Ellen's Hawaiian Chair

Seriously - who needs the gym when they can have this chair at work?

I laughed until I cried.

Free Hair Cut

I am excited because I got a free hair cut off Craig's List for Toujour Salon. Even more exciting is that it is close to where I live. More exciting than that? It has great reviews on some blogs I checked out.

I've never been real picky about my hair cuts. I have wavy/curly hair that pretty much will do whatever I want it to do, regardless of how it's cut. Since I moved into the city two and a half years ago, I have been unable to find a person who can cut my hair well for under $50. Every two or three bad hair cuts, I drive an hour out to the suburbs to spend $25 for a good cut, but my time and gas aren't worth the savings. A friend of mine swears by getting free hair cuts off Craig's List, so we'll see. I'm getting the new Katie Holmes/Victoria Beckham cut. I'm excited. We'll have before and after shots.

This is the way to start a day...

A graduating student (who was a freshman when I started working here) came in this morning to give me her save the date magnet. So cute! She also brought by said fiance to meet me the weekend he came to town to propose. When she handed it to me, she said, "You look BEAUTIFUL today!"

Then I check my email, and I've got about three from a work friend who lives a couple states away, telling me how great I am and that he's praying for me.

I'm also still on a bit of a high because another person I work with on a lot of stuff asked me yesterday to consult on a new community arts center for youth going up in the city. I was so humbled and honored, and really excited.

It's a good week.

George Strait's New Song - Worth Reading

GEORGE STRAIT Lyrics - I Saw God Today

Just walked down the street to the coffee shop
Had to take a break
I’ve been by her side for 18 hours straight
Saw a flower growing in the middle of a sidewalk
Pushing up through the concrete
Like it was planted right there for me to see
The flashing lights, the honking horns
All seemed to fade away
In the shadow of that hospital at 508
I saw God today

Chorus
I’ve been to church, I’ve read the book
I know he’s here but I don’t look
Near as often as I should .. yeah I know I should
His fingerprints are everywhere
I just slowed down to stop and stare
Opened my eyes and man I swear
I saw God today.

Saw a couple walking by
They were holding hands
Man she had that glow
Yeah I couldn’t help but notice she was starting to show
Stood there for a minute taking in the sky
Lost in that sunset
A splash of amber melted into shades of red.

Chorus
I’ve been to church, I’ve read the book
I know he’s here but I don’t look
Near as often as I should .. yeah I know I should
His fingerprints are everywhere
I just slowed down to stop and stare
Opened my eyes and man I swear
I saw God today

Got my face pressed up against the nursery glass
She’s sleeping like a rock
My name on her wrist wearing tiny pink socks
She’s got my nose, she’s got her mamas eyes
My brand new baby girl
She’s a miracle
I saw God today

I Saw God Today Lyrics - GEORGE STRAIT Song Words

Song Words by Artist / Band : GEORGE STRAIT
Song Lyrics Title : I Saw God Today
Taken from Music Album : GEORGE STRAIT
Single Released : February 04, 2008 (2008-02-04)
Music Genre :Country music

Word of the Day

Word of the Day for Friday, February 15, 2008 (
from dictionary.com)

ennui \on-WEE\, noun:

A feeling of weariness and dissatisfaction arising from lack of interest; boredom.

He glanced at his heavily laden bookshelves. Nothing there appealed to him. The ennui seemed to have settled into his very bones.

--Alison Burkhardt, on the weather, "She heaved a deep sigh of ennui."
-- Amanda Quick, With This Ring
He was often off sick or playing hooky and suffered from a kind of ennui, a mixture of listlessness and willful melancholy.
-- Elisabeth Roudinesco, Jacques Lacan (translated by Barbara Bray)
Yet if she felt anything it was ennui, . . . the grey sky and the cold wind obliterating every impulse she might have felt to seek comfort in another climate, another landscape.
-- Anita Brookner, Falling Slowly
He was ashamed and unhappy, adrift with a senseless ennui.
-- Brian Moynahan, Rasputin: The Saint Who Sinned
Ennui is from the French, from Old French enui, "annoyance," from enuier, "to annoy, to bore," from the Latin phrase in odium, "in hatred or dislike."

Two Days at Home and Here's What I've Learned:

1) Janice Dickenson's Modeling Agency is ALWAYS on Oxygen during the day.

2) Millionaire Matchmaker is always on Bravo.

3) Pay-per-view movies have gone up a dollar to $4.99. That's a 20% hike. I have an issue with a 20% price hike and will probably never order a pay-per-view movie, again. While I desperately wanted to order Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, it's next on my netflix list, and I can't justify paying $5 for it. This is also in keeping with me 'do I need it or do I want it' philosophy with spending money.

4) I no longer have any interest in most daytime television: e.g. soap operas and talk shows. The two exceptions are Regis and Kelly and The View.

