tom foolery

2010-08-05T11:25:00.002-04:00

The rain, the humidity, the lack of exercise, the cheese....i feel like something someone scraped off the bottom of their shoe. i've had a headache for two days...in part from the humidity i'm sure, and in part from no caffiene yesterday after a double shot of espresso the day before. UGHHHH! when i worked for a utility company a few years ago, one of my most memorable calls came from a very mouthy, very loud woman who was insistent that her services be restored IMMEDIATELY IF NOT SOONER. It was the way she put it, however, that made it so memorable. "ALL YOU GOTS TO DO IS FLIP DA SWITCH!!!" she insisted over and over until finally I had to put her on hold just to giggle. I hear her voice now though as I sit around wallowing in self-pity and sloth that i needs to flip da switch and get my butt back in gear. I know the game plan changes a lot with me but the plan is:

1. study for gre
2. take gre
3. do well enough that i don't have to repeat steps 1&2
4. start the Masters in Public Health Program at WVU, with a concentration in Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Women's Health.

last time the plan was get a masters in secondary english education, but then i decided i really didn't want to do that. prior to that, the plan was to get a degree in human nutrition and foods and become a registered dietician...and while i took a year's worth of classes, i found out that chemistry and I aren't friends...so back to the drawing board. but this time, i'm going into something that i'm truly interested in (like HN&F) that does not involve chemistry? (at least i don't think it does anyway) and so now all i have to do in order to make this happpen and move my life along so that i'm a productive, contributing member of society is to flip dat switch inside my brain that says "YOU HAVE TO DO THIS, IT WON'T DO IT FOR YOU" and just make it happen...what was that mantra i loved so much again? oh yeah - "she believed she could...and so, she did"

2010-05-31T00:34:00.001-04:00

Soooo I never made it to the gym today...and I forgot the cheesecake at home. I did avoid all evil at the cookout and luckily my sister in law made a 3 pt strawberry dessert that was yummy and I sweat my arse off playing badminton. Success right? Well it would have been had I not devoured 5 of my grannys meatballs when we stopped by my mom's house. The woman is 87 years old...those meatballs will not be around forever...unfortunately perhaps my ability to justify and make excuses might be.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

2010-05-29T15:31:00.003-04:00

memorial day is upon us...which for me means a cookout at my in laws. my father-in-law knows exactly how i like my hot dogs (which is very rarely ever, but when the mood strikes - very charred) and he always makes one or two especially for me. my mother in law makes one of my guiltiest pleasures - hash brown casserole. it is so bad for you but holy moly is it good! you can also be sure there are about 50 delicious things on the table at any function she hosts which means i have to do some planning to avoid disaster.

her cookout is tomorrow evening, and here is my game plan:

1. exercise before hand. the gym opens at noon so i plan to be there when it opens and get my workout in before going home to get ready. exercise is like an appetite suppressant for me and is obviously a reminder of how hard i have to work to get every pound off...which by the way, as of this morning i have lost 82.3 lbs.

2. bring my own. i am lucky that my mother -in-law is never offended when i bring my own items to her house. tomorrow while everyone else is eating hamburgers and hot dogs, i'll be enjoying a laura's lean beef burger...perfectly pre-portioned, on a low cal - high fiber whole wheat bun i'm bringing along with me.

3. bring healthy options to share. i volunteered to bring a dessert, a salad, and some baked chips. everyone enjoys my brownie cheesecake and i doubt they'll even notice the very low fat version of it i'm taking with me tomorrow. i got a ton of beautiful veggies, strawberries and apples for a great tossed salad and of course i'm providing a light ranch dressing too. others are bringing melon and crudites, so while there will be lots of temptations, i'll be able to enjoy a healthy meal without feeling deprived.

have a great memorial day weekend!

2010-05-19T08:10:00.001-04:00

if the topic has ever come up you'll know I'm very wishy-washy with the notion of having a baby. I'm almost embarassed either way to want or not to want a child...I'm just not sold 100% either way...and my view on it changes a thousand times a week which gets the little troll on one shoulder to kick the other little troll and say "if she's not definately sure then she shouldn't do it...a baby is like a purchase from target.....you can NEVER return it!!!"I have trolls rather than angel/devils on my shoulder to keep things looking neutral you know.

I can think of a million reasons for either choice...which my therapist says is fantastic and doesn't make me less of a potential mother. I had great parents; honestly they are/were both cool as hell and we are/were friends.

The thing with having a baby is that it realistically has to be well timed...my husband works from feb-may 7 days a week, 10-16 hours a day so I can not...will not...pop out a kid during those months. If I can refrain from taking a dump all week while living in the dorms, I can keep a 3 month old duct taped in my womb...like that episode of cold case where the woman has the 27 year old dead calcified fetus inside her and her second husband just thinks the daughter she talks about all the time just lives far away...well maybe not just like that but I digress...

I went to the gyno yesterday and while I know what she told me was right, it pissed me off and knocked the wind temporarily from my sails...not that I was planning on getting myself pregnant anytime soon...the magic window of time remember...but like a little kid, being told you can't do something sure makes you want it a little more...or at least the opportunity to do it if you want to. She told me I had to "step up" my exercise...which I had been proud of :( and she is referring me to a registered dietician...which I am excited about because obviously I'm all about that.

The additional weight she wants me to lose is daunting, and while I knowww she's right (did I say that already? I'm iPhone blogging and it's a total pain to "scroll" up to see) it is frustrating. Either way I always intended to see that number on the scale again...someday...but I guess I wanted it to be on my time frame...which in reality hasn't worked out all that well for me in the past haha.

I guess if I reach the magic number by next august (the first magic window timeline month) and I have made up my mind then I'll be ready...I guess we'll all just have to see if my prize will be a sweet fuzzy headed little squirt...or a retainment of my sleeping-in options, a full body tuck to remove all my extra skin, and a tricked out mustang. Don't comment to tell me I can have my cake and eat it too...no cake for me, I have weight to lose!

2010-04-27T11:41:00.001-04:00

Monday i decided to step it up and invest in some personal training sessions. My zumba teacher is awesome and she happens to be a personal trainer so it made the most sense to do my sessions with her. For some reason I was really nervous, even having nightmares about it Sunday night--no joke!

For most of the session we worked with the kettle ball. Now if you aren't familiar with one it is a large iron ball with a handle. Following the workout I started to feel it and honestly I've never felt a workout in my legs, lower back and butt like I am feeling right now. I could barely sit down to pee! That being said, I figured I would be worse off if I didn't work through it so I went to zumba this morning - and then? I went to target and got myself a 15lb kettle ball ;-)

2010-04-16T15:24:00.001-04:00

So I didn't do any zumba this week - I have no excuse...I just didn't do it and tried to justify not going because my instructor was sick...but she had subs for her classes and there were two classes at the y I could have gone too - I just didn't.

What I did do was a 6 mile bike ride and a 3 mile walk on Sunday.

Monday was pilates, 30 on the elliptical, weights and a killer power yoga class.

Tuesday I did another power yoga class, and 30 on the elliptical then I walked 3 miles.

Wednesday I did a pilates class and walked 3 1/4 miles.

Thursday was a rest day but I did do a few yoga poses and messed around on the stability ball and some light free weights....I downloaded a Swiss ball app for my iPhone and did one of those routines.

Today I went to pilates and did 30 on the elliptical machine and weights - I upped myself to 3 sets of 15 reps and I am feeling it!!

I had planned on going to couples yoga tonight but the other half of this couple is working on a project and won't be home in time....he's heart broken as you can imagine.

2010-04-14T15:56:00.003-04:00

i searched through my old posts to find my 101 in 1001 list...i updated it a little...just filling in the things i've done but i really think i need to make a new list...so many of the things on there were just unrealistic to keep track of - brushing max for example...i do it but i can't keep track... perhaps in a few days i'll make a new list...is that cheating?

2010-04-12T10:48:00.001-04:00

A beautiful morning to start my new routine!

Pilates: mwf mornings
Zumba: tuesday and Thursday morning, Wednesday evening, Friday evening and sometimes Thursday evenings
Power yoga: Tuesday and Thursday mornings, sometimes Monday evenings
Cardio: MWF - sat and sun 60 min of elliptical
Weights: upper body every other day...pilates and yoga take care of core and lower body

Last week I took Wednesday off and Friday off and that worked out well...I still got in at least 2 hours 5 days. Took advantage of rail trail for 2.5 mile walk on Saturday after the gym, and 3.19 mile walk yesterday (Sunday) around the high school track after a small bike ride (6 mi)

I doubt anyone cares to know my exercise routine but it makes me feel more accountable to put it out there whether here or Twitter or fb. Plus right now I have no job, got turned down for grad school (wasn't English undergrad so not enough credits for masters program) and I'm really undecided as to what I want the next course of my life to be...so I've made this my focus...my job. It certainly comes with great benefits ;)

2010-03-15T16:26:00.002-04:00

i have to thank prozac for giving me back my domesticity. my house is clean (with the exception of our bedroom and my office - both need serious organizing), laundry is in progress, ginger pear muffins are in the oven, and almond chocolate chip and grapefruit vanilla bean muffins are cooling on the stove.

i can trade muffins for organization laborers...any takers?

