Random Bits

I survived the first week of my dreaded paperwork at work. I think I'll live. Enough of the good news... That tone (if you could hear the voice in my head) directly relates to how I've been feeling lately. Feeling Blah, Blue & Green in general.

First for the "Blahs". I've had headaches since last Thursday. I made it through Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday last week with no headaches. And each morning there was fog. (Fog usually translates into sinus headaches -- pressure in the atmosphere, means it's in my head as well.) Well Thursday morning driving to work I actually pieced that together & felt pretty good. (The lack of headaches that is.) Looks like I jinxed myself, because a doozy of one hit me not too much later. Had it still Friday. And had it again Saturday. Not that I'm heartbroken over it, but I guess I missed out on a fun social event right outside my backdoor that night. I was content resting in the dark & quiet, so I'm fine with that.

I don't really recall having a headache yesterday. I may have, but all it really amounted to was the "Blues" for me. I just felt so down in the dumps. No matter what I did I felt miserable. I tried to get some of the unfinished cleaning done, but didn't get very far. (Fortunately I put a good dent in it Saturday.) ... Has house cleaning ever made you mad? I don't mean simply angry, but drove you slightly crazy. That's where I was at yesterday. I got to the point where I had to stop because I felt even worse than before I started.

As usual for a Sunday night, I had a hard time falling asleep. Needless to say, I didn't get enough. So today I was tired & I had another headache. Yippee.

Back to the feeling "Green" part. I'm so ready for a vacation. And what do I get to see, but fun filled vacation pictures from others... my dad was in Niagara & my cousin was on a cruise. All I can do is continue to look forward to our Florida trip in January. When we were in the planning/booking stage, I was definitely excited about it, but that's all done, so all I can do is count down the time. Two months & 27 days to go.


My grandmother sent me a photo of my (other) cousin's little girl, Jasmine. It's only the second picture I've seen of her... Cutie, isn't she?
So tonight I heated up some cider for myself. I do my typical doctoring to it -- make a spice mix of cinnamon, allspice & clove to give it some more flavor. When I broke the cinnamon stick to get it to fit in my tea ball some paper came out of it. Odd. Then as I unrolled it, I realized there were words on it. But not in English. Any thoughts? I think it's very strange. Smelled good though.

My day

I was picturing Ziggy opening the blinds one morning, only to find the sun giving him a raspberry. But I couldn't find it. This is all I could really find. (If you know the character, you may be able to picture the comic I'm thinking of.)



*Sigh* I really, rEaLlY, REALLY dislike my new paperwork.

Hi, I'm a Blog Slacker

I admit it. I've been slacking as of late. No rhyme or reason for it. Simply an observable consequence of the behavior. Blogging behavior being the target behavior.

Ok, so some bitterness is escaping from me. This would be from the new paper work we received in the mail the first week of October. Then addressed at our training on the 6th. I have to start using it tomorrow. Lack of excitement on my part. I won't go into anymore detail because that wouldn't be very professional of me. Let's just leave it at 'the paperwork is not thrilling me.'

I did come across something good this week: oven baked french toast. Not only was it nice to use the oven on these suddenly colder days (um, what is up with that!), but it tasted really (REALLY) good. Plus there was no flipping involved. For some reason I have problems with making french toast. It just doesn't turn out the way I want it to. Since it was a very tasty recipe, I will share it with you.

Baked French Toast

2 large eggs

1/2 cup milk

2 tsp. powdered sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

4 slices of bread, thick

1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

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1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.

2. Lightly beat eggs with a fork in a shallow bowl. Whisk in milk, sugar, vanilla & cinnamon.

3. Soak bread in egg mixture, then transfer to baking sheet. Sprinkle with butter and bake until golden, 8 to 10 minutes.

[Personal variations: I sprinkled the slices with more cinnamon & sugar because the first slice always has the most cinnamon & the others get jealous! (I like them to have a lot of cinnamon.) And instead of cutting pieces of butter, I cut a very thin slice & put it on the middle of each piece of bread. (I'm sure the cut pieces make it a tad healthier, but I was going for ease.)]

I haven't been doing much with the garden as late. I think I burnt myself out with all the rock digging. Basically I accomplished what I wanted to, moving the things in the back about. However, I would have liked to have moved some things from the front to the back as well. The cold weather is not encouraging me to get out there though. (Plus we've had some rainy days & I'm not into playing in the mud.)

I was bummed that I missed out on going to the Fall Foliage Festival in Bedford this year. I haven't been there for quite some time & thought this might be the year to get back. It was the same weekend of the training. That & the Applefest in Franklin. A fellow blogger had posted about it & I thought it looked promising. It too was the same weekend. And I realize there's more than one day in the weekend, but I don't like spending all day Sunday traveling in the car. I think it's a mental rebellion for having to get up & go to work the next day. I like to be in my PJs for a good time before getting moving on Sundays. (I get a lot of house work done in my PJs!) . . . So let that be known to people who want to plan events that are out of my area (that want me to attend that is) -- Saturdays are my day trip days. :)

With that, I think my washer is ending it's spin cycle... Laundry calls.

I will try to be less of a slacker. Hopefully I'll have some exciting (or at least less than dull) events to write about. That always makes it a bit more motivating.

P.P. (Post Posting, versus Post Script)
I went back to add links for the festivals & realized the Fall Foliage Festival was also this weekend!!!! ARGH. I did not know that. The cruelty. The irritation. Ignorance was much less irritating.

Humorous

*Post Posting Direction for Reader's Benefit: Scroll down, click on the play button to initialize it, the push pause. That way it's closer to being viewable by the time you get to it.

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Sorry folks, I see it has been a while. Unfortunately I don't really know what I've been preoccupied with. So I can't offer any fascinating stories to fill in the gaps.

