New "do"

Life is good again. Well, at least my hair life is good again...
Back at the beginning of March, I did the unthinkable, I cheated on my colorist and not only had my hair done by someone else, but at a different salon. I knew immediately that I'd made a mistake. I wasn't happy with the results, the salon, and felt stupid for not just telling my original colorist that I wasn't completely satisfied with the results I'd gotten. So I sucked it up, knowing that she'd know immediately that I'd been elsewhere since my hair was a totally different color, but was also obvious that it was a professional job, and I went in for a hair color yesterday. I told her...aaack, I messed up and that I should have just told her I wasn't happy. She ust said she was happy to see me and that if anything ever isn't right, just LET HER KNOW! Ok, lesson learned. So she fixed what I didn't like about the last color job and the rest of the conversation was about the rest of our lives....just as it should be. And YAY, I LOVE the color, so it's a happy Caturday on that front.

Otherwise, I'm still not 100% back to feeling the way I should, so I'm taking it easy today. I just finished reading a book by one of my favorite mystery authors, James Patterson's 1st to Die. It's the first in a series of four (so far) books about the Women's Murder Club. I've seen promos for the tv show based on the novels, but I've decided I don't want to watch it, because I don't want it to mess with the way I've got the characters envisioned in my mind. I'm guessing it would be a bit off of the book anyway. I flew through the some 470 odd pages in this book; it was good stuff! So now I've got to get the second book....oooh! I'd been in a certain chick-lit phase because I'm in a chick-lit book club, so this was perfect for breaking that up. So with that book done, I've got to peruse my shelves until my next chick-lit book club book comes to me from Amazon. It actually isn't anymore chick-lit than 1st to Die. I'ts Jodi Picult's Nineteen Minutes, about a small-town highschool shooting and what would cause someone to do it. It should be interesting.

So that's it for today, I'm off to drink my Ensure and find a book to read.

Happy Caturday!!

aaaaaarrrrrghhhhhhh

While I've been icky ill most of this week and still am not quite right, our computer has died so I haven't even been able to share with all of you how crappy I've felt. I'm at work today because I didn't want to miss a meeting that concerned me, so thought I'd pop in and maybe tomorrow I'll pop back in on the Hubs laptop.

For this week, I'll just say hey...Priscilla got booted off of DWTS...awww. It's been warm here, but not that I would have known as I've been under a blanket.

And why is it that because I can't eat anything, I want to eat EVERYTHING???

Caturday already?

All is good, even if it's raining. The Hubs got forward-moving progress on immigration paperwork we sent in over a year ago... YAY!!! I MAY be getting a lil promotion. I HOPE. I'm going to be given twice as much responsibility but all of the details haven't been worked out and a new job despcription needs to be written, so I hope that what I asked for, and this IS something I'd asked for, isn't seen as just ohhh, something more to do for the fun of it. Regardless, I know what my bonus for last year is going to be and I'm going to get it on Friday (saving for Peru), and I will also get my raise at the end of the month. I'm only getting a 4% increase, but I guess in these days, it's oh...better than a sharp stick in the eye (one of the stepfather's fav phrases...hehe.) Let's see, what else? Tomorrow is my the Mum's b-day, and we are having a little "do" here. I won't say what the menu is because the Mum reads this..... *waves*. HAPPY BIRFDAY!!! And let's see how else can I wrap up this post of goodness... I got a new super duper fantastic hair straightener yesterday and if I can get my hair not frizzy in the summer, that will make me happy for the rest of the year. I could go on and on, cuz it's not only the big things that are making for a great Caturday... raise, bonus, maybe promotion, Mum b-day, immigration, but also the little things like finding a really nice smelling hand soap (almond and cherry bark or something....mmm, nice), having a nice new fan installed in our "den", and having free, pizza for dinner tonight. OHHHHHHHH, and I forgot, I'm going to one of my tea groups afternoon teas today. Chitter-chatter with the ladies and finger sammiches, scones and tea. You know...it's a great day. Even if it is raining.

