And The Adventure Continues...

After I blogged yesterday, the cat decided to eat the Christmas tree.  And after she ate the Christmas tree, she barfed it back up all over the living room floor.

Then I come home from work to find a dead, badly mauled mouse in the kitchen.  Not sure which one killed it, but hey, I take what I can get. 

The good news is, Jesse slept through the night.


The bad news is, I didn't.  I went to bed fairly early, because I was so tired.  Once I got there, though, I tossed and turned for at least an hour before drifting off.  I wasn't asleep very long at all when I got hit by the hot flash from...well, you get the idea.


I turn my heat down to 50 at night, so the house was cold.  I tossed all the covers off, and I was still sweating my tail off.  Not only that, my restless leg, which had been pretty calm the last couple of days, kicked into high gear.  It was spasming so badly that my leg was jumping up off the bed. 

Fortunately, the hot flash passed relatively quickly, and with it, the leg spasms.  I finally drifted off around midnight.

When I woke up, for some strange-odd reason, I decided to wear mascara to work.  That means, my eyes were burning like fire all day. 

And it's supposed to be even colder tonight. 

Sometimes, you just gotta whine a bit.  I'm better now, thank you.

Rough Day

The first day back at work is always a bit rough, but this one was worse than usual.  Jesse was sick last night.  I had to get up three times with him to let him out.

One time, I didn't quite make it in time, and ended up scrubbing doggie diarrhea out of my carpet at 2 AM.  Fun, fun.

Of course, by the time I was done, I was wide awake.  I lay there for a couple of hours, and about the time I drifted off, he whined to go outside again.  I got up and let him out, but then fell asleep before he came back in.

He was only out there about an hour, which is all the sleep I got.  Then the alarm went off and it was time to get up.  So, I'm running on about three hours sleep today.

All cylinders are definitely not firing, that's for sure.

The good news is, Jesse seems to be feeling better.  It must have been something he ate. 

Oh, we didn't get any snow, but it's supposed to be colder tonight.  Lo to mid 20s.

As the guy on the radio said, "everybody's going to freeze." 

(This picture is from last year.)

The Best Laid Plans

The plan was to get up and go to Batesville and shop.  But when I saw the weather, I wimped out.  Yes, it was cold and drizzly all day.  The high was 40', but with the rain and the wind, the chill factor never got out of the 30s.  I decided that was just too darn cold to get out and about.  I kept checking, but I never saw any snow.  That doesn't mean it wasn't.  It just means I didn't see any. 

On the other hand, I am in the season of perpetual summer, so I had to turn the heat down to 60' and eat some ice cream to get myself cooled off enough to enjoy a mug of hot chocolate.  That being said, I probably could have gone shopping if I'd really wanted to, but I just couldn't get myself moving.

So, what did I do? 

I put out a few more Christmas decorations, knit, and watched Christmas shows via Netflix streaming.

I'd finished the tree yesterday, and fully intended to post a photo of it, but I just never got around to it.  So, here you go.

I haven't put the skirt down yet, and I don't know if I'm going to.  Last year, the cat decided she needed to use my tree skirt as a litterpan, so naturally, I'm a little dubious. 

And finally, to kick of the Christmas Music Monday season, one of my all time favorite Christmas songs ever:

Small Business Saturday

As you know, yesterday was Black Friday.  If you've read my blog for any length of time, you will also know that I avoid stores like the plague on Black Friday.

What you may not know is that today was Small Business Saturday.  Today is the day when you are supposed to avoid the large chains and shop only at small, locally owned businesses.  Me, I don't get into that left wing, hippie, corporations-are-evil crap, so I didn't participate in Small Business Saturday.

I went to Wal-Mart, instead.


I did, however make a concerted effort to look for products made in the USA.  See, there is this thing circulating on FB (and probably through e-mail and the blogosphere as well) which says you can usually find the same products made in the USA as you do that are made in China, and usually for cheaper.  The story goes that the author of the e-mail was looking for Christmas lights and walked over two aisles and found some made in America. 

I have come here to say, that is a load of hogwash.  If you're looking for Christmas decorations, forget it.  They are all made in China.  And I do mean ALL of them-- except the live plants and things like that.  Yeah, I checked.  Every ornament, every tree, every box of lights, even the cards and gift tags-- everything I  picked up was made in China.  So I moved on to the gift section.  You know, the pre-packaged bath sets, and mugs with hot chocolate mix in them.  Those kinds of things.  I checked them.  Yep, all made in China.  I finally found one thing that was made in the USA.

It was a candle.  And not only that, I had to check the labels, because some of the very same candles were made in China.  So, if I'm going to buy American, it looks like everyone on my list will have to get either candles or Rubbermaid for Christmas.

