Suzanne Calling

Oops. I was so hungry, I was halfway through my dinner before I even thought to take a picture of it, so I'll raid the web for a reasonable substitute. This is one of my all time favorite sandwiches. If we had to live our lives eating food from only one cuisine, my choice would probably be Greek, and of that give me Gyro first. I even eat fish when seasoned their way. How about you? If you had to choose one cuisine, which would it be?

Hire a maid, that is. Two weeks of back spasms and the other daily issues that aren't going away made me decide last week to hire someone to do the scrubbing that would either a. drive me to painkillers (that I've actually should have been using for the #@!$#%#$% spasms) or b. require a visit to the doctor after pushing too far and doing too much. See, I'm learning! Calculate the cost of the doctor's visit, the physical therapy that he'd send me to and the possible prescription for more when I used up the bottle that's always there 'just in case', and a maid is a bargain. She does good work, too: You'd never know a flour-happy cook used that kitchen and a powder happy man used that bathroom! And with that, the only thing left to finish in that house is the last few things in the garage. Voy a beber cervezas manana para celebrar. I'll still come out ahead from what the doctor and assorted items would run!

A friend mentioned on FB yesterday how this time of year made her pull out the Jesus Christ Superstar Sundtrack and listen to it over and over. Another friend added that for her, the show of choice is Godspell. This sent me off on the search of YouTube for one particular song. In college, attending all ten nights of the theatre department's production of Jesus Christ Superstar actually was the catalyst for my return to theatre as a course of study. I'd been a communications major at that point. I have the soundtrack and know it intimately, some of the songs are so tied to the actors in that production. For instance, it'd be hard to beat Josh Mostel's " King Herod's Song ", but the actor who did it in that production was phenomenal. Another musical of religious theme from that era has music that always caught my attention, but until last year, I didn't own it, the movie was purchased at rock bottom price during Circuit City's demise. As a huge ...

Rather, YouTube is. Despite writing a blog post and clicking 'share' over there, the item still hasn't posted 45 minutes later. Nor have the other three attempts to get a video over here. It's happened before. What will happen is that there will be four posts at 3am. I don't feel like retyping it all, since I should get back to the moving of stuff...

Growing up, i always looled forward to visiting with my Nana and Papa. We didn't get to see them very often , but when we did, we could count on having a piece of Nana's delicious coffee cake. When Nana passed away, my Mom discovered that the recipe Nana had been pleasung us with for years was actually one that she'd won a state home ec prize for creating. The difference was that Mom's recipe featured cocoa, while Nana took it out and doubled the cinnamon sugar and nuts. I was tickled when Mom wrote the recipe down for me, knowing how much i loved that from scratch treat. I found the recipe tucked in a box of kitchen doodads today. I think it is time to share the love with the boys, now that they are old enough to understand...

I like to consider myself a grammarian, one who respects the importance of using proper language rules in speech and writing. Yes, there are many out there who can point out my numerous flaws, but I'm always striving to write well. It began with the passion for reading. Later, my Dad encouraged my enjoyment of language arts by purchasing books like "The Joy of Lex", "The Elements of Style" and other books geared towards becoming a better writer. I think he was telling me something 25 years before I became a blogger! Back when I started writing the blog, the typical blogger could have easily worked in as a professional writer if they didn't already work in the field. Perhaps that was part of what intimidated me from starting up-I am not on their level. Still, there are daily reminders that most people haven't read "Eats Shoots and Leaves" or had excellent English teachers and professors. There are people just don't care that they'v...

One of the shows I occasionally watch on Food Network is Chopped. Honestly, though, I see the commercials for it more than I actually view the show. The premise is this: Four chefs, four ingredients, create a dish while the clock counts down. The worst of the four dishes gets 'chopped'. Then the next round is three chefs, four ingredients and then a final round, with the lone chef who has not been 'chopped' getting a $10,000 paycheck. The four ingredients can be far reaching and might not work well together. The panel of judges rates the chefs on appearance and taste and how they incorporate the four ingredients into their dish. For instance, on one episode, a chef made a phenomenal beef with berry and parsnip dish, but used the pretzels as a garnish. Tonight, we saw another commercial and Ted Allen's voiceover states "Chefs, your ingredients" and my mind immediately came up with four things that might be difficult to make into a cohesive meal: anch...

No matter where on the east coast you live, it has been a colder than average winter. Now that the calendar says we are in spring, and more than six weeks past the pint size prognosticator observing his shadow, Florida has finally come out of the cold that's been hanging around for a while. It just feels so strange for the thermometer to register above seventy degrees. Now, if only the rest of the east coast can get some seasonably appropriate weather, too? Come on Mother Nature, Phil promised only six more weeks of that cruddy winter!

