Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Thanksgiving was a success, although the turkey soup has not been made yet, the carcass is frozen and waiting for that perfect, cold, snowy, day.  Christmas is upon us and I am ready.  The tree is up and decorated, the shopping is done, the presents are wrapped, and the groceries are put away.  Keep in mind this is only December 22nd and my niece is in disbelief.  I have no cookies yet.  I leave that task to Mom, Daughter, and Sister-in-Law.  Our Christmas Eve consists of pasta, bread, salad, and hors devour es, which are our responsibilities ("our" meaning myself and husband, who most graciously helps.... really!) and cookies, cookies, cookies... respectively.  Oh, and least we forget my husband's specialty, a family tradition that the Yeiser's call "catalani" (not sure of the spelling).  One would think this fits right in with pasta, however, it is completely a Norwegian dessert consisting of lady fingers, whipped cream, and lingonberries.  We, the Italians, might look at it as Norwegian Tiramisu.  Cookies will include Mom's Italian specialties, traditional frosted sugar cookies and the all time favorite chocolate chip and peanut butter kisses.  So we have covered many ethnic backgrounds with one spectacular meal.  That's right, no ham or turkey.  This year the pasta of choice is Spaghetti, complete with spaghetti bibs!  What a family pic this will be.  Stay tuned.  My New Year's Resolution will be to post more regularly.  You might see the pics around Valentine's Day.  That's when I plan to post about not keeping resolutions and procrastinating.    Fa la la la la, ha ha ha ha.

Here's wishing you and yours a Very Merry Christmas (yes in my house it is CHRISTmas) and a Prosperous, Healthy, Happy New Year!!

How to eat M & M's

With Halloween in 2 days I, along with many of you, have purchased and have been consuming my Halloween candy. There is a cute granddaughter #3 story attached to this, so hang in there. First you have to understand just how I eat my M&M's. Before you roll your eyes and comment on how odd or strange this is, please note that I am not alone. I have talked to other people who share my opinion that M & M stands for Methodical & Meticulous and not just Mix & Munch. Different methods are amongst us, however, if you eat M&M's in any certain order welcome to our club.

So, here goes my method. After opening the bag (fun size of course) and arranging the sweet temptations by color, I must equal the amount of each hue by eating them in alphabetical order. For example: 3 orange, 2 brown, and 1 green. Starting with "B" I would eat brown because "B" is before "O" for orange in the alphabet and these are the colors I have more of. So the order of consumption in this fun sized pack would be 1 brown, 1 orange, 1 orange to equalize colors and then 1 brown, 1 green, and the final 1 orange alphabetically. I don't expect you to understand, unless you are one of my kind.

Now for the 4 year old GD#3 story. We were eagerly finishing our lunch so we could have our dessert, which today would be an early trick-or-treat fun sized bag of peanut M&M's. We each opened our bag and the tasty tidbits rolled onto the table. Always excited to learn, and never wanting to disappoint me, she listened intently while I described just how to eat M&M's in alphabetical order. Busily I began to organize my own while watching her out of the corner of my eye. Oh my gosh! She was very carefully lining them up. Could it be? Is she one of us? That's when it happened.... her intelligence is beyond my comprehension. She looked at me and said, "Grandmama, mine are all 'M's'"! 

The verdict is still out for GD being in the club, but for now we will just enjoy our special times and desserts together and I will share the stories. BTW.... how do YOU eat M&M's??? LOL.

Following Up....

Yippee!  There was no piece of spatula found.  It, 1.  never fell in there in the first place, or  2.  was eaten along with the candy pieces unnoticed, or 3.  was inadvertently left on a plate and thrown away.  At any rate, it is never to be seen again, the remaining spatula has been destroyed, and the dessert was delicious!!!!

Now my weekend will be filled with kids and grandkids and this means..... more to blog about!!!

I Need Help, Heloise!!!

Okay, here it is.  My husband volunteers me to make a dessert for a football party amongst friends.  No, this is not the problem.  I have a favorite cake that I make which is perfect.  It serves a crowd, it's chocolate, and everyone usually likes it.  So, I buy the ingredients and, as always, make the cake (which is baked in two rounds in my brand new gas oven that I absolutely love) the day before the event.  Then the pudding, whipping cream, and other notions are assembled just before transporting and/or serving.  You must also know I purchased two cake mixes and double everything just in case the oven failed me, because there is no such thing as operator error.... as we all know.  So still no problem.  Cakes turned out beautifully the first time.  I'm getting there.   Keep reading.

Now, the day of the party and just an hour before we have to leave with the cake in hand, I begin the assembling.  One cake, check.  One layer of chocolate pudding, check.  Spread the whipped topping, check.  Top with candy chips, check.  Viola!  Half way there.  Looks like it could be on the cover of "Taste of Home".

