Author: trinalin

Baking Day 2006

Mom and I once again locked ourselves in her kitchen all day and baked our little hearts out. Yup, it’s our annual Baking Day! (OK, if you’re picturing us locked into the kitchen with shackles and a taskmaster cracking a whip, it wasn’t quite like that…)

In 2004 and 2005 I reported on those Baking Days. We’ve stuck with most of the usual lot for baked goods. Though we did try one former classic once again – Oatmeal Carmelitas. Think chocolate chip cookie bars with gooey caramel and pecans. Indeed, they came out so gooey that we’re just going to bring them along in their original pan rather than get them out to set with the other cookies.

The list of things we made were as follows:

  • Ice Box Cookies (Butterscotch cookies – a family favorite, great with coffee apparently)

  • Oatmeal Carmelitas

  • Caramel Pecan Dreams (AKA floor sweeping cake – this time with REAL floor sweepings!)

  • Lindy Cookies (mom’s classic oatmeal chocolate chip cookies)

  • Cheesecake Cupcakes (a double batch)

  • Peanut Blossoms (AKA nipple cookies)

  • Candy Buckeyes (using a slightly different recipe and Ghirardelli chocolate chips)

  • Market Day Sugar Cookies (which we haven’t baked yet – we’ll decorate & bake those and the ice box cookies tomorrow)

We’ve tasted most of these and they are YUMMY! Mom and I rock mightily. 🙂 Tomorrow, as I mentioned in the list, mom will be baking the ice box cookies (we made a double batch – that’s 12 cups of flour!!!) and when I get home from work, we’ll decorate and bake some of the sugar cookies. (The elementary school is doing a monthly fundraiser called Market Day where you can buy a number of prepared food items. I decided to try their holiday sugar cookies. And they had cool decorations which I also got.)

Tomorrow evening, we’re off to the Shorts (Aunt Becky et al) for the extended family Christmas. And Saturday evening is the Andersons. It’ll be sad going to the family gatherings without Amy & Rachel, but in a selfish way, it means we don’t have to share them with anyone when they do come. Hee hee! (Well, Aunt Becky is invited to New Year’s Eve – as is Deanna – so they’ll get to share in A&R a little.)

Busy Weekend

This has been a good weekend. I got some stuff done that needed doing and had a nice time with my kitties, which also needs doing. 🙂

Friday we had our staff Xmas lunch. The superintendent had it catered and staff brought in desserts. The shredded chicken was good (as probably was the shredded beef, but I didn’t get that) and the deserts were – wow, let’s just say I had a sugar high that day. That evening, we had a small gathering at BW3s for the first time in ages. I enjoyed the chicken wings and the conversation. Oh, the amaretto sour was good too. 🙂

Saturday, I had a dentist’s appointment which put me in Troy around lunchtime. What better time to check out the new Japanese place? I stopped at Staples on the way to the dentist for some Xmas gift supplies. Was told I had boring teeth by my hygienist (I’ve had her as my hygienist for, like, ever). Had a wonderful sushi meal at the new Japanese place. They have hibachi there was well. Wonder if I can convince the family that we should all go there for lunch one day when the girls are here. 🙂

After a short stop in Walmart for breakfast items, I drove to the Piqua Mall. I needed to get bags for my vacuum cleaner at Sears and thought I’d look through the mall. I was pleased to see there were many folks shopping there. And it was fun looking at the N-scale train they had on display from the Dayton N-scale club. They even had a train’s eye view playing as the train went around the track. I, of course, watched it go the entire distance.

I popped into Home Depot to see if they had the type of wood I want for my bookshelves (Lowe’s ran out last time I got some) and they do, for the same price. I didn’t buy any since I didn’t have dad and his truck to help, but I did buy one of those cardboard tubes used for cement molds. I intend to make a Cat Jungle Gym at some point and needed it for the curved platforms for sitting. Dunno when I’ll make it (most likely with dad’s help) but I will.

The final stop was Meijer where I got the last of my Xmas gifts and some supplies. Then I went home to hang with the kitties. We worked on a Christmas gift for awhile and played and cleaned and stuff. And today, more of the same. I discovered that I have enough underwear to last til Tuesday, so I’ll do laundry then. Heh. I even got to read Linus a book (that I bought when several teachers and I went shopping on Monday). He didn’t look at the pictures, cute though they were, but he did listen. Or maybe he was sleeping? With a cat, who can tell? 🙂

For the most part, I’m done with my holiday shopping. Waiting for a couple of orders to arrive and still have one to finish. However, I won’t be wrapping presents until Christmas morning probably. The closer I get to the actual days of presents opening, the less chance there is for the kitties to unwrap them all.

