Better

I'm feeling better today, and it looks like my throat is clearing up too. Barnaby came home early yesterday afternoon to keep an eye on the dogs so I could go to bed and sleep. And I did, and then I went to bed early last night and slept some more.

Between the nap and going to bed last night, I made this CABBAGE SOUP recipe. It was good, but I think it will be even better today. It makes a ton, so cut the recipe in half if you're not feeding an army.

I'm not very talkative today, so I think that's about all you're going to get outta me. Maybe I'll be back later. Bye.

Ugh. I don't feel good.

My Dumb-Looking Chicken

LOL

Does this even look like a chicken to y'all? Anybody?

That's what I thought too. And I did a crappy job of crocheting it. There are holes where there shouldn't be, and I think I did my decreases wrong. I think that's the problem. Barnaby thought it was a pinguin. Ha!

The only way I know to do decreases is to insert your hook in the first indicated stitch, yo and pull up a loop, insert hook in next stitch, yo and pull up a loop, yo, pull through all three loops. Isn't that right? Apparently not, because my chicken looks more like a bowling pin with hair. That's what happens when you crochet with a fever.

I used THIS pattern for a Chicken Welcome Sign, and just modified it to make a hotpad. I only made one panel of the main body so it's not very thick, but I'm glad I didn't waste my time because of the way it turned out. I also added the edging. I couldn't find a pattern for THIS one, which is why I made it in the first place. I think those are so cute. The person who made them has not given an answer as to where the pattern can be found.

Any suggestions or comments, good or bad, are welcomed. Go ahead and make fun of my funky chicken. It makes me laugh every time I look at him. I may keep him just for that reason.

Nothing has changed with my throat. It's no worse and no better. I don't feel all that bad. I'm just more tired than normal (if that's possible without being dead) and have a sore throat that looks yucky.

The very mean people at the clinic yesterday insisted on weighing me. How dumb. I said, "Do you really need to weigh me for a sore throat?" And the very flamingly gay nurse said, "Yes." Hmphf. He really was a nice guy though. I'm sure he wouldn't be offended by that comment. Of course, their scales were WAY OFF on the heavy side. It weighed me 13 lbs heavier than my scales just three days ago. Why are doctors' scales always like that? 13 lbs! That's crazy.

That's my story and I'm sticking with it.

I'm Sick

I woke up this morning with a sore throat, and when I looked at it in the mirror with a flashlight, I knew I was in trouble. It has red and white splotches all over it. Being Saturday, I didn't want to wait until Monday to go see my doctor, so I went to a clinic. I have a temp of 100, and they tested for Types A & B Flu and Strep. All were negative so they assume it's a virus. And I was told a virus can last 10-15 days. Oh joy.

I came home and promptly changed right back into my PJs, where I plan to stay the rest of the weekend. Maybe I'll change into clean ones, and maybe I won't. Right now I don't care.

Wish me a speedy recovery, and wish my sweet hubby an easy time taking care of the dogs while I'm sidelined. I'll be back when I'm feeling better.

OMG -- Yum!

Peanut Butter Sheet Cake w/Peanut Butter Frosting

Uncut Version

I'd like to make up for the blunder I made the other day when I posted the Pumpkin Bread recipe that turned out to be not so great.

This one has been tested on my mom & dad, my sister, and myself. It's fantastic. I wouldn't change a thing. This is a really terrific cake.

The problem is I printed this out several days ago, and I can't remember where I found it! It's not the one listed on All Recipes' Website, and I checked a few others but couldn't find where I got it from. I saw a bunch of recipes with the same name, but none of them were exactly the same as this one. I'll be happy to give credit where it's due if this is someone's original recipe and will let me know.

Peanut Butter Sheet Cake

2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sour cream
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup butter
1 cup water

Frosting:

1/2 cup butter
2/3 cups creamy peanut butter
6 tablespoons milk
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine sugar and flour in a large bowl and set aside. In a medium bowl mix eggs, baking soda, and sour cream well. Set aside. In a small saucepan combine peanut butter, butter, and water. Bring to a boil. Add the boiled mixture to the flour mixture. Beat with electric mixer on medium-low. Add sour cream mixture and mix until well combined. Pour into a 15x10 inch sheet/jellyroll type pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake 20 minutes or until done. Test by inserting toothpick in the center of the cake. (Mine took 18 minutes.)

