A Poem

I bet you think I wrote a poem, don't you?

WRONG!

One of my big sisters is very involved in a "Military Brat" group. She wrote this poem and got it published on their website, Military Brat Life. I just love it! And if you are a military brat like we were, you'll definitely relate to her poem.

I love you, Patsy, and I'm so proud of you!

DANDELION
(The official flower of the Military Brat)

Dandelion you’re like me
Set adrift to ride the breeze
Drifting here and settling there
To grow as if you have no care
Only those like you will know
The sudden rush to rise and go
On any current you will flow
On any weathered wind you’ll blow
In any sea, on any tide
On any ground, you will abide
And you never do decide
Just where you’ll go, or how you’ll ride
Around the world, among all kinds
Flying with no tie that binds
Always leaving friends behind
Trying not to show you mind
Dandelion I’m like you!
Of my future, I’ve no clue!
I put down roots that have no glue
So I’ll move to somewhere new.

~ Patti Neal Cadwallader 2009

(This poem was published here without permission, but maybe my own sister won't sue me! If you want to post it somewhere though, I suggest you ask her first! Copyright laws demand it. You can reach her through the Military Brats Website linked above. All Rights Reserved.)

Blabber-Mouth

I know this is a terrible picture, but I wanted to share it anyway because I thought it was funny. I altered it to block out everyone's face so they wouldn't be recognized. I hate to put people's faces on the internet without their knowledge.

We had a little get-together this weekend to eat and watch the city's fireworks show which you can see perfectly from our backyard. While we were eating, I left the table to go get my camera and snap a few pictures. When I returned, Fletcher had assumed my position at the table and was sitting there like a big boy being perfectly well-behaved and listening to the conversation...

Hee-Hee!

I almost felt bad making him get down, but I did.

Fletcher has still got the rash. And not only that, but Sammi is losing the hair on her toes! What in the world? We are not using anything different on the lawn, which would be the obvious place to start. There are no new plants or anything like that. As far as food, I did start adding some of the Gaines Burger-type stuff to their lamb & rice dry food once a week, but I started that at least twoor three months ago. I'm going to stop doing that and see if it helps at all. Food issues usually take awhile to show up and awhile to go away, so it'll be about a month before I'll know if it's working or not. Until then, I need to stock up on liquid baby Benadryl.

I slept ALL DAY yesterday, all night the night before, and all night last night. I've forced myself to stay awake today (except for a nap). I'm not taking any medicine that might make me sleepy so I don't know what's up with that. I hate feeling so tired and lazy. It's probably the heat. Good Lord, it's been HOT. Hot as in 100+ every day for a week. I think a "cool front" came through today and it's only supposed to be mid-90s, but I'm not going outside to find out.

Something weird is going on with my coffee too. I haven't been able to drink any the last two days because it tastes like ass. No ass for me, thank you. I normally have several glasses of iced coffee a day. I haven't had any coffee for two days, yet I haven't had a caffeine headache either. Hmm... It's definitely not helping my sleepy-headedness not being able to drink any.

Barnaby has been having Vietnamese coffee the last couple of weeks. He always has it when he goes out for lunch and decided to buy him a Vietnamese coffee press and make it at home too. Apparently a Vietnamese coffee press is different than a French coffee press, but I can't tell why except that the Vietnamese one is smaller and you're supposed to use the Chickory-type coffee in it. You use the press to make your coffee, then you ice it and mix it with sweetened condensed milk. Maybe I'll have him make me one of those when he gets home and see if it tastes any better to me. How can it not with sweetened condensed milk in it? We'll see. I'll give you my review once I've had some. I usually don't like my coffee sweet, but neither does he so maybe it'll be good.

OH MY GOD, Y'ALL! Did you know Michael Jackson died?? Good Lord, could we get on with it please and shut-up about it already?

Who watched my boyfriend, Shepard, on his news show today at 2:00 Central? I loved it. He spent nearly the whole show calling a car chase that was happening here in Dallas. I felt like he was nearly at my house. *Sigh*

And my other boyfriend (shh!), Anderson, will be hosting with Kelly in the morning on Regis & Kelly again. I love it when he's on. I wonder why they don't get Shepard to co-host sometimes? I'll have to send them 50 faxes and ask them why. They cannot be obviously partial to CNN, so maybe that's what I'll accuse them of. You think that would work? They sometimes have my OTHER boyfriend (shh!), Jeff Gordon, on there too. I'm sure he's too busy racing right now. I mean, uh, HE TOLD me he was too busy right now to do it.

