Category: Daily Life

…and yet I’m so obsessive about posting daily, I’m posting to say I’m skipping a day.

Really, I’m tied up with work and bad weather and I have nothing interesting to talk about.  I made two stabs at blog posts early this morning after our power went out for a moment and I got up to wash the dishes while we still had lights and heat.  The posts were boring and awful so I deleted them and went about my day.  Our electricity has remained on – hooray! – but I haven’t come up with anything relevant or engaging to say in the meantime.

Perhaps tomorrow…

I try not to watch infomercials because I’m usually too much of a sucker for whatever it is they’re trying to sell.  With enough demonstration and repetition, almost any product starts to look terribly desirable.

Then there’s this new "cleaning system" I saw advertised the other day.  It uses a superheated jet of steam to clean, well, pretty much any surface.  It looks like a normal plastic bottle with a curved steam jet and a power cord.  The infomercial goes on and on about steam cleaning toilets, sinks, countertops, etc.  The presenter touts the lack of chemical residue, the germ-killing potential and the versatility of this device.

I watched for several minutes because I had an initial thought about the product that I was sure they would address sooner or later.  I waited and waited, but they never brought it up.

If you’ve ever cooked or ironed, I’m sure you know what I was thinking:  How can this powerful steamer not put the user at risk of severe steam burns?

The fact that this fairly basic concern was never covered in the infomercial tells me that the advertisers were hoping to gloss over the whole "agonizing burn" thing and, hey, look!  It steams the wrinkles out of clothing, too!

I may sleep on a buckwheat hull pillow, sweep my garage with a Hoover SpinSweep and add OxiClean to my laundry, but I think I’ll pass on parboiling myself with the steam cleaner.  Nice try, guys.  What else do you have for me?

I know nobody cares, but I am feeling rather triumphant about the amount of work I accomplished around the house yesterday.  I’m usually hard pressed to lift a finger when I’m home all day, but the siren call of VH-1 clip shows somehow lost its hold on me long enough that I managed to do the following:

• Cook omelets for breakfast.
• Clean the kitchen.
• Thoroughly clean and deodorize the Litter-Maid cat boxes and the room that contains them.  It was absolutely disgusting, but I made it my first big project, knowing that no other job would be worse.
• Wash, dry and put away numerous loads of laundry.  I’m still not finished, though.
• Discover that my new cotton sheets get really wrinkled in the wash.  Compromise by ironing just the pillowcases (it was the first time I’d ironed a pillowcase since I moved out on my own).
• Go grocery shopping.
• Make chicken fajitas and Spanish rice for lunch.
• Start simmering a pot of stew meat and Great Northern Beans.
• Clean the kitchen again.
• Take down and put away the Christmas tree and other holiday decorations.
• Scrub the bathroom ceiling and walls.  Vow to paint the ceiling and replace the exhaust fan next weekend, even though the ceiling really needs to be re-sheetrocked.
• Clean my dressing room and shred a cache of receipts I’d emptied out of my purse in late summer.
• Rescue 80% of the storage containers I own from Unwanted Leftover Purgatory (a.k.a., the refrigerator and freezer).  This led to my one New Year’s Resolution:  Don’t be so quick to keep leftovers unless you’re pretty sure someone will eat them right away.
• Take out two huge bags of trash and a bin of recyclables.
• Make the stew meat and beans into a big pot of minestrone.
• Fill two storage containers with leftover minestrone (because we will definitely eat it right away).
• Clean the kitchen again.

I truly don’t know where I got the energy for all that, but it’s nice to know that if someone dropped by right now, I could actually invite them in without being ashamed of my house.  Tonight:  back to vegging in front of the TV, I predict.

Taken as a series of individual events, my 2004 had some really low points.  I won’t go into them (any more than I already have throughout the year), but I will say that I’m rather relieved to have the chance to start a fresh, new year.  I’m optimistic that 2005 will be a significant improvement over its predecessor for me and my family.  As for the rest of the world, I can only keep my fingers crossed…oh, and donate money for disaster relief.

2004 had some high points for me, too.  I got a wonderful job that allows me more creative expression than anything else I’ve ever done for a living.  I made some new friends, started this blog and bought a car I really like.

