Packing up The Palms, the Famous Musser Onion Dip

Happy Easter tomorrow, everyone!

Katie and I were up early this morning, stopped by the grocery store to get things for tomorrow - Easter Dinner at my son, Tom's.  I always make dressing if we are having a turkey, and we are, in addition to an Easter Ham, so I'm bringing my turkey dressing and chips and dip.  We have what we call "the Famous Musser Onion Dip."  My dad, Frank Musser, didn't cook, but he did make this onion dip. Who knows why?  But he did, and now I make it, and when I'm gone, I'll bet both my kids will make it, too. People just love it, and it's so easy to make.  I'll put the recipe at the end of this post.

Then we went to the storage lot and picked up The Palms.  I just love her!  I parked her in the driveway and I started going through stuff for things I'd would want to bring with us, and not sell in the Estate Sale.  The other night I went through both bathrooms and got everything except what I need everyday now, and packed them in boxes.  This morning I went through my craft/sewing room.  I was able to fit quite a lot of it in The Palms.

I am leaving my sewing machine, all my materials, threads, quilting books, magazines and patterns, all my quilting rulers.  I have a large soft sided carrying case that I used to use to bring my quilts to class with all the materials.  I've spent a fortune on all this quilting stuff, and I hope I get something back for it all.  I am going to keep my sewing machine tote, though. It will be good if I need to walk to a store to do some shopping. It's quite roomy and has wheels and a zippered cover.  It stores nicely under the dinette table.

I am also leaving all my craft stamps.  I have tons of them, and lots of different inks and papers, from when I was into my card making with stamps.

Most of the craft things fit into the outside storage compartments.  I'm using two of the three compartments for this stuff, and the third will be for tools, hoses, stuff  like that.

I just couldn't leave all my books, though, and did bring some. I put them on an upper shelf over the couch along with my condo paperwork, homeowner rules and regs, and I think I'll use that top shelf for recent tax papers, everything I need to keep. It will be out of the way, but available if needed. That shelf will be my "filing cabinet."

My daughter Kristy and her husband Matt gave me a set of Coral dinnerware to use in the RV, and it's in the cupboard, along with paper plates and bowls and paper coffee cups with lids.  Plastic knives/forks/spoons are in the drawers. I'll bring some my daily silverware with me, too.

In a recent comment, a Follower said she uses Snapware that she got at Costco.  When I saw it at Costco, I thought they were great storage containers, so I bought a set, too, and it fits nicely on the shelf above the plates and bowls and cups. There is a lot of it, but it stacks well.

The hardest part was deciding which area of The Palms would be used for storing which things, and then all of a sudden it made sense, and then I started putting things away.  I got some rubberized type cupboard lining material so things wouldn't slip when I'm driving, and a wire thing that I put in the kitchen cupboard that doubled my shelves.

The funniest thing is that when I took the toaster/oven out of the box and put in in the corner of the kitchen counter, it looks EXACTLY like the fake one on the photo in my last blog.  Exactly.  So funny.  : )  I wasn't sure it would fit that well, but it did.  I don't like much on my counters, and will only have that and my new little Keurig coffee maker.  And maybe a plant.

This is just like playing house - so fun! : )

Then around 6:30 the sun was starting to go down, and we brought her back to the storage lot.   I got a lot done.  Next weekend I have Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and then the Estate Sale ladies are coming on Monday to start pricing and staging everything that's left.  So next weekend will be a busy one for me.

Once everything is gone, I'll still live in the condo.  Camping out inside until it's leased.  Hopefully soon.  I got a large FOR RENT sign at Home Depot today. It's mounted on a frame that you can anchor in the lawn, so I'll probably put it up tomorrow.  No calls yet for potential tenants.  I might have it listed a bit high, but will wait a week or two, then lower the rent if I don't have anyone insterested.

Here's the recipe for the  Famous Musser Onion Dip.  We don't have measurements, you just add to taste.

1 package of Philadelphia Cream Cheese
about 1/4 cup Best Foods Mayonnaise
grated onion to taste - I usually put in a couple of tablespoons
5 or 6 shakes of Worchestire Sauce
a little bit of milk to make it smooth, not too much
salt and pepper to taste

Stir it all up, or blend it, and it's done.

It can taste different each time depending on how much of each ingredient you use, but no matter what you do, it will taste great.

