Random Christmas Musings....with photos.

My great niece Kendall and nephew Brady who are 16 and 14 months old are getting little jean jackets for Xmas embroidered by me. Last name on the back and initial on the front. 

I embellished a trim on Brady's jacket and finished Kendall's while watching bad TV today. Funny the Louvrak one, made while drinking wine is more centered and better than the Bearden one drinking cranberry juice!

Sarah/(louie louie here) got this race car set for me for Brady for when he comes over. It's so cute and a learning toy too! Thank you Sarah! Can't wait until he gets to play with it. 

I made photo garlands for all of my nieces and nephews and will add to the garland each year about 10 photos that i take in the next years for the babies. This one happens to be Kylee's (formerly known as Modern Hippie who is now 25 years old.) 

1. Drink and Sew: Today Sarah/louie and i sewed at her house for hours (while drinking some good Ghost Pines red blend wine.) I embroidered and she made pajamas for her sister in law. We used to do this back in the 1980's when we made our own clothes. Great Christmas kind of day!

2. Christmas Tree RoadKill: On the way over to Sarah's house i saw a small Christmas tree kind of smushed on the side of the freeway and it even had the stand attached! And i thought WTF? Did it just fall out of the back of someone's trunk or off their car roof? How funny if they didn't notice. But not so funny if you were the car behind them!

3. Open 24 Hours?  And on my way home i noticed the Bikini Barista on South Tacoma Way (certainly not the best part of town) advertised that they were open 24 hours a day. Hmmmm.... who needs espresso all hours of the day? Can you imagine having your daughter come home telling you she got a job there?

4. Husband in the Doghouse: My husband bought a weird contraption so he can water the tree from above but i always thought it was stupid because you still have to bend down to make sure you didn't overflow the tree stand. (AT least you should do that, right?) So it never made sense to me. And guess what? It overflowed. I was looking for a box under the tree yesterday and noticed it was all wet when i pulled it out.

So we have this corner of our maple hardwoods that are all lifted and damaged from the water and discolored. Needless to say i was not happy.

5. Bad Omen? My Nephew Brian came over to help me lift the tree so I  could mop up the water underneath and move it to another spot and we broke my glass ornament that my friend Jackie gave me when we got married, a vintage car with 'Just Married' on the back. (When Nephew Brian asked me if it was special I lied and said no. ) And though i was not mad anymore by the time Husband Brian came home feeling very guilty,  when i told him about the ornament "Ohhhh, that probably means we'll get a divorce now." lol.

6. The Upside: However, i do think our insurance may pay for redoing the finish, and since that is a huge undertaking we may as well go ahead and re-tile the kitchen. So it might end up being a good thing.

7. A Special Priest: My friend (fellow Gumbo YaYa) Catherine (Cat) P. from Facebook, who bombs my wall with cat photos mailed  me a book of her recently deceased very special progressive priest's homilies (His name was Father Skeehan). I wish i had known such a priest in my growing up Catholic years. I just started it but I can see why he was important to her and why she organized help for him on Facebook as he was dying. Appropriately, it starts with The Christmas Season. Too bad he never got to meet Pope Francis.

What do y'all have going for the season so far?

Brady's mom Adrienne sends out a photo about every two weeks of her son to a few family members. Here is the one from this week. He is sitting in his "man chair". He's the happiest baby i've ever known. 

Notes to Self: 
Book: The Paying Guests (LOVE it!)
Sunrise/Sunset: 7:52 am ; 4:22 pm
Temp hi/low: 46/35
Longest Run: 43 minutes (Foot MUCH better!)
In the News: :(   .... all of those children killed by the Taliban at the Pakistani school. 132 children.
:) news = Hawks beat Niners.
Word Count: 555. (not counting notes and before editing).
Number of Stupid Facebook Tests I Took This Week: 3:
Are you OCD? ;  What Should Your Favorite Color Be? What is Your Dream House? (I'm in the low end of the top tier for OCD; blue; Exotic cottage.)

