senashenta | Entries tagged with cooking

My set of Warriors books by Erin Hunter came in this morning. #1-6, the complete first set. I'll see how I like them and then get into more of them later on if I do. I keep hearing about this series from various people but it's one I somehow missed out on growing up, but I figure you can start at any age, right? I also want to read the Silverwing series by Kenneth Oppal (I think that's the name), though those ones are very thin books. The Warriors ones will at least take me a day or two to read each one. *shrug*

I cooked dinner last night from a recipe from the Deadpool cookbook, and while Mom and Lee liked it okay I wasn't really a fan of it. And it wasn't even the honey that was in it, I couldn't even taste that for once! I dunno, something about it was just... meh. So Mom picked the zucchini out of it since that was the only part she and Lee didn't like and they said they'll eat it again. The thing with me is that I don't eat very many things as leftovers, as a general rule, so I just... I guess I'm picky. I dunno.

Yesterday the scabs came off my mangled finger. It still hurts, but it's good to know that it's holding together. There's a lot of scar tissue and still some numb spots but I'll survive. Sometimes it hurts to type, though, especially in the mornings, which is kind of a pain in the butt since that's when I do most of my writing.

Last night the HUGE parcel I sent to Sethi arrived and she videotaped her kids opening it and it was a minute-and-a-half of fabulous. They were SO excited. Seriously though, every time I send a parcel with pinback buttons in it Customs takes them out of their little baggie and they end up spread all across the box. It's annoying. I don't know why I bother. But that aside, I'm looking forward to reviews on everything as it gets played with/eaten/etc. The toys and stickers are already a hit. (I sent SO MANY STICKERS OMG.)

Last night I finished Halcyon Days (#29 in the post-SS one-shot series) and it turned out to be 37 pages and 17737 words long, before editing. It might end up a little shorter or longer, after editing. I think it's the longest of the post-SS one-shots so far, which is nice because it's the "last" one (before Serendipity which almost doesn't count) and an important one. It was fun to write, and sad sometimes, but in general I enjoyed it. Dean and Cas got to have a nice hotel in Halcyon Days, instead of the usual ratty motel, haha. Good times.

The filter in the axolotl tank is still acting up, GLUGing and spitting water everywhere when it does, but now that my finger is semi-functional and watertight again, I can stick my hand into the tank to try to deal with it. I'll have to do it tomorrow though, because Extended Family Christmas is today so I'm busy with travelling and Christmas-ing and that kind of stuff.

There's a chance that Grandma won't be able to make it today and I feel like a horrible person for saying it, but I'm hoping that turns out to be the case. Aside from being forgetful and stuff, she's become mean and accusatory and obstinate, and I just don't think I can handle being around her the way she is now. She's not my Grandma anymore and it tears me up inside.

I'm going to wear my "ew, people" Grinch hoodie today, the one that Amy and Brit got me for Christmas last year. I checked the other day and it still fits, just a little tighter around my belly because of all the NAFLD weight gain.

Update on Extended Family Christmas later.

A week from now is Christmas with me, Mom, Lee and my little brother, so I really need to get the Wiggly Foxes that I'm making for him finished like... in the next couple of days, so the paint has a chance to really set and I can spray seal them before I wrap them up for him. I have one 98% complete, and the other three are like 75% there, I just have to get off my duff and freaking DO IT.

I'm still waiting for some stuff to come in the mail which sucks because we're getting together with Amy, Brit, Sarah, etc. on the 22nd and it's like... what am I going to do if they don't arrive before then? I guess placeholder boxes of chocolates until their actual gifts arrive. I'm a little annoyed, though. I dunno, it's a pain.

Current Mood: calm
Current Music: N/A: "The Walking Dead" on Riptide

One of the filters in the axolotl tank is making a weird GLUG-ing sound every few seconds and I'm like. You have such bad timing, filter, I literally can't do anything about you until the finger on my left hand isn't all bandaged up anymore. :| I need to clean the tank once I'm done this entry, but I have a suction-y hose type thing for basic every day cleaning so I can so it without getting my hands wet. :P

That aside, Wayward Cousins has five fics to it (in my head so far); Controlled Descent, Lore, Midnight Spirits, Remembrance and Better Angels. I'm thinking about switching out Midnight Spirits to something else, though, because the concept for that one is kind of vague at best.

Right now I have Controlled Descent open in Word, along with Temper Tantrums because I'm really trying to get that one finished, and also TKA because I'm still working on it as well. I'm in the middle of so many projects right now I can't even count them all, my brain is just... all over the place, the way it used to be before the ADHD meds. I'm currently on the lowest possible dose, and I think I need a bump up. Gotta talk to Dr. K about that, I was supposed to last time I saw her but they sent an intern in to see me instead and I got so flustered I forgot. I need to call ahead this time and make sure I'm actually seeing DR. K, and not another random doctor.

Anyway. My Marvel Cookbook and my Deadpool Cookbook came in today, along with a few other small things for Christmas, and I've already found a recipe in the Deadpool one that I want to make this Friday, so I added all the ingredients to the grocery list and spent $15 of my own money on whole wheat spaghettini and Chinese five spice through Amazon, since you can't get that stuff in our regular grocery store. I'm hoping Mom and Lee will reimburse me, but I guess if they don't it's not the end of the world.

I started a re-watch of The Walking Dead a couple days ago, which is stupid because I'm still halfway through a re-watch of Supernatural (I'm on Season 8.) I'm only halfway through Season 2 of TWD but I binged SO MUCH SPN all at once a couple months back I just got to the point where I couldn't watch anymore. I CAN STILL WRITE IT, THOUGH! :D

Today FedEX came and picked up the parcel I was mailing to Sethi and her family, which is odd because WHEN I CALLED THEM THIS MORNING TO SEE WHEN THEY WOULD BE ARRIVING I WAS FLAT-OUT TOLD THAT THEY WEREN'T GOING TO BE PICKING IT UP ANY TIME SOON DUE TO THE POSTAL STRIKE AND CHRISTMAS. So it was a HELL of a surprise when they showed up at the door! Anyway, all is well, parcel is sent and should (theoretically) arrive some time in the evening on the 12th. Sethi is excited so <33 I guess. I'm looking forward to her family's reaction to everything, anyway.

I think I have everything for Christmas, now, except for a gift certificate for Lee but I need Mom to drive me downtown for that so it's kind of up to her. Maybe I can get her to take me after my Dentist's appointment on Wednesday...

I'm also still working on the Wiggly Foxes for my brother, and I have some stuff that still has to come in via Amazon, that could start arriving as soon as tomorrow, so here's hoping. Then I just have to wrap everything, which, like literally crippled me last year and I'm thinking is going to be worse this year. But Family Christmas is this Saturday so I have to wrap at least... seven? things between now and then. I still don't even know if I'm going or not, but I'm sending gifts along regardless.

I have some new dragon necklaces that I'm working on, three of them, and I think they'll go over well once I'm done with them, but then again I always say that and nothing in my Etsy ever sells, so sometimes it's like... why do I even bother? I'm feeling really down on myself lately, if it wasn't obvious. But that's besides the point.

I guess I'd better go clean the axolotl tank now. Sena out.

Current Mood: blah
Current Music: N/A

FIRST OFF, I just fed Kaida a live worm for the first and possibly last time. It WIGGLED and BLED and then the PIECES WIGGLED WHILE THEY BLED and I felt SO, INCREDIBLY BAD oh my God. Like even digging it out of the soil was terrible I have never dug for earthworms before and then it was kind of cute?? And I CUT APART AN ANIMAL WHILE IT WAS STILL ALIVE. I FEEL LIKE SUCH A HORRIBLE PERSON.

But like... maybe I'll just get used to it, maybe it'll get EASIER?? If not, my 'lotls can survive perfectly fine on just axolotl pellets and frozen bloodworm treats, so I mean. That might be a thing that happens with my bunch. Just. The worm thing was not a great experience for me, right off the bat. :|

UPDATE: Kaida didn't even eat his worm bits. Goddammit. Right. So maybe I'll just #freetheworms and stick with pellets from now on. Or, at least until Kaida and friends are big enough to eat the worms whole, you know?

...anyway. Other than that. Um.

Even though I didn't write anything yesterday because reasons, I did do my writing this morning and so I'm still a day ahead in NaNo maths. I'm hoping to get some more written tonight, too, after I make dinner and feed the cats, before I go to bed. Hopefully another couple thousand words or so. Right now I'm at 35 pages and 16,119 words, which isn't nothing, considering I spent like three years dicking around with TKA and not actually writing anything until I got onto the ADHD meds.

Plus it's nice to be accomplishing something for the NaNo for the first time, since I always seem to have a block when it comes to November and writing my fffffffreaking NaNo project. I don't think I'll FINISH TKA this month, because I'm aiming for 80,000 words for it, but I can at least get to the 50,000 word NaNo goal, right? Right.

