Corn Dip redux

Hello and happy Friday, you guys. Happy Royal Wedding II Eve. Alas, I am not having a Royal Wedding Party like I did the last time - have you seen that post? It was definitely one of the best parties ever. I considered trying to throw one together but ran out of time.

Last week I pulled up the ol' blog recipe page and clicked on the corn dip entry. There was no page found. Same for hoagie dip and some other ones. Who the hell knows what happened to them, but when I don't keep recipes on here, I have to find old word docs and I don't like doing that.

So, corn dip. Again, for those of you who've seen it before. Likely a similarly shitty photo to the first time, because it doesn't photograph well. It's always the way that the ugly things taste the best. Either way, maybe you need a dip for the weekend. Maybe this is it.

Ingredients
2 cans mexi-corn or fiesta corn, drained well
1C sour cream
1C mayo
2C finely shredded cheddar
5 chopped green onions
1 can chopped green chiles
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cumin

Directions
Mix all together and chill for a few hours. Serve with fritos, tortilla chips, or wheat thins.

Thursday Thoughts - All I can say is that my life is pretty plain I like watching the puddles gather rain

1. I was supposed to go to the shore Tuesday night and come back tonight. I never ended up going which puts me a little behind on getting shit done before Memorial Day. I bought touch up paint at least? Every year without fail we hurtle towards Memorial Day and I have way more painting to do than I thought. This year was tough...too cold to paint for much of the spring. Kim asked where I was in our daily email saying she can't keep track if I'm home or at the shore. You and me both sister. My schedule has been hard this week for where I have to be when and with something Friday night and Saturday night, I won't get there until Sunday at the earliest.

2. Seriously though how the fuck is it almost Memorial Day? My legs have been bare like once and I'm still living in a sweatshirt most days.

3. I still need to get my front flowers planted at home. Maybe Saturday? I attempted to buy cheap hanging baskets at Aldi but when I got there it looked like a crime scene so no dice. I used to send MFD for hanging baskets until he started overbuying and our small patch of front yard looked like The Land of the Misfit Hanging Plants.

4.  I bought new food for Mae based on the name as if it was a bottle of wine or something. In other dog news, we've been cozy inside most of the week due to the rain, it's still superb sleeping weather according to Gus, and Bruce is head butting the flowers out back so they have to be relocated. He is also personally offended by the existence of puddles.

5. I've lived here for over 14 years and I spent 30 minutes driving around Tuesday night trying to get to two post offices within three miles of my house that were open after 5. Using GPS. Couldn't find either damn one. Pathetic. But whatever, it's fine, because then I had to go Wednesday and I was there at the same time as my BFF Michelle so that was special.

6. Are you following Shaun King? If you think all the race shit coming to light is made up, you need to be following him. That link is to his website which will give you all his links. Read his stories and investigative journalism. Open your mind and your eyes.

7. Primary day is over. MFD ran unopposed in the primary. Voter turnout was good. Now we strap in for the general election in November when he runs against the republican incumbent. This is the really fucking serious portion of the campaign for those of you not familiar with the process. It is also the part that can be nasty if people choose personal attacks over running on issues, which his opponent has done in the past. Who knows, people can change. Maybe she’ll run on issues and tell republican money that personal attacks are off limits. It’s good to expect public servants and their financers to show their best selves, don’t you think? People ask me a lot how I'm feeling with everything. It's a weird place to be in - to support and believe in a candidate 100% but since the candidate happens to be your spouse, to feel some kind of way about the impact it's having on your life. It's many, many things that are not easy to describe and are sometimes conflicting. One of them is that it's like never being alone but always feeling isolated. I saw this from Gisele Fetterman on Primary Day Tuesday (yay JOHN Fetterman!!!!) and it rang very true. Knowing how hard this is for me as a spouse at a state rep level, I imagine it times a million as it goes up the chain. Thanks to all of you who have expressed interest and shown support. Many more opportunities to do both coming up in the next few months. We need to flip this seat and have someone in it who knows the opioid epidemic first hand and will approach it realistically and with compassion and isn't anti-immigrant.

8. Freaking Yanny and Laurel. I can’t.

9. Reminder:

10. E-card of the week:

Corn dip coming at you tomorrow. Just in time for the sweet ass weekend.

How to Plan for Home Remodeling While You're Away

Yesterday I thought it was Wednesday until like 10 am. Not cool. Did you ever feel like you have so much in your brain that it might burst? That's me right now.

Anyhoo as I do sometimes, I'm giving the floor to someone to talk about things I will not ever be talking about, in this case planning for home remodeling when you're away. Which may come in handy for me in the future as I am never doing a home improvement project in a house I'm living in again after my near nervous breakdown during the kitchen remodel. About the author: Alec Neufeld is a retired builder, now freelance writer and part-time general fix it man. He has strong opinions on the use of alternate energy and is also an avid sports enthusiast.

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Doing a home remodeling project and micromanaging everything is already daunting as it is. Even when you’re home all the time, the project can still go over the budget and so many things could go wrong along the way. Scheduling the project for when you’re away on a holiday is just too much of a risk, isn’t it?

Well, not really. You have to do a lot of work prior to the project but doing a home remodeling while you’re away is a great way to get around the inconveniences and hazards. All you have to do is plan for the project carefully and I have just the tips in this article.

Do a Lot of Research

By a lot of research, I mean A LOT of research. Thankfully, you now have the internet on your side. Searching for the most credible contractor to hire, the right parts and appliances to buy, and materials to use is so much easier to do when you have sites like Consumer Charts providing you with valid reviews and tons of resources.

