"That was a hot mess, inside a dumpster fire, inside a train wreck" -OR- 2020 so far

Thanks to Jake Tapper for the perfect quote to describe not only the recent "presidential debate," but most of this year. Let's see, where to start... Mom & I both got sick in the early part of the year. I had my quarterly ear/nose/throat infection; she had an assortment of colds & diabetic incidents. And what we thought was a heart attack. Dr A (the family cardiologist) says it was a warning, and he's glad that *I* insisted she go see him. Turns out that she had several blockages and wound up needing a stent. (Daddy all over again...oy) This involved her being hospitalized for several days while they tried to get it placed without doing too much damage to her kidneys. (something to do with the contrast dye that they use) Dr A promised me he wasn't going to see me an orphan anytime soon. Everything turned out ok. I got the joys of a colonoscopy in February, and a colossal fight with Mom coming & going to the appointment. We absolutely should not be in a car together, EVER. At least not if SHE'S driving. Breonna Taylor was accidentally killed during the serving of a search warrant- more on that in a minute. COVID-19! ARRRRRGH! Actually, the only real change it made in my life was a distinct lack of library & bookstore visits. Amazon, however, really LOVES me now. So does Grubhub. Mask wearing is a bit of an issue. Remember that problem I had with the hospital masks? Yeah. After passing out several times due to panic attacks, my sort-of-BF bought me some tie dyed bandanas. Followed by neck gaiters in various colors & patterns. They still cause SOME issues, but I'm good for about 30 minutes, which makes grocery shopping quick! Boo is still sweet & cuddly. George Floyd was murdered by a police officer & all hell broke loose in the US. Then a shyster lawyer dug up Breonna Taylor's case and convinced her family to help stir up more shit. Louisville is in month 5 of riots/protests/looting. I could write a book on this subject alone, but I'm going to just say FUCK ALL THAT SHIT and move on. What else? Had the usual wretched birthday. Sent Mom to Iowa for 2 weeks. Was reminded how much I miss living alone. I love her, I just hate living with her! The anus-mouthed Cheeto-in-chief who said Covid-19 wasn't a serious issue & a cure for it will be ready before the election, now has it. Bwahahahaha Trying to post from my my phone is getting to me, so I'll try on the tablet later.

Goodbye & Good Riddance to 2019

So, yeah, that tablet wasn't worth squat. I take that back- it was great for all kinds of games that I wasted far too much time on.

So, 2 years later, here I am again. What's gone on?

Lost several aunts and uncles.

Lost a couple of officers.

Lost my beloved Nightshade kitty.

Worst of all, I lost my Daddy 2 days before his 86th birthday.

2 days after his Louisville memorial service, I had my left knee replaced.


Ok, so that last item is a positive thing, although it didn't feel like it at the time. The first week was agony and I thought I had made a terrible mistake. Then, amazingly, I started seeing progress EVERY SINGLE DAY and now I'm nearly pain free for the first time in YEARS. (we're doing my right knee in another year or two. My left HAD to be done when it was because I had taken a nasty fall and shattered my kneecap) A series of visits to a chiropractor in 2018 fixed my back problems. I now don't know how to handle not being in constant pain. #firstworldproblems?

Still working on the diet/weight loss issues. It's getting better now that I can actually move without hurting myself.

Boo kitty has turned into my new cuddlebug. He's in disgustingly good health for his age and the vet tells me that I will probably have many more years with him. Which is good, because I'm not ready for any more losses. Mom has been put on notice too- She's not allowed to die unless it's because I've snapped and killed her. LOL

And that's where we are now. There's plenty more drama, but I'm going to ease my way back into blogging and save some of it for later.

Well, at least I made my dad laugh...

Dinner with my parents tonight was less than successful, but I DID make dad laugh twice.
Mom drove, & she has bad habit of tailgating cars @ red lights. I finally told her to put her Damn foot on the fucking brake & leave it there until the light was green AND the car ahead of us was moving. Dad started snickering and said he tells her that all the time. I told her there would be NO sympathy from me if/when she rear ends somebody.

Second laugh came after dinner when Mom asked me what I thought about the experience. "I can't believe I put on pants & a bra for that" was my answer. Dad thought it was so funny that he whipped out his phone & called my crazy uncle to tell him. Uncle John then wanted to know what I usually wear to dinner. "I don't know what to call half what that child wears. It usually looks like her pajamas to me!" My outraged squawk had both old coots laughing.

For the record, I have only gone to their house in pajamas ONCE that I recall, and that was Christmas a few years ago. I had a new pair of pajama pants with Cardinals on them & a fuzzy black PJ top. I don't know why I thought it was a good idea to wear them out, but I did.

