Having a Little Fun!

Today was one I’ve been waiting for, now, for about a month; took our cat to the vet’s for another check up and he’s doing good! The vet’s report: “Looks like the food is doing him good!” They checked him out and reported that there was no obstruction and very few crystals, so I was just thrilled!  So thrilled, in fact, that I went on a mini-shopping spree! (Actually, it was more of a “treat Pammie” spree). Came home with three nice pairs of earrings (Big Lots: they were a set and very reasonable: $3.00), a new container for my knitting supplies in my ‘carry everywhere’ knitting bag (for scissors, tiny ruler, crochet hook) from the St. Vincent de Paul thrift shop (for $1) and my last little find: Almond Chocolate Biscotti on sale for $3 at our local drug store! Yep, I’m a ‘cheap treats’ person, but it made me happy, so all’s good!

Finished another afghan yesterday, #209, and am ‘on to bigger and better things’…(actually, just #210….grin).

Tonight’s dinner is homemade chicken noodle soup which I have to get making very soon, as I like to let the chicken get to the ‘fall off the bone’ stage before using it in the soup.  Was able to obtain a really (in my humble opinion) fantastic, yummy treat recipe and thought I’d share it with you. WARNING: It’s very rich, but VERY yummy!

Reese’s No-Bake Squares

2 1/2 C. powdered sugar

2 1/2 C. graham cracker crumbs

1  1/3 C. peanut butter

1 C. melted butter

12 oz. chocolate chips, melted

–

Mix together powdered sugar and graham cracker crumbs. Add peanut butter and melted butter; mix well.  Press into a 9 X 13 baking pan. Pour melted chocolate chips over top and spread around to cover top. Refrigate 15 minutes or so (NOT until hard), then cut into small squares.

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My youngest came home from a youth outing, brought one of these home and shared it with me. Of course I IMMEDIATELY wanted the recipe … it was gooey (could have been because it was in his hot hands?), peanut buttery, and nicely chocolatey! I have another recipe similar to this one, but that one comes out about 1/4 inch thick; the above recipe comes out about 3/4 inches thick!  Believe me…it’s worth making them (forget the calories…they all fall off when you cut the squares! …. wink).

Going into this weekend I have a bridal shower tomorrow at church for two of our choir members who are also friends of ours (well…the groom has been like another one of my ‘kids’), so it ought to be a fun adventure! They’re planning a January wedding (Brrrrrrr!). Before I go to the shower I have to help youngest bake a pan of brownies, as he’s attending a Chili CookOff and the teens are required to make (or at least ‘help’ make a dessert…he chose brownies, as that’s HIS favorite dessert!).

It’s shaping up like a fun weekend; our weather’s been a bit ‘goofy’ but I’m happy…it’s been chilly (in the 30’s & 40’s) with some rain, some gloomy days, BUT….NO SNOW so far! (It was predicted that we were supposed to get ’scattered flurries’ Weds & part of Thurs, but they didn’t appear…YAY!!!).

Enjoy your weekend; stay warm, eat something YOU like (brownies/biscotti/bagel?) along with a nice, hot steaming cup of your favorite beverage….gotta stay cosy, remember?

Hugs;

Pammie

Sure Looks Like Fall!

The leaves around here are now mostly on the ground; the weather has taken a decidedly chilly turn, with grey days filled with light winds and rain. That’s OK, it’s what’s supposed to happen right around now. Halloween, for us, was un-eventful; we live on a main road (45 mph speeds) so we don’t get trick-or-treaters, haven’t for many, many years.

The Harvest Party last week for my special needs group went very well; we had a roomfull of people (students/caregivers/parents) who seemed to really enjoy themselves. We went through a ton of chips & hot cheese, cider/pop and cookies. We had so much donated candy that each student went home with two small bags full! It was a busy, fun evening, for sure!

