Oh sweet mercy, I just found a place in Dallas that has poutine. Mind it's the chicken-based gravy and not my beloved beef-based, but it's still delicious.

From the Observer review: Marlo’s House 1456 Belt Line Road, No. 120, Garland, 972-530-0912. Open 4-8 p.m. Thursday, 4-9 p.m. Friday-Saturday.

The bacon salt arrived and I opened the bottle of hickory flavor to turn a serving of plain cream of wheat into a cunning vegetarian imitation of bacon grits. NOM NOM NOM.

Other than that my brain has melted from sleeping-as-stress-relief this week and sleeping with the radio on makes me have really bizarre dreams, particularly during The Story.

...

Not something I dreamed: A six-pound chunk of metal that crashed through a Dallas roof turned out to be a part that broke off a commercial mulching machine at a business near the house and not a piece of space debris.

Everything here is pretty much crap (guess how many places I have active infections!), but I just scored bacon salt in a Woot-Off.

The Corn Edamame-Sesame Salad from Veganomicon was a hit at the teacher luncheon. Props to everyone that recommended the cookbook.

The iCarly movie iGo to Japan debuted this weekend. If you don't enjoy the show, I sympathize. My wireless headphones started fading an hour into the 90-minute program. The Newsday review summed it up nicely: "It's not deep, unless you consider a puddle deep, but there's some charm here. Kids will (duh) like it. A lot."

One of Vogon's coworkers keeps an Airsoft gun in his office. I located a t-shirt that says "There is no crying in Airsoft" for Vogon to wear one Friday when he takes his Airsoft gun in and epic lulz ensues. (They work in a mostly-empty building so there is room for horsing around.)

I have been just flattened lately with tiredness lately; please don't think I am ignoring all of you.

Random interesting things that have happened in the past few days:

- Laurel's best friend from kindergarten and first grade has moved back to the area and lives in an apartment complex across the street. We had a last-minute play date on Friday afternoon. Kept her until 9 PM with her mother's blessing. Since the VogonDad came by that evening, she joined us for dinner, which leads to the next point...

- Los Lupes has a new Addison location in the former Joe's Crab Shack on Belt Line. They have mariachi night on Fridays; if you go, take earplugs.

- We got Squeaky a soft-sided carrier that's machine washable. The latter attribute was used almost immediately, as he christened it as soon as the car started moving to head home from PetsMart. He was fine riding loose in the car there and happily rode around in the cart, where he enjoyed eyeing little dogs in other carts and watching the birds.

- A second grader 'sang' the Star Wars Imperial March to me in meows yesterday while I was sitting in the school lobby filling out after-school program paperwork. He was waiting for his mom, who picked him up late following car trouble. Kid's probably a smart cookie, he has the same second-grade teacher as Laurel had.

- saarlander got the luv & bass (a bunch of DJ Rap singles, the reissue of A Propa History, podcasts and her free mailing list tracks from this year) I mailed to Iraq and left me the sweetest voicemail message. I think he says "thank you" in it four times in barely 30 seconds. I would be totally envious of his wife if he wasn't my best friend.

We went grocery shopping today and it was glorious. We have good cheese again (we had been buying the chalky store-brand shreds), lots of fresh produce, multi-grain bread pre-configured for sandwiches and lovely little splurges like jarred Indian sauces and whole wheat with flaxseed English muffins.

The only thing we didn't find was our preferred brand of curry powder. No worries though, iShopIndian.com has the little green cans of delicious at $5.99 for a 500g tin so I just have to resist the lure of RTE paneer butter masala that's on buy 2 get 1 sale. On that note, I really should find the Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham soundtrack one of these days so I can listen to "Say Shava Shava" until that blasted song gets out of my head.

After weeks of drawing a blank on a holiday gift for Dad, I have found a food item that he hasn't had since we moved away from New England and he still talks about missing. (Hint: it's one of my unlinked LJ interests.) Online ordering with FedEx overnight shipping is made of win.

I am thinking get-well soon wishes for Alex Trebek, who suffered a minor heart attack yesterday.

If you're reading this after hearing from me about Troop 737's 100th Eagle celebration next spring, my parents say hi and don't be a stranger!

Best. Headline. Ever.: Hershey Candy Looks Like Drugs

Anyone want to make book on how long it'll be before e-mail forwards warning us of dime bags in delicious mint or orange-flavored packets start hitting our spam filters?

