The Clam Rampant

Kasia December 12th, 2008

I offered to bake some tasty treats for Jaibee’s young adult movie night tonight. Didn’t really have time or energy to make anything from scratch, so I figured I’d use mixes – it’s not quite the same, but they usually turn out quite well. (At least, they do when other people make them.)

The cranberry-orange bread turned out well, though it took quite a bit longer than the box said. I’m not sure if my oven wasn’t heating properly, if I put it in the wrong part of the oven, or if the batch of brownies I slid in halfway through started sucking up all the heat. I did forget to grease the loaf pan, but wonder of wonders, it still came out quite nicely!

That first batch of brownies…well, I think they’re a little overdone on the outside. And they took WAY long. So maybe the oven wasn’t really at 350. Note to self: get a thermometer for the oven.

The second batch of brownies came out GREAT! Just a few minutes over the time allotted, and boy, did they look pretty! But it was getting close to midnight, so I set them on top of the stove to cool overnight and went to bed. Half an hour later, prompted by what sounded like the soft “thud” of a fifteen-pound cat landing on the floor, I realized they might get knocked off the stove and the Pyrex baking dish might shatter. We don’t want that! So I got up, went into the darkened kitchen, and tucked it much further back on the stove. Problem solved! Back to bed!

This morning I got up and went to cover them (after all, last night they needed to cool).

A significant portion – let’s say somewhere between a fifth and a third – of the top is a different texture and shade than the rest. Rather like it had been licked by a scratchy cat tongue.

Mmm. Nothin’ says lovin’ like a fresh glaze of cat spit…

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Kasia December 9th, 2008

I am so sorry for my snit fit on Friday!

I can’t tell you exactly what triggered it without racking up another sin to confess on Saturday, so let’s just say I’ve got an overdeveloped sense of fairness and an underdeveloped awareness that the world just ain’t fair.  :-p

Yes. In other words: I’m a brat.

Other than my fallen, bratty nature,  things are going pretty well now. It is 46 days until the wedding, 17 or 18 days until Canuck moves here (and I get to see him for at least a little while on about 1/3 of those days), and the days in between are so doggone full that I’ll hardly have time to miss him. Well – I will miss him, of course, but being busy helps me not think about it, which in turn makes it more tolerable.

Today and tomorrow evenings are clear, so I can drop off the carload of Salvation Army donations and do more cleaning/organizing/decluttering. Thursday evening I have to pick up my shoes from being dyed and go to my initial manicure appointment. (I decided to splurge on one this month so that if she tells me I need to be, oh, say, moisturizing more? that I can do it and have time for it to take effect. I do realize that digital photography is a wonderful thing in terms of editing, but let’s face it: my hands are going to figure prominently in quite a lot of pictures in about 46 days…)

Friday I am going to a movie night at Chez Jaibee, then Saturday to Confession and am helping out with a concert down at the Cathedral in the evening. Sunday I am going to some friends’ holiday open house and trying to balance a restful Lord’s Day with a little more decluttering and organizing.

Monday of next week is clear. Tuesday I have a dentist appointment, and Wednesday I am meeting with the florist. Thursday is bridesmaid dress fitting day. Friday the 19th I plan to journey to Chatham to spend the weekend with my beloved Canuck et sa mère. Then it’s just a couple of days ’til Christmas, and then he’s here!!!

Hard to believe, but true.

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Kasia December 5th, 2008

Side note before I start: I was Googling to find out if I could find any tales of evil murderous mollusks, and look at the blog I unearthed! (Or did the tide simply roll out?) I think that Dr. Clam needs to go onto my blogroll, which is also in dire need of updating…

Anyway. I am on a bit of a near-violent bent today. I have been on short sleep for the past week, last night having been possibly the worst, have to go somewhere I REALLY don’t want to go tonight, and just found out something that reinforced something negative I’d been thinking and trying not to think – but I can’t tell you the details because that would be gossip and detraction. So I’m trying very hard to hold my tongue (or my fingers, in this case) to avoid sinning any more than I already have done. But I’m not going to like it.

Phooey.

They only thing I’ll say is that I am not cheesed off at any of you, dear readers. At least, I don’t think I am. Have you done anything lately that might have cheesed me off without my knowing it? No, I thought not. So there. That’s that.

