Chag Sameach

The last night of Chanukah...

Eighth night

It's also the eighth day of Christmas, so here's to eight lords a-leaping. Which, speaking of that...

More Chanukiyah pictures

 

Fourth night

Fifth night

Sixth night

Seventh night

Chanukah so far...

Fist night

Second Night

Third night

So tired

I was absolutely exhausted last night and crashed. Because it was Sabbath, we ate early, right after nightfall. I'd gone to get some Captain D's and then my friend lit the Chanukah lights (the eight-armed menorah used at Chanukah is called a Chanukiyah, plural Chanukiyot) and then the Sabbath candles. We ate our meal and talked and then I couldn't stand it anymore, the constriction of day clothes. I went and changed out of my jeans and shirt into my sleep shorts and tank top, took out my contacts, came back to the table for all of 10 minutes, and then announced I had to lie down. It was a little after 7:30 PM. My back was hurting and I'd just had a long (albeit not particularly busy day; we mostly worked in queues). So I fed the animals, let the dogs out and in, and put my nebula projector on and a Bluetooth speaker that cycles through lights, and I was gone within 10 minutes, dead to the music and the world. I got up briefly at 11:30 to take my meds, and then slept till about 6 AM. It's just 8 AM now and I have gotten dressed, made my bed, sat in front of the SAD light for a bit, taken my thyroid medicine (I can't eat for an hour after that, so it gets taken first), driven to Kroger and made them give me a deal off a digital coupon that wasn't scanning, got ice from the Kroger Starbucks (it's free, and we don't keep it in the house; I don't know what they think of me, I'm the little older lady who asks for ice each week), came back, have almost finished making coffee for my roommate, have started caffeinating with soda, and moved the dryer against the wall so it wasn't blocking my chair or the utility room, and I think that's good. In about half an hour I'll wake him up for services (he's reading a passage) and start making my to-do list, like most Saturdays. I'm feeling pretty darn productive. It's amazing what rest can do for you.

Happy Chanukah (night three)!

We're having leftover latkes tonight. Last night I didn't blog because I literally made latkes from 4 pm to 7:30 pm when we sat down to eat. There were cheese latkes with applesauce, potato latkes with sour cream, and zucchini fritters with tzatziki sauce. I doubled the cheese recipe and tripled the potato one. :) So we'll have some for tomorrow, too.

Today has mostly been relaxing. Neither one of was were doing our best to get going. We did go out the grocery a little before they closed to get some mints for a friend who is ill, and stopped by to see him. Also, we needed more candles and ran out to Bed Bath and Beyond for those, as pictured above. We watched a couple of episodes of 'The Dragon Prince' while eating tonight.

Happy Chanukah!

Enjoying a day off from work, the third day of my five-day weekend. :) I've folded laundry, had a leisurely shower, and otherwise just relaxed and spent time with my roommate. Now he's out so I'm listening to Pentatonix' Christmas music and calming a nervous dog who wants her master. I think I may do some reading and writing. We'll probably watch more of 'The Witcher' later, too. But tonight is all about latkes. I have gelt hidden away and all the ingredients ready. And thank goodness my food processor is still going; his died at Thanksgiving. That makes it so much easier to grate the potatoes and zucchini. :) I'd planned on going to a Water Fit class tonight (I'm already dressed for the gym), but the latkes do come first. It's my main Hannukah present for him. I'll look up to see if it's even on the class schedule since it's Christmas week. It's not usually till 7:15 pm, so maybe I can do the latkes earlier and have them ready for the hanukkiah [menorah] lighting at sunset.

The last few days have been

very nice. I've read.  I've relaxed, taking a nap here and there.  I've listened to music, and I've done stuff around the house like raking leaves (again) to try to get ready for the vacuuming truck that comes by.  I got 2/3 of the yard done this afternoon, and I'll try to do the rest tomorrow.  I came inside to hydrate and got caught up in a 'Black Mirror' episode, and realised I was really tired and with the game called off tomorrow, it could wait till tomorrow, when the weather's supposed to be a little better anyway.  I have a two-foot pile of leaves in the road verge at the moment; it'll just grow a little bigger.  Most of the main leaves are already there.

Tomorrow I'll do my normal Sunday tasks: floors, bathroom, trash/recyclables, laundry, and cat litter boxes.  I did the dishes tonight so I think they're okay.  But the evening will visitation for the little lady who died, whom I cared a good deal about.  I'm going to take my friend over that afternoon to help with my other friend, who will be in a wheelchair so he can attend the family hour of visitation, and then I'll come at the regular time for the public.  I would take our friend, but my car is an old Ford Taurus that is so low to the ground that we have trouble getting in and out of it, much less someone with mobility issues.  I am not a big fan of visitation--I find it a bit morbid, to be honest.  But for her, I'll do it.  She was such a wonderful person, who lit up a whole room.  I was looking at Thanksgiving flowers the other day and found myself thinking about bringing some, and then remembered that she was gone.  That's the worst thing, I think, after someone dies--all the little things you want to share with them that evaporate in your mind as soon as you realise they have passed and you'll never share with them again.  It brings the pain up all over again.  That was certainly the case for me when my mom died.

So for now, though, I'm listening to Mumford & Sons, trying to decide whether I should 1) go to bed or 2) read some more.  The book (Kate Morton's The Distant Hours) is very well-written, the prose is lovely, and I'm about 50 pages in and I like how it's unfolding.  But I'm a little tired.  I'm in my pyjamas and I've brushed my teeth.  I'm ready for bed.

Today I got something I'd ordered as a lightning deal from Amazon, which I almost never do.  It's 128 GB SD card that is meant to go in a camera but can also go in laptops with the right reader, and I have one on mine.  I got it for $19.95, which was roughly half of the normal price, and it works, it's inserted into my computer, and I've backed up some files to it.  It's not great as a long-term storage option (they do break down over time, just like flash drives), but it was cheap and easy and while I have my documents backed up in other places (OneDrive, Dropbox), after what happened with the Windows update in October when I lost all my documents, I thought that it would make a good local option that wasn't at the mercy of cloud providers, and I can't afford a USB removable hard drive at the moment.  Also, if something happened to my laptop I could just switch out the card like I do with the microSD card in my phone (that has pictures and music on it).  So we'll see how it works out.   I took a few minutes earlier to back things up to the card and to the cloud.  I need to do that with the desktop, which YKWIA uses.  I also spent some time yesterday at the storage unit (looking for a couple of cutting boards, with no luck) and found my Civilization IV game, and so I pulled out the old DVD-ROM external drive I have here (it's from when computers didn't have them yet, and my computer is so 'advanced' it doesn't have one at all, so even though it's a little slow and clunky, it works--although not to play CDs lately, something in one of the Microsoft updates apparently broke that, too, so I guess the only CDs I'll buy in the near future are ones with AutoRip, where they do it for you, as otherwise, I can't get the CD music on my phone.  Anyway, it does work for CD-ROMs, and I was able to get the game onto this computer, so I'm happy, as it's one of the few games I ever play consistently.

Okay, I guess I'm just babbling about my life now.  It's going pretty well.  Work is still stressful but not as much as it had been.  I am very blessed right now.  I do feel a little guilty posting the pictures of Thanksgiving and the abundance of food for two people.  I live paycheque-to-paycheque, and I don't feel particularly affluent at all, but on the other hand, I have so much compared to some--a home to go to, food to eat, great companionship, and relatively good health, really.  I don't mean to flaunt it, but I think of the homeless, or the starving children in Yemen, or the refugees seeking asylum, etc., and I do feel guilty, although I really was just trying to express how grateful I am for life right now.  I don't have enough money to donate to any causes right now, it's been a struggle lately, and we had to pool our resources to make Thanksgiving happen, but maybe I could volunteer some time around Christmas.  Which reminds me, I guess I need to get some cards to send out.  We don't really celebrate Christmas, as I'm pagan (I celebrate the Winter Solstice, Yule) and YKWIA is Jewish.  But the holiday season is still a good time to think of others.  Chanukah, which of course is a minor holiday in the Jewish year, although most Christians, I think, just see it as Jewish Christmas, is coming up quickly--it starts December 2nd.  My plan is to get YKWIA some good house shoes, as his shoes have nearly died.  (I can say that here, as he doesn't read my blog, because as he puts it, he knows what goes on in my life).  But I'll have to wait till the next payday, which happens in the middle of Chanukah.

Okay, the cat wants to cuddle, the music has stopped.  Time to go to bed.  Good night.

Happy final night of Chanukah!

Chanukah has been rather nice so far...

On the first night of Chanukah, my friend lit the candles and I made three types of latkes. It took me an hour and a half from start to finish, long after the last candle burnt out. :)

In process

The final result: cheese, zucchini, and potato latkes with sour cream, applesauce, and homemade tzatziki as condiments.

