Now These are Cool

Dashed over to the grocery on Sunday to pick up ingredients for the next two new recipes I'm making. One, involving hamburger, I'm having second thoughts on, but I must persevere. The other is cookies so those I'm not worried about.

As I was leaving, my eye caught these lilies by the exit.

They were called "Love in Bloom". I like the dramatic deep burgundy contrasted with the white. My favorite lilies are "Stargazers", which are very similar to these.

They aren't as deep burgundy and have more "freckles". It would be outstanding to have a bed of lilies with all white in the center and then these two around the outside. Not on the list of garden things this year.

Happy Valentine's Day.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

Socks For a New Year

Remember when you were younger and, if someone asked you what you wanted for, say, Christmas, your mind raced to all the high end items you could think of? Well, mine did. Nothing was below $50, which is still a princely sum for one item gift. Life can feel like a game of oneupmanship; who has what and how can I get something comparable. That happens when you attach your self-worth to things. Funny how it takes having a lot of your ability to spend removed to have you look at what you really value.

When someone asks me what I want for [insert holiday], I really look at what gives me pleasure. It's not the cost that pleases me. It's the item and the sentiment which is, I hope, behind the gift. I've been so bad this first half of the year in not getting cards out for birthdays or holidays. If I do get the cards out, it's just a card with nothing hand written beyond my name. I have had no gumption to scribble words and my head feels like someone drained my personal dictionary. I feel as if I came into contact with the "villain" in The Ink Drinker. (This is a great book, too.) And sending a small token of my estimation of someone has been kind of right out. I have this, probably mistaken, belief that I simply cannot just send a card and, say, a Valentine's gift, without there being a 6 page letter attached. I'm fairly certain my friends will accept most anything I send them just to keep in touch.

So Valentine's Day came and I managed to get some cards out. One of my best friends, Patt, sent a small packet, which made me feel badly because I don't remember sending her anything. She sent me socks; wonderful, glorious socks.

Aren't those cool? I love the bright colors. She also sent these.

Cats. Best socks have cats on them.

Mother's Day arrived. I really botched that holiday. I didn't even get my mother a card, but I went to Iowa to get her and bring her to Illinois for her trip to Virginia. I bought her lunch and dinner for Mother's Day as we journeyed to Illinois. Carole sent a nice package with, you guessed it, socks.

Flying pigs!

Regal cats.

More cats and polka-dots. The last pair is the best.

Breakfast! I laughed so loudly when I opened these.

What this means is I can critically appraise my socks and remove those which are thread bare. I am thrilled. New socks are so comfortable. I would be happy if everyone gave me socks as a gift. I'm not fishing, mind you, just making an observation. These were such unexpected and fun gifts. Socks. I love socks.

Beverage:  hot cocoa

Deb

So You Don't Have To

I'm late with this food review. However, it's important to post my thoughts so, when they come around again, you have an idea of how I felt about these.

These were out around Valentine's Day. I'd heard about them from members of my World of Warcraft guild. I didn't get out much in February, so trying to find them took a back seat to just existing. Then, I had to go to Target for something and they were on an end cap. I won't eat coconut or mint M&Ms and I've heard a rumor of chili-spiced which is just...no. But something like this, I'll try.

As advertised on the package, they were pink, white and ivory. Taste? Well, they weren't bad. I've railed in this space about how I think M&M's needs to stay with what they do best: peanut, milk, and peanut butter M&M's. I'd allow the crispy ones. Those aren't bad either. The almond ones are blah. I know people who adore the coconut and mint ones so those can be on the shelf, too. But all the different flavors seem to me to be diluting what they do best. At Target right now are red, white and blue M&Ms. I can get behind changing the colors on the brands. That's a clever way to make them relevant to the upcoming holiday, but multiple flavors? I bought a bag of strawberry shortcake M&Ms. They were not horrible like the candy corn or pumpkin ones were, but they aren't anything I can't live without. There was a hint of strawberry but the overwhelming flavor was artificial white cake. Strawberry shortcake is an amalgam. It shouldn't be mostly about the cake. These were more bland than exciting.