2010-03-12T16:57:00.003-05:00

she believed she could and so she did. she BELIEVED she COULD and so she DID.

i've made no secret that since my dad died, i've been getting grief counseling - well it started out as grief counseling but it evolved to whole-life counseling and it has been the most positive thing i could have ever done for myself. i don't buy into that whole stigma that laying on a couch discussing my problems with a professional makes me weak or crazy or whatever...and besides, i don't lay on a couch, i sit in a big comfy chair. life is hard and i've realized that i need a little extra help to figure it out, and that is just fine.

last year i was in such a good place for several months that i took a hiatus, and following the emotional crash that happened just before my trip to alaska, i sought out her help again, only to learn that she too had taken a hiatus, or rather a medical leave of absence to fight a battle with non-hodgkins lymphoma. spilling your woes to someone still bald from cancer treatments really helps put problems in perspective.

last month she told me that her cancer had returned but after an operation, her numbers showed she was free and clear once again.

while at hallmark, i saw this little glass plaque thing that was vibrant and funky and cute that said "she believed she could and so she did" and something just told me i needed to pick that up for trish (my counselor). i was looking for a birthday card for my cousin's stepson when i came across this card mixed in with the birthday cards that simply stated "your treatments are tough but your spirit is tougher and your courage is inspiring" - also perfect for trish. i put the items back, thinking i would get them another time for her, that she had gotten good news and i didn't want to risk bringing her back down thinking about her lymphoma. i went to a few more shops and even took some packages to my car before something told me to go back in and buy the card and the plaque...

i had an appointment scheduled for thursday but the weather was so nice and i wanted to go on a bike ride sooo badly, i came so close to cancelling but then i saw the gift bag on the table and thought "no i really need to take her that gift."

she greeted me with her usual giant hug and smile, and when i handed her the bag she looked at me and tears filled her eyes. as she opened the card and read the words, she looked at me, and with a brave smile said "how did you know? i just got some devastating news...."

her cancer is back with a vengance and she be spending a month in the hospital for some major treatments and a stem-cell transplant. "they are breaking out the big guns," she said. "but i am convinced you are my messenger today, you were sent here from some higher power to deliver this message to me....to let me know that if i believe i can, then i will." chills ran up my spine and we sobbed together for most of my session...and a half hour or so extra....what seemed like the simplest, smallest gesture I could make....the least i could do for someone who has had such an impact on my life...turned out to be the greatest thing i could have ever done, and i genuinely have never felt more accomplished, or like i've made more of a difference in someone's outlook, someone's life than i did at that very moment.

i was part of something bigger than i could have ever realized on thursday; a devine moment....choosen to deliver a message someone had been praying for, a sign they had been longing to receive. now trish believes she can, and so i pray she will.

2010-01-06T11:15:00.001-05:00

So until I set up a picasa account I can't text pictures-boo

So fat I've stayed within my points allowance every day, even yesterday when I had a most fabulous small banana split blizzard. The weather has taken a dump on my gym plans since the branch I like is built on a giant mountain.

I have however been doing my biggest loser wii game everyday and it is actually a decent workout.

2010-01-05T12:19:00.000-05:00

Did yunz (haha) think I'd forgotten all about tomfoolery? well to be honest...i haven't forgotten. i've just been depressed, and lazy - but really more lazy i think.

with the new year i've been trying diligently to intruduce much healthier, more productive habits into my daily routine, and my life in general. when i say "new year" i mean starting yesterday as jan 1,2 and 3 were spent in a constant state of feasting.

a friend suggested that i start blogging what i am eating for weight watchers. now let me just tell you that i am fat....like reeeeeally fat and therefore i get a lot of points. if you plan on looking up how many points i get and figuring out how much i weigh you might as well go ahead and say OMG!!!!!!!!!! right now and get it over with.

the easiest and most likely way for me to keep myself accountable is to use my fantastic new iphone 3Gs to photograph and then email-post what i eat here. i'll try to post other stuff....but no promises. someone told me once i got an iphone i would rarely use my laptop - and they were right!

any guesses on my costume this year?

2009-10-31T17:05:00.000-04:00

2009-10-29T00:21:00.005-04:00

I had been up late the night before, making these horrific looking peanut butter sandwiches cut into the shape of ghosts and covered in marshmallow fluff mess to share with my friends at school. Despite being tired I was so anxious to get the day started - Quill and Scroll elections were going on, it was the last home football game for our high school senior class, and for the special Halloween show that evening, my friends and I were dressing up in M&M costumes...I was the orange M&M.

Like any other morning, my mom was standing in the kitchen by the sink, my dad was reading the newspaper in his bedroom, and my brother and I were eating breakfast; that would be the last time I would eat cocoa wheats again for over 5 years. When the phone rang, before I even answered it, I got this sick feeling. I picked up the receiver the same time as my dad and my cousin said only my dad's name when he said "Mom's dead, isn't she?" I dropped the receiver and fell to the ground on my knees...not waiting for the answer, I already knew.

My grandma was in Pennsylvania visiting my cousins, as she did a few times each year, along with her sister, my great aunt. The night before she left I was getting ready to leave for Student Council Fall Convention and was annoyed that she insisted we come to her house (about 1 min away) to tell her goodbye in person. That snotty teenager had no idea it would be the last time I would see her alive.

That day was October 29, 1999, ten years ago today. Unfortunately I'm really good about remembering sad dates in my life and I've been emotionally preparing for this anniversary for several months. In recent years it has been the kick off for the season of depressing events in my life. Grandma, then my aunt on Nov 11 (I was holding her hand and saying the Lord's Prayer as she died.), then my Grandpa and my husband's boss who were both buried on Christmas Eve) and then of course my daddy on January 1. I'm aware of how morbid it is to seemingly torture yourself on purpose; anyone who knows me will tell you I have a really hard time letting go.

Today, I'm probably going to cry a little bit (hey who am I kidding, I'm crying right now). I'm going to bundle myself up in a quilt she made that rests on the back of my living room chaise lounge. I'm going to look at pictures and remember all of the fantastic times we shared, all the laughs we had, all the lessons learned...and I'm going to call my other grandmother, my Granny, and tell her how much she means to me, and how honored I am to have her in my life, after all, it is a very precious thing, and we never know when that phone might ring again.

Jazmyn!

2009-10-25T10:37:00.000-04:00

max is looking to see where summer went?

2009-10-21T14:08:00.000-04:00

orcas we saw from the ship one evening

2009-09-29T20:12:00.000-04:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imz3RpVLneQ

2009-09-04T20:39:00.002-04:00

today was very educational:

1.) the arc trainer is more fun than the elliptical machine

2.) the italian heritage festival = fantastic people watching

3.) when your husband finds dog vomit he will hide it instead of cleaning it up so you find it later

4.) if i see you leave your 2 dogs in a hot car with the windows rolled up, I will call the police and wait around for them to get there so I can tell them what you look like and that you are inside of catos

5.) hardened dog vomit is much harder to remove than the fresh variety

looks perfectly legit to me....

2009-09-03T20:18:00.000-04:00

It's Maxers Monday!!

2009-08-31T18:38:00.001-04:00

2009-08-27T10:12:00.001-04:00

So I went a little nuts last night and used all of my amazon.com reward dollars…I got a vera Bradley weekender AND tote (night owl), a new pair of crocs (ruby and cotton candy celestas like my fave choc and sienna ones), an Alaska book for my nephew (the one I was going to bring him back from Alaska but this way I don’t have to add it to my suitcase mess/weight), a wide angle fisheye lens adapter and a remote control for my Nikon….add to that a lens I’m going to have to return that I received last week in the mail, and dennis’ noise cancelling head phones, and then help me justify to myself that getting all that was better than buying a new point and shoot…or a wii. Eeeek.

I’m extremely excited that two weeks from tomorrow I’ll be on my way to Pittsburgh to catch a plane bound for seattle where I then get on the NCL Star, where I’ll then be headed NORTH TO ALASKA! We’ll be going to Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan and Prince Rupert, BC. The day we are going to Skagway, we have decided to rent a car and drive to a place called Emerald Lake – what an adventure! That will also mean I have been to Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, and thanks to this trip British Columbia and the Yukon Territory!

If anyone would like a post card, please contact me with your address J

2009-08-10T22:00:00.006-04:00

I feel like as much as i've been cooking lately i have REALLY been neglecting my blog. I'm not sure if it was excitement over the release of Julie and Julia or a week of walking around the strip district in Pittsburgh and all of my culinary adventures there, but I've been so pumped I've been taking D lunch at work just to be able to cook twice a day! (now if this urge could only translate over to cleaning also....)

This evening I made fish tacos (panko breaded, baked tilapia for D) and a triple sec, honey lime shrimp tacos for both of us...is that food name dropping? in jest (i hope) i was told i was a food name dropper and i'm not sure how to take it honestly...makes me feel as though i've been pretentious which i'm really not trying to be...more just like passionate ;-)

While in Morgantown Saturday I picked up some homemade gnocchi from Nonna's Bakery...I was concerned about how it would turn out because it thawed on the way home (I foolishly made several stops and forgot to stick it in my freezer bag...) so I left it in the fridge and the last thing I wanted was for it to be gross as a result.

Happily, it turned out quite well....I browned butter with some jullienned fresh sage thrown in there until slightly crispy, and tossed the cooked gnocchi in to brown up a little then i shredded some romano on top. it was quite excellent and while looking for some gnocchi inspiration i came across a recipe for pumpkin gnocchi (also with the brown butter and sage) which i am anxious to try. I had purchased some little neck clams Saturday also, so after I poured the gnocchi into our bowls, I gave the skillet a quick wipe and threw the clams in the same pan...a little dab of butter and some red wine went in there too - then i just covered them until they opened up and dumped the whole thing onto D's dish.

I was on a streak and made dinner 7 night in a row but D REALLLY wanted Muriale's so I obliged. I must say though, I've been so pumped about cooking that it almost tarnished my dining experience...notice I said almost - we are talking about Muriale's afterall, and there were meatballs involved.

