a99kitten's Musings

A good life lesson is to never, ever accept being second choice. Because you will always feel that way. People are selfish It’s hard not to be at some point in life. But the ones that go to extremes to show they are not, are the worst ones. Because any kind of victim mentality (oh look at me being so nice) is worse than ANYTHING. Hate those people. Puke. You will usually find they are the ones that stabbed you in the back.

Its why dogs/animals are the best. You just don’t have to wonder about them..their motives. People = not so much.

It’s also why having close friends/family is key. If you find people who you trust with more than your life – keep ’em. It’s such a rare find.

But sadly most people aren’t worth the effort.

This shoe is causing a Pavlovian response…

Christian-Louboutin-Satin-Crisscross-Slide

I only really need 1 kidney, right?

http://www.neimanmarcus.com/store/catalog/prod.jhtml?itemId=prod103020119&parentId=cat16680744&masterId=cat16650738&index=0&cmCat=cat000000cat000001cat000003cat16650738cat16680744

Last weekend I was going through my giant stack of non-cookbook recipes – torn out pages from magazines, printed from online sources, given to me, emailed to me, etc, etc. Plenty of them are yummy looking (obviously or I wouldn’t have kept them) but a lot of them are pasta ones or fatty-fatness ones that are no good for the beginning of bikini season!

I found one torn from a magazine that looked delicious. There is no notation printed on the page of where so I apologize to the original author of this as I can’t give credit.

Jalapeno Roast Chicken

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (packed) fresh oregano leaves
1 shallot
4 gloves of garlic
4 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 jalapeno pepper, stemmed and seeded
salt and pepper
1 5.5 lb whole roasting chicken
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup dry white wine

Now…this seemed an easy enough ingredient list. I kinda scanned the recipe too but went off the ingredient list when i went to the store. Mistake. I had half this stuff already and found the jalapeno, oregano and chicken. Nothing too hard to find. BUT…had I read the recipe thoroughly, I would have seen the need for kitchen string (wha?) I also needed a food processor and a roasting pan – I have those. But I also needed the rack for the roasting pan…doh. In Tahoe…Oh well. As it turned out, I think this allowed the chicken to suck in more moisture so was really genius on my part not to use the rack ;)

When I found the chicken at the meat counter, the outside of the packaging said “some of the giblets may not be contained inside” What do you mean by “some”? Because I want them all gone. Nada giblets. No such luck for me…

Also…had I read the recipe I would have seen the need for using my fingers to loosen the skin, but not detaching it, to spread the jalapeno paste I would be making. Ew.

Well..I had all the ingredients and I was standing in the kitchen ready to make it. So I would try this. If you cook a lot you are wondering why is any of this a big deal. Well…I can barely touch raw, boneless meat at all. I buy all of my chicken as skinless, boneless chicken breasts, all fish is filleted, all steaks are boneless and I eat nothing “weird.” If it looks like it was once living, I don’t want it. I’ll just eat rice….

So…I had to fish the giblets out of the chicken. Crap. I put on a new pair of dish-washing gloves and did it. I got grossed out and kinda wanted to cry. Yes, I’m a baby. Whatever. But it was done. Storm asked if he could help…

I can help...

Preparation:
1. preheat oven to 400. Place rack in center of oven.

2. combine the oregano, shallot (I cut up), garlic (I cut up), butter (cut in small pieces), olive oil, jalapeno (which I cut up), 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper in a food processor and mix to form a coarse paste.

3. pat the chicken dry and place, breast-side up, on a rack in a large roasting pan.

4. using your fingers, loosen the skin from the chicken breast, legs and thighs without detaching it. Spread half the jalapeno paste under the skin. (ick.)

5. tie chicken legs together with kitchen string (or not if you don’t have it..oops), then spread the remaining paste all over the outside of the chicken.

6. pour the chicken broth and white wine into roasting pan. (try not to drink the rest of wine as you cook ;) )

7. roast the chicken (basting with pan juices every 20 minutes and adding broth to the pan if it starts to dry out) for 1 hour and 30 minutes.

8. if there are juices in the pan, strain and pour over chicken.

