It's That Kinda Morning!

I should be studying. I know that. Regretfully, I am NOT in the mood. I was, however, up at 6:30, bathed, dressed, bed made (shock), and downstairs by 7.  So if this isn't a study day, what is it? It is a ...

Mop the floor day! I swept yesterday and mopped all the hardwoods and the kitchen and downstairs bath. Nice, huh?

Bake a fudge pie day! I actually made 2 ... one for lunch tomorrow and one to take to my hair stylist today,

Look at my flowers blooming day! These are my favorites!

Look at the day lilies peeping up out of the ground day

Admire my neighbor's red bud in bloom day! It is gorgeous!

AND ...

A sit on the deck and enjoy the blessings day! I can look over to my right and see the Nashville skyline and thank God I don't have to be in that anymore. At least for a while.

Bad Hair Day

Who do I think I'm kidding? I'm not having a bad hair day ... I'm having a bad hair LIFE.

I've always had a head full of hair. My share and someone else's too. Straight as a stick, but lots of it. Until now. My hair started falling out last summer. It's quit, but it hasn't all grown back in. It's "in process." I think the back is still pretty thick, but the sides are awful. Just awful.

And I can't get the color right either. She'll darken it, but in 3 weeks or so, it is light again. Just won't hold the dark color, but by golly it'll hold on to the blond all day long. I don't get it.

So today I am MOST unhappy with my hair. It seems dry and fly-away. Thin. The only thing thin on me is my hair, and that is soooooooo not fair! Why can't I have thin on my body instead of my head?

Today I made the decision to get it cut. It's about shoulder length now, and I can't do a darn thing with it. It looks decent after I use hot rollers ... all of about 30 minutes. Then it looks terrible again. As Lewis Grizzard once said, "I've seen better hair on a piece of fat back." That's me.

So tomorrow I have an appointment at noon. Cut and color. Going to try to get rid of this color that looks like straw. It's just ugly, and I hate it. Can you tell?

I remember an old Whoopie Goldberg routine in which she put a thin, white baby blanket on her head and pretended she had "luxurious, long blond hair." I may just resort to wearing a blanket on my head.

Cramming

Whew. Been studying for a couple of hours nonstop, and I need a break. Here's what my kitchen table looks like:

Tools: laptop, notebooks, notes, books, pens, and paper

SOME of my books ... missing Stats and "Man's Search for Meaning" (which I can't find)

Legal Environment and Human Development notebooks

A few study questions

Research Design notebook

See why I am FRIED?

Yuck

Today I feel YUCK. Last night I felt YUCK. Not sure what's going on except that it is a tummy issue.

Last night I watched a few episodes of "My 600-pound life." Heart-wrenching stories of individuals who underwent gastric bypass surgery in an attempt to lose hundreds of pounds. I can't imagine such a journey. Some of them made their goal weight or got very close. All yo-yoed to some degree ... losing, gaining, and losing again. The saddest was a young man, only in his early 30s, who had dropped 400 pounds, nearly died from an attack of Guillian-Barre syndrome, and the regained 200 pounds. Watching the interaction between family members, many of whom were enablers and most of them grossly overweight themselves.

So I don't know if my tummy ache came from watching that, from not eating properly yesterday, or what, but about 9 o'clock I felt soooooo sick. My stomach roared like Niagara Falls.

I finally decided I needed something to eat. Not wanting anything heavy, I opted for some strawberry yogurt. That seemed to help, and pretty soon I was out like a light ... only to wake up at midnight with the tiniest bit of reflux. Been months and months since I've had a run-in with that. Again, I don't know if it was because of the upset tummy (I was burping like a crazy person) or because I ate dairy at 9 p.m. and I know better.

This morning I'm still queasy but feel the need to feed that monster. Just ate a scrambled egg and a piece of toast. Got a big class of tea sitting here and hoping that does the trick.

Back to the books!

Shhhhhh!

Shhhhhh! It's been a very quiet ... almost TOO quiet ... Sunday afternoon. After church we came home, looked at the paper, and The Pap promptly conked out in his recliner while I wasted time on the computer and watched crime TV. Tried to read some of "The Speed of Trust" (required reading), but I just wasn't in that zone. I was in the Quiet Zone.

