Recipe/ Small chat before work

Yesterday I made barbecue ribs on our grill. It is the first time I have ever grilled anything and I like grilling!

I made a potato casserole that was very easy. The recipe follows:

(We had my Aunt, Uncle and cousin over and they liked the casserole.)

Potato Casserole

Ingredients:

1 can cream of chicken, mushroom or cream of celery soup (I used cream of chicken)
1 8 oz sour cream
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 stick melted butter
32 oz. pkg. frozen hash browns or 2 lbs.
Salt & pepper
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Cooking Directions:

Melt butter in 9"x13" pan. Add ingredients and mix. Microwave for appoximately 20-30 minutes. Sprinkle cheese on top after taking out of microwave.
Microwave 20 to 30 minutes, stirring several times during the cooking time.

Or

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes

Sprinkle cheese on top after the casserole comes out of the oven or microwave.

Today we did not have to leave at 4 p.m. for work so we have a little time to relax. My Father had to go to Birmingham for something else and to pick up our work truck and he kindly offered to pick up our load and bring it back to us! My Father is our current boss.

I just finished adding some podcasts from NPR to Armando’s Zune mp3 player. I have misplaced the cord for my sansa mp3 player so I have not been able to take it lately because it needs a charge. I think we will find it soon. I think I’ve accidently left it in a truck or something.

Mp3 players are so nice when you are on the road as much as we are. You can listen to news, podcasts, books on tape and of course, music. I really don’t know what Armando and I would do without our GPS system and mp3 players at work. The GPS keeps us from being lost and the mp3 player keeps us entertained.

I will scoot now and get our drinks and work things together.

Have a fun evening!

(A frog family I keep on my computer desk.)

Fish tales

Last night we went to a pet store and got a few fish. We got blue gouramis, corydoras and a blue crayfish that I liked a lot.

I just finished adding fish profiles for the gouramis and the corydoras on our aquarium journal. Armando added the crayfish profile last night.

If you like fish and aquariums, you can check out our aquarium journal, it is listed at the links on the right of my blog.

I am feeling better today with the help of pain medication after a few days of nerve pain in my back. Mom and I went shopping and out for lunch today. We had a delicious steak with mushrooms, onion and cheese on top. It was fun having a Saturday out with Mom. We haven’t done that in a while. Tonight it just feels good to relax.

Here is a picture that Armando took recently of our 55 gallon aquarium. He took it in the early morning.

Have a nice and relaxing weekend and enjoy yourself!

Wheelchairs, arrrgh!

My new wheelchair arrived and some of the options I chose were not the best. My thinking was that the solid casters would be so nice, because I wouldn’t have to worry about airing them up so often. But, I did not realize that they would also make my main tires solid as well. My first thought after seeing it was ok, so that might be good because I don’t have to air any tires up.

This morning after arriving from work, I got into the wheelchair for a test. It worked flawless in our living room and turned so easily. Then later when going to the other room where there is a slight bump in the threshold, I realized that I could not go over the bump without a lot of effort and planning way before I got there and going very fast. That is not very practical to have to be doing that every time I go over a bump. So, that is one problem area. Another is the seat size. My cushion does not fit well. This new wheelchair is very narrow at 16 inches by 16 inches. I really need 17x18. Another problem, the armrests are too far back and short. I need longer ones.

I have to return this wheelchair and pick another one. This is not working out well.

I will pick another brand and have to spend several hundred dollars more and wait another few weeks for it to arrive while still riding around on my current wheelchair with the front caster problem.

I guess you learn from your mistakes but, arrrgh!

I was a bit frustrated and told Armando, Why do they make wheelchairs like that, with things that don’t work? He joked and said, Maybe… I don’t know, for someone that lives in a very flat house. I laughed and said, But it is not flat out in the world we live in.

Well, it is late or rather... early. I should head to bed. First I must take Cho-Cho to his bed. He is curled up and is asleep on my lap. He is becoming such a big cat. Cookie is also.

