Ready and Waiting

The cupcakes are frosted. The flowers are set.


The bed is ready.

But my guest has been stuck in a snow storm. So I am blogging and waiting and eating more cupcakes than a 35 year old woman should. (I had to taste them, you know, to make sure that they weren't poisonous.)

They are tasty.

I probably won't be blogging this weekend. Unless meh and I find ourselves in a heap of fun that we just can't wait to share with you.


Until then, have a cupcake.
La Vida Dulce!

The Cupcake Chronicle

I have always loved The Cupcake. Even before they were the Trend.

Especially a homemade cupcake. For about a year now I have tried to make the Perfect Homemade Cupcake. It's been elusive, let me tell you.

I know that boxed cake mixes make fine cupcakes, but there is just something different about a homemade cake.

Nowadays, if you live in a big city, you can find gourmet cupcakes for a pretty penny. I've heard mixed reviews on these cupcakes. There doesn't seem to be any middle ground. People either love 'em or hate 'em.

I will admit that if we had one here, I would probably plunk out my four bucks to taste their cupcake, just to say I had one, but I don't think it would become a habit for me. There is sweet victory in finding a recipe that is yummy and do-able in my own kitchen.

Do you remember back in December when my Mom and Dad went on that unfortunate 14 Day-Tour? My mom did bring home about 10 fresh vanilla beans, and I have tried a few new recipes without success. They tasted good, but it wasn't anything to write home (or on the blog) about.

I did find a recipe for making vanilla sugar. Here's the recipe:
1 fresh Vanilla Bean 2 cups of sugar. Split the bean and scrape the seeds. Place seeds in sugar (and I put the skins in also) in a reusable plastic container, or zip-seal bag, and give it a good long shake. Then let it sit for at least a day before using it in any recipe that calls for sugar.

I used it in my banana bread and it was delicious.

I wanted to make a fun dessert for tomorrow night when meh arrives so I decided to make another attempt at cupcakes. I have not reached my cupcake pinnacle yet. I am still but a young whipper-snapper who makes many mistakes (Including the tendency to overfill your pan, which is a guaranteed train wreck) My cupcake woes have yielded many thrown-out batches. But I am nothing if not persistent.

So I making cupcakes as I type. That way, if they don't turn out, I can run to the store and buy some ice cream and call it a night!

Every once in a while I read a few cupcake blogs, and this week I read a few threads by people who take food seriously (man! there are people out there who really know their cupcakes!). Anyway, I kept hearing great reviews about the Magnolia Bakery Vanilla Cupcake recipe. Today I am following this recipe with one change, I will use the vanilla sugar.

All right the first batch are ready to take out of the oven.

I hope every body is having a great Thursday!

Things

While making lunches this morning I heard The Girl singing this:

Jeremiah had a bull frog! He was very, very, green...

Now I can't get that tune out of my head, and I have to keep reminding myself that Jeremiah was the bullfrog. Also, I keep wondering how in the world does she know that song?

This week I am very excited to be getting ready for a highly anticipated weekend. Which is why the blog may be slow. My dear friend meh is coming from the Big Cold North to thaw out for a couple of days, and I am preparing for her arrival.

With the weather predicted to be in the high 70's/low 80's for the weekend, it will be perfect for my parka wearing friend.

OK: one more thing. I joined a book club with a gal I met at church. We'll call her SmartGirl.

SmartGirl emailed me the book list, and now I am scared. I know my friend is like, really, really smart, but I think that the rest of this group may all be smarty-pants's too. The books they have chosen are, well...let's just say, if I was in high school I'd have found the Cliff Notes, quick! And I'm being totally serious. You are listening to a woman who has read many a Cliff Note.

Right now we are reading Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers. Sayers was an English author known for her detective fiction. It was written in 1923, with English humor and style. I am one of those crazy people who doesn't often find British humor all that funny. I just don't get it.

I am really trying to work through this small novel but it's been very slow going. I picked it up almost a week ago and I am still on page 25. It's not that it's hard reading as much as it's different reading.

However what really scares me is the book after this one, Quo Vadis: A Narrative of the Time of Nero by Henryk Sienkiewicz. Hello? if there ever was a time for Cliff notes, this would be it.

