That’s it! I’m done with summer. It’s September and I’m going to go ahead and pretend it is fall. Went ahead and put up all the decorations up Sunday. So many pumpkins. But they were not enough. Time for a pumpkin mission!! Got some pretty cool stuff. It remains to be seen if I don’t still find something else for the house. You can’t really have too many pumpkins, can you? The décor and smells of fall are great to come home to. Real shame the weather has not fully transitioned. The mornings have at least been nice and brisk.
I like lights!
Hello pumpkin!
Hey!!
Pumpkin mission success!!
What else did I do on the extended weekend? I ate. I had WAY too many foods that I have avoided due to the diet. Hamburger on an actual bun. Nachos two times. A 7 layer burrito from f***ing Taco Bell. A pathetic excuse for a pizza. Was the Domino’s guy that sliced it drunk? Was he having a laugh? Either way, I managed to eat the ENTIRE hideous/glorious thing. I felt like a heifer. I also might have over indulged in a few adult beverages. Hey, it’s my weekend to do what I please. Which means I did not do much. It was a very lazy weekend. Pumpkins were the most excitement to be had.
Taphouse nachos
Chorizo burger
WTF happened here?
Hooters Nachos. So good!
I guess I should mention that I spent much of my time watching hurricane Dorian coverage on The Weather channel. How exciting is that? Pretty exciting and pretty terrifying. It was an unprecedented storm. With wind speed reaching 185mph it ranks as one of the top 5 strongest to ever hit the Atlantic basin. And unlike most Cat 5 hurricanes, this one stalled out right over the Bahamas. 40 hours to be exact. That’s like having an EF-3 tornado stay in the same place for almost 2 days. Imagine the devastation. Actually, look it up. Parts of the Bahamas literally do not exist anymore. The island will forever be altered. I will admit here that when I saw the damage I choked up a bit. It’s an absolute tragedy. Watching it unfold in real time…
Dorian was Terrifying!
Poor Bahamas
That
sums up my exciting holiday weekend.
Fall decorating, pumpkin mission and a hurricane. Don’t be jealous.
Jalapeño!
Monday I made some cheesy chicken & squash with some green sauce. Throwing Julio’s green sauce into the mix was a game changer. You can’t do wrong with that stuff. If only I could crack the recipe. Goals in life. Delicious!
Tuesday we had my mother over for dinner and some wine. Bekah made a delicious bun less chicken burger. This is the second time she has made this meal and I think it was even better this time around. My mom took home the leftovers for lunch. Good job Bekah.
Breakfast for dinner. Loaded omelet with a grilled steak. I sautéed the mushrooms with sherry wine and butter, added spinach and of course sautéed onion and jalapeño. The steak was just salt & pepper. We need to do breakfast for dinner more often.
Thursday we had a Korean dish with gochujang sauce. I’ve mentioned gochujang before. I’m not kidding. You need to try it.
Move in
day and the start of a new year on campus.
After the lull of summer it’s kind of exciting having the kids back. If I didn’t know better, I’d think I was the
only one that felt that way. I am
surrounded by grumpy men who dread the arrival of the students. Stress levels through the roof. It’s like they seem to forget that they work
in a place of higher education and the students are pretty much the sole
point. But their stress is partially
their own faults for waiting until the last minute to complete work orders that
they have been sitting on since May.
You can’t not feel something when looking at the faces of the students moving into the dorms. A mixture of excitement and fear. The unknown. Being cut free from the parents. A step towards adulthood. I remember my own “move-in-day” at Tech. My family and roommate’s family all together trying to fit what belongings a teenager has into a cramped room. All the new faces from all over. It’s at first a little overwhelming. Especially when you say goodbye to the family whose roof you have shared up till this point. Lots of emotion that first night. But lots of excitement for what’s to come. We didn’t even bother to eat dorm food that first night. Found something familiar. Taco Bell…
I’ve been walking Hazel on campus every night. And it sure has become interesting. Tuesday it was the band. It was like they were playing to encourage Hazel and I to walk a little further. And walk we did to the sound of a marching band. But I could not tell where they were playing? I think if I had to hear that all day every day I might lose my s***. I’m not sure how my friend Jamie survives work considering how close they practice to her office. It’s like a personal concert. How many times can a person hear butchered renditions of the Star Wars theme song? How do you not leave work with all sorts of melodies traps in your head to only drive you nuts all evening? What fortitude she has.
I wanted to play….
With the kids back, Wednesday night walk on campus was alive. They had all sorts of games for the students to play. Glowing ping pong, foosball and corn hole. It was all pretty neat, I must admit. But I’m a sucker for things that light up and are neon at night. I’m like an insect attracted to the light. All sorts of glowing toys. I wanted some of my own. I just had to take a moment to watch the commotion. Now the kid in me wants some glow sticks.
One a journey.
Thursday
night Hazel and I were determined to find the band. They sounded like they were around every
corner. Sound carries on campus. We walked and walked. We saw a rave like concert. Kids hollering and dancing. But it wasn’t going to distract us from our
mission. Finally we were able to pin point
the location: the football field. Of
course!!! They had to practice on the
actual field at night like it was a game.
After watching them for a bit we made our way back home.
I went
to my first University Assembly since working here. It’s amazing how many people will flock to
free food. And it’s not even good free
food. I was momentarily baffled by the
scene in front of me. When the assembly
began it went on FOREVER! All the new
employees were introduced. Faculty were
introduced with a mini bio and it dragged on for far too long. I was told that’s usually not the case. My friend Jody was nominated for an award,
but alas she did not win. Nice to be
nominated though. The president gave a
pretty nice speech. Overall it was a
nice experience. I was away from the
office for 2 hours and that’s always a good thing. And it kind of felt nice actually participating
in a university activity. I’m trying to
attend more this year. Baby steps.
I’m going on my 8th year working here. WHAT!! Where in the heck did the time go? And man!! This is not where I saw myself being back in 2011. I jumped on this job because I desperately needed insurance after my diagnosis & I knew the campus from being a student. Didn’t hurt that I had been employed as a TA for Dr. Joe and already had some time in the books. I guess I’ve kind of settled in. I like most the people I work with and I’ve made some really close friends on campus that I otherwise wouldn’t have. That alone is worth the time that I’ve been here. That’s not to say that I plan on sticking to this position till retirement. I’d like to see how life is on the other side of campus. Maybe?
Llama had a week. Boy oh boy is this dude not made for this heat. Sweating like a pig. Seriously. He comes into the office in the afternoon looking like he has been running through the sprinklers. Huffing and puffing with a weary sadness in his eyes like he might soon cry. I’m really kind of blown away that he has been with us for almost a year now. Again, time sure flies.
STORMS!!!!
Friday we got RAIN!!! It was absolutely amazing. The forecast called for 40% chance of evening showers. Well, right about 1 o’clock you could feel the atmosphere change. The clouds suddenly reached their saturation point and began to grow and grow and grow. Next thing I know there are thunderstorms all around us. You could see distant rain and lightning. And finally it reached us. And boy was it wonderful. It came down in sheets. Cats & dogs. The smell instantly placed me in a good mood. The sound of thunder, oh how I’d missed you. I was transported to heaven. The hot August day suddenly became my kind of day. It was so unexpected and I really needed it. The area really needed it. Work productivity was put on the back burner so I could enjoy it out side. I even drove around in it. Allowed myself to get soaked in it. Such a great way to finish a long work week. The sun stayed hidden and it felt like fall all evening. It was simply amazing.
Poor wet kid.
So the weekend rolled around. Nothing too exciting. Bekah and I took care of everything we needed to do early Saturday. Picked up my mom’s dogs from the Country club for Dogs. They were thrilled. We had a late lunch and met a couple from the air force. Floridians. They were day drinking and they got us to join them. Unsolicited tequila shots. Yikes. Bekah was down for the count by 8:30. With no objecting I was able to watch my fair share of horror films. Pontypoll. An obscure classic. Sunday was typical. Chores before the week’s arrival. We really need to take a trip somewhere…
Happy pups
Doofus
Jalapeño!!!!!!
