Purses Galore

This is a knock-off version of a Fat-Bottom Bag. I finished it last night. The pattern I used is HERE. I used Red Heart Super Saver yarn. The color is cornmeal, or something like that.

I made a lot of mistakes on this one because it was my first. By the time I discovered them, I couldn't bring myself to rip it out and start over. I just fixed them the best I could and will know better next time. I really like this bag. Again, I need to go over to my mom's and have her show me how to line it. I can take it and the tote bag over together, hopefully sometime this weekend.

I have another bag about half finished. I'm really hating the pattern. I love the way it looks, but I don't like doing it. It's hard on my hands and arms because you have to use a lot of tension doing the stitches, plus I'm using wool yarn. Here's what it will look like when I'm finished:

I'm using a dark charcoal color of wool yarn, and the ribbon is gray, black, and white plaid. It'll be pretty if I ever finish it. It seems to be going really slowly. The pattern is HERE.

No Monkey Butt

Upon closer inspection of the photograph of Eli in that last post, it's not his butt (anus) that you see...it's his back paw! Hee-hee. How dumb of me.

I'm sorry I said you had a monkey butt, Eli!

More Thursday!

(Third post today)

Fletcher and Eli are all cuddled up with Abbey. All the little dogs love Abbey so much. They will be lost when she's gone. Abbey is a great cuddler. Her face is really soft and furry and kissable too.

I have no idea why Eli's butt looks like a giant monkey butt in this picture. (The correct word is anus, but I just hate that word!) I just checked, and it looks like a regular butt right now. I think it's because he has different colored hair around that area...just in case you were wondering.

Here is my Swiss Steak dinner simmering away. Recipe link is in prior post.

Super Stupid

(This is the second entry today. Scroll down and read the first one if you haven't read it already.)

So I needed to run to the grocery store to get some ingredients for supper. I take a shower, put on some make-up, dry and fix my hair, and dash out to the store, all in record time. I get my groceries and check myself out at self-checkout. Except when I get to the paying part, I don't have my wallet with me.

I call the girlie over and tell her what happened, she suspends my transaction and saves my bagged groceries for me until I can get back with my wallet.

I run to my car, dash home, and run in really quick and grab what I need and run out. I drive back to the store and park. I can't find my wallet. In my haste, I grabbed my glasses instead of my wallet. Doh!

So I drive back home, grab my WALLET, drive back to the store for the third time, and pay for my groceries. Like I said, Super Stupid!

***************************

When I got up this morning and looked in the mirror, this is what I saw above my lips. WTF?

Without Make-Up

I guess I must have bitten my lip during the night? I don't know. It's not like I've been making out either. How weird!

With Make-Up

Thank goodness for make-up. It doesn't look quite as bad. But really, what on earth?

Another Thursday

Our new washer & dryer were delivered Tuesday. I don't have anything to say about them except they're newer and prettier than the 18-year-old ones. Well, that's a big duh. If I weren't so worried about money lately, I'd have bought fancy front-loaders in a cool color. Alas, I am too skeered right now and we got the "old-fashioned" kind in white. BORING! I have a hard time even getting excited about them. I'm sure they work just as well as the new-fangled kind, and probably even better. We Americans are so spoiled! I should just be grateful I'm not going to the laundry mat every week to do my laundry. No, wait. I should be grateful that I even have clothes to wash & dry! There. That puts things into perspective.

I have a giant sirloin tip steak thawed out for dinner. I have no idea why I even bought it, and I also have no idea what to do with it. Maybe I should run in there and stick it in the crockpot with a can of soup & veggies? I don't know.

Please standby while I look around for a recipe...

Okay, I'm going to make Swiss Steak. That means I have to run to the store really quick for some green pepper, onion, and mushrooms. And that means I have to run. Bye.

Somtimes I'm Too Candid

So I have a problem in my nose...

