Still thank ful

We did the family thing on Thursday. whew! All of my Mom's 8 children showed. We did not get any group pictures. Some said nobody was interested, I never heard anybody bring the subject up.

The grandchildren of my Mom came in shifts. Some came earlier, some later. Two are feuding and one was actually going out the back door while the other came in the front door. It all worked out.

Our family traditional games were played - Tripoly and LCR. This is the first year I did not play. I handed the nickels over to my daughter. I noticed the younger set are doing the games. We older set kept moving around talking.

A big group of us stayed over. Just because. Only one was drinking and she no longer drives, but I think we just wanted to extend the visiting. The next day I returned home, exhausted. I rarely sleep at other people's houses.

I think the above photo is the only decent one I got. I put my camera setting on the sports setting because the children kept moving. My flash does not work on that setting (I guess) and all my photos came out grainy, dark and just bleh.

The snow was a surprise. There did not seem to be much indication that we would get any accumulation but we did get some. Just enough to worry people driving back home. I asked my daughter to text me when they got home.

My elder sister's keurig got a work out. One niece went shopping after dinner. She goes every year. The rest of us are like "No, thanks!"

I returned home late Friday, so Saturday was my clean up day.

Today, I am fixing a bird with all the trimmings. While taking the dogs out this morning, my daughter informs me that her beau wants her to go have dinner with his grand pa and his new lady friend. When was this plan made?! I guess I was a big ambiguous about the day I would fix the turkey. I was tired and said I would fix it whatever day I felt like it. I am off work on Monday also - I need at least one day to recover.

And to clean that bird. UGH!

So, I'll fix the bird but what time is their dinner? Screw it. I'm going to fix it when I feel like it. When it is done, it is done. If they are not here, then that is a few less side dishes I have to make, such as noodles.

I watched "Noah". I was very disappointed in the movie. Not certain what I was expecting. I was never a fan of Crowe. I adore Connelly  since Labyrinth - one of my daughter's favorite movies as a child. I do recall saying I was never a fan of middle-earth-type movies. This reminded me of that setting.

A little warmth

Picking a photo with some heat in it today. Naturally, this photo is from this past summer. This is my grand nephew. (or, great nephew - depending on which you prefer to use).  As his daddy says "Keep him out of the sun, his skin is translucent."

I have the family Christmas dinner this evening. Only 26 are coming. About ten fewer than last year. I can't find my games. I think they are on my computer at work. I saw my work desk this week for five minutes maybe.

Wednesday and Thursday I spent with a tech from California. Ugh. Every minute together almost (for the work day). My head was ready to explode with a migraine by Thursday afternoon. It took me all of Friday (a vacation day) to recover. I call this having to stay "turned on" - as in my brain. Riding in the car together, having lunch together both days - with no other co-worker to help me keep up the conversation. I know a ton of stuff about his family and friends.

He is a tech trying to sell me on this new appliance for our network. I just don't like to spend that much time with a "stranger". Trying not to offend in my conversations, etc... It was a serious drain on my brain. Fortunately, I kissed the blarney stone at one point in my life (not literally, I have not been to Ireland). But all that chatter and thinking give me a fitful headache.

Edit:  YAY! I just remembered my "older" laptop is in the trunk of my car and I think my Christmas games are on it. :)

Games

My family enjoys playing Left,Center, Right and Tripoley after the Thanksgiving meal. I notice that football was scratched from the menu this year. I did hear somebody  mention it, then somebody else said "Wait until after this play" as they were watching football on TV. They never got back to the actual going outside and throwing the ball around. One person did duck out at six and go shopping. She came back by nine with stories to tell us about the chaos.

Left, Center, Right is safe enough. We play with nickles. Only about five of us played that. When the Tripoley board came out, though - it turned to eight and nine. We only play with nickles and it always take a few rounds for us to get into the "swing" of things as we never remember how to play until two or three hands in.

I tallied up that if I had never won any of the money on the board and if we played (I estimated) 25 rounds, and having to pay an average of ten cents at the end of each game the most one could lose was about  $12.50 total. Not too bad if you are working, but for those not working it may be hard. I think the only one we had not working this year was the six year old. My sister made certain that he had his little satchel of nickles, though. He was slow, but most of us were patient. The trick is to wait out the players. Most had to bundle up and leave and the die hards that stayed until the end had the best chance of winning. I was spending the night so I was in for the long haul.

