An award

Normally on Monday's my posts are called 'Weekend highlights' and I share our weekend activities. But this past weekend we just didn't do anything. I went to real estate school on Sat & Sun. Spouse went to the ghetto gym both mornings, went to the grocery store, and just hung out at home. We ate dinner at home both nights and watched TV. That's it. Spouse said it was "too cold" to go anywhere.

So, since our weekend highlights were summed up in a single paragraph, I'll share with you a lovely award I received: "Stylish Blogger Award". Since I've devoted my life to being stylish, you can imagine perfectly giddy I was to receive this! The conditions upon which one accepts the "Stylish Blogger Award" are as follows:

1. Thank and link back to the blogger that bestowed upon you this high honor
2. Share 7 things about yourself readers may/may not know
3. Grant the award to 5 others

I received this award from my personal friend and fellow blogger Ron who's blog is entitled Retired in Delaware. Thank you, Ron!! Now for the 7 things:

1. When I was a child and teenager my hair was extremely blond. It was kind of strange because my 3 siblings and both my parents all have brown hair. I remember that when I became aware that I was the only 1 in the family with blond hair I asked my mother if I was adopted. She laughed and said 'No', but I think a lot of things would make more sense if I were adopted.
2. Although I enjoy cocktails a great deal, I rarely drink at home. The only exception is when we have weekend guests and we have cocktails at home. But when its just the 2 of us here, I rarely drink at home. Spouse doesn't drink at all and I find it sort of sad to drink at home by myself. It sure is a lot cheaper to drink at home though!
3. I feel very confident about my career change. I don't expect to be anything but successful. This is significant to me because there is usually a good bit of uncertainty and nervousness associated with changing careers. But I am so sure that this is the right direction for me I do not feel nervous. I just wish I could finish my courses more quickly and get started.
4. I do not have an iTunes account or an iPod. I have an mp3 player I loaded with music from our CD collection and I listen to it mostly at the gym.
5. When I was a kid I was given black olives and nearly gagged from the taste. I decided I hated olives of all sorts and didn't eat them for about 30 years. Then it became popular to see olive assortments at cocktail parties and I decided to try some of them. I discovered that I loved kalamata olives, green olives stuffed with garlic, and green olives stuffed with jalapenos. Now I always have a jar of kalamata olives in the fridge.
6. I've been told by more than 1 person that I'm a good kisser.
7. Sometimes I'm surprised at how well things work out when I take my own advice. If I get worried or upset about something I sometimes ask myself what would I tell someone else who was going through this. Then I follow my own advice and things usually work out well.

Now for the 5 truly stylish bloggers to whom I will bestow the "Stylish Blogger Award":

1. cb at the Mangina Monologues
2. Kevin at The Lisp
3. Marc at Deep Dish
4. David at Another Mile Marker
5. Lewis at Spirit of Saint Lewis

Friday fragments

Welcome to Friday fragments, my weekly recap of topics too big to forget yet too small to be their own post.

My pal Jared sent me this wacky photo.

Wed I picked up Big Ella from the garage, but also had to drop off Spouse's PT Cruiser. When it rains (and you're unemployed), it pours. Big Ella passed the safety inspection this time and I was in and out of the DMV in under 10 minutes with a 2-year renewal. The reason I left Spouse's car at the garage is because it recently developed a wicked wobble in the rear end. Turned out that 1 of the rear tires had a huge bulge (and not the good kind). We wound up having to get 2 new rear tires.

My friend Mike sent me this video. This guy's upper body strength is amazing!

Spouse didn't have the best Weight Watchers week; he gained 1/2 of lb. But he wasn't crushed by it. He knew that he over-indulged a few times and then tried to make up for it by starving himself, which doesn't work. Fortunately he kept this in context and continues to look at the bigger picture.

Here's wishing everyone a great weekend!

Don't make me get all ignorant up in here

The people who own the vacant lot diagonally across the street from us are preparing to build a house there. They've owned the lot since before we moved here 4 years ago, but are just now starting to build. Maybe they're getting ready to retire.

Last week the construction company leveled the lot, then this week they dug the footers for the foundation and cut down a beautiful old tree at the property line. But all is not well.

