Have You Ever Seen The Rain

The other morning on my way into work, the sky was ominous and beautiful. I took a photo with my cell phone...

And since I am feeling somewhat dark today, I wanted to use it as my desktop picture but I decided I didn't like the telephone pole and all the lines. Hey who needs fancy-schmancy Photoshop?! I played around with MS Paint and voilá!...


This morning is was pitch black dark out when I left the house for work... at 4:40am. Too damn early. Trying to get too much work done in too little time. Quarter close. Again.

Weird morning, too. Not much traffic on the road at that early hour. Surprisingly, I saw not even one semi-truck. That was odd. I did see 1 guy on a bicycle and 2 school buses. Also odd. Plus a couple of assholes who wouldn't turn their brights off. Not at all odd.

And as usual, I had a song stuck in my head. Actually just a small part of a song, because I can't remember all the lyrics to "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas"... only here's what I found myself singing in my head and humming out loud in the car this morning:
Oh, I want a hippopotamus for breakfast. Only a hippopotamus will do. Hmmm hmmm hmmm [can't remember anymore lyrics]...
Oh, I want a hippopotamus for breakfast. Only a hippopotamus will do. Hmmm hmmm hmmm...
Oh, I want a hippopotamus for breakfast. Only a hippopotamus will do. Hmmm hmmm hmmm...

Yes. For breakfast. Tapping my fingers on the steering wheel along with it. So... also odd.

A Very Odd Morning.

When I finally realized what I was singing in my head, I was like, what?!, jeez, who the hell are you/am I?... Turned on the radio to an oldies station and got me some CCR going. Got into the office and got me some coffee!

funny ha-ha and whatever

My sometimes quirky son has formed a habit of saying "off-line" instead of "on-line"... as in, if I can't find it at Dunham's, I know I can buy it off-line. Um, no you can't, you may be able to buy it on-line, but off-line won't get you anywhere.

Also.... I? I can buy it? By "I" clearly he means me, the one with the credit card. And oh, yeah, the money, the job... Wait. Correction: I have no money! OK, Sammy, go ahead and buy that off-line. Wink, wink.

I heard a corny joke on the book I'm listening to...
What'd the bra say to that hat?
You go on ahead, and I'll give these 2 a lift.

Cracked me up this morning! And thus far, that's been the highlight of my day.

Which I guess isn't really true - Sammy and I went to Espresso Milano for coffee and bagels this morning. That was nice. He's burning through his gift certificates from Christmas. The barista, who is usually there in the mornings when we go, seemed to be in a particularly unfriendly mood this morning. She's never usually super friendly, that's just not her style. And she has a very unique style. She is short, very skinny with tattoos, so an attitude is just what you'd expect. I like her; she makes The Most Excellent White Rabbits. This morning was a no-chit-chat morning. OK by me. Just gimme the coffee and I'm fine.

Which made me think of something we taught Sammy to say when he was really little, and he didn't really understand what he was saying... it was so very, very cute to hear him say, "Cut the chat, where's the hooch?" And I know that is not a saying we made up, I think it's from something to do with Prohibition, but I can't find it on a Google search. So funny-ha-ha and funny-weird.

Also funny, the tip pitcher at the coffee house this morning... there is always something funny taped to it. This morning was a picture of a monkey wearing a jacket with a hood, and the little monkey head in the too-big hood looked really funny... and they added a caption that read, "Please tip generously. My monkey needs a coat that fits!"

Free

I decided to take some time off from work this week. This morning I dropped Sammy off at school and headed to a local coffee shop to drink coffee and surf the 'net. I also went through a load of photos I've taken in the past month. And I found this...



Which is a photo of our ceiling that I didn't mean to take. But I like it. It was among the photos of Reilly that I did mean to take...



So this is my post of little substance. I intend to do very little substantive activity today and tomorrow.... i.e., screw it. *happy sigh*

What did you think I meant? That wasn't it.

Now that Kevin is on the lab tech job he's had since last October & he isn't working any weekends (thank goodness!), he and I have our weekend early morning routine. Coffee.

