Black Belt Living

Last Day of School!

I know I'm not ready for school to be finished yet, but time marches on, doesn't it?  I just can't believe it's May 30th already.  Where does the time go?  It's going to be Christmas before we know it.  

A big high five to my soon-to-be-a-sixth-grader.  She's had all A's for the second semester, and in the first semester, she missed all A's when she got a 89.02 in science and ended up with a B.  Now I realize the grades in elementary school don't amount to much, but it still sounds really good!  She also started violin this year and is doing well with that (well, she was until she broke her wrist....hopefully she'll be back to normal activities in about a week ~ yay!).  Just think, in a year, it'll be off to middle school.  I can't say I'm looking forward to that.  Fifth grade packed enough "girl drama" to last me for a long time, and I know we're just getting started!

This is testing weekend at the taekwondo school.  Shannon and I were both going to test this cycle, but again, I guess it wasn't meant to be.  With her broken wrist and my bum shoulder, we're going to sit this one out.  I feel like I haven't seen Ginger in forever, but she'll be there this weekend because her Scottie-2-Hottie husband is testing for his black belt ~ go Scott!  Be sure to go over to Ginger's blog and send Scott some good luck (not that he needs it!).  We kick testing off tonight with the little tykes and they're always hilarious! 

That's it for now.....gotta get ready for work.  I leave you with a little Guitar Hero this morning!  I really think we need to get this one of these days......

More Things I Love

Yesterday I actually took note of a few things that I routinely take advantage of and JUST LOVE SO MUCH!  I know I've done this before, but I thought I'd do another edition of THINGS I LOVE here this morning.

Say what you want about the new wave of "green" cleaning supplies, I like them and I do use the grandma method of cleaning with white vinegar a lot, but nothing busts the soap scum and hard water deposits on my glass shower doors like the one-two-punch of Scrubbing Bubbles and the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. Finally after living here (and living with these horrendous glass doors and hard water) for sixteen years, I have finally found a combination that can get those doors clean. That's more than I can say for any cleaning person or crew that's ever been in my bathroom.

In the winter, my new-to-me used car that I adore started making a somewhat erratic and disturbing noise. I knew that I needed to take it in the the mechanic and have them give it the "eagle eye" and tell me the cold hard facts about the piece of junk that I most likely bought. But doing that is about as much fun as stepping on the scale after the holidays or opening up the bills, and I usually choose to live in Denial-ville as much as possible about things like that.  But yesterday was the day, and I headed off to Protech Auto Care for them to give me the straight shiznit about my car. There is a LOT to be said for having a trusty and capable mechanic for your car. We found these guys a few years ago and I'll never take my car anywhere else if I can help it, even if it is a bit of a drive from my house. They always do great work, they're straight up and honest about your car, they don't try to up-sell you things that you don't need, and they're not one bit patronizing to women! They're also willing to fix the little annoying things that other places might not want to be bothered with, like my back wiper that's never worked quite right. They even have wi-fi in their waiting area....they totally rock! Turns out I needed some minor maintenance....belts, hoses, spark plugs, coolant flush, etc, but nothing drastic, nothing unsafe. It's good peace of mind to know that your car is working well and I wasn't taken to the cleaners.

Visa Gift Cards...customized if you like!  Need I say more?  We've got a bunch of high school grads to buy for this year, and what could be more fitting for the graduate (or anybody for that matter!).  They're easy, convienient, and always the right size.  For those who think that gift cards are impersonal....bah, they're the bomb!

You have heard me talk about it before...you know I love it, and you know you want one too. Yes, it's the Karcher Power Washer. If you don't want to clean your car or your driveway with it, you can always do a little "do it yourself home dermabrasion" on your face. My husband says that the "cyclone" nozzle really kicks things up a notch.  Maybe I'll try it today on the fence.  Or maybe I'll just make some margaritas, sit on my clean deck, and look at the fence.  

Got pain?  Yeah, me too. I'm tired of my shoulder hurting me.  Sometimes it hurts to turn the pages of a book, or reach for my coffee cup.  So I'm reaching for this more.....Biofreeze.  We swear by it at the office. 

