103 - Different Strokes

I don't often post recipes, because typically I find them on the internet and there is no need to do anything more than post a link. In this case, it's something I've reconstructed on my own. Not that it was difficult. But still. :)

The picture doesn't do it justice. Nor will it inspire confidence when I tell you that I first tasted it at a cafeteria. Nonetheless, this salad is ad-dic-tive. They made it in limited quantities and you had to be competitive if you were going to get some. Sometimes I bought two containers at a time and hid one in the fridge for a rainy day. You probably think I'm kidding - I got some dirty looks and I didn't care. You snooze, you lose. It's that good. And it's healthy. And it's easy. I eat it for lunch, and Mike takes it to work as a snack to boost his energy during grueling twelve hour days at the job site.

Starport Cafe's Chicken Tabbouleh Salad

Disclaimer: Despite the fact that I have listed ingredient quantities, what you're really looking for is pretty much a 1:1 ratio of everything but the wheat. What I'm saying is, the wheat quantity is definitive, the rest is like your grandmother's cooking... a pinch of this, a handful of that... adjust as you see fit.

5 oz bulgur wheat
8 oz hot water, or enough to cover the wheat
1 cucumber, halved lengthwise and seeded
1 tomato, diced
10 kalamata olives, seeded and chopped
1 chicken breast, cooked and chopped (I use rotisserie chicken)
A handful or two of lettuce, chopped into bite-sized pieces (I used spring mix)
Feta, crumbled, to taste
Juice of two lemons
A few thin strips of lemon zest
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
Olive oil
Salt (I use Pink Himalayan Salt)

Put the bulgur wheat into a bowl and cover it with boiling water. I typically put water into a measuring cup and microwave it for 2-1/2 mins on high and that does the trick. This step makes it perfect for summertime when you don't want to turn on the stove, and it really speeds the process along. Let it sit for at least 30 minutes, then rinse it under cool water and drain the water off. While the hot water is doing its thing... take each cucumber half and slice it lengthwise into thirds, then slice it crosswise into bite-sized pieces. Prep the tomato, olives, chicken, lettuce and feta. Make your vinaigrette: Combine the lemon juice, zest, garlic cloves and some salt, then add olive oil. I don't know how much, I generally add the same amounts of oil and lemon juice then taste to see how strong the lemon is. I like lemon so I use less oil, you may like it more diluted. That's okay. This is definitely not an exact science. Once the wheat has been 'cooked', rinsed, and drained, toss everything but the dressing into a bowl and mix it up. Admire how pretty it is. Add the dressing as you serve it so that the lettuce doesn't wilt. The salad stores in the fridge pretty well for three days - if it lasts that long.

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This is an interesting RV park. It got mixed reviews and one person basically said it was a parking lot that had been converted into an RV park. Not true. There is no concrete here, just grass and gravel and trees. All RV parks technically look like a parking lot in some respects because there are RV's parked everywhere. Duh. I've seen some truly depressing parks on the side of the road... fields with no trees, just spots for a rig to park and hook up to the utilities. So I don't like when people leave misleading reviews because a review is the only way I have to judge a park without going there on my own. In my opinion, it's actually a nice place with trees and well laid out roads. I want to know if you can navigate the roads with a 39 ft fifth wheel. I want to know if the sites are relatively level. I want to know if the utilities work and if the place is 'clean'. Personally I am drawn to the trees and hills and rural look of a place like this. Some people are city folk and want concrete pads and fancy clubhouses with pools that a handful of people use and a playground for the kids.

There are several full-time residents around us, and they run the gamut: There is a bus with a rusted propane tank chained to a grill. There is a Class A that appears to be empty. There is another fifth wheel like ours. There is an old RV with three slideouts on one side of the RV. There is a semi. Then there are the eyesores... the guy who is selling his truck with fluorescent flames on it, which is parked in front of a grey metallic tarp has been made into a tent, which... houses a BMW. And the guy who lives in a 29-foot pull along with a blue tarp on top to, I assume, keep the rain out. He drives a very old maroon cadillac, the kind that has squared edges that existed before the bubble cars of today.

People live all kinds of ways.

I changed the propane tank out last night. We got up at 4 am to drive to this campground and arrived by 6 am. I probably slept for an hour last night so I was exhausted, but I didn't want to go to bed until everything was done. Mike leveled the RV and left for work and I did the rest, which is cool, I like the fact that I know how to. He usually handles the propane and the water heater though. It was cool outside and I had the windows open so I didn't realize the propane wasn't on until I attempted to cook dinner. Then it became a problem as I had already defrosted the chicken and chopped all my veggies.

