Being Courteous

Occasionally Daddy will add a blog he wishes mouse to read.  Usually it has to do with manners, not that mouse isn't courteous or lacks manners in anyway.  It's just something she doesn't think about often.  For example, before being with Omega, the thought of sending a thank you note to family, seemed silly to mouse.  Sure, if they lived far away or something.  Otherwise it wasn't something she routinely did.   Until Omega came into her life and would prompt mouse to send to a note.  

It wasn't like you must do this, it was subtle.  After a dinner party once, mouse remarked to Daddy that someone gave us a nice bottle of wine as a hostess gift.  Daddy replied offhandedly, "How nice, you should send a card to thank them, I'll get you the address." Now, to be honest, the first thought mouse had was couldn't just email them?  No, Daddy felt it was best to send a card.  

So, when mouse logged into her blogger account Wednesday to blog on her main blog, she noticed a new blog or website blog that popped into the feed.  After spending a few moments reading she realized she'd never sent a thank you note to a few people after our New Years Eve celebration.  All the holiday thank you's were sent right after that holiday.  The only thing Daddy disagreed with, rather hotly was the time-line section of that post.  Particularly responding to wedding gifts, which they wrongly suggest 3-6 months.  No, according to etiquette champion Emily Post, you have around three months and should start them before the wedding, as many will ship gifts ahead of the big day -- even if unopened until the wedding -- send a note acknowledging the gift.  Really, that was something mouse had no clue about.  

Now, here's the odd thing, mouse never considered sending a close friend like Lucy a thank you note for helping with a big dinner party.  Yet, when Daddy said mouse should, she of course did it and it was very well received.  Lucy absolutely gushed over it.   Sending a thank you note just because you received a thank you, seems silly, and not needed.  Maybe it is the idea of getting something special in the mail aside from the usual bills and junk mail that makes it so nice?  

It seems any hand-written correspondence is completely becoming a very lost art,  which is probably sad.  We've all but stopped writing letters today, in lieu of sending emails or even text messages to friends or family.  They don't even focus on penmanship anymore in schools at least the way used to. It is interesting that mouse now receives more thank you notes from friends because of this.  Imagine that?  Trendsetting mouse.  

Scarves

Have you seen them? They're back! For years you couldn't find one even to give to a Grandmother or Great aunt. But now, it seems they've made a comeback of sorts. Admittedly, mouse doesn't read a lot of fashion magazines so can you imagine her excitement when she began seeing them in stores. Like Target!

Daddy likes for mouse to head-cover when she leaves the house. Now, mouse hasn't exactly asked why this was, but in the beginning did it for him. However, it became very clear very fast that mouse hadn't a clue what she was doing with the scarf and mostly it stayed inside her purse.

For some reason when mouse dons a scarf, no matter how pretty or expensive it is or what it's made from, she doesn't become like Grace Kelly or Jackie Kennedy Onassis, oh no...mouse becomes Yente from Fiddler on the Roof. It's as though mouse hasn't a clue what to do with it once it's on, so it just lays there...All boring like.

Let's be honest here, mouse is totally fashion-challenged and it if wasn't for Daddy having amazing taste in clothing or just sending mouse to the right stores or having the right seamstress make her clothing, this is surely what mouse would look like. Left to her own devices mouse is a blue jean girl and everything goes with denim. It can be dressed up or down. Well, Daddy is of the mindset that denim can only be dressed up so far and he's probably right.

The other day, while doing the grocery shopping with the baby mouse came across a woman, smartly dressed, a gorgeous handbag, and rather resembled the Jackie O or Audrey Hepburn look on the far right. There's nothing fancy about that look, right?

.Lucy suggested that mouse's hair simply isn't "poofy" enough to carry the look and mouse was inclined for a moment to consider that. Maybe it's true, but then she came across this image of Jackie Kennedy Onassis.

Her hair is clearly not poofy, perhaps a bit unkept but it's not a like a beehive of poof. So, clearly mouse is need of help, so she began trolling the web and there are several websites showing you the in's and out's of wearing a scarf and mouse can't reproduce a single one.

Each look, was worst than the last and mouse grew more and more disgruntled with idea.

Then why does she buy them? Because, it seems, she just likes the idea of them. Someday she might figure out how to pull the look off right, probably completely on accident.

For today, they remain neatly rolled in a drawer.

 

More than Roses

There are few things in life that make mouse smile than fresh flowers.  A good friend of mouse's brought her some Peonies  and mouse simply drooled.  To mouse they're prettier than roses and they don't have thorns.   The problem is the scent.  

Some are pretty strong in the scent department.  The ones gifted to mouse were no exception.  Within an hour of bringing them inside, our older dog was sneezing.  He even made the sneezing face...

Strangely, mouse didn't consider the flowers were the culprit.  Honestly, mouse just figured the dog had gotten a snout full of something...He's always sticking his nose into something.  

It really wasn't until Daddy came home and asked what the smell was and heard the dog sneezing that he instantly recognized the issue was maybe the flowers.  The scent he said was strong enough for him to take notice of.   So rather begrudgingly Daddy gave the dog a benadryl and mouse took the flowers into the garage.  

