Got my new van!

And it's orange.

And dad gum it - I meant to take pictures of it today in the daylight - and I forgot.

It's pretty. I'm in love with a car. Took me forever to figure out how to set the presets on the upgraded radio (not the same one that was in the old van).... but am LOVING the Sirius radio. I can see how you could get hooked.

Personally, my fave is channel 77 "Broadway's Best". Go figure. I'm sure you are all SO surprised by that.

LOL

That's it for tonight. Didn't cook - Chinese takeout!

Whaddya think of an Orange Van?

Got word this morning that my van is a Total Loss - and so I'm shopping for a new car now... going to test drive (not that I reallly need to test it!) another 08 Dodge Grand Caravan - but this time, I'm looking at ORANGE ones. :-) We'll see if I still like it after I see it in person tomorrow!

Made dinner again tonight - and so I've got another recipe to share - again out of the Kraft Food & Family magazine!

Farmhouse Chicken Dinner - and I discovered a new trick - instead of retyping the recipe here - I

can link to the recipe over on the Kraft website!! My photo was taken before I made the cheese sauce, and plated it over the rice. As usual, I had to make a few substitutions - I made white rice instead of brown, and I used the regular Philly Cream Cheese - because that's what I had in the house! OH - and I didn't have an onion - so I just sprinkled some dried minceed onions on top - and that added the onion flavor. One other note - smaller carrots would have cooked better in the time allotted. Mine were still very crunchy.

It was a big hit - even A liked it (although I didn't put the sauce on hers!) I will make this again sometime!

Finally, I want to congratulate our Goddaughter, B on her 1st Communion! We drove down to Ohio to be there! She made her 1st communion at the same church where I made mine 34 years ago! It was a fun, albiet short, trip - and it was good to see all our adopted family there!

Spring is springing everywhere - and I will be so disappointed if my Apple Tree and my Wisteria decide to bloom while I'm in Novi next week! It's going to be a great year for the Wisteria - I see lots and lots of bloom buds! If you've never smelled Wisteria - you should - smells like grapes - YUMMY! I love how my yard smells when everything blooms!

Posting may be very light over the next couple of weeks - the convention is in just 10 days!!

Building Stonehenge - This Man can Move Anything

Every once in a while - my FIL sends me something really cool. This is one of those things! This guy is from Michigan too! Enjoy!

Mom - You're taking a picture of Dinner AGAIN???

My family thinks I'm crazy, taking pictures of dinner again this week - but I have another recipe I wanted to share!! And I cooked again... so heck, I have to blog about it, right?

Tonight I made "Saucy Parmesan Chicken"

I pulled the recipe out of one of the Kraft Food & Fun magazines that they will send you for free if you sign up on their website. They plug all kinds of Kraft foods - but the recipes I've cut out and made from this magazine have all been very good! (To get your subscription - go to kraftfoods.com - and no, this is not a paid endorsement!)

So, here's how you make it:

4 small boneless skinless chicken breasts (I buy full sized breasts from one of our local stores with great meat counters, and then I cut them up - 1 full sized breast (both halves) I can turn into four servings. I buy when it's on sale, cut it up and freeze it, and thaw it for when I need it!)

1/4 cup Kraft Light Zesty Italian Reduced Fat Dressing (OK I use exactly that- but any italian dressing would probably work!)

1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese (again mag and I both use Kraft - but other brands probably would work too!)

You put everything into a ziplock bag, coat all the breasts well, and lay flat in the fridge for 30 minutes (while you preheat your oven to 425 degrees)

When oven is heated - place chicken on a baking sheet (I line it with foil for easy clean up) and bake for 20 minutes.

That's it! Easy Schmeezy Japaneezy - and everyone likes it!

I made up a vegetable fried rice dish that I had in the freezer from Market Day, and I heated up a can of green beans, and chopped up a quick salad. Voila - dinner!!

PS: No word yet on the van - hopefully I'll know tomorrow if I need to start car shopping again - or if I need to look for a rental car while they fix.

I've had better mornings...

It all started out well enough. I overslept a little, but got up and showered, and got E to the rink at about 7:19 (she's supposed to be on the ice at 7:15 - but ah well... Saturday mornings it's just hard to drag yourself out of bed early!)

Ice skating was uneventful - I fought with several vending machines before I finally got one to give me my Diet Coke.

We left the rink at about 8:30-8:40 - and started to head home, when I remembered - OOPS we were going to go up the north route - stop for a donut, and then head to the Dance Studio to buy recital tickets for A's recital in June. So, I turned around, and headed out of the rink the other direction.

I'm tooling along about a block from the rink, talking to E, when suddenly - a big tan van was right in front of me. I mean RIGHT in front of me. E says I screamed "OH MY GOD" - I just remember slamming the brakes and hoping I could stop.

Long story short - I had a flashing yellow, he had a flashing red - he ignored his flashing red. A very nice stranger stopped and waited for the police to tell them that for me. Another really nice stranger sat with E on the sidewalk and calmed her down, as I tried to retreive things from my van that is all smashed up - and I mean ALL SMASHED UP.

No major injuries - airbags deployed - somehow I scraped up my right forearm - so I was bleeding - but nothing so bad as to require medical attention. I'm starting to feel a bit stiff, and there is a small bruise from the seatbelt on my left shoulder - and even though I didn't feel the impact of the airbag - I know it impacted me, because there is a mark on my neck where my necklace sits - from it being jammed into me.