So, my recommendation is, if you like M&Ms and want something of a novelty AND they are on sale, buy a bag. Otherwise, save your pennies or support the original flavors. Sometimes I get concerned that they will be so busy trying for new flavors that they will forget to make M&M's with peanuts.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

Ooey Gooey

I'm just going to leave this right here.

Friday the 13th's donut in honor of last Saturday's pseudo-holiday. Yeah.

Beverage:  English Breakfast tea

Deb

Like I Needed More M&M's

The count on top of the fridge stands at 8 separate bags of M&Ms. I also got a bag of what I thought was M&Ms from Kevin and Megan in Canada, only to find out they are Smarties.

I've taken them to work for boosting my morale during the day. After I have my lunch with it's fruit and sandwich or leftovers or soup, I have some chocolate. These have helped as I slog through more reports and process more data.

I had to go to CVS to get my monthly supply of RA meds and passed through the Valentine chocolate aisle. Now, with the sheer amount of M&Ms I have on the fridge, there is no need to contemplate the pink and red bags of pink, red and white candies. But then, a different colored bag caught my eye. Oh dear.

This is the only time these are available. CVS only had 2 bags and both came home with me.

No, I don't need more M&Ms, but it's the cherry ones. They are my all-time favorite. I will put them at the absolute bottom of the stack. That means, I should have them through October, just in time for the Halloween colored ones. If I'm really careful, I can stretch what I have into December of this year, just in time for Christmas presents. Maybe I should get another bag...

Beverage:  Hot Cider

Deb

Weeding the Socks

I'm progressing through the drawer. My feet and ankles have been swollen the past couple of days. It's something I need to consider when deciding on the socks for the wedding.

It doesn't look like it today, but when you add the shoes, my feet were uncomfortable.

As much as I like these socks, this is a boring combination.

Yesterday's socks complimented the shoes quite well.

I have had these socks for a very long time. This might be my oldest pair.

The problem is, they are a heavier fabric than others of this style. While the design would go quite well with a marriage, my feet felt pinched in the shoes. I could, I suppose, visit Target to check out their Valentine sock offerings. But I don't need socks, thanks to the Christmas haul, so that's a waste of money.

Wednesday's socks have some promise.

Cat socks. I have this design in a black or a blue background.

I kind of like this combo. This pair, the aqua pair and the blue stripe are in the "possibility" pile now.

Beverage:  Hot cider

Deb

You Asked For Them

I have great friends. You know the kind. They are the ones who "get" you. That's an overused word, but it's truth. If someone doesn't see your kind of humor or share most, but not all, of your tastes, they won't understand why you think Monty Python and the Holy Grail is the best movie to feature knights and bathroom humor ever made.

I engaged my friend, Patt, in a series of emails at the end of January. They started with the usual, "How's the weather?" "Awful. How's it by you?" "Rotten." She mentioned, at the time, that she was sucking on Lifesavers. She'd been given a bunch and they are a nice treat with few calories but just enough flavor to tide one over when you're between meals. I realized I hadn't had a roll of Lifesavers in my purse in years. It used to be something I always had. She's right in that the little burst of flavor can be all you need to get through the late morning or afternoon between meals. And Lifesavers can double as cough drops. I used them alot for that reason, if I didn't have cough drops in my purse.

She mentioned that in her package were banana-flavored Lifesavers and they were not a flavor she liked. "I adore the other ones, just not banana." I mentioned that I really liked the banana ones. Pineapple-flavored got chucked into the garbage. I never had a roll of the tropical flavors in my purse. I usually had the 5 standard flavors or, if I could find them, wintergreen. Oh heavens. Wintergreen is my favorite, but they are so hard to find. I jokingly told her I'd take her banana-flavored ones. I assumed she had a roll and not a box of Lifesavers.

Fast forward to February 12th. I come home and there is a box with Disney emblems all over it. I look at this and think, "Oh Carole was smart and got something for Valentine's Day when she visited Disney World back in November." Imagine my surprise when I opened the box and saw this.

