Something about Nothing, come join in........ Part 3

[the Dark Marauder]

I have a Winter Solstice party to go to tonight. Next Thurs I have a Solstice Luncheon (Company) and Friday is a lunch with one of our vendors.

Tomorrow I'm going to see ICE at the Gaylord Palms.

Busybusybusy.

 

[bubba's mom]

I know but I still think it's cheaper than trying to trade it in and have a much bigger car payment. My parents are going to reimburse me for the brakes...Christmas present this year.

You're right...but gettin' new 'brakes' for a Christmas gift....that stinks...I know, I know...you need 'em...but still.....

I'm not sure if I'm improving or not. Spent a restless night. Still some pain, but maybe not as intense or as often? Keeping my fingers crossed that a few more doses will make a difference.

I freaked out when I got the Donnatal filled. The "generic" term on my bottle was Belladonna/Penobarbital.

Ummm... nothing says "muscle relaxer" like a good old fashioned barbituate!

I took the first one of those last night about 7pm with strict warnings for Brad to keep an eye on me and let me know if I acted loopy. I don't want to take anything that's going to hamper my ability to take care of the boys. I waited over 2 hours for the hippy-trippy, but... nothing. I never felt anything. Not even drowsy.

I guess it is either VERY mild or a derivative of?

Guess it's good that it doesn't affect you that you can't take care of the beans.... Let's hope a couple more doses does the trick.....heck...must be doin' something for you to be SuperSister and help Carol out with her cheese straws.....

i looked at barb's countdown to christmas and think it is off a few days.
or is christmas really that close.......

...all i did was plug in the DATE..... the ticker people figure out the 'countdown'.....

was gonna post to everyone here but got caught up in a phone call from mother. i think i am going to have to go home soon and help them.

wassup with the folks? Be careful....don't want a 'light saber' to getcha

I'm sorry to hear that Mac. I talked to my MIL on the phone last night. She thought she was in her brothers bed and he was gonna find her and be mad at her. Brother has been dead for 40+ years....it's sux watching your parents get old. Heading down to visit her today before the snow storm hits. We never thought she would make it to X-mas. Guess I'd better get looking for a gift!

Get her food....that way IF she happens to not make it...you can eat it But, seriously.....be thankful for the 1 more......

 

[bubba's mom]

Hey Rose...good to see ya..... isn't that like 2 days in a row you've stopped to see us?

hi rose!
party was fine last night.
it was held at the Fulton on the River (* or Lake, i forgot already) resturant.
the wait staff that carried around the h'rdourves were so nice to me.
they kept me full with their wonderful snacks until it was time for dinner.

i don't like eating dinner at 8:30 so i snacked from 6 to real food time.
everyone else had fun getting drunk.
which was a good thing as then no one paid any attention to the pig i was for those 2.5 hours of munching.........

and since the group started their unofficial party at 3 yesterday at the office, most of them already had a buzz.

i started snacking when i got to the place which was one block across the chicago river to fultons from mr mac's office downtown.

had a hard time getting a coke, the bars (3) had lots of diet coke.
they had to find the coke for me.


i have not done a thing for christmas yet except for the ornabuddy.
see who takes priority in my life....

i found another bag of stuff i forgot to put in my box.
think i will save it for the april fool gag gift next year.
you know we need to have one, recycle that white elephant you get in december......

rose, they have some of the sidewalks roped off due to the dangerous ice cycles. those suckers can kill you if you get hit by one of them.


i forgot your other questions.

sounds more than "fine" party to me ...sounds like a good time....any dancing going on???

I have a Winter Solstice party to go to tonight. Next Thurs I have a Solstice Luncheon (Company) and Friday is a lunch with one of our vendors.

Tomorrow I'm going to see ICE at the Gaylord Palms.

Busybusybusy.

I hope you have a fun, safe time at all your PARTIES.... what bothers me, is that none of them are referred to as "Christmas" parties ....kinda like not calling it "Christmas" break in skools, but "Winter" holiday....and it's not "Easter" break either...it's "Spring" break..... wth?


