Happy Halloween!

Yesterday Kat shared her favorite Halloween costume with us and asked some costume related questions at the end of her post.

The last time I dressed up in full costume for Halloween was in 2004. It was part of a contest at work. Prizes were awarded for best costume and best decorated cubicle.

While my costume was pretty good my cubicle COULD NOT lose. It. Was. Awesome.

I spent more time, energy and money on that damned contest. But it was by far the best cubicle in the building.

Except that I LOST!!! I got beat by a tissue paper wrapped desk that had a broken doll on it. Seriously there was a broken doll, a fake owl and an ET figure there. Nothing went together and yet I LOST.

Devasted. I was devasted. And bitter. Bitter and devasted. I just knew I would win.

And no it didn't matter that I won for best costume and that they both had the same prize. I WANTED DESERVED to win for best cubicle.

So to re-live this tale I dug through a few boxes trying to find the picture of my cubicle. It took a while and I found some very interesting things along the way. Anyone interested in a Jessica Simpson cassette tape? A promotional one...it doesn't even have the whole songs on it.*

Before revealing my SPECTACTULAR, AMAZING, RAD, AWESOME, INCREDIBLE, MARVELOUS, LOSING cubicle, let me explain.

I dressed as a mad scientist that had escaped from the mental ward complete with hospital gown, slippers and robe. My desk was my laboratory and I don't care what they say it was BAD ASS.

Do you see the flasks filled with colored liquids and gels? The graphs, charts and family portraits I made posted to the wall? Do you see the walls that I painstakingly covered in silver? Bad Ass I say. Bad. Ass.

Those bastards. But I'm not bitter.

*Jessica was on tour with 98 Degrees when I got this tape. They came to our town and I took my sis. Hey! I'm a great big sister what can I say?! Besides 98 Degrees was pretty hot. Anyway, she was a nobody at the time so after the concert she was signing demo tapes out front. And I got one.

Wonder if I could ebay this sucker for some big bucks?

Apple Cider Cake

I cannot remember where I got this recipe, but for the last 4 years (or so) it has become mine. It is my sis's favorite cake and I'm obligated to make it at least once during the holiday season.

Which is okay with me cause it's G-O-O-D. And easy since it starts with a cake mix.

Let's start with the ingredients. As you can see I'm not brand specific.



Cake:
18.25 oz plain yellow cake mix
3.5 oz vanilla instant pudding (dry)
4 large eggs
1 cup apple cider
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves



Glaze:
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 tbsp apple cider
1/2 tsp lemon zest

Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease & flour bundt pan. Place cake mix, pudding, eggs, apple cider, oil, cinnamon & cloves in mixing bowl. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds. Scrape bowl and beat on medium for 2 minutes. Pour batter into the prepared bundt pan.



Bake 42-48 minutes (or until done). Let cool in the pan for 20 minutes.



While the cake is cooling, go outside and grill yourself a steak or two for dinner. Then go back in and make the glaze while the meat is resting.



Glaze: Heat confectioners sugar, cider and lemon zest in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring until mixture is smooth.



Take cake out of pan and immediately pour glaze over the cake. Be sure that the cake and glaze is still warm so that it soaks down into the cake.

In other words don't take your sweet time taking pictures for your blog otherwise it the glaze will harden on top. Still good, but not great.



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What are you still here for? Go make this cake already!

Sassy shoes!

Instead of working today I am basking in the glow of my win from this morning. And admiring my new boots.

I got them when we went down to the beach at the end of May and I've been dying to wear them ever since. Finally, it's cold enough although I'm not sure it's a fair trade. Giving up the warm weather for cute boots...I'll have to think about that.

Anyway I'm still trying to catch up on blogs (and work) from yesterday's twitter-thon and GNO from last night.

Don't worry I haven't forgot that I promised you a recipe or two. I promise it's coming...

In the meantime, tell me what's your favorite winter wear this year?

Tweets Everywhere!

So first thing this morning I check out one of my favorite blogs Lulaville.

Guess what?!

Leigh Ann is the guest tweeter for tonight's Mommy Gossip - GNO (or Girls Night Out) and it was no surprise to me since the topic is Twilight and Ms. Lulaville is all about some Twilight.



