Can’t Live Without that Dew…

First comes the medication ritual.  Dad and I sit on my sofa as my crazy meds are doled out to me.

“You ready, Chuck?” my father asked me after usually patting me on my knee..

We gave Maggie fresh food and water. 

“Let’s get this deed done,” I said as we walked out my front door to our cars,.

Dad and I were walking out of Kroger with my groceries when when I abruptly stopped at our cars.

“I forgot to get my two much coveted Mountain Dews,” I told my father desperately exasperated and fretting. “The two things I wanted the most out of tonight's shopping.”

I usually just allow myself two soft drinks a week now. We walked back inside and used the self check out line to buy them which was painless. I put $4 dollars in the money slot, it gave me my change, and we were on our way.

“I’ll see ya, son!” Dad said.

I watched as he drove off to the hinterland.  I only spent $59 dollars tonight so we were all happy campers. 

I got Maggie some real milk tapioca pudding to put her antibiotic in. I got eight packs. It worked like a charm when I got home and mixed up a capsule of amoxicillin in the pudding and she lapped it right up and wanted more. 

Earlier, Jermaine was returning a Redbox movie as I walked out and he talked to me for a few moments. Jermaine can make the mere mention of the weather turn into a five minute conversation.  My ex-girlfriend said they used to avoid him like the plague when she worked in the Kroger pharmacy.

Personally? I’ve grown to like Jermaine and always give him some time out of my day. I have a certain fondness for him now.  We’re the underdogs I call us – warriors on disability. And Jermaine always knows a good bargain like tonight.

“Seedless grapes are on sell at .99 cents a pound tonight,” he said to me as he sat on his motorized cart. “They were $2.99 a pound yesterday.

He said he ate quite a few when he was in the store to check for quality before buying.  I laughed even though it could be construed as theft. I even overheard two employees talking about Jermaine taking liberties with the grapes when I was grabbing my Pop-Tarts.

Photo Credit: http://www.speedygrocer.com/shop/pudding-snack-foods/pudding-snack-pack-tapioca-4ct/

http://andrewsminddelvings.blogspot.com/

Things Going On Around Here…

• Mom is cleaning up the kitchen after supper.  We check in with each other nightly about this time every day. Mom is the only person on this third rock from the sun that understands me and how I click and what motivates me.  She often has to translate this to my father.
• Mom and dad had Thanksgiving ham, German potato salad, green beans and homemade yeast rolls. I begged for some German potato salad which is one of my favorite salads, but they were all out. “Be sure to get some sandwich bread,” my mother told me. “I am sending you some honey baked ham through your daddy.” While ham is not my most favorite food, I will eat it and this ham is especially good.
• They are having a big sale on Coca-Colas up at CVS so my father is leaving soon to go buy some before we go to the grocery store. He drinks diet Cokes about as much as I did when I still got them from my parents.
• I am doing laundry trying to get ready for our grocery trip tonight. I had about run out of clean clothes to wear – well, the clothes I like to wear that is.  I have a closet full of clothes that no longer fit me since I’ve lost a lot of weight.  Especially blue jeans.  I have two pair I wear normally and switch between the two.
• Charlie has only called me one time tonight about my lawn service.  They didn’t come to his house this week and he wanted to know if they came to my house.  I told him no, but they could’ve come when I was asleep during the day. He also told me good luck on buying groceries. He has to take Horsefly bowling tonight and by KFC for his nightly meal. I told him good luck as well.
• Maggie is feeling her oats tonight and wanting to play.  She feels so much better and it is heartwarming.  I am going to get her some treats tonight at the grocery store.  We keep lining up for a back scratch at the moment aggravatingly as she is so persistent about it. I call it Maggie’s assembly line.
• I went to bed around 8:30am and slept until 6:30pm.  It was nice getting some uninterrupted sleep which is rare sleeping in the day.  I guess the “day sleeper” sign Charlie got me is working and keeping the riffraff at bay.  I also unplug the landline phone and turn off my cellphone before hitting the hay. If I ever leave that phone unplugged, it will ring as soon as I fall asleep every time.
• I am trying to psyche myself up about going to buy groceries tonight. The line is faltering as they say in the infantry, but I am sure my father will bring reinforcements. 

This Morning’s Psychedelic Sunrise…

Snack Attack…

Mom called me about 1am.  Mom and I have this affliction called the midnight snack attack. She knows I stay up all night as well.

“Charlie brought by several pie samplers.  Would you like one?” mom asked me. “They have a big slice of chocolate, sweet potato, lemon merengue, pumpkin, egg custard, and pecan pie.”

“Goddamn, don’t y’all ever sleep?” I could hear my father say in the background.

OMG!  My heart leapt up in my throat at that prospect.  That sounded like a slice of heaven indeed. Pun intended.  No one loves a piece of pie more than Charlie does.  I am right behind him at a close second. I felt like I had won the Georgia lottery.