I bought those for my sister, but don't worry, she seldom gets online, much less reads this blog.  With three boys, I'm sure she could use all the containers she can get ahold of. 

When I got home, I found a package in my mailbox.  And what was in said package, you may ask?  It was sock yarn.  Kristen had an extra ball that she didn't need, so she sent it on my way. 

Shortly after I got back from the store, it started raining, and hasn't stopped yet.  So, I did what any good Southern woman would do.  I put up my Christmas tree. 

And like any good Texas woman, the first ornament I put on was this one.

Followed immediately by this one:

I don't have any Texas Longhorn ornament, though.  I'll have to rectify that and soon. 

And for your parting shot:  Check out the forecast for Monday

I'm glad I have that day off!

My BIrthday Present

From Beverly and James.  LSU lounge pants!

And look, they  have little sparklies around the logo:

Yeah, yeah, my birthday was two weeks ago, but they got here just in time.  And they went right well with my Honey Badger shirt.

I wore this delightful little ensemble to watch LSU put the whoopin on Arkansas 41-17. I'm glad of that.  I mean, I'm glad the game wasn't another come from behind field goal with 2 seconds left on the clock, like both the Cowboys and the Longhorns did yesterday.  I don't know if my blood pressure could have taken another close game like that. 

And the Honey Badger took what he wanted, forcing and recovering a fumble, and returning a punt 92 yards for a touchdown.  With this win, LSU finished the season 12-0, and one of only two in the top ten to remain undefeated, the other being the University of Houston.
 
Now, everybody is saying that it will be LSU vs. Alabama in the National Championship game, but I'm not so sure.  If it went strictly by the computer score, maybe.  But there is a human vote in it also, and other conferences are already squawking about the SEC having won the last 5--yes 5, count'em 5-- National Championships in a row.  I don't think that human element is gonna suffer two SEC teams in the game.  That would guarantee six in a row.  I just don't see that happening, but then, stranger things have happened. 

Of course, LSU does have to win one more game than Alabama does, because they'll be playing Georgia next week in the SEC Championship.  That ought to count for something. 

Speaking of, Texas and Texas A&M squared off yesterday evening for what is the last game of a long standing rivalry.   A&M is moving to the SEC next year.  Hmmm, given the way LSU handled them in the Cotton Bowl, they might just be wishing they'd stayed in the Big 12. 

In other news, I got the Christmas tree out.  This is as far as I've gotten, but it is at least out of the closet. 

Now, I need to pull everything out of the gift drawer and decide who to give what, and do I need to buy anything else.  Oh, and decorate the tree, too. 

Thanksgiving 2011

Beverly and James

Mike, Dennise, and Shelbi (Brittani didn't come.  She didn't want to leave her dogs.)

Cody (observing No Shave November) 

Gak! My son is too tall for me to bunny ears any more! (Hey, at least he come by it honest.)

Artex got in on the festivities, too.  

At my house, we had an early Christmas miracle: Squeaky let Jesse get on the bed with her!

Rylea stuck with napping on the love seat.

I didn't take pictures of the food.  It looks pretty much the same as it did last year, and the year before, and the year before...Although Cody wanted to have a Cajun Thanksgiving, so we did have gumbo and meat pies, in addition to the turkey, sweet potatoes, etc, etc...

I had a bit of a mishap with the pumpkin pie.  The crust stuck to the pie shield-- probably from the filling overflowing just a little bit-- and it broke when I took the shield off.

So, I thought, by golly, if I'm going to go to all the trouble to find my fancy pie plate and dig it out and wash it up, then by golly, I'm going to have a nice looking pie to put into it.

So I made another one.

It turned out much better. 

After dinner, I came home and watched the Cowboys defeat the Dolphins on a last second, come from behind field goal.  Then I watched the Longhorns defeat the Aggies on a last second, come from behind field goal. 

My old heart can't take this kind of stress any more.  I'm giving up football.

At least until tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today I am thankful for the two of you who still read this blog. If it weren't for you, I'd have quit long ago.

I promise I'll try to be more interesting.

It's Not Saturday

I woke up this morning feeling like it was Saturday. I had to keep reminding myself that it was actually Tuesday. The plan was to get up and go to Batesville, to that outlet mall up there and get me at least one outfit. It's been so long since I've had new clothes--I realized as I sat in church Sunday with my 10+ year old skirt and top on-- that I wanted to get myself something new.

I wanted to get a belted tunic, and a pair of leggings and maybe a peasant skirt to go with it, along with a pair of faux fur topped boots, then I'd be set.

But when I saw what was headed my way,

I decided it might be best just to stick closer to home today.  Sure enough, around 9ish o'clock, the rain started.

It rained until nearly 2:00, and I just didn't want to get out in it, since I didn't really have to. So, I stayed home and did nothing.

