Well, for the past 2 days, we've had a huge influx of refugees/evacuees from the gulf area. Lots are from New Orleans or the surrounding area, and a few are from the Mississippi/Alabama region. Wow. I feel so horrible for these folks. They've lost so much. They come in and they ask to use the computer, and we honestly rush around trying to find one for them, or ask other people to get off after they've been on at least an hour. But some locals are not very understanding about that. We say things like, "These folks need to see if their family is ok; if their house is still there; if loved ones are dead or alive." But they just kind of snarl at you and plop down to wait their turn to get back on the computer to play their incredibly important game of Yahoo Spades! *sigh*
Bran and I bought water and cookies and even cans/bags of dog/cat food to bring to the shelters this weekend. The library is taking donations too, so I have Alex (niece) getting all her old games and magazines and puzzles together so we can donate it to them. Lord knows how long these people will have to stay here, away from their homes, jobs, etc. Everytime I turn on the TV I start bawling. It's just horrific. Since the levee broke, Lake Ponchertrain is rising and will continue to rise until it's leveled out. Since New Orleans "bowl shaped" and below sea level, this means some places in the city could be under 20 ft of water. People literally have to claw their way to their attic and bust a hole in their roof with a hammer to escape the fast-rising water. Then, they sit on their roofs and pray to be rescued. Some don't make it. And I can't help but wonder -- where is the aid from other parts of the world? Is it wrong for me to feel a little angry / frustrated / disappointed about this??? Why does the world look to America and expect us to give everything and yet, when we need it, we have to literally BEG for it from other countries? Maybe I"m jumping the gun... maybe I am too cynical. Surely they (by THEY, I guess I mean "EARTHLINGS" ... sheesh) will come thru. We'll see.
Meanwhile, I overheard a tourist who claimed to be from Boston (and he had the accent down pat) today say, "Why do we always gotta pay for the damn hurricane damages? All it does is raise our insurance and it ain't even us!" I wanted to swat him. Literally PUMMEL him. It's not like we invoked the WRATH OF GOD, you know?! We didn't ASK to have all this death and destruction floating around. But according to him, we're all doing it just to raise his insurance premiums. **SCREAM**!!
Ok, I'm done venting. I'm just pissed and upset and very, very sad about what's going on.
Additionally, if you want to read the first page of today's New Orleans newspaper -- here is a link as it's being distributed electronically only due to the fact that they're under water. http://www.nola.com/hurricane/katrina/pdf/083005_a01a02.pdf Headline: "CATASTROPHIC"
And this is the CBS affliate news station in New Orleans. Pictures, blogs, forum helping families connect to loved ones, etc... updated frequently! http://www.wwltv.com/
Helpful phone numbers:
Phone numbers for those in extreme emergencies: Louisiana State Police: (800) 469-4828 St. John Emergencies: (985) 652-6338 | (985) 497-3321 Kenner Emergencies: (504) 468-7200 Coast Guard: (225) 389-2133
Emergency search and rescue phone lines for those in distress: (225) 925-7708 | (225) 925-7709 | (225) 925-3511 | (225) 925-7412
To inquire about those in the area who did not evacuate: American Red Cross, (866) GET-INFO
Jefferson Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness: (504) 349-5360
To begin assistance process: FEMA, (800) 621-FEMA
To report price gouging: (800) 488-2770
Number for Mary Bird Perkins Cancer patients who need to continue treatment in Baton Rouge: (225) 215-1236
Well, Katrina hit the gulf section with a vengeance and it's still blowing down there. My family and I are all safe! I pray for everyone else who has family in the area. As far as the damage? Well, as they say, a picture's worth 1000 words... so here's about 5K worth of talk:
...WOW! It's really coming down here in North LA, I can only imagine what it's doing with Katrina down in the southern part of the state. All the relatives are headin' for higher ground... EEK! Poor New Orleans and the hurricanes.
So, I worked today. Gee, do I DO anything else? I also work tomorrow... and the next, and the next... and ... well, you get the picture. I'll be off on Friday (unless I'm asked to work, which I'll take b/c -- you got it -- we NEED the money.) It sooooo totally sucks to be poor.
