You put Da Lime in Da Coconut...

Yeah....that's it! Since I spent the better part of the last couple of days hunting and gathering, looking for that blasted coconut creme pudding (who would know it would be SO elusive here?...for God's sake, we're drowning in Palm trees, you'd think even if they're date palms, it would be a little easier to find it), I thought this was an appropriate title for this post.

A lovely lady provided me with the recipe which you can find HERE....it was worth every mile I drove to find that pudding mix, LOL!
Besides, her blog is FABULOUS FUN!

So, I was thinking about telephone manners today. Most people seem to have a pretty good grasp of how to initiate calls and how to say at least "hello" and "goodbye". MOST people.
I'm trying to figure out what happened to some people though. One is my father. Not that he's rude. And maybe it's just the advent of cell phones that has some people stymied. But the other day, I was in traffic and got a call on my cell from my dad. As you may or may not know, it's illegal to use a handheld phone while driving in CA now. So I had my bluetooth in good working order and when I saw it was my father, who usually doesn't call in the middle of the day, I answered it.
This is how the call started out:

Me: "Hi Dad!"
Dad" "Hello????"
Me: "Hello"
Dad: Hellooooo??? Can you hear me?
Me: Hello~ yes I can hear you just fine.
Dad: Silence
Me: HELLLLOOO????
Dad: Silence
Me: CAN YOU HEAR ME????
Dad: Yes, I can hear you.

By this time, I was wondering if my cell phone had dialed him somehow accidentally :S.

Me: Well, did YOU call ME????
Dad: Yes, I called you.


Me: WELL, SPEAK!!!

GEEZE....you start wondering if you're losing your mind and making random phone calls or if you're losing your hearing. Anyway, I finally had a conversation with him while he was at the Miami airport on his way to Ecuador. I AM glad he called to let me know they were off on another adventure, but it's like pulling teeth sometimes. Phone calls shouldn't be so painful, LOL.

And then there's my dh, which I've gotten used to and now adopt the same manners when he calls me:
He calls me, I answer "Hello?"....
Him: Yeah.....and then launches into some long story about what's going on at work, and when he's done talking, he never says "goodbye", "bye bye", "Later", ....NOTHING...he just hangs UP! Was he raised by WOLVES or something???? I mean, really, WHO interacts with their wife or even acquaintances that way???

I've taken to being very discriminating as to which calls I answer anymore. I hate being assaulted by my own phone!

Coconuts, nuts....it's either too much or not enough, haha.

It's a Beautiful Morning...

"I think I'll go outside for awhile~
And just smile"...
'Memba that song by the Young Rascals? I love music. No. I LOVE LOVE LOVE music! Almost any kind of music and I can remember all the music of my life. I can see the album covers, and the one I posted today I used to just be mesmerized by. Not only the cover but when you look at the cover while you're listening to the music of Martin Denny, you (or I) felt as if I had been transported to somewhere exotic and jungle-y. A place of lushness and waterfalls with sweet flowers scenting the air and wild animals calling to each other. A place that only I knew about and was the only human inhabitant. Ok....now I'm getting lost again.

So, yeah, it's beautiful here again today. Don't you love it when you sleep all night? Well? I slept so well for the first time in so long I can't remember. Madison's new thing is to, as soon as I'm climbing into bed, run up right next to me and situate himself just under my armpit as close to my body as he can be. Is that sweet or what? This is the dog who, when I first brought him home, wouldn't even sleep in the bedroom; he slept on the floor in the hallway. He went from there to the little dog bed I have in front of my nightstand, to sleeping at the vERRRRY end of the bed, to sometimes sneaking up next to me to now, the primo spot, LOL. Don't think Max is all that impressed with his evolution though; Max sleeps under the covers right next to my legs, and he thinks Madison is cramping his style, haha. I swear, I wonder how I got so lucky to have acqired such sweet, wonderful dogs. And how did God make something so sweet and loving and charming as them? If only he made people like them. If only he'd made ME more like them. They're both "10's", that's for sure!


