. . . but lots of people are looking to slim down for the impending (Lord willing) nice weather. Keeping in mind phrases like “bathing suit body”, I thought I would share my current favorite healthy treat with you!
That’s right! Cook your broccoli as you usually would, but instead of putting a pat of butter on top of that steaming bowl of greens, or loading it up with enough salt to make a life-sized replica of Lot’s wife, just squeeze a little fresh lemon over it. . . it’s insanely good, and kind of unexpected! As far as healthiness? I know too many people who eat greens/veggies with butter melting atop. Just say no. It’s not like you have to balance out the healthiness of broccoli with some sort of opposite unhealthiness.
And enjoy yourself the delicous, zesty, healthygoodness of broccoli with lemon!
My bedroom door is right next to the bathroom. This is pretty convenient, but also kind of awkward occasionally. I am used to it, but it also occasionally gives me access to some interesting inter-roommate conversations. This is the most recent that made me chuckle: Roommate Ahad just gotten in the shower, when Roommate B knocked on the door.
B: Hey! Do you mind if I come in and go pee before I go to bed?
A:Yeah! NO worries.
B:Are you suuuuure?
A:Yeah dude, go ahead.
B:Okaaaay, don’t look or you’re gonna see what the stork saw!
A:Haha, yeah. Well, don’t you look behind this curtain, or you’re gonna see somethin’ like an 80s porn movie.
B:. . . oh, okay.
Cut to me laughing like a fiend in my room.
Sometimes, life gives you moments when you just have to laugh a lot, and I appreciate those ridiculous moments when my life causes me to chuckle.
Seeing as how I was highly grumpy when facing ANOTHER 16.5 inches of snow today (BLARGH), I decided it would be best to stay productive. Here are some snippets of what I did today, in hopes that they might inspire you out of the White Witch Blues. (Ahem: always-winter-never-Christmas, yes?)
#2: Get “Artsy” and Give New Purpose to an Old Frame!
It seems that no matter where I am, I always have access to a ridiculous amount of plain paper and markers. . . which is a good thing. SO, having spray-painted an old frame in the basement, I set about making a useful piece of bathroom art.Once I had the artsy reminders drawn, I decided to clean up the old frame one last time and then see how my finished product looked. . . what do you think?
It was cute. Plus I got to listen to Morgan Freeman talk in the process of watching it, which is always a plus. I still say I would pick Jim Dale to narrate my life instead, but Mr. Freeman’s got some smooth tones regardless. Plus it was pretty adorable.
#4: Make the Best of the Shoveling.
I hate shoveling, and this year has definitely stretched me as a human being insofar as developing a higher shoveling tolerance. Then, just when you think you’ll be able to see the sidewalk again . . . WHAM! More snow. SO, I decided that even snow can be made to look springy, and I made (drumroll please) . . .
A SNOW BUNNY!
I even tried to give it a pompom bunny-tail. . . but it got pretty cold, so I decided to call it a day and go wash all the cold off in a steamy shower before meeting up with my favorite little frère for a late dinner!
All in all, my snow day experiences were a success, despite my initial snowy angst! I strongly recommend any/all of these activities, should you find yourself facing the chilly prospect of some snow-day-blues!
The Easiest, Best, & Quickest Brownies NOT From A Box
Sometimes you just need brownies . . . and you don’t happen to have a brownie mix available. Then there’s the added problem: you’re fresh out of bittersweet chocolate, or (like me) you’re not in the habit of having that stuff just lying around (because, let’s face it. . . it’s kind of a tease as far as chocolate goes). What to do? NEVER FEAR, I present my mother’s very own (dare I say “fail-proof?) recipe for: So, without further ado, preheat those ovens to 350, plan for about 15 minutes to throw these puppies together (plus another 20-ish for the baking), and get ready to make some homemade chocolate magic.
Step 1: Gather the ingredients and melt the butter in a bowl.
