A couple of weeks ago, a friend posted a link to The Pioneer Woman’s Apple Dumplings. Normally, a cooked fruit dessert is one that I’ll pass on, pumpkin pie being about the only exception, but something about this recipe and the accompanying photo appealed to me. (Maybe it’s the pregnancy hormones.) I showed the recipe to Dale and asked him what he thought about us trying it. He loves apple pie, apple dumplings, apple etc., so he was in favor of the experiment. As he was about to go to the grocery store anyway, I gave him a list with the ingredients we’d need.

Unfortunately, for one reason or another, I didn’t get around to making the dumplings until tonight. The original recipe makes 16 little dumplings which seemed like way too much for Dale, a 3 year old, and a woman who might not even like them, so I halved the recipe. I also used orange soda instead of Mountain Dew, because I hate Mountain Dew (and Amy mentioned some scary sounding chemical that’s in it, though it’s probably in all the other sodas I drink too).

The dumplings were very quick and easy to make. I fit them nicely into an 8″ round pie pan because the 9″ square seemed to leave too much empty space around them. I ladeled on the frightening butter-and-sugar mixture, poured on some orange soda, and sprinkled on the cinnamon. I put them in at the right temp and set the timer for 40 minutes. At 20 minutes they were already browning nicely when I opened the oven to rotate the pan (our oven cooks unevenly, the back is hotter). At 33 minutes, the kitchen was smelling really good and the tops were quite brown, so I decided to take them out early. The 40 minutes was meant for twice the amount.

I put two into a shallow bowl, put a scoop of vanilla ice cream next to them, then generously spooned on some of the thick liquid in the pan. Dale was presented with this first serving. I started preparing my dish and turned in time to see Dale drop his spoon in his bowl and shove it away while grabbing a paper towel. I thought it must have been awful! He quickly assured me that he hadn’t even tasted it yet. A small piece fell off the spoon so he was cleaning it off the placemat. Hah. After he took a bite, there was some oohing and ahhing, and he said it was almost as good as the warm apple dessert they serve at Cafe Laredo, a wonderful Mexican restaurant we love. He ate all of his dessert despite burning his mouth on one of the first bites.

I finished getting mine together and put a single dumpling with a little ice cream into a bowl for Olivia. I cut hers up a bit and told her just to eat the ice cream first, because the apple was hot. When I finally tried it, my first thought was, “oh, damn, this is GOOD!” My second thought was, “oh, damn, this is HOT!!!” I did enjoy it, though I could only eat one dumpling. They were just too sweet. My favorite part is the nice crispy cinnamony-sweet top crust.

Dale liked it so much, he wants me to make it again this weekend when we have his parents over for dinner. We’re going to try adding a bit of brandy and using Sprite instead of orange soda to see if that makes it even more like Cafe Laredo’s.

Olivia seemed unimpressed and was content to just eat her ice cream. Ah, well. I can’t please everyone!

L.B the YouTube star
Originally uploaded by monkeyjunkie

Friday I uploaded an old, short video of one of our cats, Little Bitcher, sucking his foot. (An odd little habit of his.) Today it’s the #2 most viewed video in the Pets & Animals category!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=158EwVZ4VJM

No sound, but it still amuses me a lot.

Two trips to the vet to deal with an abscessing anal gland isn’t fun for the cat or inexpensive for us.

I’ve also had to look closely at my cat’s ass way too much this week, and I’ll have to continue looking at it for another week until it heals.

*sigh*

Yesterday, we said goodbye to our little girl, Maggie. She had lost a severe amount of weight and had difficulty breathing by the time we got her to the vet Saturday morning. X-rays showed fluid in her chest cavity that was preventing her lungs from expanding fully. Bloodwork was normal though. The vet drained off the fluid, and said there was a lot of it, but then air started filling her chest. The next x-ray showed that her lungs were twice the size they were previously, but there was a tumor on one lung that was allowing her inhaled breaths to just escape into her chest cavity. Pretty soon, the air she breathed in would start suffocating her just as the fluid had.

