happy saint andrew's day (uk)

my husband is a great guy, but he's no saint...

i was already planning a special evening. its just been a rough week for us both. we've got lasagna (his favorite), garlic bread, and salad. he doesn't drink so i picked up a bottle of sparkling juice. its also make-your-own-cookie night, which is a thing from college. we'd go into the caf and there would be cookies with every kind of cookie-topping you could want. you got to decorate your cookie yourself. tons of fun.

and then, i was terribly delighted with my one a day tear off calander. today is saint andrew's day. the timing could not have been better. all google really told me was that i should eat scottish food and since the menu's already planned, i had to come up with something else. so i've decorated the house. slapped up here and there are andrew compliments. andrew is wonderful. andrew is the cutest. i love andrew. etc. clearly i don't think you have to be a martyr to celebrate so to all the other andrew's out there: happy saint andrew's day.

my life keeps getting weirder and weirder

andrew is about to get out of the army. hooray! except not really, that is on the getting out part not the hooray part. its a long detailed story filled with all your basic army incompetences, ur, um, i mean, intrigues. i'll sum up the story prior to this week in a very generic, civilian sort of way. his IRR time is 35 months: the government can snatch him back anytime during the next 35 months. but the tricky government has worked out a scam so that if you'll go into the reserves, they'll cut your IRR time in half. he would then have 18 months, and happily the reserves stabalize people for 24 months, which is to say that he could not be deployed for the first 24 months and since he'd only be in for 18 months, he's safe as houses. sounds like a great plan, right? we pondered this for weeks. the major cons being if he's only in the reserves to wait out irr time, he is not officially joining the reserves. he wouldn't qualify for enlisting bonuses or promotions. and if he starts a degree, he probably cannot finish it in 18 months before the reserves would stop paying his tuition. given the current political landscape, we are betting that after his 24 months of stabilization, we won't be sending too many reservists to iraq. yeah, that is a scary sort of thing to bet on but that is another story. so, since we are moving to las vegas in a couple of weeks, we decided to enlist for three years in NV reserves.

until yesterday.

unfortunately, nevada reserves are all filled up. no room in the las vegas inn. but, we found out yesterday, some states really need people, and are willing to make up crazy schemes to get them. we've all seen the commercials, right? this deal is one weekend a month, two weeks a year. some states are willing to get people with particular skill sets for only one weekend every three months. and they are happy to pay extra for travel expenses. you still have to show up to the local stuff the other two months, and since you aren't really playing with that team, you probably stand around making coffee and watching whatever is on tv on saturday afternoons. yesterday our option was to take this crazy scheme and every so often head over to san fransicso. i was on board, seems like a fun place to tagalong visit.

somewhere along the way it became guard not reserves. and honestly i do not know when. maybe i was given a memo but i clearly didn't read it carefully. or possibly in my armywife way, being as civilian as i could possibly get, i just didn't understand. i sometimes say yes dear and then head to google.

the text message arrived on my phone about an hour ago:
problems with calif...have sworn allegience to oregon. all else equivalent.

we've never been to oregon but my husband just swore to protect their governor. i don't really know what to say to that. the travel oregon website had pretty pictures and the 41st BCT patch is fun. but their nickname is the 'jungleers' and i am just not aware of too many jungles in oregon.

Happy Thanksgiving!

i hope everyone out there has a safe holiday weekend.

don't try this at home

very safe soda

where in the world do you think that a soda machine needs this much protection? i can see sodas in downtown baghdad being caged up but in the park in lexington, ky, i mean really. do they think the geese are going to organize an all-water-fowl-anti-soda-riot and burn down the soda machines?