Entering an Asian market with Chef means I will walk out with new and interesting delicacies.

Things I ponder as I sort through my children's belongings in preparation of moving it: 1. How does a child suddenly have 3,485 Lincoln Logs, when the only time the toy was purchased was when a certain 13 year old earned them while potty training. We're talking one of these jobbies: We now have a 16 gallon tub full of them and neither boy was ever given them as a gift for any occasion. 2. Where did all of the matchbox and hot wheels cars come from? I suspect that my gearhead husband snuck them into the child's room on a regular basis, because we haven't really purchased those since the last move and the tub that contained them is overflowing, with a second one corralling approximately 20 more. Weird. 3. When you have barely purchased any toys in the last two years, and aren't parents that buy toys on whims anyway, it stuns you the quantity of Legos that are amassed when two boys buy them with gift cards. Chef leans towards the larger Star Wars ships, but I can...

It has been mentioned here many times that my musical preferences were shaped in part by what my siblings would play on the stereo. I was very young when I was immersed in the Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel catalogs, and it is hard to recall a time when there wasn't music of some sort playing. My oldest brother had control of the stereo for a good bit of time after he'd returned home from his four years in the Marines. He'd amassed quite a record collection while overseas and the artists were quite eclectic. Then, add to it the fact that he worked at one of the most influential nightclubs on Long Island and his future wife worked for a record label, and well, there are artists that I heard that most people said "who?" and soon after, that would be the most popular act around. (the Police, for instance) While my sisters tended towards Pink Floyd, Genesis, Jackson Browne and CSNY, my brother would play Kansas, Rockpile, George Thorogood, Janis Ian, Blondie and ...

This past fall, there was an announcement on the college campus that caught my attention. Auditions would be held for a production of "The Vagina Monologues," and there would be a meeting for anyone interested in participating. Now, I know that my skills with the stage are definitely not on the floorboards, thanks to my high school days, but I did want to do something I'm familiar with and help out. That's how I came to be the light technician for this production. It was very different from my college days. Every few weeks, I'd climb 30 foot high scaffolding, crescent wrench in hand. It was attached to my belt by telephone cord because climbing up and down 30 feet every time that darn thing slipped out of sweaty hands. For each production in those days, we'd hang anywhere from 100 to 200 lekos and fresnels, place gels and gobos and then have the fun of doing lighting tech for a couple of nights to get everything just right for the upcoming ten nights that ...

Remember the old days? You'd take a test and have to wait a week or two for your instructor to grade it and give it back. If you thought you did well, you anxiously waited for the proof that you knew your stuff. On the other hand, if you struggled, you hated waiting to find out just how bad you did. Technology has made that wait a thing of the past, but it can cause some minor freak outs, like the one I had yesterday. My motivation instructor gave the second of the three exams we'll have in his course. Fifty questions, and they're funny For instance: Princess Leia tells Chewbacca he doesn't have to clean the Millennium Falcon, a chore he detests, because he's been well behaved this week. What is this an example of? (Negative Reinforcement) The first test, we didn't get the grades until the following Monday, so I didn't expect to see the grade before the weekend. However, at the end of the next class, I had a text message. Yes, I get text messages any...

You can tell how long I've known a person in a pretty easy way. How, you ask? By the name they call me. My mother named me for a french lullabye, Une Petite Suzanne. My grandfather used to sing it to her every night when she was a girl and she knew that someday, she would name her daughter Suzanne. If I'd been a boy, my name would have been Terence-strange, since I have a sister who is nicknamed Tery. However, Suzanne was a pretty formal name for a little girl and the family called me Suzy. (I changed it to Suzie when I was in fifth grade). Friends from the neighborhood, classmates in elementary school and my family used this name. My last year of middle school, I made a few new friends and they started calling me Sue. It fit, and at school, you could tell newer friends from old ones. Then, in college, I showed up on the class rosters as Suzanne and finally, the name didn't seem so out of place anymore. I started a full time job soon after beginning college, and t...

I hope you're wearing your green! No corned beef and cabbage meal here, due to class tonight. Perhaps I should go pick up a four pack of Guinness for afterwards?

Vixen tagged me for this meme a very long time ago. I didn't find it until a month after she'd tagged me, and I forgot to post it held it in reserve to use on a day like today. THE RULES: Mention who tagged you. Complete the list of 8’s. Tag 8 other people. 8 THINGS I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO: 1. Finishing this moving thing 2. Relaxing in a pool after all the moving 3. Getting all the studying for my motivation exam done 4. Heading to New York in May 5. Visiting friends while in New York and Maryland 6. Registering for Summer and Fall classes so that I can GRADUATE in December 7. Sleeping on a new bed that doesn't hurt 8. UsThe kids being on Spring break soon 8 THINGS I DID YESTERDAY: 1. Moved a bunch of kitchen gear 2. Ran another stupid errand for Jane 3. Went to Wal Mart (three times, woohoo) 4. Washed new sheets for the new bed (new and improved bigger bed means bigger sheets) 5. Took my...

It's time for another round of things I've been pondering. Won't you join me? Do I have "personal slave" tattooed on my forehead? Seems I get called constantly with "I need you to" or "You need to get me..." It's getting old, especially when I've got 2 weeks to move and tests to study for! If a person has a wound on the leg that's getting red and infected, has a history of MRSA and VRE, should they wait three days (until the weekend) to let one of the nurses caring for them to 'take a look at it'? If the same person has a history of ulcers acting up with infection, and blood sugar that goes out of whack with an infection and both are happening, shouldn't that be a blinking neon sign to do SOMETHING? *Long story short, MRSA, extremely high blood sugar and potassium levels earn a hospital stay* If you're being taken to the hospital for the above issues, would you make sure you have everything you need or would yo...

Today, the kids and I went to the Florida Strawberry Festival. We'd planned to visit as a family on Thursday, but the weather and Ed's flu conspired against us. Waiting until the last day played in our favor, because it was a gorgeous day! Once again, when presented with all the food choices, Game Teen said he wanted pizza. I asked if he remembered what we had said last year about fairs, and he did-and promptly asked for one of these chicken on a sticks. So the trick to getting the kid to eat a whole chicken cutlet is to put it on a stick? I am so getting more skewers tomorrow! Later, I got a shish kebab and once Chef saw it, he changed his tune and helped me eat it. Later, they had some frozen hot chocolate, but strangely, we didn't eat anything else. Weird. We did enjoy checking out what options were available. The highlight this year was that Adventure Base 100, an exhibit celebrating 100 years of Boy Scouts in America, would be at the fair. It was worth the vis...

But dropping an iPhone is worse. The screen cracks, yo. If I wasn't called out to bring someone food, it probably wouldn't have happened. Add insult to injury, that person realized she was out of prescriptions and I found out AFTER I drove to the other side of town. Replacing the phone involves a trip to Brandon. Yay. Pictures later.

Ed and I have been sifting through lots of memories. One surprise was how many pictures Ed's Mom had of things we did not, like our wedding. When we'd venture up to New York, the cameras came out. When they came down here, more of the same. Sometimes, we got prints, but not of everything. As we were holding a grandson hostage 300 miles away, we appeased a doting grandmother by getting duplicates of every picture taken of 'wonderbaby', as Jane had dubbed Game Teen. Mom had them all saved in albums and boxes. On top of that, she appears to be the family keeper of the negatives-ALL the negatives for everyone. I wasn't sure what to do with those, but my niece told me there is a USB device that will scan and covert them to digital images. Now, we have some memories that have something more than the images in our brains. It'll be interesting to see what else we discover over the next few months. Game Teen is just over 2 months old here. It wasn't uncommo...

I know, I don't talk about it much, but it's still there. Annoying me, causing me pain. My Stupid Leg (trademark pending) On the right, an 8 1/2A. The left, a 9 EEE Now that the RSD has spread, wearing a compression stocking can be quite interesting. The past few weeks, thanks to moving Jane and getting that house cleared out, it's constantly in the state you see above. The neurologist appointment is coming, but thanks to this being a pre-existing issue, I really can't see Nurse M right now. Cross your fingers that Dr. M comes up with another way for me to be checked out by vascular. Is it April yet?

I know, you haven't seen much WFDW lately. That's due to a spate of drive through runs on Wednesdays, as I drop the boys at Bob and Maureen's and run to class. This week is spring break, and I had plans to cook every night. Alas, the men are all sick (and I may be coming down with one of these illnesses). The younger set has been dealing with a cold, and Ed the flu. No elaborate dinners tonight. Instead, I used some rotisserie chicken and made something that everyone enjoyed: Chicken nachos. It was an easy way to get them to eat some protein. In my case, I should have followed it with some OJ...

This is too cool not to share. Besides, you don't want to hear me whine, anyway. Trust me.

If you are going to write a letter that you intend to be an unofficial 'last will and testament' type document, wouldn't you make sure it was readily accessible by the parties who would need to read it, instead of buried in the bottom of a box of junk that is buried in the bottom of your closet? (At least Ed knows he's following Mom's last wishes appropriately from this almost 14 year old letter) If you get a call asking you what items you want out of the house TEN days before the contract is signed for an estate sale (at which time, nothing can be removed from the house) and you're asked several times for a list, wouldn't you get your list to the people who can do something about it? If you're going to buy every freaking Tinkerbell tote bag that the Disney company made in the last ten years, wouldn't you at least use more than two of them? Is it really necessary for one person who would try to live on take out food alone if I wasn't cooking for ...

Chef's results in the pack's Pinewood Derby last month made him eligible for the District Pinewood Derby today. We were looking forward to seeing him compete, although we didn't have high hopes for him against many other cars (though we ended up with 36 total.) Friday afternoon, our former Cubmaster/fellow committee member of the scout troop called and asked for some help. At the last minute, our Troop was asked if we would provide a concession stand for the event. Would the boys help? Without hesitation, I agreed and Chef joined me this morning. The plan was that whatever boys showed up would man the table, selling drinks and snacks and would split the proceeds equally to go into their scout account. Three committee members and three boys showed up this morning (the usual suspects, actually!) and business was brisk, even at 8am. Chef got pulled aside by one of the leaders of the Pack hosting the event. As a Boy scout, it would be a huge help if he would relay the box...

Now that I'm studying Spanish, it has been good practice to translate the Spanish I encounter in every day life. For instance, we had a website from Spain bookmarked on the spare laptop that had various games, but would play the Bubble Shooter . Back then, I didn't know what it said on that site, just that I enjoyed it. Nine weeks of Spanish and I can comprehend about 90% of the words. By no means am I anywhere close to fluent, but these opportunities to learn are welcome. Now, if only I didn't get sucked into that game for hours!

On Sunday, we meet with the estate sale people to sign a contract to officially have a sale. In preparation for that, Ed has spent most of the time not working for his employer working in the garage at the house that is soon to be our home. I've mentioned here that it is mind boggling the stuff that was packed and moved here. His mom could have easily served drinks to the entire population of their town on Long Island in real glasses, without resorting to Dixie or Solo cups. How do I know? Because there is one whole corner of a room filled with boxes of various drinking glasses. Large boxes. Heavy boxes, ones that no doubt the movers were chortling that they booked the move by WEIGHT of the contents of the truck. Over the past few years, both Jane and Mom had said to Ed, there are boxes of your stuff in the pile over there. It was a floor to ceiling stack of probably about 70 boxes, most of the exterior were labeled "Nancy's stuff", so he didn't rush to ge...

As of two hours ago, I am on Spring Break. My first one in seventeen years (and that one was 'enjoyed' while working a full AND part time job), but I'm not your typical college co-ed. No trips to Daytona. No beer pong. I'll be spending my week getting my butt ahead in my classes, attending the one class that I'm taking from the other college and doing some packing for the move around the corner that's right around the corner. ...and feeling really bad for the other college students headed to Daytona for sun, surf and suds. At least they'll get two of those!

I got a C on a test. It really was bugging me that due to a delay in grading, then a canceled class, I couldn't find out what I did wrong. The material came to me easily, enough so that I was explaining it to classmates in another class in a way that they understood for the test in that class. Tonight, at the end of the class, we got the papers back. Yes, I understood the concepts, and I had the correct answers. However, I didn't show all the work, so I got half the credit. I'm mad at myself for not showing work, but relieved that it wasn't a case of me thinking I understood the materials and really did not. It's been seventeen years since that last math class, I kind of forgot about showing all work. Ugh. At least I know for next time!

When Jane and Ed's mom moved here several years ago, they had a moving company just pack everything up and bring it down. No sorting, no discarding, no effort whatsoever. Despite Betsy's best efforts to get them to consolidate what they were moving, they found it easier to ignore and keep. They couldn't bear to part with stuff, but they didn't need it. Meanwhile, we've got an estate sale company coming in and they'll sell what we tell them, but we have to cull from the overflowing house what is wanted and what is not. Ed's got the fun task of sorting all of those items that were shoved in the garage, Mom's closet and wherever. It's not that I don't want to help, rather, I don't know what is important and what is not. One plus of our unseasonably cold weather is that he's able to work in that garage and open box after box and take trips down memory lane. Some things are good, some not so good. He found Simba's ashes, in a can, in...

I got my laptop back today. It worked just fine - for about six minutes, the amount of time left in the battery prior to shipping it off. The instructions I got were to send it without battery and power cord. I even asked the guy if they wanted to check them out, since I was complaining of power issues. He assured me that they didn't need them. Apparently, they did. Another power cord is on its way. If that doesn't do the trick (it should), a new six cell battery. In that six minutes, I found out that my hard drive is intact and that they messed with my layout a bit. The barely used web cam was relegated to a part of my display where I'm not likely to pan over it (like the top left default location). My desktop icons were moved a bit-but it appears everything was still there In five to seven days, I'll have another go at a working laptop.