It's lunchtime...

...how about some alphabet soup??

Well no, not really. But here is Friday's Brain Bender:

The 23 letters below can be anagrammed into a five word phrase often used to start a meeting. What is the phrase?

B D E E E F F H I I N O O R R R S S S S T T U

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Answer to follow in the comments later. Happy Friday!

Update: Blue Tige is today's official smartypants and is having a Birthday tomorrow! Whoohoo! Happy Birthday Blue Tige! And thanks for playing everybody....

Friday...

I dreamed of spiders last night... Are you surprised?? I'm not... Ugh... $#*%! Max!

On an up note, yesterday was beautiful here! Like honest to God shirtsleeves only warm, with no qualifiers. No "it was warm as long at you were in the sun" or "it was nice once the wind stopped (or was blocked)." It was just warm. Yay!

Today, I think it is supposed to be a bit rainy, but given that we were able to sleep with the windows open last night. I can deal with a little rain. Mmmmm... Spring. It's not just for the South....

MIL heads back up North to her daughter's house today. It has been a great week. The Kids have had a blast with her. And all of the socks in my house are matched up - gotta love that...

And for me, it's Friday. I'm ready. I'm tired. And it looks as though hubby will be home in time for dinner tonight. Great way to end the week, I think.

Reminded of a story...

So surfing around (as I am prone to do) I come across this cute little bit of trickery recounted by Trouble...

I chose door #2. Steve, his co-worker and I loaded into the work hearse (a modified station wagon) to go pick up the recently deceased, who was at a local nursing home....

It's a great story. Just a little bit of boyfriend/girlfriend joking, with the added kicker of a dead/undead person in attendance. Very cute. Happy ending. And then I suddenly remembered some boyfriend/girlfriend trickery I once experienced...

I had gone out on about 8 dates with this guy (let's call him Max). The writing was on the wall, so to speak, that we were not intended to work out. He just didn't get me.

I had pretty much tried to explain to him that no, I didn't want a wine cooler -- I'll have a beer, thanks. If we go somewhere and all of your friends are playing poker or football or pool, count me in! I don't want to go sit with the *other* girlfriends and sip my wine cooler... I can hang. I don't want to sit around and worry about what might happen to my manicure if I decide to play. Let's just play!

I don't do foo-foo stuff. I can build a fire and throw a football. I like jeans. I do not always want to "fix my hair" can you say baseball cap and pony tail? Yeah. I can move furniture and hold my own in a discussion. I can cope with snakes, mice, rats, ghosts, bears, bumps in the night, psycho ex's, car trouble, and vindictive women. I can stand on my own two feet and talk two drunks out of a fight. Hell, I can even hold my own in a fight. I'm all good. There is *one* thing though that gets to me. And anybody who knows me for even a little while can tell you what it is.

Spiders.

I HATE spiders. [Read: am terrified of ::shudder:: spiders.] On TV, in real life, just the thought, in a dream, potential for, sight of, pictures, fakey Halloween, OMG in the petstore?? All of them.

I swear, there are places in my own house that if you held a gun to my head I wouldn't go in. I'm serious. I am totally arachnophobic. It's bad.

So on one of our first dates, this guy (want a wine cooler??) took me to the movies where we saw Home Alone. You remember, the first one with Macaulay Culkin? Yeah. And the part where the pet tarantula is all over they robber guy's face and crawling all around? I am practically under my seat. Hands over my face. Totally freaking out. Ugh.

So later (a bit embarrassed at my "girly girl" behavior) I explain to Max my irrational fear of those eight legged friends scary assed bugs. I mean, I know in my logical mind that they aren't "gonna get me" but whatever. My fight or flight instinct is waaaay stronger than the logic there. Super glue stronger. Call my hubby home from work to kill one, stronger. Oh yes.

So what does this genius do? (Hey, you want a wine cooler?) We go over to a buddy of his' house to watch a movie. No biggie. Hanging out with some of his friends for the evening. Having a couple of cold ones. (I'll have a beer, thanks.)

Unbeknownst to me, his buddy was an entomology major. Meaning, that in the back of his fridge he had large test tubes containing various sorts of live insects... and arachnids... Can you see what is coming next??

So I am kicking back, watching whatever the movie was when Max askes, "Hey, would you like a wine cooler?"

"No, thanks." I replied. "But I'll take a beer if you have one..."

"Oh, right...." he says.

About two minutes later here comes Max. He hands me a beer and very casually sits down. His arm around my shoulders. I lean into him and we are watching the show. Totally relaxed. When from the corner of my eye I see something silvery metallic drop from over my shoulder into my lap. About 6 inches long and 2 inches in diameter. What the??? And it's teeming with spiders. Spiders! Spiders madly crawling all over eachother wanting their freedom and rejoicing in their newfound exposure to light and warmth. SPIDERS!!! In.My.Lap.

AAAAHHHIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEE!!!!

Beer flying... Me, ass over teakettle over the back of the couch, launching said "vial of spiders" as far as I could throw while I scrambled backward away faster than is humanly possible - damn near through the wall into the next apartment. (With Max's buddy saying, "Hey! Careful with those!")

Then having the sudden realization that my *date* thought that it would be oh so cute and funny to "scare his new arachnophobic girlfriend" by dropping a vial of freeking spiders into her lap. I grabbed my purse, landed a solid roundhouse punch on the side of Max's smirking head, and walked home.

Yes, he called to apologize.

And yes, I told him to go f*ck himself. One of the best decisions I ever made.... Want a wine cooler? Shouldda known then...

Running late....

Sorry, running late on the Brain Bender today (had to go ingest some deliciously disguised MSG).

Today's Brain Bender is a scrambled word Tom Swifty sentence...
--------------

First unscramble the letters in each word below, then unscramble the word order to create a Tom Swifty sentence.

MOT DAIS MI PLLYDRIFUE NO ESE OT NI TTABHIA ISFARA LNSIO NOW HTIER NGGIO.

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Okay, as always answer to follow in the comments!

Update: Today's official smartypants (and first time player) is Alex from Mustard's Musings. Whoohoo! And welcome...

Bunny Coupons

You know when you really don't need a bunny?!?! When you get a coupon flier in the mail and think, "Oh look! Bunnies! And I have a coupon!"

I must be tired.....

Hidden Cities

Today's Brain Bender. [Not as lame as the other ones this week, Mom!]

------------------

The names of three cities are hidden below, Can you find them? (The letters are in consecutive order.)

Children on holiday may forget to stamp and mail postcards home.

The bear had his den very well hidden.

-----------------

Two observations: Anyone but me think about the bear eating the children? And I am pretty sure that if said children are asking for money, they will remember to put on stamps. Just sayin'.