One day, maybe we'll be caught up. *sigh* I wish... Ya know, some people wish for like a million dollars. Nah, I don't need that. More like $6500. That's all I'd need to catch up and pay off. Hey, Bill Gates (or any other filty rich person reading my blog - snort, shyeah, I'm dreaming - can ya throw some of that pocket change my way? ;)
What else? Oh! Bran and I had a "date" last night. Yep. We went and saw "Brothers Grimm" at the movie theatre. Bran has a total thing for anything by Terry Gillam and so, we HAD to see it. All in all, it was good. But you have to like Terry Gillam-type movies to really appreciate it. Well, that and the fact that Harvey Weinstein produced it and wouldn't let him change one word of the script (how Hollywood!) so, a lot of the normal TG-quirkiness is not there. Which is too bad, because that's what we all love about his movies. Watch "12 Monkeys" and see if it doesn't leave you wanting to watch it again just to see it from another angle. You catch so many different things each time you watch one of his movies. Anyway, back to the "Brothers Grimm". The leads (Matt Damon and Heath Ledger) were awesome -- and who'd a-thunk it that Heath has great comedic timing?? He's hilarious (I already knew Matt was).
The female lead (Lena Heady) looked EXACTLY like a Jacqueline Bissett as a young woman... Have a looksee and you decide. Here's Lena:
And here's Jacqueline around the same age:
What do you think? Separated at birth or what?? :)
Where'd the time go? Well, I know what I've been doing and it's a whole lot of working. I'm just a girl, who can't say nooooo... LOL. Well, when it comes to extra shifts at work, I'll take it. Too many bills to catch up to refuse 'em.
Anyway, DH has been sick, poor thing. It's the heat I think. It's been getting up to 100+ degrees out there w/ a heat index that makes it feel like 108 - 112. Gah! It's horrible! He cut the yard last night right at dusk and even tho I pumped him full of Gatorade, he still got kind of sick. Yesterday at work he said he was dizzy and when he came hom he just passed out. Today, he's still feeling icky, so he's off today & will hopefully feel better. I tell you, there's nothing worse than a sick husband. ;)
Whew. But on the writing front, I'm plugging away and really happy w/the way it's going. Now that Fall is coming (and not soon enough IMHO... I'm so sick of this hot summer!) the girls in RWU and I are getting ready to jump back in with both feet and get to subbing and critting. We'd taken the summer off to rest and recuperate, but now that the kiddos are all back in school, everyone is raring to get started again -- and I'm raring to let 'em! ;) We've got some major motivation planned and everyone has been so helpful that I honestly believe this is going to be the most successful year for ALL of us involved. I hope so. Those ladies really deserve it. They're troopers and so talented!
Anyway, I'm going to try to get another scene or two written before I head into work this afternoon. I'm so happy with this story... it's just writing itself really. ;)
PS: There was actual talk of "fighting" over the last piece of that cake I made/brought to work. I'm going to have to give up the goods (the recipe) so no one gets hurt... yipes! ;)
OMG - I can't believe it. My first day off and I got all [cringe] domesticated! I think I'm a pod-person... like in Body Snatchers. I'm not normally all into baking etc. Hmmph. But body snatched I was, I guess, because I wound up finding a great recipe for that Indian bread I'd gone on about last week (it's pronounced NON, but it's spelled NAAN). Anyway, it got over 100 degrees here today (and the heat index said it "felt" like 109) so wasn't it BRILLIANT that I decided to make this flatbread in an oven that had to be heated to FIVE HUNDRED DEGREES! Yup, you read that right.. 500 deeeeee-grees of hot hot hot. Note to self: Make lots of this bread in the WINTER when the extra heat is appreciated.
And if that wasn't enough flour-power, I also made this nifty casserole (recipe again, found online) that had hamburger meat, onions, ketchup and bread crumbs (like a meatloaf) and you cook it 30 mins, then you make some mashed potatoes and mix 'em with shredded cheese and spread that on top of the meatloaf and cook it another 20 mins and man, oh man. Talk about comfort food... yummmy!
