Happy Birthday Choppy

Today, the day before April Fool's Day, is the day of my brother's birth.

John, otherwise known in my universe as Choppy (because the priest that baptized him said he had pork Chop cheeks), turns 25 today. He is my brother closest by age (18 months) and together we could torment our youngest brother, Bo, to my mother's ire.

Choppy and I haven't always gotten along all the time, but whenever it counts (bad times, great times, hard times...) we bond.

When John was growing up they said that he wouldn't talk because I would talk for him. "John wants a popsicle." "john's favorite cartoon is Thundercats." I was the typical older sister and he took this as a typical younger brother would: "YOU ARE NOT MY MOM" was frequently uttered in our home.

But here are some things that you (and I) are learning about my brother:

1.) John is getting married
2.) He proposed to his girlfriend, who is a cool bean
3.) She is a lot of fun and really good for John (She was going to hit him if he didn't say Hi to me for her...that shows that she is good at realizing his weakness: physical pain inflicted by women.
4.) John is studying to become a history teacher in high school
5.) He coaches high school football
6.) He loves football of all kinds
7.) He wants to teach and coach because he sees all of the positive influence that his coaches and teachers were to him
8.) I'm so proud of him for doing all of this.
9.) He is being courted to coach for our rival high school's team
10.) This means that a big time coach KNOWs my brother and recognizes his awesomeness
11.) I am so proud
12.) Chops bleeds Georgia Red and Black
13.) He is strong and I wish I was strong like him
14.) I love when he will talk to me
15.) He doesn't do this all the time because I'm his mini-mom
16.) I think he is a great guy and gives great hugs (when I get one)
17.) I hope that we can become great friends as we grow up
18.) I love how funny and sarcastic he is.
19.) He was always cooler than me.
20..) He always keeps me in check and lets me know that I AM NOT COOL
21.) I am so glad that he always says "I love you" when we hang up on the phone
22.) He is going to be a great dad some day
23.) he will be a great god father to my son one day (John was meant to be a godfather)
24.) He always makes me laugh
25.) I think he is a great guy and I am proud to all him my brother

I called him to wish him birthday and I called my mom and thanked her for giving me a brother. I was meant to be an oldest sister and love being his sister.

Happy Birthday, Chops.
I love you.


This is John and his fiance

Make Me Laugh Monday-Tramp Stamp for Kiddies

So if you have been watching How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM) like I've instructed you good people to do. You know that the main character has recently gotten a tatoo after a night out drinking. A tatoo on his lower back...this is also known as a tramp stamp.

Not only is it hilarious but also disturbing.

Quite like this pic I found at gigglesugar.

Not only is it hilarious looking next to the Hannah Montana stickers or that some idiot thought this was a good idea to sell...but it is just sad that some idiot will let their kids buy this.

It's a Round up Y'all

Amber pointed out at her blog: there is a lack of wanting to post when the comments aren't forth coming. I know that is true but yet I have been a posting machine lately. Notice below ::graceful Vanna White hand gesture sweeping you to the bottom of the screen...and then back up::...stay focused people!

I have posted and new commenters have poked their head out of the ground and said hello, but old ones have left me for greener blogs. (Seriously, if I could get my blog more green (the color not the movement) you'd be looking at the insides of a leprechaun...I wouldn't do that to y'all. But I do love green that much.)

So to find some new people and to see who is out there...I'm going on a round up.

I'm going to post comments where I've never posted before.

Bring me your popular, your new, your weird, and fun blogs...I will comment...I will persevere.

I will also be posting some of the new blogs I've found. If you have any good directions for me to head off in, please let me know. As we have established before...I get lost getting out of a paper sack.

I'm Somebody!--UPDATE WITH A LINK!

**** The DUDE, Neil, so graciously reminded me that my link to Sappy Chick isn't working! How dopey amd I. Go over, read, and say hi!****So this dude named Neil is conducting THE GREAT EXPERIMENTover at Citizen of the Month. I skimmed through a lot of the finer points... becase that is what I do. So I think that THE GREAT EXPERIMENT is something like this:

take the genes of a chicken...no wait...other experiment...If you are somebody in the blog world you are on lots of people blogrolls, people leave 72 comments for a nothing post, and you get lots of bloggy awards...people want to ask you questions and know your inner thoughts...Neil's experiment makes EVERYBODY a SOMEBODY. You go to his blog, leave a comment and the person ahead of you gets to ask you a lot of questions. The cool thing is that you are guarenteed one more reader and someone who will act mildly interested in you.

