not 5 minutes after i finished my lunch, a massive migraine came in and had a party in my head and is still rockin’ hard. it’s difficult to recollect anything right now, but this one might be the worse one i’ve had since moving to Amarillo, bad enough that i’m gonna take the prescription stuff and re-read all the food/migraine info that Teresa sent me a while back.

so i probably won’t be online anymore tonight, and i’d hoped to post the final debate analysis. no, not George/Herman, kiddos, Laura/Tuhrayzuh. i’ll try to get it done tomorrow night. and more Halloween party blogging and some of my cutest Minerva pics yet. i’m sure y’all can hardly stand the wait!!

for now, ta, musees.

wonky Miss Beca and i were talking over email the other day about the men we used to be married to. i was thinking this morning how wonderful my life is now that i don’t have TPIM (That Psycho I Married*) in it. so many things i couldn’t do while i was married to him, stupid things, silly things that ought not be regulated by the “i’m above that” meter. TPIM was so concerned with keeping up appearances, being “proper”, being grownups; i, on the other hand, was concerned with living life. having fun. being real. i hate phony people.

so today i’ve been thinking about all the things i get to do now. and smiling.

my answering machine outgoing message says “hi, this is Sarah. [normal voice] and Minerva! [high-pitched voice] leave us a message! [back to normal voice]” i giggle every time i hear it, because TPIM would never have allowed it. “that’s childish, and what if someone calls to offer me a job and hears that silly message?” my thought is, if someone doesn’t want to hire me based on my silly answering machine tape, i don’t want to work for a soulless, humorless wretch such as that.

TPIM hated walking in late to church. sure, we all hate walking in late to church. i, being afeared of people, especially hate walking in late, because without fail, 83% of the congregation is going to hear the clickety-clack of your shoes on the linoleum and turn, stare and give you the “ooooooh, you’re going straight to hell, you missed the announcements” look. my solution: carpeted auditoriums. anyway, TPIM was so concerned with how bad walking in late looked that if we walked in at 10:05, and worship started at 10, he would not go in. we would have to go get back in the car and drive 15 minutes to the congregation that started at 10:20 because he didn’t want people to turn and stare. ::rolls eyes::

there’s more, but i’ll stop now. i’m just happy that i’m no longer a repressed child, but now an immature brat out in the great big open. woohoo!

* stolen and adapted from wonky Beca

this morning the preacher was talking about how Christians are supposed to be different. but then he said that doesn’t mean we’re supposed to be weird, kooky, or strange.

uh, oops.

well, Bikermommy’s & Pappy’s party went off really well tonight. there was a band, the Woodpeckers, who are really good. tons of food, at least 150 people (yay! i’m afraid of people!), and tons of wacky costumes. i thought the best costume was my brother’s. here he is as the Wal-Mart roll-back guy, having an interesting time trying to drink a beverage.

more on this party tomorrow. i’m beat. ta, musees!

my very own Bikermommy sent a letter in to Blogs for Bush this week, which i also published for her. well, they posted it. i’m so proud. :)

IowaSoccerMom has a blog now, Anywhere But Here, and she kept it a secret… but now that she’s outed herself in the IMAO comments, i’m guessing she doesn’t mind my telling you… and even if she did mind my telling you, well… that’s just what she gets for not telling me!!! ::shakes fist::

so stop by and say hallo to Kris, who called me her blogging inspiration (?!!!!?). until she turns on anonymous comments, i can’t comment there :( so let me just take this opportunity to say i’m FIRST!! to comment on and/or link to her blog.

say, if i’m your inspiration, does that make me your blogmom? and would that be weird, you being my IowaSoccerMom and me being your blogmom? does that cause a blip in the time-space continuum? and would Doc Brown approve? and what in the world is a flux capacitor? and who ever had the wacky notion that a Delorean is a cool car? ug.ly.