Today I cleaned the bathroom and changed the bed linens. I did three loads of laundry. I terrified a kitten. I heard a meow and looked out the window to find a small ball of grey fur and white feet on my first step. Gracie was riveted to the spot, growling a bit. I said, "Well hello there," and the kitten's eyes got big and he scampered off into the woods. Poor little baby. I told Gracie how lucky she was that she had a family to love her and take care of her.

I think she might have become diabetic. She's been drinking a lot of water lately, but she wasn't peeing a lot so at first I wasn't concerned. When we packed up to move it had only been two days since I scooped the litterbox and there were a lot of pee chunks in it. Pee chunks, what a nice picture... it's clumping litter, that's what came to mind. Pee chunks. It upset me. I dealt with it once before and never wanted to go through that again. Last time it happened, I was in Ireland and my fire alarm went off for several hours after lightning struck my apartment building... between that, me being gone for a week, and the experience of the firemen tromping through my apartment, the stress caused my cat to become diabetic. This time I feel like it was the stress of us having been gone for three weeks and leaving her with Brian. She was fed, her litter was scooped, and she got water, but she was basically isolated because she just doesn't trust anyone and always hid under the bed when Brian came into the room. She had no way of knowing we were coming back, even though I told her we would.

This time I do have the time to manage it with insulin, but it would be difficult to keep it stocked and at the right temperature, and I'm not sure how much it costs. Losing Gracie is the last thing I need on top of everything we've been through lately. I decided that I'm going to find a way to make it work. According to some articles I found online, diabetes can be reversed, especially if found early. We feed her primarily dry food, but we also feed her canned food. I'm going to eliminate the dry food and only give her wet food, plus some raw meat before I cook our meals and see if it stops the process. Next step would be taking her to a vet and seeing it there are pills instead of shots, or a shelf-stable insulin.

102 - Ho Ho... Hum...

Another beautiful day in Georgia. Looking like it might rain before the day is out, but it's still nice out and I have the windows open to let the fresh air in. I always love it when I can open the windows.

Started reading a new book last night. Couldn't get into the new JK Rowling. It wasn't bad, I just wasn't in the mood for it... the tone is so different from Harry Potter and I haven't quite found the purpose of the story. It's very disjointed. Maeve Binchy and Pat Conroy do something similar... introduce a lot of characters, tell their stories and start weaving them together. It can be magical. There are just too many characters in this book to weave together, or at least not fast enough. And I don't really like most of the characters. So I'm back to old faithful, Anita Blake. Yea for vampires.

I'm in a relatively optimistic mood today. It's hard for me to wallow for long... not because I don't want to, but because I have to keep going and it's pointless to let life get me down. I guess I'm a fighter. And possibly an optimist. Who'da thunk it...? I have a husband that I am head over heels in love with, I'm able to see him almost every day, our bills are getting paid, and we have food in our bellies. I realize that while our life has been rough for the last several months, we have endured. Even through the hard times, we have it better than some.

Still upset about the house, but mom gave me a good suggestion and I'm having Hannah check into it. You never know.

We're pulling up stakes in the morning and moving to another campground that's closer to the sites Mike will be working on for the next few days. It's only a couple of hours from here so at least it's not another long drive. I'm having another mail shipment sent. It's hard to get mail sent when you aren't at a park for more than a couple of days at a time. Mail is like Christmas to me... it's something mysterious to open, and contact with the outside world. Plus we have a couple of checks coming our way and that really is a gift.

And I might get to hang out with a friend this weekend. She recently moved to the Atlanta area. We're both kind of homesick, not for Houston, but for people. It will be nice to get out of the house and hang out with someone from back home. :)

101 - Another lesson learned

So we are continuing to learn about our new home as we go. This week's lesson was ice. When it gets cold enough outside, water freezes... you might have heard rumors to that effect... whether that water is in a hose, in a pipe, or on the ground. As we awoke on Wednesday morning and attempted to flush the toilet, the water did not come swirling around the bowl as it usually does when the lever is depressed. We made due with water bottles, but it brought to light a problem that we'll need to learn to deal with during what's left of winter - frozen water, aka ice.

Forums are great informational repositories... thank goodness for forums. They can be confusing at times, and they are sometimes so full of opinions that you don't know what to believe, but in this case, the forums probably saved us from a catastrophe. Apparently, you should NOT allow the water to drip from the faucets during a freeze as you would in a house... which is exactly what we were about to do. I'm not sure how it happens, but they say it will leak and there was something about waking up to icicles inside your RV and having to rent a steamer to shampoo your carpets that we decided we would rather avoid. Instead, you fill your fresh water tank, disconnect the hoses (water and sewer if you've emptied the tanks recently) and stow them in the belly of the beast where it is warm and toasty. So instead of using city water, during a freeze, you use the gravity feed from the tank. It's little things like this that are really good to know. They really ought to have a school for people who buy RV's.

