Happy Halloween

I awoke from a bad dream this morning. After waking from that I had a fitful sleep when I finally got back to sleep. I think it put me in a blue funk for most of the day. We had our Halloween potluck today. Some people came in wearing some pretty cool costumes. I just wore my pirate tshirt. I could not find my Halloween Shihtzu tshirt. Maybe I will wear it next year.

I stopped for a mocha on my way home. That made my afternoon better. I got a few things done and helped M's mom out a little.

My friend, Lorna, called. I haven't seen her in so long. We plan on getting together soon. She has promised she is going to teach me how to make beaded bracelets. I'm excited at the prospect about learning how to do that. It was really nice catching up with her.

I made grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup for dinner. It hit the spot. Not sure how many trick or treaters we may get but I have the candy ready.

Tuesday

Its the night before Halloween and all is calm for now. After work I went and bought the Halloween candy. Last year we got a few trick or treaters, Not very many. Where we lived before buying the house we live in now we never got any trick or treaters. Its just not safe anymore. I don't blame parents for keeping their kids from going door to door.

I tried to make the stuff for the potluck, but the pumpkin fudge bars did not turn out. I may try and make the salad in the morning. I am too tired to try and do it tonight.

Monday

Monday - Leftover spaghetti

Tuesday - Nachos

Wednesday - Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches (Happy Halloween)

Thursday - Chicken Stir Fry (Something healthy)

Friday - Dinner out with friends at the Bottom's Up Bar and Grill

Saturday - Breakfast - fried eggs, bacon and blueberry pancakes dripping in butter and maple syrup. Oh yeah!

Sunday - Pot Roast with Potatoes and Carrots - (we're talking comfort food here.)

I have to say making up this list and sticking to it has really saved us money by not going out because we could not decide what to have for supper.

After a nice weekend, it was back to work. After work I went to my doctor appointment. I guess I am doing okay. He put me on another medication. He must have gotten a free lunch. I say that because one time when I was sitting in a waiting room waiting for M, who was having a procedure done, I witnessed a pharmaceutical salesman at work. He asked the nurse if he could have time with the doctor to discuss his latest and greatest wonder pill. The nurse said the doctor is busy now but if he brought in lunch then he could have the doctor's full attention for an hour. The salesman asked how many would he need to bring lunch in for. She said about 30. He also asked what kind of food would she like him to bring in. She said he could bring anything as long as it was good, they just all like to eat. Then and there I saw how it all works. The salesman brings lunch, he asks the doctor to push the prescription of the week, the doctor starts prescribing the drug that paid for the free lunch of the week until the next salesman brings the next free lunch in.

It is cold and cloudy outside tonight. We will need to keep a drip going down the drain. Halloween is just around the corner.

Sunday

Just a nice relaxing Sunday at home. We didn't go anywhere all day. I made sour cream raisin muffins for breakfast.

Spent most of the day putting stuff away around the house, surfing on my computer and watching tv. I watched the movie Frank and Jessie starring Rob Lowe and Bill Paxton. Cleaned off my desk so I can actually see space.

M's Mom came over for a visit and she looked really good. She says she is feeling pretty good.

I made spaghetti for dinner tonight and will have it again tomorrow night. Since I have to go to the doctor after work tomorrow, I will probably not feel like cooking.

I got a surprise phone call from my Aunt Glea. She wanted to check if she had my address correct so she can send me an invitation for the family reunion this year being held in Vermont around the 4th of July. I am really going to try and go this year. First step is to request vacation time.

If you want to find out all about your dates and numbers and more about YOU check out this site:

Birthdate calculator

Mine read like this:

1 October 1952
Your date of conception was on or about 9 January 1952 which was a Wednesday.
You were born on a Wednesday
under the astrological sign Libra.
Your Life path number is 1.

Your fortune cookie reads:
You will spend old age in comfort and material wealth.

Life Path Compatibility:
You are most compatible with those with the Life Path numbers 1, 5 & 7.
You should get along well with those with the Life Path numbers 3 & 9.
You may or may not get along well with those with the Life Path number 8.
You are least compatible with those with the Life Path numbers 2, 4, 6, 11 & 22.

The Julian calendar date of your birth is 2434286.5.
The golden number for 1952 is 15.
The epact number for 1952 is 3.
The year 1952 was a leap year.

Your birthday falls into the Chinese year beginning 1/27/1952 and ending 2/13/1953.
You were born in the Chinese year of the Dragon.

Your Native American Zodiac sign is Raven; your plant is Ivy.

You were born in the Egyptian month of Choiach, the fourth month of the season of Poret (Emergence - Fertile soil).