hahahahahahahahaha. sometimes i’m just so punny i can’t stand myself. :D

so tonight is the big Pirates of the Caribbean biker bash at Bikermommy’s & Pappy’s warehouse. i have managed to avoid the festivities every year before this one, but now i live in Amarillo and am required there…

i think we decided i’m going as a biker chick, because well… i’m lazy, Bikermommy’s got all the gear, we’re the same size, it requires little effort from me, etc. plus, all the other costumes Bikey wanted to put me in sounded trashy. ;)

so here’s what the warehouse looks like before the revelers arrive tonight…

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is conducting an extremely scientific and incredibly accurate voting exit poll. hopefully, he will declare Florida for Bush before Tuesday ever rolls around.

go vote! and then go see SpaceMonkey.

welcome Instareaders! take your coat off, stay a while (after you check out all of the recipes in the Carnival, of course), and peruse the lovely and talented extremely humble SarahK’s happy abode. i hear people like my random stories and the adventures of a t-shirt babe best… or maybe that’s the stuff * i * like best.

i’m completely addicted to Rosa’s Tortilla Factory, which today roped me in with promises of the best chicken soft taco on the planet and seared - seared! - my tongue with unusually hot salsa. giving my Grama a run for her money, ouch!

this just in… to my cube… Karen chucked her leftover tortillas over the wall to me after the warning signal of “want my tortillas? heads up!”. let’s just say that i caught the tortillas with my chest and leave it at that.

i’ve been waiting a long time for Frank’s presidential endorsement, and he has finally shocked us all by endorsing… i can’t tell you, go find out.

the hearting of amazon.com continues… yesterday morning, i received an email that my amazon package had shipped, and when i got home from work, it was waiting at my door. that. is. service, i tells ya, and on a late Monday night order at that. i got season one of 24 for $15 (yay), and i didn’t start watching till last year, so it will be all new to me! i also picked up a Chantal Kreviazuk cd. :)

and today is massage day. somebody supress my urge to turn cartwheels, for i’m afraid i can’t hold it inside!

ta, musees!

i just got a paystub, which means i got paid today. i haven’t even spent my last paycheck, so i must say i’m skippin’ a little over here!

in a completely unrelated story, i don’t think i’ve paid bills in a couple of weeks. i should do that.

alrighty, sports fans, and weird people who don’t like sports but do like food… it’s time for Beth’s Carnival of the Recipes! so settle back and peruse the glorious culinary delights at your fingertips… then go shopping.

let’s start with breakfasty stuff…

Jordana from Curmudgeonry has a scrumptious formula for Pumpkin Apple Muffins, and i hope y’all will forgive me for making these babies all-year round and not just in the fall.

VW Bug of One Happy Dog Speaks sends in a recipe for Kathy’s Biscuits… mmm… make that two happy dogs, VW.

dough, a deer, a female deer… OR… the bread group…

reader moehawk sends in his Onion Focaccia with Carmelized Onions. let us all drool together now.

here’s what you need for the bread part:
3 cups bread flour
1 tsp salt
4 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp honey
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 cup warm water

and here’s what you do:
Put flour and salt into bowl of Kitchenaide mixer with dough hook (or bread machine on Dough only” setting), mix water, yeast, honey and oil, add to bowl or machine and mix on low speed until dry ingredients are moistened, then on med-hi speed for 7-8 minutes, or until dough is smooth and elastic. For bread machine, run in dough cycle until mixing is done. Cover and let rise for 30-45 minutes, or until doubled in size. Punch down dough, round into a ball, and let rise, covered, for 1 hour. Roll out on floured surface to about 1/4 inch thick, into whatever shape your baking pan is, this recipe will cover a commercial-sized half sheet pan or a large pizza pan.
Brush dough with extra-virgin olive oil, top with caramelized onions, a light sprinkling of Italian seasoning blend or chopped fresh oregano, and as much grated cheese as you like. My favorites are Italian Fontina, Asiago, or Provelone. Bake at 450 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until cheese is bubbling and beginning to brown, and dough is golden brown around the edges and bottom. Allow to cool for about 20-30 minutes before cutting.
Excellent for football parties, or any other get-together.

