Boredom...and Vegemite and Marmite....

One of the 'side effects' of being single is having an absurd amount of time on your hands.*

*Disclaimer: the amount of excess free time is purely relative. 

Since I have no significant other vying for a piece of my already limited 'me time,' I've started looking into things for me to do simply because...well, it's what I want to do, darn it!

Sometimes, that leads me to do random things that are absolutely unnecessary...such as the venture that I am about to disclose...

Remember my last post? I'd written about some of the things that I'd done while visiting with my cousin...including cooking an absolutely fantastic batch of Galbi. In said post, I included a link to an article boasting "The World's 50 Most Delicious Foods" or something along those lines.

Also on that list was "warm buttered toast with Marmite," and I've been curious about it ever since...

I'd mentioned it to my sister, and we started looking up Marmite trying to figure out what it tasted like...seems as if the internet is definitively divided into those that love Marmite and those that loathe it. We even went so far as to read articles written about people trying it for the first time, and then their comparisons to Vegemite...

[From what I've learned, Marmite is British and Vegemite is Australian. Though they're similar products, they're certainly not the same...]

Despite the many, many articles on the web warning American palates to be wary of both of these spreads, I can't resist! My curiosity compels me to find out first-hand what these products are like...if for no reason other than simply knowing for myself...

This afternoon, the kiddo and I made a quick stop at my local World Market.

I was kind of surprised to learn that World Market regularly carries both of these products. I don't necessarily shop there on a weekly basis, but I'd say I shop there more than a dozen times a year...and I'd never noticed either of these on the shelves before, but I wasn't looking for them either.

I'm a little bit concerned about the jar of Vegemite...I found it one of the aisle end caps...the one designated for "Foods on Sale Because They're Nearing Their Expiration Dates!!" That's why the jar has that nice discount sticker on the label...I did check the date though, and it's says Oct 30, 2014...sooooo, it should still be okay, right?

I did try to find a jar on the regular shelves, but wasn't able to find a single one. [Wonder if that's an indication of the how much I should expect to like it...]


I'd originally planned on trying both of these out this evening, but I wound up getting in a dinner-time showdown with the kiddo and don't much feel like it anymore. I'll definitely be getting around to it soon though...after all, I've only got 15 more days of non-expired Vegemite goodness!

Have you tried either of these?

Korean Food and Crafts...

I had quite the eventful weekend...

The kiddo and I went to pay my cousin a visit. She and her family moved to Alabama earlier this year, which is pretty awesome! My family on my Dad's side are all pretty nearby, nothing more than a two-hour drive or so...but, my family on my mom's side is very scattered. I've got aunts, uncles, and cousins spread out all the way from Oregon to Florida! That being said, I was glad to hear that they were moving to Alabama...makes planning a visit much easier when it's just a few hours rather than trying to plan a trip out to Colorado! [I'd have loved to have visited Colorado, but traveling that far can get very pricey...even more so when you factor in traveling with a child!]

Woohoo!!

It was a good visit...my cousin and I decided to get a little crafty...

Check it out!

My cousin had mentioned that she wanted to add some autumn-y stuff to the front of her house [she already had some autumn garland and cute scarecrows] so we stopped by her local Hobby Lobby to see what we could find.

After a few minutes of staring at the tons of autumn/Halloween/Thanksgiving stuff, we decided to make a wreath...

That's the result! [The 'V' is for her last name, just in case you were wondering]

I know I'm not a professional wreath maker [is that even a thing?] but I thought it turned out rather well...I'm considering making one for my own door!

Another awesome thing about visiting my cousin? Korean food!

Donkatsu

Donkatsu is the Korean version of Tonkatsu. It's a thin pork cutlet that is breaded in Panko and fried...served with rice, whatever veggies you like, and this amazing sauce...it's a barbecue sauce, but with an Asian twist. Its hard to describe the sauce, but it tastes amazing! Here's a link to a recipe, just in case you're curious...

Donkatsu Recipe

Galbi

I also made some Galbi. Whenever we make Korean food for friends/family, Galbi is the resounding favorite. Beef short ribs are marinated and then grilled...and then you have a plate full of awesomeness!

I just read that Galbi has been ranked as one of the "World's 50 Most Delicious Foods," so that's pretty cool...

[World's 50 Most Delicious Foods]

The food pictures are not mine, I didn't think to take pictures of the culinary awesomeness...bummer.

I've got to get back to work...more posts soon!

Help Needed...

