Black Belt Scrapping

TGIW!

It's Wednesday....yay! Since I don't get any time off from Acme until mid-February, and we're only closed on Christmas Day and New Year's day, this is the only opportunity I'm going to have for a while to have four days off!

Things at Acme are going well. I have finally reached the point where I don't feel like I have mush for brains every time I get home from the office. That first week was totally exhausting for me. Now that I've settled in a bit and I can actually do a few things and feel like I understand what we do and what's going on, it's getting more fun every day.  I work with a super group of amazingly intelligent people. Sometimes as I sit in meetings and wonder how I got plucked to be a part of this group of brilliant people. The best part?  I really like them all too, they're kind and fun to be around. I'm so lucky.

But back to the weekend.....It's not going to be a total lounge-around, as I've promised a dear friend that I'll do a Venetian plaster finish on her newly-remodeled kitchen and laundry room, and she wants it done before Christmas gets rolling. That's a huge job. So Friday I'm going to spend a boatload of my day taping off, and on Saturday (after taekwondo in the morning), I'll be plastering! I hope I can get it all done. So while everybody else is out there in the cold standing in Black Friday lines, I'll be across the street attempting to turn myself into a living plaster statue. It's a messy job!

Anyhow, after work today, I'm meeting Ginger and we're taking the girls to see Twilight again. I can not tell you the last time I saw a movie twice in the theatre. It's probably been since Top Gun.  I think I saw that ten times in the theatre (at least), back in the days where Tom Cruise actually made my stomach flip in a good way. But the story of Edward Cullen makes both Ginger and my daughter's tummy flip in that good way, so we're going again. It'll be interesting to me to watch the movie again now that I've read the book (and the second one, most of the third, and I admit to cheating a bit and reading a bunch of the fourth one too).

 

From there it's off to taekwondo classes.  I passed my rank test a few days ago. I'm glad that's over, especially considering that I tested only a few weeks after my shoulder surgery.  I'm not kidding when I say that the surgery I had was nothing short of remarkable. I barely remember what it felt like to be in that pain every day. People ask me how my shoulder is and for a split second, I don't know what they're talking about. 

I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving tomorrow, it's my favorite holiday. You just can't beat an overabundance of family, food, and football all in the same room on the same day. My pies are baked and ready to go, so all I have to do is my souffle. Mmmmm, I can smell my great grandma's rolls and the turkey baking right now!  I know I have so much to be thankful for, and that is what it's really all about isn't it?

I'll probably update tomorrow, since I don't have to go into the office in the morning, so check back! I wish all my readers a great Thanksgiving. Having you check in on me now and then is just one of my blessings to be thankful for.

Recipe Tuesday ~ Split Pea Soup

I had another request this week (yay!) for my Split Pea Soup recipe. You can make this either with ham or without, but I think it's better with it.

And speaking of food, can you believe that Thanksgiving is only two days away?  Have you started cooking yet or are you going elsewhere?  My parents are hosting, but I'm bringing chocolate pecan pie, sweet potato souffle, and red wine.

Split Pea Soup

1 bag dried green split peas

1 large onion, diced

several celery stalks, diced

several large carrots, peeled and cut into disks

garlic, minced

olive oil

3 small potatoes, diced

1 ham hock and/or diced ham (optional)

water

salt and freshly ground pepper

On the night before: put dried peas in a large pot and cover with water, about two inches over the top of the peas. Let them soak overnight. 

About two hours before serving:

Drain and rinse peas, and set them aside.

Saute your all chopped veggies (except the potatoes) and garlic in olive oil until tender. Add peas, potatoes, ham, and about 10 cups of water to the pot. Bring to a boil, then turn down to simmer for about two hours.  Taste the soup and add salt and pepper to taste. You will probably need to add a good quantity of salt, so don't be afraid, but taste as you go. 

Serve with hot bread or biscuits, of course!  Mmmmm!  Good for a cold day.

- - - - - - - - -

And speaking of cold, my feet got really wet yesterday going into work. I had little fabric flats on (stupid!), it was raining like crazy, and my shoes got soaked. All day at the office I was freezing, sitting there with wet feet.  I couldn't wait to come home and put some fuzzy slippers on!  Oh, that and read. 

I finished Twilight and I'm about 450 pages done with New Moon.  Today I need to grab a copy of the last two books.  Jan asked me yesterday if I was Team Edward or Jacob.  I think it's Edward because his character is such a contradiction, he's evil but good, he's perfect but so flawed, he's brilliant but often helpless, he's beautiful but tragic, he's cold but steamy!  And then there's Jacob, just the opposite in so many ways, but a beautiful soul as well. 

My good friend has a daughter named Bella with long beautiful brown hair and big expressive eyes. If I were her mom and if she knew anybody named Edward or Jacob, she'd never leave the house. 

