Ms. Maladjusted

noreply@blogger.com (Ms. Maladjusted) — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 13:12:00 +0000

Morning update... they weren't wrong for once. 13 inches of snow at 7am and the little bit of sleet that's been coming down is now changing back over to snow. Another 4-8 inches possible today. Good thing we took this one seriously.

Plows haven't been down our street and probably won't any time soon. They are just starting to tackle the main roads and we're not only not on one of those, but are at the very end of a dead end street. I'm wondering if the guy down the road who has all the big toys like trucks, motorcycles, jet skis has a plow for his giant redneck pickup.

I'm going to have to go shovel out the back patio so Oakley has a place to potty, lol. He's up to his doggy knees right now and is hating life. I always tell myself, when life seems hard, just be thankful you don't have to go to the bathroom outside! I guess I will have to shovel the path to my car eventually as well, though the mail here is dropped on the street side, so no need to worry about the safety of the walking mail person like I used to have to.

The parental units are supposed to be driving down from Michigan tomorrow for the holidays. They should be fine east of here into the OBX, but I keep telling them that they'll be driving through 12-18 inches through much of West Virginia and Virginia coming from the northwest. They need a reminder that though they are used to driving in this kind of thing in Michigan, that's a state where they are prepared and handle it well. Here in our state, we're pretty bad about the roads and are just generally not well prepared to handle snow, much less this mcuh of it. People here also have no idea how to drive in it for the most part, so it's a little more hazardous because of other drivers. Hoping they can get down here safely.

I have my snow shovel handy, but as I look at my completely buried truck I don't recall where my scraper/brush has ended up, being a few years out of the midwest now. Glad we don't have to be anywhere this weekend. Hoping the propane tank holds out for the fireplace... we've been burning through it lately with the cold weather. Should be interesting.

noreply@blogger.com (Ms. Maladjusted) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:04:00 +0000

We are expecting a possible foot (FOOT!) of snow tonight and tomorrow and it's so different than the experience in the midwest. A foot of snow or less wouldn't stop things where I used to live, much less really slow them down. I remember so many mornings spent out shovelling the snow from around the car and practically screaming "I can't believe they are making us go to work in THIS!". Here's the biggest difference in how Illinois handled this kind of thing and how Virginia does: how they handle the roads.

Right now, we are under a winter storm warning. At this point, we'd have seen the faithful Illinois IDOT folks out salting roads, those frighteningly huge orange snow plows out and about, people with their personal plows on their pickup trucks. The noise from those machines was insane. I remember waking in the wee hours of the morning to the loud rumble of the plows coming down the road and I never could resist getting out of bed to watch the sheets of snow blasting out from them at heights taller than my head (trapping my car in the driveway, but that's another story). By the time we got up to check the school closings (they never did), the roads were clear and fairly safe, and off we went to work.

In Virginia there is no apparent pre-snow preparation. I'm honestly not even sure if we have salt. I've seen no evidence of the giant salt domes that were so familiar in the midwest. I don't see or hear the giant plows, I've seen a grand total of two pickups with plows attached. I'm not really sure what happens when it snows this much. Last year it snowed a couple inches and everything shut down pretty much. This was fabulous because in Illinois we would never have gotten a snow day, but what a pain to not be able to go anywhere because of the roads here! I've got 4wd, I drive for years in really horrid winter weather but I can't here because we don't clear the roads well.

So, in the spirit of the true "snowed in" scenerio (which is happening on a Saturday, of course, so no snow day. Thanks mother nature!), I present the O'Keefe household emergency shopping list:

cinnamon rolls
chocolate chip cookie dough
beer
cider
hot chocolate
jalepeno poppers
milk
pancake mix
beef roast
potatoes
batteries (for the weather radio or if we keep power, for the video game controllers)
movies
books

The plan for the next 24 hours is something like this... Bake. Eat. Sleep. Blanket. Couch. Fire. Video games. Movies. Read. Chill.

It's kind of nice to truly have nothing to do and nowhere to be and a real excuse to be lazy. Stay warm!

noreply@blogger.com (Ms. Maladjusted) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:04:00 +0000

Life has been so complex and busy for so long, I can't seem to not think in bullet points:

1. All work for classes this semester is complete and the last classes were Monday night. Six classes down, seventeen more to go (plus comps and dissertation, ugh) for my fancy degree. It's a ton of work, but I like feeling smart and having a purpose.

