Chicken Enchilada Casserole

4 frozen chicken boobies (2.5 pound bag)
1 can Rotel (Spicy)
1/2 cup taco sauce
1 package taco seasoning
Cracked pepper
Cumin
Garlic powder
Drizzle of EVOO
1/4 cup cream cheese
2 cans enchilada sauce
Shredded cheese (whatever cheese you have, as much as you like to use)
8 flour tortillas (the kind for burritos)

Place frozen chicken into crock pot.  Sprinkle taco seasoning and all dry seasonings (flair it out how you like it) on the chicken.  Pour in the oil, Rotel and the taco sauce.  Cook on low for 6 1/2 hours.  Shred chicken (I use that salad chopper thing from Pampered Chef).  Add cream cheese and let cook in the crock for another 1/2 hour.  Turn oven to 350F.  Pour enchilada sauce into a large bowl.  Dip two tortillas into it, coating both sides.  (If you have a smaller casserole dish, you may want to use scissors to cut your tortillas in half so you would use 1 and a half tortillas for each layer.)  Lay the tortillas into your casserole dish.  Top with a layer of chicken, then a layer of shredded cheese.  Keep going until you're out of meat, or you run out of room in your pan.  Top with a final layer of cheese.  Cover with foil.  (Spray foil with non stick cooking spray, or use that fancy ass non stick Reynolds shit they have.  Otherwise, you will lose half your cheese when removing the foil.)  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.  Remove foil, broil if you want to crisp up the cheese.  Let sit 15 minutes, serve with sour cream.  :)

Bella Age 9

1. What is your favorite color? Yellow
2. What is your favorite toy? Stuffed Animals
3. What is your favorite fruit? Peaches
4. What is your favorite tv show? Crashletes
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? PB&J
6. What is your favorite outfit? Unicorn jammies
7. What is your favorite game? FNAF
8. What is your favorite snack? Apples with peanut butter
9. What is your favorite animal? Dumbo octopus
10. What is your favorite song? FNAF Left Behind
11. What is your favorite book? Goosebumps
12. Who is your best friend? Evan
13. What is your favorite cereal? Apple Cinnamon Cheerios
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Pool time
15. What is your favorite drink? Apple Cider
16. What is your favorite holiday?Christmas
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Bun Bun, Cha Cha, Henry, Paws, Allen, Allie, LaLa
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for dinner? Loaded baked potato
19. What is your favorite thing to do? Purr on mommy

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Dolphin Trainer

Bella - Age 8

Bella Age 8

Bella - Age 8

1. What is your favorite color? Blue
2. What is your favorite toy? Stuffed Animals
3. What is your favorite fruit? Apples with peanut butter
4. What is your favorite tv show? Crashletes
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Cheese balls
6. What is your favorite outfit? Unicorn jammies
7. What is your favorite game? FNAF
8. What is your favorite snack? Apples with peanut butter
9. What is your favorite animal? Bunny
10. What is your favorite song? What Does The Fox Say
11. What is your favorite book? Magic Tree House
12. Who is your best friend? Evan
13. What is your favorite cereal? Apple Cinammon Cheerios
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play FNAF
15. What is your favorite drink? Apple Cider
16. What is your favorite holiday?Christmas
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Bun Bun, Cha Cha, Henry, Paws, Allen, Allie, LaLa
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for dinner? Pizza
19. What is your favorite thing to do? FNAF

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Dolphin Trainer

ADULT KIDS...How well do you know your MOM? Copy, paste, and fill in the answer.

1. She is sitting in front of the TV, what is she watching? Last Man Standing

2. What does she eat on her salad? Crab
3. Name a food she hates: Brussel sprouts
4. You go out to eat and have a drink, what would she order? Miller Lite
5. Favorite music to listen to? Taylor Swift
6. What is her nickname for you?  Niblet
7. What is something she could collect? Magnets
8. What would she eat every day if she could? Ramen
9. What is her favorite cereal? Fiber One
10. What would she never wear? Crop tops
11. What is her favorite sports team? Colts

12. What is something that you do that she wishes you wouldn't do? ....
13. You bake her a cake for her birthday, what kind is it? Vanilla
14. Favorite animals? Dog
15. What could she spend all day doing?   Cuddling

Bella's answers about me, Age 8, almost 9.  :D

Chimiquitos

This is basically a taquito with a chimichango type filling.  Regardless, it's delicious.


