11.27

Chilly this morning. I am glad I turned on the heat last night though it didn't kick on until this morning.

Andy and I walked. He slows me down but it's good to keep him active. Ryan stayed home and watched cartoons. Since we got a cable box in the bedroom, he sneaks in, shuts the door and watches. He also likes the Game Show Network.

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I've been working on my Christmas card in Photoshop. In the past, I made it fairly simple. This time I got some digital elements and am trying to make it a bit more special. I really haven't done any digital scrapbooking and am finding the simplest things, like changing the color of brushes a chore.

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3:45

I didn't get done what I wanted to get done but I did get some other things done. Mpix had sent me a notice that they were going to delete my albums if I didn't place an order. I don't use them for storage per se but there are some photos that might be printed again. Anyway, I knew I needed to get my Christmas card done as well as the family album page.

After a break for lunch, I sat down again and finished the card. I realized I could use some training in the digital graphics area. I am still not sure how to use the graphic brushes.

After I uploaded the card and sent it out for printing, I decided to work on the family album page. That went quicker since there isn't much room for graphics. I usually just leave a square for the date. I got summer 2009 done and uploaded it to Mpix. I should have waited to print my Christmas card to save on shipping. Oh well. I did think to look at Napp and found a free shipping code. Oops I didn't use it on the cards but that order was only $3.00 for shipping. The album pages will be $5.95 or more.

I might do another album page if I get motivated. I will have them both printed together. Then I have to do a photobook for my dad's birthday. The photos are already picked out.

I ordered Andy's iPod this morning. I save $11 through the apple web site. Since he wants yellow, that it the only place to buy it.

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5:36

Sweet potato casserole is in the oven. I just realized that these Eating Well recipes are too involved. I do not enjoy taking half an hour to prepare one dish. And a side dish at that! My back is sore and I feel like a nap.

I prefer the easy prep of slow cooker meals. Chop some vegetables, pour some stock, add some spices. Then sit back and wait and let the aroma seep through the house all day. By the time it is ready, you are hungry and ready to eat.

11.26

Let's get it out of the way... Happy Thanksgiving.

Another lazy morning. But I was finally getting ready to walk and realized dad is going to church. Drats! I can't go and leave Ryan alone. The walk will have to wait until after lunch.

Can you hear that pie calling my name? It's getting rather loud.

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Dad was home by 11 but then it was Andy's turn for the wii then lunch... I am letting my quesdilla settle a bit before we walk. And it's warmer now, almost 70.

I am making white bean chicken chili in the slow cooker. I am using McCormick's seasoning for the first time. Really lazy on my part, I know.

Don't listen to that pie! Lalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalala...

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Went walking with Andy. He couldn't find his recorder and the old iPod wouldn't work. He was upset until I said I would leave my headphones at home. Walking without music or podcasts means I only have my thoughts to keep me company. There was no conversation with Andy. He tends to lag behind.

So I think too much and I think I gave myself a headache. We walked to the Firewheel Park were I haven't taken the kids in years, 8 or 9. Andy wanted to play which would have been OK but there was this little girl, Sophie, who kept following Andy. Sophie was OK but her father liked to hear himself talk. And he likes to believe that he knows a lot. Heck, he probably thinks he knows it all.

First he was talking about what professional athletes should fo with their money. Then he got talking about how Michael Jackson went through his money. But first Paul McCartney taught Michael how to buy music rights to make money but then Michael Jackson outbid Paul for the Beatles collection. And even though Paul claimed his was OK with it, it really upset and went to Yoko Ono but she wouldn't help. And everyone thinks Yoko Ono split up the Beatles but they were all ready going their own ways. She was just the straw that broke the camels back. She was filling John up with peace and love which is OK until the enemy shoots you. I love how Michael Jackson left his father out of the will...

He wasn't talking to me but to an older gentlemen. Maybe his father or father-in-law. He didn't say much but uhuh and hmmm when the younger guy gave him a chance.