The meal was fantastic. We had way too much. My corn pudding went over very well. As did my cheese ball and tray. The tray consists of various sliced cheeses, pepperoni slices and trail bologna sliced up with spicy mustard. I must have picked out the extra hot jalapeno cheese this year as a lot of people were loving it. Not one of my favorites. I prefer brick/butter/muenster cheese.

Another hit was the cranberry nut bread that I made. I may make more of that today. It goes very quickly.

Today I plan to bake a turkey with all the trimmings. I don't feel like it. Yet. I slept in until 9:00. That is so rare for me. I did not sleep well the night before (being in a strange place) and now I am out of sorts. My head hurt all day yesterday and by evening we were getting a light dusting of snow. The day had started out at 51º . It became colder all day. And, yes - I did have to take a migraine pill later in the afternoon. Ugh!

Sister 1956 and I had planned to spend the night and chat with sister 1944 after the dinner because she is always so sad when it is time for everyone to go and she and her husband and my oldest brother are left in the house. Sister 1954 had to work Friday and was going back that evening until she got wind that we were staying. She was drunk before she even go to the dinner so she was determined to stay. She did until 3:30 a.m. and more or less ruined it for us. Again. She picks at things with us trying to get a reaction. I try to tell the rest of the family not to believe what she says. She starts rumors about family members etc, and my other sisters believe her. I told them the next day not to.

Side note: sister 1954 had a driver and she lives over two hours away. Whether she made it to work on Friday or not  has not been determined. I am almost certain she did. She only had to work 9 to 1 and she usually can function well enough to get by when she is hung over or drunk or both. She has had enough experience doing both.

Now, to go and get that turkey in the oven and peel some potatoes. I can't believe it is 10 o'clock and I have not even had my first cup of coffee. What is wrong with the world? My head will be in a fog all day!

Yikes!

I think this photo was taken at the zoo gift shop in Pittsburgh back in '07. Not certain. Oh, that is my daughter in that snake's mouth. 

Speaking of teeth. We were, weren't we? I had a molar pulled Thursday. I have not had a tooth extraction since the late 70's when I had my wisdom teeth pulled out. In the chair. That's right sissies. No nitrous oxide for us back in those days. The dentist used a C-clamp and pliers. My mouth remained swollen as if I had a wad of chewing tobacco in there for a week.

I was a bit nervous with not knowing what to expect. Psshh! It was nothing! Two things bothered me. The first was the sound as they pulled it out. Talk about fingernails on a chalkboard. Grrr! And about three hours later was the intense itching as the Novocaine wore off. That did not last long and I barely needed Advil. I took it more as a precaution than as a pain reliever. I had no pain to speak of.

I am a tad bit worried about the sinus cavity that the tooth root was close to. The dentist told me not to blow my nose for two days. Okay. The dental instructions said not to swish for two days. Can I brush?! How can you brush without swishing a bit of water around up there?

Eh, I made it through. Other than that "weird" empty feeling - things are fine. It is healing quickly and I am hoping that this resolves a lot of (what I hope were related to this tooth) problems over the past years. That upper right region of my sinus/gums/ear has had it's share of misery.

The finger is healing. The tooth (or, rather gum) is healing. My body must be in some kind of "what the hell is happening to us" mode. It must be working overtime healing my wounds.  That is a lot of stuff going on in the body. I think I need to rest all week-end and take it easy and let my body heal. Movies are waiting. Also hovering  ominously close is :   Angry Birds - yes...dammit! I have become slightly addicted. I keep picking the Nook up and playing "ONE.MORE.LEVEL."!!!  OMG! There is a web site titled "one more level". Oh, God. Don't go there.

My new tablet

I received a card that turns my Nook into a Droid tablet. Works very well. Now, I have a tablet and I can download an app to e-read. Sweet! I am going to be using this device a lot more than I used to. I could never find the time to read a book. Now, I can take the tablet with me to meetings and have access to my messages, the web and the office documents. I could do all that on my phone, but that screen is small.

Oh, and games. My nephew mentioned Angry Birds and since I have never played, I thought I would download and give it a try. It reminds of lobbing bananas at a Gorilla on a city building. An old DOS game that came with Nibbles. That was my favorite. Did not care for Gorilla and I do not care for Angry Birds. I tired of it quickly.

