Leah (aka Monkey Tooth)

I saw my sister and nieces this week. Leah is nine years old and in a major growth spurt. She ate like a field hand. She ate all the pizza pictured, plus an entree of pasta with grilled chicken and a root beer! Followed by some exotic coffee drink at Starbucks.

Monkey Tooth comes from the movie A Series of Unfortunate Events. Last time I visited them in Little Rock, we rented that movie. Monkey Tooth is the youngest character's nickname - well, you'll just have to watch it. Meryl Streep's character is hilarious. She's wonderful. Isn't she overdue for a movie?

We crammed a lot into one day and had lots of fun doing it. It will generate several posts, including Hannah (other amazing niece), Patio Redo, Ear Piercing and We Put the Fun in Dysfunction. Better get busy.

Crabcakes!

I'm making them again! I also have rosemary potatoes roasting in the oven. Feeling very Rachel Ray-ish (she's the current Betty Crocker in my book - I know, the foodies don't approve - she's a cook, not a chef). I'm not sure the rosemary isn't competing with crabcake aroma. Since I bought a boatload (by the way, it is "boatload", not "buttload" for anyone who wants to know) of potatoes, I'll be fixing those a lot for the next few weeks. 20 pounds for $2.99 - too good to pass up. If anyone wants some, let me know!

Speaking of potatoes and butts, I pulled one out of the bag that looks like a butt. Don't you love that? I recently figured out that pototo eyes are called that because they look just like human eyes. I spend too much time gazing into potato eyes. They really are fascinating. Maybe I'll take some pictures and do a whole potato post. I really need to do a "The Virtues of Rosemary" post soon. It is an amazing thing.

Oops, almost burned crabcakes! We'll call them crisp. I promise I'll share my recipe soon. I've had requests, believe it or not. They really are good, and I think they're authentic Maryland, or at least as close as you can get with locally available crabmeat. I get a pound at Sam's for $16 or so (in the plastic container with metal flip top), but it makes a good bit and you could stretch it with bread crumbs. I used to use the tuna can kind, and they're not bad, but these are better. We can't go back.

I'll have to post my crabcake recipe at the same time as Renee K's amazing beef brisket. She's the Queen of Chocolate Chip Cookies - I've referred to her earlier. I've pushed this blog on my baseball mom friends - they're so kind and indulgent - I really should pay homage to them!

Ok, enough about crabcakes. I'm off to find potato recipes!

I Knew It!

Just today I read about caffeinated soap - it's called Shower Shock and it has 200 mg per shower - they say caffeine CAN be absorbed through the skin. See, a while back, I noticed a burst in energy after grinding coffee beans, and began to wonder if one could absorb caffeine by smelling it. I searched online and even emailed a coffee expert (he has a whole website with copious amounts of information about coffee). The coffee guy didn't know, but I was pretty sure based on my empirical evidence. Lots of medicines are now available through nasal spray, so it makes perfect sense.

On to more coffee thoughts. This morning, I woke to find NO coffee (not even a little left in the bottom of the pot) and no Diet Cokes (I'm trying to give them up), so resorted to making iced tea. As soon as I was fit to drive, I went to Sam's and bought two big bags of Starbucks whole bean coffee. Since it's 6:00pm, I didn't grind any - just poured some into the jar for this picture, and feel a little pepped up just from that. I also bought a case of sugar free Red Bull - think of it as methodone for my Diet Coke addiction. One Red Bull in the morning - that's all. Actually, when I was training to walk the half-marathon a year and a half ago, I resorted to Red Bull or 5 Hour Energy to get me going on the long (6-8 miles) walks.

More about Starbucks. I'm kind of a reverse snob when it comes to paying $5 for a cup of coffee at SB, but I've found that I really do like making the SB whole bean freshly ground at home. It's more expensive than Folger's, I suppose, but WAY less expensive than buying it already made at SB. Especially at Sam's, right? Somehow, I spent $385 today, with no major appliance purchases. Seriously. I did spend the $30 something on the SF Red Bull, plus pricy lump crabmeat and a big piece of salmon, and so on. Oh, and $40 on the coffee. All the $6.88's add up, don't they?