1 pound ground beef
1/2 can refried beans
1 package spanish rice, prepared
2 tablespoons cream cheese
1/2 cup Mexican cheese
Taco seasoning
Taco sauce
1/2 cup water
Lime juice
1/2 can Mexicorn
1 small can green chiles
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Package of 6 inch flour tortillas
1 tablespoon butter

Brown the meat, keep the grease or drain it.  Up to you.  But these are already unhealthy as fuck, so why not just go whole hog, right?
Spread the browned meat out the sides, leaving a nice little bean hole in your skillet.  Dump your beans there.  Lower the heat to around medium and let the beans warm enough so you can incorporate them into your beef.  Add your water, about a half cup of taco sauce and the taco seasoning.  Homemade or the package kind.  Don't matter to me.
At this point, go ahead and boil your water and get your Spanish rice going.  It'll take like 20 minutes. Get that little yellow package.  It gets nice and mushy and works best for this.
Once your beef mixture has come together, add in your cheese, cream cheese, green chiles and corn.  Drain them first.  Duh.
Taste test it and add more salt, pepper, garlic, onion, unicorn farts, whatever your taste buds are hollering for.  Add cilantro if you like.  I just don't like cilantro.  Tastes like soapy ass to me.
Take the heat down to low and wait for your rice to finish cooking.  Stir it if it starts to look weird. Once your rice is done, gently fold that into your meat mixture.
Heat your oven to 425°.
Put foil on your baking sheet so you don't gotta wash it afterwards.
Take each little tortilla and add like a spoonful and a half of the meat mixture to it.  Roll it into a fat little cigar.  Taquito!  Keep doing that.  And yes, you're gonna have lots of leftover meat.  It's fine. Once you have them all on the baking sheet, melt your butter and brush your chimiquitos with it.
Bake for about 15 minutes, or until you see the ends getting nice and browned up.  Let cool, serve with sour cream, if you want.  Or just eat them.  b/c they are yummy as fuck.

Now, as for all that leftover meat??  Get the bigger tortillas, the ones for burritos.  Wrap them up like littler presents.  Put them in a casserole dish that you've sprayed with Pam.  Brush with melted butter, top with a light layer of taco sauce and some more cheese.  Take your oven down to 400° and bake these guys for about 15 minutes, or until the cheese is all melty.

You may still have leftover meat.  It's cool.  Just save it for another day.  Enjoy!

Chicken Broccoli Ham Casserole

This is like a Chicken Cordon Bleu mishmash.  But it's fucking delicious.

3 chicken boobies
1 can cream of chicken soup
4-6 slices ham (like sandwich meat), diced into small strips
6 slices of swiss cheese (or provolone or mozzarella, any white cheese really)
1 box of Chicken Stove Top Stuffing - prepared as the box states
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 tablespoon butter
Frozen broccoli (as much as you like, just shake it in there until it makes you happy)
Peppercorns
Poultry seasoning (I used Rachael Ray's blend)
2 chicken bouillion cubes
1 teaspoon minced garlic



Fill a big pot with cold water, place your three chicken boobies in there.  Put the pot over high heat, add bouillion, poultry seasoning, garlic and like a small palm full of peppercorns to the pot.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Once it starts boiling, reduce heat to like medium-ish and simmer for 15 minutes, or until cooked through.  You don't want to kill anyone with raw chicken.

While your chicken is cooking, make the stuffing.  You know, 1 1/4 cup of water, 1/4 cup butter, boil, add dry stuffing, cover and remove from heat.

Once the chicken is no longer lethal, chop it into bite sized pieces.  If you're like me, this will take like an hour.  Put something on tv to watch.  It will take for freaking ever.

Get a 2-3 quart casserole dish.  Butter it.  Dump the can of cream of chicken soup in it.  Add sour cream.  Season with ground pepper.  Whisk it all together.  Add chicken, ham and frozen broccoli, mix until it's all coated with the soup mix.

Top with your prepared stuffing.  Top that with your cheese of choice.  Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes.  If you want to crisp up the stuffing, remove the foil and broil for a few minutes.

Let sit for a bit so you aren't biting into molten lava, then enjoy!

White Chili

Or should I say Award Winning White Chili!  haha!  Seriously, I totally won a chili cook-off with this recipe.  I kick some chili ass, yo.  Not only did the Batgirl mask Lee and I made totally work out, but the chili was awesome.  I call this Halloween weekend a win.  :)


Ingredients:

1 - 1.5 pounds of chicken boobies.  Cut the gross excess fat off, then dice into small 1/2 inch chunks.