I fell asleep during "Hugo".  Sorry. It rates high up there in the ratings, but I was bored. It could also be that I am not getting enough shut eye. I did have company in and out this past week-end and I fixed a LOT of food. I think I peeled 20 pounds of potatoes. No wonder my wrist hurts.

Don't hate me

For bringing you this link to a big time-waster but fun game. If you enjoy hangman, you may like this one, though the words are a bit odd.

http://www.dedge.com/halloween/

I am on my 12th hour of watching all five dogs. I am betting the kids do not pick them up Sunday night but sometime Monday because they will be too tired from driving all day. I have to admit the dogs were quiet mostly during the night. I heard a whimper here and there and maybe two sharp barks.

I may have a few good stories to tell you. I already have a stoved pinkie finger. That is weird. When growing up we always said "stove a toe" or "stove a finger". That got me wondering where this term came from and what it means.

The best I can come up with is - it came from the word "stave". The dictionary gives a definition (number nine) for stave as:

9. (Scot); to sprain (a finger, toe, etc)

Last evening the neighbor dog ran over to say hello and my daughter's German Shepherd (maybe 8 months old, but getting big) opened up a big can of whoop-ass on him. He was all like WTF?!

The next time we went out he stayed on his side of the yard behind some big stones as if to say, "I'm fine right here, thanks!"

Poor baby!

Well, he seemed to have liked the snowfall at first. It was coming down fast and in huge flakes. I could tell it was turning to rain quickly because of the weight of it and the sound it was making. My poor baby was ready to go in after a few minutes out in this stuff. Snow he will tolerate, rain - hell no! He thinks he will melt.

Had a big family get together Friday evening at the Olive Garden. 18 of us. They put us at a long table. Folks at the other end of the long table may as well have been in another restaurant. This won't work! We could not visit. You could not get up to go and visit because for one thing, there were no extra chairs. Another - there was no room to walk between our long table and the other patrons because the servers needed that thin aisle to keep delivering food and drinks. Sigh. There must be another way to get family together and still be able to talk to those  you don't see very often.

Watching the SB at  home tonight. About six of us. That suits me. A few snacks and we will be ready to roll. Oh...the kids talked me into putting the Kinect onto my T.V. in the living room. They did the Dance Central. We laughed SO hard. I had no idea it was recording everything and we laughed even harder when we saw the dancers performing. Oh, it was great. I might get to watch the SB, I may have to hide the sensor for the game. :)

Finding lost bloggers

Here is the list from the "Find It" game.

Here is proof that I found the balloon.

Speaking of find it. My nephew has signed up with Latitude and so have I. I can track where he is at any given time. As long as his phone is on and able to update. He is currently in Daytona Beach. Sigh.

Have you ever been reading a blog for years and then just like that they stop posting? I always wonder what happened. I had one whose daughter was able to post and her mother had died. Another one I didn't know died until I read the 72 comments and one friend had commented there that she had passed.

And yet with another one, after four months a few of us regular readers posted on close friends of a New Zealand blogger only to find out that he was tired of blogging and just wanted a break. He had been posting outstanding photos of the New Zealand country, but gave no inclination that he was going to stop posting. The last we knew is he took off on an excursion cycling around the island and we never heard from him again until a close blogger friend commented on his last post and let us know he had just up and quit. Just like that.

You have to read the comments. There are some that I am used to them going months between posting. Yet the ones who post every other day or so for years and then stop for months (without saying they are taking a hiatus or a vacation) I really wonder about.

I usually remove them from my list and sometimes years later I will find the old list and look in on them and 'voila!' they had started posting again. What the heck? Why do some stop and not let the readers know?

Lit tree

Only the lights. Still. Nothing else. I have been giving it water like crazy. The kids are responsible for decorations this year. Sigh. I like how this cell phone feature "Polaroid" makes the photo look 30 years old. I think my camera is in the trunk of my car. I took pictures at our big family dinner on the 11th, and have pictures but have forgotten to get the camera out each time. Wait. I unloaded groceries on Sunday. I would have picked up the camera if it were in the trunk. Then, where is it? Aw, jeez. Now I have to go look for it.

I have the week off from work for vacation. There are about 3 problems that I am still trying to take care of remotely from home. They concern the filter. I may try one more thing and then let everything go until I return to the office on the 20th.

The filter may die by then.

Do you have children in school? If you did,  how would you feel about their Internet usage and the filter? Would you be upset if they could play games or access facebook in the classroom? How about reading/writing blogs while in the classroom?  Porn is easy. It is blocked with NO exceptions. Proxies are blocked with NO exceptions. 