Bill called a little while ago to see where he could find 12-inch dark brown candles. I found a few Web sites and sent those to him. Then he decided it was 10-inch candles he needed, not 12. Surely if those Web sites have 12-inch candles they will have the shorter ones.

Waiting on the cornbread to get done. Made some hash from leftover roast. That is lunch AND dinner for us today. The kitchen has been a Quiet Zone too.

Tomorrow I will get back to the books. Today is my day of rest ...physically and mentally.

Surprise Visit!

We had a surprise visitor this afternoon, and I am THRILLED that we did! This beautiful lady called and said, "I'm in the area and have some time to kill. What can I do?" She'd been sitting out in the freezing cold for hours watching her nieces play lacrosse. I said, "You can get in your car and come over here!"

Triplet Sister Lynn

So she did! I fixed some steaming cups of hot chocolate, turned on the gas logs, and the three of us sat in the living room and sipped hot chocolate and talked for nearly 2 hours. What an absolute treat! Thank you, Lynnie, for sharing your busy afternoon with The Mawmaw and The Pap!

Saturday

Ten weeks from today is graduation! I'm excited, but the more we talk about comps, the more stressed I become. In Bill's class this morning we spent the first part of our time talking about focus groups (again). I think we've beat that horse to death.

We should award this to Bill.

Then he moved on to "what are the major themes of each class you've had?" Well, we've had 15 courses. That's a LOT of material. Just Wore Me Out.

Came home, watched KY beat Vandy :(  and then Ed and I ate at Chick-fil-A before going to the grocery store. I'm supposed to take a casserole of some sort to church tomorrow. The youth choir is going to stay after church to eat and practice. Been too long since I've worked with teens to know what they eat. My niece said anything. Thanks. That's a lot of help. So I opted for that poppyseed chicken with pasta that I made the other night. We loved it, and I'm hoping the kids will too. Only ingredients are chicken, pasta, cream of chicken soup, sour cream, and poppyseed. Simple. So it's made and sitting in the fridge. In the morning I'll make the cracker crust topping and bake it before we go to church.

I've also been fretting over what to fix on Thursday. Lynn, Q, and Kelly are coming over so we can study. After changing that menu a dozen times in my head, I've opted for sub sammiches, chips, and fudge pie. So I bought 2 meats and am going to make chicken salad, 3 cheeses, tomato, lettuce, pickles, bags of chips, and drinks. Will make the pie on Wednesday. Hoping they'll approve.

My favorite springtime flowers are blooming! I think they're my favorite because they're the first flower of spring AND they are so simply beautiful.

Tats

No offense intended to anyone, but I don't like tattoos. I think they are tacky and cheapen a person's body. If I ever show up with one, please have me committed.

That being said, I know plenty of people ... friends and family ... who sport them. I would never tell someone in person that I disapprove ... except for my daughter. She has some symbol tattooed on her forearm. I hate it. She loves it. She knows I hate it, and I know she loves it. We just agree to disagree. She's always threatening to get another one ... usually just to get me riled up. It works.

Yesterday she called and I could hear the excitement running through her voice. "Mama," she started, "I have something to tell you, and you're going to be mad. Just try not to be too mad."

After the previous 24 hours I'd had dealing with my sister, I just wasn't quite ready for another episode. Kelly said, "Are you sitting down? 'Cause if you're not, you need to be sitting down."

I sat down.

She proceeded to ask what's my favorite Bible verse. I said, "I guess it's Isaiah 40:31. 'Those who wait upon the Lord ..." and she interrupted me, finishing the verse. To say I was surprised doesn't begin to describe what was running through my head. "You know that verse?" "Mama, I went to church. Of course I know that verse. Here's the thing: I've had that song in my head the last few days. Can't get rid of it."

"What song?"

"The song about walk and not faint, run and not be weary. It's a hymn."

"No, it isn't a hymn. But it is an anthem that the choir has sung in the past. Long time ago."

"I know. I've had this song in my head, and then I had a dream that you were reading that verse to me."

