And you *know* I'm blonde...

Via Tammi - who is back online and heading this way for a little R&R and patio time...

You Are a Golden Blonde

Men see you as flirty and fun, yet deep and thoughtful You've got all the pizzazz of a blonde... With the intensity of a brunette

How Blonde Are You?

Sounds about right - Blonde is as Blonde does, after all.

I'm tired...

Just thought you should know.

I think going to bed early would be a good idea...

How is *your* Tuesday?

Mmmmmmmm... Donuts.

Via Roses... Who I get to have lunch with today - yay!

You Are a Powdered Devil's Food Donut

A total sweetheart on the outside, you love to fool people with your innocent image. On the inside you're a little darker, richer, and more complex. You're a hedonist who demands more than one pleasure at a time. Decadent and daring, you test the limits of human indulgence.

What Donut Are You?

I test the limits of human indulgence? Hmmmm... Looks like I'd better get back into the kitchen sooner than later. Apparently I have cooking to do! Whatever else could that mean?? ; )

It's all about the food....

At least it is around here - most of the time. I spent the majority of the weekend cooking. And playing... It's all good.

First up from a cooking perspective, I have FINALLY mastered chicken wings. If you have ever tried to make your own hot wings, or any other kind, you know that it is difficult to make a really really good wing.

My definition of really really good means that sucker is DONE. Doneitty, done , done, done... and crispy. Where there is no part of the wing that you *don't* want to eat. Anybody who has ever ordered wings (out of desperation or whatever) from a pizza place knows what I am talking about. I don't care how long they have been baked - I usually would end up baking them for an additional 45 minutes or more and I *still* wouldn't be happy.

Since my favorite place for wings is Buffalo Wild Wings (BW3's) and the nearest one is over an hour away and a pain in the butt to get to - I have been trying to figure out how to duplicate their methods.

The solution? A two part cooking process. First you bake the wings - then you "hard fry" them. And you know what?? They are perfect...

So, here we go - 5 pounds of frozen chicken wings straight out if the bag and coated with a bit of oil (to prevent sticking) and seasoned with salt and pepper....

Into a 350 degree oven they go, for about an hour and a half. I usually drain of the excess liquid about half way through.

Here they are after baking, all married up on one pan.

While they are baking, I am making my sauces - when you are ready to serve, it's time for a dip in the deep fryer (about 8 minutes) and then you can toss in the sauce of your choice and serve hot.
These were three of the four varieties I served this weekend. I am cooking a gig for around 125 in a couple of months, and wings definitely have made the menu. We thought we could narrow the sauces I would be using down to two - but between you and me?? They are all so good I think we will use all four.

On the left - Buffalo Style. The sauce I have found to be the best of the best is Ott's Wing Sauce. Here is a review. The only part of the review I would disagree with is his description of the level of heat - I think it's pretty dang hot. But then I am not a "chile head." YMMV.

In the center are Teriyaki Wings. I got the recipe for the sauce here - and me being me I couldn't *not* tweak it a little. So I added about two heaping tablespoons of minced garlic. Can I just say? It's fabulous. Sweet, salty, savory... Really really yummy.

On the right are the Sweet BBQ Wings. The sauce is one I use for my Hickory Ham Sandwiches and the kids especially loved loved loved them. They are VERY user friendly - even if you have to go through a bunch of napkins.

The one kind not pictured (because they were eaten before I could snap one) were the Garlic Wings. Oh.my.goodness. If you like Garlic - you will loooooove these. I saw this guy making what he called Scampi Butter on a TV Show and decided that it would be a great accompaniment for wings. Since he didn't provide a recipe - I just watched the guy and made my own...

Scampi Butter

2 sticks Butter
1 shallot finely minced
1 Tbs minced garlic
2 Tbs. white Wine
2 Tbs. Lemon juice

For the wings (8-10), I took 2-3 Tbs of regular butter and over Medium high heat flash fried a heaping Tablespoon of minced garlic. As soon as the wings come out of the fryer into a sauce tossing bowl add another heaping tablespoon or two of the scampi butter and finish with the flash fried garlic. It. is. amazing.

