farewell adobo

when we moved into this house about two and a half years ago i met a little black dog named Adobo. she was spunky and funny and would ruuuuuuun to greet me when she saw me. that was until she realized i would tattle on her as soon as i realized she'd snuck out. and when she became cognizant of the fact she'd been caught she'd feign as though she was both deaf and lame.

she was the biggest eloper you ever did meet.

gate left open? SCORE!

10 foot fence? no problem.

this week she started moving much slower and her little 14 year old body decided it was no longer able to keep going. i got to see her a few more times, last night she even gave me a slight little wag of her tail.

i loved that dog.

with tears in my eyes and love in my heart i say, rest in peace Adobo...

noon to four

i will be heading into work shortly to get a few loose ends tied up before opening at 11:00. around an hour later i will be heading home to wait for our new dishwasher to be delivered. i opted not to pay the extra $100 to have someone else install it. jim, the gentleman who sold me the new washer, peered over his glasses when i originally said i wanted them to. he said something along the lines of, "really? you really want to pay us $99.99 to install it? it's really not that hard if you're handy." well, anyone who knows me knows that that was the invite to do it myself.

i fancy myself a tool belt girl. i can get jobs done and done right the first time. hell, between myself and my bff we retiled the kitchen backsplash. and people tell us it looks like a pro did it!

so last night i embarked on the uninstalling the old washer (who had decided that it wanted to be persnickety and be incredibly difficult to open). we decided to use some of our xmas money we were gifted towards a new dishwasher. i can hardly wait to get it in the house...it's just that pretty.

let me tell you, unhooking the old washer wasn't difficult to do, but it was a tricky angle to do it. i did some amazing yogic poses when i wasn't even trying. i didn't realize i would fit under the sink and around the disposal. but somehow i did and the water is turned off, hose unhooked, and the return hose is also pulled out. i just have to cut the power and then cut the wire. sadly it wasn't simply plugged into the wall via a socket and i will have to do a bit of splicing. but jim assured me this was an easy task. same to same and we bought the installation pack for doing such, just in case.

i will kick ass. i will get this bad boy installed tomorrow (unless i get the wild hair to do it today). it's official, too. i am an adult. i've never been so excited about an appliance....

just wait until we get a new range.

happiest of holidays

the fire is burning.
mom and simon are napping on the sofa.
josie is guarding her new toy which gifted to her from our neighbor's dog, adobo.
dad is loading photos from this trip onto his computer.
kev is doing crosswords.
chloe is sleeping on our bad.
i am thankful for a full house.

hope you and yours are having the loveliest of lovely days.

the menus are set

next week my parents arrive. i am so excited i can hardly stand it. they will be here for a whole week. of course i have to work a few of those days, but they understand it is what i have to do during the holidays.

anyone who knows me, knows i'm a planner. well about certain things. menus for upcoming visits, outfits to pack for trips that are months away, knitting to take on those trips...yeah, a planner.

i've got the dinner menus set for my parents visit.

the night they arrive, kev is working late. so it will just be the three of us for dinner. a few months ago kev made an amazing baked ziti with scallops and shrimp. i think that would be a great first dinner of the visit.

the next night we are having my best girls (from college) over so we can all visit. chunky black bean chili in the slow cooker. i'll make a double batch of corn bread, too.

on thursday that week my plan is to make a bean and corn soup. i am thinking there will probably be corn bread left over.

friday is the main event and i am going all out. a molasses brined turkey, mushroom and bacon stuffing, mom's potatoes, green beans, rolls, ginger snap gravy, with shoo-fly pie for dessert.

saturday we will not want to think of cooking so kev will bring home pizza from work.

sunday we have reservations at The Chart House. i've never been, but mom and dad went last time they were here. they have friends who moved out here a few years ago. she actually was my science teacher for about a week in jr. high school.

monday, their last night in town, kev is going to make his amazing vodka penne. i crushed some tomatoes this fall and added seasonings so kev could make it for them. it's so damn good.

like i said, i can hardly wait!!

pie on the mind

one of my fondest memories from when i was a little girl is sneaking pie with my grandpa. nobody knew what we were up to. he'd stand guard and i would creep under the table to the cabinet where grandma would put the desserts. the cabinet was built into the table. shoo-fly pie was our favorite. still is mine.

last week i made one and while the actual filling was perfect, the crust was not. it was too thick and took away from the flavors of the pie itself. i hadn't been able to locate a great crust recipe i'd found online, nor could i remember the site or find it in my history.

today i decided to start thinking about the holidays and what food i shall be making. the menu is coming along quite nicely, i must say. what should i find in the bread section of my recipe box? that crust recipe!!

so, even though i made the pie just last week, i think i must make it again. to see if i have truly perfected it.

