Fun Mail Day

This was my second sweet spot of the day, coming home from my tax appointment...it was ugly news, so it was nice to open up the mail and find this cute Easter card.  It uses non Stampin' Up! items, but it was a RAK from my sweet friend Ellie so it is ok. My first sweet spot was seeing my great friend Teri when I went to get my taxes done, it has been a while since I had seen her so it was great catching up about our kids.  Even though my accountant (my old boss actually) gave me blechy news, it was great seeing him too. He said don't get mad at the messenger...and I guess I can't.

Then we went to supper at The Deli with MAMMa and Vinni, and that was so much fun, I love these two people so much, and Jeff and I were saying on the way home, how much we enjoy hanging out with them and even though we come from different parts of the country originally (they are from New York, Jeff is Illinois and I am Canada) and our ages are a bit different, we have so much in common. 

Then guess who we ran into while we were there? Ellie and her hubby Ed, and her cousin/sister Karen, so it was great to see them!  Ellie and Ed are the best, and we love hanging out with them too.  So it was like God was saying gee Diana, you got crappy tax news, but look at the great friends you have...and you know what? I needed that!  Cause God is right, friends are much more important, and it is only money, and you can't take it with you.

So here is the card in full.  Thanks Ellie for the beautiful card, I am glad you got them done before Karen got to town, now you can enjoy her company, believe me it will go too fast.

Stamp Set: A Kind Word

Paper: Pretty in Pink, Barely Banana, Whisper White

Misc: Trio flower punch, gold brad and some non-Stampin' Up! stuff 

So since we went to supper, we missed the first 4 singers on American Idol, Eric even called and said "you know what you are missing?", and we said yeah.

So my BFF Tracy said not to worry about Siobhan or Mike.  She said Casey was awesome and I did Youtube him and wow, what a star.  We missed Didi, but came in when Ryan was harassing her about telling why she sang the song, then Toby barked and I don't know if it ever came out.

Then we heard Tim...they call him Teflon Tim, which is that like calling a big guy Tiny? Meaning, we keep trying to get rid of him, but he sticks? I don't know, but I saw the mean coach lady from Glee in the audience and I hope she kidnaps him for their show...News at Eleven...Teflon Tim is missing, the Gibbs' household celebrates with a party.

Then I think it was Andrew, I was scribbling on a piece of paper, and I think he did great and was more like his signature Straight Up song, unfortunately all I can remember is how they pulled his poor Mum on stage and had her talking into Ryan's mike on his lapel.  

Then Katie...well she has a great voice, but yeah she needs to sing younger stuff, and I totally could see her do Country, not Pop R&B like dork Kara says to her.

Then was it Lee? I was so afraid we missed him.  Tracy is 3 hours ahead so she was texting me and said he was good so I was forgetting the whole show was over for her and thinking he was on the beginning. He was so good, and my gosh is he not coming out of his shell, he looked at each side of the stage, and that raspy voice melted my heart...

Was it then Crystal? Liked how she started at the piano and then stood up, but I did feel she was uncomfortable at the piano.  I totally agree with Simon she needs to stay true to herself and not change.  I mean we love her for her, if she wins and then changes herself, I wont like her as much.

Then it was Aaron, how many is that? He sounded off key in places, and feel that he was not powerful enough to end the show but we love him.

So I voted for Casey after seeing it on Youtube, Lee and Crystal.  I think the guys were tied.  I think the final three will be Casey, Lee and Crystal.  

Oh and to those Twilight Freaks out there, did you see this?

Well I think that is all my blabbering for tonight, I have to hit the sack.

Have a great Wednesday and thanks for stopping in!

 

What's the Dill?

So I got fed up waiting for Firefox to get fixed, so I got Google Chrome instead, and so far so good.

I had the last of my Bird punch class today, and finished up my taxes, so how about a delicious recipe instead of a card? You know how you make a card, and you are like wow that is so gorgeous it does not even look hand made? Well this recipe makes me think I am eating at a restaurant.

It is a Schwan recipe, this is a company that delivers ice cream, meats and stuff like that every 2 weeks to the house, I was first introduced to the company when we lived in Illinois.  They used to have this coke syrup and this gas stuff and my Mum in law would make home made coco-cola, it was SO GOOD! So anyway, this is a recipe from the book you order out of, and I am sure you can convert it to other ingredients if you don't have the Schwan (man) in your area. Just remember that the Schwan chicken meat that is used is already cooked, so make sure you are cooking your ingredients fully, if you convert it.

