Testing, 123

This is just a test blog to see how things are going with my tablet app. Yesterday was a wonderful day.  I got to paint my nails and J surprised me by getting my own gun! That's all for now and I hope to be back tonight to chat about yummy stuff!

Sunday Night Recap: Root Beer Pulled Pork

After a snowy weekend filled with cuddling up on the couch wrapped up in my bathrobe and a blanket and binge watching Game of Thrones, I'm struggling to be productive this Monday. Miracles abound and the kitchen table has been almost completely decluttered and wiped down. Then it will be time to slay the dishes beast again and what ever else pops up.

The pork last night turned out really well. The Comfort of Cooking provided my recipe. My roast was 4 pounds so I used two cans of root beer, and I didn't measure out the barbeque sauce 'cause I like to live dangerously in that way. We used cornmeal dusted Kaiser Rolls and had the potato and deviled egg salad on the side.

Root Beer Pulled Pork with Potato and Deviled Egg Salad

Don't be alarmed if you see layout changed going on here. I've been getting a little bored with how things look around here and I want the blog to be a little more organized and prettier. While I'm working on things though, it's going to be bare and simple because the "just right" images haven't been found yet. This morning I spent about an hour going through old posts and labeling them for future changes. There are still many more archived posts which should be labeled too, but I shouldn't be spending too much more time with that today. Yesterday the blog template pages sucked me in for almost two hours but nothing really looked good!

Time to get bundled up, go outside, and shovel out my Pilot so I can buzz off to my appointment and then I need to stop by Target to get a new small notebook for my daily to do lists. The previous one has gone MIA and it's driving me crazy not having it.

Day Dreaming

The Mr. and I are going to make our escape from suburbia up to the mountains some day. Last night and today I've been looking at for sale listings online and pondering what life will be like up there. I am planning for us to have hopefully at least one full acre of land to ourselves. I want to start an herb garden again, and grow some veggies too. Keeping some chickens would be nice because they are so zen and fresh eggs are the best! And speaking of critters I think we'd build a little Pet Hotel on the property too so that I can have it for my CT Pet Care. I want all wood and tile floors, a functional properly placed wood burning fire place, a finished basement, and a reasonably landscaped yard. I can't wait to get out of this suburban zombie ville! I probably will apply for jobs up there. But I think I will take a couple months off, at least. Spend some time baking and homesteading and plain old settling in. Really looking forward to moving. Hopefully this will be a reality in no more than two years.

At Odds

Finding myself at odds with stuff over the past couple weeks or so. I want to withdraw from people and close myself away. I've been hiding it pretty well I think. Yet I also want to talk to someone about stuff but I don't feel like I can word stuff right. I don't know where to start. So I haven't been saying much, if anything. My head and heart feel a little scrambled. I'm hoping that getting this out in the universe will help some, even though it seems vague and jumbled.

News... I guess.

Well, well. What's been going on?

I've been having a pretty good time at "The 'Bux". I've been rotating around somewhat evenly on the various positions, except for the bar. The shift supervisors never seem to put me on drink making duty. I really wish I knew why, and that it would change. I'm mostly on the front register marking cups and pastry bags and ringing up the lobby customers, along with the various other duties like cleaning up after my messy but lovable baristas and making sure the Pike Place is delectable. Once in a while I"ll "man" the drive through. I like taking the orders better than being at the window. My hips are at just the right height to constantly be banging up against the window sill and the register drawers over there are about to fall apart, making them wobbly and hard to close. All in all though, I love my times wearing the Green Apron and it's been nice to be able to help the green beans learn their stuff. I love most of my customers and the income of tips isn't too shabby either.

We haven't been out prospecting for gold much lately. It's been interesting to watch Gold Rush, and I'm wondering about some stuff. I think they ended the season somewhat abruptly. I wasn't thrilled with the last episode. I wonder what the Hoffman crew is going to do next? I'm really glad Grandpa Schnabel got to see Parker's wonderful hauls from his old ground. I'll be looking around for some Gold Rush fan blogs and checking out the twitter and facebook pages for the miners to keep up to date with them

We now own guns. So far we have a shotgun (Mossberg 930 SPX) and a pistol (Glock G20 Gen4). We invested in the firearms to have as "insurance" against big critters and crazy humans for when we go prospecting deep in the wilderness once the weather is nice enough. But, I've discovered that I really like target shooting! I am researching which make and model and caliber will be best for me but I'm really leaning toward a Glock. We have a couple firing ranges close by and I'm going to get my hands on as many rentals as I can before investing in my own gun.

Well, just felt like checking in. Hopefully I can come back to this post tonight after work and add in links to Gold Rush stuff, the gun models, and pictures of my first targets. As my Precious likes to say, "Deuces, yo!"

Ramblings, anyone?

