Sunday Update - Week 47

 At least I think it's Week 47.  :shrug:  Anyway...

How did the week shake out?  Hmm...

Well, we started out last week with a walk in the woods.  First time since the Spring, so yay.  Nothing major to report down in there.  All the paths are leaf covered.  Not much new deadfall.  

I read some last weekend and finished two books.  I finished another one yesterday.

I didn't bake anything, which was weird because, for the first time, we had Thanksgiving with no dessert.  :sadface:  Well, I did have ice cream, but I always have ice cream.  Hubs roasted a most excellent turkey, though.  

In addition to our walk in the woods, I got active on Friday when we cleaned and decorated the office.  Total exer-cleaning day there.  I haven't weighed myself since Thanksgiving, but at last check... Weight: 158.8.  I haven't been in the 150s since like 2006.  

Speaking of weight loss, my new sweat pants arrived.  They fit.  But it's weird wearing sweats that fit now, so they seem too tight.  What I really need is a pair with a large waist and XL legs.  Ma legs need room to breathe, doncha know.  And before you remind me about the drawstring, there comes a point when no matter how much you pull on the drawstring, your pants still fall down.

Okay, so cleaning and decorating, I got to work at 7:30, slapped some Christmas music on, and got right to it sweeping.  I started on the right, and swept every room but one.  (And that's because the other gal was doing her own office.)  Then I dusted damn near everything.  I took breaks to answer the phones (they weren't ringing that much) and to do a few actual office things that needed doing.  After lunch, we decorated.  Then I went back to work on that big box of filing.  Then the mail arrived, so I dealt with that.  And then I got back to filing - which I finished with a few minutes to spare before clock-out time. Yay.  The office is so merry and bright.  And tidy!  (I still want to wash the windows, but cleaning time is over.)

I spent yesterday reading and relaxing.  And recovering from my exer-cleaning. Who-waa, I found muscles I'd forgotten I had.  We're also working our way through all those turkey leftovers.  Yay.  Today will be more of them same.

How was your week?  Did you have a nice Thanksgiving?

Saturday Reading Wrap-up - 11/26/22

 Hello again.  Not a bad reading week overall.  But I'm back to two books behind schedule.  :shrug:

No new books of any kind.  I really need to spend some time this weekend looking for new ebooks, but I still have scads of unread hardcopies, so it's all good.

Books Read:

65) Enter the Witch by Andris Bear (11/20/22) - Paranormal Mystery* - 4 stars. New to me but not underappreciated. Picked up free after a recommendation from a book page I follow on FB.
Review: "Good writing, likable characters, awesome plot and interesting world. The problem? Too darn short. And the teaser at the end. I mean, I know they exist to sell the next book, but ARGH!"

64) Under the Assassin's Moon by Silver James (11/20/22) - Paranormal Romantic Suspense* - 5 stars.  Not new to me but underappreciated.  These books are awesome and more people should be reading them. Bought at full price - $2.99.
Review: "I read this book when it was under the Kindle World thing, and I have to say this new version is even better. I loved Brody and Zeta before. Ms. James has delved even deeper and made their story richer, so I love them even more now. Great book!"

No DNFs.

Currently reading... Hogfather by Terry Pratchett.  It's strange, but fun.

What was on your reading wrap-up for this week?  Find anything good?

Thursday This n That - Thanksgiving Edition

Despite what you and the folks at WKRP might think, turkeys can fly.  Wild turkeys can anyway.  I think the big, white, domestic turkeys have been bred to have such large breasts that they can't fly anymore, hence the carnage at the Pinedale supermarket.  

If you don't know what I'm talking about, I am sad for you.  Go forth and find the episode online* and watch it.

This is a wild turkey:

This is not:

Both pictures taken the same day (11/27/14) and both are hens.  The top turkey went on to live her life.  The bottom turkey went into our bellies.  And there was much rejoicing.

