Omelette w/ arugula salad. I don’t know why I have not done this for brunch yet. I mixed the eggs with heavy cream. The fillings consist of ham, onion, jalapeño, sharp cheddar & mushrooms. I sautéed the mushrooms w/ butter & Pinot Grigio. The salad was tossed in a red wine vinaigrette. Very balanced plate.
Bunless ghost pepper burgers. It burned and boy howdy it was a delight.
Creamy garlic butter Tuscan shrimp. This was something new and a real treat.
Ground beef Zachos. This batch might be the best I’ve made this year.
As we set to open all this back up again and get this campus rolling, I bare witness to some of the most irrational though process. With COVID numbers at an all time high and hospitals reaching capacity, we are gung-ho on turning this machine on again. What my eyes have witnessed, no one has a damn clue how it’s even going to work.
I was sitting in my office the other day listening to someone say that he believe COVID will “disappear” when and if Biden is elected president. I marveled at the stupidity of what I was hearing. For one, I don’t think our government is competent enough to pull off something world wide. Let’s face it, both sides of the spectrum, it’s amazing they are potty trained. So to hear this… I kept my mouth shut behind my mask. My eyes said something, if anyone was looking. I wondered to myself, how many people think like this? How can they? Why would they? The lost loved ones. How insensitive can one be? This guy also wants the bars open again. Now, I feel for the bar employees. Concert venues. Artist. It’s a drag. It’s crushing. I wish a solution was…. available. Its just not. This guy… so passionate about this all being, as Leroy so enthusiastically says, “bulls***”. So I was happy when a friend called and I was able to “get the f*** out” of the office. I was mentally dialing 911 and she picked up.
Bekah in quarantine is something. Our internet apparently sucks. I knew this from my own time at home. It really limits what you can do when it drops off and on. I think she is having a hell of a time adjusting. Week 1 wasn’t the easiest for me either. I hope her test results come back AOK and she can get back to the job. Marketing isn’t easy at nursing homes right now, and being stuck at home makes it worse. Plus, lunch was my meditation time, the only time I had to myself during the day, and now that’s gone. Haha. I do love seeing here though. It’s just been so long since I’ve had weekday lunch with anyone but my dogs and cats. A long time meaning years.
I should re-title this “Grumpy Blog pt 2”. I’m really not, though. More like I’m deflated. I’m anxious about the uncertainty. It’s hot. I hate the heat. And stupid people give me a headache. And they drive me to drink. I worry this will be the remainder of my summer. Possible year??? Probability is high. The only thing I’m looking forward to right now is cooler weather and that’s a long long long long long LONG time away. What a bummer. What a bummer.
Jalapeño
Sunday brunch was pulled pork hash with a poached egg and hollandaise sauce.
Bacon wrapped BBQ chicken thigh with so grilled okra.
Italian pork tenderloin w/ brussel sprouts.
Grilled sweet & sour chicken w/ broccoli.
I’ve realized I’ve never made this meal. It’s all Bekah. Red enchilada chicken. It’s easy and it’s good. I’m always happy to have it and have a break from cooking.
So we are getting those summer storms that I always love. That remind me of being a little bow feeding of my fathers excitement whenever a storm was in the forecast. It’s almost a reward after a long day at work where the people are idiots and the days is 100 degrees. It puts me in a good mood. It’s the little things, am I right? Bekah and I ate dinner late, didn’t watch TV, and had cocktails. The weather was our show. Mine, more so than hers. The geek in me was ecstatic.
I still don’t understand the no brains operation at work. I come home with headaches. Non COVID related. The stores are also sunning low on supplies. TP is scarce again. People, please!! It’s like we have gone full circle and are right back to where we started in March. But worse!!! The amount of people sick now. It’s been finally mandated that everyone must wear mask. Why did we wait so long. This has been a year, hasn’t it?