From Me and My dog, have a nice Easter Sunday, everyone! : )

Kitchen stuff

I was looking at the photos of my Followers, and noticed one that I didn't remember seeing before.  I looked at each one and found two Followers who are recent, and I haven't acknowledged them.  Joe Baker and kenp, I don't know how you stayed under my radar, but I'm sorry I missed you when you started following.  I don't see a blog for either of you, but I hope you enjoy following along with me and Katie - we should be living in The Palms soon, and I'm glad you're along for the ride! : )

My toaster/oven arrived today!  It is so cute!  I think it will fit very nicely on my kitchen counter.

It's about half the size of my current toaster oven.  It's taller than I thought it would be, but of course it has to be tall enough for the toast to fit vertically. It has a pretty small footprint, though.  I'm not going to use it yet, but it will be in the first load I bring to The Palms.  One nice surprise is that it has a baking pan.  Like a miniature cookie sheet - so cute!  Andy Baird commented that I should get a silicone baking sheet, cut it, and use it on top to cover the toaster slots when I'm baking.  That will make the oven work better. I have one on order - thanks Andy! - I wanted a black one to match the appliances. I'm going to cut it in half, use half on top when I need it, and the other half I'll set the toaster/oven on so it won't slide. I can also use it on the "baking pan."

This is what my kitchen will look like:

 I added graphics of my new coffee maker, toaster/oven,

and fake plates, cupcake and flowers. 

Question:  See the stickers on the stove hood?  There are three "caution" stickers right there, and I wanted to remove them.  I was told I should leave them so I'd remember what they say - the "caution" stuff.  What have you done with this kind of thing?  I'm thinking I'll take a close-up photo and paste them inside a nearby cupboard.  I think keeping them there is like leaving the tag on your hat - like Minnie Pearl.  What do you think?

I saw this on line - see the wall attachments? Even if just for my knives and a flower pot, I think I'm going to look into them. I don't know if they will work in my kitchen, but I sure like the way they look, and they would be space savers and keep things handy.

I'll at least hang a magnetic strip on the wall behind the stove for my knives.

After all this kitchen talk, I'm going to see what I've got for dinner.

From Me and My Dog, have a great Friday evening, everyone! : )

Verification words, going through boxes

Tuesday night, as I was commenting on blogs, I dutifully typed in the verification words requested - here are two of them:  impoup on Kim's blog and horni on The eBay/RV Life.  One right after the other.  Now, come on!  Why  not, imsweet and contnted?

Do you every get funny words or words that sound funny?  I've had a few really good ones!  I usually add them to my comment if I think of it in time.

So I started last night going through boxes, drawers, etc.  I have to organize things somewhat - I guess I'm just too OCD to let someone into my home and invade my privacy too much.  Besides, I need to make sure I don't leave anything that's boxed up that I might want to keep.

I've had Word Processing/Resume businesses for many years and I've kept every invoice and all the documentation for each.  I have taxes going back to the 80's. I have all the docs for every car and home I've bought. I'm finally going to purge it all. I don't think there's any reason at this point to keep any of it.   My last active business closed the last part of the 90's, so I won't be needing anything for tax audits anymore.

I found my two fishing reels, my darts, it's going to be fun to see what else I find.  I've been here for 6+ years, and some of these boxes were put on shelves and I've never opened them.

I am filling boxes that I'll start bringing to The Palms this weekend.  I've gotten a couple of storage things to use.  The bunk where I'll be sleeping is long, and there's lots of room I don't need at the foot of the bed, so I plan to put my printer up there.  I think the plug will reach to an outlet in the nearest cupboard, and it will be handy, but out of the way up there.  I also bought two picnic baskets at Walmart the other night.  $12 each, and large enough to keep office supplies or craft things in - they looked nice sitting next to each other and will fit well there, I think.

I have good storage in The Palms, but a lot of it is high, ceiling high, and I can't reach up that far.  I guess the thing to do is put stuff up in those cupboards that I won't use often.  RV living must be easier for taller people.  Oh, but I do have an EZ Reacher.

 EZ Reacher - this will really come in handy!

I used to work for the company that manufactures and sells the original EZ Reachers, they are here in San Marcos, and I have one.  I forgot about it, I never use it here because I don't need it, but it will really come in handy in The Palms. I'm going to make sure to stow it somewhere handy in the rig this weekend.

