~Vitamin Sea~

The Ameythyst Initiative. Rethinking the Drinking Age.

I was a little stunned to read about the Amethyst Initiative, a quest by university and college chancellors and presidents to legally reduce the drinking age from 21 to 18.

They have signed their names to a public statement to this effect and are calling for elected leaders to back them up.  They believe that lowering the drinking age to 18 will cut down on the number of binge drinking incidents at college campuses across the United States.

I'm calling on our elected leaders to use common sense here. 

Their public declaration is that a "culture of dangerous, clandestine “binge-drinking”—often conducted off-campus—has developed" across University and college campuses today.

And they believe that those who are old enough to vote, join the military and serve on juries should also be old enough to purchase a beer legally.

It sounds to me as if our esteemed college and university presidents and chancellors need to leave their offices and come down the steps and into the lives of the students that they think they're trying to represent.  And perhaps they should consider spending a single Friday with a parent from any given high school.  Friday nights are party nights. That's when the students are ready for the weekend. 

I'm speaking in general terms, not of my daughters, specifically. I've been around enough teenagers to know these things.

My daughter attends a fairly average high school in Florida which mixes all ages and all grades together in various courses.  Therefore, in her chemistry course, she is just as likely to share the class with the 18- year- old senior who hasn't yet graduated as she is with the 14- year-old freshman who is just starting high school for the first time ever. 

And the interaction between the 14 and 18 yr. old set would give any parent nightmares if they heard the type of parties being planned on any given weekend. 
Or if they heard the sex talk that goes on between the students.
You think they talk about chemistry non-stop?

If the initiative passes, that 18 year old, now allowed to drink legally for the first time, is not likely to exclude the cute little 15 year old sophomore who wants to attend his party Friday night.  The 14 year old freshman? She can come if she doesn't tell anyone about the alcohol.  Armed with the ability to buy all the Mountain Dew and Vodka he wants,  he's going to be the most popular kid on campus.

I, and many of my friends, have enough problems with parents who willingly allow their 16 year old to drive simply because it's convenient for the parent, whether or not the kid is mature enough to know how to handle herself on the road in a high traffic situation.

The thought of the same type of parent simply shrugging, and saying "Well? what can I do? It's legal for them to drink!" - is giving me headaches.

This initiative is going to create a whole other set of problems for high school administrators, especially in an era where, because of budget cuts,  high school counselors are few and far between.  You won't find a plentiful supply of counselors in any given Florida public school, because there isn't enough money to pay them. You will find very little alcohol counseling as well. 

It seems to me the university presidents are simply sick of babysitting, and of spending good money on security for their campus police departments, who otherwise would have to police these binge drinking parties.

And I can't shake the feeling they're more concerned about their financial liability than about the safety of their students.

The student who is old enough to vote or sit on a jury is not endangering his life by doing so.  Maturity plays a huge part in this situation.  Does he or she also have the maturity to drink that beer, and the 6 pack of beers that follow it, and then know when to turn over the keys to a designated driver?

Really? You think most of them know when to say when? 
Then take a look at this article which still churns my stomach to this day.

In addition, The Tampa Bay region has the the highest fatality rate of teen drivers in the nation. Adding alcohol to the mix is a recipe for disaster.

I would like the Initiative group to read the bottom of this article, published in September, 2007.

"By now, the names of the young dead are stacking up: 14-year-old Raquel Carreras of St. Petersburg died Sept. 15 after a car loaded with five others under 15 lost control; 17-year-old Matthew Laidley of Wesley Chapel died on Aug. 29, his two friends seriously injured; 17-year-old driver Tyler Clark of Valrico died Oct. 8 after his Jeep carrying seven others bumped a median and spun out of control, injuring the others.

Other names and dates in recent memory:

- Oct. 13: Charlotte Marie Hoffman's Ford Mustang flew off a curve, hit a tree and broke in two pieces, killing Callie Lynn Roberts, her 16-year-old passenger. Hoffman of Ruskin was 18.

- Oct. 18: Andrew Leight, 16, driving his father's truck in Gibsonton, clipped 15-year-old Fredrick Gardner's bike, killing Fredrick.

- Feb. 27: Lindsey Rutledge, 16, died in Valrico after she stepped into the path of a car driven by Zachary Carroll, 16. No charges have been filed.