Youtube, facebook, games, shopping, gambling - a lot of other categories are left up to the district. The thorn in my side (this month) is a middle school has three games housed on their web page. We are required to categorize all our school web pages as "education" and all my districts allow this category to pass. If they did not, it would be kind of difficult for them. But, this lets those 3 games show up under the category "education" and all the schools in my organization's network can access the 3 games. I have only one district complaining (but they are relentless). I am working with my filter company (they are located on the west coast and I am on the east) but their resolution has not worked. I may have misunderstood and set it up incorrectly.

I have never heard of a parent wanting a list of blocked categories for their district. I have wanted to go to districts and hold a meeting with the parents to explain how the filter works in the districts but I wonder if any parent is even interested. 

Do they think that this technology is without errors?

Remember this game?

Remember this game? Here is a list of what you are supposed to be able to find in the game.

Here is the snowflake:

Oh, and you know what? Thank the stars for noodles and mashed potatoes. Seriously! If it were not for them, I would just walk around pouring salt onto a stick of butter and eat it. I'd probably have to eat like 5 sticks or more before I even began to feel full. That's where the noodles and potatoes come in. Whew. Get full much quicker. Aw, comfort food. I need a little comfort. Ten years ago was the fateful accident that took my Mom from me and my siblings. She did not pass until the 3rd, but it was a freaking nightmare.

Nostalgia

My daughter works part time at a Gaming store. (Her dream job). She has another (more serious) part time job but this one is "fun". So she says. She picked something out for me from the store. It is so cute. Sigh. Pac-Man. This game caused me WAY too much stress. I was not able to enjoy them because I would get all worked up and anxious. Video games. Not MY cup of tea. I will, however, take the cute little paraphernalia associated with it.

Our Thanksgiving feast was fantastic. The food was glorious and I think my sister had a record number of folks show up. It is kind of nice because we get some extended family members in the mix as well. Out of the original eight children, only one brother (1957) didn't show. Sister 1956 said he is SO negative. She sees him often and he is just grumpy these days. He did get a new little Yorkie so he is probably busy playing papa to the new baby. Good for him. As in it is "good" for him. Probably therapeutic.

We finished the day by playing one of my favorite games, Tripoley (by Cadaco). We play the Michigan Rummy version. It was how I was shown to play when I was first introduced to the game. We always start out a little bit rocky, forgetting the rules until about the fourth round in. Then all falls into place and we are cruising along, drafting new players each year. It looks daunting, but once you get the hang of it - it is smooth sailing. We play with nickles. No big loss of money because most of the players are in their 30's and starting families.

I arrived home late. My dogs were neglected but I tried to make up for it on Friday. I spent the day with them and roasted my own turkey breast with a few of the trimmings. Their mouths were watering, but they only got dry doggie biscuits. A wee bit of the turkey will be doled out sparingly to them as a treat. 

I have a huge ham to bake for Sunday when some company will be arriving from out of town. My sister (1954) has a daughter who is very, very ill. She is autistic and her seizures have taken a serious turn. Her neck muscles may be permanently damaged. The Akron hospital will be trying new treatments. The girl is 18. Our family has not had much contact with her. My sister and the girl's father had a bad breakup. He finally won total custody of the child and she has remained with him ever since. I will learn more after Sunday.

At the office and away

The ladies in the building where I work at started a monthly night out for the gals. I hosted last night's get together and I could not think of anything to do with them or have for them.

The host is not at all obligated to do anything but pick the restaurant and get the tally of gals coming and show up. An hour before the event it hit me.

A "get to know you" questionnaire. Who is your favorite actor and why? Who is your favorite actress and why? Who is your favorite male/female singer. What song did you like?

Oh, it was hilarious. We had 8 gals show up. Our list includes over 20, but life does get busy.

I had no idea we would have this great of a time talking about movies, music and books.

The funniest was of the group of the ladies that liked Elvis - that age group, one of them was into heavy metal. We were shocked! She liked Ozzie Osbourne. She named a few others I don't recall, but it was quite the surprise.

I had 3 pages of questions (about 20) and we barely got through the first page. I know a little bit more about the women I see every day and what they like. It was great!

