Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Loving Sports

Loving Sports here in the Midwest. I'm a big sports fan, what about you?

I know it's only April, but all I can think about is only four more months and football will start again! I love football, high school, college, NFL, even my son's little Upward Flag Football league. And my love of football is a little strange in that I was born and raised and still live in the land of basketball, Indiana. Yup, everyone around me loves basketball, and I can live with or without basketball, it is not a big deal to me. Now football, that is another story!

It's no wonder that football is my son's favorite sport, or that he has played flag football for two seasons now, and he is only in second grade. When football is on, we are watching every night of the week, Thursday (college games on tv), Friday (local high school games), Saturday (the local college), Sunday (NFL) and Monday (NFL). That leaves only two days of the week that we have to do without.

Not only do I love watching football, get a bunch of people together and I love playing football! What could be more fun on a cool fall day, than running and throw a football around, and what a great thing that families can do together, because even with four or five you can have a blast playing football in the yard, you don't have to have a full team. And what great exercise! I mean, have you tried to outrun an eight year old lately? It's not as easy as it sounds, and it's fun.

You know, sports are another way to get families involved with each other, and nothing is better for the development of young kids than to spend time with their parents, and sports helps us spend time with our kids, do fun things, learn and exercise all in one event. What more could you ask for?

So what about you? Do you like sports? What is your favorite?

The Bachelor: London Calling - April 21st

The Bachelor: London Calling
Monday April 21st Episode

Last night the four remaining women each took Matt home to met their families. Okay, now I don't know about you, but this is a big deal to me. I didn't take alot of guys home to met the family, in fact there were a couple there that I would not take home, but then again I knew that they were just a short-term thing anyway. The premise of this episode has always bothered me, I mean, you haven't known him that long, he is dating these other women at the same time and yet you are taking him home to met the family.

Shayne:
Okay, so I didn't watch alot of this one. Sorry, but one look at her mom, and my face hurt! I couldn't watch her! I mean really, the lips the face, can we say too much botox? Something was wrong and it looked awlful. It was suprising to see her sister look so much like her, down to the actions, although from the conversations, I would say the younger sister is a little more mature than Shayne.
Can you tell she isn't my favorite? Sorry folks, but I have just not liked her from the beginning, and then when I found out she was Lorenzo Lamas' daughter I liked her even less, and mainly because to me it smacked of a set up, not of true romance, and I am the romantic at heart, I want someone to find true love.

Noelle:
This was great. I think it was a good time and they got to know each other and have fun, but a little too late. Noelle really didn't get much time with Matt throughout the show and she has hung around because others were more trouble and needed to be gone, but I just don't think they ever got the chance to connect and develop, and Noelle admitted that part of that was her fault in that she was a little slow to open up, well, duh! You are dating a guy with 25 other women, I'd hold back too! I just don't think this is the right venue for her. I think she is a great woman and will make someone very happy, but she needs more time to open up to someone and this was not the best place for her.

Chelsea:
I think this again was a great visit. I think they had fun and he loves that about her, and I think he got to see that although they are alot of fun, she can be serious.
I loved the outtakes at the end of the episode when they went back to their date and getting oldtime pictures made, it was jsut so much fun and showed that they have a great time together. Is that enough for a realtionship? I don't know, but I think they might have a chance.

Amanda:
So she decides to pull a prank on Matt and hire a fake family, and they are over the top, and it was funny, and the best part is that Matt loved it! He couldn't believe that she pulled one over on him and that she got him, and he loved it! You know, I really think that Amanda and Matt have the same type of humor and love the same kind of jokes. Now is that more best buddies or a relationship, I am not sure yet, but I think it holds well for them.

So far, I am thinking that Amanda and CHelsea have the most in common with him, they have the laughter and the romance, whereas there only seems to be romance with Shayne, nothing more than a physical attraction. I think Amanda and CHelsea would make a better fit with him, but we will see where it goes.

What do you think? Did he make the right choice? And who is your favorite?

Monday, April 21, 2008

Wild West Brownie Overnight

So Friday night is the Wild West Brownie overnight.
Please come prepared for any weather, and remember closed toe and heel strudy shoes for hiking.
We will met at Beuhler's parking Lot, down by True Value and car pool over to the campground, meeting at about 6:30 at True Value.

