Saturday in Pictures

PART ONE: My Husband Thinks I'm a Pack Mule

See this lovely pile of dead trees, brush, and vines? They were all cut from the perimeter of our back yard. Then they were strapped together. Then they were pulled up the hill. By me. (Ok, J did some (a lot, most) of it, but still! Do you know what he said to me? "Turn around, now put this over your shoulder. Now pull, it's easier!" I think the neighbors watched for entertainment. At least the edge of our back yard looks pretty now. (Not that any one else on the street cares about their yards.)

Part Two: Sorority Alumni Spring Cocktail

Saturday night was also the Spring Cocktail for my sorority alumni group. We had our party at the Regas, a very old and fancy pancy restaurant in town. It's a very nice and elegant place to have such an event. The cocktail hour and dinner were both fabulous. J and Mr. S managed to make sure it was "rednecked up" just a bit. Perhaps that is why A and I fell in love with them. Can I just say that my husband's wit was on this weekend? He didn't miss a beat with anything he said.
For example, Mrs. H's (3rd from left) husband was unable to attend due to his work schedule this weekend. I shared J with her since he and Mr. H are nearly clones. I think she felt as if he were there. Especially when he made the endearing comment (to the host/waiter) "No, we're looking for her a date. Don't worry, you're off the hook, we met your wife on the way in." Yeah, he was cut off from blue moon after that.
Here are some of my favorite girls and there husbands: Mr. and Mrs. S and Mr. and Mrs. Y.

Again with Mrs. S and Mrs. Y. I adore these lovely ladies. (Yes, Mrs. S looks different without the margarita glass in front of her.)

J and I before we left. We clean up ok, especially after the morning of being a pack mule! And I did got a bit fancy on the hair, but I used this as an opportunity to practice for a couple of weddings I'm in this summer and fall. Not shabby for about 15 minutes, and it held all night. After the party we continued our own patio cocktail by building a fire (with cake, ice cream, wine, beer, and Jack Daniels. Mrs. S will not have a party without her old friend Jack!) with the S's and Y's until the wee hours of the morning.

Drinking, Gambling, and Drinking & Gambling

I love my monthly night of Bunco (bunko? drunko?) with a dozen or so of my favorite girls. It really is the little things in life that make me happy: bunco, wine, cheese cubes. (Oh how I love cheese cubes.) So last night was Bunco and it was a rather enjoyable time of wine, cheese, dice, and gambling. Especially because I won. And brought home a pocket full of cash.

Now taking suggestions on what to do with my new found (drunken/gambling)* wealth.

*I know this post is making my dad and grandparents proud. Hey wait, my pappy would probably enjoy it if I threw in some whiskey.

Quote of the Week (a la Bri)

My girlfriend Bri and I are in a wedding this fall. She was calling the dress shop with her measurements for her bridesmaids dress. The man (?) on the phone was perplexed at what she told him and asked (and I am not kidding) "Are you a box?" I would think even idiot would no better than to say any such thing to a woman! However the ever so lovely and clever Bri came back with:

"No sir, I am a lady. I've had a couple of kids and things aren't where they used to be, but I'm a lady, not a box. Are you?"

I love it!

Summer Swap '07

Who wants to do a fun summer swap? Whoa! No ambushing me please. Form a single file line, there will be room for everyone! For complete details go visit my friend Jenny by clicking the button above.

If you want to play along email me (address to the right) or Jenny (email in the complete details on her blog) with your physical address, shoe size, and favorite color. We're going to partner everyone up and let the fun begin. You'll collect summer items that spell out the word SUMMER and try to include a pair of flip flops!

I hope you all want to participate. Maybe we'll even have a virtual toast with real wine at the end.

Breaking the Blonde Sterotype

Last night my friend A (who is a Mrs. M as well but this is my blog and I'll be the Mrs. M so for now she is A.) and I had a JL meeting downtown. We were chatting in the parking garage as we were leaving and I finally got to my car and it was dead. Wouldn't turn at all, would not respond to the key or anything. It could be worse, I suppose it could have been stolen.

Luckily A (who is a redhead) was lost looking for her car so she was able to come to my rescue, once she found her car. I (brunette) bring the trusty jumper cables out of my trunk and we're ready to go. Except that we aren't. Why? Well because in all our grown-up, adult, college-educated, genius, young, professional women brains, we apparently lack common sense. You need to raise the little red rubber pieces on the positive side and make a metal to metal connection. Yes, thank you! Thankyouverymuch!

This actually comes as a shock to me since I'm a very girl scout kinda girl in an "always be prepared" mode. I remember once in college my little red rocket saved a couple of guys in a dually truck with her jumper cables....and I was the one that knew how to use them. I can also change a tire and change my own brakes. My dad made me learn how. He was there supervising and all, but made me do it. I've determined that getting married has made me retreat to damsel in distress. I no longer have to worry about car or home repair issues, so I don't. And dare I say it I don't even touch the financial stuff. J is a financial, number crunching, guru and I'm perfectly happy just bouncing along finding red shoes on sale.

And as an added coincidence just this week I took a host of books to the local book swap shop. Probably 8 of my 10 trade-ins were of the girl power, do-it-yourself variety that I know find boring and pointless rather than enlightening and educating.

And that brings me to think "Damn! I'm married!" Never in a million years did I think that I would be very happily married and loving it at my current ripe old age. (I'm fairly certain that if you ask Southern Girl, she'll agree that she too is equally as shocked!) Hey wait, given the fact my dad made me learn all the stuff on my own....perhaps he didn't have much hope for me either. Hmm....

Don't just leave me here to to sulk in my idiot moment. Give me yours!

Crab and Shrimp Stuffed Rolls

This recipe is scrumptious! It's perfect for a hot summer evening. J and I like it with corn on the cob and salad. I nearly felt like I was on the dining on the coast in Charleston!

