2 days off

I get tomorrow and Friday off. Woo hoo! I usually do take this time off every year, it's sorta like having Christmas vacation without having to deal with people shopping. And with everyone and their mother coming into town for the inauguration this weekend, I need some time out of the area. We are still going to the Quilted Cat, but are also going to some place called Emmaus to pick up something my mom bought and never bothered to have mailed to herself (no, I don't understand either, but she is probably the reason I am as wierd as I am--matter is neither gained nor lost in this universe, and my . . . eccentricity . . . came from somewhere), so we're off for a 350 mile round-trip ride on a cold day. Mapquest came up with the brilliant idea of traveling 95 to get to Emmaus. Yeah, OK. I knew that running backroads as a teenager would prepare me for something in life and Friday may be what I was being prepped for.

I have decided the project I will use to break in my sewing machine is this:

http://weewonderfuls.typepad.com/wee_wonderfuls/store/pointykitty.html.

It's not cross-stitch, but look at how cute that kitty is. And so huggable. I can see it with nubbly fabric on the stripey part. And that would use up some of the fiberfill that is in the closet.

Tomorrow, I am going to play Lady of the Manor and just do a little cooking. Maybe cruise to Goodwill to see if I can find something to use as storage in my sewing room closet. I already told SO that I might be at Lowe's to get some plastic drawer thingies, but putting plastic in that room seems wrong. It's so pretty and classy, but the closet is a hot mess. I also want to teach myself to make smothered chicken, but I don't know. My gravy skills aren't too hot. One of the only things that I regret in my life, and I seriously try to not live regretfully, is that I never learned to cook my grandmother's cooking properly. I do fry chicken and I like mine better than hers, but she made gravy effortlessly, and I am scared of it. I really should have appreciated that part of her more than I did, because I was blessed to be able to come home to a hot dinner of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and gravy on a weekly basis. I know now, it's not that easy. And her potato salad was unique. Maybe people here wouldn't like it, but that's the best potato salad in the world, not fancy, but it was hers. One of the things that makes me the happiest in life is when I make something and it tastes like hers did, because it's a connection to her that isn't broken yet, when I am losing so many things that she was around for. But I guess I always supposed, maybe stupidly because she was always "young" to me, and I don't feel very old, that we'd have plenty of time to get those recipes. And then we didn't. But I have her glorified rice recipe, and it's good, and I finally work with people who appreciate it, so it's good. And I can learn.