Oh, the food sucked. They burned my seafood and I had to get a re-do on some of my dish. The hot sauce made me sweat and started a hot flash and that (with the excitement and laughing) brought on a royal headache. I used to work in a grill restaurant and I could tell they had the grease too hot - or they forgot about it - or both.

I came  home to a basement full of kids playing video games. (Why do I still say kids? They are in their early 20's except for my daughter who is still 19).  They were hungry. I ordered the pizza and wings and gave them the coupon and money and told them when to go pick it up. We have 3 pizza joints within walking distance of my back door. Easy peasy.

The dogs were in heaven with all the company. And I am certain they were drooling in hopes that somebody would let a chunk of sausage or pepperoni fall off of their piece of pizza. Me? I read my e-mails and went to bed. Didn't hear a thing until I woke up at five.

Sister 1944 posted a remark on Facebook about brother 1957. She told his lady friend/wife/ex-wife to post a picture of our brother, she forgot what he looked like. Coming across as "he never comes to any get togethers."  Sister 1956 mentioned to me that brother 1957 was a little bit upset by it. I said "Oh, he needs to lighten up."

Brother 1957's lady friend stated that she didn't know how to post photos, yet.

So, my daughter and I found the funniest looking monkey photo on the web and I posted on Facebook : I said "here. I found a picture of brother 1957. I'll post it."  And I slapped that monkey up there. Hee, hee. Take that brother. I don't let my brothers and sisters get miffed at me. I'll be right in their face saying "lighten up! I love you!"  Then I give them a big hug. It is completely futile to get upset with me.

They want the damn year!

If you ever see this game (www.finditgames.com) turn and run the other way as fast and hard as you can. I thought my arm was going to fall off.

It is a clear plastic cylindrical tube with hidden objects in the confetti-like plastic. I guess the ultimate elusive find is the penny. I was SO obsessed with finding everything that I took pictures. The penny was not as elusive to me as the stupid candy cane.

I got pictures of a wee bit of Abe Lincoln's head. I went to their site and it taunts you with "So, you THINK you found the penny? Click here..." I clicked and they want the freaking year! WTF?! I was livid. I may need to take Advil for the next ten consecutive days for my sore arm from shaking that damn toy for so long and they want the freaking year of the penny!

Can't I just send a picture of Abe's do?

Eye Dee Ten Tee Error

A picture of my pineapple pudding cake before adding the pineapple and cool whip.

I had to throw almost the whole dang thing out after my party this year. I guess I just had way too much food this year. Nobody ate any of it. I gave a couple of pieces (or with this cake it is more like huge spoon fulls) away, and I ate one myself - but the rest? Garbage disposal got it. Oh, well. Mama said...

Anyway... good news. I figured out half way through the day (when I dropped my cell phone) that it was still missing the battery, so when I went home at lunch I found the battery under a hamper and my cell phone is fine. I am kind of bummed because I really want a smart phone and I need a good excuse to treat myself to one. (Just because I am eligible for an upgrade isn't a good enough reason for me). This coming from someone who will get her daughter the latest and greatest gadget while I take her hand-me-downs.

As to the title of the post, has anybody ever said to you "That's an eye dee ten tee error?" It certainly is NOT a compliment. We techs would jokingly tell each other that and when we came across somebody who did not know what it is, we say "write it down." Phonetically it is pronounced eye dee ten tee. Written down it looks like this:

id10t. :)

What a lousy host I am! A good friend e-mailed me Saturday morning and said she was getting a group together that evening to play cards and such. I said "Sure" because I did not have plans. I had worked on a small "mini-laptop" that she purchased for her niece and this would be a good time to return it. (I'll post more about this unit another day.) Note: I am seriously "NOT IMPRESSED" with this device.

So, I head up north and settle in with good friends, good snacks and good games.

I get a message from my sister in Columbus. She was visiting her daughter (autistic) and she, my nephew and niece were headed to my house and would be there in an hour. I was an hour away. Whoops. I had forgotten they were coming. Yikes!

I tried to call them back, but they were probably travelling through the "no man's land" area where I had worked at a week before and I did not reach them. My nephew still had his key so it all turned out okay, but I felt bad. I stayed to play cards with friends (because we were playing teams and stuff) and I made it home around midnight.

Bad sister! Bad host!

Guess this celebrity!

It is a trick question. It is the father of the baby for the shower we are having Sunday. One of the games I cooked up was "Guess the Celebrity Baby" and we threw this one is as a trick question. It will be fun to see what celebrity they attribute to my nephew.

