A Time For Family

As biological family goes, mine is rather small. A small nucleus comprising of a mother, two half-sisters, two nephews and a niece. Oh and half-brother that is estranged, so technically he doesn't rate a bleep on my radar, and that's cool. I met him once as an adult two years ago, my curiosity was over.
My sisters have a larger family, their father is still alive and married again, and there are step sisters and/or brothers. Their husbands also have families and with those come obligations and duties. Holidays are hard because of that, they have to determine which pull is the strongest. My oldest sister has two boys, who have no less than 6 grandparents. 6 grandparents! 5 sets of family who I'm sure would all love to have their grand kids with them. I grew up with 1 grandmother. The end. I have one surviving parent and none on my husbands side. And we have no kids. Basically it shakes down to Mom and myself as biological family celebrating together and it's been that way for a long time. Once upon a time, it made me very sad. As I get older and families become bigger and more complicated, I'm not as sad, I wish we all lived close by but we don't. My middle sister lives in the next state and has begun to visit us more frequently throughout the year, thus they are essentially off the hook. My oldest sister and I IM frequently and of course read each other's blogs. It's a virtual hanging out together. I like seeing her name on my buddy list when I am online which is always, because she is just a click away. I can whine, or be silly or just say hey. It's comforting. Yesterday, I got a really sweet e-mail from her that made my whole day. She's not a sappy woman and doesn't really do "cute" or "sweet". Which isn't to say she isn't sweet because she is .
As Thanksgiving grows closer, I will miss everybody a little more. But the ties will still bind us and when the holidays settle down we can all get back to our normal routines. My oldest sister will again be a click away and my middle sister will be down with her family sooner or later, and we will have time to catch up.
So for now, Christmas will be small but filled with love instead of scads of presents, and that is perfectly okay with me. Mom and I will go to Europe without my sisters because we have the freedom to do so, but it doesn't mean we won't be wishing that they were going with us. Maybe some day when we all grow up, we will all be able to.

Any Gamblers?

Smoking is ugly and I don't want to be ugly.

So my plans for Europe include giving up ciggarettes.It's nasty habit, one I'm rather ashamed of. I'm not in my 20's hanging out in bars or clubs anymore. I tend to hide when I do smoke, just because I know how unattractive it can be. So I smoke at home and alone in my car. So I figure I'm gonna get a days jump on it when we are traveling. Can't smoke in airports, I'm not one to risk losing a flight because I HAD to go outside and smoke. So might as well use that as a launch pad. Basically from 12pm until 6:30 am the FOLLOWING day I can't smoke. That's 18 hours. Smoke free. Easy eh? I've gone longer. None of my Dr's have really made an issue of it, like I said I don't smoke a lot. However all that said, if I find myself getting too cranky, I'm gonna fold. I don't want to stomp around like a 2 year old (or a TTQ). Maybe I'll pick up some of that gum, you know just to try instead of caving in too easily. Maybe not.

Ta-da! Part 2

Ta-da! I'm alive! Miserable but alive. I think part of the reason I'm so damn tired is because evrybody in the damn house likes to sleep on top of me. One Doberman, one Beagle, one Tuxedo cat and Honey's big ass arm. Seriously, his arms are as big as my legs. So I moved to the couch, which did not go over well. The cat came with me and Honey woke up and I wasn't in bed, when I wasn't in the bathroom he began his search. And woke me up. I can't win around here for sleep, Honey has been coming home during the day and waking me up to make sure I am ok. Aww sweet huh? I wish I was in this bed by myself for 72 hours.

Sorry if I haven't picked up the phone, I have all the ringers off. But I know you called.

Last weeks labs were stable, which is good.

