Soggy and Slushy!

 Hi,

 I know it has been a few days since I was here. I have been trying to take a break from the computer for a bit. I have really been burned out lately.
 On the upside, I have been coloring. I cropped a couple of the pages that I colored and am going to make scrap pages out of them so I will be doing something a little different.

 Thankfully most all of the Thanksgiving food is gone. I froze the last of the turkey (I had my son do it for me) for soup or turkey salad one day soon. I am ready for some other kind of foods now. Jonathan loves my curry chicken recipe but I am out of the ingredients to make that. I am not sure what is on the menu for tonight but since I am not cooking it then I am not going to complain.

 Matthew is flying out at 5:00pm heading back to Wisconsin. It is breaking my heart to see him leave yet again. But I am so Thankful that we had Thanksgiving together. He also announced that he is engaged. Ohhhhhhh well.... would rather not hurry that along but who knows she might just be the one. If she is then they have my blessings. Still I hope that they get to know each other a little more.

 Ohhh always something when I sit down to do my blog. Guests have arrived. Must go and say hello... Have a wonderful day! BB

Happy Thanksgiving To Family and Friends!

 Hello To Everyone and a Happy Thanksgiving to the U.S. Folks!

 From a Soggy Texas..... The rain is moving in. I just looked at our forecast... It is 71 here with a 95% humidity. No wonder we have been miserable... Jonathan turned the air conditioning back on last night. We are in for some severe weather again. Up to another 6 inches lasting until Sunday afternoon. Thanks to a Hurricane in the Pacific... Sandra is her name. We will pick up some of her moisture as the cold front pushes the warm air and Sandra together. The weather forecast isn't all that great.

 So I am sitting on my butt and doing nothing. I have to quit worrying about everybody and the only way that I can do that is to just think of everything that I have been told, and just stay here at my pc or on my bed and just chill out.
 I woke up to something wet during the night. I went to the bathroom to investigate and my bandage and packing came off and out. She had to make it a bit more bulky this time around and I guess that it didn't hold. It is a good thing that Karyn is coming in a little while.

 So I have pictures of the birthday girl.... Here they are:

Here is Cathy on her big day. She is 7 years old. What a big girl that she is becoming. This is her new friend. A version of the American Doll. Her name is Abrel, or Abril. Not sure how she is spelled but Cathy is delighted.

 This is what Cathy woke up two yesterday morning... They just had a nice quiet day. Her party will be next weekend after the Thanksgiving Holiday and when everyone is back in school.  It was hard for her to understand that all of her friends would not be able to attend so she finally agreed to a home party with mom and dad and brothers and a big party later.

 I haven't seen my present to her yet. Matthew is supposed to pick it up for me today or last night. I had him call Laurie to see what would be a good gift because Laurie said she needed to look more into the thing that Cathy wanted. She for some reason is not happy with them. Said that they looked weird and had too many tiny parts and cost too much.
 So Laurie said.... Art supplies. So I guess that is what Matthew will get for her. I told him to pick up a small cake and candles... Bet he forgets that part! I wanted to go to the store and do my own gift shopping but it is alright that I didn't. I am so glad that I did not buy her those last month when I first heard about them since Laurie doesn't want her to have them. I cannot even pronounce the name.

 So I have to rant just a little. I know that it is Thanksgiving and I am supposed to be Thankful and I am. This has nothing to do with me being Thankful or Thanksgiving but for all Holidays no matter where you are in this world.

