Monday, September 29, 2008

quirky

Kristin tagged me for a "quirky" meme and sadly it's taken me this long to blog but also to finally admit some of them. Now I'm sure my family and friends could spout off an even longer list. But they want their Christmas gifts so they won't.

So here goes...6 quirky things about myself...for the whole big internet's enjoyment.

1. I cannot fall asleep without the t.v. on. I usually pop in a DVD like "Friends" or "The Office" and am out like a light. I praise the Lord for giving me a truly patient husband that can tolerate this. I will proudly admit though that I did make it through college with no t.v. at night. How, not sure?

2. I love Starbucks...just can't stand tea or coffee. I love the atmosphere and believe me I've tried to love coffee but can't do it. I'll gladly suggest it as a location for a meeting, but I usually just get a bottle of water...hot cocoa if it's the winter. If only they served Dr. Pepper I'd be complete.

3. I love ice in my orange juice.

4. I dig the dow...how coincidental that I would write that today. What a sad one it has been. No, but thanks to my dad I do love the stock market and check it one too many times throughout the day seeing what it's up to.

5. We sleep with the ceiling fan on at night. No matter what season. It's just cozy that way.

6. I never get rid of a book once I've read it. Anyone can borrow them, but they live on my shelves like trophies.

Okay so there we go. I won't tag anyone to do this, but do leave a comment of a least one quirky thing about you or if you're game feel free to do the whole thing on your blog.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Even better than I had hoped

It's been a good day...

The Office has finally returned. I thought this day would never come because way back in August when they began announcing the season premiere date I was like " NBC there is no way I can possibly wait that long!"

But we made it and a certain proposal was so worth it.

Boomama always has a great after-Office discussion so do check it out. I've been under the weather for the past few days (hence the lack of blogging) and finally dragged my sorry self to the grocery store late tonight so that if I passed out I would be humiliated in front of fewer people... so after all the excitement my mind is checking out.

Good Night

Monday, September 22, 2008

making me smile

this commercial might be too sweet for words.

the clock


Pug has a huge fear and it comes on Sunday evenings at 6:00 pm central time.

60 Minutes.

It sends him into full panic mode where he runs around like a crazed pug barking endlessly.

At first I thought it might be Andy Rooney's eyebrows because those are panic worthy, but no it's the ticking clock.

The clock in between commericals drives him wild.

It's sad, but really fun all at the same time.

Does anyone else have a pet that does quirky stuff?

Or is it just mine.

I think it's just mine.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

gear up for some random thoughts

Hang on...there's some randomness coming.

1. Yeah for Dan on Big Brother! I was so hoping he would win and how cool to get all the votes. He really deserved it. Also, I know it's been a while since I've chatted about it here but did it not seem like the 2 months just flew by? Now we're going to have to find something else to entertain us Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.

2. I had to drop something off over by the dog park today so I decided to load pug up to enjoy the slight drop in temperature. If you stand just right outside you can feel a breeze! It was so refreshing. He absolutely loves the dog park and I love that he sleeps for 48 hours straight after a trip to the dog park. I was actually able to load the dinner dishes into the dishwasher without having to drag him out of it every 5 seconds. But, I did notice tonight the poor little guy has what I think is a "hot spot" on his paw between the pads. Anyone have any suggestions on curing these up on pooches? He also will not stop licking it, so I'm sure it's only getting worse.

3. While tearing up at my computer today looking at the stock market I headed over to read some celebrity news to cheer me up, but then read that Amy Poehler is leaving SNL. Bummer, now I'm going to bawl! But then guess what? It said that she will be part of "The Office Spin- off" Get out of town!! How cool is that? Let's hope it's more successful then the "Friends" spin- off "Joey". That was just sad.

Now what was the 4th?!?!

4. Oh yeah, so a few weeks ago I forgot we had a movie that needed to be returned so I ran out kind of late. I'm driving along and see an old man on his bike talking on his cell phone. Yes, all at the same time and we do live in the land of suburbia. I'm thinking who in the world can you be talking to on your cell phone at 11:30 while on a bike? So, then fast forward a few weeks once again when another movie needs to be returned and kid you not same man riding a bike...and yes talking on his cell phone. Crack me up! If I see it again I'm going to have to ask to take a picture for the sake of the blog.

Monday, September 15, 2008

i've been missing out

The adorably sweet and cute pregger girl Kelly had posted on her blog this weekend about her crazy deals at Walgreens. I read her post and was blown away because I have never heard of such things.

Maybe I need to walk into the store for prescriptions every once in awhile instead of being too lazy and making a bee line for the drive-thru. Which by the way if your a drive-thru girl too, does it ever cross your mind to see if they can quickly run and grab you a gallon of milk too? Don't worry I won't ask, but I guarantee a drive-thru grocery store would make a killing!

Someone pitch that to a grocery store.

So, back to I'm blown away by her savings. I ran out last night to fill up my car with gas for fear that I'd be paying double in the morning so I swung by our Walgreens.

And looky what I got. This is crazy I tell you.

