Cooking With Gas

I got home late last night and pulled out one of my favorite pans to make a quick zucchini and tempeh dish - I find it rather interesting that I have cooking pots that I've paid close to $100 for when I was in my Calphalon Phase -where nothing less would do-and yet most of the ones I use every day range well under $20. My wok gets a workout at least twice a week, purchased in China town for a grand total of $7 (including the top), there's the frypan from Big Lots ($4), the iron pan which was actually part of a set that was long lost, the free pot picked up from under a stove in one of our houses, etc.  I guess you cook in what works and what fits - the wok and the iron pan I seasoned correctly according to my grandfather's instructions years ago and he was right, you do that once and you have the pan forever - nothing sticks to either one.  The other stuff does get used occasionally, sometimes I just use it to use it and then there are special pots which have one purpose in life, like the $90 chili pot. That's a lot for one pot but I've had it for years and it does it's job. I have to replace my rice cooker, now that little thing I've had for years and use once or twice a week and I've noticed it's taking longer and longer and the rice is getting wetter and wetter. It's another ten dollar item but I have to say I'm weirdly attached to the one I have.  The only issue I have at this point is the stove which is electric and I don't like. It seems to be pretty boffo at burning things when you aren't keeping a close eye on it. Our next house will have a gas stove, I just cannot get used to the electric at all.

Anyhoo, I was in my office the other day (I'm still navagating back and forth) and got a lot accomplished since it was pretty much only me for most of the day. My boss was there for part of the day to interview a PT which we still don't have. I have a list and have been just flat out calling them with our pay rate- I have no problem cutting to the chase and nothing else has worked. I'm ordering supplies today and have a few other things cooking as well. This job if nothing else has made me a bit braver, I have to talk to people I don't know all the time and even though I still hesitate at times, I make myself do it and it gets easier as I roll along. But not very easy.

Monday, It's Inevitable

David and Ray went out to breakfast as what is currently being referred to as the "New New Place" down the road - it changes owners constantly, therefore it's always new. When Ray was here a couple of months ago we ate there, or tried to. Every time you ordered, they were out of it. Spinach omelet - no. cheese - no. Orange juice - no - oddly enough he went out of business.  We hung about for a few hours and then went to the early movie of The Watchmen which was very good and despite being a DC Comic is not for children.  There were an inordinate number of bodies and one of the main characters costume was nothing.  It was a pretty long movie too, over 2 hours I think so we did a pit stop at home and then headed out for dinner. Now, Ray and I were in favor of the italian place but David wanted to try this place Harry liked. I was not in favor as I am not crazy about french food (it tends to involved snails and overboiled things) but we try anything new. So we drove and drove a bit more - it was down a dirt road, WAY down a dirt road. Past trees and trailers, there on the left were two stone monuments and a very fancy sign for the French Manor, a bed and breakfast with Fine Dining. I refused to get out of the truck because we were not dressed for it at all  and I was right, tie and dress required. They did get menus - holy crow!, $25 for the privilege of eating snails floating in goo, no thank you! And I have to get dressed up for that??? If you wish to stay in the  suite, it's $340 a night but I have to say it would be worth it, they have a spectacular view and if the brochure does the rooms justice they are very fancy. But we were not looking for that so off we went to the place in town where there are no snails, just plenty of pasta and wine.

Ray is heading back this morning unless it rains hard, then he'll have to stay until it clears up enough for him to safely get home.  I have to get up and start getting ready for work, sometimes Monday comes a little too fast.

Running Around With Ray

We had a busy day yesterday - Ray arrived about 10 and after slugging down coffee, off we went. We had a house we wanted to look at so we put it in the GPS and pointed the truck in that general direction.  Heading down the backroads you never know what you might find and the first find was a dam dated from 1863 - I'll post more pictures in the coming days. There was a beautiful lake behind it so we stopped there. Then we came across one of my favorites - a graveyard with big creepy statues so out of the car again. There was a house right in between the two graveyards and I secretly envied those people with all my heart. At this point we realized the house we wanted to look at was a bit further than we had anticipated so David (thought) he rerouted the GPS - he did not. After a few wrong turns we went back on the (wrong) route so by the time we realized we were heading to the house that was too far, we might as well look at it. It sucked. It was then over 20 miles back to where we were headed so by the time we got to lunch (dinner) I was a (little) cross. I'm not good at house hunting which is why I tend not to get involved except for the part where I drive to it, and really since I'm out of the house for about 50 hours a week now, sitting in a truck for 6 or 7 hours on my day off is a bit beyond me. But the day ended up great, we ate an Irish pub that had been a bank at the turn of the century so we got to sit in the vault! The food was great and we had a nice long lunch. In town there's a used book store that Ray likes and David said the owner was peevish, that was being kind in my opinion. I found an old crafts book and brought it to the counter. The guy did everything but sigh and roll his eyes since I was obviously breaking his routine of doing the crossword and ignoring the general public.  

He put down his pencil and pulled out a ledger first, writing the purchase carefully(as slowly as humanly possible) then rang me up, getting annoyed about having to make change, rummaged around for a bag, pushed it towards me while simultaneously picking up the crossword and promptly ignoring me as apparently, we were done.  Ray likes him - I have no idea why except for maybe the same reason I love old graveyards so much, it's just a strange little thing in the middle of your day. Anyhoo, then we shot over to AC Moores where I was a little disappointed as out of all the yarn on sale none of it was the sock yarn - I did have a coupon so got a deal on size 19 rosewood needles so I didn't walk away empty handed. Then to Borders as I had printed up a coupon for both Ray and I and we did good there too. 
We headed back to home after that, everyone full and tired - we didn't get in until almost 7 pm. Pearl was beside herself but since that's her general state of being no one found that upsetting except for Pearl. Vincent survived his afternoon outside by himself and was ready for dinner and bed. After everyone got settled Ray and I watched a movie, David headed out to Roman's as he has a friend that needs some work done. I turned in around 9, David didn't get back until midnight. It's raining today so I think it will be a good day for a movie and dinner, don't you?

