amanda_land_v2

I won the Outworlders Spring Picnic Iron Chef Contest!  For the third time! (I've entered three and won three.)  Alan said I'm the "winningest" chef so far.  The secret ingredient was peanut butter and I made a peanut butter drink.  I found a recipe for something called Peanut Butter Punch and thought I would start with that as a base.  It was made with equal parts evaporated milk and water, vanilla, 3 tbsp. of peanut butter, and a dash of nutmeg.  And it sucked.  So I added some hershey's chocolate caramels into it and more peanut butter.  It started to taste better, but still wasn't right.  So I tried the original recipe with sweetened condensed milk instead of evaporated milk and it was ridiculously sweet.  Finally, I poured the two together, and voila!  A tasty peanut butter caramel chocolate drink. 

The winner picks the next "secret" ingredient so I chose zucchini.  It will be fun trying to make a tasty desert with it!

I am a mediocre cook.  It either tastes awesome or awful with little in between.  But I love creative challenges.  Maybe that's why I win.

Here's how the contest works:  Outworlders has a spring and a fall picnic and for each one, we have an Iron Chef contest.  Due to limitations, an ingredient is chosen ahead of time, and we make dishes to bring to the picnic.  At the designated hour, there is judging and

Besides winning, I was happy to catch up with people I haven't seen for a while.  It was a lovely June day with a slight breeze.  The neighborhood children were scarce, but the shriek of the metal chains on the swings echoed in the warm air. 

A few days ago, I was in the kitchen chopping bok choy while Lee was outside doing yardwork.  The sound of the electric hedge trimmers abruptly stopped.  Moments later, Lee stomped into the house declaring, "The internet will be out until I return from Home Depot!"

LOL, it took him 3 hours to fix the cable he accidentally cut!  Poor Lee!

Sadly, once we put them to use, the condoms did NOT work out.  After two test runs, it made things ... err ... burn and ... err ... go numb.  Sigh.  So it's back to the annoying polyurethane condoms. 

Sigh.  I hate my body.

Ain't that a mouthful?  It is often shortened to POTS, which cracks me up.  Whenever I say POTS, it makes me feel like a stoner.  Yo man, I got some POTS here, LOL.  Yes, I finally have a diagnosis (and there may be other things as well!  Yuck, more tests).

So, what is it?  The super simplified answer is this: Basically, my autonomic nervous system is broken.  Blood isn't going where it needs to when I stand up or move around, or sometimes, even sitting or laying down.

POTS is a disorder characterized by a pulse rate that is too fast when the patient stands. Symptoms include rapid heartbeat, fainting, tremors, lightheadedness with prolonged standing, headache, chronic fatigue, chest pain, neuropathic pain, myofacial pain, impaired concentration, brain fog, and other nonspecific complaints.

( Read more... )

Why does "holiday" = "WWII" on the History Channel?  I just turned the television on and up pops the History Channel.  The network bug (that is the channel identifier) on the bottom right corner of the screen said "Happy Holidays from the History Channel" and was decorated with joyful holly.  While on screen, a man in a foxhole was screaming and screaming under an attack of enemy fire. 

( Warfare )

Today,  I was outside raking the leaves that had piled up knee-deep.  ( Killed with Kindness )

I'm so glad someone finally addressed this because I've been thinking about it myself.

http://current.com/items/89317322/target_women_cleaning.htm

Since I've been ill, I've taken up crocheting to be useful.  Here are a few things I've made.

  Potato Chip or Ruffle Scarf   Candy Cane!  ( See more... )

Ugh!  I went back on antibiotics and my white blood cells are staging a Monster Truck Rally in my body.  All out war is occurring and my body feels like it's ready to shut down.

( Read more... )

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

What I Have Learned Today:

No matter how much you like reading and no matter how boring you find cleaning the bathroom, you should not try to clean the toilet while reading.

I'm talking about that strip-wax stuff.  Along with the other horrors of getting older, one must face the sheer terror of unwanted facial hair (made worse by being of Italian descent!). 

( Read more... )

I'm writing my first Fanfictions lately. I've written short stories and poetry before, but never tried my hand at using someone else's characters. Currently working on a Viewfinder fic and decided to try an Eyeshield 21.

Last night, I invited Kay, my mother-in-law, over for dinner, along with our neighbor, Teigha (minus their hubbies, since both husbands were out of town on Business). It was completely casual. I mentioned that I wanted to have a bowl of soup with some yummy, crusty French or Italian bread for dipping and watch Project Runway.

I had made 13-Bean Soup, soaking the beans overnight and boiling them with smoked turkey legs (Lee doesn't ham or beef). Then I added tomato sauce, onions, garlic, some chili powder, salt, cracked pepper, diced potatoes, and carrots. Overall, it took about four hours to cook, but DAMN, it was GOOD! I also made a Chocolate Pecan Pie--recipe courtesy of Paula Dean from the Food Network and that was yummy too, although I added just a touch too much chocolate by accident.

( Read more... )

Today I was merrily brushing my teeth when I suddenly and uncontrollably sneezed. That has never happened before and the result wasn't pretty. I tried to cover my mouth, but the toothbrush was in the way and I wound up stabbing myself in the gums instead. Then I had to clean toothpaste off of the computer screen. Yes, I was reading my email while brushing my teeth. Strange combination, but I hate staring into the mirror while brushing. It makes me feel narcissistic. Plus, it's boring.

LJ cuts have suddenly started working on my LJ! (as you can see) I think it may have been a problem with Vista and was fixed with one of the recent updates. That's just speculation, of course, but Vista is fucked up and interferes with everything. You have to have patience and perform huge amounts of trouble shooting with Vista just to make normal programs usable. Even now, they don't expect a networking update until sometime this year. This means that we can't network our home computers until this update arrives and that I can't send to the printer without a cord. Annoying.

But I'm happy that the cuts are finally working!

I love Lee to bits. Really I do. He's dealt remarkably well with my illness and pain, long after I would have kicked my own ass to the curb. He's sweet and kind and loving. But even after 10 years of living together, I still don't understand the boy. Lee is like the human hand of chaos. He is the catalyst for entropy in an ordered world and possibly the sweetest, most naive Bringer of Armageddon to ever walk the earth.

Why, oh why, will LJ Cuts not work in my journal? Do I need a paid account? I'm following the directions, and let's face it, it's not rocket science. So why can I not use LJ Cuts?

What Your Face Says

At first glance, people see you as driven and ambitious. Overall, your true self is passionate and physical. With friends, you seem logical, detached, and a bit manipulative. In love, you seem mysterious and interesting. In stressful situations, you seem cheerful and optimistic.