Happy Thanksgiving! And More. (EDITED)

Hopefully everyone is having a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.

Just because Maggie Moo wants to say hi:

This picture is from a few days ago.  I came across this bandana in my craft stuff and Maggie looked kind of happy when she saw it.  So I tied it around her neck and she was very happy.  I left it on her for a long time and she seemed quite content.  She was eager to go out in the back yard when I took this picture, that's what the look on her furry face is about.  "Hurry UP!  I gots stuff to do!"

She attempted to get a squirrel this morning.  I let her out in the back yard and she was about half-way across the deck when she spotted a squirrel all the way across the yard, in the shady corner behind the shelf.  She went from slooooow mid-step to full warp speed the second she spotted it, and evidently she thought she could actually catch it.  But it was already too late, the squirrel saw her before she saw it and it was up on the fence and running down the top to safety before she was even off the deck!  Silly doggie. :)  By the time I was able to call her name, she was already half-way across the yard.  She is fast when she wants to be.  She was not happy that I wouldn't let her go after the squirrel, but he was long gone by that point.  Not that I would have let her get it, but she is a beagle and that is the instinct.

Otter's internet was not transferred after all yesterday.  The company had both her cell phone and J's, they also (obviously!) knew which apartment they were transferring from and which apartment they were transferring to.  The guy called her (she was at work) about 20 minutes after 5:00 and she told him that someone was at the apartment they were transferring from.  Then that was the last she heard of him.  At about 8:20, she called me so I could look up the office number for her and I gave it to her but I also told her to call him back at the number he called her from.  He said that he'd gone to the apartment but nobody was there so he left.  IF he even went at all, he went to the one that they are transferring TO and never to the one that they are transferring service FROM.  He never called either one of the phone numbers to say he was there or to ask where anybody was who might be waiting on him - both things he was supposed to do if he got there before J was at the old apartment.  I told her she should call him back again and remind him of all that, and demand that he get back and do what he was supposed to but she didn't have enough time on her break and is going to call the office Friday.  She's going to give them an earful, and it's going to be her version of *RHTW.  She is going to tell them that they need to get out there tomorrow afternoon, but who knows if they'll do that or not.  They will get it switched, it's just a question of when and if they will do what they are supposed to.

Because we originally thought we would still be moving furniture today, at least that was the probable plan if it had rained like it was supposed to do, we didn't really have anything in the way of Thanksgiving planned.  So J and Otter have gone with J's dad to visit his family outside of Tulsa.  Otter texted me earlier, they were giving her a tour of haunted sites in the county that they are visiting.  I think she was really enjoying it.  I have a frozen lasagne in the freezer and some garlic toast, Bill and I are going to have that tonight as our Thanksgiving feast.  I did get to Braums and managed to snag one of the two strawberry cheesecake ice cream pies they had left, so we even have dessert.  We have already gotten into the pie, we had a very light lunch and decided we needed dessert. :)

When she moved out of our house, she left her stackable shoe shelves and I used them with my craft stuff.  Bill bought a tall plastic shelf unit, like the ones we have already.  He put it in the office/pachinko/junk room.  He claims he's going to get a little more organized in there, but I'll believe it when I see it!  Anyway, I decided to get one for my craft stuff.  I put it together and put it in the room, but I haven't had time to really get it organized yet.  My stuff WILL be organized!  I'm also going to be able to get the sewing machines out of the closet and sit them on it and possibly some (or maybe all) of the fabric/sewing stuff - although quite a bit of the sewing and fabric related stuff is Otters and it may be going to her apartment at some point.  She said she wanted the shoe shelves since I'm not using them anymore, so I took them over to her new apartment this morning.  Nobody was up yet, so I left them in her living room.  Along with a hammer that Bill is loaning her and some wood.

When we were moving her furniture yesterday, Bill was moving her bookshelf and it kind of had an accident.  It's wooden and very heavy, about 6' tall and we bought it out of surplus and a local school district when we first moved into our old house when Otter was 2.  It has always been in her room to hold things and she's been using it lately as an actual book shelf.  It's huge and she also has more books than it can hold, which actually is a Good Thing.  Anyway, Bill got it (with the dolly) out of her old apartment, down the stairs and across the sidewalk to the door to the other side of the building without a problem.  But then he stopped to rest a minute and check his cellphone to see what time it was.  It was windy and cool, and as soon as he stopped and took his hand off of the bookshelf there was a very strong gust of wind and the bookshelf went right over.  It landed flat on the front and it landed hard.  It wasn't broken, probably due to the sturdy construction and solid wood, but there are a couple of places where it looks like part of it tried to separate at the top corner and bottom where the feet are.  It can be hammered back into place, but she only has a small hammer so Bill loaned her one of his (many, too many) hammers and also a few pieces of wood to use as hammering blocks.  She may also wind up using them as shims to secure it because when she and Bill put it in place, it looked like it was leaning to the front.  They moved it to another corner and it wasn't leaning.  She asked the apartment office about that, and they said what we thought - it's an old building and it's quite possible that there may be some settling.  Not enough to even be worried and the building is structurally sound.  But the bookcase may need a little support under the front if she decides to put it where she originally wanted it.

