Shining The Light

What? You didn’t know I’d left town?

wendyblanton — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:49:53 +0000

Yup, I did! I went on my annual trek to the rendezvous in Florida. It was a little different this year because of Dad’s back surgery last September. They’re staying down there for a couple months, so we day tripped the rendezvous instead of camping. On the plus side, Eric flew down with me and stayed for the long weekend, which was a lot of fun. He’s been to rendezvous before, but the Alafia is in the same place and at the same time every year, and it’s huge. I think I heard they had around 1,300 campers this year. One of the really fun things was that the tin type photographer came back. Great timing, since Eric was with me! In case you missed it on Facebook, here’s the picture we took together.

Later in the week, Dad, Linda, and I went back to take a “new” family photo:

Yes, I’m Scottish in one and English in the other. I switched back and forth depending on how hot it was!

It wasn’t all fun and games this year. I did actually work a little. I read through what I have so far on “Honor” and, quite frankly, found it to be far more shallow than I want. I had time to think through some things to add in, but I’ve got to do some more research on the Rising before I make definite decisions.

In related news, I found out before I left that my day job is ending in April. The Boss has decided to retire, and if we don’t find a buyer for the restaurant, we’re closing it down. It was a shock at first, but we all agreed that it’s time to move on to something different. I liked office work and wouldn’t mind getting back into that, but I don’t really want to work full time. At this point, a flexible schedule (in terms of scheduling time off rather than shifting work hours) is more important to me than getting top dollar, and I suspect that might be hard to find, especially in this economy. However, I’m confident that if I’m meant to have that perfect job, it will become available at the right time. For now, I’ve decided to increase my work hours to 25-30 so when I do get the perfect job, it won’t be a shock. Since I can’t control the day job hours, I’m going to fill in with writing. Next week I have 22-25 hours scheduled (depending if I need to work a shower on Saturday). We’ll so how that goes. I’ve gone public with it now, so I’ll need to stay accountable!

Entropy

wendyblanton — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:03:22 +0000

It started a few months ago. The dryer started beeping randomly. Not much at first, but it got to the point that we had to unplug it when it wasn’t in use because the beeping would drive us crazy. When the repairman came out, he made a quick diagnosis for which a part needed to be ordered. Since he’d finished so quickly, I asked if he had time to look at the water heater, which had been making scary rumbling sounds, sometimes loud enough to hear downstairs. That turned out to be an easy fix.

Next, the heater on the hot tub went out. I’m not sure when it went; it may have been before the dryer. It wasn’t a big deal because we hadn’t been using it. The weather and our schedules kept us away. With winter here and Alex home on break, it became more of an issue and a repairman was called.

I thought we had everything shipshape again until Eric started a brisket on New Year’s Day. When he turned on the oven, the gas came on, the igniter clicked, but it didn’t light. We played around with it for a few minutes (after opening a window so we wouldn’t get gassed), but we couldn’t find the pilot light. You’d think it would be obvious; the inside of the oven isn’t that big! The next step was to turn to the Oracle That Is Google. There, Eric learned that our 7-year-old stove is no longer manufactured, but that it should be a matter of replacing the igniter. Fortunately, Mom bought us a roaster oven a few years back that usually sits in the laundry room gathering dust. It saved New Year’s dinner and a couple dinners since. It does take up a fair amount of counter space, but when I’m not using it, I store it handily in the oven.

I hate to even say it, but that leaves the washer and the dishwasher. Hopefully they’ll wait until summer to get wonky so we can spread the repair costs out a little bit!

Lightening

wendyblanton — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 15:46:11 +0000

I’ve been working half-heartedly on decluttering for quite a while. It has consisted mostly of putting things I don’t need into boxes to (eventually) go to Good Will. The trouble with doing it some at a time is that the Good Will boxes themselves become clutter. Add to that the large boxes I’d put aside for later Good Will runs, and you get what looks like the start of a hoarder binge.

Yesterday Alex carted off what I had so far to donate. The sum total was two boxes and a full duffel bag. I really wanted to have more ready to go, but that’s what was ready, so off it went. This morning, Eric took the big boxes from the dining room out to be recycled. I was busy making tea and dealing with hungry furries, so they were half gone before I realized it. The spot looked so open and clean (granted, the carpet was squished, but that’s an easy fix) that I didn’t stop him from taking the rest. It’s amazing the difference just getting those few things out made.

Tomorrow there will be a big push. Some of the Christmas decorations have come down already. Tomorrow, the tree and everything else will be packed back into my office closet to rest up for next year. I have some new baskets to find a function for. They would have gone into the donation box, too, but I’m a sucker for a pretty basket, and I can always find a use for them. Maybe we’ll have an actual clean start for the year.

