tortillas and convenience stores

Kids say some pretty funny things. Over the last few days, I've had the pleasure of hearing a couple of good ones from my kids.

From Sean:
In these parts, there are a lot of "combo" stores with Shell gasoline and Circle K stores. I mean alot. Like I can think of 4 just in my town (2 are right across the street from each other for convenient entry/exit!) and I drive past a couple more on my way to work.
This one is just around the corner from our house...and around the other corner is daycare! (the price was down to $3.49 by the time I picked the kids up from daycare the day I snapped this picture - yay!)

So the other night, we're driving home from Tampa (yay Angie's housewarming party!) and I tell Sean I need to stop for gas.
He says, "Let's stop at that Shellcle K". I almost missed the exit I was laughing so hard! Very clever, that one.

From Sophie:
Sophia's getting pretty good at saying words and phrases and repeating new words as you say them to her. She was in the kitchen "helping" me make dinner tonight and I asked her if she wanted a tortilla. She said, "Sophia!"



I didn't cook her up for dinner, but she didn't seem to mind the tortilla chips instead...

One Year Ago...

Mom and Fred were just about to leave and go back to New York (or maybe they had just left?!?), we were still in Michigan, and I was 2 days away from starting a new job. Yay! Even though I wasn't TECHNICALLY hired in to the company for a couple more months, I can't believe a whole year has passed. It's been eventful, to say the least. A fun adventure at its best... Here are a couple of pics from this time last year:

she stole his toast.
Crazy woman driver!
Well...not much has changed here!
Sean's first day of first grade. Sadly, I have no first day of second grade pics. :(
The girls. Aren't they adorable?!?

Lakeland, FL Start! Heart Walk 2008

For my loved ones, past, present, and future, I am walking in the 2008 Heart Walk in Lakeland, FL. You can click on the links below to donate online ($25 minimum, unfortunately), or you can mail me a check if you'd like. Contact me by sending a comment if you have any questions.
The thermometer shows the goals of the whole Lakeland Start! Heart Walk. My personal goal is $250, and I'm 10% of the way there so far. :-)
If you're in my area and want to walk with me (I guess that means you, Angie, unless I have some unknown visitors who enjoy my little site), let me know. It will be fun to have someone besides the kiddies to walk with.


Click Here to Donate

Banana Pudding

Katy has been reminded in Technicolor, THX sound, why her diet consists of chicken nuggets, hot dogs, and misc food that requires no preparation.

This was my Facebook "status update" yesterday.

Honestly, all I wanted to do was make this yummy-sounding recipe for Banana Pudding that a co-worker brought to a potluck. I didn't even get to be at the potluck (I was in South Bend), but I heard rave reviews, and apparently in the "south", that's something to not take lightly. Well, all of my family likes bananas (Jes, you weren't here, so you don't count!), and it sounded good, so while Chip was at work and Sean was outside playing, I figured I could knock it out quick without too much fuss.

I was wrong.

First, the recipe requires whipped topping. No problem. I had that! Thawed. Oh, now that's another story. So, I took it out of the freezer and took Sophie down to the park to swing for a few minutes while it thawed (didn't figure it would take too long in 80+ degrees). 35 minutes later, back upstairs to the pudding.

I started mixing the pudding, and I hear blood-curdling screams. Ok. Not blood-curdling. But potentially pudding-curdling. 20 minutes later, after cleaning up a VERY dirty, but not-so-injured, "Buzz Lightyear", everyone's hungry for dinner. I get out the hot dogs, but there's only 1 left. The kiddos fight over it. Sophie wins, but only because I offer Sean a "quesadilla" (cheese burrito, really. Too lazy for 2 layers).

That done, hands washed, I commence to cutting the bananas. Sophie's at my feet (when she's not opening the oven and standing on the door to try to reach things) screaming for a whole one - a 1/2 one just won't do, but I didn't have enough to give her a whole one. Should have skimped on the recipe to appease, I see in hindsight. Too late now - they're already cut up, and that just isn't the shape of banana she was interested in.

Finally, I get all the parts mixed together, and it ends up like this:

Very tasty. Rich. Creamy. Kinda like gramma's ice cream dessert, honestly, only with bananas. And there are cookies instead of Ritz, so no slight salt flavor that would have helped cut down the sweetness a bit. Really, really good. But...I won't attempt anything like it again soon, at least not while Chip is at work. The taste is not worth the pain in the rear it was to make, even though it's really easy.

Back to nuggets, hot dogs, cheese burritos, ice cream, pre-baked cookies, and the like...after I eat another helping of the pudding. ;-)

More YouTube Videos...