Okay, I'm off. I have doubled the number of children in my house and after lunch I'm hoping for sunshine for our neighborhood kickball game. Whoohoo! We're gonna break Spring yet!

As always, answers to follow in the comments.

Update: Kudos and divided "smartypants" bragging rights go to both Raging Mom from The Splatter Zone and Rachel from Pereiraville. Whoohoo!! And yes, Og -- it *is* the the MENSA puzzle calendar that provides the daily Brain Bender. We are definitely waaaay smarter than they are...

Hump Day

Yeah, okay. So it's Wednesday. And this is one of those days that I woke up feeling like I went into a coma and slept face down all night. Ugh. Dreamed of running in a giant hamster wheel where an annoying timer went off every 19 minutes just to mark the time.

Was there any stopping, you ask? No. No stopping. Just an annoying timer going off over and over and over again. I am going to have to work on having better dreams.

Day three of Spring Break. I am hoping that the "fun" starts today. I will have my friend Daisy's boys here this afternoon -- that oughtta shake things up. (See my optimistic spin???) Oh, yeah. [please God, can it just be nice so they can all play outside??]

So today I'll leave you with some links to get your day started...

First up, Trouble over at Dubious Wonder is in a mood to teach. She's got a great post up titled Everything you ever wanted to know about boobs. Sort of a "boobs 101." Funny and informative -- just how I like it.

For a different sort of yummy, the Carnival of the Recipes is up at Morning Coffee & Afternoon Tea. Lot's of deliciousness over there.

And this commercial cracked me up. Remember, it's easier to beg forgiveness than ask for permission... I can think of a few people that could use cards like that... My hubby, for one.

So you think that *you* have it rough....

Today ironically, I was emailed this video of an amazing pet! (Who would literally produce one fourth of the muddy paw prints that my doggies do...)



What a sweet puppy head...

h/t L&Dal

Double Trouble

a.k.a. today's brain bender....

Fill in each blank below with a word that fits the definition on the left when read normally and fits the definition on the right when read backwards.

• Heavenly body ________ Rodents
• To correct writing ________ Ocean movement
• African antelopes ________ Performed musically

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Okay, I am off to entertain the kids -- I had forgotten how much "fun" Spring Break is on the cloudy, icky rainy days.... ::sigh::

As always, answers to follow in the comments.

Update: Two winners today! We have Og the Neanderpundit (who was willing to step aside to give somebody else a chance) with "encripted" answers. And a first time winner Grandy! Who listed all of the actual answers correctly first! Whoohoo!

March Madness.....

...also known as "dreams of Lamination..."

This.

This is what really makes me crazy. And the primary reason why I purchased a 5'x7' very colorful rug for the kitchen.... (That I have to steam clean quarterly... thankyouverymuch....)
















March is the month when my dream of laminating the pets percolates to the front of my thoughts... Along with fantasies about AstroTerf...

Aaaahhhhh endless yards of AstroTurf..... The entire backyard covered with AstroTurf. Heaven...

Could you do it?














Yeah... Me either. But I think about it. I really do... Lamination...

Update: Leave it to Harvey to know of a solution.... Muttlucks!













Holy crap, would you look at that! Little doggie booties! I can imagine how Taylor and Buddy would feel about wearing them though -- not good. That's funny stuff, though!

Out of the box...

Change of plans, we are headed "up north" to get my MIL. So whoohoo! I get to go and wave at some cows on the way (nothing like road side entertainment, Wisconsin style). I'll leave you though with today's brain bender -- just for fun, we'll make it a twofer...

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An eight letter word appears below. Find it by beginning with the correct letter and moving around clockwise or counterclockwise using each letter only once.

S - - - - A - - - - S
- - - - - - - - - - -
E - - - - - - - - - S
- - - - - - - - - - -
S - - - - S - - - - E

and

Can you find the word that becomes plural when you add one "S" to it and becomes singular and changes gender when you add two "S's"?

--------------------

Okay, as always answers to follow in the comments. See you later!

Update: Og the Neanderpundit is today's double, extra smartypants!! Whoohoo! (Hey, do you 'spoze that Neanderpundits even wear pants? Huh. I guess smartyloincloth doesn't roll off the tongue quite as nicely. We'll stick with the pants for now...) ;)

First Day of Spring Break.....

Somehow that just sounds more fun than "Monday." But Monday it is. And if Spring Break continues along the same vein as yesterday (or heck, this entire weekend for that matter) we're in good shape...

Yesterday was terrific. Temps in the 50's, hubby was off, sunshine all day, bike ride to the Dollar Store, steaks grilled to perfection for dinner.... It just doesn't get much better than that, unless you are holding a winning lotto ticket at the same time.

My Mother in Law arrives later this afternoon to hang out with us for the rest of the week. She has been "up north" (as the locals refer to it) staying with her daughter and it's our turn.

She and I always have a good time, and the girls are super excited to have a grandma (read: captive audience) in house. Not to sound like Martha Stewart (who bugs the crap outta me -- can we cancel her show already???) it's a good thing.

So that's it. That's the start I'm getting this week. Whoohoo Monday!

Welcome Family & Friends!

It has come to my attention that Pop liked my post concerning Uncle Ben's wonderful recovery so much that he wanted to share it. So, welcome!

Somehow, I felt that I should take a minute and explain a bit of what this little blog is all about.

This is just a place where I can talk back to Oprah, or poke some good natured fun at my hubby, tell fun stories about the girls, comment on things that make me roll my eyes, try to get a giggle going, post a yummy recipe, occasionally get a good rant out, and put down in words, memories that I want to keep. That's about it.

It's become a comfy place for me, affords me the chance to write everyday and I hope that you feel welcome here as well...

Feel free to comment, if you find yourself so inclined. And I post a daily Brain Bender (from my handy dandy discount MENSA calendar) if you'd like to play. Like I said, welcome. And Happy Sunday!

The glass is definitely half full....

An Uncle Ben update.

Right after I started this blog, my beloved Uncle Ben was diagnosed with stage four renal (kidney) cancer that had already spread to his sacrum and lungs.

The entire family was beyond shell shocked -- he had only gone to the doctor because of some lower back pain that he couldn't get a handle on.

Once the doctors discovered the gravity of his situation, he was told that his cancer was inoperable and that he should get his affairs in order.

Boom. That's it. End of story.

Well, not for long...

Keep in mind, my father's side of the family can be a cantankerous lot. All of the siblings are headstrong, intelligent and opinionated individuals. And as much as they all love each other, they tend to piss each other off in equal amounts.

When they are all on the warpath, it is something to behold. (Can you say duck and cover?) But when they are all on the same team working together for a common goal -- it's beyond awesome. In this instance, they linked arms and joined forces (even though they all live 1000's of miles apart), and decided that "Operation Cure Ben" was going to move forward, regardless of what the doctors said.

