Movie In The Morning

Today I went to a "private" showing of a movie. I'd like to think that it's because I'm a VIP, but it actually has more to do with the fact I woke up too early.

I had a lot to do today, and it all had to be done by late afternoon. When I woke up shortly before 6 to go to the bathroom I couldn't go back to sleep.  I tossed and turned, thinking of all the things on my list. After an hour, I decided to get up and start the day. I threw on clothes and headed down to the kitchen, where I heard Hubby Tony in the shower as I was pouring my first cup of coffee.

Tony had heard that The Artist, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture this year, was back in theaters this weekend. We hadn't seen it yet (although we both wanted to) so he suggested we go. I asked him to research theaters and show times, then headed off to scoop the cat litter and sweep the kitchen floor.

I was out back pulling weeds when Tony got back to me.  He'd found out that the first showing was at 9:40. In the morning.  It was 8:35.  If we moved fast, we could get there.

Neither of us could remember going to a movie in the morning, but it turned out to be a really good idea.  The movie theater we went to was located in a mall (which didn't open till 10), so parking was a breeze.  There was no line at the movie box office, and we didn't have to wait to have our tickets taken.  Even though the concession stand was open, we passed on snacks.  Popcorn did NOT sound good so soon after breakfast!  We arrived at the theater ten minutes before the movie started.  There was no one else there, so we got our choice of seats.  We chatted through the video commercials and waited for the movie to start.  The commercials ended, and the trailers started.  No one else had entered the theater.  We had the whole place to ourselves!

It was like watching in our family room, except the screen was massive and the sound system pristine. We lifted the arm rest between us and I put my feet up on Tony's lap.  I was able to talk back to the screen as loud as I wanted, and when I had to go use the bathroom halfway through Tony was able to tell me what had happened when I was gone.  We stayed to watch the credits, and didn't have to worry about people climbing over us to get out.

Wake Up Call?

I have a "Thought For The Day" calendar that I look at each morning. This was today's thought:

Since I pulled the page off the calendar I've been pondering the message. In 2008 I spent an entire year doing a daily activity that was new to me, but somewhere along the line I stopped.  I need to get back to putting diversity in my life.  

This small piece of paper may turn out to be a great kick in the pants.

Skip The Elevator-Take The Stairs

This morning I had a doctor's appointment.  His office is halfway to work, so when I left the house after breakfast I wore casual clothes and carried my work clothes in a bag; that way I could get to the mall early enough to change in the bathroom before I had to start my Customer Service shift.

I thought I knew how long it would take to get to the doctor's office, but since it was after rush hour I overestimated and pulled into the parking lot 20 minutes too early. After spending a few seconds pondering what to do, inspiration hit.  The medical building is four stories tall, with stairs at each end.  My doctor's office is on the third floor, and the building's elevator is slower than dirt, so I always take the stairs. Since I had time to kill today, I decided to get some exercise doing extra flights of stairs.

I entered the building at the center entrance and walked to the stairwell closest to the doctor's office. When I got into the stairwell, I checked to see if there were any security cameras to record my unusual antics. I didn't see any, so I figured no one would be watching me. I slung my purse across my body and started up the stairs at a fast jog.

With only three flights of stairs, it was hard to get in a groove, but I did my best. I went up and down the steps at one end of the building four times, then walked to the other end and did four more reps.  I walked back to the first side (stopping at the bathroom on the way) and started on a third set.

Just then I saw a UPS delivery person carrying a few small boxes use the stairs just above me; that was enough to make me stop.  However, I'd put in a good 15 minutes of aerobic work, and was pleasantly winded and sweaty enough to cross exercise off my list for the day. Besides, it was time for my appointment.

Tortilla Flats

Several years ago Hubby Tony decided he wanted to take charge of dinner one night a week.  After some discussion, we decided Sunday would be a good day.  He picks out the menu, gathers the ingredients, and does the cooking.  The first couple of weeks I found I was giving too much advice (i.e., trying to control things), and banned myself from the kitchen.  I usually go upstairs and read, or during the nice weather go outside and do yard work.

Most Sundays Son Donald rolls in sometime after lunch to hang out and helps his dad cook. They have a great time together.  A couple of weeks ago I decided I wanted to spend some quality time in the kitchen with Donald and announced I'd take back dinner preparations for one week.  Today was the day.

Yesterday was Cinco de Mayo, so I decided the meal would have a Mexican theme. When I saw a post in my Reader this week for chocolate corn tortillas by Stef at The Cupcake Project I decided it sounded pretty easy, so as part of the meal Donald and I would make our own tortillas, something I'd never done before.

