Warm Spell

The title refers to the fact that I woke up feeling cruddy and also had a slight fever.  I didn't feel too good over the weekend and I was thinking allergy but now I think it is probably a garden-variety bug.  I'm tired this evening but feeling better and I don't have fever anymore.  It wasn't much, just a degree more or less.  It has aggravated my asthma slightly.

I've been parked on the couch for the most part today, I did take the bratdog for a short walk this morning but that was partially self-defense so she would be calmed down and let me rest!  Bill took my car today.  Maggie Moo wanted to go back outside while ago, we went out in the back yard so she could visit the grass there and the mosquitos were out in full force.  I squashed two, one on each arm, and evaded a few more.  But I think that there may have been a few that I was unaware or - but they were aware of me!

I did get a loaf of banana bread made, the bread machine has a recipe for it but it's not really my favorite.  No secret that bananas are my favorite fruit and probably one of my top favorite foods in general.  I do like banana bread, but the recipe the bread machine makes just doesn't have enough banana taste or sweet flavor for me.

I started the 2nd half of Otter's poncho.  The first half is lavender and the 2nd half is light blue.  We bought all the yarn at the same time at Hobby Lobby, two skeins of each color.  We made sure that the labels matched and the yarn looked like they matched.  I made the first half and had almost enough yarn in one skein to finish but not quite.  So, I attached the 2nd lavender skein on and did 4 or 5 row sets until it was long enough.  I finished it up at work on my lunch hour one day.  And that's when I discovered under the stronger office lights that the two lavender skeins don't match!  They looked the same in the store and the labels matched.  But the yarns are not the same color.  When Otter was over here yesterday to do her laundry, she looked at the poncho half and I held it up to her like it will fit on her when it's assembled.  The part that is different will be in the back and it will probably look ok, but I'm still very annoyed about it.

I'm taking my car in to get new tires on it tomorrow.  It's due for an oil change, so that will be done at the same time.  I'm taking it to the place in the same shopping center that Otter works in, we've used this place for a few months now and they re the place that put the tires on Otter's car a few months back.  They said that it will only take a couple of hours, so I'm going to drop my car off with them and then walk across the parking lot and borrow Otter's car so I can get to work.  I'll bring her car back at lunch and pick my car with it's new shoes up.  I told Otter that I'd buy her lunch, so I'm going to leave her some lunch money for letting me borrow her car - she agreed to that!

Maggie Moo is now curled up at my feet.  Snoring loudly!

Middle of Vacation at Home Week

I don't like the word "staycation" so I don't use it.  I'm just having a vacation at home this week.  Mostly by myself, Bill had had to work.  He is off today, but that's because he wasn't feeling too good this morning and he's been pretty much doing nothing today - kind of like me! :)  Except that I'm goofing off by choice and he's just not 100%.

Anyway, I'm glad that he was home today (although I wish he hadn't been feeling icky.)  Because the electric company showed up unannounced this afternoon.  They figured out that last Friday's problem was caused by a line in my yard (they're buried where we live) and that it might need to be replaced.  They brought their backhoe and got right to work digging a fairly deep hole.  Pretty close to one of the maple trees and they did have to break through roots to get to the line.  The line did have some issues, it was probably nibbled on by voles and they'd eaten into the insulation which exposed the actual line to the dirt.  They had to turn our power off for about 10 minutes while they replaced the line.  They did that, put all the dirt back in the hole and took the cable that they'd laid all over my yard last week.  I think that we are finally done with the problems.  Although I won't be surprised if there are other problems with the lines, considering how many underground rodents we have to deal with!

Yesterday, I went to a fabric shop to get something for Froggy.  I also went to 2 antique-ish stores I had been meaning to get to but just never quite did.  They are both booth-type stores and are in a neighboring town.  I wasn't impressed with either of them, but it was still fun.  I also went to the library and to our old booth store looking for something specific and then Bill came home early because he wasn't feeling too good.  I went to the post office, also.  Big exciting day!  Actually, except for the part about Bill not feeling too good, it was an enjoyable day.

Today I went to another fabric store for Froggy, but I will be going back there for something else she needed but I'm not sure when because I think Otter wants to go with me.  I had a couple of other stops, I went to Atwood's because they had coffee on sale and then I went to Wallyworld for misc. grocery items.  But I've spent more time at home today than I spent out, I did some crochet and had time to just sit and read.

I'm enjoying the stay at home vacation.  Yesterday, after Bill left for work, I went back to bed for about an hour.  Actually, I curled up on the futon and snoozed, and Maggie Moo went underneath it for her nap.  It was pretty comfortable, although the beagle snores!  Maggie Moo has enjoyed being able to stay in the house and not get put out into the garage, but she's slept just as much inside as she probably does in the garage!  She has access to the outside when she goes to the garage, but she doesn't seem to like being outside nearly as much as Frasier did.  Her water dish always goes out with her and she has two padded places in the garage which she snoozes on.  And she gets to visit her treat can...