Hubs really does make the best turkeys.  Today, he will be using his magic on a 14.5 pound Honeysuckle White.  It's been thawing in the fridge since Saturday and is ready to go.  Mmm, turkey.  

I was telling the folks at work the story of the one Thanksgiving where we had a whole rafter of turkeys in the yard while our own turkey was in the oven.  They were all like 'I'm not sure I'd be able to eat a turkey with all those turkeys watching'.  We had no problem with it.  And neither did the turkeys. LOL

Speaking of turkeys, here's another picture.  It looks like that big ol' turkey is about to attack that poor, defenseless squirrel.

Don't be fooled.  This was taken a second after the squirrel had attacked the turkey and that tom is trying to get away while the squirrel acts all innocent.  Shortly after, the turkey left to find easier food to eat.  

Anyway, I hope you all have a glorious Thanksgiving Day, with loads of food and the people you love.  :HUGS:  And that neither the turkeys nor the squirrels give you any trouble today.  ;o)

* I found it for you.  (Actually, someone on FB posted it.)  It's not the whole episode, just the good part.  You're welcome.

Sunday Update - Late, Too. Oops.

In my defense, I was working on fighting off the crud yesterday.  Since I seem to have won, it's was worth it.  I didn't actually have it yet, I could just feel it coming on.  The best offense is a good defense and all that, doncha know.  

Now, let's see... what did I do last week?  I worked.  That's a given.  I read some.  Naturally.  The rest is a blur.

As for the weekend, I read a lot.  Finished two books.  Yay.  You'll read more about that on Saturday.

I also went into the woods.  Yay.  We were looking around at what may have occurred in there since the last time it was cold.  The good news is that not much looks different.  Not that many newly dead trees.  Not much more new deadfall.  We were also looking for the back neighbor's property pin.  We know where it's supposed to be - 30ft south of where our old pin is.  It wasn't there.  Perhaps it wasn't surveyed when she bought that extra stretch.  :shrug:  

That's about it for activity for the week.  I have now lost 23.4 pounds since the beginning of the year (22.6 since I started work).  Hubs says he can really see it, especially in my face.  I attribute this to stress and eating a whole lot less than I used to.  This has happened before.  The job I had in Florida, where I got down to 110 from like 150.  And, of course, after my accident when I went from like 160 to 120 and then had a devil of a time putting weight back on.  

Of course, I'm getting to where none of my pants fit.  

Speaking of pants, I ordered two pair of new sweat pants.  I only have one pair that doesn't slide off anymore.  Drawstrings and elastic can only do so much.  =o\  Thankfully, I bought plenty of work pants in smaller sizes so I'm okay there, but I need to hit the thrift stores again before these start wanting to drop around my ankles.

And that's about it for me.  Pretty boring week here.  How was yours?

Saturday Reading Wrap--up - 11/19/22

Hello again.  Sorry I'm late, but I was finishing a book.

Last Saturday, I stopped by the thrift store and picked up a bunch of books - three cozy mysteries, two suspenses, and a romantic suspense.  Oh, and I also snagged a paranormal romantic suspense yesterday in ebook, so yay. 

Books Read:

63) The Time of the Hunter's Moon by Victoria Holt (11/19/22) - Romantic Suspense - 4 stars.  I loved another book by Victoria Holt, so not new to me and not underappreciated.
No Review.  

DNFs:

11/14/22 - SF - 50c.  It was by a well-known SF author, but it was just weird.  And it jumped all over the place, so by like 100 pages in, I still couldn't figure out what the plot was supposed to be or even who the main characters were.  Meh.  Back to the thrift store for you, bub.

11/13/22 - mystery - 10c.  Yawn.

Currently reading... I just now finished that last book, so I haven't started anything yet.  I'll start that paranormal romantic suspense this afternoon.  =o)

What was on your reading list last week?

Thursday This n That - Late Again

Yep, totally forgot yesterday was Thursday.  That's okay, though, because yesterday morning, I was busy making this...

