Name three things - 2016

[Winchester]

I'm glad he was feisty at the vet. Feisty is usually good! And I'm glad you got there and back safely in the snow storm. I can imagine how worried you were, about Artie and about driving. Hope he can get rid of that last piece of poop. Good luck with the ultrasound on Thursday.

It was around 2:00 yesterday when it finally switched over to all rain. We never left the house, other than Rick going out with The Beast. I don't know what's going on today as far as shopping. We awakened this morning around 5:30 to pouring rain, but it was just rain. I'll take it. Working on a bit of headache around my right eye. That started yesterday. It's not bad or anything like that, just enough to say, "Hey, I'm back again!"

• Breakfast for the kids, emptied the dishwasher (Rick will scoop boxes when he gets back up from his nap)

• Just put my second load of laundry in the washer. Stripped the bed down.
• General clean-up/straightening up today, nothing gung-ho. I did a lot yesterday since we were pretty much house-bound. I found things to do to occupy my day.
• Manicure tonight 

Gosh, I can't believe tomorrow is Monday already. It took forever for last week to get by and now we have to start in all over again.

 

[Winchester]

I'm tired this morning....can't stop yawning. I stayed up a while watching a program on NatGeo about the Hubble telescope. Very interesting. That was followed by a program about the Challenger disaster. I finally fell asleep about halfway through. 4:45 came early this morning.

• Breakfast, 3 miles on the treadmill, made the bed, grabbed my shower
• No grocery shopping tonight; I'm going to wait until Friday. so my fresh produce for Christmas dinner is still a little fresh anyway. But we didn't make it to Staples or to Ulta on Friday night, so I'd like to go tonight, if it works out.
• Scoop the boxes tonight

 

[AbbysMom]

- allergy shots this morning
- make room in my freezers - my brother is coming by with desserts for Christmas.
- laundry and general straightening

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

today will be the contractors coming to do more work on my house. i'll also portion, vac seal, and freeze the ground beef i bought yesterday and chop/freeze the sweet bell peppers (also bought yesterday). i'll make a pizza later this afternoon. i'll do the usual chores around the house, and brush the cats teeth too.

 

[AbbysMom]

- eye doctor
- must pick up some oregano
- need to go through my freezer and see what kinds of desserts I have in there.

 

[artiemom]

taking Artie to the specialist.. I asked for an ultrasound. He is improved, but, as the regular Vet suggested; We need to know why he never re-gains the weight he loses after having a flare. He had 3 of them since this summer. 

I need to know if there are any masses or lymph nodes in there..

I am not sure if the specialist will agree with me insisting on an ultrasound, but I have getting it done..

Artie is much better, since he pooped all that junk out.. another reason to see specialist.. why is this happening? I guess it is all involved with the IBD. I also heard/read that cats having IBD and constipation are rare..so I get a rare cat....

I had to withhold food during the night.. that did not go over well...Artie started waking me up at 3:30am!!! tapping me on the shoulder, his face in my face--whiskers tickling my nose, walking all over me... I finally got up at 5am...

He was begging for food!! He was hungry, and I had to not feed him... man..so confusing to him...

But I think he is wise to me.. after I started giving him his meds, and NO food, he started hiding from me.. He knows something is up... poor baby.. his tummy will be shaved, he will have to get sedated for the ultrasound...poor thing...I hate doing this to him, but I have to know what is going on--if anything.. my gut is telling me that nothing will show up...

so my list is:

Medicate Artie

Take him to the Specialist

Artie has ultrasound

Me-- I get Starbucks Peppermint Mocha with Almond Milk, for ride home

perhaps noontime Mass at Church

shower...

and nothing for rest of day...

I am planning on either a roll-up sandwich (ham and cheese) or a salad for supper.. lazy

perhaps a nap, if I can

Watch White Christmas this afternoon, night...

 

[Winchester]

That poor kitty. I'm sorry Artie is going through so much again. He doesn't get it and he's confused about it all. Hopefully once you get back from the ultrasound, he'll be enjoying a late breakfast. Good luck with it all, @Artiemom.