We still haven't identified and remedied our propane issue. Mike thinks it might be a leaky hose. Right now, the spare tank is still half full, but then it's been relatively warm for the last few nights and we primarily use our space heater... which makes it kind of stuffy in here sometimes to be honest... it's a beast. Anyway, there is a mobile repair guy in the area (so says the brochure that the camp gave us) and I am going to call him on Monday. It's not something we can ignore, and Mike doesn't have the free time to figure out what's happening. Mike doesn't have much free time at all really.

We went to the grocery store tonight. That's my big outing for the week. I was running low on supplies, and while Mike loves beans, I needed to replenish some pantry staples.

There is a town about a mile down the road that I could walk to if I got really desperate for something to do, but I doubt I will attempt it. Cute little town, reminds me of Georgetown in some respects, but more quaint. Mostly I stay home and find little projects to keep me busy. Yesterday I did four loads of laundry, sorted through most of the shred pile cutting out just the personal bits of information and throwing the rest into the trash... I probably got rid of five pounds of paper we've been lugging around, I cleaned the bathroom sink, and I finally cleared the area around the dining room table (or mostly did), and I made chili in the slow cooker. That kept me busy for most of the day. Now I'm caught up on laundry and all of the shredding has been taken care of so... I may have to relax tomorrow...

Maybe I'll walk around the park and take pics, although I'm not sure there's a lot to take pics of. It's a nice place, if you arrive during office hours, they escort you to your site - all pull-thrus. Our site has a concrete pad. They have a playground, two pools, a pond... some spots have a lot of trees, ours has young trees. The price reflects all that, so it's good that Mike's company is picking up the tab. It's probably less than a hotel, so it works out for both of us.

Since Stacy likes pictures, and since Stacy represents 12.5% of my total readership, I want to keep Stacy happy.  :p As always, you can click on the picture to enlarge it... trust me, the pictures make more sense when you can actually see them.

The sky has begun to fascinate me. I never really thought about how different it can look relative to your location. The sky changes everywhere we go, and I have to say - it does some pretty spectacular things in Georgia. Unlike the fluffy, Disney-like clouds of Florida, Georgian clouds cover great spans and have amazing depth to them. As a result, the sun paints some interesting murals as it starts to sink into the western sky.

This was interesting. There was a spot in the sky that I thought was the sun behind a cloud, but then I saw that the sun was actually to the right of that spot. Every time I took a picture of that spot, it came out as a rainbow. It's harder to see in the other pics, but you can see a corona-like effect around the sun, and the spot I was seeing is to the left of the sun.

This is not the sun. It's a bird. A cute little fat bird that runs amazingly quickly when there is a camera trained on it.

Back to the sun...

This one almost looked like a picture of the sun setting on the surface of the ocean. It was really neat.

This is at Pine Mountain, the RV park where we're staying. I love when the rays of the sun shine down like that.

This is the same sunset from another angle.

Same sunset, it bathed everything in gold.

This was Marval in Kentucky. I miss waking up to this view of the Illinois River. So peaceful.

If you get up early enough - and I actually did sometimes, you can see smoke rising from the water as the temperature starts to rise.

I don't know why, I just liked the contrast of the leaf and the cracked asphalt. This was on the way to the office, up a hill so steep it could easily have been in Scotland. Seems like I climbed it every day for one reason or another, but it's good, it gave me some much needed exercise.

This is how elves get their shoes... from squirrels eating pecans. Oh the carnage...

This was not smoke on the water... It was a bit disconcerting to wake up to the smell of smoke and not know why. My first assumption is always that our RV is burning. It takes a second for my sleep-addled brain to put two and two together... they were just burning piles of leaves.

Happy Saturday night... I'm about to hit the hay.

100 - La Push

We took Sunday to finish some maintenance items, and we even managed to relax a little and take some time for ourselves. I think I'm am coming down with another illness because when we got back from lunch I took a three hour nap while Mike rigged some reverse lights to help him see what's behind the truck in some of the remote areas he goes to for work.

On Monday we packed up and left for Kentucky. The original plan was to overnight in Memphis, but Mike wanted to push through to be at work on Tuesday morning, so he drove the whole way and we got here at 5 am. Gracie was starting to protest, she even got so desperate that she climbed into my lap a few times... she's not a lap kitty; she wants (and gets) attention but never that badly. Usually she is content to curl up on the console between us, and not putting her in the cage seemed to help her nerves so we're going to just do away with it... carry it with us should we need it for any reason, but not use it for trips.