Steak fajita & queso. This was simple deliciousness. Topped off with some Julio’s green sauce. Can’t go wrong.
Skillet King Ranch chicken without tortillas. Saves you a lot of time cooking it like this. Only complaint was that it came out more like a soup, but the flavors were superb. I will make this again. Bekah said it was too hot to be edible. Oops.
Chicken Tikka Masala. I’ll add this to my list of comfort foods. It’s also just so simple to make. Looks and sounds fancy but it takes like, 10 min to cook.
Eggroll stir-fry. One of Bekah’s favorites. Deconstructed eggrolls.
Teriyaki tenderloin with soy marinated mushrooms and sriracha broccoli. The steak was perfect in all ways.
Cocktail of the week: Vodka lemonade w/ a splash of grenadine. .
It’s
hot. Really f***ing hot! We had a good thing going this summer. We had it pretty mild. We had some good rain. August rolls around and all that is put to an
end. Heat advisories. Day after day of 100+ temperatures. 17 days in a row. A slight reprieve on Wednesday. 99.
Woot woot!! COLD FRONT! Than back to 100+. No end in sight for the foreseeable
future. Just blistering heat. How many times have I now mentioned in my
blog that I hate summer? It’s worth saying
again. I hate summer. I am longing for fall.
The weather had me on my toes all
week. Tuesday I really thought we had a chance for rain. Left work and some ominous clouds had
presented themselves along the horizon.
Looked at the radar and it was promising. Never saw a drop. It dissipated before reaching us. All I got was a little distant thunder and
the fleeting fragrance of rain. Live
repeat the following evening. A little
distant lightning. It’s been a sad
stretch for this cloudy sky guy.
I suppose
I might actually be thankful that I was stuck in the office all week. At least I was not out melting. Wait, is that not a noisy Llama spitting
sunflower seed? Hmmmmmmm? Hard choice right there? Hard to really say. Sweat it out in the heat or listen to a man
with overactive glands spit seeds for three hours every afternoon? Maybe I would rather be out in the heat. I suppose it comes down to what I view as
most important to me. My mental
wellbeing or my physical wellbeing. I
can take a little heat. Can always cool
down in the AC. But the strain that this
flatulent airbag has on me… I’m
teetering towards the edge here. I guess
it could be worse. I could be looking at
him pick his nose all day. Someone help!!!!!!
August
is always rough. Work is more
hectic. It’s hot as hades outside. And something about the finality of
summer. Nostalgic bliss. A feeling that remains from my youthful
days. The closure of summer brings a
sting to my heart. Oh the days when
summer meant freedom. Long days riding
bikes & swimming. Playing video
games late night. Trips to the movie
theatres. Family vacations. All this coming to an end. Last night of summer I use to lay in bed
mentally reliving every adventure I’d had since school let out. Summer use to mean something to me. Now that I’m old it only means HOT!
Bekah decided it was time for a
new car. I don’t blame her one bit. The money we were having to put into her old
one just to keep it going was going to overcome the value of the car. Plus, I hated that thing. I’d have to fold myself up like a card table
and hunch over to see out the windshield.
It’s not a comfortable vehicle for someone as tall as I am. Plus I feel much better about her traveling
for work in the new SUV.
Also
regarding her, it seem I’ve been trying to kill my wife with the amount of
jalapeño that I’ve been incorporating into the food last week. With most dinners I leave hers jalapeño
free. I made Italian all week. She tells me that Italians do not cook with
jalapeño. I’m not Italian and I do cook
with jalapeño. I want my Italian to have
a bit of a kick. Well, I was asked to
please stop. I don’t know what the big
deal was? Nothing I was eating was
hot. Were we not having the same meals? What a baby!
I experimented with making salsa again. Basically discharged a pepper bomb in our kitchen that sent Bekah running outdoors into the heat coughing, eyes watering. I boiled and blended green and red peppers making a colorful spicy sauce. Really trying to match that Julio green sauce. Bekah had some ideas, being an Ozona girl. Which in retrospect is funny considering she asked me to stop cooking with jalapeño. 🙄 . Well it didn’t quite turn out like Julio’s, but it was good. Better than the last time. Made enough to freeze in 4 batches. Hopefully that will sustain me for 4 week. Who am I kidding, it won’t last me 2 weeks. I’ll try again then.
I had another date with the vampires. Vicious are the vampires. She had precision, I give her that. Just a slight prick and out comes my blood. I’m always a little fascinated watching the tubes fill. I know many people look away. Needles are something to be feared in most people’s eyes. But I’ve gotten use to them in the last 9 years. I stab myself at least once a day every day of the year. So I can tolerate the vampires when they do me quick & painless. I wish they all could be a good as this one was.
Another
doctor’s visit. This one was filled with
big laughs. Apparently I was a comedian
to both the nurse and my doctor. I was
on a roll. Not sure why. I guess when I’m nervous I say funny
things. I asked my doctor if there was a
reason why every outlet in the room was installed upside down or if it was just
to torment people that suffer from mild cases of OCD like myself. He had never noticed but it was now going to
bother him as well. At least in that
room they were all installed upside down so it was uniform. Why does it really matter? You can still plug in. The little things that get caught up in my
mind. I’m here blogging about upside
down outlets when I could disclose my lab results….
The weekend was rather lackluster. No complaints I suppose. Went to see the Lilly pads. If you’ve not noticed, I do that rather frequently. It’s a place I find relaxation and peace of mind. I also got a reminder to hit up the Farmers Market. I always forget to go. I only ever think about it too late. They had a lot of cool stuff. I picked up some jalapeño jam because, of course. Bought some really beautiful bougainvillea. They only made it about 5 min. Owen seemed to think they were for him and he ate them both. $40 well spent. I was pretty upset over that. Bekah made rice krispies treats to hand out to doctors & nurses on Sunday. Along with the pizza we ordered from Joe’s Italian, I had way too many carbs. I crashed at an uncharacteristically time. I actually made this weekend my last hurrah for carbs. I ate a LOT. I had pizza, enchilada, hamburger, nachos, and pasta. I feel like all I did was eat. Really lazy weekend.
RIP
Jalapeno Jam
Red
Jalapeño!!!!!!!
This
week I decided to make Italian the theme.
Bekah mentioned that I stopped making Italian foods and how when we
first started dating that was my specialty.
I use to make it all the time before I was diagnosed with type 1
diabetes. I mean, pasta! Not really ideal for my condition. So this was fun trying to cook around the
pasta. I had to throw one pasta dish in
though. Bekah says it was the meal that
sealed the deal. Lol
Spaghetti squash and spicy meat balls. I thought this was a damn fine meal but it was a little warm for my wife. So we ended up with leftovers that I ate for lunch the following two days. It was even better the second and third time.
Spinach manicotti. This is the meal Bekah fell in love with that I have not made in at least 10 years. Not only due to my conditions, it’s just kind of a pain in the butt to make. Boil noodles. Cook the spinach & let cool. Mix the stuffing. Stuff the noodles hoping they don’t tear. Make the marinara sauce. Combine and back the dish. So many steps. It turned out to be really good. Although I heard the complaint that is was a little “TOO” spicy. I’m getting use to this complaint.
Spicy chicken alfredo over steamed broccoli “no pasta”. My LORD was this a good meal. I had to make two separate sauces because I wanted my spicy and Bekah did not. Extra work for myself but well worth it.
Baked Italian chicken. With jalapeño. I was told that I’m the only person that would put peppers on this meal. Well guess what? They were excellent and added a nice flavor.
Chicken Marsala. What a treat this meal was. So much easier than I thought it would be too make. I’m not sure why the idea of cooking chicken marsala always seemed intimidating to me. It was such an easy meal with little prep time and so much flavor. I almost wanted to make this again over the weekend.