I'm not sure about tomorrow, I'm thinking I'll probably just hang around the house and read, craft, crochet and possibly take a nap.  I might also make a loaf of bread, the one I made on Monday is just about gone.  On Friday, Bill will be off and he'll be at home working on pachinko machines but Otter and I have a shopping day scheduled.  Destinations depend on the weather, we could get rain.  Until then, it's just hot and humid!  But it might affect fireworks displays Friday and Saturday evening.  Bill wanted to grill steaks on Saturday, but they might be broiled in the oven instead of grilled.

Maggie Moo went out to the back yard with me this morning.  And she went straight to the shed.  She did not want to listen to me when I told her no, so she came back inside.  She was funny when we took our early-morning walk today - there was a lady who was walking 3 dogs (and carrying a 4th) one and at least one of those dogs is not friendly to other dogs - which Maggie apparently knew, because it started barking at her at pretty much the same time she was angry barking at it, with a beagle baroo thrown in for good measure!  We haven't walked the last few evenings, the humidity has been too bad for me to be able to breathe.  But I don't think she particularly has wanted to, I don't know if the heat is why or if she's just lazy!  Probably both.

There is a mockingbird that is building a nest inside the trellis on the back deck.  I saw it several times but I haven't seen it since we were outside with the electric company.  It's possible that mama bird decided that there was too much traffic and went elsewhere, but I'm not sure yet.  I did finally get my hummingbird feeders refilled this week, after they were empty for a while.  At least one hummer was on one of the feeders this afternoon.  We also have had two very large squirrels playing chase across the top of the fence.  Not sure if it was a boy chasing a girl, if they were just playing or if one was annoyed with the other one.  But I've seen more squirrels since we lost Frasier, I think they know he's gone and maybe they feel safer now.

Since I was home and had time, I made a pecan pie this morning.  I found a frozen pie shell in the deep freeze when I moved everything from it to the kitchen freezer.  I figured that was a sign that I needed to make pie!  We're having mini pizza for dinner tonight, I think pecan pie will go very well!

Still Hanging In

But now I'm thinking that Bill is partially right:  it's probably not the flu.  But I'm also thinking that Bill is partially not right:  It's still more than a cold!

 

Anyway.  We are both home today.  Bill was very restless last night, he had a lot of congestion and coughed a lot.  I got up at 5:00 (the alarm went off, not because of a barking dog!) and let the dogs out.  I fed them and then went back to bed, Bill got up at that point and he let me sleep until about 6:15.  I had a headache when I got up the first time, which is the main reason I went back to bed.  After breakfast, I took some motrin and it did help with the headache.  We both called in, I think we mostly just need to rest at this point.  I don't feel great, I feel better than I did but not well yet.  But what I am mostly noticing is that I feel extremely tired.  Just enough potential symptoms that it could be a light case of the flu, or might not be.

 

I did have to get out, I had to go to the post office for something we expected to be delivered to the post office box.  I stopped at Wallyworld for milk that I forgot when I got groceries the other day and I grabbed us a salad each from their deli.  My headache was back by that point, I took some more motrin and then we had a cup of tea.  The caffieine and motrin helped some.  The crockpot soup is in the fridge, we'll have that tonight with some of the bread I made yesterday in the bread machine.  I don't know if I'm going to cook anything tomorrow or not, there is still plenty of soup and also sandwich and salad stuff on hand.  As well as a couple of things in the freezer.

 

Otter came by for a little while, some of the mail was something she'd been waiting on so she came over to get it - and check on us, which was probably the real reason!  Maggie Moo was overjoyed to see Otter, but I noticed that the second Otter was out the door the beagle was back on her blankets, crashed out again!  Such a hard life the beagle leads...  Frasier was happy to see Otter as well, Maggie was just funny.  One of Otter's friends lives in the same apartment complex and has a dog.  Friend's dog just had puppies, 8 of them!  That's a lot of puppies, but Otter reports that mama dog is able to feed them al.  Anyway, Otter finally got to see the puppies today.  She reports that they are just learning to walk, their eyes are open and they are total fluff balls.  Because Otter is who she is, mama dog was charmed and had no problem at all with Otter playing with the babies.  So, when Otter came in the door, Maggie had to do the sniff test on Otter.  Even while Otter was playing with Maggie, the beagle would stop in the middle of being petted and sniff more.  Her tail was wagging the entire time, so she wasn't mad but it was funny.

 

Bill has a pachinko project, he has 5 machines being refurbished/restored/repaired at once.  The idea was to get them to the booth as soon as he possibly could.  Every time he thinks he's going to get them done, something comes up.  He hasn't really been able to work on them at all this week.  He really wants to get them finished up and it is really bugging him that he hasn't been able to.

