Secular Confessions

[Cosmosmom]

Really? I'm complete opposite. If it's chilly and I can cuddle under a blanket, I'm happy. If it's warm/hot I have to have a fan on me. Hot stifled air, BLEH.

Yup! Nothing is better than snuggling under some heavy warm blankets. It's one thing we have come to love in this house...fireplace is in the living room so if we turn that on, it heats up the living room and kitchen...and the heat doesn't turn as much. But the bedroom (especially ours in the back) gets nice and cold.

It is so much easier to grab a blanket or sweats or robe...or a dog ;).......to warm up than it is to take off clothes to cool down. Only so much you can take off!

[Bridget]

Hot, cold, medium, wet, dry, WHATEVER. I can sleep.

Ash, thanks for the offer. That is so nice of you but I'm pretty sure traditionally they are supposed to be pink in color so I'm sure the ingredient list would not pass my inspection.

Erin, once again the similarities between our men....Dbf does that sometimes too where I will cook a great meal and he will say something stupid like that. In fact, just today I cooked a veggie lasagna for lunch and he could smell it cooking and was going on and on about how he couldn't wait to eat it. Then when he started eating it he was like, "Aw, man. No meat?" I don't even respond anymore when he does that. If someone ever cooked me a hot lunch I would probably give them a hug lol.

Ok ladies. I'm going to try to do the turkish delights right now. Wish me luck.

[raspberry]

Molly glad to hear you're okay. I can't imagine how scary those sirens are.

Bridget, good luck on the turish delights. I've never had them but I think they are like the aplets and cotlets my mom used to love. I doubt I could find them anywhere around here. http://libertyorchards.com/category/Aplets_and_Cotlets

[daylilies]

I have to have a blanket (or at least a sheet) on me when I sleep, so it's pretty uncomfortable when it's hot out. We usually run a fan and/or the AC though even at night, when it gets hot.

[missychrissy]

Even when it's hot I have to have a blanket on. Very rarely is a sheet enough. Like if it's 90 and 90% humid I might get by with just a sheet on, but most the time it's a comforter. Actually, I use my feather down comforter all summer long. It's a king size and I roll myself right up into it. In the hottest part of the summer, I will stick my feet out because I can't stand for them to be hot. But the rest of me? No such thing as too hot.

[3andMe]

I emailed my sister about the rabbit (not going is not an option) and asked her if it was set in stone. I mentioned the Easter Bunny talk and the possibility of horror on the part of the kids. She said it was already ordered, and that the chef who is making it (a family friend) is good with children and will probably make it an adventure.

I don't know if it will be better to tell them ahead of time or not. There is the very slight possibility that they may not notice that bunny is being cooked and eaten, but I'm sure there will be a lot of talk about it and they are pretty good about noticing things. Blech.

[Inca]

I missed it, you're going to your sisters who is serving rabbit on Easter? Hm... Well, they eat other meat right? I'm honestly not sure I see the big deal, but I don't think I'd eat rabbit anyways. But like, Remy knows what a chicken is, and he knows we eat chicken. So... or did I miss something else?

[Smplyme89]

I think it's just the irony of it Liz. Eating Rabbit on Easter is just...... wrong!

[Inca]

Meh, I wouldn't think much of it, tbh. Easter to me is not about a big fluffy bunny, nor is it about all that other religious junk. Maybe I'm an oddball though. Still wouldn't eat rabbit though, no matter the day.

[Smplyme89]

Me either... It's just the point. Rabbit doesn't taste very good IMO anyways.

[Bridget]

My kids would be horrified to learn a bunny was being cooked, easter or not. I'm not sure how a chef could lighten that one up to be honest. And we're carnivores. Bunnies are just too cute and fluffy. I don't know how I would approach it either, Lydia. I had the same thoughts when I cooked leg of lamb a couple of months ago. I did go ahead and tell them what it was and they decided not to eat it. Savana was properly horrified.