I have Teeth open to work on as well, but I'm actually more focused on TKA (for once) the last couple days, since I finished Nightingale. But then again, maybe I'm just not feeling Teeth at the moment and I should try writing one of the other 50,000,000 POST-SS ONE-SHOTS I have going on atm. Maybe Kindling or The Desert Tide, or even What Angels Dream? I dunno. I'll think on it I guess.

Tonight is my turn to cook dinner and I'm making shepherd's pie with tofu instead of ground beef (technically cottage pie, whatever) because I should be eating less red meat and that's a PROBLEM around here, especially hamburger. So I bought some tofu the other day and I'm going to do this tonight and see how it goes. Right now I'm pressing the tofu to get as much water out of it as possible before I start cooking at 5:30pm.

Mom is going in with an open mind, I think, but Lee is predictably skeptical because MEAT. Like at least one day a week when he cooks I'm going to get red meat, but that's better than before, when we ate it basically all the time. Mom is willing to switch to chicken/turkey and I'll cook with tofu and fish, too. REAL FISH NOT BATTERED AND FRIED FISH. Which. I might do next week, I have some salmon in the garage freezer. Mom doesn't like fish but she can deal once in a while.

I don't know, it's just like... I have all these new restrictions of my diet and I'm also trying to work around Mom and Lee. It's going to be difficult.

On a somewhat related note, yesterday I got my tea at Tim Horton's with almond milk and WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME ALMOND MILK IS SO GOOD? I would have gotten it FOR SURE instead of the Next Milk I have right now if I had known. Boo. (Next month, Sena, next month.)

Current Mood: contemplative
Current Music: N/A: "The Sacrament" on Tubi

So Sparrow is currently sitting in Tyler's lap because I literally have nowhere else to put them until I finish getting the axolotl tank taken care of. That's fine, though, they're safe there even if my poor printer is under way too much weight now (Tyler, Aidan, Katie AND Sparrow are sitting on it now) so it won't print anything unless I take everybody off first. It's a pain but I won't die from it.

Poe has another Finch model doll only in pink resin color and they absolutely can't seem to bond with her, so they've said they're just going to send her to me, too. I think if they do I will keep that one's name as "Finch" instead of changing it like I did with Sparrow. "Finch" is the doll model name, not a name Poe gave them, but I like it anyway. I just renamed Sparrow so they wouldn't both have the same name.

Sparrow is definitely going to be a brown tabby at some point in the future (not sure when), and if Poe sends me their Finch I think I'm going to paint her in calico markings but in like greens and purples because her skin tone is pink. She'll be very pretty. But I'm not counting on anything yet. *shrug*

Last night and this morning I worked some more on the fic formerly known as Counting Scars, now called Falling Stars. Like I said, it just randomly went in a radically different direction than I had originally intended. It was supposed to just be smut for the sake of smut, same as Cheap Motel, but Falling Stars just DEVELOPED a plotline and now I'm like OKAY I GUESS. THIS IS FINE. Not sure how long it'll end up being but I'm hoping around the same length as Cheap Motel, which clocked in at 34 pages. So far Falling Stars is at 18 pages, but it's nowhere NEAR done (I haven't even written any of the smut yet.) It might end up longer than Cheap Motel after all.

Last night I put the plastic drawers I got at the garage sale yesterday into place in Jessie's room and immediately filled them up with all the mugs and glasses that I bought to make into candles. That garage sale was convenient because literally I had this huge bag of mugs and glasses that were just taking up space in my room because I had nowhere to put them. I wasn't thinking about that when I bought them. But now they're all stored away, so that's good.

I might make some candles soon, though, and try selling them on FB Marketplace. Poe pointed out that candles are HEAVY and shipping them would be EXORBITANTLY EXPENSIVE so they might not be the best thing to list on Etsy, much as I'd like to. They're better suited to local sales and markets. I see their point, so FB Marketplace it is! (I think if I list them around Christmas time they might sell well then.)

I still need to finish cleaning out the future-axolotl tank and get Mom to help me dump the last of the water out of it, because I'm gotten all I can with the scooping jug. I have a TON of plants that I'm trying to propagate for the top of the tank right now, and at the end of the month I'm hoping to be to the point that I can start cycling it and get some aquatic plants for IN the water. Also Poe suggested using terracotta pots for hides, which is a fabulous (and cheap!) idea. Otherwise I'm going to use PVC piping, I think, though I so want the tank to have as "natural" a look as possible when I'm done with it, and I'm pretty sure I can get terracotta pots from the dollar store this time of year.

I ordered the plant holders for the top of the tank last night. Eight of them cost me almost $50, but that should do me for the size of tank I have, unless they're really tiny? I probably should have read the dimensions before I clicked "buy" but it's too late now. They're being delivered today.

Yesterday I also ordered a macrame plant hanger for my room off aliexpress, so that should come in in like... two weeks, I want to say? AE has really increased their shipping speed lately. (I still can't login to my account via my computer, I can only use the app, which. Boo.)

And I ordered two more books from thriftbooks, even though I said I was done buying books for a while: "Wilder Girls" by Rory Power and "Camp Damascus" by Chuck Tingle, because Poe highly recommended Chuck Tingle to me and Camp Damascus sounded really interesting.

Last night I swapped some of my binders around, used acetone to erase the labels and wrote new ones, then sealed them with Mr. Super Clear. It's the best way I've found to label the binders with the plastic covers. Anyway, Horror High (et al) got moved to one of my biggest binders, and all my TKA notes got moved to a smaller one for now. They'll get moved back to a bigger one again once I start printing out TKA proper. I also found some dividers and used them to divide up the fics in the Witcher SPN AU binder to make for easier reading. Just. Organizing.

I have so many binders and literally nowhere to put them, a bunch are just stuck on the floor between my computer table and my work table for lack of anywhere else. I desperately need more shelves but there's no more ROOM for shelves. What I REALLY need is my own apartment, but try telling the subsidized housing people that.

Last night I made roast rabbit for dinner. I bought it from the Muskoka Meats store last week and it cost me FORTY DOLLARS. YOU CAN BUY rabbits from the PET STORE for less than that. Anyway, cost aside, it was easy to prepare and cook. I just had to pull all the organs out (I cooked them and chopped them up for the cats) and stuff it, then rub it all over with butter and stick it in a roasting pan with water in the bottom. Then into a 325 degree oven for two hours and presto! Roast rabbit! We also had carrots (haha) and mashed potatoes. I know it's cliche, but it really did taste like chicken. I probably won't spend that kind of money on another rabbit, but it was neat for a change. I WILL, however, be hitting that store up for PARTRIDGE at some point in the future.

I just downloaded Alien: Romulus, so now it's a giant question as to whether I want to watch it IMMEDIATELY or do some more writing and then have a nap and watch it later today or tonight. I'm leaning toward the later.

And yeah. I think that's enough rambling for now.

EDIT: Oh ALSO, the pain I've been feeling since having that tooth extracted three weeks ago? Turns out it wasn't all because I had another tooth that also needed to be yoinked. THREE WEEKS AGO when I had THAT tooth pulled, the Dentist actually BROKE MY FUCKING JAW in the process of twisting and wrenching the tooth out. It's cracked and I have like, bone shards protruding through my gums from it. They had to shave them off when I was in this week. But since it's just cracked there's nothing that can be done except just let it heal and since I signed a waiver before having the tooth pulled I can't SUE THEM. So here I am. Broken jaw. Fun times.

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: N/A

Today Mom and I went up to Baysville to pack/move more of my stuff. I think there's going to be more that won't fit in the stupid fucking shed than I originally thought and when I said that to Mom she was like "well your Dad will just have to make room for it!" but like... that's not how this works?? He is making as much room as he can but he is not expecting an entire uhaul full of boxes and tubs?? WHY CAN'T UNCLE ALEC "just make room for it"??

Frustrating.

On the way up to Baysville we stopped at the Muskoka Meats store and I bought a rabbit for like $40. Rabbit should not be that expensive, it's just RABBIT dammit. But whatever. So I'm making a roast rabbit next week and we'll see how that goes because when we got home and told Lee about it he was like "meh" he's not sure he'll even eat my rabbit. FINE. MORE FOR ME. I FUCKING LOVE RABBIT.

This morning I got a little parcel from Poe with the new version of The Language Of Dead Flowers inside. They got the rights back to it recently and are going to self publish it, so they sent me a copy. It's called "Tao, Undead" now and has a GORGEOUS cover and lovely font inside. It's a beautiful book, it's how it should have been printed to begin with. They say they sent it to me as an apology for "stuff", but I keep telling them they don't have to apologize. We keep going 'round and 'round about it.

Tonight I started working on Wayward Sons, which is in the Witcher SPN AU, but the only one that actually does a crossover thing and has Sam, Dean and Castiel cameo in it. I SHOULD be working on Rewarding Heroism, which is the next one in the series (since I posted Don't You Forget About Me this morning) but I just wasn't feeling it tonight. I think I was more feeling SPN characters, hence Wayward Sons. idk what's going on in my brain right now.