(By the way, you’ll notice I used egg beaters, although the recipe calls for eggs. . . I honestly saw no differences, so feel free to use whatever you might have available to you!)
Step 2: Whisk the Cocoa powder into the butter until it’s smooth.
Step 3: Add sugar and Mix it. Mix it good.
Step 4: Add in the eggs & vanilla.
(It will still look pretty much the same as above. . . gooey and a little crystally, thanks to the sugar.)
Step 5: Add the Flower, Baking Powder, and Salt.
(I sifted the flower, because my Dad always says it makes baked goods better!)
Step 6: Mix it all together until there are no powdery white substances visible in the sea of thick chocolatey goodness.
(Add a few chocolate chips if you want extra goodness in there!)
Step 7: Spread batter into a greased pan.
Step 8: Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until it is firm to the top and begins to pull away from the edges. . . do not over-bake!
Remember, if you are baking thick brownies, like I did, it will take a little longer. In an 8 &1/2″ x 11″ pan, bake for 15-20 minutes, in a smaller size (like mine), bake for about 25 minutes.
Step 9: Enjoy that gooey, delicious, oh-so-chocolatey goodness!
I hope this comes in handy and that you enjoy making these! The whole process takes about 15 minutes to throw together (not including bake time, so it’s almost as easy as the boxed kind, but much more fulfilling to make (plus, you automatically get much better bragging rights when sharing with delighted friends)! Oh, and there’s no box. So, yay for eco-friendly brownies, right? That’s worth celebrating.
With Brownies.
That you made from scratch.
Go ahead, you deserve a little sweet something; You’re saving the earth – not to mention the tradition of good old-fashioned home cooking- one brownie at a time!
I have always appreciated the ability to laugh at myself from time to time. In that spirit, there is a humorous little clip that you should watch, folks.
Or, if you prefer to see it in its natural habitat, click on this purply link: Stuff Christians Say, and you will be able to see this highly entertaining clip from from worshiphousemedia on GodTube.
What, pray tell, might these nonsensical-looking words signify? That was my immediate reaction when this was posted as a comment to a facebook photo. . . I mean, I’m relatively in the know r.e. common slang – (grâce à mon travail au lycée), but gnar gnar is not one I’ve encountered before today.
Well, google was quick to jump to my aid, and a little perusing of urbandictionary.com’s explanations gave me futher insights. . . if that’s what we can call them. Here is my personal favorite that is highly amusing, if clearly incorrect:
Apparently “gnar” alone is short for “gnarly”, that ever-popular surfer-term that signifies the epitome of awesome and/or horrifically daring.
Gnar Gnar is thus not a sound emitted by gnomes during fits of uncontrollable laughter.
Instead it’s some kind of snow-bunny’s term for extreme or awesome conditions for boarding/skiing. Over time, it has morphed into a term that can be generously applied to everything . . . including the necklace I wore today.
That’s right, you heard it. I am cranky. Today, I do not feel good, and I am going to complain. If I were going to write a note to a friend today, it would be an apology for my mood. What are my reasons? Well, I (still) do not feel good. Plus, it felt like everybody I encountered today (with some notable exceptions) decided to showcase their best impressions of obnoxious complaining brat-children today. My Dad would say some wise thing like, “this too shall pass”. . . but today all I can think is:
It’s been one of those days where you just feel a little bit like nothing is going the way you want it to. I quit drinking coffee a few weeks ago and I think perhaps that is my problem. . . my lack of caffeine-induced morning niceness is skewing the whole day. Before I know it, I wind up like this kid:
It’s at times like these that I need to be reminded: I mean, I could have cancer, or somebody I love could have died. I could be homeless or job-less. There are many things that could be worse. Thus, why I typically look on the bright side. But sometimes, even trying to look at the bright side gets thwarted…
So, on this March 4th, which I usually take as a positive rallying cry to proceed on into the month of may (MARCH FORTH!!!). . . I wound up cranky as all get-out, and oscillating between crazy disorganization and feeling like my day was spinning wildly out of my realm of comfort. My hair was a mess, and so was my mental organization.
