All Done!

I'm all done with the cookie baking for this year.  I made the gumdrop cookies this evening and I'm telling you, they did not want to be made.  

I really had to psych myself up for this, mainly because I hate chopping up the gumdrops.  They become such a sticky mess -- sticking to my hands and the kitchen shears I use, which is easier than trying to do it with a knife, but still not great.  I really wish some baking company would make them about the size of chocolate chips.  That would make it so much easier. 

It took me the entire finale of Holiday Baking Championship just to chop up the requisite one cup of gumdrops.  Then I was ready to start baking, only I opened up my shortening and ...well, apparently it's been a long time since I've used it.  It was hard and yellow, and smelled really bad.  I ended up just throwing the whole thing out and giving up.

But no!  Dadgum it, I'd spent all of that time chopping the stupid gumdrops.  I was going to make those cookies come Hell or high water.  After a few moments of research, I found that I could substitute butter, but it would make the dough a bit softer, and slightly alter the taste.  Telling myself it would be all right, I went ahead with that.  

The final step in the recipe is to beat two egg whites until stiff peaks form.  But you know what?  Stiff peaks won't form if you get a bit of yolk in with the whites.  Not even a tiny little bit.  I know that now. 

I threw that mess out and started over, being careful not to break the yolk this time, and finally, at long last, the cookies were ready to bake.  That part went off without a hitch, and the one I test tasted was just as good.  By next year, I'll have fresh shortening -- and cream of tartar-- and the cookies ought to be a lot less trouble. 

Now, if the kids want to make cookies tomorrow when they come, they're welcome to do so, but as for me, I'm done.  With the cookies, I mean.  I still have a few things to make tomorrow, but they're quick and easy.  

Oh, and I made a cheese ball today, which calls for green onions.  Naturally, I took the part with the roots, 

and planted them in one of my raised beds.  

By next summer, I ought to have all of the green onions I want, and get this...I can trim the green parts off when I need them, and they'll grow back. I'll have a perpetual supply of green onion.  And garlic.  And maybe even celery.  

The last thing I did today was to cut up the peanut butter fudge.  I don't know what it is, but I can not make that stuff.  When my uncle made it, his was always so creamy and soft.  I used to follow his recipe exactly, but mine always ended up so crumbly. 

I was hoping this microwave fudge would be better, but it wasn't.  I think next time I make it, I'm going to cook it slightly less, and see if that helps.  Oh well, it still tastes good.  I need to cut up the chocolate fudge, then I'll be all done with candy, as well. 

Now, I'm taking a bit of a break and watching Christmas With The Kranks.  I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I like the movie and the book it was based on:  Skipping Christmas, by John Grisham.  I don't know if it's available for streaming anywhere.  I bought it on DVD years ago.  Heh, my DVD is so old, it still gives the option of widescreen or full screen.  

That's about all I did today, except it was so nice outside I sat in my Adirondack chairs for a bit in between all of the cooking and such like.  Nice, but not very Christmassy.  Unless you're in the Southern Hemisphere where it really is summer.  

If I don't see you again, you all have a very Merry Christmas, and thank you to everyone who still comes and reads my drivel.  

Busy Prepositions

Well, I'm not a preposition, but I was busy as can be today.  It all started before I even got out of bed.  

I hadn't decided if I really want that peanut butter fudge enough to go into town to get more peanut butter, but as I was laying there in bed scrolling through my Time Hop app a bit before the cat came yowling for her breakfast, I found some old photos of the Christmas spreads we used to have when all of the cousins were still in this area.  

Oooh, there was so much food!  And right in the middle of the table was a bowl.  At first, I couldn't figure out what was in that bowl...then I remembered!  It was the punch my Aunt Martha always used to make for holidays.  And weddings, and baby showers, and pretty much any occasion that called for punch. 

It's real simple, just Sprite, Ginger Ale, and lime sherbet, and I decided that I wanted to make that punch and by golly, I was going to do just that. So, I got out of bed, got dressed, and taking my morning coffee with me, headed into the madhouse that is Walmart three days before Christmas.   

I escaped mostly unscathed, but I was slightly scathed by this. 

Yep, I got one.  I'll probably wait until after Christmas to make it, though.  Cody and Brennan aren't really in to such things.  They still haven't made the ones I bought them two years ago.  Seriously, I saw them still on the shelf in their pantry when I was there for Thanksgiving.  I mean, it's not something we did when Cody was little.  It's not something I did when I was little, either for that matter, so it's not like it's one of our old family traditions or anything. 

Slightly less scathing was this:  

Since I cleaned off that bit of cabinet, I wanted an outlet expander thingy, so I could plug in multiple appliances at once. Yes, I know it's upside down, but that's how the original outlet was, and I didn't feel like fooling with turning it over.   Maybe after Christmas.   And yes, it's got two USB ports, too.  Not sure why I'll need them in the kitchen, but they are there in case I do.  