Research is a crucial part of the planning stage. You want to go into the details and figure out everything before finalizing the plan for your remodeling project. Don’t leave anything to chance; write down the plan to the last letter and make sure you know exactly how the project will go even before it starts.

Budgeting is also something you can do at this point. Since you can also get quotes and prices online, figuring out an exact budget for the project isn’t going to be very difficult. Add up to 20% to anticipate changes along the way and you’ll be fine.

Inspect and Review

The next part of the planning stage is inspecting the property. This is something that many contractors will now do for free as part of their marketing. At the end of the inspection, you will get a more detailed quote – preferably in writing – and additional information about potential issues that need to be solved before moving forward with the remodeling.

Let several contractors inspect your home and compare the results. Make sure you mention that you are comparing contractors so that you get the best deal every time. Multiple inspections allow you to see the bigger picture and help you prepare for the project better.

Set Boundaries

Before starting the project, go through the plans with the contractor of your choice in great details. Make sure the person in charge of the project knows what you expect from the project perfectly. If you want to ask a close friend or a relative to help supervise the project if necessary, now is the time to bring that person in as well.

The contractor needs to know about your boundaries. What kind of changes are you willing to accept? Which issues need your approval? Will you be reachable on your trip? Figure out these details and you can start the project without a problem. You’ll have to live elsewhere during bigger remodeling projects anyway, so why not go on a nice holiday while your home is being improved?

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Enjoy what is now actually Wednesday. See you back here tomorrow for Thursday Thoughts. 

10 things I don’t wear

Face makeup. Or makeup in general really. I don’t own any face makeup. I had some it CC cream but tossed it after using it twice in a year. When you see a photo of me, assume I am wearing no makeup. A full face of makeup at this point in my life is under eye concealer, mascara, and lip something but most days it’s only lip something. I wore makeup more when I was younger and it would seem that it should be the reverse, but what can I tell you. It's not. I like makeup and admire the hell out of my skillful with makeup friends but I have finally accepted that I am a get up and go girl and that is not going to change. I am impatient and hate wasting time getting ready. Which brings me to...

Hair products.  Also, my hair is never blow dried because I don't own a blow dryer and even when I did I did not use it. Same goes for hair products. MFD owns and uses both.

Filters. I feel weird using a filter on a photo on any platform because then when you see me in real life you're like what the hell happened to you? What you see is what you get.

Aviators.  

Sunglasses that don’t cover my eyebrows. I have a thing about it. I recently learned Aub has a thing about it also.

Headbands. I love them, they look terrible on me. I wear the cotton ones, mostly on the beach to keep the wispy hairs from blowing in my face and annoying the hell out of me but the traditional headband looks really weird on me. 

Wedding rings. I go through stages. I haven’t worn them for months. That could change tomorrow or I could never wear them again. I don’t wear any of the rings I got married with - I rotate a few under $40 rings.

White pants, shorts, or dresses.

Jeans. I don’t own a pair. I do have a pair of jeggings.

Clothes free of dog hair. Even when I'm away, I bring it with me.

See also: heels, a good poker face, and lots of different jewelry (have it, love it, don’t wear it).

What are some things you don't wear?

Oh, and an I Voted sticker...only because I never get one. I always vote, I've never missed. Today is PA's primary. How are you getting to the polls? Walking, biking, public transport, driving, car pool? 

If you need to know where your polling place is or what questions are on the ballot or your voting rights, check out Committee of Seventy's page. If that doesn't have information for your area, let me know and I'll find you a resource. And if you are in the 170th district, please vote for Mike Doyle for PA! 

And finally happy birthday to my friend Jenn today!!

TWTW - the one con las madres

Bruce and I were on the beach by 5:30 Friday morning, which is my preferred way to start any workday. 

I was working by 6:20 and I killed it Friday.  Lunch included a drive and bringing my personal email box to zero. After work my aunt, uncle, and cousin arrived to stay the weekend. Bruce went for a long walk and tried the porch out for the first time. I showered and read out there after having my favorite dinner and some weird dessert of leftover ice cream and popcorn. Bruce and I feel like we live here now and go home to visit other people in our family.

No sunrise Saturday because it was pouring around 5:30 so I slept in. We took a long walk and checked out flowers around town. My youngest cousin worked on getting Bruce acclimated to people and it was very successful. My neighbors re-sided their half of the house and gave the old girl a new topper all the way across at the tippy top. I spent some time working on About the House/Around town for this summer's guests, which I should have had done at least three weeks ago, and cleaned windows before we left for Philly at noon. 

Saturday evening at Stephen & Aubrey's celebrating Mother's Day with Carol and hanging out with the snuggliest Baby Seeeeve and the hilarious Lola Jean. 

Sunday morning was a shit load of laundry and changing sheets. Weekly food prep: a big salad for Stephen & Aubrey's on Saturday, jalapeno popper dip and corn dip for Aubrey's mom's on Sunday (corn dip will be on the blog soon - it used to be on here and who the hell knows what happened to it but it's not anymore), baked chicken thighs and potatoes and mashed sweet potatoes. I am going to make a spinach egg dish later in the week too.

Debbie got me a hilarious poop set and flowers and made the Geege charm she got me for my birthday into a protection bracelet with stones I requested. She's the best!

We had a really nice and relaxing Mother's Day celebration at Aubrey's mom's. The food and company were awesome!

Hope anyone who moms in any way had a great weekend! 

PA friends, I trust you have your voting plan for tomorrow's primary? Check out the Committee of Seventy's Digital Ballot tool - dem and rep candidates, and they have the ballot questions as well - those registered as independent should be going and voting on them! Everyone can vote on the ballot questions even though PA has a closed primary.