Crab and Shrimp Stuffed Rolls

1 pkg hard rolls, hollowed (I used onion pita bread)
1 pkg crab or tuna and shrimp
1/2 c spanish olives, chopped
1-2 tsp mayonnaise
1-2 c shredded cheese (I used cheddar and a casserole blend)
chopped or grated onion to taste (more or less depending on what you like)
salt and pepper

Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Mix all above ingredients and stuff in rolls. Bake for 20-30 minutes.

A little competitive?

My husband and I can be a little competitive. And by a little, I mean a lot.

Last night we were unwinding from a busy weekend and being out of town. We decided to enjoy the lovely weather and our lovely patio. We had a little beer and wine and sat outside with some candles. Everything was fine until we decided to play a card game. Does anyone else like Phase 10? Well, perhaps Phase 10 was a bad idea for us.

The words "alimony" and "division of assets" were used. A lot.

By the way, I won in a final round of "winner takes all" in which we repeated phase 4 that I should have not let him back up on because he made a big mistake.

There now, it says on the Internet that I won. And we all know if you read it on the Internet, it must be true.

Sharing a Scrapbook

Here are a few of the pages I made for my little brother's scrapbook* that I gave him for Christmas. He's (choke, gasp) THIRTEEN! (Boohoo!). I was a built in babysitter since I was 12. I've been his biggest fan his entire life. I was a senior in high school when he started kingergarten and loved that I could pick him up from school. He was a cool kid because his sister could drive and picked him up, not his parents. (Well, there was that stinkin' kid who kept saying I was too old to be a sister.) When I went to college I'd always go home for his ball games, boy scout things, school plays, and just to eat lunch with him in the (4 star!) elementary school cafeteria! One day I even took him McDonalds. That is so against the rules, but I played dumb. In case you couldn't already tell, I adore my little brother!

He's endured a lot in his young life. Our grandmother died suddenly when he was in kingergarten. Our granddad never left our house (although he wouldn't admit that he lived with us) from that day on. Grandad was little brother's best friend! Granddad had a great banking system, too. You could give him a $5 or $10 bill to "hold for you" and it would always come back as a $20! Granddad died at our house when little brother was in 4th grade, he was ten. Then, exactly 10 months to the day later, our dad died too. As if that's not enough for the child, his (fine, our) mother is (nicely put) certifiable. Seriously, not fit to be a mother. I can't remember the last time she was not in a drug/alcohol induced stupor. Little brother endures a lot in his daily life and it breaks my heart that I can't do anything about it. (And just FYI, having him removed from home and obtaining custody isn't so easy. Been there. Done That.)

For a myriad of reasons, I don't get to see little brother on the regular basis that I would like. However I want him to know the love that his family has for him. By the time he's my age, he'll have lived longer without his dad, than with him. I worry he won't remember him or his grandparents. I want him to have pictures and memories that he can always reflect on. Thus, I present with a few of the 60 pages I put together. (Some you click on and make bigger, and some you can't...I have no idea...)

*I'm a very basic scrapbooker. Pretty paper, scissors, glue, stickers, the end. I know it doesn't even compare to some of the fancy schmancy scrapbookers of the world, but I like it. And my 13 year old audience adored it, so mission accomplished! There are splotched areas where I removed names. Please ignore my horrid hair and fashion skills.

Busted

My darling (lovely, wonderful, very pretty, smells nice most of the time) husband is back in town and at the office. I just got this email from him:

Cupcake I just looked at your blog….is there anything you need to tell me?

Go ahead Internet, tell him how sad and lonely I've been this week and how I had to console myself in pretty, wedged, peep-toed, red things for my little piggies.*

*Honey, they were a good deal at only $14.99! Isn't that great? I felt as if I were stealing them at that price. I mean, seriously, they threw them at me as I walked past the door!

An Informal Poll

One:
It's a lovely day outside. Who thinks I should blow off this silly little thing called work and go enjoy it?

Two:
I missed my hubby so much that I should buy him a dog. Yes/no?

Three:

These cute little things were an absolute necessity, yes?

Time on my hands

Having to much time on my hands stresses me out nearly as much as having too much to do. When I have a large open time frame (which to me could be three or four hours of an afternoon) of no plans I immediately make a mental list of what I could do, fun project things to do, not housework things to do. I feel such an urge to be productive. So while J is out of town* for a few days I think of all the things I could do (besides water the plants honey, I'm all over that!).

I have several projects I could work on the new purse design that I've not quite mastered. I could work on my online store a bit (coming soon!). I also have a few clothing items that need mended (boring!). I have a few birthday gifts I'm in the process of making. I could start on the cute invitations for Mrs. O-to-be's shower next month. So many possibilities! See where the stress comes in? What should I do? I have to breathe into a paper bag just because I want to do a project!

Of course, I could always just go shopping. I could buy those red shoes I've been coveting. Then, I could totally blame it on the fact that I was all alone and needed to console myself. Right?

Does anyone else get the productive jitters like I do? (Mrs. Flinger, this seems like you considering we're both OCD, anal-retentive, list-lovers.) What hobbies or projects do you do when you have time? What hobbies or projects would you like to do? Who thinks I should go buy red shoes?

*Not that having him in town cramps my style, it's just that I don't have those large open time frames all to myself.

And I continue to whine...

You made it past the title? Good! You can have wine with me. J is out of town for Three. Whole. Days. I know, I know, some of you have husbands that are out of town more frequently than he is and for long times and.....but this is different. This is my husband. Now I have to get the mail, and water the flowers (those poor flowers, relying on me), and plus the house seems so big when I'm there all alone.

I'm sure I'll stay busy. For example, tonight, I'm going back to Kroger to give them the apple juice that I bought that is fermented and more apple cider vinegar. Then again, maybe I can add some barley and hops and put it on the menu. Um, and I can paint my toenails.

