text:
An entirely preventable death in San Rafael
January 7, 2014 10 Comments
Someone lost a daughter last week. Olga Rodriguez was killed by a driver while crossing the street in downtown San Rafael. Though her unnamed walking companion survived, he's in the hospital with serious injuries. The driver, who stayed on the scene and is cooperating fully with police, only stopped after he heard them being hit. According to him, he never saw them.
The driver was turning left from Third Street to Heatherton. From photos, it appears that he was in the inner left-turn lane where it would be harder to see anyone in the crosswalk. The truck is also quite tall, so it's entirely possible he never did see either Olga or her companion. That's a sign the intersection is broken, and the crash was likely preventable.
The fix is fairly straightforward: give pedestrians a head start when crossing (something known as a Leading Pedestrian Interval, or LPI). After the light on Heatherton turns red to southbound traffic, pedestrians crossing Heatherton would get a walk sign but Third Street would stay red. Three or four seconds later, Third Street would turn green.
Whether or not the truck driver could have seen Olga or her companion before he hit them, they would have been much harder to miss had they had a short head start. As well, rather than trust drivers to give pedestrians priority, the structure of the intersection gives priority to pedestrians instead.
The LPI isn't just window dressing. A study by Michael King in New York City found that a pedestrian head start leads to a 12 percent reduction in crashes over the baseline or 28 percent reduction compared to unmodified intersections, which saw crashes increase by 17 percent over the course of the study. While crashes did still occur, their severity occurred declined 55 percent overall and 68 percent in comparison to unmodified intersections.*
A flashing yellow arrow would make things even more apparent. Research on yellow arrows in this situation is scant, but in situations with two-way traffic they make drivers exceptionally aware of oncoming traffic. This is precisely the kind of awareness drivers need while navigating an awkward and busy intersection like Third and Heatherton. A zebra-striped crosswalk would further raise the visibility of people crossing.
Though these kinds of changes require advanced signal hardware, it needs to be purchased anyway to tie SMART in to area's traffic signals. It would simply be part of that purchase.
The ubiquitous pedestrian barrier is often the tool of choice for San Rafael's public works department, but deploying it here would just give up on the intersection. It's a vital connection to the Transit Center for commuters at the park and ride and anyone coming from east San Rafael. The area can get sketchy at night, and discouraging legitimate foot traffic will only make it sketchier. Nobody should ever fear for their lives while crossing the street, especially not in an area that's supposed to be the heart of the county's transit system.
We cannot erase the physical scars of Olga's companion. We cannot bring back Olga or wash her blood from the conscience of the driver who killed her. But we can honor the companion's wounds and Olga's death and make sure this never happens again.
* New York State assigns numerical values to crashes based on cost to society. Collisions with fatalities were multiplied by 2729, those whose victims were hospitalized and seriously injured were multiplied by 1214, those whose victims were hospitalized but not seriously injured were multiplied by 303, and those whose victims were injured but walked away were multiplied by 76. The total was then divided by the number of crashes.


text:
Retro Space Girl - Version 3.0
Why I chose to make this costume:
This is version 3.0 of my original character - Retro Space Girl! You can see the previous 2 versions here.
(design and character copyright protected, please do not steal)
The character was inspired by the Retro Sci-Fi era of the 50's - 70's, Retro Futurism and Sci-Fi Pin Up! Through posting photos, I realized that many of you are not familiar with this theme, so here are some helpful links!
The definition of Retro Futurism on Wikipedia:
Classic Retro Sci-Fi movie "Barbarella featuring Jane Fonda, 1968:
An awesome Pinterest Board with Retro Sci-Fi Pin Up! Images like these truly made me fall in love with the world of Retro Futurism!
Star Trek: The Original Series - TOS came at the tail end of the Retro Sci-Fi era! Just check out this compilation of costumes from the TV Show:
How I made this costume:
I've always wanted to pay homage to the tongue-n-cheek, fabulous retro sci-fi futura theme of the 60's, which is why I keep coming back to the Retro Spacew Girl theme. It's a whimsical pin-up, cheesecake, sexy yet innocent world, and if you know me, you know I LOVE all of these things!
I used a metallic silver spandex (center panels), a silver pleather (side panels), a pink neoprene (trim), a pink spandex layered over the neoprene (inserts, puffs) and reflective pink band (constrating trims, belt). All together, 5 materials just for the outside of the jacket and bodysuit, which are lined as well.
Patterning and fit were really challenging, and I spent a few added up hours just seam ripping!
I went for a racing suit look this time, and made costume so it can be worn with or without the jacket.
Brian was awesome and made the jetpack for me, in 2 days! It does light up but we shot in between rain so I didn't turn them on.
My hair was colored by Rogue Hair Studio, and I also used the custom colored extensions from them!
Thoughts on this costume:
I have so much fun with this character, and want to keep making more costumes for her!!! I loved being able to use my hair this time, and also have a jetpack!
Buy a signed print of this costume!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
RepairXpert is the number one cell phone, tablet and computer repair company that services Westchester County and parts of Connecticut, conveniently located in both White Plains and Port Chester, New York. We understand how precious your time is, and many repairs can be done in less than thirty minutes.
repairXpert.com we take pride in our customer service & keeping up with technology. Our trained technicians can fix your broken iPhone I Samsung Galaxy I iPad I iPod I Motorola I LG I HTC I Any Tablet I PC I Macbook I Macbook Pro iMac or any CellPhone I Tablet I Computer in the market. We also have a convenient mail-in repair program, where you can mail in your device, which is fixed and mailed back to you within 24 hours of us receiving it. With a growing fleet of on-site service technicians, we're confident we can help with all of your tech and gadget problems.
Pleasantville is a village in the town of Mount Pleasant, in Westchester County, New York.
We are conveniently located in White Plains & Port Chester. Pleasantville is 15 mins (via Sprain Brook Pkwy S) away from White Plains and 20 mins (via I-287 E) away from Port Chester.


text:
The Giants have played 80 games and find themselves one game up in the NL West with a 45-35 record. Their "Pythagorean" or "expected" W-L record is only 42-38 (317 RS, 301 RA) and I've no doubt we can attribute that to the presence of so many All-Stars. Either that or Bruce Bochy is a genius, pick which one you like. The Reds are the second of three first-place teams the Giants play consecutively. The Washington Nationals are next and they have the best record in the NL. I'm not sure it matters with the Giants, but they do miss Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez, both who have been sensational in 2012. They follow that hot, humid East coast swing with three against the Pittsburgh Pirates, who are in second place in the NL Central with a 42-36 record, a game behind Cincinnati. That's four good teams right before the Break. If you were looking for a yardstick to judge the club, this is as good a stretch as you'll get.
It looked bad on Sunday after another excellent start by Ryan Vogelsong. Somehow Santiago Casilla managed to stop the bleeding in the 9th, and a freaky misplay by Jay Bruce in the bottom of the inning salvaged the win, but it was close. Giants really needed a big hit to pad the lead earlier in the game, but when you are 25th in baseball in SLG that's a reach. It's hard to believe there are teams who are worse, but there are: Tampa Bay, Oakland, the Dodgers, Seattle, and San Diego. I think both Pablo Sandoval and Brandon Belt are going to have to supply some pop in the second half. Otherwise it is pitching, pitching, pitching. The four teams I mentioned in the first paragraph are the four teams ahead of San Francisco in runs allowed: Nationals (268), Pirates (291), Dodgers (294), and Reds (298). None of the five have a particularly potent offense, only the Reds (4.24 rpg) score above the league average (4.20). Stabilize the defense, get Tim Lincecum back, and shore up the 'pen are obvious improvements, and the first two seem to be trending in the right direction. Javier Lopez has not been Mr. Automatic in 2012 (20 hits and 9 walks in 16-1/3 IP), the closer has had a shaky stretch, and some of the names at the bottom end (Shane Loux and George Kontos) are not inspiring. I imagine the Brian Trust will make another move in that department. Oh, and let's get Gregor Blanco going again!
Monday, July 2, 2012
It's on like Donkey Kong
Post author: M.C. O'Connor
3 comments:
- Brother Bob said...
I went to the River Cats game yesterday. The home team scored 6 in the 2nd to turn it into a snoozer, which was perfect for me because I'm always utterly indifferent to the outcomes at River Cat games. Four of the 6 runs were due to a Grand Slam by Josh Donaldson, so we're going to get 2 free Grand Slam breakfasts at our nearest Denny's!
The winning pitcher is one to watch- Dan Straily (2-1) struck out 10 in 6 innings and his ERA is 1.42. The 23 year old righty looked pretty damn good yesterday.
- Mon Jul 02, 09:57:00 AM PDT
A little fun, as we wait for the season to resume:
- Tue Jul 03, 09:44:00 AM PDT
@ Ron - excellent!
- Tue Jul 03, 12:56:00 PM PDT
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
Accurate. Integrated. Reliable. Real-time.
Global Eagle's Operations Solutions' MASFLIGHT platform enables aviation big data solutions with insightful business intelligence that drives results. The MASFLIGHT platform offers a single source for operations data in real-time for day-of decision-making and historic data for predictive analytics.
We pioneered the adoption of cloud technology to collect, compile, link, validate and host information sets, and have partnered with name-brand industry and technology providers (including Amazon, FAA, Google, OAG and others) to offer a one-stop solution for aviation analysis and information management.
Flight operations
Accurate, integrated flight operations data in real-time to support day-of disruption management, reducing the number of flight cancellations, delays, diversions, and improving operation reliability.
Operations planning
Accurate, integrated, post-op data to support operations planning, including flight schedule, aircraft maintenance and other resources, resulting in improved overall operational efficiency, cost savings (such as fuel), and better passenger experience.
Asset Forensics
Real-time equipment hours & cycles, operational severity assessment, not-to-exceed airfield and enroute performance based on actual weathers, asset contingency planning and risk management, lessees operations due diligence and contract compliance, maintenance tracking and reserve assessment, enhance long-range MRO forecast fidelity and strategic planning precision.
Passenger experience
Accurate, real-time data to improve passenger experience through fewer cancellations and delays, better notification of flight disruptions, smoother connections, and timely response to consumer requests.
Airport operations
Complete data for airport capacity projections, runway and gate usage, passenger traffic flows, taxi time analytics, concessions planning, passenger notification, and overall airport operations.
Pre-stocked data for more than 400 global airlines


text:
Saigon Is Back For 09' (More Brolic Than Ever) & Stompin Out Any Rapper Who Mentions His Name Including Un Pacino From Mobb Deep & Joe Budden! "When I See You Ima Crack Your Head Open. When I Catch You Joe Budden Ima Squash You. Ill Come To Jersey City &
Saigon makes an annoucement thats hes back working on his album "The Greatest Story Ever Told" & Joe Budden, Un Pacino & any rapper mentioning his name got a problem
Please click the "Report" button below if the video on this page is not working properly.
Comments will only be displayed by verified emails. No Spamming or Racism.


