I was making a fun fruit bouquet for Tammie, since it's her birthday today, and I decided to do bananas in melted butterfingers bars.... sounds yummy, right? So I made them, and left them to cool...then when I went back into the kitchen, I started laughing so hard the cat had to come check on me. They looked like poo! Not just crappy looking, but real poo looking!

Crazy Pizza Dough Recipe

Peter Reinhart's Napoletana Pizza Dough Recipe

Heidi notes: Peter's recipe says the olive (or vegetable oil) is optional. I use it every time - always olive oil, not vegetable oil. I love the moisture and suppleness it adds to the dough, and it makes your hands soft too.

4 1/2 cups (20.25 ounces) unbleached high-gluten, bread, or all-purpose flour, chilled
1 3/4 (.44 ounce) teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon (.11 ounce) instant yeast
1/4 cup (2 ounces) olive oil (optional)
1 3/4 cups (14 ounces) water, ice cold (40°F)
Semolina flour or cornmeal for dusting

1. Stir together the flour, salt, and instant yeast in a 4-quart bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer). With a large metal spoon, stir in the oil and the cold water until the flour is all absorbed (or mix on low speed with the paddle attachment), If you are mixing by hand, repeatedly dip one of your hands or the metal spoon into cold water and use it, much like a dough hook, to work the dough vigorously into a smooth mass while rotating the bowl in a circular motion with the other hand. Reverse the circular motion a few times to develop the gluten further. Do this for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are evenly distributed. If you are using an electric mixer, switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for 5 to 7 minutes, or as long as it takes to create a smooth, sticky dough. The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too wet and doesn't come off the sides of the bowl, sprinkle in some more flour just until it clears the sides. If it clears the bottom of the bowl, dribble in a tea- spoon or two of cold water. The finished dough will be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky, and register 50 to 55F.

2. Sprinkle flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Prepare a sheet pan by lining it with baking parchment and misting the parchment with spray oil (or lightly oil the parchment). Using a metal dough scraper, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (or larger if you are comfortable shaping large pizzas), You can dip the scraper into the water between cuts to keep the dough from sticking to it, Sprinkle flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them. Lift each piece and gently round it into a ball. If the dough sticks to your hands, dip your hands into the flour again. Transfer the dough balls to the sheet pan, Mist the dough generously with spray oil and slip the pan into a food-grade plastic bag.

3. Put the pan into the refrigerator overnight to rest the dough, or keep for up to 3 days. (Note: If you want to save some of the dough for future baking, you can store the dough balls in a zippered freezer bag. Dip each dough ball into a bowl that has a few tablespoons of oil in it, rolling the dough in the oil, and then put each ball into a separate bag. You can place the bags into the freezer for up to 3 months. Transfer them to the refrigerator the day before you plan to make pizza.)

4. On the day you plan to make the pizza, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator 2 hours before making the pizza. Dust the counter with flour, and then mist the counter with spray oil. Place the dough balls on top of the floured counter and sprinkle them with flour; dust your hands with flour. Gently press the dough into flat disks about 1/2 inch thick and 5 inches in diameter. Sprinkle the dough with flour, mist it again with spray oil, and cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap or a food-grade plastic bag. Let rest for 2 hours.

5. At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone either on the floor of the oven (for gas ovens), or on a rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven as hot as possible, up to 800F (most home ovens will go only to 500 to 550F, but some will go higher). If you do not have a baking stone, you can use the back of a sheet pan, but do not preheat the pan.

6. Generously dust a peel or the back of a sheet pan with semolina flour or cornmeal. Make the pizzas one at a time. Dip your hands, including the backs of your hands and knuckles, in flour and lift I piece of dough by getting under it with a pastry scraper. Very gently lay the dough across your fists and carefully stretch it by bouncing the dough in a circular motion on your hands, carefully giving it a little stretch with each bounce. If it begins to stick to your hands, lay it down on the floured counter and reflour your hands, then continue shaping it. Once the dough has expanded outward, move to a full toss as shown on page 208. If you have trouble tossing the dough, or if the dough keeps springing back, let it rest for 5 to 20 minutes so the gluten can relax, and try again. You can also resort to using a rolling pin, though this isn't as effective as the toss method.