Clearly i have too much time on my hands!

Testing 1-2-3

I have been trying to troubleshoot blogger because I'm hearing folks often have trouble with Comments section. I have checked all the settings about allowing everyone to post and turning off moderation and the proving you're a robot. Then it mentioned that the template might be causing it.

And yes, this template had been customized. So i reset it using the instructions and changed how comments look. You will notice if you post one. It's a different look that i don't like as well (blogger warned me about that too) but it might work better.

The 'proving you're not a robot' button is turned off but on my end still shows up. However I just ignore the box and posted and it showed up (on the previous post).

i do know that all of this works better if you are using a Google account. But if you don't have one or don't want to log in to it then just continue to post anonymously and add your name to the bottom. I will continue to check my spam box to make sure nothing goes in there and to allow you to post that way if it does.

I don't really know what else to do. :( ....hope it works. If you are reading, i would appreciate if you would post a test comment so i can see if anything is fixed. Let me know what happens.

Worst comes to worst, i may have Brian help me switch to WordPress. And if that doesn't work, i think i'll just quit blogging and start using Facebook as kind of a blog instead.

Thanks y'all for being here.

Thanksgiving Randomness

Photo from last week at the Vashon Island beach house. One of my favorite spots in the world!

1. In the News: Ferguson. You know what? I don't think there is a way a white person can talk about Ferguson or any similar event that won't make them sound racist or trying to hard to not sound racist. So i only put this here for historical reference. 

2. Looking Forward To: A smaller Thanksgiving with my nephew Brian and his wife and Baby Brady, my parents, and my brother Troy. I can't believe how excited I am to watch the Seahawk's play San Francisco. In past years i was always so irritated about football on T-Day! 

3. Good News: It was scary to do but I cut many inches off my hair! It's not easy making it look as good as the stylist though cause it's so freaking curly. It boinged up without the weight of my hair. I have so much of it. 

4. Discovery: Bruno Mars on SNL! I knew OF him, but not his music. What i really love is his performance. That man can dance - just like Michael Jackson. He even looks like him and dresses similar. Better than Michael because he doesn't have the weirdness....plus he's alive~! 

5. What I Might Do: Take up yoga. I'm not a good candidate for yoga because i'm the furthest thing from anything that is meditative or new age. But maybe that is why i need it. Plus i continue to hurt and i know it's from not stretching and running for so long. Besides my right foot, now my left knee (probably because i favor it) is giving me trouble. 

6. What I'm Thankful for: 

• That everyone of my friends and family are healthy; 
• My great nephew Baby Brady who has made it possible for me to be a grandma without having my own kids; 
• Retirement so that i can spend time babysitting, reading, cooking, and not worrying about insomnia; 
• My husband; 
• Music - as i type, i am listening to Christmas Blues on Pandora One. I LOVE Pandora One, i have said this before, but it's the best $5 a month i've ever spent;
• Books and more book; 
• Living in the Pacific Northwest; 
• Having enough money to do stuff and buy good quality, and still save but not so much that i ever take it for granted; 
• Jon Stewart; 
• The Seahawks
• That I am not an only child. 

What are y'all thankful for? 

Notes about posting comments here: Try a few things. First be sure you are logged in to your Google Account. I understand to get your name to stick on blogger you might have to click off the box that says Keep Me Logged In. PCs seem to have more trouble here than Mac computers. Not sure about other devices like phones. I know i have trouble with my iPad sometimes posting. 

If all that fails just post anonymously and add your name to the bottom. I might have to check my spam box more frequently and open it, but that's okay. I will try and figure this out further. I hate talking to myself but i'm not ready to quit blogging just yet. 

Notes to Self: 
Sunrise: 7:32 am
Sunset: 4:26 pm
Temp hi/low: 50/38

What I do ....

I took this photo over a week ago. Skinny Enchiladas from my new cookbook!

