Advents Corner

Today is the day Michaela and I go to get our passports.  We are getting so excited about the trip to Asia.  The girls are going to have so much fun.  We are very sad that Lani will not be joining us but we thought it would be better if she did not come on this trip.  She is so an excellent traveler but it is just too many flights and they time difference would just be so bad for her.  She is going to stay with Grammy for the trip and Grammy is going to try and potty train her while she is there.  Stay tuned for updates on the trip.

First Time Buyer Mortgage is looking really good right now with the interest rates so low.  I know the economy is taking a downward turn but if you ever thought about buying a house, now is the time to take the plunge.  House prices are falling really fast as people are getting closer to foreclosure.  I am starting to see a lot of places going for a short sale to get out of the payment as quick as possible and the banks they are financed with are helping them get the paperwork done because if they go into foreclosure the bank is stuck with the house and trust me when I say the bank does not want that house.  Take sometime to check this out, if you though you could never afford a house you might be able to afford one now.  Just remember do not buy bigger then you need or can afford.  That piece of advice will say you a lot of possible heartache down the road.  And watch out for those ARM’s.

It is beyond me the things people will come up with and the things people will buy.  Here is a clip of Ellen Degeneres using the Hawaii Chair.  You are suppose to be able to use it at work and stay fit while you sit.  I don’t know about that.  People are always trying to find the easy way to stay in shape but this takes the cake.

Being a foster guardian I am always on the look out for pet sites to pass on to my friend that is president of a rescue program. We have four pets, two dogs and two cats all of whom have been rescues. I have come across a site that gives really good Pet Information I want to share with you. Thoughts Fur Paws (very cute title) has information on the health, safety, puppy mills and dealing with the loss of your closest friend. One of my favorites on the site it the Rescue Dog’s Poem, I think it touches my heart because we have adopted all of our animals. While you are there take the quiz to see if you are more cat or dog. I am 80% dog, but I could have told you that.

Roy Scheider died Sunday at the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences hospital.  He uttered that famous line in Jaws released in 1975.  You may also remember him from such films as The French Connection and The Punisher.  Born November 10 1932 he made his film debut in the horror The Curse of the Living Corpse in 1964 but gained recognition when he worked with Jane Fonda in Klute in 1971.  Then in 1975 he appeared in Jaws as the chief of police.  With Jaws becoming the first film to ever gross $100 million this is where most of us know him.

Need a reason for that glass of wine at dinner other than you are an adult and you want it?  How about the fact that it is packed with antioxidant that’s right, it is good for you.  With five servings of fruits and vegetables high in antioxidants can reduce your risk of stroke by 25 percent.  So the next time you want to do something good for your body have a glass of wine with dinner. 

I just had to post this because it is really funny

RETARDED GRANDPARENTS - (this was actually reported by a teacher)  After Christmas, a teacher asked her young pupils how they spent their holiday away from school.  One child wrote the following: We always used to spend the holidays with Grandma and Grandpa.  They used to live in a big brick house but Grandpa got retarded and they moved to

Florida.  Now they live in a tin box and have rocks painted green to look like grass.  They ride around on their bicycles and wear name tags because they don’t know who they are anymore.  They go to a building called a wrecked center, but they must have got it fixed because it is all okay now, they do exercises there, but they don’t do them very well.  There is a swimming pool too, but they all jump up and down in it with hats on.  At their gate, there is a doll house with a little old man sitting in it.  He watches all day so nobody can escape.  Sometimes they sneak out, and go cruising in their golf carts.  Nobody there cooks, they just eat out.  And, they eat the same thing every night — early birds.  Some of the people can’t get out past the man in the doll house.  The ones, who do get out, bring food back to the wrecked center for pot luck.  My Grandma says that Grandpa worked all his life to earn his retardment and says I should work hard so I can be retarded someday too.  When I earn my retardment, I want to be the man in the doll house.  Then I will let people out, so they can visit their grandchildren.  ….  PRICELESS…… 

With Valentine’s Day right around the corner everyone is running around at the last minute to find the perfect gift for that perfect someone.  Well stop looking and start shopping.  Instead of the classic flowers what about a laptop?  Check out this dell coupon and surprise your one and only with a laptop of their very own.

Yesterday we spent most of the day with Don taking Michaela’s picture for her graduation announcements that will go out later this month or next month.  We still can not believe she is only a couple of month away from graduation.  Time passes so fast it is hard to accept it sometimes.  I would be feeling really old right now if I would not have two more behind Michaela.  I can’t believe I have one graduating and one in diapers.  It is funny how your life puts you in places a few years ago you would not have imagined you would be in.