I served with roasted asparagus, refried beans (if you use canned beans *Rosarito Spicy Jalapeno kind* you need to refry them yourself – not just warmed up from can in a pot or microwaved! EW! and mix in a bit of milk as you “fry” them so they are creamy but have the crisped outside as you cook them. trust me. mexican household secret from my in-laws) and warm corn tortillas that you cook with a SMALL touch of butter over a warm flat pan.

I’ve made homemade corn tortillas before and they SO much better than store bought. But did not do that today. Buy the Guerrero brand – best ones I have found unless you have access to fresh at a mexi-mart. me = not driving over the hill for tortillas….

The asparagus:
roll in olive oil so evenly covered
place on baking sheet
rub crushed garlic on the stalks
sprinkle with a dry cheese – shaved parmesan works best or mozzarella.
sprinkle with black pepper
Roast for 15 minutes at 450.

Was very, very delicious if I do say so myself (and husband agreed – huskies eat dead stuff found on the ground so their opinion is not as useful in this.) But then..I didn’t make it up or anything. I would make it again for sure. Although I would prefer if someone did the giblet removal in advance for me….thanks…

Out of the oven...

Further proof to me that if you can follow directions, you can cook. As long as you have a kitchen stocked with the basic tools. Maybe not create crazy dishes all on your own but eh – that’s why I pay a premium at restaurants when I go. And chefs are notoriously F’ed up so who needs that…

But here’s a hint…if someone just spent a couple hours of prep and cooking in the kitchen to make a nice dinner, do not complain that the carving knife set out to use isn’t the right one as you are given your one and only job of the meal. Because the carving knife can be used (and made to work even if not the “right” one) for other things…

And Storm appreciates the chicken he gets after waiting and smelling it cooking for so long :)

YUM! More?

Home after a 2.5 hour Angelus beachfest. He had a pretty darn good time! Played and played with lots of dogs we’d come across and it was super low tide so good tide pools to cool off in. Then went over to the harbor beach and ran and played chase off-leash with a 2 year old black lab. He seems like he *might* be a little tired. At least for now.

He got cheesed on his walk yesterday as post-op Storm couldn’t go very far and I had to keep an eye on him. Like a good big brother, he was patient…for a day :) This morning he said RUFF! We took Storm out too but he only wanted to go a couple blocks so we brought him back. I could tell Angelus seemed bummed thinking that was going to be the extent of his walk like yesterday.

But as soon as I just let Storm inside and kept him out, he knew we were going for fun! He got his spring back in his step :)

Took him to Surfer’s beach. It is gloriously sunny and warm and super low-tide. So he had lots of tide pools to cool off in and it was early enough that the beach wasn’t crowded with tourists yet.

We walked to the point where dogs are no longer allowed (they are not allowed on State beaches because CA is a stupid reactionary state) and met another doggie who LOVED playing with Angelus. Angelus was  on leash and the other doggie was off but they were having a good time!

I have let him off leash there before (technically it is leash-only but the harbor patrol don’t care if you have good control) but there are a lot of ways off the beach and up to the bluffs and Highway 1 and that freaks me out too much so I don’t do that anymore.

Plenty of people do let their dogs run off leash and I’m all for your dogs having a fun time and think the no dogs allowed rule on the other beaches is stupid. BUT – if your dog is agro with other dogs or doesn’t listen to you, then he should be on leash. Not a big deal. But I’ve had a few instances where aggressive dogs run up to Angelus and start crap with him. Angelus never starts a fight. But he doesn’t back down from any dog. Not ever. So if a dog comes up to barking and teeth bared, he will respond.

Generally, I will put myself in the way. And have stuck my arm into a few scuffles. But no one is hurting my dog. Anyway, today I saw this brown pointer running willy nilly all over the beach and you couldn’t see who was with him. No person was around in the general area. Then Angelus started playing with his dog friend and I was talking to his owner as we walked down the beach. Then I saw up ahead the brown pointer again and he was chasing and barking at a little dog who was on leash as his people tried to get away.

Then he came charging at Angelus. Angelus just stopped and waited. At first the other doggie just stopped and sniffed. But then as we started to walk away, he growled, bared his teeth and tried to bite Angelus! And then Angelus turned and growled and that started the scuffle that I grabbed the other dog and pushed him back.