Later I was cooking for a deal at my Hubby's store. They were doing Product Inventory last night and I have found that people are happier if you feed them. Imagine that. And it doesn't have to be anything fancy - I prepped four trays of Ham and Turkey Sandwiches (like this one)...

Did a nice tray of condiments, pickles, tomatoes, onions, blah, blah, blah... Two Gooey Cakes, Three pans of Turtle Brownies, and the Mother of all Macaroni and Cheese...




Believe me when I say that sucker must have weighed fifty pounds. I should know because I was the one who schlepped it in and out of the oven. And to the store housed in my handy dandy Nesco Roaster. And you know that not a noodle came home...

By that fact alone I would say that the weekend was a culinary success. Oh an look - it's almost lunchtime! Time to get back in the game!

70 K

I rarely (if ever) look - but for no good reason I clicked my site meter just now...

---------------------
One For The Road
Site Summary

VISITS

Total 69,999
Average Per Day 67
Average Visit Length 3:07
Last Hour 5
Today 55
This Week 466

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

Well, there you go. A little over three years and dang near 70K. Thanks. : )

Some Friday Funny...

Have I mentioned that I absolutely LOVE my new job??

I was hired by a company that provides elder care for seniors in their homes. Usually these folks are living independently - but they just cannot do all of the things that they used to do. So I go in and provide a meal, some light housekeeping, companionship, and/or I drive people to appointments or to shop. Or provide respite care for someone who is caring for a loved one who cannot be left alone. It's a no brainer!

I mean, seriously. I love it. I am building up a base of regular clients - or as Roses would put it, "I have my very own old people!" and I am having a ball.

One of my clients is a fab lady of 85 who is very spry and with it. Her Hubby still calls her "Babe" after 60+ years of marriage. I just love that! Anyway, her only difficulty is that she no longer drives. Her hubby is no longer able to drive her either, so my job once a week is to take her to get her weekly groceries and run a few errands.

And we giggle and laugh the whole time. It's great.

So, on our last shopping excursion (I cannot believe I get PAID for this) we are in the store and this Cute Little Old Lady says to me in a stage whisper, "I have to tell you something, but I don't want you to think badly of me..."

Me: "You have zero chance of telling me anything that would make me think badly of you. What's up?"

CLOL: "Well - I need to stop at the liquor store before we get home. I am out of Vodka..."

Me: And I am giggling... "Hey that's no problem! We have plenty of time!"

CLOL (feeling the need to further explain): "You see, I really really look forward to my cocktail every day at 4:00 - and even though my husband can no longer have one with me, I like to have one anyway while he has his coffee... It's not like I am a mess about it!"

Me: (still giggling) "You're my hero..."

CLOL: "Well, like I said - I just don't want you to think badly of me..."

Me: "Sweetie, as long as you don't think badly of ME when we go in and they know me by name - we're all good..."

She cracked up at that - and laughed even harder when they DID. Ha! And I made sure that she made it home with plenty of limes. Life is good!

And I hope I am still enjoying cocktail hour at 85... That's just awesome.

If it were 1978...

...she'd be picking up body parts right now.** Good grief.

And check out the anchors on this thing!

Sumbitch - why she would think that hanging on a towel bar was a good idea is beyond me. We have had a long discussion about the purpose of a TOWEL BAR. As in, how they are equipped to hang TOWELS on - not kids.

Someday a future landlord owes me one - I think she will not be pulling this stunt again. One can hope, anyway...

And yet again, another reason why it seems like a good idea for your kids to leave home at 18. Shit.

**For the record, while not picking up body parts (which is (and was) not the *best way to discipline - IMO.) She has lost her TV privileges for the week and is grounded to her room tonight and after school tomorrow. It's a thing called consequences for your actions.