My family insisted on getting together for the 4th. I’m completely against the idea of travel right now but they were responsible and got tested. If they hadn’t we wouldn’t have been able to see them. It was nice. I finally got to meet baby Patrick, my 6 month old nephew. He is adorable. And Teddy, the 4 years old has grown so much. He is a hoot!!! Smart kid. We played lightsabers, hide and seek. We shared a snack because he was hungry and he told me to not tell his mom about it. Secrets safe with me. Lots of good fun. Since the fireworks were canceled I went and bought some sparklers for him to enjoy. Well, if I’m honest here, I also bought them for myself to enjoy. Teddy was at first afraid to hold his own sparkler but eventually he could get enough. I saw a few fireworks people launched from the lake. I guess that will do. I heard people launching well past 1AM. Why was I up so late? FaceTime with Slovak. She has a new puppy!!! It was also a full moon and some sort of lunar eclipse naked to the human eye. I got out the telescope and damn near blinded myself. It was beautiful.
I can’t take credit for this.
Jalapeño
I’m going to include Sunday brunch since I didn’t have weekend blog and it really is the start of the week. Bekah made pancake tacos. All ingredients are items you typically see on an American breakfast plate so why not just put them all together. I topped it of with maple syrup and Tabasco sauce. Delish.
More giant zucchini, more Zachos. I only ever get to eat this this time of year when I’m getting giant ones. Stores just don’t have big enough, they reduce so much. For reasons unknown, this batch turned out to be my best yet. Not sure what I did differently. Julios seasoning, maybe? Whatever it was, the couch was perfect.
Pot roast on another long day. Bekah got home late and said it was the comfort meal she needed. Just about perfect.
Udon noodles w/ steak and veggies. A first and pretty good.
Pulled pork & street corn. Perfect summertime meal. Throw some BBQ sauce and jalapeño. Talk about leftovers.
Look familiar? We had this last week. Mac, green beans and grilled chicken & jalapeño. Simple comfort food.
Work is f***ing stupid right now. I might as well be wallowing in a cesspool. Exposure to positive COVID is a real possibility. I’ll probably be docked some points on my upcoming performance review because I quickly “get-the-f***-out” whenever too many people enter the office. I could care less. The numbers are rising. These motherf***er’s don’t social distance or wear mask. I have taken it upon myself to be the permanent buyer for the campus. No one has said anything. It gets me out of that office. I might feel better if people actually somewhat pretended that they gave a s*** about any of this. Given a mask every morning yet they choose not to wear. Wasteful f***s.
Summer is officially f***ing here. Yay Summer Solstice!!! Not!!! My least favorite time of year, and I’m a summer child. What kind of person gets excited for temps that reach 108? The type of person that likes pulling hangnails and waxing, that’s who. It’s miserable. To add to my negative disposition is that rain has been in sight and somehow manages to fizzle out every… damn… day.
I think it’s safe to say we have all had a few trialing months. This year was cool until mid-March. I was enjoying those first 2 months. Boy oh boy did it take a turn for the worse. Civil unrest during a pandemic? I’m worried for the outcome. I understand the need for it, but I still fret where it will lead us during these time. I’ve lost my patience with people not taking things seriously. I’ve lost my patience with ignorance.
Stupid people drive me to drink, and I’ve been around a lot of them. People traveling when we have more positive cases than ever before. Seems like a good idea, right? Going out and having a blast like all is normal. You know, I’d love to vacation right now, but I’m not out of a desire to be responsible. Now isn’t the time. Only 3 months and everyone looses their s***. On a normal day these are probably the people that bitch about having to leave their house for work.
Monday was a Monday from hell. By noon I was tempted to have a drink with my lunch. I didn’t, but man did it sound alluring. That 108 temp I was talking about? It hit Monday. No sense in wasting you time with the mundane details, we have all had sufferable Monday’s. That evening a prayer was answered and we got a “torrential” downpour. Temps rapidly dropped to the 70’s and rained. We had a light show. The thunder was rolling. It was much needed. Not just for our lands sake, but for my own fabric. I absorbed the moment and felt refreshed. A mood reverser.
The rest of the week I did hardly a thing. I feel it about pointless for us to be full staffed. I mean, how productive can one be if they are able to average 4-5 miles of walking in the 8 hours at the office? Friday couldn’t have arrived any sooner. I’m curious what the weekend has in store for me.
Deep breaths. Okay, I’m better. I needed that.
Jalapeño
Texas Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes. I was inspired by some campus friends to try this after watching a video that they made. It was sooooo tasty. Thinly sliced sirloin, red & green bell peppers, onion. Spices and velveta cheese. So simple and so good.
Green enchilada chicken. Bekah’s treat. I topped it with a poached egg. Always a favorite. I love myself some green sauce.
