fun. They came back to our house to hang out a little before heading home.

Yep!

Today, I got my hair color done--wash those grays away! I mentioned to a couple people, including Mick, that I was thinking of going a little redder. Since I have some red undertones anyway, my hairdresser said she wanted to mix my old brown color in with the redder color this time, see how it takes, and then go all with the new color next time. It turned out fantastic.

When I came home, he told me he doesn't like the color. WTH. Can a wife get a muther-effin compliment in here? (The answer to that is NO, in case you don't know.)

Update: I have a photo on tomorrow's post if you want to see the color. No compliments necessary. I got them from M (who knew I was having it done) and my coworker/friend J (who did not know I was getting it done.)

Update 2: I sent Mick the free head shot I got at my recent conference and he replied with a comment about "hottie" so apparently I CAN get a muther-effin compliment! A little more often would be nice but I guess that's what I have friends for.

The Lagasse Girls

I received this gift from my generous coworker. I hope to find a few things I can make. I should look at my old Emeril Lagasse cookbooks and see if I can make anything from those....

Hodgson Mill cornbread mix

I made chili using a couple of pounds of the ground elk from Mick's hunt. I decided to try a cornbread mix I picked up at Albertsons. This is Hodgson Mills; I used egg replacer for the two eggs. I accidently only made enough for one replacement egg and then had to add the second one last minute. 

I made them as muffins.

It wasn't bad but a little denser than I like. I think I would use applesauce for one of the eggs next time, and maybe a double amount of applesauce so it would be less dry.

Sprinkles

Our office admin sent a cute email today about our upcoming birthday celebration. It even had a photo of a Minion. We're ordering cupcakes from Sprinkles.

Well, that's a bummer. I mean, I never get to take part in the food stuff anyway, but the admin actually came into my office and get my order. She was pretty sure I could have something. So I looked it up and they don't list ingredients but they do have a gluten-free cupcake and a vegan cupcake. She thought vegan meant also gluten-free, so just an FYI, y'all, um, vegans don't eat animal products but they can have wheat, um-kay. Somewhere between a combination of those two, I might be able to have a cupcake, but alas, never shall the two be combined.

I guess I'll make a trip to Gluten Free Creations Bakery to pick up my own cupcakes so I don't feel totally left out. FML. It never fucking stops. It will never fucking stop. This is my life, for the rest of my life. Will I ever get over the sadness of it all?

Successful or happy

My naturopathic chiropractor, Dr. Q kind of acts as my therapist while he is adjusting my everything and dealing with how my body holds stress. I like getting his (male) perspective, even though I know to a degree it must be biased because he only hears my side of whatever we are discussing. But he knows how it makes me feel--my body is telling him!

I usually lay on the table face down, then face up, but today, he had me stand first while he did adjustments on my shoulders and arms. Then we moved to the table. I had some painful areas that might be sore later.

Chasing Success or Happiness

My life

Today's hike was at one of my favorite trails at Thunderbird Park. My friend B came from the other end of town and he was even early. M meet us at my house and he was just a little early too.

We headed north and met my friend/coworker J with her little dogs. My friend R who I know through B was supposed to meet us but overslept.

I forgot that we are perhaps not really in shape for this hike yet. At the end, B called it easy and M later called it fun but I thought he might not make it when we were on the ascent. B has a manual job; that's all the exercise he gets. M has a sedentary job and gets no exercise. I have a sedentary job but I get some exercise!

I offered to make waffles so we all headed to my house but made a stop at the grocery store first so B could use the restroom and J could get strawberries. M and I stayed in the car and waited. When they returned, J had a package of Reese's peanut butter cups and was handing them out. When I said I couldn't have it, her reaction and B's reaction....I forget how people are sometimes. I'm more prepared when it's not friends but I forget that some of my friends aren't around all the time for these things. B made some comment about how much my life sucks and for just a moment, I felt like I was going to fall apart. Yeah, if fucking sucks. But it's the only life I have. I think I covered it up okay for J and B; I just tried to jokingly say FML, yeah it sucks. But it didn't get past M. I don't think he gets it but he knew it upset me. My cover is blown!

