Martha Stewart is ruining my World :(

  I understand how completely random that sentiment seems.  You need to know that I simply cannot stand Martha Stewart.  You're probably thinking: Who cares? And WHY am I bothering you with this? 

I'll tell you why: Because she has personally invaded my world. Okay not my real world.

You have to admit this is not the most flattering image.

    Imagine my displeasure when I signed onto my favorite game, Zynga's CastleVille (where I play as Lady Bren) and there was Martha Stewart. 

    CastleVille is played primarily on Facebook so it has players from all around the world.  I have spent the last two days educating my subjects as to who she is. (Ok they're not really subjects but hey it is CastleVille so I have my Royal Mojo ON) Those that do know who she is fall into two distinct camps.  They either: Really really love everything she does or absolutely hate her.Games.com has an article and poll on whether her appearance will ruin the fantasy.  On different gaming threads there are groups talking about boycotting the game until her "Quest" is gone.  Other threads have gamers completely abandoning Zynga completely over what they feel is a complete sell out. 

   But back to Martha~ Long before her legal issues I simply never got the fascination.  Martha, in my humble opinion, was one of the worst things to ever happen to women.  The way she presents everything as "simply do this" or "of course everyone can" drives me nuts.  While I believe in setting standards there are realistic ones and then there's Martha's.  If you were to actually live your life the way she preaches you would need weeks that contain twelve 46 hour days as well as unlimited resources, a large staff and a family that only comes out for the pictures.

     Her daughter Alexis has built her own fame on having survived being Martha's child.  In her TV show "Whatever Martha" she and best friend Jennifer would bash her Mom's old shows.  Sharing tales of how rude she was to guests or how horribly she treated the staff.  On their weekly radio show "Whatever with Alexis and Jennifer" they talked often about how imperfect they were and unable to live up to the standards created by Martha.  The latest avenue of this Martha bashing career was last fall when the ladies co-authored Whateverland: Learning to Live Here.  Martha Stewart was a producer of both the TV and Radio show.  Talk about a resolved relationship. On her own show Martha said that she found the book to be very enlightening as well as entertaining and encouraged everyone to buy it and make it a best seller. 

    Back to the gaming world issue.  Why would a major image such as herself join Zynga? Surprisingly I have been unable to find much on the joint venture though Martha did send out a tweet earlier today: CastleVille, Zynga's newest game goes live tonight with Martha's Kingdom. Play and visit with me. I am a very cute avatar.

    I understand that for years we've been playing games with avatars of real people... from the Backyard Sports computer game series to any John Madden or any EASports game.  What just seems so wrong is having someone like Martha show up in a game like CastleVille.  While I can most definitely see her wanting to be the top royal beyond that I can't make any connection whatsoever.  Heck we collect Ogre's burps for heaven's sake.  Outside her compensation what benefit is there for her?  Or maybe?? Did someone somewhere think: "Hey Martha if you become an avatar in CastleVille your name/brand will spread more globally so we can sell more towels worldwide?"  UGGHH

     I guess it was inevitable.  Product placement has expanded into the gaming world.  What's next the preschool set:

A is for Apple

M is for McDonald's

W is for Walmart

Well it finally happened

     It was inevitable but it seemed as if we were avoiding it.  Then it happened this Friday.  We finally have another driver in our home; Patrick got his license.
     Now begins the discussions of when can he drive, where can he drive, never mind WHAT will he drive.  We only have two cars at this time so I'm sure this is going to create many happy occasions of "why can't I take the car".
Personally I believe Patrick was extremely motivated to get his license this past week as Meg is old enough to get her permit so the race was on, at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.  Our school system no longer teaches drivers ed so it is up to us parents to teach our kids to drive.  On a funny note they can take a Driver's Education class online! Go figure.
     With having a licensed 18yr and a 15yr old days away from her learner's permit I was curious how different the driving requirements were around the country.  Well my head must have been in the sand on this one as I completely missed hearing anything about the STANDUP ACT. For those of you fellow ostriches:

The Safe Teen And Novice Driver Uniform Protection (STANDUP) Act is federal legislation that would compel states to strengthen their laws for novice teen drivers, often called Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) laws, the identifying bills are:

 S.528 and H.R.1515.  The following is the national standards this bill would like to set:
   • A 3-stage licensing process (learner’s permit and intermediate stage before unrestricted driver’s license);
• A prohibition on unsupervised nighttime driving during the learner’s permit and intermediate stages
• A passenger restriction during the learner’s permit and intermediate stage (no more than 1 non-familial passenger under the age of 21 unless a licensed driver over 21 years of age is in the vehicle) 
• A prohibition on non-emergency use of cell phones and other communication devices, including text messaging, during the learner’s permit and intermediate stages;
• Age 16 for issuance of learner’s permit and full licensure at age 18;
• Any other requirement adopted by the Secretary of Transportation, including learner’s permit holding period at least 6 months; intermediate stage at least 6 months; at least 30 hours behind-the-wheel, supervised driving by licensed driver 21 years of age or older; automatic delay of full licensure if permit holder commits an offense, such as DWI, misrepresentation of true age, reckless driving, unbelted driving, speeding, or other violations as determined by the Secretary.


