Goofy Writing Post

As I mentioned before, MamaKat has writing prompts every week and encourages other writers to participate and link up.  This is my first time.  This is the writing prompt I have chosen:

Write a poem for your furry friend.

I am no poet, and I know it.  But I still wrote up this goofy little Ode to Jack:

Oh, Jack

Our Mr. Jack

Discipline skills

You do lack
 

But you are dear
With all your fear

And love for us

You don't lack

Our Mr. Jack

Top Ten Tuesday, 7/27/10 (Plus a recipe!)

Today's Top Ten Tuesday is based on a writing assignment through Mama Kat's Writing Workshop, which I haven't really participated in.  But I get the emails for the assignments, just in case I actually decide to participate that week.  I know, I'm lazy.  Anyway, an assignment a few weeks ago was a "bucket list" of sorts, which was "100 Things I Want to do Before I'm 100."  I have never wanted to write a bucket list, because I don't like to think about death.  But things to do before I turn 100?  That's a little different.  I'm not kidding myself; I know I won't live to be 100, but it's easier to think about than accomplishing things before I die.  And I actually started this assignment - but only made it to 40 items before the deadline, so I didn't submit it.  For today, I'm paring it down to ten.



Ten Things I'd Like to Do Before I Turn 100

1.   Install a swimming treadmill in my basement.
2.   Go on a tropical cruise.
3.   Travel cross-country in an RV for a summer.
4.   Go to Las Vegas.
5.   Get my ears double-pierced again.
6.   Sing with a group (not a choir!).
7.   Have grandchildren (LATER).
8.   Own a place at the beach.
9.   Go to Hawaii.
10. Meet Paul McCartney (never said they all had to be realistic!)




Yesterday I mentioned that I made a quiche for dinner the other night, and was asked for the recipe in comments (thanks for stopping by!).  So here is my recipe for Bacon-Cheddar Quiche:


Bacon-Cheddar Quiche

Ingredients:

One frozen deep-dish pie crust shell (don't thaw)
Six eggs
Half cup milk (I use skim or fat-free half and half)
Salt and pepper
Six strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled (don't make tiny pieces)
One cup shredded cheddar (I use low-fat)


Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a blender or food processor, mix eggs, milk, salt and pepper.  Stir in bacon and cheddar.  Pour into frozen pie crust.  Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.  It will come out very puffy.  Let sit for 5-10 minutes before eating.  Enjoy!

Meet Me on Monday, 7/26/10

A new (to me) meme I'm participating in, partly because I desperately want to write something today, but I'm so tired (more on that later) I can't think of anything.

1. What one food could you eat every single day?

Anything with rotisserie chicken.  I loved shredding them and using them in recipes.

2. Do you wear glasses or contacts?

I have glasses for an astigmatism, but never wear them.  I probably should.

3. What kind of cell phone do you have?

An LG Droid.  I AM ADDICTED.

4. What did you have for dinner last night?

I made a bacon and cheddar quiche, the girls' favorite.

5. What is your favorite candy?

That is a hard question!  I love all kinds of candy, but I love Java Twix and anything else that is chocolate and coffee combined.

Today Becca had her adenoid surgery.  She did great.  She didn't even tell me until just a little while ago that the IV insertion really hurt her.  She didn't even flinch.  She was groggy for a while after we got home, but now she's playing games on her iPod and has been eating throughout the day.  I'm so proud of her.

Hopefully this will help her.  She's been suffering with sinus problems and drainage making her nauseous all the time since May.  I'm still not convinced she hasn't had mono at some point as well, because she's always exhausted.  I don't know if they did a mono-spot when she had blood drawn last month, but they never mentioned it afterwards.  If this surgery doesn't help, then I will have a mono-spot done.  Not that there's anything they could do at this point, but at least I'd know.

As for why I'm so tired today, I had to get up at 6am - very early for me!  Plus, although it was an easy surgery and there were really no risks, it was still stressful until I knew she was fine.  Stress tires me out terribly.

Here's Becca just a few hours after her surgery.  A little disheveled, but still beautiful.

 

Sunday Stealing, 7/25/10

Sunday Stealing: Meme Of Many Odd Questions, Part Three

Cheers to all of us thieves!

45. Favorite color?  Blues, Greens, Purples - Ocean colors

46. Have you ever slapped someone? Not in the face

47. Is your hair curly? Very!  But I am finally embracing them.

48. What was the last CD you bought? I can't even remember; I've been using iTunes for so long.

49. Do looks matter? You do have to be attracted to someone, so they do to an extent.

50. Could you ever forgive a cheater? Not when I was younger, but I wouldn't throw away a long marriage over it, depending on the situation.

