Our Tiny Little One-Guest "Party"

 The trip to the store on Wednesday hurt the wallet since I had Christmas napkins that could not be found. I didn't look hard and Tommy overlooks things. So, probably right here under our noses. I will save them until next Christmas! 

We had to go to Publix and to Walgreen's to get a med I had requested from several doctores for a week. New family doctor was gone for two weeks I found out after much frustration. Why doesn't the office staff say he is not in instead of letting me think he is getting a message?

We sat in line at the pharmacy for an hour. Okay, it was only 55 minutes. Still! When we got to the window, the pharmacy had the same wrong prescription I was offered two days before. Then, they had to get it out and read directions to finally believe me that it was in the wrong form. The pharmacist, not a tech, said I would have to "walk in." I yelled through the window I could not. He then told me drive around and he would have the right med for me when I got back around. I refused and told him there were only four cars ahead of us and no one drove around. They just waited, and I was waiting, too. 

The man had a phone to his ear, but he could not hear us and we could not hear him except through the window glass since something was wrong with their phone to the outside. So, we yelled back and forth-so annoying. We finally left without the med.

So, we got home around 5 pm and company is coming at 6 pm! I had to shred cheese and Tommy had to mix cheese, sausage, and Bisquick. It was touch and go. I never got dressed in my finery, had not gotten ready at all. The plan was to wear full makeup for the first time in three years. He did, changed into a green shirt. 

I told Tommy we would have to work one at a time in the kitchen and the other sit to entertain. I cut a piece of fabric that had sequins on it and put it on the two small table in the living room. I put food on these. It was quite a festive look. I did not make rows of tidbits on the glass tree plate, just put tomatoes, cherries, red grapes and cheese squares. On the other table, I put two goat cheeses--sundried tomato and herbs/garlic. Wheat Thins were nearby. A dish had kisses and Hershey's Miniatures. The dozen or so sausage balls burned to a crisp, but I did not put in a second batch. 

It took Tommy 30 minutes to slice enough ham for three sandwiches on rye. I made the sandwiches right on my lap in the living room. It worked and no one wanted another. I had another dish of chocolate covered cherries-Cella and the whole box of Russell Stover chocolate candies, forgot what. My thrift store silver dish had pecans. 

At the thrift store three years ago, I had bought three little tree dishes, about 6-7 inches long. They worked for the candy. 

S Rosen rye bread is tiny, perfect for party-sized sandwiches. As it turned out, Lynda loves rye bread. Oh, I bought leaf lettuce since I love the ruffly leaves and was going to use them on the party Christmas plate of foods. Didn't happen.

I bought a 24 ounce bottle of Welch's Sparkling Sangria, non-alcoholic, and Seven Up. We drank it straight or with Seven UP. Lynda was glad I did not buy wine. Since neither Tommy nor I wanted wine and she did not, this worked. It was festive, not just another day with a Coke.

The spreaders, cocktail forks, tongs and spoons worked fine. So did the frilly toothpicks. I am prepared for occasions from now to eternity! Lynda stayed from 6-8:45 pm. 

We gave her a red Hershey's Kiss with fairy lights and silver kisses inside. She was thrilled. She gave each of us handwarmer muffs. I had seen these lots of places and thought it was a good idea. She complains about her feet being cold, so I told her to get one of these for each foot. I had two dog toys for her dog but could only find one. She said the dog loves to toss them and try to catch them. Good. 

We laughed lots. I finally put on lipstick and my necklace and bracelets and just wore the red blouse I had on all day. Lynda was very festively dressed. The lengthy Walgreen's stay took up the time we had to finish getting things ready. 

The dip did not get made, but there was little to dip. I just did not put dippable veggies out. Lynda loved the goat cheese with sundried tomatoes, so she focused on that. None of the bathroom hand towels were used as no one even went in...TMI. 

I had ornaments for the tree, sitting in tiny bins next to the tree, but they disappeared. We just had lights on the pre-lit 4 foot tree. I have two sets of three battery powered candles, the red Kiss light, so the room was nicely lit. I turned on the uplight on the floor lamp and the light was just right in here. I put out my fake poinsettia in a colorful container--$5 for the whole thing.

We were both pleased with our tiny one-guest "party." I baked nothing and things turned out fine. I am accustomed to baking for things at my house. 

