Fran's Ramblings

Relief is on the way. . .?

I've been talking to Lillian about how best to handle this headachy/dizzy/nausea thing, since it's obvious to me that my doc has decided that I'm depressed despite my assertions that I'm not.

Then the boss sat me down and said I needed to think about what was going on health-wise and fix it.  He also agreed that I don't have depressed symptoms, but it's just not normal to be dizzy this often for this long.

I can read the writing on the wall.  Especially when it's presented with a 2x4 upside the head.

But what to do?  Besides seriously think about a new doc, that is.

And I decided to go to the chiropractor, to see if there's something he can do.

The joy is that I chose the boss's chiropractor, so he knows where I am and that I'm not slacking off, so if I'm late to work -- which I was, by about an hour and half with my first appointment -- he knows why.  And he can't be pissy about it because, remember, he sat me down and said I had to do something.  So I am.

It's been about seven years since I've seen a chiropractor, and I'm always a little nervous.  I don't dispute that they do good work, but it's the cracking sounds, the popping and all, that make me nervous.  I don't even like to hear them in other people, so when they happen INSIDE me, I tend to be a little skittish.

But I haven't felt good so the time has come.

The first appointment took about two hours, which I didn't expect although in retrospect I should have.  The paperwork alone takes a good half hour.  Are you allergic to. . .have you ever had. . .does someone in your family have. . .what are your symptoms. . .along with all the legal stuff, privacy disclaimers and whatnot.

Then I had the initial discussion with a secondary doc to go through all the symptoms and what's going on.  Intake info, basically, and initial assessment about the state of my skeleton.  We even discussed my stupid left knee, which still really hurts sometimes.

Between these installments, there was plenty of time to read (finished the Child, started on the Preston/Child, ohmygod for both).  Comfy chairs, anyway.

Finally I saw the doc and we went through what all I was experiencing, he did his own evaluation, and then sent me off for X-rays.

I have to laugh.  Anyone who's been in theatre knows that parts are parts, some are more attractive than others perhaps, but parts are parts.  And doctors know this.

So I had to strip down to shirt and panties, and they gave me a flimsy paper gown that ripped about the time I took a breath.  But see, they gave me two of them so when one tore, I'd have a back-up. Okay.  However, since the X-ray room was adjoining my exam room and I didn't have to go traipsing down the hall, I had no problem just using the one ripped up paper thing.

Which made the tech (who was also the intake info guy) a little nervous and kinda puzzled.  And oddly relieved.  It was easier just not to mess with the stupid thing and get the 12 shots over with.  And he was especially confounded and relieved when I told him he could skip his little leaded triangle.  Nothing in the "girl parts" division to worry about; it's all long gone.

Got dressed, more reading, and then the main doc again, who hauled me out to a treatment room and proceeded to twist my head off my neck.  It took four tries before things popped, but pop they did, and my headache was gone.

Just gone.  Poof.  Loved it!

Then he tried to pop my middle back.  Heh.  I'm a challenge.  By the second session with him, he got one tiny pop.  Progress is being made.  Slowly.

And he worked on my wonky knee.  Now here we have a definite WAHOO.  It feels MUCH better since he  twisted it around and limbered it up.  I'm much happier about that!

So I go back on Tuesday for X-ray results, and I'll keep you posted, but I think we may be on the right track here.  Things are definitely looking up!

More WTF, seriously

Yes, the wolves have let go of my head and I'm grateful.  Onward and upward.  Or, in this case, downward and deeper.

Where, oh where to begin?

Well, let's start with themes near and dear to my heart.

Virginia is for lovers.  Except, of course, if you're gay.  Well, you knew that.  But what you may not know is that now, if you work for the State and you are gay, it is completely legal for your employer to fire you for being gay.  Didn't used to be, but now it is, thanks to the Governor. 

I know.  Doesn't it make you feel all warm and fuzzy to know that civil liberties are being taken away?

