Anyhow, there’s a few things.

I had another frustrating interaction with the Volkswagen dealer service shop on Monday when I brought my car in. Although we called and made an appointment on Saturday and indicated we needed a loaner (and received confirmation that one would be available), they didn’t have one. So I had to sit for 1/2 hour waiting for Enterprise to come pick me up so that VW could rent me a vehicle. You didn’t think I left empty-handed, did you? Or worse… wait for them to work on my car? HA! That’s laughable. I was still completely over the top pissed, though, because a loaner takes about two minutes to get into but renting a car ended up taking over an hour total, even if it didn’t cost me anything. First I had to wait for them to create a PO for payment, then I waited for Enterprise to pick me up, then I had to wait for the porter to shuttle me to Enterprise when they didn’t show up! It was literally across the damned street! I swear if I had known that I would’ve walked over myself and saved 1/2 hour. Enterprise put me in an HHR. The girl at Enterprise kept telling me things like “the only thing you’re responsible for is the HHR” and “when you leave the HHR,” and I finally had to ask her what the hell an HHR is. Of course I was standing right next to it. I didn’t like it, by the way. The windows are really small, so it ends up being really dark in the car and there are a TON of blind spots. Plus, it smelled funny. As if someone had smoked in it and tried to cover it up with cinnamon scented Febreeze or something. Ick. I immediately preset all the radio buttons to decent music stations. I didn’t change them back to the crap they were set to before (AM radio and jazz… did I mention that jazz makes me super tense?), and I didn’t put any gas in it before I took it back. I’m such a rebel. It took so long to get the car and then drive home that VW called and said my car was ready right after I walked in the door which didn’t help my mood at all. Apparently the software update they did last week had caused an electrical charge to build up in the tachometer and they needed to release that charge and that was all. I’m not sure if I buy it or not, but that’s their story. Today my driver’s side window wouldn’t go down for about ten seconds (which I now refer to as THE TEN SECONDS OF FURY). It did eventually go down, so I’m not going to bother taking it in, mostly because I don’t have the patience to deal with them on another intermittent problem that they’ll dismiss so soon, but I have very little faith in my vehicle’s electrical system at the moment.

My Kombucha Round Two is doing awesome! That thin and questionable scoby I had created in the last batch has changed its mind and floated back up to the top of the brew! It’s like a Kombucha miracle or something! I have been better about leaving this batch alone, as well. I have it wrapped up in its little darkness dish towel and I have only peeked in TWO TIMES since the 17th. That isn’t bad, right? I guess that isn’t as many days as I thought. Well, whatever, things are looking good and that’s all that matters.

And finally… (mom seriously if you’re reading this even though you were told not to… see title… please look away now because you’re not gonna like it.)

CC got herself a new little friend.

It truly is a little friend, no matter how large it looks in that photo.  It measures about six inches long MAYBE.  I think that my girl smiled bigger than that when we allowed her to buy it, even though we’ve been on a strict no-pet policy here for the last year or so.  It is a common Garter snake, her second.  The first was wild caught (actually caught in the dead of winter inside of a business, it would have died if she hadn’t taken it), but this one was purchased at a pet store.  She has been on the hunt for another Garter since the last one perished, and I can’t argue that it was probably the best pet she ever had; no noise, no smell, completely docile.

Rules are made to be broken, right?

Sorry to anyone who doesn’t appreciate snakes showing up unexpectedly in their inbox.

As I mentioned, I’ve actually been taking care of my nails and painting them and such lately. Let it be known that this will be the VERY LAST TIME I let my husband have a say in the color selection. I’m more a black, brown, navy kinda girl. Yes, I know I did a crap job of painting them as well, but in my defense I knew this color wasn’t gonna be around long, and it was a working weekend, so I pretty much slapped it on. Sue me.

In other news, today the Blueberry goes back to the shop. Saturday morning as I was driving my family around, my husband looked over and said “what’s up with your tachometer?”. I’m not fooled, he was probably trying to check my speed (but I’ll let it slide this one time). Regardless, the tach is dead, as in 0 RPM at all times. Needless to say I was not pleased, as displayed by my string of curses a mile long. My husband wisely handled the call to the dealership to protect them from my wrath.