Well, that's it for now.  I was up until 1:30am scrapping last night and slept in MUCH later than I usually do. Ironically, I was working on this layout.  No 4:55 get up for me this morning, more like 6:55.  Have a great day and go get yourself some Scrubbing Bubbles and a Power Washer and get busy!

Memories ~ What's Important?

A friend started a discussion the other day with a group that I belong to about how you view the "importance" or scrapbooking.  She asked if we thought it was important.  Now FYI, the people in this group have all been scrappers (and quite zealous ones), but quite a few have since given it up. Some in the group scrapped for fun and the creative challenge, some for the thrill of the contest or the extra income from publication, some for the memory preservation. 

It's been a very interesting discussion that made me think.  I have never claimed that I scrap because I find it important.  I do it because I enjoy it and I think I'm pretty good at it.  I love the color and the design challenge (can you tell I am a former high school yearbook editor?).  I do, however, think it's important that we document important things about the people in our lives in some manner.  Here's my take on it.....

People matter, not scrapbooks. I'm sad that I have a box of stunning heritage photos and don't know who 3/4 of these people, most likely relatives, are. I would like to know who they are and how they ended up in a box in my closet.

My great grandmother was a killer cook. My grandma was NOT, and never cared, so a lot of those recipes have died because my grandma didn't think that any of great grandma Suzies recipes were worth much. My mom and I have tried to resurrect some of them with some success, but it's not the same.

Before my grandpa died, we got him to sit down at the table and open up a bit about what it was like to serve in the South Pacific in WW2. I'll never forget that evening. He told andy and I that he didn't think anybody cared, and we cared a LOT! He showed us his "yearbook" that one caring fellow soldier compiled when they returned stateside, and he remembered everything about everybody in that book!  It hurt to hear that he didn't think anybody cared.  I'm so glad that that young soldier cared, and cared a LOT.  

I can't trace my roots back past my great grandparents because my grandparents' generation didn't care, or were not willing to save those details.

I have NO photos of my husband as a kid, NONE. Well, I do have his junior year school photo, which he wishes I didn't have.  You know the ones....bad hair, bad glasses. 

I don't think that scrapbooking is important, but some details would be nice, like who people are, who was married to whom and when, when people emigrated and from where, etc. I wish that we had more of these details.

It's not events that define who people are.  I do NOT think that scrapping everybody's yearly birthday or all the holidays is important whatsoever, but somehow documenting the facts about people somehow.  To me, not losing the essence of who people are is important to record in some manner.  I also feel more of a need to document the older generations, rather than our children, because they're gone before you know it and once they're gone, you can never get their stories back.  I know I'd rather learn more about my great grandparents than learn more about my third birthday party.  I remember being a kid.

If you're a scrapbooker, why do you do it?  And if you're not a scrapbooker, do you document the people in your life in some way?  Do you think it's important?  Why or why not?

Here's a layout that I recently did of some photos of my grandpa when he was serving in the South Pacific.

Recipe Tuesday ~ Wilted Spinach and Shrimp Salad

Shannon and I went to Applebee's for lunch the other day and they had a new spinach and grilled shrimp salad on the menu, and that inspired me to come up with my own version.  The Applebee's version had spinach, red onion, bacon, grilled shrimp, avacado, roasted red peppers, toasted almonds, and a hot bacon dressing.  I'm lightened mine up a bit in the dressing department, but it's a pretty healthy salad to start with, so I didn't have to modify it too much to make it at home.  This is going to be dinner for us tonight, after a food filled holiday weekend!

Wilted Spinach and Shrimp Salad
1 lb. shrimp, deveined
1 large red bell pepper, cut into strips
2 C bottled Italian dressing
10 ounces pre-washed baby spinach
2 slices bacon, finely chopped
3 ounces Canadian bacon, finely chopped
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 red onion, sliced (about 1 cup)
1 pound button mushrooms, coarsely chopped
1/2 C slivered almonds
1 cup apple cider
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper

Marinate the shrimp and red peppers in some Italian dressing for an hour or so.  Grill the shrimp and the red peppers on a grill or in a grill pan.  Set aside.