The plan at this point is that I'm going to the grocery store in the morning and Bill is going to take the El Camino to get the oil changed and also to get something checked on it.  If his car is going to be there for a while, I'll bring him back home.  If it's a quick thing, he'll either wait at the mechanic or walk around the grocery store with me - they are in the same shopping center and so is Otter's store.  She has to work the Black Friday opening and when she gets off work, I'm going to meet her at the old apartment so we can see about getting what is left moved.  I could tell that she and J did manage to get quite a bit moved after we left yesterday, but there is still more there.  When I talked to her about 8:30, I woke her up when I called her and she said she wasn't awake enough to think, much less converse with any sense!  I told her to go back to sleep, she worked her behind off yesterday with moving and then she had to work until midnight last night, getting the store ready for Black Friday so I think she deserved to sleep in a little bit today.  She couldn't remember how much was still at the old place but she thinks we may be able to get the rest of it moved in one afternoon, it's boxes and probably trash bags with stuff but all the furniture is moved already.  We hopefully will be able to get the cleaning done tomorrow afternoon as well, but she doesn't have to work on Sunday so that is our second plan of attack if tomorrow doesn't work out.  A lot of it depends on the weather, the rain that was supposed to start yesterday finally arrived this morning.  It may be strong rain but it might not be steady.  It could be off and on, and it could be heavy at times.  Sunday is supposed to be dry I think, but we want to get it done as quick as we can.  The apartment office said that they won't change the lock until Monday so she can have all weekend, but we don't want to wait until the last minute if we don't have to.  Also, we want to go to a local museum that has a really fun Christmas tree exhibit.  We haven't missed too many years of the museum exhibit and it's only there for a very short time, so Sunday is probably our only chance this year.  J has to work, otherwise he would go with us.

Hopefully, the El Camino is a minor issue.  The engine temperature light came on yesterday when Bill was on the way to Otter's.  He checked and there was plenty of antifreeze, the radiator was not leaking and the system seemed to be working.  The car had plenty of time to cool down but he said it came on again when he was on the way home (we took separate cars since I went earlier than he did) so he's going to ask them to check it when he gets the oil changed tomorrow.  It is very probably the sensor itself going bad, the car is a 1976 model after all and it is probably the original part.  But it is still odd/funny that out of three cars "we" have, two of them have similar issues!  My car had better not decide to join the party the other two are having!

**EDIT:  I turned the oven on about 4:30 for the lasagna, and I turned it off about 5 minutes later when the electricity went out!  We looked out the front door and it looked like it was at least our neighborhood, so I called the electric company.  I was the first person calling, so they couldn't tell me what/why/how long.  I opened the freezer long enough to toss the lasagna back in.  We waited a little while, then we decided to go in search of a restaurant that was actually open and had power.  The police department already had an officer out to direct traffic at the intersection closest to us, but there were lights on a little farther than that so we knew it wasn't very widespread.  We wound up at a Taco Bell, because they were open and had power.  Most of the actual restaurants and fast food places that were in the area with power were closed.  But it was still good and kind of fun, even if it wasn't what we expected to be doing on a rainy Thanksgiving night.  We were gone about an hour and when we got back the power was back on.  I looked on the news station website and I think it was a squirrel that caused the outage.  Maybe Maggie Moo had the right idea this morning?!!!!

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!

It Had Better Be...

This short, 4-day workweek has been never ending.

And it's still raining.

We have had so much rain that there is nowhere for anymore water to go.  Which means street flooding, at least during rain storms such as the one late this morning that lasted until mid-afternoon.  But it's still not as bad as what TEXAS had to deal wit last week.  It's just that there is still more rain in the forecast for tomorrow.  I don't remember what Sunday's forecast is, but it might be rain early and then stopping.  The early forecast for next week is dry.  No rain forecast!  Woo Hoo!!!!!

The beagle will probably agree, she feels very short-changed on her walks.  She usually gets a short one in the morning and then a longer one in the afternoon.  Otter wasn't able to walk her at all last weekend when she house-sat for us and I've only been able to take her on a few this week.  None today, at all.  I did get Maggie Moo to go out into the back yard but I think she only went out because she absolutely had to - dog hates rain in the strongest way!  She was bouncy when she came back in so I played with her for a while, first time she's wanted to play since April 23.  Now, she's camped out on her pillow beside the couch and I hear snoring.  Hopefully, we can get a walk or two in tomorrow.  She's much better when she gets some exercise and the walking is good for me as well.

I discovered something when we were in San Antonio last weekend.  Texas is not backwards.  (We already knew that!)  I'm referring to the fact that I was able to buy local wine at the grocery store - which is 2 complaints (1 is that very few local wineries actually sell at liquor stores here because of Oklabackwardshoma laws and the fact that it was at a grocery store - something else not allowed here) and I was also able to buy it on a Sunday!  I think I'm going to crack open the bottle tonight and see what I can do about not letting it get lonely.

Tomorrow, I think I'm going to do some stuff around the house.  There will probably be a lot of crafting going on!  With possibly a trip to the library in there somewhere.

Maybe

Winter's not over yet!

We could get anywhere from 2" to 6" of snow tonight into tomorrow.  Or we might "just" get sleet and freezing rain overnight.  Or we could get both snow and ice, which is the worst of the possibilities.  Snow is it's own issue, ice is bad but snow over ice can be worse because people might not realize that it's not just snow!  It's hard to drive on ice, but snow covered ice is harder because people get complacent and think that it's only snow and not ice.

(I know, I'm rambling.)

I had to run a couple of errands today (translation:  I went shopping.) and my last one was a stop at Wallyworld.  I needed three things:  cheese, tortillas and fruit.  I'm trying to make sure we eat more fruit so I buy a few days worth every few days.  We just finished up the oranges I bought the other day, the fruit bowl now contains apples.  Anyway, Wallyworld was very crowded for a Sunday.  There were a few people obviously just buying regular groceries.  A few people were just getting a couple of things like I was.  But the majority of the crowd (and it was a crowd) seemed to be filling their baskets up with BMT supplies!  It's not going to be another 2011 level ice event, people!

