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VIEWING 1 - 9 OUT OF 134 BLOGS.
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GO FLY A KITE!!!!
DATE: 11/22/2008 08:35:10 / MOOD: happy
I think five days may be our "limit" for togetherness. In fact, I think five days may be PUSHING our limit.
This morning, I woke up with a song in my head. I'm sure you all remember Mary Poppins. Remember the song "Let's Go Fly A Kite!"? Well, for some reason it's stuck in my head...but the funny part is, I can't remember the words...so I've made some up of my own:
"Joe, go fly a kite!
Then maybe I might
Let you live to see
Tomorrow's daylight...
The air needn't be clear,
As long as it's away from here...
Joe, please Go...
FLY A KITE!!!!!"
Yeah...on our 6th day together I'm POSITIVE we've exceeded our limit on togetherness!!!!
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Be Prepared
DATE: 11/21/2008 22:31:07 / MOOD: happy
I'm feeling much better tonight, although I sound all raspy...so I decided to take a page from the Bobbsey Handbook, under the chapter entitled "Be Prepared". My Bobbsey twin (Jody), told me that when she gets a roll of parchment paper, she cuts the whole roll to the size of her cookie sheets, and then rolls them all back up and puts them in the box, so that when she is ready to bake her cookies, she just pulls the sheets, already cut, from the box. Well, I thought that was GENIUS, so of course, I did it right away, to get prepared for the baking season.
Monday, when we were at Sam's (where Joe showed everyone the seams and tags on the inside of his shirt! *LOL*), in addition to picking up flour, butter and sugar, I also bought the chocolate chips that I need for my cookies, AND a 3 3/4 lb bag of Hershey's kisses for the peanut blossom kisses. As anyone who has ever made those, (where you make a peanut butter cookie, and then while it is still warm, you press a Hershey's kiss into the top, so it looks like a flower), the worst part of doing those, is peeling those cussed little buggers. So tonight, while watching t.v., I peeled the entire 3 3/4 lb bag, put them in a zip loc, and put them in the freezer. It took almost an hour. But it's done, and it will save a lot of time when I make the cookies that they go on.
Joe is still "with us" (as in he is both "alive", and "at home")...he will be with us through the weekend, as he has called in sick to work, already. If he doesn't go SOMEWHERE out from under foot, on Monday, well, then I won't be able to guarantee his well-being. I think I've shown amazing restraint by not killing him yet, even though we've spent five phlegm filled days together. And of course, by the time the weekend is over, it will be an entire week...and then...we have a holiday. Oh Dear God, it's almost Thanksgiving already, and I'm JUST STARTING my Christmas shopping...I usually have it DONE by now...
I just realized...it's THAT time of year again...the time of year when I have my annual mental meltdown...you know, my little Christmas present to me...so I'll see you all after the holidays...in the meantime, enjoy the crazy woman who will be standing in for me the next couple of months...
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And Now...I Hate Him MORE!
DATE: 11/20/2008 17:42:23 / MOOD: don't know
Well, it's been a lovely last few days in the neighborhood...NOT! Joe was "starting" to come down with something the end of last week...I've had him home all this week...and I've gotten it, too.
I finally convinced him, this morning, to go see his doctor. I saw Michelle on Monday, and told her he was sick, so I was all set up with the prescriptions that I would need, if I got it. Joe likes to wait until he is at death's door, AND has infected me, before he does anything about it. Like I said, he finally went to the doctor this morning...he has an upper respiratory infection, and is starting to come down with bronchitis. Lovely. The doctor gave him a note to keep him out of work today and tomorrow. Oh dear God, a whole feakin' week of him.
See, THIS is why I wanted my kitchen done...well, AGES ago. He still has the clean ups and touch ups to do (which means, tools, paint, etc., will be holding my dining room hostage until that is completed). That in itself doesn't bother me TOO much...but now, here I am, when I should be in full tilt baking mode, SICK. And except for "just passing through", I have not been in the kitchen since Sunday! If he had just done the kitchen on MY schedule, instead of his own, I would be further along in the baking by now, and would not be feeling stress over this...but, with only two batches in the freezer, and the rest to go, I can't really "relax" and be sick...I'm sick, and I'm in bed, but I'm thinking how I'm going to have to rush and push to get things done, and that was what I was trying to avoid. Ask me AGAIN, why I need three mixers...
So I hate him, because this is all his fault, and if he would just LISTEN for once in his life, well...maybe I wouldn't be so angry at him all the time!!!