2. The tree and decorations are up. I now realize that the house is really that much bigger than the old one. The tree, which took up half the living room at the old place, doesn't take up the whole foyer at the new place. Yay for more space (even if I have to clean more)!

3. All Christmas presents, few and small though they are, have been bought and most have been wrapped.

4. The barrage of holiday gatherings has begun. Some are more fun than others.

5. I now realize that I truly have a teenager, and all the fun and not so fun and more stressful stuff that comes with that.

6. Work is nuts but I'm getting a ton of really solid work done. It's hard but I feel good about the work I'm doing. This job is far different than what I expected, but for the first time I feel truly needed and valued. What a difference from a year ago.

7. I am ready for 2010 to be better than 2009, like that was better than 2008 and that was better than 2007. There is no real criteria. It's just a general wish.

8. After Christmas, my fat ass will be working out again one way or another. Just walking a few days a week will be the first goal. Trying to rope in friends so there is accountability.

9. T-minus fourteen days and counting until winter break. Eleven days of nothing on the schedule, about half of which will be spent at the beach. I almost don't know what I'll do when I have nothing that has to be done.

10. On tap next week with the kidlet: dinner at PF Changs (thank you M&D for the late bday gift certificate) and an evening at the L.G. Botanical Garden lights display. Should make for a very nice, relaxing holiday mom and kidlet evening.

Thanksgiving in Ten Points

noreply@blogger.com (Ms. Maladjusted) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:37:00 +0000

1. Took a couple of very long walks on a very beautiful beach.

2. Had afternoon drinks with the locals while listening to reggae at the Lie. I could sit in there all day quite easily.

3. Ate and drank myself silly in the company of family and good friends.

4. Had dinner at the Galaxy on Saturday. Yay!

5. Put up my rediculously gaudy Christmas tree (decorating to come) on a sunny, 72 degree day at the end of November.

6. Watched the Steelers lose (again). Watched the Lions lose (again). Watched the Redskins lose (again). No Nascar until February.

7. Did more than my fair share of the group project due tonight. Four more assignments (one a major paper) due by the end of this semester (two weeks left... eek!).

8. Slept until 10am on Sunday (even the dog did!). Still need more sleep.

9. Applied for a data coding/analysis position for a faculty member's study in the Spring and next Fall. Would be a way better second job option than Target. Question is, how do I fit in another 10 hours of work in addition to this crazy job and multiple classes? Guess I'll figure it out. Need the deneros.

10. Speaking of second jobs, I'm super happy not to have had to work Black Friday and not to be working at Target through the holidays like last year. I probably should be, but getting the first real break from most of the stressful day to day things (work, classes) for the first time in two years is welcome. I've not had more than a three day weekend off since Fall 2007 and I'm way overdue. :)

noreply@blogger.com (Ms. Maladjusted) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:06:00 +0000

Am I the only one who is utterly annoyed by the onslaught of jewelry and car commercials at the holidays that tell you buy diamonds and Lexuses (Lexi?) for your "loved one"? Blech.

Born and raised, baby

noreply@blogger.com (Ms. Maladjusted) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:20:00 +0000

"Tough girls come from New York. Sweet girls, they're from Georgia. But us Virginia girls, we have fire and ice in our blood. We can ride horses, be a debutante, throw left hooks, and drink with the boys, all the while making sweet tea, darlin'. And if we have an opinion, you know you're gonna hear it."

-- Ashley Judd

Five reasons I don't like daylight savings time changes

noreply@blogger.com (Ms. Maladjusted) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:52:00 +0000

(1) It is still dark out when I wake up.
(2) Now I just wake up at the old time, which is now 4:30ish am, and stare at the clock annoyed for an hour.
(3) Dogs don't do DST.
(4) I lose and hour of productive time in the evenings because now I'm just tired an hour earlier.
(5) It screws up my meds a little. You wouldn't think an hour makes a difference, but it does.

noreply@blogger.com (Ms. Maladjusted) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 23:17:00 +0000

So Halloween is over. I spent it pretty much alone. Detached from old people I might have spent it with, too new here to get invited to anyone's here. Kind of weird. Kind of lonely. Heck, the kids in my neighborhood don't even trick or treat on my street (it's a dead end, which I actually like after living on a super busy thoroughfare the last couple of years). I see it coming now that the witching hour is over... two months of everyone around me celebrating with family, friends, loved ones... me, alone. It's going to be a very long holiday season.

