"Honey, what are dumplings?"

Jody looked at me and laughed when I asked him that last night at Cracker Barrel. I was looking at the menu, in my continued quest to eat only Southern food while on my vacation, and I stumbled on the Cracker Barrel Sampler, which has Chicken and Dumplings, Meat Loaf and Ham on it. I had heard of Chicken and Dumplings but had no clue what it was. In my mind, all I could picture were Won Tons.
"Really? You don't know what dumplings are?"
"No. What are they?"
Jody tried to explain dumplings to me though I don't remember what he said. So I decided to order the sampler and then the waitress let me pick 3 sides to go with it. One of the options was fried okra, which, since I had never had it before and it is a Southern thing, I had to get. They were kinda like fried zucchini, so I liked them.
Earlier that day I had Sonic. Even though we have a couple Sonic's in Cali, none of them are near my house, and the last time I had been to one was the day after the Superbowl on the way home from Lara and Jim's. I was happy to get my Grape Cream Thingie that I had been wanting for months.
On my first night there, we went to the Waffle House for dinner. Apparently they have those on every corner out here. Yes, they serve waffles, and yes, I had one with my meal. In truth, they give you a lot of food and it was pretty cheap. I only ate half of my waffle. And in keeping with my "I've never eaten it before so I'm gonna get it" theme, I ordered grits. They kinda tasted like soggy tortillas and they had the texture of oatmeal or really really soggy rice. I put butter on them, though I think I may have put too much on. They weren't bad.

I've done more than eat of course. Yesterday we went to the Mall. Nothing to different from the Malls in Cali, but we came across this machine with Bull Horns on it. It was like one of those "Test Your Strength" machines they have in restaurants sometimes. The idea was you were supposed to grab the horns, push them together as hard as you could and hold them for about 10 seconds and it would measure your strength in terms of Bull Rider Lingo. Jody went first and even with a lingering boo-boo on his left shoulder got Bull Wrestler, which was 1 below Professional Bull Rider, the highest you can get. I was impressed, but at the same time, in my head, the same voice that convinced me to try to arm wrestle boys when I was in elementary school said to me "Yeah, he is a guy and yeah, he has muscular arms, but I weight train. I should be able to do this pretty well too." so I handed Jody my jacket and my purse, popped in a quarter and grabbed the horns and pushed them together as hard as I could. I was working my traps, my biceps, my triceps , my pecs, every major muscle group in my upper arms and upper body. In my head, I could hear my trainer Jeff's voice pushing me on. I was in pain by the time I stopped. I thought I must have done really well.
I got "City Slicker" which is 5 below Professional Bull Rider. Then the machine taunted me by saying something to me about milking a cow, which made Jody laugh. I mumbled an expletive at the machine before lacing my arm through Jody's and walking away.
On the drive back we got a few minutes of snow. I stuck my arm out the window of the car and felt it, as well as seeing it in the headlights in front of the car. It lasted for a few minutes, then stopped. It is supposed to snow on New Years, but we'll see.

8 hours and 3 time zones worth of travel

Ever flown across the country? I did it once, when I was 13. We basically wasted a whole day of our trip to DC commuting there and another whole day commuting back. So, genius that I like to think I am sometimes, I booked a red-eye flight. I would leave Los Angeles, CA at 12:30am, arrive in Houston, TX 3 hours later, have a 2 hour layover, then another 2 hours to Charlotte, NC, then another hour to Spartanburg, SC, still leaving me with the whole afternoon and evening.
If I was capable of actually sleeping on a plane, that would have been an awesome idea. Turns out, as I should have remembered when I flew to Germany, I don't sleep on planes. I may doze out of sheer fatigue after a few hours, but it isn't sleep.
Perhaps it is because I am secretly not the world's best little flyer. I blame this on too much information. Things that I know to be true (that I wish I didn't know) keep me from enjoying planes. Yes, it is true that you are more likely to be involved in a serious car accident than be involved in a plane crash, a fact that would normally bring me comfort, save for the fact that in my life I've been involved in 3 serious car crashes. Statistically, I start to think that I am "due" whenever I get on a plane. Or the fact that if you are going to be involved in some kind of airplane catastrophe, it will most likely occur during takeoff or landing. When I worked for PGS a million years ago, our owner William was involved in a plane crash on his way back from Asia, and it happened during takeoff. Luckily, he survived. But that fact alone prevents me from ever really relaxing while I'm on a plane, because even though I may have survived takeoff, we still have to land. And yet, I get window seats. Over the wings in fact. Half asleep but unable to sleep I begin to feel like Shatner in that infamous Twilight Zone episode. Every little noise I hear I am looking out onto the wing for gremlins. I swear today I heard something hit the plane.
"There's something out there! There's something on the wing!"
My flight out of LAX to Houston was on time and aside from some turbulence and the fact that I heeded everyone's advice and got to the airport to freakin' early and had to sit there for almost 3 hours, it went well. I still didn't sleep, but managed to rest my eyes. I landed in Houston (2 hours ahead of California time) 3 hours later and had a 2 hour layover, which was just enough to find my way over to my gate on the other side of the airport (I had to take a train to it), use the restroom, eat, buy a chochkie for my travel chochkie collection, and spend a few minutes going over some Mock Trial work before boarding. Apparently, when you fly connecting flights between some cities, they stick you on these teeny tiny planes instead of 747's or something that size. The plane that I was on sat 3 people across. So from wall to wall, it was: seat, aisle, seat, seat. They looked like little planes you make from empty paper towel rolls with cut up paper plates glued on them for wings. I was partially dozing off and partially on edge for the whole 2 hours I spent up in the air on this rinky little contraption, but we made it safely and on time once again to my destination. Another hour in the car from Charlotte got me safely to my hotel in Spartanburg where I eventually got a nap and a much needed shower.