I recovered some of my sleep and Mike went to work. When I woke up I hooked up the cable, put some things away, and realized my phone was in the truck. I went to the office to pay and get the wifi code, and no one was there. I went to the attendant's trailer, and no one was home. Lucky for everyone I was able to guess the code and therefore communicate with the outside world (i.e. Mike). Cable wasn't working because the receiver fell and all the cords came undone and I couldn't figure them out. I hate to say it, but spending all day in the RV by myself... that's all that keeps me sane. I do other things, I never just sit around and watch tv, but I need it going in the background. Unlike past workdays, this was a short one, so Mike came home at a normal time and we went to dinner and ran some errands. We have propane but haven't identified the leak, so it probably won't last long. And we have a support for the bottom step. Saw someone at another RV park with lumber under theirs and thought it was a good idea since the bottom step always feels weak; makes a huge difference.

This is an okay place. Not much within walking distance, but that's par for the course (which is funny, because this is a golf course). I'm ready to hunker down for a week or so, packing and unpacking everything a day or two apart gets a little old. At least we have a spare propane tank now so it's warmer in here. I need to go shopping but haven't put together a list, and I would rather wait until our next jaunt is out of the way. I'm not sure about the quality of food in the fridge when we're on the road and the power is off... that could be responsible for how I'm feeling.

99 - Solitude

Last night was the first night I've been alone in the trailer overnight. It's a strange feeling, not necessarily scary, just odd. It's not the same as spending a night alone in your house, in a neighborhood. I've been here long enough to feel safe, but I still lock the door and I keep the Glock with me. I did that at the house too, it's just habit.

Since we're pulling out early tomorrow morning I have buttoned up as much of the RV as I can. Tomorrow we only have to disconnect the water, electric, and camp cable, then pull the slides in, stow the plants, and off we go. If we still have to do all that, you're probably wondering what I did that deserves mentioning... I disconnected the sewer line, put away our satellite and two of the cables, brought the bicycle inside, and stowed everything in the RV so the slides can be closed.

Earlier I got into a fight with the RV and the RV drew blood... I was trying to use the built-in sewer tank flush, but it wasn't cooperating. I couldn't get the hose screwed in. At one point the nozzle got stuck and I couldn't get it loose. I decided to give it a rest and go do something else, and when I closed the door I realized both my index fingers were bleeding from some papercut type slits. Eventually I won... eventually I always win... Then I remembered that the clear connector we got that goes from the RV to the hose, has a flush nozzle. It was much easier. So I emptied the black tank and flushed it... and flushed it... and flushed it... and flushed it... every time I thought I was done, more stuff would come out. After about 20 minutes of flushing and flushing I decided it was clean enough, closed the valve and emptied the grey tanks. Even though it wasn't quite five yet, it gets dark early out here and I needed to be able to see. Mike usually takes care of the sewer hoses, which I appreciate, so this was really the first time I've ever dealt with them on my own. I didn't have any mishaps, so I'm pretty happy with how it all turned out. We've gotten into a groove where I take care of the inside, and he takes care of the outside, and that speeds things up.

Mike pulled an all-nighter last night, finally grabbing a hotel room in the wee hours. I was trying to wait up for him so I stayed up until about 4, but when he told me he wouldn't be coming home I gave in and went to bed. So I slept until noon. Which means my sleep schedule is going to be off again... I just got back on track. Tomorrow is going to be somewhat painful if we leave as early as I think we will, but then that all depends on when Mike finishes up tonight. He's like I used to be... intent on finishing something no matter how long it takes, so he's out there by himself and his teammates have gone off to do other things because they have places to be. So do we...

098 - The Glam Life

Here I am, living my glamorous life of emptying poop tanks and watching cheesy Hallmark channel Christmas movies... oh yeah... envy me people... envy me.

Emptying the black water tank is a disgusting, but fascinating process. I watch the waste passing into the hose and think how very thankful I am that all of the connections are solid... how it all looks like hot chocolate, which I used to love... and then it slows to a trickle and I think - I'm done! Not so. Seems like there is always more, at least according to the indicator lights that tell you how full the tanks are. But nothing more is coming out... so what gives? Do RVs get constipated? (we certainly don't) Today I used the water hose to flush the tank out... huge wads of white paper came tumbling out, followed by more... poo. My first reaction was to think we should be adding more enzymes to the tank, but then I realized that because we empty the tanks once every day or two, the enzymes are probably doing more for the septic tank of the park we're staying at than they do for our tanks. So I guess we just have to flush the tank out every so often. It's not a difficult thing to do, and I certainly have the time.

