Halloween is over

Well, Halloween is officially over. By that I mean trick or treating, 6-8 p.m., is over and the Halloween decorations can come down and we can roll the big ole'
Jack-o-lantern down over the hill into the woods. My husband always goes over board on the candy, handing out the BIG bars, which seems to be a thing of the past. This year I told him to knock it off, take it easy...did he listen? He bought three cases, the kind that Costco sells, with 24 bars in each box. We got one car load of six children this evening, that's it. Tim gave them each two, so that means we have 60 chocolate bars to eat between the three of us, 20 a piece. I don't want to do that. We'll have to find another way to get rid of the candy. It can't stay in the house. The only will power I have is not having it around.

Now I must begin to acknowledge a host of November birthdays and begin planning our Thanksgiving dinner. This is a great time of year!

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When In Doubt, Throw It Out!

I had to chuckle reading T’s post about her visit here. Yes, there was a Scrabble tournament, if you will, at my house. I did lose, which was no fun, but being an advocate of good sportsmanship, I still was able to laugh and enjoy the game. Every once in a while I would blurt out, “I quit!” (Have you ever played with a sore loser? It is amazing, at times, how even grown people can get ugly or weird when they are losing.) When T is losing we tell her to “Try Harder!”, which I’m sure she hates. Still, you can’t tell me that someone who knows the answer to every question couldn’t be more aggressive. Oh well, we’ll get her next time. Oh yeah!

As I read T’s post I thought for sure that she would tell the part where I almost poisoned her. Funny, because in past posts she has said such nice things about me as a hostess, it makes me want to meet myself.

It’s true, on Saturday we went to our LC conference, where much to our surprise she is nominated for Vice President and wins the election. She was surprised and taken back but I knew she was perfectly suited for it. Prior to the elections she had to go up front and give a report. I saw it then. We knew we needed a new VP. No, I wasn’t the one who nominated her, but when she was nominated I just said a little prayer. We always want to do the will of God, no matter where we are or what we are doing. Whether we are called upon to do small things or great things, we always have that prayer in our heart that if the Lord wants to use us for some good, we want to be open to it and available to Him. And if per chance we are called upon by some fluke and taken by surprise, we pray, Lord, if this isn’t your will, don’t let it happen. Well, sure enough, it happened.

So after a day of enjoyable events and service, we returned to my house only to find that it was supper time and no one was around. So I said, Well, it’s just us, we’ll go ahead and eat. This is where the little snafu comes in.

I have to go back one day to tell you what happened. I knew I was having company that weekend. The temperatures have gotten colder and I thought, what a perfect time to have a big pot of soup. (I can make good chicken noodle soup. So did my mother and my grandmother, with a very simple list of ingredients.) So I went to the store, not just any grocery store but one known for having good meat. I purchased two chickens cut up. This was going to be one big pot of soup. I cooked the chicken for a few hours, deboned it, strained the broth…it was lovely. I could imagine how we would all enjoy it over and over again during the weekend. I didn’t finish with it until 9 p.m. Friday evening. It was boiling hot and I had to let it cool. At 11 p.m. I carried it downstairs to put it in the frig, but the frig was full. I set the soup on the counter and began to rearrange the contents of the frig as to accommodate this large pot of soup. I had to remove some things and put them in the upstairs frig. Well, when I went upstairs, I forgot about the soup. I went to bed and awakened at 8 a.m. I wanted to cook the noodles and then add them to the cold soup (so they wouldn’t get mushy) only to discover that I had let the soup sit out all night. I was sick. I froze just staring at that large pot of soup that I labored over. My mind was racing with thoughts. My first thought was, there is no way I am throwing that soup out...I worked so hard...I bought special chicken...It was going to be so delicious. I made up my mind…we are eating this soup, and I put it in the frig and T and I left for our meeting.

Fast forward, we return from the meeting, like I said, no one is home and we are going to eat this soup. (I have to say in my own defense that I never take chances like this, and especially not with company) A command decision has been made and the wheels are in motion and I'm ladeling the soup into two bowls. An expression my grandmother used to say came to mind, “When in doubt, throw it out.” I decide to call my mother and tell her what has happened and finish the story with, I’M SERVING IT! She says, okay.

