#3007 pdin 26 Thanksgiving eve

scribble wreath with color

Yesterday I wrote that today would likely be a short work day, and the team did get notified that, if the workload allowed, one could sign off at 1:30. I did not feel that the workload allowed, so I worked my regular shift. The co-worker that I've been training to take over my position (let's call her DM) was also working from home today, and I know she was logged in until at least 5:30, just like I was. 

One might comment, "Sandy, you are retiring in two weeks. Why don't you go ahead and coast?" The answer is simple and sort of annoying: I can't. I mean, my sense of obligation, responsibility, and ethics, I guess, won't let me coast when I know there is work to do. (I get that from my dad, I think.) I already know there will be things that I won't finish before I go, but I don't want to leave a jumble for my innocent co-worker, DM. Next week is month end close; Monday and Tuesday will be big training days. From Wednesday on, though, work will probably calm down a little and I imagine that DM will take on all the things and I will be there to advise and help as needed until the 11th. December 11 is my last working day, after that, I'll be on vacation and holiday, so my last day on the payroll will be December 25. Merry Christmas to me! 

As of now, though, it is the Thanksgiving break. I'm planning to drive to Idaho tomorrow in the late morning. Cocktails are at 1:00, and the meal is at 3:00. I'll spend the night at my MIL's house. On Friday morning I have a coffee date with my BFF, I'll go see the new property that T and MT are working on, then I'll head back home by noon or so. I've got a few chores on my calendar for the weekend, and maybe I'll squeeze in a movie, too. I'd like to see the second part of Wicked.

I woke up with the hiccups this morning - how odd is that? I got rid of them quickly. Tonight I have a teeny tiny headache and I feel kind of tired. I have to be careful because this is the time of night when I tend to catch a second wind if I start doing something that I really enjoy. I want to play in my travel journal - no, it's still not done, but I have a plan to finish it before Dec. 15 - but if I get into it now, I'll lose track of time and then it will be midnight. I want to get up a little early tomorrow to clean up the kitchen and do a couple of things before I get on the road. It's probably best if I save the travel journal for Friday when I get home. 

Good night!

#2271 not every day

Last time I wrote about how I was having trouble sleeping. On Thursday night, Halloween, I felt myself coming down with a bit of a cold, so I took some cold medicine. I'm happy to say that I had no trouble sleeping last night. I did have trouble waking up, though. Those Alka-Seltzer Plus gel tabs were strong! I'm really glad it is Friday night. I'll take a couple more of those tabs and get to bed early.

I actually dressed up for Halloween. I was a devil. It was my second choice. I wanted to be the Cookie Monster, but the costume I ordered was too small. I was lulled by the description and thought it would be okay. It wasn't. I was borderline obscene on me. I gave it to a friend at work. It was too long for her. She gave it to our other friend who gave it to her daughter. It fit her just fine and she looked cute. Maybe I'll try again next year with a bigger size because I really love Cookie Monster.

The devil was okay. I put red powder on my face and black powder around my eyes. My hair looked normal although I tried to make it look unkempt. I had little horns and a velvet red cape. It was really more of a raspberry color. I wore a black dress with black yoga pants and black boots. I loved the cape. I can repurpose it for a different costume another year. I really just want to wear it whenever I want. It's warm and flowy and even has a little hood.

When did my hair get so brassy looking?

So now it is November!  This is National Blog Posting Month, in which you are challenged to write on the blog every day. I have happily participated in past years, but I won't be playing this year. I'll be going to my happy place for a week and I won't be writing here during that time. I hope some others will accept the challenge though (I'm looking at you ladies in southern California).

November should be fun. I think I'm going to get to go to a Jazz game this month. I'll see Post Malone in concert. We have the trip to Mexico to look forward to and then there is Thanksgiving. That's something cool every week. Can't ask for much for than that, amIright?

Here's to a happy, healthy, fun-filled November!

#1968 happy Thanksgiving

It's late and Thanksgiving Day is nearly over, but there is still time to say that I hope you all had a wonderful day with family and friends.

MT, T and I stayed home here in SLC and enjoyed a peaceful day. T delivers newspapers and traditionally the Thanksgiving day paper is the largest of the year. T usually gets done with his route around 5 am, but this morning he got home around 8 am.  He has just over 150 papers to deliver and he says they weighed five pounds each. He had to borrow MT's truck to haul them because the advertising inserts made the papers so heavy and bulky that they couldn't fit in his car.

T spent most of the day sleeping. MT was watching Godless on Netflix. I got in a Zumba class this morning before I started cooking. We didn't have traditional Thanksgiving food. We had a chuck roast that was super tender and flavorful (if I say so myself!), mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, a green salad and the sweet potato casserole that is now a staple for the November and December holidays. In December I need to remember to halve the recipe. There's too many sweet potatoes for just the three of us. I also made an extremely chocolate-y chocolate cake and bought a pecan pie from Trader Joe's. I like a little chocolate, but the cake is over-the-top. MT and T loved it (which is why I made it). The pie is for me!

