Suspension of the Birthday/Christmas rule!

DSH turns 50 this December 15th. We are having a Christmas open house December 13th. Our neighborhood has a tradition of having a open house/Christmas party every year. We have lived here for six years and have not taken a turn hosting. We have been doing construction continuously for the past six years and have reached a good stopping point so decided it was time. This caused a conflict with the Birthday/Christmas rule which states: Christmas decorating, gift buying and giving does not start until after December 15th. I am enjoying the suspension greatly! More time for planning and doing! Out of respect for DSH and his understandable "issues" with birthday and Christmas, I have bought all of his birthday and Christmas presents, wrapped them in the appropriate paper for the occasion and placed the birthday pile in one corner and the Christmas pile in the other corner. Birthday presents are wrapped in a bright, cheery paper that says "Happy Birthday" all over it and the Christmas gifts are in an old fashioned Christmas paper and are hidden behind a chair. Easy to tell the difference. There is no place to hide gifts in our home so wrapping and displaying was the best solution. Plus, the gifts are out taunting him with their mysterious sizes and shapes. Oh, the anticipation! Happy Birthday, DSH!!

Christmas Party Clothes

I did as I was told. I went shopping for a dress for the Christmas party. I hate shopping and DSH loves it! I hate spending money, but I was under orders. My husband is a construction, hunter type of guy with a side that is artistic. He likes to dress up and he likes nice clothes. So, he wanted me to have a new outfit for the fancy Christmas party. I bought a plum colored dress and perfectly matching shoes. I decided to buy him a shirt and tie that matched so he will have a surprise when he gets home. It was actually fun once I resigned myself to it. I couldn't believe how crowded the mall was. Aren't we having a recession?

Before I went shopping, I went to the hospital to visit my sister. She had surgery two days ago and is doing great. She will be home before Thanksgiving. We are very thankful! Praise the Lord.

Weekend Alone

DSH is off to Reno with a friend so I have the house to myself for the weekend! The old TV in the kitchen was sent off to the garage until we find a recycling center that wants it. I removed the garage pvc storage shelf it was sitting on and put that in the garage also. All the junk on the shelves got relocated and we now have a cleared out section in the breakfast nook. I cleaned the dirt and dog hair off the floor under that was under the shelving unit and moved the dogs water and food bowls over there. That got them out from underfoot in the kitchen. AHHH, it is looking better already.

I also went shopping for DSH's birthday and Christmas gifts. His birthday is December 15th. This year we are having his birthday party at his favorite restaurant: Claim Jumper. All four girls will be there along with their husbands/boyfriends. We are celebrating with them on the 13th then having a big open house/Christmas party on the 14th then on his real day we are taking his 90 year old mother out to dinner with us. She is in a skilled nursing facility and doesn't get out unless we take her.

So easy to get sidetracked! Back to my fun weekend activities. I bought a master remote for the TV/stereo system (a lot more $$$ than I thought it would be!), an ipod, a popcorn popper, popcorn for the popper, and a blender ( he wants to blend things). I also took a picture that his mother has that is of her as a baby (the photo is 90 years old!) sitting with her parents and had it blown up to an 8 x 10. I dropped it off at the framers and picked out frame material, mats and glass. Did you know you can get museum glass? It is the best so I got it since the photo is old and important and will be in the living room. That all cost a pretty penny too. I am going all out this year since he always gets jipped (sp?) on his birthday (a major sore point in his life). I guess I'm doing my part to help the economy!

I had to take his mother to the doctor so I picked her up from the nursing home, had her doctor visit, took her back home then went grocery shopping. It takes at least three hours to run her to the doctor. It is very emotionally and physically draining for me because she is a big girl and has major mobility issues. Getting her in and out of the car take a long time and is hard.

Tonight I ran the dogs at the school. Clarification: they ran I walked. They can be off leash there and they love it. After everyone had dinner, I took all the light fixture globes down and washed them. All the fan blades got wiped down. EEWWWW dirty. I vacuumed and now I get to reward myself with blogging! Plus, DSH isn't here to feel ignored. He called and is having a great time. He doesn't have much guy time so I'm glad he got to go.

