Especially pugs!

I took mine out yesterday for a potty break and she was running around and
frolicking and dashing between my feet. I was walking with her so I was
trying not to step on her (I hate it when she cwies). So it should not
have come as a surprise when I tripped over her and fell to the asphalt,
jamming my shoulder. This is not 20 minutes after completing an MRI for my
back due to an over-excited, over-exuberent dog. What did Miss Pugly-face
do? Lick me in the face like crazy - she was so glad I was down there with
her. LOL.

But I still love them! :)

So I'm annoyed at Fashion Bug... although not annoyed enough to write a
letter. And I personally don't think I'm acting entitled or arrogant - it
just bugs the heck outta me.

I got this promotional coupon for $10 off any purchase of $25. Looked at
the fine print - didn't say excluding tax, etc. So I went and picked out a
nightgown for my Mom that was $24.99 ~ so it would have been easily over
$25.

I asked the gal at the register who was crunching on candy and she said no,
it had to be over $25 prior to tax but that I could buy a reusable bag for
a buck or two and that would take care of it.

I don't like being pushed into buying something I really don't want. So I
walked out of the store. They want to play games with their coupon, I'll
just express my annoyance with my feet.

Scent of body lotion that is.

I've been grumpy for years that Bath & Body Works got rid of their pink
grapefruit scent. This year, however, a friend gave me "Love Spell" by
Victoria's Secret. It has cherry blossom, peach and white jasmine and it
smells heavenly! Clean and sweet ~ almost citrus-y. I love it.

I've been really having to use the lotion as, thanks to all the ice and
snow we've had here in Virginia, I slipped on the ice 2 days before
Christmas and ended up with terrible "road rash". Ugh. Talk about painful
and inconvenient. Yet the lotion has kept me from snagging the scabs and
ripping them off (and/or scratching them off). It's been a Godsend.

Try it. Trust me.

Virginia will be putting John Allen Muhammed to death.

I don't know how many of you remember or were impacted in 2002 when
Muhammed and his accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, terrorized the Washington,
D.C. area by shooting people, sniper style, from inside the trunk of their
Chevy Caprice Classic.

I remember it all too well. I remember being afraid to fill up my car at
gas stations - and how I would only pull into gas pumps with my car between
me and the roadway to act as a shield. I remember one of the shootings
occurring right as we were let out of school and an hour trip home taking 5
hours. People turned ran out of gas on the highways and the police set up
checkpoints checking the interior of everyone's car. I remember fearing
for the safety of my family.

Lee Boyd Malvo, because of his age when the shootings occurred, will spend
his life in prison. Muhammed, however, will meet his God tomorrow night at
9 p.m.

I do not wish him luck nor do I wish him mercy. I can only hope he repents
at the end and apologizes to the victims' families.

On one day every month at my office we celebrate all the office birthdays
for that particular month. Everyone who wants to brings in something to
share and we have potluck birthday party.

October sees my friend Alicia and one of the other attorneys, Powell.
Alicia, early on in the month, asked me to make my baked potato soup. And
so I have (birthday day is Tuesday). But I was thinking about Powell and
what he would like.

Powell's from Georgia and he always says that the way you can tell, in the
South, that a person was loved during their life time is by how many
caramel cakes there are after the funeral. And he always says this so
wistfully.... but I've never seen or eaten a caramel cakes - let alone made
one.

Until today. I thought I would do double duty and bring something in for
each Alicia and Powell. So I thought it might be better to make one while
the person is alive - you know, because a corpse can't enjoy a caramel
cake. So I decided to make my first caramel cake. I asked everyone I know
whether they'd had one before - to no avail.

Seek and you shall find ~ so I looked and found one online.

First I melted sugar slowly to make caramel syrup. After it melted - which
seemed to take forever,I added hot water which caused some kind of chemical
reaction that resulted in extremely hot steam and therefore steam burns on
my hands.

But I persisted. Butter, sugar, caramel syrup, egg yolks... then alternate
flour and milk mixtures. Finally folding in egg whites.

I thought the batter would be very thick but once I folded in the egg
whites, it was very light.

How did it turn out? I don't know yet. It's in the oven. But I hope
Powell likes it.

My family and my boss love cookies, so today I'm trying a new recipe...
Banana Walnut Chocolate Chunk Cookies. They look sooooooo good and are
wonderfully tasty. My boss is back from vacation tomorrow so I am bringing
some to him.

