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I know. If you hate the cat posts, you can skip this one.

We've now had Trillian for almost four months and we've learned the hard way that we can't let Xena interact with her at all. On the few occasions when Xena has gotten loose, she's swiftly hunted down the kitten and we've had to run to the source of the shrieking to rescue her.

Trillian's timidity is part of the problem. She runs from Xena and freaks out when she gets close, so it makes Xena think she's onto something with her attack mode. It doesn't help that Trillian is half Xena's size or maybe even smaller than that. It's just bad all the way around.

Thus, we do daily prisoner exchanges between our bedroom and the rest of the house. Trillian sleeps with me all night and when I get up, I put Xena in the bedroom with my husband and let Trillian run free with the other cats. The peripheral cat characters in this drama, Velvet and Velcro, get
along with anyone. In fact, Velvet loves to play with either Trillian
or Xena.

Trillian really loves to hang out in the recording studio with us. I think it's because it's the only part of the house where she knows Xena never goes.

I've never had this problem introducing a cat before and I don't know where to go from here. I've tried Feliway. I've tried putting Trillian (or Xena) in a crate in the middle of the living room so they can get used to each other. Nothing has made a difference.

This cat situation is also costly. I have to maintain a separate cat box in our bedroom (yuck). We're planning a trip to Nashville this spring and I think were going to end up boarding either Xena or Trillian so that we don't have to make our cat-sitter risk an incident between the two of them. (We'll also have to board Velcro because she gets twice-daily pills.)

The whole problem is so annoying that if I weren't so level-headed, I'd be tempted to seek out a "cat whisperer" to tell Xena not to be such a beyotch. As it is, I guess I'll have to be patient and hope that Xena gets mellower or Trillian gets braver over time.

Meesha had a post today that mentioned the 93-year-old woman who cooks Depression-era meals on YouTube and it reminded me that many of my favorite childhood recipes had their origin during the Depression.

Here are a few that I've posted before:
Slumgullion
Chicken & Dumplings
Meatloaf (which undoubtedly had less meat and more cracker crumbs back then)

All of these recipes will feed an entire family; the chicken and dumplings can be stretched over at least two meals. It's also notable that they consist mainly of meat and vegetables. Staying out of the center aisles of the grocery store is a big money saver.

Not all of my grandmother's recipes made the transition to the next generations. My mother and her siblings used to complain about being served Mock Chicken as children, but my grandmother would protest that she "Only made it one time!"

Still, the cooking sensibilities of my grandmother were passed down to my mother and then to me as I was growing up. If we had leftover roast beef, we made it into hash. If we had some roasted chicken or turkey and gravy, the leftovers turned up as pot pie. The ham bone from Sunday dinner was boiled with cabbage during the week. Stale bread became French toast or bread pudding.

Food was precious and you didn't waste it. Even the vegetable peels and rinds went out to the chickens. Post-meal scraps flavored the dogs' food.

Dealing with food this way is still second nature for me. I always have a plan for leftover meat and although I don't have dogs or chickens, the birds and squirrels in my neighborhood get to enjoy any scraps that get too stale for the humans to eat.

What's your favorite budget-stretching recipe? Did it come from the 1930s/1940s or is it more recent?

This year I've decided that I'm going to pay up front for the majority of my spring and summer meals by joining a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. I'm getting a half share of veggies from Fair Share Farm and a bi-weekly share of meat from Parker Farms. I decided to forego getting an egg share because I already buy free-range eggs from a local farm at the grocery store, and I also have an aunt who raises chickens and gives me fresh eggs on occasion. I'm skipping the honey share, too, because how much honey can two people eat?

I'm looking forward to stretching my cooking creativity, particularly when it comes to the vegetables. It's easy for me to get into a rut and only buy onions, bell peppers, carrots, celery, lettuce and green beans. New veggies will make me cook new dishes.

I particularly love the idea of the locally-raised meat, although one of the included meats is lamb, which I don't really like. I may just plan on giving all of my lamb to my dad and step-mother, unless I manage to develop a taste for it.