So would someone like to come by with wine? and cheese? and chocolate? Ooooh, and what about mashed potatoes? I mean, I mean I know that isn't the usual but mashed potatoes sound like a good choice for dinner tonight, yes?

Speaking of, how do you like your mashed potatoes? I like them smashed, peel on, with garlic.

And I Weep

Reflecting upon this moment last year I was cruising international waters, lounging poolside, soaking up the Caribbean sun, listening to an island band and enjoying a pretty little drink with an umbrella.

But alas, today I am in an office chair, in front of the computer, beneath fluorescent lights, hearing middle aged men who act like drama ridden 7th grade girls, needing more coffee.

This makes me want to cry real tears.

Tonight, We're Fancy

J and I are attending a garden party tonight. It's a Gatsby-esque 20's theme complete with a jazz band, black and white silent movies, a cigar girl, and martini bar! The words "free beer" and "free beer" were all it took to entice my husband that spending Friday night dressed-up at a social event was a good idea. However this event is also a fundraiser and the ticket prices made him have a bit of a conniption. So he has affirmed that he will dutifully place himself next to the buffet table with beer in hand at all times of the night to ensure he gets his Mr. Franklin's worth. I've pointed out to him that I spent more than this on our second date when I took him to my senior sorority formal. He pointed out to me that we didn't have a mortgage then and he bought me a large diamond for my left hand. But this is a fundraiser so half is tax deductible. Good reason, yes?

J and I don't get out much (you might have guessed) so an evening social event where I get to dress up has me giddy with excitement. Plus, I'm looking forward to meeting some of the boyfriends/fiances/husbands of the wonderful ladies that I've met this year in JLK. I have already pre-determined that they are all suitable for friendship with my husband. See, I've put myself out there for the greater good! The majority of our friends live in different states so I've sacrificed myself to finding us some local, fun, newlywed couples with whom we can be friends.
Awesome of me, right?

Bottom line, it's downright difficult to make friends when you're not in school. Even harder? Finding a suitable person to date. I'd always done that in class. Get the girl out of school and she knows not how to handle herself. We have friends from our community group at church, but no one that we really spend time with outside of related functions. We also have friends at work, but that's a fine line of being too friendly. There is one lady from the office that I spend time with outside of work but J hasn't met her husband yet.

How do you meet people? How social are you? Do you go out often or are you more of a homebody? How do you find people to date? Maybe it's just my town, but there's not much of a singles scene outside of the raunchy bars.

Ok, I'm going to go continue to be excited about my strapless garden party dress with cute pink heels!

Home Grown Hero

Have you heard of Jesco White? You know, The Dancing Outlaw? Well, you'll be excited to know he's from my neck of the woods. Yes, I'm a West Virgina girl and Jesco live(s/ed) rather close to where the majority of my family still resides.

My husband only learned of the Dancing Outlaw recently, and from a guy at work. He was very upset and disappointed that I'd not introduced him to Jesco before now. We watched both documentaries last night including the cut out, unreleased scenes. It was rather interesting and rather entertaining. He talked all about his childhood and his mother, Birty Mae, and wife, Norma Jean were also featured telling parts of the story. You hear all about Jesco's childhood including two stints in juvenile detention. He talks of his love for Elvis and his past drug addiction. He also had a guest spot on Roseanne in the 90s.

I think people not from rural Appalachia tend to see it with their jaw dropped in awe. Again, Jesco has a very interesting life story, and it's true. Sadly, everyone capitalized on Jesco's fame, except for Jesco. His current conditions are the same as those featured in the documentary.

You can read more about him here. You can see Jesco dancing here. Hear Jesco talk about sloppy eggs. This is a news clip. Visit YouTube and search for Jesco White or The Dancing Outlaw. Go search it out, you won't be disappointed. J was enamored. It's official, if I cave and we get a dog, he will most likely be named Jesco.

Go ahead, tell me how much you love Jesco White, The Dancing Outlaw. Had you ever heard of him before? Share with all of us your own home-grown heroes.

Quasimodo

There was a health fair at my office yesterday. It was nice because participation was encouraged and that meant I could gallivant about and be away from my desk a large part of the morning. There were handfuls of screenings, tests, and even massages. That, by far, was the best part.

My former place of employment had an event such as this, too, which was my first infamous encounter with a chiropractor. Yesterday, I had another such encounter. Not only is my right leg about an eighth to quarter inch shorter than my left, my feet have no arches. None. at. all. Because of this I put pressure on the whole bottom of my feet, especially the outsides. This will apparently cause knee pain, followed by hip pain, followed by arthritis in the back. Furthermore, I have bad posture. Apparently my shoulders walk two steps in front of me and the rest of my body just tries to keep up.

That's right Internet, I'm falling apart and expected to be the hunchback by the middle of next week.

The funny part? The chiropractor was giving me the whole spill of treatments, options, blah blah blah and assured he could take away any pain and asked me where I felt it most. What pain? I'm fine! Seriously, the only pain is on my poor mind that come next week I'm going to be hobbling. I've opted not to "treat" my many, many quirks listed above. The first encounter with the chiropractor led me to his office for a couple of weeks. I decided it was crap and quit going. Hey, I was young and naive and had insurance for the very first time in five years. You betcha I went to his office twice a week!

Now, I'd like your humble opinion on chiropractors and chiropractic care. If you don't have one, tell me your quirks and what is going to cause your to stumble up the bell tower with me.