1 1/2 flour
1 tsp. coarse salt (I use kosher)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 c. unsalted butter
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar (packed)
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 c. (about 1) mashed ripe banana
1 c. rolled oats
8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate (I cut up a bar of semi-sweet baking chocolate)
1/2 c. chopped walnuts

Oven: 375 degrees

Whisk together: Flour, salt, baking soda. Set aside.

Cream: Butter, sugars with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy.

To butter, add egg and vanilla. Mix in banana

Add flour mixture until just combined.

Stir in oats, chocolate chunks & walnuts.

Bake on parchment paper covered baking sheet for 12-13 minutes. Let cool on
pan for 5 minutes before removing to wire rack. Cool completely.

Yummy!

So I got myself a smoker a couple of weeks ago and I'm smoking a pork butt
this weekend for pulled pork sandwiches.

I found a great "butt" rub recipe. At least it looked like it. It has
paprika, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, black pepper and cayenne
pepper.

I wasn't thrilled how it smelled half way through.
And of course I didn't wait to try it before I started monkeying it with it
- substituted Emeril's Bayou Blast (which has paprika and cayenne) for that
part of it... added two handfuls of brown sugar and 3 tsp. of white sugar.
Just because I didn't like the smell of it.

Gonna coat the pork butt with mustard and then the butt rub. Smoke for 6
or 7 hours tomorrow, basting with a mop every 2-3 hours.

I bought a small amount of cole slaw to top the sandwiches.... It's a
Southern thing, I guess. It's so yummy.

So tonight was back to school night for my 15 year old son. He's in 10th
grade this year. Last year was the pits ~ awful for him, awful for his
teachers, awful for us.

Today we met the teachers and I'm really excited about them. They seem
like a good match. He was annoyed in math class this morning because the
computer was making noise - teacher said she thought the hard drive was
failing. Kiddo opened up the case and told her no, her fan just wasn't
working fully because it was filthy. He very carefully cleaned it off
(even bringing in canned air tonight). Teacher said it didn't make one
lick of noise after he worked on it today.

I just can't believe he'll be taking *gasp* drivers' ed this year. Oye.

BITCHES TO THE END

Man, I'll tell ya, women can be cold until the end!

The doctor, after an examination, sighed and said, 'I've got some bad news.
You have cancer, and you'd best put your affairs in order.'


The woman was shocked, but managed to compose herself and walked into the
waiting room where her daughter had been waiting.

'Well, daughter, we women celebrate when things are good, and we celebrate
when things don't go so well. In this case, things aren't well. I have
cancer. So, let's head to the club and have a martini.'

After 3 or 4 martinis, the two were feeling a little less somber. There
were some laughs and more martinis. They were eventually approached by
some of the woman's old friends, who were curious as to what the two were
celebrating.

The woman told her friends they were drinking to her impending end,'I've
been diagnosed with AIDS.'

The friend s were aghast, gave the woman their condolences and beat a hasty
retreat.

After the friends left, the woman's daughter leaned over and whispered,
'Momma, I thought you said you were dying of cancer, and you just told your
friends you were dying of AIDS! Why did you do that??'

'Because I don't want any of those bitches sleeping with your father after
I'm gone.'

And THAT, my friends, is what is called, 'Putting Your Affairs In Order'

He got a riding lawn mower yesterday - so it's off the Home Depot to get
him some suitable eye and ear protection. My lawn guy sold it to us and
came over last night and gave Kiddo safety instructions.

A dog and a lawn mower in one week. Nice!

Actually two of them.

No... not babies. I did have a very strange dream last night, however,
that I had a baby girl I named Monica Lynn.

Today I found out that my friend is leaving her husband (who's a jerk) and
is trying to find homes for all her animals.

I discussed with la familia and we've offered to take in the girl pug named
Speedy and a girl Sphynx named Gracie.

Sounds like I'm going to PetSmart soon!

Is one ice cube shy of a glacier.....

ROFLMAO.

One of my best friends came up with that and we both thought it was
hysterical.

And damn I am going to be eating salmon for a while.

It's a huge box... filled with filets and cheeks.

Does anyone have any recipes to share?

from vacation.

Alaska is such a wonderful place. We flew into Anchorage and rented a car.
Then we drove south to Seward for three days (where it rained the whole
time) and went fishing and sightseeing. I caught 5 salmon - "fish on" is
now my favorite phrase. Kiddo caught a case of seasickness. The lodge we
stayed at was absolutely beautiful - no tv, no internet, no phone. We
played cards in the evenings overlooking Resurrection Bay.

