Tasty little pizzas

I've been making these for so long I can't recall where I first saw them. Perhaps my niece made them one time. They are tasty little (quick) pizzas.

When I have a crew in the house, this one goes over well. I take a package of split muffins (such as Thomas') and break them open and lay them out on a cookie sheet (open side up). I spoon a large tablespoon full of pizza sauce over each one. I've tried various different sauces. For now, I like a brand that is made close to home. Mid's (made in Navarre, Ohio).

I sprinkle shredded mozzarella cheese over each mini-pizza and add toppings. Pepperoni, mushrooms, green peppers, black olives, mild pepper rings. Anything goes.

What I really like about this recipe is that if you have children, each one can make (or design) their own little pizza (or pizzas because you can't eat just one). They can put what toppings on that they like.

I bake mine at 350 for ten or fifteen, but you can experiment to see what setting works best for you. You may like to broil them. I have found out that it is sometimes better to go easy on the sauce. Too thick and the pizza muffin tends to get mushy.

I am finishing up the last day of January planning on what to take to a get together tonight. I have taken my cheese ball/tray so often I sometimes just get sick and tired of it. I dread the thought of seeing friends say "What? No cheese ball?" tonight when I walk in the door. Sigh. I want to make fried rice and take it. We'll see how it goes.

And, it's free!

Here is the photo from yesterday before I used the "emboss" feature from Irfanview. I just discovered that the program now has a "red eye reduction" feature. Maybe it always did have it, I don't know. There are plug-ins with this program, I know I downloaded some at one time, could be I had to register my e-mail to get them, I can't recall, but still it cost nothing.

You can add text to the image also. You can send a photo via e-mail (you have to do a little bit of setting up your default email information to do this).

I use this program to re-size my photos. It does it quickly. You can change the size from pixels to inches (or cm) so that you can print out a custom fit CD cover or 2x3 photo.

You get the exif info and more. The only fault I find with the program is that you can only "undo" once. There may be a place to change that and I just haven't found it yet. But,it is one gem of a program. Even though it's been free for 10 years, you never know. Grab this puppy and download it before they start charging.

Embossed

Here is another photo that I messed with. I use a free program called "Irfanview". I've used it for years. You can download it from the homepage or from download.com. I cropped the original photo, converted it to a grayscale image, sharpened it, and chose to emboss it. I then enhanced the contrast and turned it to a negative image. I may have embossed it again. I just click and play and click and if I don't like it, I start over.

To get the picture frame around the image I used my Jasc Paint Shop Photo Album. That one I purchased with my computer. I think I paid $30, but that was six years ago. It looks to be about $40 now.

The schools in the valley have closed again for tomorrow. I did venture out to run some errands today. I am a bit surprised that the roads are still in such a sad state. Everyone is talking about it. "Where is ODOT?" they are asking. The ice on the roads have formed hard bumps and I feel like I am driving on blocks of concrete.

Details

While attending a meeting for the Genealogy Society a few months back, one presenter suggested that we do not forget to scan the backs of our old family photographs. I liked this idea as it captures some of my Mom's handwriting. In the example above this is how she wrote in 1954.

We have ice here in the valley today. All schools are closed.

Gray

It's just a cold, gray day here in Ohio.

I'm too busy for my blog

Too busy...said Right Said Fred. Here is sister 1949. Her daughter wants to have a party for her sixtieth this year and has asked me for some photos form the old family album. The above photo is from 1961 where she is 12 or so. I don't know what is going on with that hair-do. She always had thick and wavy hair. Maybe it was wild and unmanageable this day.

I've told people how I used to get my hair rolled up the night before picture day at school and had to sleep on big (almost) soup-can rollers. You would have to sleep on your face because it was so uncomfortable. After a night of little sleep, and roller marks on half of your head, you wound up with some wild, dented hair. Perfect for a school picture day. NOT!

I spent over six hours today getting a virus off of a relatives computer who had not purchased anti-virus software. After the virus removal, she went home with anti-virus loaded on it today. Huge kudos to malwarebytes anti-malware program.

Work has been keeping me busy, too. I've been trying to figure out where all the traffic is coming from in a school district. I think I have nailed it. One machine appears to be communicating with hypster's site.

A janitor's story

I never met a janitor I didn't like. Really. Today I drove to my daughter's school. I parked next to a little burgundy sedan with a "Child on Board" yellow sign hanging from the back window. I also noticed a sticker on the lower back corner of the back windshield.

I leaned in to read it. It was metallic red, white and blue. It read "Obama '08." Oh, a supporter, I thought. I took a second look. Bold red letters beneath the '08 it read "Janitor." Huh.

Maybe they mean he is set to mop up someone else's mess.

One bored kitty

Mr. Tibbs does not look very enthusiastic. Either he is bored or he is tolerating something I may be doing to him. Such as taking his picture and flashing a bright light in his eyes.

Let's see. We had 5 days off and we watched a couple of movies. Totally skip "Before the Devil Knows Your Dead" - oh, good grief. I can't find much that I liked about this movie at all. If I were a man, I would have liked seeing a naked Tomei. Being that I am not, Hoffman did nothing for me. Hawke was a sap.

My daughter chose "Wanted". If you like to see blood, and McAvoy being beaten to a pulp, this is the movie for you.

I guess the best of the 3 is "Ghost Town." I have always liked Kinnear and so far I like Leoni. That other guy, Ricky something - funny in a corny sort of way.

11 days left in the most miserable month of the year.

I'll show you mine

Everyone else is showing theirs, so I thought I would show you mine. This is today here in Ohio. I've seen worse. I've seen 20 below and I've seen 30 below with a windchill of 60 below. That's the time our kitchen registered 8 degrees on the refrigerator thermometer. Yep. I took the thermometer out of our refrigerator and set it on our kitchen counter.

My Mom and I lived in a huge old house. In the 60's it had been home to a huge family. Us. Year by year they slowly moved away until it was the youngest child and her Mom. I was 23. I had moved away once but returned. I was not working. I was in a two year funk in life. Floating. It was a very introspective time in my life. I wrote a lot of poetry, read a lot of art books that sort of thing.

My elder siblings just wanted me to stay home and take care of "Mom".

The house was not well insulated. The wind came right through the walls. We put plastic up on the windows every winter, but the kitchen window had been left bare that year. This is the same window that had enough space to let the trumpet vine creep into the house and bloom a bright orange cone-shaped flower inside our kitchen. During the summer of course. So you can imagine the air that was able to get into our kitchen.

The kitchen was full of dirty dishes because our water pipes kept freezing. One sister kept getting her husband and one of our brothers to thaw the pipes out. Every night they would freeze again. The water we would leave running would freeze in a solid line from the faucet to the porcelain. The furnace quit every night. She would also get somebody in there who would get the furnace to run (but again at night... it stopped). In all fairness though - this furnace was installed in 1968 and my Mom passed in 2000. 32 years and it was still running (barely). An oil furnace.

But really. What fodder for a poet, huh? An artist has to be miserable to write. I pulled myself out of my reverie and got on with life. All apologies to my siblings but I was not going to stay at home and take care of Mom.

When a boyfriend and I moved to Virginia (he had a job already) it was the fall of 1985. I sat at home and froze. I was too scared to light the propane heater. The landlord next door would light it for me a couple of times but even he jumped when the thing took off. He had a heart problem and I never asked him again. I dealt with it until I found work and moved us to a decent apartment. It was in this little house in Virginia that I wondered if I was always going to be living in a place that was cold. Was there nothing that could heat a home properly? Was I destined to live every winter freezing?

Fast forward six years. I was living with my brother and I stayed in an unheated bedroom. Cold again. I was really getting discouraged about this. We moved into a huge farmhouse with free gas. My cold days were over. So I thought. The "pancake" that controlled the gas coming into the house had a habit of shutting down when the temperature rose too quickly or dropped - or something. The heat would shut off. The furnace and hot water heater would need to be re lit. Aw, hell no! This was old stuff. Scared the bejesus out of me. It would happen about 8 times a year. When I was home alone, I tried. Really I did. It was just too daunting a task for me. I would freeze until my brother came home. He scoffed at this.

Then my daughter and I moved into our little apartment across town. Electric heat. No gas whatsoever. Yea! I can recall a couple of times being cold. The floorboard heaters were old and they would smell. Not very good for a gal who gets migraines. I had an extra little electric heater and the place was small enough. We were on the end, though and it got cold and damp from time to time.

Now, I am in my own home. I am responsible for the furnace, gas, electric. I sit here in short sleeves and thin pants. It is a little too warm for me because my daughter complains about the cold. I would probably drop it another degree or two if it were just me. It is cool in the kitchen and downstairs. It is super warm in the bathroom and in the bedrooms. The living room area is comfortable. I get the furnace checked twice a year. It is not one that needs to be lit, ever. If the hot water heater goes out, then yes - the pilot light will need to be lit. I have never had to do it. I hope I never do.

Whether it be a landlord, brother or boyfriend - I froze. Now, the heating is up to me. I am warm I am happy. I am comfortable.

Now, about that shovelling....

What else?

The weather. I didn't get the day off on Wednesday, but all schools closed today and are closed tomorrow. Frigid temps and snow. Photo above was taken by my sister at her house. (Ohio).

