Saturday, June 30, 2007
Thursday, June 28, 2007
No stores found within a 100 mile radius of 50322.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Prep Time: 25 min ; Start to Finish: 2 hr 35 min
Makes: 12 servings Nutrition Information
Fresh berries--or any fresh fruit--and a creamy filling top a chocolaty crust made so easily with Pillsbury® refrigerated brownie batter.
2 rolls (16.5 oz each) Pillsbury® refrigerated traditional chocolate fudge brownie batter
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 cup fresh raspberries
1/2 cup apple jelly
1 . Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark, nonstick pan). Grease 12-inch pizza pan, or spray with cooking spray. Spread both rolls brownie batter evenly in bottom of pan to form crust.
2 . Bake 16 to 20 minutes. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
3 . In small bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Spread mixture over cooled crust. Arrange fruit over cream cheese. Stir jelly until smooth. Brush over fruit. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour. Cut into wedges. Store covered in refrigerator.
I'm so excited for this baby - but also so relieved it is my last. I'm not a glowing pregnant woman. I'm a whining, hot, uncomfortable, impatient pregnant type. Not fun for anyone I"m afraid.
But....only 99 days to go!
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Friday, June 22, 2007
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Hearty Italian Sandwiches
makes 8 servings
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1 1/2 lbs. bulk Italian Sausage
2 large onions, chopped
2 large green peppers, chopped
2 large sweet red peppers, choppes
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
Shredded Monterey Jack cheese
8 sandwich rolls
1. In skillet brown beef & sausage. Drain.
2. Place one-third onions and pepeprs in slow cooker. Top w/half of meat mixture. Repeat layers. Sprinkle w/salt & pepper.
3. Cover. Cook on low 6 hours or until vegetables are tender.
4. With a slotted spoon, serve about 1 cup mixture on each roll. Top w/cheese.
Note: For some extra flavor, add a spoonful of salsa to ea. roll efore topping w/cheese. I plan to put them open-faced on a baking sheet and toast them for a few minutes in the oven. mmm.
Recipe courtesy of Fix It and Forget About It Cookbook, Feasting with your slow cooker
I'm going to serve these with canteloupe.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Try this tip from Heloise: "I like to put on old socks, spray a bit of cleaning fluid on them, and slide my feet along the baseboard, sticking my toes into corners to get at that hard-to-reach dust. It's good exercise - and the cleaning gets done."
Get real, Heloise! The only "fun" way to clean the floors is to hire someone else to do it!
It has ALWAYS been my opinion that The Des Moines Register needs some serious competition. I think it would improve the overall quality (and by quality I mean unbiased journalism that is relevant to readers) of the content. Today I called for classified ad rates for a SMALL for-sale-by-owner or Open House listing. Minimum cost? $150...and that's not statewide coverage. Bring on the competition!
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Except when I got there, turns out I had the wrong receipt. But I thankfully encountered a helpful sales associate who told me that if she swiped the debit card I paid with and then scan the item I was returning, they can tell in their system if I had purchased it w/in the last 90 days. So I could do my returns w/out the receipts! And credit it nicely back onto my debit card. Nice! ...but scary how intelligent their spend-tracking is! So, Target...if you know exactly what I'm buying - where are my diaper coupons then? Sheesh!
Prep Time: 10 min ; Start to Finish: 1 hr 35 min
Makes: 10 cupcakes
2 . Divide brownie batter evenly among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Press 1 candy into batter in each cup so half of candy shows above batter.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Check it out...you'll be hooked in no time. But for the record...I also try to stay current on real news. =-)
free Sesame Street downloads available on iTunes. Dr. office waiting rooms? Waiting to get the minivan's oil changed? Temper tantrum when you've just entered the grocery store? SOLVED! Lazy parenting? perhaps...but did I mention problem solved?
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Each organizer comes with twenty dividers, and you can divide the organizer into 29 compartments (you’ll need 22 dividers for that, though):
The holder has guide rails for each organizer, so they are not free stacked on top of each other:
Jun 9th, 2007 by etceteraetcetera
paper piecing
Use clip art images as templates to create paper-pieced page accents (above). On the program menu, select Insert, then Picture and Clip Art to add an image to a document. Size the image by dragging your mouse at the corner. (Do not make your image larger than a standard 8 1/2 x 11 page for compatibility with standard printers.) Print a copy, cut it apart and use the pieces as templates when tracing on colored paper.
twisted text
Curve, twist, bend and loop text for titles using Word Art. Choose Insert, Picture, Word Art and select a style you like. Type your text and click OK to create the art. Use the tools on the Word Art toolbar to change its colors, bend it into shape, and then print it. Note: This technique works best with short titles or sentences. The effect does not work well on long paragraphs of journaling.
