My Weblog

CRIME SCENE? CARNAGE?

Yeah, that's kinda how it seems around here. If you come to search, please don't check out the trash can. I've had 7 nosebleeds in the last 5 days. That includes 3 last night.  I'm having a hard time trying to keep my sweatshirts from becoming blood-stained. I don't really know why. My only guess about this is that, due to forced air heating, the air in the house is drier than usual. Based on information from a doctor, that is a factor in wintertime nosebleeds. 

In years past I kept a pot of water simmering on my gas stove. I did this a few hours most days. Now, due to the cost of energy, I am really not feeling that that is an option. I'm thinking that maybe I should wet a cloth with warm/hot water and wear it like a neck scarf. I'm thinking that would, at least to some extent, add some moisture to the air I breathe. I'm also going from room to room to place bowls of water which, as the water evaporates, should help.

A FEW WORDS ABOUT MY CONFLICTED DOG...........

i love this girl, but I just can't figure her out. I'm pretty sure she can't figure herself out. She will come cozy up to my chair and wait for a butt scratch or petting. However, the moment I extend my hand toward her, she ducks. It's as though she fears my hand. I think she was hit by her previous owners. She also will not stand close to her food dish if I happen to be walking past. I've never seen a dog leave its food just because a person is walking past. She will go into the bedroom and jump up on the bed and wait for me. If I stop everything and go sit with her at the foot of the bed, she will come close to cuddling with me. However, if I call her to come to me, she doesn't. 

She has been here about 50 weeks now. You'd think that she would have figured out by now that I'm not gonna hurt her. That's a pretty long time to try to establish trust, dontcha think? I feel bad that she hasn't figured out yet that my kinda love doesn't result in pain. 

I also want to mention that in November, she had a birthday. She is now 6 years old. She's a sweetheart, and even with her quirks, I love her and I feel blessed to have her here with me.

 

Sugar rush............

When I lived in St. Louis, there was a delicacy that reputedly originated in a bakery in St. Louis. It was delicious......sweet, moist, and incredibly rich. Then, years later, I discovered Paula Deen had adopted the recipe and made it her own. Even more, she'd adapted it so that it came in flavors. If you know anything about Paula Deen, you probably know that to her there is little on this earth that's better than butter. I'm not sayin' she upped the butter content, but I wouldn't be surprised if you told me she did. Anyway, I just made me a Gooey Butter Cake in the pumpkin flavor. It's really good. I took the precaution of cutting the sugar and it's still very sweet. I don't know any way to cope with this thing other than cutting it in small pieces and freezing the pieces. I figure, over time, I can actually eat the whole thing, but I am going to have to be careful to have just one tiny piece a day. So, I'll freeze it in tiny individual servings and just defrost when I get the urge for something sweet. Anyway, you can find the recipe online. Just google Paula Deen and go to her website. Once on her website, search for pumpkin gooey butter cake. Then invite every neighbor within a two square block area to share in a tiny bite of this stuff. You'll be everyone's favorite neighbor for years to come. Oops--don't invite anyone who is diabetic. A serving of this stuff just might finish 'em off.

conformist?

I've been watching you tube videos. Everyone is showing off their holiday table or giving their tips for delicious turkey. Pumpkin everything........ Admonitions to be thankful. Well, I am thankful. I'm thankful that I live in the USA. I'm thankful I'm alive today. I'm thankful for the irritating health problem which with prayer has disappeared.  I am thankful for peace and quiet in a home inhabited by only myself, God, and the dog. I am thankful for the God who holds me in the palm of His hand, every day. 

I am thankful I didn't do the traditional Thanksgiving. I gave God a lot of thanks, but I didn't cook Him a turkey or even a pumpkin pie. But, last night, after all those you tube videos, I did make some turkey noodle soup. I had a pint jar of turkey, a quart jar of turkey broth, some noodles left over from my last batch of haluski, freeze dried onions, freeze dried carrots, some celery seed (because I didn't have any celery), so I made a big pot of turkey noodle soup. It was very tasty. I ate my fill and I have 3-4 servings in a plastic container in my fridge for the next couple of days. So, just like so many folks in our country, I have used turkey leftovers to feed myself. I've gotten with the program--conformed.

