last blog post of 2008

I'm sorry to report that I will hold off on blogging again until 2009 so hopefully you all will still be around then! ;-)

corny, I know, but I couldn't resist!  This is a big day at la casa de Holley.  I'm about to pack a bag for the overnight stay at T's for New Year's Eve but in anticipation of getting back to a non holiday work schedule next week I made a massive grocery run and have spent ALL MORNING cooking and freezing.  I'm currently waiting on my last crockpot concoction to finish cooking then I'll dish it up and freeze it.  

I made:

pot roast - bagged & froze 8 portions

lasagna - boxed & froze 12 portions

chicken and pasta casserole - boxed and froze 6 portions

roasted chicken (whole) - bagged and froze 7 portions, (it would have been more but I used 2 cups to make chicken & dumplings)

chicken & dumplings - it's not done yet but I anticipate at least 8, maybe 10 portions

that's around 40 meals!  Plus I bought some dry butterbeans to make but I don't have time at the moment.  We had ham at KT's last weekend and they were nice enough to let me take the bone and some trimmings so I'll cook the beans up sometime next week maybe and then I'll have a freezer full of good stuff.  The grocery bill was bad at checkout, but if I don't have to go again for a few months (other than perishables) then it will definitely be worthwhile.

Everyone have a safe and happy New Year and I'll catch you on the flipside!

the day after

and I am at work, bored as hell. It is absolutely useless that we are open. There are probably 10 people in here at most. I've done nothing but listen to the HVAC run for 4 hours now.

(The one bit of business? Our resident crazyass phoner-inner called and wanted to know the meaning and history of the phrase "good luck"...KT, I'll give you 1 guess and the first one doesn't count)

We really have to come up with a great nick name for her...so far I can't think of anything crazy enough. She told Mary that someone from the Middle East owned the Federal Reserve, asked Mary to corroborate this dicey info, then refused to accept Mary's quite correct answer since it did not include her crazyass information. She asked me the meaning and history of the word "renig", especially "nig" (her emphasis, not mine). She informed me that it wouldn't be hard to find and that it was ancient Greek. Um, not that I found but whatevah. I can't even recall more of our conversation now because she is straight nut crazy. She asked Lauren what love was, what it did to the brain, and how to recognize and avoid it. (I'm hoping she's avoiding it just fine.) I don't know what to tell you about that either. She asked Daxx how to recognize and what to do about passive-aggressive behavior. (I was hoping this was a cry for help, ya know?) She asked someone to diagnose a mental disorder, but I don't remember which one of us it was. As in, "go get the DSM-IV and tell me what these symptoms mean!" (Just a suggestion, it means you should look in to electroshock therapy and quit calling us)

I have it! I think I'll call her Renfield! What do you think, KT?

99 Things

Blatantly stolen from Lauren! (though she did invite anyone to join in the fray)

THE 99 THINGS MEME

Things you’ve already done: bold
Things you want to do: italicize
Things you haven’t done and don’t want to - leave in plain font

1. Started your own blog.
2. Slept under the stars.
3. Played in a band. 
4. Visited Hawaii.
5. Watched a meteor shower.
6. Given more than you can afford to charity.
7. Been to Disneyland/world.
8. Climbed a mountain.
9. Held a praying mantis.
10. Sang a solo. *only in the car!
11. Bungee jumped.
12. Visited Paris.
13.  Watched a lightning stormat sea.

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch.
15. Adopted a child.
16. Had food poisoning.
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty.
18. Grown your own vegetables.
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France.
20. Slept on an overnight train.
21. Had a pillow fight.
22. Hitch hiked.
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill.
24. Built a snow fort.
25. Held a lamb.
26. Gone skinny dipping.
27. Run a marathon. 
28. Ridden a gondola in Venice.
29. Seen a total eclipse.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset.
31. Hit a home run.
32. Been on a cruise.
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person.
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors.*Starr, Mississippi is as far as I got :)
35. Seen an Amish community.
36. Taught yourself a new language.
37.Had enough money to be truly satisfied.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person.
39. Gone rock climbing.
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David in person.
41. Sung Karaoke. *Ha.
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt.
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant.
44. Visited Africa.
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight.
46. Been transported in an ambulance.
47. Had your portrait painted.
48. Gone deep sea fishing.
49. Seen the Sistine chapel in person.
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling.
52. Kissed in the rain.
53. Played in the mud.
54. Gone to a drive-in theater.
55. Been in a movie.
56. Visited the Great Wall of China.
57. Started a business.
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia.
60. Served at a soup kitchen.
61. Sold Girl Scout cookies.
62. Gone whale watching.
63. Gotten flowers for no reason.
64. Donated blood.
65. Gone sky diving.
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp.
67. Bounced a check.
68. Flown in a helicopter.
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy.
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial.
71. Eaten Caviar.
72. Pieced a quilt.
73. Stood in Times Square.

74. Toured the Everglades.
75. Been fired from a job.
76. Seen the Changing of the Guard in London.
77. Broken a bone.
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle.
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person.
80. Published a book. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
81. Visited the Vatican.
82. Bought a brand new car.
83. Walked in Jerusalem.
84. Had your picture in the newspaper.
85. Read the entire Bible.
86. Visited the White House.
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.
88. Had chickenpox.
89. Saved someone's life. 
90. Sat on a jury.
91. Met someone famous.
92. Joined a book club.
93. Lost a loved one.
94. Had a baby.
95. Seen the Alamo in person.
96. Swum in the Great Salt Lake.
97. Been involved in a law suit.
98. Owned a cell phone.
99. Been stung by a bee.

Wow, that is a wide-ranging list of stuff!

conversations with Toes...

(and Toes is 2 and a half, one of my honorary nieces via KT)

Toes:  "we onwee dwaw on papuh, not own wawls, owah awms, owah ebee, owah scowt, owah mommy, owah daddy, owah auntie, owah nanna, owah aunt howie, onwee on papuh, not on wawls...right aunt howee?"

Me: that's right!  no drawing on walls, only on paper!

E: "Mom!  Bebe's on the couch!"

Toes: "BEBE!  Get owf duh couch!"  (to me:) "Bebe teetees on duh couch."

Me: Yes, Bebe is getting old and can't hold her bladder very well anymore.

Toes: Bwadduh?

Me:  Yes, everything that teetees has a bladder.

Toes: Weulll, I teetee and I don't haf a bwadduh!

Me: Yes, everyone in the house has a bladder.

Toes: Weull,  Nana don't haf a bwadduh.

Me: Yes she does.  Everyone has a bladder Toes.

Toes: why you haf two eahwings aunt howee?

Me: because I have two ears

Toes: why? (yes, we have arrived at this developmental stage)

Me: God put them there

Toes: why?

Me: You'll have to take that up with him.

Toes:  I don't haf two ears

Me: Well, what are these?

Toes: Okay, well maybe

Toes will be a philosophy major at some point I'm fairly certain :)

just for you :)

because everyone deserves a throbbing Christmas

*snicker* (thanks engrish.com)

ACTUAL CONVERSATIONS IN THE LIBERRY

(to borrow from Juice, the library ninja)

Let me start off by saying that today is the day of the stupid f*%k 

:)

I hope your day is as ridiculously special as mine is currently.  Not everyone falls under the heading of stupid f*%k, but many (many, many, many, many, many) do.

CASE IN POINT!

Patron walks up to the massive desk behind which I sit wearing my name tag that says "Holley, Reference Librarian"

Patron: Is there a big desk up here where a librarian sits?

Me:.....*blink* (then I do a Vanna White-esque presentation gesture at the desk and myself and manage a strangled, "How may I help you?)

The patron hands me a Florida driver's license (we are in the state of Alabama).

Patron: The lady downstairs told me you could give me a temporary library card....(which we don't do, never have, never will)

Me:  Do you just need to use a computer?  If you want to use the computers I can log you on but we don't give out temporary cards.

Patron: yes

______________________

dumbass.

packing stuff

I will be petsitting starting today until late afternoon Christmas day.  I'll come home every few days to check on Bink since she doesn't really handle me being gone as well as she did when she was a younger kitteh...plus I have to pick up my mail!  I'm expecting some pretty decent netflix movies in the next little while as I went wild on my queue yesterday and added about 15 things I haven't watched in oh.....15 years or so.  I'm talking great 80's and early 90's hair and corny acting, it's going to be fanf*&kingtastic when they get here.  Have you ever seen this, or maybe this?  Fun stuff, I assure you!  

anyway, gotta run so I can get to work on time today!

uh, no.

Bink would FlIp OuT, and not in a hairdryer and roundbrush sort of way!

a little too much looping...

.....but tremendously funny nonetheless!

ghosts of christmases past

prepare to giggle, then click here!  Has this been your experience?

wishlist

as KT has said on her blog, for any family or friends who visit here and are interested, here is a list of some of the things that would make me v.v. happy:

Movies
Eagle vs Shark
Cloverfield
Wall-E
The Orphanage
Doomsday
Hellboy
Hellboy II
Under the Tuscan Sun
The Happening
Ironman
Children of Men
This Christmas
Fred Claus
Midnight Meat Train

Books
The Electric Michelangelo
The Host
The Canterbury Tales (new translation by Burton Raffel)
The Walking Dead: Book 1, Book 2, Book 3, (I don’t know if there is a Book 4 yet)
Proust Was a Neuroscientist
The Book of Lost Things
Throne of Jade
Black Powder War
Empire of Ivory
Victory of Eagles
Fire Study
Garden Spells
Sugar Queen
Heartsick
Sweetheart

Stuff
Diamond Anniversary Edition Scrabble
Connect Four
Charles Wysocki jigsaw puzzle
A deck of regular playing cards

Of course, I always allow that a hug and a kiss will always be the perfect gift, but if you are in a buying mood then you now have some leads!

why Le Clezio truly deserves the Nobel Prize for literature

"To provide nearly everyone on the planet with a liquid crystal display is utopian. Are we not, therefore, in the process of creating a new elite, of drawing a new line to divide the world between those who have access to communication and knowledge, and those who are left out? . . . [The book] is practical, easy to handle, economical. It does not require any particular technological prowess, and keeps well in any climate."--J.M.G. Le Clézio. The Guardian observed that Le Clézio, in his Nobel Lecture, "looked to the wider world . . . warning of the dangers of information poverty and calling for publishers to increase their efforts to put books in the hands of people around the world."

That is all.

draggin

not to be confused with dragon, of course, but sleepiness is a natural byproduct of staying up until 2:30 reading.  I was SO tired and sleepy on the way home and I was just going to get in a chapter or two and then I looked up and it was 2:30am...ugh!  I'm really going to have to start setting the cooking timer on the cd player in the kitchen instead of the egg timer so I HAVE to get up and turn it off.  I don't do well if I don't get enough rest.  

So I'm going to a cookie swap today at K's house, something I've never done before.  In case you are like me and aren't familiar with such an event, people are invited and they bring enough cookies to cover everyone who is invited plus some copies of their recipe.  We eat cookies and take the recipes we want to try.  I did not make cookies as those are not my specialty unless they come in a log which I then cut up with a knife.  My specialty happens to be spiced pecan halves...a treasured dessert in my family which my great grandmother cooked, my grandmother taught me how to cook, and which my aunt still makes every year for all of her friends.  99% love rate for these little beauties though they are somewhat messy to make, especially when I do it :)

You put 1 cup sugar, 1/3 cup evaporated milk, and 1/2 tsp of cinammon in a sauce pan and cook until a drop of the mixture dropped into a cup of cold water retains its drop shape (in my grandmother's recipe it says "cook to a soft ball" and no one ever knows what that means so I've started spelling it right out on the recipes I write).  Gently stir in 1 tsp of vanilla extract then stir in 2 cups of pecan halves, remove from heat, and continue stirring to coat.  It sets up fairly quickly so don't lolligag in your stirring, turn out on wax paper to cool and separate when they get cool enough to touch.  I don't bag them until they are completely cooled as I don't want condensation in the ziplock bag.  YuMmY!

I also made the cake I told you about at Thanksgiving (since I didn't get around to making it then!) and took it to KT's mom's (who is always referred to as "Lady," I've never asked the origin of the nickname) house last night.  They invited me over to help decorate the Christmas tree and have dinner so I made the cake and some corn bread and took it over as my contribution to dinner.  Lady make some kick@$$ chili and the corn bread and cake, IMHO, complimented it perfectly.

Tomorrow I'm going with L to see Twilight again...I'm developing a bit of an obssession, I am not immune to its allure.  I've heard one opinion that "it makes Harry Potter look lame" but I don't agree.  That's comparing apples and oranges.  The Twilight series is a fantastic and entertaining story but Rowling has (again, IMHO) better world-building skills.  I LuRvEd Twilight and Eclipse but the whole Italian vampire thing felt kind of random and hastily tacked on.  I don't remember anything from the Harry Potter books that felt random and hastily tacked on.  For all the Twi-hards out there, please don't misunderstand...I read all four books and loved all four books, AND will recommend all four books, but the first two were my favorites.  Thanks to L's direction, I'm now looking forward to Midnight Sun, if it ever comes our way!  And how could I forget The Host, which I loved!  

Ah well, I could sit here and speak book forever but I've got to get on to my cookie swap.  Everyone have a fantabulous day!

decorating circa 1969

***Disclaimer - I have no collegiate sport affiliation!  Knock yourselves out!***

What better way to celebrate the recent Iron Bowl win than to dedicate a room of your home as a lasting souvenir.  For assistance and ideas, I give you, again, the 1969 classic, Decorating Ideas for Every Room in Your Home:

My favorite part?  The tasteful GiAnT red feather quill on the artfully draped table...what's your favorite spot in this room?

the non-Thanksgiving

Last Wednesday I began to feel bad around 11am and it just went downhill from there.  I was SiCk Wed night, all day Thurs (I missed Thanksgiving and spent it huddled in the recliner, shivering) and Fri (I went to the dr. and got meds).  Sat was a better day and I went to K’s Crafturday.  She rented a room in her local community center and about 7 or 8 women (me included) showed up and crafted.  There was quilting, sewing, cross stitching and scrapbooking going on from 9-3.  I managed pretty well but was very glad to get back to the house, the recliner and the blanket.  After a nap, I went to meet E at the movies for my second viewing of Twilight.  I am nearly out of the vortex, only about 100-150 more pages to go in Breaking Dawn, then E and I are going to have to have a lunch discussion. 

 

This week has been SO much better than last week and hey, I lost 8 pounds last week!  At least there’s a bright side to not attending a Thanksgiving festivity

 

I have a busy schedule over the course of the next few days so I’ll do my best to get back in here and let you in on the fun!

 

sorry

I have recently been sucked into the Twilight vortex and have not yet emerged....soon I will rejoin humanity, but not right now

;)

htw

update from holiday of the living dead

so I had food poisoning...I don't recommend it for any of your holiday festivities

I'm 90% better...more later