Kindly remember: I Do Not Collect Flamingos

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.
--Aesop (Fabulist)

Still trying to keep up with acts of kindness.  The Goob has decided that it is okay to do more than one kind act a day, but you can not bank them. As in, yesterday's second kindness can not count as today's kindness.  Being kind is a little more challenging than I first anticipated.  So today I set out to do a small thing:  Hold my tongue.  And trust me, it is keeping me busy.  But I offer you two more small kindnesses.

1.  I offer you the definition of

fabulist  (ˈfæbjʊlɪst)
— n
1.	a person who invents or recounts fables
2.	a person who lies or falsifies

Use this in a sentence?  She is such a fabulist.  Say it with a smile and it may be a kind way to call someone a liar.  I mean, she is a fabulist on the order of Aesop!
(Sadly, I can not offer you the pronunciation. ˈfæbjʊlɪst ??)

2.  I share another peek at the decking of my halls.

 Remember that I do NOT collect flamingos.  But I have to admit...

one or two flamingos in a palm tree are a welcome sight on a snowy day.

And since we're decorating our house plants--how about some flower bulbs?

(Can you believe someone was throwing these away?)

So the question of the day remains:  Can we believe anything attributed to Aesop?

Kitchen Trees

I added 10 trees to the kitchen this week.
 (And maybe a partridge or two)







Three of them are Scandinavian flavored chalk trees.  They are on the refrigerator.

Four of them are glass.  Two of which are filled with kisses.

Yes I know there are only 3 pictured.  Trust me--there is a fourth glass tree.

And there are three more trees inside a glass canister.  

Between the tea bags and the sugar.

These are possibly my favorite new decoration this year.  Thanks to being at StuffMart last January on 75% off days.  $1.50 Thank you very much.

In addition to fitting 10 trees in my kitchen, I decorated the window with snowflakes and jingle bells to match the canisters.  (Because I'm the kind of woman who decorates her kitchen canisters, that's why.)

I got these snowflakes at a storage unit sale this summer.  I didn't have to buy the whole unit.  Just 50 cents worth of snowflakes.  (I also got those great vintage curtain hooks at a storage unit sale this summer and I made the curtain from what was left of my vintage tablecloth.  I don't think I've showed you them before this.)

Total cost of kitchen decorations: $2.00

In case you think all I have been doing in my kitchen is decorating it, think again.  Tonight I made cake balls.   Carrot Cake Balls and German Chocolate Cake Balls.  

Okay, now you can be impressed.   

Missing the Princesses

"Make your home as comfortable and attractive as possible and then

 get on with living.  There's more to life than decorating."   

This quote and picture are from the October 2012 issue of Real Simple magazine.  (I was thinking I could attribute the quote to Albert Einstein, but it was already attributed to Albert Hadley.)  And this quote made me think of Princess Amidala.  And then I looked more closely at the picture and realized that might be Princess A herself holding the basket (and wearing the tights).  And the blurry blonde might be her 'get right in the middle, as well as the spirit, of things'  royal sister.  And the pony tailed one (please note--in the matching dress) would be the Slovakian Princess who came up with the wonderful Jillian Jiggs-esque idea in the first place.  And I was transported back in time to a high ceiling living room in Spring Creek.  Where a whole lot of living took place with three little girls.
Today I will finish with the Christmas decorating before lunch and get on with living this afternoon.

Lets Kind of Talk About Albert Einstein

Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.
Albert Einstein, (attributed)


As a family we agreed (read: I had this great idea and decided we would all participate) to do acts of kindness through the month of December.  So far we have rung the Salvation Army bell, volunteered at a fundraiser, ordered a book to donate to the elementary school library, made a snack to share and shared it, and gave some pine boughs to a stranger.  I also compiled a list of possible kind acts and a separate list of kindness quotes.  
But at the end of 4 days of deliberate kindness, I am left wondering what counts as kindness?  Does it have to be a deliberate act?  Something out of the ordinary?  Can I count holding the door open for someone if I would normally do that any way?  Does it count if I only held the door open because I needed to log a kind act before the day ended? 
If I just do something to be kind, what kind of person am I? 

And about that Albert Einstein quote. Why is it 'attributed' to him?  Did he kind of say it?

Acts of Kindness

A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.
--Saint Basil

Today I will endeavor to more kind,  more saint-like,  or at least eat something seasoned with basil.