Sophie steals the show...and my camera

About me again.

The cheater's way to post a quick blog...copy and paste these email thingys!

1. What is your occupation right now? Data Manager
2. What color are your socks right now? foot-colored because I'm not wearing any
3.What are you listening to right now? fan, air conditioning, and Sean's bed creaking 4.What was the last thing that you ate? Fruit Chiller cup (peach) that I shared with Sophie 5. Can you drive a stick shift? Does it have to be WELL? Then No.
6. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Dad W.
7. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Very Much!
8. How old are you today?
33 and 5/6ths (I figured it out with Sean a couple of weeks ago; reducing fractions and all. Math can be FUN!)
9. What is your favorite sport to watch on TV? Olympic Events
10. What is your favorite drink? Sweet tea or water
11. Have you ever dyed your hair? a time or two
12. Favorite food? Almond thingy that we make at Christmas time or gooey orange rolls that are perfectly done
13. What is the last movie you watched? Peter Pan
14. Favorite day of the year? the day I didn't have to do any housework
15. How do you vent anger? vent? you're supposed to vent?
16. What was your favorite toy as a child? I dunno...the piano? (Mom, Sophie would definitely go with your answer of water)
17. What is your favorite season? Seasons of change (for the better)
18. Cherries or Blueberries? blueberries
19. Do you want your friends to e-mail you back? yep, cuz I rarely bug em with stuff like this (wink wink)
22. Living arrangements? 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,200 sq ft apartment with 4 people and 1,800 sq ft of crap!
23. When was the last time you cried? tonight
24. What is on the floor of your closet? a little of everything; see #22
25. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending to Angie. Sorry, Jes, but you weren't born yet when I met her!
26. What did you do last night dishes, laundry, library, ate at Grandpa Johnson's Yummy BBQ (yummy my edit), read my "new" book, Facebook a little
27. What are you most afraid of failure; ruining my children's lives
28. Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers CHEESEburgers.
29. Favorite dog breed? Stuffed and cuddly
30. Favorite day of the week? same as #14
31. How many states have you lived in? If you count all my time in NY, 4.
32. Diamonds or pearls? Pearls surrounded by diamonds
33. What is your favorite flower? I'm partial to lillies and orchids

The smell remembers when...

"I was standin' at the counter

I was waitin' for the change

When I heard that old familiar music start..."

I like Trisha Yearwood a lot. I love this song. Very true. But I've found that smells often do the same thing for me.

On my travels a week or so ago, I sat next to someone who was wearing the same cologne as someone I knew on Mackinac Island. Just a friend with whom I shared my woes (they were woes back then), but I smelled him first, and when I turned to look at who was sitting by me, I was shocked that it wasn't the Mackinac guy stowing his carry-on. Crazy.

Chip told me at our first stop in FL when we moved, "Do you smell that? That's the smell I always associate with FL...the slight mustiness, but 'soft' smell. I love it." Sorry, Chip, I'm sure I paraphrased, but since you don't read this anyway, I'm sure you won't care. :-)

Baby powder reminds me of Sean's baths. He was BIG into powder. Maybe Sophie is getting there - she's been liking it with diaper changes during this terrible bout with diaper rash - but she likes the "girly" cucumber melon scent.

The smell of a smokey (inside of a) car still reminds me of riding to/from the theatre with Fred. On a total tangent to this, tonight I was at the library looking up a book to place on hold and I saw an audio tape recorded at Brilliance Studio in Grand Haven and I immediately had tears in my eyes because I could see me in that studio watching Fred read a part for a book. Can't remember which one - I need to ask, just so I can get it and listen to him reading. What a voice.

Back to smells...the good ones...

somehow the smell of the first snow always reminds me of childhood snows. I'm sure that's a combo of many senses, though.

The smell of apple pie always puts me in my grandma's kitchen.

The smell of playdough always reminds me of my childhood kitchen table...oh, wait. I still play playdough on the same table, and until recently, in the same house, in the same SPOT.

The smell of COTY dusting powder reminds me of my Grandma Smith.

The smell of White Rain coconut (me) and Aussie shampoo (Angie) reminds me of my Mackinac days, too.

And I don't know what it is - I think Estee Lauder Sunflower perfume or something like that - always conjures the image of Jen Day in my mind. You too, Ang?

There are a couple of other smells that remind me of Mackinac, too, and yes, I smile, but no, I'm not sharing ;-), but for those of you with impressionable teens (coughCarolcough), DON'T let them go work up there!