Beware the COLD/FLU

It makes you absolutely crazy!!!  Not that I'm not half there already, but this stuff messes with your mind.  One minute I'm happily sitting on the couch and the next minute I'm window washing.  What? Where did THAT come from?

Okay, so I wasn't exactly hanging off the side of a ten story building in my red jump suit .....

I wasn't even hanging off a tall ladder.  I was on a step stool, reaching as far as I could trying to clean off two years of fly specs.  I think this was brought on by the crazy bug still lodged in my brain, that came to life when I cleaned just ONE bathroom.  

After almost a full can of spray and an entire roll of paper towels, I could actually see out of the six huge windows in my family room.  Too bad I was too exhausted and laying flat on the couch to take advantage of the view.  Maybe today I'll pick up all those paper towels still laying on the patio.

It gets worse.  One of my quilting friends sent a link to my phone which the flu bug MADE me open.  It's called Fandominstitches.  If you are a Harry Potter fan, which I'm not, you will quickly be caught up in the free paper piecing patterns on-line, customizing your bookcase like Harry Potter himself had waved a magic wand.

I could feel the bug starting to squiggle.  In no time, I had downloaded and printed out 18 patterns on paper piecing paper.  What's happening to me????  Surely there must be SOMETHING I can eat to kill this nasty bug!!!

Maybe a few more slices of that peanut butter pie will help, which I might add by now is frozen hard as a rock.  After you take that first piece out of the pan, go ahead and cut all the other slices BEFORE you put it back in the freezer.  Otherwise you'll need a hammer and chisel.

Here's the recipe in case you too have the cold bug and need something to sooth your sore throat.

I'm off this morning to help out at the Elks Special Need Kids Bingo.  I couldn't turn down the King when he asked for help with this one.  Everyone wins and everyone gets one or two prizes of their choice from a table overflowing with goodies.  At least it will keep the cold/flu bug in check for a few hours.

I'm Procrastinating

That's a big word for sitting on my butt doing nothing.  I really need to step up the pace and get out the door, otherwise my butt is NOT going to fit in those two pair of jeans I finally got into yesterday.

I picked up the house a little, trying to make it LOOK like I cleaned for my company, when I didn't.  I procrastinated until she arrived at 10:30, whereupon we wandered off to Applebee's, our best restaurant in town.

It took thirty minutes to get our meals, with only six people there for lunch.  I took not one picture, but the bourbon shrimp and chicken was at least edible.  Get this ..... I got a PLASTIC straw with my water.  Now I'm on a mission to find out just WHO is handing out paper straws.

Then I found this .... I AM self medicating with fabric.  That's my new excuse.

At any rate, my company didn't stay the night after all, so I washed those sheets just for the exercise of trying to make them fit back on the mattress, coughing all the while.  That left the entire afternoon to try and figure out WHY my sewing machine is STILL gathering the seams instead of sewing them flat, even after that repair/cleaning.

That was made even harder by the fact that the above panel measurements were NOT the same as the green border measurements next to it.  The green was over an inch too short.  Of course I had already cut the border to the size the directions told me.  That meant trimming the panel, which of course had major repercussions.  The 26 pieces making up the NEXT border ALL had to be adjusted too.  It was a mathematical nightmare!

As an excuse to stop sewing, I proceeded to the living room where sat a box full of wooden pieces.  One of the ladies at the Pumpkin Patch had lost her mother over a year previous.  Seems her mother was a quilter.  

I mentioned I might be looking for a quilting machine, whereupon she brought me this big box and gifted me her mother's frame, which never got put together.  She cried as she put it in my Jeep.  I knew not what to say.  She asked if maybe I could make her a quilt some day.

So now I have a BIG problem!  It's a very fancy frame, hand made in Salt Lake City, all wood similar to this one.  Trouble is, I have no inclination to hand quilt ANYTHING.  I want a computer-type machine quilter with metal frame.  Now what do I do???

I make pie of course!!  Here's a little taste of heaven, at least for me.  It's low carb frozen peanut butter pie.  Peanut butter, cream cheese and whipped cream.  What could be better??

I didn't procrastinate one single minute .... I cut a slice and enjoyed every bite outside on my patio where the weather has been between 55 and 75 every day and night.  It's fabulous .. both the weather AND the pie.

