Here we go again

Well, Ladies and Gentlemen, Today I broke my nose. Yes, you read correctly. I fell down the attic stairs and landed on my head. Fear not God was on it. We have deduced that I am blessed to be alive yet again. And yet again I am not without the scars. The back of my head hit a table first and threw my head into my latest upholstery piece that just happens to be stripped to the frame right now. We have also deduced that my glasses saved a major portion of my face and quite possibly my eyeball from serious disaster. Yet those same glasses broke, gashed my face, leaving shards of lens that had to be plucked from my nose / brow bone, and left ten stitches along with some serious color in their wake. As we were telling my medical history to the doctoral student ... well you can imagine. We got a couple of "wait-I-can't-write-that-fast"'s and several "noway.-really?"'s I came home and read a note from a college friend I haven't seen in Years "God put you on my heart..." that made me smile. The garage sale we had this morning we sold almost nothing but made 40 dollars "coincidentally" the amount of the urgent care copay. Marmie is coming to see me and that feels better but my nose was radiated in '92 so bone healing may be an issue because of that. Tim said while we were waiting "I think you have outdone your mom in the 'grace'[fulness] department" But I'm not gonna blame it all on Mom seeing as how the last member of the family in the ER was Daddy. He walked into a Door.
...
Whoops, nope the last family member in the ER was me, I dehydrated myself.

today

I just can't seem to get started. I have a million things to do, not the least of which is cleaning out the garage, but I guess I just feel like I won't make any progress on any of them, so I am not moving. Either way, I am getting NOTHING done today. Maybe I will go shopping. ... Crap, I don't really need anything. Except a pottery wheel, which I have no room for because my garage is a wreck. Can anyone feel my pain?

Maintenance

I don't know what it is about me that makes me really like to take things apart and put them back together.... Yes I do It's Daddy. Daddy said once "I figure if someone else can do it so can I"

That is how it starts. Well I was in one of those moods. Our air conditioner was making a funny noise the other day. We have not been running it much lately but I wanted to turn it on today so I thought it fitting to go check it out.


Arn't we good maintainers? So I came back inside and watched a video where the dude had taken off the outside cover to wash down the fins. We have never done that. Peeking through the ribs in the cover made me realize... well see for yourself.


FYI that all turns to mud when you get it wet. You then find yourself standing in swampland thinking "I should have seen this coming." Now I am waiting for the swamp to sink in. I sure hope this will fix that noise. Probably not, but I feel absolutely certain it is what caused it in the first place.


Update: didn't fix the noise but the house gets cooler much faster. Don't quite know what to do now.

Dirty old men

Funny thing happened on the "Meals on Wheels" route Linda and I volunteered for yesterday. It was one of our last stops and I got out to take the meal in. In this particular house I had to walk past the old man in his recliner to put the meal on the table. As I passed he stuck out his hand to greet me and began going on and on about how sweet I was and he was so thankful and he pulled me down and kissed me on the cheek. I thought nothing of it except that my shirt was not appropriate for bending down in front of old men, oh well. I continued to the table, he kept talking "Yur new aren't ya."
"yes" I replied "just filling in today"
"This yur first time here?"
"Well, my first time here," he grabbed my hand again as I passed to go back "My first time to get a kiss" I said as he again pulled me to him this time hooking me with his other hand.
"Well Give Us a REAL Kiss"
He did not just say that I thought "I don't think my husband would appreciate that" I said as my shirt gaped open again from the angle at which he was holding me down. At this time he began to apologize for his comment, yet not without letting me go.

About 5 good solid seconds into this 15 second apology with his eyes darting from my face down my shirt I stopped fighting and thought OK dude there it is get a good long look, you might as well look until you're finished.

I left his house feeling a bit violated but laughing hysterically and remembering how when I put the shirt on that morning I had actually thought This shirt can't be trusted, ah it's OK I will be in a sweater all day anyway. Note to self - listen to the little voices when there is a possibility you may run into dirty old men. LOL

A LA ... WHO?

For last night's sensational "A la Emily Casserole" I have a few people to thank.

First, My sweet Grandmother, for the amazing "homemade Cream of Chicken" recipe and countless other recipes, that she could actually locate ... while I was standing there! For example:

Emily:

"Grandmother, do you have a recipe fo-

Grand mother:

"YES, and you should try this one too.
Have I given you the one for... and what about... Here I'll help you copy them.
Ok, what else, surely there is something we're forgetting."

