Oh, Lord!

While visiting my Dad today, he said he'd been thinking about the bible. I'm thinking, good for you, Dad.
He went on to say that Joseph must have been a queer. (Not PC, I know, but he's almost 84 and no one's going to change his way of thinking this late in the ballgame.) At any rate, he said that Mary was a virgin. Yes, Dad, I know. "Well," he said, "just put two and two together. Yep, he must have been a queer."
And because he's deafer than a post, and only listens when he wants to, I didn't bother to explain that, yes, Mary was a virgin when they married but that doesn't mean she stayed a virgin after they married.
I don't know how he comes to some of the conclusions he does, but he keeps me giggling. My Mom? Not so much :)

Don't Let Your Meat Loaf

Allison had to work yesterday and Karter needed a sitter for about an hour last night. So, I made supper for he and the boys and my Mom. Karter's easy to cook for as one of his favorite things is meatloaf :) While he was here, he removed the stakes from beside all my trees. A job that would have taken me most the day took him 10 minutes. It's nice to have a guy with some brawn around :) The only reason it took him 10 minutes instead of 7 was because he had to send Gage in for a pair of pliers. Thank you, Karter!

Rude Awakening

After three years, I still find myself waking up thinking, I've got to tell Jim that. Then after waking completely, I realize he isn't here and no one really cares. I hate that.

WHEW!

I got up today, figuring I'd do my laundry. Period. I got cleaned up and started in. I only wash about every ten days so it's a major deal :)

Allison called and put in a request for lunch, so I ran to K-Mart, the credit union, stopped at the China Star and picked up lunch for her and I. When I got to the nursing home with it, I realized I didn't have anything to drink so I stopped at the cafeteria to use the pop machine. I put in two dollars and got two Cokes and seventy-five cents back in change :) SCORE!

I ate lunch with Allison and then went to visit my Dad. He was his normal boring self so I made my way to my Grandma's floor. She was her usual boring self (maybe it's me that's boring) so I left and went to the post office and then the grocery store.

I got home and continued the laundry game and whipped up a batch of chocolate chip cookies while visiting on the phone with Sarah. 85 cookies and several loads of clothes later, we decided we were talked out and ended our call. I got to talk to David during the process and he told me he loves me :) He's also calling me Grandma now instead of Papa :)

I put my last load of clothes in the dryer, cleaned up my mess and packaged some cookies for my Mom. Stella and I delivered them and while at her house, I packaged up 52 homemade buns to take home for my freezer. I love it when my Mom bakes buns :)

I came home and packaged the rest of my cookies for the freezer, hung up the last dryer full of clothes and proceeded to debone some chicken and make chicken salad. I promised Allison I'd bring her chicken salad sandwiches on homemade buns to have for lunch tomorrow. With that and some cookies, she should be all set. It's no wonder the girls she works with think she's spoiled!

And now my aching (or should I say Aiken??) back is sitting in this chair and I don't plan to get up until it's time to go to bed!!

Influenza

Well, I got my flu shot today so Sarah will allow me to hold her new baby. Although I have a sneaking suspicion that even if I hadn't, once she's got a screaming baby in her arms that's been up all night, she'd welcome handing him off to me with or without a flu shot!

Betty Lou's In Town!!

One of Jim's oldest and dearest friends is in town visiting from Seattle. Unfortunately, his wife and kids weren't able to come along. I met Roger the same night I met Jim, almost exactly 37 years ago. We've got a date to catch up tomorrow. My, how time flies!

Stinky

Jameson on the phone: "Grandma, if you come out, we'll buy you dinner at the Hacienda."
Me: "Oh, honey, I can't, I look awful."
Jameson: "We look awful too."
Me: "I'd have to take a shower."
Jameson: "That's ok, Grandma, I stink too."

Stella Loves Clancy

Meat & Cheese Stromboli

1 onion, sliced thin
1 green pepper, sliced thin
1 tablespoon butter
2 (16oz) loaves frozen bread dough, thawed
1/2 pound thinly sliced hard salami
1/2 pound thinly sliced deli ham
1/2 pound sliced mozarella cheese
1/2 pound sliced mild cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon garlice powder
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon poppy seeds
* Saute onion and pepper in butter until crisp tender. On two greased cookie sheets, roll dough into 15 X 12 rectangles. Arrange salami, ham and cheeses lengthwise over half of each rectangle to within 1/2 inch of edges. Top with onion and pepper mixture, sprinkle with Italian seasoning, garlic powder and pepper. Fold dough over filling. Pinch edges to seal. Brush with egg and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes before cutting.