The challenge will be to use everything up or figure out a way to freeze it safely. We don't eat at home as often as we should and I hope that having more fresh ingredients on hand will counter that.

Another fun part of the whole CSA concept is that you go to the farm and work a few shifts throughout the growing season. I seriously doubt I'll be able to get my husband to go work in a field with me, so I'm sure to end up going by myself. Maybe my niece might enjoy going with me once, just to get a taste of the whole farm experience.

I'm looking forward to seeing how my CSA products influence our eating habits. I'll be sure to report on how it goes.

My husband's plan to retire from our band is not proceeding to his liking. The drummer with whom we replaced him has left already and now we're auditioning again.

We had four auditions scheduled last Sunday; only two of the guys showed up. Another potential auditionee cancelled because he got the opportunity to go on tour with a band…in China.

Last night we had one more audition and it actually went pretty well. The guy brought his mom with him, but that was mostly because they lived fairly far away and she wanted to go to the casino afterward.

There are two drawbacks with this guy: he doesn't have a computer and he doesn't have a cell phone. Well, three drawbacks if you count the fact that he lives in Topeka. And I'm trying to ignore the fact that he resembles a psycho ex-boyfriend of mine.

There is always at least one guy in the band at any given time who doesn't check his e-mail regularly. This drives me crazy because I am online at all times with every one of my e-mail accounts open simultaneously. I'm aware that I'm at the extreme end of the connectedness spectrum, but still…

So it looks like we're going to see how things go with the guy from last night. It's too bad he won't be able to use our shared Google Calendar to mark his availability, but I suppose we can work around that. I'm sure my husband is keeping his fingers crossed.

Here's the only cat valentine in my collection. I guess dogs are a better seller.


This next one seems kind of lame to me now, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it's the kind of valentine I might have had my mom buy for me to give out because I've always been such a huge fan of puzzles and games. I've Photoshopped out the scrawled circles (a set of correct ones and a set of wrong ones) so you can play at home.

In case you can't read the answers, it's No. 2 and No. 8, although I still believe that you can make a case for No. 1 and No. 7.

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In an effort to revive my ailing blog, I've decided to do NaBloPoMo for the third year in a row. That means a post a day all throughout November.

Last year I set up a post theme schedule for myself and I believe it would help if I did so again, so here it is:

Mondays – Recipes

Tuesdays – Childhood photos and memories.

Wednesdays – Memes – So if you have some, please tag me!

Thursdays – Stuff I Like/Product Reviews

Fridays – Potpourri (Whatever I feel like writing – just like a regular day!)

Saturday – Caturday

Sunday – Photos

I'm going to kick this off by completely ignoring the schedule and posting about something I did last week.

I was invited to a special sneak preview of the new Fork & Screen theaters inside AMC Studio 30 in Olathe. This is the countertop in front of each row of seats in the Fork & Screen theaters. There's a menu of entree, snack and drink items that you can order from your seat and have delivered by the waitstaff. I'd brought in a Guinness from their huge bar, MacGuffins, that's in the lobby of that wing of the theater. 

The counter is both a plus and a minus. It's great to have someplace to set your food and drinks, but unless you're about six feet tall, you have to sit up pretty straight to be able to see over it (which is why I tipped the ketchup over). If you are taller, like my husband, you end up banging your knee repeatedly on the bottom edge of the countertop.

It's still pretty cool, though. The prices are fairly reasonable and the tickets to the Fork & Screen showings cost the same as regular movie tickets.

They've also added some ultra-fancy Cinema Select theaters with cushy recliners, 8-foot deep rows and the same meal and drink service as the Fork & Screen theaters. Those tickets cost $10 more with a $5 food and drink coupon included, so it might be fun to go there for a movie you've really been looking forward to.

The movie we saw there was RocknRolla which is not really the kind of movie I generally go for, but entertaining enough once I eventually figured out who everyone was from the confusingly huge cast of characters. 