Back at my house, I made waffles and bacon. I'm not sure if B liked them or not but J did and M said he was surprised but the waffles were "amazing." YES! There are a lot of things I still don't know how to make in a way that I'd serve it to regular people but I think I've got the waffles covered.

North Italia

My drive to work was terrible. Like the I-10 was closed kind of terrible. But I made it in and our lunchtime meeting was canceled so someone was planning a lunch out of the office. They choose North Italia, thinking I'd be able to eat there.

I wasn't so sure. I'm sure I've been there before and had an okay salad. But today. Today, they did me right.

They have a corn based gluten free pasta that does not contain amaranth. (I'm guessing Schar brand.) Most of their pasta sauces contain dairy but the waitress recommended the spicy shrimp.

It was fantastic. Garlicky and yummy. A coworker tried some of nearly everyone's lunch and proclaimed my lunch the second best, after her gnocchi. Winner!

Visitors

We had "my" favorite cousin visit from Indiana. Okay, J is Mick's cousin, but she's my favorite person in his whole family. She brought her husband and son (little one) for 4 days and 5 nights.

She was very helpful in the kitchen and got the cross contamination thing right away. They are early morning people so they made themselves at home and figured out where to find things.

Happy hour!

The first day, little one got to see the F16s and F35s flying over our house. Then we went for a walk in the neighborhood. It was kind of hot and I actually got some sun on my shoulders.

We had the family over for a surf and turf lunch. The kids had a great time, running and playing. Cassi almost sat on the little one at the end of the day--he was on the couch where she wanted to curl up and sleep.

Cajun Halibut with rice, elk steak, artichoke spaghetti squash, salad

We went hiking with friends at White Tanks, the Waterfall Trail. It was a little bit hot still. I feel a little bad they didn't get to go on a bigger longer higher trail but it was a perfect starter trail for our group that hasn't been out for months.

Mick and the husband went quail hunting with my FIL and Teka. They got 3 and I had a couple in the freezer. That's enough for an appetizer!

Almost gone.

That was tiring--no naps but lots of go. They are really active as a family--playing football and Frisbee when I'm recovering from ask the rest. I can't wait for them to come again.

Sick

I've been sick for days. I'm back to work but experiencing diarrhea with cramping. W. T. F.

I don't think I've had anything I'm not "supposed" to have so this is baffling. I had it a couple days ago but not nearly as bad.

I'm skipping free yoga tonight. Hopefully this is the only one.

Pancakes via zulilly

I got a box of gluten free allergy friendly products from zulilly. The first to try: pancake mix.

Bacon!

It wasn't bad but seemed kind of bland. It's okay once I put berries and syrup but I think this pancake mix needs something for mixing in like pumpkin or Enjoy Life chocolate chips.

Sick days

Yeah, I caught something at the office. When I went home sick on Thursday, I stopped at True Food to pick up some curry for lunch (because who wants to cook when they're sick, and it's even harder for me) and some juice.

Beets and carrots

I've been out for a couple days plus the weekend so I went to the doctor. I got into a room pretty quick and then had to wait forever for the doctor. She told me to stay home another day and gave me some antibiotics.

I bought some cough drops for the night, when it's the worst. These are gluten-free. And weird. Not good. Not effective for how I use them at night--they aren't hard, but more gummy although you aren't supposed to chew them either. I guess I'll stick with the Ricola drops although I think they might not really agree with me.

Drops

I have slept so much; I'm going to have trouble going back to work.

Free yoga

A coworker notified us that there are free yoga classes once a week for 8 weeks at the Pointe Hilton Tapatio Resort. It's outside on a patio in front of "the Falls" in the evening.

I got there late (it's farther and more traffic than I expected) and it was very crowded, but it was a good yoga class.

Yoga while facing the Falls

Tamari is soy

Since I've just returned from a week long trip, I had nothing to take for lunch.

I went to Flower Child and ordered a plate I've had several times. I gave my allergy alert.

While I was waiting for my order, someone came to tell me the sweet potatoes have tamari in the glaze.

