Spreading a little springtime cheer

Nothing says spring like flowers in DC

Honeybaked Ham Promotion

Honeybaked Ham is having a Mother's Day promotion if you order the hams online. Go to www.honeybakedham.com and after you order what you want, type in the code MOTHER to get 50% off your order (shipping is included). The deal ends on midnight of May 24th.

They don't have promotions very often so act now!

Administrative Professionals' Day

Apparently today is National Administrative Professionals' Day! Who would have known? A day to be honored and I didn't know about it?? This is what I found on my desk after lunch:

It's nice to feel appreciated once in awhile from my co-workers! And please, don't mind the cluttered mess on my desk. I'm not THAT big of a slob.

Springtime in DC

Look at what I get to enjoy every time I walk out my front door.

Pet Peeves

The last few days I've been extremely irritable, for really no reason. I've been in a blog slump and haven't had much to post, therefore, you're getting a list of my pet peeves. Don't worry, if you do these things I'll still love you!

1. People who chomp (or snap) their gum
2. When I'm sitting in a movie or at church and the person behind me is kicking my chair
3. People who don't know the difference between "merge" and "yield"
4. Grocery carts with one bad wheel
   
5. People telling me that relaxing or adoption is the key to getting pregnant
   
6. Greasy salt & pepper shakers in a restaurant
7. Drivers who take forever to leave a parking space when others are clearly waiting for it
8. Being put on speaker phone
9. People who read over my shoulder while I'm on public transportation
10. People who don't understand sarcasm
11. Jerks who take up two parking spaces
12. Lousy customer service
13. Hearing people talk on their cell phones in an elevator or closed spaces
14. Co-workers who "borrow" my desk supplies and never return them
15. People who butt in line and don't wait their turn
16. People who are late (this really gets me. If you want to continue our friendship PLEASE be on time) :)
    
17. Cell phones going off in church
18. Text messaging/ blackberries in church
19. Driving too slow in the fast lane
20. Smokers who throw cigarette butts out the window
21. Bad spelling & grammar
    

I'm sad to admit that this is only a glimpse of what annoys me. I'll add to the list as I'm driving home from work tonight and think about more. I'd love to hear some of your pet-peeves. And please don't be afraid to say that your number 1 pet-peeve is negative people. I can accept the truth. :)

April Fools Day....

I'm sure all of you have a favorite holiday. For some it may be Christmas, others Easter, and maybe Kwanzaa tops them all. Do you know anybody whose favorite holiday is April Fools day? I do…..my mom!

About a month before April 1st, the wheels in my mom's brain starts spinning and she tries to think of the most original April fools joke she can play on her family. It took until I was 30 years old to begin not falling for her jokes, but there are some good ones she has played on either my family or me that I'd like to share.

Take 1987 for example. I was 11 years old and my mom let me stay home from school for some unknown reason. My dad is self employed and has an office in our basement with a separate phone line. My mom had a hair brained idea and decided to play an April Fools joke on my dad. While my dad was down in the basement working, mom and I went upstairs and my mom called my dad on his phone line screaming. She told him we had been in a car accident and that I was in an ambulance being rushed to the hospital. Our plan was to run downstairs and say "April Fools" before he got in the car. We were too late! By the time we were downstairs he had run up from the basement, got in his car, and was pulling out the driveway before he saw us running out the front door trying to get his attention. We were laughing our guts out….he was not! We quickly learned after that experience that playing cruel jokes like that is not funny; especially when it involves a parent thinking his daughter is going to die.

The next year my mom decided to tone it down a bit considering the year before. She has a friend who is a doctor and she had him draw a vial of her own blood. I remember it was a Saturday and we were out working in the yard. When my mom was by herself she took the vial of blood from her pocket and poured it all over her hand. She started screaming and said she cut herself on something. I ran over to her and started panicking because it truly was real blood on her hand, not just fake ketchup blood. She let me freak out, find my dad, and almost call an ambulance before she began laughing and said, "April Fools". I should have learned from the year before.

Throughout the years she has played all sorts of jokes on us, including calling me at 3 in the morning a few years ago telling me that the prophet of our church had died; telling me my brother is getting divorced; letting me know my cousin would not be going on a mission because he got a girl pregnant; and telling my sister that my grandfather had passed away. Mean, cruel things that are only funny to her.