The excitement in her voice was overflowing. Bubbly and hardly able to contain it.

Then the other shoe dropped. She had that verse tattooed on her arm. For me. A gift for me. Her way of honoring me.

I really didn't know what to say. I didn't have it in me to burst her bubble. I guess I should be thankful she knew the verse and that it will always be visible where she can see it. Not only will she carry it in her heart, but now on her right forearm as well

Windy Friday

I do not live in the Windy City, but it sure has seemed like it today. We sit smack on the top of a hill, and there's always a breeze up here. Or almost always. Today's it' more like this:

Remember the story of the big, bad wolf blowing down the house of the three little pigs? He's been huffing, puffing, and howling all around this house today. Fierce.

Yesterday it was nearly 80 degrees. In February. Today it is cold and windy, and I woke up with a ginormous sinus headache. Aleve didn't touch it. Just that constant pounding to the point I felt nauseated for a while. Took a nap a while ago, and I feel much better. Ed called earlier and when I told him I felt bad he suggested either going out for dinner or he'd bring home something. At the time, nothing sounded good. Now I'm thinking a trip to Cracker Barrel might be in order.

Update: My sister was diagnosed with Bell's Palsy today and is going home sometime this afternoon. Thank you for the prayers on her behalf. She's still experiencing high blood pressure and out the roof numbers with her blood sugar. She is as grouchy as an old bear. Maybe if those get under control her attitude will as well. Hope so for her hubby's sake!

Feeling sleepy again. Might be time for Nap #2.

Drama in the ER

Last night the ER was packed. The hospital was at 103% capacity, according to a doctor friend of mine. Baptist Hospital is downtown, and the ER waiting room was full of riff raff. Looked like something you'd see on TV.

Then all hell broke loose. I swear. Jane Doe's name was called, and she came up to the desk. About that same time, an ambulance arrived and they needed help. So Jane Doe was asked to have a seat and they'd get back with her. THAT is when it hit the fan.

First of all, the woman looked like a streetwalker, although she was there with a normally dressed husband and 3 little kids.

Her red and white horizontally striped mini-skirt was up to the nether regions and several sizes too small for her very ample, uh, hindparts. The black and white stripped knit shirt was too tight across her equally ample bosom. So she sashayed up to the desk, and when she was asked to take a seat while they attended to an emergency, she started screaming and yelling and pounding on the desk. Demanding to see a supervisor. Raging, raging, raging.

Someone finally talked her into sitting down, but the mouth kept on. Vile and filthy language, Dropping one F-bomb after another. A supervisor came out to talk to her, and she was snapping those fingers and threatening a malpractice suit and just generally out of control. She got NOWHERE with the calm supervisor. Denied wanting to talk to him. Said she wanted her papers so she could leave. The supervisor offered to get her papers, to which she replied she didn't want the f-ing papers. She wanted to see a doctor. Still cussing like a sailor. In front of her kids and several others in the ER. Finally not one but TWO security guards come over and tell her shut her mouth and to calm down. So she cusses them and threatens them with crap. Yelling that she's in pain.

One of the guards looked over at the quiet husband with the well-behaved kids and said, "You look like a reasonable man. Can you do anything with her?" Nope. He didn't even try.

Finally the guard said, "Ma'am, if you don't calm down, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. I will escort you out that door." That just fueled the fire. I mean threw gasoline on it. He threatened her with calling the police and having her arrested and sent to jail. More F-bombs. Then he said he was telling her for the last time to calm down before he called the po-po. So she finally shut the heck up.

I thought, "Honey, you are NOT helping your case. Those people are gonna let you sit there until the cows come home, and I don't blame 'em." Here's another thought: She is addicted to prescription pain meds and was coming down and in need of a fix. That's what she was irrational, out of control, and ranting about being in pain.

In pain? Heck, she WAS a pain. Most entertaining thing I've seen in quite a while.

Here We Go Again

I had class this morning and then my Triplet Sisters and I met Tobes (the delusional MSP grad who THINKS he's the favorite student) for coffee at Starbucks. Only it's out of my price range and I don't like it either. So I sipped on my $1.25 Mountain Dew I'd gotten out of the vending machine at school. The purpose was to discuss our upcoming comps. Toby tried his best to reassure us, and Q said she felt better. My stress level elevated greatly when he told me how many people in his class had to retake part of the comps. Bill said that class had the highest takeover rate of any class they'd ever had.

