Kingfisher Cove

Moving Right Along

I was surprised at how much (previous post subject) affected me today!  I really didn't need that.  Eeww.

This is a nightly ritual (for the most part) -- JDub having a bowl full of butter-soaked popcorn with wiener dogs sprouting on his legs like growths, receiving bountiful bites:

Just thought I'd share that with you.  (Lean, long legs with butter-coated popcorn sure don't apply to ME.  Or Bette Midler). 

My son's 21st birthday is just about a month away (June 5th) and so tonight I made reservations for the Saturday night following his birthday.  His birthday actually falls on a Tuesday in the midst of FINALS WEEK, which is pretty sucky.  Reservations are for Benihana in downtown Seattle and I figured it's quite fitting since he is 1/4 Japanese, he loves Japanese food (they also serve sushi), PLUS I had to rule out the Space Needle.  I really did think that would be a fun and special place for a special birthday dinner, but then I took a peek at their online menu and about had a coronary.  Jeeze.  An average of $45-$50 per entree, and if you want a salad to go with that, it's another $10 - $15 extra.  Not to mention cocktails!  (Which, of course, would be somewhat part of the evening celebrating a 21st birthday). That's a few steps above our level of practicality (and livability), so I just had to nix that.  (How do the tourists do it?  They must be rich!) I remember taking my parents to the Space Needle for their 25th wedding anniversary dinner (27 years ago!) and it was definitely pricey but still do-able.  And I made a LOT less money then!  This just felt out of my league!  Anyway, I've told Nate that he could bring a guest to Benihana.  He doesn't have a girlfriend, but he has a best friend who also loves Japanese cuisine and he'll likely bring him along "unless I meet somebody hot between now and then who wouldn't mind having a nice dinner out with my parents."  Right. 

 

Odd

I had an odd thing happen to me today that left me feeling....oddly depressed!

~~~

It's my lunch hour and I’m seated at the restaurant where I normally eat my lunch and read my book. There’s an older guy probably in his upper 60s sitting in the booth across the aisle from me, chatting on his cell phone. I’ve ordered my half-sandwich and cup of soup and I’ve got my head buried in my book.

“Excuse me,” the man says from the adjacent table and I don’t pay attention because 1) I’m reading my book and 2) I assume he’s still on his cell phone.

“Excuse me, ma’m?” I look up then and realize he is talking to me. He says, “Has anybody ever told you how much you look like Bette Midler?”

My mouth must have dropped (I think I remember my jaw hitting the edge of my book on the table and possibly even drawing blood) and I’m pretty sure I mumbled something like, “UHM, NO!” while tears welled behind my eyes (because who wants to hear this?  Heather Locklear maybe [in my dreams], but this?)

Then this guy’s wife joins him at his table and I hear him say to her, “Look who’s sitting over there. It’s Bette Midler!” And the wife peers over at me and says, “Oh! Yes!”

~~~

OK. I can’t seem to exit the Twilight Zone.

I’m aware that I have a bit of a ski-jump of a nose (especially from the side angle), but Bette Midler?

Hmm.  Jesus.  Maybe a little.  But it didn't do my ego a lot of good because of 1) the nose thing; 2) the double chin thing; and 3) she's several years older than I am!

But to make me feel better, you can just start calling me DIVINE.

A Glimpse of Sunday

Another beautiful day, but I honestly didn't make good use of the sunshine, other than enjoying the view out the windows.  (Oh, and driving to the grocery store and spending buko bucks and filling up my sparkling clean refrigerator).

I dread weighing myself tomorrow morning, and I may just take a pass this week!  It hasn't been a "good" weight-watching week.  (Bad me).  I swear I can feel it, too.  Tonight I did prepare another Weight Watchers recipe for shrimp scampi that was really good.  Can you imagine shrimp scampi without butter?  Well, this truly had lots of flavor and very little fat (just 2 tsp. olive oil).  I'm learning that making really good use of spices and herbs and seasonings is the secret to being satisfied when you can't be using butter. There's also quite a selection of "flavored" olive oils these days, and Trader Joe's has a bunch of them.

~~~~~

Shrimp Scampi (8 Weight Watchers points) -- Serves 4; Prep Time - 20 min.  Cooking time - 10 min.

• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 4 medium garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 pound shrimp, medium (peeled/deveined)
• 1/4 cup white dry wine
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 3/4 C reduced-fat chicken broth
• salt & pepper to taste
• 8 oz. linguini, cooked and kept hot (I used angel hair -- my favorite!)
• parsley

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add garlic and sauté 1 minute. Add oregano and stir to coat. Add shrimp and sauté until bright pink, stirring frequently, about 3 minutes. Add wine and simmer about 1 minute. Dissolve cornstarch in chicken broth in a small cup and whisk until blended; add mixture to skillet and simmer 2 minutes, until sauce thickens. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer cooked linguini [angel hair!] to four individual shallow bowls and spoon shrimp and sauce over top; sprinkle with parsley. Yields about 1 1/3 cups of pasta, 1/4 cup of sauce and 3 ounces of shrimp per serving.