Then we drove north and overnighted in Talkeetna (stayed at a roadhouse).
Best reindeer sausage ever. Kiddo loved the cinnamon rolls. We did a jet
boat safari for a couple of hours and then surprised him later that day
with a helicopter ride with a glacier landing.

From there we drove to Denali for three days where I had an unexpected
grizzle bear encounter. He crossed the road in front of our car and I
hopped out to photograph him (breaking every rule about wild animals I had
ever read). After shooting 2 pics I realized I was 10 feet away from a
grizzly bear and I hear the calm voice of the ranger saying "ma'am, I need
you to get back in your car". Accordingly to la familia, that was the 3rd
time he had said that but the 1st time I'd heard it.

The next day we went into the national park out to wonder lake. We saw
more bears (I didn't leave the safety of the bus this time, moose, caribou,
fox... and Mt. McKinley. I was so excited.

The third day we saw the sled dogs and went whitewater rafting.

From there is was on to Fairbanks for three days. We panned for gold, took
a ride on a riverboat and flew up to Barrow as a side trip. Amazing how
those people live.

After a long train ride we went back to Anchorage, where we did a glacier
cruise and a bear fly-in to Lake Clark, which is siutated at the foot of
Mt. Redoubt (the volcano).

I am happy to take ideas/suggestions from people to the Kitchen Roundtable.
If you'd like any of your thoughts or ideas presented (it can be anonymous
if you'd like) please feel free to email me:

debpfb@gmail.com

This a great way to kick things around - much like we all do with our
families members over dinner. You can tell us what works, what doesn't,
what should be kept, what should be scrapped, what things should be
changed.

I am going on vacation starting next week and will be gone for three weeks.
I will attempt to check my emails while I am away, but since I will be in
the wilds of Alaska, it might take me some time to respond to you.

Go to Google and type "Find Chuck Norris" in the search box. Click the
"I'm feeling lucky" button.

Kiddo needed new sneakers, so I had to take him out to get new ones. I had
a $10 Kohl's cash from last week so I figured I'd go there. Found him his
shoes, bought a couple tops for me and a bracelet for my little niece and
went to check out. Gave the cashier my Kohl's cash coupon and another
coupon I got in my email.

"Ma'am... this coupon expired yesterday."

Damn. I hate that when that happens. And I didn't even bother to look at
it when I handed it to her.

"Oh". *pause* "Are you having any other specials at this time?"

"I can give you 15% off your order. Will that be okay?"

That works. :)

My son turned 15 today. Wow. I remember those days when he was just a
babe in my arms. Now, he's in high school.

We've had a buch of problems recently ~ he's been argumentative, nasty, not
doing work in school and basically a pain in my ass.

He just became a Boy Scout, however, and he went Friday night until this
morning to go camping with his troop. I was really glad for a kid-free
weekend as I would have gladly traded him in for a puppy. Except when he
got home, he was a new kid. He's been happy, agreeable, almost buoyant,
positive..... the exact opposite of who he's been. I suspect alien
involvement.

Happy Birthday, my love!

When Grandma goes to Court:

Lawyers should never ask a Mississippi grandma a question if they aren't
prepared for the answer.

In a trial, a Southern small-town prosecuting attorney called his first
witness, a grandmotherly, elderly woman to the stand. He approached her and
asked, 'Mrs. Jones, do you know me?' She responded, 'Why, yes, I do know
you, Mr. Williams. I've known you since you were a boy, and frankly, you've
been a big disappointment to me. You lie, you cheat on your wife, and you
manipulate people and talk about them behind their backs. You think you're
a big shot when you haven't the brains to realize you'll never amount to
anything more than a two-bit paper pusher. Yes, I know you.'

The lawyer was stunned. Not knowing what else to do, he pointed across the
room and asked, 'Mrs. Jones, do you know the defense attorney?'

She again replied, 'Why yes, I do. I've known Mr. Bradley since he was a
youngster, too. He's lazy, bigoted, and he has a drinking problem. He can't
build a normal relationship with anyone, and his law practice is one of the
worst in the entire state. Not to mention he cheated on his wife with three
different women. One of them was your wife. Yes, I know him.'

The defense attorney nearly died.

