Kitty Deschanel | Food, Wine, and Travel Adventures Across the USA

I received my second COVID vaccine on January 25th. It went much better than my first dose . ( Read all about it here. ) In New Mexico, we were randomly assigned a vaccination site with no input on which brand vaccine we were receiving. After being vaccinated the first time, it was revealed that I'd received the Pfizer.  It's not a big deal - I'd happily sign up for either brand just to get closer to a post-COVID world. (Come to think of it, that's exactly what I did.) Still, it seems I lucked out by receiving the Pfizer.  Moderna VS Pfizer This is just anecdotal evidence, so feel free to roll your eyes at me, but everyone I know who received the Pfizer vaccine has been perfectly fine after both doses and everyone I know who received the Moderna vaccine has gotten sick after one of the doses.  It's merely anecdotal...except I'm in the healthcare field, so I'm basing this on lots of people, including dentists and pharmacists. I follow a professional message b...

A disclaimer from Sexy Nerd: He would never say anything like this!

How can anyone not like dogs? Here are FUNNY DOG MEMES about everyone's best friend. Thank you to everyone for the positive response to my first Funny Memes blog post. It was wildly popular! As a result, here are some more things to make you laugh, including an original meme only available here. I just renewed my domain name (for NINE years) and it was painfully expensive, especially considering this poor, unsuccessful site never makes any money. Seriously, this site is so in the red that I can't even claim the expense on my taxes. If you can share these memes and drive some traffic here, I'll love you forever! I need to get my stats up prior to May, 2030. Like Christmas, it will be here before you know it. Funny Dog Memes Want to see some funny doggos? Check out Olive and Bernadette in their pajamas !

Sexy Nerd and I are the worst aunt and uncle in the world. The last time we saw our little niece (10 months ago?) she wanted nothing to do with us, which is understandable since we never, ever spend any time with her. Truth be told, as childless thirty-somethings, we were probably more scared of her than she was of us.  I tried to win her over by sitting to watch Aladdin, but my presence in the room was too much. She didn't want to watch a movie if I was also going to watch it. Sexy Nerd was zero help, declaring it a hopeless effort to get to know his niece and saying that maybe things will be easier when she's older.  Maybe we can bribe her with some McDonalds? Kids still love McDonalds...right? I brought the issue up again yesterday, stressing to Sexy Nerd that we really should make more of an effort, and that it's only going to be harder the longer we wait to get involved. He explained his feelings, in complete seriousness, as follows: "It's hard to...

Remember that greenhouse Sexy Nerd and I built together? Yeah, I'm taking credit for it. Supervising is hard work! I also provided snacks, Subway sandwiches, and icy sodas, which anyone doing hard manual labor will tell you is a much-appreciated job. I tried to provide icy beer too, but Sexy Nerd said drinking and heavy lifting never go together. He's so moral, that crazy guy of mine. Luckily for the icy beer, I was not doing any heavy lifting. Sexy Nerd worked all day long, tirelessly moving each 80 pound bag of concrete from the bottom of our lot up the steep, uneven ground until all 6,800 pounds were accounted for. When the 85th bag finally reached the top, I ran up to him in celebration. He was sunburned and sweaty; his hair ashen with cement dust. He'd done it! I threw my arms around him. Phew! Sexy Nerd reeked. I knew he'd worked hard, but this was too much. Recoiling, I vowed we would not ride home in the same car. Which leads me to the Sexy Stinky Ne...

Springtime in Albuquerque means only one thing. Miserable, butt-kicking allergies. Wait...it isn't even spring yet. Darn you, Albuquerque. We should dig up all the juniper and institute a state-wide ban against it. I'm too stuffed up and groggy to post anything new today. Here is an allergy post from seven years ago. It's awful every single year. You know, the allergies...not my blog post. Oh geez, I just realized my allergy post was originally published in May. Does that mean I have at least 3 more months of suffering? Blech. Funny Boss Quote of the Day My boss called me from her home and pointed out that it sounded like I was losing my voice. She proceeded to have me continue talking to her for the next half hour, concerned about my voice the entire time while simultaneously talking about nothing. She also gave me this little gem of allergy advice: "Take that ricotta candy from Switzerland, with the bee pollen, and it will cure your allergies." Her teena...