Better get busy fixing the salmon with the bushel of lemons I bought!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! and more...

When I went on an appointment today, I got out of my car to a bed of clover! I have to say, clovers are weeds, and my yard is weed-free, so no clovers in my yard. M took my camera to work today - not sure why - some sort of crazy corp team building exercise, I'm sure. Wish I had my camera for clover. I grabbed a bunch, but it was a sunny day and the clover totally wilted in my car seat while I was at my doctor's appointment, so no clover pic. Just the one I copied from on-line. Not a bad one, but I always feel more original if it's my own.

I wish I had time to look for a 4-leaf clover.

I so love Pioneer Woman - she has the most amazing site - it's probably the only one I know I'd pay to visit - don't tell her!

Made her great sandwich for kiddo tonight. Kitchen smells good, and I feel good to feed him something special.

Mother & Daddy aren't good - spent entire weekend seeing after them. That's a whole other post - maybe a blog of its own. They're better. That's all I'll say.

Gotta run - feel the need for something creative.

If you find the time to comment, I love the encouragement....

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

St. Patrick's Day is one of my favorite holidays. Green is my favorite color. Maybe that's why. I think I might be Irish. Or Welsh. Maybe that's why. There's a whole long post (several, many, maybe) about my heritage. The main thing is that my mom was adopted and her birth records are sealed, so I figure I can be whatever I want. It's kind of fun. All I know is that everyone in the family I know is amazing and unique and so very cool! Of course, that's another post. Several.

The Answer

I've found a happy place on the internet. I'm adding OrganizedHome.com to my link list at left. I was wandering around checking all the great links I find in my monthly O - Oprah magazine. Two featured websites relate to meal planning. They are mealmixer.com and relishrelish.com. They look great and offer free trials but there's a subscription fee. I marvel at sites that charge subscriptions - my web expert friend Lundy long ago realized that web advertizing revenue eclipses any subscription/download fees you might charge. And if you build a great site, they will come. Most folks know that newspapers and magazines don't make money from subscriptions, but from the ad revenue. That's why the fall fashion issue of Vogue is bigger than the old Sears Wishbook! That's also why you can find amazingly cheap subscriptions that barely cover the postage if you look around - Amazon had some great deals at the end of December - I think I got a year of Marie Claire for $3.

Back to the great website: OrganizedHome. It has everything you could want. My current wish is for organization, specifically to cut the clutter. There's an article there that describes 5 different mindsets that contribute to a clutter problem. The frightening thing is that all 5 describe me! They are: 1) The Hoarder ("This might come in handy some day"), 2) The Deferrer ("I'll think about that tomorrow"), 3) The Rebel ("I don't wanna and you can't make me"), 4) The Perfectionist ("Next week, I'll organize everything perfectly"), and 5) The Sentimentalist ("Oh, the little darling").

Oh, my goodness - it's humbling when you see yourself in writing. I started today by gathering lots of great eBay stuff (part of my problem - oh, this might be worth something one day - they didn't even cover that in OrganizedHome!) and taking it to RightClick - a great little place near my home. They sell the stuff on eBay and keep 35%. Only problem is, each listing has to exceed $50. None of my stuff qualified, natch. And it's the wrong season for barely used football equipment. My short term plan is to take everything to the attic with the intention of going through it methodically, regularly, but with the reality being that it'll stay there until Mack and I die and Evans has an estate sale and totally random strangers are sifting through my underwear drawer.

Enough of that. Check this great site - it's full of info, forms, ideas for FREE!! There's lots of good content. I plan to lurk around there - maybe even more than my beloved Pioneer Woman! She won the bloggie awards, by the way. No surprise!

Waffle Talk

Does anyone out there remember "Coffee Talk" from Saturday Night Live? The skit where Mike Meyers dresses up like his mother-in-law and frequently says he's "verklempt." I think the other baseball moms were too young to remember this, so when I fanned my face and said I was getting verklempt upon seeing Dori's very handsome son who's a freshman in the Merchant Marine Academy and came straight from the airport in his uniform to watch his little brother's baseball game. They have to travel in uniform - did you know that?

