De Quervain's Disease

Also known as tenosynovitis (thumb tendonitis). I have it. I think it is my computer's fault. Well not the computer so much as the mouse. That's right- blame the mouse.

So now I get to wear the brace, relax with some ice packs, and take some good meds. I should probably not post too much for a while, and I guess I should stop emailing the President every night asking him to abolish Daylight Saving Time. He'll likely miss reading my research, but that can't be helped.

This brace is going to make it awkward to enter the Publishers Clearinghouse Sweepstakes every day- too much clicking with the mouse.

After the inflammation goes down a bit, I get to do some cool exercises like thumb lifts, passive thumb mp flexions, Finkelstein stretches, and resisted ulnar deviation stretches. Good times, people, good times.

Until then, I can pretend I'm Spiderman and shoot webs out of my brace...

The kitchen, the kitchen, oh how I love the kitchen!

Not really. Those who know me know that I would love to have a house with no kitchen- just a bunch of vending machines and a really large trash can... but I digress.

I made up this recipe. Again... not really. I saw something like it online, and then I changed it to suit my particular culinary skill set and supplies. They said to use a can of pumpkin and then add all the spices that are usually associated with pumpkin dishes. I changed it to a can of pumpkin pie filling that already has all the spices in it because my kitchen isn't equipped with all those specific spices. (Yes, I could buy the spices, but then I would have to organize them.)

Chocolate Pumpkin Walnut Muffins

(That's all that's in there. Really.)

1 box of chocolate cake mix. (Brand doesn't matter.)

1 15 oz. can of pumpkin pie filling.

1 cup of chopped walnuts (Big chunks of walnuts- don't spend too much time chopping. This is supposed to be easy.)

Mix the pumpkin pie filling with the cake mix. Don't add eggs or anything else, you don't need them.

Pour into muffin pans lined with cupcake liners. Bake according to the directions on the box of cake mix (That's why they put them there.)

Don't frost them when they are cool. (Cupcakes get frosted, muffins don't. That's how you can tell them apart.)

Variations on a theme...

Instead of chocolate cake, you could use white, or spice. If you use spice, you might want to switch to just a can of pumpkin instead of the pie filling. Otherwise, you are doubling up on spices.

If you don't like walnuts, try pecans. You could also throw in some raisins, craisins, chopped dates, chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips or some combo of any of those. (Do they make caramel chips? Cuz that would be like... yum-o!)

In the next few days, I'll probably be sharing my "recipe" for cheater turkey pot pie- complete with pictures.

Stay tuned.

Happy Black Friday!

This is our dog. He's black. His name is Friday. He's usually happy.

Dear Retailers,

I am not shopping tomorrow. Not in person, not online. Just thought you ought to know that.

The TRIP- part 6 (Smile when you say that, Pilgrim.)

July 20, 2011 Plimoth Plantation, Massachusetts

I thought these pictures would be appropriate for Thanksgiving week!

We started at the museum. There was an introductory movie. There's always an introductory movie. I'm not complaining... it was air-conditioned! I'm just saying that it's a pattern... start with a movie, move to the museum, and then check out the outdoor part of the site. (Have I mentioned that I love being a tourist?)

Then we moved outside to the Wampanoag Homestead. It had many of the same things that Jamestown had- dwellings, cooking fires, Native American Handcrafts. There were people there in Wampanoag garb, and, like Jamestown, we were encouraged to visit with them and ask questions. Unlike Jamestown, these folks were not really that interested in answering our questions. I tried to talk with the lady who was roasting the rabbits over the fire. She gave terse, one-word answers, as if somehow talking to me would go against her tribal code or even wreck the whole rabbit meal. I was friendly, polite, and I followed all the "rules" about what vocabulary to use, but still I was rebuffed. Others who were visiting felt the same way. We didn't spend much time there, and quickly made our way up the trail to the re-created Plimoth Village.

The village was fantastic! All the costumed interpreters had British accents, and they were more than willing to explain their 17th century lives to us. They stayed completely in character and we learned so much from them. This was my first trip to Plymouth, and I wasn't sure what to expect, but I sure enjoyed this part of it and would recommend it to anyone who likes US History.

Despite the heat, they were boiling water to demonstrate how clothes were washed in 1620. The whites were layered in a tub along with wood ash, and then boiling water was poured over the whole thing. To dry the clothes, they wrung them out and then spread them on the lawn. Woolens were treated a bit differently- they weren't washed so much as they were brushed and beaten like rugs. The interpreters did a great job of impressing on the girls how different life was without all the modern conveniences.

After that, we drove to the coast to see the Mayflower II and Plymouth Rock.

Mayflower II was a cool ship. It has actually crossed the Atlantic, so it feels pretty authentic!

Finally, we saw the Alden House. John Alden and Priscilla Mullins met aboard the Mayflower and were married in Plymouth. They had 10 children. This house was occupied by their son Jonathan and his family, as well as other family members through the years. The two ladies standing outside the house are sisters- descendants of the Aldens. It was pretty cool to meet them. Apparently, there are quite a few famous people in the US who claim Alden ancestry- among them are Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams, poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, publisher Frank Nelson Doubleday, actors Marilyn Monroe, Jodie Foster and Orson Welles, dancer Martha Graham, Vice President Dan Quayle, and Senator Adlai Stevenson, to name a few.

(There were no photos allowed inside the house.)

As a final thought:

"The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of Thanksgiving."

- H.U. Westermayer

I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Rats

Well, the snow came, but it didn't reach me. It just wasn't cold enough to bring the white stuff down to my lowly elevation. Bah humbug.

It's clearing tonight, and getting colder. No sign of snow in the 10-day forecast. Looks like I'll have to wait a bit longer.

Tis the season.

It's coming.

The weather.

Not just any old weather.

The weather I love.

It's coming.

Or, so they say.

"They" being The Weather Channel.

Could be right.

Could be wrong.

It won't be enough to shovel.

But, it might be enough to entrance...

I'll let you know Saturday.

11-11-11, thank a veteran. (say it out loud, it rhymes. Sort of.)

To all those who have served or are serving in our nation's military:

THANK YOU.

Practice makes perfect

We just got back from a 45 minute ride. It was wonderful. The sun is out, the temp is about 45 F, and there's very little wind.

Kiddo and I are getting pretty good at coordinating our riding. Tandems have been known to break relationships, so as the captain, I am being extra careful to communicate to my stoker about everything I am doing. It's weird because riding is second nature to me. I rarely even think about shifting gears, I just do it. I don't consciously plan to have the pedal up on the side I am turning to, I just do it. Riding with someone else requires me to call out the gear shifting, the bumps in the road, the placement of the pedals, etc. It isn't difficult, just odd. I'm very blessed to have a great stoker- she's very forgiving when I forget to tell her the little things.

This coordination, cooperation, and communication is good for us. We are both learning to give and take (and pedal like crazy if the light turns yellow!).

It's here! It's here! My favorite day of the year!!!!

Fall back!!! Yay!!! An extra hour of sleep!!!

But, more importantly, we are going back to REAL time, not some trumped up, weirdo, makeshift, hey-let's-have-more-sunlight-so-no-one-can-sleep-in-the-summer, anti-God time. Yeah, you heard me. DST is anti-God.

God put this planet in exactly the right place in space. He set up the elliptical orbits and the correct tilt of the axis. Times, seasons, etc. are all his. How dare we just take the bull by the horns and decide we don't like what He gave us?

Changing our clocks twice a year... Sacrilege. Rebellion. Prideful.

I feel so much better now that we are on non-rebellious time. It's like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Like I've confessed and been forgiven.

Whew.