hqueen's collection of Far From the Usual stuff.

[hqueen13]

Here's the link Deb. I haven't made them yet, but hopefully soon....
http://empoweredsustenance.com/stop-sugar-cravings/

I didn't get to everything I wanted yesterday, but what else is new? It ended up that I was at the framers for 2 hours, so it's no wonder. The good news is that she gave me the offer of using some mat board that they already had in the shop for free, so it's going to be double matted with a Navy blue and gray, then have a red and black wood frame. It's not what I expected but it looks really good. At least I hope it will.... so I have a good amount of extra money left overt now which is exciting. I think we'll use it to get her a gift card or something.
I did get s decent amount of stuff done just not everything they I wanted. I got the kitchen cleaned up and ran the dish washer. I did make laundry detergent and got one load done, it's still waiting to go in the dryer though. I got the bed made and the dry load of clothes folded. I reorganized aid in my truck since it hadn't been put back after we hauled all the fencing stuff to my friend's house. I put away some stuff in the shed and threw some other things in the dumpster. I also worked storm for a little while. He was mostly good, though he spooked a few times especially taking him back into the barn yard for some reason. He came right back down but I was annoyed that he did it in the first place.
So today I still need to:
Vacuum
Clean out the fridge
Bounce laundry and hang to dry
Make soup
Make buttermints
Finish cleaning up the bathroom

I have my class at 2, then I have to call the gal from the extension office so I can get this pasture plan straight and get moving with that before its too cold.
The bf has a meeting today so I don't expect him home until late, so in theory I should get more done....

Voting yesterday was super smooth. We walked in and registered and walked right to a booth. Thankfully it was quick so we got our errands run and got back home starving and fixed leftovers for dinner.
It appears that MD is now a red state instead of a blue state. Pretty surprising that so much switched. It seems that the mumbling of people being tired of the taxes and fees in this state is true. Looking at the voting spread by county only 2 of the richest counties plus the city voted Democrat. The rest of the counties were red. Interesting to me. However the state attorney general is now a Democrat. We'll see how he does in that position.
I don't know if the Republicans will do any better than the Democrats, but the change will give people something new to complain about.

 

[Denim Deb]

Those mints look good. And I'm wondering how they would taste if I made the chocolate version-w/out the mint.

 

[hqueen13]

