tom, dick, and harry

in a fairly short period of time i have gained 3 men(boys, guys, whatever)from the dating site. the most recent just joined me on sunday and so far, he is my favorite. i am making an effort to be cautiously optimistic as opposed to my former just cautious self. it seems to be paying off. maybe because they are older and dont seem to be quite the players that the 30 something guys are. not sure. maybe timing is everything. i just dont know. fingers crossed for me people! i think i will have a date with harry(most recent, my favorite) this weekend. tom is pretty far away and i am not sure where that will lead. as for dick-he just told me that his divorce isnt final yet. sigh. nice man, but just wondering why the hurry. maybe because his wife cheated on him and he needs some affirmation. again, i dont know. there is so much i dont know. it used to really piss me off, but now...i think i am getting used to it. not sure if thats a good thing or not.

signs of the apocolypse

i went to a single adult fireside last night, but that isnt the sign. i am considering going to a dance. I KNOW, I KNOW!! its crazy. it goes against just about everything about me, but i am still considering it. so make sure your years supply is in order and that you have all your emergency/disaster kits up to date. you never know what will happen if smc(yes, i am referring to myself in the 3rd person)goes to a dance.
the fireside was great-the topic was something that was incredibly timely and needed to be addressed. it was about successful dating and communication. really good stuff and the kicker is that the speaker was single. been divorced for quite some time and he even joked about how he had seen some of us on ldsplanet. i thought that was pretty funny.
i ran into an acquaintance that used to be in my ward before she divorced her husband and went to the singles ward. turns out since her divorce she has left her shy, mousy persona behind and is now the belle of the ball. she was introducing me to a ton of people, but mostly men, which is surprising since normally women far outnumber the men at these type of events. it was pretty well balanced.
it was a busy weekend. i chatted with two new guys from the dating site. i have a "phone date" with one tonight and if it goes well we are planning a date for saturday.
i got used to my hiatus. this is weird, but i am embracing it. stepping outside the box and going with it. for now. until it gets too scary and my head wants to blow off. it could happen.

its raining again

or still. however you want to look at it. mr ex man has arrived back on the scene and one of the new guys from the dating site called me last night. we had a delightful two hour conversation. he texted me today to say how much fun he had and that he would like to do it again. he is nice and so far i am impressed by him. i am not easily impressed, but i have learned the hard was that even if i am impressed, i need to take it with a grain of salt. it is meaningless until some real action is put behind it.
i remember watching the last lecture by randy pausch and one of the things he wanted to tell his daughter about boys/men was:
pay no attention to what he says, pay attention to what he does.

simple, but so true. i need to pay more attention to that. i like words, they mean a lot to me, but i definitely have experienced all talk and no action from the men in my life. it sucks.

a-ha! I REMEMBERED! that almost never happens.

i was over at waiting on a sister missionary(finally!) and i was listening to this song from his playlist which jogged my memory of the post and great graphic that i thought of the other day. makes me happy. :)

multi tasking. in other words, when it rains, it pours

it took me a minute, but i realized that i was in almost over my head.
getting a text from a man i met on the dating site, then i got an im, then mr jack mormon was texting me. all while managing all the regular life stuff.
first i was lamenting that nothing was really happening, now too much is happening. i wonder if i have what it takes to manage it. do i want to manage it?
i guess i will ride it out and see how long it last. it cant last forever.

swimming,swimming, just keep swimming

in general, i hate cartoons. this post really isnt about animation, so you might wonder why i posted a picture from a cartoon (albeit a feature length, animated, disney movie) here. well having a dozen or so nieces and nephews and my affection for them is great,so i subject myself to cartoons because they like them. in doing so,you pick up a couple of things like how dory has a huge problem with short term memory loss.
i am beginning to think that i have a huge short term memory loss issue too. just yesterday i had a GREAT idea for a post. normally i will go right to my computer and type up a few words or lines to remind myself of the great idea. i mean, most of these thoughts are fleeting and if you dont document them, they are gone, right?
well, i couldnt get to my computer, so i tried repeating it in my mind a few times and telling myself NOT to forget this great idea. i even had an idea for a graphic.
have you noticed that i have been putting more pictures up? its kind of my new thing. doing a quick google image search and voila! a little punch to the post.
guess what? i forgot it. i can remember the feeling of being excited about the idea and the graphic. i try to jog my memory, but to no avail. so today you get a silly post about how my mind is no longer a steel trap with instant recall with a cute picture of dory, who, like me, has a memory issue.

