You have got to be kidding...

Menu Plan Monday

2009-11-23T18:03:00.003-05:00

Hmmm.....It seems it is Monday and since I am out of blogtirement, maybe I should post? Anyway, guess the easiest thing to do is just to post my menu for the week.

Monday: Ham, mashed potatoes, broccoli
Tuesday: Leftover ham
Wed: leftover ham again. Or maybe ham and eggs
Th: thanksgiving!
Fri: black Friday so we go out to dinner
Saturday: Tuna noodle casserole?
Sunday: Turkey dinner again.

and on to more pressing matters....
Did you ever have a sweater or a shirt or a..I don't know...A tie.. that is a stain magnet? You know. That one piece on your wardrobe that you love but every single time you wear it, the damn thing attracts the stray glop of butter or spaghetti sauce? Yea, well I have one of those pieces and it is a sweater. A sweater from the GAP! yea. That's right. The GAP. WTH? I mean, this is not a sweater fro, Niemans or Nordstroms. It is from the freaking GAP and no matter what, if I wear it, something is spilled on it. And I love the damn thing. It is comfortable, has pockets, is neutral and has short sleaves. I mean really, what more could you ask for? Um, no butter stains? yea, that would be a good start. Yea. Anyway, said sweater is spending some quality time on top of the washer after being spot cleaned with Dawn dish detergent (that shit is the bomb). That is all I have.

Out of Blogtirement

2009-11-17T18:12:00.007-05:00

So yea, it has been awhile. Without going into a lot of detail about why I haven't updated in a bazillion months, I will just say that I have been very busy and um, yea. That's about it. Plus like, there are only about two people who actually read this blog and I talk to you guys on a fairly regular basis so....I didn't see a huge or great reason to update. But.... I have decided to come back to you. Back to my fans and or, well friends and talk to you about something near and dear to my heart. What you ask? What is so important as to bring me out of blogtirement? Ok well in case you are not aware, Christmas is coming. And if you are not a Christian, no problem, you probably celebrate Hanukkah or something. Or maybe Kwanza. Or, I don't know. It really doesn't matter. It seems that this time of year we all tend to turn to family and friends and like to give gifts to those we care about. Well giving is what I want to talk to you about today.

There is this group called World Vision that gives the gift of life and hope to poor people in Africa and well, other parts of the world. Ok so here's the thing. You and I both know that you spend a lot of money at McDonalds, or Walmart, or Sam's Club, on a regular basis. We run in and run out and before you know it we have spent $100.00 or more. For what? That is the big question because honestly, I go shopping with a list and spend more money than I expected and a week later I couldn't tell you what I bought. But what if you could spend $25.00 and feed a family for a year...or more? Or 100.00 and not only feed them but give them the opportunity to make some money? Well This is what my family has decided to do for Christmas this year. Yea, we are still buying the legos, etc. for the kids. But some of our budget has been designated to purchase chickens and at least one goat. We are all excited about the prospect that our little gift will help at least two families. Will allow two families to be able to feed their children, to maybe sell some milk or eggs. To prosper, or just live. Something most of us can't even imagine. The fact that there are people in this world of ours who not only go to bed hungry but who's beloved children die of that hunger. How can we sit around the table on Thanksgiving or Christmas, or exchange gifts knowing that a very small gift of $25.00 could buy a family not one but two chickens? That $75.00 can buy another family a goat so they have milk and can make cheese? Or if you have a little more to spend you can buy a cow for a family. There are so many levels of gifts to choose from that I can't imagine why anyone reading this wouldn't open their check book up to help a family in need. Really. It is that easy. Please, please consider giving to a family in need this year. It could quite literally be the difference between life and death.

If you are interested in this program, I encourage you to go to the World Vision website. Read about what they are doing for families in need and then make the decision to help someone in need this year. It will be the best gift you give -and the life saving gift someone receives. What else is this holiday season about? Think about it. And please, just consider giving the gift of life to a needy family this year.

Caitey's Confirmation & Misc. stuff

2009-05-01T13:53:00.004-04:00

So last weekend was Caitey's confirmation and we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful service or day. The weather was perfect and the mass was wonderful. We had a guest Bishop do the confirmation. He is from Uganda and was very funny and enjoyable. I was really happy that we got to enjoy such a heart warming service. Here are a couple pictures of her.

School is almost over for me. One more week of classes and then finals. I cannot wait for it to be over! I will try to post more when I have more time. Until then....I leave you with this. How cute is it? Thanks Leeann for sharing!

Menu Plan Monday

2009-04-20T07:48:00.002-04:00

I figured I would go ahead and post my menu this week since I have been such a slacker lately. Well, at least here on the blog. In real life I am so busy with school and the kids activities I feel like my head is spinning. This week will be very busy as I have a big exam on Thursday and Caitlyn is making her confirmation on Saturday so we will be having a party for that. So I guess I will be spending the week studying for my exam on Thursday and then after it is done, I will be getting ready for the party. Oh well. You do what you have to do. Anyway, here is a nice, simple menu for the week. Shouldn't be too difficult to stick with it.

Monday: spaghetti, salad

Tuesday: grilled chicken, scalloped potatoes, salad

Wednesday: cheeseburgers, oven fries

Thursday: shrimp scampi, salad

Friday: leftovers

Saturday: Confirmation party-lots of different stuff.

Sunday: leftovers from Confirmation party

A Tale of Two Bows, starring Barack Obama

2009-04-09T08:48:00.000-04:00

Can you hear it?

2009-04-05T19:18:00.003-04:00

My kids were downloading apps on the ipod and came across this one that says only teens can hear it, adults can not hear it at all. So I was intrigued. I think my hearing is pretty good so I was sure I would be able to hear the tone. But alas, I am an old lady and can not hear the sound that actually is driving my kids nuts.

Apparently it was discovered or invented by some British business owner who wanted some way to keep teens from hanging in front of his business. So he developed this high frequency tone and plays it to scare the kids away. And it works. And the adults don't even notice it.

I played it for my 10 and 13 year old's and they both slammed their hands to their ears and said Ow! I was both really surprised(cause I couldn't hear anything) and worried that it could damage their ears. But of course I had to try it a few more times because it is pretty interesting. I also played it for my 15 year old and he didn't hear a thing. Which of course has me worried because hello, that must mean his hearing is not that great at 15. Which does not come as a huge surprise because we are all the time yelling at him for playing the ipod so loud that we can hear it when it is plugged into his ears.

Anyway, listen to it and let me know if you or your kids can hear it.
Teen repellent

It's been a long time..

2009-03-25T22:03:00.004-04:00

This is a very hard post.

So it has been quite a while since my last post. Unfortunately, that is due to the fact that on March 13, my family lost someone very near and dear to our hearts. My father.

I got a call from the state police saying that he was being taken to the hospital. Of course we jumped in the car for the 1 hour trip to the hospital. When we got there, we were told that he had a massive heart attack and died instantly, despite my mothers valiant efforts to give him CPR. We are all devastated.

My dad was a great man. Oh sure, no one ever speaks ill of the dead but really, he was a wonderful man. He worked hard his entire life to take care of his family. Not just his wife and children but he was always there to help out other people as well. He was a giving person.

My parents would have been married 50 years this May. My mother of course is very sad. That is a long time to be married to someone, an oddity in this day and age. I can only hope and pray my marriage reaches that point.

My fondest memories growing up were our vacations to Chincoteague Va. Every single summer we would go there camping. We would load up in the truck pulling the pop-up camper. Us kids would get into the back of the truck. My parents would put mattresses in there and there was a cab on the back, but we would get so hot that the only thing we could do is go to sleep. But when we woke up, we would be crossing the bridge onto Chincoteague Island. And there we would go to the beach, go crabbing, swimming, fishing, run wild. It was great. It is something that me and my siblings now do with our own kids and my parents always join us. It will be very sad this summer without my dad, the grand kids pop-pop there to untangle the fishing lines, get the boat, steam the crabs, or a multitude of other tasks that he did. He did it without a complaint. He would just go and do what needed to be done. You know, there are not many men in this day and age who are like that any more. Men who will work more than one job just to support their families. Now they complain about too much work, too little money, & not enough time to play with friends. Not my dad though. He never complained. We will all truly miss him.

One thing that helped me immediately after his death was planning the funeral. My friend Laura sent me the funeral program she used for her dad and that was a huge help because I was able to use it as a guide. It was healing planning the scripture and music. It is amazing how having the viewings and going through those motions really do help the family get through that period.

It is amazing how much an email, phone call, cards, etc. helps you get through something like the death of a parent. Just the outpouring of support from friends and family who basically fed us for a week was amazing. We literally would not have had food for all of us at my moms because we were all there. My sibs, our spouses and kids. Mikes family was amazing. They made so much food. His one sister gave us a bag full of breakfast foods. Bagels, yogurt, coffee, etc. So thoughtful. Another sister prepared a huge platter of chicken tenders and broccoli/rice casserole. Seriously, without that food we would have probably been eating cereal.

I had friends from facebook come to the funeral parlor. That was shocking because we only recently reunited online and I haven't seen some of them since 1980! I am truly blessed with the number of friends and family that I have.

Another thing, a revelation of sorts I had. In the day or two after my dad died, we had to go to the store for clothes and food. I was walking around literally in shock. I noticed though that people were really nice to me. Strangers. You know how sometimes you go to the store and the cashiers are just rude? Well everyone we encountered was nice. I really appreciated that. I know they didn't know and were just doing their jobs but it made things so much easier. Anyway, I realized when I was going through that that we truly do need to always remember that we should treat people with compassion and treat them as we would want to be treated. That we need to really take care of each other. Even strangers. We don't know what kind of pain they may be in at any given moment. I am usually nice in public but I am going to make an effort to be nicer, more tolerant. I guess it just made me think we all need to be more compassionate all of the time, even to perfect strangers. Or maybe especially to strangers.

My father loved his grandchildren like you wouldn't believe. They truly were the light of his life. When we were growing up, he worked 2 and 3 jobs so that we could go to private schools and on vacation each year. We did not see him as much as my kids see their father. But with his grandchildren, he was very involved. One of the things I am saddest about is the loss of that relationship not only for the kids but for him as well because he was truly enjoying his life. I know this sounds hokey, but when i think of him in heaven, I picture him holding a chubby little baby, his grandchild, the baby I lost. It has truly brought a peace for me in relation to the miscarriage. I believe that we will be together again with our lost babies and it brings me peace that my baby is there with my dad. And also makes me happy because he still has one grandchild to be with until we are all together again.

Another thing, I lost some of my faith after my miscarriage. Well, Mikey and Caitey's bus driver wrote a long card to us about how glorious heaven is and how even though we miss him, he is 30 years old and healthy and happy again. I like to believe that she is correct. It has made me think more about the fact that we are all on a journey and the destination is heaven. Dad is there now with his parents, siblings and the baby. That makes me happy.
So there you have it.

My sad update. I will try to get on and post more. I want to put some pictures of the kids and my dad so look for them in the coming days. Until next time....

Sometimes you should just sit back and relax...

2009-03-11T17:28:00.002-04:00

So it is spring break and you know, I am all for sitting around relaxing. Watching TV, eating bonbons...The whole nine yards. But really, sitting around in your dusty cluttered family room is no fun. You are sitting there all fat and happy with your bonbons(what exactly are bonbons?) with the knowledge that there is no school so I don't have any assignments due. I don't have any exams to study for. You can just relax. For one glorious week I can pretend that I am not in school and don't have to worry about upcoming exams, papers, labs, etc. I can just pretend that I am a regular
run -of- the -mill mother who sends her offspring off to school every morning then has the luxury to work out, clean, cook, shop, have lunch with the girls, visit Starbucks, read a book for pleasure, volunteer...You get the picture. But no, I am not that mother. I am a mother who because of some bad decisions early in life, am now returning to school. College in your 40's, even very early 40's, sucks. OK so back to today. Today I decided I am going to move all of the furniture and clean behind it. I am going to wipe down the base boards and get rid of some clutter and dust and vacuum under sofas. And while I am under the sofas, get rid of all the crap that I push under there when company is coming and I don't want them to see it. Don't act all high and mighty like you don't do that. I know you do. OK, so if you don't you are not normal. Whatever. So I am moving my bookcase and what happens? I will tell you what happens. It fell, tipped over, right onto the front of my big screen TV. Now I would be lying if I didn't admit that for a second, I was hoping it was the end of the big screen because I would love to get a smaller screen TV for our family room. But that was like, only a split second. Because truly, it is a great TV and we can't afford to replace it right now and if we could replace it, I would like to move it to the basement. So I am pretty much bummed to see my bookcase denting the front of my TV. In fact, I am pretty sure I may have cursed. A lot. But it still works and we will deal with the scratch, green mark and slight rippling effect you now have when you watch the TV. Most of it still looks Great though so I am thinking all is well until I go to vacuum and spill an entire glass of iced tea all over the table, floor and of course, my pile of library books. I rescued the library books before the tea had a chance to get on the pages. Luckily they were hard bound books. So again, all is well in my world. But tomorrow,I am not cleaning. It just isn't worth it.

Food for thought...

2009-03-10T18:24:00.002-04:00

I haven't had much to say about the new administration. I have been trying to sit back with my mouth shut and hope and pray that the disaster, bail out plan, spending plan is actually going to work. But really, it isn't going to work. We have never been in a more dire situation than we are right now and it infuriates me. I am mad because the MSM(main stream media) refuses to report what is actually happening. They sugar coat and gloss over EVERYTHING OBAMA because they want, hope, pray, that Obama is the savior. But he is not. He is ruining this country. And if I hear one more time that he inherited this mess I think I may shoot my head off. He is an asshole. Pure and simple. Sorry Obama supporters. Those of you who thought he was going to save the nation. You banked on the wrong person and all he is doing is making matters worse. If you cant see it yet, you will soon. ANd if you dont admit it, it is because you are too proud to admit that he is a disaster. IF the tables were turned. If it were republicans pulling the shit the dems are pulling, the shit would be hitting every fan in the country. But because Obama is the "messiah" they give him a pass. Whatever. It is nuts. There is so much going on in that administration that should not be happenening that it is incredulous. I sit back on a daily basis and wonder, what the hell is happening in this country? I know most of you out there probably have no idea what is going on beyond what you hear on the MSM who by the way have an agenda so you will only see reported what they want you to see. I dare you to just put any of the stories to the republical test. If a republican was said to have evaded paying his taxes, would he still be heading the IRS? Um, no! Etc. It goes on and on. Look, I am sure there are plenty of crooked republicans out there. But that doesnt make it right to give a pass to the crooked dems. You can blame what you want on Bush, and I have plenty to say about that, but the past couple of years that he was president, the dems were in control(and that is when the economy started on its road to a shit in a hand bakset). There is very little that the president on his own can control. He needs the house, the congress, senators, etc. backing him/ Bush did not have that but Obama does. And that scares the crap out of me.

Spring Break!

2009-03-09T13:46:00.002-04:00

You wouldn't believe how good my house smells right now. I am making meatballs in the crockpot. Spaghetti night tonight, you know, our typical Monday night dinner. But wow, it smells wonderful!

I am impressing myself this first day of Spring Break because I have gotten so much accomplished today.

1. made 60 homemade meatballs. Froze half, other half cooking.
2. cleaned entire first floor including floors and laundry room and half of the garage.
3. submitted my financial aid forms for next year.

OK so I guess that is it but it did take me the better part of the day and really, that's enough isn't it? I plan to spend the rest of the day with my feet up reading. Reading a book for pleasure. Not a school book!

So menu for the week

Monday: Spaghetti and meatballs, salad
Tuesday: Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, spinach
Wednesday: meatball Hoagies, potato chips, sliced peaches(that we canned over the summer)
Thursday: pork chops, scalloped potatoes, spinach
Friday: fish sticks and oven fries for kids, adults going to traveling dinner party
Saturday: Homemade pizza
Sunday: Beef roast, mashed potatoes, corn, spinach

Monday, Monday....

2009-03-02T15:43:00.002-05:00

So it is Monday and that means menu plan Monday. I know you have been waiting with bated breath for this post. But before I get to the menu, just a little public service reminder...

