Sawyer Says

Okay, you probably know by now that Billy and I are huge Lost fans. After we finished watching all of seasons 1 & 2 from the public library's DVDs, we moved on to watching season 3 online. We're hooked and can't wait until season 4 starts in February. And just this morning I read where Lost may be affected by the writers' strike.

At the beginning of the strike, news was that Lost would be okay since season 4 was airing so late. This morning I read that if the strike isn't over soon, it may not air until 2009!

I know people are going to complain about the possibility of the season being delayed and make threats to not watch when it does air, but can a true Lost fan really do that? I may be disappointed, but I like the show enough to wait. And I'll definitely be watching when it comes back on. There are too many unanswered questions to just quit.

In the meantime, I'll just have to start checking out seasons 1 & 2 from the library over and over again until it airs just so I'll get my fix on all my favorite characters. Or I might just have to break down and buy all 3 seasons. They're definitely worth having. Plus, there's so much going on in each episode, you're bound to catch several things you missed out on the first time around.

I'm going to have to bookmark the Lost page on About.com. There's all sorts of info on there, including this: Sawyer Nicknames Quiz. We love Sawyer! He's definitely grown on us since the first few episodes. I always look forward to hearing his sarcasm and his nicknames for everyone. I can't say that I have a favorite nickname he's used because he's used so many, but I remembered enough to score 81% on the quiz. Some of the questions are from episodes we haven't seen yet, so I'll have to take it again after we've finished with season 3.

What are some of your favorite Sawyer moments?

10 Best Games

Today's Ten on Tuesday list is the 10 Best Games - video, board, card, etc. Since I've already made a list of 13 computer games, I'll stick with board and card games today.

1. Apples to Apples - I love this game! I've played it with anywhere from 3 to 9 people and it's always a blast!

2. Nerts - Billy doesn't like this card game, so I have to play it with my parents and my sisters. It's like a speed version of group solitaire.

3. Balderdash- This is a hoot! You come up with crazy definitions or explanations for random initials, people, movies, etc. Always lots of laughs, but you need to have a lot of imagination!

4. Scrabble - Classic.

5. Scattergories - Another classic. Bible Scattergories is fun too, but quite a bit harder. Especially when playing against a seminary student... :o)

6. Phase 10 (and Phase 10 Dice) - I love playing this with Caleb now. He loves games as much as I do. This was his first "big person" game to learn. Once I've been playing the dice game for a while, though, it's hard to switch gears to the cards again.

7. Whoonu - Caleb got this Cranium game last Christmas and we've really enjoyed playing it. You select a card from the four in your hand that you think the "Whoozit" likes best. When all players have submitted their choices, the Whoozit ranks them from least to most favorite. You get points based on your ranking.

8. Trivial Pursuit - So many versions - and I like most of them! My head is full of random facts, so trivia games are perfect for me... I was just thinking the other day how Billy and I need to watch all the LOTR movies, then play our LOTR Trivial Pursuit. Maybe that'll be something good for our New Year's Day party...

9. Mancala - This is a great strategy game for two people. Travis and Wendy taught us to play at a game night our small group had about 6 or 7 years ago.

10. Scopa - (Italian for "sweep") Glenn and Amy taught Billy how to play this card game at that same game night. Scopa cards are hard to come by, but we finally found some. I think we got them on eBay.

Since I'm on a roll, I'll go ahead and add a few more. Then I can count it as my Thursday Thirteen, too.
Bonus:

11. Pocket Farkel - Mr. Ginger and PoMonkey gave us this for Christmas one year. It's a tiny dice game housed in a film canister. It's not like Yahtzee, and there's some strategy involved. It's addicting! I bet Caleb would like this game...

12. Rush Hour - Caleb got this game for his birthday a few years ago. You place little plastic cars on a grid, then move them up and down or back and forth to get a particular car out of the traffic jam. It's a great logic game, but can sometimes be frustrating.

13. Cranium - I can't forget this one! It's not my favorite, but I do like to play. It's been a while. Maybe that will be a good one for New Year's Day...

There are so many more that I didn't include (Imaginiff, Scene It?, Loaded Questions, Rook, Planet Hollywood, etc.), but I need to stop now. What are some of your favorite games?

Two

Caleb learned to ride on two wheels the day after Thanksgiving. Once he got the hang of it, he didn't want to stop - and he grinned from ear to ear the whole time he was riding.

For more interpretations of "two", check out Photo Friday.

Menu Plan Monday #8

I took last week off from cooking since we were going to be traveling. I didn't want any leftovers hanging around in the 'fridge while we were gone, so we had quick-fixes. I had one sweet potato and one baking potato left and didn't want them to go bad, so we shared them last Monday night. Jacob and I had baked potato with butter, Ranch dressing, and Tony's; Billy and Caleb had baked sweet potato with butter and brown sugar. I don't remember what we had Tuesday night...

We had chicken & sausage gumbo Wednesday at Billy's parents' house. It was delicious! For dessert we had my birthday cake - brown sugar pound cake. It was soooo good, very mild. I couldn't eat much of the icing; it was too sweet.

Our Thanksgiving menu consisted of turkey, ham, cornbread dressing, sweet potato casserole (2/3 topped with pecans, 1/3 topped with marshmallows), corn casserole, broccoli cheese casserole, green beans, green peas, candied yams, cranberry sauce (whole berry and jellied), cranberry relish (which I totally missed!), rolls, a marinated salad, and black and green olives. For dessert there was pecan pie, Nanny's fudge pie (old family recipe), fudge, pumpkin cheesecake trifle, two fruit salads, and brown sugar pound cake. Pre-lunch, we all snacked on cheese straws; after dessert, we all snacked on spinach dip with pretzels and chips. (I feel like I'm forgetting something, there's so much to remember!)

