Lost night I made mini-cupcakes...70 of them. Homemade. Homemade butter cream frosting. Four different colors.
No I did not suddenly spring a 1st grader from my loins. They are for a Lottery Yarn function this evening. When I was asked to make a dessert for this class the cover of MS Living from February sprang to mind. I mean they are mini cupcakes. How hard could that be? I'll tell you...easy. The hard part...time consuming.
You see, during my recent hibernation, I have watched just about every old episode of NCIS. For some reason it became my favorite show. This is a sign that I am depressed, I watch too much meaningless TV. (I still like the show but how many times do I need to see the "Dead Man Walking" episode, really?) I watched my Dad do it and somehow I seem to slip into the very same habits as he did when he had his bouts of depression. I think one of my lobes is technically jelly now because I have been so attached to the TV.
Anyway, when I realized how stressed I was about the time consuming nature of said cupcakes because another show was on that I wanted to see is when it hit me, I have a problem. I am missing out on way too much by plopping in front of the boob tube to watch Mark Harmon slap Michael Weatherly on the back of the head. It was then I decided to not watch any TV that night, no matter when I was finished. I took my time, playing with colors and swirling the frosting on each mini cupcake. When I was done, it all looked so cute and pretty. It was about 3 and a half hours of work but I made something tasty and pretty. It was a pretty good feeling.
I guess what I am trying to get at is, I need to lift my head up to fully move out of my March crud and into the spring. There is too much out there to do to spend my life with my head down.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
Small Grrr: Warming Up the Car
This has bothered me for quite some time. I live in Southeastern PA. We are not living on the frozen tundra nor are we living in a place that even resembles one. So please tell me why if you don't have an infant or a sick child or an elderly infirm person getting into your car at 7:00am do you feel the need to 'warm up' your car?
Today it was about 40 degrees when I was out walking G-dog. Not freezing, barely cold but as I was walking by houses I saw many cars with their engines running in the driveways. I know these homes. I walk by them EVERY morning. I know they don't have elderly people or infants getting in those cars in the morning so WHY must they 'warm up' their cars EVERY DAY?
Did you know that it is illegal to have your car idling for more than 5 minutes in some states? You can be ticketed for it. Also, most car manuals will tell you NOT to do it as it does the car no good. Basically, all you are doing when you leave your car running that that is wasting gas and contributing to greenhouse gasses. I mean seriously, do these people not own coats or gloves? Is 5 minutes of cold going to kill them while the car runs as they are driving to their destination? I think not.
The next time I see this happen and it is not cold and there are no infants or elderly people in the home, I am going to leave a note on their car asking why they feel the need to do this. Maybe it will shame them into toughening up just a tiny bit.
Today it was about 40 degrees when I was out walking G-dog. Not freezing, barely cold but as I was walking by houses I saw many cars with their engines running in the driveways. I know these homes. I walk by them EVERY morning. I know they don't have elderly people or infants getting in those cars in the morning so WHY must they 'warm up' their cars EVERY DAY?
Did you know that it is illegal to have your car idling for more than 5 minutes in some states? You can be ticketed for it. Also, most car manuals will tell you NOT to do it as it does the car no good. Basically, all you are doing when you leave your car running that that is wasting gas and contributing to greenhouse gasses. I mean seriously, do these people not own coats or gloves? Is 5 minutes of cold going to kill them while the car runs as they are driving to their destination? I think not.
The next time I see this happen and it is not cold and there are no infants or elderly people in the home, I am going to leave a note on their car asking why they feel the need to do this. Maybe it will shame them into toughening up just a tiny bit.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Are You Guys New?
I think it was probably the worst thing ever said to our football team.
Yes it is that time of year again. I am playing football on Saturday for the next 8 weeks. This week, however, we were handed a defeat and an insult (not meant as one) at the same time. You see we are all (ok not all) in our mid 30's. We have creaky joints, trouble waking up on the weekends and some of us could stand to do a little more exercise. We just love to play and are not ready to give up the idea that we could win a 6th championship. However, we looked like we were playing underwater this week. Afterwards, it was all we could do to crawl to the beer cooler to refresh ourselves and say that it was 'only the first game', no big deal. It was unfortunate that at this time one of our player was talking to one of the players from the opposing team and they asked, 'Is this your first season?'
Oh the SHAME!
We have played together for about 5 years and also been playing in the league for about 10. We just happened to play against a team we had never played in the years past. What do you do when you have been shamed as such? It made me think. Is this what it has come to? Should I still be playing? I admit I was pretty shaken. Then, another team needed some girls to round out their team (ok, they are required to have 3 of us). It was in the Competitive division (we play in Recreational) so it was a bit scary but we figured what the hell.
We lost there too.
BUT!
My pass completion percentage was 80%.
Maybe I'll play a few more seasons.
Yes it is that time of year again. I am playing football on Saturday for the next 8 weeks. This week, however, we were handed a defeat and an insult (not meant as one) at the same time. You see we are all (ok not all) in our mid 30's. We have creaky joints, trouble waking up on the weekends and some of us could stand to do a little more exercise. We just love to play and are not ready to give up the idea that we could win a 6th championship. However, we looked like we were playing underwater this week. Afterwards, it was all we could do to crawl to the beer cooler to refresh ourselves and say that it was 'only the first game', no big deal. It was unfortunate that at this time one of our player was talking to one of the players from the opposing team and they asked, 'Is this your first season?'
