Ready For 2018 To Be Over

Christmas 2018 is over and I can't wait for 2019!

After being out sick from work all week, my health began to be on the mend.  Christmas Eve Steve invited me to spend with his family so I took him up on the offer. Delicious dinner at his sister's house in Oregon City and it was great catching up with his family.

Christmas Day Jordan, Candy, her granddaughter Hailey and her mom Trista, and Sam came over for presents and ham dinner. Over the weekend had picked through some of the boys old t-shirts and made each a quilt from them, which they loved.  

I was still not feeling well so spent most of the day lounging on the couch.  No shower, hair up, and overalls.  The next day I returned to work and it was nice to get back into the swing of things.

Wednesday evening met up with the Blue Jacket Divas for Christmas dinner at the Mill City Grill. We spent over two hours catching up, exchanging gifts, and laughing. Had been a long time since we had seen each other.

Thursday at work I began feeling odd. I had to go pee frequently and my nether regions were feeling uncomfortable. I took an early lunch and ended up spending the whole time in the bathroom. What was going on?? Continuing urge to pee, burning and I was in misery.

After Googling my symptoms, I suspected I had a urinary tract infection.  Called the doctor and was able to get an appt at 5pm.  Arrived, gave a urine sample and yep, it was, as the nurse said, a raging UTI. 

They prescribed antibiotics and painkillers and Sam was kind enough to pick them up for me as I was in no shape to venture 5 feet or more away from the bathroom. Never had a UTI before and never want one again! Doc signed me out of work today so I could recover. Thankfully the painkiller is working although it's turning my pee a neon shade of orange.

And so it goes. On the upswing for getting better and looking forward to a healthier 2019!

Christmas Parties and the Crud

Company party last Friday - Fun, great food, open bar, and funny CEO. Didn't win a raffle prize but scored two table floral settings and regifted to sis and stepmom at the family party. Co-worker Peyton won second place in the celebrity contest so whoo hoo! Highlight was getting my caricature done.

Family party last Saturday - great to see almost everyone. Makes me nostalgic for the old days. 

Sunday - the sickness set in. Ended up with a cold/cough/temperature that has settled in for the holidays.  It's now Wednesday; tried to get back to work yesterday and today but it's just not happening. Congested, coughing til I wet my pants - not having a good time here. Here's me on day four of riding the couch.

Party On Dude!

One of my co-workers is going to the company party dressed as a character from "The Big Lebowski." As part of his costume he needed a fishing vest tailored. Word got out (yeah, I'm looking at you, fellow co-worker Pam) that I could sew and therefore I volunteered to help him out. Last night I added some fabric, did a few tweaks, and the vest turned out great!

He tried it on when he got to work and it fit perfectly!! He was happy, I was happy, and all was right in the world. I hope he wins the costume contest.

Also today we let the cat out of the bag and identified ourselves to our secret pals. Both Pam and I knew we had each other but, in the spirit of the game, played along, feigning innocence each time we received a surprise from our secret pal. It's been a lot of fun over these last six months and I'm sad it's over. Perhaps we will get paired again for next year's secret pal program. Lord knows we've got the acting down for the parts!!

Tomorrow all five of us in our team will be riding together to the company party. It's gonna be epic! Unbelievable! And seriously entertaining!! 

Ethel is Not Coming Out to Play!

Tonight did a little pre-show with the outfit for tomorrow's company party. It was long, sparkly, fur shrug, gloves - the whole shebang.  I looked in the mirror and who did I see looking back at me? Ethel Barrymore. Yep, straight out of "The Parradine Case" with Charles Laughton. It was just overkill and I was feeling like the matron of melodrama when I'd rather be feeling like Valli from the same movie.

Dug into my closet and found a nice simple black dress with rhinestone trimmed cuffs. Elegant. Classic. And much more comfortable than being strapped into an outfit that screams costume rather than good taste.

The one thing still needing to be figured out is my hair. Was going to wear it up but in the different dress you would be able to see my back tattoo. And I hate that tattoo!  So think I will go for a half up/half down kind of style or at least one where tendrils are covering the offending skin pic.

Painted my fingers tonight a sparkly red to match the party mood, not only for tomorrow but for the Shepard family party on Saturday.   It's going to be a busy weekend!!!

Birthdays, Baking, and Broken Bones

Yesterday was up bright and early to bake.  Influenced by my addiction to the Great British Baking show, cooked from scratch a white birthday cake for daughter-in-law Candy. While that was in the oven made a batch of wild huckleberry jam. There were several tiny stems in with the berries so halfway through tossed the whole steaming batch into the blender. Great idea as it pulverized the stems and berries and turned out a nice batch of jam.

Once the cake cooled, I sliced it into four layers. Two layers with huckleberry jam and two with chocolate frosting followed by the whole thing being covered with chocolate frosting. Even melted some chocolate and added swirls to the outside. It's not perfect but looks edible!  Happy birthday Candy!

