Day 141 of 365

My husband watches food shows on the Travel Channel and the Food Network. Those shows where the host travels around, going to different restaurants, learning how to cook the signature items. We've even been to some of the places shown on some of the programs. Even made Coney Island dogs back on Day 18, and a pulled pork, coleslaw, and fries sandwich on Day 71.

I half halfheartedly watch the shows. One show I saw had a restaurant making chicken fried steak.

Chicken fried steak is on the Deb-doesn't-eat-it list. I've tried several things on the Deb-doesn't-eat-it list that went quickly back to the top of it. Escargot. Deep fried alligator. Soft shell crab.

Shrimp used to be on that list, too. Many years ago at the state fair I tried some spicy Cajun shrimp and have been a fan of shrimp ever since.

My husband and daughter love chicken fried steak. There is a restaurant in town that serves it and they have occasionally ordered it. No tasting from that plate for me. When our daughter was old enough to gamble and we went to the casino, either one of them would order it there, too. (And it was huge there - a whole platter full.) Still no tasting for me.

But after I watched that particular show making chicken fried steak, I made my mind up to try it. No gravy for me, though.

I tried it at the local restaurant when my husband was out of town. (Didn't want anyone to know that I was giving in.) It was okay, but not great. Tried it at the casino one time, too. Even better.

And this time at the casino, a must-have. Yummy platter-sized chicken fried steak, without gravy. Delicious, but too much for one person alone.

Even my husband and daughter split theirs, all smothered in gravy. (The picture is just half a serving.)

Day 140 of 365

We've gotten around to celebrating my birthday. At the casino.

After chickening out at the casino on Day 118 it was time to try it again. This time I didn't go alone. And I hope this time I'll stay put. I've never called off a family trip, never made people go home early, so I know I'll be sticking it out this time.

No worries about gambling alone - I have the pool to retreat to. I haven't been swimming since we went to the mountains on Day 52. And boy, do I love to swim. (It might even be a nice break from riding the exercise bike every day.)

We left home first thing in the morning, picked up our daughter on the way, and are making a trip of it. We're able to take advantage of our free room and food comps. We even got a free upgrade to a suite. We've never stayed in a suite before so it makes it extra special. Bedroom, living room, bar/kitchen area, two bathrooms and even two balconies! And our casino host unexpectedly had a birthday cake delivered to our room to help us celebrate.

I'm glad I took the plunge.

Literally.

Day 139 of 365

These last couple days have been spent in the rose garden.

While I wish I could report that the roses are continuing to flourish, I can't.

Every year our rose garden goes through cycles. It blooms nonstop for several weeks, then takes a break.

This year our first official bloom came on June 7 (Day 97). All the bushes have bloomed incessantly since then and I've taken plenty of pictures.

But it was obvious it was starting to wind down when I had a hard time finding buds for my birthday cake a couple days back.

And after a week of windstorms and heavy rain, the rose garden looks like it has closed up shop for a bit.

It'll be back, but it's sad to see it go for now. It doesn't look quite the same as it did just a couple weeks ago on July 5 (Day 125).

Day 138 of 365

When I was in high school biology we did tests of our taste buds to see the reaction to sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. For me, bitter was bad. Horrible. The results of the experiment deemed me to have more bitter taste buds than most people.

I have to agree with that. Broccoli, cauliflower, kale? Keep me away. Far away.

While I'm known to throw spinach in my omelet, occasionally put very finely sliced cabbage in my tacos, and have salad on top of my pizza, you'll never find me eating broccoli, cauliflower, and kale. If it came down to those three vegetables and starvation, I think I'd choose starvation.

My husband on the other hand loves all vegetables, hence the vegetable garden this year.

Although now our garden is in a transitional phase. The radishes and peas are done and the broccoli is just about finished up. We didn't plant cauliflower (yay!), but the kale is coming on and he's already picked one head of cabbage. The corn is beginning to tassel and the potatoes are almost finished with their blooming. The pumpkin vines are huge with enormous orange blossoms (some of which are beginning to become pumpkins).

But an all time record for our garden occurred today. For on this day, July 18th, is the earliest we've ever picked a tomato. Thanks to being able to start our tomatoes in the greenhouse at the high school, we have three beefsteak tomatoes.

And thanks to my husband eating one before I could even get my camera out, I was only able to get a picture of two of them (with just a small chunk of #3 remaining).

Day 137 of 365

Today is my birthday.

I don't like birthdays. Actually, it's my own birthday I don't like. I like celebrating other peoples birthdays, just not my own.

Some years it's because I don't like getting older. Some years it's because I think about what I haven't done in life. Some years it's because in the middle of summer it is usually too hot to do anything. Some years it's because I've wasted my summer away. And some years it's because of something stupid, childish, and petty.

Presents.

