Note to Self

Find something useful to do on Tuesday evenings!

The Cupcake Verdict

We, the jury, in the above entitled action do hereby find the defendant, Barefoot Contessa Coconut Cupcakes, NOT WORTHY, of a clogged artery. So say we one, so say we all.


While I enjoyed making these cupcakes since I haven't done any baking in a long time, the end result wasn't worth it. I used all the finest ingredients I could find (just like a REAL chef) and followed the instructions carefully. Maybe part of the problem is that I really don't like cake.

The best part was the cream cheese frosting but I ended up with enough frosting to do another cake - maybe a carrot cake. That would be really good with cream cheese frosting.

Sam doesn't like coconut, so he won't be eating these. He asked me to leave the coconut out but I explained that they wouldn't be Coconut Cupcakes without coconut.

In the final analysis, I would much rather have spent my calories on a brownie. Not just any brownie, either. These brownies, which we refer to as Alton Brown-ies in our house.

Having said all that, none of it stopped me from eating two of them. Sigh....

I'm a Black Belt

After 5 1/2 years of hard work, on Friday, March 2, 2007, I earned my black belt in Chun Kuk Do. I also just used 4 commas in one sentence. Whew! It was a tough night and I gave everything I had but the accomplishment was well worth it.


This is during basics...

and this is one-steps.

And this is when it was all said and done!!!

A Sad Day for Ana

Based solely on genetics, I've known for many years that there would come a point where Sam would be taller than Ana. Sam's birthfather was 6 feet tall and was only 16 years old when Sam was born, so who knows how much taller he grew. Alas, Ana's birthfather was 5'9" tall and well into his 20's at the time of Ana's birth.

Today, that day arrived.

She is quite forlorn that her 10 year old brother is now 3/8" taller and she is more than 3 years older.

All I can say is - they're BOTH still shorter than me! I'm sure that won't last much longer either. But I've been expecting it so it won't bother me.

Not Very Subtle

I very often tease Mike about trying to kill me by way of heart attack because he likes to grill things like ribs and chicken wings on the weekend. Because I am at higher risk of diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol and stroke (to name a few) I'm supposed to eat lean meats. I thought the electrical appliances in the bathtub were not very subtle.

If anyone wants to know WHY they are in the bathtub, you'll have to leave a comment!

Dreams? I wish!

You, and you, and you! Get out of my head so I can get some sleep!! All you people, places, events and animals are disturbing my sleep. These are the things I think of at 3 o'clock in the morning. At least in the summer I can watch the ceiling fan turn circles. In the winter it's just a starfish (Patrick?), or a snowflake, or a sheriff made out of a star, or a sheriff's badge, or a .... You see where this takes me. Not to sleepyland. Did I mention Patrick? I'm not a fan of SpongeBob. I like Sandy. She's from Texas, right? I've heard it said you're not a Texan just because you move to Texas. If a cat has kittens and moves them to the oven, they're not biscuits. Mike makes really good biscuits. I shouldn't eat them because they're made with refined flour. I haven't bought myself flowers in a long time.

And so goes the thought process when it's lunch time in Europe.

Aunt Karen? Not Me!

The teacher gave her fifth grade class an assignment: Get their parents to tell them a story with a moral at the end of it. The next day the kids came back and one by one began to tell their stories.

"Tony, do you have a story to share?" "Yes ma'am. My daddy told a story about my Aunt Karen. She was a pilot in Desert Storm and her plane got hit. She had to bail out over enemy territory and all she had was a flask of whiskey, a pistol and a survival knife. She drank the whiskey on the way down so it wouldn't break and then her parachute landed right in the middle of twenty enemy troops. She shot fifteen of them with the gun until she ran out of bullets, killed four more with the knife, till the blade broke, and then she killed the last Iraqi with her bare hands."

"Good Heavens" said the horrified teacher. "What kind of moral did your daddy tell you from this horrible story?"

"Stay the hell away from Aunt Karen when she's drinking."

things i like - in no particular order

Did I say in no particular order?
That may not be completely accurate.




Friday, March 2, 2007 - the show starts at 6:00pm



United Fighting Arts Federation
This is my karate organization.




no more frizzy hair





my latest from Brighton



this smells so good and moisturizes
so well


my favorite CD at the moment



Earl Grey Silver Tips.
Very yummy. Very
expensive - but very
yummy.



Only on special occasions.



Stainless steel - so easy to clean


This is good in the afternoon.
No sugar = No Guilt


My black hat - some say I resemble
Karen Carpenter when I wear it but
since she was anorexic and is now
DEAD...I'm not sure it's a compliment.




Kapalua in Maui - I need to go back.



Levi's - An American Classic.



Madeleines - go well with a Starbucks
coffee.


These are very useful.




This makes me laugh.




fun Italian wine glasses




this will be me soon




Tom Hanks - so talented

Merry Christmas 2006

The annual Christmas morning photo! We also took pictures
with the pets, but all three would not cooperate at the same
time so they didn't make the final cut.