Here is the schedule as I got it from the Council:

2008 Wild Wild West Overnight Schedule
EVENING - Friday April 25th


7:30pm – 8:30pm Check-In and set up sites
8:30pm Campfire (Western stories and songs) Bridge house Porch
10:00pm Ready for Bed
11:00pm Lights Out & Quiet Time

DAY - Saturday April 26th

Have breakfast before the day begins! (this is something our troop will bring - anyone have ideas on what you want me to bring? We will have one large cooler to keep all out cold food in....)

9:00am Opening at the Flag Pole (in playfield)
Group assignments will be given out at this time
9:20am – 9:50am First Station
9:55am – 10:25am Second Station
10:30am – 10:45am Morning Snack (PROVIDED)
10:50am – 11:20am Third Station
11:25am – 11:55am Fourth Station
12 Noon – 1:00pm LUNCH (on your own...this means the troop brings, again we will have no access to a kitchen, so ideas on what you would like would be great!!)
1:05pm – 1:35pm Fifth Station
1:40pm – 2:00pm Afternoon Snack (PROVIDED)
2:05pm – 2:35pm Closing ceremony & SWAPS @ the playfield
2:40pm – 3:00pm Clean up & Check out*


The stations will be:
1. Western Jewelry
2.
Western Wear
3.
Western Transport
4.
Western Spirits
5.
Western Games

It sounds like alot of fun, and the stations of activities they have for us to do sound wonderful, I think all the girls will have a good time.

As of right now, I still have not received our cabin assignment, but I have Leader's meeting tonight, so I will check on that. Thank you Joe, Courtney's dad for volunteering military type cots for us if we are in the great rooms and need them.

I will be calling everyone this week to confirm meeting time and such! Looking forward to it, also please be thinking about what we want to pack for Breakfast and Lunch, as we will NOT have access to the kitchen, so it needs to be good cold!



Saturday, April 19, 2008

Top Chef Chicago - April 16th

So, tax season is behind us and I can have a real life again, so I treated myself to Top Chef and a couple of books, which I will blog about later.

This episode of Top Chef starts with Jen in a funk about Zoi's departure and with a bit of a chip on her shoulder. I wonder if that chip will still be there once she gets to watch the episodes and realizes that Zoi was called out two weeks in a row for lack of seasoning?

So the Quickfire Challenge is pairing food with beer. Okay, I know so of you out there are thinking, what? Beer is beer, they all taste the same, well I am sure all those big name lavels do tend to taste the same, but small, local micro-brewed beers are another thing completely. I don't drink mass marketed beers, but there is a little brewery in town here, Upland Brewery, and I do like a couple of their beers.
I was a little put off by Nikki's comments, that beer to her means fried foods, and that a coupld of them seemed to think beer was beneath them. I wonder how they would have faired on the vending machine challenge or the quicky mart challenge of past seasons.

Some of the foods were good, so missed big time, but in the end Jen and her chip on the shoulder won the Quickfire, and she claimed it was all because she had something to prove with zoi leaving, maybe that Zoi wasn't that good of a cook and she was better?

The Elimination Challenge was to Tailgate for a Bears game. Some of these people looked so lost! Have you never cooked real food? It reminded me of a few years back when Harold said something was beneath him to cook. Yeah, well, this is a test, lets see how good you really are.

I loved that we got to see the comments of alot of the people eating the food, and i was really surprised when they seemed to like everbody's food, but at the same time I am thinking how can you flub up a tailgate? Really!
I also loved Dale's reactions when he realized that he was serving food to Gale Sayers (a Chicago Bears legend) and then Richard Dent and William "The Fridge" Perry, also both bears Legneds from the 1980s SuperBowl fame. I thought it was great, and the way he was so humbled to be serving them, he really got the challenege and the meaning, this was more than just cooking to him, he was serving local legends and he rose to the occasion, so I was pleased that Dale won this challenge.

In the bottom, we had Nikki, Ryan and Mark. Okay, so Mark had no clue, he had never seen American Football, knew nothing about tailgating, and picked the wrong grill. I think he thought that picking the other grill would help him stand out, but it just messed with his flow and timing. He was constantly having to fix the fire and flame, and he was just rushing around and a complete mess. I didn't want to see him go home over this one challenge, I thinhk he is better than that.

