Knitting and Cupcake Therapy

Mourning the loss of my cousin, interviews going well, but waiting, waiting, waiting for offers, tired of spending all day every day looking for jobs.... what's a girl to do????

Why Indulge in a little Knitting and Cupcake Therapy, of course!!!!

The past few weeks have had so many ups and downs. Hopeful news and then sad endings, but remembering Lynn, I can't help but bake everything I can think of with peanut butter. I'm tellin' Ya for REAL, there was noone on the planet that loved peanut butter more than my cousin.

Sunday afternoon I made peanut butter cookies in his honor and now those are gone, so this morning I noticed a suggested variation on the back of a Betty Crocker Butter flavor cake mix which REALLY caught my eye. I was somewhat skeptical, and of course as always, didn't follow the instructions completely but WOW! Are these ever some awesome cupcakes!!!!! I added 1/2 cup peanut butter to the mix with 1-1/2 c. water, 1/2 c. margarine and 3 eggs. The resulting batter was super fluffy! There was just enough batter for 24 perfect cupcakes.

Instead of following package directions for a combination boiled ingredient plus whipped cream frosting, I made my own using approximately 1/3 c. butter, About a Tablespoon or 2 of shortening, maybe 2/3 c. peanut butter and enough confectioner's sugar to combine well, with a splash of half-n-half to create the proper spreadable fluffiness, and oh my oh my goodness are these ever heavenly peanut butter cupcakes and I'm hoping my sweet cousin is smiling down from above and enjoying them with me!

YUMMMMMMYYYYY!!!

But cupcake therapy, albeit good, is not as good as cupcake therapy and knitting! Seriously, I'm spending SO MUCH TIME EVERY DAY answering ads and going on interviews.... it's high time some knitting was done!

Should I finish one of possibly 4 projects already in process???!?


NOOOOOOO!!!! It's much more fun to pour over old issues of Vogue Knitting and catch the inspirational kick needed to start my first project on double pointed needles.

Hey Kathy! If you happen to be reading, I'm making a pair of those fingerless gloves. (My sweet friend Kathy didn't catch my fingerless glove fever, even though I tried to explain how great it would be to have gloves to type and knit in..) It seems my friend likes to have her fingers warm, too... That's okay. I still think she's plenty smart and awesome.... and I just know that any gloves I knit for Kathy will most assuredly include fingers =) Or then again, maybe Kathy will get a hat and not gloves. Yes, I think that's better. =)

About DPNs: It felt awkward for the first couple of rows, but I think soon I'll have the hang of it. As with the cupcakes, I'm not following the instructions to the letter, but this concept looks pretty easy. The original instructions were for an even number of stitches with instructions to begin alternate rows with k1, p1 to be followed by p1,k1. Well, I get distracted too easily and my gauge was a tiny bit large, so I reduced the pattern to an odd number of stitches so that I don't have to keep up with what row I'm on, but can simply k1,p1,k1,p1 and the seed stitch occurs without thinking about it(a little trick I picked up on another project). So far it seems gauge is cooperating and soon I will be to a point where I can take the ultimate test to see if it indeed will fit over my hands.

Well, the husband cooked hotdogs for lunch, so I'm off to maybe an employment application or two and then more knitting and cupcakes!!!!

I highly recommend this therapy. =)

Happy Days everyone.


Aunt M

In Loving Memory

Lynn Moore
a/k/a Floyd Moore
Cousin
Brother I never Had

Remembering the People, Places and Things Lynn (Floyd) Loved, in no particular order:

Tiffany
Jeremy, Lindsay and those beautiful adorable grandbabies
The Blues
The Ocean
Fishing
Surfing
Playing the Dobro
The camp at the Beach
Billy
Roger
Sweden
Playing guitar
Singing
Recording and Mixing
His Mac
The house he grew up in
Music, music, music
The Longhorns
The Oilers
a good joke
Oh how he loved a good laugh
All of his amazing and loyal friends that I haven't met yet
Peanut Butter Sandwiches washed down with gallons of milk
crawfish
redfish
anyfish, especially hanging off a his line
pretty girls
jammin'
singin'
just hangin'
chatting with friends online
did I mention the Blues?

It's good to remember the things that Floyd loved today, because, well maybe it's because he was my extra special cuz, but when I thought of Floyd, I only thought of love. He never complained to me. He only showed his love for me, his baby cousin who looked up to him like a brother. He loved his family, his grandma and grandad. Even though there were lines wrapped around the sidewalks in Sweden waiting to hear him play the blues and fans treating him like a rock star, his family meant everything to him and he chose to stay close enough to Port Arthur to be there and check on my Uncle Orin and Aunt Bo, his extra-special grandparents who raised him. He was loyal to friends and family. He loved his Aunt Chuck and Uncle Mac and Aunt Bunchy and Marjorie and all of the cousins. If he loved you, and chances are, if you were in his life, he did, then you know he was a big giant teddy bear with the warmest hugs made by man.

I'm not making him out to be perfect or anything he wasn't. He did what he pleased and didn't hurt anyone. He was loving and gentle and at the same time made his own way. He didn't force his ways on anyone yet maintained his own ground.

He will be remembered and missed and thought fondly of for the rest of my days. My comfort in this sad time for those of us left behind is the hope that as he crossed to the other side, he was greeted by his beautiful and sweet mother that he hadn't seen since a small, small boy, his faithful dog Irene, Aunt Bo, Uncle Oren, Mommo and Pap.

Now. Sad stuff aside. Here's some other stuff I remember:

I'll always remember my move to LA. Lynn offered to drive me and Buddy to California on the condition that if I ever changed my mind, I'd pick up the phone and he would come and bring me back to Texas. I spent a fun night with Lynn and Tiffany at her house in Austin and then we hit the road. There wasn't much space in the cab of that U-haul. Lynn drove, Buddy sat right in the middle of the cab and I was holding up the passenger side. Along about 10pm I started pointing out hotels. Lynn would say, "let's go a little farther". Just a little farther.... We stopped in El Paso to give Buddy a chance to whiz. Poor dog couldn't find a blade of grass and jumped right back into the truck. You see, I had budgeted the cash to spend two nights in hotels... but NOOOOOO... With Lynn behind the wheel we made it from San Antonio to LA in 23 1/2 hours. We arrived so early that my landlord couldn't be found and we had to wait a day to claim my new apartment. We searched around and after a few tries finally found a hotel that would take us along with the dog, grabbed a long-awaited night's sleep and headed to Sunset. We had lunch at the House of Blues and fun was had by all (well, Buddy didn't enjoy it, but he was in the car). Lynn was right, of course. It was more fun spending the hotel money on good food and being entertained by live music at the House of Blues than it would have been to grab a few winks in a less than opulent motel off the I-10.

Love you Cuz!

Tiffany, I love you like a sister, too. We will always and forever be adopted sisters and friends. I don't know anyone more loving and giving and cheerful and amazing than you and I'm so thankful you two had each other! You have my undying respect and devotion.

Hugs,

M

Kitchen and Kraft Korner

Decisions, decisions. I'm liking the color choices, yet struggling over sweater design.



I've finally completed the slacks (above) and happily realized that in addition to the scarf I made to match, it appears I have a lovely wool/silk/cotton yarn mix (New Tweed) that will make a beautiful cardigan... if I can only settle on a design. It must be simple, yet incorporate all the colors shown above. hmm... there are also 6 balls of coordinating yarn in a pale gold and deep burgundy; however, I might save those for another project. (I'm hoping doggy sweater and blanket for new family addition, if the new job is close to home). Yippee!!!!!

Aunt Melissa's kitchen opened briefly last night and the aroma emanating from kitchen was HEAVENLY!!
Notice the simple ingredients: Crushed Garlic, Crushed fresh ginger, Dijon Mustard, Coriander, Cumin, Rosemary and Salt. To Approximately 2 heaping teaspoons of Garlic, Ginger and Dijon Mustard, I added 1-1/2 heaping teaspoons of Coriander, 1 teaspoon Cumin, approx 3/4 teasoon Rosemary (you have to be careful or rosemary overpowers) and a few shakes of salt. To this mixture I poured a nice olive oil until a nice spreading consistency was reached, then, with spoon/spatula, covered the exterior and interior cavity of chicken.

Baked between 1-1/2 - 2 hours in a 375 degree oven. Simple, yummy and tonight more recipes will benefit by leftovers.

=)






Now, I'm off to run errands and return for more interview preparations. Have a great day and all my best to you from Aunt Melissa's Kitchen!

Interviews, Interviews, Interviews and Beach

Good evening friends!

What a promising week this has been on the career-search front. I've had two in-person interviews, two telephone interviews and a in-person scheduled next week. Thanks for all the positive thoughts, prayers and recommendations. I'm truly blessed and hopeful!

This afternoon, after a positive interview I headed up the coast to Neptune's Net for an early lunch and then spent the majority of the afternoon making phone calls and planning strategy for the
next interviews.

Prayers, Prayers and More Prayers

Prayers of Healing, Hope, Peace and Love:

Blues / Roots Music / Surf
Please send every positive thought and your most earnest prayers for my most extra special and sweet cousin Lynn "Floyd Moore". Cancer treatments ended today and he moves to hospice care next week. Lynn moved me to LA in 1996 with the reminder that if I ever changed my mind and wanted to come home, all I had to do was pick up the phone and he would come back and bring me home. Lynn's my cousin, but I've always thought of him as the brother I never had. Love, love, love sent your way, cuz! Check out his band's myspace page and smile as you hear him play the blues...

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=170584752
Floyd Moore Band


Happy News:

I have two promising interviews next week and hope to have a third before the week is through. Luckily all are in California, although the big money seems to be calling from Texas. I would love to stay in CA a while longer, do a few remodeling projects, get a dog... but God will take us where we are supposed to be. I'm sure of it.

I haven't taken much time off from the job search of late, but I did manage to give myself one day's break this week and read a book for fun.

If you ask me, there's almost nothing better* to take your mind off troubles than a Richard Jury mystery. Thank Melisa for introducing me to the series almost 4 years ago? Wow, time flies.


*knitting, cooking, singing, camping, but that's a short list! =)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fun day with girlfriends planned for tomorrow. First on the itenerary is a trip to Michael Levine's to shop for fabric with my good friend Kathy, http://www.mlfabric.com/
followed by dinner, knitting and movies with my best friend, Katya...

Prayers of Thanksgiving:

Antibiotics are shrinking the scary lump Mom found a few days ago and our fears are gone. She has successfully banished breast cancer and skin cancer in the last two years and we are happy, happy, happy that a trip to the dentist might be the simple answer to our latest scare.

Closing Thought for the Day:

Following is a favorite scripture that has always given me hope, but today, I've chosen it as the thought for the day. I send it with love to Lynn and Tiffany, as I'm strengthened by it too.

Christian New Testament - Romans 8:28 - 30 (NIV): "More than Conquerors" (underlines and bold not in original text)

"28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God fore-knew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined he also called; those he called, he also glorified. 31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all---how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died---more than that, who was raised to life---is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." 37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Love Peace and Healing Everybody!!!!