The judge asked both counselors to approach the bench and, in a very quiet
voice, said, 'If either of you idiots asks her if she knows me, I'll send
you both to the electric chair.'

http://homegrownmedia.com/archives/when-grandma-goes-to-court/

Of snow (supposedly)... and the world stops. My work even closed ~ there
was talk of the side roads being slippery but they weren't too bad where I
was.

Went and picked up the kiddo and now I'm sitting here at home waiting for
the ice to start (supposed to get 1/4 to 1/2 inch tonight). At least Judge
Alex will be on soon! :)

Hmmmm I wonder if there are any English Muffins in the fridge.....

So I know I haven't been around much. My job keeps me extraordinarily busy
(and I still love it) and, to put it mildly, I've been in some fairly
significant pain. It's increased recently ~ but I've had back/sciatica
pain since I hurt my back in October of 2007.

My doctor wanted an MRI way back then and my health insurance said no. I
couldn't afford $3K for it. So I didn't have one. I tried Advil,
exercise, yoga, acupuncture to relieve the pain, with mixed results.

I finally had enough and went in for an MRI (different insurance carrier
that approved it).

The result? Two ruptured discs and two bulging discs. One ruptured disc
is leaking fluid. I guess that explains the pain.

So I have to go to the orthopod on Feb. 4. I find myself hoping that all
he recommends epidural steroids rather than surgery.

Fingers crossed!

Merry Christmas one and all!

I hope Santa was good to you and didn't leave you coal in your stocking.

And OMG they are soooo delicious:

1 package of refrigerator sugar cookie dough
1 cup oats
1 cup raisins
1/4 cup maple syrup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly grease a cookie sheet.

Let dough stand at room temp for 15 minutes.

Beat dough, oats, raisins and syrup until blended. Drop on cookie sheet.

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes.

If you want to prepare a maple glaze with 1 cup powdered sugar and 1 tbsp
maple syrup, go right ahead. But I don't think they need them.

YUMMY!

So I mailed my brother's Christmas presents last night. I wanted to get my
four boxes in the mail and out before the crush of holiday presents are set
to go.

So I schlep my boxes to Staples to ship them last night. The lady at the
counter is basically clueless on the computer, claims it's broken and tells
me I should go the UPS store. I was kinda surprised by that. Go
elsewhere, huh. Not the best way I've ever heard of garnering repeat
business.

So fine, I did. And the UPS store was just amazing. The owner helped me
bring my boxes in from the car and added an extra layer of tape to be sure
they don't pop open on their way to Georgia (and they are already almost at
their destination). They plied me with candy canes and coupons too....

I wish I had known about this place last year. Poor Staples lost me as a
customer, but the UPS store gained me.

Whew.... I've been making candy like a madwoman ~ chocolate-peanut butter
bark and peppermint bark. They are gifts for my vet clinic (22 bags) and
law office (30 bags). I'm up to my elbows and ears in bark!

The vet clinic bags call it bark...and meow.

So I have started to brine the turkey breast tonight. I read mixed
opinions about whether it was better to brine longer with a less strong
brine or shorter with a strong brine.

Considering my turkey breast is 10 pounds (large chested runs in my house)
I wanted that sucker brining. Salt, sugar, poultry seasoning, and pepper.

I decided not to make a pie this year. I sampled a store made apple pie
with a crumb topping at Wegmans a few weeks ago and realized that I could
make the perfect crust and hand select the finest apples and it would STILL
not be as good at that one. So maybe I should make things a bit easier on
myself this year ~ so instead I'm making a cinnamon coffee cake for
Thanksgiving breakfast.

Plus I have to clean toilets tomorrow since Beloved is coming over for
Thanksgiving dinner.

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

I'm going to the Metropolitan Cooking and Entertaining Show! And I got
tickets to see Bobby Flay cook. I

Cosmopolitans

Pink Flirtini

Strawberry Lemonade Martini

Chocolatini

Halloween-tini

Fuzzy-tini

Deb-tini

Want one? :) Plus I'm serving wings, meatballs, spinach dip, salsa and
chips... yummo!

Kiddo and I entered a drawing when I went to a farm last weekend to
purchase some fresh lavendar. It didn't cost to enter, so I figured
whatever.

I got a call last night that they drew my name and I am THE GRAND PRIZE
WINNER.

What did I win?

A weed eater.

So I haven't posted anything in a while. Life has been crazy. I've been
busy booking my Alaska trip next year. Has anyone been there? I've got
all my hotel reservations made and most of my tours. BFF Tracy is coming
too.... woo hoo.

