Thirtysomething

Before Friends and Grey's Anatomy, there was a little known show called 30 Something. I only know about it because one of the leads (red hair on the left) of the TV series also starred in the West Wing series, and I work hard to know as much about West Wing stars as possible.

After last Tuesday, I will officially be referring to my age as "Thirtysomething" for the rest of my life! What a relief to not have to count the age on birthday cakes anymore. I'm planning on buying one big 3 and one big 0 and using them year after year.

People asked me this past week if I feel older. Hell yes I feel older! Things sag, creak, give me heartburn and most of all the dry skin parallels an alligator. But let's face it everyone, if these are my chief complaints, I'll take it, God willing and if the creek don't rise. Here's to the next 30 years!

Invites, shoes and armadillos OH MY!

Before anyone gets too excited, I am not planning MY wedding. However, I am hard at work at my MOH (Maid of Honor: pronounced MWAH) duties for my sister Molly who is getting married in August. Don't get me wrong: according to the "Discover your Strengths" book, my three of my five top strengths include maximizer, activator, and organizer. I'm now realizing I am the only person in my family with these strengths (no offense intended). And so we find ourselves at the crux of shower, wedding, bachelorette, and bridesmaid luncheon invitations. BREAKING NEWS: got mail merge to work on my IMAC from 2007 Excel spreadsheet to a Word envelope - and what's more, it was a CUSTOM set up to be a a 6x9 envelope. Everyone, pick yourselves up off of the floor at this accomplishment. If you persevere, you too can figure out Office 2007.

Now that I have successfully tackled invites, envelopes, complete with the X-Large 61 cent postage stamp (the price you pay for custom envelopes), it is on to shoes. I've got to find some silver shoes with a back on them for the wedding. I need the widest shoe possible but preferably something still cute.

Third, and secretly my favorite item to post: I secretly wish there was an armadillo cake for the groom's cake. I don't even know if there is a groom's cake, but if there is, I'd do anything possible to convince my future husband we should have something ridiculous (like an armadillo) as the groom's cake. Just like Steel Magnolias! Funny...Southern folk don't think it's quite as hilarious. My neighbor Jan is a wedding coordinator/cake maker and I told her that if I ever got married, I really wanted an armadillo cake. Her response was a curt "I don't think so." Whoops...

Again, what a great movie. Here's a quote for you to enjoy on this lovely Monday...

Drum: Ouiser, can we call a truce long enough for me to get a piece of cake?
[Ouiser slices him the tail piece of an armadillo cake]
Drum: Aww, thanks Ouiser. Nothin' like a good piece of a$$.

Love it!

Guilty Pleasure TV Show #1 - Snapped

At the top of all of the things I could be choosing to do (play with Stella, brave the tornado force winds to workout, read, knit, clean, pack for NY, etc.) I have spent the last hour searching the Internet for a clip of Whitney Houston screaming "Bobaayyyyyy" at the top of her lungs beckoning for her husband. YouTube, Nothing. Google Images, nothing. BravoTv.com, nothing. So, I will continue to lead the charge that she did indeed scream that over and over at the top of her lungs during "Being Bobby Brown" with no proof to corroborate my story.

Thinking of how awesomely bad that show was (and I was ridiculously led astray that a second season would exist - sort of like how I've been led astray for five years that Marky Mark was going to reprise his Italian Job role in a movie titled "The Brazilian job" that is seemingly a no-go), I am turning to another show that is a guilty pleasure, and that is the Oxygen show "Snapped." While it is not even close to being in the top ten of favorite past or present TV series, it is something I have started to tape and watch just because it makes me feel way better about myself.

The fact that I even watch the Oxygen channel is something I never thought possible. Here's the premise of the show: Who are these women and what drives them to kill? Oxygen's hit true crime series, Snapped, in its 7th season, profiles the fascinating cases of women accused of murder. Did they really do it? And, if they did, why? From socialites to secretaries, female killers share one thing in common: at some point, they all snapped.

The best parts of the show: The awesome heart thumping theme music coupled with the easy mystery to solve: you always know who did it (yes, that's right, it's the crazy lady!) I like to watch this right before bed, it lulls me to sleep but I'm afraid might lead to my insane dreams I have from time to time.

It's also pretty funny to watch them interview the real people who were involved with the case.
A lot of them are still in shock about what happened (and for some reason there's always a Sheriff "Uncle Bubba" involved).



Snapped. WOW!

Breakfast casserole

If you have ever stayed the night at my house, chances are that you've eaten my breakfast casserole. Or, if you have ever turned to page 30 in the 1980something Redeemer Lutheran Church cookbook (the best cookbook next to Betty Crocker). I do make it a little different than RLC recommends and I will point that out in the recipe.

