Razors

Calling all Ladies!
What kind of razor do you use? Seriously. Do you use disposable razors? If so, what brand? Or do you switch around like me. I buy the designer elite brand then realize that they don't last more than two shavings and couldn't cut a warm stick of butter, so go back to the cheapy brand, which works great as long as I remember which one to get. But then I forget which ones to get the next time I purchase and get a cheap brand that nicks and give me razor bumps so I revert back to the elite "pricey" ones, which couldn't cut a warm stick of butter, so I get the cheapy brand, which works great as long as I remember which one to get.... and the maddening cycle continues!!! So, seriously..... what do you use??

Chicken and Dumplings

Recipe courtesy Sandra Lee

Source

Level: Easy

Serves:4 servings

Ingredients

• 4 pounds chicken leg quarters
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 4 carrots, sliced
• 3 celery stalks, sliced
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 (8-ounce) package sliced mushrooms
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 2 (14-ounce) cans chicken broth
• Water
• 1 cup baking mix
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 1/3 cup milk

Directions

Separate the chicken legs from the thighs, and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Coat the pieces with the flour, shaking off any excess and reserve the leftover flour. Put the oil into a heavy bottomed skillet and heat it over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and brown it on all sides, about 5 minutes per side. Remove the chicken to a plate and add the carrots, celery, onion, mushrooms, and corn. Sprinkle with the reserved flour, and give it a good stir. Add chicken broth and stir. Nestle the chicken pieces into the vegetables and add enough water to just cover the chicken. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.

Just before the cooking time is up combine the baking mix, poultry seasoning, and milk in a small bowl. Drop the batter by tablespoons on top of the simmering chicken leaving some room between the dumplings. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Serve hot.

HI my name is Tammy, and I am an OCD Dropout

Hi. My name is Tammy, and I had OCD.

At one time, many people honestly did not know I had Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I hid it, or tried at least.

I had Tupperware stacked high in half my kitchen, each container labeled with neatly typed tags. Beans. Elbows. Rice. Yeast. Onion soup mix. Even Kool-Aid. Everything tucked away just so. The canned goods were another story altogether. Categorized by food group, then family, then variety, then size, down to the exact brand, labels facing perfectly forward. Of course.

Immaculate. That was me.

You may not have noticed that I always rinsed my personal dish, cup, or mug before serving myself food. I knew it was clean. I washed it. But I had to. And it had to be that mug. Not those over there. They did not feel right in my hand or on my lips. Plastic or acrylic cups, especially with dairy, were absolutely not allowed. Glasses required a straw. A bendy one. But never in milk, because plastic and milk do not belong together. Yes, I am aware milk comes out of a plastic jug. Duh.

Ice splashing up my nose? Instant horror. Forks could not feel thin or hollow. They had to feel solid and weighted just right. I had one fork. My fork. The kids all knew. Tongs had to line up perfectly. My silverware drawer was a thing of beauty. Truly enviable.

Paper plates, Styrofoam cups, disposable utensils? Never the top one, even when they were upside down. Plastic utensils got washed anyway.

Then there were the other oddities: socks, oral hygiene, bedding, bathtubs, towels, candle wax, stationery supplies, and yes, even hotdogs. Fingerprints? That is a phobia, not OCD, but we will not go there.

We are not even going to discuss germs and cleaning. or locks and appliances. 

And then, oddly enough, I dropped out. Cold turkey.

The year I divorced, got pregnant, and was diagnosed with cancer all at once, something changed. I got tired. Really tired. Now I am a full-time working, exhausted mom to five full-time kids and one part-time stepdaughter. I simply do not have the energy for OCD anymore.

If you watch closely, you may still catch a glimpse. I still have secrets. I tell you about them all the time. You just do not notice. Laugh out loud.

So why am I telling you all this?

Number one. We finally got a new, to us, refrigerator. Remind me to tell you about the landlord later. I drank a glass of milk tonight without rewashing the glass.

Number two. I took an uninterrupted bath. Uninterrupted. Mom of six. I scrubbed the tub for an hour first, and yes, I will do it again tomorrow even if no one touches it. I am glad I got that out of my system. Please do not tell anyone. It is embarrassing.

So here we are.

Hi. My name is Tammy, and I am an OCD dropout.