It just so happens that my interviewer was from the great Palmetto State that my hubs and my alma mater hail from: South Kahkalaki. You can read my interview over there, but here are some snippets:

7. So being a southern girl, what’s your reaction when you get the “Oh, I LOVE your accent!”? Have you lost any of the drawl living up north?
Sadly, I’ve never had a thick accent. My mom worked hard to lose hers when she moved from (what she terms) “the armpit of the South” and my dad grew up in ATL…now that being said…my accent comes out crazy for two things: talking about Southern things or food. When my friends with southern accents talk, I start slinging the lingo full force. I start preaching to yankees about “FrIEd Peeckls” or the allure of “Geohrgah Rehd ClaAy.” They say my southern is showing. The weirdest thing is southern phrases I never new were southern. Like my favorite: “I get lost trying to get out of a paper sack.” Someone said, what is a paper sack? HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN PAPER SACK TO A YANKEE? Grocery bag.

Read it and weep people, I am somebody...I feel validated::Picture me waving to all the cheering adoring fans::

Global Humor

My former colleague and eternal bad a** has this on her blog. NB: this will need sound, a little patience till the end, and the ability to laugh at loud.

Enjoy.

My husband is sillier than your 3 year old

So in my eternal quest to prove that my 27 year-old husband is sillier than a 3 year old, may I present Silly Item, #2, into Evidence, your honor. (wow, I need to stop hanging out with future lawyers).

KW loves to eat...but he loves to eat A LOT and cheap. There is a story that is legen.....wait for it unless your lactose intolerant...dary involving a lovely establishment named Roy's in Maryland.

KW heard about their crazy sandwiches and had to try it out. Check out down the menu for the Bender Schmender (here is the description):

86. THE BENDER SCHMENDERTM (The One and Only 5-Decker Club.)
Corn beef, turkey, roast pork, chicken liver pate & golden brisket with lettuce, tomato, golden sauce & a psychiatric appointment 23.05

I lost my picture of him with it but let me paint a picture, when it came out it involved cowbells, gongs, a roman ladder carried by 2 men, a sign, and a crowd of onlookers...here is a shot of another guy with it:


KW loved it so much...we came back 3 more times while we were in DC.

But he has learned of something greater on Food Network: the Primanti Bros. Resteraunt of Pittsburgh. KW wants to go and tackle that beast of sandwich so bad he can already taste it....mmmm, taste like heart disease. But never being one to not support my husband even in his crazy dreams, I told him we can go. This has what started the silliness. KW has given me a new nickname:

PUMANTE BROTHERS

yes, it is kinda like Primanti Brothers, but this way sounds funnier and always makes me laugh. Seriously you can't say POO-MAN-TEE without a giggle, even from this jaded girl.

So there you are folks, ridiculous and meaningless nicknames is one more reason my husband is sillier than a three year old.

Easter Feast

So part of our Easter celebration we hosted a "Losers that have nowhere else to celebrate" Dinner. I made a Coke Ham, deviled eggs, mac & cheese, black eyed peas, flake biscuits...the other ladies made turkey and an amazing strawberry shortcake.

Here are some pics of the table I set. I took the pics for my mom with my Macs photobooth feature.

So do not be alarmed that the fork and knife are on the wrong side.



She called me in a tizzy...thinking she had never properly taught me how to set a table. Even though, I set her table for every major party growing up.

I thought the flowers made it seem more springy that it actually was out!
BTW. it was Michigan's snowiest winters on record

Easter Recap AND I'm only a partial dumba**

So this Easter, KW and I did our usual mass at the Veteran's Hospital. For those who don't know: KW started volunteering to take veterans to mass at our local VA hospital about 6 months ago. When he would go to get the veterans, I started helping set up the alter and all the other mass things. After awhile, both of us started to do readings and everything else. So now, we DO the mass...sometimes it is even just us and the priest.

The best is when we did the passion for Good Friday, which drew a chapel filling crowd of 20 people, WOOT! I had to do all the non-passion readings, which is a LOT...but for the passion, KW was the narrator which is A LOT MORE....and I had to be the crowd. This meant that I was saying, "Crucify him, Crucify him" Let me tell you having to say that in church will remind you what the season is about.

On a lighter note: KW laughed at me afterwards because in my hurry to read fast, as our priest asked me to do, because I evidently said "We condemn him [Jesus]" instead of the written "We commend him [Jesus]." Yeah, I love being stupid.

On another point of stupidity...you all are right, I was stalking myself. Sort of. My office is kushnerco.com, which means I was one of the people checking my blog, but so where my coworkers and friends from school. So that explains why it wasn't matching to my log in times. HA, so I am stupid but not as stupid as I thought.

Retraction

I should probably not claim that it stinks to be out of the south on the day that Christ saved me from all my sins.