And unfortunately, the only indoor batting cages I’ve found in the metro area want $20 for a half hour. They do have some specials – maybe I can go burn off some resentment there on Monday for their weekday walk-in special, as I’m taking the day off to get some other things done – but that’s their regular price. OUCH. That’s not happening…

Anyway, please excuse the giant emotional dump truck of righteous indignation and fifty-days-before-the-wedding stress. I hope to be back to normal tomorrow, or at least Monday or Tuesday. Poor Canuck definitely hopes I’ll be normal by tomorrow, because he definitely doesn’t need to be dealing with a constantly crying bundle of raw nerves for the next two days…

Bis spaeter! (What is that confounded umlaut alt-code again?!?)

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Kasia December 3rd, 2008

The Clam just ain’t a big pistol-shootin’ gal.

I remember going shooting (outdoors, up North) five or ten years ago with a .22 rifle and enjoying myself immensely. However, some combination of (a) having aged five to ten years, (b) shooting indoors (loud and smelly), and (c) the handgun we were using…well, it all added up me deciding it’s not my cup of tea. Which is OK, and is important for me to know about myself.

I haven’t ruled out the possibility of someday having a shotgun for home defense, but I will only buy one (or allow one in my house) IF I am convinced I would use it when the need arose. Otherwise, it’s a liability.

In any event, it was still a basically enjoyable time, and I did manage to hit the target several times – probably half of the ten or fifteen bullets that I shot, including one (on the human figure bullet) that would have been around the right lung and one just below the diaphragm. Not too shabby for my second time shooting and my first time with a handgun.

Thank you, TBS, for helping me discern who I am and who I am not.    Annie Oakley, definitely not. Maybe Grace Kelly’s Quaker character in High Noon… 

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Kasia December 2nd, 2008

Dale Price has, not surprisingly, hit another one out of the park.

I could only think of two things when looking at that picture: that poor baby, and what a kind man.

Then something else hit me.

“A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, since they were no more.”  (Mt. 2:18, NAB)

Yes, I realize the roles are reversed. But looking at that baby’s tears, knowing what he saw and survived, and knowing (as he does not yet) that he will never see the parents he is crying for again…small wonder that verse is haunting me right now.

And for Rabbi and Mrs. Holtzberg, and the other victims: may they rest in peace.

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Kasia December 2nd, 2008

Public service announcement: for the next fifty days or so, this blog is likely to be even more wedding-intensive than it has been up ’til now, and regrettably, probably in less interesting ways (more in the way of to-do lists and rattling on about the nuances of ties, pocket squares, and family dynamics). I love having y’all around, but please don’t expect a lot of earth-shattering insights. I hate seeing people disappointed!

Now that that’s out of the way… 

I called the florist, but the guy I need to meet with is out of town until next Tuesday. The woman I spoke with is going to see if he suggests a particular date and time when she talks to him this afternoon, and if not, she’s going to have him call me next week. Note to self: if he hasn’t called by the 10th, follow up.

I found a lovely, not too expensive purse online, and went ahead and ordered it. I didn’t want to spend a lot, and I especially wasn’t sure I wanted to go with a dyed purse (extra expense and what are the odds I would’ve carried an ivory purse again?), so I chose a pretty gold purse. (Definitely NOT this one! How do things that ugly even make it to the point of manufacture and distribution?!)

The shoes! They’re in my bag, and the shoe repair shop that’s handling the dyeing is open ’til 6 today. So I will stop there en route to Catechism this afternoon. I had a scare with the swatch when I was going to put my bag together last night…knowing that I am prone to losing things, I had tucked the swatch INTO the shoebox when I got it. Safe and sound, right? Well, fortunately, I checked to make sure it was still in there. It wasn’t. Apparently the shoebox had fallen open at some point…not good. Not good at all. So I tore my living room apart searching for it – finally found it, thanks be to God – and tucked it back into the shoebox, which I promptly stuck into my bag so I couldn’t then forget it this morning. Hooray for idiot-proofing! 

I still need to call my make-up artist, but at this point I’m wondering if I should wait until next pay. Hmm…I’ll balance the checkbook and then decide.

My big goal for this week, apart from what’s already been mentioned, is to get those thank-you notes written! Tonight is a good night for a big chunk of those, and I can do another installment tomorrow evening either before or after the firing range. I think what I should do, really, is set myself a goal of X many to do tonight, X many tomorrow, etc., so that I don’t get overwhelmed and feel like I MUST DO THEM ALL TONIGHT OR THE SKY WILL FALL, which of course ends up with me getting NONE of them done.

How are you all doing? 

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Kasia December 1st, 2008

Behemoth mega-phone company offers to reduce my phone plan from thirty dollars a month to…thirty dollars a month. (It’s better because it includes 5 cent per minute long distance…except that I use Skype for all of my long distance, and that’s even cheaper.)

