Sherri's (Never A Dull Moment) World

Saturday Field Trip

Bill and I found this Asian market a couple of months ago and we knew Angela would LOVE it:

Why? Because our lovely daughter-in-law is from the Philippines and she LOVES seafood. This market is huge, is loaded with exotic foods, and has more fresh, frozen and freeze-dried seafood than we have seen anywhere else in the area.  So we made it a Rodgers family outing to go there!

Bill had his own cart-- I just let him put whatever he wanted inside it. True to our "Yin & Yang" relationship, Bill often experiments with new foods and I am very conservative. He has a "thing" for sauces, so this aisle was like an early Christmas for him:

Auntie Tasha was in charge of Elijah. I offered to hold him but she said she had it taken care of:

Angela said she couldn't read the Asian signs or labels, but she did recognize many of the foods. She filled up their cart with noodles, sauces, rice flour, meats and seafood, etc. and shopped with purpose. I heard her squeal when she found this item:

She not only poses like a true Rodgers, she likes her food hot & spicy like the Rodgers! She added that 5-lb. bag of chili peppers to their cart and promised to share some with Bill!

Speaking of Bill, I found him looking at this and made him PUT IT BACK:

[Note: He gets in trouble if he brings my friend, the octopus, home....]

I wandered around, checked on all of my clan, and then spent some time looking in this aisle:

What?! Why seaweed?! Well, I spent many years of my Ph.D. doing research on seaweed and they are like my long-lost friends. Here at H-Mart-- many kinds of seaweed are dried, packaged and ready to be used for sushi rolls, soups, salads, and so much more!

Finally, we checked out. I think we all left happy (except for Baby Elijah who was asleep from all of that shopping):

 

Jeremiah was not only popping wheelies with his H-Mart cart, he was saying, "Oh Yeeeeeeaaaahhhh!"

Yes, we are dorks. But it sure is FUN to shop together!

Life Is GOOD...

Life is good when your son & daughter-in-law call you at work to say they would like to cook dinner for you tonight:

Life is good when you go there after work to find Papa already talking to Baby Elijah:

 

Life is good because Papa loves that baby so much:

 

Life is good when Honey (that's me) rocks the tired baby to sleep:

 

Life is good when Bill and Angela are swapping cooking ideas in the kitchen:

Life is good because Natasha (a.k.a. Sissy) is home for WSU's Spring Break:

Life is good when Natasha and Bill cook together:

Life is good because Sissy is such a ham that I can hardly take the picture without laughing:

She really wanted to taste those mashed potatoes:

Life is good when they both approve of the mashed potatoes:

Life is good when you share a delicious meal together.  Life is GREAT when you realize that all of this is due to two people who found each other and created a family: (sigh!)

I love my life. Happy Friday, everyone!

Jelly Bellies

Yesterday, the four Scrap Queens were reunited as we spent the day with our favorite hobby :

Often we bring snacks, some healthy and others..... not healthy. More often than not, this is what shows up between the four of us:

Can you guess what is in the bag?? Jelly Belly jelly beans, of course! Who can resist choosing from so many colors:

AND so many flavors:

We can't. I know I am always on the hunt for coconut, bubble gum and cinnamon jelly beans:

Danelle's favorite flavor is berry blue:

And Jennifer picks out either orange or tangerine:

We usually don't have the flavor chart with us, so we sample random colors and remind each other of the flavors. Jennifer and I gag over Buttered Popcorn and we give the Mocha ones to Danelle. We usually give Jennifer a hard time about eating so many that she gets sick to her stomache.  Strangely, Kris is not a fan of Jelly Bellies. She succumbed to scrap peer pressure though, and picked out this one:

Instead of chewing it & finding out what flavor she had, she sucked on it. And this is what happened:

Niiiiiiiiiiiice! For the record, we tell ourselves that Jelly Bellies have zero calories. How can something so small and innocent make you fat??? ha What is YOUR favorite flavor?

Just 25 Cents

I worked today, then I painted at J & A's new house. Bill decided to take me out to dinner as my reward at our favorite place, Mexico Cafe.

While I was sipping my margarita, eating chips and chattering about my day-- Bill was watching these two little boys, eating dinner with their parents, at a nearby table. At some point during dinner, he asked me if I had any quarters. Because I am a smart woman (ha!), I asked Bill if they were for the two little boys at the nearby table. He said he was thinking about treating them at the end of their dinner for being so well-behaved.

Sure enough, when we got up to leave-- we stopped at their table and Bill presented them each with a quarter. Not only did I agree whole-heartedly with his "random act of kindness", I wished I could see what they were going to do with their new 25 cents!

