Wait till I tell you all about my 4th grade teacher that was allergic to chalk

I mentioned in my last post that I had just read Paula Deen's memoir this past weekend. That little tid bit also explains why I have been fiercely craving fried chicken for the past 5 days. But throughout the book after each chapter she shares a recipe. I came to one of the recipes which was biscuit donuts.

Have you all ever had these? It's where you take a buttermilk biscuit, poke a hole in it, fry it in some oil, and then dip it in powdered sugar?

These sounded mighty familiar and delicious and then I had a quick flash back to my childhood in the 3rd grade where we studied the pioneer era and so we spent a good semester only eating these biscuit donuts as the "official pioneer food" and playing The Oregon Trail on a Macintosh.

Remember that game?

Now I'm sure that's underestimating my 3rd grade history education. I'm sure we whipped up some construction paper bonnets as well. I just have embedded in my memory all the times I seemed to have caught small pox, malaria, starved or was bitten by a rattle snack in that game. I'm not sure I ever made it across that Oregon Trail now that I think about it.

But I do remember those donuts so I asked boy if he ever had some growing up and he said no but got pretty interested in the fact that I should whip some up so he could try them. Well, shockingly I've never fried anything in my life. Sad huh? Just not a huge fried food fan, but thought I'd try for the sake of boy and the fact that his 3rd grade education was cut short.

And my oh my y'all I actually did it. I fried something. And it was delicious. I sprinkled some with powdered sugar and some with cinammon and sugar and they quickly disappeared.


My 3rd grade teacher would be so proud.

miscellaneous bin

1. The ole' allergies turned into a sinus infection or maybe it was just a sinus infection all along. I finally caved and headed to the doctor Friday after I felt like my head would in fact explode. Thank you antibiotics for your awesomeness. I have to tell y'all a funny story. By about Tuesday I had run out of kleenex and had begun to use toliet paper. Don't judge I know you've done it. I could not muster up the energy to drive and then crawl into the grocery store. On Wednesday I received a wholesale order for the store from one of my favorite suppliers. She makes the most precious frames and in it she had included the sweetest little travel tissue holder with TISSUES IN IT!! And the best part she had no idea I was sick, she just did it as a fun surprise. If I ever meet her again I'm going to have to give her a big hug for saving my sorry nose.

2. On Thursday my Paula Deen book "It Ain't All About the Cookin" came in the mail. I ordered if for $2.86 off ebay. What a deal...the shipping was actually a few cents more than the book itself. But look at it...see the protective cover around it.


Crack me up. Boy thinks that a library is out there look for a missing book. But I just finished it this afternoon and loved it. I love that Paula Deen! She's extremely raw in her memoir and if you don't have a southern accent you will have one by the time you finish it. I think mines gotten a little deeper while reading it. If there's even a way to say y'all any more than I already do. Oh and I just saw Misadventures of a Southern Newlywed just read it. Too funny...see it's gotta be good then.

3. Pug holds a grudge more than anyone I've ever met in my life. Even more than me and that's saying a lot since I told boy I'd never see another Pitt movie again after his break-up with Aniston. That grudge didn't last long though. I forgive you Brad.

But Thursday night Pug was running around the house being crazy and boy went to open the door for him and well pug has bad depth perception and ran smack into boy's shin. So pug starts screaming like a little girl because he's convinced that boy kicked him and he likes to be dramatic. I witnessed it and can assure there was absolutely no kicking. In fact boy's foot never moved. Well two days later and no matter how many apology hugs and treats boy gives to pug that dog still will have nothing to do with him. He's a drama queen I tell you.

4. I think boy and I are going to rent a movie this evening since I'm still under the weather. We saw "Slumdog Millionaire" last weekend, which if you have not seen it it's absolutely amazing. Anyone have any good suggestions?

April showers bring May flowers and some hail damage.

During one of this year's spring storms we had some hail and now need a brand new roof. You know... it's a lot more fun shopping at the Gap then it is for a new roof I've found. But every roofer in the great state of Texas has flocked to our area so a day has not gone by where I don't receive 2 doorbell rings, 5 flyers on the door and a few mailed ones as well. I kind of miss the folks that use to just try to sell my carpet cleaner.

So, today the door bell rings and thinking it's the UPS man I rush to the door and open it. I should have looked because it was not. And as I open the door a nicely dressed man has his back towards me and is picking something up off my front stoop. He turns around and I notice he is holding up a knife.

WHOA!! I'm not even joking that that's all I could muster to speak.