It was then I was happy not to married to a talker full of bullshit. Oh wait, I was. Hmm...

The chicken chili smelled really good when we came home.

Oh man! That pie is calling again!

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The chicken chili was good with just the right amount of kick. Next time I might make it without the chili, maybe add potato?

John called as we were eating pie.

Ryan wanted us to play jeopardy. He read the clues and poppa and I had to answer. Ryan reads too quickly and doesn't know a lot of words. It was slow going.

11.25

No school today so I spent an extra hour in bed. Andy left me alone for most of it. Nice.

I didn't walk Monday or Tuesday so I was determined to walk today even though it was going to rain. I asked the boys if they wanted to go and only Andy agreed. It was sprinkling when we left and it got heavier as we walked around the neighborhood. As we rounded the last corner to go home, I saw Ryan out in his slicker looking for us. He ran home as soon as he saw us. Dad probably didn't even know Ryan was gone. (I checked, he didn't.)

I am baking pumpkin pie now. OK, I forgot to preheat the oven so I am waiting for that. The pie is ready to go in.

Ryan is playing the wii. Andy is playing his piano. Poppa is entering all his blood pressure, peak flow and other data into a spread sheet. There is an app for that but he prefers the old fashion way.

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Uh oh only 2 eggs left. We might be able to make it but... why take a chance. Oh and look, I ended up at Starbucks. How about that!

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8:56

I was trying to think what to give up so I could have some pie. Oh right, the cookies. Two cookies is about the same calories as a slice of pie. And whipped cream is only 15 calories per serving. Yeah, their serving suggestion is a joke. Pie must be covered in whipped cream. No dollops here.

Of course the pie is good. And of course I want another slice especially since my dad opted for ice cream instead. Weird man.

11.24

The boys went to school today. Ryan was coughing less, Andy was about the same. I do wish Andy would learn cold etiquette. I tell him to use a tissue or cover his mouth but he forgets it with the next sneeze and cough.

I went to my photo meet-up this morning. I like being on time. I really need to get some photos together so I can share. Ryan seems to ask the most questions of anyone. He seems high need.

I got my hair cut today. The times goes by too quickly. I need more friends to chat with. I was telling D about my friend M, who is vegan. I explained what vegan was and talked about how many things are not vegan that you don't even think about. M had said he wouldn't use products from Arm & Hammer because they test on animals. But Arm & Hammer makes baking soda. And I have yet to find anyone else who makes it. Baking soda is essential is cooking and cleaning safely in the home. What can you use instead? D said, "I couldn't live my life like that. It's too complicated." I agree. Because vegans do not wear leather, that means belts and shoes are most likely synthetic. And aren't most synthetics oil based? Which is better for the environment? If we all become vegan what happens to all these animals? There are so many questions that I don't know the answer to. I do agree that we need to reduce our consumption of meat. But I am not ready to make the next step. My family certainly isn't.

Can I rant a bit about drivers being rude? Heck, I could fill a blog post and I probably will at some point. I really HATE when people pull out in front of me when they don't need to and cannot or don't accelerate fast so I have to break, a lot. Really. It's just rude!

Dad did eat some banana bread and said it was dry. Crud! I think I cooked it too long. I know he will eat it unless his bowels act up. He said he thought about buying a pumpkin pie but saw that I had pie filling. I got the pie crusts and whipped cream today. Yeah, I know. I should be making it from scratch. But we prefer the canned filling. And I don't trust myself to make pie crust just yet.

11.23

Sunday started out as a pretty good day. I was finally able to wear a skirt I hadn't been able to wear in years. I have 3 "chino" skirts from Eddie Bauer and all have fun prints. I have been wanting to wear them for quite a while but they were just too snug. OK if I never sat down. Right, in my dreams. It's great to have 3 more options of clothes especially since some, OK most, of my shorts are wearing thin. I'd rather buy a smaller size and hopefully I will be able to do so.

The rest of the day was somewhat uneventful. Or maybe it's just a blur since I was on the phone with Bonnie long enough to kill 2 phone batteries. To be fair, my batteries are in need of replacement as I barely get an hour out of each one.

