The Doldrums
Nope. Nothing going on here. And to demonstrate that, I bring you yet another Day in the Life:
06:50 Got up, cursed the fact that it is now over 2 weeks since my glasses were eaten by Evil Dog and I must hop in the shower instead of lazing in my jammies while I eat my breakfast and dick around on the 'net. Very pleased that I finally got more than 5 hours of sleep. For some reason I've not been able to get to sleep before 12-1 AM the past 4 nights.
07:05 In the kitchen with latte, pancakes with jam and some peaches and melon. Hummmmm. Get sidetracked at A Little Pregnant on the blog roll and read some other blogs about BlogHer. I'm strangely fascinated by BlogHer. I don't think I wish I'd gone, but wish I could watch the thing on a 2-disc DVD with the second disc devoted entirely to 'extras' of the various parties and such. The knowledge that next year's conference is in Chicago, just a few hour's jaunt down the freeway, keeps tickling my consciousness.
07:25 Colin is up. I love it when they sleep past 6 AM.
07:26 Realize that I've not seen the cat since last night. Find her curled on Sara's bed with Sara contorted around her. The relief that there is no smell of cat excrement in her bedroom is indescribable.
07:55 Sara is up. Play waitress for the kids. Play waitress for the cat. Receive no tips.
08:15 Put a pot of eggs on the stove to make them hard boiled. Vow to not forget them. Know this is a worthless vow as I always forget them. Still, I do not do something sensible, like setting a timer.
08:25 Muse more on the whole Mommyblog controversy. Wonder if I'd be considered a mommyblogger. Wonder how I'd describe my blog if asked. Decide I'd just say it was a blog about the piffle of my life and leave it at that. Decide that I just do not and never will understand the wide spread need for many to create The Other. Aren't we all just bloggers, recording our thoughts and connecting with others?
08:26 Try to dislodge the song Why Can't We Be Friends from my over suggestive brain.
08:28 Do the laundry round-up. Scold the dog for going in the kids' rooms, looking for toys to abduct and mutilate under our bed.
08:32 Still unsuccessful with the song-in-the-brain thing. Try humming it but this makes it worse as all I know of it is just that one line: "Why can't we be friends, why can't we be friends, lalalalalala."
08:34 Realize that I've forgotten that I put eggs on the stove and they've been boiling away merrily for who really knows how long.
08:40 Pull eggs off stove. They'll either be over done or under done. We'll see when we have one at lunch. Every day should have a touch of mystery. Keeps you feeling alive.
08:43 Decide that I simply can't bear the fact that I've not posted anything in nearly a week (A week!) and, after trying to figure out what the hell to natter on about and coming up with absolutely nothing, not even a meme that will kick things off, decide on this. Aren't you sorry I didn't just leave the old post up?
08:52 Reward myself for starting the wash and running the dishwasher by making a pot of tea. Found a new brand, London Fruit and Herb Company, which had some intriguing tea medleys. Today I'm trying 'Lemon and Lime Zest'. It's not why I bought it as I think it sounds a bit vile, but if it's horrible, I can tell you all about it.
08:53 Tea steeping. Can I tell you how happy I am that the heat wave has finally gone? There's a fresh breeze and it rained last night and now every single window that has a screen over it is open and the ceiling fans are valiantly pulling the clean air through our poor smelly house.
08:54 Decide to start cleaning the disaster that my house inevitably is on Thursdays. (I am essentially not home Mon-Wed and things seem to happen involving mud, pet hair, and scum of assorted varieties. Anti-House elves, I'm sure.) OH! Saw my current favorite bumper sticker Saturday in Madison (liberal Madison, how I adore you. Most cars seem to have some sort of anti-Bush sticker or at least a fading, peeling Kerry-Edwards sticker, if they are merely passive aggressive.) It says, "Republicans for Voldemort" over a flag-themed background. (OK, yes, the rest of you have probably seen it and have one of your own, but it was new to me.)
08:59 Tea is steeped. Siiiipppp. Not terrible but smells better than it tastes. Reminiscent of what I think microwaved 7-Up would smell like.
