The Adventures of OMP and Me

Conversation with OMP part two:


OMP: When you get home tonight, I have a surprise for you.
Me: Is it a pony?
OMP: It's not a pony.
Me: Are you sure it's not a pony? I really want a pony
OMP: Pretty sure it's not a pony.
Me: C'mon, you can level with me, it's a pony.
OMP: No
Me: It's a pony isn't it
Silence....
OMP: Yeah, it's a pony. It's a pink pony, with little puppies surrounding it and it craps out cupcakes that are non fattening and it burps bubblegum.
Me: You had me up till the burping bubblegum, everyone knows ponies don't burp bubblegum.
OMP: Yeah, cause it was totally believable up till that point.
Me: They burp little kisses that land on your cheek and make you giggle. Unicorns burp bubblegum
OMP: I'm hanging up the phone now.
Me: I can't wait to see my pony!
Click
Me: Hello? Burping pony? Anyone.

Only 1 more hour till I get my pony! I am so excited! He better have gotten me the deluxe model, you know, the one that sneezes rainbows...

Scrappy Dog Monday?

Yesterday was suppose to be Scrappy Dog Sunday, but I made jam instead and then got lazy and sat around the house. So, long story short-it didn't get done. Well, let me tell you, that did not sit well with Ms. Lola Mae. So, in order to get on her good side and to make her smile, I'm using today to feature some of her favorite movies.

There is nothing sweeter than a puppy. I love puppy breath, I love puppy paws, I love puppy bellies. They are adorable for a reason, they destroy everything in sight. The only thing better than 1 puppy is 100 more puppies. 101 Dalmatians is a sweet Disney movie that gives us an evil villain with an awesome hairstyle, chubby puppies and two of the best dog names ever, Pongo and Purdy. This beloved Disney movie was so popular that they made 2 live action movies from the original story. OMP hates the live action, but only because whenever it's on, I make him watch it. Don't judge me, you know I can't resist a puppy and a bad hairdo.

I am a lady of the south and I remember wanting my mother so desperately to shop at Winn Dixie because that was the upscale store. We went to Food Lion. The cheapy store. Winn Dixie had a deli, Food Lion had a cart with cakes that had fallen off the back of a truck. Because of Winn Dixie has nothing to do with a deli or my love of upscale grocery stores. It does have to do with a stray dog and a little girl's love for him. As she takes care of Winn Dixie (the dog, not the store) he helps her find friends and grow up in a small southern town. The movie is based on the book Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo, which I highly suggest all children should read, then see the movie and see how it compares.

Last but not least is a favorite TV movie of mine about a sweet Beagle named Snoopy. The Big Stuffed Dog is a story of a little boy and his oversized stuffed Snoopy. When the stuffed Snoopy gets separated from his little boy, the stuffed dog goes on an adventure, including a carnival and a hospital visit. It is a very adorable funny movie of a silly stuffed Snoopy. C'mon, what more do you want for 1981 TV?


Okay Ms. Lola, I hope I have redeemed myself and you will now let me give you hugs and kisses. What's that Lola? No, I will not give you another puppy treat. 5 is your limit! 

Salivating Saturday

I have a confession to make. I love my garden. I love every fruit and veggie out of there. I use to hate gardening-it seemed like so much hard work, and it is, but the benefit is definitely worth the work.

The first thing that is ready to harvest in my garden is my lettuce, raspberries and basil. OMP and I have been enjoying fresh salads and raspberries directly off the vine for about a week now. I was trying to figure out what to do with the basil and the simplest dish to make that can be used for just about anything is pesto.  Here is a quick recipe for yummy pesto.

Pesto
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup pine nuts
2/3 cups Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups basil
2/3 cups olive oil
pepper to taste
squeeze of a lemon wedge or two

In a blender or food processor finely chop the garlic, next add nuts, cheese, salt, pepper, and basil, then process until finely chopped. Finally, add oil and lemon,blending until smooth.


Now, what to do with your pesto? I love making cowboy pizzas with it. You thought the pesto was easy, cowboy pizza is even easier.

Take a can of biscuits and roll them out flat, next cook them according to the directions on the can. You can make homemade biscuits, but I wanted to eat now and didn't have time to make up the biscuits.

After the biscuits have baked,  add pesto and any other toppings you want. I had left over steak and chicken and added them to the pesto along with some cheese. I turned my oven on broil and put them back in for a few minutes until the cheese had melted. These are so easy and so good! They are perfect for whatever leftovers you have laying around the house.

Feel Good Friday!

From Gardening in the 909

Oh Friday...how I love you. You are the sweetest thing ever.

I want to live in this embroidery. Tinyexistence is amazing! I just love all the little details in the work. Check out her etsy shop too, she has patterns and finished pieces. I heart her.

 I've been catching up on the blog Scrumdillydilly. Great recipes, wonderful pictures and awesome projects. Pretty much everything I love. Okay, I really love the cake batter sugar buns, but that's a whole different story. 

