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