A lot of people lost money

Why? Because I'm certain J and I made it far past speculation with the celebratory one year anniversary. We had a great weekend that started Thursday. We went to a baseball game (using paper tickets), Friday night we had dinner at a favorite cafe (using a paper coupon), we drove around perusing garage sales Saturday morning (looking for paper signs), had dinner at another favorite restaurant on Saturday night(the menus were paper?), went hiking on Sunday (referencing a paper map), then got a milkshake at our favorite deli (ok, semi-grease pit but the cup was paper!), and finished off Sunday night by attending a birthday party for the preacher who married us. He's a great family friend and became ordained just to marry us. We always celebrate big events with the H family. We had a fabulous weekend and had fun relating everything to paper.

As for gifts, we're getting our passports (paper!).

Thanks for all of your well wishes! Next year is clocks. I suppose we'll have a full on Flava Flav extravaganza.

One Day Blog Silence

Monday, April 30 is reserved for the One Day Blog Silence to honor and remember the victims of the Virginia Tech tragedy. No posting, no commenting, just silence. I hope you choose participate.

The best of times, the worst of times

I was told this week that the second year of marriage is the hardest. (It was followed with a "so, good luck with that" given that my second year is about to start.) I've also been told the first year is the hardest. And also that if you make it past the fifth, you're doing fine. Well, my grandparents proved the latter wrong by divorcing after 40 years. (I know, you're thinking what the? So did I.)

J and I had an easy first year I'd say. It was definitely a learning experience and I feel like I learn something about him everyday. We also had extra stresses that could have been potentially harmful to our relationship with the craziness that is my uterus donor. We've never really had a fight, just the discussion of what would be the biggest fight ever. Sure we have disagreements or arguments, but really it's just when one of us is already in a bad mood. We're both pretty quick to say "I'm a crabby pants, you probably don't wanna be around me."

I'm sure it won't always be this easy for us, and perhaps next year will bring about difficult challenges. However, I have tremendous faith that we're going to survive whatever comes our way. Giving my family history, divorce is one of my biggest fears. However J and have already decided that it would be too expensive, and why divorce if we could have the golden opportunity to be miserable together forever. Now that's love!

So back to all seriousness, what was your hardest year or time in your marriage. You don't have to give great detail to the whole Internet, just a little advice or insight. Also for the newlyweds like myself, what have been your challenges and learning experiences or what do you fear the most? For the singles out there, what are the biggest challenges in your dating life?

Go ahead, discuss.

Dress Up Clothing or Lingerie

Remember how I feel about trends, horrible trends, my fashionable future? Well now I'm going to tell you how I feel about little girls dress up clothes.

A sweet little girl I babysit for recieved a dress up trunk for her birthday. Not just a dress up trunk, but a Disney Princess dress-up trunk. She was so excited to show me all of her goodies and for me to "ooh" and "ahh" over her as she modeled her new wardrobe for me.

Only I nearly fell out of my chair.

The clothing in this trunk was only fit for a woman in the bedroom! Snow White's dress was a tube top with a choker and little cuffs to fit just on your wrists. Cinderella was a tube top (as in bandeau with the tummy hanging out) and separate little puffed "sleeves" for the shoulders. Both outfits boasted micro mini skirts. Sleeping Beauty and Belle were equally appalling. It was atrocious! I kept wondering where the fishnet stockings were because it would have been very appropriate for the outfits/costumes.

I don't have children yet, but moments like this make me vow to dress them only in long plaid skirts, turtlenecks, and knee socks. Apparently society has already decided that sexy is ok for today's youth, but how much sexy is too sexy for children?

What do you consider too much/over the top/totally inappropriate for children (toddlers through teens)?

Pickled or Stewed?

I've returned from the long weekend in the mountains with the entourage of friends known as the bracelet girls. It was a good time, especially once Mrs. Y got over the "wait, wait, wait, a minute. We really are staying in a cabin in the mountains? Huh?"

I'm not sure if I'm pickled from the copious amounts of wine consumed or stewed from the countless hours spent in the hot tub into the wee hours of the night.

We dined on pasta and had wine with chocolates, grapes, and strawberries. Ok fine, by Sunday morning Mrs. S and I were drinking white zinfandel out of a box, and eating oreos and canned squeeze cheese on crackers. Yes, we are a class act. Of course, you already knew that about her.

When we weren't wine tasting (yes, that's what it was, wine tasting) we were entertained chit chatting and playing catch-up on our lives. We also hiked a couple of trails, spent time at the lake, and shopped a little one evening (where I got a navy and cream sailor striped shirt at the Gap for a whopping $1.97. Thank you, thank you very much!).

Oh, and Mrs. S had a fabulous quote one day. But I've forgotten it. If you've read above, then I'm sure you understand.

Anniversaries

J and I will celebrate our FIRST wedding anniversary next Sunday (29th). We were married in a state park and will most likely go there for hiking, picnicking, frolicking... The jury is still out as to if we're going to camp or not. We are going to make the tradition to be traditional with anniversary gifts as well. That said, I think the certification that goes with the diamonds in the anniversary band that I want counts as paper, yes? However our splurge will probably be our passports for our upcoming vacation. Exciting, I know.

Tell me what you did for your first anniversary and what your favorite anniversary memory or celebration has been. What do you do for gifts or do you even exchange gifts? What do you hope to get for your anniversary in the semi near future (*cough, honey I really love that anniversary band and it would look ever so lovely on my pretty little finger and also a manicure to go with it, cough!*) Anyone have creative suggestions for "paper" gifts for our first anniversary? I mean if you can think of something that I might like from J, he can read all about it in the comments.

Busy Me Equals Recipes For You

I feel as if I've been on an endless run for several days now. J and I had visitors for the weekend and first part of last week, the weekend brought about babysitting and lunch with the S's followed by a cold afternoon in the hot tub for Mrs. S and me. I've also been finishing up monogramming orders. This week has been busy as well as I've tried to clean and organize for the weekend. Tonight I'm hosting Bunco and will leave work early on Friday to pick up Mrs. Y and head to the lake cabin in middle Tennessee to meet Mrs. S where we will then all go to the Nashville Airport to pick up the other Mrs. M and Mrs. G. I've been making hors d'oeuvres for Bunco and also premake dishes for our girls weekend. Dishes that go well with wine. Lots and lots of wine. So for you dear readers, here are four great pasta recipes. I'm making the lasagna and chicken and pasta this week, and the others are just things I love! My school of cooking is a pinch of this and dash of that, so you may want to play with the recipes. Enjoy!

