A Little of This and A Little of That

• Hmm, accidentally forgetting your children at Chuck E. Cheese? Really?? And wait, it was YOUR child’s party??? Yeah, ok. I think that ish was deliberate, but I wasn’t there. That’s like taking your dog to the groomers, then accidentally leaving without the pooch. Really??? Your sole purpose as a grown ass person visiting CEC is for the benefit of a child. How exactly do you forget said child? And not just any child – YOUR child. **smh** Nah, I not buying it. Those folks wanted a BREAK. Foolish. Phone a friend or relative man. Don’t leave your kids at CEC. .

• Told y’all this recipe was easy and adaptable. Ms. Beautifully Complex made it here and love it. Here’s a repost: Easiest crockpot recipe ever – pick your protein (chicken, pork, turkey), throw it in the crockpot (frozen or thawed) with chopped up onion, green peppers and mushrooms, a packet of Hidd.en Val.ley Ranch dressing powder, a can of cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup and VOILA! MrTDJ actually hates ranch dressing, but loves this recipe. I never share ingredients with him. Y’all can thank me later!
  

• A few updates on recent posts that had unresolved issues:
  

1. Nope, never did get that Secret Santa package, nor any type of email correspondence. Imagine that. ‘Nuff said.
2. The reader with the pics and letters from old boyfriends? She appreciated the feedback y’all left. She decided to shred the letters and only keep a couple of pictures that showed her and the ex along with other friends; no hugged up couple shots. She’s going to incorporate them into her existing photo albums.
3. So, good ole B’more claims there is an underground water leak and that’s it’s been that way for over a year. Um, so y’all knew there was a water leak BUT DIDN’T FIX IT?? Nope, it’s the homeowner’s responsibility. **taps the screen** Hey, Baltimore water authority – it’s beyond ridiculous and dare I say potentially criminal to allow an underground water leak on the property of a city resident to go unresolved to the tune of 20 grand! Aside from the astronomical bill, what about ALL THAT WATER??? Obviously they don’t give two sh*ts about water conservation or the environment. I have a feeling that my friend will be in the fight of her life trying to get this f*ckery resolved.

• I’m liking Pinterest ALOT! Didn’t think I would, but I digs it. Found some cool ideas for LittleTDJ’s room as he transitions from “toddler” to “big boy”. Will be trying two new recipes this weekend. **nods head slowly** Me likes!

• I’ve been asked to do a couple of guest posts around these here interwebs. I’ll be sure to tell y’all where once I find something to actually write about. Insert writers block in 3, 2, 1 – BOOM!

• My Pandora station that I started with Ms. Vivian Green is just E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G. I haven’t had to change it in almost a week. I think she is so tremendously talented, yet unrated and not nearly as well-known as she should be. I’m jamming! Try it out!

• I’m a nerd and I love the English language. Seriously. There are times, when for emphasis, I’ll spell things wrong or give them a dramatic flair, times when I’ll use internet lingo and/or abbreviations, moments when I’ll use slang and popular vernacular, and even times when I’ll make a typo, but no matter my method, I believe that I always write in such a way that people can understand what I’m saying. Ya dig? Anyone disagree? =) I’m a member of several listservs, facebook groups, etc and I’ve reached my breaking point with trying to decipher FOOLISHNESS! A mixture of capitals and lower case in the same word? Misspelling simple words? Using the wrong tense repeatedly? Thoughts more scattered than a darn Rubik’s Cube. I’m done. As of today, the following 3 operations are in full effect – Scale Back Facebook Friends, Set More Gmail Filters, and Unsubscribe for Inane Groups. Whew. I can only imagine how much better I’ll feel after the fact!
  

What’s up in y’alls neck of the woods?

A Little of This and A Little of That

• The fam and I have been sick for about a week.  We’ve been sustaining ourselves with the best things on earth – Diet Seagrams ginger ale and Saltine mini’s.  My food plan for the weekend?  Lasagna, fried chicken and smothered pork chops.  Hush!