text: This is made of Brass with the body of the animals partly painted as seen in the picture. It requires no maintenance. The horns are detachable. The horns come with only one deer in this pair. The height of the deer body is 26 cm. The height of the horns is another 20cm.


text:
- Customer Experience and Contact Centre Services
- Webhelp Payment Services
- Global Enterprise Services
- Consulting
- HR by RIGHTHEAD
With considerable expertise in the fields of business development, telecommunications and business processes, Andrea has been with the company since 2005. Before taking on his current role he started as an Inside Sales Line Manager and became an Operations Manager after three years. Andrea graduated from the Business Institute of Technology in Cork, Ireland.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
The website requires the use of cookies for essential functional requirements and these are outlined in the cookies policy.
Enhanced Functional Cookies
Some features of this website use services provided by third parties websites. These features use cookies to implement their services on this website and may collect data about your visit to help them optimize their functionality. The Webhelp cookies policy outlines the cookies used by these services.


text:
Check out the latest in the Gallery:Gallery
Hi Lads, looks like this post has struck some interest SNIPStig , I think apple wood is also a recognised wood for carvers mallets, I have heard if you want a bigger size mallet a Lignum one gets too heavy and apple is still hard but lighter so you get the right size per weight ratio with it. Its probably got a softer feel to it as you tap I would think.SNIPCheers Mick.
Page created in 0.067 seconds with 24 queries.


text:
The following is excerpted from Santiago's 21: The Story of Roberto Clemente, a gorgeous graphic-novel biography of the martyred baseball great. Clemente got his 3,000th hit on Sept. 30, 1972, three months before he died in a plane crash. You can watch video of No. 3,000 here; Santiago's rendering below is infinitely more exciting.
Click to view:
Copyright © 2011 by Wilfred Santiago


text:
The Hopkins Kite Festival was a huge success Saturday! Kids of all ages had a great time and enjoyed the prizes of backpacks and school supplies donated by guests of Hamanasi. Congratulations to all of the participants and winners for excellent work on the creative and beautiful kites of the day. If you're traveling to Hamanasi soon, you can bring new or gently used backpacks for our "Backpack Project". The backpacks are put to great use!
-the Hamanasi "Green Team"


text:
Back in 2006, Stephanie Christmas ran a bustling turf business in Gainsville, Fla., with 40 employees. Credit flowed freely and the housing market was hotter than the scorching summer sun in Florida's 'gator country.
Now that seems like an eternity ago.
Christmas' Hendricks Turf farm, which delivers sod for landscaping projects, has seen business dry up with the housing slump. On top of that, Christmas can't get credit from the bank because her prime source of collateral—hundreds of acres of prime farmland—has lost much of its value with the real estate collapse. The family-run company is struggling to survive.
U.S. & World
"I don't think people truly understand the gravity," she says in a phone interview. "Nobody in my generation and even the generation before me has seen hard times, and I don't think it's something they can possibly fathom. You go down to the local diner for lunch and everybody cries together."
As the credit crisis spreads around the globe, it is reverberating back to Main Street in ways never seen before. Financial institutions large and small have grown unwilling even to lend each other money—much less their customers. As such, stories similar to the Hendricks Turf farm are being played out across America.
Although most people who have e-mailed CNBC.com say they've had no problems getting credit, some are feeling strapped. They speak of having pristine credit scores and solid balance sheets—yet hear again and again that there's no money to lend.
One construction company owner wrote about his 60-year-old family business that can't get financing to build. Another businessman talked about having his credit line frozen. Still another, a prospective new home-buyer, related a story of trying to get a new-construction loan and being told that home equity would no longer be accepted as credit towards a downpayment.
For Investors
- Is This Really the Market Bottom?
- Five Ways to Play This Wild Market
- Jim Cramer's Web Exclusive: Pans
- Buffett's Three Rules for Crisis Investing
"This crisis affects Main Street more and more everyday," wrote "Dave" from Los Angeles, in a comment about the government rescue plan. "I don't want to see my company, my home equity as well as my 401k wiped out all in one shot if this funding is not approved."
Good Times, Bad Times
Before housing values started tumbling nationwide in 2005 and 2006, business for Christmas' family-run operation was good, almost too good.
"At the end of '06 is when the building really started slowing around here," Stephanie Christmas says. "At that time, it was literally a welcome breath of air. We were all exhausted. You were literally running a race you were never able to win."
But a slowdown turned to a virtual shutdown, and revenue for the company dropped about 70 percent in the two-year span. A staff of 40 will soon shrink to nine.
Simultaneously, the Florida housing market has fallen through the ground, presenting a double-edged problem for Hendricks Turf.
Video: Unclogging the credit markets, with CNBC's experts.
While the company lost business on one end because of the housing decline, it lost access to credit on the other end because its farmland was no longer worth much. It was a rural version of Wall Street's mark-to-market accounting dilemma: How can you mark something to market when there's no market?
"Mark-to-market means nothing now," Christmas says. "It's only worth what someone's willing to pay for it, and nobody's willing to pay for it."
"Where's the bottom for this thing?" she adds. "The problem is, in this area we still don't feel like we hit the bottom. That is absolutely terrifying."
To raise money, Hendricks Turf is holding what is referred to as an "absolute auction" on a 200-acre tract the family owns—awarding the property to the highest bidder no matter the price. It's a risky move that could end up with the land being severely undervalued. But Christmas and her family believe they it's their only recourse because of the lack of available credit.
The hope is not only to generate liquidity for the business but also to set a value for property in the Gainesville area that banks can use as a yardstick to start lending again.
"If this auction doesn't go the way we want it to," she says, her voice taking on emotion, "quite frankly I don't know what we're going to do."
Other Voices
Christmas is hardly alone with tales of credit woes from one end of the country to another.
"Eddie" from Brea, Calif., tells a familiar yet startling story of how even the most qualified borrowers are afforded little or no access to credit:
"Applied for a Super Jumbo Loan with a 735 Mid FICO score, 200K in liquid assets, 500K annual income. 1 million net worth and I was turned down."
And it's not limited to housing-related industries.
After auto companies released dismal sales results yesterday, "CD" wrote of how difficult it is to get car financing these days.
"I work at a dealership and we're having a very difficult time getting GOOD people financed. We had a couple with 750 beacon scores we couldn't get bought, and when you're a 750 you've done everything right. You've done what you are supposed to do. ... People want to believe that because they didn't over extend themselves they will be ok. They wont realize the problem until it slaps them upside the head and affects them personally."
Nikki, from Arlington, Va., had an issue with trying to buy a newly built home.
"We applied for a new home construction loan and despite of already having equity built into the total price, we were asked to put down 20% of the entire loan amount. In the past the construction loan always took into account the equity in the house as part of the down payment."
And "Jack" from Destin, Fla., relates another tale of businesses getting strangled by the lending freeze:
"Even though we are up to date and have never missed a payment, our credit lines have been 'basically' frozen. My 400,000 sq foot commercial project is sold out to some strong anchor clients and yet they too are having issues due to excessive financing scrutiny. My banker says regulators are forcing all banks to downgrade construction loans to sub-standard in my part of Florida. Perfect credit and a wonderful history do not matter.
"It is very hard to finance a big project like this out of pocket. Not good!" For more stories from CNBC, go to cnbc.com.


text:
1. Re: how to troubleshoot errors while deploying a bundlethomas.diesler Sep 27, 2011 2:36 AM (in response to spandit2)
Have a look at standalone.xml and enable DEBUG logging to file. Then post the stack trace here.
2. Re: how to troubleshoot errors while deploying a bundlespandit2 Sep 27, 2011 11:17 AM (in response to thomas.diesler)
Thanks Thomas for your quick response . Here is the portion of log
09:54:02,158 INFO [org.jboss.as.server.deployment] (MSC service thread 1-2) Starting deployment of "cxf-dosgi-ri-samples-greeter-rest-interface-1.3-SNAPSHOT.jar"
09:54:02,174 DEBUG [org.jboss.as.server.deployment.module] (MSC service thread 1-7) Found Extension-Name manifest entry null in /C:/jboss-as-web-7.0.2.Final/bin/content/cxf-dosgi-ri-samples-greeter-rest-interface-1.3-SNAPSHOT.jar
09:54:02,174 INFO [org.jboss.as.jpa] (MSC service thread 1-7) added javax.persistence.api dependency to cxf-dosgi-ri-samples-greeter-rest-interface-1.3-SNAPSHOT.jar
09:54:02,174 ERROR [org.jboss.msc.service.fail] (MSC service thread 1-6) MSC00001: Failed to start service jboss.deployment.unit."cxf-dosgi-ri-samples-greeter-rest-interface-1.3-SNAPSHOT.jar".POST_MODULE: org.jboss.msc.service.StartException in service jboss.deployment.unit."cxf-dosgi-ri-samples-greeter-rest-interface-1.3-SNAPSHOT.jar".POST_MODULE: Failed to process phase POST_MODULE of deployment "cxf-dosgi-ri-samples-greeter-rest-interface-1.3-SNAPSHOT.jar"
at org.jboss.as.server.deployment.DeploymentUnitPhaseService.start(DeploymentUnitPhaseService.java:121) [jboss-as-server-7.0.2.Final.jar:7.0.2.Final]
at org.jboss.msc.service.ServiceControllerImpl$StartTask.startService(ServiceControllerImpl.java:1824) [jboss-msc-1.0.1.GA.jar:1.0.1.GA]
at org.jboss.msc.service.ServiceControllerImpl$StartTask.run(ServiceControllerImpl.java:1759) [jboss-msc-1.0.1.GA.jar:1.0.1.GA]
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.runTask(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:886) [:1.6.0_27]
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:908) [:1.6.0_27]
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:662) [:1.6.0_27]
Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException
at org.jboss.as.jaxrs.deployment.JaxrsScanningProcessor.deploy(JaxrsScanningProcessor.java:100)
at org.jboss.as.server.deployment.DeploymentUnitPhaseService.start(DeploymentUnitPhaseService.java:115) [jboss-as-server-7.0.2.Final.jar:7.0.2.Final]
... 5 more
09:54:02,189 INFO [org.jboss.as.server.controller] (DeploymentScanner-threads - 2) Deployment of "cxf-dosgi-ri-samples-greeter-rest-interface-1.3-SNAPSHOT.jar" was rolled back with failure message {"Failed services" => {"jboss.deployment.unit.\"cxf-dosgi-ri-samples-greeter-rest-interface-1.3-SNAPSHOT.jar\".POST_MODULE" => "org.jboss.msc.service.StartException in service jboss.deployment.unit.\"cxf-dosgi-ri-samples-greeter-rest-interface-1.3-SNAPSHOT.jar\".POST_MODULE: Failed to process phase POST_MODULE of deployment \"cxf-dosgi-ri-samples-greeter-rest-interface-1.3-SNAPSHOT.jar\""}}
09:54:02,189 INFO [org.jboss.as.server.deployment] (MSC service thread 1-1) Stopped deployment cxf-dosgi-ri-samples-greeter-rest-interface-1.3-SNAPSHOT.jar in 7ms
3. Re: how to troubleshoot errors while deploying a bundlespandit2 Sep 28, 2011 1:51 AM (in response to spandit2)
I think this bundle deployment must be failing due to unavailability of javax.ws.rs bundle which is imported package in this bundle . I am also deploying
cxf-dosgi-ri-singlebundle-distribution-1.3-SNAPSHOT prior to deploying this bundle .
The Singlebundle is deploying fine and is also started but I do not see any trace in the log about the javax.ws.rs package which is exported from the
cxf-dosgi-ri-singlebundle-distribution-1.3-SNAPSHOT .
Am I doing anything crazy here? My understanding is Jboss OSGI does not provide implementation of distributed services and I can deploy something like CXF DOSGI to support remore services.
I am using the Web profile of the application server , which I believe supports Javax.ws.rs .
This is very critical for my project . I would appreciate any insights in resolving this issue.
4. Re: how to troubleshoot errors while deploying a bundlespandit2 Sep 29, 2011 2:13 PM (in response to spandit2)
I could resolve this issue by removing Jboss JaxRS entries in the server configuration . After that the bundle was able to wire with the jaxrs packages from CXF.
5. Re: how to troubleshoot errors while deploying a bundlebosschaert Oct 3, 2011 3:37 AM (in response to spandit2)
Thanks Sunil. I have linked this discussion to https://issues.jboss.org/browse/JBOSGI-322
6. Re: how to troubleshoot errors while deploying a bundlethomas.diesler Oct 7, 2011 3:11 AM (in response to bosschaert)
David, in what state is the remote services impl that you reference in JBOSGI-322? As it is now there will be no progeress related to this thread.
7. Re: how to troubleshoot errors while deploying a bundlebosschaert Oct 7, 2011 3:26 AM (in response to thomas.diesler)
The task referred to in JBOSGi-322 is not in the immediate plans. However there are people, like Sunil, who have successully been able to use CXF-DOSGi with JBoss OSGi. If someone decides to take on JBOSGi-322 in the future the information provided by Sunil will be useful.
8. Re: how to troubleshoot errors while deploying a bundlethomas.diesler Oct 7, 2011 6:08 AM (in response to bosschaert)
ok, I reopened the jira for community pickup.
9. Re: how to troubleshoot errors while deploying a bundlebosschaert Oct 27, 2011 7:55 AM (in response to thomas.diesler)
I wrote a description how to deploy CXF-DOSGi in AS7: Deploying CXF-DOSGi to JBoss AS7


