TV Shows - 30 Day Blog Challenge

One of your favorite TV Shows

This is, by far, my favorite show EVER! It is a legend. There are so many good things about this show.

If you have never seen this show...first of all, where HAVE you been? Second, you need to rectify this immediately!

The show was adapted from the 1970 feature film MASH (which was itself based on the 1968 novel MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors, by Richard Hooker). It follows a team of doctors and support staff stationed at the "4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital" in Uijeongbu, South Korea, during the Korean War. While the Korean War was only 3 years long, the show lasted 11 seasons! The finale, Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen, was one of the most watched shows ever with a record breaking 125 million viewers, according to the New York Times. Stories persist that the episode was seen by so many people that, at the end of the episode, the New York City Sanitation/Public Works Department reported that the plumbing systems had broken down in some parts of the city. Said to be the largest use of water ever around the city because so many New Yorkers waited until the episode ended to go to the toilet.


Two of the cast members, Jamie Farr (Klinger) and Alan Alda (Hawkeye Pierce), served in the U.S. Army in Korea in the 1950s after the Korean War. The dog tags Farr wears on the show are his actual dog tags. Farr served as part of a USO tour with Red Skelton. Furthermore, Mike Farrell (B.J. Hunnicut) served in the U.S. Marine Corps as a younger man.


There were many guest appearances and cameos. John Ritter, Leslie Neilson, Patrick Swayze, Shelley Long, Lawrence Fishburne, and Ron Howard being among them.


There were many things to like about this series. One of these being the chance to get the tiniest look at what life was like for the men and women who served. Many of the stories in the early seasons are based on real-life tales told by real MASH surgeons who were interviewed by the production team. This was a series that I grew up with, I looked forward to finding out more about them. I loved them and when it was over, genuinely missed. I was just little when the show was on, but I have since rewatched every episode (more than once) and find that I love this series even more.


What are your favorite episodes?




Here's my original post on the 30 Day Blog Challenge if you want to read what else I have to say.  I'd love for you to come along for the ride! :-)

Happy Veteran's Day

Today's post will be in honor of my father.  He's a Vietnam veteran.  He didn't choose to go over there and fight for his country, but he did the job anyway.  

I do not like the school subject "History".  But I love the recent stuff...like stuff that has happened in the last 100 years.  I have always been interested in the Vietnam war, simply because my dad was over there and experienced the place.  I have asked a million questions, but my dad is rather closed lipped about the whole ordeal.  I do know that he was a mechanic and worked mainly on the helicopters called Chinooks.  Those are the huge double engine helicopters that you still associate with the armed forces today.  He has lots of slides from his time over there.  I loved looking at the pictures and asking questions.  Of course, now he says that he doesn't remember.  

I am so proud of my father..  Thanks, Dad.

And now for a funny picture...Dad doesn't really like his picture being taken, so that makes us try even harder.  But then grandchildren came along and that has changed my dad a lot.  He has done things that I never would have imagined.  And this one is just one of them.  We were driving down the road after picking Wesley up from his Halloween party...he went as Mario, complete with mustache.  Wesley wanted me to take the mustache, so Dad took it and put it on.  I immediately grabbed for my camera to get a picture...remember, I am still driving down the road!  Not the safest time to do this, but you gotta get while the getting is good!  Anyway, Dad actually put it back on so I could get a better picture!  What a guy!

Thank you to all the veterans who have served and sacrificed for this country.

15 Interesting things - 30 Day Blog Challenge

Write 15 interesting things about yourself.

1. I always wanted children. At one time, I wanted 10 of them...including triplets!

2. I have never been out of the country...I have only been across the Mississippi just to say I've been across the Mississippi.

3. I have lived in 5 states...but only a summer for 3 of them.

4. I was painfully shy as a child and still struggle in some social situations. 

5. I don't find myself very interesting. I am chronically pessimistic.

6. My husband is mean and won't help me with this list. (Ok, he finally helped me with 1 or 2.)

7. I worked for a summer at Cedar Point...but you already know that if you read Tuesday's post.

8. Even though my favorite color is purple, the song Start Wearing Purple drives me batty!  It's been banned in my presence.

9. I have worked in several different areas...I was an EMT, I have worked in food service, a daycare, a hospital.

10. I love to learn.  (Directly related to the previous statement.) I want to know a little bit about a lot of things.  I am the proverbial "Jack Jill of all trades, master of none."

11. I've always wanted to be a writer, but the whole thing frightens me.  I do, however, now have a piece published! I am a contributor to the collection of stories in Not Alone.

12. I knew way before Rich did that we belonged together...so well that I even stalked him while he was dating other girls!