Here we go with the second part of the process.  The second cake, check.  Chocolate pudding, check.  Rinse out the bowl and spatula..... here lies the problem.  A corner of the rubber scraping spatula is GONE!  Please dear Heloise, let it be in the sink.  Nope.  Poke around the last layer of pudding.   Nope.  Look around the kitchen counter.  Nope.  Floor?  Nope.  Oh my heavens.  It's gone.  Do I take the cake anyway or stop at the store on my way?  Do I tell anyone?  Keep reading.

After deliberating with my husband and my mother, I call her HeLOISe, I decided to have a little fun.  I stick the trouble causing spatula in the middle of the creation instead of toothpicks to hold up the cellophane wrap to cover it.  When I brought in the dessert I asked everyone to please help me find the missing piece so that I could retire my spatula in its entirety into the garbage.  Thank goodness it was amongst friends and no one found it.  I still have one piece left.  Keep reading, I'll let you know.

Hahaha.  Hope you found this humorous.  Live, Laugh, Love!!!

Welcome Lemon

Meet Lemon

She entered our household quick, unknown, unprepared, and controversial.  However, she is now very much a part of our daily routine.  We, or it should be stated, "I" let out the dog, play catch with him and his tennis ball while searching the pool for crickets for the newest addition.... the frog.   The daughter caught the frog we now call Lemon, named by 4 year old granddaughter, on a camping trip.  Having no clue what kind of frog this was, or knowing what to feed it, or most of all what to keep it in, we started our adventure.  It was understood real quick that the tall plastic goldfish aquarium would not keep it prisoner.  Our little Houdini broke out of his jail cell twice in one night narrowly escaping two vehicles and the golden retriever.   It was quickly relocated to a 5 gallon aquarium with a lid duct taped, just in case.  Still in the garage, we've added a designer "cave", rocks, and frog log.  Happy as a frog!!  Daughter cleans the tank and Lemon has not gone AWOL.

After researching the creature, the daughter informs me it is a young, female bullfrog.  Thank goodness "Lemon" is a  fairly gender neutral name.   Yes, the size of the circles behind the eyes indicate male/female.  I know what you were thinking.  Now, we also know the amphibian consumes bugs.  Yippee.  Crickets are abundant in the early morning around the pool, so we (I) take the little tykes bug catcher and snatch up all the crickets I can.  Lemon eats them faster than I can wrestle them in averaging about 10 a day.  Let's try caterpillars and worms... yep gone.  How about dragon flies.... yep.  She said "no" to the sweat bees.  Good thing.  After further research, "do not feed anything with stingers".  Oops.  Yet, still alive.  Hmmmm.  Doesn't fancy spiders or beetle types either.  Did I mention she's very amusing to watch eat?  Oh yes, it's official.  I am attached.

A Female Bullfrog.... only a mother could love.

Problem.  We closed the pool this weekend.  The cricket supply has dried up, at least from me because they are too hard to catch if they are not swimming.  After digging potatoes, she had a tasty worm for a treat, however, the potatoes have all been harvested.  Daughter has to decide.  Will she keep Lemon in the basement (getting her into the house will be another controversial feat) and furnish nourishment for her?  Or do we visit Uncle's pond and return the creature to a natural habitat.  Now I'm wondering if she will eat tuna?  Raw meat?  Turkey lunch meat and Iams dog food were rejected.

Stay tuned.

Retirement Destination

After a recent trip to Lake Of The Ozarks, this is something that's on my mind.  Some people who know me may consider me already "retired".  However, AARP has found me and keeps recruiting me to join.  As prime daycare provider to our 4 year old granddaughter, my "job" essentially will allow me to retire next year.  At what age do we start to think about retiring?  I want to NOW.  I don't mean financially, because I have a very good planner working for me on that.  I'm thinking about where to live.  Not that we HAVE to move, but it might be interesting and fun.  I'm figuring if we pick the perfect retirement destination, my kids, family, and friends will want to visit.  In order to make this decision we have alot of traveling to do.  Hmmm....  That sounds like a song.  To help with our decision, I have compiled a list of "must haves" at our new destination:

Internet Connection - Couldn't possibly give up facebook, blogging or tweeting.  How else would everyone be able to find us???

Swimming - Pool, lake, ocean, sea.... not really a preference however, if it is lake, ocean, or sea it would be nice to have a pool too.  Not asking too much is it?

Sunshine - At least for the majority of the year.  If anyone knows of a place with winter only November and December, please comment.

Log Cabin - Ok, that's my first choice but I am realistic enough to know this one might be too specific.

