a99kitten's Musings

I’m not even really a fan of jerky to be honest. I was looking at the jerky to buy some for Storm (yes, he gets human grade jerky which is probably not so different from dog grade jerky in reality) and saw this packaging which caught my eye. Husband likes chipotle-flavored anything so I bought some of that and grabbed some chili lime too.

Just opened and tried the chili lime before my hike. It’s delicious!!! Now I need to buy more flavors for sure.

Seriously – try it! (and use my AMZN link above so I get credit and buy more dog treats from them for Storm ;) )

But you can also order directly from them if you can’t find it locally. They are based in Sonoma so a local company for me which I like. And no nitrates, healthy, blah blah which is always good!

http://www.kravejerky.com/brand.htm

I tried looking through pictures of Angelus tonight and I still can’t. Not without crying. I miss him so much. His husky smile. And the smiles he brought me every day.

I try not to talk to people about it as people don’t want to deal with upset or sadness that isn’t their own. I understand this. Completely. Me = not emo. So I try and stay busy and make myself stay out of my head. But sometimes it’s just hard. I think it’s hardest when I’m tired. And ever since I lost him I just don’t sleep very well. The first week I took NyQuil every night to knock me out. Me = completely anti-drug. That’s healthy. So after 6 nights I said, that’s enough. Suck it up.  Got back on my B12. And a glass of wine in the evening some nights. But I still wake up many, many times during the night. So by evening time, I am simply tired. And then get sometimes get very sad.

People say you get over it. Things get better. Get a new dog. I actually don’t believe any of that. Maybe I’ll cry less. But when people’s kids die, do they just move on? Do they just have another kid to get over it? No.

Mother’s Day is Sunday. I lost my own mom a few years back. Lost my little brother in November 2010 who I was kind of a Mom too after we lost ours. And now Angelus. I don’t have human children. Angelus and Storm were/are my kids. And they got/get more love and attention from me than a lot of people’s human children. I’m a pretty darn good mom (unlike that pathetic psycho loser on the Time mag cover. Gah.)

I’m not sure how you get over this loss. Maybe you just get used to it. But you don’t get over it. You just don’t. I am not a Kennedy fan (fascinating family to read about however) but Rose Kennedy said:

“It has been said, ‘time heals all wounds.’ I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, (protecting its sanity), covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens. But, it is never gone.”

She would know.

No truer words.

I was going to write a blog post about how ridiculous it is that the President of the United States comes out to support something he was previously against solely for votes. And magically his supporters love him for it and knew their great leader just needed to see the light. Because if you think he changed any mind all of a sudden, or that his opinion “evolved”, there are some bridges for sale. This was a campaign move.

But then I remembered that the whole reason they (politicians and their teams) do things like this is to steer people away from questioning the REAL issues our government, and especially our leader, should be spending their time and efforts on.

I don’t cast my vote for President based on what religion the candidate is, what their view on abortion is, or gay rights, women’s’ issues, minority issues,  or any other social issues.

What I want to hear is how he (or she) will keep our country safe, keep the borders secure and support America to allow her citizens to prosper. Not start class warfare to help their reelection campaign or pick and choose social issues to pad votes.

But my guess is the media will suck on this morsel for a awhile and people will applaud it as “Presidential” and, for awhile at least, take mainstream focus off of the high unemployment, gajillion dollar deficit and continuing wars that we are funding and fighting.  And that is exactly what his team is hoping.

Yes, I am one of those annoying CA drivers with a personalized plate. Before I had my doggies, I had a plate that, because I am a bit naive sometimes, I thought was cute but later found out could be construed to mean something else. Doh. Oh well! As soon as I got Angelus, I changed my plate to…

Simple. It was even more self-explanatory on my previous car when the huskies would hang their heads out the windows as they had the entire back seat and back (Jeep Grand Cherokee.)

So last week I was at the beach about to load Storm in the car. Guy parked next to me asks “What does your license plate mean?” As I am about to pick up Storm, my SIBErian husky into the car.  I say it’s for Love. My. SIBErian Husky. He still looked confuzzled. OK….

Today, walking to the car with Storm (in same parking lot) and a guy asks me what a sibby (as he pronounced it) is. I say it’s SIBE (ya know – long IIIIII or even SYBE I suppose) for Siberian Husky.

He looked a bit confused. Is it that hard to get?

