I had a minor kitchen catastrophe tonight, but it was a first for me. I burnt something on the stove so badly that it caked onto the pot. I was reheating some meat sauce for our noodles, absentmindedly turned the burner on high from the start, and not much later there was steam/smoke coming out from under the lid and my sauce was a bubbling away.
And burning.
Thank goodness it was on an older pot. I soaked it immediately after we spooned out the sauce we wanted, which luckily still tasted fine, and then grabbed a brillo pad and scrubbed away. Since this is my first burnt-pot shenanigan, I'm quite proud of myself for getting all of it off of there. You'd never know that a couple hours ago, that thing was black as coal. You know, it was almost therapeutic in an odd way, scratching away the burnt parts bit by bit. (Knowing that my pot was not ruined for life was a nice feeling too.) It reminded me of scratching off a lottery ticket.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Do What You Do, and Be Good At It
I have a complaint to make to the restaurants of America: Why do you all feel the need to serve almost every genre of food?
Recently on vacation, we dined out a little more than normal, like ya do when you're on vacation. Anyways, it occurred to me that so many of the places we went to had a huge variety of food; an unnecessary amount, in most cases.
Why is it that an Italian restaurant feels the need to serve burgers? If I'm going to an Italian place, there's a good chance I'm going because I want Italian food. It really bugs me that so many of our restaurants feel like they have to cater to everyone and the only way to do that is to offer a little of everything. The fast food industry has taken a turn like this too, if you haven't noticed. Five years ago we wouldn't have dreamed of going to Wendy's for a salad, or get iced coffee at McDonald's, or breakfast at Subway. Why? Because they were already successful with (and good at) their staple items, burgers or sub sandwiches. According to a retired fast food franchisee, the restaurants have expanded their menus so much these days, requiring more and more equipment to make these new special items, that it is nearly impossible for anyone to even get started, much less stay in business.
Please, restaurant CEOs: cut it out. Instead of being mediocre at a lot, how about you try to be awesome at less. Instead of serving me just 'eh' spaghetti, forget about the burger and fries, and make great pasta! Do what you do and be proud of it.
Recently on vacation, we dined out a little more than normal, like ya do when you're on vacation. Anyways, it occurred to me that so many of the places we went to had a huge variety of food; an unnecessary amount, in most cases.
Why is it that an Italian restaurant feels the need to serve burgers? If I'm going to an Italian place, there's a good chance I'm going because I want Italian food. It really bugs me that so many of our restaurants feel like they have to cater to everyone and the only way to do that is to offer a little of everything. The fast food industry has taken a turn like this too, if you haven't noticed. Five years ago we wouldn't have dreamed of going to Wendy's for a salad, or get iced coffee at McDonald's, or breakfast at Subway. Why? Because they were already successful with (and good at) their staple items, burgers or sub sandwiches. According to a retired fast food franchisee, the restaurants have expanded their menus so much these days, requiring more and more equipment to make these new special items, that it is nearly impossible for anyone to even get started, much less stay in business.
Please, restaurant CEOs: cut it out. Instead of being mediocre at a lot, how about you try to be awesome at less. Instead of serving me just 'eh' spaghetti, forget about the burger and fries, and make great pasta! Do what you do and be proud of it.
Friday, June 15, 2012
Laughs
Father's Day post number 5.
I would like to take this moment to thank my dad for my sense of humor.
At a young age, my dad introduced me to the Three Stooges. I still watch them from time to time and enjoy a laugh. But a couple months ago, as I was watching them by myself one morning (Jarrod was gone on a business trip) I texted my dad and told him it just wasn't quite the same... 'cause it wasn't.
Both of these things came up the other day, actually, in conversation with someone else. But another thing I was introduced to at a young age was the wonderful comedy of Bill Cosby. My dad is a big fan and has almost, if not all, of his records (yes, LPs.) The record player is packed up at their house these days, but we've talked of taking it back out so we can convert and record them onto CDs one of these days. I have told him I want to KNOW when he does this so I can come over! Bill Cosby's humor isn't talked about much these days, I guess, which seems weird to me since I grew up knowing about him. It astounds me when I talk to people my age and older who have never heard The Dentist, but I guess maybe liking Bill Cosby at my age is a little atypical. Oh well, I think it's great.