Stef's post was on Thursday, and she promised an accompanying tortilla filling was coming, but on Saturday morning I  came up with my own idea.  Son Tony had cooked a wonderful pork roast in adobo sauce when he was in town for Christmas; if I added potatoes to that (and made it more like a stew) I could still have tortillas and serve them like bread.  I went to a Mexican grocery store near the house and bought the special ingredients--masa harina (corn meal made from corn soaked in lime then dried before being finely ground) and a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.

I decided to use the recipe for tortillas on the side of the masa bag and save Stef's chocolate version for another time. There were only three ingredients-masa, salt, and water. I mixed everything together, and Donald kneaded it smooth. We let it rest, divided the dough into 16 pieces, rolled each piece into a ball, then put the balls between layers of plastic and flattened them with a rolling pin.  Some of the tortillas came out less than round, but I figured they'd taste just the same.

It took 30 second on each side to cook the tortillas in a hot pan.  When they were done I piled them on a plate until dinner time.  Tony couldn't stay out of the kitchen, so he and Donald worked together to make guacamole.  I heated up pinto beans and put everything, along with a green salad, on the table.

The tortillas were darn good (if I do say so myself).  Some of them could have been a little thinner, but for a first try we didn't do too bad.  I'd bought a large pork roast, so there was quite a bit of food left over.  I sent some home with Donald, put some in the refrigerator for tomorrow night's dinner, and froze a couple of cups worth of pork for a meal down the road.

As we were cleaning up after dinner Donald wanted to know if I was going to add tortillas to my recipe repertoire.  I replied that I just may have to.  Any excuse for eating Mexican food is OK in my book!

A Peony For Your Thoughts

I have one peony plant, which is in the back yard next to my neighbor's fence.  Each year when I see the buds starting to form I can't wait for the blooms.

Today was the day:

The flowers never last long, though.  By some strange coincidence right after the peony blooms each year we get a hard rainstorm or heavy wind which makes them flop over or knocks the petals off.  This morning, right on schedule, we had a gully-washer come through; I was out in the car and for a few minutes visibility was so poor I had to pull over to the side of the road.

When I got home and checked on the peony, all the open blooms had toppled and were laying on the grass.  I raised them up again, but based on past experience they'll never be the same.

Out With The Cold

Even though our weather's alternated between balmy and blustery, it's definitely getting warmer. We haven't worn our winter-weight coats for weeks.

From December through March (and sometimes into April), the outwear in the coat closet is an important part of our wardrobes. Then things warm up and I forget the closet's there. Several years ago I got busy and failed to wash our coats. When I put mine on the first cold day months later, it still had the previous year's supply of dirt on it. Yuck!

Since then I have a reminder on the calendar for May 1st to wash all the winter coats. I started the job yesterday and finished it today.

I have one everyday winter coat. Hubby Tony has two. I gathered them all up and took the pile to the laundry room just off the kitchen. Each coat was almost, but not quite, a full load, so I added a few extra articles in with each. At the end of the project my dirty clothes baskets were empty and I felt like I'd killed two birds with one stone. In my experience, heavy things like coats never completely dry in one dryer cycle, so as each load got done I took the coat out and hung it over the back of a kitchen chair. Eventually, half of the kitchen table chairs had winter wear slung over the back.

This morning I put everything away. I don't know about you, but during the winter I never bother to fasten my coat when I hang it up, because I'm just going to use it again the next day. In honor of the end of the season, though, I zipped and Velcro-d everything properly and made sure the hoods were hanging straight before putting the coats back in the closet.

The casual side of the closet looked so nice I decided to take a look at our "dress" coats. Tony and I both have all-weather and wool models, which I checked for cleanliness. We had a mild winter and the dress coats didn't get a lot of use. The ones that didn't need cleaning got the same hanging treatment as their casual siblings, and I started a pile for the dry cleaner.

I'll have to repeat the process with our jackets once I'm sure we won't need them any more, then I'll be able go on about my business and ignore the closet until things start cooling off again.

I Have A Lot Of Friends At Work. I Just Don't Know Their Names

I've worked at the mall Customer Service desk for almost 10 months.  During that time I've become friendly with quite a few people...security guards, housekeepers, and fellow mall employees as well as frequent shoppers and mall walkers.

Some of them wave or say hello as they walk by, and a few stop to chat.  If they work in the mall, chances are they wear a name tag and I've been able to figure out who's who.  The rest are just nameless friendly people.

There's one pair of mall walkers who I've figured out are avid sports fans.  Their shirts change with the seasons (Cardinals in the spring and summer, Rams during football season, Mizzou for basketball), and some other college teams that I assume have special meaning.  We've had several short discussions, mainly about sports, but it's more like a walk and talk as they're passing by.

