Bob installed the Christmas lights on the inside of the eaves this year. Today we re-arranged the bulbs to see what sections of blue and green and red and yellow look against the light blue walls of the house. The blue bulbs are old. Almost clear, so they look almost white or green next to the green. Only the dark blue bulbs wash the back wall with discernable blue color. I really like the way the red and yellow bulbs color the house. And we can save the green for St. Patrick's day in March. January can be too dark, so a little more light out front looks good to me. And makes a night light unnecessary for bathroom trips.
We will experiment with bulbs, and have fun painting the house with colored light. And put on a timer, we can have it go off at midnight or dawn.
Bob also weeded another terrace level. And the plymouth was ready to be picked up at 5pm. So, we are a two car family again. His and Her vans. I remarked driving down to the repair shop that I had not driven in two weeks, and maybe I had forgotten how. Bob re-assured me that, oh, no, I had not forgotten, because I had been giving him advice for two weeks. So we kidded the repair shop owner that he is saving our marriage. And he said that a lot of couples can't stand each other's driving. I am not surprised, but then I am glad I am not alone.
Poor James discovered that the hot water heater was not working. He told us about it, and Bob re-lit the pilot light. We have no idea why or how the hot water heater pilot light went out. Strange. The hot water heater is probably eleven years old.
And the sewer needs roto-rooting. Our oak trees give us great shade, but twice a year, the roots get into the sewer lines and clog up things. I noticed during my cold shower that bubbles came back in the overfill. Always something with a house.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
New Years EVE
Communion. The Lord's Supper. Do this in rembrance of Me. He said.
Just do it. And I have always been amazed and thankful for pastors who can dig out the elements and the meaning and the stories and made them fresh and new. Is it a salute? Like at a Memorial Service? Do this, He said, until I come back. Remember. Jesus was using the Passover elements to teach about Himself, and what He must do. What He was born to do. His mission.
Just do it. Accept and Trust and Receive what you are served. Ponder what Jesus did and how He does not want us to forget who we truly belong to. Jesus is the God of Order. For thousands of years, the Jews had honored the story of that first Passover and leaving Egypt for the Promised land. When Jesus celebrated the Last Passover, He fulfilled everything Promised, and started something new that looks back to the cross. This is My Body, this Bread, broken and unleaven, and sinless, and pierced, and This is My Blood, represented by the grape juice, the work only He could do, drink ye all of it. We eat and drink---simple acts of faith, trusting in Him who did all the work of salvation.
Yes, New Years Eve is a good time to observe Communion. By doing it, Jesus said, we declare the Lord's death until He comes back. He is not dead. He arose.
I like how the pastor tonight reminded us that BC stands for Before Christ, and AD stands for the Latin, in the year of our Lord. May 2009 be the Year of our Lord. He controls History.
Just do it. And I have always been amazed and thankful for pastors who can dig out the elements and the meaning and the stories and made them fresh and new. Is it a salute? Like at a Memorial Service? Do this, He said, until I come back. Remember. Jesus was using the Passover elements to teach about Himself, and what He must do. What He was born to do. His mission.
Just do it. Accept and Trust and Receive what you are served. Ponder what Jesus did and how He does not want us to forget who we truly belong to. Jesus is the God of Order. For thousands of years, the Jews had honored the story of that first Passover and leaving Egypt for the Promised land. When Jesus celebrated the Last Passover, He fulfilled everything Promised, and started something new that looks back to the cross. This is My Body, this Bread, broken and unleaven, and sinless, and pierced, and This is My Blood, represented by the grape juice, the work only He could do, drink ye all of it. We eat and drink---simple acts of faith, trusting in Him who did all the work of salvation.
Yes, New Years Eve is a good time to observe Communion. By doing it, Jesus said, we declare the Lord's death until He comes back. He is not dead. He arose.
I like how the pastor tonight reminded us that BC stands for Before Christ, and AD stands for the Latin, in the year of our Lord. May 2009 be the Year of our Lord. He controls History.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Odds and Ends
This story sounds like a win-win to me. A suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowd of protesters who were protesting the Israelis, but then Israel gets blamed?? Huh?
And a lot of blogs and websites are talking about the MSM pulling out of Iraq. I agree that it looks like we won. When I find a link, I will put it here.
Caught the newest pretty kitty from next door in the possum trap this morning. I saw her nosing around it, but I got busy peeling hard boiled eggs for Bob and James, and James noticed the cat in the trap first. Every kitty has to learn the hard way, by getting caught. Once. Then they leave the trap alone. I am trying to catch that huge possum I saw walking down the power line the other night. I tried apologizing to the pretty kitty---it has beautiful markings like a cape, so we call it batman kitty, but when I approached the cage with a gentle voice to let it out, the kitty was still in shock, and as soon as I opened the door, it shot out like a rocket, across the yard, and through the gap in the fence, and back to the neighbors. Cats are smart. Once caught, I won't see that cat in the trap ever again.
Dave Barry's blog features a pin up calendar for women of men doing housework. I am thinking of making a private one for me of just Bob. Bob pulling weeds. Bob mowing. Bob vacuuming. Bob loading the dishwasher. And Mr. Bob for December could be Bob putting up Christmas lights for me. Nothing turns me on more that Bob doing stuff around the house I cannot. The Halloween or October picture would be of me grossing out Bob. He has the face for a cute look of horror.
And what is it was all the funny "Bowl" names?? The Orange Bowl, the Rose Bowl, the Holiday Bowl. Some have funny sponsors. How do sports reporters do it with a straight face?? I had to ask the stupid question of Bob this morning: are all bowl games colleges?? He told me that all except the Super Bowl. I go ahead and declare the questions stupid so that Bob knows not to take a swig of coffee and choke or something. I think it would be fun to collect funny bowl names, and make up some for nosy people who ask whatall we were doing on New Years Eve. (Oh, watching the Possom Bowl)
There may be a movie in our future---as in going to an actual theater. I am VERY picky which movies I support. I like to find out everything I can about them. No surprises for me, thank you. What propaganda, what theme, what music, what plot, and what liberal actors are we paying. But, the AUSTRALIA movie looks interesting. It opened four weeks ago, and cost a whooping $130 million, but is only showing in a few theaters. Normally, I'd wait until the DVD, but the whole purpose of this movie is to showcase the land that is Australia. So, gotta go see it on a big screen. I have a plan. But, we are flexible. I'll check it out and let you know. (Later--we saw it, and it is almost three hours long. But, entertaining. Vistas!)
Call me random today, but another interesting fact: the top ten most wanted here in Arlington are 18 years old. Born in 1990. Wow. That means that when we get into 2009, the New Year, we will be seeing 18 year olds born in 1991. Wow. These numbers are well known to those that sell beer, I guess. When you "card" someone, their birthday would have to say 1988, right? (21 here in Texas) I live such a sheltered life. But in 1990 and 1991, when my boys were all in school, the latest criminals were born. And decisions made in their formative years---decisions they made, they chose to go to the dark side. I am not saying we are all sinless. But, faced with the very same choices, some of us decide to do what is right, and some people do not. Babies born this year look all cute and innocent, but how many of them will appear on the most wanted posters and websites of 2027? And how many of them will graduate with honors and go on to college or take up an honorable trade and become productive citizens?
And a lot of blogs and websites are talking about the MSM pulling out of Iraq. I agree that it looks like we won. When I find a link, I will put it here.
Caught the newest pretty kitty from next door in the possum trap this morning. I saw her nosing around it, but I got busy peeling hard boiled eggs for Bob and James, and James noticed the cat in the trap first. Every kitty has to learn the hard way, by getting caught. Once. Then they leave the trap alone. I am trying to catch that huge possum I saw walking down the power line the other night. I tried apologizing to the pretty kitty---it has beautiful markings like a cape, so we call it batman kitty, but when I approached the cage with a gentle voice to let it out, the kitty was still in shock, and as soon as I opened the door, it shot out like a rocket, across the yard, and through the gap in the fence, and back to the neighbors. Cats are smart. Once caught, I won't see that cat in the trap ever again.
Dave Barry's blog features a pin up calendar for women of men doing housework. I am thinking of making a private one for me of just Bob. Bob pulling weeds. Bob mowing. Bob vacuuming. Bob loading the dishwasher. And Mr. Bob for December could be Bob putting up Christmas lights for me. Nothing turns me on more that Bob doing stuff around the house I cannot. The Halloween or October picture would be of me grossing out Bob. He has the face for a cute look of horror.
And what is it was all the funny "Bowl" names?? The Orange Bowl, the Rose Bowl, the Holiday Bowl. Some have funny sponsors. How do sports reporters do it with a straight face?? I had to ask the stupid question of Bob this morning: are all bowl games colleges?? He told me that all except the Super Bowl. I go ahead and declare the questions stupid so that Bob knows not to take a swig of coffee and choke or something. I think it would be fun to collect funny bowl names, and make up some for nosy people who ask whatall we were doing on New Years Eve. (Oh, watching the Possom Bowl)
There may be a movie in our future---as in going to an actual theater. I am VERY picky which movies I support. I like to find out everything I can about them. No surprises for me, thank you. What propaganda, what theme, what music, what plot, and what liberal actors are we paying. But, the AUSTRALIA movie looks interesting. It opened four weeks ago, and cost a whooping $130 million, but is only showing in a few theaters. Normally, I'd wait until the DVD, but the whole purpose of this movie is to showcase the land that is Australia. So, gotta go see it on a big screen. I have a plan. But, we are flexible. I'll check it out and let you know. (Later--we saw it, and it is almost three hours long. But, entertaining. Vistas!)
Call me random today, but another interesting fact: the top ten most wanted here in Arlington are 18 years old. Born in 1990. Wow. That means that when we get into 2009, the New Year, we will be seeing 18 year olds born in 1991. Wow. These numbers are well known to those that sell beer, I guess. When you "card" someone, their birthday would have to say 1988, right? (21 here in Texas) I live such a sheltered life. But in 1990 and 1991, when my boys were all in school, the latest criminals were born. And decisions made in their formative years---decisions they made, they chose to go to the dark side. I am not saying we are all sinless. But, faced with the very same choices, some of us decide to do what is right, and some people do not. Babies born this year look all cute and innocent, but how many of them will appear on the most wanted posters and websites of 2027? And how many of them will graduate with honors and go on to college or take up an honorable trade and become productive citizens?
Monday, December 29, 2008
Saw that there moon this evening, too
Well, it is Monday night. The last Monday night of the year. It does not feel like Monday night because my dear husband has been home all day. And today he weeded. And he trimmed the asian jasmine. That stuff was sending out tendrills into the street and collecting falling leaves in its tresses by the mailbox.
We watched James go to give his lady love coffee...
We watched James come home, and then go give his lady love lunch...
We watched James nap, and then go eat supper prepared by his lady love...
Maybe we will get the plymouth fixed. It is ten years old. (Bob says eleven). It has been a good workhorse. But, Bob had a small "bump" at 60 mph on I-30 a couple of weeks ago. (seven or eight car pile up when the first one slammed on his brakes, and then drove away) Bob was car number three. Thankfully, conditions were dry, and he was able to drive it home. And we are wondering if this is our sign to retire it and just be a one car family. But, our trusty and trustworthy mechanic (worth his weight in gold) says it is fixable, and might last another year. Do we risk it? Do we plunk down money to fix it and get it inspected? It leaves a constant mosaic of drips on the driveway. It needs its fluid levels checked between oil changes. Bob's coffee stains and drips give an art deco feel and smell. But, the dashboard coffee holder is new. The windshield wipers frames and rubbers are new. The driver's seat is only a year old. And if it passes inspection... If only God would write in the clouds plain enough for us to see: retire the plymouth
We played Scrabble. I beat Bob, so he challenged me to a rematch, and he won by a little. Of course, he bingo-ed. I am proud of myself for overlapping words on top of words like a cross word puzzle. When we do a lot of that in one game, it leaves vast spaces in the corners, and triple word score squares laid bare, and unused. Though, not unwanted.
We bought more victuals at Walmart where the checker was surly, but the greeter fine and friendly. We dined upon chicken and salad where the Chicken Fills You Eh? And the ice cream cones are tasty, and the cheese cake to go in a cute little triangular plastic piece size container will wait patiently in your frig for just the right moment. Then we drove home in haste and my (little old) driver (so lively and quick) saith that he is just keeping up with the traffic. I am sure that when he tells Mr. Policeman, that he, too, will shake his head in disbelief, and write him a ticket. And I will kiss Mr. Policeman's boots, and exclaim that he is an answer to prayer, yea, verily.
The moon, the slenderest of moons, rode down the power lines like notes on a musical score with Venus shining overhead and Jupiter and Mercury planning a party on the horizon down in the trees. Another perfect day in Texas, weather-wise. Thirty-six this morning and seventy this afternoon. Our south brick wall, fully exposed to the sun radiated heat even after sundown and during star gazing.
Was there laundry? Of course, and that slug of thick clorox meant for these "high efficiency" washers needed a double rinse which reminded me of those days when we lazy teens would restart the washer too lazy to transfer for our poor mother.
We supped light with mustard and cheese, and finished that second Scrabble game. Some hot apple juice and the mysteries of how cinnamon sugar turns into bloodclots at the bottom of the mug as we await the sweet Prince's return, Prince James the Just. And we are thankful, but wondered what purpose did Prince Punsalot have in his call earlier today? And why hasn't Prince Naughty not called his Grandmother and thanked her for the card and the twenty?? Next time, I will withhold the card until I see him make the call. Bad boy.
The oppossum trap is baited. And at 7am tomorrow morning, I can call the city to come fetch the power line walker and take him to the park by the river where he can feast or be a feast.
We watched James go to give his lady love coffee...
We watched James come home, and then go give his lady love lunch...
We watched James nap, and then go eat supper prepared by his lady love...
Maybe we will get the plymouth fixed. It is ten years old. (Bob says eleven). It has been a good workhorse. But, Bob had a small "bump" at 60 mph on I-30 a couple of weeks ago. (seven or eight car pile up when the first one slammed on his brakes, and then drove away) Bob was car number three. Thankfully, conditions were dry, and he was able to drive it home. And we are wondering if this is our sign to retire it and just be a one car family. But, our trusty and trustworthy mechanic (worth his weight in gold) says it is fixable, and might last another year. Do we risk it? Do we plunk down money to fix it and get it inspected? It leaves a constant mosaic of drips on the driveway. It needs its fluid levels checked between oil changes. Bob's coffee stains and drips give an art deco feel and smell. But, the dashboard coffee holder is new. The windshield wipers frames and rubbers are new. The driver's seat is only a year old. And if it passes inspection... If only God would write in the clouds plain enough for us to see: retire the plymouth
We played Scrabble. I beat Bob, so he challenged me to a rematch, and he won by a little. Of course, he bingo-ed. I am proud of myself for overlapping words on top of words like a cross word puzzle. When we do a lot of that in one game, it leaves vast spaces in the corners, and triple word score squares laid bare, and unused. Though, not unwanted.
We bought more victuals at Walmart where the checker was surly, but the greeter fine and friendly. We dined upon chicken and salad where the Chicken Fills You Eh? And the ice cream cones are tasty, and the cheese cake to go in a cute little triangular plastic piece size container will wait patiently in your frig for just the right moment. Then we drove home in haste and my (little old) driver (so lively and quick) saith that he is just keeping up with the traffic. I am sure that when he tells Mr. Policeman, that he, too, will shake his head in disbelief, and write him a ticket. And I will kiss Mr. Policeman's boots, and exclaim that he is an answer to prayer, yea, verily.
The moon, the slenderest of moons, rode down the power lines like notes on a musical score with Venus shining overhead and Jupiter and Mercury planning a party on the horizon down in the trees. Another perfect day in Texas, weather-wise. Thirty-six this morning and seventy this afternoon. Our south brick wall, fully exposed to the sun radiated heat even after sundown and during star gazing.
Was there laundry? Of course, and that slug of thick clorox meant for these "high efficiency" washers needed a double rinse which reminded me of those days when we lazy teens would restart the washer too lazy to transfer for our poor mother.
We supped light with mustard and cheese, and finished that second Scrabble game. Some hot apple juice and the mysteries of how cinnamon sugar turns into bloodclots at the bottom of the mug as we await the sweet Prince's return, Prince James the Just. And we are thankful, but wondered what purpose did Prince Punsalot have in his call earlier today? And why hasn't Prince Naughty not called his Grandmother and thanked her for the card and the twenty?? Next time, I will withhold the card until I see him make the call. Bad boy.
The oppossum trap is baited. And at 7am tomorrow morning, I can call the city to come fetch the power line walker and take him to the park by the river where he can feast or be a feast.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Sunday
Bob taught the "family class" that is made up of younger adults. (instead of his regular elderly group---many of the family class's folks)
James lunched with Amber at her church. And I could not get Ben to pick up his phone nor respond to text messages, so after church, Bob and I went to Saltgrass for some shish-ka-bobs. Their new sweet potatoes cassarole comes with marshmellows on top, and it is as sweet as pie, so I saved it for dessert. We forgot to get more apple juice at Braum's on the way home, but picked up another gallon of milk, and more ice cream bars. Apple juice is good hot with cinnamon.
I beat Bob by four points in Scrabble, and folded two loads of clothes, and set a few more going. It has been too quiet here this afternoon. Pretty day. And a few more dishrags knitted. I need to chop on my bangs some more.
When we tried to use our cell phones today, Virgin declared we had not topped up. We use them so seldomly, that we had not even noticed it was time to top up. I thought we had another month. Bob has figured out how to do it online. Too ironic, to go online to put more minutes on your phone.
I did get some Christmas letters and cards sent out yesterday. Replies to the cards we got this week. I no longer have a "Normal" aunt. She moved away from Normal, Illinois, and I do not have their new address. Some we said Merry Christmas and Happy New Year via email.
