Tonight I will update you on a few things. Because I believe in my guts that you are heavily invested in my goings on and wonder, lay awake nights wondering how things are going...
That bra I bought at Grandview for $3.99 was a good deal. I'm tempted to go try to find some more. The problem is that I will have to go into the store to find it and I will see stuff on the way and I will get distracted and that's dangerous right now. And also, I don't want to get my hopes up about acquiring another and not finding it. That is one of the issues with shopping at the shops that sell close-out and buy-out merchandise. It can be a heart breaker. Not to imply that a $3.99 bra could have the capacity to break my heart. If it's the wrong one, it has the potential to break the delicate material covering my heart.
I did go to the dentist and have an appointment scheduled so that they can make a crown to cover my tooth. In 3 weeks. I told Hubs that I should eat baby food and soup until I can get that tooth fixed. I just don't want that sucker to break completely. He replied "Well, ice cream and soft candy". I like the way that dude thinks. But the dentist office did make my name green which means that they will call me if they get a cancellation. So, I have that going for me.
I will be throwing out the applesauce tomorrow. Probably I should have thrown it out last week. This will be my last mention of the applesauce.
I have watched the entire season of American Pickers and enjoyed it very much. I look forward to watching the next season.
I have to buy Halloween candy. I have already bought Halloween candy. Don't make me draw a line from point a to point b...
The deadlines that I needed to meet for Unbound have been met. Not on time, but met all the same. I'm encouraged by the feedback that I got. And the next week is going to be moving at break-neck speed. I am excited and nervous. When you pour this much of yourself into a project, you really want to see it flow and accomplish all the goals. And we have a few of them. If you live in the area, you should know that The National Underground Freedom Center is offering free admission and there will be a fair trade market and various educational experiences and musical performances around the topic of modern day slavery. The date is Saturday, November 6. Please come. It's open to the entire community - adults, teens and kids. A lot of people have worked hard to make this something special and I think it's going to rock out loud.
I got an awesome compliment today about this blog. Someone told me that she needs Depends to read it. And this woman loves to laugh and has a great sense of humor so I was really super flattered. And then it occurred to me that I should clip a coupon for some Depends for her so that she can continue to comfortably read my blog. I care about my peeps.
I have had some readers in Russia. Howdy Russia!
I will leave with this little tidbit for you. Skunk (aka Big Stuff) was invited by his friend Matthew to come to a dance class tonight. It's an all boys dance class. We got there about 8 minutes late. Because that's how we roll. We slid into the room and I watched. I wasn't sure if Skunk would get into it. All my kids can get a little self conscious. God love that teacher. There were about 6 boys there. And nothing personifies the term "herding cats" like trying to get boys in the range of 3-5 years old to dance. In costumes. Near dinner time. It was a blast. Skunk tried to skip - a little. And seeing him do the twist - ah, it was classic. I'm so grateful for the iphone upgrade that Hubs worked for us. It has video capabilities. That's a keeper. I'll tell you that much. And I want to give some mad props to Peanut. It would have been so easy for her to have her feelings hurt and throw a fit and pout while watching her brother doing something with their mutual school-mate. But she sat and watched and and enjoyed herself. She was a good girl. We drove 20+ minutes to spend a half hour doing this class. And you know what? It was totally worth it. 9 out of 10 Jenny's jewels.
I'm gonna hit the hay. There's a serious double coupon situation happening tomorrow. And you know what that does to my adrenaline. My conundrum at this point is whether or not I'm setting an alarm and hitting the sale early or taking the chance that they will have all my goods if I wait til 9:50 am. So. If you are going, leave me my stuff. It's a heck of a drive and I need it to be worthwhile. That'd be great, thanks.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Appetizer...
I have a few things to tell you about. But it has to wait. I just watched a movie that was two hours long and I'm beat.
The Girl Who Played with Fire:
This is the sequel to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I watched that movie about a month ago and LOVED it. I haven't read the books that these movies are based on. I'm having trouble reading lately. Which is all weird because I love reading. I have been known to take a total break from life and read a book cover to cover in two days while sprawled out on the couch as my family swarmed around me and wondered when I might feed them something.
When it comes to books that are turned into movies, I'm a fan of seeing the movies before reading the book. If I have the choice. Like, with Harry Potter, I didn't get the choice because it took Hollywood some time to glean the fact that those were going to be a smash hit and lucrative bonanza of films, theme park, candy, costumes and what-not. But books give me very vivid ideas of how the story plays out. It's one person (unless they have hit the apex of their career and have to start writing with a partner because they have run out of fresh ideas... God love ya James Patterson. You were the bomb back in the day... He got me so invested in a character in one of his books that when the character died, I threw the book across the room) who comes up with a story and characters and lovingly takes the time to build that with words just to share with you. It's a thing of beauty, really. When it becomes a movie, I understand that the writer becomes the lowest person on the totem pole in conveying that story. A studio buys the rights which means that they can do whatever they want with it. The movie The TV Set is such an awesome example of how this happens. When a book becomes a movie, there are so many more people telling the story that often the story gets lost. There's a casting agent who finds the actor - Tom Cruise as Lestat anyone? There's a cinematographer - which is different than a camera man who just carries out the wishes of a cinematographer. He can't be bothered to hold the camera during filming. There's a script writer, which for some reason is never the author of the original story. There's the producer who has a say but I can't really tell what the hello kitty their job really is. And there's the director. It's noise at that point. It loses the intimacy. And I don't say this lightly because I love movies almost as much as I love books. Not in a I could win trivial pursuit silver screen edition kind of way because I can't because I don't watch old movies. I can't relate to them or the troubles those people faced. For real. Rebel Without a Cause is one of the worst movies I have ever seen AND I thought that James Dean gave an awful performance. What can I say? I'm controversial. So. My preference is to see if the movie did the book justice and then read what the author wished they had done. Sometimes the author is no longer alive and probably don't care too much. But I do. So there. Back to this particular movie. I think Noomi Rapace is a marvel. Again, I haven't read the books (yet) but she gives such a nuanced and yet highly controlled performance that I can't imagine that it's not an amazing fit for how Stieg Larsson wrote her. Of course, I could be completely off base. But I love watching her as Lisbeth.
I didn't think that this movie was as powerful as the first. And I found it disappointing that there was all this hullabaloo over trafficking that never got realized. It's like that entire part of the storyline was just got forgotten and they changed direction into what happened with her father. And, since this was filmed in 2009 when trafficking is a very current topic, I think that was irresponsible and sloppy. I also felt slighted for not being given an explanation as to why Lisbeth stopped talking to Mikael for over a year. What is that about? Perhaps the final film in the trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest will resolve some of these issues. But I've never been a fan of cliffhangers. It's totally contrary to my instant gratification obsession.
I'm going to rate The Girl Who Played with Fire 7 out of 10 Jenny's jewels. It was worth my 2 hours. But it could use some improvement.
So could I, which is why I have to go to sleep now.
The Girl Who Played with Fire:
This is the sequel to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I watched that movie about a month ago and LOVED it. I haven't read the books that these movies are based on. I'm having trouble reading lately. Which is all weird because I love reading. I have been known to take a total break from life and read a book cover to cover in two days while sprawled out on the couch as my family swarmed around me and wondered when I might feed them something.
When it comes to books that are turned into movies, I'm a fan of seeing the movies before reading the book. If I have the choice. Like, with Harry Potter, I didn't get the choice because it took Hollywood some time to glean the fact that those were going to be a smash hit and lucrative bonanza of films, theme park, candy, costumes and what-not. But books give me very vivid ideas of how the story plays out. It's one person (unless they have hit the apex of their career and have to start writing with a partner because they have run out of fresh ideas... God love ya James Patterson. You were the bomb back in the day... He got me so invested in a character in one of his books that when the character died, I threw the book across the room) who comes up with a story and characters and lovingly takes the time to build that with words just to share with you. It's a thing of beauty, really. When it becomes a movie, I understand that the writer becomes the lowest person on the totem pole in conveying that story. A studio buys the rights which means that they can do whatever they want with it. The movie The TV Set is such an awesome example of how this happens. When a book becomes a movie, there are so many more people telling the story that often the story gets lost. There's a casting agent who finds the actor - Tom Cruise as Lestat anyone? There's a cinematographer - which is different than a camera man who just carries out the wishes of a cinematographer. He can't be bothered to hold the camera during filming. There's a script writer, which for some reason is never the author of the original story. There's the producer who has a say but I can't really tell what the hello kitty their job really is. And there's the director. It's noise at that point. It loses the intimacy. And I don't say this lightly because I love movies almost as much as I love books. Not in a I could win trivial pursuit silver screen edition kind of way because I can't because I don't watch old movies. I can't relate to them or the troubles those people faced. For real. Rebel Without a Cause is one of the worst movies I have ever seen AND I thought that James Dean gave an awful performance. What can I say? I'm controversial. So. My preference is to see if the movie did the book justice and then read what the author wished they had done. Sometimes the author is no longer alive and probably don't care too much. But I do. So there. Back to this particular movie. I think Noomi Rapace is a marvel. Again, I haven't read the books (yet) but she gives such a nuanced and yet highly controlled performance that I can't imagine that it's not an amazing fit for how Stieg Larsson wrote her. Of course, I could be completely off base. But I love watching her as Lisbeth.
I didn't think that this movie was as powerful as the first. And I found it disappointing that there was all this hullabaloo over trafficking that never got realized. It's like that entire part of the storyline was just got forgotten and they changed direction into what happened with her father. And, since this was filmed in 2009 when trafficking is a very current topic, I think that was irresponsible and sloppy. I also felt slighted for not being given an explanation as to why Lisbeth stopped talking to Mikael for over a year. What is that about? Perhaps the final film in the trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest will resolve some of these issues. But I've never been a fan of cliffhangers. It's totally contrary to my instant gratification obsession.
