Last night we went to see Pan's Labyrinth. It was a very ...brutal movie, juxtaposed over a great child's fantasy. Tim said Bill summed it up over this past weekend with "It's a great movie that I never want to see again." It really threw Tim for a spin last night....not many movies do that. It was worth it to go to the movies on a Tuesday though, popcorn was cheap, the soda was ridiculously small (but it makes me laugh to even look at it...uncontrollably really...it's so tiny). There were like 6 other people in the theater, it was great! I think we need to do that more often.

Tonight, will day 8 of ice skating in a row. I am getting MUCH better. I can even go backwards -- not far, but I don't fall down. When I started last week I couldn't even make myself go backward...it seemed impossible. It's amazing what practice does for you.

We are having jambalya tonight. I cheated an got a rice package called: Louisiana: Cajun Jambalya Mix. I think I'll probably end up adding a can of diced tomatos to juice it up, with chicken and kielbasa.

Also, the lady at the ice rink - Lynn - told me that she ate green olives with cottage cheese for dinner the other night. She said it was something her mother used to do, and it was one of the few things she copied. (ha ha). I am going to try that tonight I think.

Tonight is also craft night. I am meeting with Hilary, Stephanie and possibly her friend Bonnie at that lounge place underneath the brass ring. Watch, it's going to be rented out or something. Crap. I don't have any money...oh wait, they have an atm there. I guess that is okay. Or maybe I can convince Hilary to stop at the credit union on the way there....save myself some fee money. Maybe I'll tell her if she does that then it's a"coupon" off on her next drink.

Okay. The Baked Rice pudding was great and super easy to make.

Baked Rice Pudding
2 cups of cooked short/medium grade rice (I actually ended up throwing all of the rice from my once cup of rice to two parts water...which was probably 2.5 cups...but it was fine.)

Combine and beat until blended:
1 1/3 cup milk
2 large eggs
6 tablespoons sugar or packed brown sugar (I used brown sugar)
2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened (I usually melt it in the microwave first)
1-1.5 tsp of vanilla (less if using lemon -- I didn't)
*optional - I added 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/8 tsp salt


[I wonder...if you use salted butter, would you just omit the salt? Luckily I still have unsalted butter in my house, but I wonder....]

Add the rice, mix, and pour into a greased 1.5 quart casserole in preheated 325 F oven and bake for 40 minutes.

If desired, you can add:
raisins or chopped dates (I added raisins to 1/2 of it because Tim hates them for some ungodly reason)
1/2 tsp of grated lemon zest
1 tsp fresh lemon juice

There you have it, it was awesome, easy to make and uses simple pantry ingredients.

It's so easy to skip showers, especially in the winter. I should take one ... right now in fact. But what am I doing instead? I decided that I absolutely NEEDED to have rice pudding - even though I have only had it once in my life before and it was from Woodman's. It just seems like a great idea.

I am popping some popcorn in my awesome new microwave! I love that thing. To think I gimped along this long that old beast of a machine. Man.

Tonight we are going to see Pan's Labyrinth, but before that we are going to eat dinner: tuna casserole and baked rice pudding, then Tim will walk Pluto while I go grocery shopping, then we will both go skating and then head off to the movie.

Today I went to work, came home and shoveled snow, ate some chocolate and am not cooking rice and waiting for Ellen to come (unless Oprah is good....but that is so rare these days).

I had an AWESOME birthday week! I have the bestest friends ever!

After a nice middle eastern lunch, I went home walked Pluto and then took a nap to try to warm up. My feet freeze at the office and it sets the tone for my body temperature the rest of the day. Tim came home and we ate the most wonderfully, delicious tender juicy rotisserie chicken ever. Seriously, I doubt I have ever had such good chicken in my life. Tim also got some sides from Popeye's - biscuits, mashed taters and gravy and some coleslaw. We scarfed that food down and then bundled up and headed out the door to fit in the first ice skating of the year -- the olbrich rink had finally opened up. The skating was nice, a little rocky but I didn't fall.

