Link Of The Week

There's no shame in admitting that I frequently use my cell phone as a [dim] flashlight. If the 'Rents are already in bed and the lights are off in the house when I come in, I'll open my phone and use the light from the inside screen as a makeshift flashlight as I make my way to my room. Chances are you've done this, too. And if you think about it, you've probably used other normal everyday objects for reasons other than their intended use. This week I found a website that talks about such things. It's the Museum of Unintended Use. On the website today, they show a picture of different ways that people use a child's shirt and other pieces of clothing. I'm proud to say that for as long as I can remember, we've always had a little boy's shirt sewn into a clothespin holder. Visit it at http://www.museumofintendeduse.com/ and see what items you can find.

Winter Storm 2010, #2

The weatherazzi have been working overtime this week, and ever since Tuesday morning they have been getting everybody all worked up into what I call a "snowgasm" over last night's snow. They were predicting anywhere from a dusting to a foot of snow in Kentucky. The snow started here in the 'Ville at around midnight, and this morning when we woke at The Compound, we had 3.5 inches (according to the official snow measurer at The Compound, Mom).

We were eating breakfast when we heard our neighbor PS fire up his snow blower, and before we knew it, he was down in our lonnnng driveway clearing it off for us. We like to think of it as a belated birthday present. The above picture was taken while he was clearning off the drive, and by this afternoon, a lot of the remaining snow on the driveway had melted. But now we have the coldest night of the winter season to deal with - the weatherazzi said that in the suburbs we can expect temperatures at or slightly below zero. Yes, zero.

I was antsy yesterday afternoon and evening, wondering when the snow would start and how much we would get. So when I saw the snowfall this morning, I was ecstatic. I love the snow, and what a better way to cap off an awesome week of vacation then to get a decent snow. The only thing I can say is I can't wait till we get another one.

Happy Birthday, Dad

TWIT would like to wish a very happy birthday to my Dad. In case you hadn't figured it out, I was born the day before his birthday. Actually, I was born at 10:00 at night, so if Mom could have held me in for a couple more hours we would share the same birthday. But as it was, I was a month early so she didn't have a whole lot of choice in the matter. But I digress. Anyhoo, I always remind him that I was the best birthday present he's ever gotten. And you know what? He never disagrees with me.

On a side note, it's been an awesome week off from work, and I still have a few more days of rest and relaxtion before it's back to the grind. We've had a blast here at The Compound all week, and are looking forward to a few more days of fun.

The Streak Continutes!!!

In case you didn't know, today is my birthday, and that piece of information is an integral part of a streak. For you see every birthday for the past 47 years it has snowed or there was snow on the ground, including the actual birth day. We had a dusting of snow yesterday morning that caused more havoc than when we had the four-inch snow a few weeks ago, and today there was still snow on the ground so that counts for the streak.

On a quasi-related note, this has been one the most awesome birthdays I've ever had. Mom just walked to the mailbox and brought back some cards that came from my friends in my Sunday School class and the notes that they wrote on the cards actually made me weepy. I am truly blessed, and I thank the Lord that He has helped me make it to 47 years. And I thank Him even more for the people that He has placed in my life. I don't want to exclude anyone, so I will just leave it at that.

Thanks to everyone of you for your part in my 47 years. You rock.

Another Fallen Idol

Gary Coleman Arrested for Domestic Violence

Actor Gary Coleman found himself in handcuffs this weekend, as he was arrested for domestic violence in Utah, several media outlets have confirmed. Reports say Coleman was apprehended in Santaquin, UT, on an outstanding warrant, and that the victim hasn't been identified. As of late Sunday night, Coleman was still in the Utah County Jail and had not posted his $1,725 bail.

Coleman's wife, Shannon Price, was arrested last year on domestic violence charges as well. The couple married in 2007, and have been making headlines ever since with public spats. Still, there's no confirmation that Price was the victim of Coleman's alleged violence.

Weeks ago, Coleman was rushed to the hospital after reportedly suffering a seizure. Thankfully, he was released shortly after checking into the hospital.

