Eggplant Curry

One more for today. Easy, yummy eggplant curry at home, for those interested.
http://followingthemasala.blogspot.in/2012/06/eggplant-curry.html

Home Made Yogurt

Hey,

I put up a recipe for home made yogurt if anyone is into that type thing - it's super yummy.
http://followingthemasala.blogspot.in/2012/06/making-yogurt.html

You're welcome!

Becky

All Appologies

Warning: This will be one of those ridiculous question/answer blogs that are so popular. I love easy prompts like this, so this is on the menu today. If you don’t like them, don’t be afraid to skip it. I won’t mind, promise. Because D.J over at :http://thoughtsfromparis.com/ is awesome and is encouraging self promotion for some odd reason, I got exposed to some new blogs. Squee! I got this from Amy, over at: http://katjaneway.blogspot.in/. You should check her out. Spread the love people, not the STD’s. I added my own comments after the songs, because that’s how I roll, and the artist because we all have different tastes.

There is this awesome game I discovered on Facebook some time ago. The object of the game is this:

1. Shuffle Your Music
2. Whatever song comes up, answers that question
3. Shuffle again and keep going!
4. Have fun!

I’m skipping all of the Hindi music that comes up, because I can’t even translate it, I’m sure it won’t mean anything to anyone else reading this blog either.

BEST OF THE BEST

IF SOMEONE SAYS ‘ARE YOU OKAY’ YOU SAY?

Circle of Life (seriously? I probably would say something like this)

Elton John

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?

Faithfully (I suppose)

Journey

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?

I’ll have to say I love you in a song. (Seriously Ipod, WTF. I'm no bard and I don't sing for people.)

Jim Croce

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?

Rock Rock Til You Drop (aw yeah)

Def Leppard

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?

Breaking the Rules (as usual)

AC/DC

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?

Pour Some Sugar on Me (Ha!)

Def Leppard

WHAT’S YOUR MOTTO?

Nasty Girl (Double Ha!)

Nitty

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?

The Black Velvet Band (yikes!)

Brobdingnagian Bards

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?

Again I go Unnoticed (yep.)

Dashboard Confessional

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?

Superman (It’s not easy)

Five for Fighting

WHAT IS 2 + 2?

Take My Breath Away (??)

Bonnie Tyler

  

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR EX BOY/GIRL/BEST FRIEND?

Dream on (bwa ha ha ha.)

Aerosmith

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?

Sunshine (Not really.)

Jack Johnson

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?

Parachutes (let the metaphors fly)

Coldplay

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?

Girl (yay! I got there!)

Beatles

WHAT DO YOU THINK/HOW DO YOU FEEL WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?

Tonight’s Gonna Be a Good Night (ha!)

Black Eyed Peas

WHAT IS GOOD ADVICE?

Crash into Me (my ipod needs to get laid…)

Dave Matthews

WHAT IS BAD ADVICE?

Prostitue (ok, that’s probably true)

Guns N Roses

WHAT DID YOU DO AT YOUR WEDDING?

Some Girls Dance with Women (also true. Ahem.)

JC Chazes

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?

I Want You to Want Me. (Oh this is excellent. Want me bitches.)

Cheap Trick

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?

You Don’t Mess Around with Jim (Seriously ipod…)

Jim Croce

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?

Our House (but it’s our castle and our king)

Madness

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?

Don’t Go Away (analyze away.)

Buckcherry

WHAT DO YOU WANT RIGHT NOW?

Rhythym of Love (Seriously ipod, not funny anymore)

Plain White Tees

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?

Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Unfortunately.)

Israel Kamakawiwo'ole

WHAT’S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?

So Fine (Um, no. Axl Rose is definitely not the worst thing that could happen to me.)

Guns N Roses

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?

Never Leave You (for Johnny Depp)

Lumidee

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?

Walking in Memphis (accurate. I don’t like Elvis)

Marc Cohn

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?

Mary Jane’s Last Dance (no, not really)

Espen Lind, Askil Holm, Kurt Nilsen & Alejandro Fuentes

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?

Standing Still (cue goosebumps now)

Jewel

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?

Why Me Lord (Yeah, I’m pretty sure not)

Shaggy

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Got Nuffin (yep, just about)

Spoon

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?

I Miss You (not right now, but give it a few weeks)

Incubus

WHAT WOULD YOU WANT TO SAY TO THE PERSON WHO TAGGED YOU?

Stacy’s Mom (Has Got it Goin On, feel free to sing along)

Fountains of Wayne

WHAT BROUGHT YOUR LAST RELATIONSHIP TOGETHER?