You can obtain recipes by going to: Grandmother @ Grandmothers house in Abilene.

Second, to Mom, for teaching me that "A La Dianne" is limited only to what you have in your kitchen, but not limited to Dianne. "A La Dianne" nights usually went something like this:

Emily:

"Hey Mom, What's for Dinner?"

Mom:

"A La Dianne"

Emily:

"What's that"

Mom:

"Well... It's ... um ... Roast, and um,
corn and peas, ...carrots ...um, some gravy, and you spoon it on bread"

Emily:

"MOM, this is AMAZING we need to have this again"

(Later that Month)

Emily:

"Hey Mom, What's for dinner?"

Mom:

"A La Dianne"

Emily:

"Oh I like that. What is it again?"

Mom:

"Well, ... it's ... Chicken, and... um...
OH Emily, would you tell me what canned goods are in the pantry.

Emily:

"Cream of Chicken and corn and green beans..."

Mom:

"Oh good, get all that out, it all goes in 'A La Dianne'"

It was years before I caught on.

AND Finaly my one and only Daddy, for proving that you may not get it right the first time but it won't kill you regardless.

Daddy:

"Hey Em, come try this croissant... Now you had the one yesterday, Right?"

Emily:

"Yeah"

Daddy:

"Ok, now that one tasted great, but it wasn't flaky enough, now try this one..."

(confussion sweeps across Emily's face)

Daddy:

"Yeah I know, It tastes terrible, BUT It's FLAKY!"

There's nothing like Daddy's eyes when he is on the verge of figuring out a puzzle.
(Yes, McKay's bakery croissants are an "A La Bobby")

So, to all of you reading out there take a lesson from the Pros and branch out, there might be something worth eating in your pantry after all. But to my family, Thanks, I owe you big time ;)

Blessings
Emily

So easily forgoten

It has been a while, before digital cameras entered our house even, since I was officially overweight but still it is really amazing when it comes to remembering what it was like.

Weight Watchers is cleaning up our center and has bought frames for emplyee's before and after pictures to be displayed. Great idea! Well, I had lost my official "before" picture (maybe it was subconsciously on purpose. oooo). The picture I had been displaying just wasn't in a good format for the frames, and not NEARLY as telling. I went on a hunt.

In the deep dark recesses of the film negative file, I found my "before" negative scratched and out of focus but no less "telling" shall we say. Tim scanned it in and voila. The "after" shot is one of my favorites, Tim took it and I am proud of that dress as well. I think it shows the difference, though I wish it was a bit more in scale with the other one.

None-the-less, Thanks Weight Watchers for helping me do it, for giving me the last 5 years of After, and for giving me a job that supports my playtime. Off to the upholstery studio! (fine - to the garage)

Ganache

Ganache: That shinny, drippy, melt in your mouth nectar of the gods.

Yesssss, it was as good as it looks. Better actually, Tim being out of town meant I had to take the pics with a point and shoot in really bad lighting. Tim could have done much better on the pics; But... yummmm

This one was for a friend of mine so I attended the wedding. I love it when I can have my cake and eat it too.

It was so good! I m not afraid to be proud. Don't strawberries make the most wonderful vehicle in which to carry Chocolate to the mouth?

July 4

Happy 4th! I am off to New Braunfels to visit my Neice for Her birthday!
She is 4, I am going to be the Hero!

The Bag ... Man?

My husband has an addiction. It is little known but very serious. He seems to be addicted to backpacks...


It is very real. There are no less than 5, FIVE backpacks in these pictures.
I feel outranked occasionaly when he gets them out to play; esspesially on date night.


There is, by the way, another one in the closet.


I must say, the newest one is fancy. It is the one with the white stripes and the IPod. This one has magnets that will hold it to the tank of the motorcycle but also has backpack straps and a place to put a water bladder for hiking. High class.

These pictures were taken a while back, but right now Tim is on a motorcycle with his Dad and 3, THREE of these backpacks strapped down in one fashion or another. So I thought it fitting to post about Tim's backpack fetish since He is gallivanting about Texas on a motorcycle and I am stuck here battling the squirrel in the attic.