Of course, if you live in West Virginia, you never had them, so quitcherbitchin.  You're gay and you wanted to live together?  No can do.  No Fair Housing Act for you! But then, there may be plans to change that.  Still, you can change the laws but not your landlord. If he doesn't want you to be there, he'll find another way to kick you to the curb, no question about it.

But enough about gay people.  Let's spend the rest of our time together today discussing parenthood, shall we? 

Now whether or not you agree with the country's abortion policy, the fact is that it is still law.  

Now, however, Florida has introduced a bill that will make performing any abortion, even one where the child was conceived through incest or rape, punishable for the doctor by life in prison, directly in violation of Roe v. Wade.  And the folks backing it up are doing so with lies.

They're saying that sex education and condoms don't work, that having an abortion will lead to a 40% increase in breast cancer, and some of the folks who are supporting this bill freely admit they've never been inside a Planned Parenthood and have no idea what goes on in their.  But not only did they drink the Kool-aid here, they're swimming in it. 

Wouldn't it make more sense to find out the facts first?  Ah, but why let facts get in the way of belief!

Okay, so there's that.

But then back in Virginia, good old Virginia, Republican Bob Marshall came up with the astounding notion that birth defects are God's punishment on women -- not men, you understand, not the fathers, just women (a little mysogenation there, reckon?) -- who aborted their first born child.

Again, ignore any inconvenient facts, like there are women who've had abortions and have gone on to have successful and healthy pregnancies, or women who've never had an abortion, who have lived religious and conservative lives and who have had handicapped children.  Pay no attention to these things.

And again, the demon here is Planned Parenthood.  These people must be saints, to put up with this nonsense day in and day out and keep providing women with health care. 

So then let's slip across the country to Utah, shall we?  Where they have decided to criminalize having a miscarriage.

I shit you not.

The statute reads that the crime is "intentional, knowing or reckless act of the woman" (notice once again how it's women who are at fault here?) can be punishable up to life in prison.  And you know darned good and well it'll be men who decide if a woman is "reckless".

Have a glass of wine and then miscarry?  Reckless.  Jail for life.

Have horrific morning sickness for weeks on and observe out loud that you wish it would just end and then miscarry?  Jail for life.

Go to have a legal abortion -- which is still State sanctioned, mind you -- and have something go wrong?  You got it. 

Trip and fall down the stairs while pregnant?  Well, you won't be getting pregnant again in jail, will you?

Scary shit, my friends.  Legislating morality has never been successful.

And women, my dears, should you become pregnant, your time in the maternity ward will prove to you that being a pregnant woman means you are obviously incapable of looking after yourself, and others will make your choices for you.

Think I'm joking?  Think those days are all in the past?

Nope.

Read the article.  Women who are forced, literally sometimes, physically forced, to have Cesareans, even when they were not necessary.  This is not a recounting of things that have happened in days gone by.  These outrages are happening to women all across the country right now!

So be sure you have someone who will fight for your decisions when you go into labor, because hospitals and legal systems can override your desires here.  After all, you're pregnant and are, de facto, insane because of your hormones.

Okay.  I think that's enough for one day, don't you?

So let's end with a happy thought, shall we?  Because while people can't seem to get along, animals can.  CUTENESS ALERT!  Be forewarned, serious -- almost diabetic-inducing cuteness -- is about to ensue.

You've been warned!

 

 

Have a great weekend, and remember, if there's something you'd like to tell the world, Fridays here are your platform!

Annoyances

I'm still in the throes of headachitis and being kinda achey all over and feeling generally pretty punky.  Thank you for all your good wishes, though!

However, that has left me in a bit of a mood, so here are ten things that bug the snot out of me right now.  Disclaimer: This list is subject to change at a moment's notice and is only valid for the precise second I'm typing it.  But I bet tomorrow I'll still think most of them are true!

I'm not going to number them because they aren't in any particular order.  I loathe all ten of these things equally.  I think.

-->  People who speed up to pull in front of you and then slow down, even though there's NO ONE behind you and if they had stayed at the speed they were going, I'd be far enough ahead of them so that they'd feel like they were still in front. 

