Chicken and Cookies Challenge - Week 2

Friday was Christmas! You should know this unless you were living under a rock for the last few months... or well... for awhile at least. So I needed to do something special for Mr. Wonderful this week.

Chicken: Dad Wonderful made an enormous free-range turkey (a chicken like bird) and I could not upstage the turkey with a chicken... because it would then have to be a VERY large chicken... and that would probably not be worth our while.

Cookies: Chocolate Covered Honeycomb from the Candy Addict

I had pictures to send... but apparently when I send pictures from my Droid to my email... if I delete the picture before I check the email it gets lost somewhere in cyberspace... Mr. Wonderful is totally going to have to fix that...

I could not find honey for the honeycomb so I substituted with 100% maple syrup from that farm by my uncle up in Maine. No one complained...

They did not end up looking like the Candy Addict's pictures:









In fact mine resembled turtles more and people compared them to chocolate covered caramels... where did my bubbles go?


~Emme

Chicken and Cookies Challenge

Last week Mr. Wonderful and I took a wonderful journey in slightly-above to slightly below freezing temperatures to Northern Virginia (NOVA) to house sit and tour DC. On Tuesday, December 8, we toured the American History Museum to visit Julia Child's kitchen. Okay... so we were there because we LOVE museums, tours, history... and I have a secret obsession (okay... not so secret) with cooks and crafters I remember seeing on television when I was growing up. Julia Child, Carol Duval, and Martha Stewart... gave me the inspiration and training to do so many wonderful creative things that my family simply lacked the know-how and will power to do. After visiting her kitchen I amazingly talked Bee into renting Julie Julia from a RedBox and Mr. Wonderful into watching it with me! Then he had a challenge for me...

You see, Mr. Wonderful and I have a Friday tradition that started our first Friday night together over two years ago: Chicken and Cookies. Now the chicken could be substitute for chicken. Cookies could be brownies, cakes, or bars. Friday night could fall on a Saturday or Sunday if we were traveling and there was no way we had access to either chicken or cookies. I can only recall a few times when we were traveling overseas and when he was off on a boys weekend.

Now we have a few go-to recipes that we enjoy to no end, but we're ready to try something new. So here is the challenge: 101 different ways to cook chicken and cookies. I am not bound to any book, any genre, any chef. 202 recipes total... 2 new recipes each week... not repeating.

Week One

Chicken:
Crock-pot Taco Chicken
(Given to me by the receptionist at the agency)

4 chicken breasts
1 cup salsa
1/2 cup sour cream
1 package taco seasoning
1 can cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup
*Note: I substituted for low sodium and low fat options for all ingredients where possible

Her Instructions:
Place all ingredients except for sour cream in crock-pot for 6-8 hours and then add sour cream. Serve over tacos, straight up, or on nachos.

What happened:
Place chicken (still frozen because it refused to thaw), salsa, taco seasoning, and soup into crock-pot. (Throw in can of chicken stock because it looks like there is not enough liquid and that makes you nervous...) Cook on low all night (the chicken was frozen remember... and slightly freezer burned). Be amazed the chicken smells good in the morning... though disappointed it looks terrible. Stir, turn on high and go shopping for the next 6 hours. Return home and remove incredible smelling chicken from salsa/soup mixture. Be shocked when the previously frozen, freezer burned chicken flakes apart and is super moist and fabulous looking. Shred chicken and place it back into the crock-pot. Wait until Mr. Wonderful calls and says he is close by (long commute) and add sour cream. Die over how incredible it tastes. Revive yourself and serve family of 8 (4 choose beef option instead) with tacos topped with delicious chicken stuff. Wonder what to call the chicken stuff and how to use leftovers...

Leftover options:

• More tacos
• Nachos
• Straight up
• Sandwiches.... Mr. Wonderful said it is a great faux BBQ and we are all excited to try it.

 Cookies:
Alton Brown's Sugar Cookies (From Food Network website)

I have never made sugar cookies (that I can remember at least) as I cannot really tolerate sugar and they seemed so boring I never really put up the effort. A cookie when removing them from the oven so I tried a bite... meh... I wasn't too impressed. They needed something in the line of flavor... other than: "There's butter, sugar, and flour in me..." and I added some vanilla to it as well...

