Cookies at Midnight

While cleaning my cabinets out yesterday, I came across this Krusteaz cookie mix and needed a sugar cookie fix!

I had to make giant sugar cookies in the middle of the night.  I wasn't going to sleep until I had one.  Super easy...1 egg, 1 stick of butter (the real McCoy) and the mix.

Now I was too lazy to make frosting, but I had a container of fancy sugar that I figured would be just as good.  I just flattened them out a bit and sprinkled them before baking.

About 12 minutes in the oven and I was good to go!

I wound up with a dozen of soft, chewy sugar cookies that had just the right crispiness on the edges.  Why do I never do these things when hubby is in town to help eat them?  By the way...I slept like a baby!

You Never Know When You Might Need a Grocery Receipt from 2006

The last few days, I have been cleaning out closets and cabinets.  I know I'm supposed to do that in the spring, but it was just too nice to stay inside in the spring.  Knowing these triple-digit temperatures would keep me inside for weeks made it easy to put off.

I've found so many things I thought I'd gotten rid of!  I have boxes that were never unpacked when we moved last year.  I have several piles...stuff that needs to go to my kids, stuff I'm keeping, Goodwill donations, library donations, trash, and the 'think about it' pile.

I found a large zip-lock bag full of undeveloped film from several years ago.  I don't know what is on it, but we'll soon find out.  Other treasures include Halloween candle holders, shell wind chimes, gloves and winter hats, an unopened grill cover and other definite keepers.

On the other hand, what would possess me to keep store receipts and old junk mail?  What was I thinking when I packed that box?  Possibly, I just wasn't!

I've also been going through some books and knick-knacks that belonged to my mother and grandmother.  They've all been packed away when my kids could be enjoying them.  They are much more likely to cook and entertain than me.  Those days are in my past, and if I really wanted to use something, I guess I know where to find it!

Tomorrow, I start going through boxes in another closet, so if you know anyone who needs palm tree drink stirrers or a hurricane glass from Medieval Times or Dirty Dick's, please let me know.  :)

Reboot

As I look at my blog, I realize it has been 4 years since my last post.  A lot has happened in those years and it's time to reboot my mind and start again!

Looking through my old posts, I've done a lot of deleting and just left a few old posts that were amusing or special to me.   I no longer sell online and my life is better for it!  It had become more of a burden than it was fun anymore.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this blog at this point, but eventually I hope to settle into it again and share my adventures and ideas with you. 

Meanwhile, here are some pics of my little family of birds.  Top pic is my 3 cockatiels named Gabby, George and Cricket.  At the bottom is my Senegal Parrot named Reno.  They are all equally spoiled!  I live to vacuum.

Let's talk dirty!

I was having a discussion in the forums last night about Whoppers Malted Milk Balls and it started my brain on a journey into overdrive instead of sleep last night. I hate it when that happens!

I must preface this by saying I've been married for a long time. LOL...we always thought when the kids were grown that we'd be 'sexing it up' all over the house without restraint! We failed to take into account that we too would be older and much less flexible and that the ensuing nosedive of hormones would kick in.

But we still talk dirty. It just has a different meaning now. Let's face it, whipped cream is no longer a multi-purpose topping!

Anyway, I thought I'd throw out a few phrases and their new meanings...

-The Big O - The full 1 pound package of Oreo Double Stuf.
-The G Spot - The Godiva rack at Macy's.
-A Threesome - Yes it is chocolate, nougat and caramel...All Three of those Musketeers.
-Getting Lucky - Blue Bell Ice Cream is BOGO this week.
-Oh Baby I'm Hot - You need to bring me a bowl of above mentioned Blue Bell.
-Yes! Do me! - And be sure to put some Hershey syrup on my Blue Bell.
-Let's Make it Hard - Magic Shell instead of Hershey's.
-I'm coming! - What you yell at the Girl Scout delivering your Thin Mints as you rush to the door.
-PDA - Savoring your Blizzard at the DQ instead of bringing it home.
-Nooner - Waiting for the DQ to open.
-Getting a little - Having a fun size bar instead of a full size one.
-Taking it all - What you have to do when the peanut butter cup is melty.
-Bring me a whip - Uh huh...I love Twizzlers.
-You have a fine rack - What hubby says to the clerk at 7-11 right after the Hostess delivery.

I could go on but I think I need to run up the the 7-11. I hope they're not out of those extra creamy Mallomars!

One little mistake!

On Wednesday night and Thursday morning, raging storms swept through North Texas. Thousands of folks were left without power (but not me) and roads were closed due to flash flooding. Lightning was striking all around, sometimes close enough to shake the walls. Of course, being the good little computer mama that I am, everyone was shut down for the duration.

