Homeward Bound...zzz....

So the stoopid dog gets me up at 5 am, on a day when I'm going to have to drive all night. Thanks a lot you wretched hound! Ugh. But then I got to ship her off to camp (dog day care) for the day, so no daytime naps for EITHER of us! Mwa ha ha! That'll teach her.

Yes, tonight we make the 10 or so hour journey up to my folks house for Christmas. Which may very well be the LAST Christmas in the ancestral family home. Sad times. Its an awesome house with lots of memories. But its a lot of house for just my parents to take care of, and they want to retire to Lancaster. So, more power to 'em. Of course, that makes travel time driving like, 12 or more hours instead of 10, which stinks. I guess we'll be flying more. Maybe go into Baltimore or Philly. NOT Pittsburgh ever again. That airport is AWFUL. Plus its not anywhere near Lancaster, so it doesn't matter anyway.

Looking forward to some nice, relaxing, Christmastime joy with the fam fam. Even the rotten dog.

Why?

I don't know why I'm blogging today. The gifts are bought, things are mostly ready for our trip, I'm excited to go...I guess I'm just not feeling the holiday spirit yet. I hope it gets here...its cutting it really close this year. It kinda missed last year, too.

And I used to be SO BIG on the holiday spirit, too! I loved all the decorating and carols and specials and wrapping gifts and all...its just been kind of a drag, and I'm not sure why.

Eh, we'll see how it goes.

Just Say No to Roast Beast

Today was our 'holiday luncheon' at work. It was sad...SAD, I tell you. There was so much potential, too...barbecued pork, grilled chicken, mac & cheese, salad bar, 3 types of cobbler...sounds good, right? Here's the reality. The bbq pork was room temperature, as was the sauce for it, and was shredded too small and also somewhat fatty. The chicken? Poorly seasoned and rubbery. The 'salad bar' was actually all the salad ingredients in various bucket-like tupperware containers. Weak presentation. As I do not eat salad, I cannot comment on the freshness and/or tastiness of the ingredients. The cobblers were terrible. They were COLD, the crusts were underdone, and the fillings were clearly dumped from a large metal can. Also, the sweet tea was weak and not overly sweet.

Boy, what a great 'thank-you' for a year of profitable work from our management, huh? I think it'd be WAY better if they took the same amount of money, or even LESS, and got a bunch of stuff from Zaxby's (for those not in the area, its a fast food chain that does crinkle fries and chicken strip-type dishes) or from Chik-Fil-A. Or even KFC.

But today I got to bring some of the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies I made last night, and have leftover stovetop. So I will not starve, and get at least a partial allotment of deliciousness.

Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies...flour, eggs, butter, milk, oatmeal...that totally counts as a breakfast food, right?

You Are What You Eat

I've decided a fun use of blog is to talk about what I eat, and my feelings on said food. Mostly because I have to spend hours explaining my food theorems and strategems to people.

So first, the basics. I don't like tomatoes or tomato products. If it is MADE with tomato, I DON'T LIKE IT. If it has TOMATO in the ingredients, I DON'T LIKE IT. Inevitably, I'll tell people this, and the first thing out of there mouth will be "what about (x)?" where x is usually ketchup, pizza, spaghetti, etc. I find it much more odd that people will not like tomatoes, but like ketchup, tomato sauce, and so on. That's just WEIRD to me. My sister doesn't like peanuts but LOVES peanut butter. ALSO weird. The one and ONLY exception to this is when there is a little tiny but of ketchup on top of meatloaf.

Secondly, I don't like it when foods mix. This is where things get tricky and require a little explanation. This is less a rule and more a preference, and on a case-by-case basis. Can't do mixed veggies. CAN do chicken soup with different veggies in it. The difference? The ones in the soup, if its cooked right, have all the same texture and fairly close to the same flavor. Skittles must be separated by color, because they're different flavors. But M&M's can be eaten however, because all the colors are the SAME flavor. Someone always tries to be smart at this point and ask what about bread, since it touches whatever you put on it. Bread is a base. It is the food equivalent of water. But really, I'd rather have some bread, a piece of meat, and a slice of cheese on my plate separately instead of a cheeseburger. I prefer things broken down. To a point, anyway. I wouldn't want flour, eggs, milk, and sugar on my plate instead of cookies. This is why its confusing to people, I guess. Cereal with marshmallows, ok. Cereal with fruit, not ok. Apples, bananas, oranges, and grapes, ok. Those things mixed in a fruit salad? Not ok. Grilled cheese, ok. Grilled ham and cheese, not ok.

Today I've had two peanut butter sandwiches so far. Peanuts and peanut butter are awesome. It is a good accompaniment to any food type. Peanut butter and fruits such as bananas? Good. As a sauce on fancy dinners? Good. In chocolatey desserts? VERY good. On hamburgers? Surprisingly good. They are a decent source of protein as well. The bread I chose to put them on was NOT good, though. It is the cheapest stuff they had at the store. I much prefer to use Nature's Own Honey Wheat or maybe a whole grain potato bread.

Later I will be partaking of the fruits of the golden arches. McYummy.