Ratcatchers, Hammocks, Penuche Fudge and Spoonerisms Oh My!

So I see that people are reading, just not commenting on the posts they read. Oh well….. guess I will continue to post and eventually someone will have a moment where they feel like they have something that needs to be said .. I am sure of it!

Today is Thursday, July 22, 2010 – a very very boring day at the office. I have played with stumbleupon as much as I possibly can. You know it is a slow boring day when you get tired of stumbling.

We had some truly amazing chicken wings for dinner last night! We baked them for a little, put them on the grill and coated them with hot wing sauce and grilled them until fully cooked tossed them with a little more wing sauce and yummm-o! It was a delicious dinner.

Today’s plans include: (1) making it to 5:00 and (2) wedding dress shopping with my soon to be mother in law! Maybe tonight I will find the dress!?!

Other than dress shopping, we also should be celebrating – today is Hammock Day and Ratcatcher’s Day (yuck!)

This is what I found about Ratcatcher’s Day ~ Ratcatcher's Day commemorates the Pied Piper of Hamelin, the most infamous of Ratcatchers. So if you see a Ratcatcher today, wish them Happy Ratcatcher's Day!

With summer in full swing, it seems appropriate to celebrate Hammock Day also. Hammock Day exists to enjoy summer as it should be enjoyed laying, relaxing and enjoying the world around us. While you are relaxing in your hammock, you should be enjoying some Penuche – because of course everyone knows today is also National Penuche Fudge Day – right, you knew that already right?! The only other thing left to do today is to say some spoonerisms in between bites of your fudge. Go ahead yell out ~ "Is it kisstomary to cuss the bride?" (or any other spoonerism of your choice (please share with me what your favorite is!)

Ratcatchers, Hammocks, Penuche Fudge and Spoonerisms – what a good day!

REALLY!??!

Really readers?!?!  I have 27 posts (well 28 now) and only one stinking comment!  I see you visiting my page ... please say hello to me! please

July 21, 2010

Image via Wikipedia

Hello all you blog readers out there! How are you doing on this Wednesday? I know, I already did wordless Wednesday with some pictures (which are much more prettier in person than they appear on the blog!) It is an absolutely beautiful day out … although it looks like it could blow in some rain any minute.

What is new today you ask …… ummmm…. I am wearing shoes that are killing my feet! Ugh, the price women pay to look cute! I tell ya, it just isn’t fair! (do I get an AMEN!?) Also new today is I am wearing my Italian charm bracelet. I love this bracelet, but never wear it because I don’t have very many charms. On the flip side, no one will buy me charms because I never wear it! Anyone have any charms they don’t want anymore? I would be more than happy to take them off your hands! {smile}

July 21, 2010 -- lets go see what today is all about ~ off to go search the internet ~

Today is National Junk Food Day! (no this sounds like an awesome day to celebrate!) Today is also Legal Drinking Age Day. I don’t get this holiday nor can I find anything online to explain it. – I guess it probably wasn’t worth mentioning then uh? Oh well –

Birthday … did someone say birthday? No? I think I might have heard it. Yes, I heard it. Today’s birthday include ~ Robin Williams (59), Josh Hartnett (32), Don Knotts (86) and Ernest Hemingway (111). There were others too, but none that seemed worth mentioning. 

until next time …

Related articles by Zemanta

• Famous and Celebrity Birthdays for July 21, 2010 (blippitt.com)
• Horoscope for Wednesday, July 21, 2010 (thestar.com)

Wordless Wednesday ~ Sky

I took these pictures a few years ago.  Both taken at the same time.  One is the sky looking in one direction the other the other direction.  Notice the rainbow and the lightening in the second picture? (wow.... lots of words for wordless Wednesday!)

 

At the 4H fair watching my little guy race!

