Bored Saturday

Not much going on with me. Mystic is getting mighty tired of me dragging him out of the bedroom and forcing him to eat, so he did it himself last night. He jumps at loud noises and flees when something out of the ordinary happens, but he's so much better than two weeks ago when we got him. Once he gets over this chickenkitty phase, I think he'll be much happier.

Spritey got to take recyclables to the dump with Mum and I this morning, so she was happy...until she realized mean old Becky Bean wasn't planning on sharing her chicken salad on corn tortilla. Now she's in the kennel pouting.

Mum is trying to answer a survey but no one's answering her. How bloody typical.

I am doing nothing at the moment; job stuff is at a dead stop and doesn't seem to be picking up again. I am so bored.

Meanwhile, Amy and Rory are leaving Doctor Who today. As awful as it is when companions go and as sad as it's gonna be, I'm eager to see what the new companion has to ruffle the Doctor's feathers at Christmas. I wish I had fish fingers and custard but that's still disgusting even after three seasons.

I think I cleaned up the mess I made of the kitchen this morning. We don't have a Starbucks around here, and all my friends on Facebook have been simply raving about the Pumpkin Spice Lattes that I cannot get ahold of because, HELLO, we don't have a Starbucks in Rhinelander.

So what does one do when one can't have what one wants? One makes it.

My first attempt was an unmitigated disaster. There was not enough sugar and it wasn't sweet enough even with tons of sweet in it. So I found a different recipe and tried again. This time the flavoring was right.

Here's a link to the one that worked. You make the syrup part and then, because I didn't have espresso, I mixed the straight coffee with it little by little until I was happy with the balance. Since everyone's tastes are different, I figure everyone wants a different balance of syrup with coffee and milk. I am so blasted picky when it comes to coffee-I have to have it mixed with loads of other stuff to make it palatable.

I also halved the batch because it makes a lot of syrup. Next time I think I'll quarter it-I still had a lot left over.

http://www.cheeriosandlattes.com/starbucks-pumpkin-spice-latte-copycat-includes-syrup-recipe/

Mom's wrapping hamburger and I have to go help.

Ta,
Bec

5 Years of Blogging (And a Week. And A Day.) And Muse, Too.

A few birthday announcements:

Yes, this blog thing became 5 years old last week (it was the 13th, so I flubbed it by a week.) Missed it entirely due to furry grey kitties and suchlike getting in the way of my attention span (Mystic's fine, by the way. Just had a treat and is hiding under the bed.)

Another anniversary to announce-My 5th Muse anniversary. Although I was into Muse before this date five years ago, this weekend was the one where I rediscovered them, so we're considering this day the day I jumped into the bandwagon. Pun completely intended.

And go find Animals and Muse on Youtube and prepare to have your hair stand up on the back of your neck (the first live play just came out, so there might be a studio version to find if you're seeing this a couple weeks after I wrote it.) It's stunningly, splendiferously wonderful.

PS: And then go find Panic Station, Unsustainable, and Madness. This is going to be a good CD...

Spritey's half birthday is coming up the day the next Muse album comes out, and I think we'll celebrate it. I hate to sound morbid on what should be a happy blog entry, but she may not be around next April and so even a half-year extra is a milestone in itself. (She's fine, too, by the way. The sun's shining so she's outside.)

I'm making GF, flourless oatmeal-raisin cookies for a friend who has his actual birthday today (but I'm going to be over there tomorrow, so he'll just have to wait a day.) Unfortunately because I'm in the mood to test new recipes, he gets to be my guinea pig on these. I've been looking for a GF oatmeal cookie recipe and now that I've found one, I will exploit it to the best of my abilities.

And I should have greased the wax paper, because now there is a host of cookies stuck to the paper and unable to come off without falling apart. Good thing the slightly more baked ones came off more easily, so my friend will get those. Also, these need cinnamon next time.

Link to the original recipe because I didn't change it at all: http://glutenfreeeasily.com/flourless-oatmeal-cookies/

I think a teaspoon of cinnamon added.

There's light in the tunnel on the job front. I'll wait before I make big announcements, but I may have actually done something stupid and gotten a job out of it. Just waiting for the punchline.

Will let you know what's up when there's stuff that's up!

Ta,
Bec

First Day Home Alone With The Cat

My fingers are slightly better this morning and my knee barely hurts at all. Mystic's sitting up by the window soaking up the light (and blocking it with his big gray furry behind) but we've had a good morning so far. He's been cool as a cucumber; he's sitting on the large stuffed tiger we have in the living room and doesn't look like he's planning to move an inch from where he's plonked himself. Apparently nagged Mom all night (again) and sneezed on me at half-past 5 this morning. Nothing like a little kitty snot to start the day...

Sprite's outside because in her mind, the weather is perfect. Slightly too cold for us is lovely for her.

Here's hoping Mystic's first day at home with me is a quiet one.

Ta,
Bec

Mystic Tiger Koshak

Mum has been wanting a new(er) pet for months. It's taken a while to accept Whisper's going and we weren't ready before. We went through the different puppy places, and considered other options, until finally we went to the local shelter.

