Only a dork...

We haven't had a lot of video game systems at our house. We had the computers where Tetris and Solitaire take up way too much of our time (although I will say I RULE our Tetris scoreboard), and we had an old Atari knock-off with games like Centipede and Breakout and that sort of thing. Fun enough that there's even a geek version available with some of the original games all packed into one joystick. ( Jakks Atari Classics 10 In 1 TV Games if you really want to check it out. But be warned the controls are less responsive that the original system. Don't ask me how I know.)

But I digress.

So someone in the family (won't say who but he's over 5' 10") got the bright idea to get a Wii. "There's sports games and exercise programs and don't forget Wii Fit. It'll be great to keep us active when it's raining all winter and we can't ride."

What do I know about Wii?

There's a website for people that have hurt themselves playing Wii. There are categories of injuries you can inflict with a Wii. There are doctors around the globe worried about Wii-related injuries. And they have a cute commercial. No one sporting bruises at all.

So being the informed consumer that I am, what do I say?

"Okay."

After all, what kind of maroon do you have to be to hurt yourself playing a video game?

Apparently my kind. (Is it spelled "dorque" in Canada?)

Turns out I'm not a very good cow racer (just about leaned off the chair) and my golf game's not good either (bent a fingernail. Don't laugh - that hurts!) And as if the Wii-tennis-strained elbow and the obscure-but-somehow-related-to-Wii-bowling muscle at the back of my right arm weren't enough, for Christmas we added Dance Dance Revolution to the mix.

So now I'm limping (but only slightly) after that last jump on "I Want Candy" proved to be my undoing.

But, hey, I burned 100 calories.

Great idea, hon.

All the blessings of this wonderful season to you and your family, today and in the coming new year.
Merry Christmas!


"Christmas Blessings" by VJCoulman
Digital painting

Garden-fresh carrots for Christmas

One of the challenges when I moved from a Zone 2 to a Zone 7 was figuring out the gardening rules. All sorts of wonderful things grow in my area but I've had to learn HOW they grow. Roses, which were pretty much an annual back in Saskatchewan, verge on being a weed around here. Marigolds, a staple of previous gardens, are lucky to last overnight after the earwigs find them. Heather likes moist roots but peonies need drainage. The dirt is a random mix of rock, clay and silt so soil amending is a gardening lifestyle skill. But the climate means you can plant green peas in April and again in September but NOT in June because of the HEAT. Crop rotation is another gardening skill. And bug identification another that I won't dwell on right now.

When we did our addition last year, I had to rip out the only things that were growing at all for me - my raspberry patch and strawberry bed. They were planted in raised beds so that we could pick the dirt they grew in. And they were doing alright - just starting to produce consistently. But out they came.

This year my wonderful father reset the raised beds when he came to visit and we tried again. Nothing ambitious - just some snow peas, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and carrots. And a few potatoes that were sprouting in the cupboard.

The green peas produced - not enough for a meal - but enough for a healthy snack pretty much anytime we wandered by the garden. The potatoes gave us one meal of new red potatoes (yummy but skimpy). The cucumbers were much happier - we actually had to foist a few off on friends and neighbors. The lettuce yielded enough to add to a sandwich daily. And the tomatoes went insane - not necessarily in production but in size. Whew! And the carrots I forgot about.

Until today.

Now, we've had snow and rain and a couple nights of freezing temps so I wasn't expecting much. But I noticed the sad carrot tops laying along the ground and thought "Well, I guess I shouldn't leave them out much longer." (Okay, it wasn't a plan on my part - just my usual gardening neglect that typically sets in around August.) And you never know, parsnips benefit from a good frost before eating - maybe it works for carrots...

So after 6 months of watering and weeding and tending (and neglecting), here's our crop:















Wait, it looks much more significant after I get it cleaned up...














Don't laugh too hard. They were fresh and crisp and tasted very good both raw and cooked with just a hint of butter. We'll even add a couple to our Christmas day apple-carrot salad. How many of you can do that in December?

Spoiled again

I'm getting spoiled - first I get a night with the house to myself, then my DH gets sneaky and takes me out to dinner last night. Sneaky because he gave me 15 minutes warning.

I made him wait 25 while I spruced up a bit.

Have to say though, enjoyed it immensely. It's been such a crazy couple months that it was nice to meet the man I've been sleeping beside for so long again.

So we sat in one of those casual restaurant/bars with informal decor but actual staff and the snow fell through the street lights outside and it felt right to be out with my honey and watching his eyes light up as he talked about a challenge he'd been having at work. Of course, reality always steps in and we did a little last minute Christmas shopping at the Toys R Us next door before we headed home. Time was we used to go out and then hit a book store for a few hours as our indulgence. It just occurred to me that a bookstore was on the other side of the restaurant and didn't even appear on my radar.