Place almonds in a non-stick skillet and heat on medium heat for a few minutes to toast them, then take off the heat and set aside. 

Place spinach into a large bowl. Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium heat for about 4 minutes, or until it is just crispy. Add Canadian bacon to the skillet and cook for 2 more minutes, stirring frequently. Remove meat from pan and place on a plate lined with paper towels. Drain any remaining fat from the skillet. Add olive oil and onions to the skillet and cook for about 2 minutes, or until onions soften slightly. Add mushrooms to the pan and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 more minutes. Put shrimp, peppers, almonds, onions and mushrooms on top of the spinach. Add apple cider and vinegar to the skillet and turn the heat up to medium-high. Stir to scrape up any bits that are stuck to the bottom of the pan and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until cider is reduced to about 1/2 cup. Whisk in mustard, salt and pepper, to taste. Pour warm cider dressing over the mushrooms and spinach and toss until the vegetables are well coated. Sprinkle the bacon on top and serve.

Doesn't this just sound like a great summer salad?  Yum! If you're not a big lover of spinach, feel free to substitute romaine lettuce or mixed greens as you like. 
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It seems like no time at all that I was looking forward to the holiday weekend and it's gone already!  Hey, who stole my holiday weekend?  Seriously though, it was a blast. 

On Saturday I spent literally HOURS working on power washing the patio, the walks, the deck, the hot tub, my flower pots, the patio furniture....it's a good thing the dog wasn't around or she wouldn't have been spared.  I swear, that powerwasher is my all time FAVORITE power tool!  It's easy to use and really makes a huge difference immediately, so there's a lot of satisfaction in using it.  I wish I could use it on the inside of the house :-)  I also picked up a few hanging baskets and some flowers for my deck pots to get some color out there.  I don't know why....with the cicada invasion just a day or so away, I won't be outside for six full weeks until those suckers are dead and gone, but still.  I have to have some color.  I've been putting it off because we're having the house painted this spring and I hate to plant and mulch only to have the painters tear everything up again.  Hopefully that will get done soon.  We were supposed to have it done in May, but it's been so darned rainy!

Now my deck looks purdy!



Saturday night we went to the Taste of Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Cyclones hockey game.  Fun, fun, fun!  The Taste is the second largest street food festival in the world, next to the one in Chicago.  I really don't care for crowds and we hadn't gone in years, but we went before the hockey game and had a ball! Of course we all ate too much.  The Cyclones ended up playing great and winning their first playoff finals game and we hope to go again if they make it back to town.  Sunday was our last choir Sunday for the season, and then we went to my parents' house for a barbecue, and yesterday we worked outside again then watched the Detroit Red Wings take one step closer to then 2008 Stanley Cup at our friends' house.   Is it Tuesday already?  School is out on Friday.  I'm not in that mindset yet.....

And so I leave you with some photos from Saturday night.  I kind of wish I would have taken my good camera, but these were just from my baby camera, because I didn't want to have to carry a big bag!

I Really Did Try

I told Shannon yesterday that I was going to sleep in until noon today.  She didn't believe me.  I really can't blame her, I've always been an early bird.  Now I'm not an EXTREME early bird like my husband (who gets up every weekday at 3:45am to work out and get into the office before 6am), but I'm usually up by 6am at the latest and it really doesn't matter what time I go to bed. 

I really did try, but it just wasn't meant to be. In fact, I don't think I was meant to sleep at all last night.  Andy fell asleep early and so when I went to bed at 11:30, I decided to crash in the guest room so that I didn't wake him up.  I turned on the radio to listen to the Reds who are playing on the west coast, only to find that they were on a rain delay in SAN DIEGO!  When is baseball ever rained out in San Diego?  Never!  Anyhow, I laid there listening to what should have been baseball and I couldn't sleep.  When I finally dozed off, I woke up again with a startle when I rolled funny on my shoulder, which still is hurting pretty consistantly.  It really bothers me at night for some reason. 

