This old drawing has nothing to do with this post. I just wanted a picture.
My back is staging some kind of protest over being used. Each time I move, it screams back at me "Oh no you don't!" with some serious pain. It seems to have the most power right now, damn it. It hurts to lay down, sit up, walk, breath, everything.
Oh.. didn't mention but the staycation is over. It was sweet while it lasted. The "group" returned Monday from their vacation. And that's all I have to say about that.
Crap... gotta step back from the pc for now. mumble owwwww
I'm not sure what got into me last night but I baked cookies. From scratch. Big deal you say and I say yes, it is a big deal... for me. I've probably baked cookies from scratch perhaps 3 or 4 times in my life. The last time was probably over 40 yrs ago. (yes, I'm that old.) And none of them burned!
A domestic goddess I'm not.
I googled a recipe. There are a lot of variations for oatmeal cookies, but I picked what seemed to be a traditional one with just some extras items popped in for interest. We had all of the ingredients except for a couple of minor things. No biggy.
I remembered to take a couple of pictures at some point in the process. The photo below shows the first batch taken hot from the oven. We didn't have any raisins so I used white chocolate chips. The cookies were sweeter than I had anticipated. They were good. They were rich, but just a smidgeon too sweet for my preferences.
I had been thinking about this 'project' all day long and it wasn't until last night that I decided to do it. I slapped the ingredients together, made sure the oven was fully heated, and most importantly I removed the cookies from the oven while they still looked a little under done. (That's the well known secret for soft cookies. Non-bakers may not know this.) By the time I reached the last of the dough I was sleepy so I just wanted to be done with it so I could go to bed. None of the cookies burned but the best part was that I only had one cookie. Can you guess which one?
I played a diva the other day. My plan was to use acrylic paints (like/as watercolor) and put some random pale colors in a small watercolor paper pad and then to try to make an art journal. My first. I began to gather the few things I would need when a big bolt of frustration hit me... and I just threw my hands up in despair. My work surface was a tv tray. WTF! I CAN'T WORK LIKE THIS!
I'll probably try it again, but only when I've feeling very very mellow and philosophical. (who knows when this will happen!)
Out of desparation for something to post, I did a couple of quick sketches in a tiny sketch book. (I figure the smaller the surface the faster it would go... or something like that.)
My daughter has been bringing in little knick knacks and thingamabobs. Little things that suck up space. Small thingamabobs like what I use to gather to use in nesting and creating a home. (Thank gawd I'm over that!) She picked up a salt & pepper set right out of the 1950s. (She hasn't cleaned them yet so please excuse the crud on them.) Every time I look at them I am reminded of large noses. The design just brings nostrils to mind.
I'm on Staycation this week. You know, a vacation where you stay at home. And I'm wallowing in it.
But how can you be on a vacation/staycation when you are retired and don't work anyway?
Well, a vacation/staycation indicates a beginning and an end. My retirement goes on forever but my staycation lasts only until my daughter and grandsons come back from their vacation. Out of town. Way out. No surprises, no early re-entries.
'Mom' has joined some friends for a road trip to Vegas. The boys are spending the week with friends. Be still my heart!
I began to make a list of all the things I would do... a to-do list for cleaning up the place. Then I got a grip. Crusty, get real. You know yourself better than this. You aren't going to do all this stuff! I had to agree, but there are two things I WILL ACCOMPLISH.
I am going to clean the toilet. The cool part is that it will stay clean for longer than an hour. Cackle. The other thing I know for sure that I will do is to catch up on my naps. 'nough said.
I did, however, accept the responsibility of taking care of Darius' pet rocks. Rocky and all of his offspring.
I think its going to be pretty easy.
Speaking of Rocky, Darius gave him a bath the other afternoon. That kind of deflated my plans to take Rocky and the kids and return them to the wild. Darius would notice their absence.
I think these are cute and are perfect for crusty old crones to have fun with.
(pilfered from someone's blog. shame on me. SHAME.... but I had ta share the product/picture! The pics from online catalogs don't show the tee shirts as well. Gawd, I'm gonna burn in hell or get sued some day. But don't sue me. You would win, but I don't have any money. How many Hail Marys should I pretend to say, since I'm not Catholic?)
My two grandsons have been assigned a chore each. The six yr old takes the garbage out (if its not too heavy) and the soon-to-be five yr old is responsible for putting the silverware in the dishwasher away. Now our challenge is to remember and not do it ourselves.
Yesterday I remembered. I remembered to take the garbage bag out of the container BEFORE it became too full to tie the bag... cause every mother knows to never have a six yr old take an opened bag of garbage anywhere. Seriously. So yesterday Darius took the garbage out, but Vyron had to wait to put the silverware away. They had been playing outside and were filthy. I wasn't ready for them to be done playing outside either, so he had to wait.