 

I haven't done much crochet the last couple of days, ok none really.  I did a little early in the week, but then my arms started hurting.  Which I wasn't sure if it was tendonitis or flu aches.  There have been a few body aches, which is why I'm not positive that it isn't a light case of flu.  But I also think that the tendonitis is part of the problem.  I have a couple of craft projects that shouldn't aggravate the tendonitis.  IF I feel up to it tomorrow, big IF, I might work on one of them.  Or maybe not, I may just park myself on the couch with a blanket, book and beagle.  With frequent visits from BigDog, he isn't quite as blanket-crazed as the beagle but he does like to check on me on a regular basis.

 

The plan is still for Otter and Bill to get the boxes up to the attic on Sunday.  It really can't wait much longer, I can't get to the deep freeze for pachinko machines!  I think it might be time for a pachinko machine intervention.  Or maybe not, Bill probably thinks the same thing about my yarn stash! :)

It's a Flu(ke)

Title inspired by the fact that I think we are dealing with a mild case of the flu.  Bill still insists that he "only has a cold."  But I don't think so, for one thing colds don't have body aches!

 

I did some research, it is possible to have the flu without having a high fever.  Bill did have fever the other day, but he wouldn't let me take his temperature.  I think I might have had a little fever today myself, but I didn't actually take my temperature because I have been drinking as much water as I can.

 

It took him a couple of days to come down with whatever this is, then he was home for a couple of days but he went back to work today.  And he was exhausted when he got home.  I started coming down with it a couple of days after he did.  I left work early yesterday, I went to the grocery store because I had no choice on that but other than that I was at home yesterday.  I didn't sleep well last night, and I felt pretty bad this morning so I called in.  I had a horrible non-migraine headache, too.  Then I realized something else:  what I thought was tendonitis is probably actually the body aches associated with flu.  I did have some tendonitis issues because I've crocheted a lot lately, but that only explains my left elbow hurting.  It does not explain the rest of me aching!  I am pretty sure that it is the flu, but it's a so-called mild case.  Bill may not go in to work tomorrow, I am pretty sure I'm not going too either.

 

Today's activities included starting a loaf of whole-wheat bread in the bread machine and also starting a pot of beef/vegetable soup in the crockpot.  Mostly, I've been parked on the couch.  I did get a load of laundry done, but that was because Bill woke up sweaty in the night and the sheets needed to be washed.  About 2:00, I was feeling really tired so I decided to lay down for a little bit.  And I woke up 2 hours later, so I guess I was more tired than I realized.  It took me a while to wake up, I felt groggy for an hour or so.  The dogs have spent most of the day snoozing, Maggie has discovered the afghan I made and she keeps stealing it from me.  She prefers to sleep on top of it instead of underneath it - it is pretty soft yarn and her little beagle rear is delicate!  Frasier isn't really into blankets, but he has spent most of his day napping as close to me as he can get.

 

Bill needed to get something from Hobby Lobby this evening, so I decided to ride along with him.  We were only in the store about 5 minutes and it nearly exhausted me.  But Hobby Lobby is not a place I can let him go without adult supervision - kind of like a hardware or tool store!  Froggy, I'm sure you know what I mean. :)

Imagine a Fun Title Here Because I Can't Think of One!!!

It's Sunday, it's Father's Day and it's 3 days before Billyboy's birthday.  Still can't think of a good title!

 

We didn't exactly hit the ground running, but we have been busy today.  I had intended to wake Bill up with a cup of coffee this morning, we frequently bring coffee back to bed and leave the lights out on Sunday mornings.  It's a nice way to start the day.  But Bill got up a few hours before I did this morning, like maybe around 4:00 a.m., and he woke me up with coffee.  Which was good, even though the cup was full to the brim and I wound up wearing part of it!  (The sheets got yanked off the bed as soon as we finished the coffee and got up and they are now in the dryer.)

 

We went to Church, then Otter had to get ready for work almost as soon as we got home.  I ran a couple of errands, to the post office and to Wally for a couple of things I didn't realize we were out of when I went to the grocery store last week.  Later on, Bill wanted to go to the booth to check on something - he got a call from someone who had seen the machines at the booth and now her son had decided he wanted one.  She had some questions about the operation of the machines and Bill told her what she wanted to know.  She said she was going to buy one, he told to tell the cashier/owner at the store that we had authorized a 10% discount.  She did buy the machine, it was gone when we got there so Bill moved the other machines down a bit so that it doesn't look like a vacant spot.  He also needed to go to Radio Shack so we did that at the same time.

 

I got soup started in the crockpot before my first errand this morning, I used some fresh Rosemary from Otter's crop.  It's always really good with fresh Rosemary.  Very nice flavor and it smells so much better when it's cooking - it smells pretty good without it, but Rosemary just makes it better.  I made it a little differently this time, but it was not on purpose!  I thought I grabbed a can of peas, along with the corn, green beans and lima beans.  Turns out, I grabbed two cans of green beans and no peas.  Otter wasn't upset about that, she absolutely hates peas.  It was still good, even if it does have a slightly different vegetable mix!