Suspended in Twilight

Today's blog update is temporarily on hold while I burn through 2000 pages of the Twilight series. S and I went to see the movie yesterday, and I promptly came home and started reading.

 

I promise that there will be a recipe tomorrow, and it won't involve blood but it won't glisten like diamonds either.   

Five Things

I saw this today on another blog and thought it would be fun to fill out....just fluffy fun on a busy Saturday.....

Five Things I Was Doing 10 Years Ago 

• Chasing a toddler
• Working for Convergys and flying back and forth to London
• Paper Scrapping 
• Learning to take decent photos 
• A lot of the same things I'm doing now.....

Five Things On My To Do List

• Christmas Shopping
• Plan meals for this coming week
• Test the Christmas lights and start decorating
• Take S to see Twilight
• Bake pies for Thanksgiving

Five Things I Like To Snack

• Chips and salsa
• Popcorn
• cheese and crackers
• almonds
• potato chips

Five Things I Would Do If I Was A Millionaire

• Retire
• Give more to charities that I support
• Travel more
• Remodel my house
• Hire a personal trainer

Five Places I Have Lived

• Monroe Michigan
• Kansas City, Missouri
• Chicago, Illinois
• Aalborg Denmark
• London England

Five Jobs I Have Had

• Junior Tennis Coach
• Nanny
• Decorative Painter
• Systems Engineer
• Marketing Manager

I had trouble remembering my life ten years ago. What about you? Do you remember what you were doing ten years ago? I know I was working as a systems engineer and traveling a lot, working on the Y2K gloom and doom conversions for British Telecom. S was also less than two years old, so you know how that goes. I really can't remember much else.

Have a great Saturday!  Today is the Michigan - Ohio State game and it's not looking pretty for my Wolverines this year, but this is one of those games where anything can happen, so 

M GO BLUE!

Let's have a November miracle today!

Survivor at it's Finest

It's no secret, I LOVE Survivor, and this season has to be one of the best ever, right up there with Colby, Rodger and Elizabeth hanging out in Season 2. 

 

Last night, viewers saw one of the greatest bamboozles ever in Survivor history, probably the best.  I'm not going to spoil it for you if you haven't seen it, but if you did, you know what I'm talking about. 

Jeff Probst wrote a great blog entry about last night's episode, and if you want to view a bunch of additional scenes that didn't make last night's show, click here:  Jeff's Blog - Episode 10

And if you're a real Survivor geek like me, check out THIS ARTICLE for some real behind-the-scenes look at what life is like for the cast and crew in Gabon, a true to life "Where the Wild Things Are" in West Central Africa.

Last night's episode rocked!

Thrifty Thursday ~ Holiday Edition Part One

If you're like me, you probably woke up one day this week and said to yourself "Oh crap ~ Christmas is only a month away and I haven't even thought about it yet!". That's right, it's time for the holiday scramble to begin...shopping, planning, baking, parties, decorating, you name it. This year is going to be a challenge for me both time and budget-wise. 

 

I'm happy that for the first time, Andy's side of the family has decided to draw names. I've been wanting to do this forever, so I'm thrilled to have fewer gifts to plan, buy, wrap, and ship this year! 

I'm not a fan of Black Friday shopping either, although for the last three years there has been something that I've been out scouting for while the snow flurries fly. Chances are good that there is that one item this year that will force me out into the black cold at 5am next Friday morning too.  I guess if you get what you want and save money doing it, it's worth it. I'll never be one of those "stand in line all night at Best Buy to get the latest Wii" people, however. If the item I want is there when I get there, great. If not, so be it.

So what are you going to do this year to save time, save money, or save resources during the holiday season?  I have a bunch of ideas that I am going to roll out next Thursday, on Thanksgiving, but I'd love to have you share your ideas with me so I can feature them here!  Leave me a comment or send me an email (link is at the top left hand, under the taekwondo girl) and I'll be happy to share it next week.

In the meantime, be like Santa and start making those lists!  

Recipe Tuesday ~ Pumpkin Bread

It's nearly Thanksgiving, so it's time for everything pumpkin, especially pumpkin bread and pumpkin muffins!  I haven't made a batch yet this year, but I sure want to.  Mmmmm.....

This is a very basic recipe, but feel free to add dried cherries or cranberries, raisins, nuts or even toasted coconut (I love coconut!).  Whatever you like will be just fine!

Pumpkin Bread

• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 can (16 ounces) pumpkin purée
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs

Grease and flour two 9x5x3-inch loaf pans. 

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg. In a separate bowl, stir together the pumpkin and oil. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture; add pumpkin mixture. Stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. 

Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake at 350° for 1 hour, or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Makes 2 loaves of pumpkin bread.

Everybody's still under the weather here, so I was tempted to post a recipe for a good night's sleep....a double dose of Nyquil.  It sure tastes bad, but at least it helps!