Oh, and tomorrow is Miracle Treat Day at DQ so I guess we're all going for blizzards after we go to the rec centre. Yay?

Current Mood: blah
Current Music: N/A: "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" on Riptide

Okay, so. Visiting Grandma has been put off until tomorrow, but not for lack of trying. Mom and I left here and got all the way to Barrie where we ran into a traffic snarl and then... the highway was just closed down. They were diverting traffic into Barrie and we hadn't even gotten to the Innisfil turn-off yet. We were supposed to get to Grandma's around 12:45 and be able to spend an hour and a half (or so) with her before we had to leave to get home in time for my doctor's appointment, but at that rate we weren't going to make it to either. So we had to call Lee and get HIM to call Grandma and let her know we were turning around and would try again tomorrow.

TOMORROW WE ARE GOING TO VISIT GRANDMA. And it's not ON her birthday, which kind of sucks, but at least we're making the effort, right? And hopefully the traffic will cooperate tomorrow as opposed to it being a BITCH to us today. (Also it's supposed to be cooler tomorrow, so there's that.)

EDIT: Went to my appointment with Dr. K, talked about a lot of things. Got a prescription for my skin/acne, and she wants to do blood work to check my hormone levels because there's a chance some of my problems are because I'm pre-meopausal. Joy. Also I'm supposed to get more protein into me to help curb my appetite, but all the suggestions she made aren't feasible in this house so protein powder it is! Joy again. Otherwise everything went okay. My next appointment is halfway through November.

Came home and immediately had to start on making dinner. Lemon chicken picatta casserole. It'll be ready to go in 15 minutes. <3

Tomorrow morning I AM getting up and going for a walk first thing. I have to get exercising more. Get back into shape.

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: N/A

It doesn't look like much, but I made chicken pot pie for dinner tonight. :D

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: N/A: "Canadian True Crime" Podcast on Spotify

Not much has been happening the last few days. A lot of spring cleaning, since the weather's been nice, and I've watched quite a few movies. I'm on a horror kick and have been going through the Netflix archives for ones I haven't seen before. I'm also watching a lot of foreign movies, too.

Other than that... well, Aya's at J&K right now since he hasn't eaten in almost 10 months. ~.~;; I took him down this past Wednesday to see if they could get him to eat, but he was so stressed out from the trip down that they just kept him and tried to feed him yesterday instead. But he still didn't eat, so they're going to hang onto him for another week and try again next Saturday. idek what's going to happen if he doesn't eat then, either. =/

Back on Tuesday, I saw C.A. for the first time in almost two years! X3!! She's back from abroad and planning to stay this time. Her long-term bf is moving to Canada with her too; he's supposed to come over in June or July area. ♥ But she stopped by for an hour and a half or so, and it was SO AWESOME to see her again. I missed her immensely while she was gone. But now hopefully we can get together once in a while. In fact, we already made tentative plans for her to come over for an Asian Cooking Night some time soon. :3

Aaaand yesterday by brother came over for dinner. It's nice when he comes over, as we get along really well nowadays. I made sheppard's pie (turkey not beef) and it was all looking good until I bumped the stove and accidentally turned the broiler on. >>;; This caused the pie to cook until it was black on top and set the smoke alarm off. Then when I went to pull it out of the oven, I set one of my oven mitts on fire. .___.;; YEAH. It was One Of Those Days. (When I pulled the black layer off the pie, it was still perfectly good and yummy underneath, at least. lol.)

Other than that, I've been tinkering away at my Writing Blog (

vanimadin) and my Food Blog (

houseofyum) and obsessing over My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic because... uh... YEAH IDK, THE CUTE IS ADDICTIVE, I GUESS? 8D;;

Current Mood: cheerful

So the last few years, since I started making jam/jelly/sauces/preserves/whatever, each fall around this time Mom takes some sample jars in to her work and takes orders from the people in her department. The last couple of years went okay, but THIS YEAR?

The last two days I've made $200 worth of sales. X3!!

I'm doing things a little differently this year, though. Mom took in the sample jars as usual, but then I put together a list of products that are available, rather than kinds that I happen to have on hand atm. Before, people paid and basically got their jam a day or two later, since it was coming out of current stock. This time they make their orders and pay, and their orders are delivered two weeks later.

All this means is that they can order things that I don't currently have stock of, or even make special requests for flavours/bulk orders/etc. And it's worked out very well, so I think I'm going to do it like this from now on. ♥

$200 (35 jars) isn't a TON, but it will completely cover having Ves and Lily spayed and Nio neutered (assuming his missing testicle makes an appearance, if not then I have to have him done via my regular vet. :P) Then I just have to put out the money for their shots, which is about $90 assuming all three of them get in; $30/cat. (If Nio has to be neutered later, then the jam money will cover Ves and Lily's spays AND their shots, yay!)

Anyhoo, I've got some jam to make over the next couple weeks!

Crab Apple Jelly
Lime-Zucchini Marmalade
Mixed Berry Jam
Pumpkin Sauce
Peach-Cranberry Jam
Apple Butter
Cranberry & Mixed Fruit Sauce (with Walnuts)

Aaaaaand I'm making a test batch of Pineapple-Plum Marmalade to see how it turns out. :3

One of the comments I often get from people who order from me is that I make very unique flavours. This is true of some of my stuff, like the Lime-Zucchini, Peach-Cranberry, Lychee or Pineapple-Plum, but I also do classic things like the Crab Apple, Apple Butter or Cranberry Sauce. I guess I just like to try new mixes, and having some different kind of products is working out very well for me. :)

Oh, and I'm also going to make a foray into the world of pickles and preserves this time; I have beets to make pickles out of (a special request from my Dad and Lois), and I want to try to make Crab Apple preserves, similar to something my Grandma on Dad's side apparently made when Dad was a kid. We'll see how it goes~

Which reminds me, I need to go back down and pick more of the tiny crab apples before they all go bad on the tree. Maybe tomorrow or the next day, if it's not pouring rain...

Current Mood: artistic

I'm currently right in the middle of a River Monsters marathon on Discovery channel. Interesting stuff, especially since I can't sleep. ~~Again.~~ Last night was the same, except I was watching Hoarders on TLC instead. *shrug*

A couple days ago Mom and I had to go to Walmart, and while I was there I found Alien VS. Ninja on the shelves. You KNOW I had to have it! So now I have a copy of it on DVD YAY! I actually haven't watched it yet, I think my brother might want to watch it with me so I'm waiting. I'll ask him again tomorrow and if he says he's not interested I'll just watch it by myself.

Tomorrow I'm going to go to the mall and look for sparkly things to use for jewelry making (Ardene is a good store for that! ♥), and poke through a couple other stores as well, just for something to do. I might pick up a copy of Mastermind, since it's out now and I WANT A COPY. X3 And I need another photo album.

Then I plan to get tempura from Yamato in the food court, and possibly pick up a thing or two from the grocery store just before I head home, since I need a couple of ingredients for making curry this week.

Speaking of cooking. I MISSED IT SO MUCH. That's one thing about living here again, I have people to cook for and I'm taking full advantage of that fact. :3 Last week I made Turkey-and-Sausage Jambalaya, BBQed Hamburgers & Potato/Macaroni Salad and Spaghetti & Meat Sauce. This week I did Turkey Shepherd's Pie, Sweet-and-Sour Meatloaf, Home-made Mac n' Cheese & Asparagus and Cheese-and-Spinach Canelloni. Next week I'm planning Coca-Cola Chicken, Indian Chicken Curry and Vegetarian Lasagna. I've also baked a cake and made two loaves of banana bread. SO HAPPY. ~w~ ♥♥♥

Yesterday Mom and I went up to the mall and while we were there she checked out a couple of stores for an outfit to wear to Sarah's wedding next month. She ended up finding this awesome summery dress that looks REALLY good on her. At the same store I found an adorable floofy skirt and absolutely FELL IN LOVE WITH IT. But it was $60, which I couldn't afford, obviously. THEN MOM RANDOMLY BOUGHT IT FOR ME.

I objected because of the cost, but she says she bought it because of how well I've been doing since the surgery (I've lost 107lbs!! :O) and how proud she is of me for that and for being willing to do with cheap second-hand clothes over the course of the last year. She said it's a congrats, and that I deserve something nice after going without for so long. So I ended up just letting her buy it, since she seemed so determined. It was almost like she was getting me in trouble for the objections, actually. ^^;;

It's not a warm enough skirt that I can wear it just yet, but I'm really looking forward to wearing it in a month or month-and-a-half when it gets to be spring weather. X3

Aaaand on Tuesday I have to go downtown to the bank, so I'm getting my hair cut that day too since I'll already be down there. I also need to pick up more rats for Aya and the fish, and I'll probably meander up and down the main street, assuming that it's not a raging snowstorm.

