21 posts from February 2008

Show us your favorite childhood toy.

1964_question_game

I can't remember the NAME of my favorite toy... but this one is close to what it was. I had an electronic question and answer game with a head at the top. It was as it the head was asking the questions and gave kudos when you got questions right. You could chose from a number of test cards about subjects ranging from geography, math, language - etc. I believe the questions got harder as you got more right. I LOVED this game. Could be because about the same time as getting this game (1964) my father bought me a set of WORLD BOOKS. I poured through these. I was obsessed with knowing things.

Vegas

I'm NOT a gambler, but when offered a place to stay and friends to play with - I bought myself a ticket to Vegas. I'm considering it MY spring break. No, Ben is not going - he hates to fly and hates Vegas even more than he hates flying.

Me? I love the energy of the place. I love the hustle and bustle - I love the lights and the sounds - I love that you can just CHILL by a pool/waterfall with a book or take a ride on a kayak down the Colorado river. I love walking for hours and "people" watching. I love standing on the edge of the Bellagio water and watching the water show. I love going to the see the animals at Siegfried and Roy's Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat at the Mirage. I love walking through the Paris hotel and pretending I'm back in France. I love hanging out in New York, New York - riding the coaster and eating slices of thick pizza while listening to the dueling pianos at the club next door. I love giving myself a limited number of quarters and finding ONLY the slots I'll play (21) and then winning or losing and not caring. I love hanging out in the tattoo parlor on the strip (vinceneilink) watching the drunk people come in and get silly little tatts "just because" they are in Vegas. I love riding the monorail and the double decker buses. I love seeing the shows. I love shopping and eatting and sitting at a beautiful bar - having one nice drink and a ton of snacks like the one at the Wynn. (they have a circular escalator which I find fascinating) 

In fact - all of Vegas I find fascinating. And I am getting excited!

I made this tonight and it was amazing!
Not to mention it's only 290 cal 13g fat!
Recipe serves 4.

1 med onion chopped fine
1 small bell pepper chopped fine
2 slices sourdough bread
1/3 cup nonfat milk
3/4 lb ground turkey breast
3/4 lb ground turkey thigh
salt and pepper ( I use white pepper and black salt with herbs)
dollop of ketchup and dollop of Worcestershire sauce
1 large egg

preheat oven to 350
spray cooking spray in a baking dish (9x9 or loaf pan)
I used my Le Creuset Paté Terrine - its the perfect size.

Add the egg into a bowl with the chopped onion and bell pepper
whip with a fork
tear up the bread in another bowl and soften by pouring the milk over it
mash with fork and add to the onion and pepper
add in the dollop of ketchup and Worcestershire sauce and the salt and pepper
whip with fork
add in the ground turkey and mix throughly
pack into baking dish and top with 2 tablespoons of ketchup

Bake uncovered 60 - 70 minutes (or until internal temp is 170F)

(I served with fresh green beans, extra ketchup and Worcestershire sauce)

====================

Why am I posting recipes? Because Ben and I finally agreed to get in shape together. I get in the swing of things off and on, but with him along for the ride - I think it will make all the difference! I am using www.calorieking.com again to track the foods I eat and the exercise I do but I am making the foods we eat - to teach us BOTH what is healthy and what is not. I gave Ben a cookbook a couple days ago and had him mark all the recipes that sounded yummy to him. The basics for this one were in the book - but I made my changes. We loved it. It was filling and very yummy, and healthy.

I am really enjoying creating meals for us and being able to control what I put into my mouth. As with other attempts to get in shape, it always starts off good and then slips about a month into it.

Will I make it this time? Will having a partner along make all the difference?

Do I even SAY what my goal is? Sheesh its a long ways off and if I stop where I usually do, I won't even get close. But Calorie King says I should wiegh 135. At this point, I would love to be 155! So I'm making THAT my goal. 155.
I'm not going to set a date to reach it - I am just going to do it. And if I CAN lose more and I WANT to lose more, I will. But in the meantime - I feel SO much better eating healthy and getting exercise.

What's the meanest thing you've ever said to someone?

I think that would have to be the vox post I put up about my first husband, Stephen. I was new to Vox and did not realize how very "public" my blog was. I was true to my own feelings from that time of my life, but in putting up his photo (from 1971) and his name was too personal.

Within a day or so of my posting it, I got an email from "him" letting me know how mean my post was and how it was wrong for me to post about something so personal. I took down the post, though I should have saved it and just made it neighborhood only.

I say the email was from "him" but I don't really know it was from my ex. At the time I also had a vox stalker who was much too invested in interacting with just me through my posts. The stalker was very interested in talking with me about the places I'd lived (which were all places I'd lived with Stephen) and about my father.. which was also a topic voiced in the email from my "ex." So the email, could have been from my ex, or from my vox stalker, or my ex could have been my vox stalker - I was never able to find out. When I replied to the email I got no response. Considering I'd not heard from my ex in over 30 years - that was not surprising. Hearing from him in an email was the surprising thing.

I did not mean to be "mean", but by voicing my own experience in a public way - it hurt someone - be it my "ex" or the person who was so interested in communicating with me.

What's the best thing about today?

I spent it with my kids! 

Cas came down from college for a short visit. I took the kids out for Hobees breakfast (mmm blueberry coffee cake with butter) and then we shopped at REI. Cas and I ended up getting identical black northface jackets and even though the sizes are completely different, they fit us both wonderfully. We moved on to Best Buy where we picked up a couple movies and a new electric razor for Aaron. Then home for HOURS of spite and mallice! (a card game I've been playing with Cas since she was a little girl) I grilled steaks last night so today we dined on steak sandwiches and matza ball soup! Before she left, she and I went on a house scavenger hunt for anything I was willing to send back with her to school. I shop at Costco, so I had a lot of extras she was THRILLED to take back. And from my closet, a brand new pair of Sam Eddleson "art" sandels she will look smokin in and a pair of white vinyl zip up platform boots.

Lastly I gave her a hand painted box her father had given me years and years ago. I wanted her to have it.

Noahs ark

Well, last night Ben and I were playfully tossing the tv remote across the bed. He said "throw it like you mean it!" and I did. Now I have horrible aim and he knows it. FWACK it smacked him in the privates.

He was surprised. (I was surprised that he did not get mad) He was falling over laughing, and so was I.  He thought I would aim for him and hit the PILLOW, cept I aimed for the pillow and hit him.

Embassy-meeting-dexter

1 comment

Laurel took this photo of Embassy soon after she and Bruce brought in the new puppy, Dexter Morgan! I've never seen Embassy with this skinny tail all FAT. As you can see, he managed to mangle a couple of shelves worth of stuff on his way to the top of the bookcase.