I knew it was bad but was not too sure how bad until it came time for my employee performance evaluation. I was brought into the room and told even though my performance is always stellar the company has put a freeze on all increases until we “get over this hump”. I was also told that I am at the top of my pay scale so other than the cost of living increases I would not be getting anymore raises. Way to bust a bubble right, especially considering I am not even getting the cost of living increase because of the freeze. I was given the consolation prize that when the freeze is lifted the increase would be retro active. I should not complain, I make really good money but it is just dishearten to think that no matter how good I am at my job will not make more than what I am making now.

This morning there was a shooting at Louisiana Technical  College in Baton Rouge.  According to reports a woman shot two other women before turning the gun on herself inside one of the classrooms.  No further details are known at this time.

Namco Bandai says it is because of the Wii that they are shutting arcades through out Japan.  People are saving their pocket change to buy games for the Wii verses spending it in the arcade.  We have a Wii and it is so much fun.  Talk about a family gaming system.  When my in laws were in for Christmas we spent many nights all bowling on the Wii. 

Sorry about that but we had a server problem with the sites last night and most of this morning.  We are back online now.

Finally someone has said what we have always known as Mommies, when you are pregnant your baby sucks out your brain cells.  OK maybe not but they do make us more forgetful.  We have known this for years that when you are pregnant you tend to forget things more easily.  Now it has been confirmed through medical studies that pregnant women tend to forget things when they are involved in multitasking or unfamiliar things.

We use to think that once we had the baby that our memory would come back but they now suspect that the forgetfulness can last up to one year.  Do you think that might have something to do with being tired for all of the sleepless nights? 

The Race for DelegatesDemocrats Needed to Win = 2,025

Candidate      Pledged       Superdels      Total

Clinton         632              193          825

Obama         626              106          732

Republicans Needed to Win = 1,191

Candidate      Pledged         Unpl. RNC    Total

McCain          598                17          615

Romney        259                  9          268

Huckabee     166                  3          169

Chart from CNN.com 

After super Tuesday this is the way things stack up.  It looks like McCain is the front runner.  It is still a very close race between Clinton and Obama.  My dream ticket would be to see Clinton and McCain.  That will be very hard decision between the two but I think they are the two best candidates.  Only time will tell.

With my blogs getting the smack down from Google I was really concerned about my page rank going from a 3 to a big fat 0.  I also watched my opps for good money fade into the darkness.  One bright light at the end of the tunnel was the introduction of Real Rank.  With Real Rank your Blog Ranks are gathered by using the number of visitors to your site not the index that Google gives it.  Even though my page rank is in the toilet my Real Rank is still good because of the number of visitors to my site daily.  Thanks guys for coming back to Corner everyday to see the craziness in the world.  You can check your weekly average daily so you can stay on top of things on your own terms.

The data is pulled using a piece of code you embed in your blog.  The system uses the following formula to get your Real Rank: 70% daily unique visitors, 20% daily active inbound links and 10% daily page views.  So as you can see it is solely based on your blogs performance and not on some phantom algorithm.  So sign up and get ranked by the traffic of your site not by a toolbar or an algorithm

Last night I tried a new dish.  I am always trying out new things for the family because it gets really old eating the same stuff all of the time.  I have a bad habit of not following recipes, well tweaking recipes I should say.  Matt says “do you have a recipe or you making your own?”  I don’t know why he asks because the answer is always the same.  Last night I decided to try my hand at Cottage Pie.  Matt loves shepherd’s pie; he always gets it when we go to Cheesecake Factory. 

As most of my family knows I love Campbell’s crème of mushroom soup, in fact I buy it by the case at Costco because I use it in everything.  So here is my recipe for Cottage Pie using Campbell’s crème of mushroom soup.

Ingredients  

1 pound ground beef 

1 can Campbell’s crème of mushroom soup

3 large russet potatoes 1 cups mix vegetables or 2 handfuls ( I used a frozen medley that had peas, carrots, green beans, lima beans and corn)ButterMilk

Hawaiian

Sea Salt½ cup shredded cheese 

Peel and cut your potatoes into cubes, add a little salt and put to boil.  Cook ground beef and drain away excess fat.  While the beef is draining add can of soup and ½ cup water to the pot.  Constantly stir until all of the soup is dissolved.  Add your beef and vegetables into your soup mixture.  Turn to simmer and leave uncovered.  Because of the soup you do not need to add any seasoning to the beef mixture. 

Pre heat your oven to 350. 

Drain your potatoes, add butter, milk, and whip until you reach the desired consistency.  After your beef mixture has reduced down to the amount of gravy you would like pour into a casserole dish.  Place your potatoes on the top and add cheese.   

Bake for about 20 minutes or until cheese is melted.  Everything is hot when you put it into the dish so you only need to worry about the cheese melting.   