But then another guy sitting on the edge of his truck asks “Who Shot First?” I say “Han” without hesitation. He cracks up laughing and says “you are awesome – no hesitation whatsoever.” I add “There should never even be a discussion.” He keeps chuckling as Storm and I pull away in our Falcon. At least the plate frame is translatable.

You meet some interesting people at the beach…

Found these recipes via Gojee. They sent out an email with their top Cinco de Mayo recipes and these 2 sounded yummy. I changed them to fit my tastes as I always do so click through to see the actual recipes by the people who deserve the credit!

Tilapia with Corn Salsa:

3 tbsp. unsalted butter
3 tilapia filets
1 tsp. sea salt
Pepper
Chili Powder

1 tbsp. olive oil
1 cup drained canned yellow corn
1/2 red onion – chopped in large chunks
1 jalapeno, finely minced
3/4 cup fresh mint leaves. roughly chopped
juice of 2 limes (about 1/4 cup)

Place the red onion, jalapeno, mint leaves and lime juice in a bowl. Set aside.

Rinse and pat dry filets. Sprinkle both sides of the filets with sea salt, pepper and chili powder.

Set a large skillet over medium heat. Once it’s hot, add the olive oil and the corn kernels. Cook for 5 minutes, or until the corn is just tender. Leave the heat on while you transfer the corn to the bowl with the other salsa ingredients and give everything a big stir.

Return the pan to the heat and melt the butter. Add the filets and half-cover the skillet, allowing some steam to circulate and some to escape. Cook the fish for 3-4 minutes, then carefully and gently flip the filets. Add the bowl of salsa ingredients and cook with the fish for an additional 3-4 minutes or until it’s just cooked through at the thickest part. Remove fish to a serving plate or plates and top with the corn salsa. I picked the giant hunks of onion out as I HATE onions but thought it might add to the flavor!

I won’t any awards for presentation but hey -this isn’t a restaurant :) If you check the original recipe, you can see I did change things so up to you which you want to try. But my way was **extremely** delicious :)

http://www.gojee.com/food/links/snapper-with-corn-salsa

Served the fish with this corn:

Cuban/Mexican Grilled Corn

Grated cotija cheese (If you can’t find it, substitute with grated Queso Fresco or Italian Parmesan or Greek feta)
Light Mayonnaise (I bet non-fat would work too but no good reason for full fat!)
Cayenne pepper or chili powder
Lime wedges

There are many methods of grilling corn and you may already have a favorite technique. For this recipe, we peeled off entire husks and wrapped in foil. Normally I’d soak the corn first and brush with olive oil and spices but I wanted to try a more charred version and not change the flavors of this recipe so did not do that this time. You grill for about 10-15 minutes depending how hot you’ve gotten your grill. Just watch it.

Brush on a light layer of mayo. Sprinkle desired amounts of cotija cheese and cayenne chili powder. Serve with lime wedges. Husband did most the work on this since I do not man the grill so he gets credit although I did find the recipe and do all the prep work ;)

You will seriously never want other corn again :) Although I do want to try the jalapeno butter also found in the recipe on it as well!

http://www.gojee.com/food/links/cuban-mexican-grilled-corn

Just got back from Stormy’s 6 month ultrasound check. After he had 2 surgeries in two months to remove 2 tumors from his liver (and almost half his liver), 1 of which UC Davis said was benign but the University of Colorado said was a “well-defined carcinoma”, we were getting them monthly. Then after 6 months, every 2 months and then after last November, we moved it to a 6-month check. We took him off the chemo regimen he was on last July. So I was pretty stressed about this one. Especially after losing Angelus. But happy to report he is still tumor free :) Checked all of his innards. I go in with him so he has less stress so I got to see it all too. Apparently his innards are perfect even though it looks like black and white squigglies to me :)

At his last oncologist visit, all of the doctors and nurses came to see him as they couldn’t believe how great he was doing. And now all of the techs and a couple of the docs at his regular vet came over to see him. Our doctor said everyone likes to see the success stories.

Stormy has been through a lot. And he keeps going because he has a big heart and a lot of happiness still left to give :) I think tonight might be the first true reason to have a glass of bubbly to celebrate something in the past month. Maybe I will. But right now I am letting myself relax a bit. Woke up at 3am stressed and unable to sleep so it’s nice to feel some of the stress leaving my body….

