Fair Fair

To begin with, I am not a huge fan of these sorts of events. Some people love them. And music festivals. I like parts - like the people watching can be fun and entertaining. And sometimes there are teeny bits here and there that are interesting. But overall, I find them hot, crowded, costly and not all that entertaining. This NYS Fair was no exception, sadly.

Mom really wanted to go, though it looked like it wasn't going to happen for a while. She was feeling sick and taking a long time to get ready. Just when I was about to settle in and get some work done on Diary of a Plate Addict, she announced she was ready to go!

Parking cost $5 - but mom got in free as it was Senior Citizen Day. Sadly, I had already bought her a ticket. Oh well. Life goes on. We parked in the handicap lot and took a tractor-pulled tram/trailer thing to the Horticulture building. Neither of us had any interest in it. First stop - the interactive animal tent - which was mom's main reason for wanting to go. She wanted to pet a llama. There were two - well, one was an alpaca but they seem awfully similar. She got to pet lots of critters and I have a good bit of it on video tape. Next stop, some food. We had Italian Sausage and fries. Pretty good.

While lunching, I asked mom to mark on the program and map what she wanted to do. I know, this was a bit silly of me. But seriously, I didn't really want to be there at all - this was her outing, I wanted her to take some responsibility for the adventure. She picked a few things and we proceeded to accomplish those. We got to see the butter sculpture and the sand sculpture. We saw other animals and watched a Native American dance program. We also wandered through a few exhibits here and there.

All in all, we survived. Yippee!

Pictures from August 30, 2011:


The petting zoo


Lunch


Native American dancers from a wide variety of tribes

Thirty Three (and a third?)

Remember records, lps, vinyl?! 45s even. Anyway, 33 followers! Woo hoo! Thank you Paul! Nice to have you reading!

Yesterday was the first day of Spanish class. Yippee! It is odd being back in class again. There were 17 people there - one other older person - an Italian Professor looking to improve his Spanish - and lots of kids - mostly 18 and 19 a couple 20 year olds and one 21 year old. I am still a wee bit anxious because I am so far behind. Speaking of which, I need to decide whether I am going to spend most of my time tonight (if there is time tonight) working on Diary of a Plate Addict or studying Spanish. Probably Spanish will get the nod. Sigh. Anyway, class was fun, though early. We got our syllabus that has a schedule of what is when. And it looks like we have a week off in October. Which is perfect for a trip to NC to hawk copies of the book, should it be ready at that point. Which, thinking positively, it will be!

Speaking of the book, I did at least 20 pages yesterday. I am up to page 39 in the text, 49 in the file! Yippee! I did get a crook in my neck from all of the hunching over, but I am happy to have gotten as far as I did!

And last night was quesadilla night! I have never made them before and was happy with how they turned out. Yippee!

Today is NYS fair day. I am up early to get a blog post out before we go. Just waiting on mom to be up and ready...

Pictures from August 29, 2011:


The main entrance to the classroom building. Hopefully more pictures of Spanish class will be forthcoming...


Ta dah! They were spinach, onion and bacon quesadillas.

BBQ without a grill

Sunday was a weird weather day - lots of wind, not strong, but consistently gusty - and lots of grey, threatening skies - with nary a drop of precipitation. And mild temperatures. Just felt foreboding. But we survived. My brother, Karl, sent me a text saying that they had three trees down and no power, but were otherwise unscathed.I haven't heard from Juliet, yet. Or Ernst. I have sent them all emails to check in.

It is weird how days just get away from me. Though, in retrospect, I did actually accomplish a good bit. I started reconciling the corrections and additions and alterations requested for Diary of a Plate Addict with a file explaining those things. I have gotten through 21 pages of the text. Hopefully, I will finish the rest today. That would be nifty. Then I can mail the package to Heather tomorrow. Wish me luck!

I also did a good bit of cooking. I made homemade bbq sauce that was awesome! Next time I have to double the recipe so that I can have some after I use the bulk of it to cook the ribs. We had beef ribs instead of pork. Maybe pork next time. They turned out really well too. Even without putting them on the grill and just cooking them in the oven. And I made coleslaw - still don't have the perfect combination of stuff for that. It is always good, just not consistent. And some baked beans from a can. And some more corn on the cob. Yum city! I am looking forward to left overs today at lunch!

And it was game night again. Charles from the opera invited a bunch over and three people showed up. We played a game called Dominion that was fun, but not excellent. I came in not last all three times. I think it would take quite a bit of playing for me to be better. We shall see if that happens.

More neatening of the room is on the schedule for today - had my first Spanish class (more about that tomorrow) - and heading to the State Fair tomorrow. Yippee!!

Pictures from August 28, 2011:


Another picture of my computer desk. This thing has been awesome! I even took it down to the kitchen with me, so I could look at the recipes without stooping too much.


Yum!


Dominion ready to play! Losing is good for the character...

