MY LIFE IS JUST CHOCOLATE

I got up and started making puree. That went well and then I tried to make it into mousse. That went well. Then I tried putting it in the chocolate and that did not go well. It is a shame. The mousse tastes pretty good on its own but not in the chocolate. 

That was basically my day. Tomorrow I'm going to try again. Hopefully with some success. 

Until tomorrow.. 

AND MORE CHOCOLATE

After visiting my OB/GYN, I made another attempt at perfecting my chocolate. It didn't go well. Tomorrow is another day to try 

The visit to my OB/GYN did not go as expected. I won't go into the gory details but omI an not sure I am going back to see her. I said this last time but I relented and returned. This time I will not return. It was a horrible visit. 

Until tomorrow...

MORE CHOCOLATE

After a couple of hours of work, began to experiment with fillings in chocolate with different flavors and ingredients. 

Not as easy as you think. Taking a regular recipe and changing it into a vegan recipe can be tricky sometimes. It is especially tricky when using milk. Some vegan milks have a flavor to them. Certain creams like heavy creams, have a flavor usually of coconut. Also using coconut oil is quite popular but the coconut flavor comes through on whatever you're making. 

I have tried about five different ways of making the filling for my chocolate but so far no luck. I am trying a new version tomorrow so wish me good luck. 

I'm also preparing for my ex-foster's son's graduation from high school. This is a very big day and one that I was many times thinking would never happen. I'm super proud of him. 

Until tomorrow...

HIKING & CHOCOLATE

No, I did not take chocolate hiking. Vivien and I woke up and decided to go for a hike. We went to a sort of local park, that I've only been to once, to do a two mile hike. It's a very cute park with a little lake and woods. Miss Vivian was having a grand old time sniffing everything along the path. She also met couple of little dogs that she got along with. The only dog she didn't like was the puppy who kept barking at her.

When we got home I started making candy again. I've been working on what goes inside the chocolate. Since it's vegan it's a little more complicated than just buying caramel and putting it in the chocolate. There are items like vegan heavy cream, aquafaba, coconut milk and coconut cream. How to make it vegan, sustainable and quick. That's what I'm tough to do. I think I'm almost there. 

Friend is having a birthday party this coming weekend and I volunteered to make a lentil salad. As soon as I agreed, I went on Instagram and there was this amazing lentil salad recipe. That is what I'm now going to make. 

Until tomorrow...

MAKING CHOCOLATES

Early in the morning I went to Whole Foods to pick up a few items that didn't come the other day in my food order. 

Then I began making the filling for the chocolates. I never made this type of filling before and the first attempt did not work. The second attempt worked pretty good but the taste was off. I think one of the ingredients was off a bit. 

I melted the chocolate and filled the molds. About 20 minutes later I put the filling in the mold and covered it with chocolate. 

Then I took the the dog to the dog park. The park was very empty but she got to play with a couple of dogs. There was a little Chihuahua that she was particularly fond of. The dog parents were a bit odd. 

Until tomorrow.. 

NO POWER AGAIN

First thing in the morning the new pest guy arrived. He was so nice and such a change from the arrogant pest guy that came a few months ago. Seems like he might be able to solve my past problem. 

Around lunch time a friend came by and we went for a walk to get Indian Street food. We ate outside and then walked back home. It was really good food that I haven't had for years and didn't realize I missed.

After she left I picked up the remote control to put on the Olympics to watch while I made chocolates and all the power died. I I thought it was just me because weird things were happening. Two of my outlets were making this weird clicking noise and the refrigerator was beeping. Of course I ran downstairs to check the breaker box but everything was fine. My attempt to make chocolates was thwarted by a car that ran into a fire hydrant and electric pole. The beeping and clicking went on for the longest time. Then I finally got a notification that my electricity would be out for about 5 hours. 

Since I had taken all the extension cords and put them away from the other nights power outage, I had to redo all of the extension cords to keep the refrigerator going and this time I figured out how to make the Wi-Fi work. Thank goodness I charged up the generator. I guess for the time being I should keep the generator full. 

Well the power came back on around 6:30 p.m. which was too late to start making chocolates. But because I had Wi-Fi the whole time I was able to watch some shows on my iPad. 

Until tomorrow...

CLEANED UP HOUSE

Last night the power was actually out from 9:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. It really wasn't a bad situation. I kept myself occupied. 

Starting early in the morning tomorrow I'm going to have a pest control person come and assess my situation in the backyard. Animals are eating by lemons and lemon tree. I hear it's probably rats. The guy told me that these kind of rats stay in the backyard and don't come in your house. So that's some good news. Whatever they are they're driving Vivien crazy. She must have some terrier in her. 