Week 4

Ok, I'm quite a bit behind with this review, so I'll keep it kinda short and sweet...the dances this week weer the Paso Doble, a Spanish style bullfight dance and the Viennese Waltz, a floaty ballroom dance.

Kristi & Mark - Paso Doble - They had fantastic moves, there was good emotion, it was intense, but the song was a little bizarre. She makes it look so darn easy. They've had the highest overall score ever to this point of any of the dancers on any season.
Judges: 29/30, my score: 10

Priscilla & Louis - Viennese Waltz - At the beginning she said "Kristi, we're coming to get you!" lol I thought this dance would be right up her alley, and it was. It was flowy, she had good posture, and she looked beautiful in her dress. HOWEVER, unfortunately, at one point, both of her feet were off the ground in a lift and that is illegal, so the judges really penalized her.
Judges: 22/30, my score: 8 (taking away a point for the lift)

Adam & Julianne - Paso Doble - Jeezus, he came riding out on a unicycle and rode around for the first 15 seconds of the dance. It was quite stupid. When he finally did get off, she did most of the dancing around him. IT'S TIME TO GO HOME!!!
Judges: 19/30, my score: 6

Marlee & Fabian - Viennese Waltz - This dance just didn't grab me and there were times it looked a bit awkward and she seemed off balance. Strangley though it took Carrie Ann's brath away.
Judges: 24/30, my score: 7

Mario & Karina - Paso Doble - The dance was aggressive and he did this really nice cape work. It wasn't really crisp though and also had a strange song. And then Len said something about underpants older than Mario, TMI Len, TMI. LOL I think they are being tough on him, because they know he has the capability of doing really well.
Judges: 24/30, my score: 8

Jason & Edyta - Viennese Waltz - So she took him to Medieval Times to show him how to be a gentleman and he was dubbed Sir Dance-alot......okaaaay. But hey, it worked apparently and he got the job done. So much so that for the first time he was able to tie Kristie's score of 29/30. I wasn't that moved by it. To me he seemed almost too long and lanky to pull off the flow of the dance. But whatever...my scores don't count, only the judges.
Judges: 29/30, my score: 8

Christian & Cheryl - Paso Doble - I just love saying his name... Christian de la Fuente.... anywhooo...He did a nice dance, and I loved that they used Spanish music for the dance instead of something funky that just has the right beat. It (and he...heh heh heh) looked great. But the judges felt that maybe the music overpowered him.
Judges: 26/30, my score: 9

Shannon & Derek - Viennese Waltz - Wow, Derek had an injury during practice. Apparently something in his neck SNAPPED!! So they had one of the already ousted professional dancers fill in while he was in a neck brace and the night of the dance, he took the brace off...eeek! Everytime he spun his head around I was like...aaack...be careful! But they did a very nice dance, she IS getting better. And SHE got Len Goodman's first 10 of the season. hmmmm, sympathetic score?
Judges: 28/30, my score: 9

Marissa & Tony - Paso Doble - She is trying so hard! She's really got her bubbliness under control and is focussed. I was overwhelmed by the dance, but it was nice.
Judges: 24/30, my score: 8

SOOOOOOOOOO who went home??? YES! Finally, Adam! buh-bye....

Tarragon Chicken

"The best sauce is cooked in an old pan"....African proverb

I absolutely love tarragon, but for me it MUST be fresh. I've never really experimented a whole lot with it, but is is super on chicken and supposedly is real nice in a seafood dish or in a sauce for veggies.

Ingredients

1 lb boneless chicken breasts

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp green onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 tspn fresh taragon, chopped (remember, if you are using dried, use only 1/3 the amt of fresh...but fresh is really so much nicer.)
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup half-and-half

Coat chicken breasts in flour on both sides. Set aside remaining flour to use later.

In a large pan, heat the butter over medium heat. Add chicken and brown on both sides. Remove the chicken and keep warm.

Add green onion to the pan and saute for 1 minute.

Add wine to the pan and increase heat to high; cook until liquid has reduced by half, stirring to loosen browned bits on the bottom of the pan.

Reduce the heat to low, add the set-aside flour, stirring until you get a thick paste. Add tarragon and chicken broth. Return chicken to pan, cover and cook until tender...about 20-25 minutes.

