22 december

Another cold day. Brrr!

It's the boys' last day of school. I have a photo meet-up and some errands to run. We are on our last bin liner and I need to get my dad's gift. In the past, I have gotten him Home Depot gift cards. He has been quite appreciative. But since he has been down here, he has only gone to Home Depot once. He has gone to Office Depot more so maybe I should get his gift card from there? Or maybe split them up? I don't know.

I also need to wrap 3 more gifts.

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11:04

Meet-up was small. Three of us and I made brownies and brought cookies. I sent them home with Jeff.

Was warm then I walked outside and now I am chilled again.

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Bonnie called. She's been so busy and it's only going to get worse.

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I ended up getting gift cards from Home Depot and Office Depot for dad.

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I almost missed Carrie leaving work. She was walking out as I was driving up. I hope the shoes fit.

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I am going to miss my daily visits to Starbucks. Sure, dad could watch the boys but it seems selfish to go. I will get out enough with church, photo meet up and chiropractor appointments.

21 december

It's cold today. Cold! Not technically freezing but worse for us with thin Floridian blood. Andy is wearing his balaclava, ALL the way up. Also a down vest over his jacket. (We don't have enough really cold days to warrant winter jackets.) Ryan is wearing pants and shoes! Holy smokes!





I was really grateful for my tea staying warm for over two hours. It's nice to just make a double cup at one time and then savour it.

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10:21

I decided to make brownies first then walk hoping the temps would rise. Then dad started washing windows and talking about mopping the kitchen floor.

I began to put somethings away so he could mop, then started sweeping and then I mopped the floor. Huh? How did that happen? Guilt plus I hate the smell of the chemicals he used prompted me to take action. I used some Stanley Degreaser and my Sh-mop. More elbow grease required but not harsh chemicals used. My dad "supervised" while I was mopping. Joy.

Now it's 10:25, the temps are up but I am sweaty and tired. Oops.

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1:27

At the bank in the drive thru. Slow today. Three lanes ope but only one teller. What's the point of opening the other lanes? False sense of importance?







The gift card folders came out really cute. And they were easy too.

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3:24

Waiting outside for the bus. It's still cold. I may have to grab my sweater.

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My barista friend, Carrie, is having a bad day. She lost her phone somewhere between the parking lot and inside the store. Besides that, the poor girl has a big old hole in her shoe and her sock. Her foot is black what walking with holey shoes & socks during work. She is going to Michigan on Thursday and has no boots. Carrie also has big feet.

I remembered my hiking books which have been sitting unused since I moved down here. I offered them to her and she accepted. I got home and grabbed two other pairs of shoes Andy barely wore. Hopefully they will all fit.

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Veggie burrito from Tijuana Flats is so yummy!

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20 december

I brought in cookies to the baristas at Starbucks. I feel bad that one of my favorites, Carrie, is a vegan and none of my cookies are vegan. Maybe I will try that Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles. I know she is going to Michigan for Christmas so that gives me time to get the ingredients.

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Lazy day filled with carbs!

I took the cookies over to my neighbors. They returned the gesture with a food basket. I usually leave that for Hank but... Damn that PMS! I had the pita chips and some of the asiago cheese spread. For dinner I ate the multi grain crackers and the rest of the cheese spread. I haven't indulged like that in a long time. So bad and yummy.

19 december

I actually did get a lot done but yet never got around to posting yesterday's blog entry or photo of the day. Hmmm...

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I am becoming a bit of obsessed with my klean kanteens. I have put away from Sigg Thermal mugs and my I Am Not a Paper Cup in favor of my kanteens.

Thursday and Friday, I took my 16 ounce insulated kanteen to Starbucks. Now that my tea stays hot, I don't drink it as fast. The café lid makes it easy to drink and it doesn't leak like the one on my I Am Not a Paper Cup does. And you can use them for hot or cold. The Sigg Thermal mug is for cold beverages only. I didn't know that and stained and possibly ruined the liner on my first mug.

Anyway, I had some Vanilla Bean & Almond tea this morning. I steeped it then added some milk. I used 2 tea bags and used the 16 ounce kanteen. My tea was hot for over two hours. It is supposed to keep things hot for up to 6 hours and things cold for up to 24 hours. I drank it faster than that. But I love that I can sip and savor rather than gulp to avoid the lukewarm tea.

I've been using my 20 ounce insulated kanteen for water. I have refilled it 3 times today which is pretty azing for me.

Now I have to stop eating all these cookies!

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Although I did make another batch of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, I did give away a lot of the cookies. I filled up a box to take to Starbucks tomorrow and three boxes went to the neighbors.

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I made Tuscano Soup today. It's pretty simple yet hearty soup. The recipe os from the Fix It and Forget It.

1 lb Cooked Italian Sausage (I used sweet since my dad doesn't do spicy)
3 Russet Potatoes cut into 1/2" pieces
Kale (couldn't find any, used celery)
5 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
1/2 cup cre stirred in 30 minutes prior to eating
Cook on low for 7-8 hours.