Thanksgiving and Christmas 2009 Family Pictures

Here are some pictures from Chandler Family Thanksgiving and Christmas 2009 dinners.

Exhale

Today I turned in my Online English Final Exam, marking the official end of my Final Exams for the Fall 2009 Semester. I can now officially enjoy the rest of the year, stress-free. And how did I do you ask? Well, in the past, I would have fretted over anything less than an A, but now, especially for my General Education classes, I just want to get a C or better so that I don't have to take them over again. Having said that, I think I got straight B's this year, maybe an A or two, but probably straight B's. Being an honor student and a member of Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society, I know that straight B's aren't the best that I can do, but consider this: I took 5 classes this semester, and I really wasn't terribly interested in any of them. Only one of them was a law class, and even my teacher will tell you that Bankruptcy law is not a fun class (though she made it as fun as it could be.) So between carrying a heavy load of difficult and boring classes certainly affected my work ethic this term. Though I was really only "sick" once during the semester, I took as many "sick days" as I could from each class just to keep myself from burning out. Add to that the fact that this is my first term going to 2 schools (University of LaVerne & Mt. SAC) at the same time, I had a lot on my plate. I'm so glad the term is over.

"Thanks for the adventure. Now go have a new one."

Daniel is moving to Texas on Saturday, so we went to Disneyland one last time yesterday. I got a new Personal Best Score on Toy Story Midway Mania (216,400) and Daniel made the it onto the board for Top 3 Scores of the Day with 254,600. We spent the day going on all of our favorite rides and talking to each other about our lives and where they are headed, both figuratively and geographically. I will miss my friend, but he is coming back in May to visit and attend a family member's wedding, so we can go to Disneyland one more time before our passes expire this Summer.

Daniel,

Thank you so much for all the memories, good and bad. I will miss you, especially the next time I go to Disneyland or watch a UFC fight. Isn't it funny how life turns out sometimes? Best of luck to you on your journey, not just to Texas, but through life itself. It's been fun.

With love,
Your friend,
Holly

The home stretch

Today is the official start of finals week. I have 5 finals, 1 paper & 1 project left to do in the next 5 days. It is gonna be a busy week, but I have dinner with Trina and Gregg planned for Friday, a nice lunch with Nicki planned on Saturday and Disneyland with Daniel, Lara and Jim planned for Sunday, so at least I will end a busy week on a happy note :-)

No more Math EVER!!!

Today I finished the last chapter in my Statistics textbook and finished all the homework at the end of the chapter. I am now officially done with Math for the rest of my life!! WOOO HOOO!!! And once the semester is over, I will never have any more English or Science homework ever again! Basically after this semester, the only General Education classes that I will have left will be "Values and Critical Thinking" and whatever Core 320 class I end up taking, either "The Human Condition" or "Towards a Sustainable Planet," and then I will have nothing but law classes for the rest of my Bachelor's degree and then, of course, LAW SCHOOL!!! YAY! I see light at the end of the tunnel!

My Chili Recipe

I made my Chili Recipe today for the first time this season. Last Winter, I started making it again after years of not doing it, and with great reviews. Jeff and Mike eat as much of it as I do when I make it, and Heather (who is herself quite the chef and a fellow foodie) LOVES my Chili. I've been very protective of the recipe, particularly because of the unique way that it tastes and because of the ingredients that I use. My Chili has an element of sweetness to it, along with a kick of hotness (like me... haha, just kidding, I'm not that into myself.) I used to make people guess my secret ingredient (no one ever did, I would have to tell them and watch their faces) but I figure, if people like the recipe so much, I'll share it. First, let me start out by saying, if you are a Texas-style or Cumin-based Chili eater like my Dad, this will be different for you. But most people LOVE my Chili, in fact the worst thing anyone has ever said about it was "Its good."

Anyway, here is what you will need:

2 pounds 93% Fat Free Ground Beef (oh yeah, by the way, its "healthy Chili")
10 ounces of Ketchup (Yup, that's right, Ketchup. That is my secret ingredient.)
1 large Red Pepper
1 large Green Pepper
1 28-30 ounce can of Crushed Tomatoes
1 28-30 ounce can of Pinto Beans
1 28-30 ounce can of Red (Kidney) Beans
1 28-30 ounce can of Black Beans
Chili Powder
Garlic Salt
Regular Salt
Black Pepper
Your favorite Hot Sauce (I used Dave's Gourmet "Temporary Insanity" Hot Sauce)
A big pot (at least a 2 gallon pot) with a lid that you can vent (usually in the lid handle)
A slotted spoon
A cutting board
A pairing knife
(The reason I tell you what tools to use as well as what ingredients you need is that I HATE when I am looking at a recipe and I start cooking it only to discover half way through that I need a garlic press, or a melon baller, or a piping bag, or some other kitchen tool that I don't own in order to finish the recipe. )

Here is how I make my Chili:

Brown ground beef on medium-high heat (being careful to keep meat from clumping together), then strain. Straining the meat is important because it not only keeps this an almost fat-free chili, but leaving the fat in affects the flavor of the chili, so be sure to strain it. After straining, add enough Chili Powder to cover the top layer of meat. Do the same with the Garlic Salt. Add a couple dashes of Salt (I measure out about a quarter-sized amount in my hand) and Black Pepper (I use a grinder and I do about 6-8 turns of the grinder.) Stir, then add Ketchup. Mix Ketchup in with meat and lower heat to medium. (At this point, it should look like Sloppy Joe mix.) Add in Crushed Tomatoes. Stir and leave uncovered while you chop up the Red Pepper and the Green Pepper on your cutting board with your pairing knife. Add in chopped peppers and mix. Strain the liquid out of the canned Black Beans, then mix them into the pot. Do the same for the Red Beans and the Pinto Beans. It is important to strain the canned beans otherwise the Chili gets soupy. Turn the heat down to low. Last but not least, add 3-4 dashes of Hot Sauce. It may seem like a little bit, but depending on the Hot Sauce you use, a little goes a long way. In my recipe, 3-4 dashes of Dave's Temporary Insanity Sauce will put a kick of heat in every bite. Any more than that would make it hard to eat. Stir the Chili again and cover with the lid vented. Let it simmer on low for a half hour or so, stirring occasionally.
The Chili will taste good after simmering for a half hour, but its even better if you put it in the fridge overnight and either nuke it for a couple minutes in a bowl or eat it cold. It keeps well too, covered in the fridge with the same lid you cooked it with.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is my favorite holiday! I mean, what's not to love? Dressing up, going to parties, getting candy, mutilating produce - its all good! This year I dressed up as a Succubus (if you don't know what that is, go Google it) and just like last year, rather than just wear a pre-packaged costume, I decided to put one together in pieces, so I could give it my own personal stamp. I'm happy with the way it turned out. Speaking of costumes, one of my favorite things about Halloween is seeing people who wear topical costumes. This year, between the 2 parties I went to, I saw people dressed as Billy Mays, Lady Gaga and Octomom. The people closest to me also had some interesting and in some cases disturbing picks for costumes: my best friend Heather and my roommate Mike both went as clowns (I HATE clowns, I am scared of them), my other roommate Jeff wore a dress (he found one that fit his gigantic shoulders!) and Daniel dressed up as a penguin. Raven and Amber went as characters from my favorite Disney movie: Alice in Wonderland. Raven was Alice, but with a twist- she was also a vampire. Her litte "White Rabbit" had bite marks on his neck. Amber was the Queen of Hearts. Watching her scream "off with your head!" was priceless. We carved some pretty cool pumpkins this year. It was a process. On Friday I came over and gutted the pumpkins and Raven and Gregg went on the internet to find patterns. Then Saturday afternoon we punched the stencils into the pumpkins and carved them. Because Amber's pumpkin was small (and so is Amber) I drew a kitty cat on her pumpkin and she and Trina painted it. Raven helped carve her Headless Horseman pumpkin (she got to do the design she liked on the biggest pumpkin, so she was very proud) and we also did a Dragon, a Skull and (of course) a Jack Skellington face on the other pumpkins. The coolest part was that all the pumpkins came from the garden that Trina and Gregg have been growing in the backyard. As for candy, Trina, Gregg and I will need to "inspect" the girls' candy so as to make sure it is OK to eat...yeah...inspect...that's a good word... :-)

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today my Daddy turned 65! He came to Disneyland with Daniel and I and used his free birthday admission. Though his knees only let him be there for about 2 1/2 hours, we went on Jungle Cruise, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion (the Nightmare Before Christmas version), Winnie the Pooh and Big Thunder Mountain. I wanted to take him on Its A Small World and show him the Disney characters they added to the ride, but it was closed. We had a nice lunch at Applebee's on the way home. We'll celebrate with my Brother, Aunt and Uncle on Saturday. It should be fun too. Happy 65th Birthday Daddy!!

Happy Birthday Raven!

Today was Raven's 13th Birthday. Ugh. She's officially a TEENAGER now. Heaven help us. For her birthday I chaperoned Raven, her sister Amber and 7 other teenage girls (Miranda, Melanie, Madelyn, McKenna, Stephanie G, Stephanie K and Taylor) on a trip to the movies to see "Where the Wild Things Are." We walked to and from the movies since there were too many of them to fit in my car. Then I took them back to Trina and Gregg's empty house to feed them pizza and sparkling cider and listen to them scream, sing, giggle and generally make noise for a few hours before Trina and Gregg got home. It really wasn't that bad. In fact, they reminded me a lot of me and my friends when we were that age. It was really quite entertaining. And I am proud to say that I didn't have to kill any of them. I can't believe Raven is a teenager now. I remember when she was in diapers. I remember the first time she told me she told me she loved me, in a soft little whisper, while she was sitting next to me in her little carseat. I remember reading her bedtime stories and doing the voices for the characters. I remember scooping her up and singing to her when she would cry. I remember her kindergarten graduation. She'll be graduating from 8th grade this year. They grow up too fast. Happy Birthday Sprout!

