I'm baaaaaack....again.

So yeah...it's been quite a whiles since I've checked in here, not that anyone really keeps up with my life. I've been hanging on to hope that I will continue my weight loss journey with some success. I rejoined WW at work last week and this Thursday is my first official weigh in. I also joined a gym and will be adding that to my regular routine. I went this morning and did 2 miles on the treadmill and then did some weight training.
Other than that, the garden sucks this year. Too much rain mixed with too much heat. It's depressing because I really wanted to do some canning this year. On the bright side, my flowers are doing great so the yard looks nice.
I went to Michigan in July and took my parents with me this time. It was nice to be able to give them a break from their routine and for them to be able to visit with Adam, Cassie and the kids. I think (hope) everyone enjoyed them selves. It was a nice visit. I'm always amazed at how much my grandbabies grow between visits. I'll be going back up in a few weeks.
Let's see, what else has been happening. Not much really. Just the normal work routine. I lead a rather boring life!
No scrapping to speak of other than a few cards. I am working on some baby shower invitations and favors, which I really need to get busy on. Maybe later.....

I'm stuck

So WW isn't going all that great. In fact, I haven't been even going to the meetings at work. Ever since I decided to quit smoking, it seems like all I do is eat. the problem with that is that I'm eating all the wrong things. So I've decided to take a little time off from WW. I'll rejoin at the next session in late July. I'm not quitting but I'm just not into it right now.
Now the smoking thing hasn't exactly been going all that great either. I do fine during the day at work. I don't even think about it. But once I get home, it's all I can think of. So now I guess I'm a closet smoker. Geez I'm pathetic! I'm still trying to make it a clean break but so far all it's gotten me is gaining 8 lbs. I'm not happy about not having any self control.
I don't deal well with stress. And it seems like every time I turn around, there is something else to stress about. If it's not my weight, it's quitting smoking. If it's not that, it's finances. Or family issues. Or whatever. It's always something.
Like right now, I have poison ivy. My yard is infested with it. There is no avoiding it. I think I should buy stock in Round Up. I've sprayed different parts of the yard about 5 times now and will most likely spray 5 more times. I've tried every remedy known to mankind and I wake up with a new spot of the rash every day. It's tradition I think. It seems like every summer, just before I am leaving for my summer trip to Michigan, I get poison ivy. So I spend $$$ on all types of anti-itch cream and pray that it goes away.
Another stress I have coming up. My biological father and his wife are coming in for a family reunion. I haven't seem him in many years although, at my mother's insistence, I have been in contact with him via email. In two years, my father and his wife have gone on, at least, 4 cruises to carious parts of the globe. I kind of resent that because all the years I was growing up, he never paid child support for us 4 kids while my mother worked 2-3 jobs. He has lived the 'good life'. I have struggled. There's so much more to this whole scenario but it still boils down to the fact that he is coming back here for the reunion and will be treated like royalty amongst the family. Blech!! His wife has told me that they would like to take us kids out to breakfast or dinner on Father's Day. Yippy skippy.
I have other family issues that I'm still trying to come to terms with as well.

I think I need some tequila.

I just love the weekends

I got up early this morning and hit a few garage sales. Didn't find a whole lot but one thing I found was a vintage magazine rack for $1.00!! It is so cool. I'm going to sand it down and paint it white. It will go up in my scraproom to hold magazines that I want to hang on to.
I still haven't gotten my buffet delivered so I can start on that. But robin and I have both been super busy working on our gardens and planting flowers. I think I'm done with that for now. All I have to do now is water and weed.
I haven't done any scrapping to speak of other than a few cards. I have 5 or 6 to make for Robin. Maybe I'll do that later tonight.
That's about it from Kansas.

This is just awesome!!!

deleteing this because it was too big for my blog.

Margarita Cake

I found this recipe on another blog and I don't want to lose it so I am posting it here.

1 box yellow cake mix
1 1/4 cups bottled nonalcoholic margarita mix
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon grated lime peel
3 egg whites
1 container (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed or homemade butter cream frosting with lime juice added
Additional grated lime peel, if desired

1. Heat oven to 350°F (or 325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Grease bottom only of 13x9-inch pan with shortening and lightly flour (or spray bottom with baking spray with flour).
2. In large bowl, beat cake mix, margarita mix, oil, 1 tablespoon lime peel and the egg whites with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.
3. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until light golden brown and top springs back when touched lightly in center. Cool completely, about 2 hours. Frost with whipped topping or icing; sprinkle with additional lime peel. Store covered in refrigerator.

It's Raining, It's Pouring....

