Another Interesting Read...

Recently I read the book 1984 by George Orwell. I was discussing it with a friend and she mentioned the book Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, published in 1932.  A couple weeks ago, I came across a letter written by George Orwell to Aldous Huxley. Apparently 1984 was inspired by Huxley's book.  That further peaked my interest in that book.  So alas, I found it online for less than $4.00.  1984 wasn't the easiest of novels to read, so I was slightly skeptical of the other book.

That said, I cruised through Brave New World in less than a week. I found it far easier to read than 1984 and even more fascinating. Let me just say the future "Utopian" society that is portrayed is messed up!!  What was really intriguing about the whole thing, is that in the same week, I read an article from the UK about a school banning best friends. And in this country where some school's are passing out condoms to 12 year olds. Both of these issues are "dealt" with in this book.

In the "advanced society" no one wants to deal with anything and they rely on a drug called "soma" to make everything better and live in "La-La Land."  It was very difficult to not see some parallels in Huxley's future society and the trends of today, 2012.  And it astounds me that this was written in 1932.  I recommend this to anyone who wants to read something that might "twist" your brain and make you think.

Onto a happier, chocolate subject. My new love is this:

Peanut butter overload. The serving size is four. But, if I eat four, that would equal 50% of my daily fat intake. OYE!!  I have rationed myself to two a day. They are soooooooooooooooo good. Damn you Gertrude Hawk for your yummy delicious chocolate candies!!!

That's it for now... Till next time.

4 a.m. -- I Hate You!

Dontcha just hate it when your 8 p.m. glass of water (or juice or wine or coffee or whatever) decides to wake you up at 4 o'clock in the morning?!?! I sure do! And then "the body" has the nerve to "wake up" at that time day after day after day. Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhh! And then you can't get back to sleep. And you have to be up at 6 a.m. to do the normal morning ritual...

And then there is an issue with "work" and emails to be sent and blah blah blah. You get my drift, I am sure.   I guess it will just be one of thoseeeeeeeeee days.

The Hunger Games (My Review.)

The hubby and I had a "free" day today and went to see "The Hunger Games."  We both read the entire trilogy a few months back and were anxiously awaiting our opportunity to check it out!  We were debating on taking C#1 and C#2, then decided that they weren't acting all excited to see it and C#2 hasn't read any of them (C#1 read book one, only.)

My quick review would be that it was a very well done movie.  I am wondering if I would have enjoyed it better if I hadn't read it.  I definitely understand the time restraints of a movie, but, it did feel a little bit lacking in detail.  There was just way too many details and specifics, that obviously didn't make it to the final cut.  I thought the actors were well cast and it was very enjoyable to watch despite it's shortcomings.  

After the movie the hubby and I nitpicked it too death and came to the conclusion that there was only so much the movie could do and they did what was needed. Maybe the next two installments will clarify some of the things that were glossed over from the first book.

My thoughts on taking the children. I think C#1 would have liked it, since he read it. C#2 would have probably been bored with the beginning, since it was setting up for the entire trilogy/story.  As far as violence goes, it wasn't too gory.  It might make for an interesting family discussion.  You definitely don't like the "bad guys."  But, I don't want to give anything away.  I will pick up the DVD once it is released and let them watch it with me.  Of course, this is all MY opinion, so please make sure you check the reviews and parent information before taking your children.  

Till next time....

March is back!!

I know, I know... The warm summer weather has been nice, but, have you actually thought what it means.

1. You must find the summer clothes you stuffed into the back of your closet. This means your entire wardrobe is in your room taking up space.

2. You have no idea what the temperature will be that day, if it's gonna rain or snow, be 40 or 80. Consistency, please!

And the most important concern of all:

3. How well do I have to shave my legs.

I have a habit of half-@ssing the job all throughout the winter months (and fall, too, truth be told.)  I was seriously going to have to do a "good" job and then the weather cooperated and turned back to March. Thank you.

I recently found a recipe online for some Oreo brownies. Welllllll, yesterday in the mad Easter candy shopping spree I grabbed a package of Oreos.  I will keep you posted on how that turns out. The recipe isn't very long, but, I think it's kind of involved. Of course, the challenge will be to NOT eat all of the oreos before putting them in the brownie batter.

Well that's it for this morning. I started early, so maybe you will all get lucky and get another bloggity blog later!

Till next time....

Oh... Easter Candy.