Sometimes we sit together and go through a pot or two while we talk, other times, we may decide to watch a recorded episode of Lost or CSI while we drink our coffee together. Or, Kev will have some hunting or sports show on the TV, and we'll both semi-watch it while we talk. Sometimes, like this morning, Kev will watch a recorded game (Tigers vs. AZ from last night), and I'll get on my computer.

I'm kinda sorta listening to the game, but also doing some research... last night I had a dream that wasn't about the movie "Twister" nor was it about a scary tornado, but whatever I was dreaming about included those beautiful wind lawn sculptures from "Twister". I've had a thing for those ever since I saw that movie. So this morning I was itching to get on the 'net and see what I could find out. Turned out to be not a whole lot, other than the artist is Evan Lewis and his web site is sorely lacking in photos of his pieces that were in the movie. I tried to find our copy of the DVD, which I believe was downstairs near the TV last time I saw it... but since we moved all the stuff out of that big room for the carpet installation and haven't yet moved and sorted everything back... it was a pointless search. Especially on only one-half cup of coffee. And then I got distracted trying to take photos of the turkeys tearing up the mulch and making a big mess beneath our bird feeders. I want a close-up of one of their heads, because the turkey's head... it's ugly. So ugly, it's very, very interesting to me. They move so quickly, however, and they're smart, so they're leery... I've had no luck on that photo yet.

So anyway, for our weekend mornings, the two most important components are coffee and talk. Kev and I usually take turns filling up our coffee cups. To be honest, Kev has done a helluva lot more filling up turns than I have so far this year...

Just a bit ago, I was standing at my desk trying to take a photo through the window of the damn turkeys, and I finally gave up. Decided it was my turn to fill up...

me: Honey, you ready for a refill?

as I walked over to get his cup...

Kev, with very cute exaggerated enthusiasm: Yes, I am!

as I was heading toward the kitchen...

Kev: And I expect it to be delivered topless.

in kitchen, pouring coffee...

me: No top on your coffee cup. Got it.

Froth!

On the last day of school before Christmas break, Sammy's Spanish teacher made "Mexican Hot Chocolate" for all the kids in class. Sammy was raving about it. He gave me all the details... Mrs. B. had some chunk kind of chocolate, and you can buy it at the grocery store, and she put it in a pan of milk with some sugar and while it heated up and melted the chocolate, she used a wooden thing to make it thick and creamy. He wanted to go to the grocery store NOW to get the Mexican chocolate, because he said I wouldn't believe how good it was.

I trust Sammy's judgment on all things hot chocolate, because since that boy was very little, he's loved hot chocolate. When we're anywhere near a new coffee house, he wants to stop in & try their hot chocolate. There's a really, really good coffee house in Midland, a nearby town, called Espresso Milano, and Sammy likes to go there on a regular basis to get their hot chocolate. He doesn't have too much trouble convincing me to take him there, because both Kev and I have a Major Thing for their "White Rabbit" cappuccino, which is a vanilla flavored strong coffee drink.

I usually drink my coffee plain black, which is what I need first thing in the morning. Straight, strong black coffee, no flavors, not sweet. By the time I get to Espresso Milano anytime we go, though, I've already had my pot of coffee at home. A White Rabbit is like a treat. A sweet, yummy treat. With a coffee kick. I often like mine with an extra shot of espresso. Mmmm...

So anyway, back to Sammy's new found love of Mexican hot chocolate. I did a little research on the Internet and discovered just how ignorant I was about hot chocolate. Mexican hot chocolate, or rather, hot chocolate made the traditional way it is made in Mexico, is a serious drink, and seriously wonderful. I found a kazillion web sites (almost 300K on a Google search!), but my favorite site was this one by Linda Stradley, "Rediscover True Hot Chocolate", which includes a lot about the history of hot chocolate. It also has a picture of the wooden implement like the one Sammy's Spanish teacher used, and it's called a molinillo.

So right before Christmas, Kevin and I did some shopping, including some grocery shopping. While at the grocery store, I found the Mexican chocolate Sammy had told me about. And then began my search for a molinillo. I thought it'd be really cool to give those 2 things to Sammy for Christmas, like to put them into his stocking.

