The Last Day

Poor Deby has been so busy trying to keep up with the Holidays she hasn't had time to update her blogs! She feels so ashamed! And her very good friend, Miss Radish(of http://www.radishandrose.blogspot.com/ fame) keeps reminding her that she is sick and tired of continuously checking and rechecking both the Poor Deby and Leapin Lilly sites only to see the SAME OLD POST, day after day after day..... So, Poor Deby is resolving to make a New Year's Resolution to create new posts on a very regular basis. In fact, she is working out a top secret schedule of regular "feature posts" to be debuted very soon. More about that another time. For now, Poor Deby would like to share this timely article from the New York Times. This being the Last Day of 2009, it seems appropriate:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/12/31/opinion/20091231_opart.html

Enjoy, and a Happy New Year full of health, happiness, love, joy, and lots of good words to everyone!

Click Click Click Click Camera Song

Here's a fun video that gets Poor Deby tapping her toes.

Just click click click click on the link below...

photo: Bishop Allen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LpmrZbTu1o

Play Ball!

• Deby has been following her favorite baseball team, the New York Yankees, as they claw their way up through the muck that is the playoffs. While Deby doesn't harbor any bad feelings or hatred for any of the other teams in either the American or National league (well, maybe with the sole exception of the Boston Red Sox) she is having quite a bit of difficulty understanding the intense hatred so many people have for the Damn Yankees. When Deby encounters a fervent Yankee Hater, she can't help but ask them "why?" The reasons boil down to the following:
  

The Yankees have bundles of unlimited money to fund their payroll account.

The Yankees scout out the best up-and-coming players from other teams and steal them away.

The other teams can't pay their players what the Yankees can, so their best players leave.

When the other teams raise the amount they pay their players, the Yankees just increase their offer.

I don't know about you, but Deby thinks these things define the very concept of Capitalism. Think of Corporate America. In particular, think of Microsoft vs all-the-other-companies-that-do-what-Microsoft-does:


Microsoft has bundles of unlimited money to fund their payroll account.

Microsoft scouts out the best up-and-coming "players" (CEO's) from other "teams" (companies) and steals them away.

The other "teams" can't pay their "players" what Microsoft can, so their best "players" leave.

When the other "teams" raise the amount they pay their "players", Microsoft just increases their offer.


Hmmmm. You can pretty much swap out the word "Microsoft" and insert any number of large, competitive organizations. The "players" are what make the organization successful. The largest, most successful corporations willingly pay the highest salaries for the best talent. No surprise there.


Now, Poor Deby is not a professional baseball player, but if she was I bet she would jump for joy if she received a letter in the mail from George Steinbrenner that said "We want YOU to play for the New York Yankees!"...

And, no matter what people say, Deby doesn't believe it's all about the money. Sure, making oodles of dough playing baseball for a living doesn't hurt, but there is just something about putting on those Yankee pinstripes. It's about playing for the team alongside the ghosts of all those legendary players.... Gehrig, Ruth, Dimaggio, Mantle, Ford, Durocher, Berra, Jackson ..... the list goes on and on, and it's still continuing today.

C.C. Sabathia fires in a fast one...


Andy Pettitte post launch...


Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez...


A-Rod about to hit one of his 500+ home runs...


So, until the Baseball Commissioner puts a cap on the salaries allowed to be paid to professional baseball players, Poor Deby says "Go Yankees! Go Capitalism!" That's the American Way.


Degree of Difficulty of the Day: A Grand Slam Home Run!

As a side note, Deby's husband, Dave, happens to be a Minnesota Twins fan. You can imagine the warm, fuzzy feelings going on in their home during the recent American League Division playoffs between the Twins and the Yankees. Poor Deby had to call their good friend, Jim, over to be the referee.... and here's the proof:

Now, can't we all just get along???