And Hulk Hogan's 17-year-old son, Nick Bollea, is in the center of a high-profile case as Clearwater police investigate his Aug. 26 collision, which critically injured his passenger, 22-year-old John Graziano.

An estimated 702 crashes occur on Florida roads every day, most frequently involving drivers 15 to 19.

Stephen Hegarty, spokesman for Hillsborough County schools, said the problem has become so urgent that superintendent MaryEllen Elia has made it a part of town hall meetings. She has one at 7 tonight at Jefferson High School.

Elia frequently requests that officers station themselves around campuses to police teen drivers, Hegarty said.

"We have had too many tragedies," he said. "All you can do is stress it over and over again."

The Amethyst Initiative purports that if teenagers were legally allowed to buy alcohol, they would be less likely to binge on it.  I don't buy that line of thinking at all.

Teens don't drink because it's illegal or because they're going to get away with it.  They drink for the same reason you and I do, because alcohol makes you feel good.  It helps you relax when you're at a party with your friends. You're more likely to loosen up and get into party mode when you've had a few beers or margaritas.

We all know that if a student wants to, he or she will find a way to drink.  Studies show that 81% of high school students have tried alcohol before graduation.  But making it legal for the 18 year old to buy liquor would allow them to legally bring alcohol to a party where there are likely to be many 15, 16, 17 year old students on the scene.  And that just gives me chills.

Pass this initiative, and watch those kids get in the car afterward and drive off. 
It's just not the phone call any of us wants to get in the middle of the night.

And I find it deplorable that any university president would agree to this Initiative without thinking it through.

Possible Solutions:

A Harvard University study on binge drinking  showed that underage students attending colleges in states with extensive laws restricting underage and high-volume drinking were less likely to binge on alcohol.

The study goes on to show that an established culture of binge drinking already in place by the colleges encourages them to drink more. 

I would suggest lowering it to age 20.  How about that?  By then, they're usually out of high school and hopefully have moved away from socializing with the the 14 - 17 yr. old set.

Additionally, the MySpace and Facebook generation needs to wake up and solve this problem themselves.
I would like to know, what is the appeal of a binge anyway?
And do you know how to stop yourself in time? Would your friends stop you from reaching that point?

There are those who point to history, and remind everyone of the binge drinking that took place in the 60's or 70's before the age limit was imposed.

I'd then wonder if the university presidents are not simply trying to absolve themselves of current litigation brought on by the parents of the students who died from this type of thing.

I don't know what the answer is.   I do commend the Initiative for provoking a national debate on the subject.

But lowering the drinking age to 18 is not the answer.

To our elected officials, don't pass this initiative.   It will create more problems than it solves.

What do you think?  I'd like to know your thoughts, both pros and cons.

That Defining Moment

For awhile now,  I thought my camera lens needed to be examined by a Canon professional. I had noticed that most of the photos I took were coming out rather blurry. Either that, or something was wrong with the camera settings, so I looked all through the manual and tried out different practice photos, but nothing seemed to work. Sometimes they were blurry, but other times, as in an up-close zoom, they'd come in just fine.

After the Disney trip, I came home with several hundred pictures, more than half of which came in blurry. I was throughly upset and told Rick I was going to make an appt. with a Canon specialist in town.

Richard looked at the photos, smiled and handed me his glasses.

Oh.

I can't believe I never thought the problem was my eyes!
And now I wonder just how many photos I've sharpened all this time, that might not have needed it otherwise.
*groan*.

I've been wearing glasses for reading for almost a year now, but up till this fall, it hadn't affected my photography.  This aging process ain't for wimps!

A post

I'm too tired to do much more than link to articles today. 
Here's a good one about aging, no matter how old you are.

And for those of you who are followers of the International Brotherhood of Felines, Local 459.
this is what your President does all day long.
No wonder your union is so lethargic.

For the record, that's all they do around here, sleep!
A belly rub is in order.  I dare ya..

Buddy says he'd never join the union. "are you kidding me?"

The Law, the Fish and Christmas

Yesterday while watching the  local news, I noticed a very overweight cop in the background of a crime scene.   I'll never understand that, ever.  Seems to me that cops should be required to keep themselves in shape.  How can you effectively chase down a criminal if you're out of shape? It almost seems irresponsible.

