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Jonathan has informed me that he has not received the scrubs I mailed him. BUT he did receive some mail initially received here. I put it in another envelope and mailed it to him Wednesday or Thursday...he got it. But not the scrubs from 8 days ago. Perhaps today. I have a serious thought that my niece in Crowley somehow commandeered them. She's a relatively new phlebotomist...can't spell that so let's call her a "medical vampire"... and in need of scrubs. When I accused her, she readily admitted it and asked me if I would alter them because they are too wide across the shoulders.

I'm still driving the bubba truck. Made the mistake of calling it that in Sam's presence, and he was offended. OKAY! It's not a jacked-up truck with oversize wheels and tires that requires a step ladder or a good shove on the butt to get into it. It IS a Ford F-250...3/4 ton...diesel...extended cab...short bed. You HAVE to use the pipe step to enter...no just jumping in. And on the way out. LOL You should hear my short-stuff friend Nancy. "Oops. I forget how high that is." ...on her way out.

I've got to decide whether to buy a brand new 2010 and make payments for the rest of my life or get something a couple of years older with more miles...and come pretty close to paying the same thing. It's almost a no brainer if I stick with the Yukon/Tahoe WANT. I think I could go cheaper...but not have what I want. I figure that one of these days I will be there...and have no choice but the best I can afford...which may well be the cheapest out there. Shudder...can you see me owning a Ford Focus because that's all I can afford? sniff I think I need to go have a good cry... Waaaaa! Why oh why did I park under that tree?

I'm finally back in the gym. The job just got too busy for a while there. Besides, I was getting plenty of exercise and lost a couple of pounds from working all day long, then drinking a tall cold glass of ice tea and eating an apple for supper several nights in a row. Just too tired to care. I know that I've lost a total of 14 pounds and maybe 15! :o)

This morning on the way to the gym I nearly turned around to retrieve my camera. But I didn't. So close your eyes and imagine this:
Clouds filled the eastern sky. The sun rays shown above the clouds and through the holes in the clouds looking like the crown on a king. Very much what I can imagine the way Christ will return some morning. Awesome!

Snicker

This is FUNNY stuff! A business owner was in a bit ago. There's been some sidewalk controversy, and she said that her opinion was being misrepresented (and she is correct...I know that her differences were with the initial plans...not the initial idea). She stated that some people think she's a witch.

I popped right out with, "Well. Live up to it!"

She laughed...or should I say...She cackled?! And jumped. And...at our age...almost pee'd on herself.

Then... She told off on herself. Last Saturday, she did her banking that morning at the drive-through. When she left her business, she put her money in white envelopes into her purse. At the window, she pulled them out and put them in the drawer. One of the ladies smiled and said, "You may want this one back." When she got it back...she looked. It was full of pantie liners!

Young ladies and most men...you just wouldn't understand. The rest of you ladies...when you pick yourself up off the floor...be sure to dust yourself off. ;o)

Fall Drive

White River at Calico Rock.Me thinks these are...
Wild turkeys!
Steam rising from the White River and birds a-flying...

What does the double yellow line mean? For this person...not much. Whoever was driving would take more than their fair share out of the oncoming lane. This time...not too bad...but I was amazed and how much they drifted over the line in the curves. Shame-shame!

Gluten Free

High school classmate, Judy, has Celiac's disease. She has to eat gluten free. I popped into her office the other day...cable company...for some reason or the other...probably having to do with the scarecrow contest we urged the businesses to compete in.

Knowing that I bake, she told me that she needed me to come up with an edible gluten free bread.

Last night I searched the web for gluten free bread recipes. BINGO! I found a bread machine recipe. OH MY GOODNESS! Forget just substituting one different flour for wheat flour! This recipe called for:
brown rice flour
white rice flour
potato flour
tapioca flour
and
soy flour

AND...there had to be something in it to make it have the texture of the bread we all know and love...wheat bread.

xanthan gum

?????!!!!!!!!!

I needed to make a run to Mt. Pleasant...which has two or three health food stores. I entered Fran's with my recipe. She directed me to the cooler and showed me what she had, then pointed to a package of bread MIX! WOW. Now THIS is the way to go. Especially when you are experimenting. Now lemme tell ya. The single loaf package was $5.99. We gluten gluttons should be glad we aren't paying that much for a loaf of bread!

The mix has several flours. And some other stuff. I added milk, melted butter, 1 egg and several egg whites, and a bit of apple cider vinegar. The dough was a bit wet and I thought it needed more flour. I actually had my hand on my flour canister when I thought about what I was doing. The dough just had to stay wet.

After it baked, I dumped it out of the pan. MAN was it ever one heavy loaf of bread! I dug the paddle out of the bottom and cut off a slice. Slathered with butter (the bread, not me), I thought...all this needs is a bit of salt. Not bad at all.

I kept an eye on my watch waiting for the loaf to cool. I poked it in a bag while it was still warm and jumped in the pickup. Her office was closed due to illness for the rest of the week. The illness is her husband...in the hospital. So...I called another classmate. Melanie had just gotten off the phone with Judy! I told her to call J back and tell her to meet me at M's house.

