The Queen B

Weekend Wonderfulness

I have to tell you that I've never made this.

But Nannie sent it to me. And this is what she wrote beside it:

Everyone who ate some of this said it was wonderful.

And really. You just can't not try it.

Because everyone who ate some said it was wonderful.

Pizza Rigatoni

1 1/2 lbs. bulk sausage
3 cups rigatoni, lightly cooked
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 small onion, sliced
15 oz. can pizza sauce
3 1/2 oz. pkg. sliced pepperoni
6 oz. can sliced ripe olives

Cook and drain sausage. Place half in slow coooker. Layer half of pasta, cheese, soup, onion, pizza sauce, pepperoni and olives over the sausage. Repeat layers.

Cover. Cook on low for 4 hours.

So try it.

Let me know if everyone can be trusted.

If I Might Share A Little About My Day...

OnePlusYou Quizzes and Widgets

Well What Do You Know...

It was so much fun to read all of your amazing comments yesterday. I love that most of you have a well thought out reason for your blogging.

I mean. So do I. I totally have a planned out reason for why I blog.

I just haven't figured it out quite yet.

The world definitely has a need for rambling people that only know a little about a few things...

I did some other important stuff yesterday besides reading comments.

I totally listed my house for sale.

Which scares me.

And excites me.

We found a house that we love a little closer to The Princess' school. Lots of things will have to work out perfectly for us to be able to buy it.

Fortunately, I'm rather familiar with The One who works things out.

The other big news of my day was a monumental discovery.

You've no idea.

I can't even tell you.

So incredible.

Delicious.

Fantabulous.

Once you get to the cone, the ice cream is surrounded by a thick layer of fudge.

Oh my.

I may have to eat another.

And I'm so sorry that my mother felt the need to bore you with information about yours truly.

(QM, Just wait until I do an "About the Queen Mother")

I knew that I would regret showing her where the "on" button was....

Let's All Take A Little Timeout

I have talked with several bloggy friends this week who are just tired.

Tired of coming up with post ideas.

Tired of taking the time to read blogs and leave comments.

Tired of taking the time to create posts.

Tired of taking time from the really important things.

I certainly have those same feelings.

I think a lot of it is this particular time of year. May is always much more hectic than I anticipate.

You'd think I would catch on one of these years.

The weather is finally nice and nobody wants to be inside on the computer.

Kids are home and nobody has the ability to be inside on the computer.

I spent the day yesterday with one of my real-life bloggy friends, The Roost. Those of you that read her posts know that she is such an encourager.

I wish you could all sit with me at her kitchen table and listen to her words of wisdom.

We talked about how important it is to know your reason for blogging. Is it to offer advice? To keep an online journal? To send updates to friends and family? To be a springboard for a writing career?

Her reason is to minister to women.

Mine is to ramble about nonsense.

Which is totally as important as the ministering thing.

We talked about organizing your blogging. Some of you can just create brilliance every day. Some of us you are awake at 2 a.m. trying to come up with a coherent thought. Some of you have a supply of posts already written to pull out in emergency situations.

You are not my friends.

(Sticking my tongue out.)

Wouldn't it be nice to go into the blogging week with an idea of what it might look like? Maybe Monday could be wrap of the weekend. Tuesday could be a funny story. Wednesday could be a more serious post. Nothing written in stone, but just a rough idea.

And maybe all of you already do that.

You are not my friends.

(Sticking my tongue out.)

We also talked a lot about giving ourselves the ability to take a day off. Nobody can be creative every day of the week. It is just not possible.

And I think we should allow our bloggy friends that luxury. If Betty Blogger needs a day or two or three to regroup, then we should support her.

I love what Faithful Chick wrote yesterday.

Blogging is such a fun part of my life. It is a creative outlet. It is something that truly brings me pleasure. I have met some amazing people through it.

(Here's where I break into singing "I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony....")

I want each of you to enjoy it. I don't want it to stress you out. I want it to be a complete stress reliever for you. I want it to fulfill the need that you needed it to fulfill.

I know there have been a lot of posts lately about commenting and etiquette and all that. To me it comes down to one question: Why do you blog?

I seriously doubt that any of us started blogging with our primary goal being to get a certain number of comments.

Take a bit of time to think about why you blog.

And then leave it in the comments. I think it will be fun reminder of what this is all about.

Yes. I realize there is serious irony in saying that the comments are not important and then asking you to leave one.

But I don't think this is the blog you come to for rational thinking.

So leave the comment, already.

QBBQ: Emergency Proclamation #1

Stop what you are doing.

Well. Not really.

If you stopped reading then you wouldn't get the emergency proclamation.

And it is life altering.

Go to the store today and buy this....

Wow.

I've been waiting for a mascara like this.

It separates. It lengthens. It doesn't get gunk all over the place.

Miraculous.

It is Lashblast by Cover Girl.

Go.

We'll get back to the rest of the beauty another day.

And we'll never need to discuss mascara again.

Follow The Leader

Our church is doing a series of sermons about the family.

A few points struck me yesterday that I thought I would pass along. Some I had heard before. Well. Maybe I hadn't really heard them.

Not that you need parenting advice. I know that you are all perfect parents with perfect kids, but I have quite a bit of work to do.

*Exhibit the behavior that you expect. Ok. That is big. If I don't want to live with screaming and whining and complaining, perhaps I ought not do it. It doesn't really seem like a breakthrough idea. Yet I consistently do those things that I can't stand to see in my daughter.