Irene

Who has been glued to the television (or internet or their phone) to watch the progress of Irene? Not I. But I bet there were lots and lots of people who were. It is a bit like the boy who cried wolf - the media hypes and hypes and hypes and then fizzle. Hype, fizzle, hype, fizzle. Then when something really important happens, hype - and no one cares. We are bombarded with crap news and hype all the time till our senses get overwhelmed and our brains shut down. We just don't care anymore. Yay apathy!

Anyway, we are getting our share of Irene today, such as it is, here in beautiful Geneva, NY (where you are all encouraged to come and visit, by the way). 58% chance of rain. Eeek. Don't get me wrong, I do not underestimate the power of mother nature - she is to be honored and respected and not treated lightly. This time, though, I think we will survive. Sadly, I do have to go out today and do some food shopping so that I can make a yummy dinner. I have it all planned. I can barely, in fact, wait.

Have I mentioned Daily Challenge on here? Yes, I can see I have - some of my readers are actually from Daily Challenge - at least I think so. Anyway, it is quite a nice group of people, so far. All very positive and supportive - at least the ones that I have connected with and interact with. Today's challenge - a little spine twisting. Yay spine twisting!

Diary of a Plate Addict is one step closer to being ready to print. I went through the rest of Dara's notes yesterday. Next step, create the document that goes with the book to make clear (clarify even) what changes I am asking to have done. Hopefully, I can crank that out pretty quickly. We shall, of course, see.

Oooh, started watching Season 5 of Doctor Who last night. The new Doctor will take a little bit of getting used to. The new sidekick/companion - I am in love already. :) And I am playing a lot of Gardens of Time. Yippee!

Had a dream last night about being late to Spanish class (which starts tomorrow). So I guess I will be setting an alarm. Poop. I hate setting an alarm...

Does anyone know what to do when someone cashes a check that oughtn't to have done so? The scenario - I give a check to x - y cashes it, one presumes illegally. Who is liable for that money? I am guessing the bank needs to reimburse me so that I can reimburse x. Anyone?

I haven't forgotten about you, follower, 33 - more on you tomorrow!

Enough Sunday drivel, here are pictures from August 27, 2011:


The desk revealed!


The stuff that had been on the desk - and now needs to be dealt with. Severely! :)


Next on the neaten agenda - the chair!


Thrown together dinner last night - al fredo pasta with clams and a vegetable mosh. Yum!

Procrastination Post

I promised myself that I would not do anything else until I finished at least one page of editing for Diary of a Plate Addict. Yet, here I am. I have already played a little bit and then I checked my email and that led me to this. Yippee! Ok, this will be short-ish. I think part of the reason for my procrastination is the chaos that is my room just now. And that I don't have a real desk - not that I really like to use a desk, but it is still nice to have one. Mine is covered with crap. So, here's the thing - do I clean the room, yet another procrastinatory (not a word? Hmph!) tactic, or buckle down and do a page I will do a page and then clean the room. That is my plan and I am going to stick to it!

I was going to do some cooking today - then I realized that was yet another procrastinory tactic. I will still cook, just something quicker and easier than I had planned. I will save the big cooking for tomorrow. Ribs, with homemade sauce, baked beans, coleslaw (homemade) and corn on the cob. That's my thought at least as of now. Quesadillas on day...

Another reason for writing this note is because I got my Amazon shipment today. And I bought bad stuff. Not bad, bad. Just not what I thought I was getting. I bought Toast 11 pro and a copy of a play that I am thinking of auditioning for. Toast doesn't do what I thought it did. I had some idea, for some reason, that it was an editor - like iMovie. But it isn't. There are some utilities that might come in handy, but overall, I think I wasted a largish chuck of money. And the play, though it is good to have in my library, doesn't look very interesting. So I may not audition after all. We shall see.

Ok, time to get cranking - I still have a five page goal for today.

No Fair!

Yup, no Fair today. I get to stay home and work on Diary of a Plate Addict, since I did nothing on it at all yesterday. Sigh. I am a bad, bad person. :)

Ok, I didn't do nothing - I did look at the pages of notes that I have and I did glance at the book a couple of times. It just seemed like the day got away from me. I didn't wake up until almost 10:30 in the morning - not an auspicious way to start the day if one wants to get a lot accomplished. I puttered on the computer - Daily Challenge may only take a few seconds or minutes a day to accomplish, but the maintenance is akin to Facebook just now. I will relax about it at some point, I am sure. Just not yet - my goal is to do a full year of challenges. We shall see - who knows what a year will bring? Or even a day!