Okay, enough of the stupidity. I'm really a blabber-mouth today. I have to go. I'm not even going to proof this for typos because I'm WILD like that. Bye.

Mr. Man is Sick

My little Fetchie has been under the weather all week. The first three days he had a bright red, itchy rash all on his under-belly and legs. He was miserable with the itching. I gave him liquid children's Benadryl every four to six hours for those first two days and that helped him. He was all drowzy and loopy though.

The rash was better as of yesterday...no redness or itchiness, but he woke up this morning sick at his stomach. He was shaking like he was nervous, which he never does, so I got up and let him outside. He immediately began ripping up grass and eating it. Before it could even get to his stomach, though, he was doing that heaving thing that dogs do and throwing up foam. Poor baby. He's been okay the second half of today and even ate his 3:00 meal. Maybe he's getting over whatever it is that's been ailing him. I hope so.

Howdy, Friends!

Farrah died and snatched Michael Jackson's pedophile ass on her way out. Thank you, Farrah, and rest in peace you beautiful thing.

Moving on...

I meant to photograph my dinner while I was making it, but it's in the oven now. I made Hobo Dinners. Do y'all ever make Hobo Dinners? They are fabulous and cheap and quick.

I just tear off 2-ft long sheets of foil and spray them with Pam. Form hamburger patties out of ground beef and season with salt & pepper and garlic powder. Slice potatoes and onions and lay a few pieces of each on top of each patty. Grab a handful of baby carrots and throw them on top too. Season one more time with salt & pepper. (This is why you will need 2-ft strips of foil...you'll be stuffing those suckers full and will need that much to seal them tight so they don't drip all over your pan and burn.) Wrap them up tight and place them on a cookie sheet.

Bake in preheated 400-degree oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Be careful when opening the packets...they will release lots of steam and burn your hands and face if you're not careful.

The All-Shawl

Here I am! Thank goodness I'm finished with that job. Yea! I'm free!

This is what I've been doing with my evenings:

Isn't this a pretty little shawl? It's actually a capelet, and it's perfect for spring or summer when you just need a little bit of warmth. It was fun to make. I'll definitely keep this pattern in mind for gifts and such.

Here's a picture that shows the pretty edging really well. I was blocking it in this picture. It's called the All-Shawl and the pattern is by Doris Chan. I love her stuff. (The pattern is on the right side of her blog page using that link. Scroll down that page and you'll see it.)

I Hate Sewing!

You knew I couldn't stay away, didn't you?

I've been telling Barnaby to keep his eyes peeled (pealed? Dang, I'm dumb) for a sewing machine on Craig's List, and sure enough, he came home today at about 2:00 with this:

It's nothing fancy, but it's exactly what I wanted. I don't want to make clothes or anything like that, but a sewing machine would come in handy around here every now and then. I could make my own purse linings and hem stuff and sew my finger to something at least once.

Thank goodness it came with the instruction book because I don't know the first thing about a sewing machine. My mother tried to show me when I was young, but I refused to absorb it. I hate sewing, period. All I want to do are the basics.

Now you watch...tomorrow I'll be posting about how I've made curtains and a tablecloth and dresses for my dogs and ...

No I won't. I hate sewing, did I mention? Good Lord...what is all that crap in the bag that came with it? What is this "bobbin" you speak of? Oh my. Now I have it and I don't want it.

Banana Cakes

I made these two cakes yesterday. They look pretty boring, but they don't taste boring. The magic is the homemade cream cheese icing...the secret is the cake is just a store-bought mix. I made this for our picnic on Memorial Day weekend, and I got lots of comments and questions about the cake. I couldn't believe everybody made over it so much because it probably took me 15 minutes, tops, to make it...not including baking time.

I can't find this Banana Cake Mix anywhere except one specific Super Target. Nobody else has it. The secret must not be out yet!

If you can find it, try it. Follow the directions on the box for the cake. Just be sure and make your own icing using 1 stick of room temperature butter, 8 oz of room temperature cream cheese, 1-2 tsp vanilla extract, and 1 lb of powdered sugar, and mix it all up in your electric mixer. It's so much better than the canned kind and hardly takes any effort.