Living, Being, and Doing

17 Quotes On Living, Being, and Doing

“Fall seven times; stand up eight.” – Japanese proverb

"You must give up the life you planned in order to have the life that is waiting for you.” – Joseph Campbell

“The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” – Chinese Proverb

“You must be the change you want to see in the world.” – Gandhi

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” – Theodore Roosevelt

“I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” – Jimmy Dean

“All is flux, nothing stays still.” – Heraclitus

“For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

“I am tomorrow, or some future day, what I establish today. I am today what I established yesterday or some previous day.” – James Joyce

“I don’t need a friend who changes when I change and who nods when I nod; my shadow does that much better.” – Plutarch

“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.” – Epicurus

“Be a first rate version of yourself, not a second rate version of someone else” – Judy Garland

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” – Anne Frank

“The mind can make a heaven out of hell or a hell out of heaven” – John Milton

“Try not to become a man of success but a man of value.” – Albert Einstein

“The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance; the wise grows it under his feet.” – James Oppenheim

Wordless Wednesday ~ Mariea & The People She Loves

 

 

A lot of Nothing

Cover of Fool's Paradise

I have absolutely nothing to write about today, but decided to start typing and see what comes out. I got a new plant for my desk today. The plant ladies cut a bunch of starts from the plants around the office and tossed them in the trash. I dug them out (go ahead say it…) and put them in a really cute vase that I have filled with water. Gives a nice green feeling to my desk in addition to the lucky bamboo that I have.

I have no idea what I am making for dinner tonight – ugh – no desire to cook either.

My toe nails look like sharty! I need to repaint them.

Off to go check the holidays ---- gosh, what a boring holiday day.
Barbershop Music Appreciation Day – yuck
Embrace Your Geekness Day – eh?
Fool’s Paradise Day – what?

Yes, I said Yahoo… I hate using the other searches.

20 minutes until this work day is over …. What else can I find to ramble about today? Okay, so I have this nifty little "assistant" on my blog thingy called Zemanta and it comes up with things (suggestions if you will) about what I write about. I just learned that Fool's Paradise is a book. Wonder if the "holiday" has anything to do with the book?

Heterochromia

Happy Monday everyone!  Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.
My weekend was – well days off work at least!
I am not sure who has taken the manners and respect that my children have, but I would love to have it back – not sure I can remain sane very many more days like this.
However, were able to enjoy the TRF Parade.
The kids loved it so much that when the 2 hour parade was over, Kylie was wishing it was longer.
We were then able to watch a Fort Wayne Derby Girls free bout – LOVED IT!  I so want to do this.
I even talked to one of the girls (thank you Alotta Attitude) about what I need to do to join.

Do you know anyone with Heterochromia?
If so, celebrate them – today is Different Colored Eyes Day!
It is also Pecan Pie Day!   What a perfect opportunity to share a WONDERFUL Pecan Pie recipe –   aw darn it!  I don’t have it with me.
I will have to post this later (remind me!)

Recipes to Share

One of my favorite things to do is cook (as long as I have a recipe).  I love to cook and love to eat -- I hate however, cleaning up the mess!  As I sit here board as the front door, I thought I would share a few recipes with you -- as well as the basic reason I love them.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas  -- I love Mexican!

Flat Iron Steak with Southwest Rub -- Excellent on the Grill!
Sirloin Tips and Mushrooms -- WINE!
Absolutely Fabulous Portobello Mushroom Tortellini -- who doesn't love homemade alfredo!
(with homemade Alfredo sauce)
Bellyache Cake -- warm chocolate yummy goodness!
Buffalo Chicken Dip -- feel good yum-o dip!

CREAMY CHICKEN ENCHILADAS
Prep: 30 min.  Bake: 35 min.

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
2 T water
2 t onion powder
2 t ground cumin
½ t salt
¼ t pepper
5 cups diced cooked chicken
20 6” flour tortillas room temperature
2 cans (10 ¾ oz each) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
2 cups (16 oz) sour cream
1 cup milk
2 cans (4 oz each) chopped green chilies
2 cups (8 oz) shredded cheddar cheese

In a large mixing bowl beat the cream cheese, water, onion powder, cumin, salt and pepper until smooth.  Stir in chicken.
Place ¼ cup down the center of each tortilla.  Roll up and place seam side down in two greased 13” x 9” x 2” baking dishes. 

