Theme Music

I am obsessed with blogging. There is no other way to say it. It’s like scrapbooking on steroids. I have pictures, videos… even theme-music (like Peter in “Family Guy”)! THEME MUSIC!!!! Who doesn’t love that?


Admittedly, as a beginner, “newbie” previous non-blogger I am constantly having to figure things out. I mean, who knew the joy, the rapture I would feel when I discovered how to EMBED. Really.

Previous conversation with Jessie:
Me: So today I learned how to EMBED a video to my blog!
Jessie: Oh, you mean an HTML?
Me: No...Oh yeah, that was it. The cut and paste, thing you do in HTML mode.
Jessie: (chuckling) Cool, Mom!

At this point I do not feel cool. But hey! At least I have THEME MUSIC!

So yesterday I wanted to share my experience of skydiving in my blog. (hey, Skydiving is cool..) Problem #1: The DVD of my jump won’t let me copy it.
Problem #2: No matter HOW hard I tried, I couldn’t get the glare/image of me using my camera to tape the DVD (like a Dum-Dum) off.
Problem #3: My video which saved to my computer just fine, was too long to upload to my blog.
Problem #4: This is now an all-day project. That. Won’t. Work.
Problem # 5: I will not be denied.

After calling in all resources, (which meant my son and his friend)…hours later (yes! hours!) I was denied. AND I burned the buns I was toasting for our BBQ sandwich dinner. Where’s the theme-music for that?

"TIT LOANS"

Yessss. What can you say when your son comes home with a picture of a title loans store, neon sign with the "LE" burnt out? Seriously?

Shoes As Weapons

My Mom is a "vertically challenged", petite woman with an Amazonian Warrior-Woman attitude. Seriously, she, when riled, you do not want to mess with. Growing up in the late 70's early 80's, clogs were the shoe du jour. Not only did they give Mom the extra inches to make her a respectable 5'3 they also made incredible deadly missiles when hurled at people.

Jim and I were snuggled up, relaxing when this old memory of Mom chucking clogs when mad at us kids, made me laugh. I shared the story with him and he said "Hey MY Mom threw shoes at us too, only she wore these pointy high heel pumps!"

Now to be fair neither of our Mothers practiced shoe chucking often, but we both agreed it was effective as the memory stuck all these years! It made me wonder why I haven't hurtled a shoe at Nick. I mean, I've surely been mad enough at times...... I suppose since my footwear of choice is mainly flip-flops or none, it's a moot point.

There is nothing scary about a mad Mom wielding a flip-flop.

Bean Fung Shui

My husband loves to cook. Not in your average "I love to cook" way, but in a "I wake up dreaming of _____ (fill in blank with any kind of dish) and now (even if it's 4:00 AM) I must cook ______" (again, fill in blank with previous answer), way. It's scary. It's a delicious, my wife of two years has gained 10 pounds, kind of sickness. It's a passion.

Although we cook a huge variety of dishes, one of our favorites is Red Beans.
It's just funny that everytime my sister calls on a weekend, we have a pot of beans on. Here's yesterdays conversation:

Lori: "What'cha doing?"
Me: "Just hanging out in the kitchen with Jim..."
Lori: "What'cha cooking?"
Me: "Beans and a pork loin's on the smoker."
Lori: "Ahh, I know everything is right in the world when beans are on the stove!"
Me: "It's bean Fung Shui!"

"Good Luck, God Bless, Stay In The Condo!"

In June 2009 I was witness to the best, cut- you -off at the knees exit line.

My son, Nick had an incredibly busy weekend, just before our "family vacation" to Daytona. The weekend before we were Florida-bound he spent the night (Fri) at a friends house where they played "Hide-And- Seek-In -The-Dark" outside. The next morning (Sat) he was dropped off at his Grandparents house to sleep over there.

Phone call from Mom: "Hey sweetie, I think Nick must have gotten into some poison Ivy last night. I've given him Benedryl and he wore a frozen beauty mask to sleep in, BUT....it's bad.