The lot faces a 'regular' street (ie: 2-way traffic, on-street parking, curbs and sidewalks) and backs to our 'irregular' street (ie: single lane, 1-way traffic, no on-street parking, no curbs or sidewalks), so for the life of me I don't understand why all of the construction traffic uses our little irregular street to access the lot.

Several times this week they delivered and picked up pieces of construction equipment on a flatbead trailer. Each time they did so the truck and trailer completely blocked the street of all traffic. This means that if the mail, UPS, FedEx, propane suppliers or god forbid an ambulance were to come, they'd have to wait for the delivery or pick up to conclude for the street to be passable again. This is completely unnecessary since they could use the 'regular' street!

When they cut down the beautiful old tree they brought it down in the street and in our side yard, blocking the street of all traffic again and without our permission to use our yard to cut the tree into smaller pieces to feed into the chipper. Then a subcontractor parked his pick-up truck and trailer into our driveway for an hour or so, again without permission. Again, this is completely unnecessary since there is sufficient on-street parking on the 'regular' street!

So, I've decided to write a letter to the construction company, asking them to stop using our street to access the lot and instead use the more suitable street. I'm also going to cite the uses of our personal property (yard and driveway) without permission and inform them that future unauthorized uses will result in a call to the police.

I'm really NOT trying to be a jerk about this, but as I'm learning in real estate school, unauthorized use of one's property can result in a liability to me, the property owner. If a construction worker continued to use my property and tripped, fell and cracked his head open, he could sue me! And if he parked a vehicle in my driveway that caught on fire he could sue me. Although seemingly far-fetched, these things have happened. And although seemingly unfair, the law allows for such suits.

I am not willing to be made vulnerable in this way, and I do not believe my neighbors and I should be inconvenienced needlessly when a much more suitable means of accessing the building lot exists. So I'm writing the letter to the construction company and sending a copy to the City building officer. I'll keep you posted.

American Idol

Tonight begins season 10 of American Idol. I've set my DVR since I don't plan to watch it live.

I written many times about my dislike for all the unnecessary talking from the judges. Some constructive feedback would be great, but it seems like there's only about 11 minutes of singing in an hour of this show. Honestly, I don't know how the judges even come up with so much NOTHING to say. Perhaps this season will be a little better since 2 out of the 3 judges are new. But I'm going to DVR the show and fast-forward through all the unnecessary talking. Last season we didn't have a DVR so I just avoided the show altogether.

Technically the real show doesn't start for a few more weeks. Tonight begins the casting episodes which I just can't force myself to watch because I know they are totally bogus. Several years ago a friend of mine tried out for American Idol and learned the truth. Singers are eliminated as they pass through about 5 levels of auditions before they ever see the judges. So, when you watch the casting episodes and you hear contestants who can't carry a tune if it were handed to them in a bushel basket singing in front of the judges, its fake. Its staged. The producers intentionally push these untalented people through to the judges just so they'll have something outrageous for the casting episodes. This really rubs me the wrong way so I boycott the casting episodes and will only start watching the DVR'd episodes once the contestants actually get to Hollywood.

Cats to crack you up

My neighbor sent me these photos that cracked me up! Even if you're not a 'cat person', these should tickle you. Enjoy!!

Weekend highlights

Sat morning I went to real estate school. Our instructor let us out early which was nice. That night Spouse & I had dinner at Jason & Kevin's. They said they were making teriyaki stir-fry and asked us to bring an Asian appetizer. We brought Spouse's Thai chicken lettuce wraps. They're really delicious and can be an appetizer or a main course. Jason & Kevin loved them. It was really nice to have dinner and hang out with our buddies.

Sun morning I went back to real estate school, and again our instructor let us out early. Spouse & I were invited to dinner at Steven & Thad's and were asked to bring a salad. Fortunately Spouse got the salad stuff and made the salad while I was at school. Joe P and one of The Bobs were also there, and the 6 of us had a delicious dinner of roasted pork, baked apples, butternut squash, corn, salad, and brussel sprouts. Then we watched the red carpet show leading up to the Golden Globe awards, which I think of as the fake Oscars. The Golden Globes are voted on by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, as if we know what that means. But for us its just an excuse to get together for a meal and talk about what the celebrities are wearing. It was nice that "Glee" won Best TV Series/Comedy or Musical, Jane Lynch won Best Supporting Actress and Chris Colfer won Best Supporting Actor, both from "Glee". We had a fun time!

