A post in which it is year end

Work today was surprisingly subdued, comparatively.  Usually the last day of the fiscal year is one of great ballyhoo.  It doesn't affect my area so much (my big work begins after the confetti has fallen), but overall things seemed rather subdued today.  All the paperwork I had been trying to get through was processed, and I got my last last-minute write-off approval back from California early in the day.

About 1pm the power went out.  We're used to that.  For some reason, the power where we are is spotty, and after a couple of notable outages, the company spent a small fortune having a huge diesel generator installed to power the building in the event of an outage.  Aside from a blink in the power, outages don't usually affect the office.  The problem was that the generator failed today.  After starting initially, after about twenty minutes, everything went wonk. 

I went on to lunch, and we had partial power by the time I got back, but by that time the computer system was messed up and I never did get back in.  The internet came back up, and I made use of that.  But by the end of the day, it became obvious that nothing was going to happen, and the year ended with a whimper instead of the customary bang.  Personally, I think it is just as well.  Since I do clean-up, I see the results of people working frantically to push things out for year end.  It's probably just as well that cooler heads prevailed, however frustrating it was for management.

I didn't have anything planned tonight, and didn't end up doing much after work.  I was going to see everyone tomorrow night anyway, and with the holiday madness coming up, I figured there were worse things I could do than grab a little alone time at the house.

I went by the grocery store to get cake stuff.  After much discussion with all parties, I had decided to bake a pound cake for the party tomorrow.  Plain pound cake is Lady Beth's favorite, but I knew Lynn and Lori would want something chocolate.  My compromise was that I would do a plain (in Lady Beth-speak that means one with no lemon flavoring) pound cake, but would put a mocha-chocolate glaze on it.  I figured if Lady Beth didn't want the glaze, she could feed hers to Lynn.

Unfortunately I realized when I got home that I had forgotten the butter, which was one of the main things I had gone to get.  Grrrrr.  But I wasn't going back out tonight.  I just decided since I would be up early in the morning anyway, I'd go get it then. 

A post in which I have dinner out with the boys

I pulled up Female on the Beach this morning and finished watching it before work.  Not bad.  No Mildred Pierce, but not terrible. 

I was in the office early, and decided to do a bit of cyber-shopping for Christmas before I settled in.  Last year I got caught flat-footed, not ready for Christmas, so I'm a teeny bit paranoid about it this year.  At the same time, I can't shop too early because I need to wait for my profit-sharing to come in first as part of my credit card debt strategy.  Nonetheless, I have decided to get the immediate family out of the way, so that if I need to bump someone off the list later I can do that. 

I was going to buy Russ's present today, and had had an email from Billy last week that he had updated his Amazon gift list.  But when I pulled it up, there were two lists.  One last updated in 2005, and one with TWO things on it - both of them stupid car accessories.  One for $10, and one for $50.  Really?  I called Billy, who of course didn't answer his freakin' phone.  (It amazes me that they have hundreds of megabytes at their disposal, but not one of the three of them can be reached, ever, on their ridiculously expensive fancy phones!) I left him a message and shot him an email.  He did call back in a bit, at which point I suggested that he kill his husband.  But apparently there is some problem with Amazon, and this isn't Russ's fault.  It still threw a (little) monkey-wrench in my little plan.  I bought Billy's present instead. 

It was really nice to come in this morning and not have a backlog waiting for me; not that there wasn't plenty to do.  I have finally decided on a title for the cookbook, I wanted to get it on to the printers.  Since I have worked so much overtime in the last couple of weeks, I had no compunction about slipping away for a bit to run over there.  The woman at the printers still remembers me, amazingly, and we got things squared away quickly.  Unfortunately they don't do hardbacks, but I think a softback binding will be just as good.  I had thought about online publishing, but was worried about the formatting requirements.  Also, when I priced the books, the  minimum I could order was a hundred, which is a bit much.  They were also pretty expensive (not that these will be cheap). 

That taken care of, I settled in to work steadily through the day.  There was enough new stuff coming in and loose ends to be tied up to keep me occupied for the rest of the day.  $382 thousand placed on my desk this month - whew!  I'm glad the month/year is almost over, and things will go back to a semblance of normalcy.

Towards the end of the day, the texts started about going to dinner tonight.  I begged off on the excuse of poverty, but Vince offered to buy my dinner if I would come.  Ordinarily I am too proud to accept an offer like that, but I've changed since treatment.  Sometimes it's nice to let folks do FOR you for a change.  Besides, after the difficulties I've had trying to do nice things for Lisa, Lori, Miss Kat and Dana, I have a much better appreciation for what it is to be gracious in acceptance.  It's not a bad skill to have, but is surprisingly difficult for me.  I think it comes for insecurity, but that's just a working hypothesis. 

As I was leaving work, Larney just gave me $15 of Kohl's bucks that she had gotten on Black Friday.  She wasn't going to use them, and they expired on December 3.  She said she had no use for them.  I've gotten used to Larney's constant small gifts.  At first they made me uncomfortable; but she's so rich (she works for amusement) she could care less.  Besides, I knew exactly what to do with them.  I ran through there on the way home, and found pretty much the perfect thing for Lisa.  If she doesn't like it, she'll enjoy having a credit at Kohl's anyway.  She loves that store. 

Very pleased with myself, I scampered home, washed the lunch dishes, fed the cats, ran through the shower, and headed out for supper.  There ended up being nine of us, and I was the first to arrive.  I sat with Vince and visited with him for a bit while we waited on the others.  I love him, but he is so hard to read these days.  He seems oddly lost without Brian.  I guess it's because he's torn.  I can tell he misses Brian, but Russ says he doesn't want to go.  So he's in an odd place, torn between missing his husband and not wanting to leave his home.  It must be difficult.  I hurt for him, and feel that there is something I should do for him, but I'm not sure what to do. 

We were at LongHorn tonight.  Sigh.  That's another reason I wasn't going to go, although it feels petty to say it.  The food is so expensive, and really not that good.  Maybe it's because I'm not ordering steak.  The last time we went my salmon was pretty much raw.  I guess that was my fault - I ordered it rare.  Tonight that wasn't an issue because I wasn't asked.  I decided to leave it up to the serendipitous fates.  For a while, it looked like we weren't going to get any food at all.  Fortunately I wasn't starving.  We waited at least 45 minutes for salads.  Russ and Billy had ordered soup, and Russ's soup came out cold.  At that point, I would have eaten it like a popcicle, but he sent it back.  The food wasn't terribly delayed, which was good.  Vince had ordered the porterhouse for two, and frankly it was easy to see that that was where the love had been spent.  It was an enormous piece of meat, served with fanfare.  There was a separate trip to the table to hand-mix the custom sauce for it at table.  It came out on a plate that was at least two feet long.  He said it was scrumptious.  For forty freakn' dollars, it ought to have been.  My salmon had been pretty much incinerated.  It wasn't burned, just cooked until ever vestige of moisture had gone.  The potato was human-sized (unlike the enormous ones you get so many places now), but dry and kind of mealy.  The veggies were soft (fine with me, I like them that way, but too soft for sauteed vegetables), and the usual tasteless, spiceless offering.  I was supposed to have snow peas, but I assume they referred to the actual peas in the pod.  I had one snow pea pod on my plate.  But since I was being treated to dinner, it seemed unseemly to complain.  I ate it. 

I was really there for the company anyway, and the company was nice.  Bill, John, and Jake were there.  Bill wasn't feeling well, but Jake was as cute and flirty as ever.  There was another new hot guy tonight.  His name is Joel.  He was absolutely yummy, and I heard that he had a piercing that I would really love to see; but of course he is too young, thin, and pretty for me.  Speaking of beauties, I was a little worried that Lee would be there tonight.  I really embarrassed myself online chatting with him a week or so ago, and I was a little worried about facing him, but he didn't come.  I got to sit between Billy and Logan, and it was good to see them, since I don't see that much of them any more.  I told stories and just generally chatted and caught up.  I strategized with Billy over what to take Saturday night.  I just can't decide.  Since Russ wanted to make macaroni pie, I just told him to do it.  I guess I'm going to bake a cake, but that isn't an easy decision.  Lori and Lynn will want something chocolate, but Lady Beth's favorite is plain.  I may bake a plain one and then put a mocha glaze on it, but I have to check in with Miss Kat first since she's bringing a dessert.

Apparently there was a table of fundies behind us who were unhappy with our conversation.  I of course didn't notice, but according to Russ they were giving the back of my head the stink-eye for most of the evening (we were there for two and a half hours)(!!).  Oh well, I guess they shouldn't have been listening to our conversation then should they?  How nosey. 