Tonight is our church’s “Ladies Fellowship” which consists of a light supper and devotional speaker. This time my alphabetical grouping (L-Z) is to bring a salad (the others, A-K)  are bringing dessert). I’m not a great ’salad’ maker for parties, so I relied on a recipe found on-line:

Apple Cole Slaw

3 C. chopped cabbage

1 unpeeled red apple, cored & chopped

1 unpeeled Granny Smith apple, cored & chopped

1 carrot, grated

1/2 C. finely chopped red bell pepper

2 green onions, chopped

1/3 C. mayonnaise

1/3 C. brown sugar

1 T. lemon juice, or to taste

–

In large bowl, combine cabbage, apple, carrot, bell pepper and onions. In small bowl mix together mayonnaise, brown sugar and lemon juice. Pour dressing over salad and toss. Refrigerate for 1 hour and serve chilled.

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Note: You could also add chopped pecans, raisins, poppy seeds or mandarine orange segments.

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It’s been kind of ‘touch & go’ lately with our cat; another trip to the vets Friday for a re-check found that his urinary tract was blocked again (for the third time). I called my husband to ask just how to proceed. He said go ahead with another catheterization, but this is the last time. I fully understand; it’s been almost a month of vet checks and he isn’t really getting ‘over the hump’.  As I’ve said before, we can’t afford the major surgery for him if he blocks up again.  It’s a hard call to make, but sometimes you just have to do the ‘hard things’. We’re just watching and waiting at this point, hoping that somehow his system will finally clear itself.

Other than that, it’s been rather calm around here; finished afghan #208 Saturday and now working on 209. Visited the chiropractor today and my back is staying stable, which is a great thing-I’m not in pain. I’ve learned that, whether I like it or not, these visits are in my future regularly for me to maintain mobility and flexibility. Yep, I’m gettin’ older…sigh.

Enjoy your day;

Hugs;

Pam

Just Checkin’ In for a Few

Hello, all!

Not much exciting going on around here (guess that’s a good thing!). After the ‘car troubles/cat sick’ week, it’s nice to just do some catching up on all the things that got shoved to the back burner. Yesterday and today have been lots of running; little trips here and there to make me feel like I have ’some’ control in my life. Went to the Post Office today to check the Ghana Project box and found a lovely crocheted afghan from a lady who had written me asking if she could send it; this past Sunday a friend from church brought me the results of a bag of yarn I gave her. She handed me the bag with the comment: “I think there’s something like 102 squares; you can re-count them if you like.” I’m now doing good as far as squares to use; now it’s my job to get going on sewing more together for the finished products. A little later today I’m going upstairs and re-counting what’s there, as I think I might have either one more or one less than I think the actual count is. Finished another one this morning while listening to the cd of our choir’s Christmas songs (borrowed the cd to ‘get the hang’ of the music).

After I’m finished with this blog entry, it’s time to finish up the special needs group’s bi-monthly newsletter and get it printed, folded and stuffed into around 50 envelopes, then take them to the Post Office to mail. Tonight is my knit group and I’m looking forward to a little ‘girl’ time; I really enjoy the ladies in the group-we’re all so diversified and yet all united via yarn! It’s a fun, fast and fascinating few hours in my week.

Visited the chiropractor yesterday after a break of 5 weeks (rough count). I was amazed that my back is doing as well as it is, with all the stress from my father-in-law’s illness and death (no, I didn’t write about that here; it was about 4 weeks ago…all’s ‘good’), the car troubles (didn’t write about all that, either, but NOW the car is FINALLY fixed!) & the sick cat. Visiting the chiropractor is one of those ‘love/hate’ things for me – I know it does my back ‘good’, but it’s still painful to endure. From all I’ve learned from these visits, looks like I’ll be doing this ad infinitum…into the future…indefinitely. Oh well, one of those “Get used to it, honey…you’re not getting any younger!” moments.

