Picture Sunday

Hello, greetings, and welcome to a pretty tired edition of Picture Sunday. Well, the edition itself isn't tired, I hope not, anyway, though that's for you to decide.

Spring cleaning may or may not have begun in Betland. I spent today, after a stint in the kitchen being the new Recipe Card Lady, tackling the spare bedroom, aka The Beast. Actually, re-tackling it. If you'll recall, I tackled it for the first time last year, and got it in fine shape, where it stayed. Until Christmas, when it again became the spot for everything I didn't have a place for to be thrown. So I went at it again, and got things back in order.

Then came a massive clothes-chucking binge. Those are currently sitting in bags, waiting to be taken to the mission.

Then I got tired, and hungry, and said, "Screw it, I'm eating and doing Picture Sunday." And one salad later, here I am.

What else did I do this weekend? Not friggin' much. I found myself at loose ends for awhile last night while Mr M trotted off and did his musical things, and so I headed to Target. Which makes tonight's Picture Sunday the Crass Consumerism Edition.

First of all, I bought myself something I've needed for a long time. How long? Well, let's just say the ones I had I'd probably had since high school, and every time I see them in their naked state I get queasy.

What are they? Pillows!



Look at those babies! They're so fat! My old ones were so thin they only had one side. I tell you, there will be some good sleeping at the Poderosa tonight.

Next I had to go look for light bulbs. This made me giggle. I'm sure we all remember Stennie, don't we? And I'm also sure that we all remember her most classic of blogs, Without Lamps There'd Be No Light. If you haven't read it, go and do so. I'm not kidding; it's imperative that you read that blog!

Anyway, for my birthday I received a gift from my sister, the gift of a lamp. Now, I didn't need a lamp, and when I opened this present I must admit I had my doubts. For this lamp was certainly not something I would have bought for myself. "I thought it would look cool in your living room," said my sister, maybe reading the puzzled look on my face.

This lamp mostly reminds me of something Greg Brady would have had in his bedroom when he got to convert his dad's den into his own groovy bachelor pad. It also reminds me of, is it Vishnu? The dude with the arms? Anyway, this week I decided to get it out and put it together, and I must admit the little fella has grown on me. He has a certain charm. Not for my living room, but I thought he might kind of funky up my dennette.

I put the lamp together, had it standing there, and then found the instructions. Which I decided to read for some reason. Seems that I had put all the parts together in the wrong sequence, according to the lamp people anyway, but I didn't care because everything was where it was supposed to be. However, just like poor Stennie, I didn't seem to have the kind of bulbs the lamp people were telling me I needed for Mr Funky, the lamp. Stennie needed Type A Bulbs (bulbs with high blood pressure). I needed Type G Bulbs. I had never in my entire life heard of Type G Bulbs.

Funny thing about light bulbs. They don't have their letter types on the packaging. And so I went studiously through the 1000 bulbs Target had to offer, and it paid off, because my bulbs worked just fine. (It was the "candelabra base" that helped me pick the right ones.)



So there's Mr Funky. Oddly enough, Stennie's lamp instructions told her to clean her lamb with a mild non-abrasive cleaner and a soft cloth. Well, mine takes no cleaner at all! Just a soft cloth! Mr Funky's low-maintenance!

And now it's time for the recipe du jour.

You know, when I go to Community Band on Wednesday night, the boys stay home and have fish sticks. They're Sherman's favorite. Sometimes, though, Sherman gets a special treat. And tonight's recipe comes from the "Sherman's Favorites" file, and is indeed that treat. Say "Ahoy" to the Sea Dog.




Ahhh, the old Sea Dog. This is your favorite fish stick, nestled in a hot dog bun, and topped with tartar sauce and "algae" (spinach). To be honest, this is not an idea original to Sherman. There used to be a drive-in here years and years ago that actually served the Sea Dog, just like you see above you. Our card version is served up with Tater Tots (how could it not be?), and a nice glass of pink lemonade, made so much more fun by a bendy straw.

Happy week.

Betland's Olympic Update:
* Isn't the point of a good musical to have a lot of good musical numbers in it? I thought it was, anyway....
* One of the things I did when cleaning out the spare bedroom was - I kid you not - go through my Christmas stocking and get everything out of it. I'm a little behind. Still, it was kind of like having Christmas all over again.