Eventually, we all settled up and headed for home.  It was almost 10pm when we left, and my bed was calling me. 

A post in which I attempt to spend some money, with limited success

By the end of the day today, I was finally, FINALLY caught up from the deluge of accounts on Monday.  Everyone was contacted appropriately, everyone was checked in, my calls were made, and my write-offs were all turned in.  I was wiped, but it seemed like a miracle.  I left work only slightly late, and made my way out into the world. 

My goal tonight, and my reward for not running screaming into the hills this week, was frozen egg rolls. I had been craving egg rolls for a couple of days, and the only real way to be sure they weren't full of dead things was to get them and heat them up myself.  (I suppose I could have made some, but that wasn't happening). 

On the way to my reward though, I was going to check out the Ross Dress for Less at Cherrydale for some more citrus body wash.  I felt vaguely guilty about this, because I really should be Christmas shopping at this point, but I was able to work through it.  That was made easier by the fact that they didn't have any either.  They had the mango whore scent, but not the good one.

Undeterred, I moseyed next door to the Dollar Tree for some fancy crackers.  I noted Monday night that I had mowed through a considerable portion of my stock and needed refurbishment.  Plus, it's just always fun to go in the dollar store.  I got my crackers and nosed around for a while, but there wasn't anything I really wanted to buy.  Since I've gotten out of the habit of decorating for Christmas, I enjoy seeing all the stuff in the stores, but it isn't like I need any of it.  About the time I got in line, I got a good look at it.  I've had some unpleasant experiences in this store.  Tonight, there was one register open, five people in line, and two buggies piled high.  And a partridge in a pear tree.  I decided there were no crackers I wanted bad enough to stand in that line.  I put them back and left for the grocery store.

I got my egg rolls and a couple of other odds and ends.  I don't have an Ingles card, so I wasn't tempted by sales and stuff.  To appease my conscience, I picked up a discount bag of salad and headed for the house.

I put together the salad and ate that and washed dishes while the egg rolls baked.  After the egg rolls I was just getting ready to relax a bit when I realized I didn't have any veggies for tomorrow.  I had eaten the last of my brussels sprouts today.  So back into the kitchen I went, and watched a documentary about Bette Davis while I cooked sprouts and got ready for bed. 

A post in which it is a long day, continued

Interestingly, I found an old Joan Crawford movie on Youtube this morning - the whole movie.  Who knew?  And it was one I hadn't seen, Female on the Beach.  Not one of her best, but passable.  There is something fascinating about her later films to me, as she became harder and more entrenched in her signature style.  My old friend Ty used to say that if you live long enough, you become a charicature of yourself.  That really was true in her case. 

I dragged into the office today, dreading opening my email.  But I did anyway.  There weren't any more placements (yet), but there was plenty to do.  I did my scheduled calls and dealt with things as they came in.  Apparently it is national be-a-pain-in-my-ass week and no one told me. 

I eventually got caught up.  I got my write-offs back from California and turned them in.  Then I decided to work through the back-log of accounts from Monday.  I had sent an email about the dreaded ISO project, and during the process had found that there was a month extension, so they aren't due until the end of December.  Since December is always a dead month on my desk anyway (no one wants to do anything, and irresponsible people actually don't bother to do anything), I should have time to work on that then.  Let the procrastination resume!

I did take about fifteen minutes to gobble down my lunch, but then went right back to my desk.  It did help to have a good lunch.  I had a better attitude anyway.  The furkey was a little tough (I think I had it in the freezer for too long), but the stuffing was perfect.  My gravy could have used some more miso.  Apparently, I have the brussels sprouts thing down at this point - they are turning out consistently good.

I worked so hard in the afternoon that quitting time came and went without my even noticing.  When I looked up at the clock it was 5:50pm.  That's bad, because I had dinner set with Dad and Eve tonight, and she sets three alarms to be on time for each meal.  Generally by the time I get there, she is sitting with her purse in her lap ready to GO.  So I sucked it up and called.  She had me meet them at the restaurant, the better not to miss those fifteen minutes it would have taken for me to get there and for us to head back out.  I was too tired to be concerned one way or the other. 

Tonight we met at La Parilla, a new Mexican place that recently opened in the old Ni Hao building (nee Bob Evans).  Even in my tapioca-brained state, I have to say I was impressed when we walked in.  This building has been recycled twice into different restaurants, but you would never know it to walk in.  No expense had been spared.  They must have gutted the whole place.  There was extensive tile and wood work.  The bathrooms had been completely (and expensively) re-done.  The staff seemed to be all on board.  We were effusively welcomed by everyone we passed.  The menu was impressive.  The veggie selection was good,; and although there was a disclaimer that the beans and rice were made with chicken stock, I'm sure its the same in other Mexican places, they just don't bother to tell you.  I had the shrimp nachos tonight, and they were quite serviceable, although they could have been cheesier.  Eve seemed to enjoy her food, as did Dad.  He said he would go back.  She tried the 'Mexican' cole slaw, which was quite good.  Dad had some coconut shrimp that were good too, although the star of the plate was the accompanying sauce, which was freshly citrus-y and delicious.  The service was a little all over the place.  Dad's appetizer came out with the meal, it was the wrong size, he never got a side of rice he ordered, and the waitress was way too chatty for me; but overall it was a good experience, and I would like to try some other things on the impressive menu. 

When we left, Dad told me to go on home to bed.  He could tell I was wiped, although I had rallied a bit over dinner.  Eve's new thing is the 'fantasy home' she's helping with for charity over the holidays, and which she talked about incessantly over dinner.  I'm wondering what re-furb projects she'll decide they can't live without after Christmas. But that's their life, and for now I had leave.  I left.

Since we were right across the street, I ducked into Ross Dress for Less to see if they had any of that citrus shower gel I bought in Columbia, but no dice.  For good measure, I went in Marshall's Home Store just to see what they had.  I ended up buying a pair of sweatpants.  I felt bad about buying myself something so close to Christmas, but with the sizes all wonky, who knows what I would have ended up with as a gift suggestion.  Besides, I pretty much had to try them on apparently. 

With that rationalization in place, I headed home.  I called Mama to thank her for the dressing revelation, ad to tell her how well mine turned out.  I told her I loved her, went home, washed dishes, and went to bed.  I was wiped.

A post in which it is a very long day

I woke up this morning feeling like crap.  I couldn't decide if I was coming down with something from Ava (who, bless her, is perpetually carrying some pestilence), if it was turkey hangover, or if there could be some other, more nefarious problem.  In the end it didn't matter.  It's fiscal year end.  I sucked it up and went in. 

Unfortunately. 

When I opened my in-box, I found that the evil Canadian elves had been hard at work Friday while I was shopping.  TEN new freakin' accounts (more than they have placed in months!!).  I was freaking out.  I emailed Alan.  I had set aside this week to work on ISO.  I have no idea how I'm going to do that now.  Their accounts take forever to work because they basically have to be constructed from no records, and then I have to go through the usual easy 107-step process to get them checked in.  I was very, very stressed.  Fortunately Alan emailed me back and told me I could wait to work them after month/year end.  Then he sent me a casual email telling me to code ANOTHER ten new accounts to my territory for year end.  It was just all I could get done to get all the coding done, much less decide how to actually work any of them.   And then there was my regular job to do as well... 

I had a decent lunch today - meh - left-over green beans from last week, apples, and a peanut butter sandwich.  Not the breakfast of champions, but it was good to have something I could eat at my desk.  Taking a lunch hour today was a pipe dream. 

I worked straight through until 6:30, but at that point my brains were basically oatmeal, and it was pretty apparent to me that I wasn't going to get anything accomplished if I stayed, and that I would probably have to go back over it all anyway.  I left.

Besides, I had cooking to do tonight.  Fortunately, I had almost everything I needed already at the house.  I got the Quorn Turk'y Roast in the oven and then started making dressing.  Taking a tip from Mama, I threw the celery, onion, apples (I did have to peel and core them), mushrooms, and pecans into the food processor.  The dressing was done in time to put in the oven with my roast when I turned it over. 

I thought I had some frozen egg rolls in the freezer, but when I went to the cupboard it was bare.  I had to settle for some black bean soup that I did NOT want, but I pacified myself that it was much healthier for me than egg rolls would have been.  Cold (and vaguely can-y tasting - it had been in the house too long) comfort.  Nonetheless, I gobbled it down and headed back to the kitchen to finish up.