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A Post Script (a.k.a. "Joe will be Joe")
DATE: 11/17/2008 18:25:21 / MOOD: happy
We went all the way down to Jacksonville, got stopped by the police, went to the doctor's, out to lunch, to Sam's to do some shopping (for my holiday baking), and it wasn't until we were getting out of the van, at home, that I noticed that Joe had his shirt on inside out! In my defense, when we left the house, he was wearing a jacket, so the seams and the tags weren't showing...I can't remember exactly WHEN he took his jacket off, but I don't think he had it on in Sam's...*LOL*
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Joe & Jo's Excellent Adventure
DATE: 11/17/2008 13:55:44 / MOOD: happy
Well, today has been a wonderful day! It started off with PINK anti-embolism stockings. Now I can hear you saying "why, Jo, I've never seen PINK ones before, wherever did you get them?" Well, what you do is you buy the ordinary, everyday WHITE ones, and let Joe do the laundry! He achieved this particularly lovely shade by washing them with my burgundy nightgown. I don't get bothered by stuff like this. I also don't let him off the hook. Most women would not let a man do laundry after this sort of incident. I simply dash all his hopes of that happening by exclaiming: "OH! How PRETTY!!!!" Yes, I buy white underwear, too, in hopes of being surprised by an occasional pair coming back a pretty color. I've yet to be disappointed!
After that, it was off to Jacksonville to my every-other-week check in with the doctor's office. On the way down, we got flagged over by a Florida State Police officer. As we're pulling off the road, I said to Joe "What did you do?" and he replied, "I don't know, I was just slowing down a little bit, because our exit is coming up." Now, Joe has been fighting off a cold for the last few days, and he does ATTEMPT not to give them to me, because of my severely compromised immune system, so he's been wearing a mask. (Not that it does any good, I'm already starting with a scratchy throat and a stuffed up nose...although the stuffed up nose could be from the old lady at the doctor's office who was marinating in Jean Nate, but I digress...) So we're sitting at the side of the road, and the statie walks up to the van, peeks in the back, sees the wheelchair (how could you miss it?), then to the driver's window, sees Joe with his mask on, weepy red eyes, and hears his raspy, croupy voice, and says "Uh...you can go...we didn't flag you in!" (The Hell, they didn't!--but I knew to keep my mouth shut!) Back onto the highway, and down to Jacksonville, we head.
We get to the doctor's office a mere 3 minutes before my appointment time...and as we are checking in, I see Jacqui, my chemo nurse from the Booth office, talking to the woman who makes the appointments. I say to the receptionist "What is Jacqui doing here?" The reply: "She works here, now!" YES!!! There IS a God...and he LIKES ME!!!! Jacqui is the ONLY NURSE who can get an IV in me on the first try...she knows what pre-meds to add to my "cocktail" to keep me from having headaches and reactions (Tylenol and Benadryl). And now Jacqui is working at the Beach office. Life is good!!! So when the time comes that we have to have chemo again, I know that I will be in good hands!!
Now, as you probably know, I started baking the Christmas cookies for both offices (and Joe's work) on Saturday (12 and a half dozen down, a Brazilian to go...). Now seldom do cookie batches come out even. So I had four cookies over the 12 and a half dozen that went into the freezer. Usually, I give them to Joe, as a pacifier, but Michelle had been e-mailing me the last couple of days, dropping not-so-subtle hints that she needed cookies, so she since she had actually been more "whiney" than Joe, I bagged up the four extra cookies, and took them in to her. I stapled the bag shut, and wrote her name on it, to make SURE Joe knew they were not for him. So when she came out to get me, to take me back to the exam room, I said "I brought you a little treat!" And SHE said "And I have a little treat for YOU, too!" Huh???
She made me an apron! Michelle, aside from being ARNP extraordinaire, is also a very talented embroiderer. She does all sorts of things for babies, toddlers, etc. She sells some, donates some to her Church, to FOPAF, etc. Well, she did the CUTEST apron for me in honor of my kitchen being done!!! It's Red...and it has "Josie Lynn" on it (cuz that's my name!) And it says "KISS THE COOK" with a chef's hat perched upon the "C" in "Cook". A wooden spoon under that, and then, beneath that it says, "I bake...so that I don't kill Joe!" HA HA HA HA HA HA HA (She knows me so well!) I just love it! It's SO me!
After my appointment, which went very well...it was off to get a lobster roll, at "A La Carte", where they know Joe by name! A quick trip to Sam's to stock up on Flour, Sugar, Butter, Chocolate Chips, and a few other things I need for my Holiday Baking (man, that was $60 quickly spent!!!). Now we're home, Joe is crashed in the guest room, and I'm in bed with my lap top and the dog. It's been a busy day, today. And a good one!! :-)
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Inquiring Minds Wanted to Know...