I purchased all the items in the picture (including 2 chapsticks not seen because boy ran and put those away) for $31.95. All the items except the chapsticks and the soap were part of their rebate program. The soap had a coupon in their brochure, then the chapstick was buy one get one free, and the kindest sales lady gave me a coupon for the wrinkle cream. Note I don't have wrinkles and even though my mom doesn't need the cream either she'll take that off my hands and I pocket that money from the coupon. I asked for the money to be put on a gift card and by doing that I got 10% back which means I get a grand total of $30.94.

I'll end up spending a $1.01

It's crazy and only took me 15 minutes in and out of the store then logging on to get the rebate. Thanks Kelly for sharing this!

Sunday, September 14, 2008

the weekend

How was everyone's weekend? Do anything exciting?

For us we spent Friday at my parent's house. Boy and my dad headed off to a High School football game and my mom and I went and saw The Women. We were left with a tough choice...football game in 90 degree weather or super cool chick flick.

We made the wise choice. Oh, and friends do go see this movie if you have not. It was even better than I had envisioned. Grab your mamas and your girly friends and go.

After the movie we came back and watched the Charles Gibson interview with Sarah Palin. As much as I would love to discuss politics with y'all that's one can of worms I'm not prepared to open. I will say I got the vibe that he's not a fan. Okay said enough.

With Ike on his way and our fear of the weather Saturday we left my parent's house that night and headed home. That allowed us to sleep in and do nothing but watch college football game after college football game. Tis the season!! And then we ended our television-a-thon with SNL. Bravo Micheal Phelps you cracked us up!

Hope you all had a great one!

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Ike

It's an incredibly dreary and devastating day in the Lone Star State today. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those in the Houston and Galveston area.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

It's like Groundhog Day, but with cream cheese

Guess what?

It's another recipe! The sweet and super creative Allikaye's Mama (who makes adorably fun blocks here) is having a fun fall recipe festival going on over at her blog.

I'm all about the cooking.

And guess what?

My recipe once again involves cream cheese.

I know....it's really sad. A few weeks ago I was checking out at Super Target. Which by the way if Super Target was a person I'd probably vote for it for President. I just love it that much. But back to my story I'm getting rung up and the cashier noticed my 6 boxes of cream cheese and politely asked me if I liked cream cheese.

Busted. I held back on going into how I'm considering starting a petition to add it into the food pyramid and just explained I had a couple recipes I was baking with cream cheese in it. She was super intrigued and asked what recipes. Well I told her about my cream cheese mashed potatoes and I thought her head might exploded with excitement because she exclaimed that she never knew it was possible to combine the two.

Oh yes, my sweet Target friend never underestimate the power of cream cheese. It's just that delicious.

So here's the recipe. I like to make this recipe with an amazing chicken recipe I got from the Flying Mum. Although I think the chicken has like 4 Weight Watcher points and my potatoes have like 30.

But whose counting.

Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes:
2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes
8 oz. cream cheese softened
1 cup shredded Parmesan
1/4 cup butter
1 cup milk
1 Tbs. minced garlic
salt and pepper to tasted

Directions:
Add potatoes to large pot of boiling water. I do not peel skins because I was once told you loose some nutrients when removing the skins. And well I'm all about this being a healthy side dish. Takes about 30 to 40 minutes to cook. Once you can easily pierce the potato with a fork remove and drain. Add all the remaining ingredients and beat with a mixer. The best part of mashed potatoes is you can add or cut back on anything. Sometimes I add a little bit more garlic or milk or even cream cheese. Serve and enjoy!

Monday, September 8, 2008

cream cheese is a prerequisite

I got very little done today because of this...


yes if you've read it you know what I'm talking about. I'm so glad so many of you recommended this book. Now I'm probably the last person to read it, but I finally got to it in my stack and can seriously not put it down. Love it!

Oh and have I mentioned our serious love for all things Tex-Mex! Oh how we love our queso and tacos, but give us a killer empanada and you've made it a fantastic day. Now I won't lie...I really like my empanadas fried but I found a great recipe that eliminates the fry daddy and keeps the flavor. And by who else than the queen of all things tasty with cream cheese, Ms. Paula Deen. Oh, I love the Deen.

Oh yeah. We're talking some seriously good empanadas. Go here for her recipe. But I will tell you that I changed it up a bit for no other reason than I like my beef. Instead of the chicken I cooked up a pound of ground beef instead. Serve it with some guac and queso and you're set.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

puzzled

Over Labor Day weekend I got a brilliant idea to pull out a puzzle that someone had given us and together we could put it together.

It'd be such a picturesque event and I'm most certain we looked just like we fell out of a Norman Rockwell painting.

Although no one wore plaid.

And no one was smiling because pug decided he would help.


But his idea of helping is going to great lengths to get those pieces off the table and into his mouth where he'd begin to choke and then we'd have to stick our fingers down his throat and pry it out. And yes he was being supervised. He's just eerily clever and sneaky.

After the 5th time of doing pug CPR we gave up and put the puzzle back in the box.

No one wants to put a puzzle together with slobbery-jacked up pieces.

See these two made it into the picture because they had not made it all the way down his esophagus and still resembled actual puzzle pieces.

Gross

It's like hanging out with old friends



...only not really because they aren't real.

But they sure are funny and this should keep us occupied for the next 23 days before season 5.

And thanks Target for tossing in a free script because now I can pretend to be Pam.