It's time to man up, or woman up as the case may be.  This house definitely needs a cleaning, room by room.  No more procrastinating!!!  Just as soon as I finish my coffee, and sit with the puppies for a minute, and maybe have another piece of pie while playing Words with friends and ..... and .........

My Favorite Subject - DMV

It takes a certain type of person to work for the government.  I did it for 25 years.  I was always as polite and helpful as I could possibly be, going out of my way to help anyone and everyone.  My goal was to at least show people there was ONE person working there that had their back.

I'm here to tell you that the Demented Mediocre Vxxxxxxx people are out to block your progress any way they possibly can.  They are very adept at their jobs.

Here's the problem:  I paid for my truck registration stickers on June 2 via the internet.  Since I needed a smog certification, I had that done (and sent automatically to the Department of Motor Vehicles) on June 10.  Then I went to Arizona and back to the Pumpkin Patch.  Surely by now, those tags should be in my Post Office Box.  That would be a big NO.

I tried to calm my nerves by baking some banana bread for Jonathan the parrot, knowing full well the territory I was about to stick my big toe into.

I called them in the morning.  After going through a myriad of questions, hitting the "1" button six times, I got to the part where they tell you how long you will be on hold.  One hour and seventeen minutes.  I kid you not.  

Just before I blew a gasket (because I have zero patience with these people), it said I could leave my number and they would call me back.  

While waiting, I whipped up a batch of cauliflower soup for lunch.  Apparently I already had a rather bitter taste in my mouth, because it wasn't NEAR as good as I remembered.  I'm not really a soup person anyway.  You know how you are hungry two minutes after eating Chinese food?  That's me with soup.

I was still waiting for my call.  I sewed this quilt together, trying to be patient because the directions had an error in measurement that I didn't catch until it was too late.  Frustrating, but not NEAR as frustrating as the DMV.

At long last at 4:30 pm, they called.  When I said hello, I could tell I was on hold.  The music played on for about ten minutes before someone finally answered.  I explained the problem.  OH she said ... "we mailed the sticker".  Okay, can you tell me WHERE you mailed it.  "Why to your address on Bellevue Road".

I haven't had that address in three years.  In fact, I changed ALL my registrations to the current address and received every registration for the last TWO years.  Why all of a sudden is THIS one going to the old address? 

"Oh I have no idea".  Yes I completely understand that!!!!  Since you agree it's paid until June of 2020, could you please send out another sticker and change that address.  "Why of COURSE NOT"!!  I have to download a form, fill it out again (I've already done this twice actually) and mail it in.  

She could tell I wasn't a happy camper.  She suggested I go to the nearest AAA Insurance office, where they can not only change the address but give me replacement stickers.  I couldn't help myself ... I asked the question ... but why can't YOU do that?????

I already knew her answer ... "oh we can't do that over the phone".  You have to go to the local DMV office, where you will sit for three hours with 200 illegal immigrants getting their drivers license for free, with no car or evidence of insurance in sight.  Don't get me started.  I hung up the phone.

My first thought was to strangle someone, but cooler heads prevailed and I just cooked dinner instead.  Tuscan chicken, with spinach, parmesan and sun-dried tomatoes.  It was yummy and the perfect way to end the day, along with the text message I'll be having company today.  

I laughed out loud!!  At least I'll work off some of that frustration cleaning the house and changing the sheets in the spare bedroom!!!

The Magic Kingdom LIVES!!!

After four months, I finally returned to the land of the King and the Knights of the Round Table.  I was feeling so guilty about being gone so long, I actually called the Castle Lawyer and told her if she thought there was at least one person there to help me, SHE could stay home.  In her best gaelic voice, she sang my praises.

I arrived just in time to find Prince Charming and three of his fellow Knights, sharing ale around the round table.  Okay, it was a bar table and four bar stools.  One Knight was showing off his battle wound scars from the repair to his knee of a slash the size of a good long sword.  OUCH!!

Since the Chamber Maid hadn't showed up, I conscripted said Knight to help me count cards.  It has taken the Castle Lawyer and I eight years to whip these peasants into shape, so I always keep a wary eye out for those trying to shyster the Kingdom ... and they are many!!

It helps if the Castle Keepers can count, but alas, that seems to be a problem.  When the Chamber Maid finally showed up, I felt much better about our odds of winning the stealing game, until SHE started counting ... or rather NOT counting every card.

