MAKING LEMONADE OUT OF LEMONS

It's one of, if not my only strong suite. It's one of the classic interview questions: "What do you do better than anyone else?" If ever asked, my answer would be, "I make lemonade out of lemons." I've been accused on more than one occasion of being something of a Pollyanna. Mary Sunshine. So what, I say. GOOD.FOR.ME!

I was out to lunch with MHS and Daddy on Friday when I got the email from my friend, Crone and Bear It, telling me that she had an award for me at her site. I was excited and giddy as a school girl. I couldn't wait to get home and see what she had left me. Oh sure, I could have checked out her site on my crackberry but I wanted to see my prize in full size and all its glory.

I haven't known Crone and Bear It for long and I am honored that she thinks enough of me and/or my blog to present me with the "When Life Hands You Lemons" award. Thanks, CBI! I graciously accept and hope I can live up to your expectations.

Like any award, this one comes with rules and they are as follows:

1. Post the logo on your blog.
   
2. Nominate at least 10 blogs that show great attitude or gratitude.
   
3. Link to the nominees within your blog post.
   
4. Notify the recipients of the award by commenting on their blog.
   
5. Share the love and link back to the person from whom you received your award.
   

It was a hard task to narrow my blogroll down to just a few. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give to you (in no particular order) some of the best makers of lemonade I've encountered. Check them out.

Beth of What I Should Have Said
– As an elementary school principal, Beth has opportunities to make lemonade everyday and then tells us all about them.

Lori of My Life Interrupted – Just when Lori was about to set off on her adventure with her new husband, life handed her two darling grandbabies to raise. Lori should probably get two of these awards.

Jason of the Jason Show – Jason has a quite a story to tell. I've gone thru his archives and he will make you laugh and cry at the same time.

Mona of WsprsweetlyofCottages – Mona used to write about lemons and then get nervous and delete them. I've given her such a hard time about it though that now she proudly posts lemonade and sells it for 25 cents a cup.

Liar (as I like to call her) of The Fragrant Liar – I've been reading Ms. Liar's blog long enough to know of some of the lemons that life has thrown at her and I don't think anyone has dealt with them as eloquently or with a better attitude.

Fancy of Nothing Fancy – Fancy has a lemon of an ex but life turned to lemon, syrupy goodness when she met Blue Eyes.

Snow of SnowWhite and the 76 Dwarfs – Ms. White encounters a lot of lemons as she tries to shape and mold the minds that will one day be our future. And some days she has a hard time doing it with a straight face.

LiLu of Live it Love it – Lilu is a young woman whose honesty and sense of humor cannot be denied. Give her a lemon and this girl will make you a cocktail.

Jan of Jan's Sushi Bar – Jan has enough lemons in her past to make anyone a sourpuss but instead you will find a warm and funny woman who knows how to make lemonade and anything else your little heart desires.

Erin of It's Only a Movie – Erin is a teacher of children with special needs. Nuff said.

Pseudo of Pseudonymous High School Teacher – Pseudo is a breast cancer survivor and a high school teacher. I tip my hat to her lemonade making skills.

Thistle of Thistles and Maple Leaves – Thistle is a psychologist who treats patients with more lemons than one can imagine. Her razor sharp wit and intelligence make for some very tart and sassy reading.

Kathy of My Space, My Blog, My Life – Kathy and her son have moved far away from family and friends. Check her out as she makes a new life in a new place.

I have more that I could have listed but the hour is getting late and a woman my age needs her beauty rest more than you know. Check out my blogroll for more sassy sensations.

SUNDAY DINNER FOR LESS

Growing up in Indiana, we enjoyed three meals a day as do most people. They were referred to as breakfast, dinner and supper. I'm not really sure if this is a Hoosier thing or a family thing. Dinner was the largest meal of the day. My father worked 2^nd shift and was always sent off with a nice home-cooked meal in his belly. This meal was provided during the week by my grandmother as my mother worked a nine-to-fiver. Supper was a light meal like salad, a sandwich or sometimes a bowl of cereal. When I moved to Florida, I began to partake of breakfast, lunch and dinner. I've adapted well but Daddy still refers to lunch as dinner and dinner as supper.

