Angela's Blog O' Fun

Well, I decided to give in to peer pressure and check out Facebook. I tried MySpace and I'm not a huge fan. Some of my friends' pages take forever to load. especially if there are lots of graphics and/ore music or videos.

So far, I like Facebook much better. It is very easy to use. You can upload your photos and sort them into albums. You can also upload your own videos. Within about 30 minutes, I was able to set up my profile, add some pictures, and find lots of friends. I was amazed to find people I went to high school and college with, people from church, coworkers, and old family friends.

Facebook also has lots of little features you can add - little games and quizzes. You can join groups - find people who have similar interests, alumni, all sorts of things like that. You can even locate friends by their email addresses from your address book.

Give it a try, and look me up while you're there!

There is a reason why they don't normally make people get one of these before the age of 50. And if someone tells you, "It's not that bad," they are making a bald-faced lie. First of all, you can't eat anything except broth and clear liquids for the entire day before. This doesn't sound so bad, except that foods in your house start calling your name. If I could just add a few crackers to my broth it wouldn't be so bad...

A few hours later, when your stomach is registering on the Richter scale, the fun REALLY begins. There are a few different bowel preps. The particular torture my doctor prescribed involves drinking a gallon of salt water sludge. They give you four flavor packets so you can choose your flavor. (Note: Even if you add all four packets, it will not improve the flavor.)

The directions tell you to drink 8 ounces every 10 minutes until your jug o' fun is empty. The first glass is actually not too bad. By the second glass, your mouth and nose know what's coming and they are not happy about it. After glass six, even holding your nose shut seems futile and it gets difficult to swallow due to all the salty residue in your throat.

After about an hour, more fun begins with bowel movements. In the wise advice of my dear old dad, "Stay close to the toilet, and don't even think about farting." This really is good advice. But it is a challenge to keep drinking every 10 minutes while you are in the bathroom all the time. It takes several hours to drink the whole gallon, and the colorful eliminations continue for several hours beyond your last drink. In all likelihood, you will be done going to the bathroom about 5 minutes before your alarm goes off to get up to get to your colonoscopy on time.

The actual procedure is not that bad. (This part of the lie is true.) You will see some weird looking instruments and probably wonder where they will be putting it, but you won't remember any of that. Make sure you have a responsible adult to drive you home and don't make any important decisions the rest of the day.

And just when you think the "fun" is over, the bill arrives...

I just finished an excellent book called The Day the World Came to Town by Jim DeFede. This is actually a nonfiction book and I don't read very many of these, but this one is very good. On 9/11 when U.S. airspace was shut down, 38 planes were forced to land in Gander, Newfoundland. This small town with a population of barely 10,000 people, suddenly was faced with taking care of 6,595 displaced passengers. On a day filled with so much tragedy and sadness, this book shows strength and compassion. It would be a wonderful book club book. The chapters are short with lots of breaks, so there are lots of stopping points - or you might find yourself thinking, "I'll read just a little bit more..."

Please take the time to read this book, and if you do, let me know what you think!

Labels: book review

Look how long Ellie's hair is getting!




Here's Ellie pointing!




Before....




Mmmm...Cake!

Happy 1st Birthday, Eleanor!

greetings!
I've been doing some searching to find info about local farmers markets. I found this great site which lists all of the farmers markets in the state of Wisconsin, organized by city. It lists the location and hours. I'm excited to check some of them out! Let me know if you have a favorite!

Ellie loves to smile and show off her teeth. She also wrinkles up her nose, which is really cute.

Everyone has friends and family who can offer special "perks." I can think of three that I have:
1 - I can get some medicines at a discount, like tylenol or triple paste (great for diaper rash)
2 - I can get you into the zoo for free (but you have to bring me with) for a limited time...
3 - I can get into the Betty Brinn Museum with up to 3 other people as a new perk!

I went to the zoo twice recently - once to pet the sharks and sting rays in the new exhibit, and once for a work picnic. We pet and fed the goats. This one was my favorite because you could see his teeth when he smiled.


We saw a girl cow with horns,














And a not-so-shy beautiful tiger.








I also got to spend a day with my friends Amy and Andrew. (Joe was not sick enough to get out of work. ) We went to the Betty Brinn Museum downtown. This was my first trip there, but Andrew knew his way around like a pro!