The special needs Great Potato Bake and Silent Auction was postponed due to lack of ticket sales; that was a bit disappointing, but what can you do?  We’re hoping to come up with another fund raiser idea in January.  It was a good idea, but actually…if we HAD done it last Friday, the weather was really awful: rainy, windy, cold, so I guess it was a good thing after all.  (and, it’s less stress on me for now…)

Tomorrow night is our special needs Harvest Party and I just got back from buying the food stuffs for it. We’re going to be having corn chips & hot cheese sauce, cider and cider donuts. Along with that we’ll be playing various games around the room like “Knock over the Bowling Pins”, “Shoot out the Candle with a Squirt Gun”, “Go Duck Hunting” (using a kid’s wading pool with about 20 plastic ducks floating in it; some have a ‘PRIZE!” written on their bottoms). Our students love this; we have each of them bring a bag of individually wrapped candy and we dump it all in a big punch bowl. When they come in, we give them each a paper lunch bag to decorate (if they wish) then when we play the games they each get a small handful of candy for playing the game (whether they win or not). It’s sort of like “Christian Trick or Treat”, I guess you’d say. No costumes, just games/devotions/and great snacks. I’m guess we’ll have around 50 attending tomorrow; it’s one of their favorite nights.

That’s about ‘it’ around here; made a really good chicken pot pie for dinner last night. I’ve never been a fan of any ‘pot pie’ as my Mom used to rely on those little frozen ones quite often when I was growing up, but every once in awhile I make one from scratch and they’re tasty, warm and somewhat a ‘comfort food’.

Hope you’re having a good day; stay warm and maybe treat yourself to a nice hot cup of cocoa!

Hugs;

Pammie

Snuggle Down and Get Warm

It’s Columbus Day…one of those strange holidays that, these days, seem to be only used for large companies to hold “Columbus Day” Blow Out Sales. (just my opinion). I remember as a child studying about Christopher Columbus and his travels on the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria, then drawing little posters of the ships.  Today, to me, it’s : no bank, Post office, or library visits like I’d planned (before remembering this lovely holiday).  I have five library books to return (due tomorrow) and nothing to read (that I haven’t already read, that is). Not complaining…it’s time to find something ‘else’ to do today. Looks like laundry is first on the list, then sewing the last row on afghan #204 and crocheting the border.  Recently I’ve found two ‘new to me’ recipes which sounded good…see what you think:

Sour Cream Bundt Cake

2 C. flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 3/4 C. sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 C. sour cream

3 T. jam, optional

—–

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease and flour a 9 inch Bundt pan. Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Cream butter and sugar until creamy. Beat in eggs, one at a time; add vanilla and sour cream and mix. Gently mix in flour. Spoon 1/3 of batter into pan, dot with jam if desired and top with remaining batter. Bake 60-70 minutes. Cool 5  minutes before unmolding onto a rack or plate; cool completely before cutting.

(recipe courtesy newspaper flyer, 10/11/09)

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Pumpkin Pie Cake

1 (29 ounce) can pumpkin
1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. pumpkin spice
1 tsp. salt
1 (18.5 ounce) package yellow cake mix
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup chopped walnuts

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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Lightly grease a 9×13 inch baking pan. In a medium bowl, mix the pumpkin, evaporated milk, sugar, eggs, cinnamon, pumpkin spice and salt.

Pour the mixture into the baking dish. Sprinkle cake mix over the pumpkin mixture. Drizzle with butter. Top with the chopped walnuts. Bake in the preheated oven 50 to 60 minutes. Cool before serving.

(recipe from one of my recipe lists on the ‘net…

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Holiday_Express/

from  recipes and gift mixes to crafts….all holidays and parties

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Both of these recipes sounded yummy to me; it’s chilly and gloomy out today (no rain, thank heavens!) so I guess I’m in one of those ’snuggle up warmly at home and hibernate’ moods. Am putting a pork roast in the crockpot a little later today along with a can of  cranberry jelly; that always imparts a nice sweet/sour taste to the meat. Will probably have potatoes and carrots along with that for dinner…nice, warm ‘comfort’ food for a chilly day.