Morning's Light

Morning’s soft and radiant light

Carries with it a luminous glow

And offers brilliant brightness

Layered with colorful hues

Pinks, oranges, yellows and blues

One of nature’s prettiest paintings

An eye-catching display in full view

Hi again!

Sorry for the break in posts. Here is a quick update on what has happened around here.

As some of you know, Armando and I live in our little apartment, three rooms attached to my parent’s home. We have our own entrance but share a kitchen. Actually, this apartment was built wheelchair accessible for me before I met Armando but it works nicely for us right now as we face our new life together. It is our landing space before we get settled more permanently into our own home. These rooms originally were planned to have a kitchen but cost-wise and accessibility wise, the plan did not quite work out to make a kitchen in here too. So, that is why you often here of my parents in my conversations because they are in essence, our close neighbors!

My Dad’s two goats had four baby goats. We were all out in the pasture and Dad and Armando were building a warm goat house for the Moms and babes when we witnessed the birth of two of the babies. It was amazing to see it. I will share a picture of two of the babies at the end of this entry.

It has turned much colder outside and I’ve been wearing my boots. Boots are one of my favorite shoes to wear.

My wheelchair front tire (or caster) has broken causing a little apprehension about it breaking to the point of not being able to enjoy accessibility. It will be about 10 days or more before a new wheelchair arrives. Can you believe it was cheaper to buy a new wheelchair than replace all wheels on my current one? Silly.

Sunday Armando and I went out for sushi at our favorite restaurant. We had not done that in a long time. I tried sake for the first time. It had an “interesting” flavor. I sat there a few moments trying to figure out what it tasted like, if it was like anything I had tasted before. Nope! We also went to the bookstore and I bought a little book journal and My Antonia to read.

I was like a kid at Christmas because I got several book gifts this week. I love reading.

Armando bought me “The Morning of The Magicians”.

My sister sent me these books for my Birthday.

Junque Du Jour,

I will crochet another fish and post a picture here soon.

My sister is coming to visit on Friday and my little nephew Ryan. He is two years old. I am looking forward to the visit. My sister and I don’t get to spend much time together anymore except by telephone and email. So I plan to make a meal and we can catch up on each others lives.

I have to say bye for now and go make a quick supper before work.

Here are two of the new baby goats asleep.

Until soon!

Happy Halloween!

Tennessee Aquarium

Armando made this presentation with the videos I took at the Tennessee Aquarium at Chattanooga.

Salmon with Cheese and Tomato Recipe

• 2 packages of fresh salmon (enough for people being served)
• 1 8 oz package of shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2-3 tomatoes, peeled and sliced thin
• Parmesan cheese
• Salt
• Oregano

1. Peel the skin from salmon and rinse the salmon.
2. Cut salmon into pieces. Place it in a baking pan.
3. Salt the salmon to taste.
4. Peel and thinly slice tomatoes.
5. Place the tomatoes directly on top of the salmon.
6. Sprinkle oregano on top of the tomatoes.
7. Cover the top of the tomatoes and salmon with shredded mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top.
8. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the salmon is cooked thoroughly.

http://www.grouprecipes.com/23210/salmon-with-cheese-and-tomato.html

This is one of my favorite recipes. I made it today so I thought I would share it with you. Enjoy!

Beautiful Butterflies

Today Armando and I took a day trip to Chattanooga, Tennessee. It was perfect weather and we had fun!

We visited the Tennessee Aquarium. You can see a few pictures below that I took in the butterfly garden. Afterwards, we went by Candyland, a nearby candy store and we dipped bags full of candy and I felt like a kid again.

We definitely want to visit again and see (just to name a few things)the Nature Center, the world's largest pedestrian bridge and the Museum of Art. Chattanooga has great architecture and a nice atmosphere.

Photos

A bonus gift on my Birthday last month was this beautiful blue sky.

A picture of the new Whitesburg Bridge in Huntsville, Alabama.

The old bridge was demolished. You can see a picture here of the old bridge.

