Christmas Wrap Up

So was it awesome? Yes and no. It was weather affected. No Christmas Eve at Grandma's house. Which is the bummer to end all bummers. However Mom loves Christmas and always does it up right, so there was a lot of other really great times. So I can't complain too much. I got some really nice presents including the Kitchen Aid pasta roller. I have already whipped out a batch of gluten free Pierogies. I love pierogies. I use this recipe from Gluten Free Gobsmacked as the dough part and fill them with mashed potatoes, bacon, onion and a little cheese. I boil them all immediately for 18 minutes and then freeze them. When I want some pierogies, I just take them out of the freezer and spritz them with oil and bake on my pizza stone until they are heated through. So delicious, you won't miss Mrs. T's.

Merry Christmas!

Last Christmas my mom got me a beautiful pink poinsettia. Much to the chagrin of Bear, I have taken care of the pointy for an entire year. Bear hates house plants. Pointy has grown quite large and is incredibly healthy so this fall I decided to try to make her change colors again. Pretty much everything I read said it was nearly impossible. They need 12 plus hours of complete darkness every night from October until December. Starting on Columbus Day, this poinsettia has gone under a large box with the seams reinforced with black electrical tape for 12+ hours. I tried to be very consistent, but there were a a few days where it didn't happen. I don't have a social life, but it is still hard to be at your home every 12 hours. She hadn't changed by early December, so I figured it was over. I kept boxing her up out of habit and about 2 weeks ago, I noticed some faint lightening of her newest leaves. I really thought was she was dying, bummer. However, a few days later I noticed the slightest tinge of blush pink on the mottled white leaves. Success! Over the past week the pink has darkened. Now this would never compare to a commercially grown poinsettia, but I am tickled pink!

Packing the Sleigh

Why don't I just order all presents on line and have them shipped to my parents? Loading the car in this weather blows. It is snowing and blowing and I do not have a garage. I live in an apartment so I have to trek out two doors and down the iced over sidewalk to my car. Arrrgh, but it is done. It only took 5 trips. Too bad that is only half the battle. Tomorrow the food gets loaded...

Chirstmas is Coming

For some people it is It's a Wonderful Life, White Christmas, or the Rudolph cartoon, you know that show you have to sit and watch if you run across it during the holidays. For me it is A Very Brady Christmas, and I just ran across it on the Family Channel. Cookie and candy making is going to be slow going for the next two hours while I soak in the cheesy goodness. The 60's split level all redecorated in the contemporary (read 80's) style cracks me up. I can't believe I just realized that Peter's soon to be fiance, oops did I just spoil that plot line for you :), played a reoccurring roll on Matlock. Seems like any show made during the 80s can be traced back to Matlock, Perry Mason or Murder She Wrote. Like the entry level Hollywood job was murderer on murder mystery show.

Christmas Love

My mom sent me a Christmas arrangement! I love it. With the smell, it is like having a tree without having to have a tree. As always, Becks in Peoria did a fantastic job. Thanks Moogie!

Winter Driving

I am a terrible driver. I over react; I freak out. I am tense. Winter driving dumps huge amounts of adrenaline into my system and it takes me hours to recover. My normal pulse is around 55 beats a minute, anytime it spikes up in the 80s I am jacked up for what seems like eons. I get shaky and pukey. So today's commute home took an hour (normally 25 mins) and I almost rear ended someone on the interstate. To make matters worse, my wiper blades kinda crapped out. I had to lean to see out to the passenger's side. Bad Vanilla Bean Counter, bad. You know what really makes me a dumbass? The fact that I have had new wipers ready to install since last winter. I bought them at Walmart, but couldn't figure out how to install them so I bought new ones at AutoZone where they will install them for you. In my defense the AutoZone guy said he had never had such a problem getting blades off. So I am not a total moron, I just don't have a pocket knife. I never returned the WalMart ones. Too bad my blades couldn't crap out when it is above freezing and I am able to try and install them myself. I see a visit to AutoZone in my future. This time I will not cheap out and will spring for blades that will last more than 9 months.