In a bowl, combine the soup, sour cream, milk and chilies, pour over enchiladas.

Bake uncovered at 350° for 30-40 minutes or until heated through.  Sprinkle with cheddar cheese; bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Flat Iron Steak with Southwest Rub

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
¼ teaspoon ground red pepper

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in small bowl.
Press rub evenly onto tender beef steaks before grilling.  Turn occasionally to avoid burning.

I have also made in the oven.
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sirloin Tips and Mushrooms

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ pounds beef sirloin
1 (16 oz) can mushrooms, with liquid
1 (8oz) can tomato sauce
Salt & Pepper to taste
¾ cup red wine

Directions:
Cut beef into cubes.  In a large skillet over medium/high heat, heat the olive oil and brown the beef cubes with the garlic.
Add mushrooms with liquid, tomato sauce, salt, pepper and red wine. 
Cook for 30 minutes or until beef cubes are tender.
Add a little more wine while cooking if desired.

I added MUCH more wine!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Absolutely Fabulous Portobello Mushroom Tortellini
(with homemade Alfredo sauce)

Ingredients:
1 pound cheese tortellini
2 large Portobello mushrooms (I use baby bellas)
¼ cup white wine
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 ounces Alfredo sauce (I use recipe below!)
Salt & pepper to taste
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions:
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boil.  Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
Meanwhile, prepare mushrooms y rinsing and thinly slicing the mushroom caps; discard the stems.
In a medium skillet over low heat, combine wine, parsley, garlic and mushrooms; stirring frequently, sauté for approximately 5 minutes  or until mushrooms are cooked through.
Remove skillet from heat and slowly add Alfredo sauce, stirring to blend; season with salt & pepper to taste.
Separate hot pasta into four portions and spoon sauce over pasta.  Garnish with cheese and serve immediately.

Quick & Easy Alfredo Sauce:

Ingredients:
½ cup butter
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 cups milk
6 oz grated parmesan cheese
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions:
Melt butter in a medium, non-stick saucepan over medium heat.  Add cream cheese and garlic powder, stirring with wire whisk until smooth.
Add milk, a little at a time, whisking to smooth out lumps.  Stir in parmesan and pepper.
Remove from heat when sauce reaches desired consistency.  Sauce will thicken rapidly, thin with milk if cooked too long.
Toss with pasta to serve

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bellyache Cake

Mix in a 9x9 pan:
1 cup flour
¾ cup sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
¼ teaspoon salt

Add:
½ cup milk
2 tablespoons oil

Mix and then add:
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup nuts (optional)

Spread evenly in pan and sprinkle with mixture of:
1 cup brown sugar
¼ cup cocoa

Pour 1 ¾ cup HOT water on top of batter

Bake 40 minutes at 350
Let sit 15 minutes before eating

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buffalo Chicken Dip

Ingredients:
2 10 oz cans of cooked chicken
1 cup of Franks red hot sauce
2 bricks of fat free cream cheese (softened)
1 cup fat free ranch dressing
1 cup shredded cheese (any variety but mozzarella)

Direction:
Combine the cream cheese and hot sauce.  Add the ranch, chicken and ½ the cheese.  Once all is mixed, bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes (or so).  Top with remaining cheese and let sit for about 10 minutes.  Serve with taco chips.

Karaoke

Good morning blog followers and blog stumble uponers. Hope you are having a wonderful Thursday! Thursday … two things that pop into my head when I think of Thursday – Thirsty Thursday and Karaoke – kind of embarrassed that I am 30 years old and those are the two things that I think about when I think about Thursday (please tell me I am not alone!)