I'm into the last six weeks of the semester. This semester I went more than half time (taking six hours, nine is full-time) because I had to do it to get financial aid, and I needed financial aid if I wanted to continue the work at school I've already put too much work into to give up on. Six weeks of hell. I hate (HATE!) one of my classes this semester. I have two papers, one in each class, due every other week through the middle of December. I feel way too overloaded in general to deal with this. I just keep telling myself I'll get through it. I always do, right?

The weather sucks. It's wet. It's cold. My fireplace that heats the downstairs of my house is broken and they can't get here to look at it until Thursday. I'm cold. I hate cold. One of the many reasons I left the midwest is because I hated cold, wet, gray days from October through March. It's supposed to be nice here. It's not right now. Last winter sucked. Cold, wet, long (though at least we got a real snow day). I need sun. I need warmth. I need, well, maybe something farther south.

I'm not sure how I'm going to hang on the next couple of months. It scares me that it's this early in the holiday season, this early in the fall/winter months, this early in the semester and I'm already this far into the blue funk. I'm not doing good. I'm struggling. I'm "hanging in there" and "trying to keep my head above water".

Honestly? I've never been so willing to settle in my life just to have someone reach out and take my hand and pull me out of the depths. But for now, I will tread water and hope not to drown.

noreply@blogger.com (Ms. Maladjusted) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 13:08:00 +0000

Loving this summer thunderstorm feeling this morning. I don't like cold or rain, and definately am a warm weather sun girl, but I do enjoy a good stormy day (as long as it's above 70 degrees or so). Feels like an early summer morning.

Going to take the kidlet to see Paranormal Activity this afternoon. Yay! Next on tap, Zombieland. Would you believe my mid-60s parents went to see that for their Senior Tuesday movie and loved it? And people wonder why I am the way I am...

The Inn at Little Washington trip

noreply@blogger.com (Ms. Maladjusted) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:12:00 +0000

Yesterday I had the extreme pleasure of a trip to northern VA to experience a dining experience to remember. We began the day driving up through the rapidly developing fall folliage, which is truly more beautiful here than anywhere I've ever been. The mountains were in the distance and the day was afoot...

The first stop of the day was Rappahannock Cellers in Huntley, VA for a wine tasting. We had a brief tour of the winery, including the destemming and pressing equipment and a glimpse of some of the fermenting grapes. The tasting was held on the deck and it was an absolutely wonderful, 80 degree sunny day. Eight wines in total were selected, four each of white and red, and while VA wines in general are not my favorite, they were very good. Inside afterward to a large room with plate glass windows that looked over the vineyard for cheese and fruit.

After the winery, we then made our way to Washington, VA to the Inn at Little Washington. The accolades for this place are amazing. Some of the too-many-to list include:

- The Inn was the first establishment in the Mobil Travel Guide’s history ever to receive 5 stars for its restaurant and 5 stars for its accommodation.
- The Inn was the first establishment ever to receive AAA’s highest accolade, the 5 Diamond Award, for both food and accommodation.
- The Inn at Little Washington, and Chef Patrick O’Connell, has received 5 James Beard Awards including: Best Service, Best Wine List, Restaurant of the Year, Best Chef in the Mid–Atlantic and Chef of the Year.
- The Inn has been rated one of the Top 10 Best Restaurants in the World by The International Herald Tribune.
- The Inn at Little Washington dining room is rated number 1 in America by the Zagat U.S. Hotel Survey.
- The Inn has been rated number one in all categories (food, dècor and service) of Zagat’s Washington DC restaurant survey for the past 14 years.
- The Inn’s dining room has been rated #1 in North America, and #2 in the World, by Travel + Leisure Magazine’s ‘World’s Best Awards’.
- The Inn has been awarded Wine Spectator magazine’s “Grand Award” for its wine list every year since 1995.
- The Inn at Little Washington is a member of Relais and Chateaux and their restaurant group Relais Gourmand. Chef Patrick O’Connell is the president of the North Atlantic Relais Gourmand and serves on the International Board of Directors.
- Robert Mondavi awarded Patrick O’Connell the Mondavi Award for Culinary Excellence and labeled him “the Pope of American Cuisine”.
- The Inn received Cigar Aficionado’s “Grand Cru” award for its wine list.
- The Inn received the “Readers Top Table” award in Gourmet’s Restaurant Issue.