It's kind of sad the things I get excited about these days...

Anyway, I got another jar of peanut butter and the ingredients for the punch, but was unable to find any sort of punch bowl.  I even stopped by the Dollar General on the way home, but they didn't have one either.  I guess that's my own fault for waiting until the last minute.  

Or remembering at the last minute, I should say.  I'll have to figure something out.    

Once all of that was taken care of, I dived into the day's baking.  I had a moment of panic when I realized I was out of cream of tartar, and I was not going to go back into town.  I thought we'd just have to do without the snickerdoodles, but after a quick google search, I discovered that you can substitute baking powder for the cream of tartar and baking soda combo.  The corn starch makes the snicks a little puffier than normal, and they don't have quite the distinctive snickerdoodle crackle on top, but nevertheless we shall have them after all. 

Then I made the chocolate chip cookies, which are pretty simple,  

but by the time I was done, I was a bit tired, so I took a break to watch The Christmas Miracle Of Jonathan Toomey. 

Honestly, I don't know why this movie isn't more popular, because it's wonderful.  Maybe now that it's available on several free streaming services, people will discover it and fall in love with it just like I have. 

Next up on the agenda was that peanut butter fudge.  

It was easy to make, and only 4 ingredients, much easier than that old cooked fudge I used to make, and it tasted pretty good, too. I think I'll go with this recipe from here on out, though I may reduce the cooking time a bit.  The recipe said to microwave it for 2 minutes, stir, then microwave for two more minutes, but that seemed a bit long to me.  By the time it was done, it was smelling just a bit...not quite burned, but almost.  It tasted ok, though.  

The last thing I tackled today was the chocolate cherry kisses, which don't have chocolate kisses on them. 

You're supposed to put a Hershey's kiss in the middle of each cookie, but I had the bright idea that maybe I could use my cookie stamps with these.  It didn't work out, because this dough is way too soft for that.  Oh, well, we'll just have cherry shortbread and honestly, I may make them like this from here on out.  Most of us had picked the kiss off and eaten it separately anyway.  

Somehow in the midst of all of that, I managed to squeeze in my next chemistry lesson.  Chemistry made me cry in high school.  This isn't much better.  I have to keep reminding myself I'm doing this for fun...

So, now I'm off to bed so I can get up tomorrow and hit the ground running.  But before I go, I wanted to show you my celery and garlic. Some of my garlics are really growing.   

Others are struggling a bit.  They may pick up before spring, but even if they don't, I should have enough, and if I save a few cloves to re-plant every year, I'll have self perpetuating garlic.  And I may get some of the big white bulbs to plant along with these.  Which are small and reddish brown.  I don't know what type of garlic that is, but it's what Walmart had when I needed garlic for my pesto. 

And here is the celery.  

It's bushy, but still short.  Again, I'll just have to see what it does in the spring.  

That's it for today.  I'm heading to bed.  

Good night. 

It Has Begun

The candy making has begun!  

I still have no idea what Cody and Brennan's plans are, but whatever they do, there is no reason I can't enjoy my Christmas -- with or without them.  This year, I made cream cheese mints, which I haven't done in quite some time.  I had a brief moment of panic when I couldn't find my peppermint extract, but I finally found a brand new bottle in the back of the cabinet that I hadn't even opened yet.  

They are so easy to make that the hardest part is the patience needed to roll them out.  I did every one of them by hand, then remembered that I usually roll the candy out into a rope then cut it...Oh well.   

No, they don't require baking.  I only put them into the oven to protect them from curious cats while they dry.  Me being me, I had to leave myself a note so I wouldn't accidentally turn on the oven with them still inside of it. 

No, that is not the correct time on that stove.  I never set that one anyway.  I used to, but the power goes off so often that I no longer bother.  I just hit the clock button to make it stop flashing and leave it wherever it is.  

The chocolate fudge is made and setting.  

I was going to do peanut butter fudge, too, but I don't have quite enough peanut butter.  I'm not going to do the old fashioned kind I cook on the stove top.  I found a microwave recipe that sounds really easy.  I'll just need to run in tomorrow and get another jar of peanut butter.  I probably ought to pick up another pound of butter while I'm at it.  

Tomorrow is going to be cooking baking day, and I don't want to run out. Originally, I'd only planned on doing chocolate chip and snickerdoodles, but I changed my mind.  I bought gumdrops and if I can psych myself up to cut them up, I'll do gumdrop cookies as well.  I'm toying with the idea of doing chocolate cherry kisses, which I haven't made in forever, but that's still up in the air.   I don't have any milk chocolate kisses, so if I make them, I could just do cherry shortbread.  

I know it sounds like a lot, but the bright side is, all of it freezes well.  I can vacuum seal the leftover cookies and candy and it'll last quite some time.  