 

Bill's beginning to rearrange the office into the pachinko workroom.  I took my 3 yarn drawer units out, they are temporarily in our bedroom.  They are also stuffed to the point of overflowing.  I also have several tote bags with yarn in them, and a couple with sewing and misc. craft stuff.  But most of them have yarn!  I really need to destash, but I'm not going to worry about that right now.  After we get all the pachinko stuff out of the living room and into the office, the yarn will be temporarily moved into the living room.  At that point, I'm going to take inventory and see what I can do about the "overabundance" of yarn that I suddenly and unexplainably have!

 

Froggy, I'm going to start on Uncle Crazy's blanket soon.  I was planning on starting on it today but I haven't had time yet.  It will go fast, it's a granny square like yours is.  It will be a little bigger, but it's a fairly simple pattern to make.  I did finish the green scarf I started when we were on the way to SA, the yarn is very pretty and will be warm but it wasn't particularly enjoyable to work with.  I will most likely make a cap to go with it, but not anytime soon!

 

Bill did get his birthday bacon.  He decided that he wanted it yesterday, since Saturday is about the only day we have time for a bigger breakfast.  Otter had to work, she left before we actually got organized enough to cook the bacon so I kept her 4 pieces back and she had a bacon sandwich when we got home.  I made bread yesterday, she had bread and bacon without anything else and she said it was good.  Bill cooked half the bacon yesterday, and we ate about half of what he cooked so we had some left for this morning.  Otter had another bacon-bread sandwich, but Bill and I had it on tortillas with cheese and scrambled eggs.  His birthday is actually Wednesday, he was thinking about blt's for dinner but Otter and I got him one of these:

It's a gadget, and gadgets are absolutely irresistible to engineers.  Bill wanted one of these the first time he aw the commercial, he also wanted a Bacon Bowl maker but changed his mind on that.  But he still wanted a Stufz, so Otter and I got one for him.  He's changed his mind on his birthday dinner.  But I expect him to have bacon stuffed in his burger!

 

I don't expect Otter to complain about that, either.  :)

It's pie time now!  Froggy, we got Bill a pie.  An ice cream pie.  Strawberry Cheesecake.  FROM BRAUMS.

Sunday Potato Chips

I don't eat potato chips very often, too much fat in them, but I had some today at lunch. When I do eat them, they are generally the baked kind which are ok but just not the same! Today, I had the Real Thing - Lays! But not too many. And certainly not nearly as much as I wanted!

Anyway. This is what I've been up to lately:

A close-up of the stitches. It's chunky weight yarn, which means that it's slightly larger than "regular" yarn.

Otter was holding it in her lap for me to take the picture. It's folded several times.





That's my hair you see on the top of the picture.

And here's a more complete shot. I finally finished my wrap/shawl! It's pretty long, but it's the right size for what I wanted. This is some of the more expensive yarn I bought a few weeks back. The yarn for this was actually in the clearance bin and I was afraid that I might not have enough, since the pattern I followed was for a different (smaller) size than I made and I didn't know exactly how much I would need. I did have enough, but not much to spare. I made this with the intention of taking it to Church, since it's cold in the sanctuary no matter the time of the year. I usually take a jacket with me - and so do a lot of other people, mostly women. I could have used it this morning, but even though I finished the crochet part of it yesterday I still had a few finishing touches. So when we got home, I got busy and got all the little "tails" (loose ends) woven into it and now it's ready. So, next Sunday I'm taking it to church with me! I made it long so that I can also cover my legs with it if I need to. At least it will cover my legs a little. It's 30 rows wide. The yarn is very soft and I think I'm going to like it. It was a fun project to make and I really enjoyed it. It took me a while to make it, but that was because I didn't work on it as often as I would have liked to. But, it's done and now I can go on to some other projects. I have a couple of them already, one is started and one is not quite but will be soon.

And, by the way, I figured out how much yarn I used for the shawl. Nearly a mile. Not kidding, it's really nearly a mile's worth of yarn!

In the above picture, I'm standing in front of Otter's desk. That's her Pirates calender on the wall and behind me you can just see the corner of a Pachinko machine. That's the machine Bill gave me, it's attached to the wall in front of the closet. The closet doesn't show up in the picture, but there are shelves on each side and one half is my side - and it's nearly all crafting/sewing/crochet supplies!

Along with finishing up my shawl, I've also cleaned the fireplace and put my decorative touches back in front of it. My churns & crocks. Which is just about a 100% guarantee that we'll get 2' of snow next week! According to the forecasts, winter weather is pretty much over. We'll see. (I'll still need my shawl at Church, however!) And I'm also doing laundry. Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike doing laundry? (Yeah, many times I know). Also, I just saw an ice-cream truck in the neighborhood so I think that I'm probably not the only one who thinks winter is over!

I've also got a crock pot full of soup going in the kitchen, I started it before we left for Church this morning. And the bread machine is happily doing it's thing. Homemade soup & bread for dinner tonight! The kitchen smells so good, it's going to be hard to wait until dinner time. We had lunch already, but just the smell of the bread and the soup is making me hungry.

