Sunshine and warm temps!

After the last few weeks of snow, sleet, and ice, I am happy to report that today it is S U N N Y and 76 degrees!  It is deliciously tempting.   Spring is waving her lusciousness in front of us.  And speaking of spring, yesterday at D Day, one of the other patients and I were gardening.  Oh, we grew roses, tulips, azaleas, camellias, gardenias, phlox, wisteria and multitudes of other things.  I wish I had all that going on in my yard :D It's fun to discuss your interests with those who share said interests.

Right now, I'm watching The Barefoot Contessa.  I just love watching her show.  But she's cruel.  Cruel, do you hear!?  She is making DONUTS!!!!!  Cinnamon donuts.  I want some!  Sigh.

Let's catch you up on what I've been doing.  Ok, not a whole lot of anything, really.  I couldn't go to D Day Friday because of the snow and sleet we had, so I had to go Saturday.  Mama and my sister Debra picked me up after D Day and we went to Cookout and had lunch.  Yea, buddy - hamburgers!  I am the original hamburger kid. I could eat a hamburger anywhere, any time.  But don't give me any of those hoity toity designer hamburgers.  Meat, mayo, ketchup, lettuce, onion, cheddar cheese and tomato on a bun. That's it.  Heaven on a bun.  Oh yea.  I reallllllllllly wanted a milkshake, cause Cookout makes awesome peanut butter shakes, but I was good and didn't get one.  I feel so righteous.

Saturday night/Sunday morning we sprang forward.  I sprang into my bed and stayed there til 1:15.  P.M.  Yes, in the afternoon.  I haven't slept that late in forever.  It sure did feel good.  I continued the day by doing nothing.  And that sure felt good, too :)  Yesterday was D Day and last night I just goofed around online and chatted with my friend Steve.  He was ebaying while I surfed the net.  Today I haven't done much.  Mama is not feeling well, so I've been playing nurse and trying to keep her hydrated.

I'm thinking of making my world famous - ok, only famous to me - spaghetti sauce for dinner.  Then again, perhaps a hardy pan of goulash.  Hmmmmm.  Decisions, decisions.  Then AGAIN, I may do hamburger steaks with camelized onions and a side of yellow squash.  That sounds good, too.

Janie Mae is just having a terrible time.  She wants to eat and I won't feed her. Now don't get me wrong. I am not starving her.  She's already been fed.  She just wants more and I won't give it to her til it's time for her din-din.  She's tried looking pitiful, looking mean, being cute, meowing, stomping around, trying to lead me to the food bowl......but alas, none of it has worked.  She is now sitting and staring at me.  It's actually pretty funny.  Uh oh, here come the pitiful I-can-barely-stay-upright meows.  Too bad she has another couple hours before dinner.

I think I'll go fire up the Cameo.  I think it's feeling abandoned.

Til later,
Morado

Almost Friday!

Man, the past couple weeks have had my head in a whirl. I hardly know what day it is.  Tomorrow IS Friday, isn't it?

Let's start with last week.  Our friends Bonnie and Polly came up from Florida, stopping by here on their way to Maryland.  They are a blast and I love hanging out with them.  They blew into town on Wednesday and we met them for dinner, where we regaled the other diners with much snorting and howls of laughter.  Thursday we all piled into Bonnie's van and took off for Forest, VA, where we invaded the Virginia Candle Company outlet store.  Oh, it's heaven in there!  And such bargains!  I could care less if my candle has a label on it, and if I can save 75% on the candles, then I'm all for it :)  I did, however, restrain myself, and only bought 5 candles (2 of which WERE 75% off! SCORE!) and 1 reed diffuser (also 75% off :D)   After the candle stop, we went on to Bedford, VA, where we had lunch at the old Liberty Train Station.  It was indeed a train station in its former life, and while freight trains still go by, passenger trains do not.  So the old depot was turned into a restaurant and they do have yummy food.  I surprised everyone by NOT getting what I usually do, which is a Greek Steak salad that is to die for.  I also surprised everyone by not getting a hamburger.  I am the original hamburger kid. I can eat a hamburger any time.  ANY time.  And like it :)  Soooooooo I got a chicken panini, which was good but Polly got a hamburger and I was immediately jealous and shot daggers with my eyes at her but she didn't seem to notice.  After lunch, it was time to head to Mountain Produce.  Now, you wouldn't look twice at this little place.  Handmade sign.  Couple of older vehicles out front.  Just looks like some old run down place.  WELL, we found it a few years ago while we were on our way back from a day trip to The Peaks of Otter, and we wanted something to drink and we stopped at this place.  You open the door and your olfactory senses are assailed by.......apple pie????  Oh yes, please!  They make regular pies, hand pies, breads.  Yummy, yummy, stuff, and they also sell all kinds of cider, apple included as well as blackberry, scupernong, cherry....you get the picture. They sell old fashioned candies.  They sell jams.  They sell ice cream. They sell soft drinks.  But the hand pies.  THESE. ARE. TO. DIE. FOR.  Perfectly fried.  The perfect combination of cinnamon to apple.  STUFFED with the perfect combination of cinnamon and apples.  Oh my.  Each one lovingly wrapped in saran wrap, it taunts you with its little bits of glistening apple filling shining through.  You hear it calling you......come eat me.  Come eat me.  COME EAT ME!  However, if you can restrain yourself until you're home, throw that baby in the microwave for about 10 seconds and plop a bigass scoop of vanilla ice cream on it.  You will see rainbows and hear angels sing.  I promise.  It's THAT good.

