A Friendly's Night

Mom likes to go to Friendly's, as I have mentioned before. I figured last night was a good night to do so - so that I wouldn't have to cook or clean. So I could study more Spanish. Not that it helped. I know what I know and I will do as well as I do. Friendly's was pleasant. We had a server we have had before - one of my favorites, actually, Lorena. Mom had a hamburger, I had steak tips. I might make the rest of the steak tips into a Philly cream cheese and steak sandwich. I made this once back in Clayton and it was too darn delicious!

Ok, off to my Spanish Exam. Eeek!

Well, I survived my exam. How I did is anyone's guess. Truth be told, I blanked on a couple of things - like how to conjugate a verb when it is impersonal - is it the person who is being impersonaled or the object of the impersonal thing - who or what is the verb supposed to agree with. We only went over it briefly one day in class - I thought I had it, but who knows. And when to use the preterito or imperfecto - and all the irregulars - no clue! Sigh. I will be happy if I passed. Obviously, I will post here when I know. Probably not until next Friday (which will be deep in October already!).

What else happened yesterday, you may be asking? Well, as I pointed out on a post on Facebook, I realized that the only reason I was holding myself to a specific schedule to go to Raleigh was because of Spanish class. That meant that as long as I was willing to live with whatever consequences there might be from missing one class more than we are "allowed," that I could go down anytime - which means that we can go around Halloween - a time I really enjoy the Saucer because sometimes the servers dress up. And I like that. Yippee!

That, and studying, were about it for the day. Yippee!

Oh, we broke the record for views this month - or we will by the end of the day. Hurrah! Still, more followers would be dandy...

Photo from September 29, 2011:

Our Friendly's meal

Shippin' Proof

That is a very, very slight pun - or some other sort of word play - but the fact is that the proofs for Diary of a Plate Addict shipped today - two days late, but better than not at all. Oops, just looked at CreateSpace's website and they are apparently done and ready to ship but haven't gone out the door yet. Hopefully they will get out today. That would be awesome!

Today I get to study Spanish in hopes of passing my Spanish exam tomorrow. I think I finally have the conjugations down for the regular verbs for preterite and imperfect. Maybe. Sorta. Kinda. We shall see.

Yesterday, mom and I went to Utica to see Kristen in her production of Young Frankenstein. I don't think I have ever been to Utica before. Not sure if I will ever go again. Not that it wasn't pleasant, but there is lots to explore that is closer to me than Utica. Two hours isn't far, but it isn't near either. On a side note, it rained a smidge on the way there around Syracuse, and on the way back there was a substantial amount of rain. Driving in the rain at night is not optimal. Sigh.

Anyway, we got out of the house at a reasonable time and drove to Utica. First stop, Nail Creek Pub and Brewery. It turns out, that they aren't a brewery...yet. Just a wannabe brewery. Still, it was a comfortable bar - very old school - mom loved the bathrooms. In fact, I will be surprised if she doesn't mention them at least once today. The space had an almost Irish pub feel to it. And on Wednesdays they have a special dinner - last night's was a chicken meal - for $10. Mom and I shared it and were both full afterwards. And I had a Saranac beer that I don't think I have had before - Wet Hop Ale or something like that. I think Saranac is right around there somewhere. So I guess I will be going back to Utica at some point in the future.

Next stop, the Stanley. An awesome old theatre! Really amazingly gorgeous inside. With a whole new set of infrastructure attached that has upgraded the building to accommodate modern load-in and -out. With an elevator! Mom and I had balcony seats - we were quite a distance from the stage - that'll teach me to wait to buy tickets - but we could see and hear pretty well. The rows were very close together, which though potentially painful was to be expected of a theatre of this vintage.

The show itself was very enjoyable. I do need to see the movie again - probably ought to have watched it before going - still, it was fun. Kristen is a member of the ensemble and did a lot of great singing and dancing. We met up afterwards and chatted for a while in her hotel's bar. She is off to Worcester for the official opening and then 44 more cities or something ridiculous like that. I will look forward to checking in with her as the year passes. Doing shows like that are one of the reasons that I chose not to be a professional performer!

All in all, we survived the experience, which is always to the good.

Oh, a weird thing happened - mom woke my up this morning to tell me that the car's flashers were on. I knew I hadn't put them on. I thought perhaps she did without realizing it. Then I recalled that I hadn't seen the GPS on the windshield - it had fallen down and landed on the button to turn the flashers on. Ta da! Sadly, no gremlins. :(

Pictures from September 28, 2011:

A view from the Nail Creek Brewery and Pub! I wonder if Utica Club is truly brewed right there!