The peasants are wise ... they bring back their receipt saying they paid for FOUR and only received TWO.  She handed out the two errant packets in a split second.  WAIT .... that's one of the main games they play.  In no time I realized that in my absence, the peasants had gained the upper hand again.

I spent the first 30 minutes fighting with the mini-me infernal (debit) card machine before winning that battle with a HI-YAH!!!!!  The rest of the night it worked smoothly.

I became a little concerned when the Chamber Maid mentioned they had not balanced for the last three weeks, being anywhere from $30 to $80 off every night.  How can that happen?  The accountant in me cracked the whip and paid out every win in record time, double checking every calculation.

That's when I noticed the Chamber Maid had disappeared into the kitchen, not to be seen for the next two hours.  No problem ..... I kept the keys on the infernal machine clicking, which made the peasants happy.

At long last, I began the closure with my accounting sheet in plain sight on the table.  Apparently that wasn't visible enough.  The Chamber Maid left telling the King she WOULD have helped me, but couldn't find the paper.  These times do try us.

I balanced to the penny and closed out, ready to point my little pony in the direction of home.  I was relatively sure the Chamber Maid won't be back until I'm gone again, at which time the peasants will be happy to return to their errant ways.  C'est la vie!!!

I did make one discovery.  Someone asked what that hole in my forehead was.  WHAT?  Sure enough, the swelling from that steel post hit has completely subsided and created a sinkhole on my forehead.  The good news is if I can still catch the peasants playing games, then no brain was hurt in the process of greeting that pole up close and personal!!  I think next year I'll wear a pool noodle on my head .... just like on my RV .... to keep me from harm.

I Finally Hit The Bottle

It was a very good day, but a very LONG day.  Here's my baby, my Dream Machine.  No really, that's the name of the best embroidery/sewing machine I've ever owned.  It definitely is a dream and worth every penny I paid for it.  With all machinery however, it requires maintenance.

There's no way I was going to touch THIS baby with a screwdriver, so a couple years ago, I purchased a ridiculously priced service plan.  $1,000.00   Don't you know I regretted THAT purchase, until I realized it was for SIX years.  The cost to service these beasts is a minimum of $200.  With the plan, parts are included for free.

SO ... I made an appointment to have it cleaned and serviced WHILE I WAITED.  Three magic words, right?  Off I went to the big town of Fresno in my Jeep, because I have not received my truck license since paying for it three months ago.  Good ole California DMV.

I dropped off the machine at 9:00 am, reminding them I had to wait.  What to do, what to do.  Since my good friends the Westerfields were over in Death Valley, I opted to check out the one quilt shop left in town.  Wouldn't you know, I found this PineCone pattern, a paper pieced project similar to the one I just completed.

Picking fabric is not my forte.  TWO hours later, in spite of my determination to NOT purchase fabric, I broke my own resolution and picked up these.  The good news, it was $50 less than I expected.  YAY!!

I figured by the time I had lunch, my machine would be done.  My choices (because now I'm being cheap again) were Taco Bell and McDonalds.  I chose wrong.  I was totally surprised to find a plastic straw in my drink.  Didn't California outlaw plastic straws???  Apparently not.  The pepsi that was there, disappeared rather fast due to the amount of ice.  

The chicken burrito had no substance in it at all that resembled meat.  It WAS full of drippy, mushy beans with WAY too much sauce and maybe three pieces of wilted lettuce.  The taco had so much sour cream, that's all I could taste.  I knew this wasn't going to end well.

At 1:00 I headed back to get my machine.  Oh dear, they said.  It won't be done till around 4:00.  Wait .... I made a special appointment to have it done while I waited.  No one said I would be waiting ALL DAY LONG!  I have a long drive home ........

I suppose I should have camped on their couch.  I didn't want to go shopping at the mall, knowing I would spend too much.  I figured I'd find an ice cream store ... like ColdStone ... and sooth my savage nature over the sewing machine.  

The coffee lovers loaded with heath bar crunch was just the ticket.  I relished every single bite as I sat in my car admiring the colors in the trees around me.

