Anywhere But Here...

Calgon take me away...

Thank You...

Thanks for participating in my little survey to the side. I'll leave the results up for just a bit. I'm guessing not everyone voted, for only 4 voted. Or maybe there are only 4 of you who actually read this, who knows. *grin*

Anyway...Thank you, or...Thanks y’all, or...


Arabic: Shukran (shoe-krahn)

French: Merci (mehr-see)

German: Danke (dahn-kah)

Greek: Efcharisto (ef-har-rih-stowe)

Italian: Grazie (gra-see)

Japanese: Domo (doe-moe)

Korean: Kamsa hamnida (kam-sa-ham-nee-da)

Latin: Gratia (grah-tyah)

Mandarin: Xie xie (syeh-syeh)

Spanish: Gracias (Grah-cee-yas)

*smile*

Music...

The last couple of days, I have needed to "get away" in my office for just a few moments. You Tube offers several music options and I have found myself seeking out these 4 most often. I put a survey to the side, which do you find you like the most? (Please note there is adult content in a couple of the songs, not really suitable for little ears--although, none of the blog is really for little ears or eyes, so I would be concerned if little ones were reading it, hummm.) The survey will be up until early, Monday morning. Have a great weekend!!!

Bad Girlfriend



Fields of Athenry




Superman’s Song



Liar

OH and...

I forgot to mention that during all of this today, I snagged myself a photography gig. It's an event--a banquet, so it will be different, I low balled my price. Hey -sadly, that was funny to type. Anyway, it's not until May, but I figured, bid low and then I could use the photos for marketing for future event like gigs. Interesting, I know. Sorry, I try to keep the work photo stuff separate, but I felt it was a piece to my morning that really needed to be shared.

Random Day So Far...

Today has been really random, not that most days in my life are not this way, but today it's been random enough for me to notice.

I started with a difficult morning. I have nightmares quiet often, but lately it's been ridiculous, every night all night long and not the same ones. I'm guessing subconsciously I'm stressed out about something, I wish I knew what it was so I could take care of it. I need a decent nights sleep, not dreaming of sharks eating small children or mummies coming to like and stalking me. Those are just two I can remember right now from last night.

I think because I was so tired and my mind was other places, I burnt my nose with the curling iron. Now, I have burnt my ears, forehead, and hands with the curling iron before, but I don't ever remember burning my nose. It's a bit red under the makeup and every now and then gives out a big shout, but otherwise it's more ridiculous than anything else.

I stumbled into work today, only to have to deal with scheduling mix ups on my calendar, two students showing up at the same time, tomorrows student showing up today, etc. This has been an issue for the last couple of weeks, so I had to send an email to say WTF, but politely of course, to our scheduling office. I could see one student getting it wrong, but after the 2nd one, I'm thinking, it's not the students. I'm avoiding that office for right now, but will have to face it sooner or later.

Delightfully, I checked my mailbox just a few moments ago and I had a lovely Thank You card from one of my students. It's rare that the a student would take the time to send a thank you email, let alone an actual card. I got in my one smile of the day, yeah! Look at me sticking to my news years resolutions.

So see how it really is sorta random today. I'm almost scared to see how the rest of the day will pan out.

Is it Saturday yet?

Last Night's Adventure...

Ok, adventure is a bit of a stretch, but these days it's as much adventure as I see. I needed to go to the post last night, I figured it's only a few blocks away, I'll just bundle up and walk. I also took along my handy dandy point and shoot camera and took a few pictures from the fire since it's right across from the post.

These are the sidewalks and roads I had to conquer. I felt I could do it because I had just seen a size 0 bitch running in the road, so if she could do that, than I could certainly walk without falling.

I reached Grandview Ave. a bit chilled, but doing ok, and saw all the yellow tape.

Ah, poor Candle Lab. You had such nice candles. I really enjoyed the Pipe one-it reminded me of how the cans of tobacco, my grandfather had smelled. Funny how smells have such distinct memories attached to them.

The entire 2nd floor appears gutted.


I'm sure they will rebuilt, but with all the damage, my guess is they will have to start ground up. The odd thing is, this was all happening Saturday, just a few blocks from my house and I didn't even know it until Ms. H called to see if I had power. I guess it is good my power grid is different from the rest of Grandview.

I was going to walk down to Stauf's but the wind had picked up and I was beginning to really freeze, so I picked up some nice coffee beans from my 2nd fav, Caribou. I wanted one to drink, but with only one glove, I didn't want to have my hands out of pockets more than they needed to be. The glove is another story for another time.

Apparently when you are done with your Christmas tree, you just drop it by the fire hydrant, in the median.