When she wailed - "But what will I do, Mom???" I replied. "You can read. You DO know how."

Meanwhile, I will be doing unexpected home repair. Shit.

Oh - and I ended up with a BIG HONKING MIGRAINE today. Goody... That makes it all soooooo much better. Not.

Just bits...

...of what is going on today.

**I think our round of super warm weather is going to come to an end this afternoon - and we are going to get some thunderstorms out of the deal. Neat! (not) And it's Tornado Recognition Day - because we need to recognize that there are tornadoes. Not that the destruction they create speaks for its self or anything... *sigh* Gotta love the Nanny State BS.

**I am making Pumpkin Custard to take to Computa's class today for no good reason. Well okay, that's not entirely true. It's so she gets some extra credit on her State Report - Illinois. Now, why she gets extra credit if *I* make pumpkin custard is beyond me, but whatever... The recipe was in the book - I'll make the dang custard. (But I did come this ] [ close to just picking up a pumpkin pie at Sam's Club yesterday and calling it good. I did...)

**I am thinking about growing my hair long again. You may recall when I cut it short a couple of years ago, sending 12 inches to Locks of Love. Well, I am getting kind of tired of the short do - I'd like to have the option of putting up in a twist if I feel so inclined. Or have a ponytail if it's windy... Anybody know if it costs more to have long hair highlighted?? That might be a factor.

**It looks like I will be making a trip south to help the Feisty Ms. Christina put up a sh*t load of tomatoes later this summer. But I know a good time will be had. We could do just about dang anything and have fun. And this trip I get to meet Christina's Feisty Mama. I cannot wait!

**And hey - has anyone really ever gotten a $500 gift card from one of those emails that say, "We have a $500 Best Buy gift card for you! Click this link for details!!" Do people really fall for stupid crap like that?? Good grief...

Okay I'm off. The custard is almost done cooking and I have to get ready to roll. If it's worth a dang, I'll post the recipe later! Happy Thursday!

More Spring!

At least for today... Last night we enjoyed the first sweet corn of the season!


I cannot even tell you how delish it was. Mmmmmm...

We have been thoroughly enjoying our afternoon patio time. And really, no one more so that little Miss Molly. Happy doggie in the grass...

Is there anything better than a nice tummy rub??

Nope.
She is saying "More, please!" Can't you tell?? Oh yeah.

And it's almost time to head that way...

Well, there you have it.

You Belong in Generation X

You fit in best with people born between 1961 and 1981. You are fun, laid back, and very independent. You are willing to take risks and live your life however you see fit. You are casual, accepting, and friendly. You see everyone as your equal.

What Generation Do You Belong In?

I can agree with all of that - not too surprised either, given my age. ; )

Hat Tip - ALa at Blonde Sagacity

More Eye Candy...

Well, okay - maybe not this time. But this is too funny not to share... Hubby is a member of upper management at a big box retailer here in Wisconsin. So often he has to get.... Uh... CREATIVE in his methods of encouraging performance from his team. They are mostly kids - late teens, early twenties and it's sometimes hard to get them to take things seriously from a business perspective.

So WxMan doesn't even try to get them to take "business" seriously... This is FUN!

Their mission?? Meet the pre-set goals and you get a cookout prepared and served by your boss while he looks very fetching in a basic black frock...

Wearing (of course) proper foot wear.


The shoes make the outfit, you know?? As did his sudden mamarian transformation. Heh. I think he managed about a D cup - I should know. I built them...

And for a guy who likes a nice rack, he couldn't wait to get rid of his... Next time I think I should have him try an steel belted radial underwire bra - better lift. And maybe a nice feather boa... These kids work hard, after all!!

Polish Strength

Check out these guys...

I was particularly impressed with the "Look Ma - no hands!!" pose at about 2:43 and the "Achiwawa!!" move about four minutes in. Good Lord!!

If the video won't play the link is here...