The Mister saw it sitting on my bed side table this weekend and asked if he could start reading it, you know for fun, without the incentive of 8 other women who have read it and expect conversation about it. Oy Vey!

He says it's really good. A great book, to get you thinking.

Yeah, like I have time for thinking. Of all things.

Anybody out there reading a good book?

It's Finished

Remember a few weeks ago when I posted about being inspired to make something fun?

Well, I finally decided to be brave and branch ot from handbags and aprons and try to make an Easter outfit for The Girl.

I peiced together this outfit using three different patterns, and I am pretty sure this won't be the last thing I make!

Oh! and my model is a total ham. And she is walking around the house asking why she has to wait until Easter to wear her new duds.

(As a side note, she will wear a little pink sweater over this top when we go to church on Easter, but as I type the temp outside is 81 degrees, so this will be perfect for after-church Easter egg hunting and festivities.)

La Vida Dulce!

Anticipating Spring

These are the fabrics I am using for The Girls Easter outfit.

All the pieces are cut and my machine has been busily humming all weekend. Finished project to be revealed soon (of course it is.)

Yesterday I went to The Boys first basketball game of the season. I know nothing about basketball. But I do know this...I think I am going to like learning the game, it's so fun to watch your kids play sports.

OK, I also have to say this, June over at Bye Bye Pie is about to experience her very first NC spring. And I am so excited for her I could almost act silly, instead I am going to post a few of my old NC spring pictures to share with y'all. Especially to my friends who live in the great white North, or other fairly cold places.


All these pictures were taken in our back yard. It starts with the sweet daffodils...

Then the trees start to wake up with their happy little leaves....
And the little shrubs start to come to life...
And the iris bulbs (that somebody put in the ground long before I ever lived there) start to pop up. Just on time...
Oh! but the azalea's! Pink...

...and fuchsia and white! All my favorite colors...
And more Iris. These would come up every year in the bed right outside my kitchen window. They would grow almost three feet tall. They would be taller than The Girl!

Hosta...so green you could almost eat it.


But I think my favorite of all are the camellia's. I'll never forget walking outside to take the dog out in late January, maybe early February, and seeing these beautiful flowers growing in the midst of winter. They are like a little pink gift from God letting us know that the long days of winter will someday come to an end. That warmer times are on the horizon.


La Vida Dulce!

Yee Haw! Rodeo Days!

Howdy Pardner! Out here in the Wild West it's a holiday.

The kids didn't have school yesterday or today because the whole town is out whoopin' and hollerin' in their spurs and cowboy hats.

It's rodeo time baby!

One of the highlights of this weekend is the gigantic Rodeo Parade. Having grown up in this town, my Dad would bundle us up and we would shlep downtown to see almost 500 horses, old time wagons and many a marching band. It's a non-motorized parade. It's a tradition in this town.

So I corralled my chil'ins and my oldest niece and got up at the crack of dawn (for the three of them who had visions of sleeping in on thier holiday) to get good seats.

Once we got there, the kids complained just a bit about waiting over an hour on that curb for the parade to start, but I told them that it was tradition...that I had to sit on that curb as a child in the freezing cold, after we walked up hill both ways to get there, barefooted, and I liked it!!!!

Although we had dressed warm, because the weather-man had predicted rain, there wasn't a storm cloud to be seen. Just sunshine and a cool breeze.

There were ropers....
Rodeo Princesses...
And many, many horses.

Where there are horses, there is....well, a need for the one and only motorized part of this great parade....

...about eight street cleaning trucks.

After that Blue Princess pictured above, there were about 50 horseriders all riding in a big group. That many horses all together is the West's equivilant to Santa and the Macy's parade. Y'all, It's a sight.

Right behind them horses were the street sweepers.

The kids and I walked to the car, and as we were waiting in line to get out of the parking lot I asked the kids what there favorite part of the parade was. They promptly answered, "All those street sweepers!" Then they talked about horse poop for about 15 minutes.

Ah, the memories they will have.

La Vida Dulce!

A Cry for Help

If this isn't one, I don't know what is.