No real news on the critters front, except that Tia is in heat AGAIN so she's being really snuggly and cute and ANNOYING right now. Not much I can do about it, though, other than give her lots of pets and cuddles, since that seems to soothe her pretty well for the most part. At least she's going back in to have the problem dealt with in just a couple of weeks, we should only have to deal with one more heat cycle after this one. Hopefully. >>;

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: N/A: "River Monsters" on the TV.

Well, despite the disaster yesterday with Juna peeing all over himself when we were bringing the cats home, all seems well. The glue in his incision site(s) is holding so I'm not quite so worried anymore.

The back room, however, stinks to high heaven because I couldn't give him a bath. It's horrible and gross, but there's not much I can do about it until at least the middle of next week. Then maybe I can give him a quick scrub down and vacuum/wash/disinfect the back room and spray the shit out of it with Febreeze. >>;

Dion also seems to be feeling better again today. I'm not sure what's going on with him; the last week or so it's been on-and-off every couple of days. One day he'll be sick and in pain, the next fine and back to normal, the next sick and in pain, the next fine and back to normal... and so on. I'm starting to think he's getting into something he shouldn't be, so later tonight I'm going to go through the apartment and see if I can find anything that he might be getting into that could be making him sick. =/ Fingers crossed that I figure it out.

Anyway, right now I'm over at Mom and Lee's place, as tonight I'm cooking them dinner. Homemade Chinese food ftfw! :D

I brought a couple books to keep me occupied this afternoon, and some laundry that needed done, as well as Squall to show him off to my brother and so that if I wanted to do anything online I could. I'm considering watching a movie or something right now, but I can't decide which one I want to watch. Hmm.

Oh, last night I watched a couple new animated movies! Despicable Me and Planet 51, both of which were really good. ^__^ I added them to my DVD wishlist! I particularly enjoyed Despicable Me, it was really cute and funny. ♥

And...

( Pertaining to the incident with M the other night... )

Current Mood: anxious

Alrighty! Today was grocery day, as is every Wednesday. Woo-hoo. /sarcasm lol.

I didn't have much to get for actual groceries, but I did have to get cat food at the vet's (prescription weight management/urinary tract care food that Neko and Loki are on) and there were Sena-prescriptions I had to pick up too.

At the grocery store I mostly picked up some dumplings and wontons (they have these frozen ones that you steam and they come out DELICIOUS and taste JUST LIKE RESTAURANT GYOUZA/WONTONS ASDGH! X3), canned cat food for Tri and fresh cranberries for making home made cranberry sauce. ♥ I also actually found some eye-of-round steaks that were 90% fat free. Finding steaks with a low enough fat content that I'm willing to eat them is rare, and they were ON SALE OMG so I got a pack of two. :3 I might cook one tomorrow night!

And since Lee was driving and I wouldn't have to actually try hauling them home, I got another set of shelves at Walmart to complete my movie wall in the living room. 8D I spent an hour tonight putting them together and reorganizing everything and now they look awesome and I looooove it. X3!! Haha, I have room next to them for a small cabinet too, so I might pick one up at some point. Right now I have a stand there that I built out of DIY cubes.

At Walmart we also stopped to have dinner at McD's, and ran into Sarah and her fiancé, so we sat with them while we ate and had a nice conversation. The more time I spend with Arthur the more I like him... he has a very grounding effect on Sarah, and her complete bullshit has gone down a lot since she ended up with him. Just for that I approve of him, though he's also a really nice guy. :)

Oh, and this afternoon (before we ran into them) I got a message from Sarah about the wedding; her mother found out I was doing the bridal jewelry and wanted to know if I could design a piece for her as well, to match a set of earrings she wants to wear. I told Sarah I could probably manage it, but I couldn't say for sure either way until I had a look at the earrings. Basically, her Mom wants a large snowflake broach, which I think I can manage. I even have a basic idea in my head using fire-polished crackle beads and swarovski crystals, but like I said I won't know 100% until I see what I'm trying to match. And Sarah's Mom is like rich, so she's offered to "generously compensate" me for doing the project. I LOVE MONEYS. \o/

What else...

Well, yesterday I was out and about and picking up a few things. I needed rats for Aya-- my baby has graduated from fuzzies to pups!-- and a couple of other items.

I got some cookie cutters from Mariposa Market, as well as a bottle of sparkling cider to take to the Christmas get together in like a month and a half. I'm way the hell ahead of myself. xD;; And while I was there I taste-tested some eggnog-fudge which was just ahguisldfghuiadfgarngvu *DROOL* *A* I am so getting some of it to take to the get together as well. :3

And while I was out I got Lee a gift card to the music equipment store downtown, since his birthday is Friday. ♥

Anyhoo! I started working on some new recipes for dog and kitty treats for Christmas presents, and right now I'm in the middle of a decent maple-and-brown-sugar one. Just a little tiny bit of sugar and mostly maple extract for flavouring. They're pretty tasty. I still want to do one more, I think maybe liver flavour and bacon bits for "sprinkles". We'll see.

Oh, and today other than Squall arriving I also got the books I ordered the other day; two of them are for Dad for Christmas (Dragongirl by Todd McCaffrey and Legends of Shannara: Bearers of the Black Staff by Terry Brooks) and the other one was a discount book I stumbled upon, Beyond The Body Farm by Dr. Bill Bass & Jon Jefferson. It's by the same people who did Death's Acre, which is one of my favourite anthropology/criminology books of all time. Which I lent to C.A. way the hell back in 2004 and still haven't gotten back from her. *facepalm* She's horrible about remembering stuff like that. I might just break down and buy another copy and let her keep the first one lol. So I'm really looking forward to reading the new one~!

I also got a little package from Maddie and Chloe today! Or, rather, from "Rufus and Reno Shinra"! To "Roxas". I LOLED SO HARD WHEN I SAW THAT. It was epically awesome. ILU GUYS, DID YOU KNOW THAT? It had a couple of buttons and some cute stickers in it. And caramels! And a pretty glass star pendant which I put on right away and am still wearing now. =3 Hehe.

And I guess the only other thing is the cats.

First; 'Dion scared the SHIT out of me today. This morning he was sleeping under the desk in the back room, which he does all the time because it's right in front of the baseboard heater. I went to sit down to check something on the computer, and reached down to move him... and he kind of flopped around and looked at me like he was half out of it, but not in a sleepy!kitty sort of way. His fur was also puffed up, which cats tend to do if they're not feeling well. This concerned me, and I took him back to the living room and laid down to cuddle up with him some-- which was when I noticed he was shivering. Not in an "I'm cold" kind of way, but in an "I'm in pain" kind of way. I cuddled him close and fretted over him and tried really hard not to panic while I decided if I should rush him to the vet or not.

Finally, he fell asleep and so did I. A couple hours later when I woke up he wasn't there, and when I went looking for him I found him playing and looking as if nothing was wrong. I don't know what the problem was, but DAMN, 'DION. PLEASE DON'T PULL THAT KIND OF STUFF. YOU NEARLY SCARED YOUR MOM TO DEATH. D8

I'm going to keep an eye on him for the next couple of days, just in case. But now he's acting completely fine, so...

Second; Got a call from the Barrie SPCA today, finally! Way back when I first brought Tia home, I called them and got on the wait list for having her spayed and Juna neutered. They were still too young at the time, but the wait list was about four months long so by the time they got around to me they'd be the right age. Sounded like a plan to me!

So on Friday I'm taking Juna and Tia to Barrie to be fixed, for $50 per cat. Let me say that again; $50 PER CAT. Instead of the $350/cat it would cost me to take them to the vet in town and have it done. They also say they can give them all their vaccines and etc. at the same time. I AM HAPPY WITH THIS PLAN AND THE COST INVOLVED. ^___^

I couldn't book 'Dion at the same time since he's still too young, but tomorrow I can call and get him on the wait list and in a few months when they get to me again he'll be old enough.

I'm really, really hoping that having Juna neutered will calm Neko down a bit; Neko is NOT Juna's biggest fan right now and keeps kissing and spitting and snarling at him, which I keep trying to dissuade of course, but it's not working. Neko seems to think that Juna is vying for Top Cat in the pride, which Juna really isn't. He just avoids Neko and defers to him, acts submissive, but Neko doesn't take that for what it is and beats the hell out of him whenever they cross paths. Luckily no real injuries have happened, just one or two tiny scratches and a lot of flying fur. Still. Hopefully once Juna is neutered things will settle down...

And now I think I'm done rambling. For now. And I have the munchies. So Imma go find something to eat. OMNOMNOM and all that.

*salute*

Current Mood: hungry
Current Music: N/A: "Urban Legends: Final Cut" on DVD.

Been puttering around this place the last couple of days. Doing organizing and tidying and whatnot.

I've also been baking, though. I decided to try my hand at making animal treats! 8D

The first batch I did were cat treats and I used chicken boullion to flavour them. But they came out kind of tasteless and really salty so the cats wouldn't even eat them. So I trashed that batch and started over with tuna flavour instead, and that batch came out great! All my cats loved them, and I gave some to Mom and Lee for Jessie, and she gobbled them up too. ♥ SUCCESS!

