Repeat after me, "I promise I will NOT play April Fool jokes on the very pregnant, hormonal Cathy."

This month I have the honor of hosting the Rocky Top Brigade's Volunteer Tailgate Party. As always, a stroll through the brigade shows the great diversity of bloggers represented by the Rocky Top Brigade. Just this month: Liz at the Appalachia Alumni Association has a very timely post about pharmacists who refuse to dispense prescribed contraception. Nikolai at Communists for TennCare would like everyone to read their Manifesto and then join them on a March to Save TennCare on Friday, April 8th. Cathy at Domestic Psychology has, oh wait, that's me, hidden among a dozen Girl Scout cookie recipes a vaguely political post and just this week felt the need to explain my unusual Easter pictures. Great Smoky has a very succinct comment about Senator Frist as well as a link to a military themed art exhibit. Elizabeth at Harelipfrog has a recipe and photo diary of her experience with pickled eggs. Inn of the Last Home's Barry tackled Knox County's truancy problems and shares his feelings about the Red Lake tragedy. Jeff Blogworthy has a tongue-in-cheek post relevant to the story that has dominated the blogosphere recently. Nashville Files posted a wonderful photo diary of his recent visit to the Jack Daniel's Distillery plus a thoughtful commentary on the use of security cameras. Newsrack Blog gives his thoughts on bankruptcy bill hackery and continued his insights about it here. Poop Happens breaks down the daily news report and sends a message to a friend. SayUncle has a lot to say about Knox County's new adult bookstore regulations and gun control laws. Sugarfused has the shortest and funniest post of this month's tailgate party. Whites Creek has a very Southern story about 4-wheelers and hogs as well as an Easter sermon, well, sort of anyway. Finally, Whoa Mama has some very cute baby pictures to share. Pop in and say hello to these and a few of the other Rocky Top Brigade's bloggers for some Southern hospitality, politics and just good old fun.

Tonight's episode of Lost is not a rerun! I plan to watch it sitting rocking in my early birthday present from my parents. Amy likes the footstool better than the chair and the box it shipped in the best of all. She's been playing in the box all day today. Have I whined about Daylight Savings Time yet? Getting up in the morning an hour before your body thinks it should and trying to put the children to bed when their bodies think they should be awake still pale in comparison to the "But it's still light out" debates that will continue for weeks. Blech.

This picture was strange enough, what was I thinking when I posted this one? Well, I'm pregnant so I run on hormones and not rational thought. Still, I'll try to tell some of the back story. My original intention was just to paint my belly and post it for fun on Easter. I decided it would be much easier if Doug painted my belly since I can't see below the belly button. Doug found this all to be great fun and painting the flowers was his idea. I was sitting cross-legged on the bed which I am really too round to do comfortably so I kept rocking back onto my hands to ease the pressure. The longer it took to paint, the more I wanted to scratch the area being painted. Uncomfortable and twitching with itchies already, my bladder decided to start complaining. I asked Doug to throw some paper grass over the area I didn't want photographed. Doug took one handful and carefully covered the requested area but it looked far too obscene (green fro?), so I dumped the entire bag across my lap while Doug grabbed the camera for a few quick pictures. I was cool with the belly shots but the pictures of the flowers made me so uncomfortable I couldn't look at the camera despite Doug's barrage of jokes to try and make me laugh. The look on my face was either inspired by Doug's offer to let me paint his body or his asking if I wanted to publish photos of his upcoming vasectomy in my blog. Both were very funny at the time. At any rate, I thought the amount of effort Doug put into painting deserved recognition and I was in a hurry to get bathed and dressed for church so I posted two pictures intending to remove one later. Doug and I only visit my parents' church a few times a year and this was one of those days. When I realized that Knox County's sheriff was sitting directly in front of me at church I had a mental flash that he would be arresting me for public indecency right then and there. He shook my hand with a blank expression so my fears were unfounded. I guess I enjoyed the blogosphere's reaction to my risque escapades because I decided to leave the pictures up, just tucked away a bit so people wouldn't have to see the flowers.

I have the leftover Easter ham bone (with LOTS of meat still attached) in the crock pot with navy beans and water. The house is starting to smell yummy!