I did bring in a little firewood, we had some inside already but Bill's going to be home tomorrow and he'll probably want a fire in the morning.  He's off for President's Day and then he's taking a couple of vacation days as well.  I brought my birdfeeders in, I'll fill them and take them back out in the morning.  I'll see how it is in the morning, if I do stay home it's at least a quiet week because Younger Boss is in Florida this week and the Teenager had already announced that he wasn't going to come in if the weather was as cold as it was supposed to be.

Otter and I did not get to the used bookstore yesterday.  She woke up with a pretty bad migraine headache so she was down for the count all day.  I went with my original plan, which was to go to the library.  Roomie has what is probably the flu-ish bug that we had recently, so they were both home sick yesterday.  I went over to Otter's apartment and got her dirty laundry, I washed it for her last night and took it back this morning.  Along with orange juice for Roomie, cranberry juice for Otter and milk.  And a package of donut holes, just because they are always fun.  Otter was fine this morning, which is her normal pattern with a migraine.  Roomie was staying in bed, I told her to stay warm and gave her/Otter all the "mom instructions."

After I took the stuff to them, I came back home and read the paper.  Which was my undoing, because I found the Michael's ad.  YARN SALE!!!  They really, really hate me at Michaels.  Of course, I found a few that I needed.  Actually, I did need some of what I bought.  The rest of it was just yarn that I wanted and not for a specific project.  I'm now back at maximum density and rapidly approaching critical mass.  Of course, I have tendinitis issues at the moment so I'm not really able to do much crochet!

Last Sunday, we were watching Frasier and were very worried about him.  This week?  Well, he's spent quite a bit of his day running around the back yard at full speed, again and again and again to infinity and beyond.  Just like a (very large) puppy!  A very happy, very large puppy.

Warm Feet

I have warm feet.  In other words, I have my afghan over my legs and a beagle at my feet.  Usually, she is UNDER the afghan and ON my feet but this afternoon she is on top of the afghan and next to my feet.  My left foot, to be precise.  And she's close enough that her body heat is radiating to my left foot.  It's very warm.  She stretches her beagle self every so often, but she never really moves away.  Frasier is parked in front of the coffee table, nap # 4958477 of the day is in progress for him.

 

I'm home today.  I do feel better, but not well yet.  However, I am now back to thinking that this is the flu-ish bug but not the actual flu.  Whatever, I'm still treating the symptoms and taking it easy.

 

I did have to go to the post office.  Bill had something that needed to be mailed but got left at home, so I ran it up there for him.  He has my car today, so I got to drive the Big Car.  With the blocks holding the driver's side window in place, so I couldn't roll the window down.  It's cool and misty, it was raining earlier so I didn't really need to window to be down.  But the weather stripping that goes around the window is also messed up, it falls out of it's track every time the door is opened.  Anyway, I stopped at Wallyworld because I ran out of Kleenex and thought I'd better get more.  Walmart was in the middle of being re-stocked, which is almost never seen by customers.  I guess that Friday mid-morning is not normally a busy time for them, but I'm not usually in there at that time so I'm just guessing.

 

I haven't gotten any crochet done today, I mostly have been parked on the couch reminding myself why I dislike daytime tv!  I finished my Stephen King book last night, Cell I think is the name but it might be Pulse.  I don't think I'm actually going to collect all his works, I don't think I have enough room for what could fill a large library!  But I am going to add to my collection a bit.  I still have several that I haven't read, they were part of Otter's horde originally.  I'm not sure which one will be next.

 

Anyway, it is at least Friday.

They Actually Got It Right!

It snowed.  They got it right! Start time, duration, coverage and amount.  Which might be a sign of the apocalypse!  The point is, we got snow and no ice.  The ground was warm enough that it melted on streets but cold enough that it stuck on lawns and grassy areas.  Otter had the car, she got to work fine but it didn't start until after her shift started.  When she headed back to our house, it was still coming down but not too bad.  She did have to clean snow off the car, however.  She hasn't really driven in it, and today wasn't really bad conditions but it was still a new experience for her.  She'll eventually have to drive in bad conditions, she does live where we get winter after all.  But I'm not in any hurry for her to have to!

She brought her laundry and we cleaned out a few of her books while it was in the machine.  I took her home, with a detour to Tuesday Morning.  I found the other towel I wanted and a bathmat, finally.  I think the guest bathroom is finally done!  There's still a little work in the guest/craft/YARN room but I've been doing a little in there as I have time.

 

I got two rows put on Otter's blanket today.  I didn't work on it at all yesterday, I had another crochet project so I did get to play with my yarn and even de-stashed a little (tiny, very small) bit!  But my elbow muscles are a little sore today, which is a tendonitis issue, so I'm probably going to take a break from it for a few days.  I don't like it when I have to take crochet breaks!  But it's either a break for a few days or I don't get to crochet for days and possibly weeks if I push through and keep doing it.  So, a break it is.

 

Meatloaf is in the oven at the moment.  I made pinto beans yesterday, we'll have some of those with the meatloaf and I'm going to make brown gravy - yes, Froggy, it is Pioneer brand!  We had discussed Bill's Famous Mashed Potatoes but decided against them tonight.