(And I totally agree with a commenter at Gothamist that it would be awesome for Nestlé to be free to "make proper Kit Kat bars with real chocolate instead of brown Hershey wax". I order imported Japanese Kit Kats once or twice a year from J-List.)

Vogon saw Biko outside in the wee hours of the morning today. He reported that she looks fine, had probably just finished eating from the bowl of dry food I set outside the door, and was on the stairs when he saw her. She ran off when he called her name. Hopefully one of us will catch her in the next few days.

In consumerism news, I went to the SIGG website to buy a replacement mud cap for Laurel's water bottle and bought a new bottle in the next size up while I was at it. With a new bottle top and mud cap, I plan to pass her current bottle on to my nephew. I found a Hello Kitty design available two sizes up from her current bottle, but it was out of stock. So were both of the designs I'd like for myself, but I like SIGG bottles more for their durability than worries that my current Lexan water bottle is leaching chemicals into my water. I'll spring for a SIGG once my Lexan bottle bites it.

( Laurel's current, in-transit and not yet purchased SIGG bottles, 25 kb .jpg )

While screwing around on the Internet, I found the perfect grill accessory for machiavelli_f: a Cthulhu Weenie Roaster!

Yeah, it looks a little Punisher-esque, but it's still pretty awesome.

I finally tracked down the source of out pantry moths!

Some time ago, it was a sandwich-size zipper-lock bag full of wheat germ and oat bran mixed together. Yesterday, it looked like a katamari ball.

They also got into the sushi rice, TVP, and a barely-used five pound bag of jasmine rice. I tossed a few other items in nibbled outer bags for good measure.

Lesson learned: dry goods MUST go into an airtight canister or FoodSaver bags before going into the cupboards.

Paging Captain Obvious: Ancient Mexicans Ate Spicy Food from Discovery News.

may_lyn got me dreaming about Hatch chile season, then Vogon surprised me by buying the Tamale King he's been eyeing for a few years. I really am as happy as a Mexican with a leaf blower right now. (:

If you'd like to join us sometime for a tamale-making party, drop me a line with your filling preferences (meats, veg, dessert) and dates that could work for you. (You too, mama May. I'll overnight you tamales.)

I haven't been reading LJ lately because I've been pretty busy in between being sick. Hopefully today's warmth and sun burned out that lingering cough so I'm not feeling like the weather when the next cold front comes through.

Trish, I'll e-mail you in the next few days to discuss food now that I'm not feeling like a walking cold incubator. I've finally gotten caught up on the things I was behind on in January so I am ready to plunge headfirst into kitchen time. A good reason to use my stand mixer is good by me too. (:

The photo Laurel entered in the 2006-07 Reflections Program has advanced to state judging. You can see her in council results (scroll down to McKamy) and area results (scroll down to Photography). I am ridiculously proud of my jiffypickle!

Who sent the SmartLab Weird and Gross Challenge book? It was mailed from Oregon so I have a few guesses, but it's still a very giggle-inducing item to find in one's mail.

edit 10 Feb: The package was from Parent Hacks editor Asha Dornfest. I was a featured ParentHacker in early January and it was a token of appreciation for answering the interview questions. Woo swag!

Yesterday I volunteered at a neighborhood Washington Mutual location's grand opening. Got to meet interesting local people, fed breakfast to a team of cheerleaders, and was frequently mistaken as an employee of either the bank or the local deli that delivered the food trays I was tending. A couple of DJs from Mix 102.9 were there with swag; they hooked me up with copies of Charlotte's Web and The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack. I also traded cards with a balloon twister, jumped in a bouncy castle, and opened a savings account for Laurel. In the midst of my three back-and-forth trips that day, Laurel and I found a geocache, Cliff Hanger (GCMRA6).

Today Vogon encouraged me to sleep late, so I'm /finally/ almost caught up on that nagging sleep debt from being sick this month. After a trip out for groceries and sundries, I marveled at how much better our feline houseguest is doing -- he finally seems to be really alert and is filling back out. Biko is still growling and hissing at him, but she's doing it less and letting him get closer to her. I got the kitchen prepped for Vogon to try his hand at sausage-making (he got the sausage stuffer parts for the KitchenAid mixer's food grinder attachment for Christmas) but he's been sleepy on and off all evening. I'm about to follow suit.