OK, as I was typing this, I got a message from Cody.  They're going to come here for Christmas Eve, then go up to Brennan's parents Christmas morning.  He said they're going to stay in Memphis a few days, then maybe stop by for another visit on their way home. 

That's about all I did today, besides watch my next chemistry lesson.  I don't know why on earth I'm doing this to myself.  The good news is, they let you keep taking the quizzes until you get them right.  This time, it took me three tries.  But, the professor exploded a balloon filled with hydrogen and that was fun. 

Now I'm watching The Man Who Invented Christmas.  It's the story of how Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol.  I don't know if it's available anywhere, as I bought the viewing rights a few years ago.  

If you can find it somewhere, I highly recommend it. 

Kicked It

Well, as it happens, I did not sleep until after the sun came up this morning.  Indeed, I woke up at 5:00 AM, but fortunately for me, the cat didn't.  I was able to lay there in bed until nearly 6:00 before she came yowling outside my bedroom door. 

Better news, I seem to have kicked whatever bug I had picked up, and I feel clearheaded for the first time in quite a while.  In fact, I was so clearheaded I did my second chemistry lesson from Hillsdale College.  This was kind of a fun one because the professor did some experiments, and now I need to know where I can get some silver nitrate so I can do it, too. 

Amazon has it.

Speaking of Amazon, I've been getting mysterious packages for the last few days.  I'm sure they're Christmas gifts from my siblings, so I've just been wrapping them and putting them under the tree without opening them.  I only hope they aren't something dull like my vitamins that I have on  subscribe & save. I seem to remember that happening one year...

But I'm getting ahead of myself. 

I did not enjoy a leisurely cup of coffee this morning, because I wanted to get to the store and back home before the ball games started, which I successfully did.  And I think I successfully bought everything I need for my Christmas Eve spread.  If there's anything I forgot, we'll just live without it this year. 

Now, we wait.  I feel like I'm in a bit of no man's land -- I want to go ahead and get started, but I kinda feel like it's too early.  I think I'll make something tomorrow.  I'm not sure what, but something...I bought these cute little molds today, but I don't know what to do with them. 

I want to make some sort of candy, but haven't decided which kind.  I bought stuff to make cream cheese mints, but I'm not sure if that will work with molds, because it's pretty thick.  I might try to melt some chocolate chips and see if that will work.  Or, maybe homemade marshmallows...I don't know.  I'll figure something out.  

I bought a larger mold last year, and never did anything with that one except make Christmas tree shaped ice cubes.  That's what these might end up doing, too.  

I almost bought another gingerbread house kit, but didn't.  I'd bought some cookie cutters on clearance last year, and want to try to make my own gingerbread.  I have some meringue powder -- I think that's what it's called -- to make the royal icing, and I don't really know if I want to go into all of that.  I might go back and get that kit after all. 

I have no idea what the kids are going to do.  It all depends on Brennan's work schedule, and they never tell me until the last minute anyway.  I've learned to do whatever I want, and if they show up fine.  If not, that's fine, too.  Except that it's not, but until Cody stands up to Brennan's parents, it's what I have to deal with.  

Anyway, I made it home in plenty of time to watch football and the Navy band concert while working on the latest sailor hat. 

And here it is:  

Yarn:  Red Heart SuperSaver

Colorway:  Icelandic

Pattern:  Basic Beanie

Needles:  US 8/ 5 mm

 I don't think I have enough of this yarn to make another hat, so I'll cast on with something else.  Lord knows I have plenty of yarn.  

And finally, Oklahoma lost.  Texas A&M lost.  

That's it.  That's the post.  

Hook 'Em.  

First Day Off

The first thing I did on my first day off was to sleep until after the sun rose.  That, my friend, is a very rare thing for me, even on a day off.  

Part of that is because of the cat.   She sat yowling outside my bedroom door until I took pity on her and let her into the bedroom.  I warned her not to roam all over the bed, not to step on my hair, and under no circumstances was she to push my phone off of the night stand.  

Naturally, she immediately did all of those things.  I had no other choice but to banish her from the bedroom once again.  Once I finally got her quiet, I fell asleep pretty quickly, and the next thing I know, she's yowling at the door again.  The sun is up, and she wants her breakfast.   

By the way, her tail injury is looking much, much better.  So much so, I let her go outside and sit on the back porch while I brought some firewood into the house.  She didn't even try to go out into the yard, which is good, because she's still limping a bit.  

As for me, I spent the day taking it easy.  A few days ago, I got up in the middle of the night to answer nature's call and got so dizzy I nearly fell over.  I had to catch myself on the bed and stand there a minute before I could go on.  I haven't felt quite right since.  I think I may have had a mild case of the flu.  It's been going around and it makes sense considering the symptoms I have had -- low grade fever, headache, weak and shaky feeling, cough and congestion.  In the light of that, I set my to-do list aside -- except for laundry -- and just rest for once.  