Not what I wanted to hear.

By 11 I was back at the hospital, waiting for a diagnosis for Nancy. She'd already had an ultrasound on her heart and on carotid arteries. Hooked up to a heart monitor. Waiting for an MRI. But she's one of those weenies who needs medication to calm her before being shoved into the machine. She freaks. Not me. It means a nice nap for me. And I spent nearly 2 hours in one once. Anyway, it was late this afternoon before she got the MRI. By then I had left to go put out a raging fire at Daddy's house.

I had on my Big Sister/Oldest Daughter panties today.

A very nice doctor came to see Nancy while I was there. He said she has all the symptoms of a classic case of Bell's Palsy. She looks something like this:

She's all lopsided on the right side. Still complaining of an earache and pains in her head. Her blood sugar is still raging and hovering near 300. Normal is between 80 and 120. Her blood pressure is still elevated as well. As the doctor said last night, she needs a total lifestyle change. Easier said than done. ALL of us have areas in our lives that need to be revamped or maybe just tweaked. Daddy told me today, "I thought her doctor came down hard on her about her health." I said, "Daddy, it doesn't matter. It's just like dealing with a drug addict or someone who smokes. Until that person WANTS to make a change, no amount of begging and pleading is going to make an ounce of difference."

Then there's my daddy ... who didn't sleep a wink last night but was up with his own elevated BP. Sandra said he very nearly went to pieces. I fussed at him. "Daddy, you're not doing her one bit of good by worrying yourself to death. I went home last night and slept like a baby. I'd be of no help to her or anyone else if I was worn out."

I've said it before and I mean it. And I don't mean for it to sound like bragging. But I am your go-to person in a crisis. I guess that's why everyone in the family always calls me. I'm cool and calm in a crisis. Now I might fall the heck apart afterward when I get home, but I'm a rock when there's a mess.

The Phone Call

Shortly after 3 yesterday my phone rang and it was my sister Nancy asking me to come get her at work. I asked, "What's wrong?" and she said, "Let me let you talk to the school nurse." Nancy's a guidance clerk at a local high school. Didn't know they still had school nurses.

I assumed her blood sugar was either raging or had bottomed out. It's never under control. She's on meds but doesn't watch her diet closely. Luckily I was lounging around in my pjs, so I grabbed my purse and made the 5 minute drive to the school.

The nurse explained that her BP was elevated and that she'd wanted to call an ambulance. Nancy refused. Got there and her face was terribly distorted. Now they're thinking Bell's palsy. So we made the 30-minute trip downtown to Baptist and proceeded to wait about 2 hours to see a doctor.

They finally called her back. Her hubby had met us there, so he went back with her while I stayed in the waiting room and watched the riff raff in there ... including the one who had 2 security officers try to throw her out and threatened her with arrest. Drama, drama, drama.

Anyway, they did some tests and are now leaning toward a slight stroke rather than palsy. Symptoms just aren't matching up for anything else. Today they'll do an MRI and hopefully that will help with the diagnosis.

I got home about 9 and was worn out. Back up this morning for school.

Stay tuned for a special news report later today.

Wisdom Spots

Ever heard of wisdom spots? No, me neither ... until Ed's visit to the dermatologist this morning. He's had these "things" on his head forever. We thought they were moles. All of a sudden his mom started worrying us to death about him going to the doctor. She just knew he had skin cancer. I mean, she was calling every week to see if he'd been to the doctor yet.

Dobie Gillis and The Thinker. Just wondering if the very wise Thinker had wisdom spots.

So this morning we traipse off to see Dr. Keyes who takes a peek at Ed's head and announces they are not warts after all but seborrheic keratoses. While they might be unsightly, there is nothing to worry about. They are superficial ... just on top of the skin. But to put his mother's mind at ease ... at least about one thing ... Dr. K froze the spots and removed one skin tag off the base of his neck. Now those things will scab over and look awful within a few days, but they'll eventually disappear. Said if they're not gone in 4-6 weeks to come back for a second (and free) treatment. All right then!