Crossing the Finish Line

91.  Sons-in-laws
92.  Having a big family
93.  Graham crackers
94.  Sunshine
95.  Chocolate kisses
95.  Cheese balls
96.  Water
97.  Bubble baths
98.  Lists
99.  Sweet Vidalia Salad Dressing
100.  Head lights

Count on Me

Counting down the days till I see the Kiddos and it is getting down to hours.  Which is a lot exciting and a little intimidating because of all the things I need to accomplish before that happens.  Because I still have to work 12 hours, take call 8 hours, travel 12 hours, get two nights worth of sleep, and do laundry, pack, and, oh yeah, finish that project that I started on Saturday because I really can't go to Thanksgiving without it.  All in less than 48 hours? 

On the done list: I downloaded a book to my kindle for the trip. (thinking...thinking...thinking...) okay, I guess that's it for the done list.

And now for the count-up:
72.  Amidala
76.  Mark
77.  Flush toilets
78.  Brains
79.  Bibles
80.  Iced tea
81.  Ice cubes
82.  Ice makers
83.  Clocks
84.  Numbers
85.  Hands
86.  Smiles
87.  Teeth
88.  Dental Hygienists
89.  Three ring binders
90.  Zumba

Really more excited than intimidated.  Really really.

Going Over Seventy

66.  Projects and plans
67.  Vintage fabric
68.  My sewing machine
69.  A mom who sewed
70.  Text messaging
71.  Google
73.  My sense of taste
72.  Just seeing if your still reading
74.  Fresh fruit
75.  Exotic fruit

Going to eat a pummelo this week.  Among other things...

No Creative Title

But the thankful list continues:
58.  Staplers
59.  Mail
60.  Daughters
61.  Anticipation
62.  Waking up after the sun is up
63.  Leftovers
64.  Dinner out with the STP
65.  Forgiveness

Just Over Fifty

50.  Claire and Nick
51.  Candles
52.  Duck Dynasty
53.  Earl Gray tea, hot
54.  A freezer full of meat
55.  Pinterest
56.  My nephew Tyler and Golden Eagle Baseball
57.  Tyler's Mom

Feeling the Heat

It's not like things aren't happening in my life.  Just thattheyare happening so close together.  I have a few pictures that I hope to eventually share with you.  Of my halloween pumpkin.  Of my refrigerator.  Of my odometer.  Of my bedroom/bathroom remodel. Of a recent wintery sunrise.
But Amidala claims there are just 9 days until Thanksgiving, so I am feeling the pressure to record a few more things I am thankful for.

31.  Plane tickets
32.  Telephones
33.  Cinnamon rolls (and a co-worker who saves one for me.)
34.  Finally cooking edible ribs (I was too busy licking my fingers to take any pictures, but trust me, they were pretty good.  And I served them with GF corn muffins and corn on the cob. Go ahead, be impressed.)
35.  Steeler wins--even ugly ones
36.  Beth Moore
37.  Pay day
38.  Hugs
39.  Kisses
40.  New tires
41.  Snow
42.  Push pins
43.  Band-aids (I'm not even wearing one.  But I bought a box of two hundred when I was at StuffMart this week.  Flexible ones, and clear ones, and waterproof ones and neon ones.  All in one box.  Almost makes me want to smash a finger.)
44.  Music
45.  Grace
46.  The God Who is crazy in love with me
47.  The STP (who is also crazy in love with me)
48.  The Goob
49.  The SLD
50.  House plants

If you can't find something on that list to make you thankful, you should probably be on medication. 

Grateful

23.  Chalkboard paint (a quart goes a long way)

24.  Colored chalk

25.  A job

26.  Vitamins

27.  Pain free movement

28.  Pinterest boards

29.  Lazy mornings

30.  Productive afternoons

17 and Counting

17.  Skelemingoes
18.  Warm fall days--and an hour to spend in the flower beds
19.  My pedometer--not having to get 10000 steps and getting 12500 anyway
20.  Countdowns--like till Thanksgiving
21.  Brussel sprouts--who would have guessed
22.  Appointments made--and not having to keep them till next April

My Favorite Daughter

16.  I'm thankful that each of my daughters thinks this post is about them.

My Favorite Son

11.  I am thankful I have a son.
Oh, you finally got your boy, they said to me nine years after the birth of my third daughter.  It wasn't like I had him on lay-a-way.  In many ways he is the son I never wanted.
12.  I am thankful for the things my son has taught me.
Patience,  understanding, the value of the individual, who Optimus Prime is. Once I shared with him that there were things I didn't learn about God until I had children.  I'll bet you're still learning was his reply.
13.  I am thankful for glimpses of the man he will become.
Tall, thin, patient, kind, responsible, loving.
14.  I am thankful that sometimes he is still my little boy.
Giving me a hug, sharing a joke, eating halloween candy from a pillowcase.
15.  I am thankful he will spend a Friday evening with me.
He is picking the movie for tonight.  Something we will both like.  Which means he had to rule out fantasy sci-fi and romantic comedy.

