Reality vs Fantasy

Perusing Facebook this morning I saw two things that kind of disturbed me.  One was this image.  The other was this news article about a young man in Taiwan who died in a cybercafe playing online games and no one even noticed for about 9 hours.  I don't know if I'm more stunned or saddened by what happened.

Are we really so totally oblivious to those around us?  Has the technology we think connects us and makes the world smaller really just  isolated us?  Does an online fantasy world mean more to us that the day-to-day reality we are living?  Has the distinction between reality and fantasy blurred that much?  Come on folks!  These games are meant to be a fun break in the routine and not an alternative to living our life.

If you've read my blog for long or followed my Facebook convolutions of late, you know that I play an online game.  You probably also know that I've never lost sight of the fact that it is a game... those vast medieval armies of Evony are just little pixels on the screen.  I've always been much more a social player than a serious gamer.  And there's good and bad to that.

The good part, is that it's a social outlet.  Not only did it fill that hole in my life while I was constrained to be home pretty much all the time caring for my mother during the last part of her life, but I also had the opportunity to meet some pretty amazing people from all over the world.  Many of them have become dear and cherished friends and our connection and conversation have gone far beyond the realms of the game world.  My life experience is richer from knowing them and so from that viewpoint, I have no regrets about getting involved in the game.

At the same time, that sociability has sucked me in much deeper than I'd care to admit.  I've become a daily player.  Sometimes for several hours in a day.  And sometimes (way too often!)  it's among the first things I think of when I get up in the morning... and sometimes it's kept me up way past the time I should have been in bed asleep... and sometimes the game drama has even left me in tears.  I don't like that!  So I'm planning my exit from the game world.  I  made it a goal this year to break the habit.  But I'm finding it to be tremendously more difficult than I thought.  I don't want to build my army and go wage war any more, but the thought of not interacting with the people makes me very sad.  Still, I think the time is at hand.  I need to be back fully into the world of living, breathing human beings and tangible things that can be touched and tasted.

And I want someone to notice if I die...

I've shared this post on Barn Hop #48  at Homestead Revival.

Applesauce Muffins

These are probably my second most favorite muffins in the history of forever!  The basic recipe comes from With Heart & Soul:  Favorite Recipes from Our Family and Friends with recipes by Roxie Kelley and Friends and Illustrated by Shelly Reeves Smith.  I bought it on clearance at Borders a few years ago every bit as much for the illustrations as the recipes, both of which are fantastic.

Their recipe:

1 stick butter or margarine
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves (I skip this)
1 cup applesauce
1/2 cup ground pecans (I also skip this quite often)

Preheat oven to 350F.  Put paper liners into 12 muffin baking pan.

Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth.  Beat in the egg.  In a separate bowl, stir together the dry ingredients then mix into the creamed butter and sugar.  Stir in applesauce and pecans.  Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins.  Bake 17-20 minutes or until lightly golden.

What I do differently (besides doubling the recipe) is add a little filling made from cream cheese and brown sugar.  Just mix up a bit until it's the level of sweetness that you like.  Fill the muffin cups about halfway with the batter, add a generous teaspoon of the cream cheese mixture and then the rest of the muffin batter.  Bake as directed.

Good eats!!

Big Blue Dahlia

Inspired by this post from Vively Online I set out to make a medallion that adds a little of that "cuteness factor" to one of my bare living room walls.  And because aqua is my main accent color in there, I chose that shade of copy paper to work with.  If you have a crafty bone in your body I think she posted enough to get you through the project so I'm not doing step-by-step instructions and photos...  Just one picture to show off the finished project!

And here's the reveal of my need for cardboard (backing for all those paper cones) the other day:

I've linked this post to the Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop #43 at White Wolf Summit Farmgirl.

My Cleaning Schedule

You might remember from my early mid-January post about setting goals, I mentioned that devising a good cleaning schedule and doing it was one of the things I was working on this year.  So far that's been going pretty well.  I think this schedule works for me:

MONDAY - Master Bedroom
Change linens and make bed
Dust furniture and lamps
Dustmop and spot clean the floor
Clean tub, toilet, shower and sink in main bath
Sweep and mop floor
Take trash to garbage can
Wipe tile, picture frames and mirror as needed
Dishes into dishwasher
Run dishwasher as needed
Wipe stove top, counters and sink
Water houseplants
Get dirty clothes to laundry room
Do laundry loads as needed
Put clean clothes away

TUESDAY - Upstairs Guest Bedrooms
Change linens and make beds (if the rooms have been used)
Dust furniture and lamps
Dustmop and spot clean the floor in bedrooms and hall
Clean toilet and sink in Jack & Jill bath
Wipe mirror and shelves as needed
Take trash to garbage can
Dishes into dishwasher
Run dishwasher as needed
Wipe stove top, counters and sink
Get dirty clothes to laundry room
Do laundry loads as needed
Put clean clothes away

WEDNESDAY - Living and Dining Room
Make bed
Vacuum area rug and furniture
Dustmop and spot clean floor
Dust furniture and lamps and chandelier
Sweep front entry and shake doormat
Dishes into dishwasher
Run dishwasher as needed
Wipe stove top, counters and sink
Get dirty clothes to laundry room
Do laundry loads as needed
Put clean clothes away

THURSDAY - Kitchen
Make bed
Polish appliances
Clean inside of fridge and freezer as needed
Clean inside of microwave
Clean oven as needed
Dustmop and spot clean floor
Trash to garbage can and cans to street
Dishes into dishwasher
Run dishwasher as needed
Wipe stove top, counters and sink
Get dirty clothes to laundry room
Do laundry loads as needed
Put away clean clothes