He scooped sand, slid down the slide, and made beautiful melodies on the "wall o' pots." He also had fun with the lawnmowers. I had a lot of fun too! I hope I can go back again - but I should probably go with kids so I don't look silly. We walked down to the lakefront to enjoy the beautiful weather. Amy made a yummy lunch complete with homemade quesadillas and strawberry pie for dessert. When can we play again?

Anyone see the Friends episode where Joey is auditioning for a commercial? All he has to say is "Mmm...soup!" but he can't manage to get the right words out. Well, that just makes me think of one of my favorite foods - hence the title - mmm...rhubarb.


Believe it or not, rhubarb is actually a vegetable, even though it kinda tastes like a fruit. It's also an Asian plant in the buckwheat family. Rhubarb is rich in vitamin C and dietary fiber.

The leaves of the plant are poisonous so don't eat them! They contain oxalic acid which can cause your tounge and throat to swell up and make breathing a bit tricky.

The edible stalks are called petioles and grow up to 18 inches long. They can be cut and used in pies, jams, jellies, sauces, wine and juice.

I found a Taste of Home website with a whole bunch of rhubarb recipes, including punch, pork chops, coconut bread pudding and even cod with rhubarb sauce. I haven't tried any of those, but I did make some yummy strawberry rhubarb freezer jam. Yum! I also made a strawberry rhubarb cake that was super easy.

4 cups sliced fresh or frozen rhubarb
1 pkg (3 ounces) raspberry gelatin (I used strawberry because I'm allergic to raspberries.)
1/3 cup sugar
1 pkg (18 ounce) yellow or white cake mix
1 cup water
1/3 cup butter (melted)
ice cream (optional)

Place rhubarb in a greased 9 x 13 cake pan. Sprinkle with the dry gelatin powder, sugar, and dry cake mix. Pour water evenly over dry ingredients. Drizzle with melted butter. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until rhubarb is tender. Serve with ice cream if desired. (Who doesn't like ice cream?)

It's pretty easy and very yummy. I don't think I've ever seen frozen rhubarb, but if you decide to use that, the editors recommend measuring it while frozen, then letting it thaw in a colander, but don't squeeze out the juices.

What's your favorite thing to make with rhubarb?

Well, I realize I haven't written for awhile. This picture is so cute that I had to share! Isn't she adorable? And only 3 more days untill I get to see Ellie in person (and Adrienne and Alex too).

We were having a friendly family dispute about labels on ground beef/chuck/sirloin. So I did a little reseach and here is what I found out:

Ground beef is beef muscle (not organ meat) that is ground or very finely chopped. The part that the muscle comes from dtermines the flavor, texture, and to some degree, the fat content. Some ground beef is labeled by cut (chuck, sirloin, or round) while some is labeled by the percent fat or percent lean.

By law, the maximum fat content in any ground beef is 30% (70% lean). Ground chuck is usually the highest in fat content (about 20%) while round is usually the lowest (about 11%). However, the cut is not necessarily and indication of leanness. By law, all packaged ground beef can have fat added to it, as long as the label says how much. A package labeled "80% lean ground sirloin" contains 20% fat, which is about 5% more than ground sirloin naturally comes.

So your best bet is to closely read the fat content listed on the package, or another option is to pick a whole piece of meat and have it cut or ground for you!

(Information from Cooking Light.)

"An epic tale of fathers and sons, of friendship and betrayal, that takes us from the final days of Afghanistan's monarchy to the atrocities of the present."

My dad suggested this book and now I'm recommending it to you. This book came in 3rd for best sellers in 2005 and was voted 2006's reading group book of the year. Also, for those of you who have read the book, movie is scheduled to be released in November of 2007! (pretty exciting, eh?)

The book tells a story that quickly captures your attention. It's not a history-ish book, even though you will learn some history and it's not a cultury-ish book, even though you will learn a bit about life in Afghanistan. Reading this book is like a having a great teacher where you learn a lot of stuff without realizing - it doesn't seem like work. There will be some characters you can relate to - like someone who is stubborn and doesn't want to go to the doctor (oh, do you know someone like that too?) There are surprises and laughs and things that will turn your stomach. It's like riding a roller coster at Six Flag's without paying $50 and without the puking.

Really, this is a fantastic book. It's very easy to read (but hard to put down). So finish looking at Ellie's pictures and head to your library or book store and read it. But hey, you don't have to take MY word for it!

So today I called my bank. I was a bit concerned because my check card is expiring and I haven't gotten a new one yet. As it turns out, the bank automatically sends out new check cards but here's the kicker. The company that makes the cards ran out of plastic! Or, well, at least that's what they told me. Can you believe it? While I wait for my new card, I'll have to resort to the ancient method of carrying. a checkbook...