I don't think it will come as a surprise to anyone...but being an adult sucks!!

[I guess I should rather say that being a responsible adult sucks...I guess adulthood wouldn't be so bad if you could float through it Peter Pan style...]

I've just about made up my mind to start looking for a second job.

It's simply expensive to run a household, even on the minimal level! Start adding in 'luxuries' like health insurance and you're looking at tacking on right at $500, easy. Then there's school stuff for the kiddo and everyday nuances like groceries and gas.../sigh... I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir...everyone knows that everything's expensive.

Looking at my monthly income and expenditures...there really isn't much more I can do with my current situation. [Just in case you're wondering, the Marvel Live! stuff from a few posts ago was all made possible by a tremendously generous grand-parental birthday gift...certainly wouldn't have been possible if it were coming out of my pocket...] I don't have any exuberant extras that I'm just dumping money into and there really isn't anywhere that I can make significant spending cuts.

[Wouldn't it be great if I could pull a US Government move here and just invent more money in my bank account? Call up my apartment's property manager and tell her that I won't be paying rent anymore because the funding needs to be used elsewhere and hey! /shrug/ there's nothing you could do about it! No hard feelings, right?]

/Sigh

Tangential government griping aside...

How do people do this?

I know that there are people with circumstances that, relatively speaking, are far worse than mine...I know that there are other single parents out there that work two or maybe even three jobs to make ends meet, but how?!

How am I supposed to have time to work two jobs and take care of my son??

I mean, it's just me. [Sometimes my dad will help out and pick him up from school for me, but it's usually because he's in the area doing work stuff and I'm at the office drowning in work stuff...] My son is not old enough to stay at home by himself yet, so looking at getting a night-shift job is really out of the question. And I can't really just drop the appraisal stuff to pick up something else...I'm pretty darn sure that there aren't any entry level jobs that I could get that would pay enough to keep my bills and rent paid and still leave me any money for food stuffs.

Here's the problem with being 'good' at a lot of things, but not good or experienced enough to get a job in any of those things.

Kids, do yourself a huge favor and never, EVER major in psychology. Never. Not even if you're planning on going into medical school. Pick engineering, pick business...hell, pick teaching! Anything that will give you a desirable, marketable skill...and not a piece of paper that amounts to virtually nothing despite the years of study and tens of thousands of dollars spent to earn said piece of paper.

Anybody out there have any ideas or advice? I'm in over my head here and could certainly use some help...

Radio Silence...

Just a heads up to whomever might care...I'm off of the cell phone grid today, starting 15 minutes ago. You'll still be able to reach me by email if you need to get in touch with me, though. I'm planning on it being just a today thing...so...yeah.../shrug I'm feeling particularly introverted today.

Dipper Hat!

Dipper Hat and Marvel Live! T-Shirt. Yep!

So, this is semi-exciting...

My "Dipper" hat came in yesterday!

I've got mixed feelings about this hat...

I think it's awesome because, well, it's a hat like Dipper's! I am a bit disappointed by the quality of the hat though. I ordered this one rather than any of the others listed on Etsy because it was a 'real,' six-paneled hat as opposed to a trucker-style hat. Also, the pine tree is embroidered rather than painted.

That being said...I had relatively high expectations for the hat quality-wise...especially when it came with a $29.99 (plus shipping) price tag. [Just about double the cost of any other Dipper hat listed!]

My Dipper hat, although 'nice,' is certainly not '$30 hat' nice. It's a cheap, flimsy hat...the sort that I'd expect you could buy at a gas station or touristy gift shop. The seller wasn't lying, it isn't a mesh-backed trucker hat...but it's just barely one step above a mesh-backed trucker hat.

To further my dismay, two days after I purchased my hat, the seller dropped the price to a much more reasonable $14.99.

I'd have far less to complain about if I'd only paid $14.99 for this hat. In fact, I'd probably be thrilled!

I'm pretty sure that there are no policies on Etsy requiring a seller to refund you the difference if there's a significant drop in listing price on an item that you've recently purchased, so I'm pretty sure I'd just be wasting time to even ask the seller about it...but I'm definitely planning on at least mentioning it when I leave a review/comment for the product. [I'm not 'allowed' to do so until tomorrow...grr.]

The kiddo and I are about to head out to one of the Halloween shops to see about getting his costume. This should be fun...I'll let you guys know how it goes!

It's Just Poor Manners...

Very quickly, just going to mention a personal peeve of mine...