I had a "burger" way up in my nose canal about three days ago that was hard, and I could feel it stuck up there when I was just sitting still. What do you do when that happens? That's right. You pick it out. You pick your nose. You all know you do it sometimes so stop acting so horrified that I said it.

So I picked my nose (very daintily, of course) and got it out. But it took a few times before it came unstuck, and I think I may have taken some interior nose skin out with it. That spot where I ripped the nose skin out with the little hard "burger" is extremely sore. So much so that when I just rub the outside of my nose for any reason (very daintily, again), I can feel the pain up in my nostril canal.

I have no idea why I just shared that with the world, but there ya go. I'm too busy to think of anything else. Bye.

2009 Hates Me

Can someone come over here and burn some sage all around my house, say three Hail Marys, sprinkle holy water, and do whatever else you can think of to run off the bad vibes or karma or whatever it is?

Short list:

Washing machine broke and leaked water everywhere. This is the second time. It's dead now for sure, and we need to get a new one. The washer & dryer are both 18 years old so we knew it could be any day, but still!

We had a flat tire in the truck this weekend (a nail was the culprit).

Sammi got sick last night and puked everywhere -- rugs, our bed, the floors, dog beds, new couch, etc. She seems fine this morning, but you never know with her. She's always had a weak tummy, and has been on her death bed with it before. Cleaning up all that stuff and washing sheets, etc. is when the washing machine decided it wasn't helping us anymore.

Of course, you all know about Little Boy, all my medical crap, and the promise of not a whole lot of work ($$) coming my way in the next few months from our best client.

I'm raising my head up and not letting all this stuff win. I will not be upset. I'm a bigger bitch than 2009! I hope.

Have a good one. I have things to do. Bye!

Eli's First Bath

This is after I blow-dried him.

I wish I had taken a picture while he was wet. He looked like an itty-bitty drowned rat. Barnaby was not here, though, and I didn't have enough hands.

One, Two, Three...Sing!

I made it through yesterday without blowing anything up. I also didn't clean up the pantry like I should have. My sweetie pie came home early and cleaned the entire mess up for me. It's not like I just sat and did nothing though. I busted my ass cleaning the house so it would look nice for his poker game. Not that it was a pig sty or anything. More like a dog sty. Ha-ha. It wasn't really that bad. My house cleaning lady was just here a few days before, but it doesn't take long for dog hair to be everywhere. I always like to say that dog hair is a condiment in my house. I forget where I first heard that line, but I promptly stole it for myself.

******************

I had an appointment with a speech pathologist today for a complete evaluation. And guess what I had to do? Among a lot of other silly verbal noises and recitations I had to make, I HAD TO SING! In front of him! And Barnaby was in the room too! I had to use a microphone and everything! GAH. I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown right there...

About an hour into the evaluation:

Speech Guy: Okay, now we need to do another exercise.

Me: Okay.

Speech Guy: Do you have a favorite song that you can sing?

Me: NO! Are you kidding me?!

Speech Guy: Ha-ha-ha! No, really. Think of a song and sing a little bit of it into the microphone.

Me: Oh, God. Will you two go outside while I do it?

(Speech Guy and Barnaby whoop it up, laughing. They aren't the ones that have to sing!)

Speech Guy: No, it'll be okay. Just sing a little of it. I need it for the evaluation.

Me: (Wringing hands but saying nothing. My face is flushed and my ears feel like they are are on fire.)

Speech Guy: Have you chosen a song?

Me: Yes.

Speech Guy: Okay, when you're ready, you can start.

Me: Okay, go.

Speech Guy: (Presses the record button on his computer)

Me: (I take a big breath and then burst out laughing into the microphone)

Speech Guy: I'm starting over. Here we go. (Presses the record button again and nods for me to begin.)

Me: (Eyes closed, I start singing) Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are...

(I make it all the way to the end of the song)

Speech Guy & Barnaby: (Silence)

Me: What?! Didn't I sing it right? Were those not the right words?

Barnaby: I don't know. I don't know the words to that song. I thought you would sing something more contemporary.