Friendship (now that’s cool)

Tenacious D

WHAT ARE YOU GONNA TITLE THIS AS?

All Appologies (Yep, that’s about right. Sorry for the massive time waste folks)

Nirvana

On Keeping a Ball and Chain - I think

I must preface this blog with a warning. There was a red wine bottle opened a little while ago. It’s now empty. You’ve been warned. I’ve heard that it’s best if you write drunk and edit sober. Some nonsense from Byron or Shakespeare or something (go on, comment on who really said that, I’ll wait, I just don’t feel like looking it up) like that. Since I don’t edit anyways (I’m so sorry.) let’s go.



Ladies and Gentlemen, I have no idea where all of you appeared from to read my blog, but I love every last one of you. Thank you. It means more than I can say in my current inebriated state. Sorry, the wine makes me extra lovey. I’ll try not to grope any of you, but no promises. It’s probably best if you sit a few seats away.


Daddy G and I just had an awesome philosophical/math conversation about uncontrollable equations over byriani and red wine. Yes, yes, you can now carry on about how much of a pretentious nerd I am. I’m already aware and I happen to agree with you. This is one of the reasons that Daddy G and I get along so well. No matter how many times we argue about his traveling to the US without me (you ever loving bastard), he always makes up for it by engaging my mind. He tolerates my unadulterated love affair with red wine and is willing to engage in ridiculously nerdy discussions. When he’s not working that is. Ahem. I love this man.


My eldest daughter asked me today, in the teary-est way possible, what she would do if her husband didn’t love her like her daddy and I did. I told her that without a doubt she should never marry a man that didn’t love her more than we did. This came out of a situation where her sister was found eating food outside (of which she is not allowed, because nut allergies aren’t a joke yo) and how hard it was to say no to friends. I got up on my soap box and preached a bit about how important it was to learn to do this and not worry so much about offending people, which my daughter does. A lot. I swear I’m trying to stop with the soap boxing (see here), but people, it is hard. The hard part came when my daughter asked me what if her husband stopped loving her, like my parents did. I’ve always been open about my mom and dad’s divorce with my kids. Not in the “I have Daddy Issues” way that is always in my own head, but that they had problems they just couldn’t solve.


The hard thing is, there is no guarantee. There’s no promise that you and your spouse won’t change and run into problems that you just can’t solve or fix. Honestly, this terrifies me. I would rather chew off my left leg than have to go through a divorce. Yet, I’m a realist and I can’t honestly say that Daddy G and I will never ever get a divorce. I certainly don’t want one and will do everything in my power to avoid getting one. It feels like a defeat admitting that I can’t even guarantee that we’ll be together always. But such is the way of relationships. There are no guarantees.


Ladies and gentlemen that love and care about your spouses, never take them for granted, and never ever let your problems go beyond what it will take a day to fix. Go on now, go hug your husband or wife. I’m done preaching for today.


Amen.


Becky

Improvement in Increments

Mood: Happy – I have my 4 year old curled up sleeping on me

Listening to: Never Easy – Kurt Nilsen, Love him hard.

I’m generally hanging around waiting for the greenlight on a project and thus decided to do some writing. Sigh. Not that kind of greenlight folks. Hopefully if my life ever gets that amazeballs, I hope I’ll be smart enough not to tell the internetz. You web-tubes just can’t keep a secret, can you, ya gossipy bastards. Although, if life ever took that turn, I probably would tell everyone. Think about it. That would be epic.  In reality, it’s an IT project that I need to make sure is taken off the server before I go in and mess around with stuff.  I love admin privileges.

Speaking of the word epic, I can’t say/write it without thinking of a certain friend and subsequently missing him. I miss you and your epic-ness Da. Whiskey and late night drunken chicanery just aren’t the same without you.

Sorry for the digression. I’m feeling mentally scatter-ish today.

So there are plans to actually exercise today. Stop laughing, I’m serious.  Kettle ball exercise. 5 pm today. I’m sure you’ll all be thoroughly entertained for the next few days hearing about how old/gimpy I am after actually using my non-existent muscles. I’m half excited, half terrified. Ok, after the fan incident it’s mostly terror. If anyone has online exercise video suggestions, I’m still looking for some. Also – what music motivates you when you exercise? I generally stick to some amped up GNR, Metallica, etc. I need some variety. The plan right now is to go back to my old work out of switching off cardio and weights (strength training) every other day.

