Fill in the Blank

Back to the ScrapShare Blog Challenge. This one is easy (which is probably why I am doing it).....

1. My current favorite song is: Well, beats me. I guess I don’t have one currently…. I have been listening to a wide variety recently, including Christmas music.

2. The last book I read was: The Kitchen God’s Wife by Amy Tan. Sad thing is that I read this in August while on vacation…..

3. The last book I bought was: Across the Puddingstone Dam by Melissa Wiley and The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. These books are for Erica (since I really don't buy books for me). Across the Puddingstone Dam is a prequel to Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books.

4. The last cd I bought was: St. Elsewhere by Gnarls Barkley and Corrine Bailey Rae by Corrine Bailey Rae (I bought them at the same time). Now, I did buy the Hannah Montana Soundtrack CD more recently, BUT that is a gift for Erica and not for me……

5. Another CD I wanted but didn't buy is: Greatest Hits by the Little River Band. But the only reason why I didn’t buy it was just because I didn’t have time to mess with Amazon.com right then. I will probably purchase it once the craziness of the holidays has past. I know that this group is a little obscure (certainly not mainstream), but I was listening to the radio the other day and their song Lady came on and brought back memories for me (Reminiscing, anyone?).

6. Right now, I'm wearing: Brown pants, green sweater (work garb)

7. The last gift I bought was: Custom made Photo calendars for various people (I do this every year - Kodak Gallery)

8. The last time I laughed heartily and loudly: The Office Holiday party, just held on Dec 8. I am sure it was something that my friend's husband said.

9. My favorite holiday ornament is: The various photo ornaments from years past

10. My house smells like: Cookies – I baked several batches this weekend

11. The first thing on my to-do list tomorrow is: Make the kids lunch

12. If I could sit on Santa's lap and believe that he'd bring me whatever toy I wished for, I'd ask for: the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Zoom Nikkor Lens. I assume that qualifies as a toy.

13. If I could holiday shop in ONE store, all expenses paid, I'd shop at: B&H Photo – you can get it ALL there – electronics, cameras, lenses, etc.

14. If an angel alighted on my doorstep today and said, "I'm here to grant a Christmas wish," I'd wish for: peace in the Middle east. I know – pipe dream……

15. When I see a bell ringer while out shopping, I: don’t make eye contact and pass by – gosh, I hope that doesn’t make me a bad person……

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Hot and Spicy

I thought it would be appropriate to share something warm on this COLD, COLD day (it was 5 degrees when I woke up this morning!!). My office is on the ‘cooler’ side of the building and it was 66 degrees when I checked it at lunch (with the temperature set at 80!). The depressing thing is that the Conference room right next door is nice and warm. It really stinks when your fingers and feet are cold…..
But back to the Hot and Spicy topic….. my new favorite potato chip flavor is now Lays Barbecue Hot and Spicy:



Why the post on potato chips?? Background information - when I was in China, I got hooked on my hotel’s mini-bar offering of Pringles Hot and Spicy Potato Crisps:


Since vending machines haven’t made their debut in Nanchang, I would take the can with me to the Plant (along with a Diet Coke)to have as a mid morning snack. When I got back to the States, I searched for the same Hot and Spicy Pringles in the local supermarket. I get my hopes up when I see these Fiery Hot Crisps:


I think, Hey, the packaging looks very comparable......So, you would expect some really hot chips with a package like that - all of those flames - but no, they were incredibly disappointing! They just didn’t have the same kick as the Hot and Spicy ones. I do some searching on the Web and find out that the Hot and Spicy Pringles are only available overseas.

Then I discover the Lays potato chips and I will have to say that they are pretty good. Not so spicy that it is uncomfortable to eat them, but just enough heat to need some water (or Diet Coke) to cool the palette.

So warm your taste buds up this freezing day with some Lays KC Masterpiece Hot and Spicy Chips!

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First Snow of the Season

You know the drill - the weather forecasters predict severe weather and the media goes into a tizzy with their winter weather programs. Predictions of copious amounts of snow are stated every 15 minutes on the radio, and everyone heads out to the grocery store to stock up on milk and eggs. The kids start watching the Weather Channel and start asking “Have they canceled school tomorrow?”. We pull out last season’s snow boots, only to find that they are too small for Erica and try to console her (fortunately, her feet are almost as big as mine, so she can wear my snow boots). Their heads are now filled with visions of 12" of the white fluffy stuff and anxiously look outside for the first snowflakes.

Ah, but as I awoke at 6am on Thursday morning, the ground was a bit icy, and nothing was falling from the sky - not even rain. The kids don’t get up until 7am, and that was a good thing, because at 6am their hopes would have been dashed. But by 7am, there was almost an inch of white stuff on the ground and there was a veritable blizzard raging outside.

As expected, school was not canceled (I have been told that they haven’t canceled school in our town for snow in over 30 years), and we braved the elements. The kids did manage to play out in the snowstorm before we left for school.

The forecasters predicted 8-12", we received MAYBE 3". That’s about right proportion of hype to reality. Still, the kids enjoy any amount of snow and spent some time playing in it this morning:

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