Seared tuna tacos. I wish I hadn’t used mango pico. I just don’t like mango. Everything else was great.
Chimichurri chicken. I pickled some red onions weeks ago and they turned out to be a perfect side along with some broccolini. It’s been a long time since we’ve made this meal. It was once a regular.
Some Italian squash ground beef mix. I don’t know. It was good.
I didn’t do anything this weekend. Played with my new griddle. Went and looked at the lilies. Had a nightmare trip to HEB. Watched the same movie two nights in a row. Cried a little because of said movie. The Road. Not sure why I subjected myself to that twice when once in a lifetime is probably enough. Watched my state increase in positives. Listened to Bekah say she doesn’t think I should be at work, being that I’m at risk. I dreamed of a vacation far away from the world. I was on a planet with purple skies and the trees had blue leaves. The water was red, but not blood red. The air was fresh and relatively mild. Green thunderstorms brewed in the distance. I was on a balcony overlooking the scene while Bekah was asking me what was for dinner. Cat woke me up and I wanted to return to that place. We were having fun. A vacation is in store whenever we can do it.
I have a Finch family. Fingers crossed.
For lunch on Saturday I thought it time to try something I’ve never been capable of cooking until now due to my birthday griddle accessory. Cheddar blanket burgers. Place a cup of shredded cheddar on top of a patty and it become a bark. It molds with the bun. I can’t tell you how good this thing was. Far superior to the one we order in town. I think I used higher quality cheese. This meal was sinful. I felt dirty. I wanted more…
I suppose I read some until it was time to make dinner. we were not hungry but I wanted to cook again just for pops. Why not make chicken fajitas!! Easy. Fun. Good. That’s what we did.
Sunday brunch. Sister-in-law finally was able to have brunch with us. We made Machacado street tacos with bean and cheese. A meal we had meant to make weeks, maybe months ago. The brisket I had frozen from a cook out long forgotten. It was a great meal.
More burgers. I hate to waste buns. Just the basic tonight. Nothing curious.
A full week back to work, 8-5. Everything is opening up at an alarming pace. I find myself shopping for the campus & I’m the only one wearing a mask.
It’s a really strange feeling being back full force. We have all this protocol set up with few people actually following. Back to the uncertainty. No one really know how the campus future will unfold. It’s something new everyday. With our great state opening everything early we now have a significant rise in positive cases. Bekah and I are still playing it safe and not going out. Trust me, I long for a little interaction. I would love to dine out and maybe have some happy hour. Guess what, we are not. I’m at risk, she works for a nursing home. It’s not worth it. It’s like, everyone gave up. I have a couple friends that are still treating this seriously. I get the need to get back to normal, but seriously did anyone really think normal was so normal? It might have felt that way due to conditioning. That’s a rant for another day. In truth, I kind of miss my office in the kitchen. I miss seeing the same neighbors walk dogs down the street at the same time everyday. I miss my walks. I miss my dogs. Maybe I miss my cat. I think I’d have been better if we had waited a month longer. As Leroy said to me Thursday: “This is f***ing bull**** that we are back this early.” I tend to agree. While the campus is still pretty much dead, it is bull****!
I will say by the time Friday arrived I was bloody exhausted and ready for an adult beverage by 5. It had been a long week. Bekah was with her sister, she had the entire day off and was going to have a slumber party. I had the house to myself and I probably needed the quiet. Just this week we had 26 new cases of COVID 19. It’s reaching record highs all over the state and everyone is out & about like all is back to normal. I think I’ll poor myself a drink and conclude this weeks blog. Sorry for the somber tone I held.
NOTE: I skipped last weekends blog. I have yet determined if I’ll continue with them. They started as a means to deliver me from boredom. Things are still fairly boring but the weekends no longer are my most active time. Who is reading this anyways?
Jalapeño
This was Sunday brunch. Chorizo huevos con papas. A delight, for sure.
Monday was my first day back to work. With the majority of the campus still working remotely I had to find things for myself to do. I feared this would me the ultimate Monday. Worst than returning for the Christmas holiday. It actually wasn’t so bad. I managed to find ways out of the office. I because the “out & about” guy. I purchased from vendors around town I also help with people picking up packages. It was nice to see some friendly office coordinators I’ve been missing. That’s something I’ve been missing in the 70 so days. Heck, I even got some cookies out of the day. It was t as bad as I feared.
