Facts from a Fact Woman

Candy Cane Kiss Blossoms with a Chocolate Star!

2011-12-24T13:14:00.001-07:00

I found this great recipe on Pintrest and just had to try it. It looks so festive and I love peppermint so it was a great recipe to try. I took parts of the original recipe from Recipe Girl and parts of the Hershey's Candy Cane Blossom cookie recipe to make these.

As I was taking the first batch out of the oven I had to move the bag of Brach's dark chocolate stars, from making peanut butter blossoms, out of the way and inspiration hit me. Why not put both the chocolate star and the kiss on top?

Candy Cane Kiss Blossoms

Yield: 2 1/2 dozen cookies

Prep Time: 30 min

Cook Time: 12 min

When the fall holidays arrive, the Candy Cane Kisses begin to appear on supermarket shelves too. These are an incredibly delicious flavor delivered by the Hershey’s Kisses people. And they’re amazing tucked into a cookie too.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/4 cups butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 TBS milk
1 large egg
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Candy Cane flavored Hershey's Kisses, finely chopped
granulated sugar
additional, unwrapped Candy Cane Kisses- about 60
Chocolate stars- about 60

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Make room in either refrigerator or freezer for your cookie sheet. Or you can do what I do which is to just let them sit out for an hour and they'll set up.
In large mixer bowl, combine powdered sugar, butter, extracts and egg. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often until creamy (2-3 minutes).
In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Add to wet mixture and beat, scraping bowl until just blended. Stir in chopped Kisses.
Shape dough into 3/4-inch to 1-inch balls; roll in granulated sugar. Place 1-inch apart on cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until set.
As soon as they come out of the oven, press a chocolate star point side down in the center of each cookie. They'll crack a little around the edges, so just use your fingers to kind of hold the cookie together while you press the chocolate on. Do all the cookies on the tray then go back and place a kiss on top of the chocolate star pressing down until the chocolate squeezes out from under the kiss forming a flower around it.

You can leave the cookies out to set up or put cookie sheet (with cookies) immediately into the freezer (preferred) or refrigerator so that the Kisses will set quickly. Store in a covered container- at room temperature for up to a week. In the freezer they should be ok for a couple of weeks.

Peppermint Meringues

2011-12-22T04:00:00.001-07:00

If you make the spritz cookies I have posted here, then you will have 3 lovely egg whites leftover which is what you need to make these meringues. My mother in law taught me to make them when she taught me to make the spritz cookies. They are the perfect cookie pair.
3 egg whites
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 cup white sugar
3 peppermint candy canes, crushed up finely
1-2 drops of red food coloring- optional

Click here to get a printable/downloadable version of this recipe

Preheat oven to 225 degrees F (110 degrees C).
Line 3 cookie sheets with parchment paper or a brown paper bag.
Let your egg whites come to room temperature before you beat.
In a large spotlessly clean mixing bowl (if there is any fat residue in the bowl the egg whites won't ever beat up into peaks) place your egg whites, salt and cream of tartar.
Beat egg whites, salt, and cream of tartar to soft peaks. When you pull your beater out the top will fold over.
Gradually add sugar, while continuing to beat until whites form stiff peaks. When you pull the beater out the peak will stand straight up.
Fold the crushed candy canes and the drop of red food coloring into the egg whites, gently.
Take a gallon Zip Lock bag and cut the corner off. The opening should be about 1/2 wide.
Spoon the meringue batter into the bag and squeeze out the batter onto the paper lined sheets. You can also slip a LARGE star tip into the corner of the bag for slightly more decorative cookies. It has to be one with a large opening or the chunks of candy cane get stuck. There's always one piece that clogs it up. In this picture the one on the left was just a plain plastic bag and the one on the right was with a star tip.

You can make them up to 2 inches or as small as a kiss size. They really don't spread very much at all so if you leave 1/2" between them you should be good. If the batter is a little looser then leave an inch. In the picture at the top of the page, the large one is about 2" and the small ones are about 1"

Bake for 1 hour for small and 1 1/2 hours for large in preheated oven. Rotate the sheets after half the time. Meringues should be completely dry on the inside but don't let them brown. Turn off the oven and prop the oven door ajar a few inches with an oven mitt, and let the meringues sit in the oven until completely cool. If it's dry outside then I leave them in over night. If it's humid then cool in propped oven them seal them up so they stay dry. Loosen from the paper with a spatula. Store in cool dry place for up to 2 months.

Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies

2011-12-20T15:41:00.004-07:00

These cookies are chewy and peanut buttery and delicious. You can use a Hershey's chocolate kiss in the middle or a Brach's Chocolate Stars. I like the stars because they come in milk or DARK chocolate and as far as I'm concerned, the darker the better when it comes to chocolate. We love these not only at Christmas but any time of the year.

Click here for a printable/downloadable version of this recipe.

Ingredients
• 48 Hersheys' Kisses or Brach's Chocolate Stars
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup Creamy Peanut Butter
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Granulated sugar to roll dough balls into before baking
Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Beat butter and peanut butter in large bowl until well blended.
Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat until fluffy.
Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well.
Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture.
Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Do NOT put the chocolate on the cookie yet.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned.
Remove from oven and immediately press a chocolate into center of each cookie, the cookie will crack around edges.
Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.
Cool completely.

Makes About 4 dozen cookies

Bad Names for food, Super Bowl, commercials and mittens.

2011-02-01T13:00:00.001-07:00

It is freezing here today. -15 when I got up and it's up to a balmy -7 at noon. I'm not leaving the house.

I saw weird food commercials this week. The first was for dinner ideas using Chunky Soup. Dinner in 4 minutes- Make a plate of instant mashed potatoes, heat a can of chunky Sirloin Burger Soup and dump it over the top for a fast dinner. Gross. I hate instant potatoes and a can of soup over that just makes me gag. I guess they have lots of ideas, soup over rice, soup over noodles. Just doesn't sound good to me. I want my soup in a bowl for lunch. Dinner soup must be homemade!

Another commercial this week prompted me to ask, "What's with stupid food names?" Ad agencies need to quick thinking they're so clever when they aren't. Someone actually thought that a product called Anytizers was a cool idea. Really??? While they were at it they decided that Quesadillas should be called Quesadippers. I like Quesadillas and their Quesadippers look good but I won't be buying them, just on principle.

Speaking of commercials, my favorite commercials of the year are this Sunday during the Super Bowl. I record the game just to be able to watch the commercials. Don't get me wrong. I like watching the game but if I'm going to leave the room during the game, it won't be during the commercials. My favorite are the Budweiser ones with the horses.

I have watched more TV this week because I've been knitting a pair of mittens for one of my girls. I got one done and the other is started. They're really cute! I got the pattern on Ravelry. If you knit or crochet you need Ravelry. Tons of patterns and lots of fun tools to keep track of what you've made, the yarn you've used and notes. Lots of free patterns too!!!!

Get Random yourself over at The Un Mom!!!!

Bad License photos, Biting and 50!

2011-01-18T01:39:00.016-07:00

I'm not the only random person in my family. Here's my son's new driver's license picture.

Yep, he intentionally grew a mustache and shaved it to look like this just for his driver's license? He's guaranteed to never get a warning, if he's pulled over, with this pic. I'm so proud!! His girlfriend wasn't quite as thrilled since she had to hang out with him for a few days as it was growing in to look like this. He did shave it off as soon as he got back from the DMV. He only wanted to look creepy for the picture not in real life.

Over the holidays my daughter, Sarah, and I were driving down our street and we passed another car. It was being driven by the younger sister of one of her best friends. Sarah turned to me and said, "You know, she's really nice now that she doesn't bite!" I laughed so hard. This girl is 17 and hadn't bitten anyone in at least 10 years. You can't say Sarah doesn't forgive...the forget part, not so much!

I am trying to shoot a picture a day with my camera. I'm failing horribly. I end up taking any old shot at 11:30 at night just to take one. I really need to set aside some time each day to do this.

I forgot to mention last week that I had another birthday. I actually had a big birthday. I turned 50!!! 2 weeks ago. I really don't feel any different and it really hasn't been any big deal. I will say that I don't feel 50. It's very weird. I still feel like I'm in my 20's or 30's then I look int he mirror and wonder who the old lady is. You are only as old as you feel. I'll keep telling myself that! I do wonder what I am going to be when I grow up........ I might need to work on that. Time's running out.

Head on over to The Unmom and get random yourself!

Salted Caramel Pudding or Butterscotch Pudding Recipe

2011-01-13T01:51:00.002-07:00

My daughter Hannah came for a visit the other night and was hungry for Butterscotch pudding. I of course had every flavor of boxed pudding except that one so I got on the internet and looked at dozens of recipes and took the three I liked best and combined them into this one. It is the perfect combination of salty and sweet and buttery caramel butterscotch flavors. It tastes like salted caramels. Start to finish in under 15 mins. Hannah was thrilled but is sad that I've ruined her for boxed pudding. It's scary to think that we came so close to settling for a box and never discovering this amazing pudding!

Hannah's Butterscotch Pudding

3 1/2 cups milk- 1%, whole or what ever you’ve got (For a richer pudding use 2 1/2 cups milk and 1 cup cream
1 stick butter
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar packed
3 egg yolks
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

· Separate 3 eggs and put the 3 egg yolks into a medium bowl. Set aside.

· Stir 1/2 cup cold milk with 1/3 cup corn starch until a smooth paste. Set aside.

· In a microwavable container, add 3 cups milk (or cream and milk mixture) and Microwave for 2-4 minutes until skim forms on top and milk is hot. Remove and set aside.

· In a large, heavy saucepan, over medium heat, melt the butter. Stir in the brown sugar, raise the heat to medium-high, and cook 3 to 7 minutes, stirring constantly, to caramelize the mixture. You'll smell a characteristic nutty-caramel odor when the butter browns, signaling that the mixture is ready. Turn heat down to medium.

· Immediately, gradually add the hot milk into the butter/brown sugar mixture stirring constantly.

· Take the egg yolks and whisk in about 1/2 cup of the hot mixture. Whisk in the cornstarch paste and salt until dissolved. Whisk the cornstarch/ egg yolk mixture back into the hot mixture in the saucepan. Whisking constantly, cook over medium-high heat until pudding is thick and just boiling. You will know that it’s done and thick enough when the spoon leaves trail marks on the bottom of the pot and the mixture will have a few large bubbles boiling up to the top.

· Turn off the heat and whisk in the vanilla extract. Pour into one bowl or 6 to 8 ramekins, or mugs and press waxed paper over the top to prevent a skin from forming. Serve warm or chill at least 2 hours or overnight. Warm or cold it's delicious.I had it with a small dollop of whipped cream. I think I'm going to put some chocolate shavings on it next!

Random Tuesdays!!!! Christmas was fun!

2011-01-11T01:11:00.003-07:00

After a long fall I feel like I can blog again!! Not only that but what better time to start back up that on 1/11/11 at 1:11!!!!
A lot has been going on the last few months. My youngest headed off to college. She loves it and we are loving being empty nesters. It's nice to go where we want when we want and eat what we want again.

The only thing I do miss is having someone to hang out with in the evenings. My hubby is an early to bed guy- When we dated, he used to drop me off by 11pm. He likes to go to bed between 7 and 8pm and get up between 3 to 4am and I like to go to bed between 11 and 12 or 1am and get up between 7 to 8am!! When we were first married I would go to bed with him and then sneak out. Now I go up to read with him and then leave once he is tucked in. It works for us! It's just not as much fun making fun of people on TV by yourself!

I started working. Perfect job doing video editing for a market research company. I work from home but the hours are either perfect or hell. For now it's great and helps bring home the bacon. I just wish the company was a bit more organized and would plan the work flow better.

I actually got Aaron's Christmas stocking finished. It was close but it was hung by the chimney with care.

Christmas was amazing!!!! We celebrated on the 27th once Laura and her husband Mike got here. As my youngest said, " Christmas is in here (tapping her heart) not here (tapping her watch)" Corny but true!!! We have a Christmas Eve tradition of eating fondue in the family room while we open presents. Here are a few pictures from the evening.

We had so much fun that week, we laughed so hard our stomachs hurt and ate a lot of cookies. As my oldest. Laura, said on her blog I may have gone overboard with the cookies!!! We played a ton of games from Nerts to a really fun trivia game called Bezzerwizzer. Horrible name- really fun game!!
We spent 2 days at the cabin where there was actually a little bit of snow, spent time with friends, shot a lot of guns and all around had a blast. It was so nice having all of them home for the week and being all together. I miss spending time with all of them. We also had a wonderful time getting to know Tom's, girlfriend, Aaron (yes, Gina, I spelled it right). She's amazing and we can't wait for some wedding bells sometime this year. No pressure, they brought it up not me!!!!

Now that the older kids have headed home I'm thinking that Seattle is just way to far away!

My new favorite app for my iPhone is the one I used to take the Christmas pictures posted above.
It's called Hipstomatic- With a swipe of the finger, you can change your lens, flash, or film. Each adds a unique touch to your HipstaPrint. You can mix and match to get the look and feel you want. I love the retro feel of them. So cool man!

Head on over to The Unmom and get random yourself!

Monday's Household Assignment- Kitchen Cleanup!

2011-01-10T09:00:00.000-07:00

Now that Chirstmas is almost all put away, I'll be focusing any extra minutes in my kitchen. It's time to scrub down the outsides of the cabinets, clean off the counters, organize and sort through the drawers, and wipe down the appliances.
I have a really busy week so I'll break these jobs down into 15 to 20 minutes tasks.

DRAWERS: 5 to 15 minutes per drawer
When I clean out a drawer, I remove the drawer and dump it out onto the counter. I wipe out the inside and make sure it's really clean before I start putting stuff back in. As I sort through the items I ask myself, when was the last time I used this?, How often do I use it? and Do I really need this? If I only use it once a year, I have a plastic tub with a lid in my laundry room and that tool goes in this keeps the drawers less crowded. If I only use it occasionally, it goes to the back of the drawer. The items that I use frequently go in the front for easy access. I use plastic bags or tiny plastic containers to keep smaller items, like corn cob holders , together and organized. I have a hard time giving things away that are perfectly good, I haven't used in years BUT- I might need them someday. I force myself to put these things into a bag, TAPE IT SHUT and set it in the back of my car. I write a date on the bag one month from when it goes into the car. If I haven't needed anything from the bag in that month, I drop it off at goodwill WITHOUT LOOKING IN THE BAG!!! I use this method with closets and the basement too. I forget exactly what's in there and if I don't see it, I won't miss it.

CUPBOARDS- Inside- 20 to 30 minutes each.
Take everything out, wipe down shelves and put everything back in. Is there a better place for these items. For example- Are your coffee cups and coffee making items near the coffee maker? Are the dishes easy to put away from the sink or dishwasher? This is the time to rearrange if it makes more sense.
If you have young kids- try placing their dishes in a drawer that they can reach. This makes it easy for them to help put their dishes away and for them to get their things out for meals and snacks. My kids are grown and we still keep the small bowls and plastic plates for snacks in a drawer. Drawers are also a much easier place to keep tupperware bowls and lids. It makes it much easier to find them than in a cupboards.

CUPBOARDS-Outsides of all- 15 to 30 minutes.
Wipe down the outside of the cupboards and drawers with Murphy's Oil Soap or whatever is safe for your cupboard doors. I like to use a microfiber cloth for this to really get the cooking build up off.

APPLIANCES- Outsides:15 to 20 minutes
Wipe down the tops, fronts and sides of all the appliances- The fridge top can be scary if it hasn't been done in a while. While you're cleaning, Take the time to remove all the stuff from the fridge front. Take down all the magnets, photos and stuff. I tape those kinds of things on the inside of my cupboard doors. This keeps them in a handy yet out of sight place. Just removing all the stuff from the fronts and sides of the fridge will make your whole kitchen look cleaner and more uncluttered. It really does!!!!! Try it!!!!

REFRIGERATOR COILS- 5 to 10 minutes
Vacuum the coils of your refrigerator to increase energy efficiency and prolong the life of the compressor. You should clean the coils at least 2 times a year, if you have pets 4 times a year! Your owner's manual will show how to do this or you can google it online.

Break it down this week and get that kitchen cleaned.

If you like to cook with your kids or have kids learning to cook- here's a great new app to try-Big Fork Little Fork!

2010-12-02T09:09:00.000-07:00

I just heard about a wonderful new app for the iPad and can't wait to try it.
"Big Fork Little Fork" is an app to help kids develop smart eating habits and an appreciation for food.

Available exclusively on the iPad, the app has been designed to help parents engage their children to learn basic cooking techniques, kitchen safety, manners and healthy living habits. The app features how-to videos, in-depth articles, tips, recipes and educational games. Here's a link that shows all that the app does.

Ideal for:

* Parents and kids cooking together
* Parents looking to expand their children’s (or even spouse’s) palates
* Cooking inspiration during the holiday season
* College kids learning how to cook on their own for the first time
* Home-schooling parents looking to infuse food education into their curriculum
I can't wait to try it out and pass it along to my college kids who are learning to cook for themselves.

There is also an additional package of globally inspired recipes from celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson. He is a young innovative chef with restaurants in New York and a great blog.
It's an additional $4.99 but if they are as good as his other recipes, worth every penny.

I'll let you know more about the app after I've played with it and after my kids have tried it.

From now until December 31st the app is free!!!!! Go to Big Fork Little Fork at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/big-fork-little-fork/id379783460?mt=8 to download it to you iPad.

To add the app to your iPad:
* From your iPad:
1. Press home button.
2. Press App Store icon.
3. Select search and enter Big Fork Little Fork.
4. Once it appears in the menu below the search area.
5. Tap on the section where the Big Fork Little Fork appears, you will then see the additional information about the application.
6. Tap on the button to purchase Big Fork Little Fork.
7. Tap on install.

You can also access the application from the iTunes App Store from your computer

* Please follow the below steps:
1. Download iTunes from Apple.com and register for an iTunes account.
2. Click on App Store.
3. Click on Lifestyle.
4. Locate the Big Fork Little Fork in the Lifestyle category.
5. Purchase Big Fork Little Fork.

Once you have downloaded the app, make sure to access the new and exclusive content from Marcus Samuelsson!
Instructions to download the exclusive new content from celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson:
On the homescreen you can press TOOLS and then select SHOP to see available content for purchase such as Recipes from Marcus Samuelsson, featuring 50 new recipes and 10 new videos by celebrity Chef Marcus Samuelsson. You can also see recently downloaded items on the homescreen on the cookbook in the COOK section, as well as new editions to download.

“I wrote this blog post while participating in a TwitterMoms program, making me eligible to get an iTunes gift card in order to purchase the Marcus Samuelsson recipe collection on Big Fork Little Fork free. For more information on how you can participate, click here!

Holiday Cranberry Tart- A festive and delicious make ahead dessert.

2010-11-18T14:21:00.002-07:00

This is a yummy recipe that I got from Bon Appetit magazine 3 years ago. The combination of the clean fresh taste of cranberries and fresh ginger, a creamy mascarpone cheese filling and the crisp chocolate cookie crust is divine. If you don't like chocolate you can use vanilla cookies for the crust.

The best thing is that you make all of the components 2 to 3 days ahead of time and then assemble them just before serving. It's actually better when the cranberry part sits for a few days, but if you want to do it all the day of you can.

Cranberry Chocolate Tart

Bon Appetit Nov. 2007
Click here for a printable version of this recipe
Cranberry Topping:
1/2 cup cranberry juice, divided
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
1- 12-ounce bag fresh or frozen cranberries
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger
Pinch of salt
4 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger

Crust:
1 1/4 cups chocolate wafer cookie crumbs (made from about 6 1/2 ounces cookies, finely ground in processor) You may also use vanilla wafer cookies or shortbread cookies instead.
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 to 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Mascarpone Filling:
1- 8-ounce container mascarpone cheese- an Italian cream cheese you can find at most stores now
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup chilled whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Thin strips of crystallized ginger (optional garnish)

Preparation
Pour 1/4 cup cranberry juice into small bowl; sprinkle gelatin over. Let stand until softened, 15 minutes. Combine 1/4 cup cranberry juice, cranberries, and next 5 ingredients in medium saucepan; bring to boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to medium; simmer until cranberries are tender but still plump, 5 minutes. Strain into bowl; set cranberries aside. Add gelatin mixture to hot juice in bowl; stir until gelatin dissolves. Stir cranberries back into juice. Chill until cranberry mixture is cold and slightly thickened, at least 8 hours or overnight. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2-3 days ahead. Cover and chill.

Stir chopped crystallized ginger into cranberry mixture one hour before assembling.

For crust:
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Combine chocolate (or vanilla) wafer cookie crumbs, sugar, and salt in medium bowl; add 5 tablespoons melted butter and stir until crumbs feel moist when pressed together with fingertips, adding remaining 1 tablespoon melted butter if mixture is dry. Press crumb mixture firmly onto bottom and up sides of 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Bake chocolate crust until beginning to set and slightly crisp, pressing with spoon if crust puffs during baking, about 14 minutes. Transfer tart pan to rack and cool crust completely before filling.

For mascarpone filling:
Using electric mixer, beat all ingredients except ginger in medium bowl just until thick enough to spread (do not overbeat or mixture may curdle). Cover and chill.

Assembling Tart: Up to 6 hours before serving
Spread mascarpone filling in crust.
Spoon cranberry mixture evenly over mascarpone filling.
Chill at least 2 hours and up to 6 hours.
Garnish with crystallized ginger strips, if desired.
Cut tart into wedges and serve cold.

A Hearty Chili recipe for a cold snowy day.

2010-11-12T01:16:00.002-07:00

Fact Woman’s Beef Chili with Beans

click here for version to print

We love chili. There is nothing more comforting and cozy that a chili dinner on a cold winter day. It is hearty, filling and delicious. I like using a combination of different beans, mainly because I think that kidney beans are just kind of grainy and smooshy. It’s a texture issue. . The combination of beans gives this chili texture and a variety in looks and taste.

1 pound of ground beef
1 medium onion chopped
2 1/2 TBS chili powder
2 1/2 TBS cumin
2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp to 1 tsp of chipotle powder or as much heat as you want
1- 15 oz can of ground tomatoes
1- 15 oz can of Kuner’s black beans with cumin and chili spices or just a can of black beans
1- 15 oz can of chili beans
1- 15 oz can of great Northern Beans- drained and rinsed
2- 15 oz can of red kidney beans- drained and rinsed or 1- white kidney beans & 1 red
salt and pepper to taste
3-4 tbs of brown sugar

Brown the ground beef and chopped onions in a medium stock pot or large deep pan until meat is cooked through and the onions are softened.
Drain and rinse the Kidney and Great Northern beans. Don’t drain the black and chili beans
Drain off some of the fat leaving about 2 tbs in with meat.
Add all the spices and stir until they are mixed into the meat completely, about 1 minute.
Dump in the tomatoes, chili beans and the black beans and then add the kidney and great northern beans and stir until combined. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Bring to a simmer, cover and reduce the heat to med low and let simmer for 30 minutes.

Stir in the brown sugar and serve over rice or cornbread.

Please join the Army of Women to fight against breast cancer and to help find a cure.

2010-10-07T01:22:00.001-06:00

I would like to encourage you to join in the fight against breast cancer by becoming one of the Army of Women. The Army of Women campaign is an online initiative to get 1 million women who may be willing to participate in studies and research in the fight against breast cancer. Studies require a variety of different things (women can be asked anything from filling out an online questionnaire to being asked for a blood sample). It varies according to the type of study.

We now have 338,000 signed up. You can sign up at www.armyofwomen.org. Members are then contacted via E-blast to participate in groundbreaking, breast cancer prevention research studies. They can either sign-up for the studies online, or if they do not qualify, they are encouraged to forward the information to a friend or family member. Every woman over 18 is welcome to participate, whether a breast cancer survivor or someone never affected. In many breast cancer research studies, recruiting women is the biggest obstacle, and our innovative program is working to virtually eliminate this hurdle.

The goal is to recruit one million healthy women of every age and ethnicity, including breast cancer survivors and women at high-risk for the disease, to partner with breast cancer researchers and directly participate in the research that will eradicate breast cancer once and for all.

To challenge the scientific community to expand its current focus to include breast cancer prevention research conducted on healthy women.

There is absolutely NO COST to join and take part in something this important. We are not asking for donations, just for women to sign up and agree to hear about studies. Participation in any of the studies is ALWAYS, COMPLETELY voluntary.
Participants will be involved in important research to discover THE CAUSE of breast cancer–how to stop it before it starts.
You have the ability to participate only in those projects that interest them. You can opt to decline any study invitation, or accept any invitation of their choosing.
Current Projects: You can familiarize yourself with our current studies, what they require and what they are looking by reviewing our current, open studies here: www.armyofwomen.org/current
Type of commitment: Studies require a variety of different things (women can be asked anything from filling out an online questionnaire to being asked for a blood sample). It varies according to the type of study.

Take the time to Tweet, blog and Facebook status about this initiative. Together we have the power in numbers to help find a cause and a cure for breast cancer!Get involved today.

2010-10-04T01:45:00.000-06:00

I spent an hour yesterday getting my freezer cleaned and organized. I bought 4 pounds of green tomatoes and tomatillos to make a huge batch of my famous green sauce base to freeze it and my freezer was such a mess that I figured it needed to be cleaned before I put anything else in it.
Plus, the bigger issue is that the holidays are coming and really will be here before you know it.
It's only
              26 days until National Candy Corn Day
              30 days until Election Day
              51 days until Thanksgiving
              58 days until Hanukkah
            83 days until Christmas
88 days left to vote for me at My Crescent WOW . I'd love your vote!!!

It's time to start getting prepared and this week we need to tackle the freezer so that you'll have room for baked items you might make and extra food for company or parties. If you have a freezer of any size, you and I know that if you don't clean it out regularly, it becomes the Burmuda Triangle of frozen foods. You can occasionally find things in there that you don't even remember buying. Even if you do clean it out regularly, there are empty boxes, things that've been shoved in, any old place there was a spot, and items that shouldn't be saved because they've been lost in there too long.

I use the same technique that I use with my pantry.

Grab a folding table or have a flat spot that you can sort everything out on.
Remove everything from the freezer, this is scarier for some of us than for others, and make pile based on the type of food it is. Veggies and fruits, uncooked meats, cooked items, etc.

If your freezer is frost free, lay out the items on the table in the piles and wipe out the inside of the freezer with cloth and a solution of 3 TBS baking soda to 1 quart of warm water. Now, skip down to the section below the stars ************. If you have a freezer that needs to be defrosted here's how to do it.

If you have a freezer that needs to be defrosted, you will need to put your frozen items into coolers or wrap them up in a very thick comforter to keep them cold and frozen while you take care of the frost.

To defrost your freezer that is inside the house, under the door opening you should protect the floor by laying out a flat trash bag and placing towels on top of that. Turn the freezer OFF. Chip off any frost chunks that you can with a wooden spoon, wood can't dent or puncture the freezer tubes as easily as a metal utensil can. Put a thick layer of newspaper in the bottom of the freezer to catch the chunks. Bring 2 large pans of water to boil. Place a one of the pans on one of the bottom shelves and close the door. Let the hot water soften and melt the frost. After 10 to 15 minutes remove the pan, chip the thawing frost off onto the newspaper in the bottom and wrap up the chunks in a couple of sheets of the newspaper to remove them from freezer. Place the second pan of boiling water into the freezer and close door. Reheat the pan you remove. Repeat until the frost is gone. Wipe out the excess water with towels and then wipe out the inside with 3 tablespoons baking soda in 1 quart of water to gently clean before replacing food.

If your freezer is in your garage (lucky you) because then you can use the fastest way to defrost a freezer- A garden hose.

UNPLUG- REPEAT UNPLUG THE FREEZER!!!! UNPLUG THE FREEZER!!!! UNPLUG!!!!!

Water on the floor and electric appliances do not mix!!!!!!

Check to make sure the freezer is UNPLUGGED (humor me and check one more time that it is unplugged) then take a garden hose and spray the frost in the freezer, beginning at the top of the freezer. The frost will melt off in the water spray very quickly. Once all the frost is out, dry the inside with some large towels. Mop the water out of the garage and you've not only cleaned out the freezer but cleaned off the garage floor as well. NICE!

********************************************************************

Now, it's time to reload the freezer.
TIP: Plastic baskets are your friend in a freezer. They help keep bags and smaller items contained and allows you to stack and pack items higher so that you don't waste space and things aren't sliding out on you when you open the door.

I mark each item that goes back into the freezer with a Sharpy. Since I only clean out my freezer every 6 to 8 months, I only use 2 colors. Blue and red. This week I'll be using red. Anything that I put back in the freezer I'll put a red check mark on. This lets me know that that item went back in this October. As I'm sorting and consolidating items to put back in, when I find an item that has a blue mark on it, I know that it's been in the freezer for at least 6 months. (I cleaned the freezer out in late May and used blue.) I really look at these items to see if they should be put back in or not. If they go back in, they'll have a red and a blue mark on them. If I find them still in there next time I muck out, they're out-a-here! I also make sure that these items are put at the very front and try to use them us ASAP so that they don't go to waste.

As you put the food back in, check the dates on each item and look at each item. If it's been in the freezer for a year, odds are it's going to have an off taste and really needs to be thrown away. If you find meat that looks a bit freezer burned, thaw it, cut off the freezer burned area and make a soup or a stew out of it for dinner that night. It needs to be used up quickly.

Here are some repacking hints:

If you have stuff that comes in a large box but there are only a few left, cut the photo and preparation instructions off the box and stick the items ad the cut outs into a ziplock bag together. More and more I've started doing this right when I get home from the store. It's saves so much room in the freezer plus when you can see the items, you know exactly how many you have left. I hate it when I go to the freezer to get something and there is one in the huge box and I need 3 or worse yet, THE BOX IS EMPTY!!! Who leaves the empty box there when they take the last one out? Not anyone from my gene pool, I'll tell you that!
Group food items together. Have an area for fruits and vegetables, an area for convenience foods/snacks, an area for baked goods and an area for raw meats. TIP: Raw meats should ALWAYS be in the bottom of the freezer below all other items for 2 reasons; If the meat leaks any juice out of the packaging while it's freezing, the juices won't contaminate any other items in the freezer and heaven forbid you lose power or the freezer fails, the juices from the thawing meat won't leak onto other items. I also keep any liquids that I freeze in Ziplock bags at the bottom of the freezer for these same reasons. I tend to make double batches of a recipe when I cook. We eat one batch and the second batch I freeze for a quick and easy meal later. I keep all of these Pre-Made Dinners together as well.
Make sure to leave an empty section for your holiday baking and extra items you'll need for parties or guests. After all, this is why we're doing this task!!!!

Have a great week and get those freezers cleaned out.

Monday's Household Assignment- Clean out the fridge.

2010-09-27T00:19:00.001-06:00

This week's household assignment is to clean out your refrigerator. Not just a check to see if there are any week old leftovers but, a take every item out, clean the shelves and check all expiration dates kind of clean out.

Before and After

I really wish I could say that I staged how bad the before was but this is really what it looked like! Humbling!!

1. Begin by removing every single item out of the fridge, including the items in the door.

TIP: if you don't have a counter close by, set up a card table to put everything on.

2. Take a large bowl of hot tap water and add 1/4 cup of baking soda. Use this solution to wash down the shelves, doors and insides of drawers.

3. Line the produce drawers with old clean dish towels. This keeps any juices contained and catches loose leaves or items from sticking to the drawer bottom.

4. Line the door containers with paper towels folded in half. These catch drips and leaks from condiments and dressings.

5. Wipe down all items and check their expiration dates.
Throw away any items that are out of date and return
the other items to the fridge. I keep all of my jellies together, the salad dressings together, and my condiments together in groups in the door. I keep all of my dairy items together on a shelf.
Organize items in a way that works for you.

TIP: When you get home from the grocery store, wash your fresh fruits and snack veggies and place in a bowl at eye level in the fridge. This way when you get hungry, these items are the first thing you'll see when you open the door. You'll be far more likely to grab these as a snack instead of items that are less healthy and higher in calories.
Have a great week.

Random Tuesday!! Bear Bolts, Aspens and Whorrible clothes.

2010-09-21T00:49:00.003-06:00

Last week I actually bought a little notebook so that I could write down the funny things that I hear, see or someone says. I forgot to put it in my purse so I have to go with what I remember......

I was in Target with one of my funny friends. You know the kind of person who says funny things off the cuff without having to think about it, that kind of friend. Anyway, we were walking past the Junior section and there they were, lace leggings. They were on a rack with a lace tank top. Gina without even thinking says,"Those are whorrible with an emphasis on the Ho". I have to agree. Who would wear those? Even under a short skirt they would just look trashy. The tank you could get away with but not lace leggings.

There was a great lightning storm last night without any rain so I got my camera out to take some shots.
One of my son's friends says it looks like a bear. I just thought it was a cool lightning bolt. Looks like a got a bear bolt.

We are getting ready to go to Parent Weekend next weekend. I'm looking forward to it. We got an out of the blue phone call asking if we'd like to join the president of the university in his box for the football game on Saturday. Being the trusting person I am, NOT, I immediately thought, How much is this going to cost me? By asking a few more questions I found out that they invite parents to every game chosen at random and since we are one of the very few out of state families coming in for the weekend, they asked us. It should be fun! Football and free food what's not to love. I need to brush up on my players and info about their team.

We drove up to the mountains to see the leaves today. They are gorgeous this year. So many different colors of gold not just yellow. God is a wonderful creator of beauty!!

Hey, would you please take the time to do 2 things.

I could really use your votes for the Pillsbury Crescent Contest.

Click the button at the top of the page and vote for the Zippy Chicken Packets! Thanks!!!

and then head on over to Keely for some more randomness.

Random Tuesday- I'm Published!, Redneck Repairs, Advantages of an Empty Nest and a Sloppy Drunk- Oh wait that's my roommate!

2010-09-07T01:01:00.000-06:00

My friend, Elizabeth, let me know that my recipe is in this month's issue of Rachel Ray magazine. How fun is that! It'll also be in Taste of Home magazine in October. Don't forget to Vote for me- if you feel like it that is!!!! You can click here or on the header at the top of the page. You can also enter to win $5000 for yourself all with one click. I'm the Zippy Orange BBQ Chicken Packet recipe.

They say that necessity is the mother of invention. That makes me the mother of an inventor!! My son's side mirror got taken off by a bus. It was going to cost around $300 to fix so he came up with his own solution.

Yep. Zip ties and a $2.99 hand mirror. I'm so proud. His comment was Take that Ford!!!
His repair reminded me of the site There I Fixed it- Redneck repairs? If you haven't seen it you should check it out for a laugh.

Look at this one . Someone's going to die or need an ER with this set up!!! The good news is that they won't drown, they'll die long before they get to the water!What do you want wanna bet it was dads, babysitting the kids while mom was out, that came up with this brilliant idea. I bet a few beers were involved in it too.

Or how about this vehicle, it's just like a mullet haircut. Business in the front and a party in the back!!!

see more There I Fixed It

We went to the Taste of Colorado yesterday. Perfect weather, lots of crowds but some great food and lots of good people watching.

Welcome to college. My youngest daughter's first week at college is over. So far so good for her classes but not so good with the roommate. On Friday night Sarah went to bed at 11, at 1am she gets a phone call. It was a guy calling on her roommate's phone saying come get your roommate at our frat- she's sloppy drunk. Sarah got 2 friends to go walk with her the 3 blocks over to this stupid frat house, to help walk her drunk roommate home. My daughter got her back to the room, into bed, laying on her side and went back to sleep. The best part was that Sarah wa leaving the next morning to go somewhere early so she woke her roommate up at 7am to tell her that she's 17, a freshman in college and it's time to grow up. That she'd (Sarah) always be there if she was really in trouble but she needs to learn to make better decisions and getting fall down drunk at a frat is not one of those good decisions. I was proud of my daughter for watching out for her but she shouldn't have to be a mom to her roommate. Why are freshman roommates usually such a disaster? One week down 30 to go!

We have really enjoyed our first week as empty nesters. I did cry the day I got home from dropping her off but since then I've been weirdly happy. It was amazing to not have to go to back to school night at the high school. I will admit that I felt a little left out. I mean, after 12 years of going to it it did become a part of our lives but I got over that feeling really fast! Yep not missing it very much at all. It's so nice being able do things when we want, not be held hostage by a else's schedule and it's nice to fix foods with mushrooms, which are the one food that none of the 5 kids will touch. I've missed them. There are a few other bonuses that we can't discuss. Sorry kids. I'll be paying for therapy for years now!!!

Have a random Tuesday and head over to Keely's at the UnMom to post your own random thoughts.

Friday Fragments- Christmas Stockings are a joke, I'm a finalist for Pillsbury and what is that powder in your car!

2010-09-03T01:40:00.003-06:00

Ok, you have all heard that I am one of the finalists in the Pillsbury Crescent Contest and are sick of it already but I am still so excited and would love your vote! Click the button below to vote. You can vote one a day and each vote will enter you to win $5000 for yourself!! YOu can even choose not to get any emails from them!! Thanks!! Now onto fragments!

My son is dating a lovely woman and it must be getting serious because he asked for the website where the Christmas stocking patterns are sold. When we first got married my mom made us Christmas stocking and then she made them for our 4 kids. When our extra son Kevin came along, I picked up the knitting of the stockings. Last year when my daughter got engaged I asked my now son-in-law to pick out a stocking he'd like. He picked the stupidest looking elf. I asked if that was the one he really wanted, it was so I made it. At Christmas the kids were laughing at how dumb it was and pointing out the funny features on the others. It was at that moment that I realized what I looked at as a wonderful. sweet, tender, family tradition was looked on by ALL of my children as a huge Joke and a competition to see who could have the funniest looking stocking. So much for tear jerking traditions- unless of course they're tears of laughter! Figures!!! Here are the stocking.

I still think they're sweet! I should stop knitting them but then their fun would be over!!

I was reading the paper this morning and there was an article about a traffic stop in Wyoming. When the police searched the car, they found drug paraphernalia (I love spell check), marijuana, prescription meds that weren't theirs and tucked in the center console they found a Crowne Royal bag containing a ziplock bag filled with a powdery substance. Want to guess what it was? Yep!! It was Grandma or her ashes at least!! I bet she's thrilled to be in a baggie in her druggy grandsons center console. Seriously, you can't make stuff like this up!

Have a great weekend and head on over to Half Past Kissing Time to fragment your Friday!

Just got my press kit for the Pillsbury Crescent Brand Ambassador Contest!

2010-09-01T10:05:00.000-06:00

My press kit just arrived!!! Fedex dropped it off without ringing the doorbell so I just found it!! First off, there's nothing like opening a box and having cute stuffing around the items! That made it even more special. Inside was a press kit that they'd made up just for me!! I feel like it's Christmas morning. Here's the kit!

See what I mean about the blue crinkle paper? So fun!!

The press kit is filled with stationary, fliers, stickers and recipe cards all with my Zippy BBQ Chicken Packets on them. I will say it's really weird see my face on everything. Thankfully, Mark Labriola II at Blue Ring Media, an amazing photographer, took some head shots for me to use for this adventure and he did a great job!!!

The website to vote will be up later and the real fun begins! The first voting preiod will be this fall from Sept 1- Oct 31. The recipes will be Easy Meal Recipes. Then from November 2- December 31st the focus will be on Holiday Entertaining Recipes. I'll update later with the link to vote.

I'm one of the 4 Finalists in the Pillsbury Crescent Brand Ambassador Contest!!!

2010-09-01T01:24:00.002-06:00

Back in late May or early June I filled out a form to enter a contest to become the Pillsbury Crescent Brand Ambassador. I made the cut to 100 and submitted my 2 recipes. A few weeks later I got a call that I was one of the 12 finalists and they needed another recipe from me. I submitted that and then had a telephone interview. The Taste of Home kitchens spent a couple of weeks taste testing all of the 12 semi finalist's recipes and in mid July, I found out that I'd been selected as one of the 4 finalists to go into the national vote!!! (The hardest part was keeping it all a secret until now.) I couldn't be more thrilled to have my recipes chosen. I submitted my original Zippy Orange BBQ Chicken Packets and my Apple Rosemary Blue Cheese Bites recipes.

The other 3 finalists and I will have our recipes featured in ads in Rachel Ray magazine and on her website, the Taste of Home magazine and website, on a microblog on Allrecipes.com and on the voting website.

Later today, the voting site will open and I would love your support. The bonus is that your vote enters you to win $5000 for yourself!! How cool is that?!! So I hope I can count on your support!

Randomness- From the Grand Canyon to San Diego in Pictures

2010-08-31T11:04:00.001-06:00

Last week I was on the road driving with my daughter to San Diego. We took the long way so that she could see the Grand Canyon. It was worth the extra 5 hours or windshield time! 3 days and 26 miles total.

We stopped at Arches National Park in Utah on the first day. It's a beautiful park with very cool rocks that look like things other that rocks.

This rock looks like it's giving us the finger! That or telling us that we're number one!

A small Asian kid screaming!

How about some rocks that look like a line of elephants!

The Grand Canyon is so awesome that you really can't even describe it and pictures can't begin to show how amazing it really is. Here's my daughter standing at the side of the canyon. There was no railing right here, just a straight drop off. She was 8 feet away from the edge but I kept telling her to not step back and to watch were she was standing. Yep panicked just a little. There were tons of people there and some of them were laughing at me! Didn't care- let your kid stand on the edge.....and fall!!!!

We stopped for lunch on old Route 66 and ate at a place that had the best pie we've ever had. She had chocolate peanut butter and here's my Chocolate Raspberry. It was sooooooo gooood!!!!!!!! Fluffy Chocolate cream over a raspberry cream filling with fresh raspberries in it and all on homemade flaky as can be pie crust. They have 22+ homemade flavors every day!!!!!! I wish I lived closer!!!

Driving through Arizona it was hot. I mean really hot. Even my car thought it was hot with a capital F.

Here's my randomness- Out there in the middle of nowhere, near Kingman, AZ was an airplane graveyard. Just row after row of old airplanes baking in the sun.

FYI- from Moab to Palm Springs there is almost no cell service. It's a little scary driving on 2 lane roads through the desert with a town every 90 miles nothing in sight, 112 degrees and no cell service but we made it!!

My husband flew in and met us in San Diego, we got her all moved into her dorm- good thing her roommate likes pink, said our goodbyes and headed home!
Now you head over to Keely's and post your own random thoughts, pictures or anything!

Random Tuesday- Her bags are packed she's ready to go... Fried Fair Food, Bingo and Cows

2010-08-24T01:36:00.000-06:00

Well the bags are packed, the car is loaded and we head out to Cali tomorrow morning. My baby's got it all together. I will say it's easier to pack for weather that's the same all year long than a place with different seasons. She's very excited to start college a little nervous but excited. I'm just a little sad but will get over it soon. I am looking forward to setting something down and no one moving it. That or it will prove that I'm really scatter brained and have been forgetting where I've been putting things all these years. Hmmmmm

We went to the county fair in Nebraska last weekend. It was a blast!!! We ate lots of fried fair food like funnel cakes, Indian Tacos and ribbon fries.

We also played a few games of Bingo! Bingo at the county fair is a big draw. The Lion's club bingo building is always packed on all 4 sides with about 100 players a game.

To say we were lucky would be an understatement. My daughter won 6 times, I won twice and her friend won twice in 2 days. Here they are after win #10!!! It was almost humorous. We'd win within a couple of game of sitting down- every time. We won 5 out of 10 games we played the first day alone. In a small town people don't like the out-of-towners to be the big winners. We got some dirty looks and some great prizes.

My inlaws live in a very small town and are cattle ranchers. Sarah's friend had never been up close and personal with a cow. I think cows are dang cute. Dumb as posts but cute. This one was in field in front of the house.

The other big fun at the ranch was going to Alco and the girls found self inflating whoopee cushions.

I know they're heading off to college but they spent literally 4 hours playing with them on Friday afternoon. They'd sit on it or squeeze it until it made the farting noise and then lay on the floor and laugh and laugh. It was hilarious!! We played with it on the way home too. It's really funny to set one off in a bathroom stall and then stroll out looking all innocent. We were behaving like 12 year old boys but I really haven't laughed that hard in ages. Why are fart sounds so funny?

From laughter to tears. I'm really worried that I'm going to make a fool of myself by crying all the why home on the plane, Saturday. I better go pack some tissues. Now who moved them?

Head on over to Keely's to post your own randomness.

Monday's Household Assignments- Pantry

2010-08-23T01:18:00.000-06:00

School is starting and it's time to get your house back under control or at least think about it. It's been a year since I told you about how to clean out and organize your pantry but even though it seems like yesterday, it's time to do it again. I always do it right when school starts. I actually won't be doing it until next week. This week I'll be on a road trip to bring my youngest to college in California! I won't be around this week but I'll update you when I can.

Now back to pantry cleaning! I have a good size pantry and usually muck it out 3 times a year. The first week of school (which cleans up after a summer of kids shoving things in), The first week of December (to get ready for the holidays) and then right after spring break in April. Cleaning out your pantry on a regular basis helps save money by reminding you of items that you have that you might have forgotten you had so that you can use them up, it weeds out any expired food that could be unhealthy to consume and just plain old makes you feel good when you look in and see it all in order.

Here is how I suggest you clean and organize your pantry.

To start with, get a large trash bag and a folding table. I set up the folding table right outside the door and the trash can next to that. Start at the top of pantry and work your way down.
Remove everything from the top shelf and place it on the table.

Wipe down the shelf and then sort through the items you removed, checking dates and contents. Anything that has expired throw away, combine other items if you have a couple of half containers.

Place the items back on the shelf with the oldest items in front so that they'll get used up first and the newer ones behind those.

I arrange my pantry by categories. Baking Ingredients, Cereals, salty snacks, sweet snacks, canned fruits and all juices, Nut butters, jelly and honey, Pasta and sauces, rice and beans, Asian, Drink mixes, and condiments.

HINT: Try using baskets and bins to keep smaller items together. For example; I have a plastic shoe boxes for chocolate chips and baking chocolate, one for nuts, coconut and baking candies, and one for crisco.

Try using large bin for pastas, a bin for rice and beans, a bin for condiments, and a bin for dry seasoning. None of my bins match but it's my pantry- who cares!! Sorry the photos are so bad.

One thing that I find really handy, I have an airtight tub that I keep all of my bread making ingredients and bread recipes in. That makes it easy to pull out and have everything that I need to make a batch of bread with.

Here are two interesting questions that came up as I cleaned my pantry today.

How is it possible, when I do this every 3 to 4 months, that every single time, I find one or two items that expired years ago? This time I found a can of peaches that had expired in 2005 and a bottle of ranch that had expired in 2007? Are expired foods sneaking into the pantry in the middle of the night? I really do look at every single can and box before putting it away. I have a good friend who has this same Twilight Zone experience every time she cleans her pantry.
Why were there at least 6 EMPTY boxes in the pantry? Who puts away an empty box? I bet it was the same person who put away the empty milk carton this morning.

Have fun cleaning yours out and let me know what the oldest item that has expired in your pantry is.

Random Tuesday- Surgery, recovery and a county fair!

2010-08-17T11:19:00.000-06:00

A week ago Friday, I took my daughter to the doctor to have them look at a lump in her neck that we've all been watching for a couple of years. It'd gotten bigger so it needed to come out. Talk about fast, she had surgery 3 days later. She had a rough first week with pain and nausea but the worst is over and now a week later she has a 1 1/2" scar to show for it! Hadn't planned for it to be that soon but I'm glad it's out before she heads off to another state for school next week.

I need to go buy waterproof mascara. Judging from the tears that have already started this week, I'll be needing it for the big drop off in Cali. next week. I don't know why but it's so much harder to think about dropping her off that far away than it was bringing my other kids to school an hour away. I really didn't go visit them at college very often, maybe a couple of times a year, but it was knowing that if they got sick or needed me, I could be there pretty fast. This whole long distance thing is not sitting well at all!!!

One thing I am finding is that it's not as much fun to cook for two people. I'm so used to cooking for 8 to 10 that cooking for two just doesn't seem worth it at all. I wonder what my husband would say if I quit cooking all together?

We're off to the county fair in Nebraska this weekend. I love the county fair. It's small town America at it's best. Carnival rides, rip off games and the best Fair Food around; Funnel cakes, Indian Tacos, ribbon fries, and fresh squeezed lemonade. My plan is to play lots of 25 cent a game Bingo at the Lion's Club booth and lots of catching up with family and people I only see at the fair. Toss in a parade where they throw lots of candy and prizes and a town BBQ put on by the Cattleman's Association and what more could you want from a weekend? I married into the fair but can't imagine living without it.

Head on over to The Un Mom to link up your randomness this week!!

Getting your Child Ready for College Part II- Emotions

2010-08-05T01:24:00.000-06:00

If you have a child heading off to college there is no doubt you are feeling excited for them, nervous for them and more than a little sad for yourself! Man can I relate. It is such a huge transition for both your child and for you.
They're excite to get out there on their own but odds are they are more than a little nervous and scared. It's scary leaving home and the security of having family around them. They have no frame of reference for what to expect from living on their own, dealing with a roommate and making all their own decisions. Add in the anxiety and pressure of classes and grades and you have one scared freshman.
One thing you can do is to try and get them to open up and talk about what they are feeling. Just talking about it and realizing that they are not the only ones feeling like this can really help. Every freshman going off to college is nervous!!! Encourage them that they can do this and will be successful if they work at it.

Help them find the resources available on their campus before they go. Have them look up the places for help with roommate situations, help with studying and tutoring. Take some time to talk with them about campus security and how to stay safe. Find out about campus security escort services if they have to walk at night and have them program the contact numbers into their phone before they leave for school. Sometimes just knowing about the supports in place on campus will relieve much of their anxiety.
When a problem does arises, they need to be the one to go and ask for help. They need to be their own advocate when they go to college. Make sure to tell them that you'll be there to help them as well.

Here's the big caution: When they call you for help; "I hate my roommate", "I'm having a problem", you can't solve it for them. You need to help them solve the problem themselves. If they have a roommate issue, ask them if they've actually talked with the roommate about the problem. Odds are they haven't encourage them to talk with them first and then if that doesn't work, go to the RA. As hard as it may be- don't start making phone calls yourself, they need to learn to fix things on their own. Your job is to be an encourager and give them ideas of how to work through things on their own.

How are you feeling? Here's you might feel.
You're really ready for them to go. The summer before college is long and they can be more than a bit moody and difficult to have around sometimes. This is so you're more ready for them to get out of the house!
You're excited that they are starting their life as an (almost) adult and for the adventures and future that await them. You've spent years raising them to be self sufficient and given them wings to fly, corny I know but true.
You're nervous for them because you won't be there to help them, to make sure that they are safe, eating right and making wise decisions.
You're also sad because your job as a 24-7 mom/dad to your precious baby is over. You won't be able to peek in and see them sleeping until noon, see their face every day or just be able to give them a hug or a kiss as you pass by. That is really hard. It changes the way you cook and how much food you fix. I remember years ago when my first child left for college and I was at the grocery store. I went to buy baking potatoes and put 7 in the bag. I realized that I only needed 6 and burst into tears. Not just a few tears, I'm talking SOBS. Thankfully, a woman nearby had been there and asked if my first child had just left for college. We both had a good laugh and I finished shopping but it was stupid things like that that would make me realize that life was different, not worse just something that I needed to adjust to and it made me sad during that transition.
Take the time to not only celebrate this transition that they are making but to realize that your sadness and tears are perfectly normal during YOUR transition to life without them at home.

Enjoy these last few weeks before they are gone and use them to get both of you ready for college.

Getting your Child Ready for College Part I-What to pack?

2010-08-04T01:29:00.000-06:00

Here are some things to sending your kids off to college with that my kids and I have found you need.
What to pack:

XL Twin Sheets- One set for boys- they really will never change them so don't waste your money on two sets. If you think they'll change them get 2. This is the week to buy this size sheet. I've seen them in TJ Maxx, Target, Marshalls and a couple of other store in the last 2 weeks. Get them now because they go fast.
A big thick mattress pad or foam topper. The mattresses are pretty hard and uncomfortable. Also find out if their campus has had a problem with bed bugs which are becoming epidemic. If they have had problems in the past, invest in Mattress and Box Spring Encasements. Get the cotton ones. They completely zip shut and prevent mites and bed bugs from escaping.
Extra pillows. They'll use their bed not only to sleep, but to sit and hang out on so make sure there have extra pillows to lean against while studying.
Towels- They will need 3 or 4 towels- Again- they don't do laundry that often and you don't want them smelling like sour towels.
A shower caddy to carry all their stuff back and forth to the bathrooms (if they aren't in a suite)
For girls- one of those bath towel wraps is really handy and far easier than a bathrobe to wear from the bathroom to their dorm room. Like this one from Walmart. Make sure it has straps so that it stays up easily.

Make an office supply box. Take a plastic shoe box and pack: tape, scissors, a stapler, staples, a hole punch, reinforcer stickers for papers, notecards, post it notes, white out, rubber bands, paperclips, super glue, glue sticks and a roll of duct tape. You can fix anything with duct tape.
Make a First Aid Kit. Take a plastic shoe box and pack: a digital thermometer, ibuprofen, band aids of assorted sizes, cortizone cream for bug bites or rashes, neosporin for cuts and scrapes, an antacid for upset stomachs, and some throat lozenges and cough drops. Pack some Imodium-anti- diarrheal- NOT Pepto Bismol®, or Kaopectate® because of there is a risk of Reye's syndrome if taken for a virus. Pack some day and night cold tablets but make sure to go over how to take them and to not go over the recommended dosages.

I actually make these first aid kits and give them as graduation gifts. They sure get funny looks on their face when they see what it is but every single kid has thanked me and told me what a life saver it was. When they got sick they had everything they needed without having to run to a store while they were feeling yucky.

Power strips with surge protectors on them. Outlets are scarce and many dorms don't allow regular extension cords.
If they are bringing their laptop to college, make sure that they have some sort of lock for it so that it is safe in their rooms. Talk to them about small electronics and ideas of where to hide them so that they are not right out in sight.
If they are bringing a printer make sure to pack extra print cartridges and paper.
Removable hooks and adhesives to put up posters and things on their walls. You can't put holes or damage paint in dorms.
An over the door hanger with a row of hooks on it for wet towels and or coats.
Laundry items: A self standing laundry bag with straps to carry it.

Purex Laundry Sheets

Also pack a box of Shout Color Catchers You throw one sheet in the wash with your load of clothes and it helps catch dye that leaches out into the water from staining other clothes. That way they might not end up with a load of blue or pink clothes. They really do help. I wouldn't throw one in and expect it to catch all the dye from a brand new red sweatshirt but it will help with their regular "Mixed" Loads.

Tomorrow I'll have Part II of Getting Your Child Ready for College and talk about the emotions you both may be feeling as they get ready to go.

Random Tuesday- Maggots on Planes and trying not to cry on planes!

2010-08-03T01:42:00.003-06:00

I saw the most disturbing show on the news last night about the animals, bugs and germs on airplanes. If I saw a mouse or maggots on a plane I think I'd freak out. So gross.

We waited in line 27 minutes for frozen yogurt at Yogurtland last night. I wish I could say it wasn't worth, it but it was. It really was. Plain tangy yogurt with fresh raspberries, strawberries, kiwi and blackberries. Delicious.

The only thing better than that might be the margarita pop cycles that a friend told me about. You make your favorite margarita mix and pour it into small dixie cups with a stick or a pop mold and later you have an adult frozen treat to enjoy on a hot evening.

I finally got my yellow lab trained to run out to the mailbox, get the newspaper out of the paper box and bring it back into the house to me and then go back out for the second paper. While it's a great trick during the summer, it's an amazing trick when it is 10 degrees and snowing!!! Yep!! The good news is that she loves doing her job. She sits by the front door in the morning until I let her out to fetch it. I love it even more than she does especially when it's raining or snowing.

We leave in 3 weeks to bring our youngest to college. I want to cry just thinking about it. Tears of joy over how wonderful it will be for her and tears of sadness that my day to day job will be forever over. After 27 years of being on "Mom Duty" 24/7 my job will be over. Yes, I'll still be a mom and be there to help, love and support them but the house will be empty and far far to quiet. I remember thinking when they were little that the day to day exhaustion and mess was never going to end and wishing that I could just go to the bathroom without someone knocking on the door asking me a question. Now I got that wish. While I'm really excited for what the next stage will be, I'm really sad that this wonderful stage is over. My husband doesn't quite get it but he wouldn't because this wasn't his life all day everyday. He does understand that it's hard for me. I just hope that I don't completely embarrass myself on the plane flying home by sobbing out loud or screaming if I see a mouse. I've got to remember to pack some tissues though!!
Get randomness for yourself by linking up over at

The next 2 days I'll have posts on how to get your student ready to head off to college. Stop in and get the list!

Monday's Household assignments- Start getting organized for school.

2010-08-02T01:04:00.003-06:00

I know that the summer is flying by and the last thing you want to think about is school starting, if you have kids that is, but take some time this week to plan ahead for what will be here before you know it.
I recommend doing the following things this week.

Go through your kids clothing and see what fits and doesn't fit for this fall. Pack up the small things for the next kid down or bring them to a consignment shop to try and sell or you can donate it to a family shelter.
Separate the summer stuff from the school stuff so it's easy to find.
Make a list of items that you'll need for each kid- take some measurements of waist bands that fit so that you can shop without them, favorite colors of the moment and sizes to keep in your purse in case you run across a great sale.
Empty out their backpacks and notebooks from last year and make a list of school supplies that you need to restock.
Start watching for the back to school sales and start shopping them now. If you wait, you might not have the selection or the sale pricing that you can find now and by spreading the shopping out over time it's easier on the cash flow.
Think through how to organize school papers, backpacks and homework for each child. Try using bins that they place their school stuff into when they walk in the door to prevent the "I can't find my_____" panic attacks before school? I had a narrow table right as you walked into the house from the garage with a large fabric bin for each kid. There were hooks on the wall for coats and their shoes could go underneath. Backpacks, books and papers went right into the bin so that everyone knew where their stuff was. Think about issues you had last year and brainstorm with your kids for solutions for those issues.

Start getting on a school schedule now. Start getting the kids and yourself to bed a few minutes earlier each week heading up to school. Getting back on the sleeping schedule of the school year for a full week before it starts makes the transition much easier than waiting until the week before school. Everyone handles transitions better when they've had enough sleep.
If you have a child heading off to college check back tomorrow for a post on getting them and you ready for that huge transition. I'm about to send my 5th and final child off this fall so I've learned a few things along the way.

Keep enjoying your summer but start thinking about fall this week.

Friday Fragments- Summer's speeding by!

2010-07-30T09:33:00.000-06:00

I can't believe that it's the end of July. Where in the world has the summer gone? I will tell you that the pile on my dining room table is an indication of how close to school we're getting. The larger the pile the closer to school.

The dining room table is the college staging area for our youngest daughter. Her roommate had better like pink. Between all the pink and the Disney items, you'd think I was sending her off to elementary school not college. I commented on that last night and she said when it comes to decorating, she's still a 12 year old girl.

Did you see Jersey Shores last night? It's one of those shows that's a train wreck. You don't really want to watch but you have to. I find it horrifying and hilarious all at the same time.

I made zucchini bread and pumpkin bread last night. I had a slice of each toasted up for breakfast, they're so good!!!!!

I really need to dig out my knitting now that fall is within reach. I don't really knit during the summer for some reason. I have been looking at patterns to see what I'm going to work on. I do have a couple of mittens to finish up and 4 babies to make something for. All boys so I'm thinking hats. Any ideas?

A friend of mine just got back from Cambodia where their son has been for 2 years on a mission. Her post about picking him up made me cry. Just thinking about how she felt hugging him after not seeing him for 2 years just makes me weepy. Head on over to her blog to cry for yourself.

I've got to get better about cooking for 2 people. It's just not as fun or as easy as cooking for a group. It's also hard to cut down recipes. I keep ending up with way too many leftovers.

Have a great weekend!

Monday's Household Assignment- Get your history and those recipes before they disappear.

2010-07-26T01:17:00.002-06:00

On Saturday, we went to the farmer's market and they had some gorgeous apricots. I bought a huge bag of them and decided to make a small batch of jam with some of them. My grandma makes the best jams so I called her to get her recipe. She was topping green beans from her garden so that she could can them this afternoon. This meant we could have a nice chat. We talked about how the late freeze had killed off all her orchard fruit for this year to the point that she's been climbing the 8 foot ladder to get a few cherries to eat.

Just so you know, my grandma is 91 and has a small orchard of 20 or so peach, cherry, apricot, walnut and apple trees and a HUGE vegetable garden. She and her husband, 96 do all the work themselves.

Before I'd called I looked up some apricot jam recipes and they all called for half apricots which in my opinion would leave you with big slimy chunks in the final jam. Ughh texture issues!!! I remembered that grandma's was a much better consistency and sure enough, she puts her apricots through a hand grinder with a course blade. I just used my food processor to chop mine. I hate to think about it but if I hadn't been able to ask, I never would have thought to chop or grind the fruit up that fine.

It really got me thinking about what other recipes I might not have in my hands. I started making a list Saturday afternoon of the different foods that I remember from my childhood and am going to make sure that I have the recipes for these things. I'm also going to be asking a lot more questions about procedure too!

I will say that there are some recipes you just have to be there in person to watch how they are made. My grandma make a penuche candy that is to die for. My mom and I asked her for the recipe but she said that she didn't have it written down, she just made it. When were were visiting a few years ago, we made her make a batch so that we could write down the recipe and figure out how to make it. She never used a candy thermometer she just knew when it looked right. So when it looked right, we'd take a temp and wrote everything down. Now we'll always have that recipe.

I'm also going to take the time to get more family history from her. Stories about her growing up and my mom growing up and record them for future generations.

What things in your life do you love but have no idea of their background or in the case of food how it's made? Take the time this week to make a list of your favorite family foods and hunt down the recipes. You don't want to be left with only a memory of how good something was and an inability to recreate that for your family. Take the time to build a history before it's too late to do it.

Summer Sunsets

2010-07-14T22:07:00.001-06:00

I love summer evenings here in Colorado. It usually rains in the late afternoon, cooling things off for the evening. The last few nights we've had gorgeous sunsets. There's nothing like sitting out on the deck watching a sunset like this one unfold.

Monday's Household assignments- Go Explore

2010-07-12T01:50:00.001-06:00

The assignment for this week is to go out and become a tourist in your own town. Unless you are living in the outback, for most of you, there is some historical site or "touristy" site within a 45 minute drive of your house. Have you been there?

Last weekend we headed up to a wedding in Fort Collins. Along the highway is a place called Johnson's Corner. It's a truck stop on I-25 that's been there since the 1950's. You see signs for it all along the interstates through Nebraska, Wyoming and Colorado. Had we ever stopped before, nope. But now I can say that we did and their world famous cinnamon rolls are as good as the signs say. Great food and a fun place that we'd passed by hundreds of times. It'll be a regular stop from now on.

Photo from the Johnson's Corner Website

Take the time this week to stop and check out someplace new, right in your own town.

I can't wait to hear what you find right in your own "backyard"!

Friday Fragments- Baby birds, Justin Bieber and Pinkberry

2010-07-09T01:25:00.003-06:00

I can't believe that it's already Friday! The summer is flying by. Because it's Friday I thought, what the heck, I'll join in on Friday Fragments.

I've really been a more laid back mom this summer. It could be that after 27 years of parenting 24/7, and only 2 months away from having no kids at home, I'm just plain tired or maybe I'm just getting lazy or wait a second- I'm getting old. Either way, I know my daughter appreciates it. For instance, last week the other kids were coming home for a wedding and I asked her to clean up her room. You can't even see the floor in most places and she still hadn't completely unpacked from our trip last month to Greece or her trip to Young Life camp in Canada 2 weeks ago. She ran up to clean it and was back in about 20 minutes. This was at least a 3 hour job so, I asked her if she'd done what she did when she was 12 and thrown everything into her closet. She said, "Oh no, I didn't do the 12 year old version of cleaning, I did the 18 year old version. I threw everything back into my suitcases and closed them up." Normally, I'd have gotten mad and told her to get her butt back upstairs and not to come down until she'd really cleaned up her room. Instead I laughed and told her that it was very creative job. WTH is the matter with me. That was such a slacker reaction. I really must be tired.

We've had so many baby animals and birds around our house this year. We've got 3 baby bunnies in our front bushes and then we've had 3 nests on our front & side door wreaths. The first house finch pair had 3 chicks in a nest on the door that opens into the house. This pair has nested there for the last 3 years and they are getting very tame and used to us opening and closing the door. Even so, I can't tell you how unnerving it is to open the door and have a mama bird staring at you 6 inches from your face. She amazingly never flew out of the nest and into the house. She'd just sit on the nest until you closed the door. Another pair of finches was on our side door wreath and had 3 chicks as well. The second nest of birds on the non-opening front door is a nest of Say's Phoebes. We've never had this bird before. She built this adorable LITTLE nest on the other wreath and laid her 5 tiny eggs, which all hatched, and now, 10 days later, the chicks are overflowing and stacked like sardines in this little nest.

I've been so worried that one was going to accidentally fall out that I've laid thick towels over the bricks below to cushion any falls. I'm a nerd! They should fly out of the nest today or tomorrow and I'll finally be able to take the spring wreaths off of the doors.

My daughter saw Justin Bieber at Pinkberry on Wednesday. She thought it was a girl who looked like him, until her started signing autographs. He went back later to get more but that time he stayed in his car and made his body guard go in. Pinkberry really is that good!!

Whenever I think that High School musical and Justin Bieber are stupid, I think about Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello and Elvis Movies. Seriously, Beach Blanket Bingo and Bikini Beach were so much worse.
Have a great Friday!!

Oreo Rice Krispies' Treats

2010-07-08T01:30:00.001-06:00

As far as I'm concerned, if you have teenagers, you should always have the ingredients for Rice Krispies' treats in your pantry. A box of the cereal and a bag of marshmallows and you can be ready to feed a group of hungry kids in under 10 minutes. I have relied on them for years! It always seemed like a group of kids would show up late at night and be hungry for something sweet. I could grab the bag and the box and have them made before they ate us out of house and home.

A couple of weeks ago, my son, Tom, called and said he'd seen some rice treats with Oreo cookies chopped up in them and asked if I could make them. I did and they were amazing!!!!

I took the traditional rice cereal treat recipe and added chopped up oreos.

1- 10oz bag of marshmallows
3 TBS butter- I never add the butter but my friend Gina does because everything's better with butter.
6 cups of crispy rice cereal
15- oreos or chocolate sandwich cookies, chopped into 4ths or 6ths.

Chop or break the cookies into quarters or sixths.
Spray a 9x13" pan with vegetable spray.
Spray a large microwaveable bowl with vegetable spray (Pam)
Add the bag of marshmallows (and butter if you're using it) and microwave on high for 1 1/2 minutes- stir, and microwave for another 30 to 90 seconds until it is all melted and smooth when you stir it.
Pour the cereal and the cookie pieces into the bowl of melted marshmallows

Stir until it's all combined.
Press into the greased 9x13" pan and let harden for 30 minutes- we never wait!! We love eating it while it's all warm and gooey!

How many things that taste this good can you make in under 5 minutes? None!! Hope you like them as much as we do!

Random Tuesday- Coffee, Ammunition and Pillsbury Brand Ambassadors

2010-07-06T12:24:00.002-06:00

It's Tuesday and since I've been such a blog slacker I thought I better get back in the habit of posting and get Random. Get Random yourself over at hosted at The Un Mom!

We had a fabulous trip to Greece and England. Great food, fun new places to see and a really special time with our youngest daughter/high school graduate. We have really enjoyed these trips with each child and I for one am sorry that this was the last one.

All my kids were in from Seattle, for a wedding last weekend. In preparation for their visit I cleaned the house and more importantly, I cleaned the front door. Yes, they would be coming and going through the garage but it seemed really important at the time to clean the outsides of the front doors. It's all about priorities! Or would that be a mental illness????????????

On our way to the mountains 2 weeks ago we passed a small coffee shop in a very small town. I wish I'd brought my camera with me to take a picture of the sign out front. It said:

Coffee

Espresso

Ammunition

I guess that the ammo is for those people who haven't had their morning caffeine yet!

All I can say is that the iPad rocks. It was the perfect thing to travel with. Email, internet, photo storage, games, movies and books all in an nice size package. I was worried that once we got home I wouldn't use it as much but the opposite is true, I may be using it more than my laptop. I'm in love!!!!!!!!!!! I am kind of an electronics nerd. I guess that's what 29 years of marriage to an electrical engineering major will do to you.

About a month ago, I filled out an application to be a Pillsbury Crescent Roll Brand Ambassador. I thought it sounded fun. I figured that they got thousands of applicants and that would be that. Well, a couple of weeks ago, I got a call from them and I was one of the 100 quarter finalists. I did a phone interview with her and had to send in a picture of myself and 2 of my favorite original crescent roll recipes: one special occasion item and one main course. Both had to be prepared in 30 minutes or less- including baking time!!!! Harder than it sounds. I sent in my 2 recipes and photo. Last week they called to ask me for one more recipe. It seems that I am one of the 12 semi- finalists. They will be picking 4 out of the 12 for a national campaign and national vote. I would LOVE-LOVE-LOVE to be one of the 4 but I'm trying so hard not to get my hopes up!!!!! I'll let you know how it goes. I'll either be leaping for joy or dripping tears onto my keyboard when I let you know the results!

One of the recipes I submitted was this one!

Apple Rosemary Blue Cheese Bites

Warm apple slices with blue cheese and pecans and a hint of rosemary, all wrapped up in a flaky crust. Perfect for a cocktail party or as an appetizer before a special dinner.

1- 8 oz. package of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
2 large golden delicious apples- Peeled, cored and sliced into 8 slices each
4 oz of crumbled blue cheese
2 TBS of cream cheese- softened
½ tsp fresh or dry rosemary chopped fine
¼ cup of chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

• Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
• Grease a cookie sheet or line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
• Peel, core and slice your apples
• In a small bowl stir together the blue cheese, cream cheese, nuts and rosemary until the mixture hold together.
• On a piece of parchment or plastic wrap, unroll the Pillsbury Crescent Roll dough and Divide into 8 triangles. Cut each triangle into half for 16 smaller triangles.
• Spread 1-2 teaspoons of the cheese mixture on the wide end of a triangle and wrap around an apple slice.
• Place on the prepared baking sheet
• Bake in your preheated oven for 20 to 22 minutes or until they are golden brown.

Serve warm or room temperature.
These can also be made with fresh pears instead of apples.

Monday's Household assignments- Pictures of your kids

2010-07-05T11:38:00.042-06:00

I was going through photos of my kids, looking for some to frame, and realized what all parents of multiple kids run into later on, there are not very many pictures of my youngest daughter and there are even fewer of her all alone!!!
Here is the day we brought her home from the hospital and here's one of her senior pictures. There just aren't that many pictures in between!!!!!

When they were little, it was so hectic and hard to ~~take the time~~ remember to pull out the camera and take a picture. When I did remember, they were group shots of all of them, usually at some event or on a trip. OK, you have to give me a small break because in "the old days"( the 80's), taking a picture was a hassle. It meant taking the photo, waiting until you finished the roll of 24 or 36 pictures, taking the film to be developed somewhere, remembering to pick up the film and then having to find a place to store the pictures- 60% of which were bad shots! Digital cameras are so much easier.

Your assignment is to take the time, once a month, to pull out your camera and take some pictures of each your kids doing ordinary things. Reading a book, playing a game, sleeping, anything. Just take a few shots each month of each child individually. Not just when they are younger either! Each of my kids have pictures from birth to age 5 or 6 but then there are very few of them from 6 to about 14 when they started taking their own photos. So keep on snapping once a month. You'll thank me later when you won't be feeling as guilty as I do about dropping the ball and scaring your child for life!!! Plus, think of how much money you'll save not paying for therapy for your youngest child later on!!!!

Monday's Household Assignment- How to deal with mail.

2010-06-07T03:18:00.000-06:00

This week we're going to tackle the pile of papers that are on your desk or counter and the paper that comes into your house as mail. It's amazing how fast it all accumulates isn't it?

First let's deal with the mail. There are 3 basic kinds of mail that come into your house.

Mail that is junk
Mail that you need to read and then throw away.
Mail that you need to keep or bills that you need to pay.

The key to dealing with the mail is to sort it as soon as you bring it into the house. When I bring the mail in I sort it right over a trash can so that I don't have to touch junk mail more than once. I pick up a piece and decide if it's a keeper or a tosser. If it's a tosser it doesn't pass go and doesn't collect any of my money, it goes right into the trash.
Keep and reads would be items like magazines or catalogs, or letters and cards. You read them then throw them away.
If it is a keeper, it goes into one pile and if it is a read and toss it goes into the third pile.
Some keepers you have to keep long term like tax forms, warranties, or certificates. Some are items are temporary keepers; items that you need to pay or that have a time expiration attached to them, like bills.You have to keep them long enough to deal with them then throw away.

Once the mail is sorted, you need to deal with the keepers. I have a folder that all keepers go into and I clear it out once a week. I pay the bills and then file the other items that I have to keep, into the correct folders filing cabinet.

Keep and reads I have ONE pile that I try to read through once a week. I love cooking magazines and always want to try some of the recipes. Instead of keeping the whole magazine, as I read each issue, I tear out the photo and the recipe and those go into a folder for untried recipes. I try to use at lease one recipe out of this folder per week. At the end of each season, I clear it out and start new. Once I try a recipe, if it's really good, I scan the recipe and photo into a computer file and put it in my recipe folder on my computer. By getting it into electronic form, I eliminate the storing issue and it allows me to access the recipe with a few clicks instead of searching for a piece of paper or leafing through a whole magazine.

I hope that you can get your piles of paper under control this week and take back your desk!

Fractured Friday from Greece

2010-06-04T01:48:00.002-06:00

I may be the worst friend in the world. I totally made vacation plans without thinking about the fact that the school year for the non-senior students and all the staff didn't end until a week after I left. This means that my friend Gina had to run the staff BBQ all by herself today. meanwhile this is what I was doing... I was sitting the beach and reading. I've finished 6 books int he last 3 days sitting on the beach under an umbrella drinking sweet tropical drinks which make you feel like taking a nap. It's been such a rough time but don't feel sorry for me. it was my choice!!! If I could get a picture UPI would but I can't seem to bet it to work. I hope that someday she'll forgive me and at the lunch went well.

I've learned a lot in Greece. One: they have the hardest beds in the world. Seriously, the tile floor is softer than the beds at the resort we've been at for the past 3 nights. The bed at the hotel in Athens were only slightly softer and they were still like bricks.

The women of Europe have no body issues like we have in the US. This resort was filled with Russians, Greeks, Germans and a few Brits, We were the only Americans. Almost all the women wore bikinis. I'm talking 200+ pound women, women with big saggy tummies and all just walking around like it is nothing to be in a skimpy bathing suit. They were so comfortable in their skin. I wish I was that comfortable in mine and that US women were too. Now the one thing I could have done without was old men or any age men in speedos and while were at it the few 60 year old women topless. can you say tick tack toe with their boobs and bellybutton!!

The food has been fabulous. So many fresh tomatoes, cukes and yummy veggies. Top that off with nuts and feta cheese plus Greek yoghurt that is so thick that your spoon can stand up in it. I've had a wonderful time.

We leave for London tomorrow and I will day I am ready for soft comfy beds and some more food. Today my daughter twisted he ankle and she we are hoping that it's not broken. We got some ace bandages and I have her on anvil so hopefully she'll be able to walk tomorrow. She hobbled throughout the Athens airport today fate flying from Crete so I'm going to pretend that it's fine and in the morning it will be. Even if I thought it was broken, I wouldn't bring he to the hospital he in Greece. hey are s ray looking places with barbed wire around them. Well wait until tomorrow when we get to London. Denial is a beautiful thing.

Mocha Toffee Brownie Squares

2010-06-03T00:48:00.001-06:00

These are brownies on steroids and are very addictive!

1 cup butter
5 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup of chopped toffee candy bars- 2- 1.4oz bars
1/2 cup slivered almonds that have been toasted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.
In 3-quart saucepan over very low heat, melt butter or margarine and chocolate, stirring the mixture constantly. Remove from heat, and stir the sugar into the chocolate. Allow the mixture to cool slightly. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour and salt; stir into the chocolate mixture. Fold in the walnuts. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.
Bake in oven 30 to 35 minutes. Brownies are done when toothpick inserted into center come out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack.

Topping

4 oz. cream cheese (from 8-oz. pkg.), softened
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp instant coffee
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped toffee candy bar- about 4- 1.4 oz bars
1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom only of 13x9-inch pan with shortening or spray with cooking spray. In large bowl, beat brownie mix, 1 teaspoon instant coffee, butter, water and eggs with electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Gently stir in 1/2 cup chopped candy bars and 1/2 cup almonds. Spread batter in greased pan.
2.Bake at 350°F. for 24 to 28 minutes or until edges are firm. DO NOT OVERBAKE. Cool completely in pan on wire rack, about 1 hour.
3.In medium bowl, beat cream cheese, brown sugar and 1 teaspoon instant coffee with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Increase speed to high; beat in cream and vanilla until soft peaks form.
4.Spread cream cheese mixture over cooled brownies. Sprinkle 1 cup chopped candy bars and 1/2 cup almonds over top. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving. Cut into bars. Store in refrigerator.

Monday's Household Assignment-Memorial Day

2010-05-31T00:22:00.011-06:00

Memorial day is the day that many of us think of as the beginning of summer but do you know the history behind it? Memorial day was formerly know as Decoration Day. It was a first observed to honor fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War by decorating their graves.
It was then expanded after WWI to commemorate US men and women who have died while in Military Service. It is always held on the last Monday of May.
Since it is a National Holiday- the only household assignment I have for you is to take a moment with your family today to remember the brave men and women who have died protecting us and our freedoms that we so take for granted sometimes. Please also take the time to pray for the soldiers who have come home safely and for those that are currently serving right now.
Have a wonderful week.

Raspberry Or Strawberry Topped Brownies

2010-05-27T00:42:00.001-06:00

Chocolate and raspberries or brownies are the perfect combination as far as I'm concerned. This is a great dessert that is easy enough for everyday but nice enough for company . I came up with this recipe when I needed to make 50 servings of a dessert for a school event. I didn't have time to bake so I bought store made brownies, some berries and came up with these delicious confections. They were gone in minutes and talked about for hours. While you can make the brownie part from a box or buy them at the store, they're even better when you make them from scratch.
Best Brownies Ever

1 cup butter
2 cup white sugar
4 eggs- lightly beat before adding
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In the microwave or in a pan on the stove, melt the butter and set aside to cool.
Into a bowl sift together the flour, cocoa, salt and baking powder- set aside Grease a 9x13" pan well.
Add the sugar to the melted butter and stir until combined then add the eggs and the vanilla. Beat well.
Add the dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Don't over beat.
Pour the batter into the greased pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes until done.
Cool completely before putting the frosting on.

Strawberry or Raspberry Frosting

3/4 cup softened butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4- 1/3 cup strawberry or raspberry puree. (I take 1 cup of fresh or thawed frozen fruit and put it into a blender and blend until smooth. This will yield about 1/2 cup of puree. Any extra puree left over, I freeze in a ziplock bag ready for the next batch of fruit frosting that I make)

In a large bowl cream the butter until it is light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla and 3 TBS of the fruit puree. Beat until it comes together. Continue adding the fruit puree one tablespoon at a time beating after each addition until it is the consistency that you want. Frost the brownies by spreading over the top or for a fancier presentation, place the frosting into a zip lock bag that has a large star tip in the cut off corner. Pip a swirl onto the top of the precut brownies. Top with a raspberry or slice of strawberry.

How to set up a candy buffet or candy bar for a wedding, reception or party.

2010-05-24T05:46:00.000-06:00

My daughter recently got married and she and her husband wanted a candy buffet for their reception. There isn't much information out there on amounts of candy or how to set one up so here is how we did it.

Pick a color theme for your candies so that it looks cohesive and not too busy.

We stuck with hot bright colors for ours. The bride and groom chose the candies that they likes best and then we added a few extra's.
We had Skittles, Hot Tamales, Peanut M&M's ( I got them after Valentine's day so that they were all pinks, reds and whites, Swedish Fish, Pink and white grapefruit slices, peppermint pillows, Sour Patch Kids, old fashioned candy sticks and Diams.

Get a variety of height containers to hold the candy. You can use glass, plastic or even metal. Any kind of containers that match your wedding theme. For a casual wedding you could even use different size galvanized buckets. Don't limit yourself to just bowls.

We bought our containers at Ikea and Target and most of them were vases.

Use spoons or scoops for people to pick up the candy with.

We used clear plastic scoops from the container store that were under $2.00 each. But you could use metal spoons or even little cups.

Pick out something for your guests to put their candy into. You can use glassine bags, gusseted poly bags, small penny candy bags, or even small miniature buckets in white, colors or metal which could double as their favor.

We used the mini brown paper penny candy bags and stamped a design on them, that went with the wedding theme. Everyone loved them because they reminded them of being a kid at the candy shop.

You will need between 1/4 to 1/2 pound of candy per person.

We bought 1/2 pound per person and ended up using 1/3 pound per person average.
We bought our candy from a variety of places. The candy sticks, Sour Patch Kids, peppermint pillows, and the Swedish Fish came from Blair Candy online. The grapefruit slices came from Amazon.com. The Hot Tamales and Skittles we bought at Sam's Club and the M&M's we bought after Valentine's day on sale. We bought the Diams at Ikea. (I would have bought more candy locally but the wedding was in Seattle and I live in Denver so it was easier to order online and ship it than pack it into suitcases). Look for coupon codes for online candy companies. I found a code for $5.00 shipping for my entire order for Blair Candy!!!!!

Don't put out all the candy. Have a person who's in charge of watching over it and refilling as needed. This keeps the candy fresh and nice looking.

These are some of the lessons I learned! God luck with your candy buffet and I hope that everyone enjoys it as much as our guests did!

I have company in town so I am forgoing Household chores for the next couple of weeks so enjoy the break!!!

Mom can I go to Joe's Birthday Party? What to do when your teen get's invited to a party!

2010-05-20T01:53:00.000-06:00

It might seem like a no brainer. Your kid asks to go to a party and you say sure have fun but, is that really what you should do? To me the answer is no.
Yep, I'm the only person in the world that would call and talk to the parents hosting the party my kids wanted to go to. I know this because my kids have said a hundred times, "Nobody else's parents call". I am also the meanest mom in the world, in case you were wondering.

Starting in middle school, when my kids were invited to parties I got in the habit of calling the parents and introducing myself. I would ask the following questions:

Is there anything my child can bring? A batch of cookies? (This makes you seem like a nice person and not the over protective mom you really are.)
Are you going to be home during the party?
Are you going to be monitoring the party?

These seemed like all the questions I needed to ask, until one of my kid called 20 minutes into a party asked to be picked up because there was drinking. I had talked to the parents and they said they were going to be home and they were- HOME SERVING THE ALCOHOL! I then learned to ask:

Will you be serving alcohol or allowing drinking or drugs at your party?

My kids and I spent a lot of time when they were little talking about right and wrong and expectations of behavior. You need to start young in commenting when you see teachable moments. When we would watch TV and something like a kid drinking would be on, I'd comment on how dumb that is and what a bad choice that is and look at what consequences came from that poor choice. Same thing with premarital sex. Comment and teach from the time they are young. If you wait until they are teens it's probably too late to form the "line" you don't want them to cross.

I really only called until they were old enough to drive themselves. By then they had, for the most part, formed their own moral right and wrongs and I knew that they could size up a situation on their own. Knowing that they would have to see me when they got home and talk to me at the end of a night also helped!

To this day, I stay up until my kids get home. This gives me a chance to talk with them about their evening and what they did. You learn a lot during those late night chats.

Last weekend my daughter got home later than usual. She told me that a group of kids had crashed a party she was at. They arrived very drunk and had been told to leave. Because they were too drunk to drive themselves, my daughter took the car keys away from them and drove them home. When she got to each house, she rang the doorbell, told the parents that their kid had crashed a party and was drunk when they got there, handed over their kid and left. She also got to explain to the driver's parents that their kid had driven to the party drunk, their car was parked at so and so's house and here are the keys. She's going to catch some flack for that but she didn't want to drop them off and have them get hurt if they had snuck back out. I was so proud of her!!!

My phone calls may have embarrassed my kids almost to death but, they survived it and I think are all glad that I cared enough about them to try and protect them and to teach them.

It's party time!! Mistakes a parent can make when throwing a party for teenagers.

2010-05-19T00:46:00.002-06:00

Recently my daughter went to a birthday party for one of her friends turning 16. It turned into a disaster because of what the parents who were holding the party called "their rookie mistakes".
These are conscientious parents who were trying to provide a fun and alcohol free party for their daughter. Here's where they went wrong:

The dad started out at the front door and checked kids in as they entered the party. Once they were in they were not allowed to leave and return. After a few hours, he figured everyone was there and left the door and wasn't paying attention to who was coming in. He trusted all the kids that were there already and didn't know that crashers always come late. Later in the evening, some kids who were uninvited came in (the parents were unaware) that's where the problems began.

When you have a big party:

You need to have an adult by the door THE ENTIRE NIGHT. Their job is to:

Make sure that each person is actually invited to the party.
Check that each person doesn't smell like alcohol.
Check any purses or big coats so that alcohol or drugs can't be carried in.
Make sure that no one leaves and re-enters the party.

You need at least one and preferably 2 parents walking around through the party the entire night checking to make you know exactly what is going on. Adult presence is a great deterrent. (At my daughter's big 18th birthday party, she invited a few girls she knew casually from one of her classes. After 20 minutes they left and the person manning the door overheard them say- this party sucks- there's no booze or anything- That's exactly what you want to hear!!!!!)
Lock doors to rooms where you don't want kids to go and make it clear where the party is and where people aren't supposed to go. Make sure to check the off limit areas when you do the walk throughs.

Later in the evening the police came to the door. The police officers said that a neighbor had complained about the noise and could they come in to talk with him about the situation. The dad said sure and invited them in to talk.

Let me be very clear and say that I fully support the police and so appreciate the very dangerous and difficult job that they do keeping us all safe and keeping our kids safe BUT.........

If police come to your door when you are holding any kind of a party (or any time) and ask to come in to talk, politely say, "I'd be glad to talk to you but, I don't want you coming in, let's talk outside on the street." Don't ever invite them into the house. And don't say, I'd prefer you not come in, it's too ambiguous. Say "I don't want you in the house." They may ask you if you're trying to hide something but stand firm and just say no I just want to talk out on the street. Here's why- At this party, the parents were not aware that a small group of kids (4) had entered the party uninvited and they were drunk when they got there. They had alcohol in their car and then came in to the party. When the parent invited the police in, that gave them permission to look around.

The law says that a police officer that spots something in plain view does not need a search warrant to seize the object or begin investigating. In order for a plain view search to be legal, the officer must be in a place he has the right to be in and the object (or situation) he seizes (or tickets) must be plainly visible in this location.

While the police and parents were talking, a kid staggered a little, in plain sight of where the officers were, and it was over. The police sealed off all the doors and kept everyone in the house. They then spent the next 3 hours breathalizing every single kid (and the parents) at the party including making the 8 year old sister, who was in bed sick, come down and be tested! They'd blocked the street with their cars and wouldn't allow anyone whose cars were blocked to leave, even if they had no alcohol on their breath. The 4 kids that had alcohol in their system were ticketed and the parents of the party were ticketed for allowing intoxicated minors on their property- even though they were unaware of it and had not provided any alcohol.

Parents are liable for any underage drinking or drug use takes place on your property even if you're unaware of it!!!! . Even if you are not at home, you can be held liable for the acts of your children and their guests if:

Someone is injured on your property.
Someone is injured off your property after consuming alcohol or drugs on your property.
Someone is injured as the result of a motor vehicle accident, fight, or disturbance and previously consumed or obtained alcohol or drugs on your property.
If a person becomes sick from any substance they consume or obtain on your property.
If your neighbors property is damaged by those attending a party at your home.
Minors are in possession or intoxicated on your property.

If you have a party at your home, to keep your kids safe and protect yourself:

Screen the guests carefully as they enter.
Man the doors
Don't allow uninvited guests in.
Monitor the party and your property through out the entire evening.
and if the police come to your door, talk with them out on the street.

Tomorrow I'll talk about what to do if your teen wants to go to a party at someone else's house!

"My Mother-In-Law was a professional wrestler" and other funny comments

2010-05-18T09:51:00.000-06:00

I had 2 plumbers working at my house a while back. As they were heading out to the truck to grab a part, I heard one of them say to the other, "Oh, yeah, my mother-in-law was a professional wrestler.....!" WHAT??????? I really wish I could have heard the rest of the conversation but they closed the door before I could hear anymore.

I took all day getting caught up on my blog and getting posts ready to post while we're away. I feel like shouting- I'm Back!!!!!!!

My daughter's boyfriend decided 3 days ago that he was starting to like her too much and since they will be going to college far away from each other that they should break up now....A WEEK BEFORE PROM?????!!!!!!!!!! Seriously what an idiot. Could he not have waited a week? Thankfully, she has some darling girlfriends who she's going to go with!

I have a friend who's quite the fashion diva. She helps people with their wardrobes and outfitting them. If I have to go anywhere nice she helps me pick out my outfits. She's one the nicest people I know plus she makes some of the funniest comments. Here are a few things she's said recently:

See that woman?- What Stacy and Clinton do in a whole day, I could do in 20 second with a wet washcloth. In reference to a woman with WAY too much makeup on.
If the tribulation happens during a Girl's Night, some of us are going to miss it because we're too busy talkin'.
A good pair of shoes can make up for anything except for a bad haircut. Isn't that the truth!!!!
This was a miracle because a miracle is when a Georgia girl can get you home through a Blizzard. Said after driving a group of friends home from dinner in a true blizzard.

It must finally be spring. The hummingbirds are back. They arrived 6 days later than last year. Yes, I keep a database of the arrival and departure dates for the different species that come. Can you say NERD? Yep you can and I am!!!

My mom is coming in 5 days which means spring cleaning is in full swing. They'll be here for a week and the day they leave is the day we leave for a 12 day trip. I have no idea when I'm going to pack. Oh Update- They come in 3 days and will be here for 10 days. I'm not ready!!!!!!!!!!!

We have a tradition when a child graduates from high school, that summer we take them and one of their friends to England and to one other country of their choice. We've done this with each of our kids. We get to see new places and things and it's an experience to share with only that child. It's been a very special tradition that I'm so glad we started. We save up for the trip for the 3 years between each kid. We'll go to London for just a couple of nights (so expensive in the city) then head out to small bed and breakfasts in the countryside then we fly to the other country they choose and do the same there. They've each chosen a different country so we've seen a lot of different places. France, Spain, and Sweden. This trip, our youngest picked, Greece as her other country so we'll be spending some beach time on some of the small islands- away from the city riots over finances, which are hopefully over. Now if the Icelandic volcano will cooperate and quit erupting so that our flights won't be cancelled we'll have a perfect trip.

Take some time and Get random yourself over at The Unmom!

$25 Safeway Gift Card and a Betty Crocker baking set Giveaway!!!!

2010-04-28T08:27:00.041-06:00

Spring is here and that's a great time to bake up some wonderful memories in the kitchen with your family. Using Betty Crocker® SuperMoist Cake and Traditional Brownie Mixes, and with a little help from the Safeway family of stores, you can serve up special treats that will have you and your little sprouts ready for springtime!

For great spring recipe ideas, visit BakeSweetMemories.com today. Bake Sweet Memories has delicious recipes for fun desserts using your Betty Crocker favorites, including Easter Bunny Cakes and even morning brunches, like the Impossibly Easy Breakfast Bake, which are sure to brighten any morning!

To celebrate Mother's Day and spring, My Blogspark, Safeway and Betty Crocker are giving away a springtime baking set here on my blog! Here's what you can win!

A silicon baking pan, A stainless steel mixing bowl, An oven mitt, Betty Crocker mixing spoon, and a $25 Safeway gift card.

Mandatory Entry (First entry)
Please go to the BakeSweetMemories.com site and then leave a comment here telling us about what recipe you want to try or a favorite memory of baking with someone you love.
To earn extra entries, you may do one or all of the following. Each one of these counts as one extra entry but please leave a separate comment(s) for each thing your do.

Follow me on Twitter AND leave your Twitter name here.
Tweet about this giveaway and leave a link to your tweet (Can tweet once per day!)
Place my button in your sidebar- leave 3 comments/entries.
Mention this giveaway on your blog with a link back here.
Follow this blog. If you are already a follower, just leave a comment telling me that.
Follow the Buttercream Lane Baking Blog
FOR 5 EXTRA ENTRIES - Blog about this giveaway, with a link to my blog. Come back and leave the link to your blog post. Post FIVE separate comments that you've blogged about this.

I will post the winner on Wednesday, May 12th, so get your entries in.

FTC disclosure : In adherence to the recent FTC changes pertaining to blogger product reviews and sponsored postings it is necessary to list any compensation I receive in return for posting about a company or product. I was sent from My Blog Spark: A silicon baking pan, A stainless steel mixing bowl, An oven mitt, Betty Crocker mixing spoon, and a $25 Safeway gift card and a coupon valid for a free Betty Crocker product. They were provided free of cost to me for the sole purpose of product testing. This review has not been monetarily compensated and is based on my testing and opinion alone. My opinions reflected in this post have not been influenced by the sponsor in any way. If I'd hated it, I'd tell you!

Monday's Household Assignment- Spring Pantry Organization

2010-04-26T08:44:00.001-06:00

Spring is coming or already here for some of you. It's time again to clean out, de-clutter and restock your pantry with items for spring and summer. I find that my cooking changes from season to season. When spring hits, I'm ready for grilling and lighter foods. Gone are the stews and hearty comfort foods I tend to make during the winter. This week I'm going to take the time to clean out any expired foods and reorganize my pantry putting the dried beans and items I use is heavy soups and recipes on bottom or top shelves and put the items that I'll use for the next few months in easier reach. Plus, after a couple of months it just looks messy and is hard to find things. It's been driving me crazy but with the wedding, I didn't have time to do it. So this week get into your pantry and get it in shape.
Here's how I clean and organize my pantry.

To start with, I get a large trash bag and a folding table. I set up the folding table right outside the door and the trash can next to that. I start at the top of pantry and work my way down.
Remove everything from the top shelf and place it on the table.

Wipe down the shelf and then sort through the items you removed, checking dates and contents. Anything that has expired throw away, combine other items if you have a couple of half containers.

Place the items back on the shelf with the oldest items in front so that they'll get used up first and the newer ones behind those. Place the items you won't be using as much on a top or bottom shelf.

I arrange my pantry by categories. Baking Ingredients, Cereals, salty snacks, sweet snacks, canned fruits and all juices, Nut butters, jelly and honey, Pasta and sauces, rice and beans, Asian, Drink mixes, and condiments.
HINT: Try using baskets and bins to keep smaller items together. For example; I have a plastic shoe boxes for chocolate chips and baking chocolate, one for nuts, coconut and baking candies.

Try using large bin for pastas, a bin for rice and beans, a bin for condiments, and a bin for dry seasoning. None of my bins match but it's my pantry- who cares!!

One thing that I find really handy, I have an airtight tub that I keep all of my bread making ingredients and bread recipes in. That makes it easy to pull out and have everything that I need to make a batch of bread with.

Have a great week.

Random Tuesday- Wedding is over!

2010-04-20T18:32:00.003-06:00

It's Tuesday and it's random.
We just got home from Seattle. My oldest daughter got married on Saturday. The wedding went so smoothly and turned out just exactly as they wanted! Yay!

I'm so tired that I did nothing yesterday and today I've done nothing except laundry.
If you have a child getting married the one thing I would do is give my camera to a friend and have them take photos during the entire event. As the mother of the bride you don't have time or think about taking pictures yourself. I'm waiting for their friends to post pictures to Facebook.

I only cried once on the wedding day. It was before every one got there. I just needed a cry to release some tension. My friend Gina gave me permission to cry for 30 seconds then I was fine. I didn't even cry during the ceremony. The pastor who married them knows them really well and had lots of funny and sweet stories about them. It was a really fun day.

We had a candy buffet as part of the reception. It was a huge hit. It had 10 different candies, that were the bride and grooms favorites.

We had Skittles, Hot Tamales, Peanut M&M's ( I got them after Valentine's day so that they were all pinks, reds and whites, Swedish Fish, Pink and white grapefruit slices, peppermint pillows, Sour Patch Kids, old fashioned candy sticks and Diams. We bought containers at Ikea and plastic scoops from the container store. Delicious!!!! The flowers for the reception and wedding we got at Pikes Market. They were so beautiful. Sadly we didn't find any unicorns.
A fun time was had by all.

Why is it, no matter how old you get, your parents can still push all your buttons and drive you crazy? I got so mad at my folks and my in-laws on the wedding day. They announced that they were going to go take a drive past the bride and grooms' new house. I explained that the groom was going to be home and to NOT stop and bother him. He was trying to get things done before the wedding and didn't need people barging in. I was VERY clear!!!! What did they do?????.........stopped by the house and spent 20 minutes getting a full tour. The groom was none too happy. He just didn't need to be giving people a tour and visiting when he was getting ready. It was selfish, rude and inconsiderate and I was really pretty ticked off and disappointed, as was the bride and the groom. Age grants you some concessions but not the right to totally disregarding a very specific request. Makes me mad all over again just typing this.

I just found a great iPhoto plug in called Impressions You can get it for free or you can buy the license. The free version allows you to add a personalized watermark on one photo at a time while the license allows you to batch watermark. I love it.

Get Random Yourself at The Unmom

Random Tuesday and apology for being a blog slacker!

2010-04-13T09:54:00.000-06:00

Ok, Ok I know I have been a complete blogger slacker and I do apologize! I mean to get a post done and then I run out of time or am too tired to type so please forgive me and I promise as soon as the wedding is over to get back at it.

I've been preparing for my oldest daughter's wedding, which is this weekend. Since it's in Seattle and we leave tomorrow, everything has to be ready! I think I have all of the small details taken care of. Things like this info. pack that I made for all the out of town guests. It has the information for the big events plus maps on the back of those cards to get people there. I stuck them into cut off penny candy bags. Were they necessary- NO. Did I do them anyway- YES!!!
They wanted a candy buffet at the reception so I found those small penny candy bags and I stamped them with the jar logo that my daughter used on her invitation.Necessary- NO, did them- YES. Cute- You Bet!! I think they turned all out pretty good. It is going to be a relaxed, casual wedding. I love that!!
We are so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow I'm flying with my friend Gina, one of my daughters, and two of the bridesmaids to Seattle. I hope we can contain ourselves on the plane. We can get a little loud. We're renting a car and going straight to Ikea for lunch and shopping. The bride and my son will meet us there. It going to be a really fun few days before the wedding.

Last weekend was a prom for my youngest daughter. It was her date's prom, her's is in 4 weeks. I can't believe that her senior year is almost over. She and her date looked so cute! They had a ton of fun and BONUS-I got to practice making boutonnieres for her and her friend's dates in preparation for the wedding.

The only bummer from the night was someone landed on her foot- hard while they were playing volleyball at after prom. It's hurting more and more so we're off to the Urgent Care for an x-ray this morning. Needless to say- even if it's broken, she said that she's not getting a cast before the wedding. Priorities people. Thankfully, (for me-not her) Gina got to check out and review the urgent care center they just built near us. She liked it. Of course she had her own priorities for her son's visit. You can read more about that on her blog.

It seems like it was just September and the school year was starting. Now we're a month from the end of school, the wedding is here and the empty nest is looming. I really need to figure out what I want to do, now that my job of mom is going to be over. After 27 years it's weird to think about what I want to do. I have many ideas but don't know which direction to go in. I do know that God has a plan and right now that's what I'm counting on. I just wish he'd just tell me what to do instead of me trying to figure it out. It'd be so much easier.

I am addicted to the Facebook game Mahjongg Dimensions . I have to limit myself to a couple of games a day or I could play all day. It has provided much needed escape when I've needed it most. Challenging enough to clear your mind of everything going on and not so hard that you get frustrated. It's perfect!!!!

Visit Keely at The Un Mom and post some of your own random thoughts.

Moist Delicious Shortcake for strawberries or any fruit.

2010-03-31T12:53:00.001-06:00

I am not a fan of the dry crumbly biscuit style of shortcake. I want a moist tender cake for my berries. 16 years ago, we ordered the strawberry shortcake at a Black Eye Pea restaurant and I was in heaven. It was the perfect cake for berries. I had to have the recipe and with a bit of flattery and begging, the chef shared the recipe with me. The one catch was, he had to leave one ingredient out to give it to me. Thankfully, he made it easy when he told me that it was a vanilla cake and guess what ingredient was missing? It's what we always have on Easter and is one of our favorite spring and summer treats. It's so fast and easy to mix up and bake. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Click here for a Printable Version of this recipe

Black Eyed Pea’s Strawberry Shortcake

Makes one 9x13 pan or 12 cupcakes or one jellyroll pan
3 cups of flour
2 cups of sugar
1 1/2 TBS baking powder
1 cup melted butter
2 cups milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°
In a large bowl stir together the flour, sugar and baking powder
Stir in milk and vanilla then the melted butter and mix well.
Pour batter into a greased pan and bake in the preheated oven until golden on top and a toothpick comes out clean.
Around 25 to 30 minutes for 9x13 for cupcakes or 20 mins for jelly roll pan.

For a large half sheet pan 2”x13”x18” double recipe and bake for 40 to 45 minutes.

Monday's Household Assignments-get your yard ready for spring?

2010-03-29T11:32:00.001-06:00

It was looking like spring. My crocuses had pushed their heads up out of the ground and promptly got them frozen off from our March snow storms last week. At least my daffodils survived.
None the less, it was a reminder to think of spring and get the yard ready. This is the time to do it while it's cool and comfortable to work outside.

Take a walk around your yard and look for any dead or broken branches and limbs that were damaged over the winter and remove them. It's easier to see and remove them now before the leaves come out and block your view. Remove deadwood from bushes as well.
Clean up those flowerbeds. Cut back any dead plant material and work some compost into the soil. This is also the time to plant your summer bulbs like dahlias and lilies. Weed now. One weed pulled now could save you pulling 100's later in the season.
Place a new layer of mulch in your beds and around trees to help conserve soil moisture during the hot summer months.
Throw a layer of compost over your vegetable garden and till the soil to get ready for planting. Get your onions and potato sets into the ground.
Set up your appointment to power up your sprinkler if you have someone else do it.
De-thatch your yard! Use a rack and really dig down to get all of the old dead grass out from around the base of your lawn so that fertilizer, water and sunshine can get down to the base of the grass.
Have your yard aerated if you have heavy thick soil. Most yard companies can do this for around $25 to $50 depending on the size of your yard. They take a machine that stamps plugs out of your yard leaving behind holes which allow the fertilizer and water to really penetrate to the deep roots of the grass for a healthy thick lawn this summer.
Take the time to hose off the front porch and sweep down any spiderwebs and dead leaves stuck on the ceiling and walls of your porch.
Wipe down the front door and any window ledges you can see as you approach your home.
Check that front welcome mat. Is it looking a bit worn and tired. Freshen it up by washing it or buying a new one.

Enjoy some sunshine and vitamin D while you get your yard ship shape and ready for spring and summer.

Honey Oatmeal Bread and a snow day!

2010-03-25T08:47:00.001-06:00

One of my favorite things is a snow day. A snow day is like Christmas Eve, it's a gift of a day where you feel entitled to sit around, watch movies, play games and do some baking, all in your sweats.

My youngest is a senior this year and here it was the end of March and not even one snow day. I'd given up hope until yesterday. It started snowing at 5pm and by 9 we had 6" of snow and by 10pm they had already called school.

I just made a batch of my favorite bread recipe with a touch of honey and a little bit of oatmeal.

For a printable version of this recipe click here.
Perfect Honey Oatmeal Bread
This recipe will make 2 loaves.
1/4 cup warm water
1 package active dry yeast (.25 ounce) or 2 1/4 TBS of instant yeast
1 TBS white sugar
1 cup regular or quick cooking oatmeal
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups warm water
1/4 cup dry powdered milk (optional)
1 tsp salt
2 TBS honey
2 TBS brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil or melted butter
3 cups white flour (bread flour if you have it, if not all purpose)

If you are using regular or quick rise active yeast place 1/4 cup warm (under 110 degrees), 1 tsp sugar and the active yeast in a small bowl to proof the yeast, if you have instant yeast just mix the dry instant yeast into your whole wheat flour.
Into a large bowl of your mixer or any large bowl if mixing by hand add the warm water, dry powdered milk, oatmeal, honey, brown sugar, salt and oil or butter and stir to combine.
Add the whole wheat flour and 2 cups of the white flour and combine well.
Continue to add the white flour until the dough comes together and is just barely tacky to the touch. Bread dough should not be smooth and dry it should be tacky to the touch but not pull off onto your hands.
Beat or knead until dough is elastic and when you poke it the dough springs back up.
Let sit covered for 5 minutes then knead again for 30 seconds.
Shape into a ball and place upside down in a bowl you have coated with vegetable oil. Turn ball over and cover the bowl with a damp cloth.
Let it sit until the dough has doubled in size.
Dump out onto a floured counter top and roll out into an 18" wide rectangle.
Cut the rectangle into 2- 9" squares and roll up into a log pinching the seams and the ends.
Place into 2 greased 9" loaf pans and cover with a damp cloth.
Preheat your oven to 350°
Let sit until doubled in size.
Place into a preheated 350° oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. They should sound hollow when tapped or use an instant read thermometer. It should read between 190° to 195° (don't forget to take 2 degrees off of that temp. for every 1000 feet of altitude you live at. i live at 6000 feet so I bake to a temp of around 180° to 185°)
Remove from oven and pan and cool on a rack. My family doesn't lie a hard crust so I rum a tsp of butter over the crust to keep it soft.

Monday's Household Assignment- Things to do this week!

2010-03-22T01:00:00.000-06:00

As much as I hate the spring ahead time change for the beginning of daylight savings time, I use the change as a concrete reminder to do these very important things. This was supposed to post automatically last week and didn't so here's what to do this week.

Change the batteries in all of your smoke detectors, whether or not they are beeping. Vacuum any dust out of the inside using an upholstery brush attachment. Press the test button and make sure they are functioning. Do this when the kids are around so that they learn what the noise sounds like and what it means.

Change the batteries in all of your Carbon Monoxide detectors. Dust them out. Press the test button and make sure they are working. Do this when the kids are around so that they learn what the noise sounds like and what it means. If you have a fuel-burning heater or appliance, a fireplace and/or an attached garage, you should have a carbon monoxide detector installed within 15 feet of each bedroom in your home. Last year Colorado had 5 deaths in 2 months from carbon monoxide poisoning all of which would have been prevented if there had been monitors in those houses. The state passed a new law that sellers/landlords of buildings with fuel-burning heater or appliance, a fireplace and/or an attached garage must provide well-functioning carbon monoxide alarms near bedrooms in any homes that are for sale, rental housing such as apartments that are leased to new tenants and all new construction must have them as well. If you don't have any CO detectors get them and install them this week. You'll change the batteries in the spring.

Take this opportunity to go over your household emergency plan or to make one. The Ready.gov
site had great recommendations on how to set up an emergency plan for your family.

Check your family Emergency Kit and replenish any outdated supplies. If you don't have one, take the time to set one up. This site has information about what to have in your family kit.

Make a fire escape plan and practice it with all the members of your family. Plan where to meet once you've all made it outside. Here is a good site with information on how to set up a fire escape plan.

Go through all of your medicine cabinets and check the expiration dates of all prescription and over the counter medications and ointments. Don't ever take medication that has expired!
Medications (over-the-counter and prescribed) can become poisonous when they age and if taken can cause severe reactions and even death. Medicine if not stored properly, can expire before the expiration date. Sunlight, humidity and heat can be alter medicine regardless of expiration dates so medicine should be stored in a dark dry cool place. A hall closet or a cupboard that is not in a bathroom is the perfect place to store them.

Go through all of your vitamins and mineral supplements and check them for expiration dates.

If you have any medications or vitamins that have expired, keep in mind that they are now considered a toxic form of Household Hazardous Waste. The worst thing that you can do is to flush them down the toilet or down the sink where they can dissolve into our drinking water supply. Check with your local pharmacy to see if they will accept expired medications back for proper disposal. You may also drop off expired medications at hazardous waste collection locations. If they do not provide this service and you must dispose of your unused medications in the trash, try dissolving solid medications in some water and then adding the liquid to some kitty litter or flour to re-solidify them. You should also add flour or kitty litter to liquid medications to make them into a paste or solid. This can help keep the medicines from being taken accidentally by a child or pet.

Check your supplies of items that you might need in a medical emergency. Band-aids, antibacterial ointments, large gauze pads, an ace bandage for minor injuries. Ibuprofen, Tylenol, decongestant, throat lozenges a thermometer, a flashlight and some antihistamine. I recommend gathering all your over the counter medications and bandages into one place in your home. I have some labeled shoe boxes, that are all together, in an upper cupboard in my house. In an emergency, there is no running around looking for something. All of the medical supplies are in one spot.

These are the things that I use the time change to remind me to do. I hope that you will too.
Have a great week.

Tow trucks, dollar bills and baby sweaters. It must be Random Tuesday!

2010-03-09T13:36:00.001-07:00

My daughter's car got towed Sunday night. She went into a parking lot and every spot had a sign saying parking for these stores only. Right by the street there were 4 unmarked spots- no signs nothing, so she parked in one of those spots. She came out and the car was gone. Towed away. She called the towing company and they were so mean that she cried. I called to find out where it was taken and the man was equally as rude to me and told me that I would have to wait until 8am to get the information on where the car was being stored and how to pick it up. I was mad. On Monday morning, I'd calmed down and called to see where to pick up my daughter's car. The guy on the phone was a jerk. This rude man shouted orders to me about how the fee has to be in cash, exact change, nothing larger than a $20 and how I'd better be there by 4pm or they'd charge me more money. Just mean and rude! I was so ticked off that I got my daughter to empty her piggy bank into a plastic bag and then went and got the remaining $210 in one dollar bills from her account, took them out of the wrappers and put them loose and crumpled up in the bag as well. We went in and were as sweet and kind as we could be and laughed inside while the man had to straighten and count the $210 one dollar bills and 60 cents in small change. I know it was petty of me but it really made me feel better and I was following his instructions. In addition to that satisfaction it's obvious that the lot owner did not sign the consent to tow, the tow truck driver filled it all out so they broke the law. That's a fight for another day.

Instead of a junk yard dog, they had a junk yard cat guarding the cars, Chester.

Obviously, my daughter learned that even if there isn't a sign, you still shouldn't ever park in a lot where they tow.

You have to check out Lisa Leonard's new owl necklace. It's so cute. Go take a look at her store if you haven't seen her stuff before. You'll love it.

I need a good night sleep. I'm just dang tired. I had to help feed 195 kids before a Masterworks concert last night.
My friend that I made this baby sweater for, had her baby yesterday!!!! I finished it on Thursday, just an hour before we were meeting for lunch. That was close!!!

Link up your own randomness at The Un Mom!

Enlightenment, Daylight and Vienna

2010-03-02T10:16:00.000-07:00

Last week, I read in the paper that Henry Heller, a democratic Maryland lawmaker, was calling for a state ban on marriages between first cousins who he said were, "playing genetic roulette" with their kids. He said that he wants to bring Maryland, "into the enlightened world of other states such as West Virginia and Arkansas" that prohibit these kinds of marriages. There are two ways to take this comment, neither of which are good. Either:

He picked horrible examples: With 24 states that prohibit first cousins getting married, wouldn't you pick 2 other states as examples? West Virginia and Arkansas are not the first states I think of as enlightened or progressive.
He was being sarcastic and is slamming both of these wonderful states. I'd be really mad if I was the governor of either of them.

I love the Costco Connection magazine that comes each month. I may be the only one (other than my friend Gina) but I love reading about new small companies and new products. What can I say, I'm a dork.

Anyone else watch the Bachelor last night? Don't judge me, I like reality TV.
But really- He picked Vienna???????? What an idiot. I'm so mad and I feel so badly for Jake's family. It was so obvious that they LOVED Tenley and were luke warm about Vienna. The show had to do some quick editing to make it look like they came around, to like them both equally, but we know the truth. What a waste of a season!

I'm so glad that the days are getting longer. March is one of our snowiest months here in Colorado but at least it feels like spring is coming.

Daylight Saving Time starts in 2 weeks, on March 14th. It starts a week later this year and ends a week later in Nov. I love the longer evenings it's that losing an hour of sleep I'm not a fan of.
Did you know that DST actually started in Germany? Germany and it's allies began DST, in April, 1916 during WWI, as a way to conserve coal during wartime? Great Britain, its allies and many other European's started soon after that. The United States didn't adopted it until 1918. It's had many revisions over the years and still hanging in there.

I've been trying to figure out what to put into some guest bags for family and friends at the hotel we're staying at for my daughter's wedding in April. The wedding is in Seattle so I want to put some things in that represent Washington state but, I don't want to spend a fortune on them. Any ideas?

If you have some random thoughts of your own, Click here to head over to sign up. Keely's not feeling well today so the Bitchin' Wives Club is hosting this week!

Are you and your family prepared for a disaster?

2010-03-01T01:49:00.001-07:00

The earthquakes and tsunami news this weekend got me thinking about how prepared my family and I are for a disaster. I have some food and water but is that enough? In doing some research I found quite a few websites with good information on how to get prepared for an emergency situation. The FEMA site had a tone of good information.
Here's a breakdown of the most important things to have for an in house emergency like a blizzard or heavy storm:

Have emergency food and water for 3 days- 1 gallon per person per day.
Non-perishable foods for 3 days- Pick low salt foods liked canned vegetables, cereals, shelf stables milk, snacks, protein bars, granola bars, canned fruits and main dish items that don;t have to be reheated. Rotate these food items with fresh ones before the expiration dates so that the emergency kits is always fresh.
A manual can opener
Flashlight and a hand or battery powered radio
If you have a gas powered grill- have an extra propane tank so that you can use to cook on for a number of days.
Have a meeting place in your neighborhood in case you get separated.

I knew what to have on hand in our house but I had never really heard of having a Go Bag packed for emergencies where you might have to evacuate quickly in cases like fire, hurricanes or earthquakes. In Colorado we don't really have too many unanticipated emergencies but it's still something that I'm going to do. You should have bag packed for each family member and keep at least a basic kit in your car.
Here is what to have in your Go bags. This information is from a site called 72 Hours
Put the following items together in a backpack or another easy to carry container in case you must evacuate quickly. Prepare one Go-bag for each family member and make sure each has an I.D. tag. You may not be at home when an emergency strikes so keep some additional supplies in your car and at work, considering what you would need for your immediate safety.

Flashlight
Radio – battery operated
Batteries
Whistle
Dust mask
Pocket knife
a small tarp to use as shelter if needed
Emergency cash in small denominations and quarters for phone calls
Sturdy shoes, a change of clothes, and a warm hat- In cold climates warm coat, boots mittens and socks.
Local map
Some water and food
Permanent marker, paper and duct tape
Photos of family members and pets for re-identification purposes
List of emergency point-of -contact phone numbers- Remember that in certain circumstances, you cell phone might not be able to make or receive calls but it may still be able to do texting since that service uses a different system than phone calls do.
List of allergies to any drug (especially antibiotics) or food
Copies of health insurance and identification cards (Driver's License, passports, social security cards)
Extra prescription eye glasses, hearing aid or other vital personal items
Prescription medications for at least 5 days and first aid supplies
Toothbrush and toothpaste
Extra keys to your house and vehicle
Don't forget to pack a go bag for your Pets.
A small tent for your family
Any items you need for babies or seniors in your family.
A deck of cards to help pass the time
a toy for each kid

I'll be putting a go bag together for my daughter who will be going to college in California next year for her to use in case of evacuations because of earthquakes or fires and I'm making one for my hubby and I too.
Are you prepared for an emergency? I'm off to find a couple of backpacks in the basement to fill up.

Grand Opening of the Sprouts Farmes Market in Aurora / Centennial Colorado

2010-02-26T10:46:00.003-07:00

Yay, a brand new Sprouts Farmers Market in Centennial, CO opened today. My Friend Gina and I went this morning for a Friday Field Trip. She wasn't as excited as I was, because she hates anything healthy, but she ended up having a good time anyway. Visit her blog for her take on our Friday Field Trip. Hopefully, she'll post about it today because she had me laughing the whole time.
The new store is at
Sprouts - Centennial
20811 E. Smoky Hill Rd.
Centennial, CO 80015

I was really pleased with the store. It's large, bright and open. They carry much wider variety of sauces and international ingredients than Sunflower Farmers Market does and they have more breads and baked goods too. Sprouts carries lots of vitamins and nutritional supplements, fresh natural meats, great produce, a very nice selection of imported cheeses and tons of bulk items. Sprouts has really low prices on tons of stuff every week but for this grand opening they have just ridiculously low prices. How about dried apricots for $1.00 a pound, .49 cents for a 10 pound bag of potatoes or 4 full size pineapples for $5.00? If you're near, you should head on over for some great bargains.
(Aurora, CO) Sprouts in Aurora

Crunchy Banana Nut Muffins with Coconut

2010-02-19T11:56:00.001-07:00

I love this muffin recipe. You can make a batch and they stay fresh in the fridge for a week or so. They're perfect for a grab and go breakfast on your way out the door. They also freeze beautifully.

Click here for a Printer Friendly Version of this Recipe

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup melted butter, cooled plus 1/2 cup applesauce OR 1 cup melted butter
3 bananas- mash 2 with a fork and dice one
1 cup chopped pecans (you can also use walnuts or almonds)
1 cup granola- any kind is fine
1 cup shredded coconut plus 1/4 cup shredded coconut to top muffins with before baking.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C)
Melt 1/2 cup of butter and set aside to cool. (or 1 cup if you are skipping the applesauce)
Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.
In a medium size bowl stir together your dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
Mash 2 bananas with a fork and chop the remaining banana

In a separate bowl whisk the eggs lightly then add the remaining wet ingredients: milk, vanilla, melted butter, apple sauce, and the mashed bananas- save the diced banana for just one more step.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined. There will be a few lumps.

Fold in the diced banana, granola, nuts, and 1 cup of the coconut.

Scoop into the prepared muffin cups and sprinkle the top with the remaining coconut.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes in your preheated oven, until a toothpick or knife inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Makes 24 muffins

How many things on this list have you done? 71 out of 99- Not bad.

2010-02-18T01:28:00.006-07:00

99 things- How many have you done? Bold the things you’ve done and post on your blog!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band- I managed two bands but never played in one
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightening storm
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie- I have been in a TV SHOW if that counts!
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been a passenger on a motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating- If a goose counts!
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous- Dinner with Charles Barkley & his wife, Went to school with Steve Carrel, talked with John Denver on a street corner about our kids, was at a TV show shoot and talked with Duff, Jeff and Mary Alice (from Ace of Cakes) all afternoon.
92. Joined a book club
93. Got a tattoo
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Random Tuesday- Rip off Candy Hearts- Olympics and Teleprompters

2010-02-16T11:30:00.001-07:00

I hate getting ripped off!

For Valentine's day I got my kids heart shaped boxes filled with candy. I was raised in a Whitman's Chocolate family. My husband comes from a Russell Stover family. Since I buy the candy- I buy Whitman's. I found the hearts at the store and got these really cute pink boxes for the girls and the red ones for the boys. They were right next to each other and the same price. The pink one did say Premium Chocolates and I didn't read the packages to compare the OZ in each (my bad) but that didn't sway me the pink was cute so I bought them. The girls got ripped off. Here are the insides.....

Top it off with the fact that the exact same chocolates were in each box- just a ton less! No Premium about it. I paid for cute and when it comes to chocolate- cute alone doesn't cut it. They even got rid of the chocolate map inside the box, Russel Stover bought out Whitman's- need I say more. I don't like people messing with my chocolate.

I love the Olympics!!!! I literally get tears in my eyes when I watch the medal ceremonies and hear the National Anthem for our country. Monday night they showed the US Women who took Gold and Bronze in Freestyle Moguls- AMAZING!!!!

We rarely watch "live"tv we always watch it tivoed so that we don't have to watch commercials. We have been watching the Olympics live and I've got to say that there are a lot of really stupid commercials.

I have a feeling that my best friend won't be speaking to me anytime soon. He son called to see if I had any pedals or effects that he could try out with his wired violin. I said sure and lent him a Line 6 amp that has over 130 effects built into the 4 channels. It weighs about 50 pounds and can produce enough sound for a decent size venue. Imagine it inside a room in her house. I can't say I'd blame her if she killed me.

It's Mardi Gras which is French for Fat Tuesday the last day for eating fatty rich foods and misbehaving before Lent, which begins tomorrow! Party time! I better go get a King's Cake made before it's too late or I'll have to wait until next year. You can only make it between 12th night and Mardi Gras. Tomorrow will be too late!

Speaking of stupid- I don't usually make any political comments here but every time I have thought about this over the last 2 weeks I am amazed. I saw this speech that President Obama made to classroom of 30- 6th graders and couldn't believe my eyes- He had 2 TELEPROMPTERS to speak to a bunch of children. REALLY?????? He couldn't talk to a group of kids without his speech being up to read???? Ok, we knew this could be a problem when he had a teleprompter set up for a speech at the Iowa State Fair but seriously, he can't speak for 5 minutes to a bunch of kids? Embarrassing.

In case you didn't know, it's National Love Makes the World Go Round But Laughter Keeps Us From Getting Dizzy Week. I hope you laugh and love this week! Have a good one!
If you want to get random yourself- The Unmom can show you the ways...

Monday's Household Assignments- Emergency Shut off Lists

2010-02-15T10:15:00.001-07:00

Last week I had a plumber come to fix a bad faucet. While he was here he asked if I knew where my main water shut off was. I was pretty sure I knew and after one false stop, at the sprinkler shut off valve, I showed it to him. He said that many home owners don't have any idea where it is but that they should. So this week's Assignment: Make an Emergency Shut Off List for the Water, Gas and Power for your home.

WATER

Main Water Shut Off Valve- Why do you need to know this??? If even the smallest pipe in your house- a 1/2" pipe bursts, depending on your water service, it could pump out 2 to 14 gallons PER MINUTE into your house. The faster you can shut off the main water valve for your house, the less damage you're going to have to deal with. Burst pipes are the most common cause of water damage reported to insurance companies each year. Find it and practice going there a couple of times this week to cement it into your brain. The main shut off valve is usually located where the main water pipes come into the house. It almost always has a simple faucet handle that you turn clockwise to shut off. If you live somewhere nice and toasty warm, your shut off may be located outside, under a rectangular shaped cover, near the curb. The valve may be a foot or more underground and require a special tool so check it out and see what you'll need to do the job. If you have a well system, like I do, there may be a shutoff where the water comes into the house and also one between the pressure tank and the rest of the house. You will have to close the shutoff that is located between the pressure tank and the rest of the house. If you only shut off the intake valve, all the water in the pressure tank will have to run out before it stops. so use the one after the pressure tank. If there is no shutoff on the water pipe, you can shut off the well's electrical circuit breaker to turn off the well pump.

Individual water shut offs: are under sinks and by appliances. For each faucet there will be a hot and a cold valve under the sink. Know how to turn these off as well.
Washing Machine Hoses: Did you know that broken washer hoses cause over $150 MILLION dollars in damage in the US each year?
The hoses should be replaced every 4 to 5 years according to manufacturers or 2 years according to the insurance industry. Before leaving for a trip, make sure that the water to your washer is shut off. These shut off valves are usually right behind the top of your washer. also take the time to replace your rubber hosing in exchange for metal or reinforced hoses which are less likely to burst.

POWER

Find and know how to shut off the Main Electrical Shut off- to shut off the power to your entire house. The main circuit breaker is usually located at the top of the breaker box/ fuse panel and is visible even when the panel door is closed. The individual breakers can be seen only by opening the door to the box/panel. Switching the main circuit breaker to "off" will shut down electricity in the entire house. To find the breaker box/ fuse panel look for where the electric meter is on the outside of the house and usually it will be inside near that spot. Modern panels have a large number of circuit breakers. These breakers are like light switches that automatically turn off when too much electrical current flows through them. They can also be shut off manually just like a light switch. When a circuit breaker is flipped to the off position, there will be no power flowing to any of the devices attached to it.On the inside of the door, there should be a "map" with each breaker listed and the items connected to that breaker. If there isn't, take the time to flip each breaker and have someone tell you what went off, write them down so that in an emergency or in a maintenance situation, you will know which breaker controls what.

GAS

If you have natural gas in your home and begin smelling it, get out. Do not pass go, do not collect $200- just get out. It is very important that you DO NOT turn off or on any lights and that you DO NOT use your phone. Also- DO NOT use your garage door if it is automatic. Walk out and call the gas company from your cell phone. Any of these actions could trigger a spark that could ingnite the gas fumes and cause an explosion. Want some confirmation on this? Look at These Images. Enough said.

Fire Extinguishers

You should have a fire extinguisher in each floor of your house in case of a small fire or to help you escape one safely. You need to check them once a year to make sure they are still pressured and that they haven't expired. Practice with your family going and getting them so that their location is second nature. You don't want to have to hunt for one when you need it.

Put Emergency Contact Numbers in Your Cell Phone for the Gas, Electric and Water Companies so you will have them if needed.

Hopefully you will never need to use some of this information but safety is being prepared for any emergency.

Random Tuesday Customer Service- Words with Friends- Plumbing and Valentine's Day!

2010-02-09T11:04:00.001-07:00

If you have an iPhone or an iPod touch, whatever you do, don't get Words With Friends if you ever want to get anything done. It is so addictive and so much fun. You basically play a scrabble game against different opponents. You can have the game assign you a random player or you can challenge someone from Facebook or by email. You can play against as many people at once as you like. I am in the middle of games with 3 of my own kids and my future son in law plus a friend. We're all hooked. You know it's bad when I am sitting in the same room and playing against them. Yep this actually happened. We were too tired to get up and play a real game. So sad and embarrassing but true. There is even a fan page on Facebook and a website for addicts. See tyhe little eyes at the top of this pocture- That means that your opponent is looking at the board too. It even has a chat feature so that you can slam then when they are losing. I love that feature!!!

I can't stand computers answering customer service lines and "Helping me". They don't!!!! The stupid ~~calm & patient~~ patronizing voice makes me want to bang my head with the telephone. The worst is when you have A-NNUN-CEE-ATED (Annunciated) the words very clearly and the voice tells you that "We were unable to understand your response., try again" That's because you are not human- GIVE ME A REAL PERSON!!!!!. I'm begging you!! I did discover the site Gethuman.com which has numbers and shortcuts to help try and get you to a human faster. It even shows the success rate and wait times people have experienced. It's worth a try. Anything is worth a try.

It was Zero degrees outside this morning. That's not a temperature! It is however the IQ of anyone who got out of bed and went out in it. Oh wait that was me.

I love a great plumbing company! I had been using a different plumbing company the last few years and they were charging me an arm and a leg. So someone told me about a new company. I had a faucet handle that was leaking badly so I called Bell Plumbing in Aurora, Colorado. Usually I can do some minor repairs on my own but the handle wouldn't come off and I didn't want to pull too hard and break something. Better to let a professional break it so that they have to fix it on their dime. As it turned out- I just didn't pull hard enough. The great guy who came out took the time to teach me exactly what to do the next time and what parts I would need in case this happened again. Not only that but they are very reasonable. They charge a trip fee but then only charge you by 1/4 hour increments. It was a very reasonable cost for a plumbing lesson and a fixed faucet.

I'm giving away a $50 Safeway Gift Card. I'll be picking a winner on Valentine's day- don't forget to enter!

Valentine's Day is this weekend. We really don't do too much to celebrate it. Maybe exchange cards or go out to dinner but no dress up fancy stuff for us. How do you celebrate it?

Get random over at The Un Mom You'll thank me later, you really will!

Monday's Household Assigments- Bloggers being sued and Disclosure Policies

2010-02-08T09:07:00.000-07:00

Last October the Federal Trade Commission set it's sites on Bloggers and anyone who endorses a product. You'd think that they'd have bigger fish to fry, but for now they're watching me, you and any other bloggers out there who are trying to misrepresent themselves or products they talk about. To learn more about the new rules head over to Blog Disclosure Policy.org to learn more.

In addition to the FTC, have you ever considered that you could be sued for something that you've written on your blog? It's been happening with more and more frequency. Try Googling "Blogger sued" and you will find page after page of lawsuits file against bloggers for everything from slander,
using photos without permission to a negative book review.
As a blogger, you need to make sure you are not making statements that could come back to haunt you later, in the form of a lawsuit. Last week I found a wonderful resource for Bloggers.

It is a Blogger's Legal Guide.

For a list of questions that are covered on that site, click here!

Please take the time to go to that site and read through it. Knowledge is key in this arena. In this litigious age you need to be careful.

In keeping with these new rules, here are new MY Disclosure Policies.

This is a personal blog written and edited by yours truly, me this blog's owner!
All opinions are mine alone.
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German Pancakes, Dutch Babies, Oven Pancakes or Humps and Hills

2010-02-05T01:22:00.002-07:00

Call them whatever you like but they are simple to make and taste delicious. We've always called them Humps and Hills because our neighbors in Houston, The Parcell's, who introduced us to this recipe, called them that. Kids love them because they look so fun!

Click here for a printer friendly version!

6 large eggs
1/2 tsp salt
3 TBS sugar
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 to 4 TBS unsalted butter, melted
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

Place a 9x13" pam into your oven on the middle rack.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees with the pan inside
Mix all the ingredients together until really smooth. You can do this in a blender or in a small mixing bowl with a hand mixer. The batter is thinner than a regular pancake batter, it's more like a crepe batter.
Carefully remove the hot pan from the oven. Grease the bottom but not the sides of the pan and Pour the batter in. Place it back in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Now- don't start checking it after 10 minutes. It will LOOK done after about 10 minutes but it will still be flat and not puffy- PUT YOUR HANDS UP AND STEP AWAY FROM THE OVEN! Leave it shut and let it do it's thing! OK, you can watch through the window if you promise not to open it! When the buzzer rings, take out the beautiful puffy goodness and serve immediately. It will start to fall so you want everyone sitting at the table waiting.
Serve it with any or all of the following. Sprinkled with some lemon juice and powdered sugar, sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, plain old syrup or with fresh fruit and a dollop of whipped cream.

Writer's Workshop Wednesday- Why didn't anyone tell me when I became a mom that....

2010-02-04T14:21:00.000-07:00

Over at Kat's Writers Workshop Wednesday

This week I chose the prompt- List 10 things you never knew until you were mom.

This really got me thinking about what things I didn't know when I had my first child. It was a long time ago. I've been at this mom thing for 26 years. It is bittersweet especially now that I am down to my last few months of having a child at home. There were times that motherhood/ a single day lasted forever and I couldn't wait to be done with it, yet the time really went way to fast and I am so sad to see it end and so excited for it to end all at the same time. Like I said, Bittersweet!

Here are 10 things I've learned as a mom:

I had no comprehension of how much my parents loved me until I had a child. It is a love that is so all encompassing and so bone deep that you can't understand it until you hold your child in your arms for the first time. It also has given me a glimpse of how much God loves me. It is truly one of God's greatest blessings.
I had no idea that it would be so hard. Being a mom is just plain hard. It is 24-7 and sometimes completely overwhelming. When they are little it's exhausting- physically and as they get older it is both emotionally and physically tiring. Staying up to see your teens when they get in at a midnight curfew is so hard but worth it.
I didn't know it would be so fun. While parenting is hard- it's also a blast at times. Not every moment but enough fun that you don't want to run away...usually!!
There are no hard and fast rules- It would be so stinking easy if there were rules on how to deal with things, especially with babies. If you knew that rocking them would make them stop crying and it worked with every single kid every single time then that would be great but here's the kicker. You get so good at knowing what to do for your baby to keep them happy and not crying and you think you are so smart and have it all figured out, then you go and have another one. What worked for the first doesn't do anything for the second kid!!!!
Take all advice with a grain of salt!! This goes back to number 4. What works for one kid won't necessarily work for another kid. People will give you tons of advice and some people will make you feel like a complete failure as a parent and mom since their baby is so perfect- BARF- They have a different baby than you do. Some babies are just plain harder than others! Each kid is different and what worked for them won't always work for you and your baby. Try their advice if you want but if it doesn't work for you- don't feel badly. This goes for behavior later on too.
CONSISTENCY, CONSISTENC, CONSISTENCY!!! This is the most important word I learned as a parent. It is the key to everything. A consistent schedule with a baby makes life for both of you easier. A consistent plan for behavior helps your kids to be obedient and grow into great adults. For someone as ADD as I am, diagnosed & medicated, it was a hard word to learn but learn it I did and my kids and I are better for it.
Before I had kids I thought that I wanted to be "BFFs" Best Friends with my kids and the very worst thing that they could ever say to me was "I HATE YOU!" WRONG- If you are best friends with your kids, that means you're not giving them any boundaries or any lines to toe. It means that they are doing anything they want and that they had no consequences. They are going to be out of control. Kids need and want limits and rules to follow. It makes them feel loved and cared for and also gives them a reason to say NO to things that could harm them. If you get control early on and if your kids can say to their friends, "I can't do that! My mom would kill me if she found out!" you'll have done a good job. I'll tell you that my kids have come to me as adults and said how glad they were to have had the rules and the "mean mom".
The worst stage for a parent is when your kids are in Middle school or Jr. High. It's just the most traumatic, dramatic, and difficult stage for kids. They are hormonal messes and so self centered. Plus middles school girls are just downright MEAN. It's awful for them and it's awful for you. Be Warned!
Nothing will rock your world harder than problems with a kid. Whether it's a problem brought on by their own poor decisions or just something that has happened to them, it will hurt you more than anything else in the world. It will bring out the mama lioness in you when something happens to your cub. Especially, when someone has wronged your cub. You just want to attack and protect your baby. Stepping away and letting them fight their own battles is one of the hardest things I've had to do and let me tell you, I still want to butt in and help and many times I do. I try to hold back though.
While being a mom is the hardest job it's also the most rewarding job in the world. There is such total satisfaction in seeing your kids grow up into self- sufficient citizens. I am so thankful that God blessed me with my kids, both adopted and birthed. It has taught me more than I ever could have imagined.

Super Bowl food- Blue Cheese Sliders and Tamale Pie Recipes

2010-02-04T13:19:00.000-07:00

I love great game day foods!! Did you know that out of a 110 minute televised game there are over 45 minutes of commercials and 16 minutes of replays? That's a lot of time you could be eating.
Here are a couple of recipes that I'll be making on game day.

Tamale Pie

Click here for a printable version of this recipe.

We eat this served over a bed of Fritos or over rice. You can also serve it like a hot dip and use the large Frito Scoops to eat it.
It's filling and hearty yet you can make it ahead and just stick it into the oven when you're ready.
2 pounds ground beef- You can also use Ground Turkey if you want
1 medium onion chopped
Salt to taste
2 TBS chili powder, divided
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1- 16 oz can of crushed tomatoes and 2- 4-ounce cans diced mild green chilies or if you like it spicier- use 1 1/2 cups of salsa instead of the tomatoes & green chilies.
2-16-ounce cans pinto or black beans, drained and rinsed

Topping
1 cup yellow cornmeal
3 cups of water
1 tsps. salt
8 Ounces of grated sharp cheddar cheese

Over medium-high heat, cook the meat and and the onions until the onions are golden brown and there is no pink left to the meat.

Drain off any fat. Stir in 1 1/2 Tbs. of the chili powder, cumin, oregano tomatoes or salsa, green chilies, and the beans, simmer for about 5 minutes.

This meat mixture can be made up to two days ahead then refrigerated until you are ready to use; Just reheat the mixture over medium heat until it begins to bubble and then continue with the recipe.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat bring 3 cups of water, cornmeal, remaining 1 1/2 tsps of chili powder and 1 tsps. of salt to boil stirring constantly, until the cornmeal is almost tender and the mixture is quite thick, 3 to 5 minutes. It will look like grits for my southern readers. To the Yankees, it will look like really thick cream of wheat cereal.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Spoon the beef mixture into the dish. Top with the cooked cornmeal and spread evenly to cover.

Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top. You can make it to this point andcover and stick it in the fridge for up to 2 days before baking.
Bake until the cornmeal crust is set, the cheese is golden brown and the casserole is very hot at the center, 25 to 35 minutes if fresh made or 35 to 45 from fridge.
Serve over rice or Fritos with any of the following optional toppings:
Sour Cream Sliced black olives Fresh cilantro

Blue Cheese Sliders (mini burgers)

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe.

Here is a twist on a traditional slider. Packed with blue cheese, onion and bacon, they'll be the hit of the party. These are also a ton easier than the recipes where you have to stuff the blue cheese between two patties of meat and seal up the sides. So not worth it!
This makes 16 to 20 sliders depending on how big or small you make the patties.

2 lbs of ground beef
2- 4 to 5 oz tubs of crumbled blue cheese
1 bunch of green onion, finely chopped- I use scissors to cut up green onions, it's so much easier than trying to chop through them)
Pepper to taste- I use about 1 tsp.
8 strips of bacon cooked and crumbled
16 to 20 small dinner rolls

Combine the raw hamburger meat with the blue cheese crumbles, the chopped green onions, black pepper and the crumbled bacon.
Mix well to combine.
Shape into small balls and then flatten them into patties.
Grill or pan fry until they are cooked through.
Serve on rolls with BBQ sauce or Steak Sauce

Random Tuesday- Airport Security & Babysitting

2010-02-02T02:02:00.003-07:00

Ready for randomness. It's Tuesday!
My hubby and I were talking about airport security lines. He travels a lot and he's come up with the 2 worst types of people to get behind in line.

The Surprised People- These people always act surprised when asked to put their liquids and or computer (out of the case) on the belt. They have to dig for or open their suitcase to find their bag of liquids or worse yet- don't have them in a baggie at all. This group also tries to carry their half drunk water bottles through security. This is the same group of people that the "How to buckle and unbuckle the seat belt" demonstration is aimed at.
The Didn't Remember They Were Traveling When They Got Dressed People- These people choose to wear a chain belt that's hard to remove, a ton of metal jewelry, studded jeans and lace up shoes or boots with knots in the laces and 2 coats. They take 20 minutes removing everything and then they stand right at the side of the belt to redress insead of moving away so other people can get their things.

For a while in Denver they had 3 different kinds of line. Green for people who need a little more time. Blue for travelers who were moderately quick and the double black diamond lanes for the expert travelers. Just like the ski slopes, you had a few people who over estimated their abilities but for the most part, it made it faster for those of us who have a clue what to do. We miss those lines!

My dog came in from outside last week with the top of her snout bleeding.

It wasn't cut, it was scraped. I of course, being a responsible pet owner, went out to see how in the world she could have done it and discovered that my 1 year old lab has a new hobby! I like self starters. She's decided that she'd like to visit China and dig her own tunnel to get there. It only took an hour to get 3 feet so at this rate she'll be there in a week or so. I'm just hoping that the bare patch on the top of her nose fills back in or I'm going to have to use a sharpy to color it in each day! I'd hate for her to go on her trip looking like this.

I'm babysitting a 5month old tiny baby today (13 lbs) My kids were 9 lbs when they were born so she's small to me. I haven't been around a baby for a while and haven't babysat one in years. I forgot how wonderful it is to hold a sleeping baby and how hard it is to get anything done. Trust me tying to take these photos and type this with a baby in my arms is taking some getting used to.
It"s going to be a great day. I hope yours is a good one too!!!! Get random over at The Unmom!

Monday's Household Assigments- Knitting Needle Rescue!!

2010-02-01T07:22:00.001-07:00

This week's assignment is for the crafters out there- If you don't knit or crochet, then you have the week off!!!!
If you do knit or crochet you probably have a number of projects going at the same time. This weekend I took the time to do a needle rescue. I went to grab a set of size 7 needles and they weren't where they belong. I went through my knitting bags and realized that half my needles were in projects that were half done and might never get done. Let's be real, I'm ADD and have the attention span of a newt. I got some bright red yarn out of my stash and with a needle threaded it through the stitches of each project and took them off of the needles. Tada- all my needles have been rescued!!!!

The other thing that I did was to figure out a different way to store my needles. My straight needles have always been kept in a rolled up holder and my circulars, I've kept in a CD case. It was hard to find the needles that I needed easily. I came up with a new solution. An over the door, clear pocket, shoe holder.

It works perfectly. I have a different pocket for each size needle and I can see them all and find the ones I need at a glance. I also have pockets for all of my crochet needles and other assorted accessories. The holder is hung over the door of my craft cupboard, where I store all of my crafting supplies. It's cute and keeps everything organized. Have fun finding all of your own needles.

I love using items in different ways than they were intended! I also use clear pocket shoe holders to store all of my leggings, tights and stocking and bras. I can see exactly what color they are and which pair or bra I want without having to dig through a drawer. I took the door hooks off and attached it to a hanger with safety pins. Works great!!!! Have a wonderful week.

Random Tuesday- Cows, Goats, Bobcats and Lyrics

2010-01-26T10:48:00.002-07:00

We went to the stock show on Saturday- I love the stock show. We don't really go to see the animals like other city folk do, we see those at my husband's parents' cattle ranch. We go to watch some of the rodeo and horse competitions but mostly we go to see all the expo booths. You pick up a free plastic shopping bag and fill it up with all kinds of free crap- pens, rulers, foam cowboy hats and candy. I love pulling out a fertilizer company pen when someone asks to borrow one. They always give me this strange look like WTHeck???? Makes me laugh, I'm easily entertained.
I love looking at the new and fantastical items that are for sale. How about a Vitamix blender? I swear it could build a house and decorate it for you, it can do so much but really- how much pureed stuff do you want to be eating? And all for a low price of $400!! No thanks. The one thing I always look for is that one item that looks too good to be true. Every year there's one small booth, run by someone who had a great idea and is trying to sell their cool product. I fall for it every single time!! You know what? The items have always lived up to the hype. Last year I bought a funnel shaped ice scraper from a guy who developed it in his garage. It is hands down the best ice scraper I've ever owned. This year was the most amazing fur remover to use on clothes and furniture. I'll be sharing this product with you soon. I was asked by the owner to keep my mouth shut for now. I wish I could come up with a good idea I could sell!

I had a terrible morning on Friday. I drove up to meet a workman at our cabin in the mountains. It was a miserable 3 hour drive that usually takes 2. It went from 50° to 18° and sunny to freezing fog where you couldn't see the side of the road to heavy snow with high winds that caused ground blizzards- all in the course of 90 miles. So not cool. Made it there and miracles of miracles the guy showed up on time, only to insist that his company could not have installed the hardwired smoke detectors that were wigging out. According to him they've never installed that kind. OK- the guy has only worked there for 9 years- the house was built 16 years ago. I designed the house, down to the location of every single outlet, and I was the one that hired his company to put them in and... I WATCHED THEM INSTALL THEM. He wouldn't budge because they're hardwired and he's "not a licensed electrician". I was ticked. After "discussing it" for a good half hour with a support call to my hubby to talk with him, we gave up and had him install new wireless ones instead of fixing the old ones. Now I have to go back up and find an electrician to remove the old ones that keep going off. ARGGGG

After all of that, I can only say that I'm SO GLAD that I went!!! By the time I headed home, the wind had died down and it was snowing softly. I was about a mile from the cabin, rounded a corner, and saw something crossing the road. I stopped where I'd seen it go in into the trees and low and behold this is what I saw.

Yep a bobcat!!! We've only seen him a few times over the years and I was so excited.

Thankfully, I'd brought my camera with me and got this shot of him.

God knew what kind of morning I'd had and did a great job cheering me up.

Farther down the mountain, I also got to see the mountain goats by the road.

All in all it turned out to be a good day!

If you ever listen to popular music and actually listen to the lyrics, you know how stupid many of them are. Over at My Own Brand of Crazy- Gina has started Monday's Ridiculudicrous Lyrics. For a great laugh head on over and check it out.

Have your own random post? The Un Mom is the place to go to link it up. Do It!!!

Monday's Household Assigments- Clean up the Kitchen!

2010-01-25T09:05:00.000-07:00

This week I'll be focusing any extra minutes in my kitchen. It's time to scrub down the outsides of the cabinets, clean off the counters, organize and sort through the drawers, and wipe down the appliances.
I have a really busy week so I'll break these jobs down into 15 to 20 minutes tasks.

DRAWERS: 5 to 15 minutes per drawer
When I clean out a drawer, I remove the drawer and dump it out onto the counter. I wipe out the inside and make sure it's really clean before I start putting stuff back in. As I sort through the items I ask myself, when was the last time I used this?, How often do I use it? and Do I really need this? If I only use it once a year, I have a plastic tub with a lid in my laundry room and that tool goes in this keeps the drawers less crowded. If I only use it occasionally, it goes to the back of the drawer. The items that I use frequently go in the front for easy access. I use plastic bags or tiny plastic containers to keep smaller items, like corn cob holders , together and organized. I have a hard time giving things away that are perfectly good, I haven't used in years BUT- I might need them someday. I force myself to put these things into a bag, TAPE IT SHUT and set it in the back of my car. I write a date on the bag one month from when it goes into the car. If I haven't needed anything from the bag in that month, I drop it off at goodwill WITHOUT LOOKING IN THE BAG!!! I use this method with closets and the basement too. I forget exactly what's in there and if I don't see it, I won't miss it.

CUPBOARDS- Inside- 20 to 30 minutes each.
Take everything out, wipe down shelves and put everything back in. Is there a better place for these items. For example- Are your coffee cups and coffee making items near the coffee maker? Are the dishes easy to put away from the sink or dishwasher? This is the time to rearrange if it makes more sense.
If you have young kids- try placing their dishes in a drawer that they can reach. This makes it easy for them to help put their dishes away and for them to get their things out for meals and snacks. My kids are grown and we still keep the small bowls and plastic plates for snacks in a drawer. Drawers are also a much easier place to keep tupperware bowls and lids. It makes it much easier to find them than in a cupboards.

CUPBOARDS-Outsides of all- 15 to 30 minutes.
Wipe down the outside of the cupboards and drawers with Murphy's Oil Soap or whatever is safe for your cupboard doors. I like to use a microfiber cloth for this to really get the cooking build up off.

APPLIANCES- Outsides:15 to 20 minutes
Wipe down the tops, fronts and sides of all the appliances- The fridge top can be scary if it hasn't been done in a while. While you're cleaning, Take the time to remove all the stuff from the fridge front. Take down all the magnets, photos and stuff. I tape those kinds of things on the inside of my cupboard doors. This keeps them in a handy yet out of sight place. Just removing all the stuff from the fronts and sides of the fridge will make your whole kitchen look cleaner and more uncluttered. It really does!!!!! Try it!!!!

REFRIGERATOR COILS- 5 to 10 minutes
Vacuum the coils of your refrigerator to increase energy efficiency and prolong the life of the compressor. You should clean the coils at least 2 times a year, if you have pets 4 times a year! Your owner's manual will show how to do this or you can google it online.

Break it down this week and get that kitchen cleaned.

It's Tuesday so it must be random!

2010-01-19T01:24:00.004-07:00

Have you tried the new retro Pepsi and Dr. Pepper made with real sugar? All I can say is that there's a huge flavor difference. We did a blind side by side taste test (we would) with the regular Dr. Pepper and the retro, sugar Dr Pepper and the retro sugar formula won hands down. I think I'll be stocking up!!!

It's impossible for you to lick your elbow.

My dog has been more than a bit gassy so I read that you could put some tennis ball size, smooth, clean stones in the dish and because the dog has to eat around them, they can't eat as fast which helps prevent them from gulping extra air as they eat. It worked great until all the food was gone and then she started carrying the rocks around the house and dropped one on my foot. Dang dog!

I downloaded photos from my camera to my computer and found that someone had been using my camera over Christmas break. There were over 400 photos taken by my kids of themselves and their friends jumping and flying through the air. This is a favorite pastime of theirs. It was so fun to see them together having so much fun.

Statistics say that 75% of you tried to lick your elbow. Admit it- I was right- You couldn't!!!!!!!! Actually 99.9% can't. Were you one of the few who can?

Have your own Random thoughts? Head on over to The Unmom and link up!!! You'll thank me later!

Monday's Household Assigments-Planning all your meals for the week saves time and money!

2010-01-18T01:52:00.011-07:00

This week's household assignment is to start planning ahead for your meals each week! By planning your meals once a week you'll save money and time. I plan all my meals for the week on Wednesdays because this is when the grocery sales flyers come out. Some stores post their flyers online and other only have them in the paper. I always get the Wednesday paper for the coupons and the flyers. I lay out all of the flyers and my schedule for the week. I identify the days that are going to be crazy where I'll need to plan on a crock pot dinner or a fast preparation dinner.

I then look at the meats that are on sale that week. Last week, there was a great sale at Sunflower Market on their ground meats. Ground chicken breast, turkey and beef were on sale for $1.97 a pound. In addition their Italian sausage and pork loin roasts were on sale. Once I pick the meats, I go ahead and plan my main dishes around these meats. (I also bought extra for the freezer, more on that later.) I pull out the recipes and make sure that I have all the ingredients for them either in the pantry or on my shopping list. I then go through the circular and plan my side dishes. My menu ended up being,
   Wednesday- Spaghetti with Italian Sausage, salad, french bread
       Thursday- Creole Stuffed Peppers (ground beef), broccoli and
                        honeyed carrots (crockpot)
        Friday- Roast Pork Roast with cranberry chutney, green beans, wild rice and tossed salad,
        Saturday- Tamale Pie, corn, fresh tomatoes and shredded lettuce
        Sunday- Beef Pot Roast- Bought on sale last month used out of freezer,
                       new potatoes, carrots and peas
        Monday- White Chicken Chili on rice (crockpot)
        Tuesday- A family tradition- Srevotfel- Leftovers- It just sounds more
                                                              elegant when you spell and say it backwards!!!   This cleans                                                         out the fridge for shopping on Wednesday.
Once week a month- I challenge myself to make all the meals from the pantry and the freezer so that the only things I have to purchase from the store are fresh veggies and dairy items. This helps the budget a lot!!!!!

When you plan ahead you:

Are prepared for dinners on busy days with food in the crock pot or quick preparation recipes so that you can avoid last minute take out or delivery food that costs so much.
Avoid extra trips to the grocery store that do cost you extra cash with those impulse purchases!
Prepare a broader variety of meals when you write it all down and do a little bit of planning.
Ultimately save money!!!!!!!

Hint- When ground beef goes on sale, buy 5 or 6 pounds and take an extra 30 minutes to brown 3 or 4 pounds of it. Once it's browned completely, cool slightly and divide the cooked meat into separate plastic bags, label with the date and toss into the freezer. With the meat already browned, you can thaw a bag in the microwave and make it into tacos or spaghetti sauce in under 5 minutes- It's a real time saver!

And the winner is................

2010-01-15T23:52:00.002-07:00

The winner of the Old El Paso is comment number 2- Sprite's Keeper. Stop over and say hi to her! Congratulations!!!!!!!!!

Enter a lower limit:	1
Enter an upper limit:	7

Random Number:	2

Random Tuesday- How can this be?

2010-01-12T09:20:00.003-07:00

I just had a birthday. They have this nasty habit of coming faster and faster each year. I turned 49 which in itself isn't freaking me out, it's the fact that next year I'll be 50. THAT is freaking me out. 50 just sounds so dang old. Even when I turned 40 50 sounded like old lady with a walker age, not really but kind of. The weird thing is that I don't feel old inside. I swear I still feel 28 or 32 or something and then I look into the mirror and BAM- Who's face is that??? UGHHH Hopefully buy the time next year rolls around I'll be more comfortable with the idea. Like I have a choice!

It also occurred to me this week that I am going to be a mother-in-law in 3 1/2 months. I know, I've known about the wedding for months but it just dawned on me about the mother-in-law title- a bit slow on the uptake but I catch on eventually. I hope I'm not going to be a stereotypical one!

I was working on a recipe for Coq au Vin this morning and set off the fire alarm. To show you where my priorities were, I finished photographing the flames for the recipe before calling the alarm company to call off the firemen. Priorities are important! I'll post the recipe soon but admit it, the photo was worth capturing!

When my daughter got engaged, I bowed out of all my spring obligations in case we had lots of wedding stuff to do. The wedding is well under control, she is my daughter after all, and now I have some free time. It's been so long since I had any that I'm not quite sure what to do with myself. I've cleaned almost every single cupboard, my storage room and most of the closets. I should be writing my novel in a month but I just can't seem to get started. I guess I'll figure out what to do next... Tomorrow.

Today, I'm working on a really cute baby sweater for a shower this coming weekend. I love knitting girl stuff. I got the Fan and Lace pattern for the bottom of the sweater done last night and now just have to finish the body.

I finished the hand part of the mittens I've been working on but can't decide on the pattern for the cuff. Once the sweater is done I'll figure out what I want to do.

OH MY GOSH!!!! I really am an old lady- I'm sitting here and talking about my knitting- CRAP!!!

Don't forget to enter to win the Old El Paso Tackle the Taste Giveaway. Only one entry far, so you have a great chance to win. Click Here to enter!

Have your own Random thoughts? Head on over to The Unmom and link up!!! You'll thank me later!

Spin Cycle- Cleaning and organizing!

2010-01-11T13:58:00.001-07:00

I was over at Sprite's Keeper and her Spin Cycle this week is about the show Hoarders and cleaning and organizing. It got me thinking about how much I love to keep things around me organized. For instance, as you all know, I post a Monday's Household Assignment each week. I have no plan for them, I just post the tasks that I'm doing or have done that week myself. Organizing and cleaning just come naturally to me. I can't help it. I like things neat and tidy around me or I feel like my whole life is out of control. I keep my spices alphabetized, I love my labeler and have labels on all my linen closet shelves and shelves in other closets. I just like things to be organized. The only exception to this is my desk which tend to gather a pile. Every two weeks, I muck it off and then it begins again.

After Christmas, I was so overwhelmed by all the Christmas decor that had been out, when I got it all put away, I didn't even take out all of the regular items to put back. My mantel usually has 5 candle holders, a couple of vases with grasses and stuff in them and a wooden box with seed balls on it. Right now it has one vase and 2 candle holders. I just needed super clean and pared down for a few weeks to recover. I find it soothing and calming. I try not to be obsessive about it but it is just so dang nice when everything is in its place. Do you like things organized or do you thrive with some chaos around you? Head over and join in on this weeks topic.

Don't forget to enter the El Paso Giveaway that I have going this week. Click here to enter!

Monday's Household Assignments- Makeup does have an expiration date!

2010-01-11T04:13:00.002-07:00

Last week I opened my medicine cabinet to get out everything to put my face on, when half of what was on the bottom shelf came tumbling out. Time to organize the mess. I took everything out and as I began to sort through everything, I came across some blue eye shadows and thought about how old some of my stuff was. Seriously, when you find baby blue Bonne Bell eyeshadow and you're over 16, you are long overdue for a cleaning out session!!

I got online and found that most of what I have is expired and should be thrown away. Here are the expiration dates I found.
Expiration dates — beginning from the time you first open these products

Pressed powder cosmetics: face powder, blush and eyeshadow should be thrown out after one year.
Cream shadows: 12 to 18 months
Liquid Foundation: 1 year if you use a sponge or applicator. If you use your finger ont he top of the bottle then 6 months
Wand Applicator foundation- 6 months
All Natural cosmetics should be discarded after 6 months because they do not contain any preservatives.
Lipstick and lipliner: 1 year
Mascara and eyeliners: 3 months - WHAT!!!!!
Blue Eye Shadow- Throw away the 70's are over!
If you get any kind of an eye infection, you should discard any eye makeup that you have used to prevent reinfecting yourself.
Never Share Your Makeup!!!

Makeup brushes: Clean weekly using a mild detergent or shampoo
Makeup sponges: Replace weekly, or when sponge becomes soiled

When you use your makeup, you expose it to bacteria on your hands and face and this bacteria can grow and thrive in your makeup which really can be harmful, especially if used around your eyes.

Here's what I did:

I took everything out and if I couldn't remember when I bought it, I threw it away. I then scrubbed the shelves, got a small plastic box to hold all of the small items and now, not only can I find everything, I'm not going to infect myself with bacteria and I won't be wearing any more blue eyeshadow! If only this would help with either the zits or the wrinkles that BOTH seem to be taking over my face. It's so unfair to still get zits when you are getting wrinkles at an alarming rate.
Have fun cleaning out your makeup!

Old El Paso Green Chilies and Tackle the Taste Giveaway!!!

2010-01-08T15:07:00.005-07:00

The Superbowl is one month away on February 7th and have I got a fun giveaway for you.

I will choose one (1) of my readers to win a "Tackle the Taste” gift pack that includes two free cans of Green Chiles, a football-shaped ceramic chip and dip, a package of football-themed plates a package of matching cocktail napkins, and a football field table runner all provided and mailed directly to you by Old El Paso and Blog Sparks!
They also sent one of these sets to me as a thank you! Of course one of my kids immediately put dibs on it and will be using it for their Super Bowl Party. It was so cute too!!

Even if you don't want to enter the giveaway, everyone can click HERE to download a $0.55 coupon good on one can of Old El Paso Green Chiles- that's a deal!

Here's how to enter: All entries must be in by January 15th so that, hopefully, you will be able to receive your gift pack by Superbowl Sunday! That's not in my control but the sooner the better, hence the one week deadline.

Please make sure that you have your profile set to public! If you don't then I have no way of getting your email to tell you that you are a winner and get your mailing address to send off to Old El Paso. If you don't want to make yourself public, once you have entered, email me by clicking the link at the top of my page and let me know you are entering and give me your email that way. Thanks.

1. YOU MUST DO THIS FIRST or all other entries will be DELETED! Please let me know how you're going to use Old El Paso Green Chiles to spice up your favorite recipe(s)(1 entry)

BONUS ENTRIES

2. Follow Me on Blogger (1 entry) If you are a follower already, leave a separate post saying you already are a follower.

4. Follow ME on Twitter (1 entryAlready follow? Leave a post. I do check!!!

5. Leave a Tweet and the direct link to that tweet (1 entry) You can do this Daily!

6. FOR 5 EXTRA ENTRIES - Blog about this giveaway, including a link to my blog and come back and leave the link to your blog post. Once you have your post up- leave FIVE separate comments here, that you've blogged about the giveaway.

7. FOR 3 EXTRA ENTRIES-Add my BUTTON to your sidebar (leave 3 Separate comments here saying that you've done this)

8. Add Factwoman to your blogroll (using my URL), with a link back to me! (leave 1 comment here telling me you've done this)

This giveaway is only open to U.S. entrants.

Many thanks to MyBlogSpark & Old El Paso for this Giveaway Opportunity!

No Purchase Necessary. Void where prohibited by law. I was provided a product or sample for this Review and Giveaway blah blah blah blah.

Writer's Workshop Wednesday- My favorite books to read to children- and the most hated!

2010-01-06T22:25:00.033-07:00

Kat over at Mama's Losin' It has some great prompt for Writer's Wednesday this week. Try it out. You just might like it!

2.) Book Review! What children’s book do/did you hate reading to your child?

     It's been many, many years since I read to my kids but I can still remember the ones that I hated to read aloud and the ones we all loved.
     I hated any book written by Dr. Seuss for the same reason that Kat hates Chicky Chick Chook Chook, the repetition. His books were great to use once they just began to read because they could figure out what the next word would be but, they were awful to read aloud because they were so boring and repetitive. They were also without much of a plot or any good character development- Kidding! They were just boring as all get up and go to read over and over again. They made me grit my teeth and thankfully, these books somehow got ~~hidden under my bed~~ lost a lot!

     On the flip side, there were books that I read literally thousands of times and still love. Some of the books that I loved to read were: Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown, Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams.

I also love children's poetry and story collections like A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevensen and A.A. Milne's;Winnie the Pooh, The House At Pooh Corner, Now We Are Six, and When We Were Very Young My favorite is When We Were Very Young, especially the poem called, Disobedience- "James James Morrison Morrison Whetherby George Depree took great care of his mother though he was only three..." Bet your shocked at that. Amazon actualy has a great set with all 4 of these titles.

We also loved Robert McCloskey's Blueberries for Sal and Make Way for Ducklings.

If you weren't from New England, you may not have heard of these but you should get them.

Last but not least, my favorite book and my kids' favorite book, hands down, is a book called
The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear.
It was given to us by my step uncle, who volunteers to this day at a preschool. I had never heard of the book until we received it, but it quickly became our must read book. After thousands of reading I'm still not tired of it.
What are some of your favorites. most hated kids books?
It's freezing cold here today and I think after I finish my chores, I might just grab a book and read. I only wish I still had a little one at home to snuggle up with and read to! Man time flies!!!!

Random Tuesday- Happy New Year!

2010-01-05T09:36:00.001-07:00

Happy New Year!!! Yes I am a bit late but this is truly the first day that I have had that is somewhat back to normal. We celebrated Christmas Eve on the 30th with all the kids home and then this Saturday my husband's family was having a get together at his brother's house. Everyone left on Sunday night and yesterday I spent the entire day taking Christmas down. I really need to cut back on what I put up. I still have to disassemble the village and take the outside lights down then it will all be put away. It took so long because I had to take everything out of the storage area and organize it before putting stuff back in there.

If you haven't done a Random Tuesday post yet, you should and this is the time to start. Head on over to The Unmom and link up a random post today!

I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful it was to have all my kids home at the same time. It sounds strange but I don't realize how much I miss them until they get home. I sure wish the older ones lived closer. We had a blast hanging out and playing games. Mike, the fiancé, is a perfect fit not only for my daughter but for our family. God answered a lifetime of prayers in one amazing man!

We also got to meet Mike's parents. They came into town for a couple of days and stayed with us. It was such a fun time. We played games and just got to get to know each other. It's an interesting thing meeting people who will be playing such an integral part of your child's life, for the rest of their life. After meeting them, she's going to be in great hands.

The Olympics start in something like 36 days. I love the Olympics!!! I love the opening and closing ceremonies and all the different events. I must admit that I loke the winter Olympics much more than the summer ones. My older kids are going to run up to Vancouver and try to see a few events. Yep, I'm a little green over that!

I am going to have a nice slow start to the year. Because the wedding in is April, I said NO to every single thing for this spring and because they are doing almost all fo the planning themselves, I have some free time. I got a few new knitting books and some new yarn and am planning on doing a lot of knitting. I got the Magnificent Mittens & Socks book and am having so much fun. I'm knitting up a pair in Black and Hot Pink with some teal in the cuff. I'm on the second thumb and it's going pretty fast. I chose a really hard design but the mittens are really easy. You knit them from the top down eastern European style. Much faster and better than cuff up.

This is the style.

I'm thinking of holding some knitting classes for all my friends who don't kow how to knit. Anyone interested?

I've got to run and stage a house. I've missed everyone and can't wait to get all caught up on your blogs this week.

A shout out to my niece, Jenny! Love you!

A dog's New Year's resolutions and you are the worst customer service person I have ever delt with!

2009-12-31T00:42:00.000-07:00

It's time for the Writer's Workshop over at Mama's Losin' It!! This week I chose prompt 1 and prompt 4.
Here's the post from Holly our 12 month old lab mix.
1.) Your pet wants to guest post on your blog.
Dear Family,
It's almost January first and I have been giving lots of thought to my New Year's resolutions for 2010 and here they are:

I promise not to roll in the mud when we go to the dog park.

I'll do my best to quit smoking cigars.

I'll bring my fetch items back to you if you throw them for me.

I will play in the snow as often as possible.

I'll try my hardest NOT to chew up any shoes.

I'll do these things for you, ONLY IF you never ever dress me up in a stupid squirrel costume again!

Hope we have a great year! Love, Holly

Prompt #4. ) Write a letter to someone you received poor customer service from. (inspired by Lynsey from Sassy & Southern)

Dear computer customer service lady,

After half an hour on the phone with you and you not being able to help me, I have a few questions for you that I would like answered.

Why did you pretend to know how to solve my problem when it was obvious that I knew more than you did and we both knew you didn't have a chance at helping me?
When I was overly polite to you, OK perhaps a bit sarcastic after the first 15 minutes, why did you get very condescending and treat me like I was an idiot, especially when you were the one without a clue?
When you obviously had no clue about how to solve my problem, why did you refuse over 20 times, to pass me off to someone who could actually help me?
Why did you continue to ask me questions that you didn't even know the correct answer to?
Why is it that after 30 minutes of dealing with you, in frustration, I hung up, called back and got a different customer service rep. who immediately, within 3 minutes, could see that I needed more help than they could give me and passed me off to a higher level of technical support who, by the way, solved my issue in under 5 minutes??????????????????????!!!!!

I look forward to your answers to these questions. Hopefully you can do a better job with these than you did with my questions on the phone.

Sincerely,

A very unhappy customer

PS. Thank you so much for graciously giving me your name and id number at the beginning of our phone call. I later used the information to report your hideous service.

Here are the rest of this weeks Prompts:
1.) Your pet wants to guest post on your blog.
(inspired by Matthew at Child’s Play x2)
2.) You wake up one day with an unusual super power that seems pretty worthless—until you are caught in a situation that requires that specific “talent.”
(inspired by Writer’s Digest)
3.) Write about a speech you gave at a wedding.
4.) Write a letter to someone you received poor customer service from.
(inspired by Lynsey from Sassy & Southern)
5.) This time I really MEAN it! It’s time to list your New Year’s resolutions for 2010.
(inspired by Margaret from Nanny Goats In Panties)
Head over and pick a prompt to write about and link up!

Random Tuesday- We finally had Christmas!

2009-12-30T23:07:00.000-07:00

OK, this is so late because we've been celebrating Christmas. We just had Christmas tonight. It was supposed to be last night but one of the kid's flights last night was delayed 90 minutes so we had to push back the present opening until tonight! So fun and such great gifts.

I love having all my kids home at the same time. It's so special since it only happens a couple of times a year. Watching them laugh, play games and talk about the stupid things that they used to do is a blast.

It's been a busy week and it's not over. My birthday is on Friday and a couple's wedding shower for my daughter and her fiance is being held on Saturday!

Facebook has really messed up their calendar. It notified everyone that all Jan 1st birthdays are on Thursday. WRONG- the first is on Friday. I've had quite a few Happy Birthday messages because of it. 2 other people with Jan 1st birthdays that I know had the same thing happen. Really is it that tough to get the dates correct?

I really am ready for Christmas to be over and to put everything away. I will admit that my daughter's fiance's family is coming on the first for the shower and will be staying here. I've organized cupboards and closets for the last two weeks in anticipation on people coming. I'm so weird!!!

Secret Santa Spin Cycle!!!

2009-12-24T22:10:00.001-07:00

Over at Sprite's Keeper, she assigned us to be a Secret Santa to another blogger and I was so excited to be paired up with Blue Violet over at A Nut in a Nutshell .
She is one talented lady! She's a really funny writer, takes beautiful photos for her Wordless Wednesday posts and really has all the scoop on great give a ways in the blog world. Her blog is one I make sure to check on many times a week. I love her sense of humor and she always gives me a laugh or two. She has 2 gorgeous kids and is a mom that I can only aspire to be.

I discovered her blog through the Ramdon Tuesdays by the Unmom. I'm so glad that I found her!!!!!!!

Every Saturday she has bloggers link up with their Give-A-Ways so her blog is a wonderful resource. You need to check her out and let her know her secret Santa sent you!!!