O_O

W. T. F.

That explains some things.

And this is why I would rather cook all my own food and eat at home. It sucks terribly to have to shop, prep, cook and clean up for all of my meals (you try it some time) but the alternative is...not desirable.

So they made some steamed sweet potatoes without the glaze. They were okay. I wouldn't pay this much money for them--they aren't at all special, just something I would make at home.

sub plain sweet potatoes

I'll have to try some other sides. Or stop eating there.

Weekend wrapup

My stepbrother got divorced and I was able to keep my SIL instead of him. I've always liked her so we're friends now. She had some stuff going on that we talked about last weekend when she came to our party. She asked if she could come spend the weekend which turned into just Friday night. We invited M for dinner too. 

The "grandparents" took Teka for the night so that she wouldn't have to deal with my SIL's dogs. I got this photo asking if she always sleeps with her toys--in her mouth. Um, no.

LOVES her new toy

I made proscuitto wrapped rosemary chicken with sweet potatoes and citrus green beans. It seemed that everyone enjoyed dinner. We hung out for while. M left and my SIL and I stayed up a couple more hours talking.

Dinner

In the morning, we got a late start but eventually took the dogs for a walk (it was too hot and she didn't understand how far "around the block" is in our neighborhood so I ended up carrying her little dog the last half.) She headed home and we headed out to our errands.

We got haircuts, went to Cabela's, stopped at Sprouts for some chips so we could go to Arriba's. At Arriba's, I found out that all the meat except the fish and shrimp are marinated in soy so I can't have the chicken which I KNOW I've had in the past. I had modified shrimp fajitas with corn tortillas, black beans, guacamole, pico de gallo, and salsa.

Linner

I also enjoyed a skinny margarita.

Tasty beverage

We have a free HBO/Cinemax weekend so I'm doing a lot less than I should be but probably just as much as if we didn't have the freebies. I'm guessing.

Things

Insomnia. Last night was not as bad as the previous but grr. Waking up and not being able to go back to sleep is frustrating. A couple of nights ago, I woke up so AWAKE that I thought Mick had just come to bed (and I recently found out he turns the light on when he comes in since I had just dozed off when he did it--I'm sure that totally helps me sleep well through the night.) But he hadn't so I was just wide awake. At 3 am. Awesome. And by wide awake, I mean EXHAUSTED but wide awake. Please tell me this is going to stop.

Automobile. My car starting acting up more this week. It feels like it's idling too high, except it's a hybrid so it doesn't freaking idle at all. WTF. The gas mileage went down about 5 mpg. Oh, and it did that stalling-ish thing too that they say it isn't doing because it isn't in the log. Apparently my car has it's own black box. And it's a liar. Liar liar pants tires on fire.

Relatives. My relative who hit on me is pissed that I told my sister. Like anyone who has known me for more than a millisecond wouldn't know that was going to happen. I'm going to see my sister soon on the way to another city for a conference so I'm super excited and kind of using that as the light at the end of the tunnel, something to look forward to.

#cancersucks. I'm writing my emotions away, or at least trying to. I think I'm done crying but I can't guarantee it yet.

Friends. I keep making plans with people and having random cancellations. It goes against what I loved about the person who just died of cancer. Accept invitations, show up, have fun. If it's not fun, make it fun. Okay, I don't always accept invitations, but I can't think of the last time I cancelled on a friend. Maybe my spotty memory is playing tricks on me.

Yep, sounds about right. ;)

Thai Lhana

Today was Shel's memorial. I cried so much. She was such an amazing person and it really seems unfair when so many people are NOT amazing.

I met my friend B for dinner. I used to go to this Thai place near my office, but I haven't been there in years for some reason. I think I don't lunch with the people who used to go there and others don't go there anymore either.

Anyway, I am usually able to do curries at Thai places but this one uses cream instead of some of the coconut milk. Huh. That sucks.

The waitress had recently had someone with similar food allergies so she said there was one soup I could have and one chicken dish that comes with rice. I had the barbecue chicken and white rice. It was very good. It came with sweet chili sauce which some of it needed as parts were dry. But it was tasty. If I hadn't skipped lunch, this would be enough for 2 meals.