 I keep hearing how terrible Wal-Mart is because they will not let their employees off for Thanksgiving. Really People.... ?
 So I am one of the people thankful that Walmart is open today. They are not all open all day long but I bet somebody, somewhere has forgotten something essential for their holiday meal. We are one of those people. And I think that they are going to be closing early as well.... But let's forget Wal-Mart for a minute and think of ALL of the other people that also have to work.
 Do we shut down the Hospitals so that the doctors and nurses and personnel can have Thanksgiving off?
 Do we shut down the Police Departments and the Fire Stations so once again the employees can spend the holidays with their families?
 My sister traded for years with her co-workers.... She took Christmas but worked every other holiday. Easter and New Years and all the rest. She always worked Thanksgiving unless it was her scheduled day off and most of the time she went in anyway so others can have it off.
 Believe it or not.... Management usually asks for volunteers  to work these holdidays. Sometimes it cannot be avoided. Sometimes people do get sick on the Holidays. Some people have families that live to far away to travel to and from. Some people don't have family at all or a place to go.
 I am not a big fan of Wal-Mart. Never have been but I am not going to single them out and bash them because they decided to stay open until 6:oo pm for the convenience of their customers who might need something. No one ever knows what they might need. So for once I am asking that people think of the good that happens because a store, hospital and all the rest stay open!

 I have to go and get a shower and get re-bandaged so..... I am under Daughters orders to get it together... so here I go... Happy Happy Thanksgiving. Be safe where ever you are.... Love to all... Beth. BB
   

Happy Birthday Cathy!!!!

 Hello Everyone,

 First thing first... My granddaughter turns 7 years old today! I am wishing her the best day ever! I will get to see her tomorrow so I will have a small cake for her and a small present. I will just have to do it a day late.
 Bless her heart, she doesn't understand why her friends cannot come to her party. Mom and Dad tried to explain that since her birthday falls so close to our Thanksgiving Holiday that most of her friends are going to be with their families. Laurie tried to talk her into having her party next weekend but she wanted it on her birthday so for her sake I do hope some of her friends show up for her.

 Atlantis is my second entry over at DigiArtDen challenges. This challenge page is called Atlantis for the Lost Cities Challenge. I also did this page for my first challenge page called Pompeii.... I did 2 pages but couldn't decide which one so I had the kids to vote... it was a tie... Nate liked the first page and Jon liked the last page and Karyn liked them both so.... I finally chose this one....

 And this next one is the first one that I did.....

 So that is what I have been doing during the night. It was late before I slept.

 I have been asked for my Thanksgiving Dressing/Stuffing recipe so I am going to share it here.... Enjoy if you decide to try it out....

 Southern Dressing/Stuffing

2 boxes of cornbread mix.
6 slices of toast or other breads. It  can be any bread you like... Just toast and crumble....  Make sure to toast both sides.
sage
garlic
salt and pepper
any seasonings that you like... for me it is a little oreganeo and thyme and rosemary... Just a little but a lot of sage.
Onions chopped
Celery, I break off around 3 stalks clean and chop well.
1 large can of chicken broth
1 large can of cream of chicken soup
 6 large hard boiled eggs
1 box of savory herbed stove top stuffing if you prefer (optional)

 Mix cornbread as directed in a large bowl and set aside.
Saute onions and celery in a little oil or butter until tender. Add all to the cornbread mixture and stir well.
 Add seasonings as well, salt and pepper, garlic and sage. I really like sage so it is really a matter of preference. If you don't have sage poultry seasoning works just as well.
Pour into baking dish and bake until done at 350 degrees....
 Next:
Large bow, toast your bread, and if you want to use the stove top stuffing or croutons add this now. When cornbread is done and cooled enough to handle, crumble it into the bowl. Mix with hands well. Add chicken broth and soup.
 Mix well and cover and refrigerate until your ready to bake the dressing. I do mine the day before.   Hard Boiled Eggs is last ingredient before baking.
 Note"
 When you get ready to bake it in your baking dish, it might seem a little dry. Add more liquid. It can be a little water, or broth or even a little more cream of chicken soup. You  don't want it runny and soupy but you don't want it dry either.
 Now is the time to peel and chop your hard boiled eggs and mix into your cornbread dressing mix. Sprinkle final seasonings on top if any to taste....
After about 45 minutes of cooking at 350 degrees, I take a fork and mix it again.... then I take a spatula and smooth it out again and let it just cook until browned.... and there you have it.... Enjoy...

 And if anyone has any questions you can always email me at 75751tj@gmail.com.... Gotta run... have a great day BB

Happy Birthday Linda....