Tortellini Soup
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 to 8 cloves garlic, chopped
4 cups homemade or low-salt chicken broth
6 ounces fresh or frozen cheese tortellini
14 ounces canned diced tomatoes, with their liquid10 ounces spinach, washed and stemmed; coarsely chopped if large8 to 10 leaves basil, coarsely chopped Grated Parmesan, preferably Parmigiana Reggiano
Directions:
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Add the tortellini and cook halfway, about 5 minutes for frozen pasta, less if using fresh. Add the tomatoes and their liquid, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook just until the pasta is tender. Stir in the spinach and basil and cook until wilted, 1 to 2 minutes. Serve sprinkled with the grated cheese. It's also tasty with cheese quesedillas. Yum! **Makes about 6 hefty servings.

The C-S Family Lasagna Recipe
Ingredients
2 boxes of Lasagna Noodles Uncooked
1 Large Jar of Ragu – Meat or Traditional Sauce
1 Large Jar of Ragu – Chunky Mushroom
1 Large Can of Sliced Mushrooms
1 Large Can of Diced Garlic Tomato and Onions
1 Large Can of Diced Tomatoes
1 Pound of Ground Beef (Ground Chuck is best if available)
1 Large Container of Ricotta Cheese
1 Large Container of Small Curd Cottage Cheese
1 Container of Parmesan Cheese
1 Large Bag of Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1 Large Bag of Shredded Swiss cheese
1 Large Bag of Shredded Italian Cheese mix
Garlic Salt
Salt
Pepper

Directions
Sauce
Start with the sauce first because it needs time to simmer and blend together.
Empty both Ragu containers into a large pot
Drain mushrooms then add to sauce
Add both cans of diced tomatoes
Add drained browned ground meat into the mixture. (When browning the meat, season with pepper and garlic salt)
Season with garlic salt, pepper, salt, and Parmesan cheese

Stir all ingredients together on medium to high heat until the mixture begins to bubble. After bubbling, stir, continue to season to taste, and cover so it can simmer.

Filling
In a large mixing bowl beat the following ingredients: (I use my KA blender to get the smoothest texture)
Ricotta Cheese
Cottage Cheese
Mozzarella Cheese
Swiss Cheese
Parmesan Cheese
Egg
Italian Cheese Mix
A pinch of pepper and salt
Mix all ingredients to a smooth paste like mixture

Putting It All Together

Layer of Marinara sauce into the bottom of a large lasagna pan
Layer of Uncooked Noodles (The noodles will cook in the marinara sauce and will keep from being soupy)
Layer of cheese mix completely covering the noodles.
Layer of Shredded Mozzarella Sauce

Repeat this process until your pan is full. On the last layer add a layer of marinara sauce, and then cover with Parmesan and shredded cheese.

Baking
Bake the lasagna in a preheated oven at 425 degree for approximately an hour. Cook until a knife can cut the lasagna. **Makes a hearty large dish. About 10 Servings.

TUNA NOODLE CASSEROLE
Ingredients
1 or 2 cans of tuna
1 can of cream of mushroom soup (ok I use cream of anything I have around)
Splash of Milk
Egg Noodles or Bow Tie Pasta
Onion
Shredded Cheese, I prefer swiss

DIRECTIONS
Cook pasta until nearly done. Drain and return to pot. Add tuna, milk, soup, and finely chopped onion. (I also add a little garlic). Mix well. Place in small casserole dish (8x8) and top with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-30 mins. **Makes 4 servings.

Cold Chicken and Pasta
Ingredients
1 pkg vermicelli pasta
1 lb chicken
1 jar artichoke hearts
1 onion
1/2 cup sugar
6 tbs red wine vinegar
1/4 c. of oil
Chicken bouillon cubes
Basil (4 tsp?)
6 tsp lemon juice
3 tsp (Lawry's) season salt

Directions
Cook chicken in water with 3/4 diced onion and chicken bouillon cubes. While cooking, make the dressing. When chicken is finished remove from pot but keep the now made chicken stock. Add noodles to the stock for cooking. Allow chicken to cool and cut in small chunks or shred. When noodles are finished drain completely and put on top of chicken. Poor dressing over pasta and chicken. Take artichokes and squeeze over sink one at a time. Once drained they should easily crumble on top of pasta. Toss together. NOTE: This works great to put in a bowl with a lid so you can shake it up really well. Best if it sits over night. (You can eat it hot, but it's meant to be cold and I think it's best that way.) Also when cherry tomatoes are in season I slice a few on the top. Delicious! ** Makes several small snack sized portions or 6-8 dinner sized portions.

Dressing
Combine in bowl: oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, basil, season salt, sugar, and remainder of onion grated. Wisk. Set aside to poor over hot noodles.

The Eye Funk

Last week I came down with an eye funk. Seriously, there were clowns, camels, and carnivals all taking up residence in my eyes. Yuck! They were light sensitive, red and watery, and felt constantly like there was sand in them. It wasn't "pink eye" because I've had that before. I resisted the temptation to go to Web MD for fear I'd come down with a number of other maladies along the way. So I sucked it up and made an emergency appointment at the eye doctor's office.