My dad though it was a bit spicy. Ugh! Next time I will used spicy veggie sausage since I know he won't eat it.

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I finally put some ornaments on the tree but no motivation to set up the camera and shoot.

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I received a nice little something from a blogger friend. Thank you Ü !

18 december

Rainy today and Ryan has to turn in his invention. He didn't want me to drive him to school. So we put two garabge bags over the display board so he could carry it easily.

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Dad's 81st birthday. I made him Pecan Pie. It was my first attempt and I used Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook. I screwed up one pie shell by not being patient and used the microwave. But I didn't read the directions and it melted. Who knew 30 seconds could do so much damage? The next one I read but still overdid it. A portion fell off and it ended up pretty lopsided. I followed the directions but when I poured the filling into the pie, there weren't enough pecans. So I added a few more, then a few more, then a few more until the bag was empty. It looks good, except for the lopsided crust.

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I have two presents left to wrap. I still need to get some gift cards or cash. Hate being broke.

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I am baking peanut butter cookies. It's my first time. I am not a fan of peanut butter cookies. I do like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (crunchy with raspberry preserves). But I don't care for most things made with peanut butter except for miniature Reeses cups (refrigerated and only a few) and Nutter Butter Cookies.

The recipe calls for a cup of natural peanut butter. Natural? We'll see... I haven't had peanut butter in almost two years and it's the first time I checked labels. I didn't realize all the crap they put in there. I ended up with Smucker's All Natural Creamy. Supposedly you don't need to stir it but...

Of course I had to taste it. Hmm... not sweet. Which would be good on pb&j. Will it be OK in cookies? This recipe calls for whole salted peanuts which I skipped. (Oh is the lack of salt going to be a problem?) I tasted the batter and reminds me of Nutter Butters! I might just like peanut butter cookies.

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Someone goofed. The recipe says to bake for 25 minutes. What?! I set the time for 22. At 17 minutes, I could smell them from the other room. They were well done. Next I tried 10 minutes and that was not enough. Thirteen minutes is a bit too much. Twelve minutes seems to work. These cookies taste good but are too dry. They crumble in your mouth. Hmm...

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17 december

I am dressed to walk but maybe I should stay home and start the chili, wrap some gifts, mail some gifts, fold the laundry...

Then again, a cold front is coming through and tomorrow morning will be colder and possibly wet.

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Thought it was me, but it's not. Wordpress Mobile is not saving in draft mode. I have lost 2 entries so far.

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I made chili for dad. A very simple recipe, thick and meaty and mild. Just the way he likes it.

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I got something different for lunch. I still went to Tijuana Flats buy did not want another cheese quesadilla. I really wanted a burrito. I never noticed that they have a veggie burrito which is like the Taco Bell 7 layer burrito but much, much, better. I opted for a bigger size and it was less calories than the cheese quesadilla meal with refried beans and rice. And it was tastier.

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7:31

Ryan young inventor's project is almost done. I walked him through all the questions, I typed up his responses. He needs to cut up the answers and glue them on the board. But as far as he is concerned, he did his one hour so he is done.

Oh wait! He is trimming them now!

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16 december

Too busy getting ready for Christmas. Someday I will organize myself earlier. I am better than last year but...

Dad is complaining about the freezer full of cookies. Most will be gone tomorrow when I take them to the chiropractor. He thinks he need to have 8 boxes of chicken nuggets even though the boys only eat one box per day and the store is only 2 miles down the road. Sometimes I wish we had a separate freezer. I could have started my baking sooner. And I could freeze more soups, stews & chili. As it is, I use ziploc bags for freezing because they take up less room than Pyrex.

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Ryan's invention due on Friday. Yep we are working on it at the last minute. I have made it as easy as I can but he still complains. Grr...




Baking chocolate crackles. Hmm... the first batch looks odd. (This picture is from a batch I made in 2008.) Seems like I always do something "wrong" with these cookies. The first time I used regular cocoa powder and unsweetened chocolate. The recipe calls for unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder and bittersweet chocolate. Then next time I had the Dutch process cocoa but I can only find sweetened instead of unsweetened. I used dark chocolate (72% cocoa) instead of bittersweet.

Today I started making the wrong recipe. I was making the recipe for molasses cookies. Oops! The butter & sugars were already mixed. I looked at the two recipes and determined it was OK. The chocolate crackles call for 1 1/2 cups of brown sugar. The molasses cookies call for for 1 cup of brown sugar and a half cup of granulated sugar. Each recipe uses 1 stick of butter. The difference shouldn't matter.

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The first batch is done and something is off. They look wrong. I think about and decide it must be that I used the cookie scoop and did not roll them firm enough. I did two batches this way so I waiting for the third batch to see if I am correct.

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Yep. And they do better at 12 minutes than 14. I wonder why I never noted that before? And the "wrong" sugar doesn't make a different. Different chocolates do taste different but all are good. Some are just sweeter than others.