09:03 Ok. Enough stalling. Time to clean like a banshee while the kids are playing nicely so we can go outside in a bit. Must. Go. Outside. Must. Tire. Out. All. Occupants. (Except me. Must run after lunch.)
09:17 Oh my. I've gone and gassed myself. I started in the laundry room, first cleaning the hand carpet cleaner, which I'd called upon a few nights ago to clean the enormous amount of dog vomit that she spewed on the carpet after eating her dinner too fast and then running around in the heat for 10 minutes. Truly horrifying the volume she spewed. Anyway, after attending to that, I hadn't the oomph to clean up the machine that had cleaned up after the dog and merely left it on top of the cat box (it's covered) with the hose dangling in the utility sink. So, as no one else had cleaned the damn thing (What, surely you hope the magic cleaning fairies will step in and deal with such situations. And, no, they never do but one can keep hoping.) I tackled it first. Possibly the worst smell I've ever smelled. Ever. And you know that's saying something. Then I cleaned the cat box and added the aroma of old ammonia/kitty pee and feces to the mix. For some reason I had little sympathy as Colin, 3 rooms away, complained about the odor.
10:57 Done. Well, done enough. Vacuumed, mopped, bathrooms cleanish, laundry tumbling, stuff sorta picked up. Everybody outside!
10:59 Kids doing kid things, I'm in the vegetable garden surveying the damage. Actually, not that bad. Last week, I succumbed to the inevitable that is my garden in late July, meaning that I was rapidly losing the bug war. This year, my old nemeses, the squash bugs, have been out in full force, despite the painstaking dismembering I did with the bipass pruners on every adult I could find. Eggs had been laid and were hatching, the nymphs covering the poor zucchini, which were dying before my eyes. That evening, I stormed out and poured more of the diatomaceous earth (that hadn't done any good before) all over them. Then I drenched them in environmentally friendly spray (the stuff that you can use right up to harvest, although there was nothing to harvest, all the little fruits and flowers being the first to flump. And wept. See, I know when something's useless. That night, it poured. So the next morning, I did it again. Don't know why. Um. And, well, it seemed to have worked. Today, I harvested 2 decent sized zucchini and 1 yellow summer squash! I'm absolutely shocked. Also some pear tomatoes and 2 slicing tomatoes (the first I've managed to bring in before the Something with the Large Teeth had gotten to first), still slightly green, but nothing a paper bag can't fix. Oh. And green beans. Lots of green beans. We all then went for a walk, while the dog raced back and forth. Not that I would have urged her to do such a thing.
11:41 Tired, sweaty, ready to come in. Sara cajoles me into playing the memory game where you match pairs of cards that are face down on a table. She kicks my ass, yet again. This time I make a better showing and only lose by 2:1. Usually it's more like 4:1. No. I'm not letting her win. She's really good. I would not recommend getting into a poker game with her in, say 20 years.
12:07 Time for the lunch shift.
12:29 Sit down with a nice chicken Caesar salad (the eggs from the morning were perfect!) and blog this morning's drivel. Realize that the kitty is MIA, again. AGAIN! Colin and I start to systematically go through the house, searching through cupboards and closets. Luckily, we find her after about 5 minutes. She's in Sara's empty laundry basket. Apparently, she slinked in as I was getting Sara's laundry out several hours ago.
Aw, that's enough. I'm bored with this and I'm living it, not reading it. Hardly worth clicking on 'publish', but I've absolutely nothing else to put up. Sorry. The rest of the day is scheduled to include a whiny run! And a shower! And taking Colin to swimming lessons! The cliffhanger? Will Charles get home in time for me not to take Sara or not? Your heroine will be praying that he does, yessiree. Sara is less than enamored with standing on a bench, looking through a window and watching her brother master the intricacies of the kickboard. I've promised her swimming lessons of her very own in the fall, when he's in school.
So that's that.
Hey, anyone have a good recipe for using up all those green beans? I usually saute them in olive oil with scads of garlic, which is lovely, but getting a bit old. Recipes with canned mushroom soup need not apply.
Happy Thursday. I'll try to do better next time.