Just three days left of this year, then we practice writing 2009!
James lunched with Amber at her church. And I could not get Ben to pick up his phone nor respond to text messages, so after church, Bob and I went to Saltgrass for some shish-ka-bobs. Their new sweet potatoes cassarole comes with marshmellows on top, and it is as sweet as pie, so I saved it for dessert. We forgot to get more apple juice at Braum's on the way home, but picked up another gallon of milk, and more ice cream bars. Apple juice is good hot with cinnamon.
I beat Bob by four points in Scrabble, and folded two loads of clothes, and set a few more going. It has been too quiet here this afternoon. Pretty day. And a few more dishrags knitted. I need to chop on my bangs some more.
When we tried to use our cell phones today, Virgin declared we had not topped up. We use them so seldomly, that we had not even noticed it was time to top up. I thought we had another month. Bob has figured out how to do it online. Too ironic, to go online to put more minutes on your phone.
I did get some Christmas letters and cards sent out yesterday. Replies to the cards we got this week. I no longer have a "Normal" aunt. She moved away from Normal, Illinois, and I do not have their new address. Some we said Merry Christmas and Happy New Year via email.
Just three days left of this year, then we practice writing 2009!
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Texas Weather
Warmer in the night---it got warmer in the night. From sixty degrees to seventy-two degrees! A light sprinkle is starting just as we took out the garbage.
Yesterday, we were so tempted to turn on the AC. And last night, we slept with all the windows open. Amazing. We are in the last days of December, and a cold front is coming from the west this time, but surely, we broke record high temps yesterday. And maybe a new record low.
9am the sky turned black with angry clouds rolling in from the west. Rain. Nice soaker. Heavy in spots. Our green grass will love this.
I am now showered and dressed and in my right mind. Temperature inside has dropped from 76 to 74 degrees.
Written later: We watched DVDs with James and Amber. "The Dish" and Brigadoon, and a movie the boys had seen with Bob in the theater, but I had not seen, "Deep Empact" and when Ben was here for a late lunch, he wanted us to turn off the movie and visit. This is so funny for Ben. Out of character---we usually cannot get him to talk. He said he hated this movie for the poor acting. But, is it because of the sacrifice made on behalf of others. I can easily see how in the end times, when the promised something is in the sky, the world is distracted and selfish.
Bob has trouble with the physics in the film.
I got sweaty cooking lunch for everyone, event though the cooking was just reheating the rest of the turkey in the microwave. I cooked a batch of cherry cobbler in the oven. And Ben loved the beer bread biscuits. I let him take home the leftovers ones.
Yesterday, we were so tempted to turn on the AC. And last night, we slept with all the windows open. Amazing. We are in the last days of December, and a cold front is coming from the west this time, but surely, we broke record high temps yesterday. And maybe a new record low.
9am the sky turned black with angry clouds rolling in from the west. Rain. Nice soaker. Heavy in spots. Our green grass will love this.
I am now showered and dressed and in my right mind. Temperature inside has dropped from 76 to 74 degrees.
Written later: We watched DVDs with James and Amber. "The Dish" and Brigadoon, and a movie the boys had seen with Bob in the theater, but I had not seen, "Deep Empact" and when Ben was here for a late lunch, he wanted us to turn off the movie and visit. This is so funny for Ben. Out of character---we usually cannot get him to talk. He said he hated this movie for the poor acting. But, is it because of the sacrifice made on behalf of others. I can easily see how in the end times, when the promised something is in the sky, the world is distracted and selfish.
Bob has trouble with the physics in the film.
I got sweaty cooking lunch for everyone, event though the cooking was just reheating the rest of the turkey in the microwave. I cooked a batch of cherry cobbler in the oven. And Ben loved the beer bread biscuits. I let him take home the leftovers ones.
Friday, December 26, 2008
The day after Christmas
Warm, blustery winds, the southside windchime is as Bob says, "ringing in the New Year". Windows open, 78 degrees inside the house. We may need to turn on the AC ! The garage floor is still cold, and the front step is sweating.
Bob is playing with the digital camera, trying to post a cute blog about one of James' presents from Andy.
Enough turkey and mashed potatoes for leftovers. Yummy leftovers. No need to cook today, just microwave to reheat. A little laundry, and I cut Bob's hair--ran the hair clippers over his head without a guard, type haircut.
I guess that is all our news. Maybe James and Amber will come over later to watch a DVD. They watched White Christmas last night, but Bob and I went on to bed at 9pm. We keep different hours than these young folks.
10pm we have been watching some good DVDs. James has so many, he could start his own blockbuster store. AMAZING GRACE was one we saw in the theaters a few times, but I so enjoy watching the making of, and the history. I just did not know all the players the first few times. And there are so many important characters in history. I wonder if my Grandpa Wilbur was named after Wilburforce because it is not a very common name. We will have to ask his mom and dad someday in heaven who they named him after.
Bob beat me at Scrabble, but we have played almost every day.
And my friend, Nance and I traded braceletts. I had purchased an Avon "Mother" in eleven languages bracelett many, many years ago. Nance liked it so much, she found one on ebay, but hers was too big, and mine too small. I could only wear it on my left arm. So we traded. Mine came today. What fun.
Mother
Mama
Mutter
Untepa
Mae
Mere
MaTb
and a few others I cannot recreate with my Qwerty keyboard.
And I forgot to ask if Andy received the extra grandchild-sized 'cackies' in the mail.
Bob is playing with the digital camera, trying to post a cute blog about one of James' presents from Andy.
Enough turkey and mashed potatoes for leftovers. Yummy leftovers. No need to cook today, just microwave to reheat. A little laundry, and I cut Bob's hair--ran the hair clippers over his head without a guard, type haircut.
I guess that is all our news. Maybe James and Amber will come over later to watch a DVD. They watched White Christmas last night, but Bob and I went on to bed at 9pm. We keep different hours than these young folks.
10pm we have been watching some good DVDs. James has so many, he could start his own blockbuster store. AMAZING GRACE was one we saw in the theaters a few times, but I so enjoy watching the making of, and the history. I just did not know all the players the first few times. And there are so many important characters in history. I wonder if my Grandpa Wilbur was named after Wilburforce because it is not a very common name. We will have to ask his mom and dad someday in heaven who they named him after.
Bob beat me at Scrabble, but we have played almost every day.
And my friend, Nance and I traded braceletts. I had purchased an Avon "Mother" in eleven languages bracelett many, many years ago. Nance liked it so much, she found one on ebay, but hers was too big, and mine too small. I could only wear it on my left arm. So we traded. Mine came today. What fun.
Mother
Mama
Mutter
Untepa
Mae
Mere
MaTb
and a few others I cannot recreate with my Qwerty keyboard.
And I forgot to ask if Andy received the extra grandchild-sized 'cackies' in the mail.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Christmas 2008
Turkey Talk, its time for turkey talk.
Talk about the way you do.
'Cause if I am up at 3am
Next year I'm getting a fresh one
Hope this one thaws by 8 am.
I don't trust my frig. It is a huge frig, and struggles in summer to maintain 42 degrees the way we all fan the doors.
Bought the frozen turkey Monday, and it is still rock solid, so I have it in a sink of cold water. I hate to do that---now I will have to scrub the sink. And bleach everything to be safe.
Oven bag box says that this sixteen pounder should only take three hours, but I will factor four to be sure
Hot apple juice is my new best friend. Tastes great, and won't keep me wired, in case I have time to take a nap. Mashed potatoes are on my menu, and just heat up the canned sweet potatoes. Rolls. Rum cake and ice cream bars. Should keep us from starving. I should have scheduled some veggies. Maybe I'll steam the green beans. The tricky part will be that the turkey takes up the whole oven. And three things---the Christmas lights, the coffeemaker, the microwave, the toaster---if any of these three things are trying to run at once, I will blow a fuse in the kitchen.
We watched the Nativity Story again last night. Talk about a visual---to see what they saw and the rough clothing and way of life....wow. They did not get to wash their hands very often, unless you enjoyed a trip to the well or the river. God said He was coming. But, they were looking for a king. Not a king born in a manger.
5:30am After much cursing, and ill will toward the folks who install those vile plastic cages to keep the legs together, and banging my thumb, and wrenching out the neck and paper bag of organs, and then cleaning the sink with clorox---I can still smell it on my hands. And I wonder if I contaminated the spices jars with fowl germs. They are called fowl for a reason. Grinch here. It could be worse, I did not have to pluck feathers or hack off its head. Mental note. Next year get a fresh turkey and forgo this stupid weeks worth of "thawing" taking up space in the frig. At 8am, I will slip it in the oven, and fill the house with cooking turkey and sage and spices from Tastefully Simple.
Maybe a nap would improve my attitude. Or a chuckle at Cake Wrecks. I will cook it upside down. Makes the breast meat juicier, in my opinion.
Bob's Christmas poem is cute. Go check him out at The Lost Fart.
8pm The turkey turned out good and tender. But, the five of us only ate half of it, so we have plenty for leftovers tomorrow! Yippee! Cooking will be very easy.
The mashed potatoes were spectacular---a whole block of cream cheese, two sticks of butter, and seasoning. I like them garlicy, but restrained myself. And we had no room for the dessert. Ben napped during the replaying of the DVD Christmas Story. Bob's favorite. He received a 25 year edition, with an apron, and cookie cutters. James has the lamp. A small one. Then we watched the Nativity Story. What a contrast. Everyone has seen it, but it makes me cry every time.
Bob helped me wash the mattress cover and our sheets today, and it is all put back together. Nothing better than slipping between clean, wrinkle free sheets. Thank you, Bob.
I opened the present from James in order to mash the potatoes. Wonderful, powerful little Cuisinart. Shiny.
Great pictures of the grandchild. Bob even got a digital frame full. Bob thought he needed to load them, but then Andy said, no just plug it in. It was already loaded. Wow. Bob can't wait to take it to work and set it going in his cubicle. And Bob revealed he will be getting a real, live office with walls and a door in a few months. Yeah !!! It has been so distracting to try to work in a cubicle.
Fun. Fun.
Talk about the way you do.
'Cause if I am up at 3am
Next year I'm getting a fresh one
Hope this one thaws by 8 am.
I don't trust my frig. It is a huge frig, and struggles in summer to maintain 42 degrees the way we all fan the doors.
Bought the frozen turkey Monday, and it is still rock solid, so I have it in a sink of cold water. I hate to do that---now I will have to scrub the sink. And bleach everything to be safe.
Oven bag box says that this sixteen pounder should only take three hours, but I will factor four to be sure
Hot apple juice is my new best friend. Tastes great, and won't keep me wired, in case I have time to take a nap. Mashed potatoes are on my menu, and just heat up the canned sweet potatoes. Rolls. Rum cake and ice cream bars. Should keep us from starving. I should have scheduled some veggies. Maybe I'll steam the green beans. The tricky part will be that the turkey takes up the whole oven. And three things---the Christmas lights, the coffeemaker, the microwave, the toaster---if any of these three things are trying to run at once, I will blow a fuse in the kitchen.
We watched the Nativity Story again last night. Talk about a visual---to see what they saw and the rough clothing and way of life....wow. They did not get to wash their hands very often, unless you enjoyed a trip to the well or the river. God said He was coming. But, they were looking for a king. Not a king born in a manger.
5:30am After much cursing, and ill will toward the folks who install those vile plastic cages to keep the legs together, and banging my thumb, and wrenching out the neck and paper bag of organs, and then cleaning the sink with clorox---I can still smell it on my hands. And I wonder if I contaminated the spices jars with fowl germs. They are called fowl for a reason. Grinch here. It could be worse, I did not have to pluck feathers or hack off its head. Mental note. Next year get a fresh turkey and forgo this stupid weeks worth of "thawing" taking up space in the frig. At 8am, I will slip it in the oven, and fill the house with cooking turkey and sage and spices from Tastefully Simple.
Maybe a nap would improve my attitude. Or a chuckle at Cake Wrecks. I will cook it upside down. Makes the breast meat juicier, in my opinion.
Bob's Christmas poem is cute. Go check him out at The Lost Fart.
8pm The turkey turned out good and tender. But, the five of us only ate half of it, so we have plenty for leftovers tomorrow! Yippee! Cooking will be very easy.
The mashed potatoes were spectacular---a whole block of cream cheese, two sticks of butter, and seasoning. I like them garlicy, but restrained myself. And we had no room for the dessert. Ben napped during the replaying of the DVD Christmas Story. Bob's favorite. He received a 25 year edition, with an apron, and cookie cutters. James has the lamp. A small one. Then we watched the Nativity Story. What a contrast. Everyone has seen it, but it makes me cry every time.
Bob helped me wash the mattress cover and our sheets today, and it is all put back together. Nothing better than slipping between clean, wrinkle free sheets. Thank you, Bob.
I opened the present from James in order to mash the potatoes. Wonderful, powerful little Cuisinart. Shiny.
Great pictures of the grandchild. Bob even got a digital frame full. Bob thought he needed to load them, but then Andy said, no just plug it in. It was already loaded. Wow. Bob can't wait to take it to work and set it going in his cubicle. And Bob revealed he will be getting a real, live office with walls and a door in a few months. Yeah !!! It has been so distracting to try to work in a cubicle.
Fun. Fun.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Sunday and the Shortest Day of the Year
Ten hours of daylight. Just ten hours today. And it is cold! Our first day of winter is very wintery. Wintry? Twenty-one degrees this morning, and windy. Blew the clouds away...there was this blanket of clouds last night on our drive to North Dallas (Frisco) to see Bob's siblings and their families. I was assigned the salad, which was easy thanks to that lettuce in a bag cut the thing open and pour it in a bowl. I brought salad dressings, but I don't think any got used. We piled the lettuce on the burritos. I made one of the Tastefully Simple Gingerbread mixes, but I put way too much molasses in it, and they were VERY chewy and the corners were VERY overdone and dry---like hockey pucks. I need to be careful cooking brown food to not over do it. The icing was very easy. And it made the house smell so nice and Christmas-sy.
I must confess I was not looking forward to going. I just wanted to stay home and hybernate. Know what I mean? I had put off going to the grocery store for a couple of days. And was just too lazy for words. No excuse, but the weather here on Friday was PERFECT. We sat in the front yard and ate a picnic lunch and watched our pretty green rye grass grow. Bob wanted to mow it SO bad. But, I suggested he just mow the back yard. Which he did--and he bag mowed it, and that sucked up all the pretty dandelions and dandelion seeds, and henbit purple flowers, and leaves. Now our compost pile is taller than the neighbor's shed. Then Bob opened the gate and said he would just mow by the fence and tree to show me how mowing the rye grass made it stand up even prettier, but I said, no, it would leave tire tracks. But, I wasted my breath. He mowed it anyway. Now we will have rye grass growing on our compost heap soon. (visible from space--or google earth)
Bob got part of the east side of the terraced walls weeded, and the frozen Lantana cut back for winter, filling two whole humongous trash bags for pick up yesterday. We are so funny to have a pretty yard in the winter. Can't get anything to grow under the oak trees in summer, but in winter, the rye grass likes it just fine.
Since our church (Arlington Community Church) was just putting on a music program for church this morning, Bob did NOT have to teach Sunday School, so we attended with James' and his Lady Love, and saw some cute kids do their play, and heard a good sermon from Mark 15: 42-47. Then James and LL went out to lunch with us, and we ate some good Mexican food, and they even had a couple singing requests. "How Great Thou Art" in Spanish and ten renditions of Feliz Navidad. Too funny. I wonder if they get tired singing it?!
Bob helped me go to Walmart---which was jam packed with shoppers but we purchased a frozen turkey for Thursday, and enough victuals to last the next cold snap. We made it to Braum's last night just before they closed to stock up on milk and eggs. We are keeping Walmart and Braum's in business!!! Everything we need, we find there. If you can't find it at Walmart or Braum's, well...you must not need it. Most days I look down and everything I am wearing is from Walmart. I bet you did not know they stocked pants this big.
I don't think I had ever seen the base of the towers on Cedar Hill. Whenever you approach the metroplex, you can see them afar off. And we have driven around them on I-20, but today we took the scenic route home from James' LL's church. Right after the towers, it IS (like Bob warned me) a steep drop off to the west down to Joe Poole lake. We were amazed at all the new development. I had not been down there in years and years. Bob said he had not been down there since scouting for microwave towers and that was before Ben was born.
Aunt Mona relieved me of all the dishrags and hot pads I had knitted up. Her mom loves them, and she was headed toward two other nieces to share colors she did not want.
http://www.servecast.com/opw/211208/archive150.html (Newgrange)
Has a neat story about the solstice in Ireland. They think these tombs are older than the pyramids, and older than Stone Henge. For twenty minutes, two or three mornings a year on the solstice, the sun lights this special, line-up floor and wall carvings.
I did feel a bit like a fish out of water last night talking about things we read online, and funny blogs. But, I will save that for another post. When folks ask, "what have you been doing?" I take them literally. Bob says its just a conversation starter. I am so tempted to snark, "improving my mind" or "blogging" but how do you compress laundry, meals, Scrabble, and reading stuff on the computer into an interesting way to justify my existence? Living?! Living high on the hog!! I am very blessed, and very spoiled. Bob will never know (until he reads this) how much I appreciate him helping me shop, and haul it all home, and put stuff away. We live like kings and queens. The house is paid off. The boys are all grown, and flown the nest. And it is time to beat Bob at Scrabble!!!
