My New Least Favorite Thing to Do

So in my last post regarding painting in the dining room I mentioned that the paint was actually peeling up on the trim work we were trying to repaint.  Sigh... That was only the beginning.  The square boxes on the lower half of the wall were easy to clean up by comparison to the actual chair rail.  The paint did not want to peel at all but would still come up if we sanded it.  What a loosing situation.

I spent the better part of 6 hours yesterday doing what the picture above shows.  That's right, brute force removing the crappy paint that was there.  This so far has been the worst painting task I have had.  I would rather paint 20 ceilings than repeat this task even once more.  Curse the people that painted this trim like this!

So this was the finished product after all my work yesterday.  Not only did I remove the crappy paint, I sanded to smooth out the bumps and scuff up the base paint some so the new layer would stick.

 Today's task was finally added paint back to the trim.  Thank the heavens.  I could actually see progress!

Meanwhile, Rob tackled painting the new bi-fold door we got in the kitchen.  We replaced the metal door that was there.  It was starting to rust and had to go.  Rob's dad helped install the replacement one.  They did a great job!

So finally after two coats on the trim and a touch up of "Pecan Sandie", this was our final product.  So far so good.  I just have one more wall to do.  (Not shown here).

Dilbert Appreciation

When I was co-oping in college my boss tried to tell me how funny Dilbert was, but I just didn't see the humor in it.  I mean I sort of did, but clearly not to the level that he was getting it.  Now, 7 years into the work place, I completely understand Dilbert and think I have some catching up to do. 

In the hallways around my workplace I see many of the strips tapped to peoples doors or in their offices.  There was one guy that had about 25 of them outside his office and I stopped to read them after hours one day.  Holy cow, a few too many were a bit close to home, which I suspect is why they made his wall. Many people at my company often wonder if Scott Adams actually works for us or has an inside scoop on what's going on because the strips are all too relevant to what's going on in the office.

Speaking of too close to home, this week I was in a Program Management class learning how to manage programs (should I have any in the future).  During all the various topics, our presenter had Dilbert cartoons linked in appropriate spots to poke fun of a topic he was trying to teach us.  The class would knowingly chuckle along with them like, been there, done that.  Especially ones involving the pointy-hair boss.

This is one that I have taped up on my office to express how I currently feel about getting a masters degree:

This is one that expresses an exact conversation I had with someone in a previous job (me being the one with the question in this situation).  

I equate it to having a new appreciation for Office Space which I acquired in Georgia when the team I was on gathered around a birthday cake to sing to saddest version of Happy Birthday I had ever heard.  This was followed by one person cutting said cake and saying, "Pass it around".  I immediately left to keep myself from having a mental break down.  The only thing different is I have always liked Office Space.

So, I might have to browse the Dilbert website or see if there are any books at the library.  I feel like I am missing out on a lot of laughs.

Salmon on the Grill

Now that we finally own a grill, we are getting to try all sorts of new recipes.  Some are ones we had to adapt to cook in an oven and are getting a new life in the way they were intended to be cooked.  My sister gave me this recipe, Grilled Salmon Marinade.  We have had it prepared on the grill, but we have had to cook it in the oven for a long time.  We were super excited to grill it for the first time ourselves. 

Grilled Salmon Marinade
1/4 cup olive oil
3 T. Reduced Sodium Soy Sauce
2 Green Onions, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 t. fresh ginger, grated

Mix oil, soy sauce, onions, garlic, and ginger to make marinade.  Place salmon in a plastic bag and pour in marinade.  Marinate for 1 to 6 hours (or more, to your preference), rotating the bag every 1/2 hour or so.

To grill on a cedar plank - soak plank at least 30 minutes before grilling.  Place salmon on board, pour marinade over salmon and grill 10-20 minutes.  Check for doneness with a thermometer.  Rare is 140, medium is 160, well is 180.

We also have found we like corn on the grill as well.  Easy method for preparing corn (without fancy add ins), soak in water with the husks on for 30 minutes.  To cook, place on the upper rack of your grill for about 20 minutes.  Some people will tell you to peel back the husks and remove the stringy hair, add butter, salt, pepper and other things, but we are perfectly happy with just cooking it and dressing it afterward like normal.

It was good food for a summer cookout.

