Sunday, April 27, 2008

My first forty...

dollar tank of gas. That was painful. Especially when you consider I'm driving a compact car.

(What, did you think I was finally going to reveal something about my age?)

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Thankful for...

I have lots to be thankful for. I had lunch today with my friend who had surgery. She looks terrific, is moving a bit gingerly; all in all, she's doing really well. I was so worried for nothing I guess. Thank you for your prayers.

And my wonderful friend S is moving back into the ranks of the employed. She made the announcement via her avatar and I was too dense to notice. Thank goodness others weren't so dense. Congratulations!

From Indian to Italian

A local restaurant has gone through several changes. For many years, it was a successful dance/bar/restaurant. Then just a regular restaurant, then a Chinese buffet. There are waaaaay too many cheap Asian buffets in the area and unless you've got outstanding food or are extra cheap, you won't make it. And this place didn't.

Then it was an Indian restaurant. I love Indian food. I don't cook Indian food because it is too much work, but we don't go out for Indian too often because it is rather expensive. We only ate there once and the food was good, the teas were outstanding, the service was good, the prices a little high. Before we had a chance to try it again, it turned into an Italian buffet. A cheap Italian buffet. With pre-fab pizza crusts. And cheap pasta. And really expensive sodas (not that I drink soda that often). But at least it is doing well. We went early one evening and the place was filled with seniors (they get a dollar off of the already cheap $6.99 price) and then later with families. I wasn't thrilled with the food, but Mr. Fix-it liked the variety. I'd go back without complaint since there's a few things I did like (the roasted chicken, salad bar, and some of the soups were good).

It turns out, the owners saw the writing on the wall and in week or so, changed from gourmet Indian to cheap Italian. While I'm sorry the area couldn't sustain a quality restaurant, I'm happy the owners have found business sucess. Mr. Fix-it has been there for lunch a few times and said it is always crowded. There aren't any other non-Asian buffets in the area, so hopefully they will do well. I wonder if I can convince them to add naan to the buffet?

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

10,428

That's how many e-mails I have stored at work. A couple weeks ago, I was under 10k, which was pretty exciting since I'm a packrat. But we're incredibly busy at work and sometimes I have trouble wading through the 50, 60, 70 e-mails I get. Yes, I only keep the last e-mail on a thread. Yes, I delete unnecessary e-mails (but who's to say what is necessary and what isn't?). No, I don't see a light at the end of the tunnel for this workload.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Looking for a six pack

You wouldn't believe how difficult it is to find six packs of veggies, much less some of the "gourmet" varieties I like. We went to four different places. Next time, we'll just go to the local nursery first, even if everything costs more. The convenience and gas savings will be worth it.

So far I've planted three Japanese eggplants, one San Marzano tomato, three Sweet 100s tomatoes, and one Early Girl. I also planted some Chinese string beans, beets, Japanese cucumber, and more Swiss chard (all from seed). I hope the string beans grow. The seeds are from my mom and she got the original seeds from my grandma. Every year, she lets a few beans go to seed and saves them for the next year.

I still need to plant basil, bell peppers, and more tomatoes. And I'm still looking for English cucumber seeds and an Amish paste plant. But I'm running out of room!

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Prayer request

A dear friend is having major surgery today. Please pray for a sucessful surgery and and quick recovery.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Frequent Flyer

No, I'm not flying anywhere. I'm taking about the bearded irises in my front yard. I had trimmed them back in January and was afraid I had killed them. But look at them now! I've got way more blooms than I did last year.

Lofthouse cookies

Once again, I fell prey to peer pressure. A while back, there was a thread on 2peas about Lofthouse cookies. Based on all the praise, you would have thought the cookies were created by Martha or The Pioneer Woman or some other cooking goddess. Supposedly, they are the softest, yummiest cookies you can buy. Intrigued, I browsed the supermarket aisles and found out several local stores carried them. But I resisted...for a while...until yesterday. We were out running errands and once again, I must remind you to NOT shop while hungry. Because we walked by a display of Lofthouse cookies and I couldn't resist. No matter that they were colored an unnatural shade of blue. They had my favorite sprinkles on them! I couldn't wait and as soon as we got into the car, I opened the package and took my first bite. And last. Talk about deceptive advertising. They are soft, but definitely not delicious.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

My new weight loss plan

Skipped yoga last weekend. Haven't been walking at lunch. Been eating a lot of chocolate. My weight is down. Who knew that doing everything wrong would result in the pounds falling off?

Sunday, April 06, 2008

The garage sale

Yesterday was the annual area garage sale and as usual, it was a bust. The good thing is we cleared out four big boxes of stuff. The bad thing is most of it went to Goodwill, rather than being sold. The good thing is we sold enough to buy us breakfast, lol.

To end on a more positive note, I did get a lot of weeding done in the rose bed while I was waiting for customers.

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Missing Uncle T

March was a somewhat difficult month. Health-wise, I'm still feeling a bit too plump. Work has been crazy. One of my friends called it March Madness. And Uncle T has been gone a year. On LifetimeMoments.com, a woman was asking what she could do with her late husband's ties. Several people sent her links to quilts, bears, pillows, ornaments, all kinds of neat stuff.

I wish I had thought about this when Uncle T's stuff was being thrown out. Really, I just should have flown up and there and instruded. Then maybe I would have gotten back the stuff I had given him. Yes, I know they are just things. But why throw out photos and cards and my scrapbook? Why throw out the portrait of me and my siblings? I would have liked to have one of his old Navy blankets. It was wool and heavy and itchy. But we use them to built forts with the couch pillows (something we could never do at home). It would be so nice to have a quilt made from his ties. Or a throw made from Auntie L's fur coat. I really, really need to keep reminding myself that memories are better than things.