I cleaned out the fridge

…and that’s the recycling that’s left. You understand, there were also plastic storage containers and glass jars that went into the dishwasher (and, curiously, a plastic bag half full of cooked noodles). I realized a few things:

1. I should actually finish the Heluva Good dip before I buy more.
2. I shouldn’t buy cream cheese nearly as often as I do. Or I ought to buy bagels more.
3. Since I don’t like sweet stuff for breakfast I really need to get in the habit of having delicious Noosa Yoghurt as a snack later in the day. Seriously! It’s much too good to let go to waste!

The Blue Moon is from after I finished!

Hockey post with a side of ADD

Point #1:

Sometimes it's helpful to see things from the other side. I'm now following Paul Stewart on Twitter, and he offers some insight into what's going on with the officials on the ice.

We love to hate them (and they sometimes really have it coming). Sometimes they make us laugh. Mike Leggo is beloved by Dallas Stars & other NHL fans because of this.

I don't usually think about the fact that the officials have a history with the coaches and team management as well as the players. Paul Stewart doesn't officiate on ice any more, but this entry in his blog does illustrate how the refs and linesmen might have some preconceived notions about a particular team.

In 1978-79, he played for a very shaky, now-defunct AHL team, the Philadelphia Firebirds. He calls it "a terrible team," "filled with gutless players," who were "not just mediocre in skill (even for the AHL level), they also lacked work ethic and were a bunch of pansies on top of it." He describes this one incident:

The fighting duties were left to me. In 16 games, I scored a pair of goals and had 92 penalty minutes. I wasn't too happy about it, either.

One night in Portland, we were playing the Maine Mariners; the Flyers' affiliate. They were a tough team filled with guys who fought regularly. I tried in vain to fire up the team by stirring the pot before the drop of the puck. Big, big mistake.

I got jumped by a gang of Mariners and was left all alone on the ice to get my butt kicked. I was a bloody mess but screamed at the Maine players to keep bringing it on. They did -- mercilessly. By the end, both of my eyes were swollen shut and I was still standing with my fists cocked, with my own blood streaming. I could only swing blindly by that point. When it was finally over, Coates helped me off the ice.

Not one of my teammates came to my aid. The most anyone did was pair off and hold onto a Maine player away from the six-on-one.

Then he adds:

One of the Firebirds players who stayed as far away as possible was Mike Gillis -- then a Rockies' first-round pick making a brief AHL stop on his way to their NHL team, and now the general manager of the Vancouver Canucks.

I'm guessing that, later on, he wasn't kind to the Canucks when he officiated at their games.

Point #2:

At the game last night I really, really wanted to tell the Stars players two things. First, Dillon, honey—if you're going to spit during the national anthem, you might want to make sure you've not on camera, on the giant Jerry Jr. screen, before you do it. Secondly, to everybody who played in the third period: Your "go to" play (picking up the puck in your own zone, taking it up the boards on the west side, getting pressured in the neutral zone until you dumped it, chasing (without, you know, hitting anybody) and gathering it up on the east side of the Devils' goal, then getting it taken away from you) didn't result anything positive the first forty times you tried it. Were you thinking that the 41st time's a charm…?

Point #3:

Stars Director of Customer Service, Daniel Venegas, commented at a recent STHC meeting, "No matter how bad you [the fans] feel after the team loses, the players feel worse." Okay. That's worth keeping in mind. [sigh]

So I take it back about the sad level of play last night.* But not about the spitting thing. Really!

*Except to agree with head coach Lindy Ruff, who told reporters, “In the third, I thought for a long while if there was a shot on goal people would give us a standing ovation.”

Holidays

I started to post this on Facebook, as a comment on a friend's post, but realized it was going to be too long. She said,

"I’m always bemused by those few who think that this time of year has always been and should only be about the celebration of their personal savior's birth -- those publicly decrying others who shamefully celebrate the season for other reasons or in a more secular fashion. The spirit of the holiday is being lost in the name of the spirit of the holiday.

Actually, their early church came late to the game -- usurping the sacred time and traditions of Druids, Romans, Scandinavians, and myriad other cultures celebrating the winter solstice -- that yearly turning point, bringing promise of the renewal of the cycle of life. 

I say, keep the win in winter.

It must be the agrarian mother cultist in me."

Hear, hear! Yes, I do celebrate Christmas. But the thing is…

First of all, the Santa Claus holiday has nothing to do with religion and, frankly, it annoys the heck out of me when people put up a Christmas tree, open presents and act like they're taking some kind of a stand for Christianity. The Santa holiday is secular, for all to celebrate, and doesn't mean you're endorsing any religious beliefs. It's about good will, for crying out loud, and everyone can support that, surely!