First of all, I had to refill all of the paperwork because the last doctor I'd seen had left and took his records with him. Does anyone else find that odd? Shouldn't those records be in a computer? Shouldn't the actual office have the right to retain a copy? This makes me want to switch eye doctors again. I'm desperately trying to find someone and stick with them. (I'm also considering switching gynecologists. I think I'm going to stick it out with the dentist (even though I think he over charges me for being a pain), but mostly because Mrs. S's mom works there and I can cry if I want to! But seriously, I'd like to find some people and stick with them.)

Anyway, thirty minutes and thirty dollars later I'm told I have a virus (conjunctive-retinal-something or another----mimosa??) and that there is no treatment but to suck it up and use some drops. Great. Just great. I mean all of the above feels really pleasant when I'm at a computer for 85% of my day. So I continued to drive around with one eye open (thankfully the right eye. I'm legally blind in my left. At any rate, stay off of the pike....) adding drops, feeling like I'm ready for the carny to pack up and leave.

But to get to my point, I've not been able to wear make up for the past week and still cannot for a couple of days. I feel like I look a little frightening. I'm a full on eye make-up kind of gal (pipe down, I'm not a high maintenance kind of person.) At the very least I never leave the house without mascara and lip gloss. On the bright side, I've shaved ten minutes off my morning routine because I can totally put on lip gloss while driving (with one eye open...). This has been kind of nice. Since summer is fast approaching I'll be paring down my daily routine because I feel so hot, sticky, and gross with the melting sun upon my painted on face, so I suppose this has been a good start.

But since I'm missing wearing make up, I'd like to talk about it. Would you be so kind as to tell me about your normal make-up/getting ready/morning routine. To be fair, I'll go first.

I have to dry my hair (which I loathe) or flatten or curl it if I went to bed with it wet because I have about 49 cowlicks. On days I do morning washes I don't curl or anything because it takes so. long. to. dry. my. hair. And I hate hair dryers.

For my face I use moisturizer with sunscreen all over my face and neck. Next I add concealer to the big black bags beneath my eyes and on any blemishes my darling face has incurred. (There is this red dot on my cheek that will. not. go. away! It's not a zit or anything, just an annoying dot.) Next, I put on liquid make-up over the entire face. Truthfully I skip this step 75% of the time. But then I always add on a layer of loose powder with a big fluffy brush. I sometimes (40% of the time) will add a little blush. I'm kinda rosy anyway so this step isn't really that necessary. Next, I start on the eyes. I use eyeliner, followed by several colors of eye shadow (at least 2, usually three or four) all blended in with a brush and then add a coat of mascara. Last I put on lipstick and gloss/chapstick all day long.

So tell me your routine. And I hope it's not currently interrupted by eye funk.

Oops I did it again...

I got a new cell phone. If you remember, that didn't go so well for me the last time. However, this time it was necessary. My current phone, which came over on the Mayflower, will no longer hold a charge or a call. My husband got me this cute little thing (which has features I'm sure I'll never use. Maybe it will make coffee in the morning) :


but it came with rules.

1. This phone will not be sent back


2. I will learn to use this phone and I will use it (rather than reverting to another).


3. I will like it, or learn to like it, or deal with it.


4. In the event I want to kick, whine, or cry about in of the above, I'm to call Mrs. S.

ParTea Give Away

I love (love!) tea parties. I can only hope to be as good as The ParTea Planner someday. I've had fun trying, however, with several bridal showers, etc. with a couple more this year. Go check out this fun giveaway!

I didn't forget!

The winner is (drum roll please...) KIMBA! Thanks to everyone who played. If you signed up you can have a dollar off of your order if you'd still like to order. For those of you who did order already, I gave you the dollar discount.

Yum!

I babysat this weekend. They left me home alone with their children and their Girl Scout cookies.

The children were safe. The Girl Scout cookies were not.

The R's came home to find 2/3 of their children awake. Baby C decided to nix the whole schedule (I didn't mind, but J insisted that he had it in writing that she should be alseep) and P, the infamous light sleeper, hadn't been in bed long enough. When O (the dad) came into the den to see J holding C he noted "I knew we should have had another beer." This said just before bundling feet came down the hall and P came into the den. "Or five", noted O. Ha! They crack me up. At least Little O. was asleep, she's been the fit pitcher these days.

It was quite an exciting night for us with a gassy 4 month old (C), a whiny 3 year old (MO) and an energetic 5 year old (P). Oh, and the power outage? That was fun. J was carrying a sleeping MO up the stairs, I had Clare in one hand and P climbed me in the other while holding J's cell phone for light. Just before I put him down for bed we read books by candlelight. When he told his parents about it, he said it was "so romantic." I love those kids.

Also, above events pushed the child bearing time for my husband back to seventeen years. We'd came so far....

(More) Recent Projects

First, here are the balloon shades in the master bedroom I've been claiming to do for so long. They're finally finished.

Before:

After (I'm a firm believer that window treatments just make a room!):

Then we have this fun little tote. I cal it a "picnic bag" because I fill the inside with picnic goodies (plates, cups, pitchers, tablecloth, etc.) for gifts. This was an early birthday for Bex this past weekend. I monogram the last name of the family on it which is why it's blurred except for the A. It's much cuter without my amatuer paint shop skills that I've displayed here. This is a store bought canvas bag (it's very sturdy!) and I sewed on the ribbon and rickrack. I think I may also put a cute button closure on the snap. What do you think?

The bag has a hooks inside and a snap closure on the outside. I like the way it looks when the inside is hooked. It's very cute and holds your goodies in better. I made one of these bags for J and I and it's also good for traveling or family outings of any kind. I just really love the picnic idea for it. Ours is a different color scheme, I'll post pictures sometime. And how cute are these? HAIR DOTS! These are great for children's hair, especially the fine baby hair. They're much tinier (with room for only one initial) and are made with those little clear rubberbands. I made these for Sydney's Easter basket and hid them in the eggs. She sported them all weekend in her cute pigtails.

