Hobbit-ish Potpurri: Winter Doldrums

Happy Valentine's Day Humble Readers...

Well, it's happened again.  Nary a word from me since Sunday night... what's going on here?  I have a dozen blog posts rattling around in my head, but they just don't seem to want to exit through the ends of my fingers. 

*****
The snow in the Shire is slowly melting.  We've had snow on the ground since before Halloween, so I'm not at all sad to see it go.  That's not to say that the weather has been nice, far from it.  Yes we've had sunny skies, but we have constantly been rocked by wind all week.  I love the effects of a Chinook wind, but I'm not a fan of the wind itself. 

*****
I broke down and watched the season finale of Downton Abbey the other day.  I'm not going to give anything away, I promise, but I do have to say I'm pissed.  Seriously, the whole evening after I watched it I was MAD.  It's going to be a long wait until next January for season 4.

*****
Weight-loss update: I'm plateaued again.  I'm down 24.5 pounds, which is awesome.  But I'm stuck again.  I'm a little bit concerned because I inevitably gain weight when we go to K-town.  Mostly because of all the wine we consume when my mom, sister and I are together.

*****
I'm happy with how my super-fake King Cakes turned out for Mardi Gras.  I'm not much of a baker, so the real deal was rather out of reach for me to attempt, but I wanted to have a special "zert" as Ginny called it.  So, this is what I made...

Pretty simple really.  Crescent rolls (in a tube), filled with a bit of nu.tella, then topped with a simple glaze and sprinkles in the colors of Mardi Gras... purple, gold, and green. 

*****
So, it's Valentine's Day.  A pretty important day in the hobbit hole.  Today is the 7th anniversary of when my Beloved and I were matched on eHarm.ony.  I always try to do something special for dinner, and when it's in the budget we do try to go out at some point around V-day.  This year's special dinner is New York strip steaks, double-stuffed twice-baked taters, oven roasted asparagus, sautéed mushrooms and onions, and cheesecake for dessert.  Things are well in process at this point, and I'm planning on leaving some time between when Ginny gets up from her nap and when my Beloved comes home to have Ginny make a card for her daddy. 

*****
I'm hoping to squeeze some time in tomorrow for Pippin's 9 month post.  I'm already a few days late, and I want to get it out there.  How is it that he's been on the outside for as long as he was on the inside already???  When Ginny was this age, Pippin was conceived.  Wow.

Sunday Night Chit Chat

Hey Humble Readers...

Thank you all so much for your kind words on my last post.  It still hasn't completely sunk in that GG is gone. 

We are still in the Shire.  GG's memorial service isn't until the 19th (my sister and I don't understand why it's so far off) so we won't be leaving until next Saturday morning.  My aunt is in K-town with my Mom, and most of the arrangements have been made.  Not that Auntie S is going to be a whole lot of help to mom, as she's a long-time alcoholic.  It just feels so strange to not be on the way out there already, especially after sitting on pins and needles all week wondering and waiting. 

Other than GG, I have been reminiscing a lot about our trip to NYC a few years ago.  I love looking at the pictures of my Beloved and I in Central Park, and all the amazing things we got to do and see, and the great food we got to eat.  I hope that someday we are able to take the wee-lings there. 

Pizza Vongole at Otto (one of Mario Batali's restaurants)
I have been daydreaming about this pizza recently. 
I can't believe it's been more than 3 years since we were in NYC

Onto tonight's chit chat...

Reading - "A Light In The Window" by Jan Karon... the second in the Mitford series.  I love this series, but I have to say that this book is my least favourite (kind of like Chamber of Secrets is my least favourite Harry Potter), but I will slog through it for the sake of the series.  Next up is "The Book Thief".  It's one I've wanted to read for ages but just never got around to picking up.  I can really feel my reading mojo kicking back in.  When I was at the grocery store, I spent a ridiculous amount of time looking at their book displays... and I found a ton of titles that I want to check out. 












Watching -  Downton, of course.  I'm looking forward to the return of Mr. Bates.  I confess that I will likely watch the remaining episodes in the next few days, as we will be in K-town next week when the season finale airs. 

Listening to - Nothing at the moment.  It is blissfully silent in the hobbit hole right now, as everyone else is napping.  This never ever happens. 