Remove chicken to clean plate and keep warm. Add half-and-half to the pan and you may need to add a bit more liquid if it's too thick. Add a bit more broth (or wine) until the sauce is between thin and gloopy. Add the chicken back to the pan and heat for just a few minutes.

Serve over orzo or rice.

In My Life

Arrrgh, just before I left for work this morning I heard one of those commercials for a radio station....93.9, LiteFM. Eeeesh. They give a sampling of some of the tunes one might hear if they tune in and one that play is Dido's Thank You, and now I've got that stupid song running through my head endlessly. It was one of those songs that was played ad nauseum on radio stations toward the end of the 90's I believe. "And Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii want to thank you, for giving me the best days of my-yyyyy liiii-ee-iiife." I'd try to find a link to it so you too could enjoy the tune, but I don't want to do that to you....my lovely reader(s). It's bad enough when you get a song running through your head all day and it's a song that you actually like, but one that's just annoying...grrrrrrrr. I vow to never listen to 93.9 LiteFM, if this is the stuff I'd run across.

Anywhoooo, this got me to thinking about the conversation I had with the Hubs last night about favorite bands and such like. You see, the Hubs has also started blogging again and is using his blog to talk about his favorite bands....100 of them to be precise. Each week he'll give us his next in the list (starting at 100....oooh, and as a preview he told me #100), along with album info, songs we should try out if we've never heard of them, etc. I'm not surprised that he can come up with 100 FAVORITE. I couldn't come up with 100 period. Well, yes I could, but certainly not favorites. So we talked about what my list of top 10 would be. Much more manageable for me, but even then as I was forming my list, I was like...eeek...I've only got one spot left, who do I give it to??? Maybe I need a list of 20 afterall. But nevertheless, my list is as follows, in no particular order, except that #1 is definitely #1.

#1 The Beatles
Guns N' Roses
Bon Jovi
Pink Floyd
Aerosmith
Rush
Rolling Stones
Michael Jackson (ok, this is BEFORE he went all freak-a-zoid on us)
Jimmy Eat World
Beach Boys

Yeah, I need another 10, so I can put Motley Crue, Dream Theater, Chicago, Simon & Garfunkel, Bruce Springsteen, Journey, Cheap Trick, Kaiser Chiefs, Bob Dylan, Reo Speedwagon. oi, I'm out of space again....LOL

So for today, to try and get that Dido nonsense out of my head, here's a video clip of my favorite Beatles song... enjoy!

Where are the cat carriers????

I'm trying to nosy about and see what happened in our apartment building over the weekend. On Saturday afternoon, nine of the big hook-and-ladder fire trucks pulled in front of our building, there were two ambulances, about 4 cop cars, a mobile medical unit, cops on bikes making sure people were clearing the street and traffic was blocked off so it couldn't come down the street. Now, we live in a 13-story building and I know when an alarm goes off or someone calls the fire department, they DO bring the big units, but this was a massive response. Since we have a great view, we can see all of the action down on the street. Firemen were coming toward the building with all kinds of equipment and there were a couple of firemen about ready to open the fire hydrant across the street. I've lived in this building a long time and had never seen action like this. Of course I was thinking, hmmm....do I get the cat carriers ready, or what? The Hubs didn't think it warranted getting nervous over....but then again, he doesn't get nervous over anything. Random people on the street were looking at the building, so I opened the window higher to see if I could hear what was going on. No such luck. About a half hour later, the trucks and other vehicles started slowly leaving until there was just one truck and a few cops. I went out to the hall outside of the apartment and smelled the smoke. The fire escape stairs were smoky and I could hear people making their way either up or down the stairs. The elevators obviously immediately get shut off by the fire squad when something happens. One guy on his way up said he didn't know what had happened. Can you imagine how embarrasing it would be if you were the cause of all of this commotion for leaving something cooking too long on the stove....

So glad it's Caturday

I was thinking about a few things that got on my last nerve on Thursday and Friday and I wonder, why do people do these things? Is it okay to be so totally into yourself that you don't notice you are infringing upon someone else's either space?