mr darcy, how i love you

"The power to do anything with quickness is always much prized by the posessor, and often without any attention to the imperfection of the performance."


-Mr. Darcy
Pride & Prejudice

cleaning green

i am no tree hugger. i dont wear birkenstocks(anymore) or wear patcholi(ever), but while i might not agree with the average tree huggers fashion, fragrance, or political choices, i do agree(somewhat)that we are killing our planet. i hate all the chemicals in our modern cleaning supplies. cleaning with those products gives me a headache and i dont feel well for a few hours afterward. luckily, i was given the solution. its been passed around our ward after an enrichment meeting about keeping your house spotless. super easy and cheap and it wont make you sick by exposing you to icky chemicals with indecipherable names.
cleaning green all purpose cleaning solution
1tbs borax,
3tbs white vinegar,
2 C water,
1 tbs dish soap
essential oils can be added for smell but I havent tried it.

i used a funnel to pour the ingredients into an old spray bottle that i had washed. this stuff works like a dream and you dont have to worry about toxic fumes.

thanks!

i noticed recently that i have gotten a few more followers. i love this! to me, it is very exciting,but i understand that some of you have hundreds, so my mere 40 is a spit in the bucket.
i tried to figure out who was first, but i was unsuccessful. i do know that a few like blazzer and sleeves hidden have been around for a long time. again, i really appreciate you guys stopping by and reading(maybe mocking?) my random thoughts and rants.
i also want to thank you for all the comments. blain, we dont mean to brag, mom2my10, midwaydancer, and tripphazard thank you for commenting frequently and always keeping the comments interesting. i love "talking" with you guys.
thank you to everyone who has even commented once, even anonymously. i appreciate them all.
love, smc

is it me?

does wynonna seem like she is wasted in this clip from the oprah show?



i will admit i wasnt concentrating fully on the show. i had a few things going on while it was on, but she just seems off.
even the stuff with her mom was weirder than normal. they are talking all about how they are going to therapy and setting new boundaries and their new relationship that they are taking on the road with them. to me, it just seemed like they were biting their tongues a lot. maybe i need to watch it again.



the music they make is still amazing. they sang "love can build a bridge" and the tears just streamed down my face from the first line. i love that song. i also like

pride and pejudice

"I have no pretensions whatever to that kind elegance which consists of tormenting a respectable man."

Elizabeth Bennet

Pride and Prejudice

my own personal outer darkness

i have decided to straighten my act up and get way more righteous. no more "accidental" f-bombs or justifying away rated r movies. i dont care if i have a starving infant and my breast milk has dried up, i will not got to the store on sunday for formula. ok, that last one is kind of a hysterical leap, but you get my meaning. i am cleaning up my act. why? you might ask. well this past saturday i got a preview of my eternity if i dont get it together. my outer darkness will be spent keeping score for an endless womens church volleyball game. wailing and gnashing of teeth aint nothing compared to this.

die and go to heaven

dammit! i forgot to take a picture again! oh well-click here and check out pw's pictures. mine looked exactly like that. they did. seriously. i am THAT good.

as soon as i saw ree's post, i knew i wanted to make these, but i also felt they needed to be for an "occasion". not necessarily a big one, but SOMETHING. two things popped up pretty quickly. an old friend changed my flat tire and i was assigned to bring a dessert to the stake volleyball tournament(more on that later).
at pioneer woman-she says the recipe makes 24, but i got about 52. my mini muffin tin must have been even more mini than hers.
i havent gotten a report back from my hero-friend, but the volleyball players LOVED them. not knowing i was the one who made them, there was quite a little conversation going on at my table about how great they were. i love to hear that my food creations are well received. this recipe is easy, but the finished product is impressive. i made very few alterations, but marked them with an asterisk and italics.