My brother and his wife are moving to Australia, where she will attend medical school and he will mooch off our relatives get a job. Everything must go! We just returned from their house $200 poorer, but rich in junk. A backup bread machine? Ours squeals like a pig whenever it's in the mixing cycle, so sure. Speakers for the garage? We're building our house around the garage ; of course it's going to need surround sound. My sister-in-law was happy to let me have her old purse for free, pointing out that she'd received it for free as a gift from my mom, but my brother jumped in and charged me $20 for it. When I'd wanted it a few years ago, his price was $50. We aren't close. A surprising thing about my brother and his wife is that they are bodybuilders. I know, you re-read that last sentence, thinking you'd surely misunderstood. Take a look: A video posted by Joanna Neal (@joanna.n88) on Oct 19, 2016 at 7:14pm PDT A video posted by ...

"I'm going to beat you with this frozen loaf." Muttered after I finished the last slice of thawed bread and didn't take a loaf out of the freezer. Yeah, he looks like a nice guy, but mess with his stockpile of bread and you'll incur the wrath of Sexy Nerd! *I'm a bit worried that someone is going to read this and email me information on women's shelters. Really, he hadn't had his coffee yet and I laughed hysterically after hearing this. Sexy Nerd is not the type to "beat" anyone.

For the record, I'm using the term "crazy" in only the most loving of ways, especially if you happen to actually be my boss currently reading this. You are still my boss, right? C'mon, ol' buddy, ol' pal. Also, "ol" is not short for old in the above sentence. Sixties are the new forties, after all. I love my boss. I've worked for her for more than 12 years and am planning to stick with her until she retires. She's a pediatric dentist who gets enjoyment out of treating her patients with compassion and kindness. How can you not love a person like that? Okay, here is the quote: I was walking down the hallway at work and my boss and I crossed paths. I always feel a little out of place when this happens, thinking that because my job is at a desk up front, I must surely be loafering* around if I'm spotted in the hall. But nature doesn't care, so as we walked by each other, I awkwardly squeaked that I was just heading for the restroom....

This is a repost because I'm crazy busy getting our new house set up to host Thanksgiving for a million people. We're so busy, we even have 2 brand-new Amerisleep mattresses sitting in their boxes while we sleep on the floor! We don't have anywhere to sit, even for only the 2 of us, and that's apparently not going to change anytime soon, as SN insists he's going to build all of the furniture himself, sofas and all. Yes, he is insane. There is a checklist of "must do" items before everyone comes over next week and I'm told none of them are going to happen. A place to sit? There's simply no time for that. Setting up a big sink and a pegboard wall in the garage? Top priority...though admittedly one that does not affect our soon-to-arrive guests in any way. Gee, the ramblings above could have become their very own blog post. ***** We've all had harmless fun teasing the ridiculous things Sexy Nerd says on this blog. (Extra emphasis on harmle...

Hmmm...do I dare risk the job I love to poke fun at my boss? Yes. It's just that funny. Here she is throwing my painstakingly organized charts to the ground, while grinning like a Cheshire cat. I put them away shortly after taking this photo. She has since pulled them all out again, several times. Anyhoo... My boss was trying to tell us about a movie sequel that is coming out, but couldn't remember the name of the movie. She said "They made the 1st one a few years ago. 4 or 5 years, I think it was. It's based on a book." Knowing her, my first guess was correct. Waiting to Exhale. The only thing I remember about this movie was that I snuck out of bed to secretly watch it after my parents rented it. 5 years. 15. Whatever. My boss continued. "It was written by a black author. Oh, what is her name? I saw her on Oprah. Uhh... Toni Braxton ! That's who wrote Waiting to Exhale. And now Toni Braxton is working on a sequel." I laughed so ...

I found a great deal on Groupon for our recent visit to Salt Lake City. For about $30 per person, it included admission to 12 attractions, including the Clark Planetarium, Red Butte Garden, Hogle Zoo, and the Tracy Aviary, as well as a tasty lunch at The Lion House Pantry Restaurant. One of the activities we redeemed was for tickets to an educational IMAX movie. There were many options to choose from and, knowing my Sexy Nerd, I was surely going to end up watching Hidden Universe 3D (the most educational-looking one of all.) Imagine my surprise when he wanted to see Island of Lemurs, suggesting it with so much out-of-character enthusiasm that I at first thought he was being a sarcastic punk. We received our tickets, picked our seats, and waited for the movie to begin. "You're not just watching this because you know I'll like it, are you?" I asked. "No," Sexy Nerd assured me, smiling. "I love lemurs! Who doesn't love lemurs?" The lights...