5) Being home while sick makes me focus on the fact that I'm uncomfortable. I'm trying to do some work right now, partly bc I feel guilty that I have two big events coming up and I'm not at work to work on them, and partly because I have a student worker who I keep having to send home bc I'm not there to give her projects to work on.

Chicken Pad Thai

This recipe is DELICIOUS! I'm addicted to Thai food, and spend an insane amount of money ordering from Yes Thai. I have tried to make pad thai with another recipe, before, and didn't care for it.

I used chicken instead of shrimp, and used bottled peanut sauce instead of making the sauce at the top of the recipe. This was pretty easy and didn't take much time to make. In the 30 minutes that the rice noodles are soaking, you can chop the chicken and green onions, cook your chicken, mix up the noodle cooking sauce and clean up the kitchen. It's perfect.

"At Home" Pad Thai with Creamy Peanut Sauce
Source: Carnation, from Very Best Baking website.

Ingredients:

PEANUT SAUCE
2/3 cup (5 fl. oz. can) NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Evaporated Milk
1/3 cup smooth or chunky peanut butter
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
PAD THAI
8 ozs. dried, thin rice noodles *
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 fresh lime, cut into wedges, divided
1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 ozs. small shrimp, peeled, deveined or 1 boneless chicken breast, cut into small pieces
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 large egg, beaten
2 cups (about 4 oz.) fresh bean sprouts
1 bunch green onions, sliced (about 3/4 cup), divided
1/2 cup chopped peanuts, divided


Directions:
PLACE evaporated milk, peanut butter, soy sauce and ginger in blender; cover. Blend for 30 seconds or until smooth. Set aside. Makes 1 cup.

SOAK rice noodles for 30 minutes in hot tap water; drain. Noodles will be flexible but not soft.

COMBINE water, sugar, ketchup, soy sauce, juice of 1 lime wedge (1 teaspoon) and cayenne pepper in small bowl.

HEAT oil in large, non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add shrimp and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes or until shrimp turns pink. Stir in noodles, stirring quickly to keep from sticking. Pour ketchup mixture over noodles; cook for 2 minutes or until sauce is absorbed, stirring constantly.

PUSH noodles to side of skillet. Add egg to skillet, stirring until cooked. Stir in bean sprouts, 1/2 cup green onions and 1/4 cup peanuts until mixed. Mound mixture on large serving plate. Pour 1/2 cup peanut sauce down center of noodles and sprinkle with remaining green onions and peanuts. Squeeze 2 lime wedges over noodles and garnish with additional wedges. Serve with remaining peanut sauce.

SERVING SUGGESTION: Serve Peanut Sauce with grilled chicken satays or chicken fingers.

* NOTE: If rice noodles are not available, 8 ounces dried linguine, prepared according to package directions can be substituted.

Korean BBQ Sauce

I made some delicious ribs using this Korean BBQ Sauce recipe in the crock pot. I added about 3/4 cup water in the bottom of the crock pot, and added extra ginger and brown sugar to taste. In addition, I used low-sodium soy sauce. I cooked the ribs overnight, and they were so tender and so delicious. I highly recommend this recipe - particularly for the woman-on-the-go or for moms.

Do you celebrate Lent?

I grew up United Methodist, and we didn't give up anything for Lent, although some people in my church did. The most common desires I saw people giving up included sweets and smoking.

A couple years ago, a friend of mine gave up watching TV in his house. It reached a point where he was always wanting to be at another person's house, bc his rule didn't extend outside his own house.

I've decided to give dying to my desires a try this year. I went back and forth with what is really difficult for me to give up, and I'm going to give up eating at restaurants when I'm paying for it. The reason I have that stipulation is that I have a few work events coming up where I'll be expected to go to meals, and if I don't eat then, I won't get to eat at all. I may still join friends who are going out to dinner, but my goal is to only order a drink and eat my meal in advance.

My reasoning for this is that eating out has become a bit of a financial vice for me. This will be good practice for me to get in the habit of only eating out a couple times a month versus a couple times a week.

UPDATE: After attending an Ash Wed service, I have also decided to give up TV in my home. I've decided that doesnt' include my Netflix movies. We'll see how I do.

My Ski Weekend

Last weekend I was invited by my friends Erin and Jimmy to be a chaperone on a youth ministry ski weekend to Alpine Valley (Lake Geneva area) in Wisconsin. I was so excited because I have never been skiing before.

As my blog name might imply, I am a bit accident prone when it comes to things like this. This weekend was no exception. I fell in the parking lot before entering Alpine Valley. It was like a cartoon - I slipped on an icy patch, both my feet flew out from underneath me, and I fell on the upper part of my butt.

I'm still sore - interestingly enough, I'm more sore now than that weekend. Baths with salts have been my friend. =)