The soup is hot and the table is set. T and I sit down, ask a blessing on the food, and begin to eat. It doesn’t take long to get to the bottom of the bowl, say five minutes, and the phone rings and it’s my mother. She says, I wouldn’t serve the soup. It’s not worth it if someone gets sick. I glance at T’s bowl , and hesitate. She sees this and says, What? I say, Nothing. She says, No, what? I say in a higher voice, Nothing. She knows and commands me to explain (I sit down to break the news). Well, I say, it’s the soup. I left it sit out all night and my mom called to say we shouldn’t eat it. We look at our bowls as though we had just consumed the poisoned apple. T said, If it’s bad, I’ll be sick within a half an hour; sensitive stomach. To ward off any sense of doom or dread, I say, Well, I am having another bowl. I refill my bowl and just get ready to sit down and eat and my husband walks in the door and says, “What’s that off smell!” I cry out, “IT’S THE SOUP!!”
Thankfully, T didn’t get sick, to which she claims is a real honest to goodness miracle. I, on the other hand, had to stay close to the bathroom the next day. (Retribution for good hostess, gone bad)

So, the joke was that weekend, that there was an assassination attempt on the VP. Funny!

No more questionable food served at my house. I promise. When in doubt…throw it OUT!

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Still here...

I feel like I’m coming back from a blogging vacation. It’s been awhile and admitting to being a slacker, as I have in 2 previous posts, just seems like the worst excuse ever. :) In truth, real life has been a bit hectic. I think the last time I actually posted I mentioned that I was on my way to see J. We had a church conference to attend that was in Pennsylvania and in addition to being involved in the national women’s group of our church it was a great opportunity to spend time with J and her family.

We had a good conference. There were things to discuss and consider. Being a part of and being active in an organization can be a wonderful experience. If it’s something you are passionate about it can be fulfilling. Thankfully, we have been able to be apart of an organization we enjoy working in on both a local and a national level.

Being active is important. Whatever you choose to give time to, it’s important to be present to the choice. Nice words, hopefully I’ll be able to live up to them.

I almost forgot. When I was visiting J her daughter was in town visiting as well. The three of us played Scrabble. I admit to starting the game with a fair amount of trepidation, I was sure they smelled blood in the water. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree and J’s daughter is following in her mother’s footsteps and is also a killer Scrabble player. Is there a name for a Scrabble enthusiast? I’ll have to check that out, but I digress. I’ve mentioned that almost every time I’ve played with J she has beaten me, soundly. I think the first time we played I won, I realized much later that she was simply lulling me into a false sense of security, since then I’ve lost at a fairly steady rate. And yet, in light of my impressive number of losses against the Master, we played. I think J must have been tired from her week, because miracle of miracles, I actually scored more than she did! Yes, it’s true, and I was stuck with the Q, J and the Z! Truth be told, J’s daughter won it all in the last play of the game, but I’m claiming my small victory. It may never happen again! I don’t care if J did get stuck with all the vowels in the game…all’s fair in love and Scrabble.

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My Favorite Icing

In my last post I mentioned a fabulous cake that I make all the time, so I thought I had better post the recipe.

I use Duncan Hines cake mixes, they are wonderful! Especially with the icing
recipe(s) that follow.

Bakers Icing
1 C. Milk
5 Tbs. flour
Dash salt
Heat and stir until thickened.
(Make sure you stir constantly to keep the mixture from clumping. Also make sure
it thickens adequately. After you get it to the right thickness - remove from pot with spatula and put it in a bowl where it can cool)

Cream well:
3/4 C. Crisco
1/4 C. butter or margerine
1 t. vanilla
1 C. sugar

After top mixture cools, blend all. I usually put it in my Kitchen-aid mixer and beat for 5 minutes. Now you are ready to ice the cake. *This cake is fantastic with coconut on top.

Another variation of my favorite is yellow or white cake with chocolate Bakers Icing, which we call Pudding Icing:

Pudding Icing
small Instant Chocolate Pudding
1 C. Sugar
1 C. Lukewarm milk (More like room temperature - as to not melt the Crisco)
1 C. Crisco

Beat 5 minutes.
*This cake is great with finely chopped walnuts on top.