Dearest C#1 and C#2 have been pestering us for weeks about Easter candy. During this pestering I tried to understand and find out what is the point/meaning behind it. And the bunny?!? What does that have to do with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I "googled"  that very question and came up with some weird explanations.  But, that is just an aside.  I guess whatever makes people happy. Don't get me wrong. I do like Easter candy.  Especially these:

Some people like the creme filled eggs. ICK! Not me! I like the chocolate eggs with the chocolate creme. Double chocolate YUM!!!!!

But, now I have really meandered from the start of this blog.  The dearest hubby and I were at Walmart today, and I decided it was as good of a time as any to stock up on the upcoming "festivities."  Once we returned home we decided to break out a basket and have a "free-for-all" two weeks early. I should note that C#2 had a class sale for chocolates, which will definitely fill the coffers once this batch is quickly wiped out.

This is definitely NOT going to last that long.

In the past couple of weeks, I have "run" into a bunch of past high school classmates. What's really great about it all, is that since I am "friends" with them on Facebook, I already now their current situation.  I.E. They didn't get a good night sleep because their cat puked in their bed, or they ate a whole bag of chips (or candy or a whole cake or all of the above) and they feel the need to run 10 miles to work it off, or they are newly single and newly happy (or unhappy or rejoicing or content or whatever.)  The list goes on and on....  Everyone bashes FB, but, it has made these short mini "reunions" not so awkward and weird.

There are a few things that are slightly (sometimes more than slightly) annoying. You have those who emote about how wonderful their life is. "My life is perfect, everyone should be jealous of me and worship me, blah blah blah." My question for those peeps is -- if you're so dang happy why are you on FB ALL.OF.THE.TIME?! Hmmmmmmmm?!??!  Of course, I do spend too much time on FB, too. Maybe I'm a hypocrite. So sue me.  There is also the other side of the coin.  But, at least that side isn't braggin' all the time.  

Anywhooooo... Enough ranting about that. While I was "brainstorming" I packaged up my parcels for the post lady to pick up tomorrow. She's gonna love me (NOT) since, I scheduled a pick up. This was because of a very heavy priority mail box that will not fit in my mailbox or hang nicely off of the mailbox or anything like that.  Here's the beautiful pile:

I am sure I will be adding to it in the morning.

Till next time...

I survived!

The Mathalon. Not that I didn't think I would...

I decided to go to bed early-ish for me, Friday night. I had a slight headache and instead of taking something, I went to bed. I woke up before the alarm went off. This is a GREAT thing, since I can't get a clear radio channel, so it's fuzzy and loud  and very alarming (imagine that!) if it is required for the actual wake-up.

C#2 got up and she was fairly chipper. Although I think she woulda slept in, if given the chance.  She dressed in her required "uniform" (aka t-shirt) and was ready to compete!

She was ready to kick butt and take names! And poke your eye out with a sharpened pencil and bash you with her calculator! RRRRROOOAAARRRRR!!!

We got there super fast, since we live really close to this school. We were rewarded with front and center, awesome parking. But, we beat her entire team, so we had to chillax in the gym for a few minutes.

And I was right. The seats at this establishment looked like they might be better than your everyday wood gym benches, buttttttttt, they certainly weren't. They caused the same sore backside pain as the other seats.  I shoulda brought a chair cushion or something.

And then the quiet spectating, Mathalon commenced. Thankfully I did just start reading a good book and I did get a lot of it read. I will blog on that another day, when I'm done.

I also took the time to visit "concession" stand. They said, "Coffee for adults," and I got excited!  I brought a travel cup and it was empty. In between rounds I headed out and asked for a double order of coffee, since that was approximately the size of my cup and I didn't want a styrofoam cup.  Guess how much it cost?!!? Fifty whole cents! WhooHOOOO!! And it wasn't that bad. They had half and half and regular sugar, but, I always have a stash of fake sugar in my purse, so I was golden!   

This is what the gym looks like during the "intense" competition:

This event lasted about two hours and my dearest C#2 didn't win anything. She was very disappointed, but, I figured it was a life lesson learned. You can't/won't win everything. She was a crabby patty for about a half hour, but, then got over it.  I kept telling her she was one of six people in her grade picked for this thing. That is nothing to be upset about.

So there you have it. My early morning, sore butt adventure.

Till next time....

YOWCH! That hurts. And why do I start things I don't like to finish.