Let this be a lesson to you all! If you plan on playing a prank for April Fools, think of my mom and the emotional scars she placed upon her family. :)

Happy Easter!

My friend Karen came over yesterday and I taught her the ins and outs of fondant. I helped her decorate 18 mini egg cakes for her family Easter party. I think they turned out adorable.

Happy St. Patty's Day

We're going to a dinner party tonight and I was asked to bring a cake for dessert. Hope they like what I came up with.

Happy Birthday to ME!

I had a great birthday today. Dan spoiled me with a new iPod, iPod docking station, and the new American Idol Karaoke for our X-Box 360. The best part about my day was when my sister, her husband, and their sweet baby came to make sushi for dinner.

My sister & her husband

Delicious!

My sweet sweet Sophie

A stylish, modest swimsuit...is there such a thing?

I am in the market for a new swimsuit. Once again Dan and I are heading down to the Outer Banks, NC for Memorial Day and I don't have a swimsuit. Let me rephrase that, I don't have a swimsuit that looks good on my body anymore. There is no way in hades I am going to be seen in one of my bikinis that I used to wear. Years ago I could have gotten away with it, but not so much anymore, no siree!

For those of you who have a swimsuit that is stylish and modest, please let me know where you got it. I don't want to look like this at the beach:


But I also don't want to look like this:

The stork stopped by....

And I am now the proud aunt of twin baby girls.

Congratulations Matt & Lesa!

New Discovery

I am forever in debt to my best friend Carrie. This week she introduced me to something that has changed my life forever. I may be completely behind the times and I'm sure some of you are rolling your eyes and thinking, "Mer, that is so last year". Well, even if it is, I'm introducing it to those who haven't heard of it.

Go to www.pandora.com for the little gem.

Pandora is an Internet music service with an unusual twist: you merely select a song or artist you like and the system builds a playlist of additional songs based on those musical characteristics. You can listen to songs all day long and discover new songs and artists just from typing in one of your favorite groups.

Now my new iPod is full of new songs that I never would have heard of unless I was introduced to this service. Thank you Pandora!

Happy Valentine's Day

Hugs & Kisses to my fellow blog fans!

Aren't these pretty? My biggest fan had them sent to me at work today.

Pineapple Salad with Cucumber & Peanuts

Trust me, this was amazing!




Pineapple Salad with Cucumber & Peanuts
(serves 4 as a salad or 2 as a main entree)

Ingredients:
1 to 1 1/2 cups fresh or canned pineapple chunks
1 English cucumber, or 1 medium field cucumber
3 spring onions (green onions), sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced thinly, or diced
1/2 cup dry whole roasted unsalted peanuts
1 cup fresh cilantro + handful of fresh basil leaves (roughly chopped if leaves are large)

Salad dressing:
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 red chili, de-seeded and minced, OR 1 tsp. chili sauce (or more if you want it extra spicy)
1 T. soy sauce
1 T. fish sauce
juice of 1/2 lime (about 1T.)
2 tsp. brown sugar
1 T. pineapple juice (reserve off cutting board if using fresh pineapple)

Stir well then set aside

Preparation:

Place pineapple chunks in a mixing bowl.
To prepare the cucumber: Remove skin with a vegetable peeler, or cut off with a knife (if the cucumber is organic, leave the skin on for extra nutrients and fiber). Next, cut the cucumber in half lengthwise. Cut these sections again lengthwise (several times if the cucumber is thick), then slice the other way to create cubes or chunks. Add these to the mixing bowl.
Clean out the seeds of the red bell pepper, then slice it thinly into strips. Slice these in half to create matchstick-like pieces. Add these to the mixing bowl.
Add the sliced spring/green onion, plus the whole roasted peanuts. Add most of the basil and cilantro, putting aside a little of each for the garnish.
Now pour the salad dressing over. Toss well.
Pour or scoop the salad onto a serving plate. Top with the extra basil and cilantro you kept back, plus a sprinkling of ground or chopped peanuts. If desired, serve with lime wedges on the side. ENJOY!

What did I get myself in to?

For mutual last week I thought it would be a fun idea to teach my girls to decorate cakes. So 8 batches of icing, 9 cakes, 15 icing bags, and 13 hours later I ended up with this:

And this:


And this:


Oh yeah...and a HUGE mess:

(The red coloring paste still has not come off my counter)


But the outcome.....

....Was a success!