Hello there!

I've got lots of Caffe Verona in me, and so far this Monday is turning out to be Blessed in many ways and productive. Marshmallow Girl had to be driven to school, therefore I got dressed. So I seized the opportunity to stop by work and take care of some financial stuff. Originally I was just going to put that off until this afternoon and go in early and then clock in to my shift. I need to speak to my manager about something too and she wasn't in the shop yet so I will still be going in early but now if I don't catch her at least I've taken care of that other stuff.

I feel called to blog more, but flounder about for concrete things to write about. So many topics, so little time! And so many distractions!

I came across an old book a while ago as I was digging through old moving boxes looking for something else. I've dusted off "Blogging Tips: What bloggers won't tell you about blogging" by Lorelle Van Fossen and have frequent nudges to be more disciplined about blogging more often. Lorelle encourages "Blog your passion!" and that is why, I think, I've had so much trouble blogging consistently. There are so many things I'm passionate about, it seems. She also gives lots of tips about planning your blog. I'm not really a planner. Are you shocked to read that?

I'm not really certain if blogging is a thing for me. Why did I even start this blog in the first place? Who is reading my blog? What do they want to read about? If I were to connect with other bloggers would this blogging thing be easier? Do people accept blogging as a hobby now, or is it mainly do it for the money?

Time for me to stop pondering and picking at my chronically chapped lip. There are critters to feed (including me!), grocery shops to plan, loads of laundry to do, and work to get ready for. Hopefully this post goes through. It looks like blogger is having technical difficulties with the auto-save and that may be spilling over to the publishing side as well.

Please, readers, give feed back! What do you want to see here? Why do you come by and read?

Happy Heart and Tummy!

It's been a little while, huh? I hope you are all safe and warm and happy!

Life is pretty good here. I'm working my part time job, and getting nice hours clocked up. I've gotten to do some Christmas shopping and spread happy holiday cheer. The outdoor decorating must wait until it warms up at least a wee bit because the husband is forbidding me to go out and do so while this Arctic Front is passing through. Not as if my fingers could function in temps this low anyway! Thankfully many of our neighbors got their Christmas lights out and I love seeing theirs and am greatly looking forward to putting ours up!

This morning my heart and tummy are happy! I got to have cuddles with my man and girl before the off to school insanity started, and breakfast was some cinnamon roll oatmeal and a cranberry orange scone warmed up and some delicious home brewed Christmas Blend Espresso roast. I've been craving a Caramel Brulee Latte since about 1:45 yesterday afternoon. I also found this positively adorable picture the other night and it is now staring at me from my desktop!

Isn't this one of the cutest things ever?! It would only be better if it were a cat. Not sure how well the mugs as eyes and mouth would translate into a feline face though.

I need to convince myself that these flannel jammies must be changed into day clothes. There's an eye doc appointment to go to and errands to run before my girl gets home from school and then we have our bi-weekly coffee date. Well I have the coffee, she has a steamer or hot cocoa. And we split something from the pastry case. More happy heart time! =)

May you all have a fabulous Friday, and a wonderful weekend!

Giving

Thankful for the joy of giving.

Simple Things

Hot Black Chai, a cozy bathrobe, roof over my head, meds for my headache... Those are the things I'm thankful for tonight.

PBG

Grateful for J staying home with the Marshmallow despite his headache, while I made a pilgrimage to Premier Bass Guitars. Reconnecting with bassists was fantastic and seeing Dan up and about, still taking care of business despite his ills was inspiring.

Kitten Girls

Thankful for the "kitten girls" making me giggle and smile tonight.

First Wooter sounded like a demon as she attacked the wand toy but now she is peacefully laying next to my legs.

Aurora is rolling around on top of the cat tower, scratching her itches snd looking flirty.

Mine!

Grateful for Precious and Marshmallow!

Miniature Ocean

Tonight I am thankful for the underwater ecosystem in our family room. Watching the fish swim around and the crustaceans scuttle about is so relaxing. Especially at night, when the tank lighting coaxes the corals and mushrooms into neon mode.

Duet

Delighted in bopping out and singing along to this song with my girl this evening. :)  

Partnership

Quite relieved and contented by solidification of answered prayers!

Medicine

Modern Medicine has my unending gratitude tonight. Thanks to it, my migraine finally bailed out of town after squatting in my cranial cavities for around 17 hours! Ibuprofen, I love you!

Tunes

Especially appreciative of music gently taking me to another world.

Hearing

Thankful for friends who tell me things I *need* to hear regardless of whether or not I *want* to hear it.

Purrs and Little Word

I am thankful for being purred to sleep last night.

I am also thankful for the little, but powerful word Amen.

Night Time Thanks

I am grateful for cozy blankets and my smartphone to provide comfort and distraction during this attack of insomnia.