hooey. it's been eventful. finally saw serenity.
anyways, the same day, when we came back from the next city (that's
where we saw the movie), we picked up a new addition to the family. her
name is zoe (zo-e). she's part airedale/boxer and probably some rott or
pit.
we've been on several near-to-home adventures and still making use of our park pass before the year is up.
found a sort of junk yard out here in the country on the other side of
our neighbors' land (a good ways-a-way. here's a couple pictures from
that day.
the winter seems to be upon the desert. it came in one day. it's brillant, no need for the ac for a while!
this week at work was trying but do0-able. was called half-way through
my first day off to come in on the next day because(second day off),
well, it was a meeting thing for some others, so i had to come in and
fill in last minute;. then later in the week (today) i had to attend a
similar meeting (in a different city), but before that i had to go to a
meeting at 6 am. the second meeting: about 20 of us in two rental vans,
left for the meeting at 8:30 am, got back to town about 4pm. so i am
off for the rest of today (i was going to have to work the rest
of my shift (til 10 pm)- but thankfully that didn't happen. and off
friday.
am the 'favorite' person in my position to the people i watch over.
people are just so happy i never turned evil, and that i respect them
and care about them. my new boss says i am really good at what i do and
thinks i'm cool because 'dude' is in my natural vocabulary from time to
time
looking forward to halloween. going asian this year.
Uncategorized
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simple country junkyard adventure and a dog picture
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i am a total work horse.
made employee of the month.
got the promotion.
now that my supervisors have got wind of my move to another area, one
of them came up to me today saying they were looking at me for another
(higher) position, not knowing if i would be moved to the previous in
question.
so who knows, in another month, i may jump up some more.
since the park, we went to the local petroglyphs.
got pictures of a horny toad living around our house.
went up to the gila wilderness to see the cliff dwellings.
caught a double rainbow after a wickedly weird rainstorm.
discovered that praying mantis' (mantids?) enjoy living in the tomato plants.
a jackrabbit enjoys the shade under our house in the morning (probably eyeing up the lettuce growing).
rented a bunch more movies, notable were underworld and primer.
watched the trailer for serenity...coming out september 30th.
been watching hell's kitchen on tv.
sean cooks some mean indian dishes with veggie crumbles or with real meat.devastatingly good.
they're bringing southpark to a local sation here. not sure if they'll
bleep everything or what...i mean i'm sure we won't be listening to
"OOOOOOOOO, kyle's mom is a big fat bitch...", and how could they
possibly have the whole lemmywinks saga on regular tv?
sean changed my logo pic at xanga to this funny cute thing.
i made stuffed cabbage(carrots, italian turkey sausage, garlic, onion,
tomato, rice) and more mama burgers(garlic, seasoning, onion, parmesan).
we finally got an entertainment center, a real one (not homemade), that
holds all the tapes and dvd's, some cd's and a bunch of nikkitynaks.
and i'll end with some things i think about every day:
it's so fucking peaceful.
the stars are great.
the quiet is great.
working again is a much better experience than ever before.
i still can't believe we made it here, it still feels like a dream. -
pictures from campground trail.there's actually a great view from the top of the big trail but not
included in this tour. instead, here's a picture of the first
grease
trap to service the u.s. army in the field,a map of the town back in
the old days,and some local plants.
mexican bird of paradise
ocotillo
perry agave
another kind of agave, 4 or 5 people tall.cholla, opened and closed buds.
the kite and the moon.
we've had record heat.
guess that's why they found a dead guy by my work the other day.
anyways we're sweating it out. the cats got put under cold water because they were way too hot. panting and all, earlier today.
until the ac gets installed, it's tv dinners.
discovered that the vent on the microwave (an over-the-oven model) automatically comes on if it gets too hot.
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so. a real update.
well, where i work, there are a couple customers that live in a van and
come to the store just about everyday. it's an older man and his old
enough son. they sound like they come from somewhere up north like
jersey or new york. the old man puts money in the toilet for god.(the store toilet). they
love to ask if i'm working. or shopping. or if i'm still having a great
day (there are no bad days!). some people say they smell, i guess i just don't get that close.
sean says "'THEY SMELL', believe me, no doubt about that!"---he's met
them.
young people who live here want out for the same reasons we wanted in. spoke to someone in charge about getting orange
capuccino gfic on the shelf (yeah!) the discount i get at work totally
rocks.
senor
malvado still attacks queen fuzzy. he likes to climb up on top of the
cabinet tops that we can't reach to get him down. they occasionally
both sleep on the bed AT THE SAME TIME.