Picture Time

It has been awhile since I’ve displayed photos of my kittens, so I think I should remedy that.


Lucy sitting pretty.


It’s a little out of season, but here is Lucy with her good friend, pumpkin.


I discovered the kittens have a different meaning for “boxing.” That’s Linus in the box.


Lucy & Linus wait for mommy to come home. (Well, not in this photo, but they have been known to keep watch when I’m away.)


It’s nice of the kittens to help with the household chores, but I don’t think they quite understand the dishwasher yet.


Linus makes sure the Christmas tree tastes right.


The tree is decorated – but they’ve already taken care of the bottom row for me. And if you look close, you can see one of the little ones underneath the tree.

Chemistry Magic & Christmas Decorating

Well, with December upon us, I’m am making my place all Christmassy (not necessarily with the help of the kitties). To start the month off properly, I took my chemistry & physics students off to a Michael Faraday-ish Chemistry Demonstration Show on Friday.

Wright State University (my Alma Mater) does an annual Chemistry Demonstration Show (AKA Chemistry Magic Show). It’s completely funded by the University now (though they used to have to beg various sources to fund the show) so school’s don’t pay a dime to attend (other than busing the kids there). I took one bus for my nearly 60 students. Now we have a bus or two that can hold 78 comfortably. This was not the bus we took. But the kids managed to cram themselves in, most 3 to a seat. MJ, the HS secretary, was my chaperon. She said she’d looked back and couldn’t see the aisle at all – it was all kids. Heh. But they had a blast getting there and didn’t stop singing on the way back.

I’ve seen the WSU Chemistry Magic Show a few times now – I’ve taken Eaton students, Tipp City Students, and Newton Students to it. (Hey, I like Frrrrrrrrrrrrrrree!) They do most of the same demos each year, but this year added a few “classics” to their repertoire. The new ones were the Thermite reaction, calcium carbide cannons, and one called “the blue streak” which required a 10 foot glass tube that was at least 2 inches in diameter. A blue flame slowly moved down the tube until it reached the glass wool stopper at the end. Oh yeah, and they reacted burning magnesium in carbon dioxide – I didn’t know that still reacted. It pulls the oxygen from CO2! Of course they played with liquid nitrogen, dry ice, electric pickles, alcohol explosions, elephant toothpaste, glow-in-the-dark reactions, etc etc. Very cool show.

Yesterday was a bit of a wash – apart from going shopping with Dad for essentials and having Chinese Food for lunch, I mostly just played City of Heroes and made some ornaments. Today, OTOH, I’ve been busy all day. I’ve been working on cleaning up the house some and getting my Christmas decorations out. Oh yeah, and doing laundry. The tree is up and the lights are on. But I still need to finish making ornaments & the green & red paper chain. I’ve no idea how the kitties will take to the tree & ornaments, so I bought several ornament kits from Oriental Trading to make. And glue dots – I LOVE glue dots! And I’m running out… Wonder if JoAnn Fabrics has glue dots too? (Ah! They do – guess I’ll need to go there this week!) Anyhoo, once I get the paper chain made, I’ll string it on the tree. Then I’ll put up the ornaments I’ve made so far. Several are personalizable, so I’ve got “Linus,” “Lucy,” and “Trina” on several ornaments so far. Heh.

My only regret in this kick off to the holiday season is that we missed the Cincinnati Men’s Chorus last night. It just didn’t work with our schedules this year. We enjoy going to their dress rehearsal they put on for Dayton PFLAG, but this year was not meant to be. Hopefully next year we’ll get to see them again. 🙂

Heading for Home Again…

In an hour or so, we’ll be departing Amy & Rachel’s place for the Twin Cities Airport. Our flight is at 7:10pm CST and we should be back in Dayton just after 10pm EST. Then I’ll get to see my kitties again. Yay! (I hope they remember me!)

We had another lazy morning and I did my best to stay in bed until 9am. Dad once again put his cullinary talents at work and made us all Egg McMikey sandwiches. Yay dad! Then we sat around and read and slooched until lunchtime. We took a walk in Loring Park and even walked over I-94 to see the Sculpture Park from above. Then we walked through the Greenway to get to Nicollett Mall. Lunch was at Brit’s Pub. Yum! I had the steak & ale pie with chips and cole slaw. It was wonderful, but then again, so was everything that we ordered. Oh yeah, I’d also gotten an amaretto sour and managed to not spill it this time (unlike my last time at Brit’s).

