Random.

Dear Square Piece friends,

Welcome to my randomness.

Every now and then I’ve got to toss a hodgepodge of thoughts out to be sure that you stay in the loop:

Regarding Brian’s surprise football party, there were more bumps, scrapes and bruises than previously indicated.

Mike McKinley proudly displayed his battle bruise for us:

Now regarding my soggy bread drama, I remembered one more silly fact:  Thanks to my bizarre phobia, I actually have a least favorite verse in the Bible.

Wait.  Least favorite, you ask?

Yes.  Least favorite.  I have lots of favorites, but there’s only one that really rubs me the wrong way, that really gets my stomach to flippity-flop:

Ecclesiastes 11:1 Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days.

Oh… hell… no.

Brian still finds this quirk strangely bizarre.  Though he’s witnessed me jumping out of my skin more than once (and he himself is guilty of harassing me with soggy bread), he can’t legitimize my aversion on the basis that it’s “too weird.”

After reading my Soggy Bread post yesterday, he replied, “I’ve seen you do that.  You locked yourself in the bathroom.  I think you made that [fear] up.  It’s crazy.   It’s like being scared of carrots.”

Me, “Why?  Why would I choose to be scared of soggy bread?  I honestly can’t remember when it started.”

And in other matters, my little jellybean car broke down Saturday night.  He – yeah, it’s a he – is presently getting checked out so that we can know how to move forward.  Ironic that we’ve already been pondering other car options, no?  Poor, little Easter egg.

So today I drove Brian’s big, honkin’ Chevy truck all over the place, praying that I wouldn’t hit anything.  It feels like driving three of my cars combined.  So daggone wide!  Anyhow, my friend, Andrea, was kind enough to pick me up this afternoon for a baby shower as I was feeling mucho anxiety over the parking situation.  But lookie-lookie at how cute I wrapped the baby shower gift!  (No, I don’t ask my dogs to join me and pose.  They’re just my babies and follow me around.)

I’ll be honest, I freakin’ hate how much one baby-themed gift bag costs, let alone the card and tissue paper!  I mean, I could totally buy the baby a whole ‘nother outfit with that change!  Trying to keep the presentation both personal and thrifty, I individually gift wrapped the box and the lid that my fabulous gray boots came in.  Then I got some adorable, 50% off duckie ribbon from Michael’s.  They also had a .75 cent coordinating sticker than I used to card/label my gift.  I applied the sticker to a tag that I stained with tea-stain ink.  Voilà.  Totally baby shower appropriate and I didn’t spend a meal’s worth on the usual, over-priced bags!

Okay, so Brian is requesting that I blog last night’s dinner as well.  On any given night that I’m dubbed the one who’s cooking dinner, I promptly begin my scavenger hunt, trying to utilize what’s already in our pantry.  Last night’s creative casserole was such a hit that my husband would like for it to one day be on purpose and not just ’cause we have the ingredients lying around.  Bear with me as I jot down the recipe so that we can repeat this in the future.

Suzy’s This-Is-What-I-Have-Right-Now Casserole:

• 2-ish cups of hot water
• 1 C. Basmati rice
• 1/2 C. puréed, cooked broccoli
• one yellow onion (chopped/pan fried in some butter)
• 1 link of beef polska kielbasa (chopped/pan fried following the onion in the pan’s leftover greasiness)
• 1 can okra (drained; kinda had a pickled flavor which went nicely w/the salty kielbasa)
• generous pepper sprinkling
• stingy salt sprinkling

Everything got stirred and combined in a casserole dish.  Baked uncovered at 350 for 45 minutes.  Mmmmm…

Lastly, my DIY Roman shades might take a *touch* longer than anticipated for a couple of reasons: 1) We’re down to one car, so running errands (like dashing to the craft store) has to be more carefully coordinated.  2) I’m a square piece and therefore can’t just purchase fabric for my windows.  Heavens, no.  I have to purchase burlap, bamboo and fabric (which I will sew into ribbon) first and layer these three components into the perfect treatment and then get started on the assembling of my shades.  ‘Cause I’m a square piece.  And that’s the best piece.  Ya folla’?  Holla’!  (No, I don’t know why I do that.  It’s just in my head that way.  Folla’?  Holla!  He he he…)  Two words: I’m a mess…  (Ooooh, you didn’t think I’d forget my new favorite joke, did you?)

Holy XOXO’s,

Suzy**