Good friends, Good Food, Good Grief!

Deby just got back from a business trip to San Antonio, Texas. It was 102 degrees there every day. It was like being in the Seattle Heat Wave all over again! Now Deby's back home in Seattle where it's back to "normal" summer weather. When Deby arrived at the airport this afternoon, she met her hubby Dave briefly to do a car-key-exchange and a quick beer before he flew off to Salt Lake City, Utah for his high school reunion. When Deby drove home from the airport the sky opened up and rained like crazy the whole drive home. It was probably the Gods expressing their sorrow over Deby not flying to Salt Lake City with Dave. (Poor Deby!) But, as every dark cloud is supposed to have a silver lining, Deby's good friends, Michelle and Craig, have offered to bring stuff over to cook for dinner tonight so that Deby doesn't have to be alone. And last night Deby cooked dinner for her friend, Jim, and his son Tyler, after they helped her put together a "secret project." (Can't divulge this info since Dave might read this blog from Salt Lake City and then he would know what Deby's up to!) Deby made her world famous spagetti for Jim and Tyler. Tyler's dog, Kona, also joined the party. Kona didn't eat any spagetti, but when everybody went home, Deby discovered that Kona had left a big pile of poop in the hallway upstairs! Poor Deby! (You can actually view a picture of Kona at the beginning of my Sunday, August 2, 2009 post. Doesn't he look like a little pooper?)

All photos by Deby Alm http://www.flickr.com/photos/debyc/

Bones are crackin'

This afternoon Deby had to go to the chiropractor for treatment number 5 to address a recent lower back injury that happened when she lifted the big, heavy garage door up. (Poor Deby!) Treatment is progressing well and hopefully, only 2 or 3 more will be necessary. While she was there, she asked the doctor if the "popping" noise you hear when he does the adjustments is louder on some people. He said yes, some people are big poppers and some are little poppers. He said it has something to do with how hydrated the person is. The more hydrated a person is, the louder they'll pop. Deby told him that was pretty weird because whenever she has had any medical test where they check hydration, she has always been told she is dehydrated... even though she drinks plenty of water all day long. The doctor said that's a good sign because it means the body is processing the water well, either through sweat or pee. He also told her she is probably emitting more oxygen out of her body through her skin. So, basically, what he was telling Deby is that she is full of hot air!!! Nice! When she got home she told Dave what the doctor said and Dave said "Yeah? I've been telling you that for years!!!" Poor Deby! To make Deby feel better, Dave cooked her up a yummilicious dinner of homemade (and homegrown by gardener extraordinaire Dave!) french fries and deep fried coconut shrimp ala Costco. What more can a hot air filled girl ask for? Buuuuuuurrrrrrp! (Poor Deby!)
***btw, for all you readers who didn't have a bottle of Lea & Perrins Whats-this-here sauce for the Sunday August 2nd post's "Cocktail Trivia Question," the answer was "POSSIBILITIES"... Yes, folks, when you unwrap the brown paper wrapping from the bottle, you "Unwrap the Possibilities." Who knew??????


All photos by Deby Alm http://www.flickr.com/photos/debyc/
Degree of Difficulty of the Day: Piece of Cake

The birth of Poor Deby (part 2)

After being stuck in the hot house all day Saturday waiting for the oven repair guy, Deby decided she wanted to go out-into-the-world on Sunday. Since Dave was gone golfing all day Saturday, he wanted to stay home Sunday and create a slideshow of their recent (well, first week of June) Road Trip to send to the family. Deby didn't like it much that she had to go on a Sunday adventure all-by-herself, but she did. (Poor Deby!) Her initial destination was the shopping mall since it's air conditioned. (We were still in a heat wave here in Seattle on Sunday... 92 degrees. That is a heat wave by Seattle standards!) Part way there she decided it was nearly lunch time and she thought she would very much like to try to find the Anthony's Homeport restaurant she heard was located somewhere in the town of Edmonds. She set up the nifty Garmin Nuvi GPS gizmo that Dave bought her for Christmas (pulling safely over to the side of the road to do this, of course) and she made her way to the restaurant without too much difficulty. (Deby usually doesn't drive places herself. She usually has a "driver." ...Poor Deby!) To her great surprise, this particular Anthony's had a smaller, more informal "restaurantlette " located right next door called the Beach Cafe. (Check it out at http://www.anthonys.com/restaurants/info/edmonds.html#2nd) Sitting outside in the sun next to the picturesque boat filled harbor and the bumble bee filled flowering shrubs, she ate half of her "Beach Burger and fries" ($8.95 and very, very tasty!) and drank all of her Scuttlebutt Pale Ale beer (hey, you gotta have your priorities straight, right?) As she sat there, she thought about how nice it would have been if Dave could have come with her, and how much it sucked that she was going to be spending the day out alone. Then it came to her.....Dave's words: POOR DEBY!!! She would give voice to this creature, this poor, underappreciated, often misunderstood, Deby. She took out her Blackberry phone and started immediatly typing notes on the phone's notepad which would later become this very blog! Since Deby loves to take pictures, she usually has a camera with her. But on Sunday when she left the house (alone) she didn't bother to bring a camera because she didn't think she would see anything of interest to photograph while she was out in the world all-by-herself. (Poor Deby!) Now that she was finally Connected to the Inspiration she had been seeking to create a blog, she wanted to photograph the moment. Determined to turn this day's frown around, she used the camera on her Blackberry to take these pictures of the picturesque boat filled harbour, the Beach Burger and beer, and even the bumble bee filled flowering shrubs. Life is Good, Deby!


