Favorite Food

What's your favorite kind of food? What's your favorite fast food restaurant? What's your favorite recipe? Shenna, I want the recipe for date balls!

MY favorite kind of food is Italian. My favorite fast food restaurant is Panda Express. My favorite recipe is a cake (that is to DIE for). It is NOT low calorie. A lady at work actually invented it. Here it is:

BETTY'S RUM CAKE

CAKE
1 cup chopped pecans
1 Duncan Hines Butter cake mix (white or yellow is okay too)
1 small box instant Vanilla Pudding mix
3/4 cup cold water
1/4 cup rum
4 eggs
1/2 cup corn oil (or vegetable oil)
1 tsp. Vanilla

GLAZE
1 stick butter or margarine
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup rum

To prepare cake. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease & flour bundt pand and sprinkle nuts over bottom. Put all other ingredients together and mix on slow until mixed, then mix 4 minutes. Pour batter over pecans in bundt pan and bake for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean. Invert and drizzle glaze over warm cake while still in the pan.

To prepare glaze, put all ingredients in pan and boil 5 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat and pour over warm cake.

What the Blogging World Can Know About Me

Eddo wanted me to let the blogging world know more about me. Where I met my husband, favorite recipes, etc.
I met my husband 7-14-97. Yes, we actually celebrate a small anniversary each year on that day. I had taken my boys to a local swimming pool in Marysville, California late one afternoon, just to cool off and have fun. They were about 11, 9, and 7 years old. John had his son Brandon with him (6 years old) for some fun too. At the time, he actually lived in Citrus Heights (about an hour's drive south of Marysville) but was riding his dirt bike at the tract by the river bottoms and visiting a lady he'd met a month earlier. (She was still at work). My sons were teaching me some "cool dives" and John was standing at the diving board watching. He struck up a conversation and I thought nothing of it. A little while later, I had gotten out and dressed ...told the boys it was time to leave. He was at the diving board and said, "Could you stand right there so I can see if my dive makes the mark?" Actually, he wanted to splash me and do anything to stall me from leaving. I backed away, so as not to get wet and waited for him to swim over. He asked if we wanted to get an ice cream at McDonald's and we set a date (swimming in Auburn at the river with the boys) the next day. We've been inseperable ever since.

Other little tidbits about me:

• I'm a bit of a ditsy blonde (with ADD) so sometimes, my memory isn't the best
• I have a great sense of humor and have been told a nice laugh and a great smile
• I have a slight fear of heights
• I have a problem with being late (might be ADD related)
• WHEN I HAVE TIME, I love to read just about anything
• I like to write (journals, letters, short stories), but since the birth of my children I haven't been consistent about it
• I'm passionate about my kids and grandkids, which makes me equally passionate about photographing and scrapbooking (I have 25+ photo albums and 30+ scrapbooks)
• I'm 5'7" tall and about 25 pounds overweight (by my standard) so I'm trying to break some bad habits and establish some lifelong, healthy new ones (proper eating, regular exercise, etc.) Since I'm 47, I can't afford to wait much longer (it gets harder the older you are kids)
• Despite the previous statement, I'm very healthy
• I've always wanted a boob job :-)
• My husband said I can get one this year!
• I enjoy crafts and sewing
• To relax I like to hike, camp (preferrably someplace warm, where I can swim), ride bikes, play volleyball and softball--but I'm not a loner, I have to have someone with me
• I'd like to visit Italy someday
• I want to vacation in Hawaii within the next 5 years
• I'm interested in Ladies of the Red Hat Society (may try to find a group here in Texas)
• I've always wanted a NEW Jeep Grand Cherokee 4x4 (car) Red with gold trim and beige leather interior and all the upgrades
• My Dad, my husband, my father-in-law, my brother-in-law, and my deceased grandfather in-law were all semi drivers!
• Every job I've ever had has been accounting/secretarial/administrative (except Simplicity Manufacturing and Doerr Electric)
• I've never been fired and when I leave a job, the employer usually has to hire 2-3 people to replace me "because I'm so efficient and good at what I do"
• I like to sing and have sung at weddings at other events
• I've driven a bicycle, car, go-cart, dirt bike, an ATV, and a tractor
• I like to watch motocross
• I don't have a favorite football team (sorry Shenna)
• I don't watch tv much...but I have the "Friends" season collections up to Season 9. Since we didn't have cable tv, I can't wait until Season 10 comes out!
• My favorite holiday is Christmas

Where Did Summer Go?

I don't know about you, but summer flew by extremely fast this year. I'm mourning the loss of sunshine already...and the change to fall season has barely begun. I'm definitely a California girl, because I LIVE for the sunshine. I think it stems from my midwestern roots...where 6 months out of the year it's too cold to go outside and it seems gray/overcast. I still get a little of that S.A.D. (season affective disorder). Recently, my Dad told me he suffers from it too. Does anyone else experience this?

Spared by Hurricane Rita

An answer to prayer! We were spared by Hurricane Rita. First, she diminished in strength and then turned course. So, up in Dallas (and even down in Houston) there was virtually nothing. In Dallas, it was just slightly windy. My husband was driving in Louisianna though, and he said it's been raining for DAYS there...so we need to pray that the already flooded areas and stressed levees can get a break.

I'm Still Fiddling With This Blog

I'm still so new to blogging that I'm having trouble editing my home page. I'm usually pretty saavy with new programs and computers...but I guess I'm not as saavy as I thought.
Hurricane Rita is hitting the Southern part of Texas on Friday, so we're preparing to take in some evacuees from Houston. My son just moved from Houston back to the Sacramento area. Praise God! I wish this hurricane season would be over with. 

See Why I LOVE California?

See why I love California? It contains my favorite little people. I'm so homesick it actually hurts, physically! My husband understands only when it pertains to the grandkids (because he loves them too), but otherwise, he offers no support or sympathy/understanding for my periods of loneliness and transition. It gets depressing. I wish I could let go easier. He's a tumbleweed and I'm a tree that's been uprooted. Has anyone else ever gone through this?

Now I'm a Newby

My sister emailed her blog site to me. I was enthralled by her postings and decided to give it a try. So, this is my first go at it. I'm at work, so I'll try back this evening when I can embellish a little more.
Thanks for turning me on to the blog sis.