Chicken

Flash bandaid

My friend and coworker Shelly passed away last Friday from melanoma cancer. It's quite upsetting and I was a little shocked when I learned of her passing on FB Friday night. I thought I was handling it pretty well.

Then I went to work this morning. Um, nope. I'm barely holding it together today. I had to call my old client who became Shel's client and returned to being my client when Shel got sick. I had to tell her "in person" about Shel's passing before my company sends out notifications. Of course she cried. I cried. I can't stop fucking crying. I get it together for a while and then it hits me again. Her services are tomorrow so I'm going to be a damn wreck.

I had my drug trial monitoring with the neurologist, Dr. T. and the care coordinator L. It was pretty uneventful I guess. My vision sucks and is more terrible on the left. My reflexes are wonky, my balance sucks, I don't have full feeling in my left foot. But I move fine, I function well enough. Dr. T reminded me during part of the exam that I don't have to be a control freak, that doctors in clinical studies are the control freaks. Uh-huh.

Yes, I have some of the issues the doctor asks about but nothing that keeps me from functioning in my life. The memory lapses that come back later are...disconcerting but...I always pass the little tests the neurologists give me! Math, check. Spelling, check. Spelling backwards, check. What were the words I asked you to remember? Oh, never mind, Dr. T didn't do that one.

L started laughing when she got the bandaid for my blood draw. It had the character Flash on it. Sweet! I love Big Bang Theory. :)

#nerdalert

That was pretty close to the highlight of my day. I also chatted with M and talked with my sister so that helps some with my sadness. I'm so sad. I can't get stuck in this but I'm not fighting it until after tomorrow.

I'm going to be visiting my sister soon so I'm keeping my eye on that--the light at the end of the tunnel I guess.

...there are so many good days ahead, if you know where to look and if you remember all the wonderful people in your tribe, or community, or house. --thebloggess

Labor Day

After doing NOTHING yesterday, just hanging out with M and watching TV, I fell asleep on the couch a little after 9, then woke up around 3 and moved to bed,  then slept past 8 this morning. Our friend M does a lot of sleeping so he must be contagious!

I worked on cleaning up the kitchen. Mick's helpers had arrived early to help with yard projects. I have black eye peas and we have a random flower in the flower garden.

random white flower

Black eye peas

Although I did some housework, I decided to continue my rest and watched Zombieland and the Star Trek marathon.

Post post birthday party

Party number 2 was also a blast! It was a totally different group, again no one from my workplace and some odd cancelations, but so fun. My friend R brought broccoli salad after checking the ingredients with me and her friend A brought me some yellow flowers. We had dinner on the patio. And drinks. A lot of drinks. A lot of laughing. My bestie B and I took a break from the group; I am not a fan of him shutting me out when he has crap going on so I had to remind him that he doesn't actually have to go it alone.

Party food

I may or may not have drank a spilled drink off the table and one of my girlfriends may or may not have been a bit frisky with Mick and I may or may not have taken a couple dozen selfies with B and some people may or may not have drank those blue margaritas Mick likes that I advised against.

We had a few overnighters so I made waffles and bacon and Mick made biscuits and sausage gravy for breakfast. It was really awesome to be able to spend so much time with some friends I have not spent much time with recently but consider to be my closest friends. I can't wait to do it again!

Black and white

I went to Flower Child for lunch today and had some yummy veggie soup that had chilies in it.

steaming

I'm not totally sure about this as a work outfit; it seems a little short, but I get compliments about how cute it is so I'll go with it on a Friday.

Don't make it your own

I had my first scheduled appointment with Dr. Q since my emergency visit. He says I'm doing really well...

Actually, he says I am/my body is dealing with things better than I used to. After working on me today, he basically said that the amount of "stuff" I'm carrying around would have put me in so much pain a couple years ago that I'd be in bed but I'm dealing with it much better now.