06:50 Got up, cursed the fact that it is now over 2 weeks since my glasses were eaten by Evil Dog and I must hop in the shower instead of lazing in my jammies while I eat my breakfast and dick around on the 'net. Very pleased that I finally got more than 5 hours of sleep. For some reason I've not been able to get to sleep before 12-1 AM the past 4 nights.
07:05 In the kitchen with latte, pancakes with jam and some peaches and melon. Hummmmm. Get sidetracked at A Little Pregnant on the blog roll and read some other blogs about BlogHer. I'm strangely fascinated by BlogHer. I don't think I wish I'd gone, but wish I could watch the thing on a 2-disc DVD with the second disc devoted entirely to 'extras' of the various parties and such. The knowledge that next year's conference is in Chicago, just a few hour's jaunt down the freeway, keeps tickling my consciousness.
07:25 Colin is up. I love it when they sleep past 6 AM.
07:26 Realize that I've not seen the cat since last night. Find her curled on Sara's bed with Sara contorted around her. The relief that there is no smell of cat excrement in her bedroom is indescribable.
07:55 Sara is up. Play waitress for the kids. Play waitress for the cat. Receive no tips.
08:15 Put a pot of eggs on the stove to make them hard boiled. Vow to not forget them. Know this is a worthless vow as I always forget them. Still, I do not do something sensible, like setting a timer.
08:25 Muse more on the whole Mommyblog controversy. Wonder if I'd be considered a mommyblogger. Wonder how I'd describe my blog if asked. Decide I'd just say it was a blog about the piffle of my life and leave it at that. Decide that I just do not and never will understand the wide spread need for many to create The Other. Aren't we all just bloggers, recording our thoughts and connecting with others?
08:26 Try to dislodge the song Why Can't We Be Friends from my over suggestive brain.
08:28 Do the laundry round-up. Scold the dog for going in the kids' rooms, looking for toys to abduct and mutilate under our bed.
08:32 Still unsuccessful with the song-in-the-brain thing. Try humming it but this makes it worse as all I know of it is just that one line: "Why can't we be friends, why can't we be friends, lalalalalala."
08:34 Realize that I've forgotten that I put eggs on the stove and they've been boiling away merrily for who really knows how long.
08:40 Pull eggs off stove. They'll either be over done or under done. We'll see when we have one at lunch. Every day should have a touch of mystery. Keeps you feeling alive.
08:43 Decide that I simply can't bear the fact that I've not posted anything in nearly a week (A week!) and, after trying to figure out what the hell to natter on about and coming up with absolutely nothing, not even a meme that will kick things off, decide on this. Aren't you sorry I didn't just leave the old post up?
08:52 Reward myself for starting the wash and running the dishwasher by making a pot of tea. Found a new brand, London Fruit and Herb Company, which had some intriguing tea medleys. Today I'm trying 'Lemon and Lime Zest'. It's not why I bought it as I think it sounds a bit vile, but if it's horrible, I can tell you all about it.
08:53 Tea steeping. Can I tell you how happy I am that the heat wave has finally gone? There's a fresh breeze and it rained last night and now every single window that has a screen over it is open and the ceiling fans are valiantly pulling the clean air through our poor smelly house.
08:54 Decide to start cleaning the disaster that my house inevitably is on Thursdays. (I am essentially not home Mon-Wed and things seem to happen involving mud, pet hair, and scum of assorted varieties. Anti-House elves, I'm sure.) OH! Saw my current favorite bumper sticker Saturday in Madison (liberal Madison, how I adore you. Most cars seem to have some sort of anti-Bush sticker or at least a fading, peeling Kerry-Edwards sticker, if they are merely passive aggressive.) It says, "Republicans for Voldemort" over a flag-themed background. (OK, yes, the rest of you have probably seen it and have one of your own, but it was new to me.)
08:59 Tea is steeped. Siiiipppp. Not terrible but smells better than it tastes. Reminiscent of what I think microwaved 7-Up would smell like.
09:03 Ok. Enough stalling. Time to clean like a banshee while the kids are playing nicely so we can go outside in a bit. Must. Go. Outside. Must. Tire. Out. All. Occupants. (Except me. Must run after lunch.)