I finally fell asleep to be rudely awakened again at 3:45am when some animals decided to host their own Ultimate Fighting Championship on our deck below that bedroom window.  Man, that was a bad one.  I don't know what kind of critters were going at it, but I feel really bad for the loser.  After getting back to sleep again, the dog wanted me to let her out at 6am.  I guess she doesn't care that I wanted to sleep in, she's got her routine and that's that! 

Anyhow, I finally gave up at 7:30 and here I am.  That's my big lazy sleep-in day, which is good, because I feel like I waste time when I'm sleeping in the morning.  I could be getting things done, like powerwashing the patio, which I never did get to all week because it's been COLD!

Are you a morning person, or do you enjoy sleeping in as long as possible? 

I found out this morning that I won two honorable mentions in the Scrappers Choice awards over at Digi Shop Talk.  Basically these are the best digital scrapbook layouts of the last calendar year.  I was runner up in two categories:

Best Graphic Layout for One Tuesday at a Time


and Best Photo Extraction for Body Surf


And finally, the fabulous Madame Mim (Vibeke) tagged me yesterday to answer some questions about myself.  I might have done this before, but here goes anyways!

Four jobs I've held:
Burger Flipper
Computer Software Development Manager
Scrapbooking Education Director
Decorative Painter

Four movies I could watch over and over:
Saturday Night Fever
Notting Hill
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Ocean's 11

Four places I've lived:
Monroe Michigan
Cincinnati Ohio
Aalborg Denmark
London England

Four TV Shows I Like:
Survivor
American Idol
Hell's Kitchen
Project Runway

Four People Who Email Me Regularly:
People who think I'm looking for love in all the wrong places
People who think I want to buy prescription drugs on line
People who think I want to join an online casino
People who think I need Viagra!

Four Things You Do Almost Every Day Without Fail:
Drink Coffee
Update My Blog
Love on my Family and the Dog
Clean my Kitchen

Four Favourite Foods:
Alaskan King Crab
Lasagna
Pizza
Artichokes

Four Places I'd Rather Be:
London
London
London
London

Four People I'm Tagging:
Ashley G
Jan
Heather Melzer
Ursula

Elbow Liberation Day

Yes, yesterday was finally "Elbow Liberation Day".  I picked Shannon up at lunch time and we decided to mix some fun in with the trip to the orthopedic guy.  We started out at Applebee's for lunch (that's root beer, just so ya know)

Then it was off to the orthopedic group to get that big thing cut off, get more x-rays, meet with the doc, and see what the deal was. Turns out that her arm is healing well, but she's still got two more weeks of casting and maybe a splint for a week or so after that.  She was NOT happy to hear about the splint, but you gotta do what you gotta do, right?

When we left there, we were off to the salon for a shampoo and a blow dry.  It's a real pain washing her hair in the sink all the time, so I thought it might be nice to have Ashley do it for a fun treat.  I know I love it when somebody else washes and styles my hair.  

And finally, I present to you.....the left elbow!  

When it comes to politics, I can be pretty outspoken about my views, but I keep all of that off of this blog, because I just don't want to go there.  Frankly, I"m totally sick of all the election crap already and it's only May.  I don't object, however, to some equal-opportunity joking around when it comes to political jokes.  As long as everybody gets picked on, it's all good to me.  

A friend send me this the other day and I thought some of them were hilarious!

So tell me....Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road?

BARACK OBAMA:
The chicken crossed the road because it was time for a CHANGE! The
chicken wanted CHANGE!

JOHN MC CAIN:
My friends, that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need
to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side
of the road.

HILLARY CLINTON:
When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross
the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure -- right from
Day One! -- that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to
cross the road. But then, this really isn't about me.......

GEORGE W. BUSH:
We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to
know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is
either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.

DICK CHENEY:
Where's my gun?

BILL CLINTON:
I did not cross the road with THAT chicken. What is your definition of
chicken?

AL GORE:
I invented the chicken!

JOHN KERRY:
Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it!
It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken's
intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.

COLIN POWELL:
Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of
the chicken crossing the road...

PAT BUCHANAN:
To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.

ANDERSON COOPER - CNN:
We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been
allowed to have access to the other side of the road.

