Catching Up: A Ramble

I've been in a bit of a funk lately and just haven't felt like blogging. Our teen has been causing a lot of stress and things are not very smooth at home. I've been enjoying Mondays the most because everyone goes back to work/school, but there are only a few days of school left...so the kids will be home for the summer. My 10 yr old has morning daycamp for a month and then a week of (away) camp in July. The teen has summer school and then the National Youth Gathering in New Orleans in July. We have no vacation or getaway plans at all...so the summer should be pretty mellow. Probably just hang around the house, library, pool, and play dates in the park.

Yesterday I made Chocolate Drizzled Potato Chips to take to our favorite bookmobile librarian. They are retiring the bookmobile so we won't see her as much anymore. We've really enjoyed the bookmobile over the years, but now we have to go down to the main library now. Anyway, here is the recipe~

Chocolate Drizzled Potato Chips
rippled potato chips
chocolate chips
oil

Lay chips out on some wax paper on a cookie sheet. Add a drop or 2 of oil to choc chips and microwave for about a minute, then stir. Keep melting for 30 second increments (stirring in between) until melted. Drizzle over chips. Add another layer of chips and drizzle more chocolate. I put it in the refrigerator to harden up the choc a little bit. Try not to eat too much!! (I used cheap chips and it was yummy...and I am not a fan of potato chips.) I've also done this and dipped the chips in the chocolate, but you can't use a cheap bag of chips for this. You need thick ripples.
I am missing my fav TV shows now that the season is over. The Bachelorette just hasn't captured my attention at all...probably because there are too many guys to keep track of. Wipe Out returned last night, which is a lot of fun. I like the new challenges they put up. I enjoy the commentary the most. I'd love to see someone I know on that show! I don't know if there are any new shows that I will like this summer. DH told me about this site that is streaming all seasons of several reality shows in a row. It's called Justin.tv and right now they are showing all Amazing Races in a row. I keep clicking over and I get hooked on watching. I've seen all of the seasons but it's still fun to watch them again. They show them back to back to back. They've already gone through all season of Survivor and you can view them in their archives.

If you haven't already, please enter my Win This Makeover for You or a Friend Giveaway, which ends May 31. Maybe you don't need a makeover or care for the design, but enter to win for a friend or family member. Wouldn't they just LOVE you if you won and gave it to them? (I am SURE they already love you, but wouldn't they be thrilled?)

Dori & I are heading out for a girls weekend away. We are going to St. Louis to visit with my friend, Michelle, and her daughter Maya. Dori is very excited about going and I know the girls will have a blast together. We are going to meet up with some other mama/girls on Saturday. I think we are headed to the zoo. So I am going to skip Family FotoFun Friday tomorrow and am taking a few days off work. Maybe some time away will help with this funk...although I'll still have a teen when the weekend is over, so who knows. In fact with our kids so spread out, we are going to have 20 yrs of teen-hood in a row! Hopefully #2 & #3 aren't as challenging.

Wordless Wednesday: Referral Pic Anniversary

3 years ago my daughter's referral pic was taken in Hello Kitty Chair. I found a HK Chair online and each May 24 I take a pic of her in a yellow outfit.

click photos for larger view

FFFF #28: Graduation

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The theme for this week's FFFF is graduation. Please post at least 1 graduation photo. Come back here and link your post on the Mr. Linky below. You can grab the FFFF button code above. Detailed directions for participating in FFFF and how to do get the direct URL to your post can be found here.

Here is a pic of DH when he graduated from the university. He went into the Navy right out of high school, so he was a non-traditional student & dad of 2 when he graduated.Now is your turn! Post a photo or 2 with a link to this site then add the link to your post to the Mr. Linky below. PLEASE put the direct link to the post in the Mr. Linky. Direct link is best so people don't have to scroll through your blog to try to find your post. You have until Thurs, May 28 to post it. Looking forward to your pics!

