I am on page 9, with my bib already done. I need to do one more thought developement and then the conclusion. So there. All of this now waits until Monday–because I have a sucky job that takes up 14 hours of my day, which I get to go to both Saturday and Sunday…
I made Heath Bar cake as well as banana bread. And you won’t get ANY. 
off to get Xmas out of the attic.
Okay, I PhotoBucketed a bunch of pictures of the Factfortress. Unfortunately, they are in reverse order, so start at the bottom right and move left and up to see them in the order intended.
Anybody know how to change the order of the pictures in there? And let me know if you can’t get to them.
Back from Costco. The weather was horrid, but has cleared up nicely. I bought a new rice cooker, and am pondering why I needed six pounds of instant mashed potatoes. Oh, I remember- for shepherd’s pie!
Six pounds?
I got scolded by the Costco lady for buying a rice cooker but not some of their on-sale basmati. She was cute.
li-li, I just found a brand of Basmati rice that is to die for. The brand name is Della and it is very aromatic and nummy just plain all by itself.
Nurse Debbie and BarbeeDoll are visiting Dad’s doctor as we speak. They decided on a face-to-face rather than by phone. Nurse Debbie wants to get him into the nursing facility ASAP, like today if possible. Poor guy. 
scl, forgot to mention earlier congrats on selling the bracelet. Looks like you might pick up a few customers here, too. 
Good on you, rigs, for getting nearly done with your paper.
Near as I can tell, you have to load them in reverse order. I have never found a way to change the order of 'em.
swampy, I couldn’t do apple pie - no apples. No peaches, either, and I wanted to make the peach streusel pie. I have more punkin, but I’m tired of punkin pies for a while. I could do a buttermilk pie, but it’s just way too rich, plus I used the buttermilk in the bread. And I suppose I coulda done a custard pie, but I didn’t feel like it. So no pie. And we had pizza yesterday, so no pizza. But I’ve got a pot of bean soup on the stove - it’ll be fresh bread and bean soup. Yum.
Still very warm outside - about 75-ish. I’ve got the windows open because it was like 68 in the house. I’ve got the dishwasher running, and the kitchen is mostly tidy. My niece’s gift arrived today - I’m giving her “How To Boil Water” since my sister didn’t teach her daughter how to cook. Still gotta figger out what to for the nephews. I’d like to give one a brick upside his head… ho ho ho
Hi, all. Nuthin’ going on here today. The biggest excitement is all the hoohaw over Papa Tigs’ impending office for his gummint job – seems he got evicted from his new office before he could move in, so now a bunch of guys with birds on their shoulders are squabbling about where to put him. He and I are sitting back and laughing at them all. Turf wars in the Army, aren’t they fun? 
It’s ridiculously warm here today. It’s 75° right now, and honestly? I can’t wait for it to cool down again. This offends my sensibilities in December. When I lived in the South or in Lalaland, warm temps were a different story; you expect them there. But not in Maryland. It’s just all wrong.
I’ve been playing catch-up on work today. Just got one late job done, now off to work on the next one. Then I’ll be able to breathe again. Wish me luck!
I provided the morning entertainment during the blood drive. I passed out, not once, but twice. I’d never fainted before, so it was a very strange experience, one I would have been please to miss out on, thank you very much. My co-workers assured me that I was a lovely shade of green for a while, and then very, very white, which is saying something, since pale is my normal condition. Luckily, I was sitting down both times (I’d already finished giving blood) so I didn’t fall or hurt myself or anything. I feel kind of strange (like that’s abnormal), so I think I’m going to go home early.
I did get my bonus this morning, but they are all out of Amazon gift certificates. How can you be out of something that doesn’t physically exist? So I’m going to wait and try again tomorrow morning.
Bread is done. Soup is simmering. House smells yummy.
I’m starving - dunno if I can wait another 45 minutes for the soup to get done. And I want ice cream.
I’ve decided I’m going to compile a cook book for Mom of quick & easy recipes since she’s tired of cooking. (Her mom got sick when she was a teenager so she’s been cooking for the family since the late '50s.) And since I cook a lot and usually the stuff I make is quick, I thought it’d be easy to come up with lots of recipes. But I use a ton of green/red/yellow peppers and Dad won’t eat peppers. What’s wrong with peppers?? They’re so good and good for you! So there go a whole bunch of my stand by recipes like stuffed peppers and pepper and sausage pasta. ::sigh::
The swampcave smells like jambalaya. MMMMMMMM… sausage, crab, shrimp…all simmerin’ on the stove. Company is arriving sixish. Wine is chilled and ready to open. The salad is tossed. Bread will slide into the oven shortly after company arrives. The strawberries are all thawed to top the cheesecake. 'Twill be nummy!
In other news…
I ordered my Christmas present to myself. I’m giving me a Dell Inspiron Notebook. ACBG is giving himself a Wurlitzer juke box. We’re giving each other a trip to St. Augustine in the spring. We don’t do the gotta go buy each other stuff thing. Even for birthdays we don’t do that. It’s much better to just take off and go somewhere we wanna go or sump’n like that. Ain’t that just too romantic!
Puggy I know this is tough but it sounds like it’s the best thing for him at this stage. Prayers and good thoughts continue, for him and you cause I know how tough this is for you.
Sean nice pics. The Factfortress is gonna be one spiffed up place when all’s said and done. Just keep that in mind.
You feelin’ better Jah?
Rigs you are excused from finishing that paper because of work. However, I expect it to get finished next week young lady. The sooner you get done the better. I saw that face you made… if you keep doin’ that your face is going to freeze like that. Now, do you want that? I didn’t think so.