October/November catch-up post

So, we took Dad down to NC for his birthday at the end of September. I can’t handle many more of these trips. Between my health issues & my insane parents, they’re just too hard on me. We left shortly after I got off work Friday morning & I drove all the way to Burlington. At that point I had been up 27 hours and needed a break, so I let Mom drive. I forgot that she cannot drive and read road signs at the same time, and made the mistake of falling asleep for 20 minutes. That’s all it took for her to take the wrong damn exit in Raleigh (due to road construction) and turn our 16 hour trip into a 20 hour one. We wound up in Little Washington and having to drive back down to Jacksonville because she wouldn’t pull over and let me resume driving.

Anyway, I spent Saturday sick as a dog and mostly asleep. Sunday we went over to see Uncle John & it was decided we should go to the State Seafood Festival in Morehead City. That’s when we learned that Uncle John flatly refuses to ride in a car with Dad anymore. He says it’s because they’re the last 2 Spencer men and there wouldn’t be anyone left if there was a crash. So I had to ride with him (he also wouldn’t let me drive, and yes, his driving is a bit unnerving) while Mom & Dad followed in their car. We got there and the parking situation was dismal. Anywhere that we could find space was still too far away for Dad & Uncle J to walk, so we cruised the strip and then decided to head back for Jacksonville. Uncle John was concerned that we’d lost Mom, so he drove about 10 m.p.h. and created an even bigger traffic jam than there already was until she caught up.

Oh, and we went out to see the Montford Point Marines memorial. It was really nice- I took quite a few pictures on my phone and will post them as soon as I can figure out how to get them onto this device.

We were supposed to leave Jacksonville mid-morning on Monday so that we’d have time to get to the Philly Deli in Wilmington & have lunch with Sandra. We got a late start due to Aunt Myrtle deciding (at the last minute) to go to dialysis. (She also held up the old folks getting together Saturday for the same reason) We wound up following them over to say our goodbyes and THEN she wanted to chat.

We finally got underway to Wilmington, but were way late. Sandra’s car was DOA & Brandon (her son) didn’t want to pick her up from work and bring her over to join us for lunch, so we called in an order for Mom to pick up and take to her while Dad & I stayed at the restaurant so he could visit with everybody. We went ahead and ordered, because she was only supposed to be gone 20 minutes. Our food arrived, along with Brandon (what a surprise) and no sign of Mom. Dad finally insisted I call and find out where she was. She’d started yakking with Sandra and didn’t realize she’d been gone over an hour. So now we were 3 hours off schedule and still had to stop for Dad’s fish. He was so pitiful- “we don’t have to stop for fish if you don’t want to, and I don’t have money for a lot anyway.” Like I was going to take him down there and not let him get a cooler of fish & country meat. (we got his meat Sunday) I had saved money out for his fish, so he didn’t need to worry about that.

Don’t ask me what time we finally got back to Louisville. Or how many times we had to stop on the way back. My father is the king of telling us he needs to stop AS WE’RE PASSING THE DAMNED REST AREAS. I (VERY RELUCTANTLY) had to give up and let Mom drive again, but not until we were well into Kentucky. There are no exits on I-64 for her to take by mistake, so we did finally get to Louisville without too much hassle.

Let’s see, what else? Saw my doctor and he was appalled to discover that my thyroid hormone levels had dropped even more since my last visit. I asked him how bad it was and he paused for a minute before saying that I should probably be catatonic instead of as functional as I was. So that medication got doubled & I go back to see him in January. It does explain why I’m still having fatigue issues though, so that was helpful.

Oh, the little punk that broke into my house got caught breaking into another house. Unfortunately for him, he was caught by LMPD, and even more unfortunately it was AFTER his 18th birthday and by a pair of officers who had backed West Buechel up on the call to my house. So he got a one-way trip downtown to the big-boy jail. Heh. The little bastard got to spend the weekend in jail because his momma couldn’t come up with his bail. My heart just bleeds for him…

Discovered a new snack (that I really shouldn’t be eating) when we went to Costco the other day. Golden Island Korean Barbeque Pork Jerky. It’s good stuff and surprisingly tender for jerky! Dad even liked the sample, although it was still a bit too hard to chew for him.

I may as well tell you this last bit. Had another adventure in medical drama & Mom driving on Friday. We’d gone out for breakfast after I left work. Something I ate decided to disagree with me and I wound up having a hideous acid reflux attack about 20 minutes after I’d gotten home & gone to bed. I’m already on Rx strength Prilosec twice a day for reflux, but decided to try a dose of Alka Seltzer since Prilosec does nothing for immediate relief. It worked for about 10 minutes and then I started vomiting. And then the chest pain started. (relax- I did NOT have a heart attack) Since I knew what those symptoms could be indicative of, I didn’t want to risk driving myself to the ER. I also didn’t want to call an ambulance as I’m still paying off my thyroid surgery. So I stupidly called Mom & said I needed a ride to the ER. I didn’t go into detail because I didn’t want her or Dad to panic.

