(Old) Turning up the heat in the MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
221

Well, I thought I was a pretty good cook. I decided to make my favorite cake, German chocolate for my birthday. The layers turned out fine, but the brown sugar custard for the filling split. So I left to walk to the store, but holy smoke, Batman, the air was awful. Apparently the winds are pushing smoke from fires (8 of 'em!) in the Cascades into my area, and there’s a hazard warning through tomorrow. Sigh. So I decided to take the bus. Just walking to the stop made me feel like I’d need a nicotine patch. I got home and could smell the smoke wafting off of me.

It looks like my plan to do a birthday hike tomorrow is off. :cry: Oh, well, c’est la vie, c’est la guerre. I’ll just stay home and feel grateful I got borned.

Taters, any smoke by you? Flyboy, I don’t think you folks got smoke up there, did you?

JtC, I admit I got teary-eyed. I couldn’t believe she remembered and took the time and trouble to call! Every now and then, I despair that I may not have made any difference in these kids’ lives, and then I get a nice message like that one.

MetalMouse, wear a hat and some sunscreen! We can’t have you getting burned.

pilot, sounds like the reunion is off to a smooth start. I think most families are complex, or at least the interesting ones are!

red, glad you’re settling in. Spices ARE crazy-expensive. I used to buy them at World Markey because they were cheaper there, but they quit selling them.

Boo, that’s a great way to remember to get the flu shot. To me, the “Boo” will always be you.

222

I have to wait to get a shot now, after I finish the antibiotic.

223

I napped. My laundry tumbled. Dinner tonight was lemon pepper perch, with crice and bacon Parmesan spinach, and a martini. watched a little N.C. State hockey, now F1 FP1 is on.

:thinking:

You somehow manage to make an 18YO and Old People lunch simultaneously.

Yay!

Cite?

Try Penzey’s. Bonus: the ship via Brown

Gordie liked to eat Band-Aids. I’m glad I never had stitches when I had him.

224

:rofl::rofl::joy::rofl::joy:

I second this~Penzeys has great price, customer service and they actively resist MAGA, including donating to right-minded causes and policy makers.

225

I’m an 18-year-old stuck in an old body. (That’s a lie. I’m actually a 30-something. My wife says 12.)

226

I am currently very irritated with Ms Peach. She chewed up my glasses. I found one lens, I’m hoping to find the other one to be sure it’s not inside her.

227

:trumpet:
Wow! Yay!

Went to bed early and now I’m awake. I’m not good at staying in bed and dozing. Hubby got up, confirmed that I’m out of bed, and went back to bed.

I’ll try some herbal tea and see if that helps make me sleepy.

228

My spice raks came with me, fully stocked , no less. I may be having to lay in a stash of foods, but I can season the daylights out of them.

229

Up, caffeinated, and sheveled. Off to heave. It’s my Firday. It’s also 65 degrees Ferret Height(18.3 Centipedes)

Oy vey!

230

Hi everyone!!

Today Ian would have been 19, for those who remember.

It’s amazing how time flies. SenGirl will be 17 sooon and SenBoy will be 15.

We’ve got another sailing race this weekend. Doing race management, but it’s so much less stress this time. And there aren’t the same problems we had in the summer.

231

There was a miracle that occurred yesterday. My jury duty was called off!!! And, today being one of our Fridays off, that means I can button up the 4 IEPs for next week. I am genuinely quite excited about this.

The not so great news is that my BMS is acting up quite a bit. For some reason my upper lip has decided to jump into the game and is very tender to the touch. This morning’s granola bar was very sharp and stingy as it went down.

Otherwise, though, I’m totally looking forward to a day of writing IEPs.

Well, the above was what I had written yesterday and never got a chance to post. Today is my small craft show at a dog grooming place. I am not nervous about it because I have very low expectations. I mean, it’s a small grooming shop with 5-6 parking spaces out front and nowhere nearby to park. Nonetheless it is about 3 minutes from my house and was cheap to get an indoor spot, so off to the groomers I go!

Oopsie, that was such a lovely and thoughtful gift that they sent you.

