BBQ

Mmmm, 4th of july. Time to fire up the smoker. It's been dormant since thanksgiving, so first I had to clean out the rust. ugh. Brittany requested a sweet barbecue sauce so I made this root beer based sauce. With a cup of dark corn syrup, 1/2 cup of molasses and a cup of root beer it was definitely sweet. Too much. It was almost syrupy (I wonder why). No recipe posted for that until I can adjust it and make it tasty. It is pretty though.
Starts off like this:









Finishes (after a few hours) looking like this:











Since David was doing the brisket and hot links; I figured I'd stick with something quick and easy and hard to mess up. Chickens and bologna. Two different ways on smoking the bologna (heh). Put the entire thing on or slice it first then put it on. The second way turns out the best. Takes in a little more smoke, done in about an hour. The chickens - basic oil and paprika rub then in for 2-3 hours basting with sauce at the end. Oh, and cover the tops with bacon. Even if it doesn't "lock in the moisture" it sure drives the neighborhood crazy with the smell!
Here they are about 30 minutes in:










And at the end:

Sarah - Dream Blog - Entry 1

My daughter Sarah has had three nightmares this week. She dreams just like me it. Very vivid, and very weird. I'll try to make this a recurring feature, since she tends to forget her dreams very quickly. I'll include a little analysis in this one just to improve my parenting skills. Hopefully it won't be used by either DHS or by her analyst when she grows up.
Last night dream: our dog Noodles (how can you be scared of a dog with a name like noodles, especially when she looks like this)

Okay, so in her dream (this is in her words) Noodles went outside and then fell down and died. Then she "turned into bones" (her word for an animated skeleton). She then came inside and turned into an alligator and started chasing Sarah and Madison (our other dog, picture here)

Now I tried to explain to Sarah, that if you wanted to feed an Alligator, then Madison was probably the perfect choice. I mean look at her. She might as well be wearing a little doggie shirt that says "Alligator Bait". That didn't really seem to help her however.

Now we come to the recurring theme in her dreams. She ran to her big strong daddy for protection. I picked her up (ah! Safety!; man what an ego boost for me!! Don't worry, it's always fleeting), here it comes: then I put her down (within alligator range) and (it gets foggy here) I either tried to chase the alligator away or help Madison. One interpretation makes me look like the Hero Daddy I strive to be; the other makes me look like, well...a bit of an ass. Guess which one I choose. No need to analyze this part of the dream any further, obviously I need to change my daughter's perception of her father....perhaps a bit more time in front of the TV will do it. Yes, I think that's just what the doctor ordered.
So the rest of the dream devolves into half remembered scraps and what I think is some poetic license on the dreamers part intended to further the listeners reaction. Some involves Noodles then turning into a good alligator and maybe fighting crime with her partner "Gator Bait". Who knows.
So what on earth could have triggered these nightmares?? We have three options as parents.

1. Locate the trigger and attempt to prevent or lessen the impact of these nightmares.
2. Purchase a larger bed so that I don't end up on the floor (and Mommy on the couch) from Missus Flaily McCrazy Sleeper.
3. Find a locking doorknob for the bedroom door, and invest in some soundproofing.

A trigger, eh? Well, we did watch the movie Monster House this weekend. It was a tad scary. And we did watch it on a big screen with all the lights out. But still, it was a cartoon, and it was funny in parts. So I'm not too sure about that one. Let's put a pin in that one for now. Pip.
Let's see, what else did we do this weekend. Ah, she watched me play a little bit of the game Oblivion. Still, it's a little computer game..not too much scary about that. A couple of screen shots here, nothing I can see that would scare a 6 year old in the middle of the night.

Ugh, I'm a horrible person. I should have explained to her that the zombie was nothing to be afraid of! Not since I'm a level 12 Paladin with the native ability to turn undead with a +6. (I'm sure I got my geek all wrong in that part of the post, but the point is...it's there.) Okay, so new rules in the house. No more games for Sarah. Well, except for Halo 2. 'Cause everyone knows there's nothing wrong with pumping a few hundred rounds into a critter as long as it looks like it came from the muppet show. More later!

The Versatile Vest. Uber-Goofy.

The missus and I went to a show last night. Good show, wouldn't have been my first pick but it was great music and that's the important part. It was downtown at the PAC, and it was mid to hi falutin. Mostly mid-falutin. It was the strangest mix. There were women there in full opera 'opening night' type gowns sitting right next to Farmer Bob in flannel and denim. In front of us, was Mr. Vest. No complaints, they didn't talk during the show and they didn't wear their hair big, but during halftime (intermission for the showbiz) Mr. Vest thought his time would best be spent standing with hands in pockets and surveying his realm. Just a low-grade kind of annoying. So I obnoxiously and purposefully took his picture. If you're going to stand around looking like a damn waiter, at least take a freakin' drink order. Jeez, I must've hollered rum and coke at this egg-timer a half a dozen times and just got a blank stare in return. C'MON.

Purdy.

Okay, I know I still haven't written anything. Maybe come Friday when there's nothing to do and I'm crammed full of turkey after effects I'll put finger to key and get something done. In the meantime...
I did some house inspections up by the Tenkiller area today. I never understood why people spend good money on lake houses that are so damn far away from the water. But then again, a view like this makes a pretty good point. (Click pics for biggy goodness). Here's another from a different direction:



Of course, both of these have trees blocking the view. If you want the true unobstructed view...you really have to climb up on the roof and perch on the chimney (lower right of pic)


(I thought about taking a picture straight down on that last one, but I was wearing my good underwear)

Invisible

Okay, I did post this weekend. Then I read it the next day and thought it was not so much funny or interesting as much as it was...well, crap. So, it's gone now. I'm a bit on the hyper-critical side so that will happen frequently. Of course, this post will probably be gone in a few days too. I just don't like the way it's sitting on the page. Crap.

PLACEHOLDER - entry 1

Nothing here yet. Hopefully this weekend (11/11) I'll get the chance to actually write something. In the meantime, here are some lovely fall foliage pictures, and the election day fog creeping back from the dam at Fort Gibson.

Picture A: the beautiful leaves in the neighbors backyard.


Picture B is what nature has presented to us. Apparently I pissed nature off at some point. Oh well, screw her too.







Election day. The fog rolls back. Beautiful. Oh, and the um..
fence. It's there to keep any more metaphors from queering
the deal.