This is not my beautiful life!

Lord, how my life has changed since I moved to Texas.

FIfteen years ago, I never, EVER, would have thought that I would personally, and unironically, purchase ONE pair of these:

....LET ALONE, TWO:

...because I was going to my annual country swing dance out in the Hill Country this weekend?

And yet, there they are. The real deal, from Sheplers, where they sell the hardcore cowboy stuff...and not even from some postironic hipster enclave on South Congress run by people with expensive eyewear.

What, in the hell, is wrong with me? That I really like them, and I even think they're kinda sexy with a flouncy skirt?

I think it's true, what Paula Poundstone said. You never think about cowboy boots until you go to Texas, and then you're like, "Do you have anything in...kitten?"
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Oh, I made Badger's suggested Ropa Vecchia this weekend. It's really easy...just cook the shit out of an old tough chuck roast - mine was like 10 hours in the crock pot - and then, when it's super-tender, shred it in a tasty Italian sauce with lots of garlic. Serve it with a some unpretentious red wine, a salad, some good parmesan cheese, and some rosemary bread (started in the breadmaker and then baked in the oven,) and you are guaranteed a darn fine meal.

The short ribs experiment the next day did not go as well. Almost all of the recipes that I found suggested a crock pot or a long slow boil. I was certain that I could put barbecue sauce on them and cook them in the oven over a pan of water. Fuck, it was like four hours later when they finally became edible. And, they're really fatty. They were tasty, I suppose, when you finally got down to the meat part...but not really worth all that effort and my superheated house.

No ideas for this weekend, though. Busy life, needy children, trying to eat light, sick to death of chicken. Who has a bright idea for me?
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OK, tell me, the layout. Do the pictures and stuff look all messed up? On my Firefox, it's totally fucked. Pictures where they aren't supposed to be, no sidebar...BUT, it looks OK on Safari and Explorer.

Is that happening to anyone else? I've read up on the FAQ's on the Blogger website, and I still don't know how to fix it.

And does this color make me look fat?