1st Test

Wow, now I know why the professor stated that many of his students receive a 'C' in his class. This is a 2-year school, he is treating Philosophy 101 as if it were Philosopy 301. His tests are difficult, and he demands a lot from his students. That is good in one sense but bad in another. Yes, it is good to demand that students understand and pay attention in class. However it is bad that he makes the tests difficult and doesn't hand journals back in plenty of time to make adjustments for future journals. Philosophy is a difficult subject because there is no right or wrong, and you must be good at defending your point for all the statements you make. In my opinion, if you participate in class, do all the classwork (readings, journals, etc.), the tests should be open book because there is no right or wrong answer and it would be difficult enough to find the answer in the book. And yes, this is going on my course evaluation form.

A History of Violence

Part of the requirements for Philosophy 101 is to watch 3 movies and to write a 'journal' about them. The first of the movies is "A History Of Violence' and we are required to answer the following questions: Are we fooling ourselves if and when we think we can live peacefully? What does “peace” mean anyway?

The movie was an ok movie, somewhat graphic in the shooting scenes, but as far as subject matter it was ok. Writing the journal was a different story. I actually ended up writing two different journals. The first one seemed like I rambled, much like a philosopher, and didn't make clear points. The second one I was a little upset with my parents and took it out on paper. I thought the second one was better, so it was the one I submitted. It has been over 2 weeks and I haven't received the graded copy back. The next journal is due next week, there isn't enough time to compare my 1st journal and amend the 2nd journal. Grrrr. Professors.

Sweet Tomatoes - Feb. 18th

My boyfriend and I met with friends after church at Sweet Tomatoes. We had a nice long lunch, talked quite a bit, and had a great time of fellowship. Between salads, whether soup is eaten before or after the salad, philosophy, breaking into the IT market, and politics, we were well on our way to solving all the problems in the world. At least in our world. It was so nice just to be able to meet with another couple and have a time of fellowship. It is amazing what you can learn about those you are with as well. Or remember what you have heard in the past and just didn't remember at that time. Also a great time of bantering too. Politics are politics, whether it is in government or on a smaller scale, like hobbies, work, or school.

Joe's Crab Shack

Sunday we went to Joe's Crab Shack for dinner. He came by at 7 to pick me up, we made it to the restaurant just in time to wait for the final wave of tables to be cleared. It is funny how we either do one thing or the other - arrive right in the middle of the dinner rush or right at the end. It wasn't too bad of a wait, only 30 minutes, and I had good company to wait with. Dinner was nice, crab appetizer, I had fish and chips, he had fish and shrimp. If only I ate coconut we could have gotten the shrimp platter. Three diet cokes later we had dessert. Yummy key lime pie (one of my favorites) was the replacement for the sold-out cheesecake. Luckily neither one of us had a birthday, but 3 people did. One lady walked around waving, one teenage guy pretended to fly like a superhero, all in good fun.

My Scarf is Growing

My scarf is longer now, about 13 inches long. I don't think I will make it a full length scarf as I am somewhat ready to move on to another project, but at the same time I want to finish the skein of yarn before I bind off the scarf. That is a scary thought , binding off. I learned how to knit, pearl, cast on, the next step is binding off. I want to go on to knitting a couple of baby items for Mom's composition dolls, but I want to finish the skein and scarf before I start on another project.

I went shopping on the 10th and found 3 different knitting needles at a local thrift shop. It is a neat little place, run by a Catholic benevolent society, and they have interesting things in there. It is clean in the shop as well. I have stopped going to one of the local thrift stores because it is so junky and disgusting inside. The needles were a size 3, 4, and 6, and I got them all for the price I would have paid for one at Wal-Mart. Now my collection is up to a size 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. And I have a circular needle too, just can't remember what size.

Snow?

As I was headed into work this morning I saw snow dust falling from the sky. It certainly is cold enough to snow, but the question is will it? That would be an interesting Valentine's Day, for there to be snow. Usually it is around March when it snows in Georgia. Time will tell. I am at my desk with a hot cup of tea and my foot heater going. The sales guys have a trip out to Las Vegas, I am about to make their reservations. I will have to keep my eye on the window to see if anything bigger than snow dust starts to fall from the sky.

Happy Valentine's Day

My boyfriend and I are definately traditionalists when it comes to Valentine's Day. A small gift, candy, flowers, and a meaningful card is all it takes to make us be all grins. Today he gave me the traditional heart shaped box of candy (yum) and a dozen red roses with baby's breath and fern leaves. I gave him Hershey's kisses, Lindt truffles, and a Big Dogs long sleeve pullover.