Cocktail of the Week: Strawberry daiquiri & Hard Root Beer
I’ve always had an open mind. Personally I find it limiting & silly to not be open to all possibilities. Think about how many times historically we have been proven wrong by limiting vision and beliefs. Earth was once thought to be the center of the universe. The Earth was once believed to be flat. (Okay, some people still believe this….) Lightning was said not to strike twice. Tell that to Roy Sullivan, the “human lightning rod” who has been jolted 7 times. Crystal Pepsi & New Coke… Yikes. That’s not really a belief that’s just an utter mistake that humanity needs to never forget. In an infinite universe anything imaginable is possible. I believe in God. I believe in science. I believe in extraterrestrials. I believe in alternative realities. I believe in pineapple on pizza. In desperate times, I believe in sardines & ice cream at 3am. I also believe in the supernatural. Ghost, ghouls & things that go bump in the night.
Believe it or not, I have a signed print of this in my office. And I paid A LOT for it. Bekah won’t let me put in the living room. 😦
Don’t
worry. I’m not the type of person that
follows all the Big Foot & mermaids stories. Alien abductions, while possible, are most
likely majority hoax. I don’t talk to
dead people or stalk the neighborhood at night with holy water, a cross & a
wooden stake. My guns are not loaded
with silver bullets. That zombie
survival guide on my table is just for fun. (It does actually have some pretty solid
ideas for surviving an actual cataclysmic event though.) I’ll never go looking for the Loch Ness
Monster. I’m a big horror fan. While the mythology of “monsters” is always
fun and interesting, I do not think that the chupacabra is lurking around the
Texas/Mexico border. If you believe in
all these things, that is awesome. I’m
not trying to discredit your encounter with a Mongolian death worm. If it came up and bit me on the a** I’d
believe in it too. I just need my
supernatural a little more grounded: ghost.
Spirits. I’ve had some experiences in my life that
cannot be “explained” by science. It all
started when I was a child…
The
disappearing thing. That’s what I use to
talk to my parents about. Mom says I was
around 3 when I started trying to describe it to her. Whenever a toy would end up missing I would
say that the disappearing thing took it.
I was never afraid of it because it had always been there. My middle brother claimed to be able to see
it too but I don’t know if he did or just said he did because, younger
brother. I have not talked to him about
it. I need to. I’m not sure how old I was when I stopped
seeing it but I can still see it in my mind’s eye. An orb, purplish & translucent, that
floated near the ceiling. I know it
sounds ridiculous. Reading my own words
I can understand why doubt would set in.
I’m recalling childhood memories of something straight off of
Ghostbusters.
There was also the lady washing the dishes. How I now it was a lady, just a hunch. Many of nights I was awakened to the sound of handwashing dishes in the kitchen. We had a dishwasher. The two sounds are distinctive. And even if someone was hand washing dishes in the middle of the night, I doubt I would have been able to hear them in my bedroom on the opposite side of the house. But I would wake up and hear that sound. I’d crawl out of bed and creep to the hallway in the dark. No lights would be on in the house. Knowing something was amiss I would be very quiet. That exciting fear of the unknown coursing through my body. Moving as slowly as possible to not create a sound, I’d make my way to where the hallway meets the living room & peak around the corner to view the kitchen. The sound would abruptly stop. Nothing to be seen. Oh boy did I ever high tail it to my parent’s room or back to my bed to hide under the covers. I developed a theory that the lady that lived in our house before us died in it and it was her washing the dishes. As kids with imaginations tend to do, I made up all sorts of back stories. I even had myself convinced that she died in the front room because that room always gave off a scary vibe when I was little. It was the spare bedroom so no one really spent time in it. The least lived in room in the house always dark. Funny how it eventually became my room when I grew older.
The Nightmare by Henry Fuseli
I was
around the age of 7 when I first had my experience with sleep paralysis. If you know nothing about sleep paralysis,
let me tell you it’s a freaking nightmare.
It’s bad enough as an adult, but as a kid not knowing what’s happening,
it’s as frightening as coming face to face with a nightmare. Most generic
definition: it’s the inability to move or speak while either falling to or
waking from sleep. Also it’s often
accompanied by visions or hallucinations because your mind is still somewhat in
dreamland. When I was a kid I thought I
was being held down by… something. A
poltergeist. I didn’t know what. I’d wake up, unable to move. I would begin to panic. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Like something was pushing down on my
chest. I couldn’t scream for help. I was powerless. I would eventually be able to wiggle
some. How I managed to break the spell
was wiggle myself towards the edge of the bed and eventually I would fall to
the floor. The impact would bring me
fully to consciousness and I could move again.
I never told my parents about this when I was a kid. They were rather shocked when I told them as
an adult that I’d been diagnosed with it and had always had it just never knew
what was going on. The things we don’t
tell our parents when we are kids. Over
the years learning more about my condition I’ve found that mine is mild
compared to others. I just have it maybe
once every other year. Sometimes much
less often. And I can wake myself
easier. No more impacting with the
floor. But some people that suffer from
the extremes don’t believe the psychological proof. They still believe a demon is haunting
them. Who can say? At the time it’s certainly believable. Am I haunted?
My high
school years were a bit different. No
longer a child, I became more of a sceptic and shrugged strange happenings off
as nothing. I would choose to ignore. I was telling Bekah about how on many
occasions street lights would turn off when I’d drive under them and my 17 year
old self didn’t find that peculiar. I’d
wake up to in bed (the front bedroom) only to see a shadow, a darkness darker
than the room itself, looming over my bed.
I’d just close my eyes and tell myself it’s nothing, go back to sleep. Pictures in the house would always be moved
and facing opposite directions. Oh how
someone in the house must love playing pranks on my mom. That’s all it must be. The occasional sounds in the house that would
have scared the crap out of me as a kid were nothing more than the sound of
settling. As a teenager, I had other
more important things on my mind.
Girls. Ghost are just something
made up to scare little kids. They are
not real.
College
days in Lubbock, TX. A bit of a dry
spell. To be honest, which I clearly am
with this blog, these were my party years.
If anything did take place I either told myself it was because I was
under the influence or I simply don’t remember, because I was under the
influence. There was this one time in the dorms though…
Let me take a break from the supernatural and talk about dorms in general. What strange places dorms are anyway? I’m not talking about what the kids have now. They have it made. What we had. They just throw people that don’t know each other together. Sure, I met some interesting individuals. My roommate I knew from childhood. Everyone else… We were on the only wing of the band dorms that didn’t have band members. It led to some interesting dynamics. I remember walking out into the hall and seeing rope tied from one door to the other across the hall. Our RA’s dorm. It seemed someone wanted to keep him prisoner in his own room for the night. Who am I to interfere? (I also recall someone used his door as a urinal on multiple occasions. Poor guy.) Another time someone leaned a 32 gallon trash can full of water against a buddy’s door. When they opened it their room was flooded. Lucky that they were slobs and the 1 ft. layer of dirty clothes they had on the floor soaked up all the water. During the weekends some degenerate f*** would throw all the toilet paper in the community bathroom into the toilets. Paper wasn’t restocked until Monday. We eventually had to keep our own supply in our rooms for the weekend. The elevator never worked so it was always the stairs. After a few too many drinks that was a lot of fun. I thought I was climbing Everest one night. For a month there was a TV in the hallway plugged in and playing nothing but static. Not weird at all. Someone kept putting empty pizza boxes in our dorm mail box. Probably in protest to my roommate leaving them in the hall outside our room only 10 ft. from the trash cans. And what about all the times I found some student outside their room drunk without a key to get inside. Too many. I’d go downstairs to the lobby to check out an extra key for them. Which was always alarming that they would give me a key to someone else’s room. Let me not get started on the community showers. GROSS!!! My parking was 13min away so I would have to walk in a blizzard just to get to my dorm. I was on the list to get my dorm parking and eventually in May I was granted. IN MAY!!!!