Do you suppose I'm approaching middle age?

Never mind, don't answer that. It was a good night.

A night of revelry

Sometimes people tell me things but all the dots don't connect very well. And sometimes that leads to some pretty exciting news.

Like tonight.

My last deadline for the year passed 19 minutes ago. I got the article turned in on time after having NO sources for it less than 4 hours ago. But it's done so it's done.

Just as I'm doing some last minute tidying on my desk (it needs more than a minute but still) DH pops his head round the studio door and says "Okay, we're out of here."

Um...bye?

Turns out (and he did tell me this) he's taking the kids for supper and Christmas shopping tonight. What does this mean for me?

TIME IN AN EMPTY HOUSE!! Whew! The possibilities boggle the mind! I could catch up on some baking, write Christmas cards (BTW, they aren't in the mail yet so don't hold your breath), clean, dance around in my fuzzy snowflake socks, paint, catch up on banking (nothing like the Christmas season for not having a clue how much money you have), sew (making costumes seems to have awakened some old demons) or just sit and stare at the wall in a stupor for awhile (although that would be a shameful waste).

I think I'm going to start with quiche and herbal tea for supper, my Go Fish Christmas CD (great rendition of Little Drummer Boy) and then see what notion strikes next.

I'm off to fritter away some time...

While I do that, here's one of my favorite Christmas songs. You know, not counting the ones about Jesus birth and stuff.



Ta.

A Dickens of a play

Well, we're done.

Whew.

The drama I've been involved in for so long is finished except for the clean up. (I'll be getting to that later today.) We ran for three nights, had almost 1600 people come through, 15 people accepted the best Christmas present anyone could get, and the count on the funds raised for the teen shelter should be coming in today. (added 12-21-08 We found out today that we raised just over $6,000 for the teen shelter - yippee!)

You know how sometimes you slave at something, with the progress and the frustrations, maybe a teary session or two, and then look back and say "Well. That was totally worth it"?

That's us. All smiles that things went well, that so many people (over 100) worked together to pull it off, that the snow machine was TOTALLY gorgeous and that we did it and did it well. It's also drawn out some of the reclusive creative types around us that suddenly have ideas for their own stories, dramas and songs. Cool.

It is sort of bittersweet to be done after living it so long but after a chance to recuperate a bit, I'm sure this dynamic duo will be back to the planning board to come up with another fantastic production. And I'm sure I'll end up right back in there doing my thing alongside them.

(I heard a rumor that the next one might be set in the 1940s and I can't wait to plan the costumes for that!).

Photo: Me (just 'cause you asked, Patti), Rene' Phelps (director/scriptwriter), Roger Hutley (scriptwriter/songwriter/composer) and an orphan that a few of you may recognize.

A finished candy cane

Awhile ago I posted a sketch for a candy cane painting I was working on. The painting is finally finished (well, I actually finished it three weeks ago but had it at the print shop to have Christmas cards made) and I'm pretty happy with it. Is it exactly what I'd hoped for? Well, maybe not quite. Am I okay with that - yep.


For those of you that like technical details, the original is painted in acrylic paints on an 11" x 14" wrapped canvas (which means the painted border wraps too). This is a photo, not the actual scan, but will give you a pretty good idea of how it turned out.

If you want to try it out for yourself or know a young artist that might want to try their own color scheme on it, the sketch is now available as a coloring sheet on my website.

Have fun! I sure did.

Christmas eating tips

I've had to do a number of dieting and nutrition articles as part of my freelance magazine work but when a friend sent this to me, I had to laugh out loud. This looks like much more practical advice than the "experts" give me...

CHRISTMAS EATING TIPS:

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. It's rare.. You cannot find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-alcoholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple, Pumpkin, Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day ?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.

10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Re-read tips;
start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner.

(Clipart from www.karenswhimsey.com)

Hats off to...

So on Wednesday I had to go to a local fabric store to get one last piece of sew-in boning to finish the last awning for our Christmas drama. This was it. The last thing to be done to the set before I could dust off my hands and call it done.

And I had a whole hour while one of the kiddos was at a lesson. Plenty of time. Actually, it was the only time I had for this particular errand since the final dress rehearsal (I'm also in the choir and supplying one of the orphans) was in two hours and I still had to get back to repair the awning. Still, it shouldn't take long, right?

HA!