Speaking of calling for help, if you don't hear from me in the next 48 hours, I have:

1. Fallen into the washing machine while trying to rescue that illusive "missing" sock.

2. Been overcome by toxic fabric softener sheet fumes.

3. Got eaten by the scary things that live in my sons closet.

4. Cannot type because the constant folding have rendered my arms useless.

In the event that any of these things should happen, please come quickly bearing chocolate or coffee, but preferably both.

Happy Little Boxes Make Me Glad

I have a ton of things I want to write about, and in the interest of procrastination, I do believe I will write about them now.

First of all, on Sunday morning before church I decided to use a face scrub in the shower. I was running kind of late so I very quickly began to scrub away at my face. When I put my face under the shower head a little piece of that scrub got into my right eyeball, and I haven't been the same since.

By the time I got to church I had to take out my contact, and I spent the all of Sunday School winking at our teacher who is a retired pastor and old enough to be my grandfather. My eye was a mean color of red in the corner, and I am sure that everybody was looking at the beautiful effects of my facial scrub. Of course I didn't talk about it, but just acted as if I was not contagious, or at all in pain.

Unfortunately, I haven't updated my glasses in almost 8 years, so the prescription is a little (a lot) weak. Which means I can only see half as good as when I am wearing my contacts.

My eye is better, but is still swollen and a little bit painful so I have been walking around, half blind, feeling grateful that The Mister had been home to be my chauffeur. Unfortunately he had to go to work today, so I am on my own.

Today I really needed to go on a run, but I don't like to run in glasses. Nor do I enjoy not being able to see where I am running. I thought I would get on the treadmill this morning and run off the weekend, and let me tell you, that would be A LOT of running.

Why?

Last night, after a weekend of parties and celebration, I finally decided to just eat all the ice cream and Valentines candy in the house, so that it would be gone, and I wouldn't have to eat it anymore. Is that not the best logic? It sounded perfect to me at the time. But before I tell you about the running off of gluttonous calories, I have to back track...

On Saturday I rented Hairspray for The Mister and I to watch together, but when we put it in our DVD it wouldn't work. We cleaned the disk and tried again to no avail. Yesterday, my seeing eyed husband took me to the Blockbuster to exchange it for a working copy.

The plan this morning was to put the movie in and watch it while on the tread mill. Of course I had to move my treadmill to be directly in front of the TV, because of the whole Infected-Eye-Blind-As-A-Bat problem.

I got everything all ready and popped the movie in and IT DIDN'T WORK!!!!! It loads, and loads, and loads, and then the DVD turns off. I know it isn't the player because the kids and I have all used the player several times in between these Hairspray DVD's. Maybe I am not supposed to watch Hairspray? Maybe I am not supposed to run? Maybe I should be doing a thousand other things, like say, laundry, cleaning bathrooms or something of that nature.

Nah....

I can't see, can't run, can't drive, can't watch a movie. So I thought I would make boxes from the tutorial that Mer has on her blog. They are fun, and they make me happy, cuz they are way more fun then laundry or running or anything else.

All right. Writing this post did not take as long as I wanted it to, which means I should go fold that laundry that you see in the picture below. You don't know how hard I tried to make the picture so you couldn't see that laundry, but in the interest of being transparent....there you go!



Happy Tuesday!

Presidential Day

There is something so sweet about having a husband who gets all the government holidays off.

Having him home to hang out with makes up for the fact that I don't get any mail on days like today.

I like my mail. But not as much as my male.

Oh, you don't know how clever I think I am over that last sentance!

Anyway, before I share some pictures with of Presidents Day with The Mister, I wanted to share just a bit about The Girl's birthday party.

Sometime before Thanksgiving, The Girl said that she wanted a Parisian themed party. She is very enamored with Paris and speaking French. I think she thinks it's all very fancy.

So we asked 6 little girls to come dressed in fancy dress and ready to eat "french" food.
We had crossaints with ham and cheese (Croque-Monsieur), strawberry kiwi salad (salade fraises kiwi), potato chips, and fresh squeezed lemonade (citron presse).
For dessert we had Petite Fours and ice cream (glace).

I think it was a success....and now I can go to France and order something to eat.


