Socks

It has happened again. I have selected a pair of socks that slide down my feet and bunch up under my arch in my shoes.

The last time I did this, I got so frustrated at work that I yanked them off and threw them away in the trash can under my desk.

Not a big deal if you live in TX, but in Siberia, you also get the sting of "no sock" remorse five minutes later.

ARGH.

Cracking the Dozen--Not Eggs & the Winner of the Apron

I'm not sure how much longer I can keep coming up with riveting questions about bananas and first loves, but I'll try for a while longer. By the way, if you have any great questions, please send them to me and I will give you cred in the meme.

1. If you could master one sport, what would it be?

Way to start with an easy one: Running.

2. When you make a major purchase, do you go with your gut instinct, or do you do research to make an informed decision?

I do some research, but the problem is, there's so much conflicting info out there that it's overwhelming and MORE confusing. So often, I go with what feels right, unless I've read some glaringly bad info on a product. I went with the gut feeling regarding a TV recently, and so far, so good. Hey ... What was that boom-poof over my shoulder just then???

3. There is an old kids' game that says you can find out what your movie star name would be by using your middle name as your first name and the name of the street you grew up on as your last. What is your movie star name?

Ann Cherokee. Not cool.

4. Would you rather give up your favorite music or your favorite food?

Food. I'm doing that for most of my life already, no biggie. Right now I'm more addicted to my playlist. Playing as I type this: Broken Glass by the Eurhythmics & Sing a Song, Earth Wind & Fire.

5. There are two types of banana preferences. One is pristine yellow, almost to the point of being green; the other is spotty and more ripe. Which is your preference?

I am of the latter persuasion. Ripe. This might be the dumbest question yet, Lidna.

6. Your favorite tree is?

Weeping Willow.

7. On a scale of 1-10, how tech savvy are you?

I think about a five. Jorge has just cleared his throat over there. Perhaps I shall amend my answer to "2."

8. Has H1N1 touched your family?

No.

9. Are you an analytical person, or do you just accept things the way they are without questioning or scrutinizing?

Waaay analytical. When I took the GRE for some graduate courses, the adviser said I scored extremely high in analytical thinking. That was the first time I knew what it meant to be full of questions, particularly the "whys." Break it down, turn it around, pack it up, throw it in the truck and giddy up is my motto. Since about 5 seconds ago.

10. Is your personality more like that of a dog, cat, or Koala?

I have days when I'm private and independent, like a cat. I have days when I'm cuddly like a Koala. And then I have days when I am friendly, have accidents and chase "squirrels" in my dreams, like a puppy.

11. Do you keep in touch with friends you made years ago?

I do now, on Facebook.

12. You are checking out at a grocery store. In the express lane, there are more people than the regular lanes, but of course, their load is less than those in the regular lanes. Which lane do you choose (assuming you qualify for the express lane) and why?

OK, I just read the other day that you are always better off (faster) to choose the express line. But then you don't get to read People for free in line. :)

And the lucky winner of the apron is Linda (aka "Mocha Lid") from Mocha with Linda! Woo to the Hoo! Only four people qualified for this drawing because the stipulation was that you had to have participated all five weeks of the Fall Into Flavor meme. Wow, four people out of 6 billion in the world did my meme for five straight weeks! Yesssss! I'll send it off right away, Lid, so that you can wear it while preparing some buttery good recipes for Thanksgiving!

Random Dozen #12--A Dozen Dozens--Get It??

A dozen dozens--oh that joke is rich. In my head.

This means, of course, that I have now conjured up 144 different questions (uh, aren't you glad they're different?) which have managed to draw interesting "reviews" from readers. Not all positive, but quirky is the new normal. Like Dwight Schrute.

I'm not sure how much longer I can keep coming up with riveting questions about bananas and first loves, but I'll try for a while longer. By the way, if you have any great questions, please send them to me and I will give you cred in the meme.

1. If you could master one sport, what would it be?

2. When you make a major purchase, do you go with your gut instinct, or do you do research to make an informed decision?

3. There is an old kids' game that says you can find out what your movie star name would be by using your middle name as your first name and the name of the street you grew up on as your last. What is your movie star name?

4. Would you rather give up your favorite music or your favorite food?

5. There are two types of banana preferences. One is pristine yellow, almost to the point of being green; the other is spotty and more ripe. Which is your preference?