Nikki, tried to make a New York classic, which might have went over at a Giants or Jets game, but not at a Bears game, then to top it off she ran out of half the food before the judges ever made it to her table. Not good, poor planning. I would have been okay with her leaving.
Ryan, well, Ryan just made it easy on the judges. He went with way too high class food, this was a tailgate party not a luxury box catering, and then to top it all off, he didn't even make the food well, and it was not good. Okay, so Ryan, pack your knives and go. I am glad. He was just really flying under the radar until this point, and then he talks the whole episode about this all being beneath him, or at least that was the vibe I got from him, so I am glad to see him go.

Now, I have to talk about Lisa. Lisa, Lisa, Lisa. Dale apogolizes for yelling at her the night before, that her negative attitude had just got on his last nerve and he is sorry. I have no problem with this. I think she does have a negative attitude and what does she turn around and say, that Dale apogolized that SHE made him mad, she calimed he could go *&$% himself. Well, no if you would just calm down a little bit, quit flinging the curse words around you might realize that he was right. The girl has driven a nail in the other nerve with me. At this point, it will be none too soon when Lisa and Spike leave for me. I am over them and really don't want to watch them anymore.

So what did you think? Did the right person win? Did the right person go home? Leave me a comment and let me know!


Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Discover Spring Mill Event

Saturday was the Discover Spring Mill Event hosted by Girl Scouts, and my troop of Brownies went, although it turned out to be a cold day, and a couple of girls had to stay home due to colds, those that went had a good time.

The first event was a trip to the Gus Grissom Memorial Museum in the park. Gus was the second man in space, and flew the Liberty Bell and Gemini rockets. He was born and raised in Mitchell, IN; which is were Spring Mill State Park is, so the perfect place for the Memorial Museum. The girls did a scavanger hunt in the museum to look for and find interesting facts about Gus. I think they had a good time. I know Maeve did because she spent all day Sunday telling Nana and Papaw and anyone else that would listen everything she learned about Gus and the early space program.

The next event we headed to was Clogging. The girls got to learn a few basic clogging steps and then put them together into a dance. It was so fun, and since it was pretty cool out that day, this really warmed them up.

After eating a brief lunch, we went on a two mile hike, which was suppose to go down to one of the caves, but with all the rain we have been having around here, we couldn't make it to the cave as the path was washed out, under water in one area and there was no way to go around. It was still fun, and believe me my legs are still feeling it!!

To end the day, we went to the Pioneer village and looked in all the houses. We also went to the meeting house and learned to play games from the time period and made a "leavings doll". It was called that because it was made from the leavings, or scraps left over. After games, they went to the leather shop and learned how to make candles! The wax was beeswax, and so the candles smelled like honey.

All in all it turned out to be a great day, and the girls learned alot about the past!
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Friday, April 11, 2008

Discover Spring Mill

Discover Spring Mill State Park
Saturday, April 12th, 2008
9am to 3pm

Calling all Browines in Troop 441!!
For those of you who signed up to go on the trip to Spring Mill, it is this weekend. Here are the details.

Please meet in the Beuhler's Parking lot, down near True Value between 8-8:15am. We will carpool from there, leaveing the parking lot by 8:30.

Check In at Spring Mill is from 9:30-9:45am. Then events are scheduled throughout the day.

Please bring:
Sack Lunch,
Change of clothes (at least one, if not two, including shoes)
sunscreen,
bug spray
long pair of pants.

Please wear:
strudy, closed toe and heel shoes for walking

I will be bringing some snacks for the day, but if you would like to bring something to share with everyone, that would be wonderful.

I think it will take us two cars to get down there, and about 45minutes. It should be a great time!!



Top Chef Chicago - April 9th

Okay, so I am a couple days in getting this up, sue me! I'm sorry, but it's tax deadlines and I am tired!

So this week starts with the Palate challenge, you know the one they are blindfolded and have to taste test things and identify something. Great! They only told us who was the lowest and who had the top three scores, I really wanted to know everyone's numbers!!
Antonia won, getting 12 of the 15 tastes correct, not bad. Ryan and Jen tied with 11 or the 15 correct. You may be saying Ryan? Jen? Yeah, that is what I thought. Ryan is the forgetable guy that was paired with Mark last week and Jen is the mohawked girl in the relationship. yeah, I know they are both forgetable. i really wanted to know where Spike landed in those numbers....hum, I'm thinking maybe 7 or 8, maybe a 9. Then there is Zoi, and I am thinking she probably didn't do too good, 7.