If you drop shoe string potato fries into your oven. And if a bunch of them fall through the crack at the bottom of your oven to where the fire is produced. They will catch on fire and fire will shoot up through the crack and you will take pause. Yes you will. You will stand there looking at your kitchen quickly filling with smoke. You will hear your children and maybe even a neighbor kid upstairs playing. And you will ponder. Do I call the kids down and shove them outside? Do I call 911? Do I dump water on it? Is it a grease fire? You know you do not want to dump water on a grease fire because you saw that video that circulated on the Internet 2 years ago where someone dumped water on a grease fire and the grease exploded all over them. You realize this does not apply to your situation since your fire is not in a pot of grease. Does the fact that the french fries were fried in a deep fryer before you put them in the 200 degree oven(to stay warm not catch on fire) qualify them as a grease fire? No.

So if this happens to you, first turn off the oven. Second get a cup of water and throw it down the crack and onto the flames shooting out of the crack. It is probably best to not waste any time pondering all that other stuff beforehand because really, who needs their entire house smoked up smelling like burned french fries? Oh and the kids upstairs? I probably should have called them down and shoved them outside. But they smelled the burning french fries and thought it smelled good so whatever. The fire didn't get out of hand. Nothing was damaged so all is well in the world. But you never know, it could happen to you too. So I just thought I would give you a heads up. French fries are dangerous!

OK so on to the menu.

Monday: Spaghetti with Italian sausage, garlic bread & Caesar salad
Tuesday: Elk meat sloppy Joe's, oven fries(yea I know-tempting fate)
Wed: crock pot venison stroganoff, noodles, salad
Thursday: homemade pizza night
Friday: Lent- so salmon in a butter/dill sauce, mac n cheese, salad, crusty bread and herb butter
Saturday: brats with sour kraut or corn dog depending on your level of maturity, sweet beans
Sunday: I have no idea. Maybe we will go to Mom and Dads for dinner. :)

Octo Mom

2009-02-27T07:35:00.003-05:00

So, let me say that I think Octo Mom is a wack job. From what I understand, she got implanted with all 14 of her kids with no father in the picture or even a job. That right there is nuts. Who does that? But all the talk about not letting her keep the babies scares me. If they decide because her house is too small, or too messy, or she is too poor, that she can't keep the babies, where will that ultimately lead us? Will the government make a point of stepping in and taking away more kids from more families? Cause I am sure there are probably lots of L&D nurses out there that see some pretty wacked out families have babies and yes, take those same babies home with them. When we begin allowing government to make judgement calls about whether we can keep our kids based on the size of our homes, the messiness factor, etc. I think we are embarking on quite the slippery slope.

I think this story has angered many of us for many reasons. Some people are really mad because they feel she is taking advantage of the welfare system. Because clearly, she is not financially equipped to raise those kids without some sort of assistance. And I think people would probably feel differently if she didn't already have 6 kids at home and if she had a husband and if she didn't have 6 embryo's implanted at one time. Those three things really add up to people hating her. Then you add in the cost component of IVF. If you have never had to go through fertility testing or treatment, then you should consider yourself very fortunate. Not only for the obvious reason, you were able to conceive unassisted, but for the financial one.

They say IVF can cost a couple up to $15,000 per cycle. That means every month you have IVF you are paying that money. And most insurance companies do not cover the cost of infertility treatments. Which is another story all together. So how on earth did she afford to have IVF at least 6 times to result in the 14 kids? Think about that. It is an astronomical sum. Even if it was $10,000 per cycle, you are talking about $60,000. minimum. That is assuming she achieved pregnancy each cycle she tried. Which is unrealistic because it usually takes a couple tries minimum before IVF works. And if it doesn't, you are probably not infertile! In any case, how did she afford that? Rumor has it she paid for it with the Workman's comp money she received from a back injury. OK. Now I am getting even more mad. So she injured her back bad enough to warrant her no longer working and receiving in the ballpark of $160,000. but she went on to carry 14 children? In 7 years? Come on! I seriously doubt her back was injured that badly.

Then you have the doctor that did the insemination's. He was in my opinion extremely negligent. He should never have implanted that many embryos into that woman. And after having 6 kids, she should have been discouraged from even attempting more kids. Now she said the eggs were fertilized and they were her babies. I can respect that she feels that they are her babies. I would feel much the same. I am pro-life all the way so I can understand her not wanting them destroyed. But she could have DONATED them to couples who didn't work the system and get a large settlement to fund their desire to start a family.

So back to whether she should be allowed to keep the kids. While I do not agree with what she did. And I really dislike the way she treats her parents and assumes that everyone should just do whatever she wants and deal with it, I do not think the government should step in and just take the babies without solid proof that she will injure them or abuse them in some way. Not having a big house(who really does have a house big enough for 14 kids?), is not good enough.

A menu on a Monday.

2009-02-16T08:42:00.002-05:00

I have no idea what I am going to do for meals this week. I can't find my menu that I made up last week before I went grocery shopping. How pathetic is that? lol So I guess I will figure it out right now. Hmmmm...

Monday: we always have some sort of spaghetti on Monday. So....Spaghetti
Tuesday: pork roast, sour kraut, spinach, mashed potatoes
Wed: hot dogs/brats with sour kraut, sugar beans
Thursday: some sort of take out
Friday: pizza for kids-mike and I have our monthly traveling dinner party
Sat: Steak, baked potatoes, salad
Sunday: friends coming for dinner. Maybe artichoke chicken. (unless I come up with something better. Any suggestions???).

So that's about it. I have a busy week with school. My lab practical is Thursday and I am nervous. I am not sure I will ever remember all of the stuff we need to know for this exam. The histology is driving me crazy. I don't even know why I need to be able to identify the type of tissue and what it does based on a slide of the cells. Whats up with that?

Happy VD Day!

2009-02-14T16:25:00.003-05:00

So for Valentines day, we decided to do a couple of things that are special. We made pancakes this morning and cut them into heart shapes. The kids got strawberry milk too. They liked that. I also gave them each a candy heart. They loved that. For Mike, well he got a candy heart and a card. I got a homemade card which was very sweet. For dinner tonight I am making Pioneer Woman's French Onion soup. I hope it is good. That is one of my favorite soups so I am hoping we like it. I am also having cheese fondue and then hot wings and fries and for dessert, choc covered strawberries and bananas. Not the healthiest of meals but it is a holiday right? Even if it is a manufactured holiday. Hey, anything to soften the blow we Americans just go thanks to our good for nothing President and his congress/senators. By the way, did you know we are apparently rich? Um, yea. So we wont be getting that big 13.00 a week from the government. Damn. Now I don't know what I am going to do.... By the way Arlen Specter, I will NOT be voting for you ever again. you suck!

Monday and a menu plan

2009-02-09T16:05:00.002-05:00

Monday: Sour Beef and dumplings(made with venison)

Tuesday: Rosemary garlic chicken in crockpot with mashed potatoes and spinach

Wednesday: Chicken n dumplings(made with leftover chicken from previous night)

Thursday: Pulled pork sandwiches and oven fries

Friday: Make your own English Muffin pizza's

Saturday: steak and shrimp, with salad

Sunday: Swim team banquet my contribution is a veggie platter with dip.

So this Thursday is my first A&P exam and I am a bit nervous. There is just sooo much information to remember. And next week is our lab exam. So pretty much all of my time and energy is going to studying. The good news is my abnormal psych exam was last week so I am not being forced to cram for two exams in one week. Thank God!

Over the weekend Mike and I went to WVA to the cabin. We had a very relaxed weekend. No kids, just a quiet, slow paced, do what you want when you want it weekend.

A little blogevity..

2009-02-05T09:05:00.002-05:00

Blogevity(n): light frivolous blog post.

After yesterdays pity party, I thought I would lighten things up a bit.

Mensa InvitationalHere is the Washington Post's Mensa invitational - which once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition.

Here are the winners:
1. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.
2. Ignoranus (n.): A person who's both stupid and an asshole.
3. Intaxication (n.): Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.
4. Reintarnation (n.): Coming back to life as a hillbilly.
5. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.
6. Foreploy (n.): Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.
7. Giraffiti (n.): Vandalism spray-painted very,very high.
8. Sarchasm (n.): The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the Person who doesn't get it.
9. Inoculatte (v.): To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.
10. Osteopornosis (n.): A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)
11. Karmageddon (n.): It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.
12. Decafalon (n.): The gruelling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.
13. Glibido (n.): All talk and no action.
14. Dopeler effect (n.): The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
15. Arachnoleptic fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.
16. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.
17. Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating.

The Washington Post has also published the winning submissions to its yearly contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings for common words. And the winners are:
1. Coffee, n. The person upon whom one coughs.
2. Flabbergasted, adj. Appalled by discovering how much weight one has gained.
3. Abdicate, v. To give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.
4. Esplanade, v. To attempt an explanation while drunk.
5. Willy-nilly, adj. Impotent.
6. Negligent, adj. Absentmindedly answering the door when wearing only a nightgown.
7. Lymph, v. To walk with a lisp.
8. Gargoyle, n. Olive-flavored mouthwash.
9. Flatulence, n. Emergency vehicle that picks up someone who has been run over by a steamroller.
10. Balderdash, n. A rapidly receding hairline.
11. Testicle, n. A humorous question on an exam.
12. Rectitude, n. The formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.
13. Pokemon, n. A Rastafarian proctologist.
14. Oyster, n. A person who sprinkles his conversation with yiddishisms.
15. Frisbeetarianism, n. The belief that, after death, the soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.
16. Circumvent, n. An opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.

Heavy musings...

2009-02-04T07:43:00.003-05:00

I was just reading a blog I follow and Beth announced that she is having a miscarriage. This after last year losing a twin pregnancy. A commenter posted this verse.

“Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.”Psalm 55:22

And I wonder, how do you have such faith when you have been through huge loss? There is a part of me that wishes I had that kind of faith. That I could cast my cares on the Lord. I need someone to sustain me. I need to feel that someone or something is out there supporting me through my troubles and loss. But I do not feel that faith. Sure, I do believe in God. But I question that the Lord is sustaining me. I don't feel it. I just feel a lot of loss and not a lot of hope.

I pray that Beth is able to cast her cares on the Lord so she can be sustained. So she can feel loved and protected. I have faith that there is a God. I just don't think he is listening to my personal prayers.

Menu Plan Monday

2009-01-25T14:50:00.002-05:00

Typical busy week coming up. Between school and running to misc. doctor appointments, we will be quite busy. Also, this is the last week of swimming for which I am most grateful. We will have about a month before soccer starts followed closely by baseball so I am actually looking forward to a little down time in the running to activities department.

Anyway, here ya go. Our menu starting with last Friday.

Friday: pizza for kids Mike and Nicole out
Saturday: Steak, shrimp, baked potato
Sunday: bacon cheeseburgers on forman grill, oven fries
Monday: spaghetti with Italian sausage, garlic bread, fried zuccini
Tuesday: shepherds pie
Wed: pork chops, apple sauce, spinach
Thursday: chicken enchelados, red beans and rice
Friday: homemade pizza
Saturday: swim meet (championships)home made chicken nuggets and rosemary garlic oven fries
Sunday: bbq ribs, baked beans, corn bread
Monday: artichoke chicken, angel hair pasta, salad, garlic bread
Tuesday: breakfast for dinner(creamed chip beef) and eggs
Wednesday: beef burgundy
Thursday: homemade pizza
Friday: going away for anniversary kids going to mom and dads.

Everybody should have a duck

2009-01-24T12:27:00.002-05:00

Have you seen this? My cousin just sent it to me and it was great. If you need a smile, totally click play. Cause you know, I think the guy on the video is right, if more people had a duck, maybe we would all be nicer to one another. Cause you know, ducks are like the ties that bind..or something. Whatever, man, just click play. You will smile and be glad you did.

Highlight of the Inauguration

2009-01-20T19:57:00.002-05:00

This is without a doubt, the highlight of the day. Enjoy!

Just a little rambling

2009-01-18T16:33:00.007-05:00

I know I said I was going to be a better blogger. I lied. Get over it. Sorry. I am just a little bit preoccupied with school. But rest assured, I am around. Kicking still.

Sunday:
I had to go to the hell otherwise known as Wal Mart. Good grief!!! If Disney World is the happiest place on earth, no doubt Wal Mart is absolute HELL on earth. So I took the kids because Mikey and Caitey needed fabric and foam fill to make pillows in Home Ec. (or as the PC crowd calls it, Family Consumer Science). Whatever. Freaking home ec. So of course the materials are due this week and as my normal, I waited until the last possible minute to purchase it. Then I made the mistake of going to Wally World for it. What was I thinking? I think the average IQ there today was around 64. Really. Just walking among half the patrons of that store is enough to make me want to end it all now.

After Wal Mart we spent the day studying(me) or watching football (Mike).

Monday:

MLK day. Kids off school. Nuf said. OK, maybe not. I am not a fan of kids off school days. I think they should have school every day. Nah, just kidding. I am OK with them having off school once in awhile but just not when I want to be home alone so I can study in peace.

Speaking of kids off school. How many schools are off tomorrow because of the inauguration? My mother was telling me that Baltimore city schools are closed tomorrow. I think that is a really asinine thing to do. Close schools for that? Have they ever closed schools in the past for an inauguration? Should schools have special luncheons to celebrate? NO! A resounding no. It is a huge waste of money and time and further more, again I ask, when did they ever call school for an inauguration in the past? When? Can you imagine if the McCain would have gotten in? Do you think they would be calling school for it? Having luncheons at school? I don't think so. Now come on, I get it. Black Americans in particular are proud of Obama. They are happy to finally have one of their own in the white house. That is fine. But I think all of the coverage, the parties, the pomp and circumstance that has already taken place is going way over the top. You couldn't pay me to be at that inauguration. And even though my school is also having a "party" with free lunch to celebrate, I will be missing that as well. Not that I am worried, I am sure I will see it replayed ad nauseam over the next few ~~days months~~ years.

OK, so on to
Menu Plan Monday!

Monday: spaghetti and meatballs
Tuesday: beef roast, mashed potatoes, spinach
Wed: Shepherds pie
Thur: hot beef sandwiches, oven fries
Fri: pizza for kids (Mike and I are going out)
Sat: Pizza?

Menu Plan Monday!

2009-01-12T12:42:00.003-05:00

It's been awhile my dear love, but here you go. Go forth and procreate-meals. Delicious meals to nourish your family. Or something like that. Whatever, here is my menu for the week including yesterday.

Sunday: Grilled chicken breasts(on foreman grill marinated in tastefully simple bayou bourbon glaze).
Monday: Spaghetti and meatballs, salad, bruscetta
Tuesday: crock pot chicken, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, green beans
Wed: Homemade chicken soup using leftover chicken from previous day, baked bread
Thursday: Crock pot beef(venison) stroganoff-first day of school-ick
Friday: homemade pizza
Saturday: cheeseburgers, oven fries
Sunday: Artichoke chicken, bruscetta, angel hair pasta, spinach(having company for dinner)

Keep scrolling down to see what we did over the holidays in the much awaited debut new year post. Whatever, if you want, keep reading.

Loser!

2009-01-12T10:46:00.012-05:00

I realize that I have not been posting ~~much~~ at all lately. I am sorry. I have tried, really I have but for some reason pictures have not posted and words have not flowed and well, I guess I was taking a little bloggy vacation. But I am back. For the time being anyway. I start back to school on Thursday and I am NOT looking forward to it at all. It will be a be-yach of a semester. OK, so for your entertainment, here are a few pictures from Christmas. They are not great, I was on a photography holiday as well. Sue me. But you get the general idea.

The first picture above, is after Santa arrived.
Waiting to come down to open presents. They were having fits because we make them wait until we get our coffee made, turn on the lights etc. And we pad a few extra minutes just to make them wiggle. It's fun.

Action shots, not my forte.
Mmmm...Hollister. Love it.
Don't shoot your eye out!(name that movie)

I stayed inside out of firing range when these three chuckle-heads went out to shoot their Red Ryder BB guns.

We spent a lot of time resting..Caitlyn is good at resting. Must be a teenager thing.

