Blog babble, excuses, smug he-men

I want you to know that two weeks  ago I sat down on a Sunday and wrote a blog. I really did.  Then... I deleted it... because it was nothing but a  litany of  complaints/problems.  It all started out simple enough with a broken dishwasher and a zit. It then turned into a rant  almost 30 bullet points long (and I could have kept going).  By the time I got to bullet point 21, I was so pissed I was gasping for air.  None of the items on the list were  singularly malevolent , it was  having them  put down in words, in one place,  right there in front of my face, that set me off.   Most of the items  could be dealt with if I would just 'do it'.  The two extras roosters, with a little fortitude on my part, could be turned into chicken dinners.  The 30 year old dishwasher that came with the house? ( its so old they don't even make generic parts for it).  I COULD  just buy a new one.   But, I don't want to.  The puppy  accidents?  This would require even more diligence than I already exercise.   I've been told by other dog owners  that getting him fixed would go a long way to solving the problem.   We haven't done it yet because he was so under developed  when we got him.  He's due for snipping in January.   I am now  being forced to buy produce  from   a commercial market.  There is nothing I can do about this one....it is winter.  Everything on the list was either something  I had a good reason for not dealing with or something that was out of my control.  So, I deleted it.   And I decided to NEVER do that again. It was simply a bad idea.  It did however provided impetus for a couple of things I could do.  In true Frankie form...I began a purge.  First I went through the kitchen.  I got rid of three boxes of  stuff that had been shoved in corners....mismatched wine glasses , scratched up cookie pans.  Tortilla warmers I've never used and other  assorted odds and ends that were  just getting shuffled around in the cabinets  while I searched for the kitchen items I actually use.    My beloved came into the kitchen  while I was doing this and rescued two water bottles.  He tried to rescue several   lidded , thermal coffee cups  but I wouldn't let him.  I had to explain to him that we don't need a mismatched set of twelve.  I kept  a couple of the nicer ones but the rest  had to go.   Its not like we spent money on them. They were almost all gak from one show  or another that Jimmy and I had worked on.  And then there was the  big argument over the  vegetable steamer.  Jimmy bought the thing 6 or 7 years ago and the handle  had long since fallen off.  He argued that it was still usable. I argued that it was broken and dangerous. He argued that he bought it and it belonged to him.  He was right  (and yet so wrong). I stopped  arguing and just glared at him. He dropped it back in the box and went downstairs to avoid further confrontation.  I resumed purging  with renewed vigor.  By the end of the day  I was down to stainless steel and cast iron organized and within easy reach
It paid off.  The thanksgiving feast went  extraordinarily well.  
The turkey was astounding.  I need to work on my timing for the xmas feast.  I put the turkey in the smoker  at 8 am.  I should have put it in at 5 am  like the neighbors did.  I used one of those little  plastic pop up turkey thermometers. I wont ever do that again. Long after the turkey was done the pop-up still hadn't popped up.
In my next blog I will try to give the whole process  I followed and  post some photos.
I will also rant about the  'grizzley-he-man '  crap I've had to listen to for using an electric smoker  instead of a 'real' fire smoker.  DD's squeeze (  his was just one in a long line of  smug he-man comments I've heard since I got the smoker ) asked me what would I do if the electricity went out in the middle of smoking.  I replied...'exactly what I did (ok......exactly what Jimmy did)  during the Christmas from hell a few years ago.   I would put  the turkey in the dutch oven and finish it and everything else on the barbque.'  I am prepared for the apocalypse.  I have spent the last seven years learning how to be self sufficient and how  to grow and make everything we need for basic survival but, the end isnt here yet and I still have electricity and running water. I'm going to use them while I have them.