Accidental Gardening

Last year I bought an amazing petunia hanging planter from the Farmers Market in Syracuse.  It became my kind of zen garden I took to pruning and watering every day when I got home from work.  I would pick all the dead heads off the plant and prune back the dead branches.  Since I had one flowering plant at the time, I could manage it to this level.  When the fall came, we brought all the plants inside, including the dead carcass of what was my petunia plant.  It spent the winter inside with all it's dead branches hanging around above a bookcase.  Why do you ask?  Well because I was lazy, forgot about it and then it became scenery and I stopped noticing.

Fast forward to this spring, around May/June.  When we moved, we set almost all of the plants outside on the back deck immediately.  We really had to place to put them inside and sunshine would be good for all of them.  This included my hanging basket of dead petunia parts.  I had gotten it in my head that I would finally deal with the dead plant here because I had room and a yard.  Let's just say that didn't happen.  The spring rains came and dowsed all the plants and they began to thrive.

Then I noticed the hanging basket started to get all kinds of little green dots on it.  It wasn't mold, but growth of some sort.  I thought, well that's odd, I wonder what kind of weeds I am going to get.  In the spirit of letting nature take it's course, I would throw water on it while I was out watering the other plants and then one day, I saw the most remarkable thing.  A petunia bud!  What in the world?!  Apparently when I brought them inside last fall, it prevented them from freezing, so they basically re-seeded themselves and began anew this year!  How delightful lazy gardening can be!

Peeling Paint

We decided we should spend another day trying to wrap up the dining room.  Rob painted the second coat of color on the walls while I started prepping the trim for new paint.  What a crappy task.

We knew they hired painters to come in a "neutralize" the place before putting it on the market.  From the little bits of "what used to be there" paint and wall paper we have seen, it was worth their money to do this.  No one in their right mind would have bought this home otherwise.  We also knew from accidentally bumping the chair rail that it used to be red.  And that it was glossy paint which was painted over with another glossy paint.  For those of you who don't know what this means, essentially the last paint you put on will peel.  Glossy on glossy means it has nothing to stick to.  The good news?  If you catch it right, you can peel long strips at a time.

Here's progress with one stripped and the other waiting.  I am sure when this is done no one is going to be able to tell from a picture, but we will know the white we are painting it much brighter than this dull cream that's on there now.  The other thing is, even if we didn't want to paint and liked the color as it, eventually, with wear and tear, the red would eventually show through because it's not on there well.  

All I can say is sitting on the hardwood made my back hurt and my finger nails are in pretty awful shape.  At least Sparky was checking up on me on a regular basis. 

Dining Room in Stages

The dining room was the next room on the list to be tackled in our home renovation/repaint list.  We had decided we wanted to go with a blue, but not sure what what shade.  That actually proved a little challenging, but in the end we got the color we wanted.  We actually took a vote over the fourth of July with the in-laws.

The paint samples are shown left.  We ended up going with the top color, Pale Sky and had planned to do a deep blue (shown on bottom) for the base.  That plan sort of changed along the way.

Rob decided to pick up the Home Depot 1-2-3 Book over that weekend and read that walls should be sanded for a "velvety smooth finish".  We figured what the hell.   We had to patch holes anyway, so off sanding we went.

Of course our ever present supervisors had to oversee this event as well.  One Rob finished up with that portion, I started cutting in the walls.  It's surprising how fast you can paint a room when you are only painting the top two thirds of a wall and have only 3 to paint.

Rob does pretty good at coloring inside the lines.

After the paint went up on the walls, we knew we had really nailed the color.  It also showed us that our initial selection of dark blue on the bottom may have been a little premature.  We decided we actually liked the idea of having a sand color on the bottom half.  We wanted something darker than what was there however to give it some contrast.  After another round of voting we decided on "Pecan  Sandie" for the bottom third.  (As a random aside, I want to work for Behr naming colors)

This picture shows the difference in the colors pretty well.  It also shows ME painting in my lovely hobo clothes.  You got to love your paint outfit.  There's giant holes in the armpits and I have made it a point to get some of every color I paint on that shirt.  You can't see if from this side, but it's quite a grubby looking shirt now.
 

This is the latest picture of the dining room (minus the updated plugs).  Our final step will be to do the trim work.  We bought Ultra Bright White to make the rails pop.  Right now they are some weird version of cream and look kind of crappy.  We also need to scuff up the edges because they painted them in a high gloss of a high glass and it's peeling up in some places to show the awful prior colors beneath it.