I'm going to rate The Girl Who Played with Fire 7 out of 10 Jenny's jewels. It was worth my 2 hours. But it could use some improvement.
So could I, which is why I have to go to sleep now.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Stat...
I don't understand why medical professionals say "stat". I have a friend who is a Dr. We are well overdue for a chat so probably I'm not going to take up our talk time with that query but we'll see. But why don't they say ASAP!? I always think of statistics when I see or hear "stat". Which, I really don't want to think about statistics when it comes to the venue of a hospital. Mostly you hear about the bad statistics. Not many people talk about the healing stats at a hospital. Or the stats of how many people DIDN'T come home with something extra from their surgery - like forceps or a sponge. Or how many satisfied patients would recommend the food they were served. So, to sum up, stat makes me think of statistics and when hearing it in a medical setting it makes me think of you know - bad things that happen and the way they keep track and convey the bad stuff that happened.
I'm falling apart. I'm only 39 years old. I don't feel 39. I don't think I look 39. I could be wrong. Maybe I look 50. Which I'm conflicted about that possibility. Because, have you seen 50 lately? 50 looks great! And shoot, my mom is 61. She looks fantastic. Remember when 50 and 60 looked all old and crumbly? It doesn't look that way anymore. And not just because I'm closing in on it. And not because of surgery and botox and the like. Maybe the universe caught onto the fact that we are living longer and since 50 is getting closer and closer to middle age, we can start looking like we are in the middle of our lives rather than looking like we are rattling around the earth waiting for gravity to take us down and then we wouldn't have that handy medic alert thing that would call for help where we could cry out, "I've fallen and I can't get up!". Anywho. 50 looks good. But I'm not ready to look like a 50 year old when I haven't even finished cutting my teeth on the end of my thirties. I think we all know my stance on exercise. Apparently, that exercise stuff is good for your heart. And good for your stamina which probably means that I could go from basement to second story without feeling like my legs are turning to hot jello. And good for osteopenia, which I have, which is the precursor to osteoporosis, which many of my womanly ancestors have had. I'm the biggest of the maternal girly familial bunch. I'm 5'4" on a generous day. My mom, despite every protest she throws to the contrary, is shorter than me. Her mother was shorter than she. And my grandmother's mother, dear Granny Grace, was so teeny you could carry her around in your pocket. She wasn't. But you wanted to. I'm high risk for that osteopenia turning into osteoporosis. Which is why I eschew exercise and eat as much Halloween candy as I want. Because, friends, carrying around extra pounds is a weight bearing exercise. (That's actually true.) I'm doing my body the favor of building up the strength of my bones with slight back fat made out of m&ms. And a muffin top truly made from muffins.
On top of all that, the corrective stuff that I have had done is starting to fail. I got lasik done about 6 years ago and it is by far the best contribution towards the pile of debt that we have ever. Except for our wedding. That was awesome!!! People still talk about our food. Anywho. About my eyeballs. I got them corrected and it was so nice. But about 6 - 9 months ago, my lasik just up and expired on me. It happens rarely - I just get to be that lucky. So, now I'm wearing glasses again. And it is chaffing me. I wore glasses all through high school. I wore glasses and contacts for all those years after high school until I got the lasik so that I could stop wearing corrective vision devices. And here I am again. And it's been okay. I found this website where you can get SUPER cheap glasses. But they have really been starting to get to me. As much as I joke about the pudge and the sloth, the way I look does get to me. And for me, personally, to feel my mostest pretty is to not wear glasses. I'm not trying to offend anyone - there are people who sport them and are knock-outs. I just think that confidence tends to truly be the most gorgeous feature a person can have and I feel closest to the possibility of even thinking of being confident if I don't have glasses on. So, I have been gearing up to get the follow-up surgery. The bummer is that it won't be the same surgery. And the revise is one eye at a time with longer recuperation time. So, I sit around wondering if I have to pull off an eye patch while I'm waiting for the one eye to fix. Which would have been cool if it would have occurred to me to hurry up and get it done so that I could work that during Halloween. But, it didn't occur to me and with all the other big life stuff going on, it's been tough to schedule a procedure that I'm nervous about getting done in the first place. I told you that I'm gearing up for Unbound. On top of that, I have a cracked tooth that needs a crown. Correction. I had a cracked tooth that needed a crown. Today, my new situation is that I likely have a broken in half tooth that needs extraction. The dentist is going to tell me that I should just get a root canal or whatever but I'm just gonna have them pull it. Which kind of sucks. Of all the characteristics that I own, my teeth are actually pretty good. They could stand to be whiter and a bit cleaner but over all, they are pretty. I thank my pops for that business. I was looking forward to a full set for the duration. But I cracked one tooth on a taquito one day and that turned into all kinds of abscess and root canal that failed and finally extraction. And when you see me smile, it's a secret. No one knows unless I stick my tongue out it. But I generally try not to look like a hillbilly so I don't do that too often. So. The exact same tooth on the opposite side started giving me some issues and it turned out to have a crack. And I have needed to schedule THAT appointment to have a crown done but with all the other big life stuff going on, it's been tough to schedule a procedure that I'm nervous about. Vuja De. So, today, life made some decisions for me. Because in the immortal words of Getty Lee - "When you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice". Ah, Rush.... I was sitting there, minding my own business, eating my lunch. Yogurt. Corned Beef that isn't really corned beef but is a lunch meat flavored like corned beef and all pressed up and circular. Apple slices. Pringles multi-grain chips (are you kidding me with those??? They are fantastic!!! 9 out of 10 Jenny's jewels on that deliciousness). Sargento low-fat Colby cheese stick. And carrots. Does this seem like a meal that could be to the detriment of my teeth?? I think not! But I'm crunching out on my carrot and something that feels akin to a pebble pierces the middle of my tooth. I see stars and fish the culprit out of my mouth. And you know what it was? Carrot!!! I chomped it just right (why do people say that? "Just right" when really, something went horribly wrong as a result. Like - I hit is just right and it came out of the joint and just dangled like that...) that now I can't drink luke warm tap water without a straw because I can feel the pain two teeth over in either direction. And so, I have an appointment tomorrow at 10:30 to address the situation which really feels a little like a waste of a co-payment because they already told me that they are booked up and can't fix it but will look at it and do something temporary. If by temporary they mean pain-killers and cotton, whatever. So long as the pain killers are involved. Because this is not a terribly comfortable situation that I find myself in presently.
And the kicker is that I was actually having a productive day. I'm amazed at what I can accomplish when I'm not sitting in front of the computer! I cleaned the kitchen - twice! I ran two loads of laundry. I started organizing coupons. Again. I took about the most amazing shower - I needed that shower. Big time. I fed people and got people dressed and got people out the door and I ate and it was just sort of gelling again today. It's like I backed up the ia to inert and started mooooovin'. And then CRACK! Stupid tooth. Stupid carrot. AND I can't even count this as my new thing today because I have cracked a tooth before. For the love.
I watched some new children's programming but it wasn't great and I wasn't even interested enough to watch enough to form an opinion or rating for you. Oh! Here is a new thing I did today. I had to run outside get some stuff out of Hub's car so that he could take a couple of kids to school. Prior to running out there, Big Stuff (aka Skunk), handed me a cape so that I could be Batgirl. I had run upstairs so I could stick my feet in some shoes to go outside to the car which was across the street from about 5 dudes wearing yellow reflective vests who are on my street to cause me much aggravation by parking their work vehicles in front of my driveway just before I have to leave to go somewhere. I think they are from the gas company but somehow, they work with gas lines, breaking up concrete and yards, installing gas pumps, pouring concrete, spreading hay on everyone else's broken yard but ours, etc. I just thought that these jobs were more specialized by unions so that as many people could get in on that action as possible rather than one pool of 5 guys who watch one guy doing all those jobs himself. Anywho. I get out to the car and realize what I'm wearing. I'm wearing cheetah print pajama bottoms. A neon pink scrapbooking t-shirt. A batman cape. And my sweet slip on birkenstock clogs that are multi-colored stripes. And you know what I did? I didn't run upstairs to get a little more co-ordinated. Which I would have done in a previous life, and have in fact done in this one, not so long ago. What I did do was make Hubs take a picture of me. It was so quintessential morning mom that I just embraced it for what it was. Plus, it's going to make a killer scrapbook page. 7.8 out of 10 Jenny's jewels. The outfit was atrocious but the experience was hilarious.
Wish me luck tomorrow. I'm at the tale end of two major obligations I have going on and I really, really can't afford to have catastrophic events waylaying my mojo. I need a new tooth situation. Stat. I gotta go now. I have to brush my teeth but good since there's gonna be people inside my mouth tomorrow.
I'm falling apart. I'm only 39 years old. I don't feel 39. I don't think I look 39. I could be wrong. Maybe I look 50. Which I'm conflicted about that possibility. Because, have you seen 50 lately? 50 looks great! And shoot, my mom is 61. She looks fantastic. Remember when 50 and 60 looked all old and crumbly? It doesn't look that way anymore. And not just because I'm closing in on it. And not because of surgery and botox and the like. Maybe the universe caught onto the fact that we are living longer and since 50 is getting closer and closer to middle age, we can start looking like we are in the middle of our lives rather than looking like we are rattling around the earth waiting for gravity to take us down and then we wouldn't have that handy medic alert thing that would call for help where we could cry out, "I've fallen and I can't get up!". Anywho. 50 looks good. But I'm not ready to look like a 50 year old when I haven't even finished cutting my teeth on the end of my thirties. I think we all know my stance on exercise. Apparently, that exercise stuff is good for your heart. And good for your stamina which probably means that I could go from basement to second story without feeling like my legs are turning to hot jello. And good for osteopenia, which I have, which is the precursor to osteoporosis, which many of my womanly ancestors have had. I'm the biggest of the maternal girly familial bunch. I'm 5'4" on a generous day. My mom, despite every protest she throws to the contrary, is shorter than me. Her mother was shorter than she. And my grandmother's mother, dear Granny Grace, was so teeny you could carry her around in your pocket. She wasn't. But you wanted to. I'm high risk for that osteopenia turning into osteoporosis. Which is why I eschew exercise and eat as much Halloween candy as I want. Because, friends, carrying around extra pounds is a weight bearing exercise. (That's actually true.) I'm doing my body the favor of building up the strength of my bones with slight back fat made out of m&ms. And a muffin top truly made from muffins.