Tired this morning....and it's only Thursday. If I can just get through Friday, I'll have a four-day weekend coming up. Yes, it's full of hustle and bustle, but working won't be part of it.

• Breakfast, 3 miles on the treadmill, made the bed, grabbed my shower
• Must walk over to the candy store during lunch today
• A quick vacuum and Swiffer about the living room
• Work on my grocery list for Monday's dinner; we didn't bother going for groceries this past Monday because we knew we'd be going Friday or Saturday

 

[Kat0121]

 
That poor kitty. I'm sorry Artie is going through so much again. He doesn't get it and he's confused about it all. Hopefully once you get back from the ultrasound, he'll be enjoying a late breakfast. Good luck with it all, @Artiemom.

Tired this morning....and it's only Thursday. If I can just get through Friday, I'll have a four-day weekend coming up. Yes, it's full of hustle and bustle, but working won't be part of it.

• Breakfast, 3 miles on the treadmill, made the bed, grabbed my shower
• Must walk over to the candy store during lunch today
• A quick vacuum and Swiffer about the living room
• Work on my grocery list for Monday's dinner; we didn't bother going for groceries this past Monday because we knew we'd be going Friday or Saturday

What is it about this week that it seems so much longer? Yesterday I kept thinking it was Friday for some reason and then realized it was Wednesday and asked myself, "HOW?" 

I have a 4 day weekend coming up too. DD has to work Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 8-430 all 3 days.  Such is life when you are the newbie. She doesn't really care. Now if I could only figure out what Christmas dinner will be. She's so picky. 

I am going to ask her once more before I go shopping Friday night. I will ask her what her last meal request would be if she were being executed on Monday and that's what she is getting Sunday night 

I want a nice rare ribeye, a baked potato and a good margarita or 3. I may just have one for every time she aggravates me. 

3 things?

Make a grocery list for tomorrow

Scoop the boxes

Groom Miss Sophiesaurus who is in full bloom right now. She loves to sit on my lap in the evenings so I try to get some combing in while she is doing so. 

 

[Winchester]

TGIF! Gosh, I'm so ready to get out of here.

• Breakfast, made the bed, general straightening-up, grabbed my shower
• We're going to try yet again to get up to that store we've been wanting to go to. Things keep cropping up and we don't get there. They're closed on weekends, so that makes it worse. Rick's coming in at 11:30 and we're going up over my lunch break.
• Going to dinner with Rick's sister and her husband
• Grocery shopping tonight....I'll have to start doing some baking tomorrow and don't want the hassle of running to the store. And while we're there, we can stop at the liquor store for champagne for the mimosas on Sunday.

 

[Winchester]

Pam, why do you have a Nook? Why not use the Kindle app on your iPad?

I've had my Nook tablet for years now and use it for reading. When I get free books from various sites, I just download them to the Kindle on the Nook. And the B & N books also go on my Nook; it has 64 gb space, so it won't get filled up too quicky.

Just bought the iPad back in January as a birthday gift to me from me. And I use the iPad for gaming, to get online, and for the Overdrive app for my local library.

I don't know....i have my little quirks, I guess. I still really like the Nook for reading.

What is Ulta?

Here you go:  http://www.ulta.com/ They just opened a store in my neck of the woods about a year or so ago.

I get my hair colored at Ulta, since my stylist started working there. I buy hair stuff and nail polishes and such there. They're a little on the expensive side, but they have some good sales from time to time, and I get coupons for 20% off sometimes, and that's when I take advantage. My guilty pleasure is nail polish; I love the stuff. But I also like experimenting with different shampoos and conditioners, too.

 

[margd]

I'm ready for Christmas and the apartment is clean so I'm going to play with my computer today.

Upgraded my systems software

Started backing up photos on flash drive.  

Began housekeeping on computer which is a total disorganized mess.

Am going to play around with scanning for first time on printer.  

Spend time zipping around the apartment with DaBird, Chula and Paul in quick pursuit.  

 

[Primula]

Here you go:  http://www.ulta.com/ too.

Thanks Pam. They are in CT though I've never heard of them, but not that close to where I live.

 

[Kat0121]

Thanks Pam. They are in CT though I've never heard of them, but not that close to where I live.

It's a pretty great store. I do 99% of my shopping with them online. 

 

[Winchester]

I never heard much about Ulta until the store opened here. Now I'm seeing commercials on TV (the "Joy to the Girl" commercials). I like the store; Rick has said that he never saw so much "girl-stuff" in one place. 

 )

Yesterday around 1:00, I went into the restroom to fill up my water jug to water my plants. When I came back to my department, my boss was standing there. "You guys go on home; get out of here. Merry Christmas!" After a fist-pump, a "YES!", and a "MERRY CHRISTMAS!" I was gone. Came home and made peanut brittle; I usually make almond brittle, but can't find raw almonds around here...I think everybody in central PA bought raw almonds this year. Peanut brittle is good, too, but I love almond brittle. I was worried that it wouldn't set up properly (due for some rain this morning), but it was fine.....got it a little thicker this time around, but it has a great taste.

Today:

• Breakfast for the kids, emptied the dishwasher, and threw together dough for a double batch of sticky buns (for tomorrow's brunch). The dough is rising now and should be ready for shaping in another half-hour or so. And I made another batch of sourdough bread, so that I have it to make stuffing on Monday. That sourdough bread makes the best stuffing.
• Must run into town to pick up the crown roast at the butcher and the white coconut cake for Monday's Christmas dinner with our kids. The restaurant is closed on Monday, so I have to get the cake now. It will be fine, wrapped up and kept in the fridge. (I cleaned the fridge out yesterday in preparation for food storage.) 
• Rick and I are trying our luck at roasting our own peanuts and cashews this afternoon. We've never done it before, so we took all the tips we could from Rick's mom. His dad did all the peanut-roasting and now it's our turn to try it. And then I'm making fudge this year for the first time ever. My mom always made fudge at Christmas. My sister asked me if I thought I could do it. I haven't a clue, but I do have Mom's recipe, so we'll see how it comes out. Mom always added black walnuts; I hate black walnuts, so I'm adding roasted pecans instead. I made brittle yesterday and it turned out OK.
• A vacuum and a dusting in the kitchen and living room. Clean the bathroom and give the kitchen a good wiping-down when we're done messing around. 
• I may work on some laundry. I need to figure out what tablecloth and napkins we're using for tomorrow's brunch and then for Monday's dinner and get them all washed.
• I really wanted to make these Cheddar crackers this year (found the recipe in our newspaper), but I'm running out of time. I may try them for New Year's Eve instead. 

And I think that's it. 

 

[Winchester]

The roasted peanuts and cashews turned out well and we were pleased, considering it was a first-time effort. The fudge, OTOH, was a complete disaster. As soon as I added the chocolate morsels to the boiling mixture, everything seized right up. I kept stirring vigorously, but nothing. It eventually came together, but such a grainy mess. It was awful. I went ahead and added the marshmallow and pecans, but to no avail. The thing is, it had a great taste; even Rick thought it was delicious. But the grainy texture was horrible. I threw it out. I followed the directions exactly and am wondering if it's because it was so humid outside....as I recall, Mom said you can't make candy on really humid days. I thought she meant brittle and I'd never even try making brittle or clear toys when it's humid. Evidently, I can't make fudge on humid days. Or maybe I can't make fudge at all. I don't know that I'll try it again.

So today:

• We got up and fed the kids at 5:30. Rick is napping on the sofa and when he gets back up, we'll open presents and have our brunch. Our friends are coming in around 10:30.
• We didn't get the vacuuming, dusting done yesterday, so it must be done this afternoon (our Christmas is tomorrow with the kids)
• I will start my prep work tonight for tomorrow's dinner. I'm going to make the gravy, the peanut butter swirl cheesecake, and the cornbread for the stuffing. And then I'll put the stuffing breads together overnight, saute the sausage for the stuffing. Chop all the onions and celery I need for all the recipes tomorrow. Make the iced tea. Make the salad dressing. If I have time, i will make the mashed potatoes, too.