Eventually when it's not 3,000 degrees outside, we are going to take down the chandelier and spray it another color.  I hate brass (it reminds me of cheap hotels) so we were thinking to try either a silver or white.  If it looks like crap, we'll be out $15 for spray paint.  We were going to straight up replace the thing, but in the interest of saving $150-$200 we thought spray paint might be a fun experiment first.  There's nothing functionally wrong with it (aside from a bulb being out) so it's hard to justify tossing it because "I don't like the color".  Stay tuned as the next phases come to fruition!

Huli Huli BBQ

We tried another recipe for the grill last week.  This was a Hawaiian inspired recipe which was published in 2008 in the Cuisine at Home August edition.  Its the first time we used the indirect cooking on the grill which was kind of nifty.  Of course, this made the cook time a bit longer, but I think it was worth it.

Huli Huli BBQ
Makes 2 servings, Total time: 1 hour + marinating

Whisk Together:
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 T. ketchup
2 T. dark soy sauce
1 T. garlic, minced
1 T. fresh ginger, minced
1 T. vegetable oil
Salt and pepper to taste.

Marinate; Grill;
4 chicken drumsticks

Whisk all ingredients (except chicken) in a bowl.  Marinate drumsticks in half the pineapple juice mixture in a large reseable plastic bag for 1 hour, refrigerate.  Reduce remaining mixture in a saucepan over medium-high heat until thickened, 5 minutes; set aside for basting.

Preheat grill to high.  When hot, turn off 1 burner, leaving the other lit.  Remove drumsticks from marinade and arrange on the unlit portion of the grill.  Cook chicken to an internal temperature 165*, about 40 minutes.  Baste with reserved glaze every 10 minutes and turn after 20 minutes.

There were a couple of sides they offered up to make with it.  I would recommend the Coconut-Lime Rice, and I was only so so on the Hawaiian Salad. 

Coconut Lime Rice
Makes 2 cups, Total time: 30 minutes

1 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup water
2 T. fresh lime juice
1 T. sugar
pinch of salt
3/4 cup basmati rice
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Bring coconut milk, water, lime juice, and sugar to a boil.  Stir in rice, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer until liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes.  Remove from heat, let stand 5 minutes, then fluff with a for and stir
in cilantro.

Hawaiian Salad
Makes 2 cups, Total time 15 minutes

Whisk together:
1 T. pineapple juice
1 T. olive oil
2 t. fresh ginger
1 t. lime zet, minced
1 t. lime juice
1/2 t. hot sauce or Tabasco
1/2 t. brown sugar
Salt and Pepper to taste (you'll need to, it's bland otherwise)

Add:
1/2 an avacodo, pitted, peeled, and sliced
1/2 cup jicama, cut into sticks
1/2 cup pineapple, diced
1/3 cup red bell pepper, sliced
1/3 cup frozen shelled edamae, thawed
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (personally, I am not a fan of the spice and thought this was entirely too much.  I would do like 2 Tablespoons instead)

Toss everything together and serve immediately.

I would do this recipe again without the Hawaiian Salad portion and I would probably do chicken legs and thighs.  Nice change of pace from the normal options we have for dinner.

My New Project

When we moved into our new bigger home, we didn't have the furniture to fill the spaces we had just acquired.  We figured this was ok and would sort itself out eventually.  In the meantime, we used camp chairs in the main level living room so I could watch "Say Yes to The Dress" while Rob kills zombies and plays in trenches.  This was ok for a little while, but the camp chairs are only so comfortable and not any kind of style we would like to portray, so "finding new seating" moved up the list a bit. 

We had a disastrous attempt at finding something we both liked in IKEA.  I didn't want to spend a lot of money because there's a 98% likelihood that my cats will take their claws to it sometime in the future.  IKEA seemed like the logical place to go looking.  Craigslist was another option, but you either have to be looking daily OR be lucky.  Today I was lucky.

The advertisement didn't try to do a hard sell on the chairs, but offered up "Pink Wingback Chairs $10".  I thought hey, how bad could it be?  I couldn't tell from the pictures if it was bad lighting or dirt, but overall they looked ok.  Since our living room is more for social gatherings and me sitting to watch the occasional show, they need not be huge comfty sofas.  We have those downstairs.  I actually had a vision of the living room having two wingback chairs and a loveseat with a coffee table.  So when I saw this post I figured, why not ask if they were still available?  For $10, it was worth asking.

