~ Sunday Thoughts

What I want for my girls . . . .

"Find a guy who calls you beautiful instead of hot, who calls you back when you hang up on him, who will lie under the stars and listen to your heartbeat, or will stay awake just to watch you sleep... wait for the boy who kisses your forehead, who wants to show you off to the world when you are in sweats, who holds your hand in front of his friends, who thinks you' re just as pretty without makeup on. One who is constantly reminding you of how much he cares and how lucky he is to have YOU... The one who turns to his friends and says, "that’s her"....

Who wants to come visit in April????

~ Farmville

I came across this today and laughed and giggled because....Farmville on Facebook has become my newest addiction.

God, I seriously need to get a life.....lol.

~ Gonna Have To Try This

Dulce de Leche Cake with Caramel Buttercream

(cake recipe adapted from Cooks Illustrated)

2 1/4 cups cake flour (9 ounces), plus more for dusting the pans

1 cup whole milk, at room temperature

6 large egg whites (3/4 cup), at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar (12 1/4 ounces)

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon table salt

12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened but still cool

Set oven rack in middle position. (If oven is too small to cook both layers on a single rack, set racks in upper-middle and lower-middle positions.) Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray; line the bottoms with parchment or waxed paper rounds. Spray the paper rounds, dust the pans with flour, and invert pans and rap sharply to remove excess flour.

Pour milk, egg whites, and extract into 2-cup glass measure, and mix with fork until blended.

Mix cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of electric mixer at slow speed. Add butter; continue beating at slow speed until mixture resembles moist crumbs, with no powdery streaks remaining.

Add all but 1/2 cup of milk mixture to crumbs and beat at medium speed (or high speed if using handheld mixer) for 1 1/2 minutes. Add remaining 1/2 cup of milk mixture and beat 30 seconds more. Stop mixer and scrape sides of bowl. Return mixer to medium (or high) speed and beat 20 seconds longer.

Divide batter evenly between two prepared cake pans; using rubber spatula, spread batter to pan walls and smooth tops. Arrange pans at least 3 inches from the oven walls and 3 inches apart. (If oven is small, place pans on separate racks in staggered fashion to allow for air circulation.) Bake until thin skewer or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 23 to 25 minutes.

Let cakes rest in pans for 3 minutes. Loosen from sides of pans with a knife, if necessary, and invert onto wire racks. Reinvert onto additional wire racks. Let cool completely, about 1 1/2 hours.

For the frosting:

Melt 1/2 stick butter and add 1 cup packed dark brown sugar and 1/3 cup heavy cream.

Cook until the sugar is dissolved.

Transfer to a heat proof bowl and slowly add up to 3 cups of powdered sugar stopping when your frosting has reached it's desired consistency. NOTE - this frosting dries very quickly. Once you spread it on the cake, you must work quickly to smooth it out! If the frosting dries, add a little milk or heavy cream to smoothen it out again.

Choose your most level cake layer and place it bottom side up on a plate or turntable.

Place dulce de leche in a pastry bag with a large coupler tip and line the outside border of the cake with dulce de leche (for the dulce de leche filling, I lined this a little too close to the outside and it overflowed and streaked into my icing a bit... which I ended up liking the look of so it all worked out in the end).

Add more dulce de leche and fill in between the lines.

~ Lordy, Lordy, Look Who's 40!!

My sister Toni turned 40 this past weekend. I called her old at which point she actually snickered and then kindly reminded me that I’d be turning 50 this year. “This may be true”, I said, “however, I’ll be in my 40s longer than you’ll be in your 30s.”

~ I think she had a good time on her night out. What do you think?

Happy Birthday, Sissy ~ I love you

~ Hmmm . . . .

. . . I wonder if it's to late to be a biker babe??

~ Me & Kevin Nealon

While at the Bob Hope Classic yesterday, Linda and I noticed a photographer from somewhere (obviously, from the Desert Sun) and this is the picture he took.

