NaBloPoMo Day 7

08 Nov 2015 Leave a comment

by alightningbug in Mom Stuff, NaBloPoMo, Writing Tags: , , , , , , ,

Yes, Day 7 I say. It’s still November 7 in mountain or pacific time zone. Arizona? I might be two hours early in parts of Arizona. (I need to look at a map.) In my time zone it might be like November 8th already, but it’s only 2:35 AM or so. Ugh.

Yes, that’s right. I fell alseep and didn’t get my post 7 done. (At least not on November 7 in my own time zone.)

I had a cranky day.

It started with an appointment with Geek Squad to fix our TV. It’s the biggest TV we have, and it hasn’t worked in a while, and we figured it was time to get it fixed. I got up early to clean up a few things in the living room. So that probably started it. I like it when things are clean. I like cleaning up dirt just fine. The clutter? No so much. Getting rid of clutter makes me cranky. But I worked on it nonetheless.

We turned on the TV early in the morning to make sure everything was set up correctly and … WAIT … we turned on the TV.

It worked again!

So after leaving it on for a while and still having it on and working with a picture and everything, we called Geek Squad and told them the TV was working again. We asked if they could tell anything about the, now working, broken-TV and still be able to fix it. They told us they’d have a hard time figuring out the problem of the picture not coming on if the picture was coming on. OK. So we then cancelled / indefinitely rescheduled the appointment.

I took my daughter to a volunteer pumpkin reloading task at a pumpkin patch. This pumpkin patch sold pumpkins for charity and now that Halloween was well-past done, they loaded them back on a truck to donate to an animal park.

It was a drizzly, very October kind of day (even though it’s now November). Which was just fine since they had unloaded the pumpkins to the pumpkin patch on a day that was beautiful full-on sunshine. It was nice to feel not quite so much like summer for pumpkin-reloading.

The rain made the unsold pumpkins look such a deep shade of orange. My daughter wore her bright green Orchestra T-shirt. I told her she probably shouldn’t wear her Orchestra T-shirt to a pumpkin re-loading because if anything happened to the Orchestra T-shirt then she wouldn’t have it when she needed it for Orchestra. But she felt like it would be fine. I was happy I grabbed her bright magenta rain coat as we ran out the door. I let her know I was happy that I grabbed the rain coat. (I think I was already a little cranky at this point.) Later, she would say that she too was happy I grabbed the rain coat.

I ran a couple of errands while she was re-loading pumpkins in the muddy drizzle. Dave sat at home with the TV in a stare-down so see who would last the longest. Dave won.

The TV died again. I called Geek Squad back and told them our TV was NOT working again. Could they come now (hopefully before I need to get my daughter to her dance lesson)?

No. No, they can’t. No appointments scheduled for the same day, thank you. So we rescheduled for another morning this week that is exactly one-day before our extended warranty runs out.

(I’ll add here to that maybe Dave has a history with non-working TVs that might work again. And maybe I didn’t want to see the same thing happen again. I still have hope for this TV. And maybe Dave is having a cranky day too at this point.)

Then I couldn’t find the scissors because my daughter used them and didn’t put them back. Before that, I couldn’t get a coupon to print correctly from some coupon-printing thing on the Internet. (I want that hour+ of my life back.) I found another coupon-printing thing on the Internet, and I got that to print several coupons. I wanted to use some of them while my daughter was at her dance lesson. But no scissors. No time to look either since it’s time to leave for dance.

Then I got gas and the machine ate part of my receipt. I use the receipts to help me keep track of my gas mileage. Thanks machine.

Basically, by now, it’s hard for anybody to do anything around me that is not going to stretch my nerves beyond where my nerves are actually comfortable. I’m pretty sure that officially made me cranky. I’m also pretty sure that my body had already decided days ago that on Saturday I would be cranky. Because that’s how I felt. Sorry world, it’s beyond my control right now.

But the major cranky ended there.

We had a nice chili dinner on this drizzly day. My daughter ate her chili in the last bread bowl, and she loved it. I ate mine with a little bread on the side and some corn chips, and I loved mine.

Then we watched a Harry Potter movie on my iPad mini because we have no working TV in the living room. The temporary TV that we had in there previously was no longer in there. We wanted to keep things simple for the TV repair guy (who didn’t come today). Just the broken TV is now in the living room.

But Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is one of my favorite Harry Potter movies. My daughter activated all the glow sticks she got for Halloween, and we shared them between us. My daughter even made a cat-sized glow-stick necklace and put it on our very patient cat Fletcher. He was, indeed, very patient and left on his glow-stick necklace until it fell off when he ate dinner. He looked glow-y and adorable. I got extra glow-sticks out of the fridge since we had extras. I figured today was a good day for extra glow sticks. We sat side-by-side with Harry Potter and our glow sticks, and all was right in the world.

That’s when I fell asleep and didn’t get my day 7 NaBloPoMo post done on day 7 in my own time zone.

How was your day?

The Very Tiny Post

06 Nov 2015 Leave a comment

by alightningbug in Mom Stuff, NaBloPoMo Tags: , ,

It is Friday. It was about 80 degrees here today. That’s cray cray. It’s November! We watched Back to the Future II again. We’d have watched it outside on the balcony but then it poured rain so we went inside to watch it and eat dirt cake instead. Then it stopped raining. I’m on a late-night cat food run. Hopefully, everyone will survive the cats’ meows until I get home.

That’s all for NaBloPoMo Day 6  (I need to get other stuff done tonight). 

The Garden and the Hair

05 Nov 2015 Leave a comment

by alightningbug in NaBloPoMo, Plant Life and Balcony Gardening Tags: , ,

I’m pretty happy that there’s a little life left in my balcony garden here in autumn. It makes a fun contrast to the changing trees. And means we get a few more ripe tomatoes before I pickle all the green ones that are left.



And practicing a classic Princess Leia ‘do for, ya know, an upcoming day that  I might want to wear it like this. I should try it around some kind of form to give it a bit more size. (These are much better buns than my nine-year-old self could muster, though, so I feel a sense of accomplishment.)



We visited my mom’s old house today. It will be torn down and replaced with a larger more modern house. We weren’t sure what we’d find — house or no house, trees or no trees. We held our breath as we got close. 

The house and trees are still there. One rose bush has been dug up along with most of the butterfly bush. Not sure what the builder is doing there. A white pipe is sticking up from the dirt nearby. But there’s one rose bush left, and it’s covered with roses!





And that’s it for Day 5 NaBloPoMo.

NaBloPoMo Day 4

04 Nov 2015 Leave a comment

by alightningbug in Mom Stuff, NaBloPoMo, Plant Life and Balcony Gardening, Writing Tags: , , , , ,

I’m working on several posts for the upcoming days but none are finished yet, and I’m having a hard time keeping my eyes open right now. I fear that if I close them for a short cat nap then it will be tomorrow before I open them again. I’m only four days in to NaBloPoMo and am not ready to throw in the towel. So here’s something.

Several things happened today other than all the normal stuff like food, laundry, work, and getting my daughter to school. 

I got some paperwork in that has been on my to do list. Always feels good to get something done.

I officially changed calling plan for my iPhone. Verizon has some better deals now than when I first got my phone. For $20 less per month I get 50% more data than I had plus unlimited texts and mobile hot spots. I’m still tempted to jump ship to an even less expensive carrier but giving Verizon a second chance for now.

Unlimited texts would never have mattered to me until September. We got our daughter a nice and nicely priced Andriod phone for her birthday along with a very inexpensive calling & data plan. It’s working well. Thank goodness she has unlimited texts!

I’ve reached my text limit two, yes two, months in a row. Crazy. Part of the problem is that we tend to send strings of short little messages that spread across five or so individual texts. That adds up. We could have put it all into one or two text messages but instead it’s more like this:

“Hey mom”

“I’m done with homework”

“Can we watch Back to the Future II?”

“Can I have pie?”

“R you going 2 b home soon?”

“Kk”

And I answer her in equally short messages. Now, we are both free to send mini-texts to our hearts’ content.

We

Can 

Even 

Put 

Each

Word

In

A

Single

Text

If

We

Like!

Which I probably won’t do because it’s a pain. But, hey.

And I’m excited about mobile hot spot because it means I can connect my iPad mini while I’m out and get more stuff done without trying to read the tiny symbols on my phone as my fingers type a string of typos that I have to fix. Once I figure out how to do it, I can mobile-write a lot more easily (at least I sure do hope so).

Virginia had a little earthquake early this morning. I don’t think I felt it.

Screenwriter Melissa Mathison passed away today. She wrote E.T. She was also married to Harrison Ford for many years. Hello!, a smart, talented writer married Han Solo. That counted for something back in my teen years. I was sad that they divorced, but I’m even sadder to read of her passing.

We’re having an unusually warm couple of days and more tomatoes and peppers are still growing and even ripening on our balcony! It helps that the balcony is on the sunny south side of the building. I think having plants close to the building helps extend the growing season too. It’s November! 