We had a blast with the games. My daughter did most of the work. Let's see if she will help me in getting up in front of 30 to 40 people. She might, I don't know. Me? I got over my fears a long time ago. Well, there still is a little bit of anxiety when it is work-related. But women at a baby shower - no problem-o!

We are still getting snow. I broke down and purchased a new shovel last evening. Just in time. I tried it out last evening and everything is covered again this morning. It feels a little loose, so I'll have to look into tightening the screws that hold it together. It was the last one of this type. Light when I picked it up, and it felt right when I pretended to shovel snow in the store. They had a couple of metal designs - much too heavy. Then there is the almost U-shaped scoop on the end. I don't get those at all. I scrape almost as much as I shovel, so they don't look like they would work for me.

I have a party to go to tonight. I am going to try my salami wraps on my friends to see if they like them. Then I will make them for the shower. I also have the ingredients to make pepperoni-flavored wraps. Some recipes call them tortilla pinwheels. I am going to experiment with a few different ideas.

And, I am making a fruit pizza. The last one I made, I ended up putting way too much fruit on the top. It was overloaded. This time, I will try to scale back but sometimes I only know one regimen when it comes to food. The more the better! That probably stems from growing up the youngest in a large family. I had to be quick and grab the food and eat it fast. Because if you blinked, it was gone!

Sigh. My boxer seems to have regressed a little bit in the chewing department. He was doing so well. The pups are caged now when I am gone from the house, so it had to be him. He chewed up a plastic basket. It was a cheap thing, but that wasn't the issue. His safety is the issue. He may have ended up swallowing some of the bits of plastic. It was a mess. He gave me his best Eeyore look when I scolded him.

This morning I found a tiny cord to a 12-in one multi-card reader. I am upset, but I had purchased the incorrect reader as it was. I got it for my daughter for Christmas but she found out the other day that it won't read her camera card. It was useless to us and I was going to give it to a family member who had the memory sticks it would read. I don't know who chewed it up. Whether it be the boxer or the pups. They all gave me guilty looks this morning. I have no idea how they found the cord. I check stuff before I retire. They have a way.

Adagio

It took most of the week-end, but I was able to re-install Windows on my "big" computer. I lost the data that was not backed up. (About two weeks worth). I purchased this mammoth in 2003, so there were plenty of updates. I should have purchased Windows 7 instead of re-loading XP, but I didn't feel like it. The refresher course in re-loading the OS was enough for my brain as it is.

Most of my programs have been restored. I do take snapshots of my desktop from time to time and I had an image of that to go by. I detailed in my notebook each step that I take for record keeping. We'll see how this goes. I don't have that second hard drive in place yet. The one I purchased just a month ago.

Have a baby shower to prepare for this week-end. That is a nice break from technology. My daughter and I are in charge of the games. We are doing the normal baby-oriented word scramble. We are adding "Guess that celebrity baby" into the mix and the game of "Guess that baby name of the animal".

We also are making a fruit pizza and some little finger foods. I'll take pictures if the food comes out looking decent enough. :D

On a sour note, my nephew called last night to say that my niece (his sister) was robbed yet again. This is the third time in two years. All technology stuff. We are beginning to suspect it to be somebody she knows. This time a window was unlocked that is supposed to be locked. As if somebody unlocked it on purpose when they were visiting. Laptop, ipod, camera, GPS, dvd player. All technology stuff. For the third time! It does not seem to matter if she lives alone or with a group of friends. I'm not positive if she got insurance after the last time. I really wish she would move back to be close to family instead of two to four hours away from all of us.

My hand

I was dealt this hand in Euchre last night

The opponent on my right dealt the cards. She turned up an Ace of clubs. I passed. Her partner passed. My partner passed. I held my breath. She turned it down. I called it Spades and said "alone!" Then I lay down the hand you see above. Once in a lifetime!

It didn't help me one bit. My partner and I lost all rounds of the game. Even after getting 4 points from that hand. I'm very rusty. Oh well.

I slept in until 8:30 this morning and I feel like crap. The dogs must have thought I died since I was not up and about at 4:30 or 5:00 to let them out. The headache is raging. I drank ginger ale so it is not a hangover.

Disruption of sleep pattern. But hey, what am I supposed to do? Stay home every night? Find friends that just want to get together during the daytime? Hardly. I like my down time, but I need to socialize once in a while, too. And, it was not a late night. I was in bed by midnight.