Now any sane, rational parents would think “hey, the kid that normally has to be dragged kicking and screaming to the doctor just called me for a ride to the ER. We should hurry.” Not my parents. They took their time getting dressed (they’d gone back to bed after breakfast), diddling around, and finally showed up at my house almost an hour later. Good thing I wasn’t bleeding to death. Then Mom wanted to take the surface roads instead of the Interstate because “I’m not comfortable on that exit with this kind of traffic.” I was trying to stay calm in case it WAS a heart attack, but that sent me screaming over the edge.

Anyway, after an hour of being poked & prodded, they determined that it WAS just an acid reflux attack. The chest pain was caused by a hole in my esophagus that allowed acid to leak into my windpipe and down to my lungs. So I was pumped full of antacids & antibiotics (and a GI cocktail- lidocaine & milk of magnesia- that was seriously foul tasting, but blessedly killed the pain after about 5 minutes) and sent home. I’m now on Rx strength Pepcid along with the Prilosec, and a couple of other things that I don’t recall off the top of my head.

So that's my current life. We've spent the evening watching the election results at work & I think life with President Oompa Loompa is going to exceed the limits of my medication. Tried to check the Canadian immigration website & it had crashed. I'm still seriously considering leaving. We'll see what happens.

Life goes on...

I'm still here. Still posting (or not, as you've seen) from my tablet, so this will be brief.

1. Removing myself from Facebook was one of the smartest things I have done in a long time. I miss the contact with quite a few of my friends, but it has lowered my stress levels considerably. I may resume at the end of the year, but will be leaving the remainder of my fangirl groups as not being obsessed is working well for me. Also, I gave gotten a LOT more reading done.

2. Was anyone surprised that the British Twit & the Toxic Twat didn't make it past the end of the summer? No, I haven't renewed my interest in him, but the breakup story was everywhere. I did, however, laugh my ass off.

3. New love of my life. One of the younger grey cats in the feral colony has a kitten. She is the most adorable little thing! She's so cute when I see her tumbling around in the yard. I am able to pet her & pick her up- Mama knows I'm friendly- but I don't do it too long so that she & Mama won't get nervous. I'm hoping to bring one or both of them indoors once she's a little bigger. Not sure how Shady & Boo will feel about it.

4. Guess this should have been #3. Remy got out after my last post. He'd escaped once before & it took me nearly 2 weeks to find him. It only took 2 days this time. I went straight to the neighbor whose yard I found him in last time. Sure enough, he was lolling in their window. I rang the bell & we talked about it. They begged to keep him. He & Boo had never been separated before his first escape, but they both seemed to be quite happy apart. In fact, Boo beat the hell out of him when I brought him home the first time, and was quite nasty for several days. So I let them keep him on the condition that he gets returned to me if something happens & they gave to give him up. In the meantime, Boo has turned into quite a cuddlebug.

5. In a moment of insanity, I agreed to drive my parents to NC again for Dad's birthday. And once again had to sic the union on my bosses to get a freaking Friday off. You'd think they'd learn after the last *3* times, but nooooooo... The Major that the union rep talked to was disgusted. "She's asked for 3 Fridays in the last year and a half and they think *that's* unreasonable?!? And she's had to file a grievance each time?" I'm sure it's a coincidence that the Hamster is suddenly being sent to management training classes, but it does make you wonder...

OK, this was more than I meant to type & I'm getting a headache squinting at this thing. More later.

Back again for a moment

Quick catch up list, semi-regular posting to resume later.

1. Deactivated my Facebook account. I was spending too much time online; it was feeding my unhealthy mental issues (see previous post about obsession); and the political posts on all sides were just getting too ugly.

2. Have gotten rid of just about everything I had dealing with the British actor who I can no longer stand the sight of. That's not quite true- I was going through my devices to delete pictures of him and felt nothing. Not joy, not hate, not even sorrow- it was just "why do I have so many pictures of this guy?"

3. My house was broken into while I was at work. This will be a future blog post. The asshole got away, but I suspect he won't ever try it again. A LOT of officers tend to show up when you break into a police employee's house.

4. The feral cats are getting bolder. Several let me pet them, albeit briefly, now.

Ta-ta for now!

Making My Bed

How normal people make the bed:
Put clean sheets on bed, find something else to do afterward.