I didn't even do my next chemistry lesson.  Maybe once I'm done here, I'll mute the ball game and watch it.  This game is Alabama vs Oklahoma and I don't know which team I want to lose more.  If I had to choose, I'd say Oklahoma.  I am a native born Texan, you know.   

Oh, and I downloaded an app called Victory + and was able to watch my high school alma mater play in the state championship game.  They didn't win, but they did well especially considering no one really expected them to make it to the championship game in the first place. 

Finally, just so this post has some sort of redeeming value, a few days ago Marcy at Amnicon Studios -- link is over there -----> -- asked what kind of tree topper we had.  I grew up with a star, and that's what I wanted to have on my trees as an adult.  Alas, I couldn't find a star that I liked, so I thought I might get an angel.  I wanted something simple and elegant, but I couldn't find one of those I liked, either.  For the first few years, I had what my cousin Tommy Gene called a monstrosity.  Mine wasn't that monstrous, though.  I'd bought it when I was stationed in Italy, and it had a clear bottom section with a nativity in it.  

Me knowing myself, I was afraid I'd break the thing, but fortunately it's still in good shape, packed carefully away. 

Sometime later, I don't exactly remember when, but it was before I started blogging in 2005, I saw an angel in the Avon book that was simple and elegant and beautiful, I knew I had to have her.  And she's been on my tree ever since. 

That's about all I have for today.  I guess I'd better get on that chemistry lesson.  

Why on earth did I sign up for chemistry, of all things?  

Alarms Off!

I'm free!  All of my alarms have been turned off until January!

For the next two weeks, I can live like a normal human being.  Not waking up at 3:30 and not going to bed at 7:00!  Woo Hoo!  

Of course, at the morning meeting, Inspector Gadget did tell us to come in at 5:00 when we come back January 5, so I guess we'll hit the ground running.  That's a good thing, because I need to pay off this vet bill I ran up for this ungrateful cat.  

And Christmas shopping, too.  

Anyway, at the aforementioned morning meeting, IG said it's the last day, so have fun, and I was thinking "Fun?  Here?"  

But it got me to remembering when we did have fun out there.  Back in the day, we'd -- and by we I mean the tubing department -- bring snacks for the whole week before Christmas.  Cookies, candy, sausage balls, chips and dip...all sorts of things.  We'd snack all day long.  Some years, we'd even do a secret Santa gift exchange.  

And the plant would hand out bags of candy— and some of them would have nice gifts in them…

That was a long time ago, though.  You couldn't do anything like that these days.  Management is way too uptight for such things. 

Fun or not, the day is now over and I'm home sitting in front of the TV with the cat and some knitting.

Yarn:  Red Heart Super Saver

Colorway:  Icelandic

Pattern:  Basic Beanie

Needles:  US 8/ 5 mm

In other news, I broke down and repotted my cactus that had been struggling so.  

 I didn't figure it would be blooming this year any way.  A couple of the segments had roots on them, so I'm hopeful it'll survive.  I didn't have a fancy pot, but I figure this one will do for a while.  It's got much better drainage anyway, so that ought to help.   It certainly can't hurt. 

The poor thing has been through so much.  

She's Mad

The cat is mad at me. 

She wants to go outside so badly, but mean old me won't let her.  I know, I know.  She's bored and frustrated and doesn't understand why I won't let her go out and play.  But she's still limping pretty badly, and that gigantic hole in her tail still isn't closed up.  I keep telling her that she needs to stay inside and heal up, but she's not buying it.  

And no, she's not allowed on the counter.  She's doing purely out of spite, but how can I swat her when she's already hurting?  

She eventually settled down and went back to her bed, but I know she'll be glad when she's all healed up.  That's what concerned me enough to take her to the vet.  She has gotten into fights with this tom cat before, but she's always bounced back in a day or two.  This is going on nearly three weeks now.  True, she's getting older, but still...

In other news, I spoke too soon.  Remember I'd complained about being sleepy because of the Cowboys game Sunday night, then my brother texting me Monday night?  Yeah, guess who texted me at 9:00 last night? 

Yeppers, Cody.  He'd heard that George Lucas is going to re-release the 1977 original theatrical version of Star Wars for the 50th anniversary, and since I'm a geek and Brennan isn't, I'm the one he wanted to talk about it with.  I didn't answer him back until this morning, though, and after work I did a bit of research and found that it is indeed true.  I hope they also release them on DVD/Blu-ray so I can update my collection.  

Believe it or not, I still have the VHS of the original trilogy from way back when.  I even have a VCR, but I haven't used it in so long, I'm not even sure it still works.  

Since I'm feeling somewhat cheerful this evening -- only having one more day of work for the year -- you get two memes today:  

I know exactly what this feels like.  Unfortunately, my scissors usually go jfkxzkzjkkxxjzkjkc instead of ccssssssssss.  Maybe if I sharpened them once in a while...