A-OK

At what point do you give up? After your ass has been thoroughly kicked while you made a few half-hearted punches? Giving up is hard, I'm no quitter. Or at least I wasn't always. When my ankle was broken and they told me I had to have surgery and massive amounts of titanium put in place of the bone, I said Bullshit! Not my ankle! Slap a cast on the puppy and I'll be on my way. Seriously. I'm not having surgery. I'm just not. Turns out I had it done anyways thanks to my mom who said shut up, you are too.
Or when I first knew I was sick, I wasn't really sick, it was something I ate, it was a bug going round it was anything but me being seriously sick. Give me some Gatorade and I'll be fine. Thus began the first of many trips to the ER on which I would be released in about 5 days, obviously not sick, they wouldn't let me out if I was sick right? I'm mean I'd be dead or something. Something anything but sick.
Today and this weekend I feel like shit progressively worse each day. It must be a bug, a urinary tract infection, I took my medicine at a different time than normal. Anything but a complication. 'Cause if I were REALLY sick I wouldn't be blogging. The dryer wouldn't be spinning full of clean clothes. The dishwasher wouldn't have been emptied, the trash can would still be on the curb. And for God's sake I have make-up on! So I sit here ignoring my body which is protesting my mind. I went to meet friends for coffee and stopped by mom's house, see.. not sick. It's just fatigue and a tummy ache.
So I'm going to fold clothes and wait for the Dr's office to call back with last week's lab work. Sorry if you came looking for a chuckle today, I'm not feeling very inspired.

Just For Fun

On meno's blog she was participating in a meme, about food, from peevish. You are to take each letter from your blogging name and give a little food fact to go with it.

Since my name is already an acronym, I'll give you what it really stands for first.

T is for Temper
T is for Tantrum
Q is for Queen

A nickname given to me from a boyfriend long ago that has always stuck and has been my online name for about ten years. I'm still very spoiled, but my temper has calmed, or maybe I married a man who gives me more than enough love, affection and free time.He also firmly believes that I am princess and should be treated as such.

Now onto the foods:

T is Tea (Herbal Teas for health) Naturally Flavored teas for unsweetened ice tea . No sugar, lots of lemon

T is Tiramisu. I love desserts! Tiramisu is an Italian dessert typically made from sponge finger biscuits, espresso coffee, mascarpone cheese, eggs, cream, sugar, Marsala wine, cocoa, and rum. The Italian name tiramisù means "pick-me-up" (metaphorically, "make me happy,"), a reference to the two caffeine-containing ingredients, espresso and cocoa

Recipe

The biscuits are sprinkled with or briefly soaked in a mixture of coffee, rum, and sugar. They are layered with a mixture of mascarpone cheese and zabaglione, a custard made from egg yolks, Marsala, and sugar. Cocoa powder is then sprinkled on top Tiramisu has become one of the most popular desserts served in restaurants of all types, not just Italian restaurants. The recipe has been adapted into cakes, puddings, and other varieties of dessert. Other flavors are often used now in place of coffee, including strawberry, lemon, or chocolate.

Q is for Quail: Such an nice little compact poultry, and they make really cool looking edible eggs too.

Which makes me ponder , is there any kind of bird eggs that can not be eaten, no matter what the size?

Fabio Schabio

Chicken & Sage Risotto

Fall for Fabio and his fabulous cooking skills. Watch as he cooks up a warm and delicious dish, perfect for keeping cozy on chilly autumn nights . (If you can bear it)


The Kitchen of Love

You can't embarrass a man who has no pride. This guy will hawk anything to the ladies. Romance Novels to "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter. What's next tampons?

