This post isn't about safety. Mostly.

When I was little, I apparently listened very carefully during fire safety lessons. I know this because one of my more shameful memories is the day that the fire alarm went off while I was in the bathtub. My young brain kicked into gear, turning over all the lessons I'd learned during after school specials and all those well- meaning PSA commercials given to us by the Mormons and the Loony Toons in the '80s. Like this:

Do you remember the one with Daffy Duck where they the family discussed the exits in case of fire? I'm pretty sure that was in my head, swirled in with stop-drop-and-roll and just-say-no. But whatever. All my child-brain knew was that the fire alarm was going off and I was in DANGER. I must head to the closest exit IMMEDIATELY or I would DIE A HORRIBLE DEATH OF PAIN AND FIRE. Towels? Towels get in the way and are flammable. So I did what every self-protective 6 or 7 or 8 year old would do-- I ran down the steps toward the front door just as God had made me. I was old enough to know better, but, my young self rationalized, better naked then burning, right?

There was no fire. My mom had probably burned something in the kitchen or one of my older siblings was trying to sneak cigarettes, but there was no fire. Just me. Wet. Safe. Dripping with bathwater and righteous humiliation.





Fast forward to tonight. I have the apartment to myself, so I thought a nice bath and a book would be the perfect way to unwind. So relaxing. So peaceful. Until there was a unidentifiable ROARING sound outside the bathroom, and a crash, and then a roaring just roaring on.

I'd like to say that when faced with a bath-time disaster 20 years later, my brain was a bit more rational.

I'd like to say that my first thought wasn't Murderer! followed by Banshee! followed by Burglar! With a . . . vacuum? Because that's what it sounded like, really, a mechanical- blowing-whirligig of terrifying sound. But that doesn't make sense, my brain told me. Burglars don't break through your door, cleaning supplies at the ready.

No. The vacuum is acting alone. It's gone rogue.

 But  I am proud to announce that at least THIS time, as I sprung into action, I grabbed a towel.

I think.

You see, after I'd discovered that my bastard cats somehow, despite the fact that they lack opposable thumbs,  managed to TURN ON THE BLENDER (the roar!),and then, as they fled in petrified haste, knocked over and shattered a full bottle of olive oil and a mug (the crash!); after I'd retrieved my bathrobe and put on flip-flops to protect myself from broken glass; and after I'd used two rolls of paper towels to mop up gallons of olive oil from my now heart-healthy counter, cabinets, and floor; I discovered my towel was not hanging where I left it originally, but was now in a crumpled heap.

And reader, I was proud. I have come far.

Also, I now have really soft hands.

Sangria-la

See what I did there? Like Shangri-la? A paradise on earth? Because this sangria is that good.

However, I am terrible at photography, so a borrowed image will have to suffice. Again.

 

Image source

History: We love sangria. We especially love sangria with brandy. So when I decided it was a drink I needed to conquer at home, I discovered there seem to be a hundred thousand ways to make sangria available on the Internet. Therefore, I was allowed to pick and choose my favorite components from various recipes and come up with my very own. A recipe that has met with widespread approval when I'm nice enough to make it for others. A recipe I will now share with you.

Because it is hot as hell out there, and you need it.

Sangria-la:
 (I don't actually call it this, but I might start.)

Other recipes tell you that you need a nice, fruity wine, like a cab sav or a merlot. Screw that. You need this:

Barefoot Sweet Red is a new addition to the Barefoot family. We are already addicted to their moscato, which is so sweet it's practically a dessert wine (although the bottle insists it pairs with Asian spicy foods and select cheeses.) Sweet Red is like a red moscato, with a tad more substance.

Here is the other key ingredient:

This is a "vanilla citrus" liquor and it can be used in place of brandy, but only if you want to make the most amazing sangria ever.  It's a little pricey to have on hand (but we do anyway) so if you'd like to make a more budget friendly pitcher (after all, the wine costs less than $7.00), I recommend this:

This is blackberry flavored brandy than you can get for less than a dollar a nip or seven bucks a bottle. And believe me, you don't need a whole bottle. That bottle will last you all summer.