On Thursday afternoon after the last of the big ones had passed, I booted up my Sybil to go on line. Well, she booted just fine but I had no internet connection. Thus began a two-day odyssey into the realm of "WTH is happening here??". I jumped though all of the disconnect, reconnect and reboot hoops several times with no results. I bypassed the router and went straight to the modem...nope.

The next step was to boot up Bob, Sybil's trusty sidekick and partner in crime. Well, Bob powered up, but would not boot. The external drives lit up but no other peripherals. No keyboard, no mouse, no monitor. Now Bob is no spring chicken at 5 years old, so our assumption with him is that his motherboard fried. But how?? He had no power coming into him.

At this point, we were with no internet connection, no home phone and Bob was MIA. Best thing was to let it lie for the night and tackle the problem in the morning hoping the internet problem was outside the house and might resolve itself by morning.

Friday morning...still no internet and according to the cable company there were no service problems in our area. Back to Square One...disconnect, reconnect, reboot. Nope. Hubby got home from work and I sent him up to the cable company to swap out the modem (on DTV transition day...they were busy!). He came home with a replacement modem, but that was not any better. And having been told to register the new modem with TWC as soon as we got on line, we were now with no internet and using a modem that they didn't recognize because we couldn't register the MAC address!

Finally we had to do the most dreaded thing of all time...call the cable company and let them troubleshoot from their end. It is heinous because you can count on at least 20-30 minutes of hold time just to reach a person who may or may not be able to do what you need! And of course, if they can't help you, you get to hold some more while they try to figure out who to hand you off to. An hour later, they had pinged us and insisted that we were on line even though we were not. We went to our back-up router and still no luck.

Then the thought came to us...check the X-box! Well, the X-Box wouldn't go online either. Not through either router and not directly to the modem. The puzzle now had more pieces to figure out! Fry's Electronics was now in our immediate future so off we went to buy a new modem and an ethernet card for Sybil. Success at last. Sybil was on line, but all the other problems remained.

What happened? As best we can figure out, everything was without power EXCEPT the wireless router which I forgot was plugged into the wall outlet. A power surge took out the router and traveled over to take out the modem. Then it carried it through the ethernet lines into both computers and the X-box. All incoming connections were damaged. Sybil is now back up, hubby is building Bob Jr., the X-box will have to go in for factory service on it's LAN connection and the wireless router will have to be replaced before we know whether or not the phones are damaged!

All because I forgot to unplug the router. I'm sure there is a moral to this story, but it evades me at the moment and I am several hundred dollars poorer!

Remembering Why

It's Memorial Day. Lots of people will be picnicking, cooking out, camping and celebrating the beginning of summer. Most school-age kids are free for the next couple of months. And sometimes in the hustle and bustle of our holiday plans, we forget what this day means.

It is a day of remembrance. Hundreds of thousands of men and women have given their lives to defend our freedom. Many of them are at rest in places unknown and many are resting on foreign shores.

To those who have given their lives for our country, your sacrifices are not forgotten.

To those who have served and returned, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

To those who are currently serving, I salute you and say a prayer for your safe return.

Side Effects I'd Love To See!

I haven't blogged for a while because I've been dealing with health issues and sleeping a lot. I apologize for missing Sunday's Giveaway posting, so I'm going to give away two pair of earrings this week. Come back on Sunday evening for details.

Meanwhile, I'm currently on 4 different meds that cause drowsiness! LOL...not to mention the other various and sundry possible side effects. Have you read any drug precautions lately?? They cover every possible base. I have one that can cause constipation OR diarrhea. In taking these drugs I could become lightheaded, faint, dizzy, naseous, thirsty, bald, bloated, be prone to infections, viruses, swollen glands, joint stiffness or soreness, hot flashes...and that's just to name a few!

What I'd like to know is why are all side effects bad? Just once I'd like to see a list like this:

Use of this drug can cause over activity resulting in a clean house, the preparation of well balanced meals, and an overall feeling of accomplishment. In addition, you could become self-satisfied and no longer feel inadequate in terms of your weight, height, education, etc. In other words, you will become 'da bomb' and know it.

Use of this drug can also cause weight loss due to increased metabolism that will allow you to eat whatever you want at any time. Prolonged use could cause you to lose several dress sizes.

This drug has been known to reverse the signs of aging, including smoother skin, thick and lustrous hair, improved vision and hearing and increased mental acuity. In most instances, you will experience a tightening of the boob-ular and butt-ular muscles resulting in them returning to their original positions.

Finally, most users reported experiencing frequent and unexpected orgasms when walking, sitting, standing, sleeping, watching TV, posting in the forums and eating. Do not be alarmed. Just enjoy it.

If you experience any or all of the above-mentioned effects, do not bother your doctor. Just send her some flowers.