• LittleTDJ is involved in a Pre-K program that begins every morning at 8am.  Transportation is offered.  I’m going to ignore the fact that he’s been in the program 2 weeks and finally the school folks talked to the bus folks to get him added to route.  Without a phone call to say, bus service starts XYZ date or to let us know what time to expect his pickup, the bus shows up this morning.  At 6:09am.  School starts at 8:00am.  Let that sink in please.    Da hell????  The kids are 3 years old.  Why are you here so early?  Explanation, “Well, he’s near the beginning and we’ve got 10 more pick ups after him.  Don’t worry, he’ll fall asleep.  They all fall asleep.”  I guess that do smart azz.  So, you’re telling me to wake up my 3 year old at say 5:30 to get him dressed, fed and ready to sit on a school bus for 2 hours???  Negative!

• Crock pot fail – putting the noodles for your chicken noodle soup in too soon.  I thought the digital readout said 30 minutes left, however it actually said 1 hr and 30 minutes.  30 minutes? Perfect egg noodles to compliment your crockpot meal.  1 hr and 30 minutes?  Clumps and lumps of slimy, over cooked dough.  Reminded me of the little globs of fat that folks leave when they don’t clean chicken well.  Just ick.   Called MamaTDJ to see if she had any words of wisdom to save the day.  She laughed and then said, The only thing you can try to do is keep cooking it so that they completely disinegrate and the soup will get a thicker texture.   I tried.  I failed.  Tossed the entire pot of soup.
  

• Our DVR is quite full these days.  One show we’ve been keeping up with is Alcatraz.  So far MrTDJ and I are liking it.  Nice to see little Neela from ER back on the screen.   Finally had enough of Private Practice last week and removed it from the DVR.  I wanted to see what happened with Anika Noni Rose as Sam’s sister, but I just c.a.n.t. with he and Addison anymore.

• I’ve worked so hard to tone down my aggressive comments while driving.  I talked much shat before LittleTDJ was born.  But, realizing that kids are self programming recording devices, I changed things around instantly.  Welp, when LittleTDJ and I walked into our house yesterday evening after a grueling commute, MrTDJ surprised him with some kind of red, SVU toy.  LittleTDJ says, “Thanks Jerk!”  Oops!   I’ve tried to watch my tongue, but that damn that red Escalade that cut me off on the BW Parkway pissed me off!  Thank goodness he didn’t mimic my gesture.  My bad. I’ll do better.

• Still not ready to talk in full about Whitney, but heard a song pop into my iPod this morning from Tarrayln Ramsey.  I sure hope that someone in charge of a potential future tribute to Ms. Houston taps her to sing.  MrTDJ and I somehow ended up watching VH1 Born to Diva back in 2003.  Tarrayln has a powerhouse voice that brought Whitney to mind instantly and she ended up winning the competition.  I just looked her up.  She’s been doing tons of background vocals, as well as some gospel, and it seems that she was on “The Voice” last year as well.  This is the song that she recorded after winning and for her first album.  I think I may have been the only person outside of her family/friends to buy her first album.  I love her voice!

• I got an email from a distant cousin this morning asking if we had left her off of our Christmas card list because she just noticed that she hadn’t gotten one from us.  0_o  Ummm, yeah, way to call me out.  Nope, I told her, I didn’t send any this year.  Maybe next year. Her email response to that, “Oh ok.  Yeah, I told Mama that you hadn’t sent any but she said you were raised better than that, so there must have been a mistake.”  Huh???  That sentence was way too loaded for me to respond, so I simply hit delete.  Guess who really WON’T be getting one this year when I do send them out?

• A buddy in Texas sent me a can of “Slap Ya Mama” seasoning.  Whew goodness!!!  Where has this been all my life???  I’ve never seen it in any grocery stores in the DC area.  Any of y’all ever try it?  I don’t love the name, but the product is great.  Flavorful with some nice heat.  Guess I’ll be hitting her up for more in the future or ordering online!
  