As am I since the day the day she introduced us. Not only did I devour the first book but then I bought the remaining 3 and read all of them within a matter of days.

Already 56 people have signed up to Twitter this event, which meant that I needed to "follow" about 53 new people, and have them follow me. So we can gab all about the book and upcoming movie.



If you don't know what Twitter is all about go here. Hopefully it will answer all your questions. And then you can go to my sidebar and click to follow me.

Then you and I can tweet about Twilight at tonight's GNO. Or what I ate for lunch. Or what YOU ate for lunch. Or how you are seriously slacking so that you can tweet.

Oh, wait that could just be me.

Do you twitter?

***UPDATE***
I had an email from Leigh Ann when I got to work this morning. Not only did I have a G-R-E-A-T time last night at the GNO but I WON her Twilight prize pack!

I cannot freakin' believe it...but I'll take it.

Thanks to the ladies at Mommy Gossip - GNO and Leigh Ann for loving Twitter and Twilight as much as me.

Monday again...

I have been thinking about what to post all morning. My brain just doesn't seem to be functioning up to par this morning for some unknown reason. Saturday was crazy busy with the band competition but I didn't do much of anything yesterday so you would think I'd be well rested and ready to go.

Nah. It ain't happening.

Friday night I baked cookies. Cute cookies in the shape of candy corn and then peanut butter blossoms complete with Hershey kiss centers for the bake sale. I also made a trail mix with candy corn to put out at the hospitality tent.

My friends stopped by and so we ate "reject" cookies and talked for a few hours while I was baking. It was nice to have a Friday night off especially because I knew Saturday would be a long day.

And it was.

I got there later than I wanted to, but it was raining and I just knew we would hold the competition indoors. Wrong. Our band director decided that it was clearing up and we would set up outside.

So after getting there late I discovered the tent for my area was still packed away and I needed to get that up, get the tables out and have everything ready to go before leaving to pick up the food.

Thank goodness a local restaurant donated all the food for our hospitality tent. I cannot even imagine having to cook on top of all the other things going on. The hospitality tent is for all the band directors and staff...we had baked ziti, pasta salad, breadsticks, garden salad, brownies and cookies so they were really pleased with our area.

I was there from about 11:30 until 9:30 that night.

There were a few snags (all concession stand related, but didn't I tell you guys that would happen) but the rain did stop, the sun came out and it seems we made a tidy profit with little to no complaints from the visiting bands. I don't think we could ask for any more.

I was pretty busy but managed to sneak a few pictures of the crowd and my tent.







Yesterday the only thing I managed to do was make dinner and dessert, a yummy apple cider cake. Later in the week once I get my mind working right I will post the cookie recipe from Friday night and maybe, just maybe if you're good I will post my apple cider cake recipe too.

But only if you ask nice.

Hello lovah.

Yes that's right I have a new lover.


It doesn't take much to turn him on.



He keeps me warm on those cold nights.



Makes me feel all toasty inside.



There were some chilly moments in the past, but we've worked through them.



And now he's got my temperature rising.





Ain't he cute?

It's what time???

Okay my day has obviously gotten away from me seeing as it's after 2 o'clock and I haven't blogged, or read most of my daily blogs, or did any work. What the hell have I been doing?

Dunno.

Anywho...here are some recent (as in last week) pictures of my darlin' granddaughter who will loving be known as Lil J.






Oh and my sis said that I made bratty nephew #3 sound like a brat/hellion in my previous post so to clarify, I think he did very well for a kid that had 5 shots PLUS he got stuck for a blood sample, had xrays taken and had to pee in a cup all in one day.

That being said he still was supposed to put his toys away when my babysitting session was done. Instead I had to crawl my big bootay around picking up no less than 120,000 little toys once he left.

Not a pretty picture.

Cheating again...

Yesterday was one of those days.

I took my 4 & 3/4 year old nephew to the doctor. To get shots.

It was torturous. He got 3 shots in one arm and 2 in the other all while screaming bloody murder, kicking me and trying his darnedest to escape. I literally had to restrain him.

Then after that torment they wanted him to pee in a cup. I convinced him to do it by promising no more shots.

Why did they make me a liar? We took the urine sample to the lab only to have the lab tech stick the poor kid and draw blood. It was awful.