German chocolate cake.  My first.  My last.  I don't actually like German chocolate cake. But it's not for me anyway, so it's all good.  Next up will be a triple chocolate cake with strawberry frosting.  Cuz that's what mama needs.  LOL

I don't know.  It looks kinda short to me.  9" round pans instead of 8" round.  :shrug;  Eh, it eats the same.  Hey, it was my first layer cake in like 25 years.  Cut me some slack. LOL

I'm still not quite sure how I'm going to transport it.  :shrug:  As long as it doesn't slide around in the car and I don't drop it in the parking lot, it's all good.

Anyhooway... 

It snowed last night.  I haven't looked yet, but Hubs told me, so it must be true.  Blerg.

I'm reading Time of the Hunter's Moon by Victoria Holt.  One of my favorite books from my youth is by Victoria Holt - The King of the Castle - so I snagged this when I saw it at the thrift store.  Do I love it? Not so much.  I mean, it's okay, but it's not thrilling me the way the other book did.  Maybe I'm just older and less likely to be thrilled.  

On my way to work on the other morning, I saw a doe in the road not too far from the house, so I slowed down to a crawl.  She moved and then another doe walked out of the woods into the road.  Still crawled.  She moved off.  Seconds later, a buck popped out of the woods, so I stopped.  He stood on the side of the road staring at me. Finally I started to crawl forward again and he startled like my slowly moving car had spooked him and he raced across the road in front of me.  THIS this is why when you see one deer cross the road, you never assume it's alone.  If I had I would've hit that buck.  

He was magnificent, by the way.

Okay, I think I'll call it.  I've gotta get cleaned up and ready for work now.  Plus, I've run out of things to say and I still have a couple blogs to visit.  Later days, dudes.

Sunday Update - Week 45

 Well, hello again.  Let's see if we can rebuild this past week, eh?

No writerly things.  To my amazement, I sold a book.  Woo.  Which meant I needed to update my book sales spreadsheets.  (They were still on September, even though I sold a book in October, too.)  I did that yesterday.

I didn't finish reading anything.  I DNF'd two books before yesterday's post.  I'm DNF'ing the book I started after the post.  It's just weird and I'm tired of trying to make it make sense.  I'm sure it probably does at some point, but meh.

In baking news, I made an apple cranberry crisp last Sunday, then nada.  I do have plans to make a layer cake this week.  I bought pans for it and everything.  I haven't made a layer cake since Owl was a baby.  Wish me luck.

On the activity front, we walked last Sunday and then we went fishing.  Friday, I cleaned the bathrooms at work.  Took me like 20 minutes.  No weight loss this week.  I mean, I got down to 164.4, but then yesterday, I was 166.4, so up and down.  :shrug:

No one made me clean the bathrooms, btw.  I have a low tolerance for scudge in bathrooms. Rather than whine about it, I clean it.  2 bathrooms - each with a toilet and a sink.  I did the floors and the mirrors, too.  Are they perfect?  Nope.  That would take longer and I didn't have longer.  Are they presentable?  Yep.  I also take the garbage out on Fridays because the thought of garbage sitting over the weekend makes me gag.  They're my quirks and I own them.

As for fishing, we didn't catch anything but it was nice to just be at the lake drowning worms with my favorite person.

We got snow Friday night.  It was just a dusting.  Barely enough to make the grass white and leave some on the car.  I can handle that.  No more, though, please.

I went to the thrift store yesterday.  I was looking for an overcoat, but since they didn't have one of those, I picked up 6 books.  4 paperbacks and 2 hardcovers - $2.  Yay.

Work is work.  Like my weight, it's up and down.  The creeping crud is making its way through the staff.  I spent the last two hours of Friday by myself in the office because all the other office staff went home sick.  (I am fine, by the way.)  It was awesome.  I threw a rave.  Hundreds of people showed... :shudder: I can't even joke about that.  I enjoyed the quiet and got some stuff done.  I finally organized the surplus inventory room so it doesn't look like a tornado went through there.  All my filing is done.  Score.

