Meep's No Good, Horrible, Rotten, Terrible, Awful, Very Bad Day

Poor Meep!

And it all stems from her fatal attraction for drawers.

My sister brought over a coffee table for us to watch for her because it doesn't fit in her 600 sq ft apartment. It's very nice, and has one long drawer and two little drawers underneath. Well, I put in the little drawers first (the drawers had been removed for moving purposes), and Meep apparently crawled under the table to investigate the new drawers. I didn't see her get under there, and when I put the top drawer in we all heard a very unhappy cat noise. She had apparently gotten something mashed in the drawer (it remains unclear). Needless to say, she was traumatized and went and hid under the bed for an hour, and then pouted around the house.

After that, Matt's grandfather came over and we gave him a tour of the house, and even discussed how Meep likes to get in the drawers of our dresser. It came up because I was putting up a few t-shirts and Meep jumped in the drawer and crawled behind it. We went out to dinner, then I ran some errands, then Matt and I were playing our respective computer games that evening and realised that Meep wasn't running over the keyboards like usual. I thought she was just pouting some more, so I called for her, and looked under the bed and in the closet. As I walked back through the bedroom, I heard a very sad little "Meep!!" coming from the dresser! Oh no!!! I opened the drawers and out crawls a very sad little kitty. We're not quite sure when she got in there or how long she was there, but she was very happy to be out.

Poor kitty! From now on, we're going to have to make sure to find the cat before closing any drawers. Hopefully, she discovered that drawers aren't the most fun thing after all.

Thumb Update

So, my thumb has looked pretty much the same for the past 3 weeks, until today! Today after cleaning the kitchen, it turned that pasty white color and there was a giant crack in the middle and you could see the new skin underneath. Now various parts of it are cracking and peeling. I think my thumb is turning into a butterfly! Or at least a normal thumb again.

Also, here are the promised pictures, now that we have re-located the camera.

First, the most important room: the kitchen!

This side of the kitchen is all the storage. The cabinets are in pretty good condition, and note the dishwasher!

The wall to the right of the last picture has the fridge (it's cute, isn't it?) a closet for the water heater and our ancient stove that takes it's time boiling water. It's got one of those timers where you turn the little hand inside the clock with a stick on the outside. That's definitely one of the improvements I'd like to make on this house, although I am very glad that we have gas (appliances, of course!).

As you can see, there's really not a lot of counterspace (at all!), but today I came home and Matt surprised me by cutting a piece of wood to fit the top of a metal shelf we had. This is on the wall to the left of the stove, so it's a very convenient place for chopping.

Here is our rather cluttered dining room. The wood floor could use a refinishing, but I do like the corner built-in. There is a GIANT empty wall (not shown, it's the length of the room opposite of the window) that I don't quite know what to do with yet, though.

And here's me and Meep internetting together. She's such a sweety! When she's not standing on the keyboard that is.

The Star of Bethlehem...

If you've never seen the Star of Bethlehem Presentation by Frederick Larson, you need to see it. He will be presenting in in person at Rudder Auditorium here in College Station on December 4th and 18th. He'll be in Houston on Dec 3rd and 12th. Whether you're scientifically minded or not, this presentation will bring you to a new realization that God the Covenant Keeper is alive and real. Ever since having seen this for the first time, I've tried to watch it again every year, and it never fails to bring me to my knees in awe of our Masterful Redeemer. If you'd like a copy of the DVD version, please let me know. I plan to buy several because this is one of the most unavoidable presentations of the Gospel that I've ever heard. The documentary is very well made (it's anything but boring), his science is well validated by external sources, and his theology is beautifully impeccable. Watch the trailer here.

The Best Soup Ever!!

So I've been trying out new recipes from my Rachael Ray cookbook, and today discovered the best soup ever. Despite the bland name of "Creamy Broccoli Soup", it is anything but. I'd go on, but there really aren't words.

Rachael Ray's Creamy Broccoli Soup, paraphrased


4 (or 5) slices bacon
1 large yellow onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh thyme (or dried), chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
a couple of dashes of Tabasco-type hot sauce (or cayanne pepper)
2 10-boxes frozen chopped broccoli THAWED (tricky tricky)
1 quart (4 cups, or 2 cans) chicken stock or broth
1/2 cup heavy cream of half-and-half
3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives (or green onions)
zest and juice of 1 lemon

In a large soup pot, cook bacon until crispy, about 3 or 4 minutes. Remove and drain on towel. Poor off excess bacon grease, cuz lets face it, there's a LOT in there. Add onions, garlic, and thyme to the surviving bacon grease (if you're not from the South, trust me, you want some grease in there) and season with salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Cook, stirring frequently, until for 4 to 5 minutes or until the onions are tender. Add the broccoli and continue to cook until the broccoli is heated through, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the onions and broccoli to a blender or food processor with 1/2 cup chicken stock and puree until smooth. I know, it's messy, but sooo worth it. Return to soup pot and stir in remaining 3 1/2 cups of chicken stock and the cream, bring to a simmer, and cook for about 8 to 10 minutes. To finish the soup, add the lemon juice and zest (not a fan of zest, but the lemon juice makes a huge difference), stir to combine, and serve.

On top of ours, we put cheese (because broccoli soup should have cheddar, that's just the way it is), the bacon from the beginning chopped up, and the sliced green onion. It was beautiful and delicious. I ate way too much. This recipe supposedly serves 4, but Matt and I only got 2 and a half servings out of it. You could probably add salad and bread to stretch it out a little more. And the whole pot was only $5.46. I did get bacon for a dollar a pound, though, at the HEB. I might have to go back and get some more of that.

Enjoy!

The Thumb

Yup, here it is. I smashed it. The line on top is the part that got pinched, and the blob on bottom is where it bled under the skin. And this picture is a week and a half after the event. Didn't actually hurt very much. Not that I let that stop me from freaking out. The diagram below is (roughly) a sketch of the compactor. A weight falls and hits a metal disc which transfers the impact down the rod to another metal disc that smushes the dirt in the core (pvc pipe full of soil, labeled sample) to simulate years of being run over by golf carts. The weight is dropped 21 times to achieve a specific level of compaction. Unfortunately, it tends to double bounce, which would result in a slightly different level of compaction than if the weight only hit once on each drop. So, for the sake of scientific accuracy, it is "better" to catch the weight after the first bounce but before the second bounce. If you miss, however... well, you get the picture (harhar).




To clarify the kitty paw prints, the cast iron skillet right next to that pan had been freshly oiled, so the paw prints are oil prints. I promise my cookware is not dusty.



Boxes are getting unpacked and disappearing into the garage (and some are shoved into a closet, nevermind that...) but there is still quite a selection of miscellania in the dining room. I think we're going to have to buy some more shelves. It'll be great once it's done, but there's still a lot of clutter to go.

Oh, and this is actually posted by Helen, even though it says Matt below.

Update...

Well, a lot has happened since we posted last. Helen smashed her thumb (gross pictures later), we got internet (7 Mb!!!), I bought a paintball gun (oops, make that "marker"), oh yeah, and we moved into our very own house with our very own cat. Below, you can see Helen enjoying one of the many joys of home-ownership. We like to call it "who smudged this one?" You'll notice Meep's signatures in the pan on the shelf. Anyhow, we're finally online so you can talk to us again. Email, video mail, telephone, anything really. Well, that pretty much sums up the high-points, but Helen will surely go into greater detail. I will too, hopefully. Oh, that reminds me, pictures of my latest computer graphics projects will be up soon, so look for those. More later...