Prepping for the 4th

I’ve been spending the weekend getting some minor projects around the house completed along with buying the groceries for our little July 4th party. There will only be eight of us for the day, but it should be a lot of fun. Along with food, we’ll likely play some board games, possibly watch a movie and play some video games. I’d guess there’ll be a lot of sitting around and talking too.

More DeLorean parts came in as well. I received Issues 156, 157, and 158 (which is the final issue). And there was also a surprise in the box: a movie poster for the documentary OUTATIME: Saving the DeLorean Time Machine.

Items Added to the Library

  • Movies:
  • Comics:
    • Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent Vol. 1 #4
    • The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 6 #27 (Legacy Vol. 1 #921)
    • The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 6 #28 (Legacy Vol. 1 #922)
    • The Avengers Vol. 9 (Legacy Vol. 1 #768)
    • Doctor Strange Vol. 6 #4 (Legacy Vol. 1 #430)
    • Dungeons & Dragons: Saturday Morning Adventures Vol. 1 #4
    • Fantastic Four Vol. 7 #8 (Legacy: Vol. 1 #701)
    • Scarlet Witch Vol. 1 Annual 1
    • Silver Surfer: Ghost Light Vol. 1 #5
    • Star Wars Vol. 3 #35
    • Superman Vol. 5 #5
    • Superman: Lost Vol. 1 #4
    • Thor Vol. 6 #35 (Legacy Vol. 1 #761)
    • Warlock: Rebirth Vol. 1 #3

Hammers, Soup, and Bits

I took Friday night off to grab some dinner at Chipotle and go see Thor with Arn. We decided to not see it in 3D, as I’ve heard it’s not worth the extra money. All-in-all, I thought it was a pretty awesome movie. Definitely portrayed Thor’s power well. And was a lot of fun to watch this franchise come to life. Asguard was beautiful. Best part: The sound that the Destroyer made was incredible and really projected how menacing of a device it is.

Saturday I went with Arn to Auburndale to go pick up a large saltwater tank he wanted to get. I helped him take it apart, load it in the truck, and unload it at his place. We then grabbed a bite to eat at Holy Hog BBQ.

After running a few errands on Saturday, I ended up coming home to work on Allie’s project and spent most of the day Sunday doing the same. Oh, I did make a big pot of some simple vegetable soup with mushrooms, celery, rice, and onions too.

Cook and Work

Woke up and rinsed the beans… That sounds funny…

Anyway, put together the ingredients for a simple bean soup in the crock pot. Pinto, lentil, and black beans with mushrooms, celery, and onions all seasoned with onion power, salt, and pepper, and a little garlic. Cranked the setting to high and let ‘er rip. Should have a good soup for dinner tonight.

Success

I went out and ran some errands today and got a few new things for the fish tank. I’m still using the 10gal tank, but I wanted to add some toys. I got a 25lb. bag of lighter-colored gravel (mostly for the new tank), two Sword plants, two Moneywort plants, some plant food, a freshwater testing kit, and some new 15-watt accent light bulbs for the ballast. I added some of the gravel in to thicken the bed so the plants had rooting area. Then, I added the plants in. The fish seem to be interested and genuinely like the additions. I’ll let everything settle until tomorrow then will test the water.

Also, got the slow-cooker. Currently am soaking 3lbs. or beans and will be making a soup tomorrow morning.

Fish Tanks and Slow Cookers

On Thursday, I got a new fish tank from Arn, who picked it up in a deal on Craig’s List. It’s still sitting in the back of my truck, but I plan on getting it up into the apartment this weekend and cleaning it out. There’s some brightly-colored gravel and a large fake rock reef that came with it along with a lighting fixture. I believe it’s a 20 gallon tank. Hopefully it’s still small enough to fit on he existing stand.

I’ve also decided to pick up a crock pot this weekend. I want to start slow-cooking things; it’d be nice to put food in it in the morning and come home from work with dinner already made (dinner for multiple days even). I’m going to start out with some soups, to learn the heat settings and understand fully what to expect out of the cooker. This won’t be my fist crock pot, but I’ve learned over the years that the different types and shapes can change the cooking times.

This’ll hopefully be the last weekend where I need to work. If I can accomplish all the stuff for Allie’s project, then I reward myself with some fish time and slow-cooker goodness.