Baking/Cooking - Tonight's dinner menu is Dijon & Brown Sugar Pork Loin, and the usual Sunday dinner stuff... mashed taters, mixed vegetables, and yorkies.  This is a fun cooking week for me... Jambalaya and a fun variation on King cake for Mardi Gras, Tortellini Marinara with Caesar Salad and Garlic bread for Ash Wednesday, and a quasi-romantic dinner for us on Valentine's Day (our match-iversary... the day we were matched on eHarmon.y seven years ago).

Happy you accomplished this week -  Made another big batch of apple sauce for Pippin.  We've got enough now to get us to the end of April I think.

Looking forward to next week - Ginny has her first ever playdate on Tuesday.  She's played with other children before, but it's been at church or with her cousins.  I'm excited for her to hang out with her little friend J, and for me to get to hang out with J's mom. 

Thankful for today - That GG is at peace. 

Bonus question: Are you musically gifted/talented? Do you play any instruments? Sing? - LOL!  The only thing I can play is the radio and I couldn't carry a tune if it had two handles.  I always wanted to learn to play the violin, so that I could actually hear my heirloom violin, but hopefully Ginny will be musically inclined as the violin will go to her next.

*****
This was posted as a part of Carla's Sunday Night Chit Chat.  Click over and check out what others are chatting about tonight.

GG

Good Morning Humble Readers...

Though she be little, she is fierce.

GG passed away last night at 11:30pm. 

GG & Pippin last July
November 24, 1925 - February 8, 2013

She is survived by her two daughters, six grandchildren, and ten great-grandchildren.  The oldest of 21 siblings (yes, all from the same parents), Grandma grew up on a Manitoba farm during the Great Depression.  She learned early to stick up for herself, and to speak her mind.  She was certainly not shy about giving you her opinion.  The stories she could tell about growing up in such a large family would make your hair curl and make you laugh until you cried.  She was a teeny little woman, just barely reaching 5 feet tall, at her tallest.  She was a klutz, always falling or tripping (usually because she couldn't see her feet past her b00bs) and inevitably injuring herself.  She loved flowers, butterflies, and teddy bears.  She loved to decorate her home for every holiday. 

 

I'm so thankful that she got to meet both of my children, and that we have some pictures of her with them for the wee-lings to look at in the future. 

 

I'm in an odd place with the whole grieving thing.  I feel like the woman I knew as my Grandma has slowly faded away over the past four (almost five) years.  I am happy that she's no longer suffering, and that she is now at peace.  And I'm thankful that my Mom's time as a care-taker is now done... it will obviously be hard for her, but it will be one major stressor off her heart. 

 

Right now, we don't know when we're heading out to K-town.  Possibly early tomorrow morning.  It depends on when the memorial service will be held.  Mom is very overwhelmed right now, and all I want to do is be out there to help.  I will try to post again when we know more.

 

Hobbit-ish Potpurri: The No-Good-Very-Bad Week

Hey Humble Readers...

I totally didn't intend to fall off the face of the earth this week.  But circumstances alter cases, and here I am.  About the only good thing about this week has been the weather... lots of sunshine and warmer temps.  When I say warmer, I mean that we are actually hanging out around the freezing mark. 

*****
Hard on the heels of the yeast beast (which was something I would be super thankful to NEVER EVER have to deal with again), AF showed up.  She was a couple of days early.  I'm wondering if the yeast infection or perhaps the meds contributed to her early arrival.  And yes, she was her usual bitchy self.

*****
GG is going downhill very quickly.  My aunt flew from Manitoba to K-town this morning.  Mom has been basically living at the nursing home.  We aren't anticipating that she will make it through another week.  We have looked into the cost of flying, but given that we now have to pay for a full price ticket for Ginny, it would be about $1200 and then having to pay for a rental car while we're out there.  It looks like when GG passes we'll be driving, which my Beloved isn't thrilled with the idea.  12 hours through the mountains in the winter.  Not going to be a fun trip. 

*****
Pippin has been teething hard this week.  But at least we are seeing some results.  He cut his fifth tooth last night. 

*****
So, remember how we just got my lousy Dell computer back from the repair guys, just a couple of weeks ago?  Well, I had just gotten all my programs reloaded, downloaded and organized all my photos from picasa, and reset all my bookmarks.  Then yesterday happened...

