Monthly Archives: March 2011

ToT

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With Gram being in the state that she is, I would like to do a Bucket List – 10 things that I would like to do or have accomplished before it’s my time.

1. I would like to own a passport.

2. I would like to have a reason to use that passport (Italy, Portugal, Canada even, France, any tropical island).

3. I would like to sky dive.

4. I would like to have all my bills completely paid up and be financially stable.

5. I would like to go back to college and get my degree (though I’m not sure what I would get it in, business maybe. Don’t know what I want to be when I grow up. Though psychology would be something I might be interested in.)

6. I would like to own a house.

7. (This one I’m stealing from Eric, though I would like to do it myself now) I would like to see the Red Sox play in every ball park they play in.

8. And then maybe see the ones they don’t play in also.

9. (I don’t see this one ever happening because I’m just not that talented, but with all the reading I do…) I would love to write a book (again, won’t happen and I’m not sure if it would be a romance or a murder mystery, but I know that I just don’t have the talent or the disciplline to do it).

10. I would like to be able to really spend time with an elephant. I’ve gone to the zoos and circuses where they let you ride one, but I would love to be able to be in there with someone who is trained to bath him or feed him. I think it would be amazing, though I’m scared even thinking it as I’ve seen some not so nice videos.

Nantucket Nights by Elin Hilderbrand

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With friends like these, who needs enemies? Oh my! A bit of a page turner this book was. This book is about three woman who have been friends for 20 years and have a tradition that they have done for just as long. One goes missing and all hell breaks loose! I might have found my new favorite author!

ToT

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So never made it to do the Tuesday version of this so I’m going to make it a Thursday version this week!

1. I am making a quilt for my new niece that is coming in May. It’s been fun and I’ve enjoyed doing mostly because I’ve gotten to spend more time with my Mom which is nice! I don’t see her enough and we live in the same town.

2. Speaking of nieces (and nephews), I figured out that within the next 2-15 months or so, I could actually have 3+ more in the family! That’s amazing and I am super excited about it!

3. Due to making this quilt, my DVR is at 97%. I have to really clean it out and watch some of it!

4. I’m not sure where my weight loss is and I haven’t done much in the form of exercising this week, another drawback to this quilt. Had plans of getting on the scale today, but actually got lazy and had pulled out the computer and forgot.

5. I’m taking like a multitude of vitamins right now that I think are helping. I’m taking B12 for my metabolism, Biotin for hairs, nails and skin (seems to be working great on my nails. I got a French Manicure on them for the first time ever!!) and St. Johns Wart to help with me.

6. Speaking of the St. Johns, I am looking in to going in to talk to someone professionally. Brittany and I both are, but it’s hard to find someone. They don’t seem to call people back so it’s still a process just to find someone that I can go and talk to and hopefully feel comfortable with.

7. My house is a mess and I know that I should clean it but I just have no desire to. I will soon. I need to unclutter some too. I have the boxes and everything to do it just haven’t been home and when I have, I just don’t want. Kind of sucks!

8. I have had a couple of paint colors up on the kitchen wall for quite some time now and still haven’t painted. I think I will do that soon. I think a yellow kitchen would be great. Maybe once taxes come in I can do it and bring the whole room together!

9. And I just learned that color doesn’t make a small room look smaller, which is good to know because I was told it did. Maybe I will do the livingroom soon too. Brown maybe. I am just done with apartment white and we just passed 4 years being here. We don’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon.

10. This one actually took me until Saturday to do and I started Thursday morning. Shhh…

Mini Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

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I haven’t kept up with these books like some have so it was a little odd to read this story, but it was cute. I enjoyed it though it wasn’t as much about her daughter as I expected it to be. At least not about her being a shopaholic. Maybe I just read in to it wrong. Oh well. Good book anyway.

ToT – the Brittany version

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1. I love my daughter, so please take this as just a mother just venting because Brittany won’t talk much to me right now. I know that kids go through that phase, but I’m really sad that it’s happening already. Just a bit of a pity party for me.

2. She’s scaring me with this whole Mitch thing. They claim they love each other and I don’t know if she realizes what that is. I know that in high school, I loved every guy I dated, but I don’t think I ever had such a mature relationship as they seem to have at that age. I don’t think I did until my senior year in high school.