Karaoke is the topic of the post –

The top songs for the week of June 27, 2010:
according to: http://www.ez-tracks.com/top-40-karaoke-songs.html

1 Beat It Michael Jackson

2 Eye Of The Tiger Survivor , (ST ROCKY III)

3 Livin' On A Prayer Bon Jovi

4 Bad Michael Jackson

5 Addicted Enrique Iglesias

6 My Heart Will Go On (Love Theme From Titanic) Celine Dion

7 Complicated Avril Lavigne

8 Forever In Love Kenny G

9 The Sound Of Music Cast , (ST SOUND OF MUSIC)

10 Could I Have This Kiss Forever Whitney Houston , Enrique Iglesias
11 Barbie Girl Aqua

12 A New Day Has Come Celine Dion

13 What A Wonderful World Louis Armstrong

14 Angel Shaggy , Rayvon

15 A Night To Remember Yanni

16 Dancing Queen Abba

17 God Bless The USA Lee Greenwood

18 Thriller Michael Jackson

19 Be With You Enrique Iglesias

20 All By Myself Celine Dion

21 I'm Your Angel Celine Dion , R. Kelly

22 La Isla Bonita Madonna

23 Let's Get It Started Black Eyed Peas

24 Soft Waving Standard

25 Falling Into You Celine Dion

26 Yeah! Usher

27 A Year Ago Kenny G

28 Buffalo Soldier Bob Marley , The Wailers

29 My Immortal Evanescence

30 The Man In The Mirror Michael Jackson

31 Hero Enrique Iglesias

32 National Anthem USA - The Star Spangled Banner Standard

33 Afraid Standard

34 Chiquitita Abba

35 Crazy Little Thing Called Love Queen

36 Born In The USA Bruce Springsteen

37 You Decorated My Life Kenny Rogers *

38 Caught Up Usher

39 The Lord Of The Dance Irish Show Ensemble , (ST LORD OF THE DANCE)
40 Body Rock Maria Vidal , (ST BODY ROCK)

What is your favorite song to sing?

How to Win Friends and Influence People

Found this while stumbling on the internet and found it interesting enough to share ~ 

How to Win Friends and Influence People

(Dale Carnegie's summary of his book from 1936)

---

Table of Contents

1. Fundamental Techniques in Handling People
2. Six Ways to Make People Like You
3. How to Win People to Your Way of Thinking
4. Be a Leader: How to Change People Without Giving Offense or Arousing Resentment

---

Part One

Fundamental Techniques in Handling People

1. Don't criticize, condemn or complain.
2. Give honest and sincere appreciation.
3. Arouse in the other person an eager want.

---

Part Two

Six ways to make people like you

1. Become genuinely interested in other people.
2. Smile.
3. Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
4. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
5. Talk in terms of the other person's interests.
6. Make the other person feel important - and do it sincerely.

---

Part Three

Win people to your way of thinking

1. The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.
2. Show respect for the other person's opinions. Never say, "You're wrong."
3. If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.
4. Begin in a friendly way.
5. Get the other person saying "yes, yes" immediately.
6. Let the other person do a great deal of the talking.
7. Let the other person feel that the idea is his or hers.
8. Try honestly to see things from the other person's point of view.
9. Be sympathetic with the other person's ideas and desires.
10. Appeal to the nobler motives.
11. Dramatize your ideas.
12. Throw down a challenge.

---

Part Four

Be a Leader: How to Change People Without Giving Offense or Arousing Resentment

A leader's job often includes changing your people's attitudes and behavior. Some suggestions to accomplish this:

1. Begin with praise and honest appreciation.
2. Call attention to people's mistakes indirectly.
3. Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person.
4. Ask questions instead of giving direct orders.
5. Let the other person save face.
6. Praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement. Be "hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise."
7. Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to.
8. Use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct.
9. Make the other person happy about doing the thing you suggest.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Summertime Fun

Howdy Howdy

Welcome back to the real world ….. no more sick days off work and no more long holiday weekend.

I hope everyone had a fun and safe 4th of July! This year I was able to see the fireworks from a very cool location. We went with friends to their local firework show and saw everything up close. We talked to the guys who set up the display and my friend was even able to light one from a 9v battery! We were as close as we possibly could be to them that was still safe – it was VERY COOL! Thank you guys again for inviting us.

Lets see… what else is new? As you can see, I took advantage of the random blog postings from my phone this weekend! :) We ate at a local sushi bar for dinner on Friday night … AMAZING! I would eat sushi everyday if I could. Met some new friends and had a lot of fun. It was a very long zero sleep filled holiday weekend. – F.U.N.


