Twilight Zone Marathon!

Happy 4th of July everyone! I love it when the Sci Fi channel celebrates holidays with Twilight Zone marathons. It is the best classic Sci Fi has to offer. Right now I’m watching A Game of Pool starring Jack Klugman and Jonathan Winters. It’s one of the more well known episodes about a pool shark that comes back from the dead to shoot one last game with a young smart mouth. I myself don’t actually remember much about it, but any episode with Jack Klugman is a sure winner.

I’ll be recording most of the episodes I haven’t seen, or don’t remember much about on the dvr (commercials drive me crazy!) The marathon is all through the 4th and apparently started this morning. I was aware of the New Year’s marathons, but didn’t know there was one for Independence Day as well. What a nice surprise! Thanks Sci Fi Channel!

When I was a teenager I was really really into The Twilight Zone because I thought it was just sooo creative. I even had this book:

It was a great guide to all the episodes and informative about background information. It’d make a great gift for anyone who’s a Twilight Zone fan. There are still young, thriving, Serling fans out there? Yes? In college I did a presentation dressed as Rod Serling and even tried to set the dialogue the way he would. It went pretty well, except that the rest of the class skipped the first part of the assignment, which was to dress up and speak like the person you were reporting on.

Now if you’ll excuse me, One for the Angels is coming on. It’s one of my favorites!

Chocolate & Fruit

Everyone has their own comfort foods and I’m really going to have to do a post about that soon, but tonight I’ll share one of my comfort foods. I love, love, love, a banana drizzled in chocolate. I know. Simple. Almost silly. Really though, chocolate and bananas were meant for each other. Really, chocolate and fruit were meant for each other.
Whether it be this banana drizzled with chocolate syrup, or my new favorite candy; chocolate covered blueberries from Trader Joe’s.

I call them candy and I guess that’s what they are, but somehow the word, candy, doesn’t give the appropriate connotation to this particular treat. The chocolate is lovely, not bitter, melty, and the blueberries are not very large in most of the pieces. They’re just right.

What’s your favorite chocolate and fruit combo? (Please don’t tell me the fakey chocolate covered cherries! ) Do you agree that chocolate and fruit were meant for one another?

Meet Claire!

It’s adopt a cat month at the Richmond SPCA, which means adoption is half price with other perks. We’d been discussing getting a kitten for quite awhile and then well Father’s day happened and I couldn’t think of anything my husband would like more. (He even chose a kitten over a blu-ray player!)
Last night we headed out to the SPCA not really sure if we would be bringing someone home. In fact we weren’t sure that we would make it on time, as they close relatively early and are located on the opposite side of town. Fortunately, they stayed open a little late when they saw that we were serious about taking a kitten home and now we’ve got Claire! If you live in the Richmond area and are looking to adopt a pet, the Richmond SPCA is a great place to find a friend. It’s a super nice, impressive facility.

She’s two months and four days old, all black, and so tiny! She doesn’t even really meow yet, she just squeaks. She was eager for us all to play with her at the SPCA, but now that we are home she’s definitely my husband’s cat.

She got me out of bed early this morning, nibbled on my toes the whole time I was getting ready, cried if I was in the other room, chased the iron whilst I was trying to iron my clothes, AND THEN… she disappeared. FOR TWO HOURS!!! My mom stopped by to meet her and she disappeared before she left. I spent the rest of the afternoon searching and calling her name. There was only silence in response. I went outside to call for her even though no doors were opened before she went missing. I ran into a really big hawk and that kind of freaked me out, for obvious reasons. I felt queasy watching it fly away, hoping that our kitten wasn’t somewhere outside. After my frantic calls, my husband came home to help me search for her. He walked in the front door, started talking, and CLAIRE CAME RUNNING UP BEHIND ME. She heard his voice and came running out of hiding. We think she had been napping up under the couch. If she wasn’t so cute I could have been seriously ticked for her tricking me like that. At least she knows whose cat she is.

Besides that bit of freak me out, she’s been a joy. Partycake loves her and Claire has put up with being picked up all sorts of weird ways by 2 1/2 yr old hands. Even Scout has been letting her share the dog designated water bowl.
They aren’t exactly buddies yet, but perhaps in a few more days.