Damn. I would have bailed you out, Gary, but the BMW is in the shop getting a major leak fixed and I think I'm going to be needing the money.

What Would Lucy Do?

I read an interesting article last week in the Wall Street Journal. It was about how the Christmas Day underwear bombing attempt has caused the airlines and airports to step up security measures. This article took it a step further. It told how the recent added security measures for international flights are affecting chefs. Yes, chefs. Apparently, when chefs travel to Europe, they have been known to smuggle back fancy salami and other meats because they aren't available in their own country. The article described some of the ways they would try to smuggle the meats and cheeses in the luggage or on their person. One chef tried to bring home a pork shoulder and fennel salami vacuum-sealed and hidden inside a stainless steel water bottle. Another time, the same chef said he hid a 4-pound poached goose liver pate from France inside the belly of a salmon. It's OK to bring fish from Europe, just not meats. Another chef attempted to sneak some exotic sausages in his shoes packed inside his luggage.

The airlines and the government calls this smuggling, but of course the chefs disagree. Their reasoning is that smuggling is what you do drugs and children to be sold on the black market; they justify by trying to improve on the quality and variety of the food system. As soon as I read this article, I could only think of one thing: Lucy.

In the fifth season of "I Love Lucy" the majority of the episodes were about the gang's trip to Europe. On one of my favorite episodes, "Return Home From Europe", Lucy tries to sneak home a 30-pound cheese for her mother. Ricky is too tight and doesn't want to pay for the excess baggage fee, so in all of her infinite wisdom, Lucy dresses the cheese up as a baby. Maybe the chefs should take a few lessons from Lucy.

Link Of The Week

This week's installment of Link of the Week comes to us courtesy of my friend, coworker, faithful reader and #1 mullet spotter JMc. It could also be called the Deal of the Week. He told me the other day of an awesome deal he got at Penn Station - a BOGO free coupon (buy one get one). You didn't have to buy a drink or fries or anything - just buy one sandwich and get one free. So if you have a Penn Station in your area and you like their sandwiches, please visit http://www.penn-station.com and click on "Money Saving Offers"and sign up and you'll be on your way to getting a free sandwich. And who said there's no such thing as a free lunch?

We're Getting Teased

As I type this, the temperature is a not-so-cold 54 degrees. It's January 23 and we sure are getting teased. They're calling for temperatures in the lower 60's tomorrow and on Monday they're calling for high's of the upper 30's with snow showers. Yep, we're getting teased. But it sure was nice to be able to do some of my pedaling outdoors this afternoon. I got up early this morning and did 7 miles on the recumbent bike and then ran a couple hours worth of errands, and when I got home I still had some energy left so I dusted off the old Schwinn, strapped on my helmet and did another 7 miles out on the bike path. And believe me, I was not the only one out there. I passed by probably 20 other cyclists. But like I said, Mother Nature is teasing us. But I don't care. It was an awesome afternoon and that's all that matters right now.

Flashback Friday

When I was a young teenager, I collected patches. If I made that statement to a teenager today they would look at me with the most dumbfounded look on their faces. But I'm sure you remember. I never sewed the patches on clothing, I jsut collected the patches. Somewhere in our basement is two showboxes full of patches that I've collected over the years. But I have to say that the "Keep On Truckin'" patch has always been one of my favorites.

File Under: WTF?

Calif. Man Shoots His Way Out Of Sinking SUV
Man Shoots Out Window To Escape Sinking SUV After Veering Off Northern Calif. Road Into Creek

ROSEVILLE, Calif. (AP) A driver whose SUV plunged into a Northern California creek after he was startled by his hands-free cell phone device escaped the sinking vehicle by blasting out the window with a handgun. The 28-year-old man, whose name wasn't immediately available, is an armed security guard at Thunder Valley Casino, north of Sacramento. He sustained minor injuries in Sunday's accident.

A spokesman for the Roseville Fire Department said the man was traveling northbound on Industrial Avenue in Roseville when the cell phone device activated. The driver was startled and veered off the road through the guardrail. The SUV landed in Pleasant Grove Creek.

He used his gun to shoot himself out, then flagged down a passerby.