I drove over and got the very heavy box and brought it home.  I just savored one of the best pieces of chocolate pie I have eaten in a long time.  What’s next? I think I will eat a piece of the pumpkin in a little while. It certainly gives more meaning to the term pie hole as in shut yer pie hole..

Photo Credit:  http://81brut.com/2014/09/22/work-trippin-heart-tennessee/

Good God it’s Grocery Day…

---

Yay! It is grocery day! And guess what?  I am up to my same old antics. Actually, buying groceries is one of the more unsavory and laborious things I do every week, but lately, these past few weeks, I have been rearing to go.

Like a broken record, I am getting the fixins for my spaghetti and meat sauce.  I tell ya, I am fueled by spaghetti and chow mein noodles these days.  I am going to try a differrent recipe, though.  I am going to add two cans of Hunt’s tomato sauce this time.  I will also add two cans of Del Monte diced tomatoes with onions and green peppers. I am debating on whether or not to add a small can of Italian style tomato paste. Mom always added a few bay leaves to her sauce and I may pick up some tonight and try them.  She also added Broiled in Butter mushrooms to her sauce occasionally and that would be neat to try.

I found a new way of eating my Pop Tarts and milk last week.  I loosely crumbled up the Pop Tart in a glass of milk and enjoyed it!  It really is delicious.  You eat it with a spoon just like cereal. Add two Pop Tarts and it is even better. That’s the thing I look forward to most this grocery day.  You know me. I love my sweets. It is amazing I don’t weigh 300 pounds like Kevin “the homeless guy”.

Next week, I have decided to prepare Janice’s, Charlie’s wife’s, vegetable beef soup for a much needed change in venue.  My father is going to write it down for me. I think I put it on the blog a long time ago.  I can’t find my index card where I had it written down.

Do you crumble up your cornbread into your soup before eating it?  Oh man, that is so delicious. A good dollop of Louisiana style hot sauce is delicious as well.

photo credit:  http://www.pinetarpress.com/batter-up-and-fry-tailgating-treats-spaghetti-with-meat-sauce/

A Fishy Sunday Night Of Vittles…

Charlie tries to do too much for his age.  He pulled a muscle in his back this afternoon and can barely bend over tonight.  Charlie is seventy years old!  He’s no spring chicken. He was working in his yard which my father calls the desert. lol  Dad says Charlie can kill the most hardiest of all plants. It will get the desert look over time.

“Here’s you a fried 3 piece Alaskan Pollack fish plate,” Charlie said a few moments ago as I walked to the road to get my meal.

Dad had called on his cellphone saying they were almost there as they drove up my street.

Dad was sitting in the passenger’s seat of Charlie’s Caprica grinning and looking full of himself.

“We can’t do this every Sunday night,” he said firmly as his grin turned into to a frown. “Your mother got this up. Captain D’s was expensive for all of us.”

It always kills me when this man can write a check for $56,000 for a BMW and then quibble over an extra $20 bucks buying our Sunday meal.  Charlie says that’s why my father has the money and nice things in that he doesn't spend it frivolously or foolishly. Trickle down economics also means I get the benefit of this windfall as well. I will say my father has been a shrewd business man all my life.  He is remodeling the river house and will probably sell it for a nice profit. 

I tried to call my father on his cellphone a moment ago and thank him for these Sunday meals, but he must not have had his phone on him.  They do mean so much to me.  It‘s a real treat to get this every Sunday night. I called my mother and told her to relay the message when my father got home. Gosh, we’re such routine creatures.

“Charlie and your father are just now eating their meals at the kitchen table,” my mother told me. “Mine was delicious!”

“Well, be sure to tell dad what I said,” I replied and my mother said she would.

B for Biscuit….

---

I was hoping for some bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits this morning and Charlie must’ve been reading my mind.  The only reason I let Maggie have a biscuit was as a vessel to take her antibiotics. Well, to be completely succinct or dare I bring the wrath of the pet police upon me, she got the egg out of one of the biscuits to lighten the bad juju that giving dogs people food seems to entail. 

Photo Credit:  http://www.pitch.com/kansascity/fish-and-chips-beer-kitchen-gaslight-grill-queen-lizzys-captain-ds/Content?oid=2816827

Under the Weather…

I think I got a little bit of food poisoning last night eating some more leftover cabbage and beef soup that I found in the fridge.  I’ve been running a really high temperature since last night.  At one point, I got so cold that the heat in my house was 82 degrees and I was still shivering uncontrollably.  It certainly did scare me needless to say.  It came on all the sudden out of no where as well. Just after I ate that improperly heated cup of soup.  I feel better this morning, but still a little rough around  the edges.  Charlie will soon be here with breakfast biscuits. It is just now growing light here – lots of light on the horizon.    