1. I'm cooking more. I'm not a super adventurous cook, but i do like cooking. Movies like Chef (watched it for the second time last night) inspire me and sometimes i read cookbooks like novels.  These chicken enchiladas were so good!

2. I buy 'hanging around the house' clothes. Recently i bought a couple of pair of Zella capri pants. Now that i found those underpants that don't show the VPL i'm all about the yoga-y pants. They are like magic underpants!

3. I watch reruns of Friends back to back. I never watched Friends regularly when it was on. It's shocking to see an episode and find out it was 1998 when it feels like it was only 5 years ago.

4. I research everything. I have spent days researching custom entertainment centers and Smart TVs. I've made drawings of the furniture design and met with my cabinet makers. And finally i settled on a Samsung 50" Smart TV. It was ridiculous the time i spend online making these decisions.

I am also researching tile patterns for my kitchen.

5. I check Facebook about 50 times a day. I'm considering going on another hiatus just to see if i can get more done around the house.

6. I babysit. (Often.) When i was quite younger and knew I didn't want children I used to say i wish i could figure out a way to have grandkids. And then my favorite nephew Brian (Troy's son) had a baby boy and they don't have a grandmother around to help out.  I'm in love with this happy little guy.

7. I read. Lately i have been reading about four books at once and not finishing any of them. Except i will finish Close Your Eyes and Hold Hands by Chris Bohjalian. Though it's not upbeat because it's about an orphan and a nuclear meltdown. 

8 I run. Still having foot issues which i don't think will go away unless i give it up. But i am determined to keep at it. 

9. I fret about aging. I hate my skin and my hair and my eyebrows. 

10. I bore myself. But I mean that in a good way. I am going back to work at my old job for about 6 weeks starting next week. I went in to the office for the second time since i retired last April to get oriented to what is needed from my replacement as she has hip replacement surgery. I could actually almost feel my blood pressure rising in the 3 hours i was there as stuff swirled around us. So yeah, i kind of like being bored and boring right now. I'll get past it after awhile and get busy. 

I read somewhere that retired people should not commit to anything for one year. And i'm going to take that literally. People are surprised that now that i have so much time i have done nothing politically. They might even be sort of mad at me, but i don't care. I don't plan to stay this way, but for now, i'm good. 

Notes to Self 

Word Count: 540 (not counting Notes)

What I hope for: My one brother Scott got the job he wanted! I hope my other brother Troy (who i just helped with a resume) gets the one he applied for. 

What I'm looking forward to: Going to Seattle to have dinner at my niece Ashley and her fiancé's place. 

Sunrise yesterday: 7:52 am

Sunset: 5:55 pm (Daylight savings time is over tonight! 

Temp: 56/40

What I'm procrastinating about: Once again, my photo album of our Italy trip! 

How to look good in yoga pants; more 50 cent words and other random nonsense....

Bless me Blogger for i have sinned, it's been two weeks since my last blog post!

The BEST pair of underpants ever for hiding VPL (visible panty line) while wearing yoga pants.

1. About those underpants: I don't know about y'all but i could never wear a thong. And going commando while wearing yoga pants just seems gross. But these work. I went to Nordstrom and bought six pair and i think i am going to go back and get 3 more. They really do not show the underpants line! They are called TC Edge. And you can find them at Nordstrom or tcfineintimates.com. They are made by Cupid Intimates. They cover your whole butt and don't ride up! (They cost $18 a piece, or 3 for $39.)

2. Re: The word underpants. Some words i really hate and i found out i'm not alone, i forget where i recently read this, but it might have been Huffington Post. I have always detested the word panties!  In addition, i hate these words too: 

• hubby 
• ointment
• cigarette
• pedagogy
• rigorous

2. 50 Cent Words: I finished reading the book We Are All Completely Besides Ourselves last week. Again this is a book with a tortuous vocabulary. (Oddly enough for a person who loves to write, my vocabulary is so elementary that i actually found the word 'tortuous' by thesaurasing the word 'difficult'.) Here are the words: 

• insouciance
• inchoate
• reconnoiter
• seduously
• diegesis
• ithyphallic

3. Here is a good quote from that same book:

"When there is an invisible elephant in the room, one is from time to time bound to trip over a trunk." 