Now that I've told you the good stuff about the week, let me tell you the not so good.  So Monday morning we awake to snow, sleet and freezing rain. Lovely.  No D Day for me that day.  So I call the clinic to tell them I won't be there and they tell me to call Tuesday morning cause they don't know if they're going to be open or not.  Greeeeeat.  Tuesday morning arrives and the falling weather has stopped but of course our little town has not salted, sanded or plowed the roads.  So while the main roads may be ok, I can't get TO the main road. Not only has our little street not been cleared, there is a hill no matter which way I try to go.  So Tuesday is spent watching Jerry Springer and Maury and napping.  So I wobble into D Day yesterday but surprisingly didn't have THAT much fluid on, considering it had been 4 days since I'd had a treatment.  I don't advise normally going 4 days between treatments.  Not a good thing.  But I did ok and had no problems with my treatment.  I stayed on the machine about 15 minutes longer than I normally do to get just that much more fluid off.  And YAY, no cramps, no drop in BP or any other funky stuff.

Did I mention that tonight's forecast is..........snow/sleet/freezing rain?  No?   Well.....it is!!  Aiiiiiighhhhhh.  Hopefully they're wrong and the roads will be fine and I can go to D Day and not have to wait til Saturday.  Guess I'll hold off on that extra glass of honey crisp apple juice I was gonna have.

Keep warm and go craft something nifty!

Til later,
Morado

Funky Friday

Ok, it's only 'funky' because of the weather. This time last week we had 10 inches of snow and ice and today it's almost 70 degrees and we had a massive thunderstorm.  Been a few days since I posted, so let me fill you in on what's been going on.

Ok, not really a lot has been going on.  BUT.....good news from the kitty kingdom.  Janie Mae, as you know, is Queen of the Castle.  However, she used to share that title with Dolly Sue, aka Chubb B. Butt. Chubb and Janie Mae shared space on my bed and both wanted to be petted at the same time.  Chubb had this cute thing she'd do where, while I was scratching her head, she'd fall over on her side and fling her hind leg out for me to rub her belly.  Well, a few months ago, Chubb went out and didn't come home.  I was so upset. I just knew something had happened to her.  We have this less than nice neighbor who threatened all the cats in the neighborhood and I was afraid he had done something to her.  ANYway, Tuesday morning, who strolls in for breakfast but Chubb B. Butt!!!!!  She ate breakfast and then came in and hopped up on the bed.  Well, of COURSE I had to pet her.  And she fell over on her side and flung her leg out!! I was so tickled.  Doesn't take much to make me happy, eh?  She hasn't spent the night here yet, but she's been home every day since then.  I sure hope it continues :D

In other breaking news.........wait, there is none.  But I have a new passion of the week - making paper flowers.  Now, I'm not talking about the big poofy flowers you used to make from crepe paper (am I giving away my age here??)  but beautiful flowers made from card stock, cut with my Cameo.  It's not complete yet, but I have to show you some I'm working on.

 

Daffodils!!!  I still have to make leaves and put stems on but I just love the way they're turning out.  I cut them out of a bright, happy yellow cardstock and I chalked the cups with orange chalk.  I'm also working on some roses and day lilies.  I got the cut files from TheKraftShak page on Facebook, so if you're into Cameos and flowers, be sure and check it out and tell Christy that Morado sent you :)

Tomorrow is a trip to Walmart.  Woohoo!  No, seriously, I HAVE to go to Walmart.  I need glue!!!!!!  Gotta make more flowers and I need some florists' tape for the stems.  So you see, it is imperative that I make this trip.  Just.  Imperative.