I might zip down to the Wallyworld this morning and see if I can find a turkey that doesn't cost a wing and a drumstick.  (See what I did there? ROFL)  Seriously, though, I've heard turkeys are hard to find and that they're REALLY expensive this year.  Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Okay, that's probably enough out of me.  Nothing much else is going on.  How are things in your world?

Saturday Reading Wrap-up - 11/12/22

It wasn't a banner week for reading for me.  :shrug:  It goes like that sometimes.  

I didn't get any new books this week.  Maybe today, I'll do something about that.  I am down to one unread ebook, after all.  

Books Read:

Nope.  I didn't finish a single damn book this week.

DNFs:

11/12/22 - 99c - supernatural mystery.  The writing was fine and the characters / plot were interesting.  Then the author had to go making it an 'issues' book, trotting out the same ol' tired crap - you know the old song and dance... 'all conservatives are racist and all racists are conservative'.  :eyeroll:  And yes, I did dump this one first thing this morning.  

11/9/22 - free - fantasy.  I thought it was the first book, but it was the first book in a spin-off series to another series that I hadn't read, so that left me lost right from the start.  (Even though it did say it would stand alone.  Right.)  Plus, some of the stylistic choices left me flat.  

Currently reading... Since I DNF'd that thing already today, I haven't started anything else.  Maybe I'll read the one unread e-book.  Maybe I'll just go pick up another paperback.  We'll see.  Tune in next week.  ;o)

Thursday This n That

I just realized it's Thursday.  Blerg.  

I got an attaboy from the boss for thinking outside the box.  Unfortunately, my thinking didn't apply to the situation. But go me yay.

Ages ago, in another life, my boss set me to the task of finding out why our shipping bills were so high.  I researched all the shipping and discovered the sales department was overnighting damn near everything.  Flyers, postcards, marketing materials of every sort.  Stuff that would get where it was going next day using plain ol' UPS ground.  And stuff that didn't even need to be there next day.  It was just easier and they weren't the ones who had to think about the costs.  But the VP of Operations was thinking about it and since I was his admin asst I was thinking about it.  I saved the company hundreds of dollars a month.  That's a 'Go, me. Yay!"

If you ever you wonder why CEOs and VPs make the big bucks, remember they have to think about everything to make certain a company thrives and all the employees get to keep their jobs.  Just sayin'.

Since the time has changed, I now get to drive home after sunset on Mondays and Tuesdays.  I discovered that in the dark, I can't see the end of our driveway to turn in.  Hubs is putting a solar powered light out there this morning. LOL   Oh, and Tuesday night, I saw a bat.  Cool.

FedEx sucks. Jus' sayin'.

And that's all I've got today because I dinked around too much and now I have to get ready for work.  But hey, I made an effort and got it on the right day, so that's gotta count for something.  Have a good one, everybody!

Apple Cranberry Crisp

Since a friend of mine asked, I thought I'd post this recipe today.  Enjoy!

Apple Cranberry Crisp

6 medium apples

1.5 cups whole fresh cranberries

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 T white sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp Apple Cider mix

---

1 cup brown sugar

2 T white sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup quick oats

1/2 cup flour

1 tsp Apple Cider mix

6 T butter (cold)

 

Preheat oven to 350F.  Peel, core, and slice apples to about 1/4" slices.  In large bowl, stir together apples, cranberries, both sugars, cinnamon, and cider mix.  Set aside.  In medium bowl, stir together both sugars, cinnamon, oats, flour and drink mix until well combined.  Cut in butter with pastry cutter until mixture is crumbly.  Pour fruit mixture into 9x13" pan, spreading it out so it's evenly distributed.  Sprinkle topping liberally over fruit, making sure you get it into the corners and along the sides.  No fruit should be visible.  Bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or until topping is browned along the edges and the fruit is fork tender.  Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Finding My Zen Place

I started the weekend off in a funk.  Oh, not so much of a funk that I couldn't function (funk-tion... lol), but I was definitely in a funked-up place.  