This is it, I'm thinking. I'm going to meet Jesus today! I also have not showered, have no make-up on and need to shave before I end up on the 5 o'clock news.

But then I notice this poor man who is just trying to sell me a roof is more terrified than I am as he begins to think what he thinks I'm thinking. And then I start thinking and remember seeing boy out there yesterday doing yard work opening up fertilizer with a pocket knife.

Praise the Lord. I'm going to get to shave today.

Luckily, we burst out laughing at how this all looked. I felt bad because how embarrassing to have knifes lying around your flower beds. I'm sure that's frowned upon in the HOA rules. I'm thinking it's also probably a good thing we don't have children yet either. We're going to have get a little more responsible.

So, boy got a sweet little text: "Honey, don't forget to pick up your knives".

pitiful pug

**UPDATE** Oh I've gone an done it and broke the blog. I went back to open this and somehow removed all comments. How I'm not sure, but my apologizes if this shows up in your reader as new. But y'all thanks a ton for the allergy suggestions for pug. I really appreciate the help. I called the vet and got the dosage down so we'll give that a try. And then Life as a Busy Wife had a great suggestion to wipe his face down with a warm wet rag to help remove the pollen. He seems to be sneezing less when I do this after he comes in from outside.

Original Post Below

Pug & I have got the allergies.

I'm blessed to usually not be effected by whatever it is that floats around Texas every spring.

Just seems to be every 4 years.

Like the Olympics, only with watery eyes and no metals.

But if there were metals I'd get a gold for being the whiniest.

But look at poor pug.


Melt my heart. He gets terrible spring allergies and then to top it off I've noticed a few hot spots on his paws tonight. I've heard you can do benadryl to help keep the hots pots from itching, but I'm a little nervous about that and not sure on the appropriate dosage. I don't want to OD the dog. So any of my doggy bloggy friends, if you have any advice on those dreaded hot spots to help a pug & his mama out I'd be ever so grateful!

it's a tough job, but someone has to do it

I was sitting here trying to decide what to blog about.

It was between my recent discovery of this season's Celebrity Apprentice and the woman who asked to see a menu at Little Caesar's Pizza.

Decisions. Decisions.

But then Big Daddy (my dad) sent me an e-mail. And those ideas just didn't hold up anymore.

I have to give y'all a little background information first. Three years ago my dad retired from 37 years in corporate America. We were all glad to say goodbye to the weekly traveling and the conference calls. A week after he retired they closed on a house out in a lake community and we sort of thought he'd spend his days golfing and boating. But, a few months into retirement he announced that he was going to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity.

Family: "Really?"

Big Daddy: "Yep, I've always wanted to"

Family: "Well that's great! But ummm don't you have to be sort of handy?"

Bless Big Daddy's heart he's good at lots of things, but he's no Bob Vila. So being the supportive bunch that we are we made bets on how long he'd last and joked that his official Habitat job was to pass out water and snacks.

Big Daddy proved me wrong today when he e-mailed me proof of his important duties.


Apparently, he's moved up the ladder from official "snack-passer-outer" to official "pole-holder-while-cement-drys" person.

Quite a promotion. And from his serious facial expressions he is taking it very seriously.

We love you Big Daddy and are so proud of you!

easter

Hi bloggy friends!

I'm a little late on wishing you a Happy Easter, but from the bottom of my heart I pray you had a wonderful day spent with family and friends.

We were off at both of the parentals this weekend having a great and relaxing time. Now I'm off to begin the unpacking. But first I might have to hop on the treadmill to jump start working the 2009 Consumption of Peep's/Reese Peanut Butter Eggs off.

They're everywhere I look. And beware they are delicious.

they didn't teach this in babysitting 101

The other night while chatting online with my cousin we started talking about babysitting.

Aww the good ole' babysitting days.

I miss them.

And I'm not going to lie I sort of miss the cash.

I always loved babysitting because babies are snuggly when you rock them, you become super cool if you let a five-year old stay up 10 minutes past their bedtime and playing with Barbies is a requirement. Oh, how I miss Barbie and her fabulous dream house.

I had a family that I regularly babysat for for during my freshman year of high school right before they moved away. They had 4 children all under the age of 5.

God Bless that mom.

They were from England and just the sweetest family you'd ever meet. I always said yes when they called despite the fact 4 kids is a handful and I'd be consuming a lot of Teletubbies on those Friday nights, but who can resist a 2-year old telling you "cheerio!"

This family holds my most memorable babysitting memory.

On the first night I babysat for them mom gave me a grand tour, a list of phone numbers and on her way out the door said, "There's one more thing!"

"What's that?"

