The Schacalieu Shack

Here are pictures (finally!) from our humble abode...

Here is the view of our street complete with fall colors.

Outside

The kitchen

Looking towards the kitchen from the living room

Where all the DVD watching takes place

The magic box

The office/Jeremy's sacred place

Side view of the hallway and entrance to bathroom

The glorious ikea dresser that Jeremy built

Where we lay our heads at night

Prize Idiot

If there were an Olympics for the stupidest things people can do...I would win the gold metal!!! Before I get to explaining how my actions would win me the gold metal at the Stupid Olympics, let me tell you about the weekend.

Like I said last week, we would be trying to get to the DMV this Saturday. Well, we set our alarm so we could wake up early and get there a bit before DMV opened. We got to the DMV about 15 minutes before it opened, which was 8 AM along with a few other people. The line kept growing and at about 2 minutes before 8AM, no lights had been turned on inside. The natives started getting restless and one man went up to the door (the other people at the front of the line could either not read or were blind) and saw a sign that the DMV would be closed this Saturday. Why, you ask...good question...two words...Columbus Day. But you say to yourself, "Wasn't Columbus Day on Monday?" To which I reply, "Yes, but apparently the DMV is closed every Monday, so to insure they got a day off, they closed on Saturday." So our rising out of bed early on Saturday morning was for nothing.

Saturday was a beautiful day, it was about 70 outside and just gorgeous. Jeremy and I walked into town and ate lunch outside. When we got back home Jeremy had to do some work, so I made some vegan pumpkin muffins and then decided to take a drive to explore Fairfield some more. This is where the Stupid Olympics come into play.

On my way home from my drive about town, we were low on gas and I decided to fill up our tank. We had a party to go to that evening and I just figured, might as well. This was my fatal mistake...or my road to gold...you be the judge.

So I stopped at the gas station, there was a pretty long line and I debated leaving and just getting gas when we went to leave. If you know me, you know I am persistent, so I decided to wait it out. Finally it was my turn at the pump, I grabbed the nozzle, it was a little tight, but it went in to my tank and hit the button. That Texas Tea began pouring into my tank as I dazed off. I got back into my car and drove home.

We got ready for our evening out and it was time to go. I had forgotten my phone in the house, so Jeremy said he would start the car. (Can you feel it, if I were running the marathon in the Olympics, I would just be about to start taking my lead at mile 20)

I come out of the house and there is a great cloud of smoke coming out of the car and it is making a weird noise. Oh shit!!! Now, we have been having a lot of problems with the car. The latest one being a weird noise, which turned out to be we needed oil. (Thanks Jeremy for not getting that oil change while I was gone) This was not good, the car was running perfectly all day...what happened.

Jeremy meanwhile is cursing up a storm about how he hates this car. We go back inside to figure out our plans. Jeremy had to leave from New Haven at 6 am the next morning and the trains don't run into New Haven from Fairfield that early on Sunday. What were we to do? We checked car rental places, but apparently they all close at 4 pm on Saturdays. Shit!!!

I just couldn't believe the car wasn't working. It had been working fine all day. It was filled with gas and should have been good to go. ( Now, it is mile 24 and I have a great lead in my Olympic marathon race) Jeremy asks me, "Did you fill the car up with diesel?"

I reply as if this was a ludicrous question. I have been filling up my car (by myself) for 11 years now, why the hell would I fill it up with diesel. Then my doubt sets in, the insecurity...I decide I must walk my butt back to the station where I filled up to solve this mystery. So at 7:30 PM Saturday, I walk 1.5 miles back to the gas station.

When I arrive, there is a man sweeping up around the pumps. Of course, I look totally out of place since I don't have a car. I let him know that I got gas here and he wonders if I want a receipt. I tell him no, but unfortunately I am checking to see if I filled my gas tank with diesel. (I am a mile away from the finish line with no one in sight) I tell him which pump I used (I never saw two) and ask if the regular unleaded gas will work with the pump, he tells me no only diesel. Well, shit, this means I filled my tank with diesel. (I am crossing the finish line with photographers cameras flashing to capture the moment) The sweeping attendant then says, "Oh no, that is not good." Yeah, I know. Pissed at myself and wondering how I am so stupid...I call Jeremy and tell him the news.