Our options were to get her to an emergency clinic where they’d put her on oxygen and probably put a tube into her chest to try and keep her stable until we could find a specialist who could perform surgery to remove the tumor and affected lung tissue. We probably wouldn’t even be able to do that until Tuesday, and the odds of Maggie holding on for that long were slim. Or, we could let her go with as little discomfort as possible.

Around 12:45 pm on December 30th, Dale and I cried and said our goodbyes to Maggie. Dale took Olivia into the lobby while I stayed with Maggie until she was gone. Some time next week we’ll receive her ashes and we’ll find a nice place to sprinkle them outdoors.

Maggie was just about 10 years old. She’s been with us since she was six weeks old. She was our second cat but the first one who was ‘mine.’ She was named after the Pietasters song, “Maggie Mae.” She was aloof and sweet, and tiny compared to our other cats. She was a real darling, and despite being picked on by the other kitties, she’d love on them if given the chance. She liked getting scratched hard behind the ears, and she’d drink your beer if given the chance.

We miss her terribly.

My first video upload to YouTube.

Heavy rain in Houston had these sewer covers bouncing and rattling.

This morning Dale told me that Zoë was outside playing with a dead mouse, tossing it into the air, rolling around on it, et cetera. We went out to get rid of it, armed with a shovel and garbage bag. After shooing Zoë into her doghouse, I was relieved to see that it was intact (no blood or guts visible, all limbs attached), but it wasn’t a mouse as Dale had said, it was a rat. I think it was a juvenile, because it wasn’t very large (smaller than the pet rats my sister has had), but it was definitely bigger than a mouse. Its body was about the length of my palm.

Dale tried to scoop it up with the shovel but he ended up pushing it into some tall weeds alongside the foundation of the house. When he parted the weeds, we discovered the rat had dropped down into a small hole and I could barely see it. I ended up having to put the garbage bag over my hand so I could reach down and grab the rat. I didn’t want to risk Dale chopping it into bits trying to dig it out with the shovel.

Holy cow, was that disgusting!! I’m usually not squeamish about critters. Bugs, lizards, snakes, spiders, etc. don’t bother me. Domestic rodents such as my sister’s pet mice and rats don’t bother me. But wild rodents turn me into an utter squealing wuss for some reason. I’ve handled garter snakes and scooped up spiders to deposit them safely outdoors, but the few times I’ve encountered a wild mouse or rat, I’ve found myself shrieking and climbing onto the nearest elevated object. I’m terribly embarrased about that, because I know a field mouse is unlikely to go on the attack if it sees me. But, this poor rat was dead, so I was able to gingerly dispose of it without getting sick.

We don’t know how it died, if Zoë killed it or if a neighborhood cat left it in our yard. At least we got rid of it before Zo&eml; ate it. Crap, she’s going to need another bath now.

Or at least someone who appreciates the subtleties of high-cocoa content dark chocolate.

For Christmas, I tried to order Dale the Pralus Pyramide, a 1lb dark chocolate sampler consisting of 10 50gram bars, each with at least 75% cocoa content. Each bar is made from cocoa beans harvested from a different plantation, so there are subtle flavor differences. The bars are hand-wrapped in different colored papers and come with an insert identifying each bar, the source of its cocoa, and the aroma and flavors peculiar to each bar. The insert reads much like a wine description. For example:

Indonésie : fresh and subtle, woody aroma with wild mushrooms, slightly acid and long on the palate

Each month, only a limited number of samplers are made available, and they sell out quickly. I thought I would order Dale’s in time for Christmas (a couple of weeks early) and they were already sold out, so I had to wait until the next shipment which processed at the end of January. Fortunately, that meant it arrived in time to be a birthday present for Dale. As a matter of fact, Chef Shop is currently sold out and taking orders for a mid-March shipment!

The sampler was pricey, but Dale’s really been enjoying trying out higher cocoa content chocolates, so I thought I’d splurge. I was nervous that he wouldn’t like it, but now that he’s tried them, he loves it. He says it’s some of the best dark chocolate that he’s ever had, and he’s had a lot of brands. He’s enjoyed reading the insert and learning the details about each bar.

I’m glad he’s enjoying this gift so much. Alas, it would be wasted on me. While I can eat these chocolates (they’re non-dairy!), I have an unappreciative palate. They just taste bitter to me, with a hint of orange, and I really dislike mixing chocolate and fruit flavors. I really prefer milk chocolate, so I’ll stick to Dove or Ghirardelli.

