Recipe for a Happier Girl

Mix:

10 hours of distance from daily stresses

3 days with family

2 sisters of silliness

800 presents

1 trip to the Mud Hut to paint pottery

1 cardboard castle

1 pizza-making brother

1 furry kitty cat

and 1 adorable niece.

Shake well, top with old friends and homemade sugar cookie icing, and serve with sparkling cider.

It's wonderful to be home.

Contemplating Stilettos as Weapons of Mass Destruction...

So, I'm at work now...but this is a good time to link to more pics because I'm fairly angry and need a welcome distraction. But first, a short venting about my stupid job:

a) Everyone else's jobs are SO much more important than mine that when either of my coworkers is gone, I have to do their work instead of mine. So I've only been at my desk 2 days this week. Yet despite the supposed expendability of my work, the boss is still unhappy with me for not having completed parts of it because (did I not say this already?) I'VE BEEN DOING OTHER PPL'S WORK ALL WEEK, LIKE I WAS INSTRUCTED TO DO!!!

b) My office (which has been only mine for over a year) is now going to be shared with an 80-something named Joe, who is supposedly helping organize our office. He'll use my office every Friday while I'm at Marcia's desk (b/c she gets every Friday off, but her work still has to be done...by me).

c) Not only is this degradation to take place every Friday starting today, but my boss couldn't even be bothered to TELL me this was going to happen. I'd heard rumors from other coworkers, and then Joe just showed up and went in there this morning. Never a word from my boss.

After Joe-the-Usurper left this afternoon, I said to my boss: Um, thanks for letting me know my office was to be his office from now on.
Boss: What? Did you think you have an exclusive claim over it or something?
Bethany: No, I just thought I could have been told that it was gonna happen.
Boss: Well, fine. It's gonna happen.
Bethany: Thanks.

d) Also, today while I was on my "lunch break," I had to run from one end of the bldg to the other (in heels) to answer the phone 4 (four!) times because apparently having a Y-chromosome makes the THREE men NOT at lunch exempt from such a duty. Even when it's usually a call for one of them.

e) Apparently the Y-chrom. also renders them incapable of printing out a word document, and of creating a new user account on our website. Also tasks I was called away from lunch to do, without any sort of apology for the interruption. There's nothing like already-microwaved, leftover-to-begin-with french-fries which have gotten cold again. Mmm.... :(

I have to be honest, by the 6th interruption, as I sprinted past 3 offices of males somehow incapable of answering that phone, I was secretly kinda hoping one of them would suddenly trip and fall into the hallway so I could slam one of my sprinting stilettos down on him and claim it was an accident. I know it sounds mean, but I was just so frustrated. And all of these things happened after I asked for prayer on Monday night about my attitude at work. Needless to say, I'm not doing too well on that front...

Anywho, yay for (those people lucky enough to have) happy weddings....and for the ease of sharing digital images of them. ; ) Click on the link below to see them.

Jonathan's Wedding

Preview

There will be more later, but here's a tiny glimpse of my weekend:

A Few Fall Projects

I've actually done several little home-decorating projects in the last few weeks, but I just haven't had time (or motivation, etc.) to post pictures of them. So, here goes:

1) Three-dollar throw pillow:

1 placemat on clearance at Target


plus one bag of stuffing, equals:



2) Part of my dining room, including the lovely crystal vase I received as a b-day present:



3) A fall wreath made for only 66 cents! (I found the leaves on sale for 15-cents a bunch at Walmart and I had plenty of wire hangers at home.)



3) And finally, pictures of my newly-painted bedroom

The before:



And the after-painting-but-not-yet-finished:



When I get the pictures and the curtains hung, I'll post actual "finished" pictures. : )

And, in addition to these projects, I've also baked my first pumpkin pie and started on my first pair of knitted socks! ; ) (one morepic--of the first sock--below)

Tired....

My room is painted. Pictures will come, I promise. I am still sleeping in the living room tonight b/c I haven't had time to move furniture back yet. I'm SO tired, and sore in lots of places (thighs--from going up and down, right hand--actually involuntarily dropped the paintbrush a couple of times from pain, lower back--prob from moving large furniture by myself). If anyone who reads this is a masseuse...I know what I want for Thanksgiving! Either that or lots of ibuprofen (which is currently buried in my closet, in a bag, behind the shelves to my bookcase, behind the large glass that goes on top of my desk, behind the filing cabinet...). Sigh. And now, to bed...or, to the mattress still on the floor in the living room....

Harvest Pancakes

I just finished eating the best pancakes I've ever made (and possibly the best I've ever eaten)! I was in the mood for something fall-ish, so I made pancakes. I thought briefly (after I'd eaten about 3/4 of my 2nd one!) about taking a picture, but really, a pancake looks like a pancake. It's what it tastes like that matters. However, I will share the recipe I came up w/ because they were SO good!

Bethany's Harvest Pancakes

Mix:
1 cup of pancake mix
1/2 cup Pumpkin Spice Silk Soymilk
1/4 cup water
1 tsp Haitian vanilla (I know, it helps to have relatives in Haiti)
1 dash of nutmeg
1 dash of cinnamon
1 handful of chopped walnuts

Stir together, and cook as directed. Top with maple syrup.

Enjoy on a crisp, sunny autumn day!

Oh, the Horror! (see pic below)

Note: This post may not be appropriate for young children...or for Fun-Fur-yarn-lovers.


How I loathe thee, trendy Fun Fur!
Hideous, slippery plastic threads,
tangled mass of petroleum wasted
in a pompous novelty yarn of horror.

Like "slicker-binders" required in 5th grade,
with no inherent advantage, no noble goals,
except those of intrigue and slipperiness,
looking funky, and refusing to stay put.

A swift trap for needles and hooks alike
drawing innocent beginners
with artificial lushness, yelling colors,
and seeming luxury of shade and texture.

The one "fiber" in the basket
which refuses to stay wound
slinking out at night to play,
winding confusion around sleeping wools

The slick yarn beguiles trusty knitters
turning hours of work on well-designed patterns
into messy webs of fur and string
proclaiming themselves "modern."

A cold tangle of cheap knots
in flustered hands expecting more...
...more warmth, more agility, more comfort
than spun-plastic Fun Fur can bestow.