It's late in the work day and I am about ready to leave for the day, but I just had to share this. You may recall from a previous post that I have to look through a mail folder full of spam for legitimate email from off campus users. So I am looking at the subject lines....it's usually very obvious from the subject if it's spam or not. So going along reading....

Lindsey Lohan died in car crash...
Britney and Paris Lesbian video....
See this fastest beer drinker...
Sex after sports kills man...

Then I see this one and burst out laughing...

Breaking news: Aliens landed in Ohio.

I'm not allergic to gluten, but I found the recipe below and it peaked my interest. The creator of the recipe claims that unless you know it has no regular flour in it, you will never be able to tell the difference. I'm curious. And considering I am trying to bake more, I might have to make them.

Course, they are not very healthy with the butter, sugars and peanut butter. I guess I could bake them, we could eat one....or two if they are as good as they are said to be, then send the rest to work with Greg. Course, I'd have to make sure they actually made their way to his work and did not get stashed in his car for snacking. He's a little snacker. I can just see him around 10pm when he gets a little peckish....tip-toeing his way out to his car and digging around for cookies.....only to turn around with crumbs on this lips and peanut butter on his breath and seeing me standing at the door. So maybe I better look for a low fat cookie instead....

Perfect Gluten-free Peanut Butter Cookies

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup salted natural peanut butter
1/2 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup corn flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/4 cup potato flour

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the butter, brown sugar, white sugar and egg until smooth.
3. Stir in the peanut butter.
4. Combine the baking soda, corn flour, tapioca flour, and potato flour; stir into the batter to form a dough.
5. Roll the dough into teaspoon sized balls and place them 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
6. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven.
7. Let cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Christian the Lion

Just had to share this because it is my kind of story. This is a true story. There are some videos on You Tube that show a horrible ending and those are edited and didn't really happen. Enjoy!

Bleeding Love - Leona Lewis

Closed off from love
I didn't need the pain
Once or twice was enough
And it was all in vain
Time starts to pass
Before you know it you're frozen

But something happened
For the very first time with you
My heart melts into the ground
Found something true
And everyone's looking round
Thinking I'm going crazy

But I don't care what they say
I'm in love with you
They try to pull me away
But they don't know the truth
My heart's crippled by the vein
That I keep on closing
You cut me open and I

Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
I keep bleeding
I keep, keep bleeding love
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
You cut me open

Trying hard not to hear
But they talk so loud
Their piercing sounds fill my ears
Try to fill me with doubt
Yet I know that the goal
Is to keep me from falling

But nothing's greater
Than the rush that comes with your embrace
And in this world of loneliness
I see your face
Yet everyone around me
Thinks that I'm going crazy, maybe, maybe

But I don't care what they say
I'm in love with you
They try to pull me away
But they don't know the truth
My heart's crippled by the vein
That I keep on closing
You cut me open and I

Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
I keep bleeding
I keep, keep bleeding love
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
You cut me open

And it's draining all of me
Oh they find it hard to believe
I'll be wearing these scars
For everyone to see

But I don't care what they say
I'm in love with you
They try to pull me away
But they don't know the truth
My heart's crippled by the vein
That I keep on closing
You cut me open and I

Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
I keep bleeding
I keep, keep bleeding love
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
You cut me open and I

Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
I keep bleeding
I keep, keep bleeding love
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
You cut me open and I
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love

I'm on a roll, people!

Look out, I'm crossing off another thing on my 101 list!

44. Have a photo of mine in a magazine or calendar

This photo is published in this book.

It was picked because of it's breast cancer theme with the special edition Campbell's soup label and the special pink M&M's that were out last October for breast cancer awareness month.

