Hit By A Really BIG Bus...

...that's what I'm feeling lately. Not sure I can talk about it yet. But I will. 

And I have a "migraine hangover" so please bear with me... It was a 2-Maxalt headache, but it seems like I've got a bit of a fog going on.

Just A Few Things...

Just a few things have happened lately. The Cubs won the World Series. Yes, they did!

And we elected a bullying moron for president. Yes. We did. 

I watched the Cubs, though I admit I went to bed in disgust when they and their bats didn't show up for that one game. But I did it. I'm glad I was able to do that because being a life-long Cub fan, it's certainly something I've never done. So I guess I can cross that one off my bucket list. 

I would like to go to a game at Wrigley just once. I hear that it's the atmosphere more than anything else. You certainly won't have the amenities one has at home, like multiple camera angles, your favorite chair and a quick trip to the bathroom! But it would be nice to see it. I suppose I could find some knitting to bring along with me. 

I love the chalk wall. This is on one wall of Wrigley Field (probably two walls, by now) and grew organically. The management let it be, and people have been adding "In memory of..." messages since the Cubs won. Management is going to preserve it in photos though they've already said they're going to eventually power-wash it all as they continue to renovate the ball field. By all rights, my grandmother and my great-grandma should be on that wall. But they're in my heart, so that's all that matters. I will be making some small "W" flags and will, come spring, plant them at their graves. 

The cemeteries clean the gravesites to prepare them for winter, so if I do anything now, it's likely to be removed. 

We can wait. 

We've waited this long...

Knitting...

So, I was an election judge this year, and I knew it was going to be busy. Despite what the national results were, our polling place was constantly moving. We had over 560 voters (we're tiny - this was a big turnout), and I think our longest break was perhaps 20 minutes. 


I knew the baby sweater wasn't going to cut it. I was at the only fiddly-bit on the whole thing: adding the curve to the neck. Instead, I grabbed the Shape-It scarf since the wings are straight knitting. 

I sat next to Nick, a newbie judge who was THE. SLOWEST. TYPIST. EVER. We have tablets to check people in, though we still vote on paper. Nick was the absolute slowest person on the planet, and it was all I could do to not snatch the tablet from beneath his fingers. 

He was trying, bless his little heart...

And in a lull, he says to me, "Are you crocheting?" Hey - I give him props for KNOWING enough to ask. So I explained that I was knitting, and I let him pet the baby alpaca yarn. His mother "did one or the other, I don't know" and he has a "blanket" that was done for him. 

Very nice guy. And he appreciated the alpaca (or he was a great faker about it!). But I really didn't get more than 2 rows done, maybe 3. I'm going to try to put a few more rows on in the next day or so. I want to get it done so that I can block it out and wear it when the weather finally turns. It'll look lovely with my leather coat.

The baby sweater is growing. I'm on the sleeve, got about maybe 10 rows to go before I bind off there, and finish the body. Then - done. Just the buttons. 

I realized, to my chagrin, that the buttonholes are askew. Blast! It was the World Series. I'm going to have to take the sweater to a priest for a blessing as it is, since during a few of the games, I wasn't saying anything nice... I'll just tell mommy that the whole thing is asymmetrical and this is a design component. 

That works. 

I think I can pull a matching hat out of the yarn I have left. And maybe a pair of booties, but I'll have to put some brown tops on them or something. Haven't gotten that far yet. Or maybe I do the hat with a brown ribbing edge? Or stripes? It could be cute. And the buttons are brown, that's why I'm veering in that direction.

Christmas Baking 2016...

The Great Potica Bake Part I has happened. Ten. Count 'em. TEN long loaves, 2 small ones. Kid #2 came down to help, because of Hubby's chipped wrist bone - he didn't have enough flex in his wrist to help roll. 

I tried something different this time. I did the prep in stages. I did the filling and stuck that in the fridge on Friday. Then, on Friday night I did the dough.

I checked with my friend and chef Carolyn - and she said, "yeah do up to the first rise and stick it in the fridge - it'll rise a bit and should be fine."

Well. It doubled in size and popped the lid off the sealed bowl. Hmmmmmm. 