and we were thankful

yesterday we hosted our annual "stragglers thanksgiving" dinner. last year it was interrupted (happily) by my family visiting and my having to feed us all. man, that was fun.

this year we had our friend michelle and her 15 year old son, gage, over as well as tami (who i work with) and her beau, keith.

i texted mick a few weeks ago asking her what their plans were. she said there was another offer on the table, but that she would check with the kid. he answered with a resounding, "kev and shan's!" i kind of figured that would happen. :)

earlier this week it dawned on me that one of the girls i work with and her boyfriend might not have plans, but want copious amounts of food. they were on and off the fence not sure what they wanted to do, but at 3:00 sent a text saying they were on their way. i also kind of figured that would happen...what, with the lure of a huge home cooked meal?

it was such a lovely day. no crazy rush to get things cooking, just a glance at my time-line on the fridge and i knew i could have a leisurely day cooking. the turkey was 18 lbs. it was one our neighbors had stored in our freezer last year. they'd gotten it for free, but had no space last year to put it in their tiny freezer. we offered up storage, thinking they'd want it for the holidays. nope.

i told brett that we were cooking it and he was surprised we'd not already. a year is my limit on freezing a turkey for someone before it becomes fair game (no pun intended). we'll have them over for soup.

we played a game for a while, in front of the fire, but we ended early because it was kind of boring...why didn't we play quelf?!?

everyone had a good time anyway. it ended up being an earlier night, but that was okay. we all were full. not only our bellies, but our hearts (well mine was).

this morning i woke at the leisurely hour of almost 9:00. i've got plans to make the turkey stock for soup. i may not get out of my jammies, jury is still out on that call.

happy birthday, bay-bee

35.

i have now known you for 13 of those 35 years. how did i get to be so lucky?

when we first met i wasn't sure you were my type. when we first met you thought i asked too many questions because you just wanted to go home. it was at work, where we met.

you make me laugh. you make my life fuller. you make the sun rise and set, according to the dog. i suppose the cats and i agree. you are pretty darn special.

i love you, kevin. possibly more than you might know.

the quiet of the day

it's a nice quiet day around here. kev has been out and about running a couple of errands. i got to stay home and start some chores. the house is now vacuumed and the laundry is underway.

i am knitting and listening to music in our living room. it's nice that i am finally using this room more. we've lived in the house for a bit more than two years now and it's been the room we've never really utilized. i'm glad it's starting to get a bit more play these days. i do think i want to hang heavier curtains in the winter, however.

kev's birthday is tomorrow. we decided to go to dinner last night at a fancy steak house with two of our closest friends. man, it was goo-ood. petite filet with a bleu cheese crust...perfectly steamed broccoli, sauteed mushrooms (left whole), and meh potatoes (was unanimous).

i can't believe that when we first met kev was only 22 years old, i was 24. seems like yesterday sometimes, and others it feels like forever ago.

it makes me happy, knowing i married my best friend. i hope your birthday is what you want it to be, kev. i love you.

it's the holiday season...

working retail during the holidays can be crazy. being a manager is almost even crazier. staff want off to spend time with their family and i try to accommodate as best i can. this year i've only had to tell one person that they couldn't have their original desired date off, but we compromised and adjusted the schedule so she would get an extra day to go see her family and her beau's family. thankfully the crew knows i am one person and most of them are willing to cover for a coworker now and again when i am already on the sales floor.

starting tuesday, i'm working a nine (9) day stretch on the sales floor. leading right up to turkey day. i've got the menu set and the shopping list compiled. all kev has to do is go on monday before the big day to get everything on said list. one of the evenings i will make the cheesecake. and we have to remember to take the bird out of the freezer on the sat prior to thanksgiving. it's an 18 lb bird. i hope that the 14 year old boy, 16 year old girl and their mother who are joining us for the big day are hungry. cuz i've got a feast planned.

i'm glad to get the tradition of "stragglers thanksgiving" back into practice. michelle, gage and mallory will be a welcome addition to our feast.

a slow morning

it's a rainy monday in portland. the color of the leaves that still stay attached to the japanese maple is vivid and lovely. pops of orange, yellow and red against the cold grey skies. there is a chill to the air in the house.

i long for a day in jammies, but know we have errands that must be run. that's the problem with living in the rainy climate in winter. you don't ever want to leave your house on days off. we will get out, errands will be run. but the desire to start a fire so i can sit and knit in its warm glow is strong. of course that would mean having to go out to the garage to get some wood. and my fire starter is still in bed.

so instead i sit listening to the sound of the rain on the roof and the trees, thinking of turning the heat up a bit (it's set to 62) so i can work on a fun little project for someone i hold dear to me. i have a looming deadline, this weekend. eep!

life is good. i am thankful.