Then this morning we met up with our friends Mike & Clark and Maurice & David who were in town for the long weekend. We had a nice breakfast and caught up with the goings on in their lives. Then we picked up our friend Thatcher from the eye doctor. Since his pupils had been dilated he was advised not to drive. He agreed to join us for lunch and we met up with Steven & Thad and Joe P. After lunch we went to the theatre to see "The King's Speech", which everyone liked. Colin Firth did a great job for which he rightfully won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama. The rest of the afternoon/evening were rather uneventful. Spouse took a nap, we had dinner and watched TV.

Friday fragments

Welcome to Friday fragments, my weekly recap of topics too big to forget yet too small to be their own post.

My friend and frequent contributor Jared sent me this, which gave me a chuckle. Spouse has reached another Weight Watchers milestone: 75 lbs lost. Even after some splurging on our cruise and Thanksgiving in Nov, and multiple parties and Christmas and New Years Even in Dec, he's continuing to work the program and lose weight. He looks terrific and I'm very proud of him!

Its been over a week since I dropped off Big Ella at the garage and I'd not heard anything from them so I called today. I took it in because the brake lights weren't working and I heard an odd whirring sound whenever I press the gas pedal. They said the lights were fixed (loose wiring again) and the whirring sound was the generator which has gone bad again. Fortunately the generator installed a year ago carried a 3-year warranty so I won't have to pay for it. They've ordered a new one and will let me know next week when Big Ella is ready to be picked up.

My friend Jared sent me this as well, entitled Chicken Barbie. I'm not sure I get it, but think its funny anyway.

Have you heard about the new sign they're trying to add to the zodiac? Apparently all the existing dates are being shortened and a new sign Ophiuchus is being added. Since my birthday is Dec 7 I am in the new sign. I thought this article offered a comical explanation.

Chili

Today I made a thick, delicious pot of chili.

I like to make chili in the crock pot instead of a pot on the stove. If you make it in a pot on the stove you have to be home while it simmers over a low heat for several hours. Making it in the crock pot allows you to forget about it and go about your business. We have this exact crock pot, which automatically switches over to a 'keep warm' setting after the prescribed amount of cooking ends.

I'm sure there are thousands of recipes for chili on the internet, but I'm going to share my recipe along with the 'surprise' ingredients and tell you why I use and do what I use and do.

I start by browning and crumbling 2 lbs of ground beef. Yes, you can use ground turkey if you want but I think it changes the flavor. I really prefer ground beef in chili so too keep it from being too greasy or fatty, I use either 85% lean or 93% lean ground beef. Once the ground beef is browned, crumbled and drained of the fat rendered, I put the cooked ground beef into the crock pot.

Next I use 2 envelopes of chili seasoning, 1 'regular' and 1 'hot'. You could go to the trouble of measuring out the individual spices contained in the envelopes, but why would you? The envelopes have done the measuring for you. If you're afraid of 'hot' seasoning you can use 2 envelopes of 'regular', but I think the combination is perfect.

Next pour in a 32 oz can of diced tomatos with the liquid. You can use tomato sauce if you don't like the chunks of tomato, but I think the chunks give the chili great texture once its cooked down. Add a 16 oz can of tomato sauce and a 4 oz can of tomato paste. The paste gives the chili a concentrated tomato flavor.

Next come the beans. I use a 16 oz can of kidney beans (light or dark red, your choice, drained) and a 16 oz can of black beans, drained. (Surprise ingredient #1: black beans.) The black beans give a nice variation in the bean size, since they are smaller than kidneys, and the color gives the chili and interesting appearance.

Next I add about 1 cup (give or take) of frozen corn. (Surprise ingredient #2: corn.) This is a way of adding yet another variation to the size of of the beans, and adding another color to the chili. Food should look just as good as it tastes.