1 white onion diced up super small.  I used a chopper b/c I don't like big onion pieces.  But do what you like.

2 cans navy beans, drained and rinsed of the goo.  Use a fork to mush up about 1/4-1/2 of the beans.

2 cans of chopped green chilies.  (the small 4 ounce cans.  2 of those.)

1 can of chicken broth

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream

1 jalapeno, seeded and diced.


EVOO (or whatever oil you like to use)
Salt
Pepper
Garlic cloves, minced.
Garlic powder
Ground cumin
Ground oregano
Cayenne pepper
Dash of cinnamon


Directions:

In a large pot (like a stock pot, something you'd use to boil noodles in), heat over medium high heat.  Add in about 1-2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.  While that's heating up, salt and pepper your raw chicken chunks.  Once your pot is hot, dump in the chicken and the onions.  Cook until the chicken is completely cooked through.
Add in the broth, beans, green chilies, and spices.
Now, for the spices, I did about 3 teaspoons of the cumin, oregano and garlic powder.  And because I love garlic, I used an additional 2 cloves of fresh garlic that I squished through the garlic press.  BUT, use maybe a teaspoon each of the cumin, oregano and garlic powder at first, then add more if you think it needs it.  Salt and pepper it as needed.  And I just used 2 small dashes of cayenne and one healthy dash of cinnamon.  The only spice you really wanna worry about is the cinnamon.  Don't use too much, don't add more.  You just want that hint of something extra.  You don't want your chili to taste like Cinnamon Toast Crunch with beans.
Okay, so now just bring it to a boil, then let it simmer around medium low heat for half an hour.
Remove from heat, add in the sour cream and heavy whipping cream.

Sausage and Rice

1 package of andouille sausage, sliced thin
2 cups brown rice
4 cups chicken broth
1 cube chicken bouillion
1 can crushed tomatoes
3 cloves garlic, minced
Onion powder
Paprika
Basil
Oregano
Cayenne
S&P
2 tbsp olive oil

Place brown rice in rice cooker, add chicken broth up to the 3rd line (about 3 cups) plus the bouillion cube and cook until tender.

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over med-high heat, add sliced sausage and brown, about 3 minutes.

Add 1 cup broth, tomatoes, all seasonings.  Reduce heat to medium and let simmer.  Add cooked rice, mix well, reduce heat to low, cover and let the rice absorb the liquids, about 5 more minutes.

One Pot Pasta

So freaking delicious.  Way better than I thought and so super freaking easy!

One Pot Pasta

EVOO
1 package Hillshire Farms Smoked Sausage (I used turkey to pretend that I'm healthy)
2 cloves of garlic
1 14 ounce can chicken broth
1 14 ounce can petite diced tomatoes
1 box penne
Colby/Monterey Jack shredded cheese
Parmesan Cheese
2 big handfuls fresh spinach
2 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup sour cream
S&P
Cayenne, if you're into that sort of thing
Onion powder


Heat a couple tablespoons of EVOO in a large skillet over medium heat, one that you have a lid for.

Open your chicken broth and tomatoes to have it handy.

While the oil is getting toasty, chop your smoked sausage into bite sized pieces then grate your garlic right on top of that sausage.

Slide that into the hot oil.  Saute briefly (you don't want to burn your garlic, he's too delicious to burn).  Pour in the broth and tomatoes, stir.  Pour in the penne.  Stir some more.  Season with S&P, onion powder and cayenne.  Add the spinach right on top.  Cover and let it go for about 10 minutes.

Remove lid and stir.  Taste your pasta to see how done it is.  I wound up covering it and letting it go another 3 minutes.

Add in the cream cheese and sour cream, cover and let it all get mushy with each other.  About another 2 minutes.

Remove lid (do I really need to say "remove lid?"), stir well, taste test and add more seasonings as you see fit.  Cover with the parm and jack cheeses.  Replace lid and let it all melt.  Stir again and serve warm.

Super Delicious!  Aside from the cutting board, it's really a one pot meal!

Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Pot Pie

1 package chicken thighs
1 package frozen veggie mix (corn, green beans, peas 12 ounces)
2 ounces cream cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup of milk
1 package crescent rolls
1 thawed pie crust


Heat oven to 375.
Remove excess fat from chicken thighs cut into inch pieces.  Add to skillet over medium high heat with a drizzle of olive oil.  Season with garlic powder, poultry seasoning and R.R. chicken seasoning. Cook through.
Add soup, milk, cream cheese and frozen veggies. Heat until boiling, stirring constantly.
Let simmer for 5 minutes.
While simmering, unroll crescent dough.  Spray muffin tin, place one crescent triangle into each muffin.  Place one spoonful of pot pie mix into each triangle.  Fold each one over to make mini pot pies.
Bake 11 minutes.

