Archive for October, 2008
It’s time for trick-or-treat again! Nights filled with costume-clad little ones, chocolate-induced sugar highs, and, naturally, anal retentive behavior.
My Mom was just reminding me tonight how, when I was little, I used to come home from trick-or-treating, set up shop on the living room floor, dump out all my candy, and SEPARATE IT INTO PILES SORTED BY CANDY TYPE.
Dudes. This problem is bigger than I thought.
I totally remember doing it, too. Milky Ways in one pile, Sweet Tarts in another, a pile of Powerhouse bars to give to my Dad (do they even make those anymore? I don’t remember what those had in them…it must’ve been filled with nuts, though, for me to have had such an aversion to them), Mounds bars to give to my sister, Reese’s peanut butter cups to give to my Mom, etc. etc. I mean, how hilarious is that? I can completely remember putting all of it back in my bag, too, after the organizational process (p.s., where the hell were you on the Excel thing in 1985, Microsoft?!?). I tried to keep everything with its little candy family and even put different bags within my trick-or-treat bag in order to keep the organization in tact.
Awesome.
If I hadn’t been so busy stuffing my face full of $100 Grand bars, I probably would have been creating a list to cross reference against the previous year’s candy…and creating a chart showing the correlation of type of candy collected to type of costume worn.
I’m kidding.
Kind of.
Posted on 29 October '08 by colorcodedc, under OCD, Sweet. 4 Comments.
“Santonio Holmes said he would have made a difference in the outcome if he had played for the Steelers Sunday in their 21-14 loss to the New York Giants.
‘I know I would … yes, but I wasn’t there to help the team,’ Holmes said today, speaking publicly for the first time since his arrest for possessing a small amount of marijuana last Thursday.”
Seriously, dude. Do you have to rub it in????
Thanks.
Posted on 29 October '08 by colorcodedc, under Steelers. No Comments.
Picture it if you will.
Two 5-1 teams in a Week 8 matchup. Teams that have two of the three Super Bowl rings earned since Feb, 2006 and are looking for another. Teams with star quarterbacks who went head to head in the 2004 college draft.
The Steelers’ defense leads the league in sacks, and they’re up against one of the toughest offensive lines in the league, considering Manning’s only been sacked 6 times all year. Sounds like all the necessary ingredients for a classic match-up, right?
So, could we have a little more trash talking enthusiasm here, please?? First of all, come ON, Ben. Plaxico “made me who I am?” For REAL? What was it he taught you exactly…responsibility? Nope. Leadership? Wrong again. Driving an obnoxiously large vehicle? Maybe.
And, secondly, don’t even get me STARTED on Santonio.
Seriously?
Weed.
In your car.
Driving past Mellon Arena.
Fantastic.
Missing games because of drug possession charges is not how you make friends with Steeler fans, Asshat.
Regardless…
Having won 12 out of the last 14 regular season games at home, no doubt we’re making this #13.
GO. STEELERS.
CK and I are heading up to Pittsburgh this weekend…
For the Steeler game!!!!!!!! Woo-hoo!!!
We’re doing an all-day tailgate for the game (and, with this crew, all day means ALL DAY; nothing short of 7:00 AM is considered to be an acceptable arrival time). It’s actually really awesome. CK and his friends started putting this tailgate together about two years ago (this is the 3rd annual) for one of their friends, Matt, who passed away sadly, suddenly, and unexpectedly. It’s a great event…TONS of people - a lot of Matt’s family - all getting together to remember him in the place he loved best: a Steeler fan-infested parking lot at Heinz Field.
I’m psyched. Psyched for the tailgate… psyched for the game …psyched to be going home…to be going back to a weather forecast that includes at least two snowflakes…
Um, wha???? WHAT THE H IS THAT ALL ABOUT, JON BURNETT??!?
Where is all the gorgeous, 60-degree, blue-skied, sunny, crispy red and orange leaf-filled deliciousness that is supposed to be the ‘Burgh in October??!?
Actually, I’m pretty thankful. That 5-day said rain showers with a high of 49 a day or two ago. Jon, if you could just remove that rain drop and snowflake for me, I would perhaps consider switching my KDKA allegiance from Ken Rice to you. I mean, you’re no on-the-field, sports-reporting weatherman like someone else I know, but still. I’m just saying…something to think about.
BRING IT, G-MEN!!!!!!! YOU’RE OURS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok, am I the only one who thinks that Softsoap smells like crap? Back me up here?
I guess it smells clean or something, but it doesn’t smell good.
This is just a theory I’m throwing around, but I think guys like to use Softsoap because, deep down, they’re concerned about cleanliness or they’re somehow interested in creating a certain lack of bacteria in the house.
Oh, ha ha ha. I just cracked myself up.
What I REALLY think is that guys put Softsoap out because they like other people (and by “other people” I mean “women”) to think they wash their hands…and it helps that it’s basically free. I mean, they’re practically GIVING it away at Sweetbay.
Anyway, I’m generally happy that they’re giving this impression and, in the case of some outliers, are actually washing their hands.
I guess what I’m saying is that maybe I shouldn’t be so sad to see my delicious Bath & Body Works soap demoted to “not close enough to the sink to be the soap we’re going with but not far enough away to actually be considered part of the recycling bin.”
