Stupid rock.

Upon further reflection, zj has decided that perhaps playing outside was not such a good idea, after all.

Or maybe it was just ripping his fingernail off with a giant rock that wasn't such a great idea.

Either way, his career as a hand model is over before it got started.

Take that, you stupid rock.

Damn, you are OLD. But I still love ya.

Dear Bobby,

Happy Birthday.

Today is your seventeenth birthday since I have known you.

Back when we first met, I certainly never thought I'd ever be saying that.

See, I didn't really like you much at first.

You came to class, the BEST class on campus, by the way, and you were way too cool to participate in anything.  You sat there, looking bored, wearing (for God's sake) a TIE (I mean really, who could possibly trust a guy who wore a tie to class?) and generally not paying much attention.

I thought you were smug.

I believed you to be arrogant.

I wanted nothing to do with you.

So, of course, you saw me as a challenge.

Oddly enough, you showed up in a bunch of my classes the following semester, too.  I'm still not exactly sure how that happened.

You stopped wearing a tie every day.  We had mutual friends.  You began to grow on me, just a little bit.

You kept inviting me over to you place to "study."

I turned you down.  I was highly suspicious.

Then you broke my watch one day, and the rest, as they say, is history.

So here we are, seventeen birthdays, two marriages, a divorce, two kids, a mortgage, and a lifetime of shared memories later.

And I was right.  You are smug and arrogant.  And I was totally right to be suspicious of your motives.

But you know what?

I love you just the way you are, and I can't imagine my life without you in it.

See, I told you this stuff was made out of ground up demon parts. With apologies to the fine folks at the Play-Doh corporation.

I think only the self-righteous, self-important, self-absorbed self-whatever Mommies of the world really like this stuff.  You know, the Mommies who are all like "My little darling can write her name, and knows the national anthem, and she can figure the square root of pi to the tenth decimal point." You know them.  You know you do.  They also say things like "I don't want to stifle his creative spirit" like little Jimbo might possibly grow up to be something other than the somewhat grimy, nose-picking cow-lick-sporting champ that he is today.

Because really, what about any of this could possibly be construed as good?

Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin - a Three Meal Meat.

Lately, for a variety of reasons, I have been experimenting with making the food budget stretch, but without eating macaroni & cheese or Ramen noodles every day.

It's like a challenge to myself.  I love to challenge myself.

Anyway, one of the things I have been experimenting with is the creative use of leftovers.  RJ is NOT a fan of leftovers.  He wants a NEW meal every day, like any man has a God-given right to have.

Whatever.

Instead of giving in to that, I have basically been tricking him into thinking entirely new meals have been created out of aforementioned leftovers.  This particular three day long feast has been one of my successes.

WHAT YOU START WITH:
a 2 lb. pork tenderloin.  This one happened to be teriyaki flavored, but you can use any kind you want.  It's not like I'm going to come to your house to check.  Anyway, I cut this one onto three pieces (cause I was going to use it for three meals), browned in in some olive oil in a skillet, then baked it at 375 for a little over an hour.

Yum.

DAY ONE:

Take one third of the pork.  Slice it.  Serve with garlic smashed potatoes and oven roasted vegetables.  Easy peasy.  I also made a gravy out of the pan drippings, some flour and some broth. 

DAY TWO:

Thinly slice the next third of the pork.  Thinly slice half an onion and some button mushrooms, and heat in some oil in a skillet.  Add a couple tablespoons of teriyaki sauce.  Cover the whole mess with some Swiss cheese and serve it on warmed hoagie rolls.  I served this with store bought fries.  Delightful, and really different than the previous night's meal.  RJ never knew he was eating leftovers.  

DAY THREE:

Chop the rest of the remaining pork up and heat in oil in a large wok or skillet or whatever.  Add an onion, some mushrooms, any vegetables you have lurking in the fridge and a small bag of frozen Asian style vegetables.  Saute until the veggies are soft, then add in a couple splashes of yesterday's teriyaki sauce.  Heat through, and serve over rice.  Voila!  Three meals, one meat, nobody knows you just stretched $8 into three separate dishes.  

 

Hey Daddy, you might not want to leave your shiny red laptop out where I can reach it.

I'm just sayin'

Love, zj

Superhero Tuesday. With special guest host.

It's Superhero Tuesday at 154 Hidden Court, and today's guest host is zj. Zj, tell us which superhero you are featuring today.

Zj: Today I'm telling you all about Wolverine.
Me: Why Wolverine?
Zj: He's my favorite because he can pop his claws out. And he's an X-Man. And he's part of the Marvel Universe. And he knows how to fight with a sword. And his claws are made out of adamantium.

Well, there you have it, folks.

Ahh ebay. I think I love you.

Dear ebay,

I think I love you.

It started out innocently enough.  See, I had these dolls to sell.  Dolls that I had a long time.  Dolls that I obviously was never going to have a use for, given that there are only boys in my house.

So I came to you for help.

You were kind to me.  You walked poor little inexperienced me through a new auction listing.  I made some mistakes in our relationship early on, sure, but you were patient.  Oh, so patient.  

And I waited.  

A few days passed, and I didn't hear much from you.  But I kept checking, and I kept hoping, and soon enough, the bids began.  $50.  $100.  $200!!!!  Really?  It was this easy?

And so our relationship began in earnest.

What else could I possibly sell?

I roamed the house, weighing potential use against potential sales.

Potential sales almost always won.

I have dedicated an entire room of my house to you.  It contains things listed, and things yet to be listed, but it is clearly all in your honor.

I have my own business cards that I use to promote my relationship with you.  It's like shouting it from the rooftops.

I sign our invoices with hearts and flowers.

I know, deep down, that you would do the same for me, if you could.

Dear ebay, we are now in the seventh month of our relationship, and I love you more than ever before.  Sometimes life gets in the way and we don't get to spend the quality time together that I would like, but you are forgiving.  You always take me back.

And someday, someday soon, darling, I hope to be yours, exclusively.