Online Alarm Clock

I sit in front of this computer way too much. I know what you're thinking. "Why don't you post more often then?!?" I know, I know... But my point is that I need to spend LESS time in front of this box. So I was going to start setting my kitchen timer for 15 minutes at a time to remind me to get up and do stuff. We have THREE kitchen timers. Two of them are really nifty...they have magnets so they'll stick to the fridge, and little stands in the back so that you can stand them up and watch the time, and all kinds of nifty features. Do you think either one of these were ON the fridge? Nope. Neither was the regular kitchen timer on the shelf, where it belongs. I know, nice, right? Ugh!

But I'm determined to set some kind of alarm. I hate using the timer on the stove (I don't know why), the one on my phone is annoying and my hearing isn't good enough to use the one in my bedroom. So, I decided to look online to see if I could find some kind of alarm. Viola! Here it is, an online alarm clock! It even has different ringers. I personally prefer the guitar. :-D

Delicious Black Bean Stew

I threw this stew together the other night, and I'm in love. Remember Steup? Well, this is kind of the same concept, but a bit heartier, and with lots of different flavors. It's going to seem like there are a LOT of ingredients in this stew, but there are really only a few main ingredients...the rest was just a bunch of stuff I had hanging around (which was how I came up with this stew in the first place, just trying to use up the perishable food I knew would go bad if I didn't do something fast). The main ingredients are black beans, tomato, taco seasoning, and some type of grain. Once you have those ingredients, just throw in what you have available.

I made this stew twice (once for dinner, and once to freeze and eat later), and I had different ingredients each time, so I'll tell you about both versions. One thing's for sure...this is not a recipe for those who have to stick to a recipe! Be creative and have fun with it!

Black Bean Stew
Black beans - 1 pound for a medium crock pot, 2 pounds for a large crock pot - soaked overnight
"Grandma's Grain" or barley, or whatever you have on hand
Tomatoes - I used at least 10 tomatoes in each batch. You can probably use canned stewed tomatoes or whatever you have available.
Taco Seasoning - 1 packet for a medium crock pot, 2 packets for a large crock pot

Additional stuff:
Dried veggie soup mix
Carrots
Onions
Bouillon cubes (about 5 - if you want a vegetarian soup, use veggie bouillon)
Parsley
Garlic (in one batch, I used whole cloves of garlic, and in the other batch, granulated garlic)
Bell Peppers (I didn't have these for the first batch)


For my next batch, I plan to use pumpkin. I wish I had a big get-together planned sometime soon, because I have a great big pumpkin that I could use to serve my black bean soup in! Here's what I really want to do:


Disclaimer: This isn't my soup. I stole this picture from a friend who served this soup at a pumpkin carving party the other day.

And here's how I put it together (this is the second batch I made):

I gathered up all my veggies
Soaked the beans overnight, then rinsed and drained them

Gathered my spices

Dumped in about a half a jar of my Grandma's Grains
Cut up my veggies - bell peppers
tomatoes

carrots

aaaand onions.
And then I mixed it all together, and added water just to the point where you could tell I added water:
(Isn't it gorgeous?) And then cooked it all day, and here's the result:
Delicious!

Super Quick Crochet Curtain Holders

Oh my, two blogs in one day! Nobody have a heart attack, ok? You'd think that blogging would KEEP me from doing stuff, but it's exactly the opposite. When I'm working and getting things done, I want to share! The thought of blogging about all the fun stuff I'm doing actually gets me excited to do more. I'm going to have to remember that for future reference.

Anyway, so about these curtain holders (I haven't a clue if that's what they're called, but they hold the curtains, so that's good enough for me). I decided the other day to put my plants in my bedroom. Until now, they've had two very bad options...either getting torn up by excited dogs in the living room, or getting very little sun in the dining room. So, I got furniture moved around, cleaned off my dresser, and laid down this nifty runner I got from my friend Jenna (thanks, Jenna!). Then I realized that I have no way to keep the curtains back. It won't do me much good to bring the plants into my room if they get no sun. I've been crocheting a lot lately (maybe I'll do a couple more posts to show my other projects over the last few days), so I knew exactly what I wanted to do! I'm not even going to attempt to write this like a crochet pattern, I'm just going to explain what I did.

I used an N hook, because I wanted these to be done quick (and it worked...it's going to take me longer to write the blog than it took to make these). I grabbed some scrap yarn (there's a lot of green in my room, so I grabbed green yarn...it looks nice!) For the first one, I just made a chain until I figured it was about the right length (I don't even know how many stitches I did, I didn't bother to count). For the second one, I chained until I had about the same length (minus the end loops):


Then, I added another 5 chains. I turned, skipped those five chains to make a loop:


...and single crocheted back to the other end. Uh oh, I think I'm missing some pictures. Oh well. When I got to the other end, I chained five again, and single crocheted down the other side (the bottom of the original chain). I doubt it would matter if you crocheted across the top, it would just be a little crooked (when you lay them out, one loop will be higher than the other). But heck, it's not like anyone's ever going to inspect them, right? (Well, unless you have a mom like mine who has to criticize everything you're proud of...in that case, just don't tell her! LOL)

Now, the first one I did, I didn't slip stitch the last stitch to the loop on the end. It left a little "pimple" thing sticking out, so with the second one I made sure to slip stitch, and it looks much better. Again, no one's ever going to inspect these things, so I'm leaving it.