Not So Freebie

wendyblanton — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 22:23:02 +0000

I had a message on my answering machine Monday that my business card had been pulled at the Hyatt Starbucks in St. Louis, and I could come in for two free drinks and pastries at my convenience. To say I was surprised is an understatement. I put my card in that drawing at the conference in September! As it turned out, Vicky and I were planning to go to the art museum yesterday to see Monet’s Waterlillies (on exhibit at the St Louis Art Museum in until Jan 22), so we stopped at the Hyatt to collect our plunder.

First, parking in St. Louis is never my friend. Rather than driving around and around looking for a spot on the street near the Hyatt in the rain, I pulled into the parking garage. I knew it wasn’t free, and maybe it was silly to pay for parking when we would be there less than an hour, but between the one-way streets, traffic, and rain, it seemed worth the trouble. I didn’t pay attention to how much parking was.

Turns out, it was $8.00. I would have paid about that for our drinks and pastries, I think! But that was just the beginning. Getting from the freeway to the Hyatt wasn’t so bad, but getting back to the freeway wasn’t as easy as going back the way we came. It took over half an hour and the GPS on my phone to get back to I-64. Crazy! So figure in the gas I burned being lost into the cost of my free caffeine fix. That’s why I make Eric drive when we go into the city. He has a knack of finding places, even if he’s never been somewhere before. He found the right exit to the Alamo in San Antonio the first time, and if you’ve ever driven the beltway around San Antonio you know how tricky it can be.

The moral of the story, my friends, is if you’re going to throw your business card into a drawing, do it in a place that’s easy to get to, in an area that you can get around easily.

Easiest cookie recipe ever!

wendyblanton — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 20:34:50 +0000

My friend Tammy posted a cookie recipe on her blog last spring. Because I had a specific recipe bookmarked, I didn’t see the more recent ones she posted until this week. Brilliant, I know. Here’s her recipe:

White cake mix
1 egg
1/4 c. oil
1/4 c. water
candy sprinkles to dip unbaked cookies in
Bake at 350* for 15 minutes.

She posted such a glowing report that I dug through my pantry and found a spice cake mix. They mixed up in under five minutes, so in about 35 minutes I had a few over 3 dozen cookies. (I used the small Pampered Chef scoop.) Frankly, they could use a little dressing up since I skipped the sprinkles, but they were tasty and would be great with an afternoon cup of tea. Or coffee, if that’s your thing.

What I really, really love about this recipe is the endless possibilities. You can use any cake mix, dress it up if you want to, and it will still be as fast. My next try will be a white or yellow cake with the zest and juice of an orange in place of the water. You could do white cake with lime for Cinco de Mayo, chocolate with candy hearts for Valentine’s Day (although a test run would be appropriate; I don’t know how the candies would do in the oven), cherry or strawberry for 4th of July, your favorite for Saturday. (You don’t celebrate Saturday?)

For my Weight Watchers partners, Tammy’s cookies are 1 point. Mine were a tad bit bigger and came out to 2. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I believe it’s time for a cookie and a cup of Earl Grey. Hot.

Christmas music?

wendyblanton — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 03:38:13 +0000

We have a radio station here that plays Christmas music around the clock during the holidays, so we listen to it sometimes in the car. I’m wondering, is it the only station that plays The Charlie Brown Theme and “My Favorite Things” (from the Sound of Music)? They’re not really Christmas songs, so why are they only played at Christmas? And if they’re going to play “My Favorite Things,” why can’t they play the Julie Andrews version? They play Barbra Streisand’s, and she sings it like a dirge. I’m sure she meant it to get dramatic and serious, but she’s supposed to be singing about her favorite things! Why would you be serious about that? I’m happy and enthusiastic when I talk about my favorite things. Maybe she chilled her brain in the air conditioning and can’t get enthusiastic about anything anymore.

Anyway, that’s been bugging me for a while. Hopefully it’s out of my system and I can move on to other things that bug me.

November wrap-up

wendyblanton — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 17:05:44 +0000

What a busy month. We had a long weekend in Michigan and Boys for Thanksgiving (actually, turkey for Thanksgiving, and the Boys shared it with us), all with a healthy dose of NaNo.

This is the first year I’ve joined in the madness and didn’t win. Total word count for the month was 36,645. I could be disappointed and upset, but I can’t even work up alligator tears. All things considered, 36,000 words is pretty darn good considering I only wrote 19 of the 30 days. It’s 36,000 more words than I had one month ago, and I’m in decent shape to finish by Christmas. Not great. Not stellar. I woke up the other morning, and for some reason, realized that there isn’t nearly enough conflict built in. Writers always talk about making their characters’ lives miserable, and that’s hard for me. I need to get out of the house with my notebook and create a little mayhem because, quite frankly, everyone is dancing around on the stage with flowers in their hair, and that gets really boring, really fast. No wonder I always get stuck in the middle! I can’t stay awake!