Despite our originally booked flights being canceled both ways due to weather at their respective destinations, we had a vacation. I've got a bunch of photos and a travelogue post coming, but I want to reassure all of you that I'm alive even though I haven't posted lately.

And now, how we rang in the New Year:

It seems my unspoken New Year's resolution has been to try new things that push my social comfort level, so Vogon took me to the Galleria on New Year's Eve to find a dress for our tradition of ringing in the new year dressed to the nines. The whole experience of shopping in a high-end department store was pretty surreal; I felt quite out of place poking around in my casual dress.

With his encouragement and much giggling on my part at the construction details on some of the dresses we looked at (I know I'm not into modern couture, but wow), we left Nordstrom's with a black sheath that I dug on first sight and a red ruched jersey dress with a deeper v-neckline than I'd pick on my own. I am quite amused that I own more dresses than jeans now.

After the mall, we hit Target for a girls' dress for Laurel and shoes to go with our dresses (black slippers with a beading detail for her, a pair of simple slides for me), then on to New Year's Eve dinner at The Blue Fish, where we thankfully weren't the only family with children in tow. Laurel has been demanding miso ever since, so it's time to either make or pick up a block of plain tofu for that. (:

I got distracted by the Law & Order marathon waiting for midnight and wound up watching a few episodes after Laurel went back to bed after the toast, so we all slept in on New Year's Day and had takeout Chinese for a late lunch/early dinner.

Now I'm getting back into the swing of housework with the return to regular FlyLady zones and getting this month's PTA newsletter ready to go to print. Wish me luck, or at least a respite from Laurel recapping cartoon scenes from memory for me every few minutes. (:

Laurel's teacher's birthday is next week, so I asked her earlier this week if she had a favorite kind of cookie or muffin I could make for the class that day. After thinking about it, she told me she'd really like chocolate chip muffins if I could make them. (I haven't met a cake I couldn't make, but she knows Vogon and I as the volunteers that make cheesecake sliced, dressed and plated for PTA potluck teacher luncheons.)

Picking up baking supplies today, I found the little pouches of Betty Crocker muffin mixes have Box Tops for Education on them -- a 10c value on every one of those 76c packets.

I think I've just found my best bet for laying in a good stock of BT4E labels since they're the only clip-and-save program our school participates in. w00t.

Dear Santa,

Please think of me when you go into Williams-Sonoma and look at cake pans, especially the railway cake pan. Enclosed is a photo to jog your memory.

Love,
oddharmonic

We were up late cooking and up early to get things wrapped up -- trshtwns01, we'll be calling you for driving directions soon! -- and Vogon commented that it must be the Pepsi he's been drinking causing him to feel sleepy. I told him I was pretty tired too, so maybe we have a gas leak. (Never mind that we had the gas to the fireplace turned off since we only used it a few times a year.) He replied, "Yeah, a gas leak from my butt!"

Biko is happy as a clam because she's got tuna water.

I have been riding the label maker hard, but I promise not to put it up wet. (;

I realize it's time to go to bed when Gmail clip has the headline "Rice makes surprise visit to Iraq" and I wonder if that means they can't have Chipotle-style burritos anytime they want.

We had to resort to putting the TENS unit on my shoulder yesterday to get that knot out that made itself a nuisance over the weekend, but I was feeling *much* better in time to take minutes at my monthly pack committee meeting.

Miscellaneous good things that have happened since then:

• We tried out Firehouse Subs, our new local sub shop since the departure of Quizno's. They have an impressive hot sauce bar and I'm still amused that they have a sandwich called a New York Steamer (corned beef and pastrami with provolone and condiments, served hot). Laurel was won over by the dalmatian print table tops and so enthralled with the plastic fireman's helmet that comes with a kids' meal that she now wants to be a firefighter for Halloween.


• We ran into a bunch of Vogon's former coworkers at lunch today. It was good to see them and I heard an anecdote about a customer doing something with a report they didn't understand and calling support only to be told they had "changed a tire and caused the transmission to fall out". Hee.


• At the post office (rebelle1 and moment_of_me, your patterns went out today) I scored a book of Gee's Bend Quilt stamps, which made me think of blueeyed, who recently saw the quilt exhibition.


• On the way home from the post office, I heard a helo noise different from the usual traffic reporting ones and looked up to get an eyeful of our local flight museum's recently acquired Bell 47. I had the M*A*S*H theme stuck in my head for the rest of the ride home.