2009-08-08T12:42:00.000-04:00

My trip to the farmer’s market today was a great success! I spent exactly $40 dollars and got the following

1 head of purple Italian garlic

1 head of mild sweet garlic

1 head green leaf lettuce

1 head red leaf lettuce

1 bag salad mix

1 bunch carrots

1 bunch rainbow chard

1 bunch kale

1 bag of tiny red potatoes

1 bag of tiny “crispy” potatoes (which included a clove of garlic and fresh herbs to roast)

1 bunch fresh oregano

1 bunch fresh sage

2 blackberry muffins

1 eggplant

6 ears of corn

1 bunch of shallots

…I think that is all…pics to come ;-)

2009-08-04T23:33:00.001-04:00

A few days ago (maybe even over a week ago) I posted the following:

Menu:
crawfish cakes

cheese grits

prosciutto and capicola wrapped grilled asparagus

blackberry cobbler with cream cheese crust

I’ve been cooking with crawfish since 2000 when I started dating my husband and learned how things like etouffee and crawfish fettuccine. I can honestly say that in all that time, I’ve never had worse crawfish to work with than the brand pictured. Crawfish is normally pretty smelly nasty stuff but this was horrible – I had to rinse something like 10-15 times and still the water draining out was sickening:

Ask at the seafood counter or look in the frozen seafood section, most grocery stores and superstores will sell frozen crawfish tails. Thaw in a container of ice water in the fridge and rinse SEVERAL times until water runs clear through them. This is what you should end up with:

For crawfish cakes, like crab cakes, you want to make sure the product is fairly dry so you may have to spread it out on paper towels and blot it a bit. Then throw it in a bowl and mix your favorite crab cake mixins – bread crumbs, fresh parsley, lemon juice, finely diced red bell pepper, onion powder, garlic, black pepper and a beaten egg. As you know by now I’m not a precise cook – more of a throw it in until it looks right (how is it supposed to look? Um, I don’t know, I just know.)

In my food chopper thingy I make my favorite red pepper sauce: roasted red peppers, garlic, goat cheese, black pepper and a touch of half and half. You’ll drizzle this on the cakes later – very good camoflauge when they look gross, like mine did because they fell apart. Which leads me to: form your crawfish into cakes and put them onto a very hot skillet that has a bit of olive oil and butter melted in it – if you want a sear, which you do, then don’t use non-stick. Let them go around 3 or 4 minutes and then flip…or if they fall apart, as mine did, then just kind of flop everything around….if I were to try these again maybe I’d add more of a binding agent, like mayo perhaps?

I know I talked about the crawfish first but sautéing the cakes will be the last thing you want to do, as you will want to serve them pretty much right after taking them off the stove.

For the grits, I simply followed package directions on original (not quick cook) grits, subbing half the water for fat free half and half at the suggestion of my aunt. I grated in lots of sharp cheddar and fontina and some goat cheese and sundried tomato cream cheese, and some fine chopped sundried tomatoes, then I poured all that goodness into a big casserole dish (spray with cooking spray) and topped with fresh parsley, cracked black pepper and chopped prosciutto – then pop in the oven until they are a little browned on top and the prosciutto is crispy.

Before:

After:

They were the best grits I’ve ever had…even 2 nights later served alongside red pepper flat iron buffalo steak sandwiches on mancini’s basil pesto bread:

I first had prosciutto and fontina wrapped asparagus last fall at this wonderful Italian restaurant in Washington D.C. (Ristorante Luigino which has sadly closed). We sat down next to this very friendly couple who conversed with us the entire meal and immediately suggested the asparagus when we sat down. On some food network show I also saw someone using spicy capicola ham. This is incredibly easy and in my opinion, impressive sounding. All you do is trim your asparagus, chopping off any woody stems, then wrap in prosciutto or capicola, and toss on the grill…I also did some plain asparagus tossed in some roasted red pepper salad dressing…

Throw on a serving plate and shave some fontina on top…

As I mentioned, my crawfish cakes kind of just fell apart so I just kind of smooshed them together and drizzled on lots of red pepper sauce.

2009-08-03T10:14:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I think I really confuse my Amazon.com suggestions page….

2009-07-31T15:43:00.000-04:00

Downy wrinkle releaser spray and dollar general’s $1.50 knockoff of the same, have dramatically changed my quality of non-iron-loving life. Is that sad?

2009-07-30T18:39:00.000-04:00

I’m sure you have noticed my awesome new blog logo – major props (and thanks) to my friend sara!

2009-07-30T10:19:00.000-04:00

Maybe I’m living under a rock and I’m just the last person on earth to know about this…but did you know about google 411? I guess I shouldn’t say I didn’t KNOW about it since my cousin programmed it into my phone December 2007 while we were at the hospital when my dad died, but I guess it just never occurred to me to use it…I just always dialed the 1800free411 and listened to those dumb free ads…but google 411 not only does not make you listen to the dumb mcdonalds song every time you call, it also connects you for free!!

I’m turning into one of those old people who is overly impressed by technology, aren’t i?

2009-07-28T16:12:00.001-04:00

So let me preface by saying that I really have done more than just eat while I’ve been in Pittsburgh…the food stories just happen to be the most interesting.

i started out my lazy day intending to go to the Carnegie science center via hotel shuttle. I stood outside for the better part of a half hour waiting patiently and minutes before the said shuttle arrived, a large group of employees from the neighboring office building come over and when the bus pulled up, the ring leader runs over to the driver and says the 3 loads of people standing there all need transported to some restaurant. How polite!

Since it is a very pretty albeit hot day, I decided just to walk up the strip instead. It was hovering around noon so I made a stop in the S&D Polish Deli, where a cute little girl took my order. I think I confused her (we are talking like child of owner little girl) when I asked what her favorite kind of perogie was. She steered me towards the potato and cheddar and 4 delicious little dumplings later, I left quite happy.

I browsed several shops and galleries and gallivanted my way to the Right by Nature natural and organic foods market. They bill themselves as the most affordable natural market in the area but Whole foods knocked their socks off price wise…let alone my el cheapo foodie mecca Trader Joes.

I left empty handed (though I’ll definitely go back, if not just for the free garage parking with purchase or wide variety of izze.) Next I headed up to Klavon’s Ice Cream Parlor – such a neat experience! You can read all about it on the website…I had an “authentic” cherry coke…and um, I also had a chocolate phosphate soda (phosphate used to be used mainstream for sodas) it was basically carbonated water with chocolate syrup which sounds very bizarre and well…it kind of was, but in a good way J The ice cream looked fantastic, a large group came in as I was finishing up and I enjoyed seeing all the treats they ordered. They are only open until 5 on weekdays but they area open on weekends.

I began my way back to the hotel as I was starting to suffer from hot fat girl syndrome (aka misery and crankiness induced by hot fat thigh rubbing/chaffing), stopping in several more little shops and markets…including Mancini’s where I got 2 pepperoni rolls to go..they had just come out of the oven and well, is it a siwn to say a Pittsburgh pepperoni roll is better than a West Virginia pepperoni roll? (excluding elk river foodland pepperoni rolls which are the best in all the land and I would say regardless of ownership…same with glazed donuts by the way…)

I also stopped into an asian market where I procured some Thomas the Train Pocky to be delivered to someone I know who will shortly be giving birth to an Xavier Thomas...

2009-07-27T22:13:00.000-04:00

Posting via email….

Dinner tonight at Six Penn Kitchen

www.sixpennkitchen.com

Reconstructed spinach artichoke crab dip…D liked it much more than I did…it was a chunk of bread covered in a creamy cheesey spinach sauce with garlic and diced tomatoes and a crab cake on top with artichoke hearts

Smoked pork chop, cornmeal waffles, bacon braised greens with a honey thyme demi glaze

Lobster macaroni with cherry tomatoes and peas

We shared cream puffs: almond cheesecake filled cream puffs dipped in ganache, crispy caramel and white chocolate with a tart cherry sauce

2009-07-23T01:11:00.004-04:00

Okay so I just realized how crappy my new logo looks, and as soon as I get the gumption to get on my desktop pc, I'll fix it. :-) In the meantime, want to hear about what I made for dinner? Here is a little teaser.

to be continued....

2009-07-22T00:08:00.010-04:00

It all started when I picked up a package of Demus sausage. for non-central wvians, Demus sausage comes from nearby Worthington, WV and is sold throughout the state along with their Italian peppers. Like the peppers, their sausage is available in hot, mild or sweet varieties, and being fans of hot and spicy in this house - I went with the hot. During the same shopping trip, I came across some beautiful delicate kale - which in my mind meant soup!

I took half the package of sausge - around 1/2 lb. and place in a hot skillet - the fat content and non-stick saucepan I was using meant no greasing the pan. After breaking up the sausage a little bit, I added some chopped onions (if I haven't mentioned it before, I'm totally onion lazy and buy pre-chopped frozen) and let that mingle for a bit. In the mean time, I cut some small red skinned potatoes into 3rds, and then cut the 3rds into 3rds. I did not blanche or steam the potatoes, just tossed them into the pan, stirring occasionally. The heavy paprika content of the sausage means everything takes on a nice orangey color.

When the potatoes started to get a little tender, I added a healthy spoonful of minced garlic, some pino grigio and a little veggie broth. A few weeks ago I marniated a chicken in white wine and roasted it over potatoes. I saved and froze the wonderful stock that was created as a result of this and pulled it out Sunday, thawing it and adding it to the pan. At this point, I finely chopped some kale, careful not to get the large stems, and added it to the mix. I was really lucky to get such a good bunch as it can turn out tough no matter how you prepare it- this was soft and tender. I also added half a can of organic cannellini beans which i rinsed and drained.

I made a roux and added half n half, parm blend (parm, romano and asiago), goat cheese, garden veg cream cheese. I added this to the pot and then just let it all simmer on low heat, stirring occasionally and, let's be honest...adding more goat cheese crumbles periodically.