Dad was out of reading material, so we also stopped at Barnes & Noble on the Mall. I looked around and got a few Christmas gift ideas to ask folks for. When we all joined up again, dad had gotten the reading material he needed and we headed over to the Tarzhay Mahal (the big Target downtown) for a few essentials.

We’re now back at the apartment and all packed for the trip home. Thus far, flight times are looking OK. Here’s hoping they stay that way! I wanna see my kitties soon! 🙂

This trip has been a blast and has been one of the nicest Thanksgivings ever. Thanks once again to Amy & Rachel for hosting us. I love you both lots!

Mary Poppins & Indian Fud

There’s a cathedral and basilica nearby and one of ’em has a 7:30am alarm chime they like to play on Sundays. Needless to say, we all woke up around 7:30 and then “slooched” for awhile after. “Slooch” is a term Amy & Rachel use to describe the whole being in bed & awake & snoozing time that’s just so enjoyable on the weekend. Dad made us all Egg McMikey sandwiches. And around noon, we finally headed out to Nicollett Mall and Macy’s (formerly Marshall Field’s).

On the 8th floor of the former Mashall Field’s, they like to do an animated holiday display each season. This year’s animated theme was the novel Mary Poppins (with music from the New York musical based upon the Disney movie). When we went 3 years ago (or so) to see Charlie & the Chocolate Factory there, we’d gone on the Friday after Thanksgiving and waited in line for a LONG time. Today, being further from the holiday, there was NO line. It was quite pleasant. The figurines were cute and the scenes they picked were fun.

On our way back to the apartment, we stopped at New Delhi for Indian Fud. They have a lunch buffet and I promised all that I’d pick up the bill if we went for Indian this weekend. They had a few dishes I’d not had before – egg masala and goat curry. They were good, but the bones (and hoof?) in the goat put me off of finishing it. We all enjoyed our lunch and waddled back to the apartment.

At this point, we all started reading and eventually folks dropped off. We napped for awhile and then spend the rest of the evening just relaxing and drinking wine (or cream soda in my case). We girls played Euchre and mom & I won both games. Go us! We had nachoes with guacamole & salsa for “supper” and finished it off with pie – both apple & pumpkin. I put ice cream *and* whipped cream on my apple pie. Yum!

This has been a fabulous weekend and I’m so happy we were able to join the girls for this time. Thank you Amy & Rachel for being great hosts. Tomorrow we’ll have a bit more time together and then finally we fly back home. I’ll miss being with the girls, but it will be nice to see my kitties again!

Little Miss Sunshine

Today was our first time outside since we arrived on Wednesday. Heh. (OK, so Amy & dad went out yesterday…) We got ready early in order to join Lynn & Doug at Keys Restaurant by 9:30. We walked into the joint at 9:29am. We rock. 🙂

I overindulged at breakfast having 2 eggs (over easy), hashbrowns, and toast AND 2 slices of French toast. More than one person can eat, which is why I let other people share my food. There was quite a bit of sharing going on – we’re the sharing family. And it was nice to have one more meal with Lynn & Doug before they returned home.

Once we’d said our farewells to Rachel’s folks (back at the apartment), we sat around & discussed our day’s plans. It was agreed that we’d go see Little Miss Sunshine at the Riverview theater at 7:10pm. And before that, go to the wine bar across the street from the theater. So what to do until then? Why, go shopping of course!

We started out at the Half Price Bookstore. I found Spy Muppet’s License to Croak on CD-ROM for $6, so I bought it. Rachel & mom also bought some stuff while we were there. Then we headed off to Pier One so the girls could use a gift certificate on cushions for one of their chairs. They found just what they were looking for, so they bought ’em. Then a trip to the new Trader Joe’s near them. I bought some Truffles for us and for Aunt Becky & the others who have been checking in on my kitties. Plus some cashews – unsalted & low salt. We also got some sushi, salsa, guacamole & tortilla chips for a light meal. Back home, we partook of these goodies. Yum!

We learned some interesting things while having our snack. First, sushi & nachoes are a good snack. 🙂 Second, putting wasabi & soy sauce on turkey still tastes of turkey. However, guacamole on turkey is an improvement upon the turkey. And third, cleaning up from sushi & nachoes is very fast (I did the dishes – heh!)

