Pad Thai Refinements / Sealing Part Of Deck Today

 

Song:  September

Artist:  Alexander Motovilov

As I have been feeling better over the past couple of days...

I had started cooking myself some proper meals...

going out to eat again...

and I just went food shopping last night.

As the day is warming up...

in the middle of the late afternoon...

I plan to at least seal the outside first carpet section I had yet to do.

If I feel up to it...

I will cut and seal the second carpet on the last side of the 2nd deck as well.

I may just wait until tomorrow for that...

I will have to see.

However...

I need to get that first carpet layout on the last portion of the 2nd deck sealed...

as we are expecting snow on Saturday.

A couple of nights ago...

I started cooking meals again.

I felt like making Korean short ribs...

...and baked wedge potatoes

(I've been craving potatoes lately).

I had timed the baking of the potatoes and the pan frying of the meat just about right...

as they each had finished just a minute from each other.

I sat down to a delicious meal.

Last night...

I had a craving for Pizza...

along with the need to do some food shopping.

So...

I first went food shopping at Safeway...

and on the way back...

I stopped in at my favorite pizza place...

Aj's in Woodland Park.

(they still have some Halloween decorations up  :)

I had eaten everything but two slices of their large pizza

(I took the leftovers for Bandi).

I love Aj's Pizza...

and I like the fact that they stay open until 10 PM.

 Christmas lights are starting to appear in Woodland Park.

After getting home...

I just went to bed early to rest up as much as possible

as I still have some of the deep cough.

This morning...

as I started feeling better...

I decided to put on some music and begin cooking one of my favorite dishes...

Mountain Man Pad Thai.

This multi speaker setup fills the house with music as it has speakers facing different directions...

so some reflect off the rear and upper surfaces.

The fireplace mantle is a perfect location for this built in multi speaker system.

The lower frequencies reflect off of the canted ceiling and the rear of the mantle...

resulting in a felt low frequency reverberation.

I have found this particular brand of noodles and sauce to be good.

I just make the whole box at once.

I first laid out everything.

I began defrosting the frozen shrimp (2 lbs).

As I wanted to shortcut the process...

so, instead of steaming frozen chicken...

I used two rotisserie chicken breasts for my Pad Thai.

I then fed Bandi the legs and thighs of one of the chickens

(she knows I always feed her when I cook).

I then pulled the tails off of the shrimp.

I put in the noodles.

I added the shrimp and began to heat them up. 

The noodles take but a few minutes to cook.

I now give them a quick rinse before I strain the noodles...

as before they would sometimes clump together.

This way...

it washes off the extra starch...

to prevent them sticking to one another.

I would then stir in the noodles and let them cook some

while frequently turning them.

A quick look at some of the "sinful" treats I picked up the night before at Safeway.

I had a mad craving for chocolate...

and so I bought 10 Cadbury 'fruit and nut' bars...

and two bags of Raisinets.

I don't often eat sweets...

but when I do...

I just eat them until I am fully sated.

After cooking them for a while...

I added the included sauce packets...

however...

it is the next added sauce that makes all the difference in this dish.

You simply must get this particular brand of peanut sauce

(Lee Kum Kee).

It is what makes this dish so wonderfully delicious.

After the dish is plated...

you then drizzle the above peanut sauce over the Pad Thai...

and you will then have the most delectable high protein meal you have ever had.

After eating my fill of my meal...

I then put the rest away for later meals.

It feels good eating more healthful home cooked meals once again.

----------------

As it is still before noon...

I will wait for the air to warm some more before working more on the deck.

I certainly do not want my deep cough to get worse.

I now have a full belly...

so...

I will just rest in bed until about 3 PM...

whereupon I will at least seal the outer edge of the last portion of the second deck.

Once that is complete...

the most critical portions will have been completed.

Come rain or shine...

the decks will have been protected from the worst that the weather can throw at them.

The rest will all be improvements upon the basics.

I will continue at half speed on my projects...

probably for at least a month more...

or however long it takes me to completely get over my bronchitis...

plus a couple of weeks extra to be sure this time.

-----------

I have much planned for this Winter.

I have a multitude of indoor projects...

including music and writing projects.

During snowy days...