As mini pies are baking, place one pie crust in a glass pie dish and fill with remaining pot pie filling.  Top with second pie crust.  Cut 2-4 vents and flute the edges.  When the mini pies are done, raise oven temp to 425 and bake pie for 20 minutes.

Bella Age 6

Bella - Age 6

1. What is your favorite color? PINK
2. What is your favorite toy? BLANKET BUDDIES
3. What is your favorite fruit? APPLES
4. What is your favorite tv show? SPONGEBOB
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? PIZZA
6. What is your favorite outfit? RED DRESS
7. What is your favorite game? MINECRAFT
8. What is your favorite snack? GRAPES
9. What is your favorite animal? BUNNIES
10. What is your favorite song? SHAKE IT OFF
11. What is your favorite book? AVENGERS
12. Who is your best friend? RICKY AND ALEXA AND ADRIANA AND EMMA
13. What is your favorite cereal? HONEY NUT CHEERIOS
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? RIDE MY SCOOTER
15. What is your favorite drink? CRAN APPLE JUICE
16. What is your favorite holiday? CHRISTMAS
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? BUN BUN, CHA CHA
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for dinner? MEATLOAF
19. What is your favorite thing to do? HUG MOMMY
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? DENTIST

Drunken Kitchen Experiment

I experiment in the kitchen all the time.  If I had a show on the Food Network, it'd be called Kitchen Improv.  Because I'm funny, dammit!  :)  Anyways, this creation happened last night.  And shit was fantastic.

Eggs
Ham
Cheese
S&P
Muffin Tin
Cooking Spray

Heat oven to 400.  Spray the muffin tin.  Squish the ham in there.  Crack the egg in there.  Scramble it if you want.  S&P that bitch.  Throw some cheese on there.  Bake for like 15 minutes.  I think I meant to bake for less time so I could have squishy yolks, but again.  This was a drunken kitchen experiment.  Not a properly thought out and fully rational kitchen experiment.

But there ya go.  Pop them out with a spoon and enjoy a midnight snack that doesn't cost you a thousand calories and $20 for the pizza dude.  :)

PCS to Japan!

29 Days, people.  That's how long I have before I say Sayonara, America!  In 5 days, the movers arrive to pack us up and in 13 days, we're moving into a hotel.  I think my ulcer has an ulcer.  I'm surrounded by piles of shit that's quasi organized into sections of "HHG", "UB", "NTS", "SELL", "DONATE", and "I HAVE NO FUCKING CLUE WHAT TO DO WITH THIS OR EVEN WHY I BOUGHT IT".  So yeah, there's a lot of piles.  I'm not the neatest freak in the world, but this clutter is making me twitch.  Trying to make hard calls about what to go into storage b/c the housing in Japan is WAY smaller than America.  I mean duh.  They are a tiny people.  And I'm half Korean.  I'm pretty sure the Japanese raped and pillaged the shit outta my ancestors.  But I digress.  My house here is like 1900 sqft, give or take.  The biggest possible place we will get in Japan will be 1600 sqft, and we'll probably get stuck  in a 1400 sqft.  So I need to remove between 300-500 sqft of shit.  That's a lot of shit.  And I have no idea what to get rid of.  I want to move and I'm SO very excited, but dammit, it's all the stuff to do before the move that's driving me batty!

Bella - Age 5

Bella - Age 5

1. What is your favorite color? PINK
2. What is your favorite toy? BUN BUN
3. What is your favorite fruit? APPLES
4. What is your favorite tv show? HELLO KITTY
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? RICE
6. What is your favorite outfit? DADDY'S FROG SHIRT FROM KEESLER
7. What is your favorite game? BAD PIGGIES
8. What is your favorite snack? GUMMIES
9. What is your favorite animal? BUNNIES
10. What is your favorite song? THE MONKEY SONG
11. What is your favorite book? THE FROG BOOK
12. Who is your best friend? KAYLEIGH
13. What is your favorite cereal? FIBER ONE
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? RIDE MY BIKE
15. What is your favorite drink? SPRITE
16. What is your favorite holiday? CHRISTMAS
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? BUN BUN, CHA CHA, SNOWFLAKE
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for dinner? BRATWURST
19. What is your favorite thing to do? PLAY OUTSIDE
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? BE LIKE MOMMY

Things I learned while on my roadtrip

Here's what I learned on my road trip.