When it was 5pm, we moved on to the Riverview Wine Bar. They have several “flites” (samplers) that they offer for $9. Dad got the K’Syrah Shiraz flite, mom got a Riesling flite, and Rachel tried out the Chardonnay flite. Each flite has 4 wines with 2 oz samples of each. Amy tried a Victory HopDevil beer. I had water. We also got the cheese sampler – a goat cheese, a bleu cheese of some sort, an Italian cheese that resembled Swiss in appearance but not taste, and a zola (IIRC). I liked ’em all but the bleu cheese. Oh, and I made the mistake of seeing the specials board – they had creme brulee. Eep! So of course I had to get that. It was very yummy!

The Riverview theater is a second run theater with $3 evening movies (and $2 matinees). They also have reasonably priced popcorn (mom ordered us 2 GIANT Cokes and a large popcorn and it was $9). The movie playing was Little Miss Sunshine, which was riotously funny. Amy considered it good exercise, all that laughing. I agree. I’m loathe to say much about the plot because I went in knowing next to nothing and enjoyed it all the more because of that. If you want to laugh a lot and you don’t mind foul language from time to time, I heartily recommend this movie.

Tomorrow, we’ll probably have more grand adventures. But I shall leave you all with the lovely photo of mom in her make-up from yesterday’s session. Oh yeah, and I’m in it too. Mom is the lovely woman on the left. I’m the silly woman on the right. Heh. Enjoy!


Mom & Me. Yup, that’s make up on my face! Hee!

(PS, I can’t imagine getting any sleep tonight – I had some of the caffeine-laden Coca Cola with the movie. Whoops!)

Mary Kay Day

Before I get started, here’s a joke that’s on the girls’ fridge:

Q: How many Bush Administration officials does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
A: None. There is nothing wrong with the lightbulb; its conditions are improving every day. Any reports of its lack of incandescence are a delusional spin from the liberal media. That lightbulb has served honorably, and anything you say undermines the lighting effect. Why do you hate freedom?

Hee hee!

Anyhoo, the weekend in progressing nicely. Last night, Becky & Michelle arrived for warm-ups & dessert. The pies were very good – I had pumpkin with real whipped cream (sorry elsaf) and apple pie with ice cream. Yummy! We then played a game of Scene It with me, Becky & Michelle beating the teams of Amy, mom & dad, and Rachel and her folks. Go us! Rachel’s folks headed back to their hotel while we ladies played Apples to Apples. Rachel won that game.

We slept in a bit today, but eventually everyone showered and dad made us all Egg McMikey sandwiches. Doug & Lynn arrived and we had turkey sandwiches and cheeseball for lunch. Mmmm, turkey sandwiches with cranberry sauce on ’em are good!

Once the dishes were cleand up, we started setting up for a Mary Kay party. In addition to being an Episcopal priest, Lynn is a Mary Kay Consultant. Becky & Michelle again arrived and Amy gave us all hand pampering to start the session. Then Amy & dad headed downtown for coffee and other essentials. Doug braved the crowds at the Mall of America to see the World’s Largest Gingerbread House.

Folks who know me know that I am not a make-up wearer. I do very low maintenance work on my face & skin. But hey, this was going to be fun, so I partook of the session. (Michelle is another non-make-up person, but the night before we’d agreed to both go through with it.) The facial was quite nice and we discovered that foundation helps tone down my rosacea. We even put on blush (heh – me, putting on blush!), eye makeup, and lip stuff (lip liner, lipstick, and lip gloss – sheesh!) My least favorite makeup is still lip-stuff. I even let dad take a photo of me and I might post it tomorrow.

I decided to get a few things including the stuff from our hand pampering session and a foundation/moisturizer which I might use on days when my photo will be taken (to tone down my red cheeks). I think Lynn did some good business with our small group. Go us! She even gave us her sales pitch for the Mary Kay world, which, nice though it is, means you have to talk to people, so most of us declined completely. 🙂

We had a blast during the party and I’ll need to remove my makeup before bed. Heh. Something I haven’t had to do since I was in the school play.

Supper was leftovers from our Thanksgiving dinner. Everything was just as good as the day before – yummy stuff! We even polished off a few of the dishes – go us! Still some turkey and some mashed potatoes left, but most of the rest of the food is gone.

