Chatty is in the midst of an allergy attack.

    Two days before she goes to Mexico.

    All this swine flu talk is abounding. 

    Everywhere.

    Chatty is wheezing and sneezing and coughing. Chatty herself knows that it is allergies...but - what about the people on the plane with her? 

    Are they going to panic? 

    Should Chatty call out "No worries - it's just allergies!" the first time she coughs or sneezes? 

    Will anyone believe her?

    Will  Chatty be able to control the coughing and sneezing long enough to get through airport security and onto the plane bound for Houston? 

    And, if she coughs on the plane...

    Will they remove Chatty from the plane when she lands in Houston, and not allow her to continue to Cancun?

    Even worse, when trying to be homeward bound, will they hear her coughing and hacking at the airport in Mexico and refuse to let her go home - and then stick her in a hospital - make her pay for her time spent there - and then make her pay for another flight home a week later (because by then they will have realized that Chatty has ALLERGIES, not the FLU) - for which she has no money - having shot her wad to pay for the trip in the first place?

    In addition to her allergy attack, Chatty is now also having a panic attack.

    Which makes her sneeze and cough even more.

    Sheesh.

    Chatty made tacos a few nights ago. Ground beef for The Wiz, and Morninstar crumbles with a ton of taco seasoning thrown in for Chatty.

    The Wiz is picky about his tortillas - and his bread. Both have to be fresh fresh fresh. Chatty thinks tortillas in particular last several days, but she cannot convince The Wiz of this, so she usually buys just a little bag of 12 and ends up throwing a few away.

    However, she was at a store that only had bags of 24. She didn't want to go to another store, and besides - 24 at this store were only 10 cents more than 12 at the other store.

    The tacos were great, but Chatty was left with 16 tortillas.

    What to do? She couldn't bear to waste that many tortillas, but if she made them into chips, which she often does, we wouldn't have time to eat them before leaving for Mexico.

    Then, Chatty remembered the fabulous dish she discovered while in Rocky Point two years ago. It is actually designed to use leftovers - including tortillas - and while it is usually served at breakfast, Chatty thinks it is great any time of day. 

    It is called "chilequiles", and there are as many versions of it as there are recipes for chili. It's the sort of dish where almost any leftover will work - meats and vegetables and beans - all held together with slighlty stale tortillas, enchilada sauce, and cheese. A lot of people add eggs, too.

    Chatty had never made the dish, but she had eaten it for breakfast practically every day while in Rocky Point, so she decided to mix some up.

    One key is having the tortillas slightly "stale" - so that they dry out and are curling up a bit. It is suggested that you leave them out overnight, but Chatty wanted her chilequiles for dinner, so she just let them take the air all afternoon.

    First, however, she cut them into 1-inch pieces, then scattered them on the cutting board to let them dry and curl.

    When it came time to assemble, she diced one half of a large sweet onion and threw it into a mixing bowl.

    She flash-fried the tortilla pieces in three batches, putting each batch to drain on paper towels. The number of batches depends on the size of your pan, obviously. The main thing is that you don't want to crowd them. You don't have to use too much oil - just enough to crisp them up a bit. Each batch took about a minute - you do NOT want these overdone.

    She grated some hard white Mexican cheese - Cotija in this instance - but many cheeses would work - jack, cheddar, or that pre-shredded Mexican blend would all be good.

    Then, she added the (by now) cooled tortilla pieces to the onions in the bowl, poured in half of a LARGE can of green enchilada sauce (you can also use red, but the taste is completely different - both are good) and about half of the grated cheese. She stirred - you want it pretty soupy - so add more enchilada sauce if necessary - and poured it into a casserole. She topped it with the rest of the grated cheese, and put it in the oven, covered, at 350 for 25 minutes. Then, she turned off the oven, uncovered it, and let it sit in the cooling oven for about 5 minutes.

    It tasted EXACTLY like the wonderful stuff she had eaten in Mexico. She ate it with beans and a tomato salad.

    Since a couple of the places where she ate chilequiles were buffets, Chatty is fairly sure that you could make this whole thing on top of the stove and serve it immediately. Chatty just baked it because she wanted to put it in the oven and forget about it. You could also crisp up the tortilla pieces in the oven instead of frying. It wouldn't taste as authentic, but it would be lower in calories.

    If you like Mexican food, you should try this! An internet search turned up tons of variations - feel free to throw in leftover chicken, corn, beans, beef, green beans, zucchini, etc. - and by all means add a few beaten eggs if you want. You could also serve each portion with a poached or fried egg on top.