Frosting:
Combine the butter, peanut butter, and milk in a saucepan. Bring to a boil stirring constantly. Add the powdered sugar and the vanilla. Mix well. It will be thick. Pour over cake while both are still warm. I poured the frosting over the middle of the cake slowly and spread it to within 1/4 inch of sides. None of it ran over that way. Let cool, slice, and serve.

More of Me-Me-Me!

Good heavens, I had a horrible day yesterday emotionally. I cried all morning because, boo-hoo, poor me, blah-blah-blah. None of it was real, but it felt real at the time.

Do you want to know what the problem is?

No?

Well, too bad, cuz I'm saying it anyway...

About a month ago, I had the BIG bright idea to wean myself off of a certain medicine I'm taking. You know, the one I've talked about before that keeps me from thinking everyone hates me and I hate them too, and I get panicky in social situations, and I'm a bitch one minute and all lovey-dovey the next, and I hate myself, and I get depressed, and I marry some guy and move to Boise, Idaho, and I'm just generally insane?

Yeah, that one.

Well, I got myself down to 75 mg per day instead of the 225mg I was taking with no perceived problems other than I wasn't leaving the house much (which I normally don't do anyway, but it was a tad worse). There were probably other things going on that I didn't notice myself.

And then two days ago happened and all hell broke loose inside my head. I guess. I don't know. Anyway, I've been on an emotional roller coaster and rather crazy the last three days. Good thing I don't go anywhere.

So the next time I am struck with what I think is a moment of brillance and think I don't need my medicine anymore, I hope I remember this. Nobody else can remind me because I didn't tell anybody this time and probably won't the next time either. Not even Barnaby knew.

(I just had to stop typing because a dog just shit underneath my desk. You wish you were me, don't you?)

Anyway, where was I? Oh, yeah. I just read this and sound crazy. I'm really not, though...maybe.

Okay, enough of that.

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

Speaking of cleaning up dog shit...my cleaning lady just told me that last time she was here, she watched Fletcher hike his leg and pee on a corner wall. And then he went over to her basket of rags, picked one out, and took it over to his pee puddle and dropped it on top!

I'm telling you, he's making himself sandwiches and popping popcorn at night while we're asleep. I just know it.

Mr. Smarty-Pants Fletch says, "Don't listen to her, Momma. She's lying!"

Warning: I'm in a BAD Mood

I still don't have an Internet connection on my regular computer. I also don't have email, so if you've emailed me in the last 2-3 days, I haven't been able to read it.

We had burritos for dinner last night made from some of the leftover taco salad meat and beans. They were really good. And I still have enough leftovers for taco salad today for lunch! That one original meal really stretched a long way. We're having fish for dinner tonight.

I ordered a cookbook last Friday that I saw on one of the local morning TV shows last Friday. It has what looks like some good fish recipes, so I'm going to try one of them tonight. The cookbook is called, "Simply Too Good To Be True" (American Version) by Annette Sym.

I ordered two other cookbooks the same day, but I haven't received them yet. I ordered them "used" through Amazon.com. I ended up only paying $2 & $3 (plus $3.99 shipping) for the others, and about $7 for this one. I love ordering used books. They're so much cheaper, and I've never been able to tell they're not new.

Medical Comments Ahead (Skip this part if you don't want to hear about it. It's really only for me anyway.)

My throat is worse now than ever. I had a choking incident with food last weekend, and since then, I'm having the painful spasms again and my voice is more hoarse than ever. I can feel my epiglotis "sticking" when I swallow. It's like it's having trouble opening and there's a slight delay until it opens.

I'm sick of hearing everyone say how, "It's just from the surgery," "It's normal," "It'll go away on its own," etc. I'm calling BULLSHIT on that. Because of that response, or lack of any response at all, I'm not talking to anyone about it anymore. I will, however, be writing about it here because this is my journal/diary, and that's what it's for.

I cancelled my appointment with the ENT last week, going along with the assumption that it'll eventually go away on its own, but now I'm thinking that was a big mistake. I'm very conflicted as to what to do right now.

Please do not leave a comment on this subject. Thanks.

The Granny Afghan Lives!

This was one of the first things I ever crocheted a few years ago. It's been in a bag stored up in a closet because I didn't want to use it and get dog hair on it. Well, sca-rew that! I decided today that I was taking it out and using it, dog hair and all. It's certainly not being enjoyed up in the closet.