I’ll post a video later, when I can figure out how to get it uploaded. I know “how,” but it’s not exactly working at the moment.

newsboys Rock Busch Gardens, Williamsburg!

The newsboys are my favorite band. I love lots and loads of music, a variety of genres, and sounds, but I truly enjoy the newsboys the most. They’re a little bit of everything and they are a Christ centered band. This means I can rock out with a bunch of crazy, dancing, jumping, people and praise God all at the same time. It doesn’t get much better than that. However, I didn’t get that experience until last night at Busch Gardens, Williamsburg. I’ve wanted to see the newsboys for several years, but hadn’t had the opportunity. Earlier this year, their lead singer, Peter Furler, took a step back to stay home and focus on writing, while their long time friend, Micheal Tait, and former dcTalk band member, stepped up to take the lead on tour. I was a bit worried. Sure Micheal is a wonderful singer, but Peter has such a unique voice. I was afraid that the sound of the newsboys would be lost. Well, it was a little different, but it wasn’t bad. It was rockin’!

Complete with runway stage, flashbacks to old newsboys and dcTalk songs, and loads of fun. Everything, but the rotating, lifted, drum stand was present. So, we’re definitely going to have to check them out again soon. Sooner rather than later. I know the picture doesn’t quite convey the “rockin’” element that was present, but it’s hard to describe in adequate detail the emotion, sound, and ambiance, and presence that was happening at this venue. It was just a beautiful experience!

newsboys are currently on their “In the Hands of God” tour.

And the trees came a tumblin’ down

(This is a rambley sort of post. It’s just that kind of day. It has no real point.)

We’re still getting situated in our new home and part of this is trying to deal with the yard. For awhile our backyard looked like the set of LOST.  It’s quite wooded and backs up to the woods that lead down to a creek and a more heavily wooded area. It was beautiful, but due to some weak pine trees that were leaning toward the house and a serious issue with ticks, a few of the trees had to come down.  I apologize profusely to all of my neighbors. We didn’t know that the tree demolishers were coming until nearly 10pm last night and they started work at 7:45am today.  Scout’s not too happy with the noise either.

Poor puppy dog. At least she’ll be able to run around in the backyard soon. Before today there were snakes and other unknown critters out there. I’m sure we’ll still get snakes from time to time, but the brush won’t be there to hide them.

I am happy to have these guys though.

Around Town

Lately, I’m finding that some of the more quality/learning time that I’m spending with my 2yrd old, happens when we go general places around town. She loves the Post Office and the Library. (Mostly, I think she loves the Post Office because of Special Agent Oso from the Disney Channel.) She wants so badly to drop an envelope into the big blue box.

She loves riding in the car and looking for motorcycles, and school buses. She has high hopes of riding on each one day. Of course, she also wants to ride in a rocket ship. Not a space ship (those are for aliens), but a rocket ship. Note the difference. She loves going to church and she loves the park. And any place with a water fountain scores major points. She likes the bank and loves the hardware store.   It’s got me thinking that places created to stimulate kids in particular, are really over rated. Going around town, she learns a lot about day to day life, business, etc. and she has a lot of fun.  I think Mary Poppins had the right idea. You know, when she sent Micheal and Jane to the bank with their father. Really, that’s what Mary Poppins is all about.

I’ve met a lot of people who can’t go anywhere with their kids. They feel like they won’t accomplish anything. I have a hard time going places without my daughter. Without her around, there’s no one to explain things too. And then I have to wonder what to do with myself. I almost feel silly pushing a shopping cart without her in it. Yes, it might take thirty minutes longer to accomplish the task, but it’s worth it.
Where do your kids enjoy going around town? I’d love to hear some responses from others!

Cupcake Love

Rather some chocolatey- peanut buttery- frosted love..

Because you know, sometimes a girl just needs some simple dark fudge frosting whipped with peanut butter and spread atop a German chocolate cupcake.

