Welcome to the weekend!

Editor’s note:  My internet and laptop suck!  Originally written on 9/11/15

Not to go all Katy Perry (well actually yes I meant to), but T.G.I.F., this had to be the longest “short” week in the history of employment.  In case you missed it last night the NFL kicked off its season.  Not only do I have a six ounce rodent with a bad addiction to vodka, but Hammy apparently is running book for his Russian compatriots in addition to swigging vodka and trolling lady hamsters online.  He was cheering loudly last night as the Steelers scored a late touchdown to make the game a push in Vegas.  For those of you new to gambling jargon a push is a win-win for bookies.  They pay nothing out and collect roughly 10% of all wagers.  I read this in a Gambling for Dummies book is the only reason I know……..hold on a minute had to dodge a couple bolts of lightning for a second.  Since I reside in the great state of Indiana and didn’t want to risk having my state citizenship card pulled and banished to Kentucky for rooting on the Patriots (if you are new to the NFL the Indianapolis Colts and the New England Patriots don’t play to nicely with each other in the sand box), I was in the pro Steeler camp for one night.  Unfortunately for Pittsburgh they didn’t work on pass coverage drills in the off-season and got carved up like a Thanksgiving turkey.  No worries though, because Mr. Skipah had Rob Gronkowski on his fantasy football team!

The blonde bomber returned home tonight and not a moment too soon!  Quick pick up from the land of chocolate desserts (Brownie’s) and it was off to the shopping mecca of Meijer.  For once I was shopping with “proper” folks and not Walmartians.  For those of you who do not have a Meijer’s in your area it’s basically Walmart with nicer and cleaner people.  You pay roughly five to ten percent more on goods and food there but the fact you don’t deal with the utter chaos that is Walmart makes it well worth it!  No half naked kids running around throwing super balls at each other (true story), usually everyone is dressed in something that society would deem “presentable”…i.e. not pajamas, and the staff is much friendlier than anybody that works at my area Walmart.

I needed a new trash can, and Sloane needed a gift to donate to the animal shelter.

The Sunday birthday party Sloane is attending needed a gift and it was a weekend grocery run since I think Sloane wants to eat more than just graham crackers and toast the next three days, plus Chef Skipah has to entertain another guest Sunday when Miss Madison rolls into town.  I was hoping Hammy would hook me up on a Russian caviar connection, but I instead opted to go Italian and will be serving beef manicotti this weekend with a side of garlic bread and cheese.  Marinara sauce will go on the stove top tomorrow so it will be good and “married” (that’s a food term assholes!) for Sunday.  I’m breaking out Skipah’s top secret marinara recipe that I can take absolutely ZERO credit for since I use a recipe I fell in love with on FoodNetwork.com.  It’s completely from scratch though all the way down to using whole tomatoes, the only thing that will be processed is when I run everything through the food processor and have my apartment vampire proof from all the garlic emanating out of the kitchen!

Sloane is clamoring for a pumpkin roll and with the fall like temperatures we are going to be experiencing this weekend sounded like the perfect dessert to me!  Miss Madison isn’t a “pumpkin” fan but she knows she is number two in the female pecking order so she can do like Sloane and just eat the cream cheese filling.  Really that is all Sloane wants, I could just make her a bowl of the frosting and she would be happier than Bozo the Clown at a clearance sale on wigs.

It just feels great to feel normal again.  I love to cook, and not to get cocky I’m pretty damn good at it!  My eight year old princess loves anything dessert related, homemade chicken tenders, and she also has an addiction to bacon which is not a bad thing!  An adult appreciates good food and I aim to please.  To say I’m looking forward to cooking my Italian masterpiece would be an understatement!  Now pass me the garlic, oregano, and basil and get the hell out of my way!  The kitchen is my canvas and Miss Madison is my muse in the culinary world.

For all my long time readers thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the comments or personal messages you have left me.  Yes I’m happy  again, I’ve still got one major battle ahead of me but my daughter is going to make sure I win that one by doing nothing more than just being herself.  How in the hell I found Miss Madison and have yet to screw it up is a mystery to me.  We find out stuff daily that we have in common, she lets me channel my inner nerd and finds it cute (so she says), we have hashtag and pop music reference conversations via text during the day and try to one up each other on shitty selfies.  We run into the occasional problem on 90s pop culture because she is a tad younger than me and I wasn’t into boy bands in the late 90s but I’ll just take her word for it she’s the history major.  Even better for the both of us neither of us had to subscribe to the cheater’s mantra playbook.

About it for tonight, Hammy is burning up my data on the IPad taking action on college football tomorrow.  Sloane and I are attending the youth football game tomorrow so she can see her old cheerleading peeps in action (she wasn’t allowed to participate this year in cheerleading…..not my decision) and I’ve got to figure out how to pack a telescope for Wisconsin next month.  I think stargazing over Lake Michigan will be easier than New Albany, Indiana without the ambient light!

Yeah I miss silly pictures of her cheerleading also!d