After giving away eggs AND eating them, we still have 34 boiled eggs in our fridge. Tonight we'll probably make this: Easter Casserole 2 cans cr of mushroom soup 3 cans asparagus 6 boiled eggs, sliced shredded cheese bread crumbs layers- two of each soup eggs asparagus cheese bread crumbs bake in 350 degree oven for 35 or 40 min. or until bubbly.

Even though I've watched "The Incredibles" a zillion times, I still keep expecting Bob's boss to say "In-con-thievable!"

It's the Easter belly! 

Apparently I've been blocked from some offices. My belly is painted as an egg and I have two flowers that may make this "not safe for work" albiet tasteful.Click to VIEW the hidden picture.Hide picture.

This picture is a bit too graphic so I'll take it down shortly. I am not liable for any blindness caused by the horrors of this photograph.

It's going to be nearly 70 degrees outside for the next three days. The dogwoods and daffodils are full of blooms. I can almost hear the birds singing their pre-sunrise morning song before I hear Noah and Amy celebrating being the only morning people in our house. The malls are packed with women searching for their Easter outfits. White sandals and pumps are going to be everywhere this Sunday. One of my favorite sights is the seniors wearing their new hats. I never wear a hat but I like seeing them on other people. I love springtime in TN. Sarah is getting her very first pair of shoes from the women's department today since she has outgrown good old Stride Rite. I am proud and terrified all at the same time.

The news is full of too much sadness right now and I am trying hard to remain mellow so I'm going to play ostrich and not talk about it. Instead I need to decide what kind of paint to use on my belly so I can post a belly picture before Easter. I filled all the plastic eggs last night (Yes, I ate some candy. Sorry, I couldn't help it.) so all that's left to do is hard-boil and color eggs. It's not cold outside but it looks like rain will keep the Easter Bunny indoors this year. My parents got tickets for Amy and her cousin to go see "Dora Live" next month. That should be loud fun.

Ordinarily I consider doing anything to candy other than eating it wasteful, but in my gestational diabetes induced madness, I found watching Peeps in the microwave hilarious. Go ahead, give it a try.

What does YOUR family do to celebrate Easter? Any special family traditions?

:) 

After neglecting everything around the house for three weeks I am now faced with what the government would certainly declare a disaster area. At the top of my priority list today is catching up with the laundry. With 6 and a half people and assorted animals in our household, laundry is always a challenge. When you add in a huge belly that makes the bending over to get stuff in and out of the washer and dryer as well as dragging the laundry up the staircase several times a day, the task seems overwhelming. I have only come up with two possible solutions so far. First, we could have one day when everyone stays in their jammies all day so that nothing else gets dirty. This would still be one very long day of non-stop laundry and is not really possible with the errands and activities we have nearly every day. My second plan is to spend one day each week at the laundromat. I have actually done this a few times and loved it. I spend about 4 hours at the laundromat with nearly every machine full, including the plus sized machines that handle blankets and comforters so nicely. The problem with this method is the cost. Until someone creates a laundromat with some sort of membership that would allow me unlimited usage for a monthly fee, I can't really afford the laundromat. I'm going to have to keep trying to develop a solution or Doug is going to cut a hole in the floor to make it easier to get the laundry from upstairs to the downstairs. We don't need any more unfinished construction projects.

It looks like Amy might eat Flat Stanley. 

The older children are waiting (with their redneck easter baskets) to find the eggs in the grandparents' backyard. My enormous girth was the subject of much teasing until I broke one of my mother's chairs. After that there was nothing more that needed to be said.  

"Driving Miss Amy" 

"Amy, what's in that easter egg?" "A baby bird." "Open it and look." "Can-eee! Chok-late! I need more eggs!"

My very last post on Girl Scout cookies this season is: Why do people buy Girl Scout cookies? Clearly, Girl Scout cookies are not a great bargain. They are expensive and there are not a lot of cookies in each package. They are priced like the fundraiser that they are but, people still buy them. When senior adults buy the cookies even though you just know it is not in their carefully balanced personal budget, they almost always have a story about their now adult daughter having been a Girl Scout. When hordes of college females see cookie booths, the ones who break away from the group and come to buy cookies that are almost certainly not on their diets are usually young women who were once Girl Scouts. Every so often a man will buy cookies and relate that if Girl Scouts means to girls what Boy Scouts meant to him, it MUST be a good thing. People who buy the cookies believe in Girl Scouting and want to help the girls. For some people it is just the memory of a specific cookie's taste that keeps them coming back every year. The stories and smiles of customers at cookie booths make everyone involved feel good. Girl Scout cookies are happy memories and good feelings.