Enjoy!

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Random thoughts or slacker redux

Here are some random, thoughts I’ve had today.

I was pleasantly surprised that with my new Fusion I do not have to get the oil changed until 5,000 miles. Because I am a neurotic about these things I called to verify, and yes it is true! Yippee! I hate doing car maintenance. I also hate getting gas. I always say if I ever get married I’m having that written into the vows. If I have to obey, he should have to take care of the cars and fill up my gas tank. It’s never going to happen but I like thinking about it.

I got my haircut today. Not anything really unusual about that. But I did find out that my stylist is quite the political activist. She chatted quite enthusiastically about her candidate of choice. I sat very quiet and did not comment for two reasons. One, she was cutting my hair!!! And, two, I did not agree with her. I wear glasses and can’t actually see what she’s doing while she cuts my hair, if I disagreed aloud with her I might walk out of there with a mohawk!

This weekend I’m going to be visiting J, we have a church thing that takes place in PA, twice a year. So, of course, in an effort to prepare for a weekend trip I was doing some laundry last night. Here is one of the perils of apartment living with community laundry facilities. I had already washed a load and started another; I was waiting for the first one to dry. When I heard the dryer go off, I went down to switch, only to find that someone had taken out my clothes from the washer, threw them on the counter and put their clothes in the washer! This is the second time it’s happened and I’m just as furious as I was when it happened the first time. What if I had more than 2 loads to wash? They jumped the line! Thankfully, my first load was my underwear, which I put in the dryer myself. I’m not sure I like the idea that some stranger is going through my clothes, and I really don’t like the thought of someone messing around with my under things. I had several really mean retaliatory thoughts come to mind, but I ended up just quietly fuming and walking back to my apartment. Sigh…I may need to read the scripture about vengeance again.

My 16 year old nephew made the homecoming court; he is one of the ‘princes’ for the Junior class. When did this tradition start? When I was in high school this was for the Senior class only. My sister called me to let me know of this milestone in his high school career. Funny, he told my sister that a friend of his that was on the balloting committee and told him that he had a lot of votes. My sister told him don’t get too excited about it until you know for sure. Today my nephew called home to tell his mom he made the court. My sister, trying to downplay this lest he be disappointed, said “DJ how do you know you made the court?” He said, “Mom they announced my name on the p.a. and I’m wearing a sash.” Anyway they have homecoming this weekend, which he is also taking a date to!? How did this happen? My 16 year old nephew has now had more dates in this decade than I have!

After I got my haircut today, I participated in some ritualistic humiliation, also known as trying on clothes. I thought I might just try on a few things maybe make a purchase. I HATE trying on clothes, which is why I have 5 pairs of athletic shoes (yes, I know weird because I don’t exercise, they’re comfortable what can I say). I tried on two things; one was even not brown, black or navy blue! Alas, they did not flatter me. They went on the discard rack and I left the mall. I was really only there to buy perfume anyway. Perfume doesn't care what size you are.

I’m now sitting at home, fielding phone calls, watching Bizarre Foods on cable and working on the computer. I actually do have things I should be doing instead of blogging, but I was trying to strike when the inspiration hit me.

Still not sure if this was inspiration, but J I posted!!!

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Coffe and Cake

Even the best laid plans are, at times, laid waste. I intended to start my creamer free diet this morning. Instead of a regular coffee with creamer, I began the day with a hot Toddy. Ah, delicious!

We had a big family dinner after church today. My husband makes a brisket that is superb. I provided the rest: macaroni and cheese, broccoli, orange jello salad, green salad and corn. And oh yes, my brother's homemade bread. Did I have a little of everything? Yes, I did. Not so bad though...that is until dessert was served.

I am in no way the best cook around, but I have managed to master a few recipes of the things I like best. Ask anyone who knows me, what kind of cake do I like? Chocolate cake with white bakers icing(and coconut if it's for me or one of my brothers). It was my niece's birthday and after the candle were blown out, my father asked, Is there coffee? That's all it took, coffee was on the table within minutes and I had two cups with creamer, a slice of cake and ice cream. Then after everyone left I had another slice...or two.

Tomorrow I'll do better...the cake is gone.

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Toddy Coffee

I've decided that I am going to enter the world of stretch pants and just make my life a whole lot easier. I know, I know...don't judge me. I wish I could find black stretchy pants just like my pj bottoms. They are so cute and I look good in them. Do they look like pj bottoms? I don't think so. They are thick enough to pass as a pant. Instead of putting a lot of time into shopping for a look-alike pair, I may just wear what I have. If I can pull it off - I'm doing it!

I can now understand why the overweight crowd seems to fancy this attire. My thought in the past was, when I would see someone clearly overweight with "stretchies" on, why on earth are you wearing something that accentuates the your burgeoning booty and thighs...as I try to look away.

Well, now I know. It was just a few months ago I had lost 10 or so pounds, but much to my chagrin, I've gained it right back. (And maybe a few pounds more, ugh!) I put on a pair of pants that I've had for a few years. They've always been a casual favorite; roomy and so cute. Yesterday, I found that they were quite snug at the waist which gave me a muffin top. I hate that. I won't do it. I was just going to be working around the house so I kept them on but when I would bend over the snap at the waistband would pop open. That has never happened with these pants before. As many times as I would bend over, pop...pop...pop...pop. Oh how discouraging. I just eventually tucked it down into the pants but it was the confirmation that, yes, it's once again time to diet.

I believe my love of coffee is one of the main culprits in my gain. Even though I drink my coffee with a sugar free creamer, it's adding too many calories to my daily intake. I have on an average 3-8 oz. cups of coffee every morning. To that I add the sugar free creamer and a Splenda. I estimate that I use about a half cup of creamer per morning which I found to be about 10 Tablespoons. At 15 calories per tablespoon, that's 150 calories a day.

If I remove the creamer and just have a Toddy every morning, then I'll be getting the milk (calcium)in my diet, that's really so important, and cutting the creamer calories. (The creamer has no nutritional value) I usually have a Toddy every evening. I think I'll move that to mornings and then just have a diet soda in the evening. (I do love those sweet treats - and that's what they are to me. I look forward to them.)

If you are a coffee lover, and you don't know what a Toddy coffee maker is, you are really missing out! It's a cold brew coffee maker that is very similar to making sun-tea, only it's coffee. I bought my Toddy maker through Amazon.com for about thirty dollars. It comes with a carafe, a plastic holding container, a filter and cork. You follow the directions adding water and good Arabica coffee, coarsely ground, alternately, and let it steep for 12 hours. (It calls for 16 oz. of coffee. Funny thing is, you can't buy coffee in 16 oz. packages. It's usually sold in 12 -14 oz. increments, which I find works just as well. If you think it's not strong enough, you can add less water. Try it first. Anyway, a pound of coffee to 9 cups of water is what's recommended. I usually do it at night before I go to bed and in the morning pull the plug, setting the holding container on the carafe and within a few minutes, this wonderful concentrated coffee is ready to drink. The fabulous and amazing thing about the Toddy brew is that it lasts in your frig. up to 4 weeks without it's wonderful flavor being diminished. You can drink it hot or cold. I usually use a 8-12 oz. glass, add about an inch of Toddy and fill it up with skim milk and a Splenda. It's wonderful! I'll bet that since I've purchased my Toddy maker about two years ago, I don't think it's ever been in rest mode. There is always Toddy coffee in my frig. I've turned a lot of people on to it. Some months ago I had friends visiting from Michigan and they tried Toddy for the first time. When they went home, they sent word back that Toddy was taking over Detroit. One couple even took a jar of it along with them on their cruise.

So cheers to all my Toddy loving compadres and may we all find the happy medium between fit and feeling good, while yet still drinking and eating all the wonderful things that we enjoy; the battle of indulgence and moderation.

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I'm a slacker...

It's true. I am a blogging slacker. Not intentionally or with purpose, but still one who has been neglecting her blogging obligations. Thankfully, J, my dear friend, has been carrying the banner for us both while I have been dropping the ball of late.

Since we’re on that subject, J really is a wonderful writer. It’s funny. We are having a bit of a role reversal here. Not that I’m a prolific writer by any means, I am absolutely not, but I usually nudge her to write more frequently. She writes a blog of sorts for the national women’s group for our church, (I’m tech support), and we were talking once about that very thing, her posting more frequently. She mentioned she was feeling some pressure. I sort of laughed and asked why? She said sometimes writing something of that magnitude was like passing a kidney stone. We both got a good chuckle at that. However, I admit here that this is a pretty accurate assessment. I did not necessarily agree then, but I do now. You were right, J. I bow to the master. :)

Lately I feel like I have nothing to blog about. And currently, aside from the scripture classes I have to prepare for, I have nothing I’m even researching right now. I think I have genuine writer’s block. How does one break writer’s block? I Googled it. Yes, seriously, I Googled how to break writer's block. I am an information junkie so what else would I do when I’ve been looking at a blank screen for an hour with the flashing cursor taunting me. One of the suggestions is to write about why you’re stuck. Ok, let’s free associate on why I have writer’s block for a moment.........................................Yep, no idea. Another suggestion was to write your obituary. You're kidding, right? That would take about 2 minutes and 10 words. That suggestion is getting tossed. Another site I looked at had a bunch of scantily clad female supermodels on it with writing tips sandwiched in between. Yeah, I guess that might work for some, not for me. I closed that site and immediately deleted my temp files.

I have several things that I feel passionately about. I often wonder if this is the proper forum to talk about those things. Don’t worry they are not controversial, by any stretch of the imagination. I just wonder if they are things that are only important to me. And since we have a total of 5 readers (which fluctuates on an almost daily basis) and ZERO commenters you just gotta wonder maybe the stuff that is interesting to us is simply not interesting to the masses, or, ahem, the 5 readers we have.

While I’m writing this thought provoking post, J sends me an email that she’s home working in her office (See this post) and to give her a call if I have time. It’s my lunch break so I call. After a few minutes of discussion about a few different things, she asks me if I am feeling bogged down. I asked why she would ask me that. She said “because you haven’t posted since January of 2006!” A joke, of course, but I appreciate that she asked. Maybe that’s it. Maybe J's right and I am feeling bogged down. Stranger things have happened I suppose. Thankfully, it’s Friday. I’m going to go home and try to catch up on the things that I’ve been leaving half done. Or I could lie on the couch all weekend eating chocolate and try to get un-bogged…or whatever the opposite of bogged down is. Now that idea has merit. Hmmm, what is the opposite of bogged down…I may need to do a little research.

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A Space Of My Own

I relish days like this. I'm off work, in my pj's, hair standing straight up, enjoying my coffee and I intend to stay home all day and just organize "my stuff". Since my two older kids are out of the house now, we've relegated one of the small bedrooms as office space for me. It's all mine! (I'm not heartless - I offered my husband about 12" of space on my desk top but he has passed on the offer. He's letting me have it all. Besides, he's had his own space(s) since forever! It's finally my turn.)

Every parent knows the joy of having a space of their own after years of enjoying and tending to a bustling, busy family. I remember guarding my purse because it was the only thing that was my own. Everyone knew, mitts off and don't even think of opening it up and rooting around in there - even though the only thing they might find is a piece of gum laying on the bottom or a stray fuzzy Life-saver. (Hence the hunt) Now it's different - I have a place of my own. (The purse is still off limits)

I hope this encourages all our many readers, all 4 or 5 of you, depending on the day, to carve out a little space of your own. It's delicious. Who needs drugs or caffeine - I love this room; it's just me and my stuff. Let the creative juices flow!

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Donating Blood

I just got home from work and picked up the mail on the way in. As I'm leafing through it, I notice that my youngest son is once again invited to give blood at the school he attends. It was just a month or so ago that he received a notice in the mail stating that the last batch of blood he gave was "low" and he needed to wait before giving again.

Giving blood is a wonderful thing but I don't think it's right to harvest blood from school-aged children, even college kids. Yes, they are old enough to vote and go to war but they are still just kids. For example:

I said, Andrew, donating too much blood is not healthy. He said, I donate every time they come to the school. I said, why? He said, "Because they give me a cookie."

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