Ginny spilled water on my laptop.  Or rather, she caused me to spill water on my laptop.  I had just sat down on the couch with a full glass of water, my laptop open beside me.  I was looking at Pip and didn't see her dashing over to plow into me.  The glass in my hand went sideways, and about a third of it landed on my laptop keyboard.  I had to disentangle myself from Ginny before I could attempt to do damage control and I think that was my downfall.  I managed to power the computer down, but the screen had already gone black and I heard some of those sickening crackling sounds.  I left it to dry out overnight, and when I tried it this morning it worked for a minute or two before it crackled again and crashed.  The question before us now is do we dump another bunch of money into having it repaired for a third time in the last 10 months, or do we write it off and try to figure out how to work a new one into our budget. 

In the interim, I'm using my Beloved's new laptop when he's not home.  It's a tad frustrating because it runs windows 8 (not bad, just different) and a differently laid out keyboard (the shift key is tiny!). 

*****
I want to leave you with something to make you smile, seeing as all the rest of this has been pretty whiney. 

Ginny & Shadow-Girl

 

One thing I forgot to include in my January post about Ginny was her relationship with her "Shadow-girl".  She first discovered her shadow last summer when the evening sun would shine through our kitchen, but as the summer faded, so did shadow-girl.  Around Christmas time, Ginny found her shadow-girl again, this time on our dining room wall, and started talking to her.  Usually just about her toys or dinner, but it became fairly common.  Then she started giving her shadow-girl smooches and hugs.  She's tried to show Pip his shadow-boy, but he's just not interested.  

Sunday Night Chit Chat: Church Life

Hey Humble Readers...

I hope you've all had a great weekend.  Ours started like last weekend, with me having a very lazy unmotivated Friday.  Not a useful thing.  It made Saturday and today rather busy and meant that a few things had to be put off.  We did accomplish a few things though... Ginny got a haircut, did the weekly shopping, the laundry got done, and I managed to go shopping for myself (more on that later).  And we went to church.

Sunday afternoon playtime with Daddy

Church with a toddler and an infant is a challenge.  Our congregation is wonderfully welcoming of children in worship... in fact, that's a large part of why we choose to worship there.  A lot of churches hold Sunday School at the same time as the worship service, but ours does not.  And I'm thankful for that.  I love that children are all in worship with their parents, and while it's rarely quiet, it feels right to see families worshipping together.  That doesn't mean it's easy for our little family at this stage of the game.  We have a couple of ladies who sit near us, specifically to help us keep Ginny entertained and corralled during the service.  And even with that help, she doesn't always make it through (and we end up taking her to the nursery at the back of the sanctuary), but that's okay.  My Beloved and I think it's important for our wee-lings to experience worship as a family, and learn what it means to be a part of the larger body of believers.  I don't often get to hear the whole sermon because I'm attempting to keep one little person or the other occupied, but I wouldn't give it up for the world. 

Onto tonight's chit chat...

Reading - I just started "At Home In Mitford" by Jan Karon again.  I so love that series, and it's been a couple of years since I last read the whole thing.  I finished "The Changeling" by Philippa Gregory, and to be honest I was a bit disappointed.  The characters seemed flat and one note, and it took quite a while to get going.  It really felt like a larger book got chopped up to make more money out of it.












Watching - It's Sunday.  That means Downton! (and yes, I'm holding off on 'bingeing' just yet.)  I also watched a good documentary on King George V and Queen Mary. 

Listening to - My Beloved nattering to himself as he works on his next assignment for his CGA course.  He just got his first assignment back and he got 92% on it!  Yay!

Baking/Cooking - Tonight's dinner was good.  Chili lime chicken, with the usual Sunday fixings.  Sadly, something went a little funky with my gravy tonight.  It had a bitter aftertaste that I didn't like.  My Beloved didn't think anything was wrong with it, but then, I think he's biased.

Happy you accomplished this week - I bought myself three new pairs of pants today!  All for under $80!  (and for a plus-sized gal with limited options for clothes shopping, this is a steal)  I also changed up our Santa's Choice order to something that will better suit us for next Christmas, made our eye doctor appointments, and there was something else, but it's slipped my mind. 

Looking forward to next week - finding my motivation... getting back on track on a lot of things. 

Thankful for today - a husband with forgiving tastebuds

*BONUS QUESTION* What made you laugh today?  "The word lie is so unmusical." - Dowager Lady Grantham

*****
This was posted as a part of Carla's Sunday Night Chit Chat.  Take a moment to click over and see what others are chatting about tonight.