I was gone from work for about 4 hours so I had a ton of stuff to do and ended up working late, just making it to my hair appointment on time, therefore making me late for a booster meeting and missing S's tattoo appointment all together. Poor baby he had to go all alone!

We rushed through the meeting and I finally got dinner together at 9:00 BUT we had two guys there replacing our heat pump that didn't get done until 1:30 this morning.

Yes among all the other madness in my life we had to replace our f'in heat pump. And yet here I am...tired, overworked and with lighter pockets. Life is good.

Especially when you get an award like this.



Tattooed Minivan Mom bestowed it on me a couple days ago and I'm still giddy with delight. And since I've finished my morning coffee, I should have enough caffeine in my system to make my brain function enough to answer the accompanying questions.

1. Do you have the same friends since childhood?
Not unless you count my sisters.

2. What do you value most about your friends?
Honesty, loyalty and there overall undying love for me - I'm joking. Sorta.

3. Are your friends sounding boards?
Oh yeah. S gets the bulk of it, but we definitely use each other to get our frustrations out.

4. What is your favorite activity to share with friends?
Talking, shopping, just being together

I'm passing along the friendship love to

-Kim - We both love rock music and bad tv. Nuff said.

-Angie - I'm new to Angie's blog but I love her Monday posts. They are smoking hot. Plus, she loved all my favorite things for this swap.

-Kat - Not only is her blog smart, funny and well written but the lady behind the blog has got to be the most compassionate person ever. If you know her, you know why.

And since I can't leave you all hanging, here is a preview of S's new tattoo.



This is only the outline. He goes back in 3 weeks for the color and they are already talking about doing the whole back so who knows where this is headed.

Happy hump day ya'll!

I've been tagged...

My bloggy pal Tattooed Minivan Mom tagged me last night. Thank goodness.

I had nothing prepared for today and I'll be out and about most of the day taking bratty nephew #3 to the doctor for shots.

Shhhhhhhhhh. He doesn't know he's getting S-H-O-T-S.

But after the shots we are shopping at Walmart for pumpkins to take to his school party on Friday. So it all evens out. Right?

Back to the tag....

Here are the rules:
Link to the person who tagged you and post the rules in your post. Share 7 random/weird facts about yourself. Tag 7 random people at the end of your blog and link to their blogs. Let each person know they've been tagged by leaving a comment in their blog.

1. I am not only shoe obsessed, but sock obsessed. I have TWO drawers full of socks. One drawer is just for my plain white socks and hose. The other, bigger one has all my crazy socks. And it's overflowing.

2. My fingers are double jointed. I can bend just the very tip joint on all my fingers. It's very alien looking when I do them all.

3. I am a list maker. I write all kinds of lists. Grocery lists, to do lists, Christmas lists, menu plans, clothing lists before I pack, a list of my lists. Sometimes it gets out of hand.

4. Deer fascinate me. I see them everyday, several times a day but that doesn't stop me from watching them. Or taking multiple pictures of them.

5. My all time favorite go-to drink is sweet tea. I gave up drinking regular soda about 3 years ago but I cannot kick the sweet tea addiction. I blame my southern DNA.

6. I'm afraid of death. So that makes me afraid of heights, bridges, airplanes, the sea or pretty much anything that could create my ultimate demise. I realize it's inevitable so my fear doesn't hinder me from doing stuff but I've had a panic attack or two along the way.

7. I have the uncanny ability to mock accents dead on. If I hear one I can repeat it exactly, making for some interesting conversations. (I'm practicing my different voices on bratty nephew #3 right now and he finds it hysterical. Don't be that impressed. He's only 4 & 3/4.)

I'm not playing by the rules and tagging anyone. Everybody is welcome to play along.

I wish...

It was so cold this morning there was frost on the ground and my car windows. Seeing the temperature change into more winter-like levels makes me wish I were on vacation. Somewhere warm preferably.

I've been to Niagara Falls. While not necessary warm, it's absolutely beautiful there. The Canada side is waayyy more exciting than the America side, with all kinds of carnival like attractions and shops.





We went with our WV friends. They are originally from Buffalo, NY so we got to visit their family and hang out for a long weekend.

These are the same friends that invited us to see Wicked this past summer.



And that we took a cruise with in January.