Boom Boom, Out Go the Lights

No kiddin'

I'm ready to fight

I've been lookin' for my baby all night

If I get her in my sight

Boom boom! RIGHT HERE! Out go the lights!

So Andy and I get up yesterday morning and right after the coffee finished brewing, there was a SNAP, CRACKLE, POP and it wasn't Rice Krispies. The power went out.  Great. It was a choir Sunday, there was snow on the ground, and I really didn't want to go to church with wet hair. But that's just what I did! Aaaargh!

Nobody really has a clue why the power was out, but it seemed to be pretty widespread among our choir members, and the church itself didn't have power either. Fortunately, it came on at the church before mass began, and when we got home, it was back on here as well.

Remember when the Cincinnati "hurricane" hit last September and I was woefully unprepared for a power outage? Well this time we were prepared. We pulled out the flashlights, the weather radio, and the camping lantern.  While I couldn't dry my hair with any of these things, they worked pretty darned well for everything else, like putting on makeup.

They really came in handy again last night when I was just starting to watch The Amazing Race when the lights blinked and clicked again, and BAM....out went the power again.  We all read in bed for a while and then crashed early. I think the power came back on around 11pm, but I'm not exactly sure. I'm just glad it's on. I am SO glad that we had some lighting options this time. 

Actually it was probably good going to bed early last night, I think I'm coming down with a massive cold. Today my head is a massive ball of snot and congestion ~ sorry ~ and I hurt all over. Ugh. I hate it when my head and ears are all stuffed up. 

Taekwondo testing went well this past weekend, I'll post a bit more about that on Wednesday.  Have a great Monday and a good week.  I'm off to ACME!

No Time

I thought I'd take this dreary Friday morning to put up some recent layouts. 

I haven't scrapped a whole lot lately, since I've been trying to not only adjust to my new schedule, but also prepare for rank testing at taekwondo. I haven't tested in a year, so I'm overdue!  I'll be glad when it's tomorrow at 1pm and it's all over. Tonight I judge the white and yellow belts and also the really little tykes, and they're always hilarious! They always say and do the funniest things.

I'm going to run.....what are you doing this weekend? Got any fun plans?

Thrifty Thursday ~ Thrifty Thanksgiving

p>Can you believe that Thanksgiving is only two weeks from today? I know it's sneaking up on me, although that's perfectly okay since:

• it's my favorite holiday...food, family, and football!
• I am not hosting this year (although I love to host Thanksgiving dinner!)

I figured that this is about the time that we all start getting our giblets together and thinking about Thanksgiving, so this week's Thrifty Thursday tips are all about Thanksgiving! If you are hosting, here are a few tips for saving a few pennies while putting on a spectacular and delicious feast!

Plan to meet family and/or friends and have everybody bring food. This certainly will save you time, money, and bring you fresh to the celebration.

If you do have your own one family meal, then you can still have a fine cheap day by shopping each store for its holiday "loss leaders." These are items they sell below cost to lure you into the store. By carefully buying just the loss leaders at each store, and bravely walking past all other temptations you can get some really good deals. Some discount stores have many fancy type holiday items like special olives, or other treats as loss leaders to get you in the door. Check your weekly circulars for holiday bargains. Retailers are hurting this season and they want your business, so use that to your own advantage!

Using simple items and mixing and matching classic pieces keeps your table in balance without overwhelming your guests. Try using white china instead of a busy pattern when setting your holiday table. Nationwide stores like Pier 1 are a great place to find pretty dishware at reasonable prices.

The Internet is a great resource for planning a great holiday party. Google or comb through message boards to find advice from people who've already succeeded (or failed!) with your planned holiday ideas before you waste your time, money, and energy on something you've never attempted for a large group of hungry people.

Buy some colorful ornaments at your local discount or dollar store and place them inside of glass bowls. These make beautiful centerpieces for your tables. You can also do this with frozen cranberries. Candles are also an inexpensive way to create a beautiful dining experience and ambiance.

Making foods that can be prepped in advance will free up your time and allow you to spend it with your guests. Salads, pasta dishes, and selections like bread pudding and cobbler for dessert are some great ways to save time, but not skimp on flavor.

Although you may think it's easier for clean up, stay away from using disposable dishware. You'll end up wasting half your budget on plastic or paper plates that would be better spent on food. Don't Break the Bank!

You don't need to spend a lot to get a great bottle of wine to pair with your meal. Save money by choosing a bottle from Argentina or Chile to get great taste while saving money. Also don't be afraid to try some good old "Two Buck Chuck" from Trader Joe's, if you've got a TJ's near by. It's not high end, but it's certainly drinkable, and for $4/bottle (okay, it's not two buck anymore, but four buck isn't bad!), it's a whole lot better than other wines at twice the price. Give it a try!

That's about all I can think of off hand and I need to get running!  Have fun planning your Thanksgiving dinner, or making plans to go elsewhere!