fill-in page titles
Print an outline of any font for a fill-in title with a few simple steps. First, choose the landscape paper orientation (under File, Page Setup) and type a page title. Next choose Format, Font to select the font style, then color and size you wish. Under the same menu, click Outline. Print the title and fill in letters with chalk, pens or other media for a custom effect.
watermark images
Use Word’s picture editing tool to enlarge and wash out an image ã for use as a page accent. Add your image to a Word document (Insert, Picture, Clip Art), select it and, from the Picture toolbar, choose Color, Washout (in some versions you’ll choose Image Control, Watermark instead). Use a single watermark image to accent a page, or repeat for a background.
download clip art images
Use the Microsoft Design Gallery online (dgl.microsoft.com) to expand your clip art collection. Find specific images by typing a keyword and selecting the type of image you want. Click any image displayed to see a larger-sized preview and click the “Search by Style” link to locate other images drawn in a similar style. On a PC, the clip art should download automatically. For Macintosh users, it can be a little more difficult. Use Office 2001 or later versions for successful downloading on a Mac.
custom journaling blocks
The tricky part about computer journaling can be making sure the text fits the amount of space you have on your page. Make a custom-sized journaling block to take out the guesswork. First draw a text box to fit the amount of space you have (Insert, Text Box, then click and drag to create it). Type your journaling inside the box. Increase the line spacing a little to get a less computer-generated look or to fill the box more evenly. To do this, highlight the text and choose Format, Font and click the Character Spacing tab. From the Spacing dropdown list, choose Expanded, then type in the number you wish to expand the text by.
wrap-around text frames
Make text wrap around a photo or other image with this technique. Draw four text boxes (Insert, Text Box) and position one on each side of the image around a space the size of your photo. Use Format, Text Direction to rotate the text in the two “side” boxes. Type text into each box so it wraps around the photo space. You may have to use your space bar or center the text in the box to get it to wrap evenly. Use the Fill Color and Line Color tools to color the boxes and, when printed, mount your photo in your text frame. A word of warning: some patience and practice is required for success with this more-complicated technique.
creating border collages
Create your own border art by scanning one or more photos or clip art images and adding them to a Word document. To import a photo or image of your own, it must first be saved on a disk or on your computer as a JPEG file.
Choose Insert, Picture, From File, then locate the image and click Insert. Size and crop images using the Picture toolbar tools, then overlap them to form a long strip to use as a page border. For 12 x 12 pages, create a custom paper size (File, Page Setup, then select paper size) before assembling your collage. Print using a sheet of light cardstock trimmed to fit your printer’s paper path. While most printers can handle longer 11 x 17 sheets, the width must be 8 1/2 inches or less.
create a calendar
Calendar pages are handy to record milestones for any age or to document of the events in a hectic month. Create one or more month-per-page calendars by downloading Word’s Calendar Wizard. Find this on the Microsoft Web site at http://search.officeupdate.microsoft.com/TemplateGallery/ct133.asp. You can also go to File, New, Other Documents, Calendar Wizard for more information. It’s simple to use and will create calendar pages for just about any time in the last (or next) hundred years. See below for an example.
handmade stickers
You’ll never be lost for stickers you love when you create them yourself in Word. Purchase sticker paper at craft or office supply stores from companies such as Avery, Epson or Fuji. It is also easy to find and purchase sticker paper online from a variety of sites (try invent-it.com or paper-paper.com). To make the stickers, choose Tools, Envelopes and Labels, Labels tab. Click Options to select your paper’s special code number and click OK, then New Document. Insert clip art to each sticker outline before printing them.
Friday, June 08, 2007
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Because we had to move virtually everything for the carpet cleaners, I had the computer unplugged all day. (WITHDRAWAL!!!) Not the best timing, considering I had just posted roughly 10 billion items on Craig's List (http://desmoines.craigslist.org/bab/) just the day before. So already behind on replying to interested buyers.
But no time to hook up the computer, because off we go to Bailey's softball game...the first of many in the end of season tournament.
But after getting back online tonight and going through the 60+ emails I received today, I began reading today's posts from some of my favorite blogs. To my surprise, I found that I had won a $10 gift certificate to Heather Ann Designs (http://www.heatheranndesigns.com/). And just for playing a fun baby-name-guessing game on my virtual friend's blog. Thanks, Heather!
Tomorrow brings an even busier day filled with more cleaning so I can get the final room pics I need for the house flyer. Wish me luck!
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Are they JOKING?! Now I'd like to believe that the name is at least pronounced differently than it appears...but does it really even matter? The poor baby's name is spelled to look like DEE-MON. I guess no matter what name we pick for our baby boy - or nor matter what color we paint his room...we come out winners.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Here's a sample of what I've posted so far...go check it out!