10 THINGS THAT MADE ME HAPPY and A GIVE AWAY

24 April - 1 May, 2011

"A dead fish can float downstream, but it takes a live fish to swim upstream."  W. C. Fields (Quoted by Alto Brown on Iron Chef America.  A show that Doug and I watch together :)

#1  "WORDS WITH FRIENDS"  A fun "Scrabble" type game for Ipods, Smart Phones...  Doug lets me play his games on his Ipod.  (I am a ZUNE fan.)  We always have a game going between the 2 of us, and play a few rounds before we go to bed.

#2  Easter Sunday at my in laws was very nice.  I can skip the food tour.  It was great, as usual.  My in laws go WAY above the basic for us.  The egg hunt is fun.  Mom and Dad filled over 250 eggs with money and candy and of course the "Special X eggs" (1 per child).  The hunt is done in age groups, but here is what I love, you can egg hunt with cousins until you have graduated from high school.
Next comes Grandpa's Grand Event.  Any one who wants to can bring a raw egg prepared for abuse.  The one that lasts the longest wins.  (And what a prize.)  The eggs come bundled well.  (Too well to be opened and checked after each round ;-)
Some years they have been dropped out of an upstairs window.  Some years Doug has thrown them over the garage.  This year, to save shoulder problems, Grandpa ordered a balloon launcher.
(First they launched water balloons over the garage to trick the group.)  This year there were about 15 entries.  (No age limit.)  There were about 6 rounds of launching.  At first, you check if you can, look for structural damage...
Finally few enough are left that they are opened. 

This year's winners were Kristin and Tessa (team)  and MARK!
And the prize?  You get to pick something from...."GRANDPA'S CLOSET"!
It took Mark awhile to choose, but he picked a sweet straw golf hat.  (Probably one we gave him a few years ago for Father's Day ;-)  (Ashley and Mark just moved.  I will post pic when I get it from Ashley.)  Wonderful grandparents.  And wonderful traditions.  Thank you.

#3  I was invited to an antiquer's lunch at Marci's last week.  It was fun to visit and see what Marci has done with her house.
Dorothy was the lunch hostess and the food was great.  I loved her Garlic Chicken Pasta and will share her recipe soon.

#4  Emily had "Hagermann's Bakehouse Cafe" certificates that were about to expire, so she took the boys and sent Me and Lindsay to lunch.
I was hesitant to order the "Berny's Reuben" because I have eaten at the best.  (Katz' (Oh, the flavour) and Carnegie's (Unbelievable size), both in New York City - heading there this August :)
I was pleasantly surprised by Hagermanns.  It came looking skimpy.  The meat was good, (but not like the amazing Katz) but the sandwich was really good.  Not sure if it was the dressing or sauerkraut, but it was good.  Still, the soup was better.  It was a tomato bisque that was amazing.  (The owner's dad was behind the counter, and he told us it was - and it was.)  We highly recommend the Tomato Bisque.  Thank-you, Emily.

#5  On Tuesday night I went to our Relief Society (church women's group) Birthday dinner.  Emily went with me.  It turned out to be a pleasant evening.  (No idea why I hate to go.  I always enjoy it once there.)
Plus, I got a new recipe I am EXCITED to share soon.

#6  Doug and I went to the temple on Wednesday night.  Since he gets home from work so late, he took the whole day off.  (It was a comp day for working week ends in the beginning of April.  All the better.)  We came home and had cereal for dinner.  Yep, we wanted that.  (But how do I end up with 12 OPEN boxes of cereal in my pantry?)

#7  Emily picked Layne up most of the week.  (She is a teacher, and off track.)  Then she took the boys somewhere fun every day.  Such a great Aunt.

#8  I am excited at what I am finding to sell this week end at the Antique and Craft Flea Market.  (I was o.k. doing it in the cold, but I am thrilled to have an extra week and a wonderfully spring week end coming up for the sale on Saturday.)

#9  I made a really good pizza for Pizza Friday, on Saturday.  MAXWELL'S PIZZA was on "GOOD THINGS UTAH demonstrating pizza how tos.

I learned to really have floured counter.If
I learned to go "hand to hand" as I turn the dough.  (And it worked.)
I learned to use less sauce than I have been using.  (Family thought not enough.)
I learned he used 1/2 mozzarella and 1/2 provolone cheese.  It worked super.  (I actually used too much cheese.  Is that possible?)

#10  A few weeks ago I heard something good that someone had said about me.  It has made feel different.  The person has no clue I heard about it., but I now feel different about this woman.  I feel less invisible.  I also feel more powerful as to differences I make.  I know from this experience that I must let others know the good things I think about them.  (Hmmm.  How do we do that?) 
 
If you are a follower, to celebrate my 200th post, I am having a mini GIVE A WAY every day this week.  Today's give away is for a set of IKEA kid's cups and 6 super strong magnets.  Check to see how I used them.  We have really been pleased with them.  I do not wash them in the dishwasher.

The winner is (just running over to "random.org".  Be right back.)
#51....  AMY!!!  Congratulations, Amy.  Leave a comment by Saturday, 7 May, letting me know how to contact you.

Tomorrow I am "random.org"ing for "WHAT I BUY WEDNESDAY".  There is still time to be a follower.