we have a 4-slice toaster after going for a year or so without. toast is good.
sean
has a wonderful new coffee maker. it's a brewstation so the coffee
doesn't get all funky, he just pushes the lever and 'ahhh coffee'. we
were given an electric skillet, it makes perfect pancakes.
the
telescope is temporarily set up inside to watch the mountains. sean
picked out the new bedroom set, we also got a pillowtop mattress, it
rocks. have a real kitchen table with matchiing chairs for the first
time ever, it's sweet too.
started
the spiny garden. with the aloe, rattail and agave, then cleaned out
the neighbors' cactus patch (of tumble weeds) and got some pieces
(cholla, prickly pear, cow tongue) to start around the land from the
starter circle.
the 3 neighbors are great. one couple gave us a bunch of prize-winning
asparagus and his wife makes cactus fruit jelly i look forward to. the
other neighbor is the one with the cactus patch next to us-she loaned
me 5 books on plants, flowers, poisonous creatures and bats of the
southwest. the later is a wealth of information, she pointed us to the
well drillers and garbage collector which in turn turned us onto all
our other builders.we've borrowed all kinds of movies and bought pirates of the caribbean
(and hero, and kill bills, princess mononoke). the ones we rented were
house of flying daggers (kickass), donnie darko, chronicles of riddick,
returner(interesting but when you talk time travel, there's always
glitches in plot), exorcist (the beginning), lemony
snicket-unfortunate, napoleon dynamite, iron monkey, sky captain-wot,
perfect blue-animated pschological thriller, demon eyes kyo, van
helsing, league of-gentlemen, 1/2 of gangs of new york (the other half
was scratched up, so we'll be in perpetual suspence til we see the
rest), motorcycle diaries-we enjoyed A LOT, spriggin, the
incredibles-cute.
go
on outtings about once a month, more when we have the chance. our
trips today were on dirt roads with some hiking at the first place,
collected bunch of quartz rocks.
when
we don't actually leave the land, there is treasure hunting in the
backyard, kite flying, other crafty crap.
like carving. and soon we need to get some tomato plants from
the neighbor next to us-she says she has too many and not enough room
(i've got plants started, but unless i get them replanted, i aint
gettin nuthin this year). eventually we'll be spending time doing other
improvements like a deck, screened in porch for cats.
tomorrow is another excursion, after which we will get some of my car washed, or atleast the front window, so i can see again.
possibly a dog at the end of the summer.
food. picked up a neat cookbook of other-side-of-the-world stuff to
make (india, china, japan, middle east). we made an awesome south
western beef stew, sean made spaghetti with homemade meatballs, another
great chili with hatch, southwest chipotle jambalaya with roasted
chicken in it. tomorrow stuffed chicken with pepperjack and ham. sean
makes the best scrambled eggs. and we're talking about making more
icecream sandwiches soon.
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picture day...
since wrath day was saturday. you hit it, stoen...next year. thank goodness it is all over with this year. next year we may have to go through all this over again with a new vet hahaheheheheheh! jjd....., did i ever mention the scar on my foe-head is from getting hit by a boy named jj?, yes i laughed when i read the follow up to 'i enjoy giving cat baths.' spidey, it is starting to seem they get worms every year, just can't keep in front the fleas that give them worms...it's all good. anthony...ha ha ha 'mee ouch', if you knew the cat you would realize there aren't too many violins playing for him. though he is sprawled out in my lap and over arm right now, leaving me one to type with...it's traumatic for US to have to live with this thing...
lessee, we looked at the moon and saturn in the high powered lense this weekend. telescope definately not collecting dust in the house. whew! saturn looked better than this. the pictures will make a better animation, though.
so, first i made this dinosaur/tyedye quilt for the babe. something told me it wasn't good enough. so before giving it a back, guts and a border, i quit with it.
made this other one today instead. rainbow on one side. parrots on the other. the gender of the baby will be a surprise. blanket needed to be bright and also something that can get dirty without looking that bad. the closeups are the quilt lines. machine quilted along rainbow lines. i like it as a first, completed machine quilt.
and that's it. that's all i got.
think i mastered a mock semolina chicken pasta. i'll work out a recipe when i make it again sometime this week/weekend. ham and yams tonight.
thoughts: when did conviction become eviction. where does tradition and integrity stop short of each other. the dictionary i use is 30 years old.