Within a short amount of time, the dog again settled, the sneezing stopped -- too quickly for the benadryl to really have an effect.   The next day, mouse (because she's totally stubborn) brought the flowers back into the house.  The dog again began to sneeze not just a little -- but a whole lot, just like before.  So again mouse took them into the garage.

Lesson learned while gorgeous Peonies are not welcomed.

People have asked what we do with our dogs while we host dinner parties.  The old man dog prefers to stay away from all the activity provided that he doesn't miss out on food or seeing who is entering the house.  We tend to keep corralled upstairs, then he's free to go into the kids rooms, up the other set of stairs to our master bedroom -- where he'll sleep on the bed!  Its his doggy way of saying, "screw you guys."

When we have casual get-togethers the dogs are free to roam about.  Our newer dog generally goes and lays on his bed -- he's watchful but never interferes with anyone.   While the older one lays....well...he'll lay where ever he can be close to people.  He weighs nearly 65 pounds and is convinced he's just a little itty-bitty lap dog -- who has the uncanny ability to squeeze himself into smallest of spots.    Our friends actually adore him.  So do children of all ages.

Our newer dog, is more aloof with people.  He only cares if they're safe to be around his family -- he loves children too and has much more energy (poor old man dog tries vainly to keep up).  When its time to eat, he will sometimes look at our other dog's watchfulness for dropped anything as sign of poor manners.  Dunno if he feels jealousy or if he just feels it's not his job...He's been very well trained.   Young one is more of a guard dog type, well disciplined and clear ideas of right and wrong.  While the Old man dog is more a happy dippy dog.

Perhaps our newer dog is more a reflection of Daddy's personality and our older one is more like mouse?

Really hadn't thought of it that way -- but it's totally possible. 

Brunch adventures

As mouse has mentioned in a post on planning (here), it's really important to try a recipe a few times before you do it for friends, family or more important people. For years now mouse has been completely obsessed with poached eggs. Many times she's tried...even using one of those little inserting things in a pan (they got stuck) so mouse decided to teach herself to poach eggs in a pan of simmering water.

So mouse watched several YouTube videos on the subject. The water was simmering vinegar was added...the water swirled...egg gently added...

And mouse watched in complete horror as it dissolved in the water! Around a dozen eggs later mouse has four perfectly cooked poached eggs. Daddy, well aware of mouse's experimenting arrived home at the appointed time, and mouse served him two of the eggs over a hash made from left-over corned beef snd potatoes.

Suspiciously Daddy eyed the plate, complimenting mouse on its appearance then broke the yoke...it was truly a thing of beauty seeing it. The whites were fluffy, the yoke not terribly runny...we'll say runny in a good way.

Daddy smiled at mouse, asking if she followed a recipe for the hash...yep she had...and the eggs too she beamed proudly..

"Tell me mouse are the eggs supposed to be cold?" Daddy asked, with a cockeyed grin.

Not missing a beat, mouse replied, "As a matter of fact they are."

Later after a little more reasearch, mouse learned to keep the poached eggs warmed in a water bath.

The brunch went well tho, when mouse tried it out for friends a few weeks later.

Planning is Paramount

Once early on in our relationship, we had a few friends over to dinner. It was truly a disaster for mouse. First, she discovered at the last minute a few key ingredients were missing from the pantry. We'd planned on eating at a certain time, but due to a cooking snafu dinner was delayed by hours!

As mouse recalls she was roasting a chicken, the recipe clearly stated how long it should take to cook -- not sure if the oven or the recipe was off, but according to the thermometer it wasn't half done at the appointed time! We ran out of wine and mouse was running around to find snacks so that our guests didn't waste away. When the chicken was finally done, it was incredibly dry -- and much too small for our guests!

Friends, thankfully were quite forgiving. Important dinner guests, clients or bosses do not need to be -- they don't have a huge vested interest in you and with clients well, it's very precarious. Business deals can be won or lost over a meal -- even shoddy service in a restaurant can effect it.

The problem was in part because mouse had little experience cooking for groups. That chicken in the store looked huge (compared to the others). Now mouse knows if she were to attempt it, she would roast at least two chickens (depending on the number of guests and allow plenty of time -- remember poultry can stay out one hour or a bit longer before carving.

Another time, fewer guests and a larger chicken (yea mouse seemed determined to get the chicken right) mouse pulled it out the fridge after the recipe and several websites assured mouse it would only take 24-30 hours to defrost, and found it was frozen solid! Solid!

We had chicken twice that week. The first, served to again friends was dry -- after purchasing a replacement chicken. But the one cooked later in week was perfect!

That's the other point, only make things for special occasions that you're completely certain and confident about. If you want to try something new, try it at least three or four times before subjecting unsuspecting important guests to it. If its something you've made infrequently, try it out a week or two before the big day. Just to work out the kinks and that includes side dishes, dessert or appetizers. Even if you're trying a new cocktail -- make a batch and see how it tastes. Sometimes also, it's important to remember quantities differ when making one drink and say a pitcher. Sometimes you find you want to hold back a little of the alcohol or add a shot or two more...