Don't get me wrong. I could have done the whole special meal thing. I have frozen turkey, potatoes, sweet potatoes, canned pumpkin, freeze dried green beans, cans of mushroom soup, frozen loaves of bread for stuffing. In fact, about the only thing I don't have in the house is celery. And I'll eat all those things, sooner or later, just not on the one day a year we have specified for thankfulness. Truth is, I try to express my gratitude to the good Lord everyday and, mentally, I object to the idea of one special day to be thankful. We should all be thankful and express our gratitude every day to the ONE who orders the days of our lives. 

she's lost

Truly lost. I can't find Roomie. I turned her loose a couple of days ago to vacuum according to her innate programming. I haven't seen her yet. What usually happens is that I go around, looking in all of her favorite hiding spots, and normally I will just spot her as I go along. No such luck. The really scary thing is when she goes under my king sized bed. I live in fear with regard to how I would rescue her from there. I went in there and looked under that bed the other day with a not too strong flashlight and looked. I didn't see her. I just went back in there with a stronger flashlight and I still don't see her under there. I just can't find her. Now what do I do? I guess I better ask the Lord to show up for duty. Of course, He knows where Roomie is hiding.

Try try again

Several days ago I wrote an update concerning something i cooked and a relevant story from my childhood. In essence I had written everything you needed to know about that topic. However, I held off publishing it incase it occurred to me to add something. Of course, it got late, I went to bed, and while I was sleeping, the computer rebooted overnight. Poof! all that effort vanished. I just don't have the heart to write that again.............

Anyway, it's gotten cold here. Of course if you live in upstate New York or Vermont, you'd laugh at me for saying that. But, you probably didn't endure many days of 110+ temps this past summer, unlike me. Like most of us, I suspect, I am trying to keep the thermostat lower than usual. I'm concerned about the gas bill and the electric bill............

I have decided I'm going to have to buy some more sweat pants. And I refuse to wear pants that don't have pockets. I have only a few pairs. I thought I had more. But I've searched the 2 places in my house where sweat pants might be hiding and struck out. I just don't do laundry often enough for 3 pairs to handle the situation.

My current plans, budget-wise, for clothing is zippo. I have promised myself new seat covers when my current stock wears out, but I had no plans for anything else. But, I just did some extra work for a client, so part of what he pays me, I'll use for sweat pants. I'd rather use it for something more exciting, but I have to behave myself.

I also have to buy some more canning jars. I'm filling them up faster than I'm emptying them which is okay with me. It's good to have a little bit of something ahead, right? What I bought at yesterday's prices, on sale, I don't have to pay for at today's inflated prices, so it's all good. Besides, one has to remember that canning jars are an investment. They can be reused over and over for years to come.......... But the price of canning jars has to come out of my food budget.........

I don't think I mentioned it, but I have 2 small turkeys in the freezer. Kroger had them for $.79 a pound. That, in my opinion, is not a great price for turkey, but what IS a great price these days? It's still a lot less than even a cheap pork roast. Besides, I'm quite sure I can get a lot of meals from a turkey. I'm not planning any kind of a "traditional" Thanksgiving. With just me to feed, how much cooking should I do? I do have instant mashed potatoes, home canned yams, stuffing mix, and so on. So, if the urge hits, I can do something. I'd rather have a low pressure day in which I can spend time thinking about how good the Lord is to me. That's what it's supposed to be all about anyway!

One of those days.........

When I woke up this morning, I had pain just below my waist on the left side of my back. As I sat on the heating pad and moved around some, the pain eased. But by bedtime, I had pain on the right side of my back, just below my waist. I went to bed and stayed there, trying to find a position that didn't hurt for an hour and a half. Finally, I came back out here. I've now taken a muscle relaxer, I'm back on the heating pad, and I've had some ibuprofen. If I get to where I don't hurt anymore, I will hustle into the bedroom and try going to bed again. I'll probably be blessed with sleep at that point. 

I wish I knew what to do about this. It's been going on on one side or the other for a solid 3-4 weeks. I'm at the point where I am just sick of hurting. I'm having a hard time not sinking into depression over it. I could use some prayers, please. It's really getting in the way of me getting done what needs done............

