Mid-morning Quickie

Good morning!

I've been sick as a dog for the past few days, but I'm finally better. Yay!

Nothing like stomach flu for a few days, depriving me of my coffee to make me even more grateful than usual for it this morning. ^-^

Me, with big ass jar of iced coffee. This is what a happy Annalee looks like... ^_~

So... on the To Do list today are some house cleaning things (as always... for some strange reason, my house is not self-cleaning... imagine that?)

Also, I've designated Wednesdays as "Kitty Maintenance Day". They get brushed throughout the week, but Wednesdays they get a super thorough brushing & their nails clipped if needed & a bath if needed. Yeah, unlike my house, my cats are self-cleaning, but sometimes they need a little help when they get into something... like the cupboards... and tear open the bag of coconut sugar... ahem.

Now for the super fun stuff. ^___^

I'm working on Britt's (belated because I was sick) Birthday cake. I was perusing Sweetapolita's blog when I found a picture of a fondant asparagus cake... and knew I had to make it for Britt... she's mad for asparagus. So I spent about three hours the other night making fondant asparagus... and I anticipate I'll spend about half as much time making the 50 to 60 tips I need to top the cake. So yes... I am making asparagus cake. Here's what they look like so far...

 I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to shade them, since I lack petal dust... and no stores around here sell it. We shall see... And I suppose the finished cake will get its own post. ^-^ So keep an eye out for that in the next few days.

Alrighty... my laundry is ready to be flipped & the rest of my To Do list is patiently waiting for me to hit the "Publish" button so I can attend to them...

I hope you're having a fabulous Wednesday and I hope your weather is nice enough to go play outside in. I'll be out on my porch later this afternoon transplanting the last few plants & then fussing & rearranging potted plants until everything is just right...

XOXO

Happy Friday, and a post of random thoughts.

Today, my mind is a bit of a jumble. ^-^

I've got all sorts of things running amok up here... Plants to transplant outside... baby shower invites to make... a coffee meeting this afternoon with my friend (the one who's having the baby) to get her invite list... and all the usual things that need to be attended to... mostly my dishes. ^-^

But even the fact that I have a mountain of dishes to do isn't bugging me today... I have all day to do all the things I need to... and then some.

As far as getting things done, I absolutely LOVE being able to pay my bills online. It's fabulous. For a long time I resisted, because I'm just a wee tiny bit paranoid of sending my financial info out into the aether... but I finally caved, and it's just nifty. Besides... I figure that since I don't have millions to steal, if someone wants to clear out my account, they'll get a few measly hundred bucks and that's it. So, um, yeah...

Also, being able to pay online saves me mucho dollars in both postage and gas. So it's a win.

Something else that's been knocking about in my head lately is this here little 'ol blog. I miss blogging like I used to... which now days means at all. But I feel like I've got blogger's block... o_O
I feel like I absolutely have nothing to write about... even though I'm writing for me. I can't even count the number of times in the past month or so that I've opened up a blank post to start typing and then nothing... nada. Zip, zero, zilch. No way, no how is my brain going to work with me here. And all I can think is, "What the fuck?" o_O

So I'm kicking around the idea of maybe doing a specific type of post on a specific day of the week... lots of lovely bloggers, whose blogs I love & adore, do this, and it seems to work pretty well for them... so I figure I might give it a go...

And now for something completely different. ^_~

Britt & I have been getting a lot, and I mean a lot, of flack from people about moving. And most of it comes our way in nasty little side-swipey comments like, "Are you guys actually still planning on moving?" or, "My god, it's been so long, I thought you would have just given up on the idea."

Um, well, no we haven't, and fuck you too.

Perhaps they're irritated with us because we've chosen NOT to give up on what we want, even though we've had set backs & it's taking us longer to get where we want to go? Who knows. I do know, however, that my stash of "Polite" on this topic is running low... and at the bottom of that barrel is a whole lot of Snark and Sarcasm, just waiting to come out & play.

Well then... I'm off to get my not so tiny little plant starts into their pots. ^_____^

I hope you're having a fabulous Friday, and if you have the weekend off, YAY! If not, I send you my condolences and will offer to drink a margarita or something in your name. ^-^

Have a good day, and hopefully your weather allows for playing outside. Unless you live in the Midwest... Then I will pity you (and the rest of my family), who got a shit ton of snow the other day. Boo!

