On Friday, Mum dropped off some food from Seattle that my cousin My Tam sent home with her.  Why can't we get hand-crafted tofu w/ rice noodles & onions in it here?
Also, this tempeh we got was made to look/taste like meat; me & ATM were pretty sure we were eating flesh, warning KMHD (a "vegetarian") away from it, we were THAT convinced.  

Very tasty, om nom nom nom nom!  In the unlikely event that I ever own a pub, I will serve that tofu as a late nite bar snack.  It's so perfect!  You don't have to cook it & the only condiment you need is Sriracha.

How long has it been since I've been to Jon Thompson's parent's house?  10+ years by my estimate.  I had to type it into my GPS to locate it.  How pathetic is that?  I love going over there, it's so beautiful & amazing.  His mum is a master gardener; if you stepped into the back yard, you'd gasp.  I did!  Too, his folks have found & collected so many pretty things to fill the house with.  Lots of art.  Unfinished projects here and there, which proves that I will probably not finish everything ever & it's o.k.  We met there before having a fantastic dinner @ Layla's on Friday evening.  The night was cut short, no thanks to my damn tooth ache.  Got to see Shawn Miller!  I commented that I'm glad that I didn't have to wait until New Year's Eve to see him.  

Here's me & "Big Benjii"

Colln, KMHD:

J.T., Shawn & ATM:

Imagine dreading a Saturday.  I spent the morning chastising myself for being so negative and hard on my old man, but I felt I had good reason to expect the worst; he's let me & KMHD down numerous times.  Well, shame on me.  Our visit was nowhere near awful.  It bordered on being o.k., if not somewhat nice at times.  Highlight?  Taking him to 5tarbucks.  He's never been to one!  He's never heard of the place!  He said to me, "Well, this is a nice little place."  Hee!  That willfully ignorant S.O.B., I love him.

On Sunday, I spent the majority of the day in bed, no thanks to this excruciating toothache.  But, having poked around in there with my finger, I'm starting to believe that it's not THE bad tooth, but the one next to it.  Expletive!  Like I need this!  I've made my dental appointment for tomorrow, so, hopefully, this era of whining will end soon, Inshallah.

Looking forward to the weekend.  Without consulting any weather-predictions, I'm banking on the perfect Saturday.  We're gonna drag out ye olde grille & make grilled food.  We will be hosting my cousin from Ft. Smith, too.  Casual Saturday.

A) Do you have a dishwashing machine?  B)  Do you use it?  I've been wondering if it's time for us to start using ours.  Currently, it is being used as storage, but I've been worrying about wasting water.  "They" say that no matter how conservative you are, hand washing is wasteful whereas a machine uses less AND it uses the same amount every time.  I guess you'd have to be sure to do FULL loads to make it worth it, right?  That means that I'd have to get more dishes and utensils, right?  Advise me!