4. My new favorite commercial is the Geico one with the teenagers and the horror movie. Where the girl says 'why don't we leave in the running car?' and they guy says 'Are you stupid? Let's hide in the shed with the chainsaws.' 

5. Renee Zellweger : I am somewhat embarrassed to admit to checking out Trending Topics on Facebook, and this one is a doozy. (I even called up louie to see if she had seen it.) Renee doesn't look terrible, she just looks like a totally different person. How did she do that and why? (I think she got rid of her squinty eyes and did something to change the shape of her face.) My husband's celebrity crush was on her and when i showed him her new look he was quite disappointed. I think she looks like a generic beauty now and that's too bad. 

6. My celebrity crush: Bradley Cooper. I've written about him on my blog before. He was so adorable on Jimmy Fallon's show earlier this week when they both started cracking up while talking about The Elephant Man which is of course a serious play (starring Cooper). Sometimes you see a celebrity and just know you would love to go out and knock back chardonnays with them in real life. People like Bradley, also Jennifer Lawrence, Emma Thompson, Meryl Streep come to mind. 

7. Celebrity Non-Crushes: I don't think i would like the following people in real life: 

Robert DeNiro

Barbra Streisand

Scarlett Johannsen

Christina Aguilara

Madonna

John Mayer

Anyone who starred in the Twilight movies 

OK, i'm probably over my 500 word count. Why don't you come and add your least favorite words and celebrity non-crushes! AND any product endorsements! 

Notes for Me:                                           
Sunrise: 7:38 am
Sunset:  6:11 pm (We have lost 47 minutes of daylight in two weeks). 
Longest Run: 43 minutes 
What I'm procrastinating about: Sending a sympathy card, making a dental appointment.
What I'm looking forward to: Going to Jazzbones and listening to blues this weekend with friends!
Word Count: about 535 (not counting notes) 
What i hope for: That my brothers get jobs soon!
In the News: Ebola (still);  Percy Harvin getting traded from the Seahawks; Renee Zellweger. 

Stuff I Googled Today. With photos!

Today i did a lot of things besides change this blog post. Here they are in order with bullets, so as not to confuse y'all with my numbered items of Stuff I Googled Today.

• Watched Midnight in Paris (which started the whole Googling thing) on Encore this morning. 
• Walked for 1-1/2 hours with my sister in law Marie at the park. 
• Grocery shopped.
• Cooked dinner from my new SkinnyTaste Cookbook.
• Ordered a baby present from Amazon.
• Googled the following: (In this same order almost.) 

1. What happened to Owen Wilson's nose anyway? (He is the main character in the Midnight in Paris movie. (Which i really liked!) 

He broke it twice, once in a high school fight, and again in football. 

2. Who is that super handsome actor who played Ernest Hemingway in that movie? 

Turns out it is Corey Stoll as Ernest Hemingway

What he really looks like without the toupee. 

3.  How often are you supposed to rotate your tires?

4. What is the safest baby car seat for a toddler?

5. How long does white wine keep in the refrigerator if the bottle is 2/3 full?

6. What percentage of my finances should be in cash accounts?

7. What is Hilltop Kitchen's menu like?

8. Who makes a good pair of underwear that won't show VPL in yoga pants?

9. Hair styles for women over 50 with thick hair.

i wonder if my hair could do this? I'm afraid it might end up looking like a helmet! 

This is what my hair looks like if i don't do anything to it. (It looks far worse in the front.)

10. Substituting turkey for chicken in recipes.

This is my own photo of dinner tonight: Skinnytaste recipe for Chicken Cordon Bleu meatballs. Only i used turkey.

11. Custom Entertainment Centers

I like this one, not quite so big, but this i what i want! This actually sort of looks like our place with the floors and walls. 