This store is one of the more frustrating stores I've ever been in (and that's not just at Christmas - they're frustrating all year long. And uniformly frustrating across the chain of stores they run). They are chronically understaffed, pretty random in their inventory and, to top things off, they recently renovated so NOTHING is in any sort of logical spot. They are also the only store with certain items within a 75 mile radius.

Quilt bat is completely across the store from the cottons, the notions are split up by function in three different areas, trim is assigned some sort of random class/function system so ribbon and cording do not live in the same neighborhood, and heaven help you if you're looking for boning. The new cutting table also has one of those "take-a-number" systems which, in theory, avoids confusion when there's a lot of people waiting but, in practice, means that people tend to wander off with their number clenched in their hot little hands and then they expect to cut in when they wander back to the table after being away for 20 minutes and are behind by 15 numbers.

Now I'm sounding a trifle testy, perhaps, but add to that the Christmas spirit that sometimes infects people at this time of year and you can see how it might spell some frustration.

So, suffice it to say, I stood in line at the cutting table for 50 minutes (with a person with TWO numbers cutting in ("I'll only be a second") that had to run back and forth because she couldn't decide on one ribbon) only to face an even longer line at the cashiers. Ackkk!

By now, my child is getting out in 5 minutes and they will charge me a minimum $10 fee for childcare if I'm late. That's way too much to have to pay for a $2.49 length of boning. I'm starting to eye the greenery thinking I could just stash my goods in there because, trust me, the staff doesn't tidy up so it should be safe there for a week or so, when the sweet white-haired lady behind me in line notices my furtive glances.

"Long line, isn't it?"

"Yes. " And then a little frustration (desperation?) leaks out. "I'm supposed to be picking up my child right now. Do you suppose they'd notice if I just stashed this somewhere for 10 minutes?" Sheepish laugh.

Without a word this sweet and tired-looking lady holds out her hand.

???

"Give it to me," she says. "Trust me, this line will still be here."

I hope I said out loud all the random grateful thoughts that ran through my mind at this moment. I handed over my bit and ran for the door. After managing to get there and back without running anyone over and within the 10 minutes, the line was gone and so was my sweet angel. But she'd left the boning at the counter for me so I could breeze right through. Without cutting in on anyone.

I told the cashier how helpful this person had been and her response was a very surprised sounding "Was this one of our staff?"

(Apparently I wouldn't be the only one surprised by helpful staff at this store.)

"It was a customer," I answered and she suddenly looked like she understood.

"That's nice," was her comment.

It was beyond nice. It was an act that ranked up with the angels appearing to the shepherds. I could hear the heavenly music and see the bright lights as my predicament lifted in a cloud of relief.

So today's it's HATS OFF to my angel lady in particular, but also to all the people that remember the spirit of kindness in this Christmas season.

You're invited

Remember way back when I talked about a Christmas photo session? Here's their final choice:


Being swamped in Christmas is about to come together. We had our first full drama run-through tonight, the sets are only needing some final details and the costumes are mostly together. It's going to be a great musical, the building looks fantastic and we're getting set to open Thursday evening of next week. It's been months of hard work on the part of a lot of people and I'm really quite excited about it.

This original play and musical is about two girls without a home - one in modern day and one in 1852 England - and the longing to have a home at Christmas. The very talented Rene' Phelps (director/scriptwriter) and Roger Hutley (scriptwriter/composer) have done an outstanding job in putting this story together. And as part of this drama any donations or offerings made through the play are going to support a new shelter for homeless teens in Medford. It's heartbreaking to know how many children and teens are homeless in our area and its been a long-felt dream of some people here to minister to these kids and provide them a safe place to live.

So, you are invited to join us for a entertaining evening of music and drama, but more than that, you're invited to be part of what we hope will be a life-changing event.

And for those of you that can't be here, I might even post a photo of me in my Dicken's costume. Maybe.

There's a blueberry on my window

Really - there is. Or to be perfectly correct, its on my windowsill.

I ordered some blueberry plants from an online nursery AGES ago (last spring, actually) and two arrived and are out in the yard deciding whether they like Oregon or not.

But two only arrived a couple weeks ago and because we were having a bit of a cold snap, I didn't want to put them straight outside. So I stuck them in the windowsill until I could figure out what to do with them.

And there they sat. I occasionally threw a little water their way but hadn't really made plans to transplant them yet. And suddenly, this is what I noticed...

They're blooming! Now I really can't put them outside. So I'm going to conduct my own little horticultural experiment and see if they actually produce any berries. I'd invite you over for pie but that might be being a little optimistic at this point.

I'll keep you posted though.