Why Do I Torture Myself?

Girl Scout cookie season has been finished for well over a month now (in our area anyway). But while in the midst of cookie season, we had our fair share of the goods. (*by the way....do you know how difficult it is to not buy more cookies when you have a cabinet stocked full as you await for the resident scout to deliver them??! I think the Girl Scouts make more money off the parents than anywhere else! For this reason alone I think it's best that Mae not continue in the Girl Scouts next year.) Anyway, moving on....one night after the kids were in bed and Ryan and I were indulging in our too-good-to-be-good-for-you cookies, I made some calculations and discovered that each Samoa cookie (my personal favorite!) cost me approximately twenty six cents (15 cookies in a box, and each box cost $4).

Shocking, isnt' it?

I got to thinking that there has got to be a more cost effective way to get these. But we all know that there is no alternative available in stores. So I did a search online for a recipe. For I can't be the only person in the world to want a Samoa cookie when they are out of season, which means that someone, somewhere, has a recipe!

And I found it.

Yes. Yes, I did! I found it here.

And so I made them.



And they turned out ok. Not as good at the original, but good. And you know they are good when you make 50 cookies on a Saturday night and they are gone in less than 24 hours.

But they weren't Girl Scout Samoa Cookie good.

One reason why they may not have been as good, to me, is because it took, like, eleventy billion hours to make and had twice as many steps! Ok, so I may be exaggerating. But just a bit, I promise you! The other reason is that I had issues with the shortbread part of the cookie as well with the melting of the chocolate. Those two things coupled together (which generally are a good thing) while making this cookie sent me over the edge and stole my joy.

The result, as I said, was good, but not spot on. I told myself that I would never make them again. But I may have lied. I just don't know if I can wait 11 more months to have my next samoa cookie!

Maybe Isabel's reaction says it best.....

....although she may have a indulged in the homemade samoa cookie, she just wasn't overwhelmed by it. But would have another, if it was offered.

Top Ten Tuesday - Movie Review

It's been quite a while since I've done a movie review. I was doing it once a month, but then life got weird and crazy and our movie watching went down to pretty much nothing. I didn't think that posting a monthly movie review was worth it when we only saw one movie. However, now that we've seen quite a few since last I posted, I finally feel able to post about it. So here is my latest movie review.

10. John Adams - We really enjoyed this one. For me, it didn't sounds terribly exciting, but it was well done and it didn't take me long to get into the life and story and John Adams, our second president. If you like history, a good story and good acting, then I recommend this one!

9. Jane Eyre - Oh, wow!, did I like this!!! This version is new and I saw it on PBS back in 2006, but since I didn't see that it was on tv until after it was already well into the story, I added it to our movie queue. It took almost a year for it to be released onto dvd then it took a while longer for it be available. It was well worth the wait! Although I have not read the book, I have seen an older bbc version (with Timothy Dalton). If you like this story then I think you may be pleased with this movie as well.

8. Facing the Giants - This movie was made by a church, I think, in the midwest. It is their atempt at making a good movie that is clean and has a good message. If that was their intent then I say they succeeded. It's not up to par with what we are used to on the silver screen, but it was nice to sit down and watch a movie that didn't assult me with words or situations that were offensive or walk the line in any way.

7. Chronicles of Narnia, Prince Caspian - We are currently readint the Narnia books to our kids, and after reading the 'wardrobe' book we let them watch the newest version of the movie. We had not yet seen this movie and wanted to preview it before allowing the kids. I'm glad we did. Although we liked the movie with it's action and graphics, we thought it was, for our children at thier age, too violent. I recently heard that Disney has decided to not make anymore of the Narnia books into movies. That's too bad, I would have liked to see more!

6. The Flying Scotsman - This was a true to life movie about a man, Scot Graeme Obree (of Scotland), who dreamed of becoming the world's fastest cyclist. In working toward fulfilling his dream, he constructed a new bike. As he does this he battles the sports authority as well as his own mental illness. It is an inspiring story of determination and true life stuggles. If you like this kind of story, then I recommend it.

