A writing week...

As a sub, I'm most often working with students who need help with reading and writing. So I've decided that this week I'm going to spend the week with posts using some of the journaling prompts that float around for the kids to use in their own journaling. Get ready to live!

So - I just finished posts that should hopefully make up for the almost week without posts. Life has been pretty quiet - subbing during the days - enjoying TV and movies and books and planning a political coup. Obviously the last one may seem a little odd - but it's true. If you want details you must understand that once I tell you - you might be an accomplice. But I'm working on the master plan - including a puppet figure-head. I'm very excited. Once I've got certain elements in place - I will reveal my coup plans...until then Viva La Hemlines!!

This is great!!

From the DC Traveler website I learned about this event...stunt...thing. Folks ride public transport without pants! Delightful. Go read about it!

Did anyone see this, live and in person?

Now you CAN Hassle the Hoff...

So - I'm not sure how much time this took someone (or even a team) but it does make me laugh. And it's free - so it meets the rule of not spending money on jokes. Please go and download your own Posable David Hasselhoff.

Bare walls?

This is such a cool bookshelf! The metal of course allows for use of magnets, but each shelf is plenty of sturdy for books and heavy knick-knacks. It also seems that the installation would be fairly smooth. It is a German made item - but at 129 euro (or 191.00 USD) it's a pretty great deal for bookshelves that provide a lot of flexibility and are a little arty!

I wrote it on the TOAST!

So - this special new invention seems just a little...uh...special. The concept is so weird. You write your message out on the pad - and then the message is printed into the toasted bread. See:
Why would I need my message or quick reminder printed on my toast? Or, perhaps it's good for spies...who are sick of messages self destructing or having to eat the paper. Either way - this may not be making too many wish lists this year. Unless of course I'm getting a cute little toaster for my desk - that wouldn't be too shabby. Hmm...

The sport of kings...

Actually - the sport of kings is actually horse racing - but I am SO excited for the summer to arrive - so that I can practice my newest sport love: CHEESE RACING. I also love Bocce ball and Jarts. Basically I love lawn games.

And how did I ever live without CHEESE RACING? Are you new to CHEESE RACING, too? Well - basically the rules are thus: (from the official Cheese Racing website)

What do you think happens when you throw a slice of processed cheese (without removing the plastic wrapping) onto a lit barbeque?

The plastic melts giving off highly toxic fumes and you are left with a pretty grim cheese/plastic mess welded on to your BBQ, right?

WRONG!

Unbelievably what actually happens, as discovered by the pioneers and inventors of the sport way back in 1997 (read their account of that historic night on a campsite in Osmington here), is that the plastic pouch does not melt - even when the cheese inside eventually boils! Even more incredibly, as the cheese melts and the strange chemicals found in processed cheese turn to gas - the plastic pouch inflates until eventually all four corners lift off the BBQ and the pouch is fully inflated! Now under this pressure you might think that the pouch would eventually burst - but no - most of the time the seal remains intact!

Quite why processed cheese manufacturers choose to use such industrial strength, heat proof plastic to encase their products is something of a mystery - as is why NASA don't use this material instead of those expensive heat proof tiles on the space shuttle? Such important questions no doubt occurred to the first observers of this phenomenon on that night in Osmington, but that didn't stop them from coming up with a brilliantly simple sport based on it.

So there you have it - and honestly I don't know how I ever passed a summer without having a great, old fashioned cheese race.

You are all invited to my first cheese race event - which is not officially sanctioned by CRASS (Cheese Racing Association) but I hope by the end of the 2008 Tournament we'll be good to go. So - mark your calendars for Monday, June 9. More details will come - but I will provide the cheese and the heat - you just bring a team name and yell (required) and we'll have a grand old time.

Sitting in the storm...

As I'm sitting here in the stormy weather (...don't know why) I'm forced to think how great it will be to be in the Spring-time again. Not that I'm trying to hurry Winter up here...but don't you think my folks need these for the back yard?
I just think they are so pretty - and easier to manage than tiki torches. They will be so great for the back-yard movie nights...yee-haw. Not that February isn't going to be awesome, too. I'm just sayin'.