[daylilies]

Some people think cows are cute. I personally do not and I do not feel bad about eating meat, cute or not. It's like when people only care about saving the cute endangered animals and not the nasty insects. I just think it's sort of odd to eat the meat of an animal that is such a well known personification of the holiday. It would be like eating reindeer on Christmas eve
(I don't know if I correctly used the word personification because Josh is humming in the background and I can't think I meant that word you use when you give animals human-like qualities)

[3andMe]

They eat chicken and know what chickens are but despite my best attempts I don't know if they actually realize the connection. DH one time said chicken was his favorite farm animal because it was so yummy and they said, "No, real animals Daddy!"

DH doesn't like how I try to emphasize how steak comes from cows but I think it's important to know where food comes from.

[Bridget]

I guess it's allin what you are used to. If I grew up in a family that ate rabbit I wouldn't be phased. I think cows are really cute come to think of it.
And what is this Save the Cute Endangered Species campaigne you speak of?

[girlwonder]

Love that! I use the dog as an excuse too. Cosmo's too hot so she needs the air on. Can't use Poogie though, that little girl likes the heat and is always by the fireplace if I have that on. Cosmo will by lying on the vinyl and the little one is by the fire getting all warm.

This is the most ridiculous reason that we always have the ac on: we have to keep the house cool to keep all the wine on the cooler side. My dh keeps a lot of samples here and they can't get too hot or it cooks the wine. I really prefer to keep the ac off as long as possible, but dh keeps it cold all the time.

[Gwenn]

The million dollar word is anthropomorphize. But I wouldn't have thought twice about personification if you hadn't explained what word you were looking for. Then I just couldn't help myself.

DH is planning to make lamb on Easter. I love lamb, but even lamb seems sad for Easter. I agree, I could never eat the Easter Bunny. But I don't think I would eat rabbit anyway. Other than the lamb, we aren't planning much for Easter. I remember having a conversation with my friend a couple of years ago (she is Jewish) when I said the stuff you do at home for Easter - like dying eggs - isn't much fun when you don't have kids. As an adult, it's pretty much either about going to church or just having a meal with family. She was honestly shocked that I said that. I think Jewish holidays have a lot more cultural tradition that isn't "kid stuff." If that makes any sense.

I called the doctor today to schedule a beta, and the office manager told me to take a urine test first at home, and if it's negative to wait another day. It's too late for FMU today, so I'll probably POAS tomorrow. I was really not hoping to avoid looking at a negative HPT.

[raspberry]

I think cows and pigs are really cute, which is why sometimes I have a hard time eating them. Darn it they taste too good!
LOL I never saw that eating icon before. My dh loves lamb, I have tried it cooked many different ways and I don't care for it. Dh claims that most lamb is actually mutton in the US. I don't care either way, don't plan on eating any of it.

G has discovered knock knock jokes, he makes up the silliest most random ones lmao. I need to get the kid an actual kk joke book.

fingers and toes crossed for you Mandy!

[Ky'sMom]

Ky would not eat hamburger for 3 years due to finding out that hamburger was slaughtered cows. He used to LOVE cow and I vividly remember talking to him about a truckload of cows going down the freeway while we were driving home and him asking me why they were in a truck and me telling him that they were probably going to be slaughtered. He asked what "slaughtered" was and I told him and he was completely horrified and was in tears for the rest of the ride and said he would never eat hamburger or steak or roast beef EVER again. He came out of that only recently, around 8 years old. I thought it was interesting that he thought it was okay to eat chickens because he didn't like chickens and pigs because they weren't cute and even fish because they live in the water (don't know why that was a good reason to this day). But cows were off limit. He said they should just be for milk.

I would eat rabbit for easter. My great grandpa used to make a good rabbit stew. Some people don't like the taste but it was decent to me.

Erin

[3andMe]

I really didn't think too much a about it until they started talking so much about the Easter Bunny. The last rabbit I ate I knew personally, but Misty kind of stuck in my throat.

[AbbeysMom]

I'm biased because I'm a vegetarian, but I agree eating a rabbit on easter is weird. And whether it makes people hypocrites or not, generally our society has affinity for certain animals as pets... dogs, cats, horses and bunnies are at the top of that list. It's hard to explain why we lavish affection on puppies and eat cow, so I can see it being pretty difficult for kids to understand. But then I eat fish occasionally... usually while feeling slightly guilty.