How I make the bed when one or more of the cats decide to help:

Remove cat from basket of freshly laundered sheets.

Find fitted sheet.

Remove cat from mattress.

Get first corner in place, move cat to get at second corner.

Try to get third corner. Move cat. Try again.

Move cat. Start tugging sheet to make 4th corner fit. Move cat.

Reach for flat sheet. Remove cat from laundry basket.

Shake sheet out, see that the damned cat is on the bed again.

Drape sheet over bed & cat. Laugh as cat panics and begins to do laps between the sheets.

Remember that cats are vindictive little assholes & likely to pee on bed. Pull sheet back for cat to escape.

Cat then lounges in center of bed.

Remove cat. Attempt to spread sheet out neatly. Remove cat.

Grab comforter. Tuck under arm and remove the fucking cat from the damn bed again.

Shake comforter over bed. Of course the brain dead cat is back in the center of the bed.

Watch cat do another set of laps before pulling it out and gently tossing it out of the room.

Stuff pillows into cases. Arrange pillows around the misbegotten little beast that is back on the bed AGAIN.

Remove cat. Keep tucked under arm as you leave the room & close the door. Put him down & realize his brother is nowhere to be seen.

Open bedroom door and see other fucking cat lolling on bed.

Weep bitter tears of rage & resignation. Scream in frustration, and watch BOTH cats flee.

Silently thank lucky stars that third cat is still outside and NOT ON THE DAMNED BED.

I seem to have missed April...

If anyone is out there reading this, I apologize for the lack of updates. I can no longer update the blog from work, and the tablet is a pain to post from. Semi-regular posting & Foodie Fridays will return when I have time to go sit at the library.

So, what have I been doing in the 6 or so weeks since my last post?

Well, the thyroid saga is FINALLY over. The last ultrasound showed the tumor had literally tripled in size and Dr. M said it had to come out. The surgery was April 18th. The good news is that he got it all out and it wasn't cancerous enough for me to need radiation treatment. The scary news is that it was pressing into my windpipe & vocal cord. They don't think I would have lived until the next ultrasound as it was growing so rapidly. I would have probably just fallen asleep & not woken up due to lack of air.

Anyway, I had 2 weeks off work, which my bosses acted like I'd done solely to inconvenience them. I pointed out that I could have scheduled it for Derby Week & they still would have had to give it to me per FMLA. The 29th was my first shift back, and it wiped me out. I was told to expect this for the next 6 weeks or so until the doctors get my hormone levels balanced out.

Back to the surgery for a moment. I've posted before about the panic attacks induced by having a mask on my face. I warned the nurses ahead of time, and the anaesthesiologist came in to talk to me. He said they couldn't totally knock me out beforehand, but they gave me a heavy sedative. They also had me bite this tube (it was what they hold your mouth open with to run oxygen tubes in once you're unconscious) and ran the knockout gas through that instead of a mask. Honestly, the last thing I remember is being told to "bite this and breathe deep!" It was great! No blood pressure issues, no blood sugar spikes, nothing!

Yeah, so that's pretty much been it for me. I still hate the people I work for & with. I've decided that life is too short to keep dealing with the stress from that office, so have resumed active job hunting. At this point I don't even care if I have to take pay cuts- it will be worth it to be free of those assholes & away from that toxic building.

More when I can post again...

And it's March already...

Not much to report. Work is depressingly awful, my health is still sketchy. Mom & Dad are doing well though!

The tubby tabby boys are settling in nicely. They've taken to greeting me at the door when I come home from work, flipping at my feet to get belly rubs, and following me into the bathroom where they fight with Nightshade for my attention.

As you can see, they're BIG boys compared to my little Shady girl. She & Remy warned my heart when they peacefully shared a dish of gooshyfood, and then curled up in me for a nap.

I felt like I should eat a hot dinner, even though I haven't felt up to cooking all week. I compromised on this: pesto tortelloni in a jarred Alfredo sauce that I jazzed up with Italian sausage, peas, parmesan/Romano blend & some herbs. Here's the result, and Shady offering to taste test it for me.

More when I can get online again...

Welcome To The New Year.

No, there won't be any of that "New Year, New Me" crap here. I'm not making resolutions, I'm not embarking on any drastic lifestyle changes. I'm just going to try to survive day by day and hope that this year is better than the last one.

So how did I ring in the new year? Not at work! Chuck got to take Christmas Eve off, so the bosses gave me NYE off instead. Not that it mattered- it's not like I was going to go out and whoop it up at a party or in a bar. I spent the night ensconced on the couch, watching the Inspector Cartoons from the Pink Panther series, and catching occasional cat sightings.