On the same shopping trip I picked up some garlic foccacia which I have previously enjoyed on its own. I decided to dress it up and use up the half can of cannelini beans, so into the food chopper they went with goat cheese and garlic. I spread it on the bread, and topped it with chopped tomatoes and some red and yellow peppers that I had roasted a few days ago. I topped it with a little parm blend.

Needless to say it was a meal that did not dissapoint! Fast forward to today. I had several zuchinni that needed to be used, and half a pound of the remaining sausage, so stuffed zuchinni it was!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, then brown your sausage and onions, adding a little white wine and some black pepper and garlic, then I added a mirepox blend (onions, celery and carrots). After the mirepox softened, I poured in some more wine and veggie both, a finely chopped tomato and the last of my roasted peppers. I poured in about a cup of whole wheat orzo (maybe not that much....half a little box of it at least), covered and walked away for 5 minutes or so until all the liquid was absorbed....oh and since i'm going to Whole Foods on Friday (!!!!) i tossed in one of my precious parm rinds prior to the orzo...). I had just bit of goat cheese left so I also mixed that in which produced the perfect creaminess factor.

I popped the zuchinni shells (i hollowed out the middle making little boats) into my microwave steamer for about 1 minute, then put them into small baking dishes and halved my yummy concoction into and ontop of the zuchinni. I could have easily stuffed 3 or 4 shells but I just did two and piled them up....my hubs said it was more like inundated zuchinni rather than stuffed....i topped with a lil more parm blend and into the oven they went. YUM!

Because there weren't already enough calories being dished out (haha) we finished the meal off with homemade brownies (my great granny's recipe) and homemade marchino cherry ice cream.

]

2009-07-06T14:12:00.006-04:00

so i follow martha stewart on twitter, and when i saw this i was intrigued...

so i click and i find this on http://www.themarthablog.com/

(my copy paste isn't working on blogger for some reason and i'm too lazy to type it out...)

all my local bars are stocked with st. germain elderflower liqueur, aren't yours??

2009-07-02T00:47:00.008-04:00

random things....in no particular order:

i lie on my facebook status sometimes. for example just now i wrote that i was making "frozen yogurt" in my new ice cream maker, when really i'm making whole milk, freaking awesome, full of fat ice cream...vanilla with cinnamon and the peach and raspberry innards of a pie i made that went horribly wrong (by wrong i mean runny and vomit-like in appearance). it turned out really well and i am excited at all the new flavors of "frozen yogurt" just waiting to be made.

i was the matron of honor at a wedding last weekend and it was awesome. when the bride told me she wanted to have fake birds glued onto sticks, i thought she had gone completely off the deep end quite honestly - but nope, i loved it!!

i also had a rocking good time with my family...the last few times i've seen them have either been for my great aunt's passing, or my dad's so it was good to break bread for a joyful cause this time. i think a few of them read my site and i just want to say thanks - you'll never know what it meant to me and i hope we do it again very soon...like saturday haha.

speaking of family, my uncle's 50th class reunion would be this year if he were alive. i've probably mentioned this before, but he died when he was 17 and my dad was 5 - he had Hodgkin's disease. it is one of those things that makes you wonder how different your life might be had things played out differently.

my tomato plants are huge. i have 2 of them and they have taken over my planter...i just hope josephine, my clematis does not suffer as a result.

i loooooove tomatoes and like to do all kinds of things with them, like stuff them with bulgur or quinoa or couscous, fill them with salad like cucumbuers and peppers and feta or get crafty with them.

we went to helvetia for father's day. i was really sad that the wunderbar gallery closed...i bought a beautiful little vase last year that got knocked off the night stand and i really wanted to replace it. now there is just a gift shop with things like those little wooden boxes that say "3 piece chicken dinner" the old homeplace was peaceful and it was a beautiful day. the property includes the 2nd oldest building in the settlement.

2009-06-22T23:23:00.007-04:00

the history, arts and culture of the mountain state have always been a major interest of mine.

you can't clog for as long as i did, and go to as many vandalia gatherings, augusta heritage festivals, and jubilees at jackson's mill and not get teary eyed when you hear a dulcimer strumming out simple gifts.

you can imagine my excitement then when a friend invited me to a special state museum grand opening event:

i have been going to the cultural center for as long as i can remember, and even elementary school trips have stuck with me to this day. an amazing amount of work has gone into remodeling the museum - though revitalizing might be a better word.

i got to spend some much cherished time with good friends, finally get to see pianafiddle perform in a very intimate setting, AND get one of the first looks of a building that has held great meaning for me - you could say i was a happy girl.

did i mention i even tried some goat meat?

2009-06-02T15:10:00.003-04:00

my friend Sarah gave me my first blog award!

My new role of Queen of Awe-Summm requires me to list 7 things that make me "Awe-Summ!!!"

1. i can ride my bicycle over 25 miles and still be able to walk the next day.
2. i can take beautiful pictures.
3. i love to cook and bake yummy things and share with others.
4. i am an awesome aunt.
5. i can tell what aisle something is in the grocery store, where it's at on the shelf, how much it costs, and what is usually on sale for
6. i'm good at visually arranging things.
7. friend, family or even foe, i would probably do anything i could for you if you needed me.

It is hard to pick who to tag with this, and I hope there aren't hard feelings, but with her recent injury Tonya has had a rough time of it as of late, and i want to remind her that she's awe-summmmm!

2009-06-01T17:00:00.002-04:00

chocolate graham crackers + crunchy peanut butter + cherry butter + bananas = YUM

edited to add: right after writing this i went into the kitchen to check the bread dough i'm letting rise and i came back to find max in my chair trying to eat my graham cracker goodness - i yell "MAX" and he tries to get off the chair, flopping sideways and falls in the floor before he RUNS back into the living room. thankfully it doesn't appear this has resulted in yet another leg injury :-P

2009-05-22T14:32:00.000-04:00

last year i bought a croquet set, but never opened it, it remained in the carrying case, with one of those little plastic ties around the zipper. i bought it at dick's sporting goods.

today i got it out and when i opened it, i found a ball of several strands of human hair, like 8-10 strands, an embroidery thread, a price tag from t.j. maxx for something that cost 24.99, a hair thing, and possibly the most disturbing: 4 very grey, short and curly hairs with follicules attatched. can someone explain?

2009-05-08T13:21:00.003-04:00

it is finals week time, which equals a great week for comfort food.

i hate sweet tea, in fact i despise it..i do like unsweetened tea, esp this tart and refreshing green tea with antioxidants

let's start out with my version of Aunt Suzy's meatballs:
i start out by mixing up some spices and secret ingredients...much like those found in previously posted hamburgers hint hint

add some bread crumbs...i was so happy to find

because they don't have any added fats, so when I am eating ornish style they work perfectly!

make them into nice even sized balls

let them chill to firm up before baking them at 450 for 20 minutes or so...

in the meantime, melt some butter

add some flour:

stir into butter...

a silicone whisk works perfectly

congrats you just made a rue - if you can do this, you can make crawfish ettouffee. but we are going to add black pepper, ground mustard and some smoked paprika...we are making mac n cheese please.

i didn't take a picture, but all you do now is add a little milk and lots of shredded cheese of your choosing, and then stir in pasta....my favorite is cavatappi - wonderful mouth feel and holds onto various thickness' of sauce...but i had none on hand so bowties it was.

after the noodles are nicely coated...pour 1/3 into a deep glass baking dish, followed by more cheese

followed by steamed green peas (not canned - yuck)

followed by more pasta and cheese and peas and pasta

then mix butter and bread crumbs like you were making a pie crust...and sprinkle on top of the pasta

oooh yeah, that's the stuff.

turn your oven down to 375, take your meatballs out, and put your pasta in...around 25 minutes, just to melt and get toasty and gooey.

get your meatballs ready for their yummy sauce

it's like this, see?

+

=

i added our hot sauce of choice

and then add the meatballs

as for gross meatball pan? well that's why i use aluminum foil...

now make a salad. how about spinach, dried cherries, macadamia nuts, crumbled goat cheese and a vinegarette? make a big salad...

or a little salad, depending on how you look at it.

****DING***** mac and cheese is done...

there are just no words...

now plate it up and enjoy!

2009-05-03T22:39:00.002-04:00

i wore a white shirt out this evening....as a compulsive spill-on-selfer, i was soooo proud that i did not get one drop of red sauce on my shirt this evening following italian food...

fast forward til about 10 minutes ago....i was lazy and threw my shirt in the floor of the hallway in the pile of things going downstairs to the laundry....as opposed to throwing it down the laundry shoot. i walk into the bathroom to find MAX EATING POOP ON MY SHIRT....me thinks i shouldn't have been too worried about the red sauce....

2009-04-29T00:14:00.003-04:00

in honor of the swine flu outbreak, i made some boneless pork ribs! ...okay not so much on the in honor thing, but it sounded good (or maybe not).

i made this last week, i'm trying to go back to a vegetarian lifestyle...3 days in :-)

start by heating your oven to 350 degrees.
then add a drizzle of evoo to a baking dish, like this:

at this point, i took a friend's advice and used a rub...you can buy them prepared, but i kind of just threw one together, that's kind of how i roll. i used sea salt, coarse black pepper, crushed red pepper, cumin, tumeric, garlic powder, onion powder, and lots of spanish paprika, then just rubbed it all over the boneless ribs...

max thinks he could eat them just like this...

but i tend to disagree...do people still get trichinosis?

next cover your dish very tightly with foil

i just purchased a shiny new roll of the green stuff...

now you are going to pop it in the oven for 15-20 minutes, then turn down the oven to 300 for 3o more minutes, and start on something else, like coleslaw.

now i haven't made much coleslaw, and according to my mother...an expert slaw maker who comes from a whole family of expert supreme slaw makers, you have to make it a lot to get the balance down just right. it's surprising how something so basic can be so tricky to make.

i mix light miracle whip, mustard, a pinch of sugar, and black pepper - then i just hope for the best.

then stir in your cabbage....i like cabbage and carrots, and i really like bell pepper shredded up too but the hubs does not....i was especially lazy on this day and used pre-shredded stuff....i HATE shredding cabbage, such a mess...so i go this way often :0)

for the record, this batch did NOT turn out well...i just couldn't get the sweet/vinegar balance right...and i even added white vinegar..blah.

after your 30 minutes are up on your pork, it will look something like this:

at this point i decided to brush on a little of my favorite bbq sauce..

stubbs marinades are amazing too.
afterwards, tighten that foil back down, and put them back in for 30 more minutes at 250.

when it comes out, let it rest, foil down for about 10 minutes...then it will look like this...

YUM

this would be the hub's plate as i kind of feel that baked beans are on the same level as black licorice, fennel seed and ingrown toenails.

these are my creeping phlox:

and a tulip:

and a few more:

and just one more:

2009-04-25T15:38:00.001-04:00

i just deleted 170 posts - going back to 2005. i felt like it was time to clean house...i kind of got a new life after 1.1.08, so i thought it was an according change.

2009-04-25T14:55:00.002-04:00

max suffers from something called corophagia, meaning he loves to eat his own poop. i have literally stood on the back porch with a big hunk of cheese in my hands calling his name and he would rather eat the poop (of course afterwards he runs up and gives me the "okay i'm ready for cheese" face...).

we try hard to catch him in the act but he is quite sneaky. our vet suggested a few things, including sprinkling hot sauce on the poop, which we have put into action. being the guilty puppy-mommy i am, i thougt i thould let him taste a little bit so he'd know what it smelled like before he got a big snootful...in retrospect perhaps that was a mistake. anyway, i started out with green tabasco because it is pretty mild...i touched the tip of the bottle and let him sniff/lick my finger which caused him to go nuts rubbing his face on the ground, and so when i sprinkled a healthy amount onto his next hot dish, we figured problem solved, right?

wrong.

he seems to have developed a taste for the green stuff....so we've moved up the scoville scoville scale to lousiana gold, made with tabasco peppers...i'll keep you updated but he seems to have gotten wise to this and has resorted to pooping on his puppy pad in the bathroom and then scarfing that down before i can catch him - i'm telling you, he's stealth! he could teach chuck norris a thing or two.

2009-04-23T19:42:00.003-04:00

as good as filet is, sometimes you just want a really good burger. as i did this evening...again, sorry if you googled "ornish recipes" and found this...come back next week when i'm going full fledge veg again ;-)

so anyway....i started with my two friends butter (NOT MARGARINE) and EVOO...

but they looked so lonely i decided to drop some more friends off at the pool *cough cough*

onion, garlic, black pepper, sea salt....

and maybe a little pinch of brown sugar and some orange bell pepper and let that simmer away until it looks kind of transluscent and yummy........

put your meat into a mixing bowl...this is 96/4 which i normally would not suggest you use for making a burger but since i'm adding fat to this it all seems to work out and yields a very juicy burger.
add some sea salt, black pepper and chopped garlic...a trinity of sorts.

next we'll add some heat...max's favorite sauce*

now add some more good stuff...doesn't need to be precise...a dab of this a squirt of that

remember this good stuff? add it to the bowl...

my last trip to whole foods i got some parmesean rinds....this one had lots of goodness left so i shredded some on...

now mix it all up...i realize it isn't very appetizing at this point...but go with me

we can't keep cheese in our house....so when i need some, i buy these little guys....sorry foodland peeps - to my knowledge there aren't any nearby...

woops...how'd that happen? i'll give my husband that one...dont' tell him.

now wrap your meat around your cheese like this..

now pop those bad boys into the freezer for around 20 minutes, or the fridge for a couple of hours....use wax paper or you will have a mess.

now let's prep some fries, okay? i use my jellyroll pan, lined with foil....no not the same foil as last time, eeeew. i put a cooling rack on top to get a convection type thing going on....

now add your fries....and just because they have no transfats and we are baking them doesn't mean you can eat the whole bag or you won't be able to sport that belly ring. (lmao...inside joke)

normally i would spray with a little cooking spray, but for some reason i am out....so i am making a tasty improvision.
>

i grind on black pepper....who would have thought frozen french fries could look so good?

into the 450 degree oven with those fries as you whip up some beautiful salads...

and slice up (and pepper) some fine looking tomatoes...

and wash some pretty boston lettuce..

now get your burgers out of the freezer...or fridge...whichever

now throw them on a searing hot grill....4 minutes for one side, 3 minutes for the other and ONLY MOVE THEM ONCE

add the cheese of your choice...i'm using white american which i got from the deli case at shop n save..a supervalu corporation ;-P
i'm sure it is still processed as heck but since it doesn't come in a plastic wrapper it makes me feel better.

oooh yeah son!

now retrieve your beautiful golden fries while your meat rests...it's been through a lot, it needs a minute.

now plate it up on a lovely 100% whole wheat bun...

then cut it in half and go for the money shot.

*max and hot sauce story to be posted at a later time when we aren't discussing food...trust me.

2009-04-21T21:15:00.007-04:00

if you googled "ornish program" or "vegetarian recipes" or something like that and found this site....forgive me, and turn back now....

i really am going back to my vegetarian ways, but as a sort of last supper, i grilled up some black pepper crusted filet with a red pepper goat cheese sauce, crab cakes with sauteed spinach, baby artichokes, crispy roasted red and yellow new potatoes, and some sea scallops for dennis....this was after making dennis chicken moscato (chicken marsala only with moscato wine) for lunch; after making it, i really wished i would have taken pictures, so when dinner time came around i made up for it...

these are baby artichokes, the produce man was so happy i was buying them, he came over and put a manager's special 99 cent sticker on there for me. this made me very happy, even happier than the artichokes themselves.

i've never worked with fresh artichokes before and in retrospect i shold have peeled off more layers...anyways, start by cutting off the stem

next cut off the top

now cut them in half, and put them in a bowl of water with lemon juice until you are ready to use them

in a saucepan, combine some butter (NOT margarine) and a little olive oil

now add some garlic..i'm lazy so i use prechopped stuff packed in water...ignore all the spillage that occured on the stove...

add some sea salt and grind up some fresh black pepper...then i added some white wine

soon they will look like this:

i found some beautiful, tiny little red and yellow potatoes at the store, so roasted potatoes seemed like a logical companion.

quarter, half or whole - just make sure everything is the same size. if i'm roasting, i rinse with water and pat dry.

since my dishwasher is broken, i try to take shortcuts as possible...such as putting aluminum foil in the bottom of my jelly roll pan. then i coarsly ground a bunch of black pepper and tossed in some seasalt before drizzling with a touch of EVOO (sorry RR haters) and some of my new favorite use on everything condiment.

at this point, the logical thing would be for me to show you a picture of them coming out of the 450 degree oven where they had been roasting for the past 20 or so minutes...but apparently i failed to take a picture. so here is one of my dog looking cute instead...

i love a good garnish, especially when it has something to do with things i love, like red peppers and goat cheese.
take a jar of red peppers packed in water, which can be purchased for 99 cents at big lots btw, and toss them into your food processor, along with EVOO, black pepper, garlic and crumbled goat cheese....

when you are done, pour in a sauce pan with a little butter and more goat cheese, and simmer while you are getting everything else ready....run a spatula through it every once in a while to make sure it doesn't stick because that would be unforgiveable.

i should have mentioned that the first thing you want to do is lay out your steaks for at least 20 minutes. to me, any steak that isn't filet just isn't worth eating...unless maybe it is london broil. select a nice bright red piece and don't be afraid to ask your meat counter guy to let you smell it...you sniffing his meat may be the highlight of his day.

my grill has a "sear" setting on it, and if yours does too - now is the time to use it. fire that baby up and let it get good and hot - like 500-600 degrees. this is also something you want to do at the beginning.

grind a crap-ton of black pepper and some sea salt into a dish, and roll your filet around in it...i just did the edges primarily but this isn't a fussy thing - however you want to do it works. sprinkle it liberally with sea salt, if you are eating this meal, then worrying about the sodium at this point is like peeing in the ocean.

there are lots of great seasonings and marinades out there for meat, and if i was using a tough cut like a london broil, then heck yeah i would be marinating it for hours or even overnight...but since i'm using filet, all i want touching my meat is black pepper, salt, and a firey hot grill.

try not to raise the lid much, unless you are taking a quick picture like this one

then clamp the lid down, and depending on your preference for raw flesh, leave it until you are ready to flip because i cannot stress this enough: ONLY FLIP/MOVE IT ONCE! i was using a pretty thick filet so i left it for around 5 minutes a side, but in retrospect it could have just been cooked for 4....we like our filet on the rare side of medium rare.

now i also made dennis scallops but i don't fuss with those much, mainly because i dont' like to eat scallops i've made myself..it grosses me out. but here is a picture of them sitting in some vinegarette and black pepper and wine, waiting to go on the grill when i have 6 minutes left becuase they need only about 3 minutes a side.

after all that i realize that this was a before the marinade pictures. sorry.

i also mentioned crab cakes....i didn't make these, i just purchased them from the seafood counter. to cook them, you want to use a non-nonstick skillet so they get a good crust on them. I realized all my skillets were nonstick so i used a saucepan.

you also want to use a butter/olive oil mixture but just a bit so they aren't greasy. then pat them off with a papertowel before you plate them up. I topped mine with just a little sauteed spinach and drizzled them with the red pepper sauce.

when your steak is done, pour some more red pepper sauce on your plate, and plop that bad boy down, don't move him for something like 7 minutes or all the juice will run out and you will be sad. i topped mine with goat cheese and more red pepper sauce - did i mention i love it?

my finished plate looked like this:

my husband's reaction looked like this:

max's reaction looked like this:

and now our arteries look like this:

2009-04-19T20:36:00.004-04:00

another diaper cake, i put about 30 dollars into this one too:

(btw if you are one of the two people i made these for, i'm sorry you now know what i spent on these *blush*)

2009-04-19T11:24:00.002-04:00

so i have a serious question...how much would you pay (if you would pay) for one of these diaper cakes? i have about 30 dollars worth of stuff it...