Little Bitcher’s hiding place

Originally uploaded by monkeyjunkie.

He thinks he’s well hidden.

I picked up some of these at Whole Foods tonight. They’re like crack. I can’t stop eating them!

I also like the Mediterranean Terra Chips, but I don’t care much for the Red Bliss™ Sun-Dried Tomatoes & Balsamic Vinegar Potato Chips.

On September 30th, 2000, Dale and I moved into our first house. On October 18, 2005, we signed the paperwork to complete the sale of our house while on vacation in Santa Barbara. Farewell, beautiful Cedar Park house! We will miss you!

1018 Cashew Lane, Oct 2000 - Oct 2005

We are back in Houston, and we have electricity! We left Aaron’s house a little before 10pm and the drive took just under three hours and passed without incident.

All of our family members are back home as well, except for Jill and Allison who stayed to visit with friends and family a while longer.

Many many thanks to Aaron for letting us stay with him, along with four cats and a dog!

Many many thanks to Steve and Christina for giving us TWO BAGS of babyfood that little Mr. Ben is outgrowing, and for loaning us a stroller!

And many thanks to everyone for all the well-wishes and prayers. We really came out lucky from this.

Dale’s parents went by our house early today. The place is fine and we have electricity, though some blinking clocks indicate it went out at some point. Then they moved Loki, Pumpkin, and Velcro back to our place. They are still without electricity themselves.

Bill returned home on Saturday, and their place was fine. He also checked Grandmom’s house and everything is fine there too.

Mark, Vonna, Race, and Vonna’s Mother will be heading back to Houston early tomorrow morning. Grandmom and Al will leave a little later. Dale will be working from Aaron’s house tomorrow, so we’ll be leaving Austin in the evening after his work day is over. We’ll be home late Monday night, giving us barely any time to get the house back in order before my parents arrive in Houston on Tuesday.

Late this evening, Aaron, Dale, Olivia, and I stopped by our Cedar Park house to check on the family members staying there. Everyone’s doing fine, except for Vonna’s mother. Her condition is extremely fragile, but it has been that way since before the evacuation. Race is in great spirits. This almost seems to be a camp-out for him, except they have running water, electricity, and even wireless internet access.

So, Bill, Jill, and Allison are staying in Austin with Bill’s parents. Mark, Vonna, Race, Vonna’s mother, Grandmom Dean, and Al are all staying at our old house. Dale, Olivia, and I are staying with Aaron. And, as of early this afternoon, Dale’s parents have lost electricity and have moved down the street to Mark and Vonna’s house!

Tomorrow Karen and Thor (Dale’s parents) will check everyone’s homes around Houston. They’re all probably fine, though some of them may be without electricity. I think all of us in Austin have the ‘ok’ to return starting tomorrow, but Dale and I will probably stay here until Monday evening, since Dale can work from Aaron’s house. I think we’re also going to try and coordinate our return with the other family members.

Lastly, Dale and I lucked out with a four hour drive.
It took Mark and his family about seven hours.
And it took Bill, Grandmom, and Al a whopping 14 hours to get from the east side of Houston to Austin.

We left quit a bit after my last post. A cat carrier shortage resulted in a last-minute decision to leave three of our cats with Dale’s mother. We got on the road about 7:45 am, made it two blocks away, then realized we’d left my neat little pile of bills that need to be paid on the desk, so we had to turn around and go back. Just as well, because I’d also forgotten my sunglasses.

About 10 minutes into our trip, Bailey threw up copious amounts of semi-digested cat food. Her carrier was in the middle of the back seat, so I was able to open the door and wipe up as much of the mess as I could, but because of the slope of the seat, much of it had slid back and she was sitting on it. Poor kitty! Because we’d decided at one point to stay, we kept their food and water available. We didn’t think to remove it while we were packing once we were certain we were leaving.

Traffic was smooth until Sealy when the lanes narrowed from three to two. It still moved pretty quickly, there were just a lot more cars. Then when we reached Columbus, movement dropped to a crawl. Both sides of the highway and the median were loaded with stalled out cars. It was stop and go for about 30 minutes, until we passed the big gas station just off the highway and discovered the whole backup was caused by the lines of cars waiting at the gas station, which didn’t have any gas. Once we got past the gas station and made it onto 71 North, we were zipping along at 70mph.