I opened all the blogs I’ve ever written over the years that were closed. I now think I have 5 blogs online including my wordpress iteration.   I was just going to call it quits I have so little readers now, but I realized I enjoy writing so very much and the craft of the art form.  I probably would just quit a week and humbly come back hoping there were a few stragglers still reading.   That’s about what I’ve got anyway after my SNAFU with my previous blog.  There is a whole blog devoted to debunking my lies that I found tonight.  My last blog is mirrored at a address in Canada that I have no control or access to.  These people were really out to get me!  I really did piss some folks off and rightly so. Well, if you really want to know, I made a really big mistake and paid for it.  Now, it is time to rebuild and write, write, write.

photo credit:  https://wyrdwordsandeffigies.wordpress.com/2013/05/13/the-perfectly-preserved-seamen-of-the-franklin-expedition/

Maggie’s a Happy Debonair Dog…

“He’s here!!!” Maggie frantically barked as Charlie pulled up in front of my house and Maggie ran to the front door. “I can’t believe it, but he’s finally here!”

Maggie had heard Charlie and I talking on the phone earlier and knew something was up.  She could hear Charlie’s voice. She has been in the den window ever since. I did say Charlie was coming once to egg her on.

“Come in here! Get yer butt in the house!” Maggie barked frantically at the screen door. “This crazy guy I am living with doesn’t know what the hell he is doing!”

The Charles Meister had arrived and I could barely hear him over Maggie’s jubilant barking. 

“Fresh food and water!” Maggie seemed excited to impart as we did her feeding ritual as well. “Although, that hamburger in the den smells mighty tasty.”

I had to mix Maggie’s antibiotic in some McDonald’s fries, but she gobbled them right up. I think the poor soul is finally feeling better.  I didn’t realize just how bad she felt and it made her sleep all the time.

Who Knew? The French Have an Aircraft Carrier…

Certainly not the bastions of military might.  The carrier, Charles De Gaulle, is hitting targets in Iraq and Syria. ​The French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle has commenced air strikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq. France's only aircraft carrier, the de Gaulle left its homeport in Toulon on November 18, five days after the Paris terrorist attacks.

 

 

 

The primary French multi-role fighter is the sleek Dassault Rafale.

Looking Hard For Moments of Shine…

What shiny baubles will life bring to me today?

“What kind of hamburger do you want?” Charlie just asked me over the phone. “I was going to bring you a Big Mac value meal. Is that okay?”

“Charlie, that will be wonderful! Bless your heart!” I replied back.

“I’ll be over in just a little bit,” Charlie then happily told me. “We’ll do your medications while I am over there.”

“Love you dear soul!” I exclaimed to my dearest Charlie.

How Charlie is going to get Horsefly through all that football traffic I do not know, but the show must go on Charlie told me.  Horsefly is seeing some film about dinosaurs for his Saturday matinee.

I hadn’t been off the phone for 10 minutes when my mother called me. She said she was fixing to go to bed for the day.

“I am putting 2 dollars under the porch mat so you can get you two drinks,” she told me.

Shiny baubles, indeed! 

Photo Credit:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1387785/25-000th-Big-Mac-Don-Gorske-set-hit-eating-landmark.html

Tonnage Through Downtown…

The town lights up the night after Thanksgiving with Christmas regalia.  Each telephone pole has its own lit ornament.  My favorite decorators are the Tankersley’s and their house is just down the street from me. Classy! I rode around for awhile looking at our fair city’s Christmas lights.  Every street corner and telephone pole was lit in regal glory.  I would’ve been even more thrilled as a child.

I then made a beeline to the Circle K for a hot drink and noticed a train moving slowly across the highway.

“They haven’t stopped all night,” the Clerk told me as she saw me looking out the door.

“Trains weren’t rolling on the holidays and got backed up,” I surmised.

Even I was too much of a wuss to sit on a bench and watch trains even though the temperatures were mild in the fifties.  These creaking old bones were cold tonight.

A moment ago, I was sitting in Circle K’s parking lot savoring the large hot chocolate that I bought as my car’s heater was on full blast. I was just then finally getting warm 30 minutes after leaving my sauna like house. That paper cup of hot chocolate felt wonderful in my hands.

Photo Credit:  http://kelloggbloggin.blogspot.com/2006_12_01_archive.html

photo credit:  http://www.b937.com/pages/5707526.php

Expedited Processes…

The phone woke me at 6pm sharp. The phone shrilly ringed as Maggie jumped off the bed and ran to the phone as if it were for her.  A ringing phone often coincides with a visit from a  family member.

“I’ll pick you up in 10 minutes,” my father said. “We’ll get us another drink and you can take your medications.”

Well, this was very fortuitous although I was still very, very half asleep.

“The Auburn basketball game starts at 8pm so I’ve got to hurry to get to the coliseum,” dad told me as we drove down the narrow streets to the Circle K.

He gave me two dollars and I walked in and got us two drinks and walked back outside.

“What’s wrong with you?” my father asked. “You are acting like a zombie. Have you been taking something?”

“I just was abruptly woken up!” I exclaimed completely exasperated. “I had ten whole minutes to get dressed and to get to your car after being completely sound asleep!”

