What a difference a day makes!

Yesterday it looked like dusk all day. A few times it looked like night, the sky was so dark. Our weather guys were on TV nonstop from 8:30 AM til after 1:00 PM keeping us informed of the watches, warnings, tornado touchdowns and projected paths of them. There was one in particular that came ashore near Indian Rocks Beach, about 60 or so miles south of us and it marched right across the state, exiting into the Atlantic Ocean. That is unheard of here in Florida! I can't remember the last time we've had a day so full of nasty weather. Maybe in 2004 when we had the 4 hurricanes hit Florida that summer. It certainly was an event that doesn't happen every day. Our head weather guy said last night that we only had 4 days of rain in March. But in those 4 days, it was going to be at least the second wettest March on record for us and possibly THE wettest since it was still raining at that time. There is widespread damage in the greater Tampa Bay area, but thankfully any injuries that were suffered were only minor. There were no deaths reported. That's a very good thing.

I took a bit of a walkabout in the yard. We've got a lot of tree litter all over the driveway, front walk and in the front windows from the west winds and one limb down out in the back yard, but that's about it. Nothing that the broom, the leaf blower and a drag to the burn pile won't cure! We had 9.5" of rain here at the house. That's on top of the 7.5" that we had just gotten on Monday! We had 2" in just a 45 minute span. It was raining so hard, the gutters couldn't get the water off the roof fast enough and the water was just pouring over the tops of the gutters. One of our neighbors a few houses down lost two big pine trees in his back yard. One landed on his shed. Good thing it wasn't his house.

This morning, the sky is a brilliant blue and not a cloud in it. It's another good day!

Rainy Days and Thursday's

With apologies to The Carpenters! But we had a Rainy Day on Monday here this week as well, so either would have worked.

Spring is notorious for being dry here in FL with fire danger always high. We got 7.5" of much needed rain here at the house on Monday and I woke up to thunder and lightning this morning as well. We've had another 4" already and the weather report said we could see heavy off and on showers again all day today. There is the potential for some tornado activity and high straight line winds as well.

John just called to let me know he and his partner are stuck at a McDonalds up the street from the Wal*Mart that they are supposed to be servicing right now. Apparently there's been a pretty bad wreck at the intersection in front of W*M and power lines are down and there is no power in the store, so they can't go in to service it. So they are cooling their heels, waiting on a call from the receiver to let them know the power is back on.

Meanwhile, I'm high and dry. Snug as a bug in a rug! And loving the rain!!

Datz Chef's Kitchen lunch

I joined Groupon a couple of months ago and the first thing I bought was a Datz http://www.datz.com/ Chef's Kitchen lunch. Sounded interesting. Only 12 spots available 5 days a week and the chef prepares a special meal just for those lucky 12. Not reading the not so fine print, John and I trundled our happy butts down there one day and come to find out, ressies are required. Yep. Right there in black and white that I didn't read. Two people were late, so the mgr gave us their seats. We sit down and proceed to nosh on the appetizer that everybody else was already finished with and lo...the "fashionably late" (my read. Rude and inconsiderate asses) show up 30 minutes past the time that lunch was supposed to start. So we gave them their seats and we went and ate in the dining room. No great loss. I got my pastrami sammy and got a half doz of their oh so fab half sour pickles to bring home. And I'm not even telling about the three that I ate while we were there! So I came home that afternoon, went online and booked our 2 seats for today. Two months ago. That's how "in demand" the Chef's Kitchen seating is. And once you eat, you understand why. Chef Nikki was our most personable host. There were four no-shows. (My read again. Inconsiderate rude asses!) We started with a wonderful cheese plate. The cheese is called No Woman. Seriously! Damn good cheese! We bought some to bring home it's so good. Some bitty bite-size toasts that had a fancy-schmancy name, but I don't remember it! And some wonderful roasted in olive oil skinned almonds that were then sprinkled with sea salt. They were yummy too!

Our lunch was "street food"; grilled and roasted in the oven chicken served on pita bread with rice and caramelized onions, crumbled feta cheese and "crack sauce" based on traditional Greek tzaziki sauce. Greek yogurt with shredded cuke, chopped mint and a bit of mayo. I could have just let Chef Nikki put THAT on my finger and eaten it all day! Then dessert was Baklava with honey and chopped mint with a strawberry garnish. Didn't like that at all. No sir-ee! Not one little bit. I keed! I kid! Baklava and I have been friends since I was a wee child. Back when dirt was a baby! Being raised so close to Tarpon Springs and the Greek community and dad having gone to school with all of the Pappas boys, Pappas Restaurant was like a home away from home for us! I actually only ate one of my two pieces and since John is not a big sweets fan ('cept for me of course!), I got to bring his home so I have his full dessert plus one piece of mine! John did eat the strawb's! Chef Nikki also served a cucumber martini. Neither of us are gin fans. I think it's the juniper. I tried it. I wasn't impressed. Nothing personal Chef!

