Monday, February 26, 2007

Update!

Shortly after I posted yesterday, it started to snow. It didn't amount to much, about a half inch, but it was still very nice to see. Andy and I took a long walk through the neighborhood in it. At home Tom still got quite a bit more snow than we did, but I was happy to see any at all.

I just noticed my counter at the bottom of the blog page. Evidently when the new blog format switched over, it also began my counter back at zero, so what it's showing now is only actually the count for about the last month or so. Oh, well. The map with locations of visitors next to it has kept a little bit better count. I noticed that a couple of days ago I had visitors from China and Australia. I can't imagine that my ramblings about my boring home life would be interesting reading for an international audience, though!

Sunday, February 25, 2007

This week has really gone by quickly. We have been in Delaware this week and will probably still be here for a while longer. Jerry is working on a job here and Andy and I tagged along. This time, though, I brought my old computer (yes, the 747) and my work machines and so I'm working every day from here. It's not really a vacation, since between my work and Andy's schooling (yes, I made him bring his schoolbooks), our days are pretty much like they are at home (busy!), but at least we get to see Jerry in the evenings. I will be leaving this computer here so that in the future I can just pack up my work machines, which isn't too much trouble, and work from here so I can tag along whenever I want to. Andy and I have been making time for a walk each day, though. It's nice being able to walk around without fearing for my life - well, unless we walk on Route 1! The afternoon walks chase away the sleepies that seem to descend on me around 1:00 in the afternoon. It's very hard to take long walks at home because even though you can walk on the individual streets, to get from one to the other you have to go out on the main road which is usually VERY busy, and there are no sidewalks.

I talked with Tom not too long ago, (he is babysitting the pets at home), and he said that there are at least four inches of snow on the ground there, and it's still coming down. Then Jerry just called from where he is working in Dover to ask if it was snowing here, because it was there. All we are having here in Rehoboth Beach is rain and a little ice. I am the only one that really likes snow, but I'm the only one not getting to see any today!

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

The Mad Scientist!

My mother emailed me inquiring how her daughter became a mad scientist as she didn't recall there being one in the family tree. Just because I take something that looks like a cross between a mushroom and a cow patty, has the consistency of a raw oyster, and ferment it in tea and then actually DRINK the stuff......hmm.....okay, I see your point, Mom.

Anyway, this batch of Kombucha actually turned out very tasty! It did not give me gastrointestinal problems like the last batch did and I find that I like the taste, too. It tastes like a mixture of Lipton tea (the pre-made kind you get in vending machines) and apple juice. I think I can drink this stuff! Oh and Mom - each batch grows a new baby Kombucha culture - and I've got one with YOUR name on it!

Well, not too much time to blog this evening. Jerry has been in Delaware for a week now and is on his way home. Andy and I are making butter pecan ice cream for him. To practice, we made vanilla ice cream the other night with the cream and milk from the farm. That was GOOD STUFF! I made buttermilk biscuits this afternoon (because he really likes those), and am about to make a batch of peanut butter fudge (which he also likes a lot). I have been using one of Paula Deen's recipes and we really like it. I varied the recipe a little last week and instead of using all peanut butter, I used half peanut butter and half chocolate chips. It turned out tasting like Reese's fudge! Last night I made truffles. They're just about gone now, but that's okay. Jerry doesn't like them, but the boys and I have put a hurtin' on them!

Now I really gotta get going. It will be very nice to have Jerry back home again. I think it's great that after 25 years (yes, next week will be our 25th anniversary!) we still miss each other. Some couples I know dread when their spouse gets back from a trip, and that's sad. Anyway, off to make ice cream!

Sunday, February 11, 2007

I'm A Prairie Muffin!

In perusing blog links today, I discovered that I am a Prairie Muffin! Not just shaped like one, either! (although I am). This link will tell you what a Prairie Muffin is. (Well, not #35 because I don't currently belong to a church).

Thursday, February 08, 2007

Round Two

*sniffle*.....cough......ahhh-CHOO! Arggh. Andy and I have colds AGAIN. I only felt well for a couple of days, and here we go again! At least Tom escaped it this time. I have had too much to do without being sick again.