He will not be with me when I bring it in. I’m just sayin’.

I did not even taste test the first batch to see how it tasted, because I was scared. It was only started with a dime sized blob from a commercial bottle of GT’s, for crying out loud.

Also, I’ve now scared myself in all my reading that I shouldn’t use the glass bottles I had planned for bottling, lest I blow off a hand or put my eye out. Great. I’m not sure how I am going to resolve that one, because there is no way I’m going to be reusing BPA loaded plastic soda bottles as suggested. Besides which, we don’t drink soda so I wouldn’t even have a source! Ugh. First world problems are the WORST!

So we went to see Hugo in 3D last night as a special treat for the family to celebrate that both my husband and I got paid this week. Personally I get more excited about the prospect of buying fruit at the grocery (because we were literally down to 1/2 of an orange on Friday and I was the lucky one chosen to take it to work for breakfast – since I get off at 11 I don’t eat lunch at work, yo), but whatever!! A movie it is! I drove. Swiftly, I might add. My kids make awesome DJs in the back seat with their iPod plugged into the AUX through the radio.

*have I mentioned how much I love my little zippy Volkswagen? I do, I do.*

Anyhow, I have beef with somebody. I’m not sure who, maybe it’s the movie theatre, maybe the industry itself, maybe the advertisers (probably the advertisers). In a clip prior to the film, there was a little something (like a cartoon-y ad of some sort) about having a good night being in the theatre with friends and a friend says the boy two seats down thinks she’s HOT which turns a good night into a great night. Really? Why o’ why do all girls now have to be HOT? It’s my newest obsessive pet peeve. That expression, to me, implies something sexual in nature (if I must be honest), rather than someone’s appearance. Am I wrong? I don’t like it, is what I’m saying. I want my girl to be beautiful, pretty, exotic looking, cute, adorable or lovely. But HOT? I swear I’ll tell her to kick that boy between the legs. Just sayin’. And yes, I’ve taught my son better than to say that about a gal.

So, that movie. Visually stunning. That boy playing Hugo had some of the bluest eyes if ever there were. Were they digitally enhanced? I don’t know, maybe. They certainly popped, though. For the record I have to say that 3D gives me a headache, but the 3D in this movie really worked to its advantage. I know it’s been out for quite a while now, but I recommend the movie to anyone who hasn’t yet seen it. My family liked it, even though I found it to be sad. I don’t want to give anything away, but I could relate to the boy in a way that my husband and children couldn’t and it did bring tears to my eyes during and after the movie. But I think too much, so there’s that.

Future weekend plans include watching the neighbor throw yard debris over the property line onto my property (can already check that one off the list ~ thank you asshole), laundry, doing my nails (because I paint them now and they are getting too long for fast typing at work… does anyone else have one hand that grows faster than the other?), cleaning, basement work including moving in a bunch of drywall, and a nephew birthday party this evening. More basement work to follow on Sunday.

Please tell me someone has more interesting plans than that?

The instructions said to be patient, that it could take up to 6 weeks for a good usable scoby to form. Admittedly that is a struggle for me, so I concentrated on only checking it every other day. Most days I failed at that, even. Whatever, it’s my nature.

Since I live in the midwest, and my house FEELS cold, I was prepared to wait a long time for the development of a good scoby to use as a mother to brew my tea. The last week or so I was feeling really good about what I was seeing. It was starting to become solid across the entire surface, and thickening up nicely in some parts. I thought maybe this weekend I would have a solid scoby that I could handle well enough to transfer to another batch. When I checked it this afternoon, it looked as if it was getting there but could probably use another week to really firm up. Unfortunately, the tea is starting to smell more vinegar-y, which leads me to believe that I have no choice but to start my next batch this weekend as originally planned. I don’t want to end up growing a mother of vinegar by accident.

I have my next tea/sugar mixture cooling on the counter at this very moment for the next batch!

Even though it isn’t exactly where I want it to be before I try to transfer the scoby, I’m hoping this won’t mess it up too much. If necessary, I will treat this second batch of tea as another throw away culture, just to get that mother ready for brewing. (I hope you know I’m not using the word mother as you would expect outta me… as in mother f**er. Hee hee.)

