In Which I Purchase A Family Pet

I don't know why I did it. Somehow when I woke up this morning I just felt like today was the day. So when the boys were out rummaging through "The Dark Forest" looking for sticks for our bean tepee I called the neighbor to keep an eye on them, scooped up Nutmeg and whisked her away to the pet store.

We were looking for a fish, a pretty, "girdle" gold fish, and I already had the name picked out.
We stopped at Petco first because it is the closest pet store. The fish lady was not happy that I intended to keep a goldfish in a fish bowl. That's right folks I had the audacity to think that a fish could be kept in a bowl! I know, I know, there should be a tattoo on my forehead that reads "Animal Abuser."
I was then treated to a informational lecture about how goldfish can live for 20 years (it was only 10 years the last time we bought a one) and by keeping a gold fish in a bowl I would be shrinking it's internal organs.

All the while I am thinking "I don't want a goldfish to last a long time. I want it to die in 12-18 months so the next kid can have a turn picking out a fish or, alternatively, I can give up pet ownership completely when this one goes to the great aquarium in the sky. I eat fish! Why is she trying to make me feel bad about keeping it in a bowl?? At least I don't plan on eating it. Do you even think a fish wants to live for 20 years? Their life is pretty darn boring."

She tried to sell me on a beta and then reluctantly said she would sell me a goldfish but she couldn't guarantee it. Guarantee it? A goldfish needs a guarantee? Ultimately I didn't like any of the goldfish at Petco so we told the fish keeper that we would think about it a little more.

We got back into the Samurai Mom Mobile and went down the road to Pet Smart. There was quite a line in the aquarium section of Pet Smart. Personally I think they do so much business because they don't give you guilt trips about what kind of bowl you keep your pet in. We had ample time to choose and I nearly got 2 fish to cram in my sardine can of a fish bowl. I decided against getting 2 at the moment but may consider picking up one of those tiny 12 cent fish in the future. (Does it bother anyone else that there is no cent key on the keyboard?)

I ended up with one $1.99 fantail gold fish. I picked out the tiniest one because she was the cutest and I was still feeling a tiny bit guilty about the bowl I planned to keep her in.

Nutmeg was very excited and insisted on carrying her through the store and all the way home. Once we got home I took my yarn stash out of the goldfish bowl, washed it out, added rocks (left from when Cheddar was still with us) and filled it up with water. Then we put her in.

(Portrait courtesy of Commander C)

Nutmeg kept trying to say her name through the entire trip. She pronounced it differently every time, eventually she figured it out. Boba Fett thinks it is too hard and wants her to have a nickname. I told him he will get it in time. I like the name...

Sashimi.

In Which We Try a New Sushi Restaurant

Moose noticed during a sushi run the other day that Hot Pot 'n Sushi has a happy hour. $1 per plate from 2-4pm. This was indeed exciting news and today the kids and I decided to try it out.

We arrived just after 2 pm and as I approached the door I read the fine print "With $2.00 drink per person." Snap. We always drink water at Sushi Restaurants. So we ordered 4 sodas (yuck) they arrived and they were huge glasses.

As we stared at the conveyor belt we were disappointed. There was nothing that we liked, no Tuna, nothing with cucumbers or avocados, no seared albacore, no unagi, and much to Commander C's dismay, no watermelon.

We ended up settling for 4 plates of salmon nigiri (I think salmon is better cooked - call me crazy I just think the flavor is better) 2 plates of dumplings, some white fish, some shrimp nigiri and I begged a tuna off of the chef. There was a crunch roll that was met with less than enthusiasm. Then we had cream puffs and one plate of sesame balls for dessert.

There were many things on the menu that were not on the belt and according to the sign the deal was for items on the belt only. There were a plethora of rolls with sauce on them but none were identifiable as our choice sushi ingredients.

The nigiri peices seemed a bit small and didn't look as fresh as they could. There were also MOUNTAINS of plates stacked up ready to put on the line. At Sushi Town the chefs are actually making sushi and then putting it on the belt. If they do have piles of pre-made sushi sitting around they hide it well.

On the plus side. The chefs were nice, talkative and Japanese, call me racist but Japanese sushi chefs make me feel better about quality. The hostesses were again nice and talkative and the ginger was not dyed (I assume dye is why some ginger is pink and other ginger yellow.) The lady sitting next to us had a full on conversation with Nutmeg and the sushi chef and they both kept cooing over how smart she was. She said "Her daddy must work at Intel."

We ended up with 17 plates and 4 sodas making the total $23. I don't know that we saved any money over going to Sushi Town and paying regular price. We probably would have paid the same price and would no have consumed 96 ounces of pop and 5 plates of dessert at Sushi Town. We would not have wasted as much. Our satisfaction would have been higher at Sushi Town and our tummies happier.

We have only been home for an hour and Nutmeg is hungry again, since she only ate one finger of rice 2 dumplings and a cream puff.

Once in the car we decided the only thing we liked better was the cream puffs and I happen to know that I can buy a box of 36 of those at Albertson's or $5 or so.

So Sushi Town has kept us for their business but I can't help wishing for $1 happy hour there.

Urban Legend Revealed

Monday I found a large envelope in my mailbox. It was from the Neilsen Ratings Company. I have of course heard about these people but I thought they were an urban legend made up by the TV people so that they could tell us how popular their terrible shows are. I had certainly never been polled by them, nor has anyone I know.