The door to Nail Creek

The yummy menu for their Wednesday night Grub.

Some vintage playboy cartoons in the bathroom - I actually remember the first one from seeing it many years ago.

Our yummy dinner - I especially liked the parmesan toast!

Some of the taps at Nail Creek

The Stanley Marquee

An inside picture of The Stanley

The obligatory Kristen and Mom picture

Mysterious Disappointments

Mysteriously, I am disappointed, in several areas. Mysteriously, because one thing I promised not to write about and the other I am choosing not to write about. I am sure the people who read this can figure out what those disappointments are. Or not. I don't really care.

Moving on. Today is Young Frankenstein day! Yippee! Road trip, new place to eat, theatre - sounds like an awesome day. Glad it is later in the day, though, so that mom has more time to wake up. She took a shower last night, without the histrionics that occurred last time. That made me happy. I am still thinking of looking into "Rebath." This is a company that comes and changes the bathroom into one that is fit for older people. We shall see. If it isn't too expensive, we will probably do it.

Yesterday, I did some errands - library, beer drinking, food shopping and other shopping. I had good fun at the Beef and Brew yesterday. Lorraine was, as always, the day bartender. Becky, a new to them server was working - she is feisty! - and Amy - their pastry chef was also working. So the three of us chatted while I had my three beers. Drinking through their list of 140 beers! I think my going weekly is good for the bar as they are forced to evaluate and go through their stock. Yay me! :) The library was easy - they took Kennedy's Brain off of my list. I am sure I returned it - what happened to it, heaven alone knows. Then food shopping at Wegmans - I had to get the ingredients for making the bbq ribs. Boy howdy they turned out well. I was sad to discover that corn on the cob season is over. :( Oh well, we will eat other veggies. I hope they will last until Friday, which is the next time I am cooking a full meal. Last stop, Wal-mart. I was mainly going there for toilet paper - we needed more - and decided to get mom another set of sheets as well. Personally, I think she ought to get rid of the king sized bed and get a queen or even a double or full sized bed. But that is a conversation for another day. And some napkins. And soda water - Wegman's was out of the kind of soda water that mom likes. Wal-mart didn't have that, but I got her another brand instead. All in all, lots of shopping. And by the time I got home, it was time to cook and clean the kitchen (no, I didn't cook the kitchen...). We didn't end up eating until almost 8 pm. Sigh. But it was worth the wait, in my opinion.

Then I tried to study Spanish. I still don't understand, sometimes, when to use Preterite and when to use Imperfect - oh well - at least I am getting better at conjugating the verbs in the two tenses (and present). Yippee!

Pictures from September 27, 2011:

At the Beef and Brew

Ribs ready to roast! :)

Dinner: bbq ribs (homemade BBQ sauce), baked beans and homemade coleslaw!

Remembering Biology

In some biology class sometime, I actually learned something so well that I remember it (mostly) to this day. It was something about trimming the ends of plants and being able to guide the direction they grew. Memory is weird. Can one accept memory loss with equanimity? I guess anything can be accepted with equanimity. At least I hope so.

Saw an interview with Ron Paul done by Jon Stewart. I agree with a lot of what Ron Paul says and disagree with a lot too. I have more socialistic tendencies than he does. It just seems to me that he wants it both ways, though. Self regulation, self determination yet strong penalties for treading on other people's toes. Who enforces the strong penalties? There must be a group in place to do that, mustn't there?

Oh well. My brain was full of Spanish yesterday and I have yet to Spanish at all today. I need to do the "Repaso" for tomorrow's class. My plan is to sit down and do the whole thing in one fell swoop. Give myself 50 minutes just like the exam on Friday. I am slightly anxious about it. The worst that could happen is that I fail the exam, which would really, in the greater scheme of things, not matter a whit. Yippee!

We also had the student community service kids over yesterday. They are so different! And it is great to have them. True, mom was so anxious before they came that she was sick to her stomach with dread. Kolonopin would have helped, had we had it. Once they came, she was all better. We moved her mattresses around, remade her bed and then she took the two girls (women, young ladies, whatever), inappropriately attired (though they knew that yard work was likely), out to clip and such. Katie was in white capri jeans and a thin floral blouse (it has been warm here for the past few days) and Jocelyn was in a very short, light, floral dress. I hope neither of them got poison ivy! I lurked. I think the point of this whole exercise is for the girls to help out and if I am there, they can't do what they need to do.

