Daddy-O

Happy Birthday to my Dad today. He is one of the reasons I think I am so funny, because I grew up watching him tell stories and laugh and make everyone else laugh. Even at 30 I still value my parents knowledge and opinions. Hell, this past Saturday I needed his recipe for hushpuppies!

This is a pic of us at a Nascar race in Texas. We were younger then! :) (this was probably 5 years ago!)


On my wedding day. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this picture.



I am not sure at what age I started this, but I started calling my mom Moomsie and my Dad Daddy-O. Daddy-O eventually turned into Steve-O and has stuck!
So, Happy-Birthday to my Daddy-O. Wishing you another year of great storytelling (aka B.S.)

Met a Celebrity!!!

...and no, unfortunately I didn't get a picture to prove it.

My roomie and I were eating at Cheddars yesterday (by the way, Cheddars is an awesome restaurant if you haven't been there) and behind us my roommate spotted a guy that looked like a KSU basketball player. I of course gawked and was for sure it was him.

I was too nervous to go talk to him while he was eating with his family, so I waited until he got up to leave and OMG, he was so tall, I KNEW it was him. Here is how our conversation went:

Me: (sounding very child like unfortunately) Are you Wally?
WJ: Yes.
Me: Shaking his hand - I'm Red (gave my real name) and it is so nice to meet you.
WJ: Nice to meet you too.
Me: I am a huge KSU fan and I am really looking forward to next season.
WJ: Me too.

That was all, no picture or anything. He was with family and they were trying to leave the restaurant.

Then, as I am leaving the restaurant, this old lady in the booth behind me stopped me and asked who the Celebrity was. I informed her it was a KState basketball player, Wally Judge. Her response, My he was tall!

Fried Chicken

is a pain in the ass to make at home!!!

We had family in town and my sister in law and I thought it was a fun idea to fry hushpuppies, zucchini and chicken. We had planned to do this Saturday night. I was excited as my Mom can fry awesome chicken and I always thought it would be a great skill to master. I got out my Martha cookbook, find a recipe for buttermilk fried chicken and was all set to go....

Until I actually had to fry the chicken! I had planned on doing this outside on a cooktop that we use for tailgating so I didn't have to get my kitchen greasy. Unfortunately the grease wouldn't get hot enough, so I had to move my operation inside. I didn't take pictures b/c it just wouldn't do it justice. Grease was splattering EVERYWHERE and it was a painful (grease splatters hurt!), and very time consuming experience! Nothing like serving your guests dinner at 10:00 p.m.!! At least it was family!

How was the chicken? Well, I think everyone was sweet and said it was good. The true gauge is my roommate and he only ate one piece, so I am thinking he didn't like it. I am having leftovers for lunch, so I can give it another taste test.

So, KFC and Popeyes have job security. I absolutely know why they have been in business this long. The good news is that I used my Dad's recipe for hushpuppies and they were a hit. I've got hushpuppies down!


UPDATE AT 12:33 P.M. MONDAY - the chicken was good, even though I may be a bit biased since I am trying to redeem myself from my embarrassment on Saturday.

Reasons to Like this Summer Heat

Tomato Season!! Yeah! I love tomatoes and cottage cheese.




This was much lunch one day this week and is a staple side dish for me in the summer. I LOOOOVE tomatoes and cucumbers in the summer. My roomie only likes cottage cheese by itself and I can't stand cottage cheese by itself - it needs tomato and lemon pepper. At least we have the cottage cheese as the common denominator.

And you've got to have pretty toes in summer!!



Actually, I use this excuse any time of the year. This pedicure was a miracle for me. I broke my toenail down so low where it is painful, and they put a fake toenail on the left corner of my right big toe. It didn't hurt anymore and looked so much better! Maybe I could run this pedi through my insurance since it was more of a medical issue!

By the way, some people say they are relaxing. Not so much for me. I am so very ticklish so I have to concentrate on not smacking the nail dude with my clodhoppers. (is that a word?)

Did I Do That????

I loved, Steve Urkel....but that is not what this post is about!

I came home from shopping on Saturday and found this:

It is sort of hard to see, but our rugs are red and white, not tan and white. I saw this anD thought immediately that our water line had broken and I was going to have to find a repair man on the weekend.


But, I open the door and find this:

NO, I DIDN'T PEE IN THE FRIDGE!
We have an ice tea jar in the fridge and it has a little lever that you slide to pour the tea. It obviously didn't get turn all the way off. It had dripped in every nook and cranny possible, and this is about a 2 gallon jug. For the record, it was my roommates fault and he was out golfing so yours truly did the honors of cleaning it up.

Ten Thousand Villages

I received a beautiful necklace and earring set from my sister for my b-day.



The packaging said Ten Thousand Villages, so I asked her about the store. She told me that the store in her area is located at the Clinton Presidential Library and they sell all sorts of really cool things, at decent prices. The shopper in me wanted to find out more, and went to their website.

As you can tell, it is a fair trade organization and the profits go the artisans who would otherwise be starving if it weren't for organizations like these. Most of the products are made from sustainable products or recycled materials - which makes it all the more cool!

I have received two compliments on my necklace today and am so happy that my sister purchased this at the Ten Thousand Villages store. Go search and click on something you like. You can see who made it and where it came from - usually with a picture. Such a great idea. I love jewelry and I love it even more when it has a story!