Category: Misc

A million years ago (at least it seems like it), in another life, Hubby was an Austin Police officer. He recently uploaded a couple of his old police-related videos to YouTube (thanks to my Little Bro for helping us get all of our old videotapes converted to digital!). Here they are, if you’d like to take a look…

I feel a little silly for even posting an entry on quesadillas, since they’re so simple, but some of you have asked what we eat on the nights when I don’t post something “gourmet”, so here ya go…

We frequently will have quesadillas as a quick weeknight dinner or even for lunch, when we have time. Quesadillas are one of my favorite ways to use leftovers (frittatas are another). You just take two tortillas and load ’em up with your favorite fillings and then slap ’em on the grill. I do usually layer a bit of cheese on both sides, just to ensure that everything sticks together and stays in place when the cheese melts. These quesadillas were made with some leftover BBQ chicken (chopped up), some fresh chopped spinach and a mixture of cheddar and monterrey jack cheeses. I recommend cooking your quesadillas in butter (or margarine, if you must – at least it doesn’t burn/brown as quickly as butter does), rather than oil. There’s just nothing like the flavor that butter gives them. Pam is great for some things, but not for these.

Our shelving unit in our family room was actually completed quite a long time ago, but I forgot to post update photos after it was installed and painted. We are VERY pleased with it and would HIGHLY recommend the carpenter that created it for us. His name is Gary Ramsey and his company is called Ramsey Woodworks, in case any of you are ever in need of similar services.

Here are the shelves, right after they were installed:

Here they are, all loaded up with our junk:

We have an old, wood deck in our backyard. For some time now, it’s been in need of repair. The problem is that we have a lot of large, overhanging trees that were dropping debris that was then getting caught in the grooves in between the boards. The debris was then getting wet when it rained and was trapping moisture in between the boards. This trapped moisture was causing some of the boards to rot. We hired a painter/carpenter a couple of weeks ago to come repair any broken/rotten boards and then powerwash and paint it.

This guy’s idea of fixing the problem involving cutting out the broken sections of boards (apparently, it’s OK if you also cut the boards NEXT to the one being repaired).

He then painted the (top only) deck with a roller. No attempt was made to get any paint in between the boards (where the main problem was in the first place). The places where he put new boards in were absolutely obviously…BECAUSE THERE WAS NO PAINT ON THE SIDES.

I’m not going to mention our painting/repair contractor’s name, but….I will say that the “jackass” contractor in this person’s post sounds VERY familiar. Maybe EXACTLY familiar….

Well, because we like “projects” and because we are (I’ll admit it) a bit perfectionistic, we decided to just tackle it ourselves. We spent most of the day today pushing bit of leaves and debris through the grooves in the deck and clearing any dirt out of all of the nooks and crannies. Hubby then VERY thoroughly power-washed the whole thing (he even did the outdoor furniture, while he was at it). Tomorrow we’ll paint.

These are the putty knives and palette knives that we used to clear out the dirt/leaves/acorns/screws, etc. from the deck grooves. We made the kids give us a hand. They weren’t crazy about it, but they were good sports and were actually quite helpful. We took them to see the new “Indiana Jones” movie as a treat afterwards.

I’ll post photos of the finished project when we’re done. Heck, we might even have to have a party out there.

We went to see the Austin Symphony’s fireworks display last night at Auditorium Shores. The music was wonderful; the weather was perfect and all four of us had a blast. We packed a lovely picnic (Kitchen Door chicken salad sandwiches, fresh organic melon from Hubby’s parents’ farm, cherries, carrots with ranch dip, homemade star cookies, homemade lemonade and perhaps a smuggled “adult beverage” or two) and got there early. While we were waiting for the music and fireworks, we played board games, read books and passed out themed temporary tattoos, patriotic pencils and small American flags (leftover from our big July 4th bashes in previous years) to the other event attendees. We also saw local Austin celebrity (???) Leslie, in all of his patriotic backless-panted glory.

I took some video of the fireworks finale – sorry that the video is in two parts; I had a camera glitch partway through.

Mmm…leftover grilled beef, tangy horseradish cheddar cheese, creamy pesto mayonnaise (1/2 cup mayonnaise mixed with about 1 Tbsp. prepared pesto sauce), juicy ripe sliced tomato and peppery baby arugula on whole grain bread.

2 videos of my cute nephew’s band from rock music camp this summer.

My youngest nephew, J, is on drums. His cousin, C, is the singer/bassist.

Sorry, we’re having issues getting Girl’s video posted to YouTube and getting the link to work. Hubby and I are trying to fix it right now and will get it back up as soon as we can. Boy was in the show, too, but had a duet with another boy. I need to speak to that boy’s parents to get permission before I post the video of their duet. As soon as I am able to get in touch with them, I will, hopefully, be able to post Boy’s video, too.

UPDATE:
Girl’s video appears to be working now. Keep an eye out for Boy’s video soon. If you are not “allowed” to see the video on YouTube, but would like to be added to the list, please email me and I’ll add you. As of right now, I have most family members added, plus Alan & Eileen, Jennifer M., Trish S. and Staci B.

UPDATE….again….Urgh….it’s still not working, after all….
Apparently, in order to do a “private” video, someone has to be my “friend” on YouTube. If you’d like to be a YouTube “friend” and see the videos (as well as some stellar videos of my cats using the toilet), please send me an email and I’ll add you. I don’t want to send out a million friends requests and make you all have to go through that sign-up rigamarole if you haven’t “opted in”.

“The Boy Next Door” from “Meet Me in St. Louis”, originally sung by Judy Garland

This video has been labeled “private” on YouTube and is only available to people that I know are regular readers of the blog and/or friends and family. Most of you should already be on the list of people that are “allowed” to see the video automatically. If you are NOT on the list, but would like to be, please send me a quick email (address in the top R corner of this blog) and, if I know you, I’ll be happy to add your name to the list.

Boy had a duet in the show and I will post his video as soon as I get permission from his duet partner’s parents to post the video.