Oh, I had plenty to do inside, but I couldn't seem to work up the motivation to get it done. I mostly watched Netflix and knit on the blankie.

And I watched my traditional Mayflower movie, with Anthony Hopkins and Richard Crenna. I had to figure out how to plug my VCR into my new TV, since that movie isn't available any more, and I only have it on VHS. Once I figured out to plug the AV cable into the output of my VCR, we were off and rolling.

Anyway, it's so hard to find good Thanksgiving movies out there. I couldn't stand Plymouth Adventure with Spencer Tracy. There is one the church library has. It is called An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving, and it is based on a short story by Louisa May Alcott. It has gotten really good reviews on Amazon.

I hated it.

See, there is this family-- a mother and three children. The father has recently died and the family is struggling to make ends meet. So the older daughter takes it upon herself to write to her estranged grandmother and ask for help.  Well, the grandma shows up and helps, all right.  The problem I had with it is that she shows such extreme and obvious favoritism toward the older daughter.  She takes her out shopping and they buy a whole new wardrobe for her.  The grandma wants her to come and live in New York with her and be educated, and spoiled, and pampered.

The younger daughter gets nothing.  Everyone seems to be OK with that.  And when the younger daughter expresses envy, she is chastised for being so selfish.

I guess I identify too much with the younger daughter, because I was always the one shoved aside in favor of my sister.  Anyway, the older daughter gets taken off to New York with her fancy silk gowns to be waited on hand and foot, while the younger one has to stay home in her plain, homespun cotton to work and cook and clean-- and she's supposed to do it with a cheerful attitude.  Blech...

Um, what else I did...I got the rest of last year's turkey out of the freezer and made a bit ol' pot of turkey noodle soup-- to go back into the freezer.  Yeah...

Now, I'm all ready to start tomorrow's cooking.

I tried to take a picture of Jesse, but he is still afraid of the camera. As soon as I got it out, he ran and hit behind the bed.

I wish I knew what it was about the camera that scares him so.

Rylea says, "Oh good grief!"

 

And my thing I'm thankful for today:

An egg-free version of Oatmeal Creme Pies. These were my absolute favorite Little Debbie's and I hated having to give them up. But now, I can have them again!  For that, I am very thankful!

Music Monday

For your Thanksgiving week Music Monday, I give you a song about, well, about giving thanks:

Thanksgiving Week

Today starts Thanksgiving week, and I thought it would be nice to share some things I am thankful for.  This post, however, will take a slightly different twist.


To the young man who sat in front of me in church this morning.  You need to give thanks that I am not your mother, because if I were, I'd have been tearing up your butt by now.  Here's why:


*Sit UP
*Sit STILL
*Stand up during the congregational hymns (or did you not notice that EVERYONE but you was standing up?)
*Stop digging in your nose
*Cut your fingernails
*Go home and wash that nasty, greasy hair of yours



Now, some of you may think I'm being a bit harsh, but this kid appeared to be about 14 years old.  Definitely old enough to know better. 

This Is My Life

I love sausage biscuits.  I often buy a box so that I can have sausage biscuits for breakfast.  Here lately, though, what with the freezer full of snake food, I didn't have room for even a small box of sausage biscuits.

I was driving into town to get milk, when suddenly it occurred to me.  And when it occurred to me, I got so excited I shouted it aloud,

"I can buy sausage biscuits!"

Boy, it doesn't take much to get me excited, I tell ya.  I'm just glad I was alone at the time...

Yesterday, they gave us another of those 20 lb turkeys at work.  I wish they'd give us a smaller one.  That's a lot of bird to eat up.  I've still got meat vacuum sealed in my freezer from last year's turkey, and that's after I took some out to put into the gumbo the other night.  The good news is, this year, I actually have a place to put it!

That little freezer is turning out to be one of the best investments I've made.

I have to go in to work Monday, but then we have the rest of next week off.  Nobody is going to Texas this year, so I'm hoping somebody will be able to help me eat up this thing.  James said that they want to have gumbo for Thanksgiving this year.  I'm going to cook the turkey anyway, and just probably take a little plate of meat over.  I'm also going to do my sweet potatoes, and strawberry jello salad.  I don't know how well they'll go with gumbo, but at least I'll have my leftovers. 

My goal for the time I have off is to get this house back into shape.  I've still got to find places for all the stuff I dragged out of the utility room to put my freezer in, but more than that, I think I want to work on my bedroom and bathroom.  I've always made it a priority to keep the more public areas of the house clean--just in case I have company over.  Which, despite what certain people might say, does happen occasionally.  But in the process, my bedroom tends to get neglected.  It's the last one to get cleaned.  It's the place where everything gets stored, and I've made no attempt whatsoever to decorate it.

