Product Review

TRUE PORE-FECTION Skin Refining Cleanser

An all-hands-on-deck solution to cleansing skin. Gently refining, it lathers away pore-clogging dirt, oil and makeup, without a trace. Formulated with vitamin A, meadowsweet extract and bamboo to balance and pore-fect acne-prone skin.

TRUE PORE-FECTION Skin Refining Toner

Soak up excess oil, and let the true you shine through. The gentle toner visibly reduces pores and leaves skin shine-free. Formulated with vitamin A, meadowsweet extract and bamboo to balance and pore-fect acne-prone skin. 6.7 fl. oz.

TRUE PORE-FECTION Oil-Free Skin-Clearing Lotion

Banish breakouts with a little help. Deep cleaning, but gentle, our oil-free moisturizer helps clear skin with salicylic acid. Formulated with vitamin A, meadowsweet extract and bamboo to balance and pore-fect acne-prone skin. 2 fl. oz.

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I have used Proactiv for years and recently tried Acne Free. Out of all of the Products I have ever tried for my acne these Avon Products are the BEST EVER. I was amazed the first time I used the cleanser. All my pores were clean as a whistle and all but disappeared. The Toner is refreshing and tingly. Which I love! The Clearing Lotion smells divine! I have been very impressed with all of these products and my skin has never looked so good. I love these products and prefer them over Proactiv.

And guess what......they are on Sale!!!!

Each one is just $5.99 at www.avon.com

Bowl of Cherries

You may have noticed a change in my graphics and header pic. It all started when I found the Cherry Header pic. I liked it and decided to use it. Then I found the lovely bowl of cherries needle point pic and wanted to use that too. Then I looked up the saying "Life is just a bowl of cherries" and found the lyrics to the popular song.......

Life Is Just A Bowl Of Cherries
Life is just a bowl of cherries

Don't take it serious,

Life's too mysterious

You work, You save,You worry so

But you can't take your dough

When you go, go, go

So keep repeating "It's the berries"

"The strongest oak must fall"

The sweet things in life

To you were just loaned

So how can you lose

What you've never owned

Life is just a bowl of cherries

So live and laugh, aha!

Laugh and love

Live and laugh,

Laugh and love,

Live and laugh at it all!

Not a bad motto for life, huh?!?!
Live, Laugh. Love

"Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries" was a popular song by Artist Rudy Vallee.
The music was written by Ray Henderson, the lyrics by Buddy G. DeSylva and Lew Brown. The song was published in 1931.

I think I may have to start collecting Cherry Stuff !!!!

Opening Day 2008

Major League Baseball Opening Day 2008

Baseball is back. And we are excited! Our team is the Detroit Tigers. Matt has been a fan since childhood. Because he was so interested, I became interested. This also happened to be in 2006 when the Detroit Tigers went to the World Series.

That was the year we also started our tradition of going to Detroit to watch a Tigers Game in September to celebrate our Anniversary. We have made some great memories and have fallen in love with Downtown Detroit.

This year we are going to 2 Games in Detroit! One in May and then our September Trip. We are both really excited.

We were watching some pre season shows yesterday. All predictions and speculation points to the Tigers being a Team to beat this year. Could another trip to the World Series be in our Tigers future?!?!?!?! I sure hope so!!!!

One of my favorite Players is Curtis Granderson. Who's your Tiger??

Who is your favorite Team and / or Player??

The Tigers play the Royals at 1 pm est today.

Go Tigers!!

Eastwood Metro Park

Eastwood Metro Park

Just a short distance from the Air Force Museum and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base sits an oasis that combines boating, fishing and outstanding picnic areas. Eastwood Lake — 185 acres — is the centerpiece for sailing, motor boating and fishing.

Clicky the linky for more info:
http://www.metroparks.org/_eastwood/eastwood.aspx

Blog of the Week

My Blog of the week is Mrs Fussypants Guide to Life

Her slogan is " We both can't look good....It's Me or the House."

I found some funny funny stuff here. Mrs Fussypants is witty and very creative. Stop by for a visit.

http://fussypants.typepad.com/whatsmartmommiesknow/

He's big deal.....

There is a party tonight at my Aunts House. Subs and Beer for everyone!!

Hubs: Don't tell everyone that I am coming to the party.

Me: Why not?

Hubs: If I get tired, I may not come to the party.

Me: So you think everyone will get excited if I tell them you are coming?

Hubs: Yeah.......... I am kind of a big deal.

