pie recipe

I hope you've all been over to Mike's blog and voted on this week's poll. Usually his polls are opinions, but this week there is very clearly a correct answer.

Nothing much has been happening the last couple of days. I'm mostly feeling better, although I had a coughing rampage that lasted for a good hour this morning. I've been watching more TV. We have over 72 hours free on our DVR right now. This is the most we've had since we got the thing. Usually we hover around 20, breaking 30 was a big deal a couple of weeks ago. The new TV should be delivered tomorrow, and our new HD satellite service is set up on Thursday. Alfred's a man with a mission, he's not messing around. Right now he's heating up milk to make yogurt. He's asking me what I'm writing about. Not much, obviously. Today's picture is from when we went to Ichetucknee with Mercedes and Ilya back in September. I was making bread dough sticks like we used to make when I went camping with my family. I was drunk from my multi-colored Russians. You can see some of the bread dough on my toes. Also, there are about 20 pictures of me with that flashlight wedged under my chin like that.

So, the aforementioned pie recipe. A couple of people commented on my last post asking for it, so here it is. It's the one my mom uses and that my grandma and great grandma used to use. History, people! Anyway, use 3/4 cup Crisco, 2 cups flour, and 2 tablespoons sugar. Mix it all together, adding a tablespoon or so of ice water as you need it. Then just roll it out and bake it at 375. I used to go wrong with the water, I never added enough, then I watched my mom make it and saw that she adds at least a couple tablespoons. It's simple but oh so delicious. I can eat it plain by the pound. This recipe makes 2 crusts, although I usually need to add a little more of each thing to make sure I have enough. Mmm, pie...

black friday and beyond

Alfred made a pretty good purchase this year for Black Friday: a new TV! It's a 46 inch Samsung flat screen, and he got a really good price. He actually bought it on Wednesday night, but that's just a minor detail. It apparently already shipped, so we should get it this week! Very exciting! In order to rationalize spending the money on a TV, Alfred returned his fancy camera last week. He hadn't really used it since our trip, and we'll probably use a TV a little more, so I guess it all works out.

I had to work on Friday, unfortunately. It kind of sucked not having the day off, but at least we had quite a few customers so I was busy outside doing tours almost all day. It made the day go by quickly, that's for sure. After work Alfred and I met up with Kevin and Gara for the evening. We started out at Claude's, which is always awesome, and then went to a wine bar for some dinner and drinks. This place was a total cougar den, we were the youngest people in there by far. Alfred liked that, seeing as how he's getting all old and stuff. (kidding, honey!)

This weekend has been the epitome of laziness for me. I've had a bit of a cold, and Alfred informed me that I need to watch and delete everything on the DVR that I care about before he gets a new HD one this week, so it was like a perfect storm. I have literally been sitting on the couch watching TV (and occasionally knitting) all weekend. There's probably going to be an imprint of my ass on this cushion for quite some time. I did manage to step outside today for approximately 1 minute, so that was good. I've been following my usual regimen of Cold Eeze and orange juice for 2 days straight, so hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow. I actually really like to have these totally lazy weekends sometimes, and it was probably good since I'm sick, but Alfred has definitely reached his limit.

word

So, we've been busy. And I've been sick. I was fine all weekend, felt just a tiny bit sniffly Sunday as we were getting ready for bed, but totally healthy. Then bam, woke up with a miserable cold Monday morning. Going through tissues like it was my job. Today it seems to have moved more into my throat and chest, so at least my nose gets a break. Which reminds me, I should go refill my orange juice glass. ..... Ok, I'm back. I really did go get oj, too. You can ask Alfred. He's sitting here on the phone with Ilya. They're talking about blueberry picking this weekend. We need to stock up again, our supply from last year is out.

So, the business. Monday evening we had a couple of friends stop by for dinner. We see them about once every 2 years, they live out near Tampa. Alfred knows JJ (the guy) from like middle school or something, I think they were in boy scouts together, and he was in the their wedding.

They ended up spending the night in the guest cottage and then leaving in the morning. They brought some sort of good beer which I didn't drink because I was miserable and dripping snot everywhere. Being stuffed up is the worst. But a fun evening, anyway. Christy works at Busch Gardens as a zoo keeper, so she had plenty of interesting anecdotes to share.

Yesterday we met up with Ilya, Mercedes, Max, and Ellery for a big wing dinner. We polished off 100 wings without much effort. They were ok. Not Anchor Bar quality, certainly, but not bad. Then we went to Ilya and Mercedes' house to work on a website and spent the night up there. We were woken up at 6:30 by a dog barking down the street, but someone finally let the dog in (or someone shot it or something) because we eventually fell back asleep and didn't wake up until 8:30! It was craziness! I have big plans to go to bed early tonight too, so tomorrow I'll be completely healthy again. I've been saying that since Monday, and eventually it has to come true.