*The first few years kids do what you say. The rest of the time they do what you do. Oh. So that's why I often think, "My daughter was so obedient and sweet when she was younger". MmmmHmmm. That's before I warped her, apparently.

*Who we are speaks louder than who we say we are. Does it ever. Telling myself I am a good mom or a good wife is not really going to cut it. I am going to have to actually be a good mom and good wife. The same can be said for saying I'm skinny.

*A parent doesn't always have to have the last word. I don't really like that one. At all. No, I don't. Really. I mean, not one bit. Ok? Because I don't. I hope you understand that I don't like it. Got it?

*Know when to speak and when to listen. If it was possible to talk a kid into doing what I want, then I would have a girl robot. As The Princess is getting older, I can tell that listening is going to get me waaay more respect.

*Offer advice to your grown children only when asked. QM? Are you there?

I really want to be an effective parent. I want my daughter to be an incredible woman. I want to have a great relationship with her.

And I'm not sure that being an effective parent will always mean that I'll have a great relationship with her.

I pray that it does, but I don't know if those two can always run parallel. If I am to do the job that God has so graciously given to me, then the shaping of her character is much more important than if she thinks I'm the bomb.

I just said "the bomb".

I think that was over, like, 5 years ago.

Which is another reason why she may not always want to hang with me.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and/or any words of wisdom that you'd like to share.

My Mother Has Lost Her Mind

She's gone crazy.

Check out her blog for a chance to win a $200 Target giftcard.

You have to hurry. It is over Monday night.

And while you're there, tell her the next time she wants to hand out $200, her daughter would love to be the recipient.

But I'm happy for all of you.

Really.

I am.

Just thrilled.

Weekend Wonderfulness

I'm Back.

It has been awhile.

Which has been great since I needed to do some serious recipe organizing.

I found a recipe that would be great for a Memorial Day Shindig.

If you are having one.

If not, you should be.

Chocolate Sundae Dessert

Melt 1 stick of butter and mix with a 1 pound bag of Oreos that have been crushed.

Spread the mixture into 2 9x13 pans and freeze.

Soften 1/2 gallon of vanilla ice cream and spread it over the cookie mix. Freeze again.

Mix:
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter
1 cup Eagle Brand
2 oz. cocoa

Cook this mixture in the microwave until melted, stirring often. It usually takes about 5 minutes.
Cool.

Spread this on ice cream. Spread a large Cool Whip over the cocoa mixture. Sprinkle pecans over the Cool Whip if you want.

This is really tasty. Keep it in the freezer. Sneak downstairs after everyone else is asleep and grab a fork and go to town.

I've heard that is fun.

Not that I'd know.

I don't have any dessert issues.

Happy Memorial Day.

My Feet Occasionally Hit The Floor...When They Are Not In My Mouth

I try to be a person that thinks before she speaks.

Or at least a person that thinks about thinking before she speaks.

I have had a few snafus that stand out, however.

One occurred Wednesday during THE CALL.

This particular friend has been one of my more conservative friends. I mentioned that she doesn't do the internet. She has avoided all trends for as long as I can remember. She doesn't watch tv or go to the movies. But earlier this year she completely shocked me.

She got boobs.

And she's never acknowledged them.

I suppose I am not supposed to notice the very low cut shirts and very enormous girls.

Whatever.

So. In the middle of the call (somewhere around minute 36) she was talking about one of her friend's mid-life crisis.

And I said--here's where it gets bad--"the next thing you know she'll be getting a new set of boobs."

Yep.

I said it.

Loud and clear.

As it was coming out, I realized what I was saying but I just couldn't stop it. It was spilling out of me.

***Timeout***
I am in no way dissing the purchase of boobs. I am happy for any of you that are so fortunate as to have a beautiful set. Or are about to get a beautiful set. I was simply trying to make conversation after a painful 36 minutes. Apparently my brain only works for about 35.
***End of Timeout***

Her end of the phone was silent for just a minute or two and then she carried on with the conversation.

On the bright side, she might not be calling me again for awhile.

This big blunder made me think of the most embarrassing and mortifying conversation of my entire life.

Ever.

QM, The Princess and I were at a local store and were being helped by one of the salespeople. This particular salesperson was not overly friendly. She was quiet and hard to understand. At the end of our shopping she began to gather our purchases. Which was very kind. But she was way overloaded and struggling to carry a bunch of bulky items.

Trying to be nice and feeling bad that I wasn't carrying anything, I said, "Here, let me help you--I've got two hands."

She looked at me with total anger.

As I began to take some of the items from her, I realized why.

She had a prosthetic hand.

I so wanted to rewind the previous 30 seconds.

Have any of you ever had a similar experience?

Please tell me that you have.

Please?

The Aftermath

Made the call.

54 minutes.

Glad it's over.

***

Happy that David Cook won.

So Happy.

Seems like a genuinely nice guy.

***

If Michael and Carly want to sing together forever, I'd be ok with that.

THAT was incredible.

Where was that during the competition?

***

Heidi is not so much better.

Kinda worried.

Hoping she'll recover quickly.

***

The sunburn is peeling.

And itching.

But mostly peeling.

***

Is Twitter slow for you?

Or is it just me?

It is probably just me.

***

Went to a Scholastic Book Fair yesterday.

Took me right back to elementary school.

I love a Scholastic Book Fair.

***

Saw a book called "The Moms Book: For The Mom Who's Best At Everything".

No pressure there.

I almost bought it.

***

Last & most important:

Prayers to Steven Curtis Chapman's family.

God will always provide what we need just at the moment we need it.

Even when our mind cannot wrap around it.