1 tube sausage (see below for the non-porkers)
9 eggs whipped
3 cu milk
1 1/2 tsp dry mustard
3 slices bread torn (the recipe says to cut in cubes but let's face it that is exerting unnecessary energy)
2 cu grated cheese (recipe calls for 1.5 cu cheese but I dump the whole 2 cu packet in as I'm too lazy to measure it out, plus the cheese will mold in the fridge most likely anyway).

Brown sausage (sometimes I throw in onions if I have them). Drain grease from sausage (if you are a fat freak, you can boil the sausage in hot water and it will pull out all of the grease possible). Mix eggs, milk, mustard and salt. Stir in bread, sausage and cheese. Pour into greased 9x13 pan. Refrigerate, covered, overnight. Bake at 350 for 60 minutes.

Now, we've got some folks who don't eat pork (referred to above as the non-porkers - all judging aside). At the hands of a lesser breakfast casserole chef that would be a problem. Here is a substitute you can use comprised mainly of ground turkey. It is not AS good but not too bad of a substitute.

GROUND TURKEY BREAKFAST SAUSAGE
1 lb. ground turkey 1/2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce 1/4 tsp. Hickory Smoke Liquid 1/4 tsp. sage 1/4 tsp. tarragon 1/4 tsp. thyme Mix all ingredients well. (Do not add additional Hickory Smoke Liquid.) Form into small to medium patty sizes. Use spray Pam in frying pan for less calories. Fry until brown.

Mamma Mia!

I very much understand now why some people either a) slack off on updating their blog or b) update it every day. I had previously categorized these people as slackers or obsessors. I rationalized that the slackers were too unorganized to be able to actually update their blogs as they said they would or that their life just wasn't interesting enough. I categorized the obsessors as people who just had nothing better to do, or people that thrived on getting feedback from other people. Now I realize it is almost impossible to find a healthy medium. I was trying to save everything up for a once a week post, but things are just too exciting this summer as the once a week post is seemingly too overwhelming. However, I'd go nuts at a once a day post (although I think it would be much easier). Anyway, I am still being harassed by non-bloggers for not blogging in an adequate timeframe per their standards; I will try to do better. Too bad I can't just dictate to the computer.

This weekend was a whirlwind weekend but a lot of fun. Three friends from Atlanta came to visit. We snacked and played Euchre on Friday night. It brought back my freshman year of college where we would come back from SAGA and sit in the dorm and play Euchre for at least an hour. How awesome to be able to play Euchre five times a week! Those were the days.

Saturday morning I was up early (thanks Stella) and trying to be quiet to let the guests sleep in. Stella does enjoy a morning bark or too and hasn't figured out good manners when guests are in the house. I took Chris to his church and then Toni and Pura and I met Cynthia at Pepper Place, which is a big Saturday morning fresh market. We shopped a little and had drinks. Then, we got Chris, ate lunch at Newk's and then shopped in downtown Homewood. I think all were pleased with the purchases! After a little break, we headed down to the Mamma Mia sing a long at the Alabama theater. What fun it was! Imagine a whole theater singing "take a chance on me"....it was pretty funny. We hit the bars afterwards in Lakeview, and then called it a night. I put my culinary skills to use and made cinnamon rolls, breakfast casserole, fruit salad, etc. It was kind of fun to cook for a group.

Yesterday Stella and I napped and I tried to get some things down around the house but had a hard time...nice weather outside but a little humid. Stel and I were up early yesterday and she was a bundle of energy, that is for sure!

This week will be very busy...looking forward to a trip to see friends AND Stella's first birthday on Sunday.

What's next?

It started off very slowly. Once graduation from Samford's MBA program occurred on May 15, the common question I received was "What's next?" followed by "What will you do with all of your free time?" To be honest, I have about 1.5 years of shtuff that has gone undone so I'm estimating it will be at least 1.5 years before I actually see any free time. So by then maybe I'll figure out what spare time is and what you do with it. The initial two questions were followed by a statement of opinion, or wish, and it typically went like this: "Why don't you take some time and update that stupid blog of yours. You know I subscribed to being a follower of it once you promised you were going to continue it and then NOTHING. I don't just follow people around for nothing, you know." I am amazed at the exact three questions asked in a row by more than 20 of my friends (I didn't realize 20 people even read the first 2 posts)! Let's see.....what will Erin do with her free time...I know! She can update that freaking blog. Not volunteer, work on knitting, but UPDATE THE BLOG. NOW. I have two friends that have even gone as far to suggest specific topics to be addressed on the blog; I was also given the instruction that it wasn't good enough to string them all together, each topic needed to have it's own entry on the blog. I would also like to point out that of the 20 friends that have hounded me over the past two weeks to update the blog, only ONE of them actually has her own blog. Hmmm....somewhat hypocritical...yes?

So, graduate school is over, I'm giving in to peer pressure, and will be resurrecting the blog with at least a weekly post. I realize I have just made the day of at least 20 people. So kick back, and enjoy the past few months of my life. Apparently you die hards crave information!!!