I was off to a church function on Saturday, and The Kid was going to come down around noon. We serve lunch at the local homeless shelter as part of our outreach. Sadly, I was kind of verging on a migraine, which didn't help (and yeah, it "bloomed" after the last bake, thankfully). 

I asked Hubby to take the dough out of the fridge, and I think we had a bit of a problem estimating how long it would take to warm up. Just as, I think, we underestimated how long it would take to cool off - the rising happened because the dough was warm and it took a while to chill, so the yeast did its thing...

The Kid took charge of the filling and did the "drudge work" of greasing pans and flouring the cloth. I wanted him to help roll, but seeing as he's a large guy (tall - just about 6'2") and has hands that are "basketball hands" -- that didn't work out well. 

I ended up doing the rolling, and as the dough came to warm up, the rolling was - even though I hesitate to say it - perfect. Seriously, no trouble after the first one, which was still too cold. 

See, here's the issue: Potica dough is notorious for being more finicky than you can imagine. It's bothered by temperature. It's crabby about humidity. It's cranky about the amount of flour on the cloth... And it's picky about the rolling pin. 

I ended up with my marble rolling pin. (Hey mom, since I've been doing these for 6 years now, can I have Dad's ball-bearing solid oak rolling pin, please???) It worked well, and the cloth, being fairly new, actually behaved better than last year. 

There's also mythology about the cloth too. We had a damask tablecloth. It was, in my estimation, about 40 years old. I finally retired it the year before last, when it got too hole-y to patch anymore and the darns were so large that they were tearing the dough. 

The dough has to be thin, and the cloth was already worn. The darns didn't help. So we bought a new one a few years ago, and it's taken some punishment to break it in. It's good now, I think. 

I rolled, he prepped the rolled dough (and no, I can't give you details. The mythology also involves secrecy about the exact components of the recipe. My granny would haunt me.), and we got it all put together. 

We thought at first that we'd have to re-do the last batch of dough because of the extraordinary rise it got overnight, but it seemed like everything went well. 

We may do another single batch over Christmas break so that we have extra for Easter. It freezes well. And I've got 4 of them sold for Christmas already. Thankfully, I got 4 "pretty" ones out of this day's work. Kid #2 got one of the half-loaves for his help.

Frankly, I missed Kid #1 - he's our "premier roller" and he's working out of state. He may not even come home for Christmas. I'm not sure I'm ready for that. But I don't have a choice in that one, that's for sure... All I can do is send him a care package and hope he's doing ok. 

So here's The 2016 Cookie List. It's mostly final. I may put together a biscotti, just to lighten up all the heavy flavors. 

Kid #2 has his list and he usually brings them to our family celebrations. 

This is the list that ends up on my holiday platters for gifts. So there also may be some pumpkin bread or some date-somethings. 

I like to have variety, and while I appreciate the tradition of the same cookies, I always try a few different ones every year to shake things up a bit. I noticed that I didn't add any "bread" or "bar cookies" so those might make it on there. 

The "walnut tarts" -- those are a new invention of mine. I have more potica filling left. I didn't make it as "wet" as Hubby thinks I should, but I think it's too wet and doesn't cook well when the filling is too heavy. And my dad never put a lot of filling in. And the dough was especially thin this year, as I mentioned, so I went with a little lighter hand. 

Hubby has been bugging me. Nay - he has been positively NAGGING me to try his grandma's Never Fail Pie Crust. I've been avoiding it, because I don't do pie crusts. But Kid #2 tried it (he also stinks at pie crusts) and told me (ha!) "The Curse is lifted...it works, so go for it." 

So what I thought, since I only have about a half-batch of filling left, and there's no way I can make only a "half-batch" of dough, is that I might try a tart. Tiny tarts. Like pecan tassies, if you know what those are. If not, I've provided a link. My granny used to make these, too. 

This is the experiment for the day. It may flop tremendously, but it might be ok. We shall see. 

Garden Bounty...

The garden has given up everything but the carrots, and those are coming out soon. 

This is the last of the kale, and Hubby got a 2-quart bag full of Brussels Sprouts, which isn't bad for our first year. 