 Hi Everyone,

 Today is my sweet sister Linda's Birthday. Happy Birthday. I am hoping that your day is wonderful.

 I started my blog last night but got really sleepy with the first paragraph and started yawning so I decided to go on to bed. Good thing too because I was asleep in ten minutes. I really needed the sleep. I slept yesterday too after the nurse left. My body really needed it I guess.

 Tomorrow is my little granddaughter Cathy's Birthday. I will have to make her a page as well. I sure wish Laurie would send me some new pictures. I didn't get any from Halloween because something happened with their phone. The charge died or something.  But I would like a new one for her birthday. I will tell Laurie today to take one of her tomorrow.

 There is not much to blog about. Karyn is nervous.... she is being called in for an interview today for a job that she applied for. She applied on Friday, got a text yesterday saying that she is going to be interviewed today. With no warning to prepare for the  interview and since she is staying at my house for now she has no clothes or makeup. Just her usual work clothes. So I gave her what I had to use... all I can do but I sure hope that it goes well for her. I am not sure that she really wants this job. But it is the same job that Jonathan is doing and I think that it is more headache and the raise in pay is really not that much for the amount of work but it is all about putting the experience onto a Resume.
 I wish you LUCK Karyn.... I know that you will do great.

 Today is Tuesday. Laurie has a Turkey.... Guess we are having Turkey after all.... I dislike never knowing what we are doing. One minute it is BBQ and the next it is traditional fare and the next it is something else. That's ok. I am not cooking. I will make my dressing/stuffing because it is really the only thing that I can think of that I want.

 Cisco is doing well. Foxy tried her best to dominate and intimidate him but I put a stop to that first time. I do not believe in spankings because they do not work. But she asked for a good smart pop on the nose and she got one.  And I put her in the kennel so she had a time out. Wow her temperament really changed and she was really good until this morning. I showed her the kennel and now she is being sweet again. She knows when she does wrong. She really only does this when Karyn is around. Or Joe. Not often with just me but the other day I just scooped her up and headed to the kennel.

 I have a to do list a mile long... actually it is Nathan's to do list... I am just going to sit and make sure that he stays on top of it.  My wound in healing. It is now just 1 1/2 inch deep. The nurse measured it yesterday. Still a lot of drainage going on. They are dry packing it now.

 I guess that is all the news that I have for today. I need to check my sugar, get some breakfast and I know this sounds crazy but I am still tired. I think that I will have a little nap time watching a movie... I have been wanting to see On Golden Pond. Been years since I seen it and I need a feel good movie... or I might watch Steel Magnolias for the thousandth time... lol... I will figure it out...
 You all have a great day, and BB

On The First Day Of Christmas

Hi Everyone,

 It has been a little while since I updated my blog due to the fact that I have been running back and forth to the doctor, not sleeping again and really busy on my end. Sometimes it works out like that. 

 Another reason is that my daughter Karyn is here with me and she shares my room and while I am a night owl, she on the other hand has to get up and go to work early so I am trying to be respectful and not bother her with the light on and the computer. She says that it doesn't bother her, but I know that it does. 

 I will post my Christmas pages on FB starting on December 1. So until then I will post them here. I did this one last night. 

 I have always wondered about the 12 days of Christmas. Does it start on the first day of December to be the 12 days of Christmas or is it later closer to the Christmas? I have asked and the answers that I get are it can be both... so in the spirit of that... I will probably do both to some degree. 

 My son Matthew is home now for Thanksgiving but he will be leaving to go to Reno Nevada for Christmas. So this year we are planning on having a good dinner. Not by me. I am not cooking this year. It was decided that I don't need to do any cooking. Well that is fine with me. I have cooked Holiday dinners, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Easter and 4th of July for the last 32 years... It is time that they take over and they can have their own traditions.

