Week 7 - Sis

February, forget Valentine's because my birthday, the 18th, is so much more important! I am so unselfish that I share it with a cousin, great-niece and one friend. Yeah, I know there are probably a few others in the world who were born on that day, but I'm talking about MY world. So you can see I was an early Elvis fan when he was young and still a sweet boy. Love the magnets, puzzle, nook gift cards, other gift card and checks, also coconut macaroons, and creme puff on sterioids were all welcomed. The creme puff took me three days to finish, but it was worth the effort. These gifts and greetings started on Monday right through Friday, great week. Oh by the way, since there are eight days left in the month and my SF cup is peeling, you still have time to send me a new one. heehee! Thanks to all who called, sent me b/day greetings, gifts and bought me a really, really puff pastry.

Week 7 - Lisa

Nothing too exciting to write about this week.  It was filled with many pressures that distracted from having any free or fun time.  Spent my week knee deep in building reorganization, blueprints and planning.  My mama celebrated her birthday Friday so we had these ginormous creme puffs.  They were delicious. Oh and Monday was Valentine's Day.  Blech.  In love or out of love, I just never got this holiday.  When I worked for Hallmark I "really" learned to detest the whole saturation of  hearts, overpriced roses, candies, and undergarments.  I became a tad cynical when I had men coming in asking me "sweetly" to help them pick out cards and gifts for their wife AND girlfriend.  Kind of sucked the life right out of my lovemometer if you know what I mean?! So here's to looking forward to a better week 8!

Week 6 - Lisa

All work, no play makes Lisa really GRUMPY!  Saturday I was standing blurry-eyed at the gas pump at 5:50am and I glanced at the digital reading.  $3 bucks!  When did we creep back up?  Aye yi yi.  I try not to pay attention to gas prices cause it's not like it matters; I still have to pour the petrol into the tank to get where I need to be.  <shoulder shrug>  Considering it was a Saturday morning that I discovered the gas hike and I also had to work I thought <insert a not so nice phrase> I am going to get us donuts.  You can always tell come Monday morning that a crew was in over the weekend.  Dunkin' Donut boxes are usually on a table with one or two stale sugar tires still left over.  I cannot remember if it was Wednesday or Thursday but I got a package in the mail with the below Monkey chain from WOOT.  It was a Valentine gift for customers that have been away too long.  Yeah well I guess I've been away awhile cause I'm back to paying $3 bucks for gas!  What do I do with this weird funky looking Monkey keychain? Looks like sunii got a new toy. This long never-ending week has ended with a bowl of Cherrios and viewing of the Grammys for Sunday dinner.  Oh and look, our old friend the sun made an appearance this week.  Check out the purple prism thingies I captured.  I have no clue how that happen.  Science ain't my thang but it's still pretty cool.  The best part of week 6 - PITCHERS & CATCHERS REPORTED TO SPRING TRAINING TODAY!  Let's Go Giants, Let's Go!  ;>

Week 6 - Sis

Gorgeous day low 60's expected, not gorgeous me, but I'm in the high 60's everyday. We had a light snowfall on early Thursday morning that was melted by 5 p.m. No outside activity for me but having the e-book has taken up quite a bit of my time. Really think e-books should come with a disclaimer for seniors. Something like: Warning this devise comes with the following side effects; pain in left hand, particularly in thumb, due to repetitive clicking on arrow to turn pages. Left eye may show strain and become quite red. Sleeping disorders may occur due to the reading of just one more chapter. In the middle of the week, because of my daughter's work hours, I was the one making her minestrone soup recipe for dinner. The daughter failed to inform me that I should cut the recipe in half, with the results being these two jars of leftovers! Started off with the black pot and after putting in the head of cabbage, still having so many other ingredients to add I brought out "Big Red". One leftover jar was taken to her work to share with a couple of coworkers. This loaf of wheat bread was literally a - Whole Wheat loaf since it wasn't sliced. Number one daughter did not pay attention when she picked it up for purchase, yeah. Well suppose I should wish all you romantics a Happy Valentine's Day. Me? I just never got forcing another person to spend money by the use of emotional blackmail.

Message from Dos Dames #7 ~

So Wednesday night peoples hearts started racing a bit faster.  Kids started to get excited, maybe another snow day on Thursday.  The TV weathercasters were a bit skiddish to say how much snow in terms of inches.  We all just knew it was coming and it was suppose to be light but thoughts of January and being house bound for 4 days was definitely on ATL's mind.  And then around 10pm the light flurries began.  Our favorite Weather Gal was on the scene once again.

