Cookies

A baker I'm not!  My friends and I have had lots of discussions over the recipes in the cookbook I recently did for my sister-in-law.  However, I don't think any were talked about as much as the "Cookies from Cake Mix" recipe. How weird is taking a box of dry cake mix (any flavor) and mixing it with a tub of Cool Whip and 1 egg before baking it? Curiosity got the best of me and I made the cookies yesterday using Devils Food Cake mix. I also added some pecans.  Then during dinner at Culver's with some friends, we taste tested the cookies with their Vanilla Custard. The cookies are really moist and good. We all gave then an A+....  I gave most of them away so I wouldn't be tempted to eat them all but kept a few for myself.  I tried one today and it was still really, really moist. Another friend suggested that several of us get together this winter and each bring a recipe from the cookbook. The recipes have brought back a lot of childhood memories for the people who have read it of foods they mother or someone in the family used to make.

P.S.  Lizard count for the summer is now Morris 0  - Darlene 5.  This morning he knew what was up when he saw the "lizard box" and it took a looooong time for him to set it down so I could capture it. Poor Morris...he does all the work and doesn't get to enjoy it...

Happy Lizard. Mad Morris.

Morris was out in the entry this morning while I was in the kitchen watering plants.  I came out into the entry about the same time that Morris came in from the entry. I could see a tail hanging out of one side of his mouth and 2 feet hanging out of the other side of his mouth. NOT AGAIN!!!!!!  I rush back into the pantry and grab the "Lizard Box" which is a clear, plastic shoebox.  At this point there are 2 musts - keep him out of the office and keep him away from the sofa. The entry is white tile and that is a good spot for us all to be in. However, he keeps edging toward the hall to the office and I keep heading him off and herding him back to the entry.  He finally drops the small lizard and I make a move with the box but Morris is faster than I am so the lizard is back in the mouth. By now he knows what's up so gets behind a large planter in the entry where there isn't room to get the lizard box into.  I know that Morris will eventually set it down so I just have to be patient and keep him in the entry. After carrying it around awhile, he sets it down and BAM - the Lizard Box hits the tile and capture is complete. I pick up Morris and toss him in the office and shut the door because I don't need his distraction.  The next step is to carefully raise one end of the box while sliding a piece of cardboard under the box and nudging the lizard until it crawls up on the cardboard.  Then it a matter of carefully picking up the Lizard Box along with the cardboard, opening the screen door and letting it go to hopefully live another day. I let Morris out of the office and by now he is royally mad at me and is trying to find his trophy. He then proceeds to go out in the garage, lays down under the car and won't have anything to do with me for the next 6 hours. But alas, an empty food dish prompted him to forgive me...

Gertrude, Jack or Matthew

As you may remember from past posts, Gertrude, my Garmin GPS, drives me crazy with her voice. She is rude, curt, bossy, and generally unpleasant. When she says "recalculating" I hear "how stupid can you be".  It only took my friends about an hour of listening to her before they were talking back to her when we started on the trip last Sunday. Thrilled that it wasn't just me,  I changed to Jack who has an Australian accent.  He was nice but by the time we figured out what he was telling me to do, I had missed the exit or turn. So back to Gertrude who did a wonderful job of getting us around San Diego to where we wanted to go but it was not without a lot of fussing at her. Yesterday, we had had enough and tried Lee who was an American male.  Such a nice man with a slight east coast accent.....  However, his voice is not a "Lee" and after much discussion, we finally named him Matthew after Matthew McConaughey. 8-) I think I'll keep him around for awhile and see how he does on the trip to the east coast next month.  And the best thing? When he says "recalculating", the tone is slightly apologetic as it was partly his fault...

Last day in San Diego

Today is our last day here in San Diego since we head home in the morning. It has been a fun 4 days although the weather has been warmer than usual and certainly warmer than we were wishing for. Today was busy...  We started the day by going to the Mission San Diego, founded in 1769 and is the oldest of the 21 Missions in California. It is also another one of the Missions that Larry's 8th great-grandfather was involved with back when California was part of Mexico and owned by Spain.