Then that evening I got an email stating that my account was suspended due to phishing. Oh good golly! Again? How? Why? I looked but didn't find anything. At least not in the place they attacked before. Needless to say I was quite upset. Some strong arms to hug or a shoulder to cry on would have been very much appreciated.

I called hostmonster and "Ryan" helped me find the malicious code. He had said that the hackers had probably created a "back door" so even with the new scripts installed, they had their opening and could come and go as they please. Nice. Then I had to be transferred to "Zack in Abuse" to discuss my case. How can I find the hack? I don't have the skills. I could get a web developer to help but the store has not been generating enough income any to justify the cost. I said I would just delete the cart script and he said that would be OK and they would review my site after it was deleted. Of course I couldn't use their uninstall feature as my site was suspended. I manually deleted everything I thought might be causing the problems. It took a while. I called back and spoke to "Ryan" and he helped get my sites back up. Yay!

But then linnecards.com led to an ugly directory. How could I redirect the address to the blog? I thought I could just forward the domain through GoDaddy. I found out in the morning that this screwed things up. So I took off the forward and the blog and forums came back up. Hmm... what can I do? I duplicated the blog under linnecards.com. I posted that this blog was moving to the new address and will delete in a couple of weeks.

So now I am failed entrepreneur. I knew the store wasn't going to survive but I had hoped to have some clearance sales first. I will have to liquidate most of this stuff by way of garage sales. Though I have thought about making up some lots of merchandise and sell online. There are some wholesalers who forbid eBay sales but it's not like I plan on ordering from them again.

There is no rush and I will start working on this after the holidays.

And I will start thinking that now I can really focus on photography and perhaps turn the living room/office/store into a studio.

11.20.09

8:46 pm and I just realized I never started this entry. Hmm... what did I do today?

I helped Ryan get his bibliography for his invention. He had said resources earlier then said bibliography last night. Grr... I told him to work on it when he got up but... I just love being rushed. All we could do was pick some books to purchase. He had the nerve to complain that he needed the city of publication but they don't post that on the website. He also complained about the websites didn't have dates or cities. Sorry dude.

I walked. Over 2.5 miles. Really? It didn't seem that far. I figured out I can use my iPhone camera when Run Keeper Pro is running. It save a few clicks that way.

My dad has been losing his appetite for foods he has been eating regularly. So he came back from the grocery store with blueberry muffins, black cherry ice cream and Win Schuler's bar cheese. I was only tempted for a few minutes until I realized all the faux food in that stuff and calories!

Dad also brought back 3 foil micro loaf pans. Yes, I told him I had found some and was going to pick them up today. No, he doesn't listen. I'll use them as gifts for cookies.

I went to Williams Sonoma to get the mini loaf pans. I love wandering around. So many fun things. I got some Peppermint Snow as a Christmas gift for my sister. She loves candy cane ice cream.

At Michael's I saw more Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark. I fell in love with that stuff last year. I looked at the calorie count and saw over 200 for each serving. And one bar is 2 servings. I put it back.

I made a run to Target for Claritin. I use the Target brand which is cheaper and I can get a bottle of 100 tablets. Somehow I spent an additional $100. OK, I got another Christmas gift, some stocking stuffers and vitamins. How exciting!

I edited my zebra shots from 680+ down to about 300. I need to decide which ones to develop further. Looking at them blown up to 100% made me want to reach out and touch that velvety beast. There was no way to make them look like they were in the wild. All I can do is blur the background to take the emphasis off the enclosure. I did delete to shots of them pooping. Yep, I managed to get all 3 of them pooping at separate times.

My ankle was really bugging me this afternoon. I had iced it after my walk and it was fine until about 3:30. I finally had to take some ibuprofen.

11.19

What the ...?