a post of eclectic

i am looking forward to what today holds. i will be zipping between stores a bit, but also going to ellington to look at the purses again. i went last week, but honestly didn't get to dig in the bags and really inspect them as i would have liked. my rep is a lovely woman, but it was hard to really play when she was there. don't know why that was. ah well, at least their store is open weekly and i can go anytime i want. :)

the dog is driving me batshit crazy. she will guard her breakfast for a while before finally settling down and eating it. she acts as though i am the meanest person in the world when i make her go out to potty before she's eaten. she tucks her tail a little and acts like i'm scolding her. i try to keep my voice upbeat and free of the annoyance i am feeling, but somehow she knows.

for some reason simon allowed us to sleep until the alarm sounded this morning. not sure what's up with that cat. he hasn't used his voice much at all today. not that i am complaining because the other one, chloe, is taking up the slack for him. whine whine whine as she sits behind me, staring at my head.

the rains have arrived. how can i tell, besides the drops of water falling from the sky? people aren't out and about. it always happens each year when they return. we forget what it's like to have rain and we freak out, hiding inside. this will change after a couple of weeks and we realize it's not going anywhere.

kev has to work on halloween. i don't think i am going to hand out candy. i just don't need it in my house and last year we didn't get all that many kids. and honestly, kids don't need the candy either... i think i may go hang with the neighbors. i suppose i should make sure they are down with that idea. i do have a party we got invited to, but i'm not sure i am going to go.

i have signed up at this site called opentable.com that my sister told me about. it's pretty cool. you make reservations, they give you points. the points turn into $$ you can spend at participating restaurants. pretty neat, huh? i also signed up at upromise.com to help save money for my dear little nephew's college fund. i've got a total savings of $7.38 thus far!! :) it makes me feel good contributing to his future.

knitting is coming along and i have only a couple more blocks to make for the blanket i'm doing for my dear little nephew. it's pretty exciting, really. i am hoping to have it down to them mid december at the latest, although part of me is thinking i should wait and send it down with my parents when they go down after xmas. we'll see how much space they will have. i just fear it getting lost in the mail. and since that voice is calling, perhaps i should listen and ask mom and dad. :)

work is calling...must go in now.

today was a day

we decided yesterday that we'd start winterizing the garden today. we finally had a day off together that was somewhat nice. we did the responsible thing by getting up and getting outside. we cleaned up the beans, zucchini, tomatoes, and weeded around the asparagus (the ferns that is). we discussed what we'd like to see happen back there next year as far as the paths go. i don't feel like mulching every couple of years. we did it last year, our first summer, and as i recall i ended up doing most of it.

i am going to play with it tonight i think. put pen to paper, if you will. in fact, i think i am going to get my graph paper right now...

make me a chicken pot pie!

kev surprised me with a food processor this year for my birthday. i'd told him that the trip could be my present, but he did research and found a great deal at macy's for a 7 cupper. i made tiny pies tonight to freeze for later in the winter.

i added sage to the pie dough recipe because i thought it would add a lovely flavor to the meal. i only made enough dough for six of the wide mouthed 8 oz jelly jars so i threw some biscuits in the oven while i filled the jars with the mixture since there was extra filling...

when the biscuits were done i split one on the bottom of each bowl and spooned the filling on top. the recipe was quite tasty.

i am looking forward to trying the tiny pies soon.

hello there stranger

time has passed. funny how it does that.

1. i went to california to visit my sister, her husband and my 5 month old nephew last weekend. i was in heaven. from the moment he laid eyes on me E got a huge grin on his face and his eyes lit up. i am sure my face did the same.

2. i am surprised the kid isn't chapped from head to toe since i kissed every single inch of him multiple times. he didn't seem to mind. in fact, he giggled everytime i gave his belly zerburts. but then again, who wouldn't?

3. i came home to an extremely clean house. it has promptly gone down hill. i've worked every single day since getting home, some days were 10+ hour days. i promise to clean it tomorrow.

4. i am chugging along on the next sweater/shell i am knitting myself, but have to set it down now to work on the blanket once more. i didn't want to take the gift with me because it would spoil the surprise and it has gotten too big to be a traveling project.

5. our old tv finally died. kev did research and found us a new tv at a great deal. it's puuuuurrrrrty!