Oh the SHAME!
We have played together for about 5 years and also been playing in the league for about 10. We just happened to play against a team we had never played in the years past. What do you do when you have been shamed as such? It made me think. Is this what it has come to? Should I still be playing? I admit I was pretty shaken. Then, another team needed some girls to round out their team (ok, they are required to have 3 of us). It was in the Competitive division (we play in Recreational) so it was a bit scary but we figured what the hell.
We lost there too.
BUT!
My pass completion percentage was 80%.
Maybe I'll play a few more seasons.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Climbing Out from Under the Bed
There are a lot of dust bunnies under the bed and I am tired of them stealing my food.
That's not the only reason I am back. I am back I think because I need to be. I have writing in short bursts here and there. I see the humor and the insight that I thought had left me so I decided that I'd better start flexing that muscle again if I am going to take my place back in the land of the living.
Ok, the fact that it is no longer an ice box in the office anymore and the fact that someone else is taking care of G-dog today so I can write quickly in the office also helps but that's not the point.
I need to start somewhere and I think that starting here is the key. More later...I promise this time. :)
That's not the only reason I am back. I am back I think because I need to be. I have writing in short bursts here and there. I see the humor and the insight that I thought had left me so I decided that I'd better start flexing that muscle again if I am going to take my place back in the land of the living.
Ok, the fact that it is no longer an ice box in the office anymore and the fact that someone else is taking care of G-dog today so I can write quickly in the office also helps but that's not the point.
I need to start somewhere and I think that starting here is the key. More later...I promise this time. :)
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Losing The Battle
I am entering into the worst part of the year for me. March looms in front of me and I know what it holds; depression, fighting, tears...
It happens every year, even when I was on meds it happened. I feel like a snake working so hard to rid myself of the old skin so that I can emerge happy, healthy and ready for anything and I just can't get it off. It gets to the point that it feels like it is suffocating and all I can do us curl into a ball and do nothing. When I get like this I can't write, I can't focus on a project and I snap at anyone who comes too close.
I can tell its coming not only because of the calendar but because I have been trying, little by little to clean up the office so that I can actually sit down and write (and maybe get back a few people that have stopped following me) and read all my favorite blogs. I just get so overwhelmed when I walk into that room. I feel like I can't move. It's getting harder and harder to spend time in there when I want it to be the exact opposite. I want it to be the room I go to to write or read. I want it to be the room that is comfortable yet orderly enough to be used as an actual office (no help from paper hoarder husband there).
I have visions of the curtains softly floating in the breeze, me at the computer a cup of tea close by and maybe some music playing in the background. Right now it's cold, papers all over one of the desks like a dirty drift of snow and the bed from the guest room because SOMEONE hasn't finished painting (5 months ago started) that particular room. Between being overwhelmed by my emotions and the chaos in that room I just want to hide under the bed.
So, please understand that if I am not blogging, it's not because I am not thinking about it...it's because I am under the bed and I don't have an internet connection there.
It happens every year, even when I was on meds it happened. I feel like a snake working so hard to rid myself of the old skin so that I can emerge happy, healthy and ready for anything and I just can't get it off. It gets to the point that it feels like it is suffocating and all I can do us curl into a ball and do nothing. When I get like this I can't write, I can't focus on a project and I snap at anyone who comes too close.
I can tell its coming not only because of the calendar but because I have been trying, little by little to clean up the office so that I can actually sit down and write (and maybe get back a few people that have stopped following me) and read all my favorite blogs. I just get so overwhelmed when I walk into that room. I feel like I can't move. It's getting harder and harder to spend time in there when I want it to be the exact opposite. I want it to be the room I go to to write or read. I want it to be the room that is comfortable yet orderly enough to be used as an actual office (no help from paper hoarder husband there).
I have visions of the curtains softly floating in the breeze, me at the computer a cup of tea close by and maybe some music playing in the background. Right now it's cold, papers all over one of the desks like a dirty drift of snow and the bed from the guest room because SOMEONE hasn't finished painting (5 months ago started) that particular room. Between being overwhelmed by my emotions and the chaos in that room I just want to hide under the bed.
So, please understand that if I am not blogging, it's not because I am not thinking about it...it's because I am under the bed and I don't have an internet connection there.
Monday, February 16, 2009
My Island Spin Off - What About the Kids
If you are new to my blog and are unsure about "My Island" please click in the 'My Island' label at the bottom of the post. All will be explained.
On Friday I mentioned that I had a hard time sending Octo-Mom Nadya Suleman to 'My Island because of the children that would be left behind. Now I do think they would be better off with someone else but her mother is clearly not the one to care for them either. Then I thought, "What about Brit's kids and even Elizabeth's?" (I know, Liz is married but seriously.) The kids are innocents in their parents' lives, caught up in a web they did not fashion. What should be done with the children of the island inhabitants?
Where could kids go where it was happy but not over-commercialized?