Jobs

I was feeling nostalgic the other day and was thinking about all the jobs that I have had. It is kind of interesting how it ebbs and flows depending on my interests at the time. So I thought I would give you the run down:

Baby Sitter
Car Hop at the Root Beer Stand
McDonald's
Drive Thru Attendant
Nursing Assistant at Nursing Home
Nursing Assistant at Hospital
Unit Clerk in Hospital Emergency Room
Unit Clerk in Hospital ICU
Street Worker for City of Xenia Street Department (it is worker, people.....not Walker!!)
Day Camp Counselor for YMCA
Office Worker YMCA
Day Care Provider YMCA
Day Care Provider- Days of Discovery
Firefighter/EMT City of Huber Heights
Firefighter/EMT Xenia Township
Deputy Sheriff for Greene County Sheriff''s Office
Deputy Sergeant for Greene County Sheriff's Office
Lieutenant for Greene County Sheriff's Office

It seems in all of my jobs, I was taking care of someone else. This wrecked my body and now I am Medically Retired and taking care of myself.

My favorite Jobs were Nursing Assistant in the Nursing Home. Unit Clerk in the Emergency Room, Day Care Provider at Days of Discovery and being a Deputy Sheriff with Greene County.

How many Jobs have you held? What were some of your favorite jobs?

My Cuz is in Holland !

I introduced you to Kristen my Cousin in a Blog of the Week Post.

Just wanted to let you all know.....she made it to Holland and has a new post about her first week there.

http://kpittyinthecity.blogspot.com/

What I am reading

Bright Lights, Big Ass by Jen Lancaster

Jen Lancaster hates to burst your happy little bubble, but life in the big city isn't all it's cracked up to be. Contrary to what you see on TV and in the movies, most urbanites aren't party-hopping in slinky dresses and strappy stilettos. But lucky for us, Lancaster knows how to make the life of the lower crust mercilessly funny and infinitely entertaining. Whether she's reporting rude neighbors to Homeland Security, harboring a crush on her grocery store clerk, or fighting-and losing-the Battle of the Stairmaster- Lancaster explores how silly, strange, and not-so-fabulous real city living can be. And if anyone doesn't like it, they can kiss her big, fat, pink, puffy down parka.

** This is a good one. I have had several laugh out loud moments. I even had to read a couple passages to the Hubs. He thought she was funny too.

I love Jen! She is my new favorite!

What I am watching

Gone Baby Gone

When a 4-year-old girl goes missing in Dorchester, one of Boston's toughest hoods, private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro (Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan) reluctantly agree to take the case. But the investigation proves tougher, riskier and more complex than they could have imagined. Ben Affleck's directorial debut, adapted from the Dennis Lehane novel, also stars Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman and Amy Ryan (in her first Oscar-nominated role).

I really liked this movie. definitely better than I expected. It is one of those movies that makes you ask.....what would I do?

What's for Dinner

recipe and photo courtesy of www.kraftfoods.com

Saucy Pepper Steak

Prep Time:20 min
Total Time:35 min
Makes:4 servings

1 green bell pepper, cut into strips
1 red bell pepper, cut into strips
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into strips
1 small onion, cut into strips
1 lb. well-trimmed boneless beef sirloin steak, cut into strips
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. black pepper
3 Tbsp. lite soy sauce
1/2 cup KRAFT Original Barbecue Sauce
2 cups hot cooked brown rice

HEAT large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium-high heat. Add bell peppers and onions; cook and stir 6 to 8 min. or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Transfer to large bowl; keep warm.

ADD meat, garlic and black pepper to same skillet; cook and stir 3 min. Add soy sauce; cook 1 min. or until meat is cooked through. Add barbecue sauce; cook until heated through.

SPOON meat mixture into bowl with vegetables; toss gently. Serve over rice.

Make it faster:

I found a 3 Pepper and Onion Mix in the frozen Veggie Section of my Grocery.

My new Dishes

These are my new dishes!!!
We saw them at Sam's the other day and I told the Hubs I liked them. He surprised me yesterday morning with them. What an awesome Husband.

I have been wanting new dishes for a while. In total, we had 3 diffrent sets of unmatched , missing pieces dinnerware. It is so nice now.....we have a full matching service for 8!!!

The Dishes are Gibson Elite Festive Carousel.

Snow on Easter!?!?

Yesterday, it Snowed! Snow on Easter Sunday can you believe that! And this morning there is Frost!!! I swear it is never going to be Spring here!!!

They say it is going to get warmer this week......we'll see.

The Barber Breakfast Buffet

Today Matt and I are throwing our First Ever Easter Breakfast Buffet.

My Mom and Dad will be joining us.

The Barber Breakfast Buffet Menu:

French Toast made with Hawaiian Sweet Bread

Scrambled Eggs

Sausage Links and Patties

Fresh Fruit

Orange Juice

Happy Easter!

What's for Dinner

Picture of the Hawaiian Potato Bread I made today.

I am planning on doing a Breakfast Buffet for Easter tomorrow. French Toast made with this Yummy Bread will be the STAR!

