Exceedingly Mundane

::A Dangerous Step ::

Onesome: A– whole new year is in progress and we’ve made it just over a month into it. Do you have any new projects started around the place or are you waiting for Spring? …or does it already feel like Spring? We have projects planned, but haven’t started any yet. They’ll probably be popping up soon though! Some inside, some outside, which will have to wait for spring. It’s fairly warm, but I’m not ready for spring. I wish we could have a little bit of winter around here! 😀

Twosome: dangerous– It’s a dangerous world out there on the Net some days! What are you using for Anti-Virus and/or Firewall software? …and is it working well for you? (If not, it may be worth seeing what the gang has to say…) On the Windows side (my regular PC), I use Norton for virus software and Zone Alarm for a firewall. We don’t have to do as much on the server side, since it runs Linux. I have no idea what Tim has going on that side, that’s his area of expertise and not mine.

Threesome: Step– right up and tell us what you have planned for the “Annual Commercial Extravaganza” this Sunday. You know, the one with the football game cut up and slid between the segments. Is it party time? Shopping? What commercials? Well, after a several year lapse, we’re going to have another Super Bowl party. I have to get the rest of the plans together for food, and get busy with all that. I hope to get some time to watch the game. I love football and I do love all the commercials. In years past, I’ve usually been busy with food, cleaning up, or entertaining people and I miss a lot of the game. Hopefully that won’t be the case this year. I just wish my Colts had made it 🙂

I had some bananas that were ripe and needed to be used up. I normally throw them in the freezer, to use for another time, but I was in a baking mood yesterday and wanted to try something new. So, I poked around through the numerous recipes that I have collected (but never tried), and made a new one. They’re called Caribbean Bars and the recipe is now on Hambones (click here).

Here’s the batter, in my new batter bowl that I love and adore 😀

And here’s the finished product, waiting to go to work with Tim (after we had each tasted one, of course!):

Tim pronounced them a keeper, so I guess I can put them in my “tried and true” files 🙂

If you haven’t had a Sweetheart Brownie Blast at Sonic yet, be sure to get one before they’re gone. 🙂 Sonic is really great about offering seasonal or monthly items, new things to try, and this is one of their best, IMHO.

I have a long-standing love affair with Sonic’s February offerings. They used to have a “Sweetheart Shake” in February, and I would always get at least one from my darling husband, as a surprise or happy, in February. He was really good about it, and would always get me one every year, for the first few years we were married. I looked forward to it every February (every day, wondering if today was the day he would bring me one home as a surprise…nothing like a little anticipation :mrgreen:) Then, for some unknown reason, Sonic stopped making them. We probably had a 2 or 3 or maybe 4 year drought where they didn’t have a Sweetheart anything. Then, last year (or maybe the previous year), they started offering this “Sweetheart Brownie Blast”. WELL. You can’t go wrong in my book by combining soft serve ice cream, cherries, brownies and whipped cream. They’re delicious.

Tim came home with one for me yesterday…

This was, of course, the same time he came home with some new happies (for himself). He went out and purchased the two items I was planning on buying him for Valentines Day. I keep telling him, trying to get it through his thick skull, that he needs to stop buying himself presents 1-2 weeks before “known holidays” such as his birthday, Christmas, Valentines, and our anniversary. He never remembers. He went and bought himself a big bag of golf balls, and these yesterday:

Well, maybe I need to get him proper golf clothes (which of course, I can’t pick out, since he’d have to try them on). He seems to like playing golf in his vinyl pants:

Sigh. I’m out of ideas on what to get him for Valentines Day. John Grisham has no new book published this year in Jan/Feb, which is what I’ve gotten Tim for the last 7 or 8 years, maybe more. He’s so obsessed about golf, that I was going to get him golf stuff, but now he’s gone out and bought himself what I was planning on getting him. Anyone got any other ideas? Let me know, please, if you have any light bulb moments. 😀

I picked up the January/February copy of Everyday Food (put out by Martha Stewart’s conglomerate) a couple of weeks ago and have finally gone through it completely. This was my first time to ever buy this magazine, and only the second time I had ever noticed it on the newsstand. It’s a small magazine; it sort of reminds me of a Reader’s Digest in size and shape. This issue is a “special light issue”, which is why I picked it up. It has several recipes that sound good to me. Of course, me being me, I find tons of recipes that I want to make, from all kinds of sources. I find them in cookbooks, magazines, the newspaper, online at cooking sites, etc. So I have an obscene amount of recipes “collected” that I might never actually get around to making.