Then I add a 4 oz can of chopped, peeled green chilis with the liquid. (Surprise ingredient #3: green chilis.) These are NOT jalepeno peppers, they are a much milder green chili. You probably won't be able to taste that there are green chilis in the final product, but they add a depth of flavor and authenticity so add them anyway.

Now, stir all ingredients in the crock pot. The mixture should be extremely thick, so stir in about 5 oz of water. If its still too thick to stir thoroughly, stir in a few more oz of water until all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed.

Finally, add 2 dashes of nutmeg (Surprise ingredient #4) and 2 dashes of cinnamon (Surprise ingredient #5) and stir. I know, I know, nutmeg and cinnamon are typically used in baking but trust me - you won't be able to taste them specifically in the final product but they will add a balance and depth of flavor you don't want to miss. Just ask Bob. On Facebook he asked for help with his chili, followed my suggestion of adding these 2 spices, and loved the result.

Place the lid on your crock pot, put it on the 'low' setting, and let it simmer for 6 hours or more. Don't keep opening the lid to stir. It isn't necessary, and keeping the lid closed keeps the heat in and allows the condensation to fall into the chili.

Since this takes so little time to make, its great to do this in the morning before work, let it cook all day while you're gone, and when you get home from work you have a nice, hot dinner waiting for you with hardly any pots/pans/dishes to wash. I've made this chili recipe on a Fri morning, gone to work, then come home and made a boxed cornbread mix and a simple green salad and served it to our company for dinner that same evening.

This recipe will make enough for about 8-10 servings and you can freeze the leftovers in individual containers which can be microwaved for dinner some other day. Who doesn't love a hot, delicious, no-cook dinner? Just microwave and top (if you like) with a grated cheddar cheese, sour cream, diced onions, diced jalepenos, tostada chips, or guacamole.

If you make my chili recipe please let me know how you liked it!

Pop goes the Pyrex

Today Spouse stopped in at the Walmart located near his office on his lunch break. He picked up a few food items that are less expensive there than at our location grocery stores, and picked up a medium size round glass Pyrex bowl with a snap-on lid.

We already had 3 of the smaller round glass Pyrex bowls plus many small, medium, and large plastic bowls with snap-on lids so I inquired of him what had triggered this purchase. With me unemployed at present, this seemed an unnecessary expense, even though my Spouse loves him some kitchen gadgets.

So as Spouse was heating some 'Steamables' (frozen vegetables that steam in a bag in the microwave) he went on to explain that plastic food containers usually stain if you put tomato sauce in them and warp if you put them in the dishwasher more than once or twice. Eventually they crack, especially if frozen. He likes the glass Pyrex because they don't stain or warp. You can heat food in them in the microwave and they're dishwasher safe.

Just as he finished his thorough explanation (which was uncharacterically long for him), he opened the 'Steamables' bag and poured the perfectly steamed broccoli into the new glass Pyrex bowl and POP!!! The bowl exploded, sending shards of glass all over the counter top and kitchen floor.

He and I looked at each other, our mouths and eyes wide open in shock. Then I said "Yeah, well a plastic bowl will never do that".

After wiping the counter top and sweeping the floor I put the glass shards into a brown paper bag. Sometimes people toss broken glass into their kitchen trash can which is usually lined with a plastic bag that will easily be sliced open by the glass. Tip: put broken glass into a paper bag which is far less likely to be sliced open, then throw the paper bag into your outdoor garbage can, not your kitchen garbage can.

Since the glass Pyrex bowl was brand new and we still have the receipt, I think I'm going to take it and the surviving snap-on lid back to the store with the receipt and see if I can get the money back.

Hey, every little bit helps!

The ghetto gym

As I mentioned last Fri, Spouse & I joined a gym.

We used to belong to a nice gym very close to our house. A family membership cost us $85. per month, with the ability to cancel at any time. When summer arrived we became so active walking around town, walking the boardwalk, and playing beach volleyball that we stopped going to the gym and cancelled our membership. Spouse always claimed he didn't like the gym because it was crowded, but I rarely found that to be the case. I think it was crowded once and he just never forgot about it.