I made the brussels sprouts, and then the gravy, then set it all up to cool and started washing dishes.  When my dressing came out, it was gorgeous, perfectly moist and not at all gloppy, with a nice crispiness on top - lovely.  I got eight servings of dressing out of the pan.  I paired four of them up with sliced Quorn Turk'y loaf and put them in the fridge for lunches, then bunged the other four in the freezer. 

By the time I had done all that, it was pretty much what I could do to brush my teeth and crawl into the bed.  I turned on the television, but was asleep just about before my head hit the pillow.

A post in which I accomplish little*

Mom seemed kind of ready to get moving this morning.  She was going to church this morning, and I was leaving in time for her to go.  I had a turkey sandwich and some pumpkin pie for breakfast, loaded the car, and headed out. 

It was a beautiful day, and a nice day for a drive.  I was feeling, shall we say, anxious.  I put out the critter call.  Jeremiah said he would come over, but in typical Jeremiah fashion backed out when I got home.  There was plenty I needed to do, but I pretty much ignored it all and fell into the internet vortex.  Eventually, I saw John.  He has changed his profile for some reason, and didn't come up on my friends list when he signed on.  I thought that maybe he wasn't interested in getting together anymore, but he eventually responded and I made plans to go out there. 

Unfortunately the visit was pretty unsatisfactory.  John quit his job in a fit of pique.  (Really?  Right before Christmas?)  So he wanted to complain about that.  Then he gave me the health update on his mother.  Pretty much mood killers.  Unsurprisingly, the visit really didn't go that well.  I don't think I 'm going back out there.

Afterwards, I headed home, HUNGRY.  I called Justin, and then Billy, but neither answered.  I went through the grocery store to pick up the last thing I needed for stuffing - mushrooms - and then wandered around trying to decide what to get for a late lunch.  In the end, finding a bag of Munchos pretty much sealed the deal.  I bought a bunch of junk, went home, munched out, and then passed out for a nap.

Billy did call me later.  A series of texts had gone out about going to the movies, but Vince wanted to go see Red Dawn, which I had 0 interest in.  Plus I didn't need to spend the money.  Plus I was feeling to lazy and drug out to breathe in and out. 

I pretty much wasted what could have been a great and productive day.  I guess I needed some downtime.

A post in which it is Thanksgiving II

We were up early and moving this morning.  Mom whipped up a quick breakfast and we got ready.  Then we headed out to have our pictures made.  I guess Lisa had to take the appointment they had left, but why she made it for 10:30am is beyond me.  I know she wanted to have pictures made while I was there, which was nice, and she had to get it done early so we could make Thanksgiving, but of course they were late.  After a series of increasingly stressed-out phone calls (the last ones while Mom and I were actually waiting at the photographer's), they dragged in, bedraggled and harried. 

Fortunately, the photographer's wasn't that busy today (apparently unlike last year), and they were able to get us into a room with no problem.  The photographer we were working with was cute as a bug.  He had crooked teeth which were somehow cute on him, and ran around without his shoes on (he was wearing argyle socks), which I found vaguely titillating.  Of course he was about twelve.  But he was very nice, worked well with us, and got some good shots.  This despite Cole's hair being all over the place (of course he hadn't brought a comb, and doesn't use product), and Ava being Ava.  She's a little ham though, and once he got her started, she was all about having her picture made.

I was all on board until we started looking at the proofs.  I am SO freakin' FAT.  My head looked like a gallon milk jug, I have no neck, and I now have that thing Dad does where when I smile my eyes disappear.  There was a good picture of me with Lisa, and I want one of those, and I got some pictures of the kids, and one of us all together, but in general looking at those pictures was a real wake-up call.  I have GOT to lose some weight.

Leaving there, we went to Panera for lunch.  I was being pretty good.  I ordered a bowl of tomato soup and a 'grown up' grilled cheese sandwich.  Although the sandwich had 800+ calories, I reasoned that this was the wrong weekend to immediately begin a diet.  Besides, we were having a huge dinner.  Apparently 'grown up' grilled cheese has bacon on it.  Although I ordered it without, there were dead pig shavings on my sandwich when I got it.  That pissed me off.  We were on a tight schedule to start cooking, and there really wasn't time to get it re-made.  Plus I knew I was going to be bad today, and I didn't to start by eating pig.  I just took the sandwich back and got my money.  Soup was plenty, and it was pretty good.

After lunch, as we waited (and waited) for Ava to eat something, I divided us up into teams.  I sent Lisa and Cole with Zack (who had joined us for lunch) to pick up the pictures and go to the grocery store.  Mom and I headed back to the house to get the turkey in the oven. 

I acted as sous chef for Mama today.  She didn't need suggestion or invention - what she needed was help.  I read a quote by a famous chef once, basically saying that the holidays were not the time to try new things.  It makes the children cry and upsets the old people.  I took that to heart.  Thanksgiving is a time for tradition, not innovation; a time to make and eat the tried and true.  To that end, I quieted my culinary voice and concentrated on my submissive streak.  I tried to anticipate what Mom wanted and make it happen.  Ingredients appeared and then were put away.  Pots were scrubbed.  I generally did what I could to make her work as seamless as possible. 

Zack was joining us for dinner tonight.  That wasn't a problem - he's a very nice boy - but I was a bit uncomfortable for teasing him the last time I saw him.  Either it went over his head, or he was affable enough to forget about it.  Either way he was as nice as ever, an I concentrated on behaving appropriately and trying to make him feel comfortable without being overt about it.  He was, after all, a guest.

I put Zack and Cole to work getting Mom's new TV all hooked up and in place, and then sent them off to the Goodwill to dispose of the old one.  They had the time, it weighed a ton, and it would have sat there at Mom's while she tried to figure out who to carry it out (or worse, recruited me for the job).  By the time dinner was ready, it was in place, the old one was gone, and the packaging had been disposed of.  I was having one of those days where All Moves To My Will.  Mom actually had me mash the potatoes.  They turned out really good, but they still weren't as good as the ones we had a Embassy Suites.  I would love to know exactly how they did that. 

Dinner was of course wonderful.  Mom had made enough food to feed at least twice as many people as were there, and I ate like a HOG.  We all went around the table and said things we were thankful for.  I hit the three H's:  healthy, whole, and HERE. 

After supper, I started making things disappear.  I scrubbed the big pots so they wouldn't tie up the dish washer.  I had made the deal with Mom that if she would use the china, I would wash it, which I did.  Lisa helped.  I really don't mind washing china by hand, and with Lisa's help it was done in a jiff. 

By that time the game was on.  Mom and I had changed into our Carolina shirts (Mom even had matching earrings), but Lisa had forgotten her Clemson shirt in all the kerfuffle this morning.  She had picked up a Clemson bag at the grocery store, but I felt that USC was better represented today.  Lisa was a bit cocky at first, as Clemson played pretty well in the first half, but Carolina won (YAY!), and I noticed as the game went on, she got a bit more quiet.

Unlike Ava, who was wired for sound!  After eating little lunch or dinner, she had scarfed down a complete chocolate turkey cupcake afterwards.  As it got later she became increasingly hyper, as she usually does when she's trying not to get sleepy.  The game ran late, and then they stayed and stayed.  Cole had left with Zack already.  I love Lisa and Ava, but I was Ava'd out at that point, and it was past my bedtime.  They didn't leave until 11:30!  I was wiped out.  I stayed up while Mom as she put the finishing touches on the kitchen, but I was wiped.  She sent me on to bed, and I went.  Gratefully. 

A post in which it is shopping!

I was up pretty early this morning, although Mom and I do NOT do the door-buster thing.  Life is just too short to get up in the middle of the night for a sale.  I suggested going out for breakfast, which we both enjoy, but Mom wanted to wait and do that tomorrow?  I doubted there would be time with the picture appointment looming, but it was fine with me to eat at home, so that's what we did.

After a repast and a shower, I was ready to hit the stores.  We reviewed our game plan regarding televisions, girded our loins, and headed out.  The first stop was Marshall's.  I had decided that what I really could use was a new duffle bag.  I love my old one, but it is just worn out, and looks awful.  Every time I get it out for a trip I think well, it will make it through one more...  Then when I get home, I put it away until the next time.  I have looked at them, but a)I haven't been able to find one like the one I have (and again, I am at that age when something I like wears out, I want another JUST like it); and b) the nice ones cost the freakin' earth.  The Marshall's Home Store in Greenville (to my memory, anyway) has a pretty good selection of luggage.  But the Marshall's in Columbia was not a 'Home Store', and they had about five suitcases.  We looked at shirts for the pictures, but they had a lousy collection of those too.  We moved on.

