I kick off my holiday shopping by.....

...buying something for myself!

I love my new "Cuddl Duds" flannel lounge pants. So soft and fleecy.

Look at the cute birdies!

I like this picture, cause it makes my boobs look big - which they ARE NOT! *Sigh*

They have nifty pockets, too! Unfortunately, the matching tops were dorky and bulky, so I'm sticking with the top that makes me look "booby". Ummm...that didn't come out right.....

What have I been doing this week?

• Still battling a nasty virus that won't go away...sniffling, snuffling, sneezing...ALL SNOT - ALL THE TIME.
• For those of you who are still reading after that..... I'm overwhelmed with office drama. Every day this week has been like a soap opera in my office, with divorce proceedings, spicy affairs, racy sexting pictures!, and health problems. No, none of it involves me.....and dammit.....my ears are so stuffed up that I can't overhear every juicy detail!
• Desperately hungry for homemade baked goods. The supermarket bakery doesn't satisy, and I won't eat a cupcake that has 30 ingredients on the label. Don't think I should be baking myself, since a fresh, moist baked good should not be the product of a big sneeze.
• Received a small promotion. Rather anti-climactic, as this had been promised to me for the past couple years. We also have friends and family that have been laid-off from jobs, and I feel a bit guilty. And now I feel a bit constrained from bashing my place of employment...for a little while.....
• Been playing "Rear Window" with my neighbors. Our neighbor's son is unemployed and getting a divorce and has come back home to live in their basement. Every night of the past week, I have stood at my kitchen window in the dark...battling the demon virus in my body that keeps me sneezing and blowing my nose for half the night. I've watched this man walk constantly out onto his parents' patio...and stand in the frigid cold and dark...slowly smoking a cigarette...and I've wondered what demons he is battling this night.

Not my window; image from Flickr

My SAD farewell to Fall

Spring, Summer, and Fall fill us with hope; Winter alone reminds us of the human condition.
~Mignon McLaughlin

Walking in the yard, I bid goodbye till spring to my few remaining flowers, and try to capture the last golden rays of the autumn sun in my eyes..... *SIGH*

 

How do you hide technology in all its lack of charm?

I think I've mentioned before that we have only one television set in Casa de la Wheel. I know - hard to believe, isn't it?!

We have quite the quaint and charming living room...what with the faded chintz print sofa and the green wire birdcage with the silk flowers and the watercolor of an old house from Meester's family over the mantel. Notice my precious red Samsung laptop that Meester bought me because I wanted to sit and blog comfortably on the sofa instead of at a desk because my laptop has Blu-ray and HD and his does not. We won't discuss how often I want to use MY laptop and Meester is using it to watch something or other that I don't want to watch.

Downstairs in the basement lower level family room is where we hide the TV...in the charming cream-colored faux antique cabinet. Next to the charming faux "wood-burning" gas stove...in front of which Red parks her shivering carcass while watching TV in winter...

And these are the charming laptop cables that snake all over our charming tv-less living room. I'm thinking of covering them in a chintz wrapper, like those covers for chandelier cords.

or maybe just covering them with neon orange duct tape so I don't trip over them so much.....

Sweetly seduced again by squash

Aackkk, too busy at work and too tired to blog, or read blogs.  Also too busy to cook...waayyy too many frozen pizzas for dinner lately. I did some baking for family, but here's a recipe for Roasted Squash and Apples that I've managed to make several times between pizzas. The ingredients are just a suggestion; I vary the amounts and ingredients depending on what I have available. The best of Fall -- Squash, Apples, and Maple Syrup.

Roasted Winter Squash & Apples
2 C. butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2" cubes
2 C. kabocha squash, peeled and cut into 1/2" cubes
2 C. any variety of tart baking apple, cubed and peeled or not peeled
6 Tbs. butter
1/2 C. pure maple syrup
1 garlic clove, minced, or 1/2 C. chopped yellow onion
1 Tbs. chopped fresh rosemary (I used about 1 1/2 tsp. of dried rosemary from my garden)
1 tsp. salt
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3/4 C. chopped pecans, or walnuts, or almonds - whatever you have on hand; toasted if you have time

Butter a 2 qt. baking dish. Combine squash and fruit in a large bowl. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in next 5 ingredients. Pour over squash mixture and stir to coat, then transfer all to baking dish. Cover with lid or foil.

Bake covered at 375 degrees F. for about 40 minutes. Uncover and bake for about 20 minutes more. Remove from oven and sprinkle with nuts before serving.

Before cooking: (Blogger refused to rotate this picture...grrr...)

After cooking: so hungry we started eating before I thought to get a picture.

I'll be drinking dinner at a Holiday Wine & Spirits Show tonight.
Hooray!