We had left overs for the most part last night for dinner. Yum! I need to go food shopping and make dinner tonight. I am going to make the bbq sauce again - with baked beans, coleslaw, corn etc. Yay! And I have to go drink my three video beers this afternoon as we are heading to Utica tomorrow. Unbeknownst to mom, we will be dining at a brewpub! :)

Pictures from September 26. 2011:

Jocelyn, Katie and Mom gardening

Left over artichoke, spinach, potato and chicken hash, and cheese ravioli with store bought tomato basil sauce

Pudding

As in the "proof is in the..." which is a phrase I have never really understood. Anyway, I am very excitimicated because I just put in an order for two proof copies of Diary of a Plate Addict. One for me, one for Heather. Sadly I couldn't ship them to two different locations, so I will just have to mail hers to her after I get the copies in the mail. Yippee!

Slept absolutely miserably last night. Not sure why. Just tossed and turned and had Spanish nightmares (conjugating verbs in my sleep and worrying about the exam on Friday). Sigh.

All I did yesterday was conjugate Spanish Verbs and play xBox. Oh, I did cook dinner, which was breakfast. And did some food shopping. And had game night at Charles' house. It was a fun game - a cooperative game - I haven't played many of those - the players against the game. And apparently it is almost impossible to win. It was actually fun, as far as we got. I think it will take more than two hours to finish. We shall see what next week brings.

Today is the first day of the community service girls coming. Mom is already up and about, which in and of itself makes this a worthwhile activity. Yippee!!

Pictures from September 26, 2011:

Egg, potato hash, bacon and spinach

I put a tissue box out of mom's reach so that she wouldn't steal it - which she has a tendency to do. :)

Arkham Horror - seems like a really fun game!

The Mikado (and other things)

Our adventure for the day was going to see The Mikado at the Smith Opera House. For those who don't know, The Mikado is one of the best known Gilbert and Sullivan Operettas. I have seen it a couple of times. This was an excellent production. Done by the same guy who did the Opera I worked on in the summer. Great set, costumes, singing, sight and lyric gags. All in all, a very enjoyable show. Mom and I got there a little on the late side, but managed to find seats not too far back and smack dab in the middle! Great seats! I saw lots of people from the opera there - also some of the usual, Geneva suspects. I didn't talk to too many - I did speak with Sam which was nice. And Charles and Erika (I apologize for forgetting your name, Erika!) chatted with us in the parking lot - we even had parked our cars next to each other!

Let's see, what else happened that was exciting or interesting...oh, I decided that I really need to spend some time practicing verb conjugation if I am to pass the Spanish Exam on Friday. So I have created a sheet to print out so that I can practice and practice and practice. Sigh. Brute force practicing. Isn't it fun?

Pizza for dinner - leftover pizza - that was enhanced with oregano and garlic salt! Wow, what a difference that made! Yay! I haven't decided what I am doing for dinner yet - but I am cooking something. Most likely breakfast for dinner - though I do need to do some food shopping.

What else exciting yesterday? Hmmm...Oh, I put up the files for Diary of a Plate Addict and got back a message saying that the cover couldn't be read. So I uploaded it again - after opening it on my computer. This morning I got another message saying it couldn't be read. I opened it, resaved it with another file name and re-uploaded it. I also sent a message to Heather to ask her to re-export it. We shall see if we can get it to work...

Wednesday mom and I are going to see my niece, one of mom's grandchildren, perform in Young Frankenstein in Utica (a touring company from New York). Sadly, that means I won't get to see Yoli for Spanish practice on Wednesday night. Poop. And I will have to do my weekly beer video-ing at Beef and Brew on Tuesday afternoon. Sigh. Hopefully Steve will have changed the beers by then.

That is all the excitement I can think of! Yippee?

Pictures from September 24, 2011:

The Mikado Poster

I don't know how this picture got in here...

Nor this one...

Sunless Saturday

And all is swell with the world. Ok, maybe swell is a tad too strong a word. Mom is totally gaga this morning which is sad. Hopefully she will get better as the day progresses. We will see.