Lynn & Doug once again returned to their hotel with promise to meet at Key’s for breakfast in the morning. Becky & Michelle stayed for drinks & games. I had an amaretto sour (no suprise) but gin & tonics and Cosmopolitans were also present. We wound up playing Trivial Pursuit, Genus IV because Amy & Michelle like to play it, but Rachel & Becky do not. So mom & I entered the game to make 4 (which is more fun than two) while Becky knitted and Rachel cross-stitched. Dad read for a bit before retiring early.

Mom quickly lept to the lead, but was unable to sustain it as Amy & Michelle caught up. I lost with only 3 pieces when Michelle won the game. Go Michelle!

Tomorrow promises to be another fun day with the parental units & the girls. Go us!

Thanksgiving 2006

This holiday weekend has been only the second time that both families have been together (the other being Amy & Rachel’s wedding). Last night, Rachel made vegetarian lasagna which we had when Lynn & Doug arrived (having driven into town). The dinner was excellent and accompanied by salad, roasted squash, and rustic Italian bread (from their Co-Op). Good eats!

But the REAL banquet was saved for today. Amy got up early and started on the chestnut stuffing (chopping & browning the bread) and then the turkey (which had been soaking in brine in the fridge for nearly 12 hours). As the morning progressed, I made the sweet potato souffle (having made the cheeseball last night), Rachel worked on the rolls, Lynn made the green bean casserole (using green & wax beans from her garden), Doug made the mashed ‘tatoes (having made cranberries the day before), and Rachel made the apple pie. Mom and dad carved the turkey (which turned out beautifully). And then we feasted at 2pm.


The feast, lovingly prepared by all.

Once we got the kitchen cleaned up again, we all crashed, some napping, others watching Love, Actually on cable. I napped a little, and now I’m typing this up.

We still have pies. Amy & Rachel’s friends Becky & Michelle will be arriving around 7:30pm for games, leftovers, and DESSERT. Mom baked her pumpkin pies yesterday and as I mentioned just now, Rachel baked an apple pie.


Mom’s pumpkin pies.


Rachel’s apple pie (with snowflake cut-outs).

Oh, and just cuz I can, gratuitous cat photo:


Früvous helped out by staying out of the way.

We said thanks before we had our feast. Today in particular, I am thankful that we were able to gather for this. Thank you, Amy & Rachel for making all of this possible. 🙂

Sister Visit

Here we are at my sister’s apartment. Mom, dad, and I got up at 0’dark-thirty this morning to head for the airport. We had a 7am flight to Minneapolis/St. Paul. We arrived nearly 2 hours ahead of time and had no issues with security (though dad and I somehow managed to get in the express line while mom took the long way though – still, it gave me time to have breakfast – a Cinnabon Pecanbon). Though we had to wait for the plane to be de-iced, we arrived in MSP on time. We were at the far end of the airport, so it took us awhile to reach baggage claim. And lovely Rachel was there waiting. Yay Rachel!

Dad and I waited for the bags while Rachel walked mom down to Starbucks. And our bags arrived very quickly. Once we were all together again, Rachel drove us to Amy’s workplace and we enjoyed some coffee & cookies (turkey-shaped gingerbread) in honor of the upcoming holiday. The office space is very nice. As were the cookies, come to that. 🙂

As Rachel hadn’t had breakfast yet, we stopped at Bruegger’s Bagels for some bagels. I had rosemary & olive oil with cream cheese – very yummy! Rachel then took us to their apartment (home for now) and we greeted Früvous, who growled & swiped in response. (He’s such a cute, grumpy cat.) We vegged in the apartment some, then mom made the crusts for her pumpkin pies, then we vegged some more.

Around lunchtime, we headed back to Amy’s work and got to see her cubicle. Cute cubicle! And with the new park across the street, she even has a nice view. We walked a couple of blocks to a coffee shop in the Open Book complex. I had grilled panini (sour dough) with cheddar and their autumn minestrone soup. Very tasty! We were all happy to let dad foot the bill. 🙂

On our way back home, we stopped at their Co-op to pick up the turkey. It’s a 16lb free range turkey (though why Rachel had to pay for it if it was free, I’ll never know… 😉 Amy’s gonna be the Master Chef for tomorrow’s meal, so most of us will get to relax (and watch the parade, ha ha!)

We’re back in a vegetative state while we await Amy’s return from work. I decided to read my flist & update my journal in this time. The girls are reading and I believe dad is napping. Yup, this family knows how to par-tay! 😉