Me: Did you expect me to bust out with a Celine Dione song or something???

Barnaby: Well, no.

Speech Guy: You picked a good song. It was a good song.

(He looks at the sound waves on his computer that were made with my voice while singing and does a few calculations)

Speech Guy: Oh, we have problems here.

************************

I really don't want to discuss the details here of what could be going on until I get a definitive diagnosis on March 20th. (I have a preliminary diagnosis which I'm pretty confident in.)

Until then, I'm going to rest my voice as much as possible with little to no verbal communication and warm compresses to my throat. My instincts are telling me that this is what I need to do. I'd like to get a chest x-ray too. Seems to me like a common sense approach and something that should have been recommended early-on, but what do I know? We'll see.

I Love Lucy

I feel like I'm on the set of I Love Lucy this morning in my kitchen.

I went in the kitchen to bake a three-layer carrot cake with cream cheese icing for the guys coming over for Barnaby's poker game tonight. As I was gathering the ingredients for the cake, I noticed that the sugar container was near empty. I'm not talking about the big container, I'm talking about the one like you see in coffee shops that you just pick up and pour the sugar out of. The big container is the one I keep the bulk sugar in for baking, etc.

So I unscrew the lid of the small container and fill it with sugar from the big container.

Are you with me? It's fine. Everything is fine at this point.

I replace the lid to the big container of sugar and pick it up with my right hand, while I still have the small sugar container in my left hand, sans lid. I walk into the pantry and put the big container of sugar in its proper place. Then I noticed I hadn't gotten out the powdered sugar yet which I'll need for the icing. So I pick the 2-pound bag up with my right hand.

This is where everything starts to go to shit.

I pick up the bag of powered sugar, but I had apparently used a small portion of it at some point and it wasn't sealed properly before I put it back, and I picked it up with the open side down. The powdered sugar dumps onto the shelves and the floor of the pantry creating a white fog and a pretty white dusting over everything, not to mention the big pile on the floor. I'm still holding the small container of sugar as I try to upright the bag of powdered sugar, which is now empty so I don't know why I panicked and tried to use both hands to upright it in the first place. It was a knee-jerk reaction.

So I stare at the mess I've made, calmly walk out of the pantry and shut the door. I'll deal with it later. No sense getting upset.

I go to put the lid onto the small sugar container which I had filled up with sugar, except it's empty! What the hell? I open the pantry door to see that I must have dumped all the sugar out when I was trying to save the empty bag of powdered sugar and didn't notice because of the temporary panic I was in. So now I have two piles of different types of sugar all over the pantry floor.

Again, I stare at the mess I've made, calmly walk out of the pantry and shut the door. I'll deal with it later. I sort of chuckle under my breath at how stupid it must have looked. I wish I had a video of it. It's like looking at your watch while holding a cup of coffee and dumping the coffee out when you turn your wrist. Dumb.

I continue with the process of making the cake and getting it in the oven. I'm a little edgy because everything seems a little off and I keep making messes, but I'm not upset really. YET.

I go back into the pantry while the cake is baking to retrieve my Tupperware cake carrier with the lid. It's on the top shelf where I can't reach it. Instead of getting out the step stool and taking it down, I decide I'm going to jump up and bump it on the bottom with my fingers (the shelves are wire shelves), moving it ever closer to the edge with every jump and bump, until it falls into my waiting hands. What? It's always worked before.

But this time I must have spazzed out when it fell. As I reached up to grab it, I knocked a full 2-liter bottle of 7-Up that had never been opened off the shelf just underneath where the cake plate was. It fell approximately 5 1/2 feet from the shelf to the floor, bursting upon impact and spewing 7-Up all over the me, the pantry, and the floor, which was already covered in two kinds of sugar.

GAH!

"Lucy, you've got some 'splaining to do!"

I still haven't cleaned it up. I just walked out and shut the pantry door. My heart is still pounding as I type this. All my nerves are raw. I'm afraid to touch anything.