Disneyland with Roo

Whew! I've been so busy I haven't had time to blog at all this month! Well, let me get a little caught up. A couple weeks ago, my friend Ruby (aka Roo Bee Dee or Roo for short) and I went to Disneyland together to bask in the Halloweentime goodness. We've been talking about going together for a long time, as we are both annual passholders and Disney fans. I remember when we used to work together, we would write Disney quotes on her dry-erase board and quote lines from Disney movies at each other. ("More tea?") We went on Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy (I didn't care for it - the "ghost" thing was icky and the sub-par projection effects didn't go unnoticed by Roo, a talented Media Artist), the Haunted Mansion Nightmare Before Christmas, as well as many other of our favorite attractions. In a "weird but true" coincidence, when we went on the Winnie the Pooh ride, guess which honeycomb we ended up riding? That's right, we got the honeycomb named Roo. How cool is that? The highlight of my day had to be sharing Toy Story Mania with Roo. I showed her all the secrets I have learned over the past few months of playing and together we both set personal bests on our scores: Roo got over 158K and I got over 209K. We went on it 3 times. I think I created another TSM addict LOL. Roo also showed me her 2 favorite dining spots, so I now have 2 more places to eat at the Disney Resort that are inexpensive, air conditioned and not crowded. We closed out the night by watching the Halloweentime Fireworks display and seeing Zero fly over Sleeping Beauty Castle, then heading off to enjoy a late dinner. We will definitely do it again very soon!

Happy Birthday Daniel

Yesterday was Daniel's birthday. We spent the day at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure (of course) where we FINALLY unlocked the Hidden Monster in the Alien Room on our favorite ride Toy Story Mania. We've now unlocked all the secret points on that ride. Next stop: high score of the month. I also got a chance to show him the Nightmare Before Christmas seasonal revision to Haunted Mansion and all of the new hidden Disney characters on Its A Small World. Lara and Jim joined us for dinner and then we, along with Jim's nieces, enjoyed the rest of the evening taking advantage of shorter lines at DCA before calling it a night after being there a total of 13 hours in 90+ degree humid heat. We both agree yesterday was fun, but we are both feeling it today. But he's 34 (aka old) so he has an excuse. Happy Birthday Daniel!

RIP Draco

When Raven's cat Draco didn't come home last night, we all figured he had just found himself a girlfriend and that he'd be back. Sadly, earlier this evening, while driving down one of the side streets around the corner from their house, Trina and Gregg found Draco's body along the side of the street. Earlier this year, Draco had survived being run over by a motorcycle. This time he was not so fortunate. It was decided that Draco's remains would be cremated and disposed of by the Humane Society and that Raven and Amber could make a memorial stone for the backyard. Of all the cats in their house, Draco was the "brat" which made him my favorite, as I have always believed that "evil kitties need love too", but he was also Raven's cat, so he had a special place in her heart out of the cats in the house. We are all very saddened by his death. Rest in Peace, Little Buddy. We will miss you.

Fall is finally HERE!

The Dorkanese Word of the Day: Squinchy (skwin-chee): Adjective: 1. Something that is both squishy and sticky in texture. Example: I heard Lucky making that weird noise in the middle of the night again and this morning when I put my feet on the floor, I stepped in something squinchy and I knew instantly that the noise was him yacking up a furball near my bed.

OK, so I know the Autumnal Equinox hasn't occurred yet, but today showed 2 great signs of Fall: 1. I was able to wear jeans (and not shorts) out into the world today (and it was a good thing too because there was a crisp in the air when I got out of class this evening) and 2. the first week of the regular season of football started, with wins by both of my teams (the 49ers on Sunday and the Chargers tonight) to start the season off on a good note.
Sometime this week I am going to go out and look at Halloween costumes (I already have one picked out online, but ya never know, I've changed my mind before) and next Friday Disneyland puts out their Halloween stuff. The thought alone makes me smile.
Cooler weather, football and Halloween. I love Fall.

Fondueness and Kabobness

Saturday was our Fondue Feast. Trina, Gregg, Amber, Raven and I are big fans of fondue. The problem is that, whether you go to The Melting Pot or if you do it yourself, a full 3 course fondue is pricey, labor intensive and requires a lot of planning, so to us its a very rare and special occasion if we are having fondue. We've learned the hard way that doing it for a huge group of strangers sucks all the fun out of it. We decided then that fondue had to be a labor of love (because of the work involved, if you do it for just anyone, you begin to feel like an unappreciated slave) and it is best shared by no more than us and maybe a special guest or two. Back in April, on a day when I was in need of some cheering up, Gregg and Trina surprised me by going out and getting the stuff for Chocolate Fondue and watching funny movies with me, and I felt very special. Every culture and clan has a special way that they express love through food. Fondue is ours.

Tuesday was grocery day (Trina and I spent an hour at Vons buying all that we didn't already have on hand), Thursday was a prep day and then final prep was Saturday morning, after I finished cleaning my house. For Fondue Feast days we do a 3 course fondue: a cheese fondue course, a meat fondue course and a dessert fondue course. We have it down to a science, but it still takes 3 people a few hours each worth of work to get everything for a meal that size ready. Everyone has a job. Trina is Queen of the Cutting Board. She chops, dices, minces, mashes, softens, grates and cubes all the fresh herbs, the veggies, the fruit, the cheeses, the butter and the meats that go into the marinades, sauces and broths. Since this is a lot of work, I help out by cutting up the bread and cake. Gregg is Baron of Broths. He's the guy who handles what's cooking in the pot for each course. He combines, mixes, cooks and (for dessert) lights on fire all that which we dip our goodies in. And then there's me: Mistress of Marinades and Dipping Sauces. I make all of the marinades for the meat and the dipping sauces to accompany them. For this particular feast, we did 4 different marinades (one was a double order, for a total of 5 pounds of meat) and 3 dipping sauces. This may sound easy, but it is not. Some of the marinades are more than just combining the ingredients in a bowl. For example, the Balsamic marinade (which we did a double order of on 2 pounds of Filet Minion) is actually a chilled reduction used as a marinade. In the time it takes just to reduce the vinegar, I can make another marinade. Raven is Helpie Helperton, or the Savory Slave. She runs ingredients back and forth between me (in the kitchen) and Trina (in the living room) and she pulls spices and other ingredients from different locations as well as procuring and labeling containers. Unfortunately, she was in school during Thursday's prep day (when we did the marinades and sauces) so she did not get to help as much as she normally would.