The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful. We had one small detour at La Grange so we could potty, feed Olivia, and change her. And later, Bailey threw up again, this time mostly liquid.

We arrived at Aaron’s house exactly four hours after we got on I-10 in Katy. The trip would have normally taken two and a half to three hours, but I’d definitly take the extra hour over the 11 to 14 hour drives that were being reported last night.

Once we’d unloaded the car and set up food, water, and litter for the cats, we bathed Bailey using some of Olivia’s baby shampoo. Poor thing was just so exhausted and stressed, she didn’t even struggle once we got her out of the carrier. Now she’s off hiding somewhere, trying to lick her fur dry. She has such a beautiful long, soft, fluffy grey coat, but right now, she looks like a scraggly stray cat.

Dale’s gone to take a nap. He only got a couple of hours of sleep last night. I’ve been up since 9 am yesterday, but Olivia’s not ready to sleep yet and I’ve gotten my second wind, so I’ll keep her entertained until it’s my turn to nap.

We learned very early this morning that our other family members who evacuated to Austin made it safely after very very long drives. A number of them are staying at our vacant house. When they arrived they discovered that the inner garage door was locked, so poor Aaron had to get up at 4 am and drive to Cedar Park to deliver his copy of the housekey. (The only key that was in Houston ended up going to Las Vegas with Dale’s brother before we thought to get it.)

The weather today is stunning, absolutely beautiful. It makes it so hard to believe that we didn’t just come to Austin to visit friends. I really really hope and pray that those who couldn’t or didn’t leave will be safe and unharmed. I hope everyone will have homes to return to next week.

Update: Mel made me realize I didn’t mention Zoë at all in this post! She made the trip with us and is currently in Aaron’s back yard. She traveled well as always though she may not be thrilled that she has to sleep outside and isn’t being allowed into the house.

It’s almost 5am. We’re just about to start our trek to Austin. Wish us luck.

As far as we can tell, the traffic situation still hasn’t improved, so we’re probably going to be spending the night here.

I know Christine is still on the road after 6 hours, and she’s still (under normal conditions) at least a couple of hours from Austin.

Friends of friends have reported it taking up to fourteen hours to get from Houston to Austin.

Copying something Christine did, here’s a map showing the distance between Katy, where we live, and Galveston.

With the traffic heading out of Houston being so desperately bad, we’re going to wait until late tonight before trying to leave. As in midnight or 1am. If it’s still taking 3-4 times the usual drive time, we will just weather out the storm here. We will go to Dale’s mother’s house, which is about 15 minutes (usually) east of us (and on the Buffalo Bayou), but their house is two stories so if there’s flooding, we’ll at least have one dry level. In theory.

Dale and I have decided to head to Austin. Technically, we live just outside of Houston, in Katy, but it’s close enough to feel Rita’s effects.

While we may not suffer direct storm damage, flooding and power loss is a big concern. We’ve been rearranging boxes we haven’t even unpacked yet, moving the ones containing books, photo albums, and such, to higher shelves and the tops of stacks. I’m trying to get the floors as clear as possible, putting the underbed storage boxes on top of the beds, stacking things on the couches. And we’ve been trying to figure out the most efficient way to fit three of us, seven cats, and a dog into our car with enough room for some clothing and most treasured items.

I hauled three of the cats to the vet for a quick check up so he’d prescribe them tranquilizers for the trip. Unfortunately, several of them don’t travel well. I also went out earlier to try and get a couple more cat carriers and found out that every PetCo in Austin is currently completely sold out of all size carriers. Even soft-sided carriers. So some of our cats will be doubling up.

We’re planning to stay with our friend, Aaron, while other family members will be staying in our currently vacant Austin house.

Well, that is if we can get out of Houston. I’ve just learned that it’s taking up to 11 hours to get to Austin. Hopefully that will get better since part of I-10 is now west-bound only, both lanes.

In the mean time, we’ll keep packing and we’ll fill all our empty bottles with water.