If I were still a drinker, which I'm not (thank you Jesus), I would go take a big belt or two of Jack Daniels. (Just typing that made my mouth water...once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic.) Instead, I'm going to go sit in the living room floor and love on the dogs awhile. They can always make me relax and laugh.

If I don't cause an explosion of some kind today that kills me, I'll talk at y'all tomorrow.

Thursday

I finished 11 more squares yesterday & this morning and have the tiny inner squares of 9 more done. I decided it was time to spend a little time making more squares for this blanket before I get behind. I really need to finish all the squares by October 31 so I'll have all of November to sew them together and all of December to crochet the edging. That means I need to finish an average of 33 squares per month through October. It takes a lot of time to do those little squares and weave in all those ends!

The rest of the morning I'm going to work on another afghan that's been in progress since last November. Then I have to work for a few hours starting around 2:00 this afternoon.

I put some hamburger meat out to thaw this morning. I have no idea what I'm going to make with it for dinner. I'm sure I can find some cans of stuff in my pantry to throw together with it and call it a casserole. I'm not going to worry about it until 4:00. If I give myself too much time to think about it, I'll start obsessing and end up making nothing because I can't decide on anything.

I don't have anything to talk about so here's some Random Stuff:

1. Thursdays have always been my favorite day of the week. I have no idea why. I just like them.

2. I need to drink lots more water.

3. My business partner and I have been informed that our biggest client will be drastically cutting down their work for us. The recession is upon us. That will mean a lot less impulse spending for me. I think I'll be able to save a lot of money at the grocery store. I buy way too much food anyway and don't really penny-pinch too much in that department. I could let my housekeeper go, but NO WAY! She's worth every penny. I'd rather eat beans and cornbread four days a week than let her go. So there.

4. It's still very weird when I think about Little Boy not being here. Having Eli around has definitely helped, but I still pause and think about him several times a day. The last two nights I've awoken (awakened?) during the night and reached back above my head to feel for Eli. He's been there, and it makes me smile because that's where L.B. always slept. I'd always reach up and feel for him and give him a little pat during the night. It's just a habit I got into because I was always afraid he'd fall off the bed and hurt himself because our bed sits up really high. Anyway, that's just a nice little moment for me in the dark of night.

5. I know I haven't mentioned this much, but I'm watching Lost and diggin' it. Sawyer is as hot as ever! By the way, I did have Sawyer on my list as a name for the puppy. Barnaby put the kabash on that really fast. He's no fun. And speaking of Sawyer, for those of you who watch Lost, here's something fun for you to watch for. In real life, Sawyer has a large tattoo of the Hawaiian Islands the stretches across this right side towards the front. If you look closely, sometimes you can see that it's covered up with make-up on the show. He's always running around without a shirt on. You would too if you looked as good as he does. Yummy.

6. Rachel Ray gets on my damn nerves.

7. My favorite store-bought cookies are Pepperidge Farm Tahiti Coconut cookies. So good!

8. I colored my hair again yesterday and it's no longer any shade of orange. Much better.

9. I'm wondering if I could talk Barnaby into letting me get a female Papillon puppy and start breeding and selling them. It would be a way to supplement my income while this recession stuff is affecting my paycheck, and it would be SO MUCH FUN for me. I really think he would let me if I asked really nice and did him a few extra "favors." Ah-hem. That's really devious of me, isn't it? I'm not stupid.

10. I have to go now because I'm spending all my crochet time on this computer.

Just Bang On It!

I think Blogger is screwed up today. My profile picture isn't showing up, and I can't upload pictures either.

Hello? Is anybody there?

I went into "Settings" and "Formatting" yesterday and changed something having to do with pictures. I can't even remember why I did it. I think it was something I read in "tips and tricks." I wonder if that screwed something up. I've reversed it today, but it's still not allowing me to upload pictures and my profile pic is still not showing up either. Hmm.