I'm not sure what (or who) she's looking at, but this picture cracks me up!

Here are some pictures from Christmas and New Years. Isn't she cute?

Well, I have to go all the way back to Thanksgiving. These are pictures from Ellie's first trip to Wisconsin. It was so fun to meet her and hold her - we didn't fight over her too much!

Well, I haven't blogged for awhile but I have a good reason. For those of you who haven't heard, on Dec 1st, my dad was involved in a hunting accident. He was coming down from the tree with a climbing tree stand at about 4:00 pm and one of the straps broke. He got stuck upside down for 19 hours. The next morning my mom called the police department up north and they sent someone to look for my dad. At about 11:00 am, they found him, got him down and took him to a nearby hospital. They couldn't treat him there, so he went by helicopter to Duluth, MN where he had many surgeries. Most of the damage was to his legs from frostbite and lack of circulation. After about 3 weeks, we arranged to have him transported by ambulance to a hospital closer to home. Yesterday, after 47 days in the hospital, he came home. He still has lots of wounds and will need physical therapy, but we are very happy he is alive and doing so well. If you would like other details, please send me an email and I would be happy to fill you in.

So forgive me for not blogging. My dad has lots of stories about his experience as well as his hospital stay. He had the nurses convinced that he had to have the blinds open at 8 am every morning so he could watch a lady in the nearby building do her morning exercises in her sports bra. We found out very quickly which staff members were very gullible and the others that understood his sense of humor were often in stitches. Needless to say, our family no longer uses the expressions "out of the woods" or "just hanging around." :)

Have you seen the new show 1 vs 100? It's very fun and exciting - a bit faster pace than Deal or No Deal, but not quite as funny as Takeshi's Castle, but that's a whole other blog post. I really like this show so far. It's trivia with a twist. The questions are worded cleverly.

For example, "If you snuck into your neighbor's garden and took a leek, would it be?"
A) an onion-like vegetable B) a broccoli-like vegetable C) a tomato-like vegetable

The contestant is up against 100 members of "the mob" which sometimes include trekkies, beauty pageants, wrestlers, teachers, nuns, or Ken Jennings, the Mormon Jeopardy champion. (What do you think he'll do with all that money, anyways?) Sorry, tangent.

For each question the contestant gets correct, they earn money for every mob member that gets it wrong. The first question is worth $100, the second is worth $250, then $500, $1000, $1500, $2000, $3000 and so on. They can win $1,00,000 if they eliminate every member of the mob.

Each contestant is also allowed 2 "helps." For the first help, they select one of the answer choices they would like to know more about. Everyone in the mob who chose that answer is lit up in yellow. The contestant gets to choose one of those mob people and ask why they picked their answer. For the second help, two mob members are randomly chosen - one who answered correctly and one who answered incorrectly. Each mob member explains which answer they picked and why.

Here's a cool twist: The mob members have to be honest about which answer they chose, but they DO NOT have to be honest about WHY they chose it. Pretty cool, eh? (Yah, its cold here in da U.P.)

As a bonus, if a contestant answers incorrectly, they are finished and their winnings get divided by the remaining mob members, and those mob members get to continue with the next contestant.

The show is on NBC on Friday evenings. You can see pictures and get more information at: www.nbc.com or click here to get directly to the 1 vs 100 site.

Much of my furniture has been given to me by family and friends. This old chair was a home to my "cat tent" which Lenny is not very good about sharing.


Recently, my dad (thanks, Dad!) helped me move in a "new" chair from my parents' neighbors. (Thanks Neil and Sue!) It matches the couch they gave me and is actually the same pattern as the old chair which was from someone else. What a coincidence! Anyhow, this new chair is quite an upgrade for me since it is a rocker/recliner and also swivels. The first 24 hours were a blast to see Lenny and Squiggy sniff it and test it out. When Lenny tried to jump on the back rest, the chair tipped, spun and he went flying! It's my new favorite chair because it is so comfy. I often fall asleep in it! Lenny and Squiggy fight over it, too. But on a few rare occasions, they share and it is so cute!

At the hospital, we are not allowed to carve pumpkins due to mold and allergies - not conducive for getting kids healthy. Instead, we decorate pumpkins using any assortment of materials. It's fun to see patients and kids make the trek down to the cafeteria to see our attempts at art.

Our department made the following pumpkin:



Here are pictures of some of the other pumpkins: