RANDOM THOUGHTS ON A RANDOM DAY

(Thanks to the NY Red Bulls and Google images for this one)

-We went to the Main Post Office on Thursday and they have a FedEx box for drop-offs in front right by the Post Office door. This seems a bit weird to me. I mean, does McDonalds sell Burger King Kids Meals? Just another reason why the Post Office is going down. Someday I will tell you about our forwarding debacle.

-We stopped off at Caliche’s while out running errands and we found out that they have a “Poochie Cone” for dogs. Skippy heartily approves of this. TFabP also approves because this will mean more frequent stops at Caliche’s “for the dog”.

-We also have discovered Skippy’s favorite restaurant – Sonic. We have been there a “few times” with him in the car and he has sampled tater tots, onion rings, chicken and a vanilla shake. How do we know it’s his favorite dining establishment? While on a road trip, we passed one and he sat up excitedly and started sniffing the air. When we had passed, he laid back down, with a forlorn look on his face.

-Another Post Office story. We stopped to pick up some mail (that they claim is our fault because we had mail forwarded to General Delivery, but most of the mail has our current address on the label. Don’t get me started…) and have an envelope weighed for proper postage. Mrsfabp was told she owed 20 cents that we paid. They gave her a receipt 16 inches long. Do you think they could find some way there to save some money and thus save the post office?

-While traveling to the Farmers Market on Saturday morning, we passed a home with several bunches of Daffodils growing in their front yard. DAFFODILS! We only saw them in MA after most of the snow had melted, usually around the beginning of April. I was not ready to see them but am doing the happy dance for the arrival of spring here in New Mexico.

-What is the difference between Skippy and a toddler you ask? One is an egocentric, eating and pooping machine, who uses up all your free time and who ultimately will cost you thousands of dollars. The other one is a baby…

-So, one of the newest Internet rave is a web site called Pinterest. Our friend Clair got us interested and no I come to find that perhaps its major purpose on the internet is to suck you dry of free time. It is difficult to go there for just a short while. You end up spending way too much time there at the cost of other things you need to do, a real time sink. Thanks Clair?

-Now, the kind of time sink I also enjoy is going to the Spirit Winds Coffee Shop. Especially when you run into a couple of friends (yes that is you Fred and Jeff) who turn it from a place to get a simple cup of coffee and bagel into a 2 hour long discussion about the weather, golf and politics. Thanks Fred and Jeff?

Restaurant Review, St. Clair’s Winery and Bistro, Mesilla, NM

I haven’t done a review for a while, at least since we moved tro NM, so I thought I would do one now. I am going to talk about the St. Clair’s Winery and Bistro in Mesilla.

Mrsfabp and I went out with a couple of friends for my birthday and after debating for awhile (favorite restaurant vs. something new) we opted to try the St. Clair’s Winery and Bistro. They had just opened within a couple of weeks and we thought it would be fun.

We arrived without reservations and found the place very, very busy. We were told we probably could not be seated as they had a number of reservations. It was not below my dignity level to “mention” it was my birthday. A call was made, someone else arrived and we were seated! A real plus for a review. Our seat was overlooking their covered patio, which will be opening in about a month.

Our waitress was very friendly, very knowledgeable about the food and wine, and offered us a sample of one of the wines made by St. Clair’s. It was a very good sweet red wine with some fruit flavors added. Mentally I made a note to pick up a bottle when we left.

Wine and beer was delivered in a snap and we set about to study the menu. We ordered an appetizer, the Spinach and Artichoke Dip. It was delivered quickly, it was hot and delicious, served with hearty, crisp tortilla chips. There was a lot of vegetable in it, better than a lot of filler.

For the main course, we all ordered different things. A Southwest Burger, Chicken Pot Pie, a Wine Steak and Pasta New Mexico. For the next 20 minutes or so, there was very little chatting going on as we really savored each and every bite. All four meals were prepared correctly with the steak and Burger grilled to perfection. We were all satisfied.

When our waitress returned at the end of the meal, she made a big deal about my birthday and offered a dessert on the house. I took the Chocolate Port Brownie, served with a topping of ice cream. I reluctantly shared with the others at the table but kept a close eye on them to make sure they didn’t take too much. As with everything else, delicious

Overall I was very impressed with the night out. The décor is understated but very comfortable. The staff, friendly and knowledgeable. Maybe the best part was the discovery of some good New Mexican wine at affordable prices. I had been to other wineries and a good bottle of something I like was about $15. At St. Clair’s the equivalent bottle was $7, a price good enough to by several bottles.

Overall, for the dining experience, I give it 4 Penguins…

Even More Random Thoughts on a Random Day

-The other day, I got a package in the mail and the item was wrapped in bubble wrap to protect it. On the wrap was the words “Unbreakable Bubble Wrap.” Try as we could, we could not pop it. Why would someone do this? Why deny us the simple pleasure of making that cute popping sound when you squeeze one bubble? There is an App for that for the iPhone and Droid but that cannot be the same thing, could it? First they killed newspapers, then the US Postal Service, and now they are after our bubble wrap. What next?

- Can there be any prettier sentence in the English language then “Come back in 10 years” on the bottom of an endoscopy report?

-I hate when Doctor’s offices do not follow up on stuff they said they would. I was supposed to have a prescription faxed to my med provider ands it was incomplete. I am now calling the doctor a third time to get this corrected. Dammit.

-What do you get when you combine a cat, open kitchen cabinet, 2 bags of catnip and 8 hours of uninterrupted nighttime fun? A stoned cat, catnip strewn all over the cabinet, including stuck to the walls and all over everything else in the cabinet and one pissed off TFabP. The inside of the cabinet looked like a frat house after a huge, all weekend party. I wonder if Kanye is upset about all the attention that Skippy is getting and figured he would try getting into mischief to see what happens. It worked…

- It seems to me that water boiled in a microwave is not as hot as water boiled in a teakettle. That’s why I bought a teakettle for making my morning coffee. I am not sure why this is or even if its true or not, but that is my story and I’m going to stick with it.

-We took Skippy to the Farmer’s Market on Saturday, and he was well behaved the whole time. His favorite part was going to the Kettle Korn booth with us and cleaning up the stray popped kernels all around. He had quite a few and ended up leaving a few he had eaten behind when we left (if you know what I mean…)

-Since we got Skippy, Mrsfabp has been watching Animal Planet, a network she has never viewed before. It has given us several ideas as to things to do to lessen the cat/dog tension here on Sable Circle. Animal Planet has another show that I have heard on the TV. It is called “Hillbilly Hand Fishing.” This marks the end of civilization, as we know it…

-The New York Giants won this year’s Super Bowl against incredible odds. Among these odds was the fact that they only won 9 games during the season, the least of any Super Bowl winner, scored the least amount of points of any Super Bowl winner, and beat the New England Patriots is a way that was eerily the same as the Super Bowl they played 4 years ago. II love when a New York team beats a Boston team. No more needs to be said.