Happy Birthday, King...

So - apparently today is Elvis' birthday. If he was still alive today - he'd be 72. This is according to the German guy in the crowd at the Today Show (today). And that's good enough for me.

I'm feeling a little peckish...

39%

American Gladiators!

Quick check - is it summer in 1988? Because watching the new American Gladiators makes this January day feel like Summer vacation when I was in elementary school! This new incarnation is more intense - especially with gladiators named Crush, Stealth, Justice and of course, my favorite (who scares me a whole lot) WOLF!! My folks told me the big, bad wolf was real - and now I know my fears have not been in vain.

Wolf - you scare me in the best possible way!

For Mrs. Doctor...

I have cleaning helpers, too! Aren't they cute!? Not as cute as yours, but still...they do pretty good work...


I bet you don't pay your helpers in Diet Pepsi, though? Sorry - but it's part of their contract...

Christmas break...

I guess I took an extended Christmas break - but today I'm back to blogging since I didn't get called to sub today. Long time, no update - so buckle up, and here we go:

Christmas: was very different this year. Being a family of four, this was the first year that we were only three around the tree in 20 years. And I'm sure if you've read over at Trixie's Circus - we are a family of traditions. Change can be hard. But it meant that we had new things - like talking to our Elder - to do and enjoy. But we made cookies and ate the treats from all the stop-bys and watched our holiday movies and ate nachos and opened gifts. And then at 6:30 a.m. on December 25 our phone rang...and we spent the day talking to Elder Taylor. He's fantastic and we had such a great time visiting. And we talked longer than we did on Mother's Day...if you're keeping track.

Being on the phone all day meant that cooking Christmas dinner sort of went out the window - other than putting the turkey in the oven. So yes, this year - we just ate turkey. From the carcass. The best part of just eating turkey is that none of us cared. We were all so relieved as we looked around and realized that no one wanted to make the other dishes and that was one of the best moments of Christmas 2007.

There were lots of lovely gifts - sweaters and pajamas and towels and books...and I'm way behind in my thank-you notes. So, if you're reading this and haven't gotten your thank-you note - don't give up hope.

Post-Christmas: the days after Christmas were filled with cleaning and making all the dishes that we'd failed to make on Christmas day - so plenty of food and cleaning up. We also waited to hear if Elder Taylor had been transferred out of Reno - and he has...he's now living in Gardnerville, Nevada.

New Year: it was pretty different this year. I normally ring in the New Year with the Malleys in Layton...but this year, it didn't work out. So, I found myself with some camp friends that I haven't seen in forever - and then visiting a couple of parties. Lots of talking and laughing and eating "pigs in a blanket." I had a nice time on New Year's Eve - but in my true grandma form, was home and in bed by 1 a.m.

So...yeah. Clearly nothing too exciting has happened in the last two weeks - but I'll do my best to post about some of the great stuff I've seen around the Interwebs....

Happy 2008, friends!

This could kill you...

I found this recipe here and realized that you'd probably only want to eat this in the hospital waiting room - just to save money on an ambulance ride. Please do enjoy:

Chocolate Ferrero Rocher Cake with Nutella Ganache

The Ingredients

Cake
3½ cups cake flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa (not Dutch process)
1½ teaspoons salt
2 cups softened butter
2¼ cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1½ teaspoons vanilla
1¼ cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons baking soda
2½ teaspoons white vinegar

Milk chocolate and Ferrero Rocher filling
15 Ferrero Rochers, crushed
200g Lindt milk chocolate, finely chopped
1 tablespoon unsweetened alkalized cocoa powder
2/3 cup heavy cream

Nutella Ganache
1 cup Nutella
1 cup heavy cream

The Method

(Tip: One easy way to crush Ferrero Rochers is to do them while they’re still in their gold foil wrappers. Peel off the brown liner, lightly smash the chocolate while it's still in the foil, roll it around a hard surface, then open it up and dump the crushed bits into your mixture!)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line two round layer cake pans with a baking sheet or aluminium foil.