Good gravy, I hope I'm not feeling so inclined tomorrow. I'd rather just have sloppy joes or something EASY!!
Enough of that -- I should be writing. I wrote some yesterday and will hopefully write tomorrow. I'm really pleased with the story as it's unfolding, too. And the crits on it are incredibly helpful (always a plus). I've decided not to edit at all on this first draft (major MAJOR exercise in control for moi) and just write the story thru to the end. I always seem to run into trouble when I start self-editing before I'm done. *sigh* Anyway, doing it this way, I'm enjoying it more and just riding the writing wave. It's great! ;)
Well, I went and made that cake (see post from Monday, August 08, 2005 for the full recipe) and it's in the refrigerator for Monday's office party. I made a sheet cake for work and a little one for us and yes, I partook of ours and OMG it's sooo delish! Had Mom and Alex over for tacos tonight, it was nice. Alex played games with Bran and it is really sweet b/c I think she really misses her dad a lot and Bran and my brother were so much alike, they were more like siblings sometimes than my brother and I it seems. Ahhh.. I miss him.
Let's see. Oh, well, I worked ALL freaking week and I'm totally worn out. I do NOT (repeat with a megaphone here for emphasis) **DO NOT** [boom chucka-lucka-lucka] have to work tomorrow, so I am SLEEPING LATE! ;)
Bran is playing Resident Evil 4 in the bedroom and it scares the beejeebers out of me. My bedroom, my solace, my happy place... now I'm petrified to go in there. Hmmph. I asked him to pick up some fun games for the gamecube for the weekend and some fun movies. Soooo... he gets Resident Evil 4 game and The Grudge 2 DVD. Sigh. Men.
I managed to write a wee little bit this week. Hopefully, I'll be able to get to chapter 5 by the end of this week. My group is really giving me great crits and kudos on it and I'm so happy to be bee-bopping along on it. I'd lost a lot of my drive and desire to write -- but I think a lot of that was that I was just un-enthused by the books I was reading or the crits I was doing... it was kind of painful to read some of them and I just got to where I dreaded it. And when you're not actively critting or uninspired by what you are critting, it's hard to find that *wee!* button to get yourself working on your own stuff. Nowadays, though, it seems we're all on the same page crit-wise and WOW the whole place is crackling with motivation and enthusiasm! I'm so glad our muses were just hibernating and hadn't deserted us! ;)
Oh, and -- anyone know why they charge soooo freaking much for rice cakes these days?? I rememeber when those things tasted like styrofoam! Nowadays, they have more flavors than Ben & Jerry's and they cost nearly as much! I got a bag today -- thinking hey, they're a healthier alternative than Oreo's, right?? Well I shelled out over THREE BUCKS for some "Cracker Jack" Butter Toffee flavor rice cakes. So ok, they're wonderful tasting and only 60 calories a cake, but $3?? Heck, I coulda bought one-and-a-half gallons of gas, thankyouverymuch! Hmmph!
I got 2 hrs of sleep last nite (was over-tired) and had to work 12 hours today. Not fun. Tomorrow (my normal day off) I have to work 8 hrs for a gal in my office who's out on vacation. But the money's good, so I'll shut up complaining ;)
Meanwhile, I wrote a little today... but my head was a bit like a marshmallow, so I'm sure it's not real salvageable. LOL!
I've been pondering this for a few months. And, you know how they say that imitation is a form of flattery? Do people HONESTLY believe that BS? It's been my experience that anyone who imitates by "copying another person's originality" or "borrowing ideas" or "plagiarizing", etc, is -- in a nutshell -- just a cheap little thief.
*shrug*
I'm off to bed. As my grandfather used to say, "I'm tahrd!"
