Lemonade, anyone?

Well, as J-man put it, we have one good leg between us.

He had a stroke many years ago that left him paralyzed on one side. He manages remarkably well--til something happens. Last weekend he developed severe pain in the other hip, so much so I couldn't get him down the steps into the car, and had to call a non-emergent transport to get him to the hospital where I worked--as I started my shift. Turns out it wasn't the dislocation or stress fracture I feared, but a bad case of bursitis. ICU (which is right next door to my unit) was nice enough to let me put him in an empty bed til I could finish out my shift and take him home. He's doing much better now, thank goodness. He did leave my cell phone in his hospital gown, and it went through the wash, but hey, it was 3 years old and now I can justify getting a new one.

Then last week, I started having some pain in my knee--the one I DIDN'T injure last May. At first I chalked it up to a new cholesterol med, but it kept getting worse and it's the same pain I had in the knee I sprained. So here I am, on one crutch, on night call for the weekend, but not worried, because I know we're fully staffed. You got it--the hospital called. It was my fault: I should have told them earlier I couldn't take call. My poor patients didn't know quite what to think. But, bless her heart, one of our contract nurses responded to a call from the charge nurse, and I was able to leave by midnight.




I need to do laundry, I need to go get groceries, I need to get these newsletters to the post office today, and Tandi is taking advantage of our joint disabilities to take a vacation from housetraining. BUT--Season 3 of Grey's Anatomy was in the mailbox when I got home. And now I'm off call for the weekend.




Life's little lemons. 8^)

Summary of My Last Year on the Computer

(I just love this!)



I must send my thanks to whoever sent me the email about rat poop in the glue
on envelopes because I now have to use a wet towel with every envelope that
needs sealing.

Also, now I have to scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason.

I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl (Penny Brown)
who is about to die in the hospital for the 1,387,258th time.

I no longer have any money at all, but that will change once I receive the
$15,000 that Bill Gates at Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in
their special e-mail program.

I no longer worry about my soul because I have 363,214 angels looking out for
me, and St. Theresa's novena has granted my every wish.

I no longer eat KFC because their chickens are actually horrible mutant freaks
with no eyes or feathers.

I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water
buffalo on a hot day!

Thanks to you, I have learned that my prayers only get answered if I forward
an email to seven of my friends and make a wish all within five minutes.

Because of your concern I no longer drink Coca Cola because it can remove
toilet stains.

I no longer can buy gasoline without taking a man along to watch the car so a
serial killer won't crawl in my back seat when I'm pumping gas.

I no longer drink Pepsi or Dr. Pepper since the people who make these products
are atheists who refuse to put "Under God" on their cans.

I no longer use Saran wrap in the microwave because it causes cancer.

And thanks for letting me know I can't boil a cup water in the microwave
anymore because it will blow up in my face...disfiguring me for life.

I no longer check the coin return on pay phones because I could be pricked
with a needle infected with AIDS.

I no longer go to shopping malls because someone will drug me with a perfume
sample and rob me.

I no longer receive packages from UPS or Fed Ex since they are actually Al
Qaeda in disguise.

I no longer shop at Target since they are French and don't support our
American troops or the Salvation Army.

I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to dial a number for
which I will get a phone bill with calls to Jamaica Uganda, Singapore, and
Uzbekistan.

I no longer have any sneakers -- but that will change once I receive my free
replacement pair from Nike.

I no longer buy expensive cookies from Neiman Marcus since I now have their
recipe.

Thanks to you, I can't use anyone's toilet but mine because a big brown
African spider is lurking under the seat to cause me instant death when it bites
my butt.

Thank you too for all the endless advice Andy Rooney has given us. I can live
a better life now because he's told us how to fix everything.

And thanks to your great advice, I can't ever pick up $500 dropped in the
parking lot because it probably was placed there by a sex molester waiting
underneath my car to grab my leg.

Oh, and don't forget this one either! I can no longer drive my car because I
can't buy gas from certain gas companies!

If you don't send this e-mail to at least 47,000 people in the next 47seconds,
a large dove with diarrhea will land on your head at 5:47 PM tomorrow afternoon
(your time), and the fleas from 47 camels will infest your back side, causing
you to grow a hairy hump. I know this will occur because it actually happened
to a friend of my next door neighbor's ex-mother-in-law's second husband's
cousin's beautician.

Have a wonderful day....Oh, and one last tid-bit...
A scientist from Argentina, after a lengthy study, has discovered that people
with insufficient brain and sexual activity read their e-mail with their hand on
the mouse.
Don't bother taking it off now, it's too late!!