I had to drive 70 miles south yesterday for a meeting. I got caught in a nasty snowstorm. Driving back home I was travelling west on I-70 and 8 semi trucks passed me at one incident. One after the other. Watching them in the blowing snow ahead of me it looked as if they were feuding. The trucks. I considered pulling off the interstate at the next exit and driving on a back road to I-77, because something just told me there was going to be an accident. I just got a feeling.

When I saw the next exit, I thought 'Aw, hell no.' The snow was piling up deep and fast. Sure enough another mile up the road, 5 miles before I took the exit ramp for 77 North I came to a complete halt. Me and another hundred vehicles or so.

Inching along for 40 minutes I saw six accidents involving about 8 vehicles. The last one I saw was a semi truck with a red car smashed into the back of it. I have no idea if it was one of the trucks that passed me or not.

Folks were driving like insane jerks. The passing lane on the Interstate was covered in snow. I stayed in the right lane with a lot of other folks. We weren't going very fast but we were moving and we made it home safe and sound.

My Favorites

Firefox calls them Bookmarks. Explorer calls them Favorites. Well, in my "favorites" it is school closings. Oh, yeah!

Brighten that smile

Had the teeth cleaned today. I hate having that done. Long before I had dental insurance and I didn't ever go to the dentist (except for when I was in pain) I never had them cleaned. Since my present job I've had it done every six months for years. It is easier now because I take better care of them. The fluoride treatment just gags me. Today it was easier. I just set my mind to it.

In the waiting room I chatted with an older lady. She wore plum purple pants and a light blue jacket. She tied an orange, red and yellow silk scarf over her white/gray hair. She was waiting for her son to pick her up. She said that she recently had to change to this dentist because he was closer. Since there were 3 dentists in the office, I asked her which one. She named the same one I have and then she said "The girl did all the work. The man didn't do anything at all. What a setup he has!" She looked kind of surprised.

She added, "It wasn't cheap, either. One hundred and seven dollars!" She said her medicare didn't cover dental work. I told her my Mom had long ago had all her teeth pulled out and I never knew her to have teeth. She said an older Aunt of hers was that way.

My Mom ate everything, too. She even ate peanuts. She gummed them to death. We did get her dentures in the 80's but the gums had hardened by then. She stopped going to the dentist when our dad accused her of having an affair with the dentist. He was a genuine a-hole. I won't elaborate.

My gums itch a little bit after their cleaning. I want to get my toothbrush and scrub away but that will cause bleeding and they will hurt like the dickens the next time I go to brush them, so I won't.

And I have a very painful stye in my eye. There is no redness so it must be inside. It itches and hurts. I need to go and put a warm compress on it now. I am so glad today is over.

Here she is

My daughter's new (to her) car sits in our drive way. This photo was taken from my kitchen window. What looks like smoke under the front of the car is actually spots on my window. I told you I was deficient in the house cleaning area, and I can prove it. Not that I want to and trust me, you don't want to see it. Huh. I guess deficient is a word.

I have not been very active lately in answering e-mails and posting. This is normal for me when I am in the process of making a big decision such as the purchase of a vehicle. I probably put more into this process than when I am purchasing one for myself. Because it is for my daughter and that responsibility weighs very heavy with me. The decision consumes almost all of my thought processes. I am very relieved it is over and done with.

The choice. My daughter has always wanted a Celica. I've been looking at cars for about a year for her. We narrowed it down to what she likes and what I like and what we can afford. Did I go over my budget? Yes. I am hoping I made the right decision in the fact that I got a newer model and lower mileage. It may last longer.

The features. My oh my. I'll zoom in on the funny one. The salesman had one other guy on this lot. The gopher guy. Between the two of them it was comical. We looked at the car on Thursday. This was actually a very hasty decision. The first car (we saw on Saturday) had sold on Wednesday and we changed our course to check this one out.

We drove it back to our home town and had our mechanic check it out. All was good except a broken antennae and hinge on the gas cap cover and one oil leak. There was a little device on the windshield of the car. I asked the salesman at our mechanic's shop what it was. He said it looked like one of those devices that gets satellite radio. Well, we knew that service is a monthly fee so we dismissed it.

Back to the car lot. Salesman said he will take care of everything our mechanic had listed and we could pick it up tomorrow. On Friday I made the arrangements with the bank, insurance company, all that good stuff. There was a snow storm coming, but the roads were good after I got off work and we were on our way. Good grief did the roads get bad the farther north we went. Interstate traffic was crawling at 30 mph.

I wanted to get the car and get back home asap. My daughter did not want to drive her car yet, so she was going to drive my car (old reliable) back while I drove hers. Inside the office the salesman told his gopher guy to go out and start the car to get it warmed up for us. This incident is important because of what we found. It was a good find, though.