She pinched off some bread. Tasted it. And smiled. When I left, she had the loaf of bread cradled in her arm as she got in her pickup dreaming of cinnamon toast in the morning. ;o)

The Drive to Work

I don't live that far from the office...about 2 1/2 miles. Yesterday morning as I drove down the driveway I saw the front rolling in.We got 3/4" of rain. We need more. This IS Texas after all!

Yesterday I noticed this bush turning colors. I took the photo this morning. The dry summer really distressed it. Our Tupelo gum is turning its usual purplish red. Dogwoods are turning red. Hackberries are yellow. Elms are starting to turn too.
I drove through this in the creek bottom. Do do doo do. Do do doo do. Remember the movie, The Fog?

Me This Afternoon

One Photo

This is from Sam's camera. I went to the office for a bit this morning to download the photos to the office computer so that I could erase Sam's card. He's going on a motorcycle trip next week and wanted his camera...and I wanted the photos on it. I also needed to get the winners in the various events to the local newspaper before Monday's noon deadline. Since I have to go to the dentist in Longview tomorrow to get a crown recemented so that it won't come off any more...I took care of that too.

One of the Chamber directors was just too funny. I e-mailed them to let them know about the dental appointment and that the crown came off while I was eating a piece of Bit o' Honey. He replied that I needed a Bit o' Glue. eyeroll

Too Tired!

Too tired to blog. Too tired to upload photos. If I only knew where my camera is... It's either in the pickup...or maybe on the dining table. It might possibly be in my purse where it belongs, but probably not. It stands to reason that it's in a t-shirt box in the Chamber of Commerce office. The closer to 4 o'clock that it got...the lower the sun was in the sky...the more sun was coming down on me. I kept moving my chair to the shade. Before long...the table was waaaaaayyyyyyyyy over there! LOL

A friend, HEY ANDY! sat with me last. He helped load boxes and chairs in one of the Director's Yukon and my pickup. After we unloaded at the Chamber office, I asked the Director, "What do I do now?" She said, "You're through. Go home." So I did.

Then I thought that I should've made another round visiting with the few vendors that were left. I probably should've stayed until they all left or at least had touched bases with them before I left.

Sigh.

I am NOT going back to town though! I am dedicated to my job, but not so dedicated that after a boss tells me to go home that I show back up again. LOL Unless perhaps we go back to hear the band playing for the street dance.

Andy followed me home. He and Sam are watching the Texas A&M and Arkansas football game. I took a quick nap until somebody hollered, "CATCH THE BALL!" I grabbed for it...but missed. ;o)

A Bit of Texas in Australia

I "met" Aussie Cherry http://cperryman.blogspot.com/ a year or so ago. She had the cutest photo in the header of her blog. Two of her grand daughters sitting on the beach, facing out to the sea. Cherry took a photo of them from behind. So cute! She has since changed the header several times.

Cherry and I have so many things in common. Not to mention the rhyming names. ;o) Her artistry lies in photography while mine is mainly in quilting.

Via her blog, I have followed her travels. She once stated that she purchases ornaments for her Christmas tree where ever she travels. I asked if she'd like to have a Texas ornament. Once agreed...I then had to find an ornament that was NOT Made in China. It was not an easy task. Last month Carol and I went to an arts and crafts show in Gladewater. We weren't there long...we like antiques and quilt...the artsy/craftsy stuff just wasn't our thing after all. We wound up in the antique stores. Before leaving the artsy/craftsy ground, I did find THE ornament. I packaged it carefully, sent if off at the post office, and prayed that it would arrive in one piece. I did not e-mail Cherry. She got it! I hope she enjoys her bit of Texas each year.

Ta-Da!!

Twelve pounds. Let me repeat myself...

TWELVE POUNDS!!!! It's about time!

This has been such slow going...but I'm jump starting it again this week. Can I tell you how busy I am?...which leads to how tired I am!! ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz

Last week I just flat did not sleep very well. If I went to bed at 10 p.m., I would wake at 5 a.m. So....I would go to bed sometime between 11 and midnight. It worked pretty good for the week, but I did run out of steam over the weekend. Especially by Sunday. We had Sam's family reunion Saturday...we do the putting it together here in town. Then on Sunday Carol and I drove to Corinth...a three hour drive...for the baby shower.

Then...Monday night. LEG CRAMPS!!!! I had been asleep about 30 minutes or so when something woke me. I couldn't go back to sleep so sat up, played Mahjong on the computer, listened to an audio book. Got back in bed about 2:30 or 3 a.m. The next thing that I am aware of...charley horse in my right calf like you would NOT believe! Where's the rusty butcher knife? Cut the leg off at the knee! Anesthesia not necessary! Where's the potassium?!!! ALMOST OUT OF POTASSIUM...not only in my body evidently, but also the bottle. Then...the alarm went off at 6:45 a.m.

I was a zombie yesterday. A friend commented about how tired I looked. Ha-HA! I worked all day then went to the building where the community stew is going to be served and helped set up...Chamber of Commerce work for Daingerfield Days. The dinner is tonight...so another long day.

Needless to say, I won't be going to the gym any this week!