I go to move Ryan's planner and see a note attached. Seems he has missed 3 assignments this week. Grr... He needs to bring money? What? (I'm sure this is all explained at open house but since I can't go...) Getting the information out of Ryan is trying at best. He needs $.05 per page. How many pages? It will take forever to figure this out. Grr... We finally determine he needs $.15 and I tell him to get his piggy bank. He comes back with the bank and tears in his eyes and I can't do it. I give him the money but tell him next time he has to pay. sigh...

I check my email to see a message from Verizon about me cancelling my Internet service. What? Um... no! I try to call bit it's automated and you can't cancel a cancellation without speaking to a human and the offices are closed.

There were calls from Verizon after we hot FiOS tv but I figured they were curteosy calls. But... I go through 23 voicemails to make sure I didn't miss anything. Twenty of the calls were best left ignored, one from a customer trying to find the store (eyeroll), one from another customer who wants to know why the store is down for maintenance (read the blog!) and one from a club member but who has an out of state cell number so I didn't know to answer the call. Nothing from Verizon. Hmm...
(Update: I called and it was and old cancellation from October just making it to my mailbox. It was from when I postponed installation.)

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I went to go recharge my camera battery and the light wouldn't show. Then it did come on but started flashing. Crap! That usually the battery is no good. I decided to try my other battery, which is pretty fresh, and the same thing happened. So I figured the charger went bad. I checked amazon and saw they were so expensive. The Olympus site was no help. So I googled and found the answer. I needed to clean the contacts with alcohol and now it is showing a steady red light which means charging. I love google. I saved $50.

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At the zoo but there are also 800 hundred school buses. Give or take 6.

Joy.

Oh it gets better. I don't have my membership card. Is it my purse? Will they let me use one of the boys passes?

Crap!

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It was no problem to get in. Yay!

I had to walk to the end of the zoo to find the 3 zebras. They are with the rhinos and a big fat rhino hid the zebras from view. I did find another viewing area and for a while I was alone. Then those school kids found me. sigh... I took hundreds of shots hoping I will get a good one. I did put on my longer zoom but I shake so much with it. I used burst mode so I have triples of everything. The male zebra did finally stand and looked directly at me. When they stood perpendicular to me, the camera had a hard time focusing. Mother nature at work.

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I went to Bed Beth & Beyond to get a slow cooker. Their website shows they carry the same one as amazon for the same price. With their 20% off coupon, I could save $10. But they don't carry it in the store. I decided to get mini loaf pans but they don't carry any. I wonder why?

I got some greenish oranges at Shannon's. I was told they are ripe it just hasn't been cold enough to make them get orange. Hmm...

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Andy's bus driver has been messing with the schedule. Each day he arrived earlier than the last. Today I was ready and they were "late." oh well, it was nice to be outside.

11.18

I try not to look at my stats too often. It's pretty pathetic and definitely not an ego boost.

But I noticed that since I stopped posting my mundane everyday stuff, I've lost quite a few readers.

Really? You want to know what typical and non exciting stuff I do? Or maybe you are just checking out the photo and moving on?

Hmmm... something to think about.

11.14.09

Weekends are nice because I can relax a bit. Hang out in bed for an extra hour and doze, as long as Andy is quiet and still. I can check my email while sipping some hot tea before I decide to fix my own breakfast...

Heck in a handbasket!

My site was hacked again! I don't understand it. I applied the security patch but they still found a way in. I guess I need to upgrade but I am not at all confident in doing so.

In the past, I have asked my friend Kim to help. the last time she upgraded, there was some problem but I can't remember what happened. Anyway, she has shied away from helping and also from scrapbooking in general. Seems that since she no longer has a full time job, she is busier than ever. Odd how that happens.

Anyway, I went to the support site and read the tutorials. It got me even more anxious. I even posted for some commercial help. But then decided to go ahead and install a new version. I did back up everything so I can revert back if I really want to. But I am going to try to make the cosmetic changes myself. Since there haven't been any sales, I am not losing any more money than usual.

In the middle of this, my computer went into kernal panic. Fudge! All this before breakfast. Are you sure today isn't Friday the 13th?