XOXO

Restless

Tonight I am filled with a great restlessness...

A great need

An immense longing and desire

To just pack up and leave.

To take my sweetie and my cats,

A few necessities and just GO.

I have no idea where.

Anywhere but here, I guess.

I've been living in Whatcom County for twelve years. TWELVE.

I've never lived anywhere this long before...

I'm feeling stagnant. Smothered. Stuck.

I've got another year until I can apply to schools again... and then still no guarantee that I'll be accepted (I didn't get in this year...)

We're still planning to move to Portland this Fall. But our last day here just can't come soon enough.








I am consumed with my wanderlust...

Britt feels it too.

 Mine stems from never staying in one place very long (until now...)

Hers from never having been anywhere but here.

Two totally opposite causes...

...with the same exact effect.

An unquenchable wanderlust.

Ask and you shall receive...

Today is cloudy and chilly. The birds are out in full force, searching out bugs and seeds... and bits of fluff to add into their nests. There were several of them on the porch a bit ago, and Vash was convinced that their sole purpose was to taunt him. He crouched in the living room window, making those kitty bird-hunting noises... and was thoroughly ignored by his would-be prey. Now he's asleep, snuggled to the sliding glass door that leads out to our porch. And he's snoring... 

But about asking and receiving. As I've mentioned before, I am generally horrible at asking for help with things... I'd rather flounder along and try to figure it out myself... but I'm working on it. ^-^

There are times, however, when I don't hesitate to ask a question... and this is when I rescue a spider and place her outside (instead of killing her... bad luck, killing spiders...) I can't remember where I read it, but somewhere I read that when you rescue a spider and place her safely outside of your home, you get to ask her a question. And she will show you an answer, but it might not be right away or quite what you thought the answer might be.

So today, when I was packing Britt's lunch before I dropped her off for work, I noticed a tiny speck dangling from the light above my stove... almost in the salad I was preparing. 

"Gah!!! A Fruit Fly!!! GAAAAAAHHH!!!"

But then I noticed the "Fruit Fly" was just kind of sitting still in mid-air. Okay. Not a fruit fly, but the tiniest, cutest little spider I've ever seen. ^-^ She actually looked like a smaller version of the spider I was letting live by my sink faucet last year (year before?)... until Britt made me put my little buddy outside on the porch. Why wouldn't you want a nice, polite, tiny spider in the kitchen to take care of the wee bugs that sometimes get in? She was a very polite spider... never crawled anywhere startling, kept my plants on the kitchen windowsill bug free... I loved her. ^-^

But I digress... 

So I gently grabbed the web this tiny weaver was dangling from and placed her in my hand. Then out the front door I went, to the place on the stairs where I can reach the roof of the single story apartment in our complex. And then I asked her my question: What are ways in which I can become a better story teller? A better word weaver? A better spinner of tales? And then I wished her good luck and placed her on the roof, near the eaves, so she could get to making a web in a better place than above my stove.

I didn't expect an answer today... most of the answers to the questions I ask spiders take a little while to manifest... except for today. Today, I opened up Veronica Varlow's blog to find her How To Tuesday post was on getting rid of writers' block... which I experience both in my writing and my crafting, too (crafters' block?). I suppose just a general blockage of creativity... 

Anywhom... Quite frequently, I have an idea (or many, many ideas) rolling around in my head, but I can't seem to manifest them... whether in words or paint or clay or whatever. I feel blocked, stuck and not quite sure how to get from Point A (my idea) to Point B (the idea's physical manifestation).

There are a few things I've tried in the past with varying degrees of success. Veronica gives six good (and quite probably fun!) ideas for giving your creative block the smack-down, so you can get on with your creativity. Sooooo... why not pop over and give her blog a look-see? It's full of ideas and magic and fun... just to name a few of the kinds of things you'll find there. 

But she doesn't call herself the Danger Dame for nothing... her posts are filled with absolutely fabulous va-VA-VOOM! ^___^

Be ready to fall in love with her... ^-^

Have a wonderfully creative day, my dearies... and I will do the same. ^-^

XOXO

Happy Spring!

And today, it even looks like Spring here. ^-^

Yesterday, we had a windstorm. And rain. And steel grey skies. It so did NOT feel like the first day of Spring...