I do however, have some humor to share. This past weekend Keith & I went to Ikea to do some perusing for bedroom furniture. He's been wanting that for quite some time. And I have to admit, it would be nice to have my clothes all in one room. (Much of my stuff is located in the "little room" as I like to call it. Or you can call it the computer/craft/guest room. Whichever is easier for ya!) Anywho... (where was I?) We've been looking locally and can't find much. What I really (REALLY) like, is entirely too expensive, and what is priced right, is pretty ugly. Ikea to our rescue. We found stuff we liked, did measuring & guessing on what we could use, brought back catalogs galore & got to work figuring out, well, what would work. So hopefully one of these weekends we'll get back & actually get something brought home with us.

Oh yeah, had a funny to share, that was more of what occupied my time... (I'm tired, forgive me.) On the way to Ikea we weren't in the best of moods & I found a pick me up in a unexpected place -- my tea bottle! I'll let it speak for itself. Ok, it doesn't really talk, you'll have to read it...

My other bit of humor is TV related. I've seen two episodes of The Big Bang Theory & I've been quite amused with both of them. Tonight we were up at Bed Bath & Beyond and came across a voice changer. I immediately started laughing & had to tell Keith about the scene with the OCD roommate cleaning the neighbor's apartment with his "low voice" to keep her from waking. I can't explain the whole episode, but I did find a clip that is a good overview (& you can hear a bit of his LOW VOICE!)

(Everybody walk around talking in their LOW VOICE -- you know you want to!)

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*Post Posting PS of sorts: When I went to check the post, I tried clicking on the tea label to make it larger & thus readable, but it wouldn't work... In case you can't read it too:

Heavenly Honey Green

We won't sweet talk you. We'll just say two words: Epigallocatechin gallate. It may not have the ring of "sweetheart" but EGCG is the most potent antioxidant around, and our organic green tea is packed with it. Sure, we added a kiss of honey to our tea, but not enough to gross you out. If we wanted to do that we'd tell you honey is flower nectar that bees regurgitate. Hey, we're Honest Tea; we don't lie. ... PS Organic apiaries must be at least two miles from any pollution source -- even a golf course -- so bees won't be exposed to pesticides and fertilizers. Golf balls are another issue.

Then on the back of the label it says: "Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark. Professionals built the Titanic." -- Unknown

The bane of my existence

... ROCKS (for this past weekend anyway).
It all started a few weekends ago. Trimming under the pines & moving the hostas back to make room for others. Catch a few rocks here and there. Then the big ones started... Had a little time the next weekend to get some more. Not looking any better. Then this weekend was the worst. I spent about 8 hours digging Saturday & another 6 Sunday. Even though I had gloves on my hands were aching & blisters were starting. Here's what came of it...

These are the ones I was able to toss.

(Underhand. my aim is bad with overhand -- wolloped a few plants in the process!)So far I've found a spot for one large on in the bed.

It looks like a good one for butterflies to rest & take a sip from.

My goal is to rearrange nearly every plant in the back section to make room for several iris & day lily plants we bought at the family auction.
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I just don't understand how there are so many rocks in the ground. When I originally dug back there I removed a LOT. I think they are growing & multipling. That or something is pulling them from the center of the earth to the surface.
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... Makes me think of Magneto ...

Metal is to Magneto as rock is to ?WHAT?

A Comment

My friend posted this a little while ago. Click here to see the post.

At the time I couldn't think of much to say, but I did have an image I wanted to display. Try as I might, I couldn't figure out how to put a picture in the comment. (Maybe it's not even possible, I don't know.)

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This is the photo comment that I would have liked to have added.

If no one else recognizes it, KC should.

:)

Reunion

The busy weekend continued...

Sunday was Helen's family reunion at Idlewild Park... Here are a few pics from our time there.

Gum Tree... yuck.

The apple of my eye.
Sudden stop ahead... actually NOW!
Dizzy Lizzy, where you find tears of silliness.
Confusion Hill, where water runs up & people are falling all over. Stand up straight already!
Camera Man, Camera Man (to Spider Man tune)...
Oh so busy... NOT!

The cooks... now they're busy.

There were many more photos taken, but that was the extent of our experience since we left after dinner (to be ready for my mom's arrival in town.) Others stayed to close the park. Another good day. :)

A well needed pick-me-up

Yesterday started kind of slow for me. The night before I was wide awake with a massive headache, so I took some Tylenol PM. I was so groggy the next day, it took a good part of the morning for me to become alert. Lesson learned: I can't take it that late in the evening. (Usually I take it several hours earlier than that night.)

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Once the day really started (noonish), I went to an arts festival with Renee. Found quite a few stands with some beautiful pottery, but I restrained myself. I need more pottery like another hole in the head... (Incidentally, I have 5 earring holes on the left & 4 on the right -- so that phrase really doesn't work for me! Anyway...) I was there to find some gifts for others & I accomplished that.

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In the evening we met Renee, Mark & Aiden, as well as both of their parents, downtown at the Ethnics Festival for some dinner. Plate of pierogies (they spelled it pirohi or something like that), some pizza, beer & a little bit of peanut butter fudge -- yum! I was actually looking for fudge at the arts festival & struck out. So I was really happy to find some right beside where we were standing to eat, hang out & listen to the band. For future reference, a baby stroller makes a good spot saver in a crowd of moving people. That & a good cup holder! (I think there were 5 places cups were sitting.)

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A few hours later, Sarah & Mike came over to visit. Haven't seen them for such a long time since they live out of town -- it was lovely to see them. And they were kidless (stayed with the grandparents) so we really got to hang out & enjoy our time together which was way past their bedtime (& Sarah's too!).

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Turned out to be a lovely day. :)