COOKIN' UP A MONSTROUS PAN OF GOODNESS

The pan is about 13 x 9 x 2. It's filled to the brim. I am making "Lazy Man's Lasagne". It was still a good bit of work, but far less than traditional lasagne with all the layers. I've got a few other little cheats thrown in there as well For example, I am using bottled spaghetti sauce instead of cooking my own sauce all day. And, I bought pre-shredded mozzarella. The trick to this stuff is that you don't use the fussy lasagne noodles. Instead, you use rigatoni. And you don't do the layers--you just mix everything together in your biggest mixing bowl and when it's all mixed together, you transfer it to the baking dish. It should feed me tonight, and make many frozen entrees for the future. If you're curious about this recipe just google it. I'm using the version from She's In Her Apron youtube channel. 

I still ended up having to sit down 3-4 times during the process, but that's at least partly because my back is misbehaving again. Or, is it yet? Seems like I've been sitting on the heating pad for days on end. I am waking up with pain just below the waist on one side or the other, day after day. Generally, something (or 4-5 somethings) is out of place between my waist and my tailbone. Some times I can get all the somethings to go back where they belong. Sometimes I can get 2-3 somethings to go back in place. And, sometimes, despite my best efforts, I can't get a single thunk to show that something has moved. Today it's a "not a single thunk" day. I found myself on Amazon looking at big ice pads and at shiatsu massage guns this afternoon. I mentioned that I am expecting a large check, and I am thinking of ordering both of those things "when my ship comes in............."

I will be so happy when January rolls around. I am getting so much "junk" mail. The Republican candidates are spending a lot on direct mail. I'd say I'm getting at least 3 pieces of mail a week from both Becker and Laxalt. One was more than enough. In addition I'm getting election e-mail from those who favor us keeping our 2nd amendment rights, and from those who want us to vote one way or the other on Right to Work stuff. On top of that, I am getting, daily, mailers for this health plan or that one because it's the season when we get to change our coverage as seniors. I'm having a heckuva time keeping the trash can under my desk that I use for recycling emptied. I feel like I'm wearing a path in the carpet inside and in the concrete outside...........

THE NEXT DAY

I just finished putting the extra lasagne into single serving ziploc freezer bags and putting them into the freezer. I ate til I was full last night, and I have 10 additional servings in the fridge.

I went back and checked prices. I was able to get all the ingredients on sale except the rigatoni. I did buy the house brand on that. I spent $11.29, total for 11 servings. So, right at $1.02 a serving. And, for me, that will fill me up, so $1.02 a meal. That's how I go about trying to beat inflation.........

BABY GOT SOME BRAND NEW SHOES

Yup, I had to buy brand new shoes for my Toyota baby. I left home to go 1.5 miles to the grocery store (and return). On the way I got a low pressure warning on the tires. I took a look when I got to the store and nearly tossed my cookies. My passenger side rear tire was looking bad. I left the grocery store and headed for Discount Tire. If you buy your tires there, they'll actually check your tire pressure and fill 'em up for you for free. I used to have a tire pressure gauge in my van, but it is now MIA, so this is a valuable service for me.

Anyway, I felt a bit like they were holding me hostage. I was told that the sidewall was busted through and there was no point to adding air because it would immediately leak out. In other words, the tire could not be filled up. So, I asked if they would put the donut on for me. Nope. The donut is more than 7 years old and they won't mount a tire that old. So, I had no way outta there unless I called an Uber. I ended up putting 2 new tires on my baby van. I was told the front driver's side tire was about as bad as the back one! I waited about an hour and a half for them to work me in. I also had to dig deep to come up with $230 to pay for them. 

I knew I needed tires. I have some money that's supposed to come in. My plan was once I got my hands on that to put on 4 new tires. Now I have to think about figuring out what to do about the donut. I talked to them about that and was told that probably my best route is to buy an actual spare that I would just keep in the back of the van. According to them that would be about another $160. Phew! I need to find one of those trees that money grows on!

But, at least, when that check finally does arrive, I don't need to devote quite as much to new shoes for baby............