Last week

My promised post about my Christmas week! It really was a great time spent with family and friends. I know I say this all the time, but Matt and I are seriously lucky to have a super supportive family and group of friends. I never forget this fact.

Back to our wonderful Christmas week....I'll break it down, day by day. Mostly, for our Tow family in Illinois. Feel free to skip this part, but fyi- I am including an awesome recipe for rum cake, if you like that kind of thing...



Monday:

I cleaned my whole house and made a really great rum cake from a recipe I found online. But, my house. Oh, my house was so deliciously clean! You could have eaten off the floors (and carpet). Yes, this is because Matt got me a beautiful Dyson for Christmas (a little early, because I just couldn't wait and had to use it!). I even washed every carpet, my stove, the microwave. Not all with the Dyson, but I will credit the Dyson with the motivation to keep cleaning until my home was sparkling. I'll have to make a whole post about that another time. In the meantime, I'm basically in domestic bliss with the Dyson/Steam Mop combo I've got going on here. Really!

My Rum Cake:

*notice- as usual it was half eaten before I could take a pic*

Easy Rum Cake
Ingredients
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1/2 cup dark rum (I added 1/4 cup more to mine)
4 eggs
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 (3.5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
　
Glaze
1/2 cup butter
2 tablespoons water
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup rum (I added 1/4 cup more to mine)

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch tube or Bundt pan. Sprinkle nuts over the bottom of the pan.
Mix together the cake mix, 1/2 cup dark rum, eggs, 1/2 cup water, oil, and vanilla pudding mix. Pour batter over the nuts in the pan.
Bake for 1 hour. Cool, and invert cake on a serving plate. Prick the top of the cake.
To Make The Glaze: Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in 1/8 cup water and the 1/2 cup sugar. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove glaze from heat, and stir in 1/4 cup rum. Drizzle and smooth evenly over the top and sides.

Nutritional Information
Easy Rum Cake
Servings Per Recipe: 12
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 454
Total Fat: 23.5g
Cholesterol: 92mg
Sodium: 479mg
Total Carbs: 49.7g
Dietary Fiber: 0.5g
Protein: 4.1g

Tuesday:

Cookie baking day! I made mimosa's and muffins and had some girlfriend's over to make and exchange cookies!

I made these raspberry and apricot filled thumbprints:

I also made these snowman cupcakes (Nadia helped me with the mini chocolate chip mouths). Like I told my mom: "Enjoy how cute these are, cause I am never making them again!" Seriously. These things took me like 8 hours to decorate a mere 12 cupcakes. A few times I almost threw them across the room and gave up. They are pretty, though...(NEVER AGAIN!!)

Wednesday:
Lunch and shopping at IKEA with some girlfriends! What a fun day! I bought a new king size down comforter for only $49.99! What a bargain! Not to mention the satisfaction I got from getting rid of Matt's old yellowed one he's had since 2000. Woo-hoo!

Thursday:
Christmas Eve at my parent's house! I made my famous corn bread souffle as well as a 7 pound ham. Yep. The girl that doesn't eat red meat made ham. :-) I also brought over the half eaten rum cake I made earlier in the week. Afterwards, we went to a beautiful Midnight Mass service at the church I grew up in, had my confirmation at, and got married in. It was lovely. We also opened gifts. This year Matt and I got some wonderful gifts. I'm going to mention them so I can publicly thank our family members (I'm not trying to brag. I'm just honestly overwhelmed with everyone's generosity this year).

Mom and Dad West gave us a Living Room, a very generous gift card to Publix, and my mom got me one of those Miche purses that you can change the shells on it.

Mom and Dad Tow gave me this beautiful netbook/blog machine I'm using as we speak. They got Matt a home theater system (speakers, blueray DVD player, receiver).

My sister gave me a lovely personalized album she made of her wedding.

Matt gave me a gift certificate to get my nails done (and the Dyson!)

Mike also gave me a gift certificate for my nails (I get my nails done ALOT. Like weekly).

Can you believe it?! This is probably one of the best Christmas' I've had since I was a kid and got that purple scooter I'd been wanting! Thank you SO much for making this a lovely, fun, and exciting Christmas this year. And thank you for the beautiful gifts!

(note- I have another post ready to put out about the handmade gifts I made my family this year.)

Friday:
Spent the day eating leftovers and relaxing with my family. That evening we went to a friend of the family's for some dessert, wine, and good conversation.

