Friday, July 10, 2009

Thursday, July 9, 2009

What's my age again?

Here are a few funny random things that happened at the O'Quinn house this week:
Well this part isn't funny, but on Sunday night we had TERRIBLE storms in Griffin, thankfully our house was not damaged. SO to survive being without power Brian and I decided to break out a the card game Rook that someone gave us as a wedding gift. Since the power has come back on we have played several times. On Wednesday night, we found ourselves playing cards and solving puzzles on Wheel of Fortune. At that moment, I was very curious to know where was the breaking point between being young and fun and living like I was in a retirement village in Boca?
Funny thing number two- Tonight while at wal mart, Brian and I found a dog harness that was really made to go on a something like a Yorkie. We have been in the market for a small harness for quite some time because we have been in need of a way to take Torrie, our declawed housecat (who also spends all of her spare time devising ways to escape the house), outside. Turns out cats don't like leashes or harnesses so much. Maybe she will get used to it. However, I am glad no one drove by our house tonight while we were dragging Torrie around the front yard.
Now keep in mind, we have the best of intentions in doing this, and no animals were harmed!
On a not funny or random note, I think we might have won the battle of the fleas! We got a comfortis pill tonight, and thus far it has worked. Keep your fingers crossed that it will continue to work for the month that the box says it will.
here is a recipe:
Coffee Ice Cream
2 C. Heavy Cream
1 C. Whole Milk
2-3 TBSP. Instant Coffee or Espresso
2/3 C. Sugar
Whip cream to custard consistency, add sugar, dissolve coffee into milk, fold milk into cream.
Put into ice cream freezer

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Happy Fourth of July!

I cannot believe that this is our third Fourth of July in this house. This year, we cooked out, swam, and walked down the hill to watch the city fireworks. We have never done this before, and the best part was not having to fight traffic getting home.
On a related note, the highlight of the day was when I turned on public TV and saw Aretha Franklin wearing fur in July. Now, I understand an older woman wanting to be covered up, but how can fur in Summer be comfortable? Frankly, I was under the impression that wearing fur before Labor Day was in the same category as wearing white after that day.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Happy Friday!

So I just got done with day 2 of babysitting sweet little Megan. I have been keeping her since March, and it has been so much fun to watch her change everytime I go over there. I can't imagine having one of my own, but if watching a child that I am not related to can melt my heart with every smile, I am going to be in BIG trouble when I have my own. I always say that the beauty of other people's kids is that you get to spoil them and leave, someone please remind it does not work the same way when they are your own.
I am looking forward to a relaxing weekend of grilling and swimming,. Pool party tommorow! I wish I had started blogging earlier so that I could recount all the ups and downs of pool ownership. However, I think we have finally learned our lesson, and we will close it down properly this year. After this spring I am so sick of fishing out leaves it is not even funny!
Happy Weekend, Everybody!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

phew...

So the high school reunion invites went out today.... A big thank you to Robyne Gresham at FNB who gave me access to the folding machine. Thank goodness Brian was here to help me stick labels and seals on all of them, too bad he wasn't at the post office to help me stick stamps on all of them. I don't understand why the postal people couldn't just run them through the little machine that stamps them? You would think that since email is clearly winning the war against snail mail, they would bend over backwards.
SO back to Jamaica, I have never been so happy to see customs on U.S. soil in all my trips abroad, and having a husband waiting for me with 2 dozen red roses wasn't so bad either. Here are a few of the highlights- One thing I want to point out is that all inclusive camping should not be confused with all inclusive resorting!
1. The great kids from our group. Watching the rotten teenagers with their hairdryers and straighteners made me thankful for such a laid back group. (that's not to say that I might have fought someone for the use of a hairdryer) There were a few brief moments where i had to remind myself i am the adult: i.e. adult leader to recently graduated high schooler- "so and so, what are you reading?" teenager- "a book," adult- "what kind of book?" teen- "one with words and pages." had i not been on a mission trip, my response would have been gee, with three college degrees, i had trouble figuring that out.
2. The infirmary and the orphanage- not enough room to type about that. I did get to see a resident that had been there when I went on this same trip in high school, which was pretty neat.
3. Tonsillitis- I can mark Doctor in a foreign country off my bucket list.
4.- Dunn's River Falls- visiting the location of my honeymoon was tough without Brian, but I didn't not let that stand in the way of my beach time.
5. Jerk Chicken- It only tastes good when it is served out of a cardboard box
It was a great trip, and I can't wait to go back for a fourth time!
On an unrelated note- I applied to go to UGA this week. I am moving backwards to get another bachelors degree, so one day I can hopefully get Dr. in front of my name. Since we are a pretty devout Tech household, I cannot wait to buy a house divided licence plate. While they are not as classy as the pink Georgia girl ones, I don't know if I can quite pull off pink.
So in honor of that, you stay classy Griffin, GA!

Heres a recipe-
This comes from my favorite hour of morning tele: Today with Hoda and Kathie Lee. These cookies are auctioned off every year at the Lemonade Stand Cancer Benefit. This years batch sold for $13,000.00.
Lemonade Cookies
1 Box Lemon Cake Mix
1 Egg
1 Tub Cool Whip
Powdered Sugar

Mix first 3 ingredients, form into balls and roll in powder sugar. Bake 350 degrees, 10- 15 minutes.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Ya Mon

so blogspot just ate my pulitizer award worthy entry about my trip to Jamaica. I will try and recreate tommorow. after i get the high school reunion invitations in the mail. grr...

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Boredom Induced Blogging

Today, as I was trying to come up with something else to fill my time ( other than the pool, books, searching the bargains at Roses and my garden) I realized that the Internet could use one more blogger. On top of that, my writing skills have gotten very rusty since becoming a reluctant housewife (so please excuse typos and stylistic errors). So here is my first blog entry:
Last week was my graduation marathon, first my sister's on Thursday and Brian's nephew on Friday. I am so proud of Betsy(my sister) I know she is going to be very successful as a music major at Young Harris College in the Fall. This week is a packing marathon, today was the first trip of picking up the necessities. I got some packing space bags, more on how those work later. I leave for 10 days in Jamaica a week from today, and Brian is off to MN for a work conference on Sunday. (nerdy side note- this will be the first time we have been away without each other since the wedding, i think we should have ripped this band aid off a LONG time ago) In addition to the 1500 trips i will take to Wal Mart in the next week, I have been trying to get things ready around the house. My biggest molehill is the pool. Looking back, if we covered it, it wouldn't be hard to open up. lesson learned. Mix that up with laundry and grass mowing, and it makes me want a full time job again!
Tonight is a Utility Club Board meeting, the last one before I take over as president! This year has flown by and I am ready to see what the next has in store for the club.

Here's a favorite recipe to finish off the post:

O'Quinn Strawberry Cake (This recipe came from my mother in law, and I have put my own twist on it)

1 Box Cake Mix (white or yellow, make sure it calls for whole eggs and not just the whites)
3 eggs
1/3 cup oil
1 small carton frozen strawberries
1 small package strawberry jello

Split the carton of strawberries in half, heat strawberries and syrup in saucepan and dissolve jello in strawberries
mix and bake according to package directions incorporating the strawberry mixture into the cake batter

Icing
2 sticks butter
splash vanilla
2 lb bag powder sugar
strawberries

mix first three ingredients, add strawberries until it reaches your desired color, taste and consistency

Enjoy!