Because Voting is the New Black

I couldn't wait for my 18th birthday.  I wasn't looking forward to finally being able drive with an unrestricted drivers license or to gamble (in MI it's legal to gamble on Indian reservations at 18) or to buy cigarettes (let's face it, I had been doing that for a while lol).  I didn't even seem to care that it was the year I would to be graduating... I was finally able to VOTE!

At this point in history it wasn't "cool" to be a registered voter.  There was no "rock the vote" sponsored by MTV.  The movie stars weren't out politicking for their favorite candidate... There was just the same old mud slinging adds running on T.V. and the voting booth.  That being said, I still couldn't wait to cast my first ballot which would be in the presidential election between Gorge W and that guy who invented the Internet... what's his name... Oh-yeah Al Gore.  What an election it was ending in a supreme court ruling and all. 

Now many years later, as usual, the 2nd Tuesday in November is looming upon us and it's time to vote again.  Not for the president but for our governor, senator, and other local reps. So do your research, get out there and  vote... if you aren't the voting type, please don't complain to me about the government because I won't take your complaints seriously.  Also if you are tying to be elected to anything please don't have a name like Cookie, Shanaynay or Demontravius because I won't take you seriously either.  

@ Noble 

I'm feeling crafty

I love being my own boss and getting paid for something that I would gladly do for free.  Like most everything my job has a busy season and a slower season... My schedule has slowed down a bit and I find myself becoming a stay at home mom but without the kids and all.  That being said, I decided to make cookies for C to take to work (I'm a total suck up! He was appointed to his current job position, so as long as he is on every higher ups good side that means he stays where he's at.).  I'm clearly NOT Susie homemaker but here's a glimpse at my little crafty cookie project. Bon Appetite!

I felt a wee bit like Paula Dean when I dropped 2 cups of butter into my mixing bowl... I can already feel my heart ceasing up.

 There is a whole lotta health in that bowl!  Btw I got the recipe from HERE...

The weird shape to the right is the word "Boo"

I think I made total 52 cookies... Ay Crumba!

I had a few cookie casualties... Mostly the damn bat wings kept breaking off and I wanted to see what they tasted like, so I ate part of a pumpkin. 

Finished Product

I know they look like they were decorated by a 2nd grader but I was getting tired!

If these cookies don't score some points with the boss, I don't know what will! 

@ Noble 

Support the Youth

About 3 to 4 times a year my 3 nieces send me booklets to buy something to support their school.  So far this school year I have renewed my magazine subscriptions, bought some cute Paula Dean kitchen items and just recently it was time to buy cookies.  C is trying to get in shape/loose some weigh and I'm just trying not to eat every piece of junk food in sight!  So this year I decided to support them in a different way... a way that would keep on giving.  I decided that each of my nieces should pick out what type of cookie dough they would like and I would buy it for them. The day cookie dough arrived at their school the kids were half cracked out on raw cookie dough before they got home and for the next week or so they would continue their sugar high/sugar crashes.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

So here's to you Brother!!  While your girls are running wild on sugar I want you to remembered how much I hated it when you tied me to the tree, convinced me I wasn't playing in poison ivy when I really was, embarrassed me in front of your/my friends, made me watch scary movie, shoved me in the pool with all my clothes on and just over all was a typical big brother.  Enjoy the cookies :-)

@ Noble 

P.S. Brother, what do your kids want for Christmas... choose wisely lol

Silver Lining...

I started blogging so I could get my mind off of some things... but when it comes to actually writing down what's bothering me I'm terrified.  It's like if I actually type the words out that are in my head & heart it means they are true and I'm just not ready to face that yet.  But every time I sit down to write, the words I'm so afraid of are the only ones that come to mind.  So here it goes... 

