Happy Birthday to Me!!

Another year older for me and my twin brother today.  Still spending it recovering on the couch but that's okay as I'm catching up on all my Hitchcock movies I've only seen ten or 12 times.  Gonna make up by celebrating my 53rd this coming weekend!!

Lula Oh Hell No!

Time and time again I see more and more people extolling the virtues of Lula rose leggings, shirts and dresses.  Oh the comfort!  Oh the style!  Um, have you taken a look at these??

They are leggings with unflattering patterns matched with striped shirts. Or some type of A-line short sleeve skater skirt dress in these same abhorent patterns that do nothing to complement a fuller figure, to whom it appears they are marketed.

Just say no to this design line.  These styles will not make you look chic, hip or cool.  They will make you look mismatched, sloppy, and out of touch.

If I'm missing something here, please fill me in on the secret!

No Fun Just Flu

Such high hopes for my weekend went swiftly down the drain. I was feeling nauseous on Saturday which quickly led to full blown flu, including lots of trips to the bathroom.  Thankfully Sam was able to stop by and bring me 7up.  But it was a really rough day.

Today is better but not by much. No more bathroom trips but suffered raging heartburn after eating some toast.  7up continues to be my staple of food. Tired, achy, and just feeling gross.  At least I had enough strength to brush my teeth.

My early birthday wish is that this bug dissappears in the morning!  Ugh - enough of this whiny post!!

Glorious Gray

First off, this will probably not happen but it doesn't make me stop investigating potential. I'm talking about hair color. Now that gray is an "in" color, it made me wonder what it might look like on myself. Especially since, without dye my hair would be entirely gray.

Here are a few ideas that would be funky and fun.  Love the silver. Would not be a way to go gray; would be a way to have a cool hair color.

Awww the Weekend

Along with a very busy work week, I also filled some of my evenings with rock painting. This new hobby has been so much fun!  Painting then hiding rocks in various spots for people to find. Some even comment on the Facebook page Cowlitz County Rocks when they've found one of my creations, such as below:

Finished up last night and ready to hide them today!

As an early birthday present, decided to take Monday off to make it a long weekend.  Here's to sleeping in!!

Making Kids Smile

Today's rock adventure turned out great. I stopped by Castle Rock elementary to hide the painted rocks, then messaged the mom to let her know they were hidden. Steve and I then departed.  A short time later, she sent me a message with pictures saying how much fun her sons had finding the rocks. Awww...was so happy to hear it was a success!!

Heart Burning For A Couple Reasons Today

This morning I woke up at 5am....why does my internal clock do this to me??  Got up, cleaned the kitchen, then relaxed.

Sam stopped by to chew the fat. Apparently he was out last night and ran into his former stepbrother Dylan. He said he looked familiar then when they realized who each other was they were shocked. Sam remembered Dylan being older and taller (which of course he was that many years ago.)  Dylan remembered Sam being shorter and chubby which of course he was. Dylan couldn't believe Sam was taller than him, thin, and 21. Kind of gave me a warm fuzzy to hear that story

At noon met up with Lynn and Arlene to celebrate her birthday at the Castle Rock mexican place. Food was good, company was great and it was an enjoyable visit. Well, except for the hideous heartburn I suffered, probably due to my peach margarita. Had to double the dose of medicine to fight it.

Returned home to find Steve and Stubbs bonding on the couch.  Looking forward to a relaxing evening and a more enjoyable type of heart burn. 😆

You Knew Me When!!

I received an unexpected message this week. One of the people who saw my painted rocks posted on Facebook asked me if I could paint some Harry Potter rocks for her son and she would pay me. Of course I said yes - to the painting but not the money because it's payment enough to use my creativity.

Turns out she has three sons - one into Harry Potter, one into sports, and one into Paw Patrol, which I had to Google to figure out what it was. I ended up painting three rocks for each of them.  I also painted a wand for the HP child.

Tomorrow on Sunday I'm going to hide the rocks in Castle Rock then give her the word to find them.  Can't wait to hear how excited this makes her kids and that I had a part in it!!

Rocks Are My Happy Place

This morning on my way to work I stopped off at the local minit mart.  On my way in, I scooped up a few rocks I had painted and set a couple on the ice container, a couple on the railing, and one by the garbage can. First time I had placed some out to be found.

Later this afternoon, I looked on the Cowlitz County Rocks Facebook page and someone posted they had found a couple of them.  What a thrill!

On my way home I stopped at the store by work to get gas. I set out about 4 or 5 of my rocks around the gas pump. I then sent in a request to join Lewis County Rocks to see if anyone will post about finding them.

Anxious for the snow to go away so I can grab more rocks from my yard to paint. Fun hobby - use my creativity and wind up giving someone a smile!

Speaking of snow, tomorrow morning freezing rain is predicted. Enough already!!!

