Ask and ye shall (unexpectedly) receive...

Two "family" members of mine have cooking blogs. I won't even go into the family connection...I'd get crucified if some hear how I classify it...lol. Cheryl and Mary both posted recipes that included cinnamon chips. I do remember that one of them was an oatmeal cookie and boy, did the recipes sound delicious. So, I sent an email to Mary (who I have never actually met in person, but have communicated with before) and asked where she gets them. I should mention that both of these ladies live in Oregon. She graciously offers to send me 2 bags of the chips. I received these this week.

I must admit I laughed when I opened the package. The reason is the brand of chips. I have looked in every store around to find cinnamon chips. So, the brand of chips is Hershey. I live 45 minutes from Hershey! I just found it funny. YMMV. ;-)

Tonight is open mic night at my church. B and his band were going to play, but they didn't get enough practice time in. But we're going anyway to hear some good music.

People today....

Or maybe I should say...kids. I was over at Mariah's and she was talking about kids, not hers, and how they acted in certain situations. (I honestly couldn't explain it like she did, so I'm not gonna try...) It reminded me of a conversation at work yesterday. A customer came in and said she was helping out at her child's school and kids (elementary aged) kept coming up to her asking her to open their zip lock bags and to put their straws in their juice boxes. I'm sorry....my kids could do that by the time they were 2. She was amazed. I said that many parents (one that I know of personally) will do everything for their kids. We all do, but come on...opening a zip lock bag is not rocket science. Ok, I'm done. :-)

I'm trying out my contacts today...again. I found them...lol. I'm patiently waiting for my eyes to dry out...lol.

Yesterday, while waiting for J at the bus stop, I found the B&W setting on my camera. I've been looking for over a year...even with the book. I am thrilled beyond belief. ;-)

Wow....I am way to exciting....

Out with the old....

I need a new look around here. I'm leaning towards a green layout, now if I could just find one. :-) Or, better yet, get back into making layouts. It's been a looooong time and I need to hone my CSS skills, I think. I can do straight HTML, but need help with more. Can anyone steer me to some cheap (read free...) help? ;-)

Today is Ash Wednesday. While I now attend a Nazarene church, my Catholic roots are very strong. While reading over at the Six Pack, I was reminded that I need to read my bible more. Lent is about giving something up, but bettering one's self is good too. June has a list of readings on her site and I may look into putting something similar on mine. Join me if you wish, I'd appreciate the company.

I could give up donuts for Lent, but our newest financial advisor just brought us some Maple Donuts...my weakness (cue Homer Simpson). A diet is sure to be in my future...

Word verification...

I was informed by a couple people that the word verification on my comments went wonky yesterday. I have disabled that, so hopefully it works now.

Back later.......

Let's Make Friends

Today is Friend Making day at Kasey's. So today she wants us to list our 10 favorite things. I am not as creative today as some are so you'll have to do without pictures for this one. :-)

1. Coffee: That's a big DUH...
2. Knitting: I don't do it too often, but I do have a project in the works at the moment.
3. Reading: Another duh... I usually have one on me at all times. I actually read 3 books yesterday..lol
4. The computer: All my friends are in it.....
5. Message boards: I met all my friends there....... (MOL, PS, etc...lol)
6. Blogging: I've been blogging since 2001.
7. Photography: Not great at it, but love pictures and taking them.
8. Church: It gives me a peaceful feeling.
9. My 2 best friends: (other than my dh...) Lisa and Kim are the greatest. Even though we live close we don't get out too often, but when we do...it's a total laughfest.
10. Hmmm.... I guess I'll just add the family in for good measure..

Head on over there to meet some interesting people.

I <3 Faces: Black and White

This week's theme at I Heart Faces is black and white. I love B & W pics, of any sort. The picture, I absolutely love of my sweet Molly.

Head on over to the I Heart Faces site and see the other wonderful submissions.

Blankety blank

I seem to have writers block or maybe it's just a really really boring life... I've been wanting to post, but, without a prompt, I just haven't known what to say.

Last night I worked at a fundraiser for our church. I attend a Nazarene church at the moment and this June is their General Conference that is held every 4 years. This year it will be held in Orlando Florida. The week before, the church runs a mission type trip in the town of the conference to help the community. Kind of like a Habitat for Humanity type thing, without actually building homes. They will repair buildings, provide food etc... Also during that time our church's childrens quizzing team will be there competing. So we've been raising money for all of this. Last night was a turkey dinner for the community. I helped to serve the meal. It was really yummy. :-) We are also partnering with a local department store with coupons, so if anyone is in or near the area and wants info, let me know. I won't bore everyone with those details.

Not a whole lot of exciting stuff, other than that, is going on. The kids are doing well, in school and work, and I just am here. I have found long lost relatives on Facebook, that makes me happy. I do find it interesting that I have more contact with my ex's family than he does, but hey...most people aren't stupid. ;-)

Have a great weekend and hopefully I'll think of more interesting stuff to talk about in the future.

Writers Workshop

The Prompts:

1.) If you were starring on American Idol TONIGHT and HAD to sing, what song would you choose and why.

2.) Take a picture of yourself right this minute without primping and explain to us why it is you have not washed your hair today.

3.) I just asked Pat to help me with a writing prompt so here's his: "What do you think about the NBA All Star game"...blech.

4.) What's your number one pet peeve? Develop a punishment for anyone caught in the act.

5.) Write about something mean you did to a sibling growing up.

Out of these, the easiest is number 5. My younger brother and I are 15 months apart. He did pretty much whatever I told him to do, up to a certain age. ;-) So one day we were shopping with my mom and grandmother at Park City mall in Lancaster PA. The food court and arcade...keep in mind I was like 11 or so and arcades were a big thing in the early 80's....were in the downstairs part of the mall. My mom would let us go to the arcade for a bit while she shopped. There was an escalator that went to the food court, so one day I basically "dared" my brother to go up the down escalator. He did, and got a bit banged up. Not horribly, but my mom wasn't too happy with me. :-)

The Assignment

It's Writer's Workshop time again. Here are the prompts:

1.) What was the first CD (or record or cassette) you ever purchased? Write about the way that particular album made you feel then. Write about how it makes you feel now.
writersdigest.com

2.) You were recently laid off. Instead of moping around, you've viewed it as a chance to start fresh. Pick a new career and write about your first day on the job.writersdigest.com

3.) List your five most recent favorite things.

4.) I'm hungry. Share your very favorite recipe!!

I think I'll do #1 this time. The first "real" album (yes, an honest to God 33 1/3 LP...lol) I remember getting was an album by Shaun Cassidy. OMG, I was sooooo in love with that boy. ;-) I also remember going to Sears with my mom and they had shirts with his picture on them...via the Hardy Boys series... and if you got a shirt you also got an autographed photo. I was lucky that my mom did get it for me... I was in heaven.

To be honest...I do have some Shaun Cassidy on my iPod. Old habits, ya know...

True Love carnival

Kristin is having a really cool carnival going on the next few days. Stories about the hubbies in our lives.

I've mentioned Bill previously in posts. I did a tribute to him last month, if you want you can read it here. I am one of those people that met their significant other on the internet. To be totally honest, I am not really sure where exactly we met. We were friends for years before it got anywhere near spending our lives together. Yeah, we both were married to others, but we were both lonely. Not making excuses, it's not about that. Anyway.... we'll flash forward to now. I cannot imagine life without him now. Yeah, I think he's anal and he thinks I'm a slob, but hey.... I love him beyond anything I could imagine. Nobody's perfect, but I think we're a good match and I wouldn't give him up for anything.

I Heart Faces...Kids

I've decided to enter this photo contest. This week's theme is "Silly". There are many interpretations of this, but I think this pic, while not necessarily funny...is silly.

Tribute

A Jay and Deb Production.

There have been many losses in the blogosphere recently. If you visit Jay's site, he mentions 2 sweet little ones who lost their battles with cancer, Tuesday and Cora. Losses from cancer are horrible. I have lost 2 people in my life to cancer so far. My oldest brother passed away in August of 2007 from a combination of brain and liver cancer at the age of 53. We didn't see each other much, but I miss him terribly.

The other person is who I'd like to pay tribute to. When the ex and I were having problems back in 1995 (the kids and I spent a week in a woman's shelter, I came back east and then went back..), there was a woman who lived in our apartment complex that, basically, saved my life. Shelia lived a couple doors down from us with her husband and son. In addition to physical abuse, I was verbally and emotionally abused and not allowed much contact outside of my own house. But, he did like Shelia and her family and I was "permitted" to visit. If I recall correctly, the ex worked swing shift, so I would go visit sometimes when the kids were in bed. I also went their apartment in the afternoon with the kids. The kids adored her and she, them. She would watch them for us if needed.

We talked about lots of stuff, not just personal stuff. One thing that she loved to do was watch Court TV. The OJ Simpson trial was a highlight for her...lol. We discussed religion, we both were raised Catholic, and fairness etc... She was diagnosed with breast cancer in the 80's before I met her. She had a partial mastectomy then and was fine. We move a small distance away from her in 1999. Right before we left, she was diagnosed with breast cancer again, but it also ended up traveling to other areas of her body. The kids and I tried to visit her in Dec of 1999, but her husband told us she was sleeping. We never got to say goodbye...she passed away in January of 2000.

I will never forget her and what she did for the kids and me. A couple years ago the kids and I did a Relay for Life and bought a tiki torch there in memory of her. She was a wonderful lady and I miss her to this day.

Let's make some friends...

All that is Good is hosting a blog carnival..Friend Makin' on Mondays... and I've decided to participate. I need all the friends i can get..lol.


1) My favorite book is: The Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon, the By The Numbers series by Janet Evanovich, just about anything really...lol

2) I drive a: 2005 Chevy Colorado truck.

3) My favorite type of food to eat is: salads, at the moment, but especially steak salad.

4) My favorite dessert is: donuts

5) My favorite movie is: Dogma, Lost in Translation

6) When I go to Starbucks I get a: black coffee...why ruin a good thing?

7) My favorite vegetable is: hm...no favorite really

8) My favorite thing to wear is: jeans and tshirt

9) My favorite color is: black, red, purple

10) I decorate my house in this style: whatever is on sale

11) Right now I am reading: World Without End by Ken Follet

12) If I could vacation anywhere I would go to: Ireland or Scotland or a cruise

So there ya go... Head on over for the fun.

Iron Chef Chili

Heidi at Sacred and Profane has put out a challenge.....it is Chili today.

I had posted a chili recipe on my cooking blog a while back so this should be easy...lol. To see the original recipe go to.....The Kitchen Witch, but I will post it here. :-)

My usual method of cooking is throw it together. But I can follow a recipe. With this recipe I wrote down everything I put in it..here goes...

Chili

.81 lb stew meat

1.78 lb ground beef

1 40 oz. can dark red kidney beans

2 40 oz cans light red kidney beans

2 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes

1 green pepper

1 medium onion

minced garlic

chili seasoning

montreal steak seasoning

I browned the stew meat and ground beef with minced garlic. I love garlic and I probably used at least 2 tbl of garlic in the meat. I also seasoned the meat with chili seasoning, about half a packet, and about a tbl of steak seasoning. When the meat was almost done, I added the pepper and onion and sauteed until done.I mixed the rest of the ingredients in a stock pot and added the beef mixture. Bring to a boil and then simmer for a couple hours. I served the chili with cornbread (Jiffy Mix).

Tuesday Tribute...3 of 3

Yet Another Jay and Deb Production.

This will conclude my tributes of my kids. Today, Jacob is up.

Jacob is my video game and football loving boy. Even though he tends towards the more violent of the video games, he is one of the most caring guys I know. Don't get me wrong, he is all boy. From the time he was a year old until probably 7 or 8 he was my Hot Wheels boy. He loves anything with wheels or flies. He always had a car in his possession. Right now he is planning on going into the military. He would also like to play in the NFL. It really doesn't matter to me what he wants to be when he gets older, as long as he tries his best and succeeds in his own mind.

Jacob has always been a ladies man...yeah, he's only 14...lol. Little girls have always flocked to him and he has always been a sucker for babies. He was big help when I ran the home daycare. Right now he is on the rotation for nursery duty at our church, his choice. I worked with him and B the other Sunday and they both did great.

So here is my rough and tumble, tender hearted boy...Jacob.

Bits and pieces

No real theme today....just blather.

Great game last night. I can't say that I was rooting for one team over the other, but it was a heck of a game. Although I did find the commercials to be lacking this year. The Budweiser ones are always a hit, but the others weren't all that exciting to me this year.

Not in the best mood of late. Not sure why, could be PMS or not...

Band concert tonight. Should be pretty good.

Started a knitting project this past weekend. Will share when it actually looks like something. ;-)

I guess that's enough for now.