Armageddon

Armageddon is one of those movies that just about every time it comes on TV, I have to watch.

It's almost a guilty pleasure. I have a Bachelors in English with a concentration in film and media studies. Really all that means is that I learned how to write movie reviews. But it also gives me the ability to turn my nose up at movies that cause brain damage to those who watch them and to raise my eyebrows in wonder when I find someone else who loves Jean-Pierre Jeunet films or anything from Miramax. If I hear that James Horner composed the score, I'm a little more interested in seeing the picture. So for me to love a full blown special effects driven movie feels almost like I'm breaking the rules. 

Here is the link to the IMDB page where you can real the official credintials. Who's in it, who made it, which awards it won, so I'm not going to go into all that. I'm just going to tell you why I love it.  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120591/?ref_=nv_sr_2

First of all, it's the cast. And, yes, I know I JUST said I wasn't going to talk about the cast, but I meant I wasn't going to talk about them in the, "9 time academy award nominated blah blah blah" sense. But I mean, COME ON! Bruce Willis, Ben Aflfleck, Billy Bob Thornton, Steve Buscemi, and Liv Tyler. 

Her role (Tyler's) in particular struck me. I fully believed that she loved her daddy (Willis) and honey (Affleck) tremendously, and I still cry right along with her in that one scene. If you've seen it you know what I mean. If you haven't seen it yet, I don't want to give it away, but my Lord, I ball like a baby every time. I fully believed that all the other rough-necks in the drilling crew loved her like a daughter too. This group of actors was such a fantastic blend of smarts, pretty, funny, and sincere. I bet they had a blast filming it. They look like a group that probably spent a lot of time goofing off and being silly while on set.

The special effects are cool, I guess. I'm not all that into big explosion scenes in multi million dollar blockbusters. I mean, they are cool to watch, and in a high energy movie like this or in Independence Day when the aliens are blowing up landmarks they are awesome and add to the story, but it's not the type of movie I'm going to jump to watch and if there are just explosions and damage to personal and/or public property for no real reason, that's not my bag. I prefer the homemade low-budget effects. Original Star Wars, Tremors, Monty Python, you know, back when making a movie was fun and you got to hold a camera and chase your employees in giant costumes on a hand made wagon being pulled behind a jeep. Which of course no one would do now because that's dangerous and someone could get hurt.

On a personal level, the movie holds a special place in my heart. I watched it once with my now husband and a fraternity brother of his in his room on his teeniney tv and when the "Leaving On A Jet Plane" scene came on we all sang along at the top of our lungs, flopped all over each other in a big pile laughing and singing very badly and way off key and being silly. 

Armageddon is a movie with a very good combination of love story and action making it appealing to a larger fan base. In addition to that, the love story is both a romantic love and a family love. So it's not all boobies and bombs at all. The relationships appeal to my feminin side, but I also enjoy the macho "let's go blow shit up to save the world" part too. 

At this point, of course, I should go into the dichotomy of this and the juxtaposition of that, the protagonist and antagonist, the struggles, the obstacles overcome. Or I should point out certain screen shots, fades, editing, cinematography, zooms, pans, etc. 

But no. Not here. Not with Armageddon. It's just fun to watch and I don't feel the need to dissect it and turn it into a choreographed essay-like document I would have submitted 15 years ago with footnotes, a cover page, and a side of anxiety over whether or not my works sited page was formatted correctly. 

So, with all that said, and for the reasons described above, I'll say it again. Armageddon is one of those movies that just about every time it comes on TV, I have to watch.

Recycled Towel Bathmat

Needing a new bathmat and having no money to buy one, I decided to experiment with cutting two old towels into strips, braiding them, then sewing the braid together to create the "new" bathmat. 

To my amazement, it worked wonderfully and came out perfect. 

Here is how I made it. 

I picked out the 2 regular sized bath towels that I wanted to use. They were a few years old, had a tear in one and a bleach spot on another. 

I then cut the towels into about 2" strips. 

I didn't want the tough "seam" part of the towel, so I cut them off as well. 

I used a large round tipped "Tapestry" needle and size 10 crochet cotton thread. 

After cutting both towels into strips, I started to assemble the braid. Using the above thread, I made a very simple stitch to hold together the start of the first 3 strips.