2009-04-18T22:34:00.002-04:00

fresh pineapple soaked in coconut rum + vanilla ice cream + really good strawberries + 70% cacao dark chocolate = OMG

2009-04-14T21:41:00.001-04:00

i would like to see the soloist, but two things stand in my way:
1. i think it would be sad
2. i keep seeing in living color's anton jackson skit in the back of my mind....

2009-04-08T11:50:00.002-04:00

sitting in the bookstore
passion iced tea lemonade
unsweetened
tulips outside the window
bronze mountaineer
sun shining
what i will miss
is right before me

2009-04-06T22:29:00.002-04:00

1. I didn't know there was a new season of my guilty pleasure show - the hills - coming on, but luckily my faithful dvr timer caught it for me. woo hoo!

2. looking for local (wv) goat cheese - any leads?

3. i went to an awesome lecture tonight as part of the WVU Darwinfest, by Dr. Meave Leakey. i don't wish to spawn a debate on evolution...personally to me it seems obvious but i'll agree to disagree. anyway, she was a great story teller and it made me realize how much of the world i want to see. i would love to be a travel journalist! oh to have a million lives to do everything i want to do :-)

4. i was saddened at above lecture, at the total rudeness of fellow students. they crammed into the mountainlair ballroom, and almost all the people sitting around me spent the whole time talking, or playing on their phones, or even listening to music....have a little respect. if you don't want to be there, don't go, let the rest of us enjoy it.

5. yesterday i rode 10.8 miles on my bike - goal for the end of the summer is 40 miles.

2009-04-05T17:53:00.004-04:00

on wednesday denny's will be offering a free grand slamwich with the purchase of any grand slam.

the grand slamwich features scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, ham, mayonnaise and american cheese between two pieces of maple-glazed toast. i was unable to find nutritional info for it but i would love to see if the sat fats reach the triple digits.

the adult grand slam nutritional info - which i know i have seen on the denny's website before, has been removed...odd eh? the junior grand slam - which we are suposed to be feeding our children - contains 380 calories - not a horrible number for breakfast - but with 18 grams of fat, 6 grams sat fats, nearly half a day's sodium -1050 mg, and a staggering, horrifying 245 mg of cholesterol (!!!) that' s a different story...this is why we need mandatory nutritional information on menus and message boards.

is this part of the economic stimulus package for cardiologists? tsk-tsk denny's, tsk tsk.

*******UPDATE***********
according to Lancaster Online, the grandslamwich contains:
Total calories: 1,320. Fat grams: 89. Dietary fiber: 4 grams. Carbs: 72 grams. Manufacturer's suggested retail price: $5.

Add a side of hashbrowns and you are starting your day with 1520 calories and 101 grams of fat!!!!

i'm all for a free breakfast...but there are MUCH better choices they could have offered!

2009-04-05T11:08:00.003-04:00

i wound up staying up until something like 5am which was a really dumb move....i need to write a paper that's due tonight/tomorrow, finish the laundry (which D has done half of - woo hoo!) and oh yeah RIDE MY BIKE.

max is laying here next to me, periodically doing what i call doggie yoga, performing all kinds of of stretches that, judging from his little puppy moans/grunts of ecstasy, have to be quite satisfying.

yesterday d discovered that he LOVEs having the backs of his legs scratched....his tail shoots straight up in the air and wags, it is hillarious, just another reason i need a flip video camera...

2009-04-05T03:25:00.002-04:00

sometimes, like tonight, i can't sleep, because deep down i'm afraid that when I do, i'll get a phone call in the middle of the night, with tragic news, like the one i got in the wee hours of morning december 30, 2007.

:-(

2009-04-04T23:36:00.002-04:00

i am super happy to report that at around 11:00 a.m. i became the proud owner of a Trek 7200 WSD hybrid

to celebrate, i'm baking a white chocolate raspberry cheesecake, which sadly will be the last one for a while as i find myself regaining my weight, and i don't care how freaking good a cheesecake is, it isn't worth that.

dennis has requested the last fatty meal of the glutton season - macaroni and cheese, specifically not the delicious fancy batch i baked up last time (white cheddar, gruyere, ham, peas, baked with a buttery crust of bread asiago bread cubes)- but just simple, trashy gelatanous processed cheese in a box - velveeta- i could pretend i don't like it - but frankly it is the key ingredient in my granny's macaroni and cheese which is the best on this earth.

we are rounding out this yummy day with a bike ride - happy trails!

2009-04-02T20:50:00.002-04:00

max was starting to question the credentials of this strange chocolate jelly bean salesman...

2009-04-02T19:12:00.003-04:00

we our picking our Trek bikes up tomorrow night from Wamsley Cycles, and so I was discussing with my husband whether I should get a can of dog repellant spray, like Halt, since last year I got chased by dogs a lot, and I am terrified of agressive dogs.

he pointed out that a lot of the places where we ride, if I sprayed a dog - even though Halt is different from mace and is much less painful, there was a good chance I would still have to contend with their owners on my way back through, rendering this a very bad thing.

we were discussing different things i could try as an alternative, such as carrying treats with me, or yelling "NO," when my husband said it:

well, my best advice is just to pretend you hear banjo music.

thanks honey, your pop-culture reference to deilverance is a little off (paddle faster...not pedal faster) but all the same... :-)

2009-03-28T11:12:00.004-04:00

it's been a while since i posted...and i'm starting to get angry facebook comments...so to make it up to you - i made a lemon cheesecake with raspberry swirls...and i took pictures! now you'll have to forgive the crappy photos - i've got to learn to use the macro feature on the d60!

anyway - i didn't take a picture of every step so this is what you need to do:

preheat your oven to 375.

In a spring form pan mix around 1.5 cups of crushed lady fingers (i got a huge bag at sam's club for 1.61 on sale), it would be fantabulous with shortbread cookies so if you are shopping to make this...buy shortbread cookies.

when you decide to make cheesecake at midnight, you use what you have on hand. note: the lady fingers were already sugary but if you are using graham crackers you may want to add sugar.

now as i said, i was only using what i had on hand, and i have no butter/margarine/shortening in my house so i used between 2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil..you could use 2 tbsp of butter or margarine but it tastes fine with olive oil, and your heart will love you.

press this into a springform pan - i used an 9" because the bottom to my 8" is missing...if you have a choice, go with the 8" because mine came out thin. to help press the mixture down, use a measuring cup - it makes a nice flat surface and is easy to work with.
Now you have your crust!

Now let's get to the good stuff:

In a mixing bowl, combine the following:
2 sticks cream cheese & 16 oz sour cream OR 3 sticks cream cheese and around 2 tablespoons of milk...OR what i did: 2 1/2 sticks cream cheese - one 1/3 less fat, and 1.5 sticks fat free; and ~8 oz fat free sour cream. note: it is VERY VERY important that your cream cheese is at room temperature, otherwise you will have little lumps of cream cheese througout your batter and that's just not right...no matter how much you love cream cheese.

1 cup sugar (you could use splenda but mine was in the pantry in the basement and i self-justifed)

2 tbsp flour (i used whole wheat pastry flour which is a much finer texture than regular flour)

2 eggs (you could use egg beaters which i almost did, but then i self-justified again that i used low fat/fat free cream cheese so it would be okay with whole eggs.)

some pure vanilla extract - none of that imitation flavoring stuff - i bought a very large bottle at big lots of all places that is very good. i don't measure vanilla so just pour a little in and if you aren't afraid of eggies, taste it.

if i was just making regular cheesecake, then at this point i would scrape a vanilla bean into the mix and we would be done..but this is lemon cheesecake, so i added 3 DROPS of pure lemon oil (available in candy flavorings at the drug store) along with a squirt of lemon juice (not from concentrate). i didn't have any actual lemons so this was fine....but get some lemons and zest one into the mix.

now use your mixture to combine it all until it looks like this:

now pour about 2/3 of the batter onto the crust:

now for the raspberry part:
in your remaining batter

you are going to make a homemade raspberry sauce and pour in there. don't freak out, it's easy - you can do it!
i use frozen raspberries because they are something like 2.99 for the brand i use, and they are yummy - plus since frozen fruit is flash frozen right after being picked - it is usually fresher when you get it than fresh fruit is.

now you need to pause to let your dog out, who has been patiently waiting by the kitchen door.

next, reward him for his outdoor piddle with a high quality dog treat:

now back to business.

dump the bag of raspberries into your sauce pot, and add some sugar - i didn't have a full bag, about 3/4 of one. i added about 1/4 cup sugar, you could use 1/3 or even 1/2 depending on how sweet you like things....go with the lesser amount first - you can always add more.
i make this sauce for lots of things....like pouring in margaritas, or drizzling on chocolate things, or oatmeal....whichever.

if your berries got a little frosty it will look like mine:

but if they are fresh, frozen berries that weren't previously open, and they are beautiful and not conglomorated...that's fine too, i won't hate you because in a few minutes no one will be able to tell. so :-P

heat this on medium heat for probably 10 minutes? give it a stir to break things up a little bit and get the mojo going on. i had my sauce going while i was mixing everything else up but if you are nervous, you can do it afterwards. it's okay.