And for your second meme:  

I need me an emotional support dragon.  I'd sic him on that tom cat that keeps attacking my Incarnation Of Evil.  

And one final bit of cheeriness before I stop boring you this evening, they put up a Christmas tree at work.  

 Oh, and I almost forgot.  I finished my course on Colonial America at Hillsdale College and I guess I'm a glutton for punishment, because I signed up for Chemistry next.  I don't know why.  I struggled with it in high school. 

Or maybe that is why.  Well, I'll start that one tomorrow and we shall see if I get it this time around.  

Wish me luck. 

Two More Days

I've got two more work days before I'm off until January 5th!  

Or as Inspector Gadget said in the morning meeting,  "Two more wake-ups."  

Heh, I turned around and saw one of the TXV builders looking like this:

I laughed and said, "What?  You don't like being talked to like you're a kindergartener?"  She just rolled her eyes and walked off. 

In spite of it all, the day actually went pretty well...in a manner of speaking.  They'd moved a bunch of stuff around in the schedule, and so we didn't have anything that they needed ready.  The lines were right on us all day long.  So, how is that considered going well, you may ask?  Well, I'll tell you...

It gave Inspector Gadget something to do. 

He's actually not that bad when he has stuff to keep himself occupied with.   It's when he's bored and standing there staring that he becomes....not that great.  Annoying.  Micromanaging...you know what I mean. 

So, he stayed busy, we stayed busy and the day went by pretty quickly, which is a good thing considering he's got us coming in at 5:00.  Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that, didn't I?  On the bright side, I don't have to subject myself to the indignity of having my lunch inspected by the security guards, because they don't come in that early.   

Before we left yesterday, he had asked three of the brazers to come in early...and he neglected to get a parts stager to come in, so there was no one to get the orders ready for us.  Guess who did that, then?  Yep, Inspector Gadget was over there trying to pull work...

I said, "Forget this!"  and stole an order off of someone else's stand.  Oh well, if she'd wanted to keep it, she should have come in early.  

Man, I need a nap..

I haven't slept well these last two nights.  Sunday night, the Cowboys had the late game ...again.  I'd like to speak with whoever keeps scheduling them night games and remind him that some of us have to get up and go to work the next day.  I mean, I fell asleep sometime during the third quarter anyway, but still...

Then last night, my brother decided to text me and let me know he'd ordered me another Christmas gift just in case the first one fell off of the cargo ship.  Seriously, that's what he said. Then he wanted to Paypal me some money to give to Cody and Brennan.  OK, great.

Except the email didn't come through.  I waited a bit, checked my spam folder.  Requested the email to be resent.  Waited some more.  Checked spam again, and I finally texted him and told him what was going on.  

We figured it out and I have the kids' money, but by the time we got done, it was after 8:30, and I was thinking, "This is why I hate my job."  Well, one of the reasons.  Because I can't keep normal people hours.  

Normal people don't go to bed at 7:30.  But then, normal people don't get up at 3:30, either.  

With that, I must leave you now, because I have to get up at 3:30 again tomorrow, and I still need to do my Hillsdale College course and practice my piano.  

Laters...

Look Who’s Home!

Look who got to come home this afternoon!  

She was not happy about being back in that carrier, and yowled pitifully all the way home, but once I got her into the house and out of the carrier, she settled down after a few moments, and soon was napping in my lap.  

Now she is napping on the bed.  She's still limping a bit, but is doing much better than before.  I saw the one wound the vet was so concerned about, and now I can see why.  It's large, and very deep even after two weeks.  I can only imagine what it looked like when it was fresh.  

The first thing she did when she got home was to go to the French doors and ask to go out, and the first thing I did was to say, "No, ma'am!"  I'm still supposed to keep her movement restricted for another 7-10 days, so she's an indoor cat for as long as I can get away with it. 

The good news is, it didn't cost nearly as much as I had feared it would.  Oh, it was still expensive, but about half of what I was thinking it would be. 

On a similar note, the last Christmas gift I ordered for Cody arrived today, so I'm completely done with shopping, except for maybe some more stocking stuffer type things.  Now all I need to do is the food and such.  

Speaking of Christmas, I got a better photo of the tree showing the dim spot in the middle. 

It's not as obvious when the lights are blinking, but still, they're bad enough I'm going to replace the whole string.  Between the good strings that are left and the two new ones I bought, I ought to have plenty.  

In other news, this was definitely one of those mornings I didn't want to get out of bed.  

My own outside thermometer confirms it was downright cold.  

I don't usually have problems with my pipes or outside faucets unless it gets really cold -- I mean, colder than this -- but I took the precaution of wrapping the faucet in an old t-shirt and covering it with a bucket. 

It's supposed to start warming up today, and by Christmas, it'll be back in the 70s.  

Well, I need to get off of here and watch my next lesson on Colonial America from Hillsdale College, so I'll just leave you with the meme of the day:  

 I have to agree.  As the kids would say these days, Navy's helmets were 🔥.