 

I have been reading the Stephen King book, Dr. Sleep, this week.  It's the sequel to The Shining which was tremendous (the book, not the movie - the movie was typical of King's books that are turned into movies:  completely different and frankly not that good.)  It's really good and I enjoyed it.  But it's a little different than most of his books.  It's slower paced and the action scenes are a little less, as well as not as intense.  But it was still good and I am glad I finally got a chance to read it.  But there is one other difference:  it has an actual happy ending!  That almost never happens in his books, while specific characters might have better endings than most, very often the main character dies or doesn't have a happy life afterwards but this one has the stereotypical "happy ending" and it was a nice surprise.  This book is on my "to buy" list, I borrowed it from someone.  When Otter cleaned out her books, all her Stephen King books became mine (but she has visitation rights) and she had quite a few.  I'm thinking that I'm going to attempt to collect all his works.  For the most part, Stephen King is an author that you either really like or really dislike.  Obviously, we like him.  But his best work, in fact probably my all-time favorite book, has to be The Stand.  It's also the only one that really worked on film, and that's because he controlled everything to be sure it was done right.  It showed.  I just might have to watch the mini-series again, we have it on dvd.  When I have a couple of days to do nothing else!

1 Down. 4 To Go!

Work days until vacation, that is.  It's a stay at home vacation - I do NOT like the word "staycation" so I don't use it.  But the upshot is, I have 4 days of work left and then I have a 9 day weekend!

 

The resident toad was back this morning, "he" was hanging out in the dog's outside water dish when I refilled it.  He stayed in the water dish this time, he got out of the way of the water I was pouring but he didn't seem to be afraid.  He looks well-fed, too.  We usually move the dog's inside water dish out to the garage in the morning when they have to be outside.   They have outside water, but it gets warm and icky by the afternoon so we move their clean dish out for them.  Not that they would mind, I've seen some of the things they eat and they like to get dirty water from puddles, the plants, etc., but we like them to at least have clean water available.

 

I took the car in to Chevy this morning and left it in their hands, until Tuesday or possibly (probably) Wednesday.  They got me to work and Bill picked me up.  Otter works the afternoon shift tomorrow, so I'll take Bill's impala to work in the morning and then at lunch I'll get Otter to work.  That way, I'll have the car and a way to get to the grocery store if I decide to do that tomorrow.  I'll have to pick her up, but she gets off at 5:00 so that's not so bad.  Wednesday morning, if the car isn't back tomorrow, I'll most likely head in to work with Billyboy which means I'll be at work about 6:30!  I'll take crochet or my laptop with me, since I'll have about an hour and a half until the workday officially starts.

 

The El Camino has a problem, the driver's side window controls are not working.  Bill's been unable to find a replacement part anywhere - even on the internet!  He's got it blocked with a piece of wood so that the window doesn't fall out of the frame and shatter into a million billion pieces.  I called Chevy and talked to the service manager, he said that the labor would probably be $130 - $150.  BUT that he doesn't think the part is available anywhere.  He suggested junk yards, the internet and a few other places.  Which Bill's already checked.  We used to have the parts car, the blue El Camino.  Bill stripped it of most of the parts and then sold the body.  However, the one part he didn't get?  The window controls!

 

Froggy, I have gotten quite a bit done on Uncle Crazy's blanket.  I've gone through one skein of yarn already, and it's 21" across.  I have 4 other skeins and I'll probably use all of them.  I'll let you know when it's ready and when I ship it.

 

It rained this morning.  Then the sun came out and it got humid.  Again!

Something we strongly believe in

Now, tell me that you don't have the Reading Rainbow stuck in your head!

 

Reading Rainbow was such a quality show, it was an oasis in the desert and is very much missed.  Literacy is one of my big issues, and we are all for the return of RR.  Because, after all:

 

 

Oakies

Not Okies.  OAKies.

 

Oakies as in the oak pollen count is astronomical.  But I could tell that well before I actually looked it up.  I can also tell you when it started getting up there last week.  I'm miserable.  I have been reacting pretty strongly since yesterday morning, but it was building up towards the end of the week.  Last night when I went to bed, I had a sore throat but it was much better when I got up this morning.

 

Then we went to Church and from the second I walked outside, my symptoms multiplied astronomically.  I wish I could take something for it, but no allergy medication EVER works for me.  I'm spending today inside, except for Church and we had to run to Wallyworld for a quick errand.  Bill's tennis shoes literally were falling off his feet in pieces, he finally admitted that he needed new ones so I ran him to Wallyworld the second he admitted it and we found him a pair of shoes.  My eyes are watering, I have a lot of congestion and I'm sneezing.  I'm blowing my nose every few minutes.  I just feel cruddy.

 

We had a quiet Easter, the ham was really good and Bill made his world famous mashed potatos.  Otter made gravy (Yes, Froggy.  It was Pioneer) and I made green bean casserole.  We had apple pie planned for dessert, but Otter was exhausted after work yesterday and a trip to Michael's.  She went to take a short nap and slept for 4 or 5 hours, so the pie didn't get baked.  Not a big deal, we had cake left that she made last week.  The pie and cool whip will be saved for a later date, but probably not too much later!

 

Now, I think I'm going to read my book or possibly the paper.  I haven't gotten to it yet.  I switched our subscription to the paper from daily to weekend, since I never seem to have time to read the daily paper anyway.  The weekend subscription is Thursday - Sunday, so it's not that many days less but at least I don't have to worry about not being able to find time every day.

 

Bill just asked me if the honeysuckle got watered.  Guess I do have to get out again today after all!  (Yes, Froggy.  Bill and Otter will be helping.  But she has allergies too so she doesn't want to be out any longer than she has to either.)

Read a Banned Book

We do.  We own as any of them as we can.  Censorship is never right.

 

http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/

 

There may be (and are) books that I don't necessarily agree with.  But no one, no one, has the right to tell me (or anyone else) that I/they can't read it.  That is up to me.  ME.  And to each of you.  Make your own decisions, don't let anyone take away your freedom of choice.

 

The nazi's burned the books they didn't agree with.  Eventually, they burned the people they didn't like as well.  There is a connection, although it seems like most people miss that - possibly on purpose, or they prefer to be ostriches about things and not deal with reality.