Update

It has been a few days since I have posted here. Sorry about that. It's been a bit busy for me lately.

Yesterday was just one of those days where all you can say is "Yikes!" The plan was to go early to see my Grandmother who lives several hours away. My Mom and I left and on the way, we went through the car wash. It is one of those drive through carwashes but two people spray the car down first before you go through the rinse. Well, something happened and our car just stalled. I guess the track stopped or something. I don't know, but there we were, stuck beneath the endless "waterfall" and moving nowhere. Mom sounded her horn and the guy ran forward and did something with the machine and let us drive out.

About an hour into our trip, we are going up a mountain and get a flat tire. Sheesh! We couldn't stop on the mountain, so had to drive on with the car vibrating and hoping a lot that our tire did not blow out before we got to the nearest area to pull off the road. It didn't blow out, but we definitely ruined the tire. Nothing to be done about that.

Sadly, Mom's spare tire was without sufficient air and we had to call my Dad and take a leisurely 2 1/2 break in the car awaiting his arrival and then for him to run to the nearest town to get the stuff we needed.

Below this entry is a photo from our little break beside the road. (Yes, I took a picture to show you) What else can you do for 2 1/2 hours? :P (Note to self: Put something fun to do in my purse in case disaster strikes again.)

Armando is selling his HP computer on Ebay. He is selling it reasonably if you are interested you can go HERE

Conquering

I decided last night that I was tired of feeling tired or ahem… lazy. Since we work early a.m. and odd hours, it can be really difficult at times to get your sleep patterns right and to feel well. Sometimes you come in from work tired and sleepy and other times you come in from work wired and awake. I’ve been feeling without energy and tired lately.

So, I decided today I was getting up at a decent hour no matter what I initially felt like. I also decided I was going to start exercising. Being a T2/T3 paraplegic rather limits the fun of workout options but I lifted weights and wheeled down our long gravel driveway with the steep incline. Oh My God, I am so out of shape! Today is the start of more energy, I hope.

I am off to the kitchen with Armando to make baked salmon with mozzarella cheese, tomatoes and oregano.

Have a great day!

Back

I am back. You knew I couldn’t stay away from blogging that long. Didn’t you?

Armando remarked and it was funny but true, that I am now going to be using a smaller computer and I required a bigger desk for it!

We made it through a day of rearranging and working our booties off. We accomplished several things that I am happy about (now that it is over).

#1 We set up my Dad a computer area in their spare bedroom and decided he needed my flat screen monitor instead of the big 19 inch monitor.

#2 In creating the computer area for my Dad, we also started on conquering that room which was called my parents “junk room” and believe me, it lived up to that name. Now it has a bed, small office area with computer and fax and printer.

#2 I have a computer desk that has more storage.

#3 We gave away and tossed many things that we didn’t need.

Shop 'til you drop

My Mom and I went shopping today. It was fun but I am tired. I bought four new dresses, a sweater and a shirt. All for $56.00! They were having a super sale and my sweater was only $2.50! Since three of the dresses are more for summer, they were marked down. It is excellent timing because this winter, Armando and I are escaping to Chile to spend a few months in summer weather. It is the first time I have ever got to escape the cold weather and go somewhere warmer and I am tickled pink!

I know I really didn’t need those clothes but … What girl doesn’t like new clothes? J

As a side note, I may (or maybe not depending on how motivated I am)… be away a few days from posting on my blog. I am about to give my Father (after we format it) my faithful desktop and make the switch totally to my Vista Dell notebook. I am a wee bit nervous about that ‘cos so far, Vista and I get along so-so, since USUALLY easy as pie windows tasks turn into a hunt and search nightmare with vista. But, I am also happy to give Dad lessons and get him enjoying computers and the internet.

Since we have decided to prolong building me a custom desk, I am switching desks. I am going back to a desk I had used previously that has more storage space. If you could see what a disaster my current computer area looks like, you would understand why I may be away a few days trying to assemble my things into some kind of order and as we make Dad a comfortable computer area. Speaking of my computer area currently, let’s just say, I have magazines and books and dvd’s and all my yarn and crafting stuff scattered all haphazardly into what I “wish” to soon be a cozy, organized, Inspiring, fun to be in, computer area.