So a couple of weeks ago we joined a different gym, a little farther from our house. A family membership there is $60. per month, with the ability to cancel at any time. I'm surprised that Spouse tolerates this gym because I hate it.

Its located inside a community center and is very dark and dreary. The walls in the circuit training room are painted a mocha color and 3 of the walls have no windows. The walls in the weight training room are painted chocolate brown and there are no windows, just a single glass door. And as if the dark colors and lack of windows weren't bad enough, 1/2 of the ceiling lights don't work! Some of the fluorescent tubes are burnt out or just flicker. The 1st time I went there I flipped on every light switch I could find, to no avail. Many of the switches didn't appear to control anything at all. It is so dark and dreary I find myself feeling depressed just walking up to the building.

There's no lockers or showers. You hang your coat on rolling rack near the entrance, and if you are a heavy sweater you're just out of luck. You'll have to drive home in your wet clothes unless you want to go into the bathroom to change without showering.

The circuit training room is so cramped with machines that some of them are actually out in the hallway. The machines are so close together you can barely walk between them. Its a total fire hazard in my opinion. There are 4 treadmills and none of them have a holder for a water bottle. Its so ghetto!

The parking lot is behind the building and there's no sidewalk leading to the front entrance, so you have to walk on the street (where cars drive) to get to the front entrance to get in. This normally wouldn't be a huge concern except that we've had super cold temperatures and the snow and ice just won't melt. There's a rear door that leads from the building to the parking lot, but they keep it locked at all times, even from inside.

When I arrived on Mon all 4 treadmills were in use by women who knew each other and were gossiping/talking about someone else. When I arrived yesterday I got a treadmill next to a mature (read: ancient) man who tucked his t-shirt into the waistband of his sweatpants which were pulled up just below his armpits. Not a good look. I wanted to use my Tim Gunn voice and say "This disturbs me..." I've probably only seen 3-4 people younger than me at this ghetto gym. The vast majority are 'retired'. One day the flat screen TV was tuned into the conservative, right-wing channel. It just seems like every time I go there something irritates me.

I guess I should feel fortunate to belong to a gym. During periods of unemployment most people reduce or eliminate unnecessary costs like gym memberships. In our case, we stopped going to a personal trainer in lieu of the ghetto gym, but I really don't like it.

I've heard that a new gym will be opening next month that will be open 24 hours and only costs $20. per month, but you have to sign a year's contract and pay a $49. joining fee. When it opens I'm going to take a look at it. I gotta get outta da ghetto!

Real Estate school

Normally my Mon post is entitled "Weekend highlights" and I share what I did over the weekend. But for the next several weeks my weekends will be spent in real estate school, so I'll tell you about it.

The school is located 80 miles north of where we live, which means a 90 minute drive in both directions. Fortunately its a straight shot. It started snowing at few minutes after I got up Sat morning so my drive was not an easy one. At 1 point the snow was really coming down hard and made visibility difficult. I was only able to drive 40 mph for a while, making me worry I'd be late for my 1st class. Fortunately the weather let up and I got ahead of the storm, able to get back up to speed. I arrived with several minutes to spare.

There are 19 students in the class, which runs Saturdays and Sundays only. After we all did a short introduction of ourselves and why we were there I was surprised to find that just a couple of us are planning to be full-time agents. Several want to be part-time agents on weekends and evenings while working their regular 'day jobs'. Another guy is a property manager who's boss wanted him to get licensed as a realtor. Another woman currently works as a receptionist in a real estate office and by law is not allowed to give out information about properties over the phone unless she's licensed. I guess I expected the majority of the students to be planning for a career as an agent.

When the syllabus was handed out several students noticed that the final test was scheduled for March 5 instead of February 13. We were told that the website had incorrectly listed the course as ending on February 13, rather than March 5, which was very disappointing to many of us.

The course is divided into 3 sections: real estate principles, real estate math, and real estate law, each with its own instructor. The principles instructor is a woman named Ruth who has been in real estate since 1968. That's right, over 40 years. She's very knowledgeable and has a sense of humor, so that's nice. The math instructor looks to be 150 years old and proceeded to tell us that he is asked to teach all the time because he's brilliant. Well, if you can't be modest you might as well be brilliant. He also appears to have a sinus problem because he repeatedly pulled a dingy, wrinkled hanky out of his pocket and blew his nose and cleared his throat. Repeatedly. The law instructor is a practicing attorney with his own practice. I've never heard someone so dull or monotone. The math and law sections of this course are going to be hard.