My daughter had not driven in heavy snow before. We left the car lot and started our long 40 mile drive home. Over an hour. Interstate still crawling. It was bad. Rush hour traffic. I was so worried about my daughter that I barely paid attention to the Celica I was driving. It drove like a dream. My daughter drove very well. We made it home and parked both cars.

The funny part. It was dark out when we got home. My daughter was checking out the key remote and locking the car, etc.. She said "I wonder what this button does." She pressed it and the Celica fired right up.

I am wondering if the salesman knew this when he told the gopher to go and start the car. Where he was sitting at his desk, we could see the car through a big picture window. All he had to do was turn around and press a button. I'm not calling him to ask him if he knew. It was not advertised as a feature of the car. We may never know if he knew, but now we know what that little device is on the windshield.

Slices

More layers and some slices. Tuesday I was much better - migraine was gone. Wednesday relapsed into a stress headache or tired, I don't know. Went to bed too early, awoke this morning too early. I caught an old movie. I kept thinking to myself 'That looks like Jack Lemmon'. It was. 1956 "You Can't Run Away From It." It was Jim Backus that helped me to nail down the movie. Once I have someone I can recognize, I can find the movie on www.imdb.com.

This will make for a long day today. I hope the snow is done for today because my daughter and I are taking a potential vehicle to our mechanic and are having it checked over before we decide to buy it. The car is located 40 miles north of us. We have to pick it up, drive it back here to our home town, have it looked at and get advice on it, then drive it back to the dealer by 7 p.m. Sigh. Long day. Especially if I have to drive in snow with a vehicle I have never driven before. Fun stuff.

I am already sleepy. Grrr. (rolls eyes).

More layers

I feel I have created something a little bit Claude Lorrain with a twist of John Constable while adding a splash of Theodore Rousseau and Asher Durand. Sigh. I love landscape paintings.

Add another 24 hours to that migraine medley. I was able to work today but I was not in a good mood for most of the day. I caved in and took yet another med tablet and rested after work and feel pretty good, now.

Mitigated Migraine

It is better now, but what a wasted 30 hours. Ugh.

Hair

We picked up my daughter's senior pics yesterday. Since they are copyright protected I won't show any. This is one of my photos from years ago. She has altered her appearance so much from this shot I don't think she is recognizable. Maybe by the eyes.

Coming from some one who has had brown eyes all their life, I am envious of the lighter color eye.

Did I spend too much? Yes. In my own defense I have no photo from 30 years ago when I was a senior. I wanted her to have something when she is 50 years old that she can say "Here I am as a senior in high school." Whatever. I am going to enjoy them.

Now we need to purchase a car and plan her graduation party. She wants the car, but not the party.

Starting the New Year, I am trying to remember the past. I have experienced 48 beginnings of a New Year. I suppose I can recall about 38 of them give or take. I don't know if I have a favorite that comes to mind. There are certainly a couple I would like to forget. I do recall when I was younger they used to play the movie "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" on New Year's Eve. Jonathan Winters was always a favorite of mine.

Another New Year I was travelling from Ohio back to Virginia after a 10-day visit with family and friends to discover the electric company had turned off our electricity. By mistake, I might add. That was a heck of a thing after a 10-hour drive. Spent that eve by candlelight. I am not certain if I called the emergency number or just waited until the next day. I really don't remember what we did for food. I did lose an entire turkey in the freezer. The power must have been out for days.

I remember parties. Parties and parties. I had a sister-in-law that had great parties for about 10 years straight. One of my sister's had great parties for about 5 years and then another sister took over and we spent them there for five years straight. Others were spent at a favorite bar. I have never hosted a drinking party on New Years. A few of mine were non drinking for my crew who do not drink. It has been years since I have had any alcohol during that night.

One involved a little white worm at the bottom of a tall bottle from Mexico. Yeah. We won't go there.

Still there

She is still up there atop our tree. We have not taken her down, yet. Probably not today, either. We have some running to do. I need to get the shop vac out of the garage to handle all the pine needles. One year I tried to clean them up with my regular house sweeper. Disaster. I've learned.

We stumbled on a pretty good movie yesterday that we had never heard of before. "The Fastest Indian" with Anthony Hopkins. It is about an Indian motorcycle, not a human being or Native American. We thought it was pretty good. Based on a true story about a guy from New Zealand breaking the fastest land speed world record. I thought it was amusing.

We also watched "Eagle Eye". Noisy and action packed.

After celebrating Wednesday night and fixing food most of the day Thursday, I ended up sick with a cold last evening. I took sinus medicine and rested. I must have sneezed a gazillion times. It seems to have passed except for some pressure today around the eyebrows. I hate it when a cold goes on for days.