Next stop, lunch for mom and me. But wait, what is that? A whole flock of students on the William Smith Green (I wonder if it is still called that...). So I had to investigate. And get my camera. Oh, right, the camera battery was dying...so I just need to charge a battery - but wait, where is my charger, eeek! I can't find my charger. I get so distraught when something that normally has a place to live (in this case, my computer bag) is missing. Grr. Quick room toss and not there - so I went out with my iPhone and took some pictures with it. Of my finger. Sigh. I did eventually find the charger, but while it was missing, I was a little hot and bothered and therefore found my mom's antics to be slightly annoying. Double grrr.

Then, it was errands time! Bank, post office, library (Got all of the "Hunger Games" books - now I just need to find time (choose time) to read them. Has anyone else read them?), Physical Therapist's Office (making appointments for mom) and lastly Wegman's for some groceries. It really irked me that they not only checked my driver's license to make sure I was old enough to buy beer (I mean, come on...) but then she had to call over a supervisor because my license is from out of state. This is almost enough to make me want to not shop at Wegman's. Next time I am going to go to a manager and see if there isn't something they can do about the issue. I resent, slightly, or maybe mightily, a 12 year old not being secure enough in their powers of observation to let me buy beer without carding me. It was flattering at 25, but ludicrous at 50.

The rest of the day was devoted to not working on the book. I played, I puttered, I cooked fish, asparagus and corn on the cob (both of the veggies turned out excellently) for dinner...sigh.

Today - I will do at least one page of the book!

Photos from August 26, 2011:


Finger on the right and I don't know what on the left - and the kids in the middle - some sort of orientation exercise...


Michelle from the Physical Therapist's office.

Pizza on the Patio at Billsboro Winery

That was the highpoint of the day. It looked iffy for a long time that we would make it. Mom was feeling and acting especially feeble yesterday. Sometimes I see her in her bed and I just feel an overwhelming sadness. Oh well. Life goes on. Yippee!

So, not a lot happened yesterday for me. I did get closer to getting into the Spanish class. I met with the professor, a nice man from Peru and we had a little chat - all in English, thankfully. He thought it would be fine for me to join the class. I had a minor epiphany: I can find someone who wants to review the first semester to help me catch up. We shall see who is willing.

Other than that, I puttered all day - working on Spanish - finally finished chapter 2 - and working on Diary of a Plate Addict. I got through page 60 of the text finally. It is going really slowly. Tedium is too nice a word. I am sick unto death of the damn thing. Grrr. It will be so nice to call it a wrap.

Last event of the day, pizza on the patio at the Billsboro Winery. Jim, whose last name escapes me, was responsible for us going. He mentioned that Vinny the Vintner, tee hee, at the Billsboro Winery also went in for beer. I thought any vintner who also respected beer couldn't be all bad. So I went for a tasting (as loyal followers might recall from a week or so ago). And they had a sign touting their Pizza on the Patio. Seemed like a good mom activity. Lots of sitting. :) So I signed us up.

We got there around 6:30 and the place was pretty full. We sat at a table with three other people who we have never met. I like that sort of thing. They were very nice. Terry Acree was entertaining and knew a lot of the same people we knew. His daughter, Katherine and her friend Emily, though young, were also entertaining. Perhaps they were entertaining because they were young (15 is young, isn't it? - I mean, not to them, obviously, but to most people?).

Dinner was a long time coming - I mean a long time - I think it took two hours for our two pizzas to arrive. They were good - but not really worth the two hour wait. Luckily we did get to chat with people - a women, Betty Bayer, came up and chatted with mom for a while. After she had left mom said the greatest thing "Why do people remember me when I don't remember them?" I really had no answer for her, other than the obvious - she is memorable!

So, overall, fun. I doubt we will go again, though this sort of thing is definitely something I will be looking out for!

Ok, I have to get to work if I am going to accomplish anything today. I moved the trip to the State Fair to next week, so that I could spend some time on the book. And so far, I have been awake for almost 2 hours and haven't done much on it. Sigh.

Photos from August 25, 2011:


Katherine (or Catherine - I forgot to ask), Emily and Terry - our table mates.


Betty Bayer chatting with mom.


Oh, that's what the pizza looked like. By the time it came, it was pitch black and impossible to see what we were eating!

Vaguely Unsatisfied

Yesterday left me feeling vaguely unsatisfied. I think it is because I didn't really get anything done that was one my list of things to accomplish. I did no work on Diary of a Plate Addict. I did not look at any Spanish. Sigh. I guess I just have to do a lot of both today to help get over that feeling.

On the other hand, I did have a few adventures, which is a good thing. First adventure, meeting a Plenty of Fish friend for lunch in Skaneateles. Which was a half way point for us both. I think I have only been to Skaneateles once before. Nice little town and deserves more visiting which may or may not happen. We ate at Johnny Angels, which is a bit like a Five Guys burger place - though they do serve Yak there. Good food. Nice company!

