reading: Nights of Rain and Stars, by Maeve Binchy.
Finished last night: Don’t Eat This Book, by Morgan Spurlock. It was a good book, and I swear reading about how cows are fed ground-up pieces of dead cow, among other nasty things, made me gag and want to become a vegetarian.
That, or at least start getting all our meat from the free-range farm where we used to get our chickens.
And Fred will scoff at this, but I’ve put the Great American Detox Diet on my wish list. Written by Morgan Spurlock’s fiancee, it’s apparently got lots of recipes in it, and I can always use more recipes for vegetable-type stuff. We tend to eat the same vegetables over and over again, in the same way, and I’m looking for something new.
Got a good veggie recipe? Leave it in the comments! (Nothing with peppers. I hate peppers.)
Oh, and a good veggie recipe that we had over the weekend, is the one for Three Bean Salad. I made it because Fred found the recipe online. I wasn’t looking forward to it, because I hadn’t had it since I was a kid, but surprisingly enough, it was pretty damn good.
* * *
I subscribe to too many damn magazines. I’ve been slowly coming to this conclusion over the last few months as I’ve been getting magazines in the mail and then letting them sit in the magazine rack by the couch for a month or longer before getting around to reading them. I finally decided last night to reduce the number of magazines I get by cancelling my subscriptions to the ones I don’t really care for anymore.
So I’m canceling my subscriptions to Cosmo (god, that magazine annoys me), Shape (Self is better), and Oxygen (which I never subscribed to, but the magazine I was subscribing to (I can’t recall the name of it) went out of business, and I got the subscription to Oxygen as a consolation prize). There are others, but I can’t think of them at the moment. I already let my subscriptions to Readers Digest and Glamour lapse last year, and I think I’ll probably let my subscription to TV Guide fall by the wayside, too. If I want to know what’s coming on TV, I can check online.
That leaves me with People, US, Marie Claire, Jane (which I might cancel as well; it annoys me sometimes, too), Self, Consumer Reports, and O. Oh, and Playboy (the Playboy Advisor fascinates me). Still too many magazines, but at least they’re ones that I like.
Yes, I subscribe to both US and People. I almost always get People on Friday, then US arrives on Saturday. Usually by the time I get through People and read US, I feel like I’ve already read a lot of the same stories twice. I can’t help it, though, I love both of them. I finally cancelled Entertainment Weekly some time ago, because three entertainment-based magazines is too much, even for me.
And then Stephen King began writing columns for EW. Which wasn’t enough to make me re-subscribe, but I was happy to find that you can read his columns – at least the last four or five –
online.
God, I love the internet.
* * *
Fred’s pretty antsy about his surgery tomorrow. (If you didn’t know he was having surgery, you can read the story
here) He’s a little annoyed that I’m not worried about it as well, but I know he’s going to be just fine and the worst part is going to be the two weeks after, when he’s recovering and has to keep his arm in a sling.
He keeps thinking of things I’ll have to do for him, like wipe his butt (as if he’d even let me. Not that I WANT to, but I could do it if I had to.) and cut his food for him.
He’s not supposed to drive until he’s seen the doctor on Tuesday, so he’s going to work a couple of partial days from home. Or so he plans – I half expect him to spend all weekend and the first part of next week in a drugged daze on the couch, fending off the advances of the kitties who love him so.
I will, of course, let y’all know how it goes.
* * *
The spud apparently hit the mailbox this morning and put a nice scratch in the side of my car. I haven’t seen it myself – she needed to get to school, and I wasn’t going to get up and get dressed to look at it, when I can see it and wail and gnash my teeth just as well when she gets home.
She’s been halfheartedly looking for a job up until now. Now she really NEEDS one, because she needs to pay to have that scratch repaired, and her ten dollar a week allowance ain’t going to cut it.
Anyone in the Madison area want to hire a teenager? As long as it doesn’t require backing your car out of the driveway, she’ll do a good job.
* * *
From my comments:
i also giggled about “smoking chickens” because i am like 11. and my husband and i were looking at your photos last night and i told him that mister boogers real name is not mister boogers and when he asked me what his real name was, i couldn’t remember. how sad is that? it will probably come to me in a flash while i am brushing my teeth 2 weeks from now or something.
His “legal” name is Stanley. It’s okay that you didn’t remember, because I always have to stop and think about it. Also, when Liz emails me and asks me how Stanley is doing, I always immediately think “Who the fuck is Stanley?”