Definitely 0 to 100 mph in ten minutes…

Dad chuckled when he told me that I was just like my mother.  I took it as a compliment. If it wasn’t for my mother, I wouldn’t have had a turkey day dinner last night or those scrumptious chocolate chip and walnut cookies. Mom even managed to get to me a big slice of Georgia pecan pie.

The Androgynous One…

You might have remembered me talk awhile back about a clerk at Circle K that was androgynous – you couldn’t tell if they were a man or a woman.  We had a new clerk tonight and she/he was even more androgynous.  He/She sported a short man’s bowl haircut and was so rotund I couldn’t tell if he/she had breasts or was just overweight and had man boobs.  

Yes, I drove back down there and got my second drink of the night. I’m smitten with the stuff – crack in a cup.  “It’s the ginseng and elderberry,” I keep telling myself.

“See you later,” I told the androgynous one as I placed my change on the counter.  

I saw him/her leave the store to start sweeping the parking lot. The Police were starting to arrive to gas up their patrol cars for the first shift as well.

20 fl. oz. Citrus energy flavor with other natural flavors. Vitamin C. Ginseng. Guarana. Taurine. 250 calories per bottle. Caffeine Content: 77 mg/20 fl oz. www.sobe.com. Recycle the lizard. Contains 3% juice. Very low sodium, 35 mg or less per 240 ml (8 fl oz). Herbal Extract Content per Bottle: Ginseng 50 mg, guarana 50 mg, taurine 28 mg. Product questions? Call 1-800-588-0548 or visit www.sobe.com.

Collegiate Football Frenzy…

Today is the much vaunted and ballyhooed Alabama vs. Auburn game – the biggest game of the year for my father and brother. Whomever wins this game has bragging rights for the rest of the year.  The game starts at 3:30pm eastern time.  It will be interesting how my father handles medications once again.  I am praying Charlie brings them before taking Horsefly to the movies.  That will be around 4:00pm and just perfect. I can catch a nap after the medications take effect in an hour.  I will then be set for the night.

Baby Tortoises Show Up In The Galapagos For The First Time In Over A Century…

You may think 2015 has been full of gloom and doom, but there is plenty of good news out there if you know where to look. It includes the wonderful news that baby tortoises have been spotted for the first time in over 100 years in the Galapagos.

There hadn't been one single baby tortoise sighting in more than a century on the Galapagos Island of Pinzon, until a small group of the tiny, shelled youngsters were spotted this year.

The recent births are helping to pull the critically endangered animals back from the brink of extinction after they were nearly laid to waste as a result of human activity.

http://www.earthables.com/baby-tortoises-1466581203.html

The Cookie Monster in Me…

They Brought Me A Big Bag of Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies!

That thrilled me to no end! My cousin Jean’s chocolate chips cookies are some of the best I have ever eaten.

Change of Venue…

“Let’s go get us a cold drink!” my father exclaimed after the medication ritual and Maggie’s ritual. “I am dying for a big ass Diet Coke with ice!”

“Awesome!” I replied as we left my house for dad’s warm Honda out at the road. 

Dad handed me a $1 and 52¢ – the correct change to buy the two drinks.  We pulled into Circle K’s parking lot and a fellow was aggressively hawking his latest rap CD.

“No thanks!” I said to him with a smile.

“But good luck in your efforts!” I added encouragingly!

I fixed dad a 32oz. Diet Coke with just a little over half full with ice as he requested and I got my tasty SoBe Citrus drink I am so enamored with at the moment. Dad and I both agreed it was a good ending to a Thanksgiving day.

“It is the little things in life that can be the most pleasurable,” my father told me before driving away.

I had to agree with him as I took a bug slurp of delicious SoBe and headed inside out of the cold.

Thanks Goes Out to You Dear Mom…

When I got inside good and situated, I made a point of calling my mother and telling her thanks for being so diligent about getting me a plateful of wonderful Thanksgiving fixins.  Dad said she was obsessed that I got a good meal on thanksgiving day.  My father would be aloof about such matters.  I have more food that I could ever eat at one sitting.

Photo Credit:  https://www.zagat.com/b/miami/5-ways-to-celebrate-chocolate-chip-cookie-day

Photo Credit: http://linpepco.com/products/

Banner Credit: http://www.humormatters.com/holidays/Thanksgiving/beingthankful.htm

A Place to Call Home and a Place to Not Be Alone…

I awoke at 6pm which gave me about 10 hours of sleep. That was so nice! I am feeling my oats this evening – bright eyed and bushy tailed as my grandmother would always say.  Maggie was cold and I had never had her get so close to me.  That was my cue to turn the heat up from 72° degrees to 78° degrees. It was rather chilly in here. We’re comfortable and quite warm at the moment.

You know? It is easier to dwell on what you don’t have than to dwell on what you do.  I choose to dwell on the good things in my life, crazy and all.  Mom called me hours ago and said she was making sure I got a plate of my sister-in-law’s cooking.  Dad was joking about my mother’s tenacity about the whole affair.  It is getting pretty late here and I do hope they come soon.  They will get here.  I just have to give them time.  My mother will make sure of that. Patience grasshopper.