The combination of low blood sugar and caffeine is not so good so I decide to eat something. My usual oatmeal or maybe an egg? Oh how about a soft boiled egg using my new egg timer and egg cup. OK, the cooking was fine. The timer seems to work. Now how do I open this thing? Yes, I googled how to eat a soft boiled egg. Hmm... seems I don't have a special spoon but the regular one works OK as long as the opening is big enough.

Apparently there are egg toppers which will help you crack and open the egg easier; cheap egg topper; expensive egg topper and crazy expensive egg topper. For my first time, I did OK. No need to spend money on some fancy gadget I may not use often.

I did use this Norpro Egg Rite Egg Timer. I wasn't sure so I pulled the egg out just past soft. The white was completely cooked, not runny at all. It was good but not enough. I thought about boiling another but decided to save time and fry one. My fried egg turned out runnier than the soft boiled. ;) Of course I had to add some cheese and it was good thing since I opened the "meat drawer" and saw the stewing meat. Oh right! I said I would beef stew today. I pulled out the slow cooker so I wouldn't forget, again.

After my breakfast I cut up the vegetables. Just onion, celery and carrots. I'll add the potatoes later. I realized the slow cooker is in need of replacement. It's not a crock pot but similar to this West Bend 84905 5-Quart Oblong-Shaped Slow Cooker. The non stick interior is scratched up and probably not safe. I'll need to research them and get a new one. I did like that it wasn't as heavy as a crock pot and was supposed to be easier to clean. But those cheap non-stick appliances just don't last. The oblong shape took up less space in the cabinet and Cuisinart does have some similar. But theirs are more expensive. Not as bad as the All-Clad one but twice the price but...

11.11.09

There was no school on Wednesday. The boys opted to stay home. They played the wii and I got to nap. Poppa fixed one of the medicine cabinets.

I baked chocolate chip cookies. I am a bit surprised how many calories are in one small cookie. But the extra chocolate chips is so worth it.

I had planned to bake oatmeal cookies but I didn't have enough oatmeal. Meanwhile, the butter was softened and ready. I looked again at Martha Stewart's Cookies: The Very Best Treats to Bake and to Share (Martha Stewart Living Magazine) and thought about chocolate sugar cookies. I needed more butter so I pulled another half stick to soften.

I fell asleep for about an hour but it took another hour of dozing to get me out of the chair. By then it was 3:00. I got up to pee and bake the cookies. Usually the first step is to pre-heat the oven. It was so I read through the whole recipe and saw that this one requires an hour in the fridge to firm up. Ugh. Searched for another recipe and found chocolate chip cookies which are always a favorite. But I didn't need 2 1/2 sticks of butter. I grabbed the half stick softened in the bowl and threw it away.

I added more chips because, well, it's chocolate! But I decided to use the smaller scoop to make me think I was being good. Right, each small cookie is still over 100 calories. Darn that chocolate! I told my dad I was putting them in the freezer and you should have seen his face. What?! Don't you have an air-tight container? Yes, but they still dry out. They stay fresher in the freezer and it only takes a few minutes for them to thaw. And... it keeps me from eating them all in 2 days.

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I am reading Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously. It's not a very good book. She rambles and jumps back & forth. I thought there would be more about Julia Child.

Bonnie said she thought of me when reading this. Not the cooking but the blogging. Yes, I blog but I am certainly not going to get a book or movie deal out of the thing. Right?

But this got me thinking that maybe I could do a similar thing with Martha's Cookies book. I could bake a different cookie each week. But then...
• who would eat them? There are lots of recipes I don't even want to eat.
• who would read it? Sure my faithful 3 readers but... Besides, I am not a writer and do not have adventures like Julie Powell does.

So I won't be doing anything like that. I have been thinking about the direction of this blog. There just isn't enough interesting stuff in my life to post everyday. I am thinking of backing off to maybe 2-3 times per week.

Who knows, I will probably change my mind this afternoon.

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Oh, I dipped under another digit today! I love when that happens.