BE BACK WHEN WE FEEL LIKE IT!

GONE FISHING... GONE BOATING... GONE BEACHING... GONE SWIMMING... GONE BBQ-ING... GONE OUT...

GONE TO HAVE SOME HOLIDAY WEEKEND FUN!

Hope you do too!  However, if you are taking a break from some fun in the sun...

While we are gone, please feel free to poke around the lounge! 

We have over 650 blog posts, chances are you missed something good!

If you'd like an easy way to find something good - here are some of our favorite posts!

Barbara Ward-Finneran

What Matters

Leave the Fat Girl Home

Dawn Boyle

Fishnets and Other Contraptions

Getting On My Flip-Flops

Marion Pellicano

Demlicans or Republicrats

I Remember Joe

Tony Walker

Road Rage and...

Tony's Divorce 

Jillian B. Hart

What's So Complicated?!

Handcuffs Anyone?

Hart's Desire

Baby It's Cold Outside

After the Kiss

Jenn Copp

Rather Kiss Frogs...

Electric Parades, They Electrify Your Soul

Patty B

Sticky Sweet

Sticky Sweet - Famous Chocolate Quotes

RED, WHITE and BLUE COCKTAIL

Red, White, & Blue Cocktail
2 ounces vodka
3/4 ounce Cointreau
blue curacao
1 pint strawberries, chopped
balsamic vinegar
sugar
splash of fresh squeezed lemon juice
splash of simple syrup

In a bowl muddle strawberries with balsamic vinegar and sugar to taste. Put 3 Tbsp. of the mixture in the bottom of a chilled martini glass with a sugared rim. Shake remaining ingredients with ice. Strain into your glass and add a few drops of blue curacao.

Memorial Day - The Forgotten Service

Marion Pellicano Ambrose

Dedicated to my father, Lieutenant JG William F. Cunningham ,USMM

Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May (May 30 in 2011). Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. soldiers who died while in the military service. For many years, one of the services, the one that held the record for the highest casualties during WWII, was totally forgotten and unappreciated. That service was the United States Merchant Marines.

The Merchant Marine is a civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Navy, but not a uniformed service, except in times of war when, in accordance with the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, mariners are considered military personnel. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill into law granting veteran status to merchant mariners who served in war. Prior to such legislation, they did not receive veteran's benefits.

EATERY IS OPEN FOR MEMORIAL DAY - RED, WHITE AND BLUEBERRY PIE

 

Ingredients

• 8 sheets phyllo dough
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup strawberry jelly
• whip cream

Directions

1. On a flat surface, place one sheet phyllo dough. Brush it with melted butter or margarine, and cover with another piece of phyllo. Repeat until all 8 sheets are used. Using kitchen scissors, cut layered phyllo into a 12 to 13 inch circle. Carefully press circle into a greased 9 inch pie plate; gently fan edges. Bake at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C) until edges are just golden, 6 to 8 minutes; cool slightly on a wire rack.
2. In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs until well combined. Fold in 1 cup of blueberries. Pour filling into prepared crust.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) until set, 40 to 50 minutes. To prevent over browning of crust, gently cover pie with foil for the last 25 minutes of baking. Cool completely on a wire rack.
4. In a small bowl, beat jelly until smooth; spread over cheese filling. Arrange 1 cup blueberries on top in a star pattern. Fill in with whip cream.

THE PROPER WAY TO OBSERVE MEMORIAL DAY

The "Memorial" in Memorial Day has been ignored by too many of us who are beneficiaries of those who have given the ultimate sacrifice. Often we do not observe the day as it should be, a day where we actively remember our ancestors, our family members, our loved ones, our neighbors, and our friends who have given the ultimate sacrifice:

• by visiting cemeteries and placing flags or flowers on the graves of our fallen heroes.
• by visiting memorials.
• by flying the U.S. Flag at half-staff until noon.
• by flying the 'POW/MIA Flag' as well (Section 1082 of the 1998 Defense Authorization Act).
• by participating in a "National Moment of Remembrance": at 3 p.m. to pause and think upon the true meaning of the day, and for Taps to be played.
• by renewing a pledge to aid the widows, widowers, and orphans of our falled dead, and to aid the disabled veterans.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MS. STICKY SWEET!

All of us at DRL would like to wish Patty B an amazing birthday!  May your day be sweeter then the finest chocolates!  

Love you!  XOXOXO

LUNCH TIME POLL

Dawn Boyle

I did something this morning I rarely do, I opened spam mail about my horoscope for the day. I used to live by my horoscope - my entire day would be either good or bad depending on the little words someone typed that didn't know me and everyone else born from November 22 through December 21. I would get so twisted by these words. Today I felt myself slipping back into the same funk by the words below.....

Friday, May 27th, 2011 -- All would be fine today, but someone may not be playing according to your rules. It feels as if a raincloud is moving in on your big game, even though it's still sunny. Don't let fear dampen your enthusiasm. Instead of trying to outrun bad weather, head off developing problems by facing negativity directly. Avoiding blame now will have a positive impact on the final outcome.

So I could be a glass half full kind of girl and go with the positive final outcome in the last line of this obvious gospel of my life, but those words "would be fine" and "raincloud" and "fear dampen your enthusiasm" were glaring off the screen in front of me. It is enough to really screw me up...why did I even open that spam mail???

Do you read your horoscope daily?

Do you find yourself reeling all day because of words someone make for a mass group of people?

Am I the only one crazy???

Help me out here....tell me I am not crazy!

My Dirty Little Secret

Marion Pellicano Ambrose

Yes, I have a dirty little secret and most women have the same dirty secret as I do! Of course, few of us would admit it, and it does come in different forms, but I would say 90% share this same hidden skeleton in the closet!

It’s 7am, hubby is off to work, kids are off to school and it’s my day off.  I sit and have another leisurely cup of coffee and read the paper. 

Now it’s 8am. I panic! I run to pick up all the junk around the living room. I stuff some laundry in the washer and put all the dirty clothes that were scattered on the floor, the bed and various chairs in the hamper. I pack up the garbage that smells like fish and bring it to the trash.

Oh no, it’s 8:45! I run to the bathroom and shove all my makeup and the curling iron under the sink. I cap the toothpaste and wipe up the blob that landed in the sink.

It’s 8:55! I run to the kitchen and shove all the dishes that were sitting in the basin into the dishwasher and turn it on. I run to the bedroom and rip off my pajamas, throw on clean jeans and a nicely pressed shirt.

9am – the doorbell rings!  My housekeeper is here for my weekly house cleaning!

Admit it, you do the same thing! And if you don’t have a housekeeper, you do the same thing just before your husband comes home! But don’t worry, I won’t tell. It will be OUR dirty little secret!

*A short video on an outstanding blog site gave me the idea for this post. Take a moment to enjoy the clip at “Tomatoes In The Trenches Blog”.

http://www.inthetrenchesproductions.com/

SOUL FOOD

Barbara Ward-Finneran

You will if you believe that you can.

Something only remains impossible as long as you allow yourself to believe it to be so.  

At times the hardest part is just to start.

Breathe... believe... boldly decide to begin.

Confidence in your future comes with daring to step into the life that awaits you.

Dreams need to precede the goals, but actions and faith must precede the dreams.

Keep the promises that you make to yourself!

Photo Courtesy of Barbara Ward-Finneran and Drawn 2 Design, LLC

All Rights Reserved

WANNA LAUGH?!?!

Dead ahead, through the pitch-black night, the captain sees a light on a collision course with his ship.

He sends a signal: "Change your course ten degrees east."

"Change yours ten degrees west," comes the reply.
The captain responds, "I'm a United States Navy captain! Change your course, sir!"
  
"I'm a seaman second class," the next message reads. "Change your course, sir."

The captain is furious. "I'm a battleship! I'm not changing course!"
"I'm a lighthouse. Your call."

STICKY SWEET

 THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY

Patty B.

Always serve too much hot fudge sauce on hot fudge sundaes.  It makes people overjoyed, and puts them in your debt.

Don't wreck a sublime chocolate experience by feeling guilty.

Self-discipline implies some unpleasant things to me, including staying away from chocolate.

Chocolate is like medicine - but as with medicine, the key is the proper dose.  Don't overdo it. (Well, then again...  why the heck, NOT?!)

Fudge is a noun, a verb, an interjection, and delicious!

Time Waits For No One

Tony Walker

If you read my posts or my comments on my friend's posts, you probably by now know that I have a prosthetic leg.


Losing my leg to cancer taught me many lessons. The biggest lesson of all was realizing that we are NOT on this planet to be "9 to 5 zombies" going through the daily routine of going to a job you hate day in & day out. Plus the job I had didn't want me anymore. They saw me as damaged goods or as a liability. They supposedly were going to give me an office job but that offer never happened. So out the door I went.


With the thought in mind that no one was going to hire this man of damaged goods, I decided to make something happen for myself. My side job, running my comedy group, was now going to become my full time job. Performing comedy is what I was meant to do. I love every freaking second of it & I do it well.


While the company has made tremendous strides, so far it has not made me full time money. I have plenty of full time work with writing, directing, casting, advertising, booking, & setting up the shows, it still has not given me full time money. I think it eventually get there but unfortunately I have run out of time & money. Between the comedy group & my wife's job we knew it would be a struggle at first but I was confident the comedy group would succeed before we ran out of money. We've come close but we're not there & the money has run out. We are out of options. I am facing getting a "real job" again.
I am devastated. I know with some more time I can make this work. But time is something I don't have. Jagger & Richards said it best-"Time Waits For No One." I came so close to realizing my dream... now it's about to disappear. There is no way I can do it all while working a full time job. I would never see my family. My future with the comedy group is in jeopardy & I feel like a failure.