Then my friend is stopping by. This all means I needed to pick up the house. I can never figure out how it gets so messed up but it must be me. I washed dishes,  I cleaned behind the refrigerator I did various other things to get the house ready. 

Until tomorrow...

POWER OUTAGE

I received a letter just under 2 weeks ago letting me know that the power on my street was going to be off tonight. The power is going to be off from 9:00 p.m. till 6:00 a.m. the next day. I've just spent the last half hour sorting out how to keep my refrigerators running during this time. I'll take Orencia and it needs to stay cold. This is always a fear of mine that the power will go out and my medicine will go bad.

If you are a frequent reader you know that I bought a solar generator a while back. It is going to come in awfully handy tonight. I had extension cords going from my kitchen refrigerator to the generator and also my garage refrigerator going to the generator. We shall see if there's enough power in the generator to go all night. I've got my fingers crossed. 

I was kind of concerned on what I was going to do from 9:00 till 11:00 but I did stuff on my phone and I watched some TV on my iPad. I kept myself entertained. 

Until tomorrow...

MAMMOGRAM DAY

I had my mammogram today. I wore my tiara to give me luck. The whole process was pretty painless but it is a pain. Who wants their boobs shoved in to a machine that clamps them flat?  Not fun. 

Then I returned the giant cooler I bought by accident. Well I knew I was buying it but I didn't realize it would take up the entire back of my NEW car. It wouldn't have fit in my old car! 

Until tomorrow...

BREAST MRI

 I went to my breast MRI this morning. It is such an uncomfortable test. You undress, lay face down on the MRI bed with your face in a circle. Your breasts are put in a metal guard where your breasts are sticking through downward. They stick you feet first into the MRI machine. Half way through, they put some contrast in your arm.  Fun it was not. I did wear my tiara!! 

Until tomorrow....

GEARING UP

I am gearing up for this week. I have my breast MRI and my mammogram all this week. I've got my tiara (my lucky tiara) already put in my bag so I don't forget it. I've had that tiara, which was given to me by a friend, for over 20 years. It looks a little more but it still has the magic that's keeping me from having breast cancer. 

Not sure I've thanked my friend enough for getting me this tiara. If nothing else it gives me a lot of confidence when I go in for breast health exams. Plus I get called princess, Queen, and your highness. Who wouldn't want that? 

Until tomorrow...

HELPED A FRIEND

Today I help you friend. My new friend needed some photographs taken for various reasons. I told them that I would help them out but that I was not a professional photographer. The person needed headshots so we took tons of pictures with different backgrounds, different clothes, inside, and outside. I would not say they look professionally done, but they look pretty darn good. 

What's up with done Miss Vivien Butterfly and I went to do a hike. I was all excited to hike out to this lighthouse but when I got there it said no dogs allowed on this part of the path. I turned around but some other people didn't and the ranger came and explains that they cannot bring their dogs. Instead we went on another hike that went through some very very old military installation. It was quite interesting actually and had great views. 

Until tomorrow...

BACK TO ACUPUNCTURE

After a long reprise I returned to acupuncture. I really enjoy acupuncture. I'm not quite sure if it actually helps my feet. But it certainly helps my mental health. 

When I go into acupuncture she first asks me where it's hurting. Different times it hurts a different places. Sometimes it's my feet. Sometimes it's my shoulder. Sometimes it's my back. It just depends. This time it was my feet. I had plenty of needles all over but definitely in my feet. 

If you ever thought of going acupuncture but you're scared, you don't even feel the needles because they're so thin. On a very rare occasion when she puts one in I get a pinch, she then takes the needle out and puts it somewhere else. 

Until tomorrow...

RETIREMENT

Since before my van trip, I realized I don't like my job anymore. It isn't interesting or fun. I know work isn't supposed to be fun but I think when most of us start a career it's fun in some way. At the end of your career, it may not be as fun but more of a drag. My heart has not been in my job anymore. 

So I've been thinking about how I can retire from this career and possibly move on to another career. I have a plan in the making but I'm not ready to unveil it yet. I need to get further along with this plan before I tell anyone. 

Until tomorrow...

DENTIST PART TWO

I went to get my crown installed. My dentist is so funny and she has a cockamamie dog that jumps onto me when I am reclined getting work done. 

I wish I had more to say other than I got my crown done. 

Until tomorrow...