09:17 Oh my. I've gone and gassed myself. I started in the laundry room, first cleaning the hand carpet cleaner, which I'd called upon a few nights ago to clean the enormous amount of dog vomit that she spewed on the carpet after eating her dinner too fast and then running around in the heat for 10 minutes. Truly horrifying the volume she spewed. Anyway, after attending to that, I hadn't the oomph to clean up the machine that had cleaned up after the dog and merely left it on top of the cat box (it's covered) with the hose dangling in the utility sink. So, as no one else had cleaned the damn thing (What, surely you hope the magic cleaning fairies will step in and deal with such situations. And, no, they never do but one can keep hoping.) I tackled it first. Possibly the worst smell I've ever smelled. Ever. And you know that's saying something. Then I cleaned the cat box and added the aroma of old ammonia/kitty pee and feces to the mix. For some reason I had little sympathy as Colin, 3 rooms away, complained about the odor.
10:57 Done. Well, done enough. Vacuumed, mopped, bathrooms cleanish, laundry tumbling, stuff sorta picked up. Everybody outside!
10:59 Kids doing kid things, I'm in the vegetable garden surveying the damage. Actually, not that bad. Last week, I succumbed to the inevitable that is my garden in late July, meaning that I was rapidly losing the bug war. This year, my old nemeses, the squash bugs, have been out in full force, despite the painstaking dismembering I did with the bipass pruners on every adult I could find. Eggs had been laid and were hatching, the nymphs covering the poor zucchini, which were dying before my eyes. That evening, I stormed out and poured more of the diatomaceous earth (that hadn't done any good before) all over them. Then I drenched them in environmentally friendly spray (the stuff that you can use right up to harvest, although there was nothing to harvest, all the little fruits and flowers being the first to flump. And wept. See, I know when something's useless. That night, it poured. So the next morning, I did it again. Don't know why. Um. And, well, it seemed to have worked. Today, I harvested 2 decent sized zucchini and 1 yellow summer squash! I'm absolutely shocked. Also some pear tomatoes and 2 slicing tomatoes (the first I've managed to bring in before the Something with the Large Teeth had gotten to first), still slightly green, but nothing a paper bag can't fix. Oh. And green beans. Lots of green beans. We all then went for a walk, while the dog raced back and forth. Not that I would have urged her to do such a thing.
11:41 Tired, sweaty, ready to come in. Sara cajoles me into playing the memory game where you match pairs of cards that are face down on a table. She kicks my ass, yet again. This time I make a better showing and only lose by 2:1. Usually it's more like 4:1. No. I'm not letting her win. She's really good. I would not recommend getting into a poker game with her in, say 20 years.
12:07 Time for the lunch shift.
12:29 Sit down with a nice chicken Caesar salad (the eggs from the morning were perfect!) and blog this morning's drivel. Realize that the kitty is MIA, again. AGAIN! Colin and I start to systematically go through the house, searching through cupboards and closets. Luckily, we find her after about 5 minutes. She's in Sara's empty laundry basket. Apparently, she slinked in as I was getting Sara's laundry out several hours ago.
Aw, that's enough. I'm bored with this and I'm living it, not reading it. Hardly worth clicking on 'publish', but I've absolutely nothing else to put up. Sorry. The rest of the day is scheduled to include a whiny run! And a shower! And taking Colin to swimming lessons! The cliffhanger? Will Charles get home in time for me not to take Sara or not? Your heroine will be praying that he does, yessiree. Sara is less than enamored with standing on a bench, looking through a window and watching her brother master the intricacies of the kickboard. I've promised her swimming lessons of her very own in the fall, when he's in school.
So that's that.
Hey, anyone have a good recipe for using up all those green beans? I usually saute them in olive oil with scads of garlic, which is lovely, but getting a bit old. Recipes with canned mushroom soup need not apply.
Happy Thursday. I'll try to do better next time.
Labels: Drivel
posted by Diana at 3:35 PM
23 Comments:
The whole "BlogHer" controversy just stuns me. Flippy bought a ticket for the conference this spring, but after the bills for her back surgery started to arrive, decided we couldn't afford the airfare and hotel bill. So, she gave her ticket away to someone, but still followed the action via attendees' blogs.
