AddictedtoText

My Mom’s Receipes

Shelley — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 06:47:13 +0000

Tres Leche Cake

1 box yellow cake mix
1 1/4 cup water
1 Tbs veg oil
2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
1 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk
1 cup whole or evaporated milk
1 cup whipping cream
can substitute coconut milk for whole or evaporated milk
heat oven to 350
grease flour 13 x 9 inch pan

in large bowl beat cake mix, water, oil vanilla and eggs
on low for 30 seconds and medium 2 min (just like box says)
pour into pan
bake 29-35 minutes or until edges are golden brown, or toothpick inserted into center is clean

let stand 5 minutes
poke top of cake with long tined cake (my mom uses a chopstick and just puts holes all over it)
in large bowl combine all milks
pour evenly over top of cake until it’s all absorbed (may have to do in small batches but it will all absorb and not spill over edge)
put in fridge in 1 hour or over night until all liquid is absorbed

frost with whipped cream (cool whip works) just before you serve and eat!

My mom calls this a “man” cake. The people who rave the most about it are men, even men who don’t like cake. I like making it because it’s always a crowd-pleaser.

This is my favorite dish EVER. When they ask you what you want your last meal to be, this is what I say.

Chicken Divan

2 cups of broccoli (2 square packages frozen)
2 cups cooked chicken
2 cans of cream of chicken soup
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup milk
2 tsp curry (we use 2 tablespoons)
1 tsp lemon juice
1 cup cheese grated
2 cups bread crumbs (stale rice crispies are my favorite but anything like that will do)
2 Tbs butter

place broccoli in buttered 9 x 13 dish
top with chicken
combine soup, mayo milk and lemon juice
pour over chicken
top with cheese
mix rice crispys with butter
top mixture with rice crispy/butter mix

bake uncovered at 350 for 30 min

freezes well before or after baking.

The cheese isn’t important so you can leave that off if you like. It tastes amazing day after cold or warmed up.

