Some random thoughts/added a counter

Here are some random thoughts, not because I was tagged, but because I have random thoughts tonight.

First, I installed a counter on my blog a week or ten days ago (see at nearly the bottom of the first page of the site). I wanted that fact noted here, since I forgot to do it earlier, so I could have some kind of reference point.

After installing the counter, the number of hits to my blog were just cranking up there so fast that I was totally creeped out by the thought that that many people were reading my blog. "Egad," I said to myself, "who are these people?!?" However, I have discovered the numbers are somewhat inflated, maybe even quite inflated. The counter tallies when I open my own blog multiple times right after I post in order to see how things look and to proofread, and I do that compulsively. I can tally up about ten hits of my own that way on each post. (And that is on just a short post--I think on this one I've created, easily, about twenty hits!) Once I discovered this phenomenon, I relaxed a bit. :-) And then, this week, I've proceeded to tell about ten more people about my blog. What a strange cookie I am.

Second, this little creature is a Pokemon named Shaymin and, as part of T's birthday wishes, all of us drove to Toys R Us in Las Vegas on Valentine's Day so the kids could all download a Shaymin onto their Pokemon Diamond DS games. It took about ten seconds per child to download this little creature and then T downloaded a Shaymin for a friend of his, too. The kids were thrilled.

Speaking of Valentine's Day, I love the color red and I thought these flowers were just beautiful. By unanimous vote, we finally had to put the lily (is that what it is?) out in the yard to fend for itself because it had such a potent scent that we couldn't stand it. However, we continue to enjoy the rest of the flowers.

And fourth, while I'm on the topic of Valentine's Day and people we love, my dear friend Sheila (yes, her whole first name) passed away early this morning after a courageous battle with cancer. I will miss her. She has been such a wonderful friend and I admire so many things about her. Of course God's ways are not our ways, but she seems much too young to go so soon. We'll keep Sweaving, Sheila, and we'll look forward to the day when we'll see you again!

Fifth, Aunt R, who was 101 this past December, passed away a few days ago. Of one's mortality, who expects more than 101 years? Aunt R lived a long, full life and just wore herself out, as all of her siblings (but one who is with us yet) had to do before her, because they are of such hearty stock. I'll miss her, too. They don't make people more talented than my G---er aunts and uncles, nor more hearty.

Sixth, this is an experimental loaf of bread (and not a very pretty loaf of bread at that--when B glanced at the photo as I was typing this post, he asked whether the picture was of a potato!).

For the first time in the first half of my life (assuming my life span mirrors Aunt R's), I have made bread with my mother's bread recipe. And drat that recipe. It is written in that dratted cook's shorthand where all the REAL information is left out and only the ingredients appear. Consequently, this was an experimental loaf in several respects. I had to rely on other recipes to see how someone might possibly make bread if one would have had a recipe that, say, included practical details such as cooking time for one, and rising times for two, and total flour needed for three, and oven temperature for four, etc. Ah well. Experience is the best teacher, is it not?

I have been warming up to the idea of making bread with my mother's recipe for . . . hmmm . . . well . . . maybe . . . just . . . about . . . an . . . entire . . . decade. (My ideas and actions sometimes have long gestation periods.) And now I've baked that bread.

One thing my mother excelled at, in my opinion, was making bread. And I've decided both practice and understanding the recipe have something to do with that.

Seventh and finally, today after my mother's hair appointment, I told her that I loved her. She enthusiastically grabbed my hand and replied, "I'm so glad you told me that because sometimes I wonder why you do things . . . and why you don't do things." Yes, well . . . and there you have it.