It's Chili, Soup, & Stew Season!

I spent close to two hours shoveling my driveway with an actual shovel.  We have no snowblower and apparently I'm the only one in the house that will get out there and do it.  And since my roommate has zero motivation to do anything that pertains to the interior and exterior of this house and the fact that my roommate is gone all weekend, it's up to me.  It snowed about 6 inches the night before and continued onto the next day with an additional 6-8 inches.  So I basically shoveled an entire driveway with a foot of snow...alone.  Thank goodness for my iPod; made it feel like it went a lot faster.  So the upside is that I got a full body workout in, I have the house to myself, and I made myself a huge pot of chili to last me all weekend.   A nice sized bowl of hot, spicy, chili to warm and cheer me right up!!

Pictured:  my first bowl for the weekend.

"I'd Like To Use My Lifeline"

I meant to get an early start today but that was abruptly put on hold because I needed to charge my cell phone.  So here I am, instead, talking about it, digesting breakfast, and waiting for my phone to get enough juice that will last me throughout the afternoon.  (I normally carry my charger with me but today is an I'm-on-the-go kinda day.  In most cases, I would have left it behind and ran my errands without it but, unfortunately, I need my cell phone because I'm on-call today.
How did I get here?  How do I put on-hold the things I need to get done all because I need to recharge my phone?  I remember growing up without an answering machine.  If someone called and there was no answer, they would have called back later.  Simple.
Now?  We're much more accessible through cell phones, text msgs, email, etc.  I hate to say it but my phone is my lifeline.....Ahhhh, here we go, 86%.  That's good enough for now.

Enjoy the rest of the day, Happy Friday!!

Distraction Lost My Appetite

I love watching certain cooking shows and I, especially, love watching films that feature food.  They always make me want to jump in the kitchen and cook up a storm.  Yesterday, was one of those days that the TV was on on one of those channels.  It had been awhile since I've seen a Paula Deen episode and it was a special episode where she co-hosted with her eldest son.   On the menu for the day was a grilled ribeye steak with garlic mashed potatoes and deep fried oysters.  And to finish it off with a cheesecake topped with fried apples drizzled with a caramel sauce.   Sounds delicious, doesn't it?  Fattening, but delicious.
I couldn't help but notice how many times she said 'Ya'll' during that hour.  It was pretty frequent that even her son would throw in his own 'Ya'll' into the mix and by halfway through the episode I was distracted.  I even thought to myself, 'next time, I should keep a tally'.
I love Paula Deen and I've been watching her for years but please, please, please cut back on the 'Ya'll' like I would cut back on the butter.