Anyhoo, I will be glad to post any of the ones from this magazine. Here’s the ones that I have marked, that I’m interested in… so if you want to see the recipe, just let me know and I’ll type it up.

{Editorial Note – Gail, I know you will probably want all of these, since you like “collecting” recipes as much as I do. Try to restrain yourself, hehehe :D}

The ones I have marked are:

Turkey Burgers
Quick Vegetable Soup
Chili Roasted Sweet Potato Wedges (only a couple of ingredients, not really a recipe)
Spicy Black Beans
Cornmeal Crusted Tilapia

There are others, I can list those if anyone is interested in recipes from this magazine. Just post a comment and let me know. 🙂

I almost gave up and quit reading my latest book “Talk to the Hand” by Lynne Truss. I have been struggling for the past several days, trying to read this book and not give up and chuck it. I finally persevered, more out of stubbornness than a desire to read the book and get anything out of it.

I tried to branch out of my comfort zone and read a “different” kind of book for me, and in this particular instance, it didn’t really work. Reading this book was a struggle and I didn’t really enjoy the book, and didn’t retain much from it. I’m accustomed to reading fiction, where there are characters I can enjoy and “get into” and there’s a plot and story that I want to learn that happens. This book is more like a textbook, more like being back in college and sitting in a sociology class and hearing the professors drone on and on in a monotone voice.

I agree with what the author is saying – the world has become a more rude place and the advent of technology has really speeded up that progression. Courtesy, respect, manners are quickly becoming harder and harder to find in others. People have their own private space, a bubble, and they don’t interact with others as well as they did in the past. Blame cell phones, blame email, blame text messaging, blame the Internet, blame lots of these things. I agree with all of this, and there were several vignettes in the book where she related personal experiences to attest to this fact. Those were quite enjoyable, as well as a few other passages in the book. However, she would also quote from books such as “The Civilizing Process: Sociogenetic and Psychogenetic Investigations” by Norbert Elias (1939). Ack. The bibliography is 3 pages long, she quoted from so many boring textbooks on social behavior. This is just not me anymore, I guess.

I almost quit…. but I didn’t. The OCD part of me did not want to give up and be a quitter, so I did finish it. Barely. That makes 4 for the year so far.

If you’d like an example of how the book reads, you can click on the Read more section and read an excerpt from the book.

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I should have never blogged yesterday that I was totally caught up on photos. Sigh. I was months behind, and I finally got all of my pictures uploaded to the Hambones website. Then, last night, Trent and Kathryn both emailed me new pictures of their kids, my great nieces and nephews, so now I have a few more to load. They are sooo cute! 😀 I will try to do that later today, and put an update here when they are done. {Kathryn emailed most everyone her pictures, so they won’t be a surprise to most of that side of the family. 🙂 }

UPDATE: Ok, whew, I’m all caught up again! Some new pics of Grayson and Ava Clair are up in their photo album, and pictures of our 3 week old beauty Katelyn Ray are in hers. Go check ’em out 😀

OK, I think I’m nearly caught up now… I had been really behind on uploading photos to the Photos sections of Hambones. Same with writing up reviews. I just entered 6 reviews in the Reviews section of Hambones. There’s 2 for books (Light from Heaven and True Believer), 2 for movies we saw at the theater (Last Holiday and Glory Road) and 2 for DVD’s we have rented recently (Two for the Money and The Wedding Date).

Also, I think I’m totally current on photos. I have uploaded the ones from Ethan’s birthday party last November, Thanksgiving, misc December pictures, Christmas, the Hammons family dinner in early January, and Abby’s 1st birthday party last weekend. If you’re a registered user of Hambones, you can go check those out in their respective photo albums.

Whew – feels good to get caught up! 😀

Posing some random questions for the day… answer in the form of a comment here, or in your own blog 🙂 Have a great day!