For the picnic, I even made it in a disposable foil cake pan with a plastic lid and it still turned out great. (Just bake it in the foil pan on a cooking sheet.) As you can see, this time I split it between an 8 x 8 pan and a 9 x 9 pan. I plan on taking the smaller one over to my mom and dad.

I did find my next crochet project, but I won't be doing much crocheting today or over the weekend. We have a big job in so I'll be working. I probably won't be updating my blog over the weekend either.

Hope you have a great Friday and weekend! Bye.

Filigree Shawl

I finished this shawl last night at 9:00. The edging took me much longer than I anticipated because I decided to go with a frilly one. This shawl just started out being something simple and easy to get me out of the rut I was in, but I fell in love with it while crocheting it and wanted a really nice edging for it.

This is called a Filigree Shawl and you can find the pattern HERE. I don't know why it's called that...it's not my idea of filigree, but whatever. I guess when I write a pattern I can call it whatever I want to too. I've also seen patterns for shawls like this called Half-Granny Square Shawls. After the first two rows, I was off and running without the pattern. It was perfect for a mindless project. You can't see it very well, but that green color is flecked with different colors.

I just thought this picture was cool so I included it too. You can see the flecks a little better in this one. I used Hobby Lobby's ILTY in Dark Country Blue (18 oz), and Red Heart SS in Frosty Green Fleck (6 oz) and J hook.

I'm off to drink coffee and look for my next project.

Busted My Rut

I busted my crochet rut yesterday. I spent the morning digging through the Crochetville Show & Tell archives and looking at everyone else's crochet projects. That always makes me want to crochet something, and this time was no exception. I was looking for something quick and mindless and I found the perfect thing. I'll be posting the finished project picture later this afternoon. But for now I must get back at it! Stay tuned...

Sausage, Beans, and Rice

Dinner last night...

Onions, celery, garlic, and green pepper sauteing in vegetable oil...

Some ingredients (I don't know why I didn't photograph them all!?)...

Browning the sausage really well...

The finished dish. This is pretty quick and easy to put together, and it's yummy!

Sausage, Beans, & Rice

1 lb smoked sausage, cut lengthwise then sliced

Onion, green pepper, garlic, celery, diced

Chopped fresh or jarred jalapeno, optional

1 pkg Mahatma Red Beans & Rice

1 can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 can kidney beans, rinsed & drained

1 cup (approximately) Mahatma long grain rice

Approx. 5 cups water

Note: I never need to add any salt...the Mahatma mix, tomatoes, and sausage usually have enough. Add salt only after tasting when the dish is done to prevent over-salting.

Saute onions, green pepper, and celery until soft. Add garlic and cook another minute or two. Add sausage to skillet and brown very well. Add all other ingredients and mix well. Cover and cook on low approximately 25 minutes. Check occasionally and add water if needed.

This makes a large skillet-full and is even better the next day. Good thing because you'll have lots of leftovers unless you're feeding a crowd.

Summer Bordom Has Set In

My Precious Little Sammi

I'm here, but I really don't have anything remotely interesting to say, but do I ever really? I'm bored, and I can't get excited about crocheting anything. It's too early to cook, but I am making sausage, beans, and rice for dinner. Barnaby has been bugging me to make it so today's the day.

I've already gone to the bank and post office. On my way home I went to Target to pick up a few things on the grocery side. The only other thing I got was a laundry hamper because ours is falling apart.

And here's a picture of it. Take it slowly, people. Too much excitement all at once isn't good for you.

And finally...

I made homemade rolls Saturday and we made little ham sandwiches. Of course, I had a couple with butter and honey because, well, you just have to when you make homemade rolls. It's a rule or the law or something.

I sorted and cleaned out my stash of yarn yesterday. I have three huge Rubbermaid boxes that I keep under my bed and they are all filled with yarn. I guess I'll go in there and stare at it and see if anything strikes my fancy. Okay, I'm lying. I'm not going in there and pull out all that yarn again. I already know I don't want to crochet. Maybe I'll make a cake. Nah, I don't want to mess up the kitchen. I don't even want to surf the innernets either. What's the matter with me? I hate days like this because the one thing I do want to do is EAT. Ugh.

