Are you alive?

I am.

Thanksgiving '09, a story. (A bit late)

Thanksgiving 2009, a story.

That's my Gramma Julie, mother to my father, and known crazy lady. Back in the middle of November, at a ham and turkey raffle, she asked what I was doing for Thanksgiving, laying down the hint that she had absolutely nothing to do, should I care to invite her to wherever I was going. I told her that I'd probably do the same thing I'd done the last two years: drive around town with Dad for twenty minutes while he claims he knows the Chinese buffet was open, and then end up going to Perkins, because it's the only place that's open.

She replied with, "Oh, well, Jo Ellen and I usually do something, but I don't know if we're going to this year."

I smiled, freshened her beer, and went about selling raffle tickets at fifty cents a pop.

Fast forward a few days, I'm ringing the bell for the Salvation army with my aunt Jo Ellen, and we're talking about the upcoming holiday. She's not planning on doing anything either, not even going out with her mother. She was going to go to the auction, eat turkey there, then come home and rest.

Idea!

"We should have a Thanksgiving dinner, because Lord knows I'm sick of Perkins' shitty turkey substitute," I told her.

She thought, "Joe and them used to come over for dinner, but it got to be too many of them for my little house. We could do it, if we kept it small."

I listed off the people in out family that didn't have a Thanksgiving to go to, which amounted to a total of six people, including us. And thus, it was born, Thanksgiving in Eldred, PA. Invitees were called or texted at lunch that day, and by the time we rang the bell again, two days later, we were ready to assign food dishes for people.

Thanksgiving day, Mickey and I picked up Grandma around three thirty, and made the trek over to Eldred. We thought we'd be late, because instead of making the pie and the mashed potatoes the night before, we woke up at noon Thursday and made them (we also did the laundry and cleaned the car). But, luckily, we made it there just in time, four on the dot, and before my Dad and Sally, which meant we weren't really late.

Since aunt Ellen hadn't cooked a turkey in decades, the Turkey was nearly overdone by the time we all got there, so instead of having munchies and sitting around until five, which was the original plan, we set out to setting the table, carving the turkey, reheating the side dishes people brought, and talking to my cousin Kim, who called so she could talk to most the family in one go.

After dinner, and desert, we retired to living room, while Sally cleaned (because that's what she does). Aunt Ellen, Dad, Gramma Julie, and I played Wii bowling, while Mickey watched. It was a close game, except for my father, who was a few strikes behind.

Dad came in last place, which we all kind of figured, and Gramma Julie, Aunt Ellen, and I were all only a pin away from each other. Aunt Ellen placed in third, and guess what.

My 89 year old crazy Grandmother beat me in Wii bowling.

But only by 1 point.

Lis and I have a day out!

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Lis and I went on an Owl Homes tour.

Since we were broke and trying to kill a lot of time, we toured each home extensively.

We even took pictures to see which homes we looked best in.

These are those pictures.

All of the Owl Homes master bathrooms can accommodate two people at a time.

Three, if two people get in the shower together.

As an added bonus, there are seats in the showers.

Lis really, really had to go to the bathroom in this house.

I decided to take a bath while she was doing her business.

Lis was really tired, touring all those homes, so she decided to take a nap.

After a while, all the houses began to look the same to me.

It also could have been because I was a little tipsy.

Makin' sure those damned kids stay the fuck off my lawn.

Another house, another bathroom.

This bathroom, however, had a fireplace AND wine in it.

We decided this was the house for us.

So, I kicked off my shoes and sat down to read a book.

Lis, on the other hand, took a nap in the chair.

Then, after we decided we couldn't afford our new dream home, we went clothes shopping.

Lis found her perfect dream dress in a second hand store.

We ended the night at Sprague's, where Lis celebrated her birthday.

Too bad Lis's birthday isn't until June.

60 in 60: Extras

The blog has been taken over by cookies, and I promise no more cookie posts for awhile. Here's all the little extra things that went on behind the scenes of my cookie/blogging experiment.

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On Day 6 (Cappachino Crinkles) I really, really, really hated the cookie dough.

Here's a picture to prove it:

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Around Day 16, my freezer was overflowing with cookies. Here's a little sample of my "How many cookies can I fit in my freezer?" experiment. (The answer is somewhere over 300.)

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In late September, I figured I enjoyed baking so much, that I ordered a commission of yours truly the hot-bodied baker of love. Rosie made me this very awesome and truly spectacular piece of artwork. (I have a print of it hanging in my living room.)

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On October 1st, I donated over 200 cookies to BonaResponds for their LiveStrong Days bakesale. I'm not sure exactly how much they raised for their cause, but I know it was over 200 dollars to a great cause.

24 cream cheese cut outs

16 pink lemonades

16 best ever chocolate chip

26 craisy oatmeal cookies

24 Granola cookies

16 white chocolate macadamia nut

38 oatmeal toffee

6 Buffalo Chip Cookies

12 Almond Biscotti

18 Oatmeal Raisin

6 S'mores Bars

Giving up.