Kathy Farstad served this for lunch one day when I was visiting her at the lake. I decided it's the perfect thing to go along with the Split Pea soup I'm making Thursday night for Marty and Jane. I hope they think so too.

Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are!!

I always giggle when I find Stella "hiding" under my bed :)

Stamp Camp

Even though I felt like SHIT, I went to a Stamping Up stamp camp yesterday. I made a set of 20 Christmas cards, 5 greeting cards, a covered Tic Tac package and a Frankenstein bag. I love the stuff but I hope no one else gets sick because I was being selfish. If I hadn't had to prepay the $43, I probably wouldn't have gone.

Sick Leave

OK, there's one thing worse than being alone all weekend. That's being alone and sick all weekend. Thanks for the creeping crud, Allison!
I still feel like shit!

Lonely

The thought of being alone for the rest of my life makes me want to vomit! UGH! It's hard to be alone and being a fifth wheel isn't much better. There doesn't seem to be any single men my age around here. All my friends are married, I don't hang out in bars and no one I know knows any single guys. I know I'm ugly, too fat and too tall but I can cook, am financially independent and I have a cute dog. You'd think that would count for something :(
I hate facing another weekend alone. UGH!

Best Friends

Marty & Jane came over last night, bearing gifts. They brought some wonderfully nice looking shrimp, an interesting marinating sauce called Dakota Buckeroo, some Pomegranate drinks, but best of all, they brought a bouquet of breathtaking dinnerplate dahlias from their garden. Friends are a good thing :)

Good Deed For The Day

I cleaned out my closet today. I did it about a year ago and I still got seven 30 gallon trash bags full of jeans, shirts, sweat suits, shoes and jackets. I called around and found a church to donate them to. (That's for you, Sarah) The church gives it to people in need whereas the Goodwill and Boys Ranch sells it to them. These clothes were already paid for once, I would hate for them to go unused simply because someone couldn't afford to pay.

Fickle Dog!

Last night, as Allison and her family were leaving, she had Stella in her arms. She handed her over to me and Stella immediately scrambled back to Allison's arms. She clearly wanted to go home with her. So, she did.
Funny little girl, she sure makes her desires known without being able to talk. (Although Gage has always maintained she talks to him.)
I didn't feel too rejected however. She sometimes does that to me when we're at Allison's and she wants to come home.

Small Town

I left home at 1:15 today for a doctors appointment. I saw the doctor, went grocery shopping, came home, put away my groceries, made a bowl of coleslaw, baked a pan of brownies, made a hamburger, carrot, potato and rice hotdish, washed, dried and put away all the dishes I used and cleaned up dog puke off the kitchen floor. I sat down at 3:19. Not bad for 2 hours and 4 minutes :)

Now, all I have to do is put the hotdish in the oven and bake a pan of biscuits and dinner will be all ready when Allison's family comes over.

TA DA!!!

Weeks ago, the Homemakers went to Bismarck to make a couple batches of wine to commemorate our 30 years of friendship. Oh, what a DAY!!!

Winemakers

Reservations

Allison and I have plane, hotel and car reservations for Nov. 6-9, 2008. She will be in court on the 7th in El Paso, with me along for moral support. I hope the Bastard is getting nervous!

She and I plan to have a nice little weekend together after we get the hearing out of the way.

Lesson Burned

So, I volunteered to work at the Hostfest Wednesday and today. At the funnel cake and cheese curd stand. Dumb move! After 4-1/2 hours Wednesday and 5 hours today, all I have to show for it are two fingers burned to a crisp with huge blisters on them. Apparently you're not supposed to drag your fingers through the hot oil when you reach into the vat for a funnel cake. Who knew???

Waiting for Thomas James

El Paso Bound??

Just waiting to hear whether Allison and I are going to El Paso to face the biggest jerk in the country. If she can get a court hearing scheduled for before I go to Boston, I will be going with her, just so I can see the bastard squirm. For some reason, he gets nervous when Allison's lawyer tells him I'm going to be there :) :) :)