Since my dearest mother was coming over today, I decided to find something incredibly delicious to make for dessert. The theme was coffee. My thinking was to break out that last of the coffee crumble ice cream and make something worthy, since there is still a half of a half gallon of Vienna Mocha Chunk, that still needs eaten.  I whipped out my handy "Maxwell House" cookbook and found "Triple Mocha Brownies."  That's gotta be good, right?! Anywayyyyy.... After I baked the first brownie layer, I added the next sugary, coffee, chocolate layer.  I then grabbed the pan and realized IT.WAS.HOT!!!!! YOWCH!!! I'm trying to figure out if my brain is slow or if it is fast. The options are: 1. I was a dunce and grabbed it, when I knew it was hot. Therefore I'm slow. OR 2. I didn't drag it too far away from the oven, so I could plunk it back down without too much damage to me or the a pan. Therefore I am quick. Hmmmmmmmm..... I'm not sure I want any feedback on this. Becuzzzz, I am sure someone will say something smart@ss and say that I am in fact slow.

Needless to say the triple mocha brownies with the awesome coffee ice cream were DEEEEE-LICIOUS!!!!!!

And in case you cared. My fingers do NOT hurt. There were no lasting burns.  Thank you very much.

As I was getting the ingredients out to make this fine dessert, I finally came to the conclusion that I should organize the cupboards. There are three cupboards with three levels. The bottom two levels have the various spices, baking stuff, etc. The top level is full of miscellaneous crap that I haven't thrown away or can't part with. I figured I would kill two birds with one stone and organize the cupboards while baking the brownies, before my Mom showed up.  Upon pulling out most of the spices I realized that the contact paper that has been in there since like foreverrrrrrrrrrrrrrr is looking kinda grimy.  Who in the H-E-double hockey sticks wants to take the time and replace that mess?!?!!?  Certainly not me and my Mom was going to be there any second (any excuse will work for me at this point.)  I am all about half @ssing whenever possible. I stuffed everything back in there "correct" spots.

This is actually the neatest shelf. Everything fits just so, three deep.  

When I was hoeing out the cupboard I came upon some spices that I have no idea what they are for.  Beau Monde and coriander to name two. I have heard of coriander, but, not how to use it. I also found a full thing of curry powder. I must have been having an adventurous moment, when I bought it. But, I don't know what to do with that either. And who buys "brown gravy mix"?  Well, me. But, that is still sitting in there, very unused, too.

I also organized one of the shelf with tea and "Cup a Soups".  

I have yet to determine the "actual" expiration date on the soups. And I will NOT share what are written on the boxes, since they are "old."  And I will admit that I have had a few in the recent months. And I have not gotten sick or a belly ache or anything, so there! I was gonna throw them out, but, after googling it, decided that these were created as a "forever" food and I might need this in case of an apocalypse. Who doesn't need their trusty box of "Cup a Soup" when the sh*t hits the fan?!

Anywhoooooooooo onto another topic. C#2 has proven to be a math brainiac. I am not sure where that came from, since I need a calculator for everything!  She has a lovely Mathalon tomorrow and the note said in not so many words, "We are okay with you bringing folks to watch, but, this is a silent event, so bring a good book to read." You know what that spells?!?!? BORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRINGGGGGG!!  I have done this before with C#1, but, they were nice enough to pass out the math questions for the parents to try and figure out. Since there is no extra money for fun stuff like that now, we parents and other spectators have to entertain ourselves for however long this special event lasts. AND we have to be there at 8:15 a.m. on a Saturday. UGHHHHHHHHHH! For those of you who don't know me -- well, that really sucks for me.  I love to stay up late on the weekend and that clearly is NOT happening tonight.  The only good thing about the whole thing, is that the school where it's at is actually closer than C#1 and C#2's assigned school. Go figure.

Well, that's it for today. I will attempt to be better at blogging more rapidly in the future. But, no promises.

Till next time....

Coffee Cookie Crumble Ice Cream!

I actually look at the ads now and found a magnificent sale for Friendly's ice cream. 2 for $5.00!! Who doesn't like that?!?! I wasn't able to do my normal "get the sale at Walmart", since they don't carry that brand. Butttttt, I was going to meet my BFF for lunch and lo and behold that particular grocer was in the vicinity.  Well the outside case was bare, but, there was another section. This is what I bought:

Yes, I bought six. I would have bought more, but, the stupid store had a limit. Greedy B's!!!  

That evening we cracked into the Coffee Cookie Crumble. It was amazingly good. We equaled it to a jamocha shake you'd get at Arby's, but, with a touch more coffee taste. That makes it fabulous in my book!!