Cocktail of the Day:

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

Manhattan

3/4 oz sweet vermouth ("Vya Sweet Vermouth" if you're a N.Y. Yankee)
2-1/2 oz bourbon whiskey ("Crown Royal" if you're a N.Y. Yankee)
1 dash Angostura bitters
1 twist orange peel

Combine the vermouth, whiskey, and bitters with 2 - 3 ice cubes in a mixing glass. Stir gently, don't bruise the spirits and cloud the drink. Place the cherry in a chilled cocktail glass and strain the whiskey mixture over the cherry. Rub the cut edge of the orange peel over the rim of the glass and twist it over the drink to release the oils but don't drop it in.


Variation: No bitters. Substitute a twist of lime for the cherry and orange. Hold the lime twist in a lighted match over the drink and then drop it in. The heat really zips up the lime flavor.

Find this and more great cocktail recipes at: http://www.drinksmixer.com/drink580.html

Framed!

So, Deby has this day job that she has to go to every day so she can do stuff like eat and buy gas to get to her day job and stuff. (Otherwise, Deby would post updates to this blog much more often. Geez... Deby just realized it's been ten whole days since she's been able to sit down and write a new post. Poor Deby!!) So today Deby's boss (I don't want to reveal names, so let's just call him Rob) asked Deby if she would pretty please remove an old, outdated map that was hanging on the wall in a gianormous frame and put a new updated map in it's place. Being a model employee, Deby said she would be more than happy to do this, even though this is not really on her job description and she wasn't sure if she was entirely qualified. Upon examining the frame, Deby quickly discovered this task would require the use of tools, namely a flathead screwdriver. Deby called down the hallway for her friend.... "Jim?..." but then she remembered Jim had just left for Buffalo, New York to visit his very first grandchild. Damn. Deby would be forced to complete this job herself after all. So, taking the gianormous frame and a screwdriver into a nearby storage room with ample floor space, Deby set to removing screws and brackets and thin little silver bendy things that pop into the air when the sides of the frame are loosened. The dismanteling part of the project went surprisingly well. No skin was punctured and no fingernails were even chipped! Deby removed the old, outdated map and put the new map in it's place under the plexiglass. Next came the reassembly of the gianormous frame. Deby carefully lined up the top and left side of the frame, lightly tightening the screws and brackets. But when she started to attach the bottom part of the frame to the left side, the previously placed brackets shifted, the plexiglass slipped out of place, and Deby pretty much had to start over. This happened many, many times, over and over, until finally, somehow, Deby managed to get all four sides of the frame secured, and the plexiglass stayed in place! This is where the real trouble began. Deby started shoving the thin little silver bendy things in between the frame and the backing when POP! The thin little silver bendy things shot straight up into the air and the sides of the frame fell apart. Just at that very moment, one of Deby's coworkers (let's just call him Paul) had walked into the room and witnessed this tragic event. Deby looked at him and said "I don't usually do this framing stuff. I have people who do this for me!" Deby then sat down right there on the floor and leaned against the wall. Paul looked at her and said "Boy. Your face is all red." I guess he decided it was a good idea to leave the room right about then, because he sure did, and quickly, too! Then Deby could hear Paul relating the story of what he had just witnessed to her other four co-workers, including her boss, Rob (and they're all men, mind you. Poor Deby!) She couldn't hear everything they were saying, but she did hear enough bits and pieces to determine that Paul had related what he saw and asked co-workers two and three and Rob if perhaps someone should assist Deby. But Rob quickly pointed out that if there were "things flying around and a pissed-off Deby", he was staying as far away as he could. All the other guys quickly agreed. So, now, more determined than ever to finish this task, Deby set her entire being to getting it done and getting out. With a great sense of pride and accomplishment, Deby marched into Rob's office and said "Here's your stupid frame. And here's the extra left-over parts" as she held out her hand and revealed several thin little silver bendy things. Poor Deby!! She really was framed!

Degree of Difficulty of the Day: All screwed up

Cocktail of the Day: Greyhound (Vodka & grapefruit juice) Note: Dave's Cocktail of the Day choice was a SCREW-Driver!!! After Deby's frame-assembly-mishap-experience today, you would think he would have a little more sensitivity!!! But, Deby forgives him. After all, he is just a man...