Now we're on night six. He gave me a nice periwinkle fleece hooded scarf; I gave him a nice set of 100% linen napkins.  It was a small celebration, but it was nice.  My holiday is the 21st, Yule.  It's on a Thursday.  I'm not sure if I'll do anything for it.  My one thing I did was buy a live rosemary bush in the shape of a fir tree, but it's not going to make it, I  don't think.  I'd taken it to work, as there's more light there, but alas, it's drying up despite a not-too-much amount of water and as much light as I could give it.  I've only ever been able to keep them alive outside.  I'm a little sad about it.  I cut back some of the dead growth and watered it before I left for the weekend.  We'll see if it's alive come Monday.

Today we played the game.  Our characters are in Norman England, and not only do we need to prevent the King in Yellow's coming, but there are two ancestors of the non-player character who brought us here to keep alive, and oh, by the way, that means they're ancestors to several other characters, including player ones.  So we have incentives to both save the world, the future, and the lineage. Ah, fun.  We won't be playing the next two weeks due to Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve (YKWIA and I aren't Christian,  but Brenda is and no doubt wants to be with her family for Christmas, and we certainly don't want her out on New Year's Eve with the drunks).

My only New Year's resolution this year is to try to write more regularly.  It amazes me how my blogging has fallen off. It's not from disinterest.  It's just sometimes I'm so tired.  On latke night, for example, we'd had a busy day, I'd worked all day, and after preparing and cooking the latkes, I was so tired I almost didn't have the strength to eat them.  On Wednesday, we had 200 people on the schedule.  Thankfully there are two of us at checkout now, and that's helping me immensely, and allowing us to do better at answering the live calls and voicemails. I left Friday having actually caught up with my e-mails with care managers and having scheduled everything I should have.  It felt good to finally get those things done that needed to be.

The Sunday before last I applied for a job, and I was called on Tuesday. I'd mentioned that I couldn't have my phone with me during work when I'd sent the application.  It was for an outreach position in a neighbouring county, delivering media and services to seniors and other homebound patrons.  I e-mailed her that afternoon, trying to set up a time for the interview.  I never heard back.  Thursday I sent an enquiry asking for feedback, again, by e-mail.  Nothing on that one, either.  I had gotten back in a timely manner, albeit not by phone.  All the application had been through e-mail, with  'no phone calls please'.   I know I probably should have called, but I only get a short lunch break that basically allows me to eat and not much else, am lucky to get a pee break twice a day, and I didn't want to speak to a prospective employer while in our break room, so I'd e-mailed back instead, but the lady never replied.

I'm disappointed, of course.  They were so quick to ask me for an interview, and then just nothing.  But it didn't require a master's degree, so I'm not sure it would have paid enough to be worth the drive, and I'm going to go with this just wasn't the one for me.  But yes, I'm still disappointed.

Preparing for tomorrow

Tomorrow it's supposed to have snowfall at the morning commute, be frigid tomorrow night, and oh, yes, it's the first night of Chanukah. So tonight has been all about preparing for all that. I already had most of a tank of gas, but the first thing I did upon returning home was to make a grocery list of things YKWIA needed for cooking, things I needed for the latkes, and general things we needed. I then proceeded to go to the Tates Creek Kroger, got almost everything I needed (although I had to get them to stock the half and half from the back and wandered a bit until I found applesauce in the fruit snack aisle). The one thing I needed to go to Fresh Market for was a Belgian endive. On entering the Landsdowne Shoppes, I had an old man who was in the right-turn lane who suddenly he decided to go into the left-turn lane (my lane) while I was occupying it. I laid on the horn, something that has taken me years to really do--I usually tap it ineffectively, and had the satisfaction of not only having him return to his lane, but he startled and I suspect I nearly scared him half to death, which is fine, given how inattentively he was driving. It is so easy to startle Southerners, who cannot fathom why anyone would be rude enough to honk their horn at the person trying to hit them. We as a lot tend to be overly polite, never stick up for ourselves, and do everything in a roundabout way so as to not offend or confront. YKWIA was raised in an aristocratic Southern family, but his Yankee roots are also quite evident. He does very well in places like New York, which would eat me alive. Southerners frustrate him, however.

Anyway, I got the endive, returned, put everything away, and then we ate leeks au gratin, which was wonderful, with a little bread, too. I cleaned up while he made a phone call to a friend, and I proceeded to go through one of my nightstands and consolidate some medications and fill up my pill reminder box since I brought my medicine with me today but didn't take it because I didn't have it pre-sorted. The bag it was in was at least useful; I gave that to a family who needed something to prevent the glitter glue from a cast (hey, we are a children's medical centre) from getting all over a car seat.