Made a really yummy Tortilla Soup for dinner complete with a few balcony tomatoes, peppers, and herbs. My kiddo had hers in a bread bowl (pictured below) because bread bowls are yummy.

Trying hard to keep on schedule with writing. Every day is a challenge. I like the writing it’s the schedule that’s the tricky part.

That’s about all for now. I’m typing with my phone while leaning on one arm reclined on the couch and my leanin’ arm is starting to go numb. Perfect time to shift and post.

Have a good one, folks!

Tea for Tuesday – Caramel Almond Amaretti Herbal Tea: a mini review

03 Nov 2015 2 Comments

by alightningbug in Herbal, NaBloPoMo, Tea Tags: , , , ,

Tea for Tuesday (should I make that Tea for Twos-day?)

Caramel Almond Amaretti Herbal Tea from Teavana: a mini tea review

If you like cookies, coffee cake, nuts and sweets but don’t want all the calories that go along with eating those yummy things then this might be a good tea for you (and me too). 

Right now I’m pretty tempted to scarf down several more pieces of Halloween candy. There’s a pumpkin filled with candy sitting about eight feet from my mouth. I am trying to be good. I made a cup of tea instead.

Caramel Almond Amaretti may help satisfy the urge to indulge in sweets or baked goods without actually indulging in any sweet baked goods. This ability was my favorite thing about Teavana’s Toasted Nut Brûlée tea which has been discontinued. Caramel Almond Amaretti tastes somewhat like coffee cake to me. 

Unsweetened, Caramel Almond Amaretti has a light nutty fruity taste. I don’t find the taste to be especially of almonds, maybe some candied almonds with an overall nuttiness. 

The color is beautiful! It’s a light red blush. Natural beet root gives it this color. I steeped for about five minutes in good hot water.

The flavor seems a little watered down before adding any sweetener. But adding a little something sweet really kicks up the flavor. It brings out the caramel taste and enhances the sweet nut, cinnamon, and fruit flavors. The good side is that you can add as much or little of any sweetener you like — real raw sugar, honey, stevia, sucralose, agave nectar or others. 

I added a couple of drops of a liquid stevia and monk fruit blend. It did the trick and I didn’t eat any more Halloween candy (for now)!

Teavana’s Caramel Almond Amaretti contains:

Apple pieces, cinnamon, coconut chips, beetroot pieces, and artificial flavoring.

So there is a down side. You may notice that there are no nuts except coconut listed in the ingredients. And no caramel either. That’s where the artificial flavoring comes in. 

I’ve suspected the coconut chips of containing other flavors before in Teavana. In another Teavana tea they tasted like citrus. 

Taste a fresh dry coconut chip from this tea. Notice that those coconut pieces do not have much coconut flavor instead they taste strongly of nuts and some caramel. If you hate the idea of artificial flavoring this may be a big turn off for you. If you’re on the fence, you may not mind. The flavor is pretty good. 

One more downside, I only get one cup of good flavor out of this tea. I can get an okay second cup, but it tastes different. After that it just tastes like beets. While the cost of $7.98 per 2 ounces makes it one of the less expensive teas from Teavana,  it’s still on the pricy side. I’ll drink it as a dessert tea rather than a daily brew.

To some it up, I was looking for a possible replacement for the discontinued Toasted Nut Brûlée from Teavana. Caramel Almond smelled like a good candidate. Dry it smells like cake. Toasted Nut Brûlée reminded me a lot of an oatmeal cookie with cinnamon and raisins. There were several teas that I thought were worth trying based on ingredients. This is the closest so far, though it lacks some of the raisin flavor in Toasted Nut Brûlée. But it does help me satisfy a sweet tooth and that’s a big win in my book.

[Edited on 7-4-15 to add info on price and clarity]

I think I’m going to try to have a new tea review each Tuesday in November for Tea for Tuesday. I’ll try to post them earlier in the day than this one (it’s now 11:28 as I finish this up). The is also a post for my Day 3 of NaBloPoMo.

Zombies, Buns, and More to Come (And NaBloPoMo Day 2 Happens)

02 Nov 2015 1 Comment

by alightningbug in NaBloPoMo Tags: , , , ,

For Halloween my daughter dressed as a zombie. It was a creepy look for her until she smiled and these clean white teeth shined out from the gloomy makeup. It made me giggle.

Not sure if she’ll trick or treat next year as she might be getting a little old for it. It was still fun this year for both of us.

I started a Halloween story which is kind of funny since the other story I was working on could, in a way, be considered a little Halloween-y too.

