Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Idaho
When adding up the number of states she’s visited, my friend L stipulates that you must sleep in a state for it to count. I think just having a meal in a state should suffice, and if you count A and I eating a bag of Smartfood popcorn in a gas station as H buys a lottery ticket, then we’ve been to Idaho! There seems to be nothing to do in Idaho besides the lottery. When we walked in there a guy was in line buying 100 scratch tickets and the line was pretty long. It was a spur of the moment drive up and if we were ever to go to Idaho again, it’s pretty obvious you’ve got to get kind of deep into the state to find life.
It was pretty cold today. As we drove up we passed a Nissan pickup truck that had two dogs in the back and I was feeling pretty bad for them. When we passed the truck, I said to H that the driver looked like the guy on Mythbusters. He was wearing a beret and had one of those walrus mustaches and smiled when I passed. H’s response was, “Maybe he was trying to bust the myth that dogs won’t freeze solid in the back of a pickup truck in winter”.
It was pretty cold today. As we drove up we passed a Nissan pickup truck that had two dogs in the back and I was feeling pretty bad for them. When we passed the truck, I said to H that the driver looked like the guy on Mythbusters. He was wearing a beret and had one of those walrus mustaches and smiled when I passed. H’s response was, “Maybe he was trying to bust the myth that dogs won’t freeze solid in the back of a pickup truck in winter”. Here’s a picture of Idaho. Funny we left beautiful sunny blue skies in Utah and got up north and it was white all around.
Should've Known
Today was H’s only day off while A& I are also off so I suggested with the weather nice we take a drive north to Ogden. I was reading in a guidebook that it had a refurbished Union Station and a nice little historic district. I’m glad it was only an hour drive because there was not much to see. When we walked in the Visitor’s Center, this was one of the displays. When Lassie’s visit is a highlight, there ain’t much going on. When I read about Union Station, I was picturing something like the St. Louis Union Station. I need to re-think my perception of things out here in the wild wild west.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
The Perfect Gift
We make a quick dash into one of those stores that advertise 60% off department store prices to see if they have some oversized coffee mugs. Walk in the door and it looks like a bomb went off inside. You have to look through a lot of crap to find the hidden jewels in that store and it looked like all the jewels were gone and no one had been kind in tossing the crap aside to find them. All that seemed to be left was expired tins of European biscuits and opened bottles of scented lotions. Eureka! We found an acceptable mug and headed to the returns counter which looked to be checking people out and had the shortest line. As we stood there buying the mug one of the employees got on the mic and announced something to this effect, “Please stop by any of our registers to pick up a gift card for that special person on your list. If you’re still looking for that perfect gift, you’ve run out of time”.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Happy Holidays!
This week I heard lots of stories at work of mammoth Christmas gatherings. It all made my head hurt. When I described our tiny celebration, just the three of us, I inevitably got that sympathetic look. Oh that’s so sad, they aren’t having a big celebration. H has to work every day until around 2pm so for A and me this holiday is all about not getting out of pajamas unless we have to.
Sorry, this is headed into a rant so if you love Christmas and all the presents, you might want to flip to a different channel right now. Last night A and I headed over to Target. We’re keeping the presents very simple this year. I was looking for something specific for H and we walked through the cooking section just to see if there any small items like a really cool peeler, that he might like. Of course A was drawn to the appliance that looked like a giant cupcake. As she opened it up we realized it was an actual electric cupcake maker (shaped like a cupcake) designed to make 6 cupcakes in no time. While she thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread, it made me mad. It exemplifies to me the waste. Who would buy this? It’s one of those stupid gifts that might be purchased for the person who has everything. If someone has everything, why try and buy them something? I looked around in Target at all the people buzzing through for presents and wondered, how many have people on their list out of obligation that they have no idea what to buy for and when they give that gift on Christmas day, the receiver gives a shrug, throws the present in a cabinet when they get home and it will never again see the light of day? In this economy, that all should stop happening but I’m afraid it isn’t. I personally don’t think Americans have been thinking hard enough about their lifestyle and making changes to preserve what’s important in these tough times. We seriously don’t need so much crap.