51. Is your phone bill sky high? No.

52. Do you like your life right now? I really do!  Life is better now than when I was younger.  That surprises me.

53. Do you sleep with the TV on? I like to, but Chris doesn't, so I don't usually get to.

54. Can you handle the truth? I like to think so.

55. Do you have good vision? Not as good as it used to be!

56. Do you hate or dislike more than 3 people? Unfortunately, I'd have to say yes.

57. How often do you talk on the phone? I have phone phobia/aversion, so as little as possible.

58. The last person you held hands with? Either Chris or Becca.

59. What are you wearing? Jammies!  I woke up at 7:am on Sunday morning. Madness!

60. What is your favourite animal? Toss-up between cats and dogs.

61. Where was your favorite picture taken at? My latest favorite was taken in Ocean City a couple days ago.

62. Can you hula hoop? Never could; still can't.

63. Do you have a job? Not outside the house.

64. What was the most recent thing you bought? Mocha frappe from McDonald's.  Soooo good.

65. Have you ever crawled through a window? Yes, but not illegally.

Thursday Thirteen - My BFF

Today's Thursday 13 is about my BFF, Michelle.  We have been friends for about seven years, and I couldn't get through life without her!

Thirteen Reasons Why I Adore My Best Friend

1.   I can count on her for anything.

2.   I can trust her with anything.

3.   She's a great mom.

4.   She's a great second mom to my kids.

5.   She is mischievous and fun to be with.

6.   She is a riot and not only makes me laugh, but has a great laugh herself.

7.   She's up for adventures or just going out shopping (as long as I drive).  :-)

8.   She is beautiful both inside and out, with a great smile.

9.   She doesn't care if my house is messy when she stops by (and it usually is).

10. One of the few people I can talk on the phone with more than a few minutes (phone phobia).

11.  Doesn't mind my quirks, such as my phone phobia and weird shyness.

12.  Found out just the other day that I am an atheist, and she still loves me.  This means more to me than she can know, especially since she's a devout Mormon.

13.  She is the sister I never had, but always wanted.

Love you, Michelle!

Find other Thursday Thirteen participants here.

Top Ten Tuesday, 7/20/10

As I sit here in my recliner with my heated blanket on me (yes, I even get cold in the summer!) and Diet Coke on my side table, I decided this week's Top Ten post would be ten of my guilty pleasures.

1.   Facebook - my biggest guilty pleasure.  I can't believed how addicted I've become.
2.   Diet Coke - I should be drinking more water, but I love this stuff so much.
3.   Farmville - go ahead, make fun.  I can take it.
4.   Chocolate - I need to drop 5 or 10 pounds, but who can resist?  Not me.
5.   Pajama days - Usually during a winter Sunday when the girls and I turn into jammied slugs.
6.   Dairy Queen Blizzards - specifically, Coffee Heath Bar.  See #4
7.   Droid Phone - just got it less than two weeks ago, and I can't put it down.  It's so cool.
8.   Twitter - non a full-blown addiction yet, but we're heading that way.  Again, make fun.
9.   Horrible monster movies on the "SyFy" network.  Sharktopus is coming!
10. Blog reader - but it's so entertaining!


Also, before I forget, I was given an award by The Drama Mama yesterday - she said my blog is one of several that light up her day.  Considering I just started this, that is so nice to hear!  I know we're supposed to award the awards, but I haven't been around long enough yet to do so.  But I really appreciate it!

Good-bye, old tree...

So I mentioned that we had an earthquake here in Maryland on Friday.  No damage, no injuries, just a freaky occurence.

However.  About 8:10 last night, my dogs started going crazy, barking out the back patio doors.  I turned to see if maybe one of the cows from the farm had gotten into our yard (it's happened before), and got to see a huge part of our monster oak tree that towers over our house fall to the ground with a huge BOOM.  It just barely missed our back porch, and our dogs had just come in from the back yard a few minutes before.

This is how the tree looked a few minutes before:



And this is how it looked after:



We had a tree expert come out right away, since half the tree was still standing, and we were worried it could fall on the house while we were sleeping.  Thankfully, we were safe.  The split and fall were caused by a fungus that had rotted the tree over the past few years.  We think the earthquake on Friday triggered it to fall.  

I'm so glad nobody was hurt, including our dogs, and that our house wasn't damaged, but it's still very sad.  That tree has been there probably 200 years, and it was beautiful.  Now they have to cut the entire thing down to be safe.

More pictures of the chaos:














And today's action when the tree guys came (at 6:30!):





It makes me sad to look out the back window right now.  I guess I should look on the bright side - we now have a much better view of the barn and cows.