Sunny days, sweepin' the clouds away.
Where could they go where is was healthy and safe?
On my way to where the air is clean!
Can you tell me how to get...how to get to
SESAME STREET!
Ok, is this not perfect? The kids would get attention from caring adults and would be able to cuddle up with furry monsters that would make them laugh daily. They would learn about things their parents don't know about like, manners and being nice to people (not depending on whether it makes God happy or not). They would learn to count with a Count and a pinball machine. They would learn a second language earlier than high school. It's a happy place but not so over the top that the kids would OD on saccharine.
From all my years watching Sesame Street there is plenty of housing in those cool brownstones and if a kid is adventurous there is a gient birds nest they can try out. All in all I think it is about the best idea I have come up with since the island so it is fitting that it is a spin off of such a place. There has to be balance in the universe and I think Sesame Street balances out My Island perfectly. :)
On Friday I mentioned that I had a hard time sending Octo-Mom Nadya Suleman to 'My Island because of the children that would be left behind. Now I do think they would be better off with someone else but her mother is clearly not the one to care for them either. Then I thought, "What about Brit's kids and even Elizabeth's?" (I know, Liz is married but seriously.) The kids are innocents in their parents' lives, caught up in a web they did not fashion. What should be done with the children of the island inhabitants?
Where could kids go where it was happy but not over-commercialized?
Sunny days, sweepin' the clouds away.
Where could they go where is was healthy and safe?
On my way to where the air is clean!
Can you tell me how to get...how to get to
SESAME STREET!
Ok, is this not perfect? The kids would get attention from caring adults and would be able to cuddle up with furry monsters that would make them laugh daily. They would learn about things their parents don't know about like, manners and being nice to people (not depending on whether it makes God happy or not). They would learn to count with a Count and a pinball machine. They would learn a second language earlier than high school. It's a happy place but not so over the top that the kids would OD on saccharine.
From all my years watching Sesame Street there is plenty of housing in those cool brownstones and if a kid is adventurous there is a gient birds nest they can try out. All in all I think it is about the best idea I have come up with since the island so it is fitting that it is a spin off of such a place. There has to be balance in the universe and I think Sesame Street balances out My Island perfectly. :)
Friday, February 13, 2009
My Island: Fourteen Reasons Why
For those of you not familiar with the "My Island" concept please refer to my older posts by clicking on the "My Island" label at the bottom of the post. There are five I believe.
The short of it is, certain people annoy me to the point that I banish them to an island where they are to live their life out among others that annoy me. There they cannot harm the rest of us with their politics, their stupidity or their general annoying nature. Here is a list of current residents:
The short of it is, certain people annoy me to the point that I banish them to an island where they are to live their life out among others that annoy me. There they cannot harm the rest of us with their politics, their stupidity or their general annoying nature. Here is a list of current residents:
On the island:
Ann Coulter
Rick Santorum (escaped and captured)
Brittany Spears
Amy Winehouse
Lindsay Lohan
Elisabeth Hasselbeck
My newest addition deserves to be there almost as much as Ann Coulter. Look in the dictionary under the word 'selfish' and this woman's picture will be there. She has dragged her whole family down with her and still continues to defend herself on primetime and any media outlet that gives her fifteen minutes. That's right, it's Octo-mom, Nadya Suleman.
I held off on sending her to the island for 14 reasons. Her kids. This topic "My Island" is all in good fun but when I was putting this post together I started thinking about what will happen to those kids, even if their horrible mother was around. I struggled with even sending her...until today.
Today my first assumptions about why this woman decided to turn her 'vagina into a clown car' (props to Cherlyn for that phrase) were verified. She is panhandling via the internet. Yes, the woman who said she was never on welfare or accepted government money for having all those kids is asking YOU to support them via donations on the internet (not like you aren't going end up supporting them via your taxes or anything). Oh, she also lied about the not accepting $$ from the government, she is on food stamps. Excellent. I am not providing you with the link to said site because as you bloggers know, the more traffic she gets the more $ she gets. This is what she wanted all along. She decided to have multiples to cash in on the books, reality tv and bleeding hearts. She neglected to realize that those that DO have reality tv shows, etc because of their large family sizes did not TRY to have large families in order to GET a tv reality show. She did it backwards. Oh...she is also crazier than Jim Jones but just as self-centered.
I decided that she was done. She needs to be removed from the population NOW. I am worried that she and Rick Santorum might try to start a new race so precautions will need to be taken. Rick will need to be castrated. This will be performed by Ann Coulter. She agreed to do this as long as we provided her with a newsfeed of C-SPAN and a voo doo doll. I let her also pick the method of castration.
So Nadya will be welcomed with open arms by the other crazies that are there and we will not have to watch her pimp her children out to the world anymore. I think that is just lovely.
Now...the kids. What to do with the kids. While we are on the subject, what about the other kids of the inhabitants?
Tune in Monday for my "My Island" spin off. "What About the Kids?"
On the island:
Nadya Suleman
Ann Coulter
Rick Santorum (escaped and captured and neutered)
Brittany Spears
Amy Winehouse
Lindsay Lohan
Elisabeth Hasselbeck
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