That particular cruise was only a 5 day trip that went to Freeport and Nassau Bahamas. We've done 5-6 cruises and never did anything shorter than 7 days but this itinerary kept the kids from missing any school.

Next time they will just have to miss. Five days was not long enough.

Cruise ships have taken us to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, Ocho Rios, Montego Bay, Honduras, Belize, San Juan...some ports more than once. There is no vacation like a cruise.

I was hooked from the first one.

They have all been with Carnival except one time on Royal Caribbean when we got to take our Motorcycles with us.

We loaded that bad boy right on the ship and took it to 3 ports of call-San Juan, St. Maarten, St. Thomas. (We weren't allowed to ride in Nassau at the time; now you can.)

It was all pre-arranged through this company and it was the most surreal of all the cruises.

In San Juan they literally shut down the interstate for 20 bikes, along with our police escort.



Surreal.

We've also been to Key West on our bikes. Yes, we rode the whole way. I rode the whole way. It took 3 days. In the sun. In the rain.

I loved every day there. We rented a house about 4 blocks from Duvall Street so once there we didn't ride very much. Instead we relaxed and walked a lot like the locals. We went to a nude rooftop bar.

Unfortunately, our vacation was cut short when Hurricane Charlie decided to head our way. So we rode back. It took 3 days. In the sun. In the rain. With a hurricane chasing us.

I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Other than Key West, I've rode to Emerald Isle, NC and Myrtle Beach, SC countless times.

This time last year I was getting ready to go to Puerto Vallarta. It was our first all-inclusive and since it was west coast, we flew to Salt Lake City, UT and then our destination. It was a long flight for me.

But the place was gorgeous, the people were friendly and the drinks were included.





I wish I were there now. Or on a ship. Or in Key West. Or in my bed. Anywhere warm & toasty would be nice right now.

Where would you like to be?

I got nothing...

I woke up to rain. And dark skies and because I'm easily influenced by the weather, I just didn't prepare anything to post today.

Boo. Hiss. I suck.

So let's do a random post! YEAH!

Last night was our third official dart league game and so far we are undefeated. If we could just conquer 701 we could dominate this league. It's our achilles heel.

Sshhhhhhhhhhh...don't tell the other teams.

There is a football game tonight that I'm seriously thinking of ditching. I mean it's raining. And cold.

Boo. Hiss. I suck.

We were supposed to go visit our friends in WV but we bailed. It was the only free weekend we will have until November 22. And we wouldn't have gotten there until 1-2 AM tonight only to turn around and come back early Sunday morning so I gave them the bad news Wednesday.

Boo. Hiss. I suck.

I'm burnt out on all this band booster stuff. Seriously. The other parents (not all, but most) drive me bonkers. It is 7 days until our competition and only now did the lady in charge of concessions think to call for food. Duh!? There are over 900 kids and their families coming...what the hell did she think we were serving them? Baked goods? Sheesh. Bonkers I say. Bonkers.

I've already decided to lay back next year and just be a band parent. Not the vice president. Not the president. Not the problem solver. Just a parent. I want to show up and support the kids without worrying about all the details. It's SS's senior year and I want to enjoy it.

Boo. Hiss. I suck.

I just want to crawl back in the bed, curl up in the covers and read a good book. Does the weather make you guys this moody?

Hot Pockets from home

This is one of the recipes on my sidebar that I've wanted to make since forever. I had some a lot of deli ham sitting in my fridge so I decided to make ham and cheese pockets. Now that I know how easy it is I regret not doing it earlier.

Here's what I did. (Original Pizza Pockets recipe from Happy To Be @ Home)

Step 1 - Make dough

Step 1 1/2 - Buy Kitcheaid mixer. Well, not really but it does make life easier. I've had mine since last Christmas and I'm still completely in love with it.

1 pkg of active dry yeast
1 c warm water
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp oregano
1 1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 c all purpose flour



I added my yeast right into the dry ingredients because I always purchase INSTANT yeast. This yeast will be your BFF because it enables you to skip the "let soak" phase of yeast. I then added all the wet ingredients and mixed with my beloved kitcheaid.



Once it was mixed I scraped the sides and then proceeded to add an additional 1/2 c all purpose flour until my dough was no longer sticky. (Add in 1/2 c increments if you need additional flour.)

