A Self-Inflicted Wound

Charlotte loves Christmas. She also loves cats. When I spotted this Meowy Christmas CD at the library, I knew it would be a home run.

The CD cracks up Charlotte, but she wants to hear it in the car on the way to school. It's been almost a week, and a guy can only handle so many synthesized meows before it starts to drive him crazy. What was I thinking?

These are the recordings that should get a parental warning. 

"Sorry Char, somebody else wants Meowy Christmas. They reserved at the library, and we have to take it back."  Yes! *wraps arms around the knees and rocks back and forth* that would work! Wouldn't it? Yes! It would work! It better work...

PS. I have to believe this Amazon review is sarcastic. I have to believe that, or I'll lose faith in my fellow man.

This year I might like to receive squishes

Charlotte got to play on the computer with her grandpa during the Thanksgiving holiday.

I didn't know what they were working on, but later I spotted this on the laptop's screen.

That's a lot nicer than the note she left Grandpa in the bathroom.

Translation: "Move it! Out of the bathroom! So Long"

For teasing Grandpa, Charlotte was sentenced to doing house chores, which she seemed to enjoy.

FYI: Saint Nicholas, also known as Santa Claus, was born in an unknown month of 270 AD, so he would now be 1,747 years old

The Reviews are In

Daphne has conferences twice this week, so Char and I will have two daddy-daughter nights. I thought we could make one of them a movie night, but there isn't anything in the theaters for us right now. Might as well check the Redbox website.

We've already seen the popular movies like Cars 3, Moana, and Boss Baby, so I was looking at the titles that I hadn't heard of. I've been pretty good about checking product and seller reviews on Amazon and eBay, and it was natural to read the customer reviews.

The comments look to be more entertaining than the films.

If you want to rip on a movie for making mistakes, maybe you should check your own spelling first?

Like telling someone, "I love how you don't care about your looks," this review is a bit of a backhanded compliment.

I think we'll check Netflix.

You Put "------" in Your Chili?

Fall is here, and I'm looking forward to comfort food - stews, soups, loose meat sandwiches, and casseroles are just a few of the highlights. The crock pot is autumn's best friend. I started looking through our recipes last week, but I got bored just reading the ingredient lists. I needed some new recipes to get me fired up about the kitchen this season.

Saturday's cooler temperatures and its sulky, steel-grey sky set the tone for a classic fall meal: chili.

We went to the grocery store to get the red grapes that I needed for the chili. Grapes? Yep. I had searched for "unique chili recipes", and the Better Homes & Garden's recipe for "Fire and Ice Beef and Grape Chili" caught my eye. A chili recipe that calls for a frozen mixture of grapes, red onion, red wine, and red vinegar? I couldn't get that out of my head. This was a recipe that I was excited to make.

"A frozen red wine ice cools our spicy beef and pinto bean chili. To serve, top the hot chili with the frozen mixture and eat immediately." (picture and quote taken from bhg.com)

I couldn't find a pound of boneless beef short ribs, so I used a pound and a half of boneless beef country ribs. (If there is a difference between the two, I don't know it.) Since I increased the amount of meat, I added more chili power. I didn't cook the grapes whole as stated in the recipe's second step. Grape skins are pretty tough, and I didn't think 45 minutes of simmering was going to break them down. To get more of the grapes' flavor, I halved and then quartered them.

How did the chili turn out? It was really good! Adding the frozen wine mix is creative, and it feels a bit "fancy", if that's possible when eating chili. I think the sweetness of the grapes balanced nicely with the chili powder's heat. With ample meat and beans, I didn't ever think I was eating a spicy fruit cocktail. In fact, the grapes weren't a distraction at all, but I don't know if they would work in a recipe that did not include wine.

About that wine, since it doesn't cook down, the alcohol is still in there. At two tablespoons per serving, it's not much, but it's more than what I would give Charlotte. That's a mute point because she is too picky of an eater to even try a taste of this dish.