The mission is still an active church and in fact, there was a funeral mass being held there this morning so we didn't get to stay in the church area very long. I was surprised at how plain the alter area is in the church compared to some of the other Missions I have seen.  This is the front of the church.  As has become a habit, I lit a candle for Larry while in the church.  Kinda feels like a nice thing to do considering his connection to the Missions.
After the Mission, we went up to Rancho Bernardo and spent some time at the Bernardo Winery browsing through the shops, having lunch and finishing up with some wine tasting.
Next was a visit to Balboa Park to see the Japanese Garden which was a disappointment so we didn't stay long.
In doing research for the trip, I researched the places in San Diego that have been featured on Food Network's Diners, Drive-In's and Dives. Hodad's is a hamburger joint - definitely in the "dives" category - but the burgers are incredible.

Day 3 of the San Diego Trip

We spent this morning taking a tour of the USS Midway.  Larry and I did it a few years ago but Toni and Jane had never see it before. Seeing the size of the ship, etc in person is so much more dramatic than seeing aircraft carriers on TV or in movies. The flight deck is the length of 3 football fields. The length of "runway" that the planes take off on is so short and seeing the cables they hook when landing is hard to believe. The above picture, taken from the flight deck,  is the part of the ship that is above the flight deck. The docent who explained the take off process to us was a pilot in Viet Nam where he was shot down and spent 6.5 years in a Hanoi prison. He didn't tell us but another docent did. One of the highlights for us was seeing the USS Carl Vinson which is an aircraft carrier that is currently active. It is across the bay from the Midway at the Naval Station in Coronado getting a new paint job. The Vinson is the ship that the Seals took off from on the mission to get Bin Laden.  It is also where they returned to with him body and the ship that he was "buried at sea" from. Since the ship is active, there were small gun ships zipping around the bay guarding it.  Very interesting!

Next stop was the Hotel Del Coronado where we had lunch. I had never been to the hotel before and since it is so famous, we decided to go there for lunch.  Well.....what a disappointment! My single glass of Diet Coke was $4.75 with no refills. Horribly overpriced and the food was not that great - at least that was the opinion of all three of us.  However, the view of the ocean was wonderful.  Jane and I walked out to the water and the sand was quite warm - almost plain hot on our bare feet. And of course it was further out to the water than we thought it was when we started so our feet were toasty by the time we got back to grass. Below is a sand castle that someone had built - actually a village of houses with amazing detail. The building in the background is the hotel.

Sea World

I am so tired, sunburned and my feet are killing me after 6 hours at Sea World today! We had planned to see 2 more shows but gave up and came back to the hotel. Plus it was sooooooo crowded!  We had a fun time but once is enough for me. The whales are good and since there were 4 of them. not sure which one was Shamu since Shamu seems to be a generic name for all the whales in the park.  However, I though they would be larger than they were.  This is the first time I have every seen a live whale and am used to seeing pictures of them in the ocean where they look  much larger, whether they are or not. We did notice that the trainers never got in the water with the whales.  Toni has seen the show twice before and said this is the first time she hasn't seen the trainers in the water with them. Entertaining show....

I have to admit that I liked the sea lions and otters show best.  There were 2 large sea lions and I have never seen sea lions trained like these were!  In this pic, they are doing a Dancing With The Stars skit.  The little otter was just adorable. Fun day....

San Diego

Two friends and I drove over to San Diego today and will return to Tucson on Thurs.  The cooler weather in San Diego feels sooooooo good! This picture is from the balcony of my hotel room overlooking the bay. I have the "party room" with the balcony.. 8-)  The sun was too warm to set out on the balcony today so we had dinner and then came back aafter the sun set to have a drink and watch the sights while it got dark. I have the door open and the fresh, cool air is wonderful!
Needless to say, Morris was not happy when I left today but oh well... There was a really strong storm in Tucson late this afternoon so I can only hope it was all rain and not thunder which Morris hates.... Talk about feeling guilty....
Tomorrow the schedule is to spend all day at Sea World which I have never been to before.  Should be fun!