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Meanwhile, if you're looking for Christmas presents online, check out the National Wildlife Federation's gift catalog.  They had some interesting items for home decor and more.
Just a thought.

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Here's Sam and Rick fishing out at the Skyway bridge last week.  Check out that grouper!  Unfortunately, it was just a hair under the size limit.

The Man Who Cured Cancer

I think article is a must read!  Here' s a section I've cut and pasted:

Imagining a cure for cancer, for malignancies that kill millions, is like imagining an end to war.

David Vesely is killing cancer cells by the droves in his laboratory at Tampa's James A. Haley VA Medical Center. He is killing the deadliest forms - pancreatic, breast, lung, colon, prostate and kidney cancers. He's destroying them with heart hormones he discovered in 1987. He has already used those hormones to reverse congestive heart failure and kidney failure. No one even knew about these things 20 years ago.

His fourth-youngest, Brian, was the first to look through a microscope at cultures of cancer cells mixed with his father's heart hormones. The cell cultures included the type of breast cancer that had killed his mother.

Before his eyes, the deadly cells disintegrated.

- - -

Read the entire story here.

Side Effect to the Great American Barbque

Here I am, a little bandaged up but no worse for wear. This is what skin cancer does to you, ladies and gentlemen of the Internet.  It'll strike without warning anywhere it pleases.  I'm lucky, I think, because it's basal cell skin cancer, rather than melanoma.   One is life threatening, the other, a problematic nuisance.

I didn't have a mole. I always thought skin cancer arrived in the form of a clearly defined butt- ugly mole, a cauliflower like growth on the skin.  Not so with this one, it was just the tiniest, flaky little spot in the corner of my eye, just outside the eyelid.  So small that you couldn't see it unless you looked real closely.   

Still, whenever I put moisturizer on, I could feel it's scaly crusty self.  I attributed that to an overuse of eye cream, or moisturizers but nothing made it go away, and then one day it began to bleed.  Such a tiny little spot, it only bled when I rinsed my face off after washing it. 

The dermatologist took a sample biopsy and sent it off to the lab. I have had actinic keratosis removed from my face a few times, and they were always tiny red spots that, like this new spot, were barely visible to the human eye.  I expected this new spot to be similar and didn't worry much about it.  I wasn't so lucky this time. The Dr. called back the next day and said to come back in to the office. He wanted to go in a little deeper and make sure they got it all out.   Eck!

So I went back a second time and this is the result you see here. I have an appt this coming Thursday for a follow up visit.  They better say it's all out!  For the record, the pale, pencil eraser sized mole that I had on my arm last month turned out to be AK also.  My family Dr. took that one out and it took her three weeks to get back to me with the results.  You know, I would like to know the results in a more timely manner, benign or not.

Anyoldhow,  I no longer wear the gauze bandage as you see here, but a tiny round band-aid instead. I cut it in half to fit inside the corner of my eye. The Dr. urged me to keep the area moist and not to let it dry out or turn crusty. That would help prevent it from turning into a scar.  Did you know they use Vaseline over the wounds? I would have thought Neosporin, but they said Vaseline does a better job of keeping the area moist.  I used a combination of the two the first week, Neosporin overnight and Vaseline during the day.  Washed the area a lot, obviously. 

Here's a tip:  Walgreen's makes the best round band-aids!  The round ones by Curad stuck to my skin too much and they're ugly as all get out.  Walgreen's has a clear bandage that will hold onto your skin for the duration of the day and yet will not pull on delicate eyelids when it's removed.  My goal, keep the sun OFF this so it won't scar. I don't care how it looks with the band-aid..

However,  I am getting some interesting looks from other people.  Women!  You all are highly amusing.  The men tend to notice and usually ask questions.  No biggie, I really don't have a problem with that.  But women will look you up and down, from the eye to the rest of your body, as if they're looking for more band-aids or to detect some other fashion faux pas. 

One woman asked me if I ever wore sunglasses,  as if that would have prevented it. Duh   Did I ever wear sunscreen???? Double DUH.  Why no, I fried for the the hellofit! Extra Crispy with salty sweat!!.