I used to work at a place where if the police radio in a squad car was messed up, the guy that was responsible for the radio maintenance and repair would say, "Did you bang on it? Try that and see if it works." I'm not kidding. He actually said that AND he was totally serious. It never worked, but every time anybody ever said anything about something not working, everybody who heard it would say, "Bang on it!" I still think of that every time something isn't working.

****************

I'm finished with the tote bag I was crocheting. I have to take it over to my mom's because she's going to put a lining in it for me. I'll post the pics when that's done.

I started the afghan for the Victory Junction Gang Camp charity. Here's the beginning of it:

Okay, that's weird. It let me upload that picture.

Are those some bright colors or what? They asked for bright colors, so that's what they're getting. I think it'll look better when I get more of the blue in it. I bet it looks cool under a blacklight. Groovy, man.

You can see all the completed afghans for this charity project at: http://sissiescrochetplace.blogspot.com/ Just keep scrolling down and you'll see them, then keep clicking on "older posts" at the bottom of each page to see them all.

Peace out.

Sorry, not much of a post today. I've had a headache all day. Bleh.

I stopped in at Target today after getting another x-ray of my neck for my doctor's appointment tomorrow. I was looking at some of the cutest little dog outfits. I finally got my wits about me and left that isle without buying anything. I refuse to be one of those people who dresses their little furr ball up like a cheerleader or something else stupid like that! It would have been cute on him though.

Excuse me while I go raid the medicine cabinet for something to get rid of this headache.

Crochet Stuff & Eli Pics

I crocheted a doll hat for my mom's friend. Eli was the perfect size to model it, but he wouldn't be still! The brim of the hat is supposed to be turned up.

If you look closely, you can see the silhouette of Sammi sitting on the back of the couch like a cat in the background. That's one of her favorite places to sit and look out the back door when I have it open.

Cell phone camera photo of Eli sleeping on his back on my sister's couch yesterday.

Barnaby got me the yarn this morning to make the charity blanket for the Victory Junction Gang Camp. I'm going to work on it today. You'll notice over in the sidebar that I did nine more little squares for the other blanket I'm working on. Now I have a nice, round number done.

We Have a Name!

We've decided to name him Elijah and call him Eli. Seems to fit him perfectly. Every time I say it I put the emphasis on the "e" sound, like Eeee-ly, and his ears perk up and he comes running. He's still so uncoordinated he falls over a lot though.

Janis, Romeo was one of the first names I thought of because of Valentines Day, and I also thought of Lucky because it was Friday the 13th when I got him. Vito was also one of the first names I thought of because I really like it. Nobody else agreed with me...until you. We think alike!

Patsy, I like Jazz or Jazzy, but the kennel where Nicki died was "The Jazzy Dog," so that one just hits a sour note still.

I think girl dogs are much easier to name.

Thanks for the suggestions! I'm going to stop thinking about it now before I change my mind.

Kewl Dog Names Please

All I get is one name from you people? Get crackin! Please?

This is exactly how Little Boy ended up with his name. At the time, he was the only boy-dog in the house and since I couldn't decide on a name, I kept calling him, "My little boy." It stuck. I keep calling this one "Pappy." Very original indeed...a Papillon named Pappy.

I have a cat named Kitty.

I rest my case.

My Valentine

This is our new baby boy. He is a full-blood Papillon. Estimated adult weight is approximately 7 lbs. He weights 2.5 today.

PLEASE SEND ME NAME SUGGESTIONS in the comment section or via email if you have it!! I've been driving myself insane looking through names. The only two names still on my list are Angus and Niko (pronounced Neeko). I'm leaning towards Niko. I really don't like regular dog names like Fido or Bear or Fluff Ball or whatever. No sissy names! (Like Little Boy wasn't a sissy name! Ha-ha.)

He's so sweet and furry, and his little paws are so pink! It's unbelievable how easily he just slid into the pack in the house. All the other dogs are careful and curious with him. He's so funny following them all around. He seems to be very independent at times, and has gone outside by himself several times. I've had the door open since the weather has been so nice all day.

