Saturday, April 30, 2005

It's All About Food

So, here are couple of food-related quizzes.

What kind of eating utensil are you?
I am a fork.

How do you eat an Oreo?
Very easy to do – just one question.

Thursday, April 28, 2005

Quiz of the Day.....

Are you as Frugal as You Should Be?

My results:
Frugal Queen
You've clearly mastered the best lessons of frugality -- how to spend less and how to get the most value for what you do spend. You enjoy not only the benefits of living within your means (financial security) -- you clearly enjoy living. Meet other women like you on the Frugal Living message board.

I am NOT at all surprised by this one.

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Frustrating as Hell

Try out this Japanese IQ Test. Steph sent it to me. Click on the Big Round Blue Button & Start. Here are the rules:

Get everyone across the river!
Max 2 people on the raft;
Mom cannot be with boys without Dad;
Dad cannot be with girls without Mom;
Thief cannot be with anyone without Cop;
and only Dad, Mom, and Cop can operate raft.
Big blue circle starts game.

I will post the answer to solve in the comments later.

Good luck!

The solution is now in the comments. So, don't look there unless you want to find out the answer.

Good Day

So far it's been a good day. I was prepared for a tough day, as I knew I was going to have to have some tough conversations with some of my kids. So, I started out the day by running into Starbucks to buy a couple of beverages & muffins for a collegue & myself. So, I felt good doing something nice for someone else. Then I got to work and started meeting with kids. I did a lot of individual sessions today and really felt that some kids were really listening & opening up, and then I saw a handful that were doing really well. It's nice to have a few kids doing well mixed in with the ones have a rough time. Makes you feel like there is progress being made. One of my kids is new to me and has a lot of struggles and seems to already feel at home in our classroom. Sometimes kids fight being in places where they didn't ask to be and sometimes they just welcome it with open arms, because finally they are in a place they feel safe, are comfortable, and know they are not alone.

See, Monday was a not so great therapy day. Coincidentally, it was also the day after a full moon and it was my bipolar kids that were all over the place. I mean all over the place. And when you get too many kids in a group being unstable it just gets uncomfortable for everyone. So, it's nice that it's settled down a little, as it always does. It's always calmer after the tornado goes through -- there are pieces to pick up and you need to start building some things again, but the worst is over (until the next storm.)

So, pretty soon I am off to teach my Walking & Jogging for Fitness class at the community college. We'll see how that goes. And we'll see who ge voted off A.I. tonight. If Carrie gets voted off it will no longer be a good day.

But until then - take another Quiz. I have been into the quiz thing lately and recently people seem to like that here. So, what Junk food Best Describes you?

I am Cotton Candy. Mmmmm……I like cotton candy.

HASH(0x8d30580)
Cotton Candy- Babe your a sweetheart and your
extremely nice you've got friends a plenty that
love you cause your addictive :)


JUNK FOOD QUIZ! What junk best decribes you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Text Books are Expensive

I forgot how expensive textbooks are. I registered for 2 classes for this summer and for one class I need only 1 book, but the other class I need 4 books. 5 text books that I will need to read within 1 month. Yikes. I ordered them all already (as class starts on May 11) and have the syllabus from one of the classes. I am already beginning to think I may regret going back for additional certification.

How Long Will You Live?

Just take this Quiz and you can find out. Who knew that a quiz could predict my life expectancy?

I am expected to live until I am 99 years old. I guess I better be a little more aggressive with my investments. I am not sure I can afford to live that long.

Bottom Half

Ok - here's my thoughts for the bottom half of A.I. (in this order):
Constantine
Anthony
Vonzell

Constantine just did not hit any right notes - yuck! Anthony - ok, what straight guy sings Celine Dion & wears a thumb ring? Vonzell was just too flat in the beginning, I liked her ending, but she didn't start out so well.

I really liked Carrie (she still needs to work on performing a little more), Scott sounded good (although the judges didn't like him, and I still hate Scott's dirty looks he gives when he doesn't like his feedback), Bo was just ok.

Monday, April 25, 2005

Sickness

Take this quiz about myths/facts about sickness. I earned a 70% (7 out of 10) which I guess is passing.

Sunday, April 24, 2005

Weekend Review

So, Friday night I was totally lame. We went grocery shopping, then I prepared steak kabobs & marinade for my Saturday night fun & got the shredded BBQ beef ready for Andy's Saturday fun and then I fell asleep in front of the TV by 10pm, while Andy was preparing the hosue for Geekfest.