-->  The numbskull on the bus who has been standing there, waiting like me for the last 15 to 20 minutes, sees the bus coming, bullies their way to the front to be the first one on the bus, and then has to stop and dig through pockets to find change.  I cannot begin to tell you how very much I cannot stand you!

-->  You, on the cell phone walking down the street.  LOOK UP.  Stop staring at the pavement while you walk.  Other people are walking here too, and you're not so important that we should all have to swerve around you.

-->  And to all of you in the grocery store who leave your carts in the middle of the aisle while you wander around looking for just the exactly right can of ravioli?  Don't be surprised if, one of these days, you come back to find your cart four aisles over and filled with bags of beans.  Or cat litter.

-->  Oh, and while you're in the grocery store, please leave that yappy little dog outside!  I don't want your Pookie's fur all over my strawberries.  Unless your chihua-doodle is a seeing eye designer dog, it can stay in the car with the windows cracked.  Or at home, peeing on your carpet.

-->  No, you don't get to return the book to the shop simply because you didn't like the way it ended.  You read it, didn't you?  So it's used.  We can give you credit or you can give it away.  But I'm not refunding your money because you didn't like the story.

-->  City official who decided we had to have a mailbox cluster at the end of our cul-de-sac?  I wasn't thrilled, but hey, whatever.  However, deciding to move the friggin' thing two months after you put it up and a week after we started using it, and moving it so that we now have to stand IN THE PUDDLE where your fellow City engineers did not put the drain, I want to hurt you.  A lot.  Especially when it rains.

-->  Store clerks everywhere, when I ask you where something is and you tell me it's on aisle 8 "back there towards the end", and later on you come wandering by and see that I still have no idea where the item is because your directions were so specific, try actually showing me rather than smiling and walking on past.  Customer service isn't so hard.  I work retail; I know.

-->  Wait staff at restaurants, if you take my order and then discover that the kitchen's out of it, please don't wait an extra half hour and then, just before you bring everyone else's food tell me you don't have it and would I like something else.  Please?

-->  Neighbors one and all.  The side of our house, you know, that spot where you park all the time without asking?  That is not a convenient trash disposal area.  How about if we start bringing all the nifty things you've left cleverly hidden behind that one big rock over to your friends' house and dump it in their yard.  That be okay with you?

So yeah, maybe I'm a little pissy today.  Maybe.  A little.  And I'm afraid I may have a rant or two for tomorrow as well.  More annoyances, but on a national level.  *sigh* 

Anyway, thanks again for the good wishes, and I hope your Thursday isn't filled with idiots.

Sorry, my darlings

Rabid rats with their sharp nasty teeth and vicious badgers have been clawing the insides of my skull today, shredding the backs of my eyeballs, while death metal band light shows have been strobing on and off.

Why yes, I have had a migraine.  In fact it's still there, lurking, poking at my temples and throwing out the occasional pulse bomb, either at the base of my neck or, at times for fun and variety, into my stomach.

I am not having a good time.

For a while today, when I had to use my phone to do some texting, I had to hold it kind of off to the side and squint at it. 

Fortunately the sun went away today and we had what should be typical February cloudiness and drizzle, which helped.  And Isis cuddled up, ostensibly trying to make me feel better, but I suspect that actually she was just trying to absorb heat.  She's not at all fond of being the least bit chilly.

Anyway, that's all you get for today, I'm afraid.  It's been a while since I've had one of these that has lingered like this, and I'm not enjoying it.  Even with Better Chemistry, it's been a rough day, despite napping and time spent with the ever-intriguing Jack Reacher (when I could focus my eyes enough to read). 

Tomorrow I'll try to come up with something either witty or provocative but for now, sadly my dears, you're on your own.  Play nicely!

Update, and fire.

Update about yesterday's post.

Now the FBI is involved in "Web-Cam Gate" (and when can we stop using "Gate" for every scandal?  But there you go, it works), and lawsuits are flying and subpoenas are flurrying around.  Not surprising, really.