Now, I'm only one-third of the way through the Masters Degree in Security Management program, and I'm far from my goal of being a Certified Protection Professional, but if this guy was so startled by his ringing cell phone that it caused him to drive on into a creek, maybe he shouldn't be working as an ARMED security guard in a casino. Look what the ringing cell phone did to him -- just imagine what the clanging and noise of the slot machines in the casino could do. Just saying.

Thanks For Reminding Me

I had an interesting and very timely junk email in my InBox this evening. The subject simply said "46 year old females can win a pair of Ugg boots." Yep, that's what it said. I don't know what alarmed me the most: the fact that through signing up for something online and giving them my age or year of birth, a third party has gotten that information, or the fact that I will only be 46 years old for one more week. I don't know. I'll have to think about this one. I'll keep you posted.

New Recipe Tuesday

My friend LR graciously does all of the cooking for the mega meals at church and I so look forward to the quarterly breakfast meetings of the WOWS group at church because I know she will have an awesome breakfast fixed. She knows I love this dish and she fixes it often just for me. I have to admit that up until a couple of years ago I hated spinach and wouldn't go anywhere near anything with spinach in it. Now I can't get enough of it. Here's LR's awesome recipe for Crustless Spinach Quiche. It most definitely gets the TWIT Seal of Approval.

Crustless Spinach Quiche

1T oil or butter
1 onion, chopped
1 (10 oz) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1/8 tsp. nutmeg (to enhance taste of spinach)
5 eggs, beaten
3 cups shredded Muenster cheese (or any combination you might like) [I’ve used a combo of muenster, cheddar and provolone before)
¼ tsp. salt
1/8 tsp ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350º. Lightly grease a 9-inch pie pan.

Heat oil/butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft. Stir in spinach and nutmeg and continue cooking until excess moisture has evaporated.

In a large bowl, combine eggs, cheese, salt and pepper. Add spinach mixture and stir to blend. Scoop into prepared pie pan.

Bake in preheated oven until eggs have set, about 30 minutes. Let cool for 10 min. before serving.

Forlarger pans:
x2 fits in ½ chafer pan or 9 x 13 casserole

x4 fits nicely in a full-size shallow chafer.

Notes on this recipe had some users adding garlic or using other combos of veggies.

I Think The Scientists Have It All Wrong

According to British scientists, they've determined that today, January 18, is the most depressing day of the year. The scientific formula for this bleak prediction takes into account factors like post-holiday blahs and debt, failed New Year’s resolutions and, this year, the nasty chill that has reached much further south than usual. Now, I'm not one to doubt scientific proof, but if you ask me, I can think of a few other days in January that are more depressing than the 18th.

January 2, 3 or 4 is pretty depressing because one of those three days is the day when we go back to work after our New Year's holiday and realize that we have no more paid holidays off until Memorial Day. As if that's not bad enough, it's usually on one of these days when we realize that we need to take down all of the Christmas decorations and get the house back to "normal."

January 15 was pretty depressing for people at my company. It was the day we received our annual profit sharing bonus and saw how much was taken out in taxes. And I'm pretty sure some people are still realizing that they need to take down all of their Christmas decorations and get their house back to "normal."

Any day in January prior to the 31st when we receive our W2's is pretty depressing as we look at the amount printed in the Gross Annual Wages box and wonder where in the hell did it go.

Once you think about these days, the 18th doesn't seem so bad after all.

Link Of The Week

Here's a little bit of trivia about Puddin that you may not know - I love bags. Purses, backpacks, messenger bags - you name the type of bag and I love them. And yes, it's no secret that I have a fondness for Prada or Dooney and Burke, but name brand doesn't matter; if the bag is cool and I like it, chances are I'll buy it. Case in point: two weeks ago. I was reading a magazine and saw an article about backpacks and was enamored with a Dakine backpack made of herringbone tweed. I knew I had to have it. I did some research online and found it on sale at a site so I bought it. The site was none other than ebags. It rocks. Simply visit http://www.ebags.com and start your search for whatever type of bag you want. But before you buy the bag, so another search for "ebags coupons" and you'll be surprised at the money you can save.

