Head in the Bag

Ever get caught with your head in the bag? It's kind of like getting caught red-handed, only you can't see and you don't have red hands.

While making dinner tonight, I heard some rustling from the direction of the boys' very messy room. Never can tell what lives in there. I thought it might be Mighty Mouse, so I called him. He came from the direction of their room, barking madly. I told him to be quiet. A few minutes later, I heard the same rustling sound, this time with Mighty Mouse sounding the alarm. What the heck?! I called him again. Again he appeared from the direction of the bedroom. Then, while I was standing there reprimanding him for barking and being in the boys' room, I again heard the same strange rustling sound. I walked down the hall, held my breath (you must do this when entering teen boys' bedrooms), and looked into the abiss. This is what I saw:




When I could stop laughing, I grabbed my camera.

Poor Underdog! What's a dog to do when he gets caught with his head in the bag?

Chuck Norris at the Dojo

Wednesday night at the karate dojo - it's a a happening place! Chuck is the one is the blue gee (uniform).

Superman's Birthday and the Dogs get the Present

Today is Superman's birthday. He is 45 years old. And in celebration of his 45 years of life, and because he is going to school to be a teacher, he got a deluxe laser pointer for his birthday present. Now, most of you know that a laser pointer is used by teachers to point out certain things on the board or in slide or overhead presentation. But did you know that it is the funnest (is that a word?) way to play with your dog?

Now, you might not see the laser in all these pictures, but I bet you can still tell where it is.





And the funniest part of all this is, even now, a half hour later, Underdog is still looking for it. He has his nose to the floor sniffing and sniffing, trying to catch the scent. He probably thinks his sniffer is broken. How depressing! A beagle with a broken sniffer. Now what is he good for?

Sweet Potato Souffle - A Holiday Tradition

Nothing says the holidays around here like making a big pan of Sweet Potato Souffle. This particular recipe comes from my sister's grandmother-in-law who hails from South Carolina. We first had it at a family Thanksgiving several years ago, and now we have it every Thanksgiving and Christmas, and sometimes on New Years too! Now remember, this is for the holidays. We don't eat this all year long. Don't freak out about the amount of butter and sugar in this thing. Don't call me and tell me I'm un-American. Don't leave anything out! And for heavens sake, don't make those nasty canned things with marshmallows on them!

Sweet Potato Souffle

3 cups cooked potatoes (I just bake the potatoes for an hour at 425, and then peel them)
2 eggs, beaten
2 T vanilla
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. butter, softened

Mash the potatoes. Add other ingredients; mix well. Place in a sprayed 9x9 casserole and top with:

1 c. light brown sugar
1 c. chopped pecans
1/3 c. flour
1/3 c. melted butter

Mix together and spread evenly over sweet potato mixture. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

6 Things That Make Me Happy

My friend over at Redefining Paradise challenged everyone to make a list of 6 things that make you happy. Here's mine:

1. A clean house
2. Work to do
3. A snuggley puppy
4. Going to the temple with my husband
5. Family vacations
6. Listening to my son play the piano

Ok, the list doesn't stop there. There are a thousand things that make me happy. I just need to keep them in mind. Thanks R!

Mighty Mouse Matches

Nothing shows your pet that you love him more than having matching sweatshirts!

Chef's Special Senior Photo Shoot

Saturday was my first ever Chef's Special Senior Photo Shoot and I had a blast! The kids were great and the pizza at Celestino's was divine! Here are a few photos from the shoot. If you want to see more, take a look at my photo blog.

Gourmet Goodness

Have I mentioned that I love bundt cake? If not, let me mention that I love bundt cake. Really! And the kind I love best is from Nothing Bundt Cakes. The closest one is in Reno, which is actually a good thing, since I would probably eat cake all the day long if they were any closer.

My good friends over at Chats Family came by for a visit yesterday and guess what I got?!! You guessed it! My own personal bundt cake from Nothing Bundt Cake! And Lemon no less. What great friends! I was so excited that I ate it before I could even take a picture for you. That's how good it is!

So, if you want great cake - I mean really great cake - check them out online or give them a call and get one sent to you. And, if you are one of those who live within driving distance of one of their stores - I am very jealous!

It's Alive!

I got up this morning, went for jog around the block, made breakfast for everyone, went to a meeting, did some photo editing, ran some errands and did some networking.

Hah! Just kidding!

I am feeling much better, thank you! You can't get away from me that easily!

Better Insights Through Pharmeceuticals

I am learning how to use WordPress for blogs. Very soon (it may be sooner than anticipated due to my bedridden condition), this blog will move to my own domain so I can make it exactly how I want. Blogger has been great, but using WordPress on my own server will allow me to do all kinds of cool things to my blog. So, in order to learn all I can, I am reading the definitive work on the subject: WordPress for Dummies.

Have you ever really looked at the For Dummies books? Have you noticed the Dummy Guy?

Every For Dummies book or product has him, usually with his index finger pointed up (whatever that means), but sometimes with accessories that have to do with the topic of the book.

Anyway, I was looking at my book and noticed the Dummy Guy and thought to myself, "This looks like the Boy Wonder!"

What do you think?








I'm right aren't I? Ok, maybe it's just the drugs.

It's All a Matter of Perspective

From my vantage point, I can't see much. The view out the bedroom door gives me a bit of the kitchen and that's about it. With a little bit of work, I can see around the bedroom - anything higher than 4 feet off the floor. But, with very little effort, I can look straight up and be reminded of the fun holiday coming up at the end of the month. Yup, it doesn't take much to get me in the Halloween frame of mind. And what's better... it didn't cost me a thing!