All told, these curtain holders took me maybe 10 minutes. Rock on! I got my plants moved in, and I am a happy girl!

Perfect Iced Coffee

I love iced coffee in the summer. It's super easy to put together, and yummy. I have a lot of fun with it. This is how I make my iced coffee.

Now, y'all know I'm not a photographer, but even with my lacking skill, this picture is just sad. Please ignore my messy desk. I just want to share the coffee love. ;-)

Make a pot of coffee twice as strong as you normally like it.

Grab a pitcher or sun tea dispenser (I use a pitcher...I make my coffee in a french press, so it's the perfect size for my pitcher. If you use a coffee pot, a sun tea dispenser would probably work better). Put all your "goodies" into the pitcher. I use creamer, cocoa, coffee syrups, and/or extracts(my favorite is coconut).

Pour the hot coffee in and stir.

Then add a couple trays of ice and stir. Let this sit while you get glasses ready with more ice (or if you've got a bucket of ice for guests, just keep stirring the coffee until it's chilled). Pour your coffee, embellish with mint sprigs, or whatever you like (I use my crazy straws...heehee! I like to let out my inner child often).

Keep the extra coffee in the fridge. I don't usually share mine (it's a "cleaning day" treat for me), so the pitcher lasts all day.

Enjoy!

Adoptee Rights Video

I know I've been slacking on my blog, and especially on talking about adoptee rights (totally missed the 50 day letter writing campaign, and didn't write a single post during the protest). My apologies. BUT, I thought it would be awesome to share this video with you - created by a 13 year old, the daughter of an adoptee. Enjoy!

40 Years Ago

30 Things Overheard at 12 Step Meetings:

1. Treat your mind like a bad neighborhood- Don't go there alone!
2. Ten out of ten people die, so don't take life too seriously.
3. Be profound, funny or quiet.
4. After you talk in a meeting, listen to hear if you said anything.
5. I don't need your help today... Love, God
6. Our sickness is between our ears.
7. Want to hear God laugh? Tell Him your plans.
8. Don't expect to learn about people from books; a person can't fit in a bookcase.
9. Now I can wake and say, "Good morning, God!" rather than "Good God, it's morning!"
10. When I turned myself over to God, I took my life out of the hands of an idiot.
11. When the world comes to an end, it will do so without my permission.
12. If you pray for a Cadillac and God sends you a jackass, ride it.
13. There's no one too dumb for this program, but it's possible to be too smart.
14. All I wanted was to control you, myself, and everything else!
15. My disease is an elephant. As long as I remember it's there, I won't get stepped on.
16. Try praying. Nothing pleases God more than to hear a strange voice.
17. Reality can be hell when you're only visiting.
18. God save me from myself.
19. Keep it simple!
20. We're all here, because we're not all here.
21. Constructive Criticism: I tell you what is wrong with you. Destructive Criticism: You tell me what is wrong with me.
22. My mind is out to get me!
23. I need to get the cotton out of my ears and put it in my mouth.
24. Come to 90 meetings in 90 days. If you're not satisfied, we'll refund your misery.
25. Things I turn over to God most easily are those things already fixed.
26. E.G.O. "Easing God Out"
27. God has never been a problem in my life, but I have been a problem to God all my life.
28. I know that I'm not yet the person I can be, but I thank God I'm not the person I used to be.
29. If you think you're happy, you are. If you think you're wise, you're not.
30. When I don't have expectations of others, anything positive they do is a pleasant surprise!

New Beginnings

So, I've got big news. I'm going to be moving! I've mentioned a few times that my husband and I are separated...but we're still in the same house, and we were working on things. We've decided to call it quits, for good, and will be going our separate ways. Jason had a big decision to make about what he wanted to do with the house (I left the decision up to him, because the one thing that would benefit both of us was the one thing he didn't want to do...and either of the other options would have sucked equally). He told me this morning, he's going to stay here and get roommates, and I'm going to be moving out as soon as I can afford to.

This will mean that I'm going to be crazy-busy for awhile. That doesn't mean I won't be blogging...I'll try. But I make no promises! I'll be around when I can, and I'll post whenever I'm able to.

As sad as I am to be losing my husband, and all the trappings of marriage, I'm really excited about this next step. I'm ready to move on, and I'm looking forward to new opportunities. If anyone who reads this lives up in the Portland/Vancouver area and happens to know of any jobs, let me know. I'm hoping for something that's mostly sitting (due to back problems), but otherwise, I'm wide open. Wish me luck!

WHAT kind of petting zoo???

Why Does It Also Say "No Fat Chicks?"

Wife, reading advertisement: What is an erotic petting zoo?
Husband: A what?
Wife, louder: An erotic petting zoo!
Husband, looking: That says "exotic" petting zoo.
Wife: Oh, well...that makes more sense.

Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

**Copied from my Overheard In The Office weekly email.

When it rains, it pours...

OMG...obviously I'm taking a little hiatus from this blogging thing. I have so many posts I want to write! We had this awesome thunder storm, I have pictures of my first rose of the year, the Adoptee Rights Demonstration is growing ever closer...oh so many wondrous things to write about.

But I'm overwhelmed, and it's all I can do to just keep spinning my wheels right now. I'll be back when I can.

Take care, all.