Subject: RE: corn beef and barley stew with drop biscuits.
Goodmorning! I used your recipe Wednesday morning for Magic Chef.I love corned beef! You have won a $25 dollar certificate to Chilli's. Would you please send me your home address, home and work phone numbers and date of birth?I'll get your certificates ready for pick up as soon as I get your information.Our address at the station is 400 East Britton road.Thanks for sending in your recipe!
And thanks for listening to Magic,
Shawn Carey
Here's the recipe as Nate sent it in. We're making it again Saturday. YUM!!!
1 corned beef roast
8 oz barley
2 medium onions
1 stalk celery
2 quarts beef broth
3 carrots
Cut the corn beef into cubes and brown in a pan.Add beef broth and bring to simmer.Chop onions, carrots, and celery add to pot.Add barley and cook for one hour.
Try it with homemade drop biscuits.
2 cups flour
? cup butter
? cup margarine
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 table spoon backing soda
1? cup buttermilk
? cup heavy whipping cream
Mix dry ingredients, cut in butter and margarine until it has a moist crumble texture.With a fork stir in buttermilk and cream.Use a spoon to drop biscuit sized dollop of dough on a greased cooking sheet.Bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes.
OK another Katy Perry video. Oh how I love her!!! I could possibly kiss her and like it (Ox doesn't mind). I got this from Pink Sheep. This video kind of reminds me of Jr. High- I'm not sure why but it could be the bike chase. :)
Also can she please come live in my closet and dress me everyday. Sad that by the time she get s a clothing line up I'll be too old to wear most of it.
Ok so I changed my template again. I used one of those pre-made ones. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I should have just stayed with my original format but I was getting bored. Since then I haven't really loved anything I've done. I think I like this one but the whole pre-made thing makes me feel like I'm cheating. I guess I just need to learn how to make it look good on my own.
This is one of my favorite bands. I honestly could put up several songs from each of the 6 of their albums I own. I love the line "I don't want to sit across the table from you wishing I could run". Sorry I couldn't get the video- they had embedding blocked. LAME!
This was one of two pictures I could find of her. Kind of cute I think. Obviously several years old.
If you like fairy tales you'll love Robin McKinley. Even besides her subject matter, her writing style just screams fairy tale. I've read some of her books several times and one of them I can never quite tell if I love the story or not but it still calls to me (Deerskin).
Ok I'll tell you my real mixed feelings about Deerskin. I think I love it but I don't know if I'd recommend it, certainly not to just anyone. It deals with an awful rape (I think they're all awful but this one is really bad). It also deals with a love of dogs, and having 3 I definately understand that.
I love her strong women characters. They start out less than ordinary and become great with the help of, but not controlled by, men. I noticed as I looked at her bibliography I haven't read any of her recent books- I must repent!
She is married to author, Peter Dickinson. Here's a quote from an article about him, "Many of his protagonists are female. He says, "...women are more observant. I think that girls are much more aware of social matters than boys, and therefore make much more interesting observers."" What a cutie.
Bibliography:
Chalise (2008) Dragonhaven (2007) Sunshine (2003) Water: Tales of Elemental Spirits (2002) Spindle's End (2000) Rose Daughter (1997) A Knot in the Grain (1994) Deerskin (1993) The Outlaw of Sherwood (1988) Imaginary Lands (1986) The Hero and the Crown (1985)The Blue Sword (1982) The Door in the Hedge (1981) Beauty: A retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast (1978)
Ahhhhh. Friday just got so much better. Don't forget the sound- it will increase your enjoyment.
When I get an exotic pet it will be an octopus (this will have to be when we move back by the ocean), They are so smart and you make them tanks that go all over your house with puzzles they have to solve. One day...
- ok so sometimes you're walking down the stairs (that are only wide enough to fit 2 people side by side) and two people are coming toward you the opposite way, walking next to each other. There is no way they won't have to adjust their positions, since even if you stop dead still they'd still have to go single file to get around you. Instead of doing this they continue walking normal even glancing up at you once or twice as if you should somehow disappear. Then at the last minute they try to squeeze around you, knocking you into the hand rail and giving a grumbled apology, as if the whole thing is your fault. If you do not shove them down the stairs you have reached saint status.
- sometimes you're sitting at your desk and you hear recorded talking very quietly and intermittently. you look around for the source. The lady normally making noise is being quiet. You check your co-workers desk and can't find anything. You tell her you're hearing voices. No one else can hear them but you certainly can. You start checking nearby offices. They aren't the source. At this point all the people in your area are trying to help you look while showing with their eyes they think you're slowly losing your mind. YOU start to think you're slowly losing your mind. Finally you realize it's your ipod you left your headphones plugged into playing a general conference talk. It's in your purse right next to your chair and has been the whole time.