Oh yeah, I have two new cats. My friend Scott needed to rehome his 10 year old boys, Remy & Boo, as his girlfriend is highly allergic to them. Personally, I'd have gotten rid of her, but that may partly explain why I'm still single. Anyway, he delivered them to me at work as I was leaving that morning. They sang me the song of their people (Who The Hell Are You And Where The Hell Are We Going And Let Me Out Of This Damned Box!) on the 10 minute ride to my house, and were hesitant to come out of their travel crates once I got them inside. I took them out one at a time and showed them where the litter box was, and then they each took off for parts unknown. Since the house is still an audition tape for Hoarders, there's lots of place for them to hide. Anyway, both boys are still hiding, but have ventured out once or twice. Remy growled at me and went back behind the couch. Boo has been a bit more adventurous and even sat in my lap for a minute. So far, Nightshade is ignoring them. Good thing, too. Scott didn't tell me that they were such chunkbutts. I swear they weigh 30 lbs each, so they're easily 2-3 times Shady's size. They're declawed, but all they have to do is lie down on her and any fight that may start will be over.


First meal of the new year: Sausage & Kale stir fry w/peppers & onions over rice

First drink of the new year: Iced English Breakfast tea

First read: a chapter of Bill Bryson's The Road To Little Dribbling: More Notes From A Small Island before I dozed off on the couch.


I had bought a bottle of hard cider from Trader Joe's to toast the new year with, but forgot all about it. So I'm going to drink it tonight on my regular night off instead. At least I remembered to take the croissants I'd bought out of the freezer and put them out to rise. Breakfast was quite tasty.

While I was waiting for the croissants to bake, I stripped my bed and put on fresh flannel sheets. (oh yeah, we finally got winter temperature weather) And discovered that my bedroom walls seem to have developed rising damp. I had to go get the paper towels and bleach spray to clean up the mildew that's grown along the walls by my bed. Moving the bed out from the wall to get at it flushed out poor Boo, who had chosen that spot to hide for a while. The heating vent by the foot of the bed is quite alluring- Malkin used to like to lie there too.

Well, by the time I was done with all that, breakfast was done. I ate my croissants and watched At Last The 1948 Show for the umpteenth time. I couldn't crawl into my nice clean 2016 bed with my 2015 dirty body, so I took a long shower and scrubbed & shampooed myself silly. By the time I was done drying my hair and applying all of my lotions & potions, I was ready to call in a day/night. The cats had all disappeared again, so I closed me door and slept fairly soundly.

Last highlight of my day before I call it quits for this post. The one tradition I uphold is my Southern Good Luck dinner on New Years Day. Black eyed Peas (I prefer field peas), greens, and cornbread. I diced some country ham pieces and fried them a bit before dividing them to simmer into the peas & greens while the cornbread baked. It was quite tasty. Nightshade surprised me by going for the buttery cornbread instead of the bits of ham. She didn't get any of either, but she tried!


Anyway, I'm taking a couple of days off next week to recharge my brain and try to do something about the mess that is my house. Wish me luck!

Not a holiday post

I am OVER the holiday hoopla. I spent all of my money & the last of my vacation time for this year to take my father to NC and I am done. The whole mess was traumatic and I'm not saying anything else about it other than NEVER AGAIN.

SO, ON TO SOMETHING ELSE.....

I have a zillion jackets & coats, so I needed another one like a hole in the head. But back in September, one of the catalogs that I get had this trench style fleece coat that I just fell in love with. I wanted it in black, but of course THAT wasn't available in my size, so I settled for gray. It was on sale, plus I had an additional discount code AND a frequent shopper reward from the company as well as a free shipping code, so I paid about $28 for a $80 coat.

Then, once it came, I decided that I didn't like the buttons on it. No biggie, a quick trip to the craft store should solve that. Right? Riiiiiiight.

A: count the number of buttons you're going to need AND measure them before you go to the craft store. I did neither. More on that in a minute.

B: when the hell did buttons get so ridiculously expensive?!? The ones I really liked started at $4-6 PER BUTTON. Since I thought I was replacing 7 of them, it seemed wrong to spend as much on buttons as I did on the he coat itself. Even with coupons, I was going to be paying a lot. So I bought 1 large button in a style that appealed to me & took it home to see how it would look.

Looked great, but it was too big. Ok, let's suit down and search the store's website. Maybe something I like & can afford will jump out at me. I found a set of 4 pretty purple & black swirled jewel tone buttons. The site said they were in stock at the store, but somehow I'd overlooked them. No problem. I took a quick look at the coat & came up with a total of 7 buttons.

