Happy St. Patty's Day!!

My friends and I celebrated Saturday night. We went to a dinner/auction sponsored by the Knights of Columbus at the Cathedral. Then we went to a local hot spot that was featuring a "famous" DJ for a dancing party. It was so much fun! I actually didn't feel old for one whole evening! Here's the highlights:

* I bought a new dress for the event. On a lark, entered a store I never shop in and found something "young and hip." Of course it was - it was from a store the girls shop in! But what a deal - only $22.50! I stayed right on budget...

* Since the dress was so cheap, I also bought a cute little sweater and new shoes. I blew the budget...

* I was attending the dinner/auction with a good friend of mine as his "date." First stop when we got there - to Father O'Kibby's Pub (although Father was a patron, not the bartender!). Jimbo [my friend] didn't even offer to get me a drink! And they were free!! Not off to a great start. Will definitely have to give Jimbo some pointers on how to act around the ladies. No wonder he's still single!!

* Bid on [and won] ballroom dancing lessons. My whole group went in on it together... should make for an interesting blog later!

* The next party was outside, but under a tent. It had been raining all week. I won't go into the gory details - I'm sure you can picture the mess created by way too many people crammed into way too small a space. New shoes may be a casualty of the night...

* The DJ at the last party ROCKED!! It was like he went into my personal collection and played only my favorite songs that I forgot about ever loving [80's and 90's]. We danced for 3 hours straight - and hated to see it end. Didn't make for keeping my cute hair in place, but what a workout!

* The final count: general compliments - 2, compliments on my dress - 4, compliments from boys younger than me - 2!! [See, I told you I wasn't old that night!] I'd call that a successful evening all the way around!

What fun... I have the best friends! Coming soon - NKOTB in Nashville!!!

Steph's (in)famous Turkey Recipe

You will need 1 smallish frozen turkey

Day One:
1. Place turkey in refrigerator to thaw

Day Two:
2. Place turkey in cold water to thaw
3. Place turkey in warm water to speed up thawing
4. Cuss turkey while returning it to refrigerator to thaw

Day Three:
5. Run cold water over turkey to remove remaining ice
6. Chip ice away from cavity opening and pry out turkey innards
7. Bake for 2 hours - check for pop up done timer
8. Bake for 3 hours - check for pop up done timer
9. Google "Done Turkey"
10. Call Mom and learn there is no pop up done timer
11. Pierce crispy outer layer to see if juices run clear
12. Cuss juiceless turkey while putting it in refrigerator because it's 10:30 pm

Day Four:
13. Remove turkey from fridge
14. Remove turkey from congealed grease and all those clear juices that ran out of the turkey
15. Spend 1 hour making cranberry turkey wreath using less than 1/4 of turkey (legs only)
16. Place remaining turkey (breast and bone) in generic brand ziploc bag and place in freezer

Day 180:
17. Cuss freezer-burned bag of turkey
18. Realize there is no other food for dinner
19. Toss out turkey
20. Order a pizza

Family Fun Night

This year, the girls and I opted to make a different kind of New Year's resolution. We decided that we would make a collective resolution to take one night a month and make it Family Fun Night. With each year, the girls get more involved in activities, school and homework become harder, and the social activities keep mounting. We try to eat dinner together each night, and usually on the weekends we find some time to hang out and watch tv or a movie. But overall, we are very busy [who isn't] and don't make fun time together as much of a priority as it ought to be.

We decided to take turns planning the Family Fun Night. The only rules are:
1) Whoever plans it gets to pick whatever they want, and the others cannot grumble, make fun, or in any way indicate they aren't super-thrilled with the idea, and
2) The activity has to cost roughly around the same amount as a "nice" (translate: Not Fast Food) dinner out [since I am in the process of attaining some lofty financial goals and have turned into quite the miser lately, but that's another blog!]

I planned the first night - bowling. I didn't tell the girls, just picked them up from Morgan's basketball game after school and didn't drive home. True to form, Jordan never noticed that we were not headed home [for someone who is supposed to be handed the keys in a year, she sure has no sense of direction!]. Morgan, however, did [so obviously she will play Goose to Jordan's Maverick]. I told them that we were headed out for Family Fun Night, and wouldn't tell them where. So they started guessing. It was hilarious! Here's a brief account of some of the guesses they made:

- going to the mall
- roller skating
- ice skating
- going to the movies
- rock climbing (seriously, and it was like 8 at night!)

Anyways when we got close to the bowling alley, I missed the turn. The very next intersection just happened to have a bus rental on the corner, so I thought, "Perfect!" and pulled in there to turn around. I said, "Girls, we are renting a bus." They sat stunned, not quite sure what to make of this, as I turned around and said, "Just kidding!" I'm not sure if they were relived or disappointed. Maybe that's a thought for another Family Fun Night (wait, that definitely costs more than a dinner out!).