chop ~ whisk ~ stir

Greg and I watch a lot of the Food Network. Pretty much every night we watch something we've recorded.....Iron Chef, Boy Meets Grill, Everyday Italian, and recently, The Next Food Network Star. We have not watched this series before, but I recored the first one and we just kept watching it. I must say, it's pretty exciting to watch. There were 10 people all trying to win their own Food Network Show. It's kind of like "cooking show survivor". There are people you clearly do not like and people you do like. Each week you are pulling for someone to get canned and someone to keep going. The hour long show never drags. It's fast paced and there is always some kind of "drama"....in a good way. Keeps you interested. I think they are going to do a marathon of the show this weekend, so if you want to watch it, you can record it and watch one each night and then watch the last 4 that are left. They also have clips of the show here. If you do happen to watch it or if you start watching it, you have to read Bob Tuschman's weekly blog. I look forward to reading this just as much as I look forward to watching the show. He is one of the people on the selection committee and is funny, smart and is a good writer. His blog gives you insight into the episode, how they came to pick who was booted off and some tid bits you didn't get to see on the show. The other committee person is Susie Fogelson and she has a vlog which is interesting, but not as much as Bob's blog. Although, she did have Bobby Flay as guest on her vlog this week and we got to find out who his favorite is. He also said there is someone who is currently still in the running who he does not feel should be there....but he declined to say who it was. Maybe that will be revealed at the end. Bobby is also on the selection committee which is a plus because he is so likeable...tho Greg says he might be a little too serious at times. *shrugs* I never thought I'd hear a critical word come out of Greg mouth about Bobby Flay!

Anyway, there you go....maybe more than you really wanted to know about a cooking show :)

It was a nice long weekend. Sometimes 3 days weekends go really quickly, but this one actually took it's time. I was so happy on Friday because it felt like Saturday....but it wasn't!

Laura invited us to go swimming on the 4th and that was nice...pretty much was in the pool the whole time we were there. Skipped the fireworks....the traffic would have been horrible. All in all, a nice 4th.

I didn't touch my craft/office closet as I suggested I might. I almost went in there yesterday, but I took a nap instead. Napping is far better use of my time :)

Things at work....ugh. It's a really long story and a bit on the complicated side so I'm not going to get too detailed. The reclass I have been talking about over the last few months didn't get approved....or denied. There are just questions about the process and how my boss has handled things along with how out of date my job description is. There are just a lot of questions. So, it looks like the job will have to be opened for recruitment. Meaning, they have to post my job, have to interview, hopefully I get it. You might ask, "how could you not get it?" Well, first, I never in 100 years thought my job would be opened for recruitment, so that right there tells you anything can happen. The second thing is, I am qualified by experience, not schooling. The job category would require a college degree....and lord knows I don't have one of those. So if someone else applies for the job who is as qualified and has programming skills.....well....then I could be pretty well screwed. If my old department had not merged with the new department, I would not be worried. Not a bit. But here....in this new department, things are much much different. The directors here don't know me....they don't have a clue who I am. So they will look at this very objectively.....and everyone will have a fair shot. Sure, I know the fine details, I don't need training, I've been doing it for what seems like my whole life, but that's only part of it. They tend to look at things long term, which I have to admit is smart. Things is, I might not be the best long term thing out there....me and my lack or programming and all that crap. So my less than competent boss (honestly, she has sucked at this whole process from the start and is the reason I am in this predicament) is looking into all this and I should know this week what will end up happening. I've had nothing but bad news about it, so I'm feeling unsure of things. Wish me luck!

Happy Birthday America!

home of the free ~ land of the brave

See my 4th of July art here

I just crossed off #20 and #50 from my 101 things to do list. Well, half crossed them off. My wonderful husband helped me clean and organize my craft room. Actually, he did most of it.....clean and organize are not favorite words of mine. But he is a cleaning and organizing machine - a Virgo. I'm a Libra....we are creative and lazy machines. So I told him my ideas and he made it happen. It's a much different room now. You can walk in and see everything. There isn't "stuff" all over the place. I can easily find paper, any stamp I want, use my Cricut without having to lean over a pile of "stuff" to get to it, see the many different spools of ribbon I have...it's nice.

The reason I only half crossed them off is because I wouldn't say it's beautiful yet. It's functional. Not beautiful. But it could get beautiful in time. So just half crossed off. It is clean, so #50 is also half crossed off. To get that one totally crossed off I will have to keep it clean. But you know.....clean and organized are not favorite words of mine. I really like it clean....I really do. Last night I sat in there for a few minutes just looking around. It was cool. So maybe I will keep it spotless. Maybe. Time will tell.

As for #49....well those piles of "suff" I talked about.....they made their way in there. So that is not even close to being crossed off. Maybe I will work on that closet on Friday. Maybe. It's just going to suck. But 50% of it is clothes I have never wanted to get rid of. So if I just go in there and close my eyes and stuff it all in a bag, I will not see what is on it's way to Goodwill.....and then some lucky fool can buy my acid washed jeans from 1985 for $2.