People should follow through with plans. Especially plans that involve another person.

And, if for some reason plans change, do consider the other person and let them know that plans have changed.

It's just poor manners to do otherwise.

Marvel Universe Live! (Take My Money!)...

Marvel Live!

So, this weekend was a big weekend...

Marvel Live! weekend was finally here!!
[I'd previously written about this...]

After a little debate on which showing to take my kiddo to see,  I finally decided on one and was ridiculously stoked about the whole thing. Seeing my son truly, radiantly happy...I don't know how to explain what it does to me...it brings me a sense of happiness that can't be rivaled by anything else. Nothing else. In those moments, nothing else matters. It doesn't matter that I had a 'bad day at work,' it doesn't matter that I've had three car accidents in one month, and it doesn't matter that I feel like I lose at the parenting game more than I win...none of it matters. In those moments when he's that sort of beaming pure innocence happy...I feel as if I'm not the terrible parent that I feel I must be at times.../deepbreath sorry, didn't mean to steer this post in that direction...

The show was fantastic! I loved it, my kiddo loved it, the kid and mom sitting next to us loved it! And I'm sure whomever receives the profits for the show really loved it. The tickets were 'holy crap' expensive...but to be fair, I didn't have to spring for the front row seats, but I wanted my kiddo to have the best experience possible. That being said, I'm going as a Marvel fan and a parent, here's some things that might be helpful for anyone who plans on seeing the show anytime soon...

The little doodad on the right is call a "Lectro Link" and there's an option to pre-pay for one if you order your tickets online prior to the show, but you could also buy one from one of the many vendor stands selling souvenirs before the show. This bad boy is $25. $25!!! At best, its a very cheaply put together plasticky watch with a few LED lights inside. The big sell point for these things is that they allow for direction interaction for the show...sounds awesome, right? It's not. At least it's not $25 worth of awesome.

At the beginning of the show, the Lectro Link is introduced as a way for everyone that had one to help power up Tony Stark's arc reactor if there should ever be a problem and his power begins to fail...but the whole premise is kind of ruined when Jarvis pipes up and say that the same effect could be achieved by being in close proximity to other devices such as cell phones and digital cameras. /eyeroll

Anyway. The stupidexpensivepieceofjunk lights up whenever Iron Man is in trouble and needs some help. It happens in the show exactly one time. One. And the whole thing was so brief, my kiddo didn't even notice that the thing had lit up by itself until it was turning off. Ridiculously underwhelming. So, parents, save your money. The day after the show, my son's stupid Lectro Link won't even light up anymore when you push the button. The batteries are replaceable, but I'm not going to start the vicious cycle of replacing them every 24 hours. Nope.

Why, hello Spiderman...

Of course all of the souvenirs are over-priced, as is all available food. I paid $14 for the world's most terrible snow-cone...just because it came with a 'collectible' plastic mug. They sell all sorts of stuff emblazoned with "MARVEL LIVE!!" and whatnot. Maybe you'll luck out and managed to sneak past all of the obnoxious cotton candy mongers and toys with flashing lights...but chances of successfully doing so are ludicrously slim, so I suggest that you be prepared to drop a pretty penny on some memorabilia.

As far as seating, I was surprisingly disappointed with my front row experience. I'd been hopeful for some amount of front row interaction with some of the show's characters, but there was none of that. Absolutely none. In fact, I think the only time any of the actors even pretended to pay the crowd any attention was after the show had concluded and they were bowing for their curtain call. I suppose that it's necessary in order to maintain the feel that the audience is watching a live-action comic book...but....eh. I think it would have made a world of difference if they had some time for the actors to meet with the audience before or after the show...kind of like a pit pass sort of thing. Especially if the front row tickets are over $100 and I've just been ripped-off buying the stupid Lectro Link.

Another word of advice: if you have a child that is over the age of 4...do not waste your money sitting on the front row. In fact, I'd avoid the first 15 rows altogether.

Being too close to the stage allows for an up-close look at a lot of production details that small kids probably don't need to see. Sitting so close to the stage, the production staff was obviously visible whenever they needed to sneak in and change out a bit of equipment. Furthermore, from the front row, all of the actor's cables used for flying stunts were right in our faces. The 3 year old sitting next to us wasn't phased by any of this at all...but my kiddo spent a good bit of the show watching the production crew move equipment rather than watching the action that was supposed to distract from said equipment movement. So, save the money that would have been splurging on front row tickets and go ahead and get the more reasonably priced seats that are further from the stage.