For the second day in a row, we are having thunderstorms. It's 11:30 am but right now, it looks like it's 8:00 pm. That's how dark the skies are right now. the tonado sirens went off last night but the tornado was no where near me and wasn't heading in my direction so I stayed here.

My BFF, Robin came over last night and we worked until 12:30 am making things for a tea party she is hosting for the women in her family. We got everything done! It all turned out so pretty.

Today, I am working on some 6 x 6 recipe cards that I MUST get done and mailed by Monday. I think I'm done with swaps for a while. I have too many other things that I want to work on.

Ok, I am getting off of here. the thunder is getting really loud and I have to shut this computer down until the storm passes.

I'm still here....

I haven't checked in for a while but I'm still hanging around. a few new things to tell you too!

I am on Day 11 of quitting smoking!!! It was really tough at first but I think I'm over the hurdle. I've been goinng out to the lake with my BFF, Robin at least 3 days per week and walking at least 3 miles each time. The bad news is that I'm not doing that great with WW. I'm trying to be careful but until I have this smoking thing under my belt, I have been eating a little more than I normally would. I gaine a pound and a half last week and it's not looking good this week. *Sigh*

I am also in the midst of re-organizing my scrap room (again). It seems like I have to do this once a year. LOL! Robin gave me an antique buffet that she picked up for 5.00 at an auction. I'm going to paint it white and distress it. It's going up in my scrap room where it will be PERFECT to hold my paper and all my stamping stuff along with other goodies. I will post before and after pics when I take them. I'm SO excited to get started on doing this.

the weather finally turned the corner and we're having much better weather. I am anxious to get out into the garden again. Not sure what I will plant but I'm sure there will be tomatoes involved!

Oh almost forgot....
I 'may' have a job making some supplies for a photographer! She wants me to make her folders and whatnot to put photographs in for her clients. I made her some samples and she LIOVED them! We are negotiating prices now. Hopefully, I can earn a little crapping money! I'd really like to figure out a way to get a Cricut. Although I must admit, I am a bit intimidated by them.

Well that's my update for now. Time to get ready for work.

Oh and hello to my two followers!

TGIF!!!!

I thought Friday would never get here and worse yet, I thought it would never get over with! This will be the first two day weekend I've had in 3 months. They decided to let us off for the whole weekend because of Easter. Yay!!! I have sooooo much I want/need to get accomplished!

I went shopping after work to get birthday presents for my two adorable grandchildren. I was dreading going out to the mall but I figured I could get most of what I wanted there. I decided to stop in a Target forst to check out the Dollar Spot and see if there was any new goodies there...Nothing! but I decided to look around while I was there and ended up finding everything I wanted to get them! So no trip to the mall was needed! Yay again!! Now I have to find boxes and get things wrapped up and ready to send to Michigan.

Alexa called me on Wednesday and we chatted for quite a while. I really enjoyed getting to catch up with what her and Luke have been doing. I miss them so much it hurts!

Another weigh in this week and still no good news at the scale. I gained 2/10 of a lb. Not sure why either. My leader thinks it could be because I walked over 7 miles this week and could be retaining water. Ugh! I'm trying not to get discouraged but if the numbers don't start going in my favor, I'm not sure how much longer I can hang in there without totally blowing my diet!

I am going to quit smoking this weekend. Cold freakin turkey. I'm crazy, I know. If I can't do it on my own, I will call the doctor and get some Chantix again. I'd really rather do it with out pills though. We'll see. I'll probably end up a raving lunatic by the time this is over with.

I'm going out to Robin's tomorrow night to scrap for a while. I'd rather scrap here but I don't have room for 2 of us to scrap really. That and my scraproom is a total mess. But I really hate packing crap up and hauling it out to her house. I always end up forgettting something. I think I will work on some WW recipe pages for a swap I am in. Maybe a work on a few cards too. I haven't done a layout in months and I have no desire to. I suck.

Ok, I'm off to try and figure out how to add some goodies to my sidebar.

Stand by for a VENT!!!

So........
I have recently gotten back into participating in a few swaps in sb.com. One of the things I did was the $1-$3 RAK. the person who was supposed to grant my RAK flaked and has never been seen again. But the hostess (I think) of the RAK thread stepped up to grant me a RAK. Now keep in mind, I had granted HER a RAK and sent her some really nice stuff! Today, I received the RAK from her.
First, here is my wishlist, copied and pasted from the thread.
My wishes....

blank cards and envelopes-matching in any colors
any scraps from BG Bittersweet
cats eye ink- any colors
pop dots
tacky tape
binder rings
mini brads- pastels or brights
punchies- brackets, flourishes, scalloped squares
bling!-rhinestones
Tombow Mono Adhesive -green and white bottle
alcohol ink-any color-partial bottles are fine
grosgrain ribbon-no wider than 1/2"-any colors, at least one yard lengths
large diecuts-butterflies, scalloped shapes, topnotes (SU!)