7. When the dough is stretched out to your satisfaction (about 9 to 12 inches in diameter for a 6-ounce piece of dough), lay it on the peel or pan, making sure there is enough semolina flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide. Lightly top it with sauce and then with your other top- pings, remembering that the best pizzas are topped with a less-is-more philosophy. The American "kitchen sink" approach is counterproductive, as it makes the crust more difficult to bake. A few, usually no more than 3 or 4 toppings, including sauce and cheese is sufficient.

8. Slide the topped pizza onto the stone (or bake directly on the sheet pan) and close the door. Wait 2 minutes, then take a peek. If it needs to be rotated 180 degrees for even baking, do so. The pizza should take about 5 to 8 minutes to bake. If the top gets done before the bottom, you will need to move the stone to a lower self before the next round. if the bottom crisps before the cheese caramelizes, then you will need to raise the stone for subsequent bakes.

9. Remove the pizza from the oven and transfer to a cutting board. Wait 3 to 5 minutes before slicing and serving, to allow the cheese to set slightly.

Makes six 6-ounce pizza crusts.

from The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart (Ten Speed Press) - reprinted with permission

Our Australian Friends

Volunteer Firefighters really DO, do it well. This picture is of a volunteer firefighter in Australia rescuing a koala.

Mega mega megamega Code

See, this is what you get when you are the only paramedic in an ACLS class full of nurses, and your instructors are paramedics. My patient walked in the station for a BP check, and died. He was in v-tach, went to v-fib, I converted him and hung a lidocaine drip, he went into PEA, had a medic alert bracelet that said DNR, no wait that was dia and there is a shunt, no wait that was diab...he was the most messed up patient evah! LOL. By the end we were all just thinking of things that could go wrong with this poor guy! And of course, I had to treat them all. He actually became diabetic because I couldn't remember what possible treatment I might have in my bag of tricks for a PEA dialysis patient. Score! LOL!

Now I have to look that up. :)

I passed, now I have a current CPR card and a current ACLS card again *phew!*. I need my criminal background check for Canada, and I need Dr. Ansohn to sign off for the US, and then I should be able to send everything off to both countries. I hope to get that done Friday - because I still feel poopy and want to rest tomorrow. In fact, I stopped at Wal-Mart for Nyquil/Dayquil and lotion tissues on my way to class, and have some Nyquil on board as we speak. Nice warm sleep.... yes....

I still can't taste anything, that makes eating so fun. But I was able to buy cheap hot chocolate at Wal-Mart, since I can't taste it anyways. My head is feeling rather...shall we say...cottony. Ready for bed.

Oh yeah

I believe that if I have a barn for God to fill he will fill it. And no, this isn't a reference to the crap in my barn. But God will fill my cup, or my barrel, or my barn, I just have to believe that he has the blessings to fill whatever vessel of praise I have to offer. I am increasing my capacity to receive. The praises go up, and grace like rain falls down to overflow my capacity to receive. Hooyah!

ook

I feel a little yucky, some kind of sinus thing. I took some kind of sinus decongestant, that has just upped my kleenex use so far. I am starting to look like that little kid on the commercial. Or Rudolph. Not cool. Off to do stuff, I swear.

YUP

Fully functional cooktop. Fully functional! Woohoo!

I will be making french onion soup tomorrow. I am so excited, I may start tiling tonight. Yee-haw! I think I need to TAPE newspaper to the counter first. Just in case, you know.
a

And today we have...

A working range hood.
A working wall oven.
Gas lines and electrical done to the cooktop.
Got the sink working last night.
It's almost like a real kitchen.
Only took two more visits to Lowe's and one more to Home Depot. I also have a working flashlight, soon to be two, and I picked up some more microfiber cloths. Pink, this time.

Ah, life is good.