All things considered, my son and I had an amazing time. As soon as the show was over, my kiddo was asking me if we could come back and watch it again the next day...so, yeah...it was worth every begrudgingly spent dollar.

And...I got this pretty sweet arc reactor necklace. Was it actually worth the $10 price tag? Nah. It doesn't light up, has a plastic clasp, and I'm pretty sure that it's sized for children rather than adults...but...it's an arc reactor necklace that has Marvel Live! emblazoned on the back! There was no was I was going to be able to walk away from that bad boy! [/sigh the perils of being a Marvel nerd...]

5-minute Update...

5-minute post...go!

I'm still feeling...umm...unbalanced? Maybe unbalanced is a good word...I feel as if I'm a bit hyper-sensitive to things right now and that winds up manifesting in those darn things called feelings. [I cried while watching daytime TV during lunch today...that is not okay.]

Talked with my dad and sister a bit about the Ebola mess going on...that whole thing infuriates me. [see above. I'm probably over-reacting. Or maybe not...that whole situation is ludicrous and people are going to get sick, or worse, just because of other's stupidity/selfishness.]

Why are monograms everywhere? I thought they were cute...but seriously, they're everywhere.

Oh! I ordered the hat for my Dipper Pines costume last night! Still haven't gotten a shipping confirmation, so I'm a bit wary...but I'm super excited for the hat to get here!

And, finally...

Disney Infinity is going to be death of me [and my bank account].

Updates and explanations later!

I'm (Not) Okay...

Guys, I'm having an emotional break down. Definitely not good.

Generally speaking, things get better...don't they??

Possible Costumes

Now that it's October, I've been spending some time thinking about Halloween...

Minecraft Zombies!!

My kiddo changes his mind about his costume just about every other day...right now it's between dressing up as Venom or as a Minecraft zombie. I have no idea how the sudden interest in Minecraft zombies came to be, but I don't really mind it. 

I haven't played much Minecraft, and when I did, it was the free version for the iPhone...so, yeah. I don't quite get the Minecraft hype, but maybe I'll get around to playing it one of these days.

Rainbow Dash

Last year, I dressed up as Rainbow Dash...

it was rather cute...I found a rainbow wig and then bought the costume set from Hot Topic [it came with a set of ears, wings, and a pin-on rainbow tail...]

The picture of the girl on the right is one of the pictures that I used as a source of ideas for my own rendition of the costume...but whereas her costume is really cool [there's another picture that shows the jacket more clearly...] my costume was rather hastily put together, and not as awesome. But, my kiddo loved it and we had a good time going trick-or-treating, so I still count it as a win!

This year, I was thinking about giving another cartoon character a shot. The kiddo and I watch a lot of cartoons..a lot. [I'd like to say that I watch cartoons because of my son...but I'd be watching them even if I didn't have a child, soooooo yeah...what? I like cartoons!] 

One of the newest shows that we've started watching regularly is Disney's Gravity Falls. In my opinions, it's not always suitable for young children [it can have some pretty spooky moments], but as long as an adult is supervising, it's alright. It's kind of like Scooby-Doo but with a paranormal atmosphere. I started watching the show with my son mostly out of concern that the show was too scary for him, but then I got sucked into it, too! As new paranormal elements are introduced and expanded on, I talk to him about what's going on in the show and make sure he understands that it is, in fact, make-believe. It seems to have worked, so far...there hasn't been any waking up with bad dreams of gnome monsters or skin stealing shapeshifters...

Anyway...

Dipper Pines

I'm considering dressing up as Dipper Pines from the show. I think it'll be pretty easy to do and I've already found a few good cosplay costumes to use as a guide. [Just in case you're wondering why I'd choose to dress as Dipper and not his twin sister Mabel, the reason is two-fold. 1) I just cut my hair short, so it would be easier to be Dipper. 2) Mabel wears a lot of sweaters...I'd burn up! October still isn't really cold here in Alabama...]

I've been trying to convince my kiddo that we should go dressed as Dipper and Mabel [if this were to happen, I'd of course let him be Dipper and I'd suck it up and be Mabel] but he's not really into the idea. Oddly enough, I got the exact same deadpan reaction when I presented the idea to my sister...

I'm debating on whether it would be better to make my own hat or to buy one of the ones that I've found on Etsy...and where can I find one of those vests??

/shrug it's still a month before Halloween...I'm sure I'll be able to put it together.

What do you guys think? Does Dipper seem like a good choice?