This week I made "Diner's Drive-ins and Dives" three cheese macaroni. This time I made sure to stay in the kitchen and pull the casserole out of the broiler within a couple minutes. I walked away the last time I attempted to make this and there were flames. BIG FLAMES!! If I wasn't worried about burning the house down or completely ruining dinner I would have taken a picture. The whole top of the casserole dish was on fire. I had to scrape the burned parts off and no one knew any different. Except C#1 who happened to witness that lovely debacle!  Anyway, enough about that... Here was the successful version:

ANDDDDDDD it tasted delicious!

Besides eating this past week there have been a LOT of band concerts. C#1 was picked for an "All County" event.  All of the groups played really great.  On a sad, side note, I was actually dreading going. Not so much C#1's part, but, the REST of it.  I know I am not the only one that goes to these events and are secretly jealous of the "awful" parents who get up and leave when their child's act is over. Thankfully, like I said, they all played really great, so I wasn't having too much of a problem (aka jealous feeling) towards the parents escaping once their children were done.  

Then yesterday was the school's spring concert. This one was short and sweet. Each band had 3 songs and they were off and on the stage lickety split. We were outta there in less than an hour. It was also C#2's band debut and she was very excited about that.  

C#2 was all about posing for the pictures and C#1 definitely was NOT! And when they were actually playing I couldn't even see C#2, but, alas C#1 was right in the front. Go figure!  I did get some pictures though. Threats are a beautiful thing.

I had a hankering for french onion soup today... I know it's supposed to be 60-70 degrees, but, I just don't care.  I have already had a bowl and am looking to have another VERY soon.

Till next time....

Breakfast of Champions? I think YES!

In my previous blog I mentioned the fact that I needed to find some reason to multi-task a trip to a neighboring area. I asked C#2 if she wanted me to pick up anything. She said please get these:

S'mores Poptarts. That sounds like the perfect food to start your day!  Ummmmm.... Not really. The 16 value pack and the splashy yellow "8 vitamins and minerals" convinced me otherwise. Well, again, not really.  Lucky for C#2 AND C#1, I don't get them up early enough to argue over what to eat for breakfast.  If they want to cram some marshmallow, pseudo healthy breakfast down their throats without any argument -- then be my guest!  And yes, I have bought my children the "Lucky Charms" cereal for breakfast, too. But, in my defense, it has been at least a year.  Hopefully the "food police" don't come to my house and try to feed my kids some mooshy chicken nuggets, in place of their super healthy Poptart!!   Just sayin'...  

Speaking of mornings. THIS morning C#1 decided it would be a good idea to move v------e-----r-----y s----l----o----w----l----y.  This made way for some raised voice yelling since he didn't even have his clothes on at 6:30. Seriously?!?  I then informed him he would need to use his alarm to get up. And then he decided to pitch a fit!  He smacked the alarm clock and proceeded to screech something that no one could understand.  With that he was "awarded" the beautiful prizes of 1. To bed early and 2. No TV or video games this afternoon.  He was not too pleased and I must say, I was rather annoyed.

THEN, this afternoon he needed clarification of his morning punishment. After reciting punishments #1 and #2 he proceeded to say, "This is the WORST day EVER!"  

Mission accomplished......  I think I got my point across. He went to bed earlier than he needed to and was the perfect little child for most of the afternoon/evening.  All I can say is it was a job well done (on my part.)

Till next time.... 

I am the best wife EVAAA!

My darling hubby pre-ordered the video game Mass Effect 3.

 He was very excited to get it and informed me it was going to be in on Tuesday. Meaning ---- can you get it for me. I was justttttt over in that area on Friday and had no real reason to go out. With gas prices at almost $4.00 a gallon, I definitely needed to multitask this trip or that game gets even more expensive by the mile!

Hmmmmmmm.... What to do?! What to do?!  AHHAAAA!  I would just invite myself over to my folks' house. I'd get free coffee and breakfast. And I would be half way to my destination.  I called my Mom and she gave me a green light for the invasion. WhooHoo!