Sam with his favorite toy: Bionicle!

Ana's still not too old to enjoy getting STUFF!

Too Good to be True

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 31 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

How lucky are the rest of you? More than one of me? Yikes!!!
I "borrowed" this from the blog of my friend Laurie in Oregon. Thanks, Laurie.

Ran the same search for Ana...she's an original!!!

Happy Anniversary!

Is it possible these two "youngsters" have been married for 20 years? Not quite yet! However, our 20th wedding anniversay is on Wednesday, Sept 13, 2006. To celebrate, we went out to dinner. For reasons I'm not quite clear on, Mike wanted to take the children. We went to Carrabba's Italian Grill. The atmosphere was nice, the food was good and the children were mostly well behaved. Dessert was fantastic. It was a Sogno di Cioccloata or "Chocolate Dream". Here's looking forward to the next 20 years. Happy Anniversary.

Karen's 40

Karen is 40 years old today. If the baby of the family is 40, how old does that make everyone else? The family (Mike, Ana & Sam) took me to Brighton Collectibles and picked out a beautiful necklace for me. Then we had lunch at Cheesecake Factory and Ana & I went shopping and picked up what I really wanted...a bo staff!

Four

FOUR

Four things to do before I die
1. Get my black belt in karate
2. Learn to shoot a gun
3. Fly on the Concorde (not gonna happen - out of commission)
4. Stay at a seaside inn on the Mediterranean

Four things I can't do
1. Jump
2. Swim 50 laps
3. Sleep through the night
4. Figure out Sam's thinking process (WAY different from mine!)

Four things I love about my spouse
1. He works hard so I don't have to
2. Takes days off that hard work so I can pursue karate when I want to
3. He is THE barbecue master and cooks every weekend
4. Loves and accepts me in spite of myself

Four things I say often
1. "You're smoking crack!" as in...you've lost your mind
2. Cha ryut and kyung ye (Attention and bow in Korean for karate class)
3. Shush!!!
4. Get off the phone!

Four movies I could watch over and over again
1. Sense and Sensibility
2. A Knight's Tale
3. Toy Story 2
4. Okay - I don't spend a lot of time sitting around watching movies so I can't think of another one.

Four jobs I've had
1. Sandwich maker at Wendy's (a good lesson in how not to treat people)
2. Travel Agent (both leisure and business...business is better)
3. Accounts Payable Specialist for a grass seed company
4. Mom (the hardest one yet...working was a lot easier!)

Four places I've lived
1. Idaho (born there)
2. Montana (grew up there)
3. Oregon (got married and had kids there)
4. Nevada (want to retire here)

Four TV shows I like to watch
1. The Amazing Race (when it's on)
2. Survivor
3. Dog The Bounty Hunter
4. Anthony Bourdain - No Reservations

Four places I've been on holiday
I've been a travel agent so the list is long - I'll pick my favorites
1. Russia (1989 - right after the Berlin wall came down)
2. Bermuda - didn't see any triangles
3. France
4. Germany - to play soccer when I was in high school

Four favorite dishes
1. Brownies
2. Garlic mashed potatoes (but probably only because I can no longer eat them due to dietary restrictions)
3. Filet Mignon grilled over mesquite by my husband
4. French Onion Soup

Four places I'd rather be
1. On a massage table
2. On the mat doing karate
3. Almost anywhere my children are not fighting and someone is handing me a Margarita
4. With my husband (didn't mean to put you last, honey)

Salt Lake City

The weekend of June 9-11 I traveled to Salt Lake City with Ana and my mom (Julie) for a karate seminar and black belt test. I had hoped to test but the surgery on my foot in January has delayed my plans. Instead, I've included photos of our favorite vacation activities. Karen is drinking wine, and Ana is sleeping.

Spring Break 2006

Spring Break 2006

We took a great family vacation to Walt Disney World and the Bahamas for Spring Break. Animal Kingdom has a new ride called Expedition Everest - it's a roller coaster that goes both forward and backward! Really fun!!


We also sailed aboard Carnival Cruise Lines FunShip Sensation from Port Canaveral to Naussau, The Bahamas. We arrived in the Bahamas on Good Friday which is a religious holiday so most of the shops were closed.

Christmas 2005

Merry Christmas 2005


Karen, Mike with Guinness, Ana with Magic and Sam with Gizmo.







.

Karate Convention

The weekend of July 15-17, 2005 I attended the Chun Kuk Do International Conference and World Championships. I had several classes to help me improve my karate in preparation for my test for black belt. (I'm scheduled to test in June of 2006.) I also competed in kata (a pretend choreographed fight) and fighting. I got 4th place in both events. As you'll see in the pictures there were only 4 competitors in my division (old women over 35 who have managed to obtain the rank of red belt (me) or red/black belt (one test short of black belt - the other three.) Considering that I've had my red belt for less than three months I was pretty impressed with myself!

My mom, Julie, attended as a spectator. So did my daughter, Ana.