I'm so tired

Let me tell you what I'm tired of. I'm tired of always having to count on other people to get the things that I need. Like waiting for 3 years to have a yard sale because I have so much stuff piling up to get rid of, but I can't have a yard sale by myself. Like waiting for people to buy my lamps on etsy.com because I'm broke as hell right now. Like waiting for a doctor's approval to put Mike into the clinical trial I found that cured 8 people of their brain tumors. Like waiting for a goddamn man to grow up so I can have the family that I have always wanted and the house that I have always wanted because I can't afford to live by myself. I'm tired of other people not caring. I'm tired of having to rely on people who are unreliable. Am I the only one around here who does what I say I'm going to do? I do what I say I'm going to do, and I'm not wishy washy about it. I make up my damn mind and stick to it. That's why I can't stand having to wait for others. It goes against my nature, I'm an only child and a Taurus. Which means that I have always done everything on my own, other people be damned. Now I'm stuck in a million situations where I have to wait around for unreliable people to just let me down over and over again. My biggest problem is that I care too much, even if I don't show it. I care way too much about too many people and things and they don't care enough...or at all. I'm sick of being stagnant. Of watching everyone else's lives continue moving forward, and I'm just stuck. And the only way to get un-stuck is up to other people's decisions about my life. Like credit card companies, the state of Illinois, the government, healthcare providers, and did I mention men?? I'm just tired of being in a constant state of worry that I can do nothing about.

Fundraiser and Peanut Butter Pie

Last month we held a fundraiser at work to raise money for NAMI- The National Alliance on Mental Illness. I told my clients that if they raised $100 in a week, they could pick out me and Mary's clothes and do our hair and makeup. All week they went around the nursing home getting donations and on Friday they got to make us over with all of our wackiest clothes and makeup.
Full shot of Mary...

Full shot of me...

We had to walk around work all day like that and the doctor really got a kick out of it.

It might have been the same day, I brought in a peanut butter pie. Here is the bottom chocolate layer getting ready to chill.

Peanut butter mixture...mmmm....

Final result. It was sooo good and I'm gonna make another one next month for Bob's birthday.

Projects in the works

The first project is one that I just finally finished a few days ago. Here's the beginning of the last puzzle that I will be working on for some time.
All of the sides put together, except for one missing piece which took me forever to find.

Yep, that piece is still missing...

Ok, finally getting started. The finished product is coming in a few weeks.

Next project, which will undoubtedly make me very rich soon....

Wine and liquor bottle lamps!!

I told you all a few months ago to send me your bottles, and this is why. This is my first lamp, which I gave to my mom. It's an Apple Crisp wine bottle from Grafton Winery.

I have many more lamps coming, and have started my account on www.etsy.com . I'll start putting my lamps on there at the end of the month and my shop name is Freefallin44 if you want to have a look.

Strawberry Freezer Jam

Last month I did my first try at canning, before I plan to really delve into it next spring. Here are the jars and lids after washing.
Getting ready to squish a lot of strawberries.

All the strawberries ready to go.

The strawberry and sugar mixture.

Blending it all together with pectin.

The final product in my adorable jars!

FYI: I have plenty more and it stays up to a year in the freezer, if you want some let me know!! It was gone pretty quickly when I took some to work, and I don't really eat jam very often...so you are free to have some...before I start charging next year!!

Botanical Gardens

Last month we took Owen to play at the Missouri Botanical Garden for the day. Here are some pics from the children's garden dancing waters area.
He loved getting squirted in the face.

And chasing all of the water around.

He was pretty thirsty after all of the running around.

Then we walked through my favorite part, the Japanese gardens. Owen just sat back in the stroller and looked around.

The guy on the left side of this picture was sitting on the bridge and would not get out of the way. I almost fell into the water trying to get around him, and the boards of the bridge are getting warped from being there so many years.

Grasshopper Pie and Oreo Pie

The first pie is grasshopper pie, which is basically a mint-chocolate-chip tasting pie. It went horribly wrong, when the directions weren't very precise... Here is a picture of what resulted in the chocolate layer. The directions called for 4 oz. of dark chocolate. I'm used to using baker's chocolate which comes in 1 oz. individually wrapped bars. Apparently I should have just used a Hershey's dark chocolate bar...
Melting down the marshmellows...

A little bit of green food coloring....

This is the very bitter chocolate layer...it was supposed to be light and fluffy. It turned out like mud.

End result...top mint layer very good...

Bitter chocolate layer...very bad. I should have taken a picture after this when I dumped it in the trash can.

My co-workers were very disappointed when they didn't get the grasshopper pie they were waiting for, so I made an Oreo pie the next week. It consisted of about 5 ingredients and was very easy to make. Here is the smashed up cookie crust baking...

Chopping up a whole bag of Oreo cookies....

Whipped cream, cream cheese and vanilla layer mixing....

Into the crust...

The end result...very good.

Cutting myself the first piece to test. Everyone at work LOVED it and keeps asking for it all the time. I kinda liked it, but it used a whole package of cream cheese which I don't like. Next time I'll use half the cream cheese so I can enjoy it more.

Pebble Beach

Here is a puzzle that I found with my mom and Owen at the Galleria a couple months ago. It's a puzzle of Pebble Beach golf course that my mom is going to get framed for Mike.