Everybody else, HAPPY FRIDAY!!!
I’m home, curled up with the cats. I’m keeping the house cool, because every time I get warm, I’m afraid I’m going to pass out. So I’m going to re-read my favorite trashy novel, maybe take a nap, and drink lots of fluids. Not a terrible way to spend a Friday afternoon, really.
Swampy, sounds yum!
DanG! Between Casa de Bus, the swampcave and FCM,s house, it’s smelling good in here and I’m getting hungry!
I like that idea of “Give yourself your own gift” - that’s how I wound up with a new computer at my birthday and a 50" TV now. Gotta love price-matching too! Someone else has the same TV advertised for $300 less than I paid last Friday, so once I fax over their ad, I’ll get a $330 refund.
Meanwhile, I’m impatiently waiting for one of DH’s co-workers to come over and get my old TV. It’s still got good life left in it, and they’re buying it, but I’m not sure yet what army of strong boys they’ll bring as that TV weighs 300 pounds :eek: and neither DH nor I have any business even thinking of picking up something that heavy. Once the old TV is gone, only then will I be able to unpack the new TV. It’s not like me to be this patient when there are new toys sitting in their boxes in the garage.
Score one for competence: They’re having trouble with the heat in DH’s senior apartment building. The new (to that building, at least) maintenance guy didn’t really know anything about the system other than the boiler is in the rooftop penthouse next to the elevator machinery. So, someone with low brain BTUs calls a plumber, who comes out, pokes around and surmises that a circulator pump was installed backward. :dubious: It worked last year, I don’t think someone with a wrench snuck in and re-arranged the pipes during the summer.
I ask DH if they’d called a heating specialist. He says they cost money. (Not that it’s really his budget, and he didn’t call the plumber) I counter with “How much did you waste on the plumber that thought the pump was backward?”
“Hrmph!”
He hates it when I’m right.
A boiler technician is summoned. BT looks around and says “That valve should be open,” opens the valve, and sure enough, heat starts flowing.
Hey, Jah, did you eat properly today? One of my colleagues swears that’s one of the most important prep tactics for giving blood. Hope you’re feeling better.
Mmmmm, tamales. I had a cheese-green chile tamal from Trader Joe’s for dinner. I’m betting yours are better, MBG.
Just driving by because little brother, niece and nephew should be here soon. I’m almost where I need to be in the cleaning and clearing up department. It’s a miracle!
Hope everything with Grumpus is working out, Puggy - and a happy birthday to him too!
Back later tonight once things settle down.
GT
For the record, buttermilk bread is yummerrific! We didn’t eat the whole loaf, only because we had the yummy soup, too.
I’m stuffed, but I still want ice cream.
Ooh! FCM, thanks for the reminder. I need to stop at the store to pick up some milk, but while I’m there, I need to get some Marionberry pie ice cream. It is very yummy actually.
I guess while I’m there I should pick up some REAL food to eat for dinner and stuff. I don’t feel like cooking; at all. Unfortunately, fast food doesn’t sound particularly delish tonight either. Pizza isn’t cutting it either. Hmmm, I’m gonna have to think on this for a spell.
Jahdra, hope you’re feeling better. That goes for anyone who’s feeling icky, ucky, or blechy.
Almost time to go home. The hubby called me on his way home from work to inform me that it was nearly “cocktail thirty”. Bastard! I’m still sitting here at work.
Christmas is almost up at my house! I [del]browbeat[/del] asked my teens nicely to help and they went at it. AND the boxes are put away as well. Not bad for 3 hours work. We get our tree on Monday (between my work and husband’s commute, we’re lucky to get a tree…)
Looking outside (earlier when I could SEE outside)-we only got about 2 inches. Poop.
Off to iron my un-informs. (my private joke). Have a good night all.
Does the store where you’ll be stopping sell roasted chickens to go? I’ve always liked them for fast meals. You get a chicken and maybe a sack o’salad and some crusty bread. And, of course, the ice cream.
You’re welcome.
Eureka! Remember me mentioning we went to the Annapolis Sailboat Show back in October?? Well, the other day, we got to wondering what happened to the bag of brochures we got, along with the pirate flag **FCD ** got for his office. We checked all over the house before it occurred to me that we had taken my van and there was a bunch of crap on the floor of my van.
Yep - bag o’goodies has been in my van for almost 2 months, unscathed. Maybe I should clean it out more often, ya think?? :rolleyes:
Howdy all! The truck is actually coming tomorrow morning, so I missed it for once. I’ve had a nice long nap, sio I’m going to make some catfish and do some laundry. It got up to 75 here today, and it is still 68. We had a few monsoons come through, but no snow.
SCL, nice jewelry!
MBG, did you make a snowman? Go sledding? Wander around the house and quote Jack Nicholson from The Shining?
Party at Sean’s place!
Taters, I sometime do the deli thing like FCM said. You can get all sorts of stuff.
Hark! A beerverage calls my name!
Well, the weather cleared up late in the afternoon. Well, the rain stopped anyway. It’s still cold and blustery out there, but at least I didn’t have to fear pulling a Mary Poppins with the umbrella. I can’t bring myself to go out shopping so I just decided to order in for the evening and tend to a few eBay auctions. Rented Saw III to watch this evening, too. It’s probably going to suck, but what the hell. It’s something to watch. I’m just gonna chill for the evening and get up nice and late tomorrow morning. Og, I love weekends.