Back to the books. Yesterday I answered Dr. H's questions on ethics in my workplace ... or former workplace. Those were tough since I'm convinced there is a serious lack of ethics in most corporations. Today I'm moving on to Dr. J's legal environment questions from a class I took the first semester. Hoping I've retained more than I think.

Did you know that graduation is 10 weeks from Saturday?

Micah Comes to Visit

Micah is one of my great-nephews and is almost 5 months old. This is the first time we've been asked to keep him. Been too long since I've had a little one to love on. We had a great time ... even though I kept calling him Jay ... and I had him all to myself until The Pap came home. Those two latched on to each other, and I was pretty much left out in the cold ... until he got hungry. I fed him his bottle, and he was mad as heck when it ran out. Like the rest of us, he likes to eat!

Notice that Micah loves sock monkeys too. His is named Maurice.

What's up?

I think they're swapping secrets ... Micah is really fascinated!

Pap, you are sooooooo funny!

Now tell me, aren't they cute?

What's the Point?

I walked in the house 30 minutes ago to the alarm screaming at fever pitch. Not a good sign. I shut it off, and about a minute later the phone rang ... the security folks. Seems the kitchen door showed entry. Well, it was shut. Maybe not totally, but it was pushed to. The wind is crazy today, so I'm guessing there was just enough wind to jar the door.

I didn't see any point in the police coming out, but Mr. Alarm Guy said they'd already been dispatched. Fine. Well, that was half an hour ago. Pretty sure no one is here but me 'cause surely the idiot would have sneaked out. I ran the Swiffer in 3 rooms, so that was loud enough to cover up the great escape.

Time to get back to study questions. Today I shall tackle ethics!

Poppyseed Chicken ... With a Twist

I love poppyseed chicken but rarely fix it. No reason ... just don't think about it. This afternoon I was scrounging around trying to figure out what to do with chicken (again) and thought about poppyseed chicken. I even had all the ingredients: chicken, cream of chicken soup, sour cream, poppyseed, Townhouse crackers, and buttah!

But here's my twist: I tossed a handful of penne pasta into a pot of boiling water and cooked it about 9 minutes. Drained it and added it to the mixture of soup, chicken, sour cream, and poppyseed. Then I melted a few tablespoons of butter and crumbled up a sleeve of Townhouse crackers. You can use Ritz, but I detest Ritz. I'm a Townhouse girl!

Bake it at 350º for about 30 minutes or until all bubbly and the crackers brown just a bit. Then DIG IN!

Road Trip

Ed and I are planning a road trip. OK, I am planning a road trip ... Ed will go along with whatever I plan. It's just the way we work.

Several weeks ago, when I announced my retirement, my favorite aunt and uncle from Flat Gap sent me an email inviting me to come down for a few days if I wanted to clear my head. I've been too busy with school and studying, but I had a brainstorm the other night.

The weekend before comps is our spring break, so I asked Uncle Larry and Freeda if that would be a good weekend for us to come down to visit. Today she emailed back with "ABSOLUTELY!" Ed's not convinced going that weekend is the best idea ... that I need to be studying. I think taking 2 days away from it to rest and regroup is exactly what I will need.

No idea what we will do ... but I KNOW everything will revolve around eating and talking. Freeda is an excellent cook, and I don't say that about many people. I also know we will make a trip to Hagey's for the best catfish in the world.

I kinda see this road trip as a reward for all the hard work leading up to comps. Don't you?

Zippity Do Da!

We've all seen it ... many have experienced it ... the poor unsuspecting person walking around with his or her fly unzipped for all the world to see. Years ago we had a guest speaker for our Monday morning devotional. The entire time Tim spoke he had his hands in his pockets and his fly unzipped. He constantly was widening the gap. To say it was distracting is an understatement. Don't recall a single word he said that day, but I sure remember that his fly was open.

Another instance that comes to mind regards my favorite son who had the nickname of "Zippy" for a while. Let's just say it wasn't because of his great speed.