232

Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 68 Amurrkin out and clear with a predicted high of 90 and sunny. Summer is back. We will have quality cee-mint pond time again as the weather is too nice not to do so. RDOS inactivities will fill the rest of the day. My DAWGS have a bye week, so I shall watch some other tackleball games via switch back and forth between games. Any need to feed will be via forage.

And now this…

< AHEM > CLEARIN’ THROAT < AHEM >

HAAAPPPYYY BIIIRRRTTTHHHDDDAAAY TOOOOOO YOUUUUUU!!!
HAAAPPPYYY BIIIRRRTTTHHHDDDAAAY TOOOOOO YOUUUUUU!!!
HAAAPPPYYY BIIIRRRTTTHHHDDDAAAY DEEEAAARRR NNNEEELLLLLLIIIEEE!!!
HAAAPPPYYY BIIIRRRTTTHHHDDDAAAY TOOOOOO YOUUUUUU!!!

Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then, onward into the day!

Happy Sattidy Y’all!

233

HAHAHAHA! You made a funny joke! “Tradition” and all that, yanno…

Well, that is the bummiest! Wait - since Pilot is on your coast, maybe he can scoot up your way and do a hoochie-coochie dance for you! :wink: Or you can visualize doggio doing one?

Meanwhile
HAPPY NELLIE DAY!!

I’m really getting tired of these wake-every-coupla-hours nights. I have no idea what rouses me and I do fall right back to sleep, but it’s still annoying.

boofae - question for you: Was dining at Windsor instead of Buckingham Palace some sort of message for his Orangeness? I don’t recognize all the subtleties of diplomatic practices, but after the lack of a red carpet greeting and the message from the equine, I have to wonder. Protocol is a world of its own.

Some, if not most, of today will be spent at the boat doing stuff. Which, for me, means handing tools. I have no issue with that - I know it’s useful and not trivial, but it can be boring.

And that reminds me - the chainfall assembly was a most helpful element of the installation. It protected the workers and the equipment that might have been damaged in case of a slip. The only hassle was the amount of time it took to lower and raise the slings, and the noise of the chains against the metal tanks as they were lowered. If the setup hasn’t been uninstalled, it will be today since all the heavy work is done. Well, except for moving the generator back to where it belongs, but since the guys moved it out of the way by hand, they can move it back.

And so begins the day. Happy Saturday!!

234

We were support staff and no threat to anybody. There are just a lot of vindictive people in the world, and she was one of them. And it was all because my wife told her she couldn’t use $7,000(!) of government funds to reupholster her personal chairs. When we got to our next post in Africa, my boss told me he had been warned that we were not team players. I made a point of making a liar out of the bitch, but the damage was done.

235

“Not team player” is code for “Won’t let you do whatever you want, regardless of the rules.” But you know that, don’t you?

OK, I’m ready to head to the marina. Waiting on FCD to gather whatever it is he’ll need to do whatever it is he wants to do. I’m just an assistant.

236

Happy birthday nellie! :partying_face: :birthday_cake: :partying_face:

Up, caffeinating, breakfasted and fixing to do KP. I’ll get a few more things done around the house today before starting a new project in the studio.

Stay safe and healthy y’all!

237

Good morning.

It’s 52°F, dark, but mostly clear outside. We’ll have sunshine all day, with an expected high of 78°F. We’re supposed to see some rain after midnight, but it’ll stop by morning, and then we’re back to partly cloudy skies.

Happy Birthday, Nellie! ::birthday_cake: ::birthday_cake: And yes, it’s been smoky up here, too, and smells like a campfire. I’m hopeful the overnight rain will wash away some of that.

FCM, yay for tank installation! And yes, your assessment of “not a team player” is definitely spot on in certain organizations. Hell, probably all of them now…

I gulp most every time I go to the grocery store, much less Costco anymore. Food prices are already high, but adding the cost of gas in Washington state makes it a double-whammy. I’m so thankful I no longer commute.

VanGo, I lost a COUCH to Polar when I first got him. My husband was furious (well, I was too), but we persevered. The new pups definitely have a thing for stuff they shouldn’t have, so we’ve learned to put stuff out of their reach (remotes, shoes, glasses). They’re getting much better, but shoes and socks are still in danger.