April 18, 2010 will forever be a day that I remember... the 18th of every month is just another dagger into my oh so tender heart.  It's just a reminder that another month has gone by.  Another month that I don't have my dad.  My dad was one of my best friends.  He and I talked nearly every day.  We have always had a strong bond, I was always "daddy's little girl"  But he was taken away from me too quickly... I'm only 25 I still need my father.  We aren't sure if it was the Cancer or the surgery that took him from us but all I know is that there is a hole in my heart that I wish wasn't there.  I wasn't raised in a religious home, but what faith I had has been stripped away.... I long for it to come back but I'm not there yet.  I'm still so confused, mad and hurting.... Tears fall from my eyes every day, when will the death of my father stop hurting so bad? God hasn't been able to answer that question yet... Will he ever? 

Dad & Mom

My parents would have been married 43 years this December and they had so many plans, so much more life to live with each other.... People say every cloud has a silver lining, well if this could ever be consider a positive, it's that my 29 year old brother (military man, husband, father of 3 girls) came home for the memorial service.  He was complaining that his back/stomach has been hurting him again.  He had been to the doctors on base for months on end, they just kept giving him steroid shots in his back and kept sending him on his way.  While he was home, my mom finally made him go to the hospital... 4 hours later we found out that he has stage 4 stomach cancer.  He had previously had testicular cancer and doctors said that his cancer may have spread to his stomach from his operation to remove his testicular cancer.  He is currently undergoing chemo and radiation treatments and may have surgery in mid November.  He is so sick all the time and it breaks my heart that my 7 year old niece has to see her daddy that way because she is starting to learn what a beast cancer can be.  

All I know is that I'm not ready to loose another family member to cancer... this isn't the first time.  My grandfather had brain cancer and he died within a month from being diagnosed, my cousin fought and won breast cancer, but my great aunt wasn't so lucky with her battle.  From a very young age whenever I heard the word cancer I knew it to be bad and well, it hasn't proven to be anything different... I'm really searching for that silver lining... 

Stand up to Cancer

@ Noble 

Just thought you should know

Americans watch more television than any other country (we watch on average of 151 hours a month!). Also we have the highest percent of reality t.v. programs...  I do love to watch t.v. but there are times my body screams at me to unglue my eyes from the screen, get my booty off the couch and actually exercise my brain that is quickly turning to M-U-S-H from the t.v. overload. Occasionally I listen and go read a book.  I have fallen in love with the New York Times best selling author Jen Lancaster. She writes memoirs, so when reading her books, it's practically like watching reality t.v. (because if you aren't watching t.v. you are practically Un-American right?)  I have all 5 of her books and I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of her 6th!  She is a brutally honest, lacoste & pearl necklace wearing, absolutely hilarious writer!!  So, any of you that are interested in exercising your brain and getting a big laugh, I suggest you pick up one of her books here or head to your local book store.  Also, you should read them in order... once you start reading her books you will understand why.

      

 

        

 

 So, what are some of your favorite books and/or authors?  I will share more of my favorites next week!!

@ Noble

I told you so!

I had a plan for this weekend... funny thing about me and plans... they never actually go as planned, which inadvertently should be planned on. Ya dig?

Soooo..... C and I were going to wake up no later than 7am (that's 3 extra hours of sleep), get around and head up to C's office so he could finish a huge report that is due Monday.  Then we were going to get our tickets for the hockey game later that night, swing by Bed Bath & Beyond, Target and back to the Apt to get ready for the game.  All that seems semi simple right?  Not so much. . .   

Friday night we went to sleep around 9:30 pm (still on plan).  I woke up at 3:54 (as normal) but remembered it was Saturday and I got to sleep in.  Went back to sleep... C woke up a little while later and HOLY CATS it's 9:30am!! 

Me: Didn't you set an alarm??!?! 

C: Why would I set an alarm, it's not like I thought we would sleep 12 hours. 

Me: HA! Well... we did, now what?

C: Dunno

Me: Do you still want to get into the office, or is it too late? 