Does anybody want to come over? We can do nothing together. Maybe drink some iced tea and rock in the rocking chairs on my back porch in our pretty sundresses and bare feet? (Unless you're a guy. Then the sundress part would just be weird.) If it gets too hot, we can turn on the sprinkler and run through it. And then we can braid each other's hair and let it dry in the sun, and then we'd take it down and have crimpy hair the rest of the day. Doesn't that sound like fun?

Pam's Chicken Pot Pie

Saute the celery & onions in olive oil, add next 5 ingredients and heat through. Add the butter slices and allow to melt and mix well. (That's the secret ingredient that makes it SO GOOD!) Don't tell anyone.

Spray your pie plate with cooking spray and place the innards of your pie inside it. See the pie dough beside the pie plate? That's the kind I want you to use....unless you are Mr. or Mrs. Fancy Pants and want to make it from scratch.

Unroll your pie crust dough and place it over the innards. Tuck the excess under all the way around, and then use a knife to make vent holes on top of the dough.

Place it in the oven and bake it until it looks like this and the innards are bubbling around the sides.

Let it sit for about ten minutes, and then dish it out and eat it up. Don't forget the sliced tomatoes and sliced raw onion to go with it. That makes it even better if that's possible. Pour yourself an ice-cold glass of milk too. You can have iced tea if you like, but milk goes great with this meal, and I hear it does a body good.

I made myself sick last night eating this because I had a second helping when I knew I shouldn't have.

Here's the recipe all properly written out for you.

Pam’s Chicken Pot Pie

(Note: There is no pot in this pie)

Refrigerated Pie Crust Dough (See below)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 stick of celery, chopped
½ cup chopped onion
Salt, pepper, onion powder, thyme, sage
1 can (12.5-oz) chunk white chicken
1 can Cream of Chicken soup, undiluted
16-oz pkg frozen vegetables
½ cup milk
1/3 stick butter, sliced

Note: I like Pillsbury’s All-Ready Pie Crust that you can find by the cans of biscuits and cookie dough at the grocery store. The dough comes rolled and all you have to do is unroll it and place it over the pie.

In a large skillet, sauté celery and onion in olive oil until soft. Add frozen vegetables, soup, chicken, and seasonings of your choice. Add about ½ cup milk and combine. Heat through. Add slices of butter and stir until melted and well combined. Remove from heat.

Spray a deep-dish pie plate with cooking spray. Add chicken & vegetable mixture to pie plate, cover with pie dough and tuck edges in all around. Use a knife to make slits in the top of the crust for venting.

Bake at 425 degrees until crust is well-browned, 20-25 minutes.

Eli's Hair

I posted new pictures of Sammi, Fletcher, and Eli in my sidebar.


And here's a picture of Eli where you can see his hair. He's starting to get his adult coat in finally. He's such a pretty boy. It'll probably be four to six months before it's in all the way, and maybe longer. His hair will be very long all over, and especially around and inside his ears. It will hang down over his ears looking like butterfly wings, hence the name of his breed, Papillon (Butterfly in French).

Below is a picture of a Papillon with his full adult coat completely grown in:

Eli is much prettier than this dog, don't you think? I like the sable tri-color much better than the black tri-color.

She's BAD!

I don't know about anybody else, but I'm sick of seeing Melissa Gilbert's face on my TV yammering about her new book and what an alcoholic she used to be and how she has been sober for five years now. This is what I heard her say yesterday in a TV interview:

Interviewer: How bad was your alcohol use?

MG: It was BAD.

Interviewer: How bad?

MG: Well, I was drinking a bottle to a bottle and a half of wine in the evenings.

HA! I swear, I nearly choked on my dinner when she said that. I thought she was going to say a bottle to a bottle and a half of VODKA or something. But wine? She obviously does not know what "Bad" means in terms of alcoholism. Pa-LEEZE!

I probably shouldn't belittle someone else's "alcoholism" but come on. All I have to compare it to is my own which was truely out of control and excessive by anyone's standards.

Okay, that's all about that. I just wish her book tour would end so I wouldn't have to see her anymore. It makes me mad.

In October of 2004, I got drunk for the last time. So I guess my sobriety has to start over from there even though it was probably somewhere in the late 1990s when I quit drinking in earnest.