Not too terribly long ago I was on the elevator at work, wondering why this person kept staring at me. I thought I'd spilled something or forgot to put on some important item of clothing. After he got off the elevator, I discovered my unzipped pants. Lovely. I'm sure he was traumatized.

OK, so the other night we went out with a dear friend who shall remain nameless in an effort to avoid bringing shame and embarrassment upon his good name. I noticed immediately that his fly was unzipped because the shirt tail of his brightly colored plaid shirt was hanging out the END of the fly. About 2-3 inches worth. Looking back, I suppose I should be thankful that was all that was hanging out. Otherwise I'd be in therapy this morning.

Anyway, I decided that if he kept his coat on, he'd be fine and maybe would discover the faux pax himself. Nope. Shortly he removed his coat and then walked across the restaurant in all his glory. HORRORS! I wasn't about to tell this gentleman to XYZ, but I did whisper to Ed about the problem. After we were all seated at the table, Ed leaned across the whispered to our dear friend. Do you think he excused himself and went to the rest room to readjust things? Nope. Reached right there under the table and tucked in the shirt tail and zipped up his drawers.

Oh, my.

Baby, It's COLD Outside

We've had a mild winter with crazy temps fluctuating all over the place. Today it's about 35 degrees and we have a nasty rain/snow mixture. Mostly rain. I hate it.

I got chilled in Sunday School today. If we had heat in there, it wasn't much. My hands were frozen. Church was warm. Got home and needed a nap 'cause I could barely stay awake in church. Changed clothes and climbed under the sheets. Tried to sleep, but I was soooooo cold and Ed was watching the Vandy/GA basketball game. No nap for me.

My feet were freezing, and it was miserable. Finally got up and thawed them in the tub with HOT water. Now I have on socks, am wrapped up in my big ol' terrycloth robe, and have a ceramic heater running at full strength. Finally thawing out.

The daughter of one of my colleagues is selling these delectable delights, and I bought three boxes yesterday: mint, tagalong, and shortbread. And today I just ate an entire sleeve of mint. I did notice, however, that the sleeves have fewer cookies this year. Same price ($3.50) but not as many cookies.

Oh, last night, just as I sat down to eat a bowl of leftover lasagna, Bill called to see if wanted to go eat pizza. Ed said yes, so the leftovers went into the trash, and we traipsed off to Painturo's. Love my double dates with two of my favorite men!

Taking a Break

No school work last night. Instead we watched two movies. Movie #1 was "The Company Men."

The storyline was unsettling familiar. A large corporation, forced to sell some of its holdings and consistently losing money (although the owner bagged a $22M bonus), began deleting jobs. They deleted not only the worker bees but a lot of upline managers with 6-figure base salaries, not to mention the bonuses. Some well-to-do folks. And this downsizing wasn't a one-time thing. By the time it rolled around the second or third time, one of the higher ups said, "What this looks like is a bunch of people over 50 with a few young ones thrown in to avoid litigation."

But the real story was focused on the changed lives of some of those men whose lives were so wrapped up in their jobs that they couldn't separate themselves from it. Affleck's character was determined to find a similar job and was not willing to take a pay cut. A year later he resigned himself to the fact that wasn't going to happen and ended up working construction for his brother-in-law, Costner. Cooper's character, a man approaching 60 and consistently told he was too old for a job, eventually took his own life. Trying to keep up appearances was more than he could bear.

Just an honest look at corporate America and the way it heartlessly destroys lives.

The second movie was an oldie but not a goodie. It was soooooooo LAME.

Filmed in 1955, I suppose it was a good movie for its time. The storyline was OK ... wealthy older widow falling in love with a younger man who is her gardener. Today we would cheer on the cougar, but obviously times were different in the 50s. The acting was terrible. Now I love Rock Hudson. He was sooooo cute. But this wasn't his best performance. Nor was it Jane Wyman's. Both of them were too monotone to suit me. Ed and I poked fun at it all the way through.

This morning we had class and a feast. Lord, have mercy there was a spread: danish, donuts, bagels, cookies, fruit, veggie tray, cookies, hash brown casserole, several breakfast casseroles, juices, and coffee. Fabulicious.

