I'm Ba-a-ck...

And so hating life at hours this early in the AM knowing I have to actually go to work today.

And it's the last week of the year an the last week at the current site (the whole kit and caboodle is moving starting FRIDAY) and it's all just hitting me now.

AND OF COURSE I didn't start any office packing before I left for LA, hello? Have we been introduced?

Okay, enough negativity...time to get out there and at least pretend a bit of productivity.

(Yes, maybe I am a bit more Pollyanna than I used to be in high school...I still wear the same amount of black though.)

On the Ground

In la la LAnd.

Surprising mom? Totally priceless.

I got a hug and a kiss and a smack on the rump for not letting her clean house before I arrived. But dude, totally worth it.

I've helped put up and trim the tree, have wrapped a million presents, and oh yeah, someone remind me never ever ever to go to a mall the weekend before xmas. I have no idea what I was thinking when I volunteered to go pick up "one last thing." It must be the euphoria associated with home-cooked food and family, that's my only excuse.

Okay, little brother is eying the computer like it's his turn or something...kids these days :).

Real or Imagined?

There is an old "Rhymes with Orange" comic that I may have referred to in one of my ever-growing number of posts...the text is basically:

If you study too much your brain will swell and dislodge itself from it's place, fall down into your throat, and choke you to death...or something.

So here is my theory, having studied brains, learning, and the stuff that happens therein:

If you study a whole lot, (can there be too much?) for a long time, you crowd out things your brain feels might be so trivial that it eventually starts shoving huge swaths of stuff into places you can only access when half awake in the shower. And it might drive you mad trying to figure out if it was a dream or really happened.

A whole lot of my past falls into this category. Granted, adding um, body chemical altering substances (so as to not say booze and smokes if my little brother ever finds my blog, hi!) in the mix really makes it hard to remember feeding L stove top one turkey day...or being in other L's apartment more than just that one time we played RISK...

I feel like I'm going to need other people to help me remember my past if I keep changing careers/learning new ways to make money. (Learning about fiscal closings and GAAP and USAID requirements is a little less trivial than I thought it'd be...silly me.)

But sometimes you don't have the someone in your life anymore to verify...

I can't stop thinking about the time I arranged to pick up my best friend from high school at the airport. We were attending colleges at opposite ends of the country and I was home first. Did I call her mom and volunteer? Did I call her? I don't remember the details anymore.

But at the airport, back when you could go all the way up to the terminal door? Really, kids, you could! There was no TSA and you could take LITERS of water onto a plane and the pilots used to walk around and say "hi" (so they could take a break and maybe stretch and maybe NOT FALL ASLEEP while doing their pilot thing?!?) and if you were under twelve and FLYING ALONE (is that allowed anymore?!?) or super cute, or even just smiled and said "hi," they gave you "wings."

I am so very old. Where was I...

At the terminal...a roundish one...I sat and waited for K's plane to arrive and...here is where I am wondering "live or memorex"...K's mom/dad/both? Appear...just to make sure I showed, then left before K's plane landed.

My 19 year-old self felt utter disappointment that they didn't trust me. (My 35 year-old self smiles at the lengths parents went through in the days before cell phones.) See, I remember the feelings associated with the whole experience...and I'm getting extreme deja vu writing this out...if I did already once, long ago, I blame learning about Use Tax Application.

Well...I gotta finish packing (procrastination, I am it), my flight to El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles del Río de Porciúncula (frankly, much cooler that just plain "LA" in my over-filled mind) is only a few hours away...so unless I can wrest the keyboard from my baby brother's grasp, more radio silence to come...

If I don't make it back on to post: Happy Holidays! Cuz they're all piling up around us whether or not we celebrate any of them.

Unless Blood or Tears are Involved, it Doesn't Count

I'm talkin' 'bout a sewing project of course!

So...I'm done.

I know, I know, my little Janome Jem (truly outrageous - sorry, couldn't help it) has been through thick and thin...some of these instances have even been chronicled here! Therefor it should be no surprise that it's bound to be an adventure whenever I have to take out my little patchwork Jem.