Kiddo got his first high school report card today - 2 A's and 2 B's. 3.5
GPA. What a way to make me proud.

So I'm just a sittin' here, waiting for the Lending Tree closing attorney
to come here to sign these documents. Tick tock.

So today we went to the orchard and picked 2 pecks of peaches (say that one
five times fast!). Kiddo loves fresh fruit, especially peaches, and I like
to support (and consume) locally grown produce, so we love this orchard.
No insecticides or pesticides are used.

So I'm whipping up a couple peach breads... except I'm doing it in a bundt
pan to take to work tomorrow to share. It smells sooooo good. But I have
a ton of peaches left over so if anyone has a peach recipe, please feel
free to share it.

3 cups peaches diced
1/4 cup peach schnapps or peach nectar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. butter
3 eggs
2 3/4 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon.

Simmer peaches with Schnapps/nectar until peaches are tender (about 5-8
minutes). (Hint: to removve the skins super easily, drop the peach in
boiling water for 45 seconds then immerse in an ice bath. The skin
literally rubs off with a paper towel.) Remove from heat, add vanilla and
set aside.

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Be sure it's blended
well.

In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda &
cinnamon. Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, alterating with the
peach mixture. Mix until blended.

Pour into greased & floured pan and bake at 350 degrees for 55 to 60
minutes.

Cool for 10 minutes.

Enjoy!


Next week is apple picking! YAY.

For a few days....

Don't want anyone to think that I'm sulking or pouting ~ this is a
preplanned event.

Be back Tuesday.

For a few days....

Don't want anyone to think that I'm sulking or pouting ~ this is a
preplanned event.

Be back Tuesday.

That Bobby Flay is doing a cooking demonstration at the Metropolitan
Cooking & Entertaining Show in Washington, D.C. in November.

Guess who got 6th row tickets???!!! YAY!

Cooking demonstrations, classes, tastings ~ sponsored by some of the area's
best restaurants.

Can't wait to go.

My boss took today off... I think because it's his birthday. He's 64
today. It sounds like he splurged on some new appliances for his kitchen
and is waiting for them to be delivered. Good for him.. he works so hard
that he deserves a day off.

He may be out on Monday too - making it a four-day weekend for him. And
sort of for me too.

I've got an in-box full of stuff to do ~ and of course I don't really feel
like doing it. Got the internet tuned to a local radio station and am just
going to calmly work my way through the stack.

My Mom's retiring today - so Kiddo & I are taking her out to dinner tonight
(Outback Steakhouse). She doesn't want a fuss so I'm not going to embarass
her. But I did bake cookies yesterday to celebrate "the end". One of the
guys at her work brought in apple fritters this morning.

Oh... and they've found me. There was a deer in my backyard at 7:45 this
morning. Right by my car.

Not bad for a Friday.

Whew... summer time is stressful. And busy. Even with just one kid, it
takes so much time to schlep him to and from camp and voluntering, oh and
then put in 40+ hours per week. Makes for a tired girl.

I don't think it's made me grumpy (well, at least grumpier than usual).
But yesterday I was rethinking that.

Dropped the kiddo off at camp and was on my way to work. They're not too
far apart and I dropped him off at 8:10 a.m. and had to be at work at 8:30
a.m. I drove up one of these small town streets ~ the ones with cute
little houses on both sides of the two lane road. People walk their dogs
and wave to cars. Typical small town Virginia.

I round a curve and there's a beagle standing in the middle of my lane.
I'm not going more than about 25 so I ease to a stop. Dog stands there and
looks at me. Cars are going in the opposite direction, so I can't go
around the dog. I toot my horn at the dog ~ and he just stands there
looking at me. At this point I'm about ready to get out of the car to shoo
the dog away.

And a car pulls up behind me and lays on the horn. WTF? You want me to HIT
the dog? Screw you, buddy. Luckily there was no one in the car with me
because I say just those words. The dog finally trots off into his own
yard and I continue on my way.

Man, do I hate impatient people.

Why does the cutest color lip gloss come in the most obnoxious flavor?

At Bath and Body Works this weekend I picked up a tube of their dipped
strawberry lip gloss. It's an adorable, sparkly shade of pink and I just
love it.

But it tastes NOTHING like a chocolate dipped strawberry. In fact, I'd
call it something closer to cough syrup flavored.

Yuck.

Caught my kitty Cheeto peeing on the carpet on Sunday. In the dining room,
of course... *eye roll*. I know what that usually means ~ urinary tract
infection.