Wordless Wednesday: Hello Kitty Girl

I ♥ Faces - Week 19 Blurb Photo Book Contest

Yesterday a bloggy friend told me I should enter this photo at I ♥ Faces. I've seen I ♥ Faces posts on other people's blogs, but I never thought I had any photos good enough to enter. I am NOT a photographer by any means. My teen seems to have the photo talent in the family. But I am particularly proud of this pic I snapped of my daughter when she was taking a bath. She looked like a darling little Medusa. Click the I ♥ Faces button below to see the list of entries.

I am submitting this photo into the www.iheartfaces.com Blurb Book photo contest. I am granting I ♥ Faces permission to use my photo in a printed version of a book for commercial use and possibly advertising of a photo book on both the Blurb and I ♥ Faces web sites.

Win This Blog Makeover for You or a Friend Giveaway CLOSED!

This giveaway is closed. Our winner is Twincere. Click here to see her new blog design.

As many of you know, I run a blog makeover business called Custom Blog Designs. At CBD I offer digital scrapbook style makeovers in a variety of template styles. I've done nearly 100 makeovers in the 15 months that CBD has been opened and worked with many more clients creating blog buttons and custom graphics. My prices have remained competitive and my customer service is top notch.

* * * * * * * * *

I would like to offer the blog makeover shown above to one of my lucky blog readers. You may enter to win it for yourself or for a friend or family member. This makeover is created with a great kit by ziggle designs and is the single sidebar integrated style. I will customize the title & tagline, signature, blog button, and can integrate a photo into the header if desired for the winner, otherwise the makeover is as shown. You can see the blog design here. This design is for a blogger blog only. This giveaway will go through 11:59pm on Sunday, May 31. The winner will be picked via Random.org on June 1 and be posted here at Diana Rambles and Custom Blog Designs. The winner will be notified and has 48 hours to respond. I will need access to the winner's blog so that I can install. Make sure to leave an email contact if it’s not linked to your blog account or if I do not have your email address. **PLEASE leave a separate comment for each entry. Each comment is numbered and a winner will be chosen based on comment number.**

To enter this giveaway~

• Visit Custom Blog Designs and pick out your favorite blog design that I have created. You can see a list of most blogs I've designed down on the middle sidebar. Come back here and let us know which blog design that is. This step is required.

• You can earn 1 extra entry for being a public follower of Custom Blog Designs. Make sure you leave a comment saying you are a follower of CBD.

• You can earn 1 extra entry by joining the Custom Blog Designs Fan Club at Facebook. Make sure you leave a comment saying you joined the group.
  
  
• You can earn 1 extra entry by blogging about this giveaway. Just make sure you link to both Custom Blog Designs and this (Diana Rambles) blog. Make sure you leave a comment with a link to your post.
  

That is a possibility of 4 entries. I will be verifying all entries and removing any that don't follow the rules. Good luck!

Make Something Monday: Doggy Belly Band

A few weeks ago we got a new dog. He had been allowed to roam by his former owners and didn't get neutered til a month ago. We've had some issues with marking in the house, so I've had to keep him on a leash right next to me. It's been A LOT of work! When I introduced myself at an online dog forum I joined someone mentioned using a Belly Band. I googled and thought it was a great idea. I found several WAHM types selling them, but I didn't want to wait. So I googled for directions to make one and created my own version of the Belly Band. Now our dog is off leash and able to roam around the house a little more and I don't have to worry about him marking. He still likes to get anything he can in his mouth (he's 2+yrs old, but still very puppyish!), so we have to keep things picked up and rooms closed. Here is the link to the directions. I didn't have enough velcro, so I did tie closures on mine. Our dog has been using the Belly Band for 5 days and hasn't tried to take it off or pee inside.I bet no one else has a Make Something Monday like this! LOL!

I was right!

OK...after the first episode of this season of Survivor I picked JT for the win here. I was right!! I've got a good track record of picking the winner. I've never picked a woman who won, but overall I've picked 8 of the 18 seasons correctly after the first episode. Nearly 1/2 of the seasons picked correctly...not bad!! I've not had much success for picking winners of other reality shows.