After that, we headed over to Laima's where I played Cranium with: Laima, Hilary, her brother Shannon, Birke, Ryan, Stephanie, Tim and me. It was perfect. Hilary and Ryan won, but it was a close match. We had the greatest cake ever, it was beautifully decorated, and was layeder with coconut creme, frosting, chocolate, coffee...oh man was it good. You can bet Tim and I polished it off the next day. A big slice for breakfast and a big slice after we got home ice skating with Laima.

It got some awesome stuff: soap from Sarah, soap from Laima, LED lights, post cards, stationary, a old time sifter, chocolate, coffee, peach body lotion, soap and bubble bath, cozy crochet kit, more stationary, two shirts, glade scented candles, The Book of Secrets, a spoon/ladle holder, bert bee's lipstick variety pack (great!), and...the stuff Lori sent me, several birthday cards, several calls,...it was such a good birthday. Thanks everyone. :)

Tonight we went skating once again. It was the roughest ice ever because it was so warm today and the hockey kids roughed it up, but it was also good for learning how to skate backwards, do spins, etc. I fell twice, but that was okay because they were gentle falls. We plan on skating every night while possible. It's going to be cold again for the next week, so that is entirely possible. I find that I really like ice skating. It's meditative.

This weekend we plan on being mellow. Skating, dog walking. I am working on a new crochet project. I try to take a picture of the one I just finished and start posting again in my craft blog. I've been SUCH a slacker on that. So much so, that I don't post anything because I feel guilty about it. That's not the solution. I should suck it up and just do it.

Also, I had Chicken McNuggets today and they were NOT good. For some reason I was thinking they would taste like chicken tenders. Not the case. In fact, I don't think I ever need to eat chicken McNuggets for the rest of my life. Okay. Some pictures.

First, this is what I look like every day. Tim said I look like a Thug. The second picture is the Birthday Cake decorated by Hilary and made by Laima. What a team, they should start a cake shop. :)

Would you believe it's my birthday again? Man, these things come so quickly.

Anyway. Today I got up and Tim got me the "PERFECT" card. He has such a knack for finding the perfect card. How does he do it? Today means I am now only two years younger that Tim intead of three. :)

The night before my birthday I like to tell him "This is the last time you are ever gonna kiss a ___ year old..."

In a 1/2 an hour I am going to have middle eastern food with my coworker, then head home. I will then walk the dog, come back watch Ellen and then wait for Tim to come home to eat, try to fit in some skating and then head over to Laima's for a rousing game of cranium.

Because I was asked:

Dresden Files - eh. I need to give it a little more time before I decide. It's already formulaic, but I can deal with that. The first show is always a little rocky. Besides it's on Sunday and I don't watch anything in particular on Sunday (except the 4400 -- which isn't on right now). So I guess I'll watch more. I do like the concept though.

Battlestar Galactica - It was good, but of course I am bursting with questions of WHO D'anna recognized. It can only be three choices: President Roslin, Gaius, and Sam. Because she seemed to be a little astonished at WHO it was, I am inclined to believe that it is NOT Gaius. After all she just saw him seconds ago, why would she say "You?"

I also think Dualla is going to be the one to kick it.

As for who discovers Earth? I have no idea. Starbuck? Guh. What's with the destiny thing? I am kicking myself for not recognizing the Eye of Jupiter from the "painting" she had on her wall from her old apartment, but not too hard, because that was like...what? Two season's ago? Who remembers that stuff?

Balance Ball - it's good. I actually am just going through the book that came with it. It's a pretty good book with great step by step photos, and explanations. There is also a DVD, but first I am going to go through the book. I like getting a feel for all the exercises and then creating workouts for myself. Actually I was going to do the abdominal one today, but I didn't get around to it. I had a headache after work, then had to walk the dog, then watch Heroes and now waste a ridiculous amount of time online. :)

I'm having a hard time staying focused today. It's Monday though, so what do you really expect? SO...let's make it productive by posting today, shall we?