Next stop, Middle Ages Brewing in Syracuse. Matt and Sharon, behind the taps, were both nice. I also met Michelle and Jeff - regulars who were stopping in to get a growler filled. Great atmosphere. It seems to me that "beer people" are more outgoing and friendly than "wine people." Maybe I am not giving wine people a chance. I have been to a few wine bars and wineries and at those, at least, the people there have been more stand offish than people at beer bars and breweries. Then again, maybe it is me, and I change a bit depending on my surroundings. Maybe I am less outgoing and friendly at wine things than I am at beer things. Naw.

Then home to cook a dinner out of the freezer (Bridget - are you counting?) of frozen peas and leftover shrimp eggrolls. We really need to eat those up - the frozen vegetables and the eggrolls. After the Daily Challenge to look and see how long things are supposed to last, I realized that the things in the freezer really need eating up. Sigh. I do so like fresh things. Hmm.

Lastly, went down to the Beef and Brew and continued work on my video blog. Still no firm plans how to craft an episode. I am waiting on a piece of software - Toast - to start editing. For credits, I was thinking of a montage of people's faces, but so far I only have five or six different people on tape. I would like ten or twenty. And for music for the beginning I was thinking of an orchestral version of 100 bottles of beer on the wall. I think it might be...

Oh, while there, I was told that I was sometimes a bit creepy and annoyingly know-it-all like. Both are true, can't deny it. I am creepy because I tend to be focused on someone and ask them a lot of questions. And know-it-all like because I do actually know a few things and like to share. Like how to pronounce Framboise... Whatever.

Pizza on the Patio at a local Winery is the plan for tonight - and maybe the State Fair tomorrow - depending on the weather.

Pictures from August 24, 2011:


Yak!


Skaneateles lake looking as choppy as it can be!


Me, Michelle and Jeff at Middle Ages Brewery in Syracuse.

Appointments

Part of me really doesn't like appointments that cause me to act before noon. Yesterday, mom had to be at the Physical Therapist at 10 in the morning. She was none too happy about it, despite liking her doctor a lot. I was none too happy about it, because it was too early after my late night the night before. Sigh. Still, we made it and both survived the experience. Yippee!

Not a lot happened yesterday. I tried to hunker down and get a lot accomplished. We went to the library after PT to drop off a book that mom had finished. I also picked up a hold - the last book in the Hunger Games Trilogy. How great to get that one first. Sigh. My hope is to get the others before it is time to turn this one in. Fingers crossed, ya'll.

The rest of the day was spent working on Diary of a Plate Addict. I sent a request to Heather to create a plate graphic that says On Sale Here and Now. Hopefully Jeff, the manager of the Raleigh Saucer, will be able to have that made for me.

Oh, I did continue the quest to get into Spanish class, though I almost stopped when I found that the class is at 9 in the morning. That just bites the big one. Grrr. Why does it have to be so early in the morning. I guess I will just have to reframe the thing and be excited that it is early and will be over early in the day.

I cooked dinner again last night (Bridget, I really do cook six or seven nights a week). While shopping at Wegman's I discovered that Amanda, an ex-crush, does fire tricks and is getting married at Burning Man! I juggle flaming torches! Who knew we had that in common? I do now. :) Anyway, dinner was steak with veggies. Turned out pretty darn well, if you ask me.

Ok, I have to run. Hope you all have a great portion of your life today! :)

Pictures from August 23, 2011:


Little stations like this dotted the William Smith Green, so I had to go ask what it was about (turned out to be some sort of eco-orientation for Freshmen (First years)) and this squirrel was curious also!


These seem to be popping up all over the place. Luckily I ran into the woman who owned it - 38 miles a gallon - about what my Yaris does.


Dinner!

It is begun

More than one "it" actually. The first thing is going through the proofreaders comments and fixing what I fix. This will take a few days, at the rate I am going. But it is good for me to read through the book at a slow, thorough pace. Diary of a Plate Addict hopefully will be better for this effort. My goal, still, is to finish my go-through by the end of the week.

I also started teaching myself Spanish. Ok, that isn't strictly accurate. I started trying to do a chapter a day. I got through one chapter. Yippee!

Lastly, I started my video blog. I took about half an hour of video and haven't put it on the computer yet. I know it is going to take me forever to get this all done. Many hours to end up with two minutes of video. Not more than that - including intro and credits. Maybe 1:30 of actual content. I am not as attractive as the woman who does the words thing, Hot for Words, so I can't have a very long episode length. My goal here is to start posting in September. End of September. We shall see.

I see some interesting things on my walks around town. Last night I saw a vase abandoned by the side of the road and decided to take it with me. Matt and Zach at the Beef and Brew absconded with it! Who knows where it will end up? I also saw someone sitting on some steps with their laptop. My guess, using the free Geneva Wi Fi since they don't have Wi Fi in their home...

Other than that, I cooked dinner last night - yummy pork with lots of veggies. And made lunch - leftovers for me.

Ok, time to get on with my day. Mom had a Physical Therapy appointment this morning and that has thrown my "schedule" all out of whack. Sigh.