Hope you’re having a WARM, cosy day today…enjoy yourself a little, maybe treat yourself to a cup of cocoa or coffee? Just a thought…

Hugs;

Pammie

Got a Few Minutes…

It’s been a bit hectic here, me on my trusty computer ‘comping up’ the tickets for the upcoming special needs group’s fund raiser Potato Dinner. I ‘thought’ I had things under control, but you know how that goes…the minute you think you’ve got a handle on things, they go haywire! Got a call last night that the tickets had to be printed and delivered to the church where our group meets BEFORE 1 p.m. today, as the church was going to have an ann0uncement in their bulletin that the tickets would go on sale right after church. That wouldn’t be a bad thing except…I don’t attend that church which made for some real ‘hussling around’ on my part early this morning. Got to Office Max at around 8:40 a.m. and purchased the brown/tan antiqued post cards then home to get the tickets printed. Simple, yes? NO! For some really weird reason the cute little potato clip art (see a few posts before this one for an example) didn’t want to ‘print’ right side up the way I wanted him to…we had backwards, upside down and a few other alternatives but not the way I wanted. (guess I should insert here that I was attempting to print these in “Landscape” mode…that’s ’sideways’, sort of). After about 12 attempts and many sheets of wasted printer paper I finally got to the ‘tears’ and frustration level. A quick prayer for HELP! and one last ditch effort did the trick. To explain: I have NO idea why it works, but it does. If you look at the screen, the images are goofy, but it printed up just fine so I DON’T CARE!  One hundred cute little tickets later, each hand numbered and torn apart (they come 4 to a sheet) and a half hour trip to that church and we’re ‘good to go’! Whew! Now my next ‘great computer/printer project’ is some how comping up a sign-in sheet for each auction item…again in ‘landscape’ form. Since I’m using ‘Microsoft Publisher’ and they don’t offer anything like what I’m looking for, looks like another long day of ‘attempts’…sigh.  At least you know where I’ll be…sitting here going nuts!

Hope you’re having a good day; it’s cold, raining and 55 degrees out (sure feels colder!). Just put my knit shrug on and some slipper socks…I’m chilly! (house temp says it’s 73…my foot!)

Hope you stay warm and toasty! Enjoy your day;

Hugs;

Pammie

ps: Working on afghan #204 now…

Can you imagine?

631 afghan squares collected in two days? Totally awesome and amazing! A few days ago I was contacted by a lady who lives nearby; she had seen the article about The Ghana Project that appeared July 4th and began knitting squares. Tuesday of this week she delived 268 squares to my house. The following day I met a friend who is in another knit group I used to belong to; her Mother, Aunt and friends had knit a total of 363 squares and I picked them up.  I realize that the Lord knows when I’m in need . . . I should KNOW that by now! Sunday I arranged 60 squares for another two afghans and realized that it was getting a bit ‘thin’ in the variagated squares department; usually I just get to knitting squares myself to ‘beef up’ the variagated squares, never knowing THIS time I would be blessed with all these beautiful squares! 631 squares equals 21 afghans with some left over! As you can imagine, I’m going to be mighty busy in the near future!

It’s a beautiful Fall day today: the sun’s shining, it’s in the low 60’s, leaves on the ground and still some on the trees. I’ve already been out spray painting a wicker basket which will hold the Baby Shower contents for the Friends Group fund raiser. Great day for a walk – I ’should’ go do that…maybe I will, but still have a bunch of other projects to wrap up, first.

Hugs;

Pammie

Clothes, Cooking & Cars!