Just finishing up cake when Marie stopped by and dropped off her dog Lilly for me to babysit overnight. Such an easy dog - quiet, gets along with Stubbs.

Yesterday afternoon stopped off at the Oddities Dark Market bazaar where Jordan and Candy were selling their wares. Lots of interesting booths with a variety of crystals, jewelry, art, skull-themed items and the like.

Sam stopped by yesterday and filled me in on my "third son" Jimmy. Jimmy and his girlfriend had a car wreck Friday night. Jimmy got a fractured neck and vertebrae and his girlfriend had to be life flighted to OHSU. Thankfully both will be okay and Jimmy was released yesterday. Big sigh of relief. Felt better after talking to him on the phone.

This morning finished working on my 48 cent work party dress then sewed together sections of two sweaters to come up with a faux fur type of wrap. Will definitely be red carpet.

After whipping that up, I made an infinity purple sequin scarf for my secret pal at work. This is the final week of secret pal for this year and we are supposed to reveal our identities on Wednesday to each other.  Will be giving her the scarf along with some purple huckleberry jam.

Finally hauled out the Christmas tree and put it up along with my large porch snowman. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! !

Jordan and Candy stopped by tonight so we could cut into the cake. Turned out yummy!!

Here's to having a busy week. Work Monday and Tuesday, training in Tacoma at 8am on Wednesday  (ugh), company party in Tacoma on Friday, then family holiday party in the Gorge on Saturday! Will be a whirlwind!!

Passing President and Party

Due to George Bush passing away, yesterday work gave us all the day off - paid!  In George's honor, my day was spent cleaning the kitchen then, believe it or not, cleaning my bedroom! All the clothes have been hung up where they belong and my loveseat is once again visible!!

Next Friday is the company party. Looked around to find a dress for the red carpet/celebrity look alike theme; found one at Ross but it wasn't working for me so returned it. Dug out a dress I bought at Ross about a year ago for 48 cents. Yes, 48 cents! Long, black, sparkly but just a wee snug so tonight I sewed in a little extra fabric in the back to give me more breathing room. Doesn't look bad but now the search is on for a wrap of some kind. It is sleeveless which I hate so gotta come up with something to hide my batwings.

Was digging through the closet and found a gold window scarf and thought "hmmm....this could be made into a wrap or even a dress."  Yes I've now morphed into Cinderella but probably more along the lines of Carol Burnett.  Actually that might play well into the celebrity look alike contest!

Highlights and Happenings

So fulfilling Thursday evening to have my hair trimmed and colored by hair stylist extraordinare Abbie. It has now come back from the brassy dark/blonde mess I had created into the streaky blonde that I love. She's a Godsend to my locks. I toyed with the idea of snipping it into a bob but decided to keep the length and had her cut lots of layers into it so the bulky mass on my head would have a better chance of being styled.

Friday night found me cruising to bestie's house for dinner and catch up. There's nothing finer than to bend a friend's ear when you just need to vent, bitch, whine, or cry.

Saturday night met up with bestie and Marie to watch the local Christmas parade. The highlight is my work sits two stories above the parade route so we sat in a dark office out of the cold and rain and watched the festivities through the windows.  Lots of marching bands, lighted log trucks, the Grinch, Santa, and horses led the way.

After the parade we popped over to The Shamrock, a local pub most famous for its green beer on St. Patrick's Day.  Don't have a regular drink as love to try out new flavors so my drink of choice was the espresso martini. Very tasty, so much so a second just had to be ordered.  It was a fun evening people watching.

This morning met bestie early for breakfast then came home and took a nap. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful - binged on a season of Top Chef, did a load of laundry, ate popcorn for dinner, painted my nails, and now it's not quite 9pm and I'm in bed. Meant to put up the tree but will get to that this week. Only 23 more days to Christmas!!

Skin Tag Update

Caught Sam during a weak moment yesterday and talked him into clipping the skin tags from my neck. He was a good sport even with my spastic movements when he clipped down on them.  So beyond happy those tags are gone!

On a side note, Sam also let me clean his ears, an oddly satisfying habit I pursue every chance the boys let me. Yes, sick freak I am but love me, love my quirks!  Gee, perhaps that explains why I'm single!!

Mom's Meringue Morsels

Speaking of Mom, one of my childhood friends asked me on Facebook if I had a recipe of hers that she remembered and loved. I had just ran across that recipe this morning as I searched for Mom's cardamom bread recipe. I gladly posted it for her.

So funny she would remember those cookies as it has to be over 40 some years since she had them last.

Here's a better pic for any of you who want to indulge yourself with these treats.

Soup and Bread

This weekend's theme appeared to be "good food."

