Z is for Zombie

I’ll bet if you read all of the Blogging A to Z Challenge posts today, you would find a lot of very interesting creative Z words.  But I also bet you’ll find a lot of Zombies.

Zombies seem to have become very popular over the last few years.  I’m not sure I’m as fascinated with them as some people I know, like my friend Stephanie over at Clay Baboons.  Now This Girl Knows Her Zombies!

But a few months back, I refered to myself as a Zombie Vegetarian.  My explanation for this was that there are times when I eat mindlessly within my chosen food criteria.  I eat the same thing all the time.  I’m Boring.  It’s as if someone, presumably another Zombie, has eaten my brain and I can’t think of anything new and different to try.  I stick with what I know.

Those of you who are familiar with my wonderful husband Ralph, he only had to hear that remark and he went to work.  This is what he came up with.

Yes, that’s me…terrorizing innocent vegetables. It might amuse you to hear Ralph’s version of the day I was slicing carrots with my food processor to make soup.  He made a Silence of the Lambs reference.  He said he had awakened to the screaming of the spring yams.  Well I guess you had to be there, it was pretty funny at the time.

Just so you know, I AM trying to be more creative with my veggie selections, moving slowly into new and different foods and recipes.

This is my twist on the Zombie theme that I’m sure is slowly dragging its feet across most of the Blogging A to Z community today.  As always, Ralph is kind to me in his drawings and I look a lot better than most Zombies.  But I’m still stalking those little veggies!

The Blogging A to Z Challenge has been a huge learning experience for me.  The organizers have requested that we post on May 7th about our experience with the Challenge.  I just found that out today, again thanks to Stephanie.  As Gram used to say…Always a Day Late and A Dollar Short!  Regardless…I made it… A to Z!!!

Tomorrow it will be business as usual here at BCDC.  Guess I have to come up with my own topics now.  Do I remember how??  Well, it’s May Day…That should give me something to work with.

Happy Monday!!

Memorial Memorable

Saturday, I was privileged to attend a Memorial for one of my college professors.  I’ve talked a little about being a speech and theatre major at Glassboro State College/Rowan University.  It was one of the most exciting, frustrating, crazy times of my life.  I learned so much and met so many wonderful people.

One of my favorite professors, Dr. William C. Morris passed away earlier this year.  On Saturday, I was fortunate to attend his memorial service, held in Tohill Theatre where he directed and acted in so many plays.

It was a great celebration of the life a terrific guy.  I got to see a lot of familiar faces.

A group of our other professors who led the way.  Great group of guys!

Sadly, I didn’t take any photos of my own of my fellow students who were there.  I was too busy talking and reminiscing!

Ralph and I decided to grab some dinner on the way home.  We made the Very wise decision to stop at Italian Affair in Glassboro.  We had been here once before, but it was for a luncheon after a funeral and it wasn’t appropriate to take photos that day or to write about it. It’s been hard keeping it under my had all this time.  That’s why when Ralph suggested lunch, I jumped at the chance.

When you walk in the door, you know you’re in for a treat.  The place just smells good.  We were lucky enough to be given a table by the big windows that look out onto the terrace.  Lots of natural late afternoon light.  Very pleasant and good for photos! 😉

We started with salad.

It comes with the house dressing which is oil and vinegar and Lots of garlic.  So tasty.  So good in fact that if they had offered me a really big bowl of this and the bread…That could have been lunch for me.

Oh, yes…the bread…

Wonderful little dense rolls served with herbed olive oil.  So good, I could have eaten the entire basket.  But I behaved and only ate 2.

My entree…Eggplant rollatini with ricotta inside with a side of penne pasta.  The plain marinara sauce on the penne was delicious.  The eggplant was incredible.  So many times when a restaurant does eggplant, it’s heavily breaded and greasy.  This was very delicately breaded and cooked to perfection.  I couldn’t finish it, and brought about half of it home.  The leftovers didn’t last long once I got home though.  We didn’t do dessert, but we had coffee and I have to say as a coffee lover, it was outstanding.

Ralph had one of their specials which was a filet with crab and shrimp in a white sauce surrounded by roasted red peppers and spinach.  He insisted that I taste the veggies and they were delicious.  He thoroughly enjoyed it.

We would definitely go to Italian Affair again.  The service was great and they make everything feel special.  We spoke with the chef’s wife on the way out and told her how much we enjoyed it.  We will certainly be making a return engagement there.

