Monday, December 31, 2007

What shoe am I?

As seen at Chaser's

You are Barefoot!

You're a total free spirit, go with the flow girl
You can't be restricted by shoes for very long
And unsuprisingly, the same goes for men
Your match is out there - and he's as carefree as you are


This is so freaking right it's scary!!!!!

Sunday, December 30, 2007

.... and we got to keep the leftovers...

My MIL needed computer work done, and since Hubby is her tech-support, we went over for Sunday linner (like brunch, but between lunch and dinner...).

MIL is famous for her chicken parmesan... and I've tried to make it, with various degrees of success.... So, this time she and I made it together.

and --damm, it was good.

The basic idea is to dip chicken breasts in egg , coat them in crushed garlic parmesan croƻtons, brown them in butter and let them drain on a paper towel.

Then you take a large baking dish, put about 1/2 of your tomato sauce (total sauce = about 2 cans...) on the bottom. Then you put in a layer of chicken, cover it with slices of mozzerella and swiss cheese, then another layer of chicken covered with cheese. You top it off with the other half of the sauce and a whole can of grated parmesean cheese on top.

It is fantastic. Really, about four people should share one of the breasts -- but they are way too good to share...

So, we cooked, watched a movie and hubby and I got the leftovers --- so you know what we'll have tomorrow :).

On having my whole break....

One of the things about coaching debate is that it tended to suck up a lot of my free time. The first couple of years (three maybe??) debate wasn't part of my course load or anything -- it was just service for which I got no release time... The year before it became part of my teaching load, I did get paid extra -- but for the first couple of years I didn't even get that....

So, as a result -- on top of my 5/5 load, I'd do debate practices, make travel arrangements etc... It got to be very time consuming. We'd also do practices during break, and spring break was always about the same time as nationals... so we'd do a lot.

The last two years I coached, I traveled with the team during winter break. Two years ago we went to a tournament in CA that started January 2. Last year we went to a tournament in Denver that started the Thursday before school started --

So, this year I'm really, really, really, really enjoying not traveling for debate over winter break.

Random photos of places I've been

I'm up late tonight and thought it might be fun to post some fun photos of places I've been since getting a digital camera... They are in no particular order -- either chronologically or of importance... just some really cool landscapes or other photos that represent the places to me..



This is a fun photo of D1 and D2 (both still debating and doing very well!!) -- I'm pretty sure this was in Southern California (maybe Huntington Beach or elsewhere in the OC??) two years ago. We had a day to play, as we'd spent New Year's Eve in flight -- arriving at our hotel about 3 AM PST. This may have been the first time one or both of them encountered the Pacific Ocean....

This is the Badlands in South Dakota... it is very weird, because there is little warning that this is here -- Imagine just driving along in the prairie, and suddenly, there is a huge hole in the earth...

This is Arlington -- Hubby and I have been to DC twice, and I want to go back!! There's something I really like about the place... I'm not sure why, but I suspect the West Wing has something to do with it... sigh.

We've been to the Grand Canyon twice -- the first time a long time ago (before Hubby'd even proposed... we've been married 17 years...). This time was different, no fences, no walls, plenty of places to fall off the edge.

And, Mt. Rushmore. Pretty impressive --- although, I see no reason to go back....

yes, that's a wolf. He's in the pack the public is allowed to see at the International Wolf Center in Ely, MN. If you get a chance to go -- you must. It really is the only way you are likely to see wolves in the north woods. There are plenty of them up there, but they are shy.


This is the Oregon Coast. I've got to get back there -- in fact, I'm scheming about how to take a long-weekend to go there with Hubby in February... hmmmm..... I'll work it out when we get to Red State next week.


Looking down Lake Meade, from Hoover dam. You can see how low the water is -- makes me wonder how Vegas is going to support itself....


This summer we went to Chicago on the "Ferris Bueler's Day Off" tour...


Two summers ago we went to Carhenge -- Stonehenge recreated out of cars. It is a pretty cool place, although if I had the choice between Carhenge and the real thing, I'd take rocks over Buicks every time. And no, Hubby isn't peeing on the car -- although it kind of looks like he is...


I've now seen the the cow sculpted out of butter at the Iowa state fair... and I decided the Minnesota State fair is better -- although this was fun to do with my city-slicker cousins.... from NYC :). I found out last week that my cousin Chris is going to marry the girlfriend we took to the fair, her name is Sunshine -- and we love her (even if we call her "Angie 3").


This is San Diego -- I've been there several times, but in less than a month (oh crap... it is coming up soon!) I'll be giving a paper at a conference there -- instead of coaching a debate team!!!