Sorry
about that little rant, I got carried away.
So back to the story. There was
this one time I was in the community showers.
It was at night. Well actually it
was more like somewhere between 2-3am. I
had been up studying for finals and my body and soul were exhausted. Allowing the warm water to wash away my
weariness, the lights went off. I was
left in total darkness. I remember
thinking to myself “oh great”. Nothing
like stumbling around in total darkness wearing nothing but a towel. As I hastily tried to dry myself off, I
noticed a sound. The oh-so familiar
creek of the handicap stall door opening.
I was the only one in the room and I would have heard the entrance door
open because it also is noisy. You can
hear if over a shower running. I stopped
breathing. I noticed I’d stopped drying
myself off. I am no one to normally let
a little darkness frighten me, but at that moment my heart was pounding and I
was wide awake. Not a sound to be heard
for I don’t know how long. And suddenly
BANG!! The stale door slammed shut. I half a** threw my towel on and bee lined it
to the entrance through the dark. I
stood in the lighted hallway staring back at the bathroom entrance anticipating
someone to come out but they never did.
And I have to admit I was too unnerved to take a peak back inside. I went back to my room, put on some clothes
and laid in bed. Staring at the ceiling
and not finding sleep I finally broke down and took a sleeping pill. The next morning I tried to shrug it off but
I just couldn’t. Tried to convince
myself someone was in there playing a prank on me. But I know that I was alone. Thinking back on all the things I’ve
experienced, that might have been the only time as an adult that I was actually
scared. I’ve been creeped out, but never
really frightened. Maybe it was the vulnerability
of being naked and in pitch black darkness?
I’m going to fast forward about 10 years. I was back to my home town. I had met the woman that was to be my wife. One thing Bekah and I have in common is our shared belief in spirits. She is pretty in touch. If anything, connecting with her helped me become reacquainted with my own experiences that I’d managed to write off since high school. When I first brought her over to my parents’ house she could sense something before I even brought it up. She also did not like being in the house alone at night. I told her it’s nothing malicious unless stealing toys from toddler’s counts. Nevertheless, she didn’t care for it. There were also some weird things that happened where she worked. We both had a shared moment that really brought us together. We later moved into a rental together. Nothing really happened to me in the house. Bekah seemed more in tuned with this one.
We eventually
bought a house and have now been living in it for a little over a year
now. We are both pretty certain the old
man that lived in it before us likely passed away in it. No big deal.
But a funny thing. Bekah has not
experienced anything while I have. I
hear things from time to time. I was
awakened by the sound of tapping on the walls.
It sounded like it was right outside the bedroom in the hallway. When I went to investigate, the sound was now
coming from the living room. When I got
there it was now coming from the kitchen.
Peaking around the corner the sound stopped. The house was silent. This was an all too familiar moment. It brought me way back to the
dishwashing. I never felt anything
threatening so I just went back to bed.
Not so long ago I had a repeat of that night. A few weeks ago I saw something. It was late and I was in the spare bathroom
taking my meds when out of the corner of my eye I saw Bekah walk into the
bedroom. I thought absolutely nothing of
it. Imagine my shock when I walk out of
the bathroom to see her sitting on the couch watching TV in the living room. I spun around towards the bedroom and it was
empty. I just stood there for a
while. Dumbstruck. I eventually made my way to the living room
and sat on the couch opposite of her.
She could tell something was wrong and I told her. Her reaction was one of frustration because
she never experiences anything anymore.
She seems to think maybe it is I that is haunted and not the house. Whatever the case, I was just a bit unsettled
by this development. I know I saw
something walk by. But the house was
empty except for us and the two dog & cat that were in the living room with
Bekah. Let’s just say I made myself a
stiff drink to settle my shaken nerves.
There
are other instances I could write about but this is already WAY too long. I wasn’t planning on writing a book, it just
happened. Maybe on a later date I’ll
recap. You can call me a charlatan. And that’s fine. You can think I’m crazy. I don’t really care. I’m sure you can come up with many
explanations for what I’ve experienced if you try. If that makes you feel better, go for it. I
quite frankly can’t believe I’m writing about this on a platform anyone can
read. But heck! I don’t get to discuss this with anyone but
Bekah and a very select handful of other people. Why not take the load off my chest. And it’s fun.
So keep an open mind. You never
know what you might find.
Red Jalapeño!!!!!!!!!!!
Beautiful.
This week we decided to do a little bit of cleaning out the fridge and pantry. Lots of experimentation. First up was actually a truly exceptional meal. Chicken, cream of chicken, broccoli, onion, red jalapeño and curry. The sauce was amazing with all the other ingredients. I will make this again. Simple!
This meal, although it did taste “okay” was kind of a flop. More broccoli & Schwan’s frozen beef tips & gravy we had in the freezer. That meat is very good for stroganoff. Not what I did with it here. I mistakenly cooked it in the skillet with the broccoli. The meat broke down to a pulp. The texture was a bit off setting. I wasn’t impressed. I will not make this again. But guess what? We actually had leftover that I could eat for lunch the next day. Barf!
Grilled chicken, onion, with red & green jalapeño. Topped with sharp cheddar and something precious. Julio’s green sauce!!! How could this mean not be good? And again, leftovers. This time because the meal was too HOT for Bekah. They were even better the next day.
Seasoned ground beef over baked beans. Doesn’t get simpler than that. I was left satisfied.
My first attempt at making crab cakes and I’m so glad I did. A little on the expensive side, but after a week cleaning out the fridge and pantry I felt justified. Without a doubt I’ll make this again.
I use
to work with a crabby old hag. Let’s
call her “Morticia”. Intolerable in most
cases. Remarkable in her ability to
complain. That is all she did, 8 hours
out of the day. Probably all waking
hours. As soon as someone was out of earshot,
she would all too eagerly have something bad to say about them. And talk badly about people was certainly her
“thing”. I don’t know how many times I
had to tell her to “dial it back” because she was talking about a friend of
mine. Seriously, if you had a single
dealing with her in person or over the phone, she was going to bad mouth you
about something. Everyone on campus was
“eaten up with the dumbass”. I never
understood how one person could be so miserable. Bekah loved it when I came home with a new
Morticia story.
Oh how
many times I would come back from lunch to find sneaker prints on my desk. Morticia thought she was clever. When we left for lunch she would climb onto
my desk and set the clock forward. Old
lady going to break a hip doing that!
For reason beyond my imagination, it drove her batty that we would leave
for lunch ten till twelve. I suppose the
crone believed that by doing so she would trick us into actually leaving for
lunch right at noon. Like none of us
have phones or the time right in front of us on a computer screen. She could have at least covered her tracks
and wiped my desk clean. Laughable!!!!
When my
boss was on leave recovering from surgery, Morticia believed she was in
charge. Old lady on a power trip. She was on everyone’s back like some mean
grandmother. You need to do this! You need to do that! I just wanted to scream: “No.
No I don’t. I will continue to do
what I am doing because that is how the job rolls. You don’t know my job. Don’t pretend like you suddenly know my
job. You just go back into your office
and get behind your desk with your book and hush because you ARE DRIVING ME
CRAZY!!!!” Suddenly someone wants to
micromanage me? I think not! ! I
jokingly said that I was going to take the rest of the day off. No one else was at work that day. SHE THREW A FIT!!! I just laughed in her face. Seeing an old woman have a temper tantrum
like a toddler that doesn’t get the cookie is a funny thing to behold. Funny, but also kind of sad. She “tattled” on us when my boss returned. About what?
Who cares? My boss didn’t care. And I sure did love telling my boss how
hilarious and aggravating Morticia was when he wasn’t there. How she was sneaking around in order to
eavesdrop on conversation. I even found
her hiding behind a shelf one day. We had
a good laugh out of it. Funny that she
was always 30 min late in the mornings, after lunch, and leaving the job when
he was gone. That was all A-OKAY.