It was a very emotional day, but very enjoyable.

Happy Sunday!  Tomorrow I will complete the Blogging A to Z Challenge… Hooray!!

 

Y is for Yes

Yes!  It’s true that the letter of the day for the Blogging A to Z Challenge is the letter Y. And the word for the day is YES!

Why Yes for the letter Y?  Yes is a nice positive word.  Yes, Please.  Yes, I would love to have pizza for dinner.  Yes, I would love to have ice cream for dessert.  Yes, I think and talk too much about food!

But seriously.  Yes, I am almost to the end of the Blogging A to Z Challenge!  I don’t actually believe it.  It’s seemed like a very long month.  I’m happy that I’ve participated.  I’ve learned a great deal about myself as a blogger and I’ve learned to stretch my wings when it comes to topics and how I approach them.  My friend Helen at Views from the Porch saw that I was doing the A to Z and was inspired to do the letters in her name.  What a great idea!  She has a Much longer name than I have so she has a lot more to work with!

I started this blog because I love to write.  For over a year now, I’ve been working my way through things, learning what I like, what I don’t like.  Going with good suggestions from others, coming up with some things on my own.  I have learned that I don’t need to hold myself to writing about the same things or in the same way all the time.  That’s what I love about writing.

I got some positive comments when I used a piece of my poetry last week.  I think I’ll do that more often from now on.  I write about books a lot and I will continue to do so.  Hopefully, I can find some I like…haven’t had a lot of success at that lately! 😉

I hope that Broken Cookies Don’t Count can continue to grow as I grow.  I plan on some changes, updating my “About” page for one thing and adding some of my “before” Weight Watchers photos which should amuse you all.  Maybe some updating on the layout, if I can figure out how to do it!

I won’t stray too far from what you’re used to.  I just hope to make it better.

So in the meantime…I say Yes to trying new things in the adventure that is blogging and is my life in general.  Hope you stay along for the ride.  As the snail said when he was riding on the back of the turtle…WHEEEE!!!! (That’s one of my all time favorite jokes!!)  YES…it really is!!

Happy Saturday!!  “Z” you on Monday with the final day of the Blogging A to Z Challenge.

X Markx The Spot

Now the Blogging A to Z Challenge is getting tricky for me.  Today’s letter is X.  I’ve been thinking about X since around “M” trying to come up with something.  If I had approached the challenge from a different angle, I could look up some good “X” words in the dictionary.  Yes, I still have an actual, physical dictionary.  I could make up some clever words like some other bloggers.  I could talk about XBox like some other, other bloggers.  I’m not totally sure what XBox is so that leaves me dangling as well.

So, What to do with “X”??  How about “X Marks the Spot”?  We’ve all heard it for years in cartoons and Pirate movies.  That’s where the Treasure is hidden.

On Facebook, I’m part of the New Mexico Fan Page.  It’s not a great honor of any sort.  You just have to click “Like” to be part of it.  But they’ve been having wonderful little Facebook-like photos that you can share.  You share the photo and it points to your profile picture saying…

and…

I love this.  It makes me feel a little closer to the place I love and the place I want to be.  The place where the treasure is buried.

So…

I could have written about X-Files, too.  Actually, Mulder and Scully hung around in New Mexico for a while…that could have worked!  Oh well, I’m stuck with X Markx The Spot!

Happy Friday!!  Tell me again “Y” I’m doing this?!  Maybe I’ll figure it out tomorrow!!

W is for Weight Watchers

W is the letter of the day for the Blogging A to Z Challenge. I can’t believe that we’re almost at the end of the alphabet.  This has not necessarily been easy but it’s been a great learning experience.  If any of you have read BCDC for a while, you’ll probably find it easy to guess what my “W” word will be.

Weight Watchers has been a part of my life for 25 years.  I wrote all about it on the anniversary of when I joined.  25 years and Counting tells the story of how I got to WW.

It seems like I’ve always been part of Weight Watchers and yet, some days it feels like I’m just starting out.  Weight loss and weight maintenance are real projects for those of us who have struggled or in some cases still struggle with our weight.  I often wonder what my life would be like if I had never joined.  In some ways, it’s too scary to think about.