I haven't crocheted today to calm my nerves, but I've laundered every stitch of anything I could find: dog blankets and beds, rugs, sheets, comforters, and the list goes on. It's made me feel better to clean everything. Go figure.

Excuse me while I go check out those pictures of Josh Holloway again. I think I'd faint dead away if I ever saw him walking down the street. Yes, I'm 13 years old. Shut-up-a-your-face.

Oh the Stress

I'm stressing out today with computer problems and work. I should be calm now because everything is done, but I'm still all jumpy. A man just walked by my kitchen window and nearly scared me to death. He was out there working on the neighbors lawn, but in the moment, he was a killer-rapist-convict out to get me. Lordie, I need to calm down.

The taco salad for dinner last night was fantastic. I just had it again for lunch and it was just as good. I kept everything separate instead of mixing it all together, because I knew there would be leftovers and I didn't want them to be all soggy. There's still plenty left for several more servings.

I think I'll go crochet for awhile and settle down. The computer problems can wait. I think the problem is with the wireless connection and we'll have to go buy a new wireless thing-a-ma-jig before it will work anyway, and I'm not going anywhere today. No way. I'm using the kitchen computer to make this entry. It's working fine. I don't have access to my email though, and that kind of bugs me. I guess I could go through the trouble of accessing it here, but what a hassle. It can wait too.

Oh, I wanted to mention Lost, which we watched on TIVO last night. Sawyer was on a lot in this episode, and lordie is he good looking or what? I was swooning and kept saying, "He's so good looking! Look at him! That hair! Those dimples!" I love me some Sawyer.

So...for your viewing pleasure, but mostly mine:

Yes.

Yes-Yes!

YES!

You're welcome. I don't know about y'all, but I need a cigarette. Hee-hee. I feel much better now.

I Should Be Working

But I'm here goofing off!

We're having taco salad tonight for supper. I saw the recipe on Mommy's Kitchen the other day, and I've been craving it ever since. I stopped and got everything I need at the grocery store while I was out running approximately 1 million errands today.

I'm NOT complaining, but someone opened the floodgates on work the last two days and we got a bunch of stuff in. Whoever opened them up and close them now. We have plenty to keep us busy this week. Thanks.

I weighed again Saturday morning and I'm still horrified. It just keeps on creeping up there! Stop it! It's overwhelming me, and I'm freaked out. I guess freaking out is the theme-of-the-day today.

I love this. Give it a listen...it'll make you laugh.

About That Pumpkin Bread...

I hope I’m not too late to tell y'all that I was disappointed in this bread. I may have baked it too long, as it was kind of chewy and tough on the bottom. (I forgot to set the timer.) Also, I think next time I will make it ¼ cup applesauce and ¼ cup oil. It won’t be as “light” but will maybe have a better texture. It does taste better to me this morning.

I have a busy day today. I'm already freaking out. I need to breathe and relax. I don't have to do it ALL today, although I feel like I do. That's just how I am when I have a To-Do list. Gah!

Baths & Bread

Or Papillons & Pumpkin...

I found a rat in the garage and thought I'd give him a bath.

Light Pumpkin Bread

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1/2 cup apple sauce

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1-1/2 cups and 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/3 cup chopped pecans, optional

2-3 Tbsp white sugar, optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x5 inch loaf pan.

In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin, applesauce, sugar, and eggs. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves; stir into the pumpkin mixture until well blended. Place batter in the prepared pan.

Optional Topping: Mix together about 2-3 Tbsp sugar and 1/3 cup chopped pecans. Sprinkle evenly over batter.

Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Sweaty Sunday

I know better than to get up and immediately take a shower when it's above 70 degrees, but I did it anyway. Everything starting nice and quiet, but then I had two giant glasses of iced coffee and got antsy. I vacuumed the house, moving furniture as I went. My hair is dripping with sweat, because if I haven't told you 100 times already, I sweat like a pig. Thank you for those lovely genes, Daddy.


So I've showered twice already and my butt is nice and powdery-fresh again. We're fixin' to watch the NASCAR race at Bristol, my favorite track.


You guys need to go over to My Sister's Etsy Shop and nose around and buy something. Here's a sneak peek at what you'll see...

Large Filigree Heart Suncatcher

Mosaic Birdhouse

(So cool!)

Mosaic Serving Tray

(I'm getting a turqoise & white one. You can special order whatever you want. She even made me a mosaic cake stand made with plates I had bought at an antique store.)

