Category: LiveJournal

Thanksgiving And Then Some

This was a lovely Thanksgiving holiday. Didn’t get to celebrate with my sister or Rachel (they were off in Maine with Rachel’s folks), but other than that, had a lovely time with the folks and with dad’s family.

We let Kroger (a grocery store chain) cater our Thanksgiving supper. They provided the turkey, mashed potatoes, “traditional” stuffing, sweet potato souffle, broccoli rice casserole, rolls, and cranberry fazooti. Or something. We supplemented with a few other things. I made my Thanksgiving cheeseball and Amy’s chestnut stuffing (but with hazelnuts since we couldn’t find any chestnuts). Bill made noodles. Cheryl brought veggies. Becky brought pies. (Oh yeah, Kroger provided an apple strudel pie, too.) I brought red velvet cake I’d gotten from Market Day. Deanna brought beverages. Dinner was nice and there was plenty of food. We even got a game of Crazy Rummy in before the night was over.

For “Black Friday” we managed to miss the major stores. Well, we popped into Kohl’s 12 hours after they opened and the lines were still ridiculous, so we headed on to Downtown Troy for some shopping. And then onto Downtown Greenville for more. I finally got to try chocolate covered bacon. I’m glad I got to finally try it, but I don’t think I’ll buy it again.

For “Small Business Saturday” I decorated the outside of my house (like Friday, it was a gorgeous day – warm enough to go without a jacket) and then joined the folks for more Downtown Shopping – this time in Tipp City. Today has been a “clean the house, already!” and do laundry day. I got the tree out from the basement, but it’s only lit, not yet decorated. And I’ve not put out my friendship lights yet. Ah well. I’ll get it done. The living room has been re-arranged so that the tree is front & center in the big picture window again.

Still haven’t seen The Muppets yet. Hoping to see it and a few other films before they leave the theaters. But I’m quite pleased with how the “start” of the holiday season has gone.

Downtowning & Downtoning

Shamefully, I didn’t post anything last weekend. I managed to let myself get behind again at work and last weekend was a catch up weekend. Tomorrow will be as well – need to be sure to get in to school to get grades done. (I grade most stuff electronically or in their lab notebooks.)

But last night and today were breaks for me. Last night I walked to Indian’s Pizza for pineapple garlic bread pizza and green onion potato chips, then walked back and ate them with a sliced pear and a bottle of Virgil’s cream soda. Very yummy. Streamed Downton Abbey (series 1) via Netflix, too. So pleasant evening all around.

Today, my goal was to check out downtown Covington and downtown Troy, both of which had stores doing Christmas open houses. The only thing I bought in Covington were some apples, but Troy had some pleasant surprises.

After lunch at the Night Sky cafe (half a tasty BLT and a cup of chicken & dumpling soup that wasn’t very good), I walked around the downtown and talked some with the lady at the Hospice store. (They sell a variety of items, some used, some new, and all proceeds go to Hospice – I think the workers are volunteer, but I’m not sure.) She mentioned a new store in town that sells olive oil and balsamic vinegar. And that’s it.

So, of course, I had to check out Olive Oasis. They have several types of olive oils, some flavored, some not. And quite a few balsamic vinegars, some aged, some new, some flavored, etc. And you can try anything. I tried a white peach balsamic that was so good you could drink it straight up. And an herb olive oil that was tasty. So I bought 200mL bottles of each, which they fill, label, then seal. Can’t wait to show this store to the parental units.

After the downtowning, I went on to the bookstore in Troy. This weekend is their 20% off Holiday sale. So of course, I had to give them some of my money. Bought my annual Christmas kiddie lit book. This year’s is A Bad Kitty Christmas which was quite delightful (and, as many good Xmas stories do, made me cry). Also got Inheritance, The Disappearing Spoon, and How to Break a Dragon’s Heart. I know I should be buying for others, but no one has given me a list yet!

I finished the shopping with a stop at Kroger for groceries. Much of the rest of my day has been spent freebasing the rest of Downton Abbey series 1. I blame the kitties – they were sitting with me and wouldn’t let me get up. 🙂

I think I’ll hit the sack early and read some more Snuff by Terry Pratchett (borrowed eBook from the library).

Train Shows & Workshops & Co-Ops and Things

Today was an excellent day. This followed an excellent workshop that I went to yesterday.

Thursday night I drove to Bloomington (4 hour trip in the rain, thankfully with a half-hour stop at Qdoba for supper) and checked into the hotel at the Memorial Union. Still neat hotel – I was on the 2nd floor, which changes from hotel to conference rooms to… the 3rd floor of the university bookstore.

Anyhoo, yesterday was our fall follow-up meeting for ACP chemistry. Nearly all of us ACP chemistry teachers were present. They treated us to a continental breakfast (I had a bagel & a schmear and some fresh fruit) and had several interesting sessions, plus some time to chat with others “in the same boat.”