I'm the one with the smile (duh), looking up at Kevin Nealon. Linda is there next to me and I have no idea who those other women were. The one in the red with her arms crossed? Every celebrity that came up to the tee gave her a golf ball to shut her up....lol. I think she looks pissy 'cause Kevin Nealon was standing next to me and not her. *shrugs*

For more pics of the Bob Hope Classic, (if you're interested) go to www.mydesert.com and click on Photos/Videos then click on any set of the Bob Hope Classic. This picture was taken during Round 3 on Saturday.

btw? There's a picture of Alice Cooper in these online pics. Seeing what he was wearing yesterday, I have no idea how I missed him!

~ Starstruck

This is what you’ll find if you search ‘golf’ on Wikpedia.com:

Golf is a precision club-and-ball sport, in which competing players (golfers), using many types of clubs, attempt to hit balls into each hole on a golf course while employing the fewest number of strokes. Golf is one of the few ball games that does not require a standardized playing area. Instead, the game is played on golf "courses", each of which features a unique design, although courses typically consist of either nine or 18 holes. Golf is defined, in the rules of golf, as "playing a ball with a club from the teeing ground into the hole by a stroke or successive strokes in accordance with the Rules." Golf competition is generally played for the lowest number of strokes by an individual, known simply as stroke play, or the lowest score on the most individual holes during a complete round by an individual or team, known as match play.

Golf. Everyone knows that not only do I not play golf, I don’t watch golf. I’ve never had much interest in watching a bunch of guys stand around waiting to hit a little white ball across a wide expanse of green grass or sand and try to land it in a little bitty hole. Well okay, I wasn’t interested until Tiger hit the scene and despite Tigers behavior lately and the fact that he’s gone into hiding, Tiger is still one hell of a golfer. And yes, I do watch Tiger. And while I totally get that it's not near as easy as it may look, it's still not a sport that I can get into. I much prefer baseball or hockey.

Now, this is my description of golf: standing on the 1st tee box at the Nicklaus Private course at PGA West watching celebrities and pros tee off in the Bob Hope Classic. On a beautiful, sunny California day.

I readily admit that I was starstruck. Not ‘mouth hanging open, I’m a tourist’ starstruck, but starstruck just the same. The first celebrity I saw this morning was William Devane as he was getting ready to practice his putting. As I had flashbacks of him in Knots Landing, I turned around and told KJ I was in lust all over again. With William Devane, not KJ. *shrugs*

Next, we saw Jeffrey Donovan, the guy who plays Michael Weston in “Burn Notice.” We’re watching him putt and he couldn’t putt to save his life. KJ said something about ‘this guy not being able to putt’ and then when we realized who he was, we didn’t care that he couldn’t putt. What can I say, the guy is hot and we like his show.

Now, once I got to the 1st tee, you couldn’t drag me away. I missed seeing Dr. Phil (and I really wanted to ask his advice), but I did see:

Alfonso Ribeiro from “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air”

Bo Jackson

Jeremy Roenick (retired Blackhawk hockey player) umm, you should have seen this guys chest! *fans self*

Gary Valentine from “The King of Queens”

Tom Dreesen (a comedian I’ve never heard of)

Tommy Thayer (guitarist from KISS - didn’t recognize him without his make-up on!)

Greg Maddux (baseball player)

Oliver Hudson (from Rules of Engagement and brother of Kate Hudson)

Vinny Testaverde

Emmitt Smith

Kyle Mc Lachlan from Desperate Housewives

Bruce Jenner

Kurt Russell

Kevin Nealon from SNL

Evan Longoria (baseball player)

I was really hoping to see Alice Cooper. Seriously, who would have ever thought that Alice Cooper can play golf? It boggles the mind! Of all the celebrities we saw, Kevin Nealon and Brue Jenner were the friendliest while Kurt Russell didn’t even acknowledge that the fans were there. I was disappointed because I’ve always been a big Kurt Russell fan.

When you think about it, these guys want to play in the Classic. It’s for charity. You’d think that knowing that people come to watch them play, to be able to get a glimpse of a star that they like, they’d be a little friendlier. But that’s just my opinion.