Secondly, if you're really approaching Christmas as a religious holiday, make sure you're doing something religious to celebrate. Going to church? Studying scripture in connection to Advent? (Which is NOT a festive time, BTW, it's a reminder that the world needed a savior because we were lost, drowning in sin. Uh, whoopee…?) Again, decorating a tree, wrapping presents…not religious.

And, while we're at it, Christmas isn't a big Christian holiday. Easter is the big one. Christmas celebrates Jesus being born, and everybody was born. If you believe that Jesus was who he said he was, then what you want to celebrate is the fact that he overcame death. (See, not everybody does that.) I've read that we actually started celebrating Christ's birth because there were all kinds of celebrations going on around the Winter Solstice anyway, and either we wanted to get in on the party or were trying a little under-the-table proselytizing. ("You have a party in December? You must be Christian! No, really, that's when Christians have parties, so….")

And, yes, okay, I can understand my friend Barry's objection to "holiday trees," and "holiday parties" that just happen to coincide with the Christmas season. He's Jewish and pretty religious, and he's not offended by other people celebrating Christmas but he doesn't celebrate it himself, not even when it's thinly disguised as non-Christian. His response to the reasoning in that first paragraph above is that the basis for Christmas is Christian. He gets that it's largely secular now, just like Valentine's Day or Halloween, but can't bring himself to join in. I can respect that, but…(keep reading).

Finally, could we all agree, no matter what our spiritual beliefs are, that it's nice to have one month a year when people think they ought to be nice to each other? Can we all get behind that? If you celebrate a holiday during that time, great. Happy whatever-is-appropriate-to-your-beliefs. If you don't celebrate any other holidays, then call it End of the Year Time of Reflection, or Beginning of a New Year of Hope and Opportunity. Just don't get your nose out of joint because other people don't believe the same thing you do.

As long as we all agree that the calendar changes and a new year starts in January, it's a worldwide holiday. Everybody gets to play. So unpucker and show a little good will.

Sorry for the long silence

Sorry to be away so long. I actually had posts for those last few days of November, but we were visiting my family in San Antonio, and I was having too much fun to take time to post.

Right now we're in the middle of Icegeddon, the second time in a few years that the DFW area (population 6.6 million) has gotten serious ice storms and been shut down. I'll be back when I have something to say that doesn't involve cursing. (My nerves—and Rich's—are starting to wear thin. If I disappear, he did it. If he disappears, he probably just ran off. Yeah, that's the ticket.)

Just one more day

This is the second time I've written this. If Blogger (or Safari or my ancient iPad, whichever is responsible) loses it this time, this is just going to be a blank page.

I'm afraid today I'm still focused on my funny, entertaining family. After spending the day with them, I'm still gratified and very thankful for how witty, warm and gracious they are. And we DO love to cook together! So, like, Thanksgiving is a pretty good time for us.

Tonight, Al heated up the ham left over from last night, Suzanne made a delicious kale salad with Caesar dressing, and I made…

Cindy's Savory Kugel von Turos Csusza

Ingredients:

16 oz noodles
4 (or more) slices of bacon
2 cups sour cream
1-1/2 cups cottage cheese
2–4 eggs

Garlic powder
Onion powder
Salt & pepper

Pinch of sweet smoked paprika

Directions:

Cook noodles to al dente stage, according to package directions. Drain and set aside. While noodles are boiling, cook bacon until crispy. Crumble and set aside.

Mix noodles with sour cream, egg(s), cottage cheese and bacon. Add garlic power, onion powder, salt & pepper to taste. Pour into a 2-qt baking dish. Sprinkle paprika on top.

Bake at 350 degrees for about half an hour.

And good luck with all of your Thanksgiving goodies tomorrow!

26th Day of Thanksgiving

…or T-minus just 2and counting.

Today I'm thankful for these people:



…well, I never could get them all grouped together to take a photo. Take my word for it, they're lovely, and a warm, witty bunch.

I'll try again tomorrow.

25th Day of Thanksgiving

T-minus 3 and counting! How did Thanksgiving get so close? Where was I?

Today I'm thankful for…you know, this is kind of hard. Not that I don't have a great plenty to be thankful for, it's just kind of hard to find a completely different thing every day for 28 days. When I start writing an entry and think, "Now, what am I thankful for?" I tend to come back to the same handful of things over and over: my health, my family (including the ones I married), the pets I love so much (and the fact that Biddy is doing so well), my good luck in being born and living in the circumstances I enjoy…that's just the basic good stuff. There's so much more that's just gravy!

So today I'm going to say I'm thankful for an embarrassment of riches when it comes to having things to be thankful for.

(No, that is not cheating!)