...hmmmm, now while that title does sound like a School House Rock song, it's basically what my life was filled with today. I found this online game, and Oh... My... Gosh... you have GOT to try it. I'm serious. It's fun and cathartic and totally creative. It's this whole SNOWFLAKE MAKING place and it's soooo fun. Here's the address (you need macromedia's flash, BTW): http://www.popularfront.com/snowdays
You will LOVE it!! :) And ppl get to comment on your flakes, and you can make greeting cards out of them, or print them out (great for those of you with kiddos!) or just big kiddos like moi! :D
Oh, and we rented SIN CITY tonight. Wow... cool flick. Yes, weird, but very essence of graphic novel. I enjoyed it. Wonderful cinematography.... cartoony to real action, to computer generated to painted. I'd definitely recommend it. Yeesh, moreso than SAW. Ick. 'Course I also had to endure TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE (by the South Park boys Trey & Matt) and it was so juvenile, but some parts were very funny.... When my DH and I can't think of what to say, we holler "Dirka dirka!" or "Ping pong!" now... followed my a couple of "Matt Damon!"'s and a sprinkle of "We're Guards! Guaaaaaards!" ;) Yep.. it's that weird, but if you see the movie, you'll totally get what I'm saying -- LOL!
I think I twisted my ankle and I have NO IDEA how I did it. I mean I can see it if I wore some cute Jimmy Choo stilletos... heck, even chunky Steve Madden heels. But I was wearing my normal, everyday NEW BALANCE tennis shoes!! And all was fine until I got up from my chair. Blah. Nothing worse than a tender ankle...
Oh, I got a note from one of my bestest friends from my Boarding School days! Shout out to DONNA if you're reading this! I'll write you ASAP (hopefully by this weekend) and we'll ketchup... er catsup... er... you know. ;) Meanwhile, keep abreast (or two, they're cheap) of my soap-opera-esque life (oh, the intrigue) here in my blog!! You'll be amazed! *oooh flashy hands to mesmerize the audience!*
All righty then... try the snow thingie, you'll be glad you did. It's a heckuva distraction and you will unleash the artiste' within!
What was I thinking??? I let my DH talk me into watching the movie SAW tonite. All I can say is... disturbing. It was weird, weird, weird. A thinker, for sure... I'm still pondering some of what went on. Anyway, not a bad show at all.. just watch it sometime OTHER than late night!! Creepy, creepy.
All the chicken 'n Dumplin's magically disappeared that I made last night. Tell me if you wind up making a batch of it. I actually used that recipe and added 2 cans of biscuits (DH is ga-ga over the biscuits), but I have them all pre-pinched and ready to go before it comes to a boil -- makes it a lot easier to drop in. And I don't seem to run out of room for some reason.
Anyway... it rained like crazy this afternoon. We lost power for a bit and I thought it wasn't coming back on.. but it did. And it kept storming right up until I went to work... ain't that the way it is? Make you drive out in it and then it stops. Hmmph.
Oh, before I forget, I had to post another pic of my little lifesaver in the writing world.... It's my Alphasmart NEO and I ADORE it!! It's pretty much the ONLY thing I'll write on these days. The PC is way too distracting (mainly b/c of internet) and the NEO lets me see up to 6 lines at a time ONLY... so I don't self-edit the ever-lovin' crap out of everything like I normally do... which bogs me down.. which throws me off.. which makes me doubt myself... blah blah blah.
Here's a pic of my widdle beebee (yikes, isn't that sickening?) LOL! Okay, okay... my NEO... (BTW: I had wanted the DANA, but my DH got me the NEO for XMAS and I'm sooo glad he did b/c if I'd gotten the DANA, I'd have been totally distracted again. Back in the same boat as I had with the PC). SO anyhoo, I highly recommend the NEO. You can check the entire Alphasmart line here: Alphasmart.com/
I plan on writing my little fingers off come Thursday and Friday! I'll keep ya posted!
Welp... tomorrow is my niece's first day of (get this) ... JUNIOR HIGH! Where does the time go?? Wish my brother could have lived to see this day, he'd be so proud of her. Bran and I wanted to do something "fun" today, so we went to see "SKY HIGH" and it was so cute. It was sooooo like the Disney movies I used to go see as a kid. And the funny thing is, this whole retro deal is cracking me up. EVERY song they played on the soundtrack in the movie -- especially at their "homecoming dance" was a tune *I* had gone to high school with... or the homecoming or prom, etc. It was kinda freaking me out. I felt like I was back in the 80s again. My niece thought it was so cool that I knew all the lyrics to these "weird" songs.. LOL! Sheesh, had she only seen me back in the day with my funky punky hairdo and new wave outfits. Like, OMIGAWD, she would be like so totally embarrased -- fer shure!
