The Perfect Popcorn
[No. Seriously.]

1/2 cup unpopped popcorn kernels [Yes, they are still sold.]
1 TBS vegetable oil
1 TBS real butter
Sea Salt to taste

Heat up the oil on medium high heat in a large pot, making sure you have a lid nearby that fits. As the oil is heating, place the kernels in the pot as well. Shake them around so that they cover the bottom of the pan in a single layer. Grind some sea salt on top of the kernels at this point, before they are popped.

As the kernels just begin to pop, place the butter in the pot as well. Turn the heat down a notch. This is very important, since the scorching time of butter is the same as the popping time of popcorn. The popping will slow a bit, but it'll pick back up shortly.

Shake the pot regularly, making sure the butter gets all over the kernels and that the salt is distributed. Shaking also helps reduce the chance of scorching the popcorn on the bottom.

When the pops slow to 1-2 per second, turn off the heat and remove the pot from the stove. Pour your fresh popcorn into a bowl, once again grinding a small amount of sea salt over the kernels.

The important parts:
The real butter and learning how to -not- scorch it as you pop the popcorn.
The sea salt. No really. The difference is -very- noticeable.  Very.
If you replace these two things, your popcorn may still be good, but it won't be as amazing as this recipe allows for. You'd be surprised.

Ok. Check this recipe out. It's ridiculously simple and was fabulously fantastic.

1 package of italian sausage.  [we used bratwurst, since i don't care for sweet meat.]
2 cans of pinto beans, drained.
1/2 onion, diced.
1 jar spaghetti sauce.

Slice the sausage into 1 inch pieces, and lightly brown them in a frying pan.
Add all ingredients to your slow cooker, and cook on high for 2-3 hours, or medium for 4-5 hours. [Just make sure your sausage is cooked all the way through.]

Serve over hot cooked rice.

Voila.
Did i mention RIDICULOUSLY easy and WONDERFULLY good?

MK and I picked up a Wii this past weekend. It's kind of exciting in and of the fact that it's my first ever gaming console that wasn't my computer. MK had a Sega Genesis when we got married [I suspect it's still laying around somewhere] and I've -played- on the classic Nintendo mario brothers game. You know, that one that didn't have a save game option and every time you wanted to play you had to start at the very beginning? Yeah, that one.

Anyhow. So yeah. We've got this uber-awesome Wii. It came with one game -- Wii Sports. And when we picked up our second Wii Remote [AKA Wiimote] we got the package that has a series of 9 other silly little games. Shooting, table tennis -- and my personal favorite from that disc --- laser air hockey. But we've mostly been playing the standard golf and bowling that came with the console, and have been enjoying it a great deal. I've managed to finish the entire 9-hole course one under par once, so that makes me a little bouncy. MK kicks my arse at bowling though -- he's a monster when it comes to flinging that ball down the lane.

My poor body, though! This is a unique game system because you actually use your body to manipulate the wiimote; you swing your arms like you are holding a golf club, you poise yourself to roll a bowling ball down the lane, etc. I admit, i tend to be an inactive type of person, so my body is screaming at me for using these muscles that i don't normally use. Right now i am suffering from what i am calling "wii bowling ass" and it -hurts- to walk. I can't help but laugh at myself. But we keep doing it, because that's how you make your body get used to moving again -- and i admit that i am really looking forward to the hurt that the Sports Active workout thinger is going to cause.

Tara sent a surprise gift that arrived in the mail today -- overnight mail. [Oi, woman.] She'd picked up Mario Kart and two wheels for us, as well as a copy of Animal Crossing: City Folks. I was completely surprised, and totally thrilled and thankful. I had a bit of fun teasing her about it though -- she was so antsy for it to get here and for me to open it that she was already texting me about it before lunch. When it finally got here, I asked her if i should wait for MK to be home to open it. She replied that no, he already knew and open it already! So i dig into the tape and wrestle with it for a while -- she sends packages like my mom does. When i finally got it open, the contents were all wrapped up. I sent another text asking her if she was -sure- i should open these pretty packages wrapped in pink paper with polka dots. She responded that yes she was sure and don't make her yell at me! I had to laugh. I just had to laugh. Anyhow, both games she sent are wi-fi, which means they can be played with friends via the internet. Which is -awesome-. She and i played Mario Kart together tonight for a little while, and i was howling with laughter. I can only imagine how much freekin' fun it would be if we could HEAR each other while we were racing one another. We'll have to look into the Wii Speak -- or figure out how to get TS working in conjunction/vicinity.  Or hell, blue tooth on the phone, even.

But yeah. I've been very much enjoying having the Wii. If you've got one and want to do the trade numbers/add friends thing, let me know what your wii # is. I've already got four people added -- one of whom hasn't yet added me back. *Stares at Kris* Also, let me know if you have any wi-fi games that you like, so i can take a look at them and consider picking them up. But, yeah,  I'd love to have more people to play with and more options of games.

In closing: Wii = Fun.

Yesterday was overcast and cloudy and rainy, which means the temperature wasn't all that hot -- so i had the house almost open. By this, i mean that i had the front door propped open, but the screen door had the screen slid up inside of it and the entire door was clear glass. Lyric apparently is fascinated by the front yard and sat there for most of the day, looking out. About late afternoon, the UPS truck stopped at the mailbox and the carrier hopped out to bring a package to the door. Anubis was laying in his [open] kennel, and Talis was snoozing at the back door, but the UPS truck always makes them freak out. However, both of them were being massively lazy and were barking like idiots from where they lay. Meanwhile, i have Lyric at my feet as i open the door to accept my package. The carrier was laughing as she approached...

We have a guard kitten.

MK and I were in Wal-mart yesterday eyeing the Arizona tea selection [they have 'sparkling' tea now. weird.] when the lady behind us just... started talking to us. She told us why she was looking at baby food - apparently her little dog FiFi was really sick, and they needed to get some nutrition in her, so she was looking for baby food with meat in it, and did we see any? So i turned around to scan the selections [this was an adventure. I've never really had cause to examine the baby food section.] and immediately spotted the 'beef' baby food. I pointed it out to the woman, and she came closer. But she didn't want beef, she wanted chicken because it's easier to digest. I refrained from pointing out that it's -baby food- and is probably -designed- to be easy to digest, and thought to myself 'good girl.' Anyhow. The chicken baby food was right under the beef baby food, so I indicated that to her as well. She was grateful. As MK and i started to make our escape [really. it's just plain -weird- to have someone just up and out of nowhere talk to you about something that has nothing at all to do with you.] I told her that I'd think of her little dog, and i hoped she got better. She asked me to pray for her, instead, and i said sure. I would.

In the next aisle [breakfast bars!] I looked up toward the ceiling and said "Lord, please watch over crazy-lady-who-talked-to-us-out-of-nowhere-about-her-sick-little-dog-Fifi's little dog Fifi. Thank you."

This apparently surprised MK. He laughed and pulled me into a hug, then released me, still grinning like an idiot. I asked "What? I told her i would." He replied, "Yes. Yes you did."

Now. I am not Christian, but i believe there is something Divine out there that wants us to thrive and to do good by other people. [If you -must- label me, it would probably be Pagan, but i am more of an Everythingist.] I believe the Divine has many many faces; God. The Gods. Nature. The Muses. And sometimes -- sometimes even our own faces. And I believe that if you are speaking to One, you are speaking to All. The Divine doesn't care what we call it, how we label it, or what face we want it to wear. To put it simply; belief is -personal- and no one out there has the right to tell anyone else out there what and how they should believe.

It comes down to The Golden Rule. So far as we stick to that, we are good.