On top of all that, the corrective stuff that I have had done is starting to fail. I got lasik done about 6 years ago and it is by far the best contribution towards the pile of debt that we have ever. Except for our wedding. That was awesome!!! People still talk about our food. Anywho. About my eyeballs. I got them corrected and it was so nice. But about 6 - 9 months ago, my lasik just up and expired on me. It happens rarely - I just get to be that lucky. So, now I'm wearing glasses again. And it is chaffing me. I wore glasses all through high school. I wore glasses and contacts for all those years after high school until I got the lasik so that I could stop wearing corrective vision devices. And here I am again. And it's been okay. I found this website where you can get SUPER cheap glasses. But they have really been starting to get to me. As much as I joke about the pudge and the sloth, the way I look does get to me. And for me, personally, to feel my mostest pretty is to not wear glasses. I'm not trying to offend anyone - there are people who sport them and are knock-outs. I just think that confidence tends to truly be the most gorgeous feature a person can have and I feel closest to the possibility of even thinking of being confident if I don't have glasses on. So, I have been gearing up to get the follow-up surgery. The bummer is that it won't be the same surgery. And the revise is one eye at a time with longer recuperation time. So, I sit around wondering if I have to pull off an eye patch while I'm waiting for the one eye to fix. Which would have been cool if it would have occurred to me to hurry up and get it done so that I could work that during Halloween. But, it didn't occur to me and with all the other big life stuff going on, it's been tough to schedule a procedure that I'm nervous about getting done in the first place. I told you that I'm gearing up for Unbound. On top of that, I have a cracked tooth that needs a crown. Correction. I had a cracked tooth that needed a crown. Today, my new situation is that I likely have a broken in half tooth that needs extraction. The dentist is going to tell me that I should just get a root canal or whatever but I'm just gonna have them pull it. Which kind of sucks. Of all the characteristics that I own, my teeth are actually pretty good. They could stand to be whiter and a bit cleaner but over all, they are pretty. I thank my pops for that business. I was looking forward to a full set for the duration. But I cracked one tooth on a taquito one day and that turned into all kinds of abscess and root canal that failed and finally extraction. And when you see me smile, it's a secret. No one knows unless I stick my tongue out it. But I generally try not to look like a hillbilly so I don't do that too often. So. The exact same tooth on the opposite side started giving me some issues and it turned out to have a crack. And I have needed to schedule THAT appointment to have a crown done but with all the other big life stuff going on, it's been tough to schedule a procedure that I'm nervous about. Vuja De. So, today, life made some decisions for me. Because in the immortal words of Getty Lee - "When you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice". Ah, Rush.... I was sitting there, minding my own business, eating my lunch. Yogurt. Corned Beef that isn't really corned beef but is a lunch meat flavored like corned beef and all pressed up and circular. Apple slices. Pringles multi-grain chips (are you kidding me with those??? They are fantastic!!! 9 out of 10 Jenny's jewels on that deliciousness). Sargento low-fat Colby cheese stick. And carrots. Does this seem like a meal that could be to the detriment of my teeth?? I think not! But I'm crunching out on my carrot and something that feels akin to a pebble pierces the middle of my tooth. I see stars and fish the culprit out of my mouth. And you know what it was? Carrot!!! I chomped it just right (why do people say that? "Just right" when really, something went horribly wrong as a result. Like - I hit is just right and it came out of the joint and just dangled like that...) that now I can't drink luke warm tap water without a straw because I can feel the pain two teeth over in either direction. And so, I have an appointment tomorrow at 10:30 to address the situation which really feels a little like a waste of a co-payment because they already told me that they are booked up and can't fix it but will look at it and do something temporary. If by temporary they mean pain-killers and cotton, whatever. So long as the pain killers are involved. Because this is not a terribly comfortable situation that I find myself in presently.
And the kicker is that I was actually having a productive day. I'm amazed at what I can accomplish when I'm not sitting in front of the computer! I cleaned the kitchen - twice! I ran two loads of laundry. I started organizing coupons. Again. I took about the most amazing shower - I needed that shower. Big time. I fed people and got people dressed and got people out the door and I ate and it was just sort of gelling again today. It's like I backed up the ia to inert and started mooooovin'. And then CRACK! Stupid tooth. Stupid carrot. AND I can't even count this as my new thing today because I have cracked a tooth before. For the love.
I watched some new children's programming but it wasn't great and I wasn't even interested enough to watch enough to form an opinion or rating for you. Oh! Here is a new thing I did today. I had to run outside get some stuff out of Hub's car so that he could take a couple of kids to school. Prior to running out there, Big Stuff (aka Skunk), handed me a cape so that I could be Batgirl. I had run upstairs so I could stick my feet in some shoes to go outside to the car which was across the street from about 5 dudes wearing yellow reflective vests who are on my street to cause me much aggravation by parking their work vehicles in front of my driveway just before I have to leave to go somewhere. I think they are from the gas company but somehow, they work with gas lines, breaking up concrete and yards, installing gas pumps, pouring concrete, spreading hay on everyone else's broken yard but ours, etc. I just thought that these jobs were more specialized by unions so that as many people could get in on that action as possible rather than one pool of 5 guys who watch one guy doing all those jobs himself. Anywho. I get out to the car and realize what I'm wearing. I'm wearing cheetah print pajama bottoms. A neon pink scrapbooking t-shirt. A batman cape. And my sweet slip on birkenstock clogs that are multi-colored stripes. And you know what I did? I didn't run upstairs to get a little more co-ordinated. Which I would have done in a previous life, and have in fact done in this one, not so long ago. What I did do was make Hubs take a picture of me. It was so quintessential morning mom that I just embraced it for what it was. Plus, it's going to make a killer scrapbook page. 7.8 out of 10 Jenny's jewels. The outfit was atrocious but the experience was hilarious.
Wish me luck tomorrow. I'm at the tale end of two major obligations I have going on and I really, really can't afford to have catastrophic events waylaying my mojo. I need a new tooth situation. Stat. I gotta go now. I have to brush my teeth but good since there's gonna be people inside my mouth tomorrow.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Holy Rollah...
It was a pretty good day. I woke up later than I wanted but was somehow able to hit the ground running and remain in a pretty good mood. I got the lunches made, ate breakfast, got kids off to school, went to one appointment, went to another appointment, had a blood draw (I'm fine. I'm fine! Don't worry!), picked up some prescriptions (I said I'm fine!), picked up some .49 chex cereal at Kroger (that's right. I got 12 boxes of chex cereal AND a marked down salad to eat for lunch for $7.17 AND that machine spit out a coupon for to get some lady care items for free), picked up the kids, brought the kids home, chilled and ate my tasty $1.29 salad, picked up some more kids, brought all the kids home, plowed through some papers and crap looking for some receipts that Hubs really really wants me to turn in to get reimbursed for, battled my son while he did homework. My mood deteriorated a little at this point. But I pushed forward and made some s'getti using turkey Italian sausage, jarred sauce, 1 cup of pureed beets and 1/2 cup of pureed zucchini and served that sauce over the new Ronzoni Garden Delight rotini because they sneak vegetables in that pasta and I thought that all the subterfuge would work well together. And it did. It was mighty delicious. I give that dinner a total of 8 out of 10 Jenny's jewels. What? It's not chocolate mousse and I had to make it myself. It's not getting 10 jewels that way!
After the kids were settled into bed and Hubs and I were settled into our regular spots on the couch and settled into our nightly habit of ignoring all the sound upstairs so that we don't have to get out of our regular spots on the couch and go kick some patoot. Hubs picked a movie to watch and I agreed because I was pretty agreeable today. I'd like to figure out what made that magic formula today so that I might get into my little laboratory (which I pronounce like lah-bore-ah-tory - with long Os to sound sinister and mad-scientisty) and replicate that. I like being agreeable. It makes life flow. There's not a follow up adverb. Not flow better or flow nicely or whatever. Life just flowed today.
So, we watched Legion. I didn't have a desire to see this movie. I decided a while ago that I wasn't interested in investing my time into movies of a particular dark nature. Don't get me wrong. I like dark. Dexter is one of my all time favorite shows. I'm drawn to the Crimes and Trials portion of the news on Yahoo news. I'm fascinated by how different kinds of people maneuver through what our world has become. But I don't do possession stuff. And I don't do haunting stuff. And I don't do what I think is referred to as the "torture porn" genre. I mean, really. Were we so hard up for shocking that we had to come up with stuff so bleak and nasty that the term "torture porn" had to be coined? As for the other two, here's the deal. Personally, I believe that there is an opposition to God and that is scary to me. I watch movies to escape and watching movies that glorify or entertain about some topics just ain't my bag. And I was worried about where Legion fell on that spectrum. And it rode a fine line. I don't know how much I should say, because if you are all interested in seeing the movie, I don't want to take that away from you. But here is what I will say. The movie portrayed God in a way that I wasn't crazy about. But there was some redemption involved in how they handled it. No. You know what. It wasn't. I'm thinking about it all over again. And I take it back. Maybe. Okay. Here's what happened. So, if you want to see it and you don't want me to blow it for you, go read a cereal box or something.
