I Don't Get It...

I mean, I get the controversy, okay, whatever, there's always controversy, but the ad in itself:

Maybe because I didn't see the concept from the very beginning, but still and all...I don't get it.

I'm normally not an easily offended person, but I find this ad disturbing....highly disturbing and not at all humorous...but perhaps it's because it's advertising a soft drink that I find offensive in itself.

And speaking of offensive...

The Rottenator and I are quarreling because I desperately need new summer clothes and his laughably $40 budget for a new wardrobe just wasn't going to cut it, so when he saw my $75 Wal-Mart order of, check it, 3 skirts, and 2 shirts, he had issues.

Just wait until he finds out I'm not even done yet.  AND the fact that I'm even buying clothes from Wal-Mart sends me into all sorts of conflicting levels of rage.  I hate this store and everything it stands for on so many levels.  I don't even want to talk about it.

OH, and so my sister and brother-in-law are down at my mother's beach house this weekend, and my brother-in-law (God Bless him) took it upon himself to put together some of the beach furniture that the Rottenator & I couldn't get done in one weekend.

My thoughts: that is freakin' awesome, less work for us, yay!  The Rottenator's thoughts:

"So...even though I didn't want to do it, I would have done it, but now it's been done, and so now I look like I'm not handy,and I never claimed to be handy around the house so I use that as an excuse to not pick up pine-cones in the yard or properly replace glass panels in our kitchen windows that our stupid cat knocked out on his quest to escape this torture chamber and attack every living creature that existed on this planet."

I have my own low self-esteem to deal with without coddling the ego of an almost 30 year old man.  My immediate reaction: "Stop being so defensive and suck it the fuck up and start performing manly duties around the house so you don't look like such a pussy when your 'woman' is actually the handy-man in the relationship."

You should be fucking embarrassed.  Man the Fuck Up.  And don't give me your arguments about sexism, or anything like that.  If I'm the one who is cleaning and cooking and making the house look pretty, your ass better be the one changing lightbulbs and checking the air pressure on car tires.

I'm just saying...

The Alabama duct tape is not a "nailed it" situation, let's go ahead and get this taken care of, mmmkay?  Because I'm two seconds away from calling a professional handyman to take care of all of the little chores around this house, male ego be damned!

My Mood Ring(tone) of the Day:

It's Chicken, Mate

Incidentally, do you know how difficult it is to post anything with 20 lbs of solid cat wallowing all over you?  Actually...some of you probably do...

Moving on...

Look at this fine slop of mess we have right here!

Okay, so we took a welcomed break from our current Hamburger Helper/Sloppy Joe/Rice and Beans diet to splurge a little on one our favorite meals.

Behold...Alice Springs Chicken...copy cat version!

This is in no way healthy, or low in calories, or in any way good for you, but ehrmagerd, it is sooo good!

It's a homemade version of the excellent Outback dish, and bonus, it will allow you to order a steak or the prime rib at Outback without wasting your money on a chicken dish...at a steakhouse.  That is ridiculous in itself.

So, there are many versions of this recipe online, and I have combined a few to make my favorite...well, that's a lie.  It's not really my favorite, because my favorite entails homemade honey mustard dressing, but this one is quick and easy, and thus, it has become my new favorite, especially during the week, when I am exhausted and time is of the essence.

Okay, that's also a lie, because you do kinda have to start this recipe the night before, but not too much prep, I promise.

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 c. Worcestershire sauce
8 oz button mushrooms (or any mushrooms, really), sliced
8 slices of bacon
1 bottle honey-mustard dressing (I used Ken's, 16 oz)
8 oz Monterrey jack cheese
non-stick cooking spray
1 T. butter

The night before, place chicken breasts in a plastic Ziploc bag and pound the hell out of them until they're about 1" thick.  Pour in Worcestershire sauce, and let the chicken marinate overnight.

The next day:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Get a 9x11 baking dish (glass or metal, whatever).  Spray that bad boy down with the cooking spray.  Set aside.

In a non-stick pan, melt butter and saute mushrooms until nice and soft, about 5 min.  Set aside.

In same pan, fry 8 slices of bacon until crisp, set aside.  When it's cooled down, crumble up into bacon-bit sized pieces.  Let it remain...aside.

Next, pour off excess marinade from chicken and brown in same skillet where you just fried the bacon (told ya it wasn't healthy), 3-4 min each side.

Place chicken breasts in baking dish.

Pour honey mustard dressing over each breast.  Next, add sauteed mushrooms. Next, add bacon. Next, cover with cheese.

Cover with tin-foil and bake about 25 min.

Ta-day!  Deliciousness! Enjoy; we certainly did.

My Mood Ring(tone) of the Day:

God, how I love Angel...I mean Booth...I mean, David Boreanaz...well, not so much the last one.

Incidentally, this is "our" song; I'm talking about me and the Rottenator...although, he's probably not as sentimental about it as I am.  I've been a bit irritated with him lately; I'd like to say it was because he was being an asshole, but it's more likely that I've just been in a bitchy mood.

Nothing New, What's Up With You?

So, a brief recap of my uber exciting life:

I've just finished preparing a ginormous packet of useless paperwork to send to the IRS to prove to them why I can't possibly pay off the exorbitant debt that they claim I owe.  I've managed to make it as confusing and disorganized as possible; payback, you might say, for how I've found their dealings with me when it comes to this situation.

Plus, my income is approximately $30 less than my outcome per month so let's see how they handle that.

Also, I desperately need new clothes.  Like, desperately. I do not know how I managed to overlook this, but I have no appropriate spring/summer clothes.  So I'm danger of either quitting my  job for fear of appearing like a hobbit hobo or dying of heat-stroke because I'm wearing wool sweaters in 80 degree weather.  So, despite the Rottenator's budget, I am going shopping this weekend. 

I had a "WOW" call evaluation at work which probably means nothing to you, much as it means nothing to me other than the fact that maybe I'll be left alone for a minute.  Basically, it looks like I'm fairly competent at a job that I despise.  I don't know how I feel about that.

Other than that, nothing new.

Although, after reviewing my recent posts and Mood Ring(tones) of the Day, I have come to realize that I am this guy:

I'll have to examine that in a future post, how to reconcile my love of Britpop and Rap and the occasional country song into one cohesive summation of my overall being.

But in the meantime, I'll just share this picture of a pine tree that I captured at work the other day.

It is totally giving the world the finger.  I am this pine tree.

And to continue with my seemingly out of character Mood Ring(tone) of the Day, I give you:

Incidentally, this song was played both at my sister's bachelorette party AND her wedding reception.  We are an interesting family indeed.