25 Random Ruminations

Happy Tuesday! The blogs have it. I will be continuing the blog past the Christmas newsletter. I am very surprised that I received so many comments because there are a couple of blogs I read and the poor guy never has any comments, and he writes some very funny things. Oh well.

Well, the requests are also pouring in for blog topics. Some are requesting Stella updates. Others want me to devote a section to life in B'ham. Others wanted movie reviews, music reviews, travel reviews, tips with puppies, and my personal favorite was "random ruminations."

I thought I would start there. For the next week I will be posting random ruminations. I will start with 25 random little-known things about me.

1. I do not like bright lights. I'd much rather read in the dark then in light that is too bright. Consequently almost all the lights I use most often in my house have dimmer switches (installed by Perfect Solutions - my friend Sue and my mother's "pretend" fix-it-up company).

2. I despise writing in pen, yet apparently when you are an adult it's expected you should write in pen. Even the pencils we have at work are substandard because they are not the thick No. 2 kind. The mechanical pencil is a compromise.

3. My favorite gift is an Itunes gift certificate. I can have that thing spent in less than 10 minutes. And enjoy every minute of what I spent it on. The gift that just keeps on giving....what could be better?

4. I wear Mary Kay powder and foundation. But I don't pay full price for it, I just buy it on eBay. I realize MK is sort of old ladish, but I have tried all of the new fangled bare minerals business and a) it makes me sneeze and b) it makes me break out. For whatever reason the MK makeup is the only kind that doesn't react to my skin and it a perfect color match. I don't even try new foundation anymore.

5. While TIVO has been life changing, there are times I want to throw it out the window. If a program runs over into the next hour, shouldn't TIVO just KNOW that and tape it until it ends? Also, one TIVO should theoretically be able to run in the entire house. Many times I have been in the bedroom watching TV and tried to fast forward....whoops! (Update: I NOW have TIVO in the bedroom and it is breathtaking....really no need to ever leave the bedroom!)

6. The answer to the top question I receive: Yes, my hair is naturally curly. Though the older I get, the more it is wavy than curly.

7. The answer to the second question I receive: My last name is pronounced R-O-N. It is German. If it helps you to remember, my dad's name is John R-O-N. Not sure what my grandparents were thinking.

8. The answer to the third question I receive: My first name is spelled E-R-I-N, even though I was named for my grandfather, whose name was spelled A-A-R-O-N. We were little Erin and big Aaron, or EJ and AJ when I was growing up. It was really fun. I miss him a ton.

9. I have dreamt up many perfect jobs if money was no object. Ideally I would like to be involved in some sort of touring band, like the tour manager for James Taylor. That would be a blast.

10. I gave blood once, and only once. I really want to give blood, but I felt crappy for 6 weeks afterwards. I couldn't even move off the couch - it was crazy. I think they took too much.

11. If I have a coupon for the store, and go there, and can't find anything to buy, I like to find someone to give the coupon to for them to use. It really bothers me to see a coupon go unused.

12. It has to be completely dark for me to sleep without some sort of sleep aid. My sister and I both inherited this from my mother.

13. Even though I am taller, my mom, my sister and I have identical calf muscles. It is very weird.

14. I really don't like to eat red meat, mostly because the thought of eating a cow is sort of disturbing. However, I don't feel bad at all about eating chicken or a turkey because those animals are mean and will peck you.

15. I am slightly scared of dwarfs, mainly because I feel self-conscious because I am looking down at them, and I feel bad at avoiding them because I feel like they know I am avoiding them because I don't want to look down at them and feel self-conscious. It is a lose-lose situation.

16. I cannot find a deodorant that I really like. Neither can my sister. For some reason they always discontinue the one I start to like.

17. I am slightly scared of people who own birds or snakes. Who wants to have a snake in their house? Gross.

18. For some reason people always repeat stories to me when they don't know they are repeating them, and usually I feel bad telling them I have already heard the story. I draw the line when they start repeating it for the third time. Then I tell them.

19. I despise painting. I have spots in my house that have needed a touch up ever since I have moved in and I still haven't done it. I'd rather change out the insides of a toilet or install a dishwasher (both of which I can do).

20. I don't understand how people live without a keyless entry pad on their garage door. I therefore have a hard time feeling bad for people who get locked out of their house and either a) do not have a keyless entry system or b) didn't think enough to have a key at a neighbor's or hidden somewhere around the house.

21. My favorite time of the day starts about 6:30 PM and runs until 10. If it's a weekend, it's 7 AM to noon. I am worthless in the afternoon.

22. I don't really like to be outside. I don't really like to be outside because I don't like to be too hot, or too cold.

23. I love to be at a restaurant and have someone order for me. I really love it when they are able to order what I wanted. Strange, I know, but I love it.

24. I don't like my laundry to pile up. It rarely does.

25. After watching an Oprah show, I threw out all of my dishtowels and rags. I only use paper towels. All of those germs being swirled around. Yikes.

Stay tuned for more random ruminations...and have a great week!