That's when it hit me.  I haven't exactly been watching my diet.  7,239 calories later and my stomach decided to do some back flips.  Back to the store I went, hoping they would call.  They did not.  Finally at 2:30 I got the message it was ready for pickup.    It didn't cost me a dime, making my stomach feel MUCH better.

I drove home going the speed limit, amidst everyone else going at least 80 mph.  There are two sections of 70 mph speed limit, where they upped it to 85.  Not a CHP in sight.  It is interesting to note that half of the repair to the highway through Madera, just completed last year, is again completely under construction.  

There are two more LONG sections of repairs also being torn up.  Seems whoever the contractor was that did the work, didn't make the roadbed compliant, and it now is breaking down completely, causing big rigs to crash.  Doesn't that make you feel safe??

The second I walked in the door, I hit the bottle.  TUMS are my little friends.  I was sure three of them would negate all those calories I ate and calm my stomach.  Momma's a happy camper.  She can sew again without the agony of Taco Bell and ColdStone.

TAKE A VETERAN TO LUNCH

Thank a Veteran today

for all the freedom 

they have given us.

Without them, we 

wouldn't enjoy the

life we have.

Fly your flags high ...

and take a Veteran to lunch!!

FYI the Elks Lodge had their free veterans lunch on Friday.  They served over 350 people in our little corner of this tiny town.  I rather imagine there were a lot more that weren't able to show up.  We owe them a lot!!  Happy Veterans Day!

Stepping It Up .....

I gave in ..... I caved.  I hate to admit it, but I finally had to change the time on my clocks.  I kept forgetting which one to look at for that appointment to pick up my now-quilted quilts.  It was just too much trouble trying to figure out what time it was, depending on what I was doing.

Here's the first one, full of violets and perfect for that little girl's bedroom, except I don't know a little girl to give it to.

I'll wait to show you the second one ... I'm going to do a little quilting on it myself.  I sewed with my machine as long as I could, as it cried and squeaked along.  I couldn't take it any longer and made an appointment for the machine doctor in Fresno tomorrow.

That went smoothly enough, except it's Monday AND a Holiday.  NOTHING is open on Monday, meaning I won't get my rolled ice cream treat.  Sadly, I'll have to spend a couple of hours perusing their fabric section.  I DO NOT NEED MORE FABRIC!!!  That's my new mantra.

At least I have television to occupy me.  You see the weirdest stuff on TV.  This guy is Justin and he lives in Tucson.  That made my ears perk up.  He has spent his life getting stung by everything you can possibly get stung by in the desert, rating each sting and coming up with a Pain Index.

Yeah, that's what I thought too.  Is he crazy??  Who in the world would do that on PURPOSE!

Well here's the guy.  I didn't get his name, but he was going around getting stung or bit by everything he could find ... scorpions, tarantula hawks ... because he was just SO tough, he knew he could withstand anything.  I'm pretty sure I've seen this guy on the Farmers Only dating website.

Anyway, here he is screaming bloody murder when he got hit.  I laughed out loud.  Serves you right, you dummy!!!  At least I was mildly entertained for about an hour.  You just have to laugh at their stupidity!  By the way, there are only four levels.  A wasp sting is a low 2.  The tarantula hawk, 4+, similar to volcanic lava running through your veins.  Now you know.

In an attempt to step up my cooking skills a little more, I figured to try out one more new recipe for butter chicken, better known as tikka masala.  OMG this came out GOOD!!  Such an easy recipe to whip up too, unlike most tikka masala recipes where it takes all day long with strange ingredients.

Mix up the marinade and dump in the chicken.  I left out the fenugreek, whatever the heck that is, and let it sit in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Cook the onion in oil in a large frying pan.  Add in the chicken with the marinade and let it cook for about five minutes. Dump in everything else (you really do need a big frying pan here), bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 45 minutes.  BEST I'VE EVER MADE!  Not spicy at all, so add in some hot sauce if you like the burn.

Even better, there's so much sauce left over, you can freeze it, making another batch later in the week with rotisserie chicken.    It's a TWO-FER.  Certainly better than getting stung by a tarantula hawk.

Can You Say CHEESECAKE?

With my electric blanket turned on high to get the bed warm, I snuggled in for a long peaceful night of sleep.  NOT!!  Miss Jessie got overheated and exited out the bottom door just about the time I got to sleep.

