lifted from wdysgrl

1) How old do you wish you were? 19, good year
2) Where were you when 9/11 happened? Getting ready for work and I heard the WTC was on fire so I clicked on the TV right before the second plane hit -- yes, Oklahoma, me too. Wierd, eh?
3) What do you do when vending machines steal your money? go hunt someone down and try to get it back
4) Do you consider yourself kind? mostly
5) If you had to get a tattoo, where and what would it be? I don't know what it would be or where, which is why I don't have one, I guess.
6) If you could be fluent in any other language what would it be? Spanish
7) Do you know your neighbors? I just met the new ones, she doesn't speak English very well. Her father-in-law can a little and he brought out postcards of their home town in Mexico to show. Between my crappy Spanish and their broken English we got on fine.
8)What do you consider a vacation? anything where I don't have to work. Usually camping but the perfect vacation involves the ocean.
9)Do you follow your horoscope? No
10) Would you move for the person you loved? yeah, but I'd bitch about it probably
11) Are you touchy feely? can be
12) Do you believe that opposites attract? I believe like attracts like and they generally get along a lot better in the long run.
13) Dream job? actress
14) Favorite channel(s)? Food, Speed, HBO when I'm not paying for it
15) Favorite place to go on a weekend? camping
16) Showers or Bath? shower
17) Do you paint your nails? Toenails-yes, fingernails-no1
8) Do you trust people easily? not anymore
19) What are your phobias? being made fun of
20) Do you want kids? not anymore
21) Do you keep a handwritten journal? Yes
22) Where would you rather be right now? beach
23) What makes you feel warm and safe? couch, blanket, TV
24) Heavy or light sleep? could hear a pin drop, such a drag
25) Are you paranoid? about some things
26) Are you impatient? Yes
27) Who can you relate to? Stacie, the Cat, my mom (only sometimes)
28 ) How do you feel about interracial couples? OK with me
29) Have you been burned by love? Are you kidding? Am I breathing?
30) Whats your life motto?? keep diggin'
31) What's your main ring tone on your cell? some generic, my phone with Dancing Queen got stolen.
32) What were you doing at midnight last night? Sleeping
33) Who was your last text message from? Stacie
34) Who's bed did you sleep in last night? mine
35) What color shirt are you wearing? red tank, white open weave summer sweater
36) Most recent movie you watched? at the movies it was United 93
37) Name five things you have on you at all times? glasses, wedding rings, at least one pair of earrings, usually my purse and in my purse, usually a book
38.) What color are your bed sheets? cream with bue flowers
9) How much cash do you have on you right now? none, sad
40) What is your favorite part of chicken? leg
41) What's your favorite town/city? Honolulu
42) I can't wait till...the next time I go to Vegas
43) Who got you to join myspace? I delisted. It's creepy.
44) What did you have for dinner last night? Arandas Mexicanas
45) How tall are you barefoot? 5' 3 and 3/4"
46) Have you ever smoked crack? no, no, no
47) Do you own a gun? T has a shotgun
48) What do you prefer to drink in the morning? diet coke
49) What is your secret weapon to lure in the opposite sex? my boobs have already done a great job
50) Do you have A.D.D.? yep, what did you say?
51) What time did you wake up today?5:00 a.m.
52) Current worry? that the kids hate me
53) Current hate? uncut lawns and getting up early
54) Favorite place to be? beach
55) Where would you like to travel? the UK
56) Where do you think you'll be in 10 yrs? I have no idea and I don't really like to think about it. I'll just take it as it comes.
57) last thing you ate? bagel
58) What songs do you sing in the shower? I sing in the car
59) Last person that made you laugh? A couple of the guys here at work
60) Worst injury you've ever had? stitches
61) Does someone have a crush on you? no
62) What is your favorite candy? Cadbury Fruit and Nut, sour patch kids, jelly bellies

in and out

I was gonna blog, I swear it. I was gonna blog on the day I had to chase the woodchuck out from under my car. That was the day after I removed a toad from my laundry room and 2 days after I had to punch a mouse.

Now you're wondering, aren't you?

The dog caught the mouse but didn't kill it, only mortally wounded it. I was in the way back yard with flipflops and no tools, just some heavy duty work gloves. For some reason I decided to punch it real hard in the head in the hopes that it would be stunned enough that it wouldn't run off or try to bite my foot. I killed it instead. So there you go.

As for the toad, I think it snuck in the house in the dark, when I was emptying the dehumidifier in to the flower bed. And I can't explain the wood chuck. It was just there.

