Happy


New Year


Everyone!

Word of the Day

Slowmobile - Any vehicle that turns in front of one's path on the highway and cuts their traveling speed in half.

Christmas has come and gone. Today was Laundry Day. I've been tempted to take down and put away everything Christmas but...I'm going to wait until...next year. Believe it or not...this has been a bit hard for me...leaving everything Christmas right where I put it. However, the task of having to do the laundry helped a bit. Kept me busy. I've also been so tempted to throw away all the Christmas cookies that HTP and I haven't eaten...yet. Again, I'm holding off until...next year. Next year is going to be arriving faster than you'd think. We might as well enjoy the cookies...until next year.

Random Thought of the Day

Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

Noteworthy Quote of the Day

There is no Them, there is only Us. Some of Us think this or some of Us think that, but we're all Us.

- Lisa Williams

Memories of Christmas Past



Merry


Christmas


Everyone!



I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Me? I'll worry about cleaning up the kitchen tomorrow. We enjoyed a wonderful meal which was made even more enjoyable because we got to share with friends. We watched GI Joe on Blu-ray (a present from Santa).

And now, it time for bed. Merry Christmas to All and to All a Goodnight!

Word of the Day

Slow Driving Club - A group of cars in front of oneself on the highway that block one from passing while doing exactly the speed limit or even several miles below it.

It's


Christmas Eve!!!!!


Tomorrow is Christmas! I've got a prime rib thawing in the fridge...but...I may have to let it thaw a bit more on the countertop today. I'm going to be cooking it for dinner tomorrow and don't want to risk a rarer than rare center. I like my meat rare but not THAT rare.

HTP and I are having problems keeping to our diet. The Diet Gestapo (that's me) has decided to let up a bit on her rules, due to the holiday season. Normally, during the week, HTP and I stick to our diet breakfast. A piece of toast with jam, an egg white omelet with salsa...no cheese...and coffee or tea. But, today is Christmas Eve so...I made eggs...basted...toast,Italian sausage, and stollen. But...we're not having lunch so I can justify the calories...right?

We don't open presents until Christmas but...our main present, the new television and Blu-ray player, has gotten quite the work out. I just finished watching the last of twenty episodes of Kolchak - The Night Stalker. I used to love that program. Campy. I still love it. Of course, now it seems even campier due to all the 70's stuff. Love it!

I also opened some of my presents on FarmVille...not all of them...just some. I'm saving the rest until Christmas. Way cool! I got a couple of lambs and some baby turkeys and LOTS of gas for my farm vehicles. Sis hasn't been playing FarmVille lately. She's missing out on all the cool Christmas stuff.

I'm planning on spending the day cleaning...and not just because we've got company coming over tomorrow afternoon. Gypsy does shed. Not much but she doesn't shed and her hair tends to clump up in dark hair balls on the carpet. I'll probably giver her a bath too...even though it is cold outside.

Sheet dances will be preformed in my yard tonight. It's supposed to get below freezing tonight...tomorrow...the next night. Winter has arrived. No snow...just cold. HTP and I did manage to clean all the dust from our patio and entry way yesterday. I'm dreaming of a duststormless Christmas.

Random Thought of the Day

How much deeper would the ocean be without sponges?

Noteworthy Quote of the Day

There was a definite process by which one made people into friends, and it involved talking to them and listening to them for hours at a time.

- Rebecca West (1892 - 1983)

Mr. T - Ain't He Cute?!

Word of the Day

Slottery and vendication - A public misdemeanor in which a person gambles on a vending machine, loses, and tries to exact revenge by kicking it.

Only Two More Days and then... Wake Up! It's Christmas?!

I actually NEEDED to use my alarm clock to wake up in time to get ready for church on Sunday. For some reason, I've been having a hard time waking up like I normally do in the mornings. HTP thinks it has something to do with the time the sun rises. Unfortunately, the sun isn't rising all that early during these winter months and if I want to get to church in time for an orchestra practice before the first service on Sunday...well...the sun is definitely NOT up at the time I need to rise and shine. However, I must say that playing my clarinet at the church makes the whole getting up before the sun thing well worth the effort.

