Oh we must travel

I am stealing this from my husband's blog. This is a map of all the places I've put my feet on.



create your own visited country map

And in the U.S :



create your own personalized map of the USA

The Sausage Factory

Our kitchen turned into a sausage factory this afternoon. It's true what Jason said in his blog. You should never watch how a sausage is being made. I disobeyed the law and made the mistake of watching. Now I will have to suffer the consequences.

On the bright side, we now have 32 lbs of sausages in our freezer, which would probably last us a lifetime. Signing up for Dream Dinners will have to wait until we make room in our freezer. And the only way to make room is to eat those sausages. Gulp.

Here's the process:
(Warning!! View at your own risk. Some pictures may be unsuitable for viewing before mealtimes)

Don an apron and a chef hat. Be prepared to get all dirty.

Chop up the Boston Butt (Pork Shoulder)
Ground up the meat. Drink some german beer (with courtesy from our neighbors, R.C & Betty, who dropped by to watch)
Add spices and other secret ingredients to taste. Knead with hands.

Make little patties and fry em in the pan to get a taste. Add more spices if necessary. Here, Bert uses the empty beer bottle as a makeshift pestle and mortar to break up the star anise.

Bert gets the intestines ready.

Roll meat and drop them into the grinder, very very carefully, while holding the intestines in place. Prevent air bubbles from forming. And prevent it from bursting. Very tricky.

Cut and tie the intestines.

Enjoy!!

The proud makers of the five-foot long sausage

All ready !!

The Sausage factory is all ready and we are waiting for Jason's accomplice, Bert, to arrive anytime now.

Work smurk

I don't know why I dread going into the office so much. Actually what I dread most is the drive to work. The distance between my office and home is 25 miles, which is an approximately 45 minutes drive, sometimes 35 minutes if traffic is kind. Sometimes an hour on a really bad day. But the thought of having to drive or even just sitting in the car for that matter gives me anxiety attacks. I do not know why going to work does that to me. But as soon as I arrive at the office I'm fine. I must say that I am really thankful that my boss has allowed me to work from home for most of the week. But I foresee that luxury is going to change soon. As of this week, we now have our "weekly" departmental meetings. Today's meeting lasted 2 whole hours. And then someone suggested we should also have a"happy hour" once a week out of the office. I can happily admit that I can sometimes be an anti-social hermit but I would rather have my "happy hours" with a bunch of close friends.
I have strong homing instincts. After having to spend a good part of the day in the office, all I want to do is go home. I'd rather be home talking to my plants than having to put myself to endure someone else's happy hour.

Another weekend gone by

We didn't do much this weekend but it was a good weekend nevertheless. Philip and Selena came to stay with us and it was good catching up with them. They made their yearly pilgrimage to Carowinds and Gastonia on Friday and left home for Raleigh on Saturday evening.
On Saturday morning, we went over to our in-law's, bringing with us 3 dozen doughnuts from Krispy Kreme. Insane? Yes. We were given 2 coupons for 2 dozen doughnuts. But the cashier at KK gave us an extra box. Guess it was a "Buy Two dozen, Free One dozen" thing. I swear this time the evil doughnut did NOT speak to me.
My in-laws had a big yard sale at their place. They told us people came as early as 6.30am! Apparently these early birds are serious yard sale shoppers and they make it a weekly ritual going around neighborhoods looking for yard sales. We brought our leftover stuff from our yard sale over and my sister-in-law brought hers too. So yes, there was a lot of stuff. And a lot of people too.
The boys were there, running around, playing with their toys that were supposed to be for sale. They were entertaining as usual. And they helped us eat the doughnuts. No doubt that made them run around more.
We brought Philip and Selena to our favorite jaunt, Tin Tin Buffet, for lunch. And stuffed our faces as usual.
Then Jason and I decided to check out the swimming pool at the clubhouse. We rode our bikes there, spent about an hour in the pool, and rode home. A very relaxing way to end the Saturday. I think we will have to do this more often.
You would probably have read Jason's rant about our church-going experience on Sunday. It's a pity that ruined our experience. St. Luke's has a peaceful setting, tucked away in a quiet neighborhood. Tall ceilings were constructed out of wooden beams. No pews. No kneeling. Nice band too. And the holy water sprouted out from a fountain near the entrance. They have a little courtyard and a nice corner for personal reflection.
We didn't get to go to the pool this evening because it rained. Just a slow lazy Sunday for us. I am now waiting for 4400 to come on.

The boys

My sis-in-law sent us some pics of her boys recently. Here's some of my favorites.

"Can I have a Lolly? Pretty please?"

Wrenn: "All done!"

Whoa..

Ahh my man, Keanu, tells Parade magazine that he wants to get married and have kids !
I used to have posters of him on my wall when I was a giddy headed teenager.
I must say he still looks darn good for a 41 year old!
Can't wait for The Lake House to be out on June 16th.
My poor husband will have to bear with my swooning for one night. It's chick flick time!

Of planting trees..

If you have read Jason's post, you will know we spent the entire Saturday afternoon digging holes in our yard and planting the seven crape myrtle trees. Hard work. Why? Because the ground is mainly composed of solid clay-like substance or rocks. No fun at all.
Now, anyone who knows me well enough will know I do not have green fingers. Even the cactus I tried keeping once died. Even if the tag on the plant says "Very hardy. Low maintenance", it will still die when it encounters my fateful hands.
So now I am very worried. I have been told "You have to water these crape myrtle trees everyday". I tried to tell them "I am capable of killing even cacti". And they try to tell me "Don't worry, crape myrtles are hardy trees".
I am scared of this responsibility. Very scared.
Here's how the trees look like now. I will tell you if they survive in the next few months.

We also spent the afternoon making a flower bed. I bought some packets of flower seeds from the dollar store and I am curious to find out if it will sprout. It is rather absurd to want to try having a flower bed when I know I will see dried dead flowers or plants in the next few weeks or months. And yet, the stubborness in me got the better of me. Or maybe it is hope. Maybe I will get lucky this time. Isn't this what they always say when one plays the lottery?