I was quickly loosing daylight and wanted to take a bit of a random path home to capture this... crazy snow sculpture.


I don't know if it's the same dude or not. When I lived in Grandview before at this same house was a guy that craved tons of pumpkins every year and put them on display. I wonder if he pulled a me, I know he moved, did he return to exactly the same house?

I love that he put random shark fins braking out of the snow all around the yard. Clever, very clever.

I finally made it back to my house, yeah. I was frozen, but I mailed my card, and got a few random photos--just for my reading audience. Yeah YOU! Oh, and no falling-yeah ME!!

Today...

*I wanted to sleep in and didn't want to get out of bed when the final alarm went off.

*I want a faster internet connection, so I can see the inauguration without constant stops and starts.

*I wish I had a glass of wild cherry kool-aid, but don't.

*I wish Michelle Obama had chosen a different dress-ick, who was her advisor Barbara Bush?

*I don't get poetry.

Today!

You Can Too...

Yes another fun episode of if I can, You Can Too.

I encourage you to make Apple Nut Bread. I adjusted the recipe from the Iowa Cookbook, I didn't like all the stuff. I'll post the original recipe at the bottom, in case you would like it.

First...

Go pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Then, find some nice apples--I thought I would need 4, but it turned out, I really only needed 2.

You will need to chop them up, 2 cups is what you will need. *Note, if you put the cut pieces into a bowl full of ice, they will not turn brown for awhile.

Next mix: 3/4/ tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp cinnamon, and 1 1/3 c. flour in a bowl.

In another bowl--yeah, I don't have a dishwasher either, but what are you going to do----mix 1 c. sugar, 1/2 c. veggie oil, 2 eggs, and 1 tsp vanilla. Once this is good and mixed together, mix in 2 c. chopped apples and 1/2 chopped pecans. Now add this to the bowl of dry ingredients-mix well!

Once everything is mixed up nicely. Poor the mixture into a greased loaf pan. (I was at my Mom's when I made this--she has these great mini loaf pans, so I made two mini loafs. I keep nuts out of half of the mixture and half with, so one loaf with one without. It's kinda like one mounds and one almond joy. *grin*)

Mix together 1/4 cup of sugar and 1 tsp of cinnamon. Shake this on top of the loaf, to your liking. I love cinnamon, so I put on loads, but you can do less cinnamon if you like.

Now put this in the oven and bake for about 60 minutes. If you are using the clay pans, it may take a bit longer, they take longer to warm up. Keep an eye on the bread, it will be done with it's golden brown and you can stick a toothpick in and nothing comes out on the toothpick.

This bread is great for a nice breakfast with a nice cup a tea or coffee or a snack. It's a great way to use up the end of a bag of apples before they go bad also.

The official recipe is...

Apple Nut Bread

1 1/3 c. flour
3/4/ tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/2 raisins or nuts (opt)
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. soybean oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 c. chopped apples

Mix dry ingredients, except sugar, and set aside. Mix sugar and oil; add eggs and vanilla. Stir in apples, nuts and raisins. Add flour mixture and stir until mixed. Pour into a greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 50 to 60 minutes. Sprinkle with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar on top before baking, if desired.

Stay warm and happy baking!

8 Hours of Computer Training...

Need I say more on how my day is going? Well, no, but let me. I was so excited about the computer training this morning that I just had to take a knee, hard, outside in the snow in celebration and thank the university for allowing me this opportunity to learn this new system. Ha! That's Crap! The university scarped the sidewalks, but didn't bother to put any salt out, so it is making the sidewalks like walking on a skating rink, but less graceful.

Ok, need to pay attention now.

The Hallways...

As I have wondered around the hallways here at work, running one errand or another, I noticed today they are filled. They look like a refugee camp. Well that is if in a refugee camp many are texting until their fingers bleed and have ipods hanging from their pockets. But these poor kids do look lost, they just don't know where to go, the lounge if full and the snow outside is old. But, I think what this calls for tomorrow is a SNOW DAY. Yeah, well I can dream can't I.

Care driving!

Still Employed...

I did fairly well at keeping my mouth shut, yeah. I think it was the discussion of likely severe budget cuts. Yikes. I don't think my job is in trouble, but no potential perks that were discussed last year. CRAP!

Will I Have A Job...

I wonder if I will have a job after 2pm today.

I wonder this because I have to go a lunch meeting. One this pisses me off, because my lunch is my time darn it. I should not have to give up my hour of reading, blogging, surfing to attend a meeting. Second I MUST, MUST keep my mouth shut during this meeting, if in the event I open it, I may be escorted out of the building. Given the economic circumstances, I have brought a really big apple and a big bag of wheat thins to keep my mouth occupied during the entire meeting. I just need to sit and take in the information and ignore, how idiotic the content is.

