Shiny. Bald. Head.

Note 2 Self:

Always bring a fly swatter to church.  While sitting in church on Sunday, my husband and I couldn’t help but stare at the big, shiny, bald head that was blocking our view from the pastor.  A very large man sat down right in front of us and I’m pretty sure he had just polished his head.  That thing was reflecting light from all sides.  It was so glossy that it was hard to control myself…I wanted so badly to touch it.  We were quietly discussing our urges to reach out and rub it when all of a sudden…a fly landed right on Mr. Clean’s head.  (Mr. Clean!  Mr. Cleeeeeeeeaaan!)  My husband and I looked at each other with our eyes as big as saucers.  We had to bite our lips to stop ourselves from laughing.  The fly must have liked his new landing pad because he decided to stay a while.  That little guy ventured from side to side and from top to bottom.  How did the big bald man not feel this?  My head was itching just watching it. The longer the fly stayed, the harder it was not to laugh.  Finally, with one foul swoop the bald man’s hand smacked down on the fly’s new home.  Poor little guy went flying off into the world while my husband and I went back to biting our lips.

What Chaps My Cheeks:

It really chaps my cheeks when people don’t properly supervise their children.  The entrance of my neighborhood is a bus stop for kids going to school.  There is a mom who parks her mini van right in the middle of the street and lets her 3 wild animals (A.K.A. her kids) get out of the van and play tag.  They do this every morning and every morning I not only have to drive ‘around’ her mini van (because pulling off to the side would be too hard) but I also have to dodge their backpacks that are in the middle of the road and avoid running her children over.  I drive past VERY slowly as to not run a precious little toe over, and what do you think the precious little munchkins do?  Give up?  Ok, I’ll tell you.  They run up to my car and look in the window!  I wish I was kidding, but I’m not.  Minivan mom just sits there.  Doesn’t even say a word.  Not only should she say something about how rude it is to look in someone else’s car…while they are in it…and driving…but what about their safety?  Is she hoping that one of them gets run over?  Because at this rate, the odds are very high.  It takes everything in me not to lay on the horn and scare the living day lights out of them.  “Get out of my way before my bumper meets your face!”  I’d yell at them and then I’d stick my tongue out in a grade school sort of way.  Yeah, that would teach them!  Minivan mom better look out.  Road rage Nellie over here has had about enough. 

You Know You’re a Mom When…

You wake up to the sound of your child barking like a dog on the baby monitor. I think someone is excited about her newly learned animal sounds.

Kids Say:

Jack: “Momma, Jesus cries when you don’t let me watch cartoons.”

Recipe: Pumpkin Rice Krispies Treats

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons   butter or margarine
• 1 package (10 oz., about 40)   regular marshmallows
• - OR -
• 4 cups   miniature marshmallows
•    Food coloring (orange)
• 6 cups   Kellogg’s® Rice Krispies® cereal
• 12   bite-size candies (such as peanut butter cups, chocolate-covered nougat bars or large gum drops)
•    Canned frosting (green)
• 12 small   green gum drops

1. In large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat. Tint with orange food coloring.2. Add KELLOGG’S RICE KRISPIES cereal. Stir until well coated.3. Using 1/2-cup measuring cup coated with cooking spray divide warm cereal mixture into 12 portions. Using buttered hands shape each portion into pumpkin shape around one candy piece. Pipe frosting onto each for vines and attach gumdrop for stem. Best if served the same day.

 

Recipe found at:http://www.ricekrispies.com/

 

Hang on for dear life!

Note 2 Self:

Make sure all your passengers are in the car before putting your car into drive and placing your foot on the accelerator. Today I went to lunch with 3 of my co-workers. They volunteered me to drive. I hate driving, and quite frankly I’m not all that great at it. I’d rather be sitting in the passenger seat dancing to the music than having to drive and focus on the road. Thankfully I managed to get us to the restaurant in one piece. After lunch we were all climbing into my car to head back to work. I put the car into drive and started rolling forward. I heard one of my co-workers yelling “Hey! Hey! Hold on!!” For whatever reason, what they said didn’t register to my brain fast enough and I ended up hitting the gas pedal harder. I then looked in my rear view mirror and noticed my colleague hanging onto the door for dear life and he only had one foot in the car.  The other foot was dragging on the pavement while he was trying to keep up with the car. Apparently he wasn’t fully in the car with the door closed when I started driving away. Once my brain caught up to speed, I slammed on the brakes. Thankfully my colleague’s limbs were still intact and hadn’t been run over by my car. The look of fear on his face let me know he was however slightly traumatized by the experience. After he was “safely” in the car… the rest of us busted out laughing and continued laughing the whole drive back to the office. It was definitely the most entertaining part of the work day!  I’m sure this will be the last time they ‘volunteer’ me to drive.  Looks like it wasn’t such a bad thing after all!   

