Blonde Moment Alert and Mother's Day Giveaway!

Okay, I swear I am never short on blonde moments and my hair is so black! I don't get it. I know where I got it from though. Mom. I am so proud of mom for passing down this trait to me. Lol!

So, here goes the blonde moment. I got a new laptop today and hooked everything up just fine, so easy peasy and all green lights say GO for connections but my wireless wasn't working! Grrrr! I'm thinking this cannot be happening. I know it's the laptop. I know it! I knew something would go wrong if I bought a new laptop. All my settings would disappear with the wind. Oh no wait, it must be my phone company. Yep! I've had to call them out three times in the past because the modem wasn't working right. So, I make the dreaded call.

Automated Voice from the phone company: In a few words, tell us why you're calling.

Michelle: WIRELESS DOWN (saying as clearly as possible)

Automated Voice: Did you say billing issues?

Michelle: W-I-R-E-L-E-S-S D-O-W-N.

Automated Voice: Okay, I got that. So you're having a problem with your modem.

Michelle: NO! Wireless Down.

Automated Voice: Okay, so you would like to speak to someone in billing.

Michelle: Oh my God.

Automated Voice: So you would like to speak with God?
Michelle: Right. Connect me with God. Maybe he can help me with my wireless. No! My wireless is DOWN!

Automated Voice: So you would like to "get down?" Okay, hold on. I will connect you to the first available representative.

Okay, so FINALLY I am connected and all I am hearing are numbers...numbers, numbers and more numbers. 142 dot 432 dot 637 dot...dot...dot......dot net. On and on this went for an entire hour and we still couldn't get my computer to connect. *sigh*. The poor guy is frustrated trying to figure out why everything is online and working but I still cannot connect to wireless. So, he gives up and gives me the number to Dell to talk to someone there. He says he can connect me but I am so numbered out I tell him to just give me the phone number and I will call later after I rest. *pant, pant, pant*.

So, I decide to take a look at the computer myself. Guess what I realized? MY WIRELESS BUTTON IS TURNED "OFF".

I scare myself sometimes. Lol!

Also everyone! Renee over at The Chateau of Remnants is having an awesome Mother's Day giveaway so swing on over and check it out! She also has such a beautiful blog with her wonderful artsy crafts. :)

A Haunting In Oregon

Okay, so I promised you all I'd start talking about the experiences of our paranormal group. First of all I should introduce our group. We are called Seekers - Investigating The Unknown Scientifically and Intuitively. There are four women in the group right now but we are seeking out new members at the moment. When we perform our investigations we have two psychics that often come along with us. Typically we know the story of the establishment and paranormal history and we do not divulge this information to our psychics prior to their attendance at the investigation. This will surely test their skills out. They have both been right on the money so far!

These two pictures are from a private residence investigation in Molalla, Oregon (Molalla is named after a Native American tribe that once inhabited the area). In the first picture you will see a traveling ball of energy close to the floor. We were told by the psychics before this shot was taken that they felt the presence of a canine spirit. Isn't it odd that the energy form is close to the floor? The family that lived there had always felt a presence in the last two rooms at the end of this hallway. It looks as though the energy is travelling from one room to the other.

In this shot, I was sitting next to the psychic as we performed our EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon) session and in the corner of my eye I saw a ball of light fall directly from the ceiling down to the floor right between us. As it fell the psychic said she felt something brushing against her shoulder. I decided to snap my camera several times in hopes of catching something. This is what I caught.

During the EVP session we all sat around in a circle, turned off all the lights and lit a candle within the circle. The session is meant to see if we can capture anything on our digital voice recorders. Any of our members will randomly ask a question of the spirit and the rule is 60 seconds after the question is asked there must be total silence. During this silence we hope to capture something or perhaps even an answer to the question that was asked. Although I haven't quite figured out how to upload what we caught on tape, I can tell you about it. :) As we went around the room, one of the gals asked "How many spirits are with us here.". After playing the tape back you can clearly here a male voice whispering "two" right after the question was asked. We were floored and very excited! It still gives us chills to this day.

We did some investigating of the historical background of the area and we discovered that the area (Molalla, Oregon) where the house sits was inhabited by a Native American tribe called the Molalas. Supposedly the area is also home to many unmarked grave sites.