I have been testing the Princess-Leia-buns hairdo on both me and on one of our cats. The other cat would never sit still long enough for this nonsense. This did not make the patient cat especially happy either.

I mean, he didn’t mind me with my hair in buns so much, but I got an elastic set of buns that was made for dogs and tried those on him. It seemed fitting for Halloween and will be handy come December. He, as usual, was adorable. He’s very good at putting up with me. I bring home cat food and am mostly very nice to him.

Zombies and buns is my brief entry for Day 2, November 2 of NaBloPoMo. Hey, it’s something.

More to come soon:

A new review of Teavana tea — yummy!

A review of some seasonal Glade fragrances. This is a new thing for me to post. I’m a fairly new fan of Glade. But I love the autumn scents which are on clearance many places now.

And I may even post a Zombie Apples recipe and make some Apple Butter in the near future. Thank you to (name goes here soon but if I look it up now I won’t get this post done by midnight) for the apple butter idea. I can’t get it out of my head now. I love apple butter and it’s a little hard to find in the stores (not to mention yummy to cook).



NaBloPoMo – Whereby I try to write every day in November and other people do too

01 Nov 2015 6 Comments

by alightningbug in NaBloPoMo, Writing Tags: , , ,

I’m going to try NaBloPoMo (National Blogging Po Month?). I’ll have to find out what “Po” stands for. I’m pretty sure it has nothing to do with Teletubbies.

So this is my first post here on November 1, 2015. It’s not a fancy post. I have more things coming for November, though I’m sure some days will be harder than others. Writing everyday is not the worst goal in the word. I already have it has a basic goal whether it involves posting on my blog or not. (Hmm, does “Po” stand for “Posting?” I’ll have to find out.)

I have other goals too. I’d like to participate in NaNoWriMo which is the National Novel Writing Month (aka November). But while I’m going to work on stories I’m not very likely to be able to write enough words per day to complete an entire novel in November alone. I mean, HELLO, November — that’s the month before Christmas and the one that contains Thanksgiving. There’s other stuff to do like cleaning our home and getting rid of stuff. And that whole food and eating and feeding my family thing. Bathing (hopefully). Laundry. Always with the laundry. And more other general getting caught up on stuff that I need to get caught up on. That list is too long.

As a start NaBloPoMo, I’m putting some handy links here because I have a feeling I’m gonna need ’em. I have a tendency to misplace things. I may update this has I find more stuff. Anybody else out there doing this? Yes, I know the answer is “yes,” so “hello and good luck!. May the force be with you!”

DailyPost WordPress: Making It Through NaBloPoMo.

Blogher’s page on NaBloPoMo.

 

D

 

 

 

Smile for Poetry Day 2

23 Oct 2015 Leave a comment

by alightningbug in Wordpress Writing 201 Tags: , , , ,

Day 2 of WordPress Writing 201: Poetry has long since past, but I’m not done yet. I hope learning never ceases. 

Day 2: Gift, Acrostic, Simile

The prompt is “gift.” The form is acrostic (where you can use the first or last letters of each line to spell stuff or just be alphabetical and such). The device is simile (which my brain usually reads as “smile” until I take a closer look).


Got Smile?

Save me some cake with frosting.

Under here, over there? It’s still a mystery, so …

Riveted by anticipation, we are the headlights that our dear met.

Perfect in size and shape and colors.

Rushing here and there. We’ll make it blossom.

Intent on joy and laughter as our foci.

Seconds to go before you know well.

Everything with love. 


D


I just want to note that under ordinary circumstances, somehow, I always manage to spell “surprise” wrong. Hopefully this poem (along with handy dandy word assist on new fangled gadgets) will help me get it right more often.

Second note: there are a lot of food words that end in the letter “i.”  Now I want some baked ziti and canolli.