It took me a minute or so to figure this out because, no, I hadn't looked at the return address label. I asked for them? What are these? They are lemon Life...oh wait a minute. I burst out laughing. It felt kind of weird because I thought when I opened the box and realized what these were, that Patt had gone through her rolls of Lifesavers picking out the banana ones. She had then just dropped them in a bag to send to me.

When I opened the bag, I find that the Lifesavers are individually wrapped.

You know how you'll share a lot with your friends. I wasn't sure I wanted to share unwrapped banana Lifesavers picked from a roll and tossed into a bag. It's one thing to have your friend point the roll at you and say, "It's a banana one. Want it?" You can see the status of the Lifesaver, but I thought, "If these are just Lifesavers in a bag, I may not eat them." This thought leads me to another thought, "When did I get so paranoid?" I trust my friends. Why would I consider tossing perfectly good Lifesavers because they weren't in wrapped packages? Hmmm...there's a blog post in that. But I digress.

Patt is right. A Lifesaver at 10:30 and 3:00 eases the hunger pangs until lunch or dinner. I am so enjoying the explosion of banana flavor and I giggle every time I open one up thinking about how I got these. And, these are my Lifesavers. You get your own.

Beverage:  English Breakfast tea

Deb

Score!

The game plan was to go to Mariano's and then to Target and then to CVS. I needed a few groceries and I needed to pick up a new prescription for the pain in my right leg. I had only one thing on my mind at Target.

Score.

Target employees had dismantled over 80% of the Valentine's display by the time I walked into the store at 9:15 a.m. Easter M&M's have been artfully arranged on the end cap where, the week earlier, Valentine bags of pink, red and white sat. I nearly panicked. I couldn't see any Valentine candy. Giving the employees wide berth, particularly the gal tasked with lowering an extending sign that just didn't want to collapse, I found the candy on a back set of shelves. All the M&M's were lumped together, arranged by colored bags, but in one small section. There were probably 7 bags of these left. The sign said 30% off.

Yes, I admit it. I was sorely tempted to grab all 7 bags. My favorite flavor has been the peanut filled ones, Mr. Yellow. But when I stumbled upon these 2 years ago, he was replaced. Thankfully, they are only available around Valentine's Day and I've only seen them in Target. Must be something between Target and M&M special flavors. (I think the bag on the very bottom of the Easter display was coconut. No thanks.) I only took 4 bags, however. It seemed wrong of me, no matter how much I like these, to take all that was left. Seven bags looked kind of greedy. I wouldn't have had that angst had they been down to the last 4 bags. MINE!

So, I'm good now. I have not checked to see when Easter actually arrives, but I shall ration these and then head over to Target the day after for some pastel Mr. Yellow. With some luck, I can make these last through Easter, through spring and, perhaps up to Memorial Day.

Beverage:  Black Cherry Seltzer

Deb

I Got a Date

He's not very tall, but he's really good looking and he wears the most intoxicating cologne.

I'll be heading to Target tomorrow in the hopes of getting a few more of these. That will use up the $2.36 left on the gift card sent last month. Priorities, you know.

Beverage:  Huckleberry tea

Deb

Oh For a Pipecleaner or Two or Three

Last year, I participated in an exchange of Valentines organized by the "owner" of one of the blogs I read, listed to the right. It was great fun and I came up with what I thought was a clever handmade Valentine.

She's at it again and I have until Saturday to decide if I want in or not. I got two unique Valentines (I was supposed to get three.). I just marvel at how clever and crafty some people are.

I was thinking about this exchange two weeks ago, while sitting in the Jeep reading as I was waiting for the right time to go to my next appointment. Frankly, the idea of crafting Valentines leaves me kind of weak. But it was a lot of fun.

The area where I was had a JoAnn Fabrics and Crafts and I wandered in there during a rather long break. I lack any kind of door decoration for Valentine's Day except for a very small sisal heart Carole made for me in grade school. While I adore the heart, I wanted something bigger. Fortunately, there was a sale. (When is there not a sale at JoAnn?) After wandering about the store, I settled on this.