A humorous
thing: she didn’t seem to think anyone was ever doing their jobs. That was one of her biggest complaints. “Well, if they were doing their jobs this
wouldn’t happen.” How many times did I
hear her say this, you ask?
Countless. If I had a dollar…
the saying goes. And this wasn’t just a
complaint in our office. It was people
in purchasing. Accounts payable. Facilities.
THE PRESIDENTS OFFICE!!!
According to her, basically no one on campus was doing a f***ing
thing. The irony is that she was in her
office reading, watching Netflix, gossiping & complaining on the phone and
REALLY working hard. Yet… no one else
works around here? What a joke!!
And she
must have been the neighbor from hell.
Talk about a busybody. When she got
new neighbors she invented theories on what they must do to be able to afford
the mortgage. He delivered pizza and she
was a nurse. No way could they afford
the house, so he must be dealing drugs on the side. Or maybe he was in witness protection? I can’t make this s*** up. The poor neighbor’s happened to have dogs
that occasionally barked. Every time
they did she would call the police. She
would also spray them with a watering hose. I have a friend that temporarily shared close
proximity with Morticia. She would hear
the same complaints about the dogs all day because Morticia would call everyone
she knew and have a repeat conversation.
It was borderline obsessive how she complained about those dogs. When they finally moved, no question because
of the harassment, I had to wonder how Morticia filled the void in her life
left by the missing dog. I’m sure it
didn’t take her long to find something else to complain about.
Speaking of that friend. She had the cutest little girl that she would bring to the office with her occasionally. While this little girl brought a great joy to the rest of us in the office, it did nothing but infuriate Morticia. She would complain, complain, complain, and complain. She eventually took it up with Human Resources. She was, I quote “Looking out for the best interest of the university”. Her worry was that something might happen to the little girl on campus property and if something did happen, who’s to say that the parents would not sue the university for damages done. Clever. Nothing gets to HR like a possible lawsuit.
For the 7 years in which I worked with her she had nothing but hateful things to say about the university. No one ever gave her any appreciation so she would be damned if anyone threw a retirement party for her. Absolutely adamant that that would not happen. So guess what? We aimed to grant her wishes. Just have a little thing for her with our group. Goodness me, that is what you said for how many years. It’s got to be true that you don’t want a party!!! Well guess what? HELL NO! She wanted a dang party! She cried to her daughter about no one throwing her a retirement party. All that she did for this place over the years. Boohoo!!! Waaaaaaaaaaah!! Daughter being who she is decided to take action into her own hand. Likely under the influence, she sent an e-mail to the president. Oh the outrage! You guys are not throwing a retirement party for my mother who has worked for you over 30 years. She never gets any appreciation for how hard she has worked for you! Yep. That worked! Phone calls later she was getting that retirement party. And it made all of us look like real jerks. It just so happened that I was on PTO and didn’t get to the party. I heard it was a real blast.
All in
all, Morticia was actually a rather entertaining person to work with. There was never a dull moment in the
office. We only ever had problems a few
times. Although she didn’t have much kind
things to say about people on campus, it was funny witnessing someone so bent
out of shape over every little thing.
She would lose her s*** over the most mundane things. The problem came down to this: Morticia was
institutionalized. She had been here for
far too long. I suppose for some,
longevity produces negativity. Instead
of seeing the positive of being in the same place for so long, she only saw the
slights that she apparently received. This
entry is harsh, but it’s also very honest. To accurately describe Morticia, honesty is
key. She is a character that I will not
forget. Her defining traits might sound
crabby. My description of her might make
her sound like a b****. But she still
had heart. Break through all that hard
tempered exterior and you find someone not tainted by whatever in life
transformed her into such a Negative Nelly.
That person hidden within I called friend.
Red
Jalapeño!!!!!
Bunless BBQ burger. Pretty much wanted to try and fix the wrong I did with the BBQ meatballs form last week. This turned out much better.
Grilled some chicken with red jalapeño, green bell peppers & onion. Threw some sharp cheddar over them while still on the grill. I used the salsa I made with the red jalapenos. Good meal
Lemony asparagus chicken stir-fry. Yum!!!
Seared Ahi tuna salad. Kind of looks gross, doesn’t it?
Lazy nachos. Had plans, got lazy.
Pizza!!! The red jalapeño really tied this one altogether. I usually only make my pizza when Bekah is gone. Not sure why. I suppose I’m the pizza addict in the house. Well, she thought it was a real treat and I think my Slavic friend is going to press me to make her one for her birthday next month.
Caribbean jerk pork tenderloin. This was the meal I was supposed to make Friday that somehow go pushed back to Sunday.
Stuck
in the office. Oh you know it’s my
favorite kind of week. So many
pleasantries it’s absurd. I just wish I
could skip that week. I find it
revolting. I do not comprehend how my
coworkers look forward to this week.
Wait a second! Yes I do! It’s because they don’t like to get up off
their a**. I suppose if I was a
sedentary lazy person, that week I would have it made. But I am not.
I can’t even sit still when I am at the house. I like to be doing something. Moving around. So office week is a personal hell for
me. Made ever more so by the
enlightening conversations that go on around me most the day. At least my cussing coworker is fairly
humorous. When he took the afternoon off
because he didn’t want to “look at the Llama pick his nose for the rest of the
afternoon” I seriously laughed out loud.
And who can blame him. The guy
digs deep.
Found
some ripe red jalapeños at HEB. Is it
sad that I got excited by the sight of peppers?
That I was so excited I immediately had to tell people via text
message? Actually, don’t answer
that. Seldom do you find red jalapeños,
so it was a much unexpected delight.
Because they matured on the vine longer they get their red color. IMO, they are significantly different from
their green counter parts. They have
more heat and they are sweet. If you see
these in the store do not pass them up.
Bekah
has started working out in the afternoons again. That means I’m in solitude till about
7pm. While that might seem appealing to
some of you (and it is on days that I have had TOO much at work!!), I mostly am
just bored. I get home and promptly jump
out of my work clothes for shorts, sandals & t-shirt. I have 2 hours before I get any
conversation. Sure, I could call
someone. I could talk to my dogs. And I do at times. Hazel at least looks interested unlike Owen
who’s perpetual head tilt tells me he is lost in the clouds. But who really wants a one sided
conversation. Not me!! So I turn on music. Hopefully I have dinner to prep. That keeps me occupied. I might (probably) have myself an adult
beverage. Possibly get out a book to
read. I should probably find something
more to do with this time. Honestly
though, after work I just want to go home and get comfortable. Not to mention that it’s HOT this time of
year. I don’t want back out in it. I guess I’ll take the afternoon workouts over
the morning. Waking up consecutively every
morning at 4am wasn’t ideal. I’m not
really sure what I’m ranting about here.
Anyone else bored after work?
Should I go back to watching the Weather Channel from 5-7 to pass the
time? Or I could start recording music
again.
My
friend Jamie gave me some really good seasoning. Best Stop Cajun Seasoning. I’ve been wanting some of my own for a while
now but it can only be obtained in Louisiana.
Lucky for me she got a BIG shipment from some friends passing
through. Generous of her considering how
long she has been trying to replenish her supply. Hopefully I can now make my Gumbo like she
made it. What a blunder mine turned out
to be.
On a
comical note: my corporate card was once again hacked. So were 3 of my coworkers. It’s only been 2 months since this happened
last. To add to the hilarity, it was
charged to a place called Crooks.
$.98… Now I get to have fun
updating everything again. I think I’d
just finished doing that from the last time.
Can’t wait to be told by the higher ups that I’ve done something
wrong. To save my friend in purchasing
some trouble, I took care of matter myself.
She has enough on her plate. Had
to expedite the card since I’m purchasing next.