1. What time of day is too late to telephone someone?

2. Have you ever looked up the lyrics to a song online?

3. What’s your favorite dessert to order at a restaurant?

Well, lookie here, I’m something chocolate! Surprise, surprise!!! 😀

Reeses Peanut Butter Cups

Very popular, one of you is not enough.

I saw this in our paper yesterday and nearly busted out laughing. Tim and I have actually had this conversation before. Actually, several times. (He doesn’t read my blog, you know). 🙂 Of course, in the cartoon, it appears the man is the blogger, but still… it’s funny to me! 😀

I say … and you think … ?

Long distance:: phone charges
Meant to be:: supposed to happen
Here:: and now
Endless:: Love
Resentment:: harbors
Insipid:: stupid
Bunny:: Easter
Slogan:: catch phrase
Naked:: as a jaybird
Sarcasm:: biting

We’ve been really busy since I last blogged… nothing earth-shattering, but just staying busy. Here’s the highlights:

Friday night, we went out to eat at our new Chili’s in Madison (we’ve been once before, right after they opened). I was less than impressed. I didn’t like my food and didn’t eat but about half of it and Tim seemed less than thrilled with his also. Therefore, I was able to coerce him into a visit to Cold Stone Creamery afterwards. We got a Black Forest Dream which is chocolate ice cream mixed with cherries, brownie pieces and hot fudge sauce. Yum-o. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. We also went to Lowe’s and did some shopping Friday night.

Saturday, we headed to Hattiesburg for a long day.

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We’re headed out in a little while, to go to Abby’s 1 year old birthday party! 🙂 Will be back late, so I’ll try to blog tomorrow.

I just got back from the library with some new books to read. The library is such a wonderful place for me. I’ve blogged about it before – it’s as good as a bookstore, but better, because it’s free! 🙂 Anyway, I took my little notebook (I keep a little notebook and jot down books I would like to look at checking out, as opposed to buying, at the library) and had several options. Too many really. I accumulated about 5 or 6 books in my hand and then had to decide which to keep and which to check out another day. I went in with the firm affirmation that I would only check out two. I always seem to come home with three, and it’s always pushing it to read all three books in the three weeks that I have before they are due back. Sigh. I came home with three.

One of the ones I came home with is a book I found in the “New Arrivals” section up front and decided on a whim to give it a try. It’s called “Talk to the Hand” by Lynne Truss, and its subtitle is “The Utter Bloody Rudeness of the World Today, or Six Good Reasons to Stay Home and Bolt the Door”. 😀 I have had her previous book, “Eats, Shoots and Leaves” on my list for a while and just had never gotten around to checking it out. I will see how I like this one, and then see about the other later on.

I actually went to check out “Memoirs of a Geisha” by Arthur Golden, but both copies are checked out at my local branch. I guess with the movie out, more people (like me) are interested in the book. I just want to rent or buy the book and read it before the movie comes out. I guess I still have a few months, so hopefully I can get a copy soon at the library.

Anyway, I also checked out two other books (see in the sidebar) – the 4th book in the Zion Covenant series, Jerusalem Interlude, and the first book in the Redemption series by Karen Kingsbury. I think I’m going to have a hard time finishing the Redemption series, because all of the others were checked out at both the Ridgeland and Madison branch. They seem to be really popular books. I may have to start asking to be put on the list for them when they come back in (since I must read them in order). 🙂

Better go get busy reading!

I stayed up late last night and finished the Nicholas Sparks book “True Believer”. I had bought it last summer to take on vacation and read, and of course, never opened it while we were gone. 🙂 It was a quick read and a good book, typical Nicholas Sparks fare. I have another one of his to read that I got for Christmas, called “First Light”, but I think I will wait and read something else in between. I don’t want to OD on Sparks.

I need to write reviews on both books I have finished in the last week and put them up on Hambones. Alas, I don’t think anyone reads them or cares, so I’ve gotten fairly slack in that department. It’s on my “to-do” list though. 😀

That makes 3 for the year, and a total of 911 pages completed. I’m trying to decide now if I want to read something that we have here, like one of the many Grisham books we own and I have not read, if I want to go to the library and check out some books, or if I want to go to the bookstore and buy some books. Decisions, decisions.