Fortunately, there was a Ross Dress for Less in the same shopping center.  (Have I mentioned in the last five or so minutes how much I LOVE that store?)  We walked in and found pretty much exactly what I wanted right away.  They had nice duffle bags, with nearly all the features the one I have now has (plus a couple of extra), and at a SUPER price.  It was easy enough, and fast enough, that I was leery.  We looked around the store some more while I thought about it, and picked up a forest green polo for the photos tomorrow (I didn't have that color anyway).  In the end though, I had to admit that the bag we found was closer than any of the others I had looked at, and the price was just too good to pass up.  We also picked up a pair of sweat pants.  I limit myself to one pair, and my old ones have the crotch out.  (I had noticed after getting back from the grocery store Tuesday.) 

So having accomplished my Christmas, we were done with what we had to do today.  Lisa and I are getting Mama wi-fi for Christmas this year, so there was nothing for me to pick out for Mama today.  We adjourned, triumphant, to Casa Linda for lunch.  I love that place.  I bought lunch because Mama was going to buy supper tonight. 

At this point, I kind of wanted to go to the mall (which was enticingly right across the street), but Mom declined, saying the traffic and stuff would be too bad.  It didn't look horrible, but there were a bunch of people there, and we would have had to walk in from the south 40.  I'm not sure she was up to that.  Instead, we headed to a craft store.  They had some kind of tree decoration that she wanted on sale, but when we got there they were sold out of the right color.

Our mission for her today was to get her a new television.  She'd had a letter from the cable company about stopping analog broadcasts and going all digital, along with a list of channels that would no longer be available.  She won't do without her CMT, and they would have had to rent her an adapter, plus the hassle of trying to figure out how to put it on, etc.  The bottom line was that she had decided it was time for an upgrade, which is reasonable because her television came over on the Mayflower (in an appropriately Thanksgiving-esque hyperbole).  Having strategized earlier, we headed for H.H. Gregg.

When we got to the shopping center though, they had a Stein Mart.  Since I wasn't thrilled with the polo shirt we had bought for pictures, I asked if we could go in.  Mom was amenable.  We had an enjoy able browse round, and I was able to find a shirt I felt much better about. 

Immediately when we walked in to H.H. Gregg, Mama was mesmerized by the wall of huge TVs.  There were a lot of them, glowing from on high, and they were displayed to draw you like a moth to the flame.  After measuring several, and finding them all too big, I left Mom batting gently against the screens and set out to find the one that was advertised.

Although the one that she had looked at was listed at a good price, it was a 'while supplies last' deal, and the supply was unsurprisingly gone.  They were pretty busy, and sales staff seemed to be in short supply.  After trying unsuccessfully to flag down one or two, I just set out to look around on my own.  Eventually, I found TVs that were more suited to Mom's house, pulled her away from the wall, and started shopping in earnest.  After using phone-a-friend to call Billy, we understood (vaguely) the difference between LCD and LED (which I knew, had I just stopped to think about it), and knew pretty much what we wanted to buy.  Fortuitously, a salesman became available about that time.  (He was cute as he could be too, a little bear - and I really wanted to rub his tummy; but I digress.)

The salesman confirmed that the television we came in to look at was sold out.  He seemed to pick up on the fact that I was trying to steer Mom towards something a bit smaller, that would fit in her entertainment center, and not result in her having to buy new furniture and stuff.  He showed us a reasonably sized model (32") that was about $150 less than she had gone in there to spend.  After some evaluation, she bought it.

When we got in the car, I picked up on the fact that she didn't seem as excited about it as she had prior.  I worried a bit that she would think I had talked her into a set smaller than she wanted, but when we got back to the house and got the TV inside, she was surprised at how large it looked (they always look smaller in the store).  It is bigger than the one she has now.  We rested for a bit, and I decided to try on my new swank sweatpants, only to find  that despite their being a size larger than the ones I have now, they were skin tight!  I could barely get them on, and when I did they sure weren't comfortable!  What a disappointment. 

It wasn't long before it was time to head out to dinner.  Lisa was unable to make it (they were putting up the tree, making cupcakes for tomorrow, etc - plus Lisa can just EAT time), so it was just the two of us to meet Maureen and Dee for supper.  Dinner tonight was at  the Oceanview Seafood restaurant.  We were there in plenty of time, and it was good to see Dee and Maureen.  They found each other later in life, but are so transparently happy to be together that it gives me hope.  They are very sweet people, and did a lot of praying for me when I was in treatment, but they are my Mom's friends, and I have limited things in common with them.  Maureen was catching up with Mom, chatting merrily away about this and that, but I found myself drifting in and out after a while.  The food was OK.  It wasn't anything to write home about.  My crab cakes were scorched on the bottom, but they didn't taste burnt.  They were pretty much what I had expected, which was fine.  Eventually, the conversation ran out (Dee resulted to a fairly disgusting story about a dog they were dog-sitting, which I don't think Mom really appreciated - I know I was glad to be finished eating), good-byes were said, and we headed out.

Neither one of us really felt like going home, though.  Since dinner had been pretty early, and the stores had extended hours for the weekend, there were still plenty of places open.  Plus we had taken it pretty easy (for us) with the shopping today.  We moseyed over to the Ross on that side of town, and I found some citrus-smelling shower gel that I really liked.  We returned my too-small sweatpants.  We also went through the nearby TJ Maxx.  They had some sweatpants with the Gamecocks logo on them (cool), but sadly they too were too tight.  I have to say that being too fat for sweatpants is pretty freakin' depressing.

By the time Mom picked up some doo-dads for a present she was putting together and we got out of TJ Maxx, the novelty of late shopping had worn off, and we'd had our fill of shopping for Black Friday.  We were ready to go home, and we did.  It's another long (but fun) day tomorrow.  Mom put my new picture shirt in to wash (along with the t-shirt I had worn to lunch and gotten salsa down the front of - sigh), and we went to bed. 

A post in which we give thanks*

I woke up way earlier than I wanted to this morning.  I intended to go back to sleep.  I really did.  But I got sucked into the internet vortex, and a very unsatisfactory buddy visit.  Sigh.  By the time I had all that sorted, it was time to get started on the day. 

I turned on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade while I started stirring around.  I warmed up the last of the rosemary taters for  breakfast, topping them off with the last of the tomato relish.  It was really like potatoes and ketchup with an attitude, but it was tasty, and got the job done.  I did various chores, stripping and re-making the bed, cleaning up the kitchen, folding laundry, and packing for the trip.  I decided to iron my clothes for lunch so that I looked extra-nice today.  Eve appreciates stuff like that.

Unfortunately, the iron got schmutz all over my pants (which are the lightest khaki, so it showed) and I realized the shirt I picked out had an old stain on the placket - AFTER I finished ironing it.  By that time, I needed to get cleaned up and going though, and I wasn't about to start ironing another shirt.  I rarely iron anything anymore.  It's approaching a conviction on my part.  I rationalized that the stain wasn't really that noticeable, unless you knew where it was.  So I spot-cleaned the pants schmutz as best I could, hung them up to dry, and jumped in the shower.

When I got out, I had a text from Eve that they were on schedule (yes, even Lisa and crew) and would be at the hotel at 2pm as scheduled.  It was apparently a Thanksgiving miracle.

In fact, they were all there before me, and an anxious Eve had already had them seated.  I wasn't late, but that woman just cannot bear to wait for anything.  Luncheon (a meal that costs as much as this one did really has license to put on airs) was at the Embassy Suites today, and I have to admit it was quite impressive.  The large atrium kind of wends it's way around and across (on little bridges) decorative koi pools, with little waterfalls and fountains. 

The food was equally impressive.  There was a whole roasted/steamed salmon that was beautiful and delicious - I shudder to think of the amount of time spent pulling pin bones from the outside of the fish to make that possible.  It was a bit under, but better under than over with salmon.  There were also salmon fillets oven-poached in a white wine sauce with capers.  There was a huge bowl of enormous shrimp (again, a bit under - I think they had been frozen, but still acceptable).  There was a separate buffet for kids, one for salad, one for cold dishes, and several for hot, a carving station with turkey and ham, and of course one for desserts.

I opted out of pumpkin pie (I'll have the homemade at Mom's if I'm going to eat pumpkin pie, thank you) in favor of bananas foster, which is one of my very favorites.  Sadly, that was the only real disappointment.  But the food was overall very good, and everyone was on their best behavior.  If Ava didn't eat much, well at least she wasn't screaming and climbing things.  I heard rumors that she was making up for being a terror last night, but that happens; and as the beneficiary that was a deal I would take.)  I ate until I could not move.  I mean really, it was borderline obscene.