and for the carmelized onions:
4 large yellow or white onions, peeled and sliced 1/8-1/4 inch thick
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup white wine

1 tsp salt, or to taste

this is what you do:
While dough is rising, heat oil in a large heavy skillet, add onions and stir to coat with oil (you may need a little more oil, the onions really suck it up). Add wine and salt, and stir until onions are wilted and most moisture has evaporated. Reduce heat to low, and stir frequently until onions are a dark golden brown color and have a sweet flavor. Cool before putting on dough.

Marybeth shares her recipe for Easy Batter Loaf… homemade bread… mmm…

appeteasers, snickety-snacks and evil alcoholic beverages that make people drunk…

Songstress7 of News from the Great Beyond has a yummy-sounding recipe for “Ham It Up” Crescent Snacks.

my own Bikermommy submitted her Dried Beef Dip Stuff (i named it that, i’m so creative), and i can vouch that this concoction is waaaaayy better than it sounds.

next up we have Dan’s Ultra-famous Apple Martini Recipe, and Dan wants you to all get drunk on this tasty-sounding beverage. i say just sip it, you’ll remember it better that way. ;D

this next one, from booklore, is most aptly entitled (by me) “how to eat a pomegranate, and if you must have a recipe, you can make it into grenadine“.

triticale - the wheat and rye guy - sends in Okra Pickles, and as soon as i read the recipe last night, i began to salivate. you will too, so grab a tissue before you click. :)

Blog o’RAM has a snack for you called Papa’s Dates, and these sweet things sound terrific.

from Jovianne of Meandering Musings & What-Not, we have Beer Cheese Dip. i must say, i might buy beer for the first time in my life.

no soup for you! unless you browse this category…

Margi Lowry submits the most perfect recipe for a cold fall evening, Tomato Soup and Cheese Overload Sandwiches, and the soup sounds wonderful and makes me think of La Madeleine. i may throw a little basil into mine…

reader Dave in Texas, where we know how to make awesome chili, shares his chili recipe and provides helpful advice for the morning after…

Afterburner Chili
From memory (I have patented this over many many years).

Ok, 2 lbs ground beef or chili beef.
2 cans pinto beans (or your fav. I’m not picky)
4 cloves of garlic, diced eensy teensy (do it yourself! you will thank me again and again!) [Ed: Dave, i’ll use my garlic press, thanks.]
half a sweet onion, diced not quite so fine. You want to chew these little goobers.
5 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp salt (to taste, I like a little less salt)
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp ground cumin (I recommend fresh. mmm!)
1/2 tsp Tabasco. God bless General McIlhenny. Did you know he was a Marine? OOO-RAY!
1 jalapeno pepper, diced so fine you can’t tell what it was
1 habanero pepper, after filling out the forms from the EPA for handling toxic waste. diced similarly to Mr. Jalapeno. Imagine a cute Veggie Tale face. And cut it off.
4 cans agua (water, you silly caucasians)
1 tbsp masa flour
3 oz. Maker’s Mark (yeah, you could use Jim Beam. But call it your recipe, not mine)

The ground beef should be “chuck”. Not the neighbor’s kid, ground chuck. Small “c”. 15% fat. Don’t drain a drop of it. That grease enhances the “Dave experience”. Brown that beef. Pour those beans. Pour in all that other stuff. Mix and simmer according to common sense rules of mixing and simmering. You’ve done this before…I have no secrets here. Except the masa….save it until you’ve simmered for about 45 minutes, then mix that in some hot water and pour it into the brew. Drink 4 Foster’s while you do all this. It’s just more fun that way. It also enhances the “Dave experience”. Simmer another half hour or so or until you just can’t stand it anymore and eat the stuff.

