Should I widen my search...?

Someone e-mailed me this picture.
Pretty funny right?
Well, at this point I do believe I'd settle for it... or something similar.

QofP! Chocolate Chip Cookies

That's right.

The Queen of Panic gets all the credit for this yummy recipe.

That's because I got it from her... and...

That's what I'm calling it/them from here on out:

Panic's Chocolate Chip Cookies

or ...maybe you think that

QP's Chocolate Chip Cookies

has a better 'ring' to it?

Let's go with that then... here is the recipe, considering my stress level... I will definately be mixing up a batch of these over the weekend....

QP's Chocolate Chip Cookies

preheat oven to 350

2 1/4 C sifted flour

1 t. baking soda

1 t. salt

Combine and whisk together, those ingredients in a separate bowl - set aside.

1 C. (2 sticks) softened/room temperature butter

1/4 C. granulated sugar

3/4 C. brown sugar

1 t. vanilla

1 pkg. (4 serv.) instant vanilla pudding mix*

Combine the above ingredients in a large mixing bowl and beat until they appear to be 'light & fluffy'.

Add: 2 eggs - thoroughly beat until mix looks smooth and creamy.

Add, slowly: The reserved flour combination, mixing well after each addition until well incorporated.

Stir in: 1 - 12 oz bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips & (optional) 1 C. Chopped walnuts.

Drop by tsp. onto an ungreased cookie sheet, baking 10-12 minutes, then removing from the oven to cool on wire rack(s).

*May substitute Chocolate pudding - which I did a couple weeks ago & they were good too... only I think I will cut the addition of salt down when using chocolate pudding in this mix to only 1/2 teaspoon.

Mmm-mm-good comfort food, people! Maybe they'll make it to the pot luck on Sunday??? Maybe I'll whoop up a couple 'Dream Coconut Cream Pies' instead... at any rate you all have a great weekend, ya hear?

Enjoy!

D ~

Easter Eggs

I Love Easter! Hope everyone had a blessed one this year. We did the Easter Story Eggs with the little children in Sunday school. I love teaching Sunday school! My little class yesterday was full of boys - all full of life - ! At this stage in development they seem to be just as chatty as what the girls are, maybe more! lol! I just saw a list of 'Things I'd like to do before I die' on NWJR's blog... that reminds me, I'd like to take a stab at decorating eggs like these in the photo - at least once, before I get too old, arthritic, or 'shaky' to git r done! Here's a link to a web page about Easter Eggs.

Happy Spring! ...(???)

Boy Howdy... We made it through to SPRING! yippie-skippy!!!

Temps into the 70s today - that oughta take care of the snow we got on Sunday and Monday!

I just sent out a "Happy Birthday" card to my sister, in hopes that it arrives for her special day - this will be a mile stone one for her I'm guessing...

I put some smarty pants comments inside and: ???, for the return address on the envelope.

Alekx and Burfica have both asked about how I am doing in 'relocating'

Answer: Not too good, not right now - although I am keeping at it. [beams a hopeful, optimistic smile]

It just seems like everything in my world is either on hold or backed way up right now.

Like, I called the IRS 2-3 weeks ago and asked them to send me a 970 - the instructions for taking higher education credits... the packet arrived yesterday - with an order list that had my request alright, and ...bankruptcy forms... (I was not amused)... someday, though, that's gonna be funny to me. I just know it.

I haven't worked/had a pay-check in what (?) 12 weeks now?

This was going to be ok when I first 'found myself unemployed' because I had crunched the numbers and looked at the time factor.

I could take some time to rededicate my focus to my school work (And I have. I've pulled everything up to the 'A' standard I so dearly love - this was slipping before...) ... and find a much more suitable job in every sense of the word - including pay scale, because -

I had some 'reserved resources' and I figured on some pocket cushion in the form of my student loans (they have YET to come in btw, that has been the real killer for me ... dang it!) but then,

Dun-dun-dunnn! (insert ominous music here)

I hadn't foreseen the 'eviction' - I had not even dreamt that my dear relatives would pick right now (with real estate sales slumping of all things and times!?) as the time to want to spruce up the place and put it back on the market. Hello!!!???