You 'spoze they would have to be really really good friends?? Because there were a couple of times that I was thinking, "Holy crap! He's going to put his head WHERE??"

Oh yeah... And another thing, I wonder what they tell the guys at their day jobs what they have planned for the weekend?? Hmmmm...

Springtime!!

I think we've made it. *sigh*

Seriously. I feel like we have turned the corner... Sleeping with the windows open for the first night of the season will do that for a girl, I 'spoze.

And there is leafing! Leafing I tell you!! Whoohoo!!!


And for the ladies, there is another rite of Spring to enjoy. Especially when you live in a new neighborhood with lots of new construction sites.

Shirtless young men working in the sun...



Ladies - you're welcome... ; )

Hey, I'm married - not dead. And I wonder if WxMan knows how dead sexy vacuuming is. Hmmmmm...

When your Jihad training fails...

This is what happens.

From the email:

This video of thermal footage was recorded from an AC-130 gunship from a mile or more away. No rounds were fired by the aircraft, this was just natural selection at work.

Some jihadists were trying to conjure up an IED made from a 155mm artillery shell. Evidently, they lost the instruction manual.

Problem resolved with no US intervention required.

And it makes me smile - does that make me a bad person??

Yeah - I didn't think so...

For lack of anything to say...

...here's a peek at what the dogs are doing today! (Hey - I rhymed!!)

Little Miss Sunny Butt (Molly) is enjoying her nap in various locations...

I luuuuvz my sleepy time!

And the Grand Dame (Ms. T) has been chillin' in her "cave."

Oh for Heaven's sake! You again??

Ahhhhh yes... This is the life!

I saw this today...

And it made me think of a few people I know... Even if they don't necessarily work with Windows based applications. (click to embiggen)

Me? I would be one of the ones wishing the smart guy would come back... Oh yeah.

Hey Obama!!

Oddybobo's got something to say!!

Remember me? I'm one of those small town Pennsylvanians - you know - the bitter ones?

I live in a Pa town of about 497 people. Small enough for you? The surrounding Township has another 500 or so people. Most of us, me included, have carry permits and mini-arsenals at home. Many of us attend church services weekly or at least as often as we are able. A lot of us are anti-illegal immigration, but not for the reasons you suggest.

We don't cling to guns or religion or anti-illegal immigration because we are bitter about job losses. Sure, some are bitter about the dearth of jobs in Western PA, but that bitterness isn't what causes us to cling to guns or religion or anything else. No, if bitterness comes into the equation at all it is because the government, people like Clinton, Obama, Pelosi, and their ilk are constantly suggesting that our guns are bad or religion doesn't have its place in a free society or that we should turn a blind eye to illegal immigration because they have.

Small town Pennsylvanians like many Americans are bitter that the government, and Dems in particular, are continuously chipping away at our freedoms. "No you can't have that handgun because you could get hurt" or "You don't have a say because you are Christian and Christians are bad" or "Your law abiding, self sufficient relative can't come live here in the U.S. lawfully because so many live here unlawfully." Here is my bitterness...

Read the rest - she knocked this one out of the park. You go, Girl!!

Still here....

Just busy as hell.

What are YOU doing??

Movies I should never see...

And there are a number of them...

28 Days Later - not a good choice for me. I can tell... (and I continue to choose not to see it.)

Salem's Lot - nightmares for months. Ugh.

Murder in the First - oh no.... bad bad imagery that I cannot scrub from my brain.

My Own Private Idaho - we really don't even need to discuss it, do we? Good lord...

And last nights selection??

I Am Legend

Holy crap.

Listening to everybody else say, "Oh - this is a great movie!! A little scary* but great!!" I should have probably followed my instincts that were screaming, "Nooooooooooo!!! Go to your happy place!!!!" But rationalization kicked in and I thought, well hey - Will Smith is easy on the eyes, and I can always *not* look at the screen, right??

Good gray grief.

