Lisa's Day

Still More December

  12/14/08 4:47 pm Blah Sunday. I feel SOOOOO unmotivated. Can I just say that 2008 sucked?

12/14/08 Friday night was the [Holiday Party], at Union Station, in the Thunder Grille. It was fun. The House Ale was fantastic. I had six glasses. Wine glasses. Probably the equivalent of three beers. Had an interesting conversation with Mrs. Boss.

12/14/08 She finally came to find me by the bar and said, "Hi! The woman who spends more time with my husband than I do! Sorry about that." Ha! Then she tells me the nephew wedding they went to in June fell apart. Four months into it she up and left him.

12/14/08 Then their daughter, who got married in August, is on the verge of leaving her husband, due to clash of personalities which everyone saw beforehand but them. Wow. Soap operas. So, we rode Metro home late, like 9:00 pm.

12/14/08 Saturday I got paid - YAY! Monday is actually payday. We went out shopping. First to Corridor. I made a list on my computer at work, and had a sparkling wine picked out for the Girls and a Sake for my Boss. But I ended up getting different stuff.

12/14/08 Near the door, I spotted this cute White Zin with reindeer names - don't even remember which ones. I was going to get one to try first, and this guy wheeled his cart past us and said he got a case because his kids love it. (His adult kids!) [It is: Prancer & Vixen White Zinfandel by Eight Tiny Reindeer Winery in California.]

12/14/08 So I grabbed three more. We opened it last night - it IS good. And a store employee saw us looking at Sake and recommended one, so I got it. Then we went to Target for a ton of stuff. Then home to dump the stuff. Then to Michael's. Steve went to Best Buy. Then Starbucks (of course).

12/14/08 Then Harris Teeter for grocery shopping. Last night I wrapped up Jami's stuff, in the square ramekins I got at work, forgotten by a caterer. I'm four gifts short! So I need four more little thingys. I found something for Mom and Bob at Michael's.

12/14/08 Decorative Snowman on a sled. And I opened my paper from Daniel Smith and they sent the wrong thing! Aargh! It's soft. It's NOT Stonehenge! I emailed them today. Today I also scanned and posted the end of November.

12/14/08 I'm so behind on blogging, but it's hard to get motivated when nobody is reading it. And I have no artistic motivation to speak of. I'm getting nowhere. Nowhere. Utter failure.

12/15/08 8:59 pm I forgot to write about my Anaheim Pepper chemical burn yesterday to my hands. I cut up two for the pork roast and chili. I dug out the seeds and membranes with my hands. Later, I sneezed. I put my hands over my mouth.

12/15/08 Then happened to lick my lips. A few seconds later: AAAAHH! PAIN! TINGLING! Steve had to pour me a glass of milk! Later, after doing some dishes - the hot water - my hands were ON FIRE.

  12/15/08 They were tingly off and on for most of the day! Last time I do that. Today - my bangs were CRAZY.

12/16/08 9:20 pm Messy. I told Steve I felt like my life was just slipping away, and he said, "What did you just say?!"

12/17/08 8:14 pm I forgot to put out butter last night for chocolate chip cookie dough, but this morning I put it in the oven. Before we left, I mixed up the dough. It's Martha Stewart's recipe, but I'm aging it 36 hours per the NY Times.

12/17/08 This evening I mixed up dough for Martha's Cowboy Cookies (they have oats, nuts, coconut and chocolate in them). I broke up two Lindt milk chocolate bars for those. I will bake tomorrow night. They're for gifts. But I sampled the dough. Yum.

12/17/08 Now I'm kind of liking my poufy bangs.

12/18/08 12:37 pm At lunch. I better make a note and a drg before I'm scrambling out of bed for paper. Tonight I have to bake cookies. And take the bus home, because Steve woke up sick, with a scratchy squeaky voice.

12/18/08 I also have to run out to Corridor for some mini liquor bottles for Jami's gift. I am still two items short to fill all the ramekins. And I need to find something for Steve's birthday. He said awhile back he wanted whisky for sipping.

12/18/08

12/18/08 I trimmed my bangs this morning, and the rest of my hair. But I have to trim again - my "tail" right in the middle in the back. It's nice and tapered, but too long. Not bad for pulling forward to cut.

12/19/08 7:58 pm It's Steve's BIRTHDAY today! But he stayed home. I took the car. He still needed a day of rest. I let him open the whisky this morning before I left. After I got home, I saw that he'd gotten into the Maker's Mark. He liked it.

12/19/08 I gave out all my presents at work, and got all mine. Everyone liked their wine & cookies, and Boss Man liked his Sake. He gave me a $100.00 Barnes & Noble gift card. He said since it was my last day, he had to go out shopping last night.

12/19/08 Then I opened Darla's gift - the Peanuts Holiday DVD set! She said, "You know we just ask Steve what to get you." Michelle made us all Bailey's - homemade Bailey's. Can't wait to try it. Sharon came in around lunchtime - she's still sick.

12/19/08 She got me a big cat calendar, which I put up at my desk. And this plastic figure of Charlie Brown, with the "Pathetic Tree," complete with Linus' blanket and a red ornament. And a Peanuts card that plays Peanuts music when you open it.