Close-up of Mosaic Tray

I'm off to the races! Have a great Sunday.

Little Maiden Sundress

I finally finished my "fancy" crochet project I was so cryptic about the other day. I bought the pattern at Crochet Garden. It's called, "Little Maiden Sundress."

$$$

I'm really busy at the moment with work, but I wanted to pop in and say that I am absolutely thrilled at the moment because I just heard from our tax lady. Good news! Yea!

I hope you all get good news too. Bye.

Finished Tote & Purse

I just realized today that I never showed y'all the finished tote or the linings that my mother put in it and the yellow purse. Here they are:

This tote is huge!

Again, HERE is where you can find the Stylin' Tote pattern.

I love the lining my mom chose for it.

And the purse lining too. Very tropical, beachy, and sunshiney!

Go HERE for the Pretty Purse pattern.

Nanner Bread

I just finished having a piece of this warm banana bread for breakfast. Yum!

Nanner Bread

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 medium bananas, sliced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or spray a 9 x 5 loaf pan.

In a large bowl, stir together the melted butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla, mix well. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt, stir into the butter mixture until smooth. Finally, fold in the sour cream, walnuts and bananas. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.

Bake for 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool loaf in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Hot-Hot-Hot!

I was at the hospital yesterday because my dad was having back surgery. I swear...our family and our bad backs! He did great and will hopefully get to come home today. He's having no pain and even got up and stood up for awhile yesterday evening.

I made a second trip to Hobby Lobby today. I'm crocheting something fancy, and I changed my mind about the color. I hope to be finished with it tomorrow or Thursday.

It's in the 80s today and I'm HOT. I'm all sweaty just from the trip to Hobby Lobby and the grocery store. Oh, and I went to Starbucks too. I had to try a Chai Latte because I read in one of my magazines that it's Eva Longoria Parker's favorite. I didn't even know they existed. It was good, but a little too sweet for my liking. I need to tell them to put only half of the syrup, but I hardly ever remember. It was hot and made me sweat too.

I bought a bunch of plastic flowers to put in my hanging baskets on the back porch. You can see them hanging on the arbor when you drive down the street in the front of the house. They looked really pretty last year, so I wanted to do it again this year. Hobby Lobby has great fake flowers and plants, and they don't burn up and die in one day during the summer. I swear you can't tell they're fake until you get right up on them. My mom even puts them in her front yard flowerbeds, and they look great. They do need to be changed out with new ones every year because they get bleached out from the sun and weather...kind of like me.

We're having baked fish (Talapia) with potatoes and broccoli for dinner. The fish is yummy just baked with a little dab of butter and salt & pepper, and steamed broccoli and boiled red potatoes go great with it. AND the potatoes have lots of potassium.

I just got word from my sister that my Dad is home from the hospital, so they did let him go earlier than expected. Yea!

I'm on my way to turn on the air conditioner. Bye.

Too Cute

Updated with a better picture of the Dress Dishcloth, and I added the Pineapple Dishcloth.

Little Dress Cotton Dishcloth & Pineapple Dishcloth

Little Dress Pattern: HERE

I made this little dress in about an hour and a half this morning. It was easy and fun. The colors look washed out in this picture, and something went weird with the top ring. This was the only color I had of cotton yarn other than white.

The pineapple pattern was so horrible and full of mistakes, I'm not even going to link you to it. It's so frustrating to start a pattern like that. With the few years experience I have, I can usually tell when something isn't right when I start really reading the pattern, thank goodness. Otherwise, this would have been a big mess and I'd have been crazy and cussing like a sailor instead of enjoying myself.

I don't think I'd ever really use either of these as a dishcloth, but they were fun to make. If you really want the pineapple pattern, leave your email address in the comments and I'll try to fix the pattern as much as I can and send it to you.

Specially For Patsy & Alla

I hope I spelled Alla's name right. Anyway, I found this today and thought you'd both enjoy it since you both do mosaic stuff...

It's a mosaic house in Santa Monica, California.

The blog with commentary on each photo is here: L.A. Is My Beat: ANOTHER Mosaic House

The Diagonal Box Stitch Afghan Pattern

I have three crochet afghan projects in progress. The newest one is done in a diagonal box stitch pattern, which I've never done before. I think it may end up being my favorite pattern to do so far...not so much for the looks of it, although it's very nice, but I just like doing it. It's different, even though it's mostly only Double Crochets, Chains, and Slip Stitches.