Bring it on. I've got the sumatriptan.

I got in my car to drive home. Most of you know that the newer model cars have an indicator light for when a tire has low air pressure. Mine was lit. It figures. It was 7 ° Fahrenheit outside. I ignored it. I almost made it home when after making a sharp left turn, I heard a god-awful noise coming from the underside of my car. WTF? It is 11:30 p.m., cold as the dickens and I have to stop and investigate. Sigh. Fortunately it was only frozen ice buildup on my splash guards that were rubbing against the tire. I kicked it off and all was quiet again. That stupid yellow/amber low pressure light remained on, though. Grrrr.

Little furry heads

Somebody got me a computer game for Christmas. I am addicted. Yep. Like I needed another addiction. To get points you make at least 3 fuzzy heads of the same color in a row. I would drag the lime green one down to match 3 green ones in a row. The entire row moves. There is more to it, after you play for a while. You get locked (where the row won't move) you get big fuzzy balls that move two rows at once and a lot more. So, I've been doing that on the computer instead of other stuff. Heh.

I did get two of the main goals done over the holiday week-end. I did not go anywhere on New Years eve or day. I ventured out on Saturday with my daughter to pick up her big Christmas gift. Our wireless provider would not let us upgrade her phone until January 2nd, so she had to wait a week. She wanted the Droid. It is a lot of phone, I want to tell you. She had one of the Blackberry flavors, prior. In March I may move to a smart phone.

One goal was to clean up the basement clutter - done. The other was to get my non-working dryer out of the laundry room and into the empty side of the basement, then to get my spare dryer out of my garage, down the sidewalk, up onto the back porch, inside the back door, down the basement steps and into the laundry room and hooked up. Done. Did it. All by myself.

I am a wee bit sore, but not much. I did break off one of the legs, but I used shims to level the dryer off. The hardest part was getting the unit into the back door. I had to leave my house from the front door and push it in from outside. In single digit weather! The funny part was walking the dryer down my sidewalk (it really sounded to me like a science fiction monster walking around) at 10:00 a.m. on New Years' day hoping beyond hope that none of my neighbors had a raging hangover and I was waking them up. LOL!

I also play the time game. That is where I start the dryer walking down the sidewalk and get it into the house before any "good Samaritan" neighbor sees me and comes over to help me. Now, most folks wouldn't have to worry a lick about this issue, but I have great neighbors. I was fortunate that on one side are two elderly widowed ladies and I don't think the guy on the other side was home this week-end. Whew. Made it into the house without incident.

Okay. The truth is I have a very difficult time asking for or accepting help. There. I said it. I am going to be 50 this year. I ain't changing now. Well, maybe a little.

Then there is sister 1944. She yells at me. Well, if you can YELL in e-mail. She, her husband and our oldest brother are retired. She keeps telling me to let them know what I want done and they will come down and do it. Big breath. Okay, if I am going to change, I will ask them to rip up my carpet and put a floating floor in my living room come this spring. Right? Just bite the bullet and ask for help. Maybe get a couple of other family members involved and supply food and beverage for all. The hounds will have to be boarded for that week-end, that is for certain. Get them out of the way. Well, it is a plan.

In the mean time, I am getting caught up on my clothes washing and will probably go back to playing my furry head game during this cold snap here in Ohio. Happy New Year y'uns guys. Some co-workers and I debated what "y'uns" meant back in the 80's when I moved to Virginia. Of course they say "y'all" there. As in "you all". We in the eastern part of Ohio always said "y'uns", as observed by my Virginian co-workers who were teasing me one day and I said "Y'uns guys!" Well, that started it. As close as we could come was "you ones". Huh? Maybe. It helped having a Pittsburgh native in the work group. Well, we didn't have the Internet back then, but there is a lot about that phrase out there on the info highway nowadays. Looks to be a Pennsylvanian dialect.

Gathering it all in

A friend's tree from 2006

I like to be alone a lot more than most people. I also like to socialize (not nearly as much as most people). I am quite content to be by myself. As the year ends and I am gathering all my thoughts and memories I contemplate how to spend the last hours.

I had planned to do nothing. If family stops in, I'll entertain and fix food, but if they don't I am just as content.

I've had two invitations for New Year's eve and I am not sure of what to do. I don't want to drive after dark anymore. For one, the deer incident still has me spooked and for two, my night vision ain't what it used to be.

