Two peas in a pod?

I made split pea soup in my crockpot on Sunday.  We'll be having it for dinner tonight (pea soup needs to sit a few days to let the flavors merge).

Pea soup - the before shot.  That's not a volcano, it's a ham hock.

Pea soup - the after shot.  YUM!

That got me thinking about the fact that when I was a kid I hated detested loathed peas.  I'd spit them in my napkin and try to toss it out before my Mom could see me.  Once, I actually claimed I had to go pee during dinner and fell asleep on the toilet because I didn't want to go back to eat my peas.

I like peas now.  However, I prefer the mushy canned peas over the oddly colored frozen peas that don't look quite natural.  Is that green really a color?

But, I've always loved pea soup even as a kid.  How is that possible?

This blog post really has nothing to do with anything except to reconfirm the fact that I'm weird.

I always feel like somebody's watching me.

The building I work in has a security team and uses a lot of security cameras.  Many of the cameras are in areas around the elevators.

Yesterday, I was waiting for an elevator to get to the parking garage.  I yawned.  A huge yawn with my mouth wide open and that “yeeeaaww” noise.  I didn’t cover my mouth because I was the only one waiting for an elevator.

Suddenly, I realized that I was on camera.  I hoped no one at the security desk was watching!  They would have gotten a great view of the molars in my big mouth.  YIKES!  How ugly did my face look while that yawn was happening?

Then I started thinking. . . . What else have they seen over the 20 years I’ve worked here?

Have I scratched the side of my nose (the side not facing the camera) and they thought I was picking it?

Have I plucked a straying piece of underwear from my behind?  Like the pair that doesn’t start out as thongs but ends up there.

Have I rearranged an ill-fitting bra around my boobs?

Have I scratched in an uncivilized place like an armpit?

I suppose it’s too late to worry about all that now.  Although, I do wonder if they store those security videos somewhere.  That would make for some interesting programming.

If I do any of those things again, I’ll be sure to smile and wave at the camera when I’m done!

I can see you!

The Packers better beat the Giants today. - UPDATED

 That is all.

Hey you Giants - you're gonna get the snot beat out of you today.

UPDATE:

Well, the Packers lost the game.  They should not have rested their starters.  And, they should have adjusted their defense to play better (how about rushing the passer?).

I'm too depressed to move!

Pancakes?

I have a very good friend, Judy, that I’ve known since high school.  And no, I’m not telling you how long we’ve known each other.  Everyone knows not to ask a girl how old she is.

When I got my driver’s license, we’d bum around town in my Mom’s car doing typical 16-year-old stuff.  We go shopping (browsing really) at the mall; we’d go to McDonald's for Diet Cokes; we’d drive by the cute boys’ houses (I think that would be considered stalking in this day and age).

While enjoying ourselves, if one of us suddenly realized we needed to pee, the bathrooms were never nearby.  My friend Judy would always say, “Just think about pancakes.  That will help.”

Years ago I told Angry this story.

To this day when I do the “I gotta pee” routine (you can read about that here), the conversation goes something like this:

Angry:  “Think about oatmeal.” Or is it potatoes?”  He has never, ever gotten it right.

Me:  “It’s pancakes.”

A:  “Are you sure it’s not pudding?”

M:  “It's pancakes and I still need to pee.”

A:  "Well, think about pancakes then."

All these years later, I still don’t have concrete proof that that pancakes help you feel like not peeing.  So much for that useful saying.

How to begin?

Yet another meme to let us list things from our blogs but also to show us how we’ve grown in the past year.  Or how silly we've been.

Take the first sentence from the first post of each month of 2011.  That’s your year in review.  Tattle on yourself with your link in the comments (I think you can do that!) if you tried it.

If you don't blog, just take a look to see what I've been up to in 2011.

January – Please don’t take any offense all you drunken sailors out there!

February – In the “Great Blizzard of 2011,” I didn't get to have to help Angry shovel.

March – Because I’m too damn lazy to write an actual blog post, I’m going to share this video with you.

April – As we head into Spring, I am seeing and hearing lots of commercials for lawn care services and products.

May – In my city (as I’m sure it is in yours), we have many people that drive their cars around with the music turned up way TOO LOUD.

June – I've never been afraid of bugs or worms.

July – Let’s talk about tattoos.

August – I was at my doctor’s office the other day.

September – This should be simple.

October – Angry and I went to see Bryan Adams on Friday for his "Bare Bones" tour.

November – I was on vacation in Mexico.

December – As I say in the "About Me" section, I love some good beer or tequila (and wine too).

Wow!  Talk about a strange mix.  I complained.  I talked about drinking.  I talked about myself a lot.  I was bossy.  Interesting. . .

Where's the party?

New Year’s Eve can be a wild, drunken evening for many people.  I like to call those people "Amateurs."

Been there, done that.  I’m too old for that craziness now.  In reality, I can’t stay up much past 10 pm now a days.  Either way, I don't head to the bar to get drunk on December 31st anymore.

We spent this year with my BFF (Weezy), her hubby J, and their kids: A (8) and “Little” J (6).

Since she lives about one and a half hours from us, we headed there on Friday and spent the weekend with them.

New Year’s Eve started out with a nice dinner (W works hard to feel us very well when we are visiting).

Once we cleaned up the table, the six of us played Barbie Uno and Cat Bingo.

Fun for adults too!

Fun AND educational!

The adults enjoyed a bit of beer and wine while the kids had some soda and iced tea.

Even though we ate a big dinner, we had yummy snacks of mixed nuts and spicy trail mix.  We tried not to get the cards all greasy!!!

We played until 10:30 or so and the kids went to bed.  One of the Uno games lasted for over 45 minutes!  It was a blast.

For the first time in years, we all stayed up until MIDNIGHT!  When the clock struck 12:00, we wished each other a "Happy New Year."  Then we said “goodnight” and it was off to bed.  We can’t take those late nights anymore.

I can’t begin to tell you how much fun we had.  Most important was the fact that we were with great friends who mean the world to us.  While the games were “competitive,” no one was out for blood.  We laughed and laughed and enjoyed every minute.  No sore losers (or sore winners either).

I hope that everyone also had a great New Year’s Eve, celebrating in whatever way you chose.

My wish for 2012 is that you will all have plenty of time to spend with friends and family and enjoy yourselves like we did at W’s house last weekend.  Those times are so very precious.  Don’t forget to tell those people how much they mean to you and how much you love them.

I wouldn’t trade this New Year’s Eve "party" for all the money in the world.