 

This is one soapbox we won't ever get off of.

Early Spring

Springtime means two things:  Storms and Allergies.  No storms yet!  Hopefully not for a while, or ever actually.  (I don't mean no rain, I mean no SpringLikeStorms!)  However, the allergies are here in force already.  I've been fighting mine off & on for a while, and yesterday I started feeling the first signs of an asthma spell trying to start.  I woke up with no doubt that the asthma bug had come to visit, but it's a fairly mild one at least.  Hope it stays that way!

Of course, it's still not officially Spring for a few weeks.  But that's not stopping the bugs, both insect type and allergy type.  I had to take a stink bug out the other day, it was crawling around the office floor so I relocated it out the front door.

Otter's gone to her friend's house, they have a semi-regular Sunday tradition of Dungeons & Dragons.  They don't always get together every Sunday, it depends on various schedules but they do try to get together as much as they can.

Otter's off from work today and tomorrow.  She works Tuesday through Friday this week, then she's off next weekend.  She said that the new shoes are much better, her feet didn't start to feel tired until she'd been on her feet at work for several hours.  She likes the job, also.  I think that she'll be good at sales.

I never quite got around to that drink on Friday night.  I did get the feet propped up, at least.  But I managed to get a start on the lap blanket for Nana.  Not a big start, but I got a few rows.  It's still really small, obviously.  I might get some time to work on it this week.

Book Review:  A Week in Winter, by Maeve Binchey.  This is one that I never wanted to end, both because it was just so good and because it's the last thing that she wrote before she died last summer.  It was not exactly part of her earlier "series" of books but it did have a few connections in the form of character mentions.  Her series books were not really a series in the sense that they carried a plot arch, but they did center around a place & group of people, and I think that she might have been about to start another series with this book.  Her earlier books were stand-alone stories and were very good, but I think I enjoyed her series books more.  She was a major talent and she will be missed so much.  At some point, I'm going to re-read all of her books in order of being written.  I now have the complete set, at least what was released in the US.  There are a few other things she wrote that were not released here, but I think that they are mainly short stories and one is a writer's guide.  I'll probably read it too.  There is one book that might be a sort of autobiography, it deals with aging and health issues connected with it.  I'll eventually find them, even if I have to order them from a bookseller in Europe.  She was too good a write to leave anything unread.

Whirlwinds

It's been a busy week!

I'm glad that it's Friday.  This has been a very busy week.  Part of it has been Otter's work schedule, but it's just been busy in general.  I tried to find a good picture of a whirlwind, but I didn't see anything I liked.

We apparently have millions of dollars.  They are waiting for us.  In Nigeria.  At least, that's what the phone call Bill got on his cell phone said!  I guess that the scammers have gotten tired of their mail being unanswered and have moved to technology.  Bill hung up on the guy, but he apparently kept calling back for a while.  He quit calling after several times of Bill not answering the phone.

I took all my scarves to be donated for the police officers.  I got 4 made.  And when Otter was helping me get them ready Friday morning, I discovered that the one I got through with in record time was one row short!  Well, I guess that's why it was so fast.  It still worked, it just looked different from the others.  I donated it along with the rest of them, the only person who would know the difference is me and I change my scarf style occasionally anyway.  Now that the scarves are all done and donated, I'm going to start on Nana's lap blanket.  Probably tomorrow.

When I'm not reading, that is.  I bought my copy of the final book by Maeve Binchey.  I started reading it today and I'm really enjoying it.  She had such a wonderful writing style.  I'm really going to miss new books from her, and I'm not alone.  She had so many fans.

Otter's enjoying working.  He feet have been hurting by the end of her shifts, she's on them all day and the shoes she was wearing were just not made for that.  They didn't have much support and Otter has the high arches that run in the family.  We went to a good shoe store yesterday afternoon and found her a pair with good support and a soft inside.  We also bought her a couple of pairs of replacement gel-type insoles.  The shoes we bought her are Dr. Scholl's brand.  Not sure if I'm spelling that right or not!  Anyway, she'll try them out tomorrow and see how her feet feel at the end of her shift.

I guess that's it.  Time for dinner, a drink and putting my feet up!

I Guess It's Just Monday

No title inspirations today.  Just Monday.

Not that I'm complaining.  It's been a somewhat busy day.  After I got home from work, Otter and I decided we needed to go thrifting.  We went to the close Goodwill and she found a couple of vhs tapes of movies.  I found a book.  We then went across the street to a resale shop we like and she found what is essentially a small shawl, except that it's beaded.  It's basically made of beaded strands instead of yarn, and it's just beautiful.  She thinks she'll wear it with one particular sundress she has.  I didn't find anything there, but I wasn't really looking seriously.

Maggie Moo had lost some of the weight she needed to, but I've noticed that she's beginning to get fat pads on her sides again at the hips.  Which is not good.  We usually feed them a weight control formula, but the store was out of it the last time I bought dog food so we had to get a different variety.  Same brand, just a different mix.  It's for adult dogs, actually I think it's for older adult dogs.  They do like it.  But it seems to have more calories, etc., and Maggie Moo is beginning to look a little rounder again.  So we're going back to the weight control formula for them.  They have been getting a lot more exercise lately, which is always good for them.  We get them playing with each other, and nobody's safe!  Frasier likes to run around the back yard when they first go out there.  He will run around the edge of the yard next to the fence, then he will just runrunrunrunrun all over the yard.  He gallops, there is no other word for it, and he has the happiest expression on his furry face.  When he's run enough, he'll sometimes go see what he can find to sniff or he'll get Maggie playing.  After a while, they get tired out and decide it's time to come inside.  Frasier usually is still running at this point, although slower.  He usually runs straight into the house and to their blanket.  Maggie Moo usually bounds across the yard, over the deck and follows Fraiser to their blanket.