I started two batches of Arancelo yesterday. My tangelos have finally ripened enough for picking. I picked thirty tangelos from my tree and if you should go outside to check the tree right now, you'd never know that I'd ever picked a one. My tangelo tree has outdone itself this year. There's plenty more tangelos to make a couple more batches of Arancelo...with lots more leftover fruit for gifting or...just peeling and eating. In the meantime, I peeled off the zest from the fruit I picked to use for my Arancelo, and I juiced the peeled fruit for...tangelo juice. However, DD Daughter recommended a mixed drink called a Fuzzy Russian that calls for orange juice (I think tangelo juice will suffice), vodka, and orange liqueur (I think Arancelo will work). Should I rather call the drink a Fuzzy Russian of Italian Extraction with an Old Grey Frog Flair? Seems a bit wordy to me.

Yesterday was my day to work on Adult Beverages. I cooked up a couple batches of simple syrup to make liqueurs. I filtered some of my raspberry schnapps to make Raspberry Liqueur and then filtered some of my strawberry schnapps to make Strawberry Liqueur. And then...I discovered that my label-maker program didn't want to work with Windows 7. Argh! However, HTP was able to fix the problem by running the program using a Windows XP patch? Beyond my pay grade. However, I was able to finally print out labels for the liqueurs that I plan to gift my friend who is coming over for dinner on Christmas. I'd send some to Sis, my folks, #1 Son, DD Daughter, Sarge and Sistah's but...."The Man" frowns upon people sending alcohol through the mail...unless you've got a license which...I don't...and won't.

Today? It's Tuesday, therefore, today was Laundry Day. Aside from laundry, I had a whole list of To Do things that I didn't...do. However, I did run outside to rescue the cushions on my patio. They're safely sitting in my living room now. Dust Storm! HTP and I will be spending a great deal of time tomorrow sweeping and vacuuming desert dust from our patio. *sigh* Again! We actually had a thunderstorm today! Gypsy barked in protest at every clap of thunder. She doesn't like unexplained noises. Thunder in the desert is definitely an unexplained noise. We don't get many thunderstorms here during the winter months. Gypsy doesn't even flinch at the thunderstorms at The Lake...but...thunderstorms at The Lake are a more common thing.

Random Thought of the Day

Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now.

Noteworthy Quote of the Day

Providence has hidden a charm in difficult undertakings which is appreciated only by those who dare to grapple with them.

- Anne-Sophie Swetchine

Word of the Day

Sloppywords - Words coined and submitted to an online dictionary in such a manner that resulted in poor spelling or research of the very word one was submitting.

Only six more days until Christmas! I'm resisting the urge to do any more Christmas decorating. Not to sound like Mrs. Scrooge or anything but whatever I drag out and scatter about the house will just have to be packed away again after Christmas and before I decorate for Valentine's Day. I'm planning on leaving the few Christmas decorations that I've put up until next year. January 2010...not Christmas 2010. I'm not that lazy.

HTP and I are joining friends for supper tonight at Valle Luna...one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. I wish I didn't have to get up so early tomorrow morning. I'm going to be playing my clarinet for two services tomorrow at church. So...no late night for me. I have to be at church tomorrow morning at 7 AM. *moan*

Random Thought of the Day

When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.

Noteworthy Quote of the Day

The man who has confidence in himself gains the confidence of others.

- Hasidic Saying

Sarge, DD Daughter and Santa - Christmas Past


Sarge, HTP and Me - December 17, 2009

Word of the Day

Sloopage - The tendency of precious items to slip out of ones grasp.