Maggie got the rest of my beef and cabbage soup with a 500mg capsule of amoxicillin mixed in. I held my breath as she lapped up the last bowl.  I do so want to get her well. My father said if this doesn’t work then we will take her once again to see Dr. Thomas and we will do whatever it takes to get her healthy.  That was a big sigh of relief for me and a great moment of thanks.

Update: Halleluiah!!! I am starving! My father and family is driving through Huguley now which is minutes from home and he will be here in about an hour (9:00pm).  He has to take his cousins back to his house, get them settled, and get his Honda which has the medications in it.    

Banner Credit:  http://www.mapsofworld.com/newsletter/19-november-2010/

Banner Credit: http://www.humormatters.com/holidays/Thanksgiving/beingthankful.htm

Happy Thanksgiving…

photo credit:   http://imgozcom.blogspot.com/2015/11/happy-thanksgiving-day-2015.html

Slam Some Cheese On Texas Toast in that There Contraption…

I am on the downhill slope to bed I think.  It is almost 4:30am and I am getting very sleepy as the morning progresses.  I feel so much, much better staying up at night and sleeping in the day, though.  I just know it has something to do with the levels of my medications in my bloodstream.  It is a shame I can’t take just my medications in the morning. I know we’ve all talked about this before so I will refrain from rehashing too much.  It just can’t be done unless my father allows me complete control of my medications and I don’t see that happening soon.   He’s is so afraid I will take all the Klonopin out of my med pack and get drunk or not take them at all. The feel good police are rabid, militant, and rampant around here. Dad will also tell me he can’t live with me or my mother un-medicated.

Happy SoBe to You Too… 

Before breakfast, I took a long cat nap – no telling how long I was out for that one.  I bet I slept for about two hours. I woke up dazed, rubbing my eyes, and Maggie was snoring on the couch. I headed out this much warmer morning (49° degrees) to go get my SoBe citrus drink. Circle K was deserted as usual.  I put my 76¢ in change on the counter after telling the clerk Happy Thanksgiving and drove home.

Surreptitious is the Name of the Game…

I just fixed the Magster and I a pretty decent breakfast. The Texas cheese toast came out perfect if not a little too done, but I like it to get brown and bubbly.  It was accompanied with scrambled eggs and some excellent buttery grits.  Maggie got some plain grits and eggs with her antibiotic surreptitiously added in. I always sigh with relief when she eats it all with that antibiotic mixed in.

Dear Andromeda…

I was pondering the above photo a moment ago.  We live in a vast universe.  That is the Andromeda galaxy – the closest true galaxy to our own if you don’t count the large and small maggellanic clouds that circle our galaxy.  All the stars you see in that photo are in our galaxy.  You can actually see Andromeda with the naked eye on a dark night.  It is very faint, though, and you have to know where to look or you will miss it. 

Pork Cracklin’ Corn Bread…

I haven’t eaten cornbread with pork cracklings for years.  I am going to give this recipe a try and I will let you know how it turns out.  

Ingredients --

1/4 cup butter or margarine

2 cups self-rising cornmeal

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 1/2 cups buttermilk

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup cracklings*

 

Preparation

Place butter in a 9-inch cast-iron skillet, and heat in a 425° oven 4 minutes. Combine cornmeal and flour in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture.  Stir together buttermilk, eggs, and cracklings; add to dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened. Pour over melted butter in hot skillet.  Bake at 425° for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.

*1 cup cooked, crumbled bacon (12 to 15 slices) may be substituted for cracklings.

Not Far Off the Mark–9:38pm…

Well, I was pretty right about my father’s arrival much to my own chagrin.  He just has left after the medication ritual and Maggie's ritual.  I knew it would be at least 9pm. He was jovial and happy and that is a good thing and what matters the most I guess. I think we had a few glasses of wine tonight.

I kept hoping he would bring me an exquisite to-go steak from The Hunter’s Pub as he has often done in the past, but alas, he didn’t tonight only to very mild disappointment. You can’t expect to squeeze blood out of every turnip every time.  They do have some extremely scrumptious steaks, though.

It will be beef and cabbage soup once again tonight.  I am going to cook a big pan of crunchy on the edges cornbread using the last of my Bavarian style buttermilk. The oven will be at 500° degrees and that oil has got to be smokin’ in the pan before I pour in the batter.

No worries, though, about turkey day.  Mom is bringing me a big plate of food from my brother’s house tomorrow and Charlie is bringing a plate of Janice’s Thanksgiving vittles as well late in the afternoon.

Photo Credit:  http://fairwaypacking.com/dry-aged-beef-37/28-day-dry-aged-usda-prime-ribeye.html

I Love to Window Shop…

Logitech Z623 200 Watt 2.1 Speaker System, THX-Certified

This less expensive and smaller speaker system is going on the computer in my bedroom.   I have $200 to spend for my birthday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

You Know Your Beauty Shines Within…

That goes out to all the women I’ve loved and lost…

Well, the holidays are here and that can make it hard on us mentally addled and introverted folk, and quite awkward as well I might add.

