Another Saturday

Here’s my youngest son, Dakota showing off a wood-burning stove he made in Welding class. From time to time, when Dakota has extra time at school he asks if there anything we want made.  Of course, this is for extra credit.  Bulldog Man showed Dakota a picture of a stove he was interested in.  The next week, our son brings home the wood-burning stove he made from scratch.  It looks great and we can’t wait to use it.  Now we have one more source to cook with that doesn’t require electricity. 

This morning was finally a sleep-in morning, woke up at 8:30 AM.  Usually, I’m up and going at 5:00 – 5:30 AM.    I stripped down the bed and washed all the blankets and sheets.  I won’t place them back on the bed until later this evening.  We need to pull up the mattress and box springs, and vacuum (might as well since everything is moved out of the way) the floor. My agenda was not to clean the floor under the bed; it is to rotate the box spring so the mattress sits better.

 Carnitas….carnitas….carnitas, yes you heard right!!!!  I just love Mexican food, more so when I make it at home.  I have beef (carnitas are generally made with pork), since I don’t have pork, I made them with fajita beef.  I will take my fajita beef strips of meat and cut in small pieces and brown up with onions (generally you don’t brown the onions; you put them on the meat raw with the cilantro mixture. I can’t eat raw onions; they don’t like me, so I brown them) in a little olive oil (EVOO, if you’re hoity-toity).  Add lime juice (preferably from a fresh lime) to the meat mixture. While the meat and onions are browning, chop a handful of cilantro into small pieces and place it into a bowl.  Add a little olive oil (EVOO), fresh squeezed lime juice and set aside.  Finish cooking your meat and onion mixture.  Place the meat and onion mixture into the cilantro bowl and mix briefly.  Now get out your corn tortillas (homemade or store bought).  I am using store bought (because I am lazy just didn’t have time to make them).   Heat up the tortillas and then spoon a little of the meat, onion and cilantro mixture into the tortilla shell.  There you have it--a carnita!  Now I would also compliment the carnita with some refried beans, and maybe a little salad.  Before I married Bulldog man, I was the typical girl that would have the typical Mexican food (from the southeast) you find in a restaurant.  Little did I know, this food was not your typical Mexican food, it was Tex Mex.  My husband educated me very fast on what was true Mexican food.   Now not only do I love Mexican food, I call Bulldog man my “Little Mexican”, LOL!!!!!

Adiós hasta mi poste siguiente.  

(Translation: Good bye, until my next post)

Time to Take a Deep Breath

Last night, Bulldog Man and I were having a conversation, when our son came into the room and nonchalantly stated; “Has any one by chance seen my class ring?”  Both Bulldog Man and I looked at each other, as smoke started to billow out of my ears. I questioned our son, “What do you mean have we seen your class ring?”   

Flash back to October 2011, when our son’s high school sent all the students home with paperwork on ordering school rings and graduation material (i.e.: cap, gown, tassel).  Since I never really had the opportunity to have class ring when growing up, our son showed extreme interest in having one.  Bulldog Man and I scrounged around for extra cash (money being saved for items needed around the house like a Berkey filter) to purchase our son a ring to remember his high school and technical talent (welding).  The ring was delivered by mail to our son one week before Christmas.  Oh what a beautiful ring.  One side of the ring displayed the logo for welding and the other the United States American flag.  The top of the ring displayed a garnet stone with the school initials and our son’s name was displayed on both sides of the ring above each of the logos.  Bulldog Man and I explained to our son that he needs to take care of this ring.  When you are not wearing it to make sure and place it in safe place.  Don’t take the ring off and forget about it or lose it.  The ring has insurance for fixing and resizing, but if you lose it you’re screwed stuck.

Now back to the question “Has anyone by chance seen my class ring?” 

Yes, smoke was coming out of my ears.  I was so livid because our son had the nonchalant attitude as if money grows on trees.    When asked, when was the last time you seen the ring; his response was, “I haven’t worn the ring in a couple of weeks.  I took it off to do some work in the house and now I can’t find it”.    What type of work were you doing in the house?  Response; “I don’t know”.  We were hoping to narrow down the type of work to determine a possible location of the ring.    

Last night, our son was searching his room (aka: tornado alley) high and low. We asked him to check his clothes, search through the pockets, check the trash, call his girlfriend and see if he left the ring at her parent’s house.  Check at the high and technical schools lost and found this morning and check your toolbox.   The response from our son, I know what to do………….I  know it’s in the house somewhere……….I know…………I know………I know……..

My question, can I strangle him now?   Gosh, I or We truly hate that phrase “I Know”.  What is it about the phrase “I KNOW” or another pet peeve, the word “LIKE” used as an expression?

The moral of this post, money doesn’t grow on trees and one must take responsibility for his/her own actions.  But my nonchalant question, “Can I strangle him yet?”