Here’s what the scoby looks like today prior to being transferred to the new brew.

Ha ha ha, I know… I’m a riot.  I made it a little blanket to protect it from the brightness in my dining room.  Sorry, I just had to put that one in here.  Here is a top view of the scoby, for reals this time…

So the big dark area in the middle is an air bubble.  You can see around that where the scoby is starting to turn white as it thickens up. Eventually it should be solid white across the entire top as the white spots come together.  I guess we don’t have time to wait for that right now.  Insert sad face.

My son just thinks it looks gross.  Maybe you do, too.  I think it looks like progress.

The thing is, on a daily basis I realize that I have many more things to sing from the rafters about than not. And so I do. Maybe my husband doesn’t agree that he sees it all the time, and maybe I don’t always post about it publicly on my blog or Facebook or wherever I’m obsessing on any given day (Pinterest, anyone? Instagram. Yes, please).  But it’s there, in my CONSTANTLY OVERTHINKING mind.

My happiness is greater than multiples of threes.

I have a home that I fall in love with more each day. I have proud children I adore. I have family who holds me in their hearts. I have a job, and if that isn’t enough, I have a job that I really like with coworkers that are more like friends. I drive a Blueberry that likes me so much it doesn’t want to let me out. I have a hard-working husband who makes me laugh almost daily. I have friends that I love like family.  I have my health (to a great degree!).

I love my life and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Happy, happy…nothing but positivity, people!

Enjoy your love day, everyone!

Not recently.

The medical center where I had my million blood tests told me that they had finally gotten my billing straightened out last month, and that the duplicate charge on my invoice would be removed. I found when my new invoice came this weekend, that statement wasn’t true. Today they told me that they never said that, anyhow. I’ve been working on this since last November and thought that I would finally be able to get these charges paid this month and off our plate. Apparently it could be another sixty days.

Last week I brought my car in to be repaired, because the interior lock buttons stopped working intermittently. When I pulled into the bay, the locks weren’t working, and I was able to demonstrate the problem for the technician writing up my repair order. I specifically told him that I didn’t want to be called to pick up the car because they couldn’t recreate the problem and I wanted him to make note that he witnessed it and then get it right into a bay to be diagnosed. They’ve been calling me every day since trying to get me to pick up my car because they “can’t recreate the problem.”

After 13 years, the brokerage firm holding the UTMA account for my son’s college funding has started charging us a $50 fee for “account maintenance.” There is no activity, no advice or council necessary, and the amount exceeds the minimum balance for fees at most firms. They refuse to waive the fee and were unfazed by the threat of losing the account.

After sneaking in our yard when they knew we wouldn’t be home, and avoiding the reporter who wanted to tag along for the inspection, the Village phoned my husband at work today to tell him that we would be getting a letter. There is a two phase project in the works for our area which includes a reroute of the water overflow (tearing up the streets to route less water to the creek in our backyard), and securing a permit from the Army Corp of Engineers for easement repair (where the creek runs). Of course he made all sorts of threatening comments about felling trees and messing with our private property on either side of the creek. Oh, and these projects won’t happen for many years… but they have no intention of doing anything to fix the excessive erosion in our yard. The good news is, we’re welcome to do whatever we want to stop it ourselves. Virtually flipping you off right now, Village Manager.

I thought things only go bad in threes.

Hubby has been hard at work on the basement all weekend.

We needed supplies from Menards, so we made a stop first at the grocery for ingredients to make an easy dinner.  While I was shopping, my phone made its distinctive dinging sound, which meant I had a text.

It was my sister, asking on behalf of her daughter if MY daughter was coming to the sleep over birthday party that started an hour earlier. Preplanned. With USPS mailed invitations and everything.

The evening started an unnatural (and uncomfortable) acceleration from that ding going forward.

Oh, and then there was this on our way out:

Don’t be jealous.  The little one gave me a Valentine, and the big one gave me a hug.  An awkward one, of course, him being in a box and all.  But, I mean, how do you say no to a gift directly from God?  Not a gift just for me entirely, obviously.  Apparently I have to share with all women, if I’m reading the tag correctly.

Yea, it’s been one of THOSE types of weekends.