There's nothing that makes Cooper madder than someone MOVING, even a fraction of an inch.  You cannot imagine the growly sounds coming out of that little body.  By morning I was still struggling with the time thing.  Do I get up?  It's 3:30???  Why on earth has this become such a big deal??

I wandered aimlessly through my quilt room looking for a new project.  I finally finished sewing this one together.  At about 50 inches square, it's small as quilts go, but my first attempt at paper piecing.  That's a new term for making the biggest mess ever stitching over the lines on paper from the back side of the project, then tearing off all that paper in the tiniest of pieces.

I laid out seven new projects on the table before discovering this little statement is SO true.  Decisions decisions.  I tried to find something easy and fast.  Between the time change and being sick, I knew better than to go with something complicated.   

Since I missed Halloween, I put away two and decided Thanksgiving just might work.  I'm doing everything I can to stay home another week to regain my strength.  Oh I feel like I could slay more dragons, but I'm also aware that I was really pretty sick.

In the interest of spreading the calories, here's the recipe for that New York Cheesecake.  It's so rich and decadent, you can feed eight people easily, in spite of it's 7" size.

3/4 cup crushed graham crackers  

2 tblsp sugar

2 tblsp melted butter

Mix together, smush it into the bottom of a 7" springform pan and set in the freezer

Here's the kicker.  I didn't have graham crackers, so I used a sleeve of Ritz crackers.  Worked like a charm.

16 oz cream cheese room temperature

1/2 cup sugar (I used brown sugar)

2 teaspoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon lemon peel

2 eggs room temperature

1 egg yolk room temperature

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Blend together cream cheese, sugar, cream, flour, lemon peel and vanilla until smooth.  Add in eggs one at a time until just combined.  Pour into pan on top of crust.

Add 1-1/2 cups of water to your Instant Pot. Insert a rack on which the pan will sit.  Cover the top of the springform pan with a piece of paper towel, then cover loosely with a piece of foil.  Make a sling of foil and gently lower the pan into the pot.  Close pressure valve.

Cook on high pressure for 37 minutes.  Allow 18 minutes of natural pressure release before releasing all the pressure and removing the pan, being careful to let any accumulated water drip off the top.  Let cool.  The center may be a little jiggly.

I topped it with pecan praline sauce that I can't find the recipe for.  Here's my best guess.

1/2 cup of brown sugar 

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 tsp vanilla

Boil for 4-5 minutes until thick, stir in

1/2 cup chopped pecans

When cool, both the cake and the sauce, I poured it over the top.  Letting it sit overnight in the fridge enhanced the flavors .... or maybe it was just my cold.  At any rate, super easy and super tasty!!

Today I have to pick up two quilts I left at my quilter's house in September and fight the NEW dragons that are my NEW yard crew.  Yesterday I found three cut drip irrigation lines.  Here we go again!!

MOM - The Super Hero

Sometimes you just have to dig down deep and fight the monsters with all your might.  Such was the case yesterday morning at 2:00 am (3:00 real time) when the HUGE monster invaded the house, probably sneaking in through the crack under the door.

It was awful ..... it groaned, it growled, it CHIRPED!!!  Jessie instantly headed under the covers while Cooper shook in his boots.  I was oblivious!!!  Nooooooooo .... it will go away!!

Well of course it didn't, so I had no choice but to be the dragon-slayer-hero-KNIGHT of the day.  I drug my biggest ladder out of the garage because only dragons cling to the ceiling of the bedroom where I can't reach.  At least it was dark and the neighbors couldn't see my attire.  There wasn't even time to put my armor on!!

As the puppies cowered on the couch, sure to be eaten at any second, I scrounged through the drawers of the kitchen looking for the best sword I might have.  Swords were in short supply.  At long last, I scaled the castle turret wielding my weapons of destruction!!

Take THAT Mr Dragon!!  I hit him in the throat with my longest lance!  He was a fighter of magnificent proportion!  CHIRP!!  He was still alive!!  I hit him again with the second largest sword and alas, HE FELL!!!  NO MORE CHIRPING!!!!  NO MORE DRAGON!!!

The puppies couldn't believe their eyes, nor did they believe their ears.  Jessie ran out the doggie door and Cooper laid shaking like a leaf on the couch.  Hey kids, it's ok. Mom is a SUPER HERO!!!!  It took fifteen minutes of petting and hugs before Cooper would settle down.  Another ten before he would even get off the couch.  At least my babies were safe!!

