Friday, August 29, 2008

If it weren't for beef you'd be a vegetarian?

Last night I had the honor of tagging along to dinner with a phenomenal group of ladies. I met them through Shooter - they were all friends of his when he was in college. To say they were an answer to prayer is an understatement. I have been lacking in the female friend department for a long time. I have been craving a close relationship with a group of girls with the same mindset as me for what seems like an eternity. One random afternoon it happened. I did it for Shooter...rearranged our weekend plans so we could go and he could hang with some buddies from college. Little did I know, I would meet some women who I would connect with in a way that makes me feel like we're all separated at birth.

Em - she's a sista from anotha motha - and unfortunately she's moving to podunk Mississippi to be with her super chef of a husband. Good thing her family still lives here so that I can still see her occasionally.

Meg - one of the sweetest hearts I've ever met - she was a good friend to Shooter and is an equally good friend to me.

Jolie - you'll never meet a more genuine person that her. Shooter always spoke highly of her and now I completely understand why.

Mrs. Cheese - this girl is a RIOT! She has a way of telling a story that will bring tears to your eyes....and she does it frequently. She's compassionate and caring and a great friend to know.

Jenn - such a sweet and quiet spirit. An avid reader and someone I know I'll spend lots of time sharing authors with (if Facebook ever lets me finally add her as a friend - grrrr!). Good luck at school girl!

There were several others I met at the gathering that were not at dinner last night....and they were sorely missed but we fellowshipped with them in spirit.

We told stories....we talked about college and marriage and dating and kids and books and life in general. We "met" at 7pm-ish and didn't leave the restaurant until after 10pm. I think we loitered in the parking lot another 30 min and it was so hard to tear ourselves away....just as we'd finish one topic of conversation another would pop up and no one wanted it to end. We all decided that it was one outing that we would have to do on a regular basis - reason or no reason.

I just thank the Lord above for his gift of friendship. I needed this so badly and I needed last night - but then again, He knew that.

Have a wonderful holiday weekend, lovelies! I am off to see family so I'll be back next week.
L.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Say what?

I am a real jokester. I mean, I like to tell jokes. I tell my jokes in the form of stories. The stories may be real or may be born in my imagination. They're pretty darn funny regardless.

I also have a side that is a sarcastic jokester. That sarcastic joker side of me is about 90% of the time truly joking. There's that other 10% of the time, however, where I'm joking but completely serious. I find that I'm usually that way with only a handful of people. I think it's a little bit in retaliation for what I perceive to be the same sort of humor played out against me - or others close to me.

There's one particular person in my life who hardly ever gets genuine humor from me and I'm not sure they even know it. I sense that the humor directed at me is 100% sarcastic truth so I reflect that back at them. It really makes me sad that they don't seem to get it. If only they could break that one wall down, I think it would make such a huge difference in their life - personally as well as professionally.

Oh well....but if they change their ways I won't get to poke fun at them being completely serious yet laughing it off. My life will be much less funny if they straighten up. Hmmm....maybe I'm more self-serving than I believe. ;-) So go on...you self-centered, egotistical SOB - talk about yourself a little more - keep that world revolving around yourself - put me down one more time - it just gives me more fodder for my own amusement.

------------

Later, lovelies!
L.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Who punches like a girl?

Ohhh....I am so super psyched because I got our Wii yesterday! Thanks to my lil bro and super sis-in-law!!! I have hunted all over my side of Atlanta only to always come up empty handed. I was determined that I wasn't spending a gajillion bucks on eBay for one either! My lil bro lives out in West Tennessee where there are only smallish kinda towns but they have a plethora of Super Wal-Marts in the area - go figure - too close to Arkansas apparently. He made an off-hand comment to me one day on the phone that he sees Wiis in the stores now down there and they're not so hard to find. Well...I texted him a few days later and begged him to please oh please buy me one and that I promised my check would be good and I'd pay him back. Well, he believed me and my Wii arrived yesterday. I promptly went home and worshipped the box...and tried to hold myself back from hooking it up before Shooter came home. I ended up deciding that we'd need to eat sometime so I put a pot of marinara sauce on the stove to simmer and by that time Shooter and hauled himself home. I hooked it up with a little participation from him and we were off.

We bowled...I kicked Shooter's butt....then Shooter boxed and won his first fight in the third round....then I boxed and one my first fight in the second round...and my second in the first round....and my third in the third round. Yea, I may punch like a girl but I'm MEAN!!!! ;-) I then played a little tennis and then my arm started to hurt a little...I figured I better give it up before I get to the point where I can't type at all. So I played with the Mii channel and that was tons of fun too.

