Christmas 2013

Andrea & Aiden, this post is about the first time I probably really pissed your father off. 
Note, I did say first time. 
Undoubtedly, there will be more to come, but I'll write about those as they happen. . 
And always remember, no matter what squabbles we have, that I'll always love him because he was smart enough to court and marry your mother. 

Now because I live in Atlanta, and in 2013 ya'll were in KC, I didn't get to see you much. 
So, that's why whenever I did see ya'll, I tended to spoil you. Rotten. 

Anyway, back to the subject at hand, Christmas 2013.  
It just so happens that you're 5, about to be 6, Andrea, and Aiden, you've just turned 3. 
I kind of wanted to do something more for your Christmas this year, instead of just a gift card. 
However, I know from conversations with your mother that space at this time is an issue. 
And I know at your ages, getting clothing isn't an option at Christmas. That's when you get toys. 

Thankfully, tablet prices were dropping radically at this time. That's when I got the brilliant idea to get each of you a tablet for Christmas, something that would come in handy for both of you with school, and to help introduce you to technology. Besides, they're cool. 

A little research, and I found something called the Fun Tab 4.3 - it's designed for kids, with parental controls and reporting pre-installed. 
(Yes, that's how Mom & Dad knew you were playing games instead of doing your homework) 

So it turns out that your father is a bit of a Luddite when it comes to ya'll & tech. 
I don't understand it, I completely disagree with it, and that's how I pissed him off. 
I got ya'll kid's tablets for Christmas 2013. 

I don't know when he'll forgive me for this, however he's in the wrong and I forgive him for it. 
Besides, there's still the distance factor.  
Well, that's the story of your first tablets. They were meant as gifts for Christmas 2013.

It's not my fault if your father didn't give them to you until you turned 18. 
  

Pre psuedo Thanksgiving cheesecake mystery

As you know, (or, more accurately, will discover when you come down for a visit)  I cook cheesecakes - they're my "go to" dessert when I need to trot out the culinary skills. 
Now, over the years, I've developed a relatively fool proof basic recipe that I can take from a dozen "mini" cheesecakes to a 14" full size just by multiplying by a factor of 4. 
(1 egg, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 block cream cheese, room temperature, 1 tbs vanilla extract. Cream)

That makes 12 cupcake size cheesecakes. 

Or it did until tonight. 
Tonight, I was making a batch of "Berry Surprise" mini's for an early Thanksgiving dinner at Aunt Sheba's & Uncle Bobbie's. 
I figured I'd double the recipe, so I started working with 2 blocks of a new product, Cream Cheese & Greek Yogurt blend. 
Normally, I'd add some sour cream to make it a New York Style, but I thought "what the hell" when I saw the aforementioned. 
Here's where I also made a serious deviation from my usual. 
Instead of using a hand mixer, I elected to use the food processor. 

Never again. 

It broke the batter down to about half its normal volume. 
Additionally, because I didn't add sour cream, that was another 3 - 5 oz of missed volume. 


 So, instead of 24 "Berry Surprise" mini's, I now only have 12. 

Lesson to be learned? Only experiment when you're dealing with family. 

Fourth Quarter, 2013

Ok, it's November 2013.  
As you know, I work a corporate job. 
This means that I get benefits, one of the better ones besides insurance being paid vacation. 
Because I've been at this company for 18+ years now, (yes, 18+ years as of 2013) I get about 5 weeks of vacation a year at this point. 
Yet, with that much vacation available, in order to take advantage of it, you have to factor in your department, your co-workers, the particular responsibilities you handle, timing, etc. 
Which leads me up to what just happened in October. 
End of year is coming up, and both my co-worker and I have unused vacation time. 
I admit I'd been lax about the holidays, however was planning on using my vacation time at either Thanksgiving or Christmas, depending on what everyone else's plans were. 
Then, the coworker emails me her list of the days she wants off so she can use up her vacation. 
Well, a quick glance at the dates and a check of the calendar has her taking both Thanksgiving and Christmas off. 
Now mind, we're a two person shift. 

Did I mention that she's also on a "special schedule" ? 
Seems that Tuesday - Thursday, she gets to work noon to 8 pm instead of the shift, which is 3 pm to 11 pm. 
Normally, not a problem. Except that there's the little matter of a file transfer to the Federal Reserve Bank that has to be made nightly, Sunday - Thursday. 
And it's the responsibility of a total of 3 people cleared to make the file transfer at 9 pm, two of whom are on my shift. (Yes, myself and coworker) 
That information will factor in shortly. 

Allow me to digress for a moment.....  

Last year, I had plans for celebrating Thanksgiving with Aunt Sheba & Uncle Bobby, and Grandpa Don & Uncle Ian. Had being the operative verb in that sentence. 
Then, an "emergency" (and trust, the quotation marks are justified) came up and co-worker couldn't work Thanksgiving, so I had to. 
And I proceeded to continue to work my ass off, through the rest of the year, ending up setting the departmental record for OT, in this case 48 hours. (That's on a 2 week check, btw) 
I also ended up being unable to use over a week of vacation before the end of the year due to, again, co-worker's scheduling. 
I was allowed to carry it over to January that time, however that was apparently a one-off. 