Gads, I feel ancient.
Anyway, the show was cute and then we went out for fattening ice cream (major splurge for all of us) and now it's pouring rain while my poor DH tries to cut the yard. It's been so hot lately it was unbearable to get outside and I think he would have burst into flames if he'd tried any other time... but today, it got cloudy, so it seemed perfect to mow. But then the rain came. He's still trying to get the front yard so the neighbors will at least think we're respectable. :)
Yesterday, after work, DH and I went over to a friend's house and ate dinner. I'll admit it, I was an Indian-Cuisine-Virgin. Yup yup. Sure was. My first experience with it and ... WOW! That stuff is HOT! I learned to put dollops of plain yogurt on the extra spicy stuff to neutralize it. It wasn't bad at all.. just gave me terrible heartburn later than night. Whew! I tell you what tho, I learned I LOVE Indian bread... what's it called, NON? Or is that just how it's pronounced? Whatever, it's fantastic!
Well, I need to go finish up the laundry (I sooo need to be a lady of leisure and have maids, don't I??) LOL! Then, maybe I'll make a quickie dinner. I call it "Cheatin' Chicken 'n Dumplins". Here's what you do:
1 can cream of chicken soup (reg or fat free) 1 can cream of celery soup (reg or fat free) 1/2 can evaporated milk (reg or fat free) 1 large can chicken broth (reg or fat free) 1 can regular refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (not the flaky layer kind) 1 store-bought rotisserie chicken (already cooked) 1 Tablespoon parsley salt & pepper to taste
Pull as much of the meat off the pre-cooked chicken as you want to use and set aside.
Dump both the cream of soups into a big pot. Add the evaporated milk and the chicken broth, along with the parsley and bring to a boil. When it's boiling, take a refrigerated biscuit and tear it in half. Then take that half and pinch it into 3 parts -- dropping each part you pinch off into the boiling broth. Boil all the dumplings for approximately 8 mins - dumplings generally sink to the bottom one they're done, Add your chicken. Make sure everything is heated through and serve. Makes a LOT!!
Nah, not really. I mean it's Friday - - which means ME NO WORKY today (hooray!) so I slept in and then made some calls (talked to my dad for nearly 3 hrs.. which is unheard of for us to have a convo that lasts that long) but basically, he told me the docs are running bunches of tests on him and so far, so good. They have asked him to quit smoking -- a bazillion times, but like he told them (like he tells me EVERY TIME when I start to nag him) "I'm a 65 year old man. I've been smoking longer than you've been around. I know it's not good for me. But it's my only vice and I'm keeping it." So, I tell him, "It contributed a large amount to the death of your son [at 40] and if that doesn't make you stop, I guess nothing will." and he tells me that's true. It hasn't stopped him yet. SO... reckon there's nothing going to change his mind on that. Sigh. Ironically, I got sent off to boarding school at age 16 for smoking. Of course, that in no-way-shape-or-form stopped me from smoking. I went to an all-girls school... sheesh... we lived on cigarettes and Dexatrim for heaven's sake. But it was easier to hide the fact that I smoked from my dad then hear HIM lecture ME about it. So he never DID find out that I smoked up until 3 years ago. Yep.. that was 20-some-odd years of smoking without him knowing (he and my mom divorced back when I was 7 yrs old and has always lived in a different town, so it wasn't that tough NOT to see him). It wasn't easy to quit.. but I did it. And so when Dad talks about how hard it is to quit, he thinks I don't have a clue what that means. Ah well, so it goes....
After I finished the marathon phone call w/Dad, I took a nice, loooong shower and hot-oil treated my hair. And afterwards, I gave myself a facial with green tea leaf scrub and a cucumber mask. Ahhhh that's the ticket. I still have the scrub on (30 min leave on dealie) so I better go rinse off before this cucumber turns me into a pickle!
