TacoMac!

I regret not taking a picture before this great dish was devoured by my boys. I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy it though!

1 box mac n cheese (cheese powder type)
1.5 lbs ground beef
4 Tbsp olive oil
1 pack taco seasoning
1 Tbsp dehydrated minced onion
2 Tbsp parsley
3 Tbsp sour cream
1 can sweet corn, drained
1 can diced tomatoes, drained.

In one pot, boil macaroni noodles. In a skillet, pour olive oil and taco seasoning. Heat slightly. Add ground beef making sure it is thoroughly crumbled. Add onion and parsley as meat is browning. Add corn and tomatoes. By this point, the macaroni should be ready to drain and add to the meat mixture. Add noodles, followed by the cheese packet and sour cream. Mix well and simmer for 5 minutes. Serve. :)

Pardon my brain...

I need to think "out loud" for a few minutes and develop a plan to finish my degree by next May. I figure if I publish it publicly, I can be held responsible for my plan and I can pull it up and check things off the list!

In finishing my Bachelor of Music Education degree (which I only lack Senior level piano lessons, Senior Recital, Praxis II - Music Content Knowledge, and Student Teaching), I don't have enough required hours to be full time. I've always loved Biology, so why not finish up a minor in Bio and get certified to teach that, too? Maybe then I can assure myself a job in the classroom.

1. Contact business office to promise to pay off outstanding balance as soon as income tax refund is available.
2. Fill out FAFSA
3. Pay off outstanding balance
4. Fill out Student Loan paperwork
5. Re-fill out Start Of School Experience paperwork packet, update student membership of NEA, MENC.
6. Enroll in Piano, Biology II for Summer '11. 

Hopefully, I'll be coming back frequently (and soon) to check these things off. Pray for me!

TRAINS-FORMERS

"Please hurry, he's causing confusion and delay throughout the city, not to mention copyright infringement issues!"

Haha! Op-Thomas Prime! YES!

Enjoy!

I apologize for being a bit detached this week.

I had a bit of an accident Monday afternoon. Luckily, everyone is ok.

Sometime back, a neighborhood dog (whose owner is not taking care of her), came and tore up about 3 bags of trash in my yard. She is a nice dog, but starved, so she was looking for food the best way she knew how. I had seen the garbage strewn all over the yard, but didn't see her at first. When I opened my back door to let air through the house on the first dry day in some time, she started barking at me. Or, I thought it was at me. She was chasing my cat. I had to run her off. She had eaten, and she was terrorizing my cat. Sorry, not on my property does a strange dog assault my cat.

That said, I was left with quite a mess to clean up. We've been having a very cold snap here in South Mississippi, along with wetness on the days it wasn't as cold. Those conditions don't make it feasible to go outside and clean up the yard. In waiting for a pleasant day, I've been having a massive cleaning out inside the house, putting stuff on ebay or in the trash. Monday, we got a break in the weather, so I went outside to burn some boxes and clean up the strewn trash. Oops...

My first mistake: not checking my water hose. It had been run over by a lawnmower by the man my mom hires to mow our yards. *My mom owns the property I live on, and she lives next door* Second mistake: not breaking off some pine limbs to beat out any grass fire that might get out. And get out, it did. I freaked. At one point, JD and I were surrounded by fire. Not to mention, we have Cogon Grass. Evil, evil stuff. This is what happens when a Cogon Grass wildfire breaks out. It goes. Hot and fast. I managed to get back to my phone and call my mom and 911. She drove up with my cousin and he kept it from getting under the trailer (it was just inches away, in much shorter grass.) and the fire department got there in time to put out the burning Cogon Grass. We spent some time with them putting out the bulk of it, and me helping to keep an eye out for hotspots flaring back up. 

Sadly, there had been a pop up tent (10x10 canopy type) with some items under it that had been in a vehicle we sold. The "stuff" is no longer there, but JD and I came out with our lives and our home still intact. 

I've been quite shaken up over the experience, but accidents happen, and I learned valuable lessons about being careful and better prepared. Needless to say, I won't be burning anything anytime soon. Unless it's in a 55 gallon drum with a waterhose nearby!

Control of Cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica)

Studies of an alang-alang (Imperata cylindrica (L.) Beauv.) vegetation (BIOTROP bulletin)

There are some positive things about cogon grass. It makes beautiful woven items in the right hands. But, it's not native to this area, and it goes crazy when fire is added.

Improvised Taco Soup

1 can condensed tomato soup
1 can water
4 Tbsp sour cream
1/2 cup shredded cheese
1 Tbsp parsley
1/2 packet taco seasoning
1/4 cup "pastina" pasta stars

Combine everything in a microwaveable bowl, stirring well after adding each ingredient. Microwave for 4 minutes. Enjoy!

Yes. I chose the ad.

Another mommy-files giveaway, Wilton Heart Pops!

This is another fun review/giveaway from themommy-files.com. Enjoy! Just click the link above and see what you have to do! :)

Chuggington review and giveaway @ themommy-files.com :)

I'm posting this entry as an entry for a contest on themommy-files.com, but I felt some of my readers would probably be interested in it, too! Click the link above and check it out!