Yes, I probably will be sneaking down to the kitchen in the middle of the night…

{And this little drug of a cupcake was so cheaply done. Taboo to use a box and two tubs? Not when it’s friendly to your time and your budget. 1 box of German chocolate cake mix by Duncan Hines, 1 tub of of their dark chocolate fudge frosting, and a 1 tub of Jif peanut butter. Bake the cupcakes via directions on the box. Spoon and swirl the frosting and peanut butter together in a bowl. Apply to cooled cupcakes. Voila. I don’t care if it’s not from scratch. It’s dreamy and comforting. }

Spirals and Spinach

Moving is expensive. House repairs are expensive. Thus, we’ve decided that we really do need to eat in more often. We already ate in quite a bit before the move, but moving calls for a bit of take out and well, enough is enough. So here’s a budget friendly recipe that is light, easily altered, and pretty to look at.

Spirals and Spinach starts with 12oz of tri-color spiral pasta cooked till soft. While the pasta is cooking/boiling, fix up about 1 cup of frozen spinach in a frying pan. Be careful not to let it get too soft. Mine did get a little soggy..oops. Just make sure it’s thawed out in the pan. Medium heat should do. When the spinach is thawed out add some bits of bacon. I used five pieces of microwaveable bacon, but I didn’t microwave it and I didn’t use all of it. I pulled off the fat and discarded it. (My mother, grandmothers, etc. would be highly disappointed. I grew up eating foods cooked in bacon grease, which of course comes from bacon fat. It’s a southern thing and while it provides great flavor, it’s not the greatest friend to my stomach.) Anyways, toss the meaty part of the bacon in the pan with the spinach and let them heat up together.

Once the pasta is cooked, drained, and ready- keep it on medium heat and add the spinach and bacon. Also add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 tbsp of white vinegar and toss well. Serve immediately and add some garlic salt, or Parmesan cheese.

The dish is light, filling, and on the cheap!

Heaven and the Afterlife: A review for a soon to be published book!

At last I have internet again and am able to write this from our new home. It feels good to be in and mostly settled. There are still a few things to be done, but at least most of the boxes are unpacked. Today I had the chance to finish reading Heaven and the Afterlife by James L. Garlow and Keith Wall. I know I know…it sounds preachy, but really it’s not “preachy.”  I posted before about receiving this book via LibraryThing. If you’d like to receive books before they’re published and review them on their site, or your blog you should check out their Early Reviewers Group.

I was really pleasantly surprised by this book. I didn’t  know what to expect. I’ve read books in this category before that were blatantly misdirecting, mushy, glossy, crowd pleasers. This book is not that. So in fact, I wouldn’t even put it in the same category as those others.  Heaven and the Afterlife is a well researched piece of work. (Footnotes actually appear on the page, not at the back of the book!) The author does a really nice job of looking at and comparing different theologies, philosophies, and ways of thinking, while at the same time presenting his own beliefs.

A variety of subjects are covered such as: near death experiences, heaven, hell, ghosts, reincarnation, purgatory, etc. The chapters are informative and thought provoking. Some sections are frightening, but honesty is best. Even if this is not your typical choice for a read, it really is worth giving a shot. Everyone asks questions about these things and Garlow’s answers are straight forward.

The one thing that I would change, is that on the back cover it reads, “Bestselling Author Demystifies the Afterlife.” The word “Demystifies” is a little misleading. There is nothing mystical about this book.

I’m quite firm in my faith and this book got me thinking even more on some matters involving what I believe. It didn’t change what I believe, but simply got me thinking about some issues that are hard to think about, but are worth every bit of that perplexion.  The book is due out July 1,2009.

I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth, or abandoned my blog. I’m in the process of moving and have spent the past month painting our new house. I don’t really want to see another can of paint around for a long long time…    My body aches. My brain hurts. I have not started packing. Today was the deadline for finishing the paint and we’re almost done with it. Partycake got sick, thus I’m hanging out with her this afternoon before switching off with my beloved to go do my share of the last days work.

I’ve got plenty more to share and discuss. I’ve made a new meatball recipe, found some lovely new cookies, and have high hopes for a couple desserts I’ve  stowed away in the creative reaches of my brain.  So, if I happen to be in your feed reader, don’t take me off of it just yet. I’ll be back!