I have a rather large & furry dog parked on the floor next to my chair as I type this. He has been keeping me company quite often when I sit down at my desk. Sometimes. he has company in the form of a fat beagle. But today it's just Frasier. I think Maggie Moo is probably up in the middle of Otter's bed, that's where she generally is when I don't know where she's gotten to.

Movie review: Zombieland. Don't bother. Just don't bother. We rented it for Otter (it was her turn yesterday) knowing that it was rated R and would have some violence/gore. We try to be careful regarding which R rated movies she/we see. This one was supposed to be a "funny" zombie movie and the gore was supposed to be unrealistic - however, after less than 3 minutes into the movie we turned it off. It was a situation of where all three of us said almost at the same time that this was not what we thought. We usually don't even go out after sunset on Sabbath, but this time we did. To return the dvd. It was that bad. Since it was Otter's turn to pick the movie and her first choice didn't work out, she decided on the first Pirates of the Carribean movie. So she got her Johnny Depp fix, and it was sort of about zombies - anybody that's seen it will understand what I mean by that.

Yes, we realize that Otter will be 18 in just a few weeks. And she'll be able to see a lot of movies that we have not allowed her to see. But we have a guideline for our Saturday movie and it has to be somewhat family friendly. No excessive violence, a limited amount of gore is ok depending on the story although fantasy gore is usually not realistic and usually is ok although sometimes it can be too much, language needs to be low on the amount of profanity and nudity is only allowed if it's extremely small and not sexual - as in the scene in the first Terminator movie when the Terminator is walking around and there is a brief shot of his behind would be allowed but not much more than that.

I don't think I'm ready to have an 18 year old! I know that Bill isn't. But then, I don't know if any parent ever is. Particularly fathers when it's their daughters. I know that up to the day my Dad died, he considered me and Froggy to be his little girls. And that was fine, that's the way it's supposed to be. But it's not easy on the Dads when their girls grow up. Probably not easy on them when it's their sons, or easy on the mom, but I only have the frame of reference of one child and daughter at that. But Otter is pretty well grounded. She has the best support base we could give her, now it's up to her to find her wings and fly. And we think she will fly high. I'm sure she'll have a few learning experiences along the way, that's part of it after all. But we all have to have those times and learn from them. Otherwise, we don't grow and that's not good. We're very proud of the young woman Otter has become.

But in my mind, she's still the two-year-0ld in a blue dress standing in the kitchen & smiling for the camera!

Baby, It's Cold Outside! (Edited)

And I'm so glad I'm inside.

Of course, the inside I'm referring to is home.

I did try to go to work today. But neither of the two cars in my driveway wanted me to do that. I think I have a dead battery in my car, the Impala. It wouldn't start, but it didn't act like it was because it's so cold. The El Camino, however, just plain doesn't like the cold! And it won't start for anything.

Not that I blame it!

Bill leaves for work at 6:00 a.m. I don't have to leave until about 7:30. I love my remote start feature, and I generally start the car about 10 minutes before I need to leave when it's really cold. Like today. It was 15 degrees when we got up this morning, but it is very windy and I think it's a safe bet to say that we've already reached our high for the day. I've tried a couple of times to get my car started, and it's not cooperating. So, I am home today with the Otter and two furry stinky dogs. Bill wasn't where he could come home and get me, and I did thinking about calling somebody for a ride but I have the time to take off so I decided to just use a day. When Bill gets home this evening, he's going to look at my car and then we'll most likely have to go buy me a new battery.

Wish the car would have done this yesterday, when it was at the mechanics!

Since I've been home, I've gotten all my laundry done and also cleaned the kitchen. And made a loaf of bread. And did a little crochet, which was difficult because of my winter skin. And watched the news on tv at noon. And played with two doggies. And visited with Otter, although she didn't get up until close to 10:00!

Not that I blame her. It was a good morning to sleep in. She gets another one tomorrow. Although I probably won't be waiting for her to wake up since I anticipate being at work, and I won't do the chores that were originally on her list. Lucky girl!

(Edit) It was the battery. Bill got home a little early, pulled the old battery out of the car and we took it to the auto parts store to be tested. Which took a while, as their tester wasn't working right. They eventually got a reading, and it was bad. So we bought a new one, brought it home and Bill put it in. The car started right up. And it's colder than it was this morning.

Today Is

National Homemade Bread Day.

I think I'm going to make some when I get home this afternoon, love my bread machine! Thanks, Froggy for bringing this one to my attention.

It's Curtains!

I got my kitchen curtains made today. They turned out pretty well. They were very easy to make and I think they look great.

This is a close-up of the pattern.

The pattern from a little further away. There is a line down the fabric in one spot, but it's older fabric and I think it's in very good shape. I think it looks good with the existing wallpaper in the kitchen, also.