I confessed to a small group that I was afraid that I wasn’t teaching the material fast enough or rigorous enough, and one of the “old timers” assured me “Oh, don’t worry. That fear never goes away.” Which, honestly, reassured me. One of the ladies who helped me out before we started the program (who I met in person for the first time yesterday) let me know that I was only a little behind her and not to worry.

The ACP folks also treated us to lunch in the Tudor Room (in the little Coronation Room wing), which was wonderful. And then I discovered the dessert table which was even more wonderful. I had a slice of coconut cream pie (with meringue and not whipped topping – yum!) and then went back for a huge red velvet cake cupcake. (Alas, I then saw someone eating creme brulee! Ah well, what I had was lovely.)

After the workshops were over, I piled back into my car and ran my errands on the way home. First a stop at Krogers for Fat Tire beer for dad (and a 6-pack of Snow Day, their winter seasonal beer) and some gasoline for my car. Then a pull into Oliver Wineries for some hard cider. Alas, they had none of their peach-flavored cider, but I still got myself a 12-pack of the regular hard cider (and a nifty pint glass with the Beanblossom Cider logo). Then on to Indianapolis to Trader Joe’s.

Just like my last trip home from Bloomington, I stopped at the Thai Taste for supper and had Pad Thai. But first, I had an appetizer of squid tempura, which was very tasty. Tempura is probably the best coating I’ve had on fried squid. After my short trip to Trader Joe’s (yay, peppermint Joe-Joes!), I headed back home.

Unlike the drive there Thursday, my drive back was rain-free (sunny during the daylight hours, crisp & clear for the nighttime hours). I arrived in the house just before 10pm.

So today’s main plan was for dad and me to go to the Dayton Train Show (which has become something of a tradition for us). When I got to the folks, I first suggested that mom and I visit our Co-Op (which doesn’t have a storefront yet, but sells their wares in the Troy Meat Market). Mom suggested walking there, so we did. They were out of some of the things that I was interested in, but I saw several things I can get there when I’m out here.

By the time we returned, it was lunchtime, so mom recommended the “new” sandwich shop in town. And that we walk there too. Dad and I were game, so the three of us walked there. It’s called 4 Starters Coffee Cafe. I got a turkey with feta & sun dried tomatoes sandwich while mom and I split a peach smoothie. It was all tasty (even the sandwiches mom and dad ordered) and we’ll definitely return. Turns out they’ve been there since July, even though we only recently heard of the place.

Dad and I then headed off to the Train Show. We filled out our “door prize” cards, like always, and joked about how we never win. And weren’t 3 booths from the entrance when they announced that dad had won a door prize! Go dad! He picked a train model from the options left (HO gauge, rather than N or G which he has – but it was from a company he’d always wanted to get but hadn’t.)

The neat place that had loads of nifty tools last year was back again this year. So I bought another digital caliper for work for only $20. I think 5 will be ideal for my Advanced Problems in Science class (which is usually 10 students or fewer). I also decided to buy myself a Chessie mug (with a cute little kitty logo) The C&O was always my favorite railroad line, mostly for that kitty, but the B&O was always a close second. (I’m biased towards Ohio, what can I say?)

Dad found a few things to buy as well. Some G-scale straight track for his big train (which he’s going to put up in the Club House for the holiday season) and a neat little miter box & saw perfect for small jobs that you need a 90 or 45° angles sawed.) And when we watched the displays, we saw an N-scale train with 126 cars that were going around & around the track! So we declared this the best train show ever. 🙂

We got back home when it was Wine Time, so dad got me out a hard apple cider and mom popped us some popcorn. I showed mom how to download audiobooks from her library onto her iPod (thanks to OverDrive and iTunes). And then it was time for me to head home. And now, it’s time to watch Thor, which I rented from the Kroger Redbox on my way home from the folks.

Happy Halloween!

Hope everyone had a great Halloween this year. Our county actually decided to let Beggar’s Night be on Halloween (not a regular occurrence, alas), so tonight I had kiddies a’visitin’.

Normally, I get around 40 kids. The most I’ve had in recent years was 49 in 2007 (and then 25 in 2008). So last month when Woot.com was selling glow-sticks one day, I decided to get those for giving out. I got 72 glow-sticks for under $13 including shipping. A deal, I thought. And when they arrived, they were actually pretty decent glow-sticks. (1 used, 71 to go!)

So I wasn’t too worried about running out tonight, seeing as the most kids I’d ever had was 49. But I think someone was busing them in this year. Beggar’s Night starts at 6pm. By 7pm I was giving away the one around my neck. And I had to turn one girl away without one – I felt so bad. (And of course, it was then that the senior girls who had promised they’d be there early arrived – sorry girls!)

