In A Galaxy Far Far Away...

...dun-dun-dun-DUN-da-DUN-dun-da-DUN!!!!



She's so spoiled, this is not even her Halloween costume. This is for the Star Wars convention we are going to on base next weekend.

I used the patterns from The Padawan's Guide. The over tunic and obi are muslin, the inner shirt is a thrifted sheet, the tabard is a thrifted pair of men's pants, and a couple of old belts for the utility belt. The robe is made from a dark brown sheet. I wish I could have found a flannel sheet for that though.

Oh, we have the best ammunition for when she gets older.

Still kicking

The rash has worn off, and we've found a Lyme disease treating antibiotic that won't potentially kill me, so all's good on that front. If you consider good to be having to wake up at 12am to take the antibiotic good. At least there's no rash...yet.

However, not to be outdone by deadly antibiotics, I have found new and exciting ways to injure myself.

Did you know that people are crazy about apple butter? Me neither, I had no idea until I took my first batch to the school and handed it out.

"OH MY GOD!!!!! APPLE BUTTER!!!!! I LOOOOVE APPLE BUTTER!!!! NOMNOMNOM!!!!"

That was pretty much the reaction I got.

Anyhoodles, back to the hurting of myself.

Hot apple butter is freaking hot. And it splatters. Lots. I'm going to have apple butter burn scars on my hands and wrists. Sexy I know.

Then there is "Popcorn Thursday" at the elementary school. For those of you not fortunate to have ever experienced popcorn day at your school, we popped a bag of popcorn for every child in the school. That was about 450 bags. For the most part, I did very well dealing with the hot bowl, and oil and those obvious dangers. Until the very end, when I was cleaning the machine I managed to burn the heck out of my forearm on the edge of the bowl. Sizzle and burn baby.

I think I might need some new hobbies.

The Horror!!! The Horror!!

It continues.

Yep, I'm allergic to damn antibiotics. I have to flush my system, so they gave me the 'Roids!

I have to take a big dose of Prednisone once a day for 4 days, and hope that works a trick. I'm doubtful at this point because last night I couldn't sleep for the itching. I even took Benadryl to no effect.

This morning I woke up to find that the rash on my chest has merged into one HUGE hive that covers my neck, chest and shoulders. And yesterday when I said I was covered about 70%? Well, today, make that 95%, and that includes the tops of my hands, feet, my throat, and other...places...

Check it.

This is just my legs, so you can imagine.

Poor Piko deGallo, we were supposed to go swimming on Friday....I'm thinking not so much.

OMG!!

What. The. HELL!!??!!

Seriously, is it because I'm getting older?

Guess what I found out this week. Not only am I allergic to Amoxacillin (rash), only the most commonly used antibiotic out there. I'm also allergic to Septra (chills, nausea, difficulty breathing, persistent headache, achy joints), and freaking Doxycycline Hyclate(severe rash and swelling)!!!

Ok, so I already knew that I was allergic to Amoxacillin, but I had no idea until this week that I was allergic to anything else! I woke up this morning after one day on the Doxycycline to discover about 70% of my body covered with an itchy rash, and my lips, eyes, and ears are swollen. At least now I know what I would look like if I decided to get collagen implants in my lips.

NOT HAPPY.

This all started out with what I thought was a spider bite on my back that would not get better. Guess what? It's not a spider bite after all. The wound has taken on a decidedly more BULLSEYE shape!!

WTFBBQ?!?! People!!!

Dog Damn WebMD, how do you treat freaking Lyme disease if you're allergic to all freaking antibiotics out there?!? Not that I know for sure I have Lyme disease. But I might!! AGH!!!

Tree to Pie

In just afew (sorta) easy steps.

1) Apples in the tree. Very crisp and tart, perfect for future apple pies.

Too many apples!

Don't mind my laundry there, it was the first sunny day in a while. Add that to the fact that we got our first electricity bill. OUCH!

2) Apples waiting to be washed, peeled, cored, and sliced.

3) A couple of hours later (I have a small range, it took a bit to get the water boiling).

Step 4 to come in a couple of months.
I think I'll use at least one as topping for some vanilla ice cream, maybe make some fried dough.....NOM-NOM-NOM-NOM-nom-nom!!!!

Dumb things I have heard

This is my version of Overheard in Germany.

In the video store:

Customer: Is this a good movie?
Clerk: Yes, it's excellent! You know it's in Spanish though, so it's subtitled.
Customer: Really? Why? Did it come out in the theatre that way?
Clerk: Uh. I guess?
Customer: In Spanish, huh. I wonder why.
Clerk: It's really good, and worth it to watch.
Customer: But was it originally in Spanish or just on this DVD?
Clerk: ......
Cutomer: I guess I'll look for something else.

The movie was Pan's Labyrinth. Besides wouldn't the DVD have a language option?

At the Medieval festival:

Guy: Hey, check out those guys in the armor!
Lady: That's pretty cool.
Guy: They must be so hot! I bet they're sweating alot.
Lady: Yeah, don't get too close, you know there wasn't deodorant back in Medieval times.
Guy: (Laughing) You're right.
Lady:...or soap.

Um, WHAT?!? I'm pretty sure there was soap in Medieval times. Weather or not they used it, or that bathing was in fashion, is another thing entirely.

Things like this hurt my brain.

Tourists

We live in an area that is fairly well known for it's wine. Much of the wine region is along a wide and long river called the Mosel. This past weekend we attended a wine festival in Bernkastle-Keus called “Weinfest der Mittelmosel”(wine festival of the Mosel river). It was lovely, and enjoyable even though Sarge and I are not big wine drinkers. We started out at the midway, where Piko deGallo got to jump on this jumpy...thing. She was having a great time, and the rest of the "jumpy things" were not busy, so the guy let her jump a little while extra, and even slingshotted her high up in the air once.

We then walked along the hand crafters market to the bridge that spans the Mosel, and got a great view of the castle ruins.

We crossed over the river to the opposite bank where all of the wine booths were. The town is beautiful. The streets are cobbled, and the houses and buildings all look like they just had a fresh coat of paint. There were many examples of what I would consider to be German architecture. I don't know the exact term for it, but they are those kind of stucco houses with the wood beam inlays, it might be called "half timbered". I know, I'm a real expert. Winding narrow streets, and the occasional traditional band playing were awesome, we're planning another trip back there just to view the town. Unfortunately it was also filled with hoards of obnoxious drunken Americans.

Since we are lame, and don't drink wine, we got some ice cream and headed back over to the other side of the river. We got there pretty early, and wanted to wait for the fireworks. So we bought some fantastic antipasto from a vendor, and spread out our blanket on the bank directly across from the castle. Piko deGallo of course was only interested in the swans. Really, looking back on it, I suppose I'm not the best person to give advice on the whole Wine portion of the festival. But it was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon, and the fireworks were spectacular!
Gotta love fireworks set to the Star Wars theme.