The next ones I made were doggie biscuits; peanut butter flavoured (I used fake PB though, obviously, since real PB kills me. Dead.) with banana flavoured yogurt icing and a few sprinkles to make them pretty. THOSE ones actually came out really good right from the start, and to be honest I rather liked them myself. A touch of sugar to the biscuit dough and they'd be really yummy as people-cookies. XD

Since I don't have a dog to test the doggy treats, I took the first batch over to Mom and Lee's place for Possum. He ADORED them, but I don't think I trust his opinion, as he once ate a slice of onion that was coated in mustard and then begged for more. *eyeroll* So I need to expand my test group. HEY, ANYONE ON MY FLIST HAVE DOGS AND WANT SOME FREE HOUSE OF YUM DOG TREAT SAMPLES? I just need to know how they go over so I can adjust the recipe if needed...

And then today I did a test of biscuit treats for the rabbits (and rats, and really any small animal), with grated apple, pureed peach, honey and cinnamon. And lmao they're really tasty too. I always taste-test the stuff I make (even the tuna cat treats and whatnot) but I didn't expect to like the animal treats so much. xD;;

Recipe testing aside, tonight I invited Mom and Lee over for dinner!

I haven't had anyone over for dinner since I moved here (over a year ago now), because the place was so cluttered and looked really disorganized. But the last month or so I've rearranged and changed my furniture, gotten more shelves and etc., so now I feel comfortable having people over. It's still a small apartment, still crowded, but at least it looks more organized, and the way I have the furniture now opens the place up a LOT.

I'll actually take photos to share finally, I think. :D

Anyway, I made turkey meatloaf (with sage, onion, celery, garlic and thyme; it turned out soooo good! It tasted like Thanksgiving!), steamed asparagus and rice. Then I also made a fruit crisp with apples, peaches, blackberries, walnuts, almonds and coconut for dessert. SO YUMMY.

So Mom and Lee were over for a couple of hours, and then headed home. Then about an hour after they left I got a knock on my door and when I answered, there was my brother, face pressed against the screen door and soaking wet from walking in the rain. XD;;

Today was his D&D day, and he walked one of his friends home, and since his friend lives about five blocks away from me he decided to stop by. So he came in and we ended up chatting for two-and-a-half hours. X3 I was so happy! My brother and I used to hate each other when we were younger, but about the time I turned 19 we started to get along. Now we're really good friends (mostly, we still squabble from time to time, of course) so I like spending time with him. And I don't get much quality time with him because of conflicting schedules and whatnot, so it was really nice. ^^

He left around 11:30pm, at which point I had to actually get working on garbage and recycling since tomorrow is pick-up day for my street. Fun stuff.

Then when I was done and checked my email, Dad had sent me one telling me that apparently there's a 3rd Lake Placid movie, so I checked online and found somewhere to watch it. AND IT'S ACTUALLY LIKE 200% BETTER THAN LAKE PLACID 2, SOMEHOW. Not as good as the first one, but I'm really enjoying it. I'll have to pick up a copy to bring down to Otakon with me next year, as it's been decided that 2011 is going to be Year Of The Croc/Alligator for Movies Sena Brings To The US With Her. 8D

Hmm, and other than all that...

Oh, got everything completely squared away with MDG, so this time next week Squall will be shipped off, which means he should get to me by next Friday at the latest. I'M SO EXCITED! FANCY LAPTOP IS FANCY!!

And did I mention it's officially set that I'm designing Sarah's wedding jewelry and doing all of the wedding photography? WELL IT IS. I HAVE MY FIRST ACTUAL PHOTOGRAPHY JOB ASDGH;KL!! Granted, I'm not charging her for it (I can't afford a wedding gift, so I'm doing the jewelry/photography pro-bono), but it can all go into my portfolio, so YAY! X33!!

That's about it for now. Ah, except I think on Friday I might drag Mom to Aji Sushi for lunch. I'll have to order for her since she won't know what anything is, but I want to show her that just because it has "Sushi" in the name doesn't mean everything is raw fish. I know she'll like the place once she tries it. ♥

Also? If the two freaking houseflies that are buzzing around here don't piss off soon, I might just go on a homicidal rampage. Just saying.

Other than that, today has been a really, really good day. :)

Sena out.

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: N/A: "Lake placid 3" on the laptop.

Yesterday and the day before were really hectic. About a week ago, the neighbours across the street were getting rid of a pull-out couch, and since I'd been keeping an eye out for one ever since I moved here, I took it off their hands. But it was heavy as hell, so I couldn't get it up my steps. It spent several days in the driveway, covered in a tarp I borrowed from Mom and Lee.

Without my even asking though, M from downstairs offered to have a couple of his buddies come by and the three/four of them would do some moving of furniture for me; I was getting rid of my old couch and moving the new one in, and also getting rid of the futon from the back room.

The neighbours from downstairs that are jackasses are K and R, and they said they'd take the couch. And M, who is currently crashing at K and R's place until the end of the month, said he would gladly take the futon since he needs a couch AND a bed for his new place. This all works out perfectly for me since it means I don't have to figure out a way to haul them off to the dump or whatever. :P

So, as all the people who were supposed to help are relatively poor, I went out and bought some beer, and on the day everything was supposed to happen I got up early to put together a huge stew for lunch for everyone. It was nice to cook like that again, I haven't gotten to do it in forever. ♥

But.

Two days ago I had everything in here ready, and M was up and about... and no one else bothered to show up. -.-;; So after waiting around for a couple hours, he went out to find another of his friends and they moved the futon out. At least that way I could move everything into the back room and out of the way for the rest of the moving.

But still no one else showed up, so the couches couldn't be done. Finally we re-covered the new one with the tarp again, and I called my brother to ask if he could come down the next day (yesterday) to help out and get it all done and over with. And because he's awesome, he agreed. <3

Long story short, lots of hefting and lugging and cursing later, everything got moved out and in. I gave the beer to M and told him as far as I was concerned, it was all his since no one else bothered to help out (the friend who moved the futon got one though.) He also got as much of the stew and as many biscuits as he wanted.

He was happy about the beer, but the food went over even better; M's situation isn't good right now. He has little to no money and half the time he can't afford food. He goes to missions and churches when he can, but some days he just goes hungry.

M is such a ridiculously nice guy, so friendly and helpful and very quickly ending up like an uncle to me, the idea of him not having food because K and R can't be bothered sharing a box of KD with him really bothers me. So I offered that on the odd days when he just can't find anything to eat he could come and knock on my door and I would find him something.

I can't afford to feed him every day or anything, but once or twice a week should be doable. He was SO appreciative of it, and I'm really glad to help him out. He's just one of those great salt-of-the-earth people. Despite how much I dislike the people he's staying with, I'm more than happy to have him around. :)

Anyhoo, so today I finished organizing the living room, which has WAY more space now (I can fit a TON more shelves in!! ...now if only I could afford them. xD;;) and started on the back room as well. Eventually I'll have eight more small sets of shelves and one huge set that'll fit in here. STORAGE BABY, STORAGE!

I'm really glad I got the new couch and everything. It's awesomesauce. X3

Current Mood: calm
Current Music: N/A: "Alien VS Predator" on the TV/DVD player.

Um, yeah. So much for updating every day or two. *facepalm*

Whatever.

I had to take Juna to the vet a couple weeks ago for an infection in his paw. He was roughhousing with Tri (probably) and ended up with a scratch on his paw. It wasn't a big deal so I didn't worry about it... but then it got really, really badly infected. ~_~;; So he had a course of antibiotics and now everything's kosher again.

Went to Anime North the end of May. Only for a few hours on Saturday, but it was still fun. I was really happy to be able to go and not have to bring my cane with me. By the time Mel, Bonnie and I headed to the restaurant for dinner my knee was completely locked up though. XD;; Sitting while we ate dealt with it, though, so everything was fine. (I'm bringing my cane with me to Otakon/Matsuricon anyway just in case.)

While I was there I got a fuckton of buttons to make into more fridge magnets (as usual), a couple of bookmarks, a print for Kiin-bb, a Heartless plushie and a hilarious Yoda plush for Dad since it was his birthday that weekend. ♥ I also got some onigiri, since the restaurant we ate dinner at was selling them~ tuna onigiri yum~!

Unfortunately now Mel is off to Japan, so that was the last I'll see her for a while. I'm hoping to be able to visit her there for a little while, but I won't know for sure if I can afford it until after Otakon/Matsuricon. *fingers crossed*

Anyway, back to the cane thing for a second... sort of. The reason I can go without my cane most of the time now is because of how much weight I've lost so far. SIXTY POUNDS ASDGH;KL. I'm only about halfway there at this point, but I'm SO happy with things so far. I can do all these things I couldn't before, plus the other day I actually bought a pair of SIZE 16 JEANS. I know that doesn't sound all that great, but I haven't been in size 16 in YEARS. >>; So~ ♥

Right.

