Raincharm’s Weblog

I looked back at my post from yesterday – boy am I linear.
Dishes were impressive. Maybe it’s because there have been only two of us lately, so 9 makes a mark. But we did have so many dishes out that our silverware tray was so empty that we took out the straglers and washed it too.

Today I am going to put away the last load of dishes (large things mostly) and decide what to take to a party. Most of our leftovers are probably not appropriate. I am toying with the idea of a second pumpkin, but it may be too late already.

I would prefer to find a cup of coffee, newspaper and a comfortable chair, and then pick something up at the store.

Oh – and when did UM(ichigan) start playing Toledo??? and LOSING!!!!!

1:15 PM

Onions – diced
Garlic – minced
Celery – diced
Turkey – thawed, not 3:15 stuffed and in the oven, 5:30 – out of the oven, 6:00 carved sort of
Pumpkin – carved, not buttered, 4:30 filled and into the oven, 6:00 – out of the oven
Pumpkin seeds – in 3:15 out of the oven
Cheese – grated
Potatoes – not 3:15 peeled, not 5:00 cut up, 5:30 into the water, 6:00 – mashed
Roasted vegetables arrive – 5:00 ummmmm
Table – mats on
Table – silverware not 4:45 on
Table – plates not 4:45 on
Table – serving dishes not 3:15 on
Chairs – not 3:15 half 5:00 found/out
Whipping cream – whipped 8:00
Pie out – 8:15
Dishes – done #1, #2, #3, #4 – 9:55 underway – 2nd drainer full

Friends and food – two of my favorite things.

Ashlan is arriving on the train, except that it really looks like a bus and it drives on the freeway.
The scheduled arrival is 8:30. It is now 9, and no phone call to tell us that she is passing our house and we should beat it down to the train station, where the bus stops. This is a three-day weekend for Canadians, and I think the bus will be fully loaded. It will also be the first trip for some newbies, and customs may take a while. I think this weekend trip last year was a very late arrival.

Made three beds waiting for the phone to ring. Two more to go, and a turkey to go check. Let’s go find some giblets.

The title about sums up my evening, or at least a point in my evening.
I was working at work, when my carpooler appeared (late – was not sure he was still there)
Sure – convince me to go home – at a breaking point.
Worked in the car until it got too dark – editing a budget presentation
Don’t lose steam – connect via remote desktop – put edits into presentation
Stop to eat a porkchop
What’s this – connection has been lost?
No apparent ability to re-connect and don’t know what is going on at work site …

Guess this will be a morning rush job – hope my prior work saved OK

This post is being written while waiting for a carpool. And since I don’t have an I-whatever they are, I am tied to the laptop that could be moved, except I have it locked down. So – the thought is, better to be able to spend a moment blogging, or wanting to be on the road to get to work sooner. It is 6:57 by my clock, and 7 is generally the latest we leave, so ….

In the meantime, C & I took a nice evening walk to do some grocery shopping, including picking up a pumpkin for Soup in a Pumpkin on Saturday, bananas, cliff bars, pepitas, dogs, and a few other things I can’t remember. Finding a pumpkin big enough for 10 was the real goal. Accomplished at the Rising Sun Farms stand north of us. Then after dropping off the pumpkin and bananas, we headed south to Trader Joes for everything else.

Finally a dinner of chicken and roasted potatoes, crossword and Soduko (sp? Ashlan has me so mixed up on this one I never know which is correct) from the evening paper, and I was ready for some shut eye. Turkey is thawing (I haven’t touched it myself, so I guess I don’t even know the condition – that will be tonight’s adventure). 

After spending these few minutes I realize this was really about food. Gotta go ———>

From Budgets to Baseball Playoffs and Debates to High School Soccer – it has been a mixed bag over the past few days. Looking at this short list I notice that none of those things had much to do with house and home. I guess it is time to give that some focus as well. After work that is …

Played soccer yesterday.
Our team moved up a few divisions. Good competition, but they seem younger, faster and stronger.
One 200+ gentleman took me down by essentially running through me.
One 20+ woman (I guess I am 20+ too) jumped in front of me to intercept a ball. Well she tried to jump in front of me, but really jumped on top of me – my feet to be precise. Two cleats found one of my toes -on the nail and one on the knuckle. I may have uttered a quiet oath.
I played the rest of the game – no subs available, then limped home. I did ice, and it actually felt like a good thing to do.
This morning I limped around here and there. Stairs were difficult.

Then, sometime during a 3 hour meeting it started to hurt quite a bit less.
I am thinking a ligament, bone or something else inside the toe may have been slightly out of place, and finally settled back into place.

Woo-hoo – live to play again.
Us weekend warriors like to play, and we like our injuries even more.

Actually, the Issaquah Salmon Days Parade. One of the last, if not the last, Seafair events of the “summer”. My office +friends did our annual Toilet Brigade Drill Team once again. Eve, one of Carl’s former kids – now a first grader – was the Potty Princess. Ashlan can attest to how much fun that can be, if she can still remember her moment in the sun er – darkness – she was in the Torchlight Parade in Seattle about 12 years ago.

The weather was grey more than anything. It poured until just before we got in line (to wait), and sprinkled a bit during the parade, and then started pouring right after we got off the parade route. So apparently the powers that be thought a water conservation message would be better received during dry spell. Everyone did really well and it was a lot of fun. I am now ready for a nap.

It is time for us to start planning our Thanksgiving Dinner – Canadian Thanksgiving that is.
Ashlan will be home next weekend, and we are going to have a feast!
(It is harder to find all the fixings in the supermarket when they don’t expect you to be shopping for T-Day, but those of us that are shopping-challenged will manage)

I think I mentioned before that Carl had been interviewed for a promo spot.

You can find it now at the link http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?c_id=sea
I hope this works. It’s only a few moments, and you can see Carl in his element.
If not, right now if you go the mariner page it is in the upper left corner as the video link.