Start of Spring

So yesterday was the first day of Spring, and I just went outside to this:



Yup, I'm feeling the spring...STBOOTS

I was just checking my Yahoo account and this is what I saw:

Study: Guys are clueless when it comes to reading women

It seems that Indiana University decided that they needed to waste thier money on this research. I bet that this is some sort of great scam. Some researcher petitions a research grant for something obvious...gets paid a TON...uses it for beer and rent...and says genius things like "UH...Guys aren't able to understand women because of SCIENCE!" And that also gets his girlfriend off his back for drinking all that beer.

A Scam I tell you.

I need to get on this.

I have been reading about how some blogesses (blog-goddess: new word!) have been able to track how people found their site.

I was intrigued, I wanted to stalk the people lurking around the blog world (all three of you who come into my part of the blog-o-sphere).

So, I found sitemeter, which is a free service that lets you know how many people come to your blog, when, how long, where did the visit, where did the come from, where did they go after, and where they are from (no surprise, most of my readers are from the south, woot!).

But there is a true intrigue among my new obsession of checking on you lurkers...

There is someone who hails from the website: kushnerco.com. This person has been on A LOT! Has read a LOT of my posts, and spent some significant time on my little blog. I have looked at the website and it is not something I recognize...but it hails from Ann Arbor!

I got worried...I HAVE A STALKER! I have confirmed those worst fears of anti-bloggers (cough, my husband) and gained a weird crazy who is after me!!!!

Then all the sudden it dawns on me...what if I am stalking myself?!?!? What if sitemeter.com is not terribly reliable? Sometimes you only see service providers like several of my readers evidently subscribe to Cox (go South!) and Comcast.

I hope I'm not being stalked by a crazy but I also don't want to be stalking myself. One is scary and one is sad...

So if you, Kushnerco.com, could stop lurking and show yourself...I would feel a little less pitiful. If I don't hear from you, I will assume that I am stalking myself like a true loser...but it sorta fits so I won't be surprised.

However, I love the fact that 3 people have found me by googling the lyrics to an Aaliyah song and stumbled on a this. I feel very street.

Can you say, "Alex's new obsession!"

I should Quantify...err Qualify...

I feel like I should explain something about my "thinking about having kids" issue.

KW and I work, go to school, and live in a very Catholic school environmnet. Both our parents (well my parents are and his parents are quiet) are more progressive Catholics about birth control and having lots of kids early.

The people around here are not so much like that. They are wonderful people and really challange me to better my faith and religious conviction, but you can get lost in reality sometimes. And I have a hard time getting out of that mentality. I really had a hard time last year when all my friends here had 2 or more kids and were 3 years younger than me and thought it was weird that I was not actively trying. You can tell how it effected my blogging.

Anyways, I just want to thank those who offered encouragement and "outside" advice. I have a habit of being sucked into my environmental bubble. I really appreciate the reminder, "to do what is best for you" and "Trust God" with the "babies are wonderful!"

(I'm not really sure why people start with "BUT BABIES ARE WONDERFUL!?!?!" when you tell them that you are not sure about having kids THIS minute--I always want to say, "Really? I thought they were demon spawn sent to ruin me and my figure....Thanks for setting me straight." My sarcasm gets the best of me!)

B*tch and Pitch

So, as KW and I were heading home for lunch today I asked him to take out Penny so I could eat in a hurry...and I said as an after thought, "Please don't B*tch and Pitch about it cause it just makes me feel guilty!"

He looks at me and says, "B*tch and Pitch" is that a local anti-Male softball league?"

We busted out laughing and no one b*tched about making someone do work and pitched a fit for having to do it.

Humor is one of God's greatest gifts.

Update!!! Chicken Spinach Spaghetti

Okay, so I promised a report and pictures...here they are:


Here is the final product on my semi-fancy "china." It's not plastic so you know I am stepping it up for the photogs!

It was a great dish to make on a crazy and lazy Sunday afternoon. If you remember from Notes' notes, you just put the chicken in the bottom of the crockpot (I follow the Emeril rule of cooking...every step deserves some flavor...so I salt and peppered them lightly for me.) You cover the boobs (my mom always called them chicken boobs) with dijon mustard and then stuff the rest of the crock pot with fresh washed spinach. I used baby spinach (i'm not sure if that made a difference but it was a little more spinachy that Notes' seemed to be).

The other things I did differently from Notes is that I added red pepper flake and garlic to the chicken mixture while it cooked. I also had to help the chicken flake a little more than I thought I would. I used the balsamic vinegar and mushrooms with the tomato mixture and penne instead of spaghetti noodles.