How did I get on this subject? It was that damn Melissa Gilbert, wasn't it. She just rubs me the wrong way. I think she's very pretty though. I hate to bash her without saying something nice.

"The Coolest Cat in Town"

Y'all know I love the Pink Panther, don't you? In fact, my first tattoo was the head of the Pink Panther about the size of a silver dollar on my lower-left abdomen. He's cute! My dermatologist had a fit over it when he was inspecting me for abnormal moles and asked me if I minded if he showed it to his nurse. I found this book today at Half-Price books. I haven't even cracked it open yet, but hopefully there are some good pictures of him inside...just in case I want to get another one some day.

Barb asked about the color of my hair today so I decided to take a picture of it. I wanted y'all to see how much it's grown too. It's long enough to put up in a clippy thing finally. Sorry, but that's the best picture I got stretching my arm behind me to take the picture myself.

The doctor didn't seem concerned about the pain I'm having in my neck. He says it sounds more like a muscle thing than a disk thing. (He said it more formally than that. That's just my translation.) I'll be going to physical therapy for four weeks. Oh, the joy. At least it's really close to my house. I'm pretty sure I can get there in 5 minutes.

I decided to finish the Seraphina shawl before I start anything else new. I really don't like it because I don't have a clue what I'm doing. It's not a comfortable pattern at all, and my brain just doesn't get it. That makes it hard work instead of relaxing, rhythmic meditation. Man, I sounded like a really groovy hippie (hippy?) just then.

That's all. Bye.

Blue Pineapple Shawl

Fini!

I bought the pattern from a nice lady in Italy. You can see her shop and buy the pattern HERE. I enjoyed making this pattern as much as the pink pineapple shawl. I just love pineapples.

I used Baby Bee (baby blue) yarn. It took me about 400 yards or just a little over a 377-yard skein. It measures 6 feet across the top and 3 feet from top to tip. I still need to throw it in the wash and block it some. I'll be doing that later this morning.

This is Abbey. I took this picture so you'd have a comparison picture for this...

This is Mojo. We kept him over the weekend for our neighbor. He is much bigger than Abbey, but we still kept getting them confused. If you're not paying attention, it's easy to mistake one for the other. He was such a good boy all weekend. Boxers are just good, easy-going dogs.

I've been trying to decide what I'm doing to crochet next. I know it'll be a shawl, but I'm not sure which one I want to try next. I should finish the Seraphina shawl I started, but I haven't made up my mind to do that yet. I do think I'll make one using the Rainbow Boucle' yarn.

I'm off. See ya.

My Rosemary

Have a listen to this while you read this entry:



My favorite Rosemary plant right outside my front door. It's been cut back several times and still thrives. It was itty-bitty when I planted it, and now it's huge. It smells heavenly. Almost every time I walk by it I put my hands all over it and take a big whif. The smells stays on my hands and I love it. I also use it frequently when I cook. I just take some sissors out there and snip off what I need from an inconspicuous place.

I have two other Rosemary plants in the side yard that are thriving too. Barnaby keeps threatening to pull them up to make room for some radishes or something. If he touches them, he'll draw back a nub, and I warn him of that every time he mentions it. I've tried uprooting Rosemary and moving it before, and it always dies. He'll just have to make another bed if he wants to grow anything besides the tomatoes!

And speaking of the tomatoes...they seem to be doing well. We have one Beefsteak, one Roma, and I'm not sure what the other one is but it's just regular tomatoes. Neither one of us has ever grown our own tomatoes before so we're both all excited and can't wait to get our first.

And now I present to you my favorite recipe using Rosemary. I think it's kind of weird the way you do the beans, but that's the way the recipe said to do it so that's what I do. This is a vegetarian dish I used to make a lot when I went through that phase. Of course, if you use chicken broth it's not, but use what you want.

Pasta with White Beans & Rosemary

1-2 onions, thinly sliced into rings and separated.

1/4 cup olive oil

2 Tbsp fresh Rosemary, chopped (I use about 5 Tbsp because I like it)

8 oz large shell pasta

2 cans White Northern or Navy Beans, rinsed & drained

2 cans Vegetable Broth (or chicken broth if you prefer)

Salt to taste

Place the 2 cans of broth in a saucepan and heat while you make the onions.

