Making Brownies

Here is the conversation from tonight between Andrew and myself:

A: Now that dinner is over, I want to have something sweet like cake or something.

M(e): Well, I don't have any mixes in the cupboard & I'm not going to the store.

A: But there has to be something...I see pancake mix, can we make something with that.

M: Doubtful. Go grab my computer will you.

A: Here it is mom...what are you searching?

M: Allrecipes to see if there is a brownie mix or cake mix that I have the ingredients in-house to make.

A: My Grandma's Brownies: That one looks good.

M: Nope, requires bar chocolate, I only have cocoa powder...let's keep looking. Here's one, Mmm-good Brownies. I think I have all those ingredients.

A: I'll get the bowl out. I've got the aprons, here's yours mom. Do you need the mixer?

M: Would be nice, but remember we burned it out last week making Christmas cookies. We are really going to have to make it old fashioned...mixing with a spoon.

An hour later....
A: Are they ready to eat....can I eat it now...can I have two! Do we have ingredients to make more?

White Elephant

So, this weekend is the annual Christmas party of local Phi Gamma Tri Deltas and we are suppose to have a White Elephant exchange.

If I recall from watching a version of the King and I...I think it was the one with Jodie Foster...White Elephants are rare and sacred and the sign of power in a monarchy.
According to Wikipedia, a white elephant is an idiom for a valuable possession of which its owner cannot dispose and whose cost (particularly cost of upkeep) is out of proportion to its usefulness or worth.

So, with that in mind, how has this tradition become more of a gag-gift of sorts. As I dig into my "treasures" to find the perfect gift, I realize there are many things that are my true White Elephants....a valuable possession of which its owner cannot dispose......which is why I still have it in my possession. There are some things that I should have brought with me to California last year as the white elephant event there. These items would be meaningful to my real sisters, not my sorority sisters.

Since we did a big "Clean Sweep" when we finished the basement, the collection of "stuff" just hasn't added up yet....I better keep digging!

Allergy-Related Bronchitis

So, on Monday, I head down to the Big Metropolis of New Bremen, Ohio to attend my aunt's funeral, making it an all-in-one day. While at the "after service" luncheon, I start developing a tickle in my throat. By the time I get home around 6 pm, it's now just a little cough or clearing of the throat. By the time I go to bed, I'm hacking up a storm and just miserable.

I get into the doctor Tuesday morning as I don't need to spend another 2 months getting over my allergy-related bronchitis as I did all summer and this week is a busy week on the calendar. I'm at a new doctors office as we had a change in insurance, and not only did he look down my throat, they ran blood work, cultures, swabs down my throat & up my nose, chest x-rays, had a pregnancy test due to x-rays (obviously being OTR wasn't good enough), and provided me with 6 prescriptions. Of course my first comment was: I'm just here for bronchitis; my second comment was: is my insurance covering all this, because I'm not.

Outside of Motrin & the occasional Tylenol PM, I tend not to take drugs, so then I'm at the pharmacist chatting up a storm on the potentials of being overdosed. She assured me, I'd be okay, as two of them are more optional: the inhaler & the Robitussin D, if the symptoms are bad.

I'm use to my other doctor telling me to take Mucinex, a decongestant of choice, & nose spray. But then again, I couldn't kick it this summer for 2 months, maybe the new doctor has a better plan.

So, I get home glad to know it wasn't H1N1, any other flu, didn't have strep (not that my throat hurt), and it was exactly what I thought, allergy-related bronchitis, but I was still trying to deduce what was the initial cause. Did the farmland of America really play around with my seasonal allergies. It wasn't cold, but it wasn't warm. It had just rained the night before. Was it my brother's dog? Never bothered me before. I personally think it was the manure smell by the cemetery myself. I think that's something I should avoid for all purposes in the future!

Best bonus from all the drugs: when taken in the right sequence, I'm inclined to take a really nice morning nap....my pillow is calling...be back and moving around 10:00 :)

The Pie's Have It

Baking day for me....pumpkin roll, sweet potato pie, and apple pie aroma all fill my kitchen and the house.