OK...could Stephen have looked any dorkier? YES...he could have had white tape on his glasses!

FFFF#27: Beautiful 1

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It's already Friday afternoon and I haven't posted FFFF yet. I didn't have a theme in mind, so I went searching for a photo. I came up with this beautiful photo of my daugther so I decide that this week's theme for Family FotoFun Friday is Beautiful. I am calling it Beautiful 1 so that I can use that theme again! Please post at least 1 photo of something beautiful. Come back here and link your post on the Mr. Linky below. You can grab the FFFF button code above. Detailed directions for participating in FFFF and how to do get the direct URL to your post can be found here.Now is your turn! Post a photo or 2 with a link to this site then add the link to your post to the Mr. Linky below. PLEASE put the direct link to the post in the Mr. Linky. Direct link is best so people don't have to scroll through your blog to try to find your post. You have until Thurs, May 21 to post it. Looking forward to your pics!

Wordless Wednesday: Mother's Day Photo Shoot

Reality Wrap

We sure enjoyed the entire season of Amazing Race. We figured that Tammy/Victor would win, although it looked Margie/Luke would win there for a while. Luke just got confused and frustrated. Victor played it smart by gathering all the surfboards first and then arranging them. I think Luke was so worn out from running back and forth...that it added to his frustration. Looking forward to season 15, which hasn't been run yet.

Survivor~ I am glad that they got rid of Debbie. PLEASE dump Coach next!!! I think it's amazing the the Jalapao trio has survived and thrived. I still think that my original pic, JT has a chance...but I would really like to see Stephen win.

I am starting this post during The Biggest Loser finale. Most everyone looks great, and Jerry is amazing. He's in the lead and I think he will win. I'll finish this post when the winner is announced.

YEA~ Jerry won. Ron came so close! Ron lost nearly 200#, but still needs to drop more!

OMG~ Helen looks so thin!! I think she will win!

YUP~ WOW...that was so close!!! I wish they had shown more at the end...they had so many commercials that they only had a chance to announce the winner and then it was over. I think Tara was shocked. Her percentage weight loss was actually less than Mike's.

A New Look

I was getting very tired of my old design. What do you think of this new one? I changed the template style in addition to the colors. I am not happy with the horizontal link bar at the top, but I will change it when I have time. I need to get back to my waiting clients!

Quick Guacamole

I am back today with my quick guacamole recipe. I have 2 recipes, but I usually make the quick guac. All our friends just LOVE both the recipes. I made this on Saturday for our Bark-B-Q and I had to stop myself from eating all of it before our friends showed up.Quick Guac
Avecado
Salsa
Sour Cream
Lemon or Lime

Scoop out the avecado and save the pit. I like to buy mine a few days ahead of time because they always seem to be hard. Just put them in a paper lunch sack to ripen. Squeeze a little lemon or lime on the avecado. Put in some salsa and sour cream and mash it all up. Store with the pit in it to keep it from getting brown. I can't tell you the exact amount on the salsa or sour cream, but put in a little and then add more if needed. YUM!

FFFF #26: Mothers

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Mother's Day is Sunday, so week's theme for Family FotoFun Friday is Mothers. Please post at least 1 photo of your mother or mother figure and tell us a little about her. Come back here and link your post on the Mr. Linky below. You can grab the FFFF button code above. Detailed directions for participating in FFFF and how to do get the direct URL to your post can be found here.

Here are scrapbook pages I made a few years ago of my (step)mom. She passed away in 2004 and she is missed dearly.Now is your turn! Post a photo or 2 with a link to this site then add the link to your post to the Mr. Linky below. PLEASE put the direct link to the post in the Mr. Linky. Direct link is best so people don't have to scroll through your blog to try to find your post. You have until Thurs, May 14 to post it. Looking forward to your pics!
Family FotoFun Friday Participants

1. john

Learn more about Family FotoFun Friday here.
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Wordless Wednesday: BeFunky.com Photo Effects

Ramble Time

I am tired!! From my head to my toes tired. Let me back up and explain.