Odds n Ends

San Diego: Starting to pack today since I'm going over to San Diego tomorrow with 2 friends for a few days.  I can't wait for the cooler temperatures over there!  I've learned to not bring the suitcase out until I am ready to start putting stuff in it because Morris know what a suitcase means.  However, I think Morris reads my mind because he has been ignoring me the last couple of days. His pet sitter comes in 1-2 times a day and spoils him even more than I do but I guess it the idea that he can't go... I keep telling him that he gets to go next summer on a trip but again, we have a little bit of a translation problem so he doesn't quite get it.
One Day At A Time: I've had some people comment that I'm not using my standard closing all the time like I used to. My reason is this....I use it when I'm talking about Larry and getting on with life without him.  If I'm writing about routine, general stuff then I don't use it.  Hope that makes sense to you like it does to me. 8-)
Larry: It was 8 months yesterday since he died. About the time I think I'm getting the hang of this thing they call "grief", I get knocked down again. Yesterday, in the support group, I likened it to reoccurring storms - they come in, last for awhile and then the sun comes out again. Sometimes they last a few hours and sometimes they last for several days. I'm learning to just ride them out because I know it will get better eventually and I can get back on track. It has helped me tremendously to kinda get a plan for the next year or so - at least I feel that I'm a little in control again and not just drifting with the flow. However, having the plan doesn't make the days any less lonely and that is what continues to bother me the most. But....One Day At A Time...

Cookbook at the printers

I think I have mentioned the cookbook I have been working on before but anyway.... For years, my brother and sister-in-law's kids, grand kids and other family members have been asking her to write her recipes down. From mashed potatoes to chicken and noodles, the family members have their favorite dishes that Vida fixes.  I have my favorites and some of them are foods that my mother fixed when I was growing up in Missouri. Vida fixes them the same way my mom did. This is good ole home cooking food from the Midwest with lots of bacon, bacon grease, butter, etc that our doctors would be horrified to know we even tasted.  However, it's what I grew up on and why I take cholesterol medicine today.  I will take this food any day of the week if I could but it needs to be enjoyed in moderation.  I volunteered to take the project on after reading an article in one of my genealogy magazines on the importance of passing along family recipes. So....I spent hours and hours last April when I was back in Missouri visiting them talking to Vida about her recipes. A lot of the deserts were written down but most of the side dishes and main dishes were in her head. I would write while Vida talked about how she would prepare a dish.  Our first hurdle was getting the ingredient quantities down to where the dish would serve around 4 people instead of serving 8-10 people. I also interviewed her about when she first started cooking, cooking for threshing crews, cooking for a family that had 9 children in it or cooking for 35 people on special occasions when the kids, etc come home for Sunday dinner. I came home from the trip and started working on the book. I would list questions that came to mind, such as "do you drain the can of pineapple or not". Then I would send her the list and get answers back. I also gave a copy to a friend who had never seen it so she could go through it and see if she had any questions on any recipes if she was going to fix them.  Finally the book was done and yesterday I took it to the printers to have 60 copies made - 50 for them and 10 for me.  Now I have a big dilemma...how to cut the recipes down for just me... I have already made a few of the dishes and plan to make more of them even if I have to invite friends over to help me eat the quantities..  And now I know the secret to the mashed potatoes that everyone raves about... 8-)