You Gotta Laugh

I definitely wasn't laughing last night when it happened, but I am laughing about it this morning...

After watching 5 hours of the Westminster Dog Show over two nights, we had a really bad storm come over last night and the satellite TV went out at exactly 7 minutes before the show was over!! They were in the middle of judging the top 7 dogs to pick the champion, and the screen went black. GAH!! We searched frantically for a live feed on the computer to no avail. I even called my Mom & Dad because I knew my mom was watching it, but they couldn't get it either. (They're only about 3 miles away.)

And of course you know what happened? The satellite was restored at straight-up 10:00 when the show had ended!

I should have been much more concerned about the weather situation around us because there were tornados all around us, and I usually would have been, but I was too busy stomping around saying, "I can't believe it!" You couldn't have planned that any better to royally piss somebody off. That would make a good episode of Punked.


Anyway, I'm over it now and can see the humor in it. And I feel a little bit bad that I was all mad about a dog show when people were getting the roofs sucked off their houses at the same moment.

I turned the TV on this morning and within one minute I saw this:

"Stump, a Sussex Spaniel, who nearly died in 2004, won Best in Show at the 133rd Annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York City on Tuesday night – the oldest dog ever to receive the title."

He's a cutie.

Westminster!

Here is what I'll be doing tonight and tomorrow night:

2009 WESTMINSTER DOG SHOW

Monday, February 9
Live Telecast:
Monday, Feb 9 (7-8 PM Live Central Time on USA Network)

You’ll need to change the channel at 8:00 PM (Central Time) to CNBC:

Continuing Live Telecast:
Monday, Feb 9 (8-10 PM Live Central Time on CNBC)

Groups Being Judged:
Hound
Terrier
Non-Sporting
Herding

Tuesday, February 10
Live Telecast:
Tuesday, Feb 10 (7-10 PM Live Central Time on USA Network)

Groups Being Judged:
Sporting
Working
Toy

Followed by Best In Show Judging

Crochet Tote Bags

I'm in the process of making one of THESE BAGS today. I'm using gray and navy. Now that I've started it, I realize that it is exactly like the Dallas Cowboys' colors. I wish I had used some brighter colors now. Oh well, I'll just have to make more, won't I?

I wrote the creator of these bags and asked for instructions for "blocking the bottom." I have no idea how to do that. Maybe she means to iron it into the shape it's supposed to be? I don't know. I know how to block a doily, but it can't be the same process because that would just be weird. If anybody reading this knows how, please tell me. I don't know how long it will take to receive an answer. I'm just continuing on with the pattern in hopes I can go back and block it and it doesn't have to be done at any specific point. It's listed at the end of Row 8 on the pattern, so maybe I'll have to start over from that point. I'm clueless.

Aren't they pretty though?

Wow!

The Garlic Cheddar Chicken (recipe in a post earlier in the week) was fantastic! I highly recommend it...

Here's my assembly line when I made it for lunch today. I put a single breast in a gallon-size ziplock bag (leave the zipper open) and pounded it with a meat pounder thing-a-ma-jig. Don't pound it too thin or it will fall apart. Then I'd take the flattened breast out with my hands, dip it on both sides in the next plate with the melted butter and garlic, then I'd press it into the bread crumb/cheese mixture on both sides and place it in my casserole dish which I had sprayed with Pam. (I used the store-bought parmesan instead of grating fresh.)

I only made two breasts, so I cut the recipe approximately in half, and I didn't have much leftover to pour on top at all. Since my breasts were large (hee-hee), I used 1/2 stick of melted butter and a couple of Tbsp of pre-minced, jarred garlic. I just guestimated the amounts on the breading.

Here is what my two breasts (hee) looked like just before baking them. They were huge.

Here is the complete lunch: Garlic-Cheddar Chicken, Pea Salad, and a side salad made with iceberg, cilantro, cucumber, and green pepper.