So a couple days ago the rest of my tax rebate came in. I got about $7,000, which sounds like a lot but I had to pay Mom back $1,500 right off the bat, plus $300 to Grandma, $200 to Dad and $100 to my brother. Plus I have to set aside enough for Otakon/etc. and for getting Juna neutered in September. Still, I had about $4,000 left, so I've picked up a rug for the living room and on Wednesday I'm getting a cabinet/pantry for the kitchen so that I can organize my jams/jellies/etc.

I also got a few cheap movies and books, and some jewelry display pieces for using at the cons.

And today I finally got to get my snake! I've been researching them for years and wanted one forever and now I finally have one! His name is Ayame (after the Furuba character lol) and he's a Ball Python. I'll have lots of pics to share in a couple days, but for now I'm just letting him chill and settle into his new terrarium. I can't wait to show him off, though, Aya's so pretty! :3

I was originally going to wait until after I got Juna neutered to get Aya, but when I went in today to price terrarium kits they didn't have the small one so they offered me the large one for the same price as the small. It's $150 savings on the large kit, plus it means I don't have to upgrade when Aya gets bigger (the small terrarium only fits smaller snakes) so he can live in it his whole life. The deal was too good to pass up, especially since I was going to spend the money anyway. So I ended up with my first scale-baby a couple months early. xD;;

Apparently ball pythons live 20-30 years in captivity. .__.; /random

This morning I also went down to the Farmer's Market and ended up buying strawberries and cherries. So this afternoon I used half the strawberries and most of the cherries to make some Strawberry-Cherry Jam. It's sooooo yummy. Too bad cherries are so expensive, so I can't use them in more recipes...

Anyhoo, a lot of the rest of the money is just going to be squirreled away in case of emergencies or whatever.

Note for Steph and Lome: I haven't mailed your packages yet but I should be able to on Tuesday/Wednesday this week. Finally. XD ♥

Finally, a video I found the other day. I'm sharing it because it was so sad and the song completely broke my heart. It's one of the worst stories of animal cruelty that I've ever heard, and it especially touched me because the puppy was a Pom, and I know firsthand how sweet and loving they are. But please don't click if you don't want to cry.

RIP Tobey.

EDIT: Oh. Does anyone want a DVD? I accidentally ended up with two copies of The Uninvited and obviously don't need them both lol. It's Region 1 format. Free to a good home! ♥

Current Mood: cheerful
Current Music: Maria Danes ~ "Tobey's Story"

Currently watching the original The Crazies, the one from 1973. I watched the new one a couple months back, I figure I should see the original one at least once. Anyway~

I actually talked with C.A. on the phone today, and we made plans for Thursday. She's going to get a ride into town (she lives outside of town) around lunch time and hang here for the afternoon. And we're going to go to the new sushi place downtown and check it out for dinner. ♥ I'm super excited, since I only saw her for five minutes when she was here at Christmas. X3

Aaaand tonight I tried cooking spaghetti again, but it was a no-go the same as the last two times. I can eat every other kind of pasta, why do I always hurl when I have spaghetti? MAKES NO SENSE. So after an unpleasant experience where I had an intimate meeting with the toilet, I waited a bit and then just ordered pizza. >>;

DELICIOUS, DELICIOUS PIZZA. THAT DOESN'T MAKE ME THROW UP. FUCK YEAH.

Then I cleaned out all the cages and litter boxes, since tonight is garbage night. Now all the bunnies are out to play; the girls are in the kitchen and the boys are in there living room here with me generally being adorable and underfoot.

lol this is the first time Juna has seen them outside of their cages, and he keeps following them around and going .___. in their general direction. ♥

Current Mood: calm

I am so totally in love with Z. SO MUCH better than my desktop. <333 The only problem is that because Z is a mini laptop, he doesn't have a disc drive. ~_~; Does anyone know if it's possible to get a USB disc drive that I could use? I'll have to look into that. Also need another external hard drive, maybe I'll ask for one for Christmas or my birthday.

Finished a Christmas pony for the bazaar next weekend. She's so pretty and I kind of want to keep her. XD; Anyway, pictures at some point. Her name is Sapphire Snowflake.

Watching reruns of Jurassic Fight Club on the computer. I love this show so freaking much. I'm such a dinosaur geek, honestly. I should be embarrassed, but somehow... I'm not. XD lol. MAHJUNGATHOLUS OMG. \o/

Right, so other than that, my oven is still out of commission. Ugh. Also, the window in the back room is cracked all to hell. There was a little crack in it when I moved in, and then the other day it was really nice out so I opened it-- and the crack spread all the way across it. It's barely holding into the frame now and it needs to be replaced ASAP before we get snow.

So I contacted the landlord and he's coming up this weekend anyway, so he says he'll have a look. I know the oven is a wiring problem, so idk what he'll be able to do. At least the stove stop still works, so I've been able to do all my jams and stuff.

Speaking of which, making pumpkin spread and it smells SO GOOD. I wish I had some vanilla ice cream around, it would taste amazing with the pumpkin stuff on it. X3

Current Mood: calm
Current Music: N/A: Jurassic Fight Club on the laptop.

Still doing fine with Z, but the smaller keyboard on the laptop is so completely different it's taking a lot of getting used to. Also, I don't like the touch pad, but then I never have liked them. Which is why I have a mouse to plug into Z when I'm at home, though when I'm out and about with him I guess I'll just deal with the touch pad. Like now at Mom's for instance. :D

DLed all my photos from my camera today (now I need to charge it) so that I can start adding things to my Esprit Studios etsy account. Then I logged in and started to do just that... only to be told by etsy that my photos are too big. ~_~; But screw it, I'll deal with resizing them when I get home and have the mouse.

Lately I've been working on things to sell at the bazaar Grandma got me a table at. Mostly jams and jellies right now, but also a few more bits of jewelery and I'm doing two Christmas ponies to take with me to sell and as examples, since it's a Christmas bazaar and all that.

Anyway, so far I've made crab apple jelly, lemon-honey jelly, strawberry-rhubarb jam, rhubarb jam, almond-brown-sugar applesauce, pumpkin sauce, and watermelon jelly. As usual I'm having trouble getting things to set, but whatever.

After the bazaar anything that hasn't sold will be going up at my House of Yum etsy account, along with various cookies and candies. Please, once I get the shop up, anyone who's had my jams/jellies/cookies/misc baking and etc. please spread the word. Between Esprit Studios and House of Yum I'm trying to get myself set up to make enough extra cash each month to keep the bills paid. It doesn't have to be much, about $200 would cover that. But any good word of mouth would be helpful and appreciated. <3

I took Loki to the vet a couple weeks ago because of his allergies again. This time he had been chewing on his feet, and itching at his chest and abdomen until all the hair was coming off, as well as scratching his face up still. -_-;

Same thing is usual, and three years of trying to find a treatment that, you know, WORKS. But this time we got to the vet and saw a new woman (Dr Wilson, I think?) and she actually suggested some things that none of the others had mentioned before even in all the times I'd had him in there (and all the money I've spent.)

She thinks there's a possibility that it could be an immune disorder rather than allergies, which would require different treatment, obviously. But while we're seeing about applying for funding to get the tests done (because I can't afford it on my own), she did suggest an allergy med that we could pick up from the pharmacy.

So we got a bottle of these pills, and he's been taking a half pill twice a day for just over two weeks now... and it's working fucking MIRACLES! His face is 90% healed up and he hasn't been itching at his chest and stomach almost at all. If this keeps up, we might have actually got it figured out finally. And the kicker is, the pills cost $10 a bottle, which covers three months worth of pills for Loki. All that money spent and I could have just gone to the pharmacy and spent $10 instead. Man.

But still, glad to see him feeling so much better. :)

Right now I'm at Mom's to do laundry and print off some things since my own printer is pretty much dead. I'm also watching my brother play Twilight Princess. Ahh, Zelda, ILU. <3

Random recent observation: Last weeks SPN episode? C-CRACKY EP WAS CRACKY. .__.;;

Oh, and before I forget. Cat McD! Were you still interested in those ponies we talked about a while back? Let me know. <3

Current Mood: hungry

STIRFRYYYYYYYYYY~ *_*

After two weeks of instant foods (or next thing to it), stirfry tonight was ASDGH SO DELICIOUS. ♥♥♥

Current Mood: full

A semi-decent update for those of you on my flist that are wondering how I'm doing aside from ZOMG eel creatures and OMG lampwork heart pendants.

Mom's surgery is coming up on the 25th, and it really kind of snuck up on me. The whole family is really stressed and worried right now, and Mom is making herself sick with being afraid that when they go in to do the hysterectomy they'll find something more than the tests have shown so far. I know we should all be trying to keep an optimistic outlook, but it's proving to be hard, especially since Grandpa just died of cancer three years ago. The whole thing is keeping me up at night a lot, and I won't feel any better about it until after the operation when the surgeon comes and tells us everything is fine.