My purchasing friend got an “eye rolling laugh” out of it Crooks. I think I’ll still give her some mints
though. This is a busy time of year for
her and she will have to report this.
Like she doesn’t have enough to do.
I’ll being seeing my 4th card soon…. On the plus side, my card arrived before
anyone else’s which means I was the only runner and I was able to get the hell
out of the office.
Wednesday – Friday mornings we got a taste of fall in the month of July. I’m not sure what the actual low was but both mornings that I left the house it was 61. Was this guy happy? You bet he was!!! I felt a childhood excitement rush over me. A brief tease of fall that is still far far away. When that brisk air hit my face the color orange flashed in my mind. The color of pumpkins! My favorite time of year. I just can’t get here soon enough. Not to mention the unexpected showers on Monday. This weather geek was a happy camper.
Weekend was rather unproductive and went too quickly even though I took an extra day. I somehow managed to sleep in till 11 on Saturday. I don’t sleep in so I must have needed it. But over sleeping left me groggy all day. I could not snap out of it. I just felt worthless. Sunday morning Bekah made me breakfast and I made some hot sauce with some of the red jalapeño. I think it turned out okay. Just left it basic. Didn’t want to over salt it. Monday I had to move a 100 plus pound dog. Poor guy is getting old. What do you do when your 100 pound dog can get up and move around on his own. Sad thoughts. Today, Tuesday, feels like Monday. I only thought I could hide from it. Hope the week moves on fast. August is almost here, and it looks to be a hot one. No rain in the future.
Red Jalapeño
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BBQ grilled meat balls. This was kind of a letdown to me. I had high hopes and after eating this meal I don’t think I will be making them again. At least it was a fun experiment. Maybe it would have been better had I used ground chicken? Who knows…?
Teriyaki chicken Asian salad w/ a sesame ginger dressing. Just a simple grab from HEB. Chicken marinated for 24 hours.
Sweet chili chicken. I’ve eyeballed this at HEB for a long time
but for some reason I have an aversion pre-marinated chicken. I guess the idea was that I could always do
it better? I don’t know. I eat the marinated pork tenderloin so what’s
the difference. Pretty snobby attitude
to have towards food I realized so I finally grabbed this off the shelf. Let me tell you I was pleasantly surprised
and will purchase again. If you are
interested in what I’m talking about here is a link to the dish:
Taco Salad w/ queso. Why in the world I never poured queso on a taco salad before is beyond me. I told myself it’s because the lettuce would wilt, but that makes no sense because the warm taco meat would do the same. I guess I was just being willfully dense. Anyway, what a dish this became.
White wine Worcestershire sauce. Anyone remember this stuff? How fantastic it complements chicken. Good luck finding it. I still have a bottle that is remarkable still good. Anyway, this was one of our go to meals. Chicken with that sauce, sweet potato w/Greek yogurt, and a sweet kale salad.
Shrimp seasoned with Best Stop. Really really good. I’m pretty anxious to try the seasoning on some fish next. Nice heat & great flavors.
What an unexpected weekend. I didn’t just go home and cook in the kitchen and watch TV. It wasn’t uninteresting. It was unfamiliar in a good way. After a mundane week it was just what I needed.
Need a bike?
We went dancing Friday. Two-stepping to end Alzheimer’s thrown by Bekah’s work. We were amongst the elderly. Maybe the sole group under 60. I was waiting for someone to break a hip. The music wasn’t my cup of tea. Lots of fiddle. But you know what? I had a lot of fun!!! The amount of happiness inside the dance hall was palpable. All the love in the air. Old couples staring into each other’s eyes moving to the music like young lovers. It was a cute sight to see. My fear that I’d go insane by the nights end was baseless. Bekah was somehow shocked when I first asked her to dance. Like we were going to go to a dance but not dance? Maybe she figured she would have to coax me into two-stepping and the shock came from me asking her only 5-10 min into the band playing. Speaking of the band, Jody Nix & the Texas Cowboys. Again, not my music, but I was entertained by his showmanship. SO much fiddle! He was treated like a dadgum celebrity! All these grandmothers were blushing in his presence. I also found it rather humorous that so many of these old men completely blew off the “do not bring alcohol into the premises” ordinance. Bottles of whiskey galore. I stuck with beers. Not many, they were 4 bucks a pop. Just enough to loosen up my dance moves. I put my cowboy boots to good use. Great time dancing the night away. Also, it was for a good cause. All proceeds went to the American Alzheimer’s Association, and it brought in just over 10 thousand.
So much dancing!
After the dance it was decided that pizza was in store. Couldn’t pick one topping so we ordered two. Pepperoni, pineapple, and jalapeño. Chicken, alfredo, and jalapeño. Gave way too much money for the tip because I was feeling high from the night’s excitement. Pizza guy: “Are you serious?” Me: “Yes sir! I’ve had a good night.” Made the pizza dude really happy. Unfortunately, they forgot the jalapeños on one of the pizzas. Fortunately, I have a lot of jalapeños in the house to save the day. Overall a great night.
Love the alfredo, no jalapeno
Fixed!
Saturday I got up to check out the lily park and get my oil changed. Saw a familiar face at the park. A face I use to see in the paper all the time. One whose words were always a joy to read. Although it was nice to see that face, it was also bittersweet. From the lily park I went to my usual place to have my oil changed. After waiting 30 min I was told that they do not have the means to change my oil at the time. Perturbed but hell bent on finally changing my oil, this being the 2nd failed attempt which I don’t care to get into, I went somewhere else and waited 40 min. At least I had a burrito, terrible as it was. Oh, and the news to keep me company. I forgot how terrible network news is and remembered why I have nothing to do with it. Such doom & gloom. I’d rather not. Ignorance is bliss.
Next it was off to the art museum. My sister-in-law went with us. It was her first visit. They had a new exhibit that really didn’t wow me like I was hoping. Nevertheless, we had a good time looking at some of the sculptures and pictures. Someone proposed on the roof in the summer sun! Bekah had tears. After the art we needed a late lunch. Went to a location that is a coin toss. You either have a good or bad experience. There is no in-between. We took the chance and were all pleasantly surprised. When we finished lunch it was decided that another slumber party was to be had. It was a good thing that I had some steaks in the fridge already marinating. The girls wanted to play Skip-Bo. I’m usually pretty good at this game, but my sister-in-law beat me every time. I’m going to blame it on the bad music playing. How many times in a row can you listen to George Michaels sing Careless Whisper? 4-5 times isn’t excessive? Nah… I about wanted to shoot myself. And don’t even get me started on the Eagles. Unpopular opinion but… garbage!!! So while they continued to play games and listen to bad music, I heated up the grill and began working on dinner. Everything turned out really good and with food in the belly’s we got together to watch IT: Chapter One. It wasn’t long before the couch claimed them both and I was the last man standing.
Dog
Don’t smoke
View
Skip-Bo
Steaks
Lunch
It was a nice fun weekend. Sunday came and went so fast and now I am sitting at work stuck in my office listening to one man’s heavy breathing and another man cussing. C’est la vie!!! At least it rained!
Jalapeño!
Chinese spare ribs. These turned out really great. Making them was interesting. The marinade asked for red food coloring. I vacuum sealed the ribs and they looked like something straight out of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Looked like a bag of blood and guts in my fridge for 2 days. Unnecessary step, but I wanted them to look like the real deal. I guess I never really paid much attention of authentic Chinese spare ribs being red.
Wagyu Helper. Yes, you read that right. I used Wagyu beef for Hamburger Helper. Sacrilege you say? I might not disagree. I had to do it. Bekah said it was the best helper that she had ever had. The beef was tenderer than the noodles. Fancying dining!
Chimichurri chicken. A great Argentine sauce that just complements chicken. Also, such an easy dish to make.
Teriyaki beef tenderloins. I had these marinating for over a day. Just a light sear to perfection.