Tonight the three of us went to see Murder on the Orient Express. I had already seen it, but it was a good movie and I was happy to see it again with the boys.

Now that Thanksgiving is over, Christmas is ON! Tomorrow I am putting all my Christmas music onto my beloved iPhone. I already pulled out my Christmas movies and I hope that I will get through them all, although I kinda doubt I will. We will be putting out our Christmas decorations over the weekend, writing Christmas cards and maybe even doing a little shopping. Why am I so excited about Christmas this year? I don't really know, but I feel it.

#1802 still here

I haven't been doing such a good job of writing lately. Let's see, what's been going on?

Lizzie left early this morning in what I can only say feels like a completely different day from right now. We were together for about 10 days and it was so fun to hang out with her! I was sorry to see her leave, but I'm happy that I'll see her again in just a few weeks for Christmas.

Yesterday was Saturday. We met my BFF LA and her family for lunch at a fun restaurant, The Porcupine Grill. It was great to see LA and her husband and especially their son Caz. I've known Caz since he was in utero and it's wonderful to see what a smart, cool man he has become. Lizzie hadn't seen Caz since he was a baby. How time flies!

On Friday we ran a couple of errands in the morning, then we settled in to binge watch the Gilmore Girls Revival on Netflix. I binge watched all seven seasons of Gilmore Girls starting last winter, I think, and I finished up this year. Lizzie loved GG and was the one who turned me on to it. It was fun to watch the revival with her.

Thursday was Thanksgiving. I don't think we left the house. The day was filled with cooking and snacking and a nice dinner in the evening when T got home from work. MT, Lizzie and I watched the original Star Wars trilogy plus the latest Star Wars film. It was all awesome.

Now you're caught up with my activities over the holiday weekend. Did I mention how much I loved hanging out with my sister over the past week and a half? We had a great time!

Tonight I have been downloading all my photos from the New Orleans vacation. Looking back through all the pics made me happy and excited to tell you more about the trip. I'll be sharing photos soon!

It's time for me to wind down and finish up some laundry before I go to bed. I hope you all had a great weekend!

#1555 things we eat during the holidays

This year we will be celebrating Thanksgiving with MT's side of the family in Idaho. Since we will be driving tomorrow, I decided to do my cooking tonight. I am taking a pecan pie, made with Trader Joe's pecan pie filling, and the sweet potato casserole that is from Ruth's Chris' recipe. We are also bringing the turkey, but Linda will cook it.

The pie is done and it looks great. I hope that I can wait until Thursday to try a slice! It's been about a year since I had pecan pie.

The sweet potatoes are in the oven. It's a super-sweet dish that could easily be put on the dessert table but is always part of the main meal. It's nice to have a bit of sweet to go with all the savory.

Both the pie and the sweet potatoes are foods we only eat at the holidays, so I'm looking forward to indulging in these things.

Now that I think about it, there aren't many other foods that we eat on Thanksgiving or Christmas that are relegated to the holidays. Oh! We usually only drink Bailey's Irish Cream during the holidays :) Also, fudge is usually made and eaten only during the holidays.

At my office, we get a tub of cheese from a vendor during the holidays.  The cheese arrived late last week. Kelsie and Nicole brought in crackers and we all dug in.  We love that tub of cheese!

On Thursday I'll take a look at the table and see if there is anything else that is a holidays-only kind of treat.

What are some foods that are your holiday traditions?

#1314 furnace troubles, a matinee and prepping for the feast

This morning when I woke up, it smelled like something in the house was burning. There was a terrible burnt smell up in my bedroom and throughout the top floor. I freaked out a little. and by that I mean I demanded that MT (who went to work today) go down to the first floor and check everything and into the basement to see what was burning. We didn't smell or see smoke, but we sure smelled the burnt smell. MT investigated the whole house, but couldn't find anything except that our furnace filter was dirty. He demanded that I buy a new one when I went to the store. (I was not working today.) We opened up some windows upstairs to air the place out a bit. MT left for work and I went to the store.

Had to step away for a minute. Osi had a seizure :(

Where was I? Oh, yeah, the store. I was there early enough that it wasn't totally crazy, but there were still more people there than I expected for 8:30 am. No furnace filter at the first store, so I had to go to another store. Got the filter; went home and put it in the furnace, then it was time to take my car to the shop. When I bought it, there were a few things that needed to be fixed that were still under warranty, so I had those taken care of today. T and Trent picked me up at the dealership and we went to see a movie. I'll write more about that in a minute.

When we got home after the movie, the temperature in the house was down to 64 degrees which was just a few degrees warmer than it was outside but the furnace wasn't running. The house was not being heated. I called a repair place that we've used before and they sent a technician over to diagnose the problem. The control board was fried. The control board in the furnace is similar to the mother board in a computer. All the wires that run the furnace connect to it and it runs the furnace. It's about six inches long and maybe four inches wide. The burn mark on the board was about the size of a silver dollar. The control board is pretty easy to replace, but sadly, the tech didn't have a control board that would work for my furnace on hand. He'll have one on Friday morning, but in the meantime, no heat for us. Thank God we are not in a blizzard like on the east coast! The temperature tomorrow is supposed to be very similar to today and with the stove and oven working and a space heater here and there, I've been comfortable in the house today. Bummer though. That was $500 I wasn't expecting to spend today.