See you back here as soon as I can. ;)

Morning in the afternoon

With a cup of coffee in hand at this noonday hour I sit and read blogs. Although it might seem an unusual “morning hour” it is my usual awakening moment after working early a.m. shifts.

Part of today’s agenda is taking Cookie to the veterinarian to have her stitches removed.

It is amazing how much Cookie has grown since we first found her sitting lonely on top of a stack of batteries at a auto shop which we do deliveries to most every night. The owner of the shop happened to be there that night and told us she had been there for quite some time. Of course, we had to take her home. She was beautiful and sweet and did not deserve to be a street kitten huddled so lonely and away from people which she so loves. She does not like to be alone even to this day. If a door is between you, she finds ways to jump up and paw the door to get your attention and she meows or she opens the door. She has learned how to open our bedroom door which is a pocket door that slides back into the wall.

You can see a video of Cookie when she was little here so you can see how much she has grown and also see Armando’s new blog.

Have a good day!

Cookie and Toys

I made Cookie two toys this evening. She is so funny. She grabs the toys and carries them in her mouth.

Here is a picture of Cookie tonight with her new toys. Armando had to give me a lesson on tripods to take the picture. (laugh)

Cookie and Pollyanna are both doing well recovering from their surgeries. Their stitches come out next week.

Hurricane on the Bayou

We went Sunday to see Hurricane on the Bayou at an Imax theater in Birmingham. The imagery on this movie was absolutely beautiful. The bayou swamps looked like a natural paradise. The Spanish moss hanging from the trees is something I always remember about Louisiana from when I lived there as a child.

I was moved by this movie and had tears a few times. New Orleans is such a fun place and is famous for the fusion of Cajun and French, the abundance of great music and blues, as well as for its street performers and the best coffee and beignets on the earth! Not to mention the Mardi Gras. Louisiana also has the natural wetlands that are simply gorgeous.

It’s understandable why people love New Orleans and feel compelled to find innovative solutions to try and rebuild and save it. What concerns me is history repeating itself. It would have to take a lot of money and some serious design to make New Orleans safe for people to live in. It is a city built in a bad place, below sea level. Frankly, my mind begins to boggle when trying to figure out a good solution for a “fix” and it scares me to imagine another disaster like Hurricane Katrina.

Click here to see the Hurricane Bayou website.

In the Cat Kingdom

Two of our cats are recovering from surgery now. Poor little gals. Tummies all shaved and with incisions. But, it was necessary. It is time to make our cat kingdom a wee bit smaller and one of the little ladies had turned into a baby making factory.

We gave away the last set of kittens Pollyanna had. I love cats. It is hard to give them away. I get attached quickly so we had to give them away before I became more attached. I had already named two of them, Peaches and Cream and Little Lucy.

Well, we kept little Cho Cho from the abandoned kittens we raised because, who could give away a Cho- Cho? Definitely not us.

Photo website

Big Huge Labs

This is a fun website with several fun ways to customize your photographs for free.

Enjoy!

Happiness is...

when your husband gets his permanent resident card.

Congratulations Armando!!!

Chihuaha

I completed this crochet Chihuaha yesterday.It does have a tail but you can't quite see it in this picture.

It was my first time crocheting a little stuffed animal. It was also my first time modifying a crochet pattern. It was quite an experience but guess what, I'd do it again! It was fun.

The pattern is a Japanese amigurumi pattern that was translated into English. You can find the pattern here but as mentioned, you will need to modify the pattern and figure out how to add more stitches to make everything bigger. I used buttons for the eyes.

Souad Massi Honeysuckle (mesk elil) CD

I am currently enjoying this CD.

Souad Massi's voice is absolutely beautiful whether she is singing in French, Arabic or English.

Heat Wave & Spanish Blog

...HISTORIC HEAT WAVE MAY HAVE A SLIGHT REPRIEVE OVER THE WEEKEND...

I have opened a Spanish learning blog. You can check it out by looking here:

http://www.viajeespanol.blogspot.com

Press play to hear Beyonce "irreemplazable"

Today's Treats

Hershey's Special Dark and Alison Krauss 100 Miles or More CD.

Recently Completed Crochet Thingamajiggies

Babydoll Slippers

Pattern is here

Comments: Not difficult, quick to make and very comfy!

Crochet Flower

Pattern is here

Comments: Fun project but be careful with making the petals in tiers which I found tricky at first.

Knitting Help Needed Please

I am fairly new to knitting. I made this scarf and now I am at the stage where it needs to be shaped /blocked. I don’t really know how to do that.

Can anyone help me with learning the process or Does anybody know a good reference for this?

Thanks!

Lone Tree

Picture I took of a solitary tree.

Sweet Savings

A new fashion line by Sarah Jessica Parker.

Everything is under $20. YAY!

http://www.bittensjp.com/

Drawing in Perspective and other sh-tuff

While I had drawing classes in college, I still was not good when it comes to drawing some things in perspective. Armando is good at drawing in perspective. He gave me some lessons tonight so I could draw some ideas for a computer desk that we want to design and build in the future.

I need some storage and this computer desk that I have had for years, which is wheelchair accessible is not exactly making me feel happy when I look at it and see everything out in the open! It’s the way it is designed with no closed storage.

I’ve had this desk since after graduating high school and have always been reluctant to get rid of it, for fear I wouldn’t find anything else that would work well. Sadly, there are just not many options when I go to office stores and try to find something ready to take home. It’s a bit annoying really to find a great desk and then go to pull my wheelchair underneath it and find my knees bang and you don’t fit! When I look online there are “wheelchair accessible desks with big price tags. I cannot see paying such a big price for height only. The good thing is that we can build a desk and make it just like we want it and it will be cheaper and rewarding to make it ourselves.

You don’t have to draw to perfection. Grabbing a notebook and creating some sample sketches can really let you visualize an idea and unleash your creativity and even come up with new ideas.

Tonight, the eraser was my friend though! :p

Water

Water is so refreshing on a hot summer’s day. Lately I cannot get enough of it. I am tired of pepsi and coke and all of the soft drinks that we as American’s are addicted to. It seems like after drinking a soft drink, I am still thirsty. Has anybody else ever felt that way after drinking soft drinks?

Yes, these days I’ll pass on a coke and take water, please!

Happy Birthday Armando!

Church in Huntsville, Alabama

I think this church is beautiful. It is a pretty big church so when we go by it, I am always noticing new details about it. Armando took this picture of it for me this morning using his tripod so I thought I would share it with you.

Thanks Armando!

Morning View

A morning view at around 5 a.m. yesterday.

Crocheting & New Camera

I've been making crochet cat toys lately.

Today I finished up this coin purse.

This fourth of July we just relaxed and I spent some time outdoors.

I have a new digital camera. It is an HP PhotoSmart R725.

It is small and easy to use and best of all, it was on sale! :)

Show and tell?

We got in early from work. By early, I mean at 1 a.m. as opposed to 3 or 4 a.m. or later. So I am holding our cat Cookie and just tempted myself and bought something from Ebay.

This:

It's a mother of pearl pin.

I started crocheting a baby blanket on Saturday. It’s my first time ever to do this pattern and to use the thin crochet thread. So far it is going well but a bit slow to see some progress. I imagine that is because I am trying to do the stitches with care so hopefully it will look nice at the end (since it is a gift).

Here is a little piece of it so you can see the pattern. It is called Alternate Shells.

Armando took this pretty picture of the moon the other night.

Have a great weekend and thanks for visiting my blog! :)

Blog banner makeover

Since nerve pain has decided to visit my back (again) I needed a distraction last night. I decided to make the blog banner above. Armando helped me and it looks much better than my first attempt.

The banner is made from a picture that we took at Cheaha Mountain.

Video of Cookie looking at the fish

Picture this...

Morocco 2006...

I wish! Just joking. It is a picture I took at Orlando, Florida

I really like Moroccan architecture. I hope when we have our own home in the future that we can incorporate a few Moroccan details. I like not only the nice shapes of the doorways (like above) but also the vibrant colored tiles mixed with earthy browns etc.

What is your favorite style of architecture?

Babies

I woke up this morning marveling at all the babies in our life recently. We have kittens, my Father has puppies, this morning we saw some baby platy fish in both our aquariums and recently we found out Armando is going to be Tio/Uncle! We are very excited about all these little babes!

I made eggs, bacon and buttered toast for breakfast. Not exactly a healthy breakfast but delicious anyway.

------

Continued early a.m….

Somehow the early a.m. seems to be my usual blogging time these days. I think partly because we are normally working at this time (four days a week) and my body cannot seem to get away from being wide awake at this time on the other days of the week.

Read this, it’s interesting. Armando showed this website to me this morning.

http://www.b-society.org/node/15

Off subject. I was a bit annoyed tonight when I realized that Yahoo photos is making you change your pictures over to another service or they will be deleted. Yikes! They do offer to have another service sell you a backup of your pictures on CD. I really didn’t want to pay for a CD. I know, I am silly sometimes like that…

I have 488 pictures in my yahoo account and one of the services that you are offered as an alternative to import your photos to is Flickr. They do not tell you until after you get your photos imported that you are limited on how many photos you can have on there and then you must pay. Yahoo photos does give you a free 3 months pro account which is helpful but since I don’t plan on paying for an online photo album, I was starting to fuss and backup all the photos. That was a long process because you had to do it one by one and go to all sizes, then pick the original size, and save it that way so you came out with a reasonably sized and good quality picture.

But then I was happy because Armando found a program to download our pictures from Flickr. Yippee! Yippee! Yippee! We both had quite a bit of pictures there, especially since we used yahoo photos a lot when we were having a long distance relationship. I guess this is a lesson learned. Do backups of online photos and don’t rely on them to be your virtual album even though one would think that is reasonably safe, I guess companies sell to other companies and there you have it, you’re in a bind.

So, here is a link to Flickrdown which helps you download your photos from Flickr. Just in case anybody else needs it.

Happy Father’s Day! I plan to cook a meal for my Dad today.

Well, I am off to bed. Night Night.

Here's a cat picture for you, Jsaan. :)

Lucy as a kitten asleep in our bed with a handkerchief as a cover. How fast they grow! She recently had surgery to be spayed. She gets her stitches out in a few days. She is a lovely little Lucy Lu with a sweetheart personality.

Early A.M. Ramblings

I slept late Friday. It is our free day from work. We watched several Lost episodes. It had been a few weeks since we had seen it. This evening we cleaned the house well.

Today I held a puppy. My Father’s dog had puppies a few weeks ago and they just opened their eyes. Armando brought it for me to see. Isn’t he a cutie?

I hope you have a relaxing weekend!

Photos

Thursday 6/14/07

I took these pictures.

The sun created shining rays of light while it was hidden beneath the cloud's cover.

This tree simply has a beautiful shape.

Adopted Kittens

Although these are not the best quality pictures, here are a few pictures of the adopted kittens playing tonight. I will try to take better pictures in the daytime of the kittens this weekend.

The kittens are adorable. They all have their own little personalities. They like to be held and cuddled and cry when you put them down because they want to be held more.

There are three boys and one girl with the following names:

Cho ( we call him Cho Cho)
Star
Wide Eyes
Tiny Tina

They are eating kitten food now and eat very well. Actually, Star eats too well. We are thinking we might need to limit his eating because he appears to be too overweight and we worry about him having problems from eating too much. I believe they over-indulge with food because of their past history and abandonment.

Wide Eyes

Cho Cho

Tiny Tina

Star