Then I see the dog’s owner come up (who had been calling the dog for a good 10 minutes, with NO response, as he bothered the little dog and then Angelus – clearly the dog saw him as pack leader and listened well…)

He then has the nerve to say to me after his dog attacked my dog “well, if your dog wasn’t on leash, my dog wouldn’t have done that.” Ummm…what did you just say? Yes – you are correct in that the leash creates anxiety. However, it’s usually the dog ON leash that has the anxiety and not the attacker!

And if this were a dog park where all dogs were off leash, or an off-leash dog beach, I could understand the annoyance of dealing with leashed dogs (I have it too).

BUT, to actually say out loud to someone whose dog was just attacked by your dog that it was basically their fault. When in fact the beach is technically leash mandatory anyway…wtf?

In my head I imagined a swift and hard kick to his man-parts. And then Angelus peeing on him as he writhed in pain on the ground. But luckily for him, I used my Jedi control and did not lead down the path to anger…(although really..sometimes it is justified.)

I tried to be calm. I said simply “well, this is technically a leash-only beach and my dog might take off up the beach.”

He says in response “well it’s not like he could go anywhere.” That was it.

I said “No, pal. This is a leash-only beach and I don’t care if your dog runs around having a good time but dogs shouldn’t be allowed off-leash if they don’t respect their owner/parent enough to listen when called. Or charge up to other dogs and bite them. Plus they can run up to the bluffs or Highway 1 at a number of spots. And considering your dog doesn’t listen to you AT ALL and was clear down at the other end of the beach with you nowhere in sight – you have nothing to say here except “I’m sorry”. It’s people like YOU that give dogs and dog owners a bad name and cause stupid laws to be enacted so we all can’t take our dogs places. Jackass.”

And Angelus and I walked away to go enjoy more tide pools and beach fun time…

So Storm had a black spot here which was about 2″ x 2″ big of dead/dying flesh. Underneath was healthy tissue but the black top layer had to go.

So they cut it out yesterday. Took a chunk of my puppy. And then sewed him up. He has stitches underneath the skin too.

Then last night he either chewed it (doesn’t look like it though) or snagged a stitch so it pulled. But not completely out. Just obviously  mucked with. Why it’s so red and enflamed today :(

He keeps these until 6/11. No beach or lake for him – boo.  What a frankenpuppy…although his knee surgery had way gnarlier (uh-oh used that word ;) ) stitches/staples/carnage…

I think he will be playing up the wounded soldier role for extra treats for days :)

Owie...

this was originally posted yesterday 5/27/10 but was somehow nuked from my blog. The text was luckily recovered so am re-posting since husky-related things must always be saved and treasured :)

Doc just called and Stormy is waking up after a small and successful surgery. Whew. I stress sooooo much when the buds have to have surgery/are put under general anesthesia. They have both had knee surgeries and foxtail removal (plus other stuff removed ;) ) so I’ve had plenty of occasions to stress. I think my cortisol levels go higher than Storm’s!

He had a “foreign body” in his side. I was able to extract a foxtail a couple weeks ago but it had actually gone into his skin, burrowed into his body and then I pulled out as it re-opened his skin. So the little bit that was left inside him was killing the tissue around it as his body tried to fight it. I HATE foxtails. They are noxious weeds that should be eradicated from the planet. So many dogs get them up their noses, in the ears, even in their eyes! And if you have a dog with a thick coat – it’s a nightmare in spring. Ugh.

But he came through with flying colors and with some stitches. Thankfully it was in an area that was already shaved from his ultra sound months ago so no shaving more fur!

Because of the lack of fur regrowth, I have been giving him a lot of B vits and fish oil along with their already oceanic diet. Angelus’ coat has been soooo soft. But Storm only has some peach fuzz growing in the shaved areas. So we tried some B12 injections today as well. They can only do them when the dog is under as they are a lot of deep injections. So I went for it. We should see results in a few weeks if it worked. Fingers and paws crossed.