I highly recommend getting one of these games, guys. It's highly addicting but loads of fun too!!

What you say? You have to probably work most of the day Saturday, Shooter? Oh, no problem, I'll figure out some way to keep myself busy. hahahaha!!!!

------------------------------------

Also, Country Girl apparently reads my Tweets....god bless her....and she's clamoring for a pic of my new tattoo. Well, here's a really crappy on that I took this morning with my camera phone. I'm warning you, it's totally crappy, but I promise to get a better one.



It's a branch of cherry blossoms and I've only had the line work done so far. There was a little miscommunication between my artist and I on what I wanted so he had to completely redraw his design and then he had a scheduling screw-up so we just decided to do the line work first and then color it in later. I have an appointment in two weeks but I'm hoping to get back in next weekend to finish it. We'll see. You can also see the other tattoo I have on my back in the bottom corner....we a portion of it. It's three entwined circles with the overlapping parts emhasized in a new color. It is a Celtic Triquetra representing the Holy Trinity. The cherry blossoms....well, they represent the female - the amazing strength coupled with fragility that makes a woman so mysterious. I can't wait to see how the color work comes out...my artist is amazing! If you're ever in the Atlanta area...check them out....it's Joey Wallace at Karmic Tattoo.

-------------------------------

Ugh...I'm sitting here and my back is sore, my arm is sore and I'm tired. Damn that Wii!!! ;-)

Later lovelies!

L.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

You only came for the food?

Shooter and I host our church small group at our house on Wednesday evenings. We had taken the summer off but started back last week. I didn't make my normal start of the series dip, I tried something new that was AWE.SOME! I also made up a recipe for last night that was a hit too. Unfortunately I have no pictures...but I do have recipes! That's what you came here for anyway, right? The food?

Hot Mexican Spinach Dip
1 (16 ounce) jar salsa
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, diced and softened
1 (2.25 ounce) can chopped black olives, drained
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

1 cup evaporated milk (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
In a medium baking dish, mix together salsa, chopped spinach, Monterey Jack cheese, cream cheese, black olives, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. Add milk a little bit at a time (if needed) until you get a nice creamy consistency.
Bake mixture in the preheated oven 12 to 15 minutes, or until bubbly.


So...I was on a spinach dip roll....I loved the mexican one so much that I thought, well, I'll tackle the Spinach Artichoke dip. I looked at scads of recipes, and no I don't know how many that is exactly, and couldn't find any without a gajillion (and yes, that's lots) of ingredients. I like it simple, man! So here's my easy, peasy take on Spinach Artichoke Dip, ladies and germs.

Laura's Easy Spinach and Artichoke Dip
2 10 ounce packages of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained well
1 14 ounce can of quartered artichoke hearts, chopped
1 16 ounce container of light cream cheese, softened
1 package of Hidden Valley Ranch dip mix
1 1/2 cups of italian cheese blend, divided
salt
pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
evaporated milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine together the spinach, artichokes and cream cheese. The mixture will be very thick. Add evaporated milk a little at a time until you reach a nicely creamy consistency that isn't runny but yet stirs easily (I added in about a 1/4 cup in all). Add in 3/4 cup of the italian cheese blend. Add salt and pepper to taste and red pepper flakes. Add in 2 tablespoons of the dip packet. Stir well and then transfer to an 8x8 baking pan.
Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes or until bubbly.

This is one of the best dips I've ever had. It's easy and it's so yummy!! I'm going to experiment with a little onion in it next time and see how that goes. Next week at small group, though, we're back to the Buffalo Chicken Dip...man that stuff is GOOD!!!! The recipe is here somewhere...I'm too lazy to link to it. Sue me!

Later lovelies!
L.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Somebody slow down the bandwagon so I can jump on!!

Okay...so I know everyone and their uncle have been screaming about how the Chinese have been getting preferential judging....well, now so am I.

I was bolstered by reading The Fourth Medal blog today over at Yahoo!

I, however, am going to exclude the following events where the outcomes are decided by judges and not solely on the athletes physical abilities:

* Gymnastics
* Trampoline
* Judo
* Diving
* Fencing
* Equestrian

The current medal counts are:
China: Gold - 43 Silver - 14 Bronze - 19 Overall - 76
USA: Gold - 26 Silver - 26 Bronze - 27 Overall - 79

Under my new calculations the medal counts would be:
China: Gold - 22 Silver - 10 Bronze - 12 Overall - 44
USA: Gold - 22 Silver - 16 Bronze - 22 Overall - 60

I don't want to sound like some ungrateful, egotistical, pompous jerk of an American...but please, the numbers kinda speak for themselves.