Pioneer Woman's Pretty Little Brownie Bites

Brownies
* 4 whole 1-ounce Squares Unsweetened Chocolate, Melted And Cooled
* 2 sticks Butter, Softened (but Not Room Temperature)
* 2 cups Sugar
* 4 whole Large Eggs
* 3 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
* 1-¼ cup All-purpose Flour
* 1 cup Milk Chocolate Chips
* 1 cup Semi-sweet Chocolate Chunks
ICING/GLAZE *
* 8 whole 1-ounce Squares Semi-sweet Chocolate, Chopped
* 1 cup Cream, Heated
* 2 Tablespoons Light Corn Syrup
* 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
* i halved the icing recipe because i only wanted to dip the tops.

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

For brownies, melt 4 ounces chocolate and set aside for 15 to 30 minutes, allowing to cool. Chocolate should not be warm!

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the eggs two at a time.

With mixer on low, drizzle in cooled chocolate. Mix until just combined. Add flour and mix until just combined. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl and mix for five more seconds.

Add chocolate chips and chocolate chunks and mix for just a few seconds on low, until they’re incorporated.

Generously grease and flour mini-muffin pan. Scoop generous teaspoons of batter into each tin. (We don’t want the brownies to have muffin tops; try to get them to stay under the top of the tin.)

Bake for 10 to 14 minutes, or until set. Remove pans and invert on a cooling rack. Allow brownie bites to cool completely.

To make the icing, mix cream with corn syrup and heat in a microwave safe container. Add chopped chocolate to a separate bowl. Add vanilla to warm cream mixture, then pour over chopped chocolate. Stir until chocolate totally melts and mixture is smooth.

Add brownie bites face down in the icing. Dunk to submerge*, and spoon icing over the top to thoroughly coat. Remove with a fork, tapping the fork on the side of the bowl several times quickly in order to get the excess to drain between the tines. Carefully set on a baking mat or sheet of waxed paper.
* i only dipped the brownie about 2/3 of the way. it was less messy and allowed for a little edge to grab onto without having to lick chocolate off your fingers. not that i think that is necessarily bad, just saying.

Decorate as you wish! Chopped nuts, candies, sprinkles, sea salt…the world is your oyster!

oh really?

i really have a big mouth OR the few people i told about my date have really big mouths. its probably both. people keep asking me about my date and as i recount the events, things that i briefly forgot keep popping up. like the fact that as my date told me all about his divorce and custody woes, he interjected some stories about getting back into the lds single scene. apparently he has dated and befriended a couple of different women who are now married to other people(did they do it to escape his divorce stories?), but they all left their mark. one in particular told him that he was the best kisser she had ever experienced. seriously? are you bragging? is that a referral-hoping that i will check it out to see if i agree with her? i dont know how i forgot that little tid bit. i can find reasons or excuses for just about everything else he told me, but i thought that was a major breach of first date manners.

the date

my date called me about 5 minutes before he was to pick me up to let me know he would be about 10 minutes late. he got delayed with his kids and had to drop them back off at their moms. i appreciated the call and didnt mind that he was a little late. i think his reason was a good one and for a mere 10 minutes, it could have been a completely lame reason and i wouldnt have cared. i think the key point here is the call. he was considerate enough to call and let me know. i liked that.

he is a nice man and i feel really guilty even telling you some of this stuff. none of us is perfect, but there has to be a spark, right? what i am about to tell you could be considered so superficial,but i think most women will understand. maybe not the guys, but i think the girls will.

he was wearing pleated shorts. with a cuff. that were about 2 inches too short.