I must confess I was not looking forward to going. I just wanted to stay home and hybernate. Know what I mean? I had put off going to the grocery store for a couple of days. And was just too lazy for words. No excuse, but the weather here on Friday was PERFECT. We sat in the front yard and ate a picnic lunch and watched our pretty green rye grass grow. Bob wanted to mow it SO bad. But, I suggested he just mow the back yard. Which he did--and he bag mowed it, and that sucked up all the pretty dandelions and dandelion seeds, and henbit purple flowers, and leaves. Now our compost pile is taller than the neighbor's shed. Then Bob opened the gate and said he would just mow by the fence and tree to show me how mowing the rye grass made it stand up even prettier, but I said, no, it would leave tire tracks. But, I wasted my breath. He mowed it anyway. Now we will have rye grass growing on our compost heap soon. (visible from space--or google earth)
Bob got part of the east side of the terraced walls weeded, and the frozen Lantana cut back for winter, filling two whole humongous trash bags for pick up yesterday. We are so funny to have a pretty yard in the winter. Can't get anything to grow under the oak trees in summer, but in winter, the rye grass likes it just fine.
Since our church (Arlington Community Church) was just putting on a music program for church this morning, Bob did NOT have to teach Sunday School, so we attended with James' and his Lady Love, and saw some cute kids do their play, and heard a good sermon from Mark 15: 42-47. Then James and LL went out to lunch with us, and we ate some good Mexican food, and they even had a couple singing requests. "How Great Thou Art" in Spanish and ten renditions of Feliz Navidad. Too funny. I wonder if they get tired singing it?!
Bob helped me go to Walmart---which was jam packed with shoppers but we purchased a frozen turkey for Thursday, and enough victuals to last the next cold snap. We made it to Braum's last night just before they closed to stock up on milk and eggs. We are keeping Walmart and Braum's in business!!! Everything we need, we find there. If you can't find it at Walmart or Braum's, well...you must not need it. Most days I look down and everything I am wearing is from Walmart. I bet you did not know they stocked pants this big.
I don't think I had ever seen the base of the towers on Cedar Hill. Whenever you approach the metroplex, you can see them afar off. And we have driven around them on I-20, but today we took the scenic route home from James' LL's church. Right after the towers, it IS (like Bob warned me) a steep drop off to the west down to Joe Poole lake. We were amazed at all the new development. I had not been down there in years and years. Bob said he had not been down there since scouting for microwave towers and that was before Ben was born.
Aunt Mona relieved me of all the dishrags and hot pads I had knitted up. Her mom loves them, and she was headed toward two other nieces to share colors she did not want.
http://www.servecast.com/opw/211208/archive150.html (Newgrange)
Has a neat story about the solstice in Ireland. They think these tombs are older than the pyramids, and older than Stone Henge. For twenty minutes, two or three mornings a year on the solstice, the sun lights this special, line-up floor and wall carvings.
I did feel a bit like a fish out of water last night talking about things we read online, and funny blogs. But, I will save that for another post. When folks ask, "what have you been doing?" I take them literally. Bob says its just a conversation starter. I am so tempted to snark, "improving my mind" or "blogging" but how do you compress laundry, meals, Scrabble, and reading stuff on the computer into an interesting way to justify my existence? Living?! Living high on the hog!! I am very blessed, and very spoiled. Bob will never know (until he reads this) how much I appreciate him helping me shop, and haul it all home, and put stuff away. We live like kings and queens. The house is paid off. The boys are all grown, and flown the nest. And it is time to beat Bob at Scrabble!!!
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Layers--past, present and future
Looking at Zechariah
Zechariah is so rich with layers of prophecy-past, present and future. Reading along, you see the prophecy of Judas Iscariot throwing the 30 pieces of silver on the floor of the temple in Zechariah 11:12 and 13. And you think, wow, that was fulfilled.
But, what is the meaning of the two staffs in the very next verses, and in verse 10. The staffs form a sort of parentheses around the thirty pieces of silver prophecy.
Zechariah 11:7 So I pastured the flock doomed to slaughter, hence the afflicted of the flock. And I took for myself two staffs: the one I called Favor, and the other I called Union, so I pastured the flock.
11:10, 11 And I took my staff, Favor, and cut it in pieces, to break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples. So it was broken on that day, and thus the afflicted of the flock who were watching me realized that it was the word of the Lord.
Whenever the Bible talks about all the peoples, we need to take note. Is Jesus the Staff that was broken? The Net Bible uses the words, Pleasantness and Binders instead of Favor and Union.
Jesus is the most unique Person. The God Man. At Christmas time we celebrate His coming to earth and taking on the human body, being born. His birthday was probably in April, but now is when most Christians have agreed to celebrate God come down to put on the body. Or as CS Lewis puts it, the Author has entered the play.
Jesus set aside His place as Creator. He set aside His glory just for us. It must have been the only way. He came as the Good Shepherd who cared for the perishing, healed the broken, and sought to gather the scattered.
Zechariah 12 deals with the prophecy of what did happen to Jerusalem. But, interwoven are things that will happen again, or, as you read along, you wonder, whoops---I think this is future. And how it must make the present day Jews tremble. For their future is sure, but it is not pretty. Zechariah 12:2 sounds like the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, but verse 3 and 4 talk about things that have not yet happened.
And how we long for Jews to dwell on their own sites in Jerusalem (vs 6) and it will be so wonderful when God destroys all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
Oh, for Israel to push the arabs out and take back their rightful borders. Verse 8 talks about how the one who is feeble among them in that day will be like David, and the house if David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord before them. But, it is not a day of rejoicing, instead, in verses 10 and 11, "…they will look on Me whom they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a first-born. In that day there will be great mourning in Jerusalem, …"
A refining fire is coming. And chapter 13 and 14 are hard to read: "…For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished, and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city…" Right before Jesus stands on the Mount of Olives, right before it is split and "half of the mountain will move toward the morth and the other half toward the south. And you will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him!
I am not a physics expert, but the forces necessary to generate "living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea…"
Jerusalem will then and forever more only know peace. No more curses. Only security. Jerusalem will be the new center, the new capital of the whole world.
Merry Christmas. Jesus came. Jesus fulfilled His first mission. When He comes back to set things right, it will be so horrible at the end, so scary, and violent, and only a third make it alive.
Zechariah 14:7 For it will be a unique day which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but it wull come about that at evening time there will be light.
14:9 And the LORD will be king over all the earth, in that day the Lord will be the only one, and His name the only one. Vs.10 And the land will be changed into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site from Benjamin's Gate as far as the place of the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king's wine presses. And people will live in it, and there will be no more curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security.
God rescued His people by making a dry place through the Red Sea. Is the same thing going to happen in Jerusalem? Will this earthquake split things open into a dry place for the remnant to escape? And then flood the pursuers?
Zechariah 2:10 Sing for joy and be glad, O daughter of Zion, for behold I am coming and I will dwell in your midst," declares the Lord.
Zechariah 7:9 Thus has the Lord of hosts said, "Dispense true justice, and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother; and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another."
8:11- But now I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days, declares the Lord of hosts….so I will save you that you may become a blessing. Do not fear, let your hands be strong…
Speak the truth to one another, judge with truth and judgment for peace in your gates. Also let none of you devise evil in your heart against another, and do not love perjury, for all of these are what I hate, declares the Lord. …God is with you.
Zechariah 9:9- Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, humble and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Zechariah is so rich with layers of prophecy-past, present and future. Reading along, you see the prophecy of Judas Iscariot throwing the 30 pieces of silver on the floor of the temple in Zechariah 11:12 and 13. And you think, wow, that was fulfilled.
But, what is the meaning of the two staffs in the very next verses, and in verse 10. The staffs form a sort of parentheses around the thirty pieces of silver prophecy.
Zechariah 11:7 So I pastured the flock doomed to slaughter, hence the afflicted of the flock. And I took for myself two staffs: the one I called Favor, and the other I called Union, so I pastured the flock.
11:10, 11 And I took my staff, Favor, and cut it in pieces, to break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples. So it was broken on that day, and thus the afflicted of the flock who were watching me realized that it was the word of the Lord.
Whenever the Bible talks about all the peoples, we need to take note. Is Jesus the Staff that was broken? The Net Bible uses the words, Pleasantness and Binders instead of Favor and Union.
Jesus is the most unique Person. The God Man. At Christmas time we celebrate His coming to earth and taking on the human body, being born. His birthday was probably in April, but now is when most Christians have agreed to celebrate God come down to put on the body. Or as CS Lewis puts it, the Author has entered the play.
Jesus set aside His place as Creator. He set aside His glory just for us. It must have been the only way. He came as the Good Shepherd who cared for the perishing, healed the broken, and sought to gather the scattered.
Zechariah 12 deals with the prophecy of what did happen to Jerusalem. But, interwoven are things that will happen again, or, as you read along, you wonder, whoops---I think this is future. And how it must make the present day Jews tremble. For their future is sure, but it is not pretty. Zechariah 12:2 sounds like the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, but verse 3 and 4 talk about things that have not yet happened.
And how we long for Jews to dwell on their own sites in Jerusalem (vs 6) and it will be so wonderful when God destroys all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
Oh, for Israel to push the arabs out and take back their rightful borders. Verse 8 talks about how the one who is feeble among them in that day will be like David, and the house if David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord before them. But, it is not a day of rejoicing, instead, in verses 10 and 11, "…they will look on Me whom they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a first-born. In that day there will be great mourning in Jerusalem, …"
A refining fire is coming. And chapter 13 and 14 are hard to read: "…For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished, and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city…" Right before Jesus stands on the Mount of Olives, right before it is split and "half of the mountain will move toward the morth and the other half toward the south. And you will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him!
I am not a physics expert, but the forces necessary to generate "living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea…"
Jerusalem will then and forever more only know peace. No more curses. Only security. Jerusalem will be the new center, the new capital of the whole world.
Merry Christmas. Jesus came. Jesus fulfilled His first mission. When He comes back to set things right, it will be so horrible at the end, so scary, and violent, and only a third make it alive.
Zechariah 14:7 For it will be a unique day which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but it wull come about that at evening time there will be light.
14:9 And the LORD will be king over all the earth, in that day the Lord will be the only one, and His name the only one. Vs.10 And the land will be changed into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site from Benjamin's Gate as far as the place of the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king's wine presses. And people will live in it, and there will be no more curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security.
God rescued His people by making a dry place through the Red Sea. Is the same thing going to happen in Jerusalem? Will this earthquake split things open into a dry place for the remnant to escape? And then flood the pursuers?
Zechariah 2:10 Sing for joy and be glad, O daughter of Zion, for behold I am coming and I will dwell in your midst," declares the Lord.
Zechariah 7:9 Thus has the Lord of hosts said, "Dispense true justice, and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother; and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another."
8:11- But now I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days, declares the Lord of hosts….so I will save you that you may become a blessing. Do not fear, let your hands be strong…
Speak the truth to one another, judge with truth and judgment for peace in your gates. Also let none of you devise evil in your heart against another, and do not love perjury, for all of these are what I hate, declares the Lord. …God is with you.
Zechariah 9:9- Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, humble and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
An Aunt Joyce Song
When my nephew, Ross was little, he heard this song
and proclaimed to his mom: "I know this song!" and then proceeded to sing "Aunt Joyce" for the "Rejoice" part. Too cute. Now Ross is a tall freshman in high school, and is using that vocal talent.
and proclaimed to his mom: "I know this song!" and then proceeded to sing "Aunt Joyce" for the "Rejoice" part. Too cute. Now Ross is a tall freshman in high school, and is using that vocal talent.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Only in Texas and Femle Stuff====gross out alert
It actually got warmer in the night !!! Fog is in the forecast. But I took the garbage to the street and hauled the recycling bin to the curb, it was hovering at 32 degrees. Now, at 6:30am, it is up to 36 degrees. So, the ice on bridges and overpasses should melt. Rush hour should not be bumper cars. Just wet.
I think tomorrow is the last day Bob works downtown Dallas this year. Whoop.
Coffee is ready. The radio weatherman said it would be in the seventies by Friday.
Sneaking one in----Today is actually Wednesday, Christmas Eve, December 24th And I don't want to bump James and Amber's picture, so I decided to sneak this on in here. I don't think my boys will read down this far.
I am a 52 year old woman and I am dreading my monthly periods as they are SO heavy. Yesterday, I thought I was going to die. It was awful. It scared me. I am not scared of dying, if it is my time. But, what is going on??? And this was another reason we decided not to travel this time of year. It would be so fun to see the grandchild, but they are having severe winter. And I can't imagine bleeding so heavy and traveling, and hotels, and the mess. At home, I have a wonderful washer and dryer. And thankfully, Bob is home on vacation. I woke up in a puddle yesterday morning. Even Bob had a big splotch on his leg. Stained sheets, stained mattress pad. Do women sometimes bleed to death from a super heavy period?? I googled it, but goodness---even the "health" information sites talk about herbal remedies. And who wants to go to doc in a box this time of year?? Not me.
I have to sit on a towel around the house. I have a towel in each chair I use. And I have NO energy for shopping nor cooking. I did make a rum cake yesterday, but that was it, other than lunch. We watched a science fiction movie Bob had seen, but I had not. And I got so chilled just sitting there, I had to put on a coat and scarf in the house. I was shivering. I am taking an iron tablet each day. And B vitamins. And trying to drink plenty of water.
It could be worse. I could be coughing. A cold and cough are no fun when you are intercontinental. I usually catch a cold this time of month, as my immune system must be down.
We have a turkey thawing in the frig. I was needing to make sure I have the bag to cook it in, and buy potatoes for mashing, and stocking stuffers, but whoa---when I can barely move, and cramping, and feeling so cold all the time...it causes you to re-think Christmas prep. What is the least I can do? The guys won't care. Bob is happy on the computer, and James is busy with Amber. Ben drops in, but this is a lean time in the solar panel roof business, and things are grim for him right now. He is lonely, and too quiet.
Pray for Bob. He has SUCH patience, and longsuffering. I have not grossed him out yet, and he is so gentle and kind. Easy to please. But, why does PMS and the strange doings of the female period mean moodiness, and snappishness?? So, that our families would take us out into the wilds and leave us?? I can't stand myself. Angry, resentful. Merry Christmas. When I am bleeding like a stuck hog, yes, how did women do this hundred of years ago?? With rags?
Makes me appreciate that story in the Bible of the lady who bled all the time, and just wanted to TOUCH Jesus's hem of his clothing. And Jesus just happened to walk close by, and she touched HIS HEM and was healed, and He felt the power go out of HIM and He whipped around, and said, who touched Me??? She touched Him in faith, and was healed, and He KNEW it already, and could have kept quiet, but instead HE said, who touched me, and scared the pooky out of her. She had to confess.
Man-0-Man, if Jesus was walking down my street, I would be tempted to body tackle Him. For almost forty years I have been as regular as clockwork. Ever since my Poppy's funeral...what a lovely time to start. And except for the three pregnancies---but you make up for it after a birth, 'cause you bleed for six weeks.
Here at the end, I skipped a month last year. got all excited, but whoa---then a two weeker. And then the six week, and wondering where I was in the cycle. And then a soaker. Grossed out yet??!! I tell all. I mark it in my little calendar in my wallet. I buy maxi pads by the case. What next?? Hot flashes?? Can't wait.
I must say it puts Christmas in a different light when you wonder if you are dying. My husband and boys know I love them. I don't want my boys to fear female stuff with their wives.
Day after Christmas update: hopefully, the flow is slowing down a little. But, I am wiped out. NO energy. I feel run over by a truck. I am out of paper towels, and apple juice, but I have not the energy nor desire to go to the store and fight the crowds, nor catch something. I am sure my immune system must be down. I have never seen such big blood clots...bigger than the pomegranate seed size of the day before. And it has been years since cramping like that. We put a plastic bag down between the sheet and mattress pad.
I think tomorrow is the last day Bob works downtown Dallas this year. Whoop.
Coffee is ready. The radio weatherman said it would be in the seventies by Friday.
Sneaking one in----Today is actually Wednesday, Christmas Eve, December 24th And I don't want to bump James and Amber's picture, so I decided to sneak this on in here. I don't think my boys will read down this far.
I am a 52 year old woman and I am dreading my monthly periods as they are SO heavy. Yesterday, I thought I was going to die. It was awful. It scared me. I am not scared of dying, if it is my time. But, what is going on??? And this was another reason we decided not to travel this time of year. It would be so fun to see the grandchild, but they are having severe winter. And I can't imagine bleeding so heavy and traveling, and hotels, and the mess. At home, I have a wonderful washer and dryer. And thankfully, Bob is home on vacation. I woke up in a puddle yesterday morning. Even Bob had a big splotch on his leg. Stained sheets, stained mattress pad. Do women sometimes bleed to death from a super heavy period?? I googled it, but goodness---even the "health" information sites talk about herbal remedies. And who wants to go to doc in a box this time of year?? Not me.
I have to sit on a towel around the house. I have a towel in each chair I use. And I have NO energy for shopping nor cooking. I did make a rum cake yesterday, but that was it, other than lunch. We watched a science fiction movie Bob had seen, but I had not. And I got so chilled just sitting there, I had to put on a coat and scarf in the house. I was shivering. I am taking an iron tablet each day. And B vitamins. And trying to drink plenty of water.
It could be worse. I could be coughing. A cold and cough are no fun when you are intercontinental. I usually catch a cold this time of month, as my immune system must be down.
We have a turkey thawing in the frig. I was needing to make sure I have the bag to cook it in, and buy potatoes for mashing, and stocking stuffers, but whoa---when I can barely move, and cramping, and feeling so cold all the time...it causes you to re-think Christmas prep. What is the least I can do? The guys won't care. Bob is happy on the computer, and James is busy with Amber. Ben drops in, but this is a lean time in the solar panel roof business, and things are grim for him right now. He is lonely, and too quiet.