After lunch we went back to Dad and Eve's house for a visit.  Cole rode with me.  I gave Lisa her pickled peaches.  She really was happy to get them.  She's so proud she makes it very hard for you to do anything for her, but she hadn't been able to find any peaches.  They are her favorite, and I was glad to be able to get them for her.

The visit ran much longer than I had thought, however.  It was 6pm before I even knew it.  We all got up to leave, and Lisa was taking a while to get moving.  I know she had just as far to go as I did, but after a while I just had to get going.

I ran past the recycling place and dropped that off (I had put it in the car earlier, with thoughts of dropping it off on the way, but had ran out of time), got back to the house, changed, loaded the car, and headed out.  When I called Mom to tell her I was on the way (I had gotten a late start, and didn't want her to worry) she told me there had been a ten-car pile-up in Newberry.  Groan.  I was driving right into that.  She was also worried about Lisa. She hadn't heard from her, and Lisa was probably in front of me. 

I called Lisa, who was fine, and warned her so she could get off the freeway.  Then I called Mom back to tell her Lisa was OK so she wouldn't worry.  Then I called Dad and Eve to tell them we were all fine so they wouldn't worry.  I briefly reflected on the miracle that is a cell phone before I started dreading the backed-up traffic.

Happily that never materialized.  I breezed right on into Columbia in record time.  Mom and I caught up, and unbelievably I had some dill dip she had made and a piece of pumpkin pie before I turned in.  After the enormous lunch I had eaten my intention had been to put myself to bed with no supper - indeed I couldn't imagine wanting any supper, but where there's a gut there's a way I guess...

A post in which I had planned such a quiet day

I had my ducks in a row, and was getting my write-offs done.  Then Canada placed FIVE freakin' dead accounts - I mean seriously, four of them were a year old.  And they have to do this today?  Cleaning off their desks for year-end.  Lazy sods.

I got to work checking them all in and getting them sorted.  I also emailed the Canadian supervisor to explain that they would get better results out of my department if they placed accounts before the companies burnt down, fell over, and sunk into the swamp. 

Although I had plenty to do, most everyone else at work was already on vacation.  They let customer service go at about 3:30, but I was busy.  People kept asking "Why aren't you leaving?", but my boss hadn't told me I could leave, and I needed to keep working anyway.  I am technically credit staff, and the credit supervisor here would have her people work through heart surgery, so I knew they weren't going anywhere.

My boss was a little surprised at the amount of paperwork I was putting through his office though.  The thanks I get for being a diligent employee...

My productivity ended when I walked out the door to leave the office.  I was drunk on the four-day weekend stretching before me, and pretty much couldn't be bothered to do anything when I got home.  Everything could wait until tomorrow.  I changed out of my work clothes and lolled on the sofa like a drunken emperor until time for bed. 

A post in which it is work Thanksgiving

I was up early to pop the sweet potatoes in the oven this morning.  I wanted them to be as freshly-baked as possible for lunch today.  I also packed up the spinach dip I made on Sunday.  I wouldn't be here to eat it this weekend anyway, and it's not like I could freeze it.  I came in to the office loaded down with stuff.

Since I am experienced at these food days at work, I hadn't eaten any breakfast.  We generally set to pretty early, and today was no exception.  I got the ball rolling by putting out the spinach dip, which I had for breakfast.  Although I had been a tad heavy-handed with the mustard in this (one of my little additions, and although I usually use Dijon, this time I had used plain yellow mustard - the Dijon is better) that was a pretty good breakfast!

My spinach dip, in a vintage Oyster and Pearl divided relish in pink by Anchor Hocking, circa 1938-1940

Most of the spinach dip was gone pretty quickly, but then lunch started at 11am.  I usually eat much later, but I'll confess I was right in there with them.

The sweet potatoes were STILL runny.  That despite using canned sweet potatoes (although I had thought last night when I took them out of the can that they looked runny for canned mashed sweet potatoes - I used organic).  I felt the canned potatoes hurt the flavor too - they tasted 'can'y' to me, although I'm willing to admit that could be in my head.  I have a thing about canned vegetables.  I don't know how in the world Grandma Shumate made them set, but she did.  I'm going to start officially tooling that recipe.  I'm going to take out the milk. 

My sweet potatoes before they were dipped into, which is why you can't see how soupy they were.

By about mid-afternoon, I was hungry because I had eaten so early, but still vaguely sick-feeling because of all the rich food I had eaten.  I finished up the last of the spinach dip before I left for the day.

On the way home, I stopped at the biggest BiLo in the world and found pickled peaches.  Mom had put out the critter call last night that she couldn't find any.  They're my sister Lisa's favorite, but they're hard to find, although you usually see them around the holidays.  They are not cheap though - $4.29 a jar!  I bought a jar for Thanksgiving, and then picked up another couple of jars for Lisa, so I spent over $20 on peaches tonight.  Sigh.  It's money I really shouldn't spend right now, but it seems a small price to pay for some happiness for her.  So be it.

I manfully resisted the temptation to buy egg nog, which I love more than life itself, but which you pretty much have to love more than life itself; it's basically fat in liquid form, with a sizable helping of sugar thrown in for good measure.  I hardly need that with my cholesterol where it is, and with me rebelling against doctor's orders and not taking my statin.  I also picked up the rest of the makings for my dressing, which I'll make next week.  Since we're eating out with Dad and Eve for Thanksgiving (and she likes her own dressing recipe anyway), and because Mom will want the Brown family recipe dressing, I'll just make my own when I get home.  I make excellent dressing, but I don't guess my family will ever taste it.

I got home and switched out a load of laundry so I'd have clean clothes for the trip, then got the house ready for David to come tomorrow.  By the time that was all done and I had eaten supper, it was time for bed.   

A post in which we anticipate the holiday

It felt like Friday today because of the short week.  It was pretty hard to concentrate but I did get some work done.  I have month end coming, and I'm trying to get my ducks in a row for that.  I was trying to get my write-offs done this week so I could concentrate on the ISO project, which is due by the end of the month.

After work I was off to the grocery store to get the stuff to finish my sweet potato casserole.  The grocery store near my house was out of BUTTER (well just out of the store brand, but still!), can you believe that?

Our 'Thanksgiving' at work is tomorrow, and that's what I decided to bring.  I haven't made that in so long.  It went together pretty well though, and I popped it into the fridge in record time.  Good enough.

A post in which it is Sunday*

I was up at 4:30am this morning. Ugh.  I was restless about the door, so I just got up and put the latch back together, and re-set the strike plate (I had borrowed a wood chisel from Dana for this last night).  So the latch works, but I don't think I'm going to be able to use the pretty door knob.  The little tiny screws that keep the door knobs from screwing off the connecting spindle are gone.  The ones from the old knob won't fit the new one (probably because it is a reproduction and is metric), but it looked so good I left it on and vowed to try to find parts for it.  After opening and shutting the bathroom door a couple of time, thrilled that the repair had worked, I went back to bed. 

I didn't get any more sleep, but fell into the internet vortex for a while and ended up making a very pleasant buddy visit though.  He was up early too.  Sadly I haven't heard from John lately, although I would like to.

When I got home, I had pizza for breakfast and then made my spinach dip.  After that I settled in for a much-needed nap.  Thankfully, I got it, although Crooner had wedged himself under my armpit so I couldn't move.  I woke up stiff and hungry.  Once I started moving around though, I did OK. 

I turned on telly and watched an old Joan Crawford movie called Queen Bee.  It was one of hers that I hadn't seen, and although it wasn't so great I enjoyed watching it.  I had a bowl of spinach dip for lunch (pretty good, but I got too much mustard in it, and it could have used full-fat mayonnaise), and then put my potatoes on to cook.  I used a recipe my mother got from her copy of The Joy of Cooking that she got when she married my father.  I used some of the rosemary Wilenda had given me for my birthday (which I dried) and did a cream sauce in place of the cheese sauce called for.  That recipe always turns out good. 

Casablanca came on next.  I think that movie must be a straight thing.  I've never really cared for it, but it worked fine as background while I changed sheets, switched out laundry, did chores and put my potatoes away.  Then I sent the boys a text to see what they were doing before I got cleaned up and headed for the hardware store. 

I got a text from Logan that they were good to go, so I didn't really have time to look around the hardware store today.  I grabbed some light bulbs for my under-the-counter lighting in the kitchen and just headed back out. 