Overall it was okay. It was a little bland...I tried to fix it but I think it just came out a little "flavor muddled." But as usual cheese helped!

While I might not make this exact recipe again, I am not fully intrigued with crock pot chicken. My family always used beef or pork in the c-pot. So maybe I'll have to try another thing tonight. I also am very willing to try out more Note's Recipes.


In the pot!

With the tomato mixture!
Please ignore the messy kitchen!

Crazy in Love

I love my job.

This is the first time in my ENTIRE life that I have loved my boss, my duties, my colleagues, my environment....EVERYTHING about my job.

This makes things interesting because it is the first time ever that I wouldn't "rather be pregnant/mom" automatically.

Don't get me wrong, I would love to have a baby, but I would regret giving up this amazing opportunity for my job.

I recently was given a promotion (yea, me!) but it might separate me and KW...

So I am conflicted...

I will take this job but I am sad that I will have to start picking my career over family...
then I start thinking about working when I have kids.

I have always thought that I would be a stay at home mom when I had kids (that is why I am putting my husband through a very expensive law school, right?).

Now that I love my job, I am wondering if I would want to give it up to be with my children. I'm sure I would but I am now having that age old question:

Passion for work vs. Passion for your children.

Did any of you go through this? What do you think?

Wives Without Children

So as many of my 3 loyal readers know, I don't have any kids. I go through periods of being okay with it and sometimes I'm not so much.

But it does bring to mind that there are several bloggers out there that are not part of the mom blogs but are looking forward to being moms. We are not the type that scream, "I am single and lovin' it" but we also are trying to appreciate the time that God gives us with our childless lives.

Whether we be women waiting for a child naturally, planned, adoption...we are typically waiting...for God to make us ready or patient for His timing.

I read a LOT of mom blogs trying to get "pearls" of wisdom about parenting, but I end up being crazy scared about parenting/birthing from all the "horror" stories.

Thankfully, I have a great friend who always talks me down from my freakin' out ledge and makes me smile.

So, I put it out there to all three of you...did you know you were ready for a baby, did you plan for it, what are you doing/did you do in the meantime?

(I am foreseeing a series of posts about this...so be forewarned)

Trying Things Out

So, I have become a regular reader of Notes from the Trenches.

She has wonderful photography and great recipes.

So right now, I am trying out the spinach chicken spaghetti.

I will have to report back how it goes. Thankfully, I have my camera with me, so I will take a picture as well.

Prepare for a report!

An Inspiration: Fun Roaming Southerner Fact #215

So, in trying to find interesting things to talk about and not just link to my bloggity friends sites 24/7, I thought I'd share a little about me. Something that most people don't know.

Fun TRS Fact #215: I know Sign Language.

When I was 8 years old, there was a girl several grades a head of me who was deaf and the first time I saw her when was competing the school wide spelling bee. I was thrown by this fact...that someone could compete in front of the school AND have a disadvantage of not being able to "sound it out." I was so intrigued, I asked my mom if we could get a sign language book asap! I wanted to know some signs in case I met her.

Around that same time, I saw Marlee Matlin on T.V. and once again I was intrigued that people can talk without verbalizing anything. I started to pour back into my ASL dictionary just in case I got to meet Marlee Matlin...that way I could talk to her.

As I grew up, I always read about signing but without the opportunity to actually converse with someone my enthusiasm dwindled.

And then, 3 years ago when I was in grad school, one of my classmates, Matt, was almost completely deaf from childhood rubella. This was it...my chance to meet and converse with someone in sign language. Only problem: my left hand was in a cast. I was nervous that I would make a fool of myself, but one day his translator was running late so I thought I could help by trying to translate what I could or at least introduce myself. Well the end of the story was, that I had a horrible time trying to sign. I "stuttered" and got nervous and every time I'd try to talk I'd get so easily flustered and embarrassed, he would have to read my lips more than anything. I also had a horrible time trying to understand signs. No one has ever signed to me so I couldn't "read" signs as well as I could sign myself.

Matt and I talked on IM about class at times, he gave me some "better" signing books, and really tried to encourage me. Unfortunately, I never got over the fact that I couldn't communicate automatically the way I thought I could and became very discouraged. I also stopped talking to Matt after class because I was so embarrassed that I thought I could communicate with him and he knew how bad I was.

I never realized until recently that he probably was happy with my half-a** attempts and my eagerness to talk with him...even if it was like talking to a 2 year old. I also realized that there is an amazing Deaf community with a long history that is in some ways very exclusive. Matt could have easily have blown me off but he encouraged me more.

These days, I try to learn more signs....sign to myself in the mirror more...and if I ever see that lady on TV who signs in the circle at the corner, I turn the sound off on the TV and try to read her signs. Hopefully, one day if I get to see Matt again, I'll be able to talk to him more clearly.