What with all the running around and fretting about the furnace, I didn't do as much prepping for tomorrow's meal as I intended. Oh well. It will be fine. I did get some things done, and I feel like I'll still be in good shape for tomorrow because we'll be eating later in the day.

Jake and Linda, my father and mother-in-law, arrived this evening in time for dinner. I roasted a couple of chicken breasts with some mushrooms and garlic. When it was cooked, I cut the chicken into small pieces and put all the roasted yumminess into some creamy tomato basil pasta sauce I got at Trader Joe's. I cooked up some spaghetti noodles and we had a tasty and easy pasta dish for our meal.

After that I spent an hour on the phone with my BFF LA. Her husband bought his dream car today, a new(ish) Camaro. They were pretty excited.

Now about that movie...T, Trent and I went to see Horrible Bosses 2.  Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis are funny and Jason Bateman is funny too, but in a straight-man kind of way. They have come up with a product to sell and are going to start their own company where they will NOT be horrible bosses. They get involved with a big distribution company that's run by Christoph Waltz and Chris Pine, who are father and son. When the deal goes bad, the guys come up with the idea to kidnap Rex (Chris Pine). Along the way, Kevin Spacey sort of advises them (from prison, where he ended up after the last film), Jennifer Aniston spices things up in a creepy/sexy way and Jamie Fox is back as M.F. Jones, too. Hilarity and some cringe-worthy moments ensue. I think I liked this one a little better than the first one. Charlie Day is my favorite of the three. His voice and the things he says are hilarious. I love love love Chris Pine, but he was definitely not the good guy in this one. Still cute, though.

Well, it's been a big day for me, so I better get to bed. Talk to you tomorrow!

#1288 I'm a grinch

Tonight is Halloween Eve and I have a confession to make. My confession may surprise or even annoy, but here it is: I don't really like Halloween.

I just heard both my mom and my sister gasp. They both like Halloween a lot.

When T was little I didn't mind it too much because it was fun for him. I liked walking around the neighborhood with him and his friend. T kept it simple as far as costumes went: he was a super-hero or Harry Potter. One year he was a ninja.

I don't really like it when grown-ups get dressed up for work. Teachers could be an exception because the kids like it. But in an office? I'm not down with it. I've dressed up in costume in years past for work, but a costume is not meant to be worn for eight hours. After about the first hour, it's just annoying, especially if you've got a wig and/or makeup. If you do choose to dress up though, own that shit. Wear a costume. Don't put on a sports team t-shirt and your jammy pants and say you're a fan watching the game at home. Lame.

One year we closed on a house on Halloween. It was a little strange to sit across from a zombie (the escrow officer) a she explained all about our loan and the title and all the documents. Just no.

At my office we put on a big trick or treat event for the kid of the employees. We've been doing it for several years. The lady who organizes it and puts it all together does a very nice job. Her preparations are low-key and she takes care of a lot of the details so when she asks people to help, their responsibilities are pretty simple. She has never asked me to help with the decorations, so that's cool. For some reason, though, whenever those decorations go up, I just get a little annoyed.

I'm a Halloween grinch, I guess.

One last thing...

HOORAY for the San Francisco Giants - World Series Champs!!

#1137 about corned beef

I hope you all had a festive and fun St. Patrick's Day! Neither my family nor MT's family is Irish, so we don't do much to celebrate except to wear a green shirt :)

One of the engineers at the office cooked delicious corned beef and cabbage along with potatoes and carrots. It was a feast. He is from Butte, MT and I think there are a lot of people of Irish descent there because of the mine. Butte also had a HUGE St. Patrick's Day celebration. When I lived in Pocatello, I worked with a girl who always looked forward to going to Butte on March 17. I never understood that until I started working with a whole bunch of people from Butte. I hear the celebration is epic.

Anyway, Griff (the engineer) and a couple of other guys really put on a nice lunch. One year, inspired by Griff's amazing corned beef, I decided to try it myself. Mine wasn't that great. I haven't made it since. Maybe I'll try again sometime, but maybe not. The time I made corned beef here at home, I used some of the leftovers to make a pretty good corned beef chowder. I remember thinking it was pretty tasty. Can't you make sandwiches out of corned beef, too?

My mom makes corned beef/roast beef taquitos that I crave. They don't require many ingredients, but you have to fry them and they spatter. I have never tried to make them. It's another one of those things that I really enjoy when they are prepared for me though! I really appreciate it when my mom makes them for me. I show my appreciation by eating a kabillion of them. It's probably good that I don't make them at home.

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Guess what? I went to spinning class tonight and it was the first time I didn't feel like throwing up when the workout was over. And I didn't get as claustrophobic tonight. Progress!