Michael comes down to earth to protect this woman who is very pregnant. She is not married, she doesn't want the baby and there is a dude who is totally in love with her that she doesn't really love back. She lives in a teeny tiny town that consists of maybe around 7 people. And they run a restaurant and a garage. I'm not really sure how they stay in business but you don't question these kinds of things - it's a movie. Okay, so, there's a rich stranded couple there with their late teen rebellious daughter, a cook with a hook for one of his hands, an unwed pregnant waitress, the crusty bitter owner, his lovelorn, frowny face man of few words son - the mechanic, and a dude who is passing through town on the way to a custody hearing who happens to be carrying heat. The only reason we know that he is going to a custody hearing is so that we can have context for all the times he falters and doesn't kill the evil child demon angel and risks his life as well as the lives of others because his heartstrings got all tugged. So,this old lady comes in and orders some food and is all sweet and kindly But then flies start swarming around her and her extra rare steak and you know something isn't right. So she starts talking some ugly talk and turns all evil and wants to kill everyone and gets shot dead. And then Michael shows up and says some bad stuff is going down because God is all mad at us again and before it was a flood but now the angels are coming and they are going to do an extinction. But this pregnant chick is carrying the baby that is the hope for all humanity and everyone has to be all brave and kill all these angels who are acting like evil possessed people who are trying to kill the baby. And it turns out that Michael stopped being an angel the night before because his orders were to kill the baby but he didn't like that so he quit. And you could tell he was serious because he cut off his wings AND he stitched up the wound. I don't know. I guess if you don't take the time to stitch up the wound with a handy curved needle and thread that happened to be in the first aid kit he found in the dimly lit bathroom, those suckers can grow back. So, Michael decided that he wasn't going to give God what He asked for, he was going to give God what He needed - which was the same faith in humanity that he, Michael, had. So, everybody shoots up all the evil angels and gets tempted and confused and then sees the light and starts sacrificing themselves for the good of the baby and Michael gets killed by Gabriel who came to obey God and kill the kid. But Michael comes back just in the nick of time to save the heroic lovelorn dude who was protecting the unwed now mother and the baby. And Gabriel is all like - wait! I killed you! How can you come back as an angel after you dissed God. And Michael is all like - hey Gabriel - I told ya. You gave Him what He asked and I gave Him what He needed. And Gabriel tells Michael to go ahead and kill him and Michaels says no, you can't boss me. He doesn't say that but he galliantly refuses to off Gabriel so that he is a good example and such. And both Gabriel and Michael ascend into heaven and the unwed mother falls in love with the lovelorn dude and they drive off into the sunset with a crap-load of semi-automatic weapons in the back seat for protection. Aaaaand scene.
Here's my deal. I don't like that the angels were portrayed as evil. I get that angels could be intimidating and it frightened people when they showed up because they were total bad-asses and, also, because they were, you know, not from earth and stuff and appeared out of nowhere and said that God was telling them stuff. But I don't think that they are, nor have they ever been black-eyed, sharp toothed menacing creatures that were looking to say vile curse words and pretend to be children to lure people into a position of vulnerability so that they could kill the one lone hope of the world. That is just not jiving with what I know of the bible. And granted, I'm not a scholar, but this feels for real off base. Now, the other side of this is that God gets totally over us and I could see that. We do some wicked stuff down here. And it seems to get worse rather than better. But I don't think the rainbow was a promise of never flooding again. I don't think that He was being all fancy with His wording so that there was some wiggle room. I think He really did mean that He was promising that He wouldn't ever wipe us out again. In any way, at all. Ever. I don't think you take yourself, pour yourself into a human form, go through child-birth - which I feel certain isn't a picnic for either party involved, and also - God is all infinite and He squished Himself into a baby size which I have to believe was a little cramped up for Him, go through painful, awkward puberty, become a man and face ridicule and opposition and scrutiny and cruelty and betrayal and death to show someone (which in this case means EVERYONE - including you) just how in love you are with them only to decide it wasn't worth it and it's back to the drawing board. I mean, He could. He's God. He reserves the right to WHATEVER. But it just doesn't make sense. What's the point? So then, I was thinking, okay, so, Michael changes God's mind. And I believe that can happen. I believe that even though God knows how things will go, His heart can be moved. He can change the nature of things so that they can turn out differently. Now, this could for real scramble my brain if I think about it too long - if He knows how things are going to go, is it going that way because they were originally going a different way and then He changed His mind and all that is part of the process of how it ended up going this way in the first place? Do you see what I mean?? But then, what bothered me is the portrayal that Michael knew better than God what God needed. It makes it sound like Michael is wiser than God. And I'm not into that. And then it occurs to me that this is an awful lot of consideration about a movie with an Oscar-nominated actor or two (hollah to Dennis Quaid and Paul Bettany!) and a B-list script at best. But, I think that soul-searching can often times come in the most unexpected places. So maybe I'm just exploring my stance in some ways right now - and being a bit surprised with the results.
I would give the way that my mind is spinning and processing right now 9 out of 10 Jenny's jewels. I like when the juices get flowing and synapses fire in new ways. And no, I'm not giving Legion the satisfaction of more jewels as if the movie specifically gives the credit for that. It gets 4 out of 10 Jenny's jewels and that's that.
I gotta pack it in. I think I'm supposed to go dust off my bible and memorize some verses now. For real though, check out Isaiah 1:17 to be inspired. It's a really big verse for my life right now as I amp up for an extraordinary event called Unbound. So. What's inspiring you these days?
After the kids were settled into bed and Hubs and I were settled into our regular spots on the couch and settled into our nightly habit of ignoring all the sound upstairs so that we don't have to get out of our regular spots on the couch and go kick some patoot. Hubs picked a movie to watch and I agreed because I was pretty agreeable today. I'd like to figure out what made that magic formula today so that I might get into my little laboratory (which I pronounce like lah-bore-ah-tory - with long Os to sound sinister and mad-scientisty) and replicate that. I like being agreeable. It makes life flow. There's not a follow up adverb. Not flow better or flow nicely or whatever. Life just flowed today.
So, we watched Legion. I didn't have a desire to see this movie. I decided a while ago that I wasn't interested in investing my time into movies of a particular dark nature. Don't get me wrong. I like dark. Dexter is one of my all time favorite shows. I'm drawn to the Crimes and Trials portion of the news on Yahoo news. I'm fascinated by how different kinds of people maneuver through what our world has become. But I don't do possession stuff. And I don't do haunting stuff. And I don't do what I think is referred to as the "torture porn" genre. I mean, really. Were we so hard up for shocking that we had to come up with stuff so bleak and nasty that the term "torture porn" had to be coined? As for the other two, here's the deal. Personally, I believe that there is an opposition to God and that is scary to me. I watch movies to escape and watching movies that glorify or entertain about some topics just ain't my bag. And I was worried about where Legion fell on that spectrum. And it rode a fine line. I don't know how much I should say, because if you are all interested in seeing the movie, I don't want to take that away from you. But here is what I will say. The movie portrayed God in a way that I wasn't crazy about. But there was some redemption involved in how they handled it. No. You know what. It wasn't. I'm thinking about it all over again. And I take it back. Maybe. Okay. Here's what happened. So, if you want to see it and you don't want me to blow it for you, go read a cereal box or something.
Michael comes down to earth to protect this woman who is very pregnant. She is not married, she doesn't want the baby and there is a dude who is totally in love with her that she doesn't really love back. She lives in a teeny tiny town that consists of maybe around 7 people. And they run a restaurant and a garage. I'm not really sure how they stay in business but you don't question these kinds of things - it's a movie. Okay, so, there's a rich stranded couple there with their late teen rebellious daughter, a cook with a hook for one of his hands, an unwed pregnant waitress, the crusty bitter owner, his lovelorn, frowny face man of few words son - the mechanic, and a dude who is passing through town on the way to a custody hearing who happens to be carrying heat. The only reason we know that he is going to a custody hearing is so that we can have context for all the times he falters and doesn't kill the evil child demon angel and risks his life as well as the lives of others because his heartstrings got all tugged. So,this old lady comes in and orders some food and is all sweet and kindly But then flies start swarming around her and her extra rare steak and you know something isn't right. So she starts talking some ugly talk and turns all evil and wants to kill everyone and gets shot dead. And then Michael shows up and says some bad stuff is going down because God is all mad at us again and before it was a flood but now the angels are coming and they are going to do an extinction. But this pregnant chick is carrying the baby that is the hope for all humanity and everyone has to be all brave and kill all these angels who are acting like evil possessed people who are trying to kill the baby. And it turns out that Michael stopped being an angel the night before because his orders were to kill the baby but he didn't like that so he quit. And you could tell he was serious because he cut off his wings AND he stitched up the wound. I don't know. I guess if you don't take the time to stitch up the wound with a handy curved needle and thread that happened to be in the first aid kit he found in the dimly lit bathroom, those suckers can grow back. So, Michael decided that he wasn't going to give God what He asked for, he was going to give God what He needed - which was the same faith in humanity that he, Michael, had. So, everybody shoots up all the evil angels and gets tempted and confused and then sees the light and starts sacrificing themselves for the good of the baby and Michael gets killed by Gabriel who came to obey God and kill the kid. But Michael comes back just in the nick of time to save the heroic lovelorn dude who was protecting the unwed now mother and the baby. And Gabriel is all like - wait! I killed you! How can you come back as an angel after you dissed God. And Michael is all like - hey Gabriel - I told ya. You gave Him what He asked and I gave Him what He needed. And Gabriel tells Michael to go ahead and kill him and Michaels says no, you can't boss me. He doesn't say that but he galliantly refuses to off Gabriel so that he is a good example and such. And both Gabriel and Michael ascend into heaven and the unwed mother falls in love with the lovelorn dude and they drive off into the sunset with a crap-load of semi-automatic weapons in the back seat for protection. Aaaaand scene.
