Random Confession

Confession: I really have no idea what I'm doing on this here blog thing.  Things are going on and I'm keeping better track of my 101 things but I'm not writing about it.  Why? Because I think it'd be boring and I'm probably right. Basically, right now I have a lot of time on my hands and random projects I'm doing.  I'm attempting to redo the master bedroom, refinish a bunch of furniture, add little nicknack sort of decorative things, and hang out with my sister-in-law, aunt and their various children.  Oh, and look for a job.  I have come to the point where my self-imposed unemployment must end because I could really get used to this however, I feel guilty when I buy things (random decorative things cough Homegoods cough) or when I suggest doing things which cost money (redo bathroom).

So, I'll talk about the thing I'm exceptionally excited about.  Our NEW CAMERA.  That's right, we got a Nikon 5100 or as I like to refer to it, my fancy pants camera.  Yes, we're all about the technical terms here.  It's our early Christmas present.  We thought it'd be better to have the camera to take pictures of the big things coming up (weddings and holidays) rather than wait for Christmas day.  Plus, Cliff found a great deal.

Anyway, even though I have no idea how to REALLY use it, I'm very very excited about it.  I haven't been this excited about a purchase in a long time...probably not since January when I got my iPhone.  So, anyway, this camera is so amazing.  Even though I don't really know how to take proper photographs (besides point and shoot and a vague idea about composition) I have been able to already take some pretty good shots of Cooper.  He's an excellent model.  I'm looking forward to this weekend when I'm going on a road trip with my awesome sister-in-law and nieces because I'm planning on taking about a million pictures of them!  Also, I've played around with the camera in the last few days and this is what we've come up with so far:

I'll stop there because really, I have like 30 pictures of him I took just last night alone.  The weather's been crap though so I haven't had a chance to really get much else besides my puppy.  The thing I really like about this camera is how you can mess around the the depth of field.  I love how it looks to have the subject in sharp focus and the background all blurry.  AWESOME.

The only problem with having this amazing camera is that everything else is taking a backseat.  I have been on the same book for almost a week.  That's become sort of unheard of around here these days!

I Finished a Reading Challenge!

Reading is one of my most favorite things in the world.  I could read all day, every day, and be happy.  Well, maybe I'd feel like a bit of a slacker, but I DO love reading.  Anyway, my online book club is a great place to get book reviews and talk about other book related things.  I love reading and I love competition so when I found out about the seasonal reading challenges, I was hooked. 

We have 4 seasonal challenges each year.  I took part in the Summer Book Challenge and had 3 months to read 35 books in categories the group came up with.  Well, I'm proud to say that I finished a challenge!  I'm so proud of myself for finishing one of these things.  I basically had to read an average of 3 books a week to be able to finish.  Maybe not having a job right now helped haha.  Here's my list:  (I bolded my favorites)

5 points
read a book while soaking up the sun--Better Read Than Dead
read a book under 200 pages--Animal Farm
read a book with a red, white, or blue cover--The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
read a book from the 1001 book you must read list--Crime and Punishment
read a book based on its cover--Hourglass
read a book set outside the US--Jellicoe Road
read a book you got for free--Love is the Higher Law
read a book none of your GR friends has read--Sleepwalk With Me
read a book with a male main character--Boy Meets Boy
freebie (whatever you want)--Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything!

10 Points
read a banned or challenged book--Farenheit 451
read a book with a child main character--The Age of Miracles
read a book you find on display at the library or bookstore--Ready Player One
read a book by one of your favorite authors--The Realm of Possibility
read a book with less than 100 GR ratings--The Double-Cross System: The Incredible True Story of How Nazi Spies Were Turned into Double Agents
read a book with a picture of the outdoors on the cover--Second Chance Summer
read a book suggested by whatshouldireadnext.com--Half Broke Horses
read a book set prior to 1900--Anna Karenina
read a cookbook and post the best sounding recipe --The Silver Spoon Pasta
read a biography (not a memoir)--Shakespeare

15 Points
read a book set in a city that's hosted the summer Olympics--Shadow of Night
read a book with a two word title--Gone Girl
read a book by Stephen King or Nora Roberts--Different Seasons
read a book written by an author younger than 25 or older than 75--My Lucky Life in and Out of Show Business (Dick Van Dyk)
read and discuss the July, August, or September NBC book--Between Shades of Grey
read a book about a social issue or politics--Unbearable Lightness
use random.org to pick a book off your tbr list--Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea
read a book out of your normal genre(s)--Deadline
read a travelogue--A Walk in the Woods
read a book set in the state that was admitted to the union just prior to your state (Delaware gets Hawaii)--The Perks of Being a Wallflower

25 Points
Read a book with a Christmas word in the title--The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror
Find a movie based on a book and watch the movie before reading the book--High Fidelity
Read a book set in a school--The Art of Fielding
Read a book that intimidates you for whatever reason--Bel Canto
Read a new to you book that is not part of a series and write a prequel or sequel summary--Ella Minnow Pea

Total: 425!