How it's Going So Far

Ray will be here in a few hours, I think we'll go shopping and stuff today and maybe the movies tomorrow. He had said he'd like to see the Watchmen so maybe that will be on the boards today. Things are moving along in some areas, stalled in others. Although my job is overwhelming at times I'm very excited about it and can't wait until the office is opened officially - I'll still be going back and forth between the two for awhile as we don't have  a lot of patients up there yet, but that's ok. Finding another house has not been going overly well - there's plenty for sale but so far nothing that is either affordable or likable. David and Harry were out for most of the day looking and the two that he liked on the internet - one was right on the road and the other was next to high tension wires. So back to the drawing board.  What we'd like is a fixer upper out in the country, if we can sell this place I figure that way we could live where we wanted and have enough left over to do a renovation so we could make a place we were happy with.  But we are not going to hurry, I can commute - I always end up commuting anyhow and even when I lived on Long Island I was driving close to a hundred miles round trip to work.  And of course a major renovation is nothing fun to live through as we discovered from the WV house. I love the movie Under The Tuscan Sun because THAT is how I would like a renovation to go - vineyards and parties, wine and fountains. Not mice hiding in my stereo and cockroaches wiggling out of the stove (there's an image burned in my memory forever!!), frogs and property buried in thorns.  David has finished fixing the bathroom up and will be ordering the carpet next week, in between that he's getting ready to look for a job. I've suggested for now he either go part time or per diem if we're planning on selling the house this summer, if it doesn't sell by August then we'll have to come with another game plan. Harry doesn't think it will be too hard as long as we keep the price reasonable since David has finished the remodel here - he told David a lot of the problem with selling it the last time was the colors the owners had painted it, that a lot of people that looked just couldn't get past the Retina Burning Green. Bubble Gum Pink and of course the aforementioned carpeting. But we have other fish to fry today, don't we?

I'm Awake. That's As Far As I've Gotten.

It's Friday, finally - although I have to say the weeks seem to fly by lately, Thursday was a big shocker because I couldn't believe it was Thursday already. Yesterday I spent part of the day in my office, seeing a couple of our patients with the RN up there.  I took the turnpike up and a few backroads back, still looking for a suitable house. I try to take the meandering routes as we want to live off the road but you have to go back there to see anything.  We'll probably order the carpet next week - Harry has delayed putting our house on the market until we get that done and yes, it IS that awful. Aside from the hideous green the stains are permenent, you can see exactly where the matching recliners were by the matching stains. Ray will be here in the morning,  I think it's a bit early in the year for art fairs but I might poke around a bit to see if there's any museums or exhibits about. Pearl is finally getting to the end of being in heat, thank goodness. I think a couple more go arounds on that end and then that's it - it's too much work. We have old blankets we toss on everything and wash constantly and other dogs are not a problem as I've mentioned before - but it's just one more thing to deal with.  On the knitting front I'm 3/4 of the way through the second sleeve, after that the whole mess gets sewn up and then I start on the hood - then it's done. And I will NEVER do a sweater with that much cabling again.

Thursday

The office is having a big audit so things have been a bit tense - every surface is piled and I go over discharges in my sleep.  And I'm currently communting between the two offices daily, the turnpike and I are good friends. The company does self audits every quarter which makes more sense, even though it's stressful it keeps everything up to date so when the big guns show up (aka The Medicare Ladies) every I is dotted and every T is crossed. We still have not found a physical therapist, I think I ask everyone I come across.  Jackson called last night on his own phone, still grumbling a bit because you know he now has A BILL to pay.  That bill will apparently hang over his head like an albatross, looming on the horizon month after month. I pointed out what he would have to pay to Aunt Janet in overage most likely would far exceed and with his new plan he does admit he can call 5 people for free anytime so he no longer has to wait until the wee hours or the weekend, so it works out his in favor. Sigh - I wish I had ONE BILL to pay! We are still holding off on the carpet we paid for - we're waiting until Pearl is out of heat which cannot happen fast enough. We also found out that having her hips xrayed was not enough, they have to be sent in and registered. Ray is coming out this weekend so we're looking foward to that, I didn't really get to see him the last time he was out. 

Get On The Bus!

That picture of Bret Michaels turned out to pretty wee, didn't it? Well, you'll have to squint if you're that interested I suppose. Last night for lack of anything else to watch I put on The Rock Of Love Bus, season 3 as Bret has still not found the girl that Will Rock His World. The show is silly, it appears to be populated by the usual reality TV cast - the pretty one, the mean one, the emotional one, the funny one, etc.... but it's so strange it's addicting. I think it's the 80's jargon that gets me, Bret's always yammering about Taking It To The Next Level, the girls are loudly claiming That Special Connection and I have to agree with Ashly that Taya is a real diva when she gets her pass. That's what they get - if you're still in the running Bret asks you to stay on the tour and rock his world AND you get a backstage pass with your picture on it. Ashly and Brittanya were both told their tour was ended last night so it's down to four. Stay tuned.  I put the picture of Vincent up because, well, I actually think more of him than I do of Bret Michaels I have to admit so you may gaze upon him if that's how you feel too. I'm off to work again today, I've had trouble sleeping two nights in a row and I am not liking it one bit. The Two AM Girl has been starting in early and she's been quite relentless, bringing up all sorts of things that leave me wide eyed until the early hours.  I just hate that because I feel half awake all day.