text:
You are currently browsing the tag archive for the 'hair' tag.
As you recall, the last time we were together, ROB was drunk dialing my aunt and trying to find me. After 11 years of being in a relationship with the same person I had met right after leaving ROB, I called it off with that person. We had been engaged twice, had lots of firsts; but just couldn't make it work. So I moved on to what I thought would be greener pastures. I dated a few guys, but for some reason ROB kept coming back to my mind.
I had a few bad relationships, got into some trouble and was kind of on a train out of control. One night, my cousin called and said that her and a really good friend of ours were going to be going to a party. I told her to have fun, be safe and call me in the morning. No, No, No…there was going to be none of that. I was to put on my summer dress, do my hair and wear my smile. They were on their way to pick me up. We met up with the guy she was seeing at the time and they brought us to a party. I wish I could tell you all where this party was, but truly I have no idea other than I knew I was a long way from home and didn't know anyone at this party.
I started to mingle and then WHAM it happened…as I am talking with a gentlemen, I hear my name from behind me. I turned around and there he was…ROB! WOW! What a site. His piercing blue eyes, that dark hair and smile. He looked the same as I had always remembered him. He asked if I even remembered who he was…oh I remembered. We talked for sometime and he asked me for my number. I gave it to him and as my cousing & I were driving home, me telling my cousin all that went on and who he was, my phone rang. It was ROB. Oh lord, she told me answer it and the rest was history. We spent every moment together from then on.
He was charming, thoughtful, generous & kind. Or so I thought. We were together for about 2 months I moved into his place. We took a couple of trips together, I got to meet his friends that lived out-of-state. He sent a dozen long stem red roses to my work every other week like clock work. I got a song a day every day with the kindest notes attached via email each morning I went to work professing his love and how he could not live again without me in his life. My co-workers LOVED him, what a splendid guy, he would send my department lunch once in a while.
We started dating in June, by August I was living with him, November we got engaged…he took me to Mexico, chartered a boat and proposed to me with a Tiffany's ring and over a 1 carat center stone. I remember standing on that boat thinking what the hell!!!! How can this be happening to me? Is this for real? I am ready to be an instant mom? Oh yeah, did I mention he had a son from a previous marriage and cheated on his first wife with another girl I had gone to high school with? Yeah, that happened. If I am going to bring you up to date, I guess I have to give you all the gory details. I accepted his ring, we celebrated and I thought the magic was going to be fabulous.
We talked; I mean we talked about EVERYTHING! I told him how hurt I was when he cheated on me in the past, but I guess it was meant to be as he got a wonderful son out of it, whom I had grown to love and adore with every piece of my heart. I remember asking him, "IF WE EVER BECOME FLAT BROKE AND LIVING IN A BOX UNDER A BRIDGE, WOULD YOU STILL LOVE ME ENOUGH TO STICK WITH ME THROUGH THE TOUGH TIMES?" His reply, was that he had looked for me for 15 years; nothing ever again would come between us…what a crock of crap that turned out to be.
The story continues…stay tuned for more!