Still recovering from the cold/flu devil yesterday, but bored enough to be going crazy, I opted to make a pot of butternut squash soup.  Somehow I remember it tasting much better than it did, or maybe that was cauliflower soup.

Dragon slaying can be mind altering.  I don't know what got into me.  I guess I just saw too many pictures of caramel cheesecakes.  What better treat for a Super Hero!!  It's an instant pot wonder, except wonder of wonders, my brain glitched while I was sewing and I forgot to take it out of the pot after 18 minutes of natural pressure relief.  It was a measly 110 minutes later and magically NOT overdone.  How did THAT happen?

I ended the day by baking that $5 chicken on the bbq.  It's huge ... enough to feed me for the entire week.  No, there will NOT be any enchiladas.  

It was so amazingly beautiful when done, I completely forgot to take a picture.  Fighting monster dragons is hard work and I was starving, so I dug right in.  If you haven't tried this on your Weber Q (or any bbq) ... it's the bomb.  90 minutes on medium low and it's a meal fit for a king (or a super hero)!!

My puppies require an audience this morning ... to shower me with gifts and gold for my dragon slaying skills, I'm sure.  I'll be on the couch .... ready to be Super Mom should another one sneak under the door!!

It Was An Epic Day!!!

I think I just may be over the hump.  Yesterday was of course, HUMP day!!  First off, I completely forgot to put the garbage out.  I sure hope my head clears in the next few days so I can get back to normality, such as it is.

I've been working on my shopping list for days.  Down to the very last chicken enchilada, which honestly I wanted to throw in the trash, I put on my Adult face (versus the sucky I'm sick face), and headed off to the grocery store.

Isn't it pretty?  Nothing on this shelf ended up in my basket.  It's hard to stay on track when you're still coughing, but acting like you are not sick.  I was mesmerized by the huge stackings of pumpkin pie cans surrounded by marshmallows and bright shiny aluminum pans.  You would think it was Thanksgiving or something.

The $5 seven pound chicken wasn't on my list, and I'm not sure I'm up to cooking it, but it landed in my basket.  I immediately suppressed the thoughts of enchiladas.  I walked down the chip aisle, but picked up nothing.  How I accomplished that, I've no idea.

$152.00 later ..... how the heck did THAT happen??? ..... I was out the door with my THREE bags full.  Possibly it was the chicken thighs and enough paper plates to last through Christmas.  My brain is still pretty foggy.  I'm not sure, but I think there were two boxes of ice cream in there too.

In an effort to make everyone feel wonderful today, I stopped on the way home for fuel.  No, this isn't the diesel price.  This is the cheapest regular gas I could find in my little corner of lovely California.  

Once home, after having put all the groceries away, I got a little antsy.  Maybe I could clean just ONE room so I didn't feel like such a bump on a log.  I decided to make it a small one.  Who knew so much lint and dust could collect on the little ledges in the bathroom?  I swear, there was enough to knit a sweater!!!  Okay then ..... enough of THAT!!

At long last after three predictable Christmas movies, 5:30 rolled around (6:30 real time) and it was so dark I couldn't see a thing.  I had to go out ONE more time.  Paychecks were in at the Pumpkin Patch.  Hallelujah!!!  It was almost worth the being sick part!!!

An EPIC day!!  I've got new food to cook, ice cream to eat, gas in the Jeep, money in the bank and a clean bathroom.  What could be better???

No lean cuisines were hurt, purchased or devoured on this day.  That's REALLY epic!!

An Interruption In The Space Continuum

Honestly, I don't know what you call it, but time falling back has totally messed up my senses, not to mention my sleeping and my coughing routines.  There's been an interruption in the space continuum that's thrown me for a loop.  I'm pretty sure California does this just so they can keep everyone off balance enough not to notice what's REALLY going on.

I keep all of my clocks on Arizona time ALL the time.  It's just in those early morning hours when I think about how it's really 3:00 now and I know everyone else in the State is getting an extra hour's sleep that I try to hang in bed a little longer.  It never works.

This is how I looked most of yesterday.  I was just awake enough to be bored when NOT coughing, but not tired enough to crash.  There's nothing like that in-between time when you WANT to go grocery shopping because you feel up to it, but you know the second you get out the door you will wish you were back on the couch.

