Johnny Depp Monday!

Wednesday Haiku To You!

Is real life farming

just like it is on Facebook?

If so, I am good!

Johnny Depp Monday!

So, my mother calls me from Paris and tells me that she was in Johnny's neighborhood and she's going back the next day. Is it stalking if I make her do my dirty work?

Six Word Saturday

Official Talk Like A Pirate Day!

If you would like to join Six Word Saturday, go see Cate.

Wednesday Haiku To You!

I'm sorry, I totally forgot that today was Wednesday. Here is your haiku.

I've got no picture

But I do have some great news

Guess who got fired?

Random Pictures and A Halloween Costume Conundrum

We took the girls to the Route 66 Preservation Society Annual Picnic on Sunday. The drawback was that our kids were the only kids there. Not much fun for them. There was a playground and some swing bridges that we went to explore, so it wasn't a total loss. I also took the opportunity to take some "outside" pictures of the girls.

On our way home, we started talking about Halloween. Vivi is having a hard time deciding between Max from Where The Wild Things Are and Cinderella. Emerson, however, has her mind made up. She wants to be a Rockford Peach from the AAGPBL. (All American Girl Professional Baseball League) You might remember them from the movie A League of Their Own.

I have search the web for a costume, but the only one I can find is for an adult and it's $225. A little more than I wanted to spend.

I went to my mom's work today and I think I laid the ground work with one of our friends. She's an incredible seamstress and I asked her if she would teach me to sew. When my mom gets back from Paris, I will have her ask her again. I'm pretty good at Velcro and fusible web, but I don't think I can do a whole costume without it falling apart.

Johnny Depp Monday!

Prizes, Pizza and Pound Cake

I have 3 things to talk about, so get comfortable.

In light of our fast food protest, I have become a virtual Martha Stewart. In fact, I don't even recognize myself anymore!!!

I wake up in the morning thinking about what I am going to make that day. I make meal plans, I defrost, I plan leftovers, I look for new exciting recipes on the Internet, I even make a dessert daily.

Which brings me to the world's best pound cake. My mother and I were going through a binder that her Aunt Laverne had given her. Laverne had made a copy of all the recipes that her granddaughter had gotten at her wedding shower. Some of them were quite strange, but one caught our eye, The World's Best Pound Cake. As I read through the ingredients, my mother checked her cabinets. We had everything, so we decided to give it a try. Let me tell you, it was truly the best pound cake I've ever tried! And so very easy to make. Here's the recipe.

1 c. butter softened

2 c. sugar

2 eggs

2 c. flour

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 c. sour cream

Preheat oven to 375. Cream butter and sugar, add eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually, mix dry ingredients with the wet ingredients. Add sour cream. Pour batter into a greased loaf pan and bake for 1 hour. Let cool and enjoy!

I have been making this all week! Emerson likes it for breakfast with hot chocolate, in her lunch and for dessert. ( I do have to say that it goes really well with coffee in the morning.)

Now, pizza.

Last year, we went to the Jimmy Buffett concert in Wisconsin. After the concert, we ended up at a small bar to sing a little karaoke. I was drunk, and extremely hungry, so my friend Jerry ordered a pizza from the bartender. (there was no kitchen at this bar) I watched how she grabbed a frozen pizza and put it in a small pizza oven located on the top of the bar in between pouring drinks. She brought the pizza over and I have to say that it was the best pizza I'd ever had. Matt didn't get to have any because it had sausage on it (he's allergic to pork) and they didn't have plain cheese.

The next morning, I mentioned it to my friend David and his father and they said it must have been "________". I sort of heard the name, but not really, I figured that I would recognize it when I saw it at the grocery store.

For the past year, I have tried every frozen pizza they offer in Chicago. None of them were the pizza I had that night. Matt was convinced that because I had spent the whole day drinking and didn't eat anything, that of course it was going to be the best I'd ever had. It's sort of his "Give a starving man a Saltine and he'll think it's a Ritz" theory.

I never called David to ask him what the name of the pizza was, I don't know why, it seemed trivial and every time I saw him, it slipped my mind.

Fast forward one year. Matt and I took the girls up to David's house and then his family and our family went to the Walworth County fair. We had a wonderful time and as soon as I get some new batteries for the camera, I'll post some pictures.

We started to leave the fair, and it dawned on me to ask for the name of the pizza.

EMIL'S!!!!!! And it's sold at the Sentry!!!! ( a grocery store in Wisconsin)

Everyone packed up their cars and David led us to the nearest Sentry. There they were! I felt like Indiana Jones when he found the Ark, except when I opened the freezer door, it didn't melt my face.

We bought 4 and I made 2 of them on Monday night. Definitely how I remembered them! Even Matt said they were in fact a Ritz and not a Saltine!

Now, David and I have a deal. Whenever Emil's is on sale, he will grab a bunch for me and I in turn will do the same for him when the Jewel brand pizzas go on sale in Chicago.

Now, Prizes.

I have received 2 prestigious awards this week and I won a giveaway.

The first one is from Sparkle Farkle. Thank you very much.

This one has rules.

1. Each Superior Scribbler I name today must in turn pass The Award on to 5 most-deserving bloggy friends.

2. Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author & the name of the blog from whom he/she has received The Award.

