Cake, yummy, delicious CAKE...

So I'm FINALLY putting my cake decorating lessons to GOOD use and I'm making my first cake to take into public. It's going to be a Cardinals Superbowl theme. (Part of it is baking as I type this.) Oh Lord just PLEASE let it at least taste good. lol.

I'd also like to know why it is that there isn't anywhere half way decent in Tucson to buy decorating supplies. Michael's is ALWAYS out of what I want, unless I want to drive across town for it. There's another place I found that's SUPPOSED to be a cake decorating supply store. Right, and I'm Collette Peters. (Google her if you don't know who she is.) If I ever need cheap plastic doo-dads for a cake or cupcakes, I know EXACTLY where to go, otherwise it's overpriced crap that Michael's carried anyway. I guess when I need something I'll be looking to a friendly internet retail shop. (Shopping in Tucson for anything just plain sucks anyway, unless you WANT overpriced crap.)

Oh! I also made my first BIG word faux pas with Jack today. I was driving down the street when someone in a TINY little car pulled right out in front of my 3/4 ton Suburban, causing me to slam on my brakes and spill iced tea all over the front of my ONE unstained white t-shirt, cause me to yell one of the easiest four letter words for a toddler to replicate. Let's just say within thirty seconds I was repeating "no honey...SHOE." It worked this time. WHEW!

Homework STILL sucks..

I decided to get off my duff and go back to college. YAY ME! I am discovering that homework still sucks. I am having to take the most b.s. class EVER, although I will admit I've learned a few things from it. What sucks about it is the fact that I am supposed to write two three paragraphs describing a challenge I am facing in regards to going back to school and how I can use creative problem solving to overcome the challenge. Um....the only challenge I face is WRITING THIS PAPER. lol. Would saying I have to use financial aid be a legitimate challenge since we don't have the funds to pay for it outright? UGH.

Ah hell, I could just be honest and use my poor writing and grammar skills for my challenge. HA HA HA!

Hope for Change...

I hope that the Democrats change their tune and don't do all they're planning to do. I hope that in six months from now, much less four years from now, I still have the right to own a firearm AND ammunition for it. I hope that this country doesn't go to Hell in a hand basket. I hope that Socialism doesn't overrun what little Capitalism this great country has left. Don't get me wrong, I am excited we finally have a person of color in office, just not THIS one. Obama being the POTUS with the Democrats in charge of the legislative branch scares the shit out of me. I hope I have some change left in my pocket when all is said and done...

Sleep...whatever happened to a good night's sleep?

So my mom had her knee replaced last week. Her and my Dad live so far out in BFE that the home health people won't drive out there for physical therapy three times a week. I let her stay here. Not such a big deal except that we put Jack's bed in the office so my mom can have her own room, which means Jack gets the toddler bed again. He is NOT happy about this. He's been getting up several times a night, to the point where when he does his 0100 wake up we just let him come sleep with us. Who in their right minds WILLINGLY sleeps with children? Both Troy and I get kicked in various places all night long by the monkey boy who does acrobatics in his sleep. Then to top it off, last night Troy decided not to fight it and took Jack straight to bed in our room. This meant that when I went to bed a few hours later there was NO ROOM! (Yeah, sorry, no way in HELL am I going to wake up a two year old to move him. NO WAY NO HOW!!!) Remind me next time to just gently move him so I can crawl in. Sleeping and getting kicked in the head has GOT to be more restful than sleeping on the fart noodling couch for a night. UGH.

Is it nap time yet?

Finding Nemo, Cars, Mickey Mouse and the World According to a Two Year Old.

So I spoke too early about Nemo. DAMMIT ALL TO HELL! Oh well, I suppose there could be worse things in life than having to watch all aforementioned titles five HUNDRED times a day. (Although I feel like suggesting this to the Marines to use on the prisoners in Gitmo.)

Another thing about two year olds- NO PATIENCE. It's a theme I've noticed in Jack lately, and a theme I've noticed amongst other moms of two year olds I know. To them time means nothing at all and EVERYTHING is at the utmost importance. Doesn't matter if it's Mickey Mouse, a cup of frozen blueberries or devising a way to get an interplanetary star ship to actually travel at the speed of light- they want it NOW NOW NOW. (Come to think of it, this sounds like a boss I used to have and a good chunk of the passengers I used to deal with while working for US Airways.)

And now for something different. I HAVE to rant about this for a second...

I do not have myself fooled into believing that I am a scholarly writer. I do, however, like to believe I have a semi-decent grasp of the English Language. As I mentioned before I started back to college. All of my classes are online, so I get to see what my classmates write rather than hear them speaking. After reading through about twenty answers on our blackboard page, all I could think was "You have GOT to be kidding me!" Seriously, how illiterate IS this country getting? Has spell check really ruined us that much? Do school systems no longer teach elementary grammar?