Grated cheddar, chips, fresh diced onions, that just enhances the “Dave’s Chili” experience. Knock yourself out.

Tomorrow morning, have a bowl of ice cream handy, your favorite flavor. Not to eat. To sit in.

Bloodspite’s Original Dante’s Southern Chili (scroll) recipe calls for the mandatory ingredient of a Hank Williams Sr. CD. i can go for that! this recipe also calls for lots of alkeyhol, but i think that’s for drinkin’, not for mixing in. UPDATE: Bloodspite is also live-blogging his office’s chili cookoff, so mosey on over and see what’s happening in the world of beans.

Cindy from notes in the key of life takes a break from politics (yay!) to share her Taco Soup recipe. i looooove taco soup, so i’ll be making this at the first Amarillo snow.

you don’t eat no meat? then move along, nothing to see here…

Jay from Accidental Verbosity submits his stepsister Laurie’s Red-Hot & Sweet Chicken, and after seeing the pictures, i’m ready to head to the store. mmm…

Bloodspite of Techography has BS’s Famous Hamburger Casserole, and i hereby proclaim it must be good, because it calls for a Vidalia onion. i heart Vidalias.

Prochein Amy submits Babette’s Carnitas, which sounds like it would go fabulously in soft tacos, hard tacos, burritos, and my tummy.

Techievampire, in collaboration with Roberta’s Roadkill Cafe, gives us the yummy-sounding Make-Ahead Turkey for the Holidays. celery and white wine in the same recipe? count me in.

speaking of turkey, Karen of Let’s Play Restaurant serves up Emeril’s Leftover Turkey Dinner Pot Pie. i shall make this for Frank from our leftover Thanksgiving turkey, and he shall heart me for it.

Boudicca’s serving up Chicken Divan over at her place, and i’m thinking next time i visit Florida, she should invite me to dinner and fix this. please, Bou?

the Laughing Wolf submits Southwestern Truffled Chicken… i have to admit, my first thought was dessert? in the chicken dish? note to self, truffles can also be mushrooms. this sounds truffalicious!

Songstress7 has a neato-sounding recipe for Mom’s Potato Chip Chicken that i can’t wait to try. yeah, Songstress, i would go with salt and vinegar myself. num-num!

the Veg part of VitaMeataVegiMin (most likely spelled incorrectly)…

Aunty Goob scratches your vegetable itch with the lip-smacking Aunty’s Grilled Vegetables. i sooo don’t understand people who don’t like veggies.

Ronda sent in this recipe for Spicy Southwestern-Style Mashed Potatoes.

4 large potatoes, peeled and sliced,
2 T. butter,
2/3 C milk,
1 1/4 C pepper jack cheese, shredded,
2 T green onions, chopped,
2 t cilantro,
6 slices bacon, fried and crumbled,
salt and pepper to taste

Boil the potatoes until soft. Add to the bowl of a mixer. Add the remaining ingredients. Mix and enjoy!

oh, i will, Ronda. i will.

next, Jack from Random Fate sent in his Quasi-Southern Green Beans, and i’ll bet they’re more than just quasi-good.

booklore also submits Twice-Baked Potatoes, which will make for a twice-happy eater.

do you like seafood? see? food!

IowaSoccerMom, one of my all-time favorite moms, sent me her favorite non-dessert recipe. pardon me while i yummicate.

Throwdown Crawfish Etouffee

2 bags frozen crawfish tails, thawed
2 t salt
2 t garlic powder (or several cloves of minced garlic; whatever you like)
several squirts of Tabasco (optional — to taste)
1/2 stick butter
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 bunch green onions
1 can RoTel tomatoes
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 dollop of sour cream
2 bags boil-in-bag white rice, cooked & drained

Melt butter in large skillet. Add chopped onion and sautee until translucent. Add crawfish and cook for a couple of minutes. Then add soup, RoTel and other seasonings. Heat through. Add sour cream and chopped green onions; simmer. Pour crawfish over rice and serve. YUM!

curry deserves its own section here…

i heart Indian food and pretty much anything with curry in the mix, and this week we have two mouth-watering curry recipes.

from Inside Allan’s Mind, we have … um… excuse me… distracted by pictures… what was i saying? oh yes, Allan sent us Shrimp Curry (or Allan Cooks Indian). i shall make it and be happy.