The one issue which really bugs me (and which you might not have encountered), is that one or two people have taken it upon themselves to complain that there were no special seminars for lesbian bloggers, and that the conference made them feel excluded as "non-heterosexuals". There are many, many blogs discussing this, to which I reply, Stop thinking about it so much. I can't imagine of anything more boring than an entire panel of lesbians thinking deep thoughts, and the fact a few people claim to be speaking for "all lesbians" makes me cranky. I identify as a blogger, period. If I pigeon-holed myself, I wouldn't be able to write about whatever struck my fancy.
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I could give you a song to replace, "Why Can't We Be Friends" in your brain, but I'm not that mean.
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My ex-father-in-law made a wonderful cold green bean salad. It was blanched green beans (still with a bit of crunch), tossed in a vinegarette, and then with a topping of hard-boiled eggs, bacon crumbles, and a glob of a mayo-concoction. I have no idea of the exact recipe, but oh, how I loved that dish. My ex-husband was a nice guy (we got divorced because of the "lesbian thing"), but I have to admit that the main thing I miss about our time together is his father's cooking!
I got a small nibble of the lesbian thing and a bigger bite of the infertile thing (it's all in what you read, natch). I'm sorry Flippy's surgery prevented her from going. I'd have loved to hear about it from her. (Were you planning to go as well?) I agree whole heartedly with you. It irks me no end when someone presumes to speak for me, because usually they have very little in common with me aside from the single issue thing. So one dimensional.
So, was the mayo dressing lemon-y? herb-y? spicy? Hard boiled eggs and bacon make almost everything good. I'll search and see what I can come up with now that I have a direction. Many smooches.
(If the tune you were going to suggest was "It's a Small World", I'd have to pelt you with green tomatoes.) Off to chauffer to swimming lessons. Where is Charles??
My entire office would like to offer you a slap upside the head for putting "Why Can't We Be Friends" into their brains....my poor student (recovering from the poopy-pukes) caught me singing it, then she started singing it, then our x-ray guy started singing it....it was hours before someone finally said "WHY THE FUCK ARE WE ALL SINGING THIS????" and I innocently batted my eyelashes and ran off to save lives, or something (I find the office staff is much less likely to cause me bodily harm if I'm in a room with a patient). An ex-co-worker of mine used fresh green beans and made some kind of bundle concoction, wrapping a bunch in bacon with some kind of sweet citrusy sauce...ohhh....was delish...but not a clue how to do it, sorry. And please, oh please, send the cold front our way!!!!!
I forgot about the infertility BlogHer issue... that was also a biggie, although that's more Flippy's area of expertise than mine. She's totally informed on all the goings on, whereas I barely scratch the surface. She was going to attend BlogHer alone, as we have too many pets to find a petsitter.
Here's a green bean salad recipe sort of along the lines of what I was thinking:
GERMAN SCHNITTBOHNENSALAT
(Green Bean Salad)
1 lb. fresh green beans, french cut
Boiling salted water
1/4 cup stock (reserved from boiling green beans)
3 tablespoons vinegar
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon dried dill seed
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 pound bacon fried crisp and chopped
Cook beans in boiling salted water until just tender. Reserve 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid and drain off the rest. Prepare sauce by combining vinegar, oil, reserved vegetable stock, onions, dill, and sugar; stir until blended. Pour mixture over beans; marinate several hours before serving. Sprinkle with crisp bacon.
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Now, I'd also sprinkle this with chopped hard-boiled egg, and slap a gob of Miracle Whip on top, too. Not enough to drown the salad, but enough to have a bit of variety in each bite if you so choose. I can't remember much about the "mayo concoction" my FIL put on top of his bean salad, but it just seemed like pretty much mainstream Miracle Whip -- a bit more jazzy than just mayo. You can also leave it off if it makes the salad sound too pedestrian ;)
Curry. Green beans are absolutely divine when served in a nice curry sauce. mmmmmmmmm!!! In fact, my favorite (and now-defunct, SOB!) Thai restaurant that had a dish that consisted of a nice cut of beef, thinly sliced, green beans, and onions in this heavenly curry sauce - ooooohhhhh, was it good! (Clearly, I need another beer so that I might gush just a little bit more, don't you think?)