Saturday, I met up with Rebecca & her 2 kids and we went for Mexican for lunch, then went to see "The Pacifier" (Vin Diesel totally rocks with his shirt off - I think they put that shot in there for the moms taking their kids to the show.) And then to a coffee shop (had Green Mango Tes - very good.) Saturday evening was at Cathy's house. She planned a party so that I had something to do while Andy & his fellow geeks played computer games at our place. Anyways - the party was a lot of fun. Good food, good drinks, good games (Outburst, Black Jack, & this card game called Idiot), & good music (did some karaoke on her karaoke machine and danced around like fools - so much fun.)

And today - I walked the dog, went to Big Lots to buy some stuff w/ Andy, took a nap, talked on the phone, learned how to drive the new lawn mower, and that's it.

I want the warm weather back - I don't like this stuff in the 50's and windy. Bah!

Thursday, April 21, 2005

Dandelions

Normally dandelions are thought to be a nuisance, but I am opting to take a different approach to them. Not that I am encouraging the growth of dandelions in my yard, but I will not obsess about destroying the ones that are there. Instead I will eat them.

Wonder how you can eat dandelions......There are lots of ways and recipes. This isn't a new thing for me as I have picked dandelion greens to put in salads. I have never made a salad of just dandelion greens, but have added them to lettuce, spinach, & turnip greens.

So, I was thinking I would like to try making Dandelion Jelly. Although I am not sure I have enough dandelions in the yard to get enough flowers.

Other recipes on the link include: jelly, "coffee", boiled buds, frittered blossoms, & greens.

Yeah for Me!

Some good news!

1) Got my acceptance letter in to the Master's Program for Marriage & Family Therapy. I plan to start taking classes this summer. Why do this program when I already have a Master's degree? Well, I won't do the whole program, as I said I already have a Master's Degree, but I will do the requirements to get the Certificate in Marriage & Family Therapy and then get a licensure in it as well (LMFT). So, I'll have more letters after my last name then, which is not why I am doing it. I am doing it because I will become a more well-rounded therapist and gain more experience and gain additional graduate credits which I will need for a different licensure exam I will take this fall -- the additional graduate credits are required post-licensure.

2) I am participating in a 5-week walking program through the local hospital, which encourages us to walk 10,000 steps a day (you would be surprised how little we really move if we don't make the effort to exercise.) And yesterday I walked a grand total of 21,000 steps -- just in one day. More than double what I needed. Although by the end of the day I was feeling it. I walked several different times with several different people. This quarter we've been walking with the kids as a form of stress management for them. So, it's been good for me.

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Exhausting

One thing I find exhausting is when people spend Soooooo Much time making up excuses not to do something when it would have just been easier to do the thing in the first place. Some people just need to get a clue.

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Judgement Day

Ok - so here's what I think of the Top 7 and who should be in the bottom 3 this week. Let's start with the bottom 3, my prediction based on performance (although it has not been that accurate) is:
Anthony
Anwar
Constantine

What was Andy's word to describe Constantine - oh yes, it was smarmy. Funny word, but I agree. And then to describe Anthony he said twirpy. I have to agree again.

Having been born in the late 70's I did not know most of the songs. I did like Bo quite a bit this week. He did a good job. I even thought Scott sounded good and Vonzell sounded nice as well. Carrie was just ok for me this week.

That's it. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Notes to Self

Take Note (do not do the follwoing):

Get surgery in Seattle Hospital

Lie on a Road to Get Help in Canada

Enter the Dog in a Drawing

Drive a Car off a Garage

Sunday, April 17, 2005

Things I Learned in Mags This Weekend

So - I spent some time looking through magazines this weekend (we have A LOT of subscriptions). So, I thought I would share a few interesting things that I ripped out (I think Andy hates all the ripped out ppapers from magazines that seem to multiply in our house.)

So, here they are:

Appliance Calculator - see how much each of your appliances cost to run. I found that it costs more to run a portable heater than it does to run an electric blanket. Good to know.

Free Golf Lesson - May is free lesson month and you can get a free lesson with a PGA professional. How cool is that. You have to do a search using your zip code & free lesson month, some places are only giving free lessons to members. Very cool.