C:  It's too late... I'm gonna walk Hershie (our awesome doggie), think about what you want for breakfast.  

Me: Ok, have a nice walk. 

As soon as C left, I went to my computer and started reading blogs (I need AA for my blog, twitter & Huffington post addiction).  When he came in we made breakfast and watched the history channel.  We love the show "How it's Made" which was made very apparent because there was a damn 2 hour marathon on and we watched all of it.  Now it's 12:30pm (CRAP!!)  I wanted to do the dishes before we got around because I'm spazzy that way.  I had to unload the dishwasher first, which I hate to do, so I recruited C to help me.  Somehow C decided we needed more rinse aid, which we didn't because I just filled it up.  Did he listen?? NOPE, he decided to ignore the "full line" and just keep on pouring the rise aid in.  I love the chance to say "I told you so" (it doesn't happen very often) and I could feel the words bubbling up on the tip of my tongue because I knew I was right.... 

BAH! I TOLD YOU SO!! 

We finally left the house around 2:30pm, picked up our tickets and went to BB&B and came home. We made it to the hockey game and it was great, unfortunately the River Kings lost.  

A little pre-game fun

Go River Kings

We finally went to bed on Saturday around 11:30pm and can you guess what time the alarm went off today... 7 Fricken AM!!!! Gurrr... I wasn't very happy.  Oh yea, btw we didn't do anything all morning.  Around noon we went up to C's office so he could email the report to himself so he could work on it at home.  We did however go grocery shopping and eat way to much delicious food at the Blue Monkey.  

Can any of you guess what C is doing while I type this post at 8:40 pm ????  His report.  So clearly getting up at 7 was payback for me trying to plan something and saying I told you so.

Hope you all enjoyed your weekend!  

@ Noble 

   

Children of the Corn

I (literally) grew up in the middle of 40 acres of woods, surrounding those woods, are corn fields.  My brother is 4 years older than me and I always wanted to be his best friend, much against his will.  Well, one evening he wised up and figured out a way to keep me from pestering him and his cute friends.  I was probably 11 or so at the time and he decided I could watch a movie with them.  Well, I didn't know who Stephen King was or what "children of the corn" was... I being a clueless child thought it was it was something funny because what more fun that running though a corn field trying not to get lost or caught by the field owner.  I QUICKLY found out I was wrong about the movie... it wasn't funny, it was fricken terrifying!! I have and always will hate all things scary and that instance probably was the catalyst for my fear. 


Anyhow fast forward 14 years.... C asked if I wanted to go through the Mid-South Corn Maze, I was obviously semi hesitant, but eventually, I said we could go under one condition... we had to go during the day.  We arrived at the Corn Maze, bought our tickets and away we went.  About 5 minutes into the maze I could hear little kids (yikes!).  They were just jabbering and talking with their mom, and few more minutes we caught up to them.  I didn't mind the kiddos for approximately 3 more minutes until they began screaming, throwing ears of corn, kicking the dirt  and just being unpleasant little beings.  That is when "children of corn" began to haunt me in a whole new way.  Eventually they when the exact opposite direction of us and the peace was restored!! 

Birds eye view of the maze.

C and I in the maze

Which way do we go? 

Overall, it was great fun!  If you're in Memphis you should check it out and for you thrill seekers you can go through it at night and it's turned into a haunted corn maze.  Remember to wear old clothes & shoes since it hasn't rained here in forever and the maze was a wee bit dusty!!  

You can kinda see the original color of my shoes and C's shoes were black. 

Have a great weekend!!


@ Noble 

What's In My Bag?

I got this idea from Amber's Blog and she got the idea from Nice Girl Notes.  

Here's my purse, I got it a Delphinium Boutique! 

Inside view: There are lots of nifty pockets and I often loose stuff within my purse because of them. 