Sometime around noon today, I got a reply that yes they were and were all mine for $10.  WOHOO!  So we managed to get over there and pick them up tonight.

As if I need another project to add to the "To Do" list, but these seemed like too good of a deal to pass up.  The grand plan (as if I really have one) is to make slip covers and put a new cushion in the seat.  Have I ever done this before?  No, of course not, but would I let a little thing like that stop me?  I have a sewing machine and I can measure pretty darn good, so I think this will be like working out a puzzle.  I am going to put that craft room to good use!

Unblocking

I have been considering lately to unblock the blog.  I dislike that I even had to block it in the first place and that was out of protection from the crazier people who know me.  But I love sharing with people (unblocked) all the wonderful random thoughts and projects that are going on.  I don't even know how many people really still check this since it requires a log on now.  If I have hindered readership, then who am I really doing this for?  I mean I still like it, but it would be nice to know that others are enjoying it in one way or another as well.  I guess I'll try to make a decision soon and see what happens. 

Harry Potter

I went to see the final Harry Potter film this past weekend along with millions of other viewers.  I hate that I couldn't go opening day (the forces of exhaustion were against us), but at least I made it for opening weekend.  There have been many many reviews and raves about this movie and I am with them, mostly.

This is probably the only book (series) I truly really loved that I would see on the big screen.  For one, it's kind of hard to ignore all these movies and commercialization of the franchise.  But more than that, they were really working with the author for how how the movies should take shape.  This is not to say I haven't been disappointed in the choices they have made along the way, but I respect that the author at least approves of the substitutes and the vision of her story.

I can remember the very first movie when it came out.  I went to see it with Andrea and Tyler in between the finals at RIT.  It was November 2001, almost 10 years ago.  We were there for the 11am showing (the first one of the day, no midnight showings for the first one in our area).  We were there with bus loads of kids from the area schools, but it was magic on the screen.  I remember just being entranced by the movie and hoping there would be many more to follow.  My wishes were granted.

My love of Harry Potter started the year before at Christmas when I participated in a White Elephant exchange where someone brought the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for the exchange.  It went around like hot cakes and everyone was fighting over it.  I didn't end up with it, but I said, I need to get a copy.  That year, I took my bookstore gift card from my grandfather and went and picked up a copy.  I ate it up and wanted more.  I read all the way through the fourth book and was really disappointed when the fifth book was going to be a two year wait (from when I started reading)!  But that's ok, the movie would fill the void.

That summer, 2001, was when I think Harry Potter went big time.  The fourth book had gained quite a lot of momentum on it's own with the message from JK Rowling that one of the characters died, but then they were making a movie to be released in the fall about the first book.  Everyone wanted to know, well if this is a 7 book series, will they have a movie for them all?!  And the answer now is obviously yes.  As the books came out and they got longer, it was harder to condense it to the normal 2ish hour movie, but they did well.  The fourth book (first in the larger book sizes) was the first where I noticed the cuts they made.  Sure they can't really take up screen time to show how Hermonie made scarves to free the elves, but it would have been "nice".

Well here we are at the final Harry Potter film.  As I watched the story unfold in front of me on the big screen I couldn't help but feel a little sad.  I mean, after all, this had captured my attention for 10 years.  I have re-read the series more times than I care to admit (all books have been read at least 4 times, some more) and I have started the holiday tradition of watching the movies while I decorate for the holidays (as the first movies came out in the fall).  There were a lot of emotional parts to the movie and I will admit, I cried my eyes out when he went into the Dark Forest.  It really captured the emotions that I had when I read the book, but they didn't follow the story as well as they had in other movies.

I will tell you that I did re-read the last Harry Potter Book before going to see this movie.  This may have been a mistake, however, even if I had not done so, there are things I would have noticed anyway.  I understand most of the reasoning from a cinematic perspective, but that doesn't mean I agree with it.  I wish they had shown the events from when the enter the Room of Requirement until the end more true to the story as it was written.  There were a lot of "shortcuts" taken, which again I understand, but did not care for.  The way they get to the Gray Lady, how they handle the students in the castle, where Snape dies, the Kings Crossing scene (they leave a LOT of back story out, but they never explained it before either, so it made no sense to add it in now), the duel between Molly and Bellatrix, and the final scene with Harry and Voldermort.  I will always like the books better (as in any series), but I am still pleased with the movie representation of the book.