Tim Worstall’s little bro is in Afghanistan cooking for a variety of cultures, and Tim sends us the ingredients for Afghan Curry that they’ve been shelling out. i personally intend to make this and figure out the weights. excellent.

the most important meal of the day… dessert…

IowaSoccerMom has been teasing mountaineer musings and IMAO readers for months with her Snickers Brownies, so i begged and got the recipe. sounds easy and de-lish.

Snickers Brownies

Use your favorite brownie recipe (or just the ones out of the box, which is what I do because I am lazy). Don’t add the nuts or whatever else the recipe might call for. Instead, pour most of the batter into the pan, then put Snickers Minis (or chop up a couple of King Size Snickers bars into chunks) onto the top of the batter, then spoon the rest of the batter over the Snickers to cover them. Bake as usual.

America’s #1 pinup girl, Dana of Note-it Posts, gives us her Mississippi Mud Cake recipe, which sounds absolutely divine… and muddy. :)

Dave of The Glittering Eye says this next one is just for me, so the rest of you should make it and send it to me. Bittersweet Chocolate Truffle Tart — those four words together make me shout only one word. amen!

my dear blogson-in-law Ian of Pinwheels and Orange Peels has a scrumdiddlyumptious recipe for Chocolate Cups with Whipped Cream, and i must say any recipe description that uses the words lusty, sinful and better than… is tantalizing. Ian, i’m leaving the liquor in! i’m such a food lush.

my Fresh as a Daisy twin slash blogdaughter Angela has a recipe for Tuiles D’Amandes (Almond Bricks), and though i can’t pronounce the French part of the name, i’m quite sure i can pronounce the key words to these luscious babies: get into my belly.

and that’s the Carnival for this week. next week, David of The Glittering Eye is hosting, and y’all should send him lots of fabulous recipes. the email address is recipe~dot~carnival~at~gmail~dot~com.

now go to the grocery! and send me samples! oh, and if you make something from the Carnival, we love feedback, so come back here and tell us how it was.

yeah, since i’m hosting the Carnival, it’s a good idea for me to have a recipe of my own, huh? i submit for all you snackers out there Bikermommy’s Dried Beef Dip Stuff…

here’s what you need:

2 8-oz. packages of cream cheese
1 jar of Armor dried beef, chopped
1 bunch of green onions, chopped
1 or 2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped

here’s what you do:

mix it all up, serve with crackers (i prefer wheat thins). this stuff is super yummy and goes over really well at parties and such.

Carnival of the Recipes!! midnight tonight is the deadline, except songstress7 gets till wakeup tomorrow. ;D

Bikermommy sent me this. i approve this message.

Dear President Bush,

I stand humbled by your devotion to our great nation and dedication to its service. I cannot begin to put into words the depth of gratitude we as a people owe to you. You perform your duty to the United States in an unwavering manner with staunch support of its people and of its military.

It is heartening to have a leader who truly shows his pride in our country. It is heartening to have a leader who truly puts his countrymen and his nation as his purpose. It is heartening to have a leader who truly believes that we as a people are the most giving, the most honorable and the most heroic of any people. It is heartening to have a leader who knows the meaning of true allies and stands by those allies to the end.

I never fear that you will dishonor the office of the President by personal arrogance. I never fear that you will betray your countrymen by selling our technology to a hostile country. I never fear that you will leave our beloved troops in harm’s way any longer than necessary in any situation nor do I fear that you will send them needlessly or bring them home without honor. I never fear that you will hand over the control of OUR country to anyone but OUR people. And I never fear that someday in the future, when you are no longer the leader of these United States, that you will spew poisonous words about our people and denigrate our nation to others across the world.