~~~~~

I found this at the grocery store today and decided it could come in handy.  Looks pretty wicked, huh?  (Nate said, "Somebody around here decide to become a heroin addict?")  It's for injecting foods with marinades, etc.  For beef or steaks, you can "inject" teryaki sauce, Worecestershire sauce or marinades; for poultry, teriyaki, soy sauce or melted butter (or not); for fish, lemon juice or wine.  Or get this:  inject brandy into cherries!  Grand Marnier into strawberries!  I especially thought it might come in handy for those dry ol' chicken breasts.  Worth a try.  Wasn't expensive.

The clutter still lives. My thumb/wrist just were not in the mood to delve into that quite yet.  (It was tough enough folding a ton of laundry).  I've been eating Bromelain all day long.

You Can't Really Appreciate This

On this Saturday that ended up being sunny and beautiful after all (grrrr...), I have spent the bulk of the day reaming out my refrigerator.  I suppose I should have taken a "before" picture, but it was just too depressing to go there.  Not only that, but somebody might have reported me to the Health Department.  Yes, it was that bad.

I waited far too long to tackle this job, and I paid Big Time with fighting my gag reflex and also fighting the ongoing pain I have in my left wrist/thumb.  It was an abominable task. 

But it's done, and she gleams, no?  At times I wondered if it would ever be done.  I took regular breaks, which helped my frame of mind but ultimately prolonged the agony.  I encountered all kinds of science experiments and even an 11-year-old bottle of salad dressing.  (How the hell did that happen?  It must have moved with me from my condo from before JDub and I got married!)  It's a big, deep fridge that was hiding many awful secrets and boy did I uncover them. 

I have a lot of similarly disgusting jobs around this house that need tackling.  One thing at a time.  And I still have the clutter issue awaiting me.  Maybe tomorrow.  Heh. 

Sweet Relief!

The week is done!  (And it's payday).  And the week didn't end on a particularly bad note, either.  My boss (Ms. Barrymore) came to bat for me over yesterday's distress and all is good.  And I don't have to think about work for two whole days!

JDub works this weekend so we won't be heading to Harstine.  We've had a weekful of gray and dreary days and it doesn't look like it's going to improve much over the weekend.  Hate to say it, but I'm kind of glad.  I'd be majorly pouting if it was sunny and warm. 

Saw the damnedest thing on my drive home from work.  I was sitting at a red light at a busy intersection where construction cones were lined up alongside me on the shoulder.  Oncoming traffic had a green left-turn light.  I'm sitting there in line waiting for the light to change and noticed this ratty pickup driving on the shoulder beside me and knocking over all the construction cones!  THEN, he gets to the red light and pulls out into the middle of the intersection (where those oncoming string of cars were making their left turn) and he powered right through them!  (No, he didn't hit anybody, amazingly).  I think what is especially incredible is that with this totally aggressive and "entitled" behavior, nobody even laid on their horn at him.  I suppose it could be he had some kind of dire emergency, but there are no hospitals in the vicinity and it just appeared to be a scruffy construction worker guy deciding he was, by God, getting to the bar sooner rather than later.  (I had an asshole boss once who pulled that kind of stunt regularly -- and for him, it really was a sense of entitlement).

I could be crabby.  My kid is in one of his "moods" (what would it have been like if I'd had a hormonal GIRL child?), and the garbage is piled high and un-emptied, one of the few chores he's responsible for around here.  He's at work or else I'd be reaming him a new you-know-what.  It's also frustrating that nobody seems to remember how to load dirty dishes in the dishwasher, either.

But, I've opted to NOT be crabby.