Good night, sleep well. May God watch over you and protect you.

Victorian Mania

I really enjoy the Victorian era. I have a subscription to Victorian Homes (which should be published monthly in my humble opinion!). I love the clothes, the furniture, the houses. We have a very small, 1956 ranch house. Tract, regular, boring. Very thankful to have a home but it's not the dream. DSH isn't a big fan of Victorian, too Rococo. He prefers Arts and Craft style. But, being the loving, caring, considerate husband that he is, he has pretended to like Victorian style and has worked extremely hard creating the Victorian "look" for me in our home. :D

We have hard wood floors, crown moulding, big baseboards, fabric on the walls, reupholstered antique furniture, chair rails and fancy draperies with lace curtains. All the proportions have been changed to look good with our 8 foot ceilings instead of the 10 or 12 foot ceilings a beautiful Queen Ann would have. He is so talented.

And that is not all. In the past we have enjoyed (cough) visiting Victorian Bed and Breakfast stays in different locations. One story: We stayed in a Victorian hotel a couple of years ago while visiting our oldest daughter and son-in-law. It was winter. The hotel was renovated but the rooms did not have individual heat controls. At check-in we were told that we could call down to the desk to get the temperature of our room changed. It was freezing when we took our luggage to our room so requested the heat be turned up. We were told that it would take awhile for the room to heat up which was fine since we were going out to dinner. We got back a couple of hours later and it was still cold. We called the desk and they said the heat was on and it would take time to warm up. We got ready for bed and put on long johns and socks and snuggled under all the covers and comforter. By 2:00am the room had warmed up considerably and we woke up ROASTING! It was HOT in the room. I just couldn't bring myself to call downstairs so we opened the door to the patio and both windows and just let the cold air in. The rest of the night was fine. Not ecologically sound, but we could sleep. The fresh air was quited nice.

In the morning DSH took the first shower in the darling claw foot tub with full surround shower curtain. Unbenost to us until too late for DSH, hot, steamy air rising from the floor of the bathtub causes wet, plastic shower curtain to suck in around said husbands unclothed body, clinging and sticking. I heard a loud "eeeww" and went in to see what was wrong. I saw him pushing the shower curtain away but it kept clinging and sucking back in. I couldn't help but laugh which didn't help his current mood. He was totally grossed out by a wet, previously used plastic shower curtain not letting go as he tried to get away. We decided we wouldn't be getting a cute claw foot tub with a full surround shower curtain for our Victorian-wanna-be regular tract house.

Sister

My sister is in surgery today. She has had a tough year and prayerfully the hard part is over. A few weeks to heal and hopefully she will be good as new! Praying for you, sis!

On restiction!!

I have missed blogging! I have been put on restriction by DSH because I use his work laptop and all my blogging clogs up his computer. I have been limited to weekends only! Sometimes I can blog at my office (like now) but usually I am fully booked with patients and don't have time. Sigh! Maybe for Christmas I will get my own computer to play on! Of course, the other reason DSH has restricted my blogging is because it takes time away from him! That's a nice reason though. It is nice to know that he likes to spend time with me :D

Have a great week. I am praying for this election!

Blessed Sleep

Aaaaaahhhhhh, blessed sleep! Little peanuts are so much easier to babysit when you've had a good nights sleep! Jenna-Bug was only up at 12:00am and needed to be rocked back to sleep and she stayed asleep until she wanted her morning bottle at 5:00am. No teeth yet so I was able to give it to her in her crib and she fed herself while I went back to bed. She fell back asleep until 7:45am! Good girl, little peanut!

Mommy and Daddy come home tonight and life will get back to normal for everyone. A nice break for my daughter and her husband.

Peanut sitting

Day one of babysitting the littlest peanut aka "Jenna-Bug". Little peanuts aren't quite as cute when you are 52 and stay awake all night listening for any little peeps because it is a HUMONGOUS responsibility watching your child's baby. :D Of course, I did the same thing when my 89 year old mother in law moved in with us. I listened for her "thumping down the hall" (she uses a cane) in the middle of the night and had no sleep for two weeks until I got used to hearing her. I was always concerned she would fall. She is in a skilled nursing facility now. She did eventually fall and needed more care than we could give. I don't know why I can't just sleep until these special guest really wake me up with a fall or a cry. DSH sleeps just fine through it all!