What A Difference A Week Makes

This time last week, we had high temps in the low teens. As I type this the temp at the airport is 52 degrees. I can't even begin to say what a difference a week makes. Last Saturday when I drove in town to church, there was snow and ice on the ground and the high last Saturday was I think 18. This morning when I drove to church for a meeting, the temperature was in the low 40's and by the time I made my way back home it was well into the 50's.

Just last week when I came home from a meeting at church and saw everybody with their parkas on, I have to say that this afternoon while I was running errands I saw a lot of shorts being worn. Now, far be it from me to tell people what to wear, but in January you just don't need to wear shorts when you go out in public. Just saying.

But don't get all excited, thinking winter is over my Louisville friends. This is just a big tease. Even though next week is supposed to be a nice week with temps in the 40's, the winter isn't done with us yet. I'm pretty sure we'll get lots more snow and cold this winter. I've got my cool new winter coat and my cool new snow boots so all I can say is bring it on.

Flashback Friday

1. Hello Texas - Jimmy Buffet
2. All Night Long - Joe Walsh
3. Times Like These - Dan Fogelberg
4. Nine Tonight - Bob Seger
5. Stand By Me - Mickey Gilley
6. Cherokee Fiddle - Johnny Lee
7. Could I Have This Dance - Anne Murray
8. Lyin' Eyes - The Eagles
9. Looking For Love - Johnny Lee
10.Don't It Make You Wanna Dance - Bonnie Raitt
11.Devil Went Down To Georgia - Charlie Daniels Band
12.Here Comes The Hurt Again - Mickey Gilley
13.Orange Blossom Special - Gilley's Urban Cowboy Band
14.Love The World Away - Kenny Rogers
15.Fallin' In Love For The Night - Charlie Daniels Band
16. Darlin - Bonnie Raitt
17. Look What You've Done To Me - Boz Skaggs
18. Hearts Against The Wind - Linda Ronstadt and J.D. Souther

New Product Review

A coworker and faithful reader, ET, sends us today's New Product Review. In case you're wondering, the picture is not just any ice cream sundae; it's a Krispy Kreme sundae. If you look close, the bottom of the sundae is a warm Krispy Kreme glazed donut, and it's topped with soft serve ice cream and in this case, caramel topping. I asked him to write a review for TWIT, and he summed it up in a few words (and I quote): "It was awesome." Nuff said, ET, nuff said.

On a related note, earlier this week, Dad and I had both decided that for our birthdays later on this month, we didn't want to have a cake or pie around the house for a week after our birthdays and instead we would go to a local joint for one slice of pie on our birthdays. Well, after ET told me about this decadent dessert, we've changed our minds and will be travelling to the Krispy Kreme place for hot glazed donut sundaes on our birthdays. I haven't actually been able to taste it yet, but just after hearing ET tell me about it, the Krispy Kreme glazed donut sunday gets the TWIT Seal Of Approval.

Take A Look At My Store

On the way home from work I made a quick trip to the local Dollar General Store in the 'hood to pick up a couple of things, and I discovered another "Why didn't I think of that?" moment. A few feet from the door was a guy with a cardboard box and as I was walking into the store, he asked me to "Take a look at my store" as he was motioning to the box. I told him I'd check it out on my way back out of the store. True to my word, on my way out back out to my car I stopped to check out his store. Inside the cardboard box he had 4 or 5 boxes of various Little Debbie cakes that he was selling for a quarter per cake. Now, if you take a minute to do the math, given the number of cakes in each box and the price for each box, he's making a pretty good profit selling each cake for a quarter a piece. I didn't need any Little Debbie's, but I bought one Oatmeal Cream cake for Dad. I admire the guy's entrepreneural spirit. I wish more people were like him.