We went to a new-to-us pizza place last night for dinner. That was our day's excitement. Oh, and errands. First we mailed two stuffed animals to some of her grand children (she has 9 so far - none of them from me). Next, Mom wanted to see if she could get some dizzy relief pills. Turns out that the medication she was prescribed three years ago has subsequently become available over the counter. So we got her some of that. And she got a flu-shot. I haven't had a flu shot in 20 years, I don't think. And I don't think I have had the flu in that time either. Who knows? I can barely remember yesterday, which is one reason that I blog. Maybe the act of writing about things will help them to stick in my brain for a bit longer. Anything is possible. Anyway, after the flu shot, we went to Wal-Mart to get mom some toothpaste that she had seen advertised on TV. Tooth whitening Optima from Colgate - or some such nonsense. Sigh.

So, that was our exciting day. No word from CreateSpace about Diary of a Plate Addict, yet. I hope they get back to us sooner than the 48 hours, but I think that is unlikely. It will be 24 hours around 4 this afternoon. And it is Saturday. Do they work all seven days? Hmm.

The pizza, by the way, was not great. Still haven't found a great pizza place here in Geneva. The search continues - next time, Cam's downtown.

Hope you all are having a great life!

Pictures from September 23, 2011:

I had forgotten I took this picture - seagulls on the William Smith Green

There is the pizza - a tad puffy and the sauce was too sweet (not to mention too little of it for my taste...)

Student Helpers Part II

The student helpers didn't respond to the email. I don't think etiquette is taught anywhere anymore. I mean, it is supposed to be learned at home, but most people don't really have homes anymore, 'cause everyone is out working to earn enough to put food on their tables and a roof over their heads. Sigh. Whatever. The two girls did not send a message back saying - Thank you! Got the message! We will be there on Friday! Instead, they just showed up. One at a time. Jocelyn showed up first - a sophomore with a major and two minors. Just a smidge driven. Very nice. Gave her a tour of the house and spoke with her for about 20 minutes. Mom did not make an appearance. Just after Jocelyn left, Katie appeared. She is a freshman, from New Jersey, who has no idea what she wants to study. Good for her. Better, though, would have been for her to take a year or four off to get some life experience and then go to school. But I am not her or her parents. Anyway, she was nice as well - mom did make an appearance during her tour and put on quite a show. I think it will be great for mom to have these two young women around!

Heather put Diary of a Plate Addict up in our dropbox folder today. I then uploaded it to CreateSpace - only to find out that they have a 48 hour hold on the files while they review them. Sigh. I am seriously beginning to doubt that I will be able to get the book finished and have 300 copies ready to go by the time I need them - October 6 or 7th. Supersized sigh! And a bit of a grrrr. Just in general. Part o the reason for my lack of confidence is because I think there will be issues that will need another iteration once we see the book printed out. I hope I am wrong, I just get the feeling that will be the case. If I miss this window, I won't have another one until January - after Spanish class is over with. And I will miss the Christmas season. Grrrrrrrrr!!!!!! And for some reason, we have the slowest upload speeds I have encountered since using a phone modem! What is up with that? I will call Time Warner eventually and find out.

Had a lovely time at Leaf Kitchen last night. I drank two beers for the video blog. I also had a good chat with a guy who was at Hobart around the same time I was. But he never saw any of my plays (I directed 3 musicals, a staged reading, performed in an additional 3 shows all in three years minus two trimesters (study abroad)).

Ok, sorry this took so long to get put up. Busy-ish day. Yippee!

Pictures from September 22, 2011:

Mom sent these two cute cuddlies to two of her grandchildren

Leftovers with a special sauce for the chicken - that was tasty

Leaf Kitchen receipt - I just liked the clothespin! Great idea!!

Student Helpers

HWS has a class/program for community outreach. The students can note their preferences. Some prefer to work with older people in the community. Mom has had a few over the years - some great, some not so great. We are going to get two starting either Friday or Monday. Yippee! They will only be here for an hour and a bit, but I am sure we can get some things accomplished. Maybe they can even get mom out for a walk. That would be awesome. I have all sorts of things that they can do to help around the house. Especially emptying things out and putting things back, so we can a) get a sense of what remains in the house and b) just move stuff about and c) hopefully let some stuff go. Like the drawers in the kitchen, dining room, shelves in the linen closet, book shelves I mean lots and lots. She says they will also be willing to do light yard work - maybe mom will like them to do something. I know they can help put the porch to bed when that time comes...I for one am excited!

