Sunday, November 30, 2008

Parlay Card for Fun and Hopefully Money!

I haven't made it to Verdi to check and get another lottery ticket so this morning as I was reading the Sunday paper and making my pick for football, I decided to give Jay my picks and have him run to Grand Sierra Resort and put the $40 I had in my purse on a parlay card.  It can't be any worse than what I have done playing the lottery which I think the most I have won on a $20 lottery ticket is $8.  My mom does much better than I do, yet she plays weekly, I make it down around once every 3 months.  So I gave my picks to Jay and he decided on 6 games out of the 10 I chose.  Odds are 50-1 so if we win all 6 games, we will win $1960 after the $40 take. Here are my game picks..........

  • Jets have win by 7.5 points
  • Bills have to win by 6.5 points
  • Buccaneers have to win by 3.5 points
  • Steelers have to lose by 1.5 points
  • Raiders have to win by 2.5 points (Hey they are playing the Chiefs it could happen!)
  • Bears have to lose by 3.5 points
Since I am trying to not leave my house on Sundays, (one of my money saving strategies) this will actually make me watch football as I sew with my husband.....(watch football that is!)  Wish me luck , for a $40 bet, $1960 is not too bad, problem is, you have to get all in order to win.  This is our first time, so we will see if this is something we can do and enjoy......(win).



Saturday, November 29, 2008

Black Friday Crazyness



I have never seen my sister like this.

She was on a mission.

Nobody got in her way.

She accomplished what she came for.



It started out at 3:15, I set my alarm for 3:30 but couldn't sleep, due to the excitement and suspense of the morning we had ahead of us.  To my surprise my daughter was laying awake in bed waiting for me to come and wake her.  As I was getting ready to go, I thought I heard my cell phone ring.......It was 4 am.......it was my sister.  Oddly she sounded wide awake and told me she was in line waiting for Kohl's to open.......huh, my little sister who would sleep in every weekend as kids and could definitely out sleep anyone in our family.  Oh yeah, she was bright eyed and bushy tailed.  Stevi called her and asked her if she would like us to bring her Starbuck's instead of meeting us there her response.."THAT WOULD ROCK!" .....ok so we did and got to Kohl's got some great deals on clothes and a few toys, then off to Walmart, whoa, she was gone, we literally had to haul ass out of the parking lot to catch up with her then when we arrived to Walmart, she was almost to the front doors at a very quick clip which turned into a run when she saw us.........uh-oh.  Stevi and I quickly parked, crooked I think, and got out and started running to catch up.  We were too slow, by the time  we hit the front doors, my cell rang and she was already in the toys.  So I went with Stevi to electronic to help her get the much coveted DS Special Edition Brain Age.  Only so many for sale and the natives where getting restless.  Whoa, Crackhead central,  my mom would have been hyperventilating if she were with us.  Some lady started to yell at me, yes AT me when I called Liz and said "This is ridiculous there are people pissed off because they have been in line for 2 hours and I am not going to wait in line like this......"  Wrong thing to say, I actually had people yelling at me because I was not willing to stand in line for 1 item, no way.  So we met Liz in the toys and the one item she came for was completely wiped out, not even a remnant of what was there other than a crooked price sign.  We left not purchasing a thing, it was mass chaos and from what TDH told Liz and what I read in the paper this morning, an employee of a Long Island Walmart was trampled to death yesterday and 8 other people sent to the hospital for injuries.......Is this country out of its ever loving mind?  Are you serious, are these items we CAN NOT possibly live without?  Give me a break, these sick people took a humans life to purchase an in-animate object that was on sale.  Good Lord.  Then we were off to K-Mart to stand in line and wait for it to open, funny, as I scanned the line for my sister-in-law and my nephew, the line started to move and I literally had to sprint to catch up to my sister and daughter, it was moving that fast.  Oddly, K-Mart wasn't prepared at all for this sale, the prices where not marked and the shelves where not stocked......at all.  Crazy, so we got what we needed and split to Target (which had WAY better deals and is much nicer than K-Mart).  My sister looked at me at one point and said, "I admire your focus!"  Gee.....thank you? Funny thing is the whole time I'm calling my mom saying....."Your daughter is a CRACKHEAD right now!"  She actually had the nerve to ask which one........ummmm duh, the baby in the family, the perfect beautiful one, NOT ME........BUBBA,  apparently I am "focused".  Liz finished before Stevi and I did and went home, then we headed on to Scheel's to finish up and Barnes and Nobles.  Afterwards, Stevi and I went to breakfast at Mimi's and we were home by 10:30.........6 1/2 hours of power shopping, and I am done!  Came home and hung out with Jack before Mama and Kevin came to pick him up to head back to Oregon, started to read my book and passed out on the couch until around 4.  Got up, made dinner, then got killed at Monopoly by Stevi (my little Angel) started to read again and passed out by 9 o'clock.  But hey, I am DONE  with my x-mas shopping, completely done, finished, no more!  And I think my sister and I saw a different side of each other yesterday..........I think we will do it next year!