I have NOT been good about publishing to my blog lately. I have a lot of different foci in my life right now, and losing weight doesn't seem to be one of them! lol Oka, I haven't gained massive weight, but I have not really been using my time to my best advantage when it comes to that.

I have been focusing on the house and remodeling the kitchen, and I really haven't even been all that good with that. It seems to overwhelm me - in that I get to a stuck point and I have to go do something different. I have been working on two seemingly simple faucets for a week, for example. You don't even want to know how many trips to Home Depot and Lowe's I have been through! Tonight I actually got the HD guy to take a faucet similar to mine out of the box and connect a waterline to it, just to prove it could be done, LOL! So I bought new connections, since I already got a new faucet. If the tools aren't broken, the parts must be, right? This isn't rocket science. I have a fine brain. If someone else has successfully done this, I surely can figure it out. Just repeat that, over and over and over, and you'll have spent the last week with me. LOL.

In a good note, I managed to get $375 in faucets for $194 on ebay - and it would have been $174 but I didn't read the auction well enough and had to buy a single hole deckplate separately. Of course, the guy from Home Depot said if I had brought it to him, he could have called and got me one for free. Bummer! But I still saved mucho dollars.

I just had to get up because I smelled *gasp* fresh air. The front door was locked, and open. Not sure how I did that! But yes, I checked for boogeymen, and all is well. It must not have been shut all the way when I clicked the lock. Fooled it, I did the deadbolt too this time. I was outside cutting the diagonals in the tile earlier, wearing a garbage bag, of course, before I got too chilly. I am warmed up nicely now, and I have to get back to the faucet and the gas stove connection. I am looking forward to having a stove, oven and range hood! In fact, I bought the stuff to make lasagne because of it!

I have also been slowly and limpingly cleaning out the scrapbook room, fun. It really sucks because I know I am going to have to seriously cut down on the amount of "stuff" in order to move it. For now, I am getting rid of the obvious, putting it in the closet in the spare room for a yard sale. I may start trying to ebay some things, I ordered a new camera with my $75 Dell coupon to remove that excuse. Off to check twopeas before I get back to work...

Barefoot Running - A Cautionalry Tale

See that littel ducky foot to the right? That's barefoot running, baby. Sit down for this one.

So, in the spirit of being a better me... I was going to go for a walk today. I went to the track on Monday, and came to the conclusion that I should do that every day. So, true to form, here I am, two days later, getting back to it.

Also, at the track, I had come to the secondary conclusion that my right foot is actually longer than my left foot. There is a sticky outy spot on my heel (maybe a bone spur? I could be an honest-to-goodness cowgirl, I am in Texas.) and it rubs against the back of my sneaker. It rubs a hole in either my skin, or the sneaker, it just takes time.



Flashback a few months: During one of my ...*ahem* restroom reading moments, I read an article in Experience Life magazine about Barefoot running. Now it deserves to be said that Experience Life is a magazine that was sent by my trendy gym. My trendy, environmentally conscious, globally aware, and extremely expensive gym.



As an aside, that was the most money I ever spent, per month, for a gym, but it really delivered. Not only did I purchase guilt for not going to the gym, it came with a side dish of guilt for not saving the earth, not eating only organically grown vegetables from my back yard, not spinning local grasses to make my clothes, AND it sent me a magazine every month to remind me of my inadequacies, just in case the big old ding to my credit card every month wasn't enough. Of course, now I go to a much cheaper gym, a third of the price. I am , however, really not getting as much for the money. The little plastic tag on my key ring to let me in the door - well theoretically, anyways - doesn't even remotely make me guilty, although there are small pangs when I see the credit card statement each month.