I did resist the temptation to skip the middle and move on. If I had I might have hit my 50k, but the story wouldn’t have gotten finished. There are only half a dozen unfinished stories on my hard drive that fell prey to THAT tactic. This year was more about figuring out what my Achilles heel is than collecting yet another electronic ‘Yeah Me’ certificate. This story might actually get finished, and that’s the first step to seeing it in print.

Happy Thanksgiving!

wendyblanton — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 20:16:48 +0000

Blessings upon all of you, near and far. Take some time to reflect on the good things in your life, remember and acknowledge the sad. It’s hard to remember sometimes that Thanksgiving isn’t about football, gorging, and napping.

Eric and I are sharing the cooking, and I did what I could yesterday, so today is quite enjoyable indeed. Mom called this morning to remind me that today is the 45th anniversary of the day I came home from the hospital. My brother would say that proves I’m a turkey. Then again, I always was a bit of a ham.

With that, I’ll leave you to enjoy your day.

Last multiple of 5 before the half century

wendyblanton — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 17:06:15 +0000

It’s my birthday again. If you can do first grade made, you can figure out how old I am. I’m not celebrating today. No, I’m not procrastinating my birthday. I’m not THAT bad. I’m just putting it off (yes, I know that’s the definition of procrastination) until Saturday, when the Boys get here. I’ll be doing a little shopping in conjunction with the airport run, and we’re going to have dinner at The Scottish Arms. I mean, really, what girl in her right mind wouldn’t want to celebrate her birthday surrounded by kilts? Local friends, you’re welcome to come have dinner (and/or scotch) with us. We’ll be there between 5 and 5:30, and we won’t be staying real late. It’s not because I’m old. It’s because I have to be at church to play handbells at 7 a.m. Sunday morning.

Today, I’m cleaning and writing. Well, cleaning for sure. Writing in theory. So far I have scrubbed the kitchen and powder room floors. They were Gross, and mopping doesn’t get the edges well, so Mr. Clean (Magic Eraser), my bucket and I teamed up to get them nice and sparkly. If I had just mopped, I would take my Martyr Points and move on, but since I scrubbed on my hands and knees, I will forgo them for praise and adoration. *Looks at family*

In a little while I’ll go to the gym and swim, and after that I get to go grocery shopping. Then I can come home and write. I already have chili in the crock pot, and I may get motivated to put some frozen bread dough in the oven to have with it. Or maybe I’ll go crazy and get some Fritos while I’m at the store. I’ll only have to resist them tomorrow, when Alex comes home and can rescue me from what’s left after dinner. Ooh, or Grands biscuits! Or both!!

I believe I have a Good Will run in my near future, too. It’s easier to toss it in the van and take it over than it is to find a place to put it out of the way while company is here.

So that’s my day! Isn’t this how you want to spend YOUR birthday?

Miss me?

wendyblanton — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 16:03:00 +0000

Eric and I made a quick run to Michigan over the long weekend. Mom and I went over some genealogy on one side of the family and she only sent a small stack of papers home with me. Way to go, Mom! On Dad’s side, we firmed up plans for our annual run-away-to-Florida in January. The rendezvous will be a little different this year. Since Dad is only two months post-op on his back surgery, we’re not camping this year. They’re renting a trailer for a couple of months, and we’ll day trip to the rendezvous. Eric will be with us for a couple of days, which will be AMAZING, and since we don’t have to break camp when the rendezvous is over, I can stay an extra day. I’ll get to fly whenever I want! No getting to the airport at 5 a.m. so I can get to camp before the gates close!

We have company coming this weekend, and there are ever-present words to be written. I’m not really behind the power curve. It just feels that way. Actually, I’m in pretty good shape. Vicky did a fair amount of cleaning while we were gone, and I left with word count a little ahead of the game. I had built in my weekend away, so I’m not behind. In fact, if I can swing 9,800 words in the next three days, I can take my birthday off. I could happen, but honestly I’m not counting on it. There are a lot of other things I need to do. I know the Boys who are coming could care less what my house looks like. They want a bed to sleep in, food, and our company, and I think maybe the bed is optional. I’ve never gotten any complaints about an air mattress on the floor. We’re only having two for Thanksgiving, though, so I have enough beds. They’ll have to be made. Need to put that on my list.

So that’s where we are, in good shape but a little freaked out by what’s ahead. I know I’m not over-caffeinated; I’ve only had one cup of tea. It was a big cup, but one all the same.

Off to make my list and get it together. At least I’ve managed to clear out e-mail.