Today one of group members came up carrying a large nylon bag.  They'd received it at a baseball game and thought I might like it.  Inside were a few promotional trinkets and a souvenir soda cup.  Even though the things were only worth a couple of dollars, I was touched they'd think of me.

We talked for about five minutes, then they continued on their walk.

New Computer Virus

This IS a bad one! If you receive an e-mail entitled "Badtimes," DELETE IT IMMEDIATELY. Do not open it. This one is pretty nasty. It will not only erase everything on your hard drive, but it will also delete anything on disks within 20 feet of your computer. It demagnetizes the stripes on all of your credit cards.

If the message is opened in a Windows environment, it will rewrite your backup files, changing all your active verbs to passive tense and incorporating undetectable misspellings that grossly change the interpretations of key sentences. It reprograms your ATM access code, screws up the tracking on your DVD, and uses subspace field harmonics to scratch any CD you attempt to play!

It will re-calibrate your refrigerator's temperature settings so that all your ice cream melts and your milk curdles, and it programs your phone autodial to only call your mother-in-law.

It will leave the toilet seat up and your hair dryer plugged in dangerously close to a full bathtub. This virus will mix antifreeze into your fish tank. It will drink all your beer and soda. It will leave dirty socks on the coffee table when you are expecting company. Its radioactive emissions will cause toe jam and bellybutton fuzz to migrate to your armpits. It will replace your shampoo with Nair and your Nair with Rogaine, all while dating your current boyfriend/girlfriend behind your back and billing their hotel rendezvous to your credit card.

It will not only remove the forbidden tags from your mattresses and pillows, but it will replace your luncheon meat with Spam. It will molecularly rearrange your cologne or perfume, causing it to smell like dill pickles. It will give you Dutch Elm Disease, Tinea, and cause you to run with scissors and throw things.

This virus is both insidious and subtle. It is dangerous and terrifying to experience. It is also a rather interesting shade of mauve.

PLEASE FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO EVERYONE!!! The survival of human life on earth as we know it is at stake!

Seedy

This year I decided to try growing tomato plants from seed.

The process started last year, when I saved some of the seeds from an heirloom purple tomato a neighbor gave us.  I found out that seed saving is a long, drawn out process.  First you squeeze the seeds into a container and cover them with water, then let them sit for a couple of days until they ferment and the top of the water gets moldy (which means the "goo" around the seeds has broken down). Next you rinse them and let them dry for several more days. After all that, they go in a plastic bag and get stored in a cool, dry place

I usually put tomato plants in the garden around Mother's Day. The Websites I consulted told me I should start the seeds 6-8 weeks before then, so at the beginning of April I began the process. I filled small pots with planting mix, added several seeds to each, and watered them well. Then I put the pots on a meat tray and slid everything into a plastic produce bag to keep the humidity in. The mini-greenhouse went on the east-facing window seat in the kitchen, where I overwinter my plants.

The pampered seeds germinated right on schedule, but haven't exactly thrived. I water them when they get dry, and turn the pots so all the seedlings have equal access to the sun. Four weeks later, they're barely getting their first set of real leaves. At this rate, it will be July before they're ready to go outside.

Today I was putting some scraps into the compost pile, and looked over at the garden area. There are some impressive-sized weeds that I need to pull and a layer of small rocks that have worked their way to the surface. And two volunteer tomatoes:

Despite the lack of attention, they seem to be doing just fine. Maybe I'll bring the coddled ones outside and let them get some advice from their wild brethren.

Savory Smoothie

According to Dictionary.com a smoothie is "a thick beverage of fruit pureed in a blender with ice and milk, yogurt, or juice".  Fruits tend to be sweeter than vegetables, so that would assume smoothies should be sweet.  But why couldn't a smoothie be savory?  Today I performed an experiment and made a vegetable smoothie.

It all started with a head of cauliflower.  One of my projects this morning was to cut off the florets and blanch them for crudités (because I think they taste better that way).  I usually just toss the core in the stock bag, but today I took a good look at it.  It didn't seem any different than the stems of the florets, which I eat all the time.  I decided to try cooking it and see what happened, then eat the results of my test for lunch.

I chopped up the cauliflower, but there wasn't quite enough for a whole meal, so I dug around in the vegetable drawer to see what else I could find...a small carrot, a quarter of a red onion and a couple of stalks of celery.  I threw everything in a pan, added water to cover and a beef bouillon cube for flavor, and put the pan on the stove.

When the vegetables were done, I whizzed them into a puree with my immersion blender and added a cup of yogurt.  If I'd put the mixture into a bowl I probably could have called it soup, but instead I poured it into a cup and drank it.  Not bad at all!