6. Your favorite tree is?

7. On a scale of 1-10, how tech savvy are you?

8. Has H1N1 touched your family?

9. Are you an analytical person, or do you just accept things the way they are without questioning or scrutinizing?

10. Is your personality more like that of a dog, cat, or Koala?

11. Do you keep in touch with friends you made years ago?

12. You are checking out at a grocery store. In the express lane, there are more people than the regular lanes, but of course, their load is less than those in the regular lanes. Which lane do you choose (assuming you qualify for the express lane) and why?

Preview of This Week's Random Dozen and Weekend Wrap Up

I forgot to do my wrap-up yesterday, so I'll briefly share. (Don't you cringe when someone says that because you know it won't be brief.)



Summary: Went to Indianapolis Art Museum, saw the special exhibit "Sacred Spain," which was basically 17th Century Spanish renderings of Baby Jesus (He gets a capital "B") and Jesus on the cross. I'll bet you didn't know that Baby Jesus was a chubby little white baby with blond curly hair, blue eyes, and only surrounded himself with toys of prophetic significance. yeah. If we portrayed him this way today, we would see him grabbing candy halos at the grocery check-out with angels helping him hold the candy up to Mary.


Then we went to the Imax to see "A Christmas Carol" in 3-D. Recently this movie has been the number one movie in the nation, and I think it merits the attention. We loved the 3-D effect, and the writing did not stray far at all from Dickens. I felt like I was IN the scenes, especially ones with falling snow. Incredible. One day soon, we will not be able to distinguish animation from real people/scenes.
Sunday, church, then helped people swab the insides of their cheeks to send off to the Be The Match Foundation to help two young sisters in our church who have a rare (only 11 people in the world) and grave immune deficiency disease. I'm praying I'm "the match" for a stem cell donation (simple procedure like donating plasma). There were 860 who swabbed (registered to donate stem cells) and they raised twice the amount of money they aimed for to pay for the testing. Praying for a miracle. Their blog is Dancing Through the Rain.

Finally, I ended Sunday night by working at Oneighty, where it was Parents' Night, and it was really fun.

OK, here's the preview:

1. If you could master one sport, what would it be?

2. When you make a major purchase, do you go with your gut instinct, or do you do research to make an informed decision?

3. There is an old kids' game that says you can find out what your movie star name would be by using your middle name as your first name and the name of the street you grew up on as your last. What is your movie star name?

4. Would you rather give up your favorite music or your favorite food?

5. There are two types of banana preferences. One is pristine yellow, almost to the point of being green; the other is spotty and more ripe. Which is your preference?

6. Your favorite tree is?

7. On a scale of 1-10, how tech savvy are you?

8. Has H1N1 touched your family?

9. Are you an analytical person, or do you just accept things the way they are without questioning or scrutinizing?

10. Is your personality more like that of a dog, cat, or Koala?

11. Do you keep in touch with friends you made years ago?

12. You are checking out at a grocery store. In the express lane, there are more people than the regular lanes, but of course, their load is less than those in the regular lanes. Which lane do you choose (assuming you qualify for the express lane) and why?

Tomorrow we answer the questions and link up!

Last Week for Fall Into Flavor

As Michael Jackson once said, "This is it." This is the final curtain call for Fall Into Flavor 2009.










If you participated all five weeks and would like a chance to win a brand new APRON! just let me know in the comments that you did participate each and every time and would like to be in the drawing.

Here is my final installation for Fall Into Flavor:

This is an old, old recipe called "Husband's Delight." I have no idea why, because there are no remote controls or skimpy outfits involved, unless you want to wear one, of course. Personally, I have found that wearing remote controls can be pretty darn uncomfortable, but suit yourself.

Ingredients:

(warning: this is kind of salty)

8 boneless chicken breasts
8 slices of bacon
1 4oz. pkg. dried beef
1 can mushroom soup
1 c. sour cream
optional ~ slivered almonds

Directions:

Line flat baking dish with dried beef. Wrap each breast with a piece of bacon. Arrange chicken on beef. Mix soup and sour cream well. Pour over chicken. Bake uncovered at 325* for 2 hours or until chicken is done. Sprinkle almonds last 30 minutes if desired.

Thanks for making this a fun little meme again this year. Happy Cooking! Good luck to the apron contestants!