On the other hand, he said I need to be careful. I'm dealing better so it's easier to take more on, except that it's not good for me and I could hit a breaking point and set me back a lot. Yikes. That would suck.

We had talked about a lot of other people's issues, as I'm dealing with and/or supporting my friends through what they've got going on. It's not about any one person but I am trying to be a better friend and he thinks I'm taking too much on. He told me "don't make it your own." Hmmm. Am I making it my own? I'll have to be mindful of what I take on I guess.

Extra NARCOMS survey

I usually complete the NARCOMS survey twice a year. It's for MS research so why not. They send me a little magazine with information about studies in progress and stuff like that.

They recently sent me an "extra" survey about marijuana use. Easy peasy. Done it. Not medically. Not for a long time. Would consider medical use. Especially if studies showed it would help with my specific symptoms. (I think some research has already shown it helps MS spasticity and stuff like that.)

But realistically, no, I would not use marijuana in any form because my spouse is against it. It's so weird to me that someone could "not believe in it" but that's his experience (or more specifically, lack of experience) so there's no way I could change his mind. I hope and pray that I never have to get into it with him on this one. If it really would help and my shit was bad enough...well, I've been known to disagree on occasion when it matters.

Logic vs logic

I don't know if it's a gender thing or an engineer/non-engineer thing but some days...being married is at best, amusing and at worst, frustrating.

 

Before telling this story, I want to remind you that I'm married to a great guy who is my friend and is there for me when it counts. (Exhibit A: blog post last week describing the tea incident. He took care of everything while trying to keep me from becoming really upset about the whole situation.)

 

A few weeks ago, I was no longer able to print from my laptop. He suggested I was still connected to the VPN (work network) but I knew I wasn't. I didn't argue.

 

About a week later, I complained again that I couldn't print. He ignored it.

 

Again, I complained. Again I was ignored.

 

Then we needed to return a pan to Amazon that I had ordered for him. It was supposed to be a fryer pan but when he and his dad used it on the (thankfully not in my kitchen) outdoor burner, it leaked oil out of the bottom. FOR REAL! It's unbelievable; I've never heard of such a thing but he said there were some reviews that had said that, although most did not.

 

So I needed went to Amazon to get the return label. They allow the return label to be sent to another email address so I sent it to Mick to print. THEN he wanted to know why I couldn't print it and FINALLY looked at my laptop.

 

He tries to claim that I have problems because I keep too many tabs open. Unfortunately, most of the tabs I had open at that time were things I was waiting to print out!

 

After about an hour, he was finally able to fix my computer and I can print.

 

And he says, you should really take care of things as soon as you know there is a problem instead of letting it get this bad.

 

O_O

 

Like I have been sitting on this problem and never told him! Gah! WTH.

 

But now I can print. And I have permission/directives from him to text him the things I need done by him. Yes, I text my husband when I need things done. What has this world come to... (I'm old. Get off my lawn.)

Milking my birthday (non-dairy of course)

I got a coupon from Fox restaurants for a free dessert. Since I'm an avid fan of True Food and Flower Child, and I know that TF has dairy free sorbet, I was excited about going to lunch with someone. I hadn't actually made plans with anyone though and then realized the coupon expires Monday. I have a business lunch tomorrow and a lunchtime meeting Friday, so today was it. And that meant I went alone.

I'm not sad. I mean, it would be nice to go with someone but I go alone often enough. The guy and gal who usually work the bar weren't there, so I was a little sad that I didn't know anyone. Okay, not so much...

So I had the usual: Panang curry with chicken. The waitress told me the soup was gazpacho today. I love gazpacho so I thought of getting some to-go but after sh told me it was gluten free, she came back and said it had Worcestershire sauce so it was not safe for me. I generally don't question further when I'm told it's not safe but for your info, I can have Lea and Perkins brand. Other brands may have wheat and/or soy.

For my freebie, I had pistachio sorbet. You could tell by the texture it has coconut milk. It was good. I want cake. But that will happen this weekend. And next!

Bossypants

Tina Fey's audio book Bossypants is HILARIOUS. In totally thinking about getting my own copy of the book and the audio. I was laughing out loud in my car. There was a bit more name dropping and timeline stuff that I wasn't sure added to the book but it was bearable. I completely recommend this book.