FRIDAY - Back Entry and Downstairs Bath
Make bed
Sweep back entry and shake door mat
Sweep stairs and spot clean
Clean bed and bath as needed
Plan menu for next week and write a grocery list
Dishes to dishwasher
Run dishwasher as needed
Wipe stove top, counters and sink
Get dirty clothes to laundry room
Do laundry loads as needed
Put away clean clothes

SATURDAY - Family Room and Craft Room
Make bed
Sweep and spot clean floors
Vacuum area rug and furniture
Dust furniture and electronics
Grocery shopping
Plan business/finance activities and blog posts for next week
Dishes to dishwasher
Run dishwasher as needed
Wipe stove top, counters and sink
Get dirty clothes to laundry room
Do laundry loads as needed
Put away clean clothes
1-2 periodic cleaning jobs  (wash curtains, clean fireplaces, wipe ceiling fans, etc.)

That's about it.  My house is never perfectly spotless, but it is very livable and comfortable.  Most days I can be done with my cleaning chores in around an hour, excepting the time clothes are in the washer and dryer.

25 Things

I'm seeing this more and more on the blogs I regularly follow... Not sure if I really like it or not.  But I thought I'd give it a try today because I have some little observations and project results to share.  You know stuff that just isn't big enough to make a whole post.  So here goes!

1.  When I get my finances stabilized again, I want to get a puppy and kitten.  Have them grow up together so they are friends.  When I had cats before a couple of friends said they didn't visit much because they were allergic... my girls have been gone for nearly 3 years now and they don't visit any more often.  So bag that.

2.  An idea I found on Pinterest was to regrow the tops of your green onions in a glass of water.  That hasn't been working out so well for me.  Yeah, the tops regrow.  Slowly.  See how stubby they still are after 2 weeks?  And the outer skin of the onion bulb keeps molding and I have to clean it off and peel back another layer.  For next winter I'm going to put some Egyptian Walking Onions from the garden into a flowerpot and keep myself in green onions for salads and baked potatoes that way.

3.  I also want to plant ginger in a pot on the windowsill.

4.  I made salad dressing with an unusual ingredient today.  Of course, I didn't measure anything!  I mixed apple cider vinegar, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, honey, a bit of hot water (to get the last of the honey out) and a couple of packets of the dry hot apple cider drink mix together.  Yummy over a mix of spring greens, bow tie pasta, slices of grilled boneless pork chop, chopped cucumber, raisins and grated jack cheese.

5.  I really dislike raisins!  But those 72-hour kits I'm renewing had some in them and being poor and jobless I couldn't just throw them out.

6.  Another Pinterest find was a tip to clean the burners on my gas range.  This one worked!!!  Just put 2-3 Tbl of Ammonia into a large ziplok freezer bag then put the burner in being careful to not poke any holes in the plastic.  Leave it sit for 24 hours then wash.  It really gets the gunky little burned on bits that are insanely hard to scrub off.

7.  I really really LOVE having a gas stove!

8.  Right about now I'm wondering I have 25 things to say or if I should rename the post 10 Things...

9.  You know how your kitchen faucet can get to running really slow?  It's because there is sand, or teensy little rocks, caught behind the screen.  It comes off to be cleaned.  I knew this, but until a few days ago I didn't know how easy it was to remove that part and clean it out.  A full stream of water is such a wonderful thing!

10.  There are a couple of projects that I'm looking for the final pieces to complete.  Hoping I can find a good piece of cardboard and some dry garden dirt this week.  Intrigued?

11.  I am in love with the floor plan of my house.  I am also in love with the idea of having a mud room.  These loves seemed in total opposition to one another until I started to rethink how I'm using the closet in my back hall (not really the back, but behind the kitchen).  Now I'm in love with the idea that I CAN have them both.  Just gotta make it happen.

12.  Mr. Hansen was right...  I do actually use algebra in real life.  Maybe I should have taken higher math classes?

13.  Tulips, Iris, Hyacinth and Star of Bethlehem are sprouting in the flowerbeds.  Spring, and the beginning of yard work, is only about 6 weeks away.  Yay!!

14.  In a couple of weeks I'm going to host a chocolate tasting party.  It's a somewhat new concept from Dove Chocolate and one of my neighbors has signed up as a consultant.  If Dove accommodates an online party would you be interested?

15.  I really want to get some chickens but I'm kind of intimidated by the idea of taking care of them.  Especially in the wintertime.

16.  One of the yard projects I hope to complete this summer is a firepit along side the [half-built] patio that's attached to the garage.

17.  Another is a greenhouse attached to the other side of the garage.  Saved some old windows just for this purpose.

18.  If I'd built that greenhouse last year, I'd probably be out there today planting the seeds for tomato and pepper starts.

19.  I wish I had some strawberry jam in the freezer.  That would inspire to make bread!

20.  I've been stuck on #20 for quite some time... I think that means I need to get off the computer and go clean house and do some things so I have more to blog about.

21.  Dr. Pepper is my favorite pop... soda... ummm... non-alcoholic carbonated beverage.  Haven't had one for at least a month and I'm really wanting some.  Today might just be the day!

22.  Some of my friends question if I'm really a girl.. I HATE shoe shopping.  Seriously!  I'd almost rather go to the dentist than the shoe store.

23.  Making this list is driving me crazy.  It's way harder than writing a regular post so don't look for this to be a regular feature.

24.  I finished acquiring and packaging the food to renew my 72-hour kit yesterday.  Yay!!  One task ticked off the goals list for this year!

25.  La Frontera makes the yummiest Fries smothered with Chile Verde, grated cheese and finely chopped onion.  Went for a treat while out on today's errands - got my fix for awhile again now.  Yummy!!!