This is what I received today from her.




Now, I ask you, does this resemble anything that is on my wishlist? What am I supposed to do with this? Sort it?? I think not! To say that I am disappointed doesn't even scratch the surface. Maybe I'm looking at this all wrong.

But on another note, I received another package today and it is yummy!!!! I ordered the deal of the day from a bargain website. I got a MME journaling card bundle for 4.99. It has more than 100 pieces in it! I haven't even looked through them yet but I am more than pleased with it.

I went out to the lake tonight with my best friend, robin and we walked 3 1/2 miles. We're gonna do it again on Wednesday if the weather holds out. it was pretty nice today but really windy.

That's it for now.

ETA: After re-reading this post, I see that I did have mini brads downs on my list. But still...what I got looks like crap gathered from the bottom of a junk drawer and I'm still unhappy about it.
And this is my blog and I can be pissed if I want to! :p

I think Mother Nature must have been PMSing this week!

We had one heck of a winter storm roll through here yesterday. It ended up not being as bad as the weather man had warned. But still, for late march, it is unusual to have that type of weather. We were forcast to get 8-16 inches of snow. what we got was sleet, freezing rain, and about a half inch of snow. Today, it is back in the 40's and the sun is shining. I was out Friday evening throwing boxes over my dafodils that has bloomed. I don't know if I saved them yet or not. We'll see.
WW is going alright. I lost another .8 lb. (point 8) I journaled every single day and thought I would do better. Then last night, I kind of blew it and over carbed. Argghhh! I probably won't lose this week for that and I'll be kicking myself in the ass for it.
Work has been brutal. 10 hour days and Saturdays. I'm pretty sick of it. The money is good but damn, I'm tired.
I've been busy working on making cards for a friend of mine. She asked me to make some so she would have a stash. She bought me a $40 gift certificatee for Stampin' Up and I promptly spent it! I can't wait to get my order. I ordered a Top Notes die which will work in my Cuttlebug! I've been accumualting embossing folder and I even bought a set of Nestabilities. I'm going to play with those this afternoon.
No recipe today because I'm too lazy to go find one! Maybe later in the week, I will dig one up.

Sunday Soup

I think I need to come up with a new name for my Sunday recipes since I am not doing soups anymore for a while. Sunday Soire'? Any ideas? Also, if there is any recipe you would like, let me know and I can look for it if I don't already have it.

here's today's recipe. I made these these one night this week for dinner and I loved them!

Oven Fried Chicken Tenders
See notes following recipe for some tips!

15-20 oz chicken tenderloin
1/4 cup corn flake crumbs
1/4 cup panko crumbs
1/2 cup egg substitute
onion powder
salt
pepper

Preheat oven to 375.
Place egg substitute in shallow container. Mix together crumbs and seasonings. Place half of the crumb mixture into another shallow container.
Dip, one at a time, each chicken tender into the egg and and let excess drip off. Place it into the crumb mixture to coat. Place chicken tenders onto a baking sheet which has been sprayed with non stick cooking spray.
Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes.

Serving: 3 tenders= 4 points

NOTES:
Panko Crumbs
When I found this recipe, I had never heard of panko crumbs. These are Japanese bread crumbs and make the coating crispy. You will not achieve the crunchy texture using regular bread crumbs.
Seasonings
The recipe calls for onion powder. You may season the crumbs any way you wish. I used onion powder and Cajun seasoning and it was great. Next time, I'm going to try some garlic powder and herb seasoning.
Storage:
These can be made ahead and frozen until you are ready to cook them. I only cooked 3 of them and froze the rest for later use. I love having easy meals in the freezer. If you bake them frozen, adjust your cooking time to 20-25 minutes. I froze mine on a cookie sheet before placing individual servings into freezer bags.

I hope you enjoy this recipe.

It's Spring!!!!