our first attemp at coauthering an entry

Thirteen Favorite Joss Whedon Moments week #15 andrew and i have many similar interests. we are two remarkably compatible people. one the thing we both adore is joss whedon. most everything he's done has made us happy. movies, tv, comics. andrew and i do not, however, both love to blog. obviously since this is my blog, i enjoy it and he's the one who's not a big fan. but i did talk him into helping me with this. 1-6 are his while 7-13 are mine. my part of the list is a little lacking, he did take all the good ones after all. 1. Roseanne Season 2 Episode 10 “Brain-Dead Poets’ Society” This episode is one of seven written by Joss in 1989-90, and has stuck with me since long before I knew who Joss Whedon was. In a series known to be crass and irreverent, this moment strikes like a bolt from the blue. Darlene, always known to be an aloof and sarcastic tomboy, exposes an unexpected depth that epitomizes a teenager's struggle with identity. 2. Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 6 Episode 7 “Once More With Feeling” The famous all-singing, all-dancing episode... 3. Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 5 Episode 15 “The Body” I never really liked Anya. She just annoyed me. I felt like she had been around for so many thousands of years or whatever, and she hadn't learned anything. She couldn't function at all. But in one moment, her failure to understand is made very clear as she has a virtual breakdown in front of everyone and everything comes spilling out. She really doesn't understand, because she's never been a college-age girl before and she's never had to deal with the reality of death, and she doesn't understand that no one understands. In one gush, Anya hits the high points of the mysteries of human experience and endears herself to me forever. 4. Astonishing X-Men 4 This issue featured the return of Colossus. The presumed-dead X-Man is discovered by his once and future love, Kitty Pryde, imprisoned and tormented. 5. Fray A storyline that proved there was more to the Buffyverse than Buffy. 6. Serenity Triumph! Never before has a series been cancelled within its first season and then been successfully released as a major motion picture. Continuing the series as if it were the most natural thing, the movie delivered exactly what was needed. 7. Alien Resurection Johner: So, I hear you, like, ran into these things before? Ripley: Yeah. Johner: What did you do? Ribley: I died. 8. Angel Season 3, "In the dark" when we first see spike, he is sitting atop a building mocking angel for saving a girl: Spike in high voice: "How can I thank you, you mysterious, black-clad hunk of a night thing" (low voice) No need, little lady, your tears of gratitude are enough for me. You see, I was once a badass vampire, but love and a pesky curse defanged me. Now I'm just a big, fluffy puppy with bad teeth. (Rachel steps closer to Angel, and Angel steps back warding her off with his hands) No, not the hair! Never the hair! (high voice) But there must be someway I can show my appreciation. (low voice) No, helping those in need's my job, - and working up a load of sexual tension, and prancing away like a magnificent poof is truly thanks enough! (high voice) I understand. I have a nephew who is gay, so? (low voice) Say no more. Evil's still afoot! And I'm almost out of that Nancy-boy hair-gel that I like so much. Quickly, to the Angel-mobile, away!" Spike lights a cigarette while he watches Angel lead Rachel away. 9. Angel Season 5: Smile Time Angel gets turned into a puppet. There just isn't anything that is not entertaining about that. 10. Buffy Season 4, "Pangs" Willow: Buffy, earlier you agreed with me about Thanksgiving. It's a sham. It's about death. Buffy: It's a sham...but it's a sham with yams. It's a yam sham. 11. Firefly "Jaynestown" Serenity sets down at the mudder colony of Canton where it turns out Jayne is a hero for having dropped a bunch of money there years ago that he and his partner Stitch stole from the local magistrate. The drop was unintentional but Jayne doesn't turn down the attentions. Its hysterical because there is a statue of Jayne and they sing songs about him and well, of all the characters, Jayne is about the most unlikely of all to be considered a hero. 12. Buffy Season 3, "Gingerbread" Buffy: (holds up notebook) what is this?? Willow: (takes notebook and closes it) A doodle. I do doodle. You, too. You do doodle too. 13. Angel Season 1, "She" Cordilia throws a party. Angel and Wes spaz dance (and then there is more dancing during the credits).