“I would invite you to your brother’s house for Thanksgiving, but there will be a lot a drinking going on,” my father told me the other night.

To be honest, I really didn’t want to go so it let me off the hook.  Too much social mingling for me for one day and they will literally have a bar set up for drinks. A few shots of tequila or whiskey might tempt me.  That would open up Pandora’s box as far as I am concerned.

Tonight, Dad’s taking some of his cousins out to eat.  I tried to get him to bring my medications on the way to the restaurant. My mother was getting aggravated at my father’s nonchalant attitude about it all.

“Oh, we won’t be that long,” he said to me at 6pm which are usually his famous last words. “I’ll try to come as soon as I can.”

Translated, that meant he will probably be here around 10pm tonight.  I have no control of these things so I try not to let them worry me.  It is almost 8pm and I feel okay as far as withdrawal is concerned.  Mom wanted him to turn around and come by my house.  No can do, Martha!

Beef and Cabbage Soup…

I’ve been experimenting in the kitchen this early morning.  I decided to make a thick and hearty soup out of the ingredients I had on hand for making beef chow mein.  I browned the ground chuck, drained the grease, and poured in an ample amount of water. I then chopped up the cabbage when the soup had come to a bubbling boil. I added some seasonings such as garlic powder, onion power, salt and pepper.  I just ate a bowl and it is very delicious if I do say so myself. The beef is oh so very tender.  It also stretched out the recipe giving me an extra day of food I do believe. 

Crack in a Can…

Crack = La Choy crunchy chow mein noodles.  If I am not careful, I will eat a whole can in a few hours.  I love to snack on those things and to think, they’ve improved the recipe.

I Just Be Taken a Nap, Occifer!

I caught myself dosing off a few hours ago.  I must've fallen asleep for an hour or more in my Laz-E-Boy.  This is pretty common for me to take a nap around 3am.  I woke up kind of disoriented in my darkened den as I looked at the clock. It was almost 4:30am.  Maggie was sleeping on the couch next to me.  Now she is pestering me for something to eat – wanting some soup I surmise.

Thou Shalt Not Be Denied the Drink…

Crazy foolish me was just got out in 35° weather to go get my SoBe citrus drink.  I thought my car would never warm up.  I was paranoid that it was going to get stolen by some ne'er-do-well passerby as it warmed up in my driveway.  It finally started to get warm as I pulled into the convenience store’s parking lot.  I prepared my citrusy drink, gave the clerk 76¢ cents, and headed back home to enjoy my drink.

Photo Credit:  http://www.walmart.com/ip/La-Choy-Chow-Mein-Noodles-5-Oz/10292193

Happy, Happy Hump Day!

Photo Credit:  http://gangsterchoppers.blogspot.com/2011/12/happy-hump-day_28.html

Dad’s Duties Are Seldom Done…

It was a whiz-bang medication ritual tonight. It was reminiscent of Charlie handling the medication ritual. Medications fast……….

“Your obsessive compulsive mother, the secretary, has called me three times about buying our groceries tonight,” my father told me as he handed me my literal handful of medications. “And I had to work 10 hours today!  You’d think she would show some consideration for that.”

I was just extremely overjoyed to see my father tonight as I was feeling some withdrawal from my medications. Nothing terrible, but It felt uncomfortable. I know not to call for status updates as that gets my father aggravated.  Dad will say I am acting like my mother.

Dad and I then fed and watered Maggie.  Maggie has really been feeling her oats all afternoon – ever since I woke up.  She didn’t sleep all day like she normally does. While we were feeding her she must of went in and out of the dog door three times barking at the denizens of the night to show who is boss.  Then she would stick her head inside to see what we were doing.

“I really love it when she does that,” dad said laughing heartily as Maggie stuck her head in one more time. “She doesn't want to miss anything.”

“I know,” I replied. “I’ve got to get a photo or video of her doing that. It’s hilarious.”

The last of the process of Maggie’s feeding ritual is to bring her food dish into the den with me and then she will eat it.  She will drive me crazy until I do that. It is kind of like my having  to watch television as I eat dinner.

Great Salutations Charlie!!!

Charlie swung by my house on his way home from work late this evening. He really is one of the kindest souls I have ever met.  He had brought me supper.

“Here is a Zaxby’s chicken sampler plate and here is the biggest Coke they sell,” he told me setting everything down on top of my entertainment center. “I got them to hold the ice on the Coke just like you like it.”

The sampler plate had hot wings, celery and chicken tenders. There was also some of the best crispy french fries I’ve eaten in a long time and some buttered Texas toast. 

“Your den looks so much better with that rug removed,” Charlie then told me and Charlie doesn’t give compliments lightly or frivolously.  “We’ll get it cleaned and you can put it back down.”