Monday Funday

Ran across these and they are just too funny. Reminds me of something I would do with an identical outcome!

Jordan and Juice

Jordan and his wife Candy won free tickets to see Juice Newton of all people. Throwback from the '80s!!  They even got their picture taken with the singer. I can't wait to hear their story of the event.

Sundays Were Made for Naps

This morning we met everyone at Enos Winery in Portland for a post-wedding brunch. Aside from the major highways, the Portland roads were horribly snow and ice packed.  We had to park a ways away so thankfully I had worn my boots.

The coffee was great and there was an assortment of speciality danish to eat.  Nice to be able to visit with the bridal party and Steve's family before we hit the road to my place around 1:30.

I didn't sleep well last night and was battling a headache.  Popped some Tylenol and when we arrived to my house it was nap time.

Steve and my pup Stubbs have a love-hate relationship. Steve loves Stubbs and Stubbs hate Steve. Well, not all the time but usually when I'm in the room. Stubbs was actually very receptive to Steve today and 80% well behaved. Progress is being made!!

Snowy Wedding in Oregon

Despite the snow and the ice, I was able to make it to Steve's niece Chelsea's wedding tonight. Steve actually picked me up then we drove back to his house in Portland to hang out before getting dressed for the wedding.

Steve cleaned up really well.  First time I've seen him in a suit - nice gray pants, vest, jacket along with lilac shirt and tie plus it included his favorite accessory - suspenders!

His parents rode with us to the wedding which was located at the Oregon Golf Club.  Majestic spot with a fabulous view of Mt. Hood. With all this snow, there were a couple of days they were worried the club may cancel the wedding. Thankfully that didn't occur.

The wedding was a classy affair. Bridesmaids in tasteful black dresses, groomsmen in black tux, and the bride was gorgeous in a sparkly beaded dress with poofy skirting. It reminded me of the ballet pictures by Degas.

The ceremony was fairly short, then the 200 guests went in for cocktails and appetizers before dinner began. The appetizers were yummy, especially because all I had eaten was a protein juice drink. There was a cheese and crackers table, beef or chicken skewers, coconut shrimp, and these tasty chopped pear topped bruschetta.

After about an hour or so we were ushered into the reception area for dinner, which was also excellent. Lots of toasts, lots of dancing, and a small cake cutting followed by a champagne glass filled with three different flavors of cake pops.

All in all it was a very classy and entertaining event. Tomorrow morning we meet for a post-wedding brunch followed by Steve returning me home!

Snow, Snow, and More Snow

Last night I went to bed and it was only fluttering wet flakes. Woke up this morning and overnight the snowstorm had hit. And it kept snowing, and snowing, and snowing all day long. Thus I was stuck at home.

My day consisted of painting rocks, napping, work teleconference, painting, making shrimp and lobster pasta salad, and dealing with allergy eyes.  Been watching the road conditions in the hopes I can return to work tomorrow.  There's nothing worse than being housebound, which ultimately leads to the most undesirable task - cleaning!!

Diva and the Rolling Stones

I've branched out into a different area of crafting - rock painting!  There is a movement going on in our community, as well as other towns, where you pick up random stones, paint them, then plant them in various places for others to find.  And that's it!  Doing something to express yourself just to allow strangers to smile or to think. I must say it's a fabulous idea!

I joined a Facebook group, Cowlitz County Rocks, to get inspired.  People post their creations then let others know where they have "hidden" them. Others, often with children, post the rocks they have found, oftentimes while they are out rock hunting.

Not sure if I will get that intimately involved but I do plan on placing my rocks in various areas as I go through my day. The gas station, the minit mart, a parking lot - wherever the urge strikes.

Here are a few of my rocks that will soon find their way out in the world.

Dinosaur, Driftwood and Draggin

Awww Sunday, better known as Day 2 with no shower!  Yesterday I cleaned up, fixed my hair and face and took care of business. Today ended up being a stay in your pajamas all day event.

Cleaned the kitchen again then painted a driftwood walking stick for Jordan. I've had the stick for awhile and it screamed out dinosaur or alien. Ended up painting one side as a dinosaur and the other side as a snake. I think he will like it.

Sam and Jimmy stopped by this afternoon to visit. Once they were gone I finally made myself put away all my clothes. Ugh. I watched You've Got Mail for the hundredth time while I hung my wardrobe. The end gets me every time - I was a sobbing puddle at the end.

It's now 830 pm and I'm in bed. Hitting the hay early as I have to be at work by 8 for a teleconference.  I'm saying my prayers tonight that the roads aren't icy!

Chilly, Chili, and Chillin

Nothing better than sleeping in on the weekend. Woke up about 8:30, got my coffee, and hung out thinking of my plans for the day. Soon received a text from Sam and he became my plans. Picked him up from his friends house, hit the bank so he could start a checking account, ran him back home to get cash, picked up Jimmy, deposited his money at drive through, and headed over to Starbucks.