    Chatty realizes it's a bit silly to be making and eating Mexican food a week before she goes to Mexico and can get the "real thing" - but heck - when you have too many tortillas, you have to get creative.

    Salud!

    Chatty is deep into organizing and planning for her first trip on an airplane in over 4 years.

    Chatty is accustomed to going on her vacations by car - which she loads to the gills for a mere weekend trip to the mountains. Chatty's mother used to refer to this as "traveling Okie-style" - which she was, after all, allowed to do - being from Oklahoma herself.

    So, packing for 7 days and keeping it to 50 pounds per bag is quite a challenge. Happily, it is summertime, so Chatty does not have to worry about packing sweaters, heavy shoes, parkas, etc.

    No, it's just shorts, bathing suits, and sandals.

    And laptops, and cameras, and video cameras, and sewing projects, and books, and batteries, and sunscreen and sun hats and instant tea for The Wiz, and sweetener and lemon packets to go in the tea, and snacks and...

    Chatty is cheered by the fact that in addition to a bag each to be checked (linear measurement not to exceed 62 inches, and weight not to exceed 50 pounds), Chatty and The Wiz are also both allowed a carry-on bag. The Wiz will carry on the computer case - on wheels and capable of carrying (Chatty hopes) not only the laptop but also the DVD player, the video camera and the digital camera. 

    We shall see.

    Chatty's own carry-on (not to exceed 45 linear inches and 40 pounds) will take all the odds and ends.

    Naturally, Chatty can't go anywhere for 7 days without  a couple of her needlework projects:

                
    
    And a book or three:

            

    And a few other things to make a little home away from home for a week:

            

    Oh - in case you were wondering about the hat - it is very light-weight, and crushable. No problem with the hat!

    So, does anyone besides The Wiz foresee any problem with these few items fitting neatly into Chatty's carry-on?

"-       Noun

-       1. The theory or system of government that upholds the autonomous character of the economic order, believing that government should intervene as little as possible in the direction of economic affairs.

-       2. The practice or doctrine of noninterference in the affairs of others, esp. with reference to individual conduct or freedom of action."

We tried Definition # 1 first - letting "the theory or system of government" stand for "Chatty and The Wiz".

But, that didn't work.

So, we proceeded to Definition #2 - and added a spray bottle.

Here is Definition #2 in action...for the moment...

     Chatty has previously whined about mentioned her lackluster locks

    But, Chatty never says die - so she is always on the lookout for ways to improve their appearance.

    Chatty’s mother and grandmother used to “set” Chatty’s hair with flat beer, but the mists of time had obscured that memory - until a visiting friend mentioned that she was using beer as a setting lotion. Bells went off, and Chatty tried it again.

    It works, folks!

    Unable to leave well enough alone, Chatty figured that if setting her hair with beer was good, adding MORE beer to her hair routine might be even better!

    Musing idly (an activity that takes up much of Chatty’s time - usually with few results), she wondered if there were any shampoos with beer in them.

    For Chatty, from an idle musing to an internet search is just a few keystrokes, and – surprise, surprise – there is a shampoo made with stout (which is a rich, heady, dark brew for those of you pale beer fans – think Guinness…)

    The reviews of this product were positive, but Chatty is not going to plug the product, because she hasn’t used it. She hasn’t used it because the medium-sized bottle is $18.75, plus shipping and handling, and Chatty is too cheap cost-conscious to pay that kind of money for an experiment.

    So, more idle musing, another internet search – this time for “beer shampoo recipes”.

    Lo and behold – there it is – thank you, ehow.com

    Chatty has some stout, so she reduces the 12 ounces to 3, and adds it to her regular shampoo.*

    As luck would have it, her hair is just-washed, so she has to compose herself in patience for a couple of days before she can try it (because for Chatty, washing her hair too often is much worse than washing it not enough.)

    Chatty has kept the shampoo in the fridge, although the recipes differ over that suggestion. But it’s hot here, and cold shampoo feels nice!

    Chatty can’t smell any beer, but the shampoo is very very sudsy, where it wasn’t sudsy at all pre-beer.

    Chatty leaves the shampoo in throughout her shower, to give the beer time to work (as advised by the professional shampoo people.)

    It rinses out completely, leaving her hair squeaky-clean. She doesn’t use crème rinse, because she wants the full effect of the beer - so she carefully combs out the tangles, lets her hair dry a bit, spritzes on MORE beer, sets her hair in giant Velcro rollers, and lets it dry.