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

today will be a nice quiet day here. i've already got the wood stove going, and will add wood through the day/evening. i'll wash the dishes not too long from now, then will scoop the litter boxes. after i've got those chores done, i'll bring out the cats Christmas stockings and watch them enjoy their gifts...

  i've got the camera's rechargeable batteries charged, so will take some pics of them enjoying their Christmas.

other than that, i plan on watching a tv show or two, maybe a movie. i'd like to read for a while sometime today -- too much going on and i've been too tired to read, while the home improvements have been going on.

i've got a bit of a cold starting, not bad right now and i'm doing what i need to to try to avoid it becoming any worse.

 

[Winchester]

The kids are supposed to spend the day with us as our Christmas, but we're waiting to see if the freezing rain develops. I don't want to start cooking until 9:00 or so for 2:00 dinner. So far, it's not doing a thing around here, but there is a Weather Advisory for freezing rain until 1:00 this afternoon.

• Ms. Pepe awakened us for breakfast around 5 this morning. I emptied the dishwasher, Rick is scooping boxes as I type. I'm going to make the bed and grab my shower.
• Planning on starting to prepare dinner around 9:00. While I'm doing that, Rick is going to wrap gifts for the kids and the grands (he is much better at wrapping than I am)
• Another quick vacuuming, mainly in the living room and kitchen
• After the kids leave tonight, I'm going to bed with my Nook to read for a while. I took a vacation day tomorrow (Tuesday), but depending on how I feel, I may go into work and save the vacation day for another time. We'll see how things go.

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

i've already got the wood stove going, and will keep it going until we go to bed tonight. today i'll bake some oatmeal peanut butter cookies, cool them completely, then frost them with the extra carob-cream cheese buttercream. i'll wash the dishes, then scoop the litter boxes. i'll see if i've got enough trash to run out to the trash can outside.

more than likely i'll take a nap at some point today, and/or go to bed early.

i'd like to read a bit, but will wait and see. i'll probably continue working on my current jigsaw puzzle, and might very well watch some tv.

 

[AbbysMom]

At the rate I'm going I will not be doing anything today. :lol3:

 

[Primula]

The roasted peanuts and cashews turned out well and we were pleased, considering it was a first-time effort. The fudge, OTOH, was a complete disaster. As soon as I added the chocolate morsels to the boiling mixture, everything seized right up. I kept stirring vigorously, but nothing. It eventually came together, but such a grainy mess. It was awful. I went ahead and added the marshmallow and pecans, but to no avail. The thing is, it had a great taste; even Rick thought it was delicious. But the grainy texture was horrible. I threw it out. I followed the directions exactly and am wondering if it's because it was so humid outside....as I recall, Mom said you can't make candy on really humid days. I thought she meant brittle and I'd never even try making brittle or clear toys when it's humid. Evidently, I can't make fudge on humid days. Or maybe I can't make fudge at all. I don't know that I'll try it again.

Pam, I presume you used a double boiler? Wonder if things got overheated?

Thought you might like this easy delicious fudge recipe. I know you like salt with sweet things.

SALTY FUDGE - No Baking Required

Standard paper cups
14oz can low-fat condensed milk
t. vanilla extract
1-1/3rd scant cups of bittersweet chocolate chips
Cup of Nutella spread
3 tablespoons of marge or butter - sliced
FINE sea salt

Grease 8x8 baking pan. Line the pan with parchment or wax paper leaving a 2 inch overlap.

In double boiler, STIR all ingredients, except salt. Heat, stirring, until everything has melted. DO NOT use a wisk.

Spread mixture in pan, smoothing the top. Sprinkle ENTIRE SURFACE with sea salt. Don't overdo the salt, but it should be clearly visible.

Refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours. Freeze for 15 minutes, if needed, when ready to serve. Cut fudge into 24 small pieces & place in paper cups.