12/19/08 And a $50.00 Lands End gift card, because she knows I hate my work clothes. She went home when she took me to the Metro station. I stopped at Safeway on the way home for frozen lasagna. Stouffer's Italiano - yum.

12/19/08 Strange drg. I'm tired. Really tired.

12/20/08 8:39 pm Jason called last night! I heard Steve pick up the phone, but I was ZONKED OUT. I mean ZONKED. I don't feel so good today. We did lots of shopping today. I'm wiped.

Some More December

12/7/08 3:38 pm Lazy Sunday. We got a slow start. After lunch we started a Fed Comm ship battle. We're hanging around before we go out - have to make a few stops before we head out to Mike's for gaming. It snowed last night. It's all gone, now.

12/7/08 I don't really know what I'm doing with my drawing. I think I just need to keep drawing and work it out. I probably won't come to any conclusions for awhile.

  12/7/08

12/8/08 8:15 pm Did anything happen today? Not really. Still on the bus. Both ways today. Actually, all week. Except Friday. That's our Holiday Party. And Steve only works till 2 pm that day.

12/8/08 I really should:

12/9/08 9:30 pm OMG! Almost forgot today!

12/10/08 5:58 am Cooling off on the couch. After my shower. Naked. This week I've been getting up at 4:30 am for a short workout. And I've been doing short evening workouts, instead of just sitting on the couch watching t.v. I haven't really gotten much drg done. I feel like I just don't know what to do.

12/10/08 I feel like I'm just drifting - no plans, no progress. Just get up, go to work, come home. Sleep. My tedious life. So I had to start working out again. We'll see if I make any progress. I feel like my brain is disengaged. And I don't know how to re-engage.

12/10/08

  12/11/08 8:03 pm What?

12/12/08

12/12/08

  12/12/08

12/13/08

Some December

12/1/08 8:06 pm

 

12/2/08 8:13 pm

12/3/08 12:57 pm

12/4/08 12:54 pm

12/5/08 6:52 am On the bus. Yay. I'm having a better morning today than yesterday. Yesterday I tipped over my coffee before I got the lid on. Sploosh, everywhere. Even in the metal pan where we keep the oil and pepper shakers. I only had time to mop it up with paper towels. Steve cleaned it later.

12/5/08 Then, on the bus, I notice black marks on my ugly khaki pants. From resting backpack in my lap? Mishap in the laundry? And at work some renters tried to start a fire. They put a small pad of paper under a projector to raise it up, instead of screwing out the legs. It burned a circle on the pad.

12/5/08 I stepped outside our office to go down the hall, and it smelled like a campfire. Stupid people! And I'm so bored at work. It was very quiet yesterday. And dull. Bah.

12/5/08 12:48 PM

12/6/08 4:59 PM

Finishing up November

11/28/08 7:50 pm Quiet Day After Thanksgiving. We slept in. Steve wanted waffles for breakfast, so we went to the Silver Diner. We haven't been there in the longest time. We went to Starbucks. Then the mall. Yes, the mall. We saw a screaming match in the parking lot over a parking space.

11/28/08 I found a few things for Jami, for Janet, a few others. And we got a new kettle at Bed Bath & Beyond with our coupon. I went to Bass Proletariat. A little cashier had a meltdown. My older cashier had to go console little crying cashier...she came back and said, "She's new and she's young!"

11/28/08 Sunday night, due to frosting cookies - with too much frosting I might add - I never wrote about Randy's salmon dinner. He said we were having smoked salmon. I thought he meant that stuff in the package that I really don't like. Um, NO.

11/28/08 He had prepped a salmon fillet (something about salt and sugar?) and then cooked it in the smoker. MY GOD was that good. I mean, really. Then, yesterday, Thanksgiving at Mike's, they smoked a turkey. MY GOD was that good.

11/28/08 I MEAN, REALLY! That was the best turkey we ever, ever had. It was moist end to end. I'm wishing we had a smoker. You have to smoke it for 14 hours, though. They put it on at 12:30 am! And had to tend to it every few hours!

11/28/08 They had a guy over from church, and Corey. We had so much fun. There was so much food. We brought Chex Mix made with Frank's Hot Sauce, cranberry sauce, and the cookies with TOO MUCH FROSTING! Geez.

11/28/08 I mean, really. And everyone wanted my Sugar Cookies - the better ones - so we brought home the last couple of Gingerbread. Next time: Sugar Cookies in the cookie press and thin pouring of icing. Which is what I should have done.

11/28/08 I should have poured a thin layer of white icing, then piped a thin line of chocolate icing for the features. Oh, well. I swear, I am never doing that again. No more rolled and cut out cookies. I mean, really!

11/28/08 Okay, the wine is finally taking effect. I got a bottle of Beringer White Zin. Even though our pantry is turning into a wine closet. We have like nine bottles of wine. And I still have three bottles of wine under my desk. Sharon raided the wine again on Monday.

11/28/08

11/29/08 7:20 pm We drove all over creation today, in crazy MD traffic. We went to find Steve's two temp jobs, so he'll know where to go. This involved driving on 495 a lot. One job is in Bethesda, one in Gaithersburg. We were in the neighborhood, so we also went to Penzey's Spices.