Here's my deal. I don't like that the angels were portrayed as evil. I get that angels could be intimidating and it frightened people when they showed up because they were total bad-asses and, also, because they were, you know, not from earth and stuff and appeared out of nowhere and said that God was telling them stuff. But I don't think that they are, nor have they ever been black-eyed, sharp toothed menacing creatures that were looking to say vile curse words and pretend to be children to lure people into a position of vulnerability so that they could kill the one lone hope of the world. That is just not jiving with what I know of the bible. And granted, I'm not a scholar, but this feels for real off base. Now, the other side of this is that God gets totally over us and I could see that. We do some wicked stuff down here. And it seems to get worse rather than better. But I don't think the rainbow was a promise of never flooding again. I don't think that He was being all fancy with His wording so that there was some wiggle room. I think He really did mean that He was promising that He wouldn't ever wipe us out again. In any way, at all. Ever. I don't think you take yourself, pour yourself into a human form, go through child-birth - which I feel certain isn't a picnic for either party involved, and also - God is all infinite and He squished Himself into a baby size which I have to believe was a little cramped up for Him, go through painful, awkward puberty, become a man and face ridicule and opposition and scrutiny and cruelty and betrayal and death to show someone (which in this case means EVERYONE - including you) just how in love you are with them only to decide it wasn't worth it and it's back to the drawing board. I mean, He could. He's God. He reserves the right to WHATEVER. But it just doesn't make sense. What's the point? So then, I was thinking, okay, so, Michael changes God's mind. And I believe that can happen. I believe that even though God knows how things will go, His heart can be moved. He can change the nature of things so that they can turn out differently. Now, this could for real scramble my brain if I think about it too long - if He knows how things are going to go, is it going that way because they were originally going a different way and then He changed His mind and all that is part of the process of how it ended up going this way in the first place? Do you see what I mean?? But then, what bothered me is the portrayal that Michael knew better than God what God needed. It makes it sound like Michael is wiser than God. And I'm not into that. And then it occurs to me that this is an awful lot of consideration about a movie with an Oscar-nominated actor or two (hollah to Dennis Quaid and Paul Bettany!) and a B-list script at best. But, I think that soul-searching can often times come in the most unexpected places. So maybe I'm just exploring my stance in some ways right now - and being a bit surprised with the results.
I would give the way that my mind is spinning and processing right now 9 out of 10 Jenny's jewels. I like when the juices get flowing and synapses fire in new ways. And no, I'm not giving Legion the satisfaction of more jewels as if the movie specifically gives the credit for that. It gets 4 out of 10 Jenny's jewels and that's that.
I gotta pack it in. I think I'm supposed to go dust off my bible and memorize some verses now. For real though, check out Isaiah 1:17 to be inspired. It's a really big verse for my life right now as I amp up for an extraordinary event called Unbound. So. What's inspiring you these days?
Sunday, October 24, 2010
And another thing...
Hey! Long time, no see. Uhm. For some of you, long time, never seen. What up, Singapore?? Hola Mexico! I don't know what my draw is for some of y'all, but welcome!!
The sweet potato bread was okay. It remained gorgeous. But I kept taking bites out of it expecting it to taste like pumpkin bread. So, next time I just need to make pumpkin bread. BUT. I think I might buy some of those pie pumpkins and make it from scratch. I know. Cray-zay. But new. And also, don't tell anyone else but I guess I should have refrigerated the left-over bread. Because some of the heartier chunks of sweet potato that didn't puree all the way up made some of the bread turn green. A weird color green. It's one thing to let people know that you are kind of a slob. It's altogether different to own that you had green food sitting around on your counter. Green food that wasn't supposed to be green. 6 out of 10 Jenny's jewels for the ungreen portions I tasted.
I just saw in the paper today that Jessica Seinfeld is coming out with another book - Doubly Delicious. I'll be the judge of that. And I'll let you know what my verdict is.
Today's new thing is not a new thing, technically. I've done it before. I'm calling it new because it is an annual event and I hadn't done it in 2010 so - it counts as new. And because I say so.
HallZooWeen 2010:
I think this just might be our 8th year going. It might be our 7th. Either way, I think the point remains that we have gone consistently for more than one year. We have other occasions to measure up against. That's what I'm getting at here. Our zoo hosts a trick or treat event 2-3 weekends in October every year. I love it. I love that the kids get to wear their Halloween costume more than once. I love seeing the pumpkin bits laying all over the area of the bears or the elephants after they got to have fun and eat the innards. I love seeing the kids run from one treat station to the next holding out a bag and having sweet peeps put sweet stuff in them. I love looking at all the costumes. I love the wonder and the fantasy of it all. I love that I scrapbook a page about that event every year and that it is usually my favorite layout of the entire set of pages I'm doing. I love HallZooWeen. The first few years, they had a carnival kind of area where you could pick out a pumpkin and buy cider. They had the soft cookies with the delicious frosting and the sprinkles on top. They aren't homemade or anything - you can get them at the grocery but they aren't cheap. And it's just not as much fun when you aren't giving someone all your treat tickets because that's the only treat you want and you want a lot of them. Over the years, they have scaled back and made some changes. The carnival area disappeared. But you could still use a treat ticket to pick out a small pumpkin from one of the stations. Last year or the year before, they eliminated the tickets that they required you to trade at each station for a treat. Which was smart because I'm sure no one was going for all that chapstick at the one station and they just got crates of lip gunk sitting around year after year. They have pretty good expiration dates, so probably it worked out okay but still. The treats were good ones too. I might have mentioned the cookies already... (okay, fine, I'll name drop - they were the Lofthouse brand- mmmmm). But you also got a container of ice cream at the United Dairy Farmers store. Which I loved because it made those kids so happy but I hated because I got uptight about every dangling drop threatening to sploosh on a costume that I had very little ability to clean. Have you ever tried to blot chocolate ice cream on dragon hair? It's like flippin' impossible! The stations were all over the zoo - and there were plenty of them. And every year, the kids would fly past the animals trying to find the next station and forget the fact that they were in the same area as Rhinos and Lions and Bears, oh my! And I'm talking the real versions - not the costumed variety.
So, this year, everyone had their costume and was good for go. Or so I thought. Scooby's costume was too small. Don't even get me started on this. For real. You know I like a good ramble so we will just forge ahead. So, I spent close to two hours trying to find a viable option. He wanted to be Prince of Persia. That was so last - never. For real. Did anyone see a Prince of Persia costume last year? No! And you know what? You aren't going to see one this year! And I KNOW that the only reason he wanted to be Prince of Persia is because he wanted a dagger. And he told me that wasn't the reason but when I asked Hubs if we could put the outfit together from real clothes and not have a dagger, Scooby was far less interested in the garb of middle eastern men as dramatized by Hollywood. So, option 2 was Bumblebee from Transformers. I have to clarify that because when I went into the Halloween store to ask for an adult Bumblebee costume, she took me to bee costumes. Bumblebee is the aforementioned too small costume. So Hubs and I are texting a storm on the textplus free texting app for iphones (6 out of 10 Jenny's jewels. It's free, but you get what you pay for. That dang app crashes all the time), going back and forth with suggestions and shoot downs. I end up at Target and since costumes are 30% off and Scooby loves Star Wars, he gets a pretty awesome Jango Fett costume. And, at that price, he will thoroughly enjoy the costume again next year. The helmet of which he kept taking off and dropping. This decreases it's ability to last through to next year. Grrrrrrr.... Big Stuff wanted to be Spider Man. But we already had a Batman so he had to trade out one hero for another. At times that was fine and one minute later he wanted to be Spiderman again. Princess was a Peacock princess. Because that is what you get to be when your mom finds a beautiful, unique costume at TJ Maxx and it's 75% off. And Peanut was a ballerina because - and this is a tip just for you, my loyal readers, if you go into a consignment store that specializes in children's clothing (read: Once Upon a Child) and go over to the dance stuff, you can find some KILLER recital outfits for like 6-7 bucks and make little girls very very very happy. Which I have done for 2 years in a row now. Princess had a headband that came with her costume. I made a headband for Peanut. Princess got all sad and said that Peanut was going to be more beautifuller than her. Next year, I'm dressing them both up in brown paper bags that are identical. At least then their bitching would make some sort of sense to me. Oy. They both looked beautiful. More beautifuller than any other girls, I'll tell you that much. So after all the face painting and the pinning and the complaining, we get to the zoo. I get my scrapbook picture snapped and then I'm happy for them to do their thing. We brought our own bags - as requested by our awesome zoo who is making every effort to be more green - or at least appear to be making the effort to. Our first treat station was fairly close by. It was dum dums. Kind of blah. But whatever. We have to walk a little while before finally landing on the next station. I'm not going to walk you through the whole gig so let me just boil it down to this...
L.A.M.E. HallZooWeen was a total bummer this year. There were very few treat stations. The zoo tried to cover this up by posting people with animals around so that the kids forgot that there should have been a station right about there. Oh. If I touch this snake, I will be distracted by the fact that there is no candy! But I am not so easily fooled. Oh no. Not I. There were no cookies this year. And the biggest let down of all... no UDF ice cream. It was so disappointing that Hubs and I didn't even have the heart to do the usual taxation that we usually do. It's the fee they have to pay for us to traipse along trying to get "just turned head" or "finger up a nose" pictures. But to take a piece apiece was going to leave them about a piece. Not cool.
