Pushing Daisies

We're a few weeks into the new TV season and I have enjoyed most of the shows that hooked me last season. There were many new shows this season that I was interested in checking out. Those shows include Cavemen, Private Practice, Big Bang Theory, and Pushing Daisies. Of these new shows the only one I want to recommend to you is Pushing Daisies.

First of all, let me say that if I am posting this to my blog, and I have not posted anything in a very long time, you should listen. This show was unlike anything I had ever seen. It is cleverly written, directed, and put together. Andrew who only watches the Office said that this would be a show he would definitely continue to watch and that he enjoyed it because it was so unique. He said that he's never seen anything like this on TV before.

I know you're probably all thinking, "But I missed the first episode Angela, what am I supposed to do now?" Don't worry, you can watch the full episode at abc.com, and I would really encourage you to do so. It was wonderful.

As a side note, this show was written about in the Modesto Bee as being one of the only clean primetime shows on TV this season. So, watch this show, if not for any other reason than to support good TV programs.

Here's a blub from another blog that sums up exactly how I felt about this show:

Every once in a while a pilot comes along that completely shocks and surprises you with its dazzling beauty, pitch perfect cast, and its casual ability to create a whole world that you never want to leave.

I'm talking, gentle readers, about Pushing Daisies, which ABC recently ordered to series for the fall season. From the fertile mind of Bryan Fuller (Wonderfalls, Heroes), it's unlike anything you've ever seen on television, a Burtonesque vision of mortality, morality, and, er, pies that sucks you in from the very opening scene and never lets go.

GO, WATCH, NOW!

Wheat

I've recently taken an interest in food storage. Not just building a supply of food, but learning to buy things that are less expensive and rotate them through my regular meal preparation. I like to have a "two week at a time" menu plan which I created in Excel and contains data for the last 2 years. It's helpful when trying to think of something to eat to be able to look back at what we ate 2 years ago in Septemeber for ideas.

I decided to come up with a few standard dinner items that I would use more frequently that wouldn't require all fresh ingredients and that my kids would eat. Tall order, right? I know. I came up with about 5 items and I'm trying to stock up on some of the items like broths, dry seasoning packets, pastas, etc. This is all fine and dandy but I've discovered that I can get things so much cheaper from the church cannery. Those items include flour, sugar, pasta, and wheat. WHEAT...the food I remember finding in my tuna sandwich at school and wondering how "rice" got into my sandwich. The stuff my mom used to run through the grinder each morning in the basement and then boil for her breakfast. WHEAT! I must have clearly forgotten or perhaps never fully understood my distaste for the "life sustaining" product because I've decided to try incorporating it into our meals.

I do not have a wheat grinder but Andrew is completely on board and has found one for me that has multiple grinding levels to provide me with cracked wheat, flour, and anything else I may need. Before I blow $150 on the shiney Kitchenaid attachment and fill my garage with bags of wheat, I thought I should perhaps buy some wheat from the grocery store and test it out in a few meals. I'm also planning to get some whole wheat flour to use in my next pizza dough and loaf of bread.

So here's where I need your help. I want to have a good wheat experience, I really do. I am reading recipes and cookbooks (actually the only one I have is from 1966 which tells me how lucky I am to be a woman in this day and age when I can use an electric mixer!), and I just haven't found the right recipe to base my new whole wheat lifestyle on. I am in need of some suggestions. There must be people out there, other than my mom who eat wheat. Send me your recipes. I need to try this out and see if I too can trick my kids into thinking it's rice. They love rice, so they should love wheat too, right?

As a side note, I read that 1 cup of wheat contains 400 calories. Yikes! I could eat 3 skinny cow ice cream sandwiches in place of that one cup of wheat. YUM!

MFD Station 1

I haven't posted anything for a while so I thought you'd all enjoy this video I made of a trip we took to Andrew's fire station last week. We go to his station frequently but this was our first official tour.

Books

For some, the start of summer meant diving into books and enjoying a pleasant summer of reading. For me, it meant treading water and not drowning in the immense workload of mother, wife, runner, employee, etc. I started several books and some I finished while others were left to be drawn out. After the race last weekend I picked up a fun book from my cousin Catherine that jump started my reading again. I've finished off a few of my unread books this weekend and thought I'd share a few of my thoughts...

Harry Potter 7: I know what you're thinking...How could the #1 Harry Potter fan let the book drag out for so long. Well, it's a mixture of book theft from my mother, increased workload, and I've now realized the fear that once I finished, it would be over. I actually just finished book 7 moments ago. I have to say that I was very pleased with the ending and it was extremely hard to avoid hearing the ending up to this point. I am happy to say that I will be open to discuss the book at this point in time. Overall, I loved it! (oh yeah, who is the new headmaster!?!)