Pray for Bob. He has SUCH patience, and longsuffering. I have not grossed him out yet, and he is so gentle and kind. Easy to please. But, why does PMS and the strange doings of the female period mean moodiness, and snappishness?? So, that our families would take us out into the wilds and leave us?? I can't stand myself. Angry, resentful. Merry Christmas. When I am bleeding like a stuck hog, yes, how did women do this hundred of years ago?? With rags?
Makes me appreciate that story in the Bible of the lady who bled all the time, and just wanted to TOUCH Jesus's hem of his clothing. And Jesus just happened to walk close by, and she touched HIS HEM and was healed, and He felt the power go out of HIM and He whipped around, and said, who touched Me??? She touched Him in faith, and was healed, and He KNEW it already, and could have kept quiet, but instead HE said, who touched me, and scared the pooky out of her. She had to confess.
Man-0-Man, if Jesus was walking down my street, I would be tempted to body tackle Him. For almost forty years I have been as regular as clockwork. Ever since my Poppy's funeral...what a lovely time to start. And except for the three pregnancies---but you make up for it after a birth, 'cause you bleed for six weeks.
Here at the end, I skipped a month last year. got all excited, but whoa---then a two weeker. And then the six week, and wondering where I was in the cycle. And then a soaker. Grossed out yet??!! I tell all. I mark it in my little calendar in my wallet. I buy maxi pads by the case. What next?? Hot flashes?? Can't wait.
I must say it puts Christmas in a different light when you wonder if you are dying. My husband and boys know I love them. I don't want my boys to fear female stuff with their wives.
Day after Christmas update: hopefully, the flow is slowing down a little. But, I am wiped out. NO energy. I feel run over by a truck. I am out of paper towels, and apple juice, but I have not the energy nor desire to go to the store and fight the crowds, nor catch something. I am sure my immune system must be down. I have never seen such big blood clots...bigger than the pomegranate seed size of the day before. And it has been years since cramping like that. We put a plastic bag down between the sheet and mattress pad.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
ICE
A thin layer of ice coated everything today. And on the car, tiny snowflakes shaped liked tiny straight hairs.
This afternoon, the south facing roof line dripped a little, and the streets and driveway dried. Bob went in to work super early to avoid the rush, and rode the train to avoid the bumper cars that the morning rush hour became.
(Before we even went to bed last night they were talking about closing freeways like I-20 and I-30 and parts of 360.) A thin mist fell on and off today, and Bob says it froze on his windshield coming home.
I mixed up the Tastefully Simple Almond pound cake. Super easy. Just butter and water. In one greased small pyrex bowl, I put a dollop of dough and pressed frozen blueberries into it. It cooked just fine, and tasted great. I wonder how else to experiment with the basic mix. Tomato basil soup for supper. No way was I driving around in this today. Call me a chicken. Why get out and get in a wreck when I don't need to get out? I finally used up that cone of "shades of denim" yarn. Knitted a few hot pads. Talked on the phone with Mary and Suzanne. Also heard from Andy and his wife--the shirts that light up made it. They are having an ice storm up in Ohio now, too. Much worse than us. We will get above freezing tomorrow, and be in the seventies by Friday and Saturday. Folks in Ohio will probably stay cold for much longer.
Hard to watch stories on Breitbart TV today. Punks that abuse the elderly need to be put away for life. And if a salesman tries to sell you a vacuum cleaner one day, he is just casing the place. When he comes back and wants to use your phone, call the police. Do not believe the sad stories.
Bob won at Scrabble tonight: 327 to 234
This afternoon, the south facing roof line dripped a little, and the streets and driveway dried. Bob went in to work super early to avoid the rush, and rode the train to avoid the bumper cars that the morning rush hour became.
(Before we even went to bed last night they were talking about closing freeways like I-20 and I-30 and parts of 360.) A thin mist fell on and off today, and Bob says it froze on his windshield coming home.
I mixed up the Tastefully Simple Almond pound cake. Super easy. Just butter and water. In one greased small pyrex bowl, I put a dollop of dough and pressed frozen blueberries into it. It cooked just fine, and tasted great. I wonder how else to experiment with the basic mix. Tomato basil soup for supper. No way was I driving around in this today. Call me a chicken. Why get out and get in a wreck when I don't need to get out? I finally used up that cone of "shades of denim" yarn. Knitted a few hot pads. Talked on the phone with Mary and Suzanne. Also heard from Andy and his wife--the shirts that light up made it. They are having an ice storm up in Ohio now, too. Much worse than us. We will get above freezing tomorrow, and be in the seventies by Friday and Saturday. Folks in Ohio will probably stay cold for much longer.
Hard to watch stories on Breitbart TV today. Punks that abuse the elderly need to be put away for life. And if a salesman tries to sell you a vacuum cleaner one day, he is just casing the place. When he comes back and wants to use your phone, call the police. Do not believe the sad stories.
Bob won at Scrabble tonight: 327 to 234
Monday, December 15, 2008
Super Cold...for us
Ice pellets. That is what they are calling it.
Ben dropped in at noon, so I took him to see the chiropractor, and we shopped for a heavy coat---poor guy has a most practical mom for Christmas. He has lived on his own for almost two years now. He has an apartment about five miles west of us, and has a roommate, and two rescued kitties. But, this is a lean time in the solar panel business. And I'd rather buy stuff he needs or picks out so that he will wear it.
Bob had a much too exciting morning--but I will let him blog about that. I don't want to steal his thunder. But, when he prays about it over supper---it makes me giggle, and when I get started giggling, and trying to suppress the giggling, well, it turns into hysterical giggling. Very disrespectful during prayer. I hope God understands.
I did beat Bob at Scrabble. again. 282 to 279. It was close.
I just turned on the electric blanket, so our bed will be toasty.
I am thankful I do not live in Montana. They have the low temps for the whole nation. Minus 27
Isn't that colder than in Alaska?
Ben dropped in at noon, so I took him to see the chiropractor, and we shopped for a heavy coat---poor guy has a most practical mom for Christmas. He has lived on his own for almost two years now. He has an apartment about five miles west of us, and has a roommate, and two rescued kitties. But, this is a lean time in the solar panel business. And I'd rather buy stuff he needs or picks out so that he will wear it.
Bob had a much too exciting morning--but I will let him blog about that. I don't want to steal his thunder. But, when he prays about it over supper---it makes me giggle, and when I get started giggling, and trying to suppress the giggling, well, it turns into hysterical giggling. Very disrespectful during prayer. I hope God understands.
I did beat Bob at Scrabble. again. 282 to 279. It was close.
I just turned on the electric blanket, so our bed will be toasty.
I am thankful I do not live in Montana. They have the low temps for the whole nation. Minus 27
Isn't that colder than in Alaska?
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Spoke Too Soon--windy again
Wow. The wind bloweth. It bloweth from the south. Cold front acoming, but it may be awhile yet, don't ya know.
And looking at the weather websites---whoa, that looks like a big cold front.
Mystery---why was there a huge limo two doors down last night after 10pm?? I heard them shout, "Goodnight Shirley" and then they drove slowly by. I will have to ask them about their celebrity visit. I bet that limo had fun making the turn onto our street.
Random thought: I sure wish we lost weight through exercise in our dreams---I'd be as thin as a rail. My dreams are SO busy. And I don't dream about eating. Too busy talking, cleaning and doing stuff. My dreams wear me out.
Talk at ya later...
Okay, its later. 9pm is how much later. We went to church. Bob's Sunday School lesson was excellent. Then we went to lunch. Mexican food. Then we went by the Botanical Gardens. Roses were a little past prime, but some still blooming. It got hot, and we got sweaty walking around there. I am sure the temps were close to eighty degrees in the sun. We drove back home, took naps in the chairs after I whooped Bob at Scrabble. Bob has been chuckling and chuckling over his blog post on Christmas lights.
I had Bob heft the huge box of calendars down, and found the ones that will work again next year. Found the 1987 and 1998. Its a walk down memory lane with the 1987 one as I had marked it up about the babies. James started waling at 15 months December 3, 1987. And all the cute statistics on baby Ben born in October 1987.
I have been recycling Christmas cards, too. Turning last years into post cards, and starting a pile of envelopes for folks who do not do email or read blogs.
So, if you keep old calendars, these will work for 2009: 1925, 1931, 1942, 1953, 1959, 1970, 1981, 1987, 1998, 2015 and 2026.
The cold front is here. Whoa. It got real calm, and then I noticed on the weather websites that Mineral Wells is already at 32 degrees. Dalhart, Texas has had dropping temperatures all day. We just closed the north windows. The last two cold fronts came during the day. This one is sneaking in at night. I feel sorry for the folks in Montana, North and South Dakota--temps with a minus sign.
And looking at the weather websites---whoa, that looks like a big cold front.
Mystery---why was there a huge limo two doors down last night after 10pm?? I heard them shout, "Goodnight Shirley" and then they drove slowly by. I will have to ask them about their celebrity visit. I bet that limo had fun making the turn onto our street.
Random thought: I sure wish we lost weight through exercise in our dreams---I'd be as thin as a rail. My dreams are SO busy. And I don't dream about eating. Too busy talking, cleaning and doing stuff. My dreams wear me out.
Talk at ya later...
Okay, its later. 9pm is how much later. We went to church. Bob's Sunday School lesson was excellent. Then we went to lunch. Mexican food. Then we went by the Botanical Gardens. Roses were a little past prime, but some still blooming. It got hot, and we got sweaty walking around there. I am sure the temps were close to eighty degrees in the sun. We drove back home, took naps in the chairs after I whooped Bob at Scrabble. Bob has been chuckling and chuckling over his blog post on Christmas lights.
I had Bob heft the huge box of calendars down, and found the ones that will work again next year. Found the 1987 and 1998. Its a walk down memory lane with the 1987 one as I had marked it up about the babies. James started waling at 15 months December 3, 1987. And all the cute statistics on baby Ben born in October 1987.
I have been recycling Christmas cards, too. Turning last years into post cards, and starting a pile of envelopes for folks who do not do email or read blogs.
So, if you keep old calendars, these will work for 2009: 1925, 1931, 1942, 1953, 1959, 1970, 1981, 1987, 1998, 2015 and 2026.
The cold front is here. Whoa. It got real calm, and then I noticed on the weather websites that Mineral Wells is already at 32 degrees. Dalhart, Texas has had dropping temperatures all day. We just closed the north windows. The last two cold fronts came during the day. This one is sneaking in at night. I feel sorry for the folks in Montana, North and South Dakota--temps with a minus sign.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Saturday---the wind quieted down--wow
It always amazes me when you hear the radio weather people predict that at 10am the wind will start howling, and then they are correct. It was windy today. We watched the wind pick up the leaves in the neighbor's yard across the street, lift them up and throw them over her house. A new pile has been deposited by our garage door, too---probably from our back yard.
I tried the Tastefully Simple cherry crisp today. Again, very easy to do. I prefer more old fashioned rolled oats in my crisp---so I will modify it next time. But, the box comes ready with the cherries and topping for folks snowed in, like our northern relatives--so it should make a nice Christmas treat for them. And the caramel sauce comes in a little jar. I scooped out a dollop and cut up apples for a snack. What a fun way to use up apples that have been in the frig for weeks. Apples do not get eaten around here unless I wash and cut them up, or sneak one in Bob's briefcase.
The firstborn called again today as they were out shopping, but the grandbaby was not in the mood to chat on the phone. Needed more nap. And James called today when his girlfriend was busy photographing her pastor's family. And I left a message on Ben's phone that we had hot cherry cobbler, but he must not have been hungry for it.
Bob beat me at Scrabble: 385 to 241. We may play another game as it is not yet bedtime, and he says he has his Sunday School lesson ready. The puppies on the puppy cam are burning off their supper wrestling and tearing up their bed.
Christmas cards are trickling in. Good to see the new school pictures of nieces and nephews. We have done Christmas letters in years past, and I used to do fifty or more Christmas cards. I don't know, why send cards to folks who read about our lives here? And why send cards to folks we keep in contact via email? I'll never forget, years ago before blogging was invented, how Bob would sit and chuckle to himself composing the Christmas newsletter to top all newsletters. He is a good writer, and blogs instead of composing witty newsletters.
Time to load the dishwasher again, and check the laundry, and play another game of Scrabble. (And I beat Bob by two points: 242 to 240) Then its off to bed so that we are awake and alert for Sunday School.
Goodnight PERIGEAN moon, Goodnight Shiba Inu puppies three, Goodnight and thanks to the brave BOFFINS that know and proclaim global warming is a hoax. I will link the article here when I click on it again. I am an embedding fool these days. Teach this old dog a new trick will ya!
Hey, MOTHER--or was that you, Dad?? Let me know you are reading my boring blog or I will snail mail it to you. Ha
I tried the Tastefully Simple cherry crisp today. Again, very easy to do. I prefer more old fashioned rolled oats in my crisp---so I will modify it next time. But, the box comes ready with the cherries and topping for folks snowed in, like our northern relatives--so it should make a nice Christmas treat for them. And the caramel sauce comes in a little jar. I scooped out a dollop and cut up apples for a snack. What a fun way to use up apples that have been in the frig for weeks. Apples do not get eaten around here unless I wash and cut them up, or sneak one in Bob's briefcase.
The firstborn called again today as they were out shopping, but the grandbaby was not in the mood to chat on the phone. Needed more nap. And James called today when his girlfriend was busy photographing her pastor's family. And I left a message on Ben's phone that we had hot cherry cobbler, but he must not have been hungry for it.
Bob beat me at Scrabble: 385 to 241. We may play another game as it is not yet bedtime, and he says he has his Sunday School lesson ready. The puppies on the puppy cam are burning off their supper wrestling and tearing up their bed.
Christmas cards are trickling in. Good to see the new school pictures of nieces and nephews. We have done Christmas letters in years past, and I used to do fifty or more Christmas cards. I don't know, why send cards to folks who read about our lives here? And why send cards to folks we keep in contact via email? I'll never forget, years ago before blogging was invented, how Bob would sit and chuckle to himself composing the Christmas newsletter to top all newsletters. He is a good writer, and blogs instead of composing witty newsletters.
Time to load the dishwasher again, and check the laundry, and play another game of Scrabble. (And I beat Bob by two points: 242 to 240) Then its off to bed so that we are awake and alert for Sunday School.
Goodnight PERIGEAN moon, Goodnight Shiba Inu puppies three, Goodnight and thanks to the brave BOFFINS that know and proclaim global warming is a hoax. I will link the article here when I click on it again. I am an embedding fool these days. Teach this old dog a new trick will ya!
Hey, MOTHER--or was that you, Dad?? Let me know you are reading my boring blog or I will snail mail it to you. Ha
But, what happened Friday?
Bob is taking each Friday in December to both use up his vacation days, and get Sunday School lesson preparation started. Bob teaches the gray-haired class one more Sunday, then Pastor Mark moved him over to teach the "family class" (parents mostly, but no children, and folks that think they are too young to join their parents in the gray-haired class).
My first order of "Tastefully Simple" foods arrived early Friday morning. The instructions are simple, thankfully. And I made a mental note to make Bob the beer bread as soon as I got home from a planned lunch with my old friend, Nance visiting her kids near Denton. Getting from Arlington to Denton is a hoot. It involves traveling up 360 to Grapevine, and 114, then swinging north of DFW airport, and changing lanes in always heavy traffic to I-35E but getting on 121 for a few miles. 121 in under construction, and so it has traffic lights by Grapevine mall, and then there are these BEWARE: "last free exit" signs and I only needed to stay on it for two exits before heading north toward Denton. Needless to say, I will get a bill in the mail in about a month for $2.20 and I will scratch my head trying to remember if we were visiting Bob's uncle, or was this my trip to Denton to see Nance? I think God put some workers on the entrance ramp to a freeway I did not recognize, and so I was able to get on I-35 this time without having to circle back (like last year).
I did not allow enough time, so I was fifteen minutes late getting to Nance's son's house. But, she was ready, and had a desire for Mexican food not found in Ohio. Spinach enchaladas at El Chico. They tasted pretty good. We walked around the small, yet clean and uncrowded Golden Triangle mall. I found some tea light candles for my rock candle holders---candle holders that do not burn down the house if I forget them. And Nance found a secret pal gift she was needing for an office party. We oooo-ed and aaaahhh-ed over the doodads. And then went back to her son's house where his family was just getting home, and visited with them a while. Such cute grandkids, Nance has. It has been fun watching them grow in pictures, and from the stories from Grannie Nance. Her granddaughter gave me some refrigerator art as I was leaving. I needed some more. Usually, my niece keeps me supplies with frig art, but she is getting older now, and our grandbaby has not shared just yet.
When I called Bob to let him know I was headed home---a little later than I had earlier proclaimed, he mentioned that our youngest son had dropped in, and that he had taken Ben to lunch. I am so glad they got some quality time together. Come to find out Saturday morning--they did a little Christmas shopping, too! There is a huge box in the back bedroom to mom from Ben. It is a very heavy box. I wonder...
That sneaky Bob---here I thought I was getting out of his hair so that he could get his Sunday School lesson done, and he was out shopping with our youngest son!
When I got home about 4pm, I opened the first box of the Tastefully Simple beer bread. The instructions say to mix it with a 12 ounce beer, and only for 30 seconds, put it in a greased loaf pan and bake for an hour. That sounded too simple, and so I assembled the necessary bowl, loaf pan, and was so thankful I just happened to have some Shiner Blonde in the frig---seemed like a waste of a good Shiner, however. Now I will have to get some cheap beer to use up that other box. Ha. And certain ones will make fun of me for having cheep beer in my frig. I will be embarrassed to even be caught buying cheap beer. Ha.