All of my stuff laid out:

Yes, I have 7 different types of lip stuff. I'm kinda obsessed

- 2 Victoria Secret strawberry fizz lip gloss 

- Victoria Secret lip lacquer in frosty pink

- Fresh Effects chap stick 

- Solitary Sandstone lipstick 

- Bath & Body Works Mentha Lip Shine 

- Lipsmacker Starburst chapstick 

- Bath & Body Works nail file 

- Ipod

- Season Tickets to the River Kings (I love hockey!!) 

- Trident Original, the only kind of gum I will ever chew. 

I'm like MacGyver

- Samsung Moment Phone

- Whips, mini tooth brushes on the go 

- Hand Sanitizer 

- The champagne cork from my 2nd anniversary, we had Mimosas at The Majestic 

- A watermelon Jolly Rancher 

- 2 nikon lens wipes

- 2 Chick-Fil-A hand wipes

- Advil 

- Winchester multi-purpose tool 

- 4 black ink pens... I think I'm a hoarder.  

- Two sets of my business cards

- My wallet

- Jalapenos Glasses case 

- My change purse from Her 3 Wishes in Millington, TN (inside my Library card) 

There were other things I didn't take a close of picture of, like my hair ties, makeup, "C's" energy gum, movie ticket stub... also my camera is usually in my purse, but I kinda needed it for this post.  If you couldn't tell... I needed something to write about today and well... this is what I came up with.  Hope you enjoyed getting to know me.  

@ Noble 

Fair-well Skipper

Last night was the end of an era... Bobby Cox officially retired from coaching in the MBL.  He has been coaching for longer than I've been alive.  He helped the Braves win the World Series, he has been named Manager of the Year four times as well as Manager of the Year by The Sporting News eight times and he currently holds the all-time record for most ejections from the game. 

My very first MLB game was watching my two favorite teams, Atlanta vs. Detroit.  The Braves won, and I will always remember catching a glimpse of my favorite coach give a friendly wave to the fans after the game.  Over all I could go on and on for hours about his many accomplishments and how awesome he is, but I will keep this post short, because it's about remembering an amazing coach & role model.  You will be missed Skipper!! 

@ Noble 

I'm sorry Chick-Fil-A

Growing up in the North, I had no clue what Chick-Fil-A was. When I moved to Memphis, I still didn't know what it was.  I thought "who wants to just eat chicken... how good can it be."  Well, I was wrong, once "C" had me try Chick, I was hooked.  I haven't eaten any other fast food since my first bite of that delicious chicken. 

So now, I must formally apologize to Chick-Fil-A.  I'm so sorry, I didn't mean for it to happen.  It didn't mean anything and it wasn't nearly as good as you! I promise it will Never happen again!!  I was walking through the food court, on my way to you and out of the corner of my eye, the little Asian man forked  a piece of bourbon chicken and said "you come here and try bourbon chicken?!"  I wasn't sure if he was asking or demanding... so I went over and took the bite... Ooohhh the sweet goodness of bourbon chicken danced across my tongue when a little Asian woman interrupted my bliss "you want rice?!" "Sure" I say still partially seduced by the chicken... WHAT!!! How did that happen, why do I have a plate full of fried rice, bourbon chicken and an egg roll?  Ohhh the shame, I've cheated on my perfect Chick-Fil-A.  After I paid, I had to do the walk of shame though the food court to find a seat... As I made my way, I felt eyes of judgement upon me.  Everybody ( I swear, I was literally the only person NOT eating Chick in the entire food court) was feasting on their golden Chick-Fil-A sandwiches, fries and shakes... I looked down at my tray and knew I was an outcast.  For a moment, I felt like a new kid trying to make their though a school cafeteria.  I wasn't sure where to sit, because clearly I wasn't a cool kid.  I found a spot in the corner... my bourbon chick was good, but not as good as that first sample bite.  I'm not sure if it was the guilt or just that my "system" wasn't used to the new food but a few hours later Chick-Fil-A got its revenge on me!!!  