Still, hope was in short supply. The cancer was at an advanced stage and there were some terrible issues with insurance to overcome. And we were all scared that even with insurance/financial resolution we would not be able to find a doctor willing to take the case. Until we did. And I thank God for him every day.

Last summer the girls and I took a trip out to Wyoming. Uncle Ben needed me. He wanted me to come and stay with him for a while and frankly, my parents needed a break. (They had taken turns staying with him over those first months, driving back and forth over the mountain to provide constant care.) My brother wanted to come out too, and wanted me there to facilitate his visit. So I loaded up the car with kids and dogs, kissed my hubby goodbye and went.

I needed to see for myself how Uncle Ben was faring and how the treatment was going. Short visits on the phone and reports from my mother just weren't cutting it. And I wanted to put my arms around him and tell him how much I loved him and what me meant to me. I was preparing myself for a real goodbye, and I was heartsick.

We had a great visit. Lots of talking, a few tears, and many "I love you's" were exchanged. I cooked for him and cleaned his house and would massage his feet in the afternoons while he dozed. We have always been very close, but this was the first one-on-one time we had had since I was a kid.

I thanked him for having always been there for me and for always letting me know I was loved. I made sure I said and did what I needed too. It was crunch time and nothing was certain. I was preparing for the worst, which flies in the face of my optimistic nature, but I felt I had no choice. I hated that I had to leave. And that I live so far away.

I got an email on Thursday from my folks. Uncle Ben had seen his oncologist for a follow-up. The results of the latest scans were in....

There is no sign of the cancer anywhere. It is all gone, as far as they can tell. Nuked into oblivion. Sayonara. Buh-bye.

Did you hear that??? GONE. All of it. A miracle. (That's my dad on the left with Uncle Ben -- taken right after they got the news....)
















The doctor is over the moon. As he puts it, seeing results like these makes it all worth it. Uncle Ben has been recovering beautifully! Gaining weight, feeling good, enjoying his life and family and friends. A miracle in its truest form. I can hardly allow myself to believe it!

Of couse he will have to be monitored closely for some time to come, and his treatment will continue, but we are going to have him around for a while. And it's possible that it will be a looong while to boot. That makes me beyond happy.

So anyway, for any of you who said a prayer for my Uncle Ben... thank you. Thank you so much. I got my miracle. And the glass remains half full....

Whoohoo! Friday!

And I just got home from doing the BIG grocery run. (And why is it that after you have gone to the store asnd spent big $$$ on all kinds of yummy stuff, you don't feel like preparing any of it for anybody??) So that's what is on tap for me this afternoon.

For you I have today's brain bender.....

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What do the following words have in common? (The similarity has nothing to do with the number of letters, vowels, consonants or syllables.)

CATSUP
EDGE
CONVICT
SILKY

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I've got nary a clue. But the answer (as always) will be in the comments later....

Update: Well, that didn't take long. Og spotted the pattern long before I did! So Yay! The Neanderpundit is the smartypants today!! Maybe it's not Fucktard Friday for him after all!

Oh, I am soooooo jealous!!!

A good friend of mine is right now, at this moment in Belize!!

Belize, for those who are too lazy to click my wikipedia link, is a tiny Central American country sandwiched between Mexico and Guatemala. It's about the size of Rhode Island with about as many people. There are several unique things about Belize that I was aware of BEFORE I got here.

* It's the only really stable government in Central America (other than Mexico). Democratic government, no revolutions, no guerrilla warfare, etc.
* Almost everyone here speaks English! Not that I would ever go to another country and demand they speak English to me, but damn it makes things like ordering drinks easy.

And he's learned things since he arrived too!

* Belize is home to the most beautiful women on the planet. Now, I have to qualify my statement by saying I haven't been to that many places. But I have seen a lot of women, and there is no question in my mind that they are the hottest. And, yes, I am married to one. And if you've met her, don't let her cool, geneticist exterior fool you. She's a nerd, but she's hot nerd.
* Belizian humidity is FAR kinder to my skin than the dry Wisconsin cold. I left 25 degrees of dry and crackly, and arrived in 88 degrees of moist deliciousness.

He's learned lots more than that. Head on over and feel the warm breeze by proxy. Of course, as I sit here ( right now on the fifth day of SPRING) it's snowing. Grrrrrr.

You know, if I were a lesser person I might be sending an evil vibe or two to my good friend Akshun. But I won't. I'll take the high road.

That's me, right up here, takin' the hiiiigh road... The high, hard, windswept, snowy, freeking cold road. Yup, that's me. $%#^&*!

I'll just hope he tips a beer in my direction and sends some warm thoughts my way. (Oh and give my love to your wife, dude... You're a lucky guy!)

Before I get started...

A couple of things. For one, Og the Neanderpundit has decided to form his own religion. And today is his holy day in the Church of God the "What Were You Thinking?!?!?" (I am a congregant, and you should be too.)

Since I can't leave him a comment, (due to "questionable content" ...whatever...) I will take this moment to pray that I *never* resemble "Sylvia in accounting..." (What was she thinking?!?!)

She's wearing those tight pants again, the ones that make her ass look like two raccoons fighting in a condom.

.... Amen.

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Okay.... So I only had one thing. Here is today's brain bender:

1) Add an "L" to a word for a vessel that floats to find a word that means "swell."

2) Add an "M" to a word which means "alternate" to find the word for a family member.

----------------

Answers to follow in the comments later! I'm off to scrub!

Update (waaaay late): Oddybobo wins today! Whoohoo!

Housework...

A wasted life? Well, maybe...

Gotta do a BUNCH today.

I just hate that nothing housework wise ever stays done. It's endless and monotonous and nobody (in my house anyway) cares really, but me. But do it I must.... The alternative is to just let the place go to swamp. And we can't have that.

So what's on your agenda for today? Something fun I hope...

Easy.....

Today's brain bender is easy schmeasy. No problemo. So I am adding a quirky little logic problem at the end to make things a bit more interesting. Ready? Here we go....

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Find the word that fits the definitions below when it's 1) a whole word and 2) divided into two words.

1) Whole word: serious

2) Two words:
a. part of the body
b. home for a bird

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Mel Colly stared through the dirty soot smeared window on the 26th floor of the office tower. Overcome with depression, he slid the window open and jumped through it. Though it was a sheer drop outside the building to the ground, miraculously he landed and was completely unhurt. Since there was nothing to cushion his fall or slow his decent, how could he have survived?

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Okay, answers to follow in the comments like always! See you later!