On Monday I had my yearly physical. My health & vitals are all excellent, but I put on 17 lbs in a year. And I had put on nearly 10 the year before. YIKES! I know that if I keep going at this pace, my vitals won't be so great and other problems will arise. So I decided at my appointment that I will change things. I am going to focus on eating less, eating healthier (cutting out processed crap), and getting consistent exercise. Did great the rest of the day. Actually went to bed feeling a little hungry.

Monday evening we adopted a dog from the local humane society. Getting a dog immediately increases your exercise. I've been walking him a lot and he PULLS! We are working on training him, but he is still pulling a lot. My upper body is sore. Not really a bad sore, but a I've been working out sore. We've been walking at a brisk pace each night and pushing the jog stroller while DH has the dog. I can really feel it in my legs too. A few times I've wanted to cut the walk short, but I've pushed through. I've been doing great on my eats! I've even increased my fluid intake. I bought some lemons and have them cut up to put in water. That has gotten me to drink more. I am sure it's just water weight, but I already feel slimmer. More important that slimmer is that I know I am making healthy choices and I am not suffering at all.

The dog needs constant monitoring and I've been keeping him at my side nearly all day long. It's paying off! But I've noticed I am a little grumpier by trying to handle a dog, kids, house, work, etc. The constant rain wasn't helping. We finally got a break and have been rain free this weekend. We spent a lot of time outside, which has lifted the spirits and added to the soreness. LOL!!

OK...time to interject a little reality wrap. Survivor~ Oh man...I wanted Coach gone, but he won immunity. I really thought they were going to blindside Debbie, but poor Sierra was voted off. I can't say I am a huge fan of hers, but she got a bad wrap. From the previews it looks like Debbie is going to turn on Coach. PLEASE!!! He's such an @$$! Amazing Race~ I've really enjoyed the last 2 episodes in China. I have not been to any of the places they went, but it's been fun to see. I knew it would come down to Kisha/Jen & Redheads for the last spot. It looks as if they were just a minute or so apart, which meant the potty stop cause Kisha/Jen to be eliminated. My opinion of those 2 have gone down over the last several episodes (actually my opinion of everyone has...except for I started actually liking Tammy & Victor), BUT that one redhead (I can't tell them apart) is HORRIBLE! How can she go to other countries and expect people to speak English and help her out and treat everyone so poorly? Certainly adds credence to the term 'Ugly American'! Anyway, I am looking forward to the finale next week...which looks like it turns out neck & neck. I think that Tammy & Victor will win.

On Sunday evenings I always try to figure out what is going on the following week. In addition to our regular activities, I've got to take the dog to the vet tomorrow, Jake has a concert on Thursday night, Parker's school is hosting a Mother's tea on Friday that he REALLY wants me to go to, and we are having a Bark-B-Q on Saturday to introduce our dog to our friends. I can't think anymore...so I am logging off and heading to bed!

Missed out on my Photofiddle.com giveaway?

Well, I have a $10 gift certificate for each of you to photofiddle.com. Just email mom@photofiddle.com and ask for the $10 gift certificate. You only have until May 4th to claim this gift certificate. Gift certificate does not expire and can be combined with my 15% off coupon code ramble15.

FFFF #25: April Showers Bring May Flowers

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This week's theme for Family FotoFun Friday is April Showers Bring May Flower. Please post at least 1 photo you taken recently of flowers that are blooming where you are. Come back here and link your post on the Mr. Linky below. You can grab the FFFF button code above. Detailed directions for participating in FFFF and how to do get the direct URL to your post can be found here.

We've had a very WET April and the colors are just fabulous. Here are some pics my sister took around the neighborhood. Now is your turn! Post a photo or 2 with a link to this site then add the link to your post to the Mr. Linky below. PLEASE put the direct link to the post in the Mr. Linky. Direct link is best so people don't have to scroll through your blog to try to find your post. You have until Thurs, May 7 to post it. Looking forward to your pics!
Family FotoFun Friday Participants

1. Diana 2. Cora

3. john 4. Harriet

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