Most of us know that skin cancer often has it's roots in the sunburns we had as children.  Fair skinned by nature, with blue/green eyes, I'm the perfect candidate for fried skin.  I've been wearing sunscreen religiously since I was old enough to know better,  which was ohhhh, sometime in my early 20's. 
I never did go for the baked, leathery sun-worshiped look.  But I sure had my share of sunburns over time. So my advice is a giant dollop of the good cream itself and make sure that sunscreen contains both UVB and UVA protection.  Hats, long sleeves, etc etc... oh, you know this stuff already.  Good luck!

Here's a good article on sunscreen info.

When I wrote about the AK awhile ago, many of you responded in comments. If you'd like to add to that or if you've had similar experiences with skin cancers, share your story here!

Birds, Coupons, Skin Cancer, or not

Word to the wise, when you sign in at the Doctor's office, use your own pen! Don't use the pen they offer you and try to keep your hands off the clipboard that holds the sign-in sheet!   My throat is slightly less sore this morning. (grumble).

Here's a good coupon site for Tampa Bay area residents: eFloridacoupons.com  Click on your county and print up the coupon of your choice for various businesses.  There is no sign in process at all, Bonus!   Simply click, browse and print your coupon.
They also offer maps to some of the businesses as well.  This service is only offered in the Tampa Bay area but I can see it spreading across the state, and to other states as well.   I'm not sure if it's available in other counties under a different name or company. 

Side note:  I heard about this on the news this morning, mentioned by Gayle Guyardo of WFLA.  But instead of giving us the website url  on TV,  she simply told us to go to the station website, tbo.com  and look it up on there.  I had to browse for 4 minutes to find her link and ended up doing a search on it instead.  What a waste of time, I should have simply Googled it or entered the name of the company itself on my address bar.  I couldn't even find it under WFLA's   "Links we mentioned" section.

After doing a search on "eflorida coupons,"  at the WFLA site,  I was directed to Gayle's page. She mentioned  efloridacoupons.com  but didn't provide a direct link to the company website.
   Not cool, Gayle. If you're going to direct the public to your own website for "more information" on a business you've talked about on TV, than at least offer up a direct link to their website! 

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More than 20,000 people are without power today after some nasty weather last night. The Panhandle and Central Florida got hammered.  Heavy winds, rain and some tornadoes reported.  We're expecting more storms this morning.
If your favorite blogger in those regions is not posting today, that might be why!

Here's a wish for clear skies ahead:

I was very happy to see February roll in at last.  Our streak of bad luck was supposed to end in January.   However, our plumbing is now a little messed up.  Rick is *this* close to calling in a plumber,  Fortunately it's not the toilets or the sink.  The shower in the back bathroom shakes and rattles so hard, it sounds as if the pipes are going to burst through the walls.  Downright It's scary to take a shower in there! I just took a video of it so you can see and hear it for yourself, but I can't seem to get it to load properly. Stay tuned!

Last night, Samantha  came home with this:

Broken mirror on the car door. A basketball hoop fell on it?    When is this streak going to end!!! You all are not  working hard enough to find me some good luck charms!!!.  It's raining right now so I might as well go outside and dance. 

Meanwhile, good news from our health department:  I have posted a not so pretty picture of my arm on the next page. (click the "continue reading" link at the bottom of the post). I had yet another "pre cancerous" mole removed Wednesday. This would be my third mole removal over a 5 year period and is good news because we caught it in time.

The mole itself was clear and flat, that is... if you looked at my arm, you wouldn't have noticed it at all.  However, I could feel a rough, scaly and itchy patch on the skin about the size of a pencil eraser.

The photo shows  a dark brown spot because the Doctor burned the mole off after doing a scraping.  If you haven't had this procedure, the shot only stings for a bit as they numb the area.  You shouldn't feel a thing as it is removed..  I had some soreness and itching in the area the next day.   Hopefully the biopsy will show a normal skin specimen,    (Probably....right?)   ;)

In any event, skin cancer is nothing to mess around with. If you have a suspicious mole, get it checked out. Here's a good website with more information on Actinic Keratosis and pre cancers. If you know someone who is not convinced that their moles need to be checked, try doing a Google Image search on skin cancer!

Here's a bunch of seagulls and other birds warming up on the beach last Monday.

More to come! I need to resize a few more photos. Sorry about not posting them earlier, as promised.. Things have been really hectic around here and I could use another trip back to the beach to recharge!  I am still taking pics and hope to post all weekend. Life gets in the way of blogging sometimes, doesn't it? ;)

Breakfast On A Cold Winter Morning

Broiled Grapefruit

Heat your broiler (I used my toaster oven), halve and section a Ruby Red Grapefruit:

Top with brown sugar, broil 3 to 5 minutes, or till browned and bubbly.

Now you can say you got a double dose of VitaminC. ;)

Butter Cookie Alert

Today, I am here to endorse Wisconsin as never before!   Click right here, and get a load of their recipes, will you.    BUTTER cookie recipes... all types!  It's a link from their Butter Is Best ad campaign, which their cows are promoting this year.
I'd suggest prowling around on the recipe site. They've got some good ones, such as their Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies, can you imagine just biting into that one?
I noticed Butter cut out cookies made with sour cream and a bit of lemon. I hope that one tastes as good as it sounds.
Their Cheddar Apple Crisp looks good, too.   Bon' Appetit!
I' now have a strong urge to hit the treadmill for an hour or so...

Just Another Saturday Morning

Ahhhh.  I love these early mornings when it's both quiet and cool outside.  So far, the only thing awake is salmon breath, who is now in the laundry room doing his business, and hub, who left for work hours ago.   

Dunkin Donuts ground roast coffee is the drink of choice this morning.  Bought two bags of it. Coffee snobs will look aghast because I'm not grinding Kona beans extra fresh.  Thrifty coffee drinkers will think I spent too much.  I am all about taste these days.  My own.

Speaking of coffee, let's move right along and into chocolate, which we know is VERY good for you. I eat chocolate several times a week and that is why my blood pressure is so low and why I'm so perky all the time.  It's a known fact, before I get my chocolate, I'm a total bitch.  Speaking of good health, let's go to Pam's site.   What I like about Pam is, she tells it like it is.  And that's always a good thing in my opinion.  Here's what she has to say about all the medical studies out there:

I take most of the results of these studies with a grain of salt. I figure if I wait a few months, the results will change. But I've heard the results of two studies just this week that reflect some of my own personal lifestyle choices.

The good news is that my risk of Alzheimer's is low because I take fish oil supplements.

The bad news is that my risk of breast cancer is increased because there's nothing I love more than a big slab of red meat.

So if I do develop breast cancer, unfortunately I won't forget it. 

Now of course if, in a couple months, the results change...again...I won't get breast cancer. But then again, I won't remember than I don't have it, anyway.

They better not change the results of the chocolate study.  I probably should cut back my red meat intake too, come to think of it.  We eat chicken and pork often enough, and fish whenever we can get it,  but there's nothing like a juicy slab of steak lying across your plate, just calling to your fork to come stab it's meaty goodness...

I think I need some more coffee.

Meanwhile, busy weekend ahead.

I'm supposed to be laying sod as we speak.  Then I was going to stop around 11, shower and meet Rick at noon to go look at tile.  We never did get a chance to hunt for it last weekend.  However, it's too late to lay sod this morning. I've been blogging for an hour.  ahem.

After tile, either Rick and Sam will head to the boat show or else we'll come home and put the sod down. Hoping the Gators do well. It's not on TV here.

BIGGEST game, however, is the Ohio/Michigan game, we'll be keeping an eye on that one.   Gators are #3 in the rankings right now.   (whoa!!!!)

Just in time for Thanksgiving:

Ok now,  did you know you should never put potato peels down the drain, even if you have a garbage disposal?  That's the #1 source of plumbing backups.  Potato skins swell once they're waterlogged and they form a starchy, gelatinous block in the disposer.  Just send your plumbers fee to me instead, thank you, I'm speaking from previous experience, unfortunately.  Once you get a plumbers bill, you never really get over it.

I don't care much about the presents for Christmas but I can't wait to start baking for Christmas. Whoooyahhh!  Recipes coming!  I'm a baking fool around that time. Stay tuned.

*NaBloPoMo #19

Dinner Tonight: News, Vegetables and Snails

All right. We need to eat our veggies.  Preferrably fresh, steamed and hot from the bag! Yes folks, this is my newest discovery from the frozen foods aisle. I really don't think frozen vegetables taste any better than this.

Birds Eye has come out with a way to steam the vegetables in the package itself. You just toss it in the microwave and zap for 5 or 6 minutes.  And best of all, it's delicious.  Imagine, broccoli that is not mushy!  I've been buying the bags for over a month now and thought I'd tell you all about it.  Check out their Asian Medley, I like that one.