My grammie said they were bland, though everyone else seemed to enjoy them. After our chicken dinner Papa, Mr. Wonderful and I decorated the cookies here is Mr. Wonderful's present to The Bloggess for sending him a holiday card:

Till next time,
Emme

No Spending Month - Week #4

Sunday 11/8

Papa, Mr. Wonderful and I took a trip to the Dollar Tree to show Papa the new Home Goods section. Also, I had to get dog biscuits as bribes for our friends' dogs as we are taking a trip up to their neck of the woods and I would prefer to have happy chewing dogs than dogs slobbering all over me. :) Though they are some of the greatest dogs out there... I'll be sure to take some pictures.

Monday 11/9

After a rather fruit-less interview (I swear... no fruit of any kind) I went on a journey to check off some things on my to do list.

I was successful in spending less than $15 on a present my mother would love... $14.69 on a kittens and friends calender. She liked the kittens... and their friends.

Picked up the dry cleaning. For some reason my office prefers me to wear clothes.

Picked up a new dog collar. For some reason the city likes it when my dog wears a collar.

Fresh Market for lunch and blogging...

$8.28

Thursday 11/12

I had to order some screen protectors to cover the face of my Droid (birthday present) as they (the Droid makers) did not provide a good enough original cover to last awhile. Used some pumpkin K-cups for my filler:

$6.07 (S/H I would have paid otherwise subtracted)

Saturday 11/14

Walmart: Shampoo and car air fresheners (seriously needed and the cheapest available). Then I bought bananas and liners for the slow cooker.

$4.82

Bojangles for lunch for Papa, Alex and I... it makes all of us equally happy.

$16.93

Total Spent this week: $36.10

That means $12.20 will be sent to debt pay offs.

~Emme

No Spending Month - Week #3

This was my birthday week so I was able to go out to eat several times with different groups of people.

Wednesday

10.46 at Bojangles for Lunch with Mrs. Ross

Friday

15.70 for Margaritas

Saturday

8.39 for pumpkin coffee K-cups (bought with 20% coupon)

That puts me $4.55 over. I did not plan for this... guess I will multiply it by 2 and throw $9.10 towards the debt as a punishment?

Also...

My grandparents bought me one of the new Droids... which I've been playing around with.

Mr. Wonderful bought me a Keurig coffeemaker

And I paid off one of the 4 student loans... now I am down to 3.

And I know what my family is giving me for Xmas




The Janome MC6500. Mine comes with all of the feet, the quilting board, AND free lessons. How exciting no?

~Emme

Fresh Market

I am totally sitting at FM eating a wonderful rotisserie sandwich and blogging from my new droid. Tonight I will be sure to update on the whole no spending thing. And yes this sandwich, handful of snack mix and cheapest diet soda they had is, in fact, coming out of my food allowence... as it is food.

I do have to purchase something cat related for my mother as she would not use and does not want something I make as she is one of those people that prefers store bought... and usually from the most expensive stores.

I am thinking clearance rack book of cats at b&n. $15 is allotted for it, can I do it... maybe if I can find the stupid question mark... it is hiding on me.

~Emme

New phone!

Seriously sweet. This Droid completely allows me to text from anywhere... and by anywhere I mean anywhere Verizon reaches... and yes... there is a map for that.

No Spending Month - Week #2

Tuesday:

$3 towards a tip for a lunch with my parents. (They're treat)

Wednesday:

$9.85 Groceries at Harris Teeters.






Friday:

$7.32 Groceries for my birthday cake ingredients (and yes... then I made my own birthday cake...)

That leaves $9.83 to go towards the debts.
~Emme

No Spending "month" - Week 1

Sunday

Purchase of $10.99 for a Neti-pot for my nose since I have not been breathing with all of the allergens around. This falls under medical as the whole not breathing thing is an issue.

Saturday

Gave Mr. Wonder $10 to put towards are portion of the dinner bill with our friends at Granby's Pizza (incredible white pizza by the way).