Oh, I did see the pro golfers, too: Mark Calcavecchia, Rich Beem, and Rickie Fowler, just to name a few. I saw more but because I don’t follow golf, I couldn’t tell you who they are. I will say this ~ Rickie Fowler had quite the following and they say he will be the next Tiger Woods. Other than the fact that he went to Oklahoma State, he had it going on, so I’m pulling for him.

I gotta go get my beauty sleep ~ I’m hoping to see Patrick Warburton tomorrow ;-)

~ My New Favorite Book

Yay!! It finally arrived in the mail yesterday from Amazon.com and this is fast becoming my new favorite book. A cookbook. Go figure!

I've been following this website for about 3 years now and it's actually one of my favorite sites to visit. Great recipes and lots of humor.

If you're interested in her website, it's www.thepioneerwomancooks.com

Happy cooking!!

~ Rebel

LOL....I've always been a bit of a rebel!!

~ Truffle Heaven

I don't know about you but to me, this looks like heaven in a bowl! I'll be giving these a try...very soon!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles

(loveandoliveoil.com)

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine (room temperature)

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup milk or soy milk

1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

14 oz dark chocolate candy coating

Directions:

Beat butter and sugars in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add milk and vanilla. Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt and mix on low speed (or by hand) until incorporated. Stir in choc chips.

Cover and chill for 1 hour

When dough is firm enough to handle (it may help to lightly flour your hands), form dough into 1” balls and arrange on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Place sheets in freezer and let chill for 30 minutes.

Melt chocolate candy coating in a double boiler or in microwave according to package directions. Using forks or a dipping tool, dip cookie balls into candy coating to cover. Tap fork on side of pan to remove any excess coating and return to waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Chill until set.

Store, chilled, in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

~ An Open Letter to My Girls

Being a parent is probably the hardest job there ever was. No, I’m not just now coming to that conclusion. However, after texting back and forth tonight with one of my niece’s, it hit me that while I’m usually the one that the girls come to when they’re hurt, stressed or just need to vent, rant and rave, I don’t always have the answers they’re looking for and I don’t always tell them what they want to hear. I tell them the truth and sometimes the truth isn’t what they want to hear.

After these conversations with one of the girls, one part of me wants to do whatever I can to take away the pain, wipe away the tears and mend the broken heart. One part of me usually ends up wanting to go into bad-ass mode and drop kick the boy who put another crack in her heart. And yet another part of me wants to wrap them up tightly in a cocoon and protect them from harm; keeping them all locked in their rooms until they’re at least.....35.

As a parent, I know that I can’t do that. As a woman, I know that whatever heartbreak we experience as a teenage girl usually becomes a life lesson. Granted, that life lesson usually takes us a while to learn, but in the end, when we’re a little older (like, when we’re moms) the light goes on and we finally ‘get it.’

I also know (from experience, of course) that from the age of 15 to 20, my parents knew absolutely nothing about raising a teenager. I mean seriously, how could they? Had they ever really been a teenager? Did I really care that there were four of us and they had raised us all?

As a parent, looking back, I realize that my parents knew a lot more than I gave them credit for and the very same things that they asked of me is exactly what I’ve asked of my own kids. As a parent, I realize the importance of that phone call letting someone know you’ll be late. As a parent, I realize that when my dad gave me advice, it was advice he was giving out of... you guessed it, experience.

Wow...it really does come full circle.

So . . . to Lynsay, Kristin, Erin and Ash (and yes, my nieces are still my girls) . . . . never forget that you have your entire life ahead of you. Always remember that at the end of the day if you’ve done one thing that made a difference, one thing that mattered ~ it was a good day. Growing up is hard, but I promise you this ~ you’ll get through it and one day, you’ll look back and realize that everything your parents did or said wasn’t because they were trying to be the meanest parent on the block. It was because as parents, our children (that means you) are our world. You brighten our days with your smile and you light our hearts just by being here. Whether it’s because we see a little bit of ourselves in you or recognize the same stubborn streak that we had, what we do and what we say is done out of pure love. A love so deep, so unconditional, that we want to do whatever we possibly can to protect you, to keep you from harm. To keep you safe.