Here is what is waiting for them when their parents pay their bill...

Will they choose a handful of Mike & Ikes? Or will they choose a sticky hand? Will they choose a fake tattoo? Or will they choose a giant gumball? Will they choose a *bling bling* necklace? Or will they choose a bouncy ball?

Sooooooo many choices for those two little boys tonight... if their parents let them spend it on the way out!

Guess What?!

This new year is off to a FUN start... My favorite Starbucks just named me their "Customer of the Month" for January 2010!

 

As you can see, I am tickled pink! My "bio" was posted yesterday near the barista bar...

It reads:  "Sherri loves coming in to get her extra peppermint hot chocolates! She has been the manager of Hallmark for 12 years! She has a PHD and is secretly a Marine Biologist. Believe it or not, her favorite movie of 2009 is "Zombieland"! She enjoys scrapbooking and photography in her spare time. A fun fact about Sherri is she recently started raising chickens. She has 9 hens that lay white, brown and even green eggs! She has now obtained the nickname "Chicken Mama". Thanks, Sherri, for being a fantastic neighbor!"

I was pretty excited to have been given this "award"... I couldn't believe my luck today when they handed me my "prize". I have five (count'em, FIVE!!) free beverage coupons to use at my discretion. That calls for a 'Whoop! Whoop!", if you ask me. Thanks, Corrie & crew at Starbucks! :0

Holiday Sugar

Yes! It's the most wonderful time of the year... [insert opera ladies singing here]

There is a holiday "something" that I look forward to all year long...I am too busy to do this thing myself. So I secretly wait for someone else to do it... and hope they will share.

Thank goodness, my neighbor, Midge, is into this "thing". What is IT??? For the last several years, Midge has created a family tradition of baking holiday sugar cookies with her two little girls, Delaney and Janna. Sometimes it is just the 3 of them. Sometimes Midge invites her girlfriend, Jill, and they decorate cookies with the girls. Sometimes the adults drink wine... sometimes not. Sometimes they invite our Natasha to  join them and make it a cookie decorating party! 

Why am I writing about "their" tradition??? Because.... I LOVE FROSTED SUGAR COOKIES. Homemade ones are simply to die for! And the more frosting doodles, lines, and outlines-- the better! Pile it on, I love it all!

Sooooo, three years ago, Midge sent over a plate of frosted sugar cookies after one of these nights, right before Christmas. They were absolutely DELICIOUS. (That year she and Jill were sipping wine, so they were really crazy and had gobs of frosting = perfect!) Last year, they invited Natasha to join them and she brought home the magical plateful of cookies just for me. (I loved that.)

Last night, Natasha joined them again. And here is what she brought home...

It was a beautiful smorgasbord of whimsical, heavy-on-the-frosting sugar creations!

Natasha (a.k.a. pastry chef) made one that said, "Chicken Mama" (sorry, I already ate it). She also made this cookie with a frosting chicken on it (after the photo, I ate that one too). And Tim, Midge's husband, made the cookie on the left just for me. He came over today to tell me that it was a chicken footprint with a much smaller raccoon print on the side. {That is another story!!} 

I am grateful that my neighbors have this wonderful family tradition. I am grateful that they all LOVE Natasha (she babysits those cute little girls). I am grateful that Natasha knows that I LOVE frosted sugar cookies. Most of all, I am grateful that they all think of me and feed my sweet obsession.

And my hips are grateful that this happens only one time during the year. ;)

Holiday Party Fun

'Tis the season for holiday work parties!

My good friend, Judie, volunteered to have our Hallmark party at her home (Thank you, Judie!!).

 

We arrived at their lovely home laden with spouses,food and gifts!  It was potluck and there were many delicious  entrees to choose from...

 

Judie's husband, Rich, had prepared a surprise for us in their backyard. He had a fire going and had made a special contraption for roasting chestnuts!  He tried to get us to sing that Christmas carol that goes with the nuts, but none of us could get past the first line-- "Chestnuts roasting by the open fire, la la lalala la la...."

After munching on roasted chestnuts, we started our holiday gift exchange. I started this game a few years ago where we bring "Naughty" and "Nice" gifts. We began with the Naughty Gift Exchange-- whoever wants to participate has to bring a "Naughty" gift. This does not mean anything X-rated-- rather, something you might not want to get from Santa (ex. household 'treasures', dollar store finds, useful/useless contraptions)!  We all draw numbers for selection order. When your number comes up, you can either open a new package or steal something that has already been opened. It is pretty funny to see what happens...