It's getting cooler, so I'm not in the mood for smoothies. I did The Google and found that I could just bag it and freeze it (after washing, of course!). I bought a can of soup for the office and it's Kale, Quinoa and Red Lentil. That shouldn't be too hard to duplicate. Or even a creamy kale soup? Or adding it to a veggie soup. Once it's frozen, I can chunk off a hunk and dice it up, toss it in a stew or soup, and there ya go. 

Or I can let it stay in the fridge and use it next year for smoothies. Either way. Didn't want to waste it, so this is a great alternative. 

If anyone has any decent recipes, I'm all ears. I know I can't do my usual sauteed kale. Like most greens, freezing changes the texture. Maybe I can fiddle with Mario Batali's Kale Pesto recipe. Boy, I wonder if that would be too strong? Kale makes itself known, and sometimes that's not always good. 

I'm also wondering how the Brussels Sprouts will be, and I'm toying with a potatoes-and-sprouts recipe for Thanksgiving. We still have Rosemary in the garden, and I've frozen some basil and parsley. 

As has been our practice, we're doing most of Thanksgiving again, though my mom is hosting. I don't mind, and in past years, we've been parceling out the side dishes to the grandkids - they have to learn somehow, so it's a good thing to do. And for the most part - they're mostly boys; they'll eat anything. 

The Election...

OK, I think I'm ready to talk. 

I was devastated by the results of the election on a couple of levels. First, in full disclosure, I am not a fan of Hillary. I was a Bernie voter and I would vote for him again in a heartbeat. And I think he'd have beaten the bullying moron (or BM as I shall hereinafter refer...).

Do I believe we need a woman as president? Absolutely. Just not her. 

Is she qualified? Absolutely. But we don't do political dynasties here in the US. It was bad enough with Pappy Bush and Shrub. And then Jebbie tried again - and failed miserably. 

Hillary, despite her qualifications, has more baggage than O'Hare International Airport during the Thanksgiving weekend. It was never going to happen. I'm sorry to burst bubbles, but it wasn't going to happen. 

As usual, Democrats sat on their laurels and underestimated "the base." That nebulous group of individuals who vote and always, always stun the professional data-geeks spoke, loudly.

That being said, many people spoke by silence. The voter turnout was at a historic low for a presidential year - especially given the contentious nature of this election cycle. 

Stuff is whirling around about the Electoral College being overturned, and maybe we need to have that discussion - when tempers and emotions have cooled. We really do need to at least talk about it. It wouldn't have mattered which way the election had gone, because the discussion about the institution itself needs to be had. We have drilled into our kids' heads that "your vote matters," but really, in a presidential election, it doesn't seem to. Hillary has won the popular vote. But she lost the EC vote, at least for now. 

The Federalist papers say that the Electors have a duty to make sure the president is fit and to determine if there are any things or issues which would disqualify the candidate. The BM clearly is not qualified. The terrified visage portrayed during the ceremonial White House visit is clear. 

While I cringe at the thought of Kim Jong Il and Vladmir Putin at a state dinner, I feel for my younger sisters-in-life - the women of child-bearing age who will clearly have all choice taken from them if that guy gets hold of the Presidential Pen.  

So my choice is to sit and wring my hands; do "Facebook activism;"** or actually, you know, DO SOMETHING. 

I'm choosing to do something. I'm not sure what, but I'm taking Bernie's advice as seen in this clip here. I posted this and a friend of mine, who for some reason HATES Bernie, said she "couldn't bear his sneering face." 

I don't think Bernie sneers. But I appreciate her bruised feelings. I don't like her tone, but I can only control my own reaction to others. 

I have already contacted my senator and representative, and asked them to demand that the BM release the taxes. We have a right to see if there are any disqualifiers there (see the comment on the EC above). I'm going to donate to causes which will have an impact. I'm going to write letters. I'm going to call people (which is REALLY out of my comfort zone) and I'm going to talk to local officials, too. Nationally, we must do something about the stranglehold now on our government - and locally, we could always use the help, too. It starts locally, and grows into a global movement. 

**Facebook activism refers to those folks who "click" or "share" something and then feel all proud of themselves for "being involved."

Don't kid yourself. You're a speck on the cosmos. You're better off getting off your rear end and actually contributing something: even a little bit helps. Make a phone call. Write a letter. Join a cause. Contribute money if you can. But don't sit in your chair clicking away and thinking you're changing the world. Because you're not. 