And so the ending is bittersweet, but the characters will continue to live in the books and in the movies.  I only hope that someday when I have kids, they will still enjoy the stories just as much as I continue to do.

Korean BBQ

Tonight was my first adventure into Korean BBQ.  I have been told by many people it's good, but always thought it was some bizarre branch of food I wasn't quite willing to try.  Like pineapple, I think I seriously misjudged this food group. 

The idea for this came from an agreement at the dinner table to use the grill more this week.  I went in search of new recipes and found this one for Korean BBQ Bulgogi in an old issue of Cuisine at Home.  It was a fairly straight forward recipe and I had a steak in the freezer so I was willing to give it a go. 

Korean-style Bulgogi with ginger dipping sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 T. soy sauce
2 T. fresh minced ginger
1 T. minced garlic
2 t. toasted sesame oil
2 t. sambal
1 t. cornstartch
1 t. water

3/4 pound rib-eye steak cut into 1/4 inch strips
salt and pepper
toasted sesame seeds
sliced scallions

In a small pot, simmer the brown sugar and the next 6 ingredients until blended.  In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and water, then add to the sauce.  Bring to a boil and then simmer for one minute.  Set aside.

Turn your grill on high.  Season the meat strips with salt and pepper and place them on the grill for 2 minutes for each side.  Remove from grill and toss in 2 tablespoons of sauce.  This helps the sesame seeds and scallions stick to them.  Place strips onto two plates and divide the dipping sauce into two ramekins (or other small containers for dipping).

Sesame Rice Vermicelli
4 oz dry rice vermicelli
2 T. scallions, sliced thin
1 T. toasted sesame oil
1 T. toasted sesame seeds.

Prepare vermicelli according to package instructions and cool.  Toss with remaining ingredients.

There are no leftovers from this recipe, it serves two well.  The recipe said it was to take 25 minutes, but for a first time I would say more like 30-35 minutes.  I take my time on the first go around, but the second I am sure I would have it to the table in under 30.  I had never made vermicelli, so I wasn't sure what it would take.  Mine claimed 2 minutes in warm water would work.  Warm water means just under boiling apparently because hot tap water didn't do a thing.  So, those things I know now and lessons that should be applied on the next go around.  And believe you me, there will be a next go around for this one!

Going Green in the Kitchen

After we got back from baking in the sun, we decided we would tackle the project of painting the kitchen.  We had a color picked out and everything.  We just needed to go to Home Depot and pick it up.  So off we went and dove right in.

As a reminder this was the original state of the kitchen when we moved in.

  And here's our work in progress starting with what we did in those first few days we moved in.

Rob taking down the fluorescent lights

My sister helped hang our new lights before we moved in.

Sam and Wayne playing electricians

So now back to the work we got done most recently.

Rob working the ceiling.  We had to paint because we took down the fluorescent lights.  The stupid contractors didn't paint under them, so it was VERY obvious where they were.

Sarah cutting in along the floor boards

Finished product

Finished product

Finished product or so we thought.  After about a week we decided that we really didn't care for that color.  It was too minty and too bright, so we chose a second color, a shade darker.  So we went back at and this is the real finished product.

The next immediate upgrade is the stove.  Hopefully we can catch a good Labor Day Sale.  :)

St. Lucia in a Nutshell

At the end of May, Rob and I and a couple of our friends went to St. Lucia.  We had rented a villa at the north end of the island for a week.  Some of the highlights about this vacation was how hot it was and driving on the left.  It was a really pretty place, but not a very big one for sure.  In the week we were there we saw pretty much the whole place.  Since I take some many pictures, I'll do the highlights using them.

View from the villa

View from Pigeon Island

Pigeon Island

Rob and I in front of the Pitons

One of the pretty flowers in the botanical gardens

Marigot Bay

Sunset at Smugglers Cove

Enjoying a nice cocktail after a hard day of snorkeling at Te Kay Resort

The Rum Distillery

Starfish we found on our last outting

Our super fancy dinner out at the only place we didn't sweat all through dinner

Group photo by the pool!!

It was a great trip and I am glad we were able to do it with friends.  We can now say we have been to the Caribbean.  Check!