Here are some of the historical homes in Molalla today that serve as historical museums now. They are beauties and I wouldn't mind getting my foot in the door with our group to investigate!

The Von Der Ahe House is the former halfway stop/inn on the stage route between Oregon City and Molalla.

This is the Prairie House Inn. This house was the first house in Molalla to have water and electricity. Hmmm....I'd like to see if we can get into this house for an investigation. :)

This is the Dibble House. This house is the oldest surviving still-intact residence in Molalla. It was built in the late 1850's.

Well there's a short trip into my paranormal world! I will post more on other investigations soon!

The Farmer's Wife

On one of my frequent visits to my favorite tea house I try to stop by the little antique store nearby. I have to tell you, the sweetest, sweetest elderly lady works there. She is sweeter than cherry pie. I mean if you looked up the meaning of "grandmother" in the dictionary this little old lady would be the definition. Lol! In any event, I picked this up awhile back. I had never heard of this publication before. I mean I've seeing vintage publications before but not this one! I am intrigued and want to see more.

Love the old ads. I eat like this every night. This is nothing new for me.


This house cost a whopping $7,000.

That's your vintage dose for the day. :)

Snickerdoodle Recipe

The Blonde Duck and Lisa over at Hospitable Pursuits asked me what recipe I used for my Snickerdoodles I made yesterday. I used Martha Stewart's recipe, of course. ;) I've always loved all of Martha's cookie recipes! These Snickerdoodles turned out perfect and so moist. I took one out of the baggie this evening for a little dessert and it was still very soft and moist. It's like biting into a little bit of sweet Heaven! I've made other Snickerdoodles that came out a little flatter than these. These came out chunky and moist! You must try them out!

Martha Stewart’s Snickerdoodles

Makes about 1 1/2 dozen

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp coarse salt

1 cups (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 large eggs

2 tbsp sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Put butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture.

Stir together cinnamon and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl. Shape dough into 20 (1 3/4-inch) balls; roll in cinnamon sugar. Space 3 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.

Cookies can be stored between layers of parchment in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days or you can even put them in airtight baggies!

Also! Zaroga over at Zaroga's Nook asked me about a diabetic version of Snickerdoodles. I found this great website with the recipe! I didn't even know you could add the nuts and currants to it but it sounds fabulous! Here is the link, Zaroga! Now go make Frank some great Snickerdoodles! :)

One last thing, I have to tell you all about a funny today. Three gals from work (including me) had to go to a local photographer to take pictures for our firm's website. Oh my gosh, we laughed our heads off. I think he was trying to make us all feel comfortable but I think it caused just the opposite. I mean how would you feel if you were taking a "work" photo with someone sounding like this..."work it baby, come on work it!"...."Oh yea baby, show me that pout!" or "There it is, there it is! You're an angel from Heaven..you were meant to do this baby!". OH MY GAWD! I was like, ummm...is this a modeling shoot. Was there a mix-up? I don't think a law firm wants to have sexy, pouty faced paralegals displayed on their website! We laughed so hard when we left there. It was definitely an experience. We got our proofs the same day and there is one hilarious picture of me making fun of what he was saying because I "struck a pose" and when I got it through email all I could do was laugh. My co-worker had a funny "surprised eyes wide open" shot and we laughed at hers too. Oh well, gotta laugh a little when it comes to work, huh?

Night all!

Snickerdoodles, Paranormal Meeting, An Award and Tail Chasers Club!

Today was another busy day but only until 3 p.m. and after that I came home for a nice long nap with the fur babies. I love afternoon naps and I never catch enough of them. Ahhhh....

However, earlier I had to make something for the birthday we were celebrating for Diana who is part of our paranormal group! I decided to make it quick and make Snickerdoodles. :)


Also, I can't tell you how much I am enjoying this little table I got from Goodwill! It gives me so much extra counter space.

All ready to go with my present and cookies.

The meeting was very exciting. We have a new addition to our group! Her name is Jenny and she has decided to become our case manager. She will find the leads and get the investigations for us! Update on the last investigation I said we were going to go on, we've had to put it off until Fall. At the moment they are quite busy with Spring and Summer festivities and the weekends won't be quiet enough for us to conduct a thorough investigation.

However, we do already have a lead on a few more places, two private homes (thanks to our new case manager, Jen). :) We will hopefully have investigations beginning in June and going forward! One of the private homes has disturbances that become so bad they have had to actually take the kids and stay the night somewhere else! I can't wait to investigate this place. :)

I will also be checking out on how we can become a satellite group for Ghost Hunters (on Sci Fi Channel if you haven't already seen it yet). We will need to have a web presence so I will be in charge of that. I am in the very beginning stages of the creation of the website. I will keep you all updated!

I am going to gather some pictures from past investigations and post them very soon. :)

AWARD ALERT!!

I just received an award from Lisa over at Hospitable Pursuits! She is such a sweetie and I love her romantic, beautiful blog! I have her button on my sidebar as well so hop on over and take a peek at her wonderful blog! Thank you so very much, Lisa!!

Now the rules to accepting and sharing this sweet button are:

1. The winner may put the logo on their blog.

2. Put a link to the person who sent you the award.

3. Nominate 10 blogs.

4. Put links to their blogs.

5. Leave a comment for each nominee.

So here are my nominees!

1. Funky Junk Sisters
2. Creative Cottage Dreamer
3. Whatever Amuses Me
4. Hippie Dog
5. Baked Alaska

6. Comforts of Home
7. Tulip Bliss
8. Puppy Cove
9. Coastal Sisters
10. Cat with a Garden

One last thing! I am now part of the Tail Chasers Club! You can read all about it here on the wonderful and fun blog of Cliff and Olivia. It's a club where all cat's tails are named something.


Here are the names of my little one's tails. :) DON'T LAUGH!

Mocha and her tail “squirrelly girl”.
Quincy and his tail “fluffy go lightly”.
Emma and her tail "Maytag"

That's it for today! That was a lot. I'm exhausted just writing this post. LOL! Hope you all have a good Monday! I'm not looking forward to dragging my rear into work first thing in the morning. :(

A Birthday for Alice!

What a day! I'm exhausted as all heck but in a good way! After tea with four other friends this morning and then rushing home to meet Bryan at my place to start cooking the meal for Alice's birthday, I know I will sleep really well tonight. :)

Here are a few snapshots of our wonderful evening. Oh, real quick, Alice is such a dear friend to me. We celebratead her 85th birthday today! She is such a wonderful woman. I admire her in every way. She is beautiful, smart, witty, musically gifted (she plays the violin in a quartet) a wonderful writer a wonderful cook, oh I could go on! One word that would describe Alice is worldly. I want to be just like her when I grow up. :)

Getting ready to cook!

I just love the smell of fresh cilantro!

Okay you should all know that THINGS sometimes don't turn out and the lentil salad didn't. Lol! So, Bryan rushed to the store to get some fresh asparagus. I know you've all been there. Come on, make me feel better here!

The finished dish. The lemonade chicken was so good!

Chocolate and strawberries. Now you all know that is one of my favorite combos!

The finished cake. Okay and I just noticed that one strawberry on the right is turned the wrong direction. UGH!

And the proud baker.

Isn't Alice just adorable?

You will NEVER guess what she got as a present!

Quincy wanted to say a few words. "I NEVER thought those people would leave. I might die if I don't get any attention soon. It's been two hours!"

Also, I didn't make the gluten-free buttermilk pie. My friend Susan ended up being sick this evening, unfortunately and couldn't make it. Hope she feels better soon! Missed you Susan! I just found out one of our members of the paranormal group has a birthday this week so we are celebrating at the meeting tomorrow. I am considering making the buttermilk pie tomorrow. :)

For those of you who want the recipe, here ya go! :) I highly recommend using dark meat as well and don't forget to use all the sauce that is left in the crockpot to drizzle over the meat and rice!

Crockpot Lemonade Chicken

4 pieces chicken (even with bone in if you want!)

6 oz. can frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed

2 Tbs. brown sugar

3 Tbs. ketchup

1 Tbs. vinegar

2 Tbs. cornstarch (for thickening the sauce when done)

2 Tbs. water

Arrange chicken in crockpot. Combine lemonade, brown sugar, ketchup and vinegar. Pour over chicken and cover. Cook on high 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours.