- sometimes you're walking to class and you see a young black man with a 3 piece brown suit, black cowboy boots, earrings in both ears and a faux hawk (not easy with black hair) and just question reality or the basic saneness of the world around you.
- sometimes you walk to class and when you head for the seat you've sat in all semester you notice someone sitting there (note there are many empty seats all around). Do they not know the unwritten rules of seat ownership?????
- sometimes you are using the stumble feature on firefox and you run across a way awesome blog about pictures of dogs in san francisco and it makes you very happy and takes away some of the bad feelings that were pushing you to indulge in workplace violence.
I just wanted to say 'Thanks' to all the people who've been so nice to me about Cali. I've had tons of nice comments (both on this blog and in real life) and Jeanne even brought me flowers, Gerbera Daisies- my favorite. I'm also grateful my sister Hillary found some pics of Cali when she was little. These are from the Christmas I got her and are taken at my Dad's house. She was so little and cute!
She had learned to climb first our 6 foot chain link fence and then the 8 foot wooden fence. So Nate had her on a chain staked into the ground. The chain was also attached to the kiddie pool they get water from outside. Cali got her stake out of the ground and drug the pool over to the fence to jump over it. The chain was too short or got caught and she broke her neck.
I honestly don't know how to write about this. It is breaking my heart.
Nate got Cali for me the Christmas we were engaged. He picked her out at the animal shelter and took her on the airplane with him out to California, where we were spending Christmas with my family. She was such a cute puppy, only 3 months old. My dad has two big dogs: Titus, a black lab mix and Max a HUGE German shepherd. They tried to boss Cali the whole time and we had to watch to make sure Max wasn't going to assert his dominance too forcefully. However one of the last days we were there Cali got up on the couch (a no-no) and got into the coffee my Uncle Blake had left out. She then tried to take on Max. She was probably 1/6th his size. Since then she always thought she was a big dog that could take on anyone.
Leaving California we drove back to Oklahoma, caravaning with my sister Amber. We got caught in a huge snow storm. One night we were on the freeway all night stuck in the traffic caused by the weather closing the highway. Cali was great. She had the most comfortable seat in the car (the whole back seat) and never made a mess or anything. The next night when we finally got to a hotel room (the last place available) I was scared they wouldn't allow animals so we tried to sneak Cali in. I wrapped her all up in a blanket and carried her to our room through the back door. At that moment the office manager decided to walk back there and Cali barked at him. I automatically said 'excuse me' as if I had sneezed or something. So funny! He of course knew and they just called to tell us they were adding the animal deposit onto our bill. I should have just asked to begin with.
After we were back in Oklahoma there was 3 months before Nate and I got married. Those were hard nights. I was house-sitting so it was a strange place and Nate had to leave every night to go back to his parent's house. Cali slept with me every night keeping me warm (something was wrong with their heater) and safe.
Through the next several months 4 more dogs came into ours lives for us to care for. Cali was always the boss.
Last autumn Cali was in heat and while she couldn't get out of the yard she got some other dog to sneak in. She got pregnant and had 10 puppies while we were visiting Nate's sister, Laura. She was such a good mommy. She cared for all 10 and trusted us moving her and them 2 days after they were born into the car for a 4 hour drive back home. She often seemed exhausted but all her puppies were healthy and happy. We kept one of her puppies, Hoss, which I am now very grateful for.
Cali was beautiful. People at the dog park would always comment about her beautiful reddish coat. She had the most muscular thighs. She was a big baby and always wanted to be a lap dog- even after she got up to 65 lbs. She just wanted to be snuggled down next to you all the time. She loved to run and play and if you threw her in the water she would run around like a crazy dog for several minutes after.
She was our baby since we don't have kids. I miss her so much. I don't know exactly what I believe about animals after death but I know she's happy somewhere and it's only me mourning because I don't get to see her. I love her.
PS In place of Favorite Author Fridays this week I'll just encourage you to read Marley & Me by John Grogan
What??? You don't know Kasey Chambers??? My comments about her similarities to Anna Nalick meant nothing to you??? This must be rectified!
Kasey Chambers is an artist I discovered in Australia. I got her album, Barricades sand Brickwalls, there. She is marvelous! She has a style that could (and probably does) cross over into county and blues.
Her only song I ever heard over here was her first big single, Not Pretty Enough. This is such a good song. Perfect break up or lonely without a boyfriend wallowing material.
Kasey Chambers - Not Pretty Enough
My favorite of her songs is the Nullarbor Song. It's full of tons of Australian imagery. When I hear this song I can SEE Australia and all the things I miss about it.
Kasey Chambers - Nullarbor Song
PS I didn't know what 'nullarbor' meant so I looked it up on wikipedia. Apparently, it's an area of Australia on the south part near the west (I was in Brisbane, Queensland which is on the east side towards the north).
Here's where it is: See music info AND a geography lesson. :)
I've been trying to decide who to write about this week and I had almost decided on Walter Dean Myers except I haven't read enough of his book. I've read a lot of his books but he's written way more than just 'a lot'. I feel I can't do him justice until I read a few more of his books.
But I was thinking about him quite a lot so I decided to write about a book that mentions him and is written by Sharon Creech, another great young adult/children's author.
Love that Dog by Sharon Creech is a book I would recommend to everyone!!! It's a book in free form poetry about a little boy who doesn't want to write poetry cause that's a 'girl thing'. He is then surprised to find out that the journal entries he's been doing are poetry. They're simple and beautiful (and if I taught Elementary or Jr. High kids I would for sure read this book).
He eventually writes a poem called 'Love That Dog' modeled after Walter Dean Myers' poem, 'Love That Boy'. We get to meet Walter Dean Myers in the book and I can tell you I have seldom been so excited to meet someone in real life.
Anyway it's a short, easy read and teaches poetry and how simple it can be. In school I always hated the poetry sections because although I didn't mind reading poetry, I HATED writing it. I never felt like mine was good enough. This book would have helped me to feel differently.
Ok so there actually is an album by the Jayhawks called Rainy Day Music and this isn't it but it is the music I like to listen to when it's raining.
Anna Nalick has a beautiful, soothing voice. She's like a smoother Kasey Chambers. I love her. She's also my favorite night driving music. You know when you're driving strait through the night and you're somewhere in Arizona and feeling so 'separate' from the rest of the world. Her voice fits perfectly into that world.
She has since been found by the producers of Grey's Anatomy and used for tons of their stuff.
Here's the first of her songs I like. This was her first big single, several years ago.
Anna Nalick - Breathe
Another beautiful song. Sorry I couldn't find a regular video. I'm pretty tired of everything Anna Nalick having to be tied to Grey's Anatomy. I mean I'll admit I watched and loved the first couple of seasons but, as ALWAYS seems to happen, they ran out of dialog and story and turned to everyone having sex with everyone else. So lame!!! So you're choices for the non-acoustic version were Grey's Anatomy, Eddie Izzard or Anime. I thought Eddie was the least distracting.
Anna Nalick - Wreck of the Day
This last one is possibly my favorite. I liked it when I first heard it but I grew to love it one of those 'drive straight through' nights. I was listening to it as I drove from LA and arrived in San Francisco. I drove over the bridge in really thick fog completely cut off visually from everyone and everything around me. It was beautiful. So that's the scene I see when I hear this song. Sorry for the crappy video- it was this or Grey's Anatomy scenes... Anna Nalick - Catalyst
Things have been much better lately. Crazy things happen to me and they are crazy but also funny (not resulting in gushing tears or self-righteous anger). I was reamed by a parent...and it was sad but not emotionally heartbreaking. AHHH to be normal again.
So now that I'm back to being normal what happens??? I'm bored. Yes I am at work and bored out of my mind. I just finished a big involved project and don't have the energy to get into another one yet. So I give you my latest stumbling the web sites...
Free Rice- where you learn new vocab and it results in people getting fed
Black Phoenix Trading Post- all kinds of weird scents and things to buy that I probably won't ever spend money on but look So COOL!
Patricia Piccinini- really interesting art exploring humans relationships to animals and the environment and motherhood
#1- Britney Spears won VMA Best Video for "Piece of Me" #2- I am losing my mind (and possibly my husband)
Here's my train of thought (don't be worried if you get lost- it doesn't make much sense).
I never liked Britney Spears. I didn't like the Back Street Boys or N'Sync or 98 Degrees etc. I pretended slight enthusiasm about N'Sync at one point cause my friends were so into them but I think even they realized I was feigning minimal interest.
Anyway so while I've been familiar with Britney Spear's 'music' for quite a while I've never been that interested in her until the hailstorm of bad press started. It was ridiculous! People were saying and doing the most horrible things to that girl. I'm making no judgement calls on her behavior but I can imagine few things she could have done to be eligible for the anger directed at her. Just awful.