E has no visible marks from the accident - no bruises, no scrapes - her marks are all emotional - she was pretty shaken up. She thought that the airbag dust was smoke, and had a panic attack in the car - that's why I'm so grateful to the stranger who sat with her on the corner and helped her calm down.

Interestingly enough - the other driver was taken away in a squad car in handcuffs. The officer that came and talked to me was kind of circumspect, but implied that he wasn't under the influence, but rather had some issues with his license, and had made some poor decisions, and was coming with them. I imagine it will be in the police report.

The cop and I both think the van is totalled - J thinks we're wrong - we'll see after the insurance company makes their assessment. What a bummer - I've only had the van since September. Although E quipped "Well, mom, I guess now you'll get the A/C fixed!" It hasn't been working this past week with the warmer weather.

Anyway - we're off for an afternoon of theater fun with our friends - and E and A's friends M and C will be here all day to keep them company. So I suppose that will keep my mind off things for today at least.

Hey everyone out there - DRIVE SAFELY.

There's a better pic of the damage on Em's phone - but she's having trouble sending it to me - so the one I took on the tow truck will have to suffice.

EDIT: Here's the better pic from Emily's phone:

Loathing - Wicked

For everyone who missed the LHS production - here's E and M's duet! M's mike isn't working - which is a bummer. This was opening night - J was able to go and video - I saw the tech run through before I had to leave town. This is much better - and I guess Friday night was the best of all - but unfortunately - no video of that night! Enjoy!

Dinner is a Hit!

One happy child, about to partake of her favorite food! Notice, Stroganoff can be served on TOP of the noodles, or NEXT too the noodles. (Guess which way A eats it.... miss picky eater!)

And the savory seasoning and minced dried onion - PERFECT. Tasted great!!

I'm Cooking Dinner - for the 2nd Night in a Row!

Now, for some of you, that might not be a reason to celebrate - but the last three weeks has just been a whirlwind of rehearsals (Ice Show, Musical, Access Broadway, Honors Band) performances, and traveling - and more than my not having time to cook (which has been the case) we haven't all been home at the same time to EAT in three weeks!

So, I'm celebrating the simple things - Last night I made sloppy joes (OK, I didn't say I was cooking GOURMET meals!!) and A tried them for the first time in years, and declared them "allright". She ate her whole joe - so they can't have been too bad!!

Since she went out of her comfort zone for me last night and tried something new - tonight I'm making her absolute favorite! Her Uncle Brian's "Beef Stroganoff". It's cooking away in the crock pot - and there it will cook until dinner time. By then, the house should just smell perfectly yummy!!

Here's the (really simple) recipe - courtesy of Uncle Brian

2 lbs stew beef - cubed
1 family size can of Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 can of Beef Broth
1 package of Lipton Onion Soup
(OK, Brian hates onions, and doesn't put this in when he makes it - but he told me that it might be a nice addition for a family that likes onions... and we do - so I put it in - only today - I'm out of lipton onion soup - so I just threw in some "Savory Seasoning" and some "Minced Onions" from the spice cupboard, and hope it works!!)

Cook all day in the crock pot on low

1/2 hour before serving - ladle out several ladles of the "juice" and whisk it together with a pint of Sour Cream and return to the pot for 30 minutes.

Serve over Egg Noodles.

I'll take another photo of the finished dish tonight!!

Me - March 30 - OOPS

I don't know what made me think of it - today - on April 15 - but I just realized I never did the self-portrait on March 30!!! My trusty scrapping buddies either forgot too, or forgot to remind me!!


So, here's the photo taken on the closest day - it was taken on Friday, April 4th. The closest I can find to a photo of me on March 30. It's a good representation of what was going on at the time though - that's me in the locker room at the Ice Arena with fellow skaters Sue and Sarita - and former coach Laurie (who moved to the East Coast - but came back to see us!!)

The Trolley Song - 2008

As many of you know - I skipped out early on this weekend's Mega Retreat in order to go and support my youngest daughter A. at her "Access Broadway" competition. She was in four events - 2 groups and 2 solos. We were so proud - 1 group and her vocal solo both took Platinum Medals (which means they scored 96 or better) and her other group and her monologue took High Golds (which means that they scored between 90-95). Here is her vocal solo. She was very hard on herself for the lyric mixup you will hear towards the end - but she was still fabulous! We look forward to next year!

Don't Cry for Me Argentina - Skating

E's solo - again, we had the focus issue.

We're off this weekend for A's vocal competition - although E stays behind for her HS production (a revue - she's singing "Loathing" with her best friend)

Hope to have more videos to share then!

Hairspray - Figure Skating

A's solo - You miss the hysterical contrast - she was the featured Soloist for "Hair" - celebrating all things WILD about hair - and she pops out - celebrating HAIRSPRAY! Sorry about some of the blurriness - I did not shoot these on a video camera - but on my regular camera on video mode - so the autofocus sometimes has trouble keeping up.

Magic To Do

Wondering where I've been?

I've been in the Black Hole known as the ICE SHOW!!! Both Easter Week and last week were intensive with rehearsals, and when I wasn't at the rink, I was trying to knock things off my GLMM checklist - and so unfortunately, I ignored my blog a bit!! Sorry!

I hope you enjoy this video of my skating prowess - although the dad that I pressed into service to video missed my big jump!!

I'll post the girls' solo's as well!