And Soon The Week Is Done

I’ll probably blog some more this afternoon when I take my baking break. This is going to be a big baking day for me. I’m making half-dozen packages of Mr. Goodcookies for the bake sale at Paws and Whiskers on Sunday. I’m making 10 dozen Mr. Goodcookies to package in half-dozen bags. It’s definitely a labor of love!

This week’s statements:
1. I wish I had ___ to ___
2. I stopped wearing ____
3. My favorite song right now is_________because________.
4. I always sing while________.

My Answers:

1. I wish I had money to hire a crew to come in and clean/remodel our house.

2. I stopped wearing skirts. Anyplace I’d go where a skirt or dress would be appropriate I’d use the wheelchair. Skirt in a wheelchair is not a good look!

3. My favorite song right now is Dear God by XTC because it’s a very passionate song. (PLEASE see more about this song in Fragments!)

4. I always sing while I’m baking!

1. What is your favorite fall family tradition?

Apple picking! We’ve, and by “we” I mean me and any members of my family that want to go, gone apple picking since Tori and Rina were a year old. They’ll be 18 next Thursday. Another great tradition that’s part of that is that I make apple chips in the dehydrator. This year I’ll be shipping apple chips to two different places for my college-girls!


2. If money weren't an issue, how many kids would you have?

Still none; money had nothing to do with my choice not to have kids.


3. If you were to get a tattoo, what would it be and where would you put it?

I’d never get a tattoo for real, but I wore a temporary summer tattoo in my teens and 20s; a rose on my ankle. Trite, huh? I’m glad I didn’t get it permanently put on.


4. What condiment is a must in your house?

David likes his mayo on ham sandwiches (mayo-ick). I am a mustard girl. Honey mustard is the number one for pretty much any kind of meat but I like others for sandwiches, cooking and pretzels. I have 4 bottles of mustard that do all get used; honey, spicy brown, Dijon and classic yellow.


5. How did your spouse/fiance propose?

He didn’t. I didn’t either. We were already living together and he was working nights the week before Christmas, so we “went to city hall.” Yes, David worked on our “wedding night.” I scrapped.

**  David and I visited Hollywood Casino for the first time since it opened in April on Labor Day. We both did the smart thing when going to a casino decide how much you’ll lose and when you’ve lost that, you’re done. I did that the first time, well only time, I went to Vegas and considered myself a winner because I only lost about a third of what I planned to lose!

The truth is there’s only been one time that I went to a casino and left with more money than I came in with. John used to go the Motor City Casino in Detroit often enough that he got the occasional big coupon to Iridescence, the very hoity-toity restaurant there. That’s when he called little sis and asked me out to hoity toity dinner and some gambling. It was a chance to spend an evening with one of my closest friends, have a very nice diner with edible art dessert and donate my $20 to the casino while having a little fun with the draw poker machines. This was while John was playing the table games.

Well, that one night, after John has spent his donation to the casino for the evening, he found me having a jolly time at a machine not noticing what the total of credits was because I knew I was winning enough that it hadn’t asked for more coins. That was back when the machines still used coins; much more fun than putting paper money in and getting a paper slip if you win. John had looked at the credit total I was ignoring with huge eyes. “You know that credit total is eighty dollars’ worth of quarters, right?” I lost the next few hands after realizing how much was there, so I hit the cash button and listened to almost eighty dollars in quarters, with bells, spill out of the machine. That’s why I like the old-school coin machines better than the new-fangled paper ones. Like when I cashed out of machines in Vegas, you just feel like more of a winner when the coin cup gets too heavy to carry!

On Monday, because I didn’t really want to go because I didn’t have money I wanted to donate to the casino, David gave me a gambling stipend. We found a draw poker machine I liked and he put the bill in for me and left to find the poker room. I brought my Nook and our agreement was that when he was ready to go, I’d either be in this area playing poker or I’d be having a latte and reading. The machines are really set up so that you win often enough and big enough or almost big enough, to make you feel like you really did well, almost won, but after a decent while, they still get the money. I like that! Just next time I need to pick one of the machines for people who are there with people who play well and last longer! David found me reading the end of the current book and having just finished my latte. He wasn’t a winner that night either, but I think we might go again sometime.


**  We gathered up the cats for that annual trip that if you listened to them you’d swear we were going to the violin string factory. The greatest thing about choosing a vet that is less than a mile away is the ride with the cat chorus is short. We called it playing “Meowco Purro” as Carla would sound the desperate cry from her carrier and Kaline would respond with equal pathos from hers. Carla is 12 pounds and the paperweight that sleeps on my hip is 13! They said it’s average for girls and they look and sound great otherwise. It’s just amazing to me because in all her 17 years, the heaviest Azzie ever was, and that was only one time she weighted in that heavy, was 8 pounds. She was usually 7-1/2. I asked to be reassured that 12 and 13 pounds was normal and was told it’s normal. They eat light cat food, their preference, we tried to go back to regular; they were not impressed, run and play like crazy and don’t have a ton of treats, they’re not crazy about people food either. If they were overweight, I don’t know what we’d do.

Kaline’s seasonal eye problem is allergies. We were given the choice between eye ointment like last year, pills or children’s Benadryl. We’d had better experiences with liquids in the past, so we went with the children’s Benadryl. Yeah, that was a good idea! We got a drop of the first dose on her tongue and she was foaming at the mouth trying to get it out. Her eye is getting better and we’ll try the medicine again if it doesn’t keep improving, but adding that much stress isn’t going to help her.


**  The book I almost finished at the casino and did finish Tuesday morning was Blood and Bones by Austin Camacho. It’s the second Hannibal Jones book and I have all of the Hannibal Jones books; three read, two more to go. I love Hannibal! He is strong, smart and one of those champions for people. If you enjoy mysteries with a lot of action, some violence and great, but realistic, moral victories, definitely try out Austin Camacho’s Hannibal Jones mysteries!


**  About Dear God, by XTC: Don’t get this wrong! Dear God is an old song that I’ve recently become aware of and it is NOT a religious song, in that atheism is the lack of religion. The song has made me think a lot. Churches try to “save” atheists, but after listening to the lyrics, I wonder if those trying to save them have ever asked WHY they don’t believe. While people are starving, living in the streets, children and animals are abused, families are falling apart, many churches are fighting for superiority amongst themselves and government control. I really think I can understand why they don’t see God. We don’t always do a good job of showing Him. Maybe churches aren’t here to “save” the atheists; maybe the atheists are here to save the churches. Just a little food for thought.