ORENCIA DELVERY

Do you take a biologic that needs to stay cold? I do. Sometimes it is such a pain. I have to get delivery on a day I will be home all day. I need to keep it cold even when traveling. I have to take it out of the fridge one hour before hand.  (Once I didn't take it out in advance. As I was injecting it, I got so cold.) 

Then of course there is the disposal of the needle. I'm lucky where I live because I can get a sharps container right from the drug store. I know others aren't so lucky. 

It us an inconvenience but I can't imagine what my joints would look like without biologics. 

Until tomorrow...

CAMPING DAY 4

 Last night we slept in the tent. In the middle of the night there was some animal sort of whistling. I had to put Miss Vivien Butterfly under the sleeping bag to cover her ears. We got up early and had breakfast. Then we went on a hike to the river. Then we broke down the campsite. Miss Vivien Butterfly was sad to go. She was loving going after all the critters she could find. 

It was a fun trip. The way home, not so much. I tried to get electricity at four places: first at a country club where I could not download the app (the cellphone reception sucked) so no electricity, then a slow charger at a sheriff's building, then a site that only had Tesla, then I drove to a site where the road was closed and I could not get to the charger, then another charger at an airport that I could not get too. Finally, I found a fast charger at a Walmart. It was a bit stressful. 

We got home and unpacked before getting the bird from day care. 

Until tomorrow... 

CAMPING DAY 3

Last night we decided to not wait until the middle of the night to sleep in the car. Instead I moved my blow up mattress and sleeping bag into the back of my new car. The back seat folds down almost a completely flat and my mattress sleeping bag fit perfectly in that spot. Behind the second backseat the dog's bed fit perfectly. So we slept soundly and in the car. 

We had a lazy morning. When we finally got going we drove out to what was supposed to be a trailhead. I couldn't really find the trailhead and the place where I thought it was was completely packed with cars. So we changed our mind and we went instead to find somewhere to charge the car. This ended up being more difficult than intended. We went to two different places and each place was so difficult to find the charging station. In the second place we found a charger but it was a slow charger. So we thought we would walk around the little town while the car was charging a little bit. We were there for 45 minutes to an hour and the car hardly charged at all. 

When we got back to the campsite we went to the river again. Miss Vivien Butterfly decided to go in the water. She was so cute wading in the water. 

We're both a little tired after walking another 10,000 steps that day. So we took a little rest before making dinner. Tonight's dinner used the same beans, rice, plant crumbles to make stuffed pepper. It was super good. 

We had put all of our stuff back in the tent to sleep because all the children and dogs left. 

Until tomorrow...

CAMPING DAY 2

Last night we went to bed around 8:30 and thought the campground would get quiet. That was not the case. There were lots of dogs and lots of children and lots of noise. There was a little puppy across the road from us the barked incessantly. By around 1:30 in the morning it was too much so Miss Vivien and I went into the car and slept in the car. I slept in the driver's seat with the seat back put down and the dog slept in her travel seat. 

We woke up early and got ready. After breakfast we drove to a forest and State Park to hike. This state park allowed dogs on paved parts of the park. The paved parts basically mirrored the non-paved parts so we didn't miss much of anything. After 20,000 steps we went back to the campsite to have lunch. After a rest and lunch, we went back down to the river to walk around. 

I made a dinner of rice, black beans and plant based crumbles. I made the rice and rinse the black beans before I left home. I cooked the plant-based crumbles on my camp stove. Once the crumbles were cooked I added in the black beans and the rice. Then I add taco seasoning. I took my taco shells and held them over the flame of the stove to heat them up and cook them a little bit. Then I made tacos. They were super good. 

After dinner I took my Dandies vegan marshmallows and toast them over my camp stove. I forgot the graham crackers so I just put the marshmallow and chocolate in my mouth and made a partial s'mores. 

Until tomorrow...

CAMPING DAY 1

I woke up this morning and packed up for our trip camping. Unfortunately client called with a situation and I had to put the packing aside to handle it. Before we took off I had to take the bird over to the bird store to be boarded. My reservation got lost so I had to wait over a half an hour for them to clean out a bird cage so that Sunny would have somewhere to stay. In the end it turned out okay except that now I was leaving over a half an hour later than I anticipated and I would hit summer Friday traffic. 

We got the campsite around 2:00. It was a very uneventful drive down. The campsites wonderful the gentleman who owned It upgraded us to a nicer campsite. Miss Vivien butterfly and I unpacked everything, put up the tent and blew up the air mattress. We took a walk down to the river. By then it was time to bake dinner. I had brought vegan frozen bolognese and boiled some pasta. 