5. Fireproof - This movie is similar to the Facing the Giants in that it was made by a Christian group and has some of the same players. I know that this movie got a lot of press within the Christian circles. Again, this movie is not of the same calibur as others that grace the screen, but at least it is clean and has a good message.

4. Eagle Eye - I liked this one! It had action and mystery with a little bit of sci-fi. It was one of those movies that had you guessing what was going on. I had a general idea of what the movie was about and I'm glad I din't know more, for I enjoyed following along and trying to figure it out (which I didn't, but that's ok, it's just part of the fun!).

3. The Tale of Despereaux - Mae and I had read the book together at the first of the year, so we thought it only right to watch the movie too! I enjoyed how the author wove her story together and brought life to the characters. I wish I could say the same for the movie. This is just another example of how the book is better than the movie. Although, I am glad that the movie wasn't as dark as the book was. If I hadn't read the book, I still would have enjoyed the movie.

2. Slumdog Millionaire - Now this was a good movie! I thought it was clever and original. It's a story of a guy who is about to win India's version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. Through most of the movie he is explaining how he, a young man who grew up in the slums of India, knows the answers to the questions he was given. As he explains his answers, we get a peek into his life and how he grew up. Why can't there be more movies like this?? It was, for the most part, clean and had some action along with true to life circumstances, but without being hokey or falling flat.

1. Traitor - A political action adventure flick. Not always my choice in movies (can you tell that my husband picked this one?). However, it was entertaining and a little thought provoking.

Maybe another reason we haven't watched many movies lately is because we are running low on selection. Any ideas of what we should watch next??

For more Top Ten lists, or if you want to add to the list of lists, go visit Oh Amanda!

Weekend Logic Test

I saw this on a friends Facebook this week. The object is to get all the people across the river. (once you get there, click on the big circle to start the game)

Simple enough, right?

Here's the rules....

• Only 2 people on the raft at a time.
• The Father cannot stay with any of the daughters, without their Mother's presence.
• The Mother cannot stay with any of the sons, without their Father's presence.
• The thief (striped shirt) cannot stay with any family member, if the Policeman is not there.
• Only the Father, the Mother and the Policeman know how to operate the raft.

As the story goes, this is an IQ test given to job applicants in Japan. Apparently if you are a logical thinker then you can solve it within 7 minutes.

I will admit that I did solve it twice on the first day, but I don't know how I accomplished it. It took me between 10 to 15 minutes.

So....how smart (or logical) are you? And remember....no cheating (ie. no Googling the answer!)

Destination: TBD

Remember when I posted about getting my first passport? It was like, 2 years ago. I had dreams of traveling with Ryan when he did his usual research trip to Spain with his job, but then the economy tanked and now he doesn't go. And I'm left with an empty passport. *sigh*

But since Ryan has racked up the flyer miles and hotel points, we could go on our own. Maybe. We have a sitter (thanks to Ryan's mother being a teacher and having summers off, and willing to watch our 3 kiddos!!!), and we have the vacation time to do it, now all we need is a destination.

Originally we had thought we'd go someplace in Europe. And I didn't really care where it was, just get me out of this country and stamp my passport! Please? But now our options have dwindled due to the cost of flights going up and consequently the number of flyer miles needed.

At this point we are down to either Brazil (because Ryan has been there and loves it) or Hawaii (it's close enough and we have enough flyer miles).

I'm not so hip to Brazil (much to Ryan's disappointment). I'm not really sure why, but I'm just not. And Hawaii. Well, we've been there (Maui, 13 years ago this summer....can you say honeymoon?) Besides, we'd like to go out of the country. But, Hawaii doesn't really pose the travel risks that Brazil could.

So, we are in a quandary (can you say word of the day?). Where to go, where to go? The possibilities seemed endless. But now they're not. *sigh* What a predicament (that's tomorrows word).

Any suggestions???

Look Away

While you're out and about today and if you happen to see a woman wearing a hat low on her head and avoiding eye contact.....don't look too closely.