I got to work just in the nick of time. Within 5 minutes of opening the office a van pulled up to our door. Two minutes later a delivery lady came in with the roses. They are on my desk and are very pretty. It is nice to be at work, typing away, and have the scent of roses drift toward me, causing me to realize that someone does care, that he thought of me, and he wanted to me to remember him throughout the day. The question is should I take them home and enjoy them just at night or should I keep them at work so that I can daydream whenever I look at them? The candy definately goes home. :)

A New Supermarket in Town

Have you ever heard of Aldi? They are the newest 'supermarket' in town. I have been inside once to look around, I wasn't very impressed. The selection seems quite slim in the store, I didn't see many national brands offered but I didn't look closely. My experience was a basic walk-through, my parents actually shopped. When they went in the store they iddn't use a buggy because there is a $0.25 charge to use the buggies. They shopped around, found a couple of items to purchase and went to check-out. The cashier was not friendly (Dad described her as 'sour'). From his first-hand report she scanned and dropped the items where they were, didn't even offer to push them down the line and there isn't even the courteous service to bag groceries. There is a $0.99 charge per bag if the consumer doesn't want to hand carry items to their car.

Aldi may be a store to visit every now and then but I personally like the courtesy of being able to use buggies free of charge, having items bagged free of charge, and Publix supermarkets takes courtesy one step further - they will even take the groceries to your vehicle and unload the buggy for you!

Way to go Publix! Kroger!

PS - I almost always use the check-out lines with a cashier, never the self-service lines, because it means a job for someone, possibly their only source of income. Please help jobs stay in America and check-out with a cashier!

St. Patrick's Day Songs

My boyfriend wants me to learn a couple of drinking songs on the harp for St. Patrick's Day. I asked several musicians and this is the list that we came up with.

"The Wild Rover"
"Rosin The Bow"
"Black Velvet Band"
"Gilgarra Mountain"
"Star of the County Down"
"The Rakes of Mallow"
"Bridget O'Malley" -- she's a heartbreaker
"O Danny Boy"
"Finnegan's Wake"
"Carrickfergus"
"Mary Mack"
"When The Old Dun Cow Caught Fire"
"The Parting Glass"

Peanut Brittle

Superbowl Sunday - ok, the game was good, but I got bored somewhere in the middle of the game. I have been wanting to make peanut brittle for about 2 weeks, so I got out my cast iron Dutch oven and tried the peanut brittle recipe my parents brought home. That, in itself, is a story worth telling.

Mom and Dad were out shopping and tasted some of the best peanut brittle they have had in a long time. They purchased a little brown bag and the seller told them that the peanut brittle was in there. Well, it was, minus the corn syrup, sugar, water, and baking soda. But the recipe was there - and it was a photocopy from a spiral bound cookbook.

Finally I decided to make the peanut brittle. I had never made it before, so it was a new experiment for me. I got my cast iron Dutch oven, mixed the sugar, water, corn syrup, and peanuts. Within 15 minutes, from start to finished (not including cooling time) the peanut brittle was made. It was fun to make, and soooo delicious.

Here is the recipe:
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup white corn syrup
2 Tablespoons cold water
2 cups raw peanuts
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Mix sugar, syrup, water and peanuts in a deep iron skillet. Cook over high heat, stirring occasionally until peanuts start to make a soft popping sound and syrup begins to turn a light golden brown. Remove from heat and add baking soda. The mixture will foam. Pour out onto a heat resistant surface that has been buttered generously. Spread out mixture into 1 layer of peanuts. When cool, break into pieces.

Sunday Febrary 4, 2007 SUPERBOWL SUNDAY

OK, I know that Superbowl Sunday is NOT the normal night for a couple to go out for dinner, but we did. We went to Chicago's Pizza, he wanted to try it out so we did. Mom was visiting my Grandmother for the day, so I told Dad that I had been asked out for dinner. He didn't say much at the time, little did I know he was gathering his thoughts. I found out he didn't like my date's car, looks, interests, or history. Wow, that leaves very little for him to like. But I have come to realize this is a struggle that has been going on between fathers and daughters for centuries. Who am I to buck the system?

On to the good stuff ..... we had pizza, and watched the first half of the Superbowl. Lucky me, there was a TV at the table and I could tune it to the Superbowl. Not that I am an avid sports fan, it just irritates me when he is watching TV and I don't know what he is chuckling about. Besides, the commercials are suppose to be the best part of the Superbowl .... not this year. I must admit the auctioneer wedding was funny!

Mozzarella sticks, pizza, Coca-cola, and a nice dinner, what could be more enjoyable? It was a great evening, hopefully many more to follow. Time will tell!