And wrestling with cousins.....Brooks and Seth
And looking like a princess....Love you Lucy!
Some of us watched way too much football. Not me because I hate football.
There was lots of giggling going on among some of my nieces. Jessica, Sydney and Mackenzie.
Some of us got a little too wild. Like my SIL Cindy. Kids, don't try this at home.Love ya Cin!
And some of the SIL's were just lovey dovey with one another. Love you Kitty and Patty!
Some little nephews had huge shit eating grins much like Nates..
We played with new toys...
Some of which we had to build first.
Somebody was hitting the spiked eggnog.
Yikes! I need a haircut!
Deep in thought...Mikey, my baby. He is 15 now. sniff sniff....
Happy Birthday Mikey! (we were actually singing to him for his birthday. Not sure why the photographer cut out the cake-we should fire that person).
Oh! There you go. As you can see, I was NOT the photographer.
We spent HOURS Literally putting together stuff. Like this star wars lego set that took like, I don't know, 5 hours? I look fabulous in my pajamas don't I? My butt hurt like you wouldn't believe after spending all that time sitting on a hard wooden bench. Yikes!
A proud moment, the ship has been launched.
We celebrated Mikes birthday as well. Aren't the decorations lovely?
So proud of our handiwork. We surprised mike with a dollar store birthday party. Everything, including his gifts came to a total of $10.00! Are you impressed? I am!

The end.

Shake rattle and roll....

2008-12-27T09:31:00.002-05:00

Not really but we had an earthquake here last night(or early this morning). It was a 3.3 magnitude. Now for many of you in CA this is not a big deal but for us, it was huge. We live in South Central PA.We were standing in our bedroom and the entire house shook and rumbled. And it did seem to go on for a long time. Longer than a shake made from say, teenagers wrestling in the living room. (which is what we thought it was). So pretty crazy huh?

Anyway, we are still in the middle of Christmas parties and visiting so this weekend will be a busy one for us. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and enjoy your weekend.

Merry Christmas Eve!!!

2008-12-24T09:09:00.002-05:00

It's Christmas Eve!!! I have a couple of errands to run and woke up with freezing rain and icy streets. Figures right? But it will all be OK. We plan to spend a quiet evening with the kids tonight. Planning to have their favorite finger foods for dinner and hopefully they will go to bed and actually fall asleep within a reasonable amount of time so we can play Santa.

I hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas and a new year full of good health, happiness, love, joy, and everything your heart desires. Many of us will be traveling over the holidays and I pray for your safety as you travel. My niece had this video on her facebook page and all though my children are all past the car seat stage, I know many of yours are not. Please take a minute to watch the video because it could save the life of someone special in your life.

Just for Leeann

2008-12-22T09:03:00.003-05:00

Since Leeann was nice enough to drive me crazy with the hamster song(keep reading to post below this one) I thought I would repay her by posting this one.(you have to watch the first 3 minutes before you get to the song) This is the other song that my kids tortured me with this weekend while I was held captive in their rooms cleaning and sorting and throwing out a ton of crap.

Crazy dreams and a menu

2008-12-22T08:13:00.004-05:00

My friend Kathy keeps emailing me to tell me all about these crazy dreams she has been having about me lately. They are very strange dreams that make no sense to her or me. So in response, I have been having some crazy dreams of my own the last couple of nights. They are very strange and wake me up several times through the night. I cant actually remember anything of them except that our cat apparently was sick in one of them and shrunk down to the size of that darned hamster here

(which thanks to Leeann, I can't get out of my head).

Monday: Cheeseburgers, fries
Tuesday: Spaghetti, meat sauce
Wed:Shrimp, crab melt aways,potato skins, veggies and dip(Christmas eve finger food)
Thursday: Christmas day-we will be going to Baltimore
Friday: leftovers
Saturday: going to a wedding
Sunday: Party in Baltimore(husbands side of the family)

Christmas Cookie Palooza

2008-12-18T16:22:00.006-05:00

Last weekend the kids and I made some Oatmeal raisin cookies, chocolate chip cookies,butter spritz cookies and ginger molasses cookies. Well, all of the oatmeal raisin cookies are gone, half the chocolate chip cookies are gone and the ginger molasses cookies are still around.- but, they liked them it is just that we have a lot and they pigged out on oatmeal raisin. So the problem is, I am assigned the task of bringing cookies to my parents on Christmas day and now there are not enough cookies left so today, I baked. I baked, and baked, and baked. All. Day. Long. But I am done! We have cookies!

First let me again say that I made butter spritz cookies over the weekend and they are cute and little bits of buttery goodness.

I also made these ginger molasses cookies. They are yummy if you like spicy cookies. We apparently do.

Today I made your typical toll house chocolate chip cookies-about 5,963 of them.

Then I made Pioneer Woman's chocolate candy cane cookies. I saved the dipping candy coating part until the kids got home from school and Brooks helped me. He enjoyed decorating and eating them. I thought the chocolate cookie tasted OK. Not great but not bad at all. Just sort of bland.(I think I may have mentioned that I like spicy cookies). But the candy cane crunchies were a nice surprise.

I also made more (crazy) oatmeal raisin cookies. This is the recipe I used. It is pretty much your typical oatmeal raisin recipe with the addition of ginger to the dough. Yum! Spicy! See? I told you.. I also reduced the amount of white sugar to 1/3 cup instead of the 1/2 cup and I added some craisins just to be crazy.Crazy oatmeal raisin!

Next I made snow balls which are kind of a pain in the ass but they are delicious and look good on a cookie platter.

Next I made something completely new Honey Peanut butter cookies. ( saw the movie The Secret Life of Bees over the weekend and it got me thinking honey..) I liked them. I added some chocolate chips to some of them and it was a good addition. I also put less sugar in and more peanut butter because I tend to like my cookies less sweet and when you are putting 1 cup of honey in I don't think you really need a full cup of sugar too. Right? RIGHT? Oh and instead of white sugar, I used brown sugar. I don't know why. I just felt like it. Rebel? Maybe...

So, I think that is it? I usually make sugar cookies because the kids like cutting them out but I don't think I will this year. We have a boat load of cookies and really, we don't need any more.

So what kind of cookies did you make this year?

Menu Plan Monday

2008-12-15T16:33:00.002-05:00

Monday: Sweet Italian sausage with sauce and pasta

Tuesday: homemade chicken nuggets with seasoned potatoes

Wednesday: Roast beef, cole slaw

Thursday: Hot beef sandwiches, fries

Friday: Dinner with friends (kids get pizza)

Saturday: Breakfast for dinner(french toast or creamed chip beef)

Sunday: crock pot chicken, potatoes, spinach

The Secret Life Of Bees

2008-12-14T18:40:00.002-05:00

We went to the movies this afternoon and saw The Secret Life of Bees. It was really good. I think a great family movie that will most certainly open the lines of communication among the members of your family who are not growing up during a time when such extreme and repulsive racism exists. I would suggest you all go see it or rent it when it comes out. It was really good.

Holiday Eating Tips

2008-12-12T07:00:00.004-05:00

This list found its way ino my email box and it was too good not to share!
These tips will enhance your holiday!

Holiday Eating Tips

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holidaybuffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you seecarrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving chips & dip.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can and quickly. You can'tfind it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that ithas 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turninto an "eggnog-aholic" or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it!!!! Haveone for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the wholepoint of gravy. Gravy does not stand-alone. Pour it on. Make a volcanoout of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano.Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made withskim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's likebuying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effortto control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party isto eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello???

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between nowand New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else todo. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling thebuffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat ofeggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffettable, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa,position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you canbefore becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pairof shoes. If you leave them be hind, you're never going to see themagain.

8. Same for pies. Apple, pumpkin and sweet potato - have aslice of each. Or, if you don't like apple, have two sweet potatoes andone pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more thanone dessert? Labor Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded withthe mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean,have some standards.

10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention.

Reread tips: Start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner.

Remember this motto to live by: "Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive andwell preserved body. But rather to skid in sideways,
chocolate in hand,body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO-HOO what aride!"

Almost there

2008-12-11T17:04:00.003-05:00

Finals are finally over. Thank you lord! And I am almost finished shopping. I have just a couple more things to pick up and of course I still need the ingredients for holiday baking and a few special things we like to make around the holidays. Santa shop at school is finished. I just dont know what I will do with all of this free time? Oh wait, I guess I will be wrapping the gifts, shopping for special items for baking and such and cleaning. Yea, sad to say I never got around to going through the kids rooms this year. I have done that every year for, well, as long as I can remember. I go through their rooms, change their clothes over and purge the toys, etc. that they have outgrown. But I have not done it yet this year so that is what is on the agenda for next week. Hopefully I will get it all done before the new year!

How many days until Christmas?

2008-12-08T12:02:00.003-05:00

Am I the only one feeling like this month is just flying by? Holy crap! Just 16 days until Christmas! That is just a little bit more than two weeks! Are you ready? I am kind of ready. The halls are decked and most of my shopping is done. I need to do some baking and wrapping sill but for the most part I am feeling pretty confident I will have it all done in time, without feeling like I am in the middle of a hurry up frenzy.

So, on to more important stuff...

Menu Plan Monday! Exciting right?

Monday: Chicken parm
Tuesday: hot dogs, mac and cheese, sugar beans
Wed: chicken tacos, red beans and rice
Thursday: meat loaf, mashed potatoes
friday: homemade pizza
Saturday: tomato soup and grilled cheese
Sunday: Who the heck knows?

Whatever you like...

2008-12-04T21:26:00.004-05:00

OK, I have to admit I like this song. Granted, I only like the censored version. The uncensored version is crazy nuts. But I like Weird Al's version 1000% more. I mean, who doesn't like weird Al? Check it out.

Worth a second or third or fourth look...

2008-12-02T08:19:00.003-05:00

I swiped this from Lori at the Simple Life at Home. She is awesome and you should definitely check her blog out. This video is very touching and definitely something I needed to be reminded of. To stop ignoring others in need. To really look at them and remember that they are our brothers and sisters and we should be there for them just as Jesus would be. When we ignore those in need, we are turning our backs on Jesus. Really. I needed this reminder. Too often this time of year especially, we are too wrapped up in how to obtain stuff for our loved ones while walking right by people in genuine need. Or even just walking by someone ringing a bell outside of a store. I am going to try to shift my focus a little bit more to how I can help others.I am not sure exactly in what capacity I will do this or how well I will do at it, but that is my goal. I suppose an early new years resolution.

Menu plan Monday

2008-12-01T20:17:00.003-05:00

You know how the days before Thanksgiving, all you can think about is turkey, and stuffing, and pumpkin pie? And then the day arrives and you pig out on all of the above? Then even though you totally pigged out, you still think about and yea, go ahead and indulge in a nice yummy turkey sandwich or three over the next couple of days? Oh and dont forget all the leftover pie, you cant let that go to waste. Well before you know it, it is five days after Thanksgiving and you have eaten turkey in some form or another just about every meal since Thursday? And, and, you are sick of turkey? And you wonder how in the world that happened? Well, yea, that is pretty much how my family is feeling right now. In fact, they were pretty ticked off when I put hot turkey sandwiches and french fries on the table for dinner. So, even though we still have turkey left, there will be no more hot turkey in the menu for a few weeks. I cant guarantee there wont be cold turkey on the menu though. You know, nothing like a yummy turkey sandwich on white bread with mayo. Yum!

But before I get to the menu, I will share that I took the kids to the movies today. They were off school today because hello, first day of hunting season and of course school closes for that! Anyway, Brooks was at a friends house so he missed out but I took Caitey and her friend and Mikey. Caitey of course wanted to see......you guessed it, Twilight. Mikey wanted nothing to do with that so he and I saw Four Christmases. It was OK. Pretty funny most of the time but nothing to write home about. The girls enjoyed Twilight. I guess all in all a nice day off. OK, onto the menu.
Monday: Hot turkey sandwiches, fries
Tuesday: French toast, bacon,eggs
Wed: roast beef, cole slaw, mashed potatoes
Thursday: chicken tacos, red beans and rice
Friday: homemade pizza
Saturday: manwich, fries
Sunday: oven fried chicken, spinach, potatoes

Oh Oprah, how you disappoint...

2008-11-26T17:24:00.002-05:00

I am not a huge Oprah fan anymore. Sure, my Tivo still records every show. This is primarily so that if something or someone truly special is on the show, I can watch it. More often than not it is just deleted unwatched. But I do occasionally tune in. Normally, Oprah's favorite things show would be one of those times when I would tune in. Not because I think Oprah is so smart or more cutting edge than the rest of us. No, I like to watch it because I love to see the audience acting like freaking idiots over the freebies she gives out. It is fun and exciting, and heck, I would love to be one of those people in the audience on that fave things show. Who wouldn't? Well that is until today. Today was a huge disappointment. All of us are capable of wracking our brains, researching, and searching out cheap things we can give to others that will be special for the recipient. But Oprah, honey, we look forward to your higher priced options. Not because we can afford all of them, but because maybe we can afford one or two things on your list. If I was in your audience I would have been really bummed. Come on, you can do better than this. The least you could have done is given everyone a Kindle. Really. The economy is your reason for this? Buying all those items for your audience and then endorsing them would actually serve as a boost to the economy. The way I see it, you owe us. You are hurting the economy.

Six secrets/six tags...

2008-11-19T20:15:00.002-05:00

Gina tagged me and this meme is all about secrets. Actually, it is six secrets. I am supposed to divulge six secrets about myself then tag six people to do the same. Anyway, I figured what the heck? Actually though, I think this may be more difficult than it looks because I am not sure there are many secrets about myself that most everyone or at least someone who reads my blog doesn't already know about me. But I will give it a shot!

1. I take a bubble bath in my great big jacuzzi tub almost every night. I am sure I am using up way more than my share of the worlds water and my carbon footprint is probably huge, but I don't care. It is what keeps me grounded. And really, really clean.

2. I would like to have another baby or adopt one in the near future.

3. Tonight when I made dinner, I substituted beef with venison. What they don't know wont hurt them. All though in all honesty, I am the only one that really cares. They all like venison!

4. My room is a mess. There are two baskets of clean clothes that need to be put away, it has not been dusted in two weeks and there is a bin with summer clothes still sitting in the corner next to the treadmill which has clothes that need to be hung up in the closet. hanging on it. A mess.

5. I love a quickie!

6. Reading fiction is my favorite activity to just relax and chill out. It is an escape.

So I know I am supposed to tag 6 people but instead, I am going to allow you dear reader to decide if you want to participate or not. No pressure!

Just who are those Obama voters?

2008-11-18T13:25:00.004-05:00

For those of you who like me, were wondering just how on earth Obama actually managed to get elected, this may shed some light on it for you. I can't say that I am surprised.

Granted this is not a scientific poll but apparently Zogby also ran the same questions via telephone poll and got the same results. Which just goes to show you that Obama voters are painfully ignorant.

Zogby Poll
512 Obama Voters 11/13/08-11/15/08 MOE +/- 4.4 points
97.1% High School Graduate or higher, 55% College Graduates
Results to 12 simple Multiple Choice Questions
57.4% could NOT correctly say which party controls congress (50/50 shot just by guessing)
81.8% could NOT correctly say Joe Biden quit a previous campaign because of plagiarism (25% chance by guessing)
82.6% could NOT correctly say that Barack Obama won his first election by getting opponents kicked off the ballot (25% chance by guessing)
88.4% could NOT correctly say that Obama said his policies would likely bankrupt the coal industry and make energy rates skyrocket (25% chance by guessing)
56.1% could NOT correctly say Obama started his political career at the home of two former members of the Weather Underground (25% chance by guessing).
And yet.....
Only 13.7% failed to identify Sarah Palin as the person on which their party spent $150,000 in clothes
Only 6.2% failed to identify Palin as the one with a pregnant teenage daughter
And 86.9 % thought that Palin said that she could see Russia from her "house," even though that was Tina Fey who said that!!
Only 2.4% got at least 11 correct.
Only .5% got all of them correct. (And we "gave" one answer that was technically not Palin, but actually Tina Fey)
For further information on this project, or to schedule an interview with the producer, please e-mail us at: questions@howobamgotelected.com

Menu Plan Monday!

2008-11-17T12:23:00.003-05:00

Here we go again. Another week. This week is the book fair at school, which I run, so I will be crazy busy this week. Hopefully I will still be able to stick with the menu plan since ultimately that really does help keep me organized.

Monday: Ravioli lasagna, caesar salad, garlic bread
Tuesday: stuffed pork chops, spinach, potatoes
Wednesday: chicken salad sandwiches, homemade chicken soup from freezer
Thursday: leftovers
Friday: Dinner with friends-kids eat pizza
Saturday: family game night so we are having kid fun food, potato skins, chicken nuggets etc.
Sunday: pork roast with sour kraut, mashed potatoes, spinach
Monday: spaghetti with meat sauce, salad
Tuesday: pork fried rice(using left over pork roast), mini egg rolls
Wednesday: BBQ sandwiches, oven fries
Thursday: Thanksgiving!(going to moms house)
Friday: Black Friday (mike and I are going out)
Saturday: Turkey dinner at our house(because Mike likes the leftovers)
Sunday: turkey leftovers

The morgue, Danny Devito, T-bagging and more

2008-11-13T09:13:00.005-05:00

I admit, this is going to be one of my more senseless posts, but I am writing it anyway cause I am bored and you probably are as well if you are sitting there reading this. So my question for you is, what are you watching on television these days?

Now I know many of you will say you don't watch TV because you are way too busy to do anything as mind numbing and senseless as watching TV. But I say you are lying! Yes, that is right. I know you are secretly watching the good ole boob tube. So watcha watching? What is the dumbest, most senseless, mind numbing show you just have to tune into every week?

For me it is It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. That show is so freaking funny, I about crack a rib every week when I watch it. It is so sick that the parental controls on my TV actually request the code more than once during the program. It is also the most politically incorrect show ever created. If you thought Archie Bunker was bad, try watching a show where they routinely break all of the rules.

I cant actually say what happened on the show this week, but hunting humans, the morgue, t-bagging, homeless people, cannibals, Rambo, raccoons, monkeys, and a hot plate all came into play. Just let your imagination go and try to wrap your brain around all of that. Oh and Danny Devito. Come on, how can you resist anything that Danny Devito is in?

The List

2008-11-10T20:58:00.004-05:00

This is a pretty cool meme that I got from Leeann and Gina. Looked like fun so I thought I would play along.

Bold or color the things you have already done.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
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(rode along with my sister when she was hit by a car)
47. Had your portrait painted(does a caricature count?)
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
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. Gotten 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 on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person(I flew over it)
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. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (Lobster, crabs, etc.)
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous.
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
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

How about you? How many have you completed?

What a week!

2008-11-09T22:25:00.002-05:00

OK, so needless to say, I am quite disappointed by the results of the election. That said, I am hoping and praying that I was completely wrong and that Obama is not actually going to be the ruination of our country. I really do hope I am wrong and that his plan to "change" the country actually turns out to be the kind of "change" I want. Not very hopeful but bottom line is he is our president elect and unless I want to move out of the country, I may as well get on board and support him. Or try to. Anyhoe, time will tell...OK so lets move on, shall we?

Between kids and school and well, life, things have been a little bit crazy around here. But I think we are over the hump and things will get better. My goal is once again to try to get a little more organized. In an effort to be more organized, we spent a couple of hours today cleaning out and inventorying our freezers. I have a boat load of meat and frozen veggies in there so I plan to try to eat out of the freezer for a few weeks at least. I also want to make some soup because it is getting cold again and nothing is better than a steaming hot bowl of homemade soup when it is cold out. So there you have it!

So on to my menu for the week.

Monday: spaghetti, meat sauce, garlic bread
Tuesday: Breaksfast for dinner-french toast, bacon, eggs
Wed: tuna casserole
Thursday: meat loaf, mashed potatoes
Friday: homemade pizza
Saturday: pork chops, scalloped potatoes
Sunday: Moms house

Who are you Obama?

2008-10-29T22:12:00.001-04:00

This is a great video that really does say it all.

Are you ready?

2008-10-29T13:01:00.003-04:00

With only 6 days left to go before we vote, thngs are not looking great for McCain. Which has me worried, very very worried. Honestly, I have no idea why anyone would choose to vote for Obama. I mean, really. All you have to do is a little bit of research and you will see how scary a choice he truly is. And I know, you say you watch the news and watch the View and you feel informed. Well, if your watching network news, reading liberal newspapers and watching shows like Saturday Night Live or The View for your news, you are not informed. You are brainwashed. That said, just read the following article. It pretty handily sums up Obamas socialist plans and why they wont work.

Defining Problems With Socialism For The Post-Cold War Generation
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY Posted Monday, October 27, 2008 4:20 PM PT
Election '08: John McCain has finally called Barack Obama's agenda by its proper name. But if he assumes voters understand what he means when he uses the word "socialism," he assumes too much.
IBD Series: The Audacity Of Socialism
To slap a label on it isn't enough. Sadly, most people under 60 in this country went to schools and universities where socialism isn't considered a bad thing.
McCain has to educate them about what socialists believe and how they want to rebuild "the world as it should be," as Obama quotes his socialist hero, Saul Alinsky.
In this final week of the campaign, McCain should draw contrasts between socialism and capitalism and free enterprise. He should also explain in detail what economic freedoms are at risk if liberal socialists get their way in reshaping the country from both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.
McCain has smartly seized on Obama's revealing side-comment to Joe the Plumber about his plan to "spread the wealth around." The GOP hopeful says it smacks of socialism, and he's right. But socialist sympathizers in the punditry have pooh-poohed his sound bites as passe or even racist.
Newsweek's Jonathan Alter, for example, argued that socialism no longer has the evil connotation it had during the Cold War, when the right used it to bludgeon the left. Kansas City Star columnist Lewis Diuguid, meanwhile, dismissed the "socialist" label as merely a "code word for black."
Many economists would equate what Obama has in mind with socialism. Among them is the late F.A. Hayek, a one-time socialist, who wrote a book on the dangers of socialism titled "The Road to Serfdom." When it debuted in the final days of WWII, socialism unambiguously meant the state control of the means of production and central economic planning.
But decades later, in a new preface, the Nobel Prize winner wrote that "socialism has come to mean chiefly the extensive redistribution of incomes through taxation and the institutions of the welfare state." Yes, that's Obama's economic plan.
He concluded that even this softer socialism means reduced economic liberties, opportunities and living standards for all.
According to Marxist theory, socialism is the stage between capitalism and communism where private wealth is distributed for the benefit of all. It's a romantic notion because hardly anyone is willing to share their wealth with strangers.
So to get from theory to practice, force must be used. Wealth must be taken by the state — and not by a faceless bureaucratic machine, but rather by flawed humans with their own selfish ambitions and ulterior motives. They decide who gets what, taking cuts for themselves and their cronies in the process.
Think ex-Fannie Mae CEO Franklin Raines and ACORN.
Socialism is centralized power. That's why socialist movements, which often begin as cults of personality, usually end in fascism. Witness Stalinism, Maoism, Castroism — and, yes, Nazism, which, as Hayek noted, stands for "National Socialism."
Again, almost every major society that started with socialism has ended badly. Socialism has been refuted repeatedly, yet that hasn't stopped neo-Marxists — hiding now behind the title "community organizer" — from dreaming their dreams of collective sacrifice for collective good.
They see capitalism with its profit motive as vulgar and immoral because it's at odds with altruism — the idea that the general welfare of society is the proper goal of individuals.
What they fail to realize is society is the greatest beneficiary of our system of rational self-interest. The poorest of the poor and the laziest of the lazy still benefit from the genius of the entrepreneur and the risk-taking of the venture capitalist.
Almost every modern-day invention, from lifesaving drugs to computer software, was inspired by profit, not public welfare. Yet everyone shares in the greater efficiencies, cost savings, life expectancies and job opportunities created by the inspiration and perspiration of money-hungry individuals.
No system in history has created more wealth, per capita, over a shorter time than unbridled American capitalism.
In fact, America has led what economist Angus Maddison calls the "capitalist epoch" — a 17-decade period in which workers saw their hours cut in half and life expectancy doubled. In a seminal study last decade, Maddison calculated the aggregate output and population growth in the U.S. and 15 other advanced capitalist nations since 1820. He found a 14-fold explosion in combined per capita product, dwarfing the living standards of communist and other nations.
Ignoring this history, the left uses the current financial crisis to redefine capitalism as "dangerous" to the welfare of mankind, and to justify greater government economic controls.
"Market capitalism is a dangerous tool, like a machine gun or a chainsaw or a nuclear reactor," former Clinton budget chief Alice Rivlin last week told Democratic Rep. Barney Frank's finance committee. And she's a moderate in her party.
The left wrongly asserts that unregulated capitalism caused the financial crisis; in fact, government overregulation of banks distorted market incentives and corrupted capitalism.
Wielding a socialist-inspired cudgel called the Community Reinvestment Act, government forced banks to make loans to uncreditworthy minorities who couldn't repay them.
It didn't matter that banks weren't racist. The assumption was they might be, and it was government's role to enforce "fairness." The same assumptions are made about the rich.
"The problems of poverty and racism, the uninsured and the unemployed are . . . rooted in societal indifference and individual callousness — the desire among those at the top of the social ladder to maintain their wealth and status whatever the cost," Obama wrote in his 2006 autobiography. "Solving these problems will require changes in government policy."
In other words, people get rich on the backs of the poor, even take from the poor. It's therefore up to the state to take from the rich and give to the poor. In a feudal or colonial society, such a sentiment might be noble. But capitalism is a system in which one person lives well and another person lives better.
The idea that whole classes of people are exploited or oppressed in this country is a figment of the left's class-obsessed imagination. And it's refuted by Federal Reserve data showing constant income mobility even between the lowest and highest quintiles. Policy shouldn't be built on such fantasy.
Still, Obama insists that spreading the wealth is "good for everybody." But as the rich shelter capital or reduce their work to avoid higher taxes, all Obama will end up "spreading" is poverty and all he'd redistribute is more power to Washington.
He argues that raising taxes is not socialism, and he's right: By itself, it is not. But it is socialism when the motive is "for purposes of fairness," as Obama explains it, which is simply class-warfare jargon for punishing the rich.
"Was John McCain a socialist when he opposed the Bush tax cuts?" Obama asks. No, McCain wanted spending cuts first. His motive was fiscal restraint, not restraint on society's most productive members. Obama further argues that redistributing wealth to the needy is better than redistributing it to greedy bankers as the Bush administration has done. Actually, both policies are wrong, since both favor groups over individuals.
Obama denies having socialist designs. But it's no coincidence he virtually always votes with socialist pal Bernie Sanders, as the two most liberal members of the Senate.
Nor is it a coincidence that nearly all of Obama's mentors and close advisers supported Marxism, including: James Cone, Dwight Hopkins, Jeremiah Wright, Frank Marshall Davis, Jim Wallis, John McKnight, Cornel West and William Ayers.
It's also no coincidence that Obama devoted his first memoir to the memory of his late father, a communist, who proposed massive taxes and redistribution of income in Kenya.
"What is more important is to find means by which we can redistribute our economic gains to the benefit of all," wrote Barack Hussein Obama Sr., a Harvard-educated economist, in a 1965 policy paper. "This is the government's obligation."
Make no mistake: Sen. Obama isn't a liberal in the tradition of Jimmy Carter or John Kerry. He envisions a bloodless socialism, where IRS agents take wealth and where the Justice Department dictates contracts between labor and management.
But while force isn't used for murder, it's force nonetheless. And it does violence to the American promise of a right to pursue your own life, your own riches and your own happiness without government interference. America promises a chance at success, yet Obama and other neo-Marxists twist that to mean America guarantees success through equal outcomes, and that it's government's role to do the equalizing.
"What would help minority workers," Obama wrote in 2006, "are tax laws that restore some balance to the distribution of the nation's wealth."
"It may sound noble to say, 'Damn economics, let us build up a decent world,' but it is, in fact, merely irresponsible," Hayek wrote. "Our only chance of building a decent world is that we can continue to improve the general level of wealth."
If Obama wins, he can claim a national mandate for his socialist agenda. If he gets a filibuster-proof majority of Democrats in the Senate, he might get major planks in that radical agenda passed in the first 100 days. It's shaping up as a battle between those who create wealth and those who loot it.

Menu plan Monday and a contest

2008-10-27T21:39:00.005-04:00

This fab family is having a terrific fundraiser with great prizes. Just check out her site. They are trying to raise funds to bring their son Owen home from China. So go to her site, enter and help them out in the process. And hey, if you win, share the love OK?

OK, so on to My menu. It is not very exciting but whatev.

Monday: crock pot chicken, garlic mashed potatoes, corn

Tuesday: spaghetti and italian sausage

Wed: chicken fajitas, red beans and rice

Thursday: cheeseburgers, oven fries

Friday: Halloween party at our house so all kinds of goodies!

Saturday: Halloween party at a friends house!

Sunday: Road trip to Baltimore so dinner at Moms.

Aunt Jane

2008-10-22T07:50:00.003-04:00

My aunt passed away last night. She was recently diagnosed with colon cancer. She had surgery but never really recovered from the surgery. I have to hope she is in a better place now.

In some ways she had a pretty sweet life. Never had to work. Never had to worry about money, a roof over her head, etc. But in other ways, her life was somewhat rough. She was retarded. Born premature she received too much oxygen and it rendered her brain damaged. Or that is the theory. So she stopped developing intellectually at around age 12. Maybe a little younger. Part of her knew that she was different. I think that is the saddest thing of all. When a person is retarded and they don't realize they are different, they just lead this happy go lucky life. But when they are intellectually there enough to know that they are retarded, they always have that hanging over their head. Jane knew she was different. It frustrated her. So in that respect, she had a rough life.

I just hope that now she is with her parents in heaven and as Mike said, her heaven is probably just like Disney World (a place she was looking forward to visiting again this spring). At Disney she would ride the boat across from Ft. Wilderness to the Magic Kingdom All - Day - Long . She never tired of it and she would talk to everyone she met. She loved everything Disney. In fact, last Christmas I gave her a toaster. It was a Disney toaster. The toast would cook and Mickey Mouse would be cooked onto the toast and when the toast popped up, it would play that song from the Mickey Mouse Club. "Who's the leader of the club that's made for you and me. M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E". Anyway, I think that toaster may have been her prized possession. My mother told me one day she was at the doctors and she told the doctor or a nurse that she has a toaster and it talks to her. My mother said they were like, O.....K..... They must have thought she was a nut job. But her toaster really did talk to her!

Jane could be quite frustrating at times. Much like your average 12 year old. But she had a heart of gold. She loved her nieces and nephews and she crocheted every single one of us blankets. They were often crazy blankets. Too long and skinny, crazy colors, etc. But they keep us warm and we loved her for them.

Another hobby of Jane's was taking pictures. She captured all of us over the years. Many times completely off center or minus the tops of our heads. But she got pictures at times when no one else was taking them. So we are grateful for those pictures she snapped through the years.

A couple of years ago she met a man at an adult daycare place she was going to. We did not care for that guy too much. He was, well he was just weird. But Jane loved him and we knew it was good for her to have someone like him in her life. They would spend lots of time together. They had a standing date every weekend at the Baltimore Harbor where they would "greet" the tourist. I am thinking they may have scared some tourist away. But she loved people and loved talking to them. I have no doubt she is probably in heaven taking a boat back and forth between the pearly gates and the check-in point for newcomers. And she will be there greeting all of us when we get to heaven.

We will miss you Jane but we will see you again. Love you!

Menu Plan Monday...a day late. Sue me

2008-10-21T15:54:00.003-04:00

OK, so I have not been blogging lately. Too much going on. Sick relatives, kids, school, midterms. It is all a little too much. I can't guarantee I will be any better in the future but oh well. Here is my menu a day late.

Monday: Spaghetti with sausage
Tuesday: Beef tips, mashed potatoes, corn
Wed: chicken in crock pot, beans, mashed potatoes or cous cous
Thursday: hot dogs, homemade mac and cheese and sugar beans
Friday: homemade pizza-cheese and pepperoni for kids, veggie for me and everything for mike
Saturday: steak, shrimp, baked potatoes, peas
Sunday: artichoke chicken, angel hair pasta, spinach (also this is Brooks 10th birthday so cake too)!

Menu Plan Monday

2008-10-05T18:09:00.002-04:00

Here we go again. This week is going to be a b----h. I have midterms this week and well, lets just say I am not happy about it. Math just sucks. I just do not get it. I am awe of people who actually get math. Why can't I remember this crap? Why do the formulas not stick in my mind? OK, so we have determined that I am math deficient. Whatever.... But that does mean that meals this week are subject to change and are going to be, well, easy. Quick. Maybe even a little bit boring. What can I say? It is what it is...

Monday: Spaghetti and Italian sausage
Tuesday: manwich, oven fries
Wed: crock pot chicken, potatoes, beans
Thursday: potatoes and kelbasa
Friday: homemade pizza
Saturday: steak and shrimp (held over from last week) (again)
Sunday: going to a crab feast

Today I had a Tastefully Simple party. It was lots of fun. If you want to order anything, feel free to follow this link to place an order. It will be delivered right to you and I will get credit. Hey, pretty good right? Anyway, lots of good stuff so if you are a Tastefully Simple lover, check out their new Fall line of products. They are delish!

https://pomm.tastefullysimple.com/pomm/loginhost.aspx?pxid=167104&key=962436eb-22c0-4f18-8d99-0ca57913d84f

Menu Plan Monday!

2008-09-29T08:00:00.001-04:00

Woo hoo! I am actually managing to post this on a Monday. I think I deserve a prize for that. Or a pat on the back. Or a virtual high five. Or something... Anyway, here ya have it.

Monday: Balsamic chicken and cous cous (held over from last week)

Tuesday: hot dogs, mac and cheese, sugar beans

Wed: pork chops, apple sauce, green beans, potatoes

Thursday: chicken cacciatore in crock pot, salad

Friday: homemade pizza

Saturday: steak, shrimp, salad, baked potatoes(held over from last week)

Sunday: Tastefully simple party so some sort of chicken in the crock pot. Not sure what yet.

Water

2008-09-25T21:33:00.001-04:00

Check out this video. It is an amazing fountain in Japan that is a referred to as a smart fountain. I would have to say I agree. Check it out, it is way cool!

Menu Plan Monday....er Tuesday...

2008-09-23T11:42:00.004-04:00

Once again I neglected to post this on a Monday but oh well. What the heck. Better late than never.

Monday: Homemade spaghetti and meatballs (prepared in crock pot) and zucchini
Tuesday: Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, green beans
Wed: Pioneer woman enchiladas and red beans and rice
Thursday: pretzel sandwiches from school fundraiser, soup
Friday: homemade pizza
Saturday: steak n shrimp, baked potatoes and salad
Sunday: balsamic chicken, cous cous, spinach

Letter to Barbara Walters

2008-09-17T08:15:00.002-04:00

Dear Barbara,

I am so very disappointed with you, Barbara, for your recent behavior on the view. In particular, the way you hammered on John McCain as if you absolutely HATE him. What is up with that? You are supposed to be a seasoned, professional journalist. Not another Joy. I mean, from people like Joy and Rosie, we expect this sort of unprofessional behavior but from you? I will not be watching the View any more. I really think you all need to take a step back and reevaluate how you are acting. Whether you are for McCain or not, you are not supposed to be so unprofessional that you treat him with such disdain. I can only imagine the uproar that would be caused if you would have treated Obama that way. Which, of course you did not. You all practically got down on your hands and knees in praise of him. And by the way, I thought Elisabeth as usual showed great professionalism as did Sherri. You could learn a thing or two from them.

If you missed the View that day (lucky you), here is the segment I am referring to.

Now whether you like McCain or not, you have to admit they were pretty unprofessional. Barbara couldn't even bring herself to LOOK at him!

Ok, so in contrast, here is how Obama was treated on the View. Intersting isn't it?

I seriously doubt that I will get a response from anyone at the View, but if I do, I will be sure to post it here.

Menu Plan Monday!

2008-09-14T20:52:00.004-04:00

I know, I know...It has been awhile since I posted my menu. Not because I have not been making a menu. Yea, I have to make one or else I totally will end up serving hot dogs every night or will order out. Seriously. I have to have a menu to stay on track. But lately it has been just boring. Well, it is always somewhat boring. I am quite frankly, sick of cooking, sick of planning meals. In fact, nothing really tastes very good to me. But of course I still manage to eat just fine thankyouverymuch. So anyway, here ya go. In all its glory!

Monday: Crock pot chicken, corn, potatoes, green beans

Tuesday: chicken soup(from leftover chicken) and grilled cheese (unless it is freaking hot, then, I don't know)

Wednesday: Breakfast for dinner-french toast, bacon-peaches

Thursday: teriyaki chicken, rice, salad

Friday: homemade pizza

Heard around the dinner table...

2008-09-13T18:11:00.004-04:00

OK, so we are eating a nice dinner. Just Mike and I and the boys. Caitey is at a friends. Lucky her. So we are watching the National Geographic channel about time travel. Nice and educational so we allowed them to keep the TV on while eating. So, the nice educational show about time travel ends and some show called Taboo comes on. The show today(this is the first time I have actually watched this) was about strange food people eat. So what is the strangest food you can imagine eating? Well, imagine you are in China, (I know, those Chinese eat anything) What would be the strangest thing you could imagine to eat? If you said cat, well you would be wrong. No, these crazy Chinese eat none other than penis! Yes, penis. Dog, sheep, even, well, I don't even want to think about all the different penises they were serving up(none human thank you very much!) but they did show how they skin them and burn the hair off. Eek!

So you are wondering what was said while watching this? Well, I will tell you. My son asks,in all seriousness, "I wonder in what part of the world they eat vagina's?" Ack! lol

Yup, dinner at the Rogers. Always interesting conversation.

How many books have you read?

2008-09-13T08:28:00.002-04:00

Found this awesome meme on Growing Up Mo

How many have you read?? I have read 42 and tried a couple more but couldn't get into them.

Apparently, the National Endowment for the Arts believes that the average American has read only 6 of the books on the list below. I find that hard to believe!

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.

2) Italicize those you intend to read.

3) Underline (or mark in a different color) the books you LOVE

4) Reprint this list in your blog so we can try and track down these people who’ve read 6 and force books upon them

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien -I tried to like this book but couldn't finish it.

3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

4. Harry Potter series-I read the first two and lost interest after that.

5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

6 The Bible

7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell

9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman

10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott

12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy

13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller

14 Complete Works of Shakespeare

15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier

16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien

17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger

19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger-I have this one in my pile of to be read books.

20 Middlemarch - George Eliot

21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell

22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald

23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens

24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy

25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams-another book in my pile to be read

26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh

27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck

29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens

33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis

34 Emma - Jane Austen

35 Persuasion - Jane Austen

36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis

37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres

39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden

40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne

41 Animal Farm - George Orwell

42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown

43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

44 A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving

45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins

46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery

47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy

48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood

49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding

50 Atonement - Ian McEwan

51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel

52 Dune - Frank Herbert-I may have read this but cant remember...

53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons

54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen

55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth

56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens

58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon

60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck

62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov

63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt

64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas

66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac

67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy

68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding

69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie

70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville

71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens

72 Dracula - Bram Stoker

73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett

74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson

75 Ulysses - James Joyce

76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath

77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome

78 Germinal - Emile Zola

79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray

80 Possession - AS Byatt

81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell

83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker

84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert

86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry

87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White

88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom

89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

90 The Faraway Tree Collection

91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery

93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks

94 Watership Down - Richard Adams

95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute

97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas

98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare

99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl

100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Give a little, get a lot

2008-09-12T06:34:00.001-04:00

It is interesting how a little idea can grow into something really huge. It is also wonderful how a small donation, can change or even save a life. Check out this group. It is really something else and it is a place where you can truly make a difference. And the best part is, it wont hurt a bit. Just cut out those expensive starbucks this month. That's it. Easy!

I am happy to say my kids have all decided that since they don't have September birthday's, we will just take $33.00 that we would have spent on their gift, and donate it instead. I think they came up with a pretty great idea.

The September Campaign Trailer - www.borninseptember.org from charity: water on Vimeo.

Remembering...

2008-09-11T10:42:00.005-04:00

Remembering what happened on 9/11/2001 is not something any of us really wants to do. It is way too sad and terrifying to think about for long. But remember we should because it happened once, it could happen again. Luckily we live in a place that takes these threats seriously and we have armed forces, police and firemen; friends and neighbors, sons and daughters, who are willing to lay down their lives to protect us and our families. So lets not forget what happened those short years ago and let us remember to thank the soldiers and public servants who risk their lives for ours, on a daily basis.

A good day

2008-09-10T21:17:00.006-04:00

Yesterday, my family and I had the great fortune to attend the McCain-Palin meeting in Lancaster, PA. I was very happy to have been able to snag tickets, especially after I got there and saw hundreds?? of people standing in line hoping that they would be able to get in

(they were not lucky enough to get tickets). It was standing room only, which pretty much sucked as we were standing for hours, squashed together like sardines. Think mosh pit without the music. But it was all worth it in the end.

We were a few people back from the front and we were positioned front and center of the podium. So we had a great spot. But Brooks being short, couldn't see a thing. So I told him to just crawl between people's legs until he got to the front. Because he is so little, he wasn't blocking anyones view and a nice lady took him under her wing and let him stand in front of her. Which was wonderful because he was able to not only shake the hands of John McCain, Sarah Palin and Todd Palin, he also got his picture taken by a photographer and Sarah told him he was a little sweetheart. Which was very sweet of her.

The meeting itself was more of a rally so it was not exactly what I was expecting(it was supposed to be a Town Hall Meeting which is much better) but it was still exciting and great to hear them in person once again.

OK so I am not going to expound on the message of the meeting, you all have heard it before. Nah, I am going to keep it light.

First, Sarah Palin is beautiful. I thought she was attractive on TV but in person, she is a real knock out.

Todd on the other hand is a hottie. Really. She is very lucky to have such a handsome man by her side.

John, well lets face it, he is an older man and I wouldn't necessarily say he was hot anymore, very distinguished maybe, but not a hottie. I do however, think looking at the pictures of his youth, that he was a very handsome man.

I was incredibly impressed by the fact that John McCain reached back 4 or 5 people deep to make some sort of contact with people in the crowd. Now for anyone, that is a very nice thing. And I have no doubt that all politicians would try to do the same thing. But the fact that he can not lift his arms up easily makes me wonder if all of that reaching into the crowd with crazy people grabbing at him, isn't somewhat painful. Or at the very least a little bit scary. But he did his best to make eye contact with everyone and show his appreciation for their support.

After the meeting/rally, the kids were full of excitement over the experience and they were quite thrilled to be able to say that they have met George W. Bush, John McCain and Sarah Palin. Pretty cool!

Oh and we were also interviewed by a reporter for Fox Philadelphia. If you fast forward to the end, you will see yours truly.

Here are a few pictures Brooks took.

Brooks self portrait.

Pride

2008-09-02T07:41:00.003-04:00

I have not kept secret the fact that I am a conservative and that I am a McCain/Palin supporter. In fact, it is no secret that I really do not care for Obama at all. Well, maybe I think he is a smart guy. And I agree that he is probably a good person that wants his view of what is best for the country. I also know that many people are supporting him simply because he is a democrat-because many people will not cross party lines, no matter what. I have in the past so I do not fall in that category-I know, hard to believe. I also believe that many are voting for him simply because he is black. I mean, I heard one poll was that he has like 90 something approval ratings from black Americans. So that right there must tell you they are voting for him because he is black.

Yesterday, I worked for a friend. It was at a community fair for Labor Day. They have a concession trailer and I often help out. At this fair, which was held in the city, there were a lot of Oboma supporters. In fact, they were there registering voters. One thing that struck me as I observed them is they are proud. They gladly put Obama stickers on their toddlers t-shirts. I saw that they were happy. They were excited. And that, believe it or not, made me happy for them. I really am glad to see that black Americans have a black man running for president. It is a huge thing for them. They have a really good, positive role model, that isn't a sports hero, for their children to look up to. So it made me really happy to see so much excitement about this election. So many people handing out stickers and fliers to support their man. Now don't misunderstand, I still do not feel he is the best man for the job, I wont be crossing party lines for this election. But I am happy that we can say that there really is no racism in this country. Sure you have your pockets of idiots but if a black man can be nominated to hold the highest office in the country (world), then how can it be said that white Americans are racist?

Michael Moore...A freaking idiot

2008-08-30T09:26:00.004-04:00

Just when I thought there was no way Michael Moore could top himself in the stupid comment category, he went and did it anyway! I mean, what is wrong with this guy? He has got to be about the stupidest person on earth. Plus, lets face it, he is just gross. Here is what he recently had to say....

“I was just thinking, this Gustav is proof that there is a God in heaven,” Moore said, laughing. “To have it planned at the same time – that it would actually be on its way to New Orleans for day one of the Republican Convention, up in the Twin Cities – at the top of the Mississippi River.”

Whatever! Read it for yourself. I am sure all of the people running for their lives trying to get away from Gustav really appreciate his wit. Not!
http://http//www.businessandmedia.org/articles/2008/20080830000004.aspx

Yes!

2008-08-29T12:33:00.002-04:00

I am so so so happy right now! Never did I imagine in my wildest dreams that John McCain would pick Sarah Palin as a running mate but he did and wow! What a great choice. I just can't even express what this means to me as a woman and what it will ultimately mean for our country. These are two of the most moral and upstanding individuals to lead our country. Hang on to your hats people, we are about to embark on the ride of our lives!

It's that time again...

2008-08-20T09:23:00.003-04:00

Yup, it is that time again, the beginning of a new school year. Now if I were a normal parent, or at least one with half a brain, I would be rejoicing about the fact that my kids are about to go off to school which would leave me with a lot of free time and peace and quiet. But nope, I chose to drop out of college and get a job and ultimately married. Shortly after marrying, I started breeding and well, that leads to now. Now I am the mother to three kids and a college student. This leads to some issues that complicate my life. For one thing, unless you are on welfare, college is damn expensive. So not only are we forking out thousands a year for kids activities, clothes and well, food, we are also paying for my education. If I had half a brain, I would have "let" my parents pay for it. Another complication is time. I just do not have any real free time anymore. School takes way too much effort and energy. Oh I know, it will be worth it in the end *sure, then I get to go to WORK!* Yea, totally worth it. But the pay check will be good especially since it will come just when my oldest are ready to start college. So yea, I need to do this but man, it is really a bitch. Especially the math. I am just math retarded. I don't know why, mental block? But I just can not seem to get algebra. I thought last year I had taken my last algebra class but no, I am now required to take Algebra 103 which totally sucks. My prof told us yesterday that if you received a c in the previous algebra class, only 8% of those people taking this class will pass. SO, since I was GRATEFUL for the C I got in the last class I guess I will be rejoicing to even pass this one. Grrr!!!! If anyone has any helpful suggestions for doing better or even just understanding algebra, I would love to hear from you. I have a feeling I may be taking this class again in the Spring. Which will NOT make me very happy.

Oh! And I almost forgot, I am also on a diet! I mean, I am freaking starving myself (not really but since I am not eating any junk food AT ALL, I feel like I am starving). Now don't you feel sorry for me? I know I do.

Getting with it

2008-08-14T10:01:00.004-04:00

People, I am so out of shape! I mean, seriously. I really need to get my act together. Mike finally bought that treadmill that he wanted. It was $1999.00 reduced to $949.00. So he got it and I plan to walk on it as well but when we were looking at treadmills, I kind of fell in like (not love because hello, it is still exercise) with a recumbent bike. So after debating it, researching them, etc. I decided to bite the bullet and buy one(it was only $179.00 and I had a $20.00 off coupon so really $159.00). I got it last night and after almost 2 hours spent putting the damn thing together, I went to bed. Ha! You thought I was going to say I took it for a spin right? Really, you don't know me at all. Anyway, I did take it for a stationary spin today and my lord! It is not so easy. After the first mile I thought I was going to die so I decided to stop there lol. I am letting my muscles recover and then I will try again. Maybe not going uphill this time. I am thinking I should start out a little slower. But it felt good and my butt did not hurt at all. So my goal is to either walk or ride at least 30 minutes 5 days a week and hopefully work up to an hour 3-5 days a week. I read that if you ride for 1 hour you can burn 1000 calories. That is pretty darn good. Plus it said that the recumbent bike works the same muscles as if you were doing squats so heck, that is a very good thing without the knee stress. So what do you do for exercise?

Superstar!~

2008-08-12T14:50:00.003-04:00

So I know I told you I was busy watching the Olympics this week, and I am. But I did take a little break today to go see John McCain in York, Pa. Now I have to admit he was not my first choice to represent the party, but my opinions about him have changed. He really is someone to be proud of. The sacrifice he made for our country is well, amazing. I also realized today that he is damned funny. I mean, really funny. It was a pleasure to be there and be able to listen to him speak and listen as he answered audience questions in a thoughtful and engaging manner. I would encourage everyone to give him a chance and really listen to what he has to say. He seems to be very sincere and really, his experience speaks volumes to me. So I am quite glad I chose to leave my Olympics for a few hours and got to meet, in person, and shake his hand, the future President of the United States. That is why I am.....A....Superstar!(at least in my own mind) Amen.

Forgive me?

2008-08-10T20:58:00.003-04:00

Forgive me for not being around much. I am very busy. Very busy indeed with......The Olympics! I totally love the summer games so I will be busy with gymnastics, and swimming, and soccer, and well, just about everything. So catch you later alligator.

Monday Monday........

2008-07-28T07:32:00.002-04:00

It is Monday and we are home. All of our travelling is for the most part, over for this summer. And while I had a great time on vacation, there is always some sort of relief to be had to have it over with. Anyone else feel that way? I mean, all of the saving and planning and packing and driving and stressing about everything sort of puts a slight damper on your vacation. And we were lucky. We didn't forget anything important, we had enough money, everyone stayed safe and no one was sick and the weather was great; so really we were very lucky. But there is still something to be said with being home. So home is where we are. I plan to spend the next few weeks alternating between relaxing by the pool, preparing for my classes to start, reading trashy novels, organizing stuff around the house, sleeping a little later, maybe painting mine and Brooks bedroom, staying up a little later, canning some fresh peaches, etc.... The list could go on and on but you get the picture. I don't want to be a complete sloth so I am going to try to mix some productive stuff in with my relaxing. Oh, and I almost forgot, I also want to start working out again. So there ya have it!

On to Menu Plan Monday....

Guess it is time to get back to a schedule of some sort for meals.

Monday: Spaghetti with meat sauce, zucchini or salad
Tuesday: Pork chops, scalloped potatoes, apple sauce, spinach
Wed: Roast beef, slaw, mashed potatoes
Thursday: manwhich, oven fries
Friday: homemade pizza
Saturday: BBQ chicken, corn on cob, spinach salad
Sunday: leftovers

Alive!

2008-07-22T18:58:00.004-04:00

Yea, I am still alive and kicking. We just got back from a 2 week trip to Chincoteague Va which is absolutely one of the most glorious places on earth. Or at least on the East coast. We spend just about every single day at the beach. The waves were huge and actually, a little scary at times, but the weather couldn't be any better. Sunny and warm every day. When we weren't on the beach, we were on the boat or exploring Assateague Island clamming, fishing and crabbing. Lets just say we had our fill of seafood and well, the sea. No, that isn't actually true, I could have stayed there another few weeks, or days at least.

Got home on Monday and spend the day doing laundry. Camping with 6 people for 2 weeks generates a boat load of dirty clothes. Brooks and Caitey went to North Carolina to visit their cousins for the week so I just have Mikey here. He is a huge help and managed to get the Denali cleaned out(a boat load of sand) and cut the grass. So I rewarded him with a movie. We saw the Happening which was OK.

Today we went to a local farm market Roots, where I bought some fresh produce including some delicious blueberries which I used to make jam. I never made blueberry jam before and it turned out really well. I was a little worried because I cut the sugar in half but it all set up well and is definitely sweet enough.

Tomorrow I am getting a hair cut and packing for a weekend trip to North Carolina to pick up the kids.

Here are some pics of our vacation. Enjoy!

Brooks looking like Mr. Sunshine...

Not the best picture of Mikey but at least he is looking at the camera. It's the little things that excite me....Mr. Sunshine and his cousin. He was not happy about stopping to get a picture taken. Brat!

Can you believe we let all of the kids get on this? It went upside down and was one of those rides where when it was over, I was actually relived that they made it through alive. Wouldn't you know that as soon as it was over the little buggers ran right back on? Brats! After about 3 or 4 consecutive rides, they were all feeling a little sick so we called it a day.

Caitey looking all beachy and pretty with her tan.

Menu Plan Monday

2008-07-07T11:17:00.003-04:00

Ok, I realize it has been awhile since I last posted. I was just really busy with Caitey going to Creation, planning a dinner party with friends, going to a crazy hill billy 4th of July party, then going to a somewhat more normal 4th of July party, going boating, swimming, eating and drinking way too much food/alcohol and working. Oh and we are getting ready to go away for a couple of weeks so I am planning, packing, shopping, etc. for all of that. So yea, crazy stuff going on around here but it is all par for the course. Summertime.

This week I am going to try to keep things simple since I am packing for our trip. We leave on Thursday and I am actually planning meals for this week but aso the following 10 days while we are away camping. Anyway, here it is, our menu for the next few days. I doubt I will be updating much before we leave but there are some fun pics I need to share. Just need to get around to it. which could be a problem. So maybe I will update and maybe you will just have to wait. All three of you. lol

Monday: spaghetti with meat sauce and fried zuccini
Tuesday: Whole roasted beer up the butt chicken, salad, corn
Wed: BBQ sausage and potatoes
Thursday: steak, potatoes, corn
Friday: BBQ chicken, salad
Saturday: manwich sandwiches, potato chips
Sunday: sausage and peppers
Monday: Pizza
Tuesday: pork tenderloin, potatoes, mixed grilled veggies
Wed: chicken and pasta salad
Thursday: eat out at boarwalk in OC
Friday: seafood
Saturday: leftovers, soft crab sandwiches, oysters etc.(at carnival)
Sunday: on way home probably mcdonalds

Menu Plan Monday....er...Tuesday!

2008-06-24T08:50:00.002-04:00

Sorry, the time is just slip sliding away from me and I forgot to post this yesterday. Oh well, better late than never...

Monday: Your Sticking What Up My Butt?!? chicken, corn on cob, brucsetta
Tuesday: Chicken tetrazzini using leftover chicken, salad
Wed: Mexican casserole
Thursday: Homemade pizza
Friday: Dinner party at my house. Luau theme so beef and chicken kabobs
Saturday: 4th of July party so I will bring a salad of some sort
Sunday: I have no idea. Leftovers probably...

Kids say the darndest things.....

2008-06-19T13:46:00.003-04:00

Setting: Brooks and I are watching television

Commercial comes on about KY Yours and Mine gel.

In this commercial, we get to see a frantic couple run to their bedroom each with their gel in hand, jump in bed and make some remark about hurrying before the kids get home.

Then it goes to them in the rumpled bed and you hear a door slam and a kid call out for her parents. Then they say something about how great the gel is.

Honestly, I was barely paying attention. Apparently though, Brooks was paying attention. He is 9. Here is our conversation after viewing that commercial.

Brooks: Commercials these days are getting sick.

Me: What? Huh?(like I said, I was barely watching the TV)

Brooks: That is sick. Those two people...I don't know...making out. When I was a kid, the only commercials you saw are like, Barney. Not that junk! That is sick.(shakes head)

Me: What? Huh? lol

I am still stuck on the "when I was a kid" comment. What is 9 these days? lol

Pretty smart kid. I think maybe we need to have that "talk". Apparently he knows a little more than I thought. Kids! Geesh.

The power of prayer

2008-06-18T22:53:00.002-04:00

If you have any doubt at all about the power of hope, faith, love, and prayer, take a look at this video. It is truly remarkable and a true testament that miracles do happen.

Kelsey...the miracle baby

What we did for Fathers day...

2008-06-17T18:56:00.007-04:00

OK, so I missed my Menu Plan Monday post. Don't worry, you aren't missing anything exciting. I don't feel much like cooking this week so I am not. Last night we had hot dogs. Or I should say the kids had hot dogs. I went out to eat with some friends and Mike made himself some chinese. Tonight I did make chicken parm and zuccini. Not sure what we will have the rest of the week. Just winging it. Hey, it's summer! I dont have to adhere to a strict schedule or menu.

Back to fathers day. We had a great day at my parents house. Here is what we did.

We spent the day on the boat. It was a glorious day. Not too hot, not too sunny. Just right. Here is my mom. She is beautiful. I can't tell you how old she is, but you wouldn't believe me anyway.

Caitey, my beautiful girl.

Here is a pic of me(my back to you) and then going clockwise, my brother, Caitey, Mike, and my SIL. Can you tell we were very relaxed out there?This is my older brother.Brooks with a chocolate chip cookie. Home made of course. and yes, he and his cousin did jump into the water, cookies in hand and ate them while swimming. All I can say is boys, what can you do?

Brooks and his cousin looking all cool. His cousin has a Raiders of the Lost Arc hat. He wears it all the time but was nice enough to lend it to Brooks. And Brooks was all sorts of cool in it.

Dont you agree? Just look at this cutie!

Then, after we came off of the boat, we enjoyed some of these....Yes, that is the baby with a crab. Look, if they can sit up in a chair, they can pick their own damn crabs! OK, so maybe we help them a little bit...Here is my dad.And here is my brother with his sweet baby.

So, there you have it. A wonderful Fathers Day.

Day. Two.

2008-06-10T17:22:00.003-04:00

For the love of all that is holy, someone please, please pray for my children. Pray that they stop fighting. Pray that they suddenly decide that they love one another. Pray that they realize that I am actually a pretty cool mother who doesn't demand *that* much from them. Because seriously folks, I am going to lose it. It is day two. DAY.TWO. of their summer vacation and all they have done all day long is fight with one another. Primarily the older two but Brooks can add to the mix quite well even if he isn't the primary offender. I do realize it is about a bazillion degrees outside. And it didn't help that we had to run some errands today on top of all three of them having dentist appointments. But seriously folks, is it too much to ask for a 13 and 14 year old to sit in a waiting room and NOT fight with one another? Or not knock on the heating vent for 19 minutes straight just to piss their mother off? Not to mention the other poor people in the waiting room. So I am thinking, who can I farm a few kids off to? If anyone out there wants to save a mothers sanity, not to mention a few gray hairs, drop me a line. I need a break. And it is only DAY. TWO!!!

Menu Plan Monday!

2008-06-09T09:40:00.003-04:00

It is now officially the first day of summer vacation and I think our menu will probably be very much more relaxed and easy. It is summer after all.

Monday: fried zuccini with sauce and pasta
Tuesday: teryaki chicken, corn on cob, spinach salad
Wed: grilled hot dogs, beans, apple sauce
Thursday: homemade pizza
Friday: steak, baked potato, salad
Saturday: Cook out at Denise's house!
Sunday: boating at mom and dads

Keep reading for another post about our weekend camping trip.

Holy Cappicolli Batman, it's hot enough to fry an egg out there!

2008-06-09T07:51:00.006-04:00

I have no idea where that came from. Excuse my momentary weirdness lapse. It wont happen again. Who am I kidding, it will most definitely happen again. But just not until Wed. Or Thursday, or tomorrow. Whatever.

It is a freaking oven! I know I have been praying for hot weather but this is almost too much. Actually, I really dont mind it all that much. My clothes dry on the line in like 19 minutes and I have the perfect excuse to do nothing but hang out around the pool sipping iced tea (or beer). That is what summer is all about, right?

Thursday we had our huge end of school year swim party. I spent the last few weeks planning it and it was awesome. We had about 350 people attend and with the exception of one child getting hurt and another getting rescued, fun was had by all! Here is a picture of Brooks. He stopped just long enough for me to snap this picture.

Friday the kids had a half day of school and as soon as they got home, we left for a weekend camping trip. It was a much needed break and celebration of the end of the school year and the frenzy of activities that led up to that last week of school. And it was hot! But the heat was OK because we were camping along a mountain creek with lots of shade. But it was stuffy and hot and a little bit buggy. But we still had a great time. The creek had just the right amount of water flowing with tiny little rapids. So the kids had their dollar store inner tubes and they would sit in them and float down the creek, going over a couple of small "water falls". Eventually they would get out and walk back up and start over again. They reported that they saw crayfish and five snakes and they witnessed one snake eating a fish and that it was "so cool"!

Here you see one of the "water falls". As you can tell, the water was pretty calm and shallow. So perfect for the kids. We felt very secure with them floating down there about 500 yards and then walking back up. It is nice having kids old enough that you don't feel you need to be tethered to them anymore. Even Molly our cockapoo had a blast in the creek. She would play fetch for hours. I am serious, literally hours! She even dove down under the water for the ball. Mike said that he was ready to rescue her at one point because she was down under the water for over 30 seconds. But it felt like minutes and he was afraid she was drowning. But nope, she was just fine. Hey, she wanted her ball and she was going to get it!

Ladeeda.............Just floating along....................Whoah baby! Look out for those rapids! Hang on!!!
OK, last picture. This is me doing what I did whenever I wasn't cooking for 5 kids or cleaning up after 5 kids. Sitting in my chair, relaxing. Ahhh! Wait, where is my beer? Oh, never mind, I found it.

A contest!

2008-06-06T06:52:00.001-04:00

My good friend Gina is having a contest. And believe me when I say it is not just an ordinary everyday contest. No siree, it is a fantabulous, miss it and your a dork, contest. So mosey on over here, and check it out. Plus, while your there, take a minute, grab a cup of coffee and take a look around. Gina is an awesome writer and you will enjoy your stay.

Menu Plan Monday, etc.

2008-06-01T22:35:00.002-04:00

Another busy week but I am starting to see the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.

This week is the kids last week of school. Which I usually am really excited about. This year however, I am a little bummed about it. I am not ready for them to be home all day long every day for the next couple of months. It isn't as if I don't love them, or even enjoy their company. No, the problem is they are little pains in the asses lately. Well, actually, Brooks is still fairly decent but the other two, TEENAGERS, they are a royal pain in the ass! They pretty much fight constantly. So I am not really looking forward to that.

Anyway, this week Mike is going to Vegas for *work*. Um, ok. Whatever. lol I have field day on Monday and a volunteer luncheon. Tuesday I think I am free. Wed. is the end of year swim party and picnic and I have a lot of running around and setting up and cleaning up, etc. for that. But it is a fun day so I am looking forward to it. Assuming of course it doesn't rain. Which it probably will. Usually does every year. The rain date is Thursday. If we have to have it on Thursday, I will have a problem because Brooks has try outs for the travel soccer team. Sigh. Then Friday we are leaving for a camping weekend. SO I need to shop and pack for that.

Needless to say, I will be busy this week. And since Mike wont be here, we are eating easy easy meals.

Monday: Spaghetti and zucchini
Tuesday: probably leftover spaghetti and a salad
Wed: picnic-hamburgers and hot dogs
Thursday: Chicken and salad
Friday: camping so burgers and potato salad
Saturday: teryaki chicken or pork, corn and potatoes
Sunday: mountain pies(pizza, tuna melts, etc.)

Have a great week everyone!

How does your garden grow?

2008-05-28T14:31:00.002-04:00

Well mine is planted, whether it will actually grow or not is another post for another day. But it is all planted and that is a big move in the right direction.

I planted tomatoes, cucumbers, red bell peppers, jalepeno peppers, green bell peppers, butter squash, zuccini and cherry tomatoes. Basically all the stuff that I like to eat. I also planted a container herb garden with oregeno, basil, chives, rosemary, thyme and catnip. Gotta look out for the kitties too.

Along with the gardens, I added quite a lot of plants to my flower beds. In fact, I am out of space so I think I would like to make some more flower bed space. I may not actually get to it this year but there is a lot of space that could look a lot better if I put some flower beds and a few shrubs. I just need to come up with a plan.

So, that's about it around here. Hope your enjoying your outdoor space!

Memorial Day and a menu

2008-05-26T15:47:00.006-04:00

Happy Memorial Day everyone! We are spending a relaxed day at home. Well, somewhat relaxed. We finished opening the pool, spent some time planting flowers in flower pots, and the big job, dug out my vegetable garden. This is huge because I really wanted to change the spot I have my garden in. The past few years it was just not in a great place because it did not get enough sun. So I wanted to move it. However, Mike just isn't into it. So I started digging the new one out myself and he came and helped finish it. It is not finished, just the sod is off and now I need to get out there and properly turn it over, add some soil and then plants. I am excited though because I love being able to go outside and pick tomatoes and peppers and zuccini's, etc. I don't plant a ton. Just the stuff that I really love. Plus, I can get a lot of veggies fairly cheap from local farmers. But there is nothing like growing your own veggies. Hopefully I can get the plants tomorrow and then get them all in the ground in the next couple of days. Wed it is actually supposed to be 67 and sunny so that sounds like perfect gardening weather. I also need to plant my herb garden which I am going to do entirely in containers this year. So yea, I know I am getting a late start but hopefully since I will buy mature plants, everything will grow OK.

Yesterday we went to my parents house and the kids and Mike went out on the boat.

So that's about it around here. The kids only have 9 days left of school so my plan is to try to get as much done around here while they are in school, as possible. Well, I have to do that and also we are going camping the day they get out of school and Mike will be out of town the last week of school. Which means I get to do Everything alone. Hmm. Great fun. lol

On to.......

Monday: Boneless chicken marinated in Italian and Teryaki grilled, German potato salad and brownies for dessert.

Tuesday: Cheeseburgers, leftover potato salad

Wed: Veal parmesan, salad, zuccini

Thursday: Beef tips in crock pot, mashed garlic potatoes

Friday: homemade pizza

Guess what I got?

2008-05-21T17:11:00.002-04:00

I haven't actually been able to use it yet though because our power supply died and Nintendo is sending a new one. But I have high hopes for this little baby! Hopefully with a little effort and some fun, I can whip this fat butt into shape.

Menu Plan Monday

2008-05-19T09:21:00.003-04:00

Monday: Spaghetti w/meat sauce, salad
Tuesday: chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, beans
Wednesday: spinach stuffed chicken breasts, rice
Thursday: stuffed pork chops, mashed potatoes, spinach, apple sauce
Friday: homemade pizza
Saturday: grilled steaks, baked potato, salad, corn on cob
Sunday: cheeseburgers, oven fries

Hola!

2008-05-18T21:48:00.003-04:00

Brooks and his teacher, Mr. Duggan. He absolutely loves his teacher this year. We are going to miss him! Well, hopefully we will keep in touch but we really wanted him to just move to 4th grade next year and keep the same kids. Yea, that sounds like a plan!

This past week was, well, crazy. First of all, did I mention I am a PTO officer for my kids PTO? Yea, I am. I have a few more weeks until I am cut free! Yea baby! My term as El Presidento is over in about 3 more weeks (give or take). Don't get me wrong, it's been fun but come on, three years is enough. Time to move on and let another sucka take over.(just kidding! Sort of...) So, I am working on transition and it isn't going as smoothly as I thought it would but I have faith that it will all work out in the end.

Anyway, last week the book fair at school. I love book fair. It is fun. The kids are excited and come on, books! What more could you ask for? So we had an ice cream social on Tuesday and book fair the rest of the week and then on Thursday I was chaperone on my sons field trip.( See pic above of Brooks and his most favorite teacher ever). Which was fun! We went to visit some caverns(not caves) there is a difference ya know. Closed the book fair up on Friday and on Saturday, went to youngest sons baseball game and then to his violin concert.(so cute). Then we took him out to dinner because honestly, the only reason he took violin this year was because I made him. And I made him because I made the other kids do it. And I have video of them and I wanted video of him. Does that make me a bad parent? I think not! lol It was really cute and you know what? He kind of liked it. He was the only boy at our school in beginning strings but once he got to the district concert, he realized that there were many other boys, some of whom are on his baseball and soccer teams. So it was all OK.

Before the concert I asked him where he was standing on the stage. I asked him to imagine I am looking at him. What side should I sit on, to see him? He said sit on the left. I am on the floor in the front row (he is really small). So we sat on the left. Our left. Well, he was on the right. Our right (his left). So we couldn't see him. AT ALL! Well, I saw his head but that's about it. Typical right? Grrr!!! Anyway, it was nice hearing the kids and well, I videoed Brooks after we got home. He doesn't want me to put it on here but I probably will anyway.

Today (Sunday) we just sort of hung around all day. Caitey had a youth group thing to go to so I took her and a friend and stopped at the grocery store and video store. We had chicken purchased pre-cooked from the grocery store. That's about it. Really, quite a relaxing weekend(despite the fact that Brooks had to change in the van for his concert between baseball and violin) lol.

The kids school year is winding down. This week I need to wrap a few things up with PTO and some more planning for our end of school year picnic. I also want to plant some more flowers and buy some fish for my container garden. That's it from here!

Mikey is a man...

2008-05-12T10:30:00.003-04:00

Well, of course he considers himself a man or at the very least grown up. Of course at 14 he isn't actually grown up or a man yet; young man for sure but full grown man? Well, maybe in size....Anyway, Saturday, Mikey became a man in the eyes of the church. He was confirmed. It was a beautiful ceremony. I looked over at him as he was returning to his seat and the huge smile on his face...Well, many may think it was brought on intense spiritual growth or sense of well being. I know that it was most likely brought on out of relief. Relief because he was very nervous about that day, about saying the wrong thing or messing up in some way. The relief was also brought on because he is finally finished with Sunday School. Sunday school in the catholic church is, well it is boring. Sad but true. It is like regular school complete with homework and tests. So the fact that he has been going to school 5 days a week for the past 9 years and also Sunday School for the past 9 years (he started in kindergarten), well I can certainly understand why he would be relieved it is over. I do think though that he is proud of himself. Proud that he worked hard and has now graduated to a new phase as a Catholic. We are very proud of him. He may not be a man yet, but he is growing into a very fine young man. We love him very much.

Happy Birthday!

2008-05-11T07:04:00.005-04:00

Today is Caitlyn's 13th birthday. I can't believe 13 years have gone by with this child. It seems only yesterday that we brought her home from the hospital. I vividly remember bringing her home, introducing Mikey to his new baby sister. It was a warm and sunny May afternoon. Mothers Day. My mom was at the house with Mikey when we got home and she had cooked us dinner and had lilacs in vases around the house. It smelled so good. I remember bringing Caitlyn outside in the back yard and we pushed Mikey on his airplane swing that was hanging from our magnolia tree. We had caitlyn in her seat on top of the table. We were so filled with joy and hope for her future. For our future together as a family. I remember feeling such a connection to my daughter. Like she was a part of this private club; this girls only organization.

Thirteen years later we are still filled with joy and hope. Caitlyn has developed into this fantastic young lady. She works really hard in school and she gets great grades. She has a huge heart and a love for animals and children. She is also so funny. She cracks me up on a daily basis. Of course it's not all perfect. She is a complete air head as well. But we even love that part of her. And we especially love that she is able to laugh at herself. We couldn't ask for a better daughter. She is everything I ever hoped for and I love her. So Happy Birthday Caitey!

School's Out For The Summer!

2008-05-08T19:18:00.002-04:00

Woohoo! I am done! Yea baby, I am off for the summer. No more homework, no more books, no more teachers dirty looks!

OK, just had to get that out.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming. Have a nice day.

Menu Plan Monday

2008-05-05T21:20:00.003-04:00

Blah blah blah.......

I don't have time to cook anything fabulous this week. I am way too busy.

Tonight we had soccer and scouts, tomorrow miraculously enough we have nothing. But I do have to go to school and I have to study for finals. Wednesday we have a baseball game and a PTO meeting. I am president so I should probably go...Which is a dilemma since I have yet to figure out how to be in two places at one time. Thursday is finals day. Yuck! But yea because then I will be free for the summer! Can you say yahoo? Yes? Well I say it louder. Yahoo!!! I also have a parent teacher conference that day and Mikey's Confirmation rehearsal. Ok So Friday I will be cooking a turkey and a ham and lasagna and I plan to try to clean this house up a bit since we are having a confirmation party on Saturday. That brings me to Saturday. That is Mikey's confirmation. But also Brooks has a soccer game and then a baseball game. Oh good lord. I cant handle all of this. If he doesn't go to his baseball game, they may need to forfeit. Since a couple other kids also cant be there. I think one of the coaches are going to probably pick him up and take him to the game. Which means he will miss the confirmation. After the confirmation we are having the party. Then Sunday, well Sunday is Mothers day and it is also Catie's 13th birthday. SO I am planning to stay at home on Sunday. We will celebrate Catie's birthday and I guess mothers day at home. I will have to celebrate with my mom on Saturday when they are up for the party. I just cant see myself driving to another state to visit after this week. I need the break!

So, my meals are going to be...I don't know...Basic? Simple? Whatever.

So, here ya go!

Monday: Spaghetti and meat sauce
Tuesday: Chicken in crock pot, mashed potatoes etc...
Wed: leftover spaghetti and chicken soup. (yea I know, sounds gross together)
Thursday: pork chops, scalloped potatoes
Friday: pizza
Saturday: you know...turkey, ham, lasagna...
Sunday: leftovers baby! Its mothers day and since I'm a mother, I am not cooking.

Plans

2008-05-02T17:22:00.002-04:00

So, it is that time of the year again...Time to make our summer vacation plans. We typically camp around 5 or 6 times each summer. This year, because of the high cost of fuel, we are scaling back our trips. Gonna stay a little closer to home most of the summer. So today I made my reservations. For your reading enjoyment, I will include links to the places we are going. I wont tell you exactly when we are going though because I wouldn't want any of my fans to stalk me or anything. Cause you know, that totally could happen. lol

First we don't camp in tents anymore. No siree, we gave that up a few years ago. OK, because I know you are just dieing to ask, I will tell you. Every summer we have kids from New York come and stay with us. They are inner city children that are needy and we have them stay with us for 2 weeks or more. One child in particular stays the entire summer -all though this year we are not taking any Fresh Air kids. That is what they are called. We are involved in the Fresh Air fund. It is a wonderful organization that enables inner city youth to enjoy a summer vacation with families in the suburbs or freaking boondocks. I have acted as the chairperson for my town for the past few years but this year, there is a new person taking over for me and we are not taking any kids. It is a much needed break as we have shared our summers for the past 6 summers! And while it was great, it is time to say goodbye. Or at least goodbye for now. Of course we will still be dragging other peoples children along with us camping, etc. We are just weird like that.

Anyway, back to my story about how we came to not be tent campers. That summer a few years ago my daughter and oldest son both wanted to have Fresh Air kids for the summer. So we took two kids in. Yes, two. That makes 5 kids for the summer. I am not quite sure what we were thinking. But we said sure kids, what is two more kids for the summer? We will go camping, and biking, and swimming, you know, all the "ing" activities that we all enjoy participating in over the summer. So we got a nice little boy (crazy kid from the Bronx) and a nice little girl (crazy girl from the Bronx). OK, actually, the girl, Tonisha, we have come here every year since she was like 6 so we knew about her "crazy". Which in all honesty wasn't really crazy at all. She is a nice kid. So, anyway... back to my story. It is 4th of July 2003, we decided to take all of the kids, all FIVE of them camping. In tents. Need I say more? We pitched a kid tent and we pitched a grown ups tent and we pitched a screen tent. Then we put all of our clothes, and bedding, and air mattresses, etc. in the various tents. We were doing good. All set up. Then a storm blew up. I mean a huge storm. A storm that blew all three tents down. Yes, you read that correctly. All three freaking tents blew down. And all of the clothes and bedding got wet. So I spent the entire Saturday afternoon washing and drying all of our clothes and bedding in the Laundromat.

OK so that was bad enough right? I mean, it was a pain in the ass but a month before that we had gone camping with the boy scouts. The boy scouts have this pesky rule that families should come camping during their "family camping" events So we went. But they also have a rule that you have to camp in tents. Which at the time was not a problem since we didn't have a camper yet. So we went off that fine May weekend camping with the boy scouts. Unfortunately for us, it was cold and it rained. And it rained and it rained. And it was cold. Cold and rainy. And muddy. Really, really muddy. In fact it was so rainy and cold and muddy that our tent literally had about 3 inches of water in the bottom of it. It was a good thing we had air mattresses because otherwise we quite literally would have been sleeping in muddy water at the bottom of our tent. So, I endured the torture Friday night but Saturday morning, I was OUTA THERE! No passing go, no collecting $200.00 See ya later sucka! I am not camping in this mud hell hole anymore bitch. So.....Between the mud camping fiasco and the 4th of July blow down, I was done with tent camping. I mean, come on, I am not an Arab. I don't need to be travelling the country in a tent. Give me a great big old RV baby! Yes, that's what I am talking about.

So, we bought a travel trailer. It sleeps 10. Has a glorious bathroom with a shower and bathtub(combination but still..). It has a stove and an oven and double sink and a microwave oven. Best of all it has air conditioning and a steareo and a televisiona and dvd with surround sound and cable and Mike and I have our own bedroom with a queen size bed and our own television in our room. We are living large baby! OK so what was the point of all of this wine induced verbal vomit? Oh yea, I planned our camping vacations for the summer.

First we are going Here.. It looks like tons of fun. The kids especially are excited about the water slides.

Next we are going here. Tom's Cove. We have been going here for , well- forever. My parents camped here before I was born and I am pretty sure they took us camping here every year of my life. I had a couple of years where I didn't camp in the late 80's and so I didn't go to good ole Chincoteague then. But Mike and I started going there again when we were dating and have gone practically every year since. I love it and would love to buy property there. Unfortunately by the time we can afford to buy anything we will probably be priced out of the market on the island. So we will continue to camp there. You may have heard of the famous Pony swim? Well yea, this is where it all happens. So we are planning to spend about 11 days there this summer. I wish it could be more. We will spend the entire time fishing and boating and crabbing and swimming in the ocean. What more could you ask for?

The next trip we are going Here. We have never been here before but it looks like a lot of fun and some friends are coming with us(in their own campers) so we should have a blast.

Then the next camping trip that I have planned is for Halloween camping. We go with a bunch of people. My brother and his family, my other brother, my parents, and several other families that we love to travel with. It is a blast. We all pitch in making meals that we all eat together. The kids dress up and trick or treat.There are pumpkin carving contests, hay rides, a dance, find a needle in the haystack contests, and best decorated site. Then there is the partying. Lots and lots of fun around the campfire. I think we all love Halloween camping.

Other than those trips, I would also like to spend a nice long weekend in the mountains and take the kids 4-wheeling and tubing and maybe some time at our friends beach house. Lots of fun stuff planned.

So what are your plans for the summer?

Menu Plan Monday!!

2008-04-28T07:07:00.004-04:00

Yea, I know it looks like I am excited about menu plan Monday, but I'm really not. Really and truly? I am sick of planning and cooking meals. I know, I know....Big surprise, right? I sorta go through this every so-many weeks. I want to go on meal planning strike but this family of mine rises up in protest. Seems they are used to getting fed every night. And yes, we do sit down together for dinner every single solitary night of the week, thank you very much. So, I have to keep planning these menus and I have to try to stick with whatever I planned. It is difficult with all of the activities they collectively engage in(not to mention Mike and my busy schedules). But I will do my best.

But first, we had a pretty nice weekend. Dinner at a friends house Friday night. First of all, anytime I don't have to cook makes me very happy, but when I don't have to cook and I get good food and conversation, well that is really great. That was Friday night (plus a bottle of wine). Saturday bright and early Brooks had his first baseball game. They won 14-0. I'm telling you his teams rock! So far they have won every game in both soccer and baseball. Of course now I am probably jinxing him. (Knocking on wood). Saturday afternoon we did some yard work, lots and lots of laundry and then went to Wal Mart (as a family) on a Saturday night. Yea I know, FREAK SHOW! What was I thinking? lol Sunday after the family went to church(I am a heathen) we did more yard work. Planted a ton of flowers and did some mulching. I still need to do some more but the front yard is shaping up rather nicely. The backyard is a mess though. It is a never ending cycle of work around here. I can see why older people sell the homestead and move into condos.

So that about sums up our weekend. Nothing terribly exciting. But hey, fairly productive. So now on to what you have been waiting for with bated breath......

Monday: crock pot chicken cacciatore with pasta
Tuesday: Honey Teriyaki chicken, seasoned oven potatoes
Wednesday: leftovers
Thursday: Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes
Friday: pizza
Saturday: cheeseburgers on grill
Sunday: going to Walking with Dinosaurs so dinner at Moms

I impress myself.

2008-04-24T20:33:00.003-04:00

I made the best dinner tonight. Of course the boys turned their noses up at it since it looked like rice, but it was delicious. Anyway, I was in a big hurry because we had baseball at 5:30. I had some chicken breasts out so I sliced them up and cooked them in a little olive oil and garlic. I also added some sliced mushrooms and chopped tomatoes, a couple spring onions and some fresh basil and a tbsp or butter towards the end. While it was cooking I brought some water to boil and cooked orzo. When the orzo was done, I just spooned the chicken over the orzo. I also added some fresh grated Parmesan cheese. It was sooooo gooood! OMG! I totally hit a home run. I should have went all Pioneer woman on you and took some pictures. Maybe next time. But take my word for it, yummo!

Two words.........

2008-04-22T18:50:00.002-04:00

Baked Ravioli! Oh my how good it is! Why didn't I ever try this sooner? It is the easiest way to make ravioli and it is sort of like lasagna only much much easier. OK so I bought a huge bag of cheese ravioli from Sam's (OK look, I know that this is frozen food and not organic, and blah blah blah-sometimes we just have to throw caution to the wind and go the easiest route-and today was the day) ...anyway, on the back of the ravioli is a recipe for baked ravioli. So I thought for Mikey's confirmation, maybe I would make that instead of baked ziti or lasagna. Anyway, I figured I would give it a try first before serving it to guests. It was so good. I made some meat sauce and put a little sauce in the bottom of the casserole. Then I put a layer of ravioli and topped it with meat sauce and some fresh grated Parmesan cheese. Then I repeated the layer a couple more times and topped with sauce and mozzarella cheese. Really really easy and very good. And much easier to cut and serve. I will definitely be making this for the confirmation party.

Also.....Mike and I went to vote. Now, we are conservative Republicans and we thought about not even voting since there were not many people on the ballot for us to vote for. But we figured we should do our duty and vote, and we did. I decided to vote for Ron Paul. Just for the hell of it. I figured what's the point in voting for McCain since he is already in. Oh and I also voted for myself. I wrote myself in for Republican Delegate. lol! I should have asked my republican friends to do the same. I may have had a chance to actually win since there aren't many Republicans even voting today. Oh well...

I only have two more classes left, and they are review classes for the final. I can't believe school is almost over. I will be so glad when I am done. Ah, to be able to read for pleasure! Can't wait!

The kids school year is winding down as well. I really need to figure out what we are going to do for our vacation this year. I am thinking we will go to the beach for a week or maybe a little longer. Then probably a couple more weekend camping trips. With the price of gas being so damn high, I just can't imagine we will be going far very often. We will just have to hang here and enjoy our pool and yard. Or hang out at my parents house and enjoy the boat. So what are you doing for summer vacation? Anything fun planned?

Ohmygodiamsofreakingtired!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-04-21T07:35:00.004-04:00

The past few days have been a whirl. I worked for a friend on their sausage cart on Friday and Saturday. Which was actually fun. We pretty much laughed the entire time. But before work on Saturday, we went to Brooks' soccer game...early....But it was worth it because they won 6-0! They are such a good team. I hope they do well at the tourney they are entering in a few weeks. While I was working (having fun at the sausage cart), Mike took Brooks to the baseball field for his baseball pictures and a chicken BBQ. Then Saturday night we went to friends house to hang out, enjoy the beautiful evening, and have a few drinks. Sunday was church and laundry and gardening. This is where the Ohmygodiamsofreakingtired! comes in. Raking, weeding, and trimming bushes(me), and planting and mulching(mike) makes 40 year old people very, very tired! I have a blister on my thumb and my wrist hurts. lol I am such a whiner. And there is still more to be done! But the front gardens are starting to look a lot better. We neglected them over the winter. I didn't get the leaves, etc. out before winter came so there were the usual weeds along with the frigging corn stalks that always blow in after the field is harvested. So today along with getting my house somewhat straightened out, I am going to go to the nursery and pick up a few more plants and some more mulch. I also would like to color my hair and I have a ton of homework to do as well. So no rest for the weary.

I think in the next week or two, I would like to really get serious about planning my vegetable garden. I don't have the set-up to actually start plants from seed. I probably should look into a small system of lights, etc. to do that since buying established plants is ridiculously expensive and seeds are relatively cheap. But we have no good windows to place plants and if we did, I think the cats would probably love to knock the plants to the floor so they can have that windowsill sunshine. The last couple of years I have had my vegetable garden in a part of the yard that probably isn't the best place for it. Between the house and the fence but I think it is getting too much shade there. So I want to move it, but our entire yard practically is a slope. Except of course where the swing set is. I don't want to put the garden right smack in the middle of the yard next to the swings because I think it will be in the way. But I am not sure how to do it on the sloped portion of the yard? I thought about building a raised garden but wow, the work that would be involved. I just don't know if I have it in me (or mike since he would probably be doing the hard work). I love being able to just walk outside and pick tomatoes, etc. But I am not sure that it is even worth it cost wise? Anyhoe...This is the stuff swirling through my mind this morning. Oh and it is Monday! Time for..........................

Monday: baked ravioli with meat sauce

Tuesday: crock pot chicken

Wednesday: Breakfast(french toast, eggs and maybe bacon)

Thursday: Chicken enchiladas, red beans and rice

Friday: Dinner at friends(kids eat pizza)

Saturday: Steak, baked potato, spinach

Sunday: spaghetti and meatballs

Menu Plan Monday and a Meme!

2008-04-14T11:56:00.004-04:00

It's that time of the week again. Monday which means another week of school, sports and activities. Last week I did not follow my menu plan very closely so this week, some of last weeks menu will be seen on my menu this week. That's OK. As long as we are not buying food out, we are doing OK. Keep reading below my menu for the Meme my good friend Leeann tagged me with. Thanks a lot Leeann! lol

Monday: Cheese and lobster ravioli, salad

Tuesday: Crock pot roast chicken

Wednesday: Auntie Anne's pretzel dogs(yea I know, real healthy-so sue me)!

Thursday: pork chops, spinach, apple sauce, scalloped potatoes

Friday: Pizza

Saturday: Chicken BBQ through baseball

Sunday: Some sort of beef. Steak or a roast. Not sure yet.

OK, so on to the meme....

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.

2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.

3. At the end of the post, the player tags 5 people and posts their name, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog.***

So I have to first say, I am a rule breaker so I am going to break the third rule and not tag anyone. Mostly because I don't know who to tag. So if your reading this and want to participate, that is great! Leave a message in the comment section with a link to your blog.

1. What were you doing 10 years ago?

10 years ago, Mikey was just 4 and Caitey was almost 3 and I was just a few month pregnant with Brooks. We were living in a little house in Pasadena Maryland and were looking for a bigger home and had our house up for sale. It was a good time, a happy time. Lots of great new things happening. With two little kids in the house who actually loved one another and weren't afraid to show it was great. They played very well together and we had a lot of fun. Our house was very small though. About 1000 sq ft. and only had 2 bedrooms. So both of the kids were sharing the second bedroom and with a third child on the way, it was obvious we needed to move. Moving would prove to be bitter-sweet because we lived in a lovely older neighborhood in a water front community in MD. That summer that I was pregnant with Brooks we would walk over to the community beach just about every day and go swimming. It was the only relief I got being so pregnant that hot summer. Plus I wanted to keep the kids out of the house as much as possible so that I could keep the house clean for showings. It was also at that time that that I joined an email loop called OML October Moms Loop. That is where I met Leeann!

Five Snacks I enjoy:

In a perfect, non weight-gaining world

1. chocolate-cookies, cake, brownies doesn't really matter as long as it is chocolate.

2. candy-as long as it is chocolate. Not really interested in fruity candy. That's for sissies.

3. Hot crab dip or really, just about any dip

4. Potato chips. I love salty.

5. cheese, especially brie with hot pepper jelly on top. Yum!

In the real world

1. fluff(this is sugar free jello powder mixed in with lite cool whip and cottage cheese and some sort of fruit) It tastes great and is a somewhat healthy alternative to say, ice cream.

2. bruschetta on garlic toast

3. hard pretzels

4. some sort of fresh fruit

5. sunflower seeds(I get my salty fix)

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

1. buy a farm with lots of land and either a custom built new home that has all of the character and charm of an old home with all of the energy conservation of a "green" home, or an old rehabbed home.

2. since I would now own a huge home with land I would want to adopt a couple of kids.

3. make sure my family and extended family had what they needed to pay for college for the kids.

4. quit school or work and just volunteer-something to do with children

5. travel and share with my family and friends.

Five jobs that I have had:

1. Rite Aid cashier

2. Chucky at Chuck E Cheese

3. nanny

4. receptionist

5. Black Bear shed sales person

Three of my habits:

1. I have to read before I go to sleep. Something, anything.

2.I always have to pee before I leave the house. Even if i just went, I have to go again. I don't claim to understand my neurosis, I am just keeping it real.

3. I have to check the locks before I go upstairs for bed.

Five place I have lived:

1. Baltimore, Maryland

2. Towson, Maryland

3. Pasadena, Maryland

4. Essex, Maryland

By now your thinking I am soooooooo interesting......lol

5. Pennsylvania!

Five People I Want to Get to Know Better: (a nice way of saying TAG!) But don't feel obligated! Just do it if you want to.

OK so as I said, I decided to break the rules and not tag anyone. SO if you want to participate, please do so. If not, I can't say that I blame you! lol

Sunday, Day of Rest... NOT

2008-04-13T13:00:00.003-04:00

Even though I would love to be able to rest all day today, I can not. I have got to rally the troops and get down into the dungeon and do some heave duty decluttering. It is a freaking mess down there. Between the kids toys, the storage stuff and misc. crap that should just be thrown away, there is a lot to be done. So we are going to get a crack-a-lackin and go clean. Hopefully this wont end in an all out screaming match between Mike and me or the kids. He would like to just clear everything out of there (except for his stuff) and I am a pack rat so it is physically painful for me to get rid of some stuff. Especially the baby clothes, etc. that are down there. But I am going to really put forth a great effort to get rid of as much as possible. We are going to make 5 piles.
1. Trash
2. Goodwill
3. Keep
4. Sell on Ebay
5. Take to consignment store

My hope is that the biggest pile will be goodwill, followed by trash, consignment, keep and sell. We'll see! Wish me luck!!!

Soccer

2008-04-12T17:33:00.003-04:00

Brooks had his second soccer game today. Second game ever, and his team rocks! They won 10-0! Brooks is pretty good too. Not great, but not half bad either. I am pretty proud of him. Best of all, he loves soccer! Which is pretty damn cool since I made him sign up for soccer and once again had the pleasure of announcing that mother knows best. lol

Menu Plan Monday

2008-04-07T07:00:00.005-04:00

We are in for a string of busy weeks between school, sports, and planning the Confirmation party. So I will try to keep my menu as easy as possible.

Monday: Cheese and lobster ravioli, spinach salad

Tuesday: Swiss steak in crock pot

Wednesday: Chicken with rice and black beans and salsa

Thursday: pork chops, scalloped potatoes, apple sauce

Friday: Pizza

Saturday: BBQ chicken on grill, German potato salad, carrots mushrooms & red peppers and ranch dip.

Leeann asked for my bruscetta recipe. Here it is.

Ingredients:

3 large tomatoes chopped

2 heaping tablespoons minced garlic

about 20 basil leaves chopped

ground pepper to taste

kosher salt to taste

olive oil

balsamic vinegar

Directions:

1. chopped tomatoes in bowl

2. add garlic and mix together

3. add enough olive oil to cover almost to the half way point of the tomatoes

4. add balsamic vinegar by going around the bowl a few times.

5. add basil

6. add salt and pepper and half of the sugar

7. mix together and taste. If too vinegary, add more sugar (I use splenda).

That's about it. I use a lot of garlic and basil. You can use fresh garlic but I am too lazy to chop it. I find the minced is just fine.

I buy bread at the bakery in my grocery store and have them slice it for me. Use a thin loaf like a baguette but french does not work well because it is too light and has too many holes. I like a denser bread.

To prepare the bread I drizzle olive oil on a cookie sheet. Then I made sure it is coating the sheet then put the bread down on it. Next drizzle more olive oil on top of the bread and sprinkle with garlic salt. Put in the oven for 5 minutes then take out and turn toast over for another minute or two. You do not want it too toasted. Just a nice golden color on one side. It should still have a little bit of chewiness to it when you bite into it. This makes the best bruscetta bread.

Or, you can toast one side of the bread, turn it over and place the tomato and a little bit of cheese on top and put it back into the oven for a hot appetizer.

This tomato mixture also tastes GREAT over pasta.

Weekend stuff

2008-04-06T21:21:00.002-04:00

We had a pretty nice weekend. Went to Baltimore to my parents house on Friday. Stayed over night and visited with my sister and her family who were up from North Carolina for a few days. It was nice seeing the niece and nephew.( you can actually see my nephew if you look at my previous post about my nephews NHL debut) The cousins had a great time playing together and catching up. I wish we lived closer. It is sad that they cant spend more time together. On Saturday my brother, sister, and I along with our spouses all took the kids bowling. That was a trip. They had a blast though and good memories were made. Brooks kicked butt and out of everyone had the highest score. I think it was around 111 so as you can see, we all collectively suck at bowling. except for Brooks of course. He did OK!

Mike, Caitey and I came home Saturday night and left the boys in Baltimore. I had to come home so I could get a decent nights sleep. We decided to take Catiey out on a date Saturday night. We tortured her by singing songs from the 80's and talking about how we were on a mom and dad and Catiey date. Since she is almost 13, she was not amused. I think the trip to Hollister and the t-shirt bought for her, made up for any embarrassment we may have caused. Not that we cared. :)

Today my mom brought the boys back to us and we grilled some delicious steaks and I made Pioneer Woman's creamed spinach (which I liked but there was a little too much cream). I also made my famous bruscetta). (OK so maybe famous in my mind only but still...) I could live on that stuff. So now I am having a glass of wine and Mike is watching the Tudors on showtime. I can't get into that show. It is just too violent or something.

We are also planning a Confirmation party for Mikey in May. It just so happens that Caitey will be turning 13 the next day (mothers day) so I am thinking of combining her birthday with his party. Hope that isn't too tacky! But I figure if I can get it all over with in one day, that is a very good thing (casue I will need the next day to recover). But it also means I need to plan a party and spring cleaning and gardening and the end of my semester (finals) etc. all within the next few weeks. 4 to be exact. Ugh! So I think I will go get another glass of wine now and maybe retire to my bathroom and have a nice long bath. I think I need the relaxation time before all this party planning goes into full effect. Tomorrow.

NHL Debut

2008-04-04T19:31:00.002-04:00

This is my nephew Jacksons, NHL debut. How freaking cute is he?? He is cute. Just take my word for it if you can't tell because he is all padded up. Cute.
Jackson

Monday Monday....

2008-03-31T07:43:00.003-04:00

With both baseball and soccer going on now, we are busy, busy, busy! So I am trying to make easy meals that can be eaten early and quickly. Not sure how this will play out but we will do our best.

Monday: crock pot Beef Strogonof, spinach

Tuesday: Chicken roasted in crock pot, mashed potatoes

Wednesday: Pizza burgers, fries

Thursday: pizza

Friday: going to Baltimore for the weekend

Saturday: Still in Baltimore

Sunday: Steak, potato, spinach salad

The Winner

2008-03-27T18:32:00.003-04:00

This is a poem Caitey wrote. I think she did a great job. It just goes to show you she has a pretty good head on her shoulders. I am really proud of her.

The Winner

My heart stops,

I slowly walk up to the block.

My stomach is a pretzel.

The Coach's eye telling me

to try my best.

I climb up on the block.

The sound of the buzzer

rings in my ears.

And I fly.

Into the water

stroke by stroke.

Every ounce of power

into my legs.

I gasp for air,

The water nearly suffocates me,

My legs are like noodles.

The wall is approaching

as fast as a speeding bullet.

I kick, flip, hold my breath,

past the flags.

Only seven more laps to go.

But that doesn't stop me.

The water seems to be warmer,

My legs become weaker and weaker

after every passing second.

I feel like a dead fish.

Someone shouts my name.

Then another.

They're cheering for me.

I am a shark paddling towards my prey.

The clock stops

as my arm pounds the wall.

It's all over.

Sixth place.

Last but not least.

I am a winner in my own small way.