The plan tomorrow is to make classic potato latkes with applesauce and sour cream, latkes made from strained cottage cheese (sweet latkes that are very yummy with the applesauce, as I prefer the sour cream with the potato ones) and some zucchini latkes with tzatziki. I've made all three recipes before, but not in the same year, I don't think. I've been making latkes for Chanukah for YKWIA for years as a treat. This year I gave him a nice linen napkin set because his old napkins were in sad shape. He gave me a lovely hooded periwinkle scarf that is fleece and very warm, which will come in handy tomorrow. I did discover that I cannot back into our driveway to save my life. I thought it would be better to be heading out towards the street if we got any real snow, as I have front-wheel drive, but I ran into a branch that was over to the side and I'm sitting mostly in our side yard, but I'm definitely off the driveway with the back of the car a little crooked, on the grass. I think it's a shame that my car, a 2001 Taurus, is just too old to have been outfitted with a backup camera. That is one thing I miss about that Hyundai Veloster I rented. Well, that and Bluetooth. :)

Okay, I'm at a strange angle on my bed, typing, and my neck is starting to hurt. I'm going to sign off and head on to bed. I must get up a little early just in case I need to scrape the windwhield or otherwise deal with precipitation. Hope you're having a good week so far. Good night.

Last night was latke night

although, technically, Chanukah was over, we celebrated with potato latkes with onions and parsley, along with some ones with ricotta cheese. They were a great hit, and everyone had seconds. But I got home late, and had an early morning today, so I went on to bed when I got home.

Today I got a phone call from our leasing agent, telling me that despite the fact that I cannot pay the rent till the 23rd because I got my car repaired when it died, she's not going to file for eviction. I'll just have to pay the normal rent plus the normal late fees, which is great, as most of my paycheque was going to go to my rent otherwise, although even so, I'm not going to be able to pay everything. But it's still better than it would have been.

Since I'm stuck at home

I plan to:

• Do the game notes.
• Straighten up the house.
• Watch 'Grimm' (by myself) :(.

But first I need to eat something, and there's very little in the house. Tomorrow's plans were:

• Go by the bank.
• Pay my rent.
• Help a friend put up his Christmas tree.
• Make latkes for Chanukah.
• Go to the grocery store with a friend.
• Watch the last two episodes of 'Scream Queens' with friends.

Now I'm not sure about that. And with my rent, I don't really have any money to fix whatever is wrong with the car, so I may be doing all this by walking and riding the bus tomorrow, assuming I can get some cash from the bank to use as my fare, plus I'll have to get the ingredients for latkes from the grocery and take them over there. But I will do so if the car doesn't start. I just didn't want to get stranded over there tonight, even though I do have AAA. No lights came on to indicate the problem, except the one that's been on that has to do with the EGR valve. That may have finally become a pressing issue. But it may be the battery. I don't know.

For a goy

I make a mean latke,  whether potato with shallots or a cheese style that had lemon zest and had you separate the eggs and beat the whites before adding them to the mixture.

Today was fun.  We visited,  I helped rearrange some things in my friend's library,  and then I made the latkes,  which everyone enjoyed.  I doubled both recipes,  thankfully,  or there wouldn't have been enough.

I got a shirt from another friend as part of that package that says 'You are about to exceed the limits of my medication',  which I love. Thank you Tammy.

Okay,  I have to figure out my agenda/itinerary for tomorrow.  Hope you had a good holiday. 

Well, I'm chugging along

The package was over at their house when I got there, so I snagged that. I called and left a message for them so they'd know, and then I called my mom and arranged the visit with her. I'm sitting here with the tree all lit up (okay, so yes, my holiday was Sunday, but still...I'm in the holiday spirit), and I have everything ready for latkes tomorrow. Friday morning I'm going to work on the bills and other errands I have, and then head to Danville sometime in the afternoon to see my mom. Saturday I'll work on the game notes and finish up working on the house, hopefully. Sunday there's the game prep and the game.

Google Now on my phone sends me cards with stories it thinks I might like, and today there was one on Samsung producing a video with emphasis on the fact that the Samsung Galaxy S5 (which I have) is water-resistant, that I thought was cute. There's also one about the phone and Christmas sweaters. I'm not a Christmas sweater kind of girl, but I did find it interesting. Let me share them here:





Yes, silly, I know.