I then sewed a new strip to the ends of the previous strips as the braid grew. 

The 2" thickness of the strip made it very easy to keep a flat braid. I wanted this to be the case because I wanted to make sure the mat was as soft as possible. 

After I had one long "rope" of the braided towel strips, I laid it out to see if I liked it as a circle or oval, and to check for size. 

We decided on the oval, and it wasn't quite large enough with just 1 towel so I continued with the second towel to make it large enough to fit in front of our shower. 

I measured the space in front of the shower door (very technically with my leg) then I sat on the floor and began to lay out the braid to get the final size I needed. 

The finished mat is a spiral of the braided strips. To create the oval, I started with a straight section of the braided rope, then turned it 180 degrees, keeping it flat and even. Think of a paper clip as the core design. 

Once I had the size I wanted, I began to sew it together. I really just wove the crochet thread through the braid. I believe I only pierced the braid with the needle at the very beginning and end. 

Using the large needle, I was able to easily weave the thread through adjoining sections of the braid. 

Keep the thread tight, but not too tight, or you'll bring it up like a basket rather than a flat mat. If it's not tight enough it will appear to unravel and look yucky. 

By weaving the thread in and out of the braids side-by-side like this, you hide the thread. 

I continued to weave the thread through each section of braid until I had secured all of the rope to itself resulting in the finished oval shaped bathmat. 

And there we have it. The upcycled bathmat made from 2 regular sized bath towels. 

Send me pictures of yours after you make it! I'll be making more myself. The kids now want one for their bathroom too. 

Momday

I have a timer that goes off on my phone and tablet every day at noon telling me that its time to write. But I've had a very hard time coming up with what to write about. 

So, I made up a catchy little list of things that could spark an idea.

Monday: Mom, Menu, Media

Tuesday: Transformation

Wednesday: Words, Wonder

Thursday: Thirsty, Thankful, Therapeutic

Friday: Food, Friends, Farm, Fun, Family

And, since today is Monday, and a really awesome thing happened this past week, it's kinda perfect timing to write about Mama's sapphire ring. 

Mama was given this ring by her Daddy for her college graduation. She wore it every day 100% of the time from that moment on. She even paired it with her wedding ring, and was essentially just a part of her. Really almost more than that, though. It WAS HER.

Before she passed, she said she wanted me to have it until Shelby, my niece, and my mothers only grandchild at the time of her death, was old enough to love it, care for it, and treasure it. Shelby and Mama were both born in September, as as the sapphire is their birthstone, it was perfect for Shel to have it.

Kate, my sister and I, discussed the big moment of when we would give it to her. We debated her college graduation, like Mama. I thought it would be sweet to give it to her on her wedding day as her something blue and something old. But in the end, Kate and I chose her 21st birthday, which was this year.

So, last week, I began the process of both finding a perfect way to ship the ring to Shel, and the process of letting go of it.  

The ring was always Mama's. I was a babysitter for it until Shel was old enough, so therefore I was scared to really wear it a lot. I tried from time to time to get in the habit of wearing it, but it never felt like "mine", and I was so anxious about it. Plus, I would catch a glimpse of it out of the corner of my eye and would honestly flinch because I thought my hand was my mother's. The ring was such a part of her that it was hard to explain what it felt like to see it on my own finger. 

I looked in so many stores. Looked for jewelry boxes, ring boxes, decorative storage boxes, anything that would be a nifty gift that would protect and encase the ring in shipping. I even almost bought a ring so I could use the ring box to ship our ring in. 

Then, at TJMaxx (aaah ... how we love the maxx!) I found a wine glass that was painted with "Birthday Girl" and had a loop formed in the glass stem holding a wine dooble. PERFECT!! I placed the ring onto the wine dooble, walked next door to the shipping place, and overnighted that bad-boy to my sister's house. 

The next night, we were able to be on facetime so I could be there with her as she opened it. And sure enough, she loved it, it fit perfectly, and both Kate and I cried. 

I also learned a few things. UPS will not ship an item that is "irreplaceable", so don't say that the item is a one of a kind family heirloom. Insurance it flipping EXPENSIVE on shipping things. Even if you don't ensure it, don't put a dollar value on it, and don't tell them that a signature is required, they may suddenly decide that they won't just leave the package on the porch, nor will they leave it at a local UPS store for pickup.