Later that afternoon, after they had taken a bath, I reminded Vyron that his chore could be done now that he was clean. What does he do? He goes to his mother and whines Do I have to do my chore? She says yes, of course. He turns around and pretends to be stomping over to the dishwasher all the while a sly grin is playing hide-and-seek with his lips.
Not much going on here. A little rain, a little sunshine... a mild winter. One day flows into another.
The exception to a mundane life is life via the grandkids. I never knew this could happen. I suppose its because I never considered it happening. At least not to anyone in my world. My six yr old grandson has been kicked out of kindergarten. (00) WTF?!? He couldn't even make it through six months of school...if you want to count kindergarten as school (and I do. D read a page to me from his book. He couldn't do that before school started.) He's too disruptive and does not do as instructed. Since he's a transfer student (lives outside of the district) they are not obligated to put up with him. I don't blame them, either.
He's a regular Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde. He's knocked me on my ass by being totally polite, kind, and thoughtful... all without any thing being said to him. "There's my boy!!!" Then he can pitch a fit because he's asked to put on a jacket. "Its cold out there. Put on your coat." ohmygawd, you'd think a stranger took his candy or something.
I am soooo glad I'm not directly responsible for him. What a heavy responsibility that is going to be. But let me be optimistic and hopeful. Perhaps another school/teacher will be able to deal with him successfully. At the very least, lets hope there's something that can be done to help D maintain order and focus. Otherwise, we're up the infamous river without a paddle.
On to another opinion. I've been art-blog surfing for a few days. It was probably overload, but this is what kept coming to me...it all looks the same. I can't tell one artist from another by their paintings. Have you noticed this? Its becoming one big blur.
We've got sunshine today, folks. I've gotta go get my 10 minutes of vitimin D.
But wait... before you look at it (perhaps 'again'), read this from one of our local news stations:
"The ad has hit two million views on Youtube. It's a one-shot ad done in-camera with no cuts."
No cut-&-paste, no green backdrop, nothing but a straight shoot. I find it amazing and so kewl! (Plus it was made by one of our local businesses but I didn't catch its name.)
My six year old grandson, Darius, had one of those learning experiences that life gives you. The kind that stays with you forever, like when you learned what "hot" meant. But not to worry, no physical pain was experienced. Only a slight deflation of a growing ego. I can do it myself. A little humbling of an indepentant child.
After claiming his mother never did anything for him, Darius stubbornly began fixing his own dinner. Top Ramen noodles.
He put the bowl with the noodles in the microwave, pushed buttons, and began to dance around a little as he waited. It seemed to take a long time. From my place on the couch I hear the following as the microwave was still going...
whoa, steam...
Mama, there's a lot of steam coming out of the microwave.
By now I'm smelling something burning and I blurt out "Turn it off!"
Darius is still dancing around a little, but now it was because he wasn't sure what to do.
"TURN IT OFF" I yell a little louder as dirty gray smoke seeped into the air.
Darius pulled on the door which turned it off immediately. Dirty smoke came billowing out and filled the air. It had that burnt smell, like popcorn.
'Mom' came and pulled the smoking bowl out of the microwave and dropped it in the sink and ran water over it. More smoke. Below is what the bowl looked like.
I was watching Darius' expression as his mother questioned him in a calm manner.
What did you do?
I put the noodles in the bowl and put the bowl in the microwave.
Did you add any water?
At this point I could see his face crumble as he retraced his steps. When he mentally got to the "add water" step his face froze for a second and then his shoulders slumped.
Oh No! I forgot the water!
I know that feeling. I've lived that feeling way too often. I'm feeling for the little guy. Fortunately for him, his mom has a memory issue, too, and could relate to it being an unintentional accident.
That's okay. Don't worry about it.
But it did bother him for a little bit. He wanted to show his independance and it didn't work out that way. Life has a way of keeping us humble, doesn't it.
"Be mine cause, you know, you're my valentine. And don't you ferget about it, either."
This hunk a man caught my attention this morning. He looked like he was trying to attract attention and since its Valentine's Day, I decided to use him... since, you know, I ain't gonna get anythin' else done to post.
Hope your day is a pleasant one. I'm watching the boys. They are tearing up the place now as I key this. And what fun... tomorrow is a school holiday, too.
When my daughter and her two boys moved in with me last September, I lost my car. I lost my car to my daughter. I've finally got it back. My daughter has filed her taxes, received her refund, bought a used car, paid back loans... and 5 days later she's broke and borrowing money from me again. Just like old times.
She got a '92 Ford Explorer.
When your funds are limited, your choices are too. A bit of a gas guzzler, but she looks good in it. The boys do too. And its hers. All hers.
Do you remember your first car? Not a shared car, but your own personal vehicle. I've got just one word for it.....
FREEDOM!!! As long as you had gas money. But even if you didn't, you could go sit in your car and be alone with your own thoughts. Damn, I wish I had some gas.
