My Birthday

I will admit, right off the bat, that this birthday was not the most exciting. However, I had an awesome meal at The Roadhouse Grill. I was really hoping for the prime rib, but it was only 1pm and of course it's not served until 4pm. So I had the rib eye. It was great!

First, they give you a bucket of peanuts. You throw the shells onto the floor - it's FANtastic! I really like doing that.



They also serve the drinks in mason jars. Mmmmmmmmm... I got a nice hefeweizen. Or two.



Then came the appetizer. It was okay - Southwest egg rolls. It seemed a little pasty compared to ones I've had before, but it was okay.



Finally the steak! It was cooked perfectly: Medium rare. Very yummy. I tried to only eat a little of everything (and take it all home) so I could enjoy the birthday sundae, but I was incredibly full and couldn't do it. I also took home a roll (out of two) with the honey-butter. Sooooo good! By the way, I was able to enjoy the steak and fries for breakfast the next morning. Sometimes it's just good to be a bachelorette.

Tomorrow's my Birthday!

Since tomorrow is my birthday, my mom wanted to take me out to dinner this last weekend. I wanted oysters/seafood,so it was decided that we would go to the coast. Somewhere along the way, I picked up my friends Shane (who Rayleen and I have known since childhood) and Jim, and my cousin's beau Jamie. They were a bit on the inebriated side when I picked them up, so I knew the night would be interesting. Mom had planned on a particular restaurant but when she and my aunt found out who I was bringing with me, the plans changed to one of the bar/restaurants. Funnily enough, it's the same bar I had been kicked out of a few years back for being disorderly and otherwise Sailor-like, along with my uncle and aunt (who worked there and still does).

Everybody tried to act innocent when I took there picture:







But the truth is, it didn't even start out quiet!



My mom even got a picture of me yelling at the boys.



Everybody had fun. We were sitting in the non-smoking area so we could eat and there were two other parties of people in the same small room. One of the parties did NOT appreciate us at all. I actually wondered if there would be an altercation... I like to think I would have joined in, but I'm never really sure. After all, I only had one beer this time around and was being the responsible one! Mom and Rosie laughed a lot - Rose thought she might get kicked out again, which is always fun. All in all, it was a good time.

How To Start a Fire in a Wood Stove

This post will not have a lot to say, I think the pictures speak for themselves. I will say this about the first picture however (because it's hard to tell): It's the nozzle. The nozzle of the thing that can only be described as a flame thrower. Yes, a flame thrower.

Without further ado, allow me to introduce the Only Way to start your wood stove:









Of course, I want one.

Crab Pots?

I decided to get some Chinese food the other day - I was hungry and didn't really feel like cooking, so I grabbed some on the way home. While I was ordering, I noticed an appetiser called Crab Pots. I asked about them and was told that they had crab with cream cheese and were a little sweet. It sounded like wontons to me, so I figured I would try it. Holy cow.



Do you see all that creamy goodness?!? They were soooooo good! Yes, they were a bit sweet and they came with the sweet and sour sauce which was surprisingly good. I loved it! The rest was okay. I got some sort of hot and spicy shrimp and scallops, but it wasn't very spicy. I ended up adding my own spice.



Grace has become very interested in sewing. She couldn't take her eyes away from the thread, no matter how much I told her "no"...



It was all too tempting!



Stay tuned in... next time on the Captain's Log: The fast and perfect way to start a fire in your wood stove!

*sigh* Summer is gone. Fall is here and it's getting colder and colder when I get up in the morning. This is one of my favorite fields that I drive by:



As some people know, I want to eventually buy some land and a house (when I get a job and stuff) and I want it to be on a field. Open spaces like this get the first and last of the sun - the most exposure. It's just a happy place!

Grace shows me every day that she loves living here:



She thinks it's a giant scratching post/play land. I'm always worried they'll play too close to the edge... But so far, so good.