Now that you have that image stuck in your head...

Even though I'm gorging myself on holiday movies, this is just one of those years that just doesn't seem very Christmas-y. Hard to believe Thanksgiving is next week. I think it's all of the crap we've been through this year. Or the fact that we don't have an actual house - or rather, no particular place to call home at the moment. Or maybe it just comes with age. I can't put my finger on why some years lack that holiday feeling. I don't really feel like doing any Christmas shopping... it's hard to... where do I mail the packages? How do I get around to shop at a brick and mortar store when I don't have a car? And we don't really need anything except a house, which isn't something I can ask for anyway, hahaha. Makes me sad... traditions are slowly becoming a thing of the past and I don't like that they're getting lost in the shuffle. There's that part of me that want to live life according to 'the old ways' and traditions are a piece of that.

Made some small, simple changes to the RV to help get us organized. So far, so good. We bought a battery operated light... in June... that we never found a place for. We'd thought it would go by the bed to replace the interrogation spotlights there now, but there wasn't wall space for it (seriously, sometimes I want to tell Mike everything I know just so he'll turn the light out... but I took an oath... (that's a joke people)). I recently ran across the sconce part of it and decided to put it over an existing light with some doublestick tape, kind of tones it down so it's not so harsh. It works. Now we need several more of them. And Mike likes to keep his semi-used clothes in a pile on the floor... which worked okay at the house if I never went on that side of the bed, but we just don't have the space for it here. I recognize that he has methods that work for him, so I found a balance that works for both of us - and helps prevent wrinkles - we got some 3M wall hooks and mounted them on his side of the bed, and now he can hang those clothes. Perfect. Lastly, I found some shelves at Target for shoes and t-shirts. We had a hanging organizer, but it was heavy and this takes the weight off the dowel rod. Now we just have to figure out how to secure it so that it doesn't move when we're on the road. Otherwise it's great - gets the shoes out of the way. And once we get to Austin we can put some stuff in storage so that hopefully there won't be piles of stuff around the dining room table... not that we really eat there, but it makes opening the blinds a tricky thing.

And speaking of shoes... I'm wearing the rain boots I bought last year. They are nice and warm and so ridiculously comfortable. For some reason the floor of the RV is particularly cold tonight and my socks aren't doing the job. It's the little things... like the fake fire in the fake fireplace... and Mike bringing home Chuychangas for dinner... mmm... Chuychangas with Boom-Boom sauce... I actually made salsa and queso last night... and ate it again this morning for 'breakfast', but I think I could live on Mexican food at least 300 days of the year, and it's the weekend and... and... he said Chuy's... don't judge me...! :)

097 - Marval... Marvelous?

It's nice here, but the internet is exasperating. It's... a little slow. And any time I search for cilantro lime chicken tacos, I get kicked off for peer to peer sharing violations. I don't know what's so bad about cilantro lime chicken tacos. They sound pretty tasty to me.

Also, our internet access code was supposed to expire on the 17th, but it has expired today... which really sucks. Luckily I have a hotspot, but it too is maddeningly slow.

Anyhoo... it is pretty here, and even though it will probably take hours to load, I am posting pics.

A gorgeous thistle on a piece of property we liked in TN. Apparently two other buyers also liked it. Today I put together a spreadsheet, determined that we are going to find something. I have a couple that I think are contenders, but Mike looks for different things in a property than I do. He tends to go for the amount of acreage and size of the garage, while I tend to go for the houses I would want to live in and the whether the land is pretty or not. Yes. He's a boy, and I'm a girl. It's pretty obvious. We fall for the fixer uppers every time, but this time I am trying to be a realist... we like the idea of a project, but when faced with one, we become overwhelmed. I think the reason for that is rural Tennessee projects are much different than suburban Texas projects.

The river outside our window at the RV park. Interesting to watch the tides go one direction, then the water gets still, and in the evening it goes the other way.

The perfect fairy house.

The reflection of the trees in the water was really pronounced today.

Interesting knot, almost looks like a bird or the virgin Mary on the right side. Or maybe I'm just tired.

Like the white rocks interspersed between the tree trunks.

I fixed stew yesterday, thinking it would be ready for dinner. I was woefully wrong... I put it in the slow cooker on high, and four hours later the veggies were still firm. So I let it cook overnight on low, and all day today, and it was delicious. The meat wasn't as tender as I thought it would be, but the broth was wonderful... all the tomatoes disappeared into the sauce, and the flavor of the carrots was drawn out. Yum. I love that stew, and the weather is perfect for it.

No mishaps today, or at least not yet... only an hour and a half to go!