But ... the drama of the shipping aside, the fact that I didn't breathe at ALL until I knew it was in my sisters possession aside, it was a beautiful moment. It took her a few minutes to realize what the ring was, that it was HERS, and what it all meant. But of course, trying to understand Kate and I while we cried trying to tell her about it probably didn't help.

Shelby ... I love you dearly! Mama loved you more than anything in the world, and I know she's smiling down on you and so incredibly proud of you!  You are an amazing woman, and I'm proud to be your aunt.

Love you!!

Pantry Stew

Awe heck. Mr. Saucy is going love the leftovers from tonight's stew!

2 lbs stew meat 

Olive Oil

1 onion

3-4-7 garlic cloves

6"sprig of fresh rosemary

3-4 6" sprigs of fresh thyme

Bay leaf

Salt 

Pepper (if your kids won't freak the crap out)

1 big can of whole peeled tomatoes, or diced toms, your choice. (I had whole, so that's what I used.)

1 empty tomato can of water 

1 cup rice 

Onions and garlic get cooked in olive oil. 

Toss in fresh herb sprigs. And bay leaf. (Don't bother taking thyme and rosemary off of the stems. They cook in the stew, falling off of the stem, and you just remove the stems before serving.)

The meat gets added. 

Cook until meat is brown all over. You can do batches if you want, I didn't. 

Add tomatoes, fill the can with water and add that too. 

Stir. Cover. Cook baby. Cook. 

Low and slow. 

You could put all of this into a crockpot I guess, but I don't have any luck with crockpots. 

When the meat it fall apart tender and you're good and hungry, add the rice. 

Stir. Watch it. Adjust the temp. Add more water if your rice needs it. 

When the rice is cooked you may eat. 

You may eat it before the rice is fully cooked if you want, but it won't be a pleasant experience. 

But hey. You be you.

Garden 2015

The porch, which has the wisteria growing up the pergola. 

Wide shot of the porch. Same wisteria on the right, Floyyd the Ficus in the center, and moon flower in the pot on the left growing up the other side of the pergola. 

The strawberries are sending out a second crop. 

The giant mutant zucchini!!

Only one tomato plant this year. I had a bout of blossom-end-rot that I had to fight off. So far I've only harvested 2 ripe tomatoes this season. 

The hot pepper plant that I can't remember it's name. But it made my lip go numb, so it's a good one. 

There are also 2 varieties of bell pepper and cucumber plays as well, but they're impressingly unproductive. 

We also have sweet potatoes growing in a few places.  The herbs are still thriving in their pots on the porch, so hopefully the rest of the produce will catch on and catch up soon. 

BootCamp Day 1

Here we go again. 

Yup. I've joined a new gym. But it's not a gym-gym. It's a Fit Body Boot Camp. If you've never heard of such a thing, here's a link.Gainesville FitBodyBootCamp. It's a 30 minute routine that is NONSTOP. From the time the trainer/coach hits the volume up button on the music, we jump, step, move, pull, lift, and sweat like there's no tomorrow.

I went for an initial trial last week and fell head over heels in love with the activities, facility, and owners. 

I'm currently in a 21-day challenge. If I win the challenge I get 2 months free membership. I earn points by weight lost, inches lost, body fat percentage lost, number of times I check-in on social media, and the number of times I'm at the gym. I'm totally going to win, by the way.  

So, it's exciting, and I'm having a blast. I have always loved working out, hated running, and have always had the hardest time just getting up and getting there. But I'm feeling pretty good about this. The kids are cooperating, they understand that this is my time to do something for me. They have their sports, Daddy has the shooting range and coaching and playing various sports throughout the year for charity, and this is my "thing". They're old enough to get it now and to not be total pills when it's time to go. That makes it infinitely easier for me, to be honest. Y'all know I'm the queen of excuses, so having the kids on board is very important to me.

Wish me luck, cross your fingers, and perhaps even say a little prayer for me.

I'll keep you posted... 

Looking For Advice.

Our daughter is 5. She's very smart and perfectly capable of picking up her own toys and cleaning her own messes. 

However, she pitches a MASSIVE fit when asked to do so, and what should be a very simple 2-minute tidying project becomes a 2-day battle. 

