Strange Sunday

I woke up in the middle of the night with my left eye hurting and I realized I couldn't see right. So, I stumbled to the bathroom to find my left eyelid (from my eyebrow to my eyelashes) was red and swollen about three times its normal size. I grabbed a bag of frozen veggies (peas, I think) and pressed it to my eye. Finally, and it took a long while, I could open my eye a little (like a slit). Then I went back to sleep.

What the hell???

If I'd fallen and hit my eye, you would think my glasses would have broke (they are not broken, BTW). Maybe in my sleep, I rubbed chewing tobacco into my eye and that irritated it? I dunno. All I know is this morning it's gone down a bit, but turned a nice purple. I don't think I'm driving out to see my Mom as I had planned, though. My depth perception is all screwed up, plus I look like a freak!!! Only if I pull down my cheek, can I see out of my left eye.

Moving on... I stripped my bed and put the bedding in the wash machine. I skipped breakfast, but took the Dutch oven out of the fridge and warmed up the beans and ham. That will be lunch. Luanne called from my Mom's house and caught me up on her mother's situation and how things are going at Mom's. I was feeling a bit under the weather, so I stretched out on the couch with my book.

The next thing I knew, Jake and Carla came in (I had dozed off, apparently). They said it was because they forgot to give me the peanuts (for the squirrels) they bought at Costco yesterday. But I think they just wanted to make sure I was okay. I had sent them a picture of my eye this morning, you see. They stayed a short while and then left. I ate my ham and beans with a slice of the sourdough bread. Not bad, but not as good as I hoped.

I got to work on the Christmas decorations. By 3:00 PM, I had them all taken down and put up in the attic. The only thing still left up is the garland and the bows on the porch railing. I'll get all that some other day. So, I am about halfway through my To Do list for the weekend but to tell you the truth, I feel like shit and really don't feel like doing anything! Really NOT looking forward to tomorrow and the first full work week of 2008!!!

I put the bedding back on the bed and put a load of kitchen towels, my white bath and hand towels and the bath mat from the downstairs bathroom in the washer. Since it's been over a week and neither cat seems to have used Caley's litter box, I cleaned them both out, but only refilled the bigger one. Caley's litter box went out to the garage. Maybe, just maybe, the cats that shit together get together! Let us pray...

I had my slipper socks on, so I didn't want to go outside. But I opened the peanuts up and threw three handfuls out on the patio. I was surprised at the response I got. I had the big grey squirrels, the medium sized black squirrels and even the small red squirrels (who live in the front of the house) out there and squabbling over the peanuts in like five minutes.

I took out the last "2006 meat order" steak I had thawed for today. I pressed in Montreal Steak Seasoning on both sides and let it come up to room temperature. Then, I took the two pounds of ground chuck I had likewise thawed and made eight 1/4 pound patties and hit them on both sides with the house seasoning. If I'm gonna fire up my grille in January, I am damn sure gonna get some use out of it! (I wish I'd thought to thaw out some baby back ribs!)

I heard on the TV that we tied the record temperature today (57 degrees F.) and we will set a new record on Monday (60 degrees F)!!!

So, at 4:00 PM, I dragged the grille out and filled it with cowboy charcoal. I fired it up and made sure everything was lit. I must have amused the neighbors (several of which drove by) in my workout shorts, tee shirt and my Christmas slipper socks. But, if you have one eye that looks like you put on dark eye shadow, you can just let these things go...

I grilled the burgers first. They went in a baggie after cooling for dinners this week. Next came the steak. Four minutes per side, and then left to rest a bit and I had a perfect medium-rare steak! I put two medallions of the compound butter on it and covered it with tin foil. While it was resting, I made two small russet potatoes into baked potatoes in the microwave and saut�ed some onions and the last 6 mushrooms for a topping.

I ate my dinner (which was delicious, BTW) and cleaned up the kitchen. I officially quit for the night and went in to watch my Sunday night shows.