Here is the recipe for the bread:

Hawaiian Potato Bread

3 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 pkg yeast
1/2 C pineapple juice
3/4 C warm.water
2 tbs butter
1 egg
1 C mashed potato flakes

Set machine on dough cycle. When finished, form dough into a ball. Place in greased round cake pan. Cover, let rise until doubled (30 - 45 min). Heat oven to 350*F. Bake uncovered for 35-45 min, or until loaf has a hollow sound when lightly tapped. Immediately remove from pan by loosening sides and place on rack to cool.

Makes a 24 slice round loaf.

Happy Easter

Photo by Carolyn Barber

Happy Easter !

May the Easter Bunny bless you with lots of chocolate!

My Hot Date

I got a hot date tonight. My Man is taking me to La Comedia Dinner Theater. I made a comment in general that I would like to see it and he surprised me by setting up a gathering of all our friends to see the show. It's gonna be fun. But I have a sneaking suspicion that the Guys are just going for the food?!?!?!
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Broadway Hit Thoroughly Modern Millie is Making its LaComedia Debut!

This new high-spirited musical romp will have you doing the Charleston! Thoroughly Modern Millie tells the story of young Millie Dillmount, who has just moved to New York City in search of a new life for herself. It's 1922, a time when the rules of love and social behavior are changing forever.

Filled with frisky flappers, dashing leading men and a dragon-lady of a villainess you will love to hate, this zany romantic spoof of the Roaring Twenties, makes for a perfect afternoon or evening of madcap merriment. And with the role of Millie Dillmount, musical theatre has found a new heroine for the ages in Thoroughly Modern Millie.


La Comedia Dinner Theatre
765 W. Central Ave.
Springboro, OH 45066

http://www.lacomedia.com/

What's for Dinner?

Bruschetta Chicken Bake

(this is one of our favorites. It's easy and YUMMY!)


Prep Time:10 min
Total Time:40 min
Makes:6 servings, 1 cup each

1 can (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 pkg. (6 oz.) STOVE TOP Stuffing Mix for Chicken
1/2 cup water
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-1/2 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 tsp. dried basil leaves
1 cup KRAFT Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese

PREHEAT oven to 400°F. Place tomatoes in medium bowl. Add stuffing mix, water and garlic; stir just until stuffing mix is moistened. Set aside.

PLACE chicken in 13x9-inch baking dish; sprinkle with the basil and cheese. Top with stuffing mixture.

BAKE 30 min. or until chicken is cooked through.

picture and recipe from www.kraftfoods.com

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I hope everyone has a great St. Patrick's Day.

Top O' the Morning to Ya!

The Dogs

We had some doggie cuteness going on yesterday during an afternoon nap.

I thought I would snap a few pics and share the cuteness

Samantha

Molly

Mandy

Jack

What's for Dinner

Easy Chicken Parmigiana


Prep Time:10 min
Total Time:45 min
Makes:6 servings

1 jar (14 oz.) spaghetti sauce (about 1-1/2 cups)
1-1/2 cups KRAFT Finely Shredded Italian* Five Cheese Blend, divided
1/3 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
6 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1-1/2 lb.)
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine, melted
6 cups hot cooked spaghetti


PREHEAT oven to 375°F. Pour spaghetti sauce into 13x9-inch baking dish; set aside.


MIX 1/2 cup of the cheese and the bread crumbs in separate shallow dish. Dip chicken in butter, then in cheese mixture, turning to evenly coat both sides. Place over spaghetti sauce in baking dish.


BAKE 30 min. or until chicken is cooked through; sprinkle with remaining 1 cup cheese. Bake an additional 5 min. or until cheese is melted. Serve over spaghetti.

Make it even faster and easier:
I use breaded chicken breast patties

recipe and photo courtesy of www.kraftfoods.com

Spring ?!?!?!?

I am sitting here surfin' my favorite Blogs and what do I hear?!?!?!


Robins singing and chirping!!!


Could this mean that Spring has finally sprung!!!!!!

What's for Dinner... Shamrock Shakes!

I love this time of year......not for celebrating St Patrick's Day.........not for the anticipation of Spring. It's all because the SHAMROCK SHAKE at Mc Donald's. This Minty Vanilla Shake is the BEST. My ALL TIME FAVORITE. I wait and wait for March to roll around just to get my yearly fix of my Shamrock Shakes.
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The history of the Shamrock Shake

The Shamrock Shake is a seasonal dessert sold at select McDonald’s fast-food restaurants during March, to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Essentially, the Shamrock Shake is a standard vanilla shake, flavored with mint extract and dyed green.

Shamrock Shakes were widely available across Canada and the United States until the early 1990s. According to the McDonald’s web site, Shamrock Shakes are now sold exclusively in Ireland, although they are still available at select American stores during the month of March. The Shamrock Shake typically appears in mid-February.

