Ruth Graham

1920-2007

I'm not a religious person... not by any means. My religious thoughts are something I keep to myself. However, I must say how much I admire this woman *and her family*. They've been a part of our local community for a long time. Around here, the name Graham is more than "that guy on tv who preaches". It's always been about the Graham's, as a couple, and the great things they did... together. I hope, one day.. I can love someone as much.. and be loved back as much in return, as she was. I hope I can be so comfortable and happy with my life and myself as she was. She was a special lady.

So.. hi...

Yah I don't post much.. so sue me

So I'm thinking about the Virginia Tech shootings..  I've not watched the news non stop like this since I saw a plane crash into a building in New York. Sure people die every day, but .. for one person to kill so many bright, young kids whose biggest concern was a pimple or what they're getting on a final.. that's heartbreaking. Heartbreaking for the victims and the kid who pulled the trigger.

I can't help but thinking how all these kids would still be alive had the shooter had someone to talk to.. either professional or just a friend. I know he pushed friends away *I'm pro on doing that myself* .. but just someone who clicked with him.. ya know? Someone who made him feel that people were ok. Sure, one person wouldn't have been able to cure him, but they might have gotten close enough to see how ill he was and seek help on behalf of him.

I know many want to hate this kid, especially the family of the victims. And they have every right to. He took away what was precious to them and that's unforgivable.  But for me, I see a kid who was broken and ill and angry and totally alone. So I've added him to my "if I could go back in time I would .... " list. And I'd try to find a way to save him before he became so completely broken that he'd do something so horrible.

I told some friends that the VA Tech shootings were full of sad stories, but I think the shooter had the saddest story of all, because had his story been slightly different, none of this would have happened.

okies enough of that...

Life's ok here ...  my mom's been pretty sick, she SHOULD have been in the hospital, but she's more stubborn than me. ><

I still a good lil WoW addict. That game is truly.. "immersive".

My cat's acting like a kitten again. Which is surprising.. a lil over a year ago, we thought he was dying. *that "we" includes our vet*.

My brothers whore of a wife has moved back to PA! Wheeee! It's a long story, but as I predicted, she left after she'd taken every penny he had pretty much. He'd pulled out his 401k to pay for his truck and surgery for himself and to pay back another brother some money he owed , he put the money in the bank account but was out of town for a week, when he got home all but a few hundred dollars of it was gone. She had a nice lil shopping spree while he was gone though. *rolls eyes* So yah, she knew he had no more money and my mom had no more money. She left when he finally said "get a job or get out". I think he's filed for an annulment, I'm pretty sure she was still legal married to her "ex" when she married him. Hell, she might still be married to her "ex". Oh.. she also has had a boyfriend in PA for the last several months as well... so when I say "whore of a wife" I wasn't exaggerating. I'll probably rant more about her later.. but for now I'm just enjoying that she's gone and I won't have to kill her anymore.... well probably not kill her. ;o)

Hope all is well for all of you.. can't promise to post again soon, but I promise to try.

Oh sweet jebus..

I'm sorry but I had to do this....

And this...

That is all the damage I can manage in one post... I hope, in time, you forgive me.

Had your Cup-o-Crazy Today?

1 or 2 lumps?

Ya know.. after seeing federal buildings full of hard working americans and innocent children blown up by fellow country man... regal towers brought down by fanatics.. and so much more, you'd think I'd be used to the complete and inexplicable insanity in this world. LIke.. foaming at the mouth.. uneducated, unfounded, lynch mob mentalities.. people who sit on their lil pedestal of complete and utter craziness casting forth their uninformed, bigoted judgements with no thought that maybe.. just maybe they might not understand a bigger picture than the unfolding drama "the sky is falling" they perceive to be happening.  But still.. it amazes me the crap people can spew forth in written *and verbal* communication. It's like people aren't  happy unless they're blaming someone for the evils and misfortunes that happen in our sad sad world. They don't offer solutions.. they just spew filth and hate. It's sad to see people who are supposed to have some sort of education.. some sort of ration thought process be completely blinded to what's really happening in this world. I's even sadder to think their crazed ranting and ravings are just making bad situations worse.

