In Memoriam

Just to make the post not so depressing, here's Ali showing her patriotic spirit!
Dress - Macy's

A short post in honour of my family members that I'm missing today (and forever more), along with those brave men and women who served in our Nation's military in ANY capacity.

In memory of Momma and Daddy, Big Daddy, Big Momma Nancy, Uncles Artus, Uncles Jake and Cleophus, Aunts Grat and Mary.

In memory of my uncles who valiantly served their Country even though serving in a segregated military. Still, they answered the call and each discharged honorably:
Uncle Joe
Uncle Rufus
Uncle Cleophus

And to honour my nephew Dwight who continues to serve his Country more than 18 years.

With bowed head and heart patched with many pieces:

O beautiful for heroes proved 

In liberating strife. 

Who more than self their country loved

And mercy more than life! 

America! America! 

May God thy gold refine 

Till all success be nobleness 

And every gain divine! 

O beautiful for spacious skies, 
For amber waves of grain, 
For purple mountain majesties 
Above the fruited plain! 
America! America! 
God shed his grace on thee 
And crown thy good with brotherhood 
From sea to shining sea! 

Thankful Thursday - App Happy!

So I've been trying out these new photo apps and I like them very much. It's awesome the tools we have at our fingertips to be better photographers and to have fun changing up tired photos.

So this Thursday, I'm thankful for my Picstitch app.

Easter

Easter pics. I must admit I didn't take any of the barbecue following church services. I was already in a protein-induced coma and not very coherent after my 2nd hot link and two helpings of mac n cheese.

Me and Princess Ali 

Smiling for the camera.
The big girl in pink is "Butterfly", the face at the top of my blog.

Princess Ali, pretty in pink

It Still Has Meaning

1. On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
   The emblem of suff’ring and shame;
   And I love that old cross where the dearest and best
   For a world of lost sinners was slain.
   • Refrain:
     So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,
     Till my trophies at last I lay down;
     I will cling to the old rugged cross,
     And exchange it some day for a crown.
2. Oh, that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,
   Has a wondrous attraction for me;
   For the dear Lamb of God left His glory above
   To bear it to dark Calvary.
3. In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine,
   A wondrous beauty I see,
   For ’twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,
   To pardon and sanctify me.
4. To the old rugged cross I will ever be true;
   Its shame and reproach gladly bear;
   Then He’ll call me some day to my home far away,
   Where His glory forever I’ll share

Attention Grabber

There I was last night, walking to my car, minding my own business.

Suddenly a brilliant light caught my attention and glancing to my right there she was. Just sitting there, all shimmery and shiny, welcoming me to stare in awe at her beauty. And so there I stood for a few moments, openly and unabashedly gawking and admiring her as she slowly lifted herself higher above me.

I have always loved the moon when she is crescent shaped or just showing half of her beauty, but I love her more when she is full and her light is open, not hidden by clouds or skyscrapers. Whenever I'm in Boise or in a place far from light pollution I am able to see more of her but because I'm a city dweller, I'll take what I can get.

Here then my friends, is a view of last night:

Reality Returns

 Well, I knew it was coming.

It's time once again to wearing makeup.

Time once again to consider a wardrobe consisting of more than jean skirts, tees and flip flops.

It's time to start cooking and packing lunches, snacks and dinners.

Yep, the two week vacation has officially expired and because I didn't win last week's $320 Powerball, nor did a wealthy uncle/aunt die and leave his/her millions to me and because Oprah has decided not to adopt a middle aged woman (I'm sure she has enough financial responsibilities with her family) and spoil her rotten with money, clothes and a fancy car, I have to return to working for a living.

I want to make this clear: I am grateful to God that I have such a great job that allows me certain freedoms to help keep the company's Brand shining in a positive light.  The company provides a wide-bodied chair to handle my girth, like a lot of workers, I sit the majority of the time which is wonderful when you're as heavy as I am. Yes, I am very glad to be gainfully employed 

but

I still don't want to go to work. And except for these habits I have that I can't control, you know the ones - needing electricity, having the ability to flush toilets, being able to open a working refrigerator filled with delectable goodies, having the ability to buy fuel for my car...the list goes on and on. So, because of these habits, off to work I go. And you better believe, I will be smiling when I swipe that badge and the red entry light turns green.

So, while I'm blogging when I should be sorting this week's wardrobe selections, I want to share a new restaurant I discovered last night.  It's the Yard House  located in Desert Ridge Mall. We had  a lovely experience. The menu is as thick as training notebook because it's primarily serving beer from hundreds of flavours.  I don't drink so I was interested in the seating and of course, the food.  I can honestly and happily report that we sat out on the patio in comfortable handleless wooden chairs that felt sturdy when I sat down,  and the the food was awesome!

I started my meal with a cup of Clam Chowder - ok, this wasn't so good. It was pretty thick and a bit on the salty side, but that's only one dish. My next dish was this wonderful sashimi tuna that was hands down in the running for top ten of the sashimi dishes I've tried throughout the Valley.

I smeared wasabi on each slice then added a cucumber slice and went to Heaven each time I bit into a piece of this tuna. Pure pleasure in each bite!

The next dish was the tuna roll. Now this completely took me sometime to get used to because I've never had a tuna roll sans rice, molded turine-like with a crust of edamame beans, but once I got over the unique appearance, it wasn't that bad. I didn't finish it because the soup and the sashimi had pretty much had me stuffed.

The tuna roll sits in a sauce of sesame oil, soy sauce and little spurts of siracha dotted around the plate. Yumm!

What's Cooking?

So, I've been vacationing for the last week, I'm on my 2nd week now.  With everything I listed on my vacation "to do" list, I knew trying out new recipes would be at the top.

The first dish I tried is this chicken with rice and vegetables in the slow-cooker.  Anyone know good words to describe dull, bland and mushy? This dish is indeed a fiasco. It's not well seasoned although I followed the recipe: salt & pepper to taste, all spice, chicken broth, can of creamed mushroom soup. The rice is mushy and has a texture more like wet newspaper, the chicken thighs (skinless) are stringy. Here's a pic:

Mushy, bland and dull. And I have to eat this!

The 2nd dish I tried fared a whole lot better! Like the first dish, this was quick and easy to make. It's ground turkey, tofu and frozen vegetables.  A creation I call turkey, tofu and mixed vegetables. For this dish I used, pepper, sesame oil, garlic black been sauce, fish sauce, soy sauce and garlic. Very small amounts of each because the fish and soy sauces are very salty and the black bean sauce is both salty AND spicy.

Hands down,  the best recipe!

Here's a view without the flash.

Now THIS dish I won't mind finishing. 

When the kids get here Thursday we're baking bran/apple/banana muffins. I'll let you know how they turn out.