So I didn't blog and I haven't blogged and now I'm leaving to go camping for a week. Guess you'll have to excuse me while I take a summer break.

Until the 10th, take care.

Where you been?

Ooooh, I hate it when my blogging friends take extensive leaves of absence. And there, I just did the same.

I haven't been anywhere special, just, you know, living and working and doing what we do. Getting aligned for the next competition, puzzling over what to get for T for Father's Day and feeling generally like i want to get out and experience summer.

T doesn't know it but I signed us up for a BBQ judging class today with "Dr. Death" master judger, Ed Roith. That's what I finally settled on.

Also, he doesn't know that I'm dragging him to Theater in the Park for "Cats" which I've never seen. I think a picnic and an evening under the stars -- just getting out on a Friday night -- will be fun. And my macho husband actually likes musicals, especially if I feed him.

After 3 weekends on the road (including 2 family reunions) it will be nice to stay home, get my house clean, open up the pool, fall asleep to the drone of the race on TV on Sunday. Run around in shorts with no makeup and bare feet. Not hurry, not worry, just be.

Hope you all have a good, peaceful weekend.

from 43 Things

The Saga of BBQ2

We are no longer competition virgins.
We arrived on Friday and began prepping all our meats – 4 categories (chicken, brisket, ribs and pork butt). 2-3 hours later we finally munched down some leftover sandwiches from Mr. Goodcents and then started the charcoal chimney for the first smoker (pork butt takes the longest to cook: at an hour & half per pound this one needed over 10 hours).
Brisket went on second and by midnight we were well underway and the neighbors were well oiled. I took the first shift on smoker watch. I read through a stack of newspapers and munched on grapes and chips and tried like hell to stay awake. The second smoker was running very hot so there was some switching around at 1 a.m. —our internal temp on the brisket was already 141 degrees, not good. I almost dropped the pork butt trying to switch things around and I burned my hand on the Coleman lantern.
At 3:30 I finally collapsed exhausted: I slept for an hour and a half. At 5 a.m. Tim got up and refilled the water pans and started the ribs. I was up and down several times and got up for good at 8 for biscuits and gravy. After a long night of fighting the cookers and fending off drunks, I actually surprised myself by being in fairly good spirits. We pulled the pork, brisket, started the chicken last… in between I filled boxes with leaf lettuce for presentation.
At 11:30 we started arranging the chicken, giving everything a swipe with bbq sauce. Our first turn in was at 12, followed by ribs, pork butt and finally brisket.
After the turn-ins we spent some time cleaning up the considerable mess and at 3 we went up for the awards. Unfortunately we didn’t hear our name—at all. After taking a look at the scoring sheets, we discovered that we still have some work to do. We had problems with all our turn ins—presentation on chicken and brisket were not great. Our presentation on ribs and pork were much better. We got scores everywhere from 9s (perfect) to 3 (not very damn good). Overall we finished 37 of 43, much worse than we’d hoped. Afterwords, we took copious notes and decided to work on our recipes some more.We also went to Dairy Queen for ice cream and made a beer run, which we ended up being too tired to drink in the end. We went to bed and slept for about 9 hours. On Sunday we woke up to rain, so we packed up the camper and headed home, stoping off at Waffle House for breakfast. Sunday was our day to regroup—then back to the real world on Monday.

Next competition: Johnson County Fair, on my old home turf, Warrensburg, MO.

We DID IT! and we didn’t suck the most!

Windfall and BBQ

Do not use this logo without permission!

I've obviously waned a little on my blog .... which is sad considering it's about to celebrate it's second anniversary. Happy Birthday Yorkist Rose!

Two quick things: T and I are entered in a barbecue contest this weeknd: it will be our first. Planning for this thing has taken more strategy that the invasion of Normandy but we're finally getting there. We have taken measures to insure that we can put out a fire, sanitize, maintain appropriate temps and that T doesn't sweat on the brisket.

This is true KC culture, y'all. My friend TKAT designed us an official logo and everything. I'm having t shirts made. Very exciting.

Other thing: I won an essay contest at work. God help me, I wrote an essay called "What ESOP Means to Me." The last time I wrote an essay I was trying to get a scholarship from the DAR. This time I got $75 in Amex gift certificates. Hmmmm, what to do with this unexpected windfall???? It is my birthday in 25 days -- I might have to go to Sephora.

Dilemmas, dilemmas.