YAY!!! I love spring. I love seeing the buds emerging from their winter sleep and the dafodils in bloom. today, after I got off work, I spend a little while outside picking up little branches that had fallen from the trees over the winter. I put up my spring wreath and changed out the flowers arrangement in my vintage watering can by the front door. I hung out the spring time flag on the pole and swept off the screened porch. I have a feeling I'll be spending a lot more time out there soon! I am SO ready to get out in the garden and get my hands dirty. I want to just go out there and start raking off all of last years dead growth. But we could still get a freeze here so I have to be patient. I saw tomatoe plants out at K-Mart today. There's no way I would buy tomato plants this early!
I also stopped by Michael's and Hobby Lobby today...oh and Target too! At M's, I used another 50% off coupon and got the MS doily lace border punch for 7.50. I also picked up three cute little galvenized buckets from the dollar aisle. I think I am going to hang them on my pegboard to put tools in. I have a desktop caddy right now. But I am trying to make more table space.
At HL, I used a 40% off coupon and bought a Cropper Hopper paper holder. I've decided to try this method of storing all of my paper because what I am doing now just isn't working really well for me. I have TONS of paper and I can't find what I am looking for most of the time. I might try sorting it by brand this time and see how it goes. anyway, I am going to get another CH every time there is a 40% off coupon (if I have the money).
At Target, all I picked up was a few Easter goodies to put in my grandchildren's Easter buckets that I am putting together for them.
Then I headed over to Kohl's and bought a very badly needed pair of new sneakers for work. My feet have been screaming at me by the end of the day. But OMG....they cost me $60!!!!!
I didn't make it to the grocery store today which means I'm going to have to go tomorrow. although I may try to squeak by until Monday after work. I hate going anywhere on sundays. It's my 'stay home in my jammies all day" day. LOL!
Let's see...what have i forgotten. Oh....I lost .8 lbs this week (that's POINT 8, not 8 pounds). Not as much as I hoping for but still a loss. I'm being very strict with myself this week and writing down EVERYTHING that goes in my mouth whether it's good or bad. I've GOT to get moving in the right direction with this WW thing. I bought a journal from the dollar bins at M's last week and I carry it with me everywhere and write down what I eat and drink. I hate the little teeny tiny journal that WW gives me so I use this pretty one now. :)
I'll be back tomorrow to post a recipe for some YUMMY chicken tenders.
So that's all that's happening with me. What about you?

Sunday Soup

With the weather getting warmer, this will probably be my last Sunday Soup. I'll still be posting a favorite WW recipe but it probably won't be soup. So here's the soup for this week...

WW 5 Can Soup
This is a GREAT soup for a busy evening when you need dinner in a hurry.

2 cups Del Monte Diced Tomatoes
2 cups Del Monte Mixed Vegetables
2 cups canned white corn
2 cups canned black beans
2 cups Progresso Minestrone Soup

Add all of the above ingredients to a heating pan, and simmer on low for 10 minutes.
1 cup=2 points

NOTES:
I use whatever brand is cheapest, which isn't usually Del Monte. I'm a 'store brand' girl! But I do use the Progresso brand soup. I stock up when it's on sale. I don't substiture the black beans either. They have a great flavor so if you have never tried black beans, I highly recommend them. Most cans are not exactly 2 cups either but close enough for me.

Week from hell...

OMG! This is turning out to be one for the record books. I have to work all day on Saturday AGAIN! There was even a list up for volunteers to work on Sunday this week. Um...no. Not me. My butt will be in bed. Next week, we start working 10 hour days and will most likely have to work on Saturday again. While I would rather be busy than bored at work, I have crossed the threshold from busy to overwhelmed. I'm really glad I have a job. Really I am. But holey moley already!
Today was weigh in day. I lost a pound this week so that's good. I feel like I keep running into a wall with this weight loss. I'm not giving up though. I'll keep plugging along and being grateful that I have come a long ways since I first started. I think a lot of my problem is stress. I have a few things going on in my personal life that are taking a toll on me. I find myself in tears almost every day. Not sure how to make things better. Don't think I can. It's just something that I'll have to deal with.
So that's about it from my corner of the world.

The verdict is in....

The Big Breakfast Cookies (recipe posted yesterday) weren't bad at all! They aren't as sweet as I thought they might be but I don't really care for anything too sweet in the morning anyway. I would definitely make these again.

In other news....the car problems I was having turned out to be not so bad. My niece and her hubby came by on Sunday. He is a very good mechanic. he took one look under the hood and immediately spotted the problem. All it was was a vacuum hose that had been knocked off while the guys at Midas were trying to figure out how to get my oil cap off. Whew! dodged a bullet on that one!

I worked out again tonight. Yay me!! I did The Firm Upper Body workout. It was okay but I really can't stand how ditzy the instructors are on that video. OMG!!! I was glad when it ended and probably won't be doing that one again! LOL!

This daylight savings time crap is killing me! I hate it! I slept too late yesterday and this morning, I didn't want to get out of bed! It will take me 2 months to adjust to it. It always does. Then it will be time to change the stupid clocks again.

O that's it for today. I gotta get to bed.