Retaliation will be mine…
Huh. I had no idea.
I’m not a baseball fan. I mean, I’m from Pittsburgh, so I guess I just assume this is implied. I haven’t paid attention to baseball since, oh, let’s call it 1992.
But, since I’ve moved to St. Pete, I’ve come to realize that “exciting baseball” can be something other than a horrible oxymoron. I’ve actually even witnessed a couple exciting games myself! And, while I’m so far removed from the love I once had for the sport, I find myself being really happy for my new neighbors all the same. Because, really. When you go from being the worst team in baseball to being in the World Series the very next season, all you can say is, “how long until the Super Bowl?”
Just kidding. Old habits…
Congratulations, Rays!!!!!!!!!
I have a touch of OCD.
I know this about myself.
The WebMD site says a common symptom of OCD is the “need for order, symmetry or exactness.” Check, check, and…
…yes, check!
Ironically, I’ve moved in with a guy who has virtually no need for order in his life*. AT ALL. Imagine it….
No, sorry. I can’t either. I don’t get it.
*(Actually, I take that back. Oddly, he has the exact same love of spreadsheets that both my sister and I have. I mean, he keeps track of all the concerts he attends in an Excel spreadsheet!!! God love him. But, hang a towel back up after using it? Um, utter nonsense apparently).
It’s funny, too, because the very last thing my Mom said to me when we were saying goodbye before CK and I hit the Penske to drive down here. “Don’t drive him crazy,” she says. Good advice from the OCD creator herself!
And, I am trying. Seriously. I am. Stuff strewn about…and stuff out of place in general…just drives me absolutely CRAZY. And, I’m not even that clean a person. I’d rather do basically anything than scrub a floor or clean the shower (it’s why I need to invite guests over fairly frequently…the fear of embarrassment is about the only thing that can motivate me to break out the Scrubbing Bubbles). But, I have to have everything put away and in its right place. It’s a sickness, I know.
So, I’m working on not getting irritated by stuff that’s left out (I’m having “a sense of humor about it,” as my Mom suggested). I dutifully wander around the house and try to put away anything that’s getting under my skin (like, WHY must papers be left on the stove?? Fire hazard aside, it’s just freakin’ weird that it would be used as a storage space to begin with. And, why…WHY does the cell phone charger have to be permanently plugged into the wall with the cord dragging along on the floor right behind the chair where I sit to eat dinner so that my foot skids out from underneath me every SINGLE time I go to sit down there?!?!?!?! PLEASE ANSWER ME!!! Hoo, sorry. Holy run-on sentence, Batman).
Because I’m 100% sure the very fact that I’m putting this stuff away all the time is probably irritating the CRAP out of him (he’s got to be thinking, “Why, WHY does she have to put away my cell phone charger when I just have to get it out again in the morning to plug it into what must be the most super convenient location in the whole entire house?!? I don’t get it!”).
Like sands through the hourglass, my friends…
Oh my gosh, dudes. I made the BEST cupcakes!
Coconut.
Cupcakes.
But, ah, let me back up. First thing’s first. I’m addicted to the Food Network.
Like, seriously addicted.
It’s weird. It was kind of a gradual thing with me. I’ve always liked to cook and bake, but I never really got into the shows about it. I always thought that cooking shows on TV were just boring old Donna Reed types who were strict about the “rules” and had the personality of…well, of someone who cooks on TV.
I remember the first time I really watched the Food Network, though. I had gone over to my sister’s place, and she had Paula Deen’s show on. Paula was making peach cobbler. Enough said. Between the deliciousness that was the cobbler and the awesomeness that was Paula, I was hooked. That was probably, oh, eight years ago.
Now, I like to watch it for the recipes and for the chefs that I love…and for its general food fantasy qualities. Aside from actually sitting and watching the shows, I even like to have it on just as background noise. The sound is like little food elves are hanging in my living room with me planning a holiday party.
Ahem.
Anyway, what was I saying?
I love Ina Garten. Sure, she says “fabulous” too many times, and sure, she acts like everyone has a house in the Hamptons and can afford all the specialty stores she frequents. But, I can’t hate. Girl used to work in the White House. And, she built a specialty food store into a successful business that she eventually sold to her employees. That’s heart.
So, really, the coconut cupcakes. They’re AMAZING. And, I’m not even a huge fan of coconut. They’re not overwhelming at all, though. I ended up making only half the recipe because, between CK and me, there was no way we would should go through all those cupcakes. As it was, I stuck a bunch in the freezer because half a recipe made almost two dozen cupcakes.
The batter was kind of thick, but since the recipe called for 5 eggs, halving it was, well, let’s just call it a little tricky.
I think I may have baked them a little bit too long, too, since the tops were kind of hard (but, I didn’t have any toothpicks, so it was hard to tell if they were done in the middle). But, the smell in here when they were baking…
Heaven.
And, the icing. MY GOD THE ICING. It made the whole cupcake. (And, it made a ton, so be prepared to freeze some icing for future indulgence). I decided to sprinkle extra coconut only on some of them (it’s a texture thing…I’m ok with coconut inside…but, for some reason, not on top).
So, please. Go find your inner Ina. You know it’s in there…