Here is a Box Stitch Tutorial. I found it after I had struggled through on my own. It's another one of those patterns that doesn't seem like you're doing it right until you get a few rows done, at least for me.

Here is a picture of a finished one that was posted on Crochetville the other day:

Credit for this photo and afghan goes to Bearland53 over at Crochetville.

And here's a totally different-looking one that is made using the exact same pattern, just different colors and row variations:

I got this picture HERE (pdf file), along with the pattern. You won't find the pattern using the link in the Crochetville post.

Mine looks more like the first one, but you can't see it until it's done. No peeking! I'm using Bernat Berella "4" in Dark Oxford (Gray), which is impossibly soft, and RHSS in Ranch Red (a deep brick red). It's purdy. Barnaby has already claimed it as his because he likes it so much. I'll definitely be making more afghans with this pattern. It seems to work up very quickly.

Results

*Chest x-ray: Normal

*Vitamin D: Still low, even though I take 2,000 mg a day. (Giving me an Rx-strength to take 2 weeks again).

*Potassium: Low (Not extremely low like it was about a year ago, but still low. Says eat more bananas. I already eat at least one a day. I'm looking to see what other foods have lots of potassium and eat more of those too.)

*Gave me an Rx for inhaler of Albuterol to see if that helps the cough. Been taking every six hours when awake since Wednesday afternoon and see no difference yet. I think it's doing nothing but keeping me from sleeping well. Albuterol can do that.

I still have an appointment on the 20th with the ENT specialist to see if the granulomas are any better. Voice is the same. Spasms are the same. I'm sure the granulomas are the same too, but we'll see. I get to see them this time on a video scope thingy. That should be interesting.

Now that I have shared my personal medical crap with the whole world as usual, I'll move on.

Hmmm...except there's nothing to move on to! I'm boring.

Newlyweds has a Sweet Bean Burritos recipe on her blog. Click the link and check it out. I'm definitely trying it.

Here's a list of high-potassium foods I found:

Apricots, dried 10 halves 407
Bananas, raw 1 cup 594
Beets, cooked 1 cup 519
Brussel sprouts, cooked 1 cup 504
Cantaloupe 1 cup 494
Lima beans 1 cup 955
Melons, honeydew 1 cup 461
Milk, fat free or skim 1 cup 407
Orange juice 1 cup 496
Potatoes, baked, 1 potato 1081
Prune juice 1 cup 707
Prunes, dried 1 cup 828
Raisins 1 cup 1089
Spinach, cooked 1 cup 839
Tomato products, canned 1 cup 909
Winter squash 1 cup 896
Yogurt plain, skim milk 8 ounces 579

Scalloped Flair Potholder & Diamond Dishcloth

I made these last night while waiting up for Barnaby Jones. They are looking for some bad guys, and he was out until 1:00 a.m. on a stakeout. When he's out late on stuff like that, I worry and try to keep myself busy. I guess I wasn't too worried because when he called during the season premier of Ghost Hunters, I told him I had to go and would call him back when it was over. Ha-ha.

Since I made both of those out of acrylic yarn, I'm going to be using them or gifting them as hotpads. I didn't have any cotton yarn other than pastel baby colors, and I wasn't in the mood for those.

I'm not sure what I'm going to work on today. I need to psych myself up to work on an almost-finished afghan. I only need four more squares before I can finish sewing them together and do the border. I hate it when I have trouble being motivated to finish up something I've spent hours and hours on. I don't know why that happens.

I'm going to eat breakfast and work on that.

Rainy Wednesday

It's been raining and cold outside all day. I love it, but I can't seem to wake up. I've been a sleepy-head all day.



I went to a doctor appointment this morning to get my Vitamin D level checked. I requested a chest x-ray while I was there, and he wrote me an order. So that's taken care of. Nobody has called yet, so I guess I don't have an obvious huge black hole in there. (They should have checked my heart for that. Ha-ha. I'm kidding.) He gave me a prescription for an inhaler to use for the cough just to see if it helps.



When I got called back from the waiting room to the exam room, I walked really fast and didn't slow down near the scales. It worked. Nobody tried to weigh me like they always do. I've been worrying over that one since yesterday. Seems stupid now, but I just really didn't want to. I'm sure I'm not hiding a thing. They have eyes.