I was in the elevator yesterday in my apartment building and there was this guy yapping on his cell phone. Not being one who finds it necessary to be obsessively attached to my cell phone, I can't imagine who I would find it urgently imperative that I speak to in the elevator. But, as the elevator is not the best place to have a cell phone conversation, obviously because you are basically in a little box, you have to talk louder, say "WHAT, I CAN'T HEAR YOU", a lot, and reiterate numerous times that you are in the elevator, so hang on. For FRICK SAKE! Arrrrrrrrrgh! This is a 5 ' x 5' BOX! I don't want to have to be subjected to your inane conversation. Why can't we just go back to the days when everyone stared uncomfortably at the ceiling, in silence, or at floor numbers as they go up or down. I have a lot of gripes about people and their cell phones, so I'm sure at some point I'll do a 10,000 word rant on this blog....hehehe.

On Thursday, I was on the bus on my way home from work. Oh, hang on, just as a side note, I can also do a 10,000 word rant on people on the bus and the bus service in general, so just keep that in mind. LOL Anywhoooo....the bus wasn't crowded and I took one of my favorite seats on the bus because it is in the very last row, in the corner....next to the window. I like the last row because then you have no one behind you to bop you in the head with their briefcase when they get up, or no one behind you on their phone having an inane conversation (sensing a pattern here with cell phones?), and no one behind you to sneeze into your hair....aaack! So I'm sitting there, the bus is more than half empty, plenty of two-sie seats together for a couple sit together. That's why I was surprised when this couple got on the bus and he sat in a seat perpendicular to mine and she sat next to me. Since I had to look at his profile most of the way home, I'll call him Toupe Guy, for obvious reasons. And she is just Annoying Lady . It wouldn't have been bad if they just sat there, but they had this animated conversation in an eastern European language and everytime she thought of something new and exciting to say to him, she bolted forward and to the right...into my lap for crissake...and flung her arms about, flopping her shopping bag into me. Lordy, I wish I knew what the conversation was about so I could be either apalled or excited. But didn't she see me sitting there. And why couldn't she have sat next to Other Dude, the only other person sitting in the back of the bus. Maybe he could have sympathized with her obvious distress. Toupe guy just nodded sagely every few minutes. I hate the bus!

Also on Thursday, I was in the loo at work, in the far stall, farthest away from the entrance. There are five stalls and I was pretty sure the unwritted lady's room rule is that if there are ample stalls available, you don't go in the stall next to someone. I've talked with a co-worker about this, and we pretty much agree that if you go into the bathroom and there is no one there, you go to #1 or #5. If one of them is occupied, you leave a space between you and your co-tinkler. If #1, #3, and #5 are taken, aaaack...you have no choice to go in between two people. Sometimes though, in a split second decision, you can gauge who might be leaving first and you go next to them so you have at least one empty stall next to you. So I was surprised when I was there by myself in #5 and someone went into #4. Don't they know the rules????? The closest they should have gotten was #3. Sheeeesh!!!! I RAN out of there...of course after business had been completed. I didn't wait to see who the offending party was. But this brings me to another point about bathroom etiquette. What on earth makes people think I want to have a conversation over tinkle??? I feel obligated to stop mid-flow so I can hear them properly. NO...please at least wait till I'm washing my hands to talk to me. And god forbid...don't have a cell phone conversation in a stall. LOL

This is why I'm so happy it's Caturday!!!!!!

Our cooking guidelines...

The hubs and I are looking into taking some sort of cooking class together. We figure it could be a hoot! And maybe it would make him more comfortable in the kitchen. Regardless, we've come up with our own 15 simple guidelines for successful meals. Please feel free to adopt them into YOUR cooking repertoire....