2. Whisk cake flour, cocoa and salt in a bowl.

3. Place oil and sugar in bowl of an electric mixer and beat at medium speed until well-blended. Beat in eggs one at a time, then the vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk in two batches. Scrape down bowl and beat just long enough to combine.

4. Place baking soda in a small dish, stir in vinegar and add to batter with machine running. Beat for 10 seconds.

5. Divide batter among pans, place in oven and bake until a cake tester comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool in pans 20 minutes. Then remove from pans, flip layers over and peel off parchment, and cool.

6. Meanwhile, start on the milk chocolate and Ferrero Rocher filling. Place the Lindt chocolate in a medium bowl with the sifted cocoa powder. In a small saucepan bring the cream to a boil. Once it starts bubbling, pour the hot cream over the chocolate and gently whisk until smooth. Allow the mixture to cool, and add the crushed Ferrero Rochers.

7. Next, start on the Nutella ganache. Melt the Nutella and cream over low heat, stirring constantly, until smoothly blended. Let it cool.

8. Spread the milk chocolate and Ferrero Rocher filling over one layer, then put other layer on top. Frost the top and sides with the Nutella ganache, then stand back, and marvel at your heavenly chocolate and hazelnut creation.

I don't even know what to say about this...

With these gold pills

The Christmas "Stop-by"

It seems that the Christmas "Stop-by's" have begun a little early this year. We are more used to them being on Christmas Eve - but we are not one's to pretend we're not home just because we're not wearing any pants. Just like a designated driver, we have one person assigned to be able to receive guests at the door while the rest of the crew...uh...completes their ensemble.

But more to the point - tonight we had three "stop-by's." One with delicious chocolate covered popcorn, another with the worlds greatest caramels, and the last - and really the most spectacular was a cake. In our ward, the Laurels get together each Sunday evening to bake and decorate cakes for folks in the ward. I'm not sure how it started or the reasoning - but I'm not one to turn down a cake. So, here it is:

Trixie with the cake

A cake! For us! With blue frosting!

We loved the details - the nose is an M&M on its edge - in relief!!

We are so amazed at the generosity of our friends and family!

An entree for the New Year...

This year - I will be making this sangwich on New Year's Day. I'm pretty excited about it...doesn't this sound good?!

3-4 slices of bacon
2 slices of Monterey Jack cheese
2 slices of toasted rustic country loaf (pain de campagne)
1 tbsp of mayo
4 tomato slices
2 leaves of butter lettuce
1 teaspoon butter
1 egg

1. Cook the bacon until crisp, drain on paper towels
2. Place slices of cheese on one side of toasted bread. Place in toaster oven or under broiler to melt.
3. Spread mayo on other slice of bread top with bacon, sliced tomato, and lettuce
4. On non-stick skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Fry egg, turning over briefly when the bottom is set (keep yolk runny)
5. Slide finished egg on top of lettuce, top with other slice of bread (cheese-side down genius)
6. Place sandwich on plate and slice in half, letting yolk run down sandwich

I will make one of these sangwiches for the first person who can tell me where this sangwich was featured.

***UPDATE: the sangwich contest has been won, by my dear friend Tinkles.***

Thanks for the concern...

I understand that folks have been worried about my lack of posting. I am sorry for the absence - but I've been busy - below you can read what I've been up to!

Reveling...

This has been a really wonderful Christmas season. I have been to many parties - including one where my very own father got to be one of Santa's "helpers." Such a fun time. And a little mind blowing.

I've also been shopping and was in our Enrichment program - as the reader (and good news, I was perfect - because I know how to read!). It's been such a nice season to spend time with friends and not feel guilty that I should be doing something else...sitting and visiting is part of my Spirit of Christmas...and I don't care who knows it.

Mostly we've been getting ready to talk to our Elder on Christmas Day. We've sent him packages and gifts and things and cookies - but the best will be talking to him on Tuesday. Time has played tricks this year - it's been SO long since we talked to him in May, but it's so hard to believe that TEN months have passed since we said good-bye at the MTC. Weird. If you have any questions for the Elder - either interesting questions or stuff you actually want to know, please send them to me!