Split Floor Plan - Master bedroom suite on the opposite side of the house as the "guest quarters".  (I put this in for all who will be visiting us.)

High on the list:  Lake Of The Ozarks and Mexico.  I'll add to this after we make a few trips around other areas.

There ya have it.  My Blog.... My Mind!!  Thanks for reading!

To All The Fathers We've Loved Before

It was 10 years this past March that my father slipped quickly away from us having a massive heart attack.  No regrets, we loved each other very much and he and my mother were able to exchange their "I Love You"s just before he left.  On this Father's Day, something hit me particularly hard and I wanted to share with you just how much I miss him.

We had alot of fun growing up.  Sense of humor ran rampant in our household.  While still living in my parents home, my father would take the rubber band from our daily newspaper and "hide" it in my things.  I would find this rubber band in my school books, purse, pockets, mail, you just never quite knew where this rubber band would show up.  Sometimes it was even embarrassing if I didn't find it before one of my friends.  Nevertheless, this is just one example of the "fun" my father and I had.

This particular story was also shared at my father's funeral.  The Pastor, who also knew my father very well, included this great anecdote complete with a visual.  Yep, he held up a rubber band and nearly flooded the Church with my tears.

Now, keep in mind I have had the newspaper delivered to my own home into the proper mailbox slot, everyday for the past 10 years.  However, never has it arrived with a rubber band.  Sometimes in a paper bag, but NEVER with a rubber band.  That is.... until yesterday.  Father's Day.

Happy Father's Day with love to you too, Dad.  Miss You!!

In Review

Been busy this past month.  Watched alot of movies and read 3 books.  Review One.  The movie "Pirates of the Caribbean:  On Stranger Tides", which for you non-pirate heads is the 4th movie of its kind, and it was NOT disappointing.  I am comparing this one to the 1st and 2nd movies in this grouping because if I saw #3, I do not remember it, therefore, non eventful.  After really liking the 1st one, #2 was a little far-fetched with the "alien" type pirates coming back from the dead and looking like disgusting sea creatures.  Just not my thing.  So, here we are.... loved #1, didn't like #2, don't remember #3, and loved #4.  Johnny Depp will always be one of my favorites and the pairing of Johnny and Penelope (Cruz) was amazing.  She is also one of my favorites.  Blackbeard was, well let us say.... Blackbeard.  Big, tough, cunning, and difficult.  I think I'll name my next dog "Blackbeard".   Yep, my Yorkie named Blackbeard.  lol.  Oh, well back on subject here.  Great movie a should see at the theater because these films lose something when not seen on the big screen.  5 Stars!

"Bridesmaids" hmmm.  Funny, but not really realistic.  Don't know why, but for me its easier to believe a bunch of guys acting totally ridiculous for a bachelor party such as in "Hangover".  I thought that was hilarious.  Haven't seen "Hangover Two" yet, but will be sure to review after I do.  As for the Stars:  Bridesmaids 3; Hangover 5.

Review Two.  A series of books I have completed.  Stieg Larsson wrote these 3 books and then died.  What a shame.  I really would like to read more.  "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" apparently is a movie due out this December, "The Girl Who Played With Fire",  and "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest".  #1 was a little slow to get into and since the translation from Swedish to English is a bit confusing to read, it was a tad difficult.  Once you get through the first 200 pages you will not be able to put it down and will not want to miss out on #2 and #3.  You will want to have #3 on hand before finishing #2.  You get my drift.  Great books and they will make great movies.  Suspense, thriller, mystery,  love and hate all wrapped up in an eccentric main character with professionals and thugs to surround her exciting yet tragic life.  Excellent.  If books were given Stars I would give them 5 +.

Next on the reading list is "The Perfect Husband".  We'll see about that!

Later.

It Was a Happy Mother's Day

Now that spring has sprung, at least here in the Midwest, lawn mowers are humming, birds are chirping, kids are anxiously awaiting the end of the school year, pools are starting to open (unfortunately not mine), lawn furniture is appearing on patios and Mother’s Day is over.  If this doesn’t scream summer, nothing will.  But do we really know anything about Mother’s Day?  As much as I would like to take credit for the honoring of my Mother, the second Sunday of every May was officially set by President Woodrow Wilson in 1914.  He claimed the holiday offered a chance to “publicly express” our love and reverence for the Mothers of or country.  The “idea”, however, is credited by some to Julia Ward Howe (1872) and Anna Jarvis (1907), who both suggested a day be dedicated to a “day of peace”.  Many states honored Mother’s Day around and before 1911, but it was truly Woodrow who issued a Presidential Proclamation to establish the first National Mother’s Day!  His Mother must have been proud.   Love Ya Mom!!