What Chaps My Cheeks:

It chaps my cheeks when the same person asks me for a piece of gum every single day. I am one of those people who almost always has a pack of gum in their purse. I am by no means a selfish person. If someone asks me for a piece of gum, I am more than happy to give them one. I understand that sometimes people run out of gum before they have a chance to buy a new pack. Or perhaps they just ate a sandwich with onions on it at lunch and they are trying to cover up the stench. But when that person starts to abuse the privileges and asks every day…then it just gets straight up annoying. I want to yell “Stop being cheap and buy your own gum!!” Why should I have to spend my money all the time while you enjoy your free gum? It’s not like gum is expensive…but when I am providing it for more mouths than my own…it adds up! And I don’t feel like having to run to the store several times a week to re-stock. I’m too much of a pushover to tell these people off…so the only thing I’m brave enough to sometimes do is lie and say “oh sorry, I just ate my last piece.” If you are one of these annoying gum scavengers… please stop!

Home Decor:

I’ve been thinking about redecorating my bedroom.  I recently bought a new bedspread and was trying to get painting or decorating ideas from Pinterest.  I found this pic of a headboard and I love it.  It’s simple, rustic and just the right touch to add a little masculinity to a girly room. 

Kids Say:

Jack (age 3.5):  “Momma, there’s a booger on my book!  It’s not my booger!  I didn’t put my booger there!” 

My thought: “Where exactly did you put your booger?”

Recipe: Portobello Mushroom Pizza

Ingredients:

4 tomatoes

4 large portobello mushrooms

4 cloves of garlic

lemon

1 leek

1 onion

fresh basil

parmigiano reggiano cheese

fresh parsley

olive oil

salt

Directions:

Heat up about 2 table spoons of olive oil. Chop the onion. Stir the onion until it’s slightly brown.

Dice up the tomatoes. Chop the garlic. Chop the leek. Add the tomatoes, garlic,leek, and pinch of salt to the onions. Saute the ingredients until the tomatoes are soft.

Squeeze about 1 table spoon of fresh lemon juice over the ingredients. Add about 5 leaves of chopped fresh basil.

Spray olive oil on a baking sheet and place the mushrooms on the sheet with the bottom side up.

Add the mixed ingredients from the sauce pan into each mushroom and top with grated parmegiano cheese. Place the baking sheet into the preheated oven and bake for 12 minutes at 400F

Sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley. Ready to serve

Neighborhood Weirdo

Note 2 Self:

When your doorbell rings…don’t assume you know who is standing behind your door even if you are expecting company. This weekend my family and I decided to get together for a little potluck at my house. I told everyone to be over at 6pm and my doorbell rang at 5:55pm. I assumed it was some members of my family. Usually when my sister, her husband and kids arrive, my 3-year old nephew is the first one to be standing eagerly in the doorway ringing the doorbell. I thought I’d scare him by swinging the door open and jumping in the doorway like a spider monkey with a ridiculously cheesy smile on my face. To my surprise, it was not my 3-year-old nephew on the other side of the door. In fact, it wasn’t any of the members of my family. It was a woman and her 2 children that I’ve never seen before. They seemed a little startled by my over-the-top greeting. The cheesy grin on my face quickly faded into a look of pure embarrassment. Apparently these people live somewhere in my neighborhood (we are fairly new to the area so I don’t know all of our neighbors yet). They were going door-to-door selling doughnuts for a church fundraiser. I felt obligated to buy some from them since I probably scared them half to death. Plus, I figured I better make an attempt to redeem my reputation as the neighborhood weirdo. This woman will probably ban her children from selling door-to-door at my house ever again (which on second thought might not be such a bad thing). I will now proceed with caution and always answer my door in a mature adult fashion.

Crazy spider money.