It's almost insane how acclaimed this place is, nestled in a tiny town (seven blocks by two blocks wide or something like that) originally laid out by George Washington when he was 17 years old.

We were lucky enough to receive a tour of the kitchen. Oh, what a kitchen.

We were even served coctails in the kitchen, consisting of Virginia sparkling wine and passionfruit juice. Very tasty while trying to keep out of the way!

This, my friends, is but a portion of the restaurant's wine celler. WOW.

Chef Patrick O'Connell was in attendance and nice enough to meet us each. I gawked and told him what an amazing kitchen he had. Yeah, I'm a nerd.

We were then seated for the evening at our tables, assigned places across three tables in a lovely room of the Inn. Luckily, I had the cool people at my table.

The room had three large doors opening to a patio and expansive back area with a gorgeous view of the mountains and we were fortunate that the weather allowed us to eat with those doors open.

The meal began with amuse bouche on the patio while we all snapped pictures and sat in awe of the nature. I got a quick shot of the tiny treats being prepared. They included a beet/raspberry mousse over horseradish sauce and rock shrimp with guacomole (pictured here). Later added were the world's tiniest baked potato and risotto croquettes that weren't on the plate yet. Served on wee spoons for the perfect one bite, I had the shrimp and the potato. They also brought around cheese puffs which were consistent in texture with a cream puff but savory instead of sweet.

We moved inside to be served red and white wine (at the same time, a place after my own heart) from Barboursville Vineyards and began the meal with a demitasse cup of soup the chef called "essence of autumn". I didn't get a picture of this and in truth, it was quite simple looking, but the combination of rutabega, butternut squash, granny smith apples and maple syrup resulted in a sweet and creamy two sips of true fall taste.

The second course involved tune and is described on the website as: A Mélange of Spicy Big Eye Tuna with Mango, Avocado, Crispy Shallots and Sake-Yuzu Sorbet. It was amazing. The combination of tuna with small pieces of avocado and mange was a perfect match, and the sorbet added a sweet taste as it melted down around and over the food. Served with adorable shrimp crisps that melted in your mouth when you bit into them, this was quite possibly the best course of the evening.

Round three is listed on the site as: Fricassée of Maine Lobster with Potato Gnocchi, Green Grapes and Curried Walnuts. The lobster was perfectly cooked and soft and buttery. The gnocchi was very well done, not gluey like it can so easily get. My one argument with this dish was that the curried walnuts were a little overwhelmingly spiced, but the tiny pearl onions, the smallest mushrooms I've ever seen and the sweet grapes balanced it out to some extent.

The meat course wasn't on the sample menu, since so much of it is driven by what is seasonally and locally available. It was a perfectly cooked, tender spare rib over autumn risotto. The meat was like butter, but the risotto left much to be desired for me. It was hard to identify the flavors in it but I got an overwhelming sense of lemon, and the texture wasn't soft or fluffy enough. I ate the rib from this one and left the risotto and sauce on the plate.

Dessert was an apple tart topped with homemade ice cream. While apple desserts aren't my favorite, they are in season and this one was very good. The pastry was soft and flaky, and the tart had a nice coating of sugar syrup. The ice cream was rich and went well with the tartness of the apples.

The meal ends, we go about bathroom breaks before the two hour drive home, and return to the tables to find these adorable little paper houses on our plates. Inside was a variety of treats, including cinnamon cookies, candied citrus peel, some chocolate candy varieties, coconut biscuits. Most of us were too stuffed to eat any more so we took it home.

Overall, a very enjoyable trip with great weather, beautiful scenery and a very delightful and indulgent meal.

noreply@blogger.com (Ms. Maladjusted) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:00:00 +0000

I had a stupidly long and busy work day today (actually, been a really busy week in general) and I'm mentally beat. It's friggin' freezing out, and grey and cold to boot, so I'm in nesting mode tonight. Made fajitas for dinner, and am now sitting by the fire with a glass of red wine (from a box, don't fool yourself thinking I'm all fancy... red wine just makes me warmer). Can I just say how, after all these years of not having one, I <3 LOVE <3 having a fireplace? I also have on some of the world's most rediculous looking but exceptionally warm stripey socks.

It's only supposed to be in the upper forties and lower fifties the next few days, and rain every day. I'm fighting off the seasonal blahs already. Seems so early to be dealing with it this year. Last winter seemed so long, raining and cold way too long into the spring. Now we're getting the same thing and it's only halfway through October.