While ‘out and about’ yesterday I happened upon the most glorious thing – a wondrous garage sale! Wondrous because the ladies running it were just having it to ‘get rid’ of ’stuff’, which was very much to my benefit. They had a sign which read: “Fill a bag for $1.00″…this was on their clothing items and, Momma, did I make a haul! Let’s see if I can recall the total number of items: 2 very nice Spring/Fall jackets, a winter hat, 2 boxes of very nice stationary (something people don’t use much these days), 3 ‘every day’ tops, 2 sweaters, 5 embroidered sweatshirts, and 7 (all white) fancy church blouses with varied embelishments like lace, pearls and/or embroidery. I made my ‘pile’ then asked “How much for all this?”  They responded: “How about $3.00?” After trying to convince them it should be much more, I gave them $4.00 and went home a very happy woman! There was a story behind all the very nice white blouses: it seems their mother worked as a Supervisor at KMart and all supervisors were required to wear white tops; all I can say is, their  Mom had some very nice taste in tops! This garage saling adventure was also spurred on by a comment last Wednesday from a friend who, after observing my casual clothing, said: “Pam, you’re going to have to invest in some new clothes here…the ones you’re wearing are way too big!” (and she was right). I had been in a bit of a hurry and grabbed a top and matching cotton slacks and threw them on; I thought they went together well, albeit they WERE too large. Even my husband commented that I needed to find smaller clothes. Yes, I’ve lost another 5 lb. but am not ‘working at it’ like I was 3 years ago when diagnosed as Type 2 diabetic (at that time I lost 50 lb.). I’ve still got quite a ways to go, now weighing 180 and could probably get down another 25 lb. to a healthier weight and size, but it’s kinda nice to know that you need to wear smaller clothes. I’ve always been ‘large’…and at times, XLarge (size 22; am now between 16-18). As I used to joke: I was born at 175 lb.!  Anyway, I digress…me thinks I’ll be looking for more garage sales in the near future-hey, it’s almost the end of the ‘garage sale season’! It’s not often you find a place like the one above mentioned, though…or find nice clothes at really reasonable prices; it was definitely a blessing!

Just so you don’t think I’m just rambling on about anything that comes to mind, I thought of you and found another easy recipe which works nicely when you need something quick to ‘make and take’ to a breakfast/luncheon, etc.

Bubble Nut Ring

1 loaf frozen bread dough (or 36 count frozen dinner rolls)

1 small pkg. butterscotch pudding mix

1/2 C. brown sugar

1/2 C. chopped nuts

1 tsp. cinnamon (or more)

8 T. melted margarine

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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place melted margarine in a small bowl or pie tin.  Pull off pieces of bread dough and roll into 2-inch balls, making approximately 32.  Mix all ingredients together (except melted margarine) and place in a separate bowl or pie tin.  Spray Bundt pan (or Angel food cake-type tube pan) with non-stick cooking spray.  Place melted margarine in a bowl or pie tin. Dip dough balls into melted margarine, then into dry mixture. Place balls into bundt pan, evenly layering as you go. Sprinkle any remaining dry mixture over top and pour extra melted margarine over top.  Let rise until doubled in size, then bake 20  minutes. Let cool before turning out onto a plate and serving.

(This was another of the simple recipes I taught the homeschool cooking class a few years ago; they loved the ‘end result’ of this one.)

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It’s Saturday, a ‘day of rest’ around here, so I’m going to ‘take it easy’ and probably finish a book I started yesterday, one in a series by Debbie McComber. This one is her latest “Knitting Group” book; the series catalogues the adventures and lives of members of a knitting group; to say that my knitting group loved the series is putting it mildly – we ALL love her books. Also planning on arranging more squares into future afghans; got a lovely email yesterday from a friend in my old knit group. She detailed that some of her friends are still knitting squares for me and ‘would I be so kind as to meet her at their church to pick up 3 paper bags and a garbage bag full of squares?” You bet! How neat! I wrote her that their ‘gift’ comes at just the right time, as my collection of squares is growing rather thin. (It usually does around the end of summer, as most people don’t knit in hot weather; the packages should pick up soon.) She made me feel like some sort of celebrity by saying that there is an 80 yr old lady in her church who knit most of the paper bag squares and she would like a picture of me with her squares; how nice, eh? Still working on #203; this one is taking a little longer as it is “a little longer”. This particular afghan (and one other I’ve already completed) consists of 7″ X 9” squares (my required size is 7 inches by 7 inches). Because these are rectangles instead of squares, I laid them on their long sides, 4 squares to a row and am sewing them together that way. The end product is a nice afghan, just not the same as the others but I’m sure the child receiving it will not complain that theirs is different; they all accomplish the same results . . . keeping someone warm and cosy.

