BY TAYLOR, BY GOLLY!

BY TAYLOR, BY GOLLY!

Yesterday, just for the halibut (as Steve would have said), I tried doing a search for "By Taylor" clothes, despite having been unsuccessful in previous years. (For those who don't know, "By Taylor" is my favorite brand of clothing and I can only seem to buy the components to the outfits at the Oregon coast in various little shops.) Believe it or not, the first item that came up when I Googled the brand name was Oregon Cotton Mill and they carry (and maybe even manufacture) some "By Taylor" clothing. I ordered one top that said it was in a cotton jersey. I'll see how I like that one before I order any more items from that site. They don't carry all of the items I like to get but maybe they will get (or make?) more over time.

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I e-mailed my doctor yesterday afternoon regarding a couple of odd spots on my right forearm. She is referring me to a dermatologist. I had done some online research and from the descriptions I found of questionable moles, I felt it would be a good idea to have these spots checked. They may be nothing but I'd rather play it safe. I will keep you posted.

At least I kept myself from getting sick by throwing out the last two pieces of Mexican chicken last night. They had been in the fridge too long and were developing an odor that wasn't due to the Mexican spices on them. I hated to waste the food but I just hadn't had a chance to eat them in time. I've had food poisoning before and I know how miserable it is; I wasn't about to risk that again.

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My sister Kathy is finding her work as a nurse to be very challenging and stressful. I imagine that is because of going from being a teacher's aide to a recovery room nurse -- quite a switch. She has a heavy weekend and she will have even more so on Father's Day weekend, when she said she will be working 4 12-hour shifts. I don't quite understand the rationale behind giving a nurse such a strenuous schedule, although I know that interns and residents work long hours. I will definitely be thinking about her and praying for her to have the stamina she needs.

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It is a quiet day here today. I will have some time to just fiddle around, and maybe read after my nap. Computer traffic is very light so far. I work tonight. Pretty mundane stuff. Even the usual blogs I check are fairly inactive. I wonder, does everyone have nice weather drawing them outside? It's supposed to be balmy and rain-free today. I may have to go for a walk, myself. It will be short, though -- I'm out of shape, unlike my oldest son J.D., who has a blog called Get Fit Slowly, where he has been describing his running in a recent race as well as his training for the upcoming Portland Marathon. My poor knees would never allow it. LOL! He came in just two minutes over his goal in the recent race, and I think that was doing very well. It is a challenge for me personally to bend down to clean -- and I have been putting some of that off upstairs. (A cat and a plastic bag of styrofoam peanuts are not a good combination.) But first -- after lunch -- a nap. ;-) I have found that most women and even some men my age (60) and older need to sleep a little bit during the day. I am merely fulfilling my aging destiny. ;-)

OH SO SWEETHere is a picture

OH SO SWEET

Here is a picture of the rinsed carton of blueberries that I bought at Costco today:



My Flickr friend Cynthia (who goes by Philosopher Queen) asked me in a comment what I planned to do with them. I haven't decided yet, although I think I will have blueberry pancakes later on in the week. They are just lovely when eaten plain, and so healthful!

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I am wearing a "By Taylor" outfit today for the first time that I bought in Long Beach, Washington last month, and it's cute but it's a 1X. Since I have lost weight, I am swimming in it. I am wearing it anyway, to get my money's worth out of it. It's very cute, and has jumping dolphins on the design patch on the front. I guess it's good to have an outfit to wear in case I regain weight, but the bottoms are capris so they're really more for warmer weather (which, fortunately, we are having right now -- at least in the upper 60's today, I think).

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I received the prints from my trip to Bend today, and they are quite good. I am always pleased when I get prints made from my SLR digital shots, as they turn out beautifully. I made about three copies of each shot. I added my portion of the prints to my stack of photos that are awaiting scrapbooking, if I ever get back to that. (My obstacles are Socks and also not having a clue as to which scrapbook of the many that I have is the last one that I was working on.)