During the 1980s, McDonald’s used the Uncle O’Grimacey character to market Shamrock Shakes. However, he has been phased out, but is said to return along with Grimace and Mayor McCheese in a series of television spots on Nickelodeon starting in 2008.

In 2008, McDonald's brought back the Shamrock Shake for a limited time only starting on February 26.

Cool Shamrock Shake Web Sites

http://www.tiktok.org/shamrock/

http://www.shamrockshake.com/

Go get a Shamrock Shake. I promise....... you will love it!!!

Shadows on the Snow

Shadows on the Snow

Update on Dad

Dad got to come home yesterday. He is still dealing with pain but at least he is home.
He is going to be a difficult Patient though. He thinks and wants to swing right back to where he was before the surgery. Mom and I kept having to remind him that he had major surgery and it would take a little while for him to heal and feel better.

Mom's gonna have her hands full!!

Update on Dad

Dad is doing better. He sat up in chair yesterday for a little bit. He is still battling the pain though.

We talked to the Dr. yesterday. I guess she took out ALL 23 feet of intestine out to check for any perforations. Isn't that amazing that all that could come out and then go back in (in no particular order) and still work. The amazing body!

Thanks to my new Blog Buddies for the comments!

My Dad

My Dad had Emergency Surgery last night.

He and Mom had the flu and Dad didn't get any better and lost 8 lbs in 2 Days. His Dr. wanted him to go to the ER to get checked out. During his testing they found that he had "Free Air" in his abdomen. Not knowing where it was coming from required him to have the exploratory surgery tonight.

The good knew is the Dr found nothing of great concern. She felt it might have been some sort of perforation or leak somewhere that had burst but then sealed itself. Or a "Air Cyst" that had burst. They had to make a pretty good incision to check everything out so He will be in the Hospital for a couple days

What's for Dinner

This is what we had for Dinner last night. Shipwreck Dinner. I thought it was appropriate since we were snowed in from the Blizzard! It was really quick and very good. In the future I will round out the meal with a side salad.



Shipwreck Dinner

http://kraftfoods.com/

Prep Time:5 min
Total Time:30 min
Makes:4 servings

1 lb. extra lean ground beef (I used ground turkey)
1 pkg. (7-1/4 oz.) KRAFT Macaroni & Cheese Dinner
1 can (16 oz.) stewed tomatoes, undrained (I used diced tomatoes, undrained)
1 cup frozen green peas (I used frozen peas and carrots)
1 cup milk
1 cup KRAFT Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese

BROWN meat in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Drain fat, if necessary.

STIR in Macaroni, Cheese Sauce Mix, tomatoes, peas and milk. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover. Simmer 12 min. or until macaroni is tender.

SPRINKLE with cheese. Let stand 5 min. or until cheese is melted.

Calm after the Storm

The Blizzard is over.

Snow fall totals were anywhere from 14 to 20 inches around the Dayton Metro area.

It is hard to get accurate measurements because of all the blowing, drifting snow.

This Storm has set the 2nd highest snow fall record for this area.

None the less......I snapped this picture of a pretty sunset after the storm.

More Blizzard 2008

Latest Update: Under a Level 3 Snow Emergency.

Still snowing and blowing.

Latest Snow measurement is 14 inches!!

My Neighborhood

14 inches of Snow

The Backyard

Drifting Snow on the Roof

Blizzard 2008

Welcome to Blizzard 2008! There pics were taken yesterday at 6 pm. There was about 7 to 8 inches of snow at that time. It has continued to snow and blow all night long.

Currently there is very heavy snow and the visibility is 200 yds are less. 12 inches of Snow! They are saying the heaviest snow will occur at sunrise which is a couple hours away!

First pass with the snow blower

See the depth of the snow?!?!

Drifting Snow

More snow blowing!

Me and Matt- Blizzard 2008

Let it snow!

We are in the middle of a Winter Weather Warning. We are expecting 10 to 14 inches of Snow!!

*Update at 4:30 pm, We have been upgraded to a Blizzard Warning!

* Update at 6:30 pm- 6.5 inches of Snow and the worst is yet to come they say!

Will be posting more pics tomorrow

Back Yard at 8:00 am this morning.

Mandy

Backyard at 2:00 pm

4 inches of Snow since 8:00 am!!!

Action shot of Mandy

What's for Dinner

Pics of the Oatmeal Bread I made today:

They weren't kidding when they said it is a high rising bread.

We are having Pot Roast Sandwiches on Homemade Bread

(Using the left over Pot Roast from last night)

Molly

Molly was enjoying some Daddy time last night.

What's for Dinner

Last night Matt made one of his famous Pot Roasts. It was YUMMY!!! Everything was cooked to perfection. The Veggies were not to mushy and the Pot Roast was so tender!! It just fell apart when you touched it with a fork. Just the way I like it!!