It turned out to be much ado about nothing.  We had just enough snow to make everything look pretty until the afternoon sun!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6a6N3bjxAI&feature=uploademail

Message from Dos Dames #6 ~

This was the Thursday before the Super Bowl.  We'd had several days of what felt like constant rain and still bitter cold here in the ATL.  The best line from our favorite Weather gal is about 285!  OMG!  When I (Lisa) first came to ATL I got lost on that wheel barrel of a highway so many times.  You think you're driving East and then the signs are saying West, before you know it you're going South and you want to get North.  I've been coming here for about 20 years and I still haven't mastered the "circle!"  It looks simple enough but 285 is EVIL!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCKMECPZ0Do&feature=related

Message from Dos Dames #5 ~

In honor of Christina Aguilera flubbing of the national anthem on Super Bowl Sunday Dos Dames gives you this 2006 Saturday Night Live skit.  Starring my favorite female comedian, the fantastically talented and seriously under-rated, Maya Rudolph!  The SNL alumni sings a hysterical national anthem. She is channeling Beyonce, Whitney and all American Idol contestants into one terrifying persona. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImCWjbAOXKo&feature=player_embedded

Week 5 - Lisa

I'm surprised by the end of the week I did not end up looking like Marty Feldman!  Excel!  Excel!  That is not a cheer motivating you or me to succeed; it's how I spent my week.  Eyes focused on the monitor, pupils dilated, clicking at the keys, calculations racing through my mind.  This is so far removed from the superstar R&B singer or awarding winning female sports journalist I was going to be when I was 10.  Oh well, it pays the bills and trips! We made a Dos Dames decision on Friday night to try and pull off a rainy "Oscar Saturday."  We were going to try and see three, possibly four nominated movies - The Fighter, The King's Speech, True Grit and Black Swan.  We made it through two; Kings Speech and The Fighter and called it quits.  Thoroughly enjoyed them both.  As my mama put it on the ride home, "One guy did not want to talk and the other guy wouldn't shut up."  LOL  At the first theatre, we got a drink and I ordered some popcorn.  The 16 year old bright eyed and bushy tailed lass that took my order could NOT comprehend why I only wanted a small when for $1.00 more I could have the gigantic bucket of popcorn and a keg of Coke.  I politely said no, I'll take the small and she went at it again.  This time I said, "no thanks!"  My mom called me grouchy whatever my bladder appreciated my firm stance.  Between flicks we stopped at Firehouse Subs.  Another first Southern dining experience since moving here.  The last thing my mom or I ever want is full-blown attention thrust upon us in a public setting, so the old man behind the counter with the NY accent who said "Youse ladies eva beens herse befah?", at the top of his lungs was a bit of a jolt.  We both replied we had not and we got, "Wahl, Wahl, Wahl."  Still have no idea what all that was.  He gave us a "tour" of the menu and we made our way down to the ordering counter.  A very alert, fresh face serious young woman began to take our order.  She asked my mom what she wanted.  Mom said a tuna sandwich and then off to the races we went!  The young lady said "Ma'am will that be fully involved?"  WTH?  We looked at each other, we looked at her, she looked at us like what's the problem ladies.  I said, "um what is fully involved?"  In a breaking the sound barrier pace she replied, "mustard mayonnaise tomato lettuce pickle onion cheese."  Count me officially old, who knew the new "everything on it" was now "fully involved!"  This brought on the giggles and once at our table howling laughter.  Along with many bad puns.  I posted a picture of my sandwich on FaceBook and typed - "my new relationship."  I had no clue I had to practice "safe eating."  Call us easily entertained!  My cousin Diane got off the best line on FB when referring to sandwich relationships - "remember cousin it's what's on the inside that counts."  We can NEVER take a joke or story too far, never, ever!  Wasn't rooting for either team on Super Bowl Sunday only interested in winning one of the two pools I was in.  My contribution to the spread was the below Artichoke-Spinach dip.  That's a wrap for Week 5.