I was exhausted, so true to my propensities, I left everything until morning except food that needed a refrigerator. Unfortunately, I did leave the rest of the sausage ball mixture out of the refrigerator, so that was tossed Thursday afternoon after Tommy found it. I was planning on eating sausage balls for Saturday. On Thursday, I bought another chunk of cheese and a pound of sausage. 

We loaded the dishwasher this afternoon. Tommy washed the larger things that would not go in the dishwasher, and I washed the smaller party dishes. 

The rest of the party is still out, some, just a bit. I am in no hurry to put things away as long as it drains me! 

Today, I remembered I did not put out my Santa and reindeer. When I get through typing, that will be put out since Tommy just brought me their boxes. 

Meals

Friday: ham, mac and cheese, and salad...we have lots of salad to eat, leftovers we find.

Saturday: sausage balls, cheese/crackers, fruit in jello, more salad, candy

Sunday, I think I will have our Thanksgiving Turkey dinner: turkey breast from the freezer, sweet potatoes, Stovetop Stuffing jazzed up with lots of celery and onions chopped from freezer, green bean casserole

I know people are missing whole family gatherings, so not too upset at the Walgreen's glitch. Are you missing family gatherings because of this weather? Have you ever had a major glitch and  plans not being executed that was really a bummer? 

I may change pharmacies. 

Party Time

Once I awoke and waited for Tommy to wake up, we watched Meet the Press. Then, I put together the two Red Kiss candy dishes. It was a chore, batteries installed and the tension of wondering if the lights and remotes would work. Both worked. Once I had the fairy lights unrolled, I had to wad them up and stuff them into the kiss. I then put a handful of Hershey's kisses on top of the lights and battery. Of course, putting the glass candy dishes back in their packaging was another little chore. Finally, I finished. Now, I need to wrap them.

Since I don't want to use plastic for our little party, I need glasses. Tommy's smoke glasses are ugly. I bought two glasses for us to use with a Christmas dinner but he pouted all Christmas and would not even open his eyes or eat. So, I only have two, anyway. I can get another glass and use mismatched glasses, like that would even matter. 

But, I have another vision for glasses--stemless wine glasses. We don't need vessels for ice tea with a meal. Lynda loves sweetened iced tea. I have a $23 refund from Walgreen's, so maybe they have cheap stemless wine glasses there and I won't have to spend money. 

Of course, I can have ice with my huge-cube ice cube trays. I still haven't polished my silver dish I can use. 

No, I don't know when this will all happen. 

So, these are my plans and thoughts. 

Do you like planning special occasions, get-togethers?

Am I missing anything? 

There are disposable hand towels in the bathroom in a tray/dish with a candle. It is an electric votive and a pretty short dish/vase or something I found in his cabinet. I have two sets of three, pillar candles, battery operated. They flicker. 

If Tommy would agree to a place to hang a hand towel, I could use a cloth towel. But, since there is not one towel bar in the bathroom except one in the shower, I cannot just use a cloth towel! Since there are diseases going around, I suppose the disposable towels are better. 

I have a Fitz and Floyd small, oval, serving piece for sandwiches. I am thinking little ham sandwiches on Party Rye, cucumber sandwiches, and sausage balls. The glass serving dish shaped like a Christmas tree will have fruits and vegetables lined up across it in rows. That will work. I will use another of the Christmas saucers to serve cookies/sweets. And, there is a Christmas bowl for halos.

Our drink will definitely be non-alcoholic. When in one store looking for a muscadine juice which Lynda loves, I happened to see a bottle of blackberry wine--Mogen David. I think that is a step above Ripple, but it looked and sounded great. I think I could smell blackberries, maybe not. 

While in Publix, I saw a tray of 12 Christmas petit fours. I loved them and wanted them. Then I saw the price and changed my mind--$17.94. Never mind! The boxes of Christmas cookies look and taste gross. 

I wish I had my blow mold Santa, about 4 feet high and very old. Also, after many years I scored a Coca Cola cardboard Santa, life-size, of course. Yes, I would put both in here, right in the living room. The blow mold has a light bulb in it, so there is no need for another light...lol...in the whole house! 

I have a Christmas cd. I don't have anything else and don't want to depend on the radio...lol. Oooh, forgot that I have set of Christmas silverware. 

I have finally gotten everything worked out. All I need is to get the tree up. That will be about 30 minutes since it is only 3 feet high. I only need the glasses or one more glass so we will all three have a glass instead of a plastic solo cup. 

Great parties are my thing. All my entertaining supplies are either piled in a box or in the dump. So, this is starting over! This has been lots of thinking! It is not like I can just reach into a drawer or cabinet and get things out that I need. 