Friday, November 21, 2008

Learn from my mistakes.......PLEASE!

No picture because I just got my laptop back.  I dropped it and they had to install a new hard drive.  No I didn't have it backed up to anything.  I lost my photos, music and all my business information on Quicken.  Don't you just love technology.  I have to start from scratch.  I couldn't upload a picture because for some reason, I don't have iphoto on this hard drive.  Jayson is going to come over and help me. I have no clue what I am doing.  I tried to print out coupons to go shopping, only my printer won't work because I can't find the disk to set it up.  Oh yeah, I did some hardcore spring cleaning....LAST WEEK!  I was sick of all the extra crap laying around that everyone says you should save.  I cleaned out my desk that had tons of disks with dust on them. Some of them said 1995, hadn't needed them so far so guess what I did?  Threw them in the trash on Tuesday of last week, that means they went into the trash truck on Wednesday with our trash pick-up.  So yeah, I have nothing, I have some photos (I had over 3,000) thank God on Flickr but I can't pull them onto my computer because there is not iphoto.  They told me at Apple that they could try to transfer my files and depending on how long it took I was looking at $425 to $3200.  Hmm that extra $65 for the little hard drive USB whatever they are that you plug into your computer and back up your files sounds pretty cheap right about now.  My smart little baby sister (I know she is in her 30's but that is so young to me!)  Even was smart enough to back up her stuff with a system they offer on line. But OH-NO! Not me, I questioned the security of that with hackers and such, I am sure she remembers my comment on her previous post regarding this, THAT sounds like such a great idea.  I had over 7,000 songs in my itunes library.......kept the cd's in the garage for around 3 years (It literally took me 3 days of non-stop downloading) and finally got around to selling them at a garage sale in August because they were just taking up space......what I didn't sell, went to Recycled Records.....Aaah technology,  so yeah, music, gone.  Photos, digital camera......who needs to waste paper when you have a digital photo frame (disk in trash I think) and you can display your photos on your computer in a slide show?  I am sick about this not to mention the hours and hours of input I so diligently put into my receipts and expenses for business so when tax time came up I could just print it out.......ha ha, lol, yeah, wanted to cry because of all this, but what is the point, there are so many more things to cry about right now with the way the economy and the world is, so I don't, I won't.......anyone want to donate some music to me? Send me a disk!  Just kidding, but now that I think of it, a compilation of your favorite music would be awesome right about now....................sigh.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Sewing Sunday Sage Stevi Success.........SSSS


Sage's quilt it done!  It was the hardest thing to do, machine quilting is not easy on a starter Pfaff.  It's not perfect, but it was made with love and I hope she gets a lot of enjoyment out of it, I chose a really soft fluffy back for her, my machine hated it so it bunched slightly here and there, but I didn't have the time to hand quilt it, so it is what it is.  Today is actually Sunday even though I know you are reading this on Tuesday and right now Stevi is finishing her blanket.  She wanted a new blanket for her bed and we had bought the fabric awhile ago. We used the extra satin which she is using as the trim and I made her a pillow case.  The scary thing is, I didn't even have to think about it and it came out perfect.  I have a ton of fabric that I got over the last year with plenty of unfinished projects, so I will keep working on things to keep me out of the mall and things should work out!

Bad news, I think I may already be outgrowing my sweet little sewing machine....uggh.


Monday, November 17, 2008

Menu Monday


  • Sunday - Porkchops, vegetables, croissant, funfetti cookie
  • Monday- Boca/Salmon burger, mashed potatoes, corn, pudding
  • Tuesday- Egg Salad sandwich, chips, apple slices
  • Wednesday- Hot dogs, cottage cheese, salad, cookie
  • Thursday- Chicken breast, rice, green beans, pie
  • Friday-Meatloaf, baked potatoe, stir fried squash, orange wedges with whipped cream
  • Saturday- Pizza, salad, pie.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Funfetti Cookies with homemade frosting

I had a box of funfetti cake mix in the pantry, so I decided to make cookies with it and some homemade frosting to put on top.

FUNFETTI COOKIES
  • 1 package Pillsbury Funfetti Cake
  • 1/3 cup Crisco pure vegetable oil
  • 2 large eggs
  • High Altitude above 3500 ft- 1/2 cup flour to dry cake mix.