The kitchen window with the curtains. You can see some of my sun catchers and the Venus Flytraps, as well as assorted stuff I have in my window such as my pie bird and some small things Otter gave me/made for me when she was younger. Also visible to the sides are two of my vintage decorations - tongs on the wallpaper side and if you look hard enough, I have a vintage potato masher on the cabinet side. The tong is probably in it's final place, but the potato masher might move. I have a few things that I've put up as part of my vintage decorations, but not very many yet. They are just stuck up wherever there was a nail already, but I'm not anywhere near finished so no other pictures of the kitchen walls yet. I have some stuff to do tomorrow, but if I have time I am going to a thrift store I haven't been to in a while and maybe back to the flea market.

It was 75 degrees today. In January. In NE Oklahoma. I could understand if it was south TEXAS. But NE OK? I know what happened. We had firewood delivered yesterday. We were out of wood, and the forecast was for winter weather early next week. We got wood delivered and now the forecast is much better. I guess we shouldn't be surprised! Anyway, we got a cord of wood (2 ricks) so we should be set for quite a while. We usually just get one rick, but the guy made us a very good deal even including his delivery charge so we bought 2 ricks.

Otter had been thinking of buying one of two things: She wanted a Wii (game) or a video camera. She's talked about them both for a long time. She's been working for her grandpa and saving her allowance. With her Christmas cash & gift cards added to what she already had, she had enough and we went on a pricing trip. She decided on the video camera, which we think was the better choice. After Incredible Pizza on Thursday, Bill went to Wallyworld with her and they picked out the best one she could afford. She got it Friday and she's been playing with it ever since. We attempted to upload a Maggie video, but it didn't work. We are going to read Blogger's instructions and see what we have to do to add a video. So check back, eventually we'll figure it out and have a Maggie Cam.

I experimented today. I made chocolate bread. Actually, carob bread since we don't use chocolate chips due to Otter's allergy. It baked ok, but I'm not impressed. It is the right color, but the flavor is so weak that it almost tastes like plain white bread. My bread maker has different recipes, the carrot bread is good and Bill likes the banana bread - although I don't. The pizza dough is good, white bread, honey whole wheat, raisin bread are all good. We'll eat the carob bread, but I don't think I'll make it again. I don't think it was because we used carob instead of chocolate.

Froggy, in case you are interested - we are going to BRAUM'S for breakfast tomorrow. Then we probably won't go for a very long time, it's the last day before we go back to work so it's back to the "real world" for us after tomorrow.

WORDSWORDSWORDSWORDSWORDSWORDS

There are too many words that are misused, overused or just annoying!

This is probably not all, but it's all we could think of for now. Otter and I have been compiling our list for a few days. It's words and also a few phrases. Some of them are words that are fine, under the correct circumstances. Such as the first word on the list, when applied to the zipper on a pair of jeans for example. But not when applied to grief or loss.

1. Closure
2. Empowerment
3. Diversity

4. Green (except when referring to the color, or food such as green beans - then it's ok).

5. Atkins Approved
6. Eco-friendly
7. Animal companion (they are PETS, people!)

8. Happy Holidays (ok under some circumstances, but not at all acceptable when used to mean Christmas only)

9. Holiday tree (it's a CHRISTMAS tree!)

10. Global Warming (nobody is surprised that this is on my list, are they?)

11. Carbon footprint
12. CO2 emissions
13. Change
14. Climate Change
15. Outside the box
16. Self esteem
17. Sustainability

I'm sure that there are others and I will post them as we think about them. But those are the main words that we'd like to outlaw, at least as far as the way that they are misused.

Ok, back to my bread baking now! I'm making carrot bread, I'm giving my bosses edible gifts this year.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope that everyone has had a good day. We certainly did. We ate too much, but that seems to be the tradition. I don't think anyone actually went back for seconds, but somehow we still managed to eat way too much. I'll pay for it later today. But it was worth it. My mouth is tender in a couple of spots, but I don't think I'll need the orajel.

We watched the parade on tv this morning and then got busy with the cooking. Actually, there wasn't anything hard to cook since I bought a smoked turkey. It just had to be sliced and zapped. Bill made his famous mashed potatoes, which took my two biggest pots, the largest strainer, two huge mixing bowls and I can't count the number of spoons. The gravy was from a mix (Pioneer, of course), the green bean casserole is always easy, the bread was baked in the bread machine, the salad was just lettuce & tomato with parsley and parmesan topped with a little olive oil, and the cranberry came from a can this year. At least I won't have to cook much the next few days, we have so much food left over. But that is what I wanted.

The pupsters got a little bit of a Thanksgiving meal. They got a taste of stuffing, a tiny taste of gravy, a bite of bread and just a tiny amount of turkey with the skin. I'm sure that they would have preferred more, but they don't need a lot of fat. But they got enough to have a taste and they were happy.

Otter's cake turned out pretty good, I managed to find a little room to have a small piece. She said it wasn't too Cake Wreckish after she decorated it.

I might get started on some crochet, I seem to have an urge to use the maroon yarn I bought this week. Or I could go put up all the laundry I've done today.