Update: Well, Rachel at Pereiravile had the brain bender answered handily. And VW from One Happy Dog Speaks had things covered with the logic problem! Whoohoo! Smart people read my blog....

Say What??

curve for penis stains

Now I have read about other folks' having interesting searches lead to their blogs. But me? Never. Doesn't happen. Nothing weird. Not in 366 days of blogging.

I get hits for Chicken Tortilla Soup and Powell, Wyoming and Hot Artichoke Dip but that's about it...

No more. Yesterday, I got a yahoo search hit for curve for penis stains and I was lucky number 13 on the search list. (And since thirteen is my lucky number, I guess that makes sense on some level.)

Wow. I have arrived. This is cause for some (admitedly strange) celebration, I think. Great way to start the first day of my next year of blogging, at any rate.

curve for penis stains... It has some sort of ring to it. I'm just not sure exactly what....

Today, it's all about me...

From Oddybobo I got...

LOOK OUT! ïòð

Richmond is a radioactive squirrel!!

Username:

From Go-Quiz.com

And from CalTech Girl...

How to make a Richmond

Ingredients: 1 part competetiveness 3 parts ambition 5 parts ego

Method: Stir together in a glass tumbler with a salted rim. Add caring to taste! Do not overindulge!

Username:

Personality cocktail
From Go-Quiz.com

Things that make me make a face....

Things like this....











That's Russell Yates and his new bride.

What I wanna know is who marries a guy like that?!?! Can we get a collective eeewwwww ICK?!?!? ('Course I think he should be sitting in jail along side his former wife.... But that's just me.)

---------------

Also making me make a face is a leak at the main shut off valve for the water line to the house!! Because that's not important or anything.... Good grief. Hurry up Mr. Plumber! I don't want to flood!

----------------

And last but not least, it's the second day of Spring and it's snowing. With more snow in the forecast. Boo.



Yeah, that face is about right..... Here kitty, kitty, kitty! You can sit by me....

Find the Key...

Otherwise known as Tuesday's Brain Bender. On the handy dandy discount MENSA calendar they have this whole deal in a circle with the missing "key" letter (that is the same for each word) in the center.

That format won't work here, so I am going to list the jumbled letters with a (?) added to signify the missing letter. All Set? Okay... Here we go!

---------------------

Unscramble the letters listed below and find the missing letter that completes each word. (The missing letter, indicated by the question mark, is the same for each word.)

A - N - D - P - E - ?

S - S - E - C - E - ?

S - I - A - ?

T - E - A - R - ?

---------------------

Okay, you know how it goes.... Answers to be found later in the comments.

Update: Today's winner gets a super extra big smartypants sticker! jvh from Showcase of a Shattered Mind found not one solution, but three! Honorable mention goes to VW from One Happy Dog Speaks for coming oh so close to yet another correct answer. Whoohoo! Oh and jvh? Here's your sticker......

















Oh! And "X" was the "official" correct answer....

Longer days...

One thing I do love about spring time (and summer) up North is the fact that you can really tell the days are getting longer.

'Course we have to endure the long dark winter first, but those first days where you are thinking, "Wow, the sun is already up!" are a real treat.

I love the extended daylight hours we get in the summer. I love that it's light enough (and warm enough) to play outside until 10:00pm. Love it. Love it. Love it. And yesterday for the first time this year, I was treated to a glorious sunrise on my way into work instead of the pitch black, or strange twilighty blue I had before.

Magentas and purples and deep shades of orange streaking the sky, the entire eastern horizon lit up and on fire. I'm so looking forward to today's show...

Monday's Brain Bender

Yay Monday! Well, okay maybe not "Yay" but the "Monday" part is definitely accurate... Here is today's brain bender:

------------------------

How many common English words can you make from the letters below, using all five letters once in each word? And what are the words?

E - I - M - S - T

------------------------

Okay, answer(s) to follow in the comments like always.

Update: Smartypants honors are shared today by Oddybobo, the Bobo Blogger and jvh from Showcase of a Shattered Mind. Whoohoo!

I know.... I know.....

I asked for it.... This image defines early Spring in Wisconsin....













... sigh....

Spring!!

Whoohoo! Spring!! I just looked at the calendar and it says that Spring starts TOMORROW!

That's great news! I have to get ready!! Whoohoo!! I am going to pack all of our icky winter crap away....

What? Why are you looking at me like that?? See??? It says so right there --> First. Day. Of. Spring. It's right there in black & white, plain as day.

What do you mean I can't take it literally?? Why not? All of the other days on the calendar get taken literally! President's Day, Christmas, Halloween.... Hell, even the stuff *I* write on the calendar gets taken literally. Hello, Birthdays? Appointments?? What's wrong with the First Day of Spring? I'm ready for that day!

Oh, this is bullsh*t. "It just doesn't work that way..." My ass. I want to talk to the manager...

What do you mean it's his day off???

Yes, I've seen the book.... Yes I read that "seventh day" clause. He actually adheres to that schedule?? ::sigh::

Oh honestly. Fine. FINE! But I am calling the manager first thing tomorrow. We need to work this whole First Day of Spring business out....

Carnival of the Recipes #83

Whoohoo! No better way for me to celebrate my first year blogging than to host a carnival! I love a good party!

And it looks like we have some inspired yummy to be passed around the table today! Some things I have heard of like Molten Chocolate Cake (I had one once at Morton's a bajillion years ago - fabulous!) and some things I have not, like Pikelets.

A culinary adventure is waiting to be had! So let's get started.....

First up, SALADS:

From A Weight Lifted we have a healthy and yummy sounding Curry Chicken Salad if it tastes even half as yummy as the picture looks, eating healthy has never been so good!

Next, some delicious MAIN DISHES were submitted:

For days when Spring seems still so far away, we have Chili Van Horn to try. Formerly a secret recipe, I am ever so glad that Gus Van Horn has decided to share. (And the secret ingredient? Dill! I am soooo going to have to make this...)

Celebrating his Irish ancestry, Irish American Railroad Builder Stew was submitted by Brian at Memento Moron (renamed in honor of St. Patrick's Day - Mement O'Moron). Sounds hearty and fabulous and calls for (an old west staple) buffalo instead of the traditional lamb...

Kevin at Technography offers up a relatively Lenten friendly meal with Noodles and Farmer's Cheese . Sounds simple, quick and delicious.

Technically breakfast but good anytime, my recipe this week is for Eggs Benedict Wyoming Style. It's the wild asparagus and hollandaise sauce that makes it fabulous.

Tritacle -- the Wheat/Rye Guy offers an interesting alternative to tuna casserole with Tuna Cobbler. I never would have associated tuna with a cobbler until now -- their shoes must be so slippery...