I talked to Mom on Saturday morning, which always helps.  She's seen and done so much in her life, she always has a wise word or an understanding ear or just finds a way to commiserate.  And, of course, Hubs is always supportive.  But this was something I needed to find a way out of from within myself. To get zen*.

Yesterday morning, Hubs and I went for a walk.  We did the loop, wandering the leaf-covered roads, looking at the lake, and enjoying the quiet of our neighborhood on a Sunday morning.  

After lunch, I did some baking.  Peeling and slicing apples, adding them to cranberries and sugars and cinnamon to make the base.  Cutting together flour and sugars and oats and butter to make the crumbly topping.  Throw it in the oven and 40 minutes later, out pops heaven.  What could be more zen than that?

While it was cooling, Hubs and I went fishing.  It was a gorgeous fall day.  The lake was like glass.  The site was devoid of other people.  Just us and our bobbers, basically feeding the little fishies who were too small to catch but were happily devouring our worms.  Total zen.

By the time we got home, I didn't feel like cooking dinner.  Hubs made himself a bowl of fruits and granola.  I had apple cranberry crisp with ice cream.  (Hubs had that, too, but it was dessert for him. LOL)

Despite the time change, we stayed up and watched our Sunday night shows - Miss Scarlet and the Duke, followed by Magpie Murders.  (I'm pretty sure I figured out the whodunnit on that last one, but I won't say what it is in case anyone else is watching. We'll find out if I'm right next week, I think.)  

This morning, I'm feeling pretty zen.  We'll see if that holds up.  I'm gonna try and make it hold up.   I am centered.  I am calm.  I am wearing my Teflon force field - nothing sticks and nothing penetrates. Ohmmmm.

And if I keep telling myself that, maybe it'll be true. LOL

*I'm probably using that word wrong.  I don't care.  That's how zen I am.  =op 

Sunday Update - Week 44

It was a week, lemme tell ya.  Mostly work related and mostly stuff I can't talk about online.  Wednesday was weird.  Friday sucked.  Details will not be forthcoming.

Anyway, I read some stuff.  I'm only one book behind schedule now.  I still have to read 13 books between now and the end of the year to reach my goal, though, so I'm not sure that's possible.  We'll see.

I made zucchini bread last Sunday.  I might make cranberry apple something today, because cranberries were on sale at Wallyworld, so I couldn't pass those suckers up.

Not really much activity this week.  I swept the office again.  The other half this time.  Woohoo.  Still lost 1.8 pounds since last Sunday.  Weight: 164.6.  I'd like to stop at like 150 or thereabouts, but we'll see if it's possible to stop.  I worked a job in FL that got me down to 110.  I was ugly-skinny at that point, trust me.  I might have to switch off diet dew (Wallyworld brand, of course) and start eating breakfast.

On the upside, the two pairs of pants I bought last month that were a little tight fit now.  I look smashing in the red pants with a sheer red shirt and a tank top underneath that.  The pinstripe pants are yet to be worn because I can't quite figure out the best tops to go with them.  Maybe tomorrow.

Oh oh oh, my sleeveless turtleneck tops arrived!  Took them long enough.  I love them.  They look and feel awesome on me.  We'll see how they fare after they're washed.  One is black and the other is purple like deep amethyst.  I do love me some gem colors.

Last weekend, I bought worms in a spate of optimism.  I still haven't gone fishing.  Maybe today.  We really should put new line on all the reels, though.  And we need to rake the yard.  There are too many things to do on my days off to spare a few hours for fishing.  Of course, my weekends now typically consist of sitting and reading and watching TV.  After a week of work, I don't really want to do anything else.  :shrug:

Of course, last night was the time change.  As always, we didn't change the clocks before we went to bed, so right now half the clocks are right and the other half are an hour ahead.  I'll go change those in a while.  Every clock thing in the kitchen and the one in the bedroom don't change themselves.  On the upside, it'll be light when I go to work.  On the downside, it'll be dark when I come home.  Turds.