This is a photo I took on our two-week trip to Arizona last January. Hubby was there for a schoolish-type thing, I was there to be there. I fell in love with the cacti...


These are some random stranger's kids -- playing in the headwaters of the Mississippi at Lake Itasca... It was a perfect summer day and they were doing what kids do when they see water and rocks!

This is from one of our many trips to Colorado. I really am not sure where this is, and the snow isn't much of a help in terms of time of year, as I usually see snow when I go to the Rocky Mountains :).


This is Lake Superior in winter -- doesn't it look cold? I love the blue of this photo -- although it looks like I'm on an ice burg, I'm really on the shore, taking the photo from near the JEEP. I suspect it was one of those bright and very cold days, as the photo makes my fingers cold just looking at it!


This is the Old Market in Omaha. On warm summer nights performers come out of the woodwork.... this is also where some of my favorite restaurants are, as well as the best farmer's market in the Midwest, horse-drawn carriages, emo-kids and guys in tinfoil hats...


A few years ago we went to Florida in January. We found a great hotel on Daytona beach, for cheap!!! This was sunrise over the ocean -- we then went back to sleep....


This is Bugaboo glacier in Canada... very cool. People hiking and camping up here needed to put lumber and chicken wire around their cars to prevent the porkupines from eating their tires!

This is Palisade Head overlooking Lake Superior. This view prompted Sunshine to say "damm, that is a big lake" -- yep, it is!

This is the California coast near San Francisco. I took this when we had NPTEkqrz at Berkeley... This is another place we might run away to.... hmmm....


From our recent trip to Vegas -- which was unlike anyplace I've EVER been... in a good, but weird way.

Wherever we go, we still have our set of freaky-cats to punish us when we come home....
Extra-toes, in a photo where you can actually see his freakishly large feet.... if you like kitty toes, you'll LOVE him!


Extra-toes and New Kitty, when they could still share the top of the cat post... she's gained some weight since then and I doubt she could squeeze her fat ass in there today....


Blind kitty... looking rather angelic. No doubt it didn't last long --- he looks like he's brewing a major league freak out....


and the hellion herself, New Kitty -- this is a rather old photo of her, but the attitude hasn't changed a bit!

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Charlie Wilson's War...

So, we couldn't see "The Great Debaters" -- as it was sold out. Turns out they don't hold any tickets for actual debaters - so we were out of luck. We'll go next week when everyone else has to go back to work :).

Instead we went to see "Charlie Wilson's War" --- it was really good. I'd describe it both as compelling and as funny as a movie about a covert war can be. If you are interested in a true, political story -- see it.

updates and a cat question for my bloggy friends...

  • On "Lush" products -- Hubby and I are both in love with the stuff. He can't wait to go to Macy's and pick out his own bath bombs. We love the way the bath bomb scent hangs around in the bathroom for a few days... it is great. Also, the solid shampoos are great, as is the scrubby bar thing that looks like very milky chocolate with lots of nuts.
  • On cooking and other stuff... I made the Pioneer Woman's steak sandwiches yesterday.... They were amazingly good. Of course, hubby and I are already plotting our modifications... (more meat, fewer onions, add mushrooms) -- but, generally -- wow!
  • New Kitty has managed to get a couple of ornaments off the tree -- one of them was pretty high up, and looked like Old Kitty (who died last March, before New Kitty arrived) -- it was a little creepy.
  • My paper is making progress -- slowly but surely I'm constructing a prima facie version of just war criteria -- and I think it will permit supreme emergency reactions which are exemptions to non-combatant immunity.... I'll know sometime on January 6.

The question ---
  • why does Extra-Toes splash in the water bowl? He splashes lots of water, enough that he makes the carpet kind of soggy -- He's drinking out of one of those kitty water fountains, so it isn't as if his water isn't fresh -- he just likes to slap at the water and push it out of the bowl. He does the same thing with traditional water bowls, and even when we leave some water in the sink for him.

Snowy Saturday...

It is snowing, again. I love it!!!

This morning I finally sent off a bloggy gift -- she'll get it sometime in the new year - I hope she enjoys it!!!

While I was out, I stopped for the least healthy breakfast possible... McD's breakfast sandwiches, Cinimelts (the most wonderful things, EVER!!) and fancy coffee... we have the three basic (bad) food groups -- grease, sugar and caffeine .

Now we are just hanging around, listening to NPR and pretending to work until we go to "The Great Debaters" later this afternoon...

not a bad way to spend a Saturday, eh?