Our first course, the cheese course, had a cheese broth made of Fontina and Provolone Cheeses, Spinach, Shallots, Artichoke Hearts and Vegetable and Chicken Broths (among other things). For dipping, we had French Bread, Baby Carrots, Broccoli (some of it fresh from Trina's garden!) and Apples. Our second course, the meat course, had a Coq a Vin broth made with Burgundy wine, Vegetable Broth and an array of fresh herbs, spices and minced veggies. For dipping, we had 2 pounds of Filet Minon in a Balsamic Marinade, 1 pound of Chicken in a Rosemary Mustard Marinade, 1 pound of Chicken in a Caribbean Jerk Marinade and 1 pound of Shrimp in a Cilantro Lime Marinade. You cook the meat, one or two pieces at a time, for 2 minutes in the Coq a Vin broth, and then you can dip your cooked meat in either the Herb Butter Sauce (which we did cold this time instead of melted and it came out much better), the Island Sauce or the Green Goddess Sauce. We also put cored mushrooms in the Coq a Vin broth to cook and then stuff the cored out centers with Green Goddess or Herb Butter (or both) depending on your taste. We've done other sauces and marinades before, but for todays' feast, since I was hosting, the sauces and marinades we did were my personal favorites that I hand selected to go together. With the Balsamic Filet and the Rosemary Mustard Chicken I like the Green Goddess Sauce, and with the Caribbean Jerk Chicken and the Cilantro Lime Shrimp I like the Island Sauce. The Herb Butter I did because some people don't like the Island Sauce as much on the Shrimp, but this time Trina discovered that the Herb Butter also works well with the mushrooms (not to mention the fact that we both snuck some "to test" with the bread while I was cutting it up on Thursday), so the Herb Butter Sauce has now become a favorite of mine as well. Part of the fun of the meat course is mixing different marinades with different sauces to see what combinations you like best. I was happy that everyone enjoyed the pairings I selected and made for our feast.
For desset, we usually do a Banana's Foster dessert fondue broth, but I thought chocolate would be a nice change of pace, so we did a Flaming Turtle. It is basically chocolate, caramel, heavy cream and rum, lit on fire. The kids love it when Gregg lights the mixture on fire. For dippers we used Strawberries, Bananas, Pound Cake and Strawberry Flavored Marshmellows. Problem is, we were all so stuffed from the first 2 courses (we pushed ourselves to eat a little more than normal) that we barely touched dessert, so we boxed up everything, including the chocolate mixture, to refridgerate for a later date. Dessert is pretty much the only part of fondue you can do that with. For leftovers from the meat course, there is Kabob Night.

Tonight was Kabob night. Kabob night is great too because you really get to enjoy the marinades of the meats. Gregg's Mom invited us over to barbeque steak, so we brought our leftover meat to make kabobs to go with the streaks, since we had so much leftover this time. We brought the Green Goddess Sauce to go with the steaks and the Island Sauce to go with the Cilantro Lime Shrimp and Caribbean Jerk Chicken kabobs. The Balsamic Filet Minion and the Mustand Rosemary Chicken do great on their own as kabobs. Trina also had the great idea of using some of the leftover Coq a Vin broth (which had reduced down quite nicely) to cook some sliced up mushrooms to top the steaks with. She still has some of the reduction left at the house that I want to try either on some pork medallions or some salmon filets. Trina wants to roast a whole chicken with some veggies in it. I can't wait to see how they turn out.

Another Movie Night with Leigh and Jonie

We've decided to do Movie Night at least 1 Sunday per month. Last time as you may recall we did Kevin Spacey movies. Tonight, the only common theme we could find was that each movie we watched had a Baldwin in it as a supporting character, so tonight was "Hey, there's a Baldwin in that" night. I threw down my usual spread from Trader Joe's (hummus, pita chips, a salami and cheese tray, crackers, tortilla chips, salsa, some kind of cookie, sparkling berry lemonade, sparkling blueberry juice and sparkling apple juice) and Jonie brought over the 2 movies: "The Usual Suspects" and "The Departed". Jonie and Leigh had never seen "The Departed" so we watched that first, then we watched "The Usual Suspects" which I had never seen, but I knew how it ended. Both have great plot twists and surprises at the end. Afterward, I took both of them out for a quick catfood run in my new car. It was fun and I can't wait for the next movie night. We now have a list of movies that we have lined up for subsequent movie nights, including groups of movies for "Hannibal Lector" night, "Romantic Comedy" night, "Val Kilmer" night and, of course, "Edward Norton" night.