My First Time Ever

I can recall the first time I ever swore in front of my mother, I was oh probably 13 or so and we were at the mall, to get something that I am sure I had pestering her for awhile. After she parked the car, we started walking through the parking lot and car backed out of a space and almost hit us, within inches. And I yelp "Shit!!". I remember turning red, and looking to see how much trouble I was in for swearing. She politely pretended she didn't hear me. I was given a free pass. And while I curse mostly on my blog today and not in actual conversations, I learned a valuable lessons, there are occasions you can curse and it's ok. Just don't curse at somebody for something stupid. Like the dumbass clerk at the grocery store, that's just mean. And probably I'm the one in a hurry and in a bad mood.
The second time I cursed in front of my mother, was driving through New York City from JFK to the Hamptons in a rental car or maybe it was on the way back from the Hamptons and to the port in NYC. I had never been to NY before, let alone drove in conditions like that. Everybody beeping at each other, bumper to bumper, not letting anyone in . It was brutal. So after getting honked at about 5 times, I started to get upset. And started muttering and getting louder with my "fuck you too, buddy" followed by "Sorry Mom". And this was repeated until I got the car and us in one piece to the rental car return place and took a cab to the cruise ship. Again, through out that whole ride, my mom calmly pretended she hadn't heard me, nothing was said. And I was very appreciative. She had been pointing things out along the way saying "pretty!". She may even have clapped her hands in glee a few times., like this was super exciting and the most fun thing ever.
I kinda lose track after that, I'm sure I must have slipped a few times, but maybe not.

FOUL!

Kids driving you nuts? Put them on a time out, use this diagram to make sure that they don't cheat and sneak away. Personally, I suggest putting a binkie in the mouth to quiet any screams, but hey it's your kid.

I see London, I see France..

Banishing The Blues..

With a trip to London and then on to Paris. November 28th. I also have tickets to see Tori Amos on Nov 18th. A wedding to go to Nov 17th. Thanksgiving & Mom's Birthday on Nov 22nd. Christmas tree finally goes up the day after Thanksgiving. A smattering of Birthdays including my Big Sister's (Hey Happy Birthday!). Oh and Halloween is our adopted daughter (who lives with her real parents 'cause we are cool like that) has her 6th Birthday. Oh and the big County Fair starts Nov 1, which we always go to eat cotton candy and make fun of carnies (I know I'm going to Hell). We just can't help ourselves. What else is their to do in the Fall?

I can't wait to see Paris (it's on my list of things to do before I die), I've been to the French Riviera and the coast of Italy, but even though I have been dying to go to Paris, it's just now happening. Yay! This is my 3rd or 4th trip to London, but we are going to ride that huge Ferris Wheel this time. And shop. We don't have to try to pack in all the touristy things to do, so we can just do what we didn't get to do last time that really excites us.

Because Life Comes At You Fast

When I want something to happen, like putting up the Christmas tree, time seems to drag on and on. Other times life feels like it's pulling me along with it and I can't catch my breath. Then WHAM life turns a corner and I hit the wall while it marches on pulling me across the brick wall. And it hurts, A LOT. I feel tired, used up and pissed off because I have no desire to do anything but sleep. And sleep I do, only to wake up and to be greeted by dishes to be done, laundry to be folded and put away and bills to pay. Oh and don't forget grocery shopping.

Silly Saturday Short

Tuna With A Side of Asparagus

Mmm..what do we have here?

Smells like asparagus..
Yum! Mine!
Fleeing the scene..
I'll rip your head off little asparagus stalk and eat you all up!

Perhaps we have been a bit lenient here with Babyfred. She was mine and when we got married she officially became ours. Honey after a year of trying to love on her like she lets me love on her, resorted to the almighty tuna. Water-packed solid albacore. Everyday. As soon as he walks in the door. I refuse to give it to her, she doesn't ask me for it. She's not dumb, she has relaxed a bit with Honey, kinda like you scratch my tummy when it's full of tuna and we've got a deal mister.



However she has become an asparagus thief, I often eat at my desk and usually just vegetables. I like to think that I raised her not to beg or steal food and all was well until she had asparagus. She stole a stalk off my plate, while I was watching. She never ever did that before. With anything from pizza to salmon never once a swipe from the plate with me sitting right here. So it was kinda cute, she played with it and then gobbled it up. So of course Zeus and Fletch each got a stalk, and they loved it too. Weird. We let it go and thought she was just being cute that once. Until..until I cooked it a few days later, same thing. And we let her do it. I've created a monster. Just like Honey. He hand feeds her tuna on a real plate from the cabinet each serving while she sits on the kitchen table place mat and eats it. Now, well I let her eat asparagus, stolen from my plate while I sit here and giggle. Or take pictures like I did today. Shit! I forgot to give turtle-man his taste!

