I don't really expect anyone to exchange gifts for Christmas this year due to so many of us moving. Also, the family has gone more and more to the realistic notion of giving gifts to the children (which keep multiplying!) and the adults just enjoying each other's company. Still, a general wishlist is a good thing to have, I think. I didn't like Google's shopping wishlist because you have to actually find a specific item online, and the search function is very limiting. It couldn't find Schwan's Bagel Dogs, and that is a very easy product to find in general, but the shopping thing just showed me dog beds. Um, no. So I've created a Google document that I could link to. This is better since I can edit it.
I still feel foolish and selfish for posting this, but I was keeping this list in my phone, and since switching phones I'd have to retype the memo note. The list is for me too, to remember what things I'd like to have someday (or now, in the case of those food items. What can I say, I'm goofy).
If someone felt like peeking at my list, you can find the Wishlist link in my profile, listed at the top above the About Me section.
Or click here.
Friday, November 25, 2011
Black Friday
Happy Thanksgiving!
I ate too much, of course. We had our turkey day feast with our friends and their relatives: 12 people in all, I think. We did most of the preparations ahead of time- Jamie baked sweet potatoes and had green bean casserole ready to bake. Tig made bread dough, there was a pecan pie made and ready to eat.
We ended up not going to Tig's parent's house because they came down with something, and I really missed them there. Instead, an uncle loaned his house while he went to visit others over in Medford. Everyone brought things they needed.
Tig made cinnamon rolls first. The bottoms of most burned, but they were demolished anyway, before the icing was even created. I think 4 actually got iced, but by then the vegetable tray was ready with ranch dip and crackers. Val made a baked turkey, which took forever. It is difficult for several people to cook and prepare things at once in one kitchen with one oven. Our 2pm planned dinner wasn't ready until 5pm. The sweet potatoes were staying warm on the stove burners while waiting for oven time, but half of them burned(the half with tons of walnuts, oh poo). Badly burned, so that the lady who owned the borrowed glass pan told us to throw it away. I think Jamie overruled that foolishness and chipped out the black for her. The turkey fryer also decided to act up by not working. Something must have been stuck in the valve, but eventually it was unplugged and allowed the fire to go full-blast so the turkey could hop in the oil jacuzzi. We finished most of the rest of the meal, and then people hurt themselves by adding the fried turkey on top. Then we hurt ourselves again with pie. One lady made a pumpkin pie completely from scratch. As in- she grew the pumpkin too. She told me how she made it and now I want to make one next year, the thing was absolutely delicious.
I ate too much, of course. We had our turkey day feast with our friends and their relatives: 12 people in all, I think. We did most of the preparations ahead of time- Jamie baked sweet potatoes and had green bean casserole ready to bake. Tig made bread dough, there was a pecan pie made and ready to eat.
We ended up not going to Tig's parent's house because they came down with something, and I really missed them there. Instead, an uncle loaned his house while he went to visit others over in Medford. Everyone brought things they needed.
Tig made cinnamon rolls first. The bottoms of most burned, but they were demolished anyway, before the icing was even created. I think 4 actually got iced, but by then the vegetable tray was ready with ranch dip and crackers. Val made a baked turkey, which took forever. It is difficult for several people to cook and prepare things at once in one kitchen with one oven. Our 2pm planned dinner wasn't ready until 5pm. The sweet potatoes were staying warm on the stove burners while waiting for oven time, but half of them burned(the half with tons of walnuts, oh poo). Badly burned, so that the lady who owned the borrowed glass pan told us to throw it away. I think Jamie overruled that foolishness and chipped out the black for her. The turkey fryer also decided to act up by not working. Something must have been stuck in the valve, but eventually it was unplugged and allowed the fire to go full-blast so the turkey could hop in the oil jacuzzi. We finished most of the rest of the meal, and then people hurt themselves by adding the fried turkey on top. Then we hurt ourselves again with pie. One lady made a pumpkin pie completely from scratch. As in- she grew the pumpkin too. She told me how she made it and now I want to make one next year, the thing was absolutely delicious.
Why won't the fryer work?
Turkey surgery.
It won't hurt, 'cause you're dead, and you're certainly lucky you are,
'cause it's gonna be hot in my big silver pot...! Gosh I love deep-fried turkeys, don't you? (doo, doo, doo)
Ding!, turkey's done.
Oven-baked turkey with stuffing.
My beloved sweet potatoes! Those marshmallows are just like s'mores on top. This has to be my favorite part of Thanksgiving.
Green bean casserole.
Our friends discovered a great deal on a Kinect at Walmart, so we braved pre-Black-Friday crowds to see if we could get one. The sales were supposed to happen at 10PM. We got there at 9:05 and they were sold out. Explain that one to me?
In any case, I will be taking advantage of the crazy sales also, to get zippers. I have a coupon for 25% off a total purchase at Jo-Ann's. This includes sale prices, and is the reason why I shop there. I can go and get something already discounted, and pay even less for it. So I should be able to get all the various zippers I need for Jamie's Scottejacket for a song. Yay.
I have the layout of all those pockets complete, and almost have all of them cut out into usable pattern pieces. I can't wait to start construction. This thing should be the most complicated garment I've ever made so far. If you can believe it, I've altered the design slightly to add EVEN MORE pockets. You'll see when I'm done. You know I won't be able to keep from bragging if the jacket is even half as cool as I hope it will be.
And now it's time to break out the jingle bells! Every year since becoming a school bus driver, I've worn big jingle bells on my shoes from Thanksgiving break to winter break. They called me Tinkerbell in Jacksonville for it. Jingle bells make me very happy, so now I get to finally wear them. I also have all those holiday earrings which were super-cheap after the holidays were over. Santas and penguins and more jingle bells!
I'll be back soon to tell you all about the bike ride that Jamie and I went on, and of course to share anything else interesting that happens.
My family is also moving from Florida to Colorado to be with my other sister. Drive safe you guys! <3
Monday, November 14, 2011
Monday, and I'm still alive.
I am very grateful for my job. Where else could I work to make almost a decent living at something enjoyable, and yet have enough days off to coincide with major illnesses? Sometimes I even get to enjoy no-school days without being sick! But not this weekend.
Someone (who needs to DIAFF, by the way) came to my friend and roommate's vet office with a nasty StomachBug virus. Poor T came home sick but in good spirits, telling us she got parvo. She really wasn't in good spirits, I determined, after looking it up. It's a bad virus that wikipedia says has a 91% mortality rate untreated.
Anyway, as you can imagine, the entire household proceeded to come down sick and we were all wishing we were dead (least I was) because then we couldn't throw up anymore. Four and a half (Marty got sick too) people in dire straights with ONE bathroom. I consider myself lucky in that I had a milder form- I only got sick twice and I made sure to do nothing but sleep the rest of the time. Still, recovery from that kind of purging is not a quick endeavor. I feel like I fit a whole week worth of biking into one day today. Hopefully I don't feel like I have to wimp out and drive later.
So, that little event also threw a hiccup into my crafty plans, and there has been zero progress on Jamie's scottejacket contraption. I'm really feeling the lack of space, because not only do I have a monster folding table which I think is a pain to manhandle to usable condition, but then I work a tiny bit between routes or after, and have to pack it all up again. I miss my Flagler porch and desk where I could let things blow up for a little while while I got things going. In any case, I have to finish the jacket because next I really want to make my bike accessories. I found out in a hurry that my fanny pack is not weatherproof and everything inside got wet. I'm using a plastic bag over my seat now to keep the frost off it (but I'm ridiculously happy to see it on my bike in the morning, and walk it through the door of work saying good morning very cheerfully to all the not-yet-fully-caffeinated drivers). I want to make the handlebar bag and now also a seat cover.
However, the weekend was not a total throw-away. I got a new phone!
Our aircard, which has been sucking up dollars every month because it cost too much to cancel, was finally ready for an upgrade. So we converted it to a phone line for the low family plan price, and it gets a phone. Which is really my phone after 24 hours so the computer won't screw things up. It is a Samsung Replenish. This is the step up from the Samsung Reclaim that I have, with android and touch screen technology. I'm still not sure I like the touch screen to have to answer phone calls, but it's lovely for almost everything else. The best part is that this phone has a keyboard still, so I don't have to flat-tap if I happen to have good nails. My only concern is that the thing is big. My old Reclaim slides open to show the keyboard, and the new Replenish is just a bar design, the same size all the time. The power button feature unlocking the screen and keypad should be nice- I won't be accidentally dialing anyone (or randomly powering off my phone!)anymore.
So that was my weekend. I hope everyone else's was tons better!
Someone (who needs to DIAFF, by the way) came to my friend and roommate's vet office with a nasty StomachBug virus. Poor T came home sick but in good spirits, telling us she got parvo. She really wasn't in good spirits, I determined, after looking it up. It's a bad virus that wikipedia says has a 91% mortality rate untreated.
Anyway, as you can imagine, the entire household proceeded to come down sick and we were all wishing we were dead (least I was) because then we couldn't throw up anymore. Four and a half (Marty got sick too) people in dire straights with ONE bathroom. I consider myself lucky in that I had a milder form- I only got sick twice and I made sure to do nothing but sleep the rest of the time. Still, recovery from that kind of purging is not a quick endeavor. I feel like I fit a whole week worth of biking into one day today. Hopefully I don't feel like I have to wimp out and drive later.