But according to the Daily Kos, at least some progress is being made.  Turns out school officials admit to using the cameras at least 42 times in the last 14 months, although they pinky-swear that it was just to track down missing laptops.

Except that dog won't hunt because obviously the Robbins boy's laptop wasn't missing, and that's not what they were reproving him for anyway.  Apparently that Vice Principal thought she saw our lad popping pills, possibly with an eye to selling them, and that's what set this whole thing in motion.

The fact that those "pills" turned out to be Mike 'n Ike candy makes the whole thing even more surreal somehow.

Hat tip to Tammy for that update!

Now, on to more mundane things.

As I've observed, the weather here has been particularly mild and so we've reinstituted our summer habit of grilling on Mondays, and we grilled enough meat for the rest of the week really.  Steaks (and zucchini, of course) for tonight, chicken for enchiladas (provided it survives lunches), carne asada for burritos and possibly to be mixed in with eggs (with green chile, naturally) and bratwursts for Ryan and me (his beef, mine with cheese).

My focus, however, isn't on the food but on the grilling.  Or rather the smell of grilled meat.  Those of you who are vegetarian might want to wander off right now.

There's something about meat cooked over fire that is especially nummy, in my opinion.  I'm sure it's unhealthy, aside from the fact that too much meat is supposed to be unhealthy.  Carbon and whatnot, anyway.

Don't care.  Love it anyhow.

And there's something about the smell of grilling and fire on a chilly evening that just makes me smile.  I sleep better when it's colder out and there's the tang of woodsmoke in the air. 

Maybe it goes back to my SCA days, when I would collapse into my tent after a day spent doing all the things one does at an event during the day -- fighting or watching fighting, taking classes, eating, shopping, puttering around the camp -- followed by sitting around the fire and chatting or singing or drinking heavily.  Or all of the above.

In any case, the days when we grill are some of the best.  I'd love to have a fire pit out back, and maybe someday we'll get a free-standing one.  But even so, the smells on nights like this make me happy.

And sleepy!  So good-night and I hope your Tuesday finds you happy!

WTF?!

When I started teaching, I was surprised at the fact that I didn't have enough textbooks for each of my students.  But the district I taught at, while large geographically, was (and probably is) incredibly poor.  Seriously poor.  I had students who lived in homes without running water.  More than a couple.  Poor.

So I adapted and in time discovered that I enjoyed the freedom of not being shackled to a textbook.  After a while, I had trouble using them, so for the most part, I didn't.  It worked out okay.

And we were kinda jazzed when Channel One came in, despite the issue of losing teaching time to televised news, because they paid for each classroom to have its own television, and we could use them as we saw fit except for news time.  That was a huge technological advance.

Then too, we had a computer lab.  It could handle up to four classes at a time, which was not much in a 2200 student school, but it was a start.  Now, I understand, there are some computers in most classrooms and all the teachers have them, but when I was there, that wasn't the case.

So when I heard about schools issuing students laptops, I was amazed and a bit jealous.  Oh, to have that kind of money!

And I can see the pros and cons of it.  If a teacher can access the hard drive at any given time, said teacher could verify that homework is in fact being done.  And it would level the playing field, so everyone would have the same processing programs. 

Of course I would assume there would be some blocks on it.  I mean, you don't want your students surfing the Net for porn, after all, not on a school issued laptop!  But I could see where it could have some advantages.

As a parent, I'd be a bit nervous, figuring I'd be financially responsible if little Johnny decided that, rather than doing his homework, he "accidentally" dropped the laptop in the fishtank, but the school districts that are doing this tend to be in the ritzier neighborhoods, so perhaps replacing a school laptop might not be a huge financial burden.  What do I know?

But I thought it was kinda cool, right up until I read about the Lower Marion District high school in Pennsylvania. 

Then I got seriously creeped out.

Did you hear about this? 

The school district issued the laptops, parents signed the appropriate paperwork, students too I imagine, all describing the usage and whatnot.  Makes sense.