My major reason for joining was health related.  I came from a family where many people suffered from weight related health problems.  Heart disease, diabetes, breathing problems.  All of those things were real in my life growing up.  I didn’t want to follow that same path.  When I realized that weight was the real villan in the scenario I decided I needed to do something about it.

Of course, like so many others with this issue, I didn’t take the easy route.  I would latch on to the latest fad diet and poke around at trying to make it work for me.  I’d lose a little, then when I stopped doing it, I’d find that I had gained back more than I had lost.  It wasn’t until I joined Weight Watchers that I put it all together and figured out what worked for me.

I want you to realize that this is NOT a commercial for Weight Watchers.  I don’t work for them anymore and I get nothing out of telling you about what an incredible program this is.  It has changed my life and taught me to do the things I should and not to do the things I shouldn’t.  It’s a wonderful program because it allows each person to find out what works best for them.

In my opinion, Weight Watchers very simply saved my life.

Anyone reading this who struggles with their weight should find out about Weight Watchers.  There are meetings everywhere.  The people at the meetings are welcoming and helpful.  Most importantly, If you go to a meeting and you don’t feel comfortable, Find Another Meeting!  Each meeting develops its own personality.  Find the one that suits you.  But if you need to get healthy,  Find A Weight Watchers Meeting.

Happy Thursday!!

V is for Vegetarian and WIAW

The letter for the day with the Blogging A to Z Challenge is V.  It’s also What I Ate Wednesday hostessed by the lovely Jenn over at Peas & Crayons, and for the month of April we’re all adding veggies to our meals.  Be sure to travel over to the B/A-Z website to view some other bloggers and to P&C to drool over some good food.  Here…you’ll get the combo platter! Time for a veggie badge!

Those of you who read BCDC regularly know that I am a vegetarian and have been for about 22 years.  I can’t remember exactly when it happened but that’s a decent approximation.  I did it after joining Weight Watchers 25 years ago, but that’s a story for another letter.

I’m not the kind of person to beat other people over the head about it.  I did it for health reasons and I think that overall, I’ve been proven right in that aspect.  I’m pretty healthy and take no medications.  As my friend from college, Valerie likes to say, I’m not an annoying vegetarian.  Although I’m happy to share my knowledge with you, I won’t try to reform you.

One of the tricky things about being vegetarian though, is that it’s not always easy to get food prepared the way I want it in certain restaurants.  This past weekend I had a very good experience.

We were heading out to celebrate our friend Judy’s birthday.  Her choice was Don Pablo’s. I hadn’t been there for a long time and didn’t really remember what their choices were like.  Mexican food is sometimes easy for me but sometimes not.  This worked out well.

We started with tasty cheese quesadilla for appetizer.  Can’t go wrong there!

Lots of chips for the others but of course, No Chips For Me!

They offered fajitas which is usually a good choice but I noticed they also had a fajita salad.  The regular fajitas had Portobello mushroom as an option but the salad did not.  I asked our server if I could combine it and she was happy to do that for me.  I was SO pleased with what they served me…

So many mushrooms!  Yum!!

All mixed together with the honey lime dressing…I’ve got to try to re-create this dressing…So Good!  It was a wonderful dinner and I couldn’t have been more happy with Don Pablo’s!  We were seated quickly, our server was very friendly and helpful and I got what I wanted!  Who can ask for more than that!

It was cold and rainy outside, but inside Don Pablo’s, we had a great time!

Consider making more vegetarian choices when you go out to eat and when you prepare your foods at home.  I don’t think anyone would have been disappointed with this dinner and it’s just good for you.  But don’t worry, I won’t be too annoying about it!

Remember to head over to the Blogging A to Z Challenge  and to Peas & Crayons to see what’s going on for WIAW.  Read some, comment some and have a Very Veggie Day!

Happy What I Ate Wednesday!!

U is for Under

U is the letter of the day for the Blogging A to Z Challenge. U is not a letter I think of often.  Under is a word that sounds good to me.  The Troll Under the Bridge.  Scary fairy tale things.  What’s under that?  A question I remember asking  often as a child.  As in “Whats under that Rock?”  Usually it was something disgusting and therefore fascinating.

Under the weather.  We’ve all experienced that.  My middle finger on my left hand is Under the weather today.  It’s as the result of a vegetable related accident.  I was cutting lettuce…defying all rules because we’re never supposed to cut lettuce (I always cut lettuce.)  The problem arose because I was in a hurry.  Large wide head of lettuce. Short knife.  This scenario requires squeezing together of the lettuce which obscured the fingers and oh yes…I was in a Hurry!  It wasn’t even a very sharp knife.