Friday night supper

I know I do well to get in 2 posts a week, much less 2 in a day, but I made a squash casserole from a new recipe and it was wonderful! So I just had to share the recipe. I think I got it from an online newsletter I subscribe to: "I'm Not Martha", but don't remember, so if I'm shorting someone on credit, I apologize. Researching it on Google showed the exact recipe from an old Southern Living Magazine.
Here is the recipe, and in parentheses are my modifications:

Zippy Squash Casserole

5 large yellow squash
2 T butter
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I didn't have only cheddar--used cheddar/Monterey Jack)
1 medium onion chopped
1/2 c. celery, chopped
3 slices bacon cooked and crumbled
1- 2 oz. jar pimentos (I used one roasted red pepper from a jar of them--GREAT substitute!)
1 T green chilies (Since we love green chile, I used a whole roasted one from my freezer. Gives it extra "hot")
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic salt (used garlic powder to cut down on the salt)
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 c soft breadcrumbs (used the plain breadcrumbs from the store)
1 T butter melted
Wash squash, trim off ends, slice and place in boiling salted water. Cook 15-20 minutes or until tender. Drain. Combine next 10 ingredients; add squash, stirring well. Spoon mixture into a buttered casserole dish.

Combine breadcrumbs and melted butter (I stirred them in the same bowl that had the onion mixture, to flavor the crumbs a little), sprinkle over the top. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Omigosh, this was so much better than the bland squash casseroles I've made in the past. J-man agreed this was a keeper, and he's gotten very picky these days. If you try this, please let me know what you think!

Fair entries--Show and Tell

Hurray, it's Show and Tell Friday over at Kelli's place--"There's No Place Like Home"! Click on that logo to the left, and enjoy the eye candy! Here's my Show and Tell.

Well, as I said in my last post, I decided to enter a couple of my wallhangings into the regional fair this year--my first ever competition. Tues. was the last day we could enter anything, so I planned to finish hand-sewing the binding down and take it over after getting off work Tues. morning. Usually there's a lull between about 1am and 4am, but not that night. No problem, I'll just finish it after work, because it would be 9am before they'd accept it anyway. Oops--forgot to bring needles! Dashed over to Wal-Mart, picked up some needles, then parked in the parking lot at the fair and spent 1 1/2 hour in the increasing heat, sewing down the binding, and attaching labels to the back.

Here is a photo of the "window" quilt I entered:


It's draped across my cutting table at home, before finishing the binding.



At an estate sale, I bought a tin of old jewelry bits and pieces that someone had obviously intended to craft with. I took old clip earrings and pulled the 'curtains' back with them when I finished the binding. The fabric is from the State Park line of, I believe, Northcott's fabric line. I think the name is either Blue Ridge Mountains or Smoky Mountain state park. I used the attic windows layout, but hate y-seams, so used half-square triangles to make the window sashings. It's machine-pieced and hand-quilted. I used metallic thread for the water--I think you can click on the photo and see it.


The second item was one I've shown before--it's the apple wall-hanging I designed for my house. All items had to be made between last September and this September to be eligible, and I started this at last year's Apple Festival.


See the worm? My own little joke. Was he in the apple just eaten? Or did he eat the apple?


Judging was Wed. and I haven't heard anything, so probably didn't place. But it was fun, and it's the first time I've publicly displayed anything I did, so that alone was an accomplishment for me. I'm planning on going either tonight or tomorrow, so will report back then. Wish me luck?

Busy

Where do the days go?

DD left last week to move into her new rental house, and I followed her on Thurs. to take the grandcats and the remainder of her things, and to help her put up curtains and rods. Her landlord bought and gutted an old 1930's home, and his wife tried to stay within the time period with the insides. The windows have moldings, and a couple have ledges, but they are pull-down so they can be washed. The kitchen cabinets are dark, almost burgundy in color, and the faucets are porcelain, but she has a dishwasher. The floors are either dark red-gold Pergo and stone-looking tile, though how they laid those on that floor is beyond me. I get seasick just walking across it! She has to put her bed against a wall, or it goes rolling. lol But it's a charming little house and it will be great when she gets it all finished.

So besides that and working, I am also getting 2 wall-hangings ready to enter in the fair. The deadline has passed, but the head of the crafts section is a friend and fellow nurse, and she said I can just show up and they'll take them. However, the last day is Tuesday, and I work Mon. and Tues. nights, so I brought them to work with me so I could run them by afterwards. Wouldn't you know it's been a busy night, and I still have to hand sew the binding?

Anyway, more posts and photos when I get off this 3-day work stretch. Oh, and after I take these glasses back to the optometrist--they aren't right. Anything lower than breast level is a blur--and I am a short person.

Did everyone have a nice holiday weekend?