I don't worry about drinking, because I don't have that insane need or desire to do THAT anymore. Will I regret not going anywhere come January? Will I just kick myself and say "Would it have hurt to go out and visit with friends and family just one more night?"

Aw, heck. I don't know. The one invite is to the friend's house from the photo above. I've not seen her in about four to six months. She is almost an invalid. She will have about five people with her so she won't be lonely.

I don't want to leave my dogs for that many hours. I also don't want to drive home after midnight and place myself on the highway wondering if a) the weather will be bad or b) are any of the other drivers drunk? That does not make for an enjoyable 60 mile drive home.

Can I go earlier in the evening and leave earlier? I suppose so. I'd have to miss the other friends and family that are coming later and the games that they have lined up. I love to play games.

It is kind of a melancholy holiday anyway. I just received word from sister 1944 that sister 1949 is having serious problems with her children. Not health issues. Behavior issues. They are 30 and 25 years old. There is always some kind of fly in the ointment.

I think I'll go and visit my friend during the daylight on New Years eve. We'll see if I can get away before I have to drive too late in the evening. That way I can visit, but also I can make sure that I have taken measures to be safe, also.

The other issue is, if I visit with my friend, I'll have to visit with some family, too. They are only five miles from her house. If they hear I was there and did not stop in, well, that would just be rude! Can I do it? Can I visit two (maybe 3) households that day?

I certainly don't mean to sound like an ingrate, either. Like "Oh, my! The poor dear! She has invitations but does not know which one to pick! How sad! Poor girl!" No, I don't mean to sound like that at all. I break down and choose visit with family/friends 90% of the time. I just have to realize that I don't need to do it all anymore. I can stay home once in a while and relax and take care of myself and my household. Sigh.

There, I've said it. I don't have to feel guilty about not going, right? Right! But then, it wouldn't hurt to go for a couple of hours....

My Treasure Hunt

My daughter knows that the first thing I do (even before fixing my coffee) is to feed the cats and let the dog out. This is where I found the first clue to my treasure hunt.

Our mailbox is on the porch. Sigh. I was forced to get dressed before retrieving this clue. I wouldn't dare go outside in my pajamas!

Our leak was fixed last fall, but I still knew where to find this clue.

How did she know I wouldn't do a load of laundry last night? She must have set this up before she went camping. Or did she return during the night? I don't think so. Sly little monkey.

I texted her a heartfelt thank-you, telling her it was fun and that I loved it. She answered me quickly from a tent somewhere in some woods somewhere.

This is how I set my daughter's name to come up first in my cell phone's Contact list. By placing the AAA before her name. It appears first, right before AAHome.

I think this treasure hunt is reminiscent of one I did for her when she was about five or six years old. She had lost a tooth and having early morning insomnia (even 13 years ago) I created a treasure hunt for her beginning with a note/clue under her pillow.

I am off to a cook-out today. I already prepared the calico beans and they are warming up nicely in the travel crock pot. My cheese ball flopped today. Strange because there is no rain. Go figure.

Calico beans recipe:

1 large can of baked beans
(any flavor, any brand - don't drain this can)

1 can of black beans
(drain the juice into the empty baked beans can)

1 can baby green limas
(drain the juice into the empty baked beans can)

1 can butter beans
(drain the juice into the empty baked beans can)

1 can kidney beans
(drain the juice into the empty baked beans can)

(can substitute or add any beans to suit your personal taste)

1 cup of firmly packed brown sugar
(add more if you like them sweet!)

1 tsp dry prepared (or ground) mustard
(I have also used regular wet mustard)

1 14 oz. bottle of catsup (ketchup)

1 small, diced yellow cooking onion - or half an onion
(depends on how much you like onions)

(can substitute a sweeter onion - your personal taste)

1 lb. of cooked, chopped up ground beef

6 - 10 slices of fried, crisp bacon, crumbled

Add all ingredients into a crock pot (or into a large baking dish).

Add extra (drained) bean juice if dish appears too dry.

Bake in an oven (I would estimate 350 degrees F. for an hour) or heat in a crock pot for a few hours before serving.

You can see how flexible I am with recipes. I change my ingredients almost every time.

I google a recipe and take ingredients I like from seven or eight versions.

Okay. Spell checker didn't like the word catsup. Really? And, it wanted to change my limas (plural for lima beans) to llamas. Yeech!