"Here's the key to the bathroom...the youngest drinks out of the loo."

And they weren't lying.

manipulation

I found this pic while searching for another.

I'm pretty sure he's just been up to no good.

As soon as that camera appears.

So does this dude.

Look at those eyes.

Those are his cute eyes.

With those eyes he gets away with anything.

I'm a sucker for the cute eyes.

miscellaneous bin

1. I'm a twitter quitter. Can I get that on a tank top, maybe in rhinestones? Seriously, y'all I'm not sure if I remember my password. Am I alone because I feel really bad about this. Where does that Martha Stewart find the twittering time? Oh yeah she probably doesn't clean her own toilets does she?

2. This is one of my absolutely favorite baby companies out there...Tiny Sprouts. Look at this stuff it's beyond adorable!! The day I have a baby I'm afraid I might go crazy ordering one of each. Oh my word the cuteness. But I love her blog as well because she has some fabulous taste. I noticed yesterday she is looking for some mom testers, so flock over there if you've got little one and see if you can do it. I'm so jealous.

3. We have 4 days before iTunes ups it's price. Boo hoo. Does this include MercyMe and Brandon Heath? I might have to do some iTune shopping this weekend then. What are you listening to right now?

4. I'm in need of UNC and UCONN to win this weekend to win the family bracket. I never thought I'd say Go Tarheels...but I am. I should be ashamed being a Jayhawk fan and all.

Ironically Intolerant

Do y'all remember the song by Alanis Morissette "Isn't It Ironic"?

Well with that in mind, Isn't it ironic that the girl that can tell you the top 10 Best Queso Restaurants in DFW would end up finding out she's lactose intolerant?

Yep. Funny, huh. Now don't feel sorry for me because that's nothing compared to other things and I now I feel great! Just a jolt in the ole' diet because I find nothing wrong with sharing a block of cheddar and some Ritz crackers while catching up with good friends. Which by the way my favorite line from Liz Lemon in "30 Rock" is "I just want to go home and watch the show about midgets and eat a block of cheddar cheese". Gotta love it!

So, I've had an inkling for over a year and a half when I had some funky digestive stuff going on and my doctor started speculating that I might not be a diary fan and my reply was "You're a meanie" and "I hate you". Okay so I waited till I got in my car to say that. But I lived in my denial cave for a while and slowly cut back. My apologizes to the mean things I said about that doctor in my car.

I also have stubborn written on my forehead.

I'm also asking my family reading this to please ignore the fact that I actually asked to smell the bowl of queso they were about to dive into on our latest mexican dinner out. How sweet they were to oblige and then describe each bite.

But, as I'm clearing out my recipe book and I thought I could at least pass on the cheesy joy with y'all. So, please take these recipes and make them for your family. They were some of my favorites. Just come back and tell me what they taste like.

The Best Mac & Cheese

This stuff on a block of cream cheese

Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes

Cheesy Potatoes- perfect as an Easter side (hint hint)
(Pillsbury)
1/2 cup butter melted
2 cups herb-seasoned croutons, crushed
32 oz. frozen southern-style diced hash browns thawed
2 cups shredded cheddar
1 cup sour cream
1/2 chopped onion
1/4 tsp. pepper
10 3/4 oz. condensed cream of mushroom soup
5.2 oz. of garlic and herb spreadable cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 13 x9 baking dish. Mix 1/4 cup of melted butter and the crushed croutons. Set aside. In a large bowl mix the rest of melted butter along with the remaining ingredients. Spread into baking dish. Bake for 40 min. then sprinkle crouton mixture and bake an additional 10 minutes.


Sausage Queso- my fav!!
1 lb. of pork sausage
2 (8 oz.) cream cheese blocks
1 can of rotel

Cook sausage or if you prefer ground beef instead until brown. Drain. Then add cream cheese, Rotel and sausage to a crock pot on low heat until melted. Grab some tortilla chips and enjoy.

I'm not going to lie I might indulge in a Cheez-It or two!

this day always made me nervous in school

I've never been very good at pulling off April Fool's pranks.

I always burst into uncontrollable laughter.

Which also makes me not very good at surprises either...the giggles get me. I thought about doing an April Fool's joke on the blog, but those probably don't translate well via blog so I'll laugh at them to myself. But they were funny.

I just finished watching "I Get That a Lot". Did anyone else get a chance to see this on CBS? So funny I would love to see them make this a regular show. I can't decide on which one was more hysterical the Heidi Klum or Jessica Simpson one. Hopefully they'll have it online if you missed it.

You have to share if you got pranked or pulled any pranks today?