But apparently the school could remotely access not just the hard drive, but the webcams, possibly complete with sound.  And neither the students nor the parents knew! 

Which means that at any given time, someone from the school could be watching little Johnny or Janie getting dressed, wandering around au naturale, jerking off.  Because a lot of students don't bother to shut down their computers.  They simply walk away and leave them up and running.  And it was a school laptop, so who cares if the battery wears down or there's a power surge and it fries.

The school's voyeurism was discovered when a vice-principal tried to discipline a student for his behavior AT HOME!  Like it's the principal's business!  Unless the kid was committing some horrific, truly dreadful act, it certainly isn't the school's business.

And what had they seen before this all came to light?  What other things did they spy on?  If the kid left the computer on in the living room, what might the vice-principal have seen going on?  Were they taping it?  They were obviously recording in some way because the VP used a screenshot to prove his point. What other screenshots might he have tucked away?

I'm nauseated and appalled and offended.

But you know what really scares me? 

The fact that there are people out there who aren't nauseated and appalled and offended.

There are people who are taking the stance of "if you don't have anything to hide, why do you care?" and "why shouldn't the school be watching what's going on in their students' lives?".  These people don't seem to have any concept of privacy or boundaries. 

That really scares me.

Which is why I'm left thinking WTF? and being glad that, when I taught, my school couldn't even afford textbooks for all the students.  At least they avoided this particular nightmare!

 

I am not June Cleaver

I'm of an age when I figured there was a decent chance I'd end up being a housewife, and after more than a few years working, I've thought maybe it would be nice.  Stay home, keep house, have dinner on the table, you know, generally be domestic.

Don't laugh like that!  It's rude!  And I have thought about it, more than once.

However, I am not intellectually or emotionally suited to such a role, I have discovered.

First of all, as we all know because I've said it time and again, I'm a rotten housekeeper.  Granted if that's all I had to do all day, I bet I'd be better at it.  Never good, though.  No compulsive dusting or making sure knick-knacks are properly displayed.  There are too many other things I'd rather be doing: reading, sleeping, playing on the computer, hitting my head with a hammer.  You know.  Fun stuff.

Like I said yesterday, today I was gonna take a mini-vacation, hang out, rest up.  Be guilt-free lazy.  And I did, easily until about 1:30 or so this afternoon.  Maybe a bit earlier. 

And we're talking LAZY.  I had low-carb ice cream for breakfast, watched "West Wing" and then segued into Alien and Aliens, had pizza for lunch at 11:00, and killed things on EQ2.  Totally irresponsible.  It was lovely.

But then I remembered I'd promised to make a new kind of brownie that maybe Lillian and I can have.  It's a strange and funky recipe, but it sounded like it had potential.  What I didn't know is that it had pitfalls too. 

The recipe is for Amazing Black Bean Brownies, and after my initial "eww, beans?  I don't think so!" reaction, I could see the possibilities.  And we had all the ingredients, so what the hell, give it a shot.

Okay, so I could have planned better, and ultimately we didn't have enough light agave nectar, but from the other end of the recipe, I can tell you that what we had was enough for us.  We're out of the seriously sweet mode nowadays.

But the first problem I had was the fact that it took much longer for the chocolate to melt into the butter than they said.  Okay, not a big deal but I should have seen it for the sign and portent it was.

Second problem.  We don't have a food processor.  Or if we do, I don't know where it is or how to use it.  And the beans have to be smooth.  It says so and I believe it.

I drained the beans thoroughly, cutting my finger on a sharp protuberance in the process (omens, always omens, but by then I was committed to the project, dammit!  and at least I kept blood out of the mixture), and then looked around for a suitable device for the smoothing of the beans.

We have two hand-held processors, a blender, a mixer and an old fashioned potato masher.  I used them all.  Guess what I learned?  Beans clog up blades faster than anything.  They're like glue.  It took for bloody ever to get the beans reasonably smooth, and frankly, I can't guarantee there's not a little one lurking in there somewhere.  Bah.