OK, back to celebrating Presidents in the desert...The Mister and I went on a hike and had a picnic and the weather was beautiful. I took a few pictures:

This is me at the top of the hike. We actually could have hiked higher but we had hiked steadily for 45 minutes and I couldn't stop thinking of (or talking about ) the lunch we were going to eat. I had worked up a powerful hunger. So we snapped a picture and made our descent. Can you see the snow on the tippy top of the mountain behind me?

When we hiked past these cacti I couldn't help but think of Ecclesiastes 4:12:

Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A "cactus" of three strands is not quickly broken.

(Actually , I thinks it's a "cord", but I'm just telling you what I thought when I saw those cacti)

The birds were happy and the air was fresh. But the views on this spring-like day were fantastic...


But for me, this view was the best. ;)

Happy President's Day!

Snow and Interviews!

Do you remember when I was bragging last week about flip flops and sandals?

Well, I jinxed us. Last night a winter storm blew in and today it was cold, and was even snowing!

The good news?

The weather man says that I will be wearing those old tank tops again, maybe even before the weekend is out! I am an optimist!

I want to keep todays post short. Mostly because I would love for you to go over to sweet Megan's blog.

Megan is a bloggy friend of mine, whom I am really enjoying getting to know. Several weeks ago she asked if she could do an interview of me for her blog. I am not sure I am qualified to be interviewed, but it was really fun getting to "talk" with Megan.

Megan,
What an honor it was to share a bit of myself with you, and in the process hear you say that God has used this poor creature (me) to teach you more about Him! God amazes me, every single day.

I pray that we will meet sometime "in real life"! I'll bring the coffee!

Happy Friday!

Happy Valentines Day!

In our house we have a Red Plate tradition. It's a way to mark a special time.

We pull out the Red Plate on birthdays, and when guests come to stay. We also use it when big things in life happen, like when The Mister graduates from school (again, and again, and again), or when the kids face something particularly hard with bravery and perseverance.

Sometimes, when life throws us a curve ball, we pull the plate out, to encourage, or to celebrate (depending on what curve that ball takes). For instance, on July 17th, 2005, The Mister had taken The Boy and The Girl hiking through the woods near our house in NC. The Girl spotted, with her eagle eyes, a large copper head snake on the trail. She was able to warn her brother and Dad right as they began to step over the deadly snake. We still talk about the day "The Girl saved the their lives."

How do I know the details?

Well, I also have a Red Plate Log. A pretty, spiral bound, note book. Before the honoree of the Red Plate gets to partake of his/her meal (or dessert), he/she must write the date, their name, and description in the Red Plate Log.

Anyway, I was thinking about Valentines Day today, and listening to all the love songs on the radio, and hearing people call in, and tell how this day is hard for them. They don't want to celebrate love because they don't have someone to share love with. Or they don't have a valentine that cares. There is no joy for them today. And it made me think of two things...

First, it made me feel sad for those who do not know the love of God.

Y'all, it sounds cliche, because it's plastered all over bumper stickers, and it is sometimes yelled from street corners, and it is often said by people who don't express it lovingly, but God loves you.

Not just today, but every single day.

While I try not to get preachy on this blog, I feel certain today is a good day to say these things, cause if you're feeling a lack of love on this one day a year that everybody, christian or not, focuses on being loved, I want you to know you are loved...and there's not a valentine in the world that could compete with His love.

That is worth celebrating...

My second thought was that I wish I could take out my Red Plate for all who read this blog. Most of you I know in real life. Some of you I don't.

If you could come over I would serve you home made Valentine sugar cookies on the Red Plate, and you could tell me what you are celebrating. It might be love, it might be a goal attained, it might be that you got all the kids to school today and got a shower!

If you feel like sharing a bit of your joy, I would love to celebrate with you...the comments are open.

1 John 4:19
We love because He first loved us.

Happiness Is...

• Felt Fortune Cookies

• Little chocolates, wrapped in Pink Foil.

• Tank tops and sandals...in February.

• Kids playing outside.

• Open doors and windows.

• Listening to praise music all day long...

• While making sugar cookies.

• York Peppermint Patties: Heart shaped and pretty pink inside.

• Date night with The Mister.

• Anticipating a hair appointment at the salon tomorrow.

• Pink and white frosting on mini heart cookies.
  