OH~ and speaking of MUSIC....I'm over the moon that AC/DC is TOURING America! And their new cd after 8 yrs is coming out on MONDAY! YAYYYYYYY! AND...almost the best thing....Walmart has little AC/DC logo dog clothes :D...double YAYYYYYY! I couldn't decide if I should get the YE's both a AC/DC hoodie or tanks. So cute! I can't wait to hear their new cd; it's called Black Ice....yeah, let's have some new headbanging music! Don't misjudge me people, I love classical music, jazz and like I said...almost any music. But there are times when you just are in the mood for a little Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap! The so un-princess part of my life ;).

I need to find a personalized license plate. I'm so torn about what I want it to say. If I come up with anything, I'll let you know. I always thought "2DRNK2DRV" would be fun but it's too many characters. AS IF, hahahaha. I have some good ones dreamed up though...have to see if they're available.

I am, I am, I am seriously going to put in a separate recipe blog here; I'm thinking daily stuff and holiday stuff. I've got so many phenomenal recipes and I love collecting more especially for the holidays! So much I want to do, only 24 hours in a day! I'll get to it. And I've made a vow~ to start wearing those aprons I've been collecting too. In fact, I just found out I'll be getting a new one when I am volunteering for the Food and Wine festival next month. That will be fun! Do you wear an apron when you cook? You should; it's a wonderful traditon. Kind of like a nursing cap, only useful, LOL.

I have been blessed with some people in my online life who are talented and kind and generous with their technical advice, wonderful recipes, business advice and creative endeavors and just all- around- nice- human- being- support stuff. I know it's a big big cyber world out there and people can just appear and then disappear after you feel as if you know them, but I just want to say how very much I appreciate each one of you and whatever time we are able to spend in each other's company. You make a difference in my life, even if I never meet you in person. I hope I can return the favor.

My quest for coconut pudding mix is next on my to-do list today~ What's up with you?

Oh What a Beautiful Morning!

Wow. Two words: Full Moon! The moon was so, so beautiful last night (or at 1 am when I got up for the first time during the night and saw it). And now that it's staying darker later in the mornings, it was still as bright as could be when me and the YE's jumped out of bed (yes, we ALL jump, LOL).

Today, the first thing I did though, was turn the oven on~ I had 3 beautifully risen loaves of sourdough that I've been cultivating since I began the starter a week or so ago. My first attempt at sourdough and my first starter! What an epiphany! Fresh bread baking in the oven first thing in the morning....it makes me think back to when I was in high school and Buttercream Bakery was just down the street. Now I know what my dad was talking about when he used to tell us about working in the Napa Bakery when he was young; and how wonderful it smelled in the mornings! Only this was in my OWN house! The bread turned out so pretty and yummy too....it's not the sourdough I'm used to from good ol' SF; it was not as firm, and slightly sweet, but with a definite "twang"...I think I could have let it bake a bit longer, but I'm going to be working on this one for awhile and then I'll move on after I've read a LOT about it.

It's fun to learn new things and to perfect them~ one thing I find frustrating (about myself, mainly), is that I want to learn as much as I can BEFORE I even get started. It's like I'm scared something terrible will happen if I'm not armed with all the knowledge ahead of time. And I continually come to the same realization after getting my feet wet: a lot of information is way over my head at the point where I'm starting~ you need to TRY it and THEN ask questions when you've had a little experience and found a pitfall or two. So, sourdough is my newest process~ I just hope I don't have to get into the real chemistry of it that I'm seeing some people do to achieve luscious loaves.

And the next endeavor is doggie biscuits. Now, THOSE I really need to work on~ mine come out looking a little rough, LOL...very amateurish. How many dog cookbooks do I need?