This isn't just about xanga stuff.. it's just about the world everywhere. I know the crazies aren't the majority.. but it's still enough to catch me off guard sometimes. I can't decide if I want to rant at them till they get some common sense or just pity their state of mind. Lately it's just been pity. If I were a better person I'd be able to explain better or .. well just care enough to explain better. I just can't seem to find the energy. It's like..... we're resigned that there's gonna be some nut cases no matter what.. and we should just ignore them.. not look at them directly and hope they pass you by without asking you for your money to by aluminum foil to make a hat to protect them from government brain scans.

Anywho.. not a well thought out blog here.. just some sleepy ramblings to clean out my brain before I go to sleep. The above thoughts are not up for dissection or argument or debate... so crazy people need not reply.. that includes you exmortis! ;o) Well you can reply if you promise not to ask for any recordings. ><

Plus Side: I Didn't Kill Any Shoppers Today

Minus Side: I did find out I'm losing an old friend. *not what you're thinking though*

"Nothing is more memorable than a smell. One scent can be unexpected, momentary and fleeting, yet conjure up a childhood summer beside a lake in the mountains" - Diane Ackerman

I found out today that Pier 1, in all their marketing genius, has discontinued the scent. That and their other top seller, Asian Spice *which was a distant 2nd in my favorite scents*. W. T. F. I know it's silly to be bothered by something like that.. but.... the idea of not having that available to me anymore really did make me pause. I was/am really bummed. What the hell will I spray on packages I'm sending so they smell EXTRA nice when they're opened up. Seriously.. almost every Christmas package/card/easter basket/birthday present I send has gone through at least one dusting of this stuff. It's almost a trademark for me. Its the last think I smell before I go to sleep.. and the first thing I smell when I open my eyes. Now, when my supplies runs out I'm SOL. Bleah. I'm hoping they bring it back.. I can't imagine any other scent they have selling like this one did. Everything they have now is so.. prefumey and cheap smelling. ick.

I know we often catch our selves taking things for granted... we see something beautiful and think how lucky we are to be able to see such things. Or we hear some amazing piece of music and think how sad it'd be if we were deaf. But seriously.. I think we take our sense of smell for granted the most.

Imma sleep with the candle on my bed now, so I don't have to waste my room spray.. and save it for special occasions only. Lets hope my candles last long enough for me to track down their supplier or a suitable replacement. ><

For all you WoW nuts out there

Some Burning Crusade Screenshots

Enjoy!

Cookies on the go...

Want some special cookies but don't have the time or energy to make em from scratch?  Me too. So today I got creative.

I made chocolate cranberry pecan cookies... Zesty Orange cookies dipped in chocolate... orange slice crisps AND homemade marshmallows. Tom would be proud of me! Well.. till he found out I used the premade sugar cookie dough as the base for all my cookies. Shhh don't tell him.

Seriously though.. for people on the go (or for lazy people like myself) and don't know what the homemade stuff tastes like, the premade sugar cookie dough is great. I did shaped cookies with my nieces earlier this week and if I had to actually make the dough, I'd never have found the energy. And I'd be cookieless. How sad would that be?! ALSO you can really dress up the dough to make it more special. Also if you forget to set the timer and burn a batch *or 2* it's not a lot of work to make another batch of dough.

Things that make ALL of the below recipes a LOT easier are silpat baking liners. They're cheap now, and I'd really suggest everyone have at least ONE in the house.. I have 3 and ended up using them all today. They were like 2 bucks each for the offbrand I bought. They make clean up soooo much easier.

The Chocolate Cranberry pecan cookies.. I used half a roll of dough.. a very small handful of dried cranberries *chopped them up a bit before adding to the dough*, a small handful of chopped pecans and a palm full of mini semi sweet chocolate chips. Sooo precise! I used my hands to fold in the added ingredients, trying not to work the dough too much. I placed it back in the refrigerator to chill a bit. About 5 min later  just scooped out the dough onto my cookie sheet *with silpat liner* and baked about 7 min at 350. You might want to check after 5 min though. They're great! 1/2 a roll of dough makes approx 12 cookies.

