inanimate version….. Go ahead, get your mind Out.Of.The.Gutter!!

A couple years ago while having breakfast at the 5 spot with Leslie, Sam and Char we took a walk and did a little shopping on Queen Anne avenue and I picked up this aroma therapy neck warmer. It is filled with lavender and buck wheat or rice or bran hulls or something small and magical!

Last night I pulled it from the coffee table where it had lived since the last cold snap and stuck it in the microwave for two minutes. Then I slipped it into the foot of my bed while I went about turning out the lights and getting ready for bed.

When I got into bed the foot of the bed was nice and toasty warm and then I pulled it up near my core and was asleep in no time.

Tonight I had to run out for dog food but before I left I heated it up again and zipped it up inside my coat! I left it in the seat of the truck while I went in and got the dog food and when I came out I sat down in the very warm seat.  In fact when I returned home I reheated it and it is in my lap as I type this and watch this sucky football game containing 40 bajillion turnovers.

So yes on this cold night that is supposed to drop into single digits I am taking this best friend to bed with me again to keep me warm.  (It’s a cold and lonely night a girls gotta do what she’s gotta do)  Really its warming my feet and its warming my butt sounds like a good friend to me!

I just wanted to point out a new “Page” at the top of my blog.

The pages go so unnoticed up there that I just wanted to draw attention to it.

My brother Dale has started out on a nomad journey across the country and is keeping us all updated through email.

I have gone ahead and created a blog “Travels with Spider”  to re-post his emails on.

You will find a link to each entry up on that page.  Alternatively you can click on the blog link to get there.

I will admit, right here, front and center that there are things about 1st shift that I like.  More opportunity to see friends is the one that sticks out most.  However yesterday I found or re-found another.

Long, long ago, I used to frequent the first Thursday art walk.   Occasionally alone, mostly with either Clair or Elizabeth and a couple times with Katherine or Joy when her husband Steven had an exhibit up.

Last night I went to the first Thursday art walk, I have not been to it in years.  Granted I mostly went to one exhibit, the lost works exhibit because Char had 30 paintings in it.  In fact fifty artists in all each had 30 paintings they had done in 30 days.

I knew this art would be for sale and I knew the openings were just Wednesday (first Thursday eve so to speak), Thursday and then this Saturday.  What I didn’t realize was that people could be and would be buying them yesterday.  As in taking them off the wall right in front of you as you are looking at the pieces.

Clearly there were people who are more used to this venue.  I got there five minutes into the event, or when the doors were supposed to open and was so surprised to find the place full of people and pieces of art coming off the walls.  One man walking around with a stack of paintings, he had to have had at lease 30 in his arms.  They all sell for forty bucks each and eventually I saw him sit down to sort through them.  The unfortunate thing is the rest of us didn’t get to see the ones in his stack, even if he didn’t end up buying them.  You can even see the empty spots already in my cell phone pictures here of one of the displays.  There was no way to get a photo of the magnitude of these paintings or the people here.  I snapped these two because in some cosmic meeting there was all of a sudden no one standing in my way.

There were lots of very cool paintings and I liked that they didn’t have them separated by artists.  I was also bummed that I couldn’t see all of Chars (or what was left of them) in one fell swoop.  But it does make for a more interesting display. 

After the art walk I went home to make “sample” sugar cookies for possibly my 1st bona-fide order under the business.  The problem with rolled sugar cookies is the amount of time they take.  Making the dough is no problem.  But it has to be cold to roll it out.  I left it in the fridge for an hour and rolled out a small amount to cut a few cookies.  It wasn’t long enough and I couldn’t pull the dough apart.  So back in the fridge they went for another 15 minutes and then onto a baking sheet.  I only baked a few and then had to wait for them to cool and made some icing for them while they cooled.  These are so labor intensive.  They are listed on my price sheet at more than other cookies and under the holiday section.  I will be happy if I get the order because really, I have half the dough made already.  But if I don’t, that will be ok also.

Since I had to run out for butter, I also picked up yarn….five sciens of pink.  Lets see if I can get a blanket done in the next two days, you know in between painting the ceiling at the studio tonight and removing my hoses from the house for winter because, hello, its friggen freezing out there.  If not, I will finish if off for someone else.

Vacation day 3 is pretty much over and I am throughly exhausted and ready to go to bed early to be able to get up at 4:30 am and have a nice relaxing day of commuting and working and commuting.