Bank called - forgot Sam's license in the drive through container (my fault!)  Got our Starbucks by pooling our random gift cards, then headed back to bank to pick up license.

Headed to DMV; Sam called insurance place to get that first. Found out he hadn't added enough money to bank to cover deposit. At that point the bank was closed so back to bank to put his additional cash in to night deposit.

Finally time to drop off Sam and Jimmy then to my house.  Cleaned the kitchen, took down Christmas decor from the front porch, then put up my new Seahawks flag that Sam gifted me for Christmas.

That done, I whipped up a batch of chilli for the crockpot.  Turned it on high then made another batch of the no knead bread and set it aside to rise.

Bread rising, my next task was to whip up some pastry dough for a pie. Rolled that out, dumped in canned berry filling, and covered it. Had some extra dough so made some grape and leaf clusters for the top. Brushed the leaves with green food coloring,  the only one I had. Needed red or purple for the grapes so ended up mixing a bit of cranberry jellied sauce with sugar to make a sort of pinkish color for them. What the heck - whatever works in a pinch!!

The bread is now in the oven as I sit here relaxing waiting for the big snow and ice storm to occur.  Lord knows I won't go hungry if I'm housebound!!

Let Them Eat Bread!

There's nothing better than doing something extra special for people who work hard for you every day.  Last night I mixed together a batch of no-knead yeast bread and let it rise all night long.  Getting up early this morning, I plopped it into a bread pan then cooked it until it was brown and crispy on top, risen and fluffy in the middle.  Packing it up along with butter and strawberry preserves, I brought it in to work to surprise my team with fresh, warm goodness on this very cold morning.  It was a big hit!  Too much for us to eat so I spread the word for fellow employees to partake in the carb goodness.  So happy it turned out - making bread is always a moving target!!!

No-Knead Crusty Artisan Bread

 

Yield: Makes 1 loaf

 

Ingredients:

 

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons kosher salt (not table salt)

1/2 teaspoon dry yeast (active dry or highly active dry work best)

1 1/2 cups lukewarm water

 

Directions:

 

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt and yeast. Stir in water using a wooden spoon until the mixture forms a shaggy but cohesive dough. Do not over-work the dough. The less you "work" it, the more soft, fluffy air pockets will form.

 

Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Let dough sit at room temperature for 8-24 hours*. Dough will bubble up and rise.

 

After dough is ready, preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Place your Dutch oven, uncovered, into the preheated oven for 30 minutes.

 

While your Dutch oven preheats, turn dough onto a well-floured surface. With floured hands, form the dough into a ball. Cover dough loosely with plastic wrap and let rest.

 

After the 30 minutes are up, carefully remove Dutch oven. With floured hands, place the bread dough into it. (You can put a piece of parchment under the dough if your Dutch oven isn’t enamel coated.)

Replace cover and bake for 30 minutes covered. Carefully remove cover and bake for 7-15 minutes* more, uncovered.

 

Carefully remove bread to a cutting board and slice with a bread knife.

 

NOTE – Okay, I have no Dutch oven.  I made a double batch of the dough, using the dough mixer on my Kitchenaide, let it sit to rise overnight, then plopped it into bread pan and cooked it at 425 degrees for about 30 minutes (if it was a single batch, I’d cook it for 15 minutes.)  I took it out when the top was crispy and golden brown.  Turned out perfecto!!

Heels and Ducks

One of the employees at work surprised me out of the blue with a late Christmas gift. She said she found something that made her think of me and she thought was perfect for me. It was a high heeled stiletto cell phone holder!!  Totally me of course!!

I have my shoe obssession and Steve has his. This morning he was out in the very, very, very cold weather duck hunting. Today was a good day as he got his limit.  Aren't they gorgeous?  Crafty girl that I am my first thought when I saw this picture was "hmmm...what could I do with those green feathers??"

Can We Just Skip This Phase of My Life?

So, I'm just not looking forward to menopause!! Outside of my period stopping, I'm not digging all these other symptoms.  My doctor told me it's like going through puberty again with all the hormones running rampant.  Ugh.  I've had a few moods lately that I've chocked up to menopause knocking on my door.  I'm just over it already and it hasn't even started!!!



 

 

Grandparent Once Removed

It's almost like time traveling or a form of parallel universe whereupon my son Jordan can become a grandfather before me, his mother, has become a grandmother.

Congrats to Jordan and his wife Candy who became grandparents (again) on January 1.  Candy's oldest son's ex-girlfriend gave birth to a baby girl; Candy's youngest son already has a 1 1/2 year old baby daughter.  But make no mistake - this does not make me a great grandmother!!!