The recipe calls for a really big dish.  I was skeptical because once you've got the beans and chocolate mixture together, it's not so big.  Ah, but once the eggs go in?  Swear to all the cooking gods, the batter doubles.  It's magic. 

So it's all done, and I made a poblano/hamburger casserole for dinner (chile juice and cut in finger -- omens and cursing, just sayin') all from scratch.  Okay, I didn't make my own cheese nor did I grind my own burger.  Be serious.  But the rest of it, yeah.

Two loads of dishes, a vaguely demolished kitchen and we have casserole and dessert. 

I'm exhausted.  I don't know how women used to do shit like that day in and day out.  I'm a weenie.

But the brownies were okay.  I want to make them again, but I want to use the full amount of agave nectar, I want to use a pre-processed black bean paste, and I want to use something besides coffee as a flavor.  Maybe ground hazelnuts instead.  Lillian suggested chicory.  We'll see.

In any case, I stand in awe of the June Cleavers of the world.  I couldn't do it!

Fortuitousness

One of my colleagues is moving away, and while I'm sad for us, I'm happy for her. Marie worked for us full time for a while, but her husband's health necessitates their moving.

She's been working part-time, filling in when we've needed time off (which we have done) so we've all decided to contribute a day so that she can have a little extra cash for moving.  It seemed like the most practical going-away gift we could give.

Thursday is my day, and it comes at a really good time.  In fact, if things were still status quo, I'd've probably asked for her to cover for me anyway.

Do you ever have times when it feels like everything's just kinda piling up on you?  I've reached that point, and the silly thing is that in reality, nothing much is piling up.  Things are a little hectic around here, but it's nothing extraordinary.  And yet I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed.

It's temporary, of course, and I had come to the conclusion that a mini-vacation, just an extra day off to kick back, was probably the best course of action.  Sometimes you just have to do something a little different, shake things up a bit, perhaps even be a bit selfishly indulgent, and I believe I've reached that point.

So tomorrow I'm playing authorized hooky from work, and the timing is fortuitous.  Did I set myself up to need a day off, since I knew it was coming up now?  Or did the arrangement of the day off come just as I needed it because the Powers That Be knew it was time?

Who knows?  Who cares? 

Anyway, I'll be spending Thursday being a bit self-indulgent. 

I see brownies in my future. . .and fingers crossed, they're the kind that won't affect my blood sugar too badly!  I'll keep you posted.

Have a grand Thursday, my dears.  See you on the other side!

What do you say?

Today a friend made public that her husband is very ill.  Here's what she said,

"Just after Thanksgiving weekend, my husband, Bruce, was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer. It has already metastasized to his bones, his adrenal gland and to an area surrounding his heart. It is incurable. It is inoperable. And the chemo doesn’t seem to be working."

I'm not speaking out of turn here, she put it on a public blog. 

But my heart is breaking for her and for Bruce.  He's a fighter, no question, and he's standing strong in the hurricane, and she's right there beside him.

She says, "I’m learning a new language of pain and loss."

And it is a whole new language, as anyone who's had to spend time around hospitals knows.  I learned it with Lou, certainly.  Talking to doctors, talking to nurses to find out what the doctors weren't saying, talking to specialists, talking to hospice folks.  I learned a lot, but by the time I got onboard with Lou's care, much of the language had been distilled. We may have been using euphemisms part of the time, but we knew.  No more treatments, no more diagnoses.  We were there and the language was fixed.

Not so for Louise and Bruce.  They're still learning.  And each day has new lessons.

So what can you say in situations like this?  I never know.  And somehow words seem so inadequate, wishing that with harsh language or pleas you can stop the tide. 

Which is not to say it can't happen.  I do firmly believe in miracles.  Always have.  There's so much we don't understand about our bodies and the way things work, and I don't doubt that stranger things have happened than Bruce getting better. And I hope, oh how I hope, and I'll pray too. 

But in the meantime, what do you say?