• A big ole HOWDY to everyone reading this!!  Just wanted you to know that I appreciate all the regulars that stop by and all the newbies that pop in.  I love getting to know y’all through your comments, but I understand that many read and don’t comment.  ‘Tis ok.  I blog because it’s very theraputic for me to put pen to paper, or rather finger to keyboard.  I love to express myself and I’d keep blogging even if no one read.  However, I’m definitely happy that many read and enjoy! 

What’s up in y’alls neck of the woods?

A Little of This and A Little of That

• I wish folks would evacuate the uterus of Mrs. Beyonce Knowles Carter.  Congrats to Bey and Jay on the addition to the family!  Whether they paid a surrogate, a Guatamalian immigrant, or Solange to carry the baby, does it matter?  Maybe they traveled to Kenya, Brazil or Compton to adopt.  Does it matter?  Was the little princess was born yesterday, last week or last month, does it matter?  Is her name  Ivy Blue, Aunt Jemina or Sophia Patrillo, does it matter?  Seriously????  This happy MARRIED couple wanted a child and they have one.  Congrats to them and the newest future millionairess for Patty Stanger’s club!  

• Easiest crockpot recipe ever – pick your protein (chicken, pork, turkey), throw it in the crockpot (frozen or thawed) with chopped up onion, green peppers and mushrooms, a packet of Hidd.en Val.ley Ranch dressing powder, a can of cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup and VOILA!  MrTDJ actually hates ranch dressing, but loves this recipe.  I never share ingredients with him.  Y’all can thank me later!
  

• Hmm, it seems that some didn’t like my post regarding my Blogland Secret Santa experience.  Cue those violins again, would ya?  Comments are ALWAYS welcome on my blog, even those that disagree with whatever my point of view may be.  To those that chose to email me about it “not being that serious”, I’m curious as to why you emailed me instead of commenting on the post?   Since this is MY BLOG, I decided that since Secret Santa had been talked about heavily here and on the blogs of other participants, it seemed reasonable and justified that I document my experience.  In the big picture of the world and my life, nope, it wasn’t that serious and I didn’t imply that it was.  MrTDJ and I are both gainfully employed and able to meet all our needs and most of our wants.  However, it was definitely blog worthy.  So, in the famous words of Rob Base, “You don’t like it, so what, I don’t care.”    

• It seems that Grey’s Anatomy has regained some of it’s luster this season.  I’ve been enjoying it.  On the flipside, Private Practice is making me wish the DVR would fail.  Thinking I might go ahead and let that one go home to glory.  Anyone watching either or both?

• Reading books using the Kindle app on my iPad is awesome!!!  I’ve purchased a couple, but mostly I scour Amazon for the free ones.  And in case you didn’t know, your local library probably has an ereader program.  Mine does and it’s pretty good.  The selections aren’t vast, but I expect that to improve over time.

• Anyone planning to watch “House of Lies” premiering tonight at 10pm on Showtime?  I love Don Cheadle, so I’m going to check it out.  Showtime is on FIRE right now with good shows.

• MrTDJ begged me to make banana bread, so in an effort to be a fantastic wife, I did. I noticed that there was another unopened container of egg nog in the back of the fridge with an expiration date of 1/19/12.  Don’t know how I missed that in last weeks dump session.  Hmm, the wheels turned and I added it to the banana bread.  DELICIOUS!!  I simply subbed the egg nog for milk, took out one egg from my recipe and added an extra 1/4 for good measure.  Now I’m seriously done with egg nog.  The rest went down the sink.

• Pinterest seems kinda cool, but I haven’t the foggiest idea how to use it.  Hmm, do I really want to?  I think I spend quite enough time online.  I’m putting that in my “NOPE” column with twitter.

• I’m not a big Tyrese fan, but his newish song, “Stay” is the bomb.com!  Who knew the Coca Cola boy had it in him?

• Have you ever made a typo in a comment on my site, then submitted a second comment?  Did you ever notice that your 2nd comment never shows up?  Yup, I go in and fix your first comment.  *lol*  Can’t help it; it’s the English major in me.  
  

What’s up in y’alls neck of the woods?