So I guess where I was going with that is - a magazine that promotes mountain climbing (in your very own city - just scale buildings) and pole walking (you carry poles, seriously. Who thought THAT was a good idea?) also brought me the idea of barefoot running. Oh, it sounds so nice. You use all these different foot muscles that your sneaker normally hides. Your stride changes, and instead of being a heel walker, you land more softly on the ball of your foot, you even return to the childlike fun of play. I even looked at the little sneakers they make for barefoot running. There they are, right up there. Yep, sneakers. You can pay $80 for sneakers to make you think you are walking barefoot. UH....I think I might notice the $80 bucks - even if I could be convinced that I was barefoot with these funky puppies on my feet. I mean look at them! If I put those in the closet, all of the gloves will kick their asses over turf wars! The other sneakers will pick on them! The sandals - well, let's not even go there.

So. Combine these things: I want to go for a walk. My right heel hurts. I read an article in a magazine some months ago, and did a minor amount of research. The conclusion is obvious and ...well... kind of sad. More research might have shown me this quote:
" "Barefoot running isn't for sissies," says Jonathan Summers, a 37-year-old Boston horticulturist who took up the regimen this summer after seeing a couple of unshod runners pass him by at a local 10K race. "It's like running on sandpaper." ..." or even this one..."Nowadays he limps to a halt after eight miles because his bare feet heat up and blister. Since commencing barefoot training through the streets and hills of San Diego 18 months ago, he's consulted an acupuncturist for pain relief. A sports-injury specialist taught him to remove deeply embedded thorns from his feet with a box cutter. Mr. Yoshino says he'll need to lance another 100 blisters before achieving his dream -- an outer crust on his feet as hard as that of some Australian aborigines. "It's no picnic," he says..."


Oh, this ranks right up there in stupidity with my decision to get married in the Bahamas. So, I start out in my Stupid Boston Vacation Sandals. Now, my SBVS are a story all of their own. Lets just say for now they are size 5.5 and I am a 7.5 or 8. And that my toes, especially the little guy that had none? You know, right next to the one that cried wee wee wee all the way home? My toes hate the SBVS. But they are so CUTE! Ate right up with dumbass, I have gotta tell you!

So I head out for my walk, doing the usual brain equations, reminding myself I only have to walk for fifteen minutes, then I can turn around and go home, that is only four songs on the ipod, about two miles, oh look, this song is 3.25 minutes, this one is (why do they do that to me - does my Math brain need to be encouraged to add???) Meanwhile, the feet, in the SBVS are okay, but feeling a little peaked. But the road is a little rough, and there are other people - driving by, you know. So on minute 22, I am feeling a little pain, but - I just walked DOWN a huge hill. So I notice that I am almost at the highway - oh, cool, I'll just walk around the "block". OOH, if there were moments in time you could go back and change....

By minute 28, I realize it is time to start the barefoot session, because I cannot walk one more step in the SBVS. As I slide off the SBVS, my toes give a little sigh of relief. Have I ever mentioned that there is not one human being in Texas who is barefoot, ever? Other than the fireants, which would make any sane human rethink the theory, there are something called stickers. They are like the tiny spiky bones of some mammalian creature from hell. And, they really do stick. So there is no opportunity to take my hot feet off the hard asphalt and onto the cool soft grass - because there really isn't any. Sand burrs, cockles, and the general road trash make that impossible. After about four minutes more, I realize I am in trouble. Barefoot - hurts. SBVS - not going back on the feet too well. And I am past the halfway point - or so I think.

New muscles - found them all. Landing softly on the balls of your feet? Well, that works too, but I think the body does that as a defense mechanism to fool whatever sharp object might be down there.

Apparently, in a fairly affluent area in Texas, a woman walking with her shoes in her hands appears to need help. On minute 72, a biker - the Lance Armstrong kind, in spandex and about 85 years old - he must read Experience Life magazine - stopped to see if I was okay, limping along, sandals in hand, toes bloody, but with my bright smile plastered on my face (remember the childlike fun of play part? I tried.). He asked if I was okay - and then if I was almost home - and mercifully, by then I was. Would he have offered me a ride on his handlebars? I might have accepted! Oh, but wait, I remember Mom's advice. Never ride your bike barefoot. Hmmmm.
Mom Should write for Experience Life Magazine.

Angie is living healthy!