This week, I want to concentrate on getting it cleaned up, and cleaned out.  Maybe if I make it a restful place, I can actually get some rest when I'm in there.

Oh, and I've noticed that belted tunic style sweaters are making a comeback.  That's one style I actually like, so I'm going to go clothes shopping, too. 

I'll let you know how that turns out.

My final goal for the week:  clean out snake tanks, before the Animal Cops show up at my door. 

Quote Of The Day

"I'm sure everyone feels sorry for the individual who has fallen by the wayside or who can't keep up in our competitive society, but my own compassion goes beyond that to the millions of unsung men and women who get up every morning, send the kids to school, go to work, try and keep up the payments on their house, pay exorbitant taxes to make possible compassion for the less fortunate, and as a result have to sacrifice many of their own desires and dreams and hopes. Government owes them something better than always finding a new way to make them share the fruit of their toils with others." --Ronald Reagan

This Is My Life

Since I work in a factory, we are required to wear earplugs. There are a couple of different styles we can choose from, but I prefer the foam plugs.

One thing about them, though. I can't stand wearing dirty ear plugs, and since the plant tends to frown upon  us getting a new pair every day, I bring the, am home and wash them in a lingerie bag with my regular laundry.

Anyway, today my left ear was just hurting. I couldn't understand why. Finally, I pulled out my ear plug and yes, there really was

a cat hair sticking out of it.

Squeaky says, "Don't blame me. It's um...some other cat's hair."

But a big ol' pot of turkey and sausage gumbo makes it all better.

By the way, I actually had a blog post for yesterday, but it totally slipped my mind.  Now, of course, I can't remember what it was supposed to be about.

Yes, this is my life.

Too Little Sleep

and not enough excitement in my life leads to boring blog posts.

The most colorful thing in my life right now is my Christmas Cactus. 

Some would argue that technically it's a Thanksgiving Cactus, and they would be right. But "Christmas Cactus" just sounds so much more appealing.

And they are all different cultivars of the same species anyway, so does it really matter?

Nah, not really.

An Exciting Weekend

 If you've read my blog for any length of time, you will know that I have seven snakes. Snakes, like all living things need food. The food that most snakes eat is rodents.

I order humanely euthanized, frozen rodents from a company called Rodent Pro. However, to keep them frozen, the rodents must be carefully packed, insulated, and shipped with a huge chunk of dry ice. This means that shipping costs are massively expensive. So, I usually order two or three years of food at once. As you may imagine, this puts quite the strain on my little freezer.

I'd most recently ordered food back in August. You may remember how full my freezer was.

Part of the problem is that snakes don't eat that often.  My ball pythons only eat once a month-- if they don't go on a hunger strike, that is.  The colubrids eat twice a month.  As a result, 2 1/2 months later, my freezer almost looks the same. 

(Pay no attention to those Mint chocolate chip Klondike bars.)

I had food in there for me.  I had turkey, chicken, deer meat-- stuff I wanted to eat, but I couldn't find it in there under all the rats.  I decided it was time. Past time, actually. I'd been needing a deep freeze for a while. I just didn't want to clean out my utility room. If you saw my utility room, you'd understand.

But, the situation had reached the critical point, so on my day off Friday, I dived in and got all the junk out of there.

By the time I got through, I was too tired to go get my freezer.  It could wait one more day.

Early Saturday morning, I got dressed and drove in to Wal-Mart and bought my freezer.   I had to lay it down on its side to get it into my Jimmy, and the stockman who trollied it out for me made sure I knew to let it set for a while before plugging it up.  I'd already known that you have to let them set when you move them, but I wasn't sure for how long. Turns out, if you tilt it more than 45 degrees, you have to let it set for 24 hours before plugging it in.  Bummer...

I got it home, and James came over and helped me get it into my utility room.

I had to do a little rearranging to get even this stuff back in there.  Most of what was in there before wouldn't fit any more, what with the new freezer taking up so much room. 

Finally, the waiting was over! Once I got home from church, I plugged the little dear in, and in no time at all, it was getting cold in that there freezer.

Sigh, you know I live a dull life when I get excited over putting the first bag of snake food into my deep freeze.

But I did. I jumped up and down, squealed, and posted a picture to Facebook. Um, maybe I shouldn't have admitted that last bit.

I spent the rest of the afternoon vacuum sealing snake food and moving it to its new home. And look what I found when I was finished!

People food!  I knew there was some in there somewhere.  So that was my exciting weekend.  Now comes the hard part-- trying to figure out what to do with all the junk I took out of there.

Oh, and I got new houseshoes, too.

 

Veteran's Day

Christmas Cactus

The buds on my Christmas cactus are beginning to open.  It's going to be a riot of color this year.

By the look of things, this will be the best year yet.