midgeling: life in a shoe.

I have fallen in love. We finally got the XM Radio fixed in my car. When we first had it activated, I got a handful of crappy stations. Now I get them all. My favorites? The Message, Fred, Ethel, Lucy, Squizz and Fungus. And with me being the driver of the Kid Shortbus, this XM gets a LOT of use during the week.

You know what else I love? Frozen Blueberries. By tomorrow, I will have finished all 4 lbs in just this week. I put them in a small dish and let them sit out for a few minutes before I start eating them. I like them about half frozen. It's got much less fat than a bowl of ice cream. They are pretty, too.

On the drama front, i have spoken with a couple of friends and some things have gotten better. I just need to take a step back from the ugliness. A couple of enties back I was in a bad place. Everything came down on me all in one day and it was too much to handle all at once. I was told by someone that I shouldn't take on everyone's problems. While that is true, I am just the type of person who can't hear some bad news, learn that you've been deceived for a few months and just skate on by with a "Wow, that kind of sucks." Especially if it is several bits of bad news, one after the other, after the other...

But selectiveness. I need to learn that a bit better. I know that things overall happened the way they were meant to. But in the future I really need to be selective and show much more discretion and reserve when handing over trust. That has always been a hard lesson for me. I seem to have that psychic "FOOL" tattoo imprinted on my forehead. But as the mantra goes, "It will get better...:

Posted by midgeling at 06:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I have had all these Suzy Homemaker urges these days. It is starting to frighten me. I even like my husband. Scary, no? I made applesauce the other day. The kids and the husband picked apples off the trees in the yard, and I peeled and cooked them. It looks like poo because I put the cinnamon in while it was cooking instead of after, but it tasted awesome.

Okay, please try not to laugh, but today I sewed an apron. Yes, an a p r o n. I checked out Egg Money Quilts by Eleanor Burns from the library. I checked it out because I saw the QIAD episode on PBS where she made the apron. I thought it was cute and would look good in some funky retro-type fabric. And I think it does. Here is Harley modeling it for me:

I have been cleaning around the house, too. Well, I think that is what I was supposed to be doing today or something while Nathan is at his friend's house overnight playing WoW all day and night. At least that is what he told me he wanted me to do. I made stuff instead. Cleaning? I am not that domestic. In my defense, I have been better about being the house nazi and making sure everyone keeps their crap out of the way more. The house in in no way "clean" but it is a hell of a lot better than is has been. I just keep telling myself that it is better and that is what counts.

Posted by midgeling at 09:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I was just remarking to the Husband last night that I think I am going to get sick of omelettes soon. I had another large one yesteray. But I cut it down to 2 eggs and cut back the amount of veggies and it was a much more manageable size. But I also used the last of the salsa.

So today's omelette had me worried. Would I even be able to eat it? It turns out that yes, I was. And quite happily too. And that was all due to the magic that is Tabasco Chipotle Sauce.

The picture you see is of my workspace at home. You see my Omelette of the Day, Tabasco, decaf lemon ginger tea (I took my decaf lemon tea from Adagio and added fresh minced ginger while steeping), and the mess that is my desk.

Next up is a photo of my Tomten Sweater. I am actually on the sleeve. After rippng it out. Twice. Because I just wasn't liking how I was joining the underarn stitches. But now it is Mostly Okay.

Posted by midgeling at 02:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

EDIT: This sucks. Reducing this picture down from the original 3504x2336 pixel size totally obscures the pretty glisten of the salsa on top of the omelette. *sniff*

Okay, well maybe not The Biggest. But it certainly is large. 3 eggs, onion, red bell pepper, garlic, mushrooms, mozzarella and a bit of sliced roast beef - lightly seasoned with a bit of thyme and kosher salt. Then slathered liberally with salsa. And no. I am not eating the whole thing at once. I wil probably eat half now and half for lunch.

(Day 5) The Husband started us on the South Beach Diet last Friday. That is why it has mozzarella and not cheddar or something with more fatty goodness in it.

This diet is working so far. I have dropped a couple of pounds, but no telling how much of that is because of me peeing out my PMS water gain. We spent the whole weekend doing stuff and then napping. You get tired in the beginning of Phase 1 of this thing. They say it is because you have no carbs at first, so your body gets tired with no immediate fast (carb) fuel. I was definitely sleeping well at night - when Lexa wasn't waking up crying or Kassie wasn't waking up vomiting. Today is much better with the fatigue. At least I have never been hungry so far.

But banning an Asian from having her rice is unnatural. It's just not right. But Phase 2 is only 9 days away. WOOT!

Posted by midgeling at 09:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I made myself some finadene (fin-ah-dén-ee). It is Chamorro. It is tasty. I remember it from being at my grandma's house when I was little. I didn't like spicy then, but I always thought it smelled good. Everyone always put it all over their food - kind of how some people put soy sauce all over their Asian food. My aunts and uncles always said that nobody made it better than my Grandma. I used to watch her make it, and was always fascinated for some reason.

She would start by going out into the backyard and picking about 3 or 4 little green and red hot peppers off the bush growing by the rubber tree. She told me she grew her own because California didn't have the right kind - the kind everyone in Guam used. We'd go back in the house, and she would spear the peppers on an old steak knife before roasting them over the flame of the gas stove. She always warned me not to get to close, but I liked to smell the peppers roasting. I remember hearing the skin pop after it started to bubble and blacken under the heat. If I was too close, the fumes from the blistered skin would burn my eyes.

(Incidentally, Nathan thought it was rather strange that after living in the house for over a year with no stove, the first thing I do when I get one is throw a couple of peppers on an old steak knife and roast them over the flames of my beloved new gas stove.)

After the peppers were roasted, she would slit the side, remove the seeds and slice them thinly in little rings. The peppers would go in to her old Tupperware bowl reserved for the finadene or sometimes an old Cool Whip cintainer. She would throw in some chopped white onions, sometimes green onions as well, and then splash some soy sauce on top. Next she would add vinegar and squeeze some lemon juice in. She never measured.

Midgeling's basic finadene recipe:
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup cider vinegar
juice of half a lime
1/2 cup thinly sliced white onion
3-4 roasted seranno chilis, seeded and sliced

Combine all ingredients, let sit at least a couple of hours before eating. Spoon over rice, meat, vegetables, or wherever a little heat is needed.

Posted by midgeling at 10:13 AM | Permalink