I’ve long been a fan of ramen. Preferably from a Japanese restaurant, but even the cheap little packets of dried noodles will do in a pinch.
Occasionally, we’ll go to an Asian market and splurge on “the good stuff.” How do we know it’s the good stuff? Because it costs 79 cents instead of 19 cents and contains not one, but multiple, add-ins. Seasoning packets that include ingredients like freeze-dried scallions and mushrooms, sesame oil, and creamy pastes of indeterminate origin. (If I ever write a cookbook, I’m so calling it, Creamy Pastes of Indeterminate Origin.) I have no idea what I’m ingesting half the time, so it’s like playing Ramen Roulette. Live dangerously, that’s my motto.
(Not really, but it could be, if I were the motto-spewing type.)
Not the healthiest option, of course, but sometimes, sacrifices must be made in the interest of a quick and easy meal.
Yesterday was quintessential soup weather, but I went the homemade route and whipped up a chicken tortilla soup with corn and black beans instead of boiling a packet of hard noodles and throwing in some creamy paste of indeterminate origin. Sure, it cost way more than 79 cents a serving, but it was also infinitely better.
You might think soup season was over. Hell, I believed it on Monday, when we hit 70°. But that was just false spring rearing its deceptive little head, ’cause it snowed on Wednesday.
And while I’ve never encountered a banshee in the wild, and thus can’t say for sure what a howling one sounds like, the expression “howling like a banshee” sure seems fitting for the super gusty winds that have been blowing since midnight. It was so bad, our house was lifted off its foundation a good three inches! Or maybe it just felt that way.
Of all the different types of weather, wind is my least favorite. Much like war, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing. Unless you’re a professional kite flyer, in which case, you probably find it uplifting. #KitePuns
After this all blows over, we’ve got a winter storm to look forward to this weekend. A few days ago, one of my colleagues walked into the office and announced we could expect 20″ of snow on Sunday. Err…not so fast. The first rule of Meteorology 101: never trust a weather app. Most of them base their forecasts on a single weather model, and it’s usually the one forecasting the most insane totals. Winter Storm Iona (yes, she’s got a name) is going to bury parts of Wisconsin in snow, but that’ll be north of us. We’re in the “transition zone,” which means a combination of rain, sleet, freezing rain, and snow. How much of any single precipitation type depends on the storm track.
For the record, I would much rather have a foot of snow than a glaze of ice, but Mother Nature didn’t consult me when drawing up these plans, she just went ahead and made them. Rude!
So, nobody really knows what’s going to happen. Maybe it’ll end up all rain (unlikely). Maybe we’ll get a foot of snow (equally unlikely). I’m sure the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Just in case, we’ll be getting all our errands out of the way Saturday morning, and laying low the rest of the weekend.
Blogger Shelly, who is also in Iona’s path, texted me last night, asking for advice on how to prepare for the storm. She hasn’t lived in a home that hasn’t had wheels in years and is understandably out of practice. After a little back-and-forth, I basically told her, I think you just hunker down and hope for the best.
We’ll be hunkering and hoping a-plenty.
Ruby vs. Zoey
Thank you to everyone who suggested a name for my new Mazda. The most popular choice by far was Ruby. I like that one a lot, and was all set to pull the trigger, but then NGS (also in the path of Iona) said, I’d probably name the Mazda a Z name because of the Zoom Zoom Zoom thing. I’m partial to Zelda, but Zoey or Zariah, maybe?
Well, crap. I really like Zoey. Zoom-zoom Zoey has a great ring to it!
I’m torn now. What to do, what to do? Guess I’ll turn to y’all again. Please vote on your favorite:
What can I say? I love it when I make my blog interactive.
Do you like ramen, cheap or otherwise? What’s your favorite soup? How do you prepare for a winter storm? (California bloggers are exempt from answering.)
Mark My Words 
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