Thank you Mr. President for loving the United States of America and for recognizing the true goodness of its people.

Sunday, someone forgot to set his alarm and someone else forgot to remind him, so we didn’t get up in time for church. :( when we finally were up and about, i made breakfast for Mr. Wonderful, bacon & eggs. i’ll tell y’all now, i’m a great cook (it’s an objective observation :-) ), but i’m terrible at frying eggs; probably because i don’t eat fried eggs. anyway, i made his eggs over easy medium done and made his sink all shiny again while he had some news shows on. i might have yelled once or twice because he turned on CNN and i had to hear that Matthews fella, who’s a complete pinkytoe.

after cooking and breakfasty stuff, we showered (separately, of course) and decided to go for a little drive. that was nice.

we drove over past Indian River and yo, so we continued to A1A (Beachfront Avenue!) and over to the beach. and lo! there was a big ol’ ocean there. we walked along the boardwalk for a while and then trudged along the beach in our jeans and boots. but exclamation points!!!! look what rolled in when we weren’t looking!!!

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i heart Condi.

but the Boston Red Sox are NOT America’s team, Senator. have you ever heard of the Dallas Cowboys? last i checked, they’re still America’s team, even though… you know… they haven’t won a Super Bowl in a few years.

i’m tellin’ ya, i can’t even play the keyboard without her butting in and trying to do it better! what a showoff…

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one of my search hits today:

“Dear Abby I’m a crack dealer”.

yay!! we’ve passed the 60,000 hits marker, according to Sitemeter. and according to Hosting Matters (which is probably more accurate), it’s 73000. of course, Sitemeter doesn’t count me visiting my page, and HM does, but i can’t imagine that i’ve hit my page 13000 times since August 9, though it’s not entirely impossible.

anyway, musees, thanks for visiting! i really do heart y’all!

btw, my super-secret goal is to hit 100K by the end of the year, but i’m not gonna tell anyone that, in case it doesn’t happen.

aaaargh!! Bikermommy really likes Halloween!!… Bikey and Pappy and their crazy biker friends have a big bash at the warehouse every Halloween weekend, and Bikermommy dragged me by the warehouse at lunch so i could see it all decorated. it’s pretty impressive; this year’s theme is pirates of the caribbean, and they’ve got the place decked out with a pirate ship (complete with anchor, that little mermaid thingy that goes on the front of the ship, cannons, skeletons), dead drunk pirates, skeletons galore, and lots of spooky blacklights. i’ll put up some pics tonight.

speaking of that… i’ve got family coming to town this weekend, and Bikermommy tells me that Sizzle and her crew are staying at my house Saturday night and expect me to cook for them Sunday. ::shakes fist:: they’d better not be loud or distract from my blogging!

please scream YEEEAAAAARRRRGHHHHH!!!… he’d might as well. sKerry is really getting worked up today over these weapons that weren’t even there when we got to Baghdad and how that’s W’s fault, because he should have been able to use his super powers to keep those weapons in place till we got there. even though the NYT/CBS/DNC/JFK story has already been discredited. anyway, he sure is yelling loudly, and i’ll bet he’s sweating and wiping his brow. now all we need is a Howard Dean scream, a little bit of crazy eyes, a few references to Bushitler and maybe another sports faux pas, and maybe we evil Republicans can steal this election yet…

Twizzlers make mouths happy. or do they?… Julie at work has Twizzlers, and i’ve been snacking on them often. i realized i don’t really care for them that much, though the pull-apart ones aren’t bad.

anyone seen Friday Night Lights? i’m seeing that tonight and am pretty excited about it. i heart sports movies, and this one’s about the Permian football team, so i’m supposed to get even more excited about it, being a Texan and whatnot. i’ll post a review some day.

speaking of bits… BeeBee’s recent SpeedoMan story is hilarious. consider this your spew alert, though.

ta for now, musees!

clicky clicky to watch the Political Bohemian Rhapsody. i smiled out loud and went “eeeeee!”

thanks to Andy who reads here but never comments for the link.