Wet and Sleepless in Alabama, but It's Christmas

 It was rainy all day long. At 8 am I got up to cancel an appointment in Cullman. I am terrified of riding in the rain with Tommy since he fiddles with the wipers, turning them off until I am blind and trying to turn them back on and drive. He terrifies me! They understood. Then, I had to stay awake until 9 am to cancel a doctor down here. I was going to have to cancel him anyway since I got the Cullman appointment very late on Friday.

Luckily, she had another appointment for me this week. I had slept three hours, so I tried to sleep around noon. But, sleep would not come--bed too uncomfortable, shoulders still hurt from the fall, dogs were barking incessantly right next to my bedroom window. It was a nightmare. I got up grumpy, very ill with everything. 

At the last moment we got to the PO and Tommy went in with my stamped cards and the one international card, my cc, stamps and purchased an international stamp. I will mail cards as I get them done. So, three off today. It is a start. I emphasized that I wanted a pretty stamp, so I sent the Christmas flower stamps. He said the international stamp had a red carnation, so that made me happy.

I am planning a tiny Christmas "party" with Lynda. She cannot drive in the dark. So, this will be early and not a dinner like she served. Well, she bought fried chicken and potato salad, strawberries and grapes from Publix. It was festive and bought food was just fine. There was something chocolate, too. What we have left over will make easy lunches and snacks for later.

I won't be cooking dinner, I told her, just heavy hors d'oeuvres. It will be snacky and easy but filling--tiny ham sandwiches, round cucumber sandwiches, cherries, baby carrots, broccoli, grape tomatoes, dip, nuts, chocolate, Christmas-y cookies, bowl of halos. This menu will probably change. I planned this all in about five minutes. We have talked it over, and I will drive the block to get her and take her home. 

We cannot eat at the table, so that is why the fare does not require lots of serving bowls, and utensils, mostly finger foods. And, we have one chair in the living room so we can have one person over. My culinary skills will not be on display, just my presentation skills. I now have enough nice pieces for serving all this. 

I just retrieved the pink bag ads. At Publix ham is $1.49/lb. There were two coupons in the coupon sections for $.75 off Jimmy Dean Sausage, my favorite. Now, I have until Dec. 31 to find it on sale. There are other good prices, too. The ham is the first thing I saw. I was hurrying to heat the ham so we could watch TV.

The Great Christmas Light Fight in on TV, NBC. I love it. 

Are you planning anything for Christmas at your house? Well, other than Santa coming?

Dinner--half of tiny center cut ham slice, leftover butternut squash, collards. 

OH NO! Price Hike! New Med

 I love the cheap machines for Cokes and Pepsi. I like paying $.50 for a drink. But, they went up to $.75 cents, a 50% hike. That is bad! It is not just right. Have you noticed this?

Friday, at the new doctor I was given a new med over my objections. He did not force me, of course, but told me to take it for about three weeks and make up my mind. He put me on Cymbalta for fibromyalgia. I cannot drive with this stuff in me. But, I have not driven in over a year, so not a problem at the moment. 

Friday night, I had a sudden urge to go to bed at 1:45 and went. I slept until 6:30 and woke and could not sleep another wink. I got up at 8 am because it was hot in the bedroom even though the thermostat was on 68F. About 10 am I could not keep my eyes open and slept until 2 pm and got up about 2:30 because it was hot again. 

This is no way to feel, to live, or to be. Words don't come easily right now. It has even affected typing. 

Tonight, we will have spaghetti and meatballs and salad to bread up the monotony of chicken and salad. I could eat chicken breasts three times each day, but Tommy is not so eager. He has eaten it four nights in a row, so I am not complaining. 

The neighbors next door are planning a blowout. There is a huge party size tent in the back yard. Her picture is out front--she's 50. And, there are lots of metallic balloons. Two banners adorn the chain link fence, one for her and one for a person turning 21. They had to remove the swing from the large covered patio and two cornhole games are leaning out front. An industrial size fan and another large one are both pointed toward the big tent. A party company set all this up yesterday and stuff keeps appearing out front. No, we were not invited. Saturday night and no place to go. Well, it is that way all the time...so we will not suffer. These are the neighbors who pay someone to mow Tommy's yard. 

This afternoon, I bought at The Pig and got free sour cream, buying nothing extra to get Kraft Cheddar chunk cheese at $2.27.  

Have you ever taken Cymbalta and how did it work for fibromyalgia pain?