I might do that next.... I actually got to it yesterday! :O
I got a LOT done. Not everything that I wanted to, but a lot.
The pellet stove put itself out again, so I emptied the tiny little shop vac that we have, and then cleaned the stove. It was DIRTY! The BF doesn't quite seem to understand what CLEAN means when it comes to the stove. I don't know if he doesn't like to do it, or what, but he's not thorough at all, so I end up doing it when the stove just can't keep going and puts itself out repeatedly, LOL. I pretty much choked the poor little vacuum! But the stove was super clean! It was almost out of pellets anyway, and it wasn't going to be that cold, so I figured I'd wait on the BF to bring pellets in when he got home.
I got the load of clothes in the laundry bounced in the dryer and hung and then another load washed, bounced, and hung. I made the bed, and picked up a little bit in the house. I put away a few things in the laundry room, and found the BF's gloves that he was missing (gee, when they aren't put away, they can't be found!). I FINALLY got the fridge cleaned out! That was GROSS!!! I'm embarrassed to admit how many things were spoiled in the fridge, its frustrating and disappointing to me that I don't do better managing food. I guess that's a work in progress. I got the trash taken care of, and put all the containers from the fridge into the dish washer and washed the other dishes.
I had my phone call for my animal communication class and it went well. I felt like I got a decent amount of information from the cat we were working with, though I still have trouble meditating and then staying connected with the animal. I need more practice, but that is something that I'm not all that good at. My mom told me on the phone the other day that they still have some money left in an account that was for my education, and when I told her how much the university class program was going to be for animal communication, she didn't bat an eye, and offered to pay for it all. I was rather stunned, and surprised. I now have to figure out how to make this work out. I've got to connect with a few more university students and figure out what kind of commitment it is and how I can make it work. I will probably need to get some kind of internet in order to work through the class, though, because a lot of it is done online and via the phone. Its frustrating to try to work through my class because I can't be on the phone and on the internet at the same time on my smart phone. I feel like I was able to do that on my last phone, but I can't on this one... Strange. The university program is a huge leap of faith for me and a big commitment. I'm really nervous to attempt it because I've never really accomplished anything quite that "big" in my life.
After my call was over, I bummed around for a little while. I wasn't all that motivated. The BF had a meeting at work, so I knew he wouldn't be home until late. I ate the rest of the fried rice leftovers that I didn't finish at lunch, and then finally decided to get started on the cauliflower soup, because I knew if I didn't, that I wouldn't have time tonight, and then we'd be forced to spend money, which we don't have right now, and eat food that wasn't as good for us anyway. So I made the soup. And then while I was doing that, I realized that because I made the soup, the chicken that was thawed in the fridge for a few days already wouldn't get cooked until Friday, assuming we actually got around to it, so I threw the chicken in the oven, too. Once everything was going pretty good, I finally decided to make the buttermints. Instead of bothering to put it into a bowl to mix it, I just dumped everything into a ziplock and squished it around a lot. That was kinda fun anyway, though I'm not 100% sure how well mixed it was, LOL. I probably should have opened it up and used a spoon some to make sure it was really good and mixed. The directions say to put the dollops on parchment paper, but I used wax paper. The problem that I had was getting the mints "off" the tip of the bag (I don't have an official tip, I just cut the corner off the bag) and to stick to the wax paper. That didn't work so well. I don't know if they would stick better on parchment or not, I'll try that next time. And I might have to try the chocolate next time, too! So my mints turned out pretty messy looking and in strange shapes. These would be fun to make for a party, with the exception that they have to be refridgerated because they are basically pure butter.
I was totally pooped by the time the BF got home, and the chicken still had a half hour to cook. We sat and talked, and then got interrupted when the dog peed on the BF's recliner. He was pissed, pardon the pun, but I think it was the dog's way of trying to claim him. Toby thinks he's in charge, and I'm sure that includes the BF. The BF doesn't have a great relationship with the dogs, he doesn't really like them. So sometimes his actions are a bit tainted with an attitude of distaste, and I know the dog is well aware of that. I think I did kinda get the BF a little bit when we were talking after I finished cleaning up. The BF commented "I walk him, and play with him, and love him, what more does he want?" I thought for a second, because while he "does" these things, he doesn't really enjoy them, and for the most part, I'm the one that actually does them on a regular basis. He rarely voluntarily takes the dogs outside, I have to ask him to do it if I'm busy with something else. And he plays with the dogs, sometimes, but its more of that kind of play that he likes to see the dog go nuts over the laser dot. So I finally replied, "how would you feel if you were him?" I left it at that, but I should have quantified how would he feel to be on the receiving end of his own actions? I think he knows that the distaste is quite present, and I don't think he'd want to be on the receiving end of it. I doubt it will change his attitude, but I hope it at least made him stop and think.
We finally crashed, and I slept really good, though I think I was a little chilly. I turn the heat down in the bedroom during the day, and we forgot to bump it up a little before bed. I didn't fall back asleep after the BF left this morning, I was worried about having to get up. So I listened to the rain and futzed on my phone for a while. I was not looking forward to doing chores outside in the rain and the dark. Thankfully at least it was sort of getting light by the time I took the dogs out. I waited on them because I didn't want to leave them outside in the rain. Then I took care of the horses, and hurried back in the house to finish getting ready for work. Since I got up earlier than I planned, I managed to leave for work about 15 minutes early. Traffic was HORRIBLE, full moon and the rain I guess, and I only got to work a few minutes early. Turns out one of the other gals is out, so its going to be quiet in here today, which will be nice!
We've got to get the hay feeder put together when we get home tonight, the BF will probably get home before I do. Hopefully we can get it built and then tomorrow evening when he gets home we'll get it out in the pasture so the horses will have hay!! I'm so glad to get that completed finally! Its bigger and badder than the first version, and stronger, to boot. I'm glad that it has come together so easily. Now we just have to get it into use!