Like many bloggers, I can’t resist the chance to make an end-of-the-year list.  I’ll keep mine simple, though:  no top 10s or top 5s.  Here are my #1 entertainment faves of 2004:

• Favorite Book:  The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon.  I read a lot of books this year, but this was the one that stuck with me the longest after I finished it.
• Favorite CD:  Scissor Sisters.  I’ll admit I’d never have discovered this band without the recomendation of a younger and cooler co-worker, but once I heard their disco/Bee Gees version of Pink Floyd’s "Comfortably Numb," I was intrigued enough to buy the CD.  The band’s mixture of influences – the aforementioned Bee Gees, Elton John, Queen, Thomas Dolby, Howard Jones, Billy Joel and various 70s glam groups – blend to produce a sound unlike anything you’ll hear on the radio right now.
• Favorite New TV Show:  Lost.  I know, everybody keeps going on and on about "Lost."  But what else are fans deprived of "The X-Files," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel" to cling to?
• Favorite Movie: The Incredibles.  Notice I didn’t say this was my favorite animated movie.  "The Incredibles" was the best movie of any kind I saw last year.  It’s such a treat when blockbuster burnout is remedied with great storytelling and amazing visuals.  The latest Harry Potter movie was a close second (almost a tie).

That’s all I can think of off the top of my head, which probably means it’s enough.

Finally, here’s a fun compilation of New Year’s Superstitions from Snopes.com.  I wish all of you a safe and fun New Year’s Eve celebration tonight and a great 2005.

It’s a good thing all my favorite shows are running re-runs right now.  Otherwise, my usual habits of sloth, procrastination and disorganization would be even more pronounced.

As it is, I managed to use last night to accomplish a few things that I’ve been needing to do for some time, including:

• Addressing almost all of my Christmas cards (but it’s okay because I got ones that say "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year").
• Tackling the mounds of dirty laundry in my basement that date back nearly a month.
• Buying cat food for four increasingly nagging creatures who seem to expect it.  The only variety of cat food I’ve found that keeps the cats from hurling copiously and often comes in a ridiculously small bag that only lasts a few weeks.  What?  I could buy more than one bag at a time?  That’s crazy talk!

Next on my list (probably for tomorrow, since I have the day off):

• Banish the Christmas tree and other holiday decorations from my sight.
• Gather my business tax paperwork and mail it to my accountant before my stalkers from the state department of revenue start hounding me in person.
• Keep a’ goin’ on that laundry until the baskets are empty.
• Pay my bills.

After all that I’ll be free to start the new year with a relatively clean slate.  I think that’s far more satisfying than any list of resolutions.

It’s Wednesday, which means I have no time at all for chit-chat.  However, I’ll take a moment to toot my own horn thank some people for their thoughtful recognition of this blog.

First of all, I’d like to thank Yvonne DiVita at Lip-Sticking for including me among her favorite blogs of 2004.  I can’t remember which of us found the other’s blog first, but I highly recommend that you read her thoughtful posts about marketing to women if your job or interests take you in that direction.

Second, I understand that Average Jane has been nominated for a Best of Blog (BoB) award for Best New Blog.  Apparently voting runs January 1-14, 2005, so if you think this blog is worthy, by all means stop by the BoB site and cast your vote!
  Update 1/1/05:  Oops, I spoke too soon.  It turns out I wasn’t a finalist in the category, so you can’t vote for me after all.  Feel free to stop by and vote for other blogs, though.  I’m not bitter.

Finally, a big thank you to everyone who’s added Average Jane to their blogrolls and/or featured it in their blog posts.  I write it mainly for my own entertainment and to minimize the number of random e-mails I send to my friends.  It’s very pleasing to know that other people sometimes enjoy what I have to say.

I had lunch at a Chinese restaurant yesterday, which left me with horrendous garlic breath and a scolding from my fortune cookie:  To be loved, you must be lovable.

Considering that I had been mondo crabby to my husband all day Sunday, it struck me that the fates were delivering a little spanking wrapped in a sweet, crispy shell.

One of my friends got a classic fortune that I’ve received before:  Pray for what you want but work for what you need.  She found it disappointing, but I’ve always thought of it as good, practical advice.

For a long time I held onto this fortune:  The star of wealth is shinning upon you.  I’m not sure what "shinning" actually accomplishes, but by now I’ve come to the realization that it does not involve any actual transfer of wealth to me from the star in question.  Maybe the first two "n"s in "shinning" were supposed to be "t"s.

I often find stray fortune cookie slips when I clean out my purse.  I don’t know why I keep them, considering that I could easily picture myself with a job writing fortunes all day long, occasionally inserting a bit of humor but trying to stay vague enough that every recipient can say, "Wow, it’s amazing how much this applies to me right now!"

The fortunes I really hate are the ones that aren’t fortunes at all.  I don’t mind extras like lucky numbers and Chinese vocabulary words, but I resent getting a little platitude instead of "You will inherit a large sum of money." 

Then again, I don’t like the inheritance fortunes either because they mean that someone who regards me highly enough to want me to have some money is going to die.  You always have to consider the "Monkey’s Paw" angle when it comes to the seemingly good fortunes.

