why I vote in person......

because, gosh darn it, sure would be great to vote by mail!

• voting by mail means you get to do everything in the peace and quiet of your own home......assuming you ever have peace and quiet there.
• voting by mail means you can do it whenever it is convenient for you.
• voting by mail means you don't have to stand in lines and deal with really slow old people working at the polls who can't seem to figure out that yes, you ARE the Berg that is listed right under the Berg they just checked in! (funny how that works!)

BUT............

voting by mail means you don't walk to the polling place with your kids every election (I'll admit sometimes we drive due to weather or time constraints)

and this is super important to me. it is easy to tell the boys that I voted and they should too. but I think it makes a greater impact when they see their parents take the time and effort to show up at the ballot box. they also get to see the others who have done the same. and yes, they also get to see those really slow old people who call them "honey" or "sugar" and give them an "I just voted" sticker even though that would be a federal offense (voting, not the sticker or sweet name calling).

sadly, this choice has caused me to miss voting in one election. an unplanned business trip out of town snafued my plans. but I figured if I missed one election in 27 years I am doing pretty darn good!

today is the last day to register to vote in California. if you are 18 or over, do it! do it, read about the issues and candidates and make an informed choice! start here now: REGISTER TO VOTE ONLINE!

not those Halloween kinda treats!

a long time ago my oldest son used to steal dog treats from our dog, Tessa. I am sure it was because the little bone treats looked rather similar to his teething biscuits. we used to joke about how nice Ryan's hair looked...........he does have nice hair........maybe I should have snagged a few?

needless to say, this habit lasted quite awhile.......until one day Ryan picked a black bone. those were "charcoal" flavored. poor Bug had black smoosh all around his mouth and a scowl all over his face. that was the last treat Tessa lost to him!

fast forward to a couple weeks ago....... Dolly got some new treats. I opened the bag to give her one and DANG! those babies smelled GOOD!!! like muffin kinda good. pumpkin and blueberry kinda good. that afternoon Dolly and I spent some time with a friend and we were wondering what the treats might taste like......cuz really, they smelled totally yummy! well, we didn't have the bag to check out the ingredients so weren't daring enough to try them.........even after several beer samples.

don't they look good?? like little tasty cookies!

I went home and checked the label: pumpkin, organic oatmeal, pearled barley, potatoes, oat fiber, canola oil, brown sugar, blueberries, cinnamon, natural flavor, vanilla, mixed tocopherois.  hey, the only thing I don't know about is that last one. don't ask me to pronounce it, but the lovely internet says it has something to do with vitamin E. that's a good thing, right?!?!?

so the next morning, I took the bag to brunch with said friend (who I won't name but was craving potato pancakes with me).......and we tried them! oh, yes we did! we are wild and crazy women!

and..........BLAH!!! totally bland!! how can dogs eat this?!?!? it was like eating particle board snacks. sheesh!! I was totally disappointed. no wonder Dolly looks lovingly at people food. the girl just wants some flavor!

so sad! I had such hopes for these. they would have been so easy to have around as handy little snacks........like pumpkin blueberry goldfish or something. bah hum bug!

(INSERT RANT HERE)

people turn into horrible selfish things when they get behind the wheel of a car!

not a new thought for me......but two events have brought it to the forefront:
 
this past week two kids were hit while crossing a major intersection near our house......on their way to school. you know, that school they walk to EVERY SINGLE SCHOOL DAY! in a crosswalk.....with the little white walking dude light telling them they were safe to cross the street......with a grownup just a few feet behind them. but that didn't seem to matter to a woman driving down the street. what did they need to do that was more important than watching the road? their job for the entire time that engine is running is to DRIVE! everything else can wait!

Crash Badly Injures Two Little Boys - SacBee


I know this first hand. I used to have to drive down a large busy street to take my oldest to school. if we were running late I knew I would have to wait behind those big ol' flashing red lights while the school bus stopped to pick up some kids for another school. every day we ran late I stopped............. and then prayed that I wouldn't get rear ended by some SUV speeding mad down the street who wasn't about to stop for those silly lights. you think I am joking?!?! oh no.......SO many times people honked and me, swerved around me, slammed on their breaks, etc. and we aren't talking about just the first few weeks of school while people got used to seeing the busses again. ridiculous!

 then things like this kinda makes me feel a bit better:

PLEASE WATCH THIS VIDEO.......it's short and worth it.

