Questions About Me

Got this from a couple of Facebook buddies - just decided to post here instead.

The Basics
Do you usually dress casual?: except when I have to work
Do you sing in the shower?: sometimes
Do you wrap your hair in a towel after the shower?: not usually
Do you brush your teeth before you shower?: yes
Do you use deodorant daily?: no, don't need to

My Favorites
feeling?: happy
oldies song?: anything by the Osmond Brothers
country song?: Amarillo by Morning
hair band song?: Pour Some Sugar on Me
90's song?: Smell's Like Teen Spirit (I just think of the 90s when I hear it)

This or That
Shy or a Flirt?: shy
Candles or Plug ins?: both
Basketball or Football?: football
Fix your own car or take it to the shop?: I'm a shop girl
White shirt or Black shirt?: black

Do You?
have someone on your mind you can't stop thinking about?: yes
watch any football game or just your favorite teams?: mostly the faves
tell people you love them often?: yes
ever just stay home and don't leave the house?: not very often
watch award shows on TV?: sometimes - not as must as I used to

Have You Ever
not paid your bill and had your water or electricity turned off?: no
taken a cold shower?: yes, but because hotel's hot water wasn't working
put makeup on someone while they were sleeping?: no
let your dog kiss you on the mouth?: yes
not realized it was your birthday?: no

Misc.
What would you like to accomplish today?: finish reviewing staff's recons
What are you scared of?: falling from a high place
Do you kill spiders or just put them out the door?: depends on the size
Do you read your spouse's mail?: n/a
Are you good at saving money?: most of the time

Personal
Would you rather stop wearing makeup or a bra for a week?: depends - do I have
to leave the house - if so, I'd give up makeup first. If I am home all
week, I wouldn't be wearing a bra anyway
Do you give compliments often?: yes but probably not as often as I should

Firsts
fight you and your partner got into?: the first one? I never had a fight with
someone I was dating - ever.
time you bought a pet?: never bought one - got them for free
time you had a beloved pet die?: yes - a few (still is painful)
time you had a child?: never

As of Now
What time is it?: 3:51 am
What sound do you hear right now?: Leif Garrett Biography on the TV
Are you alone or with someone else?: alone
Where are you?: my office
Are you in love?: no

The Waitresses Christmas Wrapping

Cool light show with one of my fave Christmas songs !

"Bah, humbug!" No, that's too strong
'Cause it is my favorite holiday
But all this year's been a busy blur
Don't think I have the energy

To add to my already mad rush
Just 'cause it's 'tis the season.
The perfect gift for me would be
Completions and connections left from

Last year, ski shop,
Encounter, most interesting.
Had his number but never the time
Most of '81 passed along those lines.

So deck those halls, trim those trees
Raise up cups of Christmas cheer,
I just need to catch my breath,
Christmas by myself this year.

Calendar picture, frozen landscape,
Chilled this room for twenty-four days,
Evergreens, sparkling snow
Get this winter over with!

Flashback to springtime, saw him again,
Would've been good to go for lunch,
Couldn't agree when we were both free,
We tried, we said we'd keep in touch.

Didn't, of course, 'til summertime,
Out to the beach to his boat could I join him?
No, this time it was me,
Sunburn in the third degree.

Now the calendar's just one page
And, of course, I am excited
Tonight's the night, but I've set my mind
Not to do too much about it.

Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!
But I think I'll miss this one this year.
Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!
But I think I'll miss this one this year.
Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!
But I think I'll miss this one this year.
Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!
But I think I'll miss this one this year.

Hardly dashing through the snow
Cause I bundled up too tight
Last minute have-to-do's
A few cards a few calls
'Cause it's r-s-v-p
No thanks, no party lights
It's Christmas Eve, gonna relax
Turned down all of my invites.

Last fall I had a night to myself,
Same guy called, halloween party,
Waited all night for him to show,
This time his car wouldn't go,

Forget it, it's cold, it's getting late,
Trudge on home to celebrate
In a quiet way, unwind
Doing Christmas right this time.

A&P has provided me
With the world's smallest turkey
Already in the oven, nice and hot
Oh damn! Guess what I forgot?

So on with the boots, back out in the snow
To the only all-night grocery,
When what to my wondering eyes should appear
In the line is that guy I've been chasing all year!

"I'm spending this one alone," he said.
"Need a break; this year's been crazy."
I said, "Me too, but why are you?
You mean you forgot cranberries too?"

Then suddenly we laughed and laughed
Caught on to what was happening
That Christmas magic's brought this tale
To a very happy ending! "

Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!
Couldn't miss this one this year!
Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!
Couldn't miss this one this year!

Written by Chris Butler
(c) 1981 Future Fossil Music, BMI

Merry Christmas Thatcher

I've been thinking of Thatcher much more than normal the past couple of weeks. Not a day, heck not an hour goes by when I'm not covered in memories and thinking of how much I miss him. I guess it being Christmastime stirs up a lot of feelings and makes me even more aware of him not being here. I miss him so much. I have a picture of him with Santa that I would love to post but my scanner decided just to up and stop working several months ago and I've yet to find one I really like yet to replace it.