Recently someone who just met us asked if he could ask about our son.  You mean where did we get an amazingly tall, incredibly thin, blonde child over whom we do not fuss?    You mean did we adopt him?  You mean is he leftover from a previous marriage?  You mean is he really ours?

Oh, he's ours.  A gift from God.  For which (today) I am thankful.

Ah Sweet November

1.  Shoes
2.  Shoe boxes
3.  Money
4.  Knees
5.  Encouragement
6.  House plants
7.  Green tea
8.  Electricity
9.  Moisturizer
10.  Hair dye

The first ten are always the easiest.

Growing My Hippocampus

Why I walked 80,000 steps last week.

With a family history of Alzheimers, I am acutely aware of my memory lapses.  The glorious thing about memory lapses is that you tend to forget how often they happen.  I am alarmed that I can't find my phone today.  I don't remember if I couldn't find it 4 or 5 times last week.  

What I find more troubling is the slowing of my thought processes.  I remember(!) going to the eye doctor when I thought I might need bifocals.  When I looked up at the TV from the book in my lap I was aware of my vision adjusting.  A slow refocusing from close up sight to farther away viewing.  Oh no, the eye doc said, when they stop adjusting all together--that's when you will need bifocals.  My brain is in a similar state.  I am aware of the intervening thoughts that occur as my brain tries to make sense of what it sees or hears.  

Yesterday, I napped through two quarters of the Dallas/NY game.  I woke it in the third quarter to hear the announcer say,"...is walking along the giant sideline.  That is never good..."   

The giant sideline...is that the really thick sideline?...the sideline where giants, like really big ugly men, are lined up?...clearly a bad place to take a walk...

"...headed to the locker room..."

Oh, Giant sideline...as opposed to the Cowboy sideline.

Will there come a time when my mind will no longer be able to arrive at the right conclusion?  When it gets stuck in the process of thinking?  Will I watch a football game and call the kids in NYC and warn them about giants in their neighborhood?

Not to fear--I am increasing my aerobic exercise which should increase the size of my hippocampus and my memory.  So I am tracking my steps in an effort to log 10,000 steps a day.  

Now where did I put my pedometer...

Walking On

This week I logged 80000 steps on my pedometer.  Evidently I spend a lot of my life going in circles.

In A Fog

New San Fran Fog rolling in over Old San Fran Fog

I choose a light gray/kinda neutral color for the bedroom walls.  Called "San Fran Fog".  And I had it mixed by the magic computer paint machine at the Dodge City Building Center.  And I brought it home and opened it up.  And it looked really bluish in the can.  But I know the color in the can is not the dried color on the wall.  So I started putting it on the wall.  Where it became a dark blue gray.  Don't worry, the STP says,  it isn't dry yet.  But when it is dry it is even darker blue/gray.  And instead of an ephemeral* misty neutral San Fran Fog, it is an deep dark depression, excessive misery Los Ang Smog.  It'll be fine, the STP says.  And so I continued cutting in along the ceiling.  And the longer I painted the more depressed and miserable I became, until I knew I could not live with that color.   And so I took it back.  And it turns out three different paint colors in the wonder paint computer are named San Fran Fog.  After careful selection of the appropriate one, I got new paint.  And now, three days later, after priming over the wrong paint,I am going to put the right paint on the wall and see if I like it.

Great Joy:  I love to paint things.

*edited:  The color I was aspiring to was ethereal:  Light,airy, extremely delicate and refined, heavenly

What I got really was ephemeral:  Short-lived

Coming to an End

Since our return from Mexico we have been hosting Taco Tuesdays at our house.  Wherein we gather all the fixins for tacos and anyone who wants to comes and eats them.  Pretty low key affair.  We have had anywhere from 2 to 25 people join us on any given Tuesday and over 50 different people over the course of the last six months.  In the process we have learned to make pretty good guacamole and our own taco seasoning.  But just yesterday I discovered Rachel Ray's sand art version of taco seasoning.