Pictures from August 22, 2011:


Our freshly painted front steps - they only look orange because of the way the sunlight was hitting them.


The sun is setting earlier and earlier. I like the spaceship look to that cloud!


Here is the vase - I hope it finds a happy home one day!


Here is the person sitting on the steps doing wi fi!

Sunday Funday

Although this is a catch phrase mostly for people who are in the food service industry, Sundays can be fundays for the rest of us. It was a dark and gloomy day until about 3 in the afternoon. A good amount of rain and some thunder and such. Yippee! I like weather! :)

My first appointment was at 11 in the morning, visiting the man who had a video camera for sale. I zipped over there and found the house easily enough. The camera, though not optimal, will suffice for the nonce. It is a Samsung, about 3 years old, has some dirt on the lens but otherwise seems to function all right. We shall see what happens when I start work on my video blog tonight. I am so excited. I am so excited in fact, that I didn't sleep all that soundly. Ooops. Oh well. I am awake now.

I spent most of the rest of the day, puttering on my computer, not doing too much. Yippee! One of the pleasanter surprises was getting the final notes from Dara, who has been proofreading Diary of a Plate Addict. She gave me 30 pages of notes - most of which, to be fair, are taken up with describing where in the document to find the thing she thinks needs correcting. Still, it was a massive undertaking and I do appreciate her efforts. That gives me a self imposed week to get the next draft ready for Heather, my wonderful designer (and surprisingly, part-time cheerleader) and her tender ministrations. Hopefully this will be the last draft before it goes to the printer. That would be awesome!

At some point, the rain stopped and the sun came out. That happens a lot. Weird. Anyway, I went food shopping so that I could create breakfast for dinner. Wow! I was shocked by the price of the yellow pepper I got - $3.99 a pound! Eeek! Daily Challenge has a lot to answer for, for making me get something so pricey just to eat more healthfully. Poo!

It turned out to be juicing day. I had accumulated all sorts of fruit over the past week or so - grapes, plums, apricots, oranges, strawberries and a cantaloupe. So it all went into the juicer - mostly separately. I had sort of promised one of my facebook friends that I would make mimosas for my breakfast for dinner meal last night - so I did! Yippee! I tried each of the juices separately and then ended up mixing them all in a growler. Mom didn't want any juice. How weird is that? And I can't force, now can I?

Dinner was yummy, complete with a sweet potato hash, suggested by another Facebook friend and sometimes reader of this blog. It was delicious! Sort of thrown together and not really following a recipe. Go me!

But wait, there's more! A late night game night with Charles and his friends, only one of whom showed up, Daniel. We played two rounds of a dice game, like a complicated and a bit more fun Yahtzee based on the athletic decathlon. I didn't lose both games! Yippee! I will look forward to going again.

So, all in all, a great night. Oh, I am thinking of retitling this blog to "The most boring blog on the internet." Or maybe just subtitling it that. What do you think?

Photos from August 21, 2011:


The video camera and its accoutrements. No manual - I am hoping to find one online if Tim can't come up with his.


Art photo - freshly painted floor with leaf - I would call it, "Fall cometh" or something like that. Or maybe not...


I was aghast when I saw this display of Halloween Candy at Wegman's! Eeeek! It is August for goodness sake!!!


There are all the juices and the sparkling that help make the mimosas!


Breakfast for dinner again - bacon, sausage, french toast, sweet potato hash and mom's over not so easy egg.

And then there were 32!

Wow, how am I so lucky?! Welcome JEB or is the Jeb or jeb? Anywho, welcome, welcome, welcome! I hope you enjoy perusing!

It was a lovely day here in Upstate (or rather Central) NY - 80s and sunny! After lunch, I went out to meet a woman from Plenty of Fish - I think she is the third I have met on this go 'round on the site. She suggested meeting at the Montezuma Winery near Seneca Falls and the Montezuma Swamps Wildlife Preserve (or is it Refuge?). They were having their ten year anniversary and celebrating with a sparkling Riesling, cake and music. I got there a smidge late - I took a scenic route that turned out to be a lot longer than I had thought - but luckily, Patricia had gotten stuck in Farmer's Market traffic and was a smidge late as well! We bellied up to the tasting bar and each had tastes of six different wines - they had a whole bunch on their list - probably 24! Most of them were sweet wines - but they had a few dry reds. The one that stood out for both of us was the Cranberry Bog - it was like Hard Cranberry Juice. Won a lot of awards.

Patricia and I opted to go outside and sit rather than stand inside or sit in the back and be deafened by the music - two musicians but they must have been deaf and wanting to make everyone else suffer - that is the only reason I can think that they had their amps up so high. It was nice sitting on Adirondack chairs (in the shade for my delicate complexion), chatting about this and that and sipping our Cranberry Bog. I look forward to hanging out with her again, schedules permitting! :)

Next, I zipped, slowly, to Syracuse to go to a Best Buy to actually speak to a person and to hold a camera in my hand. I had a nice sales associate, Amy, talk with me. The camera I liked was the Canon HFR20 - but it was $400. Eeek. "Oh well," I thought, "I will just have to save my shekels." Zipped, a little more quickly, back to Geneva in time for dinner with mom.