BARBARA WALTERS:
Isn't that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the
chicken tell, for the first time, the heart warming story of how it
experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to accomplish its life
long dream of crossing the road.

OPRAH:
Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he
wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn from
his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I'm going to give this
chicken a car so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life
like the rest of the chickens.

DR. PHIL:
The problem we have here is that this chicken won't realize that he must
first deal with the problem on 'THIS' side of the road before it goes after
the problem on the 'OTHER SIDE' of the road. What we need to do is help him
realize how stupid he's acting by not taking on his 'CURRENT' problems
before adding 'NEW' problems.

NANCY GRACE:
That chicken crossed the road because he's GUILTY! You can see it in his
eyes and the way he walks.

MARTHA STEWART:
No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a
standing order at the Farmer's Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped
to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.

AL SHARPTON:
Why are all the chickens white? We need some black chickens.

JERRY FALWELL:
Because the chicken was gay! Can't you people see the plain truth?
That's why they call it the 'other side.' Yes, my friends, that chicken is
gay. And if you eat that chicken, you will become gay too. I say we boycott
all chickens until we sort out this abomination that the liberal media white
washes with seemingly harmless phrases like the other side. That chicken
should not be crossing the road. It's as plain and as simple as that.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY:
To die in the rain. Alone.

ARISTOTLE:
It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

JOHN LENNON:
Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.

ALBERT EINSTEIN:
Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the
chicken?

BILL GATES:
I have just released Chicken 2008, which will not only cross roads, but
will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your checkbook.
Internet Explorer is an integral part of the Chicken. This new platform is
much more stable and will never cra...#@&&^(C% ........ reboot.

DR. SEUSS:
Did the chicken cross the road?
Did he cross it with a toad?
Yes, the chicken crossed the road,
But why it crossed I've not been told.

GRANDPA:
In my day we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told
us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.

COLONEL SANDERS: Did I miss one?

And the Winner is David......

[CLICK]
Save or Delete?

That's what went down at my house last night when we finally got to the end of American Idol.  I should have been thinking ahead, I know the finale always runs over. But I forgot last night as I double checked the DVR and left for choir practice.  I got home around 9:30pm EDT and my friend Janet came over to watch with us.  I told Shannon that she had permission to stay up as long as she wanted to watch the end (I ended up having to wake her up, just to watch the DVR cut us all off!).

I'm telling you, the timing of the machine shut down couldn't have been more perfect.  There was that perfect pause by Ryan Seacrest saying David........then nothing.  Zilch.  Yes, there was screaming...we woke the dog.  What a let down!  I had to look up the winner on the internet.  Sigh.  Fortunately, I've already had a call from Janet this morning saying that HER son taped it for her and figured that it would run over, so I'll still get to see all the fun at the end. 

Technology ~ you gotta love it!  It did exactly what I told it to do....shut off at 9:59:59!  Next year I won't forget.

I am a huge American Idol fan.  I don't really know why, maybe it's because as a choir member, I know that even with lots of God given talent, it's not nearly as easy as it looks.  And the stage pressure, I can't even imagine that.  And I love Simon Cowell...LOVE him.  He always says what I'm thinking and he's got the cajones to say it in front of 100 million people every week.  I haven't talked much about Idol here this year, but I've loved this season.  Loved it.  And I think Mr. David Cook now has taken the top spot in my "favorite Idol ever" category, replacing greasy bad boy Constantine Maroulis from Season 4.  Love him or hate him, everybody had an opinion of Constantine.  But "C-Ya, Constantine", there's a new dude in town.





...last night show was GREAT!  America got it right this year for sure.  And props to the producers this year.  Normally I think the finale is a bit boring and bordering on cheezeball, but this year was absolutely great. 