Job and I are Friends!

Ok, no boils here. Superman, the Boy Wonder, and Chuck Norris are all still alive and kicking (roundhouse style). My friends still like me - despite my charming personality. I've still got my cattle - my canine cattle. I have a place to live and food to eat - not like I would waste away anytime soon without something to eat. I have food storage and I carry it with me.

No, I don't have it quite as bad as my friend, Job, but... things are a bit scary around here lately.

Yesterday, Superman called me from his lead-lined office cubicle at the Daily Planet to inform me that he was coming home. Seems that with the economy headed south, there isn't room for more than just a few super heroes in the area, and Batman and the Green Hornet got here first. Last in, first out - that's the motto. So Superman had to go. Anyone looking to hire a middle-aged super hero?

This morning, as I was getting ready to enjoy a relaxing day at home (the first Saturday in quite a while), I decided that I would totally blow my back out. Seemed like a good idea at the time. However, after careful reflection while lying on the living room floor screaming my head off, I realized that it was not the smartest move in the world. I will be best friends with my Tempurpedic for a while and will have a wide variety of lovely drugs on my bed-side table from which to choose. This is good news for you though, cuz I can still type and tell you all about it. Aren't you feeling lucky?!

It's not all bad though. Since Superman doesn't have to go to work on Monday, he can take care of the flocks and herds while I lie about eating bon bons and Vicoden and watching Hulu.com all day long. I hope everyone survives. (Just kidding about the bon bons. I like Junior Mints better!)

(Some days I wish Superman would find a back healing crystal in that Fortress of Solitute. Why didn't his super dad think of that? huh!!!?)

Slugs Happen

My son's teacher called me yesteday. She's a nice lady, but it wasn't a social call. She was concerned that CN has not been turning in work or turning in work late, and she was wondering if anything had happened recently to turn him into such a slacker. I assured her that nothing earth-shattering had happened to him, and that he has always been a slug. I explained that the "honeymoon" was over, that the new-ness of a new school and new teachers and new schoolmates had worn off, and that now we were just down to the drudgery that is high school. She understood. I understood. We understood together. Of course, that didn't do anything to make CN understand that he needs to put in a better performance. Hmmm... maybe a cattle prod. I'll have to see if Pioneer Woman has one I can borrow.

Oooh Baby! It's Mine, All Mine!

It finally arrived! My new Nikon D90 DSLR. It's the latest pro-sumer level DLSR from Nikon. Here are the specs:

• 12.3-megapixel DX-format CMOS imaging sensor: Coupled with Nikon's EXPEED image processing technologies and NIKKOR optics, breathtaking image fidelity is assured. (Better than my D80, and I really loved that camera!)
  
• Continuous shooting as fast as 4.5 frames-per-second: Combined with fast 0.15ms power-up and split-second 65ms shooting lag, dramatic action and decisive moments are captured easily.
• D-Movie Mode—Cinematic 24fps HD with sound: Record cinematic-quality movie clips at up to 720p HD (1280 x 720 pixels) in Motion JPEG format, enhanced by NIKKOR interchangeable lens quality and versatility. (Ok, this is a way-cool bonus feature. Probably won't use it much for work, but it's great fun for the family!)
  
• Low noise ISO sensitivity from 200 to 3200: High signal-to-noise components and design deliver exceptional performance, even at high ISO setting. (Yes!)
• 3-inch super-density 920,000-dot color LCD monitor: High resolution, 170-degree wide-angle viewing guarantees confident image review and movie playback. (Double Yes!)
  
• Built-in image sensor cleaning: Effective 4-frequency, ultrasonic sensor cleaning frees image degrading dust particles from the sensor's optical low pass filter.(No way! This too!??)
  
• 11-point AF system with Face Priority: Consistently fast and accurate autofocus, reinforced by the Nikon Scene Recognition System, delivers razor sharpness in a wide variety of conditions. (Yup! That's what I'm taking about!)
  
• One-button Live View: Easy to use Live View activates access to 3 contrast detection focus modes including Face Priority AF.
• Nikon 3D Color Matrix Metering II with Scene Recognition System: Nikon's renowned 420-pixel RGB 3D Color Matrix Metering II, teamed with the exclusive Scene Recognition System, evaluates images, referencing an on-board database of over 30,000 photographic scenes, for unmatched exposure accuracy.
• Comprehensive exposure control: Five advanced scene modes plus Program Auto, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority and Manual.
• Auto Active D-Lighting: Selectable and Automatic, Active D-Lighting optimizes details within shadows and highlights, taming high-contrast situations in real time. (Very helpful!)
  
• Durable, high precision shutter: Testing to over 100,000 cycles assures shutter life and accuracy.
• In-Camera Image Editing: Creative freedom stems from exclusive in-camera image editing, featuring Fisheye effect, Straighten and Distortion Control as well as D-Lighting, Red-eye Reduction, Image Overlay, Monochrome and more. (Since I have Photoshop, I don't use this much, but's it's nice to know its there anyway)
  
• GPS geo-tagging: GP-1 GPS unit (optional) provides automatic real-time geo-tagging. (Not sure why you would need this. Any ideas?)
  

In the kit, it comes with the new AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm 3.5-5.6G ED VR. I've been wanting a vibration reduction lens for a while now and this one gives me great, sharp photos. I've been playing around with it since it came yesterday and will post a few pictures tomorrow. I can't wait to use it for the Chef's Special Senior Photo Shoot on October 11. BTW, I still have two spots open if there are any high school seniors interested. See my work blog and click on Latest Chef Special on the top of the page for more information.