And, as for the wishing for a BlogHer DVD, that exactly sums up my feelings, exactly. Once again, you've said what I felt.
I. Want. Green. Beans. I have been craving, CRAVING them all summer and yet to have a wonderful bowl full of pressure cooked green beans with lads of butter and a pinch of salt and loads of pepper. My favorite for green beans - simple and divine.
BlogHer does sound like fun. If you're serious about Chicago next year, I may have to convince the Queen for the road trip (not like that will take convincing - it'd be - Hey, Dana, let's go to Chicago. Take time off work. Good, all set.)
Your days are never boring and they are fun to read! But, no thanks to you for getting the "Why can't we be friends" stuck in my head. Evil. Pure evil.
I'd mention something about "it's a small world," but then, that'd be mean, after all.
Christie- Evil. Sheer evil! Your poor office. My condolences. (Dammit, it's Friday morning and it's still stuck in the eternal repeat loop in my head.) Hm. That recipe sounds good also, I'll see what some of the online cooking sites come up with.
Leigh-Ann- I adore you, although I might exchange the Miracle Whip for a doctored Mayo. I despise Miracle Whip. It goes deep into my childhood when it unexpectedly ended up on a sandwich that should not have had a sweet spread on it. I agree with adding the chopped egg. I'll play with it this weekend.
Teri- Curry! Of course! Green curry? I've got a jar in the fridge and some coconut milk in the pantry.
Beth- Can't do much better than drizzling butter on what ever you have. I command thee to get thee to a store with a decent produce section and procure said beans and a pound of butter. That craving has been going on waaaay too long. So glad you didn't mention 'It's a Small World' as that would make you an even higher level of evil and we all know that is just not the case. Ahem. I can't imagine I'd actually go to BlogHer but I will be pondering it, so won't say 'no' outright. I'd only do it if I went with friends. Baaaaa. Baaaaa. Such a sheep.
Well, so far my day is consisting of reading blogs and twiddling my thumbs because the network printer is done and I can't even pretend to work, so tell me...
I just went and googled BlogHer because you mentioned it, and it doesn't look all that exciting. I joined for the heck of it, but I find the interface to be somewhat annoying. I put myself down in the Life category, which is where I think you would fit, Diana.
What makes the place special? What are the controversies?
Not boring at all. At least not to me.
Green beans: Make salade nicoise. Bed of greens, central pile of vinaigrette-style potato salad, heap of drained tuna-in-olive-oil, spokes of tomato, steamed green beans, and hard-boiled eggs. You may have to make some new hard-boiled eggs. ;-)
I am glad that you-all were aware of the BlogHer conference in SF. I received an eletter on it before I went kayaking the last 2 weeks. I was going to mention it, but it slipped away in the corners of my mind.
The Ole RF-er
Okay, I feel like loser. Your Dad knows more about BlogHer than I do! Actually I read the blog of someone who went (http://citymama.typepad.com/citymama/2006/07/blogher_06_this.html). Um, would there be enough footage to MAKE a DVD? I guess I don't get the hype. And I'd like to know, too, what are the controversies?
If you ever figure out just how long to hard boil eggs, could you let me know. Mine have often been overdone. I could use the help!
I was thinking red curry, but green is probably quite good, too!
Karen and Colleen- Ok, from what I understand (and consider the source) BlogHer started a few years ago as a convention for women bloggers to get together and share ideas, meet and netword, have drinks and laugh, that sort of thing with panels and experts and conference rooms. Probably a buffet. I first heard of it through reading Cagey ("Rancid Raves" on my blogroll. Sorry don't feel like linking. Lazy) She went again, this year, as did Julie ("A Little Pregnant") and Julia (Here Be Hippogriffs"). From what I recall of the panels and workshops, it was a mishmash of blogging topics, covering the business end (if you are blogging as part of your job/for income) and the personal, like how to enliven your template and what you can do with photos/movies. There were 'celebrity' panels with big name bloggers, including the mother of all bloggers, Dooce. There were cocktail parties and gift bags. Some of the controversies included those who were offended by the inclusion of female condoms (some infertile and lesbian bloggers) and baby bibs (some infertiles and bloggers who wanted nothing to do with the sometimes maligned mommyblogs) and such. Also there was apparently an undercurrent of those who blog about their families (mommybloggers) and those who blog about other things. There were private cocktail parties where those who know and are known were invited. Basic human stuff. Some of it seeming rather jr high. Many seemed to have a grand time and many seemed to have a 'meh' time. I'm guessing it's sort of like a high school reunion and you get what you bring to it? Again, remember the source. I didn't go and I didn't have that much fun at the only high school reunion I went to (my 10th).