As I got older, we branched onto British humor, when I was introduced to some Monty Python. My poor mom had to come with us when we went to see "Spamalot", the musical version of Holy Grail, at the Fox Theater. She just doesn't enjoy British humor. But dad and I thought it was great.
I don't know about most people, but I think it's safe to give credit for my sense of humor to my dad. From slapstick, to British, to quirky, to sarcastic, to dry, I usually "get it" and he's the one to blame. Sorry to all the people who have to deal with all my goofy jokes, impressions, and associations these days :).
I would like to take this moment to thank my dad for my sense of humor.
At a young age, my dad introduced me to the Three Stooges. I still watch them from time to time and enjoy a laugh. But a couple months ago, as I was watching them by myself one morning (Jarrod was gone on a business trip) I texted my dad and told him it just wasn't quite the same... 'cause it wasn't.
Both of these things came up the other day, actually, in conversation with someone else. But another thing I was introduced to at a young age was the wonderful comedy of Bill Cosby. My dad is a big fan and has almost, if not all, of his records (yes, LPs.) The record player is packed up at their house these days, but we've talked of taking it back out so we can convert and record them onto CDs one of these days. I have told him I want to KNOW when he does this so I can come over! Bill Cosby's humor isn't talked about much these days, I guess, which seems weird to me since I grew up knowing about him. It astounds me when I talk to people my age and older who have never heard The Dentist, but I guess maybe liking Bill Cosby at my age is a little atypical. Oh well, I think it's great.
As I got older, we branched onto British humor, when I was introduced to some Monty Python. My poor mom had to come with us when we went to see "Spamalot", the musical version of Holy Grail, at the Fox Theater. She just doesn't enjoy British humor. But dad and I thought it was great.
I don't know about most people, but I think it's safe to give credit for my sense of humor to my dad. From slapstick, to British, to quirky, to sarcastic, to dry, I usually "get it" and he's the one to blame. Sorry to all the people who have to deal with all my goofy jokes, impressions, and associations these days :).
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Cycling
This Father's Day blog post actually goes out to both my mom and dad, but I doubt anyone will have a problem with that.
Something I am eternally grateful for, though we don't talk about it much, is how involved my parents have been in my health. I doubt my mom or dad will EVER stop asking me "Do you have your pills?" when we go out to dinner. That's okay. I didn't realize it until long ago, but a big reason I am doing okay and the reason I can keep up with my treatments is because they cared so much and were so much a part of it.
My dad has also been very big on keeping up with research. There is an annual conference, a "State of the Union" about CF research if you will, here in St. Louis, and he almost always attends and comes back with news of a new drug, how a drug trial is going, or research for better treatments. In addition to that, he/they is/are a big supporter of the CF Foundation, which brings me to my next paragraph...
This weekend, he will be riding in the second annual Cycle for Life fundraiser for the CFF. I don't usually do this, but if you'd like to donate, you can do so on his personal donation page here. (All names on the donations are hidden, so no worries.) I thank you if you do choose to donate, and I'd like to thank dad for riding in this. :-)
Something I am eternally grateful for, though we don't talk about it much, is how involved my parents have been in my health. I doubt my mom or dad will EVER stop asking me "Do you have your pills?" when we go out to dinner. That's okay. I didn't realize it until long ago, but a big reason I am doing okay and the reason I can keep up with my treatments is because they cared so much and were so much a part of it.
My dad has also been very big on keeping up with research. There is an annual conference, a "State of the Union" about CF research if you will, here in St. Louis, and he almost always attends and comes back with news of a new drug, how a drug trial is going, or research for better treatments. In addition to that, he/they is/are a big supporter of the CF Foundation, which brings me to my next paragraph...
This weekend, he will be riding in the second annual Cycle for Life fundraiser for the CFF. I don't usually do this, but if you'd like to donate, you can do so on his personal donation page here. (All names on the donations are hidden, so no worries.) I thank you if you do choose to donate, and I'd like to thank dad for riding in this. :-)
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Antique Shopping
Leading up to Father's Day, I'll be writing about different memories I have with my dad. Today is the third.
Sometime back in college, I decided I wanted a cigarette case. Weird for me, right? Well, I wanted one to use as a tiny wallet in cases that didn't warrant bringing a huge purse. After keeping my eyes peeled at a few stores, I saw that a few of them had something like what I wanted, but I decided I wanted an old one. So one Saturday, dad and I went antique shopping together, just us two.