Last night I had dinner prepared by bestie. Tender, scrumptious beef stroganoff brimming with mushrooms, green salad, and heavenly toasted cheese bread. The meal ended with a peanut butter, sugar-free chocolate pudding pie prepared by moi. Add in lots of talk and laughs and it was a perfect Saturday night. Well, except for the fog enveloping my car on the drive home.  Brights on, brights off, brights on, brights off - it was a freak show trying to maniacally figure out how best to navigate through the fog.  Thankfully my drive home was successful.

This morning was dedicated to my mom.  She used to prepare holiday cardamom bread, layered with spice and topped with Karo syrup and colored sugar crystals.  This morning I followed in her footsteps as I made two loaves of bread with a healthy dose of cardamom.  After baking, I brushed on top a homemade sugar glaze (as no Karo in the house) and sprinkled it with red sugar.  Bread turned out perfect and filled the house with the Christmas scent of my mom.

One tip I learned on line was an easier way to raise bread dough. Normally I'm scouting out a heated spot in the house and it takes forever for the dough to double. The warmest spots are in the bathroom - but who wants to raise bread dough on a toilet - or on top of the furnace vent, which means Stubbs will take every opportunity to nibble and/or lick a bite of dough.

My new tip was to place a pan of boiling water in the oven on a lower rack then turn the oven to 400 degrees for one minute before turning it off. Place the bowl of dough into the oven and the humid heat will result in a faster, perfect proof.  Tried this trick on the first and second rise and it worked!  This will definitely be used for future, picture perfect  proofing.

While the dough rose, I boiled the Thanksgiving turkey bones to prepare stock, just like mom used to do. It simmered for a couple of hours then filled a crock pot full of veggies, brown rice, turkey, and the stock. Have now got some tasty turkey rice soup to last me for days.

As is commonplace in life, with every good act there is a price to pay. For me this means a sink full of dirty dishes!  Anyone want to wash my dishes for a bowl of soup and homemade bread?

Happy Thanksgiving 2018

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

This year was a small gathering - only Sam and his girlfriend as Jordan and Candy stayed home to cook. I tried out a new recipe for the turkey - brown sugar, Toasted Carmel Black Velvet glaze. Very tasty. Also prepared hash brown potato casserole instead of mashed potatoes, which were a big hit. Both Sam and Kaitlyn had seconds!  Jordan sent me a pic of his homemade cherry chip cake they enjoyed.

Sam and Kaitlyn left about 4 to go to her parents. Since then I've been munching on pumpkin pie dessert and loafing on the couch, avoiding cleaning the kitchen. 😆

Me recovering from too much pumpkin dessert!

And here it is after 9pm so my thoughts are heading toward bed. I'm so very thankful for all my blessings, including my sons, my family, my bestie, my friends, my dog, my job, and my ability to stay sane even during times of stress. Here's hoping all of you had a blessed Thanksgiving!

Skin Tags Be Damned!

Lately I've been feeling these little nubs on the back of my neck. Yes, skin tags if you will. Of course I can't stop rubbing them so I've begun to appear as an OCD-infested Uncle Wilbur who is constantly pressing his sweaty palm on his neck below his hair, akin to a nervous tic.  It was time to take action!

Now, I've gotten skin tags on the front of my neck before  and swiftly, with the aid of nail clippers, snipped them off. Even enlisted son Sam to cut them off, a task he was very reluctant to perform until he got tired of my begging and pleading and caved. However, having a girlfriend Sam is never around so I decided to take matters into my own hands.

The idea popped into my head while I was in the shower, washing my hair and feeling the fleshy nubs of neck hell as I rinsed my hair. Why don't I just shave them off? That's the ticket and a task that can be performed singularily!

Grabbed my razor, rubbed a little Brylcream on the offenders, and began shaving the back of my neck. Hmmmm, perhaps I should have switched out the old razor with a new one. Do I even have any more new ones? Alas, the job had begun so continued appendectomy of the tags with a vengeance.

Shaving just didn't seem to be accomplishing the job as I imagined it. Would pull the razor away to see chunks of hair clotting the blade. And no these were not errant neck hairs but chunks of head hair that were entangled in the path of the skin tags. Yikes!

Hoping I had removed at least some of the skin creatures, I rinsed and got out of the shower.  Towel turbaned my hair, I then rubbed the back of my neck hoping to feel the smooth skin of a newborn.

Well no. After all that torture those tags remained on my neck, bold as the mole hair that sprung from third grade teacher Mrs. Morrow's wrinkly face!

It's now been two days since The Epic Shave of 2018. The back of my neck has irritated me like a son of a bitch! Skin tags still there but now included on my neck is rash burn, nicks, and inflamed flesh.  Perhaps even missing patches of hair although I've been too reluctant to scope out the remains of my neck with a mirror.

Lesson learned - it's better to have a family member excise skin tags than attempt to remove them yourself using a dull razor.

Excuse me as its time to rub my neck.