Your date of birth on the Hebrew calendar is 13 Tishri 5713.
Or if you were born after sundown then the date is 14 Tishri 5713.
The Mayan Calendar long count date of your birthday is 12.16.18.16.2 which is
12 baktun 16 katun 18 tun 16 uinal 2 kin
The Hijra (Islamic Calendar) date of your birth is Wednsday, 11 Muharram 1372 (1372-1-11).
The date of Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 13 April 1952.
The date of Orthodox Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 20 April 1952.
The date of Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent) on your birth year was Wednesday 27 February 1952.
The date of Whitsun (Pentecost Sunday) in the year of your birth was Sunday 1 June 1952.
The date of Whisuntide in the year of your birth was Sunday 8 June 1952.
The date of Rosh Hashanah in the year of your birth was Saturday, 20 September 1952.
The date of Passover in the year of your birth was Thursday, 10 April 1952.
The date of Mardi Gras on your birth year was Tuesday 26 February 1952.

As of 10/27/2007 9:18:36 PM EDT
You are 55 years old.
You are 660 months old.
You are 2,873 weeks old.
You are 20,114 days old.
You are 482,757 hours old.
You are 28,965,438 minutes old.

Saturday

Happy Halloween Weekend! It is chilly here with a bright full moon in view at night it really feels like Samhain season.



This week the theme is pink. I chose a picture of the cutest pink house. Wouldn't you love to live in a cute pink house?



I have decided what I am going to being to work's Halloween potluck on Wednesday. Special Sesame Chicken Salad. Recipe follows:

1 package (16 ounces) bow tie pasta
1 Cup Vegetable Oil
2/3 Cup White Wine Vinegar
2/3 Cup Teriyaki Sauce
1/3 Cup Sugar
1/2 tsp Pepper
3 Cans (11 ounces each) Mandarin Oranges, drained
2 Cans (8 ounces each) sliced water chestnuts, drained
2 Cups Cubed Cooked Chicken
1 1/3 Cups honey roasted peanuts
1 Package (9 ounces) Fresh Spinach, torn
1 Package (6 ounces) Dried Cranberries
6 Green Onions, chopped
1/2 Cup Minced Parsley
1/4 Cup Sesame Seeds, toasted

Cook pasta according to package directions, drain and place in a very large bowl. In a small bowl combine oil, vinegar, teriyaki sauce, sugar and pepper. Pour over pasta and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Just before serving add remaining ingredients and gently toss. Yields 22 servings (1 cup each) Sound yummy and spooktacular?

We finally got out of the house to enjoy some of the beautiful sunshine. We drove to what is becomming our favorite coffee stand, Dutch Brothers and ordered mochas. We drove on to downtown. Went to Boo Radley's, a funky gift shop that has very unique items. We went there looking for the South Park dolls but ended up buying a South Park calendar for M's new office and a pirate headband for me. The manager was so friendly and helpful. I love going to this store. Last time we were in we bought cat butt magnets for a gal M worked with at Premera. They also have a whole array of crazy knitting, needlework and crochet books. I bought the book Subversive Cross Stitch there last summer. Too funny.

Just for me we drove out to the Bigelow Gulch Grange Hall and went to Tolefest. They were having a tole painting crafts bazaar. I didn't find anything that I could not live without so I bought 3 raffle tickets to win the beautiful quilt that they were raffling off. Got my fingers crossed.

On the way out to Bigelow Gulch we were driving down Maple behind a sgt's cop car. A plain red crown victoria. You know instantly when you see that model of car it's a cop or could be. This little Toyota goes zipping past us and the cop doing about 50 mph. Made this cop's day. Sure enough the cop jumped behind them and turned on his lights. The Toyota pulls across the other lane of traffic, turns on the next street and parks on the wrong side of the street. Nice - now the cop knows you're crazy too! Speaking of cops and crazy - it should be an excellent night for scanner listening. Seems every bar and tavern in town is having their Halloween parties and with a full moon - Can you say Full Moon Craziness Abounds? I would not want to be a cop or work in any retail business that has cash on a night like this.

Friday

Friday's Feast One Hundred & Sixty Six





Pull up a chair and dig in! Friday's Feast is a meme of five questions cooked up by the chef each and every week. Enjoy!


Appetizer

Name a great website you would recommend to others.

zooba.com (I buy most of books from them - all books $9.95 and NO SHIPPING!)

Soup

On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 as highest), how often do you dream at night?


10 (I dream everynight, sometimes in color. I have many reoccurring dreams that I visit regularly)

Salad

Did you have a pet as a child? If so, what kind and what was its name?

One Christmas my parents gave me a Bedlington Terrier named Happy Christmas. His litter had all Christmas themed names.

Main Course

If you had the chance to star in a commercial, what would you choose to advertise?

I wrote a jingle for the Pizza Hut chain once. Or maybe a public service announcement to support your local animal shelter.

Dessert

What is your favorite kind of hard candy?