Taking Care of Business...And Going Nuts in the Process

Ohhh...what a day.  I've got a fast turn-around proposal that I need to finish up tomorrow and we shouldn't even be pursuing it.  It's for a nearby city who wants a construction manager consultant to basically be on their "staff" full time throughout the summer, so we have to show, prove, demonstrate, promise, and commit that the person we propose to do this is available.  The problem?  Nobody is available.  The technical staff behind pursuing this proposal openly admitted this to me, and I kept asking over and over again:  "Then how are we going to show, prove, demonstrate, promise, and commit somebody who isn't available?"  Their response?  Well, there was no response.  Which I take to mean:  Lie.  Oh, and like that'll make a client happy.  (And what about ethics?)  They gave me names of people to present, but it's totally bogus because they are committed elsewhere, and will be for many months to come.  This is so frigging frustrating.

Today was our quarterly all-marketing meeting so the day was totally blown as far as accomplishing anything, although I went 90 mph in the couple of hours I did have -- guessing/lying and feeling very uncomfortable about it.  At our meeting we did learn a few more tips and tricks about our new database, and were able to vent and create a big long list of all the (gazillions) of issues that aren't working right.  This whole migration from our old (unstable/awful) database to the new one has been a nightmare.  Need information for your proposal?  Fuggitaboudit. (Guess!  Lie!)

AND THEN.  I ate Terrible Stuff today!  The lunch served for our marketing meeting was uber-fattening Mexican fajitas.  And then cake was served to celebrate birthdays.  (I don't know why, but I ate some.  I'm not even a cake-liker).  One of the marketers had flown in from our Colorado office and so a few of us met at a wine bar late in the afternoon to get to know her (and ate APPETIZERS!)  That was actually pretty pleasant.  For the most part, work wasn't even discussed!  I never totally relaxed because the company's marketing manager was present and it's known that what you say may be used against you down the road and out of the blue.  She's actually quite likable, but there is wisdom in being cautious.  But it was a nice opportunity to sort of network and get to know people in our department that I don't work with on a daily basis.

So...no dinner for me tonight.  And I'm fine with that.

I finished my book, and now I've begun a new one that I'm already totally enthralled with.  It is also extremely well-written.  That's my #1 requirement.  I so appreciate a well-written book, and there are many out there that are not. 

Here's a question:  Have you (or do you know of anybody) who has used "Audible.com"?  I notice that Amazon uses them as an option for audible book downloads.  If you want to get them for decent prices, however, you have to become a member, which (of course) requires a commitment.  Even so, they're still cheaper than the horrifically expensive book CDs you buy at the bookstore.  They aren't .mp3 format, but they work on IPods, as well as "many" other devices, or you can also burn them onto a CD. It sounds kind of intriguing.  But would I enjoy listening to a book being read to me?  With all the static on my car radio, maybe I would!  And maybe I would enjoy taking walks while listening to a book.  But I'm not sure.  Any thoughts?    

Observations

What comes first, the music or the lyrics?  I want to try my hand at writing lyrics, but do I need a song first? I’m thinking not, but then I’d have to find somebody who knows how to write the music to go with the lyrics. Otherwise, you’ve just got a silly rhymie poem. Lyrics always look so lame on liner notes, unless you have the music in your head, then it’s transformed into something brilliant (even if it's just a silly rhymie poem).

~~~~~

On my way back to the office from lunch yesterday, I drove past the quaint little town’s high school and noticed a group of kids gathered at the crosswalk, so I stopped. They just stood there and didn’t even look at me. After feeling confused for a moment, I followed their gaze to the other side of the street and saw a couple of cop cars parked askew and a K-9 unit surrounding some guy (high school age, I think) and they had him on his hands and knees (like a dog – or like playing “horsie”). I suspect some drug-sniffing was going on. My first thought was: “How humiliating! To be on your hands and knees with your butt up in the air right in front of your school with your crack peeking out of your gangsta-wannabe threads!” There was no untoward aggression happening either by the cops or the dog, so I stopped being totally sympathetic. There must’ve been a reason, and in that quaint little town I know that race issues aren’t much of a factor. (It’s not particularly diverse).

