SINCE I try to watch my refined sugar intake, and since we typically get very FEW trick-or-treaters, I try to buy treats that won't tempt me when there are leftovers.

We are giving out Charms mini-lolipops, fruit-flavor tootsie rolls and individually wrapped/pre-packaged rice crispie treats. This way, I can use any leftover RC treats in hubby's lunch bag, and he can take the other items to put in a candy dish on his desk.

What are you giving out to visitors tomorrow night? What is the weirdest thing you have ever RECEIVED (or your kid's have received?)

Two new purchases in the Brandy household:

After a few days of internet-based shopping, we traded in my old 1998 Ford Taurus for pretty much the SAME car, just a later model. The poor "Tortoise" as we used to call it, was dying a slow death. It had a rust problem ("car cancer") that already caused one brake line to rust through, and another was on the brink. It had other issues too, like a failing oxygen sensor, windows that no longer operated, and I never knew if I had turn signals because the relay connection was so corroded that, even after adding a new part, my husband could not get the electrical on that to work consistently. There were a bunch of other funky aged-realted problems. We felt it just wasn't safe anymore.

So I found a good price on a later year, not-too-high-miles 2005 Sable, which is the same car, just slightly different exterior trim. The Taurus had nice metal rims and a power front seat 5-way adjustability. The sable has plastic hubcaps and a manul saet that either goes forward or back! I actually mught need to get one of htose pillows that strap on the seat because I get no back support.

 The funniest thing is - while the Taurus had am/fm CASSETTE...so does the Sable! Can you imagine being the person on the line in the Ford factory building a 2005 car with CASSETTE player!!!! No wonder Ford is in the sh*ts financially!

Anyway, the cassette thang is no big whoop, because I am more of a radio listener. I also have one of those casstte conversion tape-with-cord thingys so I can run my mp3 player through the cassette deck, and that works just fine enough for me.

I don't get very excited about cars. I wanted SAFE, easy to drive, good backseat room for kid, and decent gas milage (this one is 20cty/27 hwy) plus minimum 150 hp/V6 for highway driving and I got all that without the hassle of a car payment (low enough price w. trade in, so we paid out of savings.)

The only bummer is it stunk of cigarrette smoke when my hubby brought it home! (I chose it online, pulled the CARFAX report which was clean, and just sent him w. the paperwork to pick it up!) So I used nearly an entire bottle of Febreeze to freshen it up and left the doors open all day. It's getting better...

The "cage" part of this post refers to finally breaking down and getting a proper habitat enclosure for the frogs/tadpoles. I spent most of the morning setting it up. It looks nice and provides much more room for live plants, rocks, floating plants, and a "climbing wall" as well!

To give equal time to a few of my other furry friends... here are some recent photos:

Percy is gorgeous and he knows it. We have had him since he was not quite 6 weeks old. He was born at our neighbors house, and lived with BOTH cat parents.We chose him from the litter because I could tell he'd have long hair even as a tiny puffball of a kitten. Since he is the only pet of ours not from a shelter, we call him "The Little Prince." He adores my husband and begs to sit on his lap (as seen in picture), runs to the door when he comes home from work, etc. He bites ME on the toes or ankles when he's hungry... he is a BRAT to me and very demanding. He loves to play "fetch" and wrestle with Lucky.


Here is a picture of our "newest" cat, Lucky, hanging out with his friend, Megan the Scottish terrier. I'll spare you the sad details, but "Lucky" is very lucky, indeed. We rescued him off the street at just under 1 year old, and he was not in great shape. He has since become a very healthy, hearty, and incredibly sweet-natured boy (he has all 4 paws; the picture is deceiving.)

 He favors me and my daughter, tends to "nap" next to Megan, and enjoys playing each evening with his toys or his pal, Percy. He is the antithesis of "brat" - even coming to say "thank you" after being fed each evening by rubbing on my legs as he purrs. Don't tell the others but he is my favorite pet!

I finally retrieved a picture of my Scottish terrier, Megan, from my phone (that explains the crappy resolution.) Here she is being blessed on St. Francis of Assisi day by Father Steve.

