Busy Signal

My brother flew into Memphis last weekend for the football game. On the drive from the airport, as we were nearing my house, we spotted some packing peanuts floating onto the McLean.

That litter is my life.

The packing peanuts came from a box that's in my carport. The box, part of the haul I mentioned in the last post, was too heavy for me to carry into the house, so I unpacked it in the carport. And that is where the now-empty box remains. The dishes from the gumbo I made last Sunday are still in the sink, and the bills I've received remain unpaid.

And so it goes. I've been extra-busy at work, and there's little letting-up until Christmas. No projects, no-how.

A little part of me thinks I could sneak something in.

Stuffed

As I was cleaning the house last Saturday, the doorbell rang. It was FedEx, and with it came four huge boxes.

My mother is moving out of my childhood city (though not my childhood home, that was years ago), and she sent me the things the family should keep — 70 years of family albums, framed photos, hand-made Christmas ornaments, etc.

I will admit the mess it brought while I was cleaning threw me for a loop. I'm desperately trying to de-clutter, to find order in my own mess, so when there was more and more and more, I did not think I could handle it.

I'm still not handling it. But, I will figure it out. I did get some very cool things. My dad's beautiful pipe collection, his Boy Scout hat, a very nice rug, a ceramic snake that looks so real you'll gasp when you see it.

My brother is coming in this weekend for the football game, but that won't deter me from projects, the chief of which being making gumbo. Pam is out of town this week, so she very generously gave me her CSA, and it has tons and tons of okra. Of course, I have to make gumbo. It's a given.

The Last King of Netflix

Or perhaps I should title this one "The Curious Case of Netflix."

I have had The Curious Case of Benjamin Button disc for weeks but can't seem to watch it. I had The Last King of Scotland for something like 4 months before I finally got in the DVD player, so anytime I tarry on my Netflix, I call it Last King of Scotlanding. (BTW, TLKOS is excellent.)

In any case, I'm still sore at Netflix. I contacted them about visiting their distribution center here for the Flyer and was told that they never, ever do that. However, a representative would just happen to be in Memphis in July and that perhaps, just maybe, it would happen. And so I went prancing around telling everybody that I would soon be going home to the Mothership and lah lah lah. And so on July 1st, I open The Commercial Appeal and there's my story.

Betrayal! I'm just going to lay out the accusation and say that Netflix gave my pitch to the CA. Now, the CA's story was fine, but mine would have been much, much better. Honestly, I'm not one to brag, but this is true, or tru dat, as they say in TLKOS. (To my knowledge, that's never said.)

And now my point: There's no way I'll be watching The Curious Case of Benjamin Button this weekend or address any projects. I have too much work work to do.

(Image: blogs.pcworld.com)

All Gone

This awful picture was pretty much the last of my CSA.

I put beans, tomatoes, tofu, and peaches, all dribbled with olive oil and a tiny bit of Liquid Smoke, on my grill pan. The peaches were outstanding, as were the tomatoes. The tofu was a bit flavorless, and the beans were still more or less raw (should have boiled them first, I'm thinking).

This was actually from a couple weeks ago. I was supposed to pick up the final share last Wednesday, but I offered it to the person I was splitting the share with because she had been out of the country and had missed about a month. I was thinking she would say "no," and when she said "yes," I thought about taking my offer back, but what is is.

I'm feeling adrift being CSA-less, but logistics and finances made the decision for me.

Nothing local for this dish I made last Saturday. It's tofu escabeche based on the Alton Brown recipe. The marinade is cooked, then poured on already prepared protein, and chilled for an hour. It was different from anything I generally cook and very good. Easy too.

My Treat

A couple months ago, Violet bit me. I had just given her a treat and had another in my hand to give Cricket. Violet, absolutely drunk with desire, went for Cricket's treat and got a mouthful of my hand.

It shocked both of us and made me swear off treats for the dogs. Violet's whole life has become about the next treat. With every shuffle in my seat, clearing of my throat, she starts jumping around and acting the fool just at the mere possibility of a treat.

I had stuck to my guns until a recent health scare with Violet had me back at the pet store. If she was going to die, she might as well be stuffed happy with Pegetables.

Thankfully, it looks like she'll be okay, so it's treats until they run out and then no more.

As for projects this weekend, it's wide-open.

A Real Mess

Before I went to the movies on Sunday, I did something like six loads of laundry. I had no idea that it hadn't gotten so out of hand.

Then... I never put any of it away, and now the state of my house is way out-of-hand.

For me, laundry is my gateway to outrageous mess. I lean toward slobby anyway, but if I don't put away my laundry that leads to other things piling up -- dishes, bills, dog fur, yard work, work work.

So here I am with Sunday's laundry still sitting some three feet high on a chair next to the washer and dryer, and the dishes and the bills and the fur, etc., providing accompaniment. I could have brilliant plans for this weekend's projects, but none of it will get done until I deal with that pile.

Image: thriftyfun.com

Big

Yesterday, I went to the grocery store to buy a few things to make pizza. I wanted a small red onion, but all the onions — white, yellow, red — were huge!

Here's a picture of Cricket to show the size. Isn't it cute that the onion matches her collar?

And just to prove to you I'm not fooling, here's one with Violet.

(I'm thinking I'll start a blog consisting solely of pictures of household pets with large produce. It will be like the one with things stacked on cats. Who's with me?!)

Then I went to see Julie & Julia with Pam, who told me about a cooking project that started bad, got worse, and ended in disaster, and that's the way, she concluded, these things always turn out.

And that is how Pam broke my oven.

When I got home, I started making the pizza crust and flubbed it by the second step. My next try ended in a sticky goo. So, I went to the store to buy a pre-made crust and then my oven wouldn't turn on.

Mind games, that's all I'm saying.