Skechers Update

It's been a couple of months since I bought my Skecher Shape Ups, and wanted to give a quick update. I admit that I've been lax in my daily walking at work, but I started back yesterday and wore my Skechers for my daily mile walk through the factory and warehouse at work. I could sure tell it, especially today on the afternoon portion of my walk. I did a half mile in the factory yesterday and almost doubled it today but my foot was hurting and I cut the trip one lap short. But rest assured, I will be back out there again on my two breaks tomorrow hoofing it. When I got home today I read the brochure that came with the shoes and it said that it was normal to experience what I felt - it said if you feel some strain, then you know the shoes are working your muscles like they're supposed to. I still love the shoes and when these wear out, I'm not going to hesitate to buy another pair. The Skecher Shape Ups still receive the TWIT Seal Of Approval.

Biggest Loser 2010

Today marked the start of the third Biggest Loser competition at work. I'm on Team Mission: Slimpossible with three coworkers from my department. We're all four very serious about this and are going to do all we can to try to be the company's Biggest Losers. We're off to a great start as a department, too. A coworker upstairs won some money last week, and he said he'd buy pizza for our department. Today he came down and gave us money for said pizza. We all decided that we would buy healthy food instead, so we're going to have Subway low-fat and low-calorie sandwiches instead of pizza. With as much as our department loves pizza, this was a great stride for us.

I'm confessing that I've put 15 pounds back on over the past six months and by the time the competition ends in mid-March, those 15 and more will be off. I did it before and I can certainly do it again. I'll keep you posted on our progress.

Link Of The Week

This week's edition of Link Of The Week is a little gift from me to my faithful readers who have iPhones. It's a site where you can get all kinds of apps for your iPhone. It's appropriately called Appolicious. Just visit the site and you can find thousands of apps for your iPhone or iTouch. And in case you were wondering, every app that is available at the iTunes store can be found at Appolicious. And the site will even provide a link to the iTunes store if the app you want is not free. Take a look at http://www.appolicious.com.

BRRRRR Update

It's still cold here at The Compound and in the 'Ville. So called, that this is the fifth day in a row that I've worn thermal underwear. That in itself should tell you how cold it is -- coming from someone who is hot-blooded and usually has the vent closed in her bedroom in the winter because she likes it cool. But it's been very warm at The Compound - ever since the first of the week the 'Rents have kept the Buck Stove fireplace insert going all day and it's kept the family room and dining room very warm. So warm that this week was the first time I've seen my Mother wear a short-sleeve t-shirt since August. Yes, it's been that warm.

And I'm very happy to report that the Blazer is just as warm, thanks to our good friends at Dohn's Automotive Repair. I picked it up after work yesterday and after just a few minutes I was cutting back the heat because it was getting a bit too warm. Sure, I had to peel for the repair but after driving around this week with no heat I didn't care.

Flashback Friday

Snow Cream

8 cups of snow

1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Place snow or shaved ice into a large bowl. Pour condensed milk over and add vanilla. Mix to combine. Serve immediately in bowls

Winter Storm #1

Actually, "Winter Storm" is a tad over-the-top, but since this is my blog, I can call it whatever I want. And with the way the weatherazzi was billing this, I think it qualifies as a winter storm. For almost a week now, the weatherazzi had been telling us that we would have our first accumulating snow today, and darned if they weren't right. On Tuesday, reports started trickling in of anywhere from 2 to 5 inches of snow by the time it moved out on Friday. They said it would start before dawn, and yep, they were right again. The snow started at about 6:00 this morning, and snowed pretty much most of the day. At The Compound, the official snowfall was 3 inches. Dad reported that the Troybilt snowblower did great once again.

Traffic was horrible but that's to be expected here in Louisville when it snows. Actually, traffic is horrible even when it's not snowing. But I digress. My normal morning commute is usually 15 minutes; this morning it took 50 minutes. But I made it to and from work safe and sound, and as soon as I finish typing this I'm taking my school book and going to park myself in front of the fireplace and read.

BRRRRRRR

It's been cold this week in the 'Ville - very cold. In the mornings when I've gone to work the temp has been in the low teens, and the daily highs have been in the low 20's. They're calling for highs this weekend in the single digits. And what a better time for my Blazer's heat to go out than this week.