• Being healthy!

• Reading BooMama and Rocks in My Dryer as they travel to Africa with Compassion International. --Y'all, these posts make me feel grateful to live where I live. They make me feel content with what I have. It brings back memories of when the Mister went to Recife, Brazil. Go check out what Sophie and Melanie are up to in Africa...but be sure you have a tissue, or two.
  

La Vida Dulce!

Ladies Who Lunch

My friends, yesterday was fabulous, if not a little exhausting, but completely fabulous. I walked around with a bird on my finger all. day. long.

It feels good to feel good, let me tell ya.

Mrs. Moofish had a birthday at the beginning of the month, but since we both had the flu, and then our combined 6 children had the flu, we had to postpone. However, good things come to those who wait, and last night we were not disappointed. We had dinner and we both dined on fish, which was fab-u-lous. Then I gave her the present I have been dying to give to her for well over a month.

Do you think I could say fabulous one more time?

Gift giving is so very hard for me. I am one of those crazy people who can't wait to give you your present, and I want you to like it. A lot.

Mrs. Moofish liked her present. A lot. Let's just say there was a lot of giggling and happiness going on during the gift giving. And I am not talking about her. Although she did her fair share, much to my delight. She even practiced great patience since I tortured her, just a bit, by putting the present out on the table and making her stare at it until after dessert.

When dinner was done, it was still fairly early. She looked at me and said, "How do you feel about going to the fabric store?"

I looked at her and, "Come on, Moofish, it's your birthday. It's our one night to go to the bar and get wasted, and get home after midnight so we can catch a few zzz's before the car pool line. It will be just like old times!"

Just Kidding!

Mrs. Moofish and I met as teenagers (well I was almost 20) at the church we were raised in...we were two good church-y girls who were not what you would call big party girls.

Well, I did end up marrying her hunky brother so I guess I am pretty wild.

Back then "Girls Night"' was hanging out at our friend Cathy's apartment. Cathy was the only who actually moved out of her parent's house before getting married. There was actually 5 of us Gals who would hang out together: Joanna (Badabucci), Cathy, Heather, Mrs. Moofish, and me.

Wild Girls Nights never included bars or alcohol, or anything of that nature. We were all a bunch of goody-two-shoes. Our Girls Nights were more about chocolate, and chocolate, and a cheesy snack or two.

I remember, very clearly, the menu for one particular Girls Night was Hash Brown Casserole (with CheezIt's sprinkled on top), Brownies, Ice Cream and Chips. We didn't watch movies, because the talking lasted way after midnight. Who has time for movies when you can talk about everything and nothing all night?

Those were good times, my friends, because Mrs Moofish, Joanna and myself were all a little bit love sick for our (then) new boyfriends (all three of us eventually married those guys!) Oh! The Memories!

Anyway, back to last night. After dinner and presents, Mrs. Moofish asked if I was interested in going to the fabric store. After I squealed with delight, I composed myself and said, "Since it is your birthday and all, I will go to the fabric store, just this once."

A wild hour at the fabric store! My prayers had been answered.

We have a very large Joanne Fabric and Crafts store here. You can get everything from glue sticks to Easter candy. Mrs Moofish and I find ourselves there a lot when we are together. It's kind of like Our Store.

When we are together there is this weird sort of magnetic pull that makes our car just drive to that place. It's weird, but it's so fun! Especially because the last three times we have been there together they have had 80's and 90's music piping through the speakers. Like they just know we are coming to shop.

I always find myself singing these songs to her in my goofy way. Last night I sang with my keys as my microphone, because the bolts of fabric were too big. We have known each other since when we were "kids" so I feel free to be absolutely silly with her. When we are together I find myself regressing right back to teenage behavior. Of course the fact that she's related to me helps. What can she do about my weirdness? She's stuck with me...


Happy Birthday Mrs. Moofish. How sweet it is to celebrate birthdays together! We may not be ladies who "lunch" very often, but we sure can tear up a craft store can't we?