We are having crawfish on Easter, I'm pretty sure, courtesy of our friends from Louisiana. Abbey and I will likely have a vegetarian alternative, like veggie field roast.

[daylilies]

I guess it's allin what you are used to. If I grew up in a family that ate rabbit I wouldn't be phased. I think cows are really cute come to think of it.
And what is this Save the Cute Endangered Species campaigne you speak of?

Oh you know what I mean, how we're all about save the pandas or the snow leopards or whatever, but what about the bees? I bet most people don't know about the bee problem.

[daylilies]

This is the most ridiculous reason that we always have the ac on: we have to keep the house cool to keep all the wine on the cooler side. My dh keeps a lot of samples here and they can't get too hot or it cooks the wine. I really prefer to keep the ac off as long as possible, but dh keeps it cold all the time.

Have you ever considered getting a wine fridge?

[Cosmosmom]

This is the most ridiculous reason that we always have the ac on: we have to keep the house cool to keep all the wine on the cooler side. My dh keeps a lot of samples here and they can't get too hot or it cooks the wine. I really prefer to keep the ac off as long as possible, but dh keeps it cold all the time.

Ok LOVE that! i would use it only wine doesn't last very long in the house...gets bought and we (mostly me) drinks it fairly quickly.

[Cosmosmom]

So in college one of my more interesting classes was philosophy of technology (would love to see how she's changed up the course since this was probably 1999 or 2000 that I did that and things have vastly changed!).
One position was that it was unethical to eat an animal if you were not willing to kill it yourself. I am not willing. I was horrified at work when my boss and coworkers were talking about killing chickens. I'm a city girl, most of them grew up on farms or semi-farms. My boss said he needed to thin out his mom's chickens. OMG if I saw that, I don't think I would eat chicken anymore. As it is I ONLY eat cow, pig, chicken and turkey. I would love to be vegetarian but I don't care for beans. I basically like my meat to not look like any animal. Dh's coworkers were all about hunting season (lots of hunters as we are up north) and asking him about going and where he likes to hunt. He said he likes to hunt at Mega and Gordy's (grocery stores).

Mandy sending every ounce of good vibes your way that I have!!!!!!

[daylilies]

Dog owners/enthusiasts: what do you all think of the citronella collar approach?

(you put a collar on the dog and it has a remote that with one button gives a beeping warning and the second button sprays a quick blast of citronella scent which they do not like)

[Gwenn]

I haven't heard of the citronella collar before. I suppose it isn't much different than a water sprayer or similar, so long as it isn't spraying in their eyes/nose/mouth (which I guess it wouldn't be if it's on their collar). Still - don't think it's something I would use but that just might be me.

[missychrissy]

When do you use it? When they bark or pee on the floor? I dunno...My grandparents had a spray bottle of water that they used to spritz their dog in the face with when he was naughty. I was appalled, but I could see the value in it I supposed (glad I never had to resort to using that method myself). I don't know how I'd feel about the collar thing.

[Suja]

Dog owners/enthusiasts: what do you all think of the citronella collar approach?

(you put a collar on the dog and it has a remote that with one button gives a beeping warning and the second button sprays a quick blast of citronella scent which they do not like)

What are you trying to fix? I don't like those collars because the "punishment" lasts even sgter the behavuor stops. Also, lots of dogs learn to turn their heads in order to avoid being sprayed.

[girlwonder]

Have you ever considered getting a wine fridge?

We have too much wine to fit in a cooler- at least five cases worth (it is my dh's work; we are not total lushes. Not all the time at least!). I have looked around and the cost for a bigger cooler is prohibitively expensive, wouldn't be big enough, and wouldn't actually save much energy or money.

We just had dinner at Uchiko, whose executive chef just won Top Chef. It was one of the best meals ever, and such a pleasant experience with good friendly unobtrusive service, excellent food, good wine and one of the most imaginative and delicious desserts I have ever had. Almost made me cry it was so good. That was our second time there and it just gets better. I love good food so much.

And after that post I look like an insufferable idiot, I know. I'm not an idiot every day, usually only on weekends. Rare to be one on a Wednesday. Back to tacos and beer tomorrow.

[Gwenn]

Only the coolest people can mix high end with tacos and beer, Katy. And I want to know what was in that dessert.