We stopped by the old Union Post Office building, and found one that was okay. Then we drove out to the big antique mall in Eureka where I found what I wanted to get. It was a little silver cigarette case with a spring loaded piece inside to keep things in place. Most likely, we figured it was used to hold cigarette papers back when everyone rolled their own cigarettes. The one I had previously spotted in Union was wider, and would have actually held them after you opened a pack, long ago.
So I bought that and then we had lunch at Arby's. It was during the car ride and at Arby's that we had some really great conversations and I realized something: my dad knows a lot. I mean, we had some wide-ranging conversation, from why the auto industry couldn't fail at the time (ok... so that dates it back to 2009ish), to other economic issues, to other worldly issues, to how the world's changed, to parenting these days... on and on. There was hardly a topic that I brought up that he did not at least have an educated comment on; I really couldn't stump the guy!
But it was great, and I'll always remember that day. We need to go antiquing sometime again.
Sometime back in college, I decided I wanted a cigarette case. Weird for me, right? Well, I wanted one to use as a tiny wallet in cases that didn't warrant bringing a huge purse. After keeping my eyes peeled at a few stores, I saw that a few of them had something like what I wanted, but I decided I wanted an old one. So one Saturday, dad and I went antique shopping together, just us two.
We stopped by the old Union Post Office building, and found one that was okay. Then we drove out to the big antique mall in Eureka where I found what I wanted to get. It was a little silver cigarette case with a spring loaded piece inside to keep things in place. Most likely, we figured it was used to hold cigarette papers back when everyone rolled their own cigarettes. The one I had previously spotted in Union was wider, and would have actually held them after you opened a pack, long ago.
So I bought that and then we had lunch at Arby's. It was during the car ride and at Arby's that we had some really great conversations and I realized something: my dad knows a lot. I mean, we had some wide-ranging conversation, from why the auto industry couldn't fail at the time (ok... so that dates it back to 2009ish), to other economic issues, to other worldly issues, to how the world's changed, to parenting these days... on and on. There was hardly a topic that I brought up that he did not at least have an educated comment on; I really couldn't stump the guy!
But it was great, and I'll always remember that day. We need to go antiquing sometime again.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Bath Time
Leading up to Father's Day, I'll be writing about different memories I have with my dad. Today is the second.
Another great, but small, memory I have with my dad is during bath time. After play time in the tub was over and it was time to actually wash up, if my dad was the one to wash my hair, many times we would sing "On Top of Spaghetti." There were other songs too, but this one sticks out to me.
Not sure what noodles and boats have to do with each other, but hey, why not!?
Another great, but small, memory I have with my dad is during bath time. After play time in the tub was over and it was time to actually wash up, if my dad was the one to wash my hair, many times we would sing "On Top of Spaghetti." There were other songs too, but this one sticks out to me.
Not sure what noodles and boats have to do with each other, but hey, why not!?
Monday, June 11, 2012
Racing Noises
Leading up to Father's Day, I'll be writing about different memories I have with my dad. Today is the first.
A long, long time ago (I can still remember, how that music made me smile... ok end song tangent.) But a long, long time ago my dad owned a Ford Blazer with a manual that my mom couldn't drive. She never learned on a manual car.
I have two things I remember about riding in that tan Blazer. One is that when it was just dad and me, I would get to go through his tape case (ah, remember those big suitcase things?) and pick out a tape. I always liked how the different tapes looked side by side (designer/creative-type coming out in me already, I suppose) though most of them were just black with white letters.
The other part was sometimes when we would go to church, it would be just us. Either my mom would already be at church because she was singing in the choir, or mom had to sing at 9 o'clock mass, and we would sleep and go to 10:30. Either way, when it was just us two, we would make racing noises as we rounded the right turn from Highway 100 onto 47, right before turning onto Madison to go to church. That intersection has been redone a few times since then to add more lanes, but it was once a longer curve, had more of an incline to it. In going through the curve, when we didn't have to stop for oncoming traffic, we'd go "Nnnnnnnnyyyoooowwwwwwww"!
A long, long time ago (I can still remember, how that music made me smile... ok end song tangent.) But a long, long time ago my dad owned a Ford Blazer with a manual that my mom couldn't drive. She never learned on a manual car.