I will sit in my recliner...

sipping peppermint tea...

and reading and researching...

or going up to the loft to finally lay some of the many musical tracks 

I will need to lay for my next cover song.

I also wish to compose a song for the Donkeys of Cripple Creek

for when I visit them in their winter pasture.

Days In Bed / Alive Again

 

Song:  Alive Again

Group:  Chicago

For the past almost week...

 I had spent most of my time in bed.

I had developed bronchitis...

and besides having a deep cough almost every time I breathed in deeply...

I was physically drained.

And so...

I stayed inside most of the time...

and in bed sleeping as much as possible.

Even my appetite waned...

and so...

on each day...

I would just make something fast and easy...

and then just go back to bed.

I tried working some more on the deck...

but I only got so far as merely spreading out another roll of carpet...

without any cutting or sealing.

I was just too physically depleted to go further.

With the temperature dropping...

the chill in the air made me cough even more...

so I could do no more.

I still haven't progressed beyond this point...

even though it has been many days.

I must ensure I fully heal this time.

I would use leftovers to make something quick to eat...

and then go back to bed.

Yesterday...

I started feeling better...

 so I made Salmon Ochazuke.

I then went back to bed until after 9 PM...

when I felt I wanted to eat some Indian food

(it was a good sign my appetite was returning).

I had found several Indian food restaurants that stayed open until midnight.

And so...

I drove to Old Town Colorado Springs to one of them.

I arrived at around 10 PM.

Of course...

at that hour...

I was the only one there.

They played Bollywood movies so customers could watch while they ate.

I ordered some vegetable samosas as an appetizer.

I also ordered Tandoori Chicken...

...and plain Nan.

--------------

Although I was getting my appetite back...

it was not fully back yet...

and so...

I took back one leg of chicken...

and three pieces of nan.

Just as I was pulling out of the parking lot...

I had seen one man on a bicycle dressed in multiple jackets...

and hauling around his belongings in plastic bags.

I usually don't feel sorry for people who choose drugs over their very lives...

but I knew that it being after 11 PM...

the temperature would soon drop to near freezing in a few hours...

and I knew he would need the extra calories...

so I pulled up beside him and asked if he would like my leftovers.

He gladly received the styrofoam takeout tray...

and I drove on.

I only blogged about this incident to illustrate the inevitable result 

of living life as a grasshopper.

Choosing immediate gratification over deferred gratification

(being the grasshopper instead of the ant)...

leads to a steadily degrading lifestyle which eventually becomes torturous...

which they then attempt to escape through the momentary dulling through more drugs.

This young man (looked to be in his thirties)...

was emaciated.

He couldn't even feed himself properly.

The sad part is...

at anytime...

he could get his act together.

There are multiple opportunities to work...

and to receive assistance, in the United States

(I know there is a world of difference in being homeless and starving in some other countries.  

I feel for them...

for they truly have no choice in a large amount of the cases...

but there is simply no excuse for it here, in the US).

-------

We become the culmination of our actions and inactions in life.

It is mostly not a one time event which changes our lives for the better...

or for the worse.

It is what we strive...

or allow...

to become habit.

It is what we do...

or do not do...

as a matter of habit that determines the quality of our lives.

Think long term over the short.

Short term thinkers are the ones who end up in prisons...

and living on the street...

 instead of providing for themselves...

thereby earning their true freedom in life...

and their eventual peace and serenity...

and so...

deep happiness.

-------------

No...

I am not the paragon of patience...

far from it.

But...

I have learned to control, or at least tame, my immediate impulses....

mostly by keeping my long term goals in mind...

of keeping the dream alive at all times.

Once again...

I think having a big dream...

of which is subjective to each of us...

is the main goal to realize in childhood.

It provides the direction...

the drive...

and the eventual path to its fruition.

All of the most successful people in life had one thing in common...

the big dream.

If the dream is sincere enough...

big enough...

a sacred calling...

it will guide you on the path to becoming the ant...

instead of the grasshopper.

It is the lack of a dream for a better future 

which leads people to become the grasshopper in life...

and so...

ending their ability to truly live it...

even before they start.

---------

Ah...

I am sure you can tell I am feeling better...

I am arrogantly proselytizing once again  :)