And here's the kicker. I feel like a rhino butt complaining. I know that the zoo owes us nothing and this is totally icing on the cake. We have a killer zoo. World renowned, even. We are members but we don't have to pay for that as my mom foots the bill as a gift to our family. I think it is cool to have perks as members... but this is open to the community and that's cool. The zoo doesn't owe me anything. But our zoo also charges a pretty healthy admission. They get sponsors for many of the booths and the candy. They get a lot more foot traffic for doing this event. United Dairy Farmers is a local ice cream/convenience store. What happened? I hate sounding entitled. It's something God is really opening my eyes to lately. But where is the line? This is something that is one of our (few) annual traditions. Our kids get super excited to go. The zoo has been reducing their A-game slowly but there was a significant drop between last year and this year. If I had known that it wasn't going to be great, I would have preferred to have had the option to go invest all the time and energy in something else. So, maybe that's the line. I don't feel like the zoo owed me a wow HallZooWeen. I'm disappointed that I didn't get it, but I don't think they owed it to me. What I do think they owed me was a little forewarning. It's kind of like when Miley and Brittney and Christina all decided that they wanted to grow up and for them that meant "trashy". They have every right to grow up and change their look and change their songs. I don't fault them that. Although, as far as Miley is concerned, I do fault Billy Ray. But not really specifically about what she was doing. More just for breathing and stuff... What I fault them is that they drew every last dime out of impressionable kids. They designed clothes for some of them and they made songs for them and started out as friends of the Mouse House. They reined all these girls in and looked all cute and perky and then just turned around and started singing about inappropriate for girls to listen to things and wearing inappropriate for anyone other than your betrothed to see you in clothing. I just feel like there should have been like a PSA or a press conference or a billboard that let parents know that a new Brittney was about to emerge and the kids should avert their eyes. Or that we all should because, good gravy, that was a train wreck. So. I guess in closing, I would have liked for the zoo to have advertised it's lameness or issue an apology for failing to get sponsorship so that I could lay the blame where it's due. I'm happy to bitch at many a party - believe it.
My rating for the 2010 HallZooWeen is 3 out 10 Jenny's jewels. My rating for United Dairy Farmers for bailing altogether is 0 out of 10 Jenny's jewels. Great UDF. You just scored my first 0. Way to go.
Of course, I don't really feel like I'm offering you a valued service today. If it had been 3 weekends ago, this maybe could have been super handy to all 10 of you who read me locally. But today was the last day so I'm not saving you from much of anything. But if any of you know someone at the zoo or at UDF and want to send them a link to this post - well, I don't think there would be much wrong with that at all...
I'm out. I have to go forage around the house for a treat.
The sweet potato bread was okay. It remained gorgeous. But I kept taking bites out of it expecting it to taste like pumpkin bread. So, next time I just need to make pumpkin bread. BUT. I think I might buy some of those pie pumpkins and make it from scratch. I know. Cray-zay. But new. And also, don't tell anyone else but I guess I should have refrigerated the left-over bread. Because some of the heartier chunks of sweet potato that didn't puree all the way up made some of the bread turn green. A weird color green. It's one thing to let people know that you are kind of a slob. It's altogether different to own that you had green food sitting around on your counter. Green food that wasn't supposed to be green. 6 out of 10 Jenny's jewels for the ungreen portions I tasted.
I just saw in the paper today that Jessica Seinfeld is coming out with another book - Doubly Delicious. I'll be the judge of that. And I'll let you know what my verdict is.
Today's new thing is not a new thing, technically. I've done it before. I'm calling it new because it is an annual event and I hadn't done it in 2010 so - it counts as new. And because I say so.
HallZooWeen 2010:
I think this just might be our 8th year going. It might be our 7th. Either way, I think the point remains that we have gone consistently for more than one year. We have other occasions to measure up against. That's what I'm getting at here. Our zoo hosts a trick or treat event 2-3 weekends in October every year. I love it. I love that the kids get to wear their Halloween costume more than once. I love seeing the pumpkin bits laying all over the area of the bears or the elephants after they got to have fun and eat the innards. I love seeing the kids run from one treat station to the next holding out a bag and having sweet peeps put sweet stuff in them. I love looking at all the costumes. I love the wonder and the fantasy of it all. I love that I scrapbook a page about that event every year and that it is usually my favorite layout of the entire set of pages I'm doing. I love HallZooWeen. The first few years, they had a carnival kind of area where you could pick out a pumpkin and buy cider. They had the soft cookies with the delicious frosting and the sprinkles on top. They aren't homemade or anything - you can get them at the grocery but they aren't cheap. And it's just not as much fun when you aren't giving someone all your treat tickets because that's the only treat you want and you want a lot of them. Over the years, they have scaled back and made some changes. The carnival area disappeared. But you could still use a treat ticket to pick out a small pumpkin from one of the stations. Last year or the year before, they eliminated the tickets that they required you to trade at each station for a treat. Which was smart because I'm sure no one was going for all that chapstick at the one station and they just got crates of lip gunk sitting around year after year. They have pretty good expiration dates, so probably it worked out okay but still. The treats were good ones too. I might have mentioned the cookies already... (okay, fine, I'll name drop - they were the Lofthouse brand- mmmmm). But you also got a container of ice cream at the United Dairy Farmers store. Which I loved because it made those kids so happy but I hated because I got uptight about every dangling drop threatening to sploosh on a costume that I had very little ability to clean. Have you ever tried to blot chocolate ice cream on dragon hair? It's like flippin' impossible! The stations were all over the zoo - and there were plenty of them. And every year, the kids would fly past the animals trying to find the next station and forget the fact that they were in the same area as Rhinos and Lions and Bears, oh my! And I'm talking the real versions - not the costumed variety.
So, this year, everyone had their costume and was good for go. Or so I thought. Scooby's costume was too small. Don't even get me started on this. For real. You know I like a good ramble so we will just forge ahead. So, I spent close to two hours trying to find a viable option. He wanted to be Prince of Persia. That was so last - never. For real. Did anyone see a Prince of Persia costume last year? No! And you know what? You aren't going to see one this year! And I KNOW that the only reason he wanted to be Prince of Persia is because he wanted a dagger. And he told me that wasn't the reason but when I asked Hubs if we could put the outfit together from real clothes and not have a dagger, Scooby was far less interested in the garb of middle eastern men as dramatized by Hollywood. So, option 2 was Bumblebee from Transformers. I have to clarify that because when I went into the Halloween store to ask for an adult Bumblebee costume, she took me to bee costumes. Bumblebee is the aforementioned too small costume. So Hubs and I are texting a storm on the textplus free texting app for iphones (6 out of 10 Jenny's jewels. It's free, but you get what you pay for. That dang app crashes all the time), going back and forth with suggestions and shoot downs. I end up at Target and since costumes are 30% off and Scooby loves Star Wars, he gets a pretty awesome Jango Fett costume. And, at that price, he will thoroughly enjoy the costume again next year. The helmet of which he kept taking off and dropping. This decreases it's ability to last through to next year. Grrrrrrr.... Big Stuff wanted to be Spider Man. But we already had a Batman so he had to trade out one hero for another. At times that was fine and one minute later he wanted to be Spiderman again. Princess was a Peacock princess. Because that is what you get to be when your mom finds a beautiful, unique costume at TJ Maxx and it's 75% off. And Peanut was a ballerina because - and this is a tip just for you, my loyal readers, if you go into a consignment store that specializes in children's clothing (read: Once Upon a Child) and go over to the dance stuff, you can find some KILLER recital outfits for like 6-7 bucks and make little girls very very very happy. Which I have done for 2 years in a row now. Princess had a headband that came with her costume. I made a headband for Peanut. Princess got all sad and said that Peanut was going to be more beautifuller than her. Next year, I'm dressing them both up in brown paper bags that are identical. At least then their bitching would make some sort of sense to me. Oy. They both looked beautiful. More beautifuller than any other girls, I'll tell you that much. So after all the face painting and the pinning and the complaining, we get to the zoo. I get my scrapbook picture snapped and then I'm happy for them to do their thing. We brought our own bags - as requested by our awesome zoo who is making every effort to be more green - or at least appear to be making the effort to. Our first treat station was fairly close by. It was dum dums. Kind of blah. But whatever. We have to walk a little while before finally landing on the next station. I'm not going to walk you through the whole gig so let me just boil it down to this...
L.A.M.E. HallZooWeen was a total bummer this year. There were very few treat stations. The zoo tried to cover this up by posting people with animals around so that the kids forgot that there should have been a station right about there. Oh. If I touch this snake, I will be distracted by the fact that there is no candy! But I am not so easily fooled. Oh no. Not I. There were no cookies this year. And the biggest let down of all... no UDF ice cream. It was so disappointing that Hubs and I didn't even have the heart to do the usual taxation that we usually do. It's the fee they have to pay for us to traipse along trying to get "just turned head" or "finger up a nose" pictures. But to take a piece apiece was going to leave them about a piece. Not cool.
And here's the kicker. I feel like a rhino butt complaining. I know that the zoo owes us nothing and this is totally icing on the cake. We have a killer zoo. World renowned, even. We are members but we don't have to pay for that as my mom foots the bill as a gift to our family. I think it is cool to have perks as members... but this is open to the community and that's cool. The zoo doesn't owe me anything. But our zoo also charges a pretty healthy admission. They get sponsors for many of the booths and the candy. They get a lot more foot traffic for doing this event. United Dairy Farmers is a local ice cream/convenience store. What happened? I hate sounding entitled. It's something God is really opening my eyes to lately. But where is the line? This is something that is one of our (few) annual traditions. Our kids get super excited to go. The zoo has been reducing their A-game slowly but there was a significant drop between last year and this year. If I had known that it wasn't going to be great, I would have preferred to have had the option to go invest all the time and energy in something else. So, maybe that's the line. I don't feel like the zoo owed me a wow HallZooWeen. I'm disappointed that I didn't get it, but I don't think they owed it to me. What I do think they owed me was a little forewarning. It's kind of like when Miley and Brittney and Christina all decided that they wanted to grow up and for them that meant "trashy". They have every right to grow up and change their look and change their songs. I don't fault them that. Although, as far as Miley is concerned, I do fault Billy Ray. But not really specifically about what she was doing. More just for breathing and stuff... What I fault them is that they drew every last dime out of impressionable kids. They designed clothes for some of them and they made songs for them and started out as friends of the Mouse House. They reined all these girls in and looked all cute and perky and then just turned around and started singing about inappropriate for girls to listen to things and wearing inappropriate for anyone other than your betrothed to see you in clothing. I just feel like there should have been like a PSA or a press conference or a billboard that let parents know that a new Brittney was about to emerge and the kids should avert their eyes. Or that we all should because, good gravy, that was a train wreck. So. I guess in closing, I would have liked for the zoo to have advertised it's lameness or issue an apology for failing to get sponsorship so that I could lay the blame where it's due. I'm happy to bitch at many a party - believe it.