I got to RBL's house and we decided to go out to Irashiai for supper.  They had tried a place last night that was in the old Myako building, and the food was so bad that they were still craving sushi.  That suited me fine.  We had a lovely meal, then went back to their place and snuggled up in our jammers to watch Girls Will Be Girls, which Logan hadn't seen.  I LOVE that movie!!  It was good to see the boys, and it was a nice evening.  Plus my bathroom door with latch again!!  Hooray!!

A post in which I am running all over

I was up early.  Although I had forgotten and left the alarm clock set for work time, sadly I had been up for a half hour before it went off. 

I played around online some, and looked up rockers made out of recycled plastic  They have them at old folks' homes and they're pretty nice.  Plus they don't have to be painted.  I had decided I wanted some for the porch, but at $360 each (!!), I decided I'd just have to paint the old ones.  I sent Eve an email asking for some Todd Ivester pans and a gift card to Fresh Market for Christmas.  They don't usually like to give practical gifts, but since they got me tires last year, we live in hope. 

I got up to start the day.  I made a breakfast sandwich and some coffee, which I put in a travel mug to enjoy on my way to the flea market.  I had no one but myself to please, and plenty of time, so I went on up to Barnyard this morning. 

I was in a terrific mood.  It wasn't horribly cold, the sun was shining, and I just felt like being pleasant to people, so that's what I did.  I didn't find any glass (well not any that I wanted anyway), but I did get a compliment from a woman I used to work with that was very kind.  But mainly I just walked around smiling at people and telling them good morning.  The wind was pretty blustery though, so by the time I had seen it, I was ready to roll.  I picked up some surprisingly pretty green beans, some celery (I'm going to make my dressing when I get home from Mom's next week, and I'm thinking ahead), some Rome Beauty apples.  They had some beautiful spring onions too (I don't know either) so I made a snap decision to make some Knorr spinach dip, which I have been craving for several weeks.  I don't have an occasion to take one anywhere (which is how I usually get my fix) so I'm just going to make one for me.

As I left Barnyard, I started running through all the things that I should have bought and hadn't.  I have a potluck at work next week.  I'm making Grandma Shumate's sweet potato casserole, and I'm going to do it right this time.  The recipe was developed for canned sweet potatoes, and I have never bought them.  I always want to use real sweet potatoes, so mine always comes our runny.  But I had seen that they had organic mashed canned sweet potatoes on sale at Whole Foods the other week, so I stopped in to get a couple of cans of those for the casserole.

I then went to my second flea market of the day to get the things I had forgotten.  I got onions, apples, and pecans to finish up the fresh ingredients I needed to make stuffing next week (I can get the rest at the grocery store), some potatoes for lunches next week, and some tomatoes to go with the rest of my pimento cheese.  I just wanted one tomato, but I couldn't find one on offer, so I bought a bucket of culls for a dollar.  I figured I could pick through them and get what I needed to go with the cheese, and then figure out something to do with the rest. 

When I got home, I picked through the tomatoes, sliced some of them fresh to go with lunch, and then threw the rest in a pot to make some of Poppy's tomato relish.  He always served it with green beans, and since I have beans for lunch next week that's perfect.  Man, did it turn out delicious!  It's a simple recipe and I haven't made it in a while, so it's easy to forget how great it turns out.  I was well pleased. 

Then I got to work on the door.  I drilled out the wallowed-out holes in the door and glued in pieces of dowel rod, then left them to dry.  While I had it apart, I decided to see if I could use the beautiful door knob Russ had given me a couple of months ago when I fixed the latch.  Well there were issues.  First, all the screws that went with it were missing.  The knobs screw on, but not far enough onto the spindle to fit the door.  Also once I got the old latch out, it quit working.  I went to the hardware store.  I was going to buy a new latch assembly, but was told they don't sell that any more (my house is almost 100 years old).  I could buy the latch, but I would have to buy knobs and all to go with it, and I don't need all that.  I got some screws and left. 

When I got home, I cleaned up and put my beans on to cook, then started getting cleaned up myself.  I ate lunch and sent the boys a text about dinner.  I got some preliminaries back, but no commitment. They were all going to see the latest Twilight movie today.  Although I wanted to see them, I had no desire to plunk down $12 to go see a movie I had no desire to see. 

About the time I got ready to roll, Dana called to invite me over.  I told her I would have to talk to the boys first.  The problem was, I couldn't reach them.  Any of the three of them.  Never mind the hundreds of gigabytes of data at their disposal.  Never mind that they are constantly buried in their phones to the point of obsession.  Not one of the three answered the phone.  After fuming for a bit and putting away my beans, I just sent them a text and told them I was headed to Miss Kat and Dana's for dinner.

I stopped at Little Caesar's for pizza.  Dana told me that both she and Miss Kat had worked today, and they weren't up to big thoughts about dinner, which was fine with me.  I was hungry (my half-container of pimento cheese hadn't been a huge lunch, even with crostini and tomato), and it is so hard to get them to let me do anything for them, even though I have repeatedly asked.  I was happy to take in dinner tonight.  When I ordered my standard pizza, the girl behind the counter went "YUCK!"  Apparently she didn't like mushrooms.  I thought it was so funny I couldn't really be offended, but I thought that might not be the best thing to say to a customer ordering food....

The view in Little Caesar's.  Yep, I was pretty bored waiting for the pizza.

I also returned their heater, along with effusive thanks for letting me use it.  I just settled in with them to visit and talk.  We watched some TV and just relaxed.  It's always good to spend time with them.

A post in which it is Friday, blessedly

I went in to work today caught up and glad of it. 

I got through the day pretty well.  I haven't gotten any ISO documents done this week, but my plan is that next week I will reconcile accounts and do write-offs (there won't be much to do next week anyway, all the AP clerks having taken off for Vale, or whatever the hell they do when it gets close to a holiday).  Then I have a full week the following week to do those stupid documents and check on when the next part of the project is due.

I took my lunch hour and left the office on time.  Traffic was surprisingly light, and I wondered how many people had gotten off early to head out for the week next week.  I'm saving my vacation time for Christmas (off from 12-22 through to 1-2 - WOOHOO I can hardly wait!!), but it's nice when things are more quiet close to a holiday.

I heard from the doctor's office today about my cholesterol.  It's 226 (down from 238 last time).  They want to put me on another cholesterol medication (this one a non-statin, but still).  I kind of feel like there may be some over-reaction there.  I'm trying to decide if I'm as worried about this as they are.  The 'desirable' level is under 200, but I'm pretty close to that.  Meanwhile, they have called in a prescription.
I had two goals for the weekend.  I wanted to get the felt to put between my china.  I have a nice set of Wedgwood, but I'm using the packing bubbles between pieces right now, which is just shameful.  I also want to fix the latch on the bathroom door.  It's been driving me crazy for months, and I've finally figured out how to fix it. 

I decided I would treat myself and go to The Fresh Market for supper.  I had an unused portion of the gift card Miss Kat and Dana had given me for my birthday, and I decided dinner tonight was on them.  As I was headed that way, I passed Michael's, and stopped in to get the felt for the china.  I walked around and looked at all the Christmas decorations while I was in there (surprisingly, owls seem to be the hot thing this year - a 9" white glittery owl is going for $21.99 {!!}, and I saw several other owl-centric Christmas decor ideas - who knew?), and happened across a selection of wooden dowels.  Perfect.  That saved me a trip to the hardware store. 

Leaving there, I headed for the Fresh Market.  I just love going there.  The staff are so friendly.  The store is beautiful, and smells like fresh roasted coffee.  I always enjoy just going around looking at things before I buy.  They had all the Christmas candy out.  It was so colorful and happy looking that I really enjoyed just looking at it.  Eventually though, I made my pretty much standard purchases there.  I got a piece of their lovely dill-dijon salmon, some of their crostini (which I love, but which have gotten progressively more greasy, I'm sorry to say), and a container of their gorgeously delicious pimento cheese.  The pillow cookies (my usual dessert from there) didn't look so pillow-y, so I opted for an almond croissant for dessert. 

I got home and unloaded all the stuff, then settled in to eat.  Although I had planned on saving the pimento cheese for lunch tomorrow (pimento cheese, crostini, and tomato is one of my very favorite lunches EVER), in the end I couldn't resist and ended up eating half of it after I finished the salmon.  But I figured after this week, I deserved it. 

A post in which it is a very long work day

When I got in this morning, I quickly started feeling over my head, but I knew what I needed to do.  I just got organized, got stuck in, and made the fur fly.

First, I wanted to get my audit stuff finished.  It was supposed to be in by this afternoon anyway, and I figured everyone else would wait until the last minute and the woman coordinating the project would be swamped.  Unfortunately that one invoice from 2008 took forever to chronicle, even though I now had the tools to find all the documents I needed.  Eventually, though, I got it done. 