 

[Britesea]

That's too bad you BF doesn't like the dogs. Are there other animals that he relates to better? Or perhaps his childhood didn't include pets (which I am a firm believer in- it helps to build empathy in the child).

 

[Denim Deb]

If I cook, I eat all my leftovers. If hubby cooks, I don't always eat his leftovers and neither does he.

 

[hqueen13]

They had a cat when he was growing up, Britsea. He's more of a cat person, his mom has an attitude about dogs, and his dad mostly thinks animals are useless. I can't imagine not connecting with animals, it's just who I am.
I think part of the problem is the dogs are inherited, and so he doesn't necessarily have a connection with them, which I get, but he's got to figure out how to be tolerant of them on some level. He was a bit odd a snot about it again last night, which didn't make me happy. It's almost as if that it feels like he's jealous of the dogs or something strange. I guess it's possible though in my mind I can't grasp it.
I'm having a down day today which sucks because I have to go teach my friend and then I'm supposed to have lunch with a friend I haven't seen in a long time. I'm feeling tender right now, so hopefully she'll be able to support me a little without upsetting my vulnerable side. She's usually good like that, so we'll see what happens. It's just been a long time since we've connected.
I guess I need to get up and get moving. I have a number of errands to run between lunch and things.

 

[Denim Deb]

It could be he's jealous. He sees them as something that takes your attention off of him. He may even be afraid that they're more important to you than he is.

 

[Britesea]

some men can be like that, Denim Deb. I've heard of father's being jealous of their new born children because the baby takes all of mama's attention.
@hqueen13 was your BF an only child?

 

[hqueen13]

No, Britsea, he is the first of 3.
We had a good discussion last night, though now we ate coming into November and December, which he doesn't like. His birthday IS thanksgiving this year and he hates that. He doesn't like all the family time and stuff and trends to end up depressed this time of year. It's not easy to live with as I struggle to balance myself out too.
We had a good weekend, we got to spend a lot of time together.
We did get the hay feeder finished and in the pasture. It was scary putting the roof on, but thankfully nothing disastrous happened. We had to use the excavater to lift the roof up and put it on top of the feeder. That was scary!
We got it into the pasture and then the bf went and got a bale of hay. Turns out the bales are wider than we thought so we almost couldn't get the doors shut. There is no way I will be able to put out a bale by myself. I'm a little frustrated, but it is what it is at this point.
We finished that and I rushed in the house to grab a bite to eat and go to a guided mediation. It was a bit spontaneous, but I'm glad I went. Hopefully I'll be able to do it every month.
I got home and soaked in the tub and then we headed to his cousins house for a bonfire. It was an ok time, though his mom sorry of jumped me as we were getting ready to leave about the laundry list of plans for family get together around Thanksgiving. I was able to sorry of shut her down by texting her she needed to send me a note with all the because I won't remember. We'll see what happens. I'm not exactly sure how to support the bf through this and help him find happiness. He really has to do it on his own.
Sunday we headed back to my friend MLs for the bf to finish the fence and so I could teach. She did great and her horse did really well too. I'm seeing some big changes in her, which is terrific. The sad part is that her horses are standing in muck half way up to their knees. Her property is terrible for horses, and the barn and area where they spend the most time is down hill, so it just gets worse and worse over time as the manure suits and then holds water when it rains. I feel bad for her but there really isn't anything to be done about it.
We left there and went to rei to return a pair of pants that the bf bought, and I got some Christmas present ideas, then we went and grabbed lunch.
We headed home and didn't really accomplish much for the rest of the day. I was feeling a little worn down, and we ended up cheating and eating pizza for dinner. We did better though and only ate 2 meals out. I need to work on having some things ready to go. The sad part is I could have made spaghetti, but I didn't even feel like doing that! So it goes.
Today I need to do some more cleaning and go to the grocery store. Other than that I'm not sure what I'm going to accomplish. I know that we have 3 good days of weather before it turns COLD. I'm not really looking forward to it!

 

[Denim Deb]

Can she get some sand or pea gravel or stone dust or a combination of the 3? I had mud like that in front of the run in and started putting in that type of stuff until I got enough in to firm it all up. It's made a big difference.