So that's my take. I will do my homework and pick a cause or causes to concentrate on. And I will get involved. This is our wake-up call. 

Random Picture... 

So the deck is coming along. We have a "deck" part, we have railings (not up yet) and posts. The steps are all stained and coming along. Even with a chipped bone in his wrist, Hubby is plugging along. 


Today, we take down the hummingbird feeders and get them stored away for winter. He may even mow one or two more times this season. He's determined to get the deck done before the cold sets in. I will, of course, post a picture of the finished product. 

We chatted about whether we're going to put the grill out there. "Or do you want to sit out here," he says. 

We've had a lovely patio he put together about 10 years ago. Upon which we've rarely sat. Even with nice chairs. We have a porch. Upon which we've rarely sat... We're not really "outside-sitters." But maybe we should be. 

It's all part of being a part of your neighborhood and a part of society. We've lost the "porch sitter" aspect of our neighborhood, and I think that's to our detriment. I am horribly shy (go ahead, laugh, but it's true). I don't like to be in situations where I'm faced with people I don't know. 

But it's time to step out of that comfort zone. Not like I'm going to change the world, right? 

But then again, by changing my own attitude, am I not making a step toward changing the world? Margaret Mead said it best: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed it's the only thing that ever has."

It's a Rant of Good Proportion...

We were there at 5 a.m.

Where were you? I’m specifically talking to people in Lockport Precinct 23. Yesterday, unless you missed it or were under a stump somewhere, was a Primary Election day.

Our precinct had an absolutely mortifying turnout. We returned to the Clerk’s Office – with FOUR boxes of unopened ballots. Our total vote count? A whole 151.

One. Hundred. Fifty. One.

If you crab about the Chaney-Monge referendum in the next few days, I want to see your voting receipt.

If your candidate for Park Board didn’t get in, I want to see your voting receipt.

If your candidate for Will County Sheriff didn’t get elected, I want to see your voting receipt.

If your candidate for Treasurer, Comptroller, or Governor didn’t get in, I want to see your voting receipt.

Otherwise? I don’t want to hear it. In Will County, we have a fantastic opportunity to vote early. You had weeks to go downtown to the Clerk’s Office to vote if you knew you weren’t going to be able to make it yesterday. We also have long poll hours. Polls opened at 6 a.m. and closed at 7 p.m.

How bad was it? I’m almost done knitting a sock. And I’m not joking. It’s a lovely sock. But we election judges should have been far, far busier. We weren’t and you know what? It’s YOUR fault.

I’ve been an election judge for a long time now, and I’ve seen the dismal returns for primaries. I’ve watched as people complain about the primary elections because they “don’t want to declare a party.” I have one suggestion for you: work to get that changed. Here’s the perfect opportunity for you to learn how to be an activist and get involved in an issue.

Don’t blame the election judges. We have to abide by the law and in Illinois, in a primary election you have to declare if you want to vote for candidates. You know what? It’s not like we’re bellowing out your choice either. We’re actually quite discrete and do everything to protect your right to vote in private – from silently handing the information to the judge handing out ballots to handing you a privacy sleeve to ensure that not one of us sees how you vote – we’re there all day waiting to help you exercise your rights. You can’t exercise ‘em if you don’t show up, though!  As an election judge, I can honestly tell you this: I don’t care HOW you vote. I care THAT you vote.

And Precinct 23 women?? What the heck… We got the right to vote in 1920. Where were you??

If you think that politics in Springfield are corrupt, sure – you don’t have to vote for a candidate. Our system allows you to do that and still cast a ballot. You can still make an effort to vote for your local candidates and issues. If you don’t, you have only yourself to blame. “The system is rigged.” Well – un-rig it. You – the voter – are the only one who can make a difference. 

Shocking...

The Chaney-Monge referendum passed. Oh my, I'm having the vapors! My kids went to that school, and back in its day, it was a great place. But years and years (over 30 of them to be exact) of NOT passing basic referendum issues have taken their toll. Their now-retired superintendent had to resort to putting temporary buildings alongside the main school building. That riled up the folks who had to look at them, but his point was well-taken. You want 'em removed? We NEED to add on. Kids were using the library for classrooms. Two classrooms. The library now relegated to the size of a small bathroom. We needed more handicapped access to bathrooms for the influx of kids with disabilities. And the roof was holding together with spit and prayer. I'm positive that this winter didn't do it any favors. 