So - I hope that you're enjoying what you're doing and smiling and saying "thank you" and being awesome. That's my Christmas wish...

Working!

I've been working for the last week as a classified substitute for a local school district. And I LOVE IT. It's so many good things and I will list them.

First: it's an adrenalin rush each day. I never know where I'll be working, what I'll be doing - and it's a new challenge each day! The calls come in the 5:00 a.m. hour, which IS early - but then I get cracking and on my way. Now I know what Don Berg's days are like..sort of. Really, just the part of being up before heaven's angels. Any who - I get a lot done and get to enjoy hours of the day I didn't really know existed...

Second: as a "classified" sub, I'm working in inclusion programs, resource rooms, regular classrooms, and best of all - on the playground. I am not tied to one classroom - so even if I don't like the style of a teacher or classroom - I'm not there long enough for it to become a problem. This really helps in my "no complaining" project.
Third - so far I've had several childhood dreams come true - and I've only subbed for five days!! These [nerdy] dreams have included: going to the bus barn and helping kids with disabilities get on/ride the bus; being a CROSSING GUARD; being the "duty" teacher during a whole day's worth of recess. As the crossing guard, I got to say good morning and greet the kids and stop the "you know what" right out of traffic. I did it - and with a big, dopey grin on my face. As the "duty" teacher - I got to give bathroom passes, use a whistle, and make kids "sit on the wall" if they couldn't make good choices. I've also been able to work with reading groups and even [gasp] helped a girl with her math homework...and the math help was while I was working at the middle school! Eat your heart out, BYU!
So basically - I love the life of a sub. Each day is exciting and rewarding and usually over by 3:00 p.m. This has been such a good fit for so many of my talents and strengths. The most utilized strength, so far, has been my ability to make and enforce arbitrary rules...especially on the playground. It's awesome and I love it.

Primary...

This year the Murrayhill Primary will be giving each family the gift of a CD with all the music for the 2008 Sacrament meeting program. I've put together some great versions of the songs - so that it's an interesting CD in addition to helping the kids learn the music...

I also designed the cover (pictured above) and rest of the packaging. There is even a booklet to help with the themes for each month. I'm pretty proud of the finished product and really am excited to see these CDs go home and be used...I hope they are!

Christmas cheer...

If you find yourself lagging in the "cheer" department - visit the collection of snow themed Calvin and Hobbes cartoons here.

Good to know...

15

Horn tooting...

So - today was the December meeting of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers (DUP). We had a fun gift exchange, and you have not lived until you've played "Dirty Santa" with most of the players being ladies in their seventies and eighties. Below is a picture of the gifts we came home with:

Mom got the cute Santa to add to her collection - and I got these place mats and napkins. They are really pretty.

Also, in other news...you may have noticed those cute costumes we were wearing in our musical number - and yes - we made them. I designed and created the pattern for the reindeer - but had Mom do the ACTUAL cutting, since I'm terrible at cutting. What you can't see is the texture in the antlers - they have paisley patterns in the felt - a really nice detail, if I do say so. Also - the skirts have glitter in the fabric - they aren't dirty or linty.


Finally - as promised, here is our tree. If you want a chance to see it in person - all you have to do is stop by...and bring $14.00. Just kidding....please, don't stop by.

And yes, I know the lights aren't on - but they make the pictures funky. If you want to picture them - they are white lights. And the angle doesn't show off the majesty of the tree...but I have to keep something for myself.

You know who you are...

I saw this and thought of you - and you know who you are...

What is a heart attack?

Folks, we need to keep Alex Trebek in our thoughts as he had a mild heart attack and was hospitalized on Tuesday. Just in case you wanted to know. And don't watch Entertainment Tonight to get your news.

Do yourself a favor...