AND the BEST thing! His ACTH Stim test (test to check his cortisol levels because of his Cushings) came back with excellent results! His levels should be at a 3-4 (if he had no Cushings that’s where they’d be) and they came back right around 4. Yay!! So the dosage of the medication he is getting now is right and we will stick with it. Whew. He will need to get these tests about once a quarter or so to monitor the levels but this is great news!

I get to pick him up in an hour or so. His doctor said, as Northern breeds tend to, he is howling a bit there but will probably be calmer once he gets home since he tends to complain when he is there and without his Mom :) And he gets pain meds for tonight and tomorrow (loads of stitches – they cut a hunk of flesh out of his poor little side!) She said if he starts to lick the area, he needs to wear “the cone” or suggested trying a small t-shirt. I promise pictures if he gets a t-shirt :) Man….he will be annoyed.

I promised him mcnuggets on the way home – this will make up for quite a lot! He wasn’t allowed any food since last night so he is withering away (his words.) And Angelus will be happy to see him. Angelus refused to eat the Greenie I gave him after dropping Storm off. He worries about his little brother when they are not together. He would probably deny that – but he does :) I’ll make sure to get enough mcnuggets to share…

as an update…they both inhaled their chicken mcnuggets :)

6:00am: Woke up
Did my stepper (indoor exercise)
Took the buds out (outdoor exercise)
Got ready
Went to work
Worked
2:00pm – used vacation hours for rest of day – left work.
Picked up dry cleaning
Stopped at Pet Club (words can’t describe how much I hate SoSF – never going to that Pet Club again.)
Got to vet – waited, went over stuff w/tech and then again w/doc (got sad as Storm was taken away)
Took Angelus home and gave him treat which he didn’t eat (sad about Storm – I got sad again)
Started laundry
Emptied dishwasher
Answered work email
Took care of Gypsy (yes, I have a cat too)
Filed away some paid bills, etc.
Changed out laundry
Spoke to vet (yay Storm is all a-ok!)
More work email
Blog about Storm
Packed for Tahoe
Put away Pet Club stuff
Put away dry cleaning
Folded/put away 2 loads of laundry
Go to bank and make deposit
Picked up Storm – spoke to vet (got sad about person there who was sad about dying pet)
Went to McDonald’s for husky McNuggets and a cheeseburger for me (yeah..that’s right)
Got home and carefully unloaded Storm
Fed huskies
Hung out with Storm who would start crying/howling if I got up
Updated twitter, facebook and texts for people wondering about Storm (he is loved!)
Got to watch the Season finale of V! (creepy!)
Started watching L&O SVU season finale till Storm moved to hallway 10 mins in..
Storm fell sound asleep – ran around getting Angelus inside, changing 3rd load of laundry and washing face, brushing teeth and locking up house.
Typed this as a sit next to Stom in the hallway on the floor….now need to get Storm to bed without upset somehow…

Good dang thing I used those vacation hours today or I could have wasted them on a beach reading somewhere someday…

Eh…who am I kidding? I hate to leave the huskies for long anyway :)

I really liked the Lost finale last night. And not just because I hosted a fun party for it :) Made some yummy junk food, someone brought a Dharma cake, cocktails were made. The most fun was that then whenever a long-lost character showed up or a plot line took a wacky turn, we all OOOOHHHed, AAAHHHed, DOHed! at the same time. Was a very fun viewing :)

And I feel they wrapped up enough to make the story seem complete. Did they fully explain a myriad of smaller plotlines and devices? No. Why there was a rampaging polar bear? What was real and what was “purgatory”? Did anyone actually survive that crash? Or was it all purgatory? I could think of a 100 questions without even really thinking hard! And then 100 more just from last night’s episode!

In the first season I called the “island as purgatory” scenario. I was obviously not the only one. The writers were asked this exact question at the Comic Con panel years ago where they flatly denied it was. Now, does that mean they lied to people? Or does it mean they chickened out on an original storyline they had planned and chose this path as the easy one in the last season? Who knows. But it wrapped up nicely. And really – why would they answer that question honestly if it would then give up so many future plot line surprises. Who cares if they lied about it? I’ve read more than one person moaning about this online and it annoyed me. Why should they give up their storyline to a reporter or fan at a panel just because you asked? They weren’t on trial or testifying at a Congressional Hearing. Besides, if they were alive on that island, then it wasn’t purgatory. If you don’t watch the show, you are scratching your head right about now…heck, if you do watch the show you probably are too :)

I like that the show was always a fight between the belief in faith or science (like X-Files was at the beginning.) And how the people who fought those battles changed. I like that they chose to end the show on a more upbeat note even while not shying away from subject of the death and the demise of popular characters. I like that the show made me tear up or just flat out cry and NOT in a Lifetime movie way :) But in an ohmygodicantbelievetheyjustdidthat! way.