Places to Swim - So, in theory this is good, but they don't have stuff in all states (like MN & WI, so it doesn't do me much good, actually seems like they have everywhere but the Midwest, maybe they are visiting places and just have not gotten to the Midwest yet, 'cuz we gont plenty of swimmin' holes.)

Museum of Useful Things - So, I saw an ad for a book holder (very clever idea!) and thought I should check this place out online. Other things I like are: Lobby dustpan, carpenter's pencil & sharpener, Clipiolas (round paper clips), & Stainless Steel Meausring Cup. Although I never did see the book holder on their site. Check out the humane mousetrap on there - it looks like a weird double-headed vibrator.


Fashion Swap Party - Interesting cocenpt. I wonder how well it works.
And then there are the recipes I ripped out because they either sounded good, or I have the ingredients in the house to make them this week (& the sounded good too!):

Turtle Bars
Slow-Cooker Beef & Veggie Stew
Mac-n-Cheese Pie
Kiwi Tart
Ritz Mock Apple Pie
Easy Bake Strata

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

WE WON!

The volleyball team I am on had our championship tournament game tonight (it was still winter league, it's a LONG league) and WE WON!

We also lead in the regular season and now won the championship. I guess our sponsor gets a trophy for both those things.

Yeah! But what will I do on Wednesday nights now. Oh wait - I decided to take a class starting in a month on Wednesday nights. Bah!

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

R U Normal?

Take this quiz.

My Bottom 3

So, A.I. just ended and these are who I think should be in the bottom 3:
Scott
Bo
Anthony

Funny - these are the same 3 I picked last week.

I thought that Nadia sounded good this week, but she picked a song that wasn't too popular. I think Simon was totally right in saying that Vonzell will get more votes this week 'cuz she picked a song people liked. Carrie rocking out was cool, but I agree that I like her country better. I loved Anwar tonight and thought Constantine sounded great (but I still don't like something about his face - it creeps me out for some reason.) I agree that Scott missed a lot of notes, I didn't really like Bo's sound, and Anthony was just ok. I don't see him as stepping up like he should be at this point in the competition.

So, we'll see tomorrow what happens.

Sunday, April 10, 2005

Weekend Summary

Friday afterwork started off with a short nap (I LOVE my naps.) Then a 3 mile walk with Kate. Then I came home and got ready to go to Jessi & Alex's Middle Eastern party. See -- Alex bought a Houka and wanted to have a party to use it. I smoked some from the Houka. The stuff was apricot flavored. And we had some Middle Eastern food too, which included some dates, tabouli & pita bread, baklava, & potato chips (who knew?). I ate some tabouli and it gave me such a craving for more that I had to make some Saturday (& let it sit all day and finally ate some for lunch today.) Mmmmmm.....Yummy! They also had come Middle Eastern liquor, which was clear but once you added it to clear water it turned milky - weird. But I just had a sip, as it tasted of black liqorice and that's just not my thing. Plus we had some mint tea as well.

Saturday started out with some dishes, laundry & light cleaning. Then did a little shopping at local area stores with Andy and came home for a nap (hey - I figure that when I have kids the naps are going to go away completly so I better get them in now.) Then off to dinner with the girls, then drinks @ Kate's, and off to Wings to sing some karaoke. I never sang karaoke at this place and I don't think I like it, because NO ONE listens to anyone. It's as if you are just background noise.

Sunday - ahhh...Sunday. I did not take any naps today, which is unfortunate. I started out the day downloading music to my Rio Carbon. For less money (plus there is a $20 rebate on the Rio Carbon right now) and more memory than the iPod we knew this was a better deal. Andy & I each got one (this is all we got back for tax money and treated ourselves to these.) Plus Andy also bought this wireless transmitter thing which puts out it owns frequency and you can play your Rio in the car over the radio or in your home over the stereo. Very cool.

I also did some yard & flower maintenance, got plenty more to do, but things are starting to look better after winter death. I have quite a bit of stuff coming up, so that's exciting. And right now I am cooking supper -- some Chicken in spicy mushroom sauce & Pinto de Gallo. Yummy.

Saturday, April 09, 2005

Recommendations

Ok - there are a few new products I have tried that I just have to recommend. They are Matrix Sleek Look Conditioner, Dr. Scholl's Tri-Comfort Inserts, and Pomegrante Juice.