Tonight Mom and I went to a choir concert at a local elementary school. The second graders were amazing - and yes, I cried through all their numbers. Some were sweet and some were funny...but it was such a sweet experience. And we didn't even have anyone in the choir!! But - if you haven't done so - find a holiday concert at an elementary school and GO. You'll be glad you did.

What are you making for dinner? Reservations.

This is such a fun and useful gift without being "useful" like socks...you know what I mean? It would be a great gift for Christmas OR a great baby shower gift...seriously. Sometimes it is just so much easier to order out or pick something up. Having a drawer full of menus is messy and confusing - but this takeout menu organizer is both lovely and good report...I seek after these things...

Holiday Home Evening 2007

This year the Taylor family performed Gene Autry's holiday classic, "32 Feet and 8 Little Tails." We sure had a lot of fun and hope you enjoy our performance.

I pity the fool who doesn't have a Merry Christmas!

Final countdown...

Oh my - it's almost here - the fifth Harry Potter DVD!! Yee-Haw! I just cannot wait!

I'm dreaming...

It's been so fun to wander around the Spoon Sisters and get ideas for gifts or wishes or pretty things. Some of my faves are:

This lovely ribbon watch could be the perfect accessory for...ANYONE...seriously - don't you think?!

A simple gift for the reader in your life is the Thumb Thing...and it's just a simple device that will keep your book open while you're reading but not wear out your hand. Could also be great for the folks in your book club. Yes, please.

And this golf journal I saw and will eventually get for Geoffrey when it can actually be useful to him...

Bah, HUMBUG!

So - SPOILER ALERT...if'n you haven't watched the Top Chef Christmas special - and don't want to know who won - stop reading.

But seriously - Tre should have won! Tiffany was so grouchy about the fourth course - and boo. Ah well...there is always next time!

A festive tasty treat!

It was so delightful to visit with Marfa (our TiVo) and discover that there was a new Top Chef Christmas special. 90 minutes of crazy chefs running around and competition drama with holiday cheer! I'm halfway though - and in 45 minutes there will be a winner! This episode is definitely feeding into my need of instant gratification...bring it on Tre and C.J.!!

WOW

Jones Soda is very creative...but this holiday pack is bordering on bizarre...Christmas Ham soda? WOW.

Addicted to Sharpies...

The kind and generous folks who create Sharpies now allow you to personalize your Sharpies - pick the color and what you want your Sharpie to say. Go and make your own selection of Personalized Sharpies!

They are watching you!

Even though our family has never been into "stocking stuffers" these stickers would be such a great stocking stuffer. You just add the eyes and smiles to inanimate objects and spice up your desk or kitchen. Or you could creep someone out by not telling them about the stickers and watch them discover the staring stapler on the desk...

RSVP

As your holiday invitations start to arrive or float through the air, perhaps this awesome tool will come in handy... The Holiday Excuse Generator is both a fun website and handy. All you have to do is describe the event and how you feel about the host, etc., and it generates an excuse for you to use. Plus - the host is pretty cute.

Just bring some to the picnic, baby

Head on over to Weebl - and check out this Ode to Pork. It's funny. And true.

Noble Tradtion

We, as a family, have NEVER had our Christmas tree before December 1...EVER. But this year Mom found a beautiful tree at a lot near her office. She called Dad and me to come out and inspect it, and if approved, take that bad boy home! Lucky for us it is a grand 8.5 foot noble fir - and here is what it looked like getting it home and into the house...

I must say that it is a little weird having our tree so early - mostly because we used to comment on how zealous those folks were who would have their tree before December even started!! Crazy. And now - we're one of them...

Mark unfastens the tree from the roof of the Jeep

Happily shaking out all the dead needles...and bugs.

Mr. Tree is prepped for the cutting of the trunk and stand fitting

Mark makes quick work of that trunk - and pictures of the tree in the house - all decorated will posted AFTER December 1.

Make it your own...

Don't you think it's fun to create something special? Who wouldn't love a mug with a horse on it? You can buy these fun and silly decals to put on any mug or plate - you could get all fancy making a matching set of mugs or just have one unique piece in your collection. Or a way to keep people from using your mug. People think twice before they steal the pony mug...