We got to the bowling alley only to discover that there was an hour wait to get a lane. It was Friday night, but really, who knew so many people still went bowling! We decided to try our luck at another alley - in a somewhat shady neighborhood that they are trying to renovate. I was a little worried, and told the girls if it was sketchy at all, we would have to change our plans and have a Guitar Hero, Karioke, DDR marathon at home!

To my great relief, the bowling alley was newly renovated, clean, well-lit, and smoke-free. In fact everyone there looked just like us (not that I don't value diversity and all, but...). We were doubly pleased because it also happened to be Cosmic bowling! The music was fun, the neon black-light effects were fun, we were set for a great time.

We played two rounds. I won both (which isn't saying much since my "high" score was maybe 78!). Jordan was the biggest loser only scoring 18 in one of her games! Of course, we spent just as much time trying to get the perfect photos for my scrapbook, picking out the lightest, most colorful balls, and slurping on Icees, so we weren't disappointed in our scores.

Overall, we had a really great time. The girls didn't even text (ok, maybe they did just a little!) or mind that they had "given up" a Friday night for Family Fun Night! A new tradition is born!!

**Morgan gets to plan next month's and I think she is picking ice-skating...I better do some ankle exercises if I hope to stand a chance!

Christmas Wishes (Take 2!)

Ok folks - you should be able to open and view my stupendous scrapblog now!

Scary Skype

This is a quick warning email to all of those who use Skype. BE SURE TO ENABLE ALL YOUR SECURITY SETTINGS!!!!!!!!! So, here's the story:

It was Tuesday night. The girls and I were watching the election and I was trying to download some pictures from my camera. It wasn't working and I was really distracted when I realized that I was getting a call on Skype. For those of you who don't know, Skype is a free application that allows you to video chat with other Skype members. My family started using it about a year ago to talk with each other as we were all in different locations. It's really neat, because you can actually see each other on your computers. And as mom says, it gives her the "fix" she needs to not miss us all so much.

This summer, my mom got a new laptop and I inherited her old one. I have not used Skype since I got the laptop, so all the settings/logins/profile information was still set to my mom's account. When I saw that I had a call, I thought I should answer it as it was probably one of my mom's friends/contacts. Actually, I didn't even know I was signed in to Skype, but apparently my mom had set it to sign her in when she logs on to her computer. Anyways, I didn't recognize the name (Tom Brady's Brother) although I am sure everyone else would have seen that as a red flag. So, I'm telling the girls to turn the tv volume down and Morgan comes to see who is calling. Yes, we lead very boring lives, so this was sort of exciting!

For some instinctive reason, I turned my computer slightly away from me so that when I opened the application my video would not automatically be shown to this "stranger." I mean, come on, I'm aware of internet safety protocol, right?? Anyways, the guy starts talking, asking if we are home, etc... I told him, I think you have the wrong number, to which he responds Why do you think that? At this point, I click to open the video, and there it is. A full screen of his naked penis, which he promptly begins to fondle, telling me he does not have the wrong number! Remember that Morgan is standing over me, watching, right? So she runs away and gives a little yell. I, too, start freaking out and try to close the window and end the call. Well, you know how computers are... it's not like it immediately went away!!!!!!!!!!!! I was absolutely stunned. And I felt totally violated. This wasn't a random pornographic email. This was much more personal. No, he didn't really know me, and thank God he didn't get to see me (and my 12 year old), but Skype is live - and he was talking to me!!

I immediately went to the Skype website to report him and discovered that there are tons of security settings which allow you to only accept calls from your contacts (which, of course, Tom Brady's Brother is not one!). Apparently, my mom had simply downloaded the application and left all the default settings. So she was accepting calls from anyone, all her profile information was hanging out there, etc... I did take care of changing it all to be secure, but I am still reeling from it. My poor child is probably scarred for life - I know I am and I've seen a real penis before!

So, if you use Skype, please be sure you have set all your securities. So much for my naive "everyone's good, nothing bad will really happen" attitude. Those pervs are out there trolling the net looking for innocent victims. I really wanted to send him a message telling him off and how he was such a perverted freak, but decided that would only enhance his experience... Seriously, can't these people get a job?!?!

I have attached a photo of what Morgan and I saw so you can feel like you were there too. Scroll down to see it:





















What? You didn't think I was a sick perv, too, did you?

And a little movie so you can feel like you were there, too!

The original blog actually starts 3 entries down...

A Few More Pics...