Three days. Its been three days since I've had any coffee. Its been okay, but now the coffee bean is calling out to me.
I've got coffee. I've got my flavoring I like to put in my coffee. The hold up has been that its whole bean coffee, not ground. Sigh.
Guess what I've been doing this morning.
Necessity is the mother of invention. Once again I am crushing coffee beans using a pair of pliers. Not as quick or tidy as a coffee grinder, but it will get the job done. You know, when its necessary.
Looks like he was trying to come up with another use for the grocery bags. I'm not sure if I should be concerned or not. I suppose its not everyone who would think of a "secured hat". Yet on the other hand....
It has to do with a car problem. Car problems, to me, equal BIG BUCKS. But the Universe smiled on me and the problem was taken care of with a $20 used tire. Whew!
Being a semi-pro hermit, I didn't drive my car often but since my daughter and her two boys moved in with me I seldom see my car now. She's always driving it and she doesn't like staying at home. This is fine with me, cause she does all my errands for me. About the only time I drive now is to go visit my friend each Saturday.
This past Saturday I go hopping in the car and pull off. Wobble. Wobble. Wobble. OMG! It feels like the wheel is about to fall off. I go around the block and return to the apartment. I keep myself under control and do not blow up like a... like a... well, like a bad tire exploding, although that's what I felt like doing.
I confront my daughter
It feels like a wheel is going to fall off! Did you know this?
Yes.
When did it start?
Oh... a day or two ago.
A couple of days? You drove the car like this for a couple of days and you didn't mention it?!? And now its the weekend and everything is close so we can't have it checked!!!
(Maybe I wasn't suppose to notice it.)
I continued to explain to her how dangerous it could be... wheel falling off, tire exploding, etc. And it was bound to happen in the middle of traffic. And just to be a good mother I also threw in how this kind of behavior (ignoring things, cutting corners) brings a lot of problems to her life. I stopped myself before I started reeling them all off in detail.
I had visions of a broken tie rod or rotten struts, things that cost a lot more than I had. This morning my daughter asked to drive to the store (just a few blocks away) so she could get some needed groceries. 'Need' was the operative word. Since she was going to be driving it anyway, she took it to our indepentant tire shop where they checked it out.
Hooray us. It was a bad tire. That was all! Hip Hip Hooray! Do a little dance, get down tonight.
And just to top the day off as a good one, I remembered to activate my new debit card (expiration date on the old one was Feb. 1) BEFORE trying to use it and I put the new car insurance card in my wallet. Damn. I should go buy a lottery ticket today!
I did a couple of small sketches based on the photos (and friendly challenge) posted onRosy's blog.
The keys are included so you can see how small they are. I used pencil because it was handy. If I had to get supplies out I probably would not have doodled anything. In my head, one would have been done in pastel on colored paper and the other one perhaps a watercolor. But the true goal was/is to get something posted, so I took the direct route.
I didn't catch a likeness on either person, but I didn't want to stop to correct anything. You know. Tunnel vision. Do some kind of art... puleese! Get something posted!
I read on PW's blog for today that the Bloggies are here for 2010. Blog awards. Its various categories with the nominations being whittled down to five or so for each category and the public now gets to vote, if they want to. Check it out here.
I read several of the nominations, but what I'm going to do is to see what other great blogs I've been missing. Lots of archives to check out.
Look.. its doing this or I'll be forced to clean or (gasp) work on some drawing or something. A woman has to do what a woman must do. Its not easy, but she's my brother.
I know, I know. I'm a little late in viewing the movie Julie & Julia, but better late than never.
I liked it. I liked it so much I will probably watch it again. Meryl Streep is magnificent. What a wonderful actress!! She wasn't an actress in a movie... she was Julia! I thought all the folks did a great job.
I heard one review that praised the portions of the movie that was about Julia and said the parts about Julie were bland. (my word, using faulty memory) Well, all I can say is that Julie's portion of the film was about someone much younger and who had not traveled as much as Julia. I don't think her portion of the film should have been as colorful as Julia's. So there.
**The sets and costumes were superb! Anyone half interested in France will love the sets. France was beautiful.
**The movie is long. 2.5 hours long, so be sure to have a comfortable place to sit.
**OMG... everyone was eating. And eating. And then eating some more. There were a few scenes that I wondered how the actors could talk because their mouths were so full. Viewing the special features, the actor playing the young husband said he purposely didn't eat until filming. The director, the wonderful Nora Ephron, made the actors actually eat. I know they don't film the scenes in order of appearance, but I swear it looked like all the actors put on weight. Meryl said she gained 15 pounds.
**OMG... the butter!! Need I say more?
**I have a new appreciation for Julia Childs. And her sexy marriage, too!
Everyone has their personal preferences in books and movies so this one may not be for everyone. But I enjoyed it. Am I the last one to see it?
"…the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy.All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” –Hermann Goering, Nazi Reichsmarschall
