Don't forget to be Thankful

It's Halloween night and if you broke yourself away from the little kiddies in their costomes at your door to head to Walmart, Target or any major department store you will likely already find yourself immersed in sparkles of red and green with Christmas tunes overhead.

I'm not a scrooge. I enjoy Christmas. I like spending time with my family, the anticipation still associated with Christmas morning, the smell of a holiday meal cooking . BUT...I despise the ever earlier and earlier hoopla prior to the Christmas season.

So, in protest of Christmas in November, I'm going to post everyday of the month from tomorrow until Thanksgiving something to be thankful for and I challenge the rest of you to do the same. It might be something simple like hitting all green lights on your way to work (I did this morning!) or more profound like being grateful my mom is still alive (I am, there has been more than once in the past year where she severely ill). Whatever the case may be, don't forget Thanksgiving this upcoming month before getting yourself all wrapped up in Christmas!

Good night!

Kitty Litter Cake Recipe

Per request...here is the recipe for the frightful masterpiece of a cake for all your Halloween party needs :)

1 german chocolate cake mix baked per box instructions
1 white cake mix baked per box instructions
1 large package instant vanilla pudding made per box instructions
1 package vanilla sandwich cookies, crushed
Sat aside one cup of crushed cookies and color with green food coloring
12-15 tootsie rolls

After baking each of the two cakes, allow to cool to room temperature. Pudding should be chilled and set up. Once cakes are cool, crumble together into a large bowl. Add in pudding and mix well to make the entire mixture moist. Add half of the white cookies to the mix as well. Place mixture into a NEW kitty litter box. Microwave 8 to 10 tootsie rolls just long enough to make "moldable". Roll and blunt ends to resemble poop :) Hide in the litter box. Then sprinkle the remainder of the white crumbles and all the green crumbles onto the top of the mixture. Microwave remaining tootsie rolls and drop on top and along edges of box. Serve with a NEW kitty litter scoop. Place on top of a newspaper to make "misses" an easy clean-up.

Happy Halloween!

Whirlwind Weekend

It's finally Sunday night and I have had a whirlwind of a weekend. I ran from one event to the next starting Friday night and ending about 20 minutes ago when i got home from the last meeting. But as promised here is a picture of the kitty litter cake I made. It was a big success...one gal was so convinced that she managed to eat the cake but couldn't get her tootsie roll down :)


I had to "smuggle" some hospital supplies out as well to help the boy get dressed for a Halloween themed Ultimate Frisbee tournament yesterday morning before I had to head to an early morning baby shower. He's my Jamician Doctor! Isn't he sexy?


I had to take a card to swap for my Stampin' Up meeting today but what I didn't know was that it could be 10 of the same card. So here are the 10 cards I took with me to the meeting. It was fun to see everyone else's ideas and pick up some tricks. I'll have some time this week to make a few new things. I'll see what I can come up with.

















Have a great week everyone!

Old Halloween HNT

This photo is from a couple Halloween's ago but after cooking all week, then just finishing up cleaning up after everyone let an hour ago, I'm beat so I'm recycling. Yes, that's a wine stain, uhm...there...on the right. It was a GREAT party :)

I'm off to bed...Happy HNT!

Half done

The chicken club melt turned out okay on Monday night. My cheese melted too much and spread out but it still tasted awful good.

Now I have the meatballs baked and in the crock pot so tomorrow all I have to do is add the sauce when I get home from work. The artichoke crab dip is mixed and in it's baker so it can go in the oven about a half hour before everyone gets here. The pumpkin cream cheese bars are in the oven and should be done in about 20 minutes. That leaves the wassel and warm wine for tomorrow plus assembling the various cheese trays. Not bad.

I also got myself four new tires today. Now I'm ready for the snow to fly, and ice too. I sure do miss being able to put on studded tires but Minnesota says they damage the roads. Out West we put them to work, climbing a windy icy pass on I-90 feels a lot better with metal studs in your tires than not.

A friend's mom is nearing the end of her fight with cancer. Please keep her in your prayers. I'll be there one day soon probably too so my heart goes out to her.