Got a surprise to tell you about, but I think that will keep til tomorrow.

Let me go find Janie Mae and assure her she's still Queen of the Castle.

Til later,
Morado

Thursday -itis

I have Thursday-itis.  It's not hump day, so can't be excited that it's Wednesday.  It's not Friday, so can't be excited that the weekend is nearly here.  It's Thursday.  Thursday-itis is just that feeling that's not really blah, not really happy happy, not really anything. You just are.  So what do you do when you have Thursday-itis? Well, I fired up the computer and the Cameo.  Ok, ok, the computer stays fired up most of the time anyway.  You caught me.  But I'm obsessed with these Pop Up Card Boxes.  They are just so stinking cute.  Here's another one I made.

Dontcha love red and pink together?  I do.  Sort of like rubies and pink tourmaline sure go good together.

I don't really have anything exciting to blog about tonight.  Even less exciting then normal.  

Oh!  I do have something to report.  A couple weeks ago, my sister and I stopped by Outback and got takeout for the two of us and our mother.  Get home with it, and with drool sliding down my chin, I opened up my takeout box, where, to my surprise, my rare prime rib was not pink, but was dark brown.  So I gingerly cut into it and took a bite.  Holy smoke!  It was so freaking hot with spice I couldn't eat it.  So I decide to dive into the blooming onion.  Also so hot with spice I couldn't eat it.  I ended up eating the house salad and some mashed potatoes.  But alas, my taste for prime rib was left unsatisfied.  So I sent an email to Outback, explaining to them nicely that I was disappointed in my takeout order.  Can you believe I got a phone call from the manager of the restaurant we had gone to?  I was amazed!  He was very nice and apologetic and tells me they have changed the recipe for the prime rib. Instead of being slow roasted, it's now got a rub on it.  Anyway, after chatting a while, he told me he was going to send me something, and I got it today.  He sent me a gift card.   How nice!  I will definitely go back to Outback, but I also will definitely not get the prime rib!!!!!  But anyway, here's a shoutout to Outback, and the manager of the Danville, VA, restaurant.  Thanks, Jason!

Janie Mae graced me with her presence today.  It's so nice to be in the company of the Queen of the Castle. She did pat me on the butt once but I knew she was behind me so it didn't scare me.  It's nice to get love pats from your pet.

This weekend is a trip to Ollie's and Big Lots.  I love those places.  And lunch at Mayflower, an awesome seafood restaurant. I can hear my pants getting tighter already.  But it's so worth it.  I can almost taste the shrimp already.

I think Janie Mae and I shall go play a game on the tablet before we turn out the light.

Til Later,
Morado

What Day Is It????

Yes!  It's hump day!

I claim no ownership of the tee shirt, the camel, the slogan, or Mike.  Thank you.

Sooooooooo it's Wednesday!  Which means the weekend is only two days away.  My sister is coming to spend the weekend and we're going to make an Ollie's, Big Lots, and Mayflower trip.  Mayflower is a really really good seafood restaurant. They serve you enough food for about 3 meals and the food is wicked good. My mouth is already watering.  Give me a sec to wipe up the drool.

There, that's better.  So today was D Day.  Again it was a rainy, blah day out, so I played on the tablet a bit, then took a nap.  And when I woke up, it was time to come off the machine.  Yay!  Coming off the machine is always a good time.  And I didn't even spring a leak.  Double good time!  We have to have heparin, which is a blood thinner, to keep the blood from clotting in the machine, so yes, sometimes when they pull the needles, the holes won't stop bleeding.  Or they'll fool you by stopping for a few seconds and when you take the pressure off, it looks like a really bad slasher movie was just filmed around your chair.  Scary looking but not really a big deal.  

Now that I've left you with that mental image, let me move on to something CUTE for your eyes.

This is what I made last night when I was not blogging :)  I think it turned out really cute.  So cute, in fact, that I am making plans to make tons more of these cards, called Pop Up Card Box.  The REALLY cool thing is that they fold flat for mailing.  How awesome is that?!  See, doesn't take much to make me happy or excited.

Janie Mae has once again deserted me.  Which means I will not have kitty breath in my face tonight, which now that I think of it, is a great thing!

So I'm off to make more cards.

Til later,
Morado

Is it Monday already?