Wow! What a week! My daughter, Sarge, came for a surprise visit. Well...it was a surprise for me. HTP knew all about it. Sarge flew in on Saturday. HTP told me he was going out to do some shopping. He told me that he'd probably be getting home kind of late for supper...but...he'd pick up a pizza for us. Sounded good to me. I was going to be spending the day with the Christmas music cranked to the max while I decorated brown sugar cookies. Meanwhile, HTP was doing his shopping but he also was picking Sarge up at the airport. I'd just finished decorating the last of the brown sugar cookies and was finishing up with cleaning up the kitchen when HTP got back home from his shopping. I helped put away the groceries he'd picked up and noted that he'd forgotten the pizza. The doorbell rang and I went to answer it. There was Sarge at the door! What a wonderful surprise! We didn't get any pizza until Wednesday night. Instead, we went out for burgers and peanuts that night at Teakwoods.

Sarge and I did lots of shopping. Cost Plus World Market and Lee-Lee's Oriental Market. We wondered the local mall. We talked and walked and laughed. We ate entirely too much. Sarge made us some wonderful cinnamon rolls. Yummmm!!!!! I set the fire alarms off in the house again when I made some prime rib. Sadly, time flew by way too fast. Entirely too soon, HTP and I found ourselves driving Sarge back to the airport. She flew back to her Texas home last night. *sigh*

I finally got all my Christmas baking finished. I'm glad I was able to get most of it done before Sarge got here so I could send some of the cookies back home with her. I packed up some of everything for her and D Buddy. Even after packing up cookies for Sarge and D Buddy, my neighbors and my friends, HTP and I still have plenty of cookies left for ourselves. I probably should freeze some...but...I do have friends coming over for Christmas dinner and...well...I have to serve something for dessert. If there are any cookies left on New Year's Day...well...we'll just have to wait and see.

Random Thought of the Day

OK, so what's the speed of dark?

Noteworthy Quote of the Day

The more I give myself permission to live in the moment and enjoy it without feeling guilty or judgmental about any other time, the better I feel about the quality of my work.

- Wayne Dyer

DD Daughter, Old Grey Frog and Santa - Christmas 1980

Word of the Day

Sleeky - A positive, descriptive term referring to anything that is cool. Similar in nature to sleek.

Christmas baking has started. HTP helped. He finished the clean-up from our winter dust storm so I could concentrate on all things Christmas. With Christmas music blaring, I baked two batches of regular Russian teacakes, and two batches of sugar-free Russian teacakes. I baked two pans of Fruitcake bars. Yes, I happen to love fruitcake. Please feel free to send any unwanted fruitcakes to me. I baked one batch of Rich Shortbread cookies, using a recipe that DD Daughter sent me. Next? I baked two batches of regular Jan Hagel (Dutch Hail) and two batches of sugar-free Almond Jan Hagel. Finishing my Christmas baking/cooking for the day, I made three batches of peanut brittle. I would have made more peanut brittle but...I ran out of peanuts. Even so, I almost out of Karo corn syrup. Both of these ingredients are vital when it comes to making peanut brittle.

I need to buy more baking supplies. I used up all of my Maltitol powdered sugar which I can only purchase online. I don't actually need any more this year but I decided to order some for next year. Knowing me, if I waited until Christmas baking 2010 to order it, the Maltitol powdered sugar would never get here in time for actual 2010 Christmas baking. I've run dangerously low on margarine and butter. I'm down to my last cup of chopped pecans. Grocery shopping is on my To Do List tomorrow...tomorrow morning. I'll concentrate on baking Brown Sugar cookies tomorrow and a couple batches of Katherine Hepburn Brownies...my sugar-free version.

Random Thought of the Day

How many of you believe in psycho-kinesis? Raise my hand.

Noteworthy Quote of the Day

Forsake not an old friend; for the new is not comparable to him: a new friend is as new wine; when it is old, thou shalt drink it with pleasure.

- Bible, Old Testament

DD Daughter - December 1979

Word of the Day (Week)

Slavor - To slurp ones soup, coffee, eggs, or dessert in an attempt to enhance the flavor or increase the brief time period in which the food can be savored.

