Sunshine Superman

I woke up late on Monday morning, but not too late I didn't get to work on time. It's supposed to be a beautiful day here, but I still wore a light jacket into work.

At lunch I stopped at Westborn for some fruits and vegetables. I should have gone grocery shopping on Saturday or Sunday, but I didn't. I also picked up some hoagie buns and thin sliced roast beef. I want to make French Dip sandwiches, later this week.

After eating lunch, I went outside and weeded the front garden (it was too nice to stay inside - 69 degrees F. and sunny). Since it's supposed to rain off and on the next few days, I thought I'd better "make hay while the sun shines." I left the coat in the kitchen for the rest of the day.

In the afternoon, I had a meeting with my supervisor. According to him, the Director of IT still has not got an answer on the question of bringing me back full time. However, there is a project that's been languishing that needs to get done, so he wants me to work full time the next two weeks. I'll miss the time off, but will love the money! However, I'm starting to get suspicious that they are messing with me.

Heads up! Jake, I may need your help on the technical aspect of this one!

When I got home, I took off my new shoes (I threw the old ones away) but then couldn't find my Crocs. I looked everywhere and then finally knelt down (ouch!) and saw them WAY under the bed. Who the hell does this???

I had left the car outside (locked, of course - this IS Redford), so I went out in the garage and folded up that big-ass winter tarp. Here's a helpful hint: In folding up a big-ass tarp, use a push broom to brush the air out of every fold. It's SO much easier! Then I used the trash stick to pull down the attic stairs. I put the tarp and the four rose cones upstairs and got down the two back-faucet hoses. It was hot as hell up there, BTW.

I went around back and dropped the hoses over the fence. Then I went back in the garage and swept out the floor (using the same push broom). I pulled the car inside and shut the door. Caley (of course) thought this meant I'd been away and was waiting for more treats. Greedy bitch! No new treats were forth-coming.

I went out the back door and took the one hose out to the back. I checked out the budding trees and bushes and then came back to the house. I guess it was the temperature, but I thought briefly about filling up the reflecting pool, adding the water lily and the young Shaolin monk statue but then realized, hey, this is only April. I'd better wait until May.

Back inside, it was almost 6:30 PM, so I started on dinner.

So, tonight, its gonna be chicken tenders with French fries. I set up my breading station with flour, buttermilk and breadcrumbs. Then I preheated the oven to 450 degrees (for the Or-Ida frozen fries) and about a 1/4 inch of canola oil in a saut� pan.

When the oven was hot, I put in a handful of fries on a half-sheet tray (covered with tinfoil for easy cleanup) and put them in to bake for 15 minutes.

Then I breaded the chicken tenders and saut�ed them until a golden brown (say two minutes a side). I had to do it in two batches, by the way, so as not to crowd the pan. When each batch was finished, they went into the oven on the same sheet tray to finish cooking (and stay warm). When the fries were done, I took out the tray, salted the fries and plated some food. I used store-bought (my bad) Ranch dressing as the dipping sauce.

It was an excellent dinner! When the rest of the chicken tenders were cool, I popped them in a baggie and into the fridge for some other time.

I started watching some TV, but eventually fell asleep. When I woke up for a bathroom break, I shut off the TV and the lights and went to bed.