What Chaps My Cheeks:

It chaps my cheeks when people go out to eat by themselves and take the largest table in the joint. Me, my husband and daughter met my sister and her family at Qdoba for dinner one night. It’s a smaller restaurant with just a few tables and we needed a table that would accommodate 4 adults, 1 kid, and 2 babies in high chairs. There was 1 large table in the restaurant that would have fit us quite comfortably. The only problem was; it was occupied by someone. And by someone I mean someONE. That’s right…1 lonely person at a table fit for 6. And it’s not like the place was packed and the large table was his only option. There were plenty of smaller booths available that would have suited him much better. So all 4 of us adults, 1 child, and 2 babies in high chairs had to cram into 1 tiny booth that was meant for 4 people. It was quite cozy to say the least. Needless to say, we were all elbowing each other in the sides while eating our meal. I made a few glares in the direction of the large table thief in hopes that he would see how cramped we were and hopefully make a wiser choice in his table selection on his next restaurant venture.

This is not us. I found this pic on Google Images, but I imagine this is what we looked like.

Kids:

Jack (age 3 1/2):  “I see the moon momma.  Jesus is pushing it out.”

Home Decor:

I was playing around on Pinterest (my new favorite website) and found this pic.

They had mentioned that collecting letters of the alphabet is a great baby shower idea.  Each guest is assigned a letter to bring and they can decorate it anyway they want to. This is a great way to  get a creative wall without much effort!  Love it!

Look here for more alphabet ideas.

Recipe: Fluffy Raspberry Torte

Ingredients

• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 (16 ounce) package miniature marshmallows
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream, whipped
• 4 cups fresh raspberries
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

 Directions

1. In a small bowl, combine cracker crumbs, butter and sugar. Set aside 1/4 cup for topping. Press remaining crumb mixture onto the bottom and 1-1/2 in. up the sides of a 9-in. springform pan; set aside.
2. In a large saucepan, combine marshmallows and milk. Cook and whisk over medium-low heat until marshmallows are melted and mixture is smooth. Cool. Fold in whipped cream, raspberries and pecans. Pour into prepared crust. Top with remaining crumb mixture. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Remove sides of pan.

Girls Night With Taylor Swift!

No matter how old we get, our dad will always our ‘dad’.  He sure loves to remind us that from time to time.  We recently stumbled upon some free tickets to the Taylor Swift concert in DC and couldn’t be more excited.  Of course my sister and I were thrilled to jump at the chance at a mini road trip (we LOVE road trips) plus free concert tickets to one of our favorite artists. Not to mention a girls night out is something we haven’t had since the babies were born.  It wouldn’t have been a road trip without getting a lecture from daddy and a list of rules before we left.  Here were his rules for the evening (keep in mind we are 25 and 31 years old now):

1.  Christy must drive since Charity is directionally challenged and has a long list of speeding tickets.

2.  Must call dad on the way to the concert and on the way home.

3. No wearing high heels. (If you do you won’t be able to run from bad guys, robbers, creepers, etc.) 

4.  No wearing short shorts/skirts or low-cut shirts. (It draws negative attention from the type of guys listed above.)

5.  Must use the buddy system at all times. (This includes going to the concession stand and even the bathroom.)  (Ahem-not the same stall.) 

Dads!  What would we do without them!?

There are a couple of things we have to have on all of our road trips. 

1.  Travel Treats!  Any road trip, no matter the duration, is not complete without travel treats. Here are just a few of the travel treats we had along with us.  (Yes, there were only 2 of us in the car…I know, we’re pigs.)

2.  Classic boy band CD’s are a must. You must turn the music up extremely loud and belt out those lyrics like it’s your job.  98 Degrees, Boys II Men, Backstreet Boys, N’SYNC…gangs all here!  Lets roll!

3.  A road trip is also not complete unless you stop for an artery clogging meal.

 

Now, on to important concert reviews.  The first opening act was a young boy named Hunter Hayes.  He is basically the Justin Bieber of country music.  He was a very talented young song writer, guitarist and singer.  Not to mention all the teenie boppers that surrounded us thought he was adorable. 

The second opening act was a group of guys called “Need To Breathe“.  I must say…I wasn’t too impressed with them.  It’s not that they were bad singers…they just weren’t really my style of music.  I feel like I could find a lot of people comparable to them at karaoke night.  Definitely not a group I would rush home to download on iTunes.

When Taylor came out…The crowd went crazy!!  She really knows how to work a crowd.  I was really impressed with how well she can sing live.  A lot of artists sound amazing on a CD, but terrible live.  This was definitely not the case.  She didn’t miss a note!  The stage decor and special effects were great.  I felt like I was watching a fairy tale right before my very eyes.