Well, CARP! It takes longer to nurture good habits than to destroy them. Daily blogs are becoming very difficult for me to maintain. It's going to take a while to nurture my blog back into full gear. However, one must at least try.

No excuses but things have been rather busy around here. I've been trying to get into a Christmas mood. HTP and I are going to be doing the empty nest thing this year. Just HTP and me. It's been kind of hard to get into the mood. However, DD Daughter, Sarge, and #1 Son bought HTP and me tickets to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra here in Arizona...an early Christmas present. Wow! It was great! Our seats were right up front. HTP was really watching the guitarists as their fingers flew over the strings. The show was spectacular. And? It jump-started my Christmas mood.

So...I wrote my annual Christmas letter...first draft. HTP took that draft and as Editor and Chief, he edited it. We printed out our final draft, got our address lists checked twice and I "think" I've got all the Christmas cards in the mail. Of course, it seems, that there are always those few that come back undeliverable or those few that we "forgot" to send but...I think I've completed the Christmas card portion of our Christmas preparations.

Christmas shopping? Well...HTP and I are already enjoying the Christmas present we bought for each other. I've completed all of my online shopping. As for the rest of my gifts, I planned to start my Christmas baking today. Unfortunately...

We got a monsoon-style storm that hit our area last night. The wind howled through the Arizona, bringing lots of snow...but not here. We got all the wind and LOTS of desert dust and a half inch of rain. The half inch of rain was greatly appreciated, but, I could have done without the layer of dust that coated my patio, including my grill, my patio furniture and clogging my fountain. Dust?

I WAS going to spend my day baking Christmas goodies. Instead, I spent the day shoveling, scraping, and sweeping "dust" from my patio and from the walkway in front of my house. Dust? It's amazing how the word "dust" seem to quite fit what I always end up removing after one of our Arizona "dust storms". Big mistake? I should have removed all of my patio cushions and stored them in the relative safety of my garage. When I woke up this morning, every cushion looked like it had been dyed the same color. Desert brown. The top of my mosaic table was a uniform desert brown. The water in my fountain was...desert brown. My grey concrete patio was...as desert brown. Dust? We're talking a fine silt...kind of like pancake makeup. Because it was a bit damp...I had pancake makeup sticking to everything. It took me a couple of hours to just sweep off the first layer of this stuff. I've got to wait for a couple more days before I can bring out my shop-vac so I can vacuum up the rest of the mess. And then...HTP will have to wash everything down with the hose. And then? We just might have another "dust" storm coming by the weekend. I'm not sure what they (Indian reservation land) plan to grow in that empty field just south of us where all the dust came from (the state just paid for and installed a special irrigation system)but I'm afraid that me and my neighbors just ended up sweeping up and disposing off most of the topsoil from that field.

Despite the major weather and its resultant mess, I did manage to bake two stollen today. Yesterday? I put up a new artificial Christmas tree that I bought on Sunday...on sale. Cheap. And, yes, Virginia, you get what you pay for. However, our old Charlie Brown tree had seen better days. However, as I said, you get what you pay for. As I was putting this six-foot tree together, branches were coming off in my hands. At the price I paid, there was no pre-installed lighting. I decided to buy some of those new LED lights which aren't supposed to use so much electricity. So far...so good. I've got my new tree up and decorated. Even at six-feet, it's a bit short so I set it up on a chair. However, HTP says it looks nice. Gypsy hasn't complained.

So....why bother putting up a tree when it's just me and HTP this year? Celebrating Christmas without a tree is kind of like celebrating the 4th of July without fireworks. And...following that line of reasoning...Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas without Christmas cookies....which...I've got my baking list and I've checked it twice. I'll be baking Jan Hagel tomorrow....if we don't get hit by a plague of locusts. I plan to turn on the surround sound, crank up the Christmas music, heat up the oven and concentrate on Christmas baking...knock on wood.

Random Thought of the Day

If you think nobody cares, try missing a couple of payments.

Noteworthy Quote of the Day

Youth is a wonderful thing. What a crime to waste it on children.

- George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)