Try Something New?

I'm not the most adventurous eater. We decided to try something different today. The lady at The Seafood Shoppe in St Augustine Beach recommended Trigger fish. (This place is terrific. They're always friendly, everything is spotless & their seafood is always fresh - usually caught that day.) The filet looked appealing. The whole fish - Yikes - one ugly bugger with a captal UG. We like seafood, better than the usual landlubber fare, but after seeing the whole fish displayed in ice, I had my doubts. We took a shot at it anyway, but bought some Mahi, just in case.

Riding home from the store we debated about what to have with the ugly, don't know how it will taste, fish & stopped at another store to get some fresh vegetables and Deb's 'Vitamin Water'. Deb is a fantastic cook. She can flat out make anything. There have been times where we have gone out to dinner, liked what was served & 2 weeks later she has duplicated it at home. Me, I can barely get by making grilled cheese.

The trick with fish is to have a side dish that is light, like the fish. Deb decided on a modified rice pilaf. Modified because she added red beans, fresh tomato, scallions, & seasonings - like cayenne pepper & garlic salt. The fish was baked, covered with a very light dose of grated Romano, garlic, topped with freshly sliced tomatoes & shaved hot chile peppers & some seasoning. Now this is where I would screw it up - I assumed dinner would take at least an hour or more to prepare. I'm not much use in the kitchen, though I do help out with the clean up regularly, so I moved out to the porch to resume my writing. (It's going well today.) After checking my email I was all set to return to my WIP when I was summoned to the kitchen. Everything was ready in 10 minutes! (How does she do that? It takes me that long to make a PBJ!)

Well, lemme tellya - it was awesome. The fish was perfect, nice texture & taste, pure white. The rice (not normally a favorite of mine) was another show stopper, just enough spice to give it an interesting bite. I'll admit it here - I'm spoiled.

They say that in the water a Trigger fish is quite beautiful. I find that hard to believe but, on my plate, it looked like the prettiest fish ever. Thanks Deb!

A Guy Type Email

A friend of mine emailed this to me today. Sick, but true, most of it, anyway. I can actually be off the phone in less than 30 seconds (unless it's my mom) & a 3 pack of underwear is now $11.95.

Deb will love this one.....

MEN ARE NEVER DEPRESSED:
What do you expect from such simple creatures?

Your last name stays put. The garage is all yours. Wedding
plans take care of themselves. Chocolate is just
another snack. You can never be pregnant.
You can wear a white T-shirt toa water park. You
can wear NO shirt to a water park. Car mechanics tell
you the truth. The world is your urinal. You never have to drive
to another gas station restroom because this one is just too icky.
You don't have to stop and think of which way to
turn a nut on a bolt. Same work, more pay. Wrinkles add character.
Wedding dress $5000. Tux rental-$100. People
never stare at your chest when you're talking to them. New shoes
don't cut, blister, or mangle your feet. One mood
all the time. Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat.
You know stuff about tanks. A five-day vacation requires only one
suitcase. You can open all your own jars. You get extra credit for
the slightest act of thoughtfulness. If someone forgets to invite you,
he or she can still be your friend. Your underwear is $8.95 for a three-pack.
Three pairs of shoes are more than enough. You almost never have
strap problems in public. You are unable to see wrinkles in your clothes.
Everything on your face stays its original color. The same hairstyle lasts
for years, maybe decades.You only have to shave your face and neck.
You can play with toys all your life. One wallet and one pair of shoes--
one color for all seasons. You can wear shorts no matter how your legs
look. You can 'do' your nails with a pocket knife. You have freedom of
choice concerning growing a mustache. You can do Christmas shopping
for 25 relatives on December 24 in 25 minutes.

Kids???

Becky Ramsey has a funny post about fool-proof child care on her blog 'Wonders Never Cease'. I had to laugh as it brought back to memory a story my mom told me many times. In all honesty, I don't think she should have shared it since she describes her own pretty weird 'attempted' method of child care, naturally involving me. (Being the oldest - I musta been the guinea pig.)

Me n' Deb stopped at 2 kids. (We quit while we were ahead some would say.) That was perfect for us & everything turned out great. They're grown up, on their own & doing well in the world. Whew!! Some folks are better able to deal with big families. My hat's off to 'em. It takes lots of work.

Anyone considering adding 'littluns' to the thriving nest - think it through carefully. Times have changed!!! Not that it would be a bad thing.... but.... just think about it - Dat's all I'm sayin'.

Keep This In Mind

Look at the picture closely - then read the caption. I'm not sure where I got this little tidbit, but it has to be one of my favorites.

It's been my experience that those trying to prove they've got it together (when they don't), usually blow it by opening their mouths.

It's always better to solve problems without trying to stand out. Low key is the way to go & it's more efficient. When you're running your mouth - you're not engaging your brain.

BEARley Motivated

It's been a almost 2 weeks since I sat down & really did any writing. Hopefully that will change tonight. Seems like there's always something else to do or I just procrastinate & never get going. This weekend - we enjoyed the beach on Saturday - it was a perfect day - & yesterday just chilled out at home.

I'm going to make a real effort this week to get motivated & build some momentum.

JaxBel

Our grandkids (Jack & Isabel) live in Pennsylvania. Actually, our entire family lives in Pennsylvania. The little ones are growing up fast. Jack turns 5 in July & Belle will be 3 in less than a month. We're debating a trip north - but there's not that much to do up there. On top of that, our sons have their careers, so they can't just take time off because we're in town. That limits us to seeing our boys only on the weekend. It's a tough call - what to do. We miss the kids but it's an expensive trip that doesn't offer much bang for the buck. I guess we'll decide what to do soon. It's been a year since our last get together (down here). It would be more fun if they visited us. I'll suggest it today - maybe.

A Pissy Start To The Weekend

Never open emails from work after arriving home on Friday afternoons. Ever. There's no sense in it. I made that mistake today & ended up in a really pissy mood for about an hour or 2. Cost me the price of dinner at Amici's over on the island - a lame effort to get past my 'pissiness'. Then I was pissed that we spent so much $$$ on dinner. It was good but not $$$ THAT good. I did have fun teasin' Deb about eating poor defenseless calf meat (that would be Veal Marsala). She damn near got herself schnockered (maybe to escape my pissiness) - the beer was nice & cold & ... well, I better stop in case she reads this post.....

Me, I could pretty much do without meat altogether, prefering seafood or pasta over everything else. Despise green vegetables & I only like salad if it's cold & served on a chilled plate. There are some things that I'm just a pain in the ass about. Clean & neat, being organized, clean (again), my food, & uh ... my shoes.

I'm going out to get shoes this weekend. Deb WILL NOT go with me - she hates when I buy shoes. She says I'm too picky & whiney & it's the only time she sees me being totally indecisive & cranky. When I finally decide, after trying X # of pairs, I always complain after I get them home. The complaints usually subside after a couple of weeks - though I've been known to get rid of new shoes without ever wearin' them.

So for a quick wrap up heading to the weekend - I was pissy about a late day email, pissy that my salad wasn't cold, pissy that dinner was overpriced, & I can look forward to being pissy when I go get shoes. Oh well - guess it's male PMS.

(Does look like a nice beach weekend though....)