Well, the week's half over and I still have a lot to do. Hope all is well!

A week in the kitchen...

It's going to be a long week. Not so bad at work. We are only on call tomorrow so it shouldn't be too bad. Thank goodness...I have a ton of cooking to do this week. Oh yeah, and tomorrow I will be outside at the high school football game b/c the team i have been with all season won last week...it's currently 37 degrees out, WITHOUT the windchill calculated in yet. Could be a chilly time.

So, what's on the menu?

Tonight...Chicken Club Wreath

Thursday Bunco Night...Hot Artichoke and Crab Dip with Pita Chips, Aunt Lorie's Meatballs (hamburger, carrot, potato, onion soup mix bathed in a mixture of cream of mushroom and cream of chicken soup), Pumpkin Cream Cheese Squares, Wassail, Bisschopswijn (a hot sweet spiced wine mixture), Cheese and Cracker Tray, Baked Brie and Green Apples

Saturday Women's Ministry Movie Night...Kitty Litter Cake (I'll have a picture for you when it's all done)

God love HyVee! Fridge is stocked, order of preparation is planned. Now I'm off to start dinner.

Have a great week everyone!

HNT...The eyes have it

It was time to ditch the contacts and give the eyes a breather this week. I use to wear my glasses a great deal...I get up pretty early most mornings of the week and getting my eyes open far enough to get my contacts in was always a pain. Then i switched to lenses I could wear 24/7 for 30 days in a row and I was a changed woman! This month I went about four weeks past my usual lense schedule (yup, I wore them for two months). This past weekend I ordered new boxes and once I got the shipping confirmation I tossed the current pair and have worn a different pair of glasses every day this week. I have fun with glasses, I would like to get a few more frames without prescription lenses so I can wear them more often. So here you have three of my sets of frames. I love my Irish eyes!

have a great weekend. Happy HNT!

Catchin' Up

Man, one long week of work, meetings, and workshops and it is taking me three days to catch up. Now I have a headache that won't seem to budge. Last week I put in some seriously long hours and it didn't end on Friday. I had a Stampin' Up Workshop at my house on Saturday (oh yeah, I have added being a Stampin' Up demonstrator to my list of "things I do") so I spent all morning getting ready for it and afterwards cleaning up.

Sunday I slept nearly the entire day. Don't know what my hang up was. Ate breakfast late, took a two hour nap after breakfast, another 45 minute nap that afternoon and fell asleep half way through my Broncos victory over the Raiders. At least I didn't much in the second half!

Yesterday was another long day at work and today I was home before noon! What have I accomplished? Not a hell of a lot. I cleaned out my work bag, took two naps, switched a load of laundry, watched three episodes of Oprah. Now, my head hurts like crazy. Ugh...I must be getting old or something.

Friday Night Football

35 degree windchill with 15 mph winds, snow flurries, long underwear, smashing helmets...It's Friday Night Football in Minnesota, folks!

That's right, I got out my long underwear, insulated Russell's, cuddleduds, hoodie, Columbia coat, and a big down vest from Cabela's along with my wool socks and hiking boots. The best part of the game? Getting to run around the end zone to get to the other side line to take care of a player and then getting to run from the side line to the middle of the field to get a cramping player off the field. At least I got my heart rate to beat faster than 60 bpm for about 30 seconds.

The worst part? The home team ran over the opponent yet again and continues to improve their record so they will likely be hosting playoff games in November! Doesn't that sound like fun.

Have a great weekend!

Another year...

Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes. Os did hi-jack my site...I think that is why he has had so many computer problems--it's his punishment for his internet piracy :)

I am a year older but I'm a year shy of 30 yet. Not sure where I want to be at in my life, hopefully a bit closer to having it "all put together". This weekend was a big step towards that, or at least I think it was. From a standpoint of my birthday it wasn't all that special. I got the usual cards, gifts and well wishes. The bigger news was my "presentation", which I had previously mentioned.