1. How to make a grilled cheese sandwich........with bacon.

2. How to prepare an Indian meal.......start a week in advance.

3. How to cook broccoli, brussel sprouts, or asparagus........DON'T

4. How to make a pot of chili........hot and often.

5. How to prepare a full English breakfast........go to the pub.

6. How to make Easter lamb........with a bullet, but save that for your guests.

7. How to create a veggie sandwich........with extra bacon.

8. How to make a pizza........call for delivery.

9. How to prepare Christmas dinner........go to the folk's house; they do it better.

10. How to pop popcorn........go to the movies instead.

11. How to make a pot of soup........with lots of crusty bread.

12. How to prepare ice cream........let Al make it.

13. How to make a burger........with bacon.

14. How to prepare seafood........when the Hubs is out of the house.

15. How to create the perfect snack........buy Seabrook's Crisps.

Turkey Lentil Soup

"I live on good soup, not on fine words"....Moliere

This is a recipe from one of my favorite recipe books...The Soup Bible. The original recipe called for 1/4 cup of diced smoked turkey. Since I didn't have smoked turkey in the house when I made it, I used diced ham, leftover from a nice baked ham my mum had made, and found the recipe to be fabulous. Also, the original recipe only called 1/4 cup of the turkey, but that didn't seem substantial for a meal for two, so I used just a bit more!

Ingredients

2 tbsp butter
1 large carrot, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 leek, white part only, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped
1/4 cup dry white wine
5 cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup lentils
1 cup diced ham (turkey ham would work well too)
salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the carrot, onion, leek, celery, and mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes, until golden. Stir in the wine and stock and bring to a boil. Add the thyme and bay leaf. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes.

Add the lentils and continue cooking, covered for 30-40 minutes until lentils are tender. Stir occasionally.

Add the diced ham and season with the salt (if you must) and pepper. Simmer 5-10 minutes until the ham heats.

Fish out the bay leaf and serve the soup with some nice warm crusty bread and butter. It's a meal in itself.

News

Things in the news that are frankly cracking me up.....

- Dr. Pepper announced that it will give a can of it's soft drink to every American if Guns 'N Roses releases the LOOOOOOONG awaited cd (GNR have been working on it since 1993) Chinese Democracy anytime in 2008. Well, everyone except Slash and Buckethead can get a can. I think that is the part that cracks me up the most...I mean, is it REALLY going to be a slight to the two of them? Does that mean Izzy will get a can? Apparently old battle scars left from earlier days of squabbling between old band mates and Rose are gone. And to make it even weirder, Rose said he'd share his can with Buckethead....huh? Well, if Slash is THAT desperate for a can, my hubster will send him his can, free of charge...

- So, Heathrow opens their new $8 billion state of the art terminal. The Queen cuts the ribbon and hey ho...it's a clusterfrick! Tens of thousands of bags get lost in the system, employees can't get into the terminal to work, flights cancelled, total chaos, long lines, and shorter tempers. All this to alleviate traffic and headaches for the worlds busiest international airport.... D'OH! Costs to British Airways for this disaster are estimated to be about $32 million. Eeeek, someone's losing their job over this one. Jackie Bachmann, 40, from Switzerland encountered baggage problems as she traveled with four other snooker players to an amateur competition in Glasgow. "We had problems with our bags and his snooker cue is missing," she said.

- Well, so....there is no evidence that drinking 8 glasses of water a day is beneficial. Scientist don't know even know where this widely held belief/myth came from. I'll tell you....the bottled water industry. But anyway, a study by a bunch of nephrologists concluded that there is no evidence that these 8 glasses or more, will help in weight loss or maintenance, make your skin clearer, detoxify your system, or get rid of headaches if you are dehydrated. Shoot....all those excess trips to the potty for nothing...

Week 3

First of all I have to say that I didn't make catch the first dancer so I can't give a totally accurate review of Marlee & Fabian's Jive. I did see a clip of it though and thought the little bit I saw did earn her her score of 21/30...so I'll go with the judges and say my score 7/10.