She is not a celebrity trying to escape notice. And she is also not a shoplifter.

This woman needs to blend in and not draw attention to herself.

She is trying to hide the fact that she has pink eye. She needs to get out and do some essential shopping for things like milk and juice. Otherwise she would have secluded herself in her home.

So if see this woman, please let her escape your notice and pretend you don't see her.

Silently, she thanks you.

Top Ten Tuesday - Doing Laundry

Top ten reasons why I do laundry...

10. um, 'cause it needs to be done. who else is gonna do it?...the kids? ha!
9. I like to wear clean clothes
8. I like to see my kids wearing clean clothes
7. the sense of accomplishment is worth it (mostly)
6. I like it when the kids help me put things away
5. the 'bonuses' for this job are minimal (a penny here and there along with a few silver coins on occasion) but every once in a while I get an extra special bonus....the green stuff....now that's a bonus! cha-ching! who wants to split a gum ball with my earnings??
4. it's fun to see Isabel get excited about her clean clothes. seriously, it's like brand new clothes to her!
3. I like seeing empty dirty clothes bins
2. it's part of my 'job description', and once it's done I feel good about my 'job'.
1. it gives me a chance to weed out the things that need to end their cycle of life in my house (kids clothes that are too small and/or too stained and yucky, as well as old kitchen towels that have seen better days, etc.)

There. My list of reasons to motivate myself to tackle the never-ending pile(s) of laundry. What's on your list today?

For more Top Ten lists, visit Oh Amanda and see what she and others have listed!
3.

I Was Just the Host

I have a child that I am now convinced is not mine. She just can't be! I may have carried her and given birth to her, but in the light of recent events I now see that she's just not mine.

It's State testing time at Mae's school. For most kids this may give a little anxiety but certainly no loss of sleep.

But not my child. Nope.

Mae is looking up the State Testing web site and doing some pre-tests, just to make sure that she's ready. She's also expressing her fear of not passing and having to repeat the 2nd grade. And now she is in the other room with her father trying to wrap her brain around what division math is.

Strangeness I tell ya!

But it doesn't stop there. Oh no. This is only the latest of odd behavior from a child that I thought was mine.

At Christmas time, when we went to Tahoe and Modesto, Mae took her math with her. This was not assigned or asked of her. It wasn't even given as a suggestion. She did this on her own! So, she took it to the cabin and did a page of problems and asked our friend to check her work.

See??! This just isn't normal or right.

I have no idea who this child belongs to, but she certainly didn't get it from me. This is why I'm convinced that I was only the host carrier to the child within when pregnant.

It's the only explanation.

And....We're Back!

The kids and I returned yesterday from our Spring Break trip to the land of Grandma's and cousins. And I am happy to report that during both road trips (there and back) we rarely visited the ugly place. We veered off course a couple of times, but other than that all went well. Hallelujah, praise the Lord!!!

Now I am home and finding my place in our routine again. However, this morning I woke up to practically no voice. While on our trip I started to get a sore throat at night. It meandered into a head cold and now it's made its way to my vocal chords. This could be a good thing. Now I can't yell at anyone! Of course this does mean that I have to whisper in order to be heard. But Isabel is making me feel better by whispering back. I love it! So, losing my voice isn't such a bad thing if it means that I get to hear my Busy Issy whispering to me!

The Beautiful Place

I have much to do today, for the kids and I are packing into the car tomorrow morning and heading to good ol' Modesto. But above all the things I need to do to prepare for our trip, I need to pray. Pray, pray, pray!!! Why? Well, I can't help but be reminded of the ugly place when we go on trips. And if I don't prepare myself with prayer and dependence on the Lord during these trips then it is inevitable that along the way we will make some journeys through the ugly place.

So, as I begin my day of prepartions I will not forget to take my Jesus with me. He will not fit in the suitcase or in the trunk. No, the only place for Him is right beside me and in my heart. And that, my friend, is the beautiful place. Let's go there instead!