First and most importantly, REMEMBER WHERE THE GEAR SHIFT IS.  Yes, that totally deserved all caps.  Because I about broke the dame wiper lever off every time I went to put the damn car into Drive but instead, I just wound up turning the wipers on high and jumping in surprise and basically giving everyone around me a big laugh.

Also, bring more cd's.  For some reason, there's long stretches of North Carolina where the only crappy radio stations that will come in clearly are 70's disco music, Guns and Roses (seriously, the station played 3 GnR songs in a row to the point where Bella was crinkling her nose and saying, "What are we listening to??") or the God channel.  Oh, or there was a 4th choice.  Talk radio.  Altho, I'd rather listen to Kidz Bop for the 20th time rather than listen to talk radio.  If I wanted to hear people talk, I'd call someone on the phone.  If I'm in the car, I want music.

Always find a posse.  For me, it was a Charger and some kind of luxury SUV.  The three of us drove all through North Carolina for 2 hours hopping around each other, each taking turns being the rabbit and getting to roll thru the entire state at 80-85mph the whole way.  Oh hell yeah!

But the flip side of that, if your spidey sense is tingling, listen to it.  Don't try to pass a car that just mysteriously slowed down b/c odds are, he spotted the state cop...  Got stalked for a couple miles, lost a few years off my life, but then the cop just flashed his lights in my general direction and popped a U-y to go look for speeders on the other side of the highway.  I'm pretty sure I got a nonverbal warning from a cop.

If you're a lonely hitchhiker, don't hitchhike mere minutes away from a correctional facility.  No one will pick you up.  Ever.

Salmon Meatballs

Salmon Meatballs

Yes, I know, my picture taking skills are lacking.  This is why you will never see my on any cooking show.  My food only tastes good.  I have no ability whatsoever to "plate" my food so it looks fancy.  I'd rather it tasted good than looked good.  :)

I thought of this idea b/c, well, Bella doesn't like fish.  I figured she wouldn't b/c even when I was pregnant, I'd get nauseous just smelling tuna, so it's plain to see that she hasn't like fish since conception.  LOL  But I'm always trying to get her to eat fish b/c it is really healthy.  And dammit, I like fish.  And since the husband isn't a big fan, I need a partner in my fish loving ways.  After some random googling and trial & error, I've finally created the perfect Salmon Meatballs!  They are delicious, healthy and best of all?  Bella loves them.  :)

Here's what you'll need:
8 ounces of salmon
-I used 2 fillets from a bag of frozen salmon that were 4oz each.  I thawed them in a bowl of cool tap water, but if you are someone who plans ahead, just defrost them in the fridge.  Or buy fresh!
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
-I used the seasoned kind.  But that's just my taste
1/4 cup mayo
Healthy squirt of mustard
Parsley
Pepper
1 egg
Garlic powder
Dried onion flakes (b/c I hate onions, but oddly, the dried flakes don't bother me)
Oil for frying
Panko

Place your defrosted salmon fillets on a foil lined baking sheet.  Do not use oil, do not spray it with anything, don't use the fancy non-stick foil.  You want the fish to stick!

Bake at 350 for 20mins.

Remove pan from oven and let cool until it's okay to handle.  Gently peel your salmon off the foil and (here's the cool part!) the skin will stay on the foil and you'll have happy salmon that ready to flake up!  Make sure you scrape off that weird grey stuff and the oozing white stuff.  I don't know what it is, I don't want to know what it is.  But it grossed me out, so I took it off.

Place fillets in a bowl and mush it all up so it's nice and separated.  Add in all other ingredients except the oil and Panko.

Mush Mush Mush

Cover and let sit in fridge for 1/2 hour to let everything combine.

Grab a plate and pour some Panko into it.  Not a huge amount.  I'd guesstimate I used no more than 1/2 cup, probably less.

Pour a thin layer of oil into a deep skillet and heat over medium heat.  While your oil is heating up, shape the salmon mixture into little golf balls (it's gonna be sticky from the egg!) then lightly roll them in the Panko.

Set them aside until you have them all rolled up.  If you get bored with rolling balls out towards the end, just grab all the leftover and make a patty out of it.  At least that's what I did.

Using tongs, gently place them in the hot oil, turning to evenly brown all sides.  This will not take much time at all, so keep an eye on them!