Yeah... I'm not going backwards... that's really what I spent... not including (of course)
Student Loan #1: $900
Student Loan #2: $30
Student Loan #3: $20.

I actually have 4 loans in total. It all started off as one and then SM just kept selling them to the Dept of Ed... and THEN the Dept of Ed decided I needed to pay for #2&#3 on website, #4 on another, and #1 I could just keep paying SM for.

SO...
Following my rules that's $20 that's going towards paying down the debts. I could have spent it on food and wine... or just wine... but I did not. I was good.
~Emme

Vintage Swap - Shelly's Half

How would you like to open a box like this? I think I died and went to heaven.

First: Just in time for winter. I will definitly have to try some of these and write up some reviews. Maybe even Mr. Wonderful would not mind giving a try or two.

I am sure this must be for my next party. It feels a bit like my great grandmother's mixing bowls. And to go with it... a matching:

... little treasure. I die. This and all the fabric in the box... I cannot believe this is a week when I am incredibly busy AND Big Bertha (the insanely heavy almost vintage sewing machine that lives in my barn) is in the shop.

Vintage handkerchief that needs a little crochet work (I'm excited to fix it and I have just the right color and weight lacework thread to fix it. The table runner in the background has pink hibiscus all over it... I die...

after all...

...

... hibiscus are my favorite flower...

...

... pink is my favorite color..

...

... what more could I ask for?

Kitchen valances... for my one day kitchen...

A yellow purse from British Hong Kong... that is the perfect color to match my favorite vintage dress suit. However... that was not what I wore it with... I wore it with my blue suit, vintage ruffled shirt and gorgeous purple faux snake skin guess heels. What else would a secret agent wear?

Two little books... They make me giggle looking at them.

What could be in this little goody bag?

I have no idea what to do with these... they are just too cute... I think I might put them on my quilt that I'm making to cover the drafts from the barn door as soon as Bertha comes home.

...

Yeah. I really do work in a barn.

...

A lovely little cup and saucer... matching a cute  little bag.

...

I am a very happy secret agent with lots of ironing and physics work to do.

...

~Emme

Vintage Swap - My half

I had the wonderful opportunity of taking part in a vintage swap. Swaps are one of my secret pleasures... I love to give gifts for no reason at all and then there's always the excitement of receiving something special in the mail.

So here is what I sent:

Here is the bottom shelf of a beautiful, lime green sewing box. The box itself is from a little old lady from Germany who used to live accross me on my street. The thread was one of the few I was able to rescue from the rest of the kit. The little little black box at one time held some sort of makeup powder. My great grandmother recognized it, but not enough to remember who produced it. The little stoneware goodies were exciting little salt and pepper shakers... no joke! I could not save the rubber stoppers, they were too far in a hardened state to cosider repairing. I would use cork stoppers to replace them. Here's a close up of the box and stoppers:

How exciting no? And on the top shelf?

Squares of vintage fabrics and some little leaf buttons (not vintage, but fabulous none the less...).

Also in the box:

Vintage sheets

Yummy little sugar dish...

Yummy little creamer...

One fabulous book

And a second fabulous book!

Shelly's wonderful package will be in the next post. :)

~Emme

No Spending "month"

It supposedly takes 40 days to form a new habit. Can 40 days really erase something I have been conditioned for over 8700 days? I was intrigued last year while reading Shopaholly's story of a year long freeze on spending.
A whole year would be a little much for this secret agent.

As I sit at Aroma's and enjoy my last few moments of needless spending (side salad and a Cafe Breve), here goes the rules (my rules, as in using someone else's will never work).

1. No needless spending... (sad for the expensive coffee habit)
2. Write down and hold off all crafting/clothing purchases. All purchases still deemed "necessity" can be purchased the after November 23.
3. Can still buy groceries (girl has to eat... you know); however, no more than $30 a week and any more than $30 is not rolled over, but put towards loan and credit card bill. This includes my wine for wine reviews (yikes!).
4. I still have to pay my bills (it sucks... I know) as no one pays them for me.
5. Expenses for shipping (cards, swaps I am already registered for, birthday presents, sales) is alright as they are prior commitments.
6. No more than $10 a week shop expense (not including Etsy's commission... I really have no control over the sale of my items). This does not include supplies for new projects, I have enough in the works to not purchase new for 40 days.
7. Sorry Mom and Grandpa Wonderful... your birthdays fall into the no-spend zone... you'll have to enjoy some handmade gifts this year... but just think about it. People pay for my crafts as it is... you should be happy with them. :)
8. I must blog about it. A girl needs accountability of some sort. The possiblity of billions of people knowing I slipped is a pretty big accountability.

~Emme~

Wine Thursday - Middle Sister - Rebel Red

As I was walking around Target looking for get well goodies for Grandpa Wonderful (he's been a bit under the weather lately), I walked down the wine asile. I LOVE the wine asile at Target. They have some of the silliest labels that I've ever heard of. Then I saw the Middle Sister labels and they all made me giggle. So I chose Middle Sister Rebel Red... mostly because I'm rebellious... HA! not really... secret agents can't really do that. It is a red table wine. And as such is a mixture of all things good. According to the website:

"38% Zinfandel, 34% Merlot, 21% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Syrah, 2% mixed red varietals.
100% California grapes with 42% from the Lodi appellation."

For those of you like me... that means... hmmm... let's go for some taste description then:

"...a huge mouthful of ripe summer berries. The fruit goes on and on, ending in a luxurious finish."


But really... it reminds me of one of the best berry pies that I have ever had the pleasure to eat. Not bad for under $10. This... I will definitly have to find a reason to buy for Bee. I believe that as a sister in the middle she would definitly enjoy it!

~Emme

Tuna Helper?

This is such a waste of my culinary skills... you can see it on my face... sadness.

The allusive Boots

Boots the cat... in costume as a dog...

Not amused

Mr. Wonderful

My farmer is going to work

Grease the MUSICAL!

New Haircut

Now that my hair is lighter... it is a bit curly. Thank goodness I spent way too much money getting a perm back in April... wow... there it is... at least not looking like the evil Victoria in Twillight!

~Emme

Wine Tuesday: Moscato D'Asti

Moscato D'Asti is a DOCG wine from Beviamo in Italy. I have been having a hard time finding their website so I give up... or maybe I give up since I'm on the second glass. Though you know which one I'm talking about... the beautiful, odd-shaped blue bottle from Sam's Club.

I am not sure why but this was the hardest wine I've ever tried to open. The cork split in half. In half! So I popped in a decorative stopper that I bought to save for an exciting occasion. That one split too... maybe the lip of the bottle isn't designed right. Who knows?

The wine itself tastes like drinking old pineapple juice with a little bit of blubbly. It is very syrupy. Mostly I bought it since it was on sale and I know of another agent that owns a kiln and can melt it down into something lovely. Now I'm on the second glass, mostly as I have no way of closing the bottle back, but I really don't want anymore.

~Emme

New Haircut

I could so not wait to show off the new haircut. I haven't had one from someone else in about a year and a half nine months (thanks Mr. Wonderful) now. It looks super cool since he straightened it with a hair straightener. I usually abstain from using irons on my hair, but it should have some serious waves when I let it go natural after the shower tomorrow. :)

  Here's the haircut slightly blurry and backwards as I am taking a picture with my phone when sitting precariously on the ledge above the stairwell to get a shot in a mirror.

 Here it is with my camera not backwards as I am using my super cool self photograph skills.

 Then I thought it would look cool if I took one in the mirror. Excuse the mess on my table I totally just finished making a purse today.

It really isn't that messy... hmmm... guess I need a backdrop or something in that nook.

Over all I'm happy. I hope Mr. Wonderful is... Mr. Wonderful?

~Emme

New toy

My new vintage bike

Wine Thursday - Layer Cake Primitivo

Layer Cake's Primitivo is their Zinfandel. I'm not sure I would have purchased it had I known. I'm not usually fond of Zinfandels. This is what one finds out when reading the back (which is what sold me):

"My old grandfather made and enjoyed wine for 80 years. He told me the soil in which the vines lived were a layer cake. He said the wine, if properly made, was like a great layer cake, fruit, mocha, and chocolate, hints of spice and rich, always rich. 'Never pass up a layer cake', he would say. I have always loved those words."

You know what... so do I. I love those words. It made me remember seeing the layers of dirt while working at the dig site.

At first glance this red wine from Italy is not what I would look for. It is not from Chile, Australia, or even California. It is from Italy. This wine even comes with a screw top cap... no cork. I'm inwardly really grateful that it is missing a cork. My good arm is killing me still from the hospital run the other day.

It smells like the table wine I drank in England when I was 17. I do not remember what it was, but we had a lot of it. It was a good adventure, complete with rabbit and an opera singer... only one of which was eaten... I'll let you figure out which.

I'm going to have to give this a try some other night to make sure I like it as much as I do. It is not as if I've already had a shot of sake and a glass of that pinot noir from Monday. I'm still waiting for the pain to dull in my shoulder.

Good job layer cake. I'm not sure I would often spend $16 on a bottle of wine... but I couldn't pass up the layer cake.

~Emme

Day at the hospitals

Yes. I did use plural there for hospital.

It started off with my mother rolling around in pain moaning that she could not take her meds since she had to drive herself to the hospital. I informed her I would leave work early to take her.

After leaving work and arriving home I find her still un-medicated but ready to go get her MRI.

As she cries our way to the hospital... over... *looks around*... she informs me she has not taken her medicine as no one was going to drive her to the hospital...

I go to the hospital gift shop and find her some Tylenol and get her some water to help ease it a bit.

The doctor did not fax over the MRI order like he should have. She cried... again...

I filled out her paperwork for her, checked her information, and spelled out her initials for her.

She is given a pink bracelet and announces proudly that it is because she's a female.

The nurse informs her it is because she's a fall risk.

She cries...

Thanks, nurse... that was a lot of help.

We go to sit down to wait for the MRI staff member to come and retrieve her. Once seated she becomes angry that the nurse considered her a fall risk.

Seriously... the lady who has been crying off and on for hours, isn't walking straight, is limping around on a cane, and is there to have an MRI of her feet... is seriously angry about being considered a fall risk. I inform her it's on her records from the last time she was here.

Then she becomes concerned that her shoes might have to be taken off since they have metal. I remind her she's there to have an MRI of her feet and the shoes AND socks might have to come off.

She cries... she doesn't want her shoes off.

After the MRI I push her around (250 lbs of her) around the hospital to make sure her pain pump is still turned on then walk her to the car and deposit her back off at the house.

Then I wen tot the hospital to check on Papa. He's doing much better. He'll soon be up and Sam's clubbing with us again.

~Emme

Wine Monday - Baron Philippe De Rothschild - Pinot Noir

I could not find information on this wine on their website (a five minute search was long enough), but here is what the back of the bottle says:

"In the south of France, the Pays d'Oc offers an extraordinary variety of terroirs. Among them, Baron Philippe de Rothschild's winemakers have selected the best parcels for growing the Pinot Noir grape. Thanks to Baron Philippe de Rothschild's know-how and blending skills this wine, in its inimitable style, expresses all the richness of the Pays d'Oc: it offers a highly aromatic bouquet of red fruit (morello cherry, blackcurrant) and violet over a rounded, thouroughly integrated structure." (Back of the 2008 Baron Philippe de Rothschild Pinot Noir)

I was not overly impressed on my first glass last Wedsday so I though I would give it another go. It is a bit strong. It reminds me of hard raspberry candies and it has a beautiful finish that lingers. :) I am not sure that I would buy it again... I would need an occasion for it... maybe with some sweet cream and raspberries on the side... angel food cake... it needs to be combined with something...