I went back the next day and found them. Too small, & wrong style. I needed flat buttons & these had the peg back. So I looked for smaller versions of the big one I bought the day before. Eureka! Sold in sets of 2, a slightly different shape, but I liked them enough to go for it. Also, less expensive than the first couple of designs I looked at.

After all that, you'd think I would have gone home & started the great button replacement project. Those who know me, know what came next. The button bag got hung on the hanger with the coat and sat untouched for a couple of weeks...

...Until the day I looked at the forecast and saw the weather was finally going to get cold enough to need a coat rather than the fleece jackets I was wandering around in. (We've had an oddly warm winter) So I made myself sit down, snipped the first button off the jacket, and stitched the new one in place. Yay! Two more followed suit, easy peasy. That's when I discovered that I had miscounted and the body of the coat only had 3 buttons. No problem, I'll replace the 2 on the belt loops & have 3 left of the 8 I bought.

You guessed it. The belt loop buttons were SMALLER than the body ones. Arrrgh! Back to the stupid store. The brand I bought did make a smaller button in the same style/color, but in a different shape. I grabbed a pack of two, paid for them (after sharing my tale of woe & frustration with the amused cashier- I spend so much time there that this girl knows me on sight) and went home to finish this damned project.

Stitched the two new buttons on and started to congratulate myself when something hit me. I'd hung the coat up to take a picture, but only one belt loop button appeared to be replaced. WTF?!? I yanked the coat down & started examining it, because I *KNOW* I replaced two buttons. I was kind of right. That's when I realized that there was a THIRD belt loop button on the BACK of the coat, and that was the one I'd stitched on.

I am not embarrassed to admit I threw a shrieking tantrum. I should be, but I'm not. It was my own fault for not paying attention, counting correctly, etc. So I drove back to the craft store ONE MORE TIME for the final button. My friendly cashier started laughing when I stomped through the door with a face like thunder. "Oh dear," she said. "How off was it this time?"

Now, a smart person would have brought all of the wrong/excess buttons back for an exchange. As I've already proven, this project had turned me into the village idiot. Not only had I shredded my receipts, I'd torn all the buttons off their cardboard backing when I thought they'd get used, so I was stuck with them.

I paid for the (hopefully) final pair of buttons and went home, determined to finish this thing once & for all. I replaced the LAST button, went over the coat with a fine tooth comb (and a lint roller because the little black cat finally came to see what her mama was losing her damn fool mind over and rolled on it) and realized I was really truly finished. Tears were shed, and the coat was hung up for a picture:

And then the weather warmed up again, so it was another month before I got to wear the damned thing!

Counting down the minutes until I can go home to bed

120 as of the moment I'm typing.

Tonight's vices:

Hey, a girl has to feed her brain too!

Not the greatest week- I hate having blood drawn

So, I went to the lab a week ago to have blood drawn for my doctor's appointment. I got a new-to-me tech who I never want to see again. Actually, I *DO* want to see her, preferably across a courtroom when I sue her incompetent ass. This idiot picked up a needle that was a cross between a darning needle and a railroad spike and jabbed it into my arm so hard that I expected to see it come out the other side. Now, I admit to being a wimp when it comes to needles, but this was ridiculous! Then I got a fresh wave of pain when she jerked it back out after collecting the umpteen vials of blood needed for my tests. I've never had one hurt coming out. EVER.

By the end of the night, I had a huge bruise on the inside of my arm and the needle hole was still visible. There were also red streaks extending up toward my wrists. Sunday, the hole was STILL visible, although the bruise and red streaks had faded. I had, however, developed random shooting pains and muscle spasms. And a lump about 3 inches down from the needle hole. Then I found out that she'd done the same thing to my father on Friday, only he didn't have the same side effects. Luckily for her.

My appointment with Dr. B was on Monday. He looked at my arm after I told him what happened, and shook his head. He thinks the lump is an internal bruise. The pain & spasms are because that cow most likely nicked a nerve. He had his office manager call down to the lab to find out who we needed to complain to and was told that the cow's last day was Friday (the day after she abused me & the day she hurt Daddy) and they were very sorry to hear what had happened. That's great, but what about the damage done to my arm?!? Dr B said it should lessen by the end of the week, and to call him on Monday if it hasn't. I'm here to tell you, it hasn't.

Just to add to the fun, I got my flu shot. In the same f'ing arm. So now I have a stiff achy shoulder (I always have the worst reaction) as well as the shooting pains & spasms in my lower arm. Did I mention that this is my left arm and I'm left handed?!? Not fun.

Oh yeah, and my recurring sinus infection is awake with a vengeance. Love the changing of the seasons.

So, there's my WAAAH post for the week. I'm not even going to start on the general stupidity of my workplace. Instead, here are some pretty boys to look at!