I need to call insurance companies today and get my insurance changed. I am not excited by the prospect. Although I don't fear change, and even try to embrace it - and seek it out sometimes, for some reason, changing insurance companies is freaking me out a bit. Sigh. Has anyone out there done it? Well, I will report my findings in tomorrow's blog.

Turns out that the show that Kristen is in, a revival/touring company of Young Frankenstein, is playing in Utica next Tuesday and Wednesday. I am leaning towards going on Tuesday - but Wednesday might work as well. I will write Kristen and see if she has strong feelings either way.

Spanish with Wendy last night was as fun as always. She is awesome. And she agreed to go have cider with me sometime. After she finishes her applications for grad school (sometime in October). Not a date - she is only 21 after all! Still, maybe she will agree to be video taped for the beer blog.

Ok, gotta strip the bed, take a shower and call insurance companies - not in any particular order!

Photos from September 21, 2011:

Artichokes and corn! Does corn count as a green vegetable?

I don't know what that is or how it ended up there - but I thought it looked like a present left by someone...

Everything cooking - spinach and rice glop, corn and artichokes

82!

I got an 82 on my Spanish in-class composition. How exciting is that? I have no idea how he graded it, since mine had so much red on it, I can hardly read what I wrote. In any case, that is exciting. And if I type it up and correct it, I can add up to three points. Every little point will help. Yippee! I must admit, that I do think of dropping the class all the time. And I am pretty sure I am not going to take a class in the Spring. I may go to the Spanish table at lunchtime, though, someday. Today, I have been very tired, so I didn't go. My allergies are acting up, big time. And that makes my sleeping not very restful. Poo. And I don't like to take medicine for allergies...Sigh.

Heather turned Diary of a Plate Addict around. Now we just need to get it uploaded and a couple of copies printed for us to proof. We are getting very close. Maybe even on track for an October release! That would mean, all things working out, that I will be in Raleigh for a week selling the book. That would be awesome! I don't know what I am going to do with mom. Perhaps Bosey would be willing to take her in for a week. Or one of my other friends or relatives. Karl is out of the question. Juliet is so far away. Ernst and Betty already have so much on their plates. Well, if worse comes to worst, we will just have to get a hotel together in Raleigh for a week. Anyway, that is still a couple of weeks away. I am still thinking I will print 300 copies and see how many I can sell. Hopefully, I will run out. That would be great! I also need to order some copies of Bar Dreams in case people want a copy of that. Can you tell I am excited?

Mom was very excited about the premier of "Unforgettable" which, sadly, was quite boring. Poppy is pretty, but that is about all that is good about the show. My Hulu cue got filled up suddenly with episodes of Eureka and Warehouse 13! I am very excited about those! And listening to the WOT book continues. I am dreading, a bit, slogging through the middle books, but they are what they are!

Did I mention that I got mom a baby monitor. Well, I got it for me. Since mom seems to be spending more time abed, I got it so that I could be in the study and still hear her if she needs me. Yippee.

Ok, time to take mom to her last Physical Therapy session for a while. Yippee!!

Pictures from September 20, 2011:

I got $1.00 back from Rite Aid! Go me!

Is that a picture of mom on the cover of this box? :)

A store bought dinner - California Rolls, gyoza and ravioli - though I did put my al fredo sauce on the raviolis...

Feels like Saturday!

I don't know why, but it feels like Saturday. Perhaps it is because I don't have class today. Who knows. Anyway, I like it. I got up late and have mainly just puttered around. Later I am doing laundry, food shopping and cooking. Yippee!

Yesterday was a Spanish Day! Spanish Class, a buenos entonces lesson, Spanish Lab and a little bit of Spanish Tutoring with Magnificent (though slightly sick) Molly. Lots of Spanish. We didn't get our compositions back in Spanish class. And we had another quiz in Lab. I hope I did better than last time. Anything is possible.

And that is about all that I did, actually. I couldn't figure out what to do for dinner so I got food at McDonald's. Big Mac for me and a fish sandwich for mom. Yes, we do eat fast food occasionally. I try to only do it once a month or so. I saw the coolest machine or device there. See the picture below.

I am listening to the WOT book as often as I can, now that I have made up my mind to do so. Listening to book four, with many more to go. Yippee!

Oh, I got the draft of Diary of a Plate Addict that Heather sent and checked the corrections. A few slipped by, but 99% of them were done. I got the corrections back to Heather and am hoping for a quick turnaround.

Ok, time to do laundry!