Go and use the internets and find thee a recipe for glazed ox tail and make it. You will not be sorry.

**Except when trying to separate the meat from the fat. But that only lasts for like 30 minutes…. 45 tops.**

Today it was almost 60 degrees in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I was lucky enough to wade through our creek and backyard to document our easement situation. Now I’m no attorney, but I think that when a creek running through an easement causes this kind of erosion to adjacent private property that maybe said easement owner might have to take some responsibility. Behold:

No, we did not build the fence over a hole originally.

Hubby claims he’s going to do something to rectify the situation this year.

So I put on the waders and walked in the water on this fine day to document the losses. They’re pretty bad, and getting worse every rainfall, every snow melt, every time you so much as look at the damned creek or the wind blows. The Village better step up is all I’m saying.

As you can see, the Great Wall of Z is holding up moderately well.  We had to seal between the beams to stop the alarming loss of soil from behind, which is literally all that is preventing the rest of the fence to remain in the ground.  Just barely.  I’m sure the Village will find some way to use it against us.

We are hamsters on a wheel with this nonsense.  Every year, come spring, the easement and creek remind us of how much they suck.

A LOT.  The answer is A LOT.

It still smells divine, but let me say this now; Ox tail is by far the most disgusting meat I have ever prepared. I think I would rather clean raw chicken with my teeth than have to separate ox tail meat from ox tail bone and fat again in my entire lifetime.

Dis.Gus.Ting.

That being said, I’m sure it will probably be the most delicious meal ever to pass my lips or something. You know, on account that I want to hate it to justify never making it again.

We shall see.

And since we’re on the subject of disgusting, I wanted to update on my Kombucha scoby. The update is that there is no update. It has totally stalled out. My little jellyfish got all white and there were new little jellyfish starting and it was getting foamy bubbles across the top…. and then nothing. I mean everything is still there: the white scoby start, the jelly fish things, the foamy bubbles. But the bubbles don’t seem to be increasing or spreading or connecting, the scoby isn’t getting bigger, and the new little jellies aren’t pulling their weight.

Proof positive that nothing is happening.  Sorry for the very glare-y and grainy iPhone photo, but you get the gist, don’t you? Adding insult to injury, Tribe.net won’t let me on the Kombucha thread (the last time I checked) to try to get some answers from people who might know something.  It’s obvious that I know nothing, and I am at a loss as to what has gone wrong, or more importantly, what hasn’t gone right.

Curses!

Friday night we went to the East with a stir fry. Chicken, veggies, rice…. the usual. We’re actually talking about taking this out of rotation for a while, we have it too often because it’s so easy and quick to throw together (aside from the brown rice). The kids (and myself, really) are getting sick of it.

Last night it was Mexican. Enchiladas, with refried beans, spiced rice, chips and salsa and guacamole. We made everything from scratch aside from the beans, chips, and tortillas. I wish I had the time to make tortillas, because I’m sure they are out of this world.

Tonight it will be Indian. Shawarma chicken in pita with lettuce, tomato, cucumber and tahini. Here’s hoping it’ll be good.  I plan to find some gluten-free pita today, fingers crossed. We may eat this in some Naan, because it blows pita out of the water in my opinion. Of course it’s not gluten-free, and I have no hopes of finding a gluten-free version. I do have a recipe for Naan waiting to be attempted, because it is literally my bread obsession of choice at the moment.

Tomorrow… I have no idea how to classify. I’ll say straight up American, maybe.

I’m making a Glazed Ox Tail recipe that came up in my Google Reader on Friday. Normally I wouldn’t just jump on any recipe that came up, but my husband got home from work telling stories of the Philippine women at work jabbing him that he had never heard of nor eaten ox tail. We just couldn’t have that. I had no idea that it was a multi-day proposition, of course, but there’s nothing I’d rather do on a Sunday morning than handle raw meat.

**Gag**

I will admit that the house smells awesome now while the ox tail does a long boil in the oven. It better be good, because ox tail isn’t cheap (which was actually a surprise considering its history), and it has required some serious effort. Plus, I’m missing my girl’s soccer game; I don’t like leaving the oven unattended.

I would love to say that all of this cooking exempted me from lifting drywall. It didn’t.

Wop wop…