I also got the cranberry sauce made and must say, it is fantastic! I can't wait to have it with my turkey.

The sausage/rice stuffing is complete and that is also might tasty.

How am I going to make it to tomorrow with all these fabulous items within reach?

Tomorrow I've got the turkey, regular stuffing, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, sweet potato casserole, gravy, & rolls...did I forget something?

Sad to say, only one green item on the menu!

To Market, To Market

To market, to market to buy a fresh turkey, Home again to dry it into jerky...

Or really to figure out how to get it to thaw in 2 days....why are they still frozen at the market! Don't they know Thanksgiving is in 2 days!

On my list of Thanksgiving preparation for Richard's family to join us on Wednesday evening sometime, today was my market day, so I can have everything as fresh as possible without waiting until the last moment....which would be Wednesday. That day is saved for other tasks :) For some reason, everyone else in Rochester Hills thought the same thing. Krogers was busy, Costco was busier. Doesn't anyone work anymore. You would think that hitting Krogers at 9 a.m. would offer the convenience of a little alone time in the market...nooooo...I'm there with all the other SAHM that just dropped their kids off at school. Which was again me!

Today was a special day for Andrew. He was allowed to wear PJs to school today...but only for elementary school. So, he heads over to middle school at 7 am for his math class, and somehow convinced me to pick him up after at 8:45 so he can change, but he needs to be back at elementary school at 8:55 because he is in charge of doing the news this week & next week.

Of course my comment last night was to pack his PJs and change at school, or wear his bottoms under his blue jeans and just drop trou when he gets to school. Noooo that wouldn't work. Instead, I'm on a time table at the gym to make sure I leave by 8:30, so I can get to WMS, pick Andrew up, get home, he changes while I make second breakfast for him (bagel to go), then off to Long Meadow to start the next part of his day.

After rushing back to school, I finally get to go to the market to start my shopping experience. Back and forth, back and forth, and back and forth once more. I think I finally have everything to last at least until Friday when I'll need more bread & salad!

Now I'm ready for Wednesday...bank, post office, orthodontist, make pumpkin rolls, and clean bathrooms (again)...oh and another load of towels.

New Moon - The Movie

http://www.twilightthemovie.com/

As I patiently awaited the Twilight Series movie of New Moon, which I read in January, it finally was released on Friday, so we waited until Sunday to see it. So, Michal, Kaitlyn, Emma, Emily, Andrew, & I all headed over to Forum 30 to drool over Rob Pattinson, & Taylor Launter...or at least I did. I tell you what, for being 16, Taylor Launter did what he had to do to assure his continuation from Twilight to New Moon....he's pretty buff!

Now, I was the only one that had read the book and I really wonder if people that haven't read it "get it". I obviously got the movie. I wondered if Emily fell asleep as she was looking pretty relaxed in her chair. Andrew thought there was too much kissing. I, of course, didn't think there was a enough as the movie is about a romance.

So, now I'm waiting to see if others want to see it...as I'm a Twilight fan and would see it again.

Bummer, I have to wait until next year for Eclipse!

Dumped by Mindy

So, I'm hosting my monthly workshop and Mindy brings up the fact that she's dumping my blog as I haven't updated anything in 5 months...so here I am, back on track so I don't get dumped by Mindy!

In my life, I've been dumped by boyfriends, dumped the clothes in the laundry room, dumped the wheel barrel full of leaves into the fire pit, but don't think I've ever been dumped by a close friend!

So, as I try to pride myself to not having to be told something twice, I'm back on track so I can be in Mindy's Top 5 blogs to read section of her followings :)

Message to Mindy: I'm down on my knees, please don't delete me out of your life :)

School's Out

School is finally out! The kids were so excited about school ending this week until Friday afternoon when they were being carted here and there while I ran my typical errands and then asked to help fold clothes as I completed the laundry. When Andrew asked, "Is this what you do all day?" I knew right then that he realized summer will probably not be as fun as it had been in the past. I of course threw him a deep fishing line when I responded "Oh no, I usually sit and play on your Wii games all day." It didn't take long for him to realize I was reeling in the line to see if he was hooked.