Back on Track

Wow.  Can't believe it has been since January that I have posted.  And wow, can't believe this time last week we were on the airplane coming back from vacation.  

Can you spell paradise??? C-A-B-O!!!  It was the most relaxing, enjoyable vacation since the honeymoon. We had family, food, sunshine, whales, and fantastic new friends we met helping us make this memory.  Our all inclusive resort was the gorgeous Melia.  We awoke every morning to sunshine and the temp rising to 80 degrees.  After a stroll down the beach, breakfast consisted of exotic authentic Mexican cuisine and, although I do not eat them, the biggest, fluffiest omelets stuffed with anything imaginable that I've ever seen.  All of this while watching the mama whales and their calves frolicking in the bay getting ready to head out into the ocean in a couple of months.  Throughout the day we were cooled by a steady breeze and the swim up pool bar.  Late afternoons consisted of  Bocce (which girls rule), Scrabble or card game (Polish Rummy), either on the beach or at the snack bar while scarfing down chips, salsa, and popcorn.  Yes, eating again.  Then it was time for the whirlpool before dinner.  Not just any whirlpool.... this was packed with fun loving folks who were all unwinding from our "busy" days, sitting in the warmth of the water and the sun passing over the peninsula (we could not see the sunset from this side of the coast) looking out over the ocean once again watching the whales.  Then it was off to the shower to prepare for dinner.  Dinners varied through the week.  The Mediterranean Restaurant, the Japanese Sushi Bar, and the Buffet all proved to be an over  abundant caloric intake.  But let me state nevertheless, delicious and a great time.  

We ventured off the resort two times.  Once to explore the town and see Cabo Wabo.... Sammy Hagar's place.  Cool.  Then a visit to the marina which was unbelievable.  It was the busiest bustle of activity.  I'm not sure how all the sea lions managed to set up their habitat in such a wild place.  Our adventure was the Manta.  A large catamaran that took us, along with about 15 others, out of the marina to the "arch" and the "finger" which are rock formations separating the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific Ocean.  We also saw where all the sea lions took refuge from the craziness of the marina.  Continuing on we stopped at Lover's Bay and Chilean Bay for some great snorkeling.  Other's kayaked, but this just seemed a little too strenuous for our style of vacationing this time.  The crew fixed us chicken fajitas and homemade salsa and guacamole for lunch.  Again, we eat.  We voted this our favorite meal of the trip.  Spelled d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s.  On the trip back to the marina on this excursion we again were visited by a mama whale and her calf showing off their beautiful hump backs (I guess).  Truly a unique sight.  Then it was back to town and the resort.   Ahhhh, another day in paradise.

So, that's my review.  5 Stars!!  Thank you to my travel agent, my family, sister & brother-in-law, the Leonard's whom we met and will hopefully continue our friendship (and owners/organizers of the Bocce games), and the rest of the fine people who attended the "whirlpool parties".  Thank you all for making this vacation such a fantastic one!  

Which do you think is warmer?

We had a discussion this morning, my husband and I, in which we begged to differ with each other.  It's not an earthshattering argument by any means, really not even a quarrel.  Curiosity just got the best of me.  Which do you think is warmer.... a sweater or a sweatshirt?

I proposed a sweatshirt.  The warm fleece lining and the long sleeves, especially a "hoodie" that you can snuggle around your neck.  The more oversized the better, is what I say.

He, on the other hand, just asked me if I had ever seen a sheep wearing a sweatshirt?  Yep, that was his say in the matter.

I'm still laughing.  So.... what do you think??

Wow!

Just can't believe how busy I must have been to totally miss December!  Hope every one's Christmas was Merry and Happy New Year!   Christmas in our family was a great time.  The traditional Christmas Eve lasagna... delicious, decorations..... beautiful (with the exception of the garland lights on the front porch that quit working the day before), Christmas Tree.... perfect, guests.... all accounted for (minus one nephew in Utah), 3 year old scared enough to pee her pants of "stinky the garbage truck".... priceless.  Ah yes, and the hilarious game of Apples to Apples.  Christmas Day included the movie "The Tourist", which I would rate a 3.5 star flick.  Johnny Depp made it a 5, but Angelina dropped it down 1.5 stars.  Trip to the casino.... a ton of fun.  Won $300 and lost $400.  Isn't that the story of 99% of the attendees.  Nevertheless, a great Christmas season.  Now, we venture into 2011.  Maybe I'll make a thankful list instead of a bucket list.  Write down everything I am thankful for.  Yeah, maybe I'll make that a New Year's Resolution.... we all know what 99% of us do with those!  Happy Happy New Year!