And there's no way that He Kexin is 16...gimme a freakin' break!!!!!!

Later lovelies!
L.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Olympic events? For real?

Okay...so I had a real leisurely weekend...Saturday I laid on the couch reading "Breaking Dawn" and watching the Olympics. Well, I actually I had the tv on mute and then when I'd see something that interested me I'd stop and watch.

Did you know that the some of these are a real, live Olympic events?

Trampoline - I watched it on Saturday and Sunday and was absolutely amazed at these folks. The Chinese...of course...were amazing and it's unbelieveable how much height they get on the tramps. I was scared to death just watching them. In a really morbid way, I was sitting there waiting to see if someone would go flying off the trampoline....no one did but I did see a gal misjudge the distance to the trampoline and go flying sideways.

Fast walking - I mean, what the heck??? It looks like a huge group of people need to pee really REALLY badly. Can't you just see the scandal should someone break form and jog? Medals would be withdrawn....the fast walk crowd would stampede as fast as fast walkers can....it would a horrendous sight.

Marathon - I mean really.....2+ hours of marathon coverage....kill me now....

Handball - it's not what I thought it was....I thought handball was like raquetball but using your hands instead of raquets. Not so, grasshopper. It's kinda like dodgeball....actually I think dodgeball would be more fun to watch.

Badminton - Okay...lawn games become Olympic events....I'm waiting for croquet next year. Seriously I saw the men's champion running around the arena like a rock star. Of course he was....wait for it.....CHINESE. After he won he threw his raquet into the stands and people were trying to grab it....then he starting throwing his shoes out for people to catch....then his towels. I had to pick my jaw up off the floor.

In all truthfulness...because I lie to you all the time....I am looking forward to the rhythmic gymnastics a lot. I love the ribbon thing they play with....I pretend I'm on the US team sometimes in my bedroom...I attach some toilet paper to a chopstick and go with it. I'm pretty darned good too...don't laugh.

I'm also looking forward to seeing some table tennis. Nothing like those little Chinese folks running and doing somersaults and screaming like girls all in the name of hitting a tiny little ball on a table over a net. It's mesmorizing folks!

Synchronized swimming - all children....I spent my entire youth fantasizing that I was a synchronized swimmer. I was either in a glorious Esther Williams movie or on the Olympic team. I spent a good bit of the summer practicing my moves and I was darned good....I had the nose plug and swim cap too...I was a looker.

Well....there's my Olympic recap for you. I'm going to go now and watch as many clips of Michael Phelps as I can. I can't get enough of him and his teeny Speedo. YUM!

Later lovelies!
L.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Whew...don't see a picture like that everyday....

Well today I went to the hospital to have my "dye test" done. It's actually called a Hysterosalpingogram or HSG for short. I was prepared for it to be incredibly painful and to have lots of pain afterwards. I won't lie....the actual procedure was pretty darned uncomfortable. I was close to tears when it was over. However, once I have gotten home, I feel pretty good - intermittent cramping but pretty tolerable

Apparently I had extra cramping because the radiologist couldn't get the catheter in as far as he'd like to....oh well, I survived.

When it was done, I sat up and the radiologist showed me the images. My first thought, which of course came spilling out of my mouth, was, "Wow, don't get to see pictures of yourself like that very often." The radiologist was really awesome and started joking with me about it. He says, "If you'd like we can print them out for you!" I said, "Certainly, I'd like to hang them in the bedroom." Ha!

Luckily, the result of the HSG test was everything I was hoping for. The images showed that everything looked great and nothing was blocked....everything looks to be just the way it should be. I was quite happy!

So, apparently the results from Shooter's test should be sitting at my doctor's office right now. I have a call in to see if they'll let me know what it says.

Well....the adventure continues.....

Later lovelies!
L.

Monday, August 11, 2008

And the saga continues....

Well, now that I've officially "come out" to my parents and Shooter's parents...I figured...why not do the same to the whole 4 people who read my blog.


I've hinted in the past about some hard things going on with me. Basically, Shooter and I have been trying for the last 7 months to have a little Shooter/Shooter-ette. Unfortunately we've not been successful in our attempts - but do not feel sorry for us, we've had fun trying.


Last week I had blood drawn to see if all my internal stuff was working like it's supposed to be. I found out this morning (all but one test came back) that everything looked really good. The last test will be an important one and hopefully it'll be back this week. Shooter's done his thing and we're just waiting on word from that doctor. Tomorrow....whoa Nelly....tomorrow I go in for an outpatient procedure. It's an HSG test I believe. Anyway, they shoot dye up there and then xray you to make sure all the plumbing is working like it should. I'm trying to make this family friendly and not so graphic....hahaha. Anyway, as best I can tell, I'll be laid up tomorrow in bed, and watching lovely daytime TV (Maury (Who's The Daddy of my 5 kids? and Cheaters!!!!) ...when I'm not popping Tylenol PMs and sleeping. I'm holding out hope I'll be feeling well enough to go to work on Wednesday, but bets are that I'll be working from home.