I think I've made the Laundry Faries mad. I don't know what I did to tick them off, but I've emptied my laundry basket 3 times today. And each time, it is full again as soon as I turn around! I've actually done 4 loads today, but one was dog blankets so they were never in the laundry basket.

Frasier usually ignores his blanket for a day or so after it gets washed. I think he doesn't like the smell - clean is not his thing, apparently. Maggie could not care less, she's happy as long as she can curl up and take a nap in a soft place. Life is good for the beagle, and the big dog has it pretty easy, too. Although he would probably disagree!

It was a Great Saturday!

I got to sleep late, we had a nice relaxing breakfast, Otter and I took the dogs for a walk, I made two loaves of bread, we enjoyed the movie we watched, and OH YEAH - TEXAS BEAT OKLAHOMA 45 - 35!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I only saw bits and pieces of the game, we don't really watch tv on Saturdays so I turned it on right before we walked the dogs and it was in the second half at that point. And Texas was behind. Then after we took our walk I checked again and we were still behind but both teams had higher scores. Then I took a shower and checked after that, I saw the last few minutes of the game and we were behind but we got a touchdown that put us ahead. Then I turned the tv off, then turned it on again a few minutes later and watched the last 20 seconds. Which lasted about a minute with the time outs, but it was a foregone conclusion at that point that Texas was about to win and OU was not. So it was a very good day! We did put our Texas flag out this morning and it was beautiful, blowing in the breeze we had. Bill took the flag down late in the afternoon. I think that most of our neighbors probably already know what side of the river we are on regarding this particular competition, since we fly the Texas flag quite a bit. Our neighbor to the east is from Kansas, he jokingly asked Bill if we were going to watch the game and who we would be rooting for. He's a nice guy, it was all in fun. I've been wearing my Texas Longhorn t-shirts non-stop for days, I will make a point of wearing one tomorrow when we run a few errands we have planned.

We watched Iron Man today. It was better than I expected, it was actually pretty good. And I think it set up for a sequel. There is a bonus scene at the end of the credits. It's my turn to pick a movie next Saturday, I'm currently leaning towards Chipmunks. But it might change several times between now and then.

I tried a new recipe in the bread machine today. Carrot bread. The recipe calls for shredded carrots, obviously. But it also has orange juice as well as nutmeg and allspice. I was expecting a sweet bread but it's actually more of a spice than sweet. It's very good. I also made a lof of plain white breat for Otter, she's allergic to carrots so she can't eat the carrot bread. I don't think that I let the bread machine cool down enough before starting the second loaf, because when it finished the rise cycle the dough was pushing the lid up on the machine! The loaf turned out good, it's just very big and the top caved in slightly which happens when the dough rises all the way up and then can't go any farther.

Did I mention that Texas beat Oklahoma today? :)

Some Questions Answered! And Other Comments

Well, I'll answer one question anyway. Froggy's question in fact. Specifically, she asked if I'd brought any plants inside recently since we were inundated with flies. The cactus did come in, but that was actually after the fly problem started. However, we discovered that the flap on the dog door from the garage into the kitchen was hanging down too far and there was a sizeable gap. We think that the flies were coming in from the garage through the gap, that is the general direction/area we saw them in. We still get the occasional one, but not so many since the weather got cooler. But I do have a few plants outside that will be brought in in the next few weeks, I usually check those plants in case they bring in unwelcome guests. The last time something came in, it was a tiny tree frog and it came in on a cactus. We caught it and took it back outside.

We really enjoyed church this morning. There were several people who weren't there today, they missed a very good sermon that made a lot of sense. It dealt with the reasons we do things. Do we do things to please ourselves? Or do we do things because God wants us to? It's a topic that has been on my mind lately, and the sermon was very timely. I have noticed that with this church a lot. I'll have something I'm thinking about and quite frequently my questions will be answered the next Sunday at church.

Otter had a 45 minute driving session this afternoon. I'm not calling them lessons any longer, since she knows how to drive now. But she does need to practice, so I'm calling it practice sessions. She is doing really well. It just takes me a while to get the mirrors back where I want them, after she's driven! The seat is easy to adjust, but the mirrors take me forever.

I have a roast in the oven at the moment. Actually, I have two roasts cooking. I have hardly ever been able to find a big roast, so we usually wind up with one that we eat in one sitting. Bill's a big eater, so what would give most people left overs for a second meal usually is not quite enough for us! So I finally just decided to buy 2. Two take the same time to cook as one does, since they are the same size and are in seperate cooking bags and pans. Both have potatos, carrots, celery and onion in the bags and I'm also going to make some brown gravy. Otter helped with the vegetables, so it didn't take any longer to get two ready than it would have taken to get one ready. I also have a loaf of honey whole wheat bread in the bread machine. It should be ready a little before the roasts are done.