My rating for the 2010 HallZooWeen is 3 out 10 Jenny's jewels. My rating for United Dairy Farmers for bailing altogether is 0 out of 10 Jenny's jewels. Great UDF. You just scored my first 0. Way to go.
Of course, I don't really feel like I'm offering you a valued service today. If it had been 3 weekends ago, this maybe could have been super handy to all 10 of you who read me locally. But today was the last day so I'm not saving you from much of anything. But if any of you know someone at the zoo or at UDF and want to send them a link to this post - well, I don't think there would be much wrong with that at all...
I'm out. I have to go forage around the house for a treat.
I didn't do it, scheee
The English language is so stupid. There is school. And there is schnauzer. The SCH is pronounced ridiculously differently in those two situations. Also, I before E blah, blah, blah...
Panda Express just opened up by us. Here is why this is cool. Whenever I check out one of my favorite bargain sites, slickdeals, there are peeps telling about getting free entrees from Panda Express. I like rice and stuff that goes on top of it Asian style. So, having a place open near me that offers both - that's good. So, they opened yesterday. And in celebration, they were offering 2 free entrees with a 22 oz. drink. That's what my friend Kathy facebook messaged me, and I believed her. So I did a drive by. With 4 kids and 2 dogs. 3 awake kids. 2 very alert dogs. 1 sleeping child. The line was 40-50 deep, easy. And I LOVE free. I will wait out free. I will challenge free. I will compliment free. Free is GOOD. Which is a way better line than, "Greed is good". It's more appropriate, as well, in this day and age. And I surveyed the line. I surveyed the car. And you know what I did? I kept on driving. It wasn't worth it to me to park and stand in line. My 9 year old son could have held the car steady. Correction. My son could have been present while he played iphone games. I would have trusted him. There was already one asleep, and the others may well have followed suit. The dogs would have protected the lot. But I couldn't afford the time. You don't know the difficulty of this. Perhaps there are others who have that ability of walking away cleanly. But I gotta tell you. That ain't me. They say that free is the most powerful word in the world. They are, at the very least, correct in my case. Free takes me places. Free makes me excited. And here was a free meal. And I drove away. No food thawed or planned. And I drove away. I'm not really equipped to explain the depth of this. I like Asian food. I like rice, alot. I like free more than I like keeping my kids quiet and still. So, why did I leave? Honestly, I'm not entirely sure. I'll own up and tell you that I told Hubs to go stand in line on the way home. He asked if I was serious. Really? We've been married since 1998. Does he really have to ask if I'm serious about some free food??? And do you know what he did? He upped me. He replaced the free with the favorite. He told me to call in the Indian order and he would pick it up and bring it home. Sometimes he has the bestest timing in the universe. Sometimes he gets it dead on. Like when he surprised me with tickets to Shawn Colvin. Which were temporarily front row until they added some rows of metal folding chairs in front of us and then we were like 3rd or 4th row. But it was an acoustic set and she took requests and everything. And Hubs is a studly manly man and Shawn Colvin is really so not up his alley. It's up mine. So he took me. And this night, this night that had me struggling and lagging behind and really needed it, he got it just right. I didn't ask. He just offered. And it wasn't free. It was a much pricier version than the one I was going for. But that Hubs of mine likes to pick out times and let me know that I'm worth it. It ain't always the time that I think I need to hear it, but it's always perfect timing when he tells me. So, I can't rate Panda Express for you. But you know what I rate my inability to rate it for you? 10 out of 10 Jenny's jewels.
Panda Express just opened up by us. Here is why this is cool. Whenever I check out one of my favorite bargain sites, slickdeals, there are peeps telling about getting free entrees from Panda Express. I like rice and stuff that goes on top of it Asian style. So, having a place open near me that offers both - that's good. So, they opened yesterday. And in celebration, they were offering 2 free entrees with a 22 oz. drink. That's what my friend Kathy facebook messaged me, and I believed her. So I did a drive by. With 4 kids and 2 dogs. 3 awake kids. 2 very alert dogs. 1 sleeping child. The line was 40-50 deep, easy. And I LOVE free. I will wait out free. I will challenge free. I will compliment free. Free is GOOD. Which is a way better line than, "Greed is good". It's more appropriate, as well, in this day and age. And I surveyed the line. I surveyed the car. And you know what I did? I kept on driving. It wasn't worth it to me to park and stand in line. My 9 year old son could have held the car steady. Correction. My son could have been present while he played iphone games. I would have trusted him. There was already one asleep, and the others may well have followed suit. The dogs would have protected the lot. But I couldn't afford the time. You don't know the difficulty of this. Perhaps there are others who have that ability of walking away cleanly. But I gotta tell you. That ain't me. They say that free is the most powerful word in the world. They are, at the very least, correct in my case. Free takes me places. Free makes me excited. And here was a free meal. And I drove away. No food thawed or planned. And I drove away. I'm not really equipped to explain the depth of this. I like Asian food. I like rice, alot. I like free more than I like keeping my kids quiet and still. So, why did I leave? Honestly, I'm not entirely sure. I'll own up and tell you that I told Hubs to go stand in line on the way home. He asked if I was serious. Really? We've been married since 1998. Does he really have to ask if I'm serious about some free food??? And do you know what he did? He upped me. He replaced the free with the favorite. He told me to call in the Indian order and he would pick it up and bring it home. Sometimes he has the bestest timing in the universe. Sometimes he gets it dead on. Like when he surprised me with tickets to Shawn Colvin. Which were temporarily front row until they added some rows of metal folding chairs in front of us and then we were like 3rd or 4th row. But it was an acoustic set and she took requests and everything. And Hubs is a studly manly man and Shawn Colvin is really so not up his alley. It's up mine. So he took me. And this night, this night that had me struggling and lagging behind and really needed it, he got it just right. I didn't ask. He just offered. And it wasn't free. It was a much pricier version than the one I was going for. But that Hubs of mine likes to pick out times and let me know that I'm worth it. It ain't always the time that I think I need to hear it, but it's always perfect timing when he tells me. So, I can't rate Panda Express for you. But you know what I rate my inability to rate it for you? 10 out of 10 Jenny's jewels.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Double down...
I've got my Coke Zero Cherry Coke in hand. Did you run out and buy some after I told ya'll about it last night? Why not? Look. How can I profess to be a person of influence if I'm not influencing you? Whatever.
So here is what else I was up to yesterday. Okay, remember when Jessica Seinfeld got all famous herself for writing a cookbook? No? It was a few years ago so I get it. Fortunately it has been long enough for her cookbook to have made it to one of my favorite bargain shops - Big Lots. $3 for Deceptively Delicious. Let me explain something. I have 4 kids who eat. Like every day. And they rarely have the same tastes. Skunk will eat oatmeal in the morning. Princess actually loves Kix and plain Rice Crispies. Scooby wants about 14 bowls of the sweetest cereal in the house. Peanut can do a little bit of anything. But now let's talk fruits and veggies. There is not one single veggie that Scooby will eat. He will eat apples, grapes and 2 days ago I starved him of his typical carb diet enough that he agreed to and ate a banana. Princess loves broccoli and will eat peas and green beans from time to time. She's allergic to bananas and will eat apple when pushed That's about it on fruit. Peanut LOVES fruit. She likes carrots. And that's about it. And then there's Skunk. He'll ask for peanut butter and apples. And then scoop out all the peanut butter out with the same one piece of apple. I think you get the point. We have some food issues around here. So I am interested in going stealth with the health. Jessica - that's what I call her - Jessica purees different fruits and vegetables and sticks them in her food. And the kids are none the wiser. I have done this a few times now and it works. It works in unexpectedly beautiful ways. My kids are now consistently eating beets, zucchini, squash, peas, sweet potatoes and did I mention beets. I had myself never eaten a beet until this experiment. They are the epitome of the adjective "earthy". But I truly believe that my cheap jarred pasta sauce has never tasted so vibrant and my soups seem heartier somehow. And Skunk has been scarfing down the results as though his body responded to much neglected vitamins and minerals. Like the dirt that never fully scrubs off a beet - I'm calling that minerals. Anywho. Yesterday I was making my purees. And I baked a couple of bread mixes. And I decided to make cookies. But Jessica style. Now. She starts from scratch. I started with my $1 Krusteaz chocolate chip cookie mix. If you need a mix for chocolate chip cookies - use Krusteaz. They are the best non-scratch cookies I have ever had. 9.5 out of 10 Jenny's jewels. But Jessica does veggie them out with a special ingredient - chick peas. So I did too. And they were a hit. Not any bigger a hit than when it's just normal chocolate chip cookies. Which, in my book, is a win. And let me tell ya - these were not disguised chick peas. I tried to mash up a few of them but they were kind of plumped out like a chick pea (or garbanzo bean - if you will...) is. If you caught one alone - it tasted like a chick pea. But how dangerous is that when your victim, I mean audience, has never eaten a chick pea? I think that next time I will just puree those too. Or next time I might just grab some hummus and use that. Hummus cookies. mmmm. So, I will say that the chick-pea chocolate chip cookies score 8 out of 10 Jenny's jewels.