My question to you is... have any of you ever been in this position? If so what did you do? Where do you draw the magical line of pursuing a dream career & doing what you gotta do? Do you think of your family first or what this will do to you? I'm so confused!

LUNCH TIME POLL - WHAT'S SHAKIN

Dawn Boyle

Today's Lunch Time Poll could verge on What's Shakin for the day as well...

Last night was the American Idol Finale, a number of artists performed and Scotty McCreery won the title. For me the best part of the entire show was the performance by Marc Anthony with Sheila E. on the drums. I love Latin Music, it's intoxicating. I makes you want to move. Jennifer Lopez was incredible! Her dancing make me want to look into some Latin dance classes!

What was your favorite part of the finale last night?

Do you think McCreery should have been the winner?

Are you over Gaga yet?

Who was your favorite performer?


The Marc Anthony Performance link - YOU HAVE TO SEE IT IF YOU HAVEN'T YET!

THE NEWISH ADVENTURE

Sometimes Your Whole World Is What's Shaken'...

DRL Proudly Introduces Our Newest Contributor:

Jessica Lemoine McGinnis Yee

Someday in February this year, a new adventure was started by me and my husband. Well, not exactly new but newish. See, I found out that at age 42 I was to be a Mom again. Wow what a kicker! I have two beautiful kids but the last time I was in the birthing mindset was 12 years ago. A much younger body and much younger mindset and blissfully ignorant enough to the adventure called parenthood. Now I’m in the prime of my life, in the “lets live it up the kids are grown enough that I can have some fun” mindset. Go to concerts, lectures or take a class and not have to pay half my paycheck to a babysitter. Now we are starting over?! I’m going to lectures and taking a class but it’s to remember how to give birth naturally. See I birthed twice, all natural, although not completely my choice. I was into give me that epidural like most women, what the heck did I know. I didn’t embrace the natural movement in my twenties; I still don’t embrace a lot of it. But I have made some small changes, like I recycle, buy organic and believe in local shopping even if it cost a bit more. Sustaining the small business owner if just for one more day and hopefully boosting my local economy.

HOW TO TREAT A SUNBURN

Dawn Boyle

If you live in the Northeast it's like someone turned the switch and all of the sudden it's summer! As we kick off the unofficial start of summer this weekend, my milky white skin will be exposed for 3-4 solid days of sun. No matter what number sunblock I use (I use 50), I am destined to get burned this weekend. If you know me or are a reader here at DRL, you may have read my story about my daughter and our melanoma scare a few weeks ago. While searching for information for my daughter, I came across information about treating a sunburn that I want to pass on to all of you.

Of course the best way to avoid a sunburn is to not be outside during the day from like 10 til 4, but since that is highly unlikely here is what may help you if you get a little pink this weekend or at anytime during the next few months!

• Keep it cool. Apply cold compresses — such as a towel dampened with cool water — to the affected skin. Or take a cool bath.
• Keep it moist. Apply aloe or moisturizing cream to the affected skin. Avoid products containing alcohol, which can further dry out skin. Beware of sunburn treatment products containing anesthetics, such as Benzocaine. There's little evidence that these products are effective. In some cases, they may even irritate the skin. Benzocaine has been linked to a rare but serious, sometimes deadly, condition that decreases the amount of oxygen that the blood can carry. Don't use benzocaine in children younger than age 2 without supervision from a health care professional, as this age group has been the most affected. If you're an adult, never use more than the recommended dose of benzocaine and consider talking with your doctor.
• Leave blisters intact. If blisters form, don't break them. You'll only slow the healing process and increase the risk of infection. If needed, lightly cover blisters with gauze.
• Take an over-the-counter pain reliever. If needed, take anti-inflammatory medication — such as aspirin or ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others) — according to the label instructions until redness and soreness subside. Don't give children or teenagers aspirin. It may cause Reye's syndrome, a rare but potentially fatal disease.
• Treat peeling skin gently. Within a few days, the affected area may begin to peel. This is simply your body's way of getting rid of the top layer of damaged skin. While your skin is peeling, continue to use moisturizing cream.

Consult a doctor for sunburn treatment if:

• Severe sunburn covers a large portion of your body with blisters
• Sunburn is accompanied by a high fever or severe pain
• Severe sunburn doesn't begin to improve within a few days

My story about my daughter and Melanoma
http://delayedreactionlounge.blogspot.com/2011/05/may-is-melanomaskin-cancer-detection.html