Every year for my daughter and my husband's birthdays, Father's Day, and Christmas, I go big. I make sure everyone has everything they would ever need and then some. I want celebration days to be days where they feel special. I look for things they might want or need months ahead and hold onto them until the special day.

But it doesn't work that way for presents for me. They usually buy gifts last minute (although that's not the biggest complaint). The biggest issue is they won't buy me anything unless it's on a list. If it's on a list, I'll probably get it. If it's not on a list, forget about it. Last year I asked for some potholders, gift cards to the places I like to bargain shop (like Target) and a DVD of The Office TV show. Unfortunately I had also mentioned when we were repainting our porch last summer that it would be easier to smooth out the rough spots if we had an electric sander.

So for my birthday last year I got 7 potholders, all the same, all in separate bags, and a electric sander. The sander is still in the box, never used. I eventually went and bought my own DVD off of ebay.

Christmas is the same way. I won't get anything if it's not on a list. When we open gifts, we take turns. Daughter, husband, me. Daughter, husband, me. For the last 25+ years, I have been the one sitting watching everyone else open gift after gift after gift (since I run out of presents after about number six).

At some point I'll get smart and start making a bigger list. But I like the idea of being surprised on a birthday or Christmas. I like the idea of buying things that surprise others. If everyone only got what was on a list, where is the fun in that?

But this year I'm not worrying about getting older. This year I'm not worried about what I haven't done in life. This year it is hot, but not too hot. This year I know I haven't wasted my summer away. And this year I'm not caring so much about presents.

There won't even be presents today anyway. Our daughter is working all day today so we won't be "officially" celebrating today - that will come later this week.

We are having a cake today, though. A cake my husband baked and decorated. I guided him through as he made the cake and the homemade buttercream frosting. I taught him how to color the frosting and some basic cake decorating techniques. I clipped some of our rose buds from the garden for the center.

He's quite proud of his work. As am I. Don't think I could have done a better job myself.

Having a husband make you a cake is a great present!

Day 136 of 365

My horoscope today read:

Your relationship with money is about to go through a very interesting phase. You'll be tasked with managing a far larger amount than you were prepared for, and you should not attempt to go it alone. The sums involved could cause you to make incorrect assumptions. If you don't understand something -- even something small -- seek out professional advice. These are murky waters, and you definitely don't want to get in over your head.

Hmmm.

When I went to the movies with a friend from work last week, she told me a story about a lottery ticket. She had won a bit on a ticket and cashed it in. Then on her way home she stopped and bought another ticket - a lottery ticket that cost $20. And won big. Big enough where she had to go to the lottery office to claim her winnings. (Not like thousands, but several hundred dollars!) Her sister, upon learning of her luck, bought her own $20 ticket. No winner.

So as my husband and I were doing our grocery shopping today, I thought about buying one of those $20 tickets. Maybe that's what my horoscope meant - that I'd win big and need a financial adviser! Unfortunately I chickened out and didn't buy one.

Then I thought maybe it had to do with work. You'll be tasked with managing a far larger amount than you were prepared for. My new job will involve managing larger sums of money than I've managed before. And since I got the word yesterday about when my first day of work will be, and knowing that one of the first tasks will be some budget revisions, maybe my horoscope was wanting me to think ahead.

Or...

They say lightning doesn't strike twice in the same spot. (Which isn't true, but it's what "they" say.) We're planning on going to the casino this coming week. Maybe lightning will strike like it did for us when we walked out of the casino with $1500 on Day 22-Day 23.

And today's picture? Early morning lightning out my front window.

And a few bonus guest pictures!

Ruth sent in these pictures of butterflies on her purple coneflowers. 

Thanks for sharing, Ruth!

Day 135 of 365

Have I ever mentioned I like to organize? (Yeah, probably a dozen or so times now.)

I got all ten packages of batting from yesterday tucked away, my fabrics purchased earlier this week are nice and neatly organized, but my scrap baskets are overflowing.

I already used a bunch of the scraps to make blocks like those on Day  104. I even gave away some of my red blocks since I made too many for the quilts I was working on.

The turtle pillows I cut this week - all 23 of them - left lots of scraps. Lots and lots of them. In all colors and shapes and sizes. I've seen pictures on the internet how most people store their scraps in bins. But I need mine tidier and neater and easier to find. I already had plenty of scraps wrapped on those cut down comic book boards, all organized my color in a couple baskets, but I was running out of room for any more baskets.

I thought about how I had some extra boxes and some leftover contact paper from when I was teaching. I decided to cut up the boxes to fit perfectly on my shelves. Wrap them in contact paper. Cut the comic book boards down even smaller to fit in the boxes.

If anyone needs any fabric scraps, you know where to shop!

Exercise update: 89 consecutive days with a little over 22 miles on the bike this week.