For post St. Patricks Day cooking The Glittering Eye says we should "Make hash of it!" and offers up two great recipes. One for Corned Beef Hash as well as a recipe for Vegetable Hash. Hash-a-licious!

Well on its way to main dish-hood is this recipe for Drunken Queen's Pasta Sauce submitted by Cookie from Cooking Capers (originally inspired by a recipe posted by The Queen of all Evil). Sounds absolutely delish.

To go with your main dish we had one BREAD recipe submitted...

From Morning Coffee & Afternoon Tea we have a traditional recipe for Irish Soda Bread. Yummy! I love recipes that are just jotted on a slip of paper and covered with heaven knows what from the kitchen. They're always the best ones...

Spring is on the way, bring on the VEGGIES!

And this Corn Pudding sounds like a real crowd pleaser! Kim from Life in a Shoe is the creator of this recipe, and says that it's a favorite of her 7 kids.... Now I just have to find out where she finds the time to cook! Wow!

From Kevin at Seriously Good we have a recipe for Roasted Rutabaga. I must admit, I have never tried rutabaga before. But Kevin says, "Try It, You'll Like It..." And it looks wonderful.

And we can't finish without DESSERT!

ArmyWifeToddlerMom has made sure that we can really enjoy our Irish heritage! She has two fabulous recipes this week, one for Guinness Ice Cream and one for Chocolate Guinness Brownies. And I never thought I would want to do anything with Guinness other than drink it!

This weeks submission from Mensa Barbie looks like heaven on a plate! She brings to the table a French Vanilla Croissant. Fresh croissants filled with decadence... Perfect.

Keewee from Keewee's Corner shares with us a family recipe for Pikelets. Small and simple they look like just the perfect accompaniment to afternoon tea. A very decadent tea, at that...

In the Headlights brings a recipe for Molten Chocolate Cake. Holy cow! This looks so wonderful you can't help but make a little "oh yummy" noise when you see it. Mmmmmm....

Cookie from Cooking Capers has a unique recipe this week that she says is good anywhere, anytime. Maria's Fried Ricotta Puffs. Deep fried cheesy dessert? Oh yeah....

And more puffy goodness comes this week from Alicat who writes at Something So Clever with her recipe for Cream Puffs & Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream. Perfection in its simplicity. Yum!

Update: Next week's carnival will be hosted at Morning Coffee & Afternoon Tea. Submissions are due by Saturday, March 25th noon central time and can be emailed to recipe (dot) carnival (at) gmail (dot) com or you can use the Carnival submission form found at The Conservative Cat. Thank you to all who submitted yummy recipes this week!

Buddy Wisdom

Bark long enough, and the door will eventually open.

Changes my name too...

I become ShutupBuddy. I like it....

Eggs Benedict - Wyoming Style

This is the recipe for eggs benedict the way we always had it as kids. Plus the recipe for the best (and easiest) hollandaise sauce ever.

Where I grew up in Wyoming, asparagus grows wild along the irrigation ditches in the Spring time. Right around Mother's Day weekend is the best time to bring in a haul of tender, young wild spears....

And it was after we had made it home with plenty of asparagus that we would be treated to a fabulous meal of Eggs Benedict. Mmmmmmm....

You'll want to make this recipe according to the number of people you are serving. I would imagine 2 English muffin halves topped with all of the "benedicty goodness" per person.

Eggs Benedict

Toasted and lightly Buttered English Muffins (split)
Eggs poached to desired doneness
lightly browned Canadian Bacon slices (or ham)
Steamed Fresh Asparagus
**Hollandaise Sauce

To assemble: Have English Muffins, Canadian Bacon, Asparagus, and Hollandaise Sauce prepared. (Poach your eggs last...) Place two english muffin halves on a plate, top with 1 or 2 slices of canadian bacon, 6-8 spears steamed asparagus, and one poached egg. Finish with Hollandaise Sauce. Enjoy!

**Hollandaise Sauce (as easy as 1...2...3... Literally.)

1 Egg Yolk
2 Tbs. Lemon Juice
3 Tbs. Butter

I tend to think of each 1..2..3.. batch serving one person. ('Course in my opinion more is always better...) You will need to Double, triple, quadruple, etc... the ingredients to accomodate your diners.

Separate egg yolks, and melt butter (over med-low heat) in an appropriately sized saucepan. Whisk together egg yolks and lemon juice. When butter is melted, slowly whisk in egg yolk and lemon juice mixture. Stir/whisk constantly over medium low heat until sauce thickens and becomes pale yellow in color. Reduce heat to low or remove from heat. (If the hollandaise sauce seems too thick, you can carefully whisk in hot water one tablespoon at a time (added slowly and only 1 or2) until it is at the desired consistency. But be careful! You can "break" the sauce...)

Tastes like springtime to me.... Simple and delicious. One of my favorite meals ever.

Have you ever heard of a talking penis?

No? Well, Jack has..... [it's work safe and funny as hell...]

Update: Link fixed. Thanks for the heads up! :)

No Brain Bender Today....

Because it's St. Patrick's Day! The only Bender we should be considering is one in the Irish tradition and liquid variety...
(I have some Guinness with my name on it for later!)



Given that tradition, I wish you all the luck of the Irish as well. Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

(And just in case you want to see how your luck is holding up.... )

Your Luck Quotient: 60%

You have an average luck quotient. There's been times when you've been extremely lucky... but also times when you've been very unlucky. You probably know that you can make your own luck in life, if you're open to it. So listen to your intuition as much as you can. It's right more often than you might expect.

How Lucky Are You?

Cheers!

Mmmmmm... Beer you can eat with a fork... My favorite.

St. Patrick's day is tomorrow... I figured it was okay to have one today, anyway.

Parental duties to resume shortly....

And a picture is worth 1000 words... See? Cheers y'all!














Happy St. Patrick's Day Eve....

Feeling speedy?

I think today's Brain Bender is first come fist serve. Ready? Here we go!

----------------

What three letters can be placed in the blanks below to make five different words?

___TAKE
___CHIEF
___LAY
___PLACE
___SING

-----------------

I am up to my eyeballs for the rest of the afternoon so have fun! As always, answers to follow in the comments.....

Update: Today's official smartypants is OddyBobo! Whoohoo!

Hoo boy....

Sick kids.... Big snowstorm on the way.... Yup. Today's going to be interesting....

A picture is worth 1000 words....

OddyBobo tagged me with a new meme. It goes something like this....

1. Choose a search engine (e.g. Google), click "images."
2. Pick 5 random blogfriends.
3. Think of a word or a phrase that you think describes each friend.
4. Do an image search of that word or phrase.
5. Pick an image that makes you say "Ah-ha! That's it!"

This is too fun! (And I love the image that Oddy picked for me... "Observers are worried." Indeed! Ha!)