So when "Piece of Me" came out it was the first Britney song I had ever liked. It was probably the first she actually meant when she sang it. I just love the underlying anger and attitude.
So how that relates to my life is this...I have had one of those weeks. Not just the odd bad day or grumpy meeting or irrational emotional ridiculousness but everything for a full week. It started innocently with a slightly grumpy Sunday morning last week. Nothing earth-shatteing but overall unhappiness. It wasn't fun but I didn't worry too much since those days happen and sometimes there's just not much you can do about it.
But then Monday sucked too. I was angry I was sad I was grumpy and I was likely to kill the next person who expected me to do ANYTHING. Seriously crazy.Tuesday was just as bad.
and then came Wednesday...
Wednesday I had Cub Scouts. I love my Cub Scouts. They're cute and nice and mostly listen to what I say and don't cause trouble etc. However, early on Wednesday I got a call saying the YM/YW huge 2 ward combined activity had to be moved inside because of weather. The Cub Scouts have the gym reserved from 6 to 7 and the YM/YW wanted to know if they could use it. I told my person they could have all but one sliver of the gym by the stage (I needed it for my activity). As far as I knew the matter was closed.
So I get to the church and start my activity with my boys. They're doing great. They listen and help and have fun. It was awesome. But about 630 someone comes in to ask when we'll be done so they can have this part of the gym also. I tell them I'll be here til 7 then they can have it. 5 mins later another person. Now, lest anyone think these people haven't been told I'm in there, I have SIGNS the say "Cub Scouts meeting- Do Not Enter", posted on both doors. I'm starting to get frustrated (please also remember these are 7 year old boys- every distraction results in 5 minutes of getting them back on task).
At 745 a leader from the other ward (whom I completely confess to having previous issues with due to some events a year ago with my sister) opens the partition and asks when we'll be done. I say we'll be done at 7. At 750 she asks if we're done yet (at this point she's starting to kill my Cub Scout buzz). At 755 she asks if we're done yet- when I answer her this time, trying to keep my temper, she says "what???" because aparently she can't hear me. I repeat myself she again doesn't hear me. At this point I tell her (rather loudly) that we'll be done at 7 and CLOSE THE DOOR!!! It's possible I could have been calmer but unlikely.
At 7 I leave the room, letting them know I'm done. If they had stopped bugging me to begin with I would probably have been done at 645 or so.
So I breathe deeply talk to some parents and get ready to leave. The person in my organiztion stops me and wants to talk about changing room usage and times for scouts. She says, "I was told by ___ that we need to be out of the rooms by 645 so the YM/YW can set up for their activities that start at 7". I am not kidding- I almost threw down right then and there (do you see how on a normal week Wednesday this might have been amusing). Seriously, I barely restrained myself from finding ___ and telling her my very strong opinions on the subject. I told the lady in my organiztion we couldn't move our time and I would continue to use the gym we had reserved until 7. I said "YM/YW is not more important than Cub Scouts. I have no problem if there is a special event and they tell me in advance, adjusting my schedule to help them out."
So I'll skip the rest of the week. Let me assure you it did not get better. Work sucked, classes sucked, people sucked, errands sucked, my house sucked. Overall there were several annoying things that happened but nothing worthy of the anger or distress they produced in me. I feel as though I'm starting the day one step before 'the straw that broke the camel's back'. One thing happens and my day is shot. It's crazy. And of course if anyone suffers for my bad mood it is my husband. He's probably asking to be tranfered to Russia without me.
So the moral of this story is...I'm losing my mind...and be nicer to Britney Spears.
I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I work with the Cub Scouts (in the Wolf Den). They're so cute! I just finished my first year with them (I actually came in part way through this last year). I had 5 boys this last year, a couple of them with some extra needs. It's nice to have gotten to a comfortable point with them. At first I was really nervous; I am the oldest of 4 girls and NO boys. And honestly, 7 year old boys are a little gross. But overall they were great and I'm really grateful for the time I got to work with them. Here's some pics of me and 4 of the boys from last year.
Here's the scenery they made for our skit we did. They did awesome!
PS This year we just started I have 6 boys...oh the fun!
Next...
We'll most of you probably know I've been working at the same job since January of '07. Just this August they made my position permanent (I had been full-time temporary the whole time before). I now get benefits and leave time etc. Really nice!!! However it did mean I had to slow down my schooling again. It's crazy- I'm starting to feel like I'll never be done.