~Emme

Wine Friday - Pepperwood Grove Cabernet Sauvignon

As I browsed the wine aisle of my local Harris Teeter I spotted one bottle left of this Pepperwood Grove Cab Sauvignon. It is a 2006 vintage and imported from the Valle Central... somewhere in the circled regions of this map:

The label does not give ANY description of what the wine might taste like... but it fit the wine picking requirements Mr. Wonderful gave me:

1. Must come from the Central Valle or California
2. Must be mostly gone
3. Not too expensive

Wait...

Mr Wonderful, I have a question for you:

1. Does anyone else have good wines?
2. What if they just stocked the wines?
3. Have I told you how much I love you?

Mr. Wonderful's responses... no I did not bother asking again... I know the answers:

1. Yes, but you're not likely to pick the right one
2. I can't help you there.
3. Yes, yes you have.

Oh! Back to the review...

Pepperwood Grove did not bother to give a description of the wine so I went into it blindly. Had I gone to their website I would have found this:
"Dark ruby color with a nose full of raspberries, cedar, and subtle savory herbs. After the inviting nose entices you to take a sip, you will experience the flavors of rich blackberry cobbler, fresh raspberry jam, and caramel oak tones with integrated hints of basil and fresh figs."

It is very woody and makes me feel like I should be sitting in a country side farm eating some sort of pot roast. Yes, Mr. Wonderful, I do remember that I do not consume meat from cows... but that seriously is what this wine makes me think of. It would be a perfect wine for cooking some sort of roast (not poultry). At first I was against this wine... I mean I do not consume red meat and I'm not so sure I have ever come across a fresh fig... but the after the bitter sharpness when you first take a sip there is a pleasant raspberry aftertaste that is to die for. It is like you just ate a handful of fresh raspberries minus the seeds. While I probably will not buy this again (Mr. Wonderful does not care too much for raspberries), I would be willing to try some more Pepperwood Grove wines.

Cheers!
~Emme

Hard day for a secret agent

Today started off as a wonderful day. Everyone was excited over my fabulous vintage find of a skirt... went out to lunch with some of the other agents. Generally excited over being told by my jefe that they are, in fact, going to keep me on as an agent and not to bother about asking about part time benefits as they were going to see about making me full time next week.

Then was the blow.

The agency manager took me aside and said that not only was I not part time, I was still listed as a seasonal agent. I apparently should not have been given that PTO I had applied for (and had been approved for), nor should I have received holiday pay for the 4th.

BUT they decided to "gift" me that time... yeah... that's the word they used. Instead, they said they're not allowing me to do admin work anymore while I wait for more missions to work on. I must just go home. That's going to cut me back at least 10 hours a week. I'm a rather smart agent... that's about $200 every pay I will no longer be getting. Personally, I would rather just pay them back for the time, but apparently seasonal employees don't have that option.

AND they won't hire me part time as they are on a hiring freeze... even though they hired two new people a month and a half ago... just not me I guess...

Should I seek a new agency? I don't know. I LOVE what I do, who I work with, overall my job. But I'm already squeaking by with all of my bills and I want to go venture off and find a home. I need benefits and steady pay. What do I do?

~Emme

Wine Friday

Mr. Wonderful and I went to Carrabba's with his parents and we were in the mood for some Sangria.

At Carabba's you have 3 choices for sangria:

Red
White
and Berry

... no joke... I think the Italian restaurant is being patriotic or something... wait that's not Italian colors... hmmm....

Mr. Wonderful's Mom, Summers, was excited to try the Berry. It wasn't bad. It tasted like grape juice with black berries in it... overall not too Sangria-ish... I think it was lacking alcohol.

The Red tasted like cinnamon... I mean... you must LOVE (I don't think I can stress that enough) cinnamon.

The white... the waitress said it was made with white wine... then made a face. If it is that good, why do they even offer it?

BECAUSE IT'S PATRIOTIC!

Oh yeah... I forgot about that. :)

The results... if you're going to get Sangria at Carraba's go for the Berry.

~Emme

Try Something New Tuesday

Try something new Monday... what was I thinking... Try something new Tuesday sounds better.

Good Earth Cocoa Chai Tea

At first I tried it with Sweeten Low... as that is what we have at work as the standard... it was not that great.