Now onto the shorter (and hopefully easier) Fall Book Challenge!  Here's the list if anyone is interested! Although....no one reads this so I don't know why I am posting this...

5 Points
Read a book that is part of a series
Reread a book
Read a book about FALLing in love
Read a Goosebumps, Christopher Pike, or R.L. Stine book for Halloween
Read a free book (free kindle book, library book, borrowed from a friend, etc)

10 Points
Read a book with the name of an NFL or MLB team in the title
Read a book with food in the title or on the cover
Read a book with a title that begins with the first letter of your first name
Read a book that you added to your TBR list in 2012 but didn't get to read
Read a book with the word "light", "fire", or "candle" in the title.

15 Points
Randomly open a dictionary, and read a book with any word on the dictionary page in the title.
Read a book written during NaNoWriMo
Read a book on a friend's TBR, but not on yours
Read and discuss the October, November, or December NBC book
Read a fiction or non-fiction book about a political figure

25 Points
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Read a book with a pink cover.
Read a book that was published in the same month & year as one of your major life events (wedding, birth of a child, graduation, first job, etc.).
Read the book that has been on your TBR list the longest
Read a book that you heard about through one of your favorite authors or book reviewers (blogs count)
Read a book published the year you were born.

This blog...

is so sad and neglected.  I'm going to attempt to bring it (back?) to life.  Things sort of fall by the wayside for me.  It's a really bad character trait of mine.  That's why I find people who can keep up with things so inspirational!  I am most definitely NOT one of those people.

Random Thought

Being a teacher sucks the life out of me.  I can't wait until this year is over (and I don't even have a "bad" class).  When will this week be over?

Weekly Menu

Well, I did some meal planning again this week!  Yay!  I've been slacking recently.  I think mostly because the holidays were so crazy and I was trying to relax (mostly, I just end up being lazy) and we had leftovers or were out a lot.  So, I'm glad to be back in the swing of things.  Plus, I got an iPhone (which was never supposed to happen) and now I have this little app where I can make a grocery list and use it to make meals with things that are on sale.  Hooray!  So since we're fans of Mexican food, we have some of our favorite dishes on the menu this week.  Also, my aunt got us a quesadilla maker and I want to try it out!  And then, Kate suggested this bacon pierogi dish and it just looks reallllllllllly good so I went for that.  Anyway, looking forward to some delicious meals this week!  I always feel better when I have things planned ahead of time, so I don't have to worry about getting stuff from the store during the week and figuring out exactly what stuff it is that I need.

Saturday: Southwestern Chicken Soup and Quesadillas

Sunday: Baked Chicken Chimichangas with Sour Cream Sauce

Monday: Leftovers

Tuesday: Bacon Pierogi Bake

Wednesday: Crockpot Mushroom Chicken (On the Table app)

Thursday: Leftovers?

Friday: Feta and Broccoli Pasta

Weekly Menu (3)

Sunday:  baked chicken
Monday: http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2009/09/crispy-southwest-chicken-wraps.html
Tuesday: leftovers
Wednesday: http://stephaniecooks.blogspot.com/2011/07/pasta-with-mascarpone-and-roasted-grape.html
Thursday: leftovers
Friday:lasagna

Updates!

Well, I think it's time for an update.  This won't be an exciting one but whatever.  I just want to do it.  So I am. 

 I went to another book signing.  It was for Tomie DePaola and I won the door prize!  I never win anything!  The millions of kids were going nuts and I wanted to smack them or their parents but luckily, I stopped myself.  My friend Kate was there and I don't often hang out with her.  Not really sure why, but it was nice to see her for a little bit (though it was sort of hard  to concentrate on our conversation because of the little girls nearby who were running around like wild beasts while their parents looked on and ignored their behavior.  Well, okay then!)  So I now have 2 signed copies of Strega Nona's Gift thanks to Kate who got to the B&N at a normal time and got a good spot as opposed to me who arrived just before the event began and would have had pretty much the last spot in line.  So, she had the books signed and we went to eat in the food court.  I still got to talk to Tomie for a second because he congratulated me on winning the door prize lol that was the extent of our conversation.
Tomie: Congratulations!
Me: Thanks!

Still, I talked to him for a second and honestly, I looked like a hot mess than night so I didn't really need to immortalize our meeting in digital form for all eternity.