3. Speaking of Mitch, when do I really start worrying about certain things that I don’t even want to put into words? They don’t see each other a lot outside of school, but things have changed a lot since I was in school or I was just a different person in school.

4. Her grades have been slipping too. I don’t know if it’s because of Mitch or the play or what, but she worked so hard to get in to Voc Tech and she just seems to be throwing it all away.

5. I hate right not that the only time she does seem to talk to me is when she needs a ride somewhere. It’s seems all I’m good for right now.
6. I feel very uncomfortable around her and I am supposed to be the parent. I shouldn’t feel uncomfortable. I don’t know what to say to her anymore.

7. I can’t believe that she is in high school. She’s getting so much older right before my eyes and I don’t know how to stop it. I want to but I know that I can’t.

8. People told me that I should put a stop to her dating Mitch, but I want to trust her. I want to believe that things are okay and that I don’t have to put a stop to it. I also know that if I do, she’s going to do it behind my back anyway and then what’s going to happen? I’m not with her 24 hours a day and it’s impossible for me to be. She hasn’t given me any real reason not to trust her either, so why should I? My only question is, she stopped talking to me. When they first started dating, she talked about him constantly and now there is no communication between us.

9. She’s pretty upset with me right now I’m assuming because I took her phone away as of tomorrow. She’s got to be pretty mad.

10. I miss her. I know that I am her Mom and not technically her friend at the moment, but I miss spending time with her. Not her and her friends and Mitch. I’m torn because I want to be her friend but I know that right now I have to be her Mom. It sucks. I want to be both, but I guess I’ve done that for too long and it’s time to be just her Mom. Some day we will be both again.

Cheeseburger Twist

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6 slices (3/4 ounce each) American cheese, diced
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 pound lean (90%) ground beef, cooked, crumbled and drained
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 garlic clove, pressed
2 packages (11 ounces each) refrigerated French bread dough
1 egg white, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons (1/2 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Dice cheese and bell pepper. Chop onion. In bowl, combine cheese, bell peper, onion, ground beef, ketchup, flour and pressed garlic; mix well.

. Place bread dough, seams side up on smooth service. Using serrated knife, slice each loaf lenthwise, end to end, cutting halfway through to center of loaf; spread open flat. Lightly sprinkle additional flour evenly over dough. Using roller, roll dough crosswise to a 4-inch width, creating a well down center of each loaf.

3. Spoon half of the beef mixture down center of each loaf. Gather up edges over filling, pinching firmly to seal. Place loaves, seam sides down, in an “X” pattern on cookie sheet (or ractangle stone if you have one). Criss cross ends of dough to form a large figure “8″, keeping ends of dough 1 inch from edge of baking stone and leaving two 1 1/2 inch openings in center of twist.

4. Lightly brush egg white over dough. Using bread knife, cut a 3-inch slit in each of the to sections of twist to reveal filling.

5. Grate Parmesan cheese over loaf. Bake 30-32 minutes or until deep golden brown. Remover from oven to cooling rack; cool 10 minuts. Cut into slices. Serve warm.

I changed this up a bit, as it was late when we started making it and I was hungry and just not in the mood to read this but still came out good. Oh and I was just about out of American cheese, so it might have been a little better with more than 2 slices of cheese. Oh well. Next time!

Summer’s End by Danielle Steel

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I love Danielle Steel even though all her books are pretty much the same thing over and over again. I haven’t read a lot of romance novels recently and it was nice to get lost in that again. She is just so good at romance and I love that about her. Deanna was married to Marc-Edouard for 18 years, but it was never a real marriage. Over the summer, while Marc was away, she met Ben and fell in love (quicker than I think is real, but it’s a book and not real life) and they had an amazing summer until the phone call came that changed everyone’s life. Not that I condone this sort of thing, but it was nice to see that romance happen. Nice book and a nice change from all the murder mysteries I have been reading. Now I have to find myself a nice Harlequin and I will be good! :)

Aloha Pizza

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So Eric and I have been back on the alli and have been planning our meals for a couple of weeks ahead and trying a few new recipes and figure I will share some of the ones that are pretty good, so here goes:

2 green onions with tops
1 pkg (13.8oz) refrigerated pizza crust
1 T Olive Oil
1 garlic clove, pressed
1/2 cup barbecue sauce, divided
2 C (8oz) grated Mozzarella Cheese (we used the fat free from Kraft)
2 C diced cooked chicken
1 medium pineapple or 2 C canned pineapple tidbits, well drained
1/2 medium red bell pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Thinly slice white and light green parts of green onions and set aside. Cut dark greens tops of onions into thin vertical strips. Place strips in bowl filled with ice cold water; set aside for garnish.