Until tomorrow...

PACKING DAY

 Packing day. I spent some of the day packing for my camping trip. I bought a tent and blowup mattress. I had to test them all because the first blow up mattress did not work. Excited to leave!

My friend and I worked on our projects today. I didn't get very far on my end but she is really getting things done. I am just stuck on my goals. 

Until tomorrow... 

BREAST EXAM

 I went to my annual (or multi-year in my case) breast cancer check up. The doctor examined me and gave me a slip for both a MRI and mammogram. I missed last year so I need to get the tests soon. I wore my tiara as usual, no matter the weird looks I get. That tiara has power to keep me breast cancer free! It was given to me by a close friend. 

Until tomorrow...

ARTHRITIS GROUP MEETING

 Tonight was the Arthritis Group meeting. We have been doing social online gatherings. It is a small but great group. We try to do themes but it doesn't always work. This time it was July 4th. 

I wish we had more participants but it is hard to recruit. I know there are people out there with rheumatoid arthritis. 

Until tomorrow...

EX-FOSTER KID UPDATE

 Today was my ex-foster kids group meeting. We all get together to discuss how things are going with him. He doesn't have to attend summer school and he will be graduating high school!! I know for some people that doesn't sound like a big deal but for foster kids. 61% of foster kids graduate high school vs 83% of non-foster kids. He is registered for a two-year college. 2-6% of foster kids earn a degree from a 2-year school vs. 50% of non-foster kids earn a degree from a 4-year college. I am super proud of him. 

Until tomorrow...

GREAT HIKE

Miss Vivien Butterfly and drove to a park where we hiked. It was a three mile hike through a forest. Miss Vivien did much better on the trail this time even though she wanted to dive into the brush to catch some animal. But we saw other dogs on the trail and she was very good about wanting to be introduced. We ran into two women with a big dog who walked in us for a while. It was funny because Miss Vivien acted like the dog wasn't even there. Behaviorists say this is a good thing when they ignore each other. 

Miss Vivian had some things in her fur afterwards but with a quick review I could pick it off. There's mostly birds and just plant life. 

I did okay. I wore a sort of like girdle on my knee to  helps support my knee. I'm debating on whether calling the doctor or waiting to see if it gets better on its own. I've tweaked this name numerous times over the last 20 something years. Each time it bounces back. So I'm going to wait it out. 

It was a good day. I also got all my invoicing completed. 

Until tomorrow...

GOALS

 Miss Vivien Butterfly's prior foster mother (Vivien was surrendered to a shelter, who sent her to live with a foster before I went to get her) came over to visit. We are going to help each other reach our goals. She needs a person to bounce ideas off and to help with tech stuff and I need someone to help me figure out how to start my goal. 

My goal is to sell my candies. Everyone says they taste good and look good. It is a fun dream that would allow me to work in another field. I am tired of working in my current field. 

Until tomorrow...

MEDITATING

 I have not been meditating enough and I feel it. The three of us had a kind of falling out while I was away in the van. One of the participants seemed to get their feelings hurt when I spoke about my trip, while the other person wanted to hear what happened. The person with the hurt feelings decided to drop out of the trio. 

The remaining person and I need to do more meditating and less talking. 

Until tomorrow...

HAPPY JULY 4TH

 We decided to go for a hike on Independence Day. It was nice and we got some outdoor air. I unfortunately missed my annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest. My favorite competitive eater, Joey Chestnut, was not there. I am trying to get outside more often for my mental health. 

Until tomorrow...

DENTAL FILLING

 I had to go to the dentist today. During my van trip, I kept feeling like a cavity or crown was getting loose. I just kept willing it to not come out on the trip. The dentist said it was an old cavity and it needed to go. She began drilling out the filling and too much of the tooth had to be drilled. So, I get another crown. 😞 I got a temporary filling and will have to come back in 3 weeks. 

Until tomorrow...

ANOTHER VET VISIT

I had to take Miss Vivien Butterfly to the vet again for the third time. She is has a weird sort of cut under her bottom lip on her chin. I thought she hurt herself but it turns out it is an ingrown hair that was infected. I need to put a balm on the spot for a week or so and it should go away. 

Until tomorrow... 

ELECTRICIAN VISIT

 This morning the electrician is visiting to give me a quote for a 240 amp plug for my new electric car. I can't get a faster plug because my house is so old. At least this will be a plug that won't trip the circuit breaker. Since I have solar, the electricity is basically free. Long live the sun!

Until tomorrow...