Timeout Tuesday: Timeout for Shout Outs

I am sooooooooo behind on stuff in general, so here it goes:

Giveaways
***Stop over and see Juls at Every Day Is A Crazee Day for some March Madness Crazeeness. She's doing a great giveaway with lots of cool stuff!
***Check out Ryan Ashley at Optimistic Cynicism for her OPI giveaway.
***Christie-A Work in Progress aka The Chatterbox is helping us become more eco-friendly with the Wonderwash from Laundry Alternative and Mini Spintop Dryer giveaway on The Chatterbox Reviews. Okay, part of this contest is to post a pic of your laundry room. Here is what mine currently looks like. Such a poor representation.....it usually looks 10 times worse! Yes I did contemplate throwing a bunch of clothes in their for show, but that would not have been honest now would it? I would use this product to wash more frequently because my husband somehow manages to produce enough clothes for a family of 6 on a weekly basis. Since this is a quicker way to wash, I can get more loads done and finally feel like there is no laundry to do. Is that even possible?

Wish me luck on all of the contests! I hope you win too!

What's Going On?
***Some of you may have noticed my new widgets in the sidebar. My sister and I are participating in the Great Urban Race for the second year in a row. It's like the Amazing Race on CBS, but on a much smaller scale. It takes place in major cities across the country. Teams compete by following a series of clues around the city to the end of the race. The top 25 teams from each city get to go to Las Vegas to compete for a $25,000 grand prize. Last year we came in 154th out of 205 teams (Christie will correct me if I'm wrong). It was a 5 hour race, and about 30 minutes in, it monsooned and never stopped. We persevered and finished the race even though we knew we weren't winning and several teams had dropped out due to the rain. I am very proud that we finished and I hope that we can be strong contenders this year. The race is on April 18th, so wish us luck!





***Some of you may have been wondering why you see my big face on that little body running on the right. On April 25th, I will be participating in my second March for Babies. This organization raises money for research and care for preemies. One of my dearest friends has a preemie and we are walking in honor of him. If you would like to donate to a worthy cause, click here or click the banner at the top of this page or just click on the link under my big face. Thanks for your support!
***Finally........The Red Pump Project is a campaign to raise awareness about the effect of HIV/Aids on women and girls.


•Please tell more female bloggers to support the cause.

•The official The Red Pump Project page is now up ( http://theredpumpproject.blogspot.com/ ). Please check it out. By March 10th, there will be a lot more content on it, including a way to donate to the cause. The page will also serve as a resource well for HIV/AIDS & women (even after March 10th).

•Please send luvvieblog@gmaill.com the link to your blog. She is creating a blogroll of the Rockers of the Red Pump. Your site will also be listed on a post on her blog, (http://www.awesomelyluvvie.com/ ), Karyn's ( http://thefabulousgiver.wordpress.com/ ), and The Red Pump Project's on that day.
•When your email is received, you will receive more info on how to get the widgets.

Whew! Okay. Now I can breathe.

Oh........and one more thing....in case you've been living under a rock......Stesha aka Wenda at Hot Chocolate Caramel Mocha had her twins!!!!!!!! Congrats to the family! I can't wait for the pics!

Oops and one last thing.......Chatterbox Radio is now on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10:00am-10:45am. Please tune in each week for 3 times the fun!

Okay. i'm really done now. I think...

~Joan

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Timeout Tuesday: Haunted Hotel?

Last week I was staying at a Hampton Inn Hotel for work. I woke up in the morning and got into the shower. When I finished my shower, I opened the curtain and this is what I saw written on the mirror:

Jeffery,
Love you!
Love,
Your Wife

This picture is not what I saw, but it's very similar.

TIMEOUT! This was some stuff straight out of a horror flick. I was so freaked out by this. My heart started racing. I started praying and talking to myself out loud. I had to resist the temptation to go running into the hall naked and screaming for help. I am such a scaredy cat! I'm afraid of the dark and terrified of horror movies. This had to be some kind of a sick joke. Was I being punk'd?

