Are you ready to PARTY?

ya.  me either.

Just kidding. 

We had a great Christmas am I so lucky.  Kodie and I went to hang with buddy (my ex-boyfriend, but basically Kodie's best father figure) and his girlfriend for a nice casual visit and dinner.  He had some friends and family over.  It is so refreshing to be able to enjoy a person you had a relationship with and still feel like a part of the family.  I am so lucky that way.  My ex-husband is a dink but I adore his family and they are so good to me.

On Christmas eve we went to my dad's house for dinner.  I let Kodie open her "main" gift, a Phillips Android tablet.  It is a lot like an I-pod touch.

sorry for the yellow pict. still figuring out the new camera

 She was so thrilled and hasn't let it out of sight (even during charging) since.  That makes me so happy.  Christmas morning was very relaxed, we actually opened our gifts on my bed.  I let her take her time opening and enjoying each gift before moving on to the next one.  She loved everything.  Her baby alive was a hit and all the accessories that came with it. I got some new shirts and boots.  I had already began enjoying my new phone and camera.  We went to the theater and saw "We Bought a Zoo" a very sweet movie, yes it kind of dragged some but really was a cute show and we both enjoyed it.  We then went to blockbuster and rented 4 more movies to enjoy the rest of the day and I let Kodie have a friend sleep over, her friend also received a baby alive so they spent the evening mothering.....

and they made a "Christmas cake" 

it says Merry Cristmas B.f.f.s

 Very cute but let's just say I let my child waste a lot of ingredients.

So that is all for pictures for now.  I am not used to having one again yet, phone wise or camera wise.  I need to get my butt in gear with my technological advancement.

My sister drove to Utah from Las Vegas with her 4 kids.  Kodie has been at my mom's with them pretty much since they arrived. 

As for New Year's, my lovely cousin has chosen to get married on December 30th (her poor mother)! We have my mom's family Christmas party on the 31st (my aunt hosting it is from Vegas and figured everyone would be here for the wedding so may as well kill two birds).  My aunt is also having a New Year's Eve party that night but NO KIDS ALLOWED! My sister has 4 so I think we will miss it.  Probably end up having a slumber party at my mom's with all the kids lots of snacks, movies, and games.
 
 

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and have big plans (unlike me) for New Year's Eve.    

Can't wait until everyone starts posting regularly again.

Treat Pictures

 These little penguin bags are what I gave everyone at work.  I think most everyone ate them up right away!

 

 Kodie painting with white chocolate the inside of the molds. (Please excuse the very messy kitchen, it is small and hey we were baking our brains out).

 

Dipped pretzels.  They are dipped in caramel and I had issues (tried two different ways) and my chocolate just wouldn't work so they are caramel dipped with chocolate drizzle.  Not as pretty as I hoped but they still tasted fantastic.

These are the final plates we delivered to Kodie's teachers at school.  I didn't make the cupcakes but everything else was made with love.

I stayed home half a day today to clean up the massive mess in the kitchen.  Oh I forgot to take pictures of the cake pops.  Kodie's didn't make the plate, her and her friend decided to dye them green! and let's just say they weren't very appealing.

The most wonderful time of the year

I am so excited for Christmas this year!  It is kind of weird because it is just going to be me and my bug, really casual.  Usually we have to go here on Christmas Eve and there on Christmas Day.  We have a couple offers for Christmas Eve and I may take them up on it, we'll see, but Christmas Day is just me and my kiddo tucked away in our tiny little home.  I am so excited for her to get her presents.  She is going to flip out.  Everything is here and other than stocking stuffers and the last thing to arrive today is wrapped and ready to be ripped open. 

I love to wrap presents!  I know if I had a big family to wrap for I would probably hate it like so many others.  I can easily take 10 minutes wrapping each item.  I like to have matching paper, bows, ribbons, and tags.  I know way cheezy but I get compliments when someone actually takes the time to appreciate my work.  It doesn't bother me though when the paper is lying crumpled on the floor.  Something kind of relaxing about it.  I will sit in my room on my bed, put in a movie and wrap away. 

My mom's present this year got compliments.  As soon as Steph (my dad's neice/ my step-cousin?(long story)) saw it she asked me if it was done professionally and I was like oh no that is all me baby.

We had a family and friends get together at my dad and Steph's last night.  I was a little nervous as my brother and his witch wife would be there.  I didn't speak to either of them but I did take a few minutes with my niece(5) and nephew (8) to hug them and talk with them.  I made sure I had a gift for them and Kodie watched them open it, my brother gave Kodie a card with $20, so she was excited. We all exchanged our gifts from my mom.  She is going to Vegas so this was our only opportunity before Christmas.  My mom replaced my Pampered Chef round pizza stone, YAY! (mine cracked down the middle about a year ago..boo).  She gave Kodie a cake pop maker

and let's just say my child was ready to get into it and make some cake pops.  My mom even gave each of my dogs a gift (SHOCKER!, she is not really a dog person anymore, and mine to say the least usually drive her nuts) Bella loved it but Priss was like, what nothing to eat?  That meant a lot to me somehow!  It was a really nice time.  We got a couple of other nice things.  It was a good time, good food and good company.  I would love to resolve the issue with my brother but I don't think his wife will ever speak to me again. 