I KNOW!!! right?

those wouldnt be so bad except its clearly a fashion mistake for his body type.

he was a gentleman. he opened doors-deferred to me for the movie and restaurant selection. he paid. all good stuff.

we saw "the other guys". it was hilarious. i laughed out loud through the whole movie and i rarely do that. he didnt laugh once. when we were discussing the movie after wards(a rare break from the normal topic of the night. more on that later)his only comment was "it was pretty much what i thought it would be." i think i have pretty good taste in movies. i dont like junk cinema and even though this movie is definitely not going to win any oscars, it was GOOD. it bothered me that he seemed to think the movie was beneath him and his theater major background. i hate snobbery of any kind.

we decided to go to the outback for dinner. the service and the food were good. we had an attentive waiter and my steak was cooked just right,but that provided little distraction from what we talked about.

the whole night the conversation never waned or broke down in any way which is surprising considering we only spoke on one topic. his divorce and custody issues. besides asking me what movie i wanted to see and where i would like to go eat he only asked me two questions: how long were you married and why didnt you have children. thats it. no where are you originally from(i asked him to try and get him off the divorce topic), whats your sign, or ANYTHING in an effort to get to know me.
i stopped asking him questions, but he didnt seem to notice. after we had eaten dinner and the table was cleared(he offered dessert, but i begged off)the conversation switched to our sa activity experiences. i got a little more input here, but he dominated the conversation with his stories. the stories were interesting, but i dont know if i have ever been in a more one sided conversation.

he is very good with dates and now i know the exact date of when his ex wife announced she was filing for divorce, the day the divorce was final, the date he went to his first sa dance, and a host of other dates that i wont bore YOU with.

he walked me to the door and i thanked him for dinner and the movie. a chaste hug and i was in the door and washing the make up off my face.

even if he wasnt still drowning in bitterness from the divorce, i dont think we would be a match. he seemed to have fun too, but for some reason, i dont see him asking me out again. if he does, i will tell him the truth, he isnt ready.

tired

i have told the date story no less than 6 times at this point. i only told a few people i was going,but word got around. i have been working on a post giving you the details, but i am tired. ready for bed and tired of telling the story.
its not a very exciting one at all. it was a decent date with a nice man. there are a few things that could be quite funny, but it would be making fun of him and i really dont feel like doing that. if he was a jerk that would be a whole different story-i would mock him unmercifully.

smc cooks bread pudding

YES! an actual picture of this dish that i made to take to gbf's house for dessert. please consider that i am currently without a real camera and shot this with my camera phone that might have 2mp. maybe.

paula deens best bread pudding
i used the recipe posted on the food network site.


Ingredients

* 2 cups granulated sugar
* 5 large beaten eggs
* 2 cups milk
* 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
* 3 cups cubed Italian bread, allow to stale overnight in a bowl(i had been collecting stale bread for about a week,including wheat,white, hamburger buns, and homemade french. the variety adds to the flavor and texture in my opinion.)
* 1 cup packed light brown sugar
* 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
* 1 cup chopped pecans(i didnt have any, so i just left them out. i dont care for nuts in baked goods anyway, so for me, nothing was lost by omitting them)

For the sauce:

* 1 cup granulated sugar
* 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
* 1 egg, beaten
* 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
* 1/4 cup brandy(i only have jack daniels, so thats what i used. it was really good, but i think i got a little buzz off of it. it was strong-i dont think the recipe allows for enough of the alcohol to cook off. next time i will omit it all together or let it simmer for a bit.)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13 by 9 by 2-inch pan.

Mix together granulated sugar, eggs, and milk in a bowl; add vanilla. Pour over cubed bread and let sit for 10 minutes.

In another bowl, mix and crumble together brown sugar, butter, and pecans.

Pour bread mixture into prepared pan. Sprinkle brown sugar mixture over the top and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until set. Remove from oven.