Well, my darling sister Angie started a blog to track her healthy eating and flying, and I want to try to keep up! Maybe I can create some accountability for myself! Don't even ask what I ate for lunch today!

We are doing the Biggest Loser challenge at work, and I only lost two pounds in the first week. I haven't been particularly careful this week, so I am not sure what Wednesday will bring. I am easing my way back towards my 6WBMO diet, but I am not quite getting there. First there was the carton of milk I wanted to finish, since there is no milk on this diet, then there was the soup and salad for lunch two days this week - the salad is fine, but the diet is no sodium, so the soup needs to be made by me if I want it. Maybe I can make some soup this week to make me happy! It has been chilly this week!

I did some cooking ahead last Sunday so I could get started, and I have food in the fridge that is diet friendly. In fact, there was a great sale on grapefruit, so I stocked up. I may even go to get more before the sale ends. 8WBMO makeover has you eat every two to three hours, so you are always full. The problem with that is food prep - If you don't make it ahead of time it is very difficult to drop what you are doing (especially at work) and go make something. I did very well for a while by getting up first thing each day and cooking my morning and afternoon chicken portions in the little George Foreman grill while I got ready for work. I have been sliding, though! I am also not being very strict about writing down what I eat, so that doesn't make it easy either - or rather, it makes it TOO easy to cheat. Lots of things to work on this week! I think the first behaviour I will try to change is writing down what I eat. That helps me eat better, for sure. And soon - I will have to exercise!

Stink EYe

I got the stink eye, pink eye, just call me the Queen of Conjnctivitis. Who else has to keep pink eye drops in their nightstand?
'
So there I am standing at the front counter, looking at Codi's wierd foot petechiae issue, and all is normal. (Well, other than her feet.) I go back to my office, grab my big pile of files and my barrette and cup. I set down my stuff in the council chambers, and am shamelessly flirted with by a very early citizen. I take my styrofoam-decorated-with-lipstick coffee cup to the kitchen, and head to the restroom to fix my hair. Then back to the kitchen where I make a cup of coffee and make a new pot for our guests. I head to the hallway and Codi says - "What's wrong with your eye? You have pink eye!" ANd, of course, I do. Oh, I denied it, I said I must have scratched it, but the weeping has started and the itching, and golly gee whiz, here I am again.

Devil eye, red eye, pink eye, conjunctivitis...don't care what you call it, it is StInK EyE to ME!
UUUUUGH!

Just a day like today

Newsflash, ion detecting smoke detectors are proving not to be as quick or effective as photoelectric ones, so look up your models on the net and see what kind you have. Although the jury is still out, I have read enough to think photoelectric sensors are the better idea.

My friend Melanie dropped in today to help get my butt in gear, and we got lots done! The rented guys redid all the flower beds, got rid of a huge pile of wood that was leaning up against my foundation on the side of the house (for six years or so) just waiting for termites, got rid of lots of weeds and assorted other debris, and generally made the outside, around the house, neat and clean and rather lovely. All that's left is to sweep off the porch. They also killed a small copperhead and a bunch of ants. And felt the need to call me outside to see the copperhead. I used my strong command of the Spanish language and said "Is it muerte?"

When a friend stopped by to see who was here (seeing Melanie's truck made the natives curious), he said - "hey, that looks almost as nice as it used to look when you used to sit out there." I had a friend who has moved, but he would stop by after work for a beer every now and then, and we would sit on the porch and watch the trains go by. We called it the WT porch, for "white trash", because it seemed like such a country bumpkin thing to do. I guess I paid more attention when I was using it more. That was enlightening, to sat the least, I didn't realize how much I had let it go until I saw it looking good. So, $135 for plants and mulch, $200 for labor, and the enlightenment, priceless!

Melanie was a godsend, while I finished the ceiling she kept telling me that at a height of 11 feet, "perfect" is measured from the ground, not the ladder. She made me promise that when I got off the ladder today it would be done, even if not "perfect", and talked me into hiring the guys again tomorrow to paint it. Great idea! Another $200, plus $92 for tinted primer (I'll forgo the paint, since it won't get any handling) and some new brushes and rollers, and the job will be done tomorrow.