Everything else is fine.  The family is fine.  The critters are fine.  The world isn't fine, but there's nothing I can do about that.  We'll vote on Tuesday before I have to head to work.  I'm not sure it'll do any good, but not voting definitely won't.  So go vote.

And on that note, I'll let you get back to your day.  Have a great one!  And drop a note to tell me how your week went.  =o)

Saturday Reading Wrap-up - 11/5/22

Good morning.  I hope everyone out there is having an awesome morning and the coffee is flowing for you all.

No new books this week, but that's okay.  I still have plenty to read. =o)

Books Read:

62) Last Pen Standing by Vivian Conroy (11/4/22) - Cozy Mystery - 5 stars. New to me but not underappreciated.  Picked up for a quarter at a thrift store.
Review: "Super cute, loads of fun, and plenty of potential killers to keep you guessing in this snappy little whodunnit."

61) The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare (10/30/22) - YA Historical Romance - 5 stars. New to me but not underappreciated.  10c at a thrift store.
No Review.

60) Cop Out by Ellery Queen (10/29/22) - Mystery - 5 stars. Neither new to me nor underappreciated.  50c at a thrift store.
Review: "This is a most excellent read. It bills itself as 'Different from any detective story Ellery Queen has ever written' and it's totally true. Except for the fact that like Queen's other stories, it's a page-turner. I inhaled this in a day, flipping pages like mad to find out what would happen next. The resolution was brilliant. The characters were true. The writing was amazing. Overall, an awesome book."

No DNFs this week.

Currently reading... I finished that cozy mystery close enough to bedtime last night to not start anything else.  No clue what I'll feel like reading next.  

What reading type things did you do this week?

Thursday This n That

Yeah, I realize this isn't Thursday.  Unfortunately, I didn't think yesterday was Thursday, so you're getting this today.  

Yesterday, I was listening to music on my lunch break and this one video started out with an attack ad against both the Republican and the Libertarian candidates for Senate.  Everything 'bad' they were saying about the R turned out to be lies.  Everything 'bad' they said about the L made me want to vote for him.  I wish I could find the ad and share it, but alas, I cannot.  I'm still voting for the R on Tuesday, though, because if the conservatives here split their votes between R & L, we'll get the damn D again.  Maybe that was the point of the commercial.  She knows she can't win if the conservative voters don't split their vote, so she's making the L look more attractive than the R.  

Sometimes it's hard to not talk about things going on at work.  

I've been screwing around taking these 'list challenge' things I see on FB.  One of them was 'so you think you're well read'.  It had like 1460 titles on it.  I've read like 175 or so and I shared it on FB.  Someone commented pointing to Sturgeon's Law on Wikipedia.  Back in the '50s, science fiction writer Theodore Sturgeon postulated that 90% of everything is crap.  Yep, that seems about right.

Speaking of crap, I saw another challenge on there of 'woke' books.  It said something about the average # of those books that participants have read.  It was 3.  LOL

One thing I hate about book challenges on there is that they list a whole series of which I read only one or two, so I can't claim it.  Harshes my groove, man.

I've already bought a 2023 date book for work.  I haven't written in it yet, but I need to plan some stuff out for next year already, so I should probably get crackin' on that.  I am not one for planning that far ahead.

I think we're having leftovers for dinner tonight.  Or burgers.  We need to eat the leftovers, but I'll probably want a burger by the time I get home.  :wanders into the kitchen to take burger out to defrost:

Yesterday morning, I was on my way to work and not far from the house when a chipmunk darted across the road in front of me.  Lucky for Chester, I was paying attention and hit the brakes.  I would've had a sad if I'd squashed the little dude.  Probably not as sad as he would've been, though.

Okay, I've probably bored you enough for now.  Have a great day and an awesome weekend. :hugs: