This is a Kidney Stone

For those of you that have had a stone (or stones!) you might appreciate the following picture. For those of you that have been fortunate to have never experienced what some say is the most excruciating pain one might ever know, I hate you. Not really, but you may think this is gross. After passing this little (a grin came across my face when I wrote "little", that thing felt like it was the size of a golf ball-covered in spikes) anyway, when I passed this massive beast I couldn't help but think about the other stone hanging out in my kidney and how most women will never feel this pain. I get to feel it twice! Actually, I get to feel it four times, I've had two stones previously. Did you know kidney stones affect approximately 5 percent of women? I guess my and my aunt are anomalies. Anyway, I'm glad to have passed this one!

Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Eric's favorite thing to eat is probably cookies. Chocolate Chip probably being his first choice. I decided to make him some Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies while the strudel filling was cooking (see post below). I don't make cookies very often, mainly because they don't last long in my house and this time was no exeption. The second batch came out of the oven at about 4 pm and by 1:30 am, they were all gone. The recipe was from Everyday Food but instead of using raisins, I opted for chocolate chips.

Out of the Oven:



About 9:30 pm



Gone:

Strudels and Stones

I am sitting at home with two kidney stones. Bummer. Since I can't really do much right now, I decided to update with some recent baking!

Saturday was quite the day of baking. We had a family dinner that night, full of grilled burgers, fried home-grown okra, fresh cucumber salad and potato salad. I made a couple of apple strudels for dessert and my aunt brought an incredible cheesecake with a three berry sauce. Here are a couple shots of the strudel. This was my first attempt at this dessert and it turned out pretty good. As usual, I found this recipe in Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine. It does take a little time, but I think it's worth it!

While I Wait

I'm sitting here watching the Olympics and am getting anxious for the men's final relay. I thought I'd try to distract myself by sharing another fun FREE event in Tulsa. My friend, Daniel, sent the link to me. QuikTrip is celebrating their 50th anniversary September 20th with a music festival and firework show! If you like the 4th of July spectacular, you don't want to miss this and what their website states will be "almost twice as many fireworks as Tulsa’s annual 4th of July celebration." Check out their website for more info and make sure you don't miss the FAQs page, hilarious!



For great shots around Tulsa, check out Daniel's Flickr photostream!

Go Phelps and team USA! And I just watched Michael Phelps win his eighth gold medal in the 2008 Olympic games!!! Amazing!

Summer's Fifth Night

Free summer fun!



Every Thursday night from 7-9 pm Utica Square hosts Summer's Fifth Night. This FREE summer concert series has everything from jazz to rock with each week being something different. With the weather being unseasonable cool, it's the perfect time to have a picnic dinner with family, friends or both! This past Thursday featured country and the Red Dirt Rangers are scheduled to play this Thursday. So grab a blanket or chairs, pack a picnic dinner, round up your pals and enjoy one of the last free concerts this summer.

Fishing at Grand Lake

We have been loving the cooler weather this weekend and took the opportunity to go fishing. While I did not catch one single fish, although I had a pretty good one on but it broke my line, Eric caught a few. This is one of the little guys he caught, a blue catfish!

What Does Your Birthday Mean?

Your Birthdate: October 5

You have many talents, and you are great at sharing those talents with others. Most people would be jealous of your clever intellect, but you're just too likeable to elicit jealousy. Progressive and original, you're usually thinking up cutting edge ideas. Quick witted and fast thinking, you have difficulty finding new challenges. Your strength: Your superhuman brainpower Your weakness: Your susceptibility to boredom Your power color: Tangerine Your power symbol: Ace Your power month: May

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Oh No! Now What?

So, 73 days into Project365, I missed a day. What a bummer. Now what? Do I start over at one again or do I continue on and just leave that day out? I think I may just continue on, with the knowledge that I'm a failure. But, I think I will also continue on after the 365th day and go to day 438 so I will have actually had 365 consecutive days. I think. I sure hope I don't miss another day, that would get a little complicated. And, to make matters worse, I think I have poison ivy right now.

I will blame the Strawberry-Cream Cake I made Saturday for my missed day on Project365. This recipe was out of Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine and I highly recommend it. Even if you don't like cakes, the recipe for the cream it amazing! It tastes great and the added bit of gelatin really helps keep its form. So here's my take at it:
(not sure what's going on with the colors in this shot, but you get the idea.)

WooHoo for Guitar Hero World Tour

Thanks to my inside source who always notifies me of the latest in GH world, I am happy to share some VERY exciting news about the upcoming release!!! (Thanks Adam!) For those who rocked it a little too hard on Aerosmith and beat it within a week of its release, there is much to anticipate with the upcoming release. First of all, a link to the demos on the freakin awesome new guitar, mike and drums. And second, I share with you the "supposed*" song list:

Eagle Rock High School Tour:

• "Dope Nose" by Weezer
• "The Middle" by Jimmy Eat World
• +Encore: "Today" by Smashing Pumpkins

Big City Kids Tour:

• "Roland" by Interpol
• "Santeria" By Sublime
• +Encore: "Mr. Brightside" by The Killers

Feelin' Nostalgic Tour:
"Take It on the Run" by REO Speedwagon
"Hold the Line" by Toto
+Encore: "Rebel Yell" by Billy Idol

Vixens Tour:

• "Heartbreaker" by Pat Benatar
• "All Around Me" by Flyleaf
• +Encore:"Misery Business" by Paramore

Undertow Tour:

• "Stinkfist" by Tool
• "Lateralus" by Tool
• "Schism" by Tool

Synchronicity Tour:

• "Guitar Battle Vs. Sting" (Guitar Career Only)
• +Encore: "Every Breath You Take" by The Police

Fight the System Tour:

• "The Kids Aren't Alright" by The Offspring
• "The Good Left Undone" by Rise Agaisnt
• +Encore: "Bleed it Out" by Linkin Park

QQ Tour:

• "Face Down" by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
• "The Kill" by 30 Seconds to Mars
• +Encore: "Thank You for the Venom" by My Chemical Romance

Rockin the Carnival Tour:

• "Dammit" by Blink 182
• "When You Heat Stops Beating" by +44

Neva' Forget Tour:

• "Jumpin Jack Flash" by The Rolling Stones
• "Don't Fear the Reaper" by Blue Öyster Cult
• +Encore: "Light My Fire" by The Doors

We Want the Funk Tour:

• "Take it Away" by Red Hot Chili Peppers
• "Renegades of Funk" by Rage Agaisnt the Machines
• +Encore: "No Sleep till Brooklyn" by The Beastie Boys Feat. Kerry King

Rockin' the Joint Tour:

• "Are You Gonna Go My Way" by Lenny Kravitz
• "I Don't wanna Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith

On Top of the World Tour:

• "Man in the Box" by Alice in Chains
• "Kickstart My Heart" by Mötley Crüe
• +Encore: "Spin the Black Circle" by Pearl Jam

G. Stinger Tour:

• "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana
• "Car Chase City" by Tenacious D
• +Encore: "Everlong" by Foo Fighters

Lands End Tour:

• "Animal" by Def Leppard
• "Runaway" by Bon Jovi
• +Encore: "Paradise City" by Guns N' Roses

Doin' it Different Tour:

• "Song for the Dead" by Queens of the Stone Age
• "Vasoline" by Stone Temple Pilots
• +Encore: "Assassin" by Muse

Hootin' and Hollerin' Tour:

• "The Boys Are Back in Town" By Thin Lizzy
• "Life in the Fastlane" by The Eagles
• +Encore:"Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd

All Pissed Off Tour:

• "Here to Stay" by KoRn
• "Dragula" by Rob Zombie
• +Encore: "Bat Country" by Avenged Sevenfold

Here Me Roar Tour:

• "10,000 Fists" by Disturbed
• "Duality" by Slipknot
• +Encore: "Toxicity" by System of a Down

S.D.M.F. Tour:

• "Guitar Battle Vs. Zakk Wylde" (Guitar Career Only)
• +Encore: "Demise of Sanity" by Black Label Society

Fathers of Metal Tour:

• "Don't Talk to Strangers" by Dio
• "Heaven and Hell" by Black Sabbath
• +Encore: "Crazy Train" by Ozzy Osbourne

Making Progress Tour:

• "The Spirit of Radio" by Rush
• "Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd
• +Encore: "Pull Me Under" by Dream Theatre

Eruption Tour:

• "Beat it" by Micheal Jackson Feat. Eddie Van Halen
• "Hot for Teacher" by Van Halen

Tooth Fang & Claw Tour:

• "Guitar Battle Vs. Ted Nugent" (Guitar Career Only)
• +Encore: "Stranglehold" by Ted Nugent

Decades of Metal Tour

• "Warriors of Time" by Black Tide
• "Leather Rebel" by Judas Priest
• +Encore: "Hallowed be Thy Name" by Iron Maiden

Livin' in a Nightmare Tour:

• "Angel of Death" by Slayer
• "Tornado of Souls" by Megadeth
• +Encore: "Master of Puppets" by Metallica

Legends of Rock Tour:

• "Johnny B. Goode" by Chuck Berry
• "The Wind Cries Mary" by Jimi Hendrix
• +Encore: "Purple Haze (Live)" by Jimi Hendrix

Bonus Tour:

• "45″ by Shinedown
• "96 Quite Bitter Beings" by CKY
• "Bombshell" by Powerman 5000
• "Clavado en un Bar" by Maná
• "Enjoy the Silence" by Lacuna Coil
• "Feuer Frei" by Rammstein
• "Fury of the Storm" by Dragonforce
• "Never Too Late" by The Answer
• "Nottingham Lace" by Buckethead
• "One Armed Scissor" by At The Drive-In
• "Satch Boogie" by Joe Satriani
• "Schrei" by Tokio Hotel
• "Soul Doubt" by NOFX
• "We're An American Band" by Grand Funk Railroad
• "Guitar Battle Vs. Sting" by Sting
• "Guitar Battle Vs. Ted Nugent" By Ted Nugent
• "Guitar Battle Vs. Zakk Wylde" by Zakk Wylde Sample Songs:
• "Untitled Drum Sample" created by Chad Smith
• "Untitled Drum Sample" created by Dave Grohl
• "Untitled Drum Sample" created by Travis Barker
• "Cliffs of Dover" created by Neversoft
• "Misirlou" created by Neversoft
• "Walk This Way" created by Neversoft
• "YYZ" created by Neversoft

*The 87-song list is divided by 73 main tracks and 14 bonus tracks. Additionally, there are 3 guitar battles (Ted Nugent, Zakk Wylde ... and renowned bassist Sting) and 7 "sample songs," presumably for the song creation mode. We're still looking into the source of the list; with no official word from Activision or Neversoft, consider this a rumor.

My Cat. The Killer.

So, Eric walked in the front door and told me there was something I needed to see. Pistol, our cat, was hunting a mouse. Now, I'm a little torn here. I don't want a mouse in my house, so I wanted Pistol to catch it so it wouldn't come running across my kitchen floor. However, I also don't want to see the cute little thing die! Mice really aren't that cute from a distance, or up close for that matter, but, when you're staring one in the face when you know he's about to die, he kind of looks like a little Disney creature that could talk to you. And if he could talk to me, he certainly would be asking me to save his life. Instead, Eric and I watched and caught the tragic event unfold in our neighbors backyard. Scroll down at your own risk! (By the way, Eric took most of these pictures. I started to take a couple and then the mouse ran at me. I screamed, handed Eric the camera and watched.)