Grounded

Shelley — Fri, 13 May 2011 19:35:19 +0000

I returned from my Albuquerque trip Wednesday evening. I flew in Sunday afternoon and was so shaken up from the landing that I had to sit for a while as we were waiting for our luggage.
I’m a good flyer and really enjoy it but this was the scariest thing ever. First we fly in over town so it’s a little nerve wracking to think that we could crash into peoples homes. Second we hit turbulence as we were over said homes and it was a little freaky but not so bad, turbulence is something you have to deal with when flying. The part that freaked me out the most was the plane becoming a little unstable and it felt like we were going to start spinning. I’ve never gripped the seats before but this time i was close to white knuckling it.
My grandparents (who live here in Oregon) picked me up and we went to Old Town and then to a restaurant that my father took me to on my last trip, Grandpa said it was “ok” which means he liked it. I stayed with my Uncle Ray (grandfathers brother) who inherited the house my Great Grandma lived in. He’s built this cute old deck/seating area in the back and it was fun hanging out with him and his girlfriend Rosa and their friend Elaine. I wound up fighting off sleep at 10pm (CST) and crashed hard.
I woke up at 8am and ate the rest of my food from the night before and then went back to bed till my grandparents came over to go through things at 10. We went through so much stuff. I got to take a few things back and I have a small box of other things they will bring back when they take their truck in September.
Rosa took me shopping at this weird Mexican strip mall and bought be a shirt and a paid or jeans, the jeans wound up not fitting but she’s going to return them and get me a bigger size, my hips were too big for the waist. Ray and Rosa took my out to dinner that night at another New Mexican food place and it was good, but different. I learned I don’t like flat enchiladas or blue corn tortillas. The red sauce was SO spicy, It was wonderful. Their sopapillas were sweet though which was weird to me, but still good. We went to see my father against my better judgement (he was really unkind to me this last year and I vowed not to see him again) and within 5 minutes he insulted me and we left. We were going to have drinks but I just went and layed down for a while. We watched TV and then they went to bed and left me to Netflix Watch Instantly on a HUGE tv. Needless to say I was in love.
They have two 8 month old Chihuahuas that were not happy I was there the first night. The little girl tried to attack me a couple of times but the boy was starting to like me, but then he got to liking me too much and tried to hump my arm… After the first night though they were all over me and acting like my best friend so they were curled up on the couch while I was watching movies.
Tuesday was my Great Grandmothers memorial. It was nice, catholic of course but I’ve been to church enough with my grandparents that it wasn’t to weird. Saw my Great Grandpas grave and learned his birthday is 3 days before mine. I took a photo also so I have the info for geneology. I didn’t get as much info as I’d have liked on the family but there weren’t family members there that I didn’t know.
We all went to Village Inn after and the food was kind of gross but edible. Grandma and Grandpa took me to Old Town after that and I bought a few souvenirs. They also took me to see my cousin Ryan who was sick so we didn’t go out to eat like we had planned. I only got to see him for a little but it was nice. We took photos and I look great and he looks sick and wasn’t smiling but just making funny faces or sick faces. It was nice to see him though, I miss him like crazy and we have barely spent any in person time. He’s my favorite kid though so any time was good time. Met his dad and that was fun, again it was just a quick hello/goodbye but still nice.
Grandpa was getting all pissy because the drive there was so weird and had rush hour traffic (but no where near as bad as Portland or even Salem). After that they just took me back to Ray’s.
Ray and Rosa’s friend Elaine took me to Sandia Casino and that was a lot of fun. They give you $40 worth of “points” to gamble with. You have to spend $1 to get it started and I wound up spending another $2 but won $41! ($38 if you don’t count my money I spent) I would have won $174 but I touched the wrong button and bet a dollar instead of $.40 like I had been. I went back to that machine later and won $26 so I can’t complain too much. We had a good time there. It’s so beautiful at night, during the day it’s a different type of beautiful, not what us PNWers are used to though.
I was going to see my other cousin Justin that night but he didn’t get off til midnight and Ray has been having trouble with people robbing him so I couldn’t get out of the gate, or the house without waking him up and most likely freaking him out so I let Justin know it wasn’t going to work. That’s the only thing I wish I hadn’t missed. I stayed up late that night again too and read. I had to get up early to catch my flight but I had Grandpa take me to get a few things that you can’t get here (Sopapillas and Biscochitos). He got a little freaked out but I got to the airport in more than plenty of time for my flight. Flight into Oakland was good and the landing was perfect. I didn’t know that the runway was so close to the bay, it was kind of exciting. The flight out was awesome. You get to see the whole bay and a bunch of the bridges and it was so cool just looking down at it all. The landing into Portland took forever. The weather was bad (high winds and rain) so we had to circle several times before we could land. FRUSTRATING! I was happy when we finally did and I could get on the MAX and get home. Came home to more rain than I had expected but it was a good reminder of what home is.
Every time I go to Albuquerque it feels a little more like home as well but because of family and food. I’ve gotten pretty good at navigating there but I’d never move there, not just because my father is there but no one walks! It’s so far from Portland in that regard.
It’s time for more Biscochitos though! See you later!

Once Again

Shelley — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 03:02:50 +0000

My Great Grandma passed away at the age of 99 this last October and we are going to Albuquerque, New Mexico once again. I went last year when my Fathers Mother died and now less than a year later I’ll be back again. My Grandparents bought the ticket this time which is good because there is no way I could afford it this year. It’ll be a very different trip this time and I’ll be meeting people I’ve never even heard of but I’ll be able to get a lot of family history so I’m going to take copious amounts of notes for my mom to enter into her genealogy programs. I’m excited to go with my Grandpa and see his history through him as opposed to my fathers.

Collective bargaining and why it’s important (at least in the state of oregon)

Shelley — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 23:41:14 +0000

What’s been happening in Wisconsin has made me feel like I need to write down what I know about collective bargaining and how it affects our public employees.