11/29/08 We both got kind of pissy due to traffic, bad drivers, lack of road signage, wrong turns, etc. At Penzey's we had to run to the Taco Bell next door for a snack of tacos, because our blood sugar dropped. Next time we are paying $6.95 to have Penzey's freaking shipped.

11/29/08 Then we finally came back towards home and went grocery shopping at Harris Teeter. Then finally home. Steve tells me I look tired. He told me to go look in the mirror at the bags under my eyes. He told me I was tossing last night.

11/29/08

11/30/08 3:50 pm Well, it's been a Sunday of cooking. Steve gave me a sleeping pill last night, so at least I got a good night's sleep. Every time I woke up in the middle of the night (it was a few times), I could feel I was still under the effects of it.

11/30/08 This morning I made Cheese Biscuits. Then peanut butter oat bars. Then we roasted vegetables and made a tomato sauce for a recipe I found in the paper - roasted veggies layered with cheese (we used Havarti) and tomato sauce. Tomorrow we'll cover w/3-cheese and bread crumbs and bake.

11/30/08 We prepped for Pad Thai. Then we made dinner: chicken in iron skillet w/oven-roasted balsamic potatoes and cranberry sauce. We had salad to use up, so Steve suggested putting the chicken and cranberries on a bed of lettuce. I suggested finishing up the Blue Cheese dressing on top. Yum!

11/30/08 We're going to Mike's tonight for gaming, so Steve made the Pad Thai, and we're taking it with us to eat cold for dinner. Steve starts a 3-week temp job tomorrow, at three different locations, so we won't be able to make Tues. night gaming.

11/30/08 So, Mike rescheduled. Oh, and Steve's 3rd temp job is in DC, which is why we didn't need to find it yesterday. He'll Metro in for that one. It's been gray and dreary and rainy all day, too.

11/30/08

Demented Mickey Mouse Cookies

  Mickey Assembly Line

I piped all the frosting. First I piped the white - two swirls for ears, one swirl for face. (Was it because of the swirl?!) Then I piped chocolate swirl on ears, then the face. There was WAY too much frosting on these cookies. And the Sugar Cookies were better frosted than the Gingerbread. And of course everyone ate the Sugar Cookies, so all we had leftover were GIngerbread. I'm going to try that Sugar Cookie recipe in the cookie press.

This was the last one I did. We ate him.

Some Recent Meals

 Steak cooked on the cast iron stovetop grille, oven-roasted balsamic potatoes and onions, white asparagus and baked mushrooms. Was THAT a good meal.

Pork Chops with a yummy mushroom sauce, soba noodles, spinach.

Here's something to do with leftover cranberry sauce: chicken cooked in iron skillet, over lettuce with cranberry sauce and blue cheese dressing. Leftover oven roasted balsamic potatoes and onions on the side.

More November - the Week of Cookies

  11/24/08 8:39 pm Frak! It happened again!! Remind me NEVER to do this again. Rolled, cut and frosted cookies are too much work. TOO MUCH WORK.

11/25/08 6:55 pm And tonight I'm just too freaking tired. I frosted all the cookies last night. Oh, is that why my upper back hurts.

11/25/08 Then I covered all the chipboard in foil. I didn't tape them or anything. I just folded the foil in on all sides. Then I had to watch all of Prison Break. Exciting! BUT: GUYS, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?! They just handed over Scylla to that dorky agent?!

11/25/08 When he shows up alone in a car?! Saying, oh a van will be here in half an hour?! I can't believe they didn't hold Scylla hostage, like: Oh, it's at a secure location and you'll get it when we get what was promised. Oh, well. As one online reviewer keeps reminding us: this is television.

11/25/08 So, I went to bed late. And got up early, at 5:00 am. Well, after one snooze. I spent half an hour wrapping all the cookies. When the first one slid off the foil, I remembered to anchor them all with frosting.

11/25/08 Good thing I had some left. I packed eight to send to Pat. Wrapped in bubble wrap. I brought one Gingerbread to Michelle and one to Darla, but one Gingerbread and one Sugar Cookie to Sharon.

11/25/08 And I put Sharon's in a box and mailed them to her, since she's out. When I logged in to ship Pat's box UPS, it said I can't use an express box to ship ground. So I covered it in brown paper. Ha! I was fine all day, till I got on the train home. Then:  ooh - TIRED.

  11/26/08 8:04 pm Still tired. Making cranberry sauce tonight. We'll make Chex Mix tomorrow morning, so it's fresh.

11/27/08 12:53 pm We just left Starbucks, and are on our way to Mike's early. Because the power went out! It blinks a lot, but this time it went out and stayed out. So Steve called Mike, who said come on over early.

11/27/08 I had been watching my tape of Top Chef - the last three minutes! I know the three candidates for elimination, but not who gets sent home! We unplugged the t.v., vcr, etc. I guess we'll have to reprogram everything. We'll see when we get home.

  11/27/08 We made the Chex Mix this morning. Yum. Spicy! I let my hair dry naturally today. Then I pulled it back into a pony tail.