Okay...things are crazy here in the house of Bubba..... some "holiday" stuff to do this afternoon, take Bubba to Mom's (sleeping there tonite) and off to a CHRISTMAS dinner with the hockey boys and wives.... hope the weather holds....

If I don't catch you later....have a good, safe night....and catch ya tomorrow (but you all know me.....I'll do my darnest to check back in )

 

[marciemi]

Quick hi to everyone before we head off skiing for the evening with kids and girlfriend. (DH is driving through the mess from St. Louis - pretty much snow all the way). Were watching the weather channel - what do you know? The odds of us having a white Christmas are 100%! Imagine that! Remember my house pics when someone commented on the snow covering the lights on the bushes? Still the exact same way 10 days later - not a flake of it has melted!

I've been following, but I have to go cram stuff in the car and head out for the 1.5 hour drive. Going there will be fine, but concerned about driving in the dark on the way back late tonight! Not a fan of driving in the dark or the snow!

Still no ornament!

Talk to yas later!

 

[fan of the TTA]

I'm sorry to hear that Mac. I talked to my MIL on the phone last night. She thought she was in her brothers bed and he was gonna find her and be mad at her. Brother has been dead for 40+ years....it's sux watching your parents get old. Heading down to visit her today before the snow storm hits. We never thought she would make it to X-mas. Guess I'd better get looking for a gift!

awww...sorry to hear about the death

 

[ky07]

just stopped by to say hi and hope all are having a good day

 

[yankeepenny]

best friend award of the day goes to Tricia, who stepped up to the table and made cheese straws, and they were not for herself, but Carol's party!

it is really getting gloomy out, very dark and the skies are full of snow.



i have no ornament. wonder if the postal worker kept it.

 

[AlexandNessa]

Hi Everyone!

Sharon, my grandfather's sister is going through the same thing. She was writing letters to my grandfather's address (he died some years ago), but addressed to her parents (who've been dead for about 60 years), asking when they were coming to get her. She is a retired nun living in a convalescent home. Since my grandmother got the letters, it upset her as she misses my grandfather terribly and the letters just added to her woe. So sad to be relatively healthy, yet have the mind go. The same of course is true for the opposite.

Sounds like everyone has a lot of holiday stuff going on this weekend! Just wrapping gifts here because it's the last time I have off. I start work Tuesday morning and work straight thru (and including) Christmas.

Marcie, have fun skiing. Barb, have fun at dinner. Raven, never be ashamed of being a "piggy." I munch all the time at holiday parties. Though we haven't been to many here this year. DM have fun at your winter solstice.

Tricia, hope you had fun "helping" make the cheese sticks! They sound good! Care to share the recipe? Some day when I'm feeling adventurous I may try it! I llooooovvveee cheese!

Todd, I just made reservations at the RPR for the first weekend of October (10/2 - 10/7). Hoping to shoot for the RIP on 10/5. I didn't want to do Columbus day weekend again. I don't know why. No reason for that really, other than it's harder for us to get off work. Mac, are you still shooting for the 1st weekend in October?

Hi Rose, fan of the TTA, ky07, Lori, Katie, Penny, and everyone else I didn't address personally! Who has an APB out for Gemma?

 

[yankeepenny]

watched ELF last night. laughed my a$$ off again. we bought it, and really enjoy it.

 

[fan of the TTA]

watched ELF last night. laughed my a$$ off again. we bought it, and really enjoy it.

still havon't seen it....but by the sounds of it, it is worth it. fave christmas film is still the grinch

 

[RVGal]

I absolutely LOVE Elf. It is now one of my "must sees" for the Christmas season.

Cheese Straws... after many years of perfecting my recipe...

1 stick of butter (softened)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/8 to 1/2 tsp red (cayenne) pepper
2 cups grated decent cheese

Mix together dry ingredients in a small bowl, adding pepper to taste. 1/8 of a tsp you will NEVER taste the red pepper... 1/4 tsp will give you a little hint... 1/2 tsp there will actually be a little kick.