Saturday:
We saw Avatar with my parents and sister and brother-in-law. Whoa! I don't want to ruin it for anyone, so that's all I'm going to say. I have to admit that I wasn't that excited to see it as I'm not into that sci-fi/fantasy stuff. I loved it, though. I really did.

Sunday:
Breakfast with my parents, sister, and brother-in-law before they left town (my sister lives in Miami). Afterwards, we went to a BBQ at a friends house. It was BYOS (bring your own steak). So, I brought some fruit and veggie/brown rice sushi for myself while the other meat eaters enjoyed their dinner and harassed me about not eating steak. I honestly can say I don't remember what steak taste like. Last time I had some I was probably like 10. I had my last hamburger at age 12 or 13. I really don't miss it.

Monday:
Outback day at Bush Gardens! Matt left work early and my friend Catherine met up with us to spend the day there. They closed later than usual and had fireworks but we ended up leaving kind of early because it was freaking freezing! What's the temp here right now? Like 60? Really....I don't like anything under 85. I seriously wore a coat, scarf, gloves, and a hat. I probably looked like I was going skiing or something. (Matt said I was being dramatic) Really, though! It was COLD. I didn't care what I looked like.

PS- my cards have multiplied!

PPS- Matt and I are hosting the New Year's party this year. Pics to come!

Phew!

I've been busy busy busy with the holidays and family. My sister just left town yesterday, and today we went to the Outback Day at Bush Gardens. This is the first minute I get to blog. And, well...I'm tired!

Basically, what I'm trying to say is that I didn't forget about this blog, but I think I'll wait until tomorrow to post all my holiday adventures and gifts. I got some big ticket gift items this year that I'm pretty excited about.

I must have been good this year.

You will just have to wait and see...

Menu Monday

Monday: Eat out
Tuesday: Eat out
Wednesday: Eat out
Thursday: Eat out
Friday: Eat out

I'm on vacation, people! Seriously. I ain't cookin. Enough said! (Sorry Matt, but it's true). :-)

Suzie Homemaker Dont's

Suzie Homemaker, DON'T drink Mad Housewife Cabernet Sauvignon after a long day of domestic duties.



Seriously, it doesn't taste good. Even though it does only cost $7.99 at Publix and it has a cool label- IT IS NOT WORTH IT.

Instead, drink one of these below. The Yellow Tail Cabernet Sauvignon is actually flavored with chocolate and it only cost $6.99.

PS- those Australians make pretty good wine!

Menu Monday

Monday: Tuna Noodles with a twist with steamed broccoli
Tuesday: Slow-cooker Latin-style Beef with green beans
Wednesday: Turkey Goulash with chili cornbread
Thursday: Christmas Eve Dinner
Friday: Leftover Christmas Dinner

Oopsie...notice something familiar here?? Looks like we went out to eat one too many times last week. Sooooo....here are 3 of last weeks menu items. What??? Hey, I planned and shopped for it. My 101 in 1001 goal does not say I have to actually make it! ;-)

(Yes, I have already found ways to find a loophole in my 101 in 1001. SO! Whatev...I'm a busy woman!)

Gifts, Gifts, Gifts!

I am so overwhelmed with the generosity of my students (big and little) this year. This is what I came home with yesterday after school:

$10 gift card to Panera
$15 gift card to Starbucks
1 Red Rose
1 box of truffles
1 box of chocolate covered peanuts (those are gone, I already ate them!)
2 homemade soaps (from a HS student-how cute!)
1 cinnamon smelling candle
1 gift certificate for a spa pedicure
1 list pad with a matching pen (actually, I left that one at school)
$25 gift card to Outback
homemade peppermint smelling play dough (from another HS student)
1 evil eye bracelet in maroon and white (Tarpon colors)
1 box of various nuts
various homemade cookies from multiple people
2 homemade pumpkin pies (from our Pastry Chef at the Academy- not students)
$45 visa gift card (from various preschool parents)

WOW!

I guess I really do make a difference. Or, at the very least, they like me. LOL!

Blog and you shall receive...

Behold the Advent Calendars Mom Tow sent after reading my poor stressed out post about being behind! Thanks, Mom!! No worries- we are caught up on the chocolate.

This is so exciting. I had no idea Blogs were this powerful. Wow! Since I'm on a roll let's ask for more goodies.

I would like....

A Baby (Twins would be great, but not triplets, please.)

I Never Knew It!

Lookey what I just found out....

My co-worker has her very own etsy shop!! She makes the cutest Apron Tops. You should definitely check it out!

You know how much I love crafts...and etsy...So, I put her site on the list to the left of my blog under the "Crafty People Heading" as "Avocado Face."

Enjoy!

My favorite part about Christmas

There are three things that are my absolute favorite thing about Christmas.

3) Midnight Mass
-Our church has the most beautiful Midnight Mass service on Christmas Eve. We get there 1.5-2 hours ahead of time to get a seat because it gets SO crowded! At 11 pm, the choir starts singing Christmas Carol's until mass starts at 12 am.

2) Christmas Music
-I LOVE LOVE LOVE Christmas Music. In fact, I started listening to my Christmas CD's the week before Thanksgiving. I'm literally like some freaky, smiley, Mrs. Beaver in my car singing Christmas songs. If you see that girl on the road, it's probably me. And yes, I'm wearing pearls.

Finally, my absolute most favorite thing ever about Christmas is...

1) Christmas Cards
-I run home every day and go straight to my mailbox to see what new Christmas Cards I received. Then, I hang them over the arch-way entrance into my kitchen so I can admire them throughout the month of December.

What is your favorite thing abut Christmas?

***update***

Sneak Peak of my Christmas Card collection

Mini Turkey Meatloaves = Success!!

Wow! What an exciting moment to find a new recipe that we truly enjoyed and was EASY to make. I couldn't be happier with the results. I think the best part about it, is the automatic portioning and the cooking time. Since they are smaller, it only took 15 minutes for them to bake. NICE!

Recipe for you foodies (ahem, I mean April):

Mini Turkey Meatloaves
Yields: 4 servings

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground turkey (or ground beef for you red-meat eaters)
2 large eggs, beaten
3/4 c. panko bread crumbs
2 T. Italian Parsley, chopped
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 T. ketchup
1/2 t. garlic salt
4 green onions, chopped
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

Directions: Preheat oven to 450. Spray rimmed baking sheet (or mini loaf tray) with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients. Form into small loaves- one per serving (or use mini loaf tray- trust me, this is easier) and place on baking sheet. Top with ketchup and sprinkle with garlic salt, some chopped green onions, and some cheddar cheese. Bake loaves until they are cooked through, 15-20 minutes.

*I didn't use cheese as Matt is not a cheese fan. Don't even get me started. It's a travesty, I know.

PS- Extra Perk: These perfect mini loaves are already pre-portioned for a left over lunch the next day!!

PPS- we ate these so fast I forgot to take pictures. But they look very cute and "impressive" with the green onion garnish on top.

Menu Monday

Since I'm all about stealing great ideas from other people's blogs, I have started a Menu Monday Post to help me with one of my 101 in 1001 goals: "Create Weekly Dinner Menu's.

Here we go!

Monday: Mini Turkey Meatloaves with potato green onion hash
Tuesday: Tuna Noodles with a twist with steamed broccoli
Wednesday: Asian Chicken Breasts with green bean almondine
Thursday: Slow-cooker Latin-style Beef with green beans
Friday: Turkey Goulash with chili cornbread


Thanks, Sarah Beth for the great idea! :-)

PS- Oh, yeah. And, I forgot to mention that these are all new recipes. :-) So wish me, and Matt's stomach, luck...

I am SO behind!

Why, oh why, do I insist on making my own Christmas presents every year? I do this to myself every time, and every time I fight to get things done before Christmas.

*sigh*

I'm stressed, people.

Which reminds me- has anyone seen a good advent calendar out there? Matt and I really enjoy just a simple one with the chocolates in them. I can't seem to find them this year! It's already the 13th and we still don't have an advent calendar!!

How did this happen?? Where has the time gone?

Home Ec Teachers unite

Today all the Home Ec Teachers of Pinellas County met for a Holiday brunch.

Yes, all the Sue's, Suzie's, Susan's, Suzanne's, a couple Carol's, and a Dianne put on their pearls and their best Christmas sweaters to have mocktails, pass around our favorite recipes, and vote on which organization to send our collective donations to.

It was potluck. Quite honestly that was the best idea EVER when you consider we are all Home Ec Teachers and have all taught cooking classes. I whipped up a little gem called cornbread souffle, which is always a winner. And then, I did the unthinkable- I cooked it in a throw-away aluminum container.

Ok, really I have an unnatural attachment to my pyrex and couldn't bear the thought of it getting destroyed or lost in the mass confusion of potluck. Oh, well. I figured I would just blame my faux pas on being young and not knowing any better.

Oopsie! Wouldn't you know all the other ladies brought theirs in baskets. For Shame!

The brunch was at a lovely ladie's home in Dunedin who is a well-known retired Home Ec teacher in the area and who also happens to have been chosen for the tour of homes. (They've been asking her for years, but she just finally agreed). Her decorations were amazing, so I made to sure to take pics for future ideas. Here is the Wreath she made HERSELF.

If only we could all be that talented at wreath making. I am green with envy! She also had a tree which blows snow from the topper. Yep! Behold some of her other creations:

Here are two things I found out today:

1) The only alcohol present at the brunch (Amaretto) was not there to make things more livelier and interesting. It was to cut the acidity from the orange juice. You only need a "drop." Interesting. Didn't. know. that.

2) When you think you are done decorating your tree, don't stop. You are still only half done. Keep going. (true quote from our hostess and local Home Ec celebrity)

PS- Toys for Tots won the donations. I knew you were wondering that. And no, I don't know if the Amaretto thing actually works with orange juice- I didn't try it. I was driving. Ha!

Cornbread Souffle Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 can of cream corn

1 can of sweet whole kernal corn (undrained)

8 oz sour cream

2 eggs

1 box Jiffy cornbread mix

1/2 stick salted butter.

Directions: Mix together and pour into casserole dish. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Actual conversation in my house about 5 minutes ago...

This just happened while Matt and I were sitting on the couch watching tv. For Reals!!

(Matt is Blue and I'm Red)

"If we have triplets can I juggle them?"

"No."

"What if they're small?"

"No."

"What if they're real small?"

"No."

"Well, I just think that would be a funny Christmas card."

Surprise #2

Finally, I can divulge my final surprise!

Well, I suppose it is really more of an announcement....

Matt and I are continuing with Fertility Treatments this month!

We start December 19th, to be exact.

As I am now not a newbie in this realm of fertility treatments, I will be handling this event much differently. Basically, I am only going to say this much in this post on this blog:

I am choosing to not go into any details this time around. Although I tend to be an open book when it comes to my life, I feel that in such controversial matters that I will save these conversations for a new forum. Please note, that all I ask this time around is for your prayers, support, and positive baby vibes. No need to ask me any questions on updates, etc. In the event that Matt and I are pregnant, we will definitely make an announcement.

Whoa, wait! I'm not done...

I've begun another blog here. This is a private blog where I will go into the details of my journey with Infertility and it's many treatments (including this latest one), etc. This will help ensure my privacy as I'll have more control over who my readers are. If you are interested in joining me in my journey, you may either comment on this post, or email me with your email address (include names, please) requesting I add you as a reader. My email address: sweetp725@yahoo.com.

I've already started posting there, so contact me ASAP if you are interested!

PS- Thanks again for everyone's unconditional support. It has really made a huge difference in our difficult path to start a family.

Today at the Gym

I'm finally back to the gym (unbelievable, I know). Today, my friend Tara was meeting up with me- she's my motivator.

Anywho, on her way there she called to say she may be a few minutes late cause she was driving slow since there was a lizard on her windshield. When she finally pulled in the parking lot I walked up to her car to see if he was still there.

Sure enough, he was. Standing there frozen stiff in a surf-like position.

We looked to see if it was breathing, and we couldn't tell.

We sprinkled it with water to get the shock out of him- no deal.

We got a piece of mulch and tried to touch him- no movement.

Apparently, as we're trying to figure out the status of this lizard life, a man had been watching us the whole time. He came out of his car and issued a warning,

"Be careful he might bite!" chuckle

"No, I think he had a heart attack," I said.

"Here, I'll get him," the silver-haired man said.

Very gently, the man tries to pick the lizard up off the windshield when it suddenly comes to life....and runs down his arm, across his stomach, and in-between his legs.

Um, all I'm going say is that it was very interesting (and entertaining) to watch this man try to remain clam while there is a lizard hanging out in his nether regions.

Fortunately, no lizards were injured during this process.

PS- I know you are all wondering if poopy pants was there (she was!)

Surprise #1

Ready for it?

Ready??

Ok, it's probably not that exciting to you, but it's super exciting to me...

Matt and I got a new Family Room! Furniture that is...and a rug...and curtains...and some prints.

Yippee! I've waited so long for this new Family Room, I can't even describe to you how happy it makes me. So, without further ado, I give to you pics of my Family Room along with some of my Christmas decorations and such.

View from the upstairs landing

Side angle

With the tree in the background

I love this wreath!!

The table centerpiece

Here's our tree!

Up close view of the tree topper I made

Our traditional yearly ornaments

Our new 2009 ornament
PS- thanks Mom and Dad West for a VERY generous early Christmas present!

GRRRRRRrrrrrrrr!

Get ready for a Blog Blast tonight. My Internet has been giving me trouble so I have a bunch of posts on draft I plan on getting on here.

HeHe!

Hint: I will announce my two surprises I promised earlier.

I jumped on the bandwagon!

Earlier this year, my sweet sorority sister, Aja, started a 101 tasks in 1001 days project on her blog. Today, I was thinking about things I've been wanting to do and thought I should jump on the 101 in 1001 bandwagon, too!

Notice to the right that I have posted my 101 tasks. I have until September 3, 2012 to complete my tasks, so wish me luck. Also, feel free to help me out any if you want! :-)

Thanks, Aja, for the great idea! I look forward to getting some of those tasks finally completed!

I'm a little Hand Towel

I co-teach with a fabulous teacher and mentor, named Mrs. Hanson. Sometimes, our students (big and little, alike) get confused and call me Mrs. Hanson, or the other way around.

A few of the little ones call me Mrs. Towel. So, usually I'm Mrs. Hanson or Mrs. Towel.

This morning, one of our cuties (the temper tantrum boy) started to get confused and called out for me:

"Mrs. Han_Towel"

So, now I'm Mrs. Hand Towel. :-)

Speaking of hand towels...aren't these vintage ones pretty? I think I will be this delicate one with the pink southern belle on it.



Oh, and I can't forget to mention that my little nude pee-er let me in on his BIG secret today while in the potty.

"Mrs. Towel, do you know why I take my shoes off when I go to the potty?"

"No, I don't. Will you tell me?"

"Do you want to know why?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Um, because, one time, my mommy, she took me to the potty at home. The potty was my potty and I spilled on my shoes."

Mystery solved.

I would not make a very good Mona Lisa...

Courtesy of my students....They shouldn't have. Really.

My new favorite craft site!

I just added a link to another craft site I found:

Craftbits

This site has really easy and cute crafts you can do with kids.

Enjoy!

The Clincher

Ewww. I forgot to mention my end of day clincher. I just found out this afternoon that in January I will have to go to Orlando with 8 of my students for a conference.

I don't know what it is about this, but the instant I heard about it I wanted to throw up. Just ME, in charge of 8 teenage girls in Orlando for two nights.

This should be interesting. I think I'll need to call some of my teacher friends in O-town for reinforcements.

Anyone up for the challenge? :-) (j/k)

Life gets back to normal, I mean crazy, pretty quickly

*sigh*

My one week vacation from school is long forgotten. Yesterday, it was like 78 degrees outside and the heat was on in my classroom. Indefinitely. It actually broke on heat. No one could figure out how to turn it off. Not even our head custodian. I ended up leaving school early because I felt like I was going to throw up.

Which reminds me...My lovely MIL put a space heater in our room while we were in Ill., so my my Florida blood wouldn't freeze (isn't that sweet?). Well, my husband had it on 80 degrees while we were sleeping and I woke up in a daze. I could barely open my eyes and I felt sick. I had to turn it off and open the window, AND lay on the floor so that I wouldn't throw up. (I'm afraid to throw up, remember?).

Back to my classroom: This morning I got to school and it was still hot in there. Luckily it was cooler so it wasn't as bad as yesterday, but still. THEN, remember that boy I busted for drugs about a month ago? Well, since the Thanksgiving break he has decided to come to my room and harass me. Today, he asked me if I wanted to by some crack from him. He also said some really mean and disrespectful things to the other Teacher I co-teach with. Nice!

Lovely way to start the day, heh?

But, it gets better. One of the little ones threw about 6 text-book temper tantrums in a matter of 4 hours. The kicking and screaming while rolling around the floor kind of tantrums.

I tried the whole "Use your words, not your tears," and ignore strategies but they were useless. So, finally I just sat him in the office and let him cry. And cry, and cry. And cry. Is that bad? I mean, I was in there with him and I did talk to him. But, really. I. just. couldn't. take. it. anymore.

Is it Friday, yet?