 Just layer, admire, and shake.  ( Just saying--the oregano is from the SFG)

Gluten free, cheap, easy, fun, and functional.  

Next Tuesday will be out last Taco Tuesday for now.  We are taking a break.  The Goob (who doesn't eat tacos) wanted to know how long of a break.  And we don't know.  Maybe a permanent break.  Maybe a seasonal break.  Maybe three weeks from now, we will be starving for tacos and company, and I will be mixing up a new batch of seasoning.
But for now, next Tuesday is your first last chance to join us.

B. cereus OR There's a Bug in my Soup

I don't think this is really Bacillus cereus, an endemic, soil dwelling, gram-positive, rod shaped bacterium capable of causing vomiting and diarrhea.  But I think B. cereus is a great choice for a naming a bacterium (by a microbiologist who clearly wasn't being serious at the time).  
Just goes to show you what a fun bunch of people we microbiologists are.


So, just for fun, I share these pics from work with those of you who do not have ready access to your own microscope.

Gram negative rods--with spores

And even more fun pics:

  Gram positive cocci, umm.., square dancing? 

And in case you have a microscope that you are not having any fun with, I offer you this link so you can do your own gram stains at home.

Just be sure to read to the end of the procedure where it advises you:

For official diagnostic purposes, an experienced laboratory technician should evaluate your slide. 

(In other words:  Be serious.  Just because you have the ability to see your germs, doesn't mean can accurately identify them.)

Today's blog brought to you by your favorite fun-loving laboratory technologist, and the letters B, U, and G.

.

Bad Bad Leroy Brown

When you buy your puzzles at garage sales you take a risk.

 A risk that you and your spouse will stay up late sorting through a thousand pieces with a bazillion pumpkin parts on them.

 A risk that you will be searching for the last piece that you never had.

A risk that your 1000 piece bargain only has 998.5 pieces.
And a risk that you will get Jim Croce stuck in your head singing the phrase 'meaner than a junkyard dog' over and over.
Sometimes when you take a risk you end up looking at 'a jigsaw puzzle with a couple of pieces gone.'

Still 99.85 percent fun.  For a dollar.

Deer Squirrel

Dear Dog-Taunting Squirrel,

Do you think it is fun to sit just out of reach of my dearly loved rat terrier and chatter insults at her?   Do you think it is a challenge to bring your pilfered peanuts to my flower bed to bury them just beyond the reach of her leash?  Do you call your squirrely friends when she is in the fenced side yard?-Hey, the dog is out.  Let's go scamper on the neighbors' roofs and run on the telephone lines where she can see us. Did you know that she comes from a long line of rodent killers and she can't help but bark her head off at the very sight of you?

Well, do you know what I have in my big room?  Besides the blow gun?

Your picture.

Sincerely,

Ms Brenda

P.S.  Squirrely is too a word.

Monkey Bars Just Came Out of the Oven

I saw this recipe on pinterest...
for Monkey Squares.  Glorified banana bread baked in a jelly roll pan and cut into bars.  So I made it just like the recipe, but I renamed it Monkey Bars.  'Cause Monkey Bars makes me giggle.
It was the first thing I baked in the new oven. (Source of great joy--oven part arrived and installed)
Now it just needs leveling.

Which I was able to do with my icing.

Which still looked bad.

So, purely in the interest of taste testing the new recipe before serving it to others, I ate that corner.

And then, in the interest of not taking a messy crooked half eaten dessert to the dessert social, I cut the rest of the Monkey Squares into rectangles * little giggle* and arranged them on my lovely matching cake plates.

Which had the added advantage of leaving two more corners that did not fit on the plates and needed to  be eaten.  Oh, the gluten-free, brown butter icinged joy of it.

What Ms Brenda likes best about this recipe (besides taste-testing):  You ice the bars while they are still warm.  So you can make it at the last minute.  And take them in the car warm.  Only don't shut the car door on your finger or you will have to go back in the house for ice and band-aids.  Just saying.

Various Trials--Part 3

I shut the end of my finger in the car door this evening.  I have a pretty high tolerance for pain.  And I'm almost immune to the sight of blood.  But when it is my blood combined with my pain, I am pretty much a weenie.
 I did manage to open the door and extract my finger.  And apply my own band-aid and some ice.
Still and all, I don't think I considered it a great joy. Yeah.  Not even once.

Various Trails--Part 2

Good News:  It's apple cake season.

Bad News:  Remember that the redeeming thing about my formerly Craig's listed, not much to look at, held together with coated wire stove was that it worked.  Well forget that.  Because when I had an apple cake in the oven, it made a little Pffft sound, and then it worked no more.  