Neither of us finished our chicken because they were really big pieces after pounding them out, so we have leftover chicken for later.

Definitely a keeper! Bye.

Chicken Enchiladas

By request, here is the chicken enchilada recipe I used yesterday. I got it from my sister in San Diego.

Chicken Enchiladas

Filling:
2 - 12.5-oz cans chunk chicken breast, drained
2 cups sour cream, divided (Light is fine)
1 small container cottage cheese (Low-fat is fine)
Monterrey Jack Cheese, shredded (As much as you like)
Cheddar Cheese, shredded (As much as you like)
1 pkg. dry Lipton Onion Soup Mix
1 – 4-oz can diced green chilies

Other:
1 – 20-oz can red enchilada sauce (I like Rosarita Brand)
Corn Tortillas

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix all filling ingredients using one cup of sour cream and ¾ of the shredded cheeses in a large bowl. The rest of the cheese will be used to sprinkle on top of the enchiladas once they are rolled.

Heat enchilada sauce in a saucepan on the stove. Dip each tortilla in the sauce and place it in your casserole dish. Put some chicken filling mixture on top of the tortilla and roll it up. Place it folded side down in the dish. Repeat with remaining tortillas. Top with reserved cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Serve with more sour cream on top.

Friday

I didn't get to make the Garlic Cheddar Chicken last night. I'll definitely let y'all know how it is when I get a chance to make it. I've spent the last couple of nights at my Mom & Dad's house helping my mom. She had a tiny "procedure" and needed some help at night getting up to go to the bathroom or whatever. My sister has been spending the days with her.

Anywho...I haven't gotten anything done or done anything interesting. I'm fixin' to make a couple of pans of chicken enchiladas -- I'm keeping one for us and taking the other over to them for dinner. I'm not sure if I'm staying over there again tonight or not.

I'm still missing Little Boy. I wish that heavy feeling in my heart would go away. I hate it. I have a couple of pictures that we took of him at the vet that day before he was put to sleep, but I haven't even seen them myself yet. I'll post them some day. I can't bear to look at them yet. Barnaby has them on his computer for safe-keeping until I think I'm ready to see them.

I can't think of anything else to write. Have a good weekend. Bye.

Just a Recipe

I'm making this for dinner tonight except I'm making lots less of it (just two breasts). Sounds good, no?

Garlic Cheddar Chicken

1/2 cup butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1/4 teaspoon dried parsley
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - pounded thin

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat, and cook the garlic until tender, about 5 minutes.
In a shallow bowl, mix the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, Cheddar cheese, parsley, oregano, pepper, and salt.

Dip each chicken breast in the garlic butter to coat, then press into the bread crumb mixture. Arrange the coated chicken breasts in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Drizzle with any remaining butter and top with any remaining bread crumb mixture.

Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

I Wanna Be Skinny Too

These pictures were in my Life & Style Magazine this week. Y'all know I like Tori. Look how thin she's gotten in just four months. I think she looks great. She was still a chub after after having her baby when I saw her picture in September. I wish I knew how she really did it!

I want to go live with a skinny person and do exactly what they do and eat exactly what they eat. I wonder if I would get skinny if I did that? I need to find a skinny woman and go ask her if I can follow her around 24-hours a day for five months. I have to ask. Otherwise, I'd be a crazy stalker woman.

I might already be a crazy stalker woman because I cut that picture out of my magazine for inspiration. Is that weird? Run, Tori, run!

*Sigh*

Okay, I guess I won't go ask anybody. That might be a little crazy. But I would still do it if someone would let me.

My whine for the day: I'm having these really weird and painful throat spasms today. My throat feels like it slams shut down by my voice box and IT HURTS when that happens. I was up nearly all night having coughing fits. My chest hurts because of it too.

What if it slams shut and doesn't open again? I will die, that's what. GAH. No, I'll take the ink part of a pen out and jam the other part in my throat and make a trach tube to breathe through. I saw that once on MASH.

I'm not crazy, YOU are.