Matrix Sleek Look Conditioner: My hairdresser recommended it as I was sick of my long curly hair always getting HUGE-ass snarls in them through the day & especially while I toss & turn while I sleep. It was just painful to comb out. Anyways, it's like this conditioner costs my hair. It makes my hair look shiny & feel soft & smell good. And it even did this after one use. I'm hooked.

Dr. Scholl's Tri-Comfort Inserts: Due to having flat feet I always need to put arch supports in my shoes whenever possible. I needed to buy a new pair and the old pair were not as effective anymore, and these are great. Not only do I have arch support and cushioning in the heel, but it also extendsout towards the ball and gives more cushion there. I like cushion.

Pomegrante Juice: So, I had been reading a lot about it, but honestly, it's expensive (like over $3 for 16 ounces), but it's supposed to have more antioxidants than red wine or green tea. Someone told me to add sparkling water to it to dilute it (as full strength it can be a bit much). So, I used raspberry sparking water and did a 50:50 mixture and it is a wonderful little drink. It would probably taste good with a little Absolut splashed in it too.

Check out my food blog for food freebies.

Tuesday, April 05, 2005

Who Should Go?

Well, American Idol is over and these are who I think deserve to be in the bottom 3 tomorrow:
Scott
Anthony
Beau

What do you think?

Fat Kids Walking w/ Books (Sign in CR)

View of the Pool & Bar Hut @ BW Hotel in CR

Hummingbird @ The Hummingbird Gallery in CR

Larry Loves his Bug.

Learn a Foreign Language (in Classes) for Free

So, if you are not in MN or close the Mankato area, then you probably are not interested in this.

It is sponsored through the Foreign Language Initiative. And they only offer classes that you could not take for credit at the University.

These are the classes & times (I got in an email):
I. Arabic: *CSU 256 Mondays: 4:30 pm – 6 pmML 2042 University Conference Room Tues & Thurs: 430 - 6
II. Chinese: ML 2022 Fridays: 1 pm – 2 pm; 2 – 3 / Cantonese Wed 2-3
III. Hebrew: ML 2026 Mondays: 6 pm – 7 pm
IV. Hindi: ML 2026 Fridays: 2 pm – 3 pm
V. Japanese: ML 2026 Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays: 4 pm – 5 pm
VI. Korean: ML 2026 Thursdays: 630 pm - 730 pm
VII. Nepali: ML 2022 Wednesdays: 3 pm - 4 pm Sri-Lankan: Wed 7 -8
VIII. Russian: ML 2027 Thursdays: 6 pm - 7 pm; Fridays: 3 pm - 4 pm IX. Serbian-Croatian, Bosnian: ML 2026 Fridays: 11 - 12
X. Swahili: ML 2026 Wednesdays 3 - 4
XI. Tibetan: ML 2022 Thursdays: 7 pm - 8 pm
XII. Urdu: ML 2026 Mondays: 10 am - 11 am
XIII. Yoruba: ML 2022 Thursdays: 4 pm - 5 pm Somali: Thurs 1 -2
XIV. Vietnamese: Friday 12 -1;
XV. Portuguese: Tues, Th 12-1

Contacts this email if you are intersted: foreignlanguageinitiative@yahoo.com

Just thought this was interesting and would post in case others are interested.

Sunday, April 03, 2005

Saturday, April 02, 2005


Skinny Ass Cows Walking the Streets

Hotel Pool in Liberia

Backyard of Hotel in Arenal

View from the Tawainese Bridge

Me "Jumping Waves"

Whatever.

So, my last post went up and miraculously so di the other 2, plus the other time I had tried to post what I wrote in Costa Rica. Then I tried to delete the duplicate and it "Timed Out" again. Bah. I need to go grocery shopping. When you've been gone for 9 days you leave an empty fridge which leaves nothing to eat.

BTW - my cats are very happy to see me home. Larry won't leave me a alone. He slept next to me all night and left to eat once, which is when Lucy slept on me and then left when he came back. The cats kept yelping last night when they couldn't find us. Poor babies.

Frustrated with Blogger

Will they ever let me post. This is the 3rd post I am trying. The other 2 are hanging out there in my directory, all there and everything, but not posted to my blog. Keeps giving me a times out error.

Will this work?

I was having problems with Blogger in Costa Rica, now let's see if this works. I had posted a 2nd post from Costa Rica. I might have to re-post it for today, if this works. I tried to re-post last night with the date I had orginally wrote it.