All photos by Deby Alm http://www.flickr.com/photos/debyc/

Degree of Difficulty of the Day: Turned Out Better Than Expected

The birth of Poor Deby (part 1)

So, what started this Pity Party for Deby to begin with? I mean, we all have bad days where annoying and unfair stuff happens to us occasionally, and Deby is no exception. Only, one day (yesterday) it occurred to Deby that more often than not, crap in varying degrees seems to happen to her each-and-every-single-day. So yesterday, in the middle of a record breaking heat wave in Seattle (the "rain capital" of the United States, for Chrissake!!!) she had to wait for the Sears repairman to come to the house to fix the malfunctioning oven. (Now, you may ask why in the heck you would even need an oven when it's 108 degrees outside? Well, this appointment was made 2 weeks ago, when it was 68 degrees, cloudy, and drizzling out. You know, "normal" Seattle weather.) Of course, Deby was advised the repairman would arrive "sometime between 1:00 and 5:00" so she had to wait around the house, all-by-herself, since her husband, Dave, was out golfing with the boys. (Yes, even in a heat wave. This is not sissy golf, people.) Since Dave does most of the cooking anyway (at least the edible parts) the very least Deby could do was wait for the oven guy. Of course he didn't show up 'til 4:45, when the upstairs kitchen was good and heated up from the aforementioned heat wave. (Who needs an oven anyway? You could have baked cookies on the floor. Look out for the dogs!) Deby passed the day of waiting by trying to start up a blog (something that's been on her "to-do-list" for quite some time.) After spending hours and hours of trying to decide on a name, a template, a theme, what-the-heck-to-write, etc, etc, she quit for the evening once she realized she had essentially come up with nothing but a bit of a headache. It was only then that she discovered she had been wearing the wrong glasses all day long!!! No wonder she had a headache! When Dave returned home from golfing, she related all the trials and tribulations of her day to him and when she got to the part about wearing the wrong glasses he said "Poor Deby!" ... Do I hear a slap-on-the-ass and a baby's cry somewhere???? Happy "Birth"-day, Deby!!! (Just trying to make her feel better here.... Poor Deby!)

This definitely calls for a Cocktail of the Day recipe! Deby's been making this one for "special friends" for the past 15 years. She still has a couple of those friends left!

All photos by http://www.flickr.com/photos/debyc/

Poor Deby's Bloody Mary

What you need:

Vodka
V8 juice
fresh lime juice
What's-this-here-sauce (aka Worcestershire sauce) (***see Trivia question below!)
tabasco sauce
black pepper
celery salt

How to:

In a big* glass filled with ice, pour about 1-1/2 oz of vodka followed by V8 juice to about 3/4 of the way up. Squeeze a good squirt of lime juice, a couple of shakes of Whats-this-here-sauce, 4 or 5 dashes of tabasco (less for sissies) and a sprinkling of black pepper. Stir it up with a fancy swizzle stick, then add a generous sprinkle of celery salt to finish it off. Then "you" finish the whole thing off.
(* size of glass depends upon the Degree of Difficulty of the day)
Enjoy! And, thanks Deby! (She needs all the encouragement she can get. Poor Deby!)

**TRIVIA QUESTION: Okay, all you aficionados of Worcestershire sauce, aka "what's-this-here-sauce"..... On the Lea & Perrins bottle of "W"-sauce, it says "Unwrap the (blank)" Can you fill in the "blank?" Unwrap the what? What do they want you to unwrap? I've been using this stuff for years and I never knew! Oh, all the (blank) I've been missing! POOR DEBY!!

Degree of Difficulty of the Day: Cocktail Time!

So, what the heck is this all about?

This blog is about Deby and all the crappy things that happen to her on a daily basis. It's about her daily experiences that often cause her to wail out loud "Why Me?" It's also about how she tries to somehow find a way to muster the strength to see through the crap and find the silver lining on the other side. 'Cause if you look hard enough, it's usually there. And if it isn't, well, there's always shopping! Deby often learns to make her own "Happy Place" and if that doesn't work, sometimes it takes a "Happy Meal." Whatever works!
Thanks for stopping by. Come back and visit sometime. You may find yourself in similar situations to Deby and wondering how she handled it. Depending on the Degree of Difficulty of the day, you may find a "Comfort Recipe of the Day" here, or you may simply find a recipe for the "Cocktail of the Day" ('cause sometimes what you need is just a little Southern Comfort!) Just be assured that wherever you are and whatever you're doing, Deby is on the lookout for the solution to whatever problem the current day is flinging at her. Poor Deby!