Responsibility

re·spon·si·bil·i·ties
The state, quality, or fact of being responsible.
Something for which one is responsible; a duty, obligation, or burden.

In our house, all family members have responsibilities to contribute to our home. For example, I clean the toilets. Lawnmower man mows the lawn (during the off season, he vacuums.) Lil’Nanny empties the top rack of the dishwasher. And then there is Medium Nanny, she has a very unique job. She makes me sweet treats. Yes, I realize this is a load of responsibility for such a young girl. But let me explain…

I started letting her have this responsibility when she was about twelve years old. She always wanted to make No-Bake Cookies on Sunday afternoons, but I wanted to take a nap. I soon realized that I could loosely supervise her from the comfort of my couch because this recipe doesn’t require an oven. (that’s why they call’em “no-bake”) It wasn’t long before she was an old pro at whippin’ up a batch. I would wake up from a nap and there they would be…chocolaty, oatmeal goodness on my kitchen counter. She had mastered the art of no-bakes and it was time to move on to bigger and better things….

BROWNIES. Yes, she has been supplying our family (when I say family, I mean me) with lovin’ from the oven for a good number of years. Our conversation goes a little something like this, “I sure wish I had something sweet to eat” and she will say, “Why don’t you make us some brownies.” This is when I start talking in a whiny voice and say, “I can’t, I’m too tired, why don’t you make them.” She marches off to the kitchen and starts digging through the pantry for some Duncan or some Betty. And in 35-37 minutes, I’m sitting on my couch with a plate of chocolate goodness. She basically is feeding my addiction…I think Dr. Phil would call her an enabler.

This arrangement has worked out well for us, and I could go on like this forever. But then I had a horrific thought. She’s going to leave for college in the fall. What will I do? Who will feed my addiction? How will I get my chocolate fix? (insert mild panic attack here) While I was in the kitchen having my mild panic attack, Lil’Nanny walked in and said, “I wish we could make cookies.” JACKPOT! It was time for the tradition to continue.

So I showed her this...

I told her she could make them all by herself and I would watch from the couch. I would get up every now and then to handle the oven issues but other than that, she was on her own. She was excited.

And here she is with her fancy Kitchenaid Mixer...


If your going to make your children be slave bakers then you need to buy them the best equipment.


She did great. She doesn't know that this is an evil plot on my part to feed my addiction for the next eight years. Yes, count'em. Eight years. I'm good until the year 2016.

And here we have the final product...


I enjoyed these from the comfort of my couch.

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think...God is so good to me.

Please tell me if I have a mustache...

I had a conversation last week with some friends about facial hair. This commercial makes me laugh. I love this dorky Sonic couple.

Miss Michigan

Hi! I'm Angela and I can't dance, but I CAN RIDE A BIKE! Even on uneven surfaces and around corners. This means absolutely nothing to you if are not watching the Miss America Pageant.

FAITH 101

Go to http://rickandbubba.com and watch. Go and watch a Father's Heart, Part 1, 2, 3. Go right now and watch all of it.

Political Awareness

I talked to my Mom yesterday. Yes, my Mom. The one who doesn't read my blog. Anyhoo, we talked a little about politics. Today they are going to vote in the Michigan primary. Dad is a conservative, Ronald Reagan loving, Republican and will be voting for Mike Huckabee. Mom is voting for Mike Huckleberry. Yes, you heard me correctly, my Mom is voting for Mike Huckleberry and I guess, he is on the independent ticket.

I'm glad the election is not tomorrow. I don't know who I'm voting for. I was impressed with Mike's guitar playing on the Tonight Show. I believe that it's important that a politician can play a musical instrument and feel comfortable doing so on the Tonight Show. So for now, I will go back to the Fox News Channel to see how Huckleberry is fairing in the Michigan primary. It's going to be a long year in American history...a very, long year.

Happy Birthday

I was afraid that someone would miss this and I just couldn't let that happen. This video is enough to make me go public with my blog.
Thank you Tammy (Teresa's friend from college) for taking the time to make this awesome video tribute to Teresa. I'm forever grateful that I have some great pictures of her in some really cool dresses. The blue, flowery one is my favorite. Watch and enjoy!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Restaurant Review

Last week we were watching the Food Network and they were showing the best places in America to find a good hotdog. I made the comment to Lawnmower Man that you just can’t get a good hotdog in this state. He quickly started surfing the web to find out where the best hotdog place was in these here parts of Music City.

A good coney dog is high on my list of “good eats.” When we are in my home state we always go to Bob E's Super Chief. It has been around forever (like 40 years) and they have perfected the coney. It’s old but charming. Not really. It’s six booths, four barstools and Indian memorabilia hanging on the walls. Their secret ingredient is the toasted bun and the Koegel Brand Hotdog. They butter up the bun and grill it like you would a grilled cheese. I top mine off with chili, onions, ketchup, mustard and a slice of cheese. I also side it up with an order of onion rings and a diet Coke. I think you should always have a vegetable with your
entrée.



