Oh No!!!

Centsports changed it's cash out policy and the new formula has you needing to get up to $20 in order to get the money. For those of you who don't know what centsports is, I have written about it in the past. My previous goal felt lofty because I needed to turn 10 cents into $10. My new goal is turning 10 cents into $20. Yikes! I have fun making bets on the site, it helps me keep up with different sports, but overall, it's frustrating. Lately, the best bet is to go against my beloved Chicago Bulls. It's tough betting against your own team, but goal #84 has me needing to win any bet I can. Lately, that one has been a sure one. I've got over 800 days to keep trying at it. Wish me luck.

18. Make nice dinner 1 time each month

I made dinner tonight and thought it was quite good. I had been on a streak of using the crock pot for awhile and decided to change it up. Tonight I went out and fired up the grill. Yep, weather.com has the "feels like" temperature at -4. I will start by saying that I have a gas grill so it isn't as difficult to get it started, but I was still freezing. I had moments where I felt like Bill Cosby on a memorable episode where he is cooking bar-b-que on the coldest day of the year. The reason I wanted to fire up the grill is because it just got a new book titled, Weber's Big Book of Grilling. It's a good book. I've enjoyed reading it. It's a lot more than just a cook book. I'm learning how to grill. I felt like I had a decent grasp of it, but now I have a better understanding of why some things happen the way they do in the grill. I'm excited about possibilities of future meals to come.
As I was reading, I came across the section about how to cook a burger and how to prepare them. After reading that section, I don't know how you could ever get yourself to not want to eat a burger. I found a recipe for a Guacamole Cheeseburger. It is a burger, mixed with a bunch of herbs and spices; it is topped with Monterey Jack Cheese, and it uses a guacamole spread on top of it. It was delicious. I was actually concerned that I may not have cooked it right because it was really dark when I grilled it, but I just trusted the book and cooked it the way it said and it turned out great.
I knew I would need a side, so I figured to check out the side dish section of the book. I came across a recipe for Twice-Grilled Potatoes. I didn't actually grill them twice. I baked them once, then grilled them the second time. They were infused with ham, sour cream, and a couple of spices. This meal was definitely one that I would cook again.
I have to say, I'm glad I put this goal in. I'm enjoying cooking and think I am learning stuff as I go along. It's nice to tell Melissa that she doesn't have to cook. It's even nicer to tell her that and to serve something more than just pizza from the freezer.

A lame post

I watched two movies last week. As I am getting more of the Academy Award winners watched, I am realizing that I don't know what it takes to make a good movie. I watched Out of Africa and Forrest Gump. First off, Forrest Gump is a movie that I could probably quote start to finish with only a few mistakes. I enjoy that movie and could find myself watching it over and over. Out of Africa wasn't as much of an attention grabber to me. I've talked with a few people that have seen it and liked it, but I don't know what I was missing. I'm glad I watched it, but I don't know what made it the best movie of 1985.
I've got 7 of the 29 movies I have to watch done. Next on the list is Amadeus from 1984. We'll see what that one has in store for me.

I went out on a date with Melissa

I went out the other night with Melissa. Just Melissa. It was nice to get away. It wasn't exactly the most exciting date, but in all honesty, any time away without the girls is a cherished time. My dad and his wife came over and watched the girls for the evening. We were told that the girls were good.
For our "date", we visited Josh and Jenean, Melissa's brother and sister-in-law, and from there went to The Container Store. Yep, hot date to The Container Store. I wasn't so impressed with the store, but I'm told people who like to organize things think it is great. We followed that stop with a trip to Giordano's pizza. We got a deep dish pepperoni pizza and it was delicious. While we were out we had intentions of going to REI, but it was too late and they had closed so I settled with Dick's Sporting goods. It's nice to just walk around those places. I can not wait until the canoe trip! Lastly, what could a date be without a trip to Target?
It was really nice to get away and to not worry about what was going on at home. I'm glad the girls gave my dad no problems. Can't wait until the next time away.

Did you know?

Hannah's nutritionist was over the other day and said that when you take your vitamins you should take it with juice fortified with vitamin C. She said that the Vitamin C helps the other vitamins to be used much better and makes there be less wasted. I am going to have to start this into my daily routine. Take that for what it is worth.

Snow Day

I hate snow days! While it is nice to wake up and not have to go to work on snow days, I don't like the fact that we need to make the days missed up in June. Kids are much better behaved on a snowy day in January than they are on a hot sunny day in June. Plus, (no sympathy from the non-teachers here) it cuts into my summer vacation. Those days are precious.

All this said, we did not have a snow day today, but today I realized the importance of having them. There was not a teacher or student in the building (besides the kids who walk) who didn't have a story about seeing an accident, a near accident, or how terrible the roads were. It took everyone about three times as long to get to school as it does on a typical day. One teacher talked about a backup a mile and a half waiting at a stop light. It was terrible! I had a point where I didn't think I was going to make it up a hill that is on my way to school. The roads are not safe. I am just glad that the people driving around me were doing so at a safe speed and without aggression. With all the accidents and near misses out there, I'm happy that I made it to school today without incident.

Now that we are here and safe, all that I am hoping is that the plows get out and do their jobs to make the roads safe. They've got seven hours.

Boy

Awhile back, I failed to write about a book that I finished. The title is "Boy" by Roald Dahl. He's the Willy Wonka guy. The story is his autobiography about his life growing up until he is in his 20s. It is a good look into the life of a boy who grew up in England. He went to boarding schools and was, in his words, quite an athlete. He was a fighter pilot in WWII. He had tons of adventures that helped to give him experiences to write on.
Overall, it was a good book with plenty of interesting experiences. I learned that I was really glad that I didn't go to a boarding school with him. His descriptions of life in those schools during that time sound horrible!

My New Year Resolution

I don't make resolutions at the beginning of a year. I think it is weird. I think if people have something that they need to work on over a period of time, they should start it now, not at the beginning of each year. (Assuming I am not writing this at the beginning of a year)
I started this list of goals because there were things that I have wanted to do or things that I have needed to work on. I wanted to get them down and started at the time I came up with the idea, not wait until the new year came to begin them. These are my resolutions, not something that I pick to do on a certain day and hope that I stay with it.
For those of you that have just made some resolutions, stick to them, write them down, and tell someone that you have made a resolution. Use those people to help you out with accountability. That is the way to make sure you can get the goal accomplished. Without this blog and people checking in to make sure progress is made, I know I wouldn't be able to accomplish these goals on my own. Thanks everyone for checking in on me.