BTW: Yesterday was my long day at work and I procrastinated during my 2 hr lunch break. Finally, with about 45 mins left, I started writing and WOW my characters were pissed off! They had so much to say I could barely keep up! I typed as fast as I could and still barely made it back to work on time. I was pretty proud of myself though yesterday... because I wrote over 1000 words in less than 45 mins. Man, it was like the old me! I wish I could manage that every day... instead of finding so many excuses NOT to write! Grrrrrr!
Welp... what a day. I stayed up WAAAAY too late yesterday because when the power finally came back on, I thought I had to catch up on everything going on in the entire web.
Anyway, tomorrow is my early day -- plus until September, I work a double shift on Thursdays. SO it's my looooong day. But on an up-note, I bring my Alphasmart to work and write during my 2 hour lunch. Yay! Hopefully, I'll be able to write write write!
Dad called me tonite and left a mssg that he'd been in the hospital, but didn't want anyone to tell me because he knew I'd worry. Come to find out that he'd been having low pulse rates. They took him in and did all sorts of exams on him and it looks like it's his glaucoma eyedrops that were causing it. I have to call him tomorrow and see how he is.
I think I'm going to make an early night of it tonite... I'm beat.
...and it only got worse. While I was at work, a huge storm broke. I was happy -- all my plants needed water, etc. Rain cools things off. You know the drill. Welllll... a big *POP* later and we lost power at work. But, it came back on within 5 mins. So no worries, right? Well, lemme jump ahead to 5:30. DH should have been home by then, and little worrywart that I am, I called to make sure he'd gotten home OK (it was a really bad storm out there with streets flooded and the whole she-bang). Well,... no answer at my house. Waited another hour. Then every half hour I'd give it a ring. Nada. Zilcho. No answer... just voicemail. Sooo, when 7pm rolls around, I frantically run out to the parking lot to see if he's there to pick me up and... he was there! YAY! So first thing I ask is, "Did we lose power?" and he grumbles and nods and tells me we lost it not 10 mins after he got home and was going thru his emails. So grumpy and I go home. The dogs are not pleased with the lack of the whirring sound they like to lie under (the window A/Cs) so they were giving us the warm-nose treatment. Sigh. Then DH and I lit a bunch of candles (MAN -- it smelled WONDERFUL in our house.. all appley and vanilla-y and cinnamon-rolly!) and talked. It was nice. But after about 2.5 hrs of it, we were ready for some A/C. So.. about 10pm we jump in the truck and head over to TinselTown (movie theatre) with some leftover gas money we'd stashed away and caught the 10:20 showing of THE ISLAND. All in all, it was a fancy remake of Logan's Run with a lot more whistles and bells and a little different premise, but it was the same overall feeling. Not a bad movie at all, but l-o-n-g! We didn't get out of the theatre until right at 1am! Whew! There at the end I was like, "Is this thing ever going to stop?" It had Sean Bean in it, tho.. so I guess he's under contract to only star in 3-hour'ish movies. ;)
SO that was MY day. OH! And I was sooo PO'd because I had all this free time and was like, "Hey, I'm going to write!" and I had NO electricity...which meant that I had no way of seeing my little UN-BACKLIT Alphasmart screen! Even with candles, it was not doable for more than 5 mins at a time. My head was killing me after trying to do it for nearly 30 mins (give or take) *cry* But now that the power's back and I'm wired on residual action movie adreneline, I'll go try and do that now. ;)
PS: Thanks for all the kind words being left on my blog and guestbook! I appreciate it so much!