Ruth gave us the option of taking a 1/2 hour lunch and skipping 2 of our 15-minute breaks which would allow us to leave an hour earlier than scheduled. We unanimously agreed to this, which will allow me to get home before dark. Not that I have a problem driving at night, but I think everyone would prefer to drive in daylight if given the option.

The introduction to real estate principles was just a review for me. Spouse & I have bought and sold so many properties (for our personal residences and for investment purposes) that I was familiar with everything they covered. This made for an easy 1st day.

Then we were given a math test. It was all word problems and they were extremely hard. Here's an example of one: "John purchases a distressed property for $35,000. which he plans to fix up and sell for the market price of $125,000. He wants to make a 25% profit on the sale after paying a 6% realtor commission, $850. real estate taxes, and 1.5 points on the mortgage. How much can John spend on the renovations?" Even with the use of a calculator I thought my head was going to explode.

After returning home, Spouse & I had dinner at home and watched TV. I read the 2 chapters in the principles book we were going to cover the next day.

On Sun the drive to school was uneventful. We covered the chapters about real estate terminology, responsibilities and structure. After lunch we covered multiple types of insurance. Again Spouse & I had dinner at home and watched TV.

My life is going to be different from now on. Even after real estate school ends, at least part of my weekends going forward will be spent working - very different from the way I used to spend my weekends. But I'm not sad about this. Its a necessary part of my career transition, and having some weekdays off will give me the opportunity to do things and go places when its not as busy as on weekends. However, as accepting as I am of this, I can't ignore the fact that Spouse & I will no longer have that guaranteed time together every weekend. We'll need to figure out how to socialize with friends and spend quality time together in the evenings rather than just on the weekends. Less TV and more other stuff.

Friday fragments

Welcome to Friday fragments, my weekly recap of topics too big to forget, yet too small to be their own post.

We had a slight dusting of snow overnight. Fortunately the temperature rose above freezing and the sun came out this morning so it all melted away already.

Sometimes there are 2 TV shows I'm interested in watching on at the same time. I'll watch 1 and then switch to the other during the commercial breaks. I hate it when BOTH shows run commercial breaks at the same time! Anyone else?

I came across this photo and burst out laughing. I can't even IMAGINE how this happened!!

Spouse & I have joined a gym. Since we had to give up our pricey personal training sessions neither of us has felt good about not exercising. And with Spouse's weight loss goal he really has to exercise in combination with proper diet. The new gym is located inside a community center. I don't like it very much because its cramped, has very poor lighting, and just has a general dreary feeling about it. But its close to our house (convenient) and is the least expensive around so I will tolerate its depressing atmosphere for a few months. But once I'm working and making money again we want to go back to our personal training sessions.

Spouse went back to Weight Watchers last night for the 1st time in almost a month. He'd missed 2 sessions in a row because of Christmas and New Year's Eve and skipped one session because he was busy. The good news is despite all of the holiday parties/food/goodies/etc. he only gained 1/2 a lb. I think that is amazing, and he was rather pleased about it too. So now that the holidays are over he is back on the Weight Watchers wagon and will resume losing weight. His total weight loss since July is 74 lbs.

My 1st day of real estate school is tomorrow! I'll be going from 9am-4pm on Saturdays and Sundays for 6 weekends in a row, so 5 weeks from now I expect to have passed the pre-licensing course and be ready to sit for the state/national licensing exam a few days later. However, most likely the hardest part for me will be deciding on an agency with whom to associate myself. Unlike traditional jobs where compensation and benefit packages are quite similar, realtor compensation and agency perks vary quite a bit. I will likely have to 'interview' the agencies and use a spreadsheet to compare the compensation percentages and agency perks. I'll need to add to that my general comfort level with the principals of the agencies in order to make the right choice for me. In general I've been very encouraged by the feelers I've put out there.