I had a really good weekend, starting out with after work beer with our friend Oliver at the Come Back Inn. They have a great happy hour special of any tap beer for 3$, and they don't have crappy beer -- until 6:00. The free popcorn and peanuts rock. Then we went home, took a nap, play guitar hero, had a drink, indulged myself in lots of internet and then went to bed.

Saturday, I watched Kinky Boots and LOVED it. My god, I watched the last scene 8 times in row. I laughed so hard, during parts, that I cried. I love this movie. Put it on your netflix people!

After that we got dressed, and ran a few errands before heading over to Hilary's. We returned their massive TV that we borrowed for karoake at the Xmas party. Man that thing is a beast. NEVER AGAIN! I stayed at Hilary's to bum around with them for the afternoon, evening and dinner...:) It was fun. I played Wii, open faced cribbage, had some dinner, got me some awesome presents. It hard to pick a favorite -- I already used one of the glade scented oil/candles later Saturday night while listening to Enya and Cirque De Soliel music and cuddling with animals while writing letters....I love the wysteria body spray that I used last night after showering, I love the tshirty material type jacket thing I am wearing today, I love the assorted bert bee's shimmer lip balms that I am also wearing today....you see? It's all being used. It's great! People should send/give me stuff all the time. :)

I had to make Tim a wishlist for my birthday because he said he is struggling this year. I did, so we'll see what I get. Almost 50% of it was kitchen stuff.

OH OH I forgot to mention the best thing I got this weekend! A NEW microwave. Well, new to me. I think it's 2-3 years old, it has buttons, it has a clock, and there are rumors that it can make popcorn! Finally I get can rid of that beast of a microwave that an old roommate gave me years back. It defrosts so well....

Let's see...Sunday it snowed a lot. SO Tim and I walked to Woodman's to get trashbags and wine. Walked back, took Pluto for a walk and by the time we got back from that we were exhausted! Going through that snow was tough work. But instead we got shovels and cleaned the snow out of the driveway and sidewalk. After that I started dinner - chili (I'll give you my half assed recipe) and corn bread (an idea I stole from Hilary), took a shower, watched The Dresden Files and Battlestar before heading to bed. It was a VERY nice day. I got all my exercise quota's for the weekend.

OKay so that Chili, I usually make it with however much garlic and onions I have on hand.

2-3 onions
1 head garlic
1 lb ground turkey (or beef, for you rich folks)
5 dried red peppers cut up
Saute everything together.

In big pot dump:

1 BIG can (26 or 32 oz?) crushed tomatos
1 big can of stewed tomatos
1 can chili beans (or if you don't have it, use another can of kidney beans)
1 can light kidney beans (drained)
1 bag (1 lb)of frozen corn (thawed)
2-3 tbsps of chili power
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
paprika - couple shakes
cayenne pepper - couple shakes
garlic salt - couple shakes

*couple shakes = however much you think looks good

Bring to boil. Then add the meat/onions/garlic stuff. Bring that to boil, stirring frequently. After boil is reached, cover and simmer for 1-2 hours.

There you have it.

Today as a pretty good day. It started off rocky with a painful procedure at the doctor's but got better when I rewarded myself and Tim with mocha's (and a chocolate muffin for me). I came home, took a three hour nap and then got up to check the mail and try to wake up.

The mail was effin' AWESOME!

There was new Good Housekeeping, a CD: Gotan Project (I love it!), and a package!! My friend Lori sent me the following items:

-white California sage
-garnet chips
-an adorable notebook
-pink shoelaces!!
-Rosequartz crystal necklace
-passport holder
-jade bracelet from Tibet (I am wearing it now and LOVE it)
-stationary (she said for my swap....does this mean ...er, Lori, does this mean ou want some stationary back, because I got plenty! I don't want to junk up your house more if you are intent on clearing it out though....let me know. Getting stationary is awesome!)
-a nice little note describe contents

OH man. That really made my day. I felt like a queen. I love being able to wear jewerly that doesn't corrode my skin.

I have the best friends ever. Seriously, folks, I do.