I discovered that if there is a store that sells a molinillo... we could not find it. We actually ended up over in Saginaw, which is quite a ways from our home, and I ended up calling places there and in Bay City. No luck. I did have several people suggest I try "Peel N' Pare" in Midland. I had already called them... they were my first call. On our way back home, I decided to go into Peel N' Pare and see for myself.

Peel N' Pare is a specialty cooking/kitchen store, with just about anything you may need for gourmet cooking (except large appliances). They also have a lot of specialty and expensive coffee beans for sale, though they don't make coffee there (it's not a coffee house). It's not a big store (and surprisingly, no web site), but they have a lot of stock. And it's what I would call a high end store. Lots of expensive stuff. But they have items that you really can't find anywhere else in our area. Beautiful, pretty stuff. If I had a fortune, I could spend a good chunk of it in that store.

Alas, they had no molinillo. But at the suggestion of someone there, I bought this for Sammy for Christmas... the "Bonjour Caffé Froth Monet" in the blue and white box. It's a milk frother; a simple tool that froths milk like crazy. Right near the froth tool, the store had a huge display of bottles flavored syrups, so I bought these 2 for Sammy and a couple of the red plastic tops, too... These are the kind that Espresso Milano uses...



This is the Mexican chocolate I found at the grocery store. It comes in round, individually wrapped patties inside the box. It's not dense like baking chocolate or a Hershey bar, and it's got some spice in it, like cinnamon or something. It smells wonderful.



This is how the frother works. You pour milk into the glass container up to the line indicated...



Then you put the tool in and just pump it up and down...



I discovered you have to be sure to bring the tool up above the milk and back down into it to get a really good froth going.



It's very quick, about 20 pumps and you're done. 20 seconds. A little milk goes a long way...



Then I put the container into the microwave for about 45 seconds to warm it up. I quickly learned to put it on a paper plate or something, because once the frothy milk starts heating up, the froth seems to grow... sometimes over the side of the container...



I decided to make a couple of homemade White Rabbits for Kev and I this morning, so I poured in some French Vanilla syrup, some frothy hot milk and then some double-strength coffee...



I mixed them up well and topped them off with more strong coffee...



So good...! See how much nice foam there is on the top.



Quick and easy. We don't have a cappuccino machine, and though Kev has suggested one for me for a gift, I've never wanted one. This milk frother tool is super easy, super quick and super easy to clean. And our homemade White Rabbits are really good. Really, really good. And I didn't have to spend twelve bucks for 2 of them either. (Though, heck, yeah, I will still do so at Espresso Milano, because though our homemade version is wonderful, it's not quite as perfect as Espresso Milano's...)

It's frozen, it's white, it's...

finally falling from the sky! SNOW!



Those are Kev's tracks in it out to the pole barn to go hunting this morning. And back again to get his rifle, which he forgot. Rich fodder for long-term teasing, that. He's going to get plenty tired of me asking him if he remembered his gun.

So already that's two things this morning that make me happy, happy, happy!

Thank you.

Oh, and coffee. Coffee makes me happy. I stepped outside onto our porch barefooted to take that photo, which meant stepping into the dusting of snow on the front of the porch and the steps... my feet got cold & I rushed back to my nice wonderfully hot cup of joe. I briefly considered pouring it on my feet.

A flash on the future

I took today off from work because the kids don't have school today (semester end) & Kev is off today, too (he starts his day shift tomorrow, with day-12s on the weekend).

Up early this morning, still kinda dark out, and we're already on our second pot of coffee. Why is it always so much easier to get up out of bed when there's no alarm???

I'm playing around on the 'net, catching up on some blog reading, and Kev & Sammy are in the living room watching some sports news shows on the TV. Kev and I have been taking turns filling up our coffee cups. When I delivered Kev's full cup back to him just now, I took the opportunity to whisper something sweet and dirty in his ear, and I was rewarded with one of his laughs. On my way back to the computer desk, I said to him, "Just think, someday I won't have to whisper that kind of stuff to you and can just blurt it out loud." Kev laughed again. (Poor Sammy.) And then I said, "So will that be more fun or less fun?..."