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14 december

Quite busy today.

I had a few things I really needed to get down today and they did get done. Christmas is only a few days away!

I baked the molasses cookies. They are yummy. I made them smaller and I got double the yield. Dad liked them.

I made some chicken stew for dad. He said it was the right amount of spice. I won't make chili for him again.

I went on a photowalk with my meet-up group. We met downtown at 5pm. Savi and I were early so we split a cheeseburger at Four Green Fields. The light never turned spectacular but it was still nice. We played around with getting car light trails. I think know I need new bifocals. So many images looked blurred in the LCD until I backed up. We went back to Four Green Fields afterwards and I had a beer. Just one and it was good.

We left before everyone else but I wanted to get home to say goodnight to Ryan. I just made it in time. Whew.

like sand through the hourglass, so are the dollars through my hands

My blogger friend Amy talked about passion and how it fits into your life. Anyone who had read this blog knows I do have a lot of passions. I do not have a problem finding time for my passions, but find it difficult to find balance. One might say I have an addictive personality.

Soon I will be 45. I have a home and a family but I do not have a career, a job, a direction. Nor do I have financial security to indulge in my whims or passions.

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In October 2008, I started on the road to healthy living. I have done well and will continue for as long as it takes. Which really means the rest of my life. Hopefully one day I will get to the point where I do not need to count every calorie and look for ways to cut out more calories in order to lose weight. But eating and living healthy are a lifestyle change and I'm OK with that. I had first started down this road back in 2002.

I had read 8 Weeks to Optimum Health: A Proven Program for Taking Full Advantage of Your Body's Natural Healing Power. It really helped me see a better way to live. Fortunately, unfortunately, I soon fell into scrapbooking. I was consumed by it. I felt my creative spirit come back and made new friends. I let myself go, let my house go, I spent way too much money. I began a career as online retailer so that I could save some money on my hobby. I was ignorant and naïve. I found myself with no time to scrapbook and no return on my investment. The economy and malicious hackers made me face reality and close the store down.

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Last fall I started to declutter the house. Too many years of indulging in another passion, shopping online, had left the house overflowing with crap. Reading It's All Too Much: An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff helped me find the motivation I needed to just do it.

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Now it's time to address another problem caused by my passions. Money. I have been good and paid my bills on time. But in the last few years, I have spent way too much and need to make a change. I am going to have to do something even worse than dieting or exercise, I am going to have to make a budget and stick with it. I hate the word budget more than I hate the word diet.

With every new interest, one of the first things I do is buy a book, or several. Wait! I shouldn't spend more money to help me save money. I can find free help on the web. But help in setting up a budget is not what I need. I know how to do it. Just like I know how to lose weight and clean up the house. What I need is motivation.

There are lots of people out there who are willing to motivate you to save money. However, their encouragement comes with a price. One of the names that I hear good things about is The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness. I have seen some of his ideas and they make sense. I just never wanted to admit I needed his help. I looked at his site. Oh look! He is having a sale on his books, today only. Only $10 plus $5.95 shipping. Amazon has his book for $15.74. Barnes & Noble has his book for $18.74. There is kindle version and Barnes & Noble has an ebook for $9.99.

(I did order the kindle version. No, I do not own a kindle but their is an free iPhone app I can use. I started reading but instead of feeling motivated, I feel dread and panic and nausea. I have had my head in the sand for a long time. And I am afraid to look.)

12 december

Still felt cold this morning. I took a shower and dressed in long trousers, long sleeved shirt and socks. I went outside to put mail in the box and realized how warm it was. Now I am uncomfortably warm.

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So this (well known) photographer has been handing out year awards. A photographer I know was awarded Best Photograph of 2009. I agree the photograph is excellent. What I don't get it the arrogance of the (well known) photographer to hand out awards like he is the authority on the matter.

A year ago, I had never heard of this man. I am not sure how I found him, probably through someone's podcast. He has his own podcasts where he talks about the right way, his way, of doing things. He is somewhat polite when he disagrees with someone else but I sense a lot of hostility brewing beneath the surface.

This photographer has created quite the following on Twitter mostly by giving some great stuff. He doesn't ask for much in return. You only need to follow him in order to be eligible to win.

But there is a dark side to this man. It is a given that many people for someone for a chance to win a prize. And many then unfollow after the contest is over. This man had his staff go through those who unfollowed him and block their accounts. They would not be allowed to follow him again for the next contest. Yes, he tweeted that he was doing so on Twitter.

Some may think kudos to him for being so bold. But I think he is taking the whole follow thing a bit too personally. He does not engage in conversations on Twitter. He posts a few times a day, mostly with links to his blog. He does respond to tweets directed at him. But I doubt he reads any other tweets.

Furthermore, don't tweet bad about him. He will block you.

He is probably a nice guy. But something about him... I just don't trust.