Dear OMP, please get this for me. I can make all sorts of karate chopping noises while chopping up veggies. I promise I would eat more veggies.

As God as my witness, one if not all of my dogs will be wearing this for Halloween.

So many good things to feel good about on this Friday. I am heading to the backyard, throw the ball for the mutton chops and snuggle next to OMP. If he's lucky, he might get a kiss or two, IF he's lucky. ;)

I could not, at any age,
be content to take my place by the fireside and simply look on.
Life was meant to be lived.
Curiosity must be kept alive.
One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life.
-Eleanor Roosevelt

Sum Sum Summer!

I think it's been established that I love my backyard. It really is the pride of my whole house. It's a peaceful and calm escape from the hustle and bustle of the city. Although my backyard is wonderful, one side of it it was missing something. I have a detached garage that was just dying for some decoration. The paint is worn and OMP keeps telling me he is going to replace it, but so far I have thwarted his efforts. I love the way it looks and plan on keeping it that way for as long as I can.

I tried to figure out what to put over there and finally decided to mod podge some letters and spruce it up a little.

I found these letters at Michaels for 1.49 each. They are pressed wood and about 12 inches tall. I painted the edges and used scrap book paper for the front. I'm sure you could use fabric or any other paper if you wanted to.

I grabbed my outdoor mod podge and glued the letters to the paper. I could have cut the paper out first but it was easier for me to glue the letter to the entire piece of paper and then cut it out.

After my letter dried and I cut it out, I sanded the paper and the edges. This gave it a nice worn beach look. I outdoor mod podged the front of the letter. I let that dry and applied 3 coats of varnish (this was according to the directions of the bottle)

I hung up the letters outside and have had no problems with moisture getting between the letter and the paper. 

I am so happy with the way they turned out that I will be doing all seasons in the coming months. This craft was super easy, fairly cheap and you can make it as personal as you want. Plus, you get to brush up on your spelling skills!


Oh yeah...for all of you who wanted the rainbow skittle toes....

Rainbow Painted Toes

I'm not gonna hold back, the past couple of weeks someone has decided just to grind on my last nerve. They have pushed every button that I have and it finally got to the point to where I lost it. Yep. Happy Pam turned into Smashy Pam (not literally, but I felt like it). So, now that I have stepped back, I started thinking of things I can do instead of losing my temper. Here are a few I came up with.


Remove yourself from the situation. It is never ever selfish to take care of yourself first and make sure you are okay. Walking away from the anger and the hurt feelings sometime is the best thing you could ever do for a relationship-even with yourself.

Talk to your friends. I would especially find friends who agree with you.

 Look at cute animals. Do I really need to explain this? Cute animals cure all.

Write that person a letter but don't send it. Cuss the person out, tell them everything you have ever wanted to say, then get rid of it. Release that nastiness.

Practice your hula hooping, rope tricks, stitching, cocktail mixing-something that will take your mind off the crappy person and on fine tuning your circus skills (okay, this one might be just for me)

Remind yourself that the person/situation is just a speck of dust on your road map of life. You can brush it away and continue on your journey.  Keep thinking...just one speck of dust, one piece of sand, one pebble on the road.

Last, do something good for yourself, I highly suggest painting each of your toes a different color. It works wonders and makes you smile. How can you be angry with a rainbow?

I have done all these things and I feel a million times better. I'm not longer Smashy Pam but nice, calm happy Pam and this makes a happy OMP and happy pups. Don't ever let someone upset your or make you angry. Nine times out of ten, it's their deal. They are the dust, the sand, the pebble. You are the diamond, the pearl and the world. 

Tie One On Tuesday

Hey there hot sauce! Remember on Saturday when I made that yummy coconut whipped milk and I told you to save the water because we will be making drinks with it. Well, go grab that water cause the cocktail mixing is about to begin!

The easiest thing in the world to mix up and will be super yummy is coconut water and rum.

2 oz. rum
2-3 oz cold coconut water
Fill a glass with ice, add rum and water. Squeeze in some lime and there ya go! Instant cocktail!

Another great one is a coconut water Gin Old Fashion

2 ounces gin
1 sugar cube
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1/2 ounce coconut water
Lime peel, for garnish
Place sugar cube in the bottom of a low-ball, add bitters and coconut water then muddle until sugar dissolves.
Add gin, stir and fill with ice and garnish with a lime twist.

Both of the above cocktails are courtesy of Served Raw. There are a few other drinks on there worth checking out.

I couldn't find a lot of recipes using coconut water so I started thinking, what if I froze the water and used it in my juice and it was so yummy! I got some mango starfruit juice and added the ice. It gave it just enough tropical flavor without being overpowering. You could also use this for blending other frozen cocktails.

See how we used the whole can of coconut milk. Aren't you proud of yourself for not wasting anything? Maybe my next post should be how to use the can as a windsock.......hmmmmmm.....