I recently had a chance to watch a few kittens for friends who were going on their honeymoon for a few weeks. Unfortunately, I couldn’t because I didn’t want them to be out socializing with my cats. I was worried about them possibly carrying Feline Leukemia or whatever it is that you call it. But I see that you let the kittens out with your cats. Is it okay as long as my cats have had their shots? I know it’s probably a dumb question, but I’d like to know just in case this situation ever comes up again (like if I can convince my husband to let us foster).
That is an excellent question, and I think the answer is that as long as your cats are up-to-date on their shots, they shouldn’t be able to catch anything life-threatening from other cats. BUT I would hate to tell you that, and then be wrong, so I’d suggest you check with your vet. And anyone reading who knows otherwise, feel free to post in the comments!
I know you’ve answered this question a bazillion times. What kind of digital camera do you have? Your pictures always come out so crystal clear.
I did answer this in the comments, but I thought I’d post it here again, in case anyone else has the same question. It’s a
Sony DSC-V1. Back at Christmas time, we were considering getting another camera, but after doing some looking around, decided we just didn’t like any as much as the one we already had… so we got a second one, so we can each have our own camera! My only real gripe with the camera is that hesitation while you’re waiting for the flash to be ready to go again, but that’s a pretty minor gripe.
By the way, thank you to everyone who suggested different cell phones last week (or was it the week before?). We’ve pretty much decided we’re going to go with the Virgin Mobile prepaid phones, and see how that works for us.
Speaking of cell phones, the spud came into our room the other night and held up a coin.
“Here’s a dime,” she said.
“For what?” Fred said.
“Text messaging. Someone text messaged me and I TM’d them back.”
Heh. Probably her return message was “I can’t TM. Stop TMing me. Stop, damn you! You’re costing me a nickel every time you message me!”
* * *
Rambo is turning out to be a bit of a pig. He was in the kitchen the other day when I was making dinner, and Fred made the mistake of giving him a small piece of chicken. Now, whenever he sees us anywhere near the kitchen, Rambo runs over and stands in the middle of the floor and howls his little head off.
Yesterday, Fred offered Rambo a sniff of the knife he’d used to make a peanut butter sandwich, and Rambo LICKED the peanut butter.
We let them stay out running around the house for about three and a half hours last night, and while Rambo pretty much stuck close to me, Jodie would go wandering off, and we’d say “Where the hell did she go?”, and a few minutes later she’d come moseying into the living room. I don’t know if she was exploring, or going upstairs to eat or use the litter box, or what, but she always came back to the living room, so I wasn’t too worried.
I did only get one picture of her yesterday, though. Because she kept wandering off! I need to concentrate on getting more pictures of her; she’s so damn gorgeous.
Pretty princess in the sun.
Kitten avec peanut butter-y knife.
Rambo checks his fan mail.
Showing off his stripes.
Miz Poo looks pissily at those kittens, who keep insisting upon invading her space.
Rambo snuggles. If that ain’t a Mister Boogers look on his face, I don’t know what is.
Forget those $5 toys. What all cats really PREFER is the milk jug ring.
I love that Spanky’s sitting in the background, watching Rambo clean himself.
The kittens are Spanky’s favorite form of entertainment. Just as long as they don’t get too close!
He’s starvin’. STARVIN’. He’s a starvin’ Marvin.]]>
Boy oh boy, Ms Poo is really lookin’ daggers at them kittens! Here’s hoping you don’t have to wipe Fred’s butt — I know you would, because you lurve that man ‘o yours, but still.
We were always told to keep the cats separated until they were tested for feline leukemia (especially) because it is highly contagious.
Jodie certainly is a pretty little princess. And Rambo — he’s adorable! The other night I was having a piece of cheesecake and made the mistake of leaving the piece on the table. One of my cats LICKED it and started eating it. She had never shown any interest in “people food” before, so I was very surprised. Some cats love regular food, others can’t be bothered.
Good luck to Fred!
I’m glad that someone else out there agrees with me that cats LURVE milk jug rings. I have a friend who recently got a kitten, and she keeps buying it all these toys, which don’t get touched!I told her to just buy some milk and give the kitten the milk jug ring. She thought I was nuts!
Milk jug rings are great kitten/cat toys, and so are bread ties. You know, the little thingies that close up the bag of bread? My cats love ’em! They ignore the jinglie balls and the catnip-stuffed mice. Give ’em trash though, and they are ecstatic. 🙂
I have better homes and gardens. I hate that magazine. I havent’ paid for it for 2 years but they keep sending it to me! I don’t even get bills or subscription renewals. Does that mean someone else is paying for it? make them stop!
My friend is paying to have Parents sent to me… I wish she’d stop but I hate to be rude.. but boy does that magazine go out of its way to piss me the hell off.