Minerva and i have been up for about an hour, and i’m a little creeped out by a couple of things. first, apparently my dish had a brain-freeze during the re-run of Greta’s show on Fox, so i awoke to see her arguing with me in freeze-frame. i still can’t get her face off my screen, and I WANNA SEE FOX & FRIENDS!! lousy dish. plus, i don’t watch her show, because she always ends up making me mad; it was cool when she went up in the jet plane, though. second, the bebe and i are cuddling on the couch with the laptop, and i was petting the little booger, and suddenly she made a loud cry and lunged at my face as if she was going to bite me. she got within an inch of my frightened mug and stopped, started purring again, and lay back down.

yeah, that’s good for 5:30 a.m. when SarahK hasn’t had her first Coke.

i know i like to tease Frank about his training and all the stuff he “does wrong” as a man trying to win a babe, but here’s the truth…

the man says the right stuff too, oh does he say the right stuff. and the great thing about when he says all this right stuff is that i know he means it. he doesn’t give me canned lines, or even pull lines from John Mayer or Jason Mraz songs, he just says what’s in his mind or on his heart. and it never sounds like he’s trying to impress me with some chewing gum slogan or movie tagline. it just sounds like Frank wants to say something to his t-shirt babe, his girl, and he wants to make sure she understands that she’s special to him.

so yeah. sometimes i have to hit him on the nose with a newspaper and correct him for telling me i have a big butt that he really likes… but most times, he makes me smile from ear to ear and walk around with a silly grin all day long… so life is good… happy am i… and he… well, he’s Mr. Wonderful.

Ducky says i’m becoming so much like Frank. bah! i say i’m just evolving as a blogger, except not really, because i’ve been a Large Mammal for quite some time now. so anyway, i’ve sold out!!

i’m now hosting Blogads on mountaineer musings, and the first ads will be up in the next couple of days. watch for them, be excited with me, and visit my sponsors (once i have them)!

oh. yeah. Bikermommy and i ate at a place called Barnaby’s Beanry today; burgers, good southern fried food, etc. yummy food, and an interesting innovation…

they had a cheeseburger made with cornbread buns; apparently the man who used to own the place invented them… of course, i had to try it! a burger with no white carbs, and cornbread to boot! woohoo!

they make the cornbread and fry the patties in little round disks, and these fried cornbread buns hold the little cheeseburger in place.

verdict: YUM. YUM. i’ve gotta figure out how to make these things. and yay Amarillo dining!

at 9:43, i have 943 hits for the day. good thing 943 adds up to 7. whew!

the Carnival of the Recipes will be hosted by yours truly this week, so please please send in your recipes, and let’s have a great carnival. :)

Iowasoccermom has already emailed me two recipes to include, so y’all are way behind! if you have a blog, send me a link to your recipe post. if you don’t have a blog, just send the recipe, and i’ll post it whole in the carnival. email all entries to recipe ~dot~ carnival ~at~ gmail ~dot~ com. entries are due by midnight EST Thursday (which is technically Friday), except songstress7’s entry, which is due by 4:30 CST the next morning, which is when i wake up. ;)

yay Carnival! yay Recipes! yay Carnival of the Recipes!

ok, so i got a new keyboard last night with my expense check (yay mileage!), and it’s one of those with the lighty-up keys so i can learn myself how to play (might as well, i own a piano, unless Sa never lets me have it back).

first off, Minerva loves it. she’s hilarious, when the keys light up, she starts chasing them, then when she wants attention, she just lies on the keys. funny kitty, that one.