So here's how you put it all together:

The Heather Approved 1-2-3 Splash Method:

• 1 bottle (750ml) of Barefoot Sweet Red
• 2 shots of the brandy-esque liquor of your choosing, or more if you're on a mission. Some places even add the brandy individually to each glass, but I didn't do that. THIS TIME.
• 3 cups of gingerale.
• 1 can of pineapple chunks
• Whatever other fruit you like, sliced. (I use 1 lime, 1 orange, and 1 lemon)
• 1-2 tbsp of sugar

Slice up your fruit and put it in your pitcher. Add a generous amount of delicious pineapple to the mix. Sprinkle 1-2 tbsp of sugar on the fruit to get the juices flowing. Then, add the wine and brandy and the gingerale. Add a splash of the pineapple juice from the can. Serve.Make sure you scoop out the fruit and distribute it evenly so no one feels gypped. (I do one slice of each citrus and two pineapple chunks per glass.)  Drink and feel blissful.

NOTE: Most sangria recipes want you to add the wine and the brandy and then let the mixture sit for at least 2 hours, if not overnight. I have never done this. This recipe can be served immediately over ice. If you DO have the patience to wait, combine everything but the gingerale, which you add right before you serve it. Report back. Is it even MORE AMAZING?

Look What I Made! Fri-date Night

Brad and I had date night last night, the traditional dinner and a movie, but instead of the fancy restaurant and movie theater routine like we did last week, we stayed in and I cooked. And I didn't make any of my regular meals, like veggie burgers or, um.... what else do I make? Breakfast foods? Whatever. Oh no, I conquered a freaking RECIPE.

THIS recipe, which I found over at A Cozy Kitchen.

Lemon, Chard, and Spicy Sausage Lasagna

This is HER finished product, not mine. I'll show you mine (heh) but I thought you'd be more tempted to make it yourself if you saw this image first.

The name is a misnomer because her recipe calls for sweet Italian sausage and not spicy sausage, which made it perfect because Brad doesn't really enjoy spicy foods.  I can tell that it would be good with either. The white sauce is delicious and reminds me of the creamed ham on toast that my mother still makes me to this day because it's one of my favorite things ever.  The whole thing is infused with lemon and I bet if I learn how to slice that little citrusy bugger into delicate thin whisps, the lemons themselves would have been more delicious.

Also, I cooked the whole thing dressed in nothing but an apron, so even if it wasn't good, Brad wouldn't notice. Date night win!

Things I learned while cooking:

1. This is chard.

Chard is delightfully easy to cut through, and it is sort of satisfying to see chard shards scattered across your counter when you don't manage to scoop everything up and put it in your sauce. It makes you feel healthy, and you can forget that the rest of your meal consists of carbs, cream, butter, and sausage.

2. Sausage has casings, and if you want to cook it up all nice like, you remove the clear, nearly invisible casing, an act which feels obscene, like you're violating a sausage. And then when you mash it all up, you feel kind of bad for the little guy. (What, is this just me?)

3: Sometimes it would be okay to make a little more sauce than the recipe calls for because it's delicious and I didn't think I had quite enough in the end. Next time, I'll use four cups of milk and adjust the flour and butter accordingly.

4. When you cook in only an apron, your boyfriend will bring you wine whenever you request it. But ladies, for safety sake, wear one of these:

And not just one of these, cute as it may be:

Image source

Oh, right, the big reveal:

Okay, not so impressive, but it WAS really good, and Brad didn't really look at it anyway.

Snapshot

I was tagged by LC in a photo meme the other day and didn't notice.
(Oops.)

(Also, this is where I DON'T tell you how stupidly excited I was to be thought of and tagged. A girl has to keep her dignity.)

(Squeee!)