Usually Meg is very protective of me, growling at any man or beast (i.e. - other dogs) that come near. However this day she was SO good and quiet, as were all the dogs in attendance. No one growled or barked or chased one another. It was, to be honest, quite eerie. The funniest was when we sang a hymn at the end of the prayer service - Meg decided to howl along!

Beet Farmer (and B&B proprietor) Dwight Schrute might be on to something: beets.
I am now in the habit of cosuming freshly juiced beet - leaves, stems and all - on a near-daily basis. I LOVE the purple color and the way it easily combines with the juices of apple, pineapple, various berries, cranberry and/or oranges to make a delicious morning "cocktail." As I type, I am sipping a fresh pineapple, cranberry, apple, beet juice concoction. I usally pour it over crushed ice. Mmm. Beety-goodness.

I also have to share: (since I haven't posted a bathroom-related update in awhile) My IBS symptoms have literally DISAPPEARED since I began juicing. I do not know if it is a specific fruit or vegetable, the nutrients and enzymes, or just the fact that two "meals" (fruits in morning, veggies for lunch) in liquid form allow my GI tract to not have to work so much, but I have been feeling FANTASTIC. I spent $99 on the juicer, and that has more than paid for itself because I no longer have to buy the very expensive contraband Zelnorm from Mexico.

Finally, a pantry update: I replaced my stanky "Fisher" peanut butter with a fresh jar of Jif. Since its my "treat" for the day, I prefer the full-on old-skool corn-syrupy sweet-salty taste sensation of the non-natural (?) peanut butter brands. Why not? I AM making up for it with my beets...

Peanut butter is one of my staple foods. I eat it every day, often just a spoonful of it as a combo protein addition/treat sometime mid-day, occassionaly on low-carb bread for breakfast or lunch (along with a glass of fresh juice from my juicer.)

I don't know how this happened but I ran out of my beloved spread on Sunday. After church, I hustled over to the supermarket to replenish my stock.

Usually I am happy with a store brand, or if its on sale, the leading brands like Skippy or Jif. On the shelf I saw "Fisher" brand peanut butter. And it was the CHEAPEST PB in that jar size range - even less than the store brand. I thought aloud that "Fisher", as in "Fisher nuts" are a "brand name."

Upon closer inspection, I saw a notice emblazoned on the jar: "Chicago's home town nut!" it proclaimed. I was sold. I grabbed two jars and headed to the checkout.

When I selected my trusty tablespoon to indulge in my daily treat, my mouth reacted in disppointment and disgust.

It must be the WORST peanut better EVER! It is overly sweet with a texture that is not *quite* right to my palate.

HOW the heck do you mess up PEANUT BUTTER???

Since I had one unopened jar, I packed it with other canned goods to be donated to our local food pantry. I felt bad for a minute, but then I thought, it might be salvageable inthe taste department if the ingester pairs it with a gob of grape jelly or similar. Is that so wrong?

I may have noted in this blog that I have a small fishbowl that I use as a sort of "indoor pond." I keep certain species of oxygenating plants, floating plants, and pond snails in it.

I use it to help jumpstart my oudoor pond in the spring, by repopulating the plant life with snippets from the fishbowl. I also usually need to thin the indoor snail population by moving some outside, as they reproduce very rapidly.

This year we have had the pleasure of "incubating" a number of Copes Grey Treefrog tadpoles in the fishbowl. Two have completed their morph and have been moved into a small habitat in a large, tall glass vase. I created the habitat with stalky sedge grass for them to climb, and floating plants to sit on and hide under and rocks to rest upon. I cover the top with mesh screen.

All of these tadpoles came from a poor environment for survival - their  parents laid eggs in a shallow tarp in which water pooled. It was in the yard of a neighbor up at the cabin; he invited us to help ourselves to the tads as they were being eaten by crows, poor things!

Currently, there are about 20 tads in the pond, and I have 5 or 6 tadpoles indoors in the fishbowl.

There is at least one planaria (flatworm) in the water of the frog habitat, which is cool as it will eat drowned insects or even frog poop. I also have a few snails in there to help with the poo-removal.

My family and I have been enjoying watching these various creatures through their glass houses. Except for one - which has served as a nice curiosity among our menagerie of creatures.