My $121 tomato

A couple of weeks ago, while being hungry for vine-ripened tomatoes, I decided to go across town to the largest farmer's market in town thinking I could get some there.  Yes, they had tomatoes but I have serious doubts about them being vine-ripened.  I want tomatoes like we had in Little Rock!  You pick can pick one of them up, smell it and it smells like a tomato - not some neutral smell that if you use enough imagination you can kinda smell a tomato. But this was the best I could do so I got 2 of them but I didn't have very high hopes for them. I keep remembering the wonderful farmer's market in Little Rock and nothing here comes close to it.  I keep hoping to find some good tomatoes so gave it another chance by getting a couple before heating home.
Larry's doctor's office is in the area where the farmer's market is so I am well aware of the speed camera on that particular Tucson street.  I cannot tell you how many times Larry has said to me "Better watch your speed since that camera is just around the corner". But this time he wasn't with me and I was the only vehicle along that stretch of road and was deep in thought. Just as I go by the camera, I see a flash and know I have been caught! #$%^@&*(_+!  Usually there are other vehicles in front of me so when they slow down then I do to.  Anyway, I got the citation in the mail this week in which they say I was doing 51 mph in a 40 mph speed zone.  Cost for traffic ticket and traffic school? $242.00 hence 1 tomato = $121..Now those are expensive tomatoes and they weren't even that good..

My Buddy Morris

Morris is back to being my shadow.... 8-)  There is no doubt in my mind a pet can sense our moods and feelings. I commented to a friend a couple of weeks ago that "Morris is back to being a cat" in that he had gone back to his old habits of going to "his cave" in a closet for his mid-day naps, etc.  She said "Maybe it because you are less stressed and in a better place" which made sense. The last couple of days and especially yesterday and so far today, he is close with me. Last evening he was on my lap the whole time we were watching TV instead of laying out in the entry like he has been doing recently in the evenings. He was on my lap yesterday when I sat down to watch the 5 o'clock news. And yes, I do find it comforting. 

One Thing After Another....

     Besides dealing with the loneliness, I'm tired of dealing with stuff around the house that Larry would usually deal with or at least we would talk about it before one of us took care of it. 
     Earlier this week I looked outside  on the patio and saw a river running across it. I went outside and water was gushing from a backflow valve on the sprinkler system.  Fortunately, I knew how to turn the water off to the line so did that and stopped the flood.  Then I had to deal with getting someone to come out and fix it.
     Pack Rats are a problem in the desert and have been causing major havoc on our block. I haven't seen anyone around our house but 15 were caught next door (10+ inside the garage)  a few months ago and recently the pack rats did about $5,000 worth of damage to a house 3 doors from me when they got in the attic and chewed up wiring in the ceiling. So out of 5 houses in a row, I'm the only one that has not had a problem. However, I decided to have an "expert" come out anyway to do an inspection and put covers over vents on the roof, etc where they can get in. Maybe I'm paranoid but the idea of them getting in the house just freeks me out. It ranks right up there with having a lizard in the house.
     I try really hard to not say "Why Me?" but I admit that sometimes for a millisecond the throught crosses my mind.  Many, many years ago, I bought a wooden plaque that says "Lord, help me to remember that nothing will happen today that you and I can't handle together". I dug it out of a packed box a few weeks ago and it is now on the bathroom wall, by my sink,  so I see it every morning.  It goes along with One Day At A Time....

Life is lonely...

About the time I think I'm doing pretty good in dealing with the grief, etc of loosing Larry something new comes along. I have been really hit with loneliness the last couple of weeks. I was already working from home when Larry retired about 6.5 years ago.  So since them, until he passed away in Dec, we were together most of the time unless I was on a business trip or out with friends. When we were home, we spent most mornings in the office together on our respective computers before going out for errands and lunch.  In the afternoons, I would sometimes still be on the computer while he and Morris watched CNBC, read or napped - but he was close by. The loneliness during the day is really been hard to deal with right now. It may be because I'm not as busy during the day and have more "free" time with no one to share it with. Some people have trouble in the evenings but my worst time is during the day.   I miss my best friend and his companionship terribly. I know I will get past it but for now it sucks...  Then there is the Olympics that is on right now.  Larry LOVED the summer Olympics for the Track and Field events  which goes back to when he ran track in high school. I have been watching them but it going to be hard when the Track and Field events start this weekend knowing he isn't here to enjoy them. It just seem like the hurt goes on and on but I just keep trying to take it  One Day At A Time...