The heat had been sporadic for the past week, but today after having a couple of the guys at work check things out, there was no heat left for the trip home today. At least I had heat for half of the trip to work this a.m. but on the way home there was none. Even though we're expecting what the weatherazzi is calling our first "significant snow" of the season tomorrow, followed by high temps in the single digits this weekend, I knew I had to do something. So I called our friendly 'hood auto repair shop and they said they'd check out the Blazer tomorrow and hopefully get her warmed up. At this point, I really don't care what it costs - I just want to drive home in the snow tomorrow with heat. Stay tuned. I'll keep you posted.

Happy Anniversary, All My Children

TWIT would like to wish a very happy 40th anniversary to All My Children. It's hard to believe that the first episode of my favorite soap opera aired on this day in 1970. If you're reading this, Susan Lucci, I still think Erica Kane looks as great as she did back in 1970.

Love Stinks

Iowa Man Spells Out Wife's Birthday Message in Manure

ZWINGLE, Iowa - Ask this Iowa wife is she got the perfect birthday present and she'll tell you her hubby "dung good."

Carole and Dick Kleis live together on their eastern Iowa farm. This year for her birthday, Dick used more than 120,000 pounds of manure to spell out a special message. It basically says 'Happy Birthday, Love You,' but in shorthand.

And it only took three hours to spell it all out in a stinky, but mushy way.

"It's not hard," said Kleis. "Any manure will work but the good, soft, gushy, warm stuff works the best. It kind of melts the snow."

Carole say Dick's birthday is in May and she's already thinking of ways to beat out his gift.

I'm not sure what Carole can come up with to beat Dick's birthday message, but I'm pretty sure she's going to try.

School Update

I'm not ashamed to say that when I read the syllabus for my new class (Asset Protection) last night, I was looking around the room for a paper bag to breathe in to help me from hyperventilating. Not that the first three classes were easy by any means, but this class has about as much weekly work as all of the first three classes combined. Instead of a major 25-30 page research project due at the end of the class, we have to do a 4-5 page paper each week, in addition to briefing 2 or 3 legal cases each week as well. I know I'll be ok and will make it through the class but it's a bit overwhelming right now.

On a ,more positivie note, I'm very proud to report that I got another A in my last class, and that makes me happier than you could know. Even though I'm a bit overwhelmed right now at the start of this new class, I still have to say that over all going back to school still makes me very happy. I love the Security Management program, and I am starting to feel like this could be a possible new career path for me in the future. As always, I'll keep you posted.

Link Of The Week

You all know by know that I love a good bargain, and I am not too proud to admit that I use coupons. Sunday evening while watching NFL, I get the scissors out and go through the coupons in the Sunday paper. And just recently I've gotten into printing out online coupons. I found a great site that I wanted to share with you, in hopes that you can save a few bucks on your groceries, too. Just take a few minutes and visit http://www.couponsurfer.com and sign up and start printing out your coupons. When the savings start to add up, you'll be glad you did. It's my favorite online coupon site.

Am I The Only One That Doesn't Care?

As I type this, it's 3:44 in the afternoon, and the annual "Battle For The Bluegrass" basketball game between UK and U of L is underway. And I don't care.

Let me give a bit of background first. I was raised in a nonpartisan family - we didn't like nor dislike UK and U of L; we watched some of their games, and rooted for them whenever we watched them. But unlike most of the families in the 'Ville and pretty much the state, we were never a diehard U of L or UK fanatic family. We just never got into college basketball. I know that puts us in the minority, and we're perfectly fine with it.

The only UK or U of L clothing I own is a red U of L sweatshirt that I bought 8 years ago as part of a Halloween costume, and just kept the shirt because I paid good money for it. Come to think of it, the 'Rents don't own any UK nor U of L clothing, either.

For those that are so fanatic about either UK or U of L, good on ya. I'm glad that you're passionate about something. But for me and my family, we just don't care.

Happy New Year!!

TWIT would like to wish everyone a very happy new year. I'm not one bit ashamed to report that it's 6:39 in the evening and I am still in my flannel pajamas. Before you start jumping to conclusions, that was my plan today - to stay in my pajamas all day long. I've watched TV, slept, ate and had an awesome time with the 'Rents today, and am hoping to repeat that pattern this evening.