Friday Morning Five

A meme stolen from Kim on 17 Kinds of Bored


The Friday Morning Five -

What was the last thing you baked?

A Dutch Apple Pie

What was the last thing you tried on for size?

A Pair of Jeans (they fit and I bought them)

What was the last thing you purchased on credit?

A Pair of SkullCandy Smokin earbuds In Pink

What was the last thing you put a postage stamp on?

What the hell is a postage stamp?

What was the last thing you took a photo of?

My hair, but you can't see it, I forgot to brush it first.

Thursday Track

Sleepthief with Kirsty Hawkshaw - "The Chauffeur"

I Caved.

I totally caved. I finally covered the few grey hairs (ahem, it was only 6! I swear!). Oh course Mom and Honey had their two cents floating around in my head for a month, Like "Can't you color that right out?" "Well yes, I could, but I'm not going too." So after a month of staring in the mirror plucking those 6 hairs out, I decided it is Fall, maybe I could go a little darker, maybe something with a nice undertone too it. And it begins, it always does for me innocently enough, but then it becomes an obsession. A nice all over color becomes worthy of a few highlights..damn that looks better, I bet if I put in a few lowlights..wow holy shit, my hair is awesome. Pretty soon, I have to have it cut exactly every six weeks, more highlights added , a few more lowlights and I'm up to a hair routine that I purposely stopped dying my hair for. And a very costly vice too. I think I need a twelve step program. Hi my name is TTQ and I'm powerless over hair coloring.

Does Anyone Get Her?

It's been awhile since I've had a snark attack on anybody lately. I'm not sure if this even counts, but this lady puzzles me. Yep, Victoria Beckham. Weird costumey outfits as everyday apparel and roles that she dresses her up in the same garb.. Which are for real and which ones aren't? It's hard to tell these days. I'm confused. Is she for real?

Have You Lost Your Brain?

Why yes, yes I have...

Brain Found in Bag Near Richmond, Va.
AP
Posted: 2007-10-09 16:43:58

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A brain was found in a bag near an apartment complex Tuesday morning, but it wasn't clear if it was human or animal, police said. It was discovered in an area next to a suburban Richmond apartment complex under construction and near a mall, Richmond police spokeswoman Karla Peters said. The state medical examiner was examining the brain, she said. It wasn't clear how long it had been there. "We're waiting for the medical examiner to determine how we should proceed," Peters said.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.

Monday Meme "Unconscious Mutterings"

Free association is described as a "psychonanalytic procedure in which a person is encouraged to give free rein to his or her thoughts and feelings, verbalizing whatever comes into the mind without monitoring its content." Over time, this technique is supposed to help bring forth repressed thoughts and feelings that the person can then work through to gain a better sense of self.

That's an admirable goal, but for the purposes of this excercise, we're just hoping to have a little fun with the technique. Which you can respond to with the first thing that comes to mind.
"Rules are, there are no rules." There are no right or wrong answers. Don't limit yourself to one word responses; just say everything that pops into your head.

1. Cluster :: Fuck



2. Announcement :: Wedding



3. Respect :: Your Elders



4. Incident :: Oopsie



5. Accordion :: The World According to Garp



6. Drunk :: Sober



7. If :: When



8. Dexter :: Poin



9. Wedding :: Bells



10. Gambling :: Pissing in the wind

Oh Ewwww

If that were me, I would have totally ran for it. And washed myself with disinfectant, including my eyes. I just have to say ewww. At this point I was glad it was a uni-sex party. I had Honey to protect me from getting pulled onto the chair. After the female stripper got there for the groom things were getting pretty scary. She looked like a crack-ho from the wrong side of town. Nasty.

Tell me his pants are stuffed. Can't can you? Didn't think so.

The Wedding Shower (Casino Luau Uni-Sex) Surprise!

