BACK TO WORK

On Monday with a heavy heart I headed back to work for the first time in 6 weeks. It felt weird, getting up with a purpose- take a shower, brush your teeth, make-up and hair. All to be done within a certain timeframe instead of a meandering pace, sometimes taking all day. I was glad I didn't have to go in until noon.
I got it all done, shower, teeth brushed, hair done and makeup perfect. I slipped into a nice professional outfit, donned a pair of flats (because I can't wear sneakers to work) and headed in. Everyone was happy to see me, and that made things easier. What did NOT make things easier was that that my boss was "sick" and made me take my lunch two hours after I arrived, and then left as soon as I came back. Leaving me alone on my first day back in 6 weeks for 7 hours with everything to do. And she said she wanted me to take it easy?!
It's not that I expected special treatment, but more than one break would have been appriciated. She's a bitch.
I did better than I expected, going back. By the end of the night my ankle and both my feet were THROBBING though, and as soon as I got home I hit the couch and it wasn't long before I was partially unconcious. Same thing last night, as a matter of fact.
I worked 2 days, and I survived. I am off two days, and then I work two, and then am off for two more. It's a easing in, and I'm glad for it. Even if my boss is a bitch.

So it's been a few days since I posted. Saturday morning Hubby headed out to work at the bright and early hour of 4am. At 4:45 my phone started buzzing, and this is what I always dread when he goes out the door- a call from him.
I answered the damn phone and the first words out of his mouth were "I hit a damn deer."
After asking him if he was ok (because HELLO FULL COVERAGE INSURANCE) we surmised that the car was drivable and because it was still dark out we couldn't tell much in the way of damage. He headed off to work.
Come time when he was supposed to be home, he walked in the door and I could tell his mood was not good. Apparently the little bit of damage that it appeared to have been done, was ALOT worse than surface value. I found out Monday that it was $2,100 worth of damage- and barely any tell that he had hit ANYTHING! Apparently the headlight assembly was badly damaged, we need a new front bumper and quarter panel and blah blah blah. My insurance deductable is $250, and I can tell you I'm glad for that, but I have been stressing my ASS OF for the last 2 days because HELLO CHRISTMAS IS IN A MONTH! I don't just have $250 extra laying around because I HAVE NOT WORKED IN 6 WEEKS! Christmas was looking meager to say the least, and then to add THIS to it? I just about lost it. I seriously hate money.
But then yesterday, after much stressing on my behalf hubby recieved a check in the mail from a former employer. For the amount we need for our deductable plus some. It was from an unrolled over 401k. to say my shoulders are lighter today is a serious understatement.
To ice the cake- Sunday we had some friends over to watch the Dallas/Philly football game. We ordered some wings and pizza, and sat and kidded and fooled around and watched the game. It ran somewhat late, not finishing up until 11:30 or 12 (don't really remember) and then it took a few minutes to say our goodbyes so it was pretty late before our friends were headed out the door. The male counterpart of our friends looked at Hubby and Jokingly told him to watch out and not hit any more deer (Hyuck hyuck hyuck) and then they left and I headed up to the bathroom for an appointment with a garden tub full of hot water and bubbles. I took my cell with me, because the female part of my friends and I were texting while they drove home, which is about an hour away. She texted me, and then 5 minutes later Hubby busted into the bathroom telling me to get out out of the tub we had to GO , WE HAD TO GO RIGHT NOW. What happened? Our friends hit a deer. A BIG DEER. They had gotten about 30 minutes out of the road (and seriously only a MALE would notice this) and an "8 point buck" jumped into the path of their SUV. It exploded on impact (unlike hubbys deer which flipped him the bird and went on it's merry way) and messed the front of their truck ALL THE HELL UP. Their vehicle was not driveable. So we headed out to where they were stranded on the side of the highway, waiting on the popo to show up because they needed a police report for their insurance claim. WE were out there until well past 2am!! What the heck!! We ended up running them the rest of the way home afterward, and Hubby and I didn't get home until well after 4:30am. Luckily I didn't have to work till noon on Monday, like I said.
So terrible. Stupid deers.

