Tres yummy Chinese food for dinner

I love Chinese food. I don't generally like buffets. However, we went to a great Chinese buffet tonight. Not your typical cheapo Chinese buffet, either. This one had some interesting stuff, such as Walnut Shrimp, Prime Rib, and a yummy take off on General Gao's chicken.

There was also a delectable mocha cake for dessert. I'm sold.

Boring Schmoring

Not much going on here. It's Sunday night (which is usually a bad thing) before Memorial Day, which I have off. Praise the Lord and pass the peas.

I did a little cleaning up and got bored with that pretty darn fast. Now I'm sitting in front of the TV while John flips. We seem to have landed on "Hell's Kitchen." How pleasant.

If you've read this far, it's a miracle. Ho hum.

I wish I could name drop

I don't necessarily like a name dropper, but I wish I had a name that I could at least drop. I got nothing or if I do they're so B-league/amateur hour. I went to high school with a guy that used to play in the NHL. I saw Denis Leary at a Boston Celtics game. I know, I know, I'm reaching.

I have however been to lots of Major league ballparks. So, here's my namedropping attempt:

1) Fenway Park ~ Boston Red Sox (of course)
2) McAfee Colisseum ~ Oakland Athletics
3) AT&T Park ~ San Francisco Giants
4) RFK Stadium ~ Washington Nationals (former location)
5) Tropicana Field ~ Tampa Bay Rays
6) Oriole Park ~ Baltimore Orioles
7) Yankee Stadium ~ New York Yankees
8) Rogers Centre ~ Toronto Blue Jays
9) Olympic Stadium ~ Montreal Expos (now defunct)

Minor League ballparks I've been to:

1) LeLacheur Park ~ Lowell Spinners (Single A affiliate of the Red Sox)
2) Durham Bulls Athletic Park ~ Durham Bulls (Triple A affiliate of the Rays)
3) Five County Stadium ~ Carolina Mudcats (Double A affiliate of the Marlins)
4) PGE Park ~ Portland Beavers (Triple A affiliate of the Padres)

OK...now that I list them out there aren't THAT many. Oh well....

Digressing to the Nth Degree

Our dog Max has many nicknames.

• I call him my baby.
• Since he weighs 100 lbs, he's my big baby.
• Oddly enough, Glenn Davis of the Boston Celtics' nickname is "Big Baby."
• So, now Max is big baby Glenn Davis.
• That spun off into Glenny and Glenda.

Do you think dogs can have identity crises?

Tell someone in your life how you feel about them

Today. Not tomorrow. Not later. Even if you think the person knows how you feel, tell them or put it in writing.

I'm pretty sure my sister-in-law knew how I felt about her, but I never verbalized it or wrote it down. When she got sick I told myself that I would write her a letter telling her how much having her in my life has meant. I kept saying I'd do it, but I didn't.

She was more than a sister-in-law to me. She made me laugh, shared private jokes with me, supported me and listened to me. Over the 11 years I knew her, we developed a deep and meaningful friendship. I loved her and I will miss her dearly.

Book recommendation(s)

This will be my first of many book recommendations. I LOVE to read. I read every night before sleeping and any other time I can sneak in during the day. I like all kinds of genres, but especially mysteries and I adore (yes, adore) Marian Keyes. More on her later...

Currently, I am reading a book called By the Grace of God by Suruba Ibumando. As the cover says, it's a true story of love, family, war & survival from the Congo. I'm not even half way through it, but the struggle of Suruba (Georgette) and her family has captured my full attention.

Other books that I've read that chronicle the struggle of those in war-torn countries are:

West of Jordan by Laila Halaby (Jordan)
Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguez (Afghanistan)

They are often somber, but so enlightening.

Stars Fell on Alabama

I just got back from Alabama and I must say was intrigued by what the motto on their license plate meant. Apparently it's an old (1934) song. The license plate's former main motto was "Heart of Dixie."

When Stars Fell on Alabama was added in 2002, the "Heart of Dixie" motto was made smaller and put in the heart.

FYI: (Should you ever go on Jeopardy and need to know this) A 1951 law requires Alabama license plates to display the words "Heart of Dixie" within a conventionalized heart shape.

At the risk of sounding like a screwed up pop star

(Oops) I did it again! I actually cooked another meal. 15-Minute Jambalaya from the Cooking with Court blog. Oddly enough, I don't think I'd ever had jambalaya prior to 1/2 hour ago. I like it. I added 8 drops of hot sauce, which seemed just about right in the heat department.

Not bad. I'm slowly building up my cooking confidence!

I'd rather stick a fork in my eye...

...than watch one more episode of "America's Next Top Model." That is all.

I know, I know

You're saying to yourself, "KT has cooking blogs as some of her faves?" Yes, for those of you who are familar with my work, you know I don't cook. At all. I lived on Hot Pockets for the majority of my 20's.

I've decided to turn over a new leaf and give cooking a shot. So far, so good. It's not that I hate cooking, it's just that it makes me nervous. Coordinating everything to be done on time is majorly stressful for me. We're supposed to be doing a holiday meal later this year. We'll see how that goes!

I made the Mexican Lasagna from Cooking with Court (under fave blogs). It's very easy and came out pretty well, if I do say so myself.

Am I the only one on the planet

that doesn't find these shows funny?

"The Office"
"Family Guy"
"How I Met Your Mother"

I like a good comedy as much as the next person, but I'm just not feeling it with these oh-so popular shows. I'll stick with my TV Land repeats from the 80s, thanks.