Ravelry

After reading Rayleen's entries about Ravelry (she signed me up yesterday), I thought I would go see where I was in line:

You signed up on September 14, 2007
You are #32934 on the list.
19268 people are ahead of you in line.
441 people are behind you in line.
40% of the list has been invited so far


Well. I think I have some waiting ahead of me. On the same token though, there are already 441 behind me! I guess that's not so bad.

I replaced my toilet seat. My landlords were going to do it, but let me just show you why I did it myself:



And it's not just the silly factor - note the big crack in the upper left corner! Talk about irritating! So I went to the hardware store and picked one that I like, and one with a soft seat. I think the soft seated ones are not as good of quality and need to be replaced sooner, but I know for sure that they are warmer. They warm up right when you sit down, so this winter that will be a lot nicer than a cold seat. I hope you can see the flower - click to enlarge if you want, it's a cute flower!



I'm making a pair of socks with the expert help/advice from my sis Rayleen, the knitting expert. But for some reason, I can't stop a crazy craft bug that has gotten to me lately. I've been craving a quilt, so I pulled out some fabric that has miraculously made it with me since I moved from San Diego and started cutting and sewing. I've decided it will be for my uncle since he has graciously helped me move three times now! It's going to be very simple and pretty darn masculine.



In the midst of sewing, I got very happy and went to the store for another quilt - this one for my Aunt Elaine. She's a cat lover as well, so I think she'll enjoy the cat print. The colors are kind of different, but I really think it will turn out nicely.



Now I'm a sewing fool!!!

It's September. What does that mean? Well among other things, I have to drive slower at school zones, I start classes again this month, I need a new driver's license and summer is over. Yes, fall is here and it's time to start preparing. For most of you (I'm pretending more than two people read this), preparing for fall consists of breaking out the sweaters or buying orange and brown decorations at the craft store. But for me it means I need to get more wood and try out my woodstove to make sure it is in good working condition.



By golly, it works great! The cats weren't sure what to think of it. I've been trying to keep them away from it anyway. I had some big pieces of wood on it and Buddy finally jumped on the woodstove the other day. The wood and Buddy came crashing down (he didn't get hurt), and it scared the bejeebers out of him. I'm hoping that will help them stay away. I'm also going to buy a squirt gun and occasionally squirt the stove to make it hiss, and maybe squirt them if they get too close.

I broke out the sewing maching this past week. Kitchen cabinets before:



Kitchen cabinets after:



I realize the rod on the right is crooked. And it's probably going to stay that way. There's a piece of wood in the way of the rod holder that makes it very difficult to put it higher and make it straight. And I really don't mind, so crooked it is! I also made a curtain out of the same material for the door, but I forgot to take a picture of it.

I have a down jacket that will be great for cold days, but when I moved to Albany, my cousin was gracious enough to put a hole in it. I put it in a bag and that was it. Since I know it's going to get cold up here (and with not much storage, I didn't know where to put it - I kept seeing the dang thing!), I decided to sew up the hole. I sewed it by hand, so now it looks like the same kind of work on Frankenstein. There will be no pictures. Hey, it'll be warm!

The State Employment departments are collectively doing something fun for everybody. They're having a contest - what group can "walk to New York" first, wins! Of course, we aren't actually walking to New York, we are wearing pedometers and writing down our time. I did really well on my first day... or well enough I suppose. I walked 5.5 miles. I didn't do as well yesterday though, so I need to pick up the pace a bit, and get off my tookus. I'm really excited about it because I'm kind of being held responsible for walking and at the same time, I'm sure it will help me lose weight. I'm trying to eat more salads and not as much Taco Bell to help things also. Hehe.

So the cats have decided that things are too quiet around here and figured they should spice it up a bit. I don't know who did it, but on top of their litter box, I came home to find this:



Yes. Somebody peed on top of the litter box, right in the handle-keeper! A couple of days later, that same somebody peed right next to it, still on top of the box, not down the side or anything. The first time, I cleaned it out with bleach and took the little door off - I thought maybe they were having issues with the door. The second time I just cleaned it with bleach. They haven't done it again, but I have no idea why they did it in the first place!