I LOVE that they caught it on video and the woman was pulled over! sadly, I have so very little hope that anything came out of this other than a ticket. I wouldn't even be surprised if the lady went back to doing the same thing in the near future! why oh why should she interrupt HER life for a silly bus full of kids!


I see the same problem when an ambulance or fire truck is trying to make its way down a street, lights a' blazing, horns a' blaring. but people don't move the heck out of their way! oh they do for a cop car.......sure! those people can give them a ticket, figure out they aren't wearing their seatbelt, etc......but why bother for an ambulance or fire truck? this is what I think:

EVERYTIME YOU SEE AN AMBULANCE OR FIRE TRUCK...........assume it is hurrying off to save one of your loved ones......put a fire out at your house!

make you act any differently?? I hope not........I hope you aren't one of those people who don't get out of the way. but if you are or know of someone who is.........put that concept right up front in your noggin.......because you just never ever ever know!

I guess that was two rants.......bonus!

Variations on a Halloween theme....aka: a recipe I played with

so there is this blog I follow, My Baking Addiction, and she posts the most amazing recipes! all of them are easy enough for me to actually understand and make! Jamie......you know, cuz we are close like that......posts great seasonal recipes, giveaways, etc. I highly suggest you check her out.....and follow her.

a couple weeks ago she posted a recipe for Candy Corn Oreo Truffles. now I will admit, I wasn't interested in them. I WAS, however, totally focused on the concept of Candy Corn Oreos! who knew these existed........only at Target! I probably hadn't noticed them because I was busy hunting down the Boo Berry cereal. but lucky for me, a friend was planning on hunting down the elusive limited edition Oreos and was willing to snag a box or two for me! in fact, swellyn was awesome and not only grabbed me THREE boxes.......but also delivered them! so you can say that she helped subsidize this excursion into sugarland......

the next week, MBA posted another recipe featuring the Oreos I was now in possession of.......and oh yeah, I was totally making this one! Candy Corn Oreo Bark! for the win!!! but while considering the recipe, my mind started churning........please go read her blog post and then come back......this will all make more sense.......I'll wait.......

la la la la la...........

okay.....done? so I started wondering.....do I HAVE to use white chocolate? sometimes that is super sweet. and what happens if I don't like or (gasp!) can't find Candy Corn Oreos? will regular Oreos suffice? if you know me, and you probably do if you haven't closed out the window and gone back to Dancing With The Stars (or something) then you know I am not quite so good at following directions.......

thus my experiment........

 

upper right corner: original recipe - white chocolate and Candy Corn Oreos

upper left corner: semi-sweet chocolate and Candy Corn Oreos

lower left corner: white chocolate and Halloween Oreos (chocolate wafer and orange filling)

lower right corner: semi-sweet chocolate and Halloween Oreos

so here's the deal........the semi-sweet chocolate didn't set the way the white chocolate did. I am sure if I were a "real" cook.....or paid attention......I'd know why. but I don't and it didn't. hubby said they almost felt like a fudgy brownie. my second problem was the chocolate set too quickly and didn't get down into the pan enough to hold onto all the yummy goodies at the bottom........trust me I have a pile of peanuts and pretzel bits to prove it. (was I suppose to toss the goodies in the chocolate?!?!?)

BUT........that didn't equal a failure! I learned something and still have a full bag of Candy Corn Oreos to eat or bake with.........wonder if Jamie is posting anymore recipes?!?!?!

my favorite version was the white chocolate with Halloween Oreos. I thought the Candy Corn Oreos were too sweet and the chocolate wafers gave the right balance. overall it was a sweet success and now I have a LOT of Candy Corn Oreo Bark to share with friends!

 

and since I had to go back and correct my spelling way too many times (typing "Cane" instead of "Corn") I think I need to play around like this when the Christmas Oreos come out!