Am I the only person who thinks nouns should stay nouns?

Surely not. However, I came across this little gem today:

The Associated Press has just informed our editorial department that "unfriend" is officially a word.

So, not only is "unfriend" officially a word, it's OK to use it as a verb? I don't accept "friend" as a verb. I don't really like "text" used as a verb.

But then again, I'm a word nerd and a grammar Nazi. So maybe my opinion is that of an old curmudgeon.

What I made for dinner: Paprika Shrimp and Green Bean Saute

(From EatingWell Healthy in a Hurry)

Ingredients

• 4 cups green beans, trimmed (about 12 ounces)
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 pound raw shrimp, peeled and de-veined
• 2 16-ounce cans large butter beans, or cannellini beans, rinsed
• 1/4 cup sherry vinegar, or red-wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley, divided
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Preparation

1. Bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a large saucepan. Put green beans in a steamer basket, place in the pan, cover and steam until tender-crisp, 4 to 6 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and paprika and cook, stirring constantly, until just fragrant but not browned, about 20 seconds. Add shrimp and cook until pink and opaque, about 2 minutes per side. Stir in beans, vinegar and salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through, about 2 minutes. Stir in 1/4 cup parsley.
3. Divide the green beans among 4 plates. Top with the shrimp mixture. Sprinkle with pepper and the remaining 1/4 cup parsley.

Makes 4 servings (but I cut it all in half for the S.O. and me).

This dish was super easy (I bought shrimp that was already de-veined!) and really delicious -- for those out there who like shrimp and green beans, of course.

Behind the red door

Or what I did with my three-day weekend

The S.O. and I have talked about moving out of our current house for a few years now. At one time, we thought we were moving to Oregon. When that didn't happen (for which I'm very glad now), we thought we'd still like to live in another part of town.

Slowly, we made upgrades and changes to the house -- things we thought would make it more marketable and at the same time, things we would be able to enjoy.

The front door was one of those things that wasn't a big deal, but something we thought would look nice if we fixed it up. Originally, the door was a plain wood door -- well "wood" might be more appropriate. But it was very faded and just kind of blah.

Now, it's red -- technically "borscht" -- and quite striking, if I do say so myself.

And it had better, because despite the fact that we spent the extra money to get the supposedly high-quality paint AND primer, it took three coats to get the coverage we wanted. So, what were we doing at 10 p.m. Sunday evening? We were waiting for paint to dry so we could rehang the door and go to bed ... just so we could take it back down Monday to add one more coat. All in all, it took us something like 15+ hours to paint one door. Ugh.

OK, sure we also attended a barbecue and watched UFC at a friend's house over the weekend. But the biggest part of the long weekend was spent watching paint dry. And it's just as exciting as it sounds.