Today was over nine hours of carpet cleaning.  I rented a Rug Dr. from Lowes last night and got a start on the basement.  I started with the bedrooms, hall and stairs early this morning.  Most of the afternoon was dedicated to the living room. The completely filthy filthy living room.  I thought I was finished but just kept filling and cleaning and emptying and never came up with anywhere near clean water.  It really is kind of disgusting.  When I was at 23 hours for my rental I finally stopped and loaded it up and Missy and I returned it to Lowes.

A friend suggested getting a de-humidifier to help with the drying process.  They own apartments and use this method all the time to pull the water out of the room and she said it worked great.  Well while returning the carpet cleaner I checked them out and they ranged from 170 to 270 bucks…..so I am going with the air dry crank the heat method.  Actually the cleaner pulled out a lot of the water and most everything is completely dry except the living room.

I’m not sure if this reflects my time management skills (or lack of) or just how much I’ve done the last three days but although I have been off work I did not manage any of Missy’s walks during daylight hours.  I really was ready to bag tonight’s but the ride to Lowes and back just wasn’t enough for her.  She gave me one of those hang-dog, big brown-eyed looks.

Now to return all the furniture into its usual positioning and get ready for work tomorrow and the early morning alarm.

These little guys were part of my view today.  Vacation day number 2 was spent at Reverie finishing up the flooring and touch up paint.  We also went to Second Use looking for a door and instead found these pups in a carriage, all dressed up for the holiday.

Speaking of Reverie, here are a few before and after pictures.  We need to move a pastry case that we have in the back of the warehouse up to the space but it wont fit through one of the doorways so we are waiting for help to bring it around the actual building and in the front door.  Next is the figuring and building of the some counters.

I have 3 days off this week.  I only get two weeks a year and although the plans fell apart for this week I still had to take the time.  I might as well make good use of the daylight and get some stuff done.

On today’s agenda was fixing the fence blown apart in the recent wind storm, hang outside door on the gym and attach grill cabana onto deck.

Well the fence is standing again, has been re-inforced but will need a new piece of plexiglass at some point.
The door has been hung but the frame needs some work.  I figure keeping out 95% of the elements is better than the thing being in my way inside the gym.
The cabana is now screwed down to the deck and the grill again usable for this winter.  There is no guarantee that if the weather is horrible this winter that it wont suffer some damage but for now its useable.

None of these three repairs are perfect however they are better then when the day started.

Best intentions for family photos that is……

I was sure to pick up batteries for my digital camera last week before the families, my family, started arriving for the week.  Needless to say I have 7 pictures, none of them on my camera but all on my cell phone from the last two days of festivities.

Loud would be the best way to describe Thanksgiving.  Rather, screechy, barky, multiple conversations, sounds of football, sounds of tv, sounds of the dishwasher all co-mingling and trying to out do one another for the top spot.  Well the dishwasher never got any louder, it just never stopped running.

Complete over-eating would also describe the day.  Since everyone was already there I thought I would start by making breakfast since you know, dinner was late afternoon and all.  I made bacon (which I wanted the drippings for later in the day for my brussels sprouts) but besides bacon we just started to put out snacks/hors dourves instead.

Clearly enough food to not even bother with dinner.  Taylor made pistachio and goat cheese filled dates that were yummy and I had picked up more than a pound of smoked salmon at the butcher on Wednesday after work.  Along with the usual crudité, cheese and crackers, devilled eggs, chips and salsa we really grazed all day prior to “dinner”.

There is actually no picture of the bird or Thanksgiving dinner, by the time Arthur made the second batch of gravy we dished up and ate it all up.  The gravy story is the second funniest of the day.  Wanting to be a part of the cooking party and contribute he was all for making the gravy.  The first batch he used my basting stock that cooked all day with the giblets, butter, fresh sage and celery and onions.   He kept adding more and more and more flour to thicken it up.  Was surprised at how well it was incorporating but it wasn’t thickening so he kept adding more.  He said to Della, that is four right.  She she tasted it and said, nope,  thats powdered sugar.  Gravy made with at least a cup of powdered sugar, probably more.   He tried his best by adding spices and salt but it was still sweet so we tossed it and he started over.  Giving him a hard time all along, well cause its fun.