It's unusual, which I like. It's sturdy, which is very good. It's sort of visible from the sidewalk, which is also a plus. But, it lacks something. The heart is puffy. There's a good amount of space in the center, space I could fill with something. I'm not sure what. It will come to me and then I will modify this and it will be perfect for me.

Having this hanging on my door tugs at me that I could craft Valentines. I could participate in the exchange. As a pack rat, I have all sorts of things which could be used for Valentines. When you let your mind wander, it suddenly hits you. Those! Of course! I could make something light weight to mail out of those. I still have one Valentine from last year's piece of sparkly paper so I just need to assemble it. The search of the craft drawers yielded "those" but the one thing I think I need, pipe cleaners, is missing. I could have sworn I had a bag of them. Didn't I use them to make the legs on the styrofoam spiders from a couple years ago?

There they are to the right. Nope, they weren't pipe cleaners. They were called "chenille sticks". Sigh. Well, there is a coupon on the fridge for JoAnn. I guess I can head to the local store and see if they have chenille sticks in red or pink or white. I found the glue gun, which I'm going to need. I told myself that I shouldn't sign up unless I had the Valentine's made, but I'm thinking I could sign up as long as I have them started.

I'm still on the fence. Can you tell? I'll let you know at the end of the week what I decide.

Beverage:  Darjeeling Tea

Deb

Crafting Valentines

I meant to post photos of the valentines I received in the Aunt Peaches great Valentine's Day swap. The lady running the Aunt Peaches blog, linked to the right, conceived this idea three years ago. Your requirement was to provide a name and working address and then agree to make 3, count 'em 3, handmade valentines and send them to the people whose names she provided. You can read about my handmade valentine's here. It was a lot of fun and I think I might just do the same thing again next year.

I only got two out of the exchange, not the three you were supposed to get. I kept holding off posting photos because I wanted to post when all three came, but number three has never materialized so it's time to post what I received. Ironically, both of the valentines came from Washington state. I have written thank yous to the creators because, well, it's just something I try to do when I receive a gift. Meredith will testify that she gets all teary-eyed from my thank yous but it's part of living a grateful life, being thankful and expressing that gratitude and thanks for things people do. I don't always succeed at that but I try.

Anyway, I was quite astounded by the packages I received. Here's package #1.

The creator of this package must have a really good sewing machine because the words "Valentine" and "Love" were stitched. She put a lot of time into these fabric "found" valentines. Look at all the buttons and the ring on the ornament. I have visions of her combing flea markets for baubles. I have that container of buttons and, for a minute, I thought about writing to ask if she wanted it. But then I realized that this creation gives me ideas for how to use what I have.

I thought the glittered wishbone was inspired, but I haven't the heart to make a wish and use it. So, it sits in its package in a drawer waiting for the time I forget why I have it and use it. The ornament will be kept for Christmas and, well, I ate the chocolate bar. It was really good.

Here's package #2.

I really liked the simplicity of this design. I've looked at the heart from every which way and it eludes me how she made this. It's "just" tissue paper but it's all puffy, although the post office did its level best to squash it. I added the pencil to my craft stash for upcoming projects. And the calculator, no, it's not edible, but man does it smell like chocolate. I stuck it in the desk drawer in the office and, a month later, I'm still smelling chocolate.

This was fun and I will, most certainly, do this again. Once I sign up, I need to make my valentines then and there and not wait until I get the names to whom I'm supposed to send and have that few days of abject panic when I can't think what I'm going to make. Of course, that panic led to something I'm thinking of making for all my friends so perhaps it was a good thing.

Beverage:  Yorkshire Gold tea

Deb

Last Flowers

The amaryllis has gone dormant now. Here are the last flowers.

I can't say enough about how happy this made me; to come home and find these smiles in the living room. I'm sad that it's over but I'm going to make an effort to bring this bulb back. It's going to take some work on my part as these are tropical plants and Wheaton, Illinois is hardly tropical. But this beauty in the dead of winter is something I'd like to try to recreate. I finally took the dead and dried bits of Carole's Valentine's bouquet to the compost pile this week, too. I have a lovely clear glass vase to use. I'm thinking a bouquet from the grocery store is in order.