 From Me and My Dog, have a nice Wednesday, everyone! : )

My sleepover with the Vacaville Grandkids

This only took me a week... but I had so many photos and just didn't have the energy to go through them all.  Then I realized I only have a few of the sleepover in The Palms, the rest were mostly T-Ball photos.  I'll post those another time.  So here we are, short and sweet:

Katie's always the first one in bed

 Hurry up! I'm falling asleep!

 Sweet Lauren, sound asleep (faking for the camera!)

 And sweet Andrew, also sound asleep (and faking for the camera!)

 
The both have their sleeping bags, two extra blankets, pillow pals and "blankies" and Lauren's pink bunny.  All snuggly, and they slept really well both nights. 

 They are on the couch that pulls out into a bed. Such good fakers!

 This was breakfast the next morning.

We had dinner the night before with Mom, too.  The kids had McDonald's and Mom (my daughter, Kristy) and I had KFC. We had plenty of room at the table.

The kids slept with me and Katie both Friday and Saturday nights.  On Sunday they had to sleep in their own beds, because I was packed and ready to go, and just took off without going back into the house and waking anyone up. I left Monday morning at 5:30 a.m. to come home.

A successful trip, and I feel fortunate that my first two weekends in The Palms were spent with my grandkids, first in San Diego, then in Vacaville. 

BTW, I decided to keep the Keene print, the Yosemite photo, and my Guide chalk drawing.  I am going to see if the Guide will fit in The Palms.  I will miss him, for sure, so thanks to everyone for suggesting I try to bring him. 

Also, I was starting to go through boxes this evening, and I found the Keene booklet from my teenage years that has many of their prints and lots of text.  I didn't go through it tonight, but I did put it in the box of the photos that I'm storing upstairs at work.  I found yearbooks, and wierd high school poems I wrote, things like that, that I'm keeping, too. 

From Me and Katie, have a great day, everyone! : )

The pictures I'm not taking with me

One thing I will miss is a few of my pictures on the walls of the condo.  I haven't hung much here, but there are a few that are favorites.  I am going to sell them, but I took photos of them and will have them in my digital photo frame, so I will be able to see them all every day.  These are the photos:

This is a Keene, I loved their paintings, both husband and wife, when I was a teenager, and had some prints. I don't know what happened to them.  When my mother-in-law died, my kids were able to choose a few things, and my daughter, Kristy, brought this back for me.  It brought back such memories. And Kristy didn't know I used to love them.

This is my all-time favorite - and I might actually save it.  When I first lived in Placerville, CA, my girlfriends and I went to a Psychic Faire in Folsom.  There was a woman there who said she could see people's "Guides" and she would sit you down, concentrate, and draw them in chalk.

I don't know if I really believe in Guides (I kind of do - like Guardian Angels, I guess), or if she could see them if they were real. When I sat down, she said I had four Guides, if I remember right.  She said one was stronger than the others, and that's who she would draw.  She asked what color I wanted, and I said pink.  She looked at me for a minute, and said, "He is a young Native Indian man, I don't know if pink would be a good color."  Then she said, no, it will be fine, and she started to draw.  The photo above is my Guide.  Everywhere I've lived since then, I've put him on a wall facing into a room and I've always felt like he is protecting me.   

 I just like this one.  It's big, and hangs over the largest work table in my sewing/craft room.

I've had this little guy for a while.  It' a small picture and I've always found a good place for him.  When I first saw it, I thought, Okay, that's the plan.  A little cozy house with a hammock, by a river, with a cold drink nearby. All it needs is a fishing pole and that's where I want to live.  And I''m coming pretty darn close!!!

I've always loved "house" pictures, and I really liked this one. It's always been in my living room area so I could see it every day.

Long story.  But I won't bore you. This is a signed photo that was a gift from a man I used to know - a photographer who won a Pulitzer Prize for International Journalism.  His photos were fantastic. At the time I knew him, he was a photographer for the Sacramento Bee and he gave me two signed photos, this is my favorite. It's from Yosemite in December, the mountain is reflected in Merced River, with small rocks covered with snow projecting over the surface of the water.

My son told me on Sunday that if I wanted to store some boxes up in the mezzanine at work he wouldn't mind.  Since I have that option, I just may save a few things - including the two favorites above.  But even so, I won't have them with me in The Palms, so they will be in the rotation on my digital frame and I will be able to see them every day.

From Me and My Dog, have a great Tuesday, everyone! : )