It’s a grey, cloudy (and a bit chilly) beginning of the day – around 60 degrees; am hoping it warms up sufficiently later.

OH! Almost forgot to share our GOOD news! Middle son (he of the “multiple car troubles” episodes) has purchased a “new” (to him) vehicle: a 2003 Pontiac Grand Am…red with really ‘cool’ racing tire rims, black interior. Later today he’ll be selling his ‘free/gift’ Neon for $300, to a local dealership (it’s beginning to show signs of major problems – needs some sort of a seal, as it’s leaking oil big time). We’re thrilled for him (as a Mom, I’d have preferred a less ‘racy’ car, but he’s a guy and you know their attitudes on cars…Vrooom, Vroom!). It’s been an almost 2-week ordeal with him going to various dealerships; he’s checked out 2 foreign car places and the insurance was just too much for his age and budget, several (what I would call ’shady’) older car dealerships and I thank heavens the one deal fell through…I really didn’t trust the place OR the car! We kept telling him: “Go to a respectable dealership and ask for a used car with a warrantee”; he FINALLY listened and is very happy. That dealership even was able to locate an insurance company with much lower rates (but still in his requirements for the car), so he’ll be able to afford the loan, the insurance and still be able to afford paying for college classes; now THAT’S a blessing! He is now the proud owner of the NEWEST car in our entire family, older son included!

That’s the latest news around here; hope you have a great weekend! Remember to take a little time for yourself!

Hugs;

Pammie

“Apple Time”

Now that we’re cruising into Fall I thought I’d post a few apple recipes you might like to try:

Apple Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In large bowl add:

2 C. sugar

1  1/2  C. cooking oil

2 eggs

Beat these well then add:

3 C. flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

Mix together (this will be stiff) then add:

2-3 C. chopped apples

1 tsp. grated lemon rind (or lemon extract)

1/2 – 1  C. chopped nuts

Mix all ingredients well and pour into a 9 X 13 pan. Bake 50 minutes at 350 degrees F. After baking, let cake cool before frosting with:

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 (3 oz.) pkg. cream cheese (softened)

1 T. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

2  1/2 C. confectioner’s sugar

Blend together cream cheese, milk and vanilla and gradually add the confectioner’s sugar.

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Sour Cream Apple Pie

(my all-time favorite!)

3/4 C. sugar

2 T. flour

1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 C.  peeled and sliced apples

1 C. sour cream

1 egg

dash salt

(1 9 inch unbaked pie shell-or make your own crust)

—

Preheat oven 450 degrees F.

Combine all ingredients well and pour into a unbaked pie shell. Bake 10 minutes then turn down heat to 325 degrees F. and continue baking for an additional 25 minutes. (leave oven “on” to finish baking)

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Topping:

2 1/2 T. flour

2 1/2 T. brown sugar

1 T. butter

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

—

Sprinkle this mixture over the pie and bake another 25 minutes at 325 degrees F.  Let cool completely before serving; makes 1 9″ pie.

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I’m not sure if I’ve posted the Sour Cream recipe before (seems like I might have); we first had this tasty dessert in Frankenmuth, MI. at one of two very famous restaurants there (can’t remember which one-they’re both directly across the street from each other; the area is highly German and is famous for their chicken dinners).  I love this recipe because it’s both flavorful AND very creamy, due to the sour cream. It’s not a very sweet pie, either, which I really like; you get the apple flavor mixed with ‘creamy’… very tasty, I think!