In case you're not familiar with "verklempt", it's a Yiddish word which means choked with emotion. I looked it up just now in a very cool website called UrbanDictionary.com. It's so cool, in fact, that I'm adding it to my links list - at left.

All this to say, my Waffle Talk title is a take on Coffee Talk. I haven't made waffles in two weeks. Last weekend I was ensconced at the hospital with daddy and sister. Disgruntled hungry teenager complained. Yesterday he wasn't home - he spent the night with friend from school so they could play in the wonderful snow. I should be at church right now, but being the "sleep slut" that I am (see Urban Dictionary's word of the day!), I woke up at 10:00, thinking I could hurry up and make it to church and when I walked into the kitchen and the microwave clock said 11:00, I had one of those Twilight Zone moments before I realized this is Spring Forward day. So I stayed in my pajamas and made waffles.

I'm signing off now and am heading back to Urban Dictionary to find some other fun words!

More Snow!

As you can tell, we've had quite a bit of accumulation since I posted about an hour or so ago. I checked the news and they are predicting 2-4 inches for Memphis. Quite a bit for us. It is still coming down pretty heavily.

I suppose it's all those years of conditioning as a kid wanting to get out of school, but I just get so excited when it snows. Especially now that I don't HAVE to go to work. Back in the day when I was doing CPA work, it was unthinkable to stay home from work this time of year. Every single time it snows, every partner in an accounting firm offers to chauffeur his employees if they're afraid to drive in the snow. I took advantage of that once or twice!

The corporate tax deadline is March 15th, so the CPAs are really under the gun, and then of course April 15th is looming, and we all know what that means. That reminds me, I've got to get started on ours!

Snow!

I just this minute took this photo. Went outside in slippers with wet hair just for you! After some on and off snowing and sleeting this morning, it's finally really coming down. Hopefully I'll be able to snap a picture with these daffodils covered in a blanket of white very soon. It is unbelievably good luck to have the snow come on a Friday with no school to start with, nowhere to go (no family members in the hospital for a change), and a fridge full of food. Any Memphian knows the grocery stores are flooded with people stocking up at the first hint of snow.

Diana called and said she couldn't go to Archiver's tonight with the weather situation and I was relieved. Every Memphian also knows that the city comes to a screeching halt when the snow comes (once everyone's been to the grocery store). Now, if our power will just stay on!

The Scream

Here's how I'm feeling. In case you don't know, this is a painting by Edvard Munch called "The Scream." He painted it in 1910 using tempera and pastels on cardboard. I found that interesting - he must have been a starving artist at the time and couldn't afford canvas.

Actually, I'm just on the verge of this. After spending six days at the hospital taking care of my daddy and sister (they're both ok), I'm at loose ends. When I finish this post, I'm going to sit down with my Hip Household Organizer (see previous post) and try to make a good list. Have I told you I'm a list maker? I'm sure I have a thousand lists all through the house. I even have a little post-it note on my computer desktop. An image, not the paper thing.

I slept till 10 this morning, so am feeling rested and as soon as I can get my thoughts organized, I'll be fine.

Strange thing, I was just about to say I was hoping for snow and I looked outside, and what do I see, but snow falling! I could use being stranded at home for a couple of days. I'm supposed to go to a crop at Archiver's with Diana tonight, but if the snow accumulates, I won't go. I haven't even checked the weather reports this morning. My friend Mary and her family are headed to San Antonio for spring break. I hope they won't have any trouble traveling. Her husband is fearless, so I'm sure it won't deter them. He went with their son to Philmont last summer. It's the big Boy Scout camp. It's the real deal when it comes to roughing it. They hike for miles and miles in the mountains with only a backpack. No rest stops with toilets and showers and real food (well maybe one along the way). Well, I'm really wandering with this post. I'll have to get her to remind me of some of the very interesting details and do a whole post on it later.

Back to snow - school's out for spring break today, so no worries about going anywhere or kiddo driving in this.

Ok, I'm finishing up here and sitting down to get organized. Happy Snow Day!!!