Battery Blowout

Well it was quite the Monday of all Mondays!

Sunday afternoon I went in to work to finish a project. I left about 5pm and my car wouldn't start. Ugh! Was it battery or something worse? Thankfully Sam came and we were able to jump start it.

Got up Monday morning and it wouldn't start.  Bestie Lynn had offered to give me a ride to work but decided instead to take the battery in to be checked.  Sam came over and took the battery out then later on Lynn stopped by to give me a ride to battery place. Yep, the battery was dead and gone. Picked up a new battery then back to home

Well dammit couldn't get one of the connectors to fit the right battery stump. Could not figure it out! Twisted and wrenched on the beast but to no avail. Had to wait til Sam was off work to stop by and fix the situation.

After work Sam investigated and we finally realized we had not removed the plastic cap from the stump!  Solution sitting in plain sight but didn't see it. Pulled that sucker off, connected it (after squeezing the connector to put it back in original shape), and the car started like a champ!!

Missed a day of work yesterday but will be back at it today. So much for working over the weekend to be caught up this week!!

Big tremendous thanks to Lynn and Sam for helping in my time of need!!! ❤

Sundays and Sniffling

There's something about Sundays that always results in me being plugged up!

It seems every Sunday I wake up with a plugged up and/or runny nose, itchy eyes, and sniffles. Ugh!  This usually ends up with me popping a Benydryl which puts me down for the count.  Haven't taken one yet today but it's calling me!!

It's How I Roll

Last night was so inspired by my favorite British baking shows decided to churn out some cinnamon rolls. 

Followed a Pinterest recipe for "fast and easy" rolls. Even sifted my flour, which meant shaking it through a small colander to the point of carpal tunnel as I own no sifter.  But damn that flour was light!

Heated up butter, milk and water to add to the flour. Mixture needed to be 115 degrees. Decided to play it safe and use a thermometer to make sure it wasn't overheated. Turned out to be 143 degrees! Spent 10 minutes stirring and testing the liquid waiting for it to hit the 115 spot.

My Kitchen Aid mixture made the process a piece of cake! Slipped in the dough hook, added liquid, let it run, and voila! Perfect bread dough!

Rolled the dough, covered it with butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and cherry pie filling, and sliced it into sections. Let the rolls proof for an hour, popped in oven for 25 minutes, and there you have it. Perfectly risen, gooey, sweet rolls of yummy bread goodness! Paul Hollywood would have been so proud!

Up next may be Mom's Cardamom bread for the holidays!

Food for Thought

Ran across this today - love the thought!

Birthdays, Britain, and Bloody Fingers

Let's catch up on what's been happening this week:

Rammed my finger into the porch stairway railing on Saturday. Lots of pain, bleeding, and ripping of nail. Ended up clipping off the remains of my acrylic nail to see the sad state of my real nail. No bandaid so had to use duct tape to stop the bleeding.

Met bestie for breakfast at local Stuffy's on Sunday. Had the "tiny" stuff - so large it provided me with lunch and dinner on Monday. And lifesaver she is, she brought me bandaids for my finger!

On Monday it was bestie's bday. Happy belated birthday!!!

Tuesday night made from scratch chicken pot pie. Been addicted to the British Best Baker show so not only do I think I can make a mean pastry but my English accent is coming along quite nicely.

Today they offered free flu shots at work so stepped up to get stabbed not once but twice by also getting the pneumonia vaccine. Both arms should be sore in the morning!

Speaking of tomorrow morning, not only is it Friday but it's brother Jay and sister Julie's birthday! Happy birthday to the older set of twins!

Let's make it a memorable weekend!!

Better As A Blonde 👱

Oh hair why do you torture me so?

Actually, I realize that it is me that is torturing my hair!  A few weeks ago i added in some medium beige brown streaks hoping to tone down the blonde. Well, nothing like unwrapping the towel and seeing you've become brunette! Those lowlights ended up cascading through my whole head!!

Lived with it for awhile hoping it would fade. Damn Sally's hair color was holding on like a mother though. Stopped back at Sally's yesterday to pick up some bleach to fix the problem.

Spent last night brushing blonde streaks onto my hair. Wrapped it in a Ziplock bag and spent my waiting time playing clips through my memory of all the times I've colored my hair. Orange, purple streaks, platinum blonde, gawd awful ash brown, brassy streaks - the list goes on and on.

New blonde streaks actually turned out acceptable, although a few were a bit on the orangey tone. This morning refreshed a few of the off kilter streaks, let them cook, then took a shower.  Better. I think. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself.  Definitely the brightness around my face is more flattering than that brunette!

Follow up - okay the new blonde was a bit out there so I added about 5 streaks of dark blonde back into a few spots.  Mucho better! Has the streaky effect I like and muted some of those orangey pieces.

I'm now going to step away from the dye bottle!!