Well, that's about it for now. Hubby was off of work yesterday while I was working and made me some lovely cupcakes, and it is my intention to finish them off while their still fresh. It is SO like me to complain about being fat and then eat cupcakes.

I'll admit it, I obsess

There is nothing in this whole wide world that is worse than laying in bed, looking at the clock tick off first minutes, then hours, and knowing that you ARE NOT GOING TO GET TO SLEEP BECAUSE YOU CAN'T TURN YOUR MIND OFF. I admit it, I obsess. And another admission- it's DUMB STUFF. Sometimes, the stuff that I obsessivly worry about while I'm trying to fall asleep amounts to no more than OMG did Hubby take the laundry out of the washer an put it in the dryer? But then that leads to more things... did he turn the dryer ON? Did he clean out the lint trap? What if a fire starts? Is there a smoke alarm in the basement? What about the turtle we have down there? Oh wow did he feed her today? Did she run out of guppies yet? What if the pet store runs out of guppies?... And on and on and you get the idea.
Stupid stuff that should no more interrupt my sleep patterns than the buzzing of a fruit fly. OH BUT IT DOES.
Last night my obsessive worrying was over something that is completly relevant but that I really don't have any control over at this point because of finances. If I was working (which I will be come Monday) it would have long since have been taken care of. But because I am not... It's been put on the back burner week after week and now it's haunting me as I try to sleep. In order to combat my obsessiveness with worry, I try to think of other things that are happy and even less relevant than what if a house fire starts because of the dryer that may or may not be turned on that the lint trap that may or may not need cleaned. Here is what I came up with last night:


The song is called LOL Smiley face and it has got to be the dumbest song I have EVER HEARD, and yet I love it. Sorry for that huge picture but I do not know how to use my WIZARD COMPUTER (aka MAC) to resize and that is a link anyway, SO. But really, last night that was the best I could come up with.

SHORTY JUST TEXT ME, SAYS SHE WANTS TO SEX ME
LOL SMILEY FACE, LOL SMILEY FACE
SHORTY SENT A TWITPIC, SAYIN COME GET THIS
LOL SMILEY FACE, LOL SMILEY FACE



TRAUMA

Oh wow. Just thought of this. Last week we adopted a dog from the local pound. I can't remember if I even mentioned it on here. Anyway, she's pretty old- they practically paid me to take her because she was so old. They couldn't put her under to spay her or do a dental because she's old, and she also weighs about 2 pounds because she's a chiuaua. Anyway, because they could not do a dental, they knew that her teeth were BAD *And by bad, I mean horriffic... if doggie yawns and is at the foot of my bed, I can smell it at the head of the bed- it's almost like hitting a stench wall, seriously* but they really couldn't do much about it. And from having her and just interacting with her for the last week or so, I knew that in the back of her mouth she had at least 1 loose tooth that was bothering her. And I was going to give them a call and see if there was ANYTHING they could do to take care of it. I mean it was to the point where if she yawned it would shift and she would chew to try to get it to go back where it was supposed to be, which I can imagine was either gross or painful, or both. Well matters resolved themselves last night when homegirl started choking on her tooth that was still attached to her gums. In an effort to dislodge whatever was causing her distress, I must have jostled it onto the WRONG SPOT, and she chomped it right out of her mouth. I don't know if puppy is traumatized by it, but I certainly am. She seems more comfortable though, and went to sleep before I did. As an aside, if anyone has any imput on the whole breath thing, I'm def. open to ideas. We're doing teeth cleaning biscuits, but I can't get close enough to that cesspool to actually brush her teeth.

And that about kills it for today. I have spent a total of about 45 minutes on the phone talking to a friend, and I'm ready to get some housework done. Untill tommorrow...