Prompted by a comment Barry made to one of my weekend posts, I am going to make two separate posts about Girl Scout cookies. After that, I won't talk about Girl Scout cookies until 2006. The first topic is: Why do Girl Scouts sell cookies? I don't ask the scouts in my troop to buy uniforms or books. I use the troop account to buy just a few books that all of the girls share. I also use the troop account to pay each girl's dues to National. The troop account pays for all the badges, patches and charms that the girls earn. The troop account pays for most of the girls' outings and activities. Before the beginning of cookie sales the girls choose a goal for the cookie profits. This year the girls chose a day doing many of the family activities in Chattanooga. Several of the girls have never been to Chattanooga. Initially the girls wanted to also visit a climbing wall but after much discussion amongst themselves they decided they want to go to the circus instead. One girl in the troop has never been to the circus. Without cookie money we would not be able to do all of these things. Today our troop delivered 5 cases of cookies to the Ronald McDonald House. These were bought with donations at cookie booths. There are hundreds of other troops in East TN collecting cookie donations for various non-profit groups in our area. The cookie money helps pay for the maintenance and growth of the Girl Scout camp here in East TN. The money helps pay for a council office and personnel who work year-round to organize the Girl Scout troops in this area. Selling cookies teaches girls money management, organization, goal-setting, marketing and math skills. Girl Scout cookie selling is hard work but I (and many others) wouldn't have a troop if we had to ask parents to write checks every time we want to do something as a troop. My troop has worked very hard and now they are going to have a lot of fun.

Noah gets assigned a Flat Stanley project almost every other year. This is one of those years. He is supposed to photograph and journal Flat Stanley's adventures over spring break. The teacher's note of explanation claims that this is a fun and easy project that you just do to document your family's exciting spring break vacation. That makes it feel a little like a competition to see who has the best vacation. We are going nowhere this spring break. I have cookies to sell and laundry that has been neglected since cookie sales started. Doug wants to spend all of his waking moments at a computer. Flat Stanley at our house will play video games and watch movies with occasional moments of being forced to go outside and do something in the fresh air. Nothing in our back yard though since Noah already has poison oak on his face. I am not loving Flat Stanley this year because I feel really bad for Noah when he does his oral report on Flat Stanley. When Noah moves to middle school he should be able to move beyond Flat Stanley. Of course, then it will be Amy's turn for Flat Stanley projects.

I awoke from vivid technicolor dreams in full anxiety mode about my lack of preparedness for this new baby. It is a beautiful sunny first day of spring that we should spend enjoying together as a family. Instead I will work a cookie booth at Bi-Lo and stress over whether I need to pick up one last order of cookies. After that I will go to my parents' house and try to have fun with my brothers and their families while I feel like I'm going to do a cartoon character routine and have all the springs pop out of my body because I need to be cleaning my house. Oh, and my ankles have started swelling so that I look like an elephant at the end of each day. Doug thinks it's funny and calls me an ogre.

The best part about next week being Spring Break is that I get a week off from doctor appointments. The worst part is that I have annoyed the staff at my doctor's office and I know they'll find a way to get revenge ("I'm sorry but you have a two hour wait"). "Same time next Monday?" "I'm sorry but I have cookie booths all day that day." "How about Tuesday?" "Sorry, cookie booths." "Well when can you come in?" She is now irritated as she usually just tells me when my next appointment will be. "Thursday or Friday but I'll have all my children with me." "Then I guess you'll have to skip one week." "That sounds like a very good idea."

Good attitude - This is the last weekend of Girl Scout cookie sales until 2006. Put several boxes in your freezer so you can enjoy them all year long. Bad attitude - As soon as all our cookies are sold I can collapse from exhaustion. We'll be in the mall today from 4 until 6.

Jeni asked what we agreed on for the new baby's name. The name we finally chose was a dark horse that nobody listed when we asked for suggestions several months ago. You can guess, but I'm not ready to tell yet. I'm hormonal, sugar deprived and evil that way. 