For the sauce:

Mix together the granulated sugar, butter, egg, and vanilla in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir together until the sugar is melted. Add the brandy, stirring well. Pour over bread pudding. Serve warm or cold.

stood up?

wondering if i am going to be stood up for the first time ever. he is not late-yet, but he never called me yesterday as he said he would. either there will be another post within a few minutes or you will be getting all the details tomorrow. at this point, i feel somewhat ambivalent.

crocs

i love that i am getting croc ads here. i love crocs-they are this generations ugly, but comfortable shoe. i have a few pair and they are the best-i want to try their fancier shoes-like the 4 inch heels. i cant even imagine being comfortable in heels that high. i wore my 3 inch heels to church last week, ended up being on my feet way more than normal and i paid for it. i used to wear high heels every day, working a job that i was literally on my feet the whole time and it never bothered me. now? not so much.

what was i smoking?

this song was playing in my head this morning. i havent heard it in forever and i never saw the movie-if the video is any representation of the movie, i dont think i missed much. the only connection i can think of, and its a weak one, is that olivia newton john was on the glee rerun this week.

are you ready to rummmmmmmble?

tomorrow is the first date since i have signed up for the dating site.

open mind open mind open mind open mind open mind open mind

smc cooks leftover pizza

i had some of the pioneer woman pizza dough left in the freezer and i was in the mood for a pizza, but i had no sauce. its easy enough to make, but i really didnt feel like dealing.

i had mozzarella, but nothing else to go with it as a topping on the pizza. then i remembered pw's bbq pizza recipe . i have heard people rave about bbq chicken pizza and it definitely sounds good, but i have never tried it. not sure why. one of the great smc mysteries that will never be solved because now that i have tried it, i will definitely be making it again and again.

i had just made bbq chicken the day before, so i had enough to make the pizza, plus 1/2 a red(why do they call them "red" onions when they are so clearly purple?)onion that i was hoping to use instead of throwing it away like i usually do after it sits there all lonely and sad with no purpose and gets all gross. i didnt have the cilantro, but it was delicious without it. since i was working the leftovers, i will give you basic instructions on what i did without the measurements. click on the links above for the real thing.

i took the leftover dough from the freezer that morning and set in on the counter to thaw. come lunch time i lightly oiled a cookie sheet with olive oil and sprinkled with a little corn meal. i patted the dough between my hands a bit and then started stretching it out.

once i had a small disk,i put it on the cookie sheet and just pulled and pushed until it was the thickness i wanted.

next i poured a little bbq sauce on the dough and spread it out with the back of a spoon. i didnt use too much-you could still see the dough peeking through here and there. then i cut up the chicken into bite size pieces, sliced the red onion super thin and arranged on the dough. i sprinkled the mozzarella cheese on top and put it in the oven at 425 for about 12 minutes until the cheese was melted. it was a small pizza, but i only ate half. i took the leftovers to a friend and she pronounced it incredible. she said the crust had a really good flavor and i completely agreed with her. yummy.

this pizza made me so happy-not only because it was sooooo good,but because i used stuff that was sitting in my fridge that might have gone to waste. its a good thing!

sorry no picture(again). its my goal to start taking food shots, but i am working with a lame-o camera phone and the shots are horrible. what do you think-see what i made even in a bad picture or just skip it if it cant be a quality picture?

tickles my fancy

i originally picked these videos as one of my "30 days of me" tickles my fancy entries. i forgot about it, but when i was rummaging through my drafts, i decided to put it out there anyway. from the moment i heard rick astley, i was in love with him and the metal chick in me did not even care that he was a major preppie. he is adorable! i love how he dances-hes not really all that good,but he is confident in his moves.







michael jackson has never been on my top 10 list, but i like this song-maybe the only video that would make me believe that mj is straight. it was really popular when msof and i got engaged the summer of 88 and i heard it a lot so it is in the small file of happy memories regarding my relationship with him.

i really need this book.

i read a few pages on amazon and it looks like it has some sound advice. chapters like "follow your heart without losing your mind", "say what you mean and mean what you say", and "healthy people make healthy choices". john gray who wrote "men are from mars, women are from venus" says its the book to get if you are tired of dating(hello!)and want to find "the one". i dont buy books anymore since i have no storage space and there is a perfectly good library to borrow them from. except my library doesnt have this book. i might just have to suck it up and go buy it. has anyone read it? would you recommend it?