He Came Back

I saw him today...that gray tabby tom cat that put the Incarnation of Evil into the hospital.  He came up into the yard, bold as you please, and started drinking from the deer trough.  I stepped out the back door and told him to get out of my yard.  He ran a few steps, then turned around and looked at me.  

"All the way out!"  I said, advancing menacingly, and he disappeared into the woods behind the house.  

"And don't come back!" I shouted after him, but I know he will.  

That was my excitement for the morning, unless you count my fire choosing today to be stubborn.  I don't know what its problem was, but it just did not want to light.  I finally got it to burning well, but by that time, it had warmed up enough that I didn't even need it.  

Even so, I refilled my wood box in anticipation of tomorrow's cold, which it's not even supposed to get out of the 30s, and possibly down into the teens by Monday morning.  

In other news, the last of Brennan's gifts arrived today, and they are now safely wrapped and tucked under the tree.  She's been wanting to get into crochet, so I bought her a set of hooks and some yarn from Knit Picks, and a ball winder and yarn spool from Amazon.  My sister said she's going to look for some books to send her, so she ought to be set.  Her gifts are all done, but I'm still waiting on the last thing I ordered for Cody to arrive, and that will be it for Christmas shopping.  

Anyway, after that I sat down in front of the TV and barely moved for the rest of the day.  Well, first I sat down in front of the computer, because I signed up for my Colonial America course on Hillsdale College.  I watched the first lecture --which is really more like a documentary than a lecture -- then aced the quiz.  By the time I finished that, it was almost time for the march on, so I decided to wait until tomorrow to start the next episode. 

For some reason, Hulu wasn't able to get CBS, but I don't know why.  It kept showing that message that says we're having trouble playing this channel, and I thought for a moment I was going to have to re-up my Paramount + just to see the game.  I didn't, though.  I was able to sign in to the CBS Sports app with my Hulu account, so I watched the march on, the pregame show, then watched the Army-Navy game and thought for a moment Blake Horvath had completely forgotten how to play football, but they pulled it out in the end and Navy sang second.  

I will have to say, Navy also won the uniform battle this year.  Those helmets they were wearing were absolutely awesome.  Army looked like they would disappear in a snowstorm -- which actually happened back in 2017.  It snowed, they wore solid white, and at times you couldn't even see them.  It was hilarious. 

As soon as the ball game was over, I went to Apple TV and watched A Charlie Brown Christmas, which is free this weekend.  

And I finished my day by watching A Muppet Christmas Carol,

which we'd watched on Thanksgiving, but it's too good to only watch once.   

Just FYI, if you have Disney + and want to watch the version with that song in it -- you know the one they cut out because they thought it'd be too heavy for little kids -- you can go to the Extras tab and select Full Length Version.  It has the When Love Is Gone song in it. 

OK, that's about it for what I watched on TV -- and I do more than just watch TV.  Really, I do.  But once the kids are grown and gone, and I'm not at work, there really isn't much to talk about, unless you want to hear about me changing the sheets on the bed and doing laundry.  

Oh, I can show you this.  I bought myself a new wax melter last time I went to the store, because my old one had broken.  It was pretty old, after all.  Somewhere online, I don't remember where, I saw that to get the old wax out, you can put cotton balls in it while it's still melted.  Then once the wax hardens, it'll pop right out.  

Sometimes, these life hacks are just dumb, but this one sounded good, so I gave it a try. 

After a few moments, I pulled the cotton balls out and the wax came out with them, slick as a whistle. 

And it left me a nice, clean bowl for the next time.  

That's definitely a trick I'll be using again. 

And finally, more playing around with AI -- this time with Chat GPT.  

 This one looks more like a painting than the others, and I think I like that better. 

Lost His Mind

Yesterday was one of those days at work.  I mean, our work is largely seasonal and it's always slow this time of year anyway.  Anyone who has worked there more than a year knows that already, except apparently Inspector Gadget.  

All day, he was running around hooting and hollering that we weren't getting our numbers, but how can we if there is no work to do?  Seriously, from lunch break until the end of shift, I brazed exactly 18 headers.  No, that's not a typo.  

I had a three piece order, then about 45 minutes before the end of shift, I got 72 piece order.  After setting up and all, I had time to braze 15 of those.  That makes 18.  That was it.  I spent most of the afternoon cleaning, sweeping, dusting off the shelves, and hiding in the bathroom.  

I hate days like that, because the lack of work makes the time go by so slowly.  But finally, the day was over, and I was headed to my locker to put my tools away when Inspector Gadget ran up and asked me if I wanted to stay over an hour.  

"No", I replied without hesitation and continued to my locker and then out the door when the end of shift buzzer went off. But before that, I told one of the other brazers, "Inspector Gadget done lost his ever loving mind!"  

She gave me that look that is impossible to describe, but when you see it, you know exactly what it means, and said, "It would have been different if he hadn't waited until 5 minutes till to ask!"