Whenever I think of a nice, home-cooked meal, I think of pot roast. It's my favorite comfort food. I have many different recipes for pot roast but the one I love the most is the traditional. The one my mother made. The one my grandmother made. It's delicious and invokes memories of my childhood and a simpler time.

Pot roast is also economical. It's best made from an inexpensive cut of meat like chuck roast and slow cooked all day long. Unlike my grandmother who could be found all day long in the kitchen, I work out of the home during the week and have a lot to catch up on over the weekend. I find the crockpot works quite well to make my favorite beef creation. Pair it with potatoes in any fashion, a salad and parkerhouse rolls; your family will applaud your efforts and possibly even give you a standing ovation. It's that good.

I've always taken pot roast and its easy preparation for granted. Lately I've encountered many friends who've never made one and don't have a clue where to start. And so in the spirit of Money in the Bank I've decided to post the recipe for my family's traditional pot roast.

Smart Mouth Family Pot Roast

Boneless chuck roast (enough to feed your family and some extra for leftovers)

2 Onions, (peeled and quartered)

2-3 Carrots (peeled and cut in 2 inch segments)

2-3 stalks Celery (washed and cut in 2 inch segments)

2 cloves Garlic (smashed)

½ cup Red wine (your choice and can be substituted with beef stock or broth)

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

½ - 1 tsp Thyme (more if you're using fresh and I use poultry seasoning when I'm out of thyme)

Small bunch Fresh Italian parsley chopped (1/2 goes into the pot and ½ reserved for garnish)

Season the chuck roast liberally with salt and pepper. (I use a seasoned salt mixture that Pualani sends me from Hawaii. I have no idea what's in it but it's great. My mother always used just regular salt and pepper. ) Add the thyme.

Layer the vegetables and then add the roast to the crock pot. Pour wine over all and let it go for about 8 hours. I usually turn the meat over at some point and sometimes will put the veggies on top if the meat isn't moving along as quickly as I want.

Remove from crock when meat is tender. You can make gravy from the juices if you're serving mashed potatoes. I usually pull the meat apart with two forks and remove all the icky, fatty parts (That's a culinary term). I made red potatoes with parsley, butter and garlic on the day I took these pictures. I added a salad and some brown and serve Mrs. Schubert's parkerhouse rolls. Heaven!

Do you have a pot roast recipe you'd like to share with a Smart Mouth Broad?

For more money saving tips, click on the little piggy in the upper left hand corner of this page.

7 for all BLOGKIND

The Mercury Seven

The charming and witty Erin from Only a Movie has tagged me with the Seven meme. Before we get started with that, would someone please tell me how to pronounce the word "meme"? Is it Me Me? Is it mem sounding like gem? Or is it meme sounding like theme? This is a question I must have answered. Please don't leave me hanging.

We will now continue with our regularly scheduled programming:

According to Erin, I am to list seven random facts about myself and then tag others to do the same. After seven months of blogging and over one hundred posts, you might think that I've already told you every interesting, blog-worthy fact about myself. The thing is……………..Erin said random facts, she didn't necessarily say they had to be interesting. Ladies and gentlemen, prepare to take a nap as I walk you thru the snooze-fest that is: Random facts about me

1. I once performed (as an adult) in a local production of The Nutcracker.
   
2. MHS and I were arrested (together) for being out after curfew in our home town at the ages of 14 and 13 respectively. (We were not married yet if you're wondering.)
   
3. I became a great-aunt before I became a mother.
   
4. I was voted "Girl with the prettiest eyes" my senior year in high school. My friends got all the good awards like best figure, prettiest girl (Beauty) and best smile (The Saint).
   
5. There was a period of my life when I was so fit that you could call me at a moment's notice to do a 10k run and I would do it just for fun.
   
6. If time and money were not a problem, I would go back to school to get a degree in American History. I have no idea what I would do with said degree but just having the time to study this subject would make me really happy. (I think.)
   
7. When using a pepper grinder, I always turn the device in multiples of eleven. (Don't ask. I have no idea.)
   

It's hard to know who might want to do this sort of thing and who already has the next 365 posts already planned so I am going to take this random thing one step further and randomly tag YOU if you are so inclined. If not, to heck with you I completely understand.

THE MAKING OF A BIKER CHICK – Bear Tooth Pass

This week's Spin Cycle assignment is "adventure". One of the most exciting (if not THE most exciting) adventures I've had was our bike trip out west.

I'm really better described as a reluctant biker chick. I feel that by calling myself a biker chick on this blog, I've maybe given some of you the wrong impression. I'm not very tough unless you threaten my children and I'm not very bold unless you count stalking complete strangers. I was more than a little nervous about taking this trip. My anxiety was on so many different levels, it would be impossible to list them all. Thus far in posting about our trip, I've taken you in chronological order. But when I heard the spin this week was "adventure", I decided to skip ahead to the most life-threatening adventurous portion of our trip: Bear Tooth Pass

We pulled into Cooke City right about lunch time. The plan was to have something to eat and then hit the road to cross Bear Tooth Pass. Before we headed into the café, The Saint and I decided to check out the trading post to see what we could see. Once inside we were overwhelmed with t-shirts, mugs and all sorts of souvenirs proclaiming "I survived Bear Tooth Pass." Until this time, I wasn't aware that we were about to undertake such an adventure. While reading t-shirts that said "The top ten ways you know you've made it over Bear Tooth Pass", I began to secretly panic. I lost all desire to purchase a souvenir and found it hard to concentrate on anything besides how I was going to tell MHS that I needed to find an airport make this trip without xanax having a full-blown anxiety attack.

Just an innocent looking little town that gives no clue what lies beyond. (unless you read the t-shirt)That is The Saint and MHS standing in front of the store.

We had lunch at a little café next to the Trading Post where I discovered the solution to my problem: I would drink my lunch. Now My Harley Stud rarely drinks at all and never drinks when we are on the bike. But there are no rules that say that the passenger can't drink. Thank the Lord! A few beers later I was ready to tackle the Pass and anything else that came along.

Courage in a bottle can be found inside this little cafe. It's not the way I usually roll but sometimes a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

Once on the road, I began to relax and enjoy the view. There were still times when my knees would squeeze together to grip MHS in a way that said, "If you don't slow down, I'm going to push you off and drive this blasted thing myself!" Other than that it was lovely trip.

I thought the colors were interesting in this photograph.

It wasn't very long before we saw snow on the mountain tops. This trip was in late July.

Each turn brought new terrain and an even more beautiful view.

What I wasn't able to capture either in still photos or video was the winding hairpin turns that sometimes did not include guardrails. It was during those moments that the camera was safely stowed in my pocket while I held on for dear life.

The Biker Nazi and The Saint get ready to take off after a butt break.

We came upon this young girl almost at the top of the mountain. She was traveling by herself as far as I could tell. I wanted to get off the bike, grab her by the hair and say, "Does your mother know you're here!?!" I repeat: RIDING.BY.HERSELF!

These kids were venturing a little to close to the edge for my comfort. Loose rock and flip flops do not make a very safe combination in my humble opinion.


I had to take this photograph. The daytime speed limit is 70mph. This has to be a joke. This is at the top of the mountain where there are no long stretches of straight road. The entire ride is one hairpin turn after another. You would have to be out of your mind to go 70 mph.

This stop was close to the top. Notice the elevation.
Try to ignore the helmet hair.

It's the passenger's job to spot wildlife. It was pretty amazing how the deer could maneuver these steep inclines.

I apologize for the quality of this photograph but it's all I have. We came upon several cars pulled over at the side of the road. Everyone was out of the car with their cameras pointing in this direction. That little brown blob in the right/center of the photograph is a bear. I wasn't about to get close for a better shot.

The next morning, I was informed that we had a change of plans and instead of moving on toward Billings, MT, we were going back over the pass. While I'm sure it was 5 o'clock somewhere, drinking my breakfast didn't seem like such a good idea. I distracted myself on the way back by taking video of our trip. It's very noisy due to the wind and exhaust. I was jamming to my ipod so I couldn't hear any of it.

For more adventure spins, visit Jen at Sprite's Keeper.