I've offered what I could, and while I know we could help more if we were down there, the fact of the matter is we're not.  So really, all I've got is words and time, both of which I've offered up, and I do sincerely hope she'll take me up on it. 

Still, my feelings won't be hurt if she doesn't.  I understand.  Sometime you've gotta keep things close and private too. 

What do you do in situations like this? 

Tears don't help, although I have and will shed them. 

I just wish I knew.

Presidents' Day

How did you spend the holiday?  Was it a holiday for you? If not, thank you for working!

For the first part of the day, Lillian worked on the Bitty Truck (not to be confused with Baby Truck, you understand) while I faced the evil warehouse grocery store, which, while still a pain in the patoot, was much better than on weekdays.  So we are now stocked with foodstuffs and whatnot for the week.

May I just interject here about the SCANDALOUS price of groceries? I'm not gonna say how much we spend a month on them, but damn!

Ryan had to work but had the day off from school, and he wandered out while we were finishing up lunch, so the three of us spent some family time playing EQ2.  We gave ourselves a time to call it quits, and we only overran by 20 minutes, so we're very proud of ourselves.  I do wish we could create a greater number of characters, though.  I don't like being limited to a total of seven.  I'm greedy.

Afterward, Lillian went back to the truck, I bounced between laundry, shoveling up the leaves, and watching last week's "NCIS" which I missed, while Ryan solved a photo problem for the shop, then got ready for and went to work.

Lillian and I did what all good Americans do on a holiday, we grilled.  Okay, maybe not those of you who are still under ten feeet of snow, but you've gotta admit, it's an American tradition.  Holiday?  Barbecue! 

What did we have?  Well, I shall tell you, and I'll even share a recipe.

We had grilled zucchini, chicken marinated in the ginger/soy/anise/cinnamon/garlic concotion (no, that's not the recipe, and that's not all the ingredients either), beef marinaded in same, and beef marinaded in teriyaki sauce.  Oh, and we grilled up some chicken sprinkled with garlic salt that I'm going to shred and put into enchiladas later in the week.

The recipe is for the grilled zucchini, and Ryan taught it to us.  You lop off the ends of the zucchini, slice them in half (and actually, I cut those in half so basically I've quartered the zucchini. It makes them easier to handle) but do NOT peel them, drizzle them with olive oil, lightly sprinkle them with celery salt (which I forgot for ages, and it really does make a difference, but don't get too heavy-handed with it, which I've also done), and the cover them with grated paremsan cheese.  Don't use fresh stuff, the stuff in the green container is really best for this.  We've tried it and we're serious.

Grill them (or broil them, but watch them carefully here) until the cheese is kinda melty and browning, and the zucchini is squishy and done.  That's why you don't peel them, by the way.  The skins get lovely crispy when you grill them, and they keep the squishy squash from splooging all over the grill.  They will, however, leak all over your chin when you bite into them.  That's part of the fun. 

Now we're sitting here, being complacently full, thinking the chicken in garlic/soy really will go well cold over a salad for lunch, and being astonished at how very filling it all is.  We didn't even touch the beef, but I see a salad there too.  Or burritos. 

Actually, the only thing we didn't do was think about our Presidents.  Yeah, it's their day, and each one of them did at least one thing right I'm certain, but actually, I'm just pleased to have had a day with my family, doing domestic stuff.  Boring as hell to read about, I'm sure, but there ya go, that's how it went.

And I hope you had a great holiday, if you got it, and a fabulous Monday if you didn't.  Have a grand rest of the week, my dears.  I'm going off to gently belch and prepare to watch "Castle", which is not even a guilty pleasure.  I just enjoy it.

Oh, and if you're a FaceBook junkie, there's a new page you can be a fan of -- DUCKY'S got his own page!

If you don't know Ducky, go over to the photo albums and see what he's like.  But if you do know Ducky, you gotta be a fan!  Wahoo, the world can now see what Ducky's been up to!

Not, of course, to be confused the the character "Ducky" on NCIS, although I'm certain they named David McCallum's character after our Ducky!