Life Incognito

So, Memorial Day Weekend was spent up north....first time I made it up there since we blew the engine in the snowmobile...was that February or was that March? We arrived LATE on Thursday evening as Emily had her last band concert on Thursday evening...who planned that one! We woke up Friday morning to an absolutely beautiful Northern Michigan day. A bit of lawn clean up...no burning allowed as they haven't had rain in weeks...so what better way to enjoy the rest of the weekend but to don the sunglasses and sit on the boat all weekend. Well maybe not on Sunday when the wind was coming from the North....so we just moved over to the other lake and sat on their beach. Now, that's the life of retirement....

Now, I still need to wear my sunglasses as the raccoon eyes are shining the way around.

A Lull in Life

Ever have that time in your life, day, week that you just can't motivate yourself to do ANYTHING! Well that's been going on in my life for what seems like 2 months...maybe 3. Outside of the necessities...kids to school, practice, or whatever event is on the calendar, laundry, & grocery store it seems like a struggle to complete anything...maybe it's cabin fever from the winter. I change rooms to get different views, but I must say, I watch more t.v. now that I have since I was a kid. I still get up and go to the gym, but after that, it's life of boredom. All the things that held my interest...books, scrapbooking, lunching with friends have just taken a back seat! I've been reading The Host since March....when I'd go through 2-3 books a week, now I can't finish one in 2 months:)

Guess it's time to go back to work...a busy person finds time for everything! Maybe next week's 70 degree weather will help snap me out of this cycle....

Any suggestions!

Vacation in Florida

If you live in Michigan, you could probably relate to my dilemma. The week before Easter, we wake up as usual to get everyone off to school and look outside to find there is snow on the ground and it continued to snow all day. With the countdown to Spring Break upon us...Andrew was done with school on Wednesday, Emily on Thursday, my hopes for doing our normal "Spring Cleaning" of the lake house, getting the dock in the water, launching the boat, etc was becoming more of a dream than reality.

So, I woke up on Thursday morning, looked at the weather forecast, and continued to get grumpier...rain, rain, and more rain...oh and sun a couple days. I had enough! So I started to look at all the last minute deals I could find....of course all related to what weather.com could tell me on where the great weather was going to be. First, I thought Wash DC...nope, only 10 degrees warmer than where I was, then down to GA...maybe Savannah for a change...rain, rain, rain...then TN area...not a positive outlook...finally FL....Sunny & 80 all week, except for one day. I'm so there!

After hours of searching, found a great 3 bedroom condo on Cinnamon Beach in Palm Coast...between St. Augustine & Daytona Beach....Atlantic coast for those not familiar with FL. The place just called to us, so we packed our bags and the dog & headed out on Friday morning.

Upon arrival to any vacation hot spot, what's the first thing that you do....head to the beach, which we most definitely did! The stark white skin reflecting in the sun proved that we were definitely not from around there, but we were hoping that through the week, that would change.

As we sat on the beach, we developed our plan for the week. Yes, we actually left Michigan without a plan! So, we looked at the weather print out and decided....okay, mornings at the pool until 1 pm, lunch, a little rest (or homework for Emily), then beach in the later afternoon. Sounded like a great plan to me. My soul purpose was to eliminate my vitamin D deficiency from the l-o-n-g Michigan winter.

Our one day of scheduled rain, we decided to head down to Kennedy Space Center. Unbeknown to us, there is a scheduled shuttle flight in May and they have the shuffle in place, launch condition, 1 month prior to departure. So lucky us, we saw the shuttle ready to go and we saw the big shuttle mover thingy on its 1 mph return journey to pick up the other shuttle. As with British royalty, they have the heir (Atlantis) and the spare (Endeaver) ready to go. So, while we were there, we met up with Astronaut Jon McBride which was the one astronaut that I knew. I personally thought it was time for him to move to Michigan as he seemed he has been overdosing in vitamin D for too many years.