Should this bill pass in the state of Florida that following would change:

• Applicants must be 16 instead of 15 when applying for their learner's permit
• would restrict the number of non-family passengers to 1 until driver is 21
• restriction on use of cell-phones for non-emergency situations.

 You can go to Safe Road 4 Teens to see the changes in your state.

     Now I completely understand the idea of having national standards.  I truly do not think a 15 yr old from North Dakota with a license is prepared to drive on national highways.  At the same time I understand that in our heartland states many teens are driving farm equipment at young ages, while often those vehicles are primarily driven on private property there are times they need to be on public roads so some type of exception needs to be made. AND I don't think that experience translates to real road/traffic experience.  Currently 8 states issue permits at the age of 14. There are 7 states and the District of Columbia that have the minimum age set at 16.  The remaining 35 states issue permits at the age of either 15yrs. or 15yrs 6 months.

      I do like the idea of restricting non-family passengers but to the age of 21?? YEAH NO.  That goes along with my opinion on the drinking age~ We believe that 18, 19 and 20 year olds are mature enough to vote for a president, get married, enlist in our armed forces and possibly die for our country but not mature enough to drive with friends?  I think that age should be 18.  Prior to Patrick getting his license I found a couple of sites that recommend that a driver log 1,000 miles after receiving their license before they were allowed to have friends in the car with them. Now that sounds like a lot of miles but just 2 days after getting his license Patrick has logged close to 150 miles and we'll see how it goes.

     As far as restricting the use of cell phones why limit it to their permit and intermediate stage?  There are a number of states where it is already illegal to talk on the phone and drive.  And as far as texting...there is no reason whatsoever that anyone needs to text and drive period paragraph!!

     I am a little old fashioned in some of my thinking (big surprise) and beyond maybe to work where does a 16yr need to go by themselves?  Am I looking forward to having Patrick run errands and take Meg to different events ~ you betcha.  (Especially if he stays home next year one of his tasks will be driving her to school :).  Would I let a 16 year old drive the 70+ miles to their YouthQuake Live practice ~ not on your life!! Most certainly not with friends in the car. Unfortunately I think more often than not the idea of letting kids drive goes with the thought that it makes our lives easier if we don't have to drive them here and there.  Well my take on that is the complete opposite.  For the four years that Emily went to school out of county the rides home from school was where we had some of our greatest conversations.  Even now with driving Meg to and from school (by the way she's finally learned no talking in the am~I don't do mornings well :) on the afternoons when Michael picks her up  I feel as if I've missed out on something.  I enjoy picking Patrick up after ROTC or Tennis and hearing about his day one on one.  

     So we have a licensed driver in the house.  It is exciting to see how proud he is and how much he is looking forward to the freedom it brings.  Now all he needs is a car.... that's another blog. 

My Personal Perfect Storm

  I feel like my body is going through it's own personal Perfect Storm... 3 major fronts crashing all at once and I'm on the Andrea Gail with George Clooney :(

     The beginning of this week my body was just rebelling against the simple thought of moving.  Shortly after my diagnosis of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome I heard someone describe what the bad days feel like:
  Imagine walking with legs that feel like telephone poles, arms that are carrying 10 pound bowling balls and being so tired you could cry
I can't find any better words to describe Monday physically.  When you tell someone that you have Chronic Fatigue they always assume you just aren't getting enough sleep.  Believe me if that was the solution I'd be cured.
     Many with CFS also suffer from Fibromyalgia, of course I am one of those lucky ones.  Complete with the muscle cramps in the middle of the night that linger longer than any charlie horse should.  While I've had some down days both of them acting up like this simultaneously hasn't occurred in a while.  Thanks to the pharmaceutical company discovering that their anti-depressant Cymbalta seems to bring relief to many of the symptoms of Fibromyalgia  I've been enjoying those benefits.  So where did that relief go?  A mega-dose treatment of vitamin D a while back seemed to have put a stop to those late night muscle cramps.  My recent blood work showed a decrease in CK level (measure of muscle breakdown) so why the revisit of the cramps considering I taking a Vitamin D supplement?  Unfortunately studies have shown that increasing the level of Cymbalta doesn't increase the relief so there goes that option and I want immediate relief as in NOW.
     And just so as to not be left out it seems the more tired I get the more word issues I have. So yeah aphasia's making more appearances than usual. Did you really think my stroke wouldn't rear it's pretty little head?
Put those together and what manifests:
     Guilt.  I'm talking Italian/Jewish grandmother level self-imposed guilt.  My kids are on Spring Break and all I want to do is stay in my room til I feel normal.  We originally were supposed to go away last weekend and that fell through.  I was hoping to get some spring cleaning done and then just "play" the rest of the week.  Meg's birthday. Hunger Games movie premiere.  Beach Day.   Those plans just crashed horribly.  Sure we're still doing things it is just that I really am struggling through them.  And today?  Well today I just can't stop crying.  It started with my daughter being disappointed when friends misunderstood and excluded her from going to the beach.  She's fine and I'm still crying!!
     Of all the crazy things happening lately and believe me the list just seems to be endless something as innocuous as Meg not going to the beach has sent me into a tear fest I haven't endured in ages.  In fact since I started taking the Cymbalta I rarely cry at all.  The only change that I can point to is the addition of because it seems my thyroid has decided to stop working. However we've added a med (buspirone) into the mix for that as well so can't really blame that now can I??