And while watching you grow up is bittersweet and you continue to keep us in awe and wonder, you’re still our little girls. Whether you’re a daddy’s girl or a momma’s girl, letting you go to spread your wings is one of the hardest things we’ll ever do.

So while you’re chomping at the bit to get out and be on your own, don’t forget to turn around and give us a smile and a big thumbs up. While we may know that you’re more than ready, it’s still not an easy thing.

Some quotes and tidbits to keep for future reference ~

Never love a love that hurts and never hurt a love that loves.

“The only person you are destined to be is the person you decide to be.”

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sometimes, the best way to figure out who you are is to get to that place where you don’t have to be anything else.

Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.

“Chin up. Shoulders back. Walk proud. Strut a little. Don’t lick your wounds, celebrate them. The scars you bear are signs of a competitor. You’re in a lion fight. Just because you didn’t win doesn’t mean you don’t know how to roar.”

~ Grey’s Anatomy

“There’s a luggage limit for every passenger on a flight. The same rules apply to your life. You must eliminate some baggage before you can fly.”

~ Rosalind Johnson

“How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours.”

~ Wayne Dyer

Sometimes, no matter how much you love someone, give someone, do for someone, or be there for someone, it will never be enough. And you will have to decide if it is worth it to keep throwing your heart at their feet so they can walk all over it one more time....

“In twenty years, you will be more disappointed by what you didn’t do than by what you did.”

~ Mark Twain

Giving up doesn’t always mean you are weak; sometimes it means that you are strong enough to let go.

and my favorite . . .

“I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles.”

~ Audrey Hepburn

~ Seriously? Rain???

What's up with that?? Rain? And it's supposed to continue raining all week!! Ugh!!!

~ More Critters

No, this isn't my new pet but we are seeing more of these little guys out in the yard. I was watering the shrubs out in the back yard when I saw the first one. It shot right up and over the wall when I happened to hit the bush he was in with the water. Up and over the wall is better than across my foot.

This one was on the back patio last weekend. I was watering the cactus and about stepped on him. Or her. How do you tell? *lol*

Maybe this is why Murphy is so fascinated with the bushes?

~ LOL

KJ & I wishing you a happy Friday (I'm the cute one on the right) ~ enjoy your weekend!

~ Veggie Recipe

I hate vegetables. Or anything remotely resembling vegetables. Unless it’s corn. If it’s corn, I’ll eat my share and more than likely yours too. Corn on the cob? Yum. Oh, and I love mashed potatoes with my corn; nothing better than mixing the two together.

I detest anything green. Spinach, brussel sprouts, asparagus, peas. Brussel sprouts? Seriously, who eats that stuff, anyway? I tolerate green beans and broccoli.

Unfortunately, KJ likes the green vegetables. So, while at Costco over the weekend, I purchased some asparagus thinking I’d find something to do with it. I did. And it was good.

I found the recipe in one of my magazines ~ Best of Taste of Home: 250 of Our Most Popular Recipes. A lttle tip....if you’re like me and not fond of asparagus, don’t overcook it; you’ll want it to be crisp. Something about the asparagus being crisp and not all mushy makes it easier to go down..lol.

*Asparagus Nut Stir-Fry*

1 1/2 lbs fresh asparagus spears, trimmed

2 tbsp Canola oil

1/4 cup thinly sliced sweet red pepper (I used an entire red pepper)

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1 garlic clove, minced

1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp chicken broth

1/2 tsp each sugar and salt

In a large skillet or wok, stir-fry asparagus in oil until crisp-tender, about 10 minutes. Remove and keep warm.

In the same pan, stir-fry the red pepper, walnuts, ginger, garlic and pepper flakes for 2 minutes or until red pepper is crisp-tender. Stir in the broth, soy sauce, sugar and salt; heat through. Add asparagus, too to coat.

~ Rewind

What do you do when something happens in your life that causes you to stop and take pause, has you taking a few steps back and looking at your life and the way you’ve lived it? Are you satisfied with what you see or do you find yourself wishing you had done some things differently?