Speaking of scrapbooks and Socks, here is a picture of her and Silver that I took last night. She was about to use the scrapbooks as a great launching pad to go after Silver, who was on the coffee table.



I have lost track of how many scrapbooks I have. One day I'll have to count. Sounds like a good project, but also possibly a discouraging one? (I dated and numbered the early ones, but the later ones are not identified.)

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Blogger's saving feature is quite iffy today so I'm going to stop here and publish, if I can.

HOME AGAINI am back from

HOME AGAIN

I am back from my vacation but too sleepy to write much about it at the moment. I tried to nap this afternoon, and that was a hopeless attempt. This afternoon, I did rest in my recliner with Silver on my lap a couple of times, which has helped me somewhat.

Being out there helped my blood sugar, which was lower this morning than it had been for some time. I think it was helpful and healthful to relax, as I did eat food yesterday that I probably would have been better off not to. I had intended to go to Mo's in Cannon Beach for a clam chowder lunch but the restaurant was closed, so I got a Gobbler sandwich (turkey and Tillamook cheddar cheese grilled between sourdough bread slices) at the Tillamook Cheese Factory. I thought as I ate it that I could almost feel my arteries hardening. But it was delicious and I enjoyed every bite. I bought Scottish shortbread cookies there as well, and ate one when I got back to the motel with milk. Other than that, I snacked on small pretzels and potato chips.

As for things that I saw on my trip, here is a teaser:



I need to go work now, so I will be posting more about my vacation tomorrow.

GREAT FLICKR FEATURES!At my online friend Dawn's suggestion,

GREAT FLICKR FEATURES!

At my online friend Dawn's suggestion, I went to the chili dog picture I had posted on Flickr that had been labeled by some unkind soul there as looking "NASTY" and I was able to delete the comment he/she had made. In the process, I was given the option to block that person and I did so. There is a whole list of things in relation to my pictures that this person can no longer do. It was most gratifying!

Then I went to my spaghetti picture and did the same thing. As I went through that process and reread the comments from this person (RealityFood or some such name), I was once again struck by how rude and mean the comments were. It was my pleasure to block this person, as well.

I was thus able to move both of these food pictures from being viewed only by Friends and Family to being viewed by everyone again.

As a result, I think I will go ahead and post my picture of the Black Bean Salsa I made the other day to my Flickr site. I hope it doesn't result in anyone saying how ugly the salsa looks but at least now I know the Flickr weapons I have with which to fight back!

NOT EVEN A WEE BIT OF

NOT EVEN A WEE BIT OF IRISH IN ME

It has been kind of a long day, with my appointment this morning and before that hunting down a year-at-a-glance 2008 vacation calendar for the business (which took stopping in two separate office supply stores). I came home and was on the computer for a little while, then realized a nap was definitely necessary. So I'm late posting this entry. I want and need to do so before St. Patrick's Day is over!

As the title states, I have no Irish in me at all. I have English, Swedish, Scottish, and maybe even some Norwegian blood (way back there) in me. I've always had a sense of fun about St. Patrick's Day, though. If I'm not mistaken, I used to make pancakes, tinting the batter green, on St. Patty's Day when the kids were young and at home. I guess I've always had somewhat of a weird sense of humor and been a little odd as a mother. LOL!

For those of you who are even a wee bit Irish, my best wishes are with you for a fun St. Patrick's Day! I envy you your corned beef and cabbage -- I will be back to eating a chicken breast (the last one I still have from the most recent batch I cooked) and a baked potato.

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Speaking of food, I hard-cooked some eggs the other evening and the next day, I got hungry for an egg salad sandwich made with the low fat mayo I had in the fridge. After I had made the egg salad and eaten the sandwich, I decided I had better check the expiration date on the jar of light mayo as it seemed to me that I had had it for a long time. Sure enough: The expiration date was September '02. LOL! I'm lucky it didn't make me sick! Amazingly, though, it is still good -- it looks like it's supposed to and tastes fine. Despite that, it is on my list to be replaced when I go shopping tomorrow afternoon or Wednesday morning!