4-23-08

The phone rang at 3:45 this morning, scaring the shit out of me. I had to stumble across the room (the phone is on top of the dresser), fumble for the phone, drop the phone, peer at the caller ID, then answer, to find out that it was a wrong number. I wanted to yell “DON’T YOU KNOW YOU DON’T GO CALLING PEOPLE AT 3:45 IN THE MORNING?!”, but I didn’t (the bouts of irrational anger are over for another month THANK GOD). Then I had to pee, and Fred had heard the phone ring, so thought I was coming to knock on his door to tell him one of his parents had died or something, so we talked for a few minutes and then went back to sleep.

Being woken up by the phone in the middle of the night = FUN.

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I went to Wal-Mart yesterday because when we were there on Saturday buying our computers, I noticed that they had a lot of really nice, healthy-looking plants, and I need plants for the front porch, so I wanted to see what they had.

I ended up getting pots of Impatiens, Mexican Heather, and Ivy for the front porch (the Ivy will be in hanging pots), and a few other plants, the names of which I do not know, to put in the plant stand by the front door.

It wasn’t ’til I got home that I realized we have no potting soil here, so instead of spending the rest of the morning potting plants on the front porch, I lay in the foster kitty room and petted Momma and her babies (which really is much more fun than having to deal with dirt!), and I’ll pick up potting soil on the way home from the pet store on Thursday. The plants will be fine ’til then.

I sure do love Spring.

Fred’s father and stepmother came by on Sunday. They have a friend visiting, and they wanted her to see the Crooked Acres sights. Fred’s parents are very into gardening – they’ve done a gorgeous job in their back yard, it’s really something to see – and I think they’re a little disappointed that we have all this land, and I don’t work, and we do the bare minimum when it comes to landscaping.

I just don’t really enjoy that kind of gardening, and I’ve decided to stop feeling guilty about that. If we had a million dollars and could pay someone to come put in a lovely garden and then keep it up, I’m sure I’d enjoy it and love it a lot, but as for doing it myself? Nah. Just not into it!

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Recipes I have recently made, and consider worth sharing with you:

On Friday, I made a recipe I’d gotten from Cooking Light magazine, Ham and Cheese Macaroni Bake with Peas. Fred liked it a lot. I kind of liked it, but thought it had too much pasta in it. I’m not anti pasta (ha!), by any means, but I really think that if the recipe were made with about half as much macaroni, it would be a lot better. However, we put the leftovers in the big refrigerator to feed to the pigs, and the next day I had nothing in the house for lunch, so I decided to give the Ham and Cheese Macaroni (etc.) a try. Sitting in the refrigerator overnight had allowed the flavors to meld or something, because it was much better than it had been the night before.

I still think it would be better with half as much pasta, though.

Also on Friday, I finally got around to making Eclair Cake. Local reader Jean (hi, Jean!) sent me the recipe a while back after I made Paula Deen’s Banana Pudding, and oddly enough, a few days later, Fred’s mother and stepfather stopped by to drop off leftovers for the pigs, and since it was Easter, they also brought us a dish of… Eclair Cake! I’ve been meaning to make it for the past few weeks, but this past Friday I finally got around to doing it. The good thing about this is that you can lighten it up by using skim milk to make the pudding, and Light Cool Whip – or if you’re of a mind to, you can go with the whole milk and regular Cool Whip. The important thing is to let it sit overnight – and the longer it sits, the better it is. I made this Friday morning, and by Sunday afternoon I was saying “You had better take this out to the pigs, or I’m going to eat it ALL!”

(The pigs really liked it, for the record.)

And lastly, my mother makes a broccoli casserole that is so good I always LOVE and it wasn’t until my most recent trip to Maine that I thought to get the recipe from her. I made it on Thursday to have with leftover Kahlua/ Kahula Pork and then we had it again on Sunday with leftover Kahlua/ Kahula Pork, and then I had it with my lunch a couple of times. It’s not a terribly healthy dish, what with all the cheese and the mayo, but you can make it a little lighter with the substitution of light mayo for half the mayonnaise, and reduced-fat cheese. I wouldn’t use all light mayo, though, because I’ve been told that doesn’t work well.

And there you go. Happy cooking!

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Momma Kitty and babies continue to do just fine. Those of you who think they’ve gotten bigger – rest assured, they clearly have. Kittens are supposed to double their weight in their first week of life (or so I’ve read), and these babies are growing so fast I could probably sit and actually see them growing. They’re getting round little tummies and I can barely keep my hands off them.

Momma Kitty has now been named – her name is Kara. Not named after anything or anyone in particular, but I realized that I’ve been calling her “Cara” in my head for the past few days, and since that spelling has been used by a previous shelter cat, I just changed the spelling.

The kittens have also been named, but since I want to introduce each of them with a picture and we’re taking individual pictures of them this evening, you’ll have to wait ’til tomorrow.

My favorite thing to do, when hanging out with Kara and babies, is when one of them starts sniffing around, I put my finger in front of their nose, and they sniff for a moment, then make the MOST disgusted face. Like, “HUMAN. God, those things REEK!” It’s about the cutest thing on earth.

I took a look at the gray kitten’s hind end last night, and I’m 99% sure it’s a boy; Fred concurs.

“Momma!!! We is HUNGREE!”

Pile o’ cute.

The wee raccoon.

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Stinkerbelle does not appreciate the flash.

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Previously
2007: Things I should have done this weekend but did not:
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
2004: Fred and I came up with the perfect name for a rapper: Skid Markee.
2003: Damn that Rob Rummel-Hudson. Damn him straight to hell. He gave me The Pink Eye!
2002: Note to self: Get life.
2001: how the hell did I ever get everything done when I was working full-time? (I still wonder this)
2000: I had hoped to see Tom Cruise’s penis, so I could pause the movie and look closely at it.