• Loved the Davids playing with ZZ Top and One Republic. 
• Loved seeing Seal. 
• Loved that Jason Castro sang Halleleujah. 
• Loved Carrie Underwood and her funny song (which cracked me up). She's such a star now, and she's so smokin' hot, I could almost go gay.   Back in the Constantine season, I didn't get what Simon saw in her.  Well now I do.  Dayum!
• Loved that Brooke and Graham Nash sang "Teach Your Children" on  stage with guitars, just like Shannon and Andy did for the elementary school talent show this year (you can read about that HERE if you're interested).  Shannon got such a kick out of that. 
• Loved George Michael's new song.
• Loved Simon's apology
• Loved that Ryan didn't act like an ass, like he has for most of the season

But for me, the total highlight of the show wasn't the show at all, but the Guitar Hero commercial. So, once more for your viewing pleasure, I present to you one of my all time favorite movie scenes....a little Risky Business......

 
David Archeleta's version was cute, but not nearly as good (not even close!).  So for somebody who hasn't realy chatted about Idol for a while, I have gone on and on this morning!

In other news...Remember the Dr. Seuss, Glow-In-The-Dark cast?

It goes bye-bye today.  Stop by tomorrow to see the new version.....shorter and sassier, I'm sure!

MyLifeIsRandom.org

A shotout to Jan ~ she's the lucky winner of my Lauren Reid giveaway from yesterday!  Random.org picked lucky number 1 this morning, so I guess that means that sometimes the early bird really does get the prize! Congrats Jan!

I'm typing this today on the new Beta test of Typepad ~ and so far, I really like it!  I got an email about it the other day asking me if I'd like to participate, and since I used to be the beta test manager doing software development that was MUCH more boring than something like this, I had to say yes.  It's hard to get people to try something new, especially software that they're used to using in the same way every day.  So if you're a Typepad blogger and you get the chance to try the new Beta Test, go for it, it's pretty slick!  Maybe they'll finally get it together and make some improvements for those of us with Safari browsers. 

Not much going on here today...I think I'll get out and ride my bike this morning, then its back home to get some housework done.  My bathroom is about to be condemned, by me of course!  It's supposed to be another lovely day today, so I might get the power washer out and clean some things in the back, like the patio and the deck.  More fun with power tools!  Actually, maybe the power washer would do a good job in my bathroom ~ ha! 

Since there's not much going on, here are a few layouts that I've finished recently.....

This one is using the new CT Gina kit from Jana M at The Digi Chick:



And here's another one from the CT Anja kit that's being released on Thursday.  Be sure to run over there and check out all of her CT kits, they're just fantastic and fun!



Here are two from Laurie Ann Anderson's new Love Grows Here kit at Scrap Artist:





And finally, I posted this one on Digi Shop Talk last night and you know that people don't like it when the only comment you get is "oh, that's an interesting layout!".  So if you like this layout and you're so inclined, click HERE and please give it some love!  I think it's kind of cool, but maybe I'm a bit biased! 

 

I've been taking a lot of photos lately, but a lot of them are not good "scrap material", and I'm kind of bored with the same faces (if you know what I mean!), so a reminder that if you were one of the three who won my "I'll scrap your photos contest.......", I'm so ready to go!  Pleeeeeese send me your photos!  Or if you didn't win the contest and would like me to scrap your photos, send me an email and we'll get it done!

Finally, speaking of photos, I realized yesterday that my photo blog had been neglected.  I've been taking the photos, just not updating them, but that's fixed now.  I put up a whole week's worth yesterday and I'm all caught up.  You can check those out here. 

Have a great day!

Recipe Tuesday - Chocolate Fudge Pudding Cake

I'm not much of a chocolate fan (I know, I know!), but Shannon requested a chocolaty healthy recipe today so here goes.  This one is in my recipe box, but I've never made it, however it does sound great.  A chocolate pudding sauce forms underneath the cake as it bakes in the oven.  I think a tall glass of skim milk is mandatory with this one!

Chocolate Fudge Pudding Cake
1/2 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar or 3 tablespoons Splenda Sugar Blend for Baking
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup 1% milk
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (optional)
1 1/3 cups hot brewed coffee
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar or Splenda Granular
1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, toasted
Confectioners' sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a 1 1/2- to 2-quart baking dish with cooking spray. Whisk whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, sugar (or Splenda Sugar Blend), cocoa, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Whisk egg, milk, oil and vanilla in a glass measuring cup. Add to the flour mixture; stir with a rubber spatula until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips, if using. Scrape the batter into the prepared baking dish. Mix hot coffee and brown sugar (or Splenda Granular) in the measuring cup and pour over the batter. Sprinkle with nuts. (It may look strange at this point, but don't worry. During baking, cake forms on top with sauce underneath.)