So there you have it my perfect storm

• CFS
• Fibromyalgia
• Guilt/Tears

The only plus in it all is that I'm on George Clooney's boat and hey if you're going to go under who else would you want as your captain?

B'fast for dinner March 20th and grape tip

Tonight's Menus:
Upside Down Impossible Casserole and Fruit Salad

Before I get into tonight's yummy meal I thought I would share a cooking tip that makes things so much easier! Whether it is grapes or small tomatoes cutting them in half is one of those tedious chores.  BUT not with my trick.  I learned this years ago from Sarah Moulton.  The fancy tool required: 2 tops from take out soup containers. 

grapes and two soup container lids

place lid with rim up and fill with grapes

place other lid upside down on top of grapes... should be snug fit

using bottom lid as guide slice grapes

Perfect halves!

So dinner tonight was a new recipe I created.  It is a combination of favorites so I am going to call it Upside Down Breakfast Casserole.
Ingredients:

• 14oz can crushed pineapple drained (I put the juice in my fruit salad)
• 2 T unsalted butter
• 1/4 brown sugar
• 1 pound bacon cooked
• 1 3/4 c milk
• 1 cup bisquik
• 4 eggs
• salt and pepper to taste

Set oven to 400 degrees

(I baked my bacon in the oven)

Place butter in 9x13 casserole.  Place in oven until butter melts.  Combine brown sugar with melted butter and spread to thin layer.  Cover with crushed pineapple.  Place the cooked bacon on top of the crushed pineapple, breaking if necessary so all fits... DO NOT CRUMBLE.  Mix remaining ingredients.  Slowly pour on top of bacon.  Bake for 20 minutes or until top is set.  Invert onto serving platter.

Upside Down Breakfast Casserole

Inside shot of Upside Down Breakfast Casserole

Serves 4-6

Oh Panera you gave my food GPS :)

     If you've been a follower of this blog you know two things for sure.

1. I frequent Panera quite often.  
2. I am very easily entertained.

   So when the two were combined you can imagine my happiness


  In all actuality this post is about the latest in restaurant service but it really entertained me.  Over the last year or so Panera has changed the way they serve their customers.  Originally when you placed your order at the counter and were handed a pager.  You retrieved your food when your pager went off.  Then they decided to go more personal.  When you placed your order you were given a number stand to place on your table and your food was delivered to you.  You'd see the servers walking around trying to find number 5.  I would watch as people would put the numbers on chairs, the floor, one mom had put the stand in her diaper bag.  (See I really do get entertained watching people).
     Well now my food finds my via GPS.  When you place your order you get a pager that looks like the kind that used to light up.  HOWEVER this "Table Tracker" is completely different.  You are given a device, similar to the older pagers, and told to place it your table when you sit down.  This also starts a timer on your order, the idea being your food should arrived even quicker.  When the device hits the table a number on it's top becomes illuminated.  So of course when my server found my food I had to ask how he found me.  There are strips attached to the underside of each table that transmit back to the computer in the servers area.  Back in the servers area the order and table are matched up so the servers know exactly where to go.  Just to make it even better because I am a member of Panera's loyalty club when my food was delivered I was greeted by name.
    Now come on you have to admit it GPS for your food is kinda cool.  And I'll admit that in days gone by I would have had fun moving my tracker to different tables or keep lifting it up and down just to entertain myself which would have definitely annoyed the servers.
    Oh heads up~ Panera has added 3 pastas to their menu.  Today I had the tortellini and it was really good.  The sauce wasn't incredibly heavy and the fresh herbs really set it off.  A small serving is incredibly filling.  I usually get a pick two so I partnered this up with their grilled chicken salad and barely finished either!!
   I so love Panera....