You know, I can't say a bad word about it either - so I won't - other than the timing sucks (for me). All things considered, they (the collective 'they') have all been really, really good to me down through the years. I hope they get an immediate buyer and one willing to go their full asking price! Truly, I do.

Chalk all this up to a big lesson in unfortunate and unforeseen events. . . coming 'round and laying smack down.

(I've an elderly, retired school teacher friend, "Well, you should know by now that bad things do happen to good people - sometimes." Yeah, her timing was perfect, we shared a laugh, actually... the situation is ripe with stress, irony, stress, lessons to be learned (and then some!), stress, er... did I mention stress?)

Talk about a rough ride this month, though - up, down, up, down... the pressure, is 'on', as the saying goes.

Another example: One of the jobs I've applied for thus far, one with an attractive start-wage and benefits package - it would be with the State public power (Stability! Just what I'm looking for, yes!) called me back, asked me to take a 'blind typing' test (they cover the keyboard with a box so you can't/don't look at the keys as you type the test). I must have passed their minimum at least, because they sent out an interview packet with paperwork for me to fill out and made an appointment with me to interview on the 17th. Whoo-hoo, right?

I was feeling grrreat about that - until the phone rang again (last Friday) and they cancelled the interview - pending further notice - because my interviewer was down, sick.

Whatever.

I have a 'job' to do today. =)

My brother and his family are in Hawaii, right now - he couldn't get his buddy to feed/water the 2cats and 1rottweiler for the last 2 days they'd be gone, so he called on me. This will be a very temporary position, (lol)but it will pay - (and pay better than the last 'job' that I did have.) lol (see, irony here?) Bah-ha-ha-ha!

Yes.

Spring and the good weather are helping my attitude a bunch. . .

Jobs are opening up, a little bit here.

I've got several good prospects to apply for yet today and have already submitted my resume to a couple ahead of these this morning.

I know I have way too, too much 'stuff' to do right now but, the fact is that I just 'shut down' (other than reading through my assignments) -everything over the past weekend.

I think I pretty much had to.

I prayed alot and I focused on 'What's next?'

I should have fasted, along with the praying, perhaps, but I went with the self medication through chocolate chip cookie idea instead.

(I'll post the recipe at a later date - these have puddin' in the mix)

I mean, I was down to either taking 'a break' from EVERYTHING last week, or suicide... Guess which one I choose? (Insert more edgy laughter here: hahaha! Waves her fist wildly in the air!)

I mean, suicidal thoughts do not stand a chance in the face of ooie good chocolate chip cookies - do they? I fail to see how anyone could off themselves with a cookie in the house. Seriously.

(disclaimer: no worries please - I am oh, so kidding about the "S" word here)

... So, here I am - smack dab in the midst of the refiners fire (see previous post)

Loving... life, liberty, SPRING!, the good Lord above, you (for reading all the way down to here. lol) my studies (even though we are into economics right now), and the big unknown too - as in how is this all gonna play out and where is this taking me next?

"And we know that all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called
according to his purpose. " -- Romans 8:28

I have a testimony that this is true, at least, it always has been for me!

Cheerios! (and much love) to all who pass this way...

D ~

I Need Some Comic Relief...

A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done.

- Dwight D. Eisenhower

The Refiner...

From my e-mail files...

This has circulated on the internet for sometime.

I found several versions on other's blogs and web pages, while browsing for some coolio image to post along with it here... and yes... I am posting it here as a reminder...to 'me'.

The Refiner’s Fire

Malachi 3:3 says:

'He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.'

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: ‘He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.' She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.

The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, 'How do you know when the silver is fully refined?' He smiled at her and answered, 'Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it'.

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

If you feel prompted to pass this on right now, please do so! At this very moment, someone needs to know, or receive this reminder, that God is watching over them. And, whatever they're going through, they'll be a better person in the end. The scriptures are full of His encouragements for us.

'Time and Life are kind of like coins. You can spend them anyway you wish, but you can only spend them once'.

(p.s. - The picture I posted is from this website featuring some creatively stylized, outdoor fire pits: www.appliancist.com/outdoor_fireplaces_fire_pits/)

~