Oh, and about boiling eggs? How I do it (assuming I'm not pulled away by kids, pets and assorted chores) is put eggs in sauce pan with cold water. Cook on high until simmering. Turn down to keep them at a slight simmer for 15 minutes (some say 20 min). A gas stove works best. Mine is a vilified electric. As soon as done, run them under cold water to cool them down. If Jamie or someone says differently, do what they say. I'm no expert.
Jamie- You are just too nice to me. I've never had salad Nicoise, it's always sounded odd but if you say it's worth making, I will have to believe so. You've never steered me wrong. Ever. And, yes, we are out of hard-boiled eggs, somehow. And I made 8.
Dad- See, you are so in touch with your feminine side!
Teri- Found a recipe for a green curry with beef and eggplant but I think green beans would be lovely in it.
BlogHer is in Chicago next year? Let's get a room and see if we can meet some cool people.
As for the BlogHer "controversy," only a bunch of women who make a point of ritualistically defending their "Stay At Home Mom" Status could start a fracas about the feminist leanings of BlogHer. OF COURSE it's going to have all manner of woman-centric undertones; it's called BlogHER, not BlogALLSEXESINCLUDINGMEN. Maybe all this seems hopelessly obvious, but the whole infertile thing was also sort of irksome: most women bloggers are NOT infertile. Although the term "mommyblogger" is offensively diminutive in some ways, it accurately describes most of what those women put on their online journals.
Anyway. I love that bumper sticker! I just got a new (like brand new) car, so I cannot sully it with a bumper sticker, but I did put a Rutgers Alumni license plate holder on it because I'm tired of ONLY seeing UW-Madison ones in the area.
I'm glad the kitty didn't pee in your daughter's room... the smell never comes out.
I have to say that both times that you've done the blow-by-blow of your day, I've enjoyed reading it.
You have such an entertaining way of describing the quotidian.
I think you've probably got enough green bean recipes, but if not, here's another. It will help you get rid of tomatoes, too.
Take about a pound of beans and wash and trim them. Steam for one or two minutes and plunge into ice water (to retain color). Make a vinaigrette and add fresh herbs you may have on hand (basil, chives, tarragon). Mince a clove or two of garlic and add that to the vinaigrette. Cut up a couple of tomatoes (or half a bunch of cherrie tomatoes) and add them to the beans. Pour the vinaigrette over the beans and tomatoes and add a few grates of good parmesan cheese. Chill.
Also, here's how my mom taught me to make hard-boiled eggs. Put them in a pot of cold water, cover, and turn on the burner. As soon as the eggs boil. Turn the burner off. Leave the eggs in the pot with the lid on for 20 minutes.
Rinse eggs in cold water and peel as soon as the time is up. This method has NEVER failed me and as long as you are sure to rinse and peel the eggs after 20 minutes, you totally avoid the noxious green coloring that sometimes develops on the yolks.
For someone who professes to know nothing about BlogHer, you certainly seem pretty well informed. I had no idea there was all that in-fighting.
OK. I think this comment is long enough.
Oy. No one proofread my above comment.
Punctuation, spelling, and grammatical errors abound!
Nice to read your daily grind post just to get a slice of your "regular" life, and to know that we are all about the same..doing the same types of ordinary things.