Bake the pudding cake until the top springs back when touched lightly, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool for at least 10 minutes. Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve hot or warm.

Have you tried the Splenda for Baking yet?  It really works great ~ just don't overdo it, or you won't like the overly-sweet taste.  I usually use just a bit less than the recipes call for with good results.
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So, did you have a good Monday?  My girlfriend J called me right when I was finishing up work yesterday (I had to call on some health clinics in some really rough parts of town ~ that is always interesting!) and asked if I'd like to go antiquing with her.  So on a whim, I said yes and off we went. Neither one of us bought anything but they sure had some lovely furniture pieces.  I saw some great paintings too and leave it to me to only like the ones that cost some serious money.  No thanks, I'll just paint my own!

Is it raining where you are?  It started raining here yesterday afternoon and hasn't stopped.  My back yard is a swamp again and I might just have to get out there and pump it again today.  Sigh.  I hate that. I am a bit behind on my scrapping, however, so I'm going to get moving on that this morning. 

And speaking of scrapping....here's another freebie for you!  Leave me a comment today and you might win a gift card from Lauren Reid's shop at Little Dreamer Designs.  But don't forget to check back....many of my winners from last week never got in touch with me to claim their prizes!  I might have to give those out AGAIN this week, so keep checking back!

Big Mac Attack

I think we all have those stores where we think "Man, I'd love to work here, but I'd spend my paycheck before I even earned it."  For a lot of women, I think these stores involve shoes, scrapbooking, furniture, or even dishes, but not for me.  I am weak to the mystical power of The Apple Store (and no, not the orchard Apple store!).  I love everything about the Apple store.....the design, the cool t-shirts that the associates wear, the vibe....I love it all.  Mainly, however, I love the lovely products with the sleek design and ease of use. 

I mentioned last week that I got a cool birthday present and I sure did.  It's a week old now and it's the best thing EVER, even though most people who aren't computer nerds like me don't even "get" what it is.  Are you really curious now?  Here it is, it's the six inch white box.

This slick little white box really packs a punch.  What it boils down to, is that it's basically a wireless router and file server.  It replaces my former wireless router from the cable company (saving me paying them for wireless internet every month), and also serves as a 1TB wireless external hard drive.  Yes, that's right. That's one TERRAbyte of storage, or 1000 gigs.  That's a lot of storage!  When I was in college studying computer science, NASA couldn't create that much memory and fit it into an airplane hangar! 

Anyhow, not only does this pretty little thing provide wireless internet signal to all of the computers in the house, but it also automatically does daily backups, and it's hard drive is accessible to all the computers in the house at all time.  So for me, who uses up a lot of hard drive space managing photos and digital elements, this is just wonderful!  I store everything there and it's immediately accessible, and it doesn't bog down my hard drive. 

Did I say how much I love the Apple store?  Too bad that the trinkets in there hit you a bit harder in the wallet than a trip to the scrapbook store, or even DSW Shoe Warehouse.

So how was your weekend?  Mine was busy, busy!   Yesterday we worked outside all day.  I swear, what is it with weeds?  They're relentless.  I also helped Andy repair our now 20-year-old split rail fence, which is losing the battle with termites over the years.  Yes, these repairs involved my use of the chain saw.  Whenever the chain saw comes out, he's the holder and I'm the power-tool-user.  I think he gets a kick out of his wife wielding a chain saw.  I admit, it is kind of fun.  I try not to think about all the bad things that could happen (I have to quit watching the Discover Channel!).....While Shannon was away at an all afternoon birthday celebration, we also took the opportunity to hit the bike trail and ended up riding 18 miles ~ that was a lot of fun, but wow was my rear feeling it when we got home!  Then it was back to more yard work.  I had the "fresh air sleepies" last night for sure!

That's it for now, it's Monday, so that means I'm back in the office this morning and gotta run!  New recipe tomorrow!