DATE: 11/15/2008 18:59:08 / MOOD: happy
The question has come up again, (and again...and AGAIN), as to WHY I need three Kitchen Aid Mixers. And the answer is: "Because I do." :-)
So let's review this, for those who haven't known me for 100 years, and/or haven't figured out how my mind works.
The Kitchen Aid on the far right is the eldest...I bought that in 1989, when we first moved to Georgia. (Yes, I know, it looks like new, but I take good care of my toys!) Joe had asked me if I wanted a Kitchen Aid mixer for my birthday that year. I said "yes". Then he said to me "Okay, but they're kind of expensive, so you're going to have to kick in half of the money..." My reply was...well, I'm not going to tell you what my EXACT reply was, (those of you who know me really well, can guess), but the gist of it was that I would buy my own Kitchen Aid. Which I did...I financed the project by slowly, and methodically stealing change from him every night. I would have gotten away with it, too, had he not woken up and caught me standing at the end of the bed, elbow deep in his pockets. Actually, I might have gotten away with it, even THOUGH he caught me, if after he had asked me if was stealing from him, and I had said "No, you're only dreaming", I just hadn't added "Now shut up, and go back to sleep!"
Now that Kitchen Aid (the 1989 model) was, at the time, the BIGGEST and MOST POWERFUL mixer that Kitchen Aid made for the home kitchen. And it has served me well. For almost 20 years. BUT last year, about this time, I got my Chef's catalog, and lo and behold Kitchen Aid now makes a BIGGER and MORE POWERFUL model for home use. And, of course, I needed it. More importantly, I WANTED it. Because mine was no longer the biggest. And that was just not acceptable to me.
So last year, under the threat of turning his reindeer into venison and baking them in mincemeat pies, Santa brought me the Kitchen Aid on the left. He also brought me an extra bowl. (So it's actually like having FOUR mixers, instead of three...)
And in April, I turned 50. When asked what I wanted for my 50th birthday, I said I wanted an ARTISAN Kitchen Aid (which is the one in the middle). Unlike the other two, which have hydraulic lifts, the Artisan model has a tilt back head. Not quite as much power as either of the other ones, but great for when one is making something where you need to "scrape down the sides of the bowl".
So, all three are different sizes, different power, different models, and are good for different things. (And besides, they look so pretty!) Now, I know there are those of you who are still saying to yourselves, yes, but do you really NEED three mixers? To you I say: I've never really liked to drive. So think of my mixers as my "mid-life crisis vehicles". They're a Hell of a lot cheaper, and to me, they're a lot more fun, than a car is! Now I'm sure SOME of you have more than one car. Can you drive them both (or all) at the same time? No, you cannot. BUT if I have enough electrical outlets, I COULD theoretically, run all three of my mixers at the same time. Of course, I would probably plunge most of Southeast Georgia and Northeast Florida into total darkness, but nevertheless, I COULD use them all at once. And, at this time of year, when the cookies are being made with assembly line precision, I can switch between mixers to keep them from overheating (yes, they can overheat, and then you have to shut down and wait until it cools off enough to use it again...I know, I've done it...), AND I can mix up a batch of cookies that has to have the dough chilled, and leave the bowl in the fridge, and move on to the next batch. Without having to wait for the bowl that is in the fridge to be freed up. So you see, I DO need three mixers. Yes, indeedy. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!
By the way, I also have 2 microwaves...one in the kitchen, and one in the living room...and a mini-fridge in the living room. Does anyone have a problem with THAT???? ;-)
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See the pictures!
DATE: 11/15/2008 11:43:52 / MOOD: happy
http://www.myalbum.com/Album=TJAUHRNP
As promised, I have updated the album (link above) with pictures of the kitchen. (Make sure you remember to tell me how pretty my mixers look!) They go start to finish...from the old kitchen, to the new kitchen...the last three pictures, are so you can see just how subtle the change in wall color is, although it seems more pronounced in the pictures, than it does in person. The "Memories of Holland" mural has the "old kitchen" color around it, acting as sort of a "frame". Then the rest of the wall is the new kitchen color. It was voted by my "fans" that I was NOT, under any conditions, to paint over my mural. Even though I painted it in 1996...you have no idea what it took to explain to Joe how to do what I wanted him to do, on that wall. Let's just say, I literally had to draw him a picture! One constantly in motion, quick brain (mine), plus one sluggish, confused brain (his), equals a ton of frustration and several bouts of "heated discussion".