HA! Since I spent the last 4 months on crutches, I get tired super easily. Also, my entire joint system is out of whack on my right side... My hip hurts if I stand for more than 10 minutes without resting (because seriously, I just decided to IRON MY THANKSGIVING APRON and had to sit down halfway though because my hip was shooting sharp pains all the way up my side... Not sure which is more lame- the fact that I DECIDED TO IRON MY THANKSGIVING APRON or the fact that I had to SIT DOWN HALFWAY THROUGH). Anyway, the fact that I am super lame and fell down the stairs at my house and thus crippled myself benefits you in such a way that I say that I will be doing things at a much later date than I actually end up doing them. Such as writing this Thanksgiving menu thing I was working on earlier. All this may change after next week when I make my debut back at work (yay 6 week vacation... BOO not getting paid for 4 of those weeks) so enjoy it while you can.

Thanksgiving Menu

Since I can't for the life of me remember how I started that last rambling mess (because I really really hate the word BLOG right now thanks to that stupid stupid twix comircial) and thus can not reproduce it, I am going to have to fly by the seat of my (unironed- BOO) sweatpants.

This year thanksgiving will be held at my house again YAY. This is a very good thing, as I had held any and all Thanksgiving festivities at my house prior to the year before last since I got married. This year, since my sister is set to give birth just a few short weeks after Thanksgiving it was decided that I would get the honour of hosting again. Not really sure why my hosting was impeached in the first place, but whatevs. On a side note I have to mention that I am trying to give up the use of profanity, which may make this writing a little on the bland side but if you catch me slipping, please let me know.
ANYWAY. Back to my Menu Ideas. I have been planning this event in my head since ooooh I don't know AUGUST. I like to try to keep the meal traditional as much as possible, so I always always always have Turkey. The menu that I am focusing on for the most part is the side dish menu, because lets face it, after the bird is brined, slathered with butter and spices, and banished to the oven (I put solitary confinement, but felt that was inacurate because at any given oppurtunity I shove something else in there to heat up, brown, or otherwise cook) it's pretty much on it's own other than an occasional baste. I have to admit, I got the idea to brine the damn thing 2 years ago from Smarticus and have only been doing it since then... my bird has turned out so much better than it ever was before and that's saying something because apparently I have a knack for cooking poultry.
This year I want to out-do myself from years past, and have been looking all over for recipes that will make my family members be all WOW WE ARE NEVER HAVING THANKSGIVING ANYWHERE ELSE AGAIN- EPIC WIN!!
Seeing as it will only be 6 (possibly 8 I still have to check on that) of us, I don't have to do alot of Sides, but I just love to, so I present you with...

Buttermilk Bacon Mashed Potatoes

5 slices bacon
2 pounds potatoes peeled, cooked and mashed
1/2 cup warm buttermilk
3 tablespoons soft butter
salt and pepper
fresh chives

1. Cook the bacon until crisp, drain, and crumble. Discard the fat.

2. Whip the hot potatoes with the warm buttermilk, butter, salt, and pepper. Fold in the bacon. Garnish with chives and serve hot.

YES!

Does this sound fantastic or WHAT?I was actually toying with the idea of shoving some bacon between the skin and the meat on the Turkey because who in their right mind does not like bacon (except for Jewish people who can't have it because pigs are dirty and Vegetarians/vegans because slicing the fat off of a pig is cruel)? Ok, well I'm sure there are plenty of people who think bacon is nasty, but everyone who will be eating at MY table loves bacon, but I thought the bacon in the turkey idea might be a little over the top, and I haven't researched it fully on the internetz yet SO. For now as it stands, the only thing that will have bacon in it are the mashed potatoes.

Next on the list is corn, which is really the only veggie that I will eat. Alas, corn is not really even a veggie, it's a grain (Thank you so much manwich commircial ) but on the thanksgiving table we call it a veggie and forget everything we learned in school. Now, I would love to add bacon to this too, but even I have to draw the line somewhere (although I wouldn't really call it drawing the line when I can seat myself on the couch with a bowl of corn mixed with butter and A1 sauce and be happy. But whatevs, I'm not planning on doing THAT for Thanksgiving either. The corn is relatively simple, I grab the bag of steam fresh out of the freezer and throw it in the microwave because with the invention of steamfresh veggies I WILL NEVER EVER EAT CORN OUT OF A CAN AGAIN. Put that in your pipe and smoke it Green Giant.
Now it would be great if this summer, while I was mowing through ears of corn with the stealthy precision of a woodchipper, if I had paused between bites and thought to myself "Hey if I cut some of this off the ear and freeze it, it would be great for Thanksgiving." But alas, I did not. there is always next year I suppose.

Now we move on to the carb portion of the meal- The rolls. I have been thinking about doing home-made crescent rolls, but I'm not 100% sold on the idea because A) lenght of prep time and B) I lack the time and inclination to do a prescreen in the days before Thanksgiving. I mean, what if they don't rise right, or they don't taste the way they are supposed to. I guess I could keep a few cans of pillsbury hidden in the fridge, but I'm still working on this idea.
The other Roll Course is regular dinner rolls, of course made from scratch. I have a bread machine, so I can force it to do all the work up until the point of actually forming the rolls and baking them. Lucky me.

Next on the list- Cranberries. Personally I have never EVER liked cranberries, but since EVERYONE else at the table (with the exception of hubby who is my food-hate twin) does like them, I like to put them out. I always do premade for these, since I don't like the taste and like to stick with tried and true. I'm thinking cranberry relish this year. I remember the time that I was asked to do cranberry sauce (the canned kind). It was either my first Thanksgiving hosting on my own, or it was when I still lived at home with my mom, I don't remember THAT. I wasn't aware that it simply slid out of the can and you cut it into cubes. I opened the can and SMASHED those cranberries to a liquidy mush. I don't think my mother has been much more appallled at anything else I've ever done. How was I supposed to know- I TOLD YOU I don't like them.
This year I might actually go to IKEA and get Lingonberries because I LIKE those, and they kind of look like cranberries. EVERYONE WILL BE DECIEVED BY MY TRICKERY.

Also on the list is Gravey (made with a martha stewart recipe), and stuffing, which I also hate. I can't stand the texture, and once I had some that had some weird tasting spice or something in it and I think it scarred me FOR LIFE. As far as anything else I am open to suggestion. Of course there is the obligatory dessert course- a round of pumpkin pies, apple pies, possible apple dumplings, and maybe a few other things depending (Turkey and desert are the TWO things I will not shun from my plate).

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

And that is it for that (for now). I must get off of here and make a phone call to the douchbags (not profanity- FACT) that I used to finance my car. Unfortunatly for them, they are retarded, and now have to deal with an IRATE me, who is sitting in front of the computer with a window open to my bank page, looking at the payment that I made that they claim that I did not make. They "want to call the bank and confirm it". BE MY GUEST. They insinuated that "prehaps there wasn't enough money in there to cover it at the time" Ok, so they didn't insinuate ANYTHING they ACTUALLY SAID IT. But by looking at my bank balance, in regards to that, there was 5x over what the payment amount was in the account at that time. Ok, maybe not 5x, maybe 4.5x, whichever. I have to say, I have not worked in 6 weeks, and have not been paid full amount for 4 of those 6 weeks, but I still have the common sense to keep up with my bills. I am just very thankful for online banking. I have the urge to go to the dealership (in-house financing) and smack one of those little something-somethings in the face with their flat screen monitor.
UPDATE ON THIS- I know, I know... immediate update and all but whatever my phone just rang while I was sitting here.
They checked on it and apologised. I am SO HEATED over this entire situation. I pay my car note ON TIME, every two weeks. I have shitty shitty credit, so this is the way I must do things. But this is a professional agency that has been in business for quite a few years. I assumed (wrongly apparently) that they knew how to handle their business. From now on they will deal DIRECTY with me. I will drive the 35 minutes and pay them in CASH, be handed a reciept of payment, and write down the name of the person who took my payment. I am tired of their idiodic employees who do not know how to do their job. This is not the first time they have called me and harrassed me for a payment that I had already made. And I'll tell you what, I get smart right back, because all it takes is a click and 17 seconds, and everything I do moneywise is RIGHT THERE IN FRONT OF ME, in black and white on my computer screen. So actually, scratch that cash Idea, because I like to have permanent backup reassurance as proof. But from now on I will use the handy in-call note feature that my phone came with and make appropriate notes when payments are made. It automatically time and date stamps the note, and adds the phone number of the caller or the caller ID name right there. Awesome. Way to get my blood boiling.

Now. I really do have to be going this time. I have a follow-up appointment with my orthopedic surgeon in an hour. This will be the first time I will be going to his office and walking in. I'm sure he will be impressed :)

As one last end note, When I spell checked this, it shut down SAFARI again. Note to self... either DO NOT SPELL CHECK with xangas spell checker (not even sure if I should WRITE spell checker). Luckily for my sanity, I backed it up with a easy command c. Unfortch, Spell check did not quite make it to the point at which I SPELLED THANKSGIVING WRONG, so I had to edit anyway. Ignore misspellings, mmmk?

Samhain was a pretty uneventful event again this year... Hubby and I went to the store and got some food for our feast, hung out and watched the game. Next year though, I plan to do it up a bit more... this year most everything just seems to be catching me off guard. Not so with Thanksgiving this year, and I'm going to try to do it up a bit more for Yule, as well. We'll see how that goes though. In light of my uneventfulness-

1. Which do you like better: hosting Thanksgiving at your home, or going elsewhere?
I like to host. Have not had the chance in recent years- this year it's here again!

2. Do you buy a fresh or frozen turkey? Organic? Free-range?
Ive always bought frozen. Whatever is on sale as long as it does not come with any additives so that it's not too salty when it's done brining.

3. Do you make stuffing or dressing? What kind?
I don't like stuffing, but my mom makes it. I'll usually eat some just to be nice.

4. Sweet potato pie or Pumpkin pie?
Pumpkin, hands down over sweet potato...although I've never even HAD sweet potato.

5. Are leftovers a blessing or a curse?
Definitly a blessing.

6. What side dishes are a must-have in your family?
Usually all the traditional sides. corn, cresent rolls, gravy, mashed potatoes, cranberries.

7. What do you wish you had that might make Thanksgiving easier?
Thanksgiving isn't hard for me... I love it and wouldn't change anything.

8. If/when you go to someone else’s house for the holiday, do you usually bring a dish? If so, what is it?
Only if they ask.

9. What do you wish one of your guests would bring to your house?
Nothing but themselves... and Maybe some Dunkin' donuts :)

10. What do you wish one of your guests would NOT bring to your house?
Attitudes and crankiness. never happened, hoping it never will.

11. Do you stick with a particular menu from year to year, or do you mix it up?
All the traditional Thanksgiving food... sometimes I willl mix it up by throwing a new desert out there.

12. Is Thanksgiving a religious or secular holiday in your home?
Definitly not religious.

13. Share one Thanksgiving tradition.
There really aren't any. We just kind of wing it. But the day after Thanksgiving is CHRISTMAS TREE DAY.

14. Share one Thanksgiving memory.
The time my mom asked me to take the cranberry berry sauce out of the can. I thought it was supposed to be like jello, so I smashed the heck out of it... made it into a liquidy nasty mess. HEY I NEVER EAT THE STUFF!!

15. Name five things you’re thankful for.
*My Family
*My home
*Having a job in this terrible economy
*Being healthy
*Having found the true love of my life young so that I am not still headed down a path best not spoken of.