Monday, February 25, 2008

We've been back and forth about that to do with the "game room" at our house. The "game room" is actually a large, long room that runs along the back of our house. It was originally a covered proch and was enclosed by a previous owner.

I had previously lobbied to return it to that state, and I still wish that we could, but, I have accepted that we really do need the space as a play room for precious baby and a video game and computer area.

About a year ago, we had a flood in that room. During a really bad rainstorm, the backyard flooded and water seeped in to the game room. Fortunately, we caught it immediatly and were able to control the flooding, shop-vac out the water and we removed the wet drywall to prevent mold growth.

We addressed the drainage problem in the backyard by digging a drainage ditch and lining it with rocks... it looks kind of like a woodland stream now, and works really well to direct the water away from the house.

But we still didn't know what to do with the gameroom, until we finally decided what kind of flooring to put down. So hubby started scraping up the old floor a few weeks ago. It took a while because it's a big room, but he finally got the old vinyl floor scraped up. I patched up the drywall yesterday. It was horrible, exhausting work... cutting new drywall pieces, fitting them in to the spots where the old drywall had been removed, trimming and fitting over and over, and then nailing it in place. Then I applied fiberglass tape and joint compound to the seams.

Now that the walls are fixed, it looks so much better... even without the flooring. But I want that room done. I want to paint this weekend and put the floors in the next weekend. I just want the room done, so that it can be used, and I need someplace to put all of precious baby's toys! If we can't get that room done, we're going to need a bigger house just for the toys!

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

I found the best beauty product ever.

I'm sure any woman out there has bought manybeauty products that promise to deliver something...

shiny hair? Clear skin? Long lashes? Effortless sex appeal? Perfection?

and been dissapointed (but maybe not too suprised) when the product failed to deliver what it promised.

So, if you are like me, you are very skeptical and have drawers full of half used products. But I found a product that really does deliver what it promises.

Lip fusion. WOW. I bought the lip pencil, because I already had a lip plumper that I like (Big Fatty by Urban Decay) but I wanted a pencil that also had plumping properties because I often foung that the plumper would smear and look messay after a few hours. I wanted a product that would stay in place.

Well, Lip Fusion does what it promises. A bigger, fuller pout, without stinging or burning, and the nuetral color is just perfect on me... Nice, but not too made up. Even Hubby noticed that my lips looked lusher and fuller... and he's a "Lip man" so he would notice.

Honestly, I like the product so much, that I'm going to get the gloss to go with it... I figure that the two products would work together even better than just the pencil.

Finally, a product that will be used down to the nub!

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

THIS is why america is fat.

http://www.dlisted.com/node/23499

I just about barfed reading those nuitritional (or lack thereof) stats.

And no, I would NOT eat it... even if I wasn't trying to loose weight!

Thursday, February 07, 2008

There is more going on in my life than precious baby and running. I've noticed that almost all of my posts lately have focused on one of those two topics. There is, actually, more than that going on in my head lately.

Super Tuesday has come and gone, and with it, the collapse of several presidential campaigns. We are now left with two Democrats and one Repulican. The Democratic Race seems pretty open right now, and it's hard to say which of the two candidates, both of whom I have tremendous respect for, will win the nomination.

It's the Republican race, that has concerned me. The Republicans have, in every past election in recent memory, run on a platform of religous faith, to one extent or another. Our current president (thankfully a lame duck) has made much of his personal faith and has attempted to expand federal funding for "faith based initiatives".

This has long worried me. I believe in the strictest separation between church and state. I feel that Government has no business funding, or even discussing, religion. And I feel that religion has no business in Government. I feel that the President, and by extension, presidential candidates, shouldn't discuss religion and that it should play no part at all in government or politics.

Which is why I, a registered Democrat, became more and more concerned watching the Republican field.

Mit Romney is a Mormon. I know what Mormonism is founded upon (and whom) and I honestly believe that anyone who can believe in it has questionable judgment at best, and at worst, is down-right delusional. (Not to mention Mormonism's shamefull history of bigamy and racism.)

Mike Huckabee is a Baptist pastor. I can't see how this man would have any business in government and I cannot see how he would be able to separate his religious faith (which afterall requires the failthfull to actively go out and convert those who don't share their beliefs) from his responsibility to govern without respect to religion.

You can imagine my relief that it appears that niether of these men will be the Republican nominee. After Super Tuesday, John McCain seems to to be the clear front runner, and in fact, this morning Mit Romney suspended his campaign.

At least on the topic of religion, John McCain has followed what I (and George Carlin) believe to be the most important of all commandments:

"Though shall keep they religion to thyself!"

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Last night's Dinner was something I sort of made up... and it was too good not to share.

Asian Fish with vegetable "Noodles" (serves four)

Ingrediants:

four white fish fillets
1 T fresh minced ginger
1T fresh minced garlic
2 T fresh minced cilantro, divided
Juice of one lime, divided
Three large carrots
Three zuccini squash
1 C sugar snap peas
1C edamame beans, frozen, shelled, rinsed
1/2 C white wine
1 1/2 C Chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste
cooking spray or 1 T vegetable oil

Shred the carrots and zuccini into long thin noodle like strips, set aside. In a large skillet, over medium low heat, add the cooking oil or pam, and saute the ginger, garlic and half of the cilantro until fragrant, about three minutes. Salt and pepper the fish fillets, and add them to the pan, and cook for one minute on each side, just to get some of the flavor of the ginger, garlic and cilantro on them. Remove from the pan, and increase the heat to high. Add the wine and half of the lime juice, deglaze the pan, and reduce the liquid by half. Add the broth, the rinsed edamame beans, the snap peas, and the vegetable "noodles" to the pan, still well, coating the veggies with the broth. Bring the mixture to a boil, lay the fish fillets on top of the veggies, sprinkle on the remaining lime juice and cilantro, and cover, reducing heat to low. Allow the pan to steam until the fish is done, four to six minutes, unless your fish fillets are really thick.

To serve, place the fish fillets in a bowl, add some of the veggies, and spoon some broth around the mixture.

I added Siracha sauce to my bowl and boy, it heated it up, cleared out my sinuses, and just made this dish sing!

this is a really fast recipe, I'd suggest that you do all of your chopping and shredding before you start cooking, because once you start, the whole cooking process takes less than ten minutes total, so this is a really great dish to make on a weeknight, because it's really fast, and really healthy. And Precious baby ate it too... she especially loved the carrot "noodles"!