Eclipse: This was the most anticipated book of the summer for me. I love Edward, I love vampires, I love the Cullen Family. The book was great, and gave me the delicious read I was expecting. It could have had some deeper twists, but it's a YA book, so what more could I expect? I will be counting down the days to Breaking Dawn...

The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things: I intended to read this on my trip home from Oregon, but spent most of the flight sleeping and didn't get too far. What I did read peaked my interest enough to keep going. It was an entertaining book that had me rooting for Virginia all the way through. She's a great heroine and I hope I can be more like her!

Austenland: I think this is my favorite book of the summer. I feel a great love for this story. I purchased this and intended to listen to it while running in Oregon however I did not begin listening to it until I returned home. Stephenie Meyer recommended this book so I knew it had to be a good one. For me, I really enjoy going into a book knowing nothing about it. I had NO idea that Austenland was referring to Jane Austen so when the book began with the character Jane being obsessed with "Pride and Prejudice" or I should say, Mr. Darcy, I thought that the book may be a bore. It turned out to be a total delight and I enjoyed entering the world of Austenland. If you have the chance, pick up this book and settle in. It also moved me to rent "Pride and Prejudice" although it was only the 2 1/2 hour version. I may need to spring for the 6 hour Collin Firth version when I have a little more free time on my hands.

So with summer coming to a close it looks like I finished 4 new books. I did read Twilight and New Moon for a 2nd time at the beginning of summer but won't count those in my total.

The shelf on my night-stand is getting really full and as I pulled Harry Potter off I noticed several other books that have been leant to me that I started and never finished. I've gotten a new interest in books after this last week so perhaps I will dive into the other unfinished books on my shelves.

Happy Reading!

UPDATE-My first ever iMovie creation

I'm not sure this will work, but this is my first creation using iMovie as well as my first creation using my video camera which I purchased back in May. I have filmed a lot, but not done anything with it. I hope this turns out like I thought...

This didn't post like I thought it would so I worked on it again today. The *NEW & IMPROVED* version features music, sound effects, and a shorter run time. TAKE 2!

Hood to Coast

Running Hood to Coast this year with the Banana Slugs was one of the most fun things I've done in a very long time. For a few days I felt like a kid again with no responsibilities other than assassinating the competition. The hills, distance, lack of sleep and frequent stops at the honey bucket couldn't come in the way of my running high. I'm looking forward to next year and improving our times. Thank you Catherine for putting this all together. You're AWESOME! ;)

Once you go MAC you'll never go back!

We recently had a major computer fiasco in our house which ultimately ended in having 5 computers in my living room with cords running all over the house. I decided that $1100 on a new Dell PC was far too much to spend for a computer that couldn't connect to the internet. The strange thing was that my Dell Laptop was connecting to the internet perfectly but it was running XP and not Vista (which the new computer had). After spending 6 hours on the phone with Dell it was determined that the problem was "Vista compatibility." What's crazy is that I never wanted Vista, ever. I asked multiple times for a computer with XP OS but was told that Dell was no longer offering that OS. So, I took the Vista computer, spent $1100 and was extremely disappointed. As a side note, I found that all the major computer stores were only offering Vista as well. So, as a warning to all of you out there...if you need to buy a new computer you will be required to get Vista (which really and truely sucks as far as being compatible with anything and everything). There is however another option.

When this all went down, the new iMac was released. Here's a picture of the new computer that is so incredibly goregous!
http://www.apple.com/

It was all meant to be, the perfect timing. I had a terrible computer that cost me $1100 and the new iMac was released costing the same amount but offering a better computer in every way. So I ordered the iMac and watched the FedEx tracking as it traveled from China (don't worry, it doesn't have red paint on it), Phillipines, Alaska, Indiana, California, and to my house. I even video taped myself opening the computer becuase I was so excited about this new member of our family.

This computer is wonderfully simple to use. Just how a computer should be, right? We shouldn't have to work so hard to get a computer to work. It also has lots of fun features like the photobooth. We have enjoyed sitting in front of the computer and taking pictures of ourselves. The monitor actually flashes when a photo is taken. It's so smart! Here's a picture of Andrew and Calvin from earlier today:



So the happy ending in this story gets even better. Andrew got an email from the accountant for the city of Modesto yesterday and it turns out that they over charged for our health insurance premiums for the last year and will be issuing a reimbursement of $1100. Wow, good things come to those with Macs.