Good News:  I was able to rush the apple cake to the church kitchen and finish baking it.  Wonderful to go to a church that saves souls and baked goods.
More Good News:  Know someone who happens to have a stove in a shed that they do not need.
Even More Good News:  The STP has a pick up truck and someone (besides me) to help him move the stove into the kitchen.

More Bad News:  The stove slips just before it is in place, and in the process the knob that controls the oven gets knocked off.
Even More Bad News:  It can not be fixed with duct tape or coated wire.

Bottom Line: Still no working oven. 
Source of Great Joy:  Part is on order

Various Trials-Part 1

James 1:2  Consider it a great joy, Ms Brenda, whenever you experience various trials.

On its last outing of the summer the kayak hurled itself off the roof of the vehicle we bought to haul things and took the driver side mirror with it on the way to the ground. (Whoa, slow that imagination down--the vehicle was parked at the time.) Nothing a little duct tape wouldn't fix.

I drove around like this for the month of September.  Instead of looking like a careless driver, I told myself that it made me look like a rugged outdoorswoman.  Because, be honest now, isn't the first thing you think when you see a chubby woman driving around with a smashed mirror,  "She must be a kayaker"?
Regardless, I noticed people did not park as close to me in the month of September.

Great joy--new mirror.

I Say To-maa-to

It wasn't for lack of trying.

  Even after the great deer debacle, the tomato plant tried to grow tomatoes.  Sadly, the frost and freeze was early this year.

But once the leaves were frosted, I discovered a little secret about the tomato plant.

Tucked deep inside the tomato plant was one lone tomato that the deer had missed.

One almost ripe tomato just for me.  I picked it and put it on the kitchen windowsill.

Because a tomato ripening on the kitchen windowsill makes me feel like a real gardener.
On the lunch menu this week:  Tomato sandwich.

Great Joys

Booked a flight to Baltimore for Thanksgiving.
Turducken and Piecaken on the menu.
Turkey hats all around.




Do you think its too early to pack my bags?

Oh Nuts

What happened to summer?

I was not ready for Fall.  I still have things to do.  Summer things still on the list.

Okay, so the chrysanthemums are blooming.  I still haven't ridden my bike to Basin and back.

What are the skelemingoes doing in the flower bed?  I haven't hit any golf balls at the driving range.

A fire in the pellet stove?  We didn't have a single fire in the firebowl on the patio.

I didn't catch a single firefly or see even one 'mother statue'. 

 The bats are out front, and I'm still wondering what happened to September.

On the Fall list:

Paint the fence. (too bad we went straight from Summer to Winter.  This one may have to wait till Spring)

Go through a corn maze.

Make the vacation book.

Drink apple cider.

Hug Claire and Nick.

Along Came A Spider

I made a list this morning.  Of things I planned to do today.  Of things I needed to do today.  Of things I thought I should accomplish by the end of today.  At the time I thought it was really a realistic list.
In hindsight, a more realistic list would have included:
1.  Let the dog out 22 times.
2.  Let the dog in 21 times.
3.  Wonder where the dog is.
4.  Check on the eggplants in the SFG.
5.  Wonder when the first frost will be.
6.  Admire the Russian Sage in the west flower bed.
7.  Wonder if real lavender grows in Zone -1a.
8.  Discover the wildlife equally appreciative of the Russian sage.

9.  Wonder where I left my camera.

10.  Find my camera.

11.  Try to focus on a spider web that is moving in the breeze.

12.  Wonder what that spider is eating.
13.  Eat healthy
14.  Walk 10,000 steps.
15.  Clean the dining room.

Because if my list was more realistic I could cross the first twelve of those things off of it.
Here's hoping your day is just as full of wonder.

Dear Deer

Dear tomato-thieving deer,

Did you think I wouldn't notice that you ate every stinking tomato on my one tomato plant?  Did you think that I don't check it several times a day?  Did you think I couldn't already taste the tomato sandwich made with a fresh tomato sliced warm right from my square foot garden?   Did you not think about all the other gardens in town with multiple tomato plants?  Did you think about eating their tomatoes and leaving mine alone?  Did you think that the deer repellent that makes the whole yard smell like, like...deer repellent!! was meant as an invitation to eat my tomatoes?  Every stinking stinking one of them?????
Oh, deer.  What were you thinking?

Sincerely,
Ms. Brenda

P.S. I hate you.