I finally gave up and drug out one of those boxes of quilt stuff.  This paper piecing project was the closest to being done without the purchase of a $9,000 quilting machine.  Yup I had those exact same thoughts!!  You're CRAZY!!!  I'm telling you, it's the time change.

I put it on the board and messed with it for a couple of hours before settling on this pattern.  I stitched two rows together before heading back to the couch with Cooper's look on my face.  It's so bad I'm even watching those most fascinating, show stopping, ever mysteriously ending Christmas shows and it's only November.

I did pretty good until 4:00 when the coughing fits began.  Luckily I called in sick to the Magic Kingdom.  I felt rather guilty, since I haven't been there in four months, but by 6:00 when the hacking began in earnest, I didn't feel so bad at all.

I'm determined to get to the grocery store this morning when the coughing quits for the morning.  I'm getting pretty tired of chicken enchiladas and tuna with a side of scrambled eggs.  The good news is I'll be earlier than everyone else ... by about an hour!!

What Would I Do Without You?

I have to take a minute here and thank all of you great readers for keeping up with my recently boring blog about being sick.  I'm not sure I would have survived so far without logging on every morning and making fun of an annoying situation.  You kept me going this last week, that's for sure.

I just spent another long 24 hours coughing up absolutely nothing.  What more fun can you have on a Monday.  Tuesday of course brings the Magic Kingdom.  I'm pretty sure they won't be as kind if I sit for four hours passing germs around like they are a dime a dozen.

It's day six on the couch, but at least I'm in good company.  Mr. Cooper is just happy to have his Mom home, even if she is a hacking mess.

There were a couple of last minute problems at the Pumpkin Patch I haven't related to you.  I might as well pass along the current state of the next generation.  The Patch hires mostly high school kids to work the attractions, including the snack bar.

It's a win-win situation.  They get money, they get experience and they get work credit.  Somehow the second "win" never seems to happen.  That would be the part that benefits the Patch.  Actually, in a couple of cases, that did happen.  One girl showed up every single day ON TIME and worked the Barnyard Bounce like a pro.  She even picked up a whistle on her own volition to make the school kids listen.  She was the exception!

The boys didn't seem to understand the rules, even though they were written at the entrance to their attraction.  They did however have lots of fun when they worked the slide alone.  They walked up with the next three kids, then slid down to walk up with the NEXT three.  Oh they loved that, until they forgot to take the gunny sack with them and slid down on their new levis, bouncing two feet high off the bottom end.  OUCH!

The snack bar should have been easier, but then again, everyone does not have a calculator in their head.  Time and again they added up 4 + 4 + 3 to get 16.  That seemed to be the magic number, because no matter what they added up, it always came to 16.  Sadly they even used their fingers tapping on the counter to get to that number.  Hopefully these won't be our newest accountants.

Closing the snack bar was another story altogether.  I went through the entire procedure night after night with every girl at least twice.  One night I left early.  It was a test.  They failed.

I came in the next morning to find the hot dog machine NOT covered, meaning it had to be completely re-cleaned due to the dusty midnight cleanup.  The nacho machine was covered, but ON.  Yup .... left on all night long to get that plastic cover nice and hot.  I opened it up to find a bag of cheese still inside, along with about a cup of cheese smeared over the entire gear section.  WHAT?

The crock pot was turned on high, with absolute NOTHING in it.  The crock itself was so hot I couldn't touch it.  They forgot to turn that off too.  Common sense folks ..... it's out there somewhere!!

I guess what it boils down to is teaching.  I never thought of all the work I did as a kid as being a learning experience, but at least my parents taught me enough to have a little forethought and a little common sense.  Maybe that's just something you get when you're old, I don't know.

It became my goal to teach those kids just a little, by asking them what do you do now?  What's going to happen if?  What if I do THIS!!  At least someone's house may not burn down because they covered the nacho machine and left it on high heat.  There's more, but there's no use beating a dead horse.

I've figured it out, I have exactly three days of food left before I will be required to log on to Walmart for another pickup.  It's also how long I have to sit on the couch.  Maybe, just maybe, I'll open up one of those bins of fabric.  I'll place it on the table in front of me so I have something to look at.  Not sew, just look at.  A change of scenery might be nice.