Monday night, KJ came back to the bedroom and told me he wasn’t feeling well. So he sat in a chair and I started peppering him with questions. Are you nauseated? Is your arm numb/tingling? Having trouble breathing?

He was flushed, had some tingling in his left arm and was hot behind his neck.

I told him it was probably worth a trip to the ER and we had better get going. Then he goes all girly on me. Do I have time to shower? What should I wear? What shoes do you think I should wear?

Seriously???? You’re going to the ER, not preparing to take a stroll down a fashion runway. *shakes my head* At least now I know where Lynsay gets it. *sheesh*

I got him to Eisenhower about 8ish and at 2:3oam, they admitted him. Because there were no beds available in the hospital, he had to spend the night in the ER. I left shortly after they admitted him and was back up there about 8:30am. At 10, they came and moved him upstairs to a room and at 12:30, they took him down for a 3.5 hour nuclear stress test. After numerous blood tests, several EKGs and an Echocardiogram, they concluded that the problem wasn’t cardiac. They kicked him out and sent him home about 6pm Tuesday night.

The close to 24 hours that he was there, I gave the impression that I wasn’t worried, that he was fine. I was calm and cool, trying to keep him from freaking out. It’s funny how we can project one set of feelings outward while keeping a whole other set of feelings locked inside.

Inside, I was terrified. Inside, I was trembling with the fear of losing him. Inside, the last 29 years of our life together flashed before my eyes . . . our early dating years, our wedding, the birth of Ryan and Lynsay, the building of a life together, of raising our children. Granted, it hasn’t always been easy and we’ve had our share of tough times. But whenever we hit a speed bump or whenever the tough times caught up to us, we were there to face them together, as a united front.

So, what does one do when something happens to make you stop and push the rewind button on the pages of your life? You put your big girl panties on and plaster a smile on your face. Then you crawl up on that narrow hospital bed, cuddle up close, reach behind you to take his hand in yours and fall asleep.

~ When The Time Is Right . . .

. . . you'll know.

~ Working For NASA

Okay, not really. But, after applying for a simple little Para position with the school district, one would think I was applying for a top secret position at NASA. Or the CIA. Or even the Secret Service.

Sometime in September I filled out an online application with one of the school districts, even going so far as to taking a typing test. Really? Typing?

About six weeks after I filled out the application I got a phone call from the district asking me to come in and take a written exam. A written exam? For a para job? Seriously?

The appointed date arrives and off I go like a kid on her first day of school. Written test? Really??? I get there and before I go back to take the exam, I ask the girl if I’m there for the position I applied for. I mean really, I would have hated to waste her time and mine only to find out that someone messed up and I’m taking a written exam for something other than a Para job. Her reply? “Honey, you wouldn’t be here if you weren’t qualified for the job you applied for.” Alrighty then!

She takes me back to a conference room to get the testing started. We sit down and she slides this ‘packet’ across the table and starts giving me instructions as I’m asking questions. She tells me that she can tell that I’m ‘overwhelmed’ (ya think?)and that the test is just like the exit exam I took when I graduated from high school. I said, “Oh honey, I graduated 30 years ago, there was no such thing as an exit exam.” She said, “Oh, well, it’s just like the ACT test.” I said, “If it was just like taking the ACT, you’d be letting me use a calculator!”

She offers me this cute little chuckle, as if she were saying, ‘Well bless your heart’, finishes giving me instructions and after telling me that I’ll have 3 hours to take the test, she leaves. 3 hours???? Holy mother!!

The testing begins and I browse through the ‘packet’. Three sections and 110 questions. The first section is English (I can ace this one), the second section is Math (oh hell, I’m screwed) and the the third section is problem solving in the classroom. Two sections out of three....hmmm.

After taking the test, passing two sections out of three (I flunked Math) and then re-taking the Math again (which I passed)....taking an ‘oral’ test and passing that (all this for a Para job, huh?), I’m now number 4 on the list. Which means I’ll eventually get a phone call for an interview. After everything I went through, I’m going to be real pissy if I never get that phone call.

All this for a Para job?

I’m in serious need of Therapy . . .