Put the stick of soft (not melted) butter in a large bowl and add dry ingredients. Mix with your (clean) hands until blended. Add the cheese and blend again with your hands. You will need to work the dough in small balls (somewhere halfway between a golf ball and baseball works best for me) until it reaches a play-doh like consistency and a solid-ish color (not speckled with the cheese). When I say "decent" cheese, I don't mean it has to be specialty shop stuff or anything... but all the flavor is coming from the cheese, so make it decent. I personally like Cracker Barrel Sharp Cheddar. It has a good enough to eat on its own flavor and gives the straws a nice light orange color.

Take a ball of dough and roll it into a snake. We all made simple play-doh snakes when we were kids, right? You want the snake to get about the diameter of a straw. Cut into, eh, 2 to 3 inch strips and place on a cookie sheet (with all the butter, no greasing the pan should be necessary). You can put them fairly close together as they will not spread much. Bake at 350 for 10 to 15 minutes. Check at 10 mins by flipping one straw over and seeing if it is slightly golden on the bottom. That's all you want. They crisp slightly when cooled and are best stored in an airtight container... ziplog bags or tupperware work fine.

The blending, rolling step is the biggest time factor. Sort of a pain in the butt. It's a pretty traditional Christmas party offering around here, so I've learned how to make the dang things the way I like 'em!

 

[fan of the TTA]

I absolutely LOVE Elf. It is now one of my "must sees" for the Christmas season.

Cheese Straws... after many years of perfecting my recipe...

1 stick of butter (softened)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/8 to 1/2 tsp red (cayenne) pepper
2 cups grated decent cheese

Mix together dry ingredients in a small bowl, adding pepper to taste. 1/8 of a tsp you will NEVER taste the red pepper... 1/4 tsp will give you a little hint... 1/2 tsp there will actually be a little kick.

Put the stick of soft (not melted) butter in a large bowl and add dry ingredients. Mix with your (clean) hands until blended. Add the cheese and blend again with your hands. You will need to work the dough in small balls (somewhere halfway between a golf ball and baseball works best for me) until it reaches a play-doh like consistency and a solid-ish color (not speckled with the cheese). When I say "decent" cheese, I don't mean it has to be specialty shop stuff or anything... but all the flavor is coming from the cheese, so make it decent. I personally like Cracker Barrel Sharp Cheddar. It has a good enough to eat on its own flavor and gives the straws a nice light orange color.

Take a ball of dough and roll it into a snake. We all made simple play-doh snakes when we were kids, right? You want the snake to get about the diameter of a straw. Cut into, eh, 2 to 3 inch strips and place on a cookie sheet (with all the butter, no greasing the pan should be necessary). You can put them fairly close together as they will not spread much. Bake at 350 for 10 to 15 minutes. Check at 10 mins by flipping one straw over and seeing if it is slightly golden on the bottom. That's all you want. They crisp slightly when cooled and are best stored in an airtight container... ziplog bags or tupperware work fine.

The blending, rolling step is the biggest time factor. Sort of a pain in the butt. It's a pretty traditional Christmas party offering around here, so I've learned how to make the dang things the way I like 'em!

iwww...cheese. gross!

 

[AlexandNessa]

I absolutely LOVE Elf. It is now one of my "must sees" for the Christmas season.

Cheese Straws... after many years of perfecting my recipe...

1 stick of butter (softened)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/8 to 1/2 tsp red (cayenne) pepper
2 cups grated decent cheese

Mix together dry ingredients in a small bowl, adding pepper to taste. 1/8 of a tsp you will NEVER taste the red pepper... 1/4 tsp will give you a little hint... 1/2 tsp there will actually be a little kick.