I'm glad, I went with the black grout, rather than the white. I think the black kind of blends into the wall and disappears, where the white would have stood out too much. So I'm very happy with that choice. Actually, I'm happy with all my choices. And don't you just love my new microwave???
I got up twice, during the night, to go look at it, and make sure I hadn't just IMAGINED it was done. I would have only had to get up once, but the first time I went out, someone had left a jar of peanut butter and a box of cereal on the counter, and I had to put them away, and that sort of took something away from the experience, so I had to get up again, later. I won't mention any names, as to who left them there, but it wasn't me, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't the dog.
So enjoy...as soon as my diuretic wears off, I'm going back out there to cook!!!!
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Close, But...
DATE: 11/14/2008 22:46:28 / MOOD: happy
I’m sure you’re all familiar with the saying “Close, but no cigar…”, well my kitchen is “Close, we have the cigar, but it just ain’t quite lit yet” to being done.
Joe has worked on the kitchen all week this week. I don’t know what has taken so long (I mean, OTHER than the fact that it’s Joe), there was nothing all that “complicated” about painting, but…well, I’ve come to accept that if he ran a race with a snail, the snail would win…even if Joe was given a head start…of a couple of weeks.
So other than a few “touch ups” and “clean ups” the little bit of the kitchen that needed to be painted, has been painted. Except for the wall behind my bookcases, but that wall is attached to the wall in the dining room, so that will be painted whatever color I decide to paint the dining room. Which I have already pretty much decided on, if no-one talks me down, in the meantime. (Don’t even ask when THAT is going to be done…we haven’t started negotiations/threats on that project yet.)
I really didn’t go for much of a drastic change in wall color from what the kitchen USED to be, to what it is. I mean, the BIG change was the countertops (which went from being mauve colored vinyl to gray Corian), and the black and white tile on the walls above the counters. The color around the window, the back door, and on the wall with the mural, went from being sort of an aquaesque light blue, to silver. And so you really don’t notice too much, the fact that the wall with the bookcase is another color. But by God, when the dining gets painted (if I live that long), you WILL.
I am thinking of going really BOLD. Yes, Bold. As in Red. Yes, red. This shouldn’t surprise those of you who lived through my cherry colored hair phase and have seen my tattoos. You already know I am my mother’s worst nightmare. It’s just part of what makes me, me, and that’s why you love me. And you know you do!
So, with the kitchen “done” (except for the floor, which will be done later…the negotiations/threats on that HAVE started…and I’ve also decided I really, REALLY want to replace the back doors, as well. I’ve never liked the sliders, and would LOVE to replace them with French doors….I know, I know, I’m a glutton for punishment!) Tomorrow I actually get back in there! I will take pictures after Joe goes to work tomorrow, and post them in my on-line album.
So until after the holidays, the renovations are on hold. I do have a VERBAL agreement with himself, that if he does not have my kitchen floor done by April 18, 2009, then we will HIRE someone to do it, and HE will pay for it. In more ways than one!
So let the Holiday baking begin…
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He DESERVES me...
DATE: 11/11/2008 21:33:50 / MOOD: happy
There are some people, not many, mind you, but SOME, who think that I am way too hard on hubby. Well, to them I say..."pffffffppfffft" (that's the sound of me giving them a raspberry!) He deserves me...and sometimes, not often, but SOMETIMES he gets his revenge. Which makes him even MORE deserving of me!
This afternoon, the dog and I were just minding our own business, watching t.v. in bed, when I had to sneeze. Now, I admit, I don't sneeze in a "dainty" fashion. When I sneeze, it can blow doors open, rip your socks off your feet, while leaving your shoes on, and dang near wake the dead. And that is just from the sheer force of it. Never mind the volume.
Hubby had today off from work, so he was suppose to be painting the kitchen. Of course, he was doing "other" things, which supposedly had to do with the kitchen...he washed a couple of windows, and then went outside to sweep the patio. I don't know what that had to do with anything, other than I can SEE it from the kitchen.
So he was outside, in the backyard, and I was in the bedroom with the dog, and I sneezed. Twice. Then my phone rang. When I answered it, the familiar voice on the other end said "God Bless You, Sweetie", and then he made a point of telling me that he was OUTSIDE, and there were two closed doors between us...and that he would have YELLED "God Bless You", but he was afraid I wouldn't hear him from that distance.
Yeah. He's a born commedian. But I suppose it's better on the days he's being a smart ass, rather than the days he's being a dumb one!
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