Movie Quote Monday #3

Good Morning fellow movie lovers! Are you ready to play?

Here's the opening quote:

"I'm not asking much. Just a token really, a trifle. You'll never even miss it. What I want from you is... your voice."

Go.

Get your Quotes Ready!

Hey everyone, remember to come back tomorrow and play Movie Quote Monday with us.

Join in the fun!

I have my starting quote ready and waiting - I'll post it shortly before 8am.

Hope to see you there!!!

Snack Time...Grab the Salt Shaker

If you were to treat yourself to a snack right this very minute, what would it be? The Sweet Potato Queens - a very southern group of women, with several books dedicated to their own fabulous-ness - have proposed that all good snack foods must fall into one of four categories: salty, sweet, fried, or au gratin.

Where would your snack of choice fit in?

I have never been a "grab-an-apple" kind of a snacker. I enjoy chips and salsa (fried and salty), Whoppers and Reeses...okay, anything chocolate (sweet), Flaming Hot Cheetos with Lime (so hot, so salty and so so so fried), and leftovers. I guess if it's leftover Funeral Potatoes, I can count it as fulfilling the au gratin category. Most of the time, I head for a salty snack.

Mmmmmm, salt. I love it.

Love. It.

Whenever we go to Chili's and order the chips and salsa, I immediately grab the salt shaker and have at it. And when Troy turns his head, I salt them again.

McDonald's salt, in the little packets? It's so powdery and fine - and is it just me, or does it taste better than household salt?

My current snack of choice in the salty category, is this:

Don't laugh - it's delicious!

And this is why. No wonder I like it so much!

See the handy little portions? Right out of the freezer.

You make a big slit in the top.

Pop it in the microwave for 3 minutes.

It's pre-cooked - this is just heating it up nicely.

Careful - it's hot!

Dump it out on a plate...

and sprinkle that salt all over it.

When it's on a different plate, you can really see how salty it gets.

Can you see the extra tiny sprinkles of salt - sometimes I even add a

few shakes from the salt shaker.

I know what you're all thinking...hey, isn't she on high blood pressure medicine? Yes, but I 'm sure it's genetic - my diet has nothing to do with it. Probably.

Choose the plumpest, saltiest one...

And lick the salt right off of it.

Then squeeze the pod gently. I said gently!

Those soybeans will shoot across the room, I tell ya!

Then pop it in your mouth! Squeeze the other one in too. Lick your fingers and repeat.

I usually use two hands.

It's a very satisfying way to eat a snack - earthy and tactile. Like eating sticky, sauce-covered riblets and licking your fingers and lips, pulling a cheesy nacho from the pile and pushing the whole thing into your mouth, lest it drip, plunging your fingers into a bowl of buttery, salty popcorn, bringing it to your mouth again and again. And again.

I don't really suggest eating these in front of other people.

My biggest problem with the edamame?

Keeping him away from my plate.

His first question when I called him over so I could take his picture?

"Is there a ton of salt on it?"

He just wanted to make sure.

What is your favorite snack?

Feeling Perky

Back in August, I wrote about all the different jobs that I've had over the years. Not too many, 'cause I've always been pretty happy about where I've worked. I'm a firm believer that a job must have some decent perks that come along with it, or dissatisfaction will creep in. Over the years, I've enjoyed not only the perks that come with my own jobs, but also the perks that accompanied the jobs of family members.

For example...

My sister (futurern, 'cause she's going to nursing school) used to work at Baskin Robbins when she was a teenager. We became really close that year. I couldn't get enough of the Pralines 'n Cream.

Troy used to manage a Dominos Pizza. He'd get to bring pizza home, of course, and, oooooh, Cinnastix. I was doing in-home daycare at the time, and at least once a week (okay, twice), I'd load the kids in the van and drive 25 minutes away to get a free pizza for our lunch.

Troy has a wonderful perk in his truck driving job: he can take the boys with him! How many kids get to say that they spend 48 hours straight with their Dad inside a 6 foot x 8 foot box on wheels. And drive over the Bay bridge in San Francisco all the time. And more importantly, how many mothers can get a weekend alone every once in a while? You know, to really plan ahead for Family Home Evening lessons.

When my other sister worked for an eye doctor, I got an exam and eyeglasses at her discount.

My brother-in-law worked for a furniture store for many years, and we definitely enjoyed his employee discount.