So, then the rest of the trip was the same ol' boring beach trip....play at the pool, play at the beach....when we thought we needed a break in our mundane schedule, we went and played putt-putt golf. Otherwise, Richard and I both read a few books (first book I read in several weeks) and kicked our feet up and enjoyed the weather...if only I could have had one more day.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Cheers to you on St. Patrick's Day! We started out at Lifetime to work off our potential drinking load before we went to the pub. Then we headed out to Gus O'Connor's in downtown Rochester, but had to wait in line and they also wanted $10 to get into the place...we just wanted a bloody beer. So we headed over to Hamlin Pub! Spend about 3.5 hours there enjoying the two-some band....and several beers...then parted ways. When I got home, another friend was over at Gus O'Connor, so Andrea and I braved the $10 cover charge to meet up with them. After a couple of beers, it was time to head back home to sober up for Emily's All-City Concert....still yet to come :)

Hope your Irish holiday was festive!

Will the Real Pregnant One Remain Standing

So, while at the Lexington Scrapbooking Retreat a couple weekends ago, we had a real pregnant person arrive for the weekend. Of course, it was questionable which one it was! Fortunately for Joann and Kathy, the winner was Janet!

This brought back memories of a trip I took with my sisters "Paris, Part Deux", where they all had balloons stuck under their shirts walking the the Paris Casino in Las Vegas. "Paris, Part Une" when we all traveled to Paris, France, I was seven months pregnant, so when we had our one year reunion in Las Vegas at the Paris Casino, they all were pregnant and I wasn't. Of course their pregnancy was short lived as soon as we popped the balloons!

Breaking Dawn...The Action Movie

Ok, I thought I'd share my fun-filled weekend with you.

It all started Friday around 7:30 pm when I got a call from my friend Phyllis...

(P) "Hey Lynn, Phyllis here, do you still have Breaking Dawn? I want to read it over the weekend for a discussion with my hair stylist on Monday and my library is all out until who knows when!"

(L) "No, I gave those all back to Kathy. Let me call her and see if she has passed them onto someone else yet....I'll call you back."

(L) "Hey, Kathy, do you still have Breaking Dawn in your possession, a friend of mine wants to read it this weekend?"

(K) "Yes, I do, but we're on my way to Chicago for volleyball tournaments all weekend. I wish I had a number code on my garage, I'd give it to you so you could pick it up yourself. Can it wait until Monday?"

(L) "Not sure, I'll let you know."

(L) "Hey, Phyllis, no go on Kathy, she's out of town. Let me look real fast at my library...Oh wow, they have 4 copies in stock (out of 25 books). I can't reserve one since it's on the shelf, let me try to call them to set it aside for me."

(Lib) "The library is currently closed, please visit our website."

(L) "Hey, Phyllis, it's closed, so I can grab it in the morning for you, if that works?"

(P) "Sounds good, just let me know if you are successful."

Saturday morning:
(L) "Hey Richard, can you take Emily to practice in the morning so I can go to the library at 9?"

(R) Sniffle, sniffle, blow..."I really don't feel well...I don't think so." blow, blow, sniffle

(L) 9:01 am..."Hey, RHPL, can you set aside for me Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer, I'll pick up later this morning?"

(Lib) "I think we are out; it's hard to keep those books on the shelf."

(L) "Can you check for me, the website said you had 4 last night"

(Lib) "Ok, yes, we do, I'll set it aside for you."

(L) "Morning Phyllis, on my way to take Emily to practice. I have the book held for me at the library. I'll pick it up around 11:30 on my way home from practice."

(P) " Sounds great, call when in hand and I'll head over to get it."

Around Noon...

(L) "Phyllis, the package has been secured, what is your ETA for acquisition?"

(P) "I'll ring as I'm heading out the door."

What you do for friends........

Back to My Fantasy

It appears at this moment in time that the little fat rodent was right on Monday. I'm waiting to see Positive Degree temperatures again. Makes me want to plan a trip some place warm....well, I guess it's back to my fantasy & the 100 watt light bulbs.