Well, I discovered the hard way that spiders do NOT truly go UP THE WATER SPOUT. I was taking a shower tonight, and this big spider hopped in there with me. Ok, well, maybe not so big, but hey, he looked HUGE thru the stream of shampoo running down my forehead!... Anyhoo, he (I assume it's a HE) went all crazy-legs in the bottom of shower... and I was dancing like a maniac trying not to touch or get touched by him while trying to focus on him with my shampoo-stung eyes!! Anyway, long story short... Mr. Spider (who was not invited into my shower party, mind you) met with an early, unexpected death. I honestly didn't try to kill him or scootch him DOWN the water spout... but he apparently wasn't holding his breath when he hit the "soapy rapids" on the bottom of the showermat. Alas... marlin Perkins would kick me off "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom" for that. Heheh.. gads, remember when they used to actually introduce the show like that?? (Say yes so I don't feel so old.)
Okay... I'm finding all sorts of typos (my doing, not the web man) that I keep bugging DH to fix as I find them. I've sent him like 12 emails just today. [Shakes fist] *Oh, damn my perfectionist gene!!*
But I am so in love with the site... and am so thrilled with all the feedback I've gotten on it so far! ;)
OH! We're having a pot luck at work soon and I'm in a quandary. Should I bring a dessert or a side dish? I'm thinking of making this super deeeeeeeeeee-lish cake that my grandmother made for us when we went visiting her back in July. And I really LOVED it. It's light and yummy and oooooooh, I've been dreaming about it since we left Beaumont (my grandmother's house)... Here's the recipe:
Mandarin Orange Cake
1 (2-layer) package butter cake mix 1/2 to 3/4 cup vegetable oil 4 eggs 1 (11 oz.) can mandarin oranges and juice 16 oz. whipped topping 1 (6 oz.) package vanilla or French vanilla instant pudding mix 1 (20 oz.) can crushed pineapple, drained
Beat cake mix, oil, eggs and undrained mandarin oranges in mixer bowl until combined. Spoon into 3 greased floured 9-inch cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Cool for 20 minutes on wire rack. Combine whipped topping, pudding mix and pineapple in bowl; mix well. Spread mixture between layers, sides and on top of cake. Store, covered in refrigerator. Chill overnight to enhance flavor. May bake in 9" x 13" cake pan.
Dh totally redesigned my website today! And I love love LOVE it! It's exactly what I wanted and it totally shouts LESLIE on it. I know I irritated the crapola out of him with all my, "can you move this?", "can I get that in pink?", "OH! Can I have little crown thingies??" But man, oh man, it is EXACTLY how I want it. And to quote a famous maker of billions of hamburgers, "I'm LOVIN' it!"
This weekend it rained! Yippee! We soooo needed it. But of course, now it needs mowing. But I'm not about to bug the DH ... he's earned his R&R for working so hard to get my site up and running this weekend. Can you believe he DREW that woman? I think it's neat. I love the colors and everything. Ok, I'll shut up RAVING about the site... but *squeal* I can't help it! I LOVE IT!
I moved all my blogging links to the bottom of the page here and got rid of the side bar. It had gotten too busy IMHO. I like the streamline effect working here.
Tell me if you find any typos... puh-leeeeze?? Danke!
So, I don't work on Fridays --I love Fridays!! Of course, this is also the day I have to do lots-o-stuff that I didn't get to do the rest of the week. Anyway, I went to Target and picked up a printer my mom had bought. It's actually sort of neato. It's for my niece for her school projects, etc. Tired of Aunt Leslie having to print out and copy stuff for her all the time. PLUS this one had a free cordless phone with it (and a 100 min long distance calling card). So it was a bargain... especially since Mom is getting an extra line in her house b/c no one can get thru b/c my 12 yr old niece is yammering on the phone to her "freeeeeeeeeends" all the time. ;)
Here's what the printer looks like.. it's a printer, scanner and copier.
Gawd, it's been thunder-booming here all day, but -- alas -- no rain. All it's managing to do is freak out Cody the scardy-dog. He's been right under me all day. And it's not comfy because this AM I tripped over a clunky man-shoe out in the hallway! Dang those things HURT! And now I have a very sore (feels broken) toe next to my pinky toe! Grrrr... of course I yelled and screamed and shook my finger at DH but it didn't make me feel any better -- the toe was already hurting. Blah.
Oh! I see rain!! YES!!!!!!! I love to write while it rains! Off to do that now!