Sunday soup....well not quite

I'm going to post a recipe today but it's not for soup this week. the weather has been so spring-like that I haven't really been in the mood for soup.
I'm trying so hard to stay positive and motivated this week. I finally got a 2 mile workout done today. It felt good and I hope I can do it more this week.
I got quite a bit done considering I only have one day off this week. The daylight savings time threw me way off and I ended up sleeping way too late. So far today...
3 loads of laundry
cleaned the kitchen
got 5 packages ready to mail
worked out
made Breakfast Cookies (recipe below)

I feel pretty good about that.

Big Breakfast Cookies (3 points each)

2 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup raisins, seedless
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 cups applesauce, unsweetened
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 teaspoons baking powder
8 packets sugar substitute
3 teaspoons vanilla extract

Mix together. Spoon 8 big cookies on toa baking shet sprayed with Pam. (I used parchment paper instead of Pam) Spinkle with additional cinnamon if desired. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees.

Per serving
187 calories
2 g fat
5 g protein
39 g carbohydrates
4 g fiber
0 mg cholesterol
187 mg sodium

These smell wonderful while they are baking and they look yummy now that I have them out of the oven. I'll let you know how they taste tomorrow.

I'm baaaaaack!

My computer went tits up on me about 2 weeks ago. It was in the shop twice and I just finally got everything working again yesterday. I'm still having problems getting my printer installed right but I'm tired of messing with it for now.
WW sucks! Let's just get that out of the way. I've hit a plateau. No loss or gain for two weeks. I will keep trying though. It was kind of weird though. This week, more than any other week since I joined WW, I had more people tell me that I was really losing a lot of weight. But I'm not. Nothing at all. Part of me wants to go have a bacon double cheeseburger, onion rings, and a margarita. But then, I would just feel worse. It's so frustrating!
Spring is just around the corner finally and I'm itching to get out in the yard and play in the dirt. I have daffodils and tulips already sprouting. The forsythia bushes and the lilac bush all have little buds on them, just waiting to sprout into leaves. The naked lady lilies are up about 5 inches. It's almost time to start planning the garden again. Yay!!!
I've been working a lot of overtime lately. I think I've worked 7 out of the last 8 Saturdays. The money is coming in handy but I have no time to enjoy it really. My scrapping mojo is completely non-existant. I've been making a few cards but that's about it.

That's about all that's new with me. I'll try to post the Sunday Soup later. Not sure if I will have time between laundry, cooking, and housework. But I will try.

Sunday Soup! (I almost forgot again!)

OK here goes....

Cheesy Vegetable Soup

2 lbs frozen veggies of your choice- California Medley is good
3 cans fat free chicken broth
1 can Rotel (tomatoes with green chiles) You can cut this back if you don't want it too spicy or you can sub regular diced tomatoes.

Dump all ingredients into a large pot and bring to a boil. Let simmer for 45 minutes.
Add 10 oz. Light Velveeta. When it's melted, you are ready to eat!

Serving Size: 1 cup
Points: 1 point per cup

This is also yummy served over a baked potato!

Finally Friday!!

YAY!!! I finally have a whole weekend off. I've worked the last five Saturdays and even though the extra money is nice, I'm looking forward to having two whole days to hang out here at home. I don't have any big plans or anything. I'm going to **try** to do a layout or two. I also have some swap things to work on.
WW wasn't too bad this week. I lost .8 lbs. Better than gaining I guess. I'm going to try to stay on track this week and show a good loss at the scales next Thursday. I went to the grocery store after work today and stocked up on some fresh fruit and other healthy stuff. I may do a little baking tomorrow. I found a recipe for some breakfast cookies that I want to try. Breakfast is the hardest meal for me to eat healthy at. I'm not a big breakfast person to begin with. So I've pretty much been having either a Fober One bar or oatmeal everyday. That got old in a big hurry. So I made some breakfast samdwiches using low fat ingredients and I have really been enjoying them for a change.
HL is having a good sale this week so I may run out there tomorrow as well as my LSS and pick up some new goodies. (like I really need any more goodies!) I'm also looking for a better way to store all of my acrylic stamps. They are a hassle to put back into their original packaging so I hardly ever use them but has that stopped me from buying more of them??? No! I'm thinking that I want to make a binder of some sort to keep them in. So a visit to the office supply store is in order to look for some stiff, sturdy dividers to stick them on.
Well that's about al that is happening in my world.

Trying again to upload

Maybe it will work this time.
These are some bookmarks I made for a swap on Scrapbook.com. I kind of miss doing swaps like I used to so I'm getting my feet wet slowly by joining a few easy swaps. These were fun to male. I am in a group that had to use only black and white with red. I'm pretty pleased with them I still have one more group to go...earthtones. That should be fun.