Friday night we ate leftovers; Saturday night, burgers and fries.

Last night after we got home, I was really in the mood to have Chinese food delivered, but I couldn't find our old take-out menus and I couldn't find any local restaurants online. I didn't want Billy to have to get out and pick something up from Panda Express since it was raining and he had been driving in it all day, so we had chili cheese corn dogs.

Here's the plan for this week:

Monday: Chicken Pot Pie

Tuesday: leftovers

Wednesday: Billy's First Prize Chili (Are you jealous?!?)

Thursday: leftovers

Friday: take out from Panda Express (I'm really wanting some Mandarin Chicken!)

Saturday: potluck appetizers (Our small group from church will be meeting for our combination Thanksgiving/Christmas gathering. Billy thought it would be a good idea for everyone to bring their favorite holiday appetizer to share. I'm going to make my Hot & Spicy Artichoke Dip, but I can't decide if I'm going to take toasted French bread slices or crackers for it. I'd like to take something else, too, but I'm not sure what.)

Sunday: sandwiches

For more menu inspiration, check out I'm an Organizing Junkie.

I didn't see that coming!

That should be the tagline for Lost. I didn't see that coming! Billy and I have said that at the end of many episodes - and often during them. There have also been some moments where I have been so intensely focused on the show that something happens and makes me jump!

We've finished watching the first 2 seasons and are now watching season 3 online. We'll definitely be caught up in time to watch season 4 when it begins in early February. It comes on Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. (CST), so we've decided to temporarily give up CSI: NY when the new season of Lost starts airing. It's that good.

Neither Billy nor I can remember a television show that had us so entranced. In fact, we're wondering what we're going to do when we can only watch one episode a week instead of several...

You've got to check this out!

Billy was searching on iTunes Saturday evening and found the band ApologetiX. They're great! They're like the Weird Al of Christian music! We listened to several music samples and kept saying how we had to share them with some friends we know would love it: Taran, PoMonkey, Mr. Ginger, Jay and Allison,... I think Cindy and Geeding would get a kick out of them, too!

If you like music from the 70's, 80's, and 90's, you've got to check them out. Listen to some samples on iTunes. Read some lyrics. Laugh and sing along.

Travel

Rough-riding, July 1, 2006

The boys love to ride in their Jeep at Billy's parents' house. Jacob is so strong-willed and independent, I was sure he'd have been fighting Caleb for driving rights. Instead, he'd rather ride shotgun all the time. I'm sure Caleb's too big for it now, so I guess Jacob will have to learn to drive if he wants to ride anymore.

I asked him the other day if he was going to play with the Jeep when we're there for Thanksgiving next week. He said no because there are probably spiders in it. I told him I bet Papaw would get them all out for him. (Hint, hint, Papaw. Please check the fort, too.) ;o)

Check out more "travel"-inspired photos at Photo Friday.

Creamy Mushroom & Barley Soup

I've been following along with my soup-night plan pretty well. For various reasons it doesn't always end up being Wednesday night, and I missed one week, but that's fine. Of the 13 Soups I want to make this fall/winter, I've made 6: Vegetable Beef Soup, Chicken & Dumplings, Baked Potato Soup, Taco Soup, Chicken & Sausage Gumbo, and Creamy Mushroom & Barley Soup (in that order).

The Creamy Mushroom & Barley Soup was a new recipe - a combination of one I found at All Recipes and some of my own tweaking. Click the recipe link for the original; here's my variation:

6 Tbsp. margarine
4 c. chopped Baby Bella mushrooms (One package of pre-sliced mushrooms will do.)
3 green onions, finely chopped
1 large clove garlic, pressed
4 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
2 (14.5-oz.) cans chicken broth (or use your own if you have it)
1/2 c. quick-cooking barley (I added 3/4 c., which seemed a bit much.)
1 pint half-and-half
Tony's (to taste)

Melt margarine in 4-qt. soup pot over medium-high heat. Saute mushrooms, green onions, and garlic for about 5 minutes, or until soft. Mix in flour until smooth. Gradually stir in chicken broth. Bring just to a boil and add barley. Cook, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes. Reduce heat to low. After boiling ceases, stir in half-and-half; season with Tony's. Continue stirring until soup is heated through, but do not boil.

This soup was really quick and easy - and it has a wonderful flavor! With the barley, it's very filling, too. I doubled the original recipe, and we had enough for Billy to take leftover soup for lunch today. Billy, Jacob, and I loved it; Caleb wasn't impressed and didn't eat much of it.

We paired it with some Sunflower Bread from Panera Bread. I really wanted Asiago Cheese Bread, but they were out by the time we got there. I didn't want Tomato Basil again (which we had with our Baked Potato Soup), so I asked the lady helping us if she had ever tried Sunflower. She hadn't, so she offered to let me sample it. She put the loaf in the slicer and gave Caleb, Jacob, and me each a thick slice. The crust was crispy and sweet; the middle was soft and nutty. Caleb and I loved it. Not surprisingly, Jacob didn't. He likes nuts, but not mixed in things. I told her I'd take the rest of the loaf, but she insisted on slicing the other remaining loaf for me instead. Then she loaded us down with 6 huge cookies - for FREE! She said they had baked a little too long and would only have been put out if all the other ones had sold. We ended up with 3 Chocolate Duet with Walnut cookies and 3 Chocolate Chippers. They were a little crunchy, but still really good.

Tonight we'll use the extra package of mushrooms I bought, along with black olives and mozzarella cheese, on some delicious homemade pizza. I can't wait!