The Office Floozy

Note 2 Self: 

Check for spider bites before putting your hair up and leaving for work.  I was overly tired this morning when my alarm sounded and I did something I almost never do…I hit the snooze button.  I know exactly how much time it takes me to get ready in the morning and I usually don’t allow time for myself to mess with the snooze button often. This morning was an exception. I was exhausted. On days when I hit the snooze button I usually throw my hair up in a pony-tail or a messy bun. It saves me time from having to blow dry and straighten it. When I got to work I went into the restroom, glanced in the mirror and noticed that I had a huge spider bite on my neck. Really attractive. NOT!!! First of all…it’s disturbing to know that one was in my bed. Second of all…if you refer back to one of our previous blog posts, we mentioned that we heard a statistic that on average people swallow approximately 8 spiders a year in their sleep. This was probably 1 of my 8. Heck, it’s already the end of July…it could be 3 of 8 by now.  And third…any sort of red marking on the neck can easily be confused for a hickey. I had at least 4 people at work ask me if I had a hickey on my neck. When I told them it was a spider bite…I saw the look of disbelief on their faces. So now I probably look like the office floozy. (Not something I want to be mistaken for!!) I spent the rest of the day with my neck kinked to the side trying to hide my spider bite. I will probably have to go to the chiropractor after this day is over.

What Chaps My Cheeks:

It chaps my cheeks when girls wear big jewelry with a swimsuit.  Lets be real here…you’re at the beach or pool.  Is a GIANT necklace and earrings the size of your head really necessary at a time like this?  Don’t get me wrong, I love fun trendy costume jewlry…but I don’t wear it while swimming.  It’s so annoying to see a girl try THAT hard to be noticed.  Do you really need 20 pounds of make-up, enormous jewelry, platform flip-flips, designer sunglasses and a fedora to go to the pool?  I think not.  I feel you’d be better off wearing a sandwich-board over your shoulders that says “I’m single and desperately seeking a mate!”

Kids:

July 23rd was Ella’s first birthday.  For her birthday party we decided to go with a beach theme since everything beachy matched the bright colors of her tutu.  Yes, every one year old girl needs a tutu.

I was trying to come up with party favors that could be used as center pieces as well as something fun and practical for the kids to take home with them.  Since it was a beach theme I decided to buy a beach bucket and fill it with cray paper.  Then I added a pack of Gold Fish, fun shaped sunglasses, a shovel and a fish bath toy.  To add a little spunk to the outside of the bucket I wrote each kids name on it and added some fun fish stickers.  Wha-la!  A fun party favor!

Recipe:

To keep with the beach theme I decided to make a fun side dish that could also serve as a center piece on the food table.  I made Dirt Pudding using Vanilla Oreos to make it look like sand.  I found this recipe here.

1 to 1 1/4 lb. pkg. Oreo cookies
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
3 cups milk
1 (12 oz.) tub Cool Whip (can use chocolate)
2 (3 1/2 oz.) pkg. instant vanilla or chocolate pudding
1/2 tsp. vanilla
4 gummy worms and/or other critters

Crush Oreos. Put 1/3 of the crushed Oreos into a new, clean flower pot. Set aside.

Mix butter, cream cheese and sugar and vanilla together. Set aside.

Combine milk and pudding mix. Fold Cool Whip into the pudding.

Fold together pudding mixture and butter-cream cheese mixture.

Layer this mixture (about 1/3 of it) onto the crumbled cookies in the pot. Next, add another layer of the pudding mixture, then another layer of cookie crumbs, continuing until all ingredients are used.

As you’re layering the ingredients, decoratively place several gummy worms and critters in the “soil” so they will be seen emerging. If you have a toy (clean) garden trowel, a plastic daisy, or some edible flowers, these can also be used creatively to embellish the presentation.

Chill in refrigerator for 3 to 4 hours before serving.

You look tired!