Next it was on to the twit report.  The twit meeting is tomorrow, and despite all the extra work piled on with this audit, I still had to be ready for it.  I could have left some of it to do tomorrow morning, but I had no idea what tomorrow would bring, and I wanted to be ready for the day.  That meant finishing the report today.  So I did.  I took some time out to do my regular job, but gave up my lunch hour.  It took me an additional hour to finish up anyway. 

The bake sale went well.  We raised over $500 for one of the women in the office who is having bad problems with a newly born granddaughter.  There were so few things for sale that I was really glad I had brought something.  I didn't give that much money, but I didn't have that much cash on me, and since I had brought stuff to sell, I didn't feel too badly, although I felt very badly for the woman. 

All the treats didn't sell, so after the sale was over, I went around and gave them to people I worked with who might not have had one.  I didn't want to take any home, but I kept out three to take over to Dad.  I had promised him that I would bring him one the next time I made them. 

At the time, I hadn't realized I would have to work so late.  When I drug out of the office at 6:30pm after a solid ten-hour day at my desk, my brains were just tapioca.  But I went by Dad and Eve's to leave the treats.  Dad wasn't home, but I left them with her.  I had interrupted her supper, but that gave me an excuse to just go on home.  I was SO tired. 

But I had to buy cat food before I could go home.  I got to PetSmart, and then realized there was a dollar store right next door.  I went in there and replenished my bake sale plastic bags before I got the cat food and went on home. 

After that, I couldn't decide what to have for supper.  I resisted the urge to get fast food, but thought that I would like to have some smoked almonds.  I stopped off at Family Dollar to get those (their nuts are cheaper, and if the almonds are smaller, well, they hold proportionately more smoke salt - yum).  While I was in there, one of the employees randomly started following me around, telling me about her personal life, which was apparently trying.  Although part of me realized that I should really be compassionate, part of me was like shut up!  I just came in here for some nuts, for cryin' out loud!  Although I had been enjoying just browsing around looking at the Christmas stuff, I got my nuts and made my getaway. 

I got home and lugged everything in.  I didn't feel like more spinach salad tonight, so I had nuts and frozen vegetarian corn pups (little battered corn dogs), which really weren't bad at all.  In fairness though, by that point I was so tired I really didn't care.

I cleaned up the kitchen and went to bed.  I was very glad that today was done. 

A post in which I get stuff done

I worked on the audit today, and got a lot more done than I thought I would.  I also worked with credit services to find some of the information I thought I wouldn't be able to pull out.  Good thing - one of the invoices they want details on dates from 2008.  I did my regular job, and took my lunch break.  I was feeling stressed and made an executive decision that I needed my lunch break today.

I left the office and went by the grocery store to get the makings for triple chocolate rice crispy treats (my own recipe, thank you).  There's another bake sale tomorrow so I'm taking those.  I thought about making brownies again, but I just did those last time.  I don't want to take the same thing every time.  Besides, the crispy treats are less work and take less time. Lightlife 'Smart Wings' buffalo wings.  Yergh.  They were edible.  That's about all I can say for them. 

But also, I was starving.  So when I got home I made a spinach salad with raisins, carrots (I wanted to play with use my new microplane, which worked beautifully), croutons, nuts, and low-fat blue cheese dressing.  I'm trying.  I made the treats, and then afterwards had some.

After I ate, I started bagging up the now cooled treats for the bake sale.  I ran out of bags (I had some cheap Dollar Tree bags for bake sale goods).  So I dipped into my 'good' bags and used all of them.  Then I found some snack bags that I had put in a different place (I thought I was out of those) and finished them up.  So that was all ready to go in the morning.

Having done all that, I got ready for bed.  I have a long day ahead tomorrow.

A post in which it is a crap-tastic day!

The alarm went off a half hour early this morning, so that I could go to my six month checkup with my GP.  Joy.  I was so not looking forward to this.  To make matters even more lovey, I was to fast (they love to compound the joy by denying you breakfast AND coffee), and got stuck in a traffic jam on the way to the appointment.  Thankfully I had left the house a little early, so I wasn't late to the doc.

The doc, as expected, really had nothing good to relate.  I am up ten pounds, to start.  The changes that I have now are pretty much permanent.  The free-floating nausea and the bad taste in my mouth, she ascribes to reflux.  I'm calling shennanigans on that.  I'm not burping up anything and don't have heartburn.  If I decide to, I can start taking Prilosec again (I took it for a while during chemo), but I really don't think that is the problem.  The last time I saw Dr. Go, he thought that the remaining foot pain I have was not due to neuropathy, but to plantar fasciitis. Although I think this is a much more acute symptom than I have, I ran it by her. She said it was possible, and told me she would refer me to a podiatrist, but frankly at this point I would rather endure than go to another freakin' doctor.  Also we discussed statins, and I pretty much told her that they would affect my quality of life enough that I won't take them.  She agreed, and said that we would just have to treat my cholesterol with diet and exercise.  Joy.  If I have anything that tastes good in my mouth, I'm to spit it out; and I'm to voluntarily submit to torture.  She ended the appointment by telling me that the sooner I accepted the new normal, the better it would be.  Apparently I have reached the age that there will no longer be any  good news from the doctor.  Before I left, they took blood to test my cholesterol again.  Thankfully, they were able to get blood on the first try.  That is one of the few things that went well today. 

When I left there, I stopped for breakfast.  I knew that I wouldn't get to take a lunch hour since I was coming in late.  I went to the new Stax restaurant, cutesily named The Epic Curean (although it is spelled differently online and half the time in real life, making it harder to find).  After tomato juice, a spinach and feta omelet (hey, there was spinach in there), buttered grits, and an English muffin; all served by a very nice and pretty waitress, I felt ready to face the day.

I got to work, parked in the south forty (if you aren't here early, you pretty much can't park within the county), and hiked in.  That's exercise right there.  Maybe I should start parking there every day.

Work was work.  I proceeded to diddle-fart around and not work on those &%$#@! ISO documents.  They have to be done by the end of the month.  I just can't seem to buckle down on them.  I hate them SO much.  My real job, however, is caught up and fine.

Then we were called into a meeting at 4:15pm.  Now you just knew nothing good was going to come of that.  They announced that a) we had hired new auditors (joy - they will know less than the old auditors about how things work, and can ask even more stupid, useless, and dildonicly repetitive questions); b) we had the new audit specs (fresh hell - not the specs we're used to providing); and c) the entire audit is due to be turned by close of business Thursday.  Not next Thursday.  In two days.  Because California can't seem to coordinate these requests and get them to us within any reasonable length of time, and they always come screaming in as red-hot four-alarm-fire emergencies.  Grrrrrrr.

I was really glad I had begged off dinner with Dad and Eve tonight.  I had just spent Saturday evening with them, and I was parents-ed out at the mo.  Plus I didn't feel good.  (How much of that was psychosomatic is anyone's guess.)  I did hear back from Eve that Dad had gotten through his cardioversion today just fine.  I grumped home with a reasonably clear conscience, resisting the temptation to stop and gorge myself on chicken wings, which I sometimes do when I'm having a pity party.  I'm planning on maybe going to supper with the boys Thursday night (depending on where they go), and I really don't need to be eating out multiple times per week anyway.  In the old days, I structured my budget such that eating out was justified by the need to socialize, so when eat out, I need to do it with friends. 

I was glad to be home, but there wasn't much to eat for supper.  I finished up the salad I bought last night, finished up the winter squash I had in the fridge, and finished up with some cheese and crackers, and then some peanut butter crackers.  I figured at my weight and cholesterol, I didn't need more supper anyway. 

I cleaned up the kitchen, made some tea, played some computer solitaire, and turned in with My Neighbor Totoro. 

A post in which I am a little discouraged

I kind of felt drug out today, and I was disappointed about the way the weekend went.  I wonder if I even have it in me to love someone.  Maybe I'm too selfish.  Maybe I'm too old and set in my ways.  Maybe I'm just too contrary, or never had the capacity to start with.  Dunno.  I'm not happy with the way the weekend with Jason ended.  I sent him an email, but didn't hear back.

It didn't help that as the day progressed I started having vague nausea and my mouth started tasting bad again.  I get like a 'chemo' taste in my mouth in the evenings now, and I'm not sure why.  The nausea hasn't been enough to put me off my feed (as can be evidenced by my constantly expanding waistline), but it just makes me go kinda bleah when I think about food.