this is what it looks like when it's pretty much ready:

see all those seeds and lumps? we don't want that in our cheesecake, or our raspberry sauce. we are going to pour it through a little strainer.

now we have the ruby-nectar of the gods:

i only used a little - it goes a long way. so maybe 1/8 cup of the raspberry sauce goes in the batter - the rest you will use to drizzle on top.

now mix it together and pour on the rest of your batter:

if you use a deeper pan you will be able to make pretty swirls...mine kind of glommed together. maybe next time i pour the sauce directly into the batter in the pan? trial and error folks, trial and error.

now put your spring form pan on a jelly roll pan (a sheet pan with raised edges) or a cookie sheet - doesn't matter.

bake in the middle shelf for 45 minutes for an 8" springform pan, or 35 for a 9"

remove from oven and place on a cooling rack for 20 minutes.

take a very very sharp knife and run along the outer edge of the pan, then release your spring form pan.

chill for 4 hours, or overnight like me.

now cut a big slice for breakfast

if you are serving to others, get a can of fat free reddiwhip (not cool whip - fat free reddiwhip) and right before serving put a big squirt on top each slice and drizzle with sauce.

mine didn't swirl like i wanted it too..definately going to try just pouring the sauce directly into the mixture next time...oh well still yummy!

now grumble to yourself that your 30 year old, 18" dishwasher (wee tiny) just bit the dust, and you have to wash all the dishes yourself...or you could bribe someone else with a big piece of cheesecake...

2009-03-04T07:24:00.003-05:00

saturday was my nephew's birthday party which was fantastic, he cracked me up!
i had dinner at my granny's then came back to s-town
sunday - nothing eventful happened...and nope, didn't go to the gym
monday - again no gym...what was wrong with me?
tuesday - zumba!, 45 minutes of strength training, 30 minute walk with the dog...he hadn't had one for a while so you could say "fast paced"
tonight i'll have dance practice and probably will stay for tonight's zumba

in other news...i crunched all the numbers and there is no possible way, unless i get 100% on every quiz and homework for the rest of the semester, that I can get a C in chemistry...yes it is that bad. i'm dropping the course, but dont' worry - i'm going to try it again, if not at wvu then at fsu....i'm not giving up, I just can't get a(nother) D on my transcript! (thank you BUSA and econ). in order to get a spot in the garage however, i still have to be in morgantown at the same time...an hour before the class i just dropped started, which means i'll be spending some serious time in the library!

i've been sitting in the bathroom floor with a tub filled with sinus and cold essential oils trying to steam out my sinuses...gotta get a neti pot...anyway - better get ready! bio and bio lab today! :-)

2009-03-01T15:04:00.003-05:00

Today marks one year since I had my heart catheterization, since I got a clear result and since i got another chance at living. I feel as though I made the most of the past year, and by march 1, 2010 i hope i've accomplished even more.

2009-02-27T17:27:00.003-05:00

yesterday was such a fun day...my friend T and i left around 10...because i'm always late...and had lunch at chipoltle, then went to ikea....then trader joe, whole foods, and church brew (hummus w/flatbread and the couscous salad - my favorite) after being delightfully stuffed...we stopped in little washington for my husband's case of yuengling, and my case of light yengling (never had the light before, hope it is as good as the regular...)

anyway...it was pretty much my definition of a really good day :-)

did i mention whole foods vegan chocolate chip muffins? yum.

2009-02-27T14:48:00.002-05:00

sunday: 20 minutes elliptical w/out arms; 20 minutes elliptical w/arms; 15 minutes treadmill (got to the gym late and they were closing *pout*)

monday: 20 minutes elliptical without arms
30 minutes elliptical with arms
10 minutes treadmill

tuesday: 1 hour zumba (ouch); 40 minutes weights (ouch ouch) 5 minutes treadmill to make up for the 5 i missed sunday

wednesday: 45 minutes of clogging, 1 hour of zumba

thursday - took a day off...did lots of walking while shopping though!

maybe going to the Y tonight for pilates - not sure yet :-)

2009-02-21T00:22:00.002-05:00

dear girl i sat next to in bio today:

you are a pretty girl. you are very thin and were wearing your sorority sweatshirt with your v.s. pink sweat pants in class. nice makeup, tiffany silver heart bracelet.

well i'm not sure if it was your hair that looked like you'd gone days without washing it, your breath, or those skank-ass ugg boots you were wearing, but you STUNK. please resolve prior to next class.

thanks, that is all.

2009-02-21T00:19:00.002-05:00

went to olive garden with the hubs and my brother for dinner...i got the salad w/no croutons or cheese, low fat italian on the side - i dipped my fork and barely used any. had 2 breadsticks - asked for them plain so they didn't have any butter on them, got a great super lowfat meal (380 cals and 4 g of fat is pretty good for olive garden i'd say!) almost got derailed on dessert with white chocolate raspberry cheesecake...so glad i didn't:
890 calories and 62 g fat!!!!!

2009-02-19T22:05:00.002-05:00

homemade 100% whole wheat and flax crust with cornmeal, organic white cheddar and mozzarella cheese, fresh pineapple, oven roasted garlic, and on denny's half - ham...i made this a few weeks ago...that sinful moaning noise you may have heard? yeah that was coming from my mouth.

2009-02-19T15:03:00.003-05:00

last night i did something i hadn't done for years, like over 10 years...i went to a clogging class! it was great..in fact i ordered a pair of steven's stomper's Ms. Stompers clogging shoes just this afternoon.

i ended clogging years ago with some bad feelings. my instructor was dying of cancer, and for the last few years of her life she became, frankly, not a very nice person. Things happened that i would rather not get into on here, but let's just say i buried all of and packaged it away, and with the bad, inadvertantly the good was in there with it, until yesterday. when i got out of practice it was a huge rush of emotions - but the one that surfaced to the top was that of elation. i fell right back into the motions like my last practice was last week rather than years ago.

wednesday:
1/2 hour clogging practice (yes it is aerobic activity...watch some youtube clips if you don't believe me)
20 minutes treadmill
20 minutes elliptical with arms
1/2 hour weights - upper and lower body

thursday:
1 hour zumba
ab work

2009-02-18T21:49:00.002-05:00

bridal shower practice cupcake by yours truly :-)

2009-02-17T23:39:00.003-05:00

battery operated hamster ball from cracker barrel = at least 20 minutes pup sitting...and side splitting laughter

2009-02-17T23:33:00.004-05:00

okaaayyy...so last week, beyond monday which i already covered:

tuesday: did not go to the gym
wednesday: 20 minutes treadmill, 30 minutes elliptical without arms, 10 minutes treadmill with arms
thursday: same as wednesday + weights (machines)
friday, saturday, sunday - did not go to the gym, tried to go sunday but they closed earlier than i previously thought..... which brings us to:

monday: 20 minutes treadmill, 20 minutes elliptical without arms, 20 minutes elliptical with arms
tuesday: 1 hour zumba

2009-02-15T15:22:00.000-05:00

pictures 983

2009-02-15T02:33:00.001-05:00

pictures 983
Originally uploaded by thefatlady

2009-02-11T16:07:00.003-05:00

i was asking someone what they thought of the new health plex facility that opened in fairmont. they said there was an eatery inside of it. when i heard this i was thinking oh like salads and smoothies..stuff like that, right? nope. It is the Almost Heaven Desserts and Coffee Bar!!!!!

Um hello???!?? what was the thought process here??? I mean we are talking some of the best desserts you will ever taste...but why would you want to put that in a fitness center???

2009-02-10T13:23:00.004-05:00

today i had a very small portion of a decadent albeit strange combination that i have enjoyed since i was a child. ice cream mixed with mashed up potato chips. now before you spit your beverage all over your keyboard, in thoughts that after killing myself at the gym for the past few days, i would commit such diet sabatoge...rest assured it was breyers fat free chocolate ice cream with maybe a tablespoon of crushed baked lays. i know it sounds kind of weird, but it is definately in the same taste family as french fries dipped in frostys....obviously not as sinfully good, but none the less...

it brought back memories of post birthday party nights when we actually had potato chips and ice cream in our house, and my parents were tucked away in bed, and i would sneak into the kitchen and get a huge bowl of hagan strawberry ice cream and lays potato chips, go back to my room, and let the big O in my mouth commence (gee, i wonder why i got fat?)

I remember that while i was mixing this creation up, i was talking to myself like a cooking show host (there was no food tv back then but i watched julia), and the dialouge was somewhere along the lines of:

"yes and the restaurant will be opening soon - we will be serving ice cream and potato chip sundaes. you can also get thick sliced american cheese sandwiches with doritoes crushed on them, with sides of funions, and all meals will be served with an appetizer of mountain dew and mini chocolate donuts."

apparently, when i was 8, i had the taste buds of a pregnant pot head.