text:
We had a couple catfish fillets in our freezer so when I saw this recipe in April's Cooking Light, it was a perfect fit. This was definitely my best frying experience to date! I think the mixture of flour and corn meal may have been the secret. I was especially proud of the hush puppies! They were nice and soft on the inside but crispy on the outside...SO good. And the tartar sauce was my favorite part of the meal! I used the batter on one piece of chicken too (the girls love fish so I knew there wouldn't be much left of my fillet) and it turned out great as well, so you don't have to use fish if you aren't a seafood person. It was a bit messy to prepare (as battering and frying always is), but definitely a fun and tasty meal to eat!
* Tartar Sauce:
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon dill pickle relish (I just chopped a dill pickle up)
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon prepared horseradish
3/4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 cups peanut oil (I used canola)
6 (6-ounce) catfish fillets
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 1/4 cups cornmeal
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs
Hush Puppies:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cornmeal
1/3 cup buttermilk
3 Tablespoons grated onion
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1. To prepare tartar sauce, combine first 6 ingredients. Cover and chill.
2. To prepare catfish, clip a candy/fry thermometer to a Dutch oven; add oil to pan. Heat oil to 385°. (I just used a large, deep saucepan)
3. Sprinkle fillets evenly with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Place 1 cup flour in a shallow dish. Combine remaining 1 cup flour, cornmeal, and black pepper in a shallow dish. Combine 2 cups buttermilk and 2 eggs in a shallow dish. Dredge fillets in flour; dip in buttermilk mixture. Dredge in cornmeal mixture; shake off excess breading.
4. Place 2 fillets in hot oil; cook 5 minutes or until done, turning occasionally. Make sure oil temperature does not drop below 375°. Remove fillets from pan using a slotted spoon; drain on paper towels. Return oil temperature to 385°. Repeat procedure twice with remaining fillets.
5. To prepare hush puppies, weigh or lightly spoon 3/4 cup flour in dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and remaining ingredients. Drop batter 1 tablespoonful at a time into pan; fry at 375° for 5 minutes or until browned, turning frequently. Remove hush puppies from pan using a slotted spoon; drain on paper towels.
Fried Catfish with Hush Puppies & Tartar Sauce
We had a couple catfish fillets in our freezer so when I saw this recipe in April's Cooking Light, it was a perfect fit. This was definitely my best frying experience to date! I think the mixture of flour and corn meal may have been the secret. I was especially proud of the hush puppies! They were nice and soft on the inside but crispy on the outside...SO good. And the tartar sauce was my favorite part of the meal! I used the batter on one piece of chicken too (the girls love fish so I knew there wouldn't be much left of my fillet) and it turned out great as well, so you don't have to use fish if you aren't a seafood person. It was a bit messy to prepare (as battering and frying always is), but definitely a fun and tasty meal to eat!
Posted by Marci 1 comments
When I saw this recipe awhile back on Fabulously Delicious, I was intrigued. All of the components are things I love, yet I had never tried them all together before. Kirsten gives a little background and talks about different variations you can try here, but I followed the recipe she posted pretty much exactly for my first go round. I really liked them and enjoyed the combo of the crispness and spiciness of the tortilla strips with the creamy and cool taste of the eggs, cheese and sour cream.
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 - 28oz. can red enchilada sauce
1 tsp. hot sauce
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
Vegetable oil, for frying
12-14 corn tortillas, stale ones work best (I used my old tostada shells and just broke them up, so I was able to skip the frying which was nice)
Cheese for garnish (monterey jack, cheddar, or cotija)
4 -6 large eggs (1-2 per serving)
Cilantro and sour cream, for garnish
1. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and saute 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook 2 minutes more. Stir in enchilada sauce and all seasonings. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer 30-45 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in another large skillet, add enough vegetable oil to cover the bottom. Cut tortillas into strips or triangles, and fry in batches until golden. Drain on paper towels and lightly season with salt.
3. Add fried tortilla strips to enchilada sauce. Stir to coat all chips, and let simmer 5 minutes to soften.
4. In a medium skillet, fry eggs to desired doneness. To assemble chilaquiles, place a spoonful of tortillas and sauce on a plate, sprinkle with cheese, and top with eggs. Garnish with cilantro and sour cream.
Posted by Marci 1 comments
Labels: breakfast, eggs, gluten-free, mexican/southwest
Sesame Asparagus
Since asparagus is my new favorite vegetable, I was excited to try this as a side when I saw it on Favorites. It was REALLY good! I added some extra soy sauce to ours. The girls still don't want much to do with asparagus besides their required one bite, but I'm hoping eventually they'll learn to love it...I know I do!
1 lb asparagus, ends snapped off
2 Tbsp dark sesame oil
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp sesame seeds
1/4 cup water
Mix sesame oil, soy sauce, garlic, sesame seeds, water, salt and pepper. Place Asparagus in a skillet and pour sauce over the asparagus. Heat to boiling. Simmer for about 10 minutes or until asparagus is tender.
Posted by Marci 3 comments
Labels: asian, asparagus, gluten-free, sides
Green Chili Chicken & Lime Soup
I hadn't visited Picky Palate in quite awhile and when I decided to check it out this recipe jumped out at me. I love me some tortilla soup :-) and thought the addition of rice and lime (and no beans) sounded tasty. I had a crazy day yesterday and was so excited about this soup I made it for myself late last night. I LOVED it!!! In fact it was so good that Mike (who opted for leftovers instead initially) got up and got himself a bowl after trying a bite of mine. I don't think any review could speak more highly :-). Apparently she was trying to recreate a Chili's soup, but I've never had it so I don't know how close it is...I just know it is delish!
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves fresh or roasted garlic, minced
80 oz chicken broth, 2 1/2 cartons of the 32 oz
10 oz can rotel tomatoes, mild (I used original and didn't think it was too spicy at all)
7 oz can diced green chilies
4 medium boneless skinless chicken breasts; cooked, shredded and lightly seasoned with salt and pepper (I used 2 cans of chicken)
2 1/2 Cups cooked rice of choice, I used basmati (I followed her lead and did the same)
1/4 Cup fresh lime juice
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
Pinches of Kosher salt, fresh cracked black pepper and Lawry's Garlic Salt with Parsley to taste
1 bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped
Fresh diced avocados, drizzled with lime juice
1 Cup shredded cheddar cheese
Tortilla chips
1. Place oil into a large dutch oven over medium heat. Saute onion for 5 minutes then add in garlic; cook for 1 minute. Stir in chicken broth, tomatoes, green chilies, chicken breast, rice, lime juice and seasonings. Cook for 5 minutes; taste and season according to your liking. Right before serving add chopped cilantro.
2. Serve soup with fresh diced avocado, shredded cheese and crushed chips if desired. If you can handle the heat, squeeze some Siracha over top, yum!! (I can't!)
10-12 servings
Posted by Marci 7 comments
Labels: chicken, gluten-free, mexican/southwest, soup
Amazing Beef Stir Fry
After reading all about how delicious this was on Taste Buds I couldn't wait to give it a try! And it was definitely a winner! As it was cooking I had the thought that it would have been a good St. Patrick's Day dinner too with all the green veggies. The sauce was flavorful but still light and a cinch to make. You could put any veggies/meat you want with it and I'm sure it would be delicious, but these ones made me feel nice healthy for having eaten them :-)
1 1/2 lbs beef sirloin, top round or flank steak
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 small red onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic; minced
2 cups asparagus, cut into 2 inch pieces
2 cups broccoli florets
1 cup edamame
3 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tsp corn starch
2 tsp grated gingerroot
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp pepper
Combine ingredients for stir fry sauce and set aside.
Thinly slice steak across grain into strips (you can place meat in freezer for about 15-20 min to make this a little easier.)
Heat a large skillet over med heat. Add olive oil and onions and cook until onions are soft. Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly for 30 seconds. Add beef and cook to desired doneness (3-7 min) Add asparagus, broccoli and sauce and cook until crisp tender, stirring frequently. Lower heat and if needed put a lid on skillet and steam vegetables until done. Add edamame and warm through.
Serve over or along side rice (I used jasmine).
Posted by Marci 2 comments
Labels: asian, asparagus, Beef, broccoli, gluten-free, stir fry
Chicken Enchiladas with Roasted Tomatillo Salsa
I am in love with these enchiladas...they are my new favorites! They are a little time intensive to prepare, but well worth it! YUM!!! This is another recipe from The Sister's Cafe and I made the Garlic Black Beans and Cilantro Lime Rice they suggested to go with it. A PERFECT meal (hooray for leftovers for lunch today :-)!
Roasted Tomatillo Chile Salsa:
1 pound tomatillos, husked
1 white onion, peeled, sliced, quartered or whole
4 garlic cloves
2 jalapenos (I took the seeds out to keep ours more mild)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves
1/2 lime, juiced
Extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 medium onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cup all-purpose flour (I used cornstarch)
2 cups chicken stock
Chopped cilantro leaves
1 deli roasted chicken (about 3 pounds), boned, meat shredded (I used 2 cans chicken)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
10 large flour tortillas (I usd 14-15 corn tortillas)
1/2 pound Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (I used extra)
1 cup sour cream, plus extra for serving (I used FF)
Chopped tomatoes, cilantro and guacomole, optional to top
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
On a baking tray, roast tomatillos, onion, garlic and jalapenos for 12 to 15 minutes.
Transfer the roasted vegetables and any juices on the bottom of the tray to a food processor. (I don't have one, so just used my blender) Add the cumin, salt and cilantro and pulse mixture until well combined but still chunky.
Meanwhile heat a 2 T olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
Add the onion and cook until soft and caramelized - this should take 5 to 7 minutes.
Add the garlic and cumin then cook for a further minute.
Sprinkle on the flour and stir to ensure the flour doesn't burn then gradually add the chicken stock to make a veloute.
Continue stirring over a low simmer until the flour cooks and the liquid thickens. Turn off the heat, add half of the roasted tomatillo chile salsa, some additional fresh chopped cilantro and fold in the shredded chicken meat and 1 cup of sour cream. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
Change the temperature of the oven to 350 degrees F and begin assembling the dish.
Take a large baking dish and smear the bottom with some of the reserved tomatillo salsa.
Now take the flour tortillas and briefly flash them over the stove-top flame (or put them briefly under the broiler if using an electric stove). (I cooked my corn tortillas in some oil, we were having company for dinner and I wanted them to be tasty...if it was just our family I would have heated them in the microwave to get them soft)
Using a shallow bowl, coat each tortilla lightly with the reserved salsa mix.
Put a scoop of the shredded chicken-enchilada mix on top of the tortilla followed by a sprinkle of the shredded cheese.
Fold the tortilla over the filling and roll up. Place the tortillas in the baking dish and continue to do the same with all the tortillas.
Finally pour over some more of the salsa and top with the remaining shredded cheese. Bake uncovered for about 30 minutes until bubbly and cracked on top. Garnish with cilantro and tomato.
(I made one large dish and had enough salsa and filling to also make an 8x8 dish. I was out of salsa at that point, but still had filling left)
Serve hot with the remaining tomatillo salsa, sour cream, and fresh guacamole, if desired.
Posted by Marci 1 comments
Labels: chicken, enchiladas, gluten-free, mexican/southwest, salsa
Garlic Black Beans
Super easy and SUPER tasty! We'll be making these again with all our enchilada and taco meals!
(from The Sister's Cafe)
2 cloves garlic, minced (1 tsp)
1 tsp cumin
1 can black beans
1/3 c tomato juice
2 Tb canola oil
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tb chopped cilantro
Heat oil then add cumin and garlic until garlic begins to pop.
Add the rest of the ingredients and serve warm.
Posted by Marci 1 comments
Labels: beans, gluten-free, mexican/southwest, sides
Even Better Cilantro Lime Rice
This version of Cilantro Lime Rice (from The Sister's Cafe) is even better than the version I found last year. It turned out nice and fluffy and super flavorful. A perfect compliment to any Mexican dinner!
1/2 bunch of cilantro
1/2 onion
1 (4 oz) can green chilies
3 c rice
6 c water
6 cubes chicken bouillon (I used 6 c chicken broth instead)
4 tsp garlic, minced
1 Tb canola oil
2 Tb fresh lime juice
Blend cilantro, onion, and chilies in food processor.
Bring water/broth to boil and add all other ingredients, simmer covered for 30 minutes or until rice is cooked.
Posted by Marci 0 comments
Labels: gluten-free, mexican/southwest, rice, sides
Mom's Seven Layer Dip
My friend Sara asked me recently if I had a good 7 layer dip recipe and I realized I have never made one myself...but I sure have eaten a lot of them :-)! We were having friends over to watch the games today though so I took the opportunity to try out my mom's recipe. It was just like I remembered it...tasty! I think the big difference from hers and the typical one is the extra green chiles and cilantro and it definitely helps it stand out from the pack.
1 can refried beans (I used a FF, spicy version)
1-2 cups guacamole (I made guac using 3 small avocados)
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
3/4 of 1 package taco seasoning mix (I just don't like too much, but you could dump the whole thing if you want)
1 4oz can green chiles
1-2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup sliced black olives (I used less)
1-2 tomatoes, chopped
Layer beans in a large baking dish and then spread guacamole on top.
Mix together the sour cream, mayonnaise and taco seasoning. Spread on top of the guacamole layer.
Spread green chiles on top.
Sprinkle evenly with cheese, cilantro, green onions, olives and tomatoes.
Serve with tortilla chips.
Posted by Marci 1 comments
Labels: appetizers, dips, gluten-free, mexican/southwest
Bacon-Wrapped Hot Dogs (aka: Best Dogs Ever)
I recently came across the recipe site A Bountiful Kitchen and found lots of great recipes I want to try. This particular one caught my eye for this week though. I was looking for something "sporty" to have while we watch all our March Madness games on TV and these hot dogs were A-MAZ-ING!!! SOOO good! There aren't words to describe just how they hit the spot :-). I ate mine without a bun, of course (gluten-free), and Mike had one with and without. He said he liked it better without the bun because the bread over powered the other flavors some (and he gave them rave reviews too). I don't know if I can have a plain hot dog again.
(you want to be sure to buy big, good quality dogs. my pack only had 5 dogs in it and I used up all these mix ingredients, so if you make 8, I would double the other ingredients)
2 teaspoon ketchup
2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
8 large hot dogs
4 ounce cheddar cheese, cut into long sticks
4 Tbsp chopped onion
1 1/2 cups refrigerated sauerkraut, drained, roughly chopped (I didn't chop and only found a big jar of it at my store, but it was delicious still)
8 slices bacon
8 long hot dog buns
-Preheat grill - medium high heat.
-Mix together the ketchup and mustard in a small bowl.
-In a separate bowl, mix the sauerkraut with the chopped onion, set aside.
-Slice open the hot dogs, down the center, lengthwise, forming a deep pocket in each, but not cutting all the way through. Coat the inside of each hot dog with the mustard ketchup mixture.
-Place a strip of cheese deep within the pocket of each hot dog.
-Top with sauerkraut and onions.
-Wrap a strip of bacon around each stuffed hot dog, securing with toothpicks at each end. Make sure you wrap tight enough so that the stuffing stays in, but not so tight so that when the hot dog expands will cooking the bacon would tear.
-Coat grill surface with vegetable oil so that the hot dogs don't stick. (we didn't do this and it was fine) Place the stuffed hot dogs on the grill, stuffing side down. Grill for 2 minutes, until the bacon on that side is cooked, turn the hot dogs a quarter turn and grill for a couple more minutes. Continue to grill for a few minutes each on all sides until the bacon is cooked. Cover the grill in between turnings to help with the cooking.
-During the last minute of cooking, open up the hot dog buns and place them open-side down on the grill to lightly toast.
-Remove the hot dogs and buns from the grill. Remove the toothpicks from the hot dogs, place them in the buns and serve.
Posted by Marci 3 comments
Labels: bacon, gluten-free, hot dogs
Rainbow Cupcakes
I wanted to do something festive for Saint Patrick's Day and I knew the girls would have a blast helping me make these cupcakes (not to mention they thought the rainbow inside was beautiful). They took a little time to prepare, but they were just as easy as making plain cupcakes and the results are impressive :-). I found this idea (and many others to choose from) in the latest Family Fun magazine.
* White cake mix
* Food coloring (red, blue, green, and yellow)
* Baking cups
* Whipped cream or icing
1. Prepare your favorite white cake mix, then divide the batter evenly among six small bowls. Following the chart below, dye each bowl of batter a rainbow color.
Purple: 9 red and 6 blue drops
Blue: 12 drops
Green: 12 drops
Yellow: 12 drops
Orange: 12 yellow and 4 red drops
Red: 18 drops
2. Line 16 muffin pan wells with baking cups. (I only had enough batter for 12, but mine were a little too full) Evenly distribute the purple batter among the cups, then the blue, and so on, following the order shown. As you go, gently spread each layer of batter with the back of a spoon to cover the color underneath.
3. Bake the cupcakes according to your recipe directions. Before serving, remove the paper wrapping, and if you like, top each cupcake with a whipped-cream cloud.
Posted by Marci 2 comments
Baked Potato Eggs
When I saw a link to this recipe (from Real Simple) on Cassie Craves, I knew I had to try it. It's like a little breakfast casserole right inside a potato :-). Ella and I were definitely fans! You could mix it up with all kinds of substitutions or add-ins too. I want to use ham and green onions next time! I'll probably scramble the egg up a bit too...it won't be as pretty, but I think it would taste even better.
2 large baking potatoes (I used 6 medium potatoes)
2 tablespoons butter
(I added 3 T FF sour cream)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
(I added 1/4 c grated cheddar cheese)
2 precooked turkey sausages, diced (I used a little 8 pack)
4 large eggs (I used 6, one for each potato)
I baked potatoes according to these directions.
Carefully cut each potato in half. (I didn't notice this, so I just cut a slit on the top, with bigger potatoes cutting in half would be better though)
Scoop out the insides and stir in the butter and cheese. Fold in the sausages.
Spoon the mixture back into the potato halves, creating a hollow in each center.
Break 1 egg into each hollow.
Arrange on a baking sheet and cook at 400 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes or until set. (mine too about 20 minutes to set, but scrambling them periodically next time will help them cook faster)
Posted by Marci 2 comments
Labels: breakfast, gluten-free, potatoes, sausage
Chicken Cream Cheese Soup
This is another recipe from The Sister's Cafe. I'm one of those people who eats soup even when it is warm and sunny out, so despite our BEAUTIFUL spring weather, this is what we had for dinner tonight :-). I think it would be just as good as a vegetarian dish without the chicken. I also was thinking some crumbled bacon would be good on top, but we didn't have any. Enjoy :-)!
1 lb chicken (breasts or combination)
1 onion, diced
1-2 Tb butter
2 handfuls baby carrots, sliced small
4-5 potatoes, diced small
1 c milk (I used 1%)
1/4 c flour (I used cornstarch)
8 oz package cream cheese (I used FF)
1. Put chicken in pot and cover with water; boil until cooked. Take chicken out of water but keep the broth. When chicken is cool, shred.
2. Saute onion in butter. Put onion in pot and add carrots and potatoes. Add 3-4 cups of the broth or enough to cover vegetables. Add 4 bouillon cubes or 4 t soup base for flavor. Bring to a boil and simmer until veggies are tender.
3. Mix flour with milk and add to soup. Add chicken back in. Soften cream cheese in microwave then add to soup in little pieces and stir until melted. Season with salt and pepper.
Posted by Marci 1 comments
Labels: chicken, gluten-free, meatless, potatoes, soup
My Favorite Breakfast
If I could eat anything for breakfast this is what I would have! Anytime I have fresh mushrooms I HAVE to make this at least one morning...and try to limit it to only one because it isn't really that great for you :-), it just tastes GOOD!
(for 1 serving, one for me anyway...it's big)
2 T olive oil
2 med potatoes, peeled, cut in half and thinly sliced
1/2 med onion, diced
1 t minced garlic
4-5 mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/4 c ham/turkey lunch meat, diced
2 eggs
shredded cheese of your choice (I like some Monterey Jack and sharp Cheddar)
a little sour cream
lots of pepper
-Heat oil in a large skillet over med heat. Add potatoes and spread out to as many are touching the bottom of the pan as possible. Let them brown for 8 minutes, flipping over occasionally.
When potatoes are almost done add the garlic and onions. Cook about 4 minutes.
Add mushrooms and meat, continue cooking and stirring occasionally.
Push the potato mixture over to the side and then scramble the eggs on the other side.
Mix it all together, top with cheese and let it melt.
Serve with a little dallop of sour cream and lots of freshly ground pepper.
Posted by Marci 2 comments
Labels: breakfast, eggs, gluten-free, mushrooms, potatoes
Creamy Avocado Salsa
A few weeks ago at a church activity a friend taught our youth to make 3 kinds of salsa. They were all AMAZING and this was the first one I tried to make on my own. I was so proud of the results :-)! And I was impressed that the girls loved it too...it has milk in it, so that counts as calcium intake, right?!
(She called Green Sauce with Avocado, but I renamed it :-)
*note I made a milder salsa, so leave in some jalapeno seeds or add an extra one if you want more heat to yours*
4-5 tomatillos
2 jalapenos, seeded for a milder taste
1 large or 2 small avocados
Cilantro leaves separated from sprigs (I used probably 1 cup of loosely packed leaves)
1/2 c milk
salt to taste (I also added a couple dashes of garlic salt and onion salt)
Cook tomatillos and jalapenos by boiling until soft.
Add avocado, cilantro, and milk.
Salt to desired taste.
Blend until smooth, adding more milk if you want to thin out consistency.
Posted by Marci 2 comments
Labels: appetizers, dips, mexican/southwest, salsa
Blueberry Quick Jam
This is another recipe from the Xagave cookbook I won. Blueberries were on sale recently and I thought, why not give some jam a try :-)! It was super easy and I have been enjoying peanut butter and blueberry jam toast every morning for breakfast! The agave nectar is such a healthy sweetener that this jam is super good for you!
3 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1/4 Xagave (agave nectar)
juice from 1/2 lemon
-Combine all ingredients and mash with a wire potato masher.
-Place in pressure cooker, bring to pressure, and cook for 4 minutes.
**If you don't have a pressure cooker (I don't), simmer in a covered sauce pan for 20 minutes.**
-Pour jam into an airtight container. Jam will store in your refrigerator for several months or follow standard canning or freezer jam procedures.
Posted by Marci 4 comments
Labels: gluten-free, jam, snacks
Comfort Meatballs
This a recipe from The Pioneer Woman's cookbook. They were delicious and different. I just wished I had doubled the recipe so we had more left to freeze for later. She pictured them served with mashed potatoes, which seemed a little strange to me, but we went for it anyway and loved the combo.
1-½ pound Ground Beef
¾ cups Oats
1 cup Milk
3 Tablespoons Very Finely Minced Onion
1-½ teaspoon Salt
Plenty Of Ground Black Pepper, to taste
1 cup All-Purpose Flour
Canola Oil
1 cup Ketchup
2 Tablespoons Sugar
3 Tablespoons Vinegar
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire
4-6 Tablespoons Onion (I used 6)
1 dash Tabasco
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine all meatball ingredients. Roll into medium-small balls and place on a cookie sheet. Place sheet in freezer for five minutes. (I refrigerated for a few hours)
After 5 minutes, remove meatballs from freezer and immediately dredge in unseasoned flour.
Brown meatballs in canola oil until just brown. Place into a baking dish.
Combine all sauce ingredients. Pour over meatballs and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
Posted by Marci 1 comments
Chocolate Marshmallow Crunch Tart
I was excited to see a gluten-free dessert recipe (that wasn't boring) in a recent issue of Rachael Ray's magazine! Since I wasn't cooking dinner last night I finally gave them a try and I LOVED them. The girls weren't huge fans of the coconut, although they did like the marshmallow layer, but that just means more for me!
One 10-ounce bag large marshmallows
2 T butter
8 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used semi-sweet chocolate chips)
2 cups puffed rice cereal
1/3 cup milk (I used 1%)
1/4 teaspoon vegetable oil (I used canola oil)
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut, toasted
3/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted
-Grease a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. (I just used an 8x8 glass dish)
-In a double boiler (I don't have one, so I boil water in a large pot and just put a smaller pot inside to do the mixing) over simmering water, melt 17 marshmallows, the butter and 1 ounce chocolate, stirring frequently, until smooth. Stir in the cereal.
-Transfer the mixture to the prepared tart pan and, using a greased rubber spatula or your hands, press into the bottom and up the sides. (I put a baggie on my hand and spray it with a little cooking spray) Wipe out the double-boiler insert.
-In the double boiler, melt the remaining marshmallows in the milk over simmering water, stirring frequently, until smooth; let cool. Pour the mixture into the crust; refrigerate for 30 minutes. Wipe out the double-boiler insert.
-In the double boiler, melt the remaining 7 ounces chocolate over simmering water, whisking constantly, until smooth. Stir in the oil, 3/4 cup toasted coconut and 1/2 cup pecans. Spoon the mixture onto the tart and spread evenly to cover the marshmallow layer.
-Top with the remaining 1/4 cup coconut and 1/4 cup pecans; refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours.
Posted by Marci 1 comments
Labels: desserts, gluten-free
My Combo Enchiladas
I thought these were pretty dang good if I do say so myself :-). I used the Pioneer Woman's enchilada sauce recipe, but I like chicken better (her recipe uses ground beef) and had some extra cream cheese in my fridge, so I did my own thing for the insides. I had enough filling to make 2 8x8 dishes, plus a smaller dish of enchiladas and I have TONS of sauce left still.
The Pioneer Woman enchilada sauce (recipe previously posted here)
1 white onion, diced
1 t minced garlic
2 cans chicken, drained (I save the broth to use when I make the rice to go along with it)
1 (7 oz) green chiles
4 oz light cream cheese
a few black olives, very finely diced
1/2 c sliced green onions
1 c shredded cheddar cheese
about 20 corn tortillas
2 c shredded Monterrey jack cheese
cilantro to top
*Prepare the enchilada sauce and let it simmer while you prepare the other ingredients.
*In a large pan heat 2 T olive oil and add onions and garlic. Cook until onions are translucent. Add chicken, chiles and cream cheese, stirring until cream cheese is melted and evenly distributed.
*Heat tortillas (either in hot oil until soft, or wrap 3 in a paper towel and microwave for 30 seconds...depending on how healthy you are feeling).
*In each tortilla place a generous scoop of chicken mixture, a few green onions and olives and some cheddar cheese. Roll and place seem side down in a baking dish that has been lightly coated with enchilada sauce (this keeps tortillas from getting crunchy on the bottom).
*When pan is full, cover enchiladas with a layer of enchilada sauce (enough that all areas are covered, but not swimming in sauce).
*Cover generously with Monterrey jack cheese and bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Top with cilantro (and sour cream!) before serving.
Posted by Marci 0 comments
Labels: chicken, enchiladas, gluten-free, mexican/southwest