Blogger is back! I guess the government got the bugs out of their dangerous blogging monitoring software. Eveyone may now resume their subversive posts about family, friends and life in general.

Tennessee has decided to close the CSA (Community Service Agencies) and give their duties to the DCS (Department of Children's Services). I know people who now or in the past have worked for both agencies and they are sincere, caring individuals who try their best and I apologize for any hurt feelings this post may cause. If I called CSA to get help for a family, that family got the help they needed. CSA had an ability to dance through the complicated government system and get things done to help keep families intact and children out of state custody. If I tried to work with DCS I got mired in bureaucratic muck and many times the family ended up worse because of how DCS intervened. Even when I called to report abuse or neglect the results were non-existent. Where DCS saw rules to follow and forms to file, CSA saw creative solutions based on each family's unique needs. Getting rid of the CSA is a huge mistake and the unfortunate consequences will once again, fall upon Tennessee's children.

The Goober Queen accepted my challenge and posted an Easter egg picture! Anyone else have an egg they are proud of? It doesn't have to be a belly egg. I'll post my egg picture before Easter.

CHOCOLATE ECSTASY 1 1/2 packages Trefoils, crumbled in food processsor 1/3 cup Kahula 3 packages Chocolate Mousse 1 large tub whipped topping 1 package Heath Bits or 5 large Heath Bars* In a large bowl, place Trefoils crumbs on bottom, pour Kahlua over top of crumbs. Mix the mousse according to package directions. Layer half the mousse, half the whipped topping and half the Heath Bits. Repeat with remaining half of f the mousse, the whipped topping and Heath Bits. Chill overnight. (*Heath Bars are a chocolate covered hard toffee candy bar.)

FRIED SAMOAS SHRIMP Approximately ½ box Samoas Girl Scout Cookies 8 extra-large shrimp, peeled and deveined 5 Samoas Girl Scout Cookies, finely chopped 2 cups seasoned bread crumbs 2 cups flour 1 cup coconut flakes 4 egg whites 1 pinch cayenne papper 1 lime for garnish Vegetable or peanut oil for frying 1. Toss coconut flakes with bread crumbs, cayenne pepper and chopped Samoas Girl Scout Cookies. 2. Dredge shrimp through flour, followed by egg whites and Samoas Girl Scout Cookies mixture. 3. Fry shrimp in vegetable oil at 350 degrees until golden brown. 4. Garnish with coconut flakes and lime wedges.

LEMON DROP CHICKEN 1 box Girl Scout Lemon Cooler cookies 2 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts, rinsed Salt and pepper, to season Salt and pepper the chicken. Crumb the cookies. Coat the chicken with crumbs and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. I will e-mail my entire list of Girl Scout cookie recipes to anyone interested. Just let me know.

Anyone want more Girl Scout cookie recipes?

Pregnant husbands should never let pregnant wives leave the house in a pink shirt with a blue bra underneath. They know our minds are gone. We already look funny and constantly drop things so, we need all the help we can get to not embarrass ourselves further.

It's springtime in the south when Noah leaves for school wearing his heavy coat and a hat but returns from school barefoot and shirtless.

Funny - Only painting the nails on one foot before falling asleep. Pathetic - Two weeks later and you still haven't had the time or energy to paint the nails on the other foot.

I like lazy days at home. Today I'll be selling cookies in the mall from 4 until 9 pm. Drop by and say hello. 

Nearly everyone should eat some form of bread. If you live in one of those neighborhoods in Farragut you are expected to pay 5 dollars for a loaf of bread, BUT you must earn your money doing something criminal or you would join a fancy bread club to get your bread for less money. If you live in one of those neighborhoods in South Knoxville you are only expected to pay 3 dollars for a loaf of bread, BUT you must be illiterate or you would join a regular bread club to get your bread for less money. The bread companies don't like people who pay cash and often refuse to sell them bread. The bread companies charge the bread clubs 12 or 15 dollars per loaf and the bread clubs negotiate it down to 8 or 10 dollars per loaf which still makes the bread companies happy. If you can't afford to join any of the bread clubs there is the government bread club which has no dues, BUT the people in other bread clubs will resent you getting any government bread and tell you to work harder and make more money so you can join a regular bread club. The government bread club only pays 7 dollars for each loaf of bread so the bread companies all complain about the poor service of the government bread company. There are some people who don't belong to any bread clubs and must choose each week if they want bread or milk. Those people are all lazy and stupid or they would have more money. A lot of people in Tennessee want to get rid of the government bread club. I don't think that will solve the problem.