    Result? Shiny, bouncy hair that actually held its shape (with the help of a bit of back-combing and hairspray) until Chatty went to bed!

    Amazing. Added to this unexpected delight is the fact that beer leaves NO flaky residue, unlike some of the volumizers and setting gels Chatty has tried in the past.

    Chatty’s hair will never be anything but thin and fine - but at least now she has found a way to disguise this sad fact, albeit temporarily.

    Which is something!

    And, for those of you who want extra shiny hair (this is said to work for both thick and thin hair), Chatty has heard that one part vodka to two parts shampoo works a treat. This straight from the fashion runways of New York and Paris.

    Yes.

    However, Chatty has not tried this - because while Chatty is willing to sacrifice a bottle of beer to the cause...she's not as sanguine about the possible waste of perfectly good vodka!

   * If any of you decide to try this, Chatty suggests that you steer clear of "lite" beer (she's talking calories, not color) because you want all the beery goodness possible. And don't BOIL it - just reduce it slowly over medium heat - and you will still have to watch it, because it foams like crazy. If you can find a "natural" stout or ale, it will have fewer chemicals in it - which Chatty has read is better.
    

    Picture it – a quiet Sunday afternoon.

    Chatty is in the kitchen, mixing up the filling for some Chinese dumplings to the sound of the table saw whining (loudly, even through two rooms and a door) out in the garage.

    Suddenly – table saw goes quiet - door from the garage opens – voice of The Wiz:

    “HONeeeey!!!” "HonEEEEY!"

    Chatty (loudly, because she is listening to an audio book under earphones):

    “WHAT?”

    “I’ve cut myself pretty badly…”

    Chatty is cool, calm and collected panics immediately.

    “WHAT?!? WHERE?!?"

    "My thumb."

    Chatty notices blood dripping to the floor from her beloved’s hand – through the wad of paper towels he is clutching.

    Chatty has always been fine with seeing her own blood. But the blood of someone else - especially a loved one - not so much.

    Think, Chatty, Think!

    Quickly!

    Run, Chatty, Run!

    Already not quickly enough!

    Now, Chatty knows that she keeps some bandages in the bathroom, and she knows that she has mega-bandaging materials left over from our darling little  Cleo's

    Naturally, Chatty heads for the bathroom, because she is evidently stupid, and cannot for the life of her remember where the"big" bandages are. She THOUGHT that she left them in a bag hanging on the back of the kitchen door - but she doesn’t see them when she looks. So, to the bathroom she runs.

    The Wiz waits patiently as Chatty rushes around, and finally comes back with some pathetic little BandAids. She opens the box, and, glancing at The Wiz - who is bleeding through another set of paper towels - realizes that they will NOT be enough.

    Despairingly, she casts her eye back to the place where the “good” bandages should have been, and…there they are.

    Have you ever been in a blind panic - where you can’t see what’s in front of your nose? Well, if so, then you will understand.

    The Wiz is still waiting.

    Chatty rips open a giant surgical pad.

    Too big.

    She rips open a non-stick pad.

    Too small.

    She rips open a medium-sized gauze pad.

    Just right!

    Goldilocks The Wiz - gently, but with some urgency - inquires if we could hurry the process along a bit.

    He puts the thumb under running water.

    The sink turns red.

    We get the first gauze pad around the thumb, and he holds it while Chatty opens another pad and fumbles with the stretchy tape.

    We replace the first blood-soaked pad with the second pad, and Chatty secures it with the stretchy tape.

    The Wiz thanks Chatty, and remarks that he should probably head back to the garage to finish cutting the wood.

    Chatty’s reply is unprintable - but makes enough of an impression on The Wiz that he decides the wood can wait.

    He agrees to sit down for a bit – maybe even take an aspirin or two.

    Chatty says we should go to the emergency room.

    The Wiz says he’ll be fine, and sits down at his computer to play a game of...something - and holds his thumb up (elevated above the heart, to control the bleeding, as Chatty has pleaded that he do), but of course he only holds his thumb up until Chatty is out of sight.

    Besides, he only needs his right hand (his "mouse" hand) to play computer games, and it's his left hand that is injured, so...no problem.

    Uh huh.

    However, Chatty is still in a swivet, so she calls her friend Pat, aka  Mrs. S.

     Pat sighs. She has known The Wiz for many years...

    Meanwhile, The Wiz is snorting and muttering imprecations in the background, because he thinks Chatty and Pat are over-reacting.

    After hearing dire warnings about infection and nerve damage, Chatty hangs up - and she and The Wiz have a chat.

