sigh..

I think I can finally breathe! We got all moved with a lot of help from the gang and a random guy with a truck. After all that heinacity i thought we could settle down. We went grocery shopping for some groceries yesterday, though, and when we got home we found the dog's chain attatched to his collar, but no dog. Great. The dog had slipped his collar the second day in our new neighborhood. We took off on foot looking for him, but it was dark and he is black. Also he'd already been gone for two hours. After looking for him in the car we finally came home and called animal control. He said he had had a call from the trailer park about a spotty dog but had been looking for 15 minutes with no luck. So we went over there and started walking around calling him. After about 10 minutes he came running out of the darkness and jumped right into robert's arms. Poor dog. People had been chasing him and trying to snatch him all night long! he was very glad to be home. NOW maybe i'll be able to settle down and watch my dang movie!

Savory Meat and Potatoes with a twist!

SO GOOD! I love when cooking experiments go well! So, here's what you need:

Meat of your choice (I used mutton. mmm...)
Potatoes (new potatoes from the garden are my fave)
Garlic
parsley
rosemary(if you like it)
pumpkin sauce.
roasted pumpkin seeds

Thaw and sear the meat(unless you are using chicken). Scrub and cut the potatoes and dump them in a pan with the meat. Season with savory goodness. Baste with pumpkin sauce(I had left-over pumpkin pie mix, but not enough for a pie. That is what prompted this experiment). Bake at 350, covered, for an hour, or until potatoes and meat are done. Baste again half way through cooking, and add water if need be. Serve hot. Sprinkle with salted roasted pumpkin seeds and drizzle with more sauce. Eat with biscuits.

Crazy Crazy life!

Whoa! One week ago Robert and I were waiting anxiously to put our bed and dresser back into our room(as much as we LOVE sleeping on the dining room floor). Three days ago we found out that this was no surface mold we were dealing with and were released from our lease(hmm? release makes it sound like we were signing up for more!). We began a frantic search for an apartment so we could move at the end of the month. Yesterday we signed away all our savings and the day after tomorrow we are moving. UGH! What a week. I've been trying to pack and clean and organize and get laundry done and transfer my utilities and everything else that goes with moving. Today I had to work extra hours and I've also been feeling achey and sickish. I have a fun idea, everyone leave a comment your most awesome rental experience!

Finally, a resolution!

SO, the mold people FINALLY came to get their junk out of our apartment. It's been ten days and the mold has already started to come back. The spray kills everything it touches, so we know the mold is coming from inside the wall and is in the drywall and insulation where the spray wasn't able to reach. They can fix it, but we would have to vacate. So we talked to our landlord and he let us out of the lease!! I knew there was a shred of good in him(he can raise the rent if we don't sell our contract to someone, don't ya know). So I spent all day today searching and when Robert got home we went and looked at a bunch. We found a place that we could afford that will allow our dog. It's nothing fancy, but it fits our needs and Robert and I both liked the neighbors (who are all hispanic. Everyone in our building). We are so glad that it was so (relatively) easy to get out of this house and find a new place. We will hopefully be able to move within the next week! Finally, a solution to the mold!

BAH!

So, our lease is running out in december and we don't really want to renew it. I hate looking for apartments! This one has been good until this mold nightmare so we kinda want to leave. Honestly, though, to find a nice place, for cheap, that allows well-behaved small quiet dogs is just about impossible online. I guess we just have to start looking the old-fashioned way. I'd really love a 2-bedroom, clean, affordable apartment. Is that really too much to ask?

Like the Rock Loft made it :)

Robert loves this soup, so I thought I'd share

Bacon
Potatoes
Corn
Onion
Cheese
Milk
Flour
Garlic Salt
Parsley Flakes
sour cream


Cut up some bacon into bite size pieces and fry it and the onion in the bottom of a stock pot. Once it's done add flour until you have equal parts flour and grease. Pour in as much milk as you want soup(or do half milk and half water). Put in the diced potatoes and corn and cook until they are soft, being careful not to scald the milk. If you're worried about that cook the potatoes in a different pot, drain, and then add to the soup. Season to taste. If it isn't as thick as you want it use some hot milk mixture and flour to make a rue and add to the soup. Add a good scoop of sour cream and stir until it melts in. Take the pot off the heat before adding a couple handfuls of shredded cheese. Really great with some delicious bread sticks!

So, this recipe is probably only good enough for Papi, but....that's all I got. I guess it depends on whether you're making it for two or ten.

so many mice...

So, one of our pet mice turned out to be a boy. For those of you who don't know your basic mouse math, let me give you the basic equation: 1boy mouse+1girl mouse = 12 baby mice. Whoa. Way too many rodents! I have to say that its has been interesting to watch them grow from blind deaf squirming pink nasty naked things into cute fuzzy babies. But really, twelve? That's just excessive. Now we have to find a way to get rid of them. They will probably end up as snake food, which is kind of unfortunate because they are prettier than any pet mouse I've ever seen in a pet store. So, my question is...Anyone want a mouse?

Mold....

We got married in December. We moved into a one bedroom apartment that was just perfect for us, and then spring came. It was a wet spring and before we knew it our cute little apartment was being overrun with mold. Horrible black mold. After months of trying to get our landlord to do something, he finally called the disaster clean-up people. They came to do an estimate, then i never heard from them again. So last week I called them to set up an appointment and there already was one. Did my landlord set it up and not tell me? Did they just arbitrarily pick a day and not bother to let me know? I don't know. I was just glad that I had followed up so they didn't just show up at my door one morning.

So, the night before they were supposed to come Robert and I took everything out of our room except the bed; that would have to go in the morning. My house looked like a pigsty thanks to all the extra furniture, all the boxes from under the bed, etc. Finally, Wednesday rolled around this morning. We got up a little early so we could haul the bed out to the kitchen. The bus ditched Robert so I had to take him to school. I was crunched for time because I had to be home at 9 when the mold people were coming, but I had to go get a chain for the dog so that I could leave him outside when I went to class at 9:15 and the mold people were there. So, I rushed Robert up to school and didn't get home till 8:30. I rushed to Wal-mart for the chain, then rushed home to eat and get ready for class before they got there. Then I waited. And waited. And then a little more waiting. Finally it was a quarter after nine and I had to leave for my class. I figured I would call the mold guys to see if they were almost here, or lost or something. "oh, we have your appointment for tomorrow, there must have been some miscommunication." Whatever! I wrote the appointment on the calander while I was on the phone with them. I told the lady on the phone this and she asked if tomorrow would be fine. Since she asked i told her "NO! I already have everything out. My house is torn apart. The couch is buried. My bed is against the wall. Where do you suggest I sleep tonight? I can't get to my dresser, the table, anything." Turns out she didn't care and they are coming tomorrow. Great. Their mistake and they're not willing to work with me to fix it. Just too bad. I guess we will be laying the matress down in the kitchen.

But WAIT! There's good news. Since it took so stinkin long to get someone to do anything about the mold, it has spread into the carpet, the box springs, and the night stand. Will I ever escape the mold? Or will it keep following me forever since it is now on my furniture?