~~~~~

Ahhh, came home to a clean house. (God, I love that). HOWEVER. We have a major clutter problem, and I really really hate clutter, even though lately you wouldn’t believe that for an instant if you came to visit. It’s overwhelming. Cardboard boxes stacked to be taken to recycling. Books lying around everywhere. Piles of important mail (we do toss the junk mail). Pens, CDs, paperwork, tax stuff, and did I mention books??? I’ve run out of bookshelf space, and the “computer room/office” that houses our old desktops and file cabinets is so full of crap that we can’t even get to those (full) file cabinets. It’s time to purge and tidy and make space. But when I think of where in the world to start, I get overwhelmed all over again. We should move. That would force us into action. (I'm known to be brutal when it comes to moving).  Either that or pick up a BUNCH of storage bins and start boxing up the books and important stuff – and toss the rest! Maybe sell some books, too.

~~~~~

Snow Patrol's new tune is out from the upcoming Spiderman movie!  It's called Signal Fire, and I like it.

~~~~~

Today at work was a thumb-twiddling day, because once again I’m in (altogether now!): Waiting Mode. I feel a little guilty because my coworker is quite busy (I know this because she called me again today to complain about it). I offered to help her but that would have taken away her reason to be put out, so she declined. I do know that my thumb-twiddling is temporary and so today I sort of embraced it.

~~~~~

This type of thing totally intrigues me.

~~~~~

Have nothing planned for dinner. I’m thinking it’s a “dingable” night. I have a Lean Cuisine in the freezer! JDub might need to go to the store to get his own dingable, though!  And the checker will think he's a bachelor. 

Encouraged!

Hey.  I've lost 14 pounds to date.  When did I start this -- first part of February?  That's not bad if I continue at this rate.  Slow but pretty steady.  There have been weeks when I haven't lost anything, and there have been a couple of weeks when I gained a pound.  But I just keep on keepin' on and it's definitely working.  I wish it were like a hair cut when you could see immediate drastic results, but it's just not a hair cut.

I continue to prepare new Weight Watcher's recipes and I guess I feel that JDub and Nate (if he joins us for a meal) just have to put up with it.  Actually, a number of them have been really good.  I'm currently cooking a new (chicken breast) recipe and while it sounds good, I'll have to get back to you on that. I don't have real good luck with chicken breast because it just tends to be dry and boring.  I'm thinking that the secret is to cut up the chicken breasts into smaller pieces so it's not so thick and dry-meaty.  All the seasoning tends to adhere to the very outside and you've got all this dry white meat inside that's bland and flavorless and basically doesn't even want to chew up. 

At any rate, I'm jazzed.  Week before last, not so much (one of those gain-a-pound weeks), but things are looking up.  (Probably had to do with the Mouse Shit Diet over the weekend).