The weekend does zoom on by, doesn't it?  But if we didn't have 'weeks', we wouldn't enjoy the weekend so much.

So today was Dialysis Day, or we refer to it, D Day, or the even more inappropriate Funtown!!!  Had a good treatment today.  And Carol was back from vacation, so it was nice to chat with her.  Carol is one of the nurses at Funtown.  She's not only my nurse, she's my friend.  We have fun discussing crafting and cooking.  One of the male patients calls our chats Home Ec time  LOL  He gets in on the cooking discussions sometimes, too.

I thought I saw Noah out of the window today.  I mean it was RAINING. Buckets and buckets.  At least it's not snow :)  Always a silver lining :)

I saw wild turkeys today.  They were in a field I pass on the way home from Funtown.  Just a couple weeks ago I saw turkeys there, too, as well as four deer.  I love wildlife.  Well, except for the skunks and possums that come up on the porch and eat the outside kitties' food.  Did you know possums are stubborn?  There was one on the porch one night and I sorta flapped at him to get him to leave and he just kept on eating. One of the cats bopped him on the head and he kept on eating.  I got the flyswatter and flapped at him with that and he kept on eating.  Now really, if you'd been bopped on the head and flapped at, wouldn't you leave?  I'm pretty sure I would.  I mean, it's not like he was pigging out on prime rib or anything. It was dry cat food.    We also have a groundhog that lives in the back yard.  I don't think she realized that Saturday was Groundhog Day, though, as I never saw her make an appearance.  One day last summer, I was sitting on the porch, enjoying our Southern spring, and I looked in the yard and one of the kitties was sitting out there.  Next to the kitty was the groundhog, also sitting.  It looked like they were old friends who had met up and were passing the time of day.  I wish I'd had a camera.  It was so cute.

Janie Mae has graced me with her presence again.  I guess she's forgiven me for whatever slight she felt I had made to her. It's a bad feeling to be snubbed by your cat.

This is Janie Mae. She has freckles on her nose.  She's cute. :)

I think I hear the Sandman coming. I probably should go welcome him.

Til later,

Morado

Super Bowl Sunday

Yawn.   Oh, sorry.  Do you like football?  I can't say that it's among my favorite things.  It kinda is on the list behind a no-anesthesia colonoscopy or having to spend any amount of time in the company of Justin Bieber.  In fact,  here's my feeling about football:



Now that we have that settled, let's move on :) So yesterday I did grocery shopping.  I live in a small town.  I mean small. Less than 1,000 people.  But we have TWO stoplights!!!!  So normally when you go to the grocery store, you don't have to worry about it being crowded.  You only have to be sure there's a cashier awake to check you out.  I went to Food Lion and there were a ton of people there! I kept looking for the lion, but he must have been giving his two cents' worth to someone else.  I haven't gotten his two cents' worth a single time yet.  So, I had to just make my own way through the store, ferreting out sales and good prices on my own.  I had to pat myself on the back and feel self righteous that I passed by the Buy-One-Get-One-Free Turkey Hill ice cream.  I had no idea I had such self-restraint.  I also passed by the shrimp that was BOGO, since the price of a single bag had been jacked to twice what it normally is.  Can't get a thing by me, you silly lion!!  Your two cents' worth is apparently now inflated to about $1.98's worth.

This morning I made bacon and eggs in the NuWave Oven.  Fast, easy, and really yummy.  Again, I had to pat myself on the back for letting all that yummy grease from the bacon fall to the bottom of the NuWave, thereby saving myself, what, about 11,000 calories?  Damn, I should have gotten that Turkey Hill.  Sigh.

Since I had expended so much energy cracking eggs and opening the package of bacon and laying it out on the rack to cook, a nap seemed in order.  I told myself I was just going to lie down to rest and read a magazine.  I didn't even get the magazine open.  When I woke up, it was laying exactly where it was when I laid down.  But now I'll have something to read when I can't sleep tonight because I took a nap today.  See, these things always work out.  Divine intervention or something.

Janie Mae is a traitor.  She has not come into my bedroom for 2 days now.  No evil eye. No butt-patting.  I've obviously been cast aside.  And it hurts.  What's a girl to do when her cat disses her?  If I had gotten the Turkey Hill, I could drown my sorrow in ice cream, but nooooooo.....I had to show self restraint.   So remember, kids, follow your instincts and buy ice cream when it's on sale.

I guess I'll go eat an apple.

Til later,
Morado