And of course, since we drove all that way! (it's about 35 miles one way for us and having to take a second mortgage any more to put gas in the tank) I couldn't go without bringing home a pastrami sammy for me! I wrap it in aluminum foil and heat it in the oven for about 20 min and it's wonderful. And a half dozen half sour pickles. And a couple of macaroons which were new since the last time we were there. And some pink salt caramels. And the cheese. So glad I had those half off coupons for the Chef's Kitchen from Groupon!! I vertainly made up for it, and then some!

We'll do the Chef's Kitchen again. I'd like to see what other creations Chef Nikki has up her sleeve.

As we were leaving, I go to start the truck and there's a loquat tree right smack in front of the truck! How I missed it on the way in I have NO idea! My maternal grandparents had one as you turned off the main road into their driveway when I was growing up. Every year it was us kids job to climb up in the tree and pick the loquats as they got ripe and Nana would either make jam with them or just put them up in some sugar water. Then we'd have loquats all year round. Course it was kinda like the mulberry tree that was across the road from their place. We'd eat a few. Put a few in the bucket. Eat a few. Put a few in the bucket. Same when we'd go to the strawberry fields over in Plant City after the workers were done. Three strawberries for me. One for the bucket! Anyway!! I thought I was full. I didn't think I could eat anything else. I was wrong! Last time I had loquats was when we were in Japan in 2003. We were at mom's favorite Uncle's Temple and we had been treated to afternoon tea by the family and some friends. As we were leaving, I spotted a loquat tree across the parking lot. I high-tailed it over and the Japanese family was amazed that not only did this American girl who was married to Yaeko-san's son know what a loquat was, but more-so, how to eat them! They are considered a "trash" tree in Japan. Most people don't eat the fruit. They have a skin that you have to peel off. There is very little fruit, rather there are 3 or 4 large seeds in the center. But I can tell you that they are worth the little bit of effort is you ever get the chance!

Thank you again, Chef Nikki for a most enjoyable lunch. We'll see you again soon.

In like Flynn...with t!m

Mah man t!m Holtz is heading back to the Tampa Bay area in May to teach more classes! This time at Whim So Doodle in St Pete. I just made 169 calls and John made 96 before I got a clear line to ring thru! On call 170...it rang instead of the beep, beep, beep of a busy signal! Oh sweet glorious ring! I told the gal who answered you'd think t!m Holtz was coming to town or sumthin! I am in for two of his four classes. The two I'm not taking are ones I've taken before. His Grungeboard class and his mirrored square class I've taken, so I'm doing two new ones. The first is Creative Outlets in which we will be inking and adorning tags and the second is Creative Blocks where we will create a multi-layer canvas project. Soooooooooooo excited!! May 6 and 7 can't get here fast enough!! Happy dantcing here!

The neverending mouth saga continues

It just keeps getting better. Not!

I went today for my 6 months post-op re-eval with the Perio. And while the bone grafted areas look great (that's the good news!) I have two more molars that are going to require root canals and crowns (and THAT'S the bad news!) Oh joy. This time the molars are on opposite sides of my mouth and have pretty much given me grief since the bone grafts were done. The one on my left side has bothered me now for close to 7 years. Just like the one that we did the root canal on last year. It's the molar right next to that one. And while no where near as painful as the other, coupled with the molar on the right side being sensitive to hot and cold, it's been quite challenging eating and drinking and trying to keep both rear molars covered with my tongue. So hopefully when I go see the good Dr Horn on April 6, all of this will be behind me. I'm still faced with bone grafts on the lower jaw as well, just most likely not this year since the root canals and crowns will eat up most of my dental benefits for 2011. Oh well, I'll have something to look forward to in 2012!

take me out to the ball game

Maybe I jinxed the team. Jacob is playing baseball and they were in the finals and playing elimination games. They'd been winning. Until I showed up. The boys played their hearts out this past Saturday, but the other team won. And they SHOULD have lost in the 3rd inning. The coaches are supposed to report their teams stats and any changes in the lineup to the official scorers after each inning and the opposing team hadn't been doing it. So the umpire said they should forfit the game. But Jake's coach said no. That he wanted his team to win or lose fair and square and not to a forfit. So then the other team turned on the "dirty" tactics. And in the end, Jake's team lost by one run. So they are eliminated. At this age, it sould be about learning the fundamentals of the game. Not teaching the kids to play dirty. As a non-parent, it frustrates me when the coaches place more emphasis on winning that learning and having fun. But...it got me out of the house for the afternoon and it's always good to see the fam! Joy was so darn cute. As we were leaving, she said, I guess we'll see you at our house for Easter! I'm taking that as my "official" invite. Even if nobody else in the family gets one! I'll be at Joy's house!

Mah Man t!m

If anybody is up in the mornin'...mah man t!m holtz is gonna be on HSN from 6 AM til 9 AM Eastern time. THREE solid hours of t!m!!! Squeeee! I've half a mind to drive down to the HSN studios so I can see he and Mario! But then I couldn't see what-all he was offering! According to his blog, there will be numerous Ranger bundled items. John says he's taking the credit cards with him tomorrow. So sad. Too bad. I've got those numbers memorized!