So first up is my friend, Trouble over at Dubious Wonder.

I googled "trouble."

Oh yes. This image is just the ticket! Trouble to a T!







---------------------
Next, Virenda from The Green Straw (who is always up for a good time.)


I googled "red carpet" so see if I could come up with an image that has as much swish, cool beauty, style, and snark as I know Virenda to have.


------------------
Next from Pereiraville we have Rachel.

I googled "quirky wit"
This is quirky and has style. Perfect.

Correction! My search phrase was "quirky style." (Some of you needed more than one...). But still, it all works. Quirky, witty, has style.... yup.
-------------------
Alli at Fox Rants.


Oh yeah. I googled "fox rants" and found this little animation. Just the image I had of Alli. Quirky, capable, tough, endearing...



-----------------
And finally, Leslie from Leslie's Omnibus


I googled "bus fun" because you know that you'll have fun while you are around the witty and charming driver of this bus.... Whoohoo!

---------------
Okay! All y'all consider yourselves tagged! This was a fun one! Thanks for the tag, Oddy!

One of these things is not like the others.....

One of these things just doesn't belong... (I guess I'm keeping that Sesame Street theme going today....)

Here is Wednesday's Brain Bender:

Which of the words below is least like the others? (The difference has nothing to do with vowels, consonants or syllables.)

• BANK
• BEAR
• FAIR
• FIND

--------------------

Like always, answer to be found in the comments later.

Update: The official discount Mensa calendar answer is FIND. (All the others have more than one meaning.) So today's official smartypants is Rachel from Pereiraville!

With the whole "noun vs. verb" debate I found that FAIR can be used as a verb, granted an obscure one.

tr.v. faired, fair·ing, fairs
To join (pieces) so as to be smooth, even, or regular: faired the aircraft's wing into the fuselage.

At any rate... Thanks for playing, everybody! See you tomorrow!

Nostalgia....

And because I like to share, (and I have had this in my head since last night) it's time to rock out. To TWELVE!!


Update: The link will work, you just may have to refresh the "forbidden" page or click "go" to access the MP3 link.

Fore!

Oh, I mean... Four!

I have been tagged once again with the meme of four. Ben of The Path Less Traveled is the tagger and I am (once again) the taggee so here we go! (Previous answers to this meme here and here).

Four (more) jobs I have held (I am running out...):

• Grill cook (I flipped burgers for a summer when I was 15 -- and I was a vegetarian until I was 20)
• Party Planner (okay, this is mostly unofficial, but I have coordinated/organized (and helped to cater) 6 weddings. Three I actually got paid for (paid under the table, but paid none the less).
• Look, I'm a Mom. That covers about every job on the planet I think...

Four (more) Movies I could watch over and over again:

• Any of the Harry Potter movies
• The Cutting Edge
• Sister Act
• Apollo 13

Four (more) places I have lived (definitely have to consult my other two answers here...)

• Belgrade, Montana. Really, really good steak can be had there at the Mint Bar. I'm talking fab-u-lous!
• Great Falls, Montana. We were only there for four months but it was nice....
• Oklahoma City. I have never been so lost in my life as I was when we lived there. No mountains anywhere for me to use as reference points. Hubby's family still teases me...
• Madison, Wisconsin. So okay, this is a stretch as we were in temporary housing for three weeks. But I got mail there, so it counts...

Four T.V. shows I love refuse to watch... (I have listed the ones I love...)

• Wife Swap -- I think it's yucky.
• Jerry Springer or any of those types of talk shows. Eeeewwww.
• Flavor of Love "starring" Flava Flave. Again, Eeeewww.
• Judge *Anything*. Brown, Judy, Wapner.... whatever. No.

Four places I have would like to vacation:

• Mazatlan, Mexico
• Madrid, Spain
• Jamaica
• Aruba

Four (more) websites I visit daily (now this category I won't run out of contenders...)

• Club Life I enjoy this guy's writing tremendously!
• Tammi's World And she is as nice (and as feisty) in person as she is on her blog
• One Happy Dog Speaks Always a good time over at VW's place
• Random Thoughts You never know what you are going to get with Jack. Really.

Four (more) favorite foods: Again, not going to run out of entries here....

• Biscuits and sausage gravy. Mmmmmm...
• Ham and my homemade Cheddar Scalloped Potatoes
• Eggs Benedict (Made with the "old family recipe" hollandaise sauce). I think I have my next carnival entry there...
• Chimichangas -- yum!

Four friends/bloggers to tag... as much as I love to play along? No can do. And I am pretty sure that that's okay... :)

Tuesday Twofer

Because I can. And it will keep me from doing the laundry for an extra five minutes.... HEre are Tuesday's Brain Benders....

--------------------

Lauren is 6 years older than Liam. In 4 years , she will be twice as old as Liam. In 10 years Liam will be two-thirds Lauren's age. How old are they now?

[and in the year 2025 they will finally be able to legally go drinking on St. Patrick's Day, lucky them...]

---------------------

A statement has had all of its vowels removed. Replace them to discover the statement.

N P P L D Y K P S T H D C T R W Y

---------------------

Like always, answers to follow in the comments...

Update: Today our winners are Rachel from Pereiraville and Alli from Fox Rants! Whoohoo!

A couple of quick things...

First, the Carnival of the Recipes is up over at Dubious Wonder. I get to host the carnival next week! Yay!! Make sure you submit your yummy!

-------------------

Next we have this, via Leslie.

R	Revolutionary
I	Intense
C	Clever
H	Haunting
M	Meek
O	Organic
N	Noisy
D	Dysfunctional

Name / Username:

Name Acronym Generator
From Go-Quiz.com

Huh, I don't know about the noisy or organic parts, but the rest seems to fit okay...

-----------------

All American Kid

Popular but not plastic. Athletic but not a jock. Smart but not a brain. You were well rounded and well liked in high school.

Who Were You In High School?

Popular? I don't know. I wasn't hated. I remember mostly not liking the "popular" people much... And I was never voted Queen or Princess or was in the Court of anything (and I think that might have been a requirement). Also, I wasn't good at being mean or exclusionary which was another requirement, I'm sure....

But otherwise, yup. I hung out with the jocks (I was a swimmer), the Speech Geeks (I was on the debate team), the Brains, the Motorheads (hello! I drove a 1973 AMC Hornet and they needed the practice....), And I was friends with a few of the Criminals (hey, you never know when you are gonna need a slim jim).

Yay me!

I finally managed to figure out how to add a "bloggers I've met" section to my sidebar!! (Thanks Trouble, for the helpful hints you sent months ago!!!)

And yes, I know it's totally easy, but I have to take my victories somewhere.... I am a techno tard.