Sometimes I wonder if making such a huge career change should make me more nervous than I am. I hope I'm not that nervous about it because I truly feel its the right direction in which I should be moving.

My friend Lisa sent me this funny video. Quite clever!

Last night Spouse & I watched a really cute film called 50 Ways of Saying Fabulous. It takes place in beautiful New Zealand. We really liked it! It was cute, touching, and the end wasn't predictable. Stream it or check it out on Netflix!

Here's wishing everyone a terrific weekend!

GLBT news

There have been some positive developments on the GLBT front this week and I want to share them with you. Too often we hear about the negative and hateful developments so I think its good to balance them with positive news. Just click on the following links to access the articles:

1. Rhode Island is moving forward toward marriage equality
2. New Jersey signs new, toughest law against bullying
3. OutMilitary.com: the new social networking site for GLBT soldiers

DMV fail

Today I drove Big Ella to the DMV for her biennial safety inspection and registration renewal. Since I drove her in 3 different Christmas parades with no issues within the last month, I wasn't expecting any problems. I cheerfully motored over to the DMV 20 minutes away and was happy there was no line for the inspection.



I was not so cheerful when the inspector informed me that Big Ella had no brake lights. Yikes!! No brake lights could be a huge problem. Big Ella failed the inspection.


I recalled having this same issue in Sept of 2009. My mechanic said it was a loose wire, which he fixed for a nominal fee. The brake lights worked during the parades a month ago because I can see them illuminate in the rear view mirror, since they are mounted up high on the fins.

So I dropped Big Ella off at the mechanics and informed him of the issue. We also discussed a few other updates the car should have since she's already at the garage. I should hear back from the mechanic by Fri, letting me know Big Ella is ready to be picked up and re-inspected. Since my severance has stopped let's hope it doesn't cost too much.

Blue and orange

No, this post is not about Howard Johnsons.

Today I've had the post-holiday blues. I just didn't feel like doing anything, and I felt a little depressed. I'm sure its nothing to worry about and will hopefully be gone tomorrow.

So rather than dwell on my blues, I'll share with you my orange... my recipe for the orange cranberry bundt cake I made for Joe P's retirement party.

Prepare a box yellow cake mix according to the instructions EXCEPT:

• substitute orange juice for the water
• add 2 dashes of orange extract
• add 1 tablespoon orange marmalade
• add 4 ounces dried cranberries

Pour batter into a greased bundt ban and bake. Once cool, remove cake from pan and glaze with a confectioner sugar and warm water glaze.

This cake is super easy and super delicious! If you give this a try, please let me know how you like it.

Weekend highlights

Fri night our friend Jody had a New Year's Eve potluck at his beach house. We met him at the beach this past summer, along with several other friends from DC and Baltimore who also came to the potluck. It was our 1st time seeing many of them since the summer and we had a great time. The food was amazing, too. Afterward most of us from the potluck headed over to the Double L bar, where we met up with several of our local friends too, to ring in new year. Even Spouse went to the bar, which is quite unusual. We talked, talked, danced, and had fun. At midnight we all toasted with champagne and wished each other a happy new year. At 12:30 we called it a night and went home.

We slept in until 9:30 Sat morning, then began preparing to have company. Steven & Thad hosted a retirement party at our house for our mutual friend Joe P so we cleaned the house and set up for party. In addition to Steven & Thad and Joe P, several other friend's of Joe's came such as Alisha & Jack, one of The Bobs, Chris & Jason, Allen, Deiter, Jim, Rick & Candy, and Rick & Nick. Thad brought balloons and made decorations out of 'vintage' photos of Joe P.

We had Spouse's cranberry/orange glazed turkey, pasta with meat sauce, pork and sour kraut, antipasto, potatoes au gratin, homemade cheesecake, pecan tartlets, and my cranberry/orange bundt cake. Everything was SOOO good, and we had a great time.

The last of the folks left just before midnight.

Sun morning we had breakfast at the Long Neck Diner with Steven & Thad. It was a rainy day so after we got home we just relaxed the rest of the day, watching TV and putzing around on our laptops. That evening we met up with Steven & Thad and Joe P for dinner at La Tonalteca. It was the perfect end to our holiday weekend.