BooksRule

I live in Mississippi, so I know we have them here.

I’m sorry, did you say they’re “just slightly smaller than my hand.”?? And you’re a normal human being with normal sized hands? Yikes! I’m all for leaving spiders be if they’re not bothering me, but that’s approaching house pet size! I had one of those get into my house years ago. I was in the bathroom, doing what one does in a bathroom, and casually looked down to see a huge Cujo spider right next to the toilet. I screamed, got out of the room as soon as I decently could manage and ran to find a shoe. Before I could swat it dead, it ran up the side of the wicker wastebasket (I could hear it skittering) and went in. And of course the basket was full of tissues and such. I quickly dumped the basket out on the floor and used to the shoe to basically pulverize everything that fell out. I got that sucker good. When I got my two cats, I wondered what would have happened if it had gotten in when they were around? One cat ignores bugs, but the other would sometimes kill it or bring it to me. I then had a vision of her bringing me the giant spider and dropping it in the bed with me. Luckily, I've never seen one like that in my house since. I think it got in between the edge of the screen and the windowsill, because I know I had the windows open earlier.

I'm down another two pounds this week. I ate healthy, but didn't do any exercise except from the little bit of walking I get at work (to and from parking lot to office, around the building from department to department, etc.). I'm hoping as my energy level rises, I can get in more physical activity. I'm getting ready to go outside and do some gardening, but I can't do too much (it's about 93 degrees outside), but I can at least pull some weeds and schlep the yard trash bags I filled last week out to the curb for tomorrow's pick-up. This week's 'cheat meal' will be some chicken tenders and French fries (both with ketchup). Baked, not fried, but still fairly high calorie if you have more than just a bit.

I noticed that on some movie listings on imdb.com, you will see some cast listed as only being in the 'extended TV version/cut' (or whatever they want to call it). 'Earthquake' is like that. They added some scenes for TV airings.

I just finished watching my recording of 'The Swarm' (I still have a little soft spot for those sometimes good/many times bad disaster movies that I remember from my youth, so I watch it every couple of years on TCM.) I noticed that the running time listed was less than 2 hours, but it became obvious that it was going to go much longer. I also noticed some scenes that I don't remember ever seeing before on any of the TCM airings. Most were filler, but it was interesting to see them (for example, I had no idea that the young boy, Paul, didn't survive. There was a scene in the hospital that I had never seen before. I guess I just assumed that he survived and was somewhere with the Marysville refugees). I looked it up and apparently, there is an 'extended cut' that was for TV that was almost 40 minutes longer. Now I'm wondering if TCM shows both versions or just kind of alternates between them.

I've decided that Sundays will be my 'weigh in' day when possible. I don't like to weigh more than once a week, since weight can fluctuate and I don't want to be disappointed if it looks like I gained two pounds when it was because of other reasons, not because I hadn't been eating right. I lost 3 pounds this week! If you add that to the gradual 'yo yo' weight I've lost and gained recently, this makes me down 12 pounds from my all-time highest weight. (I'm going to keep that information in the back of my mind, but will 'officially' count down from my weigh-in last Monday). I'm going to try to see if I can control myself with just one 'cheat meal' a week. Today is the day. I ate very lightly for breakfast and lunch and am having a plate of spaghetti with meat sauce for dinner. I like a lot of meat in my spaghetti sauce, so I made sure I drained it really, really well before I added the tomato sauce mixture. My stomach is growling and I think I'm going to enjoy it more since I'm looking at it as a treat--something special.

I had a regular checkup yesterday (after not going in for a year) and was pleasantly surprised that my bloodwork was mostly good (my blood sugar level is still in the gray area, so I have to work on that). So, I have 6 months before I go back for more labwork, so I'm hoping I can lose more than a few pounds by then. I plan to check in here regularly, and hope others that might be trying to get healthy will do so as well. I can use all the encouragement I can. I've decided that I'm too old to keep on yo-yo dieting and am really going to try to stick to the healthy eating (understanding that there might be the occasional unhealthy meal. But I'm going to keep those few and far between). My first test came yesterday when I had to make a trip to the grocery store without having had anything to eat that day (fasted for my bloodwork). I did bring coffee with me, so I was able to have a first cup of the day between the doctor's office and Walmart. I give myself a gold star, because I managed to get what I needed without buying anything that was bad for me (and rewarded myself by eating a banana in the car before I left the parking lot!).

Have any of you ever had to take a prescription strength Vitamin D supplement? I had a regular check up yesterday and my labwork showed that my Vit D level was really low. It's only capsule a week for three months and then just an OTC supplement after that. I've never had that show up before, but some of the symptoms fit some that I've had recently. So, I'm hoping to see some improvement (of course, sticking to my diet will probably also help!).

I usually try to bake from scratch when possible (mainly cobblers, pound cakes, etc.), or just use a little shortcut (for example, I usually use a milk chocolate or devil's food cake mix when baking Ina Garten's chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting, but the frosting is totally from scratch). But I wanted to try the '2 ingredients lemon bar' recipe that I've been seeing posted around. The verdict? They definitely didn't have the 'fresh' taste that they would have if I had baked from scratch using fresh lemon juice, but they did taste pretty good. And both ingredients (angel food cake mix and lemon pie filling) can be stored practically forever in the pantry so you can whip up a quick dessert if you have unexpected visitors or if you have to take a dessert somewhere (and don't want to go to the store).

I think I used to have one of her cookbooks, but I gave it away when I downsized my cookbook collection a few years ago. I actually have a pound cake in the oven right now. It's a Lemon Pound Cake. I've made lemon bundt cakes before, but I don't think I've ever made an authentic lemon pound cake. Also, I didn't realize until I started gathering up the ingredients that it's almost the same recipe I use when I bake my Sour Cream Pound cake. The only difference is that I added fresh lemon juice/zest and didn't add any vanilla or almond flavoring. I'm going to have to make a trip to the store if I want to glaze it, though. It took all but one of the lemons in the bag I bought for the cake batter lemon juice and the one lone lemon left won't be enough to juice for the glaze (the rinds were really thick so there wasn't as much pulp to squeeze). That's okay, though, because I plan to make a grocery store run either later this evening or first thing tomorrow to pick up some fresh corn for tomorrow's BBQ. I'll get some more lemons then.

Wasn't it fascinating? I haven't had a chance to re-watch it (I've recorded it). I first saw it as an online screening when an article about finding a home for her research library came out and it included the screening link. I'm a research (and collections) librarian who appreciates having the convenience of online databases and the entire world available for researching via the internet, but I also miss the days of having everything in print and you had to search through piles of stuff to find what you needed. Especially vertical files. I loved going through drawers of files that contained folders of brochures, clippings, etc. There's something missing when you just google a place you want to visit instead of finding a tri-fold brochure buried somewhere (or better yet, sending away to have a copy mailed to you at home!) that you sit down with anticipation to read cover to cover.

If you haven't had a chance to see it yet, I highly recommend the documentary 'Harold and Lillian: a Hollywood love story. TCM is airing it on Wednesday evening. It gives a good look at Hollywood of the 40s (and later) as well as what goes into researching for a film (costume looks, sets, etc.) I first heard about it when I read an article about how Lillian's vast archive of research materials was soon to be without a home. As a librarian, I wished I could have found room in my university's library (as part of our film studies collection)! If it's okay to post this, here is the trailer for the film: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4683668/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_3_nm_0_q_harold%20and%20lillian

I was just coming here to post about my central A/C woes. I've had some repairs on mine over the last several years, and I guess I have to finally admit that it's at the end of its life (I think it's about 15 years old). In May, I noticed that it wasn't cooling like it should, so I called the company I've started using (so far they've been really good to work with. They'll even come out after 5pm to work on something and it doesn't count as 'emergency afterhours' time-- which costs a lot more. Only Saturday or Sunday visits cost more (unless they are coming out to finish up something that they couldn't finish on a weekday). He found that I had a freon leak (which shouldn't happen, so he knew that something else was wrong). He recharged it and told me to schedule a time for a person to come out and figure out what was causing the problem (he didn't try to find it then, because it was about 9pm by that time). I hadn't gotten around to calling them, but I noticed a day or so ago that even though the system is cooling to the proper temp (and cycling on and off) it isn't working efficiently enough (in my opinion) even with it being around 96 degrees outside. It will cycle on for about 35 minutes and then only stay off for about 4 1/2 minutes before it comes back on. Even when it's hot outside, it should be cycling on no more than about 20 minutes and cycle off for about 7-12 (if googling is correct). Anyway, even if he says that this is okay for when it's so hot outside, sooner or later that freon charge is going to leak out again and I don't want to be caught late on a Friday night with no cool air. I'm going to call tomorrow and see about having some one come out.

My mom used to mix up a batch of mac 'n cheese, put it in a casserole dish, sprinkle some shredded cheddar cheese, and then put some slices of Spam on top. She would put it in the oven until the cheese melted and the Spam started to brown. It was delicious. Tonight I'm just having some spaghetti with meat sauce (nothing fancy--just browned ground beef and some jarred sauce).

I don't have any suggestions, but I sympathize hugely. When my neighbors to the north moved in about 5 years ago, the husband liked to go outside and play his country rock music at full blast on the back porch. He would turn it down when I would ask, but after a week or so, he would crank it up again. I was in a separate house with the air conditioning on, the TV on loud, and the dishes would shake in the cabinets. At some point (I'm sure for reasons unrelated to the music--I do know the police were called out for some reason at least once, but since I didn't call them, I don't know the details) after about a year, his wife kicked him out and it's been bliss for me every since. She's a great neighbor (even with three small children who can be loud at times) and has even demonstrated that she can have a party with lots of people around (judging by the cars parked in the vicinity) without it being a loud event. My stomach still gets in a knot when I hear loud music in the area, though.

Yes, this is the first time I've hired someone to do it. When I first moved into my house (over 22 years ago! Wow!) my dad would bring his mower over occasionally to mow (usually if he was coming over for some other reason, it was easy to load up his riding mower and bring it), and I've had a neighbor or two help me out when they would see me mowing in the summer (with my frequent breaks). I'm hoping that when I get my flower beds all cleaned out (which I actually don't mind doing even in heat--I do try to time it with the little shade I have in the yard) and the borders defined, I'll probably hire either this guy or someone else to do the 'works'--mowing, trimming and edging. There were a couple of grandmas who posted on the residents FB page about their grandson visiting for the summer and who were trying to make a few dollars by mowing. I was going to contact one of them, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get someone to take care of it while I was there and wouldn't have to schedule a day/time. (As soon as I heard the mower start up next door, my ears perked up! :) )

That's like me and soft drinks. I don't keep them in the house (except for the occasional six pack of little bottles of ginger ale if I'm sick), so when I have a soft drink (usually a Coke about every couple of months) it's almost like drinking alcohol. It's so strong and burns all the way down! It tastes great, though. I'm just not used to the carbonation and the sugar. Well, I finally faced up to the fact that I'm just not physically able to mow my own yard any more. I can still pull weeds, edge, and trim. I just can't push that mower in the summer heat (I can probably mow when it gets cool again this fall--the steps are good for me, but not right now when it's 94 degrees outside with a heat index of 103). I was going to check on my local community 'residents of...' FB page to find someone to come mow the front yard (the back yard doesn't have enough grass to warrant mowing), but when I heard a mower at my neighbor's house, I went outside and caught him between tasks and asked if he wanted another yard to mow today. It was fairly cheap (since it was just mowing a small yard) and took him about 5 minutes with his riding mower. That's a big load off my mind.

I think the Key Lime Pound Cake was a success. I cut a piece while it was still warm and it was pretty tasty. The cake was dense (like a pound cake should be) but still tender. I would have liked more of a lime flavor (it was barely there), but the glaze was pretty and lime-y and tart. The only change I made from the recipe was to bake it in a tube pan instead of bundt pan and I made the glaze thicker because I like the glaze to sit on top of the cake and run down the sides a little instead of soaking into the cake. As for increasing the key lime flavor, maybe more lime zest next time (it only called for a teaspoon) or the flavor might be stronger if I use bottled lime juice instead of the fresh. Anyway, it was pretty good and I'm taking it to work tomorrow to leave in the lounge for others to (hopefully) enjoy.

I'm going to try to get back into the healthy eating habits starting tomorrow, so I'm finishing up the rest of the bad foods that I cooked during my recent staycation. Tonight I'm having an odd combo supper of leftover lasagna and some potato salad. With a slice of key lime pound cake for dessert (I just baked the cake today, so I'm taking the rest to work tomorrow for others to finish off).

I finally got around to baking the Key Lime Pound Cake that I've been talking about for the last few days (LOL!). It's in the oven right now, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it tastes good. I did sample the batter and the lime isn't overpowering, but you could taste it in there. It'll also have a key lime glaze on top. I ended up buying some key limes at the store since I found some that weren't very expensive (but I bought a bottle of Nellie & Joe's Lime juice just in case). The cake only called for 1/4 c. of juice, so I was able to juice some fresh limes without much trouble to get that much. There will also be about a tablespoon needed for the glaze. It also called for some zest. I have a ton of limes leftover, though (I thought it would take more limes that it did, so I bought two bags). I guess I'll juice them and freeze the juice. I'll know in a couple of hours if the recipe was a success.

Thanks! I have been known to sing 'Wake up Maggie' but I don't think I ever thought about the 'go ask Alice' line (and now I have that tune stuck in my head :) ).

Yes, I've been known to praise one of my cats and say 'That's a nice big poop. Good girl!'

Many years ago, my cat Maggie May (I still have her. She's 19) started licking plastic grocery bags. Just right out of the blue. She later progressed to eating the handles off of them. So, since then I've had to either immediately unpack all groceries when i get home or put up the cold stuff and leave the other bags in the laundry room where she can't get at them until I have a chance to put everything up. If she can't get to plastic bags, she would nibble the ends of the toilet paper on the roll, so now the roll has to be put in the bathroom cabinet out of her reach. Every once in a while, she'll get to a bag or some toilet paper in spite of my best efforts and I have to be on 'poop watch' until I see evidence that it's passed. Speaking of poop, her sister Alice has been under the weather. I thought it was because her upper respiratory problem (aka her 'herpes') has flared up (which I think is part of her feeling bad). She has a little goop around the eyes and has been blessing me with snot rockets. I'm going to see about taking her to the vet as soon as I can next week for a shot. She used to get a flareup about every year or so, but as she's gotten elderly, it's happening more often. I also worried about her being constipated (she had that problem last year) because I hadn't seen near enough evidence in the litter boxes that two cats were doing what they should be doing and I did witness her getting in the box a couple of times and then jumping out without doing anything. So, I had some of the medicine she got last year (I was told to keep it and use it again if she had the same problem) and have been giving it to her for the last couple of days. I had to laugh, though, because only another 'cat parent' would understand why I let out a cheer and yelled 'yay, poop!' when I found some on the living room floor a few minutes ago. (In her old senile years, Miss Alice sometimes deposits a little outside of the litter box, but I'm just happy that she does anything at all these days)

I tried out a new recipe last night and I felt kind of 'blah' towards it, but I think it could be better if it was doctored up a little. So, I might make it again someday. Basically, you take some mashed potatoes (maybe 4 or 5 cups). The recipe called for instant mashed, but you could definitely used from-scratch. If you are using instant, you mix the potato flakes with the appropriate amount (for the amount of potato you use--I used a small box of instant) of boiling milk and melted 1/2 stick of butter. Then you add a can of whole kernel corn, well drained (I know it sounds weird, but it does work). You layer half in a 13 x 9 baking dish, then sprinkle a handful of shredded cheddar cheese and some french fried onions on top. Spread the rest of the potato mixture, the another layer of cheese and onions (I did put some extra onions on top). Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes, just until the cheese has melted. It tasted okay, but the potatoes were a little bland. I know there was a half stick of butter in there, but it kind of got lost. If I make it again, I would make sure I was using mashed potatoes that had been well-seasoned, maybe with garlic. I also wonder if a can of corn with the peppers added ('Mexican style') would have been an improvement. Anyway, it did taste better as leftovers for lunch today. I cut several squares of the mixture, added a pat of salted butter on top of each and sprinkled with more fried onions. Then heated the dish up in the oven for a few minutes. The flavor was better.

Well, I baked my pineapple upside down cake. I didn't use parchment paper, mainly because I forgot about it until I had put the butter in the pan. It turned out okay, though. The cake looks done, and although a couple of the pineapple rings moved slightly out of place, I nudged them back in order. Hopefully, it'll taste good, but I won't know since I baked it as a 'thank you' for a neighbor. My next baking project (this afternoon if I can set aside some time) is a key lime pound cake. I did pick up some key limes because they were fairly cheap at the store, but if I get tired of squeezing them part the way through the process, I also got a bottle of lime juice. I have two recipes and haven't decided which on to use yet. One calls for more lime juice and butter than the other one, but has evaporated milk in it. The other one is less juice and butter, but calls for a cup of milk. One has a recipe for a lime cream cheese frosting (which sounds divine!) but I don't have any cream cheese, so whichever one I end up baking will have a lime glaze on it.