Poached Pear Cider Herbal Tea: A mini tea review

23 Oct 2015 6 Comments

by alightningbug in Herbal, Tea Tags: , , ,

Poached Pear Cider Tea from Teavana: a mini tea review

I was looking for a tea to replace Teavana’s discontinued Toasted Nut Brûlée for those times that I want dessert without eating dessert — ya know, have my cake (or cookie) and not eat it too! In the case of Toasted Nut Brûlée it tasted like a cinnamon oatmeal raisin cookie with chopped nuts.
Teavana’s new Poached Pear Cider herbal tea, while nicely spiced and lightly fruity, is not the replacement I was hoping for, but it is very yummy. I was plenty happy to drink my entire cupful, and I’d do it again too.
Fresh, fruit-from-the-tree pears can be both fruity and a little floral. So it should come as no surprise that Poached Pear Cider tea brings a lightly floral aroma and taste to the mix of fruit and spices in this herbal tisane. I find it both refreshing and warmly comforting. It’s like a mashup of a clean floral tea blend with a spiced cider.
Poached Pear Cider’s spices are not overwhelming. They are milder than those in, say, chai. But the cinnamon and cardamom make themselves known enough to add a nice accent to the floral fruitiness of the pear.
As I glance at the ingredients, it would appear that most of the pear flavor comes from added natural flavoring as opposed to bits of dried pear, but it works nicely. This probably makes the pear taste somewhat fresher than bits of dried pear. There is also an overall light taste of dried fruits (apples and raisins) and lemongrass with citrus peal without being overly fruity or citrusy. I find it nicely balanced.
The color of the brewed tisane is beautiful light amber and my cup seemed to have a hint of blush too.
I will be looking forward to more of it this autumn as a refreshing alternative to anything pumpkin or to actual hot spiced ciders.
As I drink more of it, I’ll add comments on brew time, temperature, and whether or not I’m able to brew more than one cup from the same bits. I know from past tea blends, temperature can make a huge difference with tea leaves and especially some spices, so it will be interesting to see what happens with this one.

Orange You Glad? (Stain Removers)

19 Oct 2015 1 Comment

by alightningbug in Cleaning, Laundry Tags: , , ,

Orange Hand Cleaner from automotive supply stores can be the total bomb at getting out tough stains from clothing. You can even mix orange cleaners with hydrogen peroxide, right on the stain, for a total-mega cleaner like no other. 

First put a dollop of orange hand cleaner on the stain. Rub gently. Then spray* with (or pour) some hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) on top and on the back of the stain too. Again rub gently to mix it in a little. Wait about an hour and wash. If I have a stain that will not budge this combo is my last-resort, go-to power-duo. Simple, easy, economical, works.

Don’t get me wrong, rubbing laundry bar soaps like Zote or Fels Naptha also works wonders. But sometimes we need more than one tool in the ol’ stain-fighting toolbox. Actual soaps work by a different process than orange cleaners so while one might work great for some spots and stains the other may work better for others.

Have you ever pealed an orange only to discover that the ink from a sticker or stamp dissolves in the oils released from the peal of an orange? That’s the idea.

Other orange cleaners can be good too including “Grandma’s Secret Spot Remover,” but I find orange hand cleaners both work really well and are very economical.



They are extremely good at cutting through grease, oil, many kinds of paint, and sticky stuff like tar and adhesives. They are made to get thick, black automotive oil off of skin (which is a porous material when you think about it). 

Many of them contain pumice to help scrub away the dirt and stain. This can be helpful since all you need to do is rub very gently to power out even old stubborn stains, but you’ll also want to be careful that you don’t rub too hard and damage the fabric. When in doubt always test in a hidden location. Some orange hand cleaners are available in a smooth formula with no pumice or grit, so look for that if it’s an issue. Sometimes the Dollar Tree carries tubes of the non-gritty kind. And it’s only one dollar!

Since orange hand cleaners are good at removing adhesive, you’ll also find that many of them are good at removing the sticky residue left behind by price tags and labels on a variety of housewares.

Can be used for stains on carpets too but you will want to do a test spot and you’ll need to rinse/blot to remove all the cleaner from the carpet or it will leave a residue that will attract dust and new grime.

Not all orange hand cleaners from automotive stores are created equal. Some advertise themselves as being all natural and some contain petroleum distillates. Some say both natural and they contain petroleum distillates (like mineral spirits) so read the ingredients to know for sure. Technically petroleum does come out of the ground. Does that make it natural? If you have sensitive skin you might try the non-petroleum cleaner first. Either kind is “safe” for cleaning your hands as long as you rinse thoroughly. And you’d only be using a few dollops in a load of laundry. You may want to rinse twice if your skin is really sensitive.

Also even if you don’t do much in the way of working on your own automobile, it’s nice to have some of this stuff on hand for messy craft projects too.

There are lots of brands. Gojo and Fast Orange are two popular ones. There’s also Goop orange hand cleaner and  Puple Power Heavy Duty Orange hand cleaner. Right now I have Gojo and Purple Power to see which I like better.

*Some time after I posted how  peroxide in a spray bottle is great for stains I discovered that you can buy the H2O2 already in a spray bottle. I did not know. Well, fine. That works. It’s very handy. And you can refill that little spray bottle from a larger, cheaper bottle so all is good and right in the world. 

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