Eleven Days - Has It Really Been that Long?

The past eleven days have been good. The weather has been nice. No storms to cause us to run for the storm shelters, but it's been very hot and muggy.

My birthday came and went, and so did Josiah's. I took pictures at Josiah's party. Here are some...



Josiah got an aquadoodle! :D


He was rockin' in this truck (Jeep?)!


Jeff and I bought him an inchworm, a gift I wanted to
get him last year, but couldn't, because he was too
young. Chelsey took this picture and texted it to me.
Isn't he cute? :)


Can he blow out his candles? He sure tried! ;)


My mom started horsing around, and I snapped this! :P
(Actually, I put her up to it, and Jeff was my
partner in crime.) :)
Josiah loves Dora the Explorer, and my mom got him a couple of Dora books, one of which had a music player included. He loved it!

And for my birthday, I got a Kindle from Jeff and my mom. My mom also got me a new slow cooker and an espresso machine. Eric and Chelsey got me a red dish drainer to match my other red kitchen things (I've been wanting this for a long time, so I'm really happy with it!) and some lilac candle tarts...and something else that's coming in the mail.

Speaking of the mail, I'd ordered a cook book for Chelsey, and it arrived in the mail yesterday...just in time for me to wrap it and take it over to the party! :D

We also went to the Farmer's Market yesterday morning. I bought some huge green onions and another small bottle of Goatie Girls Bug Be Gone lotion. My mom bought some snow peas, which I'll add to one of this week's meals, and a small loaf of Parker Pond Farms' Pumpkin Bread. The three of us (Jeff, my mom, and I) shared the bread over some drinks at Sweet Bay while I downloaded more of my Kindle library. :)

And after Josiah's party, we went grocery shopping. We spent a bit too much, but the important thing is that we put some weight on Jeff without buying the cheap, unhealthy crap you find everywhere. I've been fixing most meals in the slow cookers, and they're mostly healthy. I admit to using some cream of chicken in some of them. Next time, I'll get the fat-free kind so it's better for my mom.

Anyway, since I've been using the slow cookers a lot more, we've been having a lot more fruit and vegetables.

Speaking of...I need to write up an article, complete with photos, of the fruit salad I make, as well as the ensalata caprese, for Milli over at Fear of Writing. I'll try to post a link here once it's up.

Jeff's doing a lot better. He's still got some recovery left to go, but he's progressing well and is back at work. I just hope he doesn't overtax himself. Today's temp is hovering at 100°, and I'd hate for him to get sick!

He's also mostly done readying the hallway and part of the front entrance for painting. He just has to remove some wallpaper scraps, touch up with the primer, and then we can paint it. We bought the paint yesterday. :)

I haven't been doing much writing lately, but I've been working on a knit cardigan for myself. It's my first sweater, so it's a learning experience. I've had to scrap it three times (at least), and I have to undo about three rows and redo them. I hope I don't have to keep doing this. It's becoming a nuisance! :/

I plan to get back to my writing tomorrow.

Have a good one!

Lois

A Good Monday

Yesterday was good. Jeff and I took several bags of books over to Coffee & A Good Book. I got $30 in credit on what they accepted, then we went on to the post office to mail out a small package. After that, we headed for The Salvation Army, where we dropped off the books that Coffee & A Good Book didn't take. Then we drove over into Oklahoma. It began to rain, and we stopped off at Taco Bell for a very light lunch for $2 apiece. Once we finished there, we headed back into V.B. and stopped at Coffee & A Good Book to use my credit. I found four books to buy. I had $2 left, so I bought a decaf iced coffee with it. I wanted to use it all up. ;)

Jeff looked for examples of greenhouse grower resumes, then looked at some more houses in Grand Rapids, Michigan, while I looked over my new books more thoroughly.

After a while, I went out to the kitchen to start dinner. I made corn chowder (water, salt, peeled and diced potatoes, corn, milk and butter) and chicken breasts (on the George Foreman grill).

After dinner, we walked the dog. We had a steady, moderate rain, and when we got back, I talked Jeff into giving Niki a bath. I got wetter than he did. My pant legs were practically dripping. She didn't like it, at first, but eventually seemed to resign herself to her fate. She smells a lot better now! :P

Then I took a shower...my second one for the day.

This morning, I made iced Indian Spice tea and iced Rose Hip tea.

I'm feeling kind of blah. I contribute it to the water. We don't have the best quality water here, and that's the main reason I drink bottled water. I can't use it in everything, though, so I'm wondering if the water in the corn chowder or the coffee might have made me slightly ill. Just another reason why moving from here would be a good thing. ;)

Anyway, I plan to do a bit of reading today, but first, I need to finish up online. Have an awesome day! :D

Lois

Merry Christmas Eve!

Yesterday was a great day...in spite of the rain. I chatted with P. and M. for a while, which is always great fun. :)

I also wrote another character journal entry. It wasn't as long as I thought it would be, but it paved the way for the next one, in which three extra characters will die (the brothers in my story take their names, in honor of their bravery). If this doesn't make sense, it's not supposed to...unless you know the main points of the story. ;)

Jeff will be getting off work around noon. He's got someone picking up some Kahlua for me so I can make the Chocolate Chip Kahlua Cake. I only need four ounces, but I don't know if he can get a bottle that small. If not, I'll save the rest and make more cakes in the future. :)

Here's the recipe:

CHOCOLATE CHIP KAHLUA CAKE

* 1 box moist chocolate cake mix
* 1 small package instant chocolate pudding mix
* 3 eggs
* 1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil
* 1/2 cup Kahlua
* 1 16-ounce container sour cream
* 1 16-ounce package chocolate chips or chunks

1. Grease a bundt pan.
2. Mix all ingredients except chocolate chips in a large mixing bowl for two minutes
3. Mix in chocolate chips or chunks.
4. Bake in preheated oven, at 350°F, for one hour.
5. Let cool 30-45 minutes and carefully remove cake to plate.

I may go with Jeff when he does his shopping today...except that he'll drop me off at Sweet Bay. We may stop at Walgreen's, too. I've got a couple things I'd like to pick up for my mom, if I can find them.

I'd like to make the Divinity tonight. Hopefully, I'll have the time and energy.

Have a very merry Christmas Eve! :D

Lois

Merry Christmas Eve Eve!

We had thunder this morning. This is simply not the time of year for freaky weather. I heard they were expecting us to have a ton of rain and even possibly tornadoes! O_O Weatherwise, this just does not feel like Christmas. :( So far, we've just had some distant thunder and rain. Hopefully the weird weather is about over.

I'm cold. My fingers feel like they're frozen to the bone. It's hard to type.

I never went to Sweet Bay last night. I just didn't feel like it. Jeff will be going shopping tonight or tomorrow night. I'm not sure which. Whichever night he stays home, that's the night I'll try to make Divinity and Cardamom Fudge. :)

Today's Wednesday Writing Sprints! I'll be working on character journal entries...for my new characters and old ones, alike. Been chatting with P. and M. and have come up with some names for some supporting characters. YAY! :D

Josiah's got his first tooth coming in. I can't believe he's that old already. :)

I'm behind this morning because I was catching up on Twitter. I even added some new Tweets. Howie Mandel is hilarious! Also added some writers, directors and producers (like Steven J. Cannell). Not so many that I'd be more overwhelmed by the added traffic, though (I'm already overwhelmed, after all).

I need to go fix myself a hot tea or cocoa and something to eat.

Have a great day, everyone...and I do mean everyone! :)

Lois