Recipe yields 4 servings.

Sleepy bed time now. Night all!

Saturday Evening Menu

(Art by Barbara Bustetter Falk)

Saturday Evening Menu for a Cozy Birthday Dinner

Crockpot Lemonade Slow Cook Chicken

Cilantro-Lime White Rice

Rachael Ray's Lentil Salad

Fresh Fruit

Martha Stewart's Moist Triple Layer Devils Food Cake and Mrs. Millman's Chocolate Frosting

Gluten-Free Buttermilk Pie

OINK! OINK!

That will be me (above) in the bath at the end of a food filled day. I WILL be utilizing the treadmill this weekend as well. Come to think of it...it kinda looks like me now. LOL!

Oh! I did some quick redecorating (okay moving around) to the kitchen. Remember those little milk bottles with the happy pink flowers in them? I moved them on top of the cabinets in the kitchen to keep Mr. Brewster the Rooster company. Cute huh? :)

Have a wonderful Saturday all!

Ready for the Weekend!

Hmmm...which one should I make? I'm still debating if I should make one or both of these for Saturday's cozy birthday get together at my place. Like I said before, I'm a terrible procrastinator and I still have not created my menu for Saturday. Bryan has been helping me since he will help me cook everything but we keep getting distracted with all the good food and recipes we find and we can't stay focused. Lol! Susan, my other friend who is coming can only eat gluten-free food so we have to consider that. I have decided that I will definitely make a devils food chocolate cake (3 tier) and maybe, possibly a buttermilk pie. Not sure yet though.

The weekend is shaping up to be busy again! Saturday I'm meeting friends for tea, then go straight home and prepare the food for our birthday dinner. Sunday I am going to the cat shelter to volunteer my time. I haven't been there for awhile and I'm starting to feel guilty. :( After that my ghost meeting! Another busy weekend for me!

I wanted to show you all this beautiful picture I took yesterday after having dinner with some friends. Don't worry, I was stopped at the light when I took it (then it turned green). Look at this sunset! Isn't it beautiful?

I pieced together the smock last night. I was supposed to do some actual sewing but I couldn't even remember how to thread the needle! Lol! Man that smock is gonna look great with tape all over it!

I got my new Coastal Living magazine in the mail. Woohoo. Now I just need to go through the last three I got in the mail. Lol!

And I have decided to start finding old Mary Engelbreit Home Companion magazines on eBay. This one only cost me $2.95. Her older ones are going for a lot more though so I want to at least grab some least expensive ones before they go up in price!

And last but not least, GIVEAWAY ALERT! My 200th post is approaching fast and I am thinking of doing a giveaway! I'm not sure yet what it will be but keep your eyes and ears open because it will be right around the corner!

I am still up late because this episode came on. How can anyone resist this. It's my favorite Lucy episode of all time! I STILL laugh at it as hard as I did the first time! :) I don't know why but I can never forget that lady yelling "Let 'er ROLL!". LOL! If you want a quick laugh for your Friday, take a look at this. Don't forget to turn off my player on the bottom



Happy Friday y'all!

Seriously, Was Housework Fun Back Then?

Sometimes I look at these pictures and think, wow, life was so simple back then. I mean look, they were even happy doing housework. I want to live in a life like that. I want to be happy all the time. Then, as I browsed through all these pictures I had to start chuckling. :)

I know what they're really thinking....

Husband: Well.....it's better than the last meal but I still can't figure out what it is, dear.

Wife: You'll eat it and like it or else I made arrangements at the motel down the street just for you and the dog stays here.

Hmmm.....now let's see what this knob does. It turns...and I smell gas. Oh well, it must be working. All that matters is that I look good in my new apron.

Hehe....hehehe.....no really, this is a genuine smile but if I can help it this will be the last time I clean up after those muddy brats! Be good kids or else mommy is going to call the adoption agency to have you all collected.

Tada! Look! I did it! I did it! I did it! I got all those white things into the basket. Now what do I do?

Now this is more like it. This is how we really look when we have to do housework, right girls? Actually, who the heck wears a dress and shoes like this doing housework?

I don't think I will ever enjoy it and I've gotta do it before Saturday's get together. UGH!