Okay, it's time to get back to doing things around here, and wrapping a present for my mom that I cleverly found a way to provide without current funds. In case I don't write again, if you do celebrate Christmas, may you have a wonderful 'silent night' and enjoy your holiday, and also I hope everyone who celebrates Chanukah had a fun time with it.

Latke goodness

Tonight I made latkes for a Jewish friend to celebrate Chanukah. There were three types: traditional potato, ricotta cheese, and a spinach/feta/potato variety. The ricotta recipe sounded good, but was a different recipe for cheese latkes than what I usually do (I usually use cottage cheese and fry in oil; this made a thin batter that you cooked on a non-stick surface with butter). I'm not happy with this recipe, but they did taste alright--they just weren't as fluffy and wonderful as in years past. I really must find my old recipe. However, the others came out very well, especially the spinach-feta ones, which had a sauce that went with it made from shredded cucumber, dill, and sour cream. The latkes in general were a success, and we all enjoyed them. After cleaning up a bit and giving my present, I was gifted with leftovers from Thanksgiving to take home. Now it's midnight and I'm home, I was thanked profusely for making Chanukah a happy time, and am bone tired. My shoulders, arms, and hands particularly seem all cramped up. But I enjoyed the evening and I'm glad everything worked out. But now I'm going to bed.

If you celebrate Chanukah, I hope your holiday is full of love, light, and laughter. Have a good night.

Agenda for the week (when not at work)

• Monday: Appointment with the sleep doctor evaluating the new CPAP machine; run by pharmacy
• Tuesday: Take a friend to a medical appointment, celebrate Chanukah with him and fix him latkes, both the potato and cheese varieties; watch 'The Originals' and 'Supernatural' there
• Wednesday: 'The Tomorrow People' and 'American Horror Story: Coven' over at YKWIA's house
• Thursday: Downtime at home; watch 'Big Bang Theory'; do game notes
• Friday: Watch 'Grimm' with YKWIA
• Saturday: See Catching Fire; grocery run
• Sunday: Prepare for game; play Chthulhu game; 'Witches of East End'

Speaking of marking your calendars, have you noticed Thanksgivukkah is coming?

Hanukkah And Thanksgiving Fall On The Same Day This Year — The Next Time It Will Happen Will Be In 77,798 Years

The Jewish festival of lights and the American festival of thanks and gluttony will overlap this year — and the next time it will happen will be in the year 79811.

Jewish mothers across the country have been circulating a mass email lifted from this January blog post by Jonathan Mizrahi explaining "Thanksgivukkah," but here's the gist.

Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday in November. This year Thanksgiving is on November 28th, which happens to be the first day of Hanukkah (the first "night" of Hanukkah is the night before).

As it happens, November 28th is the latest Thanksgiving can be and the earliest Hanukkah can be.

Here are some interesting suggestions for combining the two holidays food-wise: How To Celebrate Thanksgivukkah, The Best Holiday Of All Time

As it so happens, I have been invited to the home of a Jewish friend for Thanksgiving, so I'm excited to see how we'll celebrate. Each Chanukah I usually make latkes (both potato and cheese). In fact, I wasn't able to last year due to my ankle fracture, but did so when I was finally up and moving in January. :) We'll see how Thanksgivukkah plays out this year.

Just in case you didn't know

The True Meaning of Hanukkah

When my brother was in kindergarten, where he was the only Jewish student, a parent organizing enrichment activities asked my mother to tell the class the story of Hanukkah. My mother obligingly brought in a picture book and began to read about foreign conquerors who were not letting Jews in ancient Israel worship freely, even defiling their temple, until a scrappy group led by the Maccabee family overthrew one of the most powerful armies in the world and won their liberty.

The woman was horrified.

The Hanukkah story, she interrupted, was not about war. It was about the miracle of an oil lamp that burned for eight days without replenishing. She urged my mother to close the book. My mother refused.

This is a nice overview of what Chanukah is, and what it isn't.

Okay, I know it doesn't start till tomorrow night

But this is SO in my head and will not go away.



Chanuka, Oh Chanukah!

We have a tradition where I make latkes, both potato and cheese, for a Jewish friend each year. Sadly, that will not happen this year, I think. But I wish him and everyone else celebrating joy and light in the Chanukah season. I particularly like this version of the song, as it is in both languages. Enjoy!

Happy Chanukah!!!

and I couldn't resist...