2. Unroll dough onto bottom of lightly greased large bar pan (this is a Pampered Chef recipe, so stoneware if you have it). Gently stretch and press dough to cover bottom of bar pan. Combine oil and garlic in another bowl. Brush oil mixture evenly over mixture with basting brush. Spread half of the barbecue sauce over crust. Sprinkle cheese and chicken over crust. Bake 10-12 minutes or until crust is golden brown; remove to oven to cooling rack.

3. Meanwhile, cut off top and bottom of pineapple, creating a flat base; slice off rind from top to bottom. Cut pineapple in half; set aside half for another use. Cut remaining pineapple half into two wedges. Stand wedges on end and slice downward to remove core. Finely dice pineapple wedges and bell pepper. Combine sliced green onion, pineapple and bell pepper in bowl; spoon over pizza, draining excess liquid against side of bowl.

4. Place remaining barbecue sauce into resealable plastic bag; trim corner and drizzle over pizza. Pat green onion strips dry using paper towels; sprinkle over pizza. Cut pizza into squares with pizza cutter. Enjoy!

Nutrition facts:
Yield – 8 servings
Nutrients per serving:
Calories 330
Total Fat 11g
Saturated Fat 4.5g
Cholestrol 45mg
Carbohydrates 33g
Protein 23g
Sodium 770mg
Fiber 1g

ToT

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1.  At the end of April, Eric and I are heading to the Cape to celebrate our 12th anniversary!  I can’t believe we are almost there.  I love that man more and more everyday!

2.  Just about every morning I make eggs with the cutest measuring cups ever!  Tanya got them for me for Christmas this year and I love them, but I’m so afraid I will break them.  They are super delicate and I am not.

3. I am so unhappy at work and I’m noticing it with my customers which I am embarrassed to admit to. I love (most of) my customers and most know me and get it and have been very good about it but some just don’t and I don’t have a right to be rude and I’m sorry that I have been. It’s not me and I hate that this company is affecting me like this. I need to either find a new job or figure out a way to not let it bother me.

4. I seem to have a lot of friends and family recently who have been diagnosed with or are dealing with some type of cancer and it scares me. I am so proud of how strong they all are and hope that if I find myself in that position I can be half as strong as they are.

5. Things with Brittany have been tense. She’s at that age I guess and we are the same person, which makes it tough. I love her so much and wish that there was something I could do for her, but I just am not sure what to do.

6. It’s getting to be close to the time to start putting together the Softball tournament to raise money for JDRF. I can’t wait! This will be our third year and I’m hoping to double our money again this year. We raised $1400 last year. If we could even triple from the first year, that would be great. We made $700 the first year, so $2100 would be great too!

7. Getting a body check today as Rachel had asked Tommy and I both to have that done. I’m nervous to be honest with you. I’ve looked myself and had Eric look at what I can’t see and neither of us see anything, but it’s still a little nerve wracking. I don’t want to know because I know I couldn’t be as strong as Rachel was through what she went through. I’m not that strong and I envy her that.

8. I said something in this one about Eric and Brittany and Tanya and Rachel and haven’t mentioned Zachary yet, so he’s next. I love that kid though I wish he could be a little more social. He’s so shy, even around his family and I wish he wasn’t. It drives me nuts to have to drive Brittany everywhere, but I’m glad I do because I know it means she has a great group of friends to hang out with. I want that for Zachary and I don’t know how to help him with that or even if it’s my job to help him.

9. Mom is helping me make my first quilt though I haven’t done much since I did the 4 squares at her house with her. I need to start sewing as Lisa’s baby will be here before I know it!

10. Money has still been an issue with us and we need to work on that. It’s been tight, which is another reason I couldn’t leave my job right now, though it would be great one of these days to just go. I am close but I know better.