So I called up yesterday morning and got him an appointment at his vet's
(which happens to be the one I work at on the weekends). Got him up there
(meowing all the way), took his temperature (no fever) and had him examined
by the doc.

He is such the bestest kitty. Tracy calls him a pet whore because all he
wants is to be petted every single minute of every single day. I took his
temperature ~ he purred. The doctor examined him ~ he purred. We did a
cysto to collect a urine sample, which means flipping Cheeto on his back in
a trough and using an ultrasound to find the bladder and then extracting
the urine with a syringe. And still he purred ~ because Christina was
scratching behind his ears.

I caught it early. There was some inflammation of the bladder wall, some
crystal fragments as well as protein in the urine. Put him on antibiotics
(which with the help of pill pockets he's taking very well).

Today he started using his litter box again.

Good kitteh!

I have always been on the fence about it.

But I "met" one of our firm's ghosts today. I was standing at the copier
and I felt a cool gust of wine blow across my neck and ruffle the back of
my hair up. It was definitely up ~ like when you run your hand up your
neck, through your hair.

I turned around - there was no one there, no doors were open, the A/C
wasn't on. One of the ladies I work with walked in on my puzzled
expression and she asked me if I was okay. I told her about the incident
and said it was probably one of our spirits.

It's a historic building ~ built in the early 1800s, so there's a lot of
history there.

If it was a presence (and I believe it was) he (and I think it was a he)
was just saying hi.

Going away for the weekend. Leaving first thing tomorrow morning. Woo
Hoo! I'm so excited.

Catch up with all of you Tuesday!

I used it for the first time tonight in making a pan of brownies for our
May birthdays tomorrow at work.

Made a box of brownies per the label instructions.

Spread with Nutella ~ which is a hazelnut spread. It tastes chocolately
but I don't see any chocolate on the label. I have never tried it before,
but I would sure eat it again - on muffins or bagels or even straight out
of the jar. It's delish.

Sprinkle brownies with crushed toasted hazelnuts.

Top with mini chocolate chips. Stick brownies back into over until
chocolate chips melt.

That's what I'm waiting on now, and wow it smells ever so good. Gonna have
to fight kiddo to keep him away from them.

My boss (with his sweet tooth) ought to love them.

Did you miss me?

On second thought, never mind answering that question.

Thursday, Nichole and her friend Jenn came into town and stayed at my
house... we went out and partied at the strip club (if you want pics, email
me) on Friday and then they left Saturday afternoon.

Painted horseshoes for the tournament Saturday afternoon and Sunday.

Worked Monday, went to the golf club to make final prepaations for the golf
tournament until about 9. At about 11:30 p.m., Tracy arrived. We hung out
for a couple hours and then crashed.

Golf tournament was Tuesday and then we went out for wings and margaritas.
Tracy won the pedicure basket in the raffle (actually I won it and gave it
to her along with a golden horseshoe for driving 8 hours to help out);
Kiddo won the bracelet and earrings for his mother. :) A good and
successful golf tournament it was.

Today, we went to the salon where Tracy got a pedicure and I got a facial.
Then we went to Petco for kitty cat treats and Target to look at shoes.
Lunch was at Five Guys; dessert at Cold Stone. We talked and laughed and
got all caught up.

She just left to drive back to Cincinnati and I already miss her. :(

I'm exhausted but exilerated at having seen two of my best girlfriends
within a week. Plus I made a new friend in Jenn... Nichole is right ~
she's just awesome!

www.phxrisingcenter.org

It's Tuesday. We've got about 50 golfers paid thus far and we've got lots
of items for raffle.

Pet basket (treats, grooming stuff, grooming gift certificate, collars,
toys ~ for both cats and dogs)

Pedicure basket - all sorts of fun stuff from Bath & Body Works

Coffee basket

VA basket

Philly basket (including pretzel mix & mustard, of course)

Galloping Grape (wine & equine shop) gift certificate

Bracelet and earrings

$50 in gas cards

Glory Days grill $25 gift certificate

Four sessions with a personal trainer

Haircut and facial

A private tour and wine tasting for four

Lg. silk floral arrangement

Golf package from a local golf shop - it even has a virtual reality golfing
experience.

Whew... still gotta paint horseshoes and make up goodie bags with snacks
and free stuff. Plus I'm emceeing again this year.