Note 2 Self:

Do not tell people “you look tired.” It’s not nice, and they will most likely be offended. It’s just another way of saying “you look like crap today!” How am I supposed to take that statement?!  Why don’t you just tell me I look like I got ran over by a truck?! Last week my husband, baby girl, and I went on vacation to our former hometown in Green Bay , Wisconsin . It was a great week of seeing family and friends…but a tiring week nonetheless. There was so much to do and not enough time to do it. We went to bed late and got up early in order to squeeze in all the things we wanted to do while in town. We flew back home on Sunday afternoon…and I had to go into work first thing on Monday morning. Keep in mind; we were flying with our 14-month-old daughter. I’m pretty sure that is the worst possible age to take a baby on a plane. She started walking a few months ago so now that’s all she ever wants to do! Sitting still on a plane for 3 hours was near impossible for her. My husband and I were taking turns passing her back and forth because our arms were getting sore while trying to prevent her from running wild down the aisles. We were juggling snacks and toys in our desperate attempt to keep her entertained so that she wouldn’t embarrass us in the confined space crammed with tons of people. As you can imagine, a week long trip of little sleep + trying to make time to see family and friends + trying to entertain a baby on a plane for 3 hours + returning home Sunday and having to work Monday = very exhausted! So yes, I probably did look tired. However, I don’t need to hear it from every person I walked past. A simple “how was your trip?” would have done just fine.

Here is a pic of us on our family vacation!

What Chaps My Cheeks:

It really chaps my cheeks when people don’t watch their children.  I recently went on a family vacation to the beach. I wasn’t on the beach 10 minutes before 2 little girls came running over to see the baby. “Hello. We love babies!”  they said as they planted themselves on the sand next to me. “Can we hold her?”  “Can we bring her over to see our parents?”  “Can I walk with you down to the water and hold the baby’s hand?” I was bombarded with questions and didn’t know what to say to them. I was on a ‘family’ vacation meaning I wanted to spend time with MY family. I already have 2 kids to watch, I really don’t need yours. I was friendly at first thinking that they would play with the baby for a few minutes, get bored and head back to where they came from…but no such luck. In an attempt to get rid of them I picked up the baby and walked down to the water where my husband and Jack were playing…they followed. My husband saw the look of annoyance on my face and took Ella from me. He started walking out into the water hoping that the girls would turn around and leave, but they didn’t.  They followed him out there and grabbed Ella’s hand. So now my husband is holding Ella while some strange girl is holding her hand. That’s not awkward at all.  We’ve come to grasp the fact that these kids weren’t leaving!  About 30 minutes later Ella was beyond exhausted so I took her up to the hotel to for a nap. Yes!  Finally a reason to ditch these kids! The next day we spent the morning sight seeing before we made our way out to the beach. Guess who found us?! Yup, the same 2 little annoying girls. I had it up to my eyeballs with them and was starting to get a little snippy. I’m not sure where their parents were this whole time, but out of no where their dad came up to us and started making small talk. We took this as  a window of opportunity to RUN. We were somewhat short with our answers in order to give the hint that his daughter’s company was no longer welcome. Then said “Well, we’re going to go for a walk now. Bye”, and walked away as fast as the little ones legs would let us. That was all we saw of the little monsters.

TV:

This week on The Bachelorette, Ames was sent home. I don’t know how to feel about Ames . He is quite possibly the nicest/most sincere person on this earth. However, there is something terribly awkward about him. You can’t help but feel bad for the guy and want him to find a great girl…you just don’t want to be that girl. His departure was painful to watch. He was genuinely shocked that he was being sent home. You would never know that though considering he kept up that toothy smile of his throughout the whole lonely limo ride to the airport. His movements are so stiff – almost robot like – that I sometimes wonder if he is from another planet? Oh Ames , I hope you find a girl that is just as awkward as you some day so that you can go through this journey called life with a partner.

Ames\’ departure from The Bachelorette

Recipe: Chocolate Caramel Cheesecake

Ingredients

• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 30 individually wrapped caramels, unwrapped
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 eggs

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Mix well and press into the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of a 9 inch springform pan. Pour on melted caramel/pecan mixture and chill for 30 minutes.
2. To make the Caramel Filling: In a small saucepan, combine caramels and milk. Cook over low heat, stirring, until smooth. Stir in chopped pecans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
3. In the top of a double boiler, heat chocolate, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from heat and allow to cool to lukewarm. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Fold 1/3 of the filling into the melted chocolate, then pour the chocolate mixture back into the filling and mix until no streaks remain. Pour into crust.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes, or until center is almost set. Place a pan of water on rack underneath cheesecake as it bakes to help keep it from cracking. Cool in oven with door cracked open. Refrigerate at least 5 hours before serving.

Is that toilet paper?!