Anyone who has read here for a while knows that my 9 y.o. daughter *is* my "tech support" followed closely by Harvey (if I feel like begging....)

So again, Yay me! :)

Monday's Brain Bender

Hmmmm.... This one might be a little tough (hey, sometimes it's just too tempting to check the answer right away!)

----------------

What two words, formed from different arrangements of the same eight letters, can be used to complete the sentence below?

The engineer who redesigned the newly ________ road was ________ by two accident survivors of the previous badly designed curve.

-----------------

A bit of a cumbersome sentence, but what the hey! I don't write 'em, folks.... As always, answers to follow in the comments.

Update: I am giving credit to Blue Tige for coming up with used/sued and to Og the Neanderpundit for directed/credited.

The "Official" discount MENSA calendar answer was cambered/embraced.

Note to self....

Hello self? From now on, do not buy the no name brand cheapo Q-tips I mean, "cotton swabs."

They fall into the same category as cheapo paper towels. the cheapies suck and will only piss you off on a daily basis. Go for it, pay the extra 50 cents and get the real deal (you know, the kind with actual "cotton" on the "swab" part....) Thanks.

Pointless? Endless?? (Kinda Pretty???)

Well maybe.... I am spending the day doing housework. (Actually that's been the theme of the weekend...)

Changing sheets, dusting, vacuuming, bathrooms (blech), scrubbing the kitchen floor, etc.... I even managed to re-organize the girl's room. Changed some furniture placement, did some much needed purging, re-organized dressers, the whole nine yards. They are playing outside (thank heavens!) because everytime they are inside it feels like they are working against my every effort to set the house in order. (Does that sound paranoid??)

I am currently ensconced in the basement making a dent in the laundry. (Actually, I just happened into the office with 2 baskets of folded clothes and thought I'd take a teeny break. Hey, if I'm typing I can sit down, right?)

The sad thing is that in 3 days time I am confident that you will never be able to tell that anything was done today. So is it all for naught? Maybe. I don't know... Either way. At least *I* care.

(It sure would be nice if everybody would stop working against me, though.)

Word of the day...

Oh, I looove learning new words. And this one is a beaut! It is one of those words that feels good in your mouth and leaves just enough to the utterer's and listener's imagination that it's uses are endless!!! (And it is incredibly fun to say!)

verfuckled (adj) : An irritating, time consuming POS item, person, or situation. An object of absolute derision that needs to be systematically and satisfyingly destroyed. A multi-tasking synonym for f*cked up, f*cked over, or just f*cked.

Or as Og the Neanderpundit used it:

I'm happy to say I took the verfuckled thing and shredded it to atoms with a linoleum knife.

For Og's use of the word in its entire context, go here.

Verfuckled. Yup. That's a keeper.....

It's WARM!

I'm talking turn off the furnace and open all of the windows think about having a cookout warm!

My weather pixie says it's 63 but I think it's warmer than that... The girls just came in and asked if I was sure that it wasn't summer today. Huh. Maybe it *is* summer today. That doesn't sound half bad.....

Buddy Wisdom....

Happiness is lying in the biggest part of the rainbow.

And being able to lick yourself...

~Wisdom by Buddy

Fantastic Mushroom Veggie Chowder

This is my Mother's recipe. It is a delicious and unusual soup in high demand during the Annual Lenten Concert Series she helps to host at their church. You can quarter the recipe to make a more "normal" amount if you'd like, but this is great for a crowd....

Mushroom Veggie Chowder (for a crowd)

4 pounds fresh mushrooms, sliced
4 large onions, chopped
1-1/2 cups butter/margarine
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3-4 tablespoons salt
2 to 2-1/2 teaspoons pepper
3 quarts milk
4 cartons (32 ounces each) chicken broth
2 packages (24 ounces each) Frozen broccoli cuts, thawed
3 packages (8 ounces each) frozen corn, thawed
8 cups (2 pounds) shredded cheddar cheese

In three soup kettles, saute the mushrooms and onions in butter until tender. Combine the flour, salt, and pepper; stir into mushroom mixture until well blended. Gradually stir in milk. Cook and stir until mixture comes to a boil; cook 2 minutes longer or until mixture thickens and is bubbly. Stir in the broth, broccoli and corn; heat through. Just before serving, stir in cheese until melted. Yield: 50 servings (12-1/2 quarts).


Mushroom Veggie Chowder (family size)

1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 large onion, chopped
6 tablespoons butter/margarine
1/3 cup plus 2 T of all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
3 cups milk
1 carton (32 ounces) chicken broth
1 (12 ounce) package frozen broccoli cuts, thawed
1 (8 ounce) package frozen corn, thawed
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

We're gonna sleep well tonight!

Our socks got hopped, and within the chaos the girls had cute cornered.....













It was all I expected it to be. Prizes won, treats consumed, much Boogying! They had a great time.... Me? Well, I have a glass of wine in hand and I took some Advil. What could be better than that?

Friday's Brain Bender

Lot's to do around here before we get our "socks hopped" tonight so how about a twofer brain bender wise?

---------------

Change two letters in the name of a magazine on comestibles to find a description of what we would all like to be.

and

Replace the first letter of each of the words on each line to form two new words. (The letter will be different for each line.) Place the new letter on the line between the words. The four letters will form a new word. What is it?

Balm __ Thin

Aver __ Elder

Band __ Goose

Camp __ Late

--------------

Okay, as always answers to be found later in the comments!

Update: Today's most creative winner is Rachel from Pereiraville! She came up with much more creative answers to the magazine question... Such as: Cooking = Smoking as in, I want to be a smoking hot babe! and Food & Wine = Nood & Fine. Ha! Take that MENSA -- those answers kick the crap outta "Food & Wine --> Good & Wise." I'll take Nood & Fine any day!

Thanks for playin' everybody!

Friday...

Yay Friday! And I did not feel like rolling out of bed this morning. Ahh well, tomorrow I can sleep in -- until like 7! Whoo!

It is supposed to be unseasonably warm here today. Making it hard to strike that balance between the feelings of "Yay! Spring is on the way!" and "Holy crap! I live in the middle of a swamp!!! Do you suppose we could laminate the dogs this year?"

But warm and sunny is nothing to sneer at after months of icy grayness. I know. I'm trying.

Couldn't even find a funny joke I wanted to post this morning, so you'll just have to settle for me wishing you a good day. Anybody have big plans? After the Spring Fling/Sock Hop extravaganza tonight we got nothin'. Just a weekend of puttering and catching up.... My favorite. (Well, except when we have plans...) Happy Friday!

50's Chaos

That's what's in store for me tomorrow night. And we have already had a taste...