The rest of the day was spent cleaning the living room, kitchen and making dinner. Laima said to me the other day that she liked it when I posted my cooking diasters/triumphs. Most of this month as been a culinary dud for me, but tonight's dinner was good. So was last nights for that matter. Anyway, tonight's dinner was a recipe given to me by my coworker. It's great.

Potato Deluxe
2lb frozen hash browns
1 cup onion, chopped
1 can cream of chicken (or whatver)
8 oz sour cream (I used light)
1 stick butter or margarine (I only used half a stick and it was fine)
1 cup shredded cheese (I used cheddar)
2 tsp salt

Mix it all up, and put in a pan. Bake at 350 for an hour.

DELICIOUS!

If you divide the whole pan by:
four = 725 calories per serving
six = 483 calories
eight = 362

We divided it by eight, and then I boiled some frozen califlower to fill it out. We split the bag, because as far as I am concerned, you can eat as many effin' vegetables as you want.

After dinner, we walked Pluto, and came back to play some Guitar Hero we got last night. I told Tim he could get it if also used our gift card to buy the Border's Balance Ball (that comes with a DVD and book). While Tim played Guitar Hero, I did chapter two -- the areobic work out. I figure I'll just go through each chapter and do whatever it is they are working on, and alternate that with the elastic band/resistence tube workout I create, and stretching sessions. I also been making time to just dance around the the house for 10 minutes at time.

Man, that ball ... it's such a good idea. I am kind of sorry I resisted it for so long. It's easy on my rotten knees and I get to really work out and feel it.

Well, I gotta go help Tim make some deviled eggs. He volunteered to bring that to a work potluck tomorrow.

OH and don't forget to remind me that I need to renew my domain -- otherwise there will be troubles...

I updates PHOTOS today. You can access it by clicking on wazika to your left and then Photos, or by clicking HERE.

My favorite is a photo of my friend's adorable daughter. She is the sweetest ever!



Enjoy!

Hey, I made a poll in my Livejournal account regarding Battlestar Galactica. Go fill it out. GO!

Click here to answer: Who is a Cylon Poll?

I've had a lot of time to slack this month. It's been nice, but at the same time I think I'm getting a little antzy. But that's a good thing...right? It's when you have time + energy = wacky things get done. Most of my wackiness have been misadventures in crocheting while watching endless hours of crappy TV. Highlights this weekend include: Fat Like Me, To Catch a Falling Star, Shall We Dance, My Five Wives, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Rome, Handmaid May, the Today show, 1.5 hours of News AND the Daily Show, and Colbert Report. Whew!

I guess I am waiting for the TV schedule to get back to normal before I get back to normal. Battlestar and Hero's starts this weekend...so that is a start. I should also get back into doing Taekwondo ... I took November - Jan off .... and could honestly take some more time off and make the pursuit of a black belt into a warmer months endeavor. That might help me to not get burned out with it too (like I currently am). So yeah, I am still uncertain of what I want to do -- but I do need to seriously start working out again, otherwise I'll lose all the gain I made in the Fall (If I haven't already).

This weekend, we had this conversation about remembering our earliest birthday's. I was amazed that everyone remembered their first birthday between the ages of 4-7! Jeez, it was really strange to realize that the first birthday I could remember, was when I was 17. Well, that isn't completely true, I did remember my 16th birthday-- one memory. I had gotten up, and the house was in flux -- no else was up, and my Mom had made this crocheted doll, that was hanging on the line in the kitchen to dry. I still have it, although it's dirty now and a dog got to it last year...but it was the only thing I got that year, I had no cake, and I believe I went to school and didn't tell anyone. So...yeah, that was my first birthday memory, but with memories like that I didn't want to bring the group down. However, it does emphasize that celebrating birthdays wasn't that big of a deal for me growing up. I do however, remember all of my birthdays from 17 on - every single one.

I took me a long time to realize that the celebrations of birthday is important to other people, and I do my best to remember, but I can't remember all the time. :/ I feel like I should get some birthday disabled rights -- cut me a little slack. Oh well, it's always a worthy goal to try and remember everyone's birthday's.... and ongoing. :)

I should be shoveling outside today - but I am kind of hoping that if I wait long enough the neighbors will at least snow blow the side walk. I'll give it until 1:00 before I head out there myself to do something.