Little Jenna-Bug is eight months old. She had a hard time falling asleep last night, I finally went in and got her up to rock her to sleep. She fell asleep fast then. She talked through-out the night but didn't cry. I heard her almost every hour making talking/cooing sounds. Maybe she talks in her sleep. Husband snored the whole night so I had a lovely duet. One more night to go. Mom and Dad get home Sunday night. I will go to bed early! Well, she is taking a nap so I will go shower. If I could nap I would. I NEVER nap.

False Accusation

There has been a false accusation at my house. For months the new dryer has been accused of eating a sock. This morning, as I was putting a load of laundry into the new front loading washing machine, I noticed something odd about the rim at the door opening. There was a strange coloration and texture under the edge of the rubber flange around the opening. I pushed the rubber aside and much to my surprise!!! found my sock plus some undies (blush) plus my DSH's stretch ankle support (used after an ankle injury) and a dish cloth! How it still functioned with all that in there is beyond me. So, an apology is due the dryer and a watchful eye must always be on the washer.

I am joining in on this meme from Joy of Desserts instructions below:

I hope that I have followed the instructions correctly. :D

This doesn't have to be just for the food blogs -- any blogger can join the fun!

• Take this list and BOLD the ones you HAVE EATEN;
• Leave in the ones you have not (you could cross them out too);
• ADD your own to my list to get to 100 that YOU HAVE EATEN;
• Post it on your blog with these rules and the picture;
• If you have posted some or all of the recipes on your blog, link your list to those recipes;
• Link to this post, http://joyofdesserts.blogspot.com/2008/09/100-for-sweet-tooth-to-celebrate-100.html, so that others can have one central place to join in if they wish;
• Come back to this post, to let all of us know that you are participating in this meme, and so that we can all come by and read your list and recipes;
  Link directly to your list, not to your main blog, so that people can find it even months from now.

100 For The Sweet Tooth!

1. Julia Child’s Los Gatos Gateau Cake
2. Petit Pain Au Chocolat
3. Savarin
4. Babas au Rhum et a la Creme
5. Almond Macaroons
6. Coconut Macaroons
7. Galette des Rois
8. Apple Pie
9. Peach Pie
10. Peach Cobbler
11. Black Forest Cake
12. Sacher Torte
13. Blueberry Cream Cheese Fool
14. Floating Island
15. Strawberry Cream Pie
16. Apple Tart
17. Loukoum (Turkish Delights)
18. Bananas Yogurt Cake
19. Banana Jam
20. Tiramisu
21. Rose des Sables (Sand Rose — Middle Eastern)
22. Charlotte
23. Belgian Waffles
24. Ice Cream of all types
25. Macademia Nut Cookies
26. Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies
27. Cherry Clafouti
28. St. Honore
29. Lemon Curd
30. Candied Blueberries
31. Bread Pudding
32. Morocan Spiced Rice Pudding with Dates
33. Tapioca
34. Creme Brule
35. Pumpkin Pie
36. Brioches
37. Religieuses
38. St. Christains
39. Lemon Bundt Cake
40. Kouglof (Alsacian Cake)
41. Buñuelos
42. Rhubarb Tart
43. Parfait
44. Cheesecake
45. Creme de Salidou
46. Tres Leches Cake
47. Brownies
48. Fudge
49. Chocolate Mouse
50. Creme de Marrons (Chestnut Creme)
51. Marrons Glace (Glazed Chestnuts)
52. Pates de Fruit (Real Fruit Jellies)
53. Halva (Middle Eastern)
54. Tunisian Fruit Salad
55. Creme Anglaise
56. Creme Patissiere
57. Gingerbread
58. Madeleines
59. Princess Cake
60. Boston Cream Cake
61. Berry Shortcake
62. Pecan Pie
63. Pot de Creme
64. Norwegian Omelette
65. Marzipan
66. Praline
67. Mexican Hot Chocolate
68. Compotes
69. Creme Cheese Lemon Flan
70. Beignets
71. Applesauce Kugel
72. Langues de Chats (Cat’s Tongue Cookies)
73. 1-2-3-4 Cake
74. Sprinkles of Beverly Hills Strawberry Cupcakes
75. Sabayon
76. Truffles
77. Crepes
78. Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
79. Rolled Figs
80. Blintzes
81. Eclair
82. Mille Feuilles (Napoleons)
83. Palmiers (Elephant Ears)
84. Chiffon Cake
85. Genoise
86. Buche de Noel (Yule Log)
87. Lemon Meringue Pie or Key Lime Pie
88. Paris-Brest
89. Pound Cake
90. Cream Puffs (Petits Choux)
91. Turnovers (Chaussons)
92. Easy Baked Peaches
93. Mont St. Michel (Cake of Apple Crepes)
94. Yogurt Cake
95. Polonais (Cake)
96. Tartelettes aux Poires (Pear Tartelettes)
97. Mocha au Cafe
98. Cornets a la Creme (Cream Horns)
99. Gateau de Savoie
100. Almond Cake