Needed to put away Angelus’ bowls. Decided to put them in a lower kitchen cabinet that I never use so that I wouldn’t keep seeing them every day. Pulled out what I thought were empty boxes and found 4 bottles of Dom and Veuve. And a Tiffany coffee pot, serving platter and candle holders we received as wedding gifts and that I apparently put away eons ago. I’ll take all that to the new house. Will need to fill up on side of the wine cellar with good bubbly and Tiffany stuff should always be out and used.

Angelus still helping me find treasures. Of course, his treasures were gophers and chipmunks…

This is one of my new favorites. Made this for the 1st time on Friday and I LOVED it. Husband liked it – said the fish was delicious but he didn’t love the pineapple salsa. He doesn’t like the salty/sweet in same bite thing but I LOVE that (hello…popcorn and M&Ms at the movies!) so I am SO totally making this a lot this summer and he can just not eat the salsa (more for me!)

For pineapple salsa:
1 cup diced fresh pineapple
1/3 cup diced Roma tomatoes
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1 tbsp fresh lime juice

Combine ingredients in a medium bowl and refrigerate until ready.

Fish:
1/2 lb tilapia fillets (2 large fillets)
1 tbsp Canola oil
Flour or Wondra
Chili powder
Garlic powder
Salt and pepper
Fresh lime juice and wedges

Rinse and pat dry the fillets. Season them with salt, pepper, chili and garlic powders. Dredge in flour. I also toss a little of the seasoning in the flour.

In a large pan, heat the oil. When hot, saute the fillets for about 2 1/2 – 3 minutes per side – depending on the thickness. You want them to be golden. (mmm…gold…)

Remove from heat and drizzle with additional lime juice. Spoon the pineapple salsa over the fillets and serve with lime wedges. I served over jasmine rice. YUM. Seriously. YUM.

And takes pretty much no prep or cook time. And tilapia is generally easy to find so there is no reason to not eat this a LOT!

“Once again the earth is about to spin off its access when comic worlds collide….”

That was in the preview window of an article I saw as a I was scrolling through Facebook this AM.  An article on a pretty big entertainment news site. Written by a professional writer I imagine. Who apparently doesn’t preview his/her own stuff before pushing it live. Or simply doesn’t know the difference between access and axis. I’m hoping for the former.

For the amount of abuse people get on twitter for misusing its and it’s or your and you’re on what is basically a free, larger scale, non-professional, supposed to be fun(?) AIM chat session- you’d think professional writers would be more careful. Or that at least professional news sites would pay someone to check for these things before they push them live.

Thankfully, when you click through to the article it’s been fixed. And it is still not as bad as when people send in their resumes with such errors. Or on corporate websites. But for some reason, it just bugs the heck out of me when I see mistakes like that on anything that is supposed to be professional. So much “news”, so much is regurgitated on other sites, so many sites/outlets. So everyone is trying to be the fastest one to the punch. Or to hit SEND. Meh. There is a lack of quality control, or maybe just caring, that I find disturbing. Which of course is over-thinking a lot over this one silly mistake in an article that’s supposed to be fun anyway. But I do feel it is indicative of a larger scale issue that people simply don’t care as much about quality over quantity. Again…meh.

At the same time, I couldn’t care less when people misspell on twitter. Pretty sure half that blame goes to Apple and auto correct anyway :)

I love Margaret Thatcher so was excited for the film. I think Meryl Streep is one of the best actresses alive so was happy to see her in it. But I didn’t love the movie. Didn’t hate it. Worth watching. But I feel they treated her very superficially.

She was the single most powerful woman in modern politics (sorry Hillary – you lose. In a big way.) I think far more should have been shown in the movie about what drove her, what she felt, why she felt it.  She changed the course of Britain. They touched on it a bit but you could get that much from reading her wikipedia page. Instead we get her dealing with old ghosts. Literally.

It’s rather funny to watch her old speeches and to see what she was against and railing on is exactly what is destroying the EU today. And the US. Funny and sad…

Meryl Streep did a fine job of course. And there were lots of recognizable British actors: Giles from Buffy, Viserys (not looking freakish!) and Ser Jorah from Game of Thrones, Ann Boleyn’s Dad from The Tudors. But Colin Firth and The King’s Speech was a FAR more powerful movie. And of course Elizabeth. But when you throw in sword-fighting and knights, it’s not really fair now is it?