Put the stick of soft (not melted) butter in a large bowl and add dry ingredients. Mix with your (clean) hands until blended. Add the cheese and blend again with your hands. You will need to work the dough in small balls (somewhere halfway between a golf ball and baseball works best for me) until it reaches a play-doh like consistency and a solid-ish color (not speckled with the cheese). When I say "decent" cheese, I don't mean it has to be specialty shop stuff or anything... but all the flavor is coming from the cheese, so make it decent. I personally like Cracker Barrel Sharp Cheddar. It has a good enough to eat on its own flavor and gives the straws a nice light orange color.

Take a ball of dough and roll it into a snake. We all made simple play-doh snakes when we were kids, right? You want the snake to get about the diameter of a straw. Cut into, eh, 2 to 3 inch strips and place on a cookie sheet (with all the butter, no greasing the pan should be necessary). You can put them fairly close together as they will not spread much. Bake at 350 for 10 to 15 minutes. Check at 10 mins by flipping one straw over and seeing if it is slightly golden on the bottom. That's all you want. They crisp slightly when cooled and are best stored in an airtight container... ziplog bags or tupperware work fine.

The blending, rolling step is the biggest time factor. Sort of a pain in the butt. It's a pretty traditional Christmas party offering around here, so I've learned how to make the dang things the way I like 'em!

Damn! All along I've been cooking with dirty hands!

Thanks for the recipe! I love cheese. I think it's my favorite food ... everything is better with cheese! Actually, I don't think this recipe is too bad. It may even be Jodie-proof! (I was worried I would need a deep fryer or something.). Thanks again!

 

[macraven]

awww...sorry to hear about the death

umm.........no one died yet.
they are still kicking around.

Hi Everyone!

Sharon, my grandfather's sister is going through the same thing. She was writing letters to my grandfather's address (he died some years ago), but addressed to her parents (who've been dead for about 60 years), asking when they were coming to get her. She is a retired nun living in a convalescent home. Since my grandmother got the letters, it upset her as she misses my grandfather terribly and the letters just added to her woe. So sad to be relatively healthy, yet have the mind go. The same of course is true for the opposite.

Sounds like everyone has a lot of holiday stuff going on this weekend! Just wrapping gifts here because it's the last time I have off. I start work Tuesday morning and work straight thru (and including) Christmas.

Marcie, have fun skiing. Barb, have fun at dinner. Raven, never be ashamed of being a "piggy." I munch all the time at holiday parties. Though we haven't been to many here this year. DM have fun at your winter solstice.

Tricia, hope you had fun "helping" make the cheese sticks! They sound good! Care to share the recipe? Some day when I'm feeling adventurous I may try it! I llooooovvveee cheese!

Todd, I just made reservations at the RPR for the first weekend of October (10/2 - 10/7). Hoping to shoot for the RIP on 10/5. I didn't want to do Columbus day weekend again. I don't know why. No reason for that really, other than it's harder for us to get off work. Mac, are you still shooting for the 1st weekend in October?

Hi Rose, fan of the TTA, ky07, Lori, Katie, Penny, and everyone else I didn't address personally! Who has an APB out for Gemma?

on no jodie, it is the next weekend for hhn.......
that weekend is at disney.

i told todd second weekend, i wonder if he reversed that.

yes, i have to do RIP tour again, but on the next weekend.


why don't you like columbus day weekend?

 

[t-and-a]

Hey homies!
Just poppin' in for a minute and then it's back to my busy life....

Damn! All along I've been cooking with dirty hands!

Remind me not to eat at Jodie's house! (jk)


Tricia, you're such a sweet sister to go over to Carol's and help her with the cheese straws! I've never had cheese straws before; I might have to try your recipe!

Lori, I haven't been around here much lately, but I have been thinking about you with all the bad weather going on in your area. I don't think I have ever seen icicles that thick! We had a bad ice storm down here in 2000 and were without power for 8 days, but I still don't think we had any icicles like that!

Mac, I hope all is good with you and your crew! I'm still not really in the Christmas spirit yet, but getting there very slowly. It's cold here now and seems a little more like the "season" so maybe I will come around by next week. I think I just want this Christmas to come and be over with.