Lunch

Today was a very special lunch with a very special person. We had a wonderful time at Lisa's Tea Treasures catching up with each other's lives. We haven't spent enough time together over the past few years and this last year has been a very difficult time for her. She has been strong through her trials, faithful to our Savior and an inspiration to all by keeping her sense of humor while never giving up in her fight. The special person is my sister. Our prayers are with you!!!

Labor Day

What a beautiful day today in Northern California! It is a mild 85 degrees with a slight breeze. Perfect for ripping open holes in the living room wall again. After two years of working on wiring, insulation, custom "towers" for speakers, sheet rock, texture and painting, we are once again ripping holes in the nicely finished walls. Actually, only one wall but it is sooooooo hard to start in again. We have furniture (covered in sheets) and some of the drapery is up and it was looking so nice. But, there was a slight deviation to the window wall plan and draperies are not going corner to corner. They are going just over the window so wall had to be opened up to place strong support between studs to hold the tie back rod. DSH is in commercial window coverings so we have just about every possible window treatment possible. That requires an extra long die-back rod. I'll go take some pictures to show what I mean and have my wonderful son-in-law put them in my blog.

Dogs on vacation

Here are a few pictures of our dogs on vacation! Enjoy!

Vacation in an RV

Well, we finally did it. After 10 years of just talking about renting an RV we decided to just do it. We rented a 27' tag trailer and towed it with our Dodge Cummins Diesel. We drove to Corning, CA to visit friends and had to make a side trip to the vet to have a foxtail removed from Bailey's right ear. OUCH! The vet was quite a character-had to show my friend and me the swollen, infected uterus he had just removed (from another patient, not Bailey!). He just thrust that body part right under our noses as proud as could be because he saved that dogs life! Next, he had to show us a poor little dog that got in a dog fight and lost. (The dog was dead). I couldn't believe he was showing us all this. I told him it was a good thing I wasn't squeamish but my comment just went over his head. He was busy working and doing"show and tell". Bailey was sedated and I got to look in her ear with a special scope and see the foxtail just starting to pierce her ear drum. The "show and tell" vet deftly removed the offending object and Bailey was on the road to recovery. She was a trooper.

We had to change our itinerary slightly because of the vet delay and headed to Klamath Falls, OR instead of Bend, OR. Has anyone heard of a midge? I don't know if that is what they really are called but there were literally millions of them at our campsite. We were told they were imported to eat mosquitoes. We spent the evening swatting and smashing midges when they snuck in as dogs were taken in and out. The drive north/east out of Klamath was very beautiful. We were happy to leave the midges.

On we went to Mountain Home, ID. That was quite a drive! We stayed at the most beautiful RV park in Mountain Home. No comparison to the ugly park where the midges live. We stayed two nights in Mountain Home spending time checking out the area with a stop at Three Island Crossing where the Oregon Trail wagon trains crossed the Snake River.