  1. Heat oven 375 Combine cake mix, (flour if needed), oil and eggs in large bowl, stir with spoon until thoroughly moistened.  Shape dough into 1" balls placed 2" apart on ungreased cookie sheets.  Flatten to 1/4" thickness with bottom of glass dipped in flour.
  2. Bake 6-8 mins. or until edges are a light golden brown.  Cool 1 min. remove from cookie sheets.
  3. Spread frosting on warm cookies.  Immediately sprinkle each with candy bits.  Let frosting set before storing.  Store tightly in covered container.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

  • 1 6 oz. package cream cheese
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 4 cups powdered sugar (sifted)
Beat together cream cheese, vanilla and butter until fluffy.  Slowly add powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time until the frosting is the right thickness to spread on cookies.  Keep in refrigerator until serving.


Saturday, November 15, 2008

Memoirs of a crazy childhood chapter 10

One of my most painful childhood memories was the day I sat in an ant pile.  In the summer.  With shorts on.  The age of 5.  We lived in Reno Park and my mother had sent me out to play, back then, believe it or not, mothers sent their children outside to play by themselves,  and I think my dog Go-Lucky was with me.  I do remember that it was hot and for some reason I sat right in the middle of a red ant pile.  I don't know how many ant bites I got that day, a lot, but I can tell you this, that was 35 years ago and I still remember how bad it stung.  The feeling is almost like touching a hot burner.  I don't recommend it.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Book Review.......DREAMCATCHER BY STEPHEN KING

Not the best book I have read, I like Stephen King, this time he went sci-fi.  This book is about 4 boys who befriend a boy with down's syndrome.  As they grow up they lose touch and the four men meet up every year for a hunting trip and reminisce about their younger days and talk about Duddits "Douglas". Then all of a sudden they are invaded by aliens and killed or body snatched and Duddits has a special talent that is the only way the remaining men can be saved........lots of fowl language, grossness and it's kind of weird.  I skimmed through alot of this book.  I think my favorite parts of this book was about their special friendship with Duddits and how it came to be.  Girls don't bother, Guys into sci-fi....go for it.....500 and something pages of Huh?

Monday, November 10, 2008

Menu Monday

  • Sunday- Boca Burgers, mashed potatoes and gravy, salad,  homemade buttery spritz cookies
  • Monday- Pot Stickers, won-ton soup, ice-cream sandwich
  • Tuesday- Healthy Choice frozen dinner, salad, Zuchini bread
  • Wednesday- Sauteed Jumbo Shrimp, salad, cous cous, cookies
  • Thursday-Tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwiches, pudding
  • Friday-Pot pie, cookie
  • Saturday- Egg salad sandwich and potatoe chips, ice-cream sandwich

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Buttery Spritz Cookies

One of the ways I have decided to save money is by baking a batch of cookies each week on Sundays.  I have to admit, they are much better than buying stale cookies at the grocery store.  This week we made Buttery Spritz Cookies and Stevi is going to decorate them after they cool with writing frosting.  I had everything I needed in the pantry so they didn't cost me a dime this week.

BUTTERY SPRITZ COOKIES:
  • 1cup of butter, softened
  • 1 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  • 2-1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt

  •    In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in egg and extracts.  Combine flour and salt.  Gradually add to creamed mixture, mix well.  Tint with food coloring is desired.
  • Place shaped cookie dough 2" apart on ungreased baking sheets.  
  • Bake @ 375 for 6-8 mins. (11 mins at my high altitude) Remove to wire racks to cool.

The recipe says it yields 7 1/2 dozen, my cookies are big so I only got 2 dozen out of mine.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Great but OUCH!

I try to get my workouts in whenever I can, at least 3 days a week, and now with trying to train to run, which I count as a completely separate workout, it is difficult.  I went to the gym at lunch on Thursday and took the Express Circuit class which the instructor, Melanie, has to choice of work-outs.  She decided on "Fight Club"  which is punching and kicking, elbowing and body checking heavy bags.  I don't know why but I have always felt good getting aggression out that way.  The bags we were using are called wave runners and they are filled with water, on a stand, so not only are they heavy, they can come back at you.  For 45 mins, we had to do a series of jabs, upper cuts, hooks, kicks, round houses etc.  I got into it.  I was the only one in class without a partner so Mel teamed up with me, well obviously the competition was on.  She is my sisters age, younger than me, she actually went to school with my sister and had a baby with Kyle Lundgren who she knows as well.  So knowing her, I couldn't let her see any weakness.  It was on.  I was definitely moving the bag.  My whole body hurt the next day and today I am just as sore.  That was probably the best workout I have ever gotten.  I had gloves on, and both of my hands, the knuckles are bruised.  I also hurt my ankle doing a series of round houses.  I moved that bag around the floor so much I had to switch sides to keep it on my side of the room.  It felt so good, but unfortunately, I was going to run right afterward and my legs were so warn out I couldn't run and the next day my ankle hurt, so I am listening to my body, and taking more days off.  I still feel it, and my client who has 2 sons that run for Nike told me not to run because I will hurt myself.  I am listening and laying low.  Hopefully tomorrow I can run, I am actually craving it, the runners I have spoken to told me this would happen and they were right.  If I can run tomorrow, I will start week 4 which is walking for 2 mins, then running for 5 mins. repeated 4 times and getting 4 runs in in a week.  For all you women out there, kick that cardio kickboxing to the curb and get a heavy bag...........it's an amazing full body and cardio workout, you will be sore!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

