my early wednesday morning start never happened because my cell phone alarm clock never went off. even i was getting suspicious, but too lazy to check the time, i kept on sleeping. what finally woke me up was the rattling sound of metal ladders leaning against the house. i finally looked at the clock and realized it was already noon. and that sound? some hired contractors cleaning out the gutters of my place. suddenly i heard the doorbell rang and went out to take a look. standing on my doorstep was an UPS guy who handed me a package. it was my sister's birthday present, the fujifilm finepix f30. coincidentally, while i was inspecting the box, my sister called asking if she could come over and do some flower arrangements for tomorrow's dinner. i said sure and hid the box in the closet.

before she arrived, i finished caulking the bathtub. before she left, i gave her her present even though her birthday's not until a week later. that's just how i roll, unable to keep a surprise; besides, i really wanted to see the camera anyway. the xD memory card won't arrive until next week but fortunately the camera has a small amount of built-in memory to play around with.

after my sister left, i went to the super market to buy some ingredients for making my annual turkey day flan. i spent the next few hours in the kitchen cooking. the first batch (a dozen) required the following ingredients: 10 eggs, 6 cups of whole milk, 1 cup of sugar, 0.5 tsp of salt, 3 tsp of vanilla extract, and 2.5 cups of melted sugar. i used the electric beater to make the mixture, hoping for a smoother-textured flan. the hardest part is melting the sugar: avoiding clumps and keeping it from burning (which then makes everything bitter). into the 350 degrees oven for an hour before a clean knife test told me it was time to take it out. afterwards a made a second batch with some leftover ramekins, for those guests who want a 2nd serving (possibly 13 people will be attending thanksgiving at my place tomorrow).

the heat from the kitchen had raised the temperature just enough so my thermostat (set at 60 degrees) didn't turn on. it was warm in the kitchen but cold everywhere else. before julie arrived for dinner, i turned up the heat. with her turn to cook, julie made some spicy mexican chicken dip served with corn chips. it took her about 15-20 minutes to make the meal and we were far ahead of schedule so we managed to watch the latest episode of america's next top model from start to finish. i was rooting for one of the twins to get booted off the show and tonight it finally happened. i don't think either of them were attractive (they're identical twins: if one's ugly, the other one's pretty much the same). i like melrose's sense of humor and positive attitude, but i don't think she's prettier than caridee, even though ms.dakota totally pooped in the pool when she bad-mouthed nigel, guest photography/judge. eugena's a wild card, but i think this cycle will go to a white girl. the rest of the evening was spent watching the food network.

the caulk needs 24 hours to set properly so i can't take a shower just yet. as a matter of fact, i haven't taken a shower since yesterday morning, so it'll be almsot 48 hours before i can shower again. this will hopefully prove to people that i am not obsessive compulsive about keeping clean!