Just as I am about to start, our firstborn calls from Ohio. And so we all chat on our phones and there is this echo of our voices on their cell phones. The grandchild chimes in, too. Then we hear an "uh-oh" and nothing, so we figured they went down into a valley or something. I go back to the kitchen to get the bread going and into the oven, when the firstborn calls back, and Bob decides to give them a blow by blow descriptions of my bizarre (to him) behavior in the kitchen: "mom is pouring a beer in a bowl of flour..." Good thing the grandchild is too young to be impressed by questionable Grannie Ethics.
It was ridiculously easy to make---and it turned out SWEET. How is that possible?? Beer is not sweet. I poured a beer in the mix, put it in the loaf pan and cooked it. It is more like cake. After studying the box more closely, I noticed they have other options, like adding spices or creamed corn. Oh, my. I have more choices---but Bob liked it hot out of the oven. In fact, we almost spoiled our supper. (midwest phrase from my youth: don't eat that or you'll spoil your supper, as in, be too full to eat what is good for you). And we finished off the rest of the loaf for breakfast toast. Bob said he ate his with a fork, as it is crumbly.
My question is---who to give it to, and to wonder if they have beer in their frig?? Or, would you need to give a friend a box of beer batter bread with a beer just in case??
Now to try the Cherry Crisp Mix. I don't want to be giving stuff out without having taste tested it, you know.
If you happen to have loads of cheap beer, and would like to make some super easy bread, go to this military wife's SITE and ask for a look at her Tastefully Simple supplies. It is a very friendly, easy website to use.
My first order of "Tastefully Simple" foods arrived early Friday morning. The instructions are simple, thankfully. And I made a mental note to make Bob the beer bread as soon as I got home from a planned lunch with my old friend, Nance visiting her kids near Denton. Getting from Arlington to Denton is a hoot. It involves traveling up 360 to Grapevine, and 114, then swinging north of DFW airport, and changing lanes in always heavy traffic to I-35E but getting on 121 for a few miles. 121 in under construction, and so it has traffic lights by Grapevine mall, and then there are these BEWARE: "last free exit" signs and I only needed to stay on it for two exits before heading north toward Denton. Needless to say, I will get a bill in the mail in about a month for $2.20 and I will scratch my head trying to remember if we were visiting Bob's uncle, or was this my trip to Denton to see Nance? I think God put some workers on the entrance ramp to a freeway I did not recognize, and so I was able to get on I-35 this time without having to circle back (like last year).
I did not allow enough time, so I was fifteen minutes late getting to Nance's son's house. But, she was ready, and had a desire for Mexican food not found in Ohio. Spinach enchaladas at El Chico. They tasted pretty good. We walked around the small, yet clean and uncrowded Golden Triangle mall. I found some tea light candles for my rock candle holders---candle holders that do not burn down the house if I forget them. And Nance found a secret pal gift she was needing for an office party. We oooo-ed and aaaahhh-ed over the doodads. And then went back to her son's house where his family was just getting home, and visited with them a while. Such cute grandkids, Nance has. It has been fun watching them grow in pictures, and from the stories from Grannie Nance. Her granddaughter gave me some refrigerator art as I was leaving. I needed some more. Usually, my niece keeps me supplies with frig art, but she is getting older now, and our grandbaby has not shared just yet.
When I called Bob to let him know I was headed home---a little later than I had earlier proclaimed, he mentioned that our youngest son had dropped in, and that he had taken Ben to lunch. I am so glad they got some quality time together. Come to find out Saturday morning--they did a little Christmas shopping, too! There is a huge box in the back bedroom to mom from Ben. It is a very heavy box. I wonder...
That sneaky Bob---here I thought I was getting out of his hair so that he could get his Sunday School lesson done, and he was out shopping with our youngest son!
When I got home about 4pm, I opened the first box of the Tastefully Simple beer bread. The instructions say to mix it with a 12 ounce beer, and only for 30 seconds, put it in a greased loaf pan and bake for an hour. That sounded too simple, and so I assembled the necessary bowl, loaf pan, and was so thankful I just happened to have some Shiner Blonde in the frig---seemed like a waste of a good Shiner, however. Now I will have to get some cheap beer to use up that other box. Ha. And certain ones will make fun of me for having cheep beer in my frig. I will be embarrassed to even be caught buying cheap beer. Ha.
Just as I am about to start, our firstborn calls from Ohio. And so we all chat on our phones and there is this echo of our voices on their cell phones. The grandchild chimes in, too. Then we hear an "uh-oh" and nothing, so we figured they went down into a valley or something. I go back to the kitchen to get the bread going and into the oven, when the firstborn calls back, and Bob decides to give them a blow by blow descriptions of my bizarre (to him) behavior in the kitchen: "mom is pouring a beer in a bowl of flour..." Good thing the grandchild is too young to be impressed by questionable Grannie Ethics.
It was ridiculously easy to make---and it turned out SWEET. How is that possible?? Beer is not sweet. I poured a beer in the mix, put it in the loaf pan and cooked it. It is more like cake. After studying the box more closely, I noticed they have other options, like adding spices or creamed corn. Oh, my. I have more choices---but Bob liked it hot out of the oven. In fact, we almost spoiled our supper. (midwest phrase from my youth: don't eat that or you'll spoil your supper, as in, be too full to eat what is good for you). And we finished off the rest of the loaf for breakfast toast. Bob said he ate his with a fork, as it is crumbly.
My question is---who to give it to, and to wonder if they have beer in their frig?? Or, would you need to give a friend a box of beer batter bread with a beer just in case??
Now to try the Cherry Crisp Mix. I don't want to be giving stuff out without having taste tested it, you know.
If you happen to have loads of cheap beer, and would like to make some super easy bread, go to this military wife's SITE and ask for a look at her Tastefully Simple supplies. It is a very friendly, easy website to use.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Stuffing
I made a batch of stuffing at Thanksgiving, and baked it in small pyrex bowls, and froze the single servings and ate the last one today. I want to write down what I remember about making it, in order to replicate it, and make more soon.
First, I made a batch of cornbread. Ingredients: cornmeal, flour, sugar, olive oil
Second, I sauteed chopped celery, onion, whole garlic cloves in olive oil and mixed them with the crumbled up cornbread, and one box of low sodium stove top stuffing. Mrs. Dash, and cans of no fat broth and into the oven in greased bowls. It is a fun way to eat lots of garlic. And if I just use stale bread this time instead of the stuffing mix---that will make it even lower fat.
I wonder what other high fiber foods would make it even better---whole cranberries, apples, pecans. What fun.
First, I made a batch of cornbread. Ingredients: cornmeal, flour, sugar, olive oil
Second, I sauteed chopped celery, onion, whole garlic cloves in olive oil and mixed them with the crumbled up cornbread, and one box of low sodium stove top stuffing. Mrs. Dash, and cans of no fat broth and into the oven in greased bowls. It is a fun way to eat lots of garlic. And if I just use stale bread this time instead of the stuffing mix---that will make it even lower fat.
I wonder what other high fiber foods would make it even better---whole cranberries, apples, pecans. What fun.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
God Bless you, sir, and May He comfort you
THIS storyis amazing.
I have watched the CNN interview, and the CBS edited version, and Fox almost gets it right. This man lost his whole family when the F18 crashed into his house killing his wife, and mother-in-law and two baby girls. And yet when he appears before the microphones, and answers questions we cannot hear, he is composed, grieving, and he does NOT blame the pilot. He calls the pilot a national treasure of this country. He says others have endured, suffered worse than what he is suffering. Wow.
He is supported and surrounded by his pastor, church members, and he expresses thanks to the rescuers. Wow. He asks for prayer for the pilot that he not suffer because of the accident.
I have watched the CNN interview, and the CBS edited version, and Fox almost gets it right. This man lost his whole family when the F18 crashed into his house killing his wife, and mother-in-law and two baby girls. And yet when he appears before the microphones, and answers questions we cannot hear, he is composed, grieving, and he does NOT blame the pilot. He calls the pilot a national treasure of this country. He says others have endured, suffered worse than what he is suffering. Wow.
He is supported and surrounded by his pastor, church members, and he expresses thanks to the rescuers. Wow. He asks for prayer for the pilot that he not suffer because of the accident.
I thought this too boring to post, but Bob said, "no, that sounds good...post it"
At the post office today, the line did not look long, so I decided to stay and try and mail a small package. The scales in the lobby guessed $2.19 but I did not want to put it on the credit card, and that is the only money the machine takes. I got in line with two more grey haired ladies, and we talked about the dinosaurs we had become in the new technology age. While we waited, a clerk at the end was busy explaining to an elderly man how to update his passport. She explained loud enough for us to hear that he can just fill out this four page form on his own and send it in, but if he wanted the post office to do it for him, there would be a $25 charge on top of the $75 renewal. I think the man gave up and took the form home, and the next in line walked over to this clerk only to hear, “oh, I am not working…I am just answering passport questions”. We chuckled at the “not working” part. That seemed to describe her too well.
And while waiting in line at Walmart to return some too small slacks, an old neighbor recognized me and we got caught up on news. Then around the aisle containing dishwashing liquid, I ran into an old PTA mom. So, we chatted away and solved all the world’s problems.
Should I mention the two loads of laundry and that I actually vacuumed? Are you yawning yet? I know I am. Night.
And while waiting in line at Walmart to return some too small slacks, an old neighbor recognized me and we got caught up on news. Then around the aisle containing dishwashing liquid, I ran into an old PTA mom. So, we chatted away and solved all the world’s problems.
Should I mention the two loads of laundry and that I actually vacuumed? Are you yawning yet? I know I am. Night.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Who said... Who is speaking?
Dear Bob, to show you I am listening during your good Sunday School lessons--these verses made me think of what you have been teaching. Who said, or can you guess who is really speaking?
"My wound is incurable though I am without transgression...Who gave Him authority over the earth? And Who has laid on Him the whole world?"
and three chapters later: ...from the breath of God ice is made.
The cold front is here. I had to shut the windows and turn on the furnace.
And remember that pile of leaves by the front door? I was going to rake them up, but the wind took them all away.
Love, Joyce
"My wound is incurable though I am without transgression...Who gave Him authority over the earth? And Who has laid on Him the whole world?"
and three chapters later: ...from the breath of God ice is made.
The cold front is here. I had to shut the windows and turn on the furnace.
And remember that pile of leaves by the front door? I was going to rake them up, but the wind took them all away.
Love, Joyce
Burger King
After watching THIS cute ad online, I was hungry for a whopper and decided to go by our local Burger King. Breitbart TV featured the story, too, and encouraged us to go watch the whole thing. I think you can access it from Brietbart's site, here.
I researched the menu online, because it has been a few years since I have been to a Burger King. I wanted to have an order or idea ready just in case there is a line. When I pulled up to the drive in speaker, I was met with a friendly, "Thank you for choosing Burger King." And a pause. Since this is a statement, and not a question, I waited, thinking, okay, they are there, but are they ready to take my order? A few long seconds later, I heard the lady say, "give your order when you are ready." Another statement. Okay. I ordered a whopper with cheese and an iced coffee. $5.82
I should have had them hold the mayo. And the tomatoes were gross. And the iceberg lettuce was in chunks---fresh, but not like in the picture. The meat was done. But, it is a messy sandwich. Maybe I'll try a junior whopper next time.
After I paid for my food, and after I was handed the sack, I told the clerk that I like the new ad. She had not seen it yet. But, I wanted to give them a heads up that that was why I was here. This Burger King is just down the street from a good McDonalds. I like to support good advertising, especially when the advertising ticks off the libs. But, come on Burger King. Send some folks through the line that don't know the drill. How about saying, "Thank you for choosing Burger King, may I take your order?" or "Thank you for choosing Burger King, can I interest you in a whopper today?" I am no virgin, (the new ad talks about whopper virgins, as in someone who has never had an hamburger) but, why spend so much time and effort on a catchy ad when you have lots of people in the good old USA who have not eaten a whopper in a while? I am glad you removed the irritating plastic king ads. I'll give you one more chance. Bring your own workers up to speed.
And as I practice embedding--will it ever come naturally?? Bob helped me and I wrote out exactly whatall to type.
I researched the menu online, because it has been a few years since I have been to a Burger King. I wanted to have an order or idea ready just in case there is a line. When I pulled up to the drive in speaker, I was met with a friendly, "Thank you for choosing Burger King." And a pause. Since this is a statement, and not a question, I waited, thinking, okay, they are there, but are they ready to take my order? A few long seconds later, I heard the lady say, "give your order when you are ready." Another statement. Okay. I ordered a whopper with cheese and an iced coffee. $5.82
I should have had them hold the mayo. And the tomatoes were gross. And the iceberg lettuce was in chunks---fresh, but not like in the picture. The meat was done. But, it is a messy sandwich. Maybe I'll try a junior whopper next time.
After I paid for my food, and after I was handed the sack, I told the clerk that I like the new ad. She had not seen it yet. But, I wanted to give them a heads up that that was why I was here. This Burger King is just down the street from a good McDonalds. I like to support good advertising, especially when the advertising ticks off the libs. But, come on Burger King. Send some folks through the line that don't know the drill. How about saying, "Thank you for choosing Burger King, may I take your order?" or "Thank you for choosing Burger King, can I interest you in a whopper today?" I am no virgin, (the new ad talks about whopper virgins, as in someone who has never had an hamburger) but, why spend so much time and effort on a catchy ad when you have lots of people in the good old USA who have not eaten a whopper in a while? I am glad you removed the irritating plastic king ads. I'll give you one more chance. Bring your own workers up to speed.
And as I practice embedding--will it ever come naturally?? Bob helped me and I wrote out exactly whatall to type.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Watching Da Puppies
It is Monday night, and we still have the windows open. A cold front is coming sometime tomorrow, but until then, we wait for just a little rain. Maybe. The green rye grass shoots need it. I have the three remaining puppies on a screen. Can they do math? Do they realize three of their siblings have gone to new homes? They sleep touching each other. One has a paw thrown over the puppy snuggling close. Too cute.
I never bothered to get a password and log in but today I wish I had. One of the puppies figured out how to climb on top of the crate, and kept practicing his new skill and his legs kept falling through the spaces. I was so afraid he was going to have a leg fall through just as he leapt off, and break something. Worst case scenerio mom here. Yikes. Sure enough, when the Mrs. got home, her first words were, "have you been a bad boy?" and she lifted the crate out of the play-gated area. So, somebody told on them. I figured someone would.
In the comments, they talk about how each puppy went to a good home. The camera only allows us to see feet. So, we have watched while the new owners come play with the whole bunch, and then wave bye-bye with the puppy's paw before they go. Number three went to a "show home" and I was wondering what in the world that was. Something having to do with how the dogs are raised to show, and that they would be seeing lots of these people at the shows. But how is a "show home" different than a regular home?
And when will the remaining puppies go to their new homes? I think Mr and Mrs. SF (San Francisco) Shiba Inu are keeping the smallest of the litter. The one that used to wear a yellow collar.
I wish our son and his wife had a live cam of the grandchild. Wouldn't that be fun? We could see the grandchild play and dance and bark and all the tricks. Our middle son says he can "see" his girlfriend on the Skypte thingy. So maybe when he is home at Christmas, he can help us see the grandchild. That would be so cool.
Lightning---that is a good sign. Lightning to the south. Time to check the weather websites.
And time to practice my embedding: to see the puppies, go HERE.
I never bothered to get a password and log in but today I wish I had. One of the puppies figured out how to climb on top of the crate, and kept practicing his new skill and his legs kept falling through the spaces. I was so afraid he was going to have a leg fall through just as he leapt off, and break something. Worst case scenerio mom here. Yikes. Sure enough, when the Mrs. got home, her first words were, "have you been a bad boy?" and she lifted the crate out of the play-gated area. So, somebody told on them. I figured someone would.
In the comments, they talk about how each puppy went to a good home. The camera only allows us to see feet. So, we have watched while the new owners come play with the whole bunch, and then wave bye-bye with the puppy's paw before they go. Number three went to a "show home" and I was wondering what in the world that was. Something having to do with how the dogs are raised to show, and that they would be seeing lots of these people at the shows. But how is a "show home" different than a regular home?
And when will the remaining puppies go to their new homes? I think Mr and Mrs. SF (San Francisco) Shiba Inu are keeping the smallest of the litter. The one that used to wear a yellow collar.
I wish our son and his wife had a live cam of the grandchild. Wouldn't that be fun? We could see the grandchild play and dance and bark and all the tricks. Our middle son says he can "see" his girlfriend on the Skypte thingy. So maybe when he is home at Christmas, he can help us see the grandchild. That would be so cool.
Lightning---that is a good sign. Lightning to the south. Time to check the weather websites.
And time to practice my embedding: to see the puppies, go HERE.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Amazing Grace
or go here if the link does not work:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtrnB4FZ-yc
or go to their website and learn about them:
http://ildivo.com/index.php
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Orphaned Moshe
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/ Go over to Atlas and watch the video. It is hard to watch, I know. And most of it is in Hebrew. But, little 2 year old Moshe is crying for his MaMa. His Mom was murdered by terrorists---Islamic terrorists. Atlas is reporting that his Mom was six months pregnant, too.
We need to wake up. There are vermin training in Pakistan to murder innocent people. I hope those camps are now glass. I hope they hunt down the planners and plotters, and whoever the murderers were talking to on their cell phones.
These gentle people were killed just because they were Jews.
We need to wake up. There are vermin training in Pakistan to murder innocent people. I hope those camps are now glass. I hope they hunt down the planners and plotters, and whoever the murderers were talking to on their cell phones.
These gentle people were killed just because they were Jews.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
What Title to Give This One?
Making a Mountain out of a Mole Hill ??
Or
Looking for a Miracle???
Or
WHY?????????????????????