We are supposed to have a cookie booth from 4 until 8 at Martha-Mart tonight but with wind gusts up to 35 miles an hour and periods of rain and/or sleet, I suspect we will close early.

"We need a pitcher, not a belly itcher." scratch, scratch It's a good thing I don't play baseball. scratch, scratch

What is wrong with blogger today??

This week some hikers found themselves stranded in the Smokies. They were college students who wanted to spend their spring break hiking 70 miles and camping along the way. In less than a month I am taking a group of teen and pre-teen Girl Scouts hiking. A group of Girl Scouts who I have spent two years convincing that hiking can be just as much fun as going to the mall. I'm already anticipating the melodrama. "But I need a real bathroom."

We'll be selling cookies inside West Town Mall tomorrow (that's Thursday) from 4 pm until close so you can stock up on cookies or buy a box for the families staying at Ronald McDonald House. We'll be near the large department store whose name starts with "D" and ends with "s". 

Doug tried to be funny this morning. "Hey, you get to learn a new skill today." But I don't want to know how to stab my fingers all day long and give myself shots. I don't like the nurse on the phone reminding me to bring a photo ID so I can get my needles. I hate what all this is going to cost before it's over with and more than anything I am terrified of the all the increased risks for our baby. I am angry with my body for failing me and ashamed to be such a bother when there are so many people out there who need medical attention more than I do. Mostly I am just sad and unhappy.

I expected my day would be lousy today but Julie is having a really painful day and needs all the love and support she can get. Please drop by and give her a virtual hug.

It's time for an update on the people we unaffectionately refer to as "the renters" in our cove. I talked about them before here and here. After several weeks of coming over and asking Doug to use the jumper cables on their car, they suddenly have no cars at their house. I assume one has been in the shop for two weeks and the other has been re-po'd. Since they had 3 accidents that were someone else's fault in the past year, we figure they have several phony lawsuits pending. They now have their phones cut-off, so they knock on our door more than a dozen times each week to use our phone. We think their water is cut-off because they sneak out the front door and disappear around the corner of their house while one stays behind as a look-out. The only place they could be going is the empty house next to them. I guess the empty house has running water. They also ask to be driven to the store and today they asked to be driven to a bank across town. I'm glad Doug said no to the bank because he might have ended up an accessory to some crime. These people are like serial grifters. I look forward to the day they disappear in the night with their rent unpaid.

When it's cold, rainy and you're depressed, take a long soak in a bubble bath. 

I am still looking for Easter Egg pictures. It can be a real egg or not, just an egg that you want to show everyone.

Mondays are now officially my least favorite day of the week. Today has been a really depressing day except for the well-timed, very sweet card from Lost. Thank you so very much for the card. Wednesday I learn how to draw and test my blood and give myself insulin. I don't expect that to make my mood any better. Visiting the doctor every week is not going to help either.

Would someone please invent a mirrored toilet bowl or something like that for the OB's office. It's bad enough when you can't see the target, but I can't even see the ummm, weapon being used for target practice. Maybe if the plastic cup wasn't so small.

"You're in my heart, you're in my soul. You'll be my breath should I grow old. You are my lover, you're my best friend, you're in my soul. My love for you is immeasurable; my respect for you: immense. You're ageless, timeless, lace and fineness, You're beauty and elegance. You're a rhapsody, a comedy, you're a symphony and a play. You're every love song ever written, But honey what do you see in me?" The bigger, klutzier and crazier I get, the sweeter, more patient and thoughtful Doug becomes toward me. I love you Doug.

CSI would never hire me. Every so often I declare our beta fish dead and ask Doug to dispose of its' body. As soon as Doug starts to pester the fish it suddenly wakes from its' coma and swims happily around the glass bowl. While I admit I am a well-known worrier about everything, this fish can really look dead. We've had the same beta for several years now, so eventually it will be sideways in the bowl and I'll call Doug but he will treat me like the boy who cried wolf. "Just leave it alone Cathy, it's fine." Then the fish will probably remain in the bowl for several days before Doug finally believes me.

A long, long time ago my parents got their first microwave oven. My father insisted that this new technology allowed you to heat up a piece of apple pie while leaving the ice cream scoop on top of it undisturbed. My mother eventually relented and baked a pie just for this doomed experiment. In my father's defense, the only thing he knows how to do that resembles cooking is the dorm room staple of a cheese and hot dog sandwich melted with a clothing iron. 

For as long as I can remember I have been a fan of coke (that's coca cola, guys). I even rank coke in the glass bottle above the plastic bottle followed by the aluminum can. The hardest adjustment to pregnancy for me has always been the first trimester total caffeine withdrawal. During pregnancy I just replaced coke with de-caffeinated sodas and sweet fruit juices. When I failed my gestational diabetes test last week, Doug and I went on a quest to find a new drink. Giving up sugar has been complicated by my aversion to laboratory created artificial sweeteners. Just to make things more complicated, I was warned that carbohydrates can affect my blood sugar level, so I found myself searching for no-sugar, low-carb beverages. In the end we found the best substitute is hot tea. Tea is no-sugar, no-carb and comes in decaffeinated varieties. When I read in Catawampus' blog that Adagio Teas was giving away tea to anyone who provides a link to the Adagio Teas website in their blog, I thought that sounded like great way to try some new varieties of tea. They even have a free timer on their site that you can download to your computer so that you steep your tea the exact right length of time. This afternoon I'm going to read their guide to tea preparation and learn to make better tea. Update: Yesterday, Adagio Teas sent me an email that they are mailing me a sample. I feel like a little kid watching for their magic decoder ring to arrive.

Tomorrow morning I'll be working a cookie booth from 10 until noon at the store that should be out-of-business. I never shop there because their two competitors do a much better job and their shelves are barren. HOWEVER, they do allow Girl Scouts to sell cookies under the protection of their roof unlike their politically controversial but enormously successful competitor who makes us set-up in the parking lot. We'll be at THAT store on Sunday from noon until 2. Wish us some good sales or drop by and buy some cookies for yourself or to donate to the families staying at Ronald McDonald House.

Last week I saw a news blurb about a company in the west that fired their employees who kept hunting guns in their trucks while at work. Doug and I had a nice long debate about such policies. We also talked about the companies who fire workers that won't give up smoking. It was all very nice and rhetorical. Now a very family-friendly company in Knoxville who provide a service that almost all Knoxvillians use has established some new policies of their own. Keep in mind that the following are my words, not theirs and this was issued by the company's safety department: *No more jars of candy allowed on or in employees' desks. *No more than one candy bar in the employees' workspace. *No fast food allowed in the office. Homemade food only. *Employees can no longer bring in bagels every Friday. They must now bring fresh fruit every other Friday. Should employers be allowed to dictate their employees' eating habits?

Today's Girl Scout Cookie recipe is: Lemon Chiffon Cooler 1 pkg. 3 oz. Lemon Jello-O 1 cup boiling water 8 oz. reduced fat or regular cream cheese 1/4 cup sugar 8 oz. tub non-fat whipped topping 1 pkg. Lemon Coolers cookies (crushed) Prepare Jell-O with hot water only. Refrigerate until begins to set. (If set, leave out to soften.) Spread 3/4 crumbs in 9" x 9" pan. In bowl, blend sugar with cream cheese. Add Jell-O. Whip. Gently fold in one half or 4 oz. of topping. Spread mixture over crumbs. Top with 4 oz. of topping. Refrigerate several hours. Garnish with 1/4 of crumbs just before serving.

I need to write a check for something tomorrow so I can date it 3/4/5.

My LOST theory so far: Some sort of military experiments were taking place on this island somewhere in the South Pacific. Things went wrong and they either sent out a distress call or a stay away call, whichever it was the military didn't answer them. The scientists on the boat tried to find them and something went wrong that caused the French woman to kill several of her fellow scientists. If the airplane survivors ever make it to the black rock they'll be exposed to the leftover radiation or whatever that causes some of the problems. If they ever get into the underground facility they'll find answers but lots of dead bodies. I hope they line that cradle with something soft because it looked a bit splinter-y and dangerous. I LOVED Hurley's back story. The Rocky Top Brigade left me out of their roll call but, oh well.