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WHERE HAVE I BEEN, you ask...
gritting my teeth at family events. smiling at the new year. getting things done. embracing the time to myself during the day. nugglin up to the man at night.
actually spent new years by ourselves for the first time (i made canned black eyed peas, non-mushy, fresh cabbage and broiled ham; gunna make a soup with what was left over). made steak and broccoli stir fry last night. figuring on making a patch of spices cuz the man is been groovin on chai.
he showed me saturn and it's rings over the weekend. we watched the nasa rover events unfold on nasa tv last saturday.
wondering about the new spin-off movie from pitch black-riddick chronicles(?).
made a bunch of quilt squares (after i got finished making the scrap (cq) squares). haven't taken pictures of all the ones i made yet. am posting the pieces of bunni and the finished bunny to give an idea on what that quilt will look like. 
it is a black bunny on a green background. also made 2 cat-looking squares, crazy looking dog one, an alien, a folky flag, ankh, tent in the woods, the world, a heart. will probably make a comet square and a couple others once i get back in the mood. the zia was a hassle, came out wonky, there will be no zia in the quilt.
made a shirt and now plans for a couple others after using a h-m-d handmade shirt as a guide. about to get to work on a baby quilt...
i'll ask this...anyone around that doesn't realize if you ask me to go to a baby shower... i'm gunna turn you down? well, gots a family member in that way. the m-i-l called to see if i'd ride with her. so i guess that means it was pointless to talk about how much baby showers suck (when the i-l first got prego) and that neither he or i go to them. another thing, if he and i were both invited, why does it all fall on my shoulders to go or say no? why does he not have to say, "no, we'll pass this up, you're family, we'll see y'all" it goes to me. tradition, right? fuck tradition. i HATE baby and wedding showers. so, saying i don't DO babyshowers didn't work, so i had to say being around people stresses me out. (not to mention, my m-i-l tries to be cute and baby coo and talks about how fun and cute......VOMIT, it all makes me sick) yes, i do get anxious, but that is like an hour ride up to the party, with the talkative, story-repeating m-i-l. i just can't mentally do it. i don't want to do it. i've been polite for 10 years. now i will be me. i am not a girly-girl. i do not think it is fun to attend these showers and saddened that by lack of presence it infers that there is a lack of support from the family. no. if your arm got blown off and i loved you, you would still not get my arm. if i don't like certain parties, i just don't like the party. i belive in enduring some pain/aggravation for people when i really need to, but when it is a joyous event, it should be enjoyed, not endured.
if i were to go on a grave tour, i would not want to feel obliged to do something with someone just because they endured a grave tour with me. if a person wants to do something, PEACHY, if you don't, then DON'T. people who are guilted into things are resentful. don't BE or make that person...be YOU, don't sweat what they do or don't want to do. we only have one life. try not to make everyone else miserable in the quest for perfection. in my case, family wanting a perfect family, yet on thier terms, no compromise. perfection and tradition does not equal normalcy, more like anality.
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questions answered from last post:
cookies were very yummy, think chewy granola with a bit of crisp. chocolate chip nut cookies, with a tad of good-for-ya-oatmeal, s and i thought they were ridiculously yummy.
yes, i am into kitchen testing. it is a bit of a hassle sometimes, so i have to be in the mood to eat the stuff. this is why i only tried the cookie mix. that and i hadn't been able to get to the store in a couple weeks to get other ingredients!
made a sample of a spool quilt top with old long-sleeve shirts. still making crazy quilt squares from old clothing and left over scraps of material.
i can't believe this upcoming weekend is the last before christmas. (spidey-i didn't realize it was this close...hey, you know they have a semolina restaurant by that movie theatre now...closer to us!) we still have a couple gifts to get. we got most of the shopping done last weekend. very cool. normally i do the shopping. this time he did and i accompanied him. it was fun. and quick. we like quick.
got dinner picked out (pork chops wrapped in onion, steamed brussel sprouts and creamy elbow noodles). not sure about dessert. i'm such a chocolate fiend. i feel like i will die if a day passes without chocolate hitting my lips. thinking about banana bread, chocolate cupcakes, or pumpkin cookies.