A&W Root Beer Barrels

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I am again so happy it is Friday. We had our team meeting today which broke the day up. At 1:00 they had a fire drill, so I was able to logout 15 minutes early. Nice.

Stopped at the store and bought stuff for the weekend and lunch stuff for next week for M. Now I'm just looking forward to a nice weekend. Nothing really planned, just going to play by ear.

Thursday

Thirteen Things about Saoirse 13 Favorite Trees 1…. Wisteria 2. Cherry 3. Willow 4. Dogwood 5. Aspens 6. Redwood 7. Maple 8. Crape Myrtle 9. Sassafrass ...aah the origins of root beer! 10. Birch 11. Eucalyptus 12. Cypress 13. olive Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Wednesday

I completed my training on the new provider lookup today. I am running behind in my paperwork. I stayed 15 minutes after work trying to catch up a little. I will go in a little bit early tomorrow and try to catch up more. James came by to get M's phone # and he gave his number to give to M.

The weather was nice when I got off work. Need to enjoy all the nice days before winter gets here. My Hallmark magazine came today. I watched the tv show Big Shots It is like a male version of Desperate Housewives.

Going to bed really early. For some crazy reason I am really tired.

Tuesday

I stopped for gas on the way to work today. I swear the price of gas has risen 7 to 8 cents in just the last few days. Can anyone saying price gouging? Had my flu shot today. Hopefully that will keep me from getting sick all year. I didn't get the flu all last year after getting my shot. (knock on wood)I did get a cold, but no flu. I stopped by and said hi to Lori after getting the shot.

After work I went to the library and returned some books and cds and checked out some new books for me and M. I did check out a cookbook that has 250 muffin recipes. That should be fun.




Came home and finished watching the movie Claire. It starred Valerie Bertinelli as a psychic. It was an okay Hallmark type movie.

I made the cornbread to go with the beans. M came home right on time and we had a nice dinner together. He is really enjoying the new job.

I'm tired so it is going to be an early evening for me.

Monday

Monday Tostadas

Tuesday Pot of Beans and cornbread (made in my cast iron skillet)

Wednesday Leftover Beans (They are always better the next day)

Thursday Homemade pizza (With pepperoni, salami, black olives and just for me anchovies on my side only - M swears they swim to his side of the pizza)

Friday Breakfast (I love breakfast for dinner. Scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese, kilbasa and sour dough toast.

Saturday Spaghetti and meatballs, green salad with homemade buttermilk ranch dressing and garlic bread.

Sunday Leftover spaghetti (Another meal that is always better the next day)
For more Menu Plan Monday participants visit Organized Junkie's blog here
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Work went by quick today because we were busy. I did get my purse cleaned out between calls. It is amazing all the useless stuff that lands up in my purse. After work I went to the post office and mailed the cards to the kids, the pattern order off to canada and a Halloween card to Karen.

Mail Call: BJ sent us a card with Jacob's new school pictures. He such a handsome guy and getting taller each year. Thanks BJ!

Sunday

Today was a lazy day. We didn't go anywhere or really do anything. I made jalapeno poppers which we snacked on. M's Mom made artichokes and they were wonderful. We watched the movie, "The Man" starring Samuel Jackson and Eugene Levy. It was pretty funny.

M starts his new job tomorrow. No more days of freedom and money for nothing. We both are excited about his new opportunity. I guess I am ready to go back to work also.

Not much to say today.

Saturday

PhotoHunt


This week is Practical. I picked this photo of a statue that overlooks Wall Street. Practical to me would be having investments and a savings plan.



Started out the morning doing laundry and cleaning the kitchen. After showers and getting dressed we went to The Crossroads for breakfast. You always get a good breakfast there. We tried it one time for dinner and it was totally awful. But it is consistently good for breakfast. We sat at our favorite table in the back that overlooks Sharp Shooting, the indoor gun range and gun shop where I bought my glock and where we sometimes go and shoot.

We then drove around a little and went to Walmart. We bought basic things we needed and a new pillow for M.

Came home for a bit before venturing to the quilt festival. So many beautful quilts to see. M left me there to wander while he went to get his hair cut. I visited all the vendors and wanted to buy everything. I did buy a book I've been wanting called Darling Little Dogs by Darcy Ashton.

I also bought a quilt pattern that had a heart design edging that I fell in love with, 2 fat squares (one of bluebirds and one of dogs) and a fabric panel of dog sayings. The harp musician Bronn Journey was there just as he was in years past. This year I bought his cd Celtic Garden.


I had a wonderful time and am looking forward to going again next year.

We stopped for mochas at Dutch Brothers on Ruby on our way home. When we got home I looked through the newspaper, that I picked up at the festival, The Country Register looking at all the ads and visiting a few of the websites. We started to get hungry so we decided on the new Kentucky Fried Chicken on Nortwest Blvd. It was okay but they messed up our order.


18 days till Halloween...