I'm feeling a little overwhelmed right now. I've been working on a project for school for the last 6 hours and I'm finally done. I've looked over a powepoint for a test tomorrow and thinking about tomorrow's class and what more can be assigned! We're in our 4th week and I just hope I can stay on top of all this work.... It's 10:15 and I'm tired and going to bed.....Good night all!

Good Morning all!

What have you got planned for the day? Just for fun, see what you can do to make someone else's day a better day. I always pray that I may be a blessing to someone today. No matter what bad things are happening to you, if you can do something good for someone else, you will feel incredibly better. It may only be a smile and a kind word to someone, but that maybe the only positive contact that person or child has all day. You don't know what someone else is going through. So go out there and make the world a better place!

Good Morning..What a beautiful day it is! We woke this morning to a cool 50 degrees and it felt wonderful. Make sure to spend some time outside to day and observe the changes of the season. I've noticed some of our trees are beginning to get some color to them, probably because of the stress they endured the last couple of months during our drought conditions....hot and dry! And the butterflies are being seen more often since it rained. The hummingbirds are still here and haven't begun their migration to the south. Enjoy the day and all of God's creations!

5K

Good Morning World!

We woke again this morning to thunder and rain....it really is a wonderful sound. This morning our local FOP (Fraternal Order of Police) are sponsoring a 5K run/walk. I'll be doing the walk, thank you very much. I never have understood running....I like to take my time and enjoy the scenery! They planned it for today in conjunction with a chili cookoff that's happening in the State Park. Ought to be a delicious day! Sprinkle in a few homework projects and I'll be busy again from sunup to sundown. In between I've got to spend time with the new puppy. It's Petie and she's about 12 weeks old. She's a mix of mini daushound and ?. This is the first small dog we've had in many years and we're still trying to get used to having a small one around the house again. We had to buy a small collar and a small crate and small food, but she is such a joy! She's a bouncer and comes bounding towards you at the sound of your voice! Even better she's a snuggler....she loves to snuggle! You can't have anything but a great day with this happy little girl around! If you want to be happy...adopt a puppy! They will love you unconditionally and there are so many of them in the shelters around the country...give one a good home!

Bar-B-Que Sauce

Whenever I can, I like to make my own condiments and Bar-B-Que sauce is one that I have found to be very quick. With just two of us in the house, a whole bottle of the stuff just goes beggin. This way, I can control the quantity and it's just pretty darned tasty too! Hope you like it!

Bar-B-Que Sauce

Ingredients

1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 dash hot pepper sauce
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon mustard powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon liquid smoke, optional

In a small saucepan over medium heat, stir together the ketchup, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, hot pepper sauce, garlic powder, mustard powder, and salt. Bring to a simmer, then remove from heat and allow to cool slightly before brushing on your favorite meat.

Light Cracked Whole-Wheat Bread Recipe with Garlic and Rosemary

This last weekend, while the kids were visiting and my Mom and Dad, I made spaghetti. Well...you know if you have great spaghettti...you have to have great bread and it's always better if you make it from scratch. So I dug around in my many recipes and I was searching in some that I haven't tried before and ran across this one which sounded interesting. I always love using fresh Rosemary in my bread so I chose this one. It was great and a couple of days later we warmed the leftovers to have with spaghetti leftovers and it was still good!

1 pkg. active dry yeast
1 tbsp. sugar or honey
1 cup plus 2 tbsp warm water
2 cups bread flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil

Stir yeast and sugar into the water and set aside until the yeast is foamy, about 5 min. Begin mixing your dough with your dough hook of your mixer or by hand, adding in the remaining bread ingredients. Turn on and mix til dough pulls clean from the sides of the bowl. If it is too wet, add more flour by tablespoons til it is of the right consistency. Of if dry and crumbly, add more water by tablespoons. Mix til well kneaded and uniformly supple and elastic. Now, cover and let rise in warm place til doubled, about 1 hour. Prepare your baking stone, and place dough on it. Press out til about 1/2" thick. Make divets in dough with your fingers so this next mixture will settle in the pools.
Mix together to top dough:
3 tbsp. olive oil
2 large garlic cloves, minced or 1 tbsp.
1 tbsp chopped fresh Rosemary

Spoon this mixture over the top of the dough, spreading it out. Sprinkle with coarse Kosher salt. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven til browned! Enjoy!

9/11

I'm watching the History Channel and they are showing clips from 9/ll and the Trade Center. I makes me remember the numbing grief I felt as I watched it happen the first time and then over and over again as the television replayed the events. I can still remember exactly where I was at the time. I was taking classes at the Community College and had just arrived at the school to find everyone huddled around the various televisions in the buildings. Classes were canceled, so I made my way back to work which was a print and copy shop that we owned in downtown. We immediatly went to work to show our patriotism and made a banner to hang across our awning. I hope all that saw it appreciated it as much as we did after making it. It was red, white and blue and said "God Bless America". Please take time now to remember those that lost their life on that tragic day.