So yeah, I made some beans and rice and DH made the rice and cornbread while I was at work. Got home and WOWZA that's some good eatin', son! I totally pigged out. Now I'm worthless and blogging... whatta combo.
SO let's see... what have I done? Well I've dictated what I want on my new website... I'm a dictator now. Ooooh. I hope the dog doesn't get any ideas to overthrow my government... he's the only one who listens to me. Anyway, we went over some stuffage I want, so hopefully (rubs hands together a la Mr. Burns) Soooooon.
Work was a bust. Nothing exciting happening. But that's ok. I kind of worked on auto-pilot and daydreamed about where to go with my story. I'm thinking of (gasp) trying to plot it out a little. Keep in mind, I'm a pantser, not a plotter. It seems that everytime I try and plot out on index cards, I just wind up with lots of wasted index cards in fabulous shades of pastel pink and green and blue. Sigh.
By the by... have I introduced you to my HERO yet? Yeah.. he's a hottie. His name is Logan Tyler (pssst: that's a MADE UP NAME so please dont' tell me he's actually that delicious Victor Webster from Mutant X.) He's perfect for my story, ergo, he's now Logan. Ta-da! Couldn't you just eat him up????
Awoke to find the water off. *sigh* Yeah, yeah, it was due YESTERDAY, but you'd think that CALL I'd made to the water dept letting them know I'd pay it at LUNCH today would have stopped the convoy of trucks headed to my house in 98 degree weather... ok, so it wasn't a convoy. I'm sure it was the wimpy little baby truck that sounds like a wind-up toy I see zipping around my neighborhood. He's probably been scoping out my house for months.. just...waiting...
ARGH!
Anyway, I'm sitting here, waiting for them to turn it BACK on so I can take my shower (my co-workers will be pleased). I feel like a movie star, I brushed my teeth with Dasani this morning. Ooooohhhh... I'm the schiznit.
So I pondered all last night about my new site. I definitely want a new look to the place. I sent DH tons of suggestions since he's the webdesigner and I suppose we'll brainstorm a bit about it tonite. Who knows. Maybe he'll just surprise me. (Hehe... I wrote that just to see if he reads my diary here. I'm soooo subliminal, yes?)
I went out blog-hopping last nite and found so many interesting places. I need to add them to my list of frequently visited places. There are some I definitely need to avoid out there too... yikes! Some of people I knew in a former life that I don't want to read anymore and then there are those new, exciting people that you think "Jinkies! What a life you lead! Lemme in!!" But alas, they're mostly the published ones....
I DO want to add smilies and what-nots to my blog so that ppl can use them in their comments. Kind of like Bravenet does, but I dont' care for Bravenet. I wonder if I can do that. Hmmm.. something else to think about... like I don't have enough rocks to ponder rolling around in my noggin. Ah heck, what's one more, right?
OH!! Doorbell rang!!!! Oh please be the Water Man! Pleasepleaseplease....!
[update] It was the mailman ringing. And he only rang ONCE. Hmmph.
Dang... it seems like I've been working non-stop. Oh wait. I HAVE!! And no relief until this coming Friday. Bleh! Oh well... I'll do it as long as it gets these infernal bills paid.
I've been really busy on the book. I'm so glad to be back in the writing saddle!! I mean .. it's weird. I was apprehensive about shaking up things in my crit group, but now I see that it was really for the best. At times change LOOKS bad, but in the end winds up being the BEST route for both sides. That's the case here, I think. Saying goodbye to one-time friends is sad, but alas you can't freeze time; things change and people grow apart. I wish them well, but I doubt our paths will ever cross again -- at least not on the level it once had or anywhere in the crit circuit. But hey.. maybe on the shelves, right? ;)
Meanwhile, I'm loving hearing about all the goings-on that went down in Reno this past weekend. Oooooh... all the tales and the news is just too cool. A crit partner of mine is moving to the Atlanta area next year -- just in time for RWA 2006! I am SO camping out at her place! LOL!
All righty.. off to grab the NEO and pound out this story! I'm so happy it's coming so easily! Woot!