Behemoth mega-phone company also, I discover to my chagrin, never adjusted my Internet price. My fault too for not catching it – but burn me once…

Lesson: I think the phone company’s slight edge (ability to call 911, land line capacity in case of another giant blackout like we had in ‘03) is falling behind. I will look into how much it would cost me to switch to the smaller, more competitive cable provider in the area.

Another irritation: behemoth credit card issuer has had a high rate of default in recent months. (Gee, I wonder why?) Consequently they have decided to spread the cost of their debt around by raising interest rates on all of their customers. I got the letter today, read it, called my beloved, and we agreed to opt out of it. Had a very nice conversation with the customer service rep, who has no doubt been having a TERRIBLE day (when, oh when, will people learn that the person you can actually get at the other end of the line probably had nothing to do with the decision you’re upset about, and probably can’t reverse it even if you do berate them?), and opted out. Am throwing the card in the freezer for reference purposes, but don’t intend to use it again (even though they are allowing me to use it under the old terms until it expires, which is 13 months away).

Lesson: I’d been meaning to switch back to cash-and-debit-only anyway – keeping the card around and in my wallet made it easier to use when I knew I really oughtn’t. This is a great incentive to get back onto the envelope system I used to use. I think that will be my new month’s resolution!

I heard about several urgent prayer requests today, but I don’t know if the people concerned would want them listed out on the Internet. If you wouldn’t mind saying a prayer or two for three unnamed intentions, I would be deeply appreciative.

- Clam

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Kasia December 1st, 2008

For once I was relieved to get an update e-mail from The Knot (which I’ve been using to manage my to-do list and the guest list). It said, in essence “With two months to go, here is what you should be thinking about: writing your vows, addressing your invitations, and getting the right undergarments.”

Well. We’re not writing our vows – the Church doesn’t allow for that option, and truth be told we’re both quite happy with the tried-and-true. All the invitations are out, even the one that’s wending its way to England. My undergarments are purchased and ready – even my hosiery has arrived (took long enough – don’t get me started about that vendor). So far, so good.

Now, there is still plenty to do:

1. I need to meet with the florist to finalize what we’re doing – they’re not open on Mondays, so I’ll call tomorrow or thereabouts to set up an appointment.
2. I need to finish my bridal shower thank-you notes THIS WEEK. I refuse to have my second shower (the one for the Canadian contingent) before I’ve finished the thank-yous for the first shower…and the second shower is this Sunday! Eeek!
3. The bridesmaid dresses are in, and we have an appointment for fittings before Christmas. My dress won’t come in until about two weeks before the wedding, so it’ll be a bit of a scramble, but all the more incentive to get everything else done and ready before New Year’s.
4. I’ve got to get my shoes dyed (probably drop them off en route to the parish for Catechism tomorrow), and I have an appointment next week to take care of the jewelry details. Once that’s all set, I will be good to go for the fittings in January.
5. I need to call my make-up artist and order the lipstick and lip liner for the wedding day (sorry, Joie!), so she can get that put in and rolling – I definitely want both of them, for security’s sake if nothing else. I love that illusion of control… 
6. Oh – I should think about some kind of small dressy purse to keep the lipstick and my wallet in, as I’ll be driving us to the honeymoon site. And I should probably give my car a good, sound cleaning between now and the wedding.
7. The worship aids are nearly done, but I need the cover (a graphic designer I know is very generously creating a cover for us) and to finalize a few details inside. We keep hitting walls about the gift bearers and the intercessions – we have all sorts of ideas, but we don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings by excluding them. (Long story – if you want an explanation, I think a whole separate post is going to be needed…)
8. Oh – the favors are ordered, but I need to hash out the details of their presentation (wrapping, etc.) with the friend who’s making them, probably by Christmas.

I think that’s it for what I can do between now and New Year’s - I think everything else is dependent on having the RSVPs all in (i.e. final counts to restaurant and cake maker, special dietary needs to restaurant) and/or has a time constraint that is not negotiable (i.e. getting the marriage license, which can only be done a maximum of 30 days prior to the wedding).

Wow. I’m surprisingly calm, all things considered.

But I still am looking forward to going to the firing range with TBS soon. What bride-to-be doesn’t have any latent stress she could stand to squeeze out with some target practice? 

** UPDATE **

I forgot about going to my final NFP class this Friday and needing to find ties and pocket squares for the guys. Canuck also needs to decide if he’s giving his guys anything besides the ties and pocket squares (and now that I think of it, he and I should talk about our overlap attendants). And we need to finish up finding gifts for our parents. Inhale…exhale. Inhale…exhale. Don’t hyperventilate!

Oh – and TBS is taking me shooting Wednesday. Mmm…live ammo…

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