Nichole's Nonsense

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Technology is Grand!! (thanks to GRANDMA)

If any of you know me you will know my boys live with their dad during the week. I miss them INCREDIBLY!! Modern technology has allowed me to keep in touch with them more than just a phone call. The boys both have iPods and I set up email addresses for them so they can email me (and other family members) any time they are somewhere with a wifi connection. It has been great!! Just a few weeks ago they showed me an app on the iPod where they could "call" other people with new iPods and iPhones, which is essentially like webcam and Skype. I thought this was such a cool app! Problem was, I have the older iPhone which doesn't have that feature. Since they showed me this app I have bee contemplating upgrading JUST for that feature. My cell contract doesn't run out for a bit so I can't upgrade cheap. The outright price of the iPhone is outrageous! But, I was contemplating it quite a bit just to be able to see my boys faces during the week.

Here's where Nana saves the day!! She has a brand new iPod that she never used it. She so graciously offered it to me so I could FaceTime with the boys! I am so incredibly lucky to have a very giving mother! I told her I would use it until it's time to upgrade my cell contract and I can get the iPhone 4 or newer.

Tonight the boys called me before bed so I could see their smiling faces! Ryan had a nice blue Gatorade mustache. Lol!! I am
On cloud nine!!!!! As a side note: I also created a reminder on their iPods to pop up at bedtime each night. It says "Goodnight! I love you!!!" I sure hope they will not accidentally delete it. At least I could load it again when they come on the weekend.

Technology is grand and their GRANDMA (a.k.a. Nana) is grand!!!!

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Day 8 of Truth Challenge

Day 08 → Someone who made your life hell, or treated you like shit.

You know, I honestly cannot think of anyone who has made my life that miserable to be considering "hell". Sure, I've encountered some people who annoyed me or didn't treat me with respect, but not to that extreme.

Seems this truth challenge can be a bit boring to read. I said I was going to do it, so I will. Next....

Monday, February 21, 2011

Crisis Averted!!

Months ago I hosted a Pampered Chef party and got a small recipe book for free. In that book there is a recipe for California Club Pizza. As you'll see from the ingredients for the topping there are some in there that I was SURE the boys wouldn't eat. But, I decided to make it anyway. It turns out the boys LOVED it! So, we make "Arizona Pizza" quite often for lunch. Nate can't remember what it is called so he always seems to call it Arizona pizza. Wrong state. LOL. Yesterday I starting making the pizza and run into a few problems. Let me give you the recipe first...

1 pkg refrigerated pizza crust
2 cups diced or shredded cooked chicken
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 small container of grape or cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
1 medium avocado, chopped
2 tbsp lemon juice
6 slices of bacon, cooked, drained and crumbled

1. Preheat oven according to crust package directions. Roll crust onto baking pan. Top with cooked chicken and shredded cheese. Bake until crest is golden brown. (follow crust package instructions, probably 15-18 mins)
2. Meanwhile, put tomatoes, onion, avocado and lemon juice in a mixing bowl. Stir gently to mix.
3. When pizza is done baking, distribute tomato mixture evenly over pizza. Sprinkle with bacon.

Sounds pretty easy, right? Well, it is....if you follow the directions I gave you and NOT the one from the recipe book. The book has a higher temperature because it is using a different pan (a Pampered Chef Bar Pan). I totally forgot this!!!!!!!!!! I cooked the pizza at 425 for 16 mins just like the recipe said. FAIL!!!! The crust was burnt to a crisp!!! I pulled it out of the oven and just felt horrible!!! How could I screw up this recipe that I have done many many times?? Well, I hated to throw away the chicken and cheese because it looked so appetizing. I had cooked the chicken in the pressure cooker and it was SO moist! I had to figure out a way to use this good chicken!

I looked around the kitchen and saw I had pita pockets that I really needed to use. I thought, "what goes good with chicken and cheese and this tomato mixture? The only thing I could think was to just use a jar of spaghetti sauce to top the pitas with and then continue with the recipe. My husband actually said I should use Ranch. What a GREAT idea! Why didn't I think of that?? Crisis averted!!!!!

Here is what we did: scraped the chicken and cheese off the burnt crust. Topped the pitas with the salvaged chicken/cheese, drizzled with Ranch dressing, topped with tomato mixture, sprinkled with crumbled bacon. Baked at 350 for about 10 mins just to get the whole thing warm. It turned out GREAT!!! The kids loved it and had seconds!! I guess this is how cooks/chefs come up with recipes....trial and error. Thank goodness my error turned out to be a great trial for a new recipe!!

Day 7 of Truth Challenge

Day 07 → Someone who has made your life worth living for.

Well dang. This is an EASY one!!! Of course Nathan and Ryan are the "someones" who make my life worth living for! They are the two greatest things that has ever happened to me. I wouldn't change a thing of my life if it meant they weren't going to be in it. I made some mistakes but I know they were never a mistake and I am SO happy to have them as my children! I wish the situation was different, but they are happy and I am happy for them. I don't feel the need to type and type about this. If you've read some of the other days of my Truth Challenge you'll know how I feel about them.

Learning how to skip rocks

Thank you God for those boys!!!

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Happy Birthday, Ryan!!!!

Feb 2004

Seven years ago today I was in the hospital being prepped for delivery of my 2nd baby. I had to be there at 6am. No food, no drink after 12am. Catheter in place by 7am. Time to wait for the doctor to arrive. A few mins before 8am they wheeled me to the surgery room and administered the epidural. Wow! It kicked in quick!! A few mins later they were cutting me open. At 8:10am Ryan was pulled out! He weighed 8lbs 11oz, 20 inches long. What a handsome boy he was! They wrapped him up, brought him to me and he tried to suck my cheek! LOL! Such a sweet first kiss!!! Seven years later he is still my sweet little boy with a sweet little kiss!