She also cleaned and vacuumed every surface in the large room, and kept asking me enlightening questions, like... "these cute little plant-pot-sitters in fifteen pieces that look like they have already been glued back together at least once - you are keeping these why?" and "Do you have any idea what these keys are to? Do you even own that truck anymore?" And the best one - "You have been using a Treo phone for the last three years, you're keeping this old one why?" when I responded that I had plugged the old phone in when I bought the new one home, and had intended to transfer the numbers, she said - "You think in three years if you had needed a number you might have found it by now? And besides, there is no battery, so although you have faithfully had it plugged it in for three years, it won't ever charge or turn on." WOW! This woman is Good!

It really made me think about what I do, and why. A lot of times I save things becase they are "good", or "can be fixed" but they don't fit the needs I have now, or the time I have available for the fixing. Mel was talking about her Mom, who saves, washes, and reuses ziplock bags and tinfoil, which I agree with in principle (as does she), but neither of us do it. She says when her mom is at her house she washes the bags and sets them out to dry. And Melanie throws them away! Her mom says she didn't raise her to be so wasteful, and Melanie guiltily admitted that when she throws a ziplock away after it only had cookies in it, she thinks "There, I made it, I am successful, I don't have to wash this bag!" Which, aside from being hilarious, really strikes home for me. I don't have to reupholster that yard sale chair, I still may (although I have three to do right now - which feels overwhelming) but I can go buy a chair in a color and style I like, and life will not end.

I do believe in reducing, reusing and recycling, but I also need to start to believe in my power to take care of myself and my worth, I am "worth" a new chair if that is what I decide I want. And, I may just stop by the furniture store this week and take a look see! Self esteem is an amazing thing.

Other news? I have not lost a pound this week - losing weight takes focus, and I have been focusing on my house. However, I haven't gained, so that is a success in itself.

The Community Thanksgiving dinner (that and other eating out events have helped make this a bad weight week - a Reese cup here, a hotdog there) was a rousing success, I was touched by the service photos of some of our older community members, including a handsome twenty-something Mike Harral Sr., posing with his M-60. What a great man he is. True courage and bravery, a man of God, and a friend to all.

Here's a few prayers for some friends in need tonight, a heart in need of healing, a life in turmoil, and some people who need to blog about others in a negative way to accomplish their political goals. May God bless them, and touch them, and help them to see the joy of his love and the compassion and caring he has in their times of strife and discomfort as well as in their times of plenty. And may many more times of plenty be available for them.
That's it for today!

Before Sunday at bedtime I will:
Finish the skimcoating of the ceilings
Paint the ceilings
Touch up the red paint I just messed up with primer
Touch up the brown paint (see above)
Touch up the beige paint that the primer was supposedto fix (see any circles here?)
Cut windowsills and trim for six windows
Install, caulk and paint the windowsills
Put up four new blinds
Repaint the light cover for the bedroom
Put up the light cover in the bedroom
Install sun reflective coating on the french doors
Buy a new doorknob for the french doors
Install it
Replace the lights in the kitchen after painting
Replace the lightbulbs in the closets
Fix three plugins, (replace two that got painted red,and fix one whose box is broken in the wall)
Move all the crap I can out to the barn
Somehow come up with amazing furniture for the ugly naked rooms
Move the big TV to the workout room and replace it with the smaller TV
Clean the woodstove
Clean out the grout in the bathroom to regrout it
Finish the trim in the bathroom and paint it
Clean the drywall mud off the floor
Repaint the floorBuy some plants and mulch for the flowerbeds
Deweed the flower beds
Kill the weeds in the driveway
Mow and weedeat
Have a minor meltdown

