Terri Schiavo Dies

Schiavo dies 14 days after tube removed...

Did you know that she suffered severe brain damage caused by a cardiac arrest, believed to be brought on by bulimia? I did not know that. I thought it was due to a head injury (one of my girlfriends told me that). Check out that 2nd link if you have a bit of time. Very interesting reading.

The Two Cakes

The birthday party went good. My mom's Gingerbread Man cake turned out great. The twins were delighted. Can ya tell?

Super Simple Q&A

Super Simple Q&A

I love the feel of:
1. clean sheets on the bed
2. one of my children holding my hand
3. warm bubbles in a hot tub

I love the smell of:
1. freshly brewed coffee
2. clean laundry
3. the smell of the air before rain

I love the sound of:
1. thunderstorms/rain
2. good music
3. fingers clicking on the keyboard

I love the taste of:
1. Diet Coke (from McDonalds)
2. a good beer
3. cheese

A day to myself and I would:
1. read a lot
2. surf the 'net
3. watch movies

I'd love a shopping spree at:
1. Target
2. Pier 1
3. Hobby Lobby

Something I do (nearly) every day:
1. have a cup of coffee
2. pray
3. kiss my family

Something I wish I could do:
1. move into a larger house
2. have a decent balance in my checking account
3. visit another country

Gifts I'd love to get:
1. a new van
2. a new house
3. a fat gift card to Barnes & Noble

Now I'm going to...
1. drink my water
2. kick back and surf the 'net or watch a movie
3. maybe dig into the Macadamia nuts I got

Kitty Cake

So it is the twins' birthday today and they are six. One requested a Gingerbread Man cake and the other requested a kitty. My mom has taken on the Gingerbread Man, and I... the cat.

Be scared.

Here are the directions I'm working with:

And here is the cake progression (click for a larger pic):

Here is the cake after I cut the different pieces out. What a mess. I made the mistake of making it moist (first stoopid idea of mine), then of putting the white chocolate chips in it (second stoopid mistake). These two things made it much harder to manipulate and cut.

Here is the cake with frosting (which was a nightmare since the moist cake was crumbling and resisting to my trying to keep it together - the jerk). The tail and ears were the worst.

And here is the cake in all its finished glory. The twins insisted on drawing the whiskers on. We bought a big tube of black frosting stuff and didn't realize until we were ready to use it that you were supposed to buy some CAKE TIP to screw on and make it usable. Stupid, I say. Why can't the tip come with the dang tube? So we used a plastic bag with a small hole cut off the tip. Not that it would have made a difference anyway...

Yeah. Even the cat looks like it is saying, "Oh my goodness, do not even look at me. I know, I know."

Nuts and Chocolate

I started eating squares of chocolate teamed with a small bowl of pistachios back on Phase II of the South Beach Diet and it has stuck. It is one of the indulgences that I have to put my sweet tooth in check. For every nibble of chocolate I have I have a nut or two with it, and gulp down a big glass of ice cold water.

Last week I subbed the pistachios for blanched almonds. Yum. This week it is mixed nuts (macadamia, cashews and almonds) and I have to say the macadamias beat out the other nuts. I love them.

I don't know what other people use for their sweet tooth, but this works for me. Nuts and chocolate. Mmmmm.

Couey Admits to Murder

Authorities said that John Evander Couey admitted that he abducted Jessica from her bedroom more than three weeks ago. link

I have long believed that convicted pedophiles should be locked up for life. Period. Pedophilia can not be "cured". What a sad, tragic thing for something like this to happen. Evil, evil man.

Scott Peterson Sentanced to Death

A judge formally sentenced Scott Peterson to death Wednesday after family members got into a shouting match and Laci Peterson's mother sobbed as she called her son-in-law "an evil murderer." - link

Taxit

So, the other night we watched Taxi for our Family Movie Night. Normally I am a stickler for not falling asleep during our Family Movies (my husband breaks this rule often and I give him verbal lashings for it later). However, I found myself unable to keep from snoozing about 2/3 in to the movie.

I love, love, love me some Queen Latifah, but Jimmy Fallon, a leading man he is NOT. Pair the Queen up with someone like Seann William Scott and maybe you got yourself a movie. Although the whole taxi turning into race car thing was a little... far fetched and out there.

The Smilie Project

Oooh - found this on a forum today: The Smilie Project. I d/l it for me Firefox. Neat-O.

Emerald

I don't have any words really to say that can't be conveyed by just showing you the door. I found myself reading about Emerald today. I have been following her story, her families story, for a while. I found her through the soaping community (bet you didn't know there was one - or maybe you did).

At any rate. I can't find a word to say it. But her pain has ended, and I am sad for her family and horribly humbled and embarassed at my irritation with my own children this morning. It is so easy, too easy to take for granted every breath, hug, smile, everything.

As much of my heart that is able goes out to them and that little dear girl with the beautiful eyes.

Bunco

Tonight we are off to church for Game Night. I guess we are going to play Bunco. We got that game for Christmas (I bought it for the family) and have played it a couple times as a family, but have never played it anywhere else. I was thinking it would be fun to have a Bunco party.

We used to have parties, people over. We don't do that much anymore.

Blockbuster Online

I'm giving the Blockbuster online thing a try. I used to have their monthly fee thing, where you pay a fee and rent as much as you want with no late fees. I ordered my movies only a couple days ago and already have them. Perfect - in time for Friday Movie Night at our house... I'm liking the idea of it so far, and will update after I've used it for a while.

The Contender

We watched The Contender tonight. Beyond being a little surprised that I remembered to watch the dang show, I like it. The fight was good. I know it doesn't show all of the fight, but that is OK. My attention span gets pretty low when it comes to football, boxing or any other slow/fast on/off/on kind of sport. I was rooting for the underdog, but then also finding myself rooting for the dude with the wife and kid. (Sorry, I don't remember names and am too lazy to look them up.)

I let my oldest son stay up and watch it with me, and my husband watched, too. Weird thing is it is on again on Thursday. I can hardly remember to watch a show that comes on weekly, let alone on different days of the week.