Back to the subject at hand... so, she's effectively scheduled me to work, without asking me if I had plans or what I was going to do, and taken both prime holidays as well. 
Well, complaints to the supervisor about this went nowhere, she's the one who put coworker on her "special shift"... 
So I'm working both holidays again this year.  
And, trying to figure out a way to burn 4 days of vacation I can't schedule. 

On the bright side, I'm on track to beating that OT record this year.  
But, ya'll will like the gift cards you get from me. 

And for what it's worth, I've already booked my birthday vacation at the ranch.  

Just have to share - and truly indicative of the hour and my state of inebriation

Netflix has just put out season 4 of Drop Dead Diva on streaming. 
The show is pure crack. And I mean that in a "OMG they just put Season 4 on Netflix streaming... they're only 44 minutes, I can do one more." kinda way. 
Seriously, watch the show. 

Vacation countdown

Ok, it's less than 24 hours until my vacation starts. 
I'm going to actually have my very first extended vacation in over 10 years... well, more like 7 but I'm not counting the time your Grandpa Don and I went to Ft Lauderdale to see the King Tut exhibit. What was going to be a great time got ruined the last night there. 
I'm sure I blogged about it previously, you'll have to look it up. 
The suite I've booked has a garden Jacuzzi tub, which means for the first time in forever, I'll be able to soak in a tub. 
And scratch an item off my bucket list - actually riding a horse. 
I'll have pictures, don't worry. You can see how ridiculous I look - but I don't care. 
I'll be on a real, honest to Goddess, staying at a resort, VACATION! 

(if you can't tell, this is a big thing for me) 

Doctor's orders

Well, went in for my annual checkup, and everything is fine...except for one little thing. 
Dr. Springer and I were talking and work came up. I happened to mention that I'd set the departmental record for most overtime in a two week period (48 hours) and he asked what I was planning for a vacation. 
I mentioned that I wasn't really a vacation type person, and the crux of the discussion became that I was *going* to take a real vacation this year, no arguments from me. 
Well, that got me thinking about what I would like to do - beach? mountains? city?
Given that this discussion took place in January, going to KC was off the table. Grandpa Merlin doesn't do snow. (I know, Grandpa Don & Uncle Ian were just there...but they don't mind snow)  
And as I began listing choices, I got to thinking about whether or not I wanted "all inclusive" or "ala carte" so to speak. 
I checked out cruises, I checked out various resorts, I checked out vacation packages - nothing really seemed to fit, or there were potentially too many "extra charges" involved (as in the case of a cruise), not to mention the entire passport issue. 
Then I had an idea, and checked out dude ranches in Georgia. 
I came across one called Southern Cross, located in Madison, Georgia ... only an hour away. 
They offered a variety of packages, however the one that most interested me was their "all inclusive" - offering not only meals, but two riding sessions daily for the extent of the stay. 
So, next week, I'm spending a week (ok, 4 nights) at a dude ranch. 

A bit of a background on my equine history - I've only been on a horse 2.5 times in my life - once as a child on a led pony ride, once at a carnival on a fixed pony ride, and the last time when I was 17 and in San Diego. 
That was the half - that ride lasted only as long as it took for the horse to realize I had absolutely no clue what I was doing, and he didn't want to be ridden. The horse won. 

So that's what's going on. More later 

And Happy Birthday Andrea! 

Update: 
It was utter heaven. 
I actually rode a horse for at least 2.5 hours a day for 5 days - discovered I cannot do 4 hours on horseback though. 
And that tub. Oh. My. God. That. Tub. 
When you get older, you'll understand the sublime heaven that is a long hot soak. And since I'm 6'3" , I don't exactly fit in the standard tub. So I took full advantage of a tub that I could fit in, and soaked every night for at least an hour, sometimes more. 
Did I mention it was a Jacuzzi tub? 
And I didn't have anyone bothering me, asking when I was coming out of the bathroom, etc? 
When I wasn't horseback riding, I was reading...that's all I did, was relax, read, and ride horses. 
I'm going to do it again next year for my birthday. 

Shakira's big reprieve

Took Shakira in today for his neuter, and discovered that there may be an issue. 
For starters, he hasn't "dropped" yet. Not such a big thing, he's still a kitten. 
Although the vet did mention that he only felt one testicle, meaning the other literally, hasn't dropped into the scrotum yet. 
At this point, not a big deal. He's scheduled now to go back in a month, at which time I'm hoping that nature has taken its course, and everything is where it's supposed to be. 
However, if it hasn't, then what would be a relatively minor surgical procedure becomes complicated because an undescended testicle means additional surgery. 
Anyway, he got a reprieve. 

Update.... 
Took him back a month later, and he went through the procedure - so he's fixed. Yay! 
And he's undergone a name change... he's now known as Sharky, or occasionally, the Sharkster. 
That's because he bites. It's play biting, so you're forewarned. 
I don't know when you're going to meet him, but I know at some point you & Aiden will. 

Another update: 
He's not such a biter anymore, at least to me. 
Cleo on the other hand can be mouthy.  

Shakira's big day

Shakira's big day has arrived...well, actually will arrive tomorrow.   
He's going in tomorrow for his neuter. More on that after the surgery. 
He's scheduled to stay overnight, thankfully he's current on all shots.