I moved a couple weeks ago as well; to a little apartment downtown. It's not much (I'll post pictures once it's more organized), and pretty small, but it's mine, and I love that about it. Besides which, for one person (and cats/rabbits), it's a fine size. The only problem is that I have too much stuff. >>; It's been a nightmare trying to figure out how to fit everything in, and that's even after two vanloads of stuff having been taken to the goodwill.

When I first was moving in, the place was a mess. The kitchen still needs to have a really good cleaning with bleach, but other than that it's tidy enough I can put up with it until everything's unpacked and settled. The bathroom was DISGUSTING. I should have taken some photos to show you the before and after. Grandma actually came down on the day I moved, and rather than helping with the move itself, just locked herself up in the bathroom and scrubbed the shit out of it for HOURS. It's still terribly stained, but not actually dirty anymore. I don't think the previous tenants cleaned the bathroom once in the entire time they lived here. -__-;; Ugh.

Right as I'm typing this, the girly bunnies are in the kitchen having playtime. Unfortunately, until I got the kitchen organized enough that they couldn't get into things they shouldn't, they couldn't have time out to exercise-- it's been about three weeks since they were last out of their cage. I feel guilty, but there wasn't much I could do, since the kitchen is the only place here I can let them out at all. Now I can though, so we can get back into the regular routine of daily romps.

In November, I've got a table to sell things at the Christmas bazaar in Bracebridge. So I'm selling some jewelry there, as well as some jams and jellies. Grandma brought me six freaking baskets of crab apples when she came down, so I'll have TONS of crab apple jelly. (If anyone wants some, let me know and I'll set aside a jar of it for you.) It'll be the first time I've actually sold something I've cooked/baked so I'm really kind of nervous about it. Hopefully it'll go well.

Also, some time in the next couple days I'll be posting a massive sales post; due to space issues and the fact that I'm in desperate need of money, I've decided to sell off most of my extensive Sailormoon collection. I have a few really rare items, so fingers crossed. Also, if you know anyone who might like to commission a pony or something from me, please point them in my direction.

...because of everything that's been going on, I haven't been online much. Most of my time has been designated to doctor's visits and the move/unpacking. Honestly, I'm starting to get really weary of it, and I'm feeling... downtrodden. Just sad and gloomy. I miss being on AIM and talking to people, and blogging about nothing. But until the end of the month I just won't have the time.

EDIT: Maddie needs monies too, so go check out her etsy shop:

EDIT #2: I'm watching The Evil Dead II right now while I'm organizing things, and the girl's head just bit the guy on the hand, and he's flailing and screaming and smashing said severed head against walls and books and desks and whatnot, and I am LAUGHING MY ASS OFF. XDD;;;

It starts here, at about nine minutes in:

...and continues on here. xD;;

Current Mood: tired

HOLY SHIT ONLY ONE MORE DAY UNTIL WE LEAVE FOR ANIME NORTH. I STILL HAVE SO MUCH TO DO. ;A; *FLAIL*

I have about 20 ponies to try to sell from the hotel, plus a ton and a half of jewelry. I'm really hoping everything goes alright and I get enough money to pay for Otakon. ~~PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE WORK OUT~~. Since we're paying for a hotel room this year instead of crashing at Dad's place, there's no budget for food, so today I have to make all the sammiches and salads and stuff that we're bringing with us in the cooler. Also onigiri, but just for me since Mom won't eat them. xD; Maybe I'll bring extra to share with other people though.

Then I have to double-check that I've got all my cosplay stuff, pony supplies, and jewelry supplies packed. (Mom and I are stopping for more beads on the way out of town on Thursday.)

At the hotel on Thursday night I have to finish sewing my leg covers for Haine cosplay (note to self: pack a freaking needle and thread!), and add some length to the elastic of my eyepatch for Lavi because it's a teeny bit too small. Plus I have to style my Haine and Lavi wigs. At least my Demyx one is finished and spiffy ~~because I wasn't the one who styled it XD;;~~, and the Haine one just needs the bangs fixed and some pulled back in a bow. Lavi is the one I'm not sure about, but I think since I'm doing casual!outfit Lavi I might go with the flatter hairstyle.

Mel and Kaz: If you need to get ahold of me at the con, text me instead of calling, since I have unlimited texting but I'm almost out of minutes on my phone. DX Or drop by Crafter's Corner. I hopefully will have presents for you both, assuming I get them finished in the next 24 hours. >.>;; *fingers crossed*

After the con on Sunday, we're going to stop by and visit Dad and Lois for a couple hours, so I can show them my Demyx or Lavi cosplay (Haine is for Saturday, but I haven't decided on Friday or Sunday for the other two) and play with the puppehs some. I'm considering taking Tetsuya and Nazoko with me just to take pretty pics of them around the kennel property, since it's gorgeous there. Plus it would be an excuse to take pics of Nazoko, since I haven't had the chance to do a proper photo shoot with her yet...

Cosplay Schedule Assuming Everything Works Out:
Friday: Org13!Demyx (KH) or casual!Lavi (D.G-M)
Saturday: Haine (TGAC)
Saturday Night: Suigintou (RM) or Haine (TGAC)
Sunday: Org13!Demyx (KH) or casual!Lavi (D.G-M)

Current Mood: rushed
Current Music: N/A: "Shaun of the Dead" on the TV/DVD Player~

Loki's nail caps came in today. I was all excited when I saw the package, and as soon as Mom got home I got her to hold him so I could put them on (it ended up taking both her and Lee to hold Loki down, he flailed a lot and it turns out he's super strong. XD;;) Anyway, he immediately chewed two off, which I replaced about an hour later, and then right after that he pulled another one off. UGH.

I'm hoping he gets used to them. But I was worried they would be a problem, especially considering when he grooms his feet he chews his nails; I've never seen a cat do that other than him, and normally it's not an issue, but obviously it could be with him wearing the nail covers. *sigh*

Anyway, I guess we'll see. For now he's still missing one nail cap (I'll replace it and any he chews off tonight at some point tomorrow), and still wearing the cone collar in an attempt to help him get used to them by making it a little harder for him to destroy them. If these caps don't work, I'll have to go back to the plan where I have his back claws removed. >.<;;

I cooked dinner tonight, coca-cola chicken, rice and beans. Yummy.

And I dug through my cosplay stuff to organize it some (so I'm not doing it at the very last minute for AN), and I can't find my chain for casual!Demyx. :| I have no idea where it's gotten to. I might have to make another one. Not that it was hard to make lawl. I haven't lost anything else though, thankfully.

I want a fedora for Kadaj for pics with Pronnie in the summer at Otakon, but idk where to get one. xD; And I need to make sure it doesn't clash with the shirt I have for yakuza!Kadaj too. I wish I could have Souba to take with me for those pics too, since he uses that as opposed to firearms. But even if I could make one, I so don't want to try taking it on the plane to Baltimore. >>;; ~~I'm also bringing green ribbons for pics with Pronnie's Haruhi cosplay because LOL.~~

You can tell con season is coming up, half my journal nowadays is about cosplay. :D;

I need a studded belt. /random. I mean. >>; I have one, but the buckle is all flowers and stuff, so it doesn't go with the male cosplays I want to do. XD;; My red one is awesome too, but it has hearts in it... which I guess would work for some KH stuff, actually, now that I think about it. ._.;

Anyhoo~

Current Mood: calm

I made fall squash soup today. Pumpkin/potatoes/pears/onion in it, and Gouda cheese as a topping. It was really different from what I normally make, but turned out good. The whole family is in love with Gouda now, which sucks because it's really really expensive. :P

The other day, I found out that the used book store at the corner sells manga for $5 each. I may be in trouble lol. I got 1-6 of After School Nightmare, because I'd heard about it a while back and it sounded interesting.

Also, yesterday I went out with Mom and got my belated-birthday present, a new digital camera. It's tiny and black and I generally adore it. It takes really nice photos. Mom also got me a memory card for it, so it can hold something like 600 pictures all together now.

Dad was supposed to come up tomorrow morning for Christmas with us, but he's been called in to work on his day off again. No idea when he's actually going to make it up. This is the third time he's told us he's coming and then had to cancel. It sucks.

EDIT: And I mailed half of my Christmas packages the other day. The second half are going to be mailed next week, since Mom and I couldn't carry them all. >>;

Current Mood: blah

Riku. ♥

Also, Chicken Cacciatore from a couple days ago. It turned out SO GOOD. =w=

Current Mood: OMG ALLERGIES ;A;

When I moved back here I told Mom that I would cook and things like that to try to make up for having to be here. ~~I feel so rediculously guilty about staying here, I'm way too old to be burdening my parents like this.~~

Anyway, since I moved out originally, I've really gotten into food from different cultures and things like that, so I told Mom and Lee that I don't intend to just cook things like meatloaf and spaghetti all the time, which is the kind of base, super easy, boring stuff that they live off of. I mean, I have made coke chicken, and a beef stew, and a pork roast as well, but you know. ♥

I've made a couple of Mexican dishes for them now, and a Japanese one, and then last night I made red curry for them to try. XD; It was... interesting, lawl. The peppers in it made Lee's throat burn, and the cloves did Mom in, but they both really liked it. So next time Imma cut down on the peppers and cloves, and add some pineapple (which doesn't normally go in red curry, but it still tastes yummy, so~)

Tonight I'm making chicken cacciatore. OMGOMNOMNOM. And I need to get some more ingredients, but I plan to make some Hungarian goulash and Mexican meatloaf at some point next week. Also, need to go through my recipes and produce a couple good fish bake onces as well, because Mom insists she doesn't like fish, but I'm sure I can convince her otherwise with some good swordfish or catfish dishes. Especially since she's never even had fish in 20 years. >3 *determined!*

I'm having epic amounts of fun cooking for more than just myself again.