Pour olive oil into a large skillet and heat. Yes, this is a lot of olive oil, but it helps make the sauce so use it all! Add the onions and stir frequently until the onions are caramelized. This takes about 10 minutes or so. Add the Rosemary, stir, and turn off the heat.

Cook the pasta until almost al dente, about 7 minutes. Do not drain. Add the rinsed and drained beans to the pasta and water. Let it heat approx. 3 minutes until the beans are warmed through. The water may not come to a boil again, but that's okay. Now drain the pasta and beans and add back to the pot. You don't need to drain it very well because the water will also help make the sauce. Add the onions, rosemary, and olive oil to the pasta and beans and toss. Add the hot broth and stir. Season with salt. I like a little garlic powder too, but just a little. The Rosemary is the star here!

Cover and let sit 20-25 minutes. The pasta soaks up the broth and gets plump, and the beans break down a little to help thicken the sauce.

Serve with hot buttered bread and a salad. This is comfort food DELUXE! I love it.

*Updated* My Balls Are Freezing

Get your minds out of the gutter, people! Hee-hee. I couldn't resist.

I've just made cake balls and they are in the freezer as I type. When they're ready, I'll do the dipping part and they'll be ready. They are already delicious. I know that because I can't help myself from having a taste every step of the way. The cake was good, but even better once it was mixed with the cream cheese frosting. I can't wait to taste them once they're coated in the vanilla stuff. And Barb says they're even better the next day. We decided to go with a Spice Cake, Cream Cheese Frosting, and the Vanilla Almond Bark.

Here's the tote I made again in case you forgot what it looks like.

And here's the lining my mom sewed it in, along with two inside pockets. I think it turned out great. The grossgrain ribbon sewed inside the straps was a terrific idea. I owe that one to Beansie. Thanks, Girl! (I still have that award you gave me sitting in my Inbox. I haven't forgotten it; I'm just a little slow these days!)

There goes my timer. The cake balls are ready to dip!

*Update* Later that same day:

Good Lord, what a pain in the ass cake balls are! Here are the lovely cake balls all dipped in candy...

These pretty ones are some of the first ones I did.

And this is what they started looking like when I got sick of dunking balls in melted chocolate. Who is the most impatient person you know? I AM!!

A Saturday Funny

A Big Bore

I had a busy day today. My housekeeper came today, which always makes it hectic until she leaves around 2:00. I get up early and put the house in order and pick everything up so she can clean. That usually takes about and hour with me trying to get myself dressed and presentable in between picking up dog toys and just general stuff. She always starts in the master bathroom and bedroom which takes her about an hour and a half. I have to wrangle and corral (is it one r or two?) the dogs to keep them out of her way. Fletcher and Eli are always wandering in there and stealing her rubber gloves or rags. Then when she moves into the rest of the house, I always make the dogs stay in our bedroom until she's finished with the rest of the house. If I'm not working, I usually stay in there with them and either nap or watch something dumb on TV.

Today I stuck Abbey and Phoebe in there and took the other three to my mom and dad's for a visit. Eli got car sick on the way over there and on the way home and threw up all over the back of the Xterra. Ugh. I won't tell you what else he did because it was very gross, but you can probably guess. Pee-U! He won't be taking anymore car rides outside of a portable and washable kennel.

Then when we got back to my sparkling clean house, I hussled them all into the bedroom again where we are hiding out all night while Barnaby and his poker buddies grill brats in the backyard and then come inside to the poker.room to play poker all evening. That's where I am now making this entry. I hope there's something good on TV tonight. If not, I have my crochet stuff in here and can always do that.

I'll have to make an entry sometime soon so y'all can see Barnaby's poker room, which was my old office. It did an awesome job of setting it up and decorating. Almost everything in there is hand-made by him, including the poker table. He's a very gifted woodworker, if I do say so myself.

I also picked up the tote I made and my mother finished lining. I'll take a picture of it tomorrow and get posted.

I don't have access to my personal email in here so if you've written me today, I won't be able to answer until tomorrow sometime.

That's it. What a boring entry.

Just Bullets

These fake flowers on my desk make me happy.

A cool picture of my sun tea sitting in the window this morning. Look close and you can see the swirls of tea mixing in with the water.

I'm just going to make a bullet list today because I have a lot of little things in my head without much to say about them. I like bullet lists. More people should try to think in bullet lists. It's very efficient. We don't need all the fringe most of the time...just the bullets. Okay, here we go.