Jeremy takes the news like any supporting husband...no, I'm not that stupid...it could happen to anyone...he's almost done it before...He was actually happier that it was my stupidity than not knowing what is wrong and needing to buy a new car!

So after all this hoopla, we board the train for the party we are suppose to go to. I am on the verge of tears and my tummy hurt. Needless to say, when we got to the party we made a bee-line for a drink. Nothing like a couple glasses of wine to take the edge off.

Monday my car was towed (I had an advantage for winning my prize as an Idiot, since I let my AAA run out and now needed to pay for a tow). Hundreds of dollars later the Saturn is running like a dream. The automotive guys also gave me a pumpkin....guess they thought that would lessen the blow of how much my mistake was to fix.

Now you know the story of how I am Queen of the Idiots. Gold Champion! If I was in the Olympics for stupidity, I would compare myself to Michael Phelps....no one could beat me!!!

Fallin' for Fall

I have to say that Fall is increasingly becoming my favorite season. The leaves changing, the weather becoming brisk and cool...I love it! Not only does the humidity go away, but I get to bust out my boots and sweaters.

This weekend was fairly mundane. We had it on our clipboard of fun to go to the DMV on Saturday, but we went to a birthday party on Friday and didn't get home until 2am. Needless to say, rising at 7am did not seem like an option.

We slept in on Saturday and then drove into New Haven so that Jeremy could pick up his backpack from the lab. While in New Haven, we decided to catch a movie and grab some grub. We walked from the lab into town and went to Claire's for lunch. Claire's is an awesome place that boasts healthy fair and has vegetarian/vegan options. It is always crowded. Since it was a bit chilly most people sat inside, so we grabbed an outside table. It was a delicious lunch as always and then we walked over to the movies and saw Burn After Reading. My recommendation would be to wait for video on this one. It was entertaining, but we felt as though the Cohen Brothers wrote the movie and re-read it and realized it wasn't that great. The ending of the movie pretty much sums it all up, but I won't give that away here.

Sunday, we discovered that someone (I suspect our downstairs neighbor) moved our washer and unhooked it. It seems as though the electricity is plugged into his meter. So we are unsure if he was pissed and moved it...or who knows? Anyways, our laundry is hanging all over our house in order to dry. I called our landlord because we can't seem to find the outlet that goes to our meter. My question here is, if it was our neighbor that moved the washer, why not just walk up and talk to us about it. I don't get people. Hopefully our landlord will call back today. We figure we need them to hook up a new outlet from our meter.

After spilling flax seeds all over the kitchen and throwing a hissy fit that included me hiding under the covers, I made some vegan pumpkin muffins and hummus. Both turned out awesome! Hummus is super easy to make, I don't know why I haven't done it before. I do need to tweak the recipe to try and get it a bit smoother.

Now we are going to take a little walk to downtown Fairfield, so that Jeremy can treat himself to a birthday movie. He's buying Return of the King...the trilogy at our house is now complete.

That's all from Schacalieu land. Hopefully, something fun, funny or exciting will happen next weekend. We do have a party scheduled for Saturday...so you never know!! Also, I'm sure there will be some interesting characters at the DMV.

The New Blog has Begun

Alrighty, as promised in my last blog...I have started my new blog...Tastes Like Chicken? The address is http://pangegoesvegan.blogspot.com. I hope you check it out!

I have set it up so you can subscribe to my blogs, that way you will know when I update. I am going to try and update at least once a week, if not more. We'll see how that goes :)

Weekend Update: OCMS in NYC

In case you have read the title of this blog and have no idea what OCMS is...not to fret, it is not some kind of weird disease or rash (although the abbreviation does kinda sound like one). OCMS stands for Old Crow Medicine Show. They are an old-timey folk band and they rocked the house down at Webster Hall in NYC. I'll get to more about the show after I go through the weekend.