I have been trying to finish getting my new computer set up, and also trying to work on my blog site which I intend to convert to a different site sometime in the near future, something that gives me a little more versatility. If I had known that my computer was going to start acting feeble, I would not have gotten my monster mixer and would have gotten a new computer instead. If you remember from a previous post, the computer that I had wasn't that old, but because the one I had previous to that fried it's motherboard, I suddenly lost access to EVERYTHING. My work files, pictures, EVERYTHING. In order to get everything back, I had to open the new computer and put my old hard drive into it to retrieve all my stuff. The hard drive from the old computer still worked; it was just that the motherboard of the computer was toast and the computer wouldn't work. My intent was to put the old hard drive in long enough to transfer all my stuff to the new hard drive in the new computer and then be on my way. Well, in the process of rearranging the innards of the computer to read my old drive, I accidentally bent (and broke) a pin off the back of the new hard drive before I even had a chance to hook it back up. While this could probably be fixed, it would be a difficult process and I didn't have time to fool with it so I just left my old hard drive in and have been using that since then. About two weeks ago I turned on my computer one morning and it sounded like a 747 was gearing up in the living room. I didn't know whether to turn the computer off or run for cover (or both). Eventually the noise died down, but it started happening more often and then started making a grinding kind of noise. Then my programs began acting up and I knew time was short for that ol' hard drive. I didn't want to be caught in the bind I was before, so I decided that this time I'd better get a new one before that one went completely, so that's what I did. I had made a backup disk before so it was relatively easy putting my stuff on the new computer, but there were still a few things that needed to be tweaked to run correctly. I put the new computer in Andy's room on his desk (he currently has his downstairs in Tom's room because they play World of Warcraft and go on quests together and it's easier with both of them having their computers together in the same room). I left mine set up where it was. I used Andy's room internet connection and used our home network to transfer my stuff from one computer to the other. One of these days we'll go wireless, but I'm too stubborn to spend the money on that when our ancient network wiring gets the job done. I did the wiring for the network myself, so there's kind of a crisscrossing of wires across the basement ceiling and it's NOT pretty! It's obvious I don't do this for a living! Anyway, I finally felt comfortable that I had everything transferred correctly and switched the two computers around. I have kept the old one on Andy's desk in case I come across something this week in the course of doing my work that I may have missed. The only problem is that one of the hospitals I do work for is still using a DOS-format WordPerfect and it's very difficult these days to run a DOS program and requires quite a bit of tweaking. Anyway, all's well that ends well, right? Hopefully this will all end well!

I haven't had time to list anything on eBay lately, but I did buy a Kombucha culture! If you don't know what Kombucha is, you can read about it here. I made one batch of it already but it was YUCKY! I only drank a little of it, couldn't stand the taste, and then for the next 12 hours I think my gut believed I had gone to Mexico and drank the water. Needless to say, THAT batch went down the drain. I have another one brewing now that should be ready by Sunday. I used a slightly different variation in making it and so far this batch looks better and doesn't have the sour smell that the last one developed early on. Practice makes perfect, I guess.

Friday, February 02, 2007

The High Price of Milk!

First of all, let me start this by saying that I am thanking the Lord and praising Him that everything turned out all right. That's the most important thing. Now on to my story. On Thursdays Tom is supposed to go by the place to pick up our farm order. He and Sam were on their way home from college yesterday when Tom realized he had forgotten to pick it up. He pulled off to the right side of the road and then was making a U-turn to go back but a car came off of a ramp leading onto the roadway at the exact same time and crashed into the passenger side door of the car, where Sam was sitting. They took Sam to the hospital in an ambulance but Tom declined treatment and rode along with her. They had her in a back and neck brace for precaution on the way there because she was complaining of some pain in her hip where the car had hit. She was checked out thoroughly and had a CT scan and everything was okay. She is just VERY sore and stiff today, and taking the pain medication that they gave her in the ER, so she's pretty out of it today. Tom feels like he was in a fight, just stiff and sore today.

Jerry and I were just sitting down to dinner last night when my cell phone rang. I didn't recognize the number calling, but I answered it anyway. It was Tom, and this is how the conversation went:
"Mom? Okay, don't freak out. Okay?" He was shouting to be heard over the sound of sirens in the background which were blaring in my ear. I asked him what was going on, not comprehending yet. He said "Is Dad home? I need you to do me a favor. Can you meet me at the hospital?" I started getting upset and he said, "Mom - MOM! Everything's okay. We've been in an accident. I'm okay but I'm riding with Sam in the ambulance. They think she's okay but she needs to be checked out because the car hit on her side. Don't freak out, Mom. Mom? Could you and Dad please come to the hospital?" By this time Jerry had figured that something was wrong, so he took the phone and talked to Tom while I hurriedly grabbed my shoes and coat and had Andy do the same. When we got to the hospital we had to wait a while but eventually Tom came out to talk to us, and Sam's parents arrived to see her. Understandably, Tom wanted to wait until they were finished checking Sam out, so we waited with him. We were very relieved to see Sam and her parents walking out of the ER and into the waiting area where we were. Sam was very shaken and very pale, and she looked like she was going to fall over any minute! Her mom was kind of holding her up and she said that they had given Sam so much pain medication that it was surprising that she was even awake! Anyway, thankfully, everyone is okay (well, except for Sam's car which is probably totaled). I neglected to mention that they were in Sam's car - not Tom's. Sam's parents do not allow her to drive, but they bought her a car and since Tom drives every day, they switch cars between hers and his on alternate days, which I thought was very nice of her parents. Well, yesterday was a day to drive her car. When Sam's dad came out to the waiting room, Jerry told him how sorry we were about Sam's car, but he was very nice and understanding, and said that is why they call them accidents. No one plans for this sort of thing. The policeman on the scene determined that it was Tom's fault, though. Even though he didn't see the car coming off the ramp until it was too late, and a U-turn was not illegal there, the policeman said it was still not yielding the right of way to oncoming traffic. He was very nice though, and told Tom to go to court with it and it would probably help lower his points and/or fine. He got a $150.00 fine. We haven't seen Sam's car but Sam's mom is going to get pictures and so I will post them if I can. And after all of this, we still needed to run by and pick up my farm order on the way home because I couldn't let the food and milk sit in the shed at the pickup point all night! We finally got home at around midnight. *Yawn*! I feel badly that all this happened just because of my milk!

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