Groundhog versus Cubbie...I think the groundhog has my dog by a few pounds...but I think instinct will lead to the success of my dog.

Happy Groundhog's Day!

So, I'm sitting here reflecting on the current prediction of the infamous Groundhog -- 6 more weeks of winter. I'm really hoping that only applies to PA as we have had a couple pretty nice days here in MI...blue sky, sunny...decent temperature for a change.

Since we had our first snowman before Thanksgiving, the least that the little fat rodent could have done is been optimistic and claimed 6 more weeks until Spring. But consistent with all the news reports, the cup is always 1/2 empty vs. 1/2 full. If you didn't know, MI has the highest unemployment rate in the nation with many other states following close behind, so why would it be so hard for a fat rodent to bring a little surge of happiness in all of our lives by claiming 6 more weeks until Spring. I think he has teamed up with Ebeneezer Scrooge.

So, I'm sicking my dog on the rodent for mass destruction or at least to keep him off my lawn and all his pessimistic views. We are only having "happy thoughts" here...Let's go Spring! I can smell the flowers already (or was that just a spritz of my perfume). Maybe I'll splurge and turn the heat from 66 to 80, toss on the bathing suit, pull out the lawn chair, rub on some sunscreen (or just use Ellen's Pikaki Lotion - it's smells like Coppertone), toss a few 100 watt bulbs in the ceiling fan, turn on my breeze, put on my sunglasses and play a little reggae and imagine I'm in the Caribbean for a few hours! AAHHH, where's my Malibu & Pineapple Juice!

I'll wait for the next snow storm before I return to reality...which looks like tomorrow...bugger that!

Don't Worry, Be Happy!

Breaking Dawn

Well, I finished up with the Twilight series...no more Bella & Edward. The 4th book definitely was a bit different than the other 3, but it was an interesting wrap to the series. If you haven't read any of them, I highly recommend it. If you have read some of them, then finish up the series.

I think Stephenie could have ended the series with the 3rd book, but the 4th book answers the "what happens next," which I know many readers always want to know when they are done with a good book.

In the meanwhile, I did have the opportunity to see the movie Twilight last week before it was gone from the theater. As always, the book is better...more descriptive. I'll probably see the movie again when it's out on DVD or HBO. They picked a great person to be Edward...a little too much on the lip coloring though. But, as a friend of mine indicated over the weekend, it really seemed more like a "low budget" movie, not realizing how much of a "cult" followed the books and what a hit it probably was at the box office.

So, if you saw the movie, but didn't read the books, let me know your thoughts.

Eclipse

Okay, I finished up the third book in the Twilight series....now I'm on a manhunt for the fourth and supposedly final book in the series. I've got myself on the library hold list...I'm number 9...fortunately not too far on the list, but it will still be probably 3 weeks away before my number comes due. I can not believe it takes 3 weeks or more for someone to read a book! If anyone has it out there...I only need it for 2 days...possible 1 :)

No School Day

It's January 16 and we are already having our 2nd "No School" day. The first we missed as we were already in California for the holidays before the 12-14" of snow blew into Rochester. This one, well you would look outside and see the absolutely blue sky with sunshine and wonder, what were these people thinking. Well, since it's 10:00 am now and it's still -6, with windchill of -22, I could only wonder what it really was at 6:00 am when we got "the call". The sad thing is, it's only the 2nd day for middle & high school, the elementary schools already had this as a "day off" for in-service or whatever they call it these days. Today was the last day of finals for 1st quarter...guess it will be fun Tuesday when they go back to school!

So, now we're bundled up in my bed watching movies, while I read Eclipse....bummer that pretty soon we are going to have to brave it and go to the market...the cupboards & frig are quite empty.

The dog doesn't even want to go outside to chase squirrels :)

The New Comcast...

Well, if you are like me, a Comcast user for emails, you would have turned on your computer this morning to find a whole new comcast email system. Since I run my emails thru Comcast's system vs. Outlook to help keep out the virus', I was quite surprised to find the new set up as appealing as it appears, wiped out my whole address book....on all accounts.