I think I need to make a to-do list for today. Give the day some structure. Yeah. I was going to post pictures but my batteries were completely dead in my camera so I have to recharge them enough to turn on the camera and upload. Maybe tomorrow. I have tomorrow off too. I'll pay the bills today....and then have oodles of time for it tomorrow morning (or not, sometimes having the mail come is motivation to get them all done). Um, yeah, I was thinking about starting a letter to someone, but if this post is an indication of things to come...then the letter is going to totally suck. Nah...no it won't. I'll have a letter to respond too to give me some structure. Yeah, that's a great idea! I'm totally gonna do that.

Oh, and I need to bring up toilet paper from the basement, and maybe make some more coffee.

Also, Migo is the most adorable cat ever. EVER!

Friday we went out to eat at a place in Middleton called Captain Bill's for some seafood, wine and birthday celebrating for our friend Laima. Then we headed over to the Ale Asylum and discovered that Laima loves por...er Stout beer. :) Heh. Anyway, crab is some pretty awesome food. I wish it was more ... available.

Saturday, I didn't get dressed and schlumped around the house all day in my jammies, a fluffy bathroom, my socks, and slippers, and a throw. I watched TV, I crocheted, I napped, I read -- finished Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris and discovered that David and Amy are related. I wondered why Hilary has such a love for the greeks all of a sudden. It was one of those books that takes a little getting into, but once you get going, it's great. Next up is Infoquake....by someone or other. I'll start it tonight when I am finished with this. We watched Rome (disc 2).

Sunday, I did manage to take a shower and get dressed. I watched Handmaid May (disc one), Shall We Dance and To Catch a Falling Star, while hating the crochet instructions for a pair of slippers, and trying to decipher it. Eventually we left the house and headed to Borders where we both bought CD's. I got one of the Cirque De Soliel (...uh, I can't think of the name right now ... not delerium or that clown one, and I already own Ka) because it has more of that instrumental/new age/world sound that I loves in my music. Tim got something that I didn't get the name of, and we headed over to Panera for some soup and sandwiches for dinner. They had this Sobe Lean Diet tea (cranberry and grapefruit) that was really good, but it was advertised as "1 carb!" which then made us suspicious. So what if it has one carb...what about sugar? I need to look this up.....well DAMN! It was only five calories. I liked that stuff....I should have had more. Especially since I am not really fond of Diet Pepsi.

Anyway, it strikes me that January has been exceptionally .... lazy for me. I have spent a LOT of time on the couch, bonding with the TV and my creative mind (which is a rocky relationship). I want to find the perfect craft/hobby - but nothing is really popping in there...I have been all over the place instead. Which is not a bad thing. No. I have also been reading, playing video games and ...did I mention TV? I feel like there is a saggy part on the couch that shows where I have been sitting....I need to move the cushions around. ;) OH wait, I have been keeping up ... kind of? Okay. I have written 3 pieces of mail so far...but hey that is more than I did last month (not including xmas cards). I think I will do some writing tomorrow because I don't have to work. I know, I will be making up for all this missed time at the end of this month, working more days during the week. But for right now, I can enjoy this endless ...oh crap. I said I would work on Wednesday? That means I have Tuesday off too!

My god. I need to whip up some bon bons, and get a Soap Opera guide for dummies.

Alright, I gotta sheppard my husband to bed, because if I don't he'll stay up too late -- and unlike me, he has to work tomorrow.

Well, I have to work. You know, the dishes are piled high and the...blah blah blah.

Bored.

What is it about pain relief that makes you sleepy? The midol I took this morning wasn't cutting it, so I went and got some extra strength tylenol and now...no pain, but I feel like I am barely awake! I feel like a bit of a zombie....speaking of which....

Last night we rewatched the remake of War of the Worlds...and this time stopped it when it SHOULD have ended -- the alien coming out of the ship and dying. Upon watching it a second time, it's still a good movie and one of my favorite scenes is when they were on the road to the ferry, and the rail road crossing sign came down and a train flew by, completely on fire. I loved it!