We went to Friendly's, 'cause we had a coupon. Mom had a fish wrap - in which she couldn't taste the fish, and I had a chicken sandwich which was just dandy. We both brought home half our food. Lunch today!

After getting back, I went online - gee, that's new for me - and looked on Amazon and Ebay to see if I could find the camera for considerably less than $400. No luck. Very little out there for a reasonable (to me) price. On an outside chance, I decided to look on Craigslist. There was a camera, not the camera of my dreams, but still, a camera - for only $100 and in Geneva! Woo hoo! I sent him an email, he responded and we arranged to meet today! Yippee!

So, all in all, a good day. We like those!

Pictures from August 20, 2011:


The Montezuma Winery - I was surprised at the amount of gift stuff in their main space!


Best Buy at the Carousel Center in Syracuse - I don't think I have ever been there before - the Carousel Center, I mean...


One of the freshly painted red doors on the house! Yippee!!

31!

Gosh, just raking in the new followers! Welcome Patricia! I hope you drop back now and again!

A stay at home day yesterday. I don't think I ventured out of the house at all. No, wait, I did. I took something that Dave, mom and I call him Santa, painted and put it on the porch in case we got rain. Other than that, not a step. Yippee! I mostly just played on the computer all day. Waiting patiently for things to happen. Waiting for Kyle to get back to me about his recommendations for a video camera. Waiting for the proofreader to finish proofreading Diary of a Plate Addict. Waiting for Godot. Waiting for my Spanish book to come (no, that happened - it came - I have started to go through it). Waiting for mom to be miraculously cured of Alzheimer's (that will be a long wait). Waiting for it.

As I parenthetically mentioned, my Spanish Text Book (complete with CDs) arrived yesterday. Hurrah! I have started to work my way through it. I don't really get the difference between estar and ser yet. Maybe it will become clearer as time goes by. I am a tad anxious about class. Still haven't heard if I can take it, don't know what time of day it will be if I am allowed in, and worried that perhaps I am crazy for a) wanting to take a class at all, b) that not taking the first semester is crazy and c) that it is going to seriously cramp what little style I have. Hmm.

Speaking of Diary of a Plate Addict, the Saucer management where worried more about releases than they were about copyright. Still haven't heard from the photographer - I last wrote her in January and nada! (That's Spanish!)

Mom was willing to go out to dinner last night - either McDonald's or Friendly's. I couldn't face either of them. And it would have meant going outside. So I decided to throw some leftovers together with some pasta and added a few slices of pepperoni to the pile. Yum!

A week or so ago, I discovered that the sofa that mom has is a recliner sofa! Huzzah!

It is the weekend - and the Daily Challenge website is extremely quiet...

Today is a lovely day - and I am going to go out into it at some point. Huzzah!

Pictures from August 19, 2011:


The wonderful dinner, complete with pepperoni!


My feet look huge reclining like that! Self portrait...

30!

A thirtieth follower has magically appeared! Hurrah! Please, if you do read this blog again one day, identify yourself. I can't figure out who you are...but thank you for following. I will endeavor to be only as boring as I need to be. :)

For some reason, Blogger is not tracking the visits to yesterday's post. I don't understand that. I guess I will have to write to them and see if they can figure it out.

Still no word on the Spanish class. I have to believe that it will all be ok - but I think classes start a week from Monday! Eeek! I am having second and third thoughts about going back to school. But maybe I will be a student and get student discounts and a student id and such. That would be nifty. And I hope the class isn't really early in the morning. That would suck. Anyway, we shall see.

Went to Billsboro Winery yesterday. I have driven past quite a few times and this time made a point of stopping. Partly because of the man at the party - whose name I still don't recall, who told me that the owner also likes beer. Anyway, Barb was the taste pourer and was very nice. $2 for 6 tastes isn't too bad. I had three whites - all good - a pink - not so good - and two reds - both of which were a bit thin for my taste. I made a reservation for mom and me to go to their Pizza on the Patio next Thursday. The name comes from the area - I thought it might have had something to do with The Hobbit and all that stuff. Oh well.

Last night I made another foray to Leaf Kitchen. It was their Game and Pub night. Decent turnout - all the people there were how old my kids would be, if I had kids. Very nice people - I might go again - especially if I can find a box of Risk in the attic. I wonder if I could get some people to play that. Or Life. :) I had a yummy beer from Southern Tier - Iniquity - a black Ale - kind of like a combination of a porter and an IPA. It was pretty tasty! And one of the guys there suggested I try Ellicotville Beer and restaurants. They are far-ish away - but I might could go. (I just looked it up and it isn't really that far.) Maybe this weekend - or next week. We shall see.