Random Facts 5

The electric chair was invented by a dentist.
The human heart creates enough pressure when it pumps out to the body to squirt blood 30 feet.
The male praying mantis cannot copulate while its head is attached to its body. The female initiates sex by ripping the male's head off.
The most common name in the world is Mohammed.
The name of all the continents end with the same letter that they start with.
The name Wendy was made up for the book "Peter Pan."
The Pentagon, in Arlington, Virginia, has twice as many bathrooms as is necessary. When it was built in the 1940s, the state of Virginia still had segregation laws requiring separate toilet facilities for blacks and whites.
The shortest war in history was between Zanzibar and England in 1896. Zanzibar surrendered after 38 minutes.
The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.
The word "lethologica" describes the state of not being able to remember the word you want.
The word racecar and kayak are the same whether they are read left to right or right to left.
There are two credit cards for every person in the United States.
TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters on only one row of the keyboard.
Women blink nearly twice as much as men.
You are more likely to be killed by a Champagne cork than by a poisonous spider.
You can't kill yourself by holding your breath.
You share your birthday with at least nine million other people in the world.

Quote

Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon.

~Doug Larson

Life Quote

"Life is not the way it's supposed to be. It's the way it is. 

The way you cope with it is what makes the difference."

~ Virginia Satir ~

Random Facts 4

Fascinating (and Totally Random) Facts You Probably Didn’t Know

• Believe it or not, more people are killed by donkeys each year than in plane crashes.

• There’s no word in the English language that rhymes with “month.”

• Nutmeg is deadly if injected directly into the bloodstream.

• On average, people fear spiders more than death itself.

• One reason marijuana became illegal? Cotton growers in the 1930s saw hemp as competition and lobbied against it.

• Only one person in two billion will live to see their 116th birthday.

• Your eyes stay the same size from birth, but your nose and ears never stop growing.

• Right-handed people, on average, live nine years longer than left-handed folks.

• Shakespeare invented words like “assassination” and “bump.”

• Some lions mate over 50 times a day.

• Starfish don’t have brains.

• “Stewardesses” is the longest word typed with only the left hand.

• Drunk ants always fall on their right side.

• The average person unknowingly eats eight spiders in their lifetime—while asleep.

• Catfish have over 27,000 taste buds.

• The Queen Elizabeth 2 cruise liner moves just six inches for every gallon of diesel it burns.

Crazy, right? The world is full of bizarre, mind-bending facts that make you see everyday life in a whole new way.

Random Facts 3

Random Facts That Live Rent-Free in My Head:

“I am.” is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.

If Barbie were life-size, her measurements would be 39-23-33. She’d stand 7 feet 2 inches tall, with a neck twice the length of a normal human’s.

If the entire population of China walked past you in single file, the line would never end due to the rate of reproduction.

If you farted consistently for 6 years and 9 months, you’d produce enough gas to equal the energy of an atomic bomb.

A goldfish kept in a dark room long enough will eventually turn white.

If you yelled continuously for 8 years, 7 months, and 6 days, you’d generate enough sound energy to heat one cup of coffee.

In ancient Egypt, priests removed every hair from their bodies—including eyebrows and eyelashes.

No new animals have been domesticated in the last 4,000 years.

It’s impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.

Leonardo da Vinci invented scissors.

Marilyn Monroe reportedly had six toes.

Reality really does the most.

Quote

"Never forget that the pain, however difficult, is confined to just a small portion of who you truly are."

--Ralph S. Marston, Jr

Scars

"Scars remind us where we've been. They don't have to dictate where we're going."

--Rick Dunkle (Writer, from "Criminal Minds.")

Random Facts 2

Random Facts, Part 2 (Because Your Brain Asked for More):

Butterflies taste with their feet.

Cats have over one hundred different vocal sounds. Dogs manage about ten.

Cat urine glows under a black light. Do with that information what you will.

China has more English speakers than the United States. (Wait! What?)

Donald Duck comics were once banned in Finland because he doesn’t wear pants.

Dueling is legal in Paraguay—as long as both participants are registered blood donors.

Elephants are the only animals that can’t jump.

Every time you lick a stamp, you consume about one-tenth of a calorie.

February 1865 is the only month in recorded history without a full moon.

You’re welcome.

Love is Precious

We've got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant. You can't just accept it and leave it in the cupboard or just think it's going to get on by itself. You've got to keep on watering it. You've got to really look after it and nurture it"

-John Lennon

Habits

‘Habits are at first cobwebs, then cables.’
~ Spanish Proverb

Did you know

A cockroach will live nine days without its head, before it starves to death. A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.
A snail can sleep for three years.
All Polar bears are left-handed.
American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each salad served in first-class.
Americans on average eat 18 acres of pizza every day.
An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
Babies are born without knee caps. They don't appear until the child reaches 2 to 6 years of age.
Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour.

Be Yourself

"Be a first rate version of yourself, not a second rate version of someone else."