I need to figure out a better climate that doesn't annoy me for the next move. I want to be further south for the warmth, but I don't tend to like most states south of here. I'd love NC or maybe GA, but the places there where there would be jobs are just too far from the coast. Not that it's going to be soon... I committed to four years here so the kidlet wouldn't have to uproot during high school.

Anyhoo... things are totally busy but pretty good. School is really picking up now, work is pretty nuts and it feels like the time I have to spend with the kidlet just blasts on by. Overall though, things are ok. :)

Foodie happiness

noreply@blogger.com (Ms. Maladjusted) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 13:46:00 +0000

So, I'm a self-proclaimed foodie (as evidenced by my big, fat ass), so I am way excited about the news this week that I was able to come off the waiting list to go on a trip to the Inn at Little Washington on the 22nd. It's an all-day excursion, starting with a local vineyard tasting and cheese nearby and ending up at the Inn's five-star, one of the top 10 in the world restaurants, for a five-course meal with wine flight. I was looking through the sample menu (I assume it changes based on seasonal availability) and WOW. Now the big question... do I select what I know I'll love to eat (for example, on the sample menu I could eat lobster for almost every course) or do I take advantage of the opportunity to try some things that foodies rave about and I would never actually but or make (like fois gras)? So... safety to get a fabulous meal or going out on a limb to broaded my horizons? I am seriously torn.

Last night was Friday Wine and Dine again, and while it was way too dark at my table, here's the menu. The wines this time were a mix of California and Italian, culminating in a wonderful sparkling wine that honestly reminded my not-so-sophisticated palate of the time I got to try Dom Perignon. I could drink it all day and night...

After starting with cheese and meats, the evening proceeding with four courses, including mini Chesapeake lump crab cakes with chili tarragon aioli, cream of leek & wild mushroom soup, braised beef short ribs with stone-ground cheddar grits and wilted greens, and apple & toasted walnut galette with ice cream.

Another nice dinner and evening, and though I tend to be the only single at these events, I always meet nice folks from the university and community. Gotta love Second Fridays!

noreply@blogger.com (Ms. Maladjusted) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 16:51:00 +0000

Welcome to my hometown...

noreply@blogger.com (Ms. Maladjusted) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 14:45:00 +0000

noreply@blogger.com (Ms. Maladjusted) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:36:00 +0000

The boys lazing around this morning. Oh how badly I want to be doing the same thing.

noreply@blogger.com (Ms. Maladjusted) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:57:00 +0000

"Nothing is representative or symbolic unless statistically so."

-Kenneth Burke

The Sentries...

noreply@blogger.com (Ms. Maladjusted) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 20:57:00 +0000

I don't think anyone we don't want in the house will be coming in with these boys on the guard post.

noreply@blogger.com (Ms. Maladjusted) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:15:00 +0000

Moment of snarkiness directed at other drivers returning from their holiday weekend, in heavy traffic full of idiots who would nearly run into each other every few minutes:

"Are you blind or retarded? Because it's obviously one of the two..."

Yeah, not P.C. I know, but sometimes in a fit of frustration, these things come out (and then make your teenager laugh hysterically for 10 minutes straight).

noreply@blogger.com (Ms. Maladjusted) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 12:32:00 +0000

As I was driving home yesterday, I just had to pause and snap a quick pic of this piece of hotrod hotness. It reminded me of the Duke boys and Boss Hog. And just to show how classy this place is, the sign you see at the bottom right corner is for Sam's, which is a shack (seriously) along the side of the road that is kind of randomly open from what I can tell. The text at the bottom of this sign reads "home of the bologna burger". Mmmmm!

I'm heading back here for three days this weekend before the true chaos of the new semester starts up. I hope the weather holds up because I am ready for some sun, surf, sand and beer relaxing!

That's my favorite place in the world to be, for the record (in case you haven't gathered that already). When I'm there, I pretty much feel just like this:

Have a nice holiday weekend everyone!

noreply@blogger.com (Ms. Maladjusted) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:02:00 +0000

Holy crap. Six hours of class every Monday night. Oodles of projects and papers to do before the Christmas holidays. Doubling up on classes now so that I can hopefully be done, or at least done but dissertation, by the time the kidlet is off to college. I'm not sure how I'm going to maintain my sanity, but I've never been one to take the easy way out.