What am I doing wrong? How do I find the way to get through to her that if she has made the mess she can clean up the mess? 

We have taken away privileges and certain toys as punishments, but she just goes and finds other things to play with and gets into even more trouble. 

We've tried rewards. "After you've picked up all of your dollies, you can watch one Bubble Guppies."

I've tried ignoring her, yelling at her, whispering to her, singing to her, talking to her, and nothing helps. 

She collapses on the floor in a tantrum state when asked to do the simplest of projects. 

Put your books back on the shelf. "But that will take FOREVER!!", she wails. Well, not if you just go do it. 

We even help by giving her very small and specific tasks. Put your clothes in your hamper. Put your dress-up clothes in your chest. Put your barbies in their bin. Put your stuffed animals in the basket. She just seems to flat-out refuse. 

So... I'm asking for help. What do we do? How do I get her to help clean up her messes? I'm at a loss. 

Pedicure Lovin'

I'm sitting in the salon getting my nails done and figured I'm do a little blogging while my hands are free. 

It's very hard for me to ask for "extra's". I want fancy toes today and I picked a picture from Pinterest that I love. I asked about it and they said yes, but it's going to cost extra. That's fine I get it. But because my pinky toenail is so itty bitty, the manager told me it didn't make sense for me to get the polka-dots on all of my toes because you wouldn't be able to see the color after the dots were applied. 

We went back and forth, I was suddenly embarrassed that I had asked for something special, and decided I'd just do a single color and polka dots on my big toe only. 

But then after thinking about it, I decided I really want my rainbow toes and dots. So, I'll do the rainbow toes with dots on my big toe only, then solid fingernails with a pretty design on my them. We'll see. The nail on my right middle finger is shorter than all the rest, so they might have another idea for me once they get to my hands. 

Stay tuned. 

Genna Lake's Flowders

Genna turned 5 this year and she really wanted her very own flower garden.

So ... Mr Saucy, aka The Daddy Person, aka My Honey, aka Patrick made her her very own flower bed, and we asked family and friends who came by for her party to bring flowers rather than toys to fill her garden.

She LOVES it. 

First Bed. Also has blueberries. 

Second Bed. Also has grapes. 

Both Beds with clematis growing between. 

GG watering her flowders. 

Inspecting the hose and faucet. 

Watering from the bucket. 

Happy Girl!!

Keepin' It Real, Yo!

This mornings two-hour delay meant fun in the kitchen involving pancakes, red food coloring, and an assortment of eatable creations that in no way resemble hearts. 

See. 

This one I call "The Creepy Ultrasound". 

See the little dude inside smiling and waving?

This one has a slight "splat" from flipping before it was fully set. We shall call it the "Don King" Face Plant".  

This one Conner told me kinda looked like I heart who's butt exploded. We'll leave it at that. 

And finally we end with "The Double Mammogram". 

Enjoy your Pinterest Breakfast Fails my friends. 

For no matter how strange and disturbing our REAL LIFE creations turn out looking, they're just as delicious as the fancy ones. 

See. 

Ps... I was referring to the pancakes being eaten by my favorite girl-creation. Whom I don't think is disturbing at all, but  is a little strange. 

Chickizza

Possibly my best invention his far.

Chickizza. 

Ingredients:

Olive oil

Butter

Chicken breasts

Pizza sauce of choice

Pizza cheese of choice

Pizza toppings of choice

Heat oven to 400

Put the chicken breast into a large heavy plastic bag, and pound out the chicken breasts until they are very thin. These will be your pizza crusts, so make them even and very thin.

Stack them on a plate next to the stove so you can season and cook them without having to drip chicken all over your kitchen.

Put a big heavy skillet on the stove on medium high heat and warm ypur olive oil and melt your butter.

Sprinkle the chicken with salt and place the salted side down. Salt the other side once it's in the pan. Brown the chicken breasts in the pan, on both sides, putting one or two at a time, based on how big your skillet is.

Place the browned and cooked through chicken breasts on a foil lined baking sheet.

Now you have your zero carb and gluten free pizza crusts.

We put on typical red style marinara pizza sauce, shredded mozzarella, and pepperoni.

Oops... I forgot a pre-cooked picture with pepperoni.

They went into the 400 degree oven for 8 minutes. We thin key could have stood a full 10 to really melt the cheese, but we were too excited to try them, so we pulled them out at 8 minutes.