Kids should be learning a lesson right now about cutting back in hard times, but I’m afraid that parents instead are trying to shield them from reality. My grandfather lived with us growing up and I spent a lot of time with him. He lived through the depression. I don’t realize the impact he had on me until my husband or a friend laugh at one of the phrases I occasionally use. I once when I was very mad at A told her off and finished it with “You can stick that in your pipe and smoke it” which caused H and A to burst out laughing, completely ruining the point I was trying to make. Besides the funny phrases, he did tell me a lot about living with nothing and how spoiled people were these days (the heady 1970s). Looking back I’m so glad to have had that experience. I think Americans may be facing an economic challenge similar to the depression but we are handling it differently, our sense of entitlement getting in the way.
As Dennis Miller likes to say after his rants, “That’s my opinion, I could be wrong”. I’ll finish by saying it is a time to reflect and appreciate what is important and what we are grateful for. I do wish you all a very happy holiday.
Sorry, this is headed into a rant so if you love Christmas and all the presents, you might want to flip to a different channel right now. Last night A and I headed over to Target. We’re keeping the presents very simple this year. I was looking for something specific for H and we walked through the cooking section just to see if there any small items like a really cool peeler, that he might like. Of course A was drawn to the appliance that looked like a giant cupcake. As she opened it up we realized it was an actual electric cupcake maker (shaped like a cupcake) designed to make 6 cupcakes in no time. While she thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread, it made me mad. It exemplifies to me the waste. Who would buy this? It’s one of those stupid gifts that might be purchased for the person who has everything. If someone has everything, why try and buy them something? I looked around in Target at all the people buzzing through for presents and wondered, how many have people on their list out of obligation that they have no idea what to buy for and when they give that gift on Christmas day, the receiver gives a shrug, throws the present in a cabinet when they get home and it will never again see the light of day? In this economy, that all should stop happening but I’m afraid it isn’t. I personally don’t think Americans have been thinking hard enough about their lifestyle and making changes to preserve what’s important in these tough times. We seriously don’t need so much crap.
Kids should be learning a lesson right now about cutting back in hard times, but I’m afraid that parents instead are trying to shield them from reality. My grandfather lived with us growing up and I spent a lot of time with him. He lived through the depression. I don’t realize the impact he had on me until my husband or a friend laugh at one of the phrases I occasionally use. I once when I was very mad at A told her off and finished it with “You can stick that in your pipe and smoke it” which caused H and A to burst out laughing, completely ruining the point I was trying to make. Besides the funny phrases, he did tell me a lot about living with nothing and how spoiled people were these days (the heady 1970s). Looking back I’m so glad to have had that experience. I think Americans may be facing an economic challenge similar to the depression but we are handling it differently, our sense of entitlement getting in the way.
As Dennis Miller likes to say after his rants, “That’s my opinion, I could be wrong”. I’ll finish by saying it is a time to reflect and appreciate what is important and what we are grateful for. I do wish you all a very happy holiday.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Breakfast Recipe
Pumpkin – I’ve been obsessed since I returned to America and always have a can of pumpkin on hand. This recipe originates from Jessica Seinfeld’s Deceptively Delicious cookbook but I’ve modified it. Yes, Jerry Seinfeld’s wife wrote a cookbook and if you have picky eaters who won’t eat vegetables, this book is brilliant.
Pumpkin Oatmeal
1 c. skim milk
1/8 c. packed brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
½ c. solid pack pumpkin
Healthy pinch of sea salt
1 c. old fashioned Quaker Oats (not the quick oats)
Mix everything but the oatmeal on a saucepan on medium heat. When it starts to slowly boil, add the oatmeal and cook for two minutes.
If I have time, like on weekends, I will toast some nuts in a pan to put on top, whatever we have in the house. I’ve tried it with pecans, walnuts, and almonds and they’re all good.
This recipe makes two servings.
Be warned, it doesn't look too pretty. I've had both members of my family walk into the kitchen, look in the saucepan and say, "What is that?!" I think it's delicious, filling, and has the power of oatmeal and pumpkin in one bowl!
Pumpkin Oatmeal
1 c. skim milk
1/8 c. packed brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
½ c. solid pack pumpkin
Healthy pinch of sea salt
1 c. old fashioned Quaker Oats (not the quick oats)
Mix everything but the oatmeal on a saucepan on medium heat. When it starts to slowly boil, add the oatmeal and cook for two minutes.
If I have time, like on weekends, I will toast some nuts in a pan to put on top, whatever we have in the house. I’ve tried it with pecans, walnuts, and almonds and they’re all good.
This recipe makes two servings.
Be warned, it doesn't look too pretty. I've had both members of my family walk into the kitchen, look in the saucepan and say, "What is that?!" I think it's delicious, filling, and has the power of oatmeal and pumpkin in one bowl!
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