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a cup of this, a smidge of that, and a pinch of what? oh right, a pinch of evil

it occures to me that i've never shared any side dishes. sorry about that. here is one for you.

i am a fan of casseroles. i am a fan of side dished. it seems very nice when the two are one. there are several great side item casseroles out there. one of my very favorites is green bean casserole, possibly because green beans are my favorite veggie. and the silly fried onions are lots of fun; i always end up eating half of them in the making so there isn't quite enough for the real recipe. well, apparently my husband's least favorite casserole is green bean casserole. we were talking about it, and in that strange funny way that only he has, he recounted the ingredients: a can of mushroom soup, fifteen bushels of green beans, a whole slew of those awful onion thingies, and what? oh right, a pinch of evil. but this is the really yummy casserole that he found and made, all on his own.

canned corn casserole

1 can whole kernel corn
1 can cream corn
1 box corn muffin mix (i think jiffy is best)
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, well beaten
1 stick margarine, melted
1 cup sour cream

its an extremely simple recipe and all completely carbs. the sort of yummy casserole that a man would pick out. preheat oven to 350. mix everything, pour into a 9x13 dish. bake 45-60 minutes or until center is firm. 45 minutes was enough for my oven. the recipe states that a 1/4 cup sugar will be just as good but i have to ask, why? who would bother trying? the recipe also suggests serving this with fried chicken and fresh tomatoes. i have no real ideas about what main dish this should accompany, but i had already thought about the tomatoes. maybe a cool tomato and avacado salad as a second side dish. i think you could possible cut up some bell peppers to cook in the casserole too, that might be interesting but i cannot vouch for it. enjoy!

foggy memories and sometimes longings

this is the game: every sunday this blog posts five words. anyone can come along, take the five words, and make a sentence, poem, short story, novel, whatever with them. i check it out sometimes but have never looked at the five words before and really felt they clicked for me. until today. and i cannot say for sure why; i've never even been to new jersey. but i liked the words: thread, dream, rhythm, vintage, inconceivable. its more than a sentence but not a poem or short story. i do not have a novel buried inside me somewhere, no matter what month it is. however, i do suddenly have this sentiment to express...

i dreamed of him last night. every part of the relationship had seemed inconceivable. it was beyond chance that we met at all. we didn't get along and not in an opposites-attract-we-live-in-a-romantic-comedy way but in a genuinely incompatible way, a forced friendship. and then i honestly didn't think i would ever miss him until suddenly i had the dream. and in the way that foggy memories and blurry nastalgia make the past alway seem better, i started to reminisce about the little cigar bar in the middle of nowhere new jersey. the regulars informed me that the place had not changed in decades. the owners had neglected updating the decor until it had come near full circle. the smoky room was filled with vintage artwork and threadbare chairs, but the cold world melted away when he sat on stage. every listener could feel the rhythm in their hands and feet, hips and heads, all the way through to a tickle in the pit of their tummies. i'd prefer to remember him as the tall, lean, blond who smiled when i walked over to the bar and let the rest be a blur around the edges.

remembrance

my veteran and i have had a very nice day filled with sleeping in, eating lots of tasty things, and driving over to the state capital to visit the memorials. frankfort has a ky history museum, several important cemetaries, a ky military history museum, and a very moving vietnam memorial. we visited the last two.

naturally the military history museum is filled with information about brave kentuckians and also many items that we 'souvenired' during various conflicts. the little explanation plaque actually said it that way: so-in-so souvenired santa anna's stuff and some of hitler's things too. i guess that's better than saying we pillaged.

the vietnam memorial is a huge sundial. the names of fallen kentuckians are arranged by year s0 that as the shadow passes around the circle, it falls on each individual's name, in order of their deaths. the names of those missing in action are placed away from the sundial so that the shadow will never fall on their names. everyday in the news i'm reminded that not everyone comes home. however everyone deserves our thanks and our remembrance.

another day, another city

i'm working in north carolina this week. however my luggage had different ideas on the topic. we started out together in louisville. flew to cleveland. i made my connection and headed to nc. my luggage decided to go back home to louisville instead. i guess the stress of this week's work was just too much for my socks.

on my second flight though, i think i met the most boring person alive. now, i'm not saying i am just phenomenonally interesting. this guy was some sort of chemical enginering/statistics guru, and there is nothing wrong with that. the problem was that he'd never managed to finish reading a fiction book. most of us can never finish our nonfictions. he didn't watch tv or movies. the only real diversion in his life was college football. how can a person be truly happy with no daydreams in their minds? it would be like never ever having any cookies in their tummies?

happy anniversary

hooray! my first tattoo is ten years old today. my how time flies!