Princess Day at Disneyland

I've been wanting to take Raven and Amber to Disneyland for the longest time. Problem is, Disneyland is expensive if you don't have an annual pass. The price of admission just went up again. So you can understand that when Daniel offered to pay to take the girls with us to Disneyland, how could I say no? Plus the look on their faces when I told them he was taking us there was priceless. They were sooo excited.
Because the older one is almost 13 and the younger one just turned 6, I was worried that they would not want to do anything together, but Amber was a big brave girl and went on big girl rides like Big Thunder Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean and Splash Mountain. Raven also consented to going on little girl rides like Peter Pan, Mr. Toad, Winnie the Pooh, the Teacups and King Arthur's Carousel. Amber sat next to Daniel every ride we went on (I can't explain it - she was his shadow all day! I felt dissed! LOL) and sat behind him and in front of me on Splash Mountain. Then, as our log is pulling away from the loading area on Splash Mountain, Amber says to me "Holly, I'm scared." Oh crap.
Oh crap!! What have I done? She said she wanted to go on this ride!! Don't panic. Gotta calm the kid down. "Its OK sweetie. Just hold onto my arms. Nothing is going to happen. I'm right here and Daniel is right in front of you. You'll be OK." With my arms wrapped around her, I can feel her tiny heart palpitating faster. I think to myself what an awful person I am. I should have known better. She did great on the other rides, she had fun, she said she liked the water slides on Pirates, but this is different. The whole ride I was holding her and telling her it was going to be OK, trying to pretend that a 52.5 foot drop wasn't in our near future. Every little drop we went down made her heart speed up. Then, as we hit the ascent of the last drop, and the scary music plays, she starts to cry. "Just hold onto me and shut your eyes and it will be OK. I've got you." Daniel turns around and sees her little face. There is nothing we can do at this point, about her, about the 52.5 foot drop, about anything. I squeeze her extra tight and tell her to shut her eyes and we make it down the hill (at 10 feet per second) without her puking or peeing herself. As we get off the ride, I hand her over to Daniel and she buries her soggy face into his shoulder as we head back over to ride Winnie the Pooh for a second time to cheer her up. This time, and only this time, she sits with me. As we walk back past Splash Mountain, she won't even look at it. She is sooo done with that ride. But at least she stopped crying.
Daniel was Mr. Awesome for a day. He took care of everything. While the girls and I were taking a bathroom break, he got drinks and my mango slices. While we were in line for Peter Pan he ran and got Princess Mouse Ears for Amber. On the way out he got Raven a Tinkerbell picture holder (not a frame, a picture holder, its like a stand with a stick on it for the photo). He bought lunch and oh yeah, did I mention the girls' tickets? He was also our photographer for the day, which is hard when a certain teenager won't pose for pictures unless I make her. They got into a photo war in the car on the way home (Raven's Nintendo DS takes pictures). And what was his reward for his efforts? Being subjected to random tickle attacks from the Princesses and I while waiting in line. We ganged up on him all at once. Dude didn't have a chance. Raven accidentally clawed up his neck during one of these attacks. Then the 3 of them were joking around and all tried stepping on each other and he got kicked by both of them. I can't remember why but Raven inadvertantly smacked him at one point while joking around with him. LOL poor guy.
There was a moment on the drive home when all 3 of them fell asleep. I was so bummed I couldn't take pictures because I was driving. They were all so cute. Daniel ended up waking up first and getting pictures of the other 2 for me. Then he got a shot of Raven waking up and declared himself the winner of the photo war. Raven protested. I smell a rematch.

Happy Birthday Trina!!

Today (well, yesterday, at this point, technically) was Trina's 31st birthday. We celebrated with Vince's Spaghetti and renting Watchmen. The spaghetti was awesome as always, the movie, not so much. Heather was right, it was nerd porn. But I still enjoyed getting to spend her birthday with her. She is one of my closest friends and for some reason she puts up with me LOL Happy Birthday T!!

What do you suppose this means?

The Dorkanese Word of the Day: Woggie (wah-gee): Noun: 1. Cute little dog. Example: My friend and I saw the cutest little woggie in the pet store today that looked just like his woggie, only this one was a girl and his is a boy. 2. Any dog that likes me or that I like. Example: Hershey may be stinky, but he is my big stinky woggie.

Lately I've been having weird dreams in which my stuff (not just any stuff, but my favorite stuff) gets lost of damaged. A few nights ago I had a dream that I was at Disney World in Florida. I've never been so I have no clue what it looks like. Anyway, in the dream they had opened up a new Disney Dream Suite (supposedly Alice in Wonderland themed so I had to see it) and it was on a island in the middle of some kind of lake. The only way to get to the island was to float over on a pool floatie (you know, like the kind you can rent at hotel pools, the kind you lay on that might have a cup holder, but other than that, not much else) and I am pessimistic but I get on anyway. I take out my phone to text someone and I drop my phone into the black, murky water. Anyone who knows me well knows how attached I am to my phone. Just imagine the freak out I would have in real life. All my phone numbers, all my appointments, my class schedule, my workout schedule, everyone's birthdays, my photos, my videos, my ringtones...sinking into the abyss.

Then yesterday during a nap at my Dad's I dreamed that someone had a tall ladder leaning against the townhome balcony across from where Pepper, my brand new car, is parked. Some hood rat (in the dream its a hood rat, even though no hood rats live anywhere near my Dad, or at least that I've seen) knocks the ladder over and scratches up Pepper's trunk. Then the hood rat tries to flee and I have to chase her down and threaten her to get her to call her insurance company. I woke up wondering if auto insurance covers "Acts of Ladder" or if I have "Hood Rat Coverage" on my policy. And no, Leigh and Jonie, before you ask, it wasn't THAT hood rat, it was someone I didn't know.

There are obvious similarities in both dreams, but what the heck does it mean? What's next? I'm gonna dream that something bad happens to my laptop. *shudders* I don't even want to think about that.

Happy Birthday Gregg!!

Today Trina, Gregg, Raven, Amber and I celebrated Gregg's birthday with sushi and homemade ice cream. He is 35 today. He is one of the coolest guys I know. He is a good husband to one of my best friends, a great stepdad to my stepdaughter Raven and her sister Amber, and he is an awesome friend to me. Happy Birthday Gregg!!

Introducing Pepper, my NEW CAR :-)

The Dorkanese Phrase of the Day: Feline Water Boarding: As a last resort when Lucky is being a brat (like scratching on the door and not letting me sleep or attacking me so no reason) I will hold him down in a standing position by the scruff on his neck and dump water down his body from his ears to his tail.

It's not that I didn't love my old car, a 2002 Kia Sportage (named Pretty Girl) its that, well, she was old, she got 16 MPG city (on a good day) and in the last few months she has needed 4 new tires, a new timing chain, a new battery and a new alternator. Still, I would have kept her a bit longer, but then when they started doing the Cash for Clunkers thing, Dad started talking about "maybe you should get a new car." We looked online at 2 models : the Kia Soul and the Nissan Versa, both of which my Dad had seen either on person or on TV and liked.
Then yesterday morning, while I was at the gym, my Dad just happened to go by the Hyundai lot and took a look at a 2009 Elantra SE (not the base model, the GLS, and not the super-nice hatchback, the Touring, but the middle "trim" package) and when he came home he told me we may be going to look at it later, if the dealer calls him back with "the right answer." Of course the car is a metallic "chili-pepper" red. Dad always points out red cars when we are car shopping. As if the car being my favorite color is some kind of deal breaker (in his mind, since I'm a girl, that must be all that matters, right? LOL)
After much haggling with the dealer and battling with the DMV (FYI if you plan on doing the Cash for Clunkers thing, bring 2 things: 1. The policy letter from your auto insurance company that gives a summary of what kind of coverage you have on the car and how many years you've had the coverage and 2. enough proof of registration certificates to prove you have owned the car for the last 12 consequetive months, because if you don't have them, you get to be on the phone with the DMV and your insurance company at the car lot like we were) Dad gave me the OK to start taking my stuff out of Pretty Girl and putting it into Pepper (so named because of her paint color.) While in the process, I found 13 cents in Pretty Girl. When I test drove Pepper, I brought her back with 12 miles on the odometer, so I thought the 13 cents I found was a lucky sign (12 miles and 1 to grow on) so I put the change from Pretty Girl in Pepper's ashtray. Once I finished putting all the random stuff I had in Pretty Girl (my fondue pot, my beach bag, some CD's, some books, etc) into Pepper's trunk, I said "Goodbye and thank you" to Pretty Girl, then pulled Pepper up to the front of the dealership and got Dad and drove away. I felt happy and sad at the same time. Pretty Girl has seen me through getting my AS degree, the end of my marriage, two jobs, driven around who knows how many friends and been there after dates and witnessed many a good night kiss over the almost 5 years I had her. That car was there for what has been a big transitional part of my life, and now her engine is going to be filled up with sand (that's what the dealer said they do to make sure the "Clunkers" aren't resold) and she will never drive again. She got me this far. But now, as I start at a new school and another new chapter in my life, I am fortunate enough to have this new car, with shiny paint, updated features (it has a hookup for my iPod and XM satellite radio free for 3 months) and best of all, it gets between 26 and 33 MPG, so I will be making less trips to the gas station.
Today Gregg got to be the first passenger and I played with the XM Radio a little bit. I found a 90's station right away that was playing "What Is Love" on it, and we drove down the street bobbing our heads like dorks while on our way to pick up Raven from a friend's house. Raven got to be the first in the back seat and she liked how much more room she had. Trina and I went on a couple runs to the store in it later and basked in the tornado-like AC. I can't wait to take it on a nice long drive on the freeway and really spend some time in it. I'm really starting to like my car. I especially like the fact that Dad paid cash, so no car payment. She's 100% mine and I am so grateful.

Happy Birthday Brian!!

Happy Birthday to my Big Brother Brian Harvey Chandler! Your annoying Little Sister loves you very much!

Exploring the Gold Coast and Croc Hunting with the Princesses

The Dorkanese Phrase of the Day: "Why don't I...place this on your table?": 1. Adapted from the Terminex commercial (in which a giant bug brings pizza to the door trying to gain entry into a house), meaning "I'm ordering us a pizza."