Charlie was then headed home to get Horsefly and take him to get his nightly KFC chicken tender plate. Charlie’s wife always makes sure Horsefly has his bath, dressed, hair combed, and is ready to go.

Photo Credit:  http://www.yelp.com/biz/zaxbys-antioch

In the Name of the Magster…

---

I awoke about 4:30pm this afternoon and couldn’t go back to sleep. I actually got 10 hours of sleep so it was no big deal. I called the veterinarian to see if they would give me some antibiotics to give to Maggie.

“We will call you when they are ready to pick up,” the receptionist told me.

I made sure the medicine was in capsule form so I could sprinkle it on Maggie’s food.

I came home after they called me and mixed an open capsule of amoxicillin in with a small paper bowl of chow mein and Maggie gobbled it right up. Maggie was none the wiser.  She has the most persistent ear infection I have ever encountered in all the pets we have owned.  I was trying to medicate it with Q-tips and hydrogen peroxide and that just wasn’t working.  We had to bring out the big guns. 

Photo Credit:  http://www.barakat-pharma.com/index.php?page=products&op=display_product_details&prod_id=199&page_num=1

I Smell Something Good! Is that Coffee in the Kitchen?

Lot’s of good things are brewing this early morning.  I drove down to Wal-Mart and this Hamilton Beach 2-Way Brewer was on sell for $49.99 – 10% off its regular price.  I am sure my father may bitch about the charge or he may not.  Dad is such a wildcard.  I thought it was a fantastic deal.  I charged that out of my inheritance money account.

My favorite coffee is Maxwell House so I picked up some of that, and then went shopping for breakfast foods.  I bought ample amounts of my favorite kinds of sausage and bacon. I then bought 4 cartons of ex-large eggs.  My last 2 items were cheddar cheese and frozen biscuits (dad’s mom is rolling in her grave). Those all got debited out of my disability money account.

There was one older woman behind me in line for checkout and she sighed very ostentatiously loudly and brusquely when I told the cashier there were two separate charges.  I gave that old woman the glare of doom and demise and quickly checked out with the clerk’s help. It took ten minutes at the most for me to be headed out the door.

The Witching Hour…

---

About midnight, I got in the kitchen and cooked a batch of mom’s Beef Chow Mein.  It turned out perfect and I wrote down the recipe so I wouldn’t forget it.  I like much more soy sauce in mine than what my mother’s recipe called for. 

My recipe also calls for an extra half of the cabbage mom uses.  You get more bang for your buck so to speak and cabbage is a lot cheaper than ground chuck. It works out really good if you’re a cabbage lover like me. 

Helen would serve her cabbage steamed until wilted with a hot pepper sauce poured on top.

Photo Credit: http://www.deepsouthdish.com/2009/11/stir-fried-cabbage-with-ground-beef.html#axzz3sPJHzWih

Someone Call the Chef! Chef Boyardee!

Oh god, I don’t think I could ever stomach another can of Chef Boyardee after that week I bought a case of the stuff! It makes me cringe just to think about it.

Well, I spent $49 measly dollars tonight at Kroger.  I think that is the least amount of groceries I have ever bought moneywise to my memory.  To be really honest, I was just very tired, very cold, and wanted to come back home in my nice warm house with the Magster and get on one of my computers.  It is 36° chilly degrees outside right now – a damp kind of bone chilling cold.  Right now? I am so excited about drinking my two Mountain Dew sodas for the week.

What I bought…

• 2 20oz Mountain Dew sodas
• 2 gallons of whole milk
• 2 value-packs of unfrosted strawberry Pop-tarts
• 3 very large heads of cabbage
• 2 large packs of $13 ground chuck
• 1 loaf of cheap $1 Kroger sandwich bread
• 1 large bottle of Kikkoman soy sauce

I now realize I completely forgot to get breakfast foods and that is one of the most major reasons my tally was so very low.  That is usually my biggest meal of the day.  I didn’t get any eggs, frozen biscuits, cheddar cheese, or bacon. Boy, am I going to miss those tomorrow night.  We might just make an early morning after midnight dash to Wal-Mart for breakfast foods. I also want to look at the different coffee maker’s Wal-Mart sells and their costs.

Photo Credit:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/southernbreeze/9137682405

Photo Credit #2: Wal-Mart

Just a Few Stragglers in the Rear…

9pm rolled around last night and Papa and Charlie had still not arrived.  This kind of stuff drives my mother and I bat shit crazy – the haphazardness of all this frazzles our brains. We need orderly and predictable living environs and engagements. My father wasn’t answering his cellphone either which I found aggravatingly odd.  I was standing in the kitchen eating oatmeal and raisin cookies and drinking a large and cold glass of milk when Maggie alerted me to their arrival.   

“Hey y’all!” I said at my screen door with a mouthful of milky cookies.  “Where in the hell have you two been at?”

