Enough running to the door already!

I am freaking out my cat, Lynx, because three times now I've gone scooting to my door to see who is there, only to find no one banging. Someone must be doing remodeling or moving or something making a sound that makes me think my door is being banged upon. From now on, I will only go and check if I hear the doorbell!

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Poor Lynn! She is most likely going to arrive in the midst of heavy thunderstorms tomorrow late afternoon. As much as she hates to fly, she hates it worse when it is storming. Oh, there's the banging again, and it's all I can do to stay in my chair........I'm like a puppy that goes running to see who is here. At least I don't tinkle on the floor from the excitement! Years ago when Tarren worked in the church office, she had a puppy she brought to work with her. I came in the door one day and she said, "No tinkling on the floor" to the puppy (I can't remember its name) and I said, "Okay, I won't!" And, I didn't!!

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The fog has lifted but the sun has failed to show itself thus far. I just checked the radio website and it shows the temperature is at 76 above zero. How do I then explain my fingers being so cold? Maybe I should get my heating pad out again and keep it "handy"---te, he, he...

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Kathy B. wants to know the recipes mentioned in earlier blogs and comments. I can give you all the recipe for Joanne's dish, which made a large batch, filling a 9 x 13" Pampered Chef cake pan to the top. If you know the dish, you know it's deep! Her recipe was layered mashed potatoes, French fried onions (like the ones used in green bean casserole) and shredded cheddar cheese. It was the cheese shredder which kicked her butt yesterday because the cheese was soft and plugged up the holes in the grater I had. It's a Pampered Chef crank grater and we surmised, when conducting the post-mortem, that it must be intended for Parmesan cheese rather than soft cheddar. It broke my heart to tell Joanne that the cheese comes already shredded in a plastic bag........of course, she already knew that and gave me a good smack!

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This morning I accomplished the small task of preparing a handout to given the parents of the children attending CHRISTmas 4 Kids on Saturday. We wanted something to tell about the special worship dates and upcoming events to encourage the non-members to return. I forwarded it to church so the secretary can make the copies, half pages, for distribution Saturday. Normally that would be my role, to hand out the hand outs! But, since Lynn is going to be here and I will be possibly hostessing an event at Great Hang Ups that day, someone else with have to handle the registration table duties.

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Friday night is a cocktail party at Janet's and I am so excited about that. Judy C. is going to make sure she's at church for scrapbooking so no one will be locked out of cropping! Now I hope that the ladies who said they were coming show up! Last weekend I missed two parties by attending the T-H Show with Martie and church family, but one wouldn't have been a good one for me anyway. My friends in Middleburg have a party every year and purposely do not invite me because I'd be "uncomfortable" around their other friends, Bruce's co-workers from the NAS Depot. It's for my safety that I am omitted, and for their being conscious of this, I am thankful. I appreciate the concern, the regard, they have for my sensitivity to filthy talk and foolish behavior. We have plenty of other times to be together when it won't be a problem so this one party each year I don't mind sitting out, especially since I had this wonderful event to attend instead!

What's cooking in the Kremlin, Katie?

Oh, I am so sad this morning! The TV program I like to watch, a first run show, is already doing its season finale on Friday! How did that happen? The show is called "The Starter Wife", and while I realize it has a good deal of trash mixed in, I have been able to glean a few morsels, making it tolerable. I have special glasses to wear when watching it.............Anyway, the 'star' of the show is played by Debra Messing of "Will and Grace" fame, hence there is a gay man playing one of her best friends. Maybe that's the only kind of person she can play off of! (Is that a good sentence?) The other main character is an older woman named Joan. These two have helped "Molly" as she struggles after being dumped by her successful producer husband, a real jerk, who moved on after she'd served his purpose; Molly is dedicated to being a good mom to their child no matter what; she became a published writer, first by accident and then on purpose. Guess which part of this story is something with which I can identify? Even after it is off the air for however long a period, it is still available on the Internet!

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Why am I telling you this? Oh yes, my friend, Suzanne, was making a new recipe called "Sweet and Sour Pork" requiring a trip to the grocery store. I offered my warning: beware of recipes requiring strange ingredients! On a recent episode, Molly took her friend grocery shopping in an attempt to re-ground the friend who'd gotten so caught up in their wealth that she forgot how to buy food and cook. As they walked through the store, Molly put stuff in her friend's cart, telling her how to make certain dishes, and it sounded so simple. Like, Orange Chicken and some dish made with potatoes and tilapia. Wait, I need to get a pen and paper for this! This program is what I thought about when Suzanne mentioned her new recipe, and I figured she is a brave woman!

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Last night Joanne and I were looking at the moon over the river, and I remarked to her about how beautiful were the twinkling lights in Mandarin. This a.m. the fog is so dense that I don't even believe Mandarin is over there, plus someone took all our palm trees from the basin!!....wait, the basin is gone too!!!! Certainly the fog will burn off before long and the vista return to normal, as the temps are expected to reach 80 degrees above zero. My sister, Kerry, wrote me early today reporting that it was 8 above in Oshkosh so she thought she might dig in her closet for a light sweater "in case there is a chill in the air"..............very funny, very funny! I can scarcely wait to get my turn in the cold. So glad I won't be selling my condo and moving north. Someone said I should divide my time between the two states: summer in WI and winters here. Summer is only two or three weeks at best in Manitowoc so it's hardly worth packing up!

Here is the scenery in Manitowoc yesterday morning, closing the entire city. The only one I heard about making it to work was Linda, the church lady. Is she dedicated or what? The area has gotten over 13" of snow already this year and it's early in the season. Mom, want to reconsider coming down here with me???

Thanks for being such good commenters!!!!! By the way, the title of this posting is a line taken from the movie "The Way We Were" and I often think about it when cooking is mentioned......This movie used to be my all time favorite in the whole world. It's been replaced............