So in trying to regenerate it from my yahoo address book, I now have to collect my addy via Plaxo? Someone explain that one too me...obviously being out of work for a year I have limited my IT interface on all the new and upcoming things. So, sorry if you received an message from me to join Plaxo, or whatever it asked as I was trying to generate new address books. I am sure I haven't hit all the snags yet. Some I have recovered, others will be lost forever :(

So, basically to avoid the mental breakdown I know I would have had dealing with it all at once, I just continued reading my Stephenie Meyer's book. Now I'm at peace with the world and can once again figure out what I do next with my Comcast accounts.

New Moon

Funny to write about New Moon when we just finished up with our Full Moon. But what can I say, another Stephenie Meyer book completed. I think I liked this one better than Twilight. I wonder what will happen in Book 3, Eclipse. I guess I'll start it right now to find out. These books just suck you right in....pun intended. "Lifetime Fitness, what's that?" Fortunately the dog sleeps most of the day :)

Twilight

So, I decided to get onto the teen bandwagon and read Twilight. My friend Kathy provided me with books 1-3 back in December. I finally finished up with a slew of books that I had picked up from the library...or actually came due on the Hold List at the library, so it was time to pick up the first book Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.

Well, less than 24 hours later (including sleeping time), I finished the first book, all 498 pages of it. Although I thought it was a bit slow to start, for some reason...could have been the "vampire glamor" effect...I just couldn't put it down. I started it last night during the normal "bedtime reading time" and before I knew it, it was 11:30 and I needed to go to sleep. Then I started reading it again this morning, ended up blowing everything off today just so I could read it.

If you haven't read it, I recommend it. I kept the Oxford dictionary close by as Stephenie used some unique words in the book...and although I could decipher the meanings accordingly in the context, I'm trying to teach the kids not be afraid to look up the words that are unknown...and I really wanted to make sure I had the true meaning of the words that she was using.

Now, I have to see if it's too late to see the movie...or if I have to wait until DVD. Now, it's time to move onto "New Moon".

New Year Resolutions

Well, another year has gone by...how well did you do with your 2008 resolutions. Here are the results of my 2008 resolutions:
(1) Read 50 Books: I have 56 listed in my log, I know there are probably a few more books out there I read that I forgot to add to my list.
(2) Life at the Gym: Outside of summer & vacations, I managed to work up to 5 days a week, with a minimum of 3 days a week.
(3) Blog Twice a Week: Well that didn't go so well...I'm just not a slave to my computer, so I'm just not on it that much, but I do look at it as a success as I have kept it up versus letting it drop.
(4) Get & Stay Organized: Always a continuous process and always underway. Did a lot of "Clean Sweeping" this year, of course now I wonder "what did I do with...." I'm sure it was part of the toss pile.
(5) Make My Family #1: Well, I did a lot more things with school, attended all the sports events that I could, help with homework, and spent more time with my husband...is that always a good thing? I'd give myself a 8 out of 10 for sense of accomplishment.

Now, onto my 2009 New Year Resolutions. I've really had to think about this one and some of the items continue from last year....needing to make sure I keep the commitment.

(1) Complete Album Projects: Get current in my kids albums & stay current. Tackle other album projects like my kids first year's album, Richard's auto album, and start on historical albums. I'd like to target completing 240 pages in my albums. This is actually less than I ended up completing in 2008, but the projects require more research.

(2) Continue Reading: I will target 60 books this year...an average of 5 per month. This may be tight at some times, but I think it's still reachable.

(3) Start a daily journal: I know I have the blog, but that's for sharing. When I was in Lexington in November, I discovered the importance of writing just a simple daily journal that can be reviewed by future descendants.

(4) Continue a minimum of 3 days at the gym.

(5) Finish the remaining house projects: Haven't been able to turn back to the items that need finishing yet, so I will make a plan of action to get those items completed.

So, have you set yours yet?