Accdentally, when importing a plant from outside, I added a leech to the fishbowl. In a way, it is beneficial, as that bowl usually gets overrun with baby snails and I'm at a loss with ideas to thin their numbers humanely. Well, "Leechy" takes care of that, eating snail egg clusters and babies. I check every day to make sure he/she (leeches are hermaphrodites!) hasn't decided to make a snack of a tadpole, but he's small enough that I don't think he/she will be a threat. It is with a combination of interest and disgust that I watch Leechy emerge from its hiding place under the gravel and swim in a snake-like motion across the plants and through the water, seeking out a meal. It isn't that big now but it can stretch itself out to about 6 inches in length when its exploring among the plants. I might need to put a cover on the bowl so Leechy doesn't "beach" him/herself by jumping out of the bowl. Ewwww!

Within a few weeks, the indoor tads will be ready to move to the frog habitat. At that point I will upgrade to a larger enclosure with more plants and greater area to climp and hunt. In a way, the frog-keeping adds another dimension to my pet list: I am raising vials of flightless fruit flies to feed my hungry amphibians. Right now they are in larval (maggot) form, so until they mature to adult stage (in about 15 days), I add outdoor bugs like small moths, mites, and pillbugs to the frog enclosure and they seem to enjoy the variety.

At some point, we will likely have to take some of the frogs back to their homeland of Wisconsin, but supposedly they don't breed until they are 3 years old.

Mmm, maggots and leeches and flatworms...why decorate for halloween when I have those things hanging around?!

Thanks, Abby. *sheesh*

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. activities assistant in a nursing home (bingo caller, craft helper, pet therapy, etc)
2. software instructor
3. promotions/pr writer
4. food critic

Four Movies I have watched over and over:
1. All
2. are
3. chick
4. flicks

Four places I have lived:
1. Wallingford, PA
2.  Evanston, IL
3.  Chicago, IL
4.  Arlington Heights, IL

Four Shows I love to watch:
1. The Sopranos
2. Family Guy
3. The Office
4. What Not To Wear

Four Places I have been on vacation:
1. Adams County, WI
2. Brigantine, NJ
3. Hilton Head, SC
4. Hamilton, Bermuda

Four of my favorite cuisines: (I changed this category)
1. Chinese
2. Italian
3. Greek
4. Mexican

Four favorite drinks:
1. fruit cocktail from my juicer
2. veggie cocktail from my juicer
3. Pumpkin Spice Latte (Starbucks OR Panera)
4. Wine - various varietals

Four places (and activities) I would rather be(doing) right now:
1.  getting a pedicure at my fave spa
2.  on a retreat/studying spiritual topics in a quiet, calming place
3.  reading by a pool in a warm climate
4.  hiking in the woods

Four people I will tag:

1.Whoever
2. the hell
3. wants to
4. do it

Yesterday,while waiting for my order to be thinly sliced at my local deli, I began laughing, at first to myself, and then OUT LOUD when I saw the product in the cheese case in front of me. I didn't have the cajones to whip out my cell phone camera and snap a pic. Instead I offer you the manufacturer's website.

Please note, I rarely, if ever, DEMAND a click through, but I feel it is my duty (heheheheh) to highly encourage you (being the totalitarian I am) to check this out. It is totally ok for work, although it is entirely possible your local netowrk may block the site. You have to see it to belive it. Please offer comments; there are TOO MANY puns for me to list here!!

My daughter claims I am too strict. My husband says I am bossy. I know I struggle at times with my "type A" personality. This political quiz says I'm a cross between Stalin and Darth Vader.

Due to some sense of guilt, I keep hearing any number of Dead Kennedy's songs resonating in my brain. After seeing the results of my quiz I can only muse, "WWJD?" (What Would Jello Do?)

 I think this quiz is silly (and not particularly accurate)...but fun. Try it yourself!

You are a              Social Conservative          (35% permissive)               and an...           Economic Liberal           (30% permissive)                 You are best described as a:      Totalitarian (30e/35s)                                                                                                                                                                             Link: The Politics Test  on Ok Cupid Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test