There is so much going on in these photos it’s really hard to see it all.  Osten and Char wrestling, Arther on his computer, Della on her computer, my nephews in the same picture (rare photo).  One of my favorite things about my family is the just existing in the same space is so comfortable.  My nephew reading a book while another plays a game nearby.  Rarely less than 4 laptops going at the same time.  Someone usually on the fooseball table.  Dogs in and out (and in and out and in and out and round and round) multiple conversations between everyone even while on the computers.  Various people cooking, various people cleaning.  Card games, checkers, video games, and always, always good food, far to much of it.

All of my pictures of Riblet are blurry.  She just moves way to fast to get a clear shot.  But here she is checking out what was being put on the table.

Here is Missy scooting under Arthurs hand for a petting. 

Here Missy has folded.  I think Lilianna won this game.  You would think I picked up those cards but no, they lived there on the floor for a few hours.

So I thought I would bury the funniest story of the day down here after all of these innocent family cell phone pictures.    The funniest story involves my six-year-old nephew Osten, a room full of family except two people, a silver bullet vibrator and the complete and total embarrassment of my best friend Mary.  It is a story that will live on for-ever in our family.  Forever!  We are all in the living room, including Mary sitting on Mercy’s lap, next to Tureaza on the couch.  Osten walks up and opens his hand and asks “whats this mommy”.   Tureaza asks him where did you get that, to which he answers in the bed upstairs.  Mary reaches over,  says I’ll take that and puts it in her back pocket.  No one ever answers the kid.  Mary completely red-faced says it was the slats of the upper bunk.  She had put it up there months ago, forgot it when she moved out, and will never ever live it down.  In only a manner that my baby sister can manage she say “come on Osten, let’s go wash your hands.”

Ok so maybe that wasn’t the complete and total embarrassment of Mary, but putting it here on my blog will be.  (Oh I told her I was going to, even though some of her friends read my blog and her mother)  Mary wants it to be known that 1) the batteries were dead and the kid did not actually turn it on.  2) That it was clean and an insert for something else so never actually used.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, I hope yours was as fabulous as mine.

My sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew should be pulling in sometime in the next half hour.

Tonight I made spinach, pine nut, kalamata olive and cheese corn muffins.

I also made pumpkin bars for the family and to take to Amy at work tomorrow.

Tomorrow night is pie night, not for Thanksgiving dinner, I’ve assigned those out but orders for Baby Cakes.

Needless to say Thanksgiving day is turning into Thanksgiving family week.  House full for the next five days starting within 30 minutes.  Della will also be here starting tomorrow and her girls and dog starting Wednesday. (Oh, gotta pick up coffee, you think I go through coffee, you should see when the whole family is together, it pretty much brews all day.) I did manage to divide up the menu, including items for the nieces to do since they are now grown and working.  However everyone will actually be here now so we will be jockeying for cooking space.   Except for tomorrow that is, when I bake pies I’m actually selling and someone elses Thanksgiving meals are  depending on them.   It’s a good time cooking elbow to elbow with my sisters so I am excited.  whooop, they are pulling in.

The movie trumped the laundry.

The movie trumped the fence needing fixing.

The movie trumped prepping for family Thanksgiving weekend (which I heard late tonight they are driving up tomorrow.)

The movie trumped vacuuming, dusting, afternoon football game and having one “stay at home” day a weekend which I crave but rarely seem to have lately.

The movie could very well have almost not happened.  My call to check in with Katherine was just before 11am and I woke her up.  With everything we both have going on it would have been super easy to say, how bout another day.

Then there was which movie to go to.  So many to choose from and we agreed on “The Blind Side.” Now I had seen the previews, I knew Sandra Bullock was staring in it.  I didn’t realize that Tim McGraw plays her husband.  Nor did I realize it was based on Michael Oher a Rookie with the Balitmore Ravens. Probably the only reason I recognized his name at the beginning of the movie was because I saw him play against the Vikings last month.

But back to the movie.  Sandra Bullock is a force to be reckoned with in this movie.  Simple, easy determination and can do attitude.  The “privileged” lifestyle that the family has in comparison to the “underprivileged” life Michael had for his sixteen years could not be two further ends of the spectrum.  However the priviledge was not hidden and downplayed, nor was it glorified.  It is the family reality and their normal so the behavior of the family was normal.  In that this movie was more than just a feel good, do good movie.  It was far more than a  football hero movie.  It could easily be seen as a statement of race or elitism and culture but because it is based on actual events, even the naivety the family has and a faux pas they make about race are somehow honest and disarming.

In my unskilled review way I say its a must see!!!