Isn't she cute with them? (yes, I know I've shown you this picture here, but it's so cute! And I'm shocked that I took it!)And here's the cute little basket, complete with eggs that the hair dots were hidden in. I wanted to get a basket she could use again and found this one that will be perfect for holding books in her bedroom. J and I filled it up with bubbles (Pie's favorite thing!) the apron, ruffly panties, eggs with hair dots and gold fish, candy necklace and bracelet set, two cute little eating trays (we have not plastic items at our house) with matching water bottles, sidewalk chalk, playdough, crayons, coloring books.....geesh, why didn't I make one of these for myself?
Here is an upclose of the apron:

And of the ruffly panties/diaper cover with her monogram on it. I've made her several pair of these in tons of colors. I did these as white on white because I think they look so classy and she can wear them with anything. I officially think I need some cute ruffly panties with my monogram on it!

Vacation Scrapbook

J and I had such a nice, long, Easter weekend with out wonderful friends. Mrs. A and I have been best friends since the days of big bangs and Paula Abdul lace trim leggings. We see them quite often when I visit my family that lives near them, but they've not been here since our wedding last year. (Ohmygosh! Almost a whole year!)

Here's the cutie patootie Miss Pie helping J cook (he made delicious big breakfasts for everyone the entire visit!). Isn't that a precious little apron she's wearing? It was made by her doting Auntie La La! And I know you're admiring her stainless steel cookware.
Here is the precious little A family at the Zoo. Oh, and a big elephant bum.


And here are a couple of wild things we saw at the zoo. Luckily, they were in cages.
Our day at the zoo was perfect. The weather was great with a jacket and there seemed to be absolutely no one there. Thus, the animals weren't quite afraid and hiding yet. Several of them walked up close, which Pie enjoyed until they were too close. We also saw several animals get treats. Did you know that they give cheetahs frozen blood? Yup, that's their treat. Oh, and the gorilla took a big poop in front of us. Lovely. Here is Pie running up to the elephants when she first saw them.

The evening after the zoo we sent the A's on a date to a great restaurant and with movie tickets. We loved having Pie all evening. Especially my husband. Pie learned super quick that he was wrapped around her finger. Several conversations went like this:

Mommy: No Pie, we're not going to blow bubbles.
Pie: (super sweet to J) J, you wanna blow bubbles?
(pause)It's ok Mommy, J wants to blow bubbles!

We took Pie to a great greenway near our house that has several little parks and playgrounds along the trail. I'm certain she is the only person who can get my 6'2" husband on a slide that is most likely shorter than he is. Darling!
And here she is swinging. I just can't get enough of the pigtails and cheeks!And lastly, J and his little darling. The night the A's left J told me that he already missed Pie. Thus he decided we should have kids sooner than planned. So, in his mind, we'll now have bambinos in 14.5 years, rather than 15. My heart was so happy that my oldest and dearest friend was able to come visit us. We had such a good time showing them around out town, taking them to the zoo, to the outlets (which by the way were very friendly to me!) and just enjoying their company at home. I can't wait for them to visit again. But we'll see them again next month for Pie's 2nd Birthday Extravaganza! Yes, the prodigy child is not even two years old yet she is fully potty trained, can sing the alphabet, count to 15, and talks so very articulate being as audible as a pre-schooler. Yes, our fabulous niece is a prodigy child! And we're a bragging and proud auntie and uncle.

More cuteness than you can possibly stand

J and I had a fabulous long weekend with the precious Miss Pie and her lovely parents. However I think we both agree we need a day off from the days off. Now that is how you know you had a good time! Really, I'll be back from hiatus tomorrow. Until then, ooh and ahh over the most adorable child in the entire world.

Excited

I'm so excited about today, and not because I have a gynecologist appointment either. (FYI, those make me want to assume the fetal position and cry. And then eat chocolate just because I can.)

BUT, today is my Friday. AND I have the next 5 days off of work. AND my best friend Mrs. A, her husband, and her adorable little Pie are coming to visit me. J and I are excited to have some time off work and enjoy a few fun things in our town like the zoo and outlet shopping. Not to mention. Have you seen Pie? Precious! Look here too!

Last night I made the most adorable little Easter Basket for her, complete with a little monogrammed apron with ribbon and pom pom trim. I'll take pictures, and you'll all wish you were Pie because you'll want that cute little thing! Oh, and monogrammed ruffly panties. What little girl doesn't want monogrammed ruffly panties? I mean, I might even have some. Maybe. Ok, so I don't, but what if I want some? I just might go make them.

Have a fabulous Easter Weekend!

An open letter to my fellow Kroger shoppers

Dear Idiots Who Shop At My Market,

You make me miserable. As you see me drive down the pike, every single one of you jump in your cars and follow. This makes Kroger very crowded.

Some of you are really special though. For example, all of you inconsiderate bastards who use your cell phone with one hand and don't bother to steer your cart with the other, thus leaving it in the middle of the aisle while you stand behind it idly chatting away, you really make me say bad words. I'd attempt to be polite and say "excuse me", but you couldn't hear me over your fabulous conversation. Did you like it when I rammed your cart with mine giving you a sweet, yet very pissed off smile, no? That was fun for me.

How about all of you shoppers with kids? Eh, kids? How about the ones with their stupid roller skate shoes. You know what? I'm going to start tripping them. Them I'm going to laugh. I'll probably point when I laugh at your bad-mannered, disrespectful children lying on the floor because they rudely whizzed by me nearly knocking me down when I was trying to pick out a few decent apples.

How about your slutty pre-teen girls? Please, if you allow your child to wear glorified underwear as shorts and a second skin shirt all in shades of light pink, please request that she doesn't wear a black bra for the boobs that are nonexistent. This makes her look like a two dollar hooker. Oh, and she shouldn't bend over in those shorts, fyi!