Lots of blood…paper towel…band-aid with extra toilet tissue padding “under” it because this baby was Bleeding! Had to do a rewrap after washing dishes (with rubber gloves.)  Must have been the combo of the heat and my hand hanging down.  Bloody all over again.  I kept my hand elevated all the rest of the evening.  I’m not looking forward to removing the bandaid.   I’m sure it’s not pretty “under” there.

Anyway, my typing skills are not up to their usual speed and dexterity this morning.  But on we go…

Understand…Underwear…I don’t understand why my underwear gets holes so easily…I don’t wear flimsy, girly underwear.  I also can’t understand why I have such a hard time throwing away my underwear when it gets in this condition.  I put it in the hamper and say “I’ll wear it one more time.”  It goes through the wash, gets folded in the drawer, I wear it and it ends up going into the hamper “ONE MORE TIME.” Over and over.  You’ve heard me say before that I have a had time getting rid of things.

Understand…that would be a great word to explore on a regular basis.  Things I don’t understand. I could fill the Grand Canyon with things I don’t understand. But one of the things I have learned in life is to not pretend I understand something when I don’t.   If someone uses a word I don’t understand, I’ll ask what it means.  I think that’s a sign of intelligence.  At least I hope it is!

Understand.  I don’t Understand why I’m making more typing errors with my uninjured hand?!?

Better give my poor Under the Weather finger some rest.  Please, don’t anyone be offended if you see me with “that” finger in the air today.  I know you all Understand…

Happy Tuesday! It should be “V”ery easy for you to guess what I’ll talk about tomorrow!

Time To Talk About Time

The Blogging A to Z Challenge has brought us to the letter T.

What better to talk about for the T than Time!  As in “I don’t have the Time,” or the popular “Where did the Time go,” or one of my favorites, “Is it Time already?”  We all talk about time, we all deal with time or the lack of it.

I don’t know anyone who really deals with their time well.  It’s very funny and also a little sad to me that for years and I do mean Years, I have tried rather unsuccessfully to keep a journal on a regular basis.  I love to write, yet this is something that has always alluded me.  When I find the old journals that I’ve started, they invariably pontificate how I am going to do it this time, I’m really going to journal on a regular basis.  AND I’m doing this as a way to track making better use of my Time.

Even my first post of the New Year on BCDC…Fresh Start 2012.  Talked about the things I was going to do in the New Year.  I listed them…First thing on the list was “Journal Daily.”  Have I done it?  Would I be complaining so much about it at the moment if I’d done it?!  I’m sure my thought behind it was to use my time more wisely.  I know myself pretty well.

I do feel I’ve been doing better at using my time.  One of the things on my list for the year was to read more.  I’ve done that.  I’ve hit 25 books on my Goodreads 2012 Challenge.  It lists 27 but that includes 2 that I stopped reading. I couldn’t complain about them if I didn’t include them in the list! I feel that’s a very good use of my time so far. AND I now refuse to waste my time on a book if I’m not enjoying it!

I have been working on going through things that need to be weeded out and sorted to get ready for my yard sale and for packing purposes.

This is one corner of my side porch (where my computer and desk are) when I started on it last week.

Now, I don’t have a VOILA look how beautiful this looks photo to use as an after but I do have these…

Tons of photos from my college productions Organized!  I was clueless how to organize them, but then I came up with this idea. Three ring plastic sleeves meant for documents.  Each show has its own sleeve, photos and programs all easy to see and with easy access.  I was very proud of myself for this.

Four sets of photos ready to be mailed out to various friends so that they can now be part of Their stuff instead of part of My stuff!  😉  So Excited.  My desk still needs a Lot of work, as you can see.  All in good time.

I even made a list of what I want to accomplish today.  Not sure if I’ll get it all done, but at least I’ll know what was completed and what I still need to do tomorrow. And I’ll be ready for it.  After all…as Scarlett said…Tomorrow Is Another Day!

Happy Monday!  Tomorrow it’ll be up to “U!”

A Day Off?

I generally post on BCDC every day.  I love doing it.  Working on the Blogging A to Z Challenge has been a great deal of fun and I will continue with it on Monday. Not sure of my topic yet, but hasn’t that been the way throughout the Challenge?!  I kind of like the “fly by the seat of your pants” approach.