 @ Noble 

Back when I was a Kid

I think growing up in the 80's and 90's was the best time to be a kid. The school systems were at their best. The reason I say this is because I was talking to my childhood best friend Matt.  Matt just finished college and is in his first year teaching kids.  He was telling me all the stupid shit that he has to endure as a teacher.  I'm shocked at how school has changed since I was there...


1.  When I was in school,  if I kid was acting up in class he/or she was told to be good, if the child continued to be a brat, it was removed from the class room and sent to SDR (student detention room).  The kid left the class one of two ways: A) the kid actually got up and out of their chair and walked down to SDR or B) the kid was yanked (typically by the arm) out of the chair and dragged down to SDR.  Usually the kid was there all day and had to do their homework, wasn't allowed to talk and even had to eat lunch in SDR.  It was very similar to prison solitary confinement... without the bars, shanks and whatnot.  Also, my principal had a wooden paddle  in his office to possibly beat the children ( I don't think he ever used it, but it was the idea that he had the paddle and could use it scared most kids into being good!)  NOW, teachers have to warn the kids 3 times, then ask the child to please go to the "thinking chair" to reflect on their bad behavior.  If the child doesn't go to the "thinking chair"  another teacher will come and ask the child to go to the "thinking room" and they will walk down, never is the child to be touched in anyway because it would be considered abuse.  While in the Thinking Room, the kid has to write a letter saying that they will be better and they are sorry to the teacher and the class...  WTF!


2.  Pluto was still a planet, we were taught both creationism and evolution, we were still able to pray in schools and say the pledge of allegiance.  


3.  We actually learned things and had to earn our grades... 


4.  Red Pens!  All of my teachers used RED pens, from kindergarten to my senior year all papers were graded in red.  The more you got wrong, the more red you saw... I hated seeing red ink because that means I didn't do so well.  NOW teachers aren't able to use red pens to grade papers because ( I'm not kidding!) when the child sees the red ink, it leads to bad thought and reminds the kid of blood.  Some Asshat got a government grant to make up this stupid shit.  

That kid looks really traumatized by the red ink.

Those are just a few (of Many!) things that blows my mind about how school has changed!  


P.S. I grew up in the middle of no where USA.  I graduated with 48 kids (including myself) that I knew from preschool on up.  We were better at sports than school work but what do you expect when the school is surrounded by corn fields (again, I'm not kidding.) 


@ Noble 

Coffee or Tea... Which one will it be?

Yesterday my honey and I went to Bed Bath & Beyond to price a new coffee maker... well me being the smart chick that I am, I decided to pack a few of their 20% off coupons "just in case".  That act pretty much sealed the deal that we would be getting a coffee maker that day, because lets face it, I grew up in the generation of instant satisfaction.  

When we got to the store, my honey (we will call him "C" from now on) was on a mission... He headed straight past all the normal everyday coffee makers, didn't even glance at the fancy espresso/coffee makers and went directly for the Keurig 1 cup coffee makers.  You see, I have been putting off getting a new coffee maker for 2 years because this.  All I could see is dollar signs and not how fricken convenient the little buggers are.  After what seemed like FOREVER (heehee I'm thinking of the Sandlot now) he narrowed it down to two that he liked. So, we decided he shall have both, one for work and one for home.  After picking out all the coffee blends and coffee holder thingy... we were good to go.  

Coffee anyone? 

Fast-forward to this morning... I'm no better than a crack head, I'm drinking a cup of coffee, thinking about the next cup I'm going to have.  These machines are F'ing AWESOME!! I get to choose from endless types of coffee, tea and coco and it will make me 1 perfect cup of coffee in under a minute.  No waste, no stale left overs, no real clean up.  The coffee maker when from being "his thing" to mine in one sip.  

"C" is worried that when he comes home from work I'm going to be running around like Corky Ramono... there is a VERY strong possibility that it will happen. 

I suddenly have the urge to buy a boat...

@ Noble