American Idol

I have been an American Idol fan since the first season. Faithfully watching all of the audition shows, Hollywood week, and then the live competitions. I used to find myself looking forward to going home and watching the show. However, this season they are beginning to lose me. I find myself fast forwarding through the majority of the performances because they are just bad. And the judges comments? Those are worthless. Simon seems to have checked out, Randy only knows two words "yo" and "dawg", Kara tends to say some things that are worth listening to when she isn't flirting, and Ellen is actually alright. I think Ellen is the best of the 4 right now. I really like Michael Lynche and Crystal Bowersox, so if those two get eliminated, I am out. I am not sure I can endure to torture much more.

Strawberries

I love the smell and taste of strawberries. I like them fresh, frozen, even the artificial flavoring; however, there is one small problem..... I am allergic to them. Or at least the last time I ate them, which was in high school, I had an allergic reaction. Nothing serious, just a rash with lots of itching. So, I have come up with a brilliant plan so that I can eat strawberries. I am going to desensitize myself to them. The way I plan to do this is to eat so many that my body just gets used to them. Will it work? Who knows, but I will have fun trying. Oh, and yes, I plan to have plenty of benadryl on hand when I do it.

Use Egg Yolk for a Toothache

I had a couple of fillings done last Tuesday and by Friday they still hadn't stopped hurting. I tend to have a high tolerance for pain as long as the pain is below the shoulders. Anything above the shoulders and I become a big baby. I know the filling were large and the teeth are next to each other, but they were still sensitive to hot, cold, air, pretty much anything made the pain go from a dull ache to sharp stabbing pain. I finally called the dentist and he told me that what I was feeling is normal and that as soon as the filling oxidized the pain would stop. He did however, give me a tip on how to speed up the oxidation on the fillings (I got the regular amalgam fillings). He told me to take an egg and cook it sunny side up (make sure the yolk is still runny but thick), then break the yolk and rub it on the fillings with a cutip. On Saturday night I decided to give it a try and it actually worked! Instantly after putting the egg yolk on the fillings the pain stopped.

I thought the dentist was totally crazy, but it really worked. Now I need to try the Gin and Raisin technique for my arthritis.

Minute Maid Bunny Commercial

I typically don't watch too many commercials. Since getting a DVR a few years back, I tend to just fast forward through them. However, there is one commercial that hubby and I also stop to watch - the Minute Maid Bunny commercial. There is something about this commercial that makes me laugh every time. If you haven't seen it, you should check it out.

Messina Hof Winery

I am determined to find a wine that I like. This past weekend, hubby and I went to World Market to attend their wine tasting event. One of their featured wines was from Messina Hof. They had 3 different wines and one of them I really liked. It was called their Angel Late Harvest. Is is a really sweet wine, but it was so good. I actually purchased a bottle to take home. I also purchased another wine called ChocVine from another vendor. This one is actually red wine and chocolate mixed together. It tasted like a Godiva chocolate liquor and would be great over ice. I also thought it would be fun to take to one of the neighborhood gatherings for everyone to try.

I am still trying to find wines that I like, but I at least have 1 on my list. Also, when I purchased the wine, the rep from Messina Hof gave me a couple of tickets for a free tour of the winery. This is something that hubby and I could go do on a day trip since it is only a couple of hours from our house.

Back to Work

Vacation was way too quick, but I did get a lot accomplished for just a day and a half. I managed to get the data portion of my school project done, we purchased a new TV, I had some dental work done, and I got my garden plot finished. Unfortunately, it all went by to fast.

Vacation

Today I only work 1/2 day and then I will be on vacation for a day and a half. I am taking off some time to work on my school project and to get some dental work done (yippee). I have decided this year and I not going to wait to get health matters looked in to and taken care of if needed.

No Gardening Today

Today I was going to plant the veggies in my garden, but that will have to wait. The weather is supposed to be close to freezing this weekend and when I got up (actually when the dogs woke me up), it was pouring rain outside. I still have a hanging pepper plant that I might be able to work on; if not, there is plenty I can do inside. I am also going to venture out today to purchase some trellises; I want to plant some mandevilla or something that will climb on them near the house.