Hope you’re having a great day; it’s Saturday, a ‘day of rest’…for the most part I’m going to try to do just that (amid doing a little laundry, emptying the dishwasher, knitting a bit, sewing more squares together on #201…perhaps reading one of two books I checked out at the library – more mysteries.)  Last night’s Gym Night went very well, however we didn’t have as many people attend as we’d planned for, hence there’s lots of cooked hot dogs, chopped onion and shredded cheese in my fridge today! (I had one for breakfast…don’t laugh! It’s protein!).

Anyway, I’ll close for now…enjoy your day!

Hugs;

Pammie

ps:  It’s a glorious sunny day today with a nice breeze blowing…just the kind of day to go to a football game! (youngest son is going in about an hour…guess who’s driving?).  Thermometer outside reads:  68 degrees F.

A Little ‘This & That’…

It’s Friday and the end to another long weekend filled with many activities: Knit Group on Tuesday evening, “Friends Group” (my special needs group) on Wednesday and several visits to the chiropracter for more adjustments. I asked him today if I’m the only patient who makes noise when getting these treatments and he said they average one ‘noisy’ person every 2-3 months. He jokingly said that they encourage their patients to ‘express themselves’…I guess that’s a polite way of saying: “Feel free to yell if the pain gets too bad!” I know that I do as the treatments are helping greatly and the pain is diminishing HOWEVER it’s still not pain-free treatments. On Tuesday I thought I had finally jumped a huge hurdle and had an evaluation…I’m about 95% better…except for this one small spot. And, wouldn’t you know it…he found that one small spot and proceeded to ‘work it over’ greatly, and me all the while sort of yelping “Ouch! OOoooo Ouch!” then it progressed to me just biting my bottom lip and yipping! I KNOW this is what that knotted up muscle group needs but MAN, IT HURTS! I finally stopped making any sort of sound, then said: “Just because I’m not yelling doesn’t mean it doesn’t still hurt!” He chuckled and continued working that little bugger more. Believe me, I’ve thought of just not going back but the alternative would be that the back would seize up again sometime soon and I’d be right back where I started, so it’s a no-win solution and I continue. As I told the doctor: “I endure“…sigh.

Have been working more on knitting squares and sewing afghans: am at afghan #198 today (about 1/2 done right now). My knit group ladies are (I’m sure) anxiously awaiting tomorrow’s trip to “Stitches Midwest” which is a HUGE event in Schaumburg, Ill. where thousands of people will join at  convention center to walk through  tons of (I don’t remember the exact count but it’s over 80, I think) vendor booths selling yarns, needles, hooks, patterns and all things “Yarny”. I remember our ladies went last year and came back talking about observing women handing over hundreds of dollars to buy items…hundreds! Now THAT’S a serious hobby! Our group was meeting up at 5:30 a.m. to car pool to Ann Arbor, MI (that’s an hour away from here) then boarding touring buses for the ride there. I guess there will be snacks and gift bags on the bus; that’s a nice touch. Why, you ask, didn’t I go? Number one, the tickets are $70, #2 it’s a LOT of walking on cement floors (my back’s still not totally up to snuff) #3:  I don’t do well in large crowds (a bit of agoraphobia when it’s huge crowds and lots of crowding) #4:  Quite honestly, it would be an ‘experience’ for me…just that; I can’t see me buying any yarn (I have waaaaay more than I’ll ever need for the afghans) or other items.  It would be fun to experience, but I’ll happily sacrifice my ‘opportunity’ and stay home, knowing that next Tuesday evening I’ll be inundated with all the little details of what my ladies bought, experienced, saw, were awed over, etc.  That’s where I’ll be … in my own little space, happy to observe from the ‘outside’ and also happy to share in my friends joy over the whole event.

Today is also 9/11/2009 … hoping that you’ll each spend a few moments to remember, pray for, or just honor those who’s lives were taken in 2001.