If you’re already a fortune cookie skeptic like me, it won’t surprise you to learn that fortune cookies aren’t really a Chinese tradition.  They’re actually an American creation, and the fortunes are written just as randomly as I described above.

Therefore, I confidently give you this Average Jane readers’ fortune:  You will meet someone who will change your life.

That’s a pretty safe bet, don’t you think?

Over the past few years, my family members have placed elaborate restrictions on gift exchanges among the adults.  We don’t exchange Christmas gifts with my dad and stepmother anymore, and my husband and I usually choose to use our budgeted funds to celebrate our December 9th anniversary instead of Christmas.  Still, I ended up with a pretty good haul this year:

• The book The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists.  I read it yesterday morning and found it highly entertaining.  It’s sort of a cross between a Douglas Adams book and the movie Cabin Boy:  pirates and anachronistic goofiness galore.  Here’s the Pirate Captain’s blog, in case you’re interested.
• Rudy, the tissue box holder shaped like an Easter Island statue.  I’m trying to figure out how to mount it on our bedroom wall.  It’ll look great across from our cobra-shaped, brass candleholder sconces.
• A new microwave!  My sister could no longer stand to watch me irradiate myself with her cast-off, partially operational microwave from 1997.  Now I have a sleek new microwave that actually matches my other appliances (no more faux woodgrain!) and may save me from future burned bags of microwave popcorn.
• A container of Sunny Seed Drops, delicious chocolate-covered, candy-coated sunflower seeds.
• A hand-knitted, periwinkle blue, fuzzy scarf
• And from my husband, who wasn’t supposed to get me anything, a Bose Wave Radio (woohoo!).  It’s already making me spend more time in the kitchen than I ordinarily would.

So how about you?  Did you get anything really good?

This is the first Christmas in a long time that I’ve really looked forward to the holiday.  I managed to get all of my shopping done fairly promptly (and it looks as though my last-minute Amazon gifts will all make it on time).  I’ve attended several very nice parties, baked just enough holiday goodies and decorated my house minimally but effectively.

Believe it or not, the most fun I’ve had all week was at band practice on Tuesday night.  Not only did we spend two productive hours going over more than a dozen songs, but I got to play with a kitten!  Our guitarist’s daughter was home for the holidays with her kitten, Zoe, in tow.  My youngest cat is 14 years old, so it’s been a long time since I’ve witnessed the crazed, curious energy of a kitten.  I made it home with a few minor puncture wounds, but it was worth it.

This will be my last post of the week.  I’m spending tomorrow helping my stepmother prepare Christmas Eve dinner.  I hope all of you have a beautiful weekend, whether you spend it celebrating Christmas or just taking advantage of the break in your usual routine.

See you on Monday!

All through the early part of December I was wrapped up with pre-travel planning, then travel, then post-travel laundry and housekeeping.  Thus, it was kind of a shock when I realized that Christmas is coming – and it’s coming very, very soon.

I’d done a bit of shopping before my travels, but I spent a lot of time panic-shopping after work last week.  Today I completed my gift shopping, went by the liquor store to get a $20 bottle of port for Christmas Eve and finally bought some groceries so I could handle the appetizers and desserts that will be expected of me throughout the rest of the week.

I thought that rum balls would be a nice treat to give out in bundles as gifts.  Clearly I must have been suffering from a serious bout of forgetfulness about the rum ball making experience.  I’m going to share my sister’s delicious recipe with you in a moment, but don’t plunge in until you’ve read the postscript.

Best Rum Balls EVER!

2 1/2 cups finely crushed vanilla wafers (use a food processor – trust me)
6 ounces (that’s 1/2 cup) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup rum
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons corn syrup
1 cup chopped nuts

Mix together sugar, rum and corn syrup.  Melt chocolate chips in microwave (1 minute, stir, then one minute more) and add to syrup mix.  Stir in wafer crumbs and nuts.  Roll into 1-inch balls, then roll in sugar.

Important tips:

1. A standard 12-ounce box of vanilla wafers, ground up, makes about half again the volume of crumbs you need for this recipe.  Thus, you can increase the other ingredients by 50% and make a bigger batch.
2. It takes for-frickin’-EVER to roll all the balls even if you don’t make extra, so keep that in mind when you make your decision.
3. Let the mixture sit a while before you start making the balls.  It needs to solidify a little.  You could chill it, but I think that would be overkill.
4. You’ll want to rinse your hands in warm water periodically because they get really sticky.
5. I recommend using a spoon to roll the balls in the sugar and transfer them back out.  It keeps your hands cleaner.
6. My sister reports that the original recipe for these said something crazy about letting them sit eight days before serving.  WhatEVer!  They’re fine the next day.