A Tapas of Topics

I am determined to blog. This is my fourth attempt today.  There are times that I truly feel inspired and writing comes very easily.  Then there are the other days.  I think today is one of the other days.  I had several topics floating around but none of them took off.  Or it could be that those topics were fine but I didn't have enough coffee in my system.  Regardless of any of these problems, I will blog. I can't promise it will be interesting...but I don't make that promise any time I blog. So there.

It's currently too late for coffee, but I just made some sugar free hot chocolate so maybe that will help.  (On a sidenote...I'd like to mention that I realize that hot chocolate also contains caffeine and if it's too late for coffee than it must also be too late for hot chocolate. My mind knows this but it still seems illogical to drink coffee this late because of too much caffeine.)

So I went to see The Guilt Trip last night with my friend Kathy.  It was pretty cute.  There was a scene where she mentioned "tapas" and I've heard of it before but never had it.  (I also Googled it to be sure I was sure I knew what it was before I mentioned it.) For those of you that may not be sure what it is either, tapas is basically bite sized appetizers that originated in Spain.  In some places, tapas consists of the entire meal, since it is thought to take the focus away from the food and people can talk more  Okay, now I know why I've not had tapas before.  I like to eat and have no problem talking before, during, or after the meal.  But really, I'm not going to talk about tapas....I'm just going to offer my blog topics in a tapas format.  Small...bite sized nuggets of my thoughts.

In no particular order...

1) I tried to blog earlier about one of my typical days in the classroom.  Fact:  No day is typical in my classroom.  Also, being on vacation has made me soft (on many levels) because I had trouble remembering all the stuff I do.  I will keep notes one day and then see if it makes for an interesting topic to blog about. I'm convinced I could have my own reality show.  If Honey Boo Boo can have a show, I KNOW I could.

2) I made a batch of buttermilk ranch salad dressing from the packet today.  Is it just me, or does it taste better from the packet than the bottle?  Also, I'm a firm believer in the fact there is no "Lite" ranch dressing that tastes good.  While I was making the dressing, I was also cooking English peas.  I went to drop some butter in the bowl but instead dropped the stick of butter in the dressing.  I picked up the stick of butter and rinsed it off and then used it in the peas.  Is this gross?  Has anyone else ever washed off a stick of butter?

3) Which leads me to think of the "3 second rule."  I'm betting it's one of those things that people do but no one will admit to.  I'm not saying that I adhere to a 3 second rule or not, but I think it's funny that it's the type of thing people do but won't talk about.

4)  Apparently I think that my hot chocolate can tell what time of day it is.  Like somehow, if I drink this hot chocolate now, I won't be wired later and will be able to fall asleep with no problems.  We'll see.....it may be a blog topic tomorrow.

5)  Over Christmas break, I developed a taste for turnip greens.  I've never liked them before, but my mom made some and they were yummy.  Since then, I've made them three more times, both frozen and from the can.  They taste okay, but not as good as my mom's.  I have noticed that they taste better with pepper sauce on them.  My brother told me to try "pot liquor" which is basically eating cornbread that you've soaked in the juice from your turnip greens (also with pepper sauce.)  It was yummy.  (Sidenote..the pot liquor was only at my mom's.  I've never made cornbread before.)

6) I am excited about the return of American Idol and Switched at Birth.  David can't really stand either of these shows and we have one TV.  He does suffer with me weekly as I continue to watch Finding Bigfoot. I am a believer.  He's out there somewhere.  I also believe that the next American Idol winner and deaf people are out there too.  I don't think there will be a show about them together though.

7)  I miss the big hair of the 80's.  Not mullet hair or anything, just the big hair.  Like old school Reba big hair.

8) I love Christmas. And I love Christmas songs.  But I despise Christmas songs out of season.  I can stand to go into a Christmas shop in July but it doesn't excite me.  However, I think Christmas stuff should be put out in the stores right after Thanksgiving.  I think eventually Thanksgiving and Christmas will become one big holiday.  Christgiving.  Thanksmas. 

9) I recently discovered that Happy Days and The Brady Bunch both come on in the afternoon on a particular cable channel I get.  I had forgotten how much I enjoyed both of those shows until a couple of days ago.  I know I have seen every episode of The Brady Bunch.  I'm guessing that show came on during prime time at some point.  I don't remember it then.  I only remember it as something I watched after school on reruns.  Anyway, I've enjoyed watching those shows this week.  On an episode I watched today, Mr. and Mrs. Brady snuck out of the house to buy Bobby a bicycle and Alice called all their friends looking for them.  Ah....the days before cell phones.  I imagine their problems would look a lot different if it was set in the current year.  But honestly, I don't think I'd want to watch it then.

10) I was thinking today about work and it dawned on my that my work has now become my hobby.  Somehow, that doesn't encourage me.  I need to find a balance of work and the rest of my life.  Especially if I plan on working for 15 or 20 more years.  I figure I'll need to work as long as it takes for Raelynn to land a career she enjoys.  If I plan on staying around that long and not going off the deep end, I need balance.


So there you have it....a tapas of topics.  I'm actually proud of myself.  I've made it to the end of this post.  I hope you've stayed with me as well.  I enjoy blogging.  Some days more than others.  And like I said earlier, I think this was one of the other days.

Toodles!!