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7/29/08
10 on Tuesday

You know what? We haven't done a 10 on Tuesday in a while. Whaddya say, just for old time's sake? (The old time that I would be referring to just so happens to be three weeks ago, so ancient history).

One- So, Tony and I went to see the new Batman movie last weekend and....I don't like it. I know, I know, it's a box office hit. Everyone is raving about it. I just didn't like it. I thought it was dark and gory and overly dramatic and boring. C'mon people! It's the same story line as all the other Batman movies! Batman does his whole "dark crusader" thing while chasing the Joker around the city with his fancy toys. He stands in the shadows and spouts overly dramatic whispered drivel such as "I'm not the hero you deserve, I'm the hero you have now". Puh-leeeeze. Get over your tortured self Batman. And how many packs did he have to smoke to make his voice all raspy like that? It hurt my vocal chords just listening to it. I spent most of the movie playing stray popcorn kernel soccer with myself while I waited for it to be over. I'm so disappointed in you Christian Bale.

Two- Oh good news! One a completely different note, it turns out that the kittens can swim! Well, Sebastian can anyway. I had the cover off of the hot tub this weekend while I was doing the cleaning cycle, and Sebastian just jumped right up and over the side, into the water. He was treading water when I ran over to fish him out, but boy was he surprised! The biggest thing on him was his eyes, and you could tell he was thinking, "What the...!" Oh, and it turns out that he's all kitten fluff, because he was the size of a shaved hamster when I got him out. Don't worry, other than the loss of his kitten dignity, he was fine.

Three- Are you tired of hearing about softball yet? Tough. I spent Sunday practicing with Mom and Dad and Tony in a field next to their house. In addition to playing softball, Mom and Dad were both actually gym teachers for a while, so they know the whole mechanics of catching and throwing and batting. (Plus Mom took one look at my glove and declared it beyond saving...I'm using her glove now). And it turns out that after someone takes the time to actually SHOW you how to catch and hit and throw, it isn't really that terrible. (Okay, so I'm still bad at the throwing. I keep forgetting to turn and step and lead with my elbow and hold the ball loosely and release at the top of the arc and aim for the person I'm throwing at's chest and keep my thumb from turning. But the catching and batting showed vast improvement). We'll see how tomorrow's practice goes before I put myself out there as a free agent though.

Four- I had a dream last night that my good buddy Nicole was dating Jim from The Office. Only he was about 8' tall, and she was really short. And Nicole was also concerned because he had a large tattoo (I'm not sure where) and she didn't think her parents would like that. Nicole, if you're reading, forget about the tattoo! It's Jim! Get him before he remembers about Pam!

Five- Speaking of TV crushes, I've totally developed a thing for Geof Manthorne from Ace of Cakes. I started out DVRing all the episodes because I thought the cakes were neat, but I find myself especially interested in the ones that Geof does. And I'm not sure what the attraction is, because he's scruffy and gangly and his nose is just a little too big for his face. But I'm totally crushing on him anyway. (Geof, if you're reading this, I totally didn't mean what I said about your nose. Call me!) I think the lure is that he's one of those quiet laid-back types. Still waters and all that. I just love me those quiet laid-back types.



Totally ripped-off picture of Geof.

Six- Does anybody know about the snack/dessert food called Muddy Buddies? It's rice chex coated with peanut butter and chocolate and rolled in powdered sugar. We always called it Muddy Buddies growing up, but Tony knew it as Puppy Chow. I made some on Friday for a co-worker's baby shower, and nobody knew what it was. Everyone was scared of it until I started eating it myself. No one knows it as Puppy Chow or Muddy Buddies either. I know they used to put the recipe on the back of the chex boxes, but I guess everyone was busy making traditional chex mix instead. If you remember it, what do you call it?

Seven- Speaking of the above, here's the recipe. I love it because I can mix it all up in a one gallon ziplock, and then you don't have to get your hands messy.

9 cups Rice Chex
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

In microwavable bowl, stir together chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter. Microwave uncovered on High 1 minute; stir. Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Eat the leftover chocolate chips right out of the bag. Stir in vanilla (to your mixture, not the leftover chocolate). Put cereal in gallon Ziplock bag. Pour chocolate mixture over cereal, shaking until evenly coated. I find the "hands on either side of the bag while executing a gentle rolling motion" to be the best. Add powdered sugar. Seal bag; shake, rattle, and roll until well coated. Transfer to clean bowl and enjoy all those cereal coating calories.


Eight- Speaking of calories, I was at the gym yesterday, just doin' my thang on the elliptical machine while reading a book, and I did the entire 50 minute workout WITHOUT REALIZING IT! I was elliptical-ing away and all of a sudden I looked down and it was giving me the end of workout summary! I know! I'm very excited. Normally I'm checking the time every 5 seconds because I'm dying and when can I get off this machine of torture? But yesterday I was in the elliptical zone! I wasn't winded! I wasn't having a heart attack! I wasn't gasping and turning purple and losing feeling from the waist down, which is what I'm usually doing. I'm not sure what made the difference, but I seemed to have developed instant crazy endurance. Woot!

Nine- I just double-checked my recipe on http://www.chex.com/, and they officially call it Muddy Buddies! Ha! I was right! Of course, there's a note underneath it that it is also known as puppy food, but I'm going to go with Muddy Buddies since it's all copywrited (copywritten?) and everything.

Ten- It also occurs to me that Geof would probably never go for someone who considers making Muddy Buddies in a ziplock baggie "cooking". (Well, that and whole I'm already married thing). Sigh. I'm sorry Geof. I'm afraid it never would have worked out for us. We'll always have the Food Network though.

So that's my ten. I've mentioned Geoffrey Manthorne enough by now that he'll probably get a restraining order against me. I'll console myself by stuffing myself with cereal-based dessert mix, which I'll then work off with my super elliptical endurance powers. All of this will be documented in my comic hero movie, where I'll save a kitten from a hot tub and stand in the dark, reciting rasping monologues in my smoker's voice. It'll be a hit, and Nicole can meet the real Jim at the after party.

Geof can come too.


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

We always added a little extra powder sugar and called it "White Trash." Classy, no?

Anonymous said...

1. Are you crazy? Batman rocked. Sure it was very dark, but I loved every minute of it. Looking at Christian Bale never hurts a movie.

2. I was just catching up on "The Office" last night, thinking to myself, "I am so in love with Jim." I'm hoping your dreams come true.

3. I do understand the Geoff thing. But, I would take Jim over Jeff anyday. I know one is a fictional, but still.

3. Never made muddy buddy. I do make what we call white trash at Christmas, but there's no PB. Just chex, pretzels, peanuts, m&ms, and white chocolate bark. Melt the chocolate then mix it with the other stuff. Then when it dries, break it up. yummy, yummy stuff.

Jan Ross said...

I agree with you about Batman. Way overhyped and too long. Should actually have been two movies instead of one. And they used a voice synthezier for his voice - I read that somewhere. Aren't you impressed that I am a librarian and that is the best reference I can come up with? I "read it somewhere". Oh, well, it's been a long day.

Jean said...

Ok first off we always called it Puppy Chow here in Tx and OK. Love that stuff!
Secondly, I totally crush on Geoff too. I love his dry sense of humor. Nothing really phases him either.

I'd probably feel the same way you do about Batman. Is it really bad to say that I napped during the fighting scenes of LOTR? It's just one of those kind of movies I'd just rather see at home.