Or
I am so mad I could scream. And I’m a Christian, dammit, so I have to be NICE. I think I finally understand why Jonah ended the way he did. Jonah must have had a run in with the camel registration folks in Ninevah.
The Christian life is all about perseverance. We are told to persevere until the end. I have this fear of messing up royal just before the end. I have this fear of not ending well. I have this fear of the slippery slope into the area of no rewards. I have no fear of losing my salvation, but having the Lord Jesus Christ frown at ya from across the courtyard after the rooster crows…now that is not something I want to cause.
I am not working for rewards. That is silly. Rewards are a result. Just being IN heaven is reward enough. Just avoiding HELL is reward enough.
All this to say----what the _____happened?? Back in freaking October, we got notices that it was time to fork over our yearly fifty bucks to Tarrant County for an updated sticker. Here in Texas we have TWO stickers on our windshield. One is our inspection sticker. It says I am driving a car that is NOT polluting, and the horn works. We have to drive to local shops displaying the Texas sticker and they shove a sensor up the tail pipe and test your car, and you just hope and pray your older car passes inspection. If it does not pass, then you get to take it to ANOTHER shop and pay for a tune-up and then go back for another try at an inspection sticker. That fun is coming up next month with our ten year old Plymouth. But, the other sticker, the sticker associated with your license plate is a transaction I usually do through the mail. You get a notice, and it comes in three parts, and you pay the fifty bucks or more, and they send you a new sticker which you affix to your windshield. So, back in October, we got notice that the Plymouth and James’ new truck were due for new registration stickers by Nov. 30th 2008. I let James know that this would be a great time to get personalized plates if he was gonna, and I would pick them up for him---as you can only pick up plates for Tarrant County downtown Fort Worth.
James picked out his plates online, ordered them, and sent me the copy of his receipt. No problem so far. I waited the six weeks they advise, and when they came in on November 6th, I trotted downtown Fort Worth, drove around the block three times to find a parking place, and walked up to the clerk with ALL the paperwork necessary to pick up the new plates, and get the new registration stickers. I shoved all the new stickers and plates in my purse so that I would not lose anything and brought them home. James came home for the Veteran’s Day weekend, and put his new sticker on his truck, and I helped him affix the new license plates. He kept the paperwork in his glovebox, as this is necessary to get on his Army base which is actually a fort. Or, is it a post? Anyway, in none of these times when we actually TOUCHED the sticker did we notice that the clerk printed out the wrong YEAR. I kid you not. Either I am incredibly stupid or gullible to not check, or I am too damn trusting of the clerk to print out the correct one…but I am so angry that I could scream. And I have got to get a grip. I have to go back downtown Fort Worth today after assembling all the paperwork AGAIN, and not lose my cool and end up in jail. And then I need to go to the post office and mail the CORRECT sticker to James so that he won’t get a ticket, and so that he can leave the post-fort-base to get his oil changed.
Why? Why? Why???? I feel like Jonah. I feel like yelling at the clerk: “okay, you _______, do you need to hear the gospel or something, is that why you only sold me a sticker good for 24 freaking days???” I want to be sarcastic and mean and laugh hysterically. But, I do not want to end up in jail. And I am a Christian, and have to be nice, or there is that whole apology thing, and repenting, and being a poor witness thing. Good grief.
Poor James. Here his mom hands him a sticker that she says she got from an authority, surely, it must be right. And the guard at the gate jumped all over him for his “expired” sticker. James knew that was not right. He pulled out the paperwork---it clearly says, dated 11-06-08 and good through 11-08. But, who buys a fricking sticker that is only good for 24 fricking days???
They are usually good for a year. In fact, in all the thirty-six years I have been purchasing these stickers—which used to affix to the license plate, not the windshield---in all my thirty-six years of doing this, this is the FIRST time they printed it out WRONG.
See, it is all in how you look at it. I was due a mistake, eh? But, it feels like this registration paperwork for James’s truck is somehow cursed. At first, when the truck was new, we had a horrid time proving the sticker was his registration, as the new truck sticker still had the dealer’s name one it, and the ARMY gate keepers in Kentucky, and Oklahoma had trouble with just a sticker on the windshield. We had to go to the office and get the proper PAPERWORK which stated the same thing as the sticker. Note to military parents and wives---get EXTRA copies of your vehicle registrations. Thankfully, I had made extra copies because of our previous problems.
Rant over. Time to put on my big girl pants and get over it.
But, I’ll be looking for the miracle----I’ll be looking for what I was suppose to do or say or see today in downtown Fort Worth. Maybe a meteor is going to hit the house, and because I am going to downtown Fort Worth, I will not be here to get conked on the head. Call me worst case scenario mom.
update: I survived. The clerk gave no apology. She said the company that makes the personalized plates has gone out of business. Strange. It was never about the plates. It was about the sticker issued by the county. Oh, well. The correct sticker is on its way to James. Soon he will be legal again. Able to come and go without fear of getting a ticket. But, what have we learned today? Double check paperwork issued by the city, state, and county government. Make extra copies. And keep it all in a handy folder.
Beautiful day. Beautiful sunset. I watered the front yard even though it was windy, and made Bob a cherry pie. Night. Night. Oh, yea, and we watched our favorite movie again: THE DISH (Australian)
Hiding something here: Bob, if you are reading, stop now. Marshmellow alert.
Yes, I know it is spelled marshmallow. But, that is a stupid spelling, in my opinion. And since correcting spelling is a pain with blogspot, forget-about-it.
My dear husband hates, and I mean, hates marshmellow crispy treats. He either overdosed as a kid, or had a bad experience, or something. He said the smell even makes him sick-sick-sick. But, hey. I am a mom who does not waste food. And we had this big bag of marshmellows left over from Thanksgiving's sweet potatoes, and I could not throw it away. I had to make something with them. And I had a box of cherrios---cherrios are good for you. Oats. But, I carefully made a batch, and hid them in an opake bowl with a pink lid. Finished them off all by myself. Good roughage. My favorite rice crispy treats are made with coca rice crispies. Now, aren't I thoughtful? Keeping the bad smell away from my dear husband. And thankfully, he did not ask what was in the big white tupperware bowl. He enjoyed the cherry pie.
Or
Looking for a Miracle???
Or
WHY?????????????????????
Or
I am so mad I could scream. And I’m a Christian, dammit, so I have to be NICE. I think I finally understand why Jonah ended the way he did. Jonah must have had a run in with the camel registration folks in Ninevah.
The Christian life is all about perseverance. We are told to persevere until the end. I have this fear of messing up royal just before the end. I have this fear of not ending well. I have this fear of the slippery slope into the area of no rewards. I have no fear of losing my salvation, but having the Lord Jesus Christ frown at ya from across the courtyard after the rooster crows…now that is not something I want to cause.
I am not working for rewards. That is silly. Rewards are a result. Just being IN heaven is reward enough. Just avoiding HELL is reward enough.
All this to say----what the _____happened?? Back in freaking October, we got notices that it was time to fork over our yearly fifty bucks to Tarrant County for an updated sticker. Here in Texas we have TWO stickers on our windshield. One is our inspection sticker. It says I am driving a car that is NOT polluting, and the horn works. We have to drive to local shops displaying the Texas sticker and they shove a sensor up the tail pipe and test your car, and you just hope and pray your older car passes inspection. If it does not pass, then you get to take it to ANOTHER shop and pay for a tune-up and then go back for another try at an inspection sticker. That fun is coming up next month with our ten year old Plymouth. But, the other sticker, the sticker associated with your license plate is a transaction I usually do through the mail. You get a notice, and it comes in three parts, and you pay the fifty bucks or more, and they send you a new sticker which you affix to your windshield. So, back in October, we got notice that the Plymouth and James’ new truck were due for new registration stickers by Nov. 30th 2008. I let James know that this would be a great time to get personalized plates if he was gonna, and I would pick them up for him---as you can only pick up plates for Tarrant County downtown Fort Worth.
James picked out his plates online, ordered them, and sent me the copy of his receipt. No problem so far. I waited the six weeks they advise, and when they came in on November 6th, I trotted downtown Fort Worth, drove around the block three times to find a parking place, and walked up to the clerk with ALL the paperwork necessary to pick up the new plates, and get the new registration stickers. I shoved all the new stickers and plates in my purse so that I would not lose anything and brought them home. James came home for the Veteran’s Day weekend, and put his new sticker on his truck, and I helped him affix the new license plates. He kept the paperwork in his glovebox, as this is necessary to get on his Army base which is actually a fort. Or, is it a post? Anyway, in none of these times when we actually TOUCHED the sticker did we notice that the clerk printed out the wrong YEAR. I kid you not. Either I am incredibly stupid or gullible to not check, or I am too damn trusting of the clerk to print out the correct one…but I am so angry that I could scream. And I have got to get a grip. I have to go back downtown Fort Worth today after assembling all the paperwork AGAIN, and not lose my cool and end up in jail. And then I need to go to the post office and mail the CORRECT sticker to James so that he won’t get a ticket, and so that he can leave the post-fort-base to get his oil changed.
Why? Why? Why???? I feel like Jonah. I feel like yelling at the clerk: “okay, you _______, do you need to hear the gospel or something, is that why you only sold me a sticker good for 24 freaking days???” I want to be sarcastic and mean and laugh hysterically. But, I do not want to end up in jail. And I am a Christian, and have to be nice, or there is that whole apology thing, and repenting, and being a poor witness thing. Good grief.
Poor James. Here his mom hands him a sticker that she says she got from an authority, surely, it must be right. And the guard at the gate jumped all over him for his “expired” sticker. James knew that was not right. He pulled out the paperwork---it clearly says, dated 11-06-08 and good through 11-08. But, who buys a fricking sticker that is only good for 24 fricking days???
They are usually good for a year. In fact, in all the thirty-six years I have been purchasing these stickers—which used to affix to the license plate, not the windshield---in all my thirty-six years of doing this, this is the FIRST time they printed it out WRONG.
See, it is all in how you look at it. I was due a mistake, eh? But, it feels like this registration paperwork for James’s truck is somehow cursed. At first, when the truck was new, we had a horrid time proving the sticker was his registration, as the new truck sticker still had the dealer’s name one it, and the ARMY gate keepers in Kentucky, and Oklahoma had trouble with just a sticker on the windshield. We had to go to the office and get the proper PAPERWORK which stated the same thing as the sticker. Note to military parents and wives---get EXTRA copies of your vehicle registrations. Thankfully, I had made extra copies because of our previous problems.
Rant over. Time to put on my big girl pants and get over it.
But, I’ll be looking for the miracle----I’ll be looking for what I was suppose to do or say or see today in downtown Fort Worth. Maybe a meteor is going to hit the house, and because I am going to downtown Fort Worth, I will not be here to get conked on the head. Call me worst case scenario mom.
update: I survived. The clerk gave no apology. She said the company that makes the personalized plates has gone out of business. Strange. It was never about the plates. It was about the sticker issued by the county. Oh, well. The correct sticker is on its way to James. Soon he will be legal again. Able to come and go without fear of getting a ticket. But, what have we learned today? Double check paperwork issued by the city, state, and county government. Make extra copies. And keep it all in a handy folder.
Beautiful day. Beautiful sunset. I watered the front yard even though it was windy, and made Bob a cherry pie. Night. Night. Oh, yea, and we watched our favorite movie again: THE DISH (Australian)
Hiding something here: Bob, if you are reading, stop now. Marshmellow alert.
Yes, I know it is spelled marshmallow. But, that is a stupid spelling, in my opinion. And since correcting spelling is a pain with blogspot, forget-about-it.
My dear husband hates, and I mean, hates marshmellow crispy treats. He either overdosed as a kid, or had a bad experience, or something. He said the smell even makes him sick-sick-sick. But, hey. I am a mom who does not waste food. And we had this big bag of marshmellows left over from Thanksgiving's sweet potatoes, and I could not throw it away. I had to make something with them. And I had a box of cherrios---cherrios are good for you. Oats. But, I carefully made a batch, and hid them in an opake bowl with a pink lid. Finished them off all by myself. Good roughage. My favorite rice crispy treats are made with coca rice crispies. Now, aren't I thoughtful? Keeping the bad smell away from my dear husband. And thankfully, he did not ask what was in the big white tupperware bowl. He enjoyed the cherry pie.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
It is not fair.
God, why are you allowing unbelieving Jews to die for you?? Satan, the enemy hates you, and Your Son, and I can see going after Christians that believe in Your Son, but the Jews are your special people. Please, they need Your protection. They need to hear the gospel, and they need to know that Your Son IS the Messiah.
Please guard your special people with Christians. Those who have believed on Your Son are going to heaven. Use us to stand between Jews and the irrational, cancer that is Islam.
To help wrap my mind around what happened in Bombay, India…an analogy: we attend a small church. Maybe 200 people. If terrorist criminals flew into DFW Airport, and got in cars, taxis and limos and wound their way down 360 and down Fielder and onto Randol Mill and found our church, and murdered us all, taking out a few at the police station, and hotel that also happened to be card-carrying members of Arlington Community Church, wouldn’t the press think it odd?? Wouldn’t they wonder what we were teaching on Sunday morning?? Wouldn’t it be a tragedy for our retired Pastor Charles to come back and identify our bodies, and say, yes, that is Pastor Mark, and he was a member. We would be in heaven. But what of the poor visitor that chose the same day to visit and was mowed down just because he was mistaken for one of us?? And what of the ones at the hotel---when asked are you a member of Arlington Community Church, would they say, “yes”??
That is what happened in Mumbai/Bombay, India last week. Jews were targeted. Jews were singled out and murdered. A small Jewish center that was a threat to no one was invaded, and nine people were murdered there.
Will we meet these dear, sweet people in heaven?? They were murdered because they were Jews. And Jews are targeted because they are God’s special people. It is our job as Christians to speak up, stand up, and cry out at this injustice. The UN will do nothing. The world courts are a joke. Israel must avenge this. Hunt down the terrorists and kill them.
And we, as Christians, must pray. Pray that God protect His Special People, the Jews. Pray that God reveal that His Son IS the Messiah. Pray that God will destroy anyone who threatens Israel. Pray that God blesses those who bless and curse those who curse Israel, just as He promised Abraham.
It is not fair. It should have been me.
Please guard your special people with Christians. Those who have believed on Your Son are going to heaven. Use us to stand between Jews and the irrational, cancer that is Islam.
To help wrap my mind around what happened in Bombay, India…an analogy: we attend a small church. Maybe 200 people. If terrorist criminals flew into DFW Airport, and got in cars, taxis and limos and wound their way down 360 and down Fielder and onto Randol Mill and found our church, and murdered us all, taking out a few at the police station, and hotel that also happened to be card-carrying members of Arlington Community Church, wouldn’t the press think it odd?? Wouldn’t they wonder what we were teaching on Sunday morning?? Wouldn’t it be a tragedy for our retired Pastor Charles to come back and identify our bodies, and say, yes, that is Pastor Mark, and he was a member. We would be in heaven. But what of the poor visitor that chose the same day to visit and was mowed down just because he was mistaken for one of us?? And what of the ones at the hotel---when asked are you a member of Arlington Community Church, would they say, “yes”??
That is what happened in Mumbai/Bombay, India last week. Jews were targeted. Jews were singled out and murdered. A small Jewish center that was a threat to no one was invaded, and nine people were murdered there.
Will we meet these dear, sweet people in heaven?? They were murdered because they were Jews. And Jews are targeted because they are God’s special people. It is our job as Christians to speak up, stand up, and cry out at this injustice. The UN will do nothing. The world courts are a joke. Israel must avenge this. Hunt down the terrorists and kill them.
And we, as Christians, must pray. Pray that God protect His Special People, the Jews. Pray that God reveal that His Son IS the Messiah. Pray that God will destroy anyone who threatens Israel. Pray that God blesses those who bless and curse those who curse Israel, just as He promised Abraham.
It is not fair. It should have been me.
Saturday and now Sunday
On Saturday, we fed our boy breakfast and lunch, as he awaited getting together with his girlfriend. And I fixed a blackberry cobbler for dessert when James brought Amber by for pineapple upside down cake and cobbler Saturday night.
I am expecting a spectacular Sunday School lesson seeing as how Bob has had four days to prepare. He still wants to get on this computer and edit some more this morning.
It is Sunday morning, and we just saw James off. Three hard boiled eggs, some vitamins, coffee, and his truck mug filled with more coffee---and all roads lead by Amber's house. If he gets back on the road by 7:30am, he should get back to Missouri before dark, and the freezing temperatures. Snow predicted for where he is headed. But, maybe it will stay above freezing on the ground until he gets back. Then just 18 days, and James will be home for Christmas. And by January 22, he will be done with this chemical school training, and head back to Oklahoma. Then he will only be three hours from home and Amber.
A progress resupply vehicle is about to dock with the ISS, and later today, I wonder if the shuttle will touchdown in Florida (weather permitting) or California.
Bob got to eat a ham sandwich yesterday, and I used up the leftover potatoes, and stuffing pods. I baked extra stuffing in pyrex bowls, and then froze them in pod-like shapes in the freezer for later meals. Very tasty--and since they contain no butter, just no fat broth, homemade cornbread, celery, garlic, and onions---
I am expecting a spectacular Sunday School lesson seeing as how Bob has had four days to prepare. He still wants to get on this computer and edit some more this morning.
It is Sunday morning, and we just saw James off. Three hard boiled eggs, some vitamins, coffee, and his truck mug filled with more coffee---and all roads lead by Amber's house. If he gets back on the road by 7:30am, he should get back to Missouri before dark, and the freezing temperatures. Snow predicted for where he is headed. But, maybe it will stay above freezing on the ground until he gets back. Then just 18 days, and James will be home for Christmas. And by January 22, he will be done with this chemical school training, and head back to Oklahoma. Then he will only be three hours from home and Amber.