Every year the girls' school has a "Spring Fling" [read: fundraiser/parental torture]. You get to buy tickets and then spend a Friday night at school where your kids can stand in long lines play games, have interesting (sugary) snacks, participate in the cake walk, have their picture taken and dance. They hire a DJ and trick out the Gym and ALL of the kids dance -- they are K - 3rd graders, they don't know that they're not supposed to dance with/in front of their peers yet. They boogy-oogie-oogie all night long all hyped up on loud music and sugar. Parents mostly just oogie.

Now the kids think that this is the best time ever! Whoohoo! They can't wait! For the parents? Well.... there's no getting out of it, really. Your primary function is to dispense tickets and make sure your kids don't get into anything they're not supposed to until you finally get to the Gym (Boogie Down!) and hope that there are other fun parents to visit with. Or in my case, find some people who can read lips and understand gestures. Pointless really. It gets beyond LOUD in there. I am totally screwed when it comes to trying to hold any kind of conversation during the "boogie" portion of the evening. But I digress...

There is also always a theme! (Because what is the point of making everybody come to school on a Friday night to sugar up and dance, if you can't make the kids dress up too! Really?!?! What fun is it if you can't completely stress the Moms out worrying about getting a costume together too?!?!) This year the Spring Fling theme is "50's Sock Hop." (It must be a trend...) Costume wise, the PTO threw all of the Moms a bone this year. The note came home --

"Hey, want some help making a poodle skirt for the sock hop? Give us your color preference and $7 and we'll hook you up with a poodle skirt workshop after school!"

I'm thinking "Hell, yeah!" I don't know how to sew and the girls both really wanted a poodle skirt to wear so I figured I'd pack up my glue gun and we'd be poodle skirted in an afternoon for the bargain price of $14. Whoohoo! Apparently I was not the only one...

Skirt making day arrives (last Tuesday) and armed with my glue gun, scissors and other supplies I headed to the school gym for the poodle fest. Now keep in mind, the girls' school is small (only about 320 students total) and I figured there would be a few other Moms and Daughters there to make skirts too. Holy Crap! Imagine 100+ girls with their parental helpers there to make skirts in the teeny little gym! [Oh, and basketball starts at 5:00pm so try to be done by then, mmmkay?] That's like 80% of the eligible girls at the school. All there. Ready to get gluing! It was chaos squared....

Little girls running through the gym with their skirts on their heads, moms wandering aimlessly holding glue guns, confused grandmothers just trying to keep up, a stray dad or two looking positively pre-PTSD, small clusters of the uber moms trying to look...well... uber. And basically all manner of little girls shrieking, crying, giggling, dancing, twirling... You get the picture. Chaos, baby. Chaos.

K. and A. and I and I took one quick lap around, found our skirts, and with surprisingly little resistance on their part I convinced them that we should gather our supplies and do this project at home. (Thank God they didn't put up a fight!) As it was, just to gather what we needed so we could head for home base took an hour and 15 minutes! I can't even imagine how long we would have been there had we stayed. Good grief!

At any rate, we will be finishing up the skirts tonight. A black one and a pink one both sporting adorable little scotty dogs. They are beyond cute. And tomorrow night we have the Hop -- the girls are soooooo excited. (Much twirling will happen I am sure...)

I am (unsurprisingly) not that excited. But at least I know I will get some cute pictures... I am actually considering taking the laptop and finding my self a nice (though excruciatingly loud) corner of the gym. Even if there is no wifi access, at least I could entertain myself.... What do you think, bad form? Of course the uber moms will frown, but I am used to that.

Anyhoo, I am off to school a bit early. Gotta pre-purchase some tickets.... (The pre-purchase option is the one good thing they have started this year.) At least we won't have to stand in line for that! Ha!

Thursday's Brain Bender

I have a lunch date today (yay yummy lunch!) so the brain bender has to get posted a little early...

---------------

What two words, formed from different arrangements of the same five letters, can be used to complete the sentence below?

The archeologist searched through the last _______ of earth and realized it was not the _______ city she was looking for.

---------------

Okay! As always, answer to be found in the comments later!

Update: Today's winner is once again jvh from Showcase of a Shattered Mind! Whoohoo!

Thirteen things

Thirteen Things That Really Annoy Me 1. People that feel the need to gripe. Endlessly. About.every.little.thing. All.the.time. Look , happiness is a choice. Deal with what life hands you.... (and shut up!). And you know? It's just a shirt. Or a job. Or a donut. Move on. 2. That "Beautiful" song by James Blunt. Hey James? Can I be Blunt? [ha!] Put your shirt on, Dude. Really. Your nasal voice and the lyrics irritate me. Good luck, though. Okay? Just put your shirt on..... 3. Matchy, matchy track pantsuits uber moms with perky ponytails. 4. Tangles. And since my hair is naturally curly I always have some.... 5. The nightly news or any news via the MSM. Ugh... Because. 6. Mud. Mud annoys the CRAP outta me. All through March and April I have to constantly fight the urge to pave or astroturf my backyard. Seriously. 7. Not being able to find a lighter when you want/need one. Sometimes you need fire. 8. Having to give instructions over and over again... and reitterate the need to have coats, backpacks and shoes put away. I know. I'm the only one who cares. But please can't they just pick up their stuff?? 9. Did I mention mud? 10. Taxes. Paying taxes sucks. 11. Discovering something has dead batteries and then (having every other kind imaginable) not having the kind that you need. Grrrr... 12. Rude people. People that cannot find the shred of human decency to say "please" and "thank you" on a regular basis. It's just not that hard, y'all. Break out the manners... 13. And mud. (Yes, I know I am being redundant.) It makes my life hard and I hate it. Okay, that's it! Now to re-focus on the positive! Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

Thunder and lightening tonight...

Weird...

Encouraging Architect

Well, everyone's doing this. And I must admit it's a pretty cool test.

Encouraging Architect

These bits of the description I felt were particularly true...

· Having a routine and sticking to it is important to you; you find comfort in tradition and familiarity.

· Self-reliance is something in which you take great pride—you are confident and down to earth.

· You have a basic faith in yourself in many areas of your life, allowing you to be self-assured when facing challenges.

· You much prefer to have time to plan for things, feeling better with a schedule than with keeping plans up in the air until the last minute. Your decisions are well thought out, and you're not the least bit impulsive.

· You thrive in large groups of people, and even though you know who you like and who you don't like, you can interact well with many different types of people.

· You have a healthy respect for people who have earned what they have, and you strive to be similar to successful others.

· You are a loyal friend, and a good listener.

Yay me! You can see other test results for OddyBobo, VW, Ktreva, and Cal Tech Girl.

Update: And Leslie! And Carmen! And Bou! And Alli!