It got me thinking about the most striking scene in another favortie movie -- the remake of Dawn of the Dead -- in the beginning when the car is driving on the highway and gets hits full on by an out-of-control truck that slams both of them into a gas station where it all blows up.

What is it about these two images that strike me so? The out of control, vehicles of doom...? I'll have to think about it.

In other news, I got new shoes.

Today was pretty good. I did some chores around the house (I had to implement my "to-do" list to get things done ... you know things like:

1. Take a shower.
2. Get dressed.
3. Open curtains.
4. Make the bed.
5. Bring up a christmas box from the basement.

This is was my actual first list. Bonus items that I did:

Changed the sheets on the bed, and brought down the suitcase, swept the basement hallways floor (while I was down there) and then brought up the box (plus 3 more). Since the first list was so successful, I made another and did bigger things like the dishes, washing the counter off, putting the dishes away and making nachos supreme (from the leftover taco's from last night). Off and on and through the day I have played lots of Kingdom Hearts.

At 3:00 I decided that it looked nice out, and that a walk to enjoy the sun would be good. I asked Tim if he wanted to go on a walk to the lake and he said yes (with a little persuading). We walked to the lake, then to Java Cat for a cup of coffee and walked home. It was a little nippier than I expected, but by the end of the walk I wasn't cold any more. As soon as we got back to the house we turned around and headed out to see Children of Men (a movie I had wanted to see for various of reasons). It was good, thought provoking, dark, and to the average american, probably unsatisfactory. But I liked it, as did Tim. I like Clive Owen -- he and Gerard Butler could be interchangeable.

After the movie, I used the bathroom (I HATE it when I have to go to the bathroom 20 minutes into the start of the movie. I had even tried to avoid it by using the facilities before we stepped foot into the room...damn), then headed home where we had a nice long chat about that and other things. We made a sandwich for dinner and then had a few cocktails. Now I am about ready for bed. Tomorrow is a trip to Waupun to take down missing dog posters (as per the Sheriff's request) and look for the remaining of the two dogs. I doubt the dog is in town anymore, otherwise there would have been a sighting. BUT...it's a good opportunity for me to do some more driving. I am getting quite adept at it.

WOW!

I made pancakes this morning after Tim left (he's quiet about waking me up on my days off because he likes to dawdle)....and the Elderberry Syrup that Jess made .... out of this world!

I think I am going to have to send back the jars....with a note for a refill. ;)

Tim decided to celebrate the 8th day of Christmas (yesterday) in style! I got a popeye's chicken dinner, the Joy of Cooking, crocheted slippers from Target and free browsing time at the clearance section of all the stores we were in!

Awesome.

For dinner tonight I made: holuski which is cabbage, egg noodles, onion, butter, salt and pepper. Hey...it's easy to make and filling ... and most importantly used up that cabbage I had sitting around forever. Oh shit! I was going to make pancakes for tomorrow's breakfast tonight...wait a second. I don't have to work tomorrow.I can make pancakes whenever I damn well want too!

(We are out of Soymilk, otherwise I would eat cereal like every proud american).

Bedtime.

I did so well driving last night that Tim couldn't stop raving! He was like "Who IS this Laura that can drive? When did this happen? I can't believe this..." etc. I have to admit I was pretty good and I think it's because of my method doing a little bit of driving every week and building up the confidence. :)

Being designated driver was interesting...and I drank way too many energy drinks -- man when we got home at 3.30 I had to take two benedryl to even HOPE to get to sleep. Which I did, and have since even take a nap. We watched the Butterfly Effect and soon I imagine Tim will get bored of watching Ultimate Ninja Warrior and go off to the computer to play.

That party was a ton of fun, and Tim and I spent a good portion of it playing Guitar Hero. I think I was getting pretty good ...and of course looked like a freaking rock star next to all the drunk folks. :) We had champagne at midnight, made lots of noise and had the police come and tell us to tone it down. Good was good....yeah...all around good.