Sometimes I worry Sexy Nerd is too sophisticated for me. He has a real, grown-up career and a plan for retirement. He can teach you about expensive wine, international politics, and architecture laws. He thinks the movies I love, like Harold and Kumar and American Pie, are "stupid", though he supposedly shared my interest in them when we met a million years ago. Over time, he's become more and more of an old soul, to the point that sometimes he simply isn't any fun for me to be around. He often spends entire days tending to cactus alone, patiently pinching aphids from between the needles, knowing he'll never be able to get them all. Who in their 30s does that? I makes me worry...but sometimes there are glimmers of hope. Deep down, though, Sexy Nerd is still the fun guy I fell in love with. I was reminded of this the other night when we were watching the Olympics. The Men's Ski Jumping was on, and it made him laugh. What's so funny about this? Se...

Sexy Nerd, who is quite the handyman extraordinaire, purchased a tube of Liquid Nails for one of his many projects. (He's currently building a folding boat, of all things!) The hefty woman scanning his purchase eyed him with suspicion, then said gruffly: "You'd bettah not be huffin' them nails."   High as a kite? (Hmmm...perhaps that's why he didn't notice that his shirt was covered in Pica hair.) Just imagine if he'd tried to buy spraypaint. More Quotes of the Day:  Sexy Nerd Quote of the Day - King of the Grill Sexy Nerd Quote of the Day - What's the Word? Sexy Nerd Quote of the Day - He's a Bully before his Morning Coffee Sexy Nerd Quote of the Day...Err, Night Sexy Nerd Quote of the Day - Big Pimpin' Lamb Quote of the Day - Another Year Wiser (I can admit it!) Boss Quote of the Day - Waiting to Exhale

When it comes to planning a vacation, Sexy Nerd and I aren't always on the same page. I enjoy things like farmer's markets, antique stores, and botanical gardens. When dreaming of a trip to California, Sexy Nerd shot down all of these activities as being "boring". Disneyland, the San Diego Zoo, and Universal Studios were also considered borderline boring. The beach? "Boring." California Adventure? "Boring." I googled California tourist attractions for nerds. The La Brea Tar Pits came up - perfect! Sexy Nerd was intrigued. His response to this suggestion? "Do you actually get to see the tar?"  Photo from the La Brea Tar Pits site - family fun at its best! *Bonus Sexy Nerd Story Below - Lucky You* The Overachiever Sexy Nerd has enrolled in a second Master's degree program. All I have is my measly Bachelors. This isn't the overachiever part though. He's going to get a jump st...

Sexy Nerd was shopping on Amazon.com for a fancy battery. He announced that PetsMart is a rip-off, selling the same battery that's $1.49 online for $10.99. Since the price was so low, he elected to buy a package of 10 (we go through 1 every 2-3 years, but that's a different story). After adding the batteries to his cart, Sexy Nerd decided to see what else he could find on Amazon. A few minutes go by... "I just bought the coolest book! It was written by the guy who was in charge of the Soviet Union's nuclear weapon program," Sexy Nerd announces. Suddenly, his enthusiasm disappears. "I hope it isn't in Russian." Five bucks says it is.

Preparing dinner the other night, Sexy Nerd told me he'd heard about a group of people who aren't quite vegetarians, but they only eat meat in moderation. To me, this is known as a healthy diet. He continued, trying to think of what these people are called. He remembered. "They're called transformitarians ." That quesadilla is mostly veggies and cheese, but it also contains a little bacon. Sexy Nerd must be a transformitarian. Update: The word he was looking for was flexitarian . D'oh!

This post is dedicated to the Nespresso maker, coffee pods included, that has been cluttering our guest bedroom for over a year.    

Sexy Nerd, looking over my shoulder while I'm online: "Did that say 'pimp my baby'?" I was looking at pimpthisblog.com. I wonder if I should be concerned about what goes on in Sexy Nerd's mind.   Hey, Sexy Nerd! Don't pimp Biscuit!

As previously mentioned in a funny, albeit frustrating post , Sexy Nerd recently smoked us a chicken. Even after our smoked turkey fiasco (dinner at 10 pm, anyone?), we're still on two different pages when it comes to how something like this should be done. Me: So, how long until the chicken's ready? SN: I dunno. Around dinnertime, probably. Me: Well, how much does the chicken weigh? SN: I didn't weigh it. Me: Yeah, but the weight is listed on the packaging. SN: Why does that matter? Me: You can use the weight to estimate how long it will take to smoke. SN: I'll just use the meat thermometer. ME: *dies a little on the inside*  King of the Grill doesn't necessarily translate to King of the Smoker