A progress resupply vehicle is about to dock with the ISS, and later today, I wonder if the shuttle will touchdown in Florida (weather permitting) or California.
Bob got to eat a ham sandwich yesterday, and I used up the leftover potatoes, and stuffing pods. I baked extra stuffing in pyrex bowls, and then froze them in pod-like shapes in the freezer for later meals. Very tasty--and since they contain no butter, just no fat broth, homemade cornbread, celery, garlic, and onions---
Friday, November 28, 2008
Another Turkey, Another Feast
It is Friday here in Texas, and it is quiet again in the house. The dishwasher is humming, and there is probably enough for another load.
James and his beautiful girlfriend, Amber, came over for supper, and Benjamin, too. I cooked the other smoked turkey breast in the crock pot with those white, thin-skinned potatoes, and I made sweet potatoes with marshmellows, and we had whole wheat rolls, salad, two kinds of cranberry relish, pumpkin pie, apple pie, and pineapple upside-down cake. Coolwhip comes in a can now, too. What fun. I sent the leftover turkey home with Ben. I don't think Bob nor I could look at it for one more meal for a while. We need to explore other meats. It was very tempting to pick up another turkey at Tom Thumb today. They had huge ones on sale for $7. If only there was an easy way to bring it home, saw it in small enough pieces to fit in the crock pot...
The online news coming out of India is so sad. Terrorists were targeting the Jews in Bombay. That Jewish Center was not that easy to find according to Treppenwitz, and he was just there last week. Go to his website and read it for yourself: http://bogieworks.blogs.com/treppenwitz/
As the story broke, I kept wondering which terrorist group it was, and what did they want. One group targeted the police, and the head of their anti-terrorist expert, and one group went for the hotels and a group struck the Jewish center. Some websites say that the terrorists have been planning it for weeks from inside the hotel. Other websites point out that they USED the news coverage to stay a step ahead, so the cable feeds to the hotel had to be cut, and news coverage given delays. Terrorists are like a cancer in that they adapt, and attack in new ways. I just wonder what movie they are copying. Seems like the gory movies coming out of Hollywood are giving the terrorists ideas.
Terrorists entering a city by boat, and mowing down innocent people are criminals with no regard for human life nor laws. These kind of criminals do not understand reason nor logic. They must be met with force, and crushed. And when we find out who funded them, who helped them plan, who aided them---those, too should be crushed. But, who will deal with these criminals, and the pirates of Somolia?
James and his beautiful girlfriend, Amber, came over for supper, and Benjamin, too. I cooked the other smoked turkey breast in the crock pot with those white, thin-skinned potatoes, and I made sweet potatoes with marshmellows, and we had whole wheat rolls, salad, two kinds of cranberry relish, pumpkin pie, apple pie, and pineapple upside-down cake. Coolwhip comes in a can now, too. What fun. I sent the leftover turkey home with Ben. I don't think Bob nor I could look at it for one more meal for a while. We need to explore other meats. It was very tempting to pick up another turkey at Tom Thumb today. They had huge ones on sale for $7. If only there was an easy way to bring it home, saw it in small enough pieces to fit in the crock pot...
The online news coming out of India is so sad. Terrorists were targeting the Jews in Bombay. That Jewish Center was not that easy to find according to Treppenwitz, and he was just there last week. Go to his website and read it for yourself: http://bogieworks.blogs.com/treppenwitz/
As the story broke, I kept wondering which terrorist group it was, and what did they want. One group targeted the police, and the head of their anti-terrorist expert, and one group went for the hotels and a group struck the Jewish center. Some websites say that the terrorists have been planning it for weeks from inside the hotel. Other websites point out that they USED the news coverage to stay a step ahead, so the cable feeds to the hotel had to be cut, and news coverage given delays. Terrorists are like a cancer in that they adapt, and attack in new ways. I just wonder what movie they are copying. Seems like the gory movies coming out of Hollywood are giving the terrorists ideas.
Terrorists entering a city by boat, and mowing down innocent people are criminals with no regard for human life nor laws. These kind of criminals do not understand reason nor logic. They must be met with force, and crushed. And when we find out who funded them, who helped them plan, who aided them---those, too should be crushed. But, who will deal with these criminals, and the pirates of Somolia?
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Thanksgiving Day
A Nice Quiet Day !
Windows open, dishes in the dishwasher, and its always a good day when we talk to all three of our sons---two in person, this year.
Andy called from Ohio. James is home, but brought his wonderful girlfriend over for a visit for a few hours before their big dinner at her sister's. And Ben dropped by for an hour before he headed to the big spread at Uncle Roy and Aunt Sally's in Frisco.
I should have labeled this holiday, STUFFING. Stuffing made with celery, onion, and garlic...broth, cornbread, and smoked turkey. The best comfort food. With a dollup of cranberry relish, and a bite of stuffing, what more do we need?
It is starting to cloud over, and we could use the rain...
Kitties patrol the yard. We noticed yesterday, that they stalk the doves eating the grass seed.
Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers. I'm stuffed.
Windows open, dishes in the dishwasher, and its always a good day when we talk to all three of our sons---two in person, this year.
Andy called from Ohio. James is home, but brought his wonderful girlfriend over for a visit for a few hours before their big dinner at her sister's. And Ben dropped by for an hour before he headed to the big spread at Uncle Roy and Aunt Sally's in Frisco.
I should have labeled this holiday, STUFFING. Stuffing made with celery, onion, and garlic...broth, cornbread, and smoked turkey. The best comfort food. With a dollup of cranberry relish, and a bite of stuffing, what more do we need?
It is starting to cloud over, and we could use the rain...
Kitties patrol the yard. We noticed yesterday, that they stalk the doves eating the grass seed.
Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers. I'm stuffed.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Wednesday, but no church tonight, and Bob is home
Bob took a vacation day today to get ahead on his Sunday School lesson, and to use up days before the end of the year. It does not feel like a Wednesday, but the garbage did get picked up, so it must be. James is driving home. ETA 8pm at Amber's and then he will be home for a good night's sleep before tomorrow's festivities. For tomorrow is Thanksgiving. As Christians, we try to be thankful every day, but once a year, we shop like crazy, try new recipes, and stuff ourselves. And we listen to the MSM drag the Pilgrims and Puritans through the mud.
Let me say, I have never had to remove the feathers from a fowl. I have never had to cut the head off a fowl. I found a smoked turkey in the frozen food section of Walmart and brought it home, and took the plastic off it, and stuck that frozen smoked turkey into the crock pot to see how long it would take to heat it through. Since it is just Bob and me, we are still working on that smoked turkey. It tastes mighty salty to me, so I chopped some and put it in a stuffing cassarole dish with sauted celery, onion, and a whole clove of garlic. I baked my own cornbread for this endeavor, and used a box of regular stuffing and some Mrs. Dash, and some sage. And three cans of low sodium broth---I should have used four. It is a little dry. And we have plenty left for tomorrow.
I made up a batch of fresh cranberry relish---in the blender with orange juice to puree the whole oranges, and washed cranberries and washed pecans. Sometimes you can get a bag of pecans and they do not taste of that bitter pecan shell dust, but this bag needed a bath. Yum--orange juice, cranberries, whole cutie oranges, pecans and a little sugar to taste. It is good morning, noon and night.
Pumpkin pies are smoking up the house!!! I bought the fancy pie shells that come in a curled up long box. They unroll okay, but I needed bigger pie pans. I stood the sides up, but they fell down during baking, and a pie is lying on the burner giving the house that nice, burnt pie crust smell. Ambiance' Thankfully, we have the windows open as it is seventy degrees outside.
Fun-fun. I have run the dishwasher twice today already. Who thought of this "holiday"? Oh, yeah. We eat turkey for Thanksgiving in November, and at Christmas, and are so burnt out on turkey, that we do not bother the rest of the year---except sliced at Schlosky's. Tom Thumb (grocery store) was crowded this morning, but they had Promised Land egg nog---a treat our boys love. And I found some nice Pink Lady apples.
We are so blessed. Even though Bob is coming down with a cold---it gives him a sexy, deep voice. And he has time to get his Sunday School lesson done. And time to figure out why his laptop is not working. And time to water the grass. And spread that last bag of seed. And maybe fix the kitchen light. Always something with a house.
My pumpkin pie has brown sugar, nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. And I made three little bowls of pumpkin pie without the crust. Helps with the overabundance of batter, and a taste tester sample. They cook quicker than the big pies. Most years I just make pumpkin pie in the square glass dishes and forgo pie crust all together, but Bob likes pie crust.
Let me say, I have never had to remove the feathers from a fowl. I have never had to cut the head off a fowl. I found a smoked turkey in the frozen food section of Walmart and brought it home, and took the plastic off it, and stuck that frozen smoked turkey into the crock pot to see how long it would take to heat it through. Since it is just Bob and me, we are still working on that smoked turkey. It tastes mighty salty to me, so I chopped some and put it in a stuffing cassarole dish with sauted celery, onion, and a whole clove of garlic. I baked my own cornbread for this endeavor, and used a box of regular stuffing and some Mrs. Dash, and some sage. And three cans of low sodium broth---I should have used four. It is a little dry. And we have plenty left for tomorrow.
I made up a batch of fresh cranberry relish---in the blender with orange juice to puree the whole oranges, and washed cranberries and washed pecans. Sometimes you can get a bag of pecans and they do not taste of that bitter pecan shell dust, but this bag needed a bath. Yum--orange juice, cranberries, whole cutie oranges, pecans and a little sugar to taste. It is good morning, noon and night.
Pumpkin pies are smoking up the house!!! I bought the fancy pie shells that come in a curled up long box. They unroll okay, but I needed bigger pie pans. I stood the sides up, but they fell down during baking, and a pie is lying on the burner giving the house that nice, burnt pie crust smell. Ambiance' Thankfully, we have the windows open as it is seventy degrees outside.
Fun-fun. I have run the dishwasher twice today already. Who thought of this "holiday"? Oh, yeah. We eat turkey for Thanksgiving in November, and at Christmas, and are so burnt out on turkey, that we do not bother the rest of the year---except sliced at Schlosky's. Tom Thumb (grocery store) was crowded this morning, but they had Promised Land egg nog---a treat our boys love. And I found some nice Pink Lady apples.
We are so blessed. Even though Bob is coming down with a cold---it gives him a sexy, deep voice. And he has time to get his Sunday School lesson done. And time to figure out why his laptop is not working. And time to water the grass. And spread that last bag of seed. And maybe fix the kitchen light. Always something with a house.
My pumpkin pie has brown sugar, nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. And I made three little bowls of pumpkin pie without the crust. Helps with the overabundance of batter, and a taste tester sample. They cook quicker than the big pies. Most years I just make pumpkin pie in the square glass dishes and forgo pie crust all together, but Bob likes pie crust.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Today is Tuesday
While chopping on my hair this morning, I had the puppy cam up, and noticed that the puppies were being very naughty---they shredded the pee pads and scattered the mess all over their playpen area. Wow. They wore themselves out, and were still biting at the plastic underneath part and even choking occassionally. I wonder why the owners don't monitor them while they are at work? Then the owner came home for lunch about 1pm California time, and tripped and fell stepping over the sides of the pen, and hit the camera. But, after about an hour and a half, the owner had it all cleaned up, and back on. I also watched the NASA website. Turning urine into drinking water is just so hard to get excited about. But, the pictures from space are wonderful. And listening to them talk back and forth with the ground about where to stow stuff, and whatall to bring back is a hoot.
Since I had cooked so much yesterday testing recipes, it was easy to snack on nutritious stuff today. And Bob and I just finished the last of the blackberry cobbler after supper, and talking to James.
Clothes got folded, but there is still a dryer full needing hung up. And I knitted a few dishrags and a hotpad and got the box set up to mail my friend in Ennis as I had completed ones overflowing the shelf here. Soon as this box is full...I will put it in the mail.
I even called my neighbor one block over and told her about the puppy cam and the naughty puppies. She walked over with her grandson to see. Her little grandson is so cute. Three years old, and big brown eyes. I pulled out the Chevron cars for him to play with. Those are always a big hit.
Bob is home on vacation until Monday. Whoop. Five days at home !!!!! Wow
And my firstborn helped the grandchild call me this evening. I heard a little voice say, "mom?" "mom?" I was able to say, wow, are you riding in the car with Daddy? and are you going home to see mom?? I then heard, "car" and "mom" again. Too cute.
Andy said the ducks in Ohio were walking ON the lake. It dips below freezing there at night.
Since I had cooked so much yesterday testing recipes, it was easy to snack on nutritious stuff today. And Bob and I just finished the last of the blackberry cobbler after supper, and talking to James.
Clothes got folded, but there is still a dryer full needing hung up. And I knitted a few dishrags and a hotpad and got the box set up to mail my friend in Ennis as I had completed ones overflowing the shelf here. Soon as this box is full...I will put it in the mail.
I even called my neighbor one block over and told her about the puppy cam and the naughty puppies. She walked over with her grandson to see. Her little grandson is so cute. Three years old, and big brown eyes. I pulled out the Chevron cars for him to play with. Those are always a big hit.
Bob is home on vacation until Monday. Whoop. Five days at home !!!!! Wow
And my firstborn helped the grandchild call me this evening. I heard a little voice say, "mom?" "mom?" I was able to say, wow, are you riding in the car with Daddy? and are you going home to see mom?? I then heard, "car" and "mom" again. Too cute.
Andy said the ducks in Ohio were walking ON the lake. It dips below freezing there at night.
Monday, November 24, 2008
My Day...so far (Love you, James!)
I woke up this morning and noticed that Bob had gone for a run. I could be wrong but it seems like he left about 4:30am, and he was not back by 6am, so I got dressed and stood outside for a while looking for him. I started planning his funeral in my head, and wondering what route I should drive looking for him, when he came around the corner jogging. He said he could not see me as I was wearing dark clothes, but he could see the reflectors in my running shoes.
What is the definition of a precept?? What are precepts? Is it a Bible word? Our assignment from Effie yesterday was to look for all the occurrances of the word in Psalm 119. Each paragraph has one. Precept: a rule or pinciple prescribing a particular course of action or conduct. Law. An authorized direction or order. Writ. It only occurs 27 times in 27 verses, and most are in Psalm 119. I noticed that the word does not stand alone in Psalm 119. It is always, "Your precepts". As in belonging to God---God sets the standard, God designs the laws to keep us safe, and bring order. In this time of rampant relativity, I like to keep in mind that the precepts belong to God. God invented law, rules, order, ways, commandments, ordinances. God is not a god of chaos.
I ventured out to Walmart and purchased $176 worth of groceries for the next week. We have never had a smoked turkey. So, I put a smoked turkey breast in the crock pot to test it out. Expensive test. But, why wait? It may be just Bob and me on Thanksgiving Day. Why not be thankful today?? I am all for being thankful every day. I don't purchase celery and onions and garlic every day, but they sounded good sauted in stuffing. Stuffing can be frozen for fancy meals later, too. Frozen pilsbury rolls are in the freezer which will make fancy any meal--and surely, make Bob smile. The small red and thin-skinned small potatoes come in cute little plastic "steamer" bags now. I don't think they will need to be added to the crock pot until 2 or 3pm. Man, is Bob gonna be surprised at supper tonight. Kinda like a dress rehearsal. Dole has fancy frozen blueberries--sure were good for a late breakfast. And blueberries are good for the bladder just like cranberries.
Still on a quest for cranberries, and those little oranges called "cuties". But, I am ready for any pecan recipe. Walmart was pretty crowded for a Monday morning---that economic crisis, ya know. I was reluctant to purchase a "fresh" turkey which felt pretty frozen. And the spiral cut hams had expiration dates all over the place.
What a country. I can motor over to Walmart, purchase fresh, canned and fozen goodies fit for a king, bring them home, fill my frig, and start cooking. What a country. Thank You, Lord. Thank You for good quality food and water, and luxuries. And Thank You, Lord for Walmart. Please protect them from the libs.
Sallycat is tracking the sunspots on the carpet. Beautiful day. Turned off the furnace, and opened the windows.
9pm report: The dressing turned out nice and moist, but the smoked turkey breast cooked in the crock pot was overdone, hence, dry. I cooked it too long. Even from frozen, it does not need but three hours on high. Low would be better---if you can stand the smell all day. Smelled like a smoked ham. Had to keep telling myself it was a turkey. I slipped in the small red potatoes at 2pm, and they turned out fine. Too much food, but this was a practice run. I won't have to cook tomorrow..or Wednesday...when Bob is home.
The low sodium dressing is good, but I am leaning more towards a cornbread dressing, so I may just make up a pan of cornbread and season it myself. That would be an easier way to control the salt. Or wait and do a cornbread cassarole to use up the smoked turkey someday. Surely, the smoked turkey will freeze okay for cassaroles.
We were too stuffed to eat the blackberry cobbler. Oh well. Bob did not complain (or see) the garlic cloves in the stuffing. I love garlic. And celery stewed is more easily chewed. But, purple onions turn brown in stuffing. Might as well buy the cheaper yellow ones next time.
Bob beat me 403 to 383. He bingo-ed at least twice. I started the game with a long word which helps open the board. But, Bob knows his seven letter words for an extra fifty points.
What is the definition of a precept?? What are precepts? Is it a Bible word? Our assignment from Effie yesterday was to look for all the occurrances of the word in Psalm 119. Each paragraph has one. Precept: a rule or pinciple prescribing a particular course of action or conduct. Law. An authorized direction or order. Writ. It only occurs 27 times in 27 verses, and most are in Psalm 119. I noticed that the word does not stand alone in Psalm 119. It is always, "Your precepts". As in belonging to God---God sets the standard, God designs the laws to keep us safe, and bring order. In this time of rampant relativity, I like to keep in mind that the precepts belong to God. God invented law, rules, order, ways, commandments, ordinances. God is not a god of chaos.