There are very few days when I wish I had a secret-meany book. Don’t get me wrong: I don’t like violence, and even if given the option, I don’t think I’d even smack somebody I was annoyed with. If anything, I’d probably yell. But some days just seem to call for an addition to the people-I-want-to-punch-in-the-face lislt.
Anyhow, there you have it. See? I have bad days like the rest of them – particularly when I am on anti-biotics that make me sick, but still running a fever. Or when my students are rude or complain all day. Or when I don’t get to eat lunch, and didn’t have time for breakfast. Or when I stay at work for 11 hours and STILL don’t feel on top of things.
In the interest of full disclosure, however, three positive things did happen today. First: Some of my students were downright awesome. Second, I made homeade pizza with broccoli and peppers for dinner (yay for lunchtime leftovers tomorrow!). Third, two of my wonderful alums came back to visit and showed me one of the funniest websites I’ve encountered in a long time, which was a definite bright spot.
You’d better get ready, because when it comes to shipping, there’s a whole new boat we’re talking about, and it’s your own personal cruise-ship of loooooove.
Yeah, you heard me, and no, I’m not talking about human trafficking, which is horrible – shame on you for even thinking that. Actually there’s a new phrase on the street in high school internet-speak these days, and I, inhabiting the front lines like I do, have decided to enlighten others who might not be so fortunate as to spend their days in a high school. It’s a constantly changing world out there, and not everybody can stay up to date with crazy kids and their new-fangled lingo. We’ve talked about the somewhat-endearing internet phenomena of ermahgerd and the ensuing ridiculousness resulting from that series of memes. Well, there’s some emerging terminology I learned this month, and it is a new use for a verb thats been around for a long time. What verb, might you ask?
TO SHIP
This is a word you might associate with post offices, paypal, and old fashioned boats, yes? These are the only meanings, right?
To give you the short explanation, this new meaning comes from the world of fandom. In particular from the world of fanfic. When lots of people love a television show or a book, they get attached to characters, right? Well, sometimes, when they get seriously attached, they imagine alternative scenarios for their favorites, particularly alternative romantic pairings. They picture what it would look like for Éowyn to end up with Aragorn, for Damon to end up with Bonnie, for Katniss to end up with Haymitch, for Sherlock to end up with Mrs. Hudson, for Ginny to end up with . . . Snape. That’s right, sometimes when you ship, lines are crossed. But that’s the thing. With shipping, there are no rules.
The characters you pair could be arch-enemies, they could even be from different species. . . To “ship” two characters is simply to put them together in a potential romantic pairing in which they are not usually placed.It’s a way of playing out reader fantasies that will never come to life in the hands of the author.
Some examples of this verb in use?
Situation 1: Somebody reading The Hunger Games for the first time
“Haymitch and Effie? Oh man, I ship them so hard.”
Situation #2: Chatting Television Shows
Person 1: I love watching Once Upon a Time. . . I’m obsessed?
Person 2: Zounds, as am I!!! I’m obsessed – Who do youship in that show?
Situation #3: People obsessed with the BBC’s show Sherlock – aka the best show ever to be created.
Person 1: Oh man, I just realized I ship Sherlock with, like, almost every other character on that show!
Person 2: Yeah, but John is totally his OTP, right?
Now, this leads us to a second term we need to discuss, because it’s a subcategory of Ships;
The OTP.
OTP stands for One True Pairing. . . meaning the ideal romantic match of two characters. This refers to a fanfic author’s ideal pairing of characters. An OTP is the highest level of Ship – a person’s ideal, rather than just a dabbled idea.
Lets take a look at someone’s example of a ship diagram:
I even tried to give it a pompom 
(I sifted the flower, because my Dad always says it makes baked goods better!)
Cakey Hankerson: Great Adventures 