And here is what is going down today. I have 2 offerings for you. Half of them are about food. I don't have many other options given what is going on in my life. Don't judge!
It was a long day. I was the room helper for the preschoolers' co-op. That makes three and a half hours with 4 and 5 year olds - only two of which I am required by law to get along with and sustain - stretch out like a decade. And the two that ARE mine were flipping out because even though they share me with each other daily - as well as sharing me with 2 additional siblings - they could not abide watching the other one hanging out on my lap. Anywho. I finally got home with less than an hour to spare before I had to leave again to grab the other 2 kids. Tonight I wanted to finish up on some baking that I didn't get to the day before. I was going to have a little fun with some leftovers. Remember the applesauce? Of course you do! Well, you can substitute applesauce for some oil in baking. Imagine substituting some fine cinnamony applesauce that you can't really eat because it is too cinnamony in a sweet potato bread. That's right. Here's what I did:
Sweet Potato Bread
3/4 c. white sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. too cinnamony applesauce
1/4 c. veggie oil
2 eggs
1 3/4 c sifted all-purpose flour (uhm. I just notice I was supposed to sift this...)
1 t baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/3 c. water
1 c. cooked and mashed sweet potatoes (I had made some a few nights ago and had put brown sugar and cinnamon in them so these were going to be the bestest ingredients to use - ever...)
1/2 c. chopped pecans (optional)
1. Combine sugar and oil, beat well. Add eggs and beat. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir flour mixture into egg mixture alternately with water. Stir in sweet potatoes and chopped nuts. I had to use the mixer for the sweet potato mixin'.
2. Pour batter into greased 9x5 inch loaf pan. Bake 350 for about an hour.
I haven't tasted it yet but on looks alone it gets a 8 out of 10 Jenny's jewels. It's gorgeous, y'all. I'll have some in the morning toasted with some butter smeared on and some coffee on the side. And I'll let you know how it goes.
My other offering is the mindless t.v. that we tuned into tonight. Netflix rocks so much. It is replete with options. My life has been enriched by the likes of Hoarders, Pawn Stars and now...
American Pickers
These dudes go around the country collecting antiques for their business. They sell this stuff to collectors and interior designers and prolly movies and such. It is a combination of Antiques Roadshow and Hoarders. Hubs pointed out that each show probably gets to do a roll through. Like the Pickers find them and then call the producers of Hoarders saying, "Have we got a live one!". It's interesting to see what interests them. And it's a bit familiar seeing what other people are unwilling to let go of. It doesn't make me uncomfortable the way that Hoarders does. Or the way that those twin brother furniture appraisers from Antiques Roadshow tend to... Based on episode one, I give this show 7 out of 10 Jenny's jewels. I'll watch it again. It's got pretty good potential.
By the way, is it getting tedious to say x out of 10 Jenny's jewels? Do you figure that it's a 10 jewel scale by now and I should just say 7 Jenny's jewels? Or just 7 jewels or what? Inquiring mind wants to know!
That's it for today. I'm giving you fair warning that I have a pretty big deadline on Wednesday that I need to get a hold of. This is an obligation that I had prior to starting the blog so while I feel beholdin' to you, I do need to step outside the slacker box and make this happen. I'll at least pop in to say hey but there likely won't be a post on new for tomorrow. I'll still make a point to do something new, I just will have to wait until Wednesday to fill you in.
I'm beat. The end.
So here is what else I was up to yesterday. Okay, remember when Jessica Seinfeld got all famous herself for writing a cookbook? No? It was a few years ago so I get it. Fortunately it has been long enough for her cookbook to have made it to one of my favorite bargain shops - Big Lots. $3 for Deceptively Delicious. Let me explain something. I have 4 kids who eat. Like every day. And they rarely have the same tastes. Skunk will eat oatmeal in the morning. Princess actually loves Kix and plain Rice Crispies. Scooby wants about 14 bowls of the sweetest cereal in the house. Peanut can do a little bit of anything. But now let's talk fruits and veggies. There is not one single veggie that Scooby will eat. He will eat apples, grapes and 2 days ago I starved him of his typical carb diet enough that he agreed to and ate a banana. Princess loves broccoli and will eat peas and green beans from time to time. She's allergic to bananas and will eat apple when pushed That's about it on fruit. Peanut LOVES fruit. She likes carrots. And that's about it. And then there's Skunk. He'll ask for peanut butter and apples. And then scoop out all the peanut butter out with the same one piece of apple. I think you get the point. We have some food issues around here. So I am interested in going stealth with the health. Jessica - that's what I call her - Jessica purees different fruits and vegetables and sticks them in her food. And the kids are none the wiser. I have done this a few times now and it works. It works in unexpectedly beautiful ways. My kids are now consistently eating beets, zucchini, squash, peas, sweet potatoes and did I mention beets. I had myself never eaten a beet until this experiment. They are the epitome of the adjective "earthy". But I truly believe that my cheap jarred pasta sauce has never tasted so vibrant and my soups seem heartier somehow. And Skunk has been scarfing down the results as though his body responded to much neglected vitamins and minerals. Like the dirt that never fully scrubs off a beet - I'm calling that minerals. Anywho. Yesterday I was making my purees. And I baked a couple of bread mixes. And I decided to make cookies. But Jessica style. Now. She starts from scratch. I started with my $1 Krusteaz chocolate chip cookie mix. If you need a mix for chocolate chip cookies - use Krusteaz. They are the best non-scratch cookies I have ever had. 9.5 out of 10 Jenny's jewels. But Jessica does veggie them out with a special ingredient - chick peas. So I did too. And they were a hit. Not any bigger a hit than when it's just normal chocolate chip cookies. Which, in my book, is a win. And let me tell ya - these were not disguised chick peas. I tried to mash up a few of them but they were kind of plumped out like a chick pea (or garbanzo bean - if you will...) is. If you caught one alone - it tasted like a chick pea. But how dangerous is that when your victim, I mean audience, has never eaten a chick pea? I think that next time I will just puree those too. Or next time I might just grab some hummus and use that. Hummus cookies. mmmm. So, I will say that the chick-pea chocolate chip cookies score 8 out of 10 Jenny's jewels.
And here is what is going down today. I have 2 offerings for you. Half of them are about food. I don't have many other options given what is going on in my life. Don't judge!
It was a long day. I was the room helper for the preschoolers' co-op. That makes three and a half hours with 4 and 5 year olds - only two of which I am required by law to get along with and sustain - stretch out like a decade. And the two that ARE mine were flipping out because even though they share me with each other daily - as well as sharing me with 2 additional siblings - they could not abide watching the other one hanging out on my lap. Anywho. I finally got home with less than an hour to spare before I had to leave again to grab the other 2 kids. Tonight I wanted to finish up on some baking that I didn't get to the day before. I was going to have a little fun with some leftovers. Remember the applesauce? Of course you do! Well, you can substitute applesauce for some oil in baking. Imagine substituting some fine cinnamony applesauce that you can't really eat because it is too cinnamony in a sweet potato bread. That's right. Here's what I did:
Sweet Potato Bread
3/4 c. white sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. too cinnamony applesauce
1/4 c. veggie oil
2 eggs
1 3/4 c sifted all-purpose flour (uhm. I just notice I was supposed to sift this...)
1 t baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/3 c. water
1 c. cooked and mashed sweet potatoes (I had made some a few nights ago and had put brown sugar and cinnamon in them so these were going to be the bestest ingredients to use - ever...)
1/2 c. chopped pecans (optional)
1. Combine sugar and oil, beat well. Add eggs and beat. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir flour mixture into egg mixture alternately with water. Stir in sweet potatoes and chopped nuts. I had to use the mixer for the sweet potato mixin'.
2. Pour batter into greased 9x5 inch loaf pan. Bake 350 for about an hour.
I haven't tasted it yet but on looks alone it gets a 8 out of 10 Jenny's jewels. It's gorgeous, y'all. I'll have some in the morning toasted with some butter smeared on and some coffee on the side. And I'll let you know how it goes.
My other offering is the mindless t.v. that we tuned into tonight. Netflix rocks so much. It is replete with options. My life has been enriched by the likes of Hoarders, Pawn Stars and now...
American Pickers
These dudes go around the country collecting antiques for their business. They sell this stuff to collectors and interior designers and prolly movies and such. It is a combination of Antiques Roadshow and Hoarders. Hubs pointed out that each show probably gets to do a roll through. Like the Pickers find them and then call the producers of Hoarders saying, "Have we got a live one!". It's interesting to see what interests them. And it's a bit familiar seeing what other people are unwilling to let go of. It doesn't make me uncomfortable the way that Hoarders does. Or the way that those twin brother furniture appraisers from Antiques Roadshow tend to... Based on episode one, I give this show 7 out of 10 Jenny's jewels. I'll watch it again. It's got pretty good potential.
By the way, is it getting tedious to say x out of 10 Jenny's jewels? Do you figure that it's a 10 jewel scale by now and I should just say 7 Jenny's jewels? Or just 7 jewels or what? Inquiring mind wants to know!
That's it for today. I'm giving you fair warning that I have a pretty big deadline on Wednesday that I need to get a hold of. This is an obligation that I had prior to starting the blog so while I feel beholdin' to you, I do need to step outside the slacker box and make this happen. I'll at least pop in to say hey but there likely won't be a post on new for tomorrow. I'll still make a point to do something new, I just will have to wait until Wednesday to fill you in.
I'm beat. The end.
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