Hey Barb, Jodie, Sharon, Tracie, Todd, Marcie, Mike, Penney, DM, Rose, Gemma, Katie, and everybody else!

DH got his car back FINALLY on Thursday. It was supposed to have been ready on last Friday. The body shop did a good job on it. We didn't take any after photos, but here's what nearly $8,000 in damage looks like on a 2003 Cobra:

Hard to believe that was so much damage, isn't it? There were parts that you couldn't see under the hood that had to be replaced also.

 

[RVGal]

Damn! All along I've been cooking with dirty hands!

As I was typing what I do for the recipe, when I got to the using your hands part, I got a mental flash of Alton Brown on Food Network saying, "The best mixing device for this dish is clean hands"... so I was kinda channeling him...

 

[keishashadow]

umm.........no one died yet.
they are still kicking around.







on no jodie, it is the next weekend for hhn.......
that weekend is at disney.

i told todd second weekend, i wonder if he reversed that.

yes, i have to do RIP tour again, but on the next weekend.


why don't you like columbus day weekend?

i'm still bent outta shape that both the week before & after Columbus day were spoken for @ DHs work they started a new archery season; we were always able to travel that week before...worked out well both weather-wise, & both weeks were only 4 skool days. It's the last full week for us next year.

Jodie We were on the 5th (or 6th floor) not the special/suite floor @ RPR. Thanks for the primer! R the AAA rates out? will have to check. Biting the bullet, SW is supposed to release June dates next week (haven't paid off the last trip yet). Evidently, we managed to chat up over $100 to ma while on cruise (that's what i get for checking my minutes, guess i'll drag up the online account tomorrow)

Sorry to hear of the the elder issues . Must be the stress of the holidays, my mom's been struggling to write Xmas cards. I try to make it easy & dole them out 1 or 2 a day w/address in front of her. today, she decided all the cards "sucked"; thew a tantrum and skulked off. then rewrote the same cards, addressed a few to long-dead relative & friends; sad to see them decline.

lori - who knew icicles grew outta the ground? We had rain/sleet/snow; now slush. Supposed to repeat tomorrow.

anyway, new computer is installed after many hours. DH still working on DSs; the 2 of us managed to finally figure it out.

didn't have a chance to check out the video links (going to crack open a Miller & go for it), must say my fav. tom petty one is the Alice in Wonderland themed one (cannot remember the name?)

before i forget, penny - luv the Gandalf quote . Found a discounted book last week & ordered for DS - an annotated companion to LOR; thought it would be interesting; will let you know. I have one for Lewis Carrolls Alice , very interesting as to obscure references.

hope all our teams rock

 

[Metro West]

Todd, I just made reservations at the RPR for the first weekend of October (10/2 - 10/7). Hoping to shoot for the RIP on 10/5. I didn't want to do Columbus day weekend again. I don't know why. No reason for that really, other than it's harder for us to get off work. Mac, are you still shooting for the 1st weekend in October?

OK...just keep reminding me. I can't remember crap anymore.

on no jodie, it is the next weekend for hhn.......
that weekend is at disney. i told todd second weekend, i wonder if he reversed that. yes, i have to do RIP tour again, but on the next weekend.

We'll work something out. It's a LONG time until HHN anyway...so don't fret.



I will be glad when this cold front moves through tonight. It's too warm for this time of year. It was 84 today and is still humid outside. Monday's high is only 59 and the low is 43. It will be good to be cool for a few days.

 

[keishashadow]

ooooh, good videos, forgot about that santana song...

checking out our audio system, here's one of my favs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siBoLc9vxac

best cover - ever!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHFgmquFZN4&feature=related


and for wicked fun
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOP-EEWRIUo&feature=related

 

[Sharon G]

Someone sent me this great link to a holiday e-card.
Enjoy!

http://ecard.ashland.edu/2004admission/index.html