Here’s what you do:

1. Go to the fourth folder where you store your pics on your computer
2. Pick the fourth photo in the folder
3. Explain the picture
4. Tag four people to do the same

 This is my favorite photo booth shot ever, taken two years ago. Brad and I had been back together for a few months (as Brad and Heather 2.0, the Adult Years) and were meeting my family at Hampton Beach to see a show at the Casino Ballroom. We were just killing time in one of the arcades and I heard the photobooth siren call, and voila. A shot taken right in the middle of the two of us falling in love again, almost 12 years after he won my heart the first time.

And we're still that happy.

So, tag! you're it! Mifthles, Leah, Kyra and Robbleberry. Ms. Melissa Starkey, I don't believe you have a blog, but I want you to play too.

And everyone else, also, really.

Summer Lovin'

    
With work being so crazy, I am more than determined  to have The Best Summer Ever Known. Brad and I are watching our weekends evaporate with Awesome Plan after Awesome Plan, and it's becoming too much to simply keep in mind without writing it down. I created a Google calendar for the two of us called Summer Lovin' that we can both access on our phones. This way, neither of us can say "I didn't know we had planned that" or "I didn't know when we had planned that." Let's nip those conflicts in the bud now, shall we?

     So far, these are some of the goodies in the queue:

• A trip to Virginia to visit Brad's dad. His dad lives on a lake. He has a boat. This all works out very well.
• A few days in a beach house with some friends in Maine.
• NPCing the Isles.
• Clash of the Tartans-- the poor man's Highland games that my friend Bill organizes. (The Lowland games?) Frisbee golf, tug o' war, caber toss. . . it's got it all.
• Ziplining in the White Mountains. 

And of course, all the beaching and lake-ing  I can manage.I also want lazy summer nights, the occasional ice cream, and plenty of barbecue. And a pony.

This pony. 

Unfortunately, it can't be the weekend ALL THE TIME. (Sadness.) So in the meantime, here are my goals for June.

Work out for at least 3 hours every week. Most of my runs in the morning/gym sessions are about 30 minutes long, so that means I need to get to the gym 6 days a week with a rest day. But if I am super active somewhere (White water rafting, anyone?) I can adjust my schedule accordingly.

Start meal planning again. It's not doing me too much good to get in shape if I'm still constantly scarfing pizza and cookies and a few too many margaritas.

Who am I kidding? The margaritas get to stay.

Conquer the clothing beast. The piles in the bedroom are truly frightening and they are sending scouts out to the living room. I think they want to expand their empire. They must be stopped.

Deal with  one thing I've been avoiding each week. Everyone has stuff they wish they could just procrastinate away indefinitely, but it lingers and weighs on us. I will deal with something each week.

I think that's enough for now. It's summer after all. Who wants too many homework assignments in the summer? Save the real goals for the fall, y'all.

I have great places for you to spend your money. You're welcome.

Whether or not yesterday's post will return, we may never know. Well, that's not entirely true. If too much time goes by, we can probably figure it out. My point is, it's missing now and it contained  (slightly vague) explanations for my prolonged absence, which I'm too lazy to repeat-- but know the reasons were there and I honestly did write a post and it was more real than a unicorn. WHICH IS PRETTY FREAKING REAL.

Anyway-- in that post, I also admitted that I am now hooked on 5Ks and that I signed up for another.  The thing is, while the Margaritas' 5 K in Exeter that I ran on May 1 was great fun, I was terribly lonely. And it's your job, friends, to come keep me company. Scary strangers need not apply.

So sign up here for the next Margaritas race,  this time in Dover, on June 19th. The Exeter one gave me a delicioso margarita at the end and I remain hopeful I will be suitably rewarded this time as well. Walkers are welcome. WATCHERS are welcome, so long as I don't have to stand around by myself before and after the race. Your entry fee even goes to good causes. The world will thank you.

And while you're feeling generous, please consider donating to Project A Thousand Paper Cranes. I learned about if from Money Rabbit's blog. The woman running this project is a friend of hers, and I was so moved by Money Rabbit's plea for help that I decided to donate AND to repost her request, word for word (AKA: I am blatantly plagiarizing but for charity so it's okay.)