But today is, so far, making up for it. =D

It's gorgeous outside, so as soon as I finish my breakfast, I'm off to play, erm, clean & clear off, my porch & get it ready for planting. ^-^

My fabulous (
They bitch when our porch isn't clean, they bitch while we clean it, they bitch when I water my plants & accidentally spill a bit that falls through the cracks onto their porch... and then sit outside all day & night & smoke bad smelling weed.

I have nothing against people smoking pot, but their shit smells foul... Like a cat pissed in it right before they rolled it. Yeesh.

Oh well. I know that I try to be really careful while watering so as not to drip on them. They can deal. Hmph.

Back to happy things... ^_~

I think the kitties are better from the pneumonia... yay!!! Lhu & Phiphi don't sound all cruddy anymore. Their lungs sound good & their sniffles have mostly subsided. Except when Lhu snores while he sleeps... then he sounds a little stuffed up. Hmmmm... maybe one more round of antibiotics. Poor cats... At least we finally found a good vet. ^___^

Alrighty. I'm off to annoy my neighbors - uh, clean my porch. ^-^

I hope all y'all are having a fabulous second day of Spring, and get a chance to go outside & play! =D

XOXO

Give and Receive Fearlessly

Amanda Palmer is one of the most amazing people you may ever be lucky enough to meet. I have never met her in person, shaken her hand, given her a hug... but still I feel connected to her... because she's just her. Go to one of her concerts if you ever get the chance. The connections she forms with the audience are amazing.

She was invited to give a TED talk this year, and since I love the TED talks and love Amanda Palmer, I was incredibly excited. ^____^

Her talk is amazing. If you have 14 minutes, watch/listen to it. If you don't have 14 minutes, find them. You'll be glad you did.

Her talk is about the art of asking... something I suck at. I would rather do anything else, than ask for help... with just about anything. Her whole talk is wonderful and funny, but one phrase stood out & smacked me in the face:

"Give and receive fearlessly," she said.

*SMACK* (right between the eyes...)

Huh... Give and receive fearlessly. I am good at giving. My time, my attention, my help... if you need it, I will gladly give it if I have it in me to give.

But if I need something, I am loathe to ask for help. Even when, perhaps especially when, I am unable to do or be whatever it is I'm needing. I hate feeling like I'm not enough. I hate asking for help, and have suffered unnecessarily many, many times because of my reticence to ask for help when I can't do something on my own.

I think that many of us, especially women, have a difficult time asking for help when we need it. It's like we have this unspoken expectation of ourselves that we're supposed to be able to do everything and then some; cooking, cleaning, errands, child rearing, a job, school, hobbies, whatever, all on our own. If we're for some reason unable to do all these things, and be happy too, we've failed and we're not good enough.

Soooooo... my new goal is to not only keep giving fearlessly, but to also allow myself to receive fearlessly. I want to be able to ask for help when I need it & be able to admit when I feel overwhelmed. I want to be brave enough to admit to myself and those around me when I need a hand, and by doing this, I think that I'll be even better able to give. I have a feeling that once I allow myself to be part of both aspects of the cycle, I'll feel more balanced all around.

Alrighty then!!! Here's AFP... in all her fabulous, starkly honest, glory. ^-^

Enjoy, my lovelies... and give, receive and live life fearlessly.

XOXO

30 Days of Kitchen Witchery - Day 5 & 6

More catchin up... ^-^

Day 5 asks about our favorite kitchen task and Day 6 asked about our least favorite. 

I'd have to say that my favorite task is baking, but my favorite thing to bake is bread. 

To me, bread is pure magic. Even the simplest loaf... beautiful, beautiful magic. Just thinking about baking bread makes me all happy & warm & fluffy feeling. 

I love the smells, the textures, the taste of bread, still a bit warm from the oven, but after it's set for a while. Ahhhhhhhh...

I don't even mind getting dough under my fingernails & stuck around my cuticles. I always manage to get a dab of flour somewhere I don't see it, usually on my face, and walk around all day with it sitting there until Britt sees it & wipes it off. ^-^

I love to knead bread... I love that all I need to make bread is the ingredients, a bowl & my hands. 

I love mixing with my hands. ^-^

So baking bread is my all time, ultimate favorite thing to do in the kitchen. <3 div="">

If I happen to be cooking up a big ass pot of soup to go with it, all the better. 

*dreamy, happy sigh*

Now for my least favorite task... this one's very specific. I don't mind doing dishes. I don't mind loading or unloading the dishwasher. Dishes aren't my favorite thing in the world to do, but I don't mind doing them. 

