WHAT THE HECK? THE NINTH? OKAY I GOTTA SET A BLOG ALARM

 I apologize once again.  I haven't even been all that busy til the last four days.  Company is coming and all you normal folks will understand, leaving out the ocd anal clean freaks, its frantic cleaning time.  And I am finding it tougher than years ago.  I can't use my right arm properly and my balance is crap.  Plus I am half blind.  How good do you think my cleaning effort is going to be?  lol!!

I think you all know by now that Monte was diagnosed with high functioning autism/aspbergers (sp?).  Probably how he can play the piano like he does.  But I tell ya life with him is very interesting and unexpected.  But I am learning!  If it wasn't so targeting I would write a humorous book about antics and life with Monte!!!  Here is an example.

Stan and Antonia are coming for a couple of nights tomorrow night...thus the frantic cleaning.  I decided to make a proper beef stew for dinner tomorrow night.  I actually did something I never do...I looked up recipes for stew.  I mean I have made a million in my history but I thought I would just read some.

 Of course I found one with some interesting quirky differences and decided to try it.  It calls for tomato paste, horseradish and root beer.  I will leave out the horseradish.  But I asked for Monte's opinion on the root beer.  We had a discussion...pros and cons.  He is all for it, says it would be good.  He convinced me.

This was yesterday.  So I popped into the store and bought one bottle of sugared barks root beer.  I am excited to see how it turns out.  I am making that stew today as per the recipe.  It says it needs to sit in the fridge overnight for better flavour.  So following the recipe exactly I came to the root beer step.  I reached over to where I had put it yesterday and....it's  not there.  (shovel list). I have a habit lately of losing EVERYTHING!!! So I hunted and hunted and finally found the empty barks bottle, beside Monte's chair.  Jeez!!!!  We discussed it just yesterday for heaven's sake.  I should have hidden it!!!! 

He has a memory like a sieve.  It isn't really his fault.  he was highly overdosed with lithium by a dr. in Kamloops, who by the way no longer has his licence due to too many screw ups. 

 One of the unfixable side effects of that overdose was memory problems.  Another example we took a load out to the dump, one being my kitchen garbage container.  This was a few days ago.  Well guess where that garbage container still is...I have asked him repeatedly to bring it in with him when he comes back from wherever he has gone.

  What I don't like most though is how he beats himself up every time he forgets stuff.  Mind you it's only short term things.  Anything past a week or two he NEVER forgets, even when you would prefer he would. 

I rehired my housekeeper.  I just can't keep up with the dog hair on the carpet.  I can't vacuum properly with my right arm giving me grief.  She said she didn't have a spot anymore so I put it out there on our local fb page that I was looking.  Eventually, after a couple of interesting responses, my last housekeeper got hold of me and said she could come back.  But before that....

I did hire one lady who sounded really great.  Until she told me she didn't have a vacuum cleaner!  What the hell?  I went to her fb page and I feel I escaped a potential disaster. 

 She has seven kids, all of which she just got custody back after a long stint in rehab.  She has a very scary looking boyfriend, a fairly new one.  She just moved into a new housing place and she doesn't have any beds, or any furniture for that matter.  Poor thing but I really need someone with a vacuum.  My Miele bags are like forty bucks a piece and fill up too fast.  My housekeeper has a big dog herself and understands. I am going to ask her to dust every time and do the microwave.

Well enough.  I have to go cut up potatoes, parsnips, carrots, onions, turnips, golden beets and peel shallots and garlic.  I will take a picture.  I bought a new giant Brown Betty bean pot to put the stew in.  The buns I will be baking in the cast iron frying pan.  And it will all go with Kathy's amazing awesome pickled beets!!!  I think Antonia is bringing a cake for dessert.  It is Stan's birthday tomorrow.  I bought him a book that is supposed to be delivered today.  It had better!!!!

Til next time (hopefully a little sooner than nine days). TFL and TTYL

I DO NOT LIKE HALLOWEEN....NEVER HAVE

 Do you remember when we were kids how intensely exciting holidays were?  The anticipation was beyond bearable.  Then we grew up.  And when I say 'we' I am talking about women.

Birthdays in families always end up being up to mom to make happen.  We clean the house, go shopping for endless food, we bake the cake, clean up the mess again, go to the dollar store and get all the paraphernalia one needs for kid's birthdays, get the candles, find the lighter, plan the games.  Then when the dust settles and everyone is gone, who is it picking up all the trash, getting over excited kids into tubs then bed (and the little blighters still want stories), standing at the sink washing dishes, then doing the night time routine, feeding the dogs, making sure all food is in the fridge, finding the aspirin for your aching back.  What the hell is exciting about all that?

Thanksgiving, Christmas, road trips, beach days, over night(s) company.  All exciting.  All exhausting. And all not as fun as when as a kid you slept somewhere strange in the house, giving up your bed to company.  

It's great seeing the joy on your family members face..for sure!  But does it make up for the utter exhaustion at the end of the event?  For your family yes...for myself?  I am not so sure.  The real excited magic is definitely gone and it's due to the colossal amount of work it takes to make a super successful dinner, party, Christmas or day trip to the beach.

And that brings me to halloween.  I can admit it now.  I absolutely hate halloween.  I mean think about it.  What is there to be excited about?  Costumes?  I think NOT!!!  Either the kid wants something impossible to conjure up or impossibly expensive or the 12 year old wants to go out on this most dangerous night with his/her friends...sans parents.  Then a damaging fight ensues when you say no.  And the younger ones bring home an obscene amount of candy...judging the neighbours by how big the bars are.  And face it.  No matter how you spin it to your little offspring how one shouldn't negatively judge according to the size of a freaking chocolate bar, in their head they are still judging, the greedy little critters !  (shovel list).

I do love Christmas though.  I absolutely love the tree and the lights.  I put them on the beginning of November and don't turn them off til spring.  I am a light freak.

I already have my xmas cards and my address list out ready to do my cards.  I love planning the tacky gift party we all are going to do instead of presents.

  I love the xmas carols in commercials and random stores and radio stations.  This time of the year I super use google just for Mariah Carey and Elvis Pressley and sometimes Frank Sinatra and for sure Boney M.  But the real crazy core excitement isn't there anymore.  I guess we just grow up and reality kind of kills it a little.  And for sure the massive amount of planning and work and exhaustion.  The xmas tree makes up for that though!!!!

I think I have mentioned this before but my favourite xmas memory is one year when my Arnie was still tiny enough o be rocked in the rocking chair and  Kevin was eating mandarins and popcorn over on the couch.  The tree was beautifully lit up and the tinsel icicles were shimmering in perfect rows on the branches.  And on my mickey moused together stereo Abba was playing and I was singing and rocking my little one and occasionally Kevin would climb up too.  Life was perfect.  I love this memory.  Soft and dark and shimmering xmas lights, my babies, a rocking chair and awesome music.

I hope you all have a wonderful xmas this year.  Some of you are attempting new normals or dealing with scary health diagnosis's or losing a loved one.  Reach out.  There are lots of us out here with open arms ready for you.  Now I am going to dive behind the couch and haul out my tiny but loved xmas tree!  Hibiscus gotta moooove!!!!!!  TFL and TTYL