Bomb came though. 5 people Bekah works around were tested positive for COVID. People have had been in direct physical contact with. Which means I’ve also been exposed over the last 4 days from my wife. Dilemma. I knew I needed to tell the guys at work. Guess what, I was sent to be back on isolation after returning for 1 day. Frustrated and concerned, I made a drink.
I was told be risk management to make a list of everyone I was in direct contact with & to stay home until I test negative & Bekah test negative. Great. I had nightmares about having a swab shoves up my nose. I got myself into a mess. I couldn’t in good conscience not report that info to work. I’d feel horrible if someone caught it because of me. I felt guilty enough having just been around people even though I didn’t know I had been exposed.
Odd thing though. None were showing symptoms. Asymptomatic? Possibly. The 3 staff were sent home and 2 residents to the hospital for test and evaluations. Guess what, the test the hospital gave showed negative. Now the staff wanted retesting. The original test were done by the National Guard. Well, the 3 staff also show negative. what the f***! So I guess I’m good to go?
After 2 days off work due to exposure concerns Thursday I was able to go back to the office because everyone was declared infection free. The rumor mill went mad those 2 days. It seem people believe Bekah tested positive so that’s why I was to stay home. I sure did walk into the office fake hacking up a lung. All the no social distancing goons suddenly didn’t want within 10 feet of me. Probably contributed to the lack of visits. I had fun with it.
Happy birthday to me! This was only the second time in all these years I’ve worked on my birthday since evening on campus. Last year it was worth it. Campus family made me feel special. This year, everyone is gone. The people I work directly with, with the exception of… dang. I can’t think of what her made up name is. Anyway, the exception of her, I work with all guys and they don’t care or pay attention to these things. She is too knew to know when my birthday is and besides, I’ve been gone for 3 months. I wasn’t expecting anything great.
Guess what? I had a good birthday. Bekah got me a weather station!!! I’m rather pumped up to toy with it tomorrow. I’ve wanted one for a while but never felt felt I could justify the expense, so this is exciting and a pretty big surprise. She always does an excellent job surprising me. I do love her so. My campus folks sent me emails. My boss actually knew this year because we are Facebook pals after the COVID scare. Way to keep in touch. Jamie once again made me a delicious cake, bless her. Miss E even stopped by to say “happy birthday”! Considering the circumstances, I was happy to get what I got. Much more than I expected. These are not the best birthday circumstances.
I made it the way to 5 and I was ready for my wife to make it home. No real plans made other than to enjoy each other company and order in. Order in. Dinner was on her. After a delicious meal we had a few drinks and retired to the patio. Then we started FaceTiming family who wanted to drink with me. Ouch.
Big surprise was still coming. A glowing birthday parade that I was not at all expecting. If I’d still been off work I would have seen it coming during the day but since I was safe at work I thought I was in the clear. Nope. My campus family came through. I must say it reduced me to the state of mind of a little boy. I can’t imagine the look on my face. Bekah also thought it was great. Added bonus, I had glowing things to play with all night. Haha. Yes, I’m a dork. It was a nice cherry on top of a nice day.
I’m calling myself out right here and I really don’t give 2 s***’s.
After all that, Bekah and the family on FaceTime got me loaded on vodka. Of all drinks. The bottle was freshly opened and weeping the following morning.
Jalapeño. (I’m a dork. Why am I still doing this?)
Queso bunless burger.
Sriracha chicken and green beans w/ hoisin onions.
Habanero pork with jalapeño beans.
Skillet King Ranch Chicken.
Birthday dinner. Egg rolls, crab rangoon, chicken on a stick and some spicy chicken. Trust me, we had leftovers.
Saturday was the second attempt at a historical launch into space. So much math involved in this small window launch is over my head. First time America has launched people into space in almost a decade. NASA teaming up with a private company, SpaceX. I have to say I was probably excited like a little boy. I needed out. I was glued to the screen for a long time. The interviews with retired astronauts were inspirational. I hope some kids were watching and possible finding their dreams. When the launch was a go my eyes watered up and I had the chills. I know, I’m a geek. History in the making. It was an amazing feeling and one day, one day I will have to see it in person. So exciting. The future is open. I know a lot of bad things are happening in our country fight now, but this launch was a positive light I think we all needed.