Indiana

I visited Indiana for the first time ever yesterday. When Illinois goes belly up, Wisconsin and Iowa are still preferable for relocation. West Lafayette wasn't really wowing me. They need bigger street signs. Actually, first they need stop light poles. Most all the stop lights were hung from wires. It looked really junky and necessitated placing the street name signs off to the side and lower to the ground. It was really hard to read and frustrating. Really, driving "on campus" any where is frustrating. I was having trouble being a new urbanist yesterday. Most of my thoughts were along the lines of, "Why can't she get married at some mega church out in cornfield with an ocean of parking like everyone else." And, "What the hell, get out of my way you freaking pedestrians, seriously tuba player I will run your ass over." I did get a chuckle that the Illinois welcome signs still say Rod R. Blagojevich, Governor at the bottom. I wonder if Pat Quinn already has new ones on order.

Merry Fitzmas!

Here's hopin' for an impeachy New Year. Check out capfax for all the lastest.

Bummed Out

My front, driver's side tire has a leak. It has never been quite right. It always looks low to me. I use the pressure gauge thingy and it says it is fine, but I can see that it rides lower than the others. And I think the gauge thing is broken or I am just not using it properly. When I get an oil change they never say anything, and tire pressure is supposed to be one of the 16 point checks. So I am convinced I am crazy. Last time at the dealership I got the $100 rotation, balancing whatever whatever and no mention of a low tire. Must all be in my head. Yeah except tonight, after work, I see that it has clearly gone down. Back to the dealership I go. Arrrgh.

You know what really bums me out, this feeling of ground hog's day. Almost exactly two years ago, I had a tire with a slow leak. I ended up getting 4 new tires because they all were cracked or something, and I am a stupid woman who will fall for anything blah blah blah. A month later Stephanie Torman failed to yield on circle green left turn at the intersection of Knoxville and War Memorial and ran her car right into my beloved Lucy totaling her, with her brand new tires. Somebody at the junk yard got a really good deal. $500 right down the crapper. Luckily I was just bruised; it could have been much worse. I was going 40mph and she just drove right into me. A seat belt saved me from eating the steering wheel. One month later, 5 days after picking up my new Malibu, in crappy weather, going 10 mph I slid off an interstate on ramp doing $8,000 of damage to my new car. Worst day of my life. I had gone 10 years without any auto accidents and then had my first two with two months. I can't take that again. This air coming slowly out of my tire is like a harbinger of auto catastrophe.

Sunday Morning TV Musing

So on Sunday mornings you can catch Gladiators 2000 on the CW. This makes me very happy; I love all things American Gladiators. Gladiators 2000 is a 90's children's version. The most awesome thing about it is the host, none other than Ryan Seacrest. It is hysterical to see him pre-American Idol. One thing that jumps out at me is how white the white people are, including Mr. Seacrest. Mystic Tan wasn't around in the 90's. While his skin is white, his teeth are just medium white as opposed to blinding white veneers. It is so jarring to see him as he was when your picuture of his current "normal," is all sorts of abnormal. It is kind of like whenever I catch the movie Selena on TV and think, "Damn, J-Lo is fat." She isn't fat at all, but when you see Jennifer Lopez pre J-Lo and she is a size 10, it is startling. It is all very odd. There is no real point to this, but now I need to get on IMDB to see what Jon Seda is up to these days. I loved him.

Dear Asshole Who Lives Above Me Part 2

So where we left off last night, I was braless and fuming. Shortly after making the post I finally cracked. I put on a bra, stormed up the stairs, gave 3 good raps police style and......nothing. He wouldn't answer the mother fucking door! So now what? An hour later I tried again, still no answer. Dude, I know you are in there. I can hear you walking around, I refer to you as Trompy for a reason. So I didn't get much sleep due to being so amped up. I don't do confrontation well and apparently I don't do non confrontation-confrontation well either. Called the apartment people in the morning and they seemed concerned enough, but said in the future I should call the police. Ummm, I am fairly certain the Peoria Police have more pressing issues than the Tuesday night Rock Band party at Casa de Trompy. How about you just tell him no more Rock Band or to turn it down when the neighbors start banging on the door.

Dear Asshole Who Lives Above Me

Turn it down. You are making the glasses in my cupboard vibrate. Not cool. I am this close to putting on a bra and coming up there and telling you what is up. I really don't want to put on a bra.