Ice storm photos.

Recipe

Affogato

1 pint vanilla ice cream
1 cup hot espresso
Sambuca, Grand Marnier, or Frangelico liqueur
Whipped cream
Crushed espresso beans

Divide ice cream evenly between 4 serving dishes. Pour about 1/4 cup espresso over each dish of ice cream. Add desired amount of liqueur and garnish with whipped cream and crushed espresso beans.

Your Aura is Blue

Your Personality: Your natural warmth and intuition nurtures those around you. You are accepting and always follow your heart. You in Love: Relationships are your top priority, and this includes love. You are most happy when you are serious with someone. Your Career: You need to help others in your job to feel satistifed. You would be a great nurse, psychologist, or counselor.

What Color Is Your Aura?

These things are usually pretty accurate for me, but this one is off a little. I would not be a great nurse, psychologist, or counselor. I get too involved and too attached and....just too everything. And I'm a huge sap. I cry when you hear those "feel good" stories on the news and suff. So if someone was sick.....no, would not be a good thing. Because there is nothing like having your nurse water up while they take blood. I'll stick to fixing everyones email problems....there are no tears in the email business :)

Second post in one day, but I just had to post this.

The woman who talks on the phone all the time in my office and chews up hard candy one after another, is in Vegas on vacation today and tomorrow.

So me and the temp employee are sitting here working in the nice quiet office when the manager of our department (who is currently supervising us while our boss is on maternity leave) pages us and says:

"Janice just called me up to say, "I'm quitting!!"

short pause

"TRICK!"

She's totally bombed (at 11:03am) so that's the only reason our manager thought it was funny. This just tells you the kind of person she is. I think a lot of people go to Vegas and get bombed and JOKE about calling their boss and saying things like that, but I bet more often that not, they don't. So this is one thing she did in Vegas that won't stay in Vegas!

But, the thing that I think is more funny was when the temp said:

"If she quits, I'd like to apply for the vacancy"....being totally serious.

Oh Lord, I almost died laughing.

My Life As A Musical

I've done this for a few years. I answer the questions below with songs from my iTunes list. This year I'm doing it with the songs on my iPod. Makes you think about yourself!

Answers from my iPod:

Are you female or male:
Pretty In Pink (The Psychedelic Furs)

Describe yourself:
Building On A Mystery (Sarah McLachlan)

How do some people feel about you:
I Hope You Dance (Lee Ann Womack)

How do you feel about yourself:
Sad Eyes (Robert John)

Describe your ex girlfriend/boyfriend:
Insensitive (Jann Arden)

Describe your current girlfriend/boyfriend:
What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life? (Barbra Streisand)

Describe where you want to be:
Laughter In The Rain (Neil Sedaka) (yes, I listen to Neil Sedaka!)

Describe what you want to be:
She's A Beauty (The Tubes)

Describe how you live:
Siting, Waiting, Wishing (Jack Johnson)

Describe how you love:
Kiss You All Over (Exile)

Share a few words of wisdom:
Let Your Love Flow (Bellamy Brothers)

--

My answers from last year (iTunes):

Are you female or male:
She Said (Brie Larson)
Describe yourself:
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (Cyndi Lauper)
How do some people feel about you:
Beautiful Soul (Jesse McCartney)
How do you feel about yourself:
Candle in the Wind (Elton John)
Describe your ex girlfriend/boyfriend:
Devils & Dust (The Boss)
Describe your current girlfriend/boyfriend:
Can't Get Enough of Your Love (Barry White)
Describe where you want to be:
Moonlight Bay (Billy Vaughn)
Describe what you want to be:
Long Cool Woman (The Hollies)
Describe how you live:
Ordinary (Train)
Describe how you love:
I Only Have Eyes For You (The Flamingos)
Share a few words of wisdom:
Hold On Loosely (38 Special)

My answers from a 2 years ago (iTunes):

Are you female or male:
Uptown Girl (Billy Joel)
Describe yourself:
Truly, Madly, Deeply (Savage Garden)
How do some people feel about you:
Fallen Angel (Poison)
How do you feel about yourself:
Don't Let Me Get Me (Pink)
Describe your ex girlfriend/boyfriend:
Paint It Black (Rolling Stones)
Describe your current girlfriend/boyfriend:
I Need You (LeAnn Rymes)
Describe where you want to be:
Tunnel Of Love (The Boss)
Describe what you want to be:
Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show (Neil Diamond) :)
Describe how you live:
You'll Never Know (The Platters)
Describe how you love:
More Than A Feeling (Boston)
Share a few words of wisdom:
Every Rose Has It's Thorn (Poison)

what do you think?

These are a few of my photos that I ran thru a program that makes it look like the photo is in an art gallery. Do any of them work?

** HAPPY BIRTHDAY NANCI **

There is a new cookbook I want. Lord knows I do not need a new cookbook because I have a ton already, but I want this one. It’s by Dorie Greenspan and is called “Baking: From My Home to Yours”. Dorie was on a Bon Appétit podcast, (I listen to their podcasts) and this woman sounds like she really knows baking. I’d bet cash money anything she bakes tastes good…..some people you can just tell. So the thing that got me was her story about her first job as a baker. She worked for some restaurant and they had this cake they served and she’d have to go in and bake it (in triplicate) every single day. Well she got pretty bored making the same cake day after day and so she changed it up a little one day. The cake had whiskey-soaked raisins in the cake, but she put **Armagnac-soaked prunes in. And rather than using the ground almonds in the cake, she used ground pecans. Not a huge variation, but it was a noticeable change. The cakes went up to the restaurant and were serverd….and no one but Dorie knew about the changes. The cakes were served and at the end of the day, she was called into the managers office. The manager commented “Those were interesting cakes you made today”. Dorie was pleased thinking this was a good thing. Well, she was fired for “creative insubordination”. I’m sure that seemed like a bad thing at the time, but I think that sounds like a good thing! Maybe not good to be creatively insubordinate if you are a….oh….pilot or maybe a….heart surgeon, but a baker….maybe that’d be ok. So long as that does not mean using dirt as an ingredient...or....well nevermind. This isn't going where I had intended!

*chuckles*

But anyway....I want the cookbook :)

** A brandy produced in the Gers department of France

Pop Quiz

How much do you know about me? A little? A lot? Nothing? Take the MsOktober Quiz and find out!

Weekend Report

Well, like last weekend, this weekend sucked.

Saturday we were on our way to Del Mar and the check engine light came on.

Never a good thing.

We drove directly to the VW dealer hoping maybe they were having a slow day and could look at it. No such luck. Their service department was totally booked. The guy said they would at least try to run a diagnostic test on it so we'd know what we were dealing with. This was at 2pm. They close at 5pm and he said he'd call before then. Their free shuttle service drove us home. Then all we could do was wait.

Ticktock, ticktock...

Have you ever noticed that when your car is in the shop, it's a little like having a family member in the hospital? All you can do is wait to hear what the diagnosis will be. Will it be bad? Will it be no big deal? Will they need an operation? How long will they be off their feet....er, tires? The waiting sucks. You come up with all these things in your head....usually bad things.

So at 4:30pm he still had not called so Greg called. They had been so busy that no one had time to look at it yet :( The guy said he'd see if someone could run the diagnostic on it and he'd call back.

More waiting.

He did call back. From what they could tell, some kind of sensor has gone bad. It was sort of a rush rush diagnostic, so I sort of think that won't end up being the only problem. We'll see. Buffy (that's my bugs name) will have a full exam today. Poor Buffy.

Sunday we pretty much did nothing. I watched Food Network all day since I have no interest in football since the team that should have been playing wasn't. But I don't want to talk about that.

That's it!

Sorry, I know it's been a while. I have not been in the mood to post.....I'm still not, but forcing myself to come up with something that might be half interesting for you all to read.

So...I'm doing 5 things I love.

1. JVC Marshmallow Earphones. Greg got these for me for Christmas and I *love* them. They have this squishy part that goes in your ear and it takes on the shape of your ear and expands to fit....like those squishy earplugs construction workers use. So you don't hear anything else....and if you read me with any regularity, you know this is important in my office. These are way better than the stock earbuds that come with ipods.