Also, Marlee Matlin is competing on Dancing with the Stars: go over to Leigh's to read about her cool dancing partner and vote for her if you can!

STBOOTS

I am an acronym maven...
I love to make up new ones...but I rarely use the traditional ones and I NEVER text them.

This might have come from a slightly-intoxicated-acronym-showdown last year, where me and a friend Joe tried to "out 13 year old girl" each other by only conversing in acronyms.

While commenting on my seemingly-seperated-by-blogging-twinsie (I'm going to start calling her that because I keep saying "me too" at her blog way too much...plus, it is my excuse to keep looking at her blog going "ERIN, WRITE SOMETHING!" and stalk all of her awesome links).

Since we are both dislocated southern women, I find myself saying to her "man, it Stinks To Be Out Of The South!" This is the phrase that pays...whether it is in reference to having to ween myself off of the addictive crack that is Chick-fil-A chicken, having my heart blessed less, or mourning the loss of our good friend, the Sun...okay not so much my good friend because me and the sun have to group date with Mr. SPF 50.

But let's face it folks...it always STBOOTS!

St. Paddy's Poem

It's time for Pensieve's Poetic License this month, which I've missed up till now but follow diligently.

Guidelines are as follows:

Theme: none
Form: limerick
Additional: must include one or more of the following words: green, Irish, leprechaun, shamrock, Easter, Spring, kite, windy

So here is my contribution:

St. Paddy's: the day for green,
to drink beer, and act real keen
on shamrocks, and corned beef
and people we just meet.
For me it's every day of the year.


Yeah, people think I celebrate St. Patricks day in August so there you go!

What Works for Me Wednesday

Over at Shannon's, she is hosting a "What works for me Wednesday: Backwards Edition," which allows me to ask you all questions and expect answers (and they better be good ::insert fist shake::).

So my question to you internets is this:

Do you have any good punch/drink recipes (of the alcoholic variety--or can be made to be so)?

I am hosting a party with a bunch of people (guys and girls) and while we will have beer, I wanted to keep costs lower by having one type of liquor drinks.

I would love any suggestions!

The Awesomeness of my Ave Friends

Since working at the school this year, I have made some great friends here (some students, some staff, some "wives of"). When I was asked to hang out with some of them this Friday, I told them that I could not because KW and I are having some (10)friends from DC (that are in town for a convention) over for a party.

Now, because of the number of these people, and that our DC friends are quite different than our Ave friends, we were not planning on mixing the groups. (I should add that different does not mean worse for either party--one just a little more of a hardier party stock while the other is more quiet).

Typically for one of my many Ave parties (I like to have people over a lot, to KW's shagrin), if you invite more than one couple, you have to invite 6 others...we're all friends of friends and someone will be left out and that is no good. So small parties are just not available.

Nervously, I was afraid that when I told them of this party that they would want to be invited too...and my small apt can not accomodate that many people...

Each time I told someone of my impending party. Each and every one of them asked if they could help...could they make something for me, go shopping with/for me, help me pick people up from the airport. And I know this was not a "i'll help and get invited" kinda thing. It was just pure awesome selflessness.

I am a lucky girl.

God is Good-As he is known to be

So, I failed less than I thought I would.

I finally got some students to come to my event today...
They came, it went smoothly....

God answered my prayers to make this work out and taught me a lesson:

to be patient and faithful in his timing.

I told my boss that this event "might not work" because I didn't want to surprise him at the end of the day. But mainly, I wanted to clear my conscience and face the worst of it. If I had waited, I would not have to have shown him my failure.

God is good and teaches lessons all in one full swoop.
Also, my friends and husband are the most amazing and helped me with no warning and with enthusiasm.

Found the Funny

Didn't take long but I read my last post (after posting)
and said...
well I didn't fail as much as
Succeed in Failing
Accomplished some major suckitude
Kicked a Winning Field Goal in the Crap-ER Bowl

now I just have to wait to face the inevitable looks from my coworkers.

I Failed

I failed at something at work (well...not technically yet, but I will be 9am tomorrow)...without going into boring details, I was supposed to set up a conference for high school students at the law school...

I let things slide
I procrastinated
I thought the high school counselors I talked to could get their students together
I thought I could pull it together no problem (while those who did it last year said it would be tough)

...needless to say, I slung out my pride and said, "I can do it better and with less effort than you!" And I failed or I am in the midst of failing...

and I hate that.

I hate being wrong or doing wrong or disappointing people.
And I did it all.

I'll try to wax light soon and find the funny in this situation.