Idaho is beautiful country. I wish we had time to stay longer. On the road again heading South/East to Wendover, NV. That is a sorry little town. This RV park had permanent residents and I tell you what, I was so thankful for the blessing my DSH and I enjoy. What a hard life these people have. We did find a nice place to run the dogs off their leashes. They had been missing that activity.

We took a very long side trip to Salt Lake City to see the LDS church, very impressive I must say. We also went to Ogden to the Dinosaur Park which I LOVED. It was only $7.00 each and the park was so wonderfully done. A very tame Jurassic Park. A must for dinosaur lovers of all ages. We didn't have much time so we literally ran through the park snapping pictures like fiends. We also visited the Union Station train museum, Browning gun museum and car museum. Lots of fun!

Early the next morning (6:45am) we left Wendover, NV for Carson City, NV. Eleven hours through Ely, Eureka, Austin, Fallon then Carson City. Another long day. Lots of road work being done on the "Loneliest Road in America", US-50. So, we weren't so lonely at the three places we had to stop for the construction crews to do their work. Thirty minute wait, five minute wait, and a ten minute wait. Oh, well, it gave a chance to stretch our legs.

Problems in Carson City!!! The plumbing isn't working!! :( DSH is very upset to say the least. Long drive, hungry, tired, grumpy and bad plumbing are not a good combination! Emergency call to RV rental company-no answer at the 24/7 call number. More grumpiness! We decide to go out to eat as we wait for a call back. We go to Fiona's. It is 9:05pm with people in the restaurant. We wait expectantly. Hostess tells us they close at 9:00pm. DSH is pushed over the edge!! Poor hostess says she will ask the cook if we can stay. Hurray! Cook says yes! As we are being seated the cell phone rings, it is the 24/7 RV people. DSH leaves to take call. Waitress wants to take our order. I give my order and she says she will come back in a minute. Feeling pressure since we arrived after closing. Order ribeye and baked potato for DSH. Wait, wait, wait. Suspect back things. Dinner arrives, no DSH in sight. There he is, just in time! He thanks me for ordering (good thing I know what he likes). We pray, dig in and it is delicious (probably in part because we are starving). We thoroughly enjoy dinner and stuff ourselves. DSH tells me plumbing can't be fixed so we decide to leave for home the next day. Just one day earlier than planned so that isn't too bad. DSH is bummed that he doesn't get to go to Hot August Nights which is a classic and hot rod car show in Reno. We have gone every year for 10 years so I don't feel tooooo bad for him. We drove very slowly through Reno on our way home so he could look at a car or two on the road. I don't recommend such antics while towing a 27' trailer but he made it through safely. We made it home by 6:00pm and emptied the trailer and SHOWERED! What a treat! We would never make it as "real" campers. LOL

Side note: California roads are the WORST!!!!!!

Happy Trails!

Brenda

Sheets

Why can't I find bed sheets that I like? We have been using sheets that are made by Cannon. A very nice percale that is cotton with some polyester. They have been used every day for over 12 years and washed very regularly. They are just now falling apart! Cannon doesn't exist as far as I can tell. I tried some Egyption cotton sheets and they didn't last very long. They felt great but wore out quite fast. I tried some inexpensive Target sheets but they are kind of rough, not soft, and they wrinkle something fierce! The search is on!

Brenda

Date Night

July 24, 2008

It was a special day at our house. Our living room window coverings were installed. Valances, tiebacks, roller shades, and lace curtains. Beautiful! Thursdays are date night so no cooking for me! We went to Sizzler because it is close to a job site DSH (dear sweet husband) had to measure for a bid. I helped him measure windows then it was off to dinner.

We got to try out the new XM radio that was installed in the truck on the way to date night. We had to work our way through over 200 stations which meant we didn't complete a single song! LOL Only checked out 74 stations. There will be more playing with the new toy on our road trip next week.

Brenda

New blogger!

July 24, 2008

This is my first and only blog! I have enjoyed many blogs over the last two months and wanted to start my own. Be patient with me! This is just practice and I will write more later.

Brenda