 On another note... I guess the tradition in this family ends with me. This family is soooo Bah Humbug it is unbelievable.  They get this from their dad. Not me. At least Matthew and Laurie will celebrate their Christmas with their kids at their homes. Doesn't look like it is going to happen here. They said we can do stockings.... THEY can do Stockings. I don't want no part of it. I wanted the tree and the whole bit. No room for a tree.... They said... I mentioned a fire for the fireplace and that was voted out. I requested a ham and that was vetoed... so trust me... It will be very disappointing for me this year. I know that it is not the tree or anything like that that makes the holidays but it is the one time of year that I have looked forward to all thru the year. I am a giver... I love to give presents. But they don't want any. They said... Mom buy you something that you want for Christmas.... Well Gee Thanks kids. 

 I always made sure that my kids had a great Christmas. It was always a fun tradition to make Christmas boxes, decorate the tree, bake cookies and so forth. Sadly they do not want any part of it so I will just shop for my grand kids this year and my friends and let it be what it is. But when I get my own place I will have a tree and all that I want. I am tired of being told No at every turn. My God... I am only 56.... I am not so broken down that I don't know what I would like to have or do. And they watch me like a Hawk. If I go outside to take a walk they are following me. Calling me.... or they will tell me it is time to go home.

 Get on the bus and go to the store alone? Oh Hell No.... Too dangerous.... I might get hurt, I might ge attacked or I might God Forbid have a little bit of FUN! Maybe I want to go downtown to a book store, or to a Bistro and have a glass of wine and a plate of cheese and grapes or Maybe I might like to go and see a movie. 

 They are happy at home. Hermits.... I have never seen anything like it before. Matthew likes to go out with his friends and do things but he has the same views too with his siblings. Christmas is for the kids... Same with Birthdays. Kids only.... So it is what it is and so be it.

 Anyway this is all I have for today. The visiting nurse will be here to pack my wound soon. I have things that I need to do before she gets here... Hugs to all... Have a great day... BB

 

Asian Mystique

This page is done with a new kit from Lins_Creations called Asian Mystique. A beautiful kit with lots of lovely papers and plenty of elements to work with. Get your kit here:
https://www.mymemories.com/store/designers/Lins_Creations?r=Lins_Creations

http://berryapplicious.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_156


 Good Morning Everyone,

 I am happy to report that most of the storms that were to hit us in the early hours and up to 9:00am didn't give us the scare that I thought that it would. Heavy wind gusts 50 to 60 mph did not happen here. We did have some heavy rain and some wind but nothing like the news forecasted. Thankfully!!!! So far the rain is falling softly and the wind is quiet but gee is it nice and chilly. I have my bedroom window open as I sit here. Turned off the a/c and thought that I should work on a couple of pages for Lins_Creations.

 I even managed to get some sleep. By all standards it was still late before I fell asleep. Close to midnight but I was determined to try and sleep. I slept until 5:30 this morning and cat napped for a while.
 Karyn spent the night with me and I got up when she did a half hour later. She came and bandaged me up and the bandages are really hurting me. So we ended up taking it off and she said Oh Mama I didn't know you had a hole in your wound. She was upset because she thought that the boys were on top of things here.
 She lit a fire under them and gave them hell. I heard a comment that set me off and I was pissed... She was really upset with them and ended up being upset with me because I started crying. We had some sausage in the freezer to make stir fry well I ate some of it and Jonathan said..."Well we were going to have stir fry for dinner but Mom ate all the sausage." Well first of all I didn't eat all of it. I ate some of it. Granted there is not enough to make the stir fry with but for 2 days they were supposed to grocery shop and didn't. I gave them 120.00 for groceries and I added the sausage I ate  back to my grocery list plus instead of one package I had added 3 so what was the big deal? And so I took my money back and told them that I will not eat another bite in this house unless it is food that I purchased and it hurt my feelings and I cried so I have to get to the store today to get my own food. Since I didn't buy the ingredients for the stir fry I exited all ingredients needed off my list. SCREW THEM. I don't care how many times Jonathan said that he was just making a joke. Didn't feel like a Joke.
 Dinner came and went and I made me a plate of just what I had bought. I did not touch anything else and it made the boys and Karyn upset. I said "Well listen I am done with you all. I buy food and you eat it and I of course would never say a word because later on you all buy food and it evens out in the end but no more. I will buy my own and you all buy your own. And dont borrow from me if you run out of butter or Mayo or anything else... and Oh yeah... I am getting paper plates and plastic wear for me. That way I am not going to have to do my dishes and yours... and Oh yeah by the way, If I cook something for me on the stove or oven I will clean only my pots and pans and utensils.... In other words you all can keep your jokes to yourself and you can KISS MY ASS! Oh and why I am at it... I want my portion of the bills dropped to a Quarter of what I am giving you. 4 people living in this house and I am paying half the cost and they pay zero... Figure that one out Pal because you just got your last full rent and utilities and groceries from Me."
 Karyn said I was just upsetting myself but no that was not true. Listen it has only been a month since I had surgery. On the 15th and today is the 17th. I have been doing laundry mine and theirs... I take the dog out to potty.... which he had a major accident this morning because Nathan did not take him out... I cook and clean, sweep and mop and take out the trash. Feed the dogs, make sure they have water, I washed all of Nathan and Jonathan's laundry the other day and they want to make a JOKE about how I ATE ALL the fucking sausage! Pardon my un-lady like language but I am still ticked off.