Just Real Quick...

Barnaby made this picture of Little Boy the day he was put to sleep. I laid down to take a nap and when I got up, it was on his computer monitor. It made me burst out laughing and crying at the same time. Now it just makes me laugh. I hope it makes you laugh too. My Little Boy is up in the clouds now.

Just got back from the ENT doctor. He stuck a scope up my nose and down my throat and could see everything. The good news is that my voice box is not damaged. I have two granulomas on each side of my vocal cords. Your vocal cords come together when you speak, and mine are not able to come together because of the granulomas. They were caused by the tube down my throat during surgery rubbing against them. He's sending me to a speech therapist for about three appointments to give me some exercises that will help me speak without irritating them further, and he gave me some Prilosec to ensure that there is no acid coming up at night irritating them either. Without irritation, they may go away on their own. He wants to see me in six weeks. If they're not gone, then he'll have to go in and remove them. I have no idea how he does that. Hopefully I won't need to find out. He can't tell me whether or not my voice will always be like this. Time will tell.

There's more about the pain that's shooting from my throat to my ear, but it's just too long and involved to write down and I declined treatment for now anyway. It's not bad enough right now for me to go through a bunch of crap for it.

Gotta run!

Bitchin' & Moanin'

We picked up Little Boy's ashes yesterday morning. I bought that little dog at the drugstore for him the day before he died. He carried it around and guarded it with his life until we left for the vet. When you squeeze it, it says, "I love you, woof-woof!" To give you an idea of how small that cedar box is, that little dog fits in the palm of my hand. It's sitting on the bed Barnaby made for L.B. a couple of months ago.

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Moving on...

This tea is really good and feels great on a sore throat. I got it at Wal-Mart. There were about 20 different varieties for lots of different afflictions. I steep it for about two minutes in almost boiling water and then put a little shot of milk in it. No sugar needed because it's already plenty sweet.

My throat is still raspy & hoarse, and I'm still coughing and constantly trying to clear my throat since surgery. (It never does clear because I don't think there's any phlegm in there; it just feels like there is.) For about a week I've had a sharp stabbing pain that goes from my throat to my right ear every time I cough, clear my throat, or try to speak loudly or for a long time. It feels like nerve pain. (Believe me, I know that that feels like.) But because it's been over 7 weeks now, I have an appointment with an Ear, Nose & Throat specialist tomorrow at 10:45.

Of course you all knew I had to have something else be wrong with me. It's one thing after another.

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Moving on again...

When Barnaby and I went to pick up Little Boy yesterday, we took Fletcher with us. On the way home we stopped at a sandwich place to get a couple of sandwiches to take home. We discovered a brand-spanking-new dog park right next door and sat and watched all the dogs running around and having a blast. There must have been at least 50 people there with their dogs. There was a lot of different breeds, and it was fun to watch them all interact.

I decided we were going to take Fletch in and see how he acted. Surprisingly, he was very submissive and acted like a scarety-cat little girl for the first five minutes. When he decided none of the dogs were going to kill him, he let loose and ran around with the rest of them. He was so happy and had so much fun. I can't wait to take Sammi and Fletcher together. I may do that later today.

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Barnaby just got called into work. Those damn criminals are so self-centered. They couldn't wait for another day besides Super Bowl Sunday.

So I'm sitting here alone and I don't like it. I don't want any quiet time by myself because I know I'll get all upset over L.B. again and lose my shit and start crying. I think that's why I haven't crocheted either. All you do when you crochet is think, and I can't think right now. I need to sleep or do something.

I bought Kathy Smith's new book the other day. I guess I'll go in there and try to read it and make it stick.

My hair is still a stupid color. I know I said it was better, but it's not. Every morning I look in the mirror and I'm disgusted with it. I'm still growing it out, and it looks like crap because of that too. I got my Big Happie Hair thingies in the mail Friday. I think I'll go mess with it and see if I can make it look good with a headband.

Sayonara, friends.