71 kids (well, 72 + the senior girls) in an hour. Sheesh! If Woot.com does this deal again next year, I’ll call mom and have her order the max as well, then I’ll have a gross of glow-sticks to hand out.

So anyhoo, I’ve got the porch light off and most of the house lights off. I figure I can come out of hiding at 8pm when Beggar’s Night is over. Hope there’s not too much toilet paper on the house in the morning!!!

Elation

Ah… I no longer have the feeling that I’m drowning. The first quarter ended last Friday, and today was the confirmation of grades. And I got it done. Phew!

I’d say that this first quarter was probably the toughest I’ve had since my first year of teaching. Not due to kids or discipline – loving the students this year (as usual) – but because of the new dual enrollment chemistry course. It’s been interesting and I hope I’m doing my students a good service in my instruction. Next Friday is our fall meeting to see how things are going and I’ll definitely have questions to ask. 🙂

But other than the avalanche of work that I’ve been doing of late, it’s been a fun (and fast) school year. Tomorrow is Halloween dress up day, and Friday is a day off for kids and a work day for us. Thankfully I’ll have the time to work on my chemistry class and my storage room then. So looking forward to Friday for that reason.

Anywho, as I was walking home today, I was almost giddy. With the weight of Quarter 1 off my shoulder, and the lovely (but cloudy) autumn day, I felt as positive today as I’d felt in ages. It was good. 🙂

Ends & Odds

Actually had a weekend without any festivals. Kind of sad, but also good. The folks and I took the opportunity to do a Trader Joe’s run yesterday to get our usual assortment of chocolate and nuts and (for the folks) wine. Then last evening we went to a party at the Fisher’s. They had steaks and shrimp on the grill and we stuffed ourselves and enjoyed the company outside in the wonderful autumn evening.

Today I tried to be productive and was mostly successful. I got up late, but still finished laundry, did a bit more grocery shopping, baked a loaf of white bread (I think this is better than the prior batch, but still not quite what I’m looking for), and made some chicken and rice soup. I used brown rice in the soup, and I think that was ideal. It still has a bit of bite to it, despite the simmering time.

Things that I wanted to do but didn’t get around to include vacuuming floors and mopping the kitchen. And the poor kitties are on “old” food cuz I ordered their real food too late. It’ll probably show up tomorrow. Bad mommy!

Finally have the opportunity to sit & relax & read. But first I thought I’d post this entry. Lucy’s sitting beside me on the arm of the comfy chair. Since it’s gotten a bit chilly at night, she’s back to being my extra blanket at night. I like her using me as a full body pillow. 🙂

This week is the last week of the first quarter at school. Man, the year has flown by. I think I might be getting a better handle on the new chemistry course, but time will tell.

OK, back to relaxing. Ahhhhh.

The Trees are Purty

Lovely autumn weekend! Perfect weather. Friday was Fall Fair at school, which was fun, as usual. The class challenge, as usual, was hilarious. Yesterday, the folks and I went to Lost Creek for the Antique & Garden Show and for the FallFarmFest. Today was a trip to the Fairborn area for Doctor Who Magazines and Indian Fud.

But the highlight of the weekend was tonight at the Lake. The folks had a couple of friends from their “village” over and I was invited too. Dad grilled brats and veggies and mom made kraut. And dad had made his world famous (well, maybe not WORLD famous) slaw. So cabbage for all! Dessert was peach pie ala mode. Yum!

Autumn at the Lake
Autumn at the Lake

Sunset at the Lake
Sunset at the Lake

Oktoberfest 2011

Happy October everyone! I was checking on last year’s posts for something and noticed that I only posted twice last October. I hope I’m not so lax this year!

The original plan for the weekend was Oktoberfest on Saturday after mom got off from work. So I decided that Sunday would be cook chilli and bake bread day. Dad came over Saturday morning for breakfast with me at the local UCC that has an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast on the first Saturday of the month. We had a nice breakfast of pancakes, sausage, and eggs, chatted with lots of folks, then walked back, stopping in to talk to Jack at the bike shop.

Dad returned home, and I did some odds & ends at home, waiting for mom to get off work. But she called later and said it was too cold and rainy, we should go Sunday. I agreed, but later realized that sort of screwed up my chilli and bread plans. And laundry. So I decided to get onto that as early as I could Sunday.

So today, I got up at a sort of reasonable hour (but not as early as I should have). I started laundry, made myself a nice poached egg on toast breakfast (using my flaxseed bread for toast), and headed off to Troy for a few things. First I needed to pick up my new glasses. Got there half an hour early, but needed some stuff so I shopped a bit (my eye doc is at Walmart – heh).

Next to Lowe’s for an air filter for my central air, then Meijer for fruit and chilli supplies. Then back home for cooking, laundry, and baking. The goal was to be done with it all by 3, but it wound up being 4 before I was done. The bread didn’t rise as nice as last week’s – dunno if it’s because of the recipe or because it was cooler in my kitchen this weekend. Smells good – will get to eat some tomorrow.