Check out some of our AMAZING "Naughty" gifts:

Linnea scored this *priceless* handmade treasure featuring 2 mice sewn onto a brick bed! [I wonder why no one stole it from her??]

Linnea's hubby, Matt, is now the proud owner of a VHS "Francis joins the Navy" tape! [We had a quick poll to see who still has their VCR machine hooked up to play it.] I asked Matt if he already owned this one and he sadly said, "Now I do!".

I picked this wonderful, well-loved stuffed dog and a variety pack of lint brushes, lint pads, furniture lint rollers, etc. What a coincidence! We have all kinds of dog & cat hair floating around our house and I can REALLY use these!! [And it beats the roll of toilet paper I got stuck with in last year's game....]

Rich seemed tickled with the only semi-naughty gift-- a bottle of massage oil and a devil ducky. (insert wicked snicker here)

Then we moved onto the Nice Gift Exchange round. We drew numbers again and waited with anticipation to see what would unfold...

This is Pat about to open ...... a hot cocoa gift bundle!

Estefania said, "LOOK! Two Starbucks gift cards!! Wooooo!" She must have been giddy on cranberry punch, because then she happily told everyone that she brought this "Nice" gift herself!  We teased her about not keeping her mouth shut-- and then those Starbucks gift cards were stolen from her. Poor Estefania!

Bill unwrapped a box of Mandarin oranges. He checked inside to make sure it wasn't a gag "Nice" gift.  And then he was very, very happy!

And Judie opened up a truly NICE gift-- "Nice" Hersheys Kisses and a delicious pack of gourmet coffee.

All in all, we had a merry time and it was fun to be together without having to ring up customers, answer telephone calls, restock merchandise, handle cranky demands/stupid questions/ridiculous looks of surprise that we are sold out of items we have carried for 6 months, etc., etc. during our crazy holiday season.

Our current status at Hallmarkland = RETAIL HELL.

Our state of mind after the holiday work party = THAT WAS FUN!

If I Were President...

Every week, Typepad puts a "blog jumpstarter" question in a little box when you open up your official homepage. Sometimes the questions are deep... other times amusing... or something in between. Today's new question was a "no-brainer" for me! I thought I would share it and post my answer as well.

Q: President Reagan was known for having a bowl of jellybeans of his desk in the Oval Office. Now President Obama has a bowl of M&Ms on his desk. If you were President of the United States, which candy would you put in a bowl on your desk?

Sherri's A: Duh! York Peppermint Patties! Not only would I have fresh breath (from the mint inside) when interacting with my official staff and foreign dignitaries, but I would also be in a much better mood making executive decisions (due to the endorphins from the dark chocolate). AND... I could still squeeze into my business suits because they (YP Patties) are low in calories! It's perfect.

Which candy would you choose and why??

Food Fads

Do you ever find yourself eating a favorite food... all the time? You don't just like it, you LOVE it.  I am not talking about food obsessions or food cravings. I am talking about foods you find yourself eating on a semi-regular basis because they are on your list of favorites and have not been replaced with something else. Although I do love choices, I am also a creature of habit. For the last several months I have been snacking on the following foods on a semi-regular basis and I am still not tired of them. They show up on the grocery list. My husband, Bill, asks me if I need more of these-- am I running low? They are not part of a crazy diet plan, they do not necessarily go together, they (thank goodness) are relatively healthy snacks, and I still want them. 

Time for confessing my food fads.  I LOVE cucumbers, sliced thin and dipping them in ranch dressing. I LOVE York Peppermint Patties. Sometimes I nibble on them cold (I keep them in the refrigerator), sometimes I savor them at room temperature. I LOVE stick pretzels. My justifications: 1) Cucumbers are vegetables and how can you go wrong with eating veggies? 2) A full-size York Peppermint Patty is only 140 calories (!) and covered with a thin layer of dark chocolate. Most chocoholics and women, in general, know that dark chocolate is good for you. And 3) according to my favorite brand of stick pretzels, I can eat 46 pieces for 110 calories and 1 g of fat. Hooray! 46 stick pretzels seems like a very satisfying snack.

If this trio of food fads is anything like my childhood-- I will eventually tire of them. I remember being a big fan of root beer when I was a little girl. If my parents took us out for burgers & fries, I always ordered root beer. If I was the kid allowed to accompany my mom grocery shopping, I requested root beer. If we went to friend's houses or picnics or birthday parties-- I would ask for a root beer, please. I am not sure how long that lasted, but it was a loooooong time (maybe even years). At some point, I was tired of drinking root beer. Maybe I should actually try something else? I think I switched to lemonade after that. Go figure.

What is your food fad?