Cutest. Kittens. Evah.
Best to Fred.
Just FYI…I’m in the cattle industry, and we do NOT feed cattle to cattle (he! he!). Due to FDA regulations, every producer must sign an affidavit before shipping cattle to processing plants stating that no animals products were fed to the cattle. I’ll jump off my soap box now!
I hate getting most magazine renewal notices 9 months before the sub expires. My DH got a renewal notice from Popular Science when he still had three years to go. Time billed me about 6 times for a sub already paid– even threatening collection agency! When I called them they said, “Oh, sorry; you’re right– never mind!’ It’s even more annoying that the new thing is to make renewal an automatic event. That is keeping me from subscribing to Oprah’s mag.
For chrissakes, why can’t he wipe his butt with his OTHER hand? Or is it such an ordeal that it takes TWO HANDS? AUGH, I just grossed myself out.
My husband had a heart attack back in January at the age of 57. He’d been a fan of fast food and all kinds of meat, but now has to eat low-fat and we’ve almost become vegetarians. If you want some fairly good meat replacements, look for these veggie items in the frozen food section of your supermarket:
Boca Foods
http://www.bocafoods.com
Morning Star Farms
http://www.kelloggs.com/brand/msfarms/
Gardenburger
http://www.gardenburger.com/
All of these have a variety of choices; we prefer the Boca Food products, especially the veggie cheeseburger. The ground crumbles are excellent as a substitute in recipes. And they all have very little fat content, NO cholesterol and are low in calories.
Happy eating!
Hi Robyn or any other reader who has experience dealing with kittens-
I adopted a kitten this past Monday. Her “foster parents” told me that she was a skittish cat, but I didn’t mind. When I took her home, she escaped from my hands and darted into a hole underneath the cabinets that I hadn’t noticed was there (we just moved into this place). After freaking out about it, we learned that she comes out of the hole when we are sleeping or not home, eats some food, uses the catbox and then goes right back in there!
Any tips on how to get her to stop freaking and come on out of there? Has anyone else had this sort of frustrating cat experience? I’ve tried calling her, talking nice to her, putting out stinky food, etc… no dice. Help!
Cyndi: I’ve got to admit, that’s a relief!!! 🙂
Jane: I guess if you’ve spent 38 years wiping with one hand, it’s hard to switch to the other? I wouldn’t know, personally, because it’s not the sort of experimentation I’m in to.
Lisa: I want to say that if you just give her time she’ll eventually start coming out on her own, but I don’t really know that for sure! I’ll post your comment in my entry tomorrow and we’ll see if anyone’s got any good suggestions.
As for the Spud, I’ve been looking for help cleaning around the house and I’m in Madison. 🙂 Okay, not that funny, but I couldn’t resist! I was stupid enough to actually want to work at that age. What was I thinking?
Magazines: Holy crap woman! I thought I was bad with the magazines. At least I only buy the celebrity gossip ones when they have the awards shows so I can see the pretty dresses (although Jamie says I really get them for the un-pretty dresses). I love the EW but it’s too expensive. I don’t subscribe to anything anymore because they ding the hell out of you for postage to Canada. I used to get Martha, but I’m over her. Fave mags: Knitters, O, Real Simple, Star (but I never buy it) and Cooking Light.
More pictures of the baby Jodie. She is Teh Cute. really liked the picture of Spanky warily checking out Rambo. I’ve been wondering what the other cats think of the interlopers. The Booger’s opinions had been made perfectly clear already.
Veggie suggestions:
roasted cauliflower-cut it up and wash it, leaving quite a bit of water on it, toss it with olive oil, lots of kosher salt and tumeric and/or curry powder and roast it at about 425, flipping it after ten minutes or so , repeating as necessary until it’s soft and getting kind of burnt at the edges. Takes the cabbageness right out of it. It’s kind of sweet.
steamed chard or beet greens with cider vinegar and butter
grilled zucchini- cut into chunky half moons, toss in zip bag with salad dressing (balsamic or any other vinagarette), lots of freshly ground peppers, kosher salt and some rosemary. Grill on BBQ or grill pan (wet skewers or a veggie basket makes the BBQ less of a pain).
sesame garlic green beans- stir fry green beans with a bunch of garlic, some sesame oil, light or japanese soy sauce, sugar and some pepper flakes or chili oil. Thicken with cornstarch at the end
if you like. Very good with the vietnamese chicken (known in our house as Bitchypoo chicken) with the sesame and lime and honey. I also do basically the same thing with broccoli, bok choy or gai lan.