 Karyn was like... "Listen I work a full time job, I have my own home to care for, a relationship that I have to invest in and this is your mom and you can't help out? I can't come over here every day and I expect you all to help out.... and turn off that damn game. Is it so important that you can't even listen to me while I am trying to have a conversation with you?

 I ended up taking a sleeping pill and even that didn't really help me relax. Then I kept getting all of these messages on my phone from a group that I am in and since it was only 2 of them talking I called Patsy and said... can you take it to a private message because I am trying to rest and the notifications are coming in and I can't relax as it is,  and she posted  on the group. "Let's take this off Group Chat, it is bugging Beth" If I turn off my notifications I can't get other messages that might be important. I am deleting myself from that group. In fact all the groups but one. They want to get a message to me they can text me, or email me or call me if it is that important but I don't think that the group should be used for personal conversations. It is a group for when new products for the CT kits come out and are in the stores. It is not a place where you discuss your illness's and hospital stays and so on. It is not that kind of group and yet that is what they were talking about. Why would you want the whole group of people to know that you woke up with Diarrhea?
 I know that I am probably sounding pissy. I just cant help myself at this point.

 I know that this is not a great post. It is more of me just venting, but that is what I needed to do this morning and so I will get off now and have some breakfast with the food that I bought... God only knows what that will be since the food I bought is practically gone....  I'll be damn if I will touch anything else in this house that is not mine. I will find a way to the store in a little while... In the meantime, you all have a great day. BB

Harvest Bounty

Hi Everyone,

 Sleep is not coming easily. It is now almost 4:00 am and I am still awake with cramps in my left foot that are really hurting. It is like having a charlie horse on the top of my foot that shoots pain down to my toes and has them cramped up.
 I gave up about an hour or so ago and took one of my dreaded pain pills. I dislike taking them because they really make me draggy but I needed something to help with the pain and so far it is not doing much of anything. I have been on my feet quiet a bit today. I totally cleaned my bath with bleach and Lysol and washed my bedding and dusted and swept and mopped the bath and kitchen today.

 So to take my mind off of the pain I decided to do a new page for my Thanksgiving/Fall Holiday coming up soon. I needed to do something a little different as I have been doing a lot of Christmas pages. Some have been for my own pleasure and some for Lins_Creations who I CT for. A lady in our group is making albums for all of our pages and I had been behind so I did a couple of pages for Christmas featuring one of her kits but I kind of needed to back off on Christmas a little bit. I haven't uploaded this one yet. I will wait a few more days so you are looking at a Brand New Page....!