had this big ol post about having to go to jury duty. not sure i feel like typing it all out, but will say: first off, it snuck up on me. so the day before i was pouring over the website and my closet to see what to wear. decided my jeans were not respectful enough. so late in the eve we went to find me a pair of slacks. i found one pair that fit and looked like crap. found one pair that fit but were too long...i bought them. they are a madison pant(?) they sit on my waist and have a straight leg all the way down. not like a pair of pants i have ever had, i'm hooked now. will have to find a sewing pattern for them. the pants do attract every bit of kitty fur and winter coat fuzz. my car needs a tune up, so i was concerned it would break down on me to or from. left 10 minutes early to make it there in 5. arrived 5 minutes late. made it there. was in a room (with 300 people) for about 20 minutes before i realized i was to put the summons in a basket. then another 10 minutes later a dude comes in saying the equivalent to: for those of you never been to a jury pool party- (it puts the )summons in the basket, grab a juror tag, and blue handbook. then we watch you the juror , which i'd seen already in too many segments online the night before. after he leaves, i go get the tag and book. while at my seat i wonder if i put too much perfume on because the man next to me was not happy about having someone sit next to him. boy was he miserable...rapping his paper, elbowing my chair enough for me to have to adjust it out of his way. then the cell phone woman behind me. talking about how jeanette needs to go to the main office (we all new about this weeks ago, why don't people take care of business out of duty). then about 11:30 people start getting really restless. many on my side of the room have bought bags of chips and it sounds as if they have smashed the contents and are eating them crumb by crumb. i am doodling quilt designs and other stuff on a little pad (i couldn't find a book that would fit in my never used purse). 12, we break for lunch, i zip home and then back again. decided to try to get another seat (i was totally getting bad vibes off that man). so i move about a row forward. there for about 20 minutes and an older man walks up with a warm smile (leak guard) and says "you're in my seat". i thought he was kidding at first. then realized as he spoke about the newspaper and book in the chair next to me being his, he kidded not. so i looked around at all the empty chairs and said "oh, sorry, didn't know". slide over a couple seats. he then tells me there was someone sitting there also and that i would have to move again...that they just broke for lunch (duh, so did i) so i look around again at all the empty chairs with no nametags and get up and say "oh, i didn't know it mattered". i then walk clear across the room, find a seat next to a small trash can. i figure...who's gunna fight me for that chair? there was a person who kept kinda hovering about me, maybe it had been his chair. while on the lunch break i was able to find a handbook on less visited national places in the u.s. and decided to read the instruction book to unreal tournament. thankfully, at 2:30 they tell us we will not be needed, that we are free to leave. -
i'm not toally useless.
after yesterdays batch of cookies...i have renewed hope that i can make cookies that don't suck. or that taste like cake, or that taste flavorless. these came out crispity. i have failed miserably for YEARS to be able to make cookies other than the cut and slice kind.
a month or two ago i was all over the net looking for in-a-jar recipes. printed out the assembly and then made gift tags. lost all that while realizing anyone who i decided to make a cookie-mix-in-a-jar, or brownie-mix-in-a-jar, or soup-in-jar may not want it. some are diabetic, some gbs, some don't need it, and when it came to the soup, and coming up with not-in-the-jar ingredients, i thought...they won't want to fool with it. (i'm not gunna buy the rest of the ingredients and make a big ol basket present, these were just supposed to be treats)
either way, i decided to do another search the other day(there were thousands of different sites. mixes in a jar, soups, baking cake in a jar, etc.). walmart had cute sealed jars. i put together a couple snowmen jars with cookie mix (i've always had a thing for snowmen). he and i like oatmeal chocolate chip, so here is the recipe i basically went with. i'd gone ahead and packed two snowmen with the mix. had to try it before i gave it away or posted about it. bunk information SUCKS.
basically because i lessed a tablespoon of called for butter. used what was left of the girardelli and reeses pb chips. made half the batch of teaspoonful drops rather than the huge TBSPs. if you wanna do this, here is a sheet of the instructions (that go on the jar), it's 8 of the same, to print and cut out. (they print out crappy on my printer, but maybe others have better luck). next time i'm adding coconut, think granola cookie! if you prefer raisins, i am sure the chips could be switched out.
here's the apple pie filling and crumb top recipes: stir together-4 cups apple(cutchunk) and pear, 1/2 cup sugar, about a TBSP cinnamon and 2 TBSP flour (or ground oatmeal).
pour that into the pie shell 8-inch (or was it a 9 inch).
crumb topping- 2 TBSP packed brown sugar, 2TBSP oatmeal flour (or plain) (i ground the oatmeal in the coffee grinder), cut in 1 TBSP butter, then kinda squish mix it with your fingers til you have course crumbs (do not over mix the butter with your warm hands). mix in a tablespoon of unground oats.
sprinkle on top.
bake for about 20-30 minutes @ 375. then cover the edge of the crust with foil strips. cook for about another 20-30 minutes.
what takes 2 nurses, a doctor and 2 other people? that's right, señor malo's worm and yearly shots.
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