"It would have been different if I hadn't been standing around all afternoon with nothing to do!" I replied.  I mean, seriously...why is he going to wait until it's time to walk out the door to suddenly get concerned about us having work to do?  

Y'all, I don't wish ill on anybody, but they really need to do something with him.  He doesn't have the people skills, management skills, or leadership skills to be a supervisor.  

But you know what they say about time  -- it waits for no man, and eventually the long, long day ended, and I decided to do my shopping yesterday instead of waiting until Saturday.  I don't want to risk getting stuck in the store during the most important football game of the year. 

Of course, I'm speaking of Army-Navy.  I like to watch the pregame and march on, too, so that would really put me crunched for time if I went Saturday morning.   All that to say, I think I got everything I need for my Christmas Eve snacks, and for the first time in a long, long time I was able to say, "Well, that didn't cost as much as I expected it to!"  

Except that I forgot to get tortilla chips for the Ro-Tel.  I'll get them next time I go, or I'll just run to the Dollar General up on the corner.  Other than that, I'm about all done.  I'm not even going to worry about a Christmas dinner, because I have no idea what Cody and Brennan will do.  Knowing them, they'll go to Brennan's parent's house, only stopping here long enough to pick up their presents. 

I guess I can't complain.  At least I get to see them that much.  

OK, moving right along...

I hadn't really planned on doing anything this weekend except watching some Christmas shows, and I started last night with Rudolph.  

I have it on DVD, but there's just something about watching it on TV knowing everyone else is watching it at the same time.  Even if you have to put up with nearly as many commercials as the show is long.  

This morning, I turned to the DVD player and watched Frosty's Winter Wonderland, T'was The Night Before Christmas, and the Grinch while finishing the hat I had OTN.  

Yarn:  Hobby Lobby I Love This Yarn

Colorway:  Green/Turquoise/Red

Pattern:  Basic Beanie

Needles:  US 8  5mm

That's the last of my Hobby Lobby yarn, until I can get up to Batesville again, so I cast on the next one with some Red Heart. 

Yarn:  Red Heart Supersaver

Colorway:  Icelandic

Pattern:  Basic Beanie

Needles:  US 8  5mm

Oh, and I watched The Shepherd, too.  It's only available on the FREE Chosen app, but if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend that you do so.  It's worth the trouble of downloading the free app and creating a free account.  Then you can watch The Chosen without ads, while you're there.  Or you can watch on Prime, but you have to put up with ads.  

In spite of all that TV watching, it was too beautiful a day to spend indoors all day, and I wanted to take advantage of that before the next cold snap comes in tomorrow night.  I got out and piddled in the garden spot a bit, scraping down some high spots and raking the dirt into the low spots. 

I only did a little bit, because I didn't want to over do it.  I had to remind myself that I'm not 20 years old any more.  I know you're thinking I should hire someone to do that hard work for me, but I like doing it myself.  There is something very cathartic about working in dirt.  

I also spent some time filling the wood box and kindling box in anticipation of the impending cold, then moved some more firewood into my rack.  Again, I had to remind myself that I'm not 20, and to not push myself so hard.  

Once I was done with that for the day, I sat outside in my chair for a while, and contemplated putting a fire into the fire pit and maybe roasting some hot dogs and even a marshmallow or two.  I didn't, though.  I decided I didn't want to fool with it, so I came back inside and started watching the 1935 version of A Christmas Carol with Seymore Hicks.  If you do decide to watch that one, the version of Prime has some major scenes cut out, so I watched on YouTube.  

The annoying thing about that was every time they showed an ad, it turned the closed captions back on.  I finally gave up turning them off and just left them on.  It's also not restored, so the outdoor scenes were pretty murky, but that just adds to the charm of watching an old film. 

Before I came in, I took a quick photo of one patch of bluebonnets.  

They are doing so well this year.  I'm totally stoked about it. 

Then I played around with AI and made a few more Christmas scenes.  

Speaking of A Christmas Carol, I signed up to do a Hillsdale College course on the book last weekend.  It has six lessons and I'd planned on doing one per day, but the lessons were so fascinating to me, I did the entire course in one day.  

They have another new course on Colonial America that I want to do, also.  Maybe I'll go ahead and enroll and do a lesson or two before the ball game tomorrow.  

And finally, I'd said I wasn't going to keep pestering the vet, but I got antsy and called them today anyway.  They said the cat is doing well, and they're thinking she can come home Monday.  So, yay for that.  

I kind of miss the little demon spawn running around the place. 

That was how I spent my Friday.  Now I think I'll go take a shower, then maybe watch the musical version of Scrooge with Albert Finney.  

I might even make myself some hot chocolate to go with it.  

Every Day

Every day while I'm at work, all day long I tell myself I'm going to do so many things when I get home.  And every day when I get home, I do exactly none of those things.   Today was no different.  