And, not a bad day today.  I was focused, and I accomplished a lot, even though it was tedious and not fun work.  I took regular breaks to go outside in the sunshine.  That in itself is so uplifting and it's amazing how it helps re-focus.  Seemed like everyone was in a good mood today.  (Well, except my coworker who called me to -- yup -- gripe...)

~~~~~

Dinner was good!  Very flavorful.  It was chicken breast cooked in olive oil (just a little), balsamic vinegar, garlic, fat-free chicken broth, mushrooms, and sun-dried tomatoes.  (My feeling is that you can't go wrong with just about anything cooked with sun-dried tomatoes.  Mmmm.  They're good directly out of the bag they come in).  I was wise to cut up the chicken into smaller pieces so it better absorbed the sauce/juices.  Not bad a'tall. The boys liked it, too.

And I'm loving my book.  I've been reading "Nobody's Fool" by Richard Russo, taking my time with it, and absolutely, 100% savoring it. The writing is stellar.  I often just shake my head in wonder at the masterful ability of Mr. Russo.  Wow.  It's true, not a "whole lot" happens.  But as in real life, many things really DO happen -- it's just not a major kick-ass development a minute.  I unexpectedly break out in cackling laughter.  These people!  Their thoughts, their personalities, their way of looking at things.  Their flaws.  It's wonderful.  Once I finish it, I'm buying myself the DVD of the movie with Paul Newman.  I'll bet he's just perfect as ol' Sully.

Got Some Sun!

My cheeks feel a little burny!  What a concept!  Yup, today was 90% really nice (there were some cantankerous clouds that would block that ol' sun ball now and then, and the temperature would plummet a good 10 deg.!)  But overall it was lovely.  JDub's been hacking down  $!#%&! scotch broom and adding to the burn pile.  I should have gotten a "before" picture of this hill at the entrance to our property.  It was a solid mass/forest of that dreaded noxious weed (that we hate with a passion).  It's probably difficult to imagine, but no way would you have been able to see the trees beyond them (except the tops).  (Click for enlargements of all these pics).

The burn pile is ready to light, but we've decided to wait until it's dried out some.  Plus, we have plenty of more "fuel" to add to the pile!  We've done this before.  Soon after we bought the property in late 2003, we'd drive down for a full day of hacking scotch broom and burning it, time and time again.  (At that time we had no means to spend the night -- it was even prior to having our tent).  It's so difficult to get rid of once and for all, and it's just everywhere so it pollinates fast and furious.  Like, well, weeds.  We'd need a convoy of tanker trucks full of the heavy-duty undiluted Roundup for Tough Weeds and Brush to get the job close to being done, until neighboring seed pods would find their way to our place, like overnight.  (Wouldn't want to do that, of course!  I worry about the birds and squirrels -- and of course the weenies).  However, I do spray some throughout the year -- just not tanker trucks full.  And it's diluted.

Speaking of the birds, we hardly saw any all weekend long.  We think they're busy mating.  We'd hear them high up in the trees, but rarely saw any -- at the feeders or even just flying around.  Just a very few Towhees and that's it.  At different times JDub and I saw male Towhees doing what appeared to be mating dances, fanning their tail feathers and acting ridiculous.  (Kind of like human courting/mating, eh?)  It was disappointing, though, because I was really looking forward to seeing the addition of new birds what with Spring in full swing. And it'll be two weeks before we head down there again because JDub has to work next weekend.(I suppose then they'll all be nesting). 

We did finally take a beach walk today, although I didn't take any pictures then.  It was so pleasant to be there, finding a few agates, and watching the dogs kick up the beach gravel as they ran.  They love the beach.  In fact, at one point when JDub was inside working on his jigsaw puzzle, I was sitting out on the deck and watched the dogs on a mission, heading down the path toward the beach on their own.  I swear they'd communicated their need/desire with each other because they both knew exactly where they were heading.

Sure hope we don't have mice to deal with next time we head down.  JDub set out more poison, stuck the bowl of dry dogfood in a cupboard that the mice haven't been able to get into, and placed plastic wrap over the silverware/utensils.  I really don't want to have to go through THAT again.  Gah!

I can't believe it's almost Monday again.  God.  I hate/loathe/dread the idea of going back to work tomorrow, if I'm in for another week like the last one...

Happy Clematis & Mouse Shit Avoidance

As promised, it's raining.  Actually, it's showering.  The difference is that there are breaks between rain episodes, and I've made some use of those breaks.  Refilled the five-gallon storage bucket with new bird seed.  (Yes!  In three weeks they gobbled down five gallons of seed!)  What's weird is that we haven't seen any activity out there at all this morning.  I think the birds wait until we leave and then do all their gobbling. (Or, maybe they're too fat to fly!)

I also took some pictures of the clematis.  It just kind of amazes me, although it's in a perfect spot for all the climbing they do (against the anti-white-trash screen).  Notice the very top of the screen and how the clematis is winding its way through the lattice and around a beam:

Here's a close-up shot of the beam:

Purdy, eh?

~~~~~

I've discovered that all the utensil/flatware/pots-and-pans drawers and cupboards are full of mouse shit. I've been putting off the inevitable, but it's time to slip on the rubber gloves, pour scalding soapy water into the sink, and get to it. It's going to take a while.

Update:  One drawer down, but I ran out of hot water.

Update #1A:  I noticed when we arrived last night that all the dry dog food we leave out in a bowl was gone.  (The dogs hardly eat it because they get such wonderful people food when we're here).  When I grabbed my rubber gloves out of the little pull-out bin just beneath the sink, the bin was full of dog food.  Asshole mice.  (And yes, I can attest to the fact that they have a fully-functioning asshole, long before the rat poison kicks in). 

Update #2:  Mopped the floor and waiting for it to dry.  Good excuse to put off the next drawer, dontcha think?

Update #3: Two drawers down.  Now I have the big pots & pans cupboard to do and I'm really dreading that because my wee little drainer just doesn't hold it all.  I can tell you that all this mouse shit has sure curtailed my appetite today.

Update #3A:  Note to self -- write a book on the Mouse Shit Diet and sell it to Weight Watchers.

Update #4:  Ran out of hot water again in the midst of cleaning all the pots and pans (and racks and big stuff).  I gagged.  How ironic is it, really, that I come here to escape the "shit" and I'm surrounded by it?