Not much else going on around here tonight, Bill's working a b(oring)oard meeting but he should be home soon.  I might get started on my next donation scarf, or I might read instead.  I've been sitting at the kitchen table, reading a book.  I sat there so long I was stiff when I finally got up.  The chairs are great for sitting down to a meal, but they are not comfortable for a couple of hours reading time!

Friday Flu Report

I've still got it, which is probably not a surprise.

I am better, but I am now coughing my head off.  Which is probably also not a surprise, seeing how the flu attacks some of the same areas that asthma does.  The coughing is actually a good thing, because it means that I'm clearing my lungs.  The other choice is to not cough, which can then lead to all sorts of nasty things when you have asthma.

I called in this morning, I was and am still very tired.  I spent several hours on the couch this morning, with a blanket, beagle foot warmer and my yarn & hook in my hand.  Although I didn't actually crochet very much, mostly I just sat and relaxed.  Frasier isn't being ignored, he came and checked on me several times and got a lot of attention, he's just not into crawling under blankets and sleeping which is apparently one of the highlights of Maggie Moo's life!

Bill needed to go to Hobby Lobby for something, so I went with him and Otter also went along for the ride.  We also went to the Post Office to clear the PO box, and to the library so Otter could restock for the weekend.  None of those were particularly strenuous stops, but I was tired to start with and am now more tired.  But it was nice to get out for a little bit, maybe an hour and a half total.  But I think that I'm probably done with any running around until Monday morning, when I should (hopefully!) be able to make it back to work and actually stay all day.

Until then, I'll just be lazy.

New Day, New Month, New Year!

I'm not superstitious, so I didn't use my original title choice:  Lucky (20)13!  But that's the alternate title for today.

Froggy, I just now saw that you'd left comments when I signed in.  Blogger didn't tell me about them earlier, although it's supposed to.  So, they are both posted now.  And yes, I will make you a frog cap!  But I'm going to work on a particular UFO first.  It's not a resolution, but finishing this one is a goal for this year:

I dragged my afghan out of the closet this morning, I started 2013 with the three C's.  Chocolate, Coffee, Crochet - in that order!.  I put a row on the afghan and then started the next one, which involved a color change.  It's about half done, and I would have finished it last year - if we'd ever actually had winter!  It's big enough now that it's like a small blanket and it is warm.  I had planned on getting back on it last week, but most of my limited crochet time was spent working on Grandpa's afghan.  Which I enjoyed, by the way.

I'm also starting out this year with books.  Otter and I went to a local used book store and we both found what we were looking for.  I now have the complete set (until February 14) of all the Maeve Binchy books.  Well, I think that there might be one or possibly two others but they were never released in the US and I haven't been able to find them anywhere online to order them.

Froggy, it will be worth it.  I promise.  It's not fun, but honestly the anticipation was much worse than the actual process when I had my extractions and got the dentures.  You'll adjust a lot quicker than you think, also.  I suggest you get a few projects lined up such as quilting and maybe a supply of books to read.  You will recover quickly, but you'll have a little down time and will need something to occupy you.  Besides texting me!

I discovered this morning that our home phone is out.  Again.  They just fixed it a few months back and promised me that the problem was solved.  Apparently, it wasn't.  The break in the line was on their side and Bill thinks it probably still is.  He's home the rest of this week, so I'll call them first thing in the morning and see if they can get out here quickly.  So, if anybody needs us you'll have to get us on one of the cell phones.  Or email, but we don't spend a lot of time on the computer so it might be a while before any of us actually check.

In about an hour (around 2:30) I'm going to get my pinto beans on.  We had biscuits & gravy for breakast, then just sandwiches for lunch.  Beans and cornbread are on the menu for dinner tonight.

Finally Figured it Out

I finally came up with something!  Bill kept asking me what I wanted for Christmas and my birthday, and I never could come up with anything.  I finally figured it out.  Otter and I went shopping, among other errands, and I got a pair of tennis/track/whatever shoes that I needed badly and a new calendar.  Real exciting, I know.  But I didn't really need/want anything in particular, so I decided that those are from Bill.  One's Christmas, the other is birthday.

The other thing I bought was from this company:  Just for Me and while I don't see my particular handbag on their website, I'm pretty happy with it.  It's leather, very soft leather in fact, dark blue and I'm going to carry this one for years.  It was one of those "you get what you pay for" moments and let's just say that I paid for very high quality, even with the fact that it was 30% off.  I'd been wanting a Coach bag and nearly bought one last year but changed my mind.  In hindsight, I'm glad.  Because the bag I bought today is so much nicer, and Coach bags are pretty nice to start with.  Otter also got a new purse, we were at Dillard's looking for mine and she found one she really liked.  Hers was a different brand and was a lot less than mine, but it still was not exactly Wallyworld quality OR price range.  But she takes care of her stuff and is always appreciative, so I don't mind spoiling her occasionally.  She doesn't have quite as many purses as pairs of shoes, but she's probably on her way!

We spent a couple of hours in the mall and had a good time.  Then we decided to head on to out other errands.  As we walked out of the mall, it was just starting to snow.  We had two or three other places to go to and they were all on the way home, so we went ahead with our plans and got nearly everything done.  The snow continued for a couple of hours and the flakes got pretty big, but it's quit now.  It was just barely starting to stick to the ground and street, but now I think it's pretty much done and we won't see any accumulations.  Among other stops, we went to the library (first) and a book store.  We also went to Wallyworld since I forgot Ridex when we were there the other day and we also got milk and a couple of other things while we were there.  They weren't too bad, you can never tell how people will be up here, but usually the slightest hint of a flake will send hordes scurrying into the grocery store and the shelves will be cleaned out in a matter of seconds.