Merry Christmas Thatcher, I love you, I miss you.

Thin Layer Cake

This cake is somewhat of a tradition in our family. It can be found at every family reunion and pretty much around any holiday. I don't remember the first one of us that made it but of course I make mine the semi-homemade way, and actually like it better. The cake itself is a mix, something my Aunt Evelyn would probably faint over since she always makes hers from stratch. The icing is from stratch I must say - it is from the back of the Hershey Cocoa box BUT it is NOT the icing that the rest of the family puts on the cake - they make a cooked chocolate icing that is a bit too - well - chocolatey for me. I like it a bit more mild tasting and prefer the Hershey's Cocoa Frosting recipe.

I took this to work and my boss gave me the coolest compliment. He said "If you would have brought that to the interview, you wouldn't have even had to answered any questions, we'd hired you on the spot" - LOL !!

The number of layers tend to vary everytime I make it - this one had 18 layers !!!

I love Allrecipes.com. I have been a member there since Feb 2000! Gosh, I can't believe it has been almost 10 years since I discovered this wonderful site. Some people may not know this or remember this but originally it was Cookierecipes.com. The way I found them was that is was close to Christmas and I was looking for a particular cookie recipe (I don't remember which one) and found this site.

They were the FIRST ones that I recall that started sending the 12 Days of Cookies recipes. I remember you would get the e-mail, then get directed to the web-site to click on a picture (Christmas icon of some type, like a gingerbread house) to reveal the cookie that day.

Then they started adding other food items - cakerecipes.com, chickenrecipes.com, etc until the name finally became Allrecipes.com.

It is such a great resource for the average cook. They continue to evolve and change their website. You can leave reviews, post photos, rate the recipe, save them in a recipe box, etc.

I often get such a laugh out of reading some of the reviews. For example:

I followed the recipe exactly, except I used sour cream instead of mayo and I used imitation crab instead of real crab. Also I didn't have dry mustard so I used regular mustard. I didn't have Swiss cheese so I used Parmesan. It was just o.k.

Come on people, you didn't follow it exactly if you changed practically everything about it. You said it was just o.k. but you didn't really make it as was written so you really don't know how it the original recipe really is.

I do find the reviews helpful more often than not though. For example someone might suggest a "real" substitution or if all reviewers say "I had to reduce the amount of cheese" or :next time I will reduce the amount of cheese" - well if they all pretty much say that then chances are I will take their advice.

I have a few recipes posted there. It is funny I have one posted that has almost 5 stars and 116 reviews - most of which are all positive. Then I have the SAME exact recipe posted in another category with only 55 reviews, some not as positive as the other one. It is the same recipe. I didn't submit it twice, but Allrecipes posted it twice in 2 different categories. Unfortunately when they posted the second one, it was followed by a "II", if it were the "I" then I'm sure it would have more reviews. People tend to look and try "I" before "II". Both are equally delicious by the way.

Red Velvet Double Doozies !

I made these for my co-workers and they were literally gone in 2 minutes.
I had a recipe for Red Velvet Whoopie Pies but I significantly altered it and came up with this instead.

This makes about 20 cookies.  I  doubled the recipe but learned that the filling is more than enough.  Only the cookie recipe needs to be doubled if you want 40 -  you most likely will not need to double the filling.

Red Velvet Double Doozies

Cookies:
1 box red velvet cake mix
2 eggs
½ cup vegetable oil

Filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 teaspoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 cups confectioner’s sugar

Preheat oven to 375.

Mix together cake mix, eggs and oil (mixture will be thick).

Roll into balls about the size of a walnut and place a couple of inches apart on an un-greased cookie sheet (I line it with parchment paper)

Bake in pre-heated oven 8 – 10 minutes (until tops kind of look cracked).

Removed from oven, set aside until completely cooled.

Meanwhile, in a separate bowl mix cream cheese and butter until blended. Add milk, vanilla and confectioner’s sugar (a cup at a time) and blend until smooth and creamy (should be slightly thick but spreadable) – add milk a little at a time to thin or add more confectioner’s sugar to thicken.

When cookies are completely cooled, spread filling on half of the cookies, top with the other halves.

NOTE: I was going to roll the edges into chopped pecans but decided not to do that. Next time I think I will do at least half of them that way.

Enjoy !!

This Week's Glee Moment!

Have I said how much I love this show - YES - I think I say it almost every week. It was extra great this week! I love the song Rachael sang to Finn while practicing how to smile for the Co-Captian photo. Well, there was a lot to love and I don't want to spoil it for those that haven't seen it. Watching them perform Van Halen's Jump just put a HUGE smile on my face!

Christmas Decorating Dogs

Dang, I wish I could hire these dogs to come to my house ! They do a great job !