That's right...this weekend I was "presented" to "the parents". I'm happy to report it went far better than poor Gaylord Focker's experience. I did meet a cat but there were no spilled ashes, there were beautiful fall leaves to be seen but no burning gazebos. I did take a carry on suitcase but nobody searched through it. His parents knew what I do for a living and they didn't call me a nurse. Oh yeah, and the old sweet guy in the choir called me pretty, gave me a hug, and showed me the wrapped gash on his leg which he put there with his chain saw. All in all, a big step and survived by all.

It was a beautiful 70 degree weekend with fall colors in all their glory. It was a bit of a roadtrip but the anticipation of meeting the family kept me awake. I think the next big adventure will be cooking Thanksgiving dinner for the gang. At least I've done that before and even been known to get a few compliments on my turkey making skills.

Have a great week!

IT'S HER BIRTHDAY!!

Os, here. I've hijacked Moose's blog since she's not the type to toot her own horn. And since that's sort of what I do on a daily basis, I'll do it for her! Today is her birthday! All I'll say here is that she's not turning 30--she's still a pup. Happy Birthday, babe!! Love ya!

"Presented"

Tomorrow I'm attending a wedding with the boy. Last night he asked "Are you going to dress nice so I can present you?" I asked who to and he just grinned and said "I don't know who is going to be there." Guess I better clean myself up. I'm a bit nervous

HNT...A nice relaxing bath

I haven't taken the time to soak in a hot bubble bath for months. Last night I was tired, I'm sick (i have a head cold) and I was nearly done with my book so I decided to pour myself a bath, add a little gardenia lily bubble bath and breathe in the heavy steam while finishing my book. Felt great to relax a bit. Then to bed in my nice flannel sheets. A girl's dream! Happy HNT

I must expect too much

I only say this because lately I seem to be let down by a lot of things. Maybe it's because I am expecting too much. In my own life, I have always strived to do better, be the best, work hard, keep learning, be polite, stand up for myself. Is that too much to ask of other people?

For example...you visit the bank to establish a new account. You already have two other accounts with this same bank. You want to open a new checking account with a debit card and electronic funds transferring capabilities. No need for paper checks. Simple enough. You already have a standard account number with the bank and according to the banker sitting across from you, you will only need to add a simple four digit number to the end of this previously existing account number. So you do that.

You then begin using said account for your new small at home business. You place your first order from this business. Order ships without a problem. The weekend comes and goes and you get a call first thing Monday morning from said business stating they did not receive payment because the bank told them your previously mentioned new account doesn't exist. Now how can that be? You had used the debit card you were assigned, it worked. You had made deposits in person at the bank, those worked.

You call said bank. You ask for checking account number. The teller tells you the account number. Remember those 4 digits you were told...yeah, the banker told you them BACKWARDS. What the hell! Talk about embarrassing.

So I fix bones. Luckily, a higher power gave us a mirror image set of almost every bone in the body for those of us visual learners that need to look at things to study them. I can look at the left AND the right to see where things are wrong. Imagine if I made a similar mistake to what my banker did to me...you know what happens? I operate on, cut off, screw, or rod THE WRONG ANKLE/ARM/HIP/KNEE/SHOULDER and I GET SUED.

What happened when the banker gave me the new addition to my account number backwards? A scolding from a teller that tripped over herself apologizing to me after she gave me the correct order of numbers. Me, I called my new business back and made the correction all while my face was cherry red with embarrassment and frustration.

People, pay attention to the details of your job. They really ARE important.

She's getting married!

On Friday night I took off from Rochester with a secret! I was driving to South Dakota to surprise my best friend from grade school at her bridal shower and bacherolette party. Her parents, two sisters, brother, sibling's significant others...they all knew but she didn't have a clue. I walked into the house and she was literally speechless and even shed a few tears. A perfect success.

This wonderfully intelligent, beautiful, strong woman is getting married in 6 weeks and I wasn't going to miss all of this in the world. I 'm reading at the wedding but I had to make the "pre-party" functions. The weekend flew by and I'm home now but it was so great to see her. We live a long ways apart and don't get to see each other very often so this was special.