The Zesty Orange cookies... I zested an entire orange into 1/2 a roll of sugar cookie dough. *if you're like me, without a real zester you can either scrape the orange part only off an orange with a knife or use a cheese grater.. just becareful not to cut down to the white part of the skin* Gently folded it in by hand like the other cookies, let it chill 10 min this time. I rolled small balls of tough then flattened them by hand into little medallion shapes. *approx 1 1/2 inch diameter and approx 1/8th - 1/4th inch thick*. Bake at 350 for about 8 min or so. Just check often so they don't get too crisp.  I dipped one side of the cooled cookies into some melted semi sweet dipping chocolate and chilled to set up the chocolate. They were very very yummy. I'm guessing the same type of cookie done with lime zest would very yummy as well.

The orange crisps and the marshmallows are my favorite.

The Orange Crisps were just for decoration at first, but after making them I found them to be a nice snack, and am considering dipping one side of each crisp in chocolate.. cause you know me.. chocolate makes everything better.

For the orange crisps all you have to do is slice oranges as thin as possible *I uses tiny tangerines, they were about the same size as clementines*. Mine were approx 1/16th - 1/8th an inch thick.. not perfectly even as I've not mastered slicing straight yet ><. Dust both sides of your orange slices lightly with powdered sugar. Place in an oven at 250 degrees and check every 10 min or so till they're looking to dry/crips out a bit. I turned mine after approx. 15 min so both sides would dry out evenly.  They're still a bit chewy when you take them out of the oven but crisp up nicely as they cool. If you don't wanna eat them, they're really cute on a cookie platter.

I'm still not sure how the marshmallows turned out. I saw the recipe on Foodnetworks All Star Holiday gifts. Tyler Florence made them as his contribution. *He's such a cutie!*  However when I went to the site and clicked on the link or this recipe I got a blank page... soooo I googled it and this is what I found. *don't be scared they're REALLY easy to make.*

---------

Homemade Marshmallows:
1/4 cup powdered gelatin
1 cup cold water
2 cups sugar
2 egg whites
2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted, plus more for dusting pan and marshmallows
1 tablespoon of vanilla *it wasn't on the online recipe but I remember him adding it on his show*
Butter, for greasing pan

In a medium sized saucepan soak the gelatin in the water. After the gelatin has softened, approximately 10 minutes, add the regular sugar and then gently dissolve over low heat, approximately 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

In a mixer, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks and then fold in the sifted confectioners' sugar. While the mixer is on low, slowly poor in the cooled gelatin mixture. Increase the speed and beat until white and thick. The volume should double in size.

Line an 8 by 8-inch baking dish with high sides with foil, grease slightly with butter, and coat with confectioners' sugar. Alternatively, you can use a baking sheet, but the marshmallows will not be as tall. Pour marshmallow mixture in and top with more sifted confectioners' sugar. Leave out overnight or for at least 3 hours to set. The marshmallow should be light and spongy when set.

Loosen marshmallow from edges of tray and invert onto a large cutting board. Peel off foil and use a large knife to cut the marshmallows into cubes. Dredge each piece in confectioners' sugar.

-------

They look  pretty good so far.. a lot firmer than I expected *wish that was referring to my boobs sigh*.  My only problem was .. that was a LOT of gelatin.. like 5 packets and the water gel'd up almost immediately. When I added the sugar and heated it on low it loosened up a bit but the syrup was very very thick when I added it to the beaten egg whites. Also I added 1 tablespoon of vanilla as he did on the actual show.

I might try to make these with peppermint and red swirls if they're any good. Or maybe dip them in chocolate as well .

Anywho thought I'd share some easy things to dress up your holiday treat table. I spend most of my days watching foodnetwork and most everything required ingredients I didn't have or couldn't afford. So I decided to take things into my own hands.  

Tomorrow I think I'll make some raspberry thumbprint cookies *I've done this one before* make divinity and brownies and I'm done... I think. Maybe. Perhaps. Possibly. >,<