Oh what a beautiful day

So much to do, so little impetus to get off my butt! Actually, I have impetus, just because of the so much to do. First, unload all of the stuff from Home Depot out of the car. Then, some ceiling work and a few small painting jobs and some trim work (really wished I had a nice long extension cord that had NOT been run over by a lawnmower!) and then another trip to Home Depot to get some mulch and nice plants, Pedro's friends are coming over tomorrow to do some lawn work for me. Finally, with a little luck, I'll get a nice fall cleanup of the flower beds and all the areas that need weedeating. There is nothing better than a little help, even at $10 an hour and with marginal english skills. Hey - maybe I can make a list in english, and then translate it into Spanish on the web! WHatta concept! Widh me luck!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Well, as you can tell, I was a cat! I really thought this would suck, but I enjoyed the day, and the evening, and really liked being a kitty. There was a cute little girl dressed up like a ladybug who came over and gave me a hug, quite randomly. That's what life is made of.

I have decided that I need to reprogram the thermostat to make the heat come on at six and go off at 8 in the mornings - this 5:30 to seven thing just isn't working for me. I wish it weren't so difficult to mess with. Time is just flying by, and my Bunco was moved up to the tenth, I thought it would be the 17th. Bummer! I must get ready...have to call Mac for the carpet guys nmber, have to clean up, have to get furniture, have to stop freaking out...ten days to d-day...

LOL

ARG! Animated Jack-O-Lantern Halloween Cartoons

ARG! Animated Jack-O-Lantern Halloween Cartoons

Here I am!

What a summer!

I have so much to report - I have lost 20 pounds, and the weather is getting cooler for Fall. The impetus for this weight loss? New uniforms at the fire station, mine were ordered as men's size 44 shirt and size 40 pants! SCARY! Those size 40's will fall down without a belt now, LOL! I need to be doing a little sewing.

So what's on the agenda for today? A little housework - laundry, washing windows, and a little ceiling skimcoating (getting to where I can see the end of that project!) and some errands. I found a beautiful fabric at the local resale shop for $2 a yard, bought a yard and brought it home, and it is perfect for the bedroom! I am off to pick up much much more of it - enough to reupholster a chair, the windowseat, and make a comforter cover for the bed. I will post pictures later - yes, I promise I will find my camera and actually use it. I also have to run to Party City and find something for a Halloween costume - how does a 35 year old woman get herself involved in something requiring her to dress up? I am leaning towards a cat, a black cat. Why? Because all of the women at work are being witches! The witches of Argyle, in fact.

At 4 pm I have to be at Cross Timbers in the fire truck for the Fall Festival, and then afterwards I have Bunco at Tammie O's. So my costumes du jour are Firefighter and middle aged frumpy wanna be chiclet. LOL! Mel is coming over tomorrow to return my saw, so I also have big plans to sweep the porch. The geckos will need to find another home for the week. Scary little buggers!

Ah, life, so fun, so fancy.
Ande

Stars

I love this card! I made it for the stars challenge at Caardvarks (not an easy word to spell)! Check them out here: http://caardvarks.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!

Thinking back....and Poison Ivy

I've definitely been looking back this past week. Made this LO about Ashley, remembering the good times. SO many things going on in my life right now, but yet, nothing is happening. Strange, huh?

Mowed the lawn today, but first I transplanted a bunch of wild violets, because I couln't stand the idea of mowing them down. I allowed the "grass" to grow to tall, and the chickweed has really gotten high - the mower wsa not amused. All went well though, and the worst thing that happened was me running out if gas. SCORE! I had some in the barn...that was probably a buck less a gallon when I bought it last year.

I have the most amazing amount of poison ivy on my property. It is in the obvious spot on the side of the barn, but also on the back and other side, and in the treeline on the school side of the property. I am going to have to hire Pedro's friends and get this crap outta here! I am worried about that, even if they are not sensitive, they will get it on them and then they have to get back into my vehicle. Plus, it has to be bagged, because it can't go in the burn pile. And then what do I do with the bags? I guess I could chuck out one or two a week in my household garbage can, because I sure wouldn't survive a trip to the landfill with it in the same vehicle.

The steroids are working, and the rash hasn't progressed any further since yesterday. I am SO glad I went to the doctor yesterday! My butt still hurts from the shot. :)