So Jeremy and I both took Friday off so that we could spend some time together in NYC before Phin's "surprise" party. Well, things just didn't quite seem to work out that well. First off, we had decided to go to the DMV to finally take care of this pesky registering our car in CT. I know, I know, we should have done this within the first 30 days of moving, but eh...what can I say...I did not want to part with my dear ole' California ID. So anyways, we got some bum directions and could never find the DMV in Bridgeport. Not to worry thought, I found out the other day we wouldn't have been able to register anyways since I had not gotten an emissions test yet. That is fate for you.

I also forgot to mention that Friday was pouring down rain, so much for our lovely day walking around New York and taking in new parts of the city. Anyways, we got into NY in the late afternoon and found out that so many people had flaked on the surprise party that it was no longer a surprise. It was still lots of fun complete with banjo playing and debate watching.

Saturday we woke up to another gloomy day and so we all decided that the day would be best spent at the Natural History Museum. Now, let me tell you...this is one cool museum!!! It is huge and we only saw a few exhibits, but we did see the giant whale and it was amazing.

After the museum we were a bit hungry and went to get some food at Uno's. I know this isn't amazing food, but it was drizzling and no one knew where else to go. The interesting thing about our late lunch at Uno's wasn't just the fact that Jeremy got a free meal because the waitress kept screwing up on his order, but the fact that they now post calories next to every menu item. This is enough for me never to want to eat out again. I mean, seriously, how can you still enjoy your food when it is 1200 calories!! Yikes!! Needless to say, I wasn't that hungry and I just had a side salad (the lowest calorie item on the menu, next to the veggie soup). I perssonally thing it's good that restaurants do this because I don't think enough people really think of the impact of the food they put in their bodies.

One side note here, since we are talking about food...I am going to be starting a new blog...scheduled to debue Oct 2nd about my journey into veganism. So far it's going good! The blog is going to be called "Tastes like Chicken?". I am going to put a link to it in this blog so you'll be sure not to miss it.

Ok back to the weekend...

So, then it was time to start taking off for OCMS. We toasted to the memory of Paul Newman, finished our drinky-poos and were on our way. We stopped at the Old Town bar before hand to get a drink and then it was off to Webster Hall. We got there just as the show was starting and it was packed!!! Now, if you haven't heard of these guys you should definitely look them up, they put on a fantastic show and who knew that so many people liked the folk music. They came back on for two encores and during one played 'Soul Rebel'. The cover was great!!!

After the show we went back to Old Town (phin had forgotten his credit card) and of course we all drank one too many. It's always that last one that gets ya!! It was a late night and we all felt really old the next morning and the morning after that.

Before we left some more banjo and guitar playing commenced and then it was back over the state line to Connecticut.

This weekend we are taking a second stab at the DMV. I passed the emissions test today. I was kind of nervous sitting there waiting for it, almost like for a pregnancy test, but of course not as intense or life-changing. So, hopefully we find it with the new directions. Please take a moment of silence on Saturday to recognize the loss of a California resident.

Thank you and goodnight.

Domestic Diva?

So, if you know me you may know that I am not much of a cook. It’s not that I can’t cook, it’s just that I am lazy and cooking takes planning and time. When I go grocery shopping I don’t make a list of ingredients I need to make a dinner, I just buy things I enjoy like stuff for salad, hummus, yogurt…..$80 and a week later there is no food in the house and Jeremy is ready to gnaw his arm off for fear of starving to death.

I have told Jeremy to look through my cookbooks and pick out a couple of recipes and I will be glad to make them. Has he done this? No. why? I assume it’s because he is lazy too!

Anyways, something new for me is that I have become a vegetarian. I stopped eating red meat my first year of college and just ate chicken and fish. Now I am allowing myself sushi once a month, but that is it. Since turning vegetarian, I have caught a lot of flack from people I hardly know, but that’s ok. The reason I decided to make the change was for health reasons, I don’t have a “save the animals” vendetta or anything like that. I mean, I like animals, but I sure do like the way chicken and fish taste. Actually I read a book called, The China Study. I highly recommend it to anyone who is in to health or has some health problems. It really did change my world and I plan on going vegan at some point. Don’t worry, I’m not going to go Level 5 Vegan and not eat anything that casts a shadow or anything like that. Right now my plan is to I am incorporate a vegan day into my week and then eventually eat vegan on the weekdays. One day I may be vegan 24/7.