The folks picked me up at 4 and we headed off to Minster for Oktoberfest. We’re usually there for lunch, and on Saturday. So Sunday afternoon was a bit more crowded than we were used to. Mom zipped us through the crafts pretty swiftly. None of us saw anything we had to have, so then it was on to the food booths.

After looking at all the options, I settled on my usual. Fries and lemon shake-up from one vendor (shared with the folks), and brat mit kraut from another. And the mini-donuts for dessert. Mom picked the elephant ear for dessert. So we shared desserts too. Yum!

It turned out we were only there for little over an hour. But it was a fun time. And I bought Yet Another Oktoberfest Mug to go with the others I’ve collected. Each year, Minster sells a glass mug with a new Oktoberfest logo. The price for the longest time was $8, but it was $9 this year. (Might have raised last year, but I didn’t note it in last year’s entry. Alas.)

Next weekend is more stuff – Fall Fair and the Lost Creek antique show. And this week is supposed to have great weather. Here’s hoping I take advantage of it and get lots of walks in.

Autumngirlsoup

Pictures of the giant pumpkins AND of my latest loaf of home-baked bread.

Giant Punkin!
Giant Punkin!
Who knew the Great Pumpkin is so HUGE?! (Well, judiang did, for one.)

More Great Pumpkins
More Great Pumpkins
So this is how the Great Pumpkin makes it to all of the sincere pumpkin patches on Halloween – clones!

Doh!
Doh!
Flaxseed bread dough a-risin’!

Rise Again!
Rise Again!
After the first punch, it rises again in it’s comfy bed.

Mmmmm, bread!
Mmmmm, bread!
Hooray for bread!

BTW, the bread is tasty. And so is the soup. (I made vegetable soup – mom’s recipe.) Still more productivity to be done – bathroom needs cleaned and floors need swept. Been listening to all of the Doc7-solo Big Fish audios while I am being productive. Starting Master as soon as I finish this post. Sylvester McCoy makes all chores a dawdle. 🙂

Festival Food is Good

This past week, I had a major disagreement with a sinus infection or cold and spent most of my evenings sleeping on Nyquil. But after a horrendous headache on Thursday, I seem to have come out the other end relatively unscathed. Go me!

So today, the folks and I did more Festivalling. In fact, we hit 3 in one day, two of them new for me. We started out at the New Bremen Pumpkin Festival, a first for all of us. New Bremen is a small town not far from mom & dad’s lake cottage. (judiang and I went to New Bremen this summer to visit the Bicycle Museum of America and she took videos with her iPod and recently made YouTube videos of it.)

So anyhoo, the purpose of that festival, apparently, is for pumpkin growers to bring their MONSTER PUMPKINS out for competition. OMG, these things were bigger than kids! I took some pix with my phone and hope to post them later. We didn’t want to wait around for them to weigh the suckers, but they had quite a gizmo up to do the deed. (Before you see the pix, I’ll just quantify this a bit to say they had to use a fork lift to move these pumpkins!)

The only thing I ate at the pumpkin festival was a Belgian Waffle on a stick. Not one of the better festival foods – it was a bit too cakey. Still, we had plans for lunch at Fort Loramie, so that’s where we went next.

The German Heritage Festival is basically an excuse to eat German food and listen to polka. Only no one was there playing polka, so we ate German food and listened to the DJ play stuff like “Hang on Sloopy” (in honor of the OSU Buckeyes). I had jaeger schnitzel on a pretzel bun and Reuben bites with 1000 Island dipping sauce. The tenderloin was very tender and I really liked the Reuben bites. No crafts at this Festival, so mom decided we should go south to the Mum festival next.

We took a short break at the cabin, then another short stop at Sears (so I could get a filter for my air purifier), but eventually got to Tipp City for the Mum Festival. I used to teach at Tipp, but never did get to their Mum festival. So today I rectified that oversight.

Compared to the other two festivals we went to today, the Mum festival is HUGE. Loads of crafts and food. However, no mum-based foodstuffs… So completely unlike Troy’s Strawberry Festival… 😉

Since we’d had lunch in Fort Loramie, my main goal here was dessert. Mom and I were pleased to discover someone selling kettle corn, so we each bought a large bag for later (though we snacked on mine a bit while we walked around). After we were nearly all the way through, I decided to try a deep fried Snickers bar. Since I’d had deep fried Oreos and Twinkies, I felt it best to try candy bars. And OMG – very rich and very tasty. Definitely a surprise.

Dad took us home and then I headed off to my own home, with a stop at the grocery for fresh fruit & veg. My goal is to be productive tomorrow and get my house cleaned & some vegetable soup made. And, if I’m really productive, bake a loaf of bread. May try flaxseed bread. Anyhoo, wish me luck on being productive!