WHO COULD IT BE NOW?

I can't believe some of you actually accused me of being a tease! OK, I guess I asked for it. But I really didn't mean to drag it out this long. You see, it's after 10pm as I write this and I just got home from work. Yeah…………it's great to be me today. MHS is out partying (at our nephew's 16^th birthday party) so I quickly changed into blogging attire (jammies) and settled into the sofa with a glass of red wine and a supper of two squares of dark chocolate that I've been hiding saving since Christmas.

It was about a week ago, while tweeting on Twitter, Chasaveen mentioned she would be leaving their home in Canada for Florida in a few days. My little ears perked right up and my wheels started turning. It took me all of about 3 seconds to direct message her and ask what her Florida destination was. She replied that she would be in a city that is about an hour south of where MHS and I live. I asked if she would be interested in meeting me for the beverage of her choice. She said that if we were close to where she was staying, she would love to. That's when I began to panic.

You see, Chasaveen, on Twitter, is Tessa of Nuts and Mutton. If you read Tessa's blog, you know that she is brilliant, charming, funny and uh…..brilliant. That's brilliant squared. If you're not reading Tessa's blog, well, why aren't you? Go there now. I'll wait. .......................................................

So I began to get nervous. I worried what she would think of me. It's so easy to hide behind these pages. But in real life, it's all out there for everyone to see. What would she think of the real SMB? Scary, I know. Tessa is accomplished and educated and I'm ………….well, I'm just SMB, a country girl from Indiana.

Once Tessa and The First Husband arrived in Florida, we were busy texting and calling and tweeting our little fingers off trying to make a plan to meet. The plan was set and reset and then reset again yesterday. Tessa and TFH were touring the area near my office so we decided to meet there. When she called me from the parking lot of my office building to let me know of their arrival, I quickly grabbed my bag and flew out the door. I was so excited, I ran to hug her and stepped on her toe. Way to make a great first impression. *sigh* TFH is suffering from a little bug (that he probably caught on the airplane) and was considerate enough to refuse my offer of hugs all around. We decided to go to my beloved inlet to have a few drinks. It was a little cool but what better way to enjoy Florida than to have a few drinks at a tiki hut bar. We jumped into our cars and they followed me to The Square Grouper. While most of you have probably never been there, you may have seen it. Alan Jackson filmed parts of his "It's 5 o'clock Somewhere" video there.

I called Midlife Slices on my way from the office to the inlet for moral support. She was most encouraging as usual. I said, "What if they think I'm a weirdo?" Janie reassured me by saying, "You are a weirdo." And then I began to relax. I am what I am. And if Tessa didn't like me? Well, shame on her. I mean, what's not to like, right? Riiiiiiiight.

MHS joined us at the tiki bar. We selected a table out in the open where you could see the inlet and the boats that were not going in and out due to the cooler weather. Nevertheless it was a nice setting for our get-together. Tessa and TFH are a lovely couple. Tessa is Irish turned Canadian and they had great stories about Ireland and Canada. MHS and I found ourselves completely charmed by their company.

I've never been on a blind date but I've watched enough movies to know that you never make plans for dinner. Just drinks. That way, if you don't hit it off, you finish your drink and you're on your merry way. But once our glasses were empty and our stomachs were growling, MHS and I didn't want to leave them just yet. We wanted more. We invited them to our favorite sports bar which is like our Cheers. The food is good and the atmosphere is relaxed. D1 (aka Fancy Nancy) will be mortified that we took them there. D2 was jealous. We ate dinner and laughed and shared more stories about family, friends and travel and when the time came to part, we were sorry to see them go. I enjoyed their company so much, I'm thinking of packing up and moving to Canada. Look out, Tessa, here we come!

We did take some pictures but Tessa made me promise not to post them. I don't like it but I can respect it. You'll just have to trust me when I say she and TFH are a beautiful couple. I guess we'll have to wait to see what if anything Tessa has to say about our meeting to get "the rest of the story". And if she doesn't say anything, we'll know she does think I'm a weirdo.

Have you ever met a bloggy buddy? Do you want to? If you come to Florida, do you want to meet me?