Okay, what else?  I bought a really cute apron a  long time ago.  I never wear it.  It's really cute though.  Maybe I should start wearing it?  Maybe I'll wear it when I make my contribution to Thanksgiving, these Red Velvet Cakeballs from Bakerellla.  I made them once for some family event and now they are apparently my specialty.  Well, that's all well and good except for the fact that they take quite a long time to make because of the steps involved.  It's like making 3 desserts in one!  Seriously, it's a time commitment.  But when my Aunt Joyce asked me to make them, how could I turn her down?  She's like 70 (wow, seriously? I didn't really realize that til just now) and she's mostly blind and partly deaf and she doesn't ask me for very much and makes a delicious chicken soup that I'm already looking forward to.  Well, anyway, I'll survive.  I'll make those cakeballs and they'll be delicious and maybe I'll even wear that apron when I make them.

Um, I kind of have a book area.  I have like 5, plus like 56 million kid books in the attic.  So does that count?  No, I need to organize things better.  Why doesn't it get done?  Because I'd rather be reading my books than organizing them.  Maybe one day it'll be better organized.  I keep saying when the damn basement apartment is finally done I'll get everything organized but honestly, when I have to live with the living room looking like such a freakin mess, how can I bother with the little mess in my little office area that I hardly ever use.  Why is that?  Annnnnyway, I need some more book shelves.  Maybe that's what I'll get for Christmas.  That'd be a good thing to get, right?  I also sort of cleaned my closet, but I haven't called anyone to come pick them up.  I don't actually know where those cleaned out closet clothes went to.  Probably threw them in the mess in the living room.  Ugh, seriously, who has a refrigerator in their living room?  Apparently, we do.  And I walk by the stupid thing every day.  So frustrating.  I just have to stop thinking about it.  Grrr

We are SO close to getting the stupid certification thing finished.  My school is just as much of a mess and a pain in the ass as the stupid state ed office apparently.  None of them know what the hell is going on.  NONE OF THEM.  And that's not good because it's not information that's easily accessible for me.  FRUSTRATION I've only been working full time as a teacher for FOUR YEARS now.  But, who needs a certificate anyway.  Riiiiiight

Book reading goal of the year, not looking good. I think I set my sights too high and I didn't read enough this summer.  I picked some real stinkers for my prime reading time and I just couldn't get through as many books as I should have.  Plus working summer school threw a wrench in my prime reading time too.  Blah

I DID finish a Book Club Challenge though!  And I think I should finish this latest one too!  Hooray for me!  I'm no good at picking tasks though so I just want to finish but not pick a task.  That, or have a strike of genius or something. 

I watched the Replacement Bureau with Matt Damon.  God, what a good actor, seriously.  Anyway, it was pretty good.  I think I gave it 4 stars.

I saw Water for Elephants with Reese Witherspoon.  Not as good as the book.  But I do still love Reese.  The Help, now that was a good movie adaptation.  Read that and then go see the movie if you haven't already.

Haven't looked at the 1001 books list in forever.  Probably should take a glance at that seeing as I said I was going to read 20 of them.  Enh, whatever.

I'll update the movies I've watched because then I can check of the 20 new movie thing soon.

Also I think we'll be visiting a new country sometime soon if I get my wish and figure out what island nation I'd like to visit during my Winter break in February.  Suggestions welcome.  I think a US Virgin Island will be most likely though.

I've been thinking of starting to do some sit ups.  So I think I'm going to make that my goal for right now.

I think I might have lost 5 pounds but I'm not sure because my scale's been without a battery for quite some time.  That's totally Cliff's job but it's not looking like it's going to happen anytime soon.

I sort of grew a garden, but the deer were not kind to it.  Damn deer, I have my coyote pee ready for you next year.  Seriously.

Um the painting thing is going to get going again very soon now that the drywall is finished downstairs.  Hooray.  I already did this like 2 months ago, and just can't get over how much fun it was.  UGH

I didn't have to paint my parents' rooms because my mom paid a painter.  Hooray!  It's no longer the blue house of doom!  Still, it needs some more work.  But whatever, not my problem as much as her problem...

Ha it's sad how many things I know I'm not going to do at this point.  Oh well, such is life I guess!

Weekly Menu (2)

Sunday: Breaded Chicken Cutlets and Parmesan orzo
http://stephaniecooks.blogspot.com/2011/05/parmesan-orzo.html

Monday:   french onion soup with salad--never got to this one last week

Tuesday:  Chicken Pot Pie
http://stephaniecooks.blogspot.com/2010/12/chicken-pot-pie.html

Wednesday: leftovers

Thursday: pizza

Friday: dinner with the Shaws!!