So there you go.  Just a few more days to go.  Kodie and I are finalizing my work gift bags tonight.  I took pictures of her treat plates for her teachers but I figured I would just post them both at the same time. 

I hope you are all getting ready and hopefully have stress-free holiday plans.

How do you celebrate?  Same thing year after year? Or whatever happens to be happening?

Holiday Baking

My lovely daughter has decided that this year we should make a plate of Christmas treats for her teachers.  Cool right?
Until it is the 3rd night in a row, so far we have made fudge, caramel popcorn, and began making dipped pretzels.  Tonight we have to finish the pretzels, she also has made up her mind that we are making chocolate suckers.  So as I anxiously await going home to a buggy 10 year old (mom you may as well say I am 11 my birthday is only a few weeks away) to melt chocolate dye it and paint each individual sucker mold to resemble Santa Claus, Snowmen, and Reindeer.  She also wants us to make a batch of cookies.....oh dear lord.  How in heavens name did I ever agree to this?

Oh yeah I usually enjoy it too.  The problem is that while I want to sit on my butt and watch Survivor this child somewhere along the way heard me "promise".  grrrr!  So people wish me luck that I will survive.  Luckily this has to be done by Friday as that is the final day of school before the Christmas break.  I will take a picture when they are done so you can see how are hard work has paid off and be jealous that all my blogger buddies aren't my neighbors or co-workers so you would get some lovely homemade treats.  I have to say that our Caramel covered chocolate dipped pretzels are quite delightful.  Good Housekeeping has nothing on us!

Ours will be just as pretty and taste ohhh so very yummers!

Lots of pictures to come as long as my new phone takes decent ones.  My camera is a POS!

400 Words About Things I Love

I saw this on someones blog and decided that it was so great I am going to pass it on.  Thanks Aiming Low.  You all make me laugh out loud every day somehow I have kept from spitting my drink on my keyboard.

 So here you go:

I love the freckles and beauty marks on my daughter’s face, my puppies when they fight, the sound of the guinea pigs when they want attention or need something, the rain and better yet dancing in the rain, getting soaking wet, and walking barefoot on the grass, coming home from work to wagging tails and a dachshund so excited to see me that she pees on the floor, clean bathrooms and the smell of bleach soft scrub, talking to my nephews on the phone, talking  with my sister long distance and trading plans, when my dad calls me babe and tells me to be good “brat”, spending time with friends, and meeting new people, my job, the trooper that calls me Sally, K-9 pictures, cooking with my daughter, creating new recipe’s, climbing into bed with clean sheets after a shower, the smell of dinner already done in the crock-pot after a long day at work, taking off my shoes after a walk, shopping with my mom, the pond at my ex’s house, that swan’s mate for life, my car when it is running well, when all the bills are paid, the relief that the most important Christmas present is bought, cooking new dishes, chex mix, oldie songs by Neil Diamond, singing along to the radio and knowing all the words, when my daughter sings with me, playing slug bug, making my mom happy, knowing who my friends are, selling or “helping” sell Girl Scout cookies, knowing I can trust someone, my condo and that it is mine, reading a book I can’t put down, lounging around being lazy watching movies, staying super busy all day and getting a lot of things checked off the list,  going to dad’s cabin, when it rains at the cabin and you are stuck indoors, the moose family that wanders across the acreage while you watch, hummingbirds, when the dogs chase the birds and squirrels, that the fish my daughter dropped in the garbage disposal is still alive, when my house is clean, no expectations, getting something delivered that I ordered, new make-up, cute jewelry that was cheap or a great deal, new shoes, going somewhere new, spending time curled up on the couch watching America’s funniest home videos, hearing my daughter belly laugh.

White Bean Chicken Chili

 Ingredients:
1 lb great northern soaked 24 hours sorted (way less sodium this way)
1 bullion cube (I used Chicken)
various seasonings (I wing it and add what looks good)
    season-all (Lawry's)
    onion powder (use real onion if you prefer)
    garlic powder (use garlic clove if you prefer)
    chili powder
    ground black pepper
    ground cumin (just a pinch or so)

1 lb. uncooked chicken (I used white breast tenders)
1 can cream of chicken soup
3-5 cups of water
1 cup of frozen corn

 Directions:
Put all the ingredients in the crock-pot 6-8 hours on low 3-4 hours on high.  Taste as it cooks as the flavors will change, it may need salt, or more chili powder just don't go crazy.  Once the beans are cooked through pull the cooked chicken from the pot to shred.  Using a blender or emulsion blender, blend up part of the bean soup mix and thicken the soup.  Add the shredded chicken back to the soup. (I did not end up doing the emulsion blender step at all.  My chicken fell apart in the soup and the cream of chicken soup thickened it up plenty for me)
 Serve:
top with shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream.  Serve with bread.  I just made a loaf of beer bread yesterday so that is what we will be enjoying.

Oh Yeah!

INSURANCE SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!

still working on them people

that is all.............

be back t-morrow!

I am tired and I am baking REAL pumpkin.  I am logging off for the night.....sorry to my regulars blogs.  If I don't read you tomorrow, I promise I will catch up on Monday.

Have a fantabulous weekend.  oh and stick around....you never know what might happen to the goldfish.

mwhahahaha....

Ta Da it is B.Y.O.C yay! Thanks Draz...xoxoxo

It’s Friday so it’s time for BYOC – Bring Your Own Crazy! We answer a few questions in order to get to know each other better and to give our blogging brains a break! Copy to your own blog if you wish and ENJOY!  (thank you Draz)


Let’s do a little themed version of where you live and why!

1. Describe the structure you live in. (apartment, condo, house, mansion, cardboard box?)
  I live in a two bedroom condo (my first home).  It is less than 800sq feet but it is mine.  It is in the "ghetto" but I send my kid to a charter school (that she LOVES).  Ok so really the good, it is a gated community and a well monitored area, I have fantastic neighbors and we all watch out for each other.  I actually really like it here a lot.

2. Describe the city you live in. (population, main attractions)
  I live downtown Salt Lake City, UT. it is less than a mile from the Annual State fair (which I LOVE!).  So as the state capitol it is huge!!!.... well um as long as you are comparing as to the capitols of Idaho and/or Wyoming.  OK so it isn't a giant city however I can get pretty much anywhere in the valley in 15 minutes.     

3. Why do you live in the town you live in? (job, to get away from a different town, family, schools?)                                                                                                                                                                                              Besides the fact I grew up here and this is what I know, and despite the fact I have lived all over the valley?  My mom and dad live close by (so does my brother and his family but we are not speaking, (he hates me and his wife hates me more)).  I can get to my high school Alma mater in 45 minutes and my g-ma, and my aunts, uncles, and cousins and now their kids.  Someday I would like to possibly move back to my college Alma mater in Cedar City, but we will see! I roll with the punches.

Oh and it super close to my work.....yay big bonus!  

  4. What’s the view like from your backyard?
  My back window view from my window.....yeah 3rd floor people.  I see out one window, trees and rooftops and way off to the south the mountains.  Out my other window, trees, the parking lot and the I-80 freeway.  Lovely I know!  Could be worse right?  I think out the backyard of my SUV might have better descriptions.....just sayin!

5. Repeat question: How has your week been in blogland and in real life?
  Not to bad, a little slow due to sickness and catching up on a lot of work.  My fish story was pretty funny if I do say so! and yes the little bugger is still swimming!!!! amazing I know.  Sometime I will have to tell you the background story on our "Nervous Nelly" goldfish.  (I seriously never ever thought it would make it this long).  Real life rocks (now that we aren't sick and back in our home safe and sound).!!!! Love my life, love my job.  Glad to be back to work and healthyville.......

Okay – your turn! Go do BYOC! You know you want to!


Have a great weekend everyone.  Thanks to my 2 (yep 2) new followers.  My goal tomorrow it to dig out the Christmas decorations so Kodie and I can put everything up Sunday when she gets home. xoxoxoxo

Couple things ok?

First of all:  So funny NOW! not then.  Yesterday I am at work and I get a phone call from my munchkin, in tears(screaming)!
child: "I dropped my fish in the garbage disposal!"
me: "What?"
child: "I was cleaning the fish bowl and I dropped "her" in the sink!"
me: "well reach your hand down in there and get it out," 
child: "I tried but I can't find "her", I can't see"
me: "no, you can't see, just feel around and find it"
child: " I GOT IT!, I got her mom!"
me:  "get it in water!"
child: "she is"
me: "is she alive?"
child's friend in the background: "her gills are moving"
me: "is she swimming?"
child: "not yet, but she is breathing in water"
me: "ok, well leave her alone for a while, I am sure she is freaked out right now and just needs a few minutes to re-cooperate, are you ok?"
child: "ya mom, I was just freaked out, love you"

I get home and ask, "so how is your fish?" 
she is just fine!  She is swimming around in her little bowl like nothing ever happened, and yes she is still alive this morning.  Wow!  that is all I can say, this child won the goldfish at the state fair in September, never thought it would make it this long......oh and how the hell do we know this fish is a girl?????

Second:  I DO NOT like blueberries!!!!

 little blue dudes, I will not be eating you

 I have tried, I don't like the texture they are nasty!  I have tried! fresh, frozen and canned.  Please tell me people are dried any good? (Not you people that like blueberries.) I need an opinion from a fellow blueberry disliker.  I know they are "good" for me, I will take them in a muffin or a scone, but bleck! any other way.