– Judy Garland

Life

“I shall pass through this life but once. Any good therefore that I can do, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it. For I shall never pass this way again”

- Etienne de Grellet

Appreciate what you have

One day . . . a wealthy family man took his son on a trip to the country, so he could have his son see how poor country people live.
They stayed one day and one night in the home of a very humble farmer. At the end of the trip, and when they were back home, the father asked his son, "What did you think of the trip?"
The son replied, "Very nice dad."
Then the father asked his son, "Did you notice how poor they were?"
The son replied, "Yes."
The father continued asking, "What did you learn?"
The son responded, "I learned that we have one dog in our house, and they have four.
Also, we have a fountain in our garden, but they have a stream that has no end.
And we have imported lamps in our garden . . . where they have the stars!
And our garden goes to the edge of our property. But they have the entire horizon as their back yard!"
At the end of the son's reply the father was speechless.
His son then said, "Thank you dad for showing me how poor we really are."
Isn't it true that all depends on the lens you use to see life? One can ask himself what would happen if we give thanks for what we have instead of always asking for more. Learn to appreciate what you have. Wealth is all in one's point of view.
~Anonymous

Wonder Why

Why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin?
Why women can't put on mascara with their mouth closed?
Why don't you ever see the headline "Psychic Wins Lottery"?
Why is "abbreviated" such a long word?
Why is it that doctors call what they do "practice"?
Why is it that to stop Windows 98, you have to click on "Start"?
Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons?
Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?
Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?
Why isn't there mouse-flavored cat food?
When dog food is new and improved tasting, who tests it?
Why do they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?
You know that indestructible black box that is used on airplanes? Why don't they make the whole plane out of that stuff?
Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?
If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal?
If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?
I found it here.

QUOTE

"I have realized... the feeling of being burned out is a direct result of being unappreciated."

--Jennifer Macias

Courage

Courage is not the towering oak that sees storms come and go; it is the fragile blossom that opens in the snow.

- Alice Mackenzie Swaim

Baby bunnies

We have baby bunnies again. Second time is a charm? I hope. They were a mere minutes old when I left for work this morning. I will have to put a heating pad under the pet carrier and read up on the pages I just printed out on rabbit care. We are very excited. You do realize that those male rabbits are way to frisky for their own good! I thought I understood the term "breed like rabbits" before but..... Our buck gives the doe a mere 45 seconds in between romantic interludes! And the poor dear cries! Time to build yet another hutch, huh?

Quote

There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors.
~ jim morrison

Red Meat Risk and Breast Cancer

Many studies have proven that women who eat the most red meat have an 88 to 330 per cent increased risk of breast cancer. Alarming!

When animal protein is cooked structural changes in the protein, amino acids and creatine in the meat creating dangerous carcinogens. One study found that red-meat protein is associated with a 220 to 770 per cent increased risk of breast cancer.
The animal fat in red meat raises insulin levels also increasing risk of breast cancer by 283 per cent.

Growth hormones and simulators is linked to an alarming 700 per cent increased risk of breast cancer.

Cooking at high temperatures (grilling and frying) to well-done also had a significantly higher risk of breast cancer.

This is scary stuff ladies! I still eat some red meat, but I have drastically reduced my consumption of it. After researching this...it will be reduced even further!

Credit: The Perils of Eating Red Meat, Christine Horner, MD,article in Breast Cancer Wellness Magazine, Fall 2008.

Chalkboard Tee

Chalkboard Tee

I honestly had no idea what this t-shirt was going to be until it arrived and I was completely in awe! I have five children full-time and they all wished they had one (especially my 15 year old son!). What a creative idea. I ordered a small for my youngest but in retrospect I think this would make a totally awesome gift for an older child. They could have a ton of fun at school or church letting their friends write on it! If there is a design with chalkboard on the back….just imagine! I only wish I’d thought of the idea. This is a very fun and creative product.

Click on the photo of the adorable shirt to get to the site!

Eco Bag

I was supplied my ecobag from the company. I love the black with the bright green detailing. The black hides soil but the green helps to locate it! The bag is constructed of very rugged material and well stitched. I have been putting my bag to the test.


I have purchased many re-useable bags at grocery stores and other retail stores. However, seams seem to fall out and the material is so incredibly thin they certainly don't last long around our family of eight. There is truly no comparison between this bag and the regular retail bags. The design and construction makes it truly a "green bag" whereas other bags seem to be fairly disposable.

I have been using my bag very often for the last seven months now. I have even tossed it in the washer about four times and it still keeps on serving our needs. I consider this bag a good buy and a wise investment.