In the vegetable world, it's the most exciting thing to come out of the microwave since jiffy pop went to the bags!

I'm off to shop, but not for vegetables.  Tomorrow is the homecoming dance for Samantha and Britt's birthday party as well.  I can't wait.... till Sunday.  ahhhh. 

Click "Continued" to read your Friday Night Joke!

Need a Spice Grinder?

Turns out all you need is a mason jar and a blender.  I just found this web site tonight and it looks like a winner, full of great recipes, tips AND comments!  If you're interested, check out Simply Recipes. This is their Peach Blueberry Cake recipe with reviews from commenter's as well. Mmmmmmm.

Coffee and Kitchens

I don't know how you do it, you who willingly give up caffeine and switch to de-caff. I've been moving at the speed of slug since 6 a.m. and this is day three without any caffeine.  I only need a good sized mug of coffee each morning and I'm good to go.  But we ran out of coffee grounds on Saturday morning and had to substitute de-caff for regular.   I think this is what happened to Bucs on Saturday night, actually. No caffeine that morning.

Anyway, no big deal. I thought I'd pick up another bag later that day, but the day just got ahead of me and suddenly it was Sunday morning and Rick was handing me a hot steaming cup of.... de-caff.  eck.

The with-drawl headaches set in Sunday afternoon and have persisted ever since.
I still can't figure out why I didn't buy any on Sunday, either. We were just busy all weekend.
horrors.
Never fear, it ENDS today.  I fully plan to buy the biggest damm sack of 100% caffinetated coffee beans I can find so that I will never, EVER, run out of coffee again.   
Some addictions are worth coveting. If a Doctor ever tells me I need to give up caffeine, I will go for his throat. Just so you know.

Meanwhile, Back In the Kitchen:
All the upper kitchen cabinet doors are not only finished, they're hanging! they're UP! Never thought I'd live to see the day. 
The lower cabinet doors go in this week.  We picked out the countertop that we like and today I have to shop for the sink, matching tile for the back-splash and the ceiling treatment.

By the way, I found out that I really don't  know anything about sinks. We need a basic stainless steel sink and for God's sakes, why are some of them $700 and others $200?  What's the difference? I'm off to find a website with this info.  Scratch resistance, that's my big thing.

I also can't figure out why so many divided sinks have a nice deep left basin, but a very small right basin.  What do you do with the big cookie sheets and stock pots after you wash them? They have to be rinsed in a tiny right hand sink?  I don't think so.

I picked out the perfect one yesterday because I liked the way it looked. It had a nice sheen, had a deep left side for those big pans and a decent right side so that you can take the pan you just washed and rinse it in the right-handed sink. Then they said it was treated with some type of hospital style germ resistant buzzola.   Honey, where I come from, they call that soap and water.  Or Comet and water.  Soft Scrub and water.  I ain't paying $700 for a stainless sink, which I think is a waste of money.  We lived with our own germs for 40 years and they've served me quite well. I only get sick when I'm around other sick people, not around my sink. Even the meat juices are not allowed to remain behind and fester. DOWN the drain they go!

So that's a crock of hooey in my opinion. My hub got tired of waiting for me to make a decision, but I thought it would have been  a simple process to pick out a sink. I really did. So we decided I would go back again this week to pick out a sink and have it ready when he came home. He doesn't CARE! He just wants the SINK IN so we can order the counter top!!! 

Ironically, picking out the drawer pulls and knobs for the doors is proving to be a pain.  I originally wanted a smooth brushed nickle.  He wants the big, giant UGLY black pulls. I am so holding out on that one.   round and round we go. The nickle doesn't match, actually. But I still don't like the black.

However, picking out the counter top was a piece of cake. I spotted a slab of granite from 15 feet away and knew instantly that would work.  Rick liked it too, it goes with the doors and picks up the color of the cherry real well.  The only reason we kept  shopping was to comparison shop.  But, I think we'll go with the first comapny.  I'm itching to get it finished.  If all goes well,  we should have the counter top installed within 2 weeks from the day we order it. WEEKS. holy smokes.
I can't wait to make a pot of caffeine to celebrate.
andthenwehavetostartworkingonthebathrooms.

Angel Lush

I made this dessert for Easter, and it was delicious. We had a real casual meal, just the 4 of us.
It calls for angel food cake, but I wasn't in the mood for that so I substituted a coconut cake mix, turning it into a pina colada cake. 
It might be equally good with an orange or banana cake mix instead.  I baked it as a sheet cake because I can't find my round cake pans. Kitchen is all torn up.
Takes 15 min to put together and even better the next day!

Also, I would like a medal.  I made the entire Easter meal on Saturday from 8:35 p.m till 11p.m.

My plan was to just do the meal Sunday... but Sat. evening, hub had a phone call from a friend - detailing all the fish the guy caught that day. Welp, you know where this is going... hub hasn't been out on the boat in a longgggg time.

By 8:30p.m, he'd decided to go out the next day. I was in the mood for salt air and sun so we changed our plans around.  I don't like to cook after a day on the boat  - it can really wear you out - and the thought of a whole big meal would have been too much.

So we ate like kings when we got home. Baked ham, scalloped potatoes, green bean casserole, hot cross buns, etc etc.  Leftovers are always better the next day, right?

Fish stories:
Here's Brittany, she always falls asleep on the boat ride home:

I'll have more on this fishing trip later.. Was going to do the whole post but realized I have to take Samantha to work.  It'll have to wait! 
Byyy the way, Do you deserve a medal for a holiday meal that you've made?

With Every Breath We Take

Over at the ear nose and throat office, the doctor stuck a tube inside my nose and sprayed each nostril  with this numbing cream, which ran down my throat and tasted absolutely AWFUL.  The cream started to numb my throat as well and I ended up snorting in disgust.  egads, who invented that stuff anyway? I asked him if it was ok to swallow it, since it was running down my throat and he laughed... before I realized that what I SAID was not what I MEANT..  geesh.
ahem.  you know, that numbing cream would be a great uh, diet remedy. Everytime you feel like snacking, you'd spray the stuff on your tongue and you'd lose all taste of flavor. I wonder why they haven't come up it yet.

Well anyway, after it took effect, he stuck a long scope inside my right nostril so he could see what was back there. I'd tell you but it's snot nice. The left nostril was all clear, however, and it turns out I have a slightly deviated septum, which is too far to the right and wrecks havoc on my sinuses.
He prescribed Allegra and Nasonex and recommended surgery in the future if that didn't bring any relief. 

Problem is, the side effects from Allegra make me feel extremely sleepy. I started Allegra on Tuesday.  Came home around noon on Wednesday and ended up falling into deep sleep. (No dreams, however. dammm).   The Nasonex is giving me a sore throat and major headache.
I looked up the alternatives online and found that Flonase and Claritin don't seem to cause these symptoms.   Claritin hasn't worked very well for me in the past.  Hub takes Flonase on a daily basis with no apparent side effects other than Male Pattern Refrigerator Blindness, which seems to only be relieved by hollering for me to come and rescue him when he can't find the sandwich meat.  I've got to stop being such an enabler.
I've decided to give the meds one more day to see if I'm still getting the same side effects.

Do any of you take these meds, and if so, have you had similar side effects?  Will the drowsiness, headache and sore throat go away after using it for awhile? I haven't filled the prescription yet, because he gave me so many Allegra and Nasonex samples.  That'll give me time to decide before I order the prescription.
On the plus side, I woke up this morning without a headache OR stuffiness.
  hehehehe.

Our Organs in Today's World

Today is Aorta Day across the Land.

  Double click to enlarge this picture and then print it up and put it on your refrigerator. Or tape it to your steering wheel if you find yourself in the drive through lane at the fast food restaurant several times a week.  The healthy aorta is on the left, and is such a rarity that it took  almost a month to find one.
The unhealthy, plaque-ridden  aorta is on the right.  Read more about it, and see other pictures from this fantastic gallery of organs over at the Oprah site. Click here to go directly to the slide show, and have a look at the organs inside your body. 

Additionally,  Do you put out chunks or pebbles?  Never mind, I don't want to know. If you've ever wondered what  good old #2 is supposed to look like on it's way out, click here!
Don't worry, there are no pictures at that site,  just good, factual information.
  If your number 2 is trying harder, you owe it to Colin Colon Bowel to get your ass  browser over there  and check it out.