text:
Gibson scratched with stiff back; Swarzak to start
MINNEAPOLIS -- Right-hander Kyle Gibson was scratched from his scheduled start against the Indians on Wednesday with lower back stiffness, and fellow right-hander Anthony Swarzak will start in his place.
The announcement came after Minnesota's 8-2 loss to Cleveland on Tuesday night. Gibson tried to get loose on Tuesday, but he still felt back stiffness so he was ruled out for Wednesday's game. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said he doesn't believe it'll require a trip to the 15-day disabled list for Gibson, who is day to day.
"It got a little tight during his bullpen and he got through it, but it locked up," Gardenhire said. "He's receiving treatment and we'll go day to day with him."
It will give Swarzak his 29th career start and his first since Oct. 2, 2012, against the Blue Jays. Swarzak has been used exclusively in long relief since then, posting a 3.38 ERA in 143 2/3 innings over the last two seasons.
Swarzak is 6-17 with a 5.79 ERA in 28 career starts and 8-5 with a 3.67 ERA in 133 career relief appearances.
"I'm very excited," said Swarzak, who didn't find out until after Tuesday's game. "I'm ready. I've been waiting for an opportunity to start. This is a necessity thing for the organization. They need a starter tomorrow and I didn't pitch tonight. I'll always take that ball and that's what I'll do tomorrow."