So, look for a brief post this afternoon and I'll keep you updated. Likely, I'll still be here, no good job prospects to go to, and the mill, although an option, maybe, is freezing.

ARGH!!!!

Randoms terms...

Vomit laundry: laundry that must be done straight away due to a child's sickness lead by vomit. from what I hear not really very fun.

Hit & Hope: What one does when playing air hockey when multiple pucks are on the table.

Fievel: Originally the mouse in An American Tail, now the bastard that keeps pooping in my hall closet, but will not die.

Crap: What one udders when the alarm goes off way too early on a Monday morning.

Penguin: The new wine I do find I enjoy.

Thanks for taking my fun little Poll...

I'll leave the results to the side until Monday. Happy Weekend Kids!

So Cold...

It's freezing outside. I know, I know you are well aware, but is so annoying I feel I have to complain about it just a bit.

I mean seriously, it's so cold when I walk outside the lining of my nose instantly freezes and begins wondering when the ice skaters are going to show up. It's so cold that my breath is beginning to look like cartoon bubbles around me when I'm walking around. In the bubble might appear...WTF!?!?!?!!!! It's so cold the squirrels on campus and saying forgetaboutit, a possible nimble on a frozen fry just is not worth it.

What happened to fall? What happened to early evenings looking like this...

and the leaves on the trees looking like this...

I'm just saying...Seriously!

NYE night...

What did you do for NYE? Well, I was in heaven listening to Irish music for the night. A few pics to stick with my new year resolutions.

The cast of characters for the adventure...

Me *smile*


Ms. D

Ms. A

What a group!!!!

Cheapest NYE event in town--$5 bucks--well $7 -damn Ticket Master.


The Shamrock Club-Drum and Pipe band started the evening off. It was like a mini Irish Fest--yeah!

The Prodigals were our headliners.

It was the last night for the bass guy--sad, well Ray was the best ever, so really it's not that big of loss, really Ray a few years back was the big loss. Oh Ray!

Well played ladies, well played---way to bring in 2009!

New Years Resolutions…

To make them or not to make them, this is what I’m pondering. The past week or so on my blog travels, I have noticed many blogging about their New Years Resolutions. I haven’t really made any, but I think I will make a couple and be realistic this year with my resolutions. I’m not going to resolve to loose weight, let’s face it, it will not happen. I’m not going to resolve to be a better person, again, not likely to happen.

So here are my resolutions.

*I commit to blogging Monday-Friday, except on holidays and when I just can’t make myself do it.

*I will post more pictures on the blog. I stopped posting as many for fear they were not good enough, but snapshots are snapshots and they are good enough, right?

*I will drink coffee and tea, but in moderation, only one-three cups a day—I don’t want to experience the dreaded kidney stone again.

*I will smile at least once a day and I will frown at least once a day—keep a nice balance.

Ok, 4 is definitely enough. As a new look for the new year, check out the survey to the side and let me know your thoughts on New Years Resolutions—deadline it tomorrow afternoon.

Happy Wednesday!

Such A Putz...

I don't think I'm going to keep my class this quarter. I'm starting a trend, schedule and drop, no good. I just a burnt today. It's 1:11pm and this is the first break I've had since 8am. Literally, I'm hiding in my office right now with the light off, trying to suck down a few pasta noodles for lunch.

I love the comment, "oh but I'm cutting into your lunch, aren't I?". Yeah, you are, but what do I say, go away, you person who creates my job? So, I just don't see myself going until 8:30pm two nights a week, straight from work to class. I'm not the spring chicken I once was and honestly, I think the real issue is standing up in front of the room giving a speech to 18 year olds. I just don't want to do it. I got the syllabus and yet again, there are presentations, good grief! I'm not dropping yet, holding out hope, I'll dig deep and pull it out, but I'm having doubts. Ok, must open door, pasta almost done and even though it was a 10 minute lunch, it was a lunch. Oh happy new quarter. *smile*

New Year, New Look...

No, not for me, I'll likely look the same until I die, will maybe a few more wrinkles. The good think about being fat, there are fewer of those, but my eyes would really use a lift, but that's another story.

Anyway, if you haven't noticed, I did a be of remodeling on the blog here. Busy with the start of a new quarter, sad because I'm not sure I'm going to be able to take my class. More financial reasons than a time issue. We'll see I have until Friday to decide.

Anyway, back to the walk-in craze. *grin*