Yesterday I had Trina, Gregg, Raven and Amber over to my Dad's for a pool party. Amber is 6 now, so Trina lets her dress herself. I remember being that age and thinking of getting dressed as more of "What do I want to be today?" rather than covering my nudity in fabric. You'll note from the picture that on this particular day, Amber was wearing a prom/figure skater dress, so I asked her if she knew we were going swimming and not ice skating and she looked up at me and said "I brought my swimsuit."
We went swimming and I introduced the kids to a make-believe game that my friend Vivan and I used to play in the pool when we were kids. It was called "The Guided Tour" and it involves one person getting in the inner tube while the other one drags them around the pool and pretends to give them a tour of some famous body of water, complete with "rapids" and "water animals". Vivan and I used to use the inflattable croc and inflattable Shamu my parents bought us, but in this instance, whoever wasn't in the inner tube (only Amber would fit in it) and whoever wasn't being the tour guide (I do the voices, I pick the body of water, hence I am always the tour guide) played the part of the "animals" attacking our "boat." While exploring the Gold Coast off the shores of Southern Austrailia (I was doing my very best Steve Irvin impression as Tour Guide) I got attacked by killer jellyfish (3, to be precise) and Amber had to save herself. When I did a tour of the sea floor off the coast of France (doing my very best Jacque Cousteau, you know "Here zee ocean iz teaming wiss life", that sort of thing) Raven recognized the accent from when I used to do this same bit with her bath toys when she was small. She's 12 now. They get big too fast!
After the pool we enjoyed Petrillo's Pizza and watched Shrek the 3rd. Then, as is the custom when the girls come over to my Dad's (whether he is home or not) the "Princesses" got to enjoy ice cream out of the "Special Princess Glasses" (which are really just hand-blown colored wine glasses from Romania.) My Dad started this when Raven was little and carried it over to Amber the first time she came over. He really adores them both. Kinda gives you a window into how good I had it as a kid, huh? Yep. And I'm still a Princess, at least to him anyway.
After a fun afternoon of sweets and swimming, we went croc hunting. Literally. We went hunting for Crocs. There is supposed to be a store in Fontana off of Sierra, but its not there anymore, so we ventured into a store none of us had been to yet: Bass Pro Shop "Outdoor World". Dude. Seriously. And I'm not a hunter or a fisherman or much of a camper anymore, but DUDE! That place is awesome. Lots of fun stuff to play with and look at. Kinda makes you want to go camping just so you can go in there and shop. They did have the Crocs I wanted (yes, they make Crocs now that I will wear, that look like regular shoes) but they were $40. Maybe in a week when I get my next check I will go back for them.

Grrr!! (OWWWW!!!!)

The Dorkanese Word of the Day: Nerdsicle (nerd-sik-ul): Noun: A combination of the words "nerd" and "Popsicle" meaning a nerd who is cold even when those around him are comfortable or even warm. Example: The Nerdsicle wore a long-sleeved shirt and jeans to Disneyland while everyone else wore shorts.

Today was my first day of weight training since the end of January. I must say I did better than I expected. I stretched. I did a high impact warm-up. I was ready to rock. I was able to do all of the stuff I could do before, even some stuff I didn't think I could do (you should have seen my face when I actually did 10 knee-ups), I remembered how to breathe (oh yes, there is a specific way to breathe while lifting weights), I remembered proper form (so very important or you can hurt yourself) and most importantly I didn't run out of steam. I did upper AND lower body today, as well as abs. I even finished my cardio after I did weights, which I was worried I may have been too tired to do. In truth, with about 13 minutes left I thought about getting off the treadmill, but I sucked it up and finished. I also ate good things today: lean meat, complex carbs, veggies, fruit, which is good given the fact that I'm in full blown food craving mode right now AND there is cake and ice cream at my Dad's house. So that's the Grrr!! of my day.
But there is a drawback. Just like with any other deeply physical activity, if you haven't done it in a while, your body will let you know the next day. And that's where the OWWWW!!!! comes in. I feel fine right now, but tomorrow morning, I'm gonna be limping around like an old person, and there is nothing I can do about that. Thankfully my plans tomorrow involve some good friends and a jacuzzi, after my morning cardio (I'm at it 30 minutes a day this time, instead of an hour 3 times a week) of course. But Thursday morning, its back to the gym for more work.

Movie Day with the Girls

Whew! Its a 3 post day LOL we did Friday, Saturday and now Sunday. Today Leigh, Jonie and I had planned to do Movie Day at my house. I went to Trader Joe's and bought, eh, a few things. Some hummus, some pita chips, some salsa, some tortilla chips, some cookies, some crackers, some cheese and salami, some sparkling juice...OK more than a few things. I'm a bit out of practice with the whole hostess thing. Our plans were to watch at least one movie, either "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" or "Primal Fear" or "Swimming with Sharks", but we wouldn't know for sure which ones til we all got together. I put my spread of goodies out and Jonie arrived shortly after 4pm. Leigh, who is normally punctual, was not here and not answering her phone. All we could do was call and text the crap out of her and then hope that everything was OK, then we put in "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" at around 5pm. Then we watched "Swimming with Sharks" so it was like a mini-Kevin Spacey-marathon. Since I was returning "Primal Fear" to Jonie I wasn't too sad about not watching it. All three are very good movies and I highly recommend them. Maybe next time Leigh can join us (we're both hoping everything is alright) and we can watch "Primal Fear" and "American History X" and have a mini-Edward Norton-marathon. :-)

Birthday with the Family

On Saturday my Dad took my brother Brian and I to Red Lobster for lunch to celebrate both of our birthdays. Mine was Friday, July 31st and Brian's is next Saturday, August 8th. My poor Dad. We would have gone to North Woods Inn (that's the Chandler family "special occasion restaurant) but I wanted crab legs. Brian wanted a steak. Yes, I know they serve crab legs at North Woods Inn. They also serve steak at Red Lobster. It wasn't my decision, it was Dad's. ("He who pays the check picks the restaurant.")
I got my crab legs and they were GOOD! For the last few years, since I started watching Deadliest Catch, I always wonder what boat my crab legs came off of. Maybe at some point in my life I have eaten crab that was caught by the Hillstrands on the Time Bandit, or by the Hansen brothers on the Northwestern, or by the Harris clan on the Cornelia Marie, or by the Colburns on the Wizard. Dad reminds me of how many crab boats there are in the Bering Sea, but I counter that with a reminder of how much crab I have consumed in my life (between crab legs and the sushi rolls I eat with crab in them, its A LOT) so I think my chances are pretty good.