ME: "What?! How bad??" (Now what you need to know at this point is that Nick, like my Dad, is HIGHLY sensitive to Poison Ivy)

Mom: "Bad. His face is all swollen and he can't open his eyes."

I picked him up and seriously, It looked like he had stood on his face in a patch of Poison Ivy. My son looked like Shrek with his eyes closed (and red, not green). Even his ears were eclipsed by the swelling. Not to mention the rest of his body was covered in rash...but it was the face that was so shocking.

Off to our new family practice where all the office aides and nurses came out to look at my shrek-son while we waited our turn. After steroid shots, creams and an antihistimine the doctor advised me as to what to do during our vacation, for Nicks recuperation. "Reschedule your vacation." she said. "Wait, we just can't do that", I started.... "GOOD LUCK, GOD BLESS, AND STAY IN THE CONDO." she said to MY SON as she whisked out of the room.

wow. The greatest parting shot ever...."Good luck, God bless, Stay in the Condo"

Sidenote:

So, if anyone's wondering..I had him soak in Aveeno Oatmeal Bath twice a day and slather himself up in Aveeno body oil after baths. Between that and his steroids, antihistimines and creme, his rash and swelling cleared up in about 4 days. And we did not stay in the condo.

Dear Jogger

Dear Jogger I almost hit with my car this morning,

WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?? There you are, I see you happily jogging down the sidewalk. Your earphones are in as you are probably listening to your latest book-on-tape or maybe Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger". I am with you in spirit, wishing I could jog along with you and be all healthy, enjoying the sweat...feeling the burn! I am admiring your safety garb, your yellow, neon sleeves so we vehicle operators can see you. "Good job!", I say to myself. Nicely done, jogger! What a glorious morning for a jog!!

And then you Screw. It. Up. What POSSESSED you to veer left, without looking, no HAND GESTURE, nothing.... to cut across the street without a crosswalk, corner....anything that might have given me a clue? My happy mental music of "Eye of the Tiger" came to a screaching halt as simultaneously my blood pressure shot up, brake jarringly applied and my brain screamed "NOOOoooooo". Nice, Jogger. Niice.

Now I have to go home to change my pants. Just thought you and your neon sleeves should know. Oh and by the way, your little smile and halfhearted wiggle of the fingers doesn't change the fact that I wet myself.

"Samson, you in DANGER, Boy!"

Have you ever heard a song that just makes you stop everything just to listen? Not even thinking to chime in because it is just that GOOD? Makes the -hair -stand -up -on -your -arms, good?? (OK, so now you know I have hairy arms. Get over it.) And no, it wasn't on American Idol....although contestants use this song a lot. THIS version, by some guys from Norway TAKES MY BREATH AWAY. Can't help it ya'll...the song is just beautiful. I have tried to share the magic of this video with my husband, who, to his great credit tries, really. he says: "Sure Honey, it's beautiful...but, umm, well don't know about wanting to rip my clothes off and have their baby and all." See.

I show it to my son, who although he has a healthy appreciation for music with his "anime techno" he loves to listen to...didn't get my rapt fascination with this song. I say: "Listen to the words..they're beautiful, bitter-sweet....it's about sometimes getting the object of your desire and it sometimes can destroy you. Beautiful words...

My son looked at me oddly and said "Nice, Mom."

Here are the lyrics:

i heard there was a secret chord
that david played and it pleased the lord
but you don't really care for music, do you
well it goes like this the fourth, the fifth
the minor fall and the major lift
the baffled king composing hallelujah

hallelujah...

well your faith was strong but you needed proof
you saw her bathing on the roof
her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
she tied you to her kitchen chair
she broke your throne and she cut your hair
and from your lips she drew the hallelujah

hallelujah...

baby i've been here before
i've seen this room and i've walked this floor
i used to live alone before i knew you
i've seen your flag on the marble arch
but love is not a victory march
it's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah

hallelujah...

well there was a time when you let me know
what's really going on below
but now you never show that to me do you
but remember when i moved in you
and the holy dove was moving too
and every breath we drew was hallelujah

well, maybe there's a god above
but all i've ever learned from love
was how to shoot somebody who outdrew you
it's not a cry that you hear at night
it's not somebody who's seen the light
it's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah

hallelujah...


You just want to warn poor Samson to stay away from that conniving cow, Delilah. She's not all that! Or get all Whoopi Goldberg in "Ghost" and tell him "Samson, you in danger boy!"

Get inside my head...

I am the test subject for my sister Lori's psychology exam. She is going to get inside my head and uncover what makes me, "me". I think she should be scared....

I had to take the Human Metrics personality test and these were my results:

My personality "type" is ENFJ

EXTRAVERTED - 11 o/o

INTUITIVE - 62 o/o

FEELING - 50 o/o

JUDGING - 89 o/o "Whats this?!!! JUDGING!! Me? I so don't think so! PLUS, I would just like to point out to everybody that if you add up the percentages they come to 212 o/o !!! What?.....are we talking multiple personalities here???

I have decided to embrace my new identity as a "JUDGER" and am trying out new ways to introduce myself......."Hi, I'm Linda, "ENFJ" ? (must say in a "Borat-type" voice)

I will judge you gypsy, but I will still feel your tears!"

What'cha think?

Spring Is Coming!

I so love Spring!  Everything new again... I see my plants just opening up.  Revived, refreshed and GROWING!!!  The rain, which we have had for a couple of days now let up for the past hour or so.  I ran outside to snap a few quick pics of the first harbingers of Spring in my yard.  Although the rain is supposed to keep up until Sunday, by then the Bradford Pear will be ready to pop open.  Come on Spring!!

What To Have For Dinner?

 

This for dinner I think.  Had no idea what to cook today, but after looking through the fridge I realize I have a huge stockpile of carrots.  Time to eat carrots!  So I Googled "chicken and carrots" and this popped up and looks good!  Plus it'll go well with our FREE appetizer Jim's picking up @ Panda Express!  Yummy!!!

Roasted Chicken with Carrots

Ingredients

• Whole fryer chicken, 3 1/2 to 4 pounds, preferably organic or kosher, wingtips removed
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 lemon, sliced in half
• 1 bunch fresh thyme
• 10 cloves garlic, peeled
• 8 carrots, peeled, trimmed and halved crosswise
• 1 to 1½ cups chicken stock
• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons red-wine vinegar

 Method

1 Preheat oven to 425°F. Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towels. Season well with salt and pepper. Stuff with lemon, thyme and half of the garlic, then, using butcher's string, secure the wings and legs to the body.

  

2 Place chicken in a small roasting pan or large, deep, oven-proof heavy skillet. Surround with the carrots and remaining garlic, then add 1 cup of the chicken stock. Drizzle with olive oil.

 3 Roast the chicken for 15minutes at 425°F. If you have a convection oven, you can reduce the heat to 375°F for the remaining time (otherwise, just keep it at 425°F). Roast until chicken is golden and carrots are well caramelized, 1¼ to 1½ hours; baste, with broth and pan juices every 15 minutes for the first 45 minutes. Add stock if pan looks dry.

  

4 Transfer chicken, carrots and garlic to a platter. Discard twine, thyme and lemon, and let chicken rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Skim fat from pan juices and discard. Add vinegar to remaining pan juices and serve over the chicken.

Kia Soul.....Soul baby!!

Lori has quit smoking. Her goal : to buy a new car late this Spring and at the moment she has set her sights on the Kia Soul. As a reward and to celebrate her 11th day we set out to test drive one and check it out!

We had so much fun, the weather was warm, gorgeous and sunny! Afterwards we took our lunch to Black Shoals park so Sean (my Nephew) could get some good landscape photo's for his photography class in school. Here are a few of my own..

This is one of the few covered bridges in Georgia.

Here we are picking up a few hard-bodied men....LOL

Sean working at getting just the right shot at the Veteran's Memorial.

GREAT DAY!