text:
Openly gay Emory professor and noted renown African-American studies scholar Rudolph Byrd has died, reports the GAVoice and the AP. The scholar reportedly died of Friday from multiple myeloma, "a cancer of the plasma cells."
Byrd is a founding co-chair of the Alice Walker Literary Society and helped bring the Pulitzer Prize winning author's literary archive to Emory's library. He also founded the university's James Weldon Johnson Institute, a residency program that brings together scholars to study the modern civil rights era. Earlier this year he published a new critical edition of Jean Toomer's "Cane," with Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution adds:
Mr. Byrd founded an institute at Emory named after the author and NAACP leader James Weldon Johnson and was chair of the department of African-American studies. He also founded Emory's Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program, which provides financial support for undergraduates. [...]
Lately, Mr. Byrd had been connecting issues of race and sexuality, collaborating with scholars on topics involving gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people, said Mr. Earl Lewis, the Emory provost. Mr. Byrd planned to deliver a series of lectures at Harvard titled "Other Voices Within the Veil: The Emergence of the Black Queer Subject in 20th Century African-American Literature and Culture." Mr. Gates said the lectures will still be delivered -- by former Spelman College president Johnnetta Cole.
The news has saddened many of Byrd's colleagues in academia. John Keene, an associate professor of English and African American Studies at Northwestern University, knew Byrd very well and tells Rod 2.0, "Rudolph Byrd was an incredible person, one of my intellectual mentors, generous, kind [and] wonderful. He also was an important mentor to many scholars and writers," Keene adds. "And his courage as an out, Black gay scholar should not be underestimated."
Rudolph Byrd's impact was far-reaching and inter-generational. New York City-based poet and performance artist Yolo Akili tells Rod 2.0, "The first time I met Dr. Byrd I was working for Men Stopping Violence. ... I was so struck by his spiritual presence, I assumed he had to be royalty of some kind. Like the kind of man who led prayers and believed in a power within himself. I always found myself holding my head up a little higher after our encounters," says Akili. "His work on gender and sexuality helped many heal and empowered even more. He will be missed."
A memorial and burial details will be announced within the next few days, reports the GAVoice.
Rudolph Byrd was only 58-years-old.