I couldn't resist Crimson Peak

It opened yesterday. The first showing nearest me was at 11:20. Depsite the fact that I have been suffering from a migraine all week and was dead tired; AND I'm supposed to go on Monday with some friends, I stayed up to go see it. Why?

And from the scene that has fangirls around the world screaming "She's in MY SPOT!!!"

Any Questions?!?

Because it was so early, I had a nearly private screening. It was me & two slightly weird guys, both of whom had to be discouraged from sitting next to me. Seriously. In a huge empty theater, the only place you can find to sit is next to the Amazon in the center of the top back row?!? One caught my headshake as he saw me and started up the stairs and had enough sense to stop and find a seat where he was. The other had to the threatened with being tossed back down to the bottom after saying "don't worry baby, you can cling to me if it gets too scary." He wisely decided to move a few rows down after that. AND I heard HIM screech in fright when the first bloody ghost showed up. Heh.

I won't say anything about the story other than I walked out of the theater wondering what the hell I'd just watched. Tom, is beautiful, even when his character's Loki is showing. (yeah, I went there) Jessica Chastain is wonderful as his possessive sister, and I even liked Mia as Edith despite the fact that she gets to snog Tom & I don't. Charlie Hunnam was wasted- they managed to make him look plain, and his character was boring.

The guy who had enough sense not to come near me at the beginning did linger after the credits to talk to me and ask what I thought of the movie. He turned out to be a rather nice comic book geek and we had an interesting chat. He also asked me if I wanted to go have lunch with him. I actually would have gone if I hadn't been so tired that I couldn't see straight. It was 2:45 before we left the theater- the previews were nearly 45 minutes and the movie itself was 2 hours! I did suggest meeting at the bookstore on Sunday instead and he agreed to that. It's not going to be a date, but I figured it might not hurt to make a new friend.

Three last things:

1. Guillermo del Toro lied. We DO NOT get to see "Loki's pokey stick."

2. Don't bother sitting through the credits. There's no bonus content.

3. the 2 best previews were for Victor Frankenstein (James McAvoy & Daniel Radcliffe- looked quite promising!) and the Last Witch Hunter. (Vin Diesel) Will probably wait until they both are on DVD, but they looked good!

I Should Be In Bed Right Now

But instead, I'm up cross stitching. I spent my one night off this weekend reading (Tale of Two Biddies by Kylie Logan & Tempest In A Teapot by Amanda Cooper) & stitching. Here's my progress on La Fleur:

Sorry, but as I've mentioned before, photography is NOT one of my stronger skills. Anyway, I'm now approximately a third of the way finished and will hopefully be sending the pattern on to my penpal, Paula, soon!

Time flies...

Didn't get much stitching or reading done over the last week. The CFS & the recurring sinus infection both kicked in big-time & I was doing good to get up & make it to/through my shifts at work, let alone do anything else!

There is a little progress on my SAL pice though. Here's the beginning:

And here's where I am now:

I also matted/framed my LK witch from a couple of weeks ago, but I'm not posting a picture yet because I'm going to include it in my package for the Chaotic Goddesses Swapoween exchange.

Made a trip to the Needle Nest to pick up my special orders. I need to get the three projects I've got going finished so I can start on one of them. The CCN London pattern is calling my name...

Fall Weather Descended With A Vengeance This Weekend

I love it! I'm sitting here on my couch in layered sweats & fuzzy slippers. I've slept better the last 2 nights than I had in months. And Princess Purrsnickety has deigned to come indoors and be cuddly!

Not much else going on. Dad had a chest pain scare that landed him in the hospital Thursday night, but was allowed to go home after blood work showed no sign of a heart attack and a scan showed no blockages. They think k it might have been a weird reaction to his flu shot earlier in the week. He goes to his cardiologist for a follow-up tomorrow, just to be on the safe side.

I haven't made any progress on my two previously posted cross stitch projects, but I have made a start on this:

For the SAL that I signed up to do, this is the frame for Gold Cottage- part 1 of Country Cottage Needlework's Fall Festival series. I'm hoping to finish (or at least get close) all 5 parts by the time the SAL ends in November!

Until later, dear reader (readers? Is anyone out there?!?)

The Best Workout DVD Ever

So, thanks to my addiction to British TV, I discovered the lunacy that is Miranda Hart. I love this woman- she is a British me...well, sort of. Unlike her semi-autobiograpghical character on Miranda, I manage to keep my clothes on in most occasions.

