earning an earning
5 years ago
4.26.2009
in the hole!
Last week I swore I saw a fox in the backyard. Pink thought I saw a coyote (honestly, who's the biologist here? I think I know the difference...).
Last night I discovered the FOX den in our backyard and saw the three little pups peeping their heads out of the foxholes. So cute. But haven't seen mama fox since last week...and yes, we still have all four chickens...for now.
4.22.2009
Unaccustomed Earth
Author: Jhumpa Lahiri
Category: Acquisitions
Remember that book club that I didn't want to join? The one that showed me I could enjoy the world of perfume on a non-olfactory level? Lahiri's book was the second one selected by our group but alas, volleyball had me so slammed that I couldn't actually make it to the rendezvous. But being the team player I am, I read it anyway.
Lahiri is not new to me - I read her book The Namesake which was passed on to me by my sister some time last year or the year before.
Unaccustomed Earth is a collection of short stories and the second part is three stories about the same two characters - by far my favorites. I love the way she develops her characters. She spends an almost ridiculous time building them up so you understand them before you get to the meat of the story, but it's fantastic.
Note: this is my last acquisition until I clear out the rest of the categories - yikes!
4.17.2009
caladium & sylvan ramble
This is what 50+ mph winds in Atlanta did on Monday at an intersection in our neighborhood. You can't see from this picture but the tree's base is probably another 60 ft to the right. It fell across the owner's whole lawn and then across the street onto their neighbor's lawn, taking the power lines with it.Picture courtesy of Pink.
4.16.2009
jaded
Disclaimer: I'm a food snob. I fully admit that. I definitely have my weaknesses, though, like Cracker Barrel. But that guilty pleasure aside, I have grown accustomed to my culinary-trained husband's amazing food so much that eating at home is almost always better than going out.
Where am I going with this? My cousin gave us some gift cards to Outback a few Christmases in a row and we never used them. We finally decided to cash them in at one of the other restaurants the monster chain owns, Roy's. Roy's Hawaiian Fusion Cuisine.
On the surface this seemed like a good idea. There was lots of fish on the menu and we've been avoiding meat lately. As we sat there and ate we both thought it was okay. Nothing great. Probably wouldn't choose to go back there, but still okay, especially since most of the meal was a gift.
But the next day, reflecting back on our meal, I decided that no, it wasn't okay. Despite that I felt sick all the following day, here's why: just like most other chain restaurants, they think all Americans want huge portions slathered in some kind of creamy sauce.
We both ordered fish. Pink's mahi mahi had a lobster Cognac butter sauce, my butterfish had a sweet thick soy glaze on it - there honestly wasn't a fish on the menu that didn't have some kind of rich sauce with it. When I eat fish I want to feel clean and fresh when I'm done, not like I just ate a jar of mayonnaise. Even the sushi we ordered for an app had a sauce on the plate. Sushi.
And the portions were probably three times the amount we would normally eat for a meal. The best part of my dish was the bok choy because even sauteed in butter it was the most unadulterated food on the table the whole night.
Where am I going with this? My cousin gave us some gift cards to Outback a few Christmases in a row and we never used them. We finally decided to cash them in at one of the other restaurants the monster chain owns, Roy's. Roy's Hawaiian Fusion Cuisine.
On the surface this seemed like a good idea. There was lots of fish on the menu and we've been avoiding meat lately. As we sat there and ate we both thought it was okay. Nothing great. Probably wouldn't choose to go back there, but still okay, especially since most of the meal was a gift.
But the next day, reflecting back on our meal, I decided that no, it wasn't okay. Despite that I felt sick all the following day, here's why: just like most other chain restaurants, they think all Americans want huge portions slathered in some kind of creamy sauce.
We both ordered fish. Pink's mahi mahi had a lobster Cognac butter sauce, my butterfish had a sweet thick soy glaze on it - there honestly wasn't a fish on the menu that didn't have some kind of rich sauce with it. When I eat fish I want to feel clean and fresh when I'm done, not like I just ate a jar of mayonnaise. Even the sushi we ordered for an app had a sauce on the plate. Sushi.
And the portions were probably three times the amount we would normally eat for a meal. The best part of my dish was the bok choy because even sauteed in butter it was the most unadulterated food on the table the whole night.
4.15.2009
termites and trees
The joys of home ownership.
Easter Sunday. Doing laundry. Somewhere between my third and fourth loads the termites in the basement decided to swarm. Seriously, the swarmers were swarming. All these winged things sneaking out from under the fake wood paneling and climbing upward.
I started screaming. Warner ran down thinking I cut off an appendage or something. Jack started screaming and practically shoved his entire head through the cat door to keep his eyes on us (totally wish I had a picture of that).
Monday. The very next day. 50+ mile per hour straight line winds in the Atlanta area, shockingly without any sign of a tornado. Pink's fancy weather station registered 54 mph at our house. At lunch he suggested I go home and make sure a tree didn't fall on the house. Thankfully enough, not on the house, but still one huge pine and one oak bit it, suspended only by the other trees they blew into, ends completely uprooted.
Nothing money can't fix, right?
Easter Sunday. Doing laundry. Somewhere between my third and fourth loads the termites in the basement decided to swarm. Seriously, the swarmers were swarming. All these winged things sneaking out from under the fake wood paneling and climbing upward.
I started screaming. Warner ran down thinking I cut off an appendage or something. Jack started screaming and practically shoved his entire head through the cat door to keep his eyes on us (totally wish I had a picture of that).
Monday. The very next day. 50+ mile per hour straight line winds in the Atlanta area, shockingly without any sign of a tornado. Pink's fancy weather station registered 54 mph at our house. At lunch he suggested I go home and make sure a tree didn't fall on the house. Thankfully enough, not on the house, but still one huge pine and one oak bit it, suspended only by the other trees they blew into, ends completely uprooted.
Nothing money can't fix, right?
4.06.2009
Next
Author: Michael Crichton
Category: Acquisitions
Dougie Fresh passed this on to me when he was here last. As always, very entertaining author. Nothing really exceptional to say about it - a reliable piece of brain candy.
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