Here is another birthday gift for you (and for those of you who need a wild and crazy Girls Night Recipe):

Girls Night Out Hash Brown Casserole (Cathy's Recipe)

2 lb. bag frozen hash browns (defrosted)
1 pint of sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup dry onion
1 box CheezIts - (1-1/2 cup slightly crushed for sprinkling on top;
the rest of the box to eat with your girlfriends)
1/2 cup melted butter

Mix potatoes, sour cream, soup,cheese and onions in a large bowl; add salt and pepper to taste. Spread mixture into a 13x9 baking pan. Mix butter and crushed crackers together. Sprinkle over casserole. Bake at 350 for 1 - 1.5 hours or until middle sets.

Eat and enjoy.
Preferably with hot brownies and ice cream.
And several of your closest girl friends.

Fabulous.

Halleluia!!!!

I took a bloggy break this weekend to catch up on All That Had Been Put Off. The weather was so incredible that I opened windows and doors and let the sweet desert breeze blow all those little flu germs right out!

In ten minutes I am going to leave here and take BOTH kids to school!!!! This will be the first time in two weeks that both kids have gone to school.

We are all finally feeling great and I can't tell you how good it will feel to go to the gym. Over the last two weeks I have lost several pounds (I know, poor me...) but it was definitely all muscle, which is so sad. It takes so long to put those babies on, and they go away so quickly.

Because I will still be getting caught up this week the blog may be a little slow.....I have several things that need to be updated, like the scripture memory, which I have still been doing but I was not motivated to put the new verses up on the blog. I have also read three books in the last two weeks (my friends meh and Lara will be proud). I also have to tell you about the birthday shopping trip and the gift The Girl picked that made me feel Oh So Proud...and i mean that sincerely.

All right. Have to run. The Boy and I completed his science project and we have to carry our first ever tri-fold board carefully to his classroom.

I just wanted to say Good Monday Morning!!

The CoffeeGal is back!!!!!!!!!!!!

As dcrmom would say:

WHOOT!

Inspiration

This morning I had a request from The Girl for cinnamon toast. The "real" kind. Which means she didn't want me to toast bread in the toaster and just sprinkle cinnamon and sugar over it.

She wanted me to make it under the broiler, so the cinnamon and sugar get all melted and bubbly.

MMmmm... I may have to have some too.

The smell of cinnamon makes me feel cozy, and inspires me to work with my hands. Be it baking or sewing. Today I am working with paper.

A few weeks ago I found this kit on sale for $12 at the craft store. I can't decide if I will give these away for Valentines Day, or if I will make these.

I am thinking that the ornaments are a bit more time consuming so I might put that on my list of things to make next year.

And since I am linking away, I would love to share with you this link I found. Well actually I saw this picture on the web while surfing through websites of my favorite fabric designers:

The designer of this amazing outfit is Sandi Henderson of Portabellopixie. Go check out her site. She really is quite talented.

Everything about that outfit inspires me to want to really learn how to sew. From the fabric to the design, it's feminine, flowery, and whimsical look is what inspires the "creative" in me.

Oh, and also sparkles. Nothing says "inspiration" like glitter.



Speaking of inspiration. Whenever I am in a creative mood I often think of Luke 12:27-30:

Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you,

God, the inventor of Creative, the author of beauty, is intricately and willingly involved in our lives. That inspires me.

What inspires you?

Choices

So, I'm still here at home with sick kids, and a sick self, and I just had the heathiest lunch I have eaten in years:

Red Gatorade and a handful of Cheetos.

We're talking the Lunch of Champions here.

Yesterday The Girl laid on the sofa with fever all day long. This same child, who could barely hold her head up, did nothing but talk about how all she wanted to eat was Cheetos. Crunchy, not puffed.

The Mister stopped and picked up a bag for her on his way home from work.

One of the sad symptoms of the respiratory flu is a lack of appetite. Not only do you not feel like eating, but just the energy it takes to prepare something to eat feels like climbing Everest.

Although I am feeling better, neither the appetite, nor the energy, has made it's return, so when the kids asked for Cheetos this afternoon I was lured by it's cheesy goodness.

While I was munching, I mean "lunching", I was taken back to my junior high days when I bought a glazed donut and a Coke for lunch, every single day. Which reminded me of senior year in high school when I my lunch choices had matured to the mystery snack bar "Burrito". Unless they were out, then I would eat a pizza roll-up. Although, now that I think about it, they probably were both the same thing: unidentified food product rolled up in a bread substance.

Even thinking about those lunch memories makes my stomach turn just a bit.

If the snack bar lady was out of both choices then a bag of Doritos or Cheetos were just as good. Of course I beginning to realize by senior year that food choices may contribute to dress sizes so I would always drink diet soda, to even things out.

The good Lord knew what he was doing when He introduced The Mister to me in college. We married the week after he earned his degree in Nutrition and Dietetics!

Speaking of Junior high, do y'all remember KangaRoo tennis shoes? They were the sneaker with the pocket sewn on the side.

I had a pair. In pink, with maroon accents.

It's where I kept my donut money.

February Random Poll: Generics

Hello!

I am so glad to be typing at you after 5 days with a respiratory flu! How awesome it is to feel better after being sick!

Unfortunately, not everyone here is healthy yet. The Girl is still running fever, but for the moment she is content.

I haven't done a random poll in a several months now. This month's poll will focus on Generic products.

Almost 9 months ago we bought this house and had to stock it with all the necessities. Things like cleaning products, toilet paper and chocolate.

On that fateful shopping trip I made the bad decision to go with generic toilet paper and I have regretted it ever since. Unfortunately, not only was it cheap, but it was very rough, very thin, and there seemed to be an unending supply of it.

I ended up buying better toilet paper and just putting the generic TP in the bathrooms every once in awhile. I figured that if everyone was getting the generic TP every other roll, they would only complain half as much.

As I type, the last roll is in my bathroom. I can't tell you how many times I have wished I had a toddler in my house right now who might go into the bathroom and destroy that roll of paper. It's like the never-ending roll.

You know, life is short, I've decided paying for decent toilet paper is something I can live with.

So what about you? Do you buy generic products? Which items have you learned are better paying a premium for?

Contest Winners!

You may have caught the plural nature of the title.

Thank you for coming to play! I wish I had 817 things to give away, because y'all were so fun. We girls love just about anything, pink, flowery, cupcake-y, or FREE!!

With all the great comments I couldn't possibly just give away one or the other. So I said a prayer before I used the random number generator in hopes that the numbers would come up with an "apron" winner, and a "hand bag" number, and that is exactly what happened.

The first number generated was #595. Cindy from Still His Girl posted:

That Apron might be enough to get me in the kitchen more often! Adorable.

Well, Cindy, start pickin' out recipes cuz the apron's on it's way! (i also look forward to taking a look around your blog!)

The second number generated was #121, Danielle. She doesn't have a blog that I could find, but she said:

The Bag! I don't know how to cook anyways!

Danielle, I wish you many happy days with your new bag and journal!

I was really very amazed at the amount of people who came to visit and said such nice things. Thank you!

Thank you also to Shannon for organizing and hosting the event. I can't imagine all the extra blog work this week has been for her! But it has been so much fun or those who participate!

If this contest has made you a La Vida Dulce "regular" I am happy to say Welcome! Be sure to say HI! from time to time!

A Week of Whining

If I had to pick one thing that would drive me to the loony bin the fastest, I would have to pick whining.

The only thing that is worse than children whining are adults that sound like children when they whine.

If you are like me, you better skip this post. Because I'm a' whinin'.

Guess who has a fever, chills, cough and feels generally horrendous at this fine hour of 4:14 am? To add insult to injury? I definitely think the cramping in my gut right now is hormonal, if ya know what I mean. It's bound to be a fun weekend.

It's the weekend that I am worried about...The Girl turns 8 on Sunday and when asked what she wanted to do she said she wanted a "Girls day", just me and her, to shop, eat at Chili's (her fave eatery) and go to a movie. At this point, I want to spend the day wrapped in Cookie (the blue heating blanket), and sip hot beverages spiked with Nyquil.

I will be making a quick stop at Target today, in all my snotty glory, because I made the unfortunate choice to put shopping for birthday gifts off until this last week of January. Of course, this week has not gone according to schedule. Which totally irritates me.

I am normally a very upbeat, positive, and encouraging kind of gal. Today, I feel discouraged.

Well, this morning I feel discouraged, there is still a lot of day left.

OK, I think I am done.