Don't forget to post your Easter egg pictures and send me a link to your photo.

Today's Girl Scout cookie recipe is: Rich and Famous Brownies 1 cup evaporated milk 2 cups miniature marshmallows 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips 1/3 cup sugar 1/8 tsp. salt 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1 tbsp. butter 3 cups Thin Mint cookies crushed into crumbs ½ cup nuts (chopped) Mix together milk, marshmallows, chocolate chips, sugar and salt in microwaveable bowl. Bring to a boil in microwave. Stir well and cook in microwave an additional 2 minutes at medium high heat. Remove from microwave. Add butter, vanilla, and chopped nuts. Break Thin Mint cookies into crumbs and add to mixture. Pack into a 9 in square pan. Refrigerate to harden. Cut into 2 inch squares.

We left the house at noon and just got home. I have 15 minutes to get the children settled so I can watch LOST. Eeek!

Today's mantra - "Try to remain calm and LOST will be on at 8 pm." Mental notes to self: Rent trailer; Check-out Tommy from HS, Check-out Noah from ES, Tommy to psych; Pick-up cookies; Pick-up Sarah & friend after Art Club; Take friend home and leave her cookies; Deliver cookies to two other girls' homes; Unload trailer of cookies; Finish Pinewood Derby car and what am I forgetting?

Today's Girl Scout Cookie recipe is: Bogie's Chocolate Decadent Pie 1¼ cups Thin Mints, crushed 1¼ cups Trefoils, crushed ¼ cup sugar 1/3 cup butter, melted 1½ cups milk chocolate chips 1½ cups white chocolate chips 1½ cups sweetened condensed milk 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract 1½ cups fresh whipping cream Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Crust: Spray the inside of a 9" pie pan with non-stick cooking spray. In a bowl combine shortbread cookie crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Press mixture firmly into sprayed pie pan, covering bottom and sides. Bake 5-7 minutes. Set aside to cool. Filling: In a microwave-safe bowl, combine milk chocolate chips, ½ cup condensed milk, and ½ teaspoon vanilla. Microwave fro 2 minutes on medium power. Alternately combine all ingredients and melt in double boiler. Stir until all chips are melted and pour into bottom of cooled crust. Set in refrigerator while preparing second layer. For second layer, repeat above process using the vanilla chips. Pour over milk chocolate layer. Set in refrigerator while preparing top layer of whipped cream. Pour whipped cream over the top, then sprinkle/decorate with Thin Mint cookies.

Looking at my belly makes me think of Easter. I am thinking about painting my belly like an Easter egg and posting a picture. Then again, maybe I'm too shy to do so. I could be talked into it if some other bloggers posted their own Easter egg pictures. You don't have to be pregnant to participate. Maybe you or someone you know has a bald head. Maybe you are going to decorate an ostrich egg. Be creative. Post your pictures on your blogs and send me a link to your blog in comments or e-mail. I'll post a list of all the participants when I post my picture.

Protected by the mountains, we rarely get snow in Knoxville. The one day it actually looks like winter outside all the children are in school. This just makes me want to help them play hooky.

Tomorrow my home will be invaded by about 2000 boxes of cookies (we're dropping the other thousand off at girls' homes). I could kick one of the children out of a bedroom for the next three weeks. I could put them on the table and floor in the kitchen area but then I would have a 2-year-old and a puppy eating the cookies. They could go in our bedroom but the wood stove would melt them. I think I'll put a bunch in the back of the station wagon and turn my car into a cookie mobile. I could go wherever the traffic jams are and sell them out the car window. Maybe I should drive through construction areas at lunch time like a food vendor. Hmmm. . .

Today's Girl Scout Cookie recipe is: Southern Peanut Butter Pie 1 pkg. Tagalongs 1 pkg. (3-1/2 ounce) vanilla pudding 1-1/2 cups milk 1/3 cup peanut butter Grind cookies in blender or food processor and press into a 9-inch pie plate. Prepare pudding mix according to package directions using only 1-1/2 cups milk. Stir in peanut butter. Pour into pie shell. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Garnish with whipped topping and crushed peanuts.