13. I have been arrested because I was upset over a boy. (But I wasn't stalking him at this point!)  :-)

14. I taught my husband to change a tire while 6 months pregnant.  ( I am much better at mechanical things than him...I put together the bookshelves/beds/anything else that needs put together!)

15. I waddled down the aisle.  It took him 5 months to come to his senses and ask and then we planned the wedding in two months...count it up, I was 7 months pregnant when I walked waddled down the aisle.

Here's my original post on the 30 Day Blog Challenge if you want to read what else I have to say.  I'd love for you to come along for the ride! :-)

So, did you think any of this was interesting?  What was your favorite thing to learn about me?  I would love to hear some interesting things about you too!

Attractive famous people - 30 Days Blog Challenge

Post 3 pics of Patricks people that you find attractive.

Patrick Jane (AKA Simon Baker)

I love The Mentalist because I just love Patrick Jane.  He is certainly not hard on the eyes, but he is so darn clever!  Now in looking up some information I find that he has three children named Stella Breeze, Claude Blue, and Harry Friday.  Now, isn't that just fantastic?  I couldn't ever do it...give my child a very different middle name...but I love the idea!

Patrick Dempsey

Starting to wonder if I have something for Patricks, huh?  Yeah, I didn't realize it either!  :-)  This one is just McDreamy! 

Ok, I just had to!  LOL!!

Here's my original post in the 30 Day Blog Challenge if you want to read what else I have to say.  I'd love for you to come along for the ride!  :-)

Birthday Trip!

Today is Nick's birthday...he was born on MY birthday, by the way.  (So, that means that I will forever be 25, as he took my birthday from me!)  Anyway, we wanted to do something extra special for him because he's just such an awesome kid and he is a fantastic big brother.  We decided to take just him to Cedar Point.  (No brother!)  It was also a good excuse for us to go, we love it there!  :-)

First of all, Nick hates surprises.  To the point that he will mope and throw a temper tantrum.  This only makes me NOT want to tell him things more often, so we didn't tell him the plan.  We kept him in the dark.  He headed to school just like normal on this particular Friday.  I did fib to him and told him that Wesley wasn't going to school because he had an appointment.  This is no unusual thing for Wesley.  Little did Nick know that we would be packing up and taking Wesley out to stay with my dad for the weekend and picking up my mom to go with us.

We showed up at school at about 11 that morning and picked him up.  As soon as he got in the car, we told him that we were taking him somewhere for his birthday and to not ask any questions.  I did, however, supply him with a steady supply of hints that he received every 25 miles we traveled.  Every other one was announcing how many more miles to go, then the others were actual hints.  Such as...it's surrounded by water and there are 6 consonants and 4 vowels in the name.   That hint proved to be a little more vague than intended.  I didn't realize how many things that this applies to!  Outer Banks and Great Lakes being a couple that he guessed.  Who knew?  Anyway, he didn't guess until we were about 20 miles away and he saw a sign.  By this time, we had ran out of clues and were playing an "unscramble me" game.

He finally figured out where we were going!  :-)

So, we went up on a Friday and spent the night in one of the resorts.  Wow!  This one has an indoor water park!  What fun!  We had a fantastic time with just this!  There were water slides all over the place, a wave pool, and even a water roller coaster!  This really got us into the mood for Cedar Point!  We relaxed a bit in the giant hot tub while Nicholas utilized the water slides a bit more.  Then it was off to bed for a good night's sleep.

Mom, me and Nick, ready to head out!

The next morning I grabbed a couple photos on our way out.

I can't get a real smile!

Look at that, Dad!

Rich and I worked at Cedar Point many moons ago, in 1998.  So, this place has lots of meaning for us.  We really wanted to share some of it with Nick.  Some of this being our love for roller coasters.  :-)  Now, Nick has never been to a big amusement park before, and therefore never been on a real roller coaster.  Rich was foaming at the mouth to get him on his first one!  We had a plan in place for the park.  Since we stayed in one of the resorts, we could get into the park an hour earlier than the general public.  Rich was going to take Nick on a smaller, milder one and work up to the Daddy coasters.  Turns out that our plans were all for naught.  The smaller, milder one was closed and while Mom and I were busy getting her a scooter for the day, they hit the Rich's favorite coaster...the Raptor!  I was a little worried about jumping feet first, but I should have known better.  My boys are daredevils!  We went straight to Top Thrill Dragster, but it's line was already stupid long, so we headed to the Power Tower.  Got Mom of this one...both sides.  :-)

It was really interesting how they have things set up for the handicapped.  Your party waits in line while you and one other person wait at the exit, once your party gets to the front, you get to slip in the exit and get on.  Fair for everyone!  Neat!  Anyway, we saw something really interesting while waiting for the Power Tower.  We saw an 86 year old woman get on and ride!  I want to be that woman!