One of the things I bought at Wallyworld was yarn.  Otter, my Chief Enabler, wants another hat in a specific green color and it's also going to have a pattern in black attached.  It's a character from a video game.  I think I'll probably work on it tomorrow.  The color is called Spring, but it's really what I would call Frog Green!  I've also seen some cute crocheted caps that look like frogs, so I might just have to make one.

Guess that's it for now, I'm going to play on the computer for a while and then I think I'll go join Maggie Moo.  She's in front of the fireplace, she wasn't quite up against the hearth the last time I looked but she was scooting closer.  She'll wind up with her bottom parts literally up against the rocks before too long.  Guess she doesn't want a cold hiney!

Sunday Switches

No, not this kind:

The kind of switch I'm talking about is switching from this: 

to this:

We've had a couple of fairly cool nights, so it's time to change from my spring/summer quilt to Bill's fall/winter quilt.

It's been a quiet weekend.  Otter went to one of her friend's houses yesterday, for a birthday/Homestuck party that was also a sleepover for some of the girls.  Homestuck is a story series that is pretty popular, I think it's just internet based but Otter seems to really enjoy it.  She's told me a lot about it and it sounds fun.  She and her friends have regular get-togethers and there is a lot of cosplay (character costuming) involved.  Because Otter is a natural-born crafter, cosplay is right up her alley as Mom used to say.  She came home a couple of hours ago, I don't think that they got much sleep last night because about the first thing Otter said was that she was badly in need of caffiene.

Frasier is officially Nekkid Dog now, he has been for about 4 days now.  He still has some interest in the spot, but it's pretty much healed now and he doesn't seem to want to lick/chew as much as he did.  Just every so often.  He's much happier now and is also letting us sleep all night.  Maggie's also pleased, she was probably tired of having to run and hide when he wanted to play - she might have been spliced into multiple pieces by the cone!

Movie Review.  Pirates, Band of Misfits.  Let's just say that it was a complete waste of time and leave it at that.

I did get one thing done that I wanted to do this weekend:

My version of Pinterest!  It's in the stash closet, and it's intended use is for crochet & craft related things.  Articles, pictures, jokes, etc.  I have a similar sized bulletin board in the laundry room, it's covered to the point of invisibility with political, religious, etc. cartoons/columns/pictures and things that just fit us, such as cartoons that feature Engineers and their native insanity.

I'm not opposed to Pinterest, actually.  It's just something that I'm not going to participate in.  Two reasons.  1), I have well-justified privacy issues and 2) I have enough ways to waste time without adding any more!  I have a feeling that I'd probably spend hours and hours on Pinterest.  It looks like a lot of fun, though.

I think I'm going to go waste some time on Craigslist now.  We're always looking for pachinko machines, and it's just fun to browse.

Sunday Cookies

Specifically, the chocolate chip kind!

Otter and I went to the dollar store.  They are the only place we can find a certain fudge graham cookie.  There is a package out in the deep freeze, where they are (hopefully) safe from Bill!  He'll find a few in his lunch box this week.  But he's not getting any of them until then.  However, we did buy a package of chocolate chip cookies and they are in the cookie jar.  But since Bill's already located them...

Otter got back from her vacation on Friday.  I picked her up at the airport and we got the requested Whataburger for dinner.  She had a really good trip, she got to see most of her relatives and had a lot of fun.  But then who wouldn't enjoy a week of Nana spoiling?  She went to Natural Bridge Caverns which we'd taken her to before, but it's always fun.  There was a newer section of the cave open that we haven't been to, but since they had to walk up the equivalent of 18 flights of stairs I don't see myself going there any time soon!

The dogs were so happy to see Otter when I brought her home.  Maggie especially, the beagle was overjoyed and hardly let Otter out of her sight all evening.  Yesterday, Maggie was where ever Otter happened to be nearly all day.

A while back, I had a prayer request about a decision that was being made.  The decision was Otter's.  For various reasons, she's decided to sit out at least one semester of college and look for a job.  She's been thinking about this for a while, and we think it's the right decision.  It was not a quick decision, nor was it one that she took lightly.  But we agree with her reasons and support her decision 100%.

It's been nicer the last couple of days, we still were over 100 but not much over 100.  Yesterday was in the 90's.  It was 62 in the morning yesterday, we actually got cold sitting out on the deck!  Today is warm but not overly hot, although it's a little humid.  The forecast for next week is great - there are 80's in our future!

While Otter and I were out, we also went to the library.  She needed to restock, since all her library books were turned in prior to her trip to TEXAS.  I had a few books to turn in and found a few more.

Froggy, I made your hat yesterday!  I used one of the three colors you gave me when I asked what color you wanted, and another color entirely.  I'm also going to make you a scarf, and it will match the hat.  Beyond that, I'm not telling you anything.  You'll just have to wait.  Do you want me to mail it to you, or were you planning on picking it up when y'all come see us in the fall?

We Broke a Record Today

110 degrees officially!

(I didn't say it was a good record, just a record).

Tomorrow could be even hotter.

We practically have to drag/toss the dogs outside, they would prefer to stay inside and I don't blame them.