Steve & Anna - Tango - Again, he did a nice job, but it always seems like his facial expressions are almost mocking the dance. I dunno.
Judges: 21/30, my score: 7/10

Christian & Cheryl - Jive - Oooh, they were on fire! A bit maybe too out of control, especially at the end when Christian crashed into something or someone at the edge of the dance floor in the final move.
Judges: 25/30, my score: 8/10

Mario & Karina - Tango - Cripes! Who thought it would be a good idea to take Roxanne by the Police and turn it into some strange tango version. I can't help but think that the music, when it is weird like this does nothing to help the overall dance. I tango should be to tango music, not some freaky remake of a Police song. Anywhoooo, they seems a bit off and Karina looked a mess at the end! LOL
Judges: 21/30, my score: 6/10

Shannon & Derek - Jive - They did a nice job, but man were they wiped out at the end. So wiped out she had to sit on the floor for her judging.
Judges: 24/30, my score 7/10

Adam & Julianne - Tango - He didn't do too bad, for him, but he needs to shut his trap. He made these bizarre remarks at the judging about her dress, which was kind of strange looking...black net over peach fabric.... and his comments really are just uncomfortable to watch.
Judges: 21/30, my score 6/10

Marissa & Tony - Jive - This dance seemed like it should have been perfect for her, very high energy and bouncy. But she seemed to hold back and not really WOW the audience. And she was shocked to hear the judges calling the dance boring and not high energy enough. I would agree that she held back, but boring, I dunno about that. She's probably holding back because she was told she was TOO high energy and out of control in the first dance.
Judges: 19/30 OUCH!, my score 7/10

Priscilla & Louis - Tango - Jesus! Once again, she is smokin'! She did a great job, very firey. And her moves are great. It's obvious that she is a total perfectionist and takes the dances seriously. I hope she is having fun as well.
Judges: 26/30, my score 9/10

Jason & Edyta - Jive - Where the heck does Edyta get her dresses? This one, and I think I've seen this before on her in previous seasons, looks like pieces of floss atached to a bikini. lol The dance was pretty good, but the judges are expecting a lot from them.
Judges: 23/30, my score 8/10

Kristi & Mark - Tango - I don't know if they get a choice between the two dances each week, but for some reason I was picturing her doing this dance and not the Jive. This wasn't my favorite of her dances so far. I don't know what it was, and the judges thought she lacks emotion. Could be. However.....
Judges: 27/30! my score 8/10

Final placement: Kristi - 27, Priscilla - 26, Christian - 25, Shannon - 24, Jason - 23, Marlee, Steve, Mario, & Adam - 21, Marissa - 19

I thought Adam should go home even though Marissa was in last place. Everyone has an off night and this was hers. I think in the long run she is a better dancer. But I thought either Adam or Marissa would be the likely candidates to be chopped.

So was I surprised when their names were called as coming back next week!!!! That left either Steve or someone who would have been better, but not as popular, maybe Shannon. In the end Steve Guttenberg was sent home. Awwww...seems like a nice guy, but just with strange facial expressions.

What day is it?

Oh, it' s only Tuesday... *sigh*

It IS April Fool's Day though and I already warned the Hubs that jokes to wind me up weren't going to be appreciated today. I'm grumpy, crabby, moany. Bahhh. Poor him when he gets home tonight. LOL I'll try to be nice. But well, it's just that, ARRRRRGH, it's well, a "feminine time". How's that for sugar coating it? Get the hot chocolate, Ibuprofen and heating pad.

pffft!

I'll be putting up my review of DWTS tomorrow after they bump the next star tonight. I'm thinking Adam Carolla will be on his way home.

And tonight for dinner the Hubs and I will be having leftover Peruvian food from the restaurant we went to on Saturday to celebrate our Peruvian trip. OMG! Was the food good, but they gave soooo much of it that we each went home with about 2 more meals each. And all that for $42!!! I had anticuchos, the beef heart ones....mmm. And a steak with rice and potatoes in cream cheese sauce of some kind. Hubs had a bowl of soup that would was more like the size of a pot with all kinds of veggies, chicken, and cilantro. Then he had some kind of beef cooked in beer (LOL), with peppers and onions and stuff, and served with arroz & frijoles. The restaurant was this small place, not much to look at and in a strip mall, but really good. They are BYOB, but if you bring some Peruvian Pisco, they'll make a pitcher of pisco sours for you! I don't drink much and I easily downed a glass....really good! I think we'll have our leftovers with the latest episode of Everyone Hates Chris. That show cracks me up! And I need that today.