My friend Susan is taking her Medical Boards today. Apparently she has to
take this test every 10 years and she's kinda sweating it. She's been
studying really hard, so I am sure she will do well.

We're going over to see her and her family on Sunday for a BBQ... I'm
making up a batch of Strawberry Lemon Drops. :)

I didn't realize it was today until this morning when the Office Manager
called an impromptu staff meeting. The firm is paying for lunch for all of
us today, we're going to a fundraising luncheon event (at firm's expense)
in May (to raise funds for a digital mammography machine - how cool is
that?) & I got an Outback gift card. YAY!

Totally unexpected. It's nice to be appreciated.

So by now I am sure all of you are tired of hearing about my wonderful boss
and my awesome job.

Today is not a good day ~ not because of anything he's done or the work
itself. But right at this point, I am pretty close to tears.

At my last job, I was miserable. I was treated poorly by the other
attorneys in the firm ~ it was an all around bad scene. When I left I was
so emotionally beat up that it took me 6 months to NOT think of myself as a
loser or failure. It had become so engrained in my psyche that I was
always wrong, always at fault and lower than dirt.

At this new firm, I have a great supervising attorney, wonderful colleagues
and fascinating work.

Today we almost had a disaster. We mailed service of process to the court,
who mailed it to Richmond. Richmond SAT on it for almost 3 weeks and
consquently we were about 3 days from blowing our service deadline. Which
would have been a catastrophe. My heart spent a lot of time in both my
stomach and my throat today. I just wanted to find a dark corner and sob.

My wonderful boss understood everything. He knows there's nothing I could
have done to get it from Leesburg to Richmond any faster. He't not mad at
all. But I'm a mess. All those old feelings I thought were gone came
flooding back and I felt worthless and hopeless and like I couldn't do
anything right.

I don't know how to shake it.

So we just got back from a quick run to the grocery store. We're in the
parking lot when kiddo says he's hungry. We didn't breakfast all that long
ago and he's tired today - must be on a growth spurt or something.

Fine... at this particular store, they usually have samples, so I told him
to find a couple. A piece of watermelon here, bite of apple there... no
biggie.

Sitting in the produce section is a woman (who looked like Dr. Ruth,
incidently) giving out samples of some frozen asian cuisine called seafood
medley with jasmine rice. And kiddo wanted a taste. I am normally
suspicious of anything that claims to be a "medley" but kiddo has no such
compunctions. I figured he's hate it.

No such luck.

He tastes it, declares it delicious and wants me to buy a couple of them
for a quick on-the-go meal. He says the combination of spices is perfect.
In fact, he doesn't just ask. He asks repeatedly ~ and when I don't stop
looking at the dried fruit, he goes off on his own to try to find it. So
not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, I say okay and I buy two
boxes. After all, it's something other than the ubiquitous mac & cheese.

Got home and looked at the ingredient list: rice, cuttlefish, shrimp,
sweet basil, oyster sauce.

Hold it.

Cuttlefish. That's squid. Yep, the kiddo's eating bait. I am so not
telling him.

Don't you tell him either.

I made:

Pumpkin cheesecake muffins

Apple streusel coffee cake

Banana nut bread

Tomorrow morning I make mini quiches.... :) Eggs, cheese, bacon, onion,
chives.... Yummy!

Today is kiddo's birthday. He's 14 years old!!!!

We're going into D.C. to see the cherry blossoms, then over to Rosa
Mexicano (his favorite restaurant) for dinner, and then to the theater ~
the Reduced Shakespeare Company is going to chronicle the history of the
world in 90 minutes.

They're hysterical! He's gonna love it!

Love you, bud! Happy birthday.

I hope you're sitting down. It's not my fault, reallly it isn't. And I am
just as heartbroken as the rest of you to discover it. I didn't seek it
out. It just happened. *blinks back tears*

Say it ain't so, Erik....

Yes, our yellow, furry, funny pal has *sniff* sold out and is recycling his
material.

http://www.sodblog.com/media/advertising/fun-with-google-ads/

Tell me you haven't run out of funny.

http://www.adventureaquarium.com/index.cfm?sectionID=180,183,0,0

Yep... going here on Sunday afternoon. What better way to spend Easter
Sunday.

So excited!

YAY.

Boss took off and the last thing he said as he left was that I should leave
at 4:15 ~ ostensibly to take a package to Fedex. LOL. He let me leave
early on Friday too... and no, I don't have to take leave for it.

So yes, he's STILL great!