Yes, I still make Pioneer gravy! I have never been able to make gravy from scratch, mom did try to teach me and Nana (who is the world's best scratch gravy cook ever) did, too. But I still just make glue. So I don't even bother, I just use my old favorite - Pioneer, naturally. Well, it is also pretty good. But if I have a choice of two brands, one being Pioneer and one being something else, I'll always ALWAYS take Pioneer. Not just gravy, I like almost all the other products that Pioneer makes. Although I was never too wild about the chili or taco seasonings. I'm not sure if they still make them or not, they were not big selling items.

We have known that Frasier is smart pretty much from the first moment we brought him home. He reminded me this morning of just how smart he really is. I sat down on the couch with a cup of coffee in my hand. He came up to me like he usually does when he wants a chin scratch. But as soon as I moved my hand within reach, he whipped his head away and bumped the hand holding the coffee. Then as soon as it started to drip over the side of the cup, there was Frasier trying to catch the drip! He didn't quite catch it, it dripped onto a blanket I had over my legs and he licked it off the blanket. Then he tried to do it again, but I was on to his tricks by then so it didn't work. But he watched the cup the entire time. Dog's smart, he knows what he wants and he generally can figure out how to get it! The scratches on his nose are healing up. The scabs have come off, and the new skin is pink. I don't know if it will turn dark like the rest of the skin on his nose or not. So he might have a multicolored nose.

I have a spot on my nose that I'm watching, as well as Frasier. I woke up Friday morning and it looked like I'd scratched myself on the top of my nose almost where my glasses rest on the bridge of my nose. But this is Sunday and it still looks like it's a fresh scratch. So I'm keeping an eye on it, and if it doesn't heal up soon then I'll call the dermatologist. I have never had skin cancer, but Dad had it and it can be hereditary to an extent. I've also have more than a few bad sunburns, thanks to my red headed complexion. Another family legacy! Not that I'm complaining, I actually like being a redhead. I just don't like the sunburn thing that goes along with it.

Misty Messy Sunday

It's not exactly been raining this morning, but it was a little stronger than a mist. Just enough to make the dirt stick to the dog's feet and allow them to leave tracks. All over the kitchen and living room! I've cleaned the kitchen floor up twice already, but I've decided to just wait until later on in the evening when they aren't going out every few seconds to bark at nothing.

Bill's mowing the weeds, I mean yard. Once he's finished, we'll be able to tell where we still need to do some filling in of holes. I'm sure that there are still plenty, although I think we've gotten most of them. Or at least most of the big ones.

We skipped church this morning, there were a bunch of little things I wanted to get done around the house so we have been busy most of the day. I talked Bill into re-caulking around the toilet in Otter's bathroom and he decided to do the one in our bathroom as well. There were two windows that needed to be cleaned on the outside, thanks to birds that visited the suet feeders, so I hit them with windex while ago. Now we can see out again! We had several other small jobs and we're just about through with them. Until I come up with something else for Willy Boy to do!

Bill just got through mowing. He said that there are more holes out there than we've already filled, and we've filled a boatload already! So I guess we won't be bored for a while. Anybody need something to do? I have plenty of holes to fill and a couple of shovels you can use!

Otter will be 16 tomorrow. For some reason, she's excited about it. Can't imagine why... Her birthday dinner is at her favorite Mexican restaurant, her local grandparents are meeting us there. I've also ordered a small cake, which I'll pick up after work and then we'll have it after the restaurant. Otter's decided that she wants a Wii game system and she's saving her money for one. She is pretty determined, when she makes up her mind to save for something, she does exactly what she says she's going to do. She gets her stubborn streak for her father, of course! :)

Since we've started seeing frogs again, the bricks are back in the dog's outside water dish. I hope that this year isn't quite as wet as last year was, but I did enjoy the frogs because they eat a lot of skeeters.

The prom was last night. I took Otter and all of her supplies to her friend's house about 5:00. She had dinner at her friend's house and then another of their friends came over and they all got ready together. Her friend's dad emailed me some pictures which I sent out to several of you last night. Otter said it was fun. She had a great time, and she is looking forward to going next year. She's thinking about a long formal for next year, and probably strapless. Beyond that, she's got a year to decide on the details. But if it's long, she can wear shorter shoes - she said that her feet hurt from the shoes she wore last night. Price of beauty! (The picture might not be up for long, my normal paranoia will insist I take it down!)

I tried another recipe from my bread machine book. This time, it's Honey Whole Wheat bread and it's pretty good. I made a loaf yesterday and it's already gone so I have another one in the machine now. It takes over 4 hours to make, but it is very good. I tried whole wheat bread once before and it didn't turn out very good, but as I recall I just used whole wheat flour in place of the bread flour I usually use and it doesn't work to substitute without some adjustments. Whole wheat flour usually needs wheat gluten, which I don't have, but you can substitute 1/4 to 1/3 of the whole wheat flour with bread flour if you don't have gluten on hand so I've been doing that. The honey makes it very sweet and it is really good. I'm sure that the loaf I have going now will probably disappear just as quick as yesterday's did. Smells so good right about now!