I was glad I didn't have any left-overs that really had to be eaten tonight.  I have a little bit of winter squash left over, but it's just a bit, and if I had to throw it out, I wouldn't really feel badly about it.  That freed me up to pick up a nummy for dinner that I would feel like eating.  I had to go by the grocery store anyway. 

I got some pot stickers.  I LOVE them, but there is no place in town that makes vegetable dumplings, so if I want them I have to make them myself.  It isn't hard, you can buy them frozen (after making them from scratch one time, I said never again), I just usually eat home made stuff if I eat at home. 

When I got to the house, I found I had a bag of them already in the freezer that needed to be eaten (I'm not sure how long they had been in there), so I put the new ones in the freezer and threw the old ones in the pan.  I made a salad, and by the time I was through eating that they were done. 

Dad called to let me know that he is apparently back in atrial fibrillation, and goes back for another cardioversion tomorrow.  They're putting him on another medication to try to keep his heart in rhythm, but I can't help but wonder how many times they can do this?

I didn't really feel like doing anything tonight, so I didn't.  I cleaned up the kitchen, watched re-runs and played solitaire on the computer (I don't know why it is less sad to do it on computer than with actual cards, but for some reason it is).  I turned in early because I have a doctor's appointment in the morning at 8am. 

A post in which it is not such a great day*

We were up early again today.  We ended up in a big discussion about the relationship that we needed to have, but one that wasn't easy.  It reminded me of how much work it is to be married.  Discouraging, but I thought the talk went pretty well.  I made a simple breakfast because Jason said he was so stuffed from yesterday that he couldn't think about a big meal.  Fair enough.  We had eaten a lot of food yesterday.

We went over to White Horse flea market this morning mainly because I needed fruit, but also I wanted to look for glass.  Again, zilch.  They didn't have any pears that looked good either, so I didn't get any produce.  Amazingly, we left without buying anything.  We did look around some neighborhoods on the way home.

We got back to the house and tried to decide what to do.  We were going to the movies today, but it was too early for that.  I called Miss Kat, but Dana was still in the bed, and they weren't up for company today.  The boys were in Atlanta, which for some reason I had no inkling of. 

I got cleaned up and did a few chores.  Then we decided to go get some lunch and think about the movie.  We went to Gourmet Pizza for the buffet.  It was good, but the only meatless pizza they had on offer was plain cheese.  I would have liked some olive or something, but a) it wasn't like I needed more pizza; b) I had plenty to eat; and c) I know they have to cater to the general public. It was fine. 

We looked about a movie, but the only thing playing I wanted to see was Frankenweenie, and it was only playing in one theater, and only in 3-D.  Jason doesn't like the 3-D (he says the glasses give him a headache) and truth be told I'm not crazy about it, so we just decided to skip the movie. 

We talked about some other stuff to do, but I was just tired.  I felt really run-down and yucky for no good reason.  We went back to the house and lay down for a while with a movie.  I took a nap and Jason surfed the net reading about his icon, Serena Williams. 

Jason wanted me to come meet his dad today, but after last night, I was just parentsed out for the meantime, and I begged off.  Plus the nap didn't seem to have helped.  I felt cranky and out-of-sorts.  He decided he would go spend the night with his dad tonight to spend some time with him, and that was fine with me.  I know he needs to see his dad, and I just needed some down-time.  Jason is very high energy and needs a lot of attention.  I just wasn't up to it this afternoon. 

He packed up his stuff and went on to his dad's. 

I put my left-over enchilada casserole in the oven (I had decided on that for lunches this week) and put my plantains on the stove.  I followed the recipe, and again ended up with bland, tough, potato-starchy plantains.  This even after I added water to the pan and cooked them longer than it said.  I think I am buying them too green for sweet plantains. 

I just kept feeling worse, and more run down.  Eventually, I packaged up my lunches, ate a few plantains for supper (I was off my feed, yet another bad sign), cleaned up the kitchen, and went on to bed.  Happily, after having crap on TV all day today, I was able to tune in to The Next Iron Chef to go to sleep by.  I LOVE that show. 

A post in which Jason is the one coming to dinner*

We were up early, excited to start the day.  I had planned breakfast, and made winter squash pancakes.  They weren't as good as the last ones I made, but they were still pretty good, and Jason enjoyed them.  Jason told me he has never had another man make him breakfast - really.  Wow.

After breakfast I wanted to go to the flea market, and we went down to Anderson to the jockey lot.  I had scored last weekend, but still wanted to find a piece of glass today.  But despite getting there pretty early the pickings were slim for glass.  I didn't even find any fruit I wanted (I am appled-out at the moment).  I ended up buying only two plantains.  But they place was packed.  The weather was beautiful, and there were tons of people down there buying and selling.  It was a mornings entertainment, although I think Jason was a little tired of it by the time we left.

By the time we got back to the house, we were both fairly wiped.  I took a shower and we lay down for a while for a nap (we really had been up early).  By the time we woke up, it was time that we had to go to lunch.  Dinner tonight was at 6pm.  We went to Carolina Ale House downtown, and once again, Nicole was not there.  But the Carolina game was on, and we watched the Gamecocks trouncing Arkansas, which was most satisfying.  I had another of their lovely veggie burgers for lunch, and some fries.  I have been craving french fries.  I hadn't had any in a while, and theirs are excellent.

After lunch, we wandered around downtown a little.  I'm trying to get inspired about Christmas presents, but I'm still freaking out about being back in debt from the heater, so it's difficult.  I didn't see anything today I felt I couldn't live without.

We left there and drove around to look at neighborhoods in the Congaree Road area for Jason to stop and get some information from the Greenville Racquet Club, and doing some preliminary house hunting.  They are building some nice houses and town homes over there, but they are pretty far out of our price range.

By the time we finished that, it was time to go for supper.  I had been really nervous about this this week,  despite knowing that there was really nothing to worry about.  That was absolutely the case.  Everyone was on their best behavior.  Eve had made a delicious meal, and the table was beautiful.  We had crab-stuffed tilapia, white and green asparagus with hollandaise, rice pilaf, homemade cole slaw (which Jason loved, and raved about), and rolls.  Jason was (of course) charming, and Eve gave me the word in the kitchen before we'd even sat down at the table that she approved.

The meal went fine.  I noticed only one small mistake that Jason made, and I don't think it was a huge deal.  He didn't put his bread on his bread plate, he had it on his dinner plate.  Now I know that Eve noticed it immediately.   I thought about trying to give him some sort of signal, but I didn't want to draw attention to it, and I didn't want to make him nervous.  He was doing so well. Then I noticed that Dad had his bread on his dinner plate also.  I doubt seriously that Dad noticed what Jason did, and purposely did the same thing (that would be WAY detail-oriented and over-the-top deft for my dad), but at least if it was mentioned later, I could call that out. 

After dinner, we adjourned to the den for conversation, and when I couldn't take much more, I called for dessert.  We had a chocolate layered cream cake with ice cream and raspberry drizzle.  After a decently polite interval, I got us the heck out of there.  Everything had gone well, and they seemed to like him just fine, but my nerves were shot, and it was Saturday night.  I just wasn't going to spend Saturday night at my parents' house. 

We talked on the way home, and I kind of decompressed.  By the time we got back to the house, I was ready for bed.  We put a movie in the DVD player and snuggled in.  It had been a great day, and the evening had gone well, but I was heartily glad it was OVER. 

A post in which Jason comes*

When I got up this morning, I went outside to inspect the heater.  I hadn't been able to get a good look at it last night.  It looks good, and impressively new.

Work was work.  I was a good boy and ate my packed lunch.  I finished up the cook book today.  I have all the recipes ready to roll, the table of contents completed, and everything is numbered.  It's ready to go to the printer.  There's one problem.  The title.  I had the perfect title in my head last week, and it is now completely gone.  I want something with a bit more zazz than "Family Favorites" or something like that, but I'm drawing a blank.  A complete blank.  I put a post up on Facebook asking for help, but so far the suggestions have been pretty un-inspiring.

Because I knew Jason would be late, I had scheduled some errands to run on the way home.   I stopped off to take the recycling, then got home and changed the sheets.  I folded laundry and waited.

Jason got in around 8pm, and we headed out to dinner at Tuk Tuk Thai.  I had the "On the Beach" dish again, a house specialty, and it was just as good as last time, but hotter!  Still it was delicious.  Jason orded a level 4 heat (out of a possible 5) and lit himself up, but said his food was still great.  We'll be going back. 

I stopped by the grocery store on the way home for some pecans for breakfast in the morning, but it was almost 10pm when we got home.  It had been a long day for both of us, and he had had a long drive today.  We turned in when we got home.