Full-time work that's way beyond 40 hours a week on average. Kidlet entering high school (who decided to have her friend cut her hair punky a week before school starts). The usual grocery shopping, school shopping, grass cutting, house cleaning, etc. tasks. Will it ever slow down?

I didn't win the $333 million lottery last week. Boo.

I did, however, pay my last payment yesterday on the kidlet's braces. I'm still not sure how I managed that one with the financial strain of the last couple of years, but we pulled it out and hopefully soon she'll get them off. Sure feels good to tick one more piece of debt off the monthly budget.

I didn't strangle the sibling in spite of her backseat driving for 11 hours this weekend or her fretting about where we were going to stay over our 36 hours in PA. For the record, the mountains are still beautiful, log cabins are fabulous and the wake was a very nice ceremony for a very loved woman.

A well-earned holiday weekend at the beach is afoot as of Thursday night. The kidlet is taking a friend, as am I and we'll all have the house to ourselves now that the folks have returned to the frozen north. Quiet, easy weekend... I can't wait.

Next weekend however, not so quiet. Really not quiet. Let's go racing! I'm not really "into" Nascar but have some friends who are really down with it and I've been going to the races this year and last and playing redneck for the day. It's loud (awesome) and fast (very awesome) and you just can't beat a day of tailgating before a giant sporting event (the awesomest). Races Friday and Saturday nights... gonna be tired on Sunday! Hope the weather holds up and we aren't dumped on like we were for the Spring race. Go Jimmy Johnson (who I root for specifically because my friends like other drivers and I'm a little competative- at least I backed a good horse!).

Off to do some work...

Our new pet

noreply@blogger.com (Ms. Maladjusted) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 23:05:00 +0000

They grow 'em big here in the south...

noreply@blogger.com (Ms. Maladjusted) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:20:00 +0000

Life always seems to work against the "good ones". My wonderful aunt, the one who was going to get me if something ever happened to my parents while I was growing up... the cool one who at points in her life lived in a log cabin on gorgeous wooded property, worked giving tours at the old Rolling Rock factory, introduced me to Great Danes, spoiled me rotten as a kid... a family matriarch, being only one of two long-term first and forever marriages among the old generation... is gone.

About six months ago Judy was diagnosed with an exceptionally rare blood cancer. She was in her early 50s and the illness was swift and severe. We all prepared for testing to see if we were a match, since they were attempting to try bone marrow transplants in fighting this kind of cancer. She got very lucky a couple times, the first being when they allowed her to be a recipient. Apparently after the age of 50, some people are pretty much just told that there's nothing further that can be done. She also had three matches for donors in her county, one of whom gave their marrow willingly as quickly as possible.

The first transplant happened about a month and a half ago. What a horrific experience. The chemo to bring the immune system down almost entirely so that her body wouldn't reject the transplant was bad enough. The usual hair loss, nausea, etc. was awful and pneumonia had to be fought as well. The first transplant appeared successful at first, and lasted for some time. We were very, very hopeful.

As quickly as things got better for a week or two, they then spiraled down in a matter of days again. Her body rejected the transplant and her spleen and other organs were failing as a result of being unable to cleanse her blood of the toxins and cancer. Another round of even harder chemo was rapidly followed by a second transplant attempt about two weeks ago. Her body never recovered. While it looked like it was accepting the transplant to some extent, pneumonia and secondary infection settled in and took her from us. She went on life support Sunday night and by Monday morning she was gone.

Her husband is devastated, as expected. They never had children and he is now alone for the first time in about 30 years. The family is shocked at the sudden loss. We never anticipated the one with the most life, the highest vivrancy, the best attitude, would be the first to go. It's heartbreaking.

I'm off this weekend for Judy's wake. She didn't want a funeral. A big Irish family, we do wakes well, but I think this one will be particularly difficult. Cancer and other reasons have taken far too many from me in the last couple of years. It reminds me to savour what I have, be thankful for my family, love my daughter every single minute of every single day. Goodbye Judy. You are sadly missed.

Puppy love

noreply@blogger.com (Ms. Maladjusted) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:50:00 +0000

Yes, he really sleeps like this in his crate about 90% of the time. Sure doesn't look comfortable to me, but he's not in there that often so I guess it works out for him.

He loves (LOVES) his girl.

He stays where you tell him to, like when we watched the rain from the front porch the other day.

But sometimes he's just SO sleepy from all the hard work being cute and sweet!