Beverage:  Lady Gray tea

Deb

What Valentine's Day Flowers Mean

Aren't they beautiful? I cut an inch off the stem and plunged them into water last night as I was supposed to. I didn't realize it this morning until I'm here at work posting photos of them, but I should have added more water to the vase. It will be dry when I get home. Oh well, they will perk back up if they droop a bit. They were quite droopy when I pulled them from the box once I got home. But, by bedtime last night, they were bright and colorful. I didn't realize the blue flowers were lilies until I pulled them from the package. It's such a beautiful bouquet. I'm so thrilled.

The second amaryllis bulb cracked this morning.

I will probably have flowers by Saturday.

I am so happy right now. A year ago, at this time, I was feeling sorry for myself. A year of practicing gratitude has caused me to look at things so much differently. Would I wish for a special someone in my life? Of course I would. But, you know what? I can be happy wherever I am and in whatever situation I find myself.

I look at these flowers and it's like life is smiling back at me. I remember the words of Ebenezer Scrooge at the end of "A Christmas Carol". He's just sent Bob Cratchit out for a new coal scuttle and he's trying to get his work done. He gives up and says, "I don't deserve to be so happy, but I can't help it." That's sort of how I feel. Actually, Ebenezer, we all deserve to be happy. Finding that little bit of happiness in each day, not just when you have flowers blooming in your living room, changes your whole point of view.

It really is a happy Valentine's Day.

Beverage:  Huckleberry tea

Deb

Flowers!

I got flowers from my daughter today for Valentine's Day. The UPS man really enjoyed bringing me the box. He walked into my office and said, in a very sing songy voice, "Somebody likes you. Someone sent you flowers." I didn't believe him. No one sends me flowers, well, almost no one. Ignore the amaryllis Bill sent at Christmas. I pulled the perforated zip opening and, wow, someone did send me flowers. Who?

The UPS guy had to point out the LARGE white card that says "Thinking of You" on it because lord knows I couldn't find it and didn't know who would send me flowers. I was just so thrilled, the obvious wasn't obvious.

See the plastic covered box at the bottom, just off the middle? That box contains chocolates. I couldn't get a good photo of it. The UPS guy was having as much fun watching me open this as I was. He's been the office's UPS guy for years. I should bake him some cookies or something because he really takes care of us. He gave us his phone number so when we have something coming that's time sensitive, we can text him in the morning and he'll look out for it. I'll see him over by Subway or Panera and we will wave at each other.

Here are the flowers.

Tulips! I'm thrilled. I'm going to have to rearrange the top of the organ so I can set these next to the amaryllis.

It can be cold and dank and overcast and snowy all it wants to. I have fresh flowers in my house to remind me that spring is approaching.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

Valentines

It's a great idea. If you have a popular web site and you're willing to do the work, have a valentine exchange. That's what Aunt Peaches is doing. It's one of the blogs I read. You send in your name, address and email and, in return,  you get 3 names to whom you send hand made valentines. That's the kicker. No Hallmark or American Greetings off the shelf valentines here. You gotta get your creative juices going and make something.

Sure. I can do that. Three valentines? Piece of cake. So, I sign up. Wednesday, the email comes with my names. "Please have your valentines in the mail by February 5th." Wait. What? Cripes, that's next week.

Funny how time poofs and the deadline is here when you vowed you'd get these done at least a week before they were due. Um...yeah. As I was falling asleep on Wednesday night, an idea came to me. "I can do that," I thinks. "I just need some supplies." After the doctor's visit on Thursday, I dashed up to JoAnn Fabrics for supplies. Saturday was the major craft day with this morning, the finishing day. Here's what I did.

I bought heavy card stock in a creamy white and covered with glitter. I've been brushing minute pieces of glitter off my clothes since yesterday, but it looks really neat. The 12 x 12 piece of stock was cut into four pieces.