Week 5 - Sis

The week started with rainfall and continued to fall on multiple days. The first dry day out included a walk to the mail center where I found the truck just arriving, so had to kill some time before retrieving whatever was delivered. As I looked around the first thing I saw, would have been hard to miss, was the below truck trailer. Why was it parked here and what did it contain? Very soon I saw workers unloading pine straw, (needles to us from the left coast), for the usual winter ground cover. By late afternoon these little bales had popped up all over. The next thing spotted was a horse trailer, still looking for the horse! Then this garage sign, was it "Container Day?" Finally Saturday arrived and we had plans to view a couple of movies not playing On Demand. The first movie was " The King's Speech" and we enjoyed it but the theater seats gave me a few problems. If I sat all the way back my feet didn't reach the floor! If I sat forward, no back support and we thought of seeing another movie here?! Uh no, I needed to have blood flowing in my legs to walk and back support so I can stand up to walk. Since we hadn't eaten that morning we decided to get lunch, preferably a sandwich and soup. The closest eatery we spotted wasn't one we had tried before. Its whole theme is a firehouse, unfortunately they do not serve soup, but we were there and hungry. I must say their verbage is interesting when they take your order. LOL, maybe Lisa will tell you that story. This is their tabletop design of a Dalmation's coat but it reminded me of the place that cows recommend you to eat more chicken. We enjoyed our sandwiches and found ourselves giggling through our meal at what we thought were some quirky things there. We finished and headed for the next theater to see a second feature, "The Fighter", and again we enjoyed it. On the marquee as we parked I saw the ad posted below and was so tempted but had to talk myself down. We had spent a good part of our day out being in a darken room but as we drove home talking and laughing there was this slip of the moon that matched our smiles! Sunday brought the SuperBowl and we planned on these chicken drummettes, potato salad, corn on the cob and Lisa's artichoke/spinach dip, ummm, as an appetizer. Don't like the skin on these little buggers so I take it off and hope some day I'll find the skinless ones. Didn't really settle down until the second half but was happy with Green Bay winning.

Week 4 - Sis

This week was slooooow and so I had plenty of time to read. Sunday was a football and Nook day which wasn't so bad afterall. Worked my way through part of the week catching up on what was left of magazine stack. The articles were very interesting but remembering what I read seems to be a problem. The newspaper article was sent to me by my sister Judy. Psst! Chickie to her family. This article was about a beach my family spent a lot of weekends at. Martin's Beach in Half Moon Bay, California which is the subject of a suit to keep the right (Coastal Act ) for public use. It was a place of a kids dream. You had the water for cooling off and surfing, the wet sand for castles, the picnic tables for eating whatever tastes better while inhaling the ocean's air. Since there were usually at least three families sharing our day that involved a lot of kids. My parents had seven and the average was four for the other families. This meant parents had a time watching and making sure the kids were safe when playing in the surf or helping kids who got sand in thier eyes....with little help from their siblings. ;-) During the smelt season (delicious little fish) my dad, uncles and sometimes friends would rent these nets that reminded me of hammocks with a pole on each end and head out into the water, maybe 3-4 feet deep. Turning the net on its side the men would wait for a wave that brought the fish in and then fling the fish on the beach for the kids to gather in buckets or pails. This was a great adventure for the kids, free labor for the dads and food for the price of a rental fee. Running in the sand burns a good amount of energy, that means parents had a quiet ride home while the kids slept in the backseat of those big old cars. In my family's case, it was more like kids piled on each other with some of us complaining that the sleepers were crowding us. Hoping the re-opening of Martin's allows families in the near future to start a tradition of their own. Remember the last post and us receiving the valuable salami? This was the remains and a snack last night. WAH! Beautiful weather yesterday and today, so the only outing of the week the dreaded grocery shopping. Lisa says she wants to throw a hissy fit when we have to shop; my mental hissy fit comes at the counter when it says, "You pay this amount"!

Week 4 - Lisa

This is one of those weeks in life that you examine and just check off as unremarkable; yet it was full of drama and exhausting.  All job related so <insert Charlie Brown teachers voice here> whomp-whomp, whomp-whomp-whomp. There was no weekend adventure as I worked Saturday.  So what did I take pictures of?  Well Friday I made the 90min round trip drive to get some "soul food."  Thankfully we have found ONE Taqueria with the tastes of home.  My next pic is when I was deliriously waiting for water to boil at 10:30pm one night so I could have some noodle soup.  I started tripping out on the all the bubbles forming in my boiling water; I'll blame the fever for that one.  Next up is my Mama's crack cookies.  We sent home care packages this week.  I made fudge for my Tia Madeline and cousin Britni and my mom made her highly addictive cookies for my sister, Sia.  She froze some dough for us.  So delicious!  Lastly our big outing for the weekend was grocery shopping.  Oh how I loathe grocery shopping.  Like I want to fall down on the ground, kick and scream and have a hissy fit every time I think about having to grocery shop.  I think I'd be okay with it if I could pay someone to unload the truck and put them all away.  My mom is the kitchen organizer as she calls it her "place of work" so I do not even do that much. Yet, I still loathe it.  So I had to find a bright spot while pushing the cart and luckily there were some pretty flowers in the store.  Just as I was feeling a touch of Spring on this fluke of a beautiful 65 degree day and getting a little skip in my step I turn the corner and see the Valentine's Day display. "Oh the horror," I mentally screamed. I'll save my loathing of this holiday for February.  Do not want to seem all doom and gloom in one post.  ;> Let's just say it brings back harrowing memories of working holidays at Hallmark.  Stories for another week...