    He wants to leave Chatty's primitive bandaging alone for the moment - to give the injury time to stop bleeding. He informs Chatty that it’s "not so bad" – that the saw just took “a chunk” out of his thumb.

    Uh huh.

    A couple of hours later, The Wiz is ready to take another look at the damage, and to let Chatty re-bandage it more properly.

    Chatty will pass over the next few minutes, and just cut to the chase - wherein The Wiz remarks:

    “Ummmm. This looks pretty bad.”

    Chatty wheedles him into calling the Veteran’s Hospital hot-line to talk to a nurse and to get her advice. He agrees, and sits on "hold" for a while. A nurse finally talks to him. She is on speaker-phone, so Chatty can hear her.

    Nurse: “It sounds as if you need a few stitches. I really think you should go to the emergency room. Hand wounds especially are quite prone to infection, and infection sets in fairly fast. I do not think you should wait.”

    Chatty is very happy to hear that two nurses have now given the same advice.

    The Wiz hangs up the phone with a sigh.

    “Maybe I should go to the emergency room… (he brightens)... tomorrow?”

    We have another little chat, and reach a compromise. Chatty will not accompany him, because it is “no big deal” - but The Wiz will put on some shoes while Chatty makes him some iced tea for the road. He will stop and get some fast food for dinner, and will then proceed to the emergency room – with his book on tape, and some earphones. If the wait is long, he will call Chatty - and she will come to keep him company.

     His cell phone is dead, so Chatty sends him off with hers.

    Then, Chatty waits.

    For about 4 minutes.

    She decides to go to the store to buy The Wiz a nice steak, because she can’t just SIT AROUND WAITING. If he gets back soon enough, he can have a late-night steak dinner. If he decides the wait is too long - and comes home prepared to go back tomorrow to get it stitched up - he can have a nice steak dinner tomorrow night. Either way, The Wiz deserves a nice steak for acknowledging that his thumb needs medical attention that Chatty cannot provide.

    Chatty gets back from the store – checks the phone – no messages.

    So, she waits some more.

    Finally, at 10:10 pm, the phone rings.

    It is The Wiz, sounding cheerful.

    He is done, he informs her. No big deal. A shot of Novocaine. Seven stitches. Oh...and a tetanus shot.

    He plans to stop on the way home for some fast food.

    Chatty offers steak tonight, or steak tomorrow night.

    The Wiz decides tomorrow night will be better.

    Chatty hangs up the phone...and takes her first deep breath in six hours.

    The Wiz arrives home, clutching a bag of "mini sirloin burgers" in his good hand.

     Happily, he is neither surprised nor upset to find that Chatty has spent her waiting time writing a blog about the ordeal, and agrees to a quick picture. But ONLY ONE, because he hasn't eaten in forever, and he's starving - so Chatty takes a quick shot:

    Having ingested his mini sirloin burgers - the panic of imminent starvation having passed - The Wiz looks over Chatty's shoulder and remarks that it isn't a very good picture of him...

    Chatty refrains, with difficulty, from reminding him why...        

    Ah, yes...The Wiz will live to saw again...

    ...which Chatty is finding really, really difficult at the moment - because he will probably be out there tomorrow, whirring more wood through the table saw - and then asking Chatty to give him a new bandage...

   PLEASE NOTE: To any or all concerned - The Wiz is VERY GOOD at whatever he does - be it computer repair, construction, design, woodworking... the list goes on.

    Chatty also realizes that there is no way to stop The Wiz from his duly-appointed sawing, creating, etc.

    And mostly, that's a good thing.

    She just wishes sometimes that the stakes weren't quite so high.  For instance - few people suffer injury while repairing computers. She's just sayin'...

    As Chatty was writing this, The Wiz remarked that his thumb was starting to hurt, because the Novocaine was wearing off.

    Chatty shot back (knee-jerk-relieved-and-now-pissed) that he was lucky to still HAVE his thumb.

    The Wiz replied, very quietly:

    "I know."

    Let it be said clearly and loudly...

    Chatty adores The Wiz.

    UPDATE:

    Chatty being Chatty (now that the crisis has passed), cannot resist showing you pictures of THE CULPRIT. The Culprit has been rolled back into its "resting" position, near the computers where The Wiz does most of his work. Chatty sincerely hopes that The Culprit will remain there for quite some time, resting - and meditating upon its sins:

    Please note those  shards of wood still clinging to the blade.

    Chatty is absolutely CERTAIN that she can see little bits of blood on them, graciously donated by The Wiz.

    Hence, the tetanus shot...*grateful sigh to the VA doctor*