Let’s talk about hot sauce. As you have probably guessed from the amount of jalapeño that I eat, I am also a MAJOR fan of hot sauces. It’s rare that I find one I don’t like. (Hello burrito place in Fredericksburg, barf.) And the thing about hot sauces is there are so many varieties. You have the traditional tomato based red sauce. The warmer chili based green sauces. (My favorite!!) Vinegar based Louisiana sauces such as Tabasco. Asian sauces like sriracha & gochujang, that have a more paste like texture and sweetness to them. I could go one and on. I love them all and they each have their place in the kitchen. You should see how many different styles and varieties I have at the house. Hey, if Bekah has her tubs of cottage cheese, I can have my hot sauce rack. It’s only fair. In this blog I am going to discuss some of my favorite and even talk about how to make your own.
Some of what’s regularly in my fridge!
Let’s begin with my favorite: the green sauce. I’m not talking about tomatillos based salsa verde. While that does have its place, I plan on discussing the chili based green sauce. With some exceptions, store bought green sauce is a total dud. If that is your only experience with green sauce go bang your head against a wall. We probably can’t be friends. This is one that you really need to have fresh. And you better like it HOT because that’s what you get with a really good green sauce. It’s a true marvel of culinary simplicity. Cook hatch or jalapeño chilies, tomato, and salt to taste. It’s as simple as that. Green sauce pretty much goes with anything. I put it on everything: steak, chicken, burritos, and nachos. It practically belongs on eggs! Heck, even a baked potatoes benefits from it. Very versatile. Sadly I really only have a few options in town when it comes to green sauce so it’s always a treat to get something different from afar. Lucky for me I have a friend with resources that doesn’t mind sharing. Thankful.
Tomato based salsa is pretty much available everywhere to varying quality. I do indeed love tomato salsa, but its second tier to the green. Don’t get me wrong, I love this sauce. If I’m at a Mexican restaurant this stuff is going town like water. Salsa bars? Forget about it! Bekah can make a really great sauce. For whatever reason she doesn’t make it anymore. I need to talk her into making it again. I remember being totally impressed by it when we first started dating. At that point in my life I’d never tired making it myself so it was a little mind blowing to have her homemade sauce taste like a good restaurants sauce. Of course, she is from Ozona. I can’t really say that I have a favorite hot sauce. Get it in a restaurant. Store bought, again, not really a thing for me. Julio’s might be the sole exception. I wish they sold their green.
As far
as Louisiana sauces go, my favorite has always been Red Devil. It’s been my go to ever since my middle
brother introduced it to me sometime in 2003.
It’s a little less vinegary and has a sweetness not found in many of its
contemporaries. When I was in college
& meals were often frozen (pizza) I was hooked on this stuff. I was probably only tasting Red Devil and not
the meal itself, which might have been for the best actually. Back in those days when I still had taste
buds this was considered warm to me. Now
I could probably fill a shot glass and throw this back without feeling a thing.
Maybe it’s nostalgia that keeps me coming back for it. What also deserve a mention is green Cholula
sauce. That stuff is yummy. If you are a fan of these style of hot sauce
& want to hurt yourself might I suggest you try Spontaneous
Combustion. Have you ever had strep
throat? I have! That is what this feels like. Now you probably wonder what the heck is
wrong with me & why in the world I would be recommending something that
makes you feel that way. If you have
been reading my blog this should come as no surprise to you. Masochism maybe? I say be brave.
Asian
sauces are a totally different beast.
Sriracha is one of my go-to condiments.
It doesn’t have to be strictly Asian foods. I’ve enjoyed it on my pizza from time to
time. It’s also essential in one of the
marinades I make. Just adds a subtle heat
(at least, to me) with some sweetness.
Oddly at one time I couldn’t stand the taste of sriracha. I cringed at it. Belittled it.
Used cuss words to describe its flavor.
It was bile disguised as a condiment.
Than one day “Walla!!” I was
suddenly a lifelong fan. Had I always
liked it and just refused to accept it?
Was it because my hipster brother ranted and raved on about its rightful
place in the kitchen? I realized that I
was willfully neglecting myself all these years. Shame on me!
Now its ridicules how much of this stuff I go through. Heck, I’m using it tonight!
So have
some hot sauce please! Make your taste
buds sing. Push yourself to new
levels! Live a happy life! You deserve it!!!!!
Jalapeño!
Note: Theme for the
week. Making dinner with and empty
fridge. With the exception of orange
chicken, everything else was just thrown together last min. Didn’t notice that until I typed this out.
Gochujang chicken. This meal was a result of pretty much nothing being left in our fridge but proteins, onion, jalapeños and bookoos of condiments. I hadn’t gone to the store since our Alpine trip. Partially because I was being lazy but also because I went WAY over my budget on that trip. Some of the best meals I’ve made have been the result of an empty fridge. No choice but to eat bland, or experiment by throwing things together. This certainly turned out to be quite a delight. If you haven’t yet had gochujang.
Steak with queso. Another result of an empty fridge. Just burning through our frozen meats. Nothing at all wrong with this meal. All natural tenderloin that I marinated for 24 hours. Leftover velveta from the queso burger
Orange chicken stir-fry. Always a go-to meal for me. I finally made it to the store. I don’t think I had a choice at this point. Some essentials were depleted. While there I grabbed what I needed for this meal. I’ve made it so many times I know the ingredients offhand. Probably one of the best meals that I make. If you want me to cook for you, this is probably one to pick. If you can handle those Thai chilies. I’m not going to dumb this one down for the sake of your uninitiated taste buds.
Fajita chicken topped with that tasty green sauce I got from Jamie & Derek. A very warm delight. I thank them both for the treat. More please!!!! Another meal made because the fridge was bare.
Grilled tuna with a sweet soy reduction served with jalapeño and a salad I made with some leftover mung bean sprouts. Bekah made us sticky rice! I was having some blood sugar issues on & off all day so I was able to indulge in some carbs. Also, empty fridge. I finally went to the store Saturday.
Cocktail of the Week: Pina Colada!! Pina Colada day was July 10th so no brainer.
Off to Alpine, TX for the long 4th of July weekend. The entire family and some very close friends. It was a very full house. So much laughter was had. Catching up on old times and making new memories. It’s always a good time when our two families get together. The last time we were all together in Alpine was my wedding. Lots of good drinks and good food. There were two people that were noticeably absent. My father and brother from another mother. We did toast to them many of times. They were there in spirit.
Rock hunting
How Bekah felt come Sunday
Our dining experiences were a true delight. Being that it was the 4th of course we were going to grill. We had hamburgers, steaks, hot dogs. All sorts of sides. We ate out often. Alpine has some really great restaurants. If I had only one meal I would be hard pressed to say where I would choose. Probably the Reata only because of the nearly 2 decades of memories I have in that place. Speaking of the Reata, we had an interesting experience Friday night. There was a gun fight. No joke. A group of traveling actors dressed in full western wear decided to shoot it out. It wasn’t a quiet dining experience with guns blazing but it was entertaining in the fact that it was very bizarre.
The people of Alpine have always been the best. Such an eclectic group. You have the ranchers, the hippies, the artist, etc. All of them sharing a bar together in harmony. The owner of Harry’s Tinaja remark on how humble Anthony Bourdain was when he visited. Harry himself is a character worth mention. He is a German immigrant who opened a German brewery and restaurant in the middle of nowhere West Texas. When he got tired of the food he opened his bar. It’s basically Cheers. Everyone sits on the porch and drinks all day. Everyone knows everyone. Harry just quietly observes and occasionally chimes in. The Twin Peaks liquor store is across the street. I heard this exchange: “Is that my wife across the street? She told me she was going to her mother’s!” “ Well she is walking out with 4 bags, I’d say they are having a party.” I just about died. Little dive bars like Harry’s are a special part of this country. They have true heart. It might not be the fanciest place in town, but Bourdain chose it for a very good reason: the people.