(I hope.)

(I mean, I even stole the picture and the caption.)

(Whatever. Here we go:)

(...From The Money Rabbit:)

 I’d also like to take a few moments to get on my soapbox and plug a friend’s project.  My friend Joanne is doing an amazing fundraiser for the recent disaster in Japan called Project A Thousand Paper Cranes.  Essentially, for every $5 that is donated, she will fold one paper crane with a special message of hope inside, with the goal of 1000 paper cranes ($5000).  She is partnered with Save the Children, who were there almost immediately after the disaster to provide relief for the children who lost their families and their homes in just a few hours.

Joanne is just an ordinary person doing an extraordinary thing, with a deep concern for the Japanese children who have gone through this tragedy.  She has never been previously affiliated with any charities, and is essentially running this entire project from her bedroom.  She worked with Holy Spirit Elementary School and worked with the teachers to teach the kids there how to fold cranes (the kids wrote personal messages to the kids in Japan), and she has spent countless hours trying to raise money for this project.  She is also partnered with two other schools in Edmonton and Quebec to fold the cranes and raise money.

Essentially, she got this whole thing up and running with no experience, but a lot of passion, and THAT is a truly amazing thing and shows what we all could do if we just pushed ourselves to keep going.
If you do donate to this project, you will get an income tax receipt.  It literally takes no more than 5 minutes to donate.

Joanne's Paper Cranes from Last Weekend in High Park. They were a smash hit with the tourists! (not a lot donated money though)

Last weekend, Joanne’s papercranes were in full display at the Cherry Blossoms festival in High Park.  She’s going again this weekend – it’s supposed to rain, but if you do have any interest in the project I sincerely recommend checking it out.

TO DATE, SHE HAS ONLY RAISED $800, AFTER MANY SLEEPLESS NIGHTS.  I am begging my readers to please, please, please take the time and donate $5 to Japan.  It’s not much more than a frappucino at Starbucks.  She has already folded close to 1000 cranes, so at this point, your donation will be to “adopt” one of her beautiful, colourful creations.  Please check out her website (which I linked to in the bold paragraph) and see if it’s something you’d like to get behind.

 So that's it. Run with me. Please. And donate $5 to charity, although it's Canadian money which is worth more than ours now so it's really a little more. (Remember the good old days when we'd go to Canada and feel rich? Sigh. Stupid economy.) Then pat yourself on the back because you're doing good things for yourself and the world and it's just a normal Friday*. That's pretty awesome.


*(Also, Happy Birthday, Kristi!)

Hi.

First, there was a family emergency that I won't get into because it's not really my place and so let's just say there were /are lasting ramifications, and it was emotionally overwhelming.

And then the next day, I came into work and 8 out of the 16 people in my department were let go. I was one of the few who somehow, miraculously, retained my job. 15% of my company was effected, but my people were the ones that were hit the hardest.

That's when I learned that there really is such thing as survivors guilt, even in non-life threatening situations.

Then I wallowed.

Then I tried to put myself back together, which is apparently a long and tedious process that continues to evolve.

But in that time, I also ran a 5K, and got hooked. Now I'm kicking my training up a notch so I can beat my time in the NEXT 5K I run, which I've already signed up for. But more on that later.

This is me. I just can't prove it.

So what now? Now I try to keep everything together. I'd like to step up the domestic stuff, for starters. Also, I need to bring it at the office, which is why my "wealth" posts will occasionally branch out into work-related areas. I want to continue getting into shape and to kick my own ass at races. Oh, and  I need to keep a closer eye on my finances, because I've been abusing my budget as of late. (I know. For shame, me.) Stuff like that.

Basically, all the areas that Domestically Flawed is supposed to cover? Yeah, I need to work on those. There is much room for very needed improvement, amigos.

But I'm thinking positively again, so that's a start, right?