• The macaroni & ham salad is really good. I'm eating some as I type this.
• Cokes and Dr. Pepper are out; Sweet iced tea is in. (At least at my house.)
• Tori & Dean's show started up again on the Oxygen Channel, Tuesday's at 8:00.
• I started another pineapple shawl (blue) using a different pattern with smaller pineapples.
• Hubby fixed the TV audio yesterday by just resetting the cable box. Who knew? Not me.
• I bought a watermelon and a canteloupe, and they both are very weak-tasting. Boooo!
• Eli is still stealing my printer paper, but it's not funny anymore. Now I have to hide it.
• I still want to make Cake Balls like my friend, Barbara.
• I wish Barb lived next door to me. (Will you consider moving, Barb?)
• I'm going to make home-made rolls today. It's Bev's fault. She mentioned them to me and now I can't stop thinking about them.
• I'm thrilled that I don't have work to do today (knock on wood) and can just goof off and do what I want.
• Hugs & kisses to all of you. Now go spread it around.

Macaroni Salad & Stuff

The ingredients for my macaroni salad with ham chunks added this time. That's celery and onion chopped and a jar of pimentos. The other things are obvious. I forgot to get the shredded cheese out before I took the picture. You must have shredded, sharp, cheddar cheese! Just pretend it's there.

Here it is all mixed up before adding the mayonnaise.

And here it is, mayonnaise and all, ready to go in the refrigerator for a few hours. I'll probably have to add a little more mayonnaise when we get ready to eat it. The macaroni tends to soak it up and make it dry after it sits awhile.

My youngest son (26 years old) is in the middle of testing for the Dallas Fire Department. He's passed two written exams and just passed his physical agility testing today. There are several more steps in the testing process, and he probably won't know anything until August sometime. The hiring will take place for the first 30 who are selected in October.

When he called this morning to tell me how he did on the physical test, he also decided to spring on me something that, as a mother, I didn't want to hear. If he doesn't get hired, he's going to join the Army. GAH! Not my baby! Nooooooooo! I'm trying not to freak out until it's time. I know the Army would be good for him, but I can't help being terrified, ya know?

I haven't crocheted in four days and I finished the steroid pack yesterday, but the neck pain returned the day before yesterday. It's not as bad, but it's there. Ah, well. Nice try.

For some unknown reason the audio on our main TV is not working today. Nothing I've tried has made the sound come on. Hmpf. I don't watch it that much, but it's nearly always on anyway just for noise. It's awfully quiet in here today. I'm hoping my hubby can fix it when he gets home. It's probably something stupid and obvious that I'm just not aware of because I'm a girl. Or because I'm lazy and don't want to get down on my hands and knees and pull all the components out and look at all the cables and make sure they're plugged in. Nah, I could be staring right at it and not know anything was wrong. It's because I'm a girl. We'll go with that one.

Stormy Tuesday

I had to work all day yesterday so I had my nose stuck on the computer and didn't pay much attention to the dogs. As you can see, they entertained themselves by making a huge mess.


Eli discovered that I keep my extra printer paper under my desk in a cubby hole and kept stealing sheets of it and running off. It made him so happy, I just let him do it. It was especially fun for him when I'd pretend I was going to get him for doing it. He would run even faster and dance around with the paper in his mouth. He wanted me to chase him, but let's get real. I'm not doing that. I'd probably slip and break my hip bone to pieces. So there are torn up pieces of paper all over the place for me to clean up now. I'm not even going to bother picking up their toys. Fletcher cannot stand it when all the toys are in the toy box. He must have them all out at once.


Yikes, it just thundered really loud and scared the daylights out of me. We have a thunderstorm moving through this morning. I shouldn't even be on the computer tempting fate. I have to work again most of the day. I'm just waiting for it to pass so I don't lose anything if the power goes out.


Look what my husband brought home for me yesterday...and I didn't even ask for it! Insert happy dance here.

I ordered Doris Chan's Amazing Crochet Lace book. There are so many pretty things in it. I'm not sure how much of it I'm interested in making, but it's fun to look at. There is one shawl pattern I'm definitely making:

Okay, y'all have a good one. I'm going to go drink my coffee while the storm passes. Bye.