My thoughts on our victory.....

I am a registered Republican.  I voted for a Democrat.  Not because of the color or his skin.   Because I felt he is the best man for the job.  Unfortunately, we still see prejudice in this country and I am sad to say that I have heard a few times that the only reason people are voting for him is because he is black. I am sure his whole life he has had to overcome many obstacles in his life because of ignorance and hate.  In my lifetime, I have seen racism, hate and ignorance and was fortunate to be raised in an educated household where we were never taught to judge anybody by the color of their skin.  I am so proud that we live in a country where you can definitely be all you can be.  If you set your mind to something and try hard enough you can achieve anything.  My uncle was black.  I learned from stories my mom told me about prejudice and how sickening the world can be.  My Aunt and Uncle fell in love in a time when it was taboo and stayed married until the day my Uncle passed away.   They chose to not have children because of the times,  so it is our loss that we never got to have more wonderful people in the world who were born out of pure and honest love.  I wish my Uncle were still alive to see this day.....it is a day many younger generations won't understand and how incredibly momentous this is.  Yes our 44th president happens to be black.  Back in the 60's when he was born, he was most likely unable to ride the same bus or attend the same schools as whites.  They had separate drinking fountains.  Couldn't go into restaurants to eat.  Had to walk on the outside or go around the back of buildings.  Were beaten and killed because of the color of their skin.  My Aunt got fired from her job when they found out she was married to a black man................and it was OK.  How sickening it is to me that this ever went on in the first place.  It is a proud moment that the majority of America saw a man.  A man who was running for President and could possibly make a difference.  I am saddened that his Grandmother passed away one day before he was elected.  I am sure she was so proud, and I bet when he was a small boy, she looked at him with love in her eyes, despite the way a lot of America looked at him back then and said....."Someday, you could be President of the United States......."  and he is.................

Monday, November 3, 2008

On the Bandwagon.......

  • Sunday-Corndogs, potatoe salad and a frozen fruit bar
  • Monday- Boneless skinless chicken thighs, mixed vegetables, mashed potatoes and homemade orange pecan cookie.
  • Tuesday-Potroast, sweet peas, white rice, Garlic bread with parmesan cheese and Halloween Candy
  • Wednesday- Beef ribs, Mashed potatoes, fresh fried zuccini and butternut squash in olive oil and frozen fruit bar
  • Thursday-Taquitos and mini tacos with Tortilla chips and salsa and a homemade cookie
  • Friday-Ceasar salad and applesauce with a frozen fruit bar
  • Saturday-Fetticcini Alfredo, ceasar salad, garlic bread with cheese and a homemade cookie

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Get Stoned - HINDER click title




Even though I was sick yesterday, (and still am, this flu is a duzy)  We had tickets to see Hinder, Trapt, Rev Theory and Smile Empty Souls.....we missed Smile Empty Souls and Rev Theory was awesome, they really rocked hard, Umm Trapt, not to sure about, they were OK.  The lead singer didn't find his voice until halfway into the second or third song.  But Hinder, I love them.  They really remind me of 80's rock,  and for those of you who know me, I am all about 80's rock.  After watching them on stage last night I felt like the lead singers main inspiration had to be Steven Tyler.  Very Aerosmith, from the scarves, to his look and the way he moved.  I have seen Aerosmith in concert and he definitely doesn't give me chills like Steven Tyler does, but I think they are well on there way,  I have their first album and I will definitely buy their second.  The title video I posted "Get Stoned"  is my favorite song by Hinder and was the last song they played. He had pretty much thrashed his voice by then, but during "Lips of an Angel" and "Get Stoned" me and Stevi were standing and dancing and singing............If they are coming your way, it is the Jagermeister Music Tour, and it was a great show, Stevi loved it and was shocked (which made me laugh and think she is so cute) that girls were actually throwing their bras up on stage!  OMG That is so Gross!!