I had so many plans, and in the end, all I got done was...well, I finished my Christmas shopping, and that was about it.  I just hope the gifts arrive.  Amazon's new delivery service leaves a lot to be desired.  I haven't had any problems myself, but deliveries here in town have gotten so bad, some of the locals have even started a group on the book of faces to help packages to get to the right addresses.  Heck, one man posted that he'd found four packages tossed into the bushes.  Amazon needs to get this sorted, or it might just bring them down. 

Oh, and I spent a couple of minutes trying to weed my bluebonnet bed.  I really need to stay on top of that, because the weeds are taking over.   I also need to take a picture so you can see how big and beautiful they are looking. 

That'll have to wait, though, because it's already dark outside today.  Maybe tomorrow or Friday I'll remember to do that.  

Speaking of Friday, the plant has had us on four day work weeks since October, and today at the morning meeting, Inspector Gadget said they needed volunteers to come in next Friday...the last Friday before Christmas break.  Go figure...I've already got vacation scheduled, so it's not even an option for me, but several people did raise their hands. 

We also had our annual OSHA mandated safety training this morning.  Group Leader Shark is off for the rest of the year, so Inspector Gadget is doing the morning meetings.  He said our department has its training at 9:20, "so at 9:15, stop what you're doing, shut everything down and go to the training room,"  like he thinks we can't even go to a meeting without him talking to us like we're kindergarteners.  

He really is...

Well, I'm going to stop there before I end up on Santa's naughty list.  

That's about all I did, except I played around with a bit of AI and had Gemini create this lovely Christmas image for you. 

I'll catch you on the flip side.   Right now, I think I'll go make some more AI images.  

Laters...

The Saga Continues

But first, a bit of good news.  I called the vet to check on the cat, and she said they managed to get her sedated again and the injury the vet was concerned about looked much better than they expected.  She's not ready to come home yet, but she is improving.  And apparently, she's fighting them every step of the way.  

OK, moving right along...

Five years ago, I bought a new pre-lit LED Christmas tree from Lowe's.  Oh, it was a lovely tree, with lights that could change from white to multicolored, and flash in all sorts of patterns.  I was very happy with my tree -- until two years ago.  

That was the year I got the tree out to put it up and discovered that something had gotten into the box and completely chewed through two strands of lights.  I was heartbroken, but undaunted.  I cut off the damaged lights and put some regular lights in their place.   

That worked for a while, until this year.  When I put up my tree, I noticed an entire section of lights was very dim.  I don't know how well you can see it in the photo, but it's right there in the middle, where the red stocking ornament is hanging. 

Thinking the connection may have come loose, I reached into tighten it up, and as I did so, I found a damaged section of wire.  Bummer.  There's nothing I can do about it now that the tree is fully decorated, but when I take it down after Christmas, I'll cut them off and discard them. 

I'd thought to just replace them with regular lights when a couple of days ago, I was poking around on the Lowe's website, because before the cat had to go into the hospital, I was in the market to finally replace my dishwasher, when I found some color changing LED lights on sale for a really good price.  

On a whim, I ordered two sets, thinking that even if I had to plug them in separately, at least they'd match the other lights I had on the tree.  However, upon closer inspection of the label, it looks like I might be able to plug them into the same connections as the old strings.  

Again, it'll have to wait until I take all of the ornaments off, and I can really get in there and see what's what.  I mean, it's the same type of connector.  I'll just have to see if it's the same size.  

In other news, I got off work this afternoon and walked out of the plant...and the sky hurt my eyes.  Why was the sky hurting my eyes?  What was going on here?  I couldn't figure it out...About half way across the parking lot, it hit me.  

The sun...

The sun was out. 

I hadn't seen the sun in so long, I'd forgotten what it even looked like.   It was such a nice day, I spent a few moments moving some of my firewood into my new rack. 

It still doesn't look like I've made much of a dent in my main stack, though.  

It's not all going to fit into that one rack anyway, but if I can get at least some of it moved so it doesn't get rained on, ..eh, I don't even know what I'm saying right now, so I'll just show you this.  My garlic is growing!

 By next summer, I ought to have a good garlic harvest.  And maybe some celery, too.  

And finally, my brother messaged me this morning and said he and his wife had been talking about some old country songs -- Coward Of The County, All The Gold In Californa, The Gambler, Ghose Riders In The Sky.  My brother has never really been a big fan of country music, but he knew those old songs from hearing me play them on my old 45s.  

I hadn't thought about those old records in ages, and I'd assumed they'd gotten ruined in one of the hurricanes, but my brother told me he'd sent them to me years ago.  I don't even remember getting them, much less what I did with them.  Maybe they'll turn up in one of these old storage boxes I've been going through.  

Or they may have disappeared into the same black hole as my wedding dress and the ceramic cookie jar I'd made my Mammaw when I was in high school. 

Who knows?