I bought this big jug of grapefruit at Walmart the other night. I was craving grapefruit, and it is SO GOOD. I paid $6.98 for it (64 ounces), which I thought was expensive until I saw that a bag of six small grapefruits was also $6.98. By the time I peeled them and sectioned them, I don't think I would have gotten as much as is in this jug, so I went back and got it. I'm glad I did because I've really enjoyed eating a bowl every day.

That's all. Bye.

Yawn

I'm up early to go to breakfast with my Dad at iHop. Yum. I think I'll eat a pancake or two.

Speaking of pancakes, I got a pair of GIANT jeans like I told you I was going to yesterday. They are men's carpenter jeans, and man are they roomy and comfy! Ahhhh...

It's very dangerous to do that. Hope I don't grow into them! Bye.

Boring Things

There's nothing happening around here today. I have no work as of yet, and I haven't been in the mood to crochet today. It's supposed to be 83 degrees today and it's already humid and uncomfortable. I just turned on the air conditioner again a little while ago. Looks like that soup weather I'm waiting for will be here Wednesday through Sunday with highs in the 40-50s. I can't wait.

I gave Eli a bath and blow-dry this morning. I'm taking him over to my mom's for a visit this afternoon and wanted him to look clean and fluffy. I want to look clean and fluffy too, so I took a bath and gave myself a blow-dry and make-up.

I cut a little over an inch off the back of my hair because it was just a thin layer of fringy stuff that had grown out and was flipping out all over the place. Now it looks nice and straight back there and can grow out without another trim for many months.

I think I'm going to go buy some GIANT jeans today. I'm tired of stuffing myself into too-small ones and being uncomfortable all the time. Most people would go on a diet, but I'm just buying bigger jeans! So there. I'm still too disgusted with the whole diet and weight thing. GIANT jeans here I come.

Why don't you make another batch of cookies too, Pam? Okay, I will, Smart-Ass.

Sunday Cookie Recipe

White Cranberry Macadamia Cookies

I made these cookies today. (I used pecans & Craisins.) They're good and easy! The recipe is HERE. It's a good source for lots of recipes too!

Hearts Around Doily

Pretty Pink "Hearts Around Doily"

Designed by Terri Kroupa

I started and finished this doily today. I wasted about an hour doing it wrong and ripping it out to start over. It's made with Red Heart sport-weight yarn in baby pink and white. I have a weakness for crochet patterns with hearts. Have you noticed?

People, Please!

See? There I go writing something that offends someone again! Good Lord. To get to her blog, just click on the title link below.

Beansieleigh said...
stealing... borrowing... whatever you want to call it... I guess I should be flattered. It would just be nice if you could have mentioned the blog/writer from where/whom you got this from. I was VERY surprised to wake up to this, this morning! I certainly would have given reference or link to YOU, and/or YOUR blog.

My response:

Wow. The only person who deserves credit for this is Dr. Seuss himself, and I did that. It's available ALL OVER the place.

I didn't steal anything of yours.I'm sorry if I offended you, but you may want to rethink your stance on this one. I was using the term "stole" loosely when I said that on my blog. I have never "stolen" anything from anyone without giving credit, and I never would.

I would be happy to link to your blog if you'd like. I enjoyed looking around here last night. I think I got to it via Faith's blog, but I'm not sure on that.

Again, I'm sorry I offended you.

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

And here are a few more sites where you can find this exact same quote...Just in case they want to get their panties in a wad about not being linked.

Dr. Seuss

Dr. Suess

Dr. Suess

Dr. Suess

The list could go on and on.

You Go, Dr. Seuss

I totally stole this from someone else's blog, but I liked it so much, I had to have it for my own. Lord knows, I say what I feel all the time. But afterall, it is MY blog. I think I'll post this as part of the title of my blog.

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."

Theodore Seuss Geisel
Better known as, "Dr. Seuss"

Nothing Friday

I've got nothing for you today except new pictures of Eli...

He'll be 10 weeks old on Sunday.

We're waiting for our Friday night pizza to be delivered. Same old stuff around here. All I did today was crochet and mess with the dogs. I had Beef-a-Roni from a can for lunch and liked it.

Barnaby plans on doing yard work tomorrow, and I don't have any plans yet. When and if it cools down some, I plan on making a pot of Chicken Soup. I got everything to make it at the store, but it's just been too warm for soup. It's been in the 80s.

Blogger is being stupid again with the spacing issue.

Have a great weekend.