Still no romantic partner in my life. Sigh. At least I dated someone for a few weeks this year. Yippee! No crushes either, which is odd for me...

Pictures from August 18, 2011:


This was at the Billsboro Winery - I just liked the picture...


New Signage?


Iniquity making pretty bubbles on the glass...

Gingerless Day

Here I thought that it was a Ginger day today. But apparently it isn't. Oh well. Not a huge loss. Maybe I am confused about what day it is in general. Nope, it is Thursday. All day. :)

Yesterday we attended a party. Asta Farrand, a long time family friend, celebrated her 80th birthday. Roger, her husband, made it a surprise party. Poor Asta was a little overwhelmed, I think. I went, hoping that her son and daughter would be there. They were very close childhood friends. In fact, for a long time, I believed that Johanna and I would end up married. We did, in fact, get married once, in her yard, with a Spanish-English dictionary for our bible. I don't know when it was - I hope it wasn't while I was dating Christine Coonce. Who I married later in a very short lived affair - I think we got married at the end of school one day and by the end of the after school activities period it was over. :( Anyway, both Matthew and Johanna were there. It was awesome to see them and do a little catching up!

Lots of other people were at the party as well. Many of whom I knew, one way or another. I need to be better at remembering names. Sigh. I gave out a bunch of cards. We shall see if anyone follows through and contacts me back or reads my books or my blog... Anyway, had some nice chats - one political, one beer centric, one man told me a couple of Otto (my father) stories, one about making friends in Geneva. All in all, a fun time was had by many!

Other excitement - Dave the painter is back - doing all of the red on the house. It will make the grey look worse, but oh well. Mom and I went to the Paint Shoppe to try and get the red matched - without much success. Eventually they came up with something - I think it is darker than what we had before. Whatever.

So, is no one impressed that I am writing a blog every day?! And taking a picture every day!? I am impressed with myself. Over half the year gone and I am still percolating along. Ok, so it is a boring blog, but it is consistently boring! I need more followers. Fifty by the end of the year is my current goal. Tell your friends!

Pictures from August 17, 2011:


The steps being prepped!


Matthew, me and Johanna!


My camera actually captured what I was hoping it would...

Totally Tuesday

It was such a Tuesday yesterday. I mean, everything came in twos.

Ok, no, it didn't. I just thought that would be funny. Was it?

Hi, how are you? I am fine. Thank you for the box of chocolates...

Moving on. Tuesday was a pleasant day in the world we know as Augustus's world. Ran more errands, without mom. This started a bit frustratingly, due to my flaky CD player in my car. Sometimes, without rhyme nor reason (that I have been able to ascertain) it won't read my CD. So I try ejecting and re-inserting until it works. I even bang, ineffectually, on the front of the player. Sigh. But it started working - so I got to listen to the Wheel of Time book. Yippee! Then it was bank, library, dollar store and Staples.

I don't like the little plastic baskets I got at the dollar store - I was looking for some sort of way to organize the re-usable plastic bags shelf. Hmm. I will keep working on that. At Staples, I got two little tripods in hopeful anticipation that I will, one day, get a video camera. I am still waiting on advice from my nephew Kyle about which ones might be appropriate. I don't know how long I will have to wait. Trying to exercise patience...

Oh, forgot one errand - I stopped at Wegman's to get advance tickets to the State Fair. Not sure what day we are going to go, but we are going to go. Mom changed her mind and then changed back again about going. We shall see how it transpires.

We got the kitchen painted! Well, one wall. Dave, a contractor for our handyman, Don, came and did a great job painting the last kitchen wall. I got to clean a little bit, which is always good. And today I get to rehang all the things that were taken down, though not everything will go back up...

The big excitement yesterday was trying a new-to-me restaurant: Ports Market and Cafe located a little way down the West side of Seneca Lake from Geneva. I have wanted to try this place for a couple of years. Sadly, it didn't live up to my expectations. First off, we had to wait - even though we had reservations. Not long, but it seemed longer perched on chairs in their entry way. Then, we waited again before a server, Nancy, came to greet us. I like the Saucer rule of 30 seconds to greet your table - even if you can't really do much for them, at least you can greet them! That set the pace for the evening, though. A lot of waiting. True, everything is made to order, but still. I don't generally mind waiting, but it was incredible loud in the restaurant as well. I mean, I couldn't speak in a normal voice and have my mom hear me and she was sitting across a teeny table. The food that we ate was all tasty and pretty. We shared a cup of mushroom soup - lots of port or something in it. Yum. Mom had a seafood stuffed halibut entree with smashed potatoes and veggies - I had a shrimp pasta dish - (I didn't really like the sauce) with a side of veggies (that were mostly undercooked) and garlic bread (mine is better). I would have liked to have had dessert, but mom was ready to go, so we left. All in all, it seems like an ok place foodwise - just not a place I will eagerly return to.

