Happy New Year

I could not stop giggling watching this..it is so funny and so sweet…so, I hope you all have some fun and much sweetness in your new year! And thanks to all of you for visiting me duirng this year…it has been my pleasure having you as a reader!

5 short months to go for Specs and CB

5 months

My own water sign (Scorpio) connects…only 5 tiny lunar circuits til my sun shines in!

God, I love creative people

This is an absolute hoot…watch it!

6 months for Specs and CB

6 months

Today is my 57th birthday and 6 months from today, May 21, 2010…”School is Out” for me!

Thanksgiving Trifle; easy as pie

I adore making trifles. They are ALWAYS yummy and they ALWAYS look gorgeous.  Tomorrow is my office holiday feast…the day we gorge ourselves from noon until about 5PM…we all love each other so much in my workplace…no, really, we DO!

I thought I would share my Thanksgiving trifle with you…easy to make and truly yummy…this one is NOT low fat, low calorie, low NOTHIN!

Ingredients:

2 small boxes of Jello Pumpkin Spice pudding (available only during the holidays)

4 cups of milk to make the pudding

1/4 t. ground cinnamon added to pudding mix

2 cans of apple pie filling mixed with about 1 cup of raisins

2 small containers (or 1 lg) of Cool Whip

1 box of Spice Cake mix (need 3 large eggs, oil and water) bake as directed in 9X13 pan-cool and cut into chunks

1 bag (2 cups) chopped pecans and 4 T honey (mix nuts in honey on low heat until carmelized then cool on wax paper)

LAYER- in a large glass bowl or Trifle Bowl

cake to cover bottom –>   about 1/3 of pudding –> about 1/3 of pie mix with raisins –> cover with whipped topping and spinkle pecans on top

Repeat the layer a second time

Final layer  –>  cover the entire top of the trifle with the cool whip so it looks like it is iced and then generously sprinkle with the pecans

Cover tightly and let it sit in fridge for at least 24 hrs for flavors to blend….serve with a large spoon and extra topping if desired

YUMMMMMMMY!!! and EZ!

Take a look at what 51 looks like…NOT!

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/44672912@N03/

 

Oh, BTW, that is my baby brother! He is a competitive body builder.

Today, time is a good thing :P

I just got off the phone. I made a very important and gratifying appointment.  On Thursday, January 14, 2010 at 4PM I officially sign my retirement papers for the PA retirement system.

The finality of this is acutally tingling…I have the most ridiculous smile on my face as I type this…it is real, I am really going to do this and I am so SO happy, and RELIEVED.

Next week I get to start purging my office of all instructional materials that I will never, ever use again. I’m gonna take pictures of that and post those because I will be tripping the light fantastic in my office as I toss 36 years worth of teaching stuff.

Oh, yes, I am quite happy with time today!!

Mr. Gorbachev, tear down those walls…

Probably the best thing Ronald Reagan ever said in his life.  I wish I was a bit more worldly (although I know I am a helluva lot more worldly than 99% of my fellow Americans), but, I wish I knew FOR REAL what sort of impact this statement has had…20 years later…in general, Americans are woefully ignorant of the REAL goings on in countries other than our own (and it is embarrassing to say how woefully ignorant so many are of their own country!) 

My hubby and I often have discussions about things happening in other countries and he ALWAYS assumes that they don’t do as much as we do or act in compasionate ways like we do or go to bat for other countries like we do (there is the assumption here that we are just these amazing d0-gooders). Now, he is a VERY INTELLIGENT  person, but I consistently point out that he has no reason to think that way because WE DON’T KNOW how other countries are acting or not acting. We only get a teeny tiny slice of their news/views…why is that? 

Why is it that it seems that Europeans know a whole lot more about us and what we do than we know about them?  How is it they get the news, but we don’t?  I’ve started to make a habit of listening to the BBC on XM-Sirius radio, to learn more, be more informed, understand the issues that others deal with…could it be that they are indeed more worldly than we are just by virtue of the fact that they all learn multiple languages (including English- sometimes the Queen’s English) in school?

I don’t know, but, I don’t like being ill informed…so, as I continue the retirement countdown, I am going to add one more thing to my ‘bucket list’…LEARN MORE about the entire world around me …I WANT to know…now that the wall is down and apparently down for good.