Happy Christmas 2015

As a result of my son working black Friday, he received a 25% off voucher so I decided to take advantage of that discount and bought an xbox with Kinect, a year games with gold subscription for xbox, ooma, new cable modem so I don't have to rent one from TimeWarner Cable anymore, and a mattress topper. Merry Christmas to me.

I also switched out the cable box with dvr because it had an issue with turning on we were struggling with for awhile. Now, maybe it was just us moving the remote too soon to the coffee table before it was switched on fully or maybe it was the level of crap on the coffee table preventing the signal from getting to the cable box in the first place, but anyway, the new box is smaller and sleeker and comes with a better menu. Last weekend, I was able to turn in the two cable modems and turn off the phone with TimeWarner since my number porting operation was completed with ooma earlier that week.

Wednesday, we had a pot luck at work. I brought in a 4-flavor variety cake from the Walmart bakery and picked up a dozen tamales from a local mexican bakery (Yelp Review #1026 & First Review #147) because someone who was let go from another team had noted those on the pot luck sign-up sheet. I also brought in a bag of mandarin oranges for my team for an extra shot of vitamin C to stave off the colds and flu we have been passing around the office. Way too many people have been sneezing and sniffling this season. I need to get a jumbo bottle of hand sanitizer going again on my team since we handle the files after at least five other groups handle them (set-up, processing, funding, closer, underwriter) and it's a proven fact that paper harbors germies, especially paper money.

I was let off work at 3PM yesterday, forgot the gifts I received on my desk (santa bear, itunes gift card, Starbucks gift card, snack container, tea cup and saucer and a bunch of candy canes) and the leftover cake when security was doing their sweep of the building, and made my way to the local Albertson's before heading home where there were a ton of shoppers gathering foodstuffs for the holiday. I don't remember the parking lot being so full since... probably Thanksgiving. My own shopping basket held a Foster Farms turkey breast, chicken strips, corned beef, crescent rolls, biscuits, pie crusts and sage sausage.

Breaking tradition, I actually prepared Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve. Roasted Turkey breast, roasted rosemary carrots, mashed potatoes and gravy. Banana Bread for dessert.

When I got home, I checked the freezer while putting away the groceries for the mixed vegetables and found none. It appears my son is the human vegetable vacuum. So it seems I need turkey gravy, said mixed vegetables and mayo (it's expired 11 days ago) to get through the weekend.

A side note: I love the fact that I earn enough to not worry about paying my bills, but especially not having to worry about what I spend at the grocery store. I basically get what I want when I want it. I guess that helps to satisfy, on some level in my life, my need for spontaneity.  

So my Christmas morning started with me turning on BBC America to watch the Dr Who marathon and working on some crochet.

I'm thinking about making monkey bread this morning while the Disney xmas parade is on.

I'm Moving

Don't worry. It's nothing that major.

I'm moving all of my recipes away from my general "My Life in Orange County" blog and into a new specialized blog entitled "My Red Recipe Book". Indeed, I do have a red recipe book at home that I add recipes into when I find something that peeks my interest and due to my severe lactose intollerance, the majority of the recipes I collect are dairy free or modified to be dairy free so I can eat them. I will only post general food topics here going forward.

The recipe of all recipes

There are two recipes guarded with more security than should be legal.

The first is a recipe for Coca Cola. People have lost there jobs over that one...

The other is the recipe for the 11 secret herbs and spices complied into a seasoning mix that is known as 'the original recipe' for Kentucky Fried Chicken.

It makes my mouth water just thinking about cold KFC for breakfast. It always tastes better in the morning, don't ask me why.

See Article:
Colonel’s chicken recipe removed from safekeeping for first time in decades