Anyway, even after all this time working here I still had to go to orientation. Luckily a co-worker, Kendall, also had to go- and he's worked here even longer than me but just got hired back as full-time permanent. Anyway it was pretty amazing I can tell you. Here's a pic of us before our brains melted from inactivity.
Last but not least, this is what happens when Nate gets a hold of my camera...
Charlaine Harris does several series of books: Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire, Aurora Teagarden, Lily Bard "Shakespeare", Harper Connelly, and has done a couple non-series books. All of her books I would consider mysteries.
I was first introduced to her for her Sookie Stackhouse books, the ones she's most famous for. I love them. I will caution, however, that, as happens with most series vampire books, they're starting to get pretty questionable. The same thing happened with Laurel K. Hamilton. Her first books were really good but slowly they got more and more sexual until they were practically (in my opinion) erotica and I had to stop reading them. I might have to stop reading Sookie Stackhouse books soon. It just happens with the same vampire character in the same world with the same basic cast- all that's left if for them is to have sex with as many people as possible. Very Sad!
Don't let that steer you away from her other series however. I have never not liked a book I've read of hers. She just overall does an amazing job. She creates characters you love and root for and situations that seem real in spite of their obvious fantasy aspects (i.e. vampires). On an interesting note, Charlaine was raped when she was younger and so none of her books will ever have 'forced sex' put in a positive light. If you're familiar with a lot of fantasy/sci-fi books this is a relief to you also.
So here you go. A bibliography broken up by series. Remember ones in red I've read and loved. Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire
The Southern Vampire Mysteries is about a telepathic barmaid in northern Louisiana, named Sookie Stackhouse. Each book follows Sookie as she tries to solve mysteries involving vampires, werewolves and other creatures of the night.
Dead Until Dark Living Dead in Dallas Club Dead Dead to the World Dead as a Doornail Definately Dead All Together Dead From Dead to Worse
Aurora Teagarden
Aurora Teagarden, a diminutive Georgia librarian whose life never turns out quite the way she plans, ends up solving real mysteries. These have all been released before but are being rereleased now.
Real Murders A Bone to Pick Three Bedrooms, One Corpse The Julius House Dead Over Heels A Fool and His Honey Last Scene Alive Poppy Done to Death
Lily Bard "Shakespeare"
The heroine of the Shakespeare books is Lily Bard, a tough and taciturn woman whose life has been permanently reshaped by a terrible crime and its consequences. In Shakespeare's Landlord, the first in the series, Lily is caught at a moment when the shell she has built around herself is just beginning to crack. The books capture Lily's emotional re-entry into the world, while still remaining sound mysteries.
Harper's been struck by lightning and the experience has left her with a strange ability: she can find corpses and see how they died. Afterward, Harper and her step-brother, Tolliver Lang, make their living from finding the dead.
Grave Sight Grave Surprise An Ice Cold Grave
Non-Series
Sweet and Deadly A Secret Rage
*I have not included anthologies she has short stories in* Also, most series information was gotten off of wikipedia.com
- I hate close-toed shoes. I'll wear them if I have to but always feel like my feet are squished no matter how roomy they are.
- I read ridiculously fast. Too fast to be helpful- fast enough to be a curse. I am always out of books to read and spend way too much money on them.
- I love snails. In fact, I love any creature that makes other people say ewww. If right now you said sea slugs creep you out it would make me love them more.
- I love watching sports but want it to be way competitive until the end and then I always want a tie. It makes me sad if someone loses so I'll root for the underdog or whoever everyone else hates and can often switch teams in the middle of a game if the one I'm rooting for starts to win.
- I won't take Codine. The one time I took it I woke in the middle of the night sure I was 'drowning' because my feet were wrapped up in the sheets.
- I hate it when people touch my neck. I'm not sure why and I don't even remember when it started but it literally makes me scream- even Nate isn't allowed to.
Well folks it was just that kind of weekend and honestly the week hasn't improved much so far. But I do have Cub Scouts tonight so it's sure to get at least a little more fun. Here's a fun video of a really good song.
Snow Patrol - You Could Be Happy
another video done by the same person/people...
Kate Nash - Nicest Thing
PS Sorry if you could possibly kill yourself at this point because I couldn't pick a happy song...
PPS Do you feel like once you get married you have to miss out on the best depressing songs? I mean for real- they're both sad but neither applies enough to be touching anymore. I think I need a depressing song about the house not being clean and work being long and grumpy to just wallow in...Any ideas?