I loved the characters. Even the ones I hated! Jack’s constant stress of being a leader. Locke’s constant challenging of Jack’s disbelief in believing. Locke’s plain ol’ kick assness. Sawyer’s wise-ass remarks and name calling (and yes, ok..his chest.) Hurley’s Star Wars references (and Sawyer’s. And Miles’) Sun and Jin. Ben (Henry Gale!) Desmond…being Penny’s Constant. Sayid’s bad-ass-ness. Every character on this show was great – even ones that were pretty obvious redshirts. And ones that were very much bad guys. It’s probably one of the only TV shows (or books or movies) where I didn’t have an obvious front-running favorite character. They were all so good and fun to watch. It was a character-driven show and, in The End, that was more important than the mythology of the show. The writers wrapped up characters, not necessarily plot lines. I am OK with that.

Do I have a million unanswered questions? Yes I do. Am I sad I will no longer get answers to any of them? Yes I am. Am I sad I no longer have watching Lost to look forward to? Very much so. I think any story – TV, movie, book comic book, etc that can wake me up in the middle of the night pondering what happened and asking questions and having endless debate with friends about characters and plots is evidence of a good story with good writing and characters. And I will miss it. Television is filled with a bazillion channels of a gazillion hours of vomit-worthy “entertainment” so it’s sad when something that is actually good and captivating goes away, only to be replaced by some mind-numbing reality show.

I woke up at 4am this morning thinking about Jack’s end. And the last minutes of the show. And stressing about it. Sad about Jack dying there alone. Was Jack ever alive on the island at all though? Did they all just crash land and die and then were in purgatory/the way station/whatever you want to call it? And most importantly, if they did die – who the hell was going to take care of Vincent?! Which started me stressing about my doggies. Which is likely where the initial stress came from since I was taking Storm to the vet this morning. My mind just doesn’t like to shut off…:)

But besides giving fans some closure on where these characters ended up, they really made me happy that they brought Vincent the dog back. Every single review of the finale and blog about it today mentioned this as a triple bonus-points move. And he was there at The End along with my tears…

Jack and Vincent

It’s such a great pink! And seems very protective! :) Although now that I got smart and bought a husky walking jacket that has ZIPPED pockets, I haven’t dropped my phone much. And this might be too big for most of the pockets they make for phones in most bags. But that color is GREAT! SOOO Pink :)

But my current (bought last week to replace green case) pink paws one will be used for awhile first. I love it!

Pink paws

Sit with Angelus while he eats his dinner. He didn’t eat his breakfast which has been stressing me out all day. He is hanging out in the front yard so I sit on the lawn with him. He eats – all is well with the world…whew :)

Go back inside and am kinda-sorta watching Godfather 3 as I run around the house doing chores. Husband has never seen it from beginning to end and he just finished re-watching Godfather 2 and I am always happy to have those playing…

I decide to stop and watch a bit.

Then bring in my new Vogue that just arrived.

Then read (again) that I really need a white bikini for this summer.

Grab laptop, search, find one, order one. Whew…

Finish Vogue as I continue listening to/watching Godfather 3.

Check on Angelus who is in the front yard. He is staring at a family and their little dog as they walk by and apparently and scaring them. He is in *his*yard people. Nothing to see here, move along, move along…

Pay more attention to Godfather 3. Pope John Paul I is killed. Hey – this is based on a real guy, let’s learn more. Bing search (that’s right – a big FU to Google) assassination of John Paul I.

Read some excellent conspiracy theories about that! One with a Wikipedia link to Angelus:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelus

And then it’s all full circle again as I go back out and hug and see (the fluffy) Angelus :)

p.s. Not what Angelus is named after though…if you were wondering.