Pictures from August 16, 2011:


The kitchen wall "before."


The kitchen wall "after."


Ports Market and Cafe.

Guess who had Errand Monday?!

Yup, we did! It was errandalicious!

So, after getting up and feeling sleepy, I finished the blog post and took a nap - for three hours! Eeeek! I guess I really was tired! I did feel refreshed. Made lunch for mom and me - ok, more like brunch really. Finally finished the Indian chicken dish leftovers. Yippee!

Then it was time for errands. I made about five calls and netted a few good results - one of mom's bills is now going to be paid quarterly rather than all at once - better for her cash flow - the last wall in the kitchen might get painted today - and she is going to be going to the physical therapist starting next week for a while - I don't know how long the insurance will pay - I will check that out when I take mom up there next week. She is going to pay $30 a visit - yet she balks at paying $50 a month for visiting the YMCA. Penny wise, pound foolish - a Schoen-Rene failing - must be genetic on her side of the family. Sigh.

After all the calls, we headed out into the wide world. First stop, the library. I was devastated, mildly, to learn that the woman who has run the place (mostly) for as long as I can remember is retiring - at noon today actually. She said she was 65 - doesn't look a day over 45...Very sad. Well, luckily, most everyone there is very nice. We got a few books, put a couple on hold and had a dandy time. Next stop, two pharmacies for pills for mom. And lastly, walmart for some mixed nuts for mom. She likes to pick out the non-peanuts from the mixed nuts - which is understandable, but sad for me if I ever choose to have any. I like peanuts, but I expect a can of mixed nuts to have something besides peanuts - and after mom gets done with it, that isn't likely. :)

For dinner, I made pasta and a batch of the easy al fredo sauce. God I love that sauce. So easy to make and tastes great and lasts in the fridge for a while. Yippee!

Post dinner, it was beer time at the beef and brew. Turns out Geneva is even smaller than I thought - I sat next to the guy who helped mom with computer issues in the past. He promised to come visit - we shall see - seems like a man of his word. Also met his three friends - but have already forgotten two of their names. Sigh. It was raining mastiffs and mountain lions when I walked home - good thing I had my brelly and sandals!

All in all, yippee!

Pictures from August 15, 2011:


Anyone care to hazard a guess how much this workbook for the Spanish class costs retail? $90! I spent $45 because I wanted one that hadn't been written in. Sigh.


Sauteed mushrooms! Yum city!!


Ok, this pic doesn't look like much, but it was coming down so hard that rain was coming through my umbrella!

Sleepy again

And I will probably be sleepy more times in the future. Life is that way sometimes. I stayed up late doing various things - watching Torchwood for the first time for one. It is one of the spinoffs from the Doctor Who. Last night's DW episode didn't want to work, so I called Tech Support and chatted with Maria - I was a tad tipsy so I was having fun - and she laughed a lot - I guess that is good. Anyway, they have good tech support. At least Maria was nice. They are sending me a disk of the episode in case they can't get the one online functioning happily. Yippee!

Yesterday was pleasant enough. Frustrating, because of seeing too many attractive women wandering about. But I am used to being frustrated by that. Sigh.

I had cinnamon on my freshly juiced grape juice! It was delicious! Thank you Daily Challenge website!

It was Sunday, and Sunday has become "breakfast for dinner" night. Yay! Last night I made French Toast - and froze most of it. I had never read the instructions for cooking sausages before - who knew to cook them in water for a long time before frying them? Interesting. On Facebook, I posted a question asking what green veggie I ought to have with the meal. It is always curious to me, which status updates are remarked upon. I had at least six people write suggestions! So there are still at least six people who have me in their news feeds. Yippee!! I ended up going with spinach as that was the easiest. But two people had great suggestions that I will have to try one day - spiced apples and some sort of sweet potato concoction. Yum!

Mom and I went to the movies. I thought that Sunday afternoon would be underattended. Oops. The theatre was so crowded that mom and I couldn't sit together. Oh well. We went to see The Help. All in all, very enjoyable. I like Emma Stone, though I am beginning to see her through her roles. And the rest of the cast was good too. And the story was well written. I would recommend it - and it made me want to go to other movies...

Ooh, and I was handy yesterday. I fixed a knob on a sideboard in the dining room. Yay me.

Today is calling day - calling to see where the people who were supposed to help out with stuff around the house and garden are...and various other calls. I like call days. :) Ok, that is just trying to think positively. For some reason, I don't really enjoy talking on the phone. Sigh.

Pictures from August 14, 2011:


One of the things that I don't want to do - go through that pile of papers. Glarg.


Here are some old food coloring bottles and packages. I don't think I will be using that stuff anytime soon!


I took a bite before I remembered to take a picture. Sigh.