OK, you knew it was coming; stand back, I'm ready to spew...DWTS. Is it just me, or does anyone else feel manipulated? I really HATE the way they drag the results show out anymore. Just to kick one couple to the curb? I can understand a special guest with the pro dancers, but three of them plus children dancing has bored me to death. I'm sorry, I'm all for youthful talent and you don't get to be excellent all of a sudden one day, but there's something uncomfortable about watching children being told that they "shake their bum alright".....yes, I UNDERSTAND that's the nature of the dance, but .....I don't know; maybe it's just all the JonBenet stuff and child porn and abductions out there that makes me question whether these kids are being exploited or what. Whatever it is, I don't think I like it. Anyway, I turned it off last night and sure enough, the losers are top of the news this morning on the internet, so what really did I miss? And not only THAT.....I think I've about had it with Cloris Leachman; she's made the entire show a joke in my opinon. The dance they did a week ago, was absolutely disgusting; it looked like two animals humping each other and wasn't dancing at all to begin with. It used to be fun to watch, but it's deteriorated into stupidity. I'm not watching it anymore. And that's my FINAL answer, LOL.
I'm going out to enjoy the somewhat crisp morning, before it turns into a 90+ day~Dannyman, you are in my prayers today. Hang in there! Me and the YE's love you.

The Day After....

Oh, Normann! Isn't he cute? And such a really NICE guy. Unfortunately, even though he was leading during part of the race yesterday, he wound up fading toward the end (somehow I missed exactly what happened)and came in in 12th place with an 8:44:04. And the winner, Craig Alexander won with an 8:17:something....AMAZING! Remember when they were amazed when the 10 hour mark was broken? Yeah, those were the days when you could just sit back and cruise thru the race, LOL. Uh huh....swim 2.4 miles, then bike 112 miles in the heat and the hellacious winds and THEN run a marathon. And oh yeah, be back by dinnertime please. Dare ya!
I have to admit that as much as I love those German boys, and the Canadians and the Aussies, I sure do miss seeing hot contention being between my American heroes....the Big Four; Scott, Allen, Tinley and Molina! Let's bring back the crown to the US! And yeah, I lost it when Craig Alexander turned onto Alii Drive....it's just SO EMOTIONAL to think about all those people roaring and cheering you on and

OK, OK, I KNOW tris are super boring to anyone who's not into them, so I'll try to shut up about them for a minute. I spent part of the time while watching the race online at the Williams Sonoma website (probably why I missed Normann's fade :S) and ordered these:





That's in hopes of making a pie that looks just like this one:







~ oh yeah....little Miss Piemaker here, haha. The running joke. I'm going to have to practice a lot I think. But I'll have the tools to do it, hehe. I had to have the turkey though~ I don't have many Fall holiday decorations mainly b/c I've never been a big brown and orange fan, but these are so cute...and even though we won't be doing Thanksgiving dinner here, it will be nice to have the decor, especially since I already have the dishes ;).

Well, doggies are outside barking, which is a good thing. It means it's cool enough for them to run in and out of the house, so we're just going to sit out and enjoy the beautiful weather today and rest up from the race yesterday, haha.

IM update

Wow! I've got goosebumps right now...just watching Normann Stadler coming off the bike was amazing....after 112 miles with a head and side wind at least the last 15 or so miles, he was actually SPRINTING to the change tent! That's my guy! So, now he's in 2nd place, yayyy! Tojrbornne Sindballe is ahead of him, but we'll see what the Gods have in store for all of us....right now, I'm on the edge of my seat. The live coverage is absolutely STELLAR...the video is so exponentially improved over even last year's coverage, I'm thrilled! If I have to be sitting down watching it, I guess I don't have much to complain about....now, they just need to get that aroma technology going so I can smell the ocean and the pikake! GOOOO NORMANN!!!

It's the Hap, Hap, Happiest Time of the Year......

YES!!!! It's IRONMAN DAY!!! My FAVORITE time of year and my most favorite day of the year (next to Christmas and my birthday of course :)).