We love Chuggington at our house, almost as much as Thomas!

Does your kiddo love trains and deserve a trip?

Amtrak - Deals - Advertised Specials - The Little Engine That Could

I was just looking for deals on train tickets for a trip to New Orleans with the kiddo. Lo and behold, what did I find on amtrak.com, other than a free kid's ride in The Little Engine That Could starting March 22! Just in time for fall travel! You can get the DVD's with the free ride coupon from March 22 thru Sept 15, and can be used for trips booked starting Oct 1 thru Feb 29, 2012! We will definitely be picking up our copy when they become available.

*No compensation whatsoever for this post. I found it on my own and felt it may be of interest to my fellow Moms!

Lazy day today...

Welcome to AddThis for Chrome!

Just added this extension to my Google Chrome browser. So far I love it! What's going on in your world today?

I'm still waiting to hear about the job I interviewed for the other day. Been drumming up a few new Avon eCustomers and adding stuff for sale on ebay.

Hope to have a better post this afternoon! :)

The Avon Makeover

Click on shop now, then Virtual Makeover.

Here's my "after" pic, using the same "before" as the MaryKay makeover!

I guess what I like more than anything about these online makeovers, is that I can go in and do makeup on a picture if I need to, before I post it on here. I don't have the patience at this point for PhotoShop, so I really like "automated" editors online. But, being that I love makeup anyway, I like to play with different colors before I commit to buying a product!

Sometimes I wax nostalgic.

Found my two old blogs today. Thought you might be interested in reading my history.

My AngelFire blog

Anybody remember EasyJournal?

Happy reading :)

MaryKay Virtual Makeover

I've been playing with pictures again!!! Here's what I've been up to this time.

If you ask me, it's pretty amazing what they can do online nowadays. And yes, I'm an AVON lady. I just wanted to check out MK's makeovers. Avon does them, too, and I'll be posting that new look tomorrow!

If you can't sleep, make money: part one.

I CAN'T SLEEP! Been having some trouble with that lately. So, rather than stay miserably in bed (did I mention I fell today??), I decided to get up and accept some of my paid tweet opportunities (Join me here!), post some stuff to ebay (you can find that here), promote my Avon website (here), and blog some more! Oh! And when I do go back to bed, I'll probably curl up with my BlackBerry and Kindle App and read Fanny Hill, which is one of my favorites as of late. I love this version of the movie: Fanny Hill.

watch out for bread crates...

Today was designated not only as "interview day" (which I thin went well, and waiting on background check and a phone call), but also as "take down the Christmas decorations day" at my mom's. If you follow me on facebook (http://www.facebook.com/ltoney) you know I used bread crates in the construction of Christmas scenes. We also use them to build chicken and rabbit cages. We picked up more crates today, and had them stacked seemingly out of the way.

I was removing a string of stars off the chain link fence, came "around" the crates, and caught the hem of my black dress pants on the corner of a crate. It was all downhill from there! I screamed a not-so-toddler-friendly word, catching the attention of my cousin who was visiting and changing the sparkplugs in the truck, and down I went, much to his amusement. I hit my hip, and shoulder against the crates, skinned my lower leg on the crates, and landed on my arm with my wrist in a funny position. I laid there for a minute, crying, trying to not let loose a string of four-letter words, and punched the ground with my free hand. By this time, my mom was running to me, and my cousin asking if I needed help, while the kiddo came running saying "mama are ok?" I finally said "I'll live!" and sat up. It hurt so bad! The cousin stood straight up, and matter-of-factly stated, "I love you, and I'm glad you're ok. I'm also glad to know you well enough to say what I'm about to say. Watching that was funny as he**!" Thanks...glad I could amuse you. Now help me up!

My wrist is swollen, and my son hasn't let me out of his sight. I'm going to take it easy until his appointment tomorrow afternoon and then teaching a piano lesson or two. The moral of this story: when you're taking down the Christmas lights, watch out for bread crates. You never know when they'll sneak up on you!

Making graphics :)

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Happy New Year!

I realize it's a little late already, but I have been enjoying some much needed time with my family. I hope your 2011 has been awesome so far! So far in 2011, I've enjoyed time with my dear friend Kandice, met a new friend, Neil, listened to the amazing Cary Hudson at 206 Front where we sang "I'll Fly Away" in a bar on New Year's Eve (later they danced to "Will the Circle Be Unbroken"), and spent some awesome downtime (*WHAT'S THAT!?*) with my husband and super-toddler.

I am convinced that 2011 is going to be a better year than 2010, as it is already shaping up nicely. Lots of "stuff" moving out of my house, either in bags or flat-rate boxes, and food resolutions involving all of the adults being more tolerant of the foods the other liked. I'm really hoping for a great year this year. And it's all because we didn't eat the "standard" New Year's Day menu of cabbage and black-eyed peas. We had chicken nuggets, mac n' cheese n' broccoli, green beans, and tea. It was grand.

I sincerely hope that all of you have a fabulous 2011 as well.