Then turn your fabulous kitchenaid back on and let the dough hook do it's magic for the next two minutes. Or if you really want to, you can knead by hand for two minutes.

Put the dough ball into a greased bowl turning to oil the top. (I used a tablespoon of olive oil.) Cover and let it sit for at least one hour.



This is where it expands like my thighs.

After an hour or so, punch down the dough and divide into 10 balls. Then roll each ball into an 8" circle. Or something that resembles a circle.






Fill one side with whatever you like...I used some sliced deli ham and cheese for 6 of them and then pizza sauce, pepperoni and cheese for the last four "circles".





Fold and use a fork to seal. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.



According to the ladies over at Happy To Be @ Home these freeze really well wrapped in foil or a ziplock. I doubt they stick around long enough to find out.

Hello! A teenage boy lives here.

The unveiling...

Sorry for the wait, but it's been a busy day.

First things first. Yes, it hurt. Anyone who tells you that tattoos do not hurt is a liar. They do. For gosh sakes it's a needles (or several) piercing your skin repeatedly.

It wasn't unbearable but my right shoulder is tender as hell now. And we have darts tomorrow. It should be interesting to say the least.

Okay here it is...drumroll please...



Errr...wait that's not me or my ink. Although I wouldn't be disappointed if that were my waist.

Do you guys remember the episode of Friends where Phoebe got a tattoo?

PHOEBE: Wanna see mine, wanna see mine?

MONICA: Yes.

RACHEL: What? You didn't get one.

PHOEBE: OK, well then what is this?

RICHARD: What're we looking at? That blue freckle?

PHOEBE: OK, that's my tattoo.

RACHEL: That is not a tattoo, that is a nothing. I finally got her back in the chair, bairly touched her with a needle, she jumped up screaming, and that was it.

PHOEBE: OK, hi. For your information this is exactly what I wanted. This is a tattoo of the earth as seen from a great distance. It's the way my mother sees me from heaven.

RACHEL: Oh, what a load of crap. That is a dot. Your mother is up in heaven going, 'Where the hell is my lily, you wuss?'

That was the funniest show! ~sigh~

What? Oh that's right I still haven't presented my newest addition.

Tada!



Oh I know, I know you don't get it. But as a true, hardcore A7X fan it's something I wanted to do.

Their "logo" is a deathbat.


And one of their best songs is Seize the Day so I combined the two with a few girly touches added a sprinkle of Troy's magic and VOILA!

Here's a few more pictures of my torture journey at the tattoo studio.




I hope I didn't detour anyone from getting one but I'm keeping it real. It is not done with Qtips.

If it were completely painless what would you get? And why?

Later today...

I will FINALLY get my new tattoo.

I've been waiting since April to get this and while it will be worth the wait, I'm anxious. My step-brother-in-law is a tattoo artist and he owns his own shop with his brother, but he also works full time elsewhere so getting our schedules together has been difficult.

But he's the only one I would trust so I waited. Patiently. Sorta.

He did this tattoo for S about 6 years ago and it still looks new. Anyone who knows anything about tattoos knows that yellow fades quickly...but it hasn't because Troy is THAT good.



This will be my fifth tattoo...

Let's review.



My first is an ankh on my right boob. Sorry no pic, but it's purple and small, but not great looking after 14 years and frankly I wish I would have gotten it somewhere else. At 32 I find it a little tacky but I'm stuck. If I have it redone then it just brings more attention to it.

The next one was Stevie's name...this is not a great picture and please ignore the shiny whiteness of my thigh. I realize it looks more like chicken skin but it is what it is.



S and I have both have this tattoo on the our right calves. It's our oriental birth sign and it supposed to mean power. I find it ironic that it looks like someone leaning on a cross. Ignore my chicken skin again.



And for you naysayers, S has my name permantly inked on him too.


Last but not least this is a cover-up that Troy did at the same time as S's Harley one. Originally it was a crappy tribal dragon on my left shoulder. He arranged it so there are now two dragons and the oriental sign for Luck in between them. Obviously I'm into symbolism. It's really hard to see in this picture but the dragon eyes are green. Like mine.



And the one today?



Mums the word here. I'm making you wait till it's done.

Go ahead. Give me your best guess.