Virginia, I'm not...

I have this absolutely wonderful mother. Her name is Virginia. She is a cleaning machine. She's been one my whole life and at 83, she still is. She passed on her cleaning gene to my daughter Caity. The gene completely skipped me.

You might be wondering, what made me think of this...

Well, I was just reaching into the spice cabinet to get the fennel, when my arm brushed up against the stove hood and my arm actually slide. I looked up and it was disgusting. It was covered with that yucky, greasy build up. It is now clean, but it got me thinking about the things I need to clean around here. So here's my top 10 list of things that need to be cleaned before the summer is over. (Maybe if I put it into writing...it will actually happen.)

1. The ceiling fan in the living room (I won't even tell you how disgusting it is.)
2. The ceiling fan in my bedroom
   
3. The window screens
4. The top of the fridge (Done...I did this the other day. I thought it would be good to make my list a little easier by including something I already did.)
5. The top of the TV armoire
6. The cool air vents
7. Vacuum underneath my bed
8. Dust the moldings, especially behind the furniture
9. Wipe down the kitchen cabinets
10. Turn the oven on to clean

Now...don't get me wrong, the house is usually pretty clean, it's just not that deep down clean that Virginia would love.

A Fish Tale, Part Two

I finally have visual proof confirming my fishing expedition from a few weeks ago.

Here I am freezing to death.

Here I am actually "fishing".

Here is my fish. Please note I am not the one removing the hook.

And here we all are displaying our hard earned booty.

Don't we all look happy to be back on land and I'm hardly even green! Thank goodness the fish were so delicious that I no longer clearly remember that exact queasy, nauseous feeling anymore. It's kind of like childbirth. I don't remember that either.

Thanks Mary for sending all the pics.

500 Days of Summer Movie Review

(500) Days of Summer

Grade: A

This is a sweet little love and loss story that I highly recommend. It is cleverly arranged to chronicle the meeting, dating, loving and break-up of Tom and Summer (although not necessarily in that order).

Tom, played wonderfully by, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, is an awkward, intense young man searching for his true love. Summer is played by the quirky Zooey Deschanel, who manages to beguile and confuse the viewer as much as she does Tom.

Gordon-Levitt has done a fine job transitioning from child actor to young actor. (I recognized him from Angels in the Outfield as we went through a stage when Stinky watched that movie over and over.) He's cute and unassuming yet, manages to express a lot with his face.

Important note: Don't miss the opening credits for a very funny set up to the movie.

Tripping Down Memory Lane

Tonight is my High School Reunion. It's been 35 years, which seems impossible. How in the world could that much time have passed? It seems like only a short time ago I was an awkward teen-ager stumbling around in ridiculous platform shoes and bell bottoms. (That could have been last Tuesday too!)

This is a picture of the school...doesn't it look more like a prison then a high school?

I went to a small Catholic School in Dearborn, Michigan. It closed one year after we graduated, which I always felt was a great loss. Not only for all the kids that weren't able to graduate from there, but also for us.

You see, we have no annual Homecoming Game to go to anymore and nothing feels like football more than a crisp fall Sunday afternoon. (Yes, we always played our football games on Sundays. Seems rather contradictory as it's the Sabbath and all, but when you don't have your own football field and you have to borrow the Public School field....you take what they give you and they always gave us Sundays.) Still to this day, I love high school football games. Although, those lame things they call floats, have nothing on what we accomplished.

I've been a big instigator in this whole reunion. Which makes me not only excited to see my old friends, but also a bit nervous as I hope the caterer does a good job and there's enough decorations. You know it's been a long time since I've hung crepe paper. (Just kidding...no crepe paper, although now that I think of it that would be pretty funny). Just stressing some of the details even though I know, no one will care. I guess that's just the organizer in me.

There have been some great aspects of planning this reunion already. First, I started a blog in support of our class and the reunion. I had been wanting to start blogging earlier this year and used the reunion as an opportunity to test drive one. (I used Word Press for my Reunion Blog.) If you want to go stop by and check it out feel free. Here's the link. Creating this first blog, gave me the courage to start up Our Mush Push, which has been one of my favorite things this year.

Second, it's been fun to be a part of people reconnecting. For example...Mike and Ray lost touch a few years after graduation and now they are emailing and planning on a reunion of their own. That just feels good.

In addition, some of the email exchanges have been great. My current favorite was one written by Dan to Ray and Roland, where he never referred to them by name but by numbers. They all still go by their football numbers. Hysterical or what. The male mind is fascinating. I don't understand it... but it's still fascinating.

Hopefully, the next post will be about the great success of the event and not my complete failure as an event planner.

Also just realized the title of this post might imply something a little more 70's than I meant. It literally refers to my hope of not trip over my own feet.

Just for the Hull of It. (I crack myself up)

I've been wanting to try my hand at chocolate covered strawberries. I have no idea why....I just wanted too. Last night I gave it a try.

Here are my strawberries. (Don't blow up the picture or you'll see how fuzzy it is.) I also purchased some Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Chips.


I washed and throughly dried the strawberries and then I put the chocolate chips in a double boiler to melt.


I then poured the melted chocolate into a deep bowl...well, actually I used a glass as I don't have a short deep bowl.

And then I dipped them and placed them carefully on a sheet of wax paper.

Voila! Chocolate-Covered Strawberries. I had several tasters last night who said they were delicious! (I'm one of those rare people who actually doesn't like strawberries. I know...I'm weird.)

Next time I make them, I would put the wax paper on a small tray so I could move the strawberries to the fridge or freezer to expedite the cooling process. I will also try them with dark chocolate.

Steamed Fish with Corn, Tomatoes and Onions

I've decided to post one of the other recipes I used for the Lake Trout that we caught in Lake Michigan. This recipe is a family favorite. The original recipe calls for Pickeral, but it worked great with the Lake Trout as well.


Steamed Fish with Corn, Tomatoes and Onions

Ingredients:

• Pickeral or other fish fillet (skin removed)
• 1 large tomato
• 1 medium onion
• 2 ears fresh corn on the cob
• garlic salt
• 2 -3 Tablespoons butter
• 2 Tablespoons of water
  

Tear off a good size sheet of heavy duty foil (or 2 piece of regular foil). Spray with Pam or other cooking spray. Peel and slice onion into rings. Place these rings on the prepared foil. Core and slice tomato. Lay the tomato slices on top of the onions. (This creates a bed for your fish). Place the fish on top of the onions and tomatoes. Season the fish with garlic salt and pepper. Remove the corn from the cobs. Put the corn kernels on top of the fish. Place pats of butter along the top of the fish. Add a couple tablespoons of water to the packet. Seal the foil securely around the fish. Place foil packet on medium heat grill or 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes for average size fish fillet.

Serve, making sure you get some of the onions, tomatoes and corn with your fish serving.

Sorry I don't have any pictures of the actual recipe. I think we just ate it too fast. Enjoy.

Card of the Week (CPS #125)

I've been so distracted lately that I haven't had a chance to work on any cards, but since BW and I have a wedding to go to on Saturday...the pressure is on. I used the Card Position Systems weekly challenge as my guide.

This is the CPS #125 sketch and here is my submission:

I think I like it!

A Must See Dance!

I think I've done a pretty good job keeping my enthusiasm for So You Think You Can Dance down to a dull roar. I haven't posted weekly updates on who danced well or who was voted off. I realize that the intesity that Krissy, Cait and I have for this program is not necessarily the same with everyone else.

BUT, last night, something very special happened and I want as many people as possible to see this dance. The performers are Melissa and Ade and....well the video and the dance explain it all. You don't have to stay and watch all the judges comments, just make sure you see this dance.