Talked to one of my colleagues who said he had done his take-home exam. He wrote one page per question. One page. I have seven. I know I go overboard (remember the 40-foot histogram?), but I couldn't even list the steps in one page much less discuss them. I had considered working on question 3 this afternoon, but I've changed my mind. I'll get back to it on Monday. Right now I am ...

 taking a break.

Chef Boy R Mawmaw

After working on another exam question all morning, I set that aside and went to the kitchen, where I've been most of the afternoon. Here's why:

I have been a cooking/baking fool. I made this fabulicious soup for supper ... a slightly modified version of the Pioneer Womans Corn and Cheese Chowder. I omitted the bacon and the orange pepper. I added a can of diced tomatoes. The rest was the same.

This is my bowl of chopped onions and a red pepper and a yellow pepper. Sauteed those a few minutes in some butter. Added 2 bags of frozen corn. Sprinkled a little flour over it and added a big box of chicken stock. Let that simmer a few and then added 2 cups half and half, 1 cup Monterey Jack, and 1 cup Pepper Jack cheese. Oh my word!

And THAT is the finished product. Still waiting for The Pap to get home, but I HAD to taste it. No, I didn't eat the whole bowl ... yet.

I signed up to take pastries to school tomorrow for brunch. Bill ordered apricot danish. Here's the process:

Made this easy-as-pie dough ... melt 1 stick butter, 8 oz. cream cheese, 1 tsp. salt, and 1/2 c. sugar. While that is heating combine some yeast and 1/2 cup warm water until it begins to proof (bubble). Add 2 beaten eggs. Alternately add the melted mixture with 4 cups bread flour. Knead and let rise.

OK, so now I divided the dough that had been rising into 4 parts. Here's part one all rolled out into a rectangle ... or some resemblance thereof.

Then you spread this cream cheese mixture (2 pkgs. cream cheese, 3/4 c. sugar, 1 egg, and 1 tsp. vanilla) and spread some fruit down the middle. Per Bill's request, this is apricot, which I made by running one small can of apricots through the food processor and adding one small can of apricot filling. Simple. Or you can use a can of your favorite pie filling ... I like cherry. Kelly's favorite is apple and I sprinkle a little cinnamon over the apples.

Here they are! Just cover 'em and let 'em rise for a while. Then pop them in a 350 degree oven for about 20-30 minutes or until browned. When they've cooled a bit, drizzle with your favorite glaze. I use powdered sugar, milk, and a smidgen of almond flavoring.

These two are going to school with me tomorrow. The other two are staying home. Come on over, and I'll put on the coffee pot!

Who Am I Kidding?

OK, so I lied. Question one was 7 pages, and I stupidly thought the second one would be much shorter. It is a FULL 6 pages. Another line or two and it would bump to 7.

Done for today. In the process of making danish and going to start chopping an onion and some peppers for the soup. Pictures to follow later!

Date Night!

Last night The Pap and I went to Texas Roadhouse for supper. It's a chain, but very good. For some reason I was starving all day yesterday, and after only a cup of chicken noodle soup for lunch, I was ready to put on the feed bag. Here's what we had:

Steak and shrimp. Oh my word in heaven, that skewer of shrimp was fabulicious! The steak, baked potato, and salad were good, but the shrimp far surpassed the rest of the dinner.

Today I'm back to answering the take-home exam we got yesterday and working on question 2. I'm prolly 2/3rds of the way through it, and it won't be nearly as long as the first one. May or may not tackle question 3 'cause I have some other things I need to do.

We've having brunch tomorrow morning at class, and I signed up for pastry. Guess I'll make Bill's favorite apricot cream cheese danish. Only I discovered a while ago I forgot to buy sour cream at the store. That's not a staple around here, so off to the store in a little while. I've also decided I want to make the Pioneer Woman's corn chowder for supper and need the ingredients for that. So sooner or later I'm gonna have to shower, get dressed (yes, it is 10 a.m. and I'm still in my pjs), and go to the store.

Life is good at the Gregory house. Very good

Time Flies

I must be incredibly slow ... or thorough. Slow is prolly more accurate.  I sat down to start working on question one of our take-home exam.

Four hours and 7 pages later, I finished. FOUR hours ... did you get that? We are allotted 4.5 hours for comps. How in the world can I extensively answer 6 questions when it took me half a day to answer one?

On top of that, Bill has sent us four groups of study questions from various professors. I have my work cut out for me. Another reason to be thankful for retirement. I don't know how I could do this and work too. One of my colleagues told me this week he is going to take 2 weeks' vacation to prepare. Smart man.

In the meantime, I have a hot date with The Pap tonight ... dinner and grocery shopping.  I know ... grocery shopping is one of the least romantic things in the world, but at least it is time together AND someone to carry in all the groceries!

Exam Time

Today Jason gave us our take-home exam for the Intro to the Judicial System class. Four discussion questions. Actually, 2 cases, 1 question about various areas of the court process, and a question about lawyers. Lovely. Due next Saturday.

I've only read through the first case. Obviously it is a civil court case and involves whether or not a man signed a noncompete clause. That term isn't used when the case was presented, but that's what it is. Haven't read the other stuff yet. Hopefully it won't be too tough. He also told us that something similar to this would be what he'd have on comps, should we choose to answer his question. With my notes, it shouldn't be too bad. Without them? I have never worked in the court system. Don't know if I could remember all this or not. I have something like 15 pages of typed notes. Single spaced. Uh huh.

But FIRST ... I have to move around some laundry and finish reading the paper. Priorities, you know.

Morale Deflaters and Boosters

A rather large number (25 at last count) of my former coworkers lost their jobs today. Downsizing, deletions, reorganization ... whatever you want to call it. All I know there are a lot of hurting people there today ... including those left behind with their jobs in tact.

I am brokenhearted for them. And every day I am more and more thankful that I retired. Tonight a very perceptive church member asked me, "Doesn't management realize the word on the street is that this company will chew you up and spit you out?" Bottom line is: They don't care.

Now for the booster! Tonight my friend and partner in crime Annie were coming down the stairs after bell practice. She was moaning and groaning with each step. She's had more knee surgeries than I have fingers and thumbs. Seriously. Needs knee replacement but won't do it.

As we reached the bottom of the stairs and headed toward the choir room I said, "This getting old is the pits." Mark, another choir member who has only been at our church a couple of years at the most, said, "I'm with you." He's much younger, and I rolled my eyes and said, "Just wait until you're my age." Mark said, "I'm closer than you think. You're under 50, aren't you?" I laughed and said, "No, I'm much closer to 60. I'm 57 for a few more months." I could see the look of astonishment on his face. "Well, I never would have guessed that."

Give that boy a Girl Scout cookie!

Ants

Years ago we had carpenter ants ... ginormous black ants ... nested under our house. Had no clue until we went to have siding placed on our house. Woodpeckers had absolutely torn up a spot on the front of the house trying to peck their way through to the carpenter ants. Had to have all that treated and we've had no more trouble with carpenter ants.

Last year sometime we had a very minor problem with those tiny black ants hanging out in my bathroom. Not like a trail of them ... just a few random ones. The "bug man" said they were scouts out looking for water. He sprayed and that was that.

About a week ago I noticed those pesky little things in my bathroom again. Just two or three most of the time. But I hate it. We are not dirty people. There's no food upstairs. I don't know what they are after.

Then the weirdest thing of all ... lately I've seen them in the bonus room. Again, not a trail of them, just a few random ones here and there. And they are on my laptop! That's the ONLY place I see them. Are they after the heat or just really smart ants? If I put it on the floor, I can just about guarantee the next time I pick it up there will be ants on and in it. If I leave it in my recliner, it rarely has ants. Yes, we eat up here sometimes. But we don't make a mess, and while this room is a cluttered mess (again), it is clean.

So our bug man called a little while ago and it is time for our quarterly treatment. Here's hoping he takes care of the ant problem.

Surprise in the Mail

Heard the doorbell ring about 3:30 this afternoon ... UPS delivering a small package. A brown box. What in the world? Then I saw the return address ... Josten's. And here's what was in the package! To say I am excited is a huge understatement!