What's SO sad though and if it isn't a testament to the passing of time, I don't know what is....I didn't even know it ws today! I just happened to wonder WHICH Saturday it was going to be this October and checked in at Ironmanlive and it turned out it was today! I missed the starting gun for the FIRST time in ...gosh, how many years now? A lot. Oh Daddy-O, I sure wish I were there, hanging out with you and Mad and reconnecting with some old buddies, but maybe next year. I sure hope so. I am going through Kona and Ironman withdrawls. Oh, the FUN I've had during the two weeks surrounding the race there....sigh.....at least I can watch it live online, so I can REALLY feel homesick, LOL! Looks like it's hot today and windy (what else is new?? Remember the year it was so bad, the littler girls were getting knocked off their bikes on the Queen K?); maybe just as well that I'm missing it this year! Gee, I'm looking at my old buddies Greg Welch and Paula Newby-Frasier and Dave Scott....and they look..ummm ....kinda OLD :S. And OMG..the Timex 30th anniversary IM watch...and I'm MISSING it!!! Oh gosh, how will I live with myself now? I was there for the 20th and the 25th editions....how does the time go by so fast? And oh myyyy....compression socks? I feel so OUT of it, LOL. Really glad I've missed out on those. And gosh....Cervelo was the top bike in the bike count at the transition check in yesterday....remember the good old days when it was Softrides, Cannondales, Kestrels and Quintana Roos??? And Litespeeds were the hot ticket. Now I feel really old. Even the bikes have passed me by. Maybe I should get back into it....Yeah, that's the ticket....new bike, new stuff.....I can definitely get into that. I at least have the bike case....and I do love my bikes! Ok, it's Ironman Day in my world.... I have to focus on the race, LOL..... Norman! Norman! Stormin' Norman is on the hunt! Go fast, cutie pie! I'm pulling for ya!
Oh....and yeah, G.....I'm thinking about YOU!

Mahalo and Aloha..................

The Sunshine Boys

Oh, what a beautiful morning! I woke up with the Yorkies Exquisite wriggling around and then jumping on me, licking me all over my face. OH they're SO CUTE!!! Madison is always so excited and wants to lick everything....Max is his second favorite target and Max gets so disgusted, and backs away from him as soon as he can, LOL. Then they're off the bed and out the door; Madison doing his galloping down the hallway into the kitchen. Their breakfast is the first priority of the day of course, nothing else exists in their minds:).

The house is quiet and still~ the only noise is the doves cooing (as loudly as they can :S). No guest bedroom door opening and another little Yorkie spilling out of it this morning. It feels so empty here this morning. I know it will get back to normal, but it just feels empty. I'll have to give Mel a call later to see what she and Pie are doing. She's got a ton of unpacking and putting away to do, but I'll bet they get a walk in~ now that I think of it, they'll pretty much HAVE to since she's got no back yard or balcony either. I can't wait to see her little place!

I think the weather is cooling down; it was certainly cooler this morning and supposedly will only be 68 deg. tomorrow evening (I only mention that b/c dh (not sure if I'm invited and it makes no never-mind to me) is going to the Phoenix Suns basketball game which is being played in the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, which is an outdoor venue. And he's got a cold (MINE...sorry about that :(). But I guess 68 isn't exactly frigid.

I have been so industrious today~ laundry all done and I got a new batch of sourdough starter going. I had to throw out the first one b/c there really was just no room in the fridge to keep it while Melanee and her sister were here since she'd brought so much and we always had leftovers stuck in there too. So, I've got a shiny new batch of the starter bubbling away on the counter again. Maybe this time I'll get some bread made from it ;).

Dh is almost home, I'm happy he called ahead and asked if I needed anything at the store; I'm making the EDF Chili Chicken Tacos I wrote about last week that he never got any of and I needed lettuce and sour cream. I can't wait for him to taste them! I also can't wait for him to get home and see what the sofas look like with the painting and plants all arranged....home sweet home! But for now, my little Sunshine Boys and I are going to go enjoy the wonderful cool breeze!