Anyhoo, Lawnmower Man found this place on the “Nashville’s Top 100 Best Places” list. So we loaded up medium nanny and lil'nanny and headed to Nashville. One thing I knew for sure was if we were going to get a good dawg we were going to have to leave the comforts of Williamson County. We were going to have to enter the not so pretty side of Nashville to get some "good eats". I've been eating dogs long enough to know that you'll never find a good hotdog stand in Brentwood. So we headed to Ewing and Lafayette. I had hopes when we drove down the street and looked at the establishment. It doesn't look fancy...that's a good sign. The area not so great...good sign. Things were looking up for me! Woohoo!

It was at this time that I had to make the big decision...Do I take my Coach purse into the not so fancy establishment or do I leave it in the car. I wasn't comfortable leaving it in the car. We got out of the car. Lawnmower Man seemed a little apprehensive. I said, "Don't wimp out on me now, were going in." We headed in the door, we were greeted and it was at this time that I knew I was not gettin' a good dawg. A southern woman with big hair asked us if we had ever been there before. She started explaining the types of hotdogs that they served. They call a hot dog with chili and cheese, "Texas Style". Anyone who knows anything about hotdogs knows that is called a "coney". I don't think Texan's are known for good hotdogs. I've yet to see that on the Food Network...maybe New York, maybe Chicago but Texas? She also said that the fries were great. I guess she thought woman with a Coach purse coming in, I'm going to have to explain the hotdogs to her. I was very annoyed by the explaining.

So we ordered. I orded the "Texas". Here it is...



Lawnmower Man ordered the Chicago. Here it is...



Here are the Lil'Nannies...(they are ketchup only girls, but I fully expect them to grow out of this.) Yes, they had to sit next to the buns. Seating was at a premium at this place.



Well, that was our day. Lawnmower Man was happy with his Chicago dog, I wasn't impressed with my "Texas" dog, Medium Nanny wasn't impressed and Lil'Nanny loved the fries. I give it a two out of five dawgs. If you know of a good place for us to get a dawg, leave it on the comments.

Some girls have husbands who take them to big fancy places downtown. But I have Lawnmower Man and he is out to find me the best dawg ever. It's the special times like this when I know that Lawnmower Man truly loves me.

Loyalty

Loyal: characterized by or showing faithfulness to commitments, vows, allegiance, obligations, etc. Loyalty connotes sentiment and the feeling of devotion that one holds for one's country, creed, family, friends, etc

When going through life you hopefully have people that you know you can always count on. I am blessed to say that I have many loyal people in my life. I have a faithful husband who vacuums everyday, sweet girls, a wonderful father who would do anything for me, little sister & brother, adoring aunt and great friends who have become my Tennessee family. All of these people are very loyal. They have shown their faithfulness to me throughout my life. You may have noticed that I have left someone off the list...that would be my mother. Here's the story...

A few weeks ago I was on the phone with my mother and this was our conversation...

Mom: So what are you doing tonight?
Big Nanny: We are going to my friend Teresa's annual Christmas party and I can't wait. It's an eighties themed party and I have a great fuschia prom dress to wear.
Mom: Oh, that should be fun, I'll talk to you later and I want to hear about it. Put some pictures on your blog.
Big Nanny: Okay, love you bye.

Fast forward to Christmas day. I was on the phone with my mother and this was part of our conversation...

Mom: So how was the party? Are you going to put any pictures on your blog?Big Nanny: I don't think I'm going to, but you can go over to www.livinthewoodlife.blogspot.com and look at the pictures that Teresa put up on her blog.

Fast forward to New Year's Day. I was on the phone with my mother and this was part of our conversation...

Mom: So what did you do last night?
Big Nanny: We went to Robyn's house, we played the longest card game in history, ate good food, etc.
Mom: Do you think she will put pictures on the blog?
Big Nanny: No, Mom, Robyn doesn't blog.
Mom: No, the other girl. I went to her blog and she had the party pictures, I read the new year's post and I saw the Hannah Montana pictures. She can write good. I read some of the other things too, some of it will make you teary.
Big Nanny: Yeah, Mom...she's a really great writer.

All during this conversation I kept waiting for my Mom to mention my blog. About my new pimped out blog, Christmas pictures, etc. Nothing. Nada. She never mentions it. After I got off of the phone I thought to myself...My Mom is not reading my blog, but she is reading Teresa's blog. No, she probably has read my blog and just forgot to mention it. After an hour I called her back and this was our conversation...

Big Nanny: Mom, did you look at my blog?
Mom: I looked at your blog.
Big Nanny: Well, I was just wondering because you mentioned that you looked at Teresa's blog and you did not mention mine.
Mom: I saw your Christmas pics and I liked your favorite things list.
Big Nanny: I just thought maybe you were not reading mine anymore.
Mom: Well, I look at yours sometimes but you don't update much. She writes more than you and she writes good. I've looked at that BooMama's too and even Beth Moore.

We proceed to talk about the blog world: Boomama, BigMama, Pioneer Woman, Beth Moore, etc. and I told her that I just don't know where they find the time to blog. I told her that BooMama now has advertisers on her blog and gets paid for it.

This was her blog pep talk to me: You need to write more stuff. Your getting better. Maybe you could get someone to write your blog for you. And then she said this, the funniest line of all: Maybe you can get some advertisers on your blog. Yeah, Mom. I'm sure that someone wants to advertise on a blog that has a grand total of 7 readers. Or should I say 6 readers. Thanks for reading sometimes. And Teresa, you have a new "loyal" lurker and a new house guest next Thanksgiving.