Pictures from September 19, 2011:

I love sky pictures

The sidewalk work is all done but the drying!

This is the cool device - it pops out one top at a time - how cool is that? I wonder how much it saves them each year!

Where does the time go?

Hmm? Anyone? I guess it is still there, just being observed from a different perspective. Anyway, I have been going non-stop all day. Just finished a little teeny nap, which is great, and decided that now was the time to write my scintillating blog post for the day. Hopefully, a tad more pithy than yesterday's entry!

I got up at 7 am this morning! Eeeek! That is way too early, for me at least. But it did provide me with ample time to get up, take a shower, do my yoga, listen to a Spanish lesson and get to class in plenty of time to discover that I had forgotten to do some of the homework. Which of course was the first thing he asked everyone to go over. Sigh. Still, a good, fun class. It was not about conjugation, so I liked it. Still not comfortable with conjugation. That will take more time and effort. Or time, at least. I hope.

After that, I observed the sidewalk repair efforts for a while. Mom had noticed that there was a car in the driveway and wanted me to have it towed. I told her it would only be there for a little bit and not to worry - but mom does love her worrying. Sure enough, it was gone by the time we needed to head out. Which was after lunch. We went to mom's penultimate Physical Therapy session. Poor mom - I think the Aricept is what is causing her so many problems - maybe the dizziness - maybe the hallucinogenic dreams, almost definitely the nausea and other gastro-intestinal issues. Sigh. I will call the doctor's office tomorrow and see what they suggest.

Meanwhile, I have spent most of the rest of my time working on the latest draft of Diary of a Plate Addict - going through all of the edits and checking to see if they are done and make sense and appeal. Some of them I don't like, so I am changing things back - others Heather missed (very few), and others I am just noticing or perhaps introduced in the last changes. Sigh. Anyway, I hope to have that done tonight and back in her lap. How long it will take her to turn it around again, I don't know. I hope not long, as I would love to have a hard copy in my hands by the end of the week or early next week. I wrote the printers but they did not respond. I don't know why. Hmm.

And now it is creeping up on dinner time and Spanish Lab. Not looking forward to it as there will be another quiz and I am bound to not excel - especially since it is on conjugation again. Sigh. Life goes on! Yippee!

Pictures from September 18, 2011:

The boom box in the kitchen - one of the places I am listening to the WOT books on CD

For dinner, we had breakfast - again. Yippee!

Today's Post

Sorry this has taken so long to get out! I don't really have a great excuse.

And I don't have a lot to say. Weird.

Well, so...how are things?

We were going to go out to dinner last night, but mom wasn't feeling up to it. So we stayed in.

I had an oreo - a double decker one. It was yummy.

Ok, then.

Glad we had this little tete-a-tete. (I know there are diacriticals over some of these...)

Pictures from September 17, 2011:

Computer table (still love it) with a sandwich ready to be eaten

A better look at where the sidewalk is being done

Ooh

Lopsided and yummy!

Happy Saturday!

I haven't figured out what to do today. Maybe something will appear. I do know that I should do some homework - Spanish, of course. Maybe some food shopping...

Anyway, Cate, my friend and housemate, sent me one of my CD players so that I can listen to the Audio Books of the Wheel of Time books when not in the car. Or when my car's stereo is acting up. Which does happen frequently, sadly. I think the last book in the series is supposed to be coming out in November which is really soon! Is time flying for anyone else? I have already been here in Geneva for five months. Wow! And I still don't know what I am doing. Oh well. Life goes forward.

I didn't do a lot yesterday - mom had PT - she got ready two hours early. Then blamed me for being ready too soon. Sigh. I think we have two more visits next week and that will be it for the time being. Should I make mom exercise on her little exercise machine everyday? Thoughts?

Oh, I did have my Spanish in-class composition. I think I did ok. Better than I did on my quiz at least. And I made leftovers for dinner. Eggrolls and pasta. Finally finished all of the frozen eggrolls. Yippee! I guess it is time to make fresh ones. I can hardly wait. And I made brownies. Not my favorite box - maybe I will look for a different one when I go shopping today. I guess the most important thing I did was to answer Heather, my designer for Diary of a Plate Addict, and her questions. Yippee for questions! It took longer than I thought to get them all answered satisfactorily, since I did need to give her some graphics.

Ok, it is really hard to listen to the book and to type at the same time. So much for trying to multi-task.

I hope you all have a happy weekend!

Pictures from Friday, September 16. 2011:

Brownies - these were good but not great.