Note 2 Self:

Always check the back of your pants after using the bathroom. My mom, sister, and I were sitting in church one Sunday morning when a teenage boy got up to use the bathroom. When he came back, he had a very long piece of toilet paper hanging out the top of his pants. In order for him to get to his seat he had to walk down the row past all his peers. Once he sat down the kid next to him leaned back as if to confirm that his eyes did not deceive him, and that he did in fact have a stream of toilet paper following him. Once confirmed, he leaned over to whisper to his friend to tell him what was hanging from his britches. The poor kid reached behind him to grab whatever he could as quickly as possible. When he pulled a wad of toilet paper from his pants, he balled it up and shoved it in his pocket. This is when our laughter began. He then reached back again to tuck the remaining toilet paper right back into the back of his pants where it came from. For this, I was grateful. We all knew where that piece was stuck and would rather he deal with that in private. We were sitting a couple of rows behind him, but we could see the red glow from his cheeks (face cheeks) as he sat there knowing everyone behind him saw what had just happened. We felt so bad for him, but we couldn’t control our laughter at this point. All 3 of us were laughing uncontrollably. When we’d finally compose ourselves,  one of us would start-up again which would cause a snowball effect. Needless to say, I didn’t hear one word the pastor said that morning…and neither did anyone around us. Oops!

What Chaps my Cheeks:

It chaps my cheeks when you go to the doctor because you feel like crap and then they tell you nothing is wrong with you and send you home with a big fat bill and nothing to help your symptoms. For the past few weeks I’ve been having some serious pains in the right side of my stomach which goes around to the right side of my back. The pains are really sharp and my stomach has appeared slightly swollen on that side. It feels as though something is jabbing me in the side all day long and I can’t get comfortable. I thought maybe it was something serious like appendicitis, kidney stones, a cyst, or a UTI. I figured I better get it checked out. I went to the doctor; they checked for a UTI and gave me an ultrasound to see if I had a cyst. They didn’t find anything and sent me home. Later that night I couldn’t take the pain anymore and I had my husband take me to the ER. The doctor there was so rude. He was questioning me as if I was a criminal on trial. He basically made me feel like I was making up my symptoms. Sorry buddy, I have better things to do on a Friday night than sit in the ER and “pretend” to be in pain. They gave me a CT Scan to see if I had appendicitis or a kidney stone. Again…they didn’t find anything. So I got sent home for the 2^nd time in one day with no help for my symptoms and a big fat doctor bill. Now I get to continue to be in pain for an unknown amount of time.  I know they can’t help it if they can’t find anything wrong…but I don’t appreciate their rudeness or lack of sympathy for my pain.

You Know You’re a Mom When…

Every article of clothing you own has a stain somewhere on it. Usually consisting of mushed food, a booger, snot or spit-up.

TV:

Is anyone out there a Big Brother fam?  I’ve been anticipating this season’s premier since last season ended and I can’t seem to find anyone to discuss it with.  This year they have 8 new players and then they threw in a twist by inviting 3 previous couples back.

Jeff and Jordan:  America loves them (or at least I do) so I’m glad they are back.  Jeff lovingly makes fun of his ditsy girlfriend for all her stupid questions which makes you love them all the more.

Brendon and Rachel: They are now engaged.  These two couldn’t make me more sick than they already do.  Rachel’s annoying horse laugh is enough to make me jump off a bridge.  And her pushover, nerdy, sissy fiance rides her coat tails all the way through the game.  Brendon, do us all a favor…put your pants on and tell your girl she’s annoying, selfish and rude.  I don’t think I can take a whole other season of her crazy antics!

Evil Dick and his daughter Daniele:  Evil Dick is just plain crazy.  I feel bad for Daniele having to admit to American that this is her dad.  I’m not surprised that outside of the house they have no relationship at all.

As for the new people in the house.  I feel there is a good, well-rounded cast this year.  People from all different walks of life which should keep me at the edge of my seat every Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday night.       

 

Recipe: BerryParfaits

3 – 4 cups assorted berries (blackberries, blueberries, strawberries and/or raspberries) or other fresh fruit

2 tablespoons (25 grams) granulated white sugar, or to taste

Cream:

1/2 cup (4 ounces) mascarpone cheese

1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy whipping cream

3 tablespoons (25 grams) confectioners’ (icing or powdered) sugar, or to taste

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Recipe found at: http://www.joyofbaking.com/BerryParfait.html#ixzz1RXN64mlq