And, speaking of such, while Deby was in the middle of typing this post, she left her laptop computer unattended for a brief period while she ran upstairs to refresh her drink and visit the bathroom. Before she left, she asked Dave to make sure the animals didn't jump on her computer while she was gone. When she returned, however, she discovered that an "animal" had, in fact, "jumped on her computer" and typed the following message:

Poor Deby ran out of lemonade and left her computer unguarded. Poor child. She trusts that nobody would sneak over and tell the blog world hi and so long and thanks for all the fish.

Of course, Dave denies that he typed this. He blames it on the dog. How many times have we heard men blame "it" on the dog? Poor dogs!

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

...Speaking of Poor Dogs, this cute little fella's name is Chet. He belongs to our good friends, Marilyn and Tim. Doesn't Chet look happy? Maybe, or maybe not. We can't tell. Marilyn and Tim can't tell either. But, we'll just assume that Chet is happy. Or, indifferent. Indifferent can be happy, can't it? Who knows? I'll bet Chet does....

Jive Turkey

In case you were wondering how the oven repair that took place during the worst-ever-heat-wave-in-Seattle turned out, well, Deby finally put the oven to the test yesterday. Since the oven repair only came with a 90-day warranty, Deby has been waiting for a nice, cool, typical Seattle-type day to fire up the oven for a 3 or 4 hour roast-test. The trouble was, Seattle weather just wouldn't cooperate. It's been warm, too warm to bake for hours on end, anyway, ever since the repair took place over a month ago. (Thank you, Global Warming!) With Thanksgiving fast approaching and the need to know if the repair was successful or not, Deby announced the test would commence on Sunday, September 6, regardless of the weather. The test dinner would be a sort of "practice" Thanksgiving dinner, a faux Thanksgiving, with a 13-pound turkey that required around 3-1/2 hours of roasting time. This test was necessary because Deby just couldn't bear the thought of a repeat of the horror of Thanksgiving 2008 (which included the still undercooked turkey several hours past the advertised dinner time as well as the Drunken Dog incident, which had nothing to do with the oven, by the way. And, to top it all off, this was Deby's first Thanksgiving with Dave following their wedding in September 2008!! Poor Deby!) When Deby announced to Dave that the test was to take place on Sunday, he prepared to send out a dinner e-vitation to everyone they knew when Deby stopped him and cried "What if the oven repair is a failure? It will be just like last Thanksgiving!" So, Dave agreed to keep the list small.... just their friends, Jim & Ann, and Dave's son, Sean. (Because, after all, if they killed off Jim & Ann with undercooked turkey, at least they would still have the rest of their friends left.) So, when Sunday came, it was as if the Gods were finally smiling on Poor Deby. It was a dark, cool, rainy, strangely almost Thanksgiving-type day. Football was on tv, Dave had a fire going in the fireplace, and the oven worked!!! In fact, it almost worked too well. Dave said he thought the white meat was a little too dry, but Deby quickly pointed out that's what the gravy is for. So, roast turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, green beans, corn, cranberry sauce, rolls with butter..... not to mention brownies for dessert... and of course, wine and good friends that we didn't kill off, all added up to a successful faux-Thanksgiving fest. I guess we won't have to leave town for Thanksgiving this year after all. Here's some photos to document the event:

Preparing the stuffing:

Side dishes are simmering:

The table is set: (yes, those are fake flameless candles. Don't tell Martha!)

Dave even went out and picked the very first watermelon from his garden for the occassion...

Perfection!

And, here's the guest of honor... Wow!

Everyone was happy to finish off the dinner with homemade brownies (after Deby cut off the corner that Lilly-the-dog had decided to scrape off with her teeth. Don't tell Martha that, either!)...

Looks like Rosie the cat is thinking about attempting a Drunken Cat incident of her own. Not a chance, Rosie! Bad kitty! Get off the table! What would Martha think?

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

Note: Dave picked the beautiful Dahlia flower from his garden as well. And he even placed it in the Classic Coke vase, too! Martha, eat your heart out!

Degree of Difficulty of the Day: the Heat is On!

Cocktail Time: Hmmmm...Make mine a rum-and-coke, please!

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!