6. i don't have a sixth thing in my mind right now, but it's my favorite number so... 6!

four more sleeps and other orts

i am going to visit my sister and her family on friday. i can hardly wait to get my arms around my nephew. it will be the perfect ending to what promises to be an exhausting week.

i've been redesigning the office and it is now time to put the plan into action. that means, office is getting cleaned out, old furniture removed, new furniture purchased and constructed...all before wednesday's meeting which is at 1:00. i can do it!

knitting is going well, except for the fact when we walked in the door saturday night kev's first words as he opened the door were, "uh oh! you are not going to like this..." josie had pulled all the yarn out of the bag that held the blanket i am making for eli and family. josie basically pulls out the balls of yarn and tosses them in the air, which makes them all fall apart...so she gets the next one out until it's nothing but a mess. all in all there were four balls of yarn played with and only one had been broken (meaning the yarn was cut essentially). thankfully, she didn't put a hole in the blanket.

i have a different project to take with me on the plane since the blanket is to the size where it just wouldn't travel well (can't imagine knitting it on the plane really). and since i don't want to work on it in front of my sister and her family...it stays here so i can finish it and ship it before the holidays. she knows i'm making it, but she doesn't know what it looks like. man, it's turning out beautifully and i think she will adore it!!

the type of people we live near

we went to get in our car yesterday morning. i noticed something on the roof. at first glance it looked like a dead bird. at second glance we realized it was just a dead birds head.

sent text to neighbors: "tell your cats thanks for the gift of the bird head on our car"

sign on porch when we returned from the coast:

"LOST BIRD!!

Have you seen our beloved Chirpie?
Our parapelegic daughter's bird Chirpie escaped last night.
Last seen flying into a tree at (intersection where i live).
My wife gave Chirpie to my daughter last Christmas. An allergic
reaction to the bird killed her mom and now all little Collette has is
Chirpie. She hasn't stopped crying since last night.
Have you seen Chirpie?
Bob (and a fake number)"

the quiet of morning

there is something lovely about the quiet of this house before everyone is up and going. chloe sits next to me on the couch. if i'm lucky, she sometimes sits on my lap. simon, kev and josie are all still in the bedroom snoozing. if i go in there, i can hear the symphony of their breath. it's a lovely sound.

today is a rainy morning. the kind that makes you wish you didn't have to go into work, rather you'd love to just sleep in, waking when you want instead of with an alarm.

i'm working at the new store today. and for the first time since training the newbie, i've got someone working with me for a few hours. i just hope it proves to be a good idea to have someone with me for a few hours in the middle of the day. i have projects already figured out in case it is slow.

jill came over last night. it was rather impromptu (which is often the case). we had a lovely dinner, shared a nice bottle of wine, and watched project runway. spending time chatting and just being with each other in the same space. i'm a lucky girl.

tonight, i'm not sure what it holds. i know kev is talking of meeting a friend for a movie (kung fu, so i may pass) but i don't know what i want to do. should i text some knittah friends to come over and knit? maybe that's not a bad idea...the texts shall begin once i am at work (and after i make sure that kev is going to the movie and hasn't decided he wants to hang with me instead...which would be fine by me, too).

what are you doing tonight?

and breathe

i am finally getting to sit for a little bit today. it's nice.

so, what's been going on? you wonder. well, work. and life.

i've not caught myself thinking about writing as much lately. sometimes i get an idea running through my head, but more times than not i forget it by the time i get to sit in front of my computer. and then i get sucked into other things that obviously are more demanding of my attention. but when i get a quiet moment, when i am alone upstairs, my muse sometimes visits.

sadly, now is not one of those times. i just wanted to pop in and say hello. hope all is going well with you all. will write when i can and when i have things to say.

until then, be well.

harvest

this is one of my favorite harvests. those potatoes were like velvet in my mouth. the onions were sharp and wonderful (albeit small), the peppers had some kick to them (which made for amazing salsa).

i have a list on the fridge of the veggies we'd like to plant next year for the summer harvest. i've been remiss about doing a fall crop. i'm not a huge fan of the butternut squash and other fall harvests. but i still feel as though i should have planted something...

oh and next year, we're planting the same type of green bean as last year. not a fan of the taste or the small harvest of the ones we planted this year. the latter of which possibly has to do with the odd weather we've had this year.

days off blogger

it would appear as if i've become a "weekender". ah well, such is life. work has been quite busy, but in this economy (while working retail) that's a good thing! trust me, i gots no complaints!

so, instead of rehashing all that i've done this work week, perhaps i will make the list of things i'd like to get accomplished today? or maybe just talk about a few of the things. i don't want to pressure myself.

i'd like to make salsa today, but it requires going to the store. i need a bit more cilantro, another onion, some habeneros (to go with our jalapenos and anaheims), and limes.

i am really hoping that we get the diggity dog out (that'd be josie) on a light hike. we've not been all that active this summer (other than walks around the 'hood) so i want to take it easy. no devil's rest!

i also hope to have time to do is knit. i've got patterns of sweaters swirling in my head...but i've not seen them anywhere, so my brain is working overtime doing math and such.

ooh! and coffee. i'm going to make coffee! the grinder is using less beans for a really lovely pot of french press than my previous blade grinder. this will prove to be a great thing.

that's about it, yo.