I have two things I remember about riding in that tan Blazer. One is that when it was just dad and me, I would get to go through his tape case (ah, remember those big suitcase things?) and pick out a tape. I always liked how the different tapes looked side by side (designer/creative-type coming out in me already, I suppose) though most of them were just black with white letters.
The other part was sometimes when we would go to church, it would be just us. Either my mom would already be at church because she was singing in the choir, or mom had to sing at 9 o'clock mass, and we would sleep and go to 10:30. Either way, when it was just us two, we would make racing noises as we rounded the right turn from Highway 100 onto 47, right before turning onto Madison to go to church. That intersection has been redone a few times since then to add more lanes, but it was once a longer curve, had more of an incline to it. In going through the curve, when we didn't have to stop for oncoming traffic, we'd go "Nnnnnnnnyyyoooowwwwwwww"!
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Let's Play: What's In Jamie's Purse?
Preparing to move makes you do some things you've neglected for a long time. We boxed up my purses a couple weeks ago, and when we did that, I took everything out of them. I mean everything. I don't know about other women, but when I switch up the purse I'm using at the time, I don't necessarily take out everything that was in it. So over time, I've accumulated a lot of receipts, junk, and other random stuff. Really random stuff. This is a photo documenting some of the more amusing items I found.
To list it all out: 9 Taco Bell packets, Modern Auto oil change punch card, 2 Dixie cups, purple cell phone calculator, compact mirror, 5 gift cards, Lime Lip Smackers, necklace chain, parking pass to Barnes, 2 fortune cookie fortunes, Lip Smackers with no label, USB drive, Blueberry Lip Smackers (this one is, like, 15 years old), a button, broken dinosaur key chain, 2 pennies, safety pin holding yet more safety pins, eye doctor's Rx, some guide about taking care of my Pyrex stuff, blue Crayola marker, 2 pens, 2 button pins, Hooters crayons, Borders rewards card (hello, they're out of business now), reward card to Hot Topic, hand lotion, film canister, Buffalo Wild Wings towlette, 2 Bank of Franklin County pens, 2 packs of partially eaten gum (the Key Lime Pie one is gross, don't buy it), a Christmas card from Marie, 1 Fun Dip tri-packet, the receipt to Jarrod's wedding band (purchased over a year ago), a straw, emissourian business cards, lip gloss, a notepad briefly documenting my Make-A-Wish trip from 2005 (yes, that's 7 years ago), 1 turtle sock (so THAT's where it was!), and a lighter.
I hope you found as much humor in this as I did. I will end with: I really have no idea why I bought a lighter. I feel like it was for something with theater back in high school...
To list it all out: 9 Taco Bell packets, Modern Auto oil change punch card, 2 Dixie cups, purple cell phone calculator, compact mirror, 5 gift cards, Lime Lip Smackers, necklace chain, parking pass to Barnes, 2 fortune cookie fortunes, Lip Smackers with no label, USB drive, Blueberry Lip Smackers (this one is, like, 15 years old), a button, broken dinosaur key chain, 2 pennies, safety pin holding yet more safety pins, eye doctor's Rx, some guide about taking care of my Pyrex stuff, blue Crayola marker, 2 pens, 2 button pins, Hooters crayons, Borders rewards card (hello, they're out of business now), reward card to Hot Topic, hand lotion, film canister, Buffalo Wild Wings towlette, 2 Bank of Franklin County pens, 2 packs of partially eaten gum (the Key Lime Pie one is gross, don't buy it), a Christmas card from Marie, 1 Fun Dip tri-packet, the receipt to Jarrod's wedding band (purchased over a year ago), a straw, emissourian business cards, lip gloss, a notepad briefly documenting my Make-A-Wish trip from 2005 (yes, that's 7 years ago), 1 turtle sock (so THAT's where it was!), and a lighter.
I hope you found as much humor in this as I did. I will end with: I really have no idea why I bought a lighter. I feel like it was for something with theater back in high school...
Allergies: What Did We Learn?
All my allergy testing yesterday didn't quite lead to the answers I was hoping for. Obviously, we were hoping I would test negative on all the drugs, but that was not quite the case.
I had a positive reaction to penicillin and ceflosporan. What this means is I reacted to an ingredient in most of the drugs I'm given when I go into the hospital. Think of it like a cooking recipe. Let's just use spaghetti for ease: If I use sauce, noodles, and meat, I get spaghetti. But if I'm allergic to the sauce, I might have difficulties, even though I'm not allergic to spaghetti, per se.