I started working for the state as a temp in 1999 and my first long term assignments was in HR for ODOT (oregon department of transportation).
I stopped temping for them in 2006. In that time period I watched as there were cost of living raises frozen and hiring freezes. Every year you have a review (typical) and you would get a step increase (around 5 steps) if you were deemed eligible. In the private sector if you get a raise you can sometimes negotiate and there are no limits set to how much this is. Working for the state the step increases are set and not negotiable the closest to negotiating is when you are hired into a position if you have enough experience you can start at a higher step. The only problem with the increases is that they are limited. Once you reach that top pay you are stuck there until there are changes to the positions pay scale. This is done through collective bargaining between the state and the unions.
State employees are paid less for the same jobs in the private sector, the only real bonus is that the benefits are good, or were, over the years they have been whittled down more and more. The only other bonus is not being able to be fired for any reason possible after your initial 6 month trial period is up. That doesn’t mean you won’t ever get fired it means there are steps you have to follow (most large corporations do this as well) basically 3 write ups and you are out unless it’s really bad and then you are gone no matter what.
The reasons I wanted to work for the state (I never did because the jobs I was great at and loved were frozen or not defined as a real position so there really was no job) was because you are guaranteed health insurance with no 6 month wait to be able to been seen for pre-exhisting conditions without paying full price.
Even with collective bargaining and the security of the union (you get a union rep at diciplenary hearings so as to not have to worry about personal vendettas from management etc, not all people are good at separating personal feelings with performance) State employees over the last 12 years has gone down. They now have Furlough days where no one is allowed to work and they don’t get paid for this. You can opt to use vacation time but that cuts into the few hours you earn per year (8 a year for the first 5 years and then a bit more and again at 10). Taking away collective bargaining for public employees means they have no support for getting treated fairly. Everyone will be treated the same still but they will have less and less reasons to do it. Who wants to work for less pay and the same benefits etc as a private sector job?
Maybe Wisconsin public employees get paid more than Oregon but that doesn’t mean it’s right to take away the right to get what you deserve for working.

I could be wrong on some of this so feel free to comment on that.

Ink and Robots, a love affair

Shelley — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 02:23:06 +0000

So i’ve been planning on getting more tattoos since I got my first (and only) tattoo in December of ’98. I’m well past due for one and I’ve actually got several I’m going to get. I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to do or where to place them etc. They are all robot or in the realm of robots and I’m planning on my back but since they are all different artists I’m not 100% sure how to get them to all “blend” without looking weird or like a patchwork quilt.
I’m posting the links here now and I’ll post the photo shopped versions later.

http://www.dieselsweeties.com/archive/2700 – Top left panel
Relevance: I’m a HUGE Heinlein fan and one of his “characters” is a cat named Pixel. My first and most loved pet was Sammy and she was a black cat. The fact that she’s singing makes me happy. and I think there was a panel where she was walking through a wall. I can’t remember where it is now but it’s there.
Placement: I have NO Idea. this is a touch call since it isn’t a robot although the comic has several in it, I’m just not that attached to any of them so the kitty has much more meaning and kitties are cute.

http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=419 – top left
Relevance: Robot and Angelish!
I want it a bit different though. Face on and probably without the sword. Tried to e-mail the artist but no response, same with a twitter question. Kind of annoyed at that but I’ll probably do it anyway.
Placement: Shoulder blade Possibly right.

http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=9 – Bottom right
Relevance: See above. I want it more face on. in a similar pose to the other one. I like the idea of a “fancy” one and a “simple” one. Might scrap this altogether but with my love of angels and robots it really fits.
Placement: Shoulder Blade opposite above.

http://xkcd.com/99/
This is the big one. It won’t look like this. the one I have is different but the same idea this one is in binary and says love over and over, I’ll have a 4×4 square in Hexadecimal of the Laws of Robotics. (it was far far to long in binary) It’ll still have the heart though.
Placement: NO idea. It’s an awkward size and shape my arm would be the best but I’m not sure I want something so visible, although I’m almost always covered up since I’m cold so often. Mom would freak out for sure.

http://media.threadless.com//imgs/products/68/636x460design_01.jpg
http://www.stupidpictures.net/2002/09/13/she-doesnt-even-realize/#comments
Except white robot (which will just be the black outline) I have it on a tshirt and I wear it ALL THE TIME, it has other significance that will take to long to type out but it means something to me and that’s all that matters.
Placement: again NO idea but it’s an important one.

So that’s my plan, I’m still tweaking and I might decide to do some of the older ones I’ve had in mind but I’ll keep you updated on that.

Shelley — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 23:59:53 +0000

ESFP – “Entertainer”. Radiates attractive warmth and optimism. Smooth, witty, charming, clever. Fun to be with. Very generous. 8.5% of the total population.

