See You Next Tuesday?

 Now I am thinking about Ted "Theodore" Logan 

I have not written the blog for a few weeks. It is odd that life gets in the way of things like writing the blog when, without life, I would have nothing to write about in the blog. As a MATTer of fact, without life I guess I, literally, would have nothing to write about. Without life I could not even write at all.

Christmas is less than a week away. I don't suppose I celebrate Christmas for the main reason that most people celebrate this day; I celebrate the time with family. We all have such busy lives now and we live in different places and this week Splenda and Andy will come here from Chicago, my brother arrived here from Hawaii tomorrow (why weren't we not smart enough to go spend the day/week/month/eternity at his place in Ewa Beach, Hawaii. Some say that they would not appreciate Christmas as much without snow - I GUARANTEE I would appreciate just about everything more without snow and negative double-digit wind chills. I have shoveled snow five times already this season and it isn't even officially winter yet. How cold will winter be? We have a snow blower but I prefer to do it the snow removal the old-fashioned way to get the extra exercise. This last time my hands were really cold even with snowmobile gloves. My feet were cold too so I thought, "cold feet, cold hands and runny nose." I suppose I had a warm heart too but I left that one out for that frozen time. I have been listening to the Adam Ant station on Pandora while shoveling lately. If you don't have Bluetooth earbuds I highly recommend putting them on your list for Santa. Also, I recommend paying the charge for more songs you can skip and commercial-free listening on Pandora. The Adam Ant station reminds me a lot of the time when many of us first met: Alan Hunter, Nina Blackwood, J.J. Jackson, Martha Quinn and Mark Goodman. I was a senior in high school then. I am older than MTV (that is kind of a bummer). MTV was huge while I was in college; it has changed lots and lots and I am not sure they even play music on "Music Television" anymore.

While thawing out post-shoveling of the past week or so I have continued to re-watching episodes of Deadwood on HBO GO. I am on episode ten of season one so, as you can see, I am not in a tremendous hurry to get done with it. I suppose, if this were my first time seeing it, I would be watching episodes more rapidly. Or, if I weren't doing so many things all at the same time - like having a life with responsibilities. I really like that the show continually uses my two very favorite cuss words (not Pneumonia or Topography). They both begin with the letter C which I think makes them sound even harsher because the K sound of the C makes then very curt and sharp. They are both included in George Carlin's "Seven Dirty Words" which makes them even better I suppose. Click that red link if you need a refresher on the list (don't play it loudly in a library or around children or prudes).

In case any of you has tried to reach Cha Cha (secret identity - Jill Helser) on Facebook she has been off of Facebook for, at least, two or three weeks / maybe months though she can still be tagged, oddly. She has not completely quit the social media time-suck (though she will eventually) but she suspended her account so she could live life in the real world rather than the virtual world. I like Facebook for many reasons: I am nosy, it is an easy place to promote the blog (and the podcast when we start that back up)... I am using Twitter more and more these days and she uses that almost exclusively for social things. It does seem more adult than Facebook which is probably another reason I am still on Facebook. I also like Pinterest, as does she, but that is a bit different that the others I mentioned.

Now it is about three hours from me writing that last paragraph. I stopped by my doctor's office to drop some papers off that need to be filled-out and faxed. I went to two supermarkets (why did they used to call them supermarkets rather than grocery stores?) to get supers groceries. I made my giant salad that I will use all week for my work lunches. I cleaned the kitchen. It is my turn to make dinner tonight and I was requested to make my mini meatloaves. If you have a pencil write down this very complicated recipe - mix ground meat of your choice (I use two pounds of ground turkey) and mix thoroughly with one jar of giardiniera. I, then, put the meat into cupcake and/or bundt cake pans and cook at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about and 45 minutes (I check it constantly until it is thoroughly cooked) and it changes depending on what kind of meat you use. I have also done it as one large, traditional meatloaf but I like the small loaves better as they are easy to portion and they crumble nicely on tortilla shells or on a salad... They are also easier for travel like in work or school lunches...

"Suffragette" is on HBO right now. What a sad time in our country's history when women and people, other than Caucasian men, were made to feel lesser than they were. I am so happy that I was raised to believe that ALL people are equal no matter their gender or race or pigment or religion... I have known people that have felt differently and I know there is still some of that in people I know and I even saw it in some previous generations of my own family. I am very proud that my children were raised to know that color or creed or religion sexual orientation or gender or political leanings are not reasons to dislike people. I allow people to believe what they want to believe but I do not choose to associate with people of prejudice based on gender or color or religion...

I have begun working on a new novel. Actually, I have been working on researching this one for several years and I believe I am about ready to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard more precisely). I think my previous paragraph made decide to mention that as my story will be based on my strong feelings / leaning that way. It will be a historical fiction based on fact (if that makes sense). I like to refer it to that way because I can base it on actual events and throw in my own prose (not flowery prose my any means).

I just got word from the boss that I am taking Jeff to Daisy Hill Puppy Farm at 16:00 for his annual checkup. It's not really called Daisy Hill Puppy Farm but that is what I call it. It is actually called Autumn Green Animal Hospital. He just took (was given) his last heart-worm pill and we need to get next year's supply. He also has a weird growth on one of his paws but it appears to be one of those weird toes so I do not really want to mess with it or cut it off not knowing exactly what it is. I am not a Veterinarian though I do play one (not on TV) on occasion. He loves riding in the car so this will be a nice ride to Geneva or Elburn or St. Charles or Wasco or whatever they consider that area.

Speaking of dogs - I wish the St. Bernard that lives behind us wore a keg of brandy around his neck. If Jeff were a St. Bernard I promise he would have a keg necklace but it would probably have scotch or tequila in it. Perhaps rum.

I have some other things I need to get done quickly now that this has been thrown into my mix. I also have to start the meatloaves. I begin my work-week again tomorrow. Ironically, there is the drier telling me that it is time to fold the clothes.

C U Next Time (to, sort of, paraphrase Deadwood).  MITM (out) TA!