As you can see, I made 6. Conner ate 1, Mr. Saucy and I had 2 each, and he took one for lunch today. The girl had leftover Mac-N-Cheese, and we were all totally ok with that, because it meant more Chickizza for us.

I honestly took one bite and fell in love. I then took a second bite and knew I had to run a taste next door. I put another bite on my fork, put on my shoes, ran out of the house, scared he wee-hawkin out of my neighbors husband who was working on the car in the driveway in the dark, rang the doorbell, shoved the fork into my neighbors mouth, high fives her when I saw her eyes light up, yen turned and ran back hime to finish my supper. 

It's totally going in the regular rotation of The Saucy Dish family dished. Our Friday night pizza movie nights will no longer involve heating a frozen pizza or ordering delivery.

Hello Chickizza. I love you.

Stay Saucy, and Dish.

Gross

Mr. Saucy and I have a joint New Years Resolution. 

Along with the ever popular Lose Weight, Eat Healthy, Exercise Daily ... we have ... a secret one.

"Don't Be Gross"

Because ... we're gross. We are. I mean, we're fat and lazy and gross. We don't always do the dishes at night, we let the trash can(s) fill up to a balancing act that would make a physics professor proud, and we step over dust bunnies the size of rhinoceroses. 

I finally got fed up and decided to clean the kitchen. Like really CLEAN the kitchen. And I was so grossed out, I thought I was going to gag.  

We had a bunch of decorative things up on the top of the cabinets that were coated in cooking grease residue that had floated into the air over the past several years and just clung to items in the kitchen that aren't used regularly. 

The layer of yuck on top of the cabinets was just as disgusting. We used a powerful degreaser, a plastic scrubbie, and a mixture of hot water and Palmolive dish soap to scrub then wipe up the yuck.

Once everything was cleaned up, we organized the cabinets to make space for these things to live inside the cabinets and not on top of the cabinets. 

I know that as the full-time at-home parent that I "should" be able to get everything spic and span every single day. I mean, Beverly Cleaver did it in heels, pearls, and with a 24" waist, so why can't I manage in an age of convenience, ease, and technology? I don't know. Ok ... I don't know. 

So ... yesterday while I was writing out this week's meal plan and exercise plan, I added a cleaning schedule too. It includes which night is which kids turn to clean the table, which days I dust, sweep, mop, clean bathrooms, change the sheets, wash the towels, etc.

This may seem second nature to you, but to me, it's just not. I have a super-human ability to overlook clutter and crud. So ... when it gets to the point that I think it's nasty, it's probably closer to toxic for the neat-freaks out there. 

We're not about to be on an episode of Hoarders, not even CLOSE, but it is time to realize that 4 humans, 2 huge dogs, and an indoor/outdoor cat can generate a lot of dirt. And we're gross. Just gross. 

So, let's stop being gross. And here's how I hope I can make this happen during the week so I can relax on the weekends, not feel guilty about relaxing, and not be upset that other's aren't helping.

Here's the cleaning plan for this week...

Monday = Dust everywhere and Vacuum Downstairs
Tuesday = Sweep all hardwood and tile, Mop, Laundry
Wednesday = Vacuum bedrooms and clean the bathrooms
Thursday = Laundry, Sheets, Towels
Friday = Wipe cabinets, sweep, mop

Here's the meal plan for this week...

Monday = Pork Tenderloin and Carrots
Tuesday = Fish and Spinach
Wednesday = Venison Stuffed Peppers
Thursday = Chicken and Broccoli
Friday = Pizza for the kids, Venison steaks and spinach for Mr. Saucy and me.

And, here's my workout plan for this week...

Monday = Walk and Pump
Tuesday = Pump and Treadmill
Wednesday = Walk and Pump
Thursday = Pump and Treadmill
Friday = Pump and Treadmill
Saturday = Walk and Pump
Sunday = Walk

For my work week, I need to get into Wordpress to work on a project for a friend's web page, I need to get more blog posts written for my Dad's blog, I need to tweet more, and blog more for my own blog, and I need to get more active in my BeachBody coaching.

For my peace of mind week, I want to get some sewing done, some pictures taken, some film developed, some prints made, some books read, and some clutter tossed.