VJGC Blanket

It measures 3' x 4.5'

I used parts of 4 different patterns to make this blanket, and the yarn is Red Heart Super Saver.

Helloooo!

TUESDAY:

There's a new link over in my sidebar for a blog I found called Mommy's Kitchen. Go check it out. There are lots of recipes over there.

I'm taking it easy today. I'm feeling it in my neck and right arm after working outside yesterday. It's not bad with a dose of Tylenol, but it is noticeable. The backyard and porch sure do look a lot better though.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT:
I started that blog entry thinking I'd come back to it later in the day but never did. I've been furiously crocheting trying to finish that afghan I'm donating to Victory Junction Gang Camp. I should finish it up in the morning. I did a more elaborate border than I should have if I wanted to hurry up and finish, but it looks good. I know I'll be glad I did it when it's done.

I think the afghan turned out really well after the way it started. I really hated those bright neon colors. I've taken a little bit here and a little bit there from several patterns just according to how the mood stuck me when I felt it was time to change it. I'll post a picture tomorrow so y'all can see it. It's nothing I would want for myself, but I think a sick kid will love it.

Update on the throat: I've not been mentioning anything about it so as not to jinx myself. My throat was doing so well last week, and then all of the sudden, it was back again with a vengence yesterday without any apparent provocation. Today it's even worse. I sound like a 3-pack-a-day, 30-year smoker with an annoying hack-hack-hack. Very attractive. The spasms are also still there, but they're not painful like in the beginning. I can live with them.

Spring is Near

Surprise! I'm talking about something besides dogs, crochet, medical woes, and picking my nose!

Since we have no work today, for some reason I got all motivated to clean out the back garden closest to the house in the backyard. That's where the giant Lantanas were last year. When I dug out the roots, there was a bunch of green underneath the ground growing out of the roots. If I had left it alone or just cut it level with the ground, it probably would have come back. I don't have the patience for that and I had already yanked it out, so out with the old and in with the new! I'm just not sure what the new will be yet. I'm going to put some Rosemary in there for sure this year, but I'm not sure what else yet. Rosemary is my absolutely favorite plant (herb) in the world.

I'm doing all of this 5 or 10 minutes at a time and then coming in to rest so as not to strain my neck or back, because we all know what a delicate flower I am. If I get the backyard garden done, I'm going to move on to the sideyard garden. That one is a much bigger mess and is really in need of a good cleaning out. I'm thinking I may try to grow a few tomatoes over there this year. Spring is definitely in the air. Not that we ever really had a winter at all.

We'll make all the planting decisions later. And by "we" I mean me. Ha-ha. For now I just need to get the grounds ready.

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I'm still growing my hair out. I haven't been tempted to cut it yet. I know as soon as it gets 110 degrees in the shade I'll want to though. I have to be strong! I WILL NOT CUT IT! If I can get it long enough to stay in a ponytail easily, I'll have it made. When it's long, I have to have it pulled out of my face because otherwise it drives me crazy. Right now it's in the tiniest ponytail you can imagine while I work outside. It's mostly held up there with bobby pins.

I'm taking a couple of boneless chicken breasts out of the freezer right now. I'll probably do something easy like browning them a little and then baking them with a little jarred spaghetti sauce on top with some parmesan cheese. We like that really well, and it's quick.

I finished our tax paperwork and just stuck it in the mail to our CPA this morning. It's been ready for 3 weeks, but I just never seem to get around to dropping it off at her house even though she only lives about 5 minutes from me.

That's about all going on around here. Y'all have a good one.

Sunday Crochet

I saw an afghan made with 12 of these squares today and was on a mission to find the pattern. I found it HERE, with help from my Crochetville friends, and made my first one today while watching the NASCAR race. Mine measures 13 1/2 inches. I placed a quarter next to it so you could see how huge the square is. The only way I could get the cabled hearts to show up was to not use the flash on my camera. That's why it's so dark. The hearts look a little wonky in the picture, but they're really not. I promise! There are lots of other wonderful square patterns on Chris Simon's site.

I worked nearly all day yesterday on the Victory Junction Gang Camp afghan. I wanted to make the last few rounds look like black on white tire treads (or zig-zag) using a pattern from one of my pattern books. It took me two hours to figure the pattern out! Grrr. Turns out I was doing it right all along, but you can't tell that until you get 3-4 rounds done. By the time I figured it out, I was over it and wanted something new to work on today. This one was fun to do.