So, this little 60 in 60 thing isn't going to be finished. I haven't baked since the 19th of October, and that's fine by me. Life has been a little more than baking recently. So: I'm giving up on 60 in 60. Which is fine. I don't feel I've left myself down and I don't feel that I'm any less of a person because I didn't complete this. I had some fun, and I made a ton of great cookies. I also helped Bona Responds raise almost $250.

What have I been doing recently then, if not baking?

My brother turned 30 on the 20th. There was a party. I made cupcakes and a cake. Both were delicious. Then I got sick. Deathly ill, waking the boyfriend sick. The next day I did some theatre work at St. Bonaventure University. I ended up turning the houselights up and down for Michael Cooper. I also spent 20 minutes of each show being creeped out by a giant baby head. I did that for two days, then on Friday I spent the day with my friend, Lis. Since we're both ultra-broke, unemployed, former SAC employees, we spent the day walking around various shops, turning in out pop cans (nickels, FTW!), and looking at Owl Homes.

Owl Homes, for those not in the know, are pre-manufactured homes. Apparently, you choose one by going on a lot and looking through all the model homes and then deciding which one you like best. Some are even decorated so you can see their potential. Most of them have awesome kitchen islands installed. All of them have enough shower space for two people. One of them has a fireplace in the bathroom.

In the bathroom!

Since then I've watched a lot of television, and sat around on the couch a lot.

Sunday, on the other hand, is going to start a whole new challenge. (Well, I've done part of it before.) Sunday, I officially begin my 6th year of NaNoWriMo. It'll also be my first NaNoWriMo as Municipal Liaison (ML). If you don't know, being a ML is a big, huge, awesome responsibility. I'm, officially, in charge of herding cats, basically. All the other NaNoWriMo writers that go to write-ins and post questions on the forums and need pep talks. I'm in charge of them. Making sure they play nice, making sure they have all the answers they need to write, and making sure that they have all the pep they can handle - plus some!

Oh, and I also have to write 50,000 words in 30 days.

Well, it's 6am, that last paragraph didn't make sense, and my cats (the fur kind) need petting. Also, this post should have pictures, lots and lots of pictures. At least two of them should have bathrooms involved and at least one of them should have a bathroom fire place. There was even going to be a picture of me wearing a very large headset. But, alas, the laptop won't reconize the memory card from the camera.

Here, have a picture of puppies instead:

Dance to the music

I went to see Almost Abba at Olean's Festival Italia this weekend and during the band's break I realised something:

I just love to watch people dance.

When you dance, you're in your own little world.

Sometimes, your friends come for a visit,

And it doesn't matter if everyone is doing the same choreography,

Or if it looks like they're dancing to different music,

As long as you just dance.

I think I may love watching people dance just as much as I love to dance.

Mirror Me

I met my Mirror Universe counterpart last night.

At first, she seemed like a very nice person,

but then I turned around. Mirror JessAnn took the opportunity to attack me.

It didn't take me long to figure out what was going on. By the time I turned around, she was already attempting another kick, which I skillfully blocked.

As Mirror JessAnn regained her balance, I attempted to gain the advantage - by kicking her in the head.

Unfortunately, my advantage didn't last long, as Mirror JessAnn quickly struck back by placing her foot in my chest.

I aimed a kick back at her chest, but she very skillfully evaded it.

As I was landing from my kick, Mirror JessAnn spun around me and tried to catch me by surprise again.

I countered by making a quick kick to her abdomen that Mirror JessAnn wasn't prepared for.

In a rash move, Mirror JessAnn attempted another kick. Luckily for me, my block knocked her off balance and caused her to fall to the floor.

Unluckily for me, Mirror JessAnn put all of her power into one big kick aimed directly at my baby maker.

As I was reeling in pain (and wondering if I'd ever be able to have children), Mirror JessAnn returned to her own universe. Who knows why she left so soon? Maybe I was just too weak to be able to bond with her. Or maybe kicking my ass was all she needed to do to somehow prove herself in the Mirror Universe.

All I know is that my Mirror Universe counterpart is a fucking ninja. Well, that, and she doesn't have a beard.

Scavenger Hunt 3 - The Search for Scissors

Last night, I was going to sew a few things, but realised I had lost my scissors somewhere between Halloween (the last time I sewed) and now. After I looked in all the usual spots (on the desk, behind the couch, under the bathtub, in the cupboard) I started really digging through things to find them. While I was on the hunt, I also found many other things of interest:

Fun labels I bought last Halloween to put on your bottles,

Many many sided dice,

Lots and lots of piratey tattoos (that I immediately put on),

Four identical staplers (I think I have a fifth in the kitchen),

An old picture of me as a blonde,

a disposable camera that hasn't been developed yet,

And my scissors, of course!