Hugs;

Pammie

Of Cabbages and Kings…

Hello, all! It’s been awhile since I’ve posted – not that I haven’t thought about ya, just been too busy/pooped/stressed (fill in the blank here) to compose my thoughts enough to make up a blog post. What’s been happening, you ask? Where to start . . . I guess, for starters my BACK is doing MUCH better (I’m still dreading going for the adjustments but it’s worth it). I actually went from Monday to Friday before having a return visit/adjustment . . . that’s a three-day reprieve! YAY! Next visit is an evaluation and adjustment, but I’m actually much more agile which makes me happy.

Second: Middle son’s “CCC” (Constant Car Curse): without going into tons of details, we got the title for the ‘gift’ car, got all the paperwork transferred, had it towed to Midas to find out why it wouldn’t run; turns out it was the alternator. They replaced it, called us and we went to pick it up (5-10 min. after phone call). Got there and were met by the mechanic who was just shaking his head – it seems that when they were pulling it out of the bay, the ‘Service Engine Soon’ light came on! When they checked it, the alternator was charging TOO MUCH (which would cause the battery to blow if let continue). They assured us that they would order another alternator/no charge to us. That took another 2 days.  Yesterday we FINALLY were able to pick up the car, take it to the local tire place, get a new tire for the front ($60) so he’s not driving on a donut anymore, and now he’s ‘on his way’….for how long, we don’t know.  Amidst all the other car ’stuff’, the first time they thought they had the car fixed for us it stopped running while the mechanic was taking it for a test drive and had to have it towed back to the shop! Oh! Forgot to mention the ‘fun’ adventures of Wednesday! I spent most of that day either sitting and knitting in my car or listening to car dealers talk. Middle son had decided that since his ‘luck’ (or lack of) with cars was so dismal, he would look into buying a NEW CAR! He’d decided to go with (don’t shoot me here, it wasn’t MY idea!) either a KIA or a Honda. (the rest of the family are dyed-in-the-wool Chrysler people). He test drove a Kia something (not sure what model) that would run him something like $14,000, then we went to the Honda dealer and they were all ready to give him a car for something like $17,000 out the door (with his dad’s co-signing). He put $200 down and we were all ready for him to (finally) have a reliable vehicle until… his older brother called yesterday and we chatted about the ‘new car’ idea. He mentioned to me: “Mom, are you aware that he’ll have to have FULL coverage for insurance? That would run him AT LEAST $250!  Add that to the monthly payments of $335-350 and he won’t have any money left per month to even buy gas OR go to college classes!” (Well, folks I’ve never in my life had a new car, so I had NO idea on all this.) Back we went to the Honda dealer to get his $200 down payment back. He was very disappointed, to say the least.  AT LEAST he now has a ‘car’, even though it’s this beater Neon that leaks oil big time. Our neighbor said he would look at it to see if he can figure out why it’s leaking oil so bad. (a quart a week).   That’s my big CAR WOES story for this week (let’s hope this doesn’t continue to other weeks…at least not any time soon!).

The holiday weekend is upon us; my husband’s on vacation for a week which takes some of the stresses off me (YAY!) I’ve still been knitting/crocheting squares and am hopeful that today I’ll be able to lay out another 4-5 afghans to begin putting more together. No particular plans for the weekend – no outside barbecues, no picnics…nothing special other than relaxing (I HOPE!!!).  The laundry is almost caught up, the dishwasher needs running soon, but other than that…Pammie’s taking a break from life  and it’s stresses (I HOPE!).

Hope you have a great holiday weekend and that it’s filled with nice, relaxing things that you enjoy.

Hugs;

Pammie

ps:   Our weather is supposed to be just gorgeous all weekend – in the 70’s and sunny…who could ask for a nicer ‘end of summer’?

pss:  Perhaps you’re wondering why I chose that title for this post – the line came to me, while listing all the ‘car troubles’ stuff and searching for a suitable title.  The quote is from Lewis Carroll:

“”The time has come,” the walrus said, “to talk of many things: Of shoes and ships – and sealing wax – of cabbages and kings”

this is a quote: (from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872); the poem is called: “The Walrus and the Carpenter”.