Work moves forward on the paving project. I still don't understand why the colleges or the city wouldn't do this...

Fresh made grape juice! Yum!

Welcome Follower 34!

Nice to have you on board. And you comment and everything! How cool is that?!

The book series I mentioned in the comment is called The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson. I read it a while back and remember enjoying it. Historical Science Fiction, I think is the sub-genre.

So, I got a seven out of 20 on my first Spanish quiz. Oops. I hope I did better on the in-class composition today. I think I did. We had to come up with 16 verbs. I don't know 16 Spanish verbs. Or maybe I do. We shall see.

I went to the Games Night last night and started taping the beer at Leaf Kitchen as well. They have an eclectic selection that doesn't seem to overlap Beef and Brew's so far as I can tell. Yippee!

And I went to Spanish Tutoring with Daniel last night. Not awesome. I basically sat there and worked on my own. Oh well. Maybe Sunday I will go and see Jade. It is sad that my favorites work the nights I like to go downtown. Well, not anymore. I probably won't go downtown on Mondays any more. And Wednesday I will be going during the day. And Thursday night, Leaf Kitchen. My goodness, what with Game Night sometimes at Charles' on Sundays, my time is filling up!

Heather sent me a couple of requests for Diary of a Plate Addict. I am going to work on those this afternoon and send them to her today. Yippee!

Mom is odd. Yesterday, the coldest day we have had yet, she did not complain about being cold. Maybe it is her medication? I just don't know. And today she was again discombobulated about going to Physical Therapy. Not as badly as on Monday, luckily. Sigh.

No plan for tonight, other than sitting around the house. It seems that mom's DVD player is on the fritz. Sigh. Maybe I will look for an inexpensive one at WalMart or on Ebay. One day.

Pictures from Thursday, September 15, 2011:

Salmon, veggies and some pasta for dinner

Work on the sidewalk repair continues

People hard at play! :)

Wednesdays might be my new favorite day...

I had a great Wednesday! Thank you Universe! I like great days. Most days are good, a few are great. Not like I won a bazillion dollars, or found out that my cancer is in remission (not that I have cancer, but...) or that my cat died. Ok, so maybe it was just a good day. Which is great!

The one bad-ish thing that happened was a woman I met on POF decided (probably correctly) that I wasn't relationship material for her. Life is that way sometimes. I do wish her the best of luck in her life! On the flip side, a friend said he might have someone to introduce me to - sadly, she is a cool person which means that she is probably too cool for me. But we will just have to wait and see what happens. If it even happens...

So, what made yesterday so good? Just a confluence of things. I had a great chat with my brother who called to be supportive. I do appreciate support! And it is always lovely to hear his voice!

I ran some errands and ran into one of my crushes. Still crushable. And found my tooth powder at the local health food store! Yay! My new favorite time to go to Beef and Brew for my beer tasting video is going to be Wednesday afternoon. It was quiet, lots of staff members around for their shift change, it ought to work out well. That way I can go to Spanish tutoring in the evening and not be stressed about having to get downtown and out of downtown before the students descend. Not that I don't like students, I just don't like crowds...Spanish tutoring was great! I really like Wendy a lot. She and I went through some things I could write for the in-class essay that we have to write on Friday. And she helped me to get Preterito and Imperfecto into my wee little cranial space.

Diary of a Plate Addict is even one more step closer to being ready. I applied for my Library of Congress control number. I don't know why I really want one - it just makes me happy to think that my books are known to the Library of Congress! How cool is that? Now, I need to get my act together about new cards, a shirt and a website. Sigh.

Lastly, I cooked pizza for dinner and it turned out excellently. I bought a crust, whole wheat, from the supermarket - and the Sauce (too lazy) and put my toppings on. Fresh mushrooms, pepperoni, freshly sauteed spinach and cheeses. Yippee! We still have some left over and I plan on snarfing it today for lunch.

So, all in all, just a good, happy day! Huzzah!

Pictures from September 15, 2011:

I opened these drawers in one of the bathrooms and found many more bottles of dietary supplements! I wonder how much money mom has spent on these? All full, sitting unused. Sigh. I don't know what to do with them!

Where the sidewalk repair is going to happen. Neither the city nor Hobart was interested in helping out with the project. I just don't understand...

Yay - the pizza before it went in the oven.

This is awesome! The only thing that would improve it, is if it were of Piglet instead of Pooh... :)