To be truthful, I probably actually "saw" (as in I was looking at the screen while the movie was on) about 28 whole minutes of the film. And that was enough. At one point I politely excused myself ran/flew like a bat out of hell out of the Man Room up to the kitchen to do dishes for a while. The screaming that I could still hear told me that I had made the right choice there...

Later on in the movie (think dark dark dark scary places ) I know I spent more than a few minutes hiding my eyes and plugging my ears. Then his dog died - that sucked.

So, note to self... It's good for me to stick to movies like Forrest Gump and Harry Potter, The Shawshank Redemption and Armageddon and leave the rabid zombie killing to others.

Oh, and Eric? You should definitely skip this film. I know you would enjoy watching Happy Feet more - and that's saying something...

*A little scary?? Riiiiiiiight. And I am a little blond. Not.

Rest in Peace

It's a sad sad day in Wisconsin. The creator of the Chicken Dance died today.

The man from Milwaukee who gave the world the Chicken Dance has died.
Local Musician Bob Kames, the creator of the dance so many of us do at weddings, has died at the age of 82.

Many of my fellow Translucent Americans will undoubtedly mourn his passing, but will take comfort that his legacy will continue to live on at weddings and roller-rinks here in Wisconsin.

God speed Mr. Kames - thank you for helping drunk Norweigians dance since 1982...

(Don't know what the chicken dance is?? Click here. I have been known to get down with my inner chicken a time or two myself!)

Making plans....

And even if they're not always feasible, they sure can be fun to think about.

Check out what Christina's got in mind...

And you know - when it's 36 degrees gray and rainy with snow on the way, day dreaming about owning a resort / Bed & Breakfast thingy with good friends in the beautiful Texas hill country sounds like a pretty dang good idea!

Now I just need to win the Lotto and get this ball rolling. No problemmo!

Balance and pain...

This is UNBELIEVABLE! (Make it through the "frogs" and you will see what I mean.)

And reason number 3,542 why I will *never* be a ballerina - and that's okay. Holy crap...

Hat Tip - Loretta & Dal

Preview to coming attractions...

Ready to get on the road with these two??


We took the girls to a Fun Park (think lazer tag, batting cages, miniature golf, and obviously Go-Karts) on Sunday just to have a little fun and enjoy the mild temps and the sunshine.

Sporta was finally tall enough to drive her own rig. Whoohoo!

Go speed racer! I wonder if I could get something like that for them to drive when they come of age... Hmmmmm..... I'm thinking a big rubber bumper around the whole thing and warning lights and sounds would be just the thing! Or maybe I'll just keep them on a closed course...

Now if we could just get the Spring weather here permanently - 37 degrees and rain after a day like that is just no fun...

And then there were three...

...friends!

And you would not have believed the level of reminiscence attained at my humble abode over the weekend. Good heavens. Check out the hippie action...

Homecoming Spirit Day, senior year. Our motto?? "Smoke 'Em!!" Can you imagine that happening today?? Yeah - me niether. But hey - our parents had all of the clothes... What do you do??

And reminiscence is what happens when three friends from High School get together after 17+ years and there are yearbooks and wine within easy reach. In other words, we had a blast...

Back in the day, we were a foursome - Jen, Jill, Kristi and I - and though Jill has fallen a bit off of our radar, it was still great to be together again after such a long long time.

Post graduation from High School in my little Wyoming town (our class numbered 122 - thankyouverymuch) we all scattered to the winds. Different colleges, different life experiences, different..... well.... EVERYTHING!! Somehow though, we all managed to marry wonderful guys and have families of our own that make us proud (even while rolling our eyes) and lives that we could not have imagined back when those pictures at the top were taken.

Today we are a little older and much much wiser... At least I would hope so.

Kristi, Me and Jen - together again.

So, here's to old friends!! In my head though, I think we will remain 17 for a while longer yet... Just don't tell our kids. ; )

Belize Day 6 - Time to go Home...