Dicey, I hope you got some more sleep. I have problems sleeping all the time; it’s not fun. Last night was wake on the hour at 12:39, 1:39, 2:39, and so on. Yes, :39. Don’t know what that’s about. A few weeks ago, it was on the hour ending in 42.

My son is coming up today to hang with his Dad. I’ll talk to him about whether he plans to leave from his place via shuttle or if he’s coming up here the night before. I can set up the shuttle reservation. I found out why my husband doesn’t want to drive: he’s been having trouble seeing, even with his glasses, especially in the dark. So, we need to get him in soon. If I think about it, I’ve been doing a lot of the driving when we go somewhere.

I suppose I should get that second cup of coffee so I can start my day. Take care of yourselves!

238

Ummmm … there were some, shall we say, internal issues. Basically, I closed with both teenagers, and they were both being passive aggressive :angry_face_with_horns: and in turn I overreacted.

Doesn’t make me feel like a grown-up to say, “Well, but she started it!” but everyone has their limits.

Ruh-roh! Any updates?

:people_hugging:

I call that “skipping stones” nights. Like skimming a flat stone across a lake … gawds, does anyone still do that anymore? Anyway, I get that sometimes, too, and that’s what it feels like to me: being stuck on the surface of sleep, but never quite diving in.

239

Off to a chili cookoff.
You get to sample everyones, then its a dollar for each vote.

240

Started Typing: 9:15 AM ET
Clicked Reply: 10:24 AM ET

Happy birthday, nellie! :birthday_cake:

Yesterday after lunch I picked up Bailey’s paw print, returned some cans of prescription food, and settled my final bill at the vet’s. Exactly one week after letting her go. It was weird to be back there. I did cry when they handed me the little gift bag that held the plaster paw print, and again in the car and a bit while placing it among the other makeshift memorial items, but the rest of the day wasn’t nearly as emotional as I’d feared. It’s been a long week, though, so I’m glad I took the afternoon off work. I went to the grocery store, played with Lego and Atari, watched Sneakers, etc.

I finished assembling the cottage from Hocus Pocus:

I’m really happy with it. Like with most sets of this size, there are tons of cool little details and features: one side of the roof opens, the back of the set opens, if you spin the waterwheel the pink “smoke” in the chimney moves up and down, and inside the cottage there’s a fire pit that lights up. :slight_smile: I don’t have videos of any of that stuff, but more pics are available in my Lego photo album.

In 1.5 weeks I’ll place my next Lego order. I’m getting the mineral collection for my window ledge at work, and two new Christmas sets: a big tree, and a train.

I finally set up my new Atari system yesterday! I thought I was being slick by getting a wireless joystick – so I could play from the couch and keep the console by the TV – but I completely forgot that games only restart/reset from the console. :woman_facepalming: Plus, the paddle (used for Breakout) only connects with a cable. Heh. No worries, though, as I’ve decided the solution is a small rolling storage cart: I can pull the console and accessories up to the couch when I want to play, but everything stays out of the way the rest of the time. This is the leading contender right now.

In about an hour it will be time to go meet my “nephew” for an early birthday lunch: it was supposed to be him and his parents (my BFFs), but WifeBFF is on some new medication that’s been making her nauseated. She was up and sick all night, and HusbandBFF isn’t comfortable leaving her home alone, so it’ll be just me and nephew…which I can’t say that I’m sad about. :slight_smile: I’ll reschedule with the BFFs.

Awwww!

Oh, I’m not planning any lighting; just a big shadow box. Something like this.

When Mom entered assisted living and we sold her house, she wasn’t well enough to attend the closing: I got her temporary power of attorney, and went for her. Holy crap that was a lot of signing! And it wasn’t just my name: I had to also write something like “for [mom’s name] as her attorney-in-fact” every time. But I think the buyer had even more paperwork than I did.

(To this day I am amused by the idea that I’ve sold a house but never bought one. :grin:)

Sounds a lot like when I get together with the cousins on my mom’s side…only there actually is some veiled hostility. Heh.

What?!? I’m sorry to laugh because I know it isn’t funny (especially until you find the other lens), but… :joy:

I definitely remember Ian Pough. :people_hugging:

Whenever you write that word, I read it as “marinara” at first…my brain quickly corrects itself, but for a split second there is amusement. Every time. :slight_smile: