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Two things happened this weekend that are of note... First, O's "As Seen on TV" cupcake frosting mishap, as explained on her blog. And second... It is warm here. It is VERY warm here. Talking high to mid 90's with high humidity. Makes it very uncomfortable, and the central air conditioning in the house is...mmmm....wonderful! But, we weren't prepared for it. The winter cover was still on the unit and I hadn't inspected it for winter turmoil. So, to make sure it wasn't accidentally turned on, I taped a note to the programmable thermostat: "Please leave me turned off. Not ready to be turned on." Well, Sunday morning after I took the pup out to potty, I wandered to that side of the house and did the visual look-see. Seems ok, so I went inside and turned on the AC, removed the note and taped it to my shirt. I was then labeled thusly: "Please leave me turned off. Not ready to be turned on." Well...it was far too warm for nookie, anyway. ;) Tags: entertainment, family, funny, house
Current Mood:  mischievous
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Please note the ever present sarcasm dripping...nay, waterfalling!...from the subject of this post. I got an e-mail yesterday from our puppy playmate's owner. Her mother passed away at 5:18 AM on Mother's Day. How crappy is that? I'd met her...she was a fun woman. Very witty, but our friend said the tumors in her brain changed her a lot toward the end. It's a very sad thing. And...my grandmother isn't doing well. I love my Grandma. She's a rootin' tootin' lady, but she passed out at home and had to be hospitalized. Pneumonia. :( Sadness...and worry. She's been hospitalized before, she survived colon cancer, but...I think this is the beginning of a downward spiral. (I'm leaving out a whole bunch of family suckage surrounding this cuz, well, it still pisses me off.) But yeah...I spent some time talking with my mom on Saturday morning about this. She sounded exhausted. I'm concerned that she's not getting the rest she needs to take care of herself. Of the 4 kids my Grandmother had, 2 of them live out of state and the 4th is an utterly worthless, alcoholic, egocentric, mentally abusive piece of shit. My mom is Grandma's health proxy, and she is considering having grandma put into assisted living. I think if this were to happen, this would be the end of grandma...she's always been very independent, but she's at the point where she can't walk to the refrigerator to get food and she doesn't drink nearly enough water (she's on IV's because she was also so very much dehydrated). If I can swing it, I want to travel homeward next weekend to visit with her. But...seeing her ever since she was hospitalized for the cancer just scares me for some reason. It's almost as if she hears what you're saying, but can't make sense of it, so she just nods and stares. Spooky. I dunno... 2008 sucks. Tags: family, sad
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Thank you to everyone who has had very kind and supporting words regarding the loss of our dear cat. It means so very much... When we had him put down, the vet asked us what we wanted to do with his remains. Well, we thought we'd have more time to think about this and discuss because we weren't expecting him to pass so suddenly. Our options ranged from private burial in a pet cemetery (so Stephen King...) to solo cremation with his ashes to group cremation with no ashes. We've decided on the group cremation. Number of reasons here, but we think it's best for us to remember him as fur and purr. We're also planning to memorialize him somehow. No decisions have been made, but Shadow loved birds. Watching them and chattering at them. My idea is to have a birdbath in the yard, and put a memorial stone in it or near it with an inscription. I'm leaning toward "Shadow - A good cat (sometimes)" Simple, and the "sometimes" part makes me smile and remember happy memories surrounding that joke. Isn't that what memorials are for? Recalling happy memories? But yes...I get to call the emergency hospital today and let them know of our decision. I'm not looking forward to making the call, as I still get choked up and weepy over the idea. Like now. Dammit. Tags: cat, critters, family, sad
Current Mood:  sad
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I spoke with my mom this past Monday and it's official...we're having 12 people at our house on Xmas eve. O's parents and sister, my parents, my brother, his girlfriend, his 3 kids, and us. Count 'em. That's 12. My god. I've been in preparation/planning for so long I hope the two days will go without a hitch. We're having a snack buffet Xmas eve when my family is here. Included in the buffet are a pepperoni & salami/cheese tray, crackers, Triscuits, baby carrots, celery sticks, red and green pepper strips, hummus, potato chips, Doritos, another bag of "chip" type food, and chip dip. Drinks will include cow's milk (cuz soy is OH SO WEIRD! bleh...), coffee, tea, cocoa, several types of soda, red and white wine, beer, and, if I can swing it in time, a ginger ale/cranberry juice punch...but I don't own a punch bowl. More than enough food, and it's easy prep. Olivia's mother is sure to be hovering in the kitchen asking if I need help, so I'll put her to work. :) The stress here will come from so many people. I don't like crowds much...and when you're related to the crowd... *stress* Note to self...make sure chip baskets and dip bowls are ready and available. And take a few deep breaths. My family's heading home early-ish the same day... I need to set the table for Xmas dinner on Xmas eve. I have a lovely stacked place setting for each person. It starts out with a silver (plastic...I couldn't find enough metal ones. :( ) charger plate instead of a place mat. Stacked on top of this is one of our everyday two-tone, handpainted blue entree dishes, a square salad plate, and a small soup bowl. Placed horizontally on the edge of the soup bowl closest to the person is a Christmas Cracker and in the bowl, spilling over the edge will be a gold/silver linen napkin in an etched aluminum handmade chain maille napkin ring (the etched aluminum has a powdery silver look). We have a sky blue tablecloth with spindly silver snowflakes stitched into it. It should look beautiful with the blue and silver theme and really set the scene for dinner. Xmas day will prove far more stressful. We'll start the day with a late, lazy breakfast/brunch of fresh baked cinnamon rolls and cereal/oatmeal and open our stockings. Then, we'll start "dinner" around 3. The four-course menu is as follows with approximate times: 3 PM: Spiced Carrot and Orange Soup with fresh baked bread (making this tonight after work and freezing it) 4 PM: Winter Salad with pears, cranberries and walnuts and Homemade Balsamic Dressing 4:45 PM Homemade Pineapple Sorbet served in Champagne to cleanse the palette (prepping the sorbet tonight, too!), served in a martini glass 5 PM: Ham OR Stuffed Portobello caps Mashed potatoes with garlic, sour cream, and chives Corn with Red and Green peppers 6:30 PM: Lemon Delight for dessert (a recipe a coworker gave me: one melon ball sized scoop each of lemon sorbet and vanilla ice cream, drizzled with lemon liqueur and garnished with a sprig of fresh mint and a Pirouline cookie) This should provide for a leisurely meal for O's parents, her sister, and us, and spreading out the meal should present us with less stomach troubles. Plus, I'll be able to clean dishes as time passes as I'll need to reuse the soup bowls for dessert. We might even be able to open presents in between courses. So yeah....lots planned, lots left to do to prep, but it should be fine...I just need to keep reminding myself of this. Tags: cool, family, house
Current Mood:  nervous
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