I’m doing well keeping the coke (a-cola) under control. I think I’m successful at keeping it down to once a week, although I’m still fighting the cookie urge. It’s weird. In some things, I’m disciplined all friggin get out, in others, constant fail. I buy cookies for treats for my kids for school lunch, but it’s damn impossible to keep my grubby little fingers out of them, and it is never just one cookie.

Another thing I’m working on is the breakfast problem. After 5 years on the oatmeal breakfast bandwagon, I have fallen off. It’s not a stupid dieting idea, it’s not boredom with oatmeal, it’s just laziness. I’m a coffee junkie. I will stab someone before giving up my 2 cup a day habit. However, I tend to get sucked into work/Pinterest while enjoying said coffees. Then I just figure it’s too much effort and I’ll just eat more lunch, which never happens. This lends to my decidedly veloceraptorish demeanor when we eat dinner at 9. So yes, breakfast, it needs to happen.

I have found some zinc heavy vitamins that my Md recommended, so the vitamins must happen every day too with the oatmeal.

Hit me up with your exercise/music/life improvement suggestions. I’m all about making it awesome right now.

Becky

P.S - The new blog photo is one of my own hence not credited to anyone else. Don't steal my photo you punks.

Happy Bleedin Father's Day.

Listening to: My Daughter Working on Learning Hindi

Mood: Craving alone time

So I didn’t post anything for Father’s day. For some reason, I mentally rebel at jumping on the train about posting about anything everyone else is posting. School is out? Halloween is coming? I don’t care. If I have something to say, I’ll say it. In lieu of this, I decided to think a while on whether or not I had anything to say.

I definitely don’t have a whole lot to say about Father’s day. Well, at least not a lot of warm, fuzzy feel good things to say that everyone else seems to be chock full of. As I’ve mentioned before, my relationship with my dad is complicated bordering on non-existent. So…Father’s day doesn’t have a lot of meaning for me in that regard. It makes me vaguely sad every year, but that feeling gets shelved along with the other incidents that make me think about my dad pretty quickly.

I’ve heard that the opposite of love is apathy. I think I agree with that statement.  I find anger useless and destructive and sadness a complete waste of time. Neither will change the situation.  The thing that makes me the most sad about this situation is that there really isn’t much I can or will do to change it. Our relationship is what it is (or isn’t) and I’m willing to take responsibility for my part in this whole shit storm, even if I consider this to be the best, albeit a crappy, way for things to be for me. But the vague sadness will continue, because most likely things won’t change.

On the other hand, my kids have an amazing dad. I am forever grateful for the way he cares for them and is committed to seeing them grow up.  However, because of my sensitivities, I’m pretty much thankful for this on a daily basis. It’s one side of a coin that holds both hopes that they’ll have better experiences than I had with my dad and fear that one day he’ll leave them and they’ll turn out just as messed up as I am.

So that’s my reaction to Father’s day. I’m not sure this dithering wandering pout fest has a point. My apologies for that. This is why I don’t talk about my dad much and why I probably won’t be pondering Father’s day again. More than anyone else, I’m pretty tired of this issue. I’m tired of thinking about it, talking about it, and generally blathering on. Moving along.

Becky

Peanut Butter Vs. Nutella

So Michael, from: http://michaeldagostino.blogspot.in/  and Rusty of: http://swinginglikearustygate.blogspot.com.au/ have gotten into an epic battle of Nutella Vs. Peanut Butter.

I never really thought about matching up Peanut Butter and Nuttella in a competition, but it’s rather a brilliant idea. Here are my thoughts.

Peanut Butter:

Ok. So I like peanut butter in a functional way. I could eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every day. I like them THAT much. It’s a quick and dirty reliable way of getting some protein into my system. My mom used to use this as a meal so often when I was young, there’s some major nostalgia value. I also love peanut butter combined with desserts. Reeces, peanut butter cookies, etc. I can’t think of much else to use  peanut butter for. I never really understood about peanut butter and bananas, but it’s recently come so highly recommended, I’m going to have to try it. I don’t fall over myself loving it, and with 1 kid in my house allergic to it, I really don't keep much around. 

Nutella:

I don’t have any childhood memories of nutella. I only tried it last year, and can I get a hell yeah! I’m a huge sweet tooth and I’ve been known to be an easy date for anything containing hazelnut and or chocolate together. It turns a humble slice of bread into an awesome dessert. Also, able to be eaten alone, which I just can’t do with peanut butter.

So I’m sorry *Michael, Nutella totally wins.  Anything sweet I can dig out of a jar with a spoon dominates.

Becky