 

Chicken and Three Cheese Tortellini with Dill Sauce

3 cups Schwans Diced Chicken Breast Meat

3 tbsp. butter

1 cup heavy cream

1 1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp dry dill weed

4 oz shredded parmesan cheese

1/2 cup Schwans Green Peas, frozen

1/2 pkg. Schwans Six Cheese Tortellini, prepared

1. Saute chicken in butter in a medium skillet 5 minutes or until chicken is heated through.

2. Add pepper, heavy cream, nutmeg, dill and cheese.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer 10-15 minutes or until sauce has thickened.

3. Stir in peas and warm tortellini into chicken and sauce.  Cook an additional 5 minutes and serve.

Oh and tip your waitress! ha!

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Don't forget that Wednesday is the last day to place a Sale-a-Bration order to get a free item with every $50.00 order. My online store is open 24-7.

Also don't forget about the new Demonstrator special, it also ends on Wednesday.

I would love to have you join my group.   Not only is the kit 15% off, but you can also get an extra stamp set from Stampin' Up! valued up to $47.95, and I am also giving you a choice of a $47.95 stamp set as a Welcome to my Di's Country INKers family. You can sign up online and be a Demonstrator today!  My password is: QCAZ85240.

Well it's off to beddie bye for this old gal.  I am hoping to sleep with visions of a tax refund dancing in my head.

Have a great Tuesday and thanks for stopping in!

 

Let Me Show Ya a Little (g)Love

Most of the day today my computer was defragging (makes me think of Fragglerock, remember the Dozers? - I loved those guys), I still was having issues so Susanna (hey chickee), suggested defragging it, then my sister Jax (hey sweetums) said to uninstall Firefox and then reinstall it, that still has not helped I am back using Internet Explorer and it messes up certain places on the internet (why I got firefox to begin with, but after the latest update - it has been horrible) but at least it lets me work on my post. I hate computer technical stuff.

So anyway while all this was going on I sat down to do more taxes, realizing I needed information on my computer, so I thought I would sit down and make a card instead.

So I turned on the TV by my desk, and a movie called "The Egg and I" came on and it was actually pretty funny for an old movie.  So I thought I would make a card inspired by the movie, and the two main characters; Bob & Betty sure worked their fingers to the bone. I loved where they got a flat and he was looking for the jack and she pulled out a wrench and then she said oh she had used the jack to prop open the door and then they fought and when they got home he chased her in the house and tripped over the jack. Too fun.

 
Stamp Set: Family Phrases, Garden from the Heart

Paper: Sage Shadow, White Natural, Chocolate Chip, Sweet Pea DSP

Ink: Jetblack Stazon, Brocade Blue, Going Gray, Close to Cocoa, Sage Shadow, Chocolate Chip

Misc: Modern Label Punch, Movers and Shapers Die, Silver brads, white gel pen

This card layout is copied from Ilina Crouse, and it is a fun and cute one, especially for this size card. Which is 3 1/4" x 6 1/2".

Oh and they say a picture is worth a thousand words...well these sweet words are for my good friend Robin from VA (love ya Robin)

This is who stares at me on my computer screen, now Robin seems to think that Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice is sexier then Edward from Twilight, and so we have this fun little disagreement going on, and well I say Edward wins.  I mean look at that face.

Well now that my defrag is over I can get my files off my computer, but I guess I better be hollering at someone tomorrow cause this freezing up is getting a little old, so there is definitely something wrong with my Firefox.

Have a great Monday and thanks for stopping in!

You Know How To Whistle Don't Ya?

You put your "tulips" together and blow! OK, well I know it is not the exact quote but it works.

I wanted to show you the last make n take from my Extra Large Bird Punch class.

The girls did a total of four projects, here are the links to the other ones:

My BFF Calendar

The Giraffe

The Chickadees

And then this one:

I'm gonna come back later and add the recipe.  I had to update my Firefox and ever since then it has been giving me problems, I have had to re-boot my computer about 6 times today and it gets hung up.

In fact, I had to use Internet Explorer to do this post as I got stuck half way through with Firefox.  If anyone has been having problems can you let me know what you did to fix it?  Thanks.

Have a great Sunday and thanks for stopping in!

 

Trying my patience

I had to update my Firefox, and I have been having nothing but problems since, so my computer is frozen in mid blog post. I had to do this post with my precious. Stay tuned...

Hugs, Di