Another team challenge. okay, enough already, I want to see them cook and fall flat on their faces themselves, no more team challenges, please!! So we have four teams, Earth, Water, Air and Fire.....let's see what they can do.

Fire:
This team is Dale, Lisa and Stephanie. Okay, Stephanie deserves a gold medal for dealing with Lisa, and I personally though Dale did a good job of not going off on Lisa, until the last two minutes of the show, but still. They fought tooth and nail on the menu, a first course for 80 people on a $500 budget. The finally decided that Stephanie would do a chile rubbed shrimp, dale a chile salad and Lisa bacon.
Let me move on as say that this team rocked it. The food was good, loved by all and they ended up your winners. Now, of course only one can win the prize and Ming, the guest judge decides to award it to Lisa for the bacon, becuase it was something he had never seen? Excuse me? Come to my house, I have been cooking bacon in the oven, weighted to lie flat for years!! Okay, so I don't add the miso, but still, something new? Do you not get out much Ming? What's the deal?

Air:
Well this team is forgetable. Ryan and Jen and whats-her-face, the one that does pasta all the time. Yep, they do duck, and it ends up being decent. It's not the top and not the bottom. It was funny, there were four teams, and this was the first time they only called one team in the top and then two in the bottom, so this team was just there. They weren't good enough for the top, not bad enough for the bottom, which is about all I can say for the people or the meal, I remember the duck and that is about it.

Water:
Richard, Mark and Andrew. Boil-in-the-bag salmon was their main dish. Fish swim in the water, cooked in water, was Richard's reasoning, and I am thinking, ugh. I am not a big fan of the bag cooking thing he did, I was thinking is would make it have the texture of mashed potatoes. I have never really liked the boil-in-the-bag meals anyway. And then Tom said it was mushy. Andrew went back a round and made the fake cavier again, okay, it might get a good review one time, but leave it alone, it can be over done if you do it over and over again. Really. Poor Mark, I think he was completely out of his element with Richard and Andrew, they are not his style of cooks, and I just don't think he had any idea what they food was going to be and what to do with them.
So they end up in the bottom two, and worse than the food.....scales! Yep, Richard either didn't clean the fish, or didn't clean the fish very well. Ming got a mouthful of scales! UGH! Bad, bad team!

Earth:
Antonia, who has immunity, Zoi and Spike, can you say conflict? Spike wants to make soup and Antonia and Zoi don't think that is a good first course? Excuse me? wasn't soup the traditional first course in history? How can you not want to do soup or not think it was a good first course choice? So they go with something more "earthy", mushrooms and beef....whatever.
Can we say bottom two!! This time is was about flavor, no seasoning, which is one reason I am thinking that Zoi did not do well on the palatte challenge, she claims that she is a heavy-handed seasoner, and Gail admitted that the Rosemary was overpowering, but that it was a bd choice to go with the mushrooms, as is you just shouldn't put the two together, but then what did we expect from Zoi....when the chocolate and wasbi won last week she promised us that is doesn't taste good, and since she knows what does and doesn't taste good better than the judges, why does it surprise me about her mixing mushrooms and rosemary, even I don't think that sounds good.

At round table, they decide since the dinners voted Earth the lowest that they are the bottom, and one of them will go, and since Antonia has immunity it is down to Spike and Zoi. Tom says I would like to send them both home and I about wet my pants, thinking please, please, please send them both home! But alas, my dream was not to be and only Zoi went home.

Okay, I am not sorry that she went home. She was in the bottom last week and really seemed to have no clue as to why and so she is defensive and mean when she gets up the next morning, and I am thinking did you even listen to what they are trying to tell you? Two weeks in a row in the bottom, and I am thinking that she was in the bottom in the first week or so too...so really, no surprise.

Spike, you can just go on home next week, although Lisa is going to give you a run for your money on that one. I can't stand her at this point anymore. She was running around the kitchen complain, slamming things, cursing and whatnot, and I am like, see ya! People were complaining about Dale, but I think she is worse. I haven't seen that much from Dale that bothers me yet, yea he thinks he is good, but you know what, so far he has been able to back up hie thinking that with his food, so I have no problem with him, unlike Lisa who is all talk and Spike who is even more talk.

So....what did you think? Did the right person go home?
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