Alfred's about to make banana chutney. We have 2 bananas that are far beyond ripe. I'll report back with the results later. Oh, and as he was about to move the load of laundry from the washer into the drier he discovered another load already in the drier. As he just said, "we need a better maid."

eyelid update

I think my eyelid issue is resolving. I woke up Saturday with eyelids so swollen I could only open my eyes about halfway. So I stopped using a bunch of different things for the weekend (like lotions, shampoo, stuff like that), and they've gotten much better. I'm going to slowly start re-using the things I stopped using and see if I can figure out what it was. So that's good news.

Saturday we also did something we very rarely do: we went shopping together! Not grocery shopping, we do that fairly regularly together, but clothes and other stuff shopping. And - the most unusual part - we bought Alfred a pair of jeans! The boy hates shopping for and trying on clothes, but he was bitten by the fashion bug so off we went. It was fun, actually. We looked at Christmas decorations too, Alfred wants to put up more lights this year. We thought about starting to put some up this weekend but decided to screw it. (I was going to put in a picture of our house decorated for Christmas in the past, but can't seem to find any. Too bad. Instead, here's a picture of tiny Ella feeding beer to a stuffed animal. It was taken at Christmas time. Good enough.)

I did manage to get over my cold this weekend, but have been stuffy all day today. It's getting a little ridiculous.

what's wrong with me?

First off, I'm forgetful. When I was little I once forgot to bring the present to my friend's birthday party, and the following year I forgot about her party entirely. Today after work when I got the mail I saw the recycling bin there, needing to be brought in, and by the time I got to the garage I forgot about it. I remember now, obviously, but I'm all comfy in my pj's and there's no way I'm going outside now. Also, I procrastinate. Although if I phrase it as I work well under pressure, it sounds more positive. I've gotten better about that over the last few years though, the museum has helped me. We get so busy that I can't put things off when we're not busy. I also used to be chronically late, by maybe 5 or 10 minutes, but I've gotten better about that too. Now I like to be a few minutes early, if possible. Now I just have to convert Alfred.

But I didn't actually intend to discuss my character traits. I meant what's wrong with me physically. Specifically, my eyelids. Lately I've been getting these weird patches of dry, red skin on my eyelids, and sometimes it itches. It always sucks. It's not a reaction to makeup or anything, because I never wear makeup at the museum. And I haven't changed any of my face wash or lotions or anything. Between my red eyelids, red nose from blowing it all day, and dry lips from the cold weather, I am not currently at my most attractive.

One last thing: I'm re-reading Gone With The Wind, and loving it. I wish I brought it home from work to read tonight. Guess I'll have to read the internets instead.

stupid weather

It got cold, and I got a cold. Figures. It hit me last night. I slept in an extra hour this morning instead of exercising and felt ok all day, then within the last hour or so I've been going downhill again. At least I felt ok at work, it sucks to be sick at work. Maybe if I get another good night of sleep I'll officially be better tomorrow. I'm also hoping that this means I won't get sick when we go to NY next week, because normally I do. And it sucks. So anyway, go here and look at some funny cakes. I'm going to bed.

updates

My digestive system: Recovery in progress. I've been feeling mostly better since late yesterday afternoon. Now my stomach only hurts for a couple hours after I eat. Could be worse. Hopefully I'll be fully recovered tomorrow, Alfred said he's going to make me suffer at the gym. I can't wait.

My burn: Still disgusting. I can see that it's healing, but it's taking it's sweet time. It probably doesn't help that the scab keeps cracking and then starts oozing and bleeding again. Last night I put a band aid on it so I wouldn't bump it and pull the scab off in my sleep. Instead, the whole scab peeled off when I took off the band aid this morning. I'm sure this particular storyline is very enjoyable for all.

My azaleas: Not dead yet! My in laws brought us 2 more plants when they came over for dinner a couple weekends ago, and I planted them next to the first one. Then before she left my mom raked and weeded all around them to give them some space to breathe. They look good! Well, the one on the right looked a little droopy last night, hopefully it just needed some water (which I gave it). Aren't they cute?


It's a little hard to see, but all the white splotches on the ground toward the bottom of the picture is bird crap from the herons that nest on our property. You should see our roof. Or right next to where Katie parks her car. They're disgusting creatures. And annoying: they kept screaming and waking me up the other night. And apparently not very bright, since they're nesting in our yard again.

blech

I think I have a stomach virus. I started having a stomach ache yesterday a little before lunch. I thought I was just hungry, but it started getting worse about an hour after I ate. Then I started getting chills and feeling nauseous. I was miserable the rest of the day at work. As soon as we got home I just laid in bed for awhile, then spent the rest of the night on the couch, trying to get comfortable. Besides my stomach ache, my lower back was really hurting for some reason, so I kept moving around and adjusting pillows and blankets to try to minimize the pain. I didn't get much sleep; I kept tossing and turning, and when I did fall asleep I would have hallucinating dreams about websites about missing children and bread recipes. Very weird, and not very restful.

I feel a little better today. If I was at maybe 50% yesterday, I'm up to maybe 70% today. I ate a little oatmeal and had some juice for breakfast, which hurt but was probably good for me. It also meant I was able to take an aleve, so my back feels better. And at least I'm just sitting all day, whenever I stand up I get nauseous. But hey, at least I was down a couple pounds this morning! :)

Oh yeah, and my friend had her baby yesterday - it's a boy!