Even Google wishes me a happy birthday

Of course, Google knows everything, so it's not that unexpected!

No tea for you

In preparation for having two small parties on consecutive weekends, I wanted to spend this weekend making the house somewhat presentable. The main issues as I see them are making sure the dog bedding and blankets are clean (for people with allergies), the bathrooms aren't disgusting, and the common areas are picked up. The kitchen is also a priority but always an ongoing project!

Mick generally takes care of the floor and the outside stuff.

I planned on using Sunday for cooking for the week, prep for next weekend, maybe some grocery shopping...

It took me all day Saturday to wash all the dog bedding and various blankets, change the sheets on my bed, and clean the bathrooms. I also had kitchen things to do such as clean out the dog food bin for a new bag of dog food, wash dishes, run the dishwasher, make meals and eat and clean up...never-ending.

Mick and his family made fried fish for lunch. I was involved although I couldn't eat it. Don't ask. I made myself a pizza as consolation. At least he figured out it was a lot more work than was feasible for a party. I think.

We also figured out that you can't freeze onions and then use them for onion rings. Frozen onions become very soggy. They can only be used as "diced" onions in cooked recipes.

I made some sun tea and was thinking about transferring the tea to another container later to make some sweet tea. But while I was making dinner, I managed to drop the whole glass jar of tea out of the fridge. My hands just stopped working. I hate when that happens but I'm usually more on guard for it and this one just totally caught me by surprise so I didn't have any back up plan. It just fell on the tile and busted.

Poor Mick was such a good honey. He told me to stop crying and to stay put while he picked up glass and brought me some shoes. He mopped it up and just had me take the rugs outside when he was done in those areas.

And YES, I cry when these things happen. I hate that I have control of things one moment and then no control over my body the next. And I was tired and hungry and ready to relax and then had this major detour because my hands don't work.

So I have no tea. And I have no jar in which to make my tea. FML.

I felt like I was pretty productive until that point. That was kind of the end.

Sunday, I woke up with a painful left shoulder again. I tried to take it easy and occasionally stretch it. Midday, it started to pop very painfully but it felt a little better after each time. By the end of the day, it was just sore. I had done very little all day, just some reading and minor picking up and watching the Lord of the Rings marathon on AMC like we don't have it on DVD.

While I was reading thekitchn, I ran across their tour of the Lodge cast iron factory which (again? I don't remember if I had heard this for certain or not) confirms that they use a soy-based seasoning. So I have to strip and reseason all my cast iron pans. Just another thing on the list, right?

When it started to get towards dark, I went out to pick weeds from the gardens. I made a big dent in the weed population a few days ago but it's a terrible battle that I'm losing and I have absolutely no backup in this fight. Unless you count that sometimes others throw out the stuff in my buckets for me. I thought from a comment Mick made on Friday that maybe there had been some help but then I saw that was not the case. Oh well. I keep working on it and they keep coming back in giant patches.

I also pulled a lot out of the raised garden to start prepping for the fall garden. It started raining so I put the kitchen rugs out for a rain bath. Mick thinks that doesn't make sense but these are old cheap rugs that I can't put through the wash so they are just filthy from the dogs. Rain is better than no washing in my opinion.

I made another halibut recipe and Mick didn't like it. To be fair, I fucked it up by spilling the salt when I was measuring it so it was kinda gross but he didn't like it anyway because it was green. He would prefer that I stick with the one I made that he liked and never try any other. Sigh. It's so awesome being married to someone who eats like he is still in elementary school. Yes, I blame his parents. Yes, they know it. Yes, they agree.

I still had a lot to do that I didn't but I just don't feel like I can motivate myself any further. Are all productive days followed by mostly non-productive ones or is that just me?

So that Sunday list up top, I did mostly none of it. That means I have to make my breakfast sausages on Monday night (so the pork doesn't go bad), the sorbet and cantaloupe puree on Tuesday, the seasonings on Wednesday, the infused tequila on Thursday, the infused vodka on Friday (I can't do that one any earlier since it has strawberries), and the rest on Saturday. I also have a round of grocery stores to hit this week since I can't get everything at any one. Wish me luck!