I ventured out to Walmart and purchased $176 worth of groceries for the next week. We have never had a smoked turkey. So, I put a smoked turkey breast in the crock pot to test it out. Expensive test. But, why wait? It may be just Bob and me on Thanksgiving Day. Why not be thankful today?? I am all for being thankful every day. I don't purchase celery and onions and garlic every day, but they sounded good sauted in stuffing. Stuffing can be frozen for fancy meals later, too. Frozen pilsbury rolls are in the freezer which will make fancy any meal--and surely, make Bob smile. The small red and thin-skinned small potatoes come in cute little plastic "steamer" bags now. I don't think they will need to be added to the crock pot until 2 or 3pm. Man, is Bob gonna be surprised at supper tonight. Kinda like a dress rehearsal. Dole has fancy frozen blueberries--sure were good for a late breakfast. And blueberries are good for the bladder just like cranberries.
Still on a quest for cranberries, and those little oranges called "cuties". But, I am ready for any pecan recipe. Walmart was pretty crowded for a Monday morning---that economic crisis, ya know. I was reluctant to purchase a "fresh" turkey which felt pretty frozen. And the spiral cut hams had expiration dates all over the place.
What a country. I can motor over to Walmart, purchase fresh, canned and fozen goodies fit for a king, bring them home, fill my frig, and start cooking. What a country. Thank You, Lord. Thank You for good quality food and water, and luxuries. And Thank You, Lord for Walmart. Please protect them from the libs.
Sallycat is tracking the sunspots on the carpet. Beautiful day. Turned off the furnace, and opened the windows.
9pm report: The dressing turned out nice and moist, but the smoked turkey breast cooked in the crock pot was overdone, hence, dry. I cooked it too long. Even from frozen, it does not need but three hours on high. Low would be better---if you can stand the smell all day. Smelled like a smoked ham. Had to keep telling myself it was a turkey. I slipped in the small red potatoes at 2pm, and they turned out fine. Too much food, but this was a practice run. I won't have to cook tomorrow..or Wednesday...when Bob is home.
The low sodium dressing is good, but I am leaning more towards a cornbread dressing, so I may just make up a pan of cornbread and season it myself. That would be an easier way to control the salt. Or wait and do a cornbread cassarole to use up the smoked turkey someday. Surely, the smoked turkey will freeze okay for cassaroles.
We were too stuffed to eat the blackberry cobbler. Oh well. Bob did not complain (or see) the garlic cloves in the stuffing. I love garlic. And celery stewed is more easily chewed. But, purple onions turn brown in stuffing. Might as well buy the cheaper yellow ones next time.
Bob beat me 403 to 383. He bingo-ed at least twice. I started the game with a long word which helps open the board. But, Bob knows his seven letter words for an extra fifty points.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Sunday Stuff
Bob worked on his Sunday School lesson until midnight. I did not even hear him take a shower and come to bed. Wait...seems like I DO remember asking him why he took a cold shower. He insists that its the little hairs that cool his body. But, it was a good thing I had the electric blanket on.
This morning, Bob continued editing and printed out another copy. We went to church where his lesson was pretty well received being part two. Bob was approaching the proof for a suffering Messisah in the Old Testament. The Jewish folks don't call it OLD because they don't recognize a NEW. What DID Jesus preach/teach on the Road to Emaus?? Jesus must want us to dig it out for ourselves, because that message is not recorded except for the outline---Jesus used the Torah and the prophets to show these two guys AFTER the ressurection.
Music was bad, and the service was bad, but Bob thinks we were an encouragement to an elderly widower.
Lunch at Saltgrass---they do a great shishka-bob. Delicious. They could have grilled the asparagus a little longer, and we took home this humongous piece of pumpkin cheesecake for later. It was huge. We won't dwell on Bob tromping me at Scrabble, 360 to 270. The man bingo-es with any blanks. I ended up with five "I"s.
A nap, a walk, picking up trash, then watering the front yard. Bob blew off the leaves, and reported that the new grass springs back with a little trompling. It is such a pretty green.
Bathed, ready for bed. James called. Good talking to him, comparing our bad sermons of the day. Makes you appreciate the good ones.
A little puppy cam watching...
Out of bread. Out of lunchmeat. I will be going to the grocery store tomorrow and stocking up for Thanksgiving. I plan on taking the crock pot with me, and whatever fits in there...
Here is my Thanksgiving list: (menu and shopping) turkey, ham, stuffing with onions and celery, cranberries, oranges, pecans for salad and rum cake, cans of fruit for cobblers, marshmellows, apples, lettuce, milk, bread, crackers, and last but not least: A THANKFUL HEART
Most years I curse under my breath wrestling a huge, slimy fowl--washing, careful not to touch anything, wash hands, and clean the sink after...and try to get it in the oven and thoroughly cooked but not dry...oh, the horrors. I wondered, who thought of this holiday??? Mom kills herself in the kitchen for a fifteen minute feed, and hours of clean up. Yikes. Now, I am older, wiser, smarter to look for more convenience foods. Those frozen rolls taste just as good as homemade.
I am drooling already for the cranberry salad---with fresh cranberries, oranges, pecans and a little sugar...blended up in the blender. YUM. I think James likes it. It does not keep very long----so I ether eat it three times a day until it is gone, or slip it in muffins, dressing, etc. Cranberries are so good for bladders, but I wonder how clean they are when I see them being harvested online.
I can't believe I am sitting here looking at puppy butt. Living with guys--three sons, bathroom humor was THE height of humor. Watching the puppy cam, and the little puppies are all tuckered out, and this one literally fell asleep half way out of the bed with its little boo-hiney (as my sister Tina would say) framed right in the middle of the shot. Too funny. Bob says he remembers being that tired in the Army. Ranger School. Now, the little puppy has slid back uphill, back into the bed and is out cold between two other puppies. Beautiful nutmeg colored puppies. They can be whirling dervishes. But, they like to touch each other in a heap when sleeping. Too cute.
This morning, Bob continued editing and printed out another copy. We went to church where his lesson was pretty well received being part two. Bob was approaching the proof for a suffering Messisah in the Old Testament. The Jewish folks don't call it OLD because they don't recognize a NEW. What DID Jesus preach/teach on the Road to Emaus?? Jesus must want us to dig it out for ourselves, because that message is not recorded except for the outline---Jesus used the Torah and the prophets to show these two guys AFTER the ressurection.
Music was bad, and the service was bad, but Bob thinks we were an encouragement to an elderly widower.
Lunch at Saltgrass---they do a great shishka-bob. Delicious. They could have grilled the asparagus a little longer, and we took home this humongous piece of pumpkin cheesecake for later. It was huge. We won't dwell on Bob tromping me at Scrabble, 360 to 270. The man bingo-es with any blanks. I ended up with five "I"s.
A nap, a walk, picking up trash, then watering the front yard. Bob blew off the leaves, and reported that the new grass springs back with a little trompling. It is such a pretty green.
Bathed, ready for bed. James called. Good talking to him, comparing our bad sermons of the day. Makes you appreciate the good ones.
A little puppy cam watching...
Out of bread. Out of lunchmeat. I will be going to the grocery store tomorrow and stocking up for Thanksgiving. I plan on taking the crock pot with me, and whatever fits in there...
Here is my Thanksgiving list: (menu and shopping) turkey, ham, stuffing with onions and celery, cranberries, oranges, pecans for salad and rum cake, cans of fruit for cobblers, marshmellows, apples, lettuce, milk, bread, crackers, and last but not least: A THANKFUL HEART
Most years I curse under my breath wrestling a huge, slimy fowl--washing, careful not to touch anything, wash hands, and clean the sink after...and try to get it in the oven and thoroughly cooked but not dry...oh, the horrors. I wondered, who thought of this holiday??? Mom kills herself in the kitchen for a fifteen minute feed, and hours of clean up. Yikes. Now, I am older, wiser, smarter to look for more convenience foods. Those frozen rolls taste just as good as homemade.
I am drooling already for the cranberry salad---with fresh cranberries, oranges, pecans and a little sugar...blended up in the blender. YUM. I think James likes it. It does not keep very long----so I ether eat it three times a day until it is gone, or slip it in muffins, dressing, etc. Cranberries are so good for bladders, but I wonder how clean they are when I see them being harvested online.
I can't believe I am sitting here looking at puppy butt. Living with guys--three sons, bathroom humor was THE height of humor. Watching the puppy cam, and the little puppies are all tuckered out, and this one literally fell asleep half way out of the bed with its little boo-hiney (as my sister Tina would say) framed right in the middle of the shot. Too funny. Bob says he remembers being that tired in the Army. Ranger School. Now, the little puppy has slid back uphill, back into the bed and is out cold between two other puppies. Beautiful nutmeg colored puppies. They can be whirling dervishes. But, they like to touch each other in a heap when sleeping. Too cute.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Saturday, November 22
I want to remember my dear husband snug as a bug in a rug this morning. He usually has to get up and going before dawn, so Saturday is a nice morning to sleep in a little and take it easy. And it was cold in the house. Got down to 64 degrees, so when we did get up, we put on layers, I started the coffee, and we gave the new rye grass out front a good sprinkle with the hose. Coffee in one hand, sprinkler pressure attachment on the hose in the other. It was cloudy today, most of the day, so we broke down and turned on the furnace. No south sun to warm up the house, so we switched on the gas furnace and it warmed up to the default toasty setting of 68 degrees in here.
Sallycat did not like the strange noise of the furnace and insisted on being let outside and fussed at us to run for our lives, but she soon wanted back in when confronted by the neighbor's four cats prowling our backyard. One has the unfortuneate markings of a charlie chaplin or hitler type mustache. Pure white with two black spots on its side, and the black mustache. One is calico, and her newest teenager sized kitty that I have dubbed batman because its striking markings look like it is wearing a little cape and hood with black and gray in the cap in a round aurora borealis type flare. It is striking. They keep our backyard free of anything that moves...and surely there were no lizards about on such a cool morning.
For breakfast we dined on a baked biscuit with a blueberry sauce. It looked a lot like last night's dessert, but when aptly renamed, it took on a more breakfasty-name ambiance. Lunched on soup. Hung some clothes up from the dryer. Showed Bob yesterday's edition of Breitbart TV. And mostly, Bob worked on his Sunday School lesson. Last week's lesson which is on a similiar vein, can be found on his blog.
I took a nap, and heard the front doorbell, but Bob said it was someone inviting us to church. Usually, the doorbell heralds our five year old next door neighbor showing us his new shoes or asking for a cookie.
The sky cleared briefly, and gave us a little sunshine into the living room. We ventured out to the bank and chick-fill-you up, and watched the puppy webcam site on and off. It is almost 8pm, and the puppies are all piled on each other sleeping. They have had a lot of excitement today.
James just called. He will be home Wednesday night, Thursday morning.
I am knitting a combination Peaches and Creme and Sugar 'n Cream with lots of shade of brown. The coppery-color is pretty. I don't usually mix the two brands, but these looked so close--that they make a very multi-colored hotpad of brown, tan, copper, burnt orange, off-white, and a deep purple. I have a stack of nine dishrags done up, and I was able to use up all the half-balls of blue--that light purple-blue. How do you spell periwinkle??
Night James.
Sallycat did not like the strange noise of the furnace and insisted on being let outside and fussed at us to run for our lives, but she soon wanted back in when confronted by the neighbor's four cats prowling our backyard. One has the unfortuneate markings of a charlie chaplin or hitler type mustache. Pure white with two black spots on its side, and the black mustache. One is calico, and her newest teenager sized kitty that I have dubbed batman because its striking markings look like it is wearing a little cape and hood with black and gray in the cap in a round aurora borealis type flare. It is striking. They keep our backyard free of anything that moves...and surely there were no lizards about on such a cool morning.
For breakfast we dined on a baked biscuit with a blueberry sauce. It looked a lot like last night's dessert, but when aptly renamed, it took on a more breakfasty-name ambiance. Lunched on soup. Hung some clothes up from the dryer. Showed Bob yesterday's edition of Breitbart TV. And mostly, Bob worked on his Sunday School lesson. Last week's lesson which is on a similiar vein, can be found on his blog.
I took a nap, and heard the front doorbell, but Bob said it was someone inviting us to church. Usually, the doorbell heralds our five year old next door neighbor showing us his new shoes or asking for a cookie.
The sky cleared briefly, and gave us a little sunshine into the living room. We ventured out to the bank and chick-fill-you up, and watched the puppy webcam site on and off. It is almost 8pm, and the puppies are all piled on each other sleeping. They have had a lot of excitement today.
James just called. He will be home Wednesday night, Thursday morning.
I am knitting a combination Peaches and Creme and Sugar 'n Cream with lots of shade of brown. The coppery-color is pretty. I don't usually mix the two brands, but these looked so close--that they make a very multi-colored hotpad of brown, tan, copper, burnt orange, off-white, and a deep purple. I have a stack of nine dishrags done up, and I was able to use up all the half-balls of blue--that light purple-blue. How do you spell periwinkle??
Night James.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Temperatures
I enjoy weather websites. Here in Texas, in the Dallas-Fort Worth area (DFW) we experienced our first "freeze". Not all of the area got down to 32 degrees, but some did, and some even experienced the windchill of 25 degrees. Which, the radio (WBAP) reported had not seen such a low dip since the middle of March. The "official" temp at the airport--which is the only one that "counts" was 36 degrees. (oh, I can just hear my northern readers snorting at that !)
My husband and I are the only ones rattling around in our house these days, so we have not turned on the furnace just yet. It was tempting this morning, as the temperature inside the house dipped down to 65 degrees. But, it is starting to warm up, as our south wall gets full sun. Sallycat found the warmest spot behind the black curtain on the south wall where it is a balmy 82 degrees. I poked the thermometer into the screen on the south wall with the window open and it reads 72 degrees. So it is actually warmer outside on our south wall than inside the house. The front thermometer reads 42 degrees, so I will keep the front window shut for now. There is still a light breeze out of the north.
Candles burning--scented Yankee candles. (double wick says over 100 degrees on the thermometer) And my decorative strand of Christmas lights around the sink work as a light in my kitchen and warm it a bit. I put in all orange-yellow colored bulbs around Halloween time, and they still give the kitchen an nice glow. In summer, I unplug them as its silly to heat up the kitchen whilst running the AC. I wonder if we can tack up the Christmas lights up front this weekend?! Maybe after Bob gets his Sunday School lesson all done. This year, I want to copy what we saw whilst patrolling last year---Christmas lights hidden up out of sight under the eaves so that they give a splash of light on the front of the house. Then we can leave them up all year--out of sight, since Bob installs them with that precise staple method. I am not saying we will light them all year. We do have neighbors that leave their Christmas decorations up all year. When we walk by their houses, we sarcastically remark to ourselves how early or late they are in decorating for Christmas. For example, today's comment would be, "look how early they are---they must be the first ones to put up those door sized candy canes for Christmas framing their front entrance." Whereas, a comment mid-March might be: "look, they are ready for...." I don't know, but red and green just look odd before Halloween, in my opinion.
I wonder what happened to the puppy cam today? Oh, well.
It is a balmy seventy-two degrees here at the computer. The computer stack thingy puts out the heat and registers 80 degrees. Bob's brown chair sitting in the sun is registering at 90 degrees. Mud turtle temp. No wonder Bob can sit there in his shorts. The sunshine usually interferes with his laptop screen, so we close the black curtain.
noon: puppy site it up, but there is an black traveling cage in view. Are we going on a trip?? Is someone being transported to their new home?
My husband and I are the only ones rattling around in our house these days, so we have not turned on the furnace just yet. It was tempting this morning, as the temperature inside the house dipped down to 65 degrees. But, it is starting to warm up, as our south wall gets full sun. Sallycat found the warmest spot behind the black curtain on the south wall where it is a balmy 82 degrees. I poked the thermometer into the screen on the south wall with the window open and it reads 72 degrees. So it is actually warmer outside on our south wall than inside the house. The front thermometer reads 42 degrees, so I will keep the front window shut for now. There is still a light breeze out of the north.
Candles burning--scented Yankee candles. (double wick says over 100 degrees on the thermometer) And my decorative strand of Christmas lights around the sink work as a light in my kitchen and warm it a bit. I put in all orange-yellow colored bulbs around Halloween time, and they still give the kitchen an nice glow. In summer, I unplug them as its silly to heat up the kitchen whilst running the AC. I wonder if we can tack up the Christmas lights up front this weekend?! Maybe after Bob gets his Sunday School lesson all done. This year, I want to copy what we saw whilst patrolling last year---Christmas lights hidden up out of sight under the eaves so that they give a splash of light on the front of the house. Then we can leave them up all year--out of sight, since Bob installs them with that precise staple method. I am not saying we will light them all year. We do have neighbors that leave their Christmas decorations up all year. When we walk by their houses, we sarcastically remark to ourselves how early or late they are in decorating for Christmas. For example, today's comment would be, "look how early they are---they must be the first ones to put up those door sized candy canes for Christmas framing their front entrance." Whereas, a comment mid-March might be: "look, they are ready for...." I don't know, but red and green just look odd before Halloween, in my opinion.
I wonder what happened to the puppy cam today? Oh, well.
It is a balmy seventy-two degrees here at the computer. The computer stack thingy puts out the heat and registers 80 degrees. Bob's brown chair sitting in the sun is registering at 90 degrees. Mud turtle temp. No wonder Bob can sit there in his shorts. The sunshine usually interferes with his laptop screen, so we close the black curtain.
noon: puppy site it up, but there is an black traveling cage in view. Are we going on a trip?? Is someone being transported to their new home?
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