Bekah was at work and that’s when I experiment with new meals. After thinking about it a while I decided to go with another twist on orange chicken. Grill orange chicken thigh. The glaze was OJ, honey, Dijon mustard, butter & BBQ sauce. I know, that sounds weird but it was surprisingly rather amazing. Now I have 3 variations of orange chicken. Haha
Lunch and launch over I really had nothing to do but wait till Bekah came home. Very quiet Saturday. It was nice spending time with the dogs and a book. Watched a burger cook off on Facebook. Made me want a griddle. Hobbit marathon on TV, which was nice.
For dinner it was some Mexican style pasta, Sonora Tinga. A new dish to try. Shredded chicken in chipotle sauce. The basil and Parmesan made a distinct profile. I’ve had my carbs for the week. Oh, wait till tomorrow.
Sunday. I start work back up tomorrow 8-5. It’s been a long time since Sunday felt like Sunday. I figured I’d have a lazy day for myself. Like I have a thing to do? I watched the space capsule dock with the ISS. That was… exciting? Whatever it was, I’m glad the mission was successfully completed.
We went and had patio drinks with my mother. The vodka was from my cousins distillery in Taos, New Mexico. Very… fine… vodka. It’s a sipping vodka.
For dinner it was a crock pot Mexican casserole. I found this google searching. I added some of my out touch. Quinoa rather than rice? Sure. It was pretty darn good.
I’m not sure how the weekend blogs will go from this point out. I’m back to work. If this is it, it’s been fun. It’s been a nice bit of mental health. Hope you all had a nice one. Cheers!!!
June 1st I go back to work full time 8-5. How many weeks has of been now? 10??? Sounds about right. I have mixed feelings about it. From what I gather, they don’t know what we are suppose to be doing. Taking temps at the door? Wear mask? No one is following those guidelines. Plus, since the campus is still mostly as home work will be slow. I’ll basically be stuck in the office bored to tears. As my long time reader are likely aware, office week is the worst week for me. I can’t sit still and I’ve become pretty active during my time off taking walks. Average 5-6 miles a day. I know eventually we will all have to get back, I just wish they had a better enforced plan and idea. Not just fly by the seat of one’s pants.
So our dog Owen has to go back to the vets. Further test revealed an obstruction in his lower intestines and colon. He eats everything so it was a guessing game what it might be. Bottom line, he required surgery. Of course we don’t bat an eye to that expense, he is our little boy. It was a lonely house the 3 days with out him but everything went well and he came home in such higher spirits. Before he went he wasn’t eating or drinking. So they removed intestine, 12 in. So think with scar tissue nothing could pass. What had caused this had been meandering through his bowels for a while to cause so much tissue damage. It had moved to his colon by the time of surgery and with all the meds they had given him it finally passed. No joke, about 2 1/2 feet of some sort of fabric. I’m just glad to have him back.
Poor guy.
Let’s see. What else happen? What an exciting emotional week. Bekah got called out for being a racist by Facebook trolls for having a “not so similar name” as someone else across the country that actually is a racist. She was berated with messages and so was her work. It got the point people began to call. A case of mistaken identity that only true idiots could pull off. It’s pathetic if this is how the world is. I mean, common sense. These jacka** f***s put a lot of stress on a woman that was already stressed because her baby boy was in surgery. The internet and people can be vile as s***. If you are going to get your kicks off harassing people on the internet, at least do a little research and make sure it’s the right person. My faith in my fellow mankind was diminished a bit this week
Jalapeño
Carne guisada. It was good. Really just steak and a grilled jalapeño w/ pico. Simple.
Well this is it. The last of the white wine Worcestershire sauce. Sad day. Since Bekah had had such a hard day I made her favorite meal. Sweet kale salads with baked sweet potato and blackened chicken drizzled with the sauce. It was great as usual. Wish that sauce was still available.
Squash & zucchini chicken nachos. Thank you once again for the GIANT fruits, Jamie. Can’t entertain he idea of doing this meal without enormous ones. A lot of time is put into preparation on this. Each batch of chips requires 15 min of microwave time. They reduce in size by about a half. It’s well worth it. If this is just a once a year meal, it’s all the better.
En Fuego 