That's what the situation is. I have "Multiple Drug Allergy Syndrome". So yay for that... What it means moving forward is that we have to be careful. We'll have to monitor me a little better, maybe, because I may or may not have a reaction. The reaction itself could range from minor to severe, also.
In conclusion, we didn't learn a whole lot. Now everything is documented, which is good, but basically I might have a reaction, I might not; it might happen early, it might happen late; it might be bad, it might be tolerable; it might get worse as I age, it might go away... so I continue to be extremely complicated!
I had a positive reaction to penicillin and ceflosporan. What this means is I reacted to an ingredient in most of the drugs I'm given when I go into the hospital. Think of it like a cooking recipe. Let's just use spaghetti for ease: If I use sauce, noodles, and meat, I get spaghetti. But if I'm allergic to the sauce, I might have difficulties, even though I'm not allergic to spaghetti, per se.
That's what the situation is. I have "Multiple Drug Allergy Syndrome". So yay for that... What it means moving forward is that we have to be careful. We'll have to monitor me a little better, maybe, because I may or may not have a reaction. The reaction itself could range from minor to severe, also.
In conclusion, we didn't learn a whole lot. Now everything is documented, which is good, but basically I might have a reaction, I might not; it might happen early, it might happen late; it might be bad, it might be tolerable; it might get worse as I age, it might go away... so I continue to be extremely complicated!
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Live blogging at the allergy doctor's office
Im at the allergy doctor's right now. Pretty bored.
We just started testing me for drug allergies. My appointment was at 10:00, and it is...
11:19 -- They have pricked my arm 14 times with 6 drugs, two different doses, and two controls. I'm really not looking forward to the next step, which is where they make the little bubbles under the skin. Not only does that hurt like hell, because it has to be right under the first layer of skin, it is more likely to cause a reaction than these little skin pricks. So, itching when you can't scratch it.
11:27 -- Ok Round 1. Bubbles under skin. Time to sit 15 minutes and see if they react. If they DON'T then we go to Round 2. And possibly Round 3. So that would equal 18 bubbles by the time I'm done. Goddamn.
I have to remind myself, I wanted to do this. We need more drug options so I can continue to stay healthy so this needs to be done. On one hand, I want a few of these to react so I don't have to get stuck so much. But on the other I don't, because that means I'm not allergic and we can use it (a much better long-term effect than dealing with needle sticks.
I think she's gonna need some real estate on my right arm. Right now, I must say I'm fairly impressed in my one-handed typing speed with my right hand. I'm using a borrowed iPad so it's not too bad.
11:48 -- Round 2. No reactions yet. The nurse lied, haha, and turns out we don't have another round. So yay! This is it. My arms look pretty ridiculous right now.
12:04 -- Looks like I might be reacting to a couple of these. Penicillin for one.
12:15 -- Two positive reactions. Waiting on the doc now. Bye folks, this has kept me un-bored.
We just started testing me for drug allergies. My appointment was at 10:00, and it is...
11:19 -- They have pricked my arm 14 times with 6 drugs, two different doses, and two controls. I'm really not looking forward to the next step, which is where they make the little bubbles under the skin. Not only does that hurt like hell, because it has to be right under the first layer of skin, it is more likely to cause a reaction than these little skin pricks. So, itching when you can't scratch it.
11:27 -- Ok Round 1. Bubbles under skin. Time to sit 15 minutes and see if they react. If they DON'T then we go to Round 2. And possibly Round 3. So that would equal 18 bubbles by the time I'm done. Goddamn.
I have to remind myself, I wanted to do this. We need more drug options so I can continue to stay healthy so this needs to be done. On one hand, I want a few of these to react so I don't have to get stuck so much. But on the other I don't, because that means I'm not allergic and we can use it (a much better long-term effect than dealing with needle sticks.
I think she's gonna need some real estate on my right arm. Right now, I must say I'm fairly impressed in my one-handed typing speed with my right hand. I'm using a borrowed iPad so it's not too bad.
11:48 -- Round 2. No reactions yet. The nurse lied, haha, and turns out we don't have another round. So yay! This is it. My arms look pretty ridiculous right now.
12:04 -- Looks like I might be reacting to a couple of these. Penicillin for one.
12:15 -- Two positive reactions. Waiting on the doc now. Bye folks, this has kept me un-bored.
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