Maggie was barking so loudly you almost couldn't hear my father’s or Charlie’s reply. All the neighborhood dogs started to bark as well at Maggie’s prompt which my father enjoys hearing.

Charlie is like me and we can’t resist eating something sweet and delicious.

“Are these from the deli in Kroger?” Charlie asked incredulously as he ate a couple of cookies.

“They are much more expensive in the deli, but don’t they taste so much better?” I told Charlie. “It was $3.99 for a container of oatmeal and raisin cookies.”

I left Charlie in the kitchen to join my father in my den for the medication ritual. 

The Grandness of Grocery Day…

---

I know I am a terrible broken record as far as my cooking is concerned.  I am once again going to get enough ingredients to make my mother’s beef chow mein for four meals which will entail four heads of cabbage and two pounds of ground chuck.  I also need to make sure to get another bottle of soy sauce as I am almost out and also some chow mein noodles as well.

In more broken record fashion, I am once again getting my two large boxes of unfrosted strawberry Pop-tarts.  Two gallons of milk, of course, will accompany my Pop-tarts.

photo credit:    http://www.simmworksfamily.com/oatmeal-butterscotch-chocolate-chip-cookies-recipe/

photo credit:  https://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=11230

Unexplained Phenomena…

I don’t know what got into me, but I felt this sudden urge to clean the house and clean I did. This urge to clean doesn't happen very often so I had to do a little carpe diem or more like seize the moment.   I cleaned every room of my house except the spare bathroom.  The monster to tame was my bathroom.  I donned latex gloves, grabbed a scrub brush, Comet, and Formula 409, and went to work.

Full Figured and Fabulous…

I was looking for pictures of a French maid costume and found this gem to the right.  I think the pressures on women to be waif thin are unrealistic and this should be a normal weight for a woman.  So go ahead and eat the cheeseburger.  I don’t mind one iota.

Photo Credit:  http://www.comicvine.com/profile/french_maid/

Make Mine a Café Mocha…

I am new to these fancy Italian coffees and my intrigue has gotten the best of me. We don’t have a Starbucks, internet cafes, or anything similar to those in our little town.  

I think the title means you are getting a chocolate flavored coffee.  Isn’t an espresso an extremely concentrated form of coffee?  I’ve been sampling some of the coffee machine offerings only offered in our local convenience stores.  So far, my favorite is a cappuccino if I am using the term correctly.  I can see how people can get addicted to these drinks.  They are great hand warmers as well.

My grandmother just couldn’t start her day without a several cups of percolated breakfast coffee.  The brand she loved best was Eight O'clock.  You ground the coffee yourself in the store with a grinding machine which usually resided by the coffee beans.  She also enjoyed her coffee with sweetened evaporated milk for which I could never really develop a taste for.

Ah, I just found this chart online to be immensely helpful. I always tell people online to “Google it” when they need an question answered.  I should practice what I preach. I assume these drinks should have sugar as one of the ingredients.

Photo Credit: http://eocfoodservice.com/

Not Firing On All Cylinders…

Is your V8 running like a V6?  Oh, I am barely going this afternoon – not firing on all cylinders at all. I better check my sparkplugs or my distributor cap.  I didn’t get in the bed until almost 9am and my circadian clock decided to wake me at 3pm.  It’s that eyes burning kind of tired feeling.

Well, tonight is Sunday night fried chicken around here as you all may well know.  Charlie just has called me and asked me what I wanted.

“Charlie?” I said, “Get me the 3pc original recipe meal and substitute two orders of potato wedges instead of the traditional slaw and mashed potatoes.”

Charlie told me that my mother is once again getting a Whopper and fries as she normally does.  Whoppers are such mediocre and sloppy burgers more lettuce than anything.  Dad and Charlie want the Popeye's shrimp tackle boxes, and horsefly will have to eat his ubiquitous chicken tender dinner that he eats every night.

My ideal meal is a two large roast beef sandwiches from Arby’s with a large curly fries.  Alas, my father has long ago deemed Arby’s too expensive.  I wish I had a working printer to print out the coupon below.

Photo Credit:  http://www.brandeating.com/2013/09/news-new-kfc-go-cups-easier-to-eat-in-car.html

Photo Credit #2:  https://www.dealsplus.com/arbys-coupons/3077472p

Maggie? Did You Just Hear That?

Another car just passed us by.  It is almost time for Sunday morning breakfast biscuits via the Charles meister.  Maggie has looked out the window for every car that has driven by our humble abode hoping it is Charlie. She’s whining right now as I write this.  I made the mistake of mentioning his name.  I will be glad to see the old codger myself.   My stomach is grumbling in protest as I write this. 

I am going to ask Charlie why he is not in church on this fine glorious morning god hath made.  He will probably fling a few choice explicatives my way Grinch style. The only time you will catch Charlie in church is either a wedding or a funeral and let’s hope neither one of those comes to fruition anytime soon.

Update:  Charlie arrived just after 8.00am this morning.  He was very early. On the menu where bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits,  McDonald’s hash browns, and a large orange juice.