Then, I took a piece of paper cut the same size as one of these pieces and cut a heart template.

At this point, I had to work around the cat. I traced around the heart on each of the pieces, moving the tail as necessary.

When that was done, I took a piece of the heart tissue paper, folded it so I had four layers, all bigger than the card piece, and cut four squares the same size as the card stock. She was happy as long as she had a piece of tissue paper to lie on.

Set these aside. They will be the back of the stock heart. Resume tracing the heart template onto your card pieces. She got bored at this point and left.

Now, you're going to make a grid on the back side of the heart. I measured and marked off every inch across the heart in both directions, left to right and top to bottom. Then, I measured one quarter inch (1/4") off the original mark. It's, ultimately, going to look like a lattice when you're done. You can measure square, as I did, or change the measurement with left to right or top to bottom.

Once you've put the grid on the heart, you'll need to eyeball the heart shape onto your grid using the same width as in your grid. Draw the interior line for the heart shape.

Then, take an Exacto knife or other sharp cutting tool and cut out the shapes following your grid pattern. I do NOT recommend using a scissors. You won't get clean lines and if you're using heavy duty card stock, as I did, the scissors won't poke through without a lot of force. Slowly cut out the squares and oddball shapes.

Be sure you have something below your stock as you'll be cutting through it and you don't want to mar a table top. I used a cutting board.

Eventually, with the last card, I wised up and cut all the lines in one direction and then rotated the card to cut all the lines in another direction. Then, it was like poking out paper dolls from my youth, quite fun actually. The amount of force I needed to use to cut through the stock was a bit hard on my hand and made it ache so I'm glad I didn't decide that everyone on my list was getting a hand made card. It's a great idea but not so practical unless I start now for next year.

When you're done, you'll have something that looks like this. This was cool in and of itself. I almost stopped there, but it wasn't what I had in mind.

Cut out the heart shape. Now, round up those tissue paper squares you cut earlier. Take your glue and put a line around the outside of the heart shape.

Stick it onto the right side of the tissue paper square. Your tissue paper is going to be a bit bigger than your heart, so if your tissue paper has a design on it, like mine did, you can decide what part of the design shows through the lattice.

At this point, the other cat decided to see what I was doing and was in my face. She didn't step on the hearts but sniffed everything before deciding that there wasn't anything exciting going on up here so she'd go back to the top of the recliner. Such help.

Once you get the hearts glued to the tissue, you need to let this dry, preferably overnight. In the morning, cut the tissue away from the heart. I just used a scissors to cut around the shape.

When that is done, take a piece of clear tape and apply it to the area below the top point, where the round sides of the heart meet in the middle. Take a hole punch and punch the tissue through the tape and tissue. Measure a piece of grosgrain ribbon, thread through the hole and tie in a knot.

There. Done. Here are the three valentines ready for mailing. I opted not to add the gem. They didn't need it. I'll save that for something else.

I'm really happy with how these turned out. They are sturdy but lightweight and won't cost a ton to mail. They are bigger than a usual valentine card. I hope the ladies who get them will be happy with them. I saved the one piece of card stock that I didn't cut. I'll use it as an idea. This would be cool as a snowflake for Christmas or a pumpkin for Halloween or a cake for birthday. The colors of both card stock and tissue paper are endless.

Supply list:

• One piece heavy card stock
• One package tissue paper
• Scrap paper to draw template
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Exacto knife or other sharp cutting implement
• Glue
• Hole punch
• Tape
• Ribbon

Cats are optional.

Beverage:  Darjeeling tea

Deb

Decisons. Decisions.

It's back.

Available only around Valentine's Day, the cherry filled M&M's are back. I got a bag and a bag of my usual favorites over the weekend.

I think I could be persuaded to list the cherry filled ones as my favorite. If you've never had them, you owe it to yourself to seek them out. They are more expensive than the regular flavors. The bag of cherry filled was the same price as the peanut ones.

But oh...

Do I eat them first or save them? I could always go back for more bags of the cherry filled. Such decisions.

Beverage:  Darjeeling tea

Deb