Man, I'm so out of the loop up here in the Great White North! I don't know that many bloggers, no in Canada anyway, and have never met any in person so I'm removed from the Blog Her thing. I had no idea they even had conferences. I'm like you, I'd go with a friend. If I didn't, I'd just sit there and not talk to many people. My blog just started as a place to self-express and a neat place to "House" my stories and poems. The fact that anyone reads it, let alone comments, is a ssurprse and a bonus! I have noticed that there aren't too many male bloggers, that popular trends for women are young happily married mothers,divorced women with kids who are looking for new partners,and women 40 and under who are struggling to lose a lot of weight. Very few are over 50, with no kids or grandkids, as I am.
Blogging has broadened my perspective of the people in our world and it helps me see where I fit into the large scheme of things.
Thanks for your visits and comments, Diana!
I like your "day in the life" posts they are always very witty! Very nice read, but for the chorus of "Why can't we be friends" running through my brain at this very instant!! agghhh!
Ariella- See, here you go tempting me with 'let's go to Chicago and have a ball'. From what I could tell, there was a small contingency of pretty much every represented group there that got their panties in a know. Basic human stuff. So silly to take offense when none was met. I am not a bumper sticker person but just got one included in a 6-pack of my favorite local microbreers I got that says 'Shop local, Drink Yokel' (the name of the brew was 'Yokel') and I need to figure out a place (aside from my bumper) to put it. Maybe on my favorite shovel?
Rozanne- You are just too nice to me. Beware or I will blog the contends of my fridge (loads of melon and left over BBQ and 57 different mustard jars a la Charles). The salad sounds wonderful! We are finally starting to get in the tomatoes. Always seems to take forever. Thanks for the hard boiled egg variation. Sounds fairly foolproof (for this fool). I'll try it with the next batch.
Christie- Evil. I'm eeeeeevil.
"It's a world of laughter, it's a world of tears, it's a world of hope and a world of fears..."
Ruth- It's funny, but I read you because, yes the writing is very good, but also because I feel a kinship with you. I come from a long line of educators (father, grandmother, husband, uncle and aunt, mom at times, another uncle in a way, etc, etc, etc.) Plus, you are Canadian, as is Charles. Well, he's recently 1/2 Canuck, but he still retains the sheen. I like you. (Plus, there are more bloggers like you than you realize.)
Stace- You're back! I look forward to reading about your much more interesting week of vacation among la familia.
Thanks so much, Diana!
(Hope you don't mind that I pick your med-info-packed brain sometimes.)
noooo, why must you start with the "It's a small world?" Why? I was perfectly oblivious until you started with the lyrics.
Just for that:
The sun'll come up tomorrow, wash away the sorrow and the heartache and the pain...tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you, tomorrow...
Oh, and beans are always a better choice in curry than eggplant, I think, unless you use the Thai eggplant, not that horrid aubergine stuff (which, as you might guess, I dislike, unless it's breaded and fried and heavily salted. Not the heathiest way to eat anything...)
So Beth told me what you had written about "why can't we be friends" and how she had suggested "It's A Small World" and two seconds later, I beat her to death with a scrapbooking implement because I had the latter song stuck in my head.
Okay, everything about that was true except for beating her to death. I may have said "Dang you!"
Regarding BlogHer. Yes, it seems like it could be fun but also very much like high school. I would like to go if a bunch of people whose blogs I read were going, I could care less about meeting any one else.
Now, how about we get the "Friends of Piffle" convention going next year? We could meet in Madison and it would be fun AND exciting! There are some of your readers I would like to meet (and really should be reading but I'm so behind on blogs right now). Hey, we could cap off the convention by going to the Ponderosa!
Yes, I'm kidding. Well, just about the Ponderosa. I bet the rest of it would be fun. Those of you with small children could whip out the pictures, those of us with pets could whip out the pictures, we could talk about life and love and Voldemort. It would be great.
Ruth- I adore giving out confusing medical information. It's a hobby.
Teri- Gasp! Not That Song! Nooooo! Good. More eggplant for me! I adore it brushed with olive oil, sprinkled with a bit of garlic salt or something and grilled or roasted. Heaven.
Dana- Poor Beth. We knew her well. Still, it was clearly justified. Now a convention of all of us would be a hoot! We could have it in marvelous Madison or take it a step cheesier and do The Dells. I'm sure they have a Ponderosa or two. We'd dispense with the speakers and go directly to the fun. Pictures would be manditory.
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