It's a $3 million referendum. Much less than the neighboring school district - the one across town that managed a TEN MILLION DOLLAR referendum about 8 or 9 years ago. 

Knitting...

Blue Sweater with sleeves

As I said, there's a good whack done on the Pink Sock. Today is Teal Sock. I also did some yesterday on Blue Baby Jacket. This picture just shows the sleeves barely started. The Alternate Loop Cast On was interesting and I'll use it again. 

The sleeves, with the variegated yarn, look like they'll go to the lightest part right on top the shoulders. Hey, it looks like I'm brilliant, but really, the yarn's doing all the work. 

We shall see how the "schedule" test works out with what I'm working on. Next week's knitting will be shot to smithereens because I'm doing a lot of subbing for the yoga teachers at my home studio and another student just contacted me yesterday about a private lesson. Yes, I love it, but sometimes I'm a bit overwhelmed. 

Easter...

So we sort of have the menu set. The date will actually be Holy Saturday. Hey, we have a lot of in-laws to compete with, along with Hubby's and my obligations with the choir. And you know what? As much as I enjoy my family, since Hubby and I bear the brunt of the cooking (we delegated the clean-up now to the Nephews...), we actually like to just chill on the real holiday's date. 

Technicolor Devils

I have a ham in the freezer, so we'll do that. I'm sorry if the rest of the folks will have ham on Easter Sunday. Deal with it. 

I'm doing deviled eggs, but found this and I thought it was fantastic and fun. So we will have deviled eggs, in technicolor.  My filling won't be as smooth - we like pickle relish in ours. I may dig out my home-made pickle relish for that and leave a few plain. While I had a blast making the relish, it's really got too much onion for me! 

My mom's making Nodif, a Croatian ham-polenta thingie you have to taste. It's incredibly labor-intensive. My dad used to make it in a sausage casing. We now make it in a pan. One day, I may become adventurous and do it again in the casing, hoping that I don't explode it in my kitchen. It involves a pork butt, a car-load of spring onions and corn meal. 

I'm bringing the potica. And I'm making a lamb cake. Just like the ones we had when we were kids. It's time to go old-school, especially since K and the twins are now probably old enough to know what they're looking at -- K in particular, the smart little bugger!! Which reminds me, I should order a lamb cake pan. I can't find mine. 

The Wedding...

Well, M is now married. That's the second of The Nephews to be married. It was great to have the family together and Nephew S - father of the kids - took a formal portrait of us, which was something I was really wanting. Then my mom wanted a pic of "her remaining children" - which disconcerted brother D, but hey - just do it, you know?

Kid #1 and girlfriend K (we really, REALLY have to vet names better in this family!!) had a good time, because K and K (K is kid-K's mom) had a blast - they are good friends. Between the wedding and reception, K and S, being "childless" (as in "free from the kids for a day") got together with Kid #2, Kid #1 and G/F and J (S's brother) - apparently, they all headed out for Thai food. 

I'm so happy to see them all bonding. Though I did tell Kid #2 that when he acquires a G/F she CANNOT have a name beginning with "K" - it's just too weird. 

The wedding was just a ceremony. The reception was nice, but the DJ was not good. And we were fighting the volume of two other parties. Brother D had to go tell the manager of the banquet hall that if she didn't take care of it, "I'd be happy to go in and help them with their sound system." That might've been interesting. 

Kid #1 and K already told me that "if" they get married, expect to know AFTER the fact, when they call to schedule the party. I figured as much. I'm not overly troubled by that. It is what it is, and it's THEIR life. As long as they're happy. 

Raisa...

Graduation!

Actually managed to graduate from Basic Obedience! Yay - no heat so far, though we still think it's close. I have to attend a make-up session with her because I missed one. But that's ok. 