Well, now I believe in them because they sent me CASH MONEY! I opened the envelope and there were the Benjamins (I know they aren't really Benjamins but it isn't cool to say one Lincoln and five Washingtons now it is?) and a tiny one side of one page survey to find out if we were white and if we spoke Spanish.

I don't really feel represented though, because they didn't ask much about the shows I watch and I don't think that they care that I am a married white woman.

I really hate when people in surveys are so concerned about race. WHO CARES??? If we really want to eliminate racism in this country than we need to stop obsessing about what demographic we fit into and just take people as they are.

They also promised to send me $20 more once they received the survey. I think that is aces and even if it is a scam I still have the $10 and they can't take it away from me. I am totally going to but something awesome with it like sushi, or chocolate, or yarn. Way to stimulate the economy Neilsen Ratings!

Night Time is the Right Time

Monday, after grocery shopping I decided to head over to Sushi Town for some craving fulfilling. I walked in 1/2 hour before they closed. I figured I would be the last person to arrive. No, the door kept opening. Each arrival was one person just like me. They were all women.

Maybe it is something about late night and Sushi. I found it curious.

Is that an Angel? No, she is my sister.

This is my Sister JMO, and today is her birthday. What? You thought it was my birthday just yesterday, well it was. JMO crashed my slumber birthday party. I was totally psyched though because a sister is a great present. Mostly I wonder why my parents let me have a slumber party when my mom was 9 months pregnant?

As you can see she is gorgeous. Her hair is so thick (thicker than mine) very straight when she wants it to be and does not tangle. It behaves well. It is very fun to play with her hair. She also is a makeup guru. She spends a lot of time making art with her makeup. We are all jealous of her makeupability.
JMO likes to draw. JMO has many passions some of which include sushi, collecting home furnishings, makeup and hair (see above), sleeping, taking self portraits (hey if you were that cute you would too) travelling to Australia, and playing with the hood of her coat.
JMO is very thoughtful, she doesn't like people to hurt other people's feelings. She falls in love easily. She gets upset really easy too. We hide from her when she is upset. She is kinda like a terrorist in that way. She is very loyal and a very good friend.
JMO sometimes wears glasses, she is an immaculate dresser.
JMO was the cutest little girl she had golden locks and was very shy. She would tilt her head to the side when people talked to her. We used to call her Jessie, but it is a good thing we stopped because Mr. Moss married the Lovely Mrs. Moss whose logical nick name is Jess.
She likes aprons, a LOT! She is going to start collecting vintage aprons just like her sister.
JMO has a passion for food. She loves to cook and loves to cook for people just like our Grandma.I asked JMO what her favorite color was and she said "Orange cuz no one likes orange so I felt like it needed a fan so I sacrificed and made it mine." Isn't that nice? She is just like that. It is unnecessary though because Moose likes orange. Speaking of Moose, he really likes JMO and always defends her.
JMO really likes sushi. I think I introduced her to it. She sometimes works at sushi restaurants for free sushi.
JMO has a split personality. Her other personality comes out when she is sleeping. If you talk to JMO you might actually be talking to "Sleepy JMO" Sleepy JMO will hold complete sensible conversations with you and make promises and appointments. Later JMO will not recall these conversations so you have to have them with her again when she is awake. It would seem simple to tell but "Sleepy JMO" is tricksy and you never know when you are talking to her.
JMO is a fellow Ron Paul fan and favors fiscal economy. She likes chocolate better than vanilla.
JMO isn't sure if she likes the proposed idea that we have a handmade Christmas this year.
There she is, isn't she lovely? Maybe my parents should have named her after Miss America?

Sushi Town: a review

Last night Moose and I were on a date and had 50 minutes to grab dinner. We swung by Nice Rice only to find that it has closed. Moose was sad because he actually liked a place that he thought I would like. So we drove over to to Sushi Town and tried that.
Sushi Town is a conveyor belt restaurant where all the little dishes with plastic lids rotate along endlessly. You see something you like, you pick it up. Everything is on color coded plates. At the end the waitress counts up how many green, blue, yellow or red plates you have and gives you the bill. It felt a little soviet and a lot Japanese though the employees appeared to be mostly Mexican.
I had 2 plates of Maguro Nigiri (raw tuna), 1 plate of Unagi (grilled freshwater eel), and a specially ordered avocado roll. Moose had a teriyaki chicken bowl.

The tuna was good, the unagi was also good, not the best I have ever had and not bad like the Vancouver Unagi. The avocado roll had a lot of avocado in it and had that taste which is due to the ripeness of the avocado not the preparation. Moose said his teriyaki bowl was terrible. All dishes were notably free from mayonnaise (see Vancouver Unagi.)

So all in all a mixed review. I liked it, it was dirt cheap (all that for less than $11.) Moose will not be condescending again. Maybe I can make it a girl's night out or introduce the kids to sushi in an affordable fashion.

The best part is that you sit on stools around the conveyor belt right next to whomever else is there, and you can eavesdrop on their conversations. For example if you had been sitting next to us you could have overheard this conversation:
Samurai Mom: See this color here, that is why I named Unagi, Unagi.
Moose: Yep.
Samurai Mom: Did you ever in your wildest dreams think that you would be so lucky as to have a wife that named her purse after sushi?
Moose: No, no I didn't.

Then you might have stifled a laugh just as the girl next to me did last night.

Never Say Never

Moose ate sushi TWICE while in Hawaii. he tried a tuna roll at Kintaro on Kauai and some seared tuna at P.F. Changs in Waikiki. He didn't like it but he tried it.