I love the mountains. I suppose it’s the amateur Geologist in me. I can spend more time than I’d like to admit looking at rocks. I have a freaking rock collection for goodness sake. And the Alpine region is a rock hounds dream. The mountain are volcanic rhyolite, the remnants of the Paisano volcano which erupted some 35 million years ago. The entire region would have been a perfect image of how hell is usually depicted. The caldera collapse left a 240 square mile hole in the ground. Lakes of lava. Kilauea had nothing on Paisano. Years of erosion and there you have it, beautiful mountains. And sunsets. Sunsets in this region are breath taking. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see many, it was overcast.
Amazing!
The weather couldn’t have been nicer. People think that it’s the desert in July so it must be hot. The elevation is higher making the temperature lower. In July you have the monsoons. Every evening we had a 4-5 o’clock thunderstorm brew dropping the temperature down to the 70 degree mark. If you have not seen mountain storms you really are missing out. They are beautiful, and the sound of thunder bellowing off the mountains is exceptional. We actually have waterfalls when it rains enough.
Flash floods are no joke in the dessert. On our way back to town I feared for our lives. We encountered a sudden deluge at the 14 mile mark west of Big Lake. Visibility dropped to maybe 5 feet and I had very little control of the vehicle. Came to a snail pace. Guess what though? That didn’t stop all the oil field trucks from hauling a** past me. Some of those truckers drive scary on a normal day. Add torrential downpour to the equation and you have a recipe for disaster. The road literally had rapids and these people were driving at such an unsafe speed. I was bracing for one of them to hydroplane into me. It was such a sweet relief when we got through that. I did not have the energy for that unexpected challenge. It’s been a bit since I last feared for my life and for about 30min there I feared for both Bekah and my own. I never so badly needed a drink. Just to have a shot of whisky and put my head down on the bar. I was that tense. It took a lot out of me, and my tank was about empty in the first place. I said I could probably drive the rest of the way home with my eyes closed compared to that. Never seen that much water on the road. Those flash flood signs I always wondered about are there for a reason.
Got to see the USA Women’s Soccer bring home another World Cup. This will the second in a row and forth title over all. They were such an unstoppable team. Such amazing talent and a real treat to watch. The controversy over them celebrating too hard was such a joke. They had every right to celebrate. Alex Morgan might be my new celebrity crush. She was amazing on the field, and her tea sip celebration was hilarious. Really ruffled some feather with that one. I am actually having some withdrawals while I type this up. The 2020 Olympics can’t get here soon enough.
Weekends never last long enough
even when you have 4 days.
Jalapeño!
Had queso burgers again. Simple delight. I think this is the 3rd time I’ve had this in a month.
Caprese salad with grilled chicken. Love caprese salad & I love grilled chicken. Why not throw them together.
Bunless burger. Not the most attractive of meals but it hit the spot. My other mother added blue cheese to the meat.
Hot dog for the 4th of July. Had to have one on America’s birthday. Probably the only time I ever eat a hot dog. Just not my thing.
Carne Asada from the Reata. It’s doesn’t get much better than that. You don’t need teeth to chew this steak it’s so tender.
Pizza from Guzzi Up. This place is just weird.
Asado from La Casita. Some of the best Mexican food is in Alpine. Only problem here is they take cash. We almost didn’t have enough on us. Kind of wish we had gone to Alicia’s but it’s too small for the group we had. Hell, we sat at two tables here otherwise it was a 30min wait to get us together.
The Reata again. Green chili burger. Mouthwatering delight. I had a lot of burgers this week.
Chicken fried steak from The Century Bar & Grill. I don’t do fried food often but I must say this was a treat. I would have had more fired okra on my plate but my brother got to them.
Bekah wanted some Hamburger Helper. I have to say it was pretty good. It was her hangover meal. Comforting and easy.
Drink of the week: Tejas Clara. No longer available sadly. RIP Big Bend Brewing
I’m saturated with joy that this is the last week I’ll be
receiving “dumb dumb” e-mails from my dear friend. Her departure warms my heart immensely. I want to celebrate. I want to dance. 14 months of e-mails. How will I fill this hole in my life? I don’t yet know. I might miss the ones that were nothing more
than OMG without any explanation why.
The multiple ones asking the same question, but just on another
day. The ones supposedly asking a
question but seemingly not. Will I miss
the chance encounter? Conveniently
showing up somewhere I always am at a certain time of day. The awkward invasion of personal space. Will I miss tip-toeing into an office for
fear of giving away my presence and not being able to chat with my friends
because someone will know that I am around and butt their heads into the
conversation? Giggles and big smiles
when I said nothing funny at all no matter how many times I flashed my wedding
ring? Only time will tell. In truth, she was only ever kind to me. Maybe I’m the a**hole, but she creeped me out. Goodbye, dear friend. Unfortunately I will not be around on your
last day. May all your future endeavors
be lucrative. May your husband seeking
days prevail!!
I’m not feeling too inspired today. I had something I was going to write about but it kind of fizzled out. So…
Stray observations & assorted musings:
Never once have I seen someone yell at a postal worker and have it turn out in their favor.
Parking under that shade tree will keep your car cooler but it might also get s*** on.
Eating burritos every morning isn’t a diet.
Do Millennials even know what the
pound key is? In the future will
automated services tell you to “hit the hashtag key”?
Some people are just stupid. Once you accept this it makes them easier to deal with.
You know what I wish right
now. I wish I was under water and all
the noise around me was muted. Under
water I would be free of all this jibber jabber
What kind of person enjoys the
flavor of artificial grape? Furthermore,
what kind of person enjoys a cigarette that taste like artificial grape?
I have a personal policy against
the band Queen. I also have a personal
policy against football games. You know
what come hand in hand? Football &
Queen! Is this a coincidence? NO WAY!!!
“We Will Rock You” has to be one of the worst songs ever recorded in the
history of music.
Does anyone else feel sorry for the
tree when it’s cut down?
People are generally unhappy until
they get what they want.
If complaining is your only mode of
conversation, what would you have if everything went the way you wanted it?
Is an unlawful hand gesture a
worthy reason to be pulled over or is it a waste of resources better used
elsewhere?
I hate wearing jeans in the
summer. I feel miserable in them. The first thing I do when I get home is put
on shorts. I know my work attire is
pretty casual, but what I would die to wear shorts to work. And sandals.
I wear my sandals when it’s 30 degrees outside. They are year round. I want to wear them to work.
Metamorphosis is so f***ing cool.
Of all the summer camps, band camp
has to be the best. No competition. Sarcasm.
Cottage cheese has the same
consistency as vomit so why is it always in my fridge?
I miss Anthony Bourdain.
Do you consider Sunday the
beginning or the ending of the week?
When you lose track of time, does
time lose track of you?
Jalapeño!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So three meals of zachos. That is zucchini nachos. I have a zucchini “pusher” in case you forgot and my supply isn’t dwindling. So you thinly slice the zucchini and microwave them in batches for 15 min on 50% until they are lightly browned and crisp. I salted mine just a bit to give them flavor. I tried three different toppings: steak, chicken & ground beef. I would rank the chicken first, steak gets second, while beef is third. All three were good though. I love nachos almost as much as I love pizza. They have their similarities if you think about it. Both are covered with cheese and can be topped with various ingredients to make them unique. Because of the carbs I can’t really enjoy them all that often. This was a nice fix for that problem. Highly recommended for those looking for a lighter spin on a fantastic dish.
Sesame chicken with sriracha zucchini. I used some red chilies on this one and it was very warm. 10 pepper hot!!! Bekah thought I was insane, but what’s unusual about that. It’s not like I didn’t just eat ghost for a week. This was warm, but not even comparable. Turned out to be a very good meal.
Green chili zucchini dish. Nothing to really say about this one. It was good.
En Fuego 