Take Free Myers-Briggs Personality Test

Shelley — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:09:45 +0000

Life has been weird lately. I’m still taking photos, most days. It seems like I’m never doing anything when my alarm goes off so I don’t take a photo because it’s always me in bed messing around on the computer. So when I finally get to updating it you’ll know why there are missing photos.

So many changes happening. Friends are moving away, getting married and having babies. Part of me feels like I’ve done nothing this summer and another part of me feels like I’m always doing something, but not like before. I rarely go out because I don’t have the money so I don’t feel social but I am being social… It’s odd.

I’m taking a class on Tuesday mornings and I’ve started having lunch on those days with a friend. We go to the grocery store and grab food and eat it at her workplace. We get in exercise, a healthy lunch and friend time. It’s really nice.

I’ve made friends with a group of Vegans lately and it’s been really nice, they don’t treat me like i’m the devil for being an omnivore and I can go to a potluck and eat everything, and enjoy it!! It’s the strangest feeling but in a good way. It still hasn’t dawned on me that I don’t have to ask what’s in it. It’s funny to me that I know that i’ll like 90% of all vegan potluck dishes where at a non vegan potluck i’d like about 10%… I’m not going vegan anytime soon though. I’ve said I will when I hit menopause though, with the heart disease history in the family doing all I can to prevent a heart attack will be good, and a vegan diet and exercise will help a LOT, that and once a woman hits menopause her chances of heart disease go from not very likely to as likely or worse than that of a mans. The estrogen protects us, so when it goes away BAM.

My tuesday lunch date is gluten intolerant so it’s fun finding things gluten free to eat. It’s not as hard as i thought. It’s eird how much gluten is in things. Same with Soy and Canola. You can really tell what our society is based on, where the government subsidies are. I wonder what would happen if they were scaled back or eradicated from big business and only found in small local places. I want to let myself start to envision those kinds of things. Let my mind wander and explore the crazy ideas i’ve got and one day turn them into that book i keep talking about, or the movie or just a discussion.

Oh My

Shelley — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 12:33:10 +0000

I’ve been spending a lot of time with my cousin, well on Skype, it’s pretty cool.
It’s nice being close to someone on my fathers side. It’s nice to be so close to anyone actually. It’s kind of funny though. I never thought my best friend would be my 13 year old cousin.
I don’t know if I could have gotten through the death thing if it wasn’t for him. He had already left for Vegas with his mom but i got to see him for 20 min in the airport. I’ll talk more about the trip at another time though. It was odd…
But this was about my cousin and how much I love him and how lucky I am to have someone in my life that I connect with, especially with such an age difference and a distance. The digital age has helped me be close to my family and for that I am ever grateful.

I love you forever and ever and ever.

Shelley — Fri, 28 May 2010 00:00:27 +0000

So a few of you might already know but my grandmother died last saturday and I’m flying to Albuquerque to be with my family and help them with all the craziness. I hate asking for money but at the current time I have little or nothing to spend. Donations are awesome and I can pay back if you need me to. It might be a bit since I’m not working and have a VERY limited Unemployment benefit situation, but I will do everything in my power to pay you back, even if it’s in beer or picking up dog poop (that’s the most disgusting thing I can think of).

Even if you can only donate a dollar or just send good thoughts (or prayers whatever you believe) everything is helpful.

I think it lets you specify if it’s a donation or a loan when you check out, if not you can email me and let me know.

Thank you again.

<3 Shelley

I’m going to try and chronicle my trip here,I’ve told a few people about the drama going on and they say it’s good enough for a book. I think it’s all crazy and scary but It’s worth a shot right?

I’ll still be taking my usual photos and hopefully i’ll be able to use my plane time to get up to date with the blog as well. (I just need to figure an offline way to use WordPress…)

You TUBE

Shelley — Tue, 25 May 2010 10:49:25 +0000

I’m in a video! On YouTube! That I didn’t make!

I’m in the first minute or so, and I mention… this blog! haha. I should do an actual video like this. I’m not that shy, I’m not usually the person “running” from the camera, I was just in a weird mood that day. It was filmed on May 5th, 2010.