Basically we should know by end of week where we stand and if we have to do more invasive infertility treatments. I'm kinda hoping we don't....but I'm willing to do whatever we need to. I just draw the line at the shots and stuff...no thanks!!! I'm also not so willing to do the Clomid route...that is how Kate of Jon & Kate Plus 8 got her 6!!! Well, that plus IUI. No thank you.

Well, that's what's been up with me and Shooter....hopefully we'll be adding to the brood and I'll have great news to share before too awfully long.

Later lovelies!
L.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

The Shooter Chronicles

Well, Shooter has decided to jump, errrr...rather fall, into the land of blogging. I think he's going to start doing some video blogs since our brand spanking new laptop has a webcam. I might do some guest vlogging over there every so often, myself. Anyway, head over there and say hi!

www.theshooterchronicles.blogspot.com

Later lovelies!
L.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

There May Be Bugs On Some Of You Mugs.....

Okay....so I took Morey and Leah off to the vet yesterday. All's going well UNTIL I get the dreaded phone call....the one where they try adding lots of things onto your bill that you and the dogs don't really want/need.

Well....this is how the phone call went:

"Hello, this is Laura"
"Mrs. B? This is XXXX from your veterinarian's office. I'm just calling in regards to Morey."
"Okay...is everything allright with him?"
"Oh, yes, he's fine. However, we wanted to see if you wanted us to perform their dental today, because they REALLY need it."
"No, I will call back in a couple of weeks to have that done, but thanks for asking."
"Well, I also wanted to address your concern of Morey's licking and scratching excessively. In doing our exam, we DID FIND two fleas on him. Were you aware that Morey had fleas?"
"Well, no, I wasn't aware he had two fleas on him. He is due for his Advantix, so I guess he probably picked them up in the yard this morning."
"Do you HAVE any flea control or should we add some to your bill today?"
"No, I have some at home, just need to put it on him. Did Dr. B take a look at Morey's rear where he had the scaly patches?"
"Yes, he said it must be a reaction to the rabies vaccination."
"But, didn't you just give him the rabies vaccination? He's been biting at that spot for two weeks."
"Oh, well, Dr. B. wants you to give them both baths tonight and then put the flea/tick medication on tomorrow - hopefully that will take care of the itching and scratching."
"Alright. Thanks."
"So, how are you on heartworm medication? Have you been giving that to them?"
"Yes, we are diligent about giving them their heartworm medication and I'm fine with that too."
"Alright, well Dr. B. will talk to you about what steps you need to take with them when you come to pick them up."
"Okay, thanks."

I mean, seriously....I got scolded for one of my dogs having TWO fleas on him......TWO little bitty teeny weeny fleas. Not an infestation. Not a colony. TWO!!!! Ugh...sometimes I despise the vet.

Later, lovelies!

L.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

It's got to be 5 o'clock, somewhere!!!!

Geez oh Pete....I really think that turning another year older has caught up with me. Okay...so maybe I'm being a little dramatic....well, okay, a lot dramatic...but this morning has kicked my butt and it's only 8:37am.

5:00am - I woke up and started frosting and decorating the cake I brought to work for a co-worker's baby shower.

5:35am - I managed to finish decorating and clean up my mess. I then got the dogs out and fed them.

5:55am - I started getting myself ready.

6:45am - I'm all beautified, lotioned and potioned and dressed. I let the dogs out again and then get them ready to go to the vet.

7:00am - Get to the vet and get the pups all signed in so they can get their shots and whatnots.

7:35am - Head back towards the house to get to the bus stop.

7:44am - Run to the bus and get the last seat that will allow me to occupy two seats - one for me and one for the cake. :-)

7:52am - Bus leaves for the big city.

8:25am - I walk in to the office.

8:37am - I begin writing my blog about my morning.

I'm not kidding....I'm tired. But I also feel pretty darn good for someone who got in bed at 11pm (90 min later than my usual bedtime).

----------------------------------------

Also, keep us in your thoughts and prayers and stuff - I've got a couple of tests coming up in the next week or so that will shed a lot of light on some things that have been going on lately. I just hope the results are good.

-----------------------------------------

Okay....now I'm off to see if we have some vodka stashed somewhere I can mix in with my orange juice! Ha!

Later lovelies!
L.