Then, I had to figure out what else I could do to make the trip more worth my while.  C#1 and C#2 were annoyed at me last night, because I put a cease and desist order on the chocolate mint ice cream.  C#1 has turned into a bottomless pit and has no sense of "sharing" or making sure it's okay to eat IT ALL!  And then C#1 informed me that we having nothing to eat for breakfast. Seriously?!  What he should have said is, "I am picky and miserable in the morning and nothing will make me happy."  He has taken to eating applesauce on a regular basis. I buy the small single serve containers for their lunches and he had finished those off the night before. So I asked the darling child if he would like me to purchase some more of those. He said, "Yes."  And settled for a cereal bar.  All that to say, I had done some multitasking magic! I had found a reason to hit my favorite Sam's/Walmart combo.  And I should mention that the hubby had asked for some "good and plenty" candy, which means I would have to go to Walmart to purchase that healthy item.

I am happy to report that I hit the game store, got the game, hit my favorite consignment shop, consigned six items, looked through the clothes, bought NOTHING (don't faint), cashed a postal money order, and bought some booze in 30 minutes time! Then I buzzed through Sam's club. Bought the applesauce and some other stuff and spent less than $50.00!!! Another true MIRACLE!! THEN I went to Walmart and saved $2.60 with this week's ads. I got $1.00 a dozen eggs and $2.00 a bag cheese. And then I bought that mint ice cream, so that everyONE could have some with brownies. I had  a small bowl of it this evening and it was A-MAZING!

It took some major self control to NOT buy oreos, since I happened upon a oreo cookie brownie recipe. I thought it would be better for my health and my butt, if I just left them at the store.

What makes this multitask trip even better is that I was home before 12:30, so I had plenty of time to get some work done!! Of course, I couldn't stop procrastinating. I am not really sure what my problem was. I still have piles and piles and piles of books. This is one of the nearest many stacks:

I am happy to report that sales are going great. Although, I am not sure my mail lady is really appreciating it. I mail them media mail and they are hea-vvvvy!! I still have tonsssssssssssssssssssssssss in my library/junk room.

I am also almost done reading the book They Thought They Were Free. 

It was an interesting read. Not an easy one. I could see quite a few parallels in the German community and in our present day US of A. Thankfully I'm almost done, since, my interest is waning a bit.  On a side note, I brought this book with me to Panera a couple weeks back.  The cover is a little bit alarming, if you don't realize what it's about.  It started up a conversation with a random stranger, who was a history teacher. Her parents were from Germany and she had some interesting things to say.

Anyway, there you have it. What I've been up to for the last couple of days.

Till next time....

Why yes. I do like to eat.

You must all think all I do is eat, watch movies and hang out with my BFFs. I wish! But, that is what I am going to blog about, yet again. So deal!

I was watching a daytime cooking show and the chef made a meatloaf wrapped in bacon. I finally got around to doing it and this is what it looked like....

It was good, but, kind of dense, since I cooked it in a loaf pan. Next time I will use a casserole for a thinner meatloaf and maybe get more bacon taste.

And alas this was my BFFs last week and she was kind enough to drop by for one last time. I made a feta cheese quiche and it was delicious. I also made "diner" wild berry muffins.  They look weird, because I mistakenly melted the butter and when they baked it flattened them out a bit. But, they do taste amazing!!

My BFF brought a yummy strawberry muffin, Cadbury Eggs and some juice.  Everything was fantastic!

We were determined to have a "drama" free goodbye, but, we weren't completely successful.  It is so hard to say goodbye to such a great BFF.  Thankfully there is Facebook and other means of communication, so it won't feel soooooo awful. Also she didn't move to the Mars or anything, so we will obviously visit each other in the future.

And then today, I got to hang out with my other BFF and we had a tasty lunch at a local restaurant.  I ordered cream of broccoli soup which was delicious and then we split two focaccia sandwiches.  One was portabella mushroom and the other hot spinach. They were fantastic, too. I actually took a picture of those.

Then we went to my favorite store combo Sam's/Walmart and spent all sorts of money. And it was all sorts of fun. Who'd a thought shopping could be so enjoyable?!?!  But, I have said I do love Walmart (and Sam's).  I am easy to please...

I have also started to re-watch the show "The Tudors." I have no idea how truthful it is. But, if it is, King Henry VIII has a voracious sexual appetite, which would tire anyone out. AND I am so glad I am not married to a King, for fear of losing my head. I clearly would not have done well in that time period.  I am far too stubborn and opinionated for my own good. Of course, Jonathan Rhys Meyers is nice to look at at, so maybe it woulda worked. Although I don't think the real King Henry the VIII was as nice to look at, so scratch that!

So there you have it. The last couple of days in a nutshell. 

Till next time......