So then I mixed it with the Splenda I have hiding in my desk and some coffee mate creamer... yum.

Totally worth it. It does not have as much as a strong Cocoa Nib taste as I would have liked, but it is still worth a try... :)

~Emme

It might be time for a new navigator

On my way to a mission this morning my current navigation unit, Mio, had no idea where the street was that I was headed to. Google maps was for some reason convinced the building did not exist, but the street was there... just empty. I borrowed the bro's Navigon, Navi, and we got there okay... it just was not the same.

I missed Mio's soothing voice... Navi is just all robotic.

Mr. Wonderful says we might get matching navigation units in December. It's been 5 years with Mio now... I understand that he cannot be updated and is no longer very good at getting me... well... to most places... but at the same time...

I do not want a new "unit" I need a new "navigator." My companion as I ride along on my missions trying to get places and what not.

~Emme

Post office Closed on Saturday?

What? The one day when I actually have time to get to the post office and it is now closed on Saturdays... what in hell am I supposed to do with these packages I have to mail?

Anyways... Mr. Wonderful and I went to Kings Dominon with his sister, Blue Eyed Educator (Bee for short). Here are some shots of our adventures:

Mr. Wonderful it turns out is almost too tall to ride some rides... he's about one inch away from being too tall.













Some of the rides looked really really scary... maybe Bee could demonstrate the fear better... Bee?













Yep, the rides were pretty scary.










We had some adventures...













There were bears and everything.

Actually it was a beautiful park and they have 13 (seriously) roller coasters... soon to be 14. I'm generally okay with most thrill rides... I mean I take on most of them at Busch Gardens all the time. I do not ride the Big Bad Wolf or the Loch Ness Monster anymore... they shake me up too much. Save for the Volcano and the Stunt Track I was beat up. My ear took a pounding on Mr. Wonderful's shoulder. Not since I was little did I come off of a roller coaster crying. Thank goodness there's no bone in the ear, it is still killing me...

Mr. Wonderful and I have decided to not return to the park until we've forgotton how bad we hurt the day after from such violent rides. Beautiful park... expensive food... no signage anywhere... lots of rollar coasters to choose from, and most of them hurt (11/13... that would be approx. 85% waiting to cause you pain).

Perhaps it would have been cooler if we had children. I mean there were tons of little kid rides, costumed characters, etc for kids to have fun with.

Perhaps it would have been cooler if Mr. Wonderful and clorine got along better.

Perhaps it would have been cooler if it wasn't the start of ragweed season.

Perhaps it would have been cooler if it wasn't 95 out.

Perhaps it would have been cooler if we were all able to fly and could live without sleep for weeks on end so we could actually accomplish everything that we had to accomplish this weekend.

Yeah it was one of those kind of weekends. So... long story short... go to Busch over Kings if you're looking for value of money. You'll have a far more enjoyable time... that is... unless you find this girl:

















Sometimes I wonder what possesses people to wear certain things and decide they look good enough to walk out among the general populous... :)

~Emme

Hump-day Musings

While I do enjoy the joy I get from assisting others as a secret agent, but it makes me anxious sometimes to connect my work to actual people. Hmmm... but still... for some reason I think I want to switch to maybe the IRS or something... at least if people did not like me, then I would still be getting government pay and benefits... that would make me one happy agent.

On today's adventures, my handy dandy sidekick (Mio) decided to take me through a college campus instead of to the correct destination. At least this time he understood that the place I wanted to existed... just was slightly confused on how to get there.

THEN! Between missions I stopped at Subway. Don't get me wrong, I am usually pretty excited about getting a 6-inch sub. This time I was pretty excited to get a salad. I've been sick for awhile so craving a salad is pretty good for me...

... Clue #1... there was no one in there... I know right... no one in a subway? I'll let you figure out the clue numbers from here.

Kid behind counter is confused as to what I would want other than lettuce in my grilled chicken salad. After convincing her that I would, in fact, prefer the chicken hot as to cold... she starts sniffing and rubbing her nose up and down her arm.

I'm a little grossed out, but hey, I'm already on antbiotics...

After removing the chicken from the microwave she has serious issues with holding the (presumably) hot chicken and tosses it off the wax paper and onto the counter to cut it instead. I am assuming the counter has magical cooling properties.

After it is eventually dressed with complicated requests like: tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, green peppers, and cheese; I am asked if I would like salad dressing.

"Yes." Of course I want salad dressing, it is the only thing that can make me forget that I'm eating iceburg lettuce, which, while tasty, has no nutritional value.

I am then informed that it only comes on the side. I'm not sure how many people want the sniffling lady touch any more of their food than she already has, so I confirm that it's okay and ask for ranch.

I pay by card. "You problem want a receipt with that." She glares and hands it to me (still wearing the gloves!).

The manager comes out from somewhere and informs me as I am putting the receipt into my purse: "You can leave now."

Oh, did I mention... there is NO ONE but me in line... let alone needing service just hanging out in the restaruant. I guess they figure I'm like some evil secret agent or something.

So I get to the next mission (5 minutes away) and I sit down to have my lovely salad. The chicken is cold like it had been sitting on ice... magical countertop I guess... the cheese is not melted so it never really was hot.

Then I notice they have given me Fat Free Ranch. I know I need to shed a few pounds and all (10 more to target weight and all), but how rude to assume. USUALLY... I'd go for regular Ranch... it has less sugar so it's better for me. So I put on this salad dressing to cover my cold chicken salad. The only thing worse than Fat Free Ranch dressing...





...




... Fat Free Ranch dressing that has gone bad... as in... EXPIRED! Though I could not find an expiration date at all on the package that was the worst tasting anythng that I have put in my mouth in awhile...

... sad to say salad found its way into the garbage... and this secret agent went hungry...


... Emme (sad)

Try something new Monday

Now let me start off by saying I usually do not eat pre-made meals. Usually if I don't have the time or energy to throw together a lunch at home I have an Atkins shake. What? A shake? Yes. I drink shakes, but only the Atkins shakes. They are low in sugar so I do not have to worry about getting sick from drinking them as I cannot tolerate sugar. I am such a lucky person you see. My body does not have a clue how to process sugar. So first I get queezie then if I continue to eat more or don't come into contact with some allergy meds I can develop fun things like uriniary tract infections, kidney stones. Yeah... I tried telling it what to do with sugar, but it still can't seem to get it right. I'm about up to 6 grams at a time now. Yeah, I'm excited to. Although whatever was in my burritto earlier is not cool with my tummy. Damn you yummy burritto.

Back to trying something new. My mother picked me up a ZATARAIN'S® Ready-to-Serve Blackened Chicken with Yellow Rice. As I was sure it wouldn't look anything like the picture on the front it sat in my desk drawer before I got up the nerve to try it. Yeah... I needed to get some nerve for this. Picture myself... the fearless secret agent... hesitantly opening this package. One of my fellow co-agents came up to me and said: "What's wrong Emme?"

And I'm all: "I am just so afraid this will end up tasting like catfood just as that Hormel ready to eat meal did."

She's all: "It's Zatarains it can't be that bad."

So I got some curage from that and made myself some Ready-to-serve Blackened Chicken with Yellow Rice... which that name, by the way, is wrong. If it is ready-to-serve I just need to take it out and eat it, but no... you have to microwave it first... though I guess ready-to-serve sounds better than hope-you-have-a-microwave-or-you're-going-hungry. That's a lot of letters... it would have cost them a fortune in advertising.

So I made my meal.

And I took a bite...






Sorry Zatarains I would rather eat some fast food than eat that again. The texture was gummy. The taste... horindous... and if you didn't like it when eating it... I so wished I had a toothbrush or a Whisp or something. It took 2 sugar-free cinnamon candies, a sugar-free pepermint, some over-steeped chai tea I made myself... AND a burritto and an iced-tea...


...


...


...

Oh yeah... I'm still tasting that stuff. So if you're looking for something quick for lunch as you head out the door grab an Atkins shake! They're pretty good, low in sugar, and they don't linger with you... forever.

~Emme