Foodie heaven

noreply@blogger.com (Ms. Maladjusted) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 15:58:00 +0000

As I noted in a post a couple of months ago, one of the huge benefits of working where I do now is that we get to take five free classes in continuing studies a year. This works out well for the foodie in me, since they have a culinary arts program. I blogged about my sushi class before, but last night I went to a new and absolutely heavenly (and free!) dinner through the program called Second Fridays Wine and Dine. It's a fabulous, fancy, multi-course themed dinner with wine pairings held once a month. All I can say is, WOW.

Last night's theme was buy local, eat local, so most of the food (about 90%) was bought locally within a day or two of being served to us. That which was unavailable locally mostly due to seasonality was still predominantly purchased along the east coast within a state or two (Maryland, North Carolina). The wines were from a Virginia vineyard called the Philip Carter Winery, and they were there to tell us about all the wines as we drank them (the wine master was 25 years old! how do I get THAT job?).

Dinner started with a social hour. There was a lovely selection of cheeses, including a hyper flavorful bleu, a manchego, a brie and something else I can't remember (a harder white cheese). Accompanied by kalamata olives, artichoke hearts and a summer sausage, this was a great start while we mingled and sipped the first wine of the evening, a Chardonnay. It occurred to me to snap some pictures of the food as we sat down for dinner, so no pic of the cheese offerings, sorry!
We began with a seared scallop appetizer, elephant trunk scallops that were huge and so sweet. Flash seared on each side for about two minutes, they were tender and soft and delicious. Served over locally grown and processed grits with roasted corn, topped with fried pork belly (omg, pig heaven!), I could have eaten this all night long. A light clarified lemon butter topped it all and it was served with a white wine that was a blend of Vidal and Seyval varietals called Falconwood. It was a nice, crisp, fruity light wine and complemented the scallops nicely.

Course one had me flustered enough that I totally forgot to take a picture of the salad course! It was locally grown Hanover tomatoes (right down the road from me) and fresh mozzerella, also local. Drizzled in a balsamic reduction and a little olive oil, dusted with chiffoned basil, and served with some fresh fancy lettuce, this is definately one of my favorite combinations of flavors.

The entree was a grain-fed, hormone free filet mignon from a local farmer who raised and slaughtered only about 30 head of cattle a year for the public. It was lightly salt and peppered and was served with sauteed fresh oyster, shitake and baby bella mushrooms (amazing!), sauteed zucchini, yellow squash, white eggplant, vidalia onions and garlic, and a lightly fried gold potato. The nice thing about most of the food we ate last night is that the ingredients were really respected. Everything was lightly seasoned with salt and pepper, cooked with good olive oil and mostly allowed to let the flavors come through. This is my favorite way of eating, but it's definately reliant on having good quality ingredients to start with. This course was paired with a Cabernet Sauvignon.

Finally, we ended the evening with a dessert course from a local place that makes their own dairy products, and our selections for the evening included raspberry and cantelope sorbets. I'm not that big on sorbet usually, but these were so sweet and creamy and tasted just like the fruits they had in them. I never would have considered making sorbet out of melons, but the cantelope one was just delightful. Served with a plate of fresh fruit on the side, including red raspberries, blueberries, some of the biggest and plumpest blackberries I've ever seen, watermelon, and cantelope, it was the perfect combination making a light dessert that ended a summer dinner nicely. We were served a sweet dessert wine called Late Harvest with dessert, which I'd say was just ok, but I'm not really big on the super sweet wines, so I'm not a great judge of that one.

I really wish we had more than five classes a year because I think I'd do this dinner every month if I could. I've said it before and I'll say it again, this is just another reason I LOVE living here!

noreply@blogger.com (Ms. Maladjusted) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 23:26:00 +0000

Another long day of unpacking and I'm beat. I'm backing up in the spare bedroom, holding a large box on top of the stepstool because I'm too lazy at this point to move them separately. I misjudge the placement of the bed in the new space and end up falling backward in what feels like slow motion, landing square on my ass, hitting myself in the face with all the stuff in my arms. I'm sitting there kind of stunned, assessing the damage. I have all my teeth and they aren't through my lip (though they feel like they should have been), glasses are intact, ankles are not broken. The kidlet is asking me frantically if I'm ok... if she can do anything.

I am overcome with giggles and ask if she has any spare pride or dignity.

Hehehe. Damn I love this new place.