Lazy pickles- sliced english cukes, vinegar (cider, white or rice wine), sugar, salt, dill, and chili flakes if you like em. Let sit in fridge while dinner cooks- also excellent with the bitchypoo chicken.
You may have your comments section back now. I’m done hijacking it for now.
The kitties are just too cute.
Here’s a few veggie ideas:
Roasted asparagus: Pop the asparagus on a baking sheet with some olive oil, sea salt and some pepper, and roast at 450 for about 20 minutes. While they’re still hot, grate a little fresh parm cheese on top. Super yummy.
Sugar snap peas: So easy it’s not even a recipe…Saute some olive oil and lots of garlic for a minute or two, add the snap peas and cook for 5-7 minutes. Add lots of sea salt and enjoy!
I remember all the bus issues from last year!
Hi Robyn. We have virgin mobile and we love it. We are going to get a second one for our daughter. We told her she will get so many minutes per month, once she uses them, she’s shit out of luck.
Hi, I’m one of the people who commented on how much I love Virgin Mobile. I do love it because it’s cheap (for me, who hardly ever uses it), but last week after posting that comment I had to go to Scottsboro and had no service once I got past Gurley. THat reminded me of the one big downside of VM… pretty much no coverage between Huntsville and Chattanooga, or anywhere that’s off the beaten path for that matter. If that’s important to you, you might check their coverage map. Cingular has the best.
I don’t know how you control yourself when it comes to not keeping all those kittens you foster. I’d want to keep every single one of them!! They’re so damn cute.
Wow, that’s a lot of magazines–you must be a fast reader–LOL.
It’s funny, in the last week or so you have made several references to “The Stand” and I just happen to be re-reading it at the moment. I have to say, it is one of my all time favorites. That one and “Swan Song”. I don’t know what it is about the end of the world that fascinates me so darn much.
this comment is for lisa – your house is probably too big and scary for a skittish kitten. Try limiting its area to a single room, or even a bathroom for a few days. Eventually, it will want more attention, and be used to the way your house smells.
good luck!
I so want to adopt Jodie – Rambo is cute too, but I have a thing for fluffy cats…
I’d just like to say I hope that the Victoria’s Secret shampoo stuff is nice: I just ordered it and it’s cost me $41US (so about $60 for me). I’ve never bought anything off someone’s recommendation for smells, given I’m allergic to a lot of stinks and I have no idea what smells you like. Also, I suspect given you’re willing to wipe Fred’s butt, your smell senses might not be as advanced as mine…
Oh well, if it smells like shit, I can always give it to Mum for a surprise present!
Hey there. Tell Fred I’m sending good thoughts, and none of them are about ass whiping. (ass whooping, maybe.)
Thanks for your notes, btw.
Hi Robyn!
I have to say first that I am in love and her name is Jodie. Cutest kitten I’ve ever seen. If I weren’t severely allergic to cats, I would make the drive from VA to AL and adopt her.
I’ve recently become a squash fan after a lifelong aversion to the vegetable.
My favorite ways to cook it:
Cut crossways (think pickle spear) and grill with salt and pepper, a bit of olive oil drizzled over it. I personally like a little vinegar too but that’s me.
I like to stir fry cabbage and onions in a bit of olive oil, with salt, pepper and vinegar and squash thrown in is awesome too.
I am careful not to over cook squash tho….NAS-TAY.
A squash casserole a friend shared that is just divine:
6 cups of squash cubed and chopped onions to taste. Boil in water for a minute or two, drain.
Mix 1 cup sour cream, 1 cup cheddar cheese (I use low fat) and 1 can of cream of mushroom soup. Mix well, throw in some celery salt and garlic to taste. Add drained veggies, mix again.
Sprinkle herb bread crumbs (I use pepperidge farm stuff mix) in the bottom of a casserole (or 9×13 pan), then the veggie mixture. Add more crumbs to the top (recipe calls for butter drizzled over it at this point and it’s a little dry without it). Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350.
My kids and I have Virgin Mobile, and it works for us, usually. Recently, tho, we went up north. There is other service up there, but our phones wouldn’t roam and connect with anyone else to work. Just sayin’…
Milk toys!! The milk jug rings are the perfect cat toy. We’d give them to our cats and they’d lose them. When we moved, we found about 100,000 milk jug rings hiding under the appliances.
God, they’re too cute, those kitties.
Hi Robyn, I’ve posted some of my favourite recipies here: http://www.uoguelph.ca/~carae/kelly.html
I’ve been vegan for 2 years, vegetarian for 4 – let me know if you want any other recipies!
Thanks Robyn for offering to post my comment about my scared kitten to your readers!! I figure if anyone has suggestions, your kitty lovin’ readers would!