Hmmmm...

Questions answered...

What's with the fish?

Isn't he lovely?! This fish is enamel on what I think is brass, and he is jointed, so his body, fins & tail all move. He was given to us by some good friends who lived in Hong Kong for a while, and he traveled all the way from HK to Michigan to live with us.

Why aren't you at work?

Because I took a vacation day today. Whoo hoo! Joycie & I decided last night that we needed to spend some time together and get some CMU stuff done.

What's going on with your blog?

I changed it so that only one post appears, instead of several flowing down the page.

Why in the heck did you do that?

Because we live in the boonies.

So, what does that have to do with it?

Well, if you would quit interrupting and let me finish... As a boonies dweller, we have dial-up Internet access. Yes, dial-up. We don't have cable out here in the sticks yet, and the alternative types of connections are far too expensive at this point. My family members also have dial-up. Thus, when they open my blog, they have to wait and wait and wait for all the photos from all the posts to load... so with just one post at time, we should all be happier. Besides, links to previous recent posts are on the sidebar, as well as the archives. Hey, if anyone knows of a good, simple set of code for adding "Previous Post | Home | Next Post" links to each post, please holler. (And holler pretty loud so we can hear y'all out here in the boonies, eh?)

What's your favorite color?

Blue. No, Green. No, Orange. Pumpkin Orange. Darkish Pumpkin Orange, but not too dark. No, Blue. A forget-me-not blue. No, oh hell. I like browns, too. And grays. Dark jewels tones, too. Especially at Christmastime in December. I love autumn colors best, though. And the dark leafless trees against that blue, blue sky. Like the photo that Joycie took recently, which you can see here. Um, what was the question again?

How much coffee have you had?

The answer to that question is always "not enough." Ha! Just kidding. I just finished a whole pot, and I guess I'll stop there today.

Turkey Day

We are celebrating our Thanksgiving today so that nearly all my family can be together. Missing will be my niece, Susan, her son, Rogan, and her fiance, Stewart. They are busy with some of Stewart's family visiting them from out of state. Everyone else will be here for turkey dinner, and then later today we will also celebrate Joyce's birthday (her 18th birthday is on Sunday).

My alarm went off at 4:00am, and I finally crawled out of bed at 4:15am. Here it is now 5:08am, and the big, fat 23-pound turkey is all stuffed and in the oven. My plan was to go back to bed, but my husband decided to get up and out of bed, to come out in the kitchen to see if I needed any help. Which is really, really nice of him. Only thing is, I was at the sink with the turkey, and he came up behind me... since I wasn't expecting anyone to put their hands on my ass and whisper in my ear... it scared the crap out of me!

So now I'm wide awake. And drinking coffee. My mind is all a jumble of what I have to do yet... must make a list...

Lost weekend

So far, so sucky.

Sammy had a football game yesterday... in the rain... and both Kev and I missed it. Kev is on his day-12s weekend, and he couldn't get anyone to cover for him so that he could go to Sam's game. This is the first time he has missed one of Sam's football games since the boy started playing 4 years ago.

I'm at what is hopefully getting to the end of a bad cold. It was one of those colds you could feel coming on for days & days, and then when it finally hits, it hits Big Time. Mine hit about 1pm on Friday. I remember very little of yesterday. Ugh.

So Joycie drove Sammy to the high school and watched his game as the sole family cheering section. She and Sam both came home soaking wet & cold. I remember that because there was a brief spat over who got to shower first. Umm... duh. The boy, obviously... he was, in addition to soaking wet & cold, quite muddy. His team won, and Sam had some good moments. Wish I had been there.

And today is October 1st. I repeat, October 1st. That's a big day in our family because it's Opening Day of Bowhunting Season... Kev's passion. And he had to work. This is the first opening day that he's missed in so many years that I can't remember how far back. He should be out in the woods.

And all I can say to finish up this bummer of a post is thank God for coffee. Warm, wonderful coffee on my raw, aching throat.