Chili always gets better after a night or two in the fridge, and I'm looking forward to having leftovers tonight.

Here's the chili without the frozen wine mixture:

Wine mix:

I should had taken a picture of the two together, but was too hungry.

Here's a link to the recipe: Fire and Ice Beef and Grape Chili

That's No Moon!

Before I begin the actual post, I'd like to take a moment to write about the fine line between "showing" and "showing off". 

I spotted a coworker at a public event a few weeks ago. I introduced him to Daphne and Charlotte, and he told Char that her dad brags about her all the time at school. He was giving my daughter a compliment, I think, but later I thought more about the word "brag". 

Charlotte, I love talking about you and Mom, but I don't do it because I want other people to feel jealous. I don't brag about you two or your accomplishments. I talk about you because you are two of the most important people in my life, and you are never far from my thoughts. Some guys have sports, some guys have politics, some guys have work or something else to talk about. I have you. How could I not talk about that?

Also, I don't write this blog because I want to show off. I blog about my interests, and I have fun writing about them. I really enjoy fitting the puzzle pieces (pictures, events, reflections, and videos) into a small story. Writing about my life, family, friends, and hobbies is also a hobby. Writing a blog post can be as satisfying for me as fixing a pinball machine, or a car, or bicycle, or a scratchy, vinyl record.

So, on with the blog. Let me show you what I have been doing.

Back in the early 90's, I found eight Pink Floyd albums on vinyl at the DAV. Ummagumma, Meddle, A Nice Pair, Atomic Heart Mother, Relics, Wish You Were Here, Animals, and The Wall were all for sale for a quarter each. The problem was that there was no artwork. The records were only in clear, plastic sleeves.

That was strange, but the LPs were in nice shape, and even my new teacher's salary could afford a $2.75 price tag. I've been hauling these "naked" records from apartment to apartment to house to house ever since.

Because of my renewed interest in playing and collecting records, I've decided to find the correct covers and sleeves for the Pink Floyd albums. That isn't anything I have to do, but it will be fun. To save money, my strategy is to find decent LP covers with junky records inside them. I'll toss the poor record and replace it with the nicer one from DAV. 

I suppose this eBay seller thought I was a chump for paying $10.63 for a warped and heavily scratched record. 

But the cover art was in pretty nice shape, and that is what I wanted.

$10.88 is not bad for a now complete Wish You Were Here.  

It is too bad that the DAV didn't have a Dark Side of the Moon for sale back in the day. I had the CD, so I didn't take the opportunity to buy a nice LP when they were cheap. Now it is easy to spend $100 up to $1500 for an original pressing of DSOTM. 

I finally bit the bullet and bought a "players copy" that was pressed in Canada. 

The condition of my copy isn't too bad, but cleaning side one with a wood glue treatment removed a lot of the pops and surface noise. 

While the glue was drying on side two, I noticed that the record had a lunar look to it. That kind of looks like the moon.

But once the glue completely dries, the surface goes "dark".

That matches the record's title pretty well.

"Seasons Eatings?" from the Monsons

We were shopping at Target last weekend when we spotted the Halloween section of the store. Everything was 90 percent off. We bought a few decorations that we wouldn't buy at full price. And for $1.38, Maggie can dress up next year, too.

Char picked out the ice cream cone and the hamburger "costumes".

Of the two, Maggie was least offended by the hamburger, but I doubt she'd keep either on for more than a block. To go with Char's ice cream sundae outfit, we also bought a hamburger costume for me and a French fry outfit for Daphne, so at least Maggie can match the family for a photo op next year. 

Hmmmm. Or maybe a Christmas card? Hey, that's an idea!

"Daphne? Can we talk about this year's Christmas card?"

We Have Our Holiday Decorating Done!

What? Doesn't everybody?

I'm just kidding. This is just a movie display at Flix for A Bad Moms Christmas movie.

It kinda puts me in the holiday spirit. But only kinda.