Drain on a paper towel.

Serve to your picky non-fish-eating child with some ketchup and tell her it's chicken.

Sit back and revel in your awesome sneakiness as your child declares, "YUM!  These taste really good, Mommy!"

Hair Cuttery

Hair Cuttery takes walk-in clients, so they say. I walked in to get my 4y/o's hair trimmed. Just a trim, nothing else. She'd never been to a salon before, and I thought maybe they'd be kid friendly. Not so much. Well, after walking in, I see 2 clients getting their hair done, 3 employees sitting in the back gossiping, and 2 gentlemen in chairs waiting to be seen. A woman takes my name and info, then says, and I quote, "It will just be a few minutes". Over an hour later, someone comes back over and tells me once again, "I'll be with you in a just a few minutes". I was fuming by now. Not only had no one bothered to check on us for over an hour, but other walk-in clients, who seemed to be friends with the stylists, were getting sent straight to a chair and immediately attended to. No fewer than 3 ladies walked in and were seen before my child was. When I did finally get someone to take us back, I told them politely that I didn't want them washing her hair. I mean, c'mon, she's 4. There's no way she was going to enjoy having her head put in backwards into a sink and have a stranger wash her hair. The lady became extremely rude at this point. She then used a fine toothed comb to yank at my childs' hair. My daughter has very fine, and very long, blond silky hair. You can yank it like that. I was seeing clumps of her torn hair falling to the ground. Luckily, my child knows to just be calm and not cause a fuss, so she sat there and took it, even tho' I could see how unhappy and in pain she was. I asked to talk to a manager so I could explain my displeasure and all she said was, "Oh, well, sorry about that" then continued on her merry way. This place is run very unprofessionally, they do not talk to you before yanking the hair out of your child's head, and will make you wait over an hour while they chit chat and cater to their friends. Do not go here.

Mustard Vinaigrette

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup white vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup vegetable oil

salt & pepper to taste

6 drops of Tabasco

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 teaspoon sugar

1 LARGE tablespoon dijon mustard

Parsley

Mix all together, blend in food processor to emulsify. Pour over cooked cold pasta, or use as a salad dressing. Will keep up to a week in the fridge.

The Walking Dead

I watch a lot of television. Like, more than the average bear. And not since The X Files has a show given me the chills like The Walking Dead did. Also, the production values, the direction, the acting, the FX, the makeup, the sets... All movie quality. Not something you'd think to see on a television show, much less a show in the horror genre. There aren't many horror genre shows out there. Sure, we have Supernatural, but I would classify that as more of a drama and comedy mixed with, well, supernatural elements. The X Files was a show that scared the pants off of me on a weekly basis and this new show, The Walking Dead, did the same thing. The zombies were scary, the pacing was spot on and the story just works. I know many will say, "Isn't this a rip-off of 28 Days Later?" and they will be wrong. The Walking Dead was a graphic novel that came out years before 28 Days Later. And I'm kinda upset about that. I loved 28 Days Later, it was a great zombie flick. But this show, while the beginning is very similar to that movie, it's already moving towards something new. This show better get a big following b/c it deserves it and it is just an awesomely fun romp! Not denigrating Dawn of the Dead (b/c dude, that movie is awesome!) but The Walking Dead has zombies as they should be. Slow and stupid. I mean, c'mon, they're zombies. They've lost all ability save for the basic one of the need to feed. They don't run, they don't plan, they don't band together and find ways to get to their dinner. They're just zombies. As they should be.

Lee's Fit Test Take 2

I am very proud of Lee. He has been doing SO good on his diet and his fitness. In the past 12 weeks, he's lost almost 20 pounds and over 4 inches off his waist.

Unfortunately, this wasn't quite enough for the USAF. :( He still failed his Fit Test. Now, on the upside of this, he only failed by 2.5 points. He needed a 75 to pass. On his first test, back in April, he only scored a 22. Yikes, right? And today, he scored a 72.5. So you know what? I'm still proud of him.

But now comes the worry. There is a real possibility that he could be discharged from the military for failing again. I mean, yes, it's not the most likely option, but it's still there and that terrifies me. Lee has 13 years in, only 7 more to go before retirement. And he's still working on his degree. I have no marketable skills, I'm basically an idiot.

Now we have to wait until Monday to see what happens. It could be something as small as an LOC, or in the middle with an LOR. Or the ultimate Worst Case Scenario. A discharge from the USAF.

Gonna be a long weekend of waiting.