Last Call!!

It's almost time!! I'm getting excited. You still have a few days to get in on the fun, too!

Make a donation to the Krempels Center and:

1. You'll be my bestest BFF!
2. You'll get that "feel-good" feeling inside
3. You could win a really awesome blanket
4. You will hep the people at the Krempels Center continue the work they do

Follow the link to the right, the one that says DONATE. That;'s all you need to do.

Thank you and good day!

Hard To Imagine It Right Now

I know it's difficult for you to think about - definitely not something to look forward to for most people. But pretty soon, the weather outside is going to look like this:

Snow, slush, blech!

You're probably asking "But what can I do about it?" - Nothing, absolutely nothing, I tell you!

Which is exactly why you need this:

A super warm and snuggly, washable wool blanket to cuddle under with your main-squeeze! (as long as you have a main squeeze with whom to cuddle, otherwise, solo is good too!)

"But Becky, how can I get  this fabulous blanket?" you're asking.

It's so easy! Simply make a donation to the Krempels Center via my fundraising page

Here is the link to the aforementioned fundraising page

Once you make a donation of any amount, you are automatically entered in a drawing to win the beautiful, soft, squishy blankie.

So do me a favor, show me some love, show the Krempels Center some love too. Make a donation. Pretty please??

It's that time again

I'm doing it again. I've registered to ride in the Krempels King of the Road Challenge. I know I can do my part - riding the 30 miles in beautiful New Hampshire, on a beautiful fall day. I need you to do your part - donate! (you knew it was coming, didn't you?)
I've placed a handy-dandy link just to the right, for your convenience.

There may be something in it for you, too. Besides that good feeling you get inside when you donate to a worthy cause, you could win a bee-you-tee-ful hand knit blanket! (photos pending, since the blanket is still in about 12 pieces). Donate any amount, and you'll be entered in a "thank you!" drawing to be held the weekend of Oct 17th. I'm hoping last year' winner will draw the winning name for me (I'm sure she will), because that's much more exciting than making a spreadsheet and using an online random number generator.

I'll keep you posted on my fundraising progress, just check back at the ol' blog every so often for updates.

I know. It's been a while.

Dear Readers of My Humble Little Blog,

I am sorry. Sorry I've not written in a long time. I've been busy knitting, and planning more knitting, and vacuuming up cat hair. But fear not! For here I am again!

March is kind of kicking my butt. The weather has been sketchy, the time change really threw me for a loop, and I'm still recovering from a night out last weekend (I'm so sleepy!). We had some beautiful warm spring days, then a week later, we got eight inches of snow. My daffodils are very confused.

The good news is: I booked two out of three vacations for the year! As usual, they are all jammed up around the same time of year, but that's not my fault. All the trips revolve around events and I had no choice of dates. But, vacation is vacation. I know I can last until then!

I did also get a new fruit-based device. I may still have a dumb-phone that I rarely use, but as long as there's WiFi, I'm with the times. I have 4.3 days worth of music, social media, and a nice camera to play with.

See? I'm hip like the kids with the Instagram!

The cats continue to entertain us constantly. Bogey has learned to play fetch, which is super cute. Unless it's 3am, then it's just rude. You have to hide the cat toy under your pillow, and then it takes him a good 10 minutes before he gives up searching for it and lays down. The Captain continues to be handsome, although hairy (hence the aforementioned vacuuming)

I just realized that Syttende Mai is rapidly approaching. I did promise my old boss that I'd bake krumkake, so I'd better practice up. Anybody want some cookies?

No Worries

A couple of weeks ago, I volunteered to bake something for a bake sale. I decided to use a couple of old recipes I haven't made in ages (literally at least a decade), and both of them use boxed cake mixes. If you know me at all, you know I bake from scratch. I have not purchased a cake mix in years. But I was really craving these two things, so I caved and bought 4 boxes of Betty Crocker mixes. Yes, four, because they were on sale, and I can always donate the extras to the food pantry. Well my caramel brownies sold out right away, and the pistachio cake was a hit too. And yes, I paid money to eat my own baked goods - it was for a good cause.

This past week was my Dad's birthday. Dad appreciates tasty baked goods, so I volunteered to bake his cake. Lo an behold, I was low on flour and there wasn't enough to bake a cake. (I know! What is wrong with me? I normally have a stash of flour in the freezer)  On this particular night, we were having a little bit of a snowstorm. Not terrible, but enough so that I didn't want to go back out. Plus I already had my fuzzy PJ pants on.

So, I got out one more cake mix, dressed it up a little bit with some chocolate marbling, and Voila! Dad's cake. It was pretty tasty, but I couldn't stop thinking about all the ingredients that can't pronounce in that are in that mix. It didn't stop me from eating it, mind you, but the thought was still there.

The fact remains that I'm almost out of white flour and completely out of whole wheat. I'm picky about my flour and I only buy King Arthur brand. They carry it at our grocery store, but not the White Whole Wheat variety I use - I always slip a little whole wheat flour in everything I bake. It makes it healthy.- A trip to Woodman's is in order! They carry every kind of food you will ever need, including King Arthur White Whole Wheat flour. There is a Woodman's conveniently located near where I work, so I stopped yesterday after work.  To my delight, they now carry the 10 lb bags!

I bought 30 pounds of flour. That should hold me for a couple of months.

Family

I have a big family. Not so much immediate family - just 1 sister and 2 parents. But my extended family is just that - extended. I think we counted 21 cousins. I don't think there has been a time when the entire clan has been together in one place. It will probably never happen.

I have a few cousins that I haven't seen in over a decade. I have a few cousins that I really don't even know, have only seen a couple of times. We are spread all over the country.

A couple of my cousins tried to plan a reunion, but things fell through. Even though I wasn't going to be able to go, I was still disappointed. We're going to try again - make some different plans. See if we can get it to stick this time. It's going to be a challenge, but I think I'm up to it.

And any cousins reading this - please comment with any ideas you might have!!

Merry Christmas 2014

For those of you who normally get a Christmas card from us, don't hold your breath. It's not that we don't like you or that we aren't thinking of you. It's just that time has really gotten away from me, and Writing and printing a letter, addressing and signing cards, and going to the post office (again) are just not high on my list of priorities right now.

So let this blog post serve as your official 2014 Christmas Card from the Baumeister family.

It was, to put it mildly, a trying year for us.

January came in with a bang - plenty of snow and cold.

Karl took the traditional New Year's Day bike ride.

Then the 5 month adventure of car repair began. I won't go in to the details, but let's just say that my January 7, 2014 prediction of "buying an engine off the internet? What could go wrong?!" hit pretty close to home.

In February, we said goodbye to our kitty Sally. Since we were down to just one cat, I filled that void with some foster kitties - a mama cat and her 5 kittens - later in the spring.

In May, Katrina marched in her first parade as a band member. Of course I cried the entire time! I'm so proud of her.

She has great form! Look at how level her horn is!

As predicted, Katrina has grown taller than her mother. She makes sure I don't forget it too.

I had carpal tunnel surgery in June.

Some of the foster kittens never left (securing my status as Crazy Cat Lady)

(L) Captain Fuzzypants  (R) Colonel Bogey

I actually followed through with my New Year's Resolution and knitted a sweater to enter in the State Fair. I finished knitting just before my hand surgery in June, sent it off for judging, and won a ribbon!

2nd Place!

In July, I started a new job. After eleven years of part time work, I am back working in a "grown up" job, and back in the field of veterinary medicine - sort of. I am a sales support person for a veterinary supply company. The adjustment to full time work has been a little rough. I really miss not being able to cook dinner every day, and it always feels like there are not enough hours in the day to get things done (hence this virtual Christmas Card!). But I am really enjoying the work I'm doing. I am in the equipment department, so learning about all the advances in technology has been rewarding. My co-workers are fabulous, which makes it so much easier!

The chickens are still clucking around the yard, all three cats get along like they are littermates,

I have time to bake on the weekends, and I did finally get my car back. Despite the trials and tribulations of the year, we're all happy and healthy. 

We may not have any snow, but I am sure we will have a Merry Christmas, and I wish all the same to you!