Current Mood: plotting

Today was a really, really long day. With a ton and a half of driving. Plus, I was up super early this morning. ><;

Mom and I went up to Grandma's first thing this morning to take her to some apointments and to do some grocery shopping. We also brought her some cookies and stuff. She's doing much better right now than she was this time last month. She's feeling well enough that she's joking around some again, instead of being constantly subdued and depressed. It's a relief because I was really worried about her. Still am, but at least I know she's on the road to recovery.

After we were done doing everything with Grandma, Mom and I came home. The roads today weren't super great because of the snow and everything. There were quite a few cars in the ditches on the way up there and back as well.

Anyway, about an hour after we got home we had to go out again to go to the dentist, as I had an appointment at 3:30 and then she had one at 4:15, so we were there for over an hour and a half in total. Pretty boring, really. I had a cavity filled, so now my jaw hurts. -__-;

Once we were finished at the dentist we went to the health food place to buy fake peanut butter for me to bake with (as actual peanut butter, you know, KILLS ME), and then to the bulk food store for a whole bunch of misc. baking supplies, as well as rabbit food. Tonight I'm not doing any baking (screw it, I'm tired and need a break XD;) but tomorrow I'll start up again with the next three batches of lemon cheesecake cookies, and the (faux) peanut butter danties, and possibly the coconut macaroons.

Then on top of all that, I made soup for dinner. But that wasn't hard because I just made minestrone. XD; It mostly comes from cans (kidney beans, lentils, tomatoes, etc.) and only takes about 20 minutes to put together and cook, lol. We also had garlic bread. :3

Oh! And today I got a package in the mail, with some DVDs I bought for my brother and Mom for Christmas, as well as season 4 of House and the first two seasons of Dexter that I nabbed when Columbia House had them on sale for like $17 each. There's still one Columbia House package to go with the stuff that Mom ordered through my account, and three things I got off ebay (a video game for my brother, two bobbleheads for my Dad, and my Haruhi figure.)

I also need money for buying the last of what I want to pick up for Mom, and for Dad, and for shipping freaking packages, but I have NONE DAMMIT. NONE. I'm so pissed off, all my packages are going to be late, and so is most of Dad's present, and probably half of Mom's as well, and I can't do anything about it until my freaking credit card comes in. ><;;

So if you're getting a package from me for Christmas, I'm really sorry but it's going to be late. D:

Current Mood: frustrated

I wasn't feeling well most of the day yesterday, so I pretty much slept all day. I was up for a couple hours in the evening though, long enough to do an AIM long with Maddie, Reppy, Katie and Cassandra-san. ♥ It was drama-rific. xD;

The only thing I ate yesterday was a bagel. Still not hungry, but I made some vegetarian lasagna anyway because I know I need to eat. Also, out of boredom, I put together a stew to cook in the slow cooker for tonight. The bunnies got lots of veggie trimmings.

Tonight I'm probably going to get baking again. I still have shortbread to do, plus other cookies and stuff as well.

Been up since 4 this morning. After sleeping all day yesterday I guess it makes sense. I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep, so I'm puttering around, watching movies and rping and stuff to kill time. Today is vampire and werewolf movies. 30 Days of Night, Skinwalkers and right now The Forsaken. Fun stuff.

Yesterday morning the red wig I ordered for Lavi cosplay at AN (and possibly/probably Otakon) came in. It's the perfect colour, but longer than it needs to be, so I have to trim it, and then style it so it sticks up where it's supposed to. In January I'm ordering a pair of boots for Lavi and Org13 Demyx; I'm going to use them for both cosplays, and just add the white to them for Lavi with tape or something. Yay cosplay. ♥

Along with some stuff I ordered for people for Christmas, I also have a few things coming in that are just for me because I wanted them and happen to have some extra money this month. >.> A copy of the movie Werewolf Samurai because I just couldn't pass it up. WEREWOLF. SAMURAI. FUCK YEAH. Also a Suzumiya Haruhi figma figure (that I think is in scale with my Kadaj figure so I'm tempted to take lulzy pics of them for Pronnie), and a playarts Axel figure from the third formation arts set.

My next accuisitions will be the Axel figure to go with my Roxas one, and Reno from Advent Children. :3 Then a bunch of other ones because there's like fifty KH/FF/misc figures that I want.

Oh, and completely random, but I asked for Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories for Christmas. DO WANT. Also, Tales of the Abyss, which I can't find anywhere dammit.

EDIT: My formation arts Axel just came in. :D He's on the shelf next to Agito now. ♥

EDIT #2: ...I just fell down the last half of the stairs. I bent one toe backward until it popped out of joint. Luckily, it popped back in on it's own when I flexed my foot. But fuck, that hurt. I hate it when I dislocate joints. ><; ~~Before you ask, yes, it's a relatively common occurrance. >>;;~~

Current Mood: calm

Yesterday when we went out grocery shopping, Mom and I went to Walmart, where I found more candy canes in fun flavours. X3 I got apple-raspberry, cherry, chocolate-mint and maple. MAPLE CANDEH CANES LMAO. I bought a bunch to send to people with cards and stuff for Christmas. >3

Today I cooked a huge turkey dinner; turkey, stuffing, potatoes, turnip, carrots and creamed peas. Also gravy and cranberry sauce, and then cherry pie and pumpkin pie for dessert. OMG so yummy. But also tons of work. Plus then Mom and I did dishes afterward, and for like three hours today we were out at the mall doing Christmas shopping.

At the mall we found a 365 desk calendar of dragons for my brother, and I found a DVD of Robin Hood: Men In Tights that I made grabby hands at, so Mom got it for me for a stocking stuffer gift. :3 Then at the bookstore I bought myself volume 21 of Fruits Basket, volume 4 of D.Gray-Man and the first volume of The Gentleman's Alliance, as well as Twilight because despite all the wank and stuff I can't help being curious. >>;

Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow for all you USA people! ♥

Current Mood: accomplished

Today I cooked coke-chicken, rice and cauliflower for dinner. It was nummy. Then afterward I gave one of the bones with some gristle on it to Sora, and he made the ratty equivalent of the X3 face. It was rather adorable.

Also, made cake today. Om nom nom.

Current Mood: cheerful

Alright, so in exchange for crashing here Mom made me promise to bake a cake for her. XD; Haha, aparently she's been craving cake for a while now. And I don't mind-- seriously, I was like "I can bake at your house! 8D!" Because I <3 her kitchen SO much AND they just got a new stove a couple weeks ago omg it's sex for cooking. *w*

So I just pulled the cake out of the oven (butter pecan) and it's cooling before I ice it later. Now I'm making mini-pizzas for late-lunch, and considering looking up a recipe for hermit cookies and making a batch of them as well. Gots to get all my cooking/baking in before I go back to the crap kitchen/stove at home. :P lol.

For a completely unrelated topic, when Mom dropped off her luggage for me a couple days ago, I set at test-packing everything for Otakon, and not only have I figured out a way to fit everything (including my portable sewing machine in case of wardrobe malfunctions), I'm pretty sure I'll have enough room to bring Tet-chan too! :3

BEHOLD I AM THE QUEEN OF FITTING AN UNBELIEVABLE AMOUNT OF STUFF INTO SUITCASES. >D ~~Possibly rivaled by etcetera_cat, though, I've gotten exploding England-packages from her before lawl.~~

...and now I believe I'll be going to munch mini pizzas and watch a movie. Possibly with zombies. :D

EDIT: HERMIT COOKIES OMG YEY. >w< Hehe. ♥♥

Current Mood: calm

Profile

Sena

April 2025

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30

Syndicate

Page Summary

Active Entries

1: N.D., The Return
2: Working On It
3: A Lotl Axolotl Day
4: Despondent
5: Photoblogging Day #91: Let Them Eat Cake
6: Photoblogging Day #87: Fresh Linnens
7: Photoblogging Day #61: Costco
8: Neurodivergence x2
9: Doll Profile: Holly & Willow
10: Eleven Years...

Style Credit

Base style: Line Up by timeasmymeasure
Theme: Blushed by krja

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

Page generated Apr. 23rd, 2025 04:14 pm

Stealthy and sinister on the inside.

Entries tagged with cooking

Links

Syndicate

Page Summary

Active Entries

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags