Thanksgiving is Coming

For the first day in a few the sun is out, and it is a beautiful Fall day. So in anticipation of cooking next week for Thanksgiving, I am making a big ole batch of Snickerdoodle cookies. Been a while since I've made them, but my insulin resistance is in check and it just feels like a cookie day. :)

I made the orange cranberry sauce yesterday to give it several days to really cure up. A great recipe I've had for years (since Alaska), I figured it was better than the canned stuff this year. I will also be making my friend Denice's pumpkin cake. I do not like pumpkin generally, but this cake is the bomb. I still have to work up an appetiser, and my Thanksgiving cooking will be complete.

Hope this finds everyone happy and ready for the big feed. Remember to be thankful for the cook, as well as everything else in life. Happy Thanksgiving!

Paranormal Activity

My niece wanted to see this movie for her birthday, and so I agreed very reluctantly. I started thinking about seeing it two days before I went, just thinking about what it could be like gave me the willies. I am very susceptible to scary suggestion and I avoid slasher films and books at all cost. When I was younger I read true crime novels, but realized they were shaping my view of life in an adverse way and stopped them as well. So as the movie promise came closer I was really spooked.

So the day came for the big "Birthday Movie"...yipppeeee. :/ As I would be returning home after dark I actually left lights on all over my apartment anticipating my state upon movie completion. So off we went to the theater, found our popcorn and seats, and waited for the big scare.

OMG...Gimmeee a break! I can not believe someone actually left the movie theater because this was too frightening. I realize it was a low budget movie, but the sizzle on this one did not deliver the steak. Compared to the shower scene in "Psycho" and the look of horror on Sigorney Weaver's face looking around the corner in that deserted spaceship to see the monster advancing in the first and best "Alien" this movie rates a 3 on the scale. Really. Demonic procession...oooo, even the fake pea scene in "Exorcist" beats this movie. If this is what passes as scary in 2009, have I got a script that needs selling. That was my exact thought as I returned home to a fully lit house feeling like a real goofball. Take a pass on this movie and rent a classic. Really.

Etsy Handmade Gallery

Finally! You wouldn't believe how long it took me to get my Etsy Handmade Site up and operational. But it finally is, and I invite everyone to visit and help me get my feedback ratings up. I promise special surprises with purchase just for my friends, just in time for the holidays! Just click on the link and enjoy :)

On little Dogs and Dreams

Growing up I was never much for pets. I was not the type of child who coveted stuffed animals or played with them past three years of age. I was far too interested in reading and my visual pursuits to bother with the entire animal kingdom. They were animals after all, and not very conversational. As I grew up I would look upon pet crazy neighbors and friends (with the rare exception of Judy's dog Max perhaps) and not know what to think of their devotion. I certainly did not share it. Then came Doodle.

When Doodle came home with me he was six weeks old and just weaned from his mother. I had seen him at every stage of development, and here he was, this tiny squirmy thing. Those first weeks were difficult, as he was plucked from his swarm of squirmy noisy brothers and sisters and plopped into my quiet life. The very first night he cried and cried. I did all I knew how to do to comfort this furry little thing. I cuddled him like a baby, sang little Doodle songs and rubbed his little head until he mercifully fell asleep. It wasn't long (three days actually...Ris won the bet) until I broke my first rule of dog ownership and allowed him to sleep at my feet on my bed. It seemed to calm him down, and before I would turn out the lights I would rub his head until he fell asleep. And so started the ritual. He has not gone without his head rub one day in this house. He immediately falls asleep every time, even if I just rub his head while he lays on my lap. For the longest time I thought I continued to do this to comfort him, but recently realized it actually comforts me as much or maybe even more. I now fall asleep rubbing Doodle's head, a little lesson in comfort and devotion I learned from my dog.

I have witnessed how his body relaxes. I know when I hit that sweet spot rubbing his belly or scratching his back because he flicks his tongue a certain way. I have also been witness to Doodle in a dream state. He twitches, his feet move, and his eyes move and flutter under his lids. He sometimes growls or makes noises, and sometimes even wags his tail. What can he be seeing and reacting to in his dream? I figure he dreams in images since he does not have words to describe visual sensation, but most of dreaming is images for me as a human too. One day while watching this is dawned on me that although he is classified as an animal, very little separates us really as spirits inhabiting form. He breathes, he eats, he dreams, etc. So now I at last understand why animals are important to humans. Not to be dominated or abused for what they lack, but to be companions in this world. To be respected for what unites us on a spiritual level. I get it.

So this is what I have learned from Doodle. It has forced me to start to reexamine my relationship with animals from an entirely different perspective. All of this started by a little squirmy thing that came into my house 17 months ago. I sure have been blessed and I am grateful for my little companion. "So handsome, so smart, such a good dog." :)

News From the Poker Table

I woke up today and decided I simply must do something I have never done, just to shake things up in life. I had read in the local paper about a "Turkey Shoot" at the local VFW Hall, but I have never attended one...so it won the day. I had no idea what to expect, but found playing poker for food an interesting thought. So armed with ten dollars I played five card poker hands for about an hour, and pictured are all my ill gotten gains. Three big farm raised chickens (fresh) and three fresh from the local processer pork sausage bundles. No turkey or ham, but still a chunk o' food for the freezer. Seems my luck dramatically changes when I am playing poker for food. Imagine that.

Why I love that Red-Haired Woman

I watched her very closely. I saw all those weird dog costumes she looked at at Petsmart. God help me, there were fairies, pumpkins, clown costumes, even a "gulp" doggie taco. She would look at them and then look at me...I knew she was visualizing every goofy frill on me. But this is how much she loves me..(or how bad she felt last year for dressing me as a hot dog). I got a new sweater for Halloween. No pirate hat, or devil horns for me. A nice dignified dog sweater. Yeah, the turtleneck is a little over the top, but considering how she could have dressed me I won't complain. Especially with a mouth full of Halloween yogurt doggie treat. WOOF!

Portrait of a Teenager

Crystal as "Mutant Bunny" with attitude.

It's official..she has crossed over to the dark side of teenaged angst.
Oh, goodie.

My Favorite Halloween Costumes 2009

After reviewing all 200 or so costumes that made their way to the door this Halloween these were absolutely my favorites for 2009...The Scary Breakfast Crew....Oooooo

First there was "Evil Prairie Farms Milk"...waaay past it's due date it was definitely 100% Evil as advertised. Then there was "Cereal O' Death"...almost completely sugar and totally deathly. Rounding out this crew was "Processed Orange Juice Drink"...that claimed it never even met an orange. Now who says American ingenuity is on the decline? (LOL)

Happy Halloweenie :)

Fueled by Cake

Ok, It's my birthday, I'll blog. Been a strange summer..but here I am at the end with the cool kiss of Fall on my skin. Always my favorite of seasons, this year more than ever. Haven't blogged because I've been ill, and really had nothing to say in the interim. Working hard, just this week off to a ten day event. Sales are weak and the economy is really abysmal in the Midwest. So disgusted with the health care debates, all political sides, and the status of greed as a lifestyle choice in this country. Don't get me started.

The good news is that after several years of waiting I had a true "ah-hah" moment around an "old" new project. The last week or so actually working on pricing and preparing the artwork. So I have found a lot of energy just doing what I do, and that is good. Doodle is a prize, whatever did I do without my furry faced friend? He'll probably feel the need to update soon...as he sees me typing and remembers he hasn't blogged either. (LOL)

So that is all the news I can think of. Hope this finds everyone happy and healthy out there in blogland. :)

It's My Birthday Card from Rogie :)

Thank you! :)

Chinese Farmer Grows Baby-Shaped Fruit

Yum..I want a Baby Shaped Pear!