So, that little event also threw a hiccup into my crafty plans, and there has been zero progress on Jamie's scottejacket contraption. I'm really feeling the lack of space, because not only do I have a monster folding table which I think is a pain to manhandle to usable condition, but then I work a tiny bit between routes or after, and have to pack it all up again. I miss my Flagler porch and desk where I could let things blow up for a little while while I got things going. In any case, I have to finish the jacket because next I really want to make my bike accessories. I found out in a hurry that my fanny pack is not weatherproof and everything inside got wet. I'm using a plastic bag over my seat now to keep the frost off it (but I'm ridiculously happy to see it on my bike in the morning, and walk it through the door of work saying good morning very cheerfully to all the not-yet-fully-caffeinated drivers). I want to make the handlebar bag and now also a seat cover.
However, the weekend was not a total throw-away. I got a new phone!
Our aircard, which has been sucking up dollars every month because it cost too much to cancel, was finally ready for an upgrade. So we converted it to a phone line for the low family plan price, and it gets a phone. Which is really my phone after 24 hours so the computer won't screw things up. It is a Samsung Replenish. This is the step up from the Samsung Reclaim that I have, with android and touch screen technology. I'm still not sure I like the touch screen to have to answer phone calls, but it's lovely for almost everything else. The best part is that this phone has a keyboard still, so I don't have to flat-tap if I happen to have good nails. My only concern is that the thing is big. My old Reclaim slides open to show the keyboard, and the new Replenish is just a bar design, the same size all the time. The power button feature unlocking the screen and keypad should be nice- I won't be accidentally dialing anyone (or randomly powering off my phone!)anymore.
So that was my weekend. I hope everyone else's was tons better!
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Public Bikes Contest
This is my photo for a contest to win a Public brand bicycle. You can see my entry HERE (clicky) and like or +1 to vote for me. First prize bicycle goes to the most creative, and the second prize goes to the entry with the most shares, so please help out! If you could point your friends to it also, I would appreciate it muchly. Thanks!
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Snow!
Hi everyone, it's been a little while. After building our new room inside the house, computers were moved, and then everything from the camper was also transferred inside. My computer desk was buried for a little while. That's my excuse and I'm stickin' to it!
Lots of things are new or have happened lately, the biggest being that I've cut my hair! It went from this:
To THIS:
It's half gone, and I love it.
Then, Halloween was here and my husband surprised me with a pumpkin, so of course I had to carve it.
Tig says the picture doesn't do it justice- that is the happiest freakin pumpkin she has ever seen.
She dressed up to match her daughter. Marty was an adorable little dragon, and her mom was a sorceress with a nifty shiny silver sash and fancy hair jewelry.
I thought staying at home was boring, so at the last minute when we decide to go with Marty out, I helped Jamie become a ninja. He makes a very scary ninja. I wouldn't want to mess with him.
Little dragon Marty didn't care much for her hat (can you guess why from her picture?), so even I got to join in on the costume fun!
Camaro from this...
To this!
Zoomie is getting snowed on. I promptly went back inside and came out with a shopping bag to cover my seat with, and brought my helmet inside.
Snow in my hair!
I'm about to get pegged with Jamie's first snowball...
Happy for snow!
Lots of things are new or have happened lately, the biggest being that I've cut my hair! It went from this:
Then, Halloween was here and my husband surprised me with a pumpkin, so of course I had to carve it.
Tig says the picture doesn't do it justice- that is the happiest freakin pumpkin she has ever seen.
She dressed up to match her daughter. Marty was an adorable little dragon, and her mom was a sorceress with a nifty shiny silver sash and fancy hair jewelry.
I thought staying at home was boring, so at the last minute when we decide to go with Marty out, I helped Jamie become a ninja. He makes a very scary ninja. I wouldn't want to mess with him.
Little dragon Marty didn't care much for her hat (can you guess why from her picture?), so even I got to join in on the costume fun!
Rawr!
And last but not least in my photo documentations- it's snowing!! TWC showed me the weather warning over the weekend calling for snow Wednesday or Thursday, and it finally got here. So I squeal in happiness and run out with my camera while Jamie is still getting dressed, and here are some pictures.
Camaro from this...
Zoomie is getting snowed on. I promptly went back inside and came out with a shopping bag to cover my seat with, and brought my helmet inside.
Snow in my hair!
I'm about to get pegged with Jamie's first snowball...
Happy for snow!
Welcome November!
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