The one thing I absolutely hate, loathe, despise & makes my head want to spin off is when dishes get stacked in the sink UN-RINSED, especially if they're stacked in dish water & left there. 

Oh. My. Gods. 

Especially, especially, if someone stacks them in there with food stuff on them & they sit for a few days, because in all honesty, I so don't do dishes as often as I ought to. But they'd just sit there rinsed-yet-unwashed, but otherwise ok if they were just rinsed.

Many a domestic squabble has ensued in my house due to un-rinsed dishes... lolz... ick.

Britt was raised in a household that did not EVER rinse their dishes. Seriously. Ever. They'd put some water & dish soap in the sink, stack the dirty dishes, still covered in food remnants, in said dish water. And then they'd sit for several hours or a day or two until someone absolutely had to wash them. 

Britt, however, has gotten much better about rinsing dishes. ^-^ She saw the error of her ways, and now strives to leave her dishes rinsed & ready to be put in the dishwasher. She is a good woman. ^___^

I'll admit it... sometimes I'll forget to rinse a dish too... and then I feel the need to do some sort of penance or something... but mostly I'll just mentally kick myself for making an icky mess that I now have to clean up. Bleh...

My computer's battery is about to die, so I suppose I'd better post this & go in search of a power outlet. I'm at Starbucks. It is in Lynden, but you'd still think they'd have a power outlet handy somewhere in the building... o_O

XOXO

30 Days of Kitchen Witchery - Catch up ^-^

So I, too, have been busy with work & house cleaning in preparation for my dad's visit. Now that he's here, we've been going nonstop since his arrival. Omg... I'm so not used to being out & about so much... @_@

But we've had lots of fun & he replaced the faucet in our bathroom... so now we can brush our teeth in the bathroom again. Brushing them at the kitchen sink still gets them clean, but just feels weird to me... o_O

Anywho... I have a *few* days to catch up on, so I figured now's a good time to start.

Day 4's question was what our favorite tools are. I don't have too many snazzy kitchen implements, mostly because I don't see the point in owning something that will take up space if it can only be used for one task. Since space is at such a premium in my house, I'd rather have something that's multi-use.

A good example of this is the egg boiler that Britt bought a while back... lolz... It is quite nifty, I won't deny it, but it only boils eggs. Nothing else. So I think it's silly for it to be taking up space in my cupboard, but I do use it. I don't know... I like it, but feel kind of silly having one, because a nice, simple sauce pan would also boil eggs... and anything else I might want to put in it.

My current favorite tool is my electric mixer. I finally bought one the other day, as I was going to make a cheesecake from scratch, and the thought of beating cream cheese & butter & sugar together by hand until it was all nice & smooth & perfectly combined made me want to cry... and was therefore the perfect excuse to allow myself to buy one. ^-^

I'll also be more easily able to make meringue now... YAY!

I suppose another favorite tool is a nice, big, heavy mixing bowl... even though I don't own one. I'm still looking for the perfect heavy duty bowl for this... And I'm really partial to a nice, study mixing spoon... even though I usually end up using my hands to mix doughs & crusts & things like that... they just work better. ^______^

So yeah... I can't really pick just one favorite. But there are definitely a few things I enjoy using on a regular basis. ^-^

Alrighty... I'd best be off to collect my dad from his coffee date with his cousin (who is also a pastor... it's gotta be something in his & my mom's family's genes, to have so many clergy on both sides of the family... XD)

Have a wonderful day my sweets! The sun is shining here, and I think I'm going to take the dad for a jog at the lake later. ^-^ It's so nice outside!!! =D

XOXO

30 Days of Kitchen Witchery - Day 3

What doesn't make a Kitchen Witch?

So yesterday I espoused my grand ideas of what I feel makes moi a Kitchen Witch.

Today's question kind of threw me though... How am I supposed to know what doesn't make someone something? o_O

I have no idea... and I'm not really all that comfy with the whole notion of coming up with things/reasons that a person isn't something. I'll leave that for others to do, methinks... ^_~

I'm happier with just trying to keep track of myself... I have enough trouble with that, let alone keeping track of everyone else too. ^-^

SO!

Be what you want, don't be what you don't want to be, and let's all just be happy together. Sound ok to you? Sounds fabulous to me. ^-^

XOXO