k, so i’m going through the songs in the song bank and listening to all the different pretty tones, and i come across the Gounod version of Ave Maria. Gounod!! every time i hear it these days, it’s that other version (you know the one i’m talking about, every pop star puts it on their Christmas album), but when i was in the Dorothy Shaw Bell Choir, we played the Gounod version, and i LOVED it.

so it was nice to hear it come out of my new toy/hobby. now i shall go take a bath and let the Vibes tone play me Gounod as i soak in the epsom salts and mango/island fruits bubble bath.

more later, musees. :)

p.s. love one another, for love begets joy. mmm. so does music. listen to some music and feel the love.

… yeah, sorry ’bout that. anyway, tonight i should have…

* some cute Minerva-blogging (she likes to play the keyboard and stands by my computer so i’ll pay attention to her).
* Sunday from my weekend with Frank, including a never-before seen picture of us at the beach.
* food review from today’s lunch.
* a big announcement that i’m starting up blogads like all the other sellouts.
* a big reminder to turn in recipes for this week’s Carnival of the Recipes, which i am hosting.
* probably some other stuff, as i’m in a particularly bloggy mood. though i also have a big project that i’m working on at home, and it will take up some of my evening. but like most big projects of mine, it is sure to provide some wacky Klutzerella story.
* say, i’ll take requests, too. so tell me in the comments if there’s something you’d like to see, and i may or may not indulge you. :-)

later, musees! i heart y’all!

and the other male musees. :)

i give you lines from Jason Mraz songs and John Mayer tunes that are guaranteed to make your woman’s heart melt. if you’re not into that romance thing, at least you might get some extra time for golf or shooting guns or something.

use these lines on your chicky, and if you pull them off right, well, i’ll just say congratulations on all the goodwill you will gain. some of these are for the married fellas only; this is a family blog. ;)

* “i’ll never let your head hit the bed without my hand behind it.” - Mayer, Your Body is a Wonderland… my reaction the first time i heard this line: uh uh! did he really just say that? lemme just skip back a few seconds… oh. my. goodness. he really said that. what. a. man.

* “face to palm… tear to tear… mouth to tongue… heart to ground… i am in love.” - Mraz, After an Afternoon… did you just say you worship me? marry me. right now.

* “i’d rather be a mystery than she desert me.” - Mayer, My Stupid Mouth… self-explanatory. ;)

* “well I’ve seen a thousand things in one place, but I stopped my counting when I saw your face.” - Mraz, 1000 Things… * swoon * thud *

* “I know you’re mine all mine all mine, but you look so good it hurts sometimes.” - Mayer, Your Body is a Wonderland… kiss. me. right. now.

* “fortunately you will kiss me and I’ll kiss you back” - Mraz, 1000 Things… even in public? yay, PDA!

* “Feel my chest when I look at you… Baby you, you’ve got my only heart.” - Mayer, Only Heart… oh, baby, you’ve got mine too.

* “I’m absolutely definite absolutely positive absolutely definitely positive.” - Mraz, Did I Fool Ya?… are you sure? wow, a man who knows what he wants. i heart you.

* “I called because I just need to feel you on the line.” - Mayer, Split Screen Sadness… i want to have your baby.

* “I’m sleeping to dream about you, I’m so tired of having to live without you.” - Mraz, Sleeping to Dream… can’t… think… straight… too… drool… move to Texas…

* “i survive on the breath you are finished with.” - Mayer, Come Back to Bed… :^O uhhhhh… i love you.

* “there’s something in the way you laugh that makes me feel like a child.” - Mraz, After an Afternoon… really? i thought it was my youthful looks, or the way i always correct you.

* “you can be mad in the morning, i’ll take back what i said, just dont leave me alone here, it’s cold baby.” - Mayer, Come Back to Bed… okay, whatever you say.

* “i can tell you this much, i will marry just once, and if it doesn’t work out, give her half of my stuff.” - Mayer, Home Life… just kidding.