I wiped the mirror off with a towel and got ready as fast as I could. I went down to the lobby still spooked. I told the lady at the front desk what happened and asked her to have someone Windex the hell out of that mirror. I told my co-worker who was staying there as well that if I got out of the shower the next day with another love letter on that mirror that I was getting the heck out of dodge and never coming back.

Thank God there was nothing there the next day! I wonder who Jeffery is and if he ever got to see his love letter. So weird......

~Joan

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Timeout Tuesday: Quiche?

So last night I made quiche for dinner. Timeout! I don't cook. My hubby cooks, not me. Now I will admit, I do know how to make 3 or 4 things--quiche not being one of them. My original plan was to make Eggplant Parmesan, but when I cut into the eggplant it was all brown and squishy. Consequently, I had to look for something else.......let's see.........egg beaters, whipping cream, frozen spinach, pie shell, a barrage of cheeses, tomatoes, and onions--quiche it is! I've never made quiche before, but my husband and my mother-in-law make it all the time. I could have easily called either one of them to ask how to make it, but they make me nervous because they are such great cooks. They're always like, "all you have to do is..." and 10 hours later I'm crying in the kitchen without an edible morsel of food. I decided to go online, and I found the following recipe from Chef Mike:

*9 inch deep dish pie crust

*1 cup of heavy cream
*1 cup or 5 large eggs
*about 1 1/2 cups of grated cheese
*1 1/2 cups of whatever your heart desires:
roasted vegetables, chopped up
ham and mushrooms
bacon and grilled onions
crab
you name it
Mix the eggs and cream together, season with salt and pepper, and then use the herbs that will compliment your filling. I almost always like a bit of grated nutmeg. Spread the cheese in the bottom of the pie first, then put the cooled ingredients over the cheese. Pour the egg and cream mixture over the top. Make sure that the liquid pretty much covers all the ingredients. If a little of the ingredients are showing, that's ok.Bake in a preheated oven at 325F for about 25 minutes or until the eggs have set. And VOILA, Quiche.

Considering the fact that half my ingredients were substitutes (egg beaters instead of eggs, whipping cream was expired so I used evaporated milk, I used mozzarella cheese and was informed later by my hubby that "you're supposed to use Swiss cheese in quiche"--who knew?), it actually wasn't half bad. It was kind of tasty and hubby liked it too. Maybe I'm not such a disaster in the kitchen after all.

~Joan

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Timeout Tuesday: Tagged Again!

Timeout! I've been tagged again?! Thanks to Stesha at Hot Chocolate Caramel Mocha this time, I've received The Fabulous Blog award. Here are the rules:

1. Put the logo on your blog or post.

2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which you think are fabulous.

3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post. (I actually have 10 this time!)

4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

And the nominees are...

1. Funeral for My Fat Pants

2. How Full Is Your Bucket?

3. Penny Pinching Diva

4. My Brown Baby

5. The Broke Socialite

6. The Classy Closet

7. The Sweet Spot Journey

8. Diary of a Mad Fat Girl

9. I Am Shopgirl

10. Pink and Green Mama

Congratulations on your fabulous blogs ladies!

~Joan

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Timeout Tuesday

Timeout! I've been tagged again! This time it's by Christie at My Life: A Work in Progress.

Rules:

1) Take a picture of yourself right NOW!

2) DON’T change your clothes, DON’T fix your hair… Just take a picture.

3) Post that picture with NO editing.

4) Post these instructions with your picture.

5) Tag 10 people to do this.

I'm breaking rule #5 because I'm new to the blogging world, and Christie already tagged everyone I know. So I know all of you serial bloggers are going to call me a cheater, but I don't want to hear it. I did actually take the picture as soon as I was tagged. I'm just posting it a little late. No more embarrassing tags people--payback is real!

~Joan

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