Just for Fun

Maybe a message in there as well...

Addendum

I should have updated this sooner, but I've been in and out of bed with some head/chest thing. That's okay, because I received some good news this morning. Patti called and said Sis is going to be alright. The doctor thinks they got all the cancer. After she heals from her surgery(3 to 4 weeks) she'll undergo radiation. I know this won't be easy, but I think it means there is a good chance that Sis is okay. I thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers. She's like a mother to me.

My Yellow Rose

Today I am waiting for some news from my best friend's mother. We've known each other since 1975; ninth grade to be exact. I spent over three-fourths of my adolescence at Patti's house. Sis(that's what most everyone calls Patti's mom) is somewhat acerbic, yet loving; apathetic, yet passionate and caustic yet sweet. She has also been a constant, fierce mother-figure in my life for over thirty years. This family treats me as family no matter the mistakes I have made. Last Wednesday,
Sis had a lumpectomy and the lymph nodes removed from under her left arm. We are waiting for information as to whether the cancer has spread to her lymph nodes or not.
I am praying HARD for good news obviously, as she is such an integral part of my life.
Say a prayer for Sis, and send good thoughts her way.
She loves yellow roses; the flower of friendship.

Keep on Rockin on Sunday

In light of the rest of my offerings this week; sometimes it's best to say it with song!

It's just an economic slow down.

This one seems to apply as much now as it ever did.

Except now, they want our houses too.

Solitary

For a moment
I smelled the ocean
And felt the salty breeze
In my face
But when I realised
It was just a dream
Fading, unmasking
This vacant space

But I luv 'em!

Around here pets rule. That's my life in a nutshell. A good portion of my day is spent feeding, grooming, lovin' on, tripping over, stumbling into, cleaning up after, or stepping in something they may leave behind(eeew!) I still haven't figured out which one urinated on the goose down cushion on my hundred year old sofa(although I've narrowed it down to three culprits, since the bird doesn't pee.) That's a mess that takes great skill to take care of. You'd never believe how many feathers are actually in a goose down cushion!!! The liner ripped during it's time in the dryer, after somehow surviving the gentle cycle in the washer. Lets just say that YEARS from now, habitants of this house will be wondering if we weren't processing poultry in our laundry room.

The REAL master of this colourful group of rag-tag orphans(all rescues) is Smudge; I'm sorry MISTER Smudge. He's our slightly Rubenesque, mostly white, longhair rag-doll mix kitteh. He IS the boss and don't you forget it. If a snack isn't immediately available upon his entry to the kitchen, heads will roll! Snack-time is pretty much at his whim, but usually begins with him doing jumping jacks on my head at 3:00 A.M. If I try to ignore his demands, the forced up-chucking will commence.
Why does this NEVER take place on the linoleum? It's one of The Great Mysteries of the World! Boy, does he have me trained. However, it's an ongoing battle to keep us lowly humans in line. You can just see the look of utter disdain in his eyes when I'm just not getting it. Sheesh; his work is NEVER done! Now, where's the catnip?

My thoughts if Mc Cain is elected...

Stumped

At the behest of one of K.'s coworkers, I am making a baked macaroni and cheese with honey glazed ham pieces for this week's shift dinner. I'll bake a couple of loaves of whole wheat and pecan italian bread to send along, but I'm having trouble coming up with an appropriate side dish. Help! Any suggestions would be so wonderful! I guess a killer salad would be good, but I'd like to add some variety. Have a great week-end!

Cool Tool

I absolutely LUV fresh vegetables! My most favorite way to ingest them is in salad form. We lived in Valdez, Alaska for a time. While it may be hands down one of the most beautiful places in the world; it's no mecca for fresh food of any sort. Everything comes by truck from Anchorage by truck over Thompson Pass (a six hour drive on a good day) or by barge. Either way, things aren't at their peak of flavor once they arrive in that fair village. In fact, most stores in the lower 48 would send that produce to the compost bin once it reached that condition. To top it off, the cash you fork over for these sad offerings is astronomical! So I used to do my very best to prolong the shelf-life (or fridge-life) of my pricey, precious tidbits. The only thing I could come up with was using reams and reams of paper towels to dry the lettuce as regular cloth towels were too heavy, and the nearest kitchen specialty shop was in Anchorage. I wasn't yet shopping online, because of my phobia of all things tech-y! (Silly, I know.) So a couple of years later we moved to Los Anchorage, as some of the old sourdoughs "affectionately" call it. They hold a bazaar each weekend during the summer dubbed "The Down-Town Market." There you can find anything from live plants to live belly dancers; from beautiful hand made pottery to tacky Alaskana touristy keep-sakes. All varieties of crappy carnival fare to graze on (though I do highly recommend the halibut tacos! Teh awesome!) There are also commercial vendors who hawk items such as pet supplies, embroidered ball caps, all sorts of clothes and Tupperware. This is where I found the bestest gadget ever! It's their version of a salad spinner, and OMG I love it! The proprietress only had one, and while I wasn't crazy about the colours, red and white fast-food joint graphic IMO, I was thrilled by the design. It was geared, no cord to wear out and break and LARGE- just what I had decided was best for us from my research. Woo-Hoo!!! Ensalada Nirvana! So happy! I know; I'm a freak! ;)

Left-Overs

One of the things in life I truly enjoy is cooking. I love putting a new twist on my old stand-bys and tweaking new recipes with my own personal touch. Normally, (well okay 99% of the time) there are only two of us in our house-hold. This creates a dilemma, as I've never mastered the art of cooking for a pair. My solution to this problem is to send the excess culinary components to K.'s workplace. He works rotating shifts with at least two other people, and the companion shift that relieves his group also consists of at least three people. Some of his coworkers have a two weeks on/off schedule, so they are able to reside out of state, commute and live here for their on-time. This can mean a lot of restaurant, diner and fast food. That can get get old, and kind of boring; not to mention unhealthy! So, most of the time I send enough food with K. for sharing, and I try to fix a shift meal when he works nights. Usually, this also feeds the other crew and any stragglers from other departments in the office. This is great for me because I lurv food preparation, ( AND eating as well) but space in our two fridges is always at a premium. I like to think that his workmates appreciate the home fare, and I get to nurture, albeit from afar. The down side is the containers sometimes get forgotten. The shuffle of passing on information about the operation to the next group at the helm, and the want to get the flock out after 12 hours usually leads to "Oops! I forgot the Glad Ware!" That's okay, because these convenient little receptacles make it back my way at the end of seven days, usually without fail. Sometimes, however I'm not so sure that I want them back! I know that these little vessels were meant to be disposable, but I find that wasteful. There are times that I think "Hmm. Maybe just this once..." I never get any closer than the thought of tossing the whole lot into the refuse, because I can still hear my Grama saying something to the effect of "Waste not want, want not!" or "What if you need those later?" (She's also the reason I can't seem to produce a common-sized spread!) Anyway, it is pretty amazing some of the science cultures morphing within! The trick to salvaging this mess is to dive in, breathe through the mouth, (if you dare breathe at all!) quickly scoop out the offending stuff into the bin. Next, immerse those plastic lovelies in some hot, sudsy water with a teaspoon of bleach, and you're good to go. You can run 'em through the dishwasher if you so desire, to assure complete sanitation, but I believe the bleach takes care of that, as well as the odor. I guess that clears the way for another mess in the kitchen! :)