Adventures with Llama Boy and Potty Training

Jack officially has his super hero identity. Llama Boy. I truly hope for his sake he doesn't become Llama Man. He's got his mother's penchant for pushing buttons lately, and he's learned that EVERYONE finds spitting to be rather rude. He's also aware that it royally pisses me off. Yes ladies and gentleman, my son spits at you when he gets angry. It's annoying as I'll get out.

Jack is also now FINALLY starting to lose interest in Finding Nemo. Seriously, I really do think it's a cute movie, but would rather not to have to watch it 3 or 4 times a day. This has been going on for about 2 months now. Prior to this it was Cars. Jack ha a Disney/Pixar fixation. Anyway, Jack has now decided that the dvd du jour is a Huggie's Potty Training Secrets dvd they sent me in the mail. (I love how I get random crap like that in mail.) I wouldn't mind him watching it if he LEARNED anything from it, he just likes to watch it for the other little kids in it.

Recipes to be Tried...

Because I don't feel like opening Word right now! HA HA HA.

Chicken Pot Pie
Box of refidgerated pie crusts.
2 cups pre cooked chicken/turkey
1/2 cup milk
Can of Cream of mushroom or Chciken soup
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2teaspoon pepper
1 bag frozen mixed veggies
Bake for 45 minutes @375

Thanks Rachel!


Bowtie pasta mixed in with pesto and extra parmigiano cheese. Then in a pan with EVOO I sauteed onions, garlic, mushrooms and apple/chardonnay chix sausages(got them from Target). Steam a little broccoli and add it all together. YUMMY!
That one gets credited to Amber.

Brooke's Baked Kale Chips
1 bunch of kale, stems off and torn into bite sized pieces
4 tbs olive oil
1 tbs Vinegar (she used cider, I used Tarragon)
a shake of salt free lemon pepper
a dash of salt
Preheat oven to 350*. Wash and shake dry Kale. Prepare as mentioned above. Toss kale in a bowl with the olive oil, vinegar, and seasonings and turn out onto greased baking sheet.
Bake for about 20 mins.
Watch them carefully, as I think mine only took maybe 10 mins.
(Thank you to Brooke and thank you to Kim for posting this in her blog so I could find it again!)

Is it obvious I want to get into meal planning? YAY!

Tucsonans LOVE their junk.

I've been searching for a decent used treadmill for a while now. Craigslist has been a bust as well as the newspaper classifieds. Seriously, someone actually thinks that because their nonworking treadmill says Nordictrack on it means they should still sell it for eight hundred dollars. What the HELL? This is just par for the course for the people in this city.

Of course, this also goes the other way. If you have a garage sale and have a gently used baby swing that cost $120.00 brand new marked for thirty, they offer you ten bucks. Sorry, I'll donate it and take the tax write off for a higher amount than that.

I totally understand wanting to make a buck or two and wanting to get a good deal, just be REALISTIC about it people!!!

YAY SCHOOL!!!!

So I finally decided to get off my rear end and finish my degree. WOOT! I feel like Nemo when he's jumping on his dad yelling "FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!" This enthusiasm had BETTER darned well last more than a few days this time. I'm sick of the dead end, useless jobs here in Tucson. If you want to do ANYTHING here you need that bachelor's degree. Sadly, here in Tucson it doesn't guarantee you a job that pays more than twelve dollars an hour. It's like this city says "Welcome to Tucson- now go away."

My ultimate goal is to finish this degree in Health Care Administration then go to the U of A here to get an accelerated BSN. Depending on how the economy is by the time I finish my HCA degree, I may talk my husband into moving back to Texas and doing my BSN there. Tucson just isn't a very family friendly city to raise children in. (Sorry, the city wants to be, but it just isn't.)

I have also decided, for my BIG New Year's Resolution to organize this house. I am sick of clutter, and three people living in a 1200 square foot house does not equal a lot of room. Especially when one of these said people is a two year old who believes the entire house is his to turn into a playroom. This will teach me to listen to my mother when it comes to home buying advice. She told us to not get a house with a family room and a formal living room as the living room would never be used. I'm now thinking that at least with the formal living space I could have an area we could block off from the monster and have company in. (I know...HA HA HA HA!!! Nice thought there.) In any case, it could be an area to turn into a playroom. Either that or I wish we had bought a four bedroom home. Oh well...lesson learned for next time we go house hunting. (Although I have a feeling my then Jack will be old enough where we'll need a media room or something awful like that.) Anyway, back to my organization plan...if you have any tips to give me to get my life organized, feel free to pass them along!!!