Day Seven: One Sentence Saturday

A day of secrecy and deception... don't worry, it's the good kind.

Day Six: Share Your First Blog Post

Alright!  I've been thinking abut starting a blog for a few months now, and decided now was the time.  Or rather, the universe has been bombarding me with various signs that I should act.  So here we are!  

About the name.  I love tea and I love hats.  Not just tiny hats mind you, but the alliteration sounds so nice.  This blog will include many things: recipes, crafty stuff (I make jewelry), bits from my home life, as well as things related to my pagan path.

I hope you enjoy my posts, whoever you are.

That up there is my first post.  Pretty simple really.  I've now been blogging a little over two years.  It's sad how little progress I've made.  BUT!  I have plans.  Most wondrous plans.  I want to get a banner made eventually, have an About Me page, as well as a 101 goals in 1001 days progress page.  I also noticed (and forgot apparently) that I wanted to share my jewelry here in the first place.  I think my head got stuck on how this should be a pagan blog and as a result I got stuck.  

Day Five: Ten Things About Me

This is day five of the Kickin' It Old Skool blog-a-thon.  See it here.

My mom is up top, my oldest sister is bottom left and my older sister is to the right.

1. I am the youngest of three girls.  Most people think I'm at least the middle. 

2. I have an insatiable love for fantasy fiction.  I read other genres too, but fantasy just speaks to me.

3. I am a collector of dragons and turtles.  I have 9 dragons and 16 turtles sprinkled about my room.  This is a guess... there may be more.

4. I was born in upstate New York.  When I was 9 we moved to the Metro-Detroit area in Michigan.

Our old house in Waddington.  When we lived there we painted it street sign green.  People talked.  It was a small town.

5. I make jewelry.  I have never posted any pictures of it on here.  For reasons, see #6.

6. I am battling perfectionism.  It makes it that I am so afraid of doing something wrong, that I won't do it at all.

7. When I was a toddler I cut the roof of my mouth with a broom handle.  I was too young to remember it, but I do have a scar.

8.I have moved approximately 15 times in my lifetime. Across two states and four counties have I spread my awesomeness.  All in 22 years of life.

9. I played the saxophone in sixth grade.  It sounded like a dying goose.

10. I am a 1 with a two wing on the enneagram and an INTJ on the Myers-Briggs test.

Day Four: Weather Wednesday

Today has been gray.  Dreary.  Too warm for winter but not warm enough to be comfortable without a coat.  Not cold enough for snow T^T  I want snow now.  It's wet and soggy and tiring.  Rain makes me tired for some reason.  

Anyway, to stop my incessant complaining, today has been and inside day.  A day for chores and crafts and hot beverages.  I suppose we must have days like this so that we can enjoy the more pleasurable weather when it's time comes.

On another note... what's up with the spelling of the word Wednesday?

Day Three: Colors

I missed yesterday because I was at my sister's house.  We shall pick up from here!

[ RED ]

1. What's the first thing you think of when you think of red? - Amaryllis flowers 
2. Closest red thing to you? - This Is Not A Book by Keri Smith
3. What is the last thing that made you angry? - A friend of the family has been rather rude to my sister lately.
4. Are you a fan of romance? - Romance as in the novels? No.  I do like romance as a sub-genre, not the main point of a story.  Romance in and of itself is fine though.
5. Do you have a temper? - Yes.  I'm trying to be better about it.

[ GREEN ]

1. What's the first thing you think of when you think of green? - Clovers
2. Closest green thing to you? - My lighter for candles
3. What's your favorite green environment? - Outside with all of the trees.
4. Are you jealous of anyone right now? - I don't think I'm a very jealous person in general, so no.
5. Are you a lucky person? - Yes... at least compared to some people in my family.

[ PURPLE ]

1. What's the first thing you think of when you think of purple? - My mother because she loves purple.
2. Closest purple thing to you? - My stuffed Limbo Legs turtle Neon is mostly purple.
3. Do you like being treated like royalty? - In the fantasy way it would be cool, but princesses don't get to do jack.  It's all manners all the time.  I think I would go nuts.
4. Do you like mysterious things? - Oooh yes please.
5. Are you intuitive? - I think so.  Sometimes my logic gets in the way though.

[ BLUE ]

1. What's the first thing you think of when you think of blue? - The sky *grand upward gesture*
2. Closest blue thing to you? - My finger crochet project
3. Are you good at calming people down? - Not really.  That's more my sister's forte.
4. What's your favourite body of water (i.e. lake, ocean, etc)? - I really like rivers.  I think it's because I grew up around a lot of them.
5. What was the last thing that made you cry? - My own fictional story going on in my head.
6. Are you a logical thinker? -Yes.  A lot yes.