This was to be an easy venture. My dad's xmas gift, which needs to be packed and shipped tomorrow if I'm to fulfill my ruse. Oh, did I not mention this?

Right, it's been a while. And I've been under radio silence because somehow time keeps passing much quicker than I need it to and it's easier to keep quiet about everything to everyone that to make up stories to keep the lie going....

See, for the first time in what seems like decades, I'm going home for xmas. To make it extra crispy special, we're not telling my mom, it's her xmas gift :). Why am I spilling the beans now? Because I leave in 4 days and I needed some rant and understanding time.

I've planned and plotted with my mom every year to try to get the gifts home on time for distribution and general last minute nonsenses (i.e. "I don't know what to get so-and-so, what are "we" getting him/her/them.") It's usually my dad's gift, you see.

This time though! I figured it out! ALL. By. Myself. I was soooo proud.

The man needs an upgrade from the sad towels he uses to warm his legs in the early winter mornings on his drive across LA to get to work. I would find him a cool lap blanket. Yes, I do know the term oxymoron. Yes, I quickly found out that there is no such thing as a "cool" and/or lap-sized anything with the term "blanket" as a part of its name.

See, this year? It's about throws. Big, fluffy, floofy, fancy throws made of cashmere, merino, mink (seriously?), high quality fake furs, and any and all things non machine-washable.

Hence the need for a trip to a big box craft store to pick up some fleece and thread, and time to pull out my wee little Janome Jem (truly outrageous) for some sewing fun!

Cuz sewing is fun! Really! Unless you need to wind a bobbin and notice this:
My bobbin winder's bobbin holder (say that 3xs fast) has had a piece of it snapped off. I found the piece in the bag. My theory is that it happened during the last move... Regardless, I either need to find a way to fix it, or buy a new machine.

What? Why so drastic a remedy? Because I am done.

I never loved this machine the way I did my Singer (see that linked post above), and every, single, time I need to use it lately has involved my laying out cash for bits, pieces or, in this case, pre-spooled bobbins.

Why didn't I just go get one of those "side-winder" thingies? Because I did. Go out. In the freezing pre-snow-feeling Seattle weather (maybe not down here, but it is snowing in Everett as I type), to hunt it down. The one place that had it? The same big box store previously mentioned, for $40. No, you're not reading that wrong. Yes, I know it's only $19 for the pink one on the website, but in the store? It costs more than I'm willing to shell out for something that might not even wind bobbins that fit with my machine. They had a whole list down the side of the box...not a gamble I wanted to take, I'd rather spend that $40 in LA next week.

So instead I went to Quality Sewing & Vacuum in Ballard to see what my options were...fixing that wee piece, is now more than the machine is worth. See, it's $150 just to send it in to be looked at. When I needed it cleaned and checked out for last years stockings? It was cheaper than buying a new one, I had a coupon, so I went for it.

After being told everything is good and yet STILL having to fight with it every step of the way? I kinda came to the realization that this little machine and I may need to part ways. Today? possibly the last straw.

See, I did accomplish my task:
One lap blanket in black fleece and some black/gray flannel that was going to become pajama pants, but as it was mis-measured for me at the same big-named craft store it was sitting in my sewing tub waiting for a project.

I folded it so you could see the two sides, but also so that it hides the fact that it's not quite rectangular. See, along with the usual cursing and letting of blood that my sewing adventure usually gives me...I also fought with the "teeth" that help move the fabric along. Apparently my little Jem was hungry.

I may have mentioned a straw breaking above? Yep...I'm thinking I need to start saving for a new sewing machine. By the time I need to sew again? I may have gathered enough pennies. (Have you all noticed I only bust out the machine a couple times a year? And to prove I'm not the professional sewer, um, this is the machine that I'm thinking of replacing my little guy with, and before you say anything, yes, it's another Janome.)

And for you knitters:

Done!