Most of all, it put this song in my head every time I thought of the movie title:

Yes that's Judas Priest in 1975, back when Rob Halford was still referred to as "Bob" on the album cover. If you only listen, they sound like the heavy metal band you'd expect. It just took their look a while to evolve.

This was the first weekend in several weeks that I felt well enough to go do stuff, so I packed in as much activity as I could.

On Friday night, my husband and I met up with our rhythm guitarist and checked out the club where we're playing on September 26th. It's small and the stage is shaped weird, but I'm sure we can make it work. One of the patrons randomly asked me if I were a goth. I didn't think black hair alone qualified someone for that label, but perhaps things are different in small towns.

On the way home, my husband and I also stopped by the club where we're playing on the 27th.

After that late night, I still had to roll out of bed around 7:00 a.m. the next morning to walk the Helen Gold 5k. It was a little drizzly out, but I had an easy time of it.

I followed the walk with a few hours of volunteer time with The Animal Rescue Alliance at one of their adoption events. For most of that time, I sat with the dogs in the play area and watched them run around. I did have time to fall in love with a kitten, though. She was one of the darkest torties I've ever seen; very calm and cuddly. None of the chaos in the store bothered her at all, although she was very interested in the cages of mice next to her kennel. The group asked if I'd be interested in fostering her, but I think if she's still unclaimed by the time I get back from BlogWorld Expo, I may just adopt her.

I got home around 1:15 and woke my husband so we could have breakfast and go to Musician's Friend to buy a sub and a crossover for our PA.

In the evening, I had two friends and my sister over for a game night. We played Scattergories and The 90s Game, and ate corn chowder, cheese dip and coconut lime bars. It was a very low-key and pleasant evening.

I got up at my usual time on Sunday and made a strawberry Jell-o pretzel dessert that we could take to my husband's family reunion later in the day. He was raised by his mother's family and this reunion was of his late father's side of the family, most of whom he doesn't really know. He was surprised to find out how many aunts and uncles he has from all over the country. Everyone was very happy to see him and said he looked just like his dad. After seeing some of his relatives, I think he got his nose, forehead and curly hair from his dad's side, and his chin and eyes from his mom.

We finished out the day with band practice, which went relatively well. I think (hope!) we're on track for our first two gigs.

See what I mean? Looks like my weekends of lying around reading and watching TV have ended, at least for now. What did you do this weekend?

 

I’m Friday catblogging again as I try to recover from staying up past my bedtime seeing Dweezil Zappa and the amazing band he put together to play Frank Zappa’s music. Even without guest players Steve Vai and Terry Bozzio, it would have been fantastic.

This photo shows my cat, Kato, when I got him in early 1990. He’ll turn 17 in December and he’s still quite playful. Just try to tie your shoes in his presence and you’ll see what I mean.

Because of his age, he’s our most high-maintenance cat. He gets 1/4 of a Prilosec tablet every day to maintain his appetite despite some kidney problems. Then he gets special canned food and special dry food that the other cats would desperately like to take away from him.

I wish I still looked that young…although I’m well rid of the giant, blonde mullet and the acid-washed jeans!

Since I never got around to doing a proper post today, I figured I’d get in on the whole Friday Catblogging thing I see so much of around the Internets.

This is a photo of our cat, Velcro, wearing her beautiful gown.  Velcro can be a bit hostile and bitey at times, but she’s way mellower when she’s all dressed up and looking gorgeous and queenly.  I don’t think she’s ever nipped me when she’s wearing one of her beautiful gowns.

Velcro is due for a new beautiful gown as the one in the photo finally disintegrated from overwear and being dipped repeatedly into her water bowl, and I can’t find her Hawaiian-print one.  I recently bought her a nylon one, but the fabric is too heavy and it bunches awkwardly and unattractively around her neck.  Obviously, we can’t have that.

You might think that the other cats would mock her beautiful gown, but Velcro is way too tough to let that happen.  Even with the gown on, she’s always ready to unleash her sharp little teeth on her feline housemates.