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18278. RickNelson - 1/18/2006 6:56:22 PM

Fabulous Mac.

And that support equates some good news for the Missus.

18279. Macnas - 1/18/2006 7:00:18 PM

Well, my father in-law was a fine fellow, and I got on with him with no bother at all. He's dead with a long time.

Whatever feelings my Missus has towards her mother are her own and other than how it makes her feel, I have no thought for her mother one way or another.

18280. wonkers2 - 1/18/2006 7:06:01 PM

Mac, As thoughtfully pointed out, the aggravation is temporary. But how temporary is temporary? I suffered an insufferable mother-in-law for more than 30 years. She's now six feet under, bless her mean-spirited soul! She was bad news from the beginning, but the last couple of her 89 years, after dementia set in, were a nightmare.

18281. Ms. No - 1/18/2006 7:19:15 PM

Good for you, Mac and good for your Missus. I know a lot of people choose not to interfere in those parent child struggles, but to my mind the whole point of leaving your parents and cleaving to your mate means that is your first family. That is the person you have chosen forsaking all others and if that means you have to battle your parents or her parents then so be it.

18282. Magoseph - 1/18/2006 8:17:37 PM

If you happen to have a busybody mother-in-law who discusses every bit of information she manages to get out of her son or her daughter, you have lost your privacy. A difficult mother-in-law becomes one when one of the spouses cannot stop to confide in his or her mother.

18283. Magoseph - 1/18/2006 8:22:03 PM

I had one like that who would talk to the other siblings, aunts, uncles and grandparents. They in turn talked to their wives. Everyone knew everything about us and it just about drove me crazy.

18284. PelleNilsson - 1/18/2006 10:29:55 PM

My position on mashed potatos is that it has to be made from potatos, not from some anonyous substance in a tinfoil bag.

18285. thoughtful - 1/18/2006 11:18:35 PM

Wiz if you're around, please come to my place ASAP. The sunset with the clouds and sky is absolutely incredible and I can just imagine what a fab job you'd do of capturing it forever. I'm most jealous of people with artistic talent as I have none, yet I'd love to be able to capture this sky forever.

The distant hill is very dark. The clouds in the far distance have broken to reveal pale yellows and gray/lavender clouds that are tinged in shocking light from the setting sun. But closer in, higher up, the cloud cover is still dense with the gray/lavender clouds being every so softly highlighted with touches of beige outlining their uneven shapes. Against this backdrop are green/black pine trees outlined against the brightening sky.

Yum.

18286. Ms. No - 1/18/2006 11:24:25 PM

You could at least take a picture for us, right?

18287. thoughtful - 1/18/2006 11:27:42 PM

No sorry, I'm at work. They frown on such things.

My office is in a great position to see the sunsets this time of year as the building is up on a hill overlooking a valley with a ridge line in the distance to the northwest. Unfortunately, I'm on the first floor in the building...the folks on the top floor in the northwest corner have the absolute best view of the sunsets.

OMG, the sun has just emerged from underneath the dense cloud cover adding a pinpoint of sharp yellow/white light to the above scene....scrumptious!

18288. Dubai Vol - 1/18/2006 11:30:08 PM

You all make me feel lucky: my in-laws are far better than my own family!

As for mashed potatoes: yes of course use proper potatoes, which are about ten times cheaper, but the secret ingredient is mayonnaise. And if you're really ambitious, garlic.

The other secret: mash the spuds before you add anything to them: the best way to prevent lumps. I use a good old-fashioned Kartoffelnstampfer (that's German for a simple manual potato masher) rather than a mixer or some other gadget.

18289. alistairConnor - 1/19/2006 12:37:40 AM

I was just thinking, I haven't made mashed potatoes for years... couple of decades...
and it occurs to me, you eat mashed potatoes with meat. Difficult to reconcile with a vegetarian diet, somehow. Must be psychological.

And it might also be because in the last 10 years or so, I've grown most of the potatoes I eat. Seems a shame to mash them, when they are so delicious in other ways.

But having said that, I do like mashed potatoes. Full of paradoxes tonight. I think I'll make some one of these days. That would mean some digging in the garden, now that it has thawed somewhat. I know, more or less, where I planted the potatoes. I never bothered to harvest them in the autumn, I have noticed that they keep much better in the earth : I dig them up when I need them, and they are new potatoes. Except when they were too close to the surface and have frozen.



Carry on.

18290. Jenerator - 1/19/2006 12:41:35 AM

Dubai!!

I use mayo in my mashed potatoes too. My Southern grandmother told me her secret when I was a teenager.

Do not use Miracle Whip! I accidentally grabbed that once on accident and whew! those potatoes were gross.

18291. arkymalarky - 1/19/2006 4:14:37 AM

Hey Dubai! he

Bob hates mayo and only likes Miracle Whip. But since he's changed his diet from his diabetes he doesn't eat any of it. He's a yogurt man now.


On in-laws, we both get on well with ours, and Bob does better with my parents than I do. The main (only) problem I have with his mother is that she is reluctant to let us know when she needs something and since we live closest to her, sometimes Bob's siblings will call, or things will come to such a pass that they're much harder to take care of than they would have been if she'd have let us know when things first came up.

18292. judithathome - 1/20/2006 1:23:45 AM

She's smart and accomplished but young and beautiful. I think she's not matronly enough to put young women at ease.

Having met your mom, I can totally see this, MsNo...and I agree she'd make an excellent mother-in-law because she has her own life and wouldn't feel compelled to interfere with that of her son and his wife.

I love your mom!!!

18293. judithathome - 1/20/2006 1:24:40 AM

And so does Keoni...!!

18294. Ms. No - 1/20/2006 7:30:23 PM

Yeah, she's pretty damn cool --- and she thinks you guys are great!

Did I mention that she's out visiting right now? She got in Wednesday and we went to dinner at a Persian restaurant that I love then over to Del's so she could hear me sing. I go all the time so it didn't occur to me that she hadn't heard me in over a year.

She's staying at my brother's place and I'm meeting up with them this weekend. Maddox has been performing all his tricks for her. He sings the Alphabet song, but he only sings one letter "Dee-dee-dee-dee, dee-dee-dee...." It's hysterical. His big thing now is bringing you stuff. He likes to pick up little bits of whatever and bring it over to you so you'll say "Thank you!" and then hand it back so he can say "Thank you!" and you can respond "You're welcome!"

It's wild because he's talking but if you didn't know what he was supposed to be saying you'd never understand his words. He doesn't make the right sounds or anything, it's just the intonation and the knowledge that he's supposed to be saying something. I think he may talk early because Jess works with him and also because Paxton talks to him constantly.

Paxton is still a total chatterbox. He took the training wheels off his bike at Thanksgiving and now he's learning to recognize words by sight -- the ones that can't be sounded out. I'd love it if he could read before he gets into 1st grade this Fall.

18295. anomie - 1/20/2006 11:44:13 PM

First, If you add mayo, butter, chopped celery, onion, and pickle, you have a great warm potato salad.

Second, Is Ms No's mother single? There's nothing better than a smart, intimidating women.

18296. anomie - 1/20/2006 11:45:30 PM

Thoughtful,

You do take lovely, well composed pics. That's a talent.

18297. thoughtful - 1/21/2006 12:10:19 AM

anomie, thanks so much for the kind words.

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