65 inches after washing. I didn't block it because, well, it's Berocco Comfort and it's not like the college student that gets this will either.

It's to be packed and sent off to OFA tomorrow...yey!

Speaking of packing? I need to get my act together as I leave on Thursday morning and there are a million things on my to do list before I get dropped off at the airport. This is the part of traveling that I really really hate.

58" Long, but Only When Lying Down

My red scarf (yeah, I'm doing one of those as well) is now 58" long, when laid out on the carpet...but only seem to come up to my chin when I'm standing up...(I'm 63.5" tall)

Either I've grown, or um, something changes quite drastically between laying something down and having gravity play with it.

Hmm, I just read what I wrote,and I am 12, as I am giggling with how dirty that all sounds. Is it sad I have to remind myself I am still just speaking about yarn? I must be tired.

Was My Last Post Really That Long Ago?

Hmm, the 22nd...I um, guess it was.

So 'member how I said I was stuffed last week? We had Turkey dinner #2 on Friday, the um, 27th (in lieu of black Friday, more on that some other day). I swear, there must have been a competition between L&L and J&L about how much wonderful food they could make and convince me to eat.

There was a couch with my name on it...and then given a blanket to collapse under...cuz boy-howdy, my system was so devoted to digesting my arms and legs totally froze!

Andy did not make it past the first few minutes post feasting, opting to go to bed instead of watching "the something Riddick" or whatever movie was on. Knowing it would be very very bad of me to lie down so soon after eating (hello heartburn) I watched and inspected my eyelids in turns. We were all stunned into silence, and part of it really was because the movie was soooo gimmicky and terribly cliche...but really, what were we expecting.

My eyelid inspecting won the coin toss in the end and I awoke to the final line of the movie...which, along with most of Vin Diesel's dialogue needed translating...but whatevers, a click of J's magic remote and suddenly we were SUCKED into the stories behind The Facts of Life. No really! And we were all awake and laughing and commenting and my word, what is wrong with Natalie's eyebrows?!?! (If I pick up the outside edges of mine and lift them a la Mr. Spock, I get the same weird skin looking deal going, so I should shut up now...). And Mrs. Garret was still alive! And singing on cruise ships! Oh my youth...

It was a grand way to end the evening.

Another Thanksgiving successfully navigated. Oh, except for the pies I made...

I didn't mention the pies for J&L's did I?

Well, same pies as L&L's. Except I fiddled with the crust after some more comments and recommendations at work...I did something TERRIBLY wrong. I have pictures I can load later. They are quite pretty. Perfect for the bright lights and long hours of food photography. But if you want a slice? Break out a hacksaw for the crust...no really.

I have no idea what went wrong. As of last night I can finally cut into it with a regular non-serrated knife. But on Friday? HA HA HA HA, we had so much fun making fun of my rock hard pretty crust, lemme tell ya.

Remind me not to mess with a good thing.

Early Thanksgiving...

I am officially stuffed.

And there are so many leftovers!

Which I didn't cook!

I love being the "single person" at couples' Thanksgivings...especially early ones like L&L&T's! Now I'm set for sweet potato pie until Turkey Day!

I would upload pictures of the pumpkin pie and the stuffed mushrooms Andy and I contributed, but a) I forgotted to take pictures of the mushrooms, and b) the pie pictures didn't come out AT ALL as my hand hurt too much when I was trying to take them...

Besides, these pictures outdo what mine would have looked like a million to one:

Sun Dried Tomato Stuffed Mushrooms
Silky Smooth Pumpkin Pie

I used this pie crust, and I just gushed about it in Bezzie's comments:

All Butter Really Flaky Pie Dough

Dude, I shall never fear pie crust again, all I'm sayin'.

About my hand...
So you know how when you stub your toe/have a hang nail/papercut/whatever you seem to find it over and over and over again and hurt and rehurt and rehurt it ad infinitum?