Weddings, the Wigwam, and the weekend

We were invited to the wedding of Mick's coworker. We thought it was at the Wigwam and then realized they just had group rates there because they were staying there. We checked rates and decided to go check it out since everyone keeps telling us how great and modern it is for a historic location.

Obligatory feet in front of pool photo

We went early to relax, unpack, and go swimming before getting ready for the wedding.

Somehow, I managed to have no photos of me and Mick at the wedding. Bummer cause he looked great.

I expected I wouldn't be able to eat at the reception but after talking with the waitress, found I could have the grilled veggies, smoked salmon, ceviche with avocado puree, and prime rib with pepper relish.

tiny dinner--first trip

My friend K totally embarrassed me out of her love for me. She knew the bride was having a gluten-free, dairy-free cake so she insisted on asking the bride if it had eggs and soy. They decided I could have a piece. I. Had. Cake. In public. It was pretty good. Okay, if you don't have to eat that, you'd probably think it was a little off, but it wasn't dry or anything...expected.

wedding cake

It wasn't a very late party but we slept in anyway. We walked around and saw the main pool that we were no where near. Then we headed to breakfast at Red's. The waitress had me a little nervous but then she took my card to the chef and confirmed my order.

potatoes, no seasoning, bacon, guacamole and salsa

Mick had the most gluten-y thing on the menu. It looked fantastic.

pancakes and sausage

Our impression of the Wigwam? Well, we must have been in the part that hasn't been remodeled yet or something. I wouldn't call it contemporary or modern. And our friends who were also staying in this section pointed out the extremely sparse artwork that just looked odd. And the parking was kind of terrible. But it was a clean, large room and we had a good time.

Sunday, we went to the movies with a friend and saw Guardians of the Galaxy. Cute. Too much unnecessary  cursing. I want a Groot in a pot. I hope that's a thing. We didn't go out for lunch or anything, just called it a day. But I got some good hugs from the friend. And hugs are good for our health so I got my medicine this weekend.

I love getting hugs from him because they are the BEST hugs. I think I've figured it out. He doesn't give me the wimpy hug that people give me when they know I'm "broken" or "fragile" because, I'm guessing, he doesn't know. And since he doesn't know, he doesn't overcompensate and squeeze me to death either. He also isn't afraid to hold on until we're done with our hug. I'm used to the "quickie" hug, so it's so different to have someone hold on for a minute. I don't know how he doesn't have a girlfriend and/or stalker.

via thebloggess on Pinterest

For dinner, Mick and I decided to try my new fryer. He actually fell asleep as soon as I started. Unfortunately, we had not stopped at Costco for more oil on our way home from the movies, so I had to go get some more. I wanted to cry--how sucky is it to have to take an hour delay because there isn't enough oil for dinner. Sigh. Well, I got back and he was up.

I made a basic batter for the cod. He thought it didn't have enough seasoning, which I can easily fix, but that the batter wasn't quite right anyway, maybe gummy or hard or something I didn't get. I, on the other hand, haven't had fried fish in several years so I was just amazed at how well my first EVER attempt at fried fish came out.

I also spiralized some sweet potatoes to make fries. They aren't thick enough so I think we'll have to stick to normal fry shaped fries. We did the first batch without batter and the last batch with batter. I like the battered ones better but, again, Mick doesn't like the batter itself.

fish fry

I also made tartar sauce from Well Fed 2 but using Earth Balance soy-free mayo which is not really Paleo but I can have it so there. I thought it was good, though not quite perfect--I'll keep working on it. It's definitely not as thick as "normal" tartar sauce. Mick wants the stuff his parents use from the jar. (I used to buy it, so I think it's actually a squeeze bottle but what does he know...)

It was a LOT of work for a mediocre meal. I think he may have given up on the fish fry idea for his friends now that he realizes how much work it will be while everyone is visiting. We'll see.