Also worth mentioning – today is National Fried Chicken Day! Yum -- Fried chicken! I love fried chicken, but this is one thing (one of a few things) that I cannot cook! If anyone has any wonderful fried chicken recipes, I would love for you to share them.

Also very noteworthy, is Nude Recreation Weekend! (July 5-11) {wink wink} If you have any stories you would like to share about this I am also all ears!

Happy 4th of July!

I just ate the best sushi EVER! YUM-O

Oh! And i have now set up my phone so that i can post to my blog!! Because you never know when something might hit me and i have top post :-D please excuse all of the typos in these posting!!

July 2, 2010

Today, July 2, 2010 is ~ International Chicken Wing Day and I Forgot Day! How are you celebrating it? In my opinion, a great way to celebrate would be to eat some yummy chicken wings. However, I will not be celebrating this way… nope sorry! Giving up my sushi date night is not worth it just to “celebrate” International Chicken Wing Day! How about I Forgot Day … lets go see what I can learn about that on the internet (be back in a flash). Did you miss me? Okay, this is what I have learned ~ First, the coolest thing about this day – it was “created” by Ms. Gaye Andersen of DeMotte, Indiana! YEAH Indiana! (wait, is this something to be proud of?? ummmm) I Forgot Day, by definition, is not a day to remember. Some days are days to remember and to cherish all of our lives. Others, like today, are ones to be forgotten. One site I found sent condolences if you were having a baby or getting married today! Some people view today as an opportunity to express their regrets for forgetting something, and to make amends. They do so by sending cards and flowers, apologizing for their memory lapse. (I didn't get anything today -- did you?) The trouble is, if you forget something important tomorrow, you have to wait a whole year for the next I Forgot Day to arrive.

Upon wandering the internet, I also found out that today is World UFO Day! Today is not just a day to celebrate UFOs no sir … World UFO Day is a day to get governments to fess up to the existence of UFOs. July 2nd was chosen for this special day because it is the date of the Roswell Incident. Um okay.. moving on.

I totally need some comments to this post! Tell me, do you believe we have been visited by UFOs?

whirlwind of a week

What a whirlwind of a week!

Last Friday was a bit shitty. The very important meeting that I went to ended up with the other side not willing to budge, not one little smidgen so things will remain status quo for a while now – bummer.

Friday evening turned out to be a lot of fun. Corey and I took the kids to the local fair in town. Rode rides and listen to the band on the courthouse lawn. My little daredevil boys rode the hammer but my favorite part was the family rides on the scrambler. Boys in one seat girls in another. The kids laughed so hard and smiled so much while on this ride. This is truly what summer nights are made of. A very nice teenage girl gave the kids an entire sheet of tickets that she didn’t want. What an awesome gesture from a very nice young lady ~ thank you! We stayed on the courthouse lawn listening and dancing to the band and then headed home. We are still not sure if it was from all the rides or from being sick earlier in the week, but Garrett got sick on the way home. Apparently this less than 5 minute drive was too much for him and the van, his car seat and himself was covered ~ yuck.

This is pretty much how the rest of the week went… vomiting and diarrhea and staying home from work/daycare. Kylie had it Saturday and Sunday, Corey caught it on Sunday, mommy had it Monday and Tuesday, Garrett had it again on Wednesday and David had it (very very mild case of it) on Thursday. Trying to look at the bright side of things, we were able to have a lot of family bonding staying home this week. Here today is Friday. Corey is staying home again to get it completely kicked out of him, the kids are at daycare and mommy is finally back to work (and so happy to be here!) This week of cleaning out garbage cans that kids vomited in, washing tubs and bathroom floors because little boys couldn’t control their diarrhea, the wonderful smell of bleach and the constant laundry – yep, I am happy to be back at the office!


editing this post to add a picture ~ can you believe my little guys (ages 4 & 5) rode the hammer!



(note this is not the hammer they rode just a picture from the internet that looks just like the one they rode!)