3. Each Superior Scribbler must display The Award on his/her blog, and link to THIS POST, which explains The Award.

4. Each blogger who wins The Superior Scribbler Award must visit this post http://randomthoughts-tammy.blogspot.com/2009/08/good-better-best-never-let-it-rest-till.htmland add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List. That way, we'll be able to keep up-to-date on everyone who receives this prestigious honor.

5. Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog.

Here are the lucky recipients.

1. In The Trenches

2. Our Life's Journey

3. In My Mind It's Always Funny

4. Well Okay, Sassy Britches

5. My Side of The Story

The second one is from a brand new friend Brownies for Breakfast (She love pin ups too)

I had a hard time picking for this one, so it goes to all my followers. (Not a follower? It's not too late to join to cool kids)

I also won the book giveaway from Jenny and the Princess Peonies, but that deserves a post all it's own.

Go over and visit these three very special ladies, you won't be disappointed.

Finally, I would like answer ChicagoLady's questions that were left on Matt's blog.

Yes, it is more of a "no fast food chain" protest that we are doing.

First, It is not that the food tastes better at a local hot dog stand than it does at Portillo's. It's something that we feel is important. Matt and I are huge Route 66 enthusiasts and support local businesses in whatever town we are in. What is the point of going down the Mother Road, looking at all the places that were shut down because of the highway, and then going to McDonald's?

Second, We feel that the food just isn't good. A french fry from McDonald's that is dropped behind a child's car seat looks exactly the same one month after it was bought. How is that OK?

Third, During this economic crisis, we just aren't eating out as much and I would rather spend my money on something I would really enjoy and not because it's convenient.

I hope this answered your questions and you can support our decision.

Wednesday Haiku To You!

A film I just watched

is The Secret Life of Bees.

Wonderful movie.

Johnny Depp Monday!

"This is a little song I wrote for a girl who rocked my world. Becky, this is for you!"

Please Join Me...

in wishing MattyFlower a Happy Birthday!!!!

Happy Birthday Matt! I Love you!

Six Word Saturday

Styx are playing the County Fair!

If you would like to join Six Word Saturday, go see Cate.

Wednesday Haiku For You!

Vivi starts next week

Her first day of real preschool

I'll miss my baby!

The Challenge I Chose To Accept (To My Family's Horror)

Recently, I read an article in Good Housekeeping about a family who went without making any non-depletable or non-food purchases. The whole article was about how they found things around the house instead of instantly going to purchase something new. Instead of spending all their time in malls looking for something else to buy, they had quality family time.

As much as I think this is an admirable idea, it is more of a "good on paper" concept for our family. I do think that in this current economic crisis, it is wonderful to cut your spending. But it is something completely different to cut out everything, including holidays. For one, they had older kids who understood what they were trying to do and had the attention span to see it through. They also had a basement full of things that they bought in the past that could be used in a pinch. It seemed to me, that they were spending money just to spend it. They were also BIG electronic freaks and needed all the latest gadgets.

One of the main reasons this wouldn't work for us is that emergencies come up all the time. As much as I try to cut spending, my children are still growing quickly out of their clothes. They also can't get away with no school supplies. Not to mention, Christmas. How do you explain to a 4 year old that Santa has decided not to make any purchases this year. Even though our Christmas might be scaled back a bit, I'm not about to disappoint so I can save enough money to go to Hawaii.

I have thought about this article for about a week now, trying to come up with ways that this may work for us...it won't. There are way too many factors. Cutting spending is something I can do, but I cannot make a commitment to make my kids wear shoes that are too small so we don't spend money.

I did, however, come up with a challenge of my own. I vow to not spend one penny out of our budget on fast food for at least one year.

Never again, will I be a slave to the drive thru!

When I thought about it, I don't even like the food, I feel guilty when I feed it to the girls, it's expensive, and so not good for any of us.

With a little meal planning, we don't ever have to eat that slop again.

The Fam was all for the plan...until it was time to execute it.

Friday, Matt's mom picked up the girls for the weekend and here is the conversation between Matt and I.

Me: "I'm starting to get hungry, what should we have for dinner?"

Matt: "I can go pick something up."

Me: "Great! If you're going to the store, here's a list of some things we need."

Matt: "What? No, I'm not going to the store."

Me: "Then what were you picking up for dinner?"

Matt: "I don't know, something fast."

Me: "Surely, you are not talking about fast food on the first day of our challenge!???"

Matt: "Of course not! I was thinking more along the lines of Subway or KFC something like that."

Me: "What do you think those are?"

Matt: "Well, what is your definition of "fast food"?"

Me: "Any chain restaurant that you can get food in 10 minutes or less and you don't have to get out of the car to get it."

Matt: "Really???!!!! We might have to rethink this whole thing!"

Me: "You need a 12-step program, my friend."

On Sunday, Matt's mom called to tell me that she was leaving the house to drop the girls off. This is how that went.

Matt's Mom: "I will be leaving in about 10 minutes. The girls are just finishing up their lunch."

Me: "OK."

Matt's Mom: "When I asked what they wanted, Emerson said McDonald's but she wanted to eat it here, not at home."

Me: "Of course she did."

It seems that I am going to have to reprogram this family. Wish us luck!!!