[ YELLOW ]

1. What's the first thing you think of when you think of yellow? - Butter/buttercups, they both came within a second of one another.
2. Closest yellow thing to you? - Gold doesn't count I wager?  I seem to be quite lacking in the yellow department.  The closest thing is some yellow fake flowers that re a part of a bouquet from my sister's wedding.
3. What was one of the happiest times of your life? - My aforementioned sister's wedding was pretty awesome.
4. What's your favorite holiday? - I like Christmas because I like giving people presents.
5. What makes you happy? - Tea, Victorian things, Hats, Swords, Books, Courteous people.

[ PINK ]

1. What's the first thing you think of when you think of pink? - Bubble gum.
2. Closest pink thing to you? - Again I seem to be lacking in pink as well.  I don't actually see any pink in here O.o
3. What sweet things do you like? - I just ate 4 Ferrero Rocher chocolates ._. So a lot of them.
4. Are you sensitive? - In certain ways.
5. What is your favourite flower? - Stargazer lilies.
6. Does you have a crush on someone? - Nope.

[ ORANGE ]

1. What's the first thing you think of when you think of orange? - An orange.  SO original I know.
2. Closest orange thing to you? - A bag holding old socks.  I will make these into a rag rug.
3. Do you dress up for Halloween? - I like to when I can.
4. What gives you the warm fuzzies? - People who do or say nice things.
5. What would your superpower be? - The power to discern the correct course of action no matter what.

[ BROWN ]

1. What's the first thing you think of when you think of brown? - Leather.
2. Closest brown thing to you? - My desk.
3. What is your favorite type of chocolate? - I like all types, but I really like dark chocolate since I can't eat a lot in one sitting.
4. What makes you feel grounded? - Drinking tea and just being.  I am a naturally grounded person.
5. Paint the wood or always leave it au naturel? -  Stain and seal it to protect it, but otherwise leave it alone.  I love the look of natural wood.  

[ WHITE ]

1. What's the first thing you think of when you think of white? - Cotton
2. Closest white thing to you? - The pad of paper in front of me.
3. Do you always try to keep the peace? - Heck no.  Again, that's my sister's thing.  I say if you need to argue, better get it out so you can get back to rational discussion.
4. Do you like to play in the snow? - Yeah!  I love it when it snows.  I don't like warm, wet winters.
5. Are you afraid of going to the doctors or dentist? - I get a little anxious, but I power through it pretty well.

[ BLACK ]

1. What's the first thing you think of when you think of black? - The darkness.
2. Closest black thing to you? - My headphones.
3. Are you sophisticated or silly? - I can be both at varying times.  Though most would say I'm more sophisticated/serious.
4. Do you have a lot of secrets? - I am a private person, but I don't really have secrets.
5. What's the new black? - Black is black.  Stop trying to replace it!

Day  One: De-Selfie

Day one for the Kickin' It Old Skool Blog-a-thon is to take a selfie!  Or use an old one, as some have.  I just took one with my webcam.  Freshly showered and dressed, aren't I lovely?  How do ya'll like my short hair?  I recently donated about a foot of hair to a local cancer program.

If anyone wants to find the blog-a-thon, it can be found here.

The Turkey of Terror

Let me start off by saying that the title is a tad melodramatic.  But hey, this was my first time cooking Thanksgiving dinner by myself, with a little help from my sister.

My mother, who usually cooked the turkey, was ill this particular year.  She was too sick to help or even answer any questions I may have had.  I ended up calling my eldest sister (who lived in Missouri at the time) for details on how to cook the turkey itself.  Everything else I already knew how to cook.

However, there was some confusion as to whether the turkey need to be covered at first or not.  I ended up having to take the turkey out of the oven and cover it with foil (seeing as is was freaking huge).  This was back when we got the biggest turkey possible, not realizing that a 19 pound turkey could feed the four people easily while still having leftovers.  

Anyway, when I took the turkey out the foil decided to disobey my will to have it adhere to the pan properly.  Eventually I made it submit, though not before burning myself on the roasting pan.  Then I went to put it back in the oven only to find it now wouldn't fit properly.  So after I moved the oven grates and made to put it back in the oven, some of the chicken broth in the pan spilled into the inside of the oven.  Annnndd naturally caught fire.  Plumes of smoke began to rise from the kitchen.  Then the smoke alarms started.  Needless to say, it was a marvelous experience.

The fire itself I managed to put out fairly easily, but the windows had to stay open for awhile and the alarms would not shut up.  I was amazed that my mother somehow managed to remain dead asleep during this debacle.  Luckily her then-boyfriend was there to help clear the smoke by holding the door open, so I didn't lose my only helper.  I eventually got the turkey back in the oven with no remaining problems.  It even browned rather nicely.  My mother did get up in time to watch me take the thing out of the oven.  She looked over at the turkey and suppressed a giggle.  I glared at her in her pajama'd glory, me in my dirty apron and sweaty brow, and asked what was so funny.

I cooked the turkey upside-down.