2009-02-09T18:31:00.004-05:00

it's random acts of kindness week :-) as if i needed an excuse to randomlly act kind... :-P

yesterday i ordered my mommy 2 cds and sent her but she doesn't know so don't tell.

i mentioned that i had started back to the gym....i'm going to roughtly try to keep track of what i've been doing...

thursday - I rode the exercise bike for 30 minutes, then i went to ornish group and did a walk away the pounds (WATP from now on) tape

friday - exercise bike for 20 minutes, 40 minutes of raquetball

sunday - treadmill for 20 minutes, bike for 10, elliptical (no arms) for 30
****update****
tonight (monday) - treadmill for 20 minutes, elliptical w/arms 10 minutes, elliptical w/out arms for 30 minutes

2009-02-08T10:48:00.005-05:00

whoa!!! it's been a while! i knew i would be busy with school work but i guess i didn't realize how busy. it is amazing what you have to do when you are actually studying this time round!

i've fallen back into a good habit - going to the gym :-) only a few days back into the routine and i feel so good! scored me and the hubs a couple of racquetball racquets at tarjay on clearance for 4.98 each - sweet! they are both pink and purple and black but for that price i informed him he could deal with it. do you remember those skipit things (http://tinyurl.com/3xss2z )that were big in the early 90s? i got a generic one...it is purple and lights up btw..and it is way harder than i ever remember, of course i also weigh X more than i did then...anyway, they are 7 bucks at tarjay if you are looking for something fun to burn calories!

i also picked up something my chiropractor had been suggesting - a stay ball. it is like an exercise ball only it has sand in it - it is also the right size for my height..i'm loving it - a fun and bitchin' move i've been working on is just sitting on the ball with your legs out, off the ground - trying to keep your balance. 3 days in a row and i am feeling it!

i also finally found a set of headphones for my mp3 player that i love - they are called something like marshmallows? basically just little memory foam speakers - they are super and as a result i've actually been using my mp3 player, in fact i just loaded it up and am headed for the gym now - time to get down with some techno remix delightfulness lol

2009-01-18T22:40:00.000-05:00

2009-01-17T22:40:00.000-05:00

2009-01-16T22:38:00.000-05:00

2009-01-15T19:00:00.003-05:00

i know i like to toot the kashi horn a lot, and well, allow me to do it again. tonight at target i picked up a couple boxes (i had faith they would be yummy, and they were on sale) of their newest bar - TLC (tasty little chewies) fruit and grain bars. Since my indulgences must be 3 grams of fat or less, per Ornish guidelines, I went with the raspberry chocolate...the other flavor was chocolate coconut but they were 3.5 grams of fat. these are sprinkled with almonds...so with that and the chocolate technically they aren't ornish friendly - but they are a yummy source of whole grains, and have 4g fiber and 4g protein - and since they were only 3g of fat...i went with it....apparently they have a pumpkin pie flavor too - i can't wait to try those!!

2009-01-15T13:47:00.001-05:00

my soca professor just linked us to this book...did i mention my favorite professors tend to be from the soca dept?

http://www.amazon.com/Shitting-Pretty-clean-healthy-traveling/dp/1885211473/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231940368&sr=8-1

2009-01-15T13:11:00.003-05:00

so again, i lag behind on posting pictures daily - so i have made up for it - with the missing pictures. enjoy :-)

i started back to school on monday - and it was, for lack of a better word, weird.

i love the elevator in brooks hall that takes you from the prt station to woodburn...my lazy butt has utilized this everyday so far...only because of the icy steps of course...

i love the renovated oglebay hall. despite the psych class back in 2000 where i sat by a window that was cracked and was simaltaneously tortured by freezing gusts of air, and nauseatingly hot blasts from the scorching radiator under said window, i loved it because of the history it contained, much like my adoration for woodburn and martin hall. i have a biology class in the new addition, ming hsieh hall, which is uber nice...possibly the nicest lecture hall at wvu in my semi-professional student opinion.

i love being able to meet my brother for lunch - it feels good to see a familiar face amongst the sea of students. i think that is what i miss - running into friends as i go throughout my day....that and maybe being able to find a parking spot downtown so i don't have to drive 45 minutes to ride a bus to ride the prt - did you know you can't spelly party without prt?

2009-01-15T13:02:00.001-05:00

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2009-01-10T12:52:00.000-05:00

2009-01-09T00:14:00.000-05:00

2009-01-08T23:39:00.002-05:00

the time is ticking away, and monday i embark on a journey that will most assuredly change my life. I am starting back to school (full time). if i haven't mentioned it before - i'm sure i probably have but i don't feel like looking - i am going back to wvu for a second bachelor's degree in human nutrition and foods - wowza. a long time ago when i was going round the first time, i entertained for a nanosecond that career path - but the thought of me, fatty mcfaterson in those hn&f classes sent a shiver up my spine. i'm still fatty mcfaterson, but i guess part of me is more brave, and part of me is a little bit less self conscious.

of course, fear of the white hall big lecture room foldy-down butt-squeezing seat is not the only reason i'm nervous...there is also that big horrible word that noone wants to experience f.a.i.l.u.r.e.

a thousand questions, potential problems and potential outcomes are playing themselves out in my head and i'm trying like anything to remember my stress management techniques and take some deep yogic breaths....but it all comes down to one statement: i hope i have made the right decision.

2009-01-08T15:32:00.001-05:00

2009-01-07T00:22:00.003-05:00

things i think people should try:

1. cream cheese with hot pepper jelly...some people just pour the stuff over the cream cheese, but i feel for the most satisfying experience, it should be blended well...and served with tostitos scoops...yes they are fried and bad for you, but there just is no substitute

2. anything and everything kashi. go to their website and sign up for their community. just the other day i got a free blackberry graham cereal bar, a coupon for a free box, plus 6 coupons for $2 off additional boxes.

here are a few kashi recs:
blackberry graham cereal bars
chewy granola bars: cherry dark chocolate or trail mix
tlc cookies - any and all flavors - plus right now at kroger you can get 2 boxes of kashi blister packed together for 4.99, and attatched to them is a coupon for $1 off, plus a coupon for a free silk soy milk (a $3.75 value - try the very vanilla)
tlc crackers - fire roasted vegetable
tlc party crackers - mediterranean bruschetta
go lean crunch cereal - both flavors, though original is yummy with yogurt and frozen raspberries
go lean cereal - yummy with dried cherries and very vanilla soy milk
pocket bread sandwiches - chicken rustico - they are pricey but sooooo worth it
original crust pizza: mediterranean, looks nothing like the box, but oh - so good
7 whole grain pilaf sides - fiery fiesta or original - i will note with the original that i am a big whole grain eater...you may want to work up to this one :-)

3. glaceau smart water - whether you are sick, completing a big workout, mowing your yard on a hot day - or you just want to replenish your body, this electrolyte enhanced water does the trick - without all the high fructose corn syrup, yellow #5 and calories

2009-01-07T00:14:00.001-05:00

i've been pretty sick the past few days hence the delay in pictures - i posted sunday and monday's pictures :-)

2009-01-06T00:12:00.000-05:00

2009-01-05T00:11:00.000-05:00

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2009-01-03T06:41:00.001-05:00

2009-01-02T04:21:00.000-05:00

2009-01-01T22:13:00.005-05:00

a year has passed since we said goodbye
our lives moving on, though we never thought they could
carrying out your legacy we always try
to do the things you would have thought we should

to canada- fishing
to morgantown- the game
we know you were with us
but it will never be the same

some days much harder than others
acting out the motions and fighting back the tears
the loss and saddness nearly smothers
they say the pain lessens over the years

little winks from heaven
remind us of your love
and of the golden shores
where someday we'll meet with you above.

RIP Daddy - 3.26.52 - 1.1.08

kitschy in the kitchen

2009-01-01T02:16:00.002-05:00

2008-12-30T11:49:00.004-05:00

as i mentioned yesterday - i have yet to do a holiday recap...so here goes it ;-)

for whatever reason i was really struggling this year to get into the spirit of things. i spent the 23rd running around like a chicken with my, head cut off...all on around 3 hours of sleep, thanks to max - see the night prior to this, i decided to make cookies, the kind with little chocolate kisses stuck in the top...well in the words of nikki, max thought they were wittle maxers kisses - and decided to hop up on the dining room table and help himself.

this led to me hysterically screaming and waking up my husband in a panic, waking up the person on call at the vet's office (it was around 1 am), and inadvertently waking up whoever the vet accidentally called when she mis-dialed calling me back. luckily max didn't eat enough to hurt him - just make him off-the-walls-wild until 4 am.

so anyways...i drop max off at the groomers, then spend the next 5 hours going to wal-mart, the post office, sam's club, kroger and the mall. when i finally picked him up that evening the roads were a sheet of ice and i had a butt-puckering drive to my mom's house.

christmas eve we went to my inlaws for lunch and presents - my nephew made it through about 3 gifts before he was done :-) i picked up my granny on the way home and went back to my mom's.

we went to church...and i have to say it...after about 20 minutes of story-reading i was entertaining the notion of sneaking out. i'm glad i stayed, since although we didn't sing silent night (my favorite part), we were treated to some beautiful music - including dulicmer playing and stille nacht.

afterwards, my newly engaged cousin(!!!!) cousin came over with my aunt and uncle and my cousins new FIANCE (!!!) :-)

we spent christmas day with my mom's family. we had tried ethnic themed holiday dinners in the past, however my dad drew the line after we had mexican one year, and requested traditional fare for the next couple of years. to pay homage to him in a gesture he would have appreciated and found the humor in, we had a major fiesta ;-)

obviously things were sad without my dad there...but it was o-kay. not just okay but o-kay...you know, like, it was alright - manageable more than i ever imagined. all i have to do is get through the next two days and a major milestone (1 year without my dad) will have come and gone and I will know that I am 0-kay too.

i am normally a big snooper when it comes to presents - always have been. unwrapping presents by the corner and retaping them after discovering the treasures they held. in recent years, i'm not proud to admit i would snoop in d's emails looking for shipping notices, and even looking through receipts trying to uncover what he might have purchased. he has been working nonstop, and so he had me pick up a few gifts for myself (what good taste in vera bradley satchels and messenger bags he has... *wink* *wink*)

he found out he might have to go work to check on some things, so we exchanged gifts with each other christmas eve morning. my sneaky husband got me good this year...a box was presented to me that i did not buy or wrap. he had ordered it online, had it shipped to work, and took paper to work so i would be none the wiser. i opened it, and found the best thing in the world he could have ever purchased.....i am now the proud mommy of a nikon d60 dslr!!!!!