We really did have a fantastic time.  They have lots of new things since we worked there, so it was interesting to tell Nick the way things used to be when we were there, but there are lots of things still the same as well.  I was the manager for a little food stand there, it was called the Surry back in the day...it's a Subway now.  Rich, of course, played guitar.  He works less then half the hours that I did and made twice as much!  Now, I ask you, how is that fair?  Anyway, back to our trip.

WindSeeker

I am afraid of height, but I am usually up for trying something at least once...this being one of them.  And that's it too.  I tried it once, I won't be getting back on this one!  I thought it would be just fine...it's really high, 301 ft...but it didn't seem to go that fast.  I imagined a beautiful scenic view up top!  Well, it was certainly a beautiful scene, but WOW!  What looks serene from the ground is screaming, flinging round and round up top!  Thirty-five mph doesn't sound that fast, but it's an entirely different thing when there is 300 ft of air beneath your feet!

While Rich wanted to get Nick on roller coasters, I had a different mission in mind.  Back in 1998, I had decided that I wanted to go on the Ripcord.  Unfortunately (for the sake of the ride), I ended up pregnant before I could achieve this.  So, going back (how many ever) years later, I was going to see this through.  We gave Nick the option and he choose to do it.  (See, I told you they were daredevils!)

Ripcord at Cedar Point

Now, you see those two towers?  They are 150 ft high and you fall head first from the top of this into a huge swing.  Nothing but you, air and the wire at your back.









We had to wait a bit in line...I think that was the hardest.  So, we got pretty nervous and had to talk ourselves back into the right state of mind.  Here's a look at our "Grrr" faces.

And we got it done.  It was, at the same time, the most exciting and most terrifying thing I have ever done!  And, I would do it again.  :-)

All in all, it was a fantastic birthday trip!  Thanks for going along with us.

Happy birthday to one of my very favorite boys!  Love you Nick!

Zodiac sign - 30 Day Blog Challenge

Your Zodiac sign and if you think it fits your personality.

Being that my birthday USED to be on November 8th, I am technically a Scorpio.  But my son decided to steal my birthday, so I don't actually have one anymore.  :-)  I shall be forever 25!  That's the way it works, right?  

Scorpio is the astrology sign of extremes and intensity. Scorpios are very deep, intense people, there is always more then meets the eye. They present a cool, detached and unemotional air to the world yet lying underneath is tremendous power, extreme strength, intense passion and a strong will and a persistent drive. Scorpios have a very penetrative mind, do not be surprised if they ask questions, they are trying to delve deeper and figure things out and survey the situation. They always want to know why, where and any other possible detail they can possibly know. Scorpio's are very weary of the games that other people try to play and they are very aware of it. Scorpios tend to dominate and control anyone that lets them, or anyone that they find weak. The person that a Scorpio respects and holds close to them is treated with amazing kindness, loyalty and generosity. On the outside, a Scorpio has great secretiveness and mystery. This magnetically draws people to them. They are known to be controlling and too ambitious but only because they need control for this makes them feel safe.

I think most of this would be true until it starts talking about dominating and controlling.  I also disagree with the last sentence, for me anyway.  

I have always had an appreciation for the zodiac...in fact, I have my symbol tattooed on my right ankle.  I understand now that this is because when I was a teenager, I was looking for the purpose of life and this gave me something outside of myself to hold on to.  I don't believe in the zodiac so much now.  

Here's my original post on the 30 Day Blog Challenge if you want to read what else I have to say.  I'd love for you to come along for the ride! :-)

Food Friday!

I am in love...

 With my crock pot!  :-)

I have been pulling it out more and more lately.  I actually made this before the apple butter, but I was asked specifically to put that recipe up and I am all about bowing to my readers...what few of you there are.  :-)

Anyway, on to the rice pudding!  This recipe actually came from my friend, Heather Laurie's blog Prudent Pantry.  Here is the recipe with my changes.

Caramel Rice Pudding

6 cups cooked white rice

1/2 cup dried cranberries

2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cans sweetened condensed milk

2 cans evaporated milk

1 cinnamon stick

nutmeg to taste

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup milk (optional)

1.  Spray inside on large slow cooker with cooking spray.

2.  Mix all ingredients except the last 1/2 cup milk, cinnamon and sugar in cooker.

3.  Cover and cook on low heat setting 3-4 hours until liquid is absorbed.  Stir pudding.

4.  Depending on your choice of consistency, use the 1/2 cup milk to thin the pudding and make it creamier.

5.  Sprinkle pudding with sugar and cinnamon. Serve warm.