Anyway, as I was searching for more to watch, I discovered that Ms. Hart had made a workout video. Not just a workout video, but one even a hopeless klutz like ME can do. So of course I had to order it...and the one bit of equipment that it calls for:

Yep! I'm going to maracasize (shut up, it's a thing) my way to fitness! Dr. B will be proud...if he doesn't laugh himself to death first.

This week's odds & bobs

So I forgot to mention 3 of my favorite birthday presents last week.

1. I got a new slow cooker! I've been struggling with my finances (again/still) and making a concentrated effort to cook/eat at home instead of the fast food habit I'd fallen back into. I'm pleased to say it's been working AND I've lost another 5 lbs. Having the slow cooker & crock pot helps a lot with that. I throw something together in one of them when I get home from work, go to bed, and have a nice meal ready when I wake up later!

2. These sheets. Forgive the unmade bed, note the Loki pillow, with the normal Tom Hiddleston pillow peeping out in the background. 😉

Yes, they're a sort of tiedyed fireworks pattern. Made out of super soft jersey material.

3. I didn't feel like unmaking the bed to get a picture of the best gift. My parents got me the memory gel mattress pad that I'd been wanting. OMG, that thing is like sleeping on a cloud! I never like to wake up and get out of bed as it is and that thing makes me want to LIVE in my bed permanently.

So that's those. Next we have a shot of my IKEA shower curtain (I spent part of Labor Day scrubbing my bathroom & putting it up) and the pillowcase I'd bought there. (also went to the Joann's Fabric Labor Day sale and scored the pillow form dirt cheap!)

Last, but not least, my cross stitch projects. I've done a bit more on the cat (it might not look like it, but trust me, I did a good bit) and started Sweetheart Tree's Teenie Tweenie La Fleur on a random evenweave mini in Carrie's Ltd Edition silk Not Slate.

I've taken another break from Facebook, and it helped me realize that I was spending WAY too much time on it. I've gotten back into my stitching, been reading more again (that was the first sign that something needed to change- I was barely reading and that's just NOT me), and will probably blog a bit more frequently.

Ta ta for now!

Happy Birthday to Me! Oh, yeah, and it's Foodie Friday!

Those who know me know that I *despise* crowds, and consequently go to very few of the fairs and festivals around the way. The one thing I miss about going to them is the food. Ohhhh, the food. Especially funnel cakes! I don't need the mountain of toppings that I've seen people put on them- just give me mine straight out of the fryer and coated with powdered sugar! We had a movie theater that used to sell them (before I quit going to movies because of the crowd thing), but I hear that they no longer have them either.

Then I came across this little gem. *happydancing* I'm making myself a batch for a treat. Here's hoping I don't eat the whole batch at once!

Ridiculously Easy Funnel Cakes
Adapted from Serious Eats

Makes 6 to 8 6-inch (or so) cakes

The original recipe amounts (which I’m posting here) call for 2 quarts of oil and frying the cakes in a Dutch oven. I suppose the deeper the oil level and more room in the pot to work with, the better, but I used my beloved, heavy medium-sized saucepan that’s about 7 1/2 inches in diameter and poured in oil just to a depth of about 1 inch, which probably amounted to a couple of cups, and things worked out fine.

To make this project as easy and fun as it should be, have everything ready before you begin frying. I highly recommend a plastic squeeze bottle for getting the batter into the oil–that’s the fun part, making all those loops!–and a slotted spoon and a thin vented spatula like a fish spatula for flipping and transferring the cakes with ease. And please, please save yourself the headache and use a candy or deep fry thermometer so that you know you oil gets to and stays at the right temperature while you’re frying.

These are are best eaten hot, so have your funnel cake crowd ready and waiting for their cakes as they come out of the fryer!

2 quarts canola oil for frying (or less–see note)
1 1/2 cups “complete” buttermilk pancake mix
1/2 cup water (I needed a bit more to get my batter to the consistency of cake batter)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Line a large baking sheet with a double layer of paper towels. In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, such as a Dutch oven, heat about an inch of the oil to 375 degrees.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the pancake mix, water, sugar, and vanilla extract until very smooth–you’re looking for a batter about the consistency of cake batter, and it should fall back into the bowl in a ribbon when you lift the whisk. Transfer the batter to a squeeze bottle with a 1/4-inch opening (or to be really traditional, pour the batter through a small funnel into the oil).

When the oil is up to temperature, holding the bottle about 5 to 6 inches above the surface of the oil, squeeze the batter into the pot, quickly working in a circular motion about 4 to 6 inches in diameter to form loops and swirls. Cook the cake for about 1 minute, or until an even golden brown on the bottom, before flipping it and cooking and additional 30 seconds on the other side. Remove the cake to the paper toweling to drain for a minute before dusting with confectioners’ sugar. Repeat with the remaining batter.