We're going to skip Intermediate right now. She's almost 6 months old; we're really bargaining with time and I don't feel like paying for the Intermediate right now only to pull her out when Heat Happens. After heat comes Spay... so you figure 1 month to get heat over with (21 days of actual heat, but you have to wait for at least 30 days so that things go back to normal) and then spay, which is about 4 to 6 weeks of recuperation. It's a good plan, and while I think she'll bounce back faster than Tippi did, I still want to be careful. 

Raisa + Quinn

She and Quinn are getting along well, too, which is nice. We still don't leave all 3 of them out when we're away. Raisa gets the crate. She's still a little too new in the house. And till after she's spayed, I can't be absolutely sure that Tippi & Quinn will behave either. It seems strange, but they get a weird kind of PMS-thing going on with her emerging hormones. 

Raisa managed a very good sit/stay/wait and she's really good with her long stay - though I've only gone about 6 feet from her. She's still got puppy-brain, though, so we are just thrilled she does what she does. 

I have to work on her walk. She thinks leash = run since Hubby takes them. She needs to learn that with ME, leash = walk. What I usually do is an about-face. That 180* turn kind of pulls her mind and she realizes that she has to wait on me. 

It's all a work in progress. She has the makings of an excellent therapy dog, as far as I can tell. It's early days yet, but she's got a lot of River's personality, and River -- well, River was Practically Perfect, if I may borrow from Mary Poppins. 

The Food Thing...

So it's been a rough couple of weeks. The week of the 10th, I ate out way more than I usually do. Salt. Processed restaurant stuff really kills me. I'm still recovering. 

Then yesterday, at the polls, I took a dangerous tumble off the wagon with a donut(s) -- ok, one whole big donut and a few donut holes. And some pizza around 5 p.m. 

Yes, I did bring my own food. And I knew it. But The Tired came over me and that's probably my worst time, other than The Worry. Breakfast and lunch were ok. Greek yogurt, some nuts, a cheese stick for a snack. Salad of baby kale, chard & spinach with olives and blue cheese. Snack of celery with peanut butter.

And then came 3 p.m......... Polls closed at 7 p.m. Yikes, that's an interminable span of time!! I knitted. I read my Kindle. I knitted some more. I checked my FB. Sent off some e-mails. 

But the siren song of junk food kind of whirled into my brain. I did do some damage control, though, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

And that morning? Mother Nature played a stinky on me - bloat and cramps and some Other Things potentially heralding another visit. Really. Seriously not funny. So that's why I probably feel Dolly-Parton-ish and out of sorts. 

So today: Greek yogurt for breakfast. Kale/spinach/chard salad with radishes and a half of a chicken breast. Celery with peanut butter. Dinner will likely be something light, as I have yoga tonight. I'll try to keep things under control and perhaps with lots of water and some mild activity, I can mitigate some of the future problems. 

The Rant...

Our local newspaper has been bought and sold again. Apparently, now -- it looks to be a real paper again, instead of the ad-rag it'd become under the prior ownership. Most of the reporter staff has of course been long-gone and we don't expect them to come back.

I submitted The Rant above as possibly a guest column or a letter to the editor. We shall see. I wouldn't mind writing a column again. It was great fun and I had a good time doing it. 

Of course, it won't be like this. No pictures and projects graphs! But still some fun, I think.

Random Picture...

Do I smell corned beef??

Yes. Miss Tippi as Miss St. Patrick's Day. And yeah, there was payback. Raisa tried to eat the pompoms and Tippi did get a lovely treat afterwards. 

We missed the visit on Tuesday, since I was at the polls. Next Tuesday, we go to St. Colletta's, our new potential gig. It's a trial visit to see how she (and I) will handle students with mental and physical disabilities.

I confess to a bit of discomfort in dealing with folks in that kind of situation. Tippi will likely be a star. Me? Not so sure. But the social worker there is a gracious young woman and I know she'll try to make sure I'm ok with my own discomforts. 

Though we will likely play it straight... no costumes. Less confusing that way. Oh, and I got her new cards, so now we're officially "TDIA." She's not impressed. 

Our next challenge is TDIAOV - one hundred more visits. 

At least 100 more voters was what I was hoping for last night. By this measure, Tippi will be Queen of Therapy Dogs by the time I see a decent attendance at a primary election. No answer for the problem. Just a Rant of Good Proportion...