The Tulsa area is on voluntary water restriction.  Well, they say it's voluntary.  But I don't think it is.  Our area is on voluntary, but it was a request and not an "order."  We don't use a lot of water, we don't have a garden or anything.  But we'll still be careful over the next few days.  No hour long showers, Otter!  :)

Sad news today.  My favorite author died.  Her name was Maeve Binchy and she was probably the best author I've ever found.  She was Irish and most of her books took place in Ireland with some in London.  I have most of her books, there are still a few that I'm on the lookout for.  But I've been collecting them for a while.  I read a comment that someone left on a news article, they said that it was like losing a best friend.  That's the kind of author she was, warm & friendly and her passing will leave a huge hole in the literary world.  A couple of years ago, she released a book and said that it was her last book and that she was retiring.  Well, there was one more book after that one.  I read it as soon as it came out, and my feeling at the time was that it probably was intended to be her last book, not the one she announced as "last" but the next one.  Many of her early books were stand-alone stories, but the last several were interconnected and this one tied all the story lines up.  I think she probably intended for "Minding Frankie" to be her final book, and it was a very good one.  It capped off everything very neatly.  But it's still, as the other person said, like losing a best friend.  I actually started re-reading one of her books last weekend, but that's not really an uncommon thing.  Her books are the kind that you want to keep reading and re-reading and wish that they would never end.

Otter's dental appointment was scheduled for tomorrow.  But they had to cancel.  Their air conditioner went out and all their afternoon appointments are being cancelled for the rest of the week.  They have morning appointments, but they were already full and they weren't sure if they were going to be able to keep those appointments or not.  We'll reschedule, after Otter's trip.

Otter's just about ready for her trip.  She's going to finish up her packing tomorrow.  I take her to the airport early on Friday morning.  Then I think I'll go wander around Wallyworld or something, since I don't want to go to work at 7:00!  Oklahoma's sales-tax free holiday is Friday through Sunday, so I'm thinking that I'll probably do what little shopping I need to do then.  Bill needs jeans and we all need socks, but that's about it this year.

Unfortunately, yarn is not on the no-tax list.  Which might not actually be a bad thing, considering the size of my stash!

Nice Friday Last Day of Vacation

OK, it's Friday.  It's the last day of our vacation.  Back to the real world on Monday.

It's been a good week off.  It went faster than I wanted it to, but not too fast.  We got a few things done that we wanted to, but the doll house was not one of them.  Neither was dusting & reorganizing my china cabinet.  But they aren't going anywhere, so they'll eventually get done.  Bill got several things done, he's working on casting parts for the pachinko machines at the moment.

Otter and I did a little shopping today.  Although Froggy did put it best:  Is there really any such thing as a "little" shopping?  (No, not really.)  We went to Hobby Lobby but didn't find anything - rare thing.  We went to a used bookstore and Otter found a few books.  We hit the library and found quite a bit there, although I don't know if that actually counts as shopping.  We went to a thrift store where Otter found two really cute skirts, and I got a couple of things there.

We're going to go get pizza to bring home later on.  I had thought about having it delivered, but Cici's is what we want and they don't deliver.  Not a big deal, actually.  I probably should go clear the post office box anyway, so I will probably do that at the same time.

My plans for tomorrow include starting the scarf & hat Otter wants out of the Autumn Red yarn.  I'm not sure how much I'll actually get done, I've done a few things this week that have made my arms hurt a bit so I'm going to have to be careful to not overdo it with the crochet.  But that's the nature of tendonitis, it's pretty much always "there" and I deal with it.

This is my Saturday plan:

Quick Thursday Thoughts

We're still allergic!  Otter's better than yesterday, although she says that she's tired of sneezing.  I've sneezed more today, but have had less throat tickles.  Bill's still sneezy, and they are hard sneezes but maybe not as often.

On a totally unrelated note, I just realized that I put ear plugs in my ears last night because Billyboy was noisy in his sleep (due to his allergies) and I have no idea where they went.  They were not in my ears when I got up this morning.  Which means that either a) I'll find them by rolling over on one in the night because they are somewhere in the bed or b) they are on the floor somewhere and I'll find one by stepping on it.  They're foam and squishy, it's kind of surprising to step on one.  But at least it's not as bad as the time I stepped on a slug at the old house!

When Otter was little and having bad asthma spells, we would have what we called "living room slumber parties" when she was really having a bad one and we'd sleep on the couch.  That way, I could hear her and she was close enough to me so I could get to her fast if she needed me.  Which happened a few times.  Or if she needed a breathing treatment in the night, because they had to be given on a regular schedule as well as occasionally she just needed one.  One night, I found a slug.  With my foot.  It was on the edge of the metal register over the air conditioner (floor) vent, so it was super cold.  And squishy!  Really gross.  We had lots of slugs at that house, for some reason.  They were possibly coming up from the a/c floor vents, so at one point I actually had salt sprinkled around the vents.  Salt makes them dissolve.  And then they are even grosser!  As I found out when I was vacuuming one day, and found what was left of one after it crossed the salt line.  I'm not afraid of them, I just don't like stepping on them.

Otter and I made our weekly trip to the library this afternoon.  She didn't get quite as many books as normal, but she did get an armload.  I found several and I might actually have time to read this weekend.  Well, that's the plan anyway.

We're going to see the Avengers movie Sunday.  My choice for Mother's Day.  It sounds like it's really good and we can't wait.  I'm probably going to go by the theater tomorrow and get advance tickets, although it's been out for a little while now and maybe won't be sold out.

Then Otter is going to make me brownies.  I told her I wanted her to bake something this year, and she chose brownies.  It took me about 10 months to teach her to crochet (last year's request for Mother's Day) because every time either one of us mentioned it - she'd get sick.  So I kind of forgot about it.  Then I realized that it was nearly Mother's Day again, so I grabbed yarn and a hook one day and announced "today's the day."  At least she didn't get sick!  Actually, she liked it.  She seems to be a natural at it, although she hasn't done much of it because she's been working on some of her other crafts.

But that's ok.  I've created another yarn addict, so I'm happy.

RIF, y'all!