Sandra Bullock and Jesse James

It is a shame to hear about all of the drama surrounding Sandra Bullock and Jesse James. It is normal to hear this type of stuff about Hollywood glam couples, but they didn't seem like that type of couple. They seemed to kept their private lives out of public eye and tried to be a normal every day couple. They also seemed like such an unlikely pair and that I thought it was really great that two such opposite people could find a connection. What a disappointment if it is true.

St Patrick's Day

Today is St. Patrick's Day, but it is also another work day. I have no motivation to get moving and get ready for work. I just want to stay home, stay curled up with hubby in bed, read a book, watch television, and basically do anything but go to work. I have a couple of meetings that I can't miss, but maybe I can sneak out early. At least I can wear my St. Patrick's Day fun stuff to work today to motivate me a little (cheesy flashing earrings and various buttons).

May the luck of the Irish be on your side today. Happy. St. Patrick's Day!

My Garden

This weekend we set up a garden spot for our vegetable garden. We have the 4ft by 6ft frame set up with most of the soil in there. I just need a little more soil and to plant my veggies.

Wine Tasting

Last week hubby and I went to a wine tasting at Howdy's Restaurant and Bar here in Hutto. Howdy's is kind of like a Cheer's type of place. It is owned and run by a husband and wife whose 2 daughters help them wait tables and their son helps with the cooking. All of the food was prepared by the owner and his son (they did a great job). The also had a sommelier to teach us the proper way to taste the wine and tell us about each of them.

They have the wine tastings every month and they call it "Wine and Dine"; you taste 5 wines and each is paired with an entre and all for only $30 per person. This month the featured wines were from Chile and Argentina. Here were the pairings:

Gazpacho paired with Veo Ultima Syrah 2007 Reserve
Seafood Ceviche' paired with Miguel Torres Tormenta Viognier 2009 Reserve
Braised Beef Short Rib paired with Bodega Norton Caberet Sauvignon 2006 Barrel Select
Backed Chilean Sea Bass paired with Sockeye 2008 Pinot Noir
Flan paired with Torrontes 2008 Finca El Origen Reserva

My favorite dishes were the seafood ceviche' and the baked Chilean sea bass. They were both absolutely fantastic. My least favorite was the gazpacho; it tasted like a bowl of salsa. I was not a fan of any of the wines, but I at least tasted all of them. Hubby really enjoys a good glass of wine, but I have come to the conclusion I am more of a beer and burgers kind of gal.

Next month the wines will be from Greece. Hubby seemed really interested, so maybe I will give it another try and see if the wines from Greece are more appealing to my taste buds.

Happy Birthday

Today is hubby's birthday so I have taken the day off from work so we can spend the day together. We have plans to go shopping and go out to eat and just goof off in general. Tomorrow I made reservations for us to go to a wine pairing which should be a lot of fun.

Vibram FiveFingers

I went to REI today to get some socks and got a really great surprise - they had some Vibram FiveFingers in stock and they actually had my size. I tried on a few pair and grabbed the ones that felt the best. They even had some men's sizes in stock, so hubby tried on a pair and was able to get a pair as well. I am so excited and can't wait to wear them for several hours at a time. Unfortunately, I am not sure I could get away with wearing mine at work, but I might give it a try.

School Project

My class this semester, Human Performance Technology, is really one big team project. Only 40% of the grade is based on our own effort (10% for some papers and 30% for the final). The remainder of the grade is based on a team project and we all get the same grade regardless of the effort put in. Our team consists of 5 people (including myself) and we are struggling. One guy really isn't interested in the class. He is a full time student and has stated this is his last class and he hates the instructor. We heard more than once how he would not be in this class if he had any other choice (hooray for us). We know he isn't going to offer too much to the project, so really there is just 4 of us doing the work. The rest of us work full time and are all leaders at our profession, but no one has emerged as a leader of the team. We have been discussing for almost a week now about setting up a meeting, but no final decisions have been made. This morning, I finally just stepped up and said let's meet at this time, this location, and here is our agenda. I really didn't want to be the leader of the team, but I would rather take on that role than let our project fail.