text:
You Are Not As Bad As You Think
by Patrick Hunt
image©Michael Worful
You will later figure out what her name means in English, and then you will tell her this one day, and you (just you) will laugh and tell her that it is funny, the way her name translates – you will even draw a picture – and she will laugh too, but she won't really get it.
Also one time, you were watching one of them put her jeans back on and they were so tight that she had to hop and tug at them a little, like they do in jeans commercials, and you wanted to tell her how sexy you thought she looked at that moment, but you knew she wouldn't have known what you meant and there was no round about way to explain it.
You have to learn the lesson time and time again that it's probably not a good idea getting involved with them.
The first of them you kissed, she darted her tongue in and out of your mouth rapidly, like she was tasting something with the tip of her tongue over and over and over again and you were under the impression (until the next one came along) that they all kissed like this. When you told your friend about this, he made a joke about lizards.
image©Michael Worful
Because of them, you have learned that in real life (as opposed to, like, detergent commercials), when you come home after seeing them, or after they leave, there will not be evidence of their makeup on your collar, a lip print or something. No, it will be in the most unlikeliest of places – a smear of foundation across the chest of your shirt, on the knee of your pants, a dab of something fuchsia on your forearm. They all wear so much makeup.
When it happens in the winter though, it's kind of fun because you both have so many layers of clothes on that it takes forever to get undressed and sometimes arms and legs and heads and feet and hands get tangled and ensnared – a pant leg is suddenly a Venus fly trap; one of you is suddenly an escapist – and this sometimes makes you laugh, and she'll think it is because of her and quickly cover up and look hurt, wounded. But you'll laugh again and say it's nothing, there is no reason, don't worry. After, one of you will be missing a sock or a bra. It will be discovered in the arm of a shirt or the leg of a longjohn.
You are forever in fear of one of their boyfriends or husbands or brothers or fathers finding you and murdering you. Just last week, as you were walking through the market, some man spit on your face and
on your coat as he walked by, for no apparent reason, and you wanted to pick up a bottle that was laying on the ground and break it over his head and then use the jagged shards to stab him in the face over and over and over again and you wanted to see him suffer, and then die, and you are so angry so much of the time here that sometimes it worries you. But you didn't. When he spit on you. You just stood there. And the reason for this was because you almost wondered if he was the boyfriend or husband or brother of one of them and that this was just the beginning of his campaign to destroy you. Later maybe he would show up at your home with some friends and fuck you up bad. Because actually one time you had been with one who had a husband, and it happened so quickly -- she was so suddenly in front of you on her knees -- that you weren't thinking and you didn't stop it. But afterward, you got very scared and worried. You saw her later and you sat her down on a concrete bench and you asked her about it, you told her what you were thinking, that you were scared and worried, and she dismissed you, reassured you in a funny way, as if she had seen how to do it on a TV show or movie and was waiting for the opportunity to use it. She waved her hand at you and said Oh, no problem.
When one of your friends tells you he has met one, and that things happened, and that it was amazing, and that was why he was late today, you will smile and say No big deal and be happy for him. But actually you will not be happy for him. Because you are unhappy. At this moment you will be jealous and spiteful and look for opportunities in the near future to slight him. You will look at him and catalogue all his faults and think about all the things you are better at than him and have imaginary arguments and debates with him that you win, resoundingly. You will hate this about yourself. It is something you tell yourself you need to work on. But at this moment you will smile when he tells you about the girl and you will say something sleazy and guy-ish and then ask for all the details.
You will find the strangest things about them endearing: the dark hair above their lips they don't take care of; the boots they wear; their shyness; their overly-manicured nails; how some of them cut their hair really really short; how they all seem to want to wipe the sweat from your face and chest afterward, like you're some child sick with cholera or consumption. They lean over you and it's a vigorous wiping, with the entire hand. Like, you couldn't get out from beneath it if you even wanted to.
One was older. Significantly. Some might say inappropriately. The friend who was with you when it happened and who was made to sleep outside for a few hours because you were in there with her, he would say your name slowly the next morning followed by what was obviously a set of ellipses as you both sat on the little step outside of your little cabin drinking coffee, watching her and her friends carry their weekend bags out of their cabin and to their cars, away forever. But you still stand by that evening and even though she smelled medicinal or something, and even though her laugh sounded like a car starting slowly in the cold and even though her smooth, cold and lotioned cheeks reminded you briefly of your own mom right before she (your mother) went to bed, you still stand by that evening and would do it again because she was beautiful, and she was older, and you liked the way she said your name in that singing way. And because she had curly hair, and you love curly hair.
This other one, when you had first met her at this outdoor concert, where you live, she was one of the tallest of them you had met and you thought she was a volleyball coach or something because she was wearing this track suit and her hair was slicked back tight like a synchronized swimmer. It was weird, but you liked it. Later when you two met up, she looked beautiful though, and was dressed like she just came from work and had this crazy blouse on with dozens of ruffles like someone had dropped wide white ribbons down her front. She was one of them that reminded you you were getting older – but in a good way, that you were pretty much one hundred percent an adult now – because it was one of the few times in your life you actually felt like you were not with a young woman, a girl, but a woman. An actual real woman. And being with an actual real woman makes you feel good, like you're doing something right with your life, that you're becoming the adult you're supposed to be. These ones are the ones that you like to watch hop and tug their tight jeans back on and check their face and fix their hair in the tiny mirror you have and ransack through their gigantic cluttered purse when their phone suddenly rings in that way that all women everywhere do when they need something from their purse immediately. The young one, that was fun, but she lacked something that would have kept you attracted to her beyond just her amazing body. So this one, the one you met at the outdoor concert, she moved away and when you met up in the city when you were there, you had to go to a hotel because there was nowhere else to go. This was exhilarating while you were doing it because it didn't feel real, it felt like you were doing something people only actually do in movies. The hotel was a little seedy and actually had a neon-lit sign hanging down the side that just read HOTEL in big block letters. Like a comic book, you thought. You two even pulled up in a cab. The situation quickly turned embarrassing and frustrating and frightening, however, because at the front desk they gave you a look like, a look like, We're not that kind of hotel, and you looked back at them and said, Well, that's okay because I'm not that kind of guest. But still the receptionist had to call the manager to check to see if it was okay if a foreigner and a national could get a room together and you got mad and told them that she wasn't a prostitute, you would never do that; that you live here and that you can understand everything she's saying. And that was the first time in you're life you had actually felt truly discriminated against. The other receptionist, who was sitting on the couch and was watching TV, he stood up and came to the counter and looked at you and you suddenly felt like what one of your friends termed the White Guy in Asia. Which those guys –they're usually German or Australian or British and old and seem to always have their big arms wrapped around a small uncomfortable woman with a small uncomfortable smile on her face – those guys are creeps and you are unequivocally not a creep. Not a creep, you wanted to clarify to the world, to anyone listening. You finally paid for the room and got frustrated and embarrassed all over again because you realized you had paid for the whole night, the expense not really a problem, but this tiny detail actually now making it impossible to argue against being a White Guy in Asia. But damnit you're not. And you hate this one for suddenly making you feel like this. Because there was an actual affection between you two. You two liked each other. You were both very happy to see each other. You held hands.
The room is nice (ish) but you still pulled back the sheets to check for alien pubic hairs and bugs you can't see. The walls are thin and you can hear the guests in their rooms and people stomping down the hall, which, it was a narrow hall, what you would imagine a hallway on a cruise ship would be like. You turned on the TV and were surprised to see your favorite show from America was on and you got excited and tried and tell her about it, but it's too involved, and anyway she didn't care and so she went into the bathroom. You'd seen this episode before, but couldn't understand what they were saying so you turn the TV off. There's a full length mirror on the outside of the closet door. You try to keep the lights on as she undressed, but she wanted them off. She was embarrassed. They always are.
You are deathly afraid of one of them getting pregnant. More than getting fucked up by a boyfriend or husband or father or brother. So you inspect the condom afterward every time. With a flashlight. Squeezing and probing to see if there are any punctures or rips, if any droplets had snuck out. You go do something else then come back ten minutes later to check again. Then again. Because you know for an absolute fact that if something happened and it wasn't taken care of, you would have to leave. Abruptly, and unexpectedly and with no explanation to anyone. You would lie to everyone about it for the rest of your life. You have talked with your friends about this, and you've gotten them to admit to the same thing, which makes you feel little less awful. It does occur to you that you are only thinking of yourself.
You can tell no difference between the ones who have kids and the ones who don't.
You can tell no difference between the ones who have husbands and boyfriends and the ones who don't.
They constantly snap their gum, constantly. You love it. You love it more than the boots they wear. Then the giant fur coats. The sometimes shorn hair. You love it more than how the one – the one whom you first saw hop and tug into her tight jeans – how she'll make you mad on purpose, then become suddenly coquettish and tell you she likes you when you are angry and then dance for you. When you sit next to them, and they do that, their gum snapping and popping and crackling in their mouth like a fire, you become almost hypnotized by it and never want it to stop and don't want to be anywhere else in the world but there.
During the night at the hotel, there was a banging on the door. And this was the terrifying part and exactly the last thing you wanted to hear – you having a fear of waking up to knocking doors and ringing telephones anyway – because the last time you two had spent the night together, at your own home, two men had knocked furiously on the door and then when you didn't answer, broke it open and ran in and you were naked and you thought they were going to kill you or at least fuck you up bad. When they saw her they called her all sorts of names and told her, What, can't you find one of your own? You thought it cruel of God that on the very first night you had one of them in your home, two angry drunk men stormed your door and almost fucked you up bad. It was only much later that you had thought with a start – like you were walking on the sidewalk and just stopped – about how what if they had raped her? Raped her in front of you? They could have if they wanted to. You can think of no worse scenario in life. You want to kill those two men. Even now. Brutally. With a baseball bat, feeling the sensational whump when you swing into their stomach. You were almost positive she had to move because of that night, because of you. So you think, as you two check into the hotel, how funny would it be if that happened again? And then, in the middle of the night, you woke up to the furious knocking and you think, God oh god it is happening again. The door was thin and the hinges weak and you could tell by the way the sliver of light under the door was trembling that the knocking was ferocious and the door thin and hinges weak. You, once again, were useless and just lay there She was the one who sat up and asked Who is it and told them to go away and her hair was hanging in her face and she pushed it back and you could see her face has that same look of aggravation and exasperation that it had from that other time before when the men were berating her and she was sitting on your bed, covered up. Her mouth hung open and her eyebrows furrowed. And you liked it, and it reminded you how you like it when girls cry because you think that's when they look most beautiful. The person apologized and went away and she laid back down and you fell back asleep in each other's arms.
This other one, she owns a bar where you live. After a night together, she sent you a message on your phone that seemed to be written by trembling, heartsick fingers that she liked you and you got scared and reacted the same way you react whenever you get involved with someone and it becomes obvious to you that she likes you: you became claustrophobic and started thinking about all kinds of ways to avoid her, all kinds of ways to communicate to her politely and delicately but emphatically that this was as far as things were going. But you saw her again and realized she had the same thing in mind you did, and was not, in fact, trembling heartsick over you – of course not – as a matter of fact nowhere near that place. Because the exact same thing happened as the first time you guys met up: you popped into her bar on the way home from somewhere just to say Hi, and she insisted on feeding you, and then she suggested you two go out for a drink and so she left the place in the care of her brother, and off you two went into the freezing evening, putting on all those layers and outer layers that only hours later you would slowly peel off each other and toss onto your chair and onto the floor. You went from bar to bar until you found one where the heating worked, and you sat next to a radiator and had a few beers and she smoked some of your cigarettes and then you two danced and then you went back to your place. In the morning, again, you wished she would just hurry up and leave, and, finally, she did, but she hesitated outside your door, once again, and made you go out and check over and over again to make sure again, to double check to make sure, that no one was outside because you two really couldn't been seen together. Not because there was anyone else. Just because you were you. This entire routine will repeat five more times before you leave.
When you wake up
in the morning in the hotel, it's bright and sunny outside and you can hear
people in the street below honking and parking their cars and closing doors and
walking and talking and picking up where their day had left off before. She had
scrubbed her face of her makeup the night before, before you two had fallen
asleep, and they always look so much more beautiful without their makeup, you
think, their faces so much more bright and fresh and clean. Like, you can see
them better,.You pretty much want to leave right away because you don't want to
spend anymore time in this hotel room than you have to, because you're teeth
are unbrushed and your stomach is hollow and you're just a little hung-over,
enough that you hate that it's sunny and bright outside. She says she's going
to stay in bed until check out, and you actually like this idea for some
reason. It's not as if you two can leave together anyway. You are glad you had
the forethought the night before to have paid in cash. You remember you two had
stopped at a store on the way to the hotel last night and she had picked up a
toothbrush and toothpaste, another element of the evening that made it all seem
so grown-up. This is the most grown-up thing you have ever done in your life,
you officially decide. You kiss her forehead and grab your jacket and walk
through the narrow hallway and keep your eyes forward when you walk out of the
lobby and don't look at the receptionists from the night before who are
watching you leave.
Patrick Hunt was born in 1982, in St. Louis,
Missouri. He teaches English in
the capital of Zavkhan province, in the western region of Mongolia. You
can read his previous post on this blog here.


text:
When you reach the checkout page, you have the option of requesting an invoice in the payment section.
Download order form
Download list of lessons - PDF
Follow @MediamergeLtd
Licences for local authorities and training providers available.
Contact us for details
Mediamerge Ltd, Orwell House, Cowley Road, Cambridge CB4 0PPTel: +44 -0-1223 750705 - Fax: +44 -0-1223 750706 - Email: email@example.com
© 2011 Mediamerge Limited, a company registered in England and Wales. Company registration number: 06014471 VAT Registration Number: 972 7179 80. Registered Address: 20 Ditton Fields, Cambridge, CB5 8QL. Website: www.mediamerge.co.uk
© 2004-2020 Mediamerge Ltd.


text:
The Income Property Owners (Buy and Hold) Subgroup meets the first Thursday of the month. From 5:00-6:00pm is open networking with food provided. The presentation or formal discussion is from 6:00 - 8:30pm at the 24th Street Conference Center. Join this group of active rental property owners and landlords who discuss issues, strategies and solutions. Network with new and experienced landlords. Education and guest speakers are an important part of this group.
For more specific information on the buy and hold subgroup, and the monthly topic, contact AZREIA member Bobbie Waymire at firstname.lastname@example.com
Subgroups are an important benefit of AZREIA membership. Guests are welcome to attend one time to understand what the group is about. There is a $20 guest fee and pre-registration is recommended.
Subgroups are included in AZREIA PLUS membership. AZREIA standard investor members can attend for $10.
THERE IS A SMALL FEE $5 (CASH ONLY) CHARGED AT THE DOOR FOR REFRESHMENTS. This goes directly to the facilitator to reimburse expenses.
Arizona ChapterMember of NationalREIA


text:
Though building out the armor required for an Iron Man suit is obviously (some would say imposingly) impressive, re-creating the detailed webbing and lithe nature of Spider-Man's suit is just as incredible a feat. MoonSpider shared the Spider-Man suit he made and it puts all Halloween Spidey costumes to shame.
This is something
Tobey Maguire Andrew Garfield Peter Parker would wear.
MoonSpider admits that he didn't actually make the suit himself but he connected all the right and talented people to get his creation off the ground. Still, it's impressive as hell. There are hidden zippers all around the suit, sneaky shoe uppers tied to the feet and incredibly detailed color representation. It's pretty much perfect.
The whole process is fascinating if you're into the DIY process (or appreciate thoughtfully detailed cosplay). MoonSpider first got the Spider-Man suit pattern in a digital painting file for printing on 4-way stretch lycra fabric at a dye sublimation printer. He describes the printing process, as basically "a giant printer that uses heat transfer to move fabric dyes from a printed color panel directly into the surface of the fabric by sublimating the ink from solid to gas."
The eyes are fantastic too. He got the frames made from black onyx and the lenses from flexible mirrored plastic with a white vinyl overlay. Perhaps the most important detail was to get the perfect seamstress since sewing in zippers to make the whole suit look like one piece is pretty difficult.
If you want to read more about the whole Spider-Man suit process (and you really should), head over here. It cost MoonSpider around $600, with a lot of the resources found from The Replica Prop Forum.