Life is very good

This is my sweetheart delivering a triple white rabbit from Espresso Milano to me this morning at work... Kev's standing in the shadow of The Fence.

Ahhh... I love that man!

And the white rabbit is pretty darn good, too. They make the best cappuccino in town... not too sweet, the white rabbit has just a hint of vanilla, but the nice, strong bitter coffee flavor is appropriately prevalent.

On the walk back to the building from the gate entrance (where I had to meet Kev since he cannot drive onto the grounds proper now due to The Fence), a guy walking into the same building told me he was jealous & that Espresso Milano has The Best Coffee. When I told him it was hand-delivered to me just then, he said, "even better."

Yes, yes it is.

O, ye of little faith

I have a nice, long (and way, way overly optimistic) "to do" list for today. One thing that is not on it: purchasing a new Maytag dryer.

Over a fresh cup of coffee, Kev just explained to me... in detail... how he has fixed our dryer, including how he obtained the schematic of our model on the 'net, how he took it apart, what parts were defective, what needed lubing and why, what he found (a big ball of lint), replacement of the vent hose and why, and how to check it for lint build-up in the future.

I was shocked! Shocked, I tell ya!... Kev obtained the schematic on the INTERNET. Holy cow. The Internet. Next, he'll be programming the DVR to record an event. Then he'll be telling me he retrieved his voice mail message on his cell phone. (The shock of that one could very well be my undoing!)

I think of you each morning...

When Sandy came to town for a quick visit recently, she gave me a gift. (That girl is always giving gifts!) This is my beautiful gift from Sandy, a wooden scoop that I use every morning for my coffee:


It is so pretty! Sandy has one, and on a trip down to her home in Texas, I noticed it. She, of course, remembered! I'm glad that she did. I like having it, and I especially like thinking about my best friend each morning when I make coffee. It's a wonderful way to start a day.

I also enjoyed the tag that came on it:


Quiet reflection and a hot cup o' joe. Oh yeah, baby.

Plus, anything that has the word 'nuts' followed by an exclamation point is A-OK in my book.

Sunshine & coffee

It is another beautiful morning outside. The sun is shining and the sky is blue. The forsythia is blooming. The star magnolia, which was all buds Thursday evening, is blooming also. Gorgeous. I can see them both while I sit here typing.

Kev had to get up and go into work today; it's his day-12s weekend. His alarm went off at 6am, and I should have gotten up... but instead I fell back asleep. Woke up with a start at nearly 9:30am. Ugh. My back is hurting from laying in bed too long. Whatever it is about the alarm going off that makes me fall asleep, I wish I'd outgrow it. I've missed most of this morning. I'm finishing my last cup of coffee, the last drop out of a pot that Sammy made for me... coffee always tastes better to me when it's made by someone else for me and delivered to me... ahhh.

Joycie is already vacuuming upstairs, and we're going to finish up working in the library this morning. We have a "great room" floor plan, where the living room, kitchen and dining room are one large open room. Our stairs to the upstairs separate the living room from the kitchen, but the stairs are open & you can walk underneath them. The living room has a cathedral ceiling, and the loft area is what we have designated as "the library" because my bookshelves are in there on one wall. Kevin made the bookshelves for me when we still lived in the pole barn, and the plan has always been (since we built the house 13 years ago) to build more shelves on the East wall... so far, it's still on the to do list.

We've been acquiring more books for years, and so the book shelves have become a chaotic mess. Not very peaceful to sit up there and read when I feel like the chaos is going to come down and smother me. Yesterday, we started boxing up books we no longer use. Nearly made me cry to box up all the little kids books. But, it cleared out a lot of room (7 boxes of kiddie books!). I did keep some out, just couldn't bring myself to hide them away in a box. We've gotten a lot of paperbacks, which I always thought didn't warrant space on a bookshelf. Like they were second-class citizens. The trailor trash of the book world. But I've changed my tune. They look great on the shelves, very organized and colorful. Makes me want to grab one & read. And I guess that's the whole idea, eh.

Now I've gotten myself anxious to get up there and finish the job pronto...