Mar 072023

My Favorite Day of the Year Came Early

I was reading some earlier posts because I know that this special day is one that I mention regularly. The cool thing is that my favorite day came early this year. You know what day I am talking about! It’s that day that I look out my windows and see little green leaves sprouting. The crazy thing is that this year it happened on February 28th. What? That is insane. Last year when I first saw green things out of my window it was March 19th. That’s three weeks earlier. On March 1st it was 76 degrees. This was a record. I mean, HELL YEAH. I could happily live in Ohio my whole life if winters were like this one.

Yes. I know. We did indeed have that polar vortex/bomb cyclone thing where temperatures with wind chill were like -30 for a couple days. But seriously, this was a super mild winter overall. It snowed maybe 3 times,. I think our biggest snow was 5 or 6 inches. That may have been the only snow where it was necessary to shovel. In February, I think there were three days over 70 degrees and multiple days over 50. I would like to officially declare the groundhogs wrong (six more weeks of winter), but I don’t want to jinx us.

As always I am excited to work in the yard, plant flowers and sit on my deck. S got me a bird feeder for my birthday. So now there is a bird cafe next to the stone path to the woods. I did find it strange that he chose one that was sort of gold and black. Grossest color combo every. (If someone who doesn’t know us reads that, it’s a sports reference)

What else is going on? Let’s see. I got some new shower doors. The cheap builder-grade doors installed before had a broken handle within the first year. The new ones are so pretty! Work continues to be a vile place. If I won the lottery, I think my greatest pleasure would be quitting that hell hole with no notice. Every day is just a thrashing from customers about poor support. Another huge layoff was announced a couple weeks ago. This one did not impact S, I or my team. It did have a significant impact in India as a significant amount of off-shore support will be moving to Guatemala. Sort of ironic, right? It did impact lots of people in North America, including some people I know.

When I first heard about this one of the first things I thought of was, “Well if I have to go to Guatemala, at least I know there will be excellent coffee”. Also, “Back when I was picking coffee beans in Guatemala” — movie quote, The Usual Suspects. (fantastic movie). In India there was no coffee. There was tea. Will we have to go to Guatemala? Probably. The food should probably better too. I am not a fan of Indian food, but I know that I love Mexican and Latin American food in general so that would be a plus. There would also be no ridiculous 25 hours of air travel shenanigans. Oh well, we’ll see.

Favorite song right now? Still diggin “Wait in the Truck” by Hardy & Laney Wilson. Getting into Morgan Wallen. Currently reading the Raven Cycle series. It’s solid. My favorite thing to cook right now? Cheeseburgers. I have tweaked my cheeseburger recipes for years and the one I’m grilling every weekend right now, I would put up against anyone’s.

  • 1/2 lb patties 80/20
  • Top ground beef with blue cheese crumbles and then form patties without overworking meat
  • Liberally add kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper and garlic powder to each side of patty
  • Poke a hole in the center of each with your thumb
  • Add to a hot grill and cook for about 3 1/2 minutes per side
  • While still on the grill, top each patty with 1 tbs of bbq sauce and shredded cheddar cheese
  • Close the grill lid and shut the burners off. Let the burgers rest in that reduced heat while your cheese melts. (60 – 90 seconds)
  • Top with pickle slices, onions (other condiments optional)