text:
Looking for design inspiration? Browse our curated collections!
Join our billboard contest! Enter by July 31st.
Shop our new kids collection!
Boundary: Bleed area may not be visible.
Click and drag to re-position the image, if desired.
The watermark at the lower right corner of the image will not appear on the final product.
Pillow Insert
Image Size
The image is near the edges of the product but doesn't cover the entire product. Some of the background color may appear around the outside edges of the image.
Background Color
Our throw pillows are made from 100% spun polyester poplin fabric and add a stylish statement to any room. Pillows are available in sizes from 14" x 14" up to 26" x 26". Each pillow is printed on both sides (same image) and includes a concealed zipper and removable insert (if selected) for easy cleaning.
Ships Within
2 - 3 business days
Sandra Bronstein
Thanks Bruce for the congrats on being featured as Artist of the Day in WFS Group. It is most heartwarming.
Sandra Bronstein
Thanks Randy for the wonderful honor of being Artist of the Day in the WFS group. So very grateful for your support and encouragement all these years.
Sandra Bronstein
Thanks to all for the kind congrats on another sale of this iconic image. I am so honored and pleased.
Average Rating (4.77 Stars):
Ronald Ames
August 9th, 2020
Nice product
Jane Whiting Chrzanoska
August 7th, 2020
Border is not black
Christine Jennings
August 5th, 2020
I LOVE this! Pleasantly surprised the image is on both sides!
Judith Frohreich
August 4th, 2020
Beautiful subtle pillow ...Love It!!!
� 2012 Sandra Bronstein Photography. All Rights Reserved. No watermark shall appear on any item purchased from this site. Grand Teton National Park is an almost pristine ecosystem and the same species of flora and fauna that have existed since prehistoric times can still be found there. More than 1,000 species of vascular plants, dozens of species of mammals,and nearly 300 species of birds. Due to various changes in the ecosystem, some of them human-induced, efforts have been made to provide enhanced protection to some species of native fish and the increasingly threatened whitebark pine. Grand Teton National Park is a popular destination for mountaineering, hiking, fishing and other forms of recreation. This park offers some of the most incredible photography opportunities as the abundant wildlife are found in nearly every area. Moose, elk, grizzly bear, black bear, pronghorn, wolves and coyote, fox and beaver, just to name a few, are seen frequently throughout the various pa...
Sandra Bronstein finds great pleasure in sharing the beauty of the natural world and its magnificent wildlife as seen through her lenses for over 35 years. Having been intrigued by many different elements, in both the manmade and natural world, she strives to discover new and different ways to capture these elements. Her vision provides a window into the ever changing world and, simply put, Sandra has captured and shares with us a simple moment in time. Sandra was raised and continues to reside in large metropolitan cities but has always had a love of nature and wilderness. It was due, in part, to family travels and being an "outdoor" girl which kept her love strong for wildlife and the environment. That love and respect shows in each...
Our return policy is very simple:
If you're not happy with a purchase that you made on Pixels.com, for any reason, you can return it to us within 30 days of the order date. As soon as it arrives, we'll issue a full refund for the entire purchase price. Please note - Pixels does not reimburse the outgoing or return shipping charges unless the return is due to a defect in quality.
Pixels sells thousands of pieces of artwork each month - all with a 100% money-back guarantee. We take great pride in the fact that hundreds of thousands of artists have chosen Pixels to fulfill their orders, and we look forward to helping you select your next piece!
All throw pillows ship from our production facility within 2 - 3 business days of your order.


text:
Brother Marcus (born May 30, 1967), also known as Sister Elisha, is a character in the Grand Theft Auto series who appears as a main character in Grand Theft Auto 1.
Marcus is the leader of the Brotherhood of Jah Army of Love in Vice City and has been in a gang war for over seven years. Marcus is said to control the drugs trade in Vice City. Marcus is a cross-dresser, dressing up as Sister Elisha on Saturday nights. He is currently being investigated for bombings, executions, woundings, various ninja high jinks, Ganja propaganda, fraud, pilfering and dealing narcotics.
|Bubba • Divine • Katie • Kivlov • Mikki • Travis • Troy • Ulrika
El Burro • Samuel Deever • Uncle Fu • Brother Marcus • Bubby (Robert Seragliano)
Characters in GTA 1 • Category:Characters in GTA 1 • Grand Theft Auto 1 • Category:Characters


text:
As the days continue to pass since new of Bin Laden's death my interaction with other Christians have been quite mixed. Some are more saddened that he has gone to hell and some are more joyous that he is dead. I'm careful about how I make that distinction. My continuous reflection has got me thinking, "Why am I not more appreciative of justice?"
This is how I work it out and how I believe God views mercy and justice. Antecedently, God willed and genuinely desired Bin Laden to repent and to respond to the revelation he has been given. However, consequently, because of Bin Laden's rejection of God and infatuation with evil, God has willed that Bin Laden atone for his own sins and for there to be justice. This justice is his death and punishment in the afterlife. Why am I not taking joy in God's justice? I believe my apprehension of justice is far removed from how God loves justice since it is ontologically based in him.
Yes, antecedently we should not joyful that Bin Laden is taking on his own punishment. However, in turn and consequently, God is receiving his glory from Bin Laden's sins being atoned for. For the Christian, hell is a good thing, hell is the means by which God renders justice to those who have not had their sins atoned for by Jesus Christ on the cross. The important thing is to make the antecedent-consequent distinction in how we respond.


text:
Price List
You may create your own wants list by ticking the Wants List box, clicking on "filter" and selecting one or more, of the thousands of items in our database.
Click here to provide us with details of any item not already stored in our database and add it to your wants list.
Showing records 1 to 15 of 34 | Next page »


text:
iPad Mini 3 Water Damage Services
Water damage is one of the more common issues with electronics. Even something as innocent as steam from a shower can cause significant damage to your device. Our comprehensive iPad water damage diagnostic service begins with disassembling your device and thoroughly evaluating it for corrosion and malfunctioning parts.
Our iPad mini 3 liquid damage repair service, includes an ultrasonic cleaning bath this allows us to clean the liquid damaged iPad if suffering with board level oxidisation, corrosion or maybe sticky liquid having dried or evaporated leaving a conductive residue
Important Information: DO NOT CONNECT TO ELECTRIC CHARGER BEFORE CLEANING IT MAY CURROPT THE MAINBOARD
iPhone Repair Richardson
Central Center Shopping Center
111 S Central Expy
Richardson Texas 75080
Tel 469-666-4885


text:
From rumor to fact, we've watched as HP has revived their iPaq line. The first two units will be coming out in just two days, on October 8th. Featuring Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, identical 624mHz processors and WM6 Pro, the cheaper 110 will run $299 while its older brother the 210 will cost $399.
Of course, with contract, they'll cost you a lot less. Wait. They're just PDA's, or, "phone companions" as the models are called in HP's press release. And there are no contract rebates for "phone companions."


text:
|Weed whackers: Pull pesky plants; don't spray poisons
|Let go! Bid doc adieu and start again
|Testicular cancer: To screen or not to screen?
|Brain drain: Lethal amoebae take devastating toll
|Going, not gone: High-risk folks should be screened for Hep C
|Medicine mess: Figuring the calculus of insurance plans
|Change of life: New habits can lead to living longer
|Over the edge: Psychotic disorders take many forms
|Radiation sickness: Horrible symptoms, horrible death
|Gastric catastrophe: Eat right to avoid stomach cancer
|Bringing up blood: Esophageal tears need fast repair
|Think positive: Placebo effect can have real results
|Clueless: Sometimes patients don't want to know
|How dry I am: Sicca complex has many causes
|Too much too soon: 'Precocious puberty' can have grim cause
|DR. HOOK- Tables turned: When the doctor is the patient
|Restless legs: Tingle and twitch the night away
|Salt water helps: Colds can lead to sinusitis
|Yawner: Tired people have issues
|Silent killer: Get screened... and live a little
|Me, me, me: Only themselves to blame
|Pappy days: The test all women need
|Believe it: All pain 'down there' isn't a UTI
|No snickers: Arsenic natural, but deadly
|Sticking point: Insurance backs off vaccinations
|Not forgot: Toast to health in '06
|Feeling sad? Maybe you have SAD
|Fruitcakes: You who think diet pills work
|PAD-ed arteries: Leg pain comes from clogs
|Let it bleed: Seeing red over blood woes


text:
What are the conditions like out at Skyline or Strawberry right now?
All the first hand reports from the Utah & CO resorts are pretty poor right now (spring mashed potatoes or thin cover & ice). Are the snowkite spots in better shape than the resorts or are they hurting a bit also?
Was trying to put a trip together in a week and was wondering if I should delay it or hope we get something decent out of the weekend storm. I know...the only certainty in a weather forecast is uncertainty...


text:
"It's great. My niece and family are going to love this. Going to give it to them for Christmas 2019."
"I love making personalized items for my family and friends. And they love getting them."
"Each Christmas, I use a holiday picture and make one of these ornaments. Each one I have gotten over the past 5 years has been great quality. I look forward to ordering and receiving mine each year."
"Shutterfly strives to make beautiful memories into tangible items that we will not forget!"
"Gift to daughter and her family"
This Christmas, make cookie-cutter tree ornaments a thing of the past. Thanks to Shutterfly you can turn all of your favorite photographs into custom ornaments for a tree that will brightly shine.
Shutterfly has everything you need to decorate your tree in style. No matter what size, shape or material you desire, Shutterfly has the perfect ornament for you. Perhaps your tree wants to dazzle with glass ornaments or shimmer with metal snowflake ornaments. For the rustic enthusiasts, there are beautiful wood options and if you like a little heft, the pewter will accent your tree to perfection.
Once you select the material for your ornaments, you can play with size, shape, how many photos you want to use, the color of accents and custom text. Shutterfly will guide you through the whole creation process with the easy-to-use design assistant. In the same way that snowflakes are different, you really can customize each ornament to match your unique personality. Make one ornament to celebrate one special memory or make a whole set to truly showcase your favorite photos. Your ornaments will ship directly to your door ready to be hung on the tree.
Grandma and Grandpa might already have everything they need, but an ornament with your little one's shining face will warm their hearts. Show your children's teachers how much you appreciate their hard work with a beautiful ornament featuring a photograph of the whole class. Custom ornaments are a thoughtful way to bring a little bit of extra joy to the holiday season.
Don't forget about under the tree. Did you know Shutterfly is equipped to easily turn all of your favorite photographs into custom Christmas wrapping paper? Now the outside of your packages can be just as delightful as what is inside. Shutterfly really does make it easier to make sure that this Christmas will be your best one yet.
No matter if you have a tiny little Charlie Brown style tree or a fir or pine with massive branches, Shutterfly is here to help you trim your tree in personalized style. Whip up some hot chocolate, gather the family and get ready to put all the fixings on the tree. This Christmas you can share your love and favorite memories in the form of one-of-a-kind ornaments.