Picture Sunday

Hello, hello. Getting home later and later on Sunday nights, it seems. I got a visit from my "old friend" on the way back home tonight. Yep, the "check engine" light is back shining in the podmobile. I don't know whether to care anymore or not. But let's not worry about it right now.

Let's get right to the pictures!

First of all, a little nephew love. Again. Let's all send good Monday thoughts out to Taytie, because tomorrow is the State Play Competition in Hooville. They'll be performing their play in the morning. Last week, The Man got his picture in the paper. There was a little article on the play and the competition in our local, the B'field Daily Tellalie. Here's the picture accompa - accompa - going along with it (thanks, "O Brother"):



Excellent. Now, I'm sure you've waited for the next photo. It's here, it's new, it's hot off the press. Without further ado, may I introduce the 2004 Official S & P Christmas Portrait:



Isn't S's outfit the best? He wore it to the band's Christmas concert Saturday night in N'rows. Where, I might add - Mr P was recognized by a spectator! He, S, and Hermey (they were all sitting together on the stage) even got their picture taken! I was so chuffed.

Keeping in the Christmas vein, I'm going to put a little something of mine in here. This would be called "A Doodle," or "What Happens When You're Given A Pencil And Are Completely Bored Out Of Your Mind." This was from last year's TheCompanyIWorkFor "Holiday Staff Meeting." See, we used to have fun "Christmas Lunches." Then that became politically incorrect, so they became "Holiday Lunches." Then TheCompanyIWorkFor lost all sense of fun and it became "Holiday Staff Meeting, With A Nice Lunch." Which means six hours locked in a room with TheCompanyIWorkFor Weasels, with a slab of turkey and dressing thrown in for good measure. I'm hoping to get out of going this year. We got pencils and pads to "take notes" with last year, and here are the "notes" I took:



I like drawing bricks. Very soothing, bricks.

And now to this week's recipe du jour. Hold onto your hats, everybody, it's Chili Beans!



First of all, I'm sure Chili Beans' feelings will be hurt to know they're a "budget meal." Let's see, we've got a big ol' heaping scoop of beans on a corn muffin, sharing a plate with a salad with a genuine throwback to the old days - radishes!! When I was little our salads always had radishes - you just never see them anymore. Go, radishes. So, we're having the chili beans on a muffin, topped with cheese and onions, and a salad with radishes in it, and just to be the lighter to light the Roman candle that is this dish, we're supposed to have applesauce spice cake for dessert. Open the windows after this one.

Happy week.

Betland's Olympic Update:
* Bloodletting update: I'm now officially off all prescribed meds! I got the results back, and not only is my LDL cholesterol down a whopping 66 points, I'm also way under optimum range. That's the good news. The not-so-good news is that one of my liver functions came back testing high, so Smokin' Dr J said drop the Lipitor pronto. Which I did. We're trying that for 3 months. That leaves me taking only vitamins, biotin, and cranberry extract. Oh, and calcium.
* VA Tech beat Miami this weekend to win the ACC in their first season there. Why should you care? Because I - Miss Negativity - was the only person I knew who went around all last week predicting a Hokie win. Now they'll be playing in New Orleans on New Year's. Everyone around here will be heading down just as I'm heading home.