Well, whaddaya know, when you burn your hand as you're taking your bean-filled pre-baked pie crust out of the oven? You will inevitably burn it again with scalding hot water! Then burn it again when you put in the ready-to-be-baked but VERY HEAVY pies into the oven! And yet again when you go to take the tin-foil tents off the edges! And then what felt like a few more hundred times as you're frying the shallots (did you know they are also known as green onions?)! And flying grease on an oven burn? Oh yeah, a new kind of torture, not to mention more burny bits while baking the mushrooms to prepare them for the stuffing!

Or maybe you do if you are me...Regardless, my left hand HURTS, and looks like I set the back of it on fire, or maybe ironed it...or, as I actually did, found that the oven racks are WAY TOO CLOSE TOGETHER! And adjusting them while the oven is set to 400 degrees is a STUPID IDEA. Also, pumpkin pies in pyrex baking dishes are heavier than they look.

I hope next year's me will reread this post before attempting either of the above recipes to avoid looking like I ripped duct tape off the back of my hand. I'm off to go find the neosporin.

Never Ever EVER Mention Your Plans to Save Up for a New Computer In Front of the Old One...

I know this, really I do, an yet I must have swallowed a stuuuuupid pill as I was working on my budget yesterday.

I'm sorry, Mini, but I REALLY miss having a lappy. It's rather hard to hall you into bed to watch some late-night online b-movies (dude, reliving my misspent childhood with all the old b-movies on hulu, seriously).

And during my pox scare? (No spots yet, I have never been so happy to have my sinuses so stuffed and my head pounding so hard...just a sinus/cold thing...so far...) I really could have used some in-bed computer-doctoring instead of dragging my sorry sore body out of it to see what Dr. Intarweb had to say about how my symptoms compared to the dreaded adult-chicken-pox...

So, yeah, my mini has started to act up by locking up or not shutting off applications, or simply refusing to wake up and force a restart. I'm hoping that whatever temporary insanity it has will amend itself with the next Apple Update. They tend to release them at about the same time that my mini starts freaking out...so fingers crossed because my budget has me not purchasing anything costly for at least a COUPLE YEARS, Mini, did you hear that? YearS. Pretty please get better.

Also, no plague here. And yes, definitely planning on becoming Chicken Pox inoculated as soon as I can find out if my insurance will pay for it...otherwise it's another budget item expense. I realized that if I stay on with my present company, we work with so many countries and people that um, well, it does not hurt to have some extra protection when it comes to childhood diseases I never had.

Sadly, my extra day of staying inside waiting for the pox bloom, also made me miss out on reserving space for the Theo Chocolate Tour. Okay, it was more like I spent all day sleeping and therefore did not call the place to reserve any spots seeing as I was unconscious. I obviously needed the sleep, but um, yeah, kinda pissed at myself and disappointed that I'll not be doing the tour this time around. This is where staycationing trumps a real vacation, though. I can always make it a Saturday trip sometime in the distant future, no worries :).

I did venture underground yesterday, and that was rather fun. There was even a, um, "not quite right" person on the tour, at least for a little bit...to me it just added to the Seattle ambiance. To others? They were much happier to see the backside of his floppy coat and dirty sneakers as he took off at a run far far away from our group.

If the predicted weather holds (torrential rain beginning late tonight) I can go to the Zoo today. The only thing stopping me is the fact that being outside mucking it from one damp display to another in temperatures that "feel like" the upper 30s might not make me happy about such a decision. I'll be begging for a sinus/cold relapse that way...I think my best bet would be to go to the Seattle Art Museum today and catch the Michelangelo/Calder exhibits. Which, being a big dork, really call to me more than the cute Long Tailed Macaque. The zoo might be cheaper in winter...but I might have to wait for temps in the 50s for me to enjoy it better.

The Seattle Times just published a "What to do in Rainy Weather" article...which I found rather amusing. As little as I've accomplished this staycation, I'm not disappointed at all. It really does beat being in the office working, after all. I do still have to motivate and get the xmas shopping done. I've scoped out where I want to go...just need to firmly decide on when.