 Laurie called today and she and I talked for awhile and she Dante talk to me. We had a nice conversation where he said over and over Na-Na... It brought a huge smile to my face that is for sure. Then later on I received a text that said Dante is fixing to call.... Oh My... and we had a really great conversation. I am not really sure what I agreed to but that is alright! He blew me kisses and said I love you Na-Na and I tried to get him to say it again and he said... "I did" so I got it once and that was enough for me.
 I told Patsy and she laughed along with me as I relayed our conversation and she said "Now Beth now that he has figured out he can talk to you on the other end of the line he will be calling you all the time."
 Awwwe.... I hope so! He will be 2 in January. I always want to say February because he was due in February but he came a couple of weeks early. He was due on the first but came January 11th. We were kind of worried because Laurie had a sonogram a few days before and he was so tiny. Barely 5 pounds. Boy was that sonogram wrong. He was 7lbs and 71/2 oz.

 I borrowed this from the internet and I just have to share it with you... It was a good laugh for me and I hope that it brings one for you too.

 I can just see me taking a tumble and thinking the same thing lol.... The older I get the slower I get but this would be so true for me. I can trip over thin air I swear.... My nick name for years was Grace..... for wow Beth that was very Graceful! LOL.

 I read an article on CNN tonight that I would like to share with you. You can look it up, just go to CNN news and scroll down until you find the article saying Facebook changes or something like that. It was a big eye opener for me.
 You know how we love taking pictures with our phones. Not only do we take pictures, people send us pictures. Well now there is a new thing that they are doing. They are doing face recognition and say you share a picture on Facebook, it goes thru your phone and without your permission it can upload all the pictures in your phone.
 There is an upside... You can opt out of the option..... and then there is a downside.... If you opt out you can no longer upload your pictures to Facebook.
 Now this is what I understood. I might have not grasped the entire topic completely but I am sure that I got it pretty darn right.
 To me this is just wrong and I feel it is an invasion of my privacy. So what I understood is to take your pictures and then upload them to your computer etc and erase them from your phone and share from that but not to share anything thru Messenger. I am sure that is where the problem lies. I have to investigate this more throughly and I am going to try and upload the link..... It didn't work for me. It just inserted the link for news stations...
 Anyway I will try to keep you posted on what I find out and would appreciate any information that anyone else finds out. Not that I have things I want to hide on my phone but I do have some pictures that I don't want to share such as ones of my granddaughter and some that just are not that good and so on...

 Guess that I will close for now. I am feeling a little sleepy and the pain in my foot is subsiding. Poor Cisco.... He wants me to come to bed so bad. He keeps looking at me as if to say you coming to bed mama... Everytime we get all cozy that darn cramp would hit and I would have to get up and that disturbed him. I would get him a doggie bed but I know that he wouldn't use it. He has to sleep right next to me at night.
 Oh he is so funny... We have a room mate that has a dog named Lady and she has a thousand toys I swear... Ok maybe just 10 or 15.... Well Cisco has been stealing them when no one is watching. When I went to take the bedding off my bed today to wash... I found a whole stash of them. Not one of them was his toys.. all hers... and I tried to take them back to Lady and he whined so bad. It was pitiful. I left 3 of them in my room. Tonight when I was getting into bed I felt a lump. I kicked at it and tried to move it and I thought... what on earth is in the bed... Pulled the covers down and you guessed it. He has them all back in here and in our bed. I don't have any idea why he is doing this but he actually plays with them and so I guess I will have to sneak them out here and there. Lady doesnt play with them tho. She sleeps as much as he does. She is old. She was used as a fighting dog until she got to old to fight and then they used her as a Puppy Mill and Kevin seen the person abusing her and took her from him. She has gained weight and looks better every day.
 She has taught Cisco a few tricks... One is to Howl.... Oh My Word... He learned fast. Another thing that she has taught him is to talk. He used to paw me on my leg or shoulder when he wanted out or was hungry. Now he paws me and does this thing halfway as a howl and halfway as a bark... It sounds so funny coming from him... I Love It....

 Ok I am really going to go and lay down now.... You all have a great and Blessed Day... BB