My needs have changed now though. I don't really need the free pizza or the ice cream (want them, don't need them), and I'm set on furniture for a while. What I do need is a relative in car mechanics, dentistry, and podiatry. Now those are some perks I could enjoy.

At my current job as a reading aide at my kid's school, I think I've got some pretty good perks. I know what's going on at the school, I know the teachers and the teachers know me, I'm two hallways away from my kids,and sometimes when I substitute for a few hours, I get to go to an assembly. A good assembly. Not the bus safety (boring) one, but the Say No to Drugs/Get High on Life assembly. There was music and dancing and clapping and cheering, and all the teachers got to go up and do karaoke to Twist and Shout. My friend Susan and I just looked at each and said, "Can you believe we get paid to do this?!!".

The other perk that makes my job so fabulous is the pictures that I get to have taken every year. What other job will give you this:




'Cause doesn't everyone want a big 8x10, 2-5x7s, 2-3x5s, and 4 wallets of them self? I know you're jealous - what can I say...some jobs just have really good perks.


What are the best job related perks you've ever had?

Go for it, just name them all.
The winner (sure, let's make it contest) gets a picture of me.

(Not the 8x10 though, I'm framing it and giving it to my Mom, just to see what she does with it.)

Romance, Schmomance...or Why I'm Not a Character in a Harlequin Novel

I got an email this morning from a young woman in my ward, asking me to answer a question for an essay that she was writing for school. The class was Marriage and Family, and the question was about romance. I needed to tell about the most romantic event in my life and explain why it was so romantic. Huh? Romance? Oh, dear, now where did I put that romance...?

Seriously, I think I'm romantically challenged. Don't get me wrong - Troy is not the problem - if anything, he is the more romantic of the two of us. I wrote about all the cards and the love letter or two that I found when I was cleaning out my underwear drawer. Troy loves to give cards that ooze with passion and romance, penned by the very best card makers at Hallmark. He always adds his own sentiment.

Cards like this:

With things like this, written on the inside:

Aaaaawwww.... I am loved. I really, really am, and I know that Troy spends a lot of time looking for these perfect cards. Imagine me holding my thumb and forefinger up, about 3 1/2 inches apart, when I say that I have a stack of cards like this, this high.

Last Valentine's Day, I very kindly told Troy that while I loved his cards and the beautiful words, how about if he looked for a funny card instead. Ungrateful, undeserving, picky woman? Probably...but this woman also knows the romantic value of a good laugh.

Laugh with me, show me that twinkle in your eyes, kiss me until the boys squeal and pull you away from me, give me a wink. Now I'm feeling romantic.

What else holds romantic value for me? This sign in my kitchen says it all:

Now ain't that the truth? Seriously, I feel loved when Troy pitches in around the house. Which he does do, fairly often.

I feel loved when Troy watches Dancing with the Stars with me and rubs my feet. He never complains - about the show or about my feet.

I feel loved when Troy stops whatever he might be doing to go get me something...Cafe Rio, for instance. That whole "my wish is his command" kind of thing.

I feel a rush of love for Troy when we go out with friends and we have a really good time. I like seeing him enjoy himself.

I love Troy when he spends time with the boys. He's a really good Dad.

I love Troy when he rushes to my side after a really scary car accident. Or a colonoscopy.

I know that Troy loves me because he puts up with me, and I put up with him.

Is this romance? Or are we pathetic? Is loving and being loved the same thing as romance? When you think of "romance", shouldn't it be about flowers and love notes, and petals on the bed, sipping Martinelli's and feeding each other chocolates, whispering sweet words and hearts skipping a beat as the passion envelopes the room?

I think the years and the ins and outs of regular old life have taken their toll.

When Troy brings me flowers, I cringe at the cost, the love notes sit in my underwear drawer, we have laundry, waiting to be folded, on the bed, our fancy glasses are broken, I don't share my chocolate, and sometimes, foul smells envelope the room.

But we have love. And we laugh. Does this count as romance?

What do I tell this young woman, wanting to know of my most romantic event?

"Well, this one time, I came home from doing the grocery shopping, and Troy had done the dishes and switched over the laundry! That's when I knew it was true love."

I think I'd better make up something about our first kiss. I know it was romantic - it had to be...I just don't remember very much about it.

What about you?

Do you have romance in your life?

What makes your heart skip a beat?