This past week I bought a vegan cookbook, Vegan with a Vengeance, and last night I made my first recipe….white bean and roasted garlic soup. This recipe was fairly easy and chosen because I had most of the ingredients at home. This was my first venture roasting garlic and using my new Cuisinart hand mixer (thanks Lil Naf and Laura). That hand mixer is the best invention ever!!! I mean seriously, if you want to puree a soup you definitely need one of these babies!!!
Needless to say, my soup rocked and our tummies were happy and full. I will be in need for a good health food store, there is one close to us, but I’m not sure how good it is…I had to go to 3 stores yesterday to find Bragg’s Liquid Amino’s!!

Anyhoo, my first recipe tryout was a success and now I feel like Emril. Bam! Watch out for my cooking show!! I AM a domestic diva in training.

Other than my souptastic dinner last night, our weekend was pretty mellow. We got a dresser for our room and can see our wood floor once again. I know…exciting stuff!

Dear Blog, I've missed you

I know, I know...I have totally neglected my dear, ole blog!!! I am here to apologize and to get started again. I can't promise that some days will go by when I don't write, but I hopefully will not fall into a 5 month hiatus.

So, obviously things have been rockin' and rollin'. I have been super busy and that is the reason I have neglected my dear blog. I know, excuses...excuses!!!

Well then, lets get back into it...

We are now officially married!! The wedding was great and fabulous and everything we imagined. So many people worked so hard to make it so special for us and we will be forever indebted. I am still trying to convince Jeremy to change his name to Schacalieu, but he is still resisting. Here is one of my favorite pics from the big day... After the wedding, we were busy trying to find a new apartment so that I wouldn't have to battle traffic for over an hour in each direction to get to and from work. Let me just say, finding a new place to call home was no easy task. I don't know how people think that other people want to live in dirty places where fake wood is pealing off the walls or walk on floors that are severely slanted. Saying that most places we looked at were dumps, doesn't even give you an accurate description. It is highway robbery to charge people $1400 to live in a shoebox. This story did have a happy ending and we did find an awesome 2 bedroom in Fairfield. We are close to the train and the beach, which is super nice!

Now we are working on turning our piles of moving mess in to our home. The place is almost together--well every room except our bedroom. It looks like our bedroom threw up and spewed out clothes and hangars. We are searching for a dresser and hope to bring one home this weekend. I will try to post some pictures soon.

I have been busy with work and just got back from a program in LA. It went really good and I had a couple of D-list sightings. I saw Tanya from the Real World and Brooke Hogan. Actually, these are probably more like E or F list celebs, but oh well. One of our guys saw Lindsay Lohan when he was at the airport waiting for one of our VIPs. On my plane ride back, I did sit behind Trent who writes Pink is the new blog. I wasn't sure it was him until I got back home and went on his blog, now I wish I had said something, he could have posted a picture of us on his website. I could have been famous!!! Bummer!

On my flight from NYC to LA, there was some interesting conversation taking place before we took off. This older gentleman behind me (i'm not sure how much of a gentleman he actually was) was on his cell phone. Of course, I could hear him talking and I didn't try to stop myself from listening. His conversation was the typical, "we're getting ready to take off" and blah blah blah, but then it got a little...weird. He kept calling the person on the other end "Lover." It was like a skit on Saturday Night Live! "I can't wait to see you Lover" and "I will be in LA around 8pm Lover" and "I've missed you so much Lover". I seriously almost threw-up in my mouth a bit. Note to cell phone users in public places: we can all hear you and yes, we are listening. Please don't gross us out by calling someone Lover or if you must...please keep your voice down. The entire plane does not need to be filled in on your life.

Wow, I kinda just grossed myself out again.