There was a collie mix there; very affectionate but neither Mom nor I felt like the dog would get on well with Spirit. However, as Ma filled out the paperwork, we spotted a gray cat hiding behind the furniture in the corner.

That night as we were driving home, she confessed to me that the dog hadn't sparked her interest, but the cat had.

By the next afternoon, Mum had decided the cat was coming home with us. So he did. He's a bit older; just over 7 years old, so he isn't a bouncing baby. He's been extremely laid back the entire time-we haven't heard a hiss or a snarl. Spritey and him got on marvelously right from the off (that had both of us breathing a sigh of relief.) The only problem we're having now is that A) he found a hiding spot under my sister's bed and has claimed it as his new "cat cave," and B) he kept Mum up half the night needing reassurance and petting as he slept on her bed.

He loves being petted and his purr is constantly "on," making him easy to find under the bed because you can hear the rumbling going (didn't think a purr could be so bloody LOUD.) When I hold him, it's like holding a small furry (fat) engine (he needs to lose some weight. He ripples. We'll work on it.)

I'll post pictures that I finally got to take this morning; he spent most of yesterday hiding out.

And on other fronts, while my knee is better this morning (yay) my right hand is now misbehaving. My fingers are stiff and feel swollen again. Can I get a day off?

Sigh.

Ta,
Bec

Still Down But Maybe Getting Out

Still having trouble. I washed the living room windows this morning and I really shouldn't have. Even with painkillers it was too much. I might be sitting in the back in church tomorrow just so I can stretch out my offended limb and not kick anyone.

I think I'm going to rest a lot longer than I want to today so I can walk for stuff tonight.

Meanwhile, I have some other important things to do. I'm not sure where I'm at right now because this company wants to hire me and I'm doing all the hiring formalities now, but I have no clue where they'll send me or when they'll give me a position. It's not a library, but at least I'll be working.

There's some good news if I get a job immediately though-I found an apartment that's POINT 2 miles away from work...that is, if I get the job in the next few days where I think I'm going to get it. We shall see.

I really hope I get better soon, because if I have to move with this going on, I'm going to be miserable.

Ta,
Bec

Knee On Vacation

My right knee has done it again. It decided to swell a bit and be painful and just generally make my life difficult. I'll be better by Monday, but I've never wanted a weekend to go by this much. I'm pretty wobbly and bending it is painful enough to remind me not to do it again.

Fortunately, I did everything this week I'd intended to do before this started up again (cleaning on Wednesday and choir last night) and I didn't have anything planned for tomorrow. I'm going to wear my brace tonight (Mom and I were planning on checking out a free meal thing in town) so I don't screw up my OTHER knee while trying to ignore the stabbing pains in the right one.

I'm doing everything I'm supposed to do-resting, icing, taking painkillers, and being frustrated.

Like I said, by Monday I'll be fine again, but I needed to vent.

SIGH.

Why can't I have a year off from this once in a while?

SIGH SIGH SIGH.

I'll write soon, since there's not much else I can do right now.

Ta,
Bec

Stuff Is Breaking Down Around Here Again...

This was what I did in the early part of today...this is my Facebook status with extra stuff added in...

The power wasn't working under the computer desk (meaning wireless, power to the main computer et al wasn't going.) Since the usual fixes weren't working, I figured it was the surge protector. I had to cut the old surge protector in half, (help) move the desk, lift up the plywood, carve a hole in the wall, rip the paneling off the separator wall, shove the new cord through, plug it all it in, nail the paneling back into place, move everything back (with help again)...and it still didn't work. For a bit, I hooked the wireless to a different plugin, but Internet was a problem because people might have needed to walk down the hallway and that's where the cord was.

Twenty minutes after I put this as my Facebook status, Dad fixed the problem by plugging in the woodstove fan downstairs. This after we destroyed a surge protector and wasted valuable time and energy trying to fix the problem.

And repeats are always welcome...a year ago tomorrow I applied at the University of Leicester. And today I applied at...you guessed it. Same place, same job all over again. I also applied at Utah State again.

So far today, the computer has broken down, the tractor quit working, the golf cart ran out of gas, and the phone is dead. The good news is, two of those things fixed themselves, the third is easy to remedy. The fourth is a question at the moment but these things happen.

Let's hope the damn phone fixes itself.

Ta,
Bec

Note from the day after: All the messing around with the computer slightly unplugged a cord on the phone modem. So after calling the phone company trying to get it fixed, the robo-voice lady told me to check the modem. And then I felt like a damn fool when I plugged it in.

Finally I Have Slowed Down A Little

My sister has gone back to school. The other sister has a cat named Ninja. My music files are finally cleaned up. The laundry is done. I have watched Sherlock, but won't watch another because there's something else I'm going to watch (it's still got Ben in it, don't worry.)

I might actually get some writing in the computer this week if I can find a quiet moment. Next week for sure as there'll be plenty.

I have to go pop popcorn for my big movie that I've waited weeks and months to see.

Ta,
Bec