2. Memory Foam Pillow. Oh man....the best pillow ever. I can't sleep with more than one pillow under my head because I wake up with a stiff neck due to the angle of your neck when you sleep like that. This pillow has a hump at the edge that supports your neck and the memory foam takes the shape of the side of your head and face so nothing is getting smashed (like your ear) by your 10 pound head. I don't think I can go back to the old style pillow after using this.

3. Trader Joe's Orange Chicken. Sooo yummy! It's extra good if you have it with the Trader Joe's chicken fried rice, but brown rice is just fine and is better for you.

4. L'Occitane Shea Butter mini tin. This stuff is great in the winter. I use it on my lips every morning after I brush my teeth. Thier hand lotion is good, too.

5. I know these are not "things" exactly, but I cannot get enough of these songs lately: Chasing Cars (Snow Patrol), Over My Head (The Fray), Boston (Augustana), Cool (Gwen Stefani).


That's it. Take care everyone.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DIANNE!

Cold!

Listen to the Charges Anthem at http://www.myspace.com/payableondeath

Sooo exited about Sunday. Greg says they are destin to take it all. I might cry if they win tomorrow....and it's only the first play off game!

Okay, back to the title! COLD!

The forcast says it's warmer today.....but it does not feel like it (56 is the high, 25 is the low)!



I opened the front door and had to snap a picture of the sunrise today. Yes, I get up way too early.

Go Chargers!

A traffic helicopter guy took this picture of Fiesta Island from the sky. The Chargers take on the Patriots this Sunday!

a dessert you can feel good about eating

Rice Pudding

2 cups water
1 cup Arborio rice
3 cups vanilla soy milk
1/4 cup sugar
Pinch salt
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more for dusting
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons sweetened condensed milk
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Bring the water to a boil in a medium sized, heavy, ovenproof saucepan. Add the rice, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes, until rice is nearly cooked. In a large bowl, whisk the soymilk, sugar, and salt. When the rice is cooked and still hot, add the soymilk mixture and cinnamon stick. Cover, place in the oven and cook for 45 minutes.

Remove from the oven, uncover, and remove the cinnamon stick. Stir in the vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. Pudding will be slightly liquidy; the liquid will continue to absorb into the rice and thicken as the pudding cools. Distribute among 8 bowls, drizzle each with 1 teaspoon of the condensed milk. Dust with cinnamon and nutmeg, if desired. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Calories 175
Carbohydrates 36 grams
Total fat 2 grams
Saturated fat 0.5 grams
Protein 5 grams
Fiber 0.7 grams
Sodium 59 milligrams

Blueberry Compote

2 cups frozen blueberries
3 tablespoons water
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Combine 1 cup of the blueberries, water, sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Cook over a medium heat for about 10 minutes. Add the rest of the blueberries and cook for 8 minutes more, stirring frequently. Serve warm.

Nutritional Analysis per Serving
Calories 44
Carbohydrates 11 grams
Total fat 0
Saturated fat 0
Protein 0
Fiber 1 gram
Sodium 0.4 milligrams

About Me

I read a few other blogs and this "14 things you might not know about me" is going around. So here goes.

1. I know UNIX & vi
2. I have a heart murmur
3. My eyesight is horrible in the dark. Worse than most people.
4. I'm kind of a wanna be goth girl
5. I'm not a big fan of chocolate
6. I wish I had joined the Peace Corps when I graduated high school
7. I wrote a short story
8. Patrick Elmore was the first boy I kissed
9. I have an allergy to an ingredient in nail polish
10. I wanted to be a helicopter pilot in 11th grade
11. Men, in general, scare me
12. I was 5 pounds when I was born
13. I deam of running away from this life and starting fresh
14. I wish I could either sing or tango really really well

Stuff I see on Flickr.

No words for this
A yellow dream
A bugs life
Whatever that is, it looks stuffed and mounted
From the red light district?
Uh, your sock fell down...
Just role playing around
Pretty
It's all in the eyes
Sexy
Not a hair out of place
Finally, someone with priorities!
Either her parents are really cool or they have serious issues
Whether in chains or in laurels, liberty knows nothing but victories
Saved the best for last

Happy Weekend

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!
Originally uploaded by photo kitten.

May 2007 treat you well :)