I hope you like the recipe, my family loved it, and Michaela even ate all of the vegetables without picking any out.

Again,

Florida is in the news because of an idiot.  This is why we have such a bad rep here because the state is full of idiots.  This mother of the year buckled in her case of beer but failed to buckle in her infant daughter she had in the backseat.  Thank goodness police noticed her erratic driving and puller her over only to find her baby was not fastened in. 

Because of this mom I have added a new categories entitled “Idiots”

DAVE MATTHEWS JOINS JACK JOHNSON AT THE FIFTH ANNUAL KOKUA FESTIVAL APRIL 19th-20th - WAIKIKI SHELL - OAHUHawaii’s own Jack Johnson is proud to share the stage with Dave Matthews at the Fifth Annual Kokua Festival on Earth Day weekend – April 19th and 20th, 2008 – at the Waikiki Shell in Honolulu, Hawaii. For his first Hawaii appearance ever, Dave Matthews will be performing an acoustic set with guitar master Tim Reynolds. The festival’s incredible music line-up will be rounded out with local island favorites Paula Fuga and Go Jimmy Go, and Brushfire Records’ latest addition, the Hawaii-born, Minneapolis-based Mason Jennings.All proceeds go to the Kokua Hawaii Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by Jack and Kim Johnson to support environmental education programs in the schools and communities of Hawaii. The funds raised from the Kokua Festival will be used to further support school recycling on Oahu, sponsor field trips, and roll out the new farm-to-school program AINA In Schools. The foundation is excited to be expanding its community outreach with a sustainability film series and the new Plastic Free Haleiwa coalition.In celebration of the Kokua Hawaii Foundation and Kokua Festival’s 5th anniversary, two new projects have been added to inspire environmental action among Hawaii’s students. School groups completing outstanding Kokua Earth Action Projects (KEAP) this school year have been invited to the Keiki Kokua Festival. This keiki (children) only celebration will recognize student efforts to malama (care for) our islands with entertainment by Jack Johnson and other Kokua Festival artists, educational skits, videos and exchanges from participating KEAP school groups.In addition to the eclectic mix of live music, the Kokua Village lets fans experience eco-friendly clothing from Patagonia, sustainable shoes from Simple Shoes, and organic yogurt from Stonyfield Farm. Kokua Festival attendees can try local food and beverages, learn about products and services from green companies, view alternative energy demonstrations, participate in interactive games and crafts for the kids, and get information about environmentally active groups from around the islands.The Kokua Festival has raised the bar on environmentally friendly concert production both locally and globally. Some of the innovative greening measures include: Zero waste collection sites where recyclables, food waste and compostables are separated by students from local schools A bike valet service, electric trolley, and carpool incentives Promoting the use of reusable water bottles and providing free water stations Running festival generators and vehicles on locally made biodiesel Using biodegradable concession ware Offering eco-friendly merchandise such as reusable tote bags, bottles, and organic cotton clothing Offsetting the remaining emissions with clean energy development in Hawaii The Kokua Festival concert and behind-the-scenes footage will be broadcast live with a major online partner, and an hour long special will be made for television. Tickets are $40 for general admission/lawn, $50 for reserved seats, $125 in the seated pit area, and $20 general admission for children 3-12. Children under 3 are free. New this year, online ticket purchasers will have the option to add on $2 to offset their own personal travel to the show. Tickets to the general public will be available at all Ticketmaster outlets, online at Ticketmaster or by phone at (877) 750-4400 on February 16th. Starting February 4th, STAR 101.9 listeners will be offered pre-sale opportunities. The Kokua Hawaii Foundation thanks Presenting Partners Patagonia, Simple, and Stonyfield Farm; Platinum Partners Bonterra / Fetzer Organic Wines, Brushfire Records, Kashi, Kona Brewing Company, MapCargo, and Toyota Prius Hawaii; and Keiki Partners Bear Naked Granola, FruitaBu Organic Smooshed Fruit, Hawaiian Electric Company, SIGG, and Stretch Island Fruit, as well as many other like-minded companies and organizations for their support! The Kokua Festival is produced locally by Pau Hana Productions with additional coordination by MusicMatters.

It is all about marketing.  Would you buy toilet paper named Sandpaper?  How about a soft drink called diarrhea?  How about a bed called Lolita for your 6 year old?  I know my two examples were extreme but one mother thought the name of a bed marketed to 6 year old girls was extreme also.  Woolworths had a bed online that was geared towards little girls and when a Mom discovered the name of the bed was “Lolita” she fired off postings on a parenting site.  Once Woolworths found out about it they immediately pulled the beds off of the website.  According to Woolworths they had no idea the word was used to describe sexually active pre-teens.  I guess we can give credit to a giant corporation for finally putting people before money.