The Bride to Be and Stripper-man Cop! She was handcuffed.

I Like Things In A Box And Tied With A Big F'ing Bow

I have this thing about presents, I love to give them and I like wrapping them. I like when things fit nicely in a box and you can tie it up with a big fucking bow. Life should be like that. It's okay to open them, just open them slowly so you don't break or tear what's inside. I can't seem to give just one gift, I like to give multiple things, I've been shopping for this shower since I heard the date was finally set. It's a Fall Wedding and the invites were in a metallic brown envelope..Loved it! So I wrapped my presents up in fall decor. Martha, you better watch out.

If I've done anything I'm sorry for, I'm willing to be forgiven.”

So today I'm thinking I was a little harsh on my thoughts about the Wedding Shower. After all, they are trying to please everybody which is why it's a mishmash of everything. The groom doesn't get his Vegas Wedding so they are making a separate party for him. The Bride's sisters did fly in last night from Chicago and North Carolina to host the party and my SIL is opening her house up for the party. The wedding invite came yesterday and they are beautiful and the location is pretty swanky and they even sent an invite to my mom which was very sweet.

So basically, I was just bitching because I don't feel so hot. I began getting vaccines on Wed and I have to go back next week because they didn't want to tax my system by giving me four different ones on the same day so they only did two one in each arm and next week they will do two more maybe three if I can talk them into it, then I go back in two months and six months for the second and third parts of the ones I got this week. On top of all the other Dr's appts. One of the big things I miss about living in a big city is the quality of health care. I have to drive the hour into Orlando and the hour back even if my appt only lasts 15 mins or so.

Enough bitching, I have one more present to wrap and then I have to see if I can make guacamole from some really hard avocados.

SIL has requested that Honey does his famous lap dances tonight, that's always a treat. Now that I know how to work the video on my camera, I might just catch a dance.


“I'm sorry you are wiser, I'm sorry you are taller; I liked you better foolish and I liked you better smaller.”

----Aline Murray Kilmer

Another WTF?

My niece is having her wedding shower tomorrow night. Perfectly normal right? Wrong. One- it's a SURPRISE. Normal enough. But wait! It's unisex, okay that scraps a couple of presents I was going to give her. So once I got it straight that it was uni-sex, I read the invite again. It's a Casino theme! Yay! Honey and I don't gamble. But they all do. But wait! There's more! I reread it again, It's a Casino-Luau! hmmm. WTF is that , we pretend we are in Hawaii at a pig roast playing poker with visors on? Or do we pretend that we are in Las Vegas having a luau?

So it's a Surprise, uni-sex, Casino, Luau Wedding Shower! Ta-da! At this point we should just roll Halloween in there and maybe Thanksgiving and be done with everything till Christmas.

Oh and you have to wear casual bright tropical attire, sandals only. Wait I just read it again.

Adults Luau Casino night...Dress Festive/Vacation Style "Flip-flops only" and that is what is printed on the invite. Shit, I really wanted to dress up as Sharon Stone in Casino. Honey could wear his blazer and have his cigar ala Tony Soprano.

Mental Health Day

I'm declaring a time-out for myself. I'll be back when I have deemed myself qualified to play amongst the rest of the bloggers of the world again. Right now, I'm going to sit here and whine to myself how shitty my day has been. Cause really, it's all about me isn't it. And if it's not then leave me alone anyways. No? Really? Go away! Come back!

Actually I had a pretty good post going on until Blogger didn't save my post. And now it's gone. And I'm sad. I'm mad.

Another Reason Not to Wear Crocs

Crocs and other soft-soled shoes can get stuck in the teeth of escalators and cause minor to severe injuries. Sandals, tennis shoes, flip flops and other "shoe entrapments" have been yanked to the bowels of those moving stairs. A few horrifying accounts describe Crocs and immitation Crocs on the feet of children becoming stuck as the escalator stairs converge and causing toes to be ripped off or mutilated to the point of needing amputation...