Thanks for hosting another house party, (e:PMT) !

Here are my snaps... in no particular order, even if i was trying to keep them cronological.

(e:Terry) was delicate most of the night



(e:Zobar) started the evening off with a flash!


Did someone just bring this bubble maker, or was it a birthday gift for (e:Paul) ?





(e:Libertad) and (e:MK) being anti-bubble!


I swear, it all started because i mentioned that (e:Matthew) 's jammie bottoms looked like something Edward Gorey would draw, and the next thing you know, (e:Dragonlady7) is reading The Gashlycrumb Tinies to us. Story Time! Yay!!


We barely got through that when we were told to get our hinnies out and watch (e:Paul) smash is porniata (sp?)


(e:Oda) got her sugar on


and (e:Mike) should have said no


(e:lilho) wanting no one to say no


Brothers


Sisters


The gang (nice heart, (e:Carolinian) ! )


Someone looks tired!


The only picture, all night long, i got of (e:Matthew) ! He just doesn't misbehave enough!!


Last but not least, the Birthday Boy...

So, what is a girl to do if she doesn't have a need or desire to go out during a rainy/snowy/icey day? Make ice cream!!

My first try was ok. Raspberry sorbet for my beloved. I didn't have as many frozen raspberries as i should have, so it was a bit too sweet. (e:Uncutsaniflush) doesn't have much of a sweet tooth, but when he wants sweets he wants them very sweet... so this fits the bill. Next time, more raspberries, less sugar and a tiny bit more lemon juice.

My second try didn't go as well. Cinnamon ice cream. I used a bit too much sugar, again, and a tiny bit too much cinnamon. Plus, the big boo boo was not letting the mixture cool enough before putting into the ice cream maker. Next time, i might just try steeping cinnamon sticks instead of putting in the powder.

This try... banana ice cream!! Oh, i hope it tastes as good when it is completely hardened as it did when it was soft serve from the ice cream maker!! At the last minute, i added walnuts and chocolate chips too. I cooled the mix in the fridge overnight while the ice cream bowl froze, too. So it should be yum!!

Of course, i could just find recipes instead of inventing them like (e:jenks) suggested...

It's supposed to snow or ice or be cold and icky out... so... what better thing to do but look for ice cream recipes online!!??!

Since i got my ice cream maker, i have been itching to use it, even if i don't always feel like eating ice cream in a big slightly drafty house in the winter.

More than anything, i want cinnamon ice cream. No one sells it, or at least it is rare to see in the grocery stores. And i so don't know why... i love love love cinnamon.

Had cinnamon toast for breakfast... a childhood favorite.

Found a couple of recipes online.. some at the cuisinart site. The dark chocolate sorbet looks good, and very simple. I may even have the ingredients -- water, white sugar, brown sugar, cocoa. Opps... no, we don't. Oh well. I won't die if i don't do it today.

Yesterday, (e:Uncutsaniflush) and i ate at a new mexican restaurant. So new their sign isn't even up. It's in the old Denny's by the corner of Niagara Falls Boulevard and Sheridan. Driving by not too long ago, i saw a sign -- one of those portable ones -- that said "authentic mexican food". So, we decided to wander in to try it.

Yum. It's no El Charro, the place in KNoxville Tennessee (E:Uncutsaniflush) and i hold all other Mexican restaurants up to as a comparison, but it was damn good. And i would recommend them.

We picked up a take out menu, since neither of us got further than the lunch specials and the vegetarian section looks good. Spinach Burrito is on my list of must trys...

Hmm... i feel like cooking and eating... i wonder if i have PMS?

(e:Paul) .. i love you and i so appreciate all the work you do on (e:strip). Hell, i wouldn't be bitching about this if i didn't love this place, right?

My posts keep disappearing from the Read The Latest list... But if i go directly to my post, it's there.

This is the one that is gone this time:

01/11/07 15:46 - 43F - ID#256

This GED stuff is... often exhasting. I just finished a GED Supplimental Package of Social Studies and i feel... worn out. My brain is so not used to thinking and it is complaining.

No, Brain, you cannot go watch t.v.; you need to study!

I graded the packet a few minutes ago. Out of the 152 questions on Editorial Cartoons, Drawings and Diagrams, U.S. History, World History, Geography, Economics and Civics and Government, i got 133 correct.... which, if i got the math bits right, is about 90.79%, or as i rounded to, 91%. Not bad. And what i assume to be a pass. I was concerned about the U.S. History the most, seeing as not much of it is taught in Canadian schools... and i would assume the Canadian perspective is different.

What i have been finding out about the social studies parts of the GED is that is is very much based on reading a passage and answering questions on it. However, it does assume the reader has some basic knowledge of some key U.S. Historical events. Those gaps are not as big as i thought they were, thank goodness. I am learning to find what the test is looking for, not what i think... oddly enough.

Teach says i might be ready to write the predictor soon, and the GED within weeks.

The process is..

First day of class, i wrote a very short 10 - 20 question test. Then, i wrote a TABE test based on the results of that first test. Then, i was given a score. The score meant nothing to me... what the hell does 12.9 mean, teacher man?! Turns out it means that 13 is the highest i can get. OK, so i did really well on the reading portion. Reading well means doing well on all the other sections, including the science and social studies. Yay. Math, i think i had a combination score of 9 something. They say an 11 is needed to write the infamous predictor.

• note to self -- try to use US spellings... color not colour **

The predictor is, apparently, a sample GED test. The whole deal. The 8 hours sitting in a room filling in dots that correspond to the correct answer to a question.

If that goes well, sign up for the next GED.

Studying daily. Brain complaining....

Can't decide between a Pug and a Boston Terrier?

Well, why not get a Bugg!

I wanted to post a picture from this site, one of the very few i found, but they had some sort of copyright warning. So to not get anyone in trouble and be a nice girl, for a change, i thought i would refrain from posting a picture.

This weekend, we are going to Canada... yes, AGAIN. Sunday is my dad's birthday, so we are going to take him out to dinner Saturday evening. I used to always bake him a blueberry cheesecake, but with his high cholesterol and the difficulty with transporting a cheesecake over the border, i am making him these super duper easy cookies.

First, i start with a chocolate cake mix.


After sifting the mix, adding a stick of softened butter, 2 eggs and used all my muscles, i get this thick batter.


Using an old tablespoon measuring spoon and a couple of spoons, i plop the cookies onto an ungreased sheet, then roll them into wee balls.


It hardly makes any mess at all.


They spread a little, so i am careful not to have more than 12 to a sheet.


After 10 - 12 minutes in the oven, an additional 5 minutes to cool on the sheet, i put them on a rack to cool.


They taste like brownies.... YUM!

I know ya'll might be anxious to see the pictures from the (e:PMT) New Year's Eve bash last night... and some of you may be cringing. But i had other pics i wanted to post too, so i thought i would do them all, for all the holiday, in one big post. So here goes...

The obligitory "godmom" pictures of Kirsten's pets taken over the holidays.

Cute lil Ava in her holiday wear


Elliott borrowed Ava's hat


Ava and Nolan


I must be boring Nolan.



Then there was the holiday with the family. Since they never asked to be stars of my blog, all the pictures of my brother and his family are, well, of them hiding mostly. Which is what the kids did naturally, i suspect.

Nephew Luke


Foster nephew Jamie


My brother, John


My neice, Arianna taking a picture of her Gramps


Arianna taking a picture of their dog, Rosie


Sister-In-Law, Michelle, petting Rosie


Rosie the basset hound


My Parent's dog, Ralphie, scared of all the humans, hiding behind his mom


My parent's little predecorated tree


My mom with her hand up a turkey


The piggie footie massager the kids got me for xmas


Me and a giant 10lb loaf of german rye bread my brother brought for us from the bakery he works for


And now, ladies and germs, the show you have been waiting for -- the (e:PMT) New Year's Eve bash. Thank you, yet again, (e:Paul) (e:Matthew) and (e:Terry) for hosting!

Oh, and before i go any further, thank you thank you thank you, my Secret Santa. I ADORE my gift!


The hosts with the mosts, (e:PMT)


(e:imk2) happy with her secret santa gift


(e:Terry) showing everyone the slight flaw in the design of (e:imk2) 's gift... the hole in the fabric should be down here, i think...


Uhmm... nice bottle, (e:imk2) !


(e:Enknot) 's crime fighting duo


(e:Metalpeter) and (e:Vycious)


The women of AbFab loving on (e:Metalpeter)


(e:Mike) drinking with style


awe, isn't dating cute?


(e:jenks) (e:Ladycroft) and (e:imk2) showing some girl on girl on girl action


Is this my best side, Darling?


From AbFab to I Love Lucy, all in one night


An (e:Jenks) sandwich... with (e:Soma) kicking out the jams

I stuck it in the bottom the freezer we have in our basement yesterday after a wash and a thorough dry. The bowl was ready to go. Since (e:jenks) suggested it, i asked my parents for an ice cream maker for christmas. And now, the eggonog is churning away! The recipe was easy. One quart of eggnog. We'll let you know how it tastes!!

I love my family, but we are so damn disfunctional. I try my best to do what i think is right and not model the behaviour of my parents.

I wonder if it is possible for the group of us to get together for any reason without there being some sort of drama. No wonder i get horrid stomach pains or end up being sick every year around this time.

I avoid the conflicts now, at almost any cost, even when i feel strongly about something. The rights of someone unable to speak for themselves is someone i should stand up for, yet i didn't, so i wouldn't be in the middle of something i had nothing to do with in the first place. I'm torn by having kept my mouth shut. Knowing it would have caused more drama, yet very displeased with the behaviour of so-called adults.

Yet this year, only 2 bits of drama... pretty good for our lot. But, there is always the second gathering of the year, on the 28th. Still time.

I described the 36 or so hours when my brother, his family, my parents, (e:Uncutsaniflush) and i were at my parent's house as "pleasant" to a few friends since we have been back home. Yet when telling of the 2 drama filled incidents, i was met with shock that a time in which both happened could still be described this way.

My friend Mark said it best, "sometimes i am grateful all my family does is talk about the weather and watch t.v."