Well all good things must come to an end. [And just between you and me?? I had better get my virtual behind home already - I had guests here all weekend after all!!]

Our flight wasn't due to leave Belize City until mid afternoon, so we were treated to another leisurely morning. After a nice breakfast, we decided to hit the beach for a little while and just soak up a little more tropical juju.

There were oodles and scads of little fishies all around the dock and the kids had a ball feeding them crackers and tortillas.



Oddy's Boy really really wanted to get up close and personal with our little fishy friends, but alas - he was unsuccessful in petting even one!

Here fishy fishy fishy fishy......

After a bit more swimming off of the pier, it was time to finally cowboy up and get ready to go...

Darn it - this was a place hard to leave... One more water taxi ride later though, we were ready to board the plane out of San Pedro to catch out flight out of Belize City. The girls were ready to get home, but not all that ready to leave...

Imagine that.

Trip of a lifetime. Of that, I am sure...

Big Weekend...

Big!

Full of fun, laughter and good good (old) friends...

I have lots to blog... Tomorrow.

I hope that your weekend was as fabulous as mine. Seriously...

Next stop? Bed. Oh yeah...

Looks comfy...

No?

I wish I could chill out this effectively. Not today though - I have mucho stuff to do!

The rest of Belize will come later... I am sooooooo jealous of my dog right now....

Belize Day 5 - Ocean Adventures

Okay, now where were we... Oh right.

So Thursday Day 5 dawned cool (72) cloudy and calm. The wind had just howled the entire time we had been there so it was great to see that with the calm winds, the ocean was much calmer too! It had been so windy in fact that Dash (who had planned this great fly fishing excursion) wasn't sure he was going to get to go fly fishing at all - but yay - Thursday was great!

We slept in a bit, hit the pool, and then we (along with Oddybobo and her family) decided to make another quick trip into San Pedro for a bit more shopping and lunch.

The streets of San Pedro were much busier than they had been earlier in the week...
And we saw more than a few interesting dining establishments...

WxMan scored an energy drink - so he was happy. I think the things are bilious, personally - but hey, I didn't have to drink it.


Here is the Catholic Church - they were getting all geared up for Holy Week services. And I thought Jesus looked quite colorful!

Check out the rectory and parish hall right across the street!

And we picked out a pretty conch shell to take home.

We happened upon this great shop that had the awesome wind chimes and other wooden local items including a new gecko for my kitchen! Whoohoo!

I just love it! Wish I had purchased about five of them...

Anyhoo, it was time for lunch. Funny how things work, but Oddybobo and her family had chosen the same place to dine! Yay! And fortunate, because we ended up running a bit late and they were able to ask our water taxi driver to wait just a few extra minutes... I just hate being late, dang it!

But we made our way with all of our purchases back to the resort. Yay!

Since the winds had died down, I was really wanting to take out a couple of the ocean kayaks out to the reef - about 1000 yards away from the beach. Maybe more...

So we gathered up snorkels and masks, I grabbed the waterproof camera. We reapplied sunscreen and off we went...


The ocean was calmer than it had been all week but we were still dealing with 3 to 5 foot swells - those will get your attention! Things were going along just [ahem] swimmingly until...

You guessed it. Sporta swung, I dodged, Computa panicked, and kersploosh!! Computa and I were in the ocean. Hoo boy...

In that clear water, you think it's probably not all that deep because hey - the bottom is right there! Not so, I discovered... But no worries. We managed to get Computa calmed down, I rescued almost all of the gear, righted the kayak and got everything back in order.

It was a quite interesting 15 minutes or so... And we discovered that along with the swells, there were some pretty strong currents out there - so I nixed the idea of doing some snorkeling (I would be fine - but the kids?? Not worth the risk...) and we headed back to the beach.

The kids had a blast just swimming off the dock!


And hey - we found some pretty fish...

All in all, it was a very good day...

Alrighty then - tomorrow brings us Belize Day 6 - Time to Go Home.

Boo. I don't want it to end - again...