Lastly, to the woman who exhibited the most dumbassery of the day, the lady with the dog. No, not a seeing eye dog. Not even an annoying toy looking dog shoved in her purse. But a (many expletives here) lab type dog that you very thoughtfully laid a towel out for so you could snuggly put it in the large part of your cart. The market is not a damn pet store. By the way, thanks so much for that look you gave me when I told you that the market was not a damn pet store. I know it was mean, but I was so happy having said that to you, that I didn't care. I'd have insisted the manager make you and your mutt leave (because of all the things I need on my produce, pet dander and fleas are not among them) but I was just ready to leave the whole hellacious, anxiety induced experience and go home that my being snarky to you was satisfaction enough.

With Kind Regards,
Mrs. M

PS* You make me want to throw up a little.

HEY, Don't forget to go here! If you want the chocolate brown or the hot pink, you better hurry. Also, if you sign the linky, you have to link back to be eligible for the drawing.

A Special Offer

I received such great feedback on my Hair Buttons that I wanted to offer them to the blogosphere. I usually only sell things locally, but these will be easy to ship, so I'm also offering free shipping! Who can resist free shipping?

Hair Buttons (1 -7/8") are $6 for the first one, $5 for the second one, and $4 for each additional, all on one order.

You can pick any of the fabrics below, and any of the thread colors to coordinate. You can choose a three letter monogram, or a one letter initial.

Fabrics: chocolate suede, light blue polka dots, black gingham, solid pink, turquoise gingham, pink ginham, confetti.

Threads: (top) orange, hot pink, light pink, lime, yellow, red (bottom) turquoise, blue, khaki, black, magenta, white, silver

Email your orders to lalalollipop (at) gmail (dot) com. Once recieved, I'll send you a paypal invoice.

Also, if you link back to this post and sign the linky below, I'll give you 10% off your total order. Even if you don't order, link and sign the because there will be free Hair Buttons given away! Who doesn't want free monogrammed goodies?

Offer ends Thursday, April 12 and I'll draw the winner(s) then.

Other uses for Hair Buttons: put them on flip flops, add them to bags, decorate lamps, baskets, etc., glue them to a picture frame, pin them to a childs backpack....

For Your Entertainment

Saturday morning I received a call from my boyfriend asking me to dye Easter eggs with him. His mother had offered but he was very insistent saying he "only dyes Easter eggs with La La."

J and I went to babysit on Saturday night so we set up shop for some egg dyeing fun. Girlfriend immediately swooned J into going to the market for more eggs.

Boyfriend is obsessed with (you're not going to believe this) rednecks. This kid loves talking about rednecks.

Just a sampling of some of the things out of his mouth, followed by fits of laughter:

As soon as we walk in the door:
"Hey J, you wanna play rednecks?"

When his dad heads down stairs:
"Hey O, bring me a beer!" followed by "that's what a redneck says."

When finishing up the applesauce in his bowl he dove his face in it to lick it clean:
"That's how a redneck eats."

When hearing a loud car go by:
"There goes a redneck."

Out the blue:
"Hey La La, I went into the woods once and I saw mice, rats, and rednecks."

Other fabulous quotes from the evening:

When his parents arrive home his dad opens the fridge to see several cups of Easter egg dye.
"Sweet, La La taught the kids to make jello shots."

Then, Mrs. R asks how Bear (a mere 3 months old) was to which my darling husband responds:
"Oh, she ran around raising hell all night."
Followed by: "She was great! She was held, rocked, kissed, fed, changed, she could only have been better if La La would have given her a boob."

So after Mrs. R and I chatted for quite a bit, it was after midnight when we were on our way home. Suddenly my memory sparked and I realized I'd forgotten my pill that evening. This is how it went:

Me: Ugh! I forgot my pill, remind me to take it as soon as we get home.
J: What? The three kids all night didn't do that for you?

Yes, this is my life.

Time spent in the freezer aisle

I'm not a lucky person, I rarely win anything. However, at a Married Life Today Conference at our church this morning, J and I were chosen for a game of Deal or No Deal. We won a pretty sweet date night package."Howie Mandell" did some good improv and at one point while talking to the "banker" shouted out "Yes, I know know J's head looks better than mine!" We were rather entertained.

Today was rainy and I was planning on finally making the bedroom curtains that I'm sure you're all sick of hearing about. However, J had other plans. So he took me to lunch at a yummy little Italian place and then we went shopping. After his little spree of two hundred bucks, I'd say I get a nice free pass when I head to the outlets when Bex visits this weekend, right? Furthermore, since he bought a nice khaki suit that means that since our anniversary is in 28 days, that he should wear it, and I should play in my wedding dress, and it will be fun. That's totally a rule, right? You play in wedding clothes on your anniversary?

During our shopping I had an overwhelming sweet tooth that just would. not. go. away! J and I stopped by the grocery where I found thin mints! Well, not exactly thin mints bu the store brand of a cookie that tastes exactly like them and were only a dollar! A dollar!! I just may eat thin mints every day for the rest of my life. A dollar! The Girl Scouts should just buy and resell them, they'd make more money that way. So after I nearly tore open the package and ravaged them all right there in the cookie aisle we were on to ice cream. Sadly, the amount of time J and I spent in the ice cream aisle is most definitely more than the time we'll spend name children. After much debate he got strawberry for a milkshake with fresh strawberries at home. I finally (finally) decided on chocolate chip cookie dough. My thoughts? Well, it's kinda like the mint chocolate chip I wanted and I can eat it with the cookies. But I can also throw in in the blender with peanut butter for a peanut butter milkshake and that will be tasty too. I mean pb and chocolate chips and the cookie dough will be like pb cookies. That makes sense, yes? I know I could have totally gone for vanilla and achieved the same desired outcome, but that seemed too easy.

No, I'm not pregnant. At least, not that I know of.