I contemplated not posting today.  Who would miss me for one day.  I’ve got 20 things on my list of things to do today even though it’s Sunday.

I talked about the things I’ve been finding that need to be sent to other people…gotta get those ready to go out in tomorrow’s mail.  Got paperwork to get ready to send out, that’s another project.

I’ve got to get some reading done.  Haven’t been talking about reading much lately, but I’m still on my mission.  Found a book that I’ve stuck with, finally.

It’s very interesting.  I’ve had this for a few years and it just kept getting moved down in the pile.  I started it and wasn’t sure what I thought.  It’s translated from the French and it was a little hard to get comfortable with the rhythm of the translator’s style.  I didn’t Want to stop reading it, because I had paid real money for this one.  I’ve got the rhythm now and the story has really pulled me in.  I have been working on projects so I haven’t been reading quite as much as I was so there needs to be some time for it today.

Speaking of books, sister Ele and I went to the local county library book sale.  We got there at about 11am and we saw people carrying out boxes of books on dollies.  A man that we passed had the nerve to say there wasn’t much left.  He was joking of course.  I do feel as though I restrained myself.  I bought a total of 7 books, that’s VERY good.  Three for Ralph and four for me.

The extra book on the bottom is one I got at the rummage sale last week.  Yes, there’s a Barbara Kingsolver book in there.  I know I didn’t like The Poisonwood Bible, and stopped reading it in the middle.  But I did really like Animal Dreams and I’m hoping that Pigs in Heaven will be more like that one.  We’ll see.

Can you also see from this photo that my desk needs to be the next focus of Operation Kickstart?  It’s true and that’s my plan as soon as I sort out the mess I started the end of last week.

So that’s my day off post!  I’m going to be busy.  Then late this afternoon we’re going out to lunch for another birthday celebration…not Ralph’s this time, although, it is still April.  I think this can count for his birthday too! 😉

Happy Sunday!!

S is for Sunrise and Sunset

The Blogging A to Z Challenge today reaches the letter S.  And yes, today that is the correct letter! 😉

For years, I have been the person who drags other people to the window or the door to look at sunrises and sunsets.  I’m not really sure why that is.  Any one who has read BCDC for a while will recognize my sunrise and sunset photos.

Wherever I am, I take these photos.  I can’t help it.

Sunrise, Sunset always reminds me of Fiddler on the Roof. In my cleaning out efforts, I came upon some photos of a college production for which I served as costume mistress.  It brings back a lot of memories.   This wasn’t the scene where that song was sung, that would have been the wedding scene, but this will serve my purposes today.

What fun!

Sunrises, sunsets and the moon figure in a poem that I wrote many years ago.  I’ve never shared any of my poetry on BCDC but today has been a nostalgic day so I decided What The Heck!  I wrote this poem, for Ralph of course.  It’s dated “12/6/91-4/15/94.”  The completion date was Ralph’s birthday and it shows that I was a procrastinater even then.  I’m a little shy about this, but here goes.

~~~~~~

I used to wait for sunset, Watch the sky change Turning to fuchsias and purples Tell anyone who’d listen That they should not miss The beauty.

But I didn’t know What I was missing.

I couldn’t wait for moonrise Each night, I watched The progress, as her swelling Profile crossed the sky Reminding them They could not miss her beauty.

But I didn’t know What I’d been missing.

I waited through the Long nights.  As the moon Deflated and soon faded From my view But not my memory I told them I truly missed her beauty.

And I knew that in my soul Something was missing.

But patience was rewarded. Throughout the sunset and The moonrise You have come to Complete the circle To share the sunrise and The moonset.

Though her phases come and go And she shrinks to nothingness, With you the moon is Always full…

And now I know What I was missing.

~~~~~

Some technical difficulties have caused this not to space out correctly, but the words are what matters.  To add to the cheesiness of all this, the copy from which I retyped this, has hung on the back of our bedroom door for all these years.  Today is the first time I’ve removed it since it was put up almost 20 years ago.

So that’s the letter S.  Be sure to pay attention to the sunrise and the sunset and the moon.  They are beautiful gifts given to us by God and we need to appreciate them.

Happy Saturday!    We’ll see what I have “T”ime for on Monday!