Also considering replacing my 6" kitchen floor tiles with this.

Notes to Self: 

Sunrise: 7:18 am

Sunset: 6:38 pm (loss of 23 minutes of daylight this week). 

What I'm looking forward to: I can't think of anything right now. I'll come back to it. 

Longest run: 38 minutes (My foot is giving me troubles again, dammit!) 

Book: I keep picking up and putting down books. So far i haven't finished: Dear Daughter, The Leftovers, Galveston, The Invention of Wings, American Rust, and another book that I've forgotten. 

Word Count: 290-ish (Without these notes.... This is probably the least amount of words i've ever posted on a full blog post!...Edited to add that i made up for it in COMMENTS!)

Numbering Random Shit

My new cookbook! 

I have no idea what to write about so i'm just going to start numbering and wing it. 

 1. Amazon: I hate shopping, but love getting packages in the mail, especially from Amazon. Today i received my new SkinnyTaste cookbook. It is such a pretty cookbook with nice slick pages and beautiful photos of the recipes. 

I also bought 5 cds. I buy cds because they cost the same as iTunes ( i tend to lose cds i burn). I bought new ones from Ryan Adams, Natalie Merchant, The Wood Brothers, and John Mellencamp and an earlier Amos Lee. (I ran to Ryan Adams today. While listening to the lyrics i worried that his marriage to Mandy Moore might be on the rocks.) 

2. Money: Tomorrow i meet with my Smith Barney guy. FINALLY i've had time to look really deep into my investments. He won't be prepared for how much i have prepared, complete with running tapes and notes showing my math. My newest mutual fund investment that he got me in when i started investing my pension before totally quitting work has only netted 10% in one year while sitting stagnant. On the other hand, my 401K from work (the one he wants me to roll over) had increased by 24% comparing the same year. 

3. The Secret Service: Glad they aren't babysitting my new great nephew Baby Brady! 

4. Books: I just finished reading the book Seating Arrangements and the author used a lot of 50 cent words. Here is just a small sampling: 

dishabille

mandibular

flensing

crenellation

coxcomb

insouciance

covalence

timorous

I don't think i want to go out and have wine with Maggie Shipstead. 

5. Running: Yay! My new Brooks Adrenaline shoes, the SuperFeet inserts, and the stretching that my doctor recommended has almost fixed my plantar faciitis. It is so much better. I can now run two days in a row.

6.  Jon Stewart - I love when he gets pissed at the absurdity of Fox News ( and the rest of them, but especially Fox News). I was cheering my TV when he took on Fox's LatteGate, (so named because Obama saluted while holding a cup of coffee in the same hand). I really think Jon Stewart might be the sanest man in the national news these days, next to Brian Williams, (who i also love). 

7. Mid-Term Elections: I saw my old office posting on Facebook about the phone banks and doorbelling going on. This is after spending all of May and June collecting signatures for the class size initiative (which i also thankfully dodged by retiring the day they sent the email about the signature gathering). I think the WEA killed my political mojo. I hope it's not gone forever. 

8. Data Breaches: People laugh at me for writing checks and carrying around a lot of cash but recently Albertson's grocery got hit with a credit card breach. I don't have to be worried!  I only write checks or pay cash there. 

The first thing i plan to cook out of it! 

Notes to Self: 

Last books read: Mr. Mercedes and Seating Arrangements. This makes 34 books on my list since i retired in April 2014.
Temperature yesterday: hi/low 69/49
Sunrise: 7:08 am
Sunset: 6:51 pm (Is my math correct on this? We are lost 48 minutes of daylight in one week?!
Looking forward to: Seahawks playing Monday Night Football and booking a trip for Thanksgiving by ourselves. (Looking at a new place on Vashon Island, since our favorite place is booked.)
Procrastinating: Organizing my Italy photos into a book; cleaning out my cupboards in the kitchen and garage.
Word Count: 501