Ever since they were babies, my sister knew that her twins were meant to be in the water!  Watching them dunk their heads in the bath tub while bathing and loving it, my sister decided to get them into swim lessons at an early age.  At the age of 4, both (fraternal) twins, Kelsey and Katelyn we deep into swim lessons.  From then on, it was history!!

Just this past month, the Worland Senior High School 3A (the same school I graduated from) swim team went to State.  Below is the YouTube clip of their meet.  The team is in the 3rd lane (the lane with the pink capped girl who swam last).  The order of swimmers are:  Carly, Katelyn, Kelsey and Michelle.  The team took 3rd in this event out of 6 teams (1st: Lander, 3:45.43 (state record!) 2nd: Jackson, 3:48.54 3rd: Worland, 3:57.31 4th: Powell, 3:59.09 5th: Sublette, 4:01.79 6th: Buffalo, 4:07.06)

To put it into perspective, there were only twelve girls on Worland’s swim team.  At the conference meet, eight of those twelve qualified for State.  Of the eight, four made All State. ( Katelyn, Kelsey, Carly, and Michelle.)  They were beat by Jackson and Lander both with over forty girls and by Buffalo that has over thirty-five girls.  Worland beat nine other teams of which Powell and Cody has over 25 girls on their teams.  The 4th place finish is the highest that any Worland Girls team has ever finished.  Of the eight that qualified for State, there is only one Senior.  So, when you look at how well the WSHS did overall compared to the rest of the state, they did very well!

Kelsey and Katelyn have been swimming with the WSHS swim team for 3 years (they are Juniors) and have progressively improved over the years.  They are strong competitors and talented individuals (both excel in school, are also great bowlers and artists).  Next year will be their last year competing on the team, but I hope that someone will see these two talented individuals and get them scholarships to swim at their college.  Katelyn’s strongest events are the 200 and 500 free style and Kelsey’s strongest events are the 100 fly and 100 back stroke events.

Congratulations Kelsey and Katelyn!  I have been to one of your swim meets in the past and have enjoyed watching both of you compete!  I know that you will continue to excel!  I hope that one day I will get to see you swim competitively again!  Keep up the good work!  Your aunt is very proud of you both!

This morning on the Interstate, I looked over to my left and there was a woman in a brand new Cadillac doing 65 mph with her face up next to her rear view mirror putting on her eyeliner.  I looked away for a couple seconds!  And when I looked back she was halfway over in my lane, still working on that makeup.  As a man, I don’t scare easily. But she scared me so much; I dropped my electric shaver which knocked the donut out of my other hand!  In all the confusion of trying to straighten out the car using my knees against the steering wheel, it knocked my cell phone away from my ear which fell into the coffee between my legs! Splashed, and burned “Big Jim and the Twins”, ruined the damn phone, soaked my trousers, and disconnected an important call.

Damn women drivers!!!

With the cooler weather around the corner, the sound of comfort foods are starting to entertain my mind and stomach.  Last night I made an attempt to make some homemade tomato bisque soup with a nice green salad and french bread on the side.  I make a lot of homemade soups, but never tomato bisque.  It is one of my favorite soups so I thought I might try my hand at it.  After all was said and done, I thought the soup came out wonderful and what I would call “a do-over”.  I found the recipe on the Food Network’s website (they have some wonderful recipes there!).  Below is the recipe, however, if you want a printable version, here is the link to the recipe.

Tomato Bisque:

Prep time – 15 min.

Cook time – 45 min.

Serves – 4-6 appetizer servings

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon minced bacon (about 1/2 ounce)
• 1 onion – chopped
• 1 carrot – chopped
• 1 celery stalk – chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 5 cups chicken broth (homemade or low sodium)
• 1 (28 ounce) can whole, peeled tomatoes (with liquid) roughly chopped
• 3 parsley sprigs
• 3 fresh thyme sprigs
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• Freshly ground pepper

Directions:

Heat the butter in a large soup pot over medium-high heat.  Add the bacon and cook, stirring, until crisp and most of the fat has rendered, about 1 minute.  Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a paper towel lined plate and set aside.  Lower the heat to medium, add the onion, carrots, celery and garlic and cook, covered, stirring occasionally until soft and fragrant, about 8 minutes.

Stir in the flour and cook, stirring for 3 minutes.  Pour in the broth and tomatoes and bring to a boil while whisking constantly.  Tie the parsley sprigs, thyme and bay leaf together with a piece of kitchen twine and add to the pot.  Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.

When the soup base is cool, remove and discard the herb bundle.  Working in batches, transfer the mixture to a blender and puree until smooth.  Using a sieve over a large bowl, strain tomato puree.  Return the puree to the pot and reheat over medium heat.

Whisk in heavy cream and salt into the soup and season with pepper to taste.  Divide among warm soup bowls and serve immediately.

As a personal side note, I did not use heavy cream (I used 1/2 and 1/2 which worked just as well and fewer calories).  I also did not use a blender to puree the soup, but used a hand held immersion blender which was easier.  If you have one, you may want to use that instead.  You also may want to adjust the amount of salt.  I used the recommended amount, but it may be a bit salty for some tastes.  I also added a bit of my own personal flair and toasted some pine nuts to sprinkle on top of the soup.  I also added a bit of crumbled gorgonzola cheese to the bottom of the bowl for a nice added surprise.

If you do decide to try out this recipe, let me know how you like it and any other variations made to it.

Have fun and bona petit!

Low carb, nutritious snacks are crucial for kids or adults with diabetes.  Managing blood sugar is always a challenge for those with diabetes and even for those that don’t have it.  But eating healthy and sticking to a low-glycemic diet can be very tricky and sometimes confusing.  The trick? Think protein, fiber, and healthy fats as a source of good healthy snacks.

Here are 12 snacks that you can pack that are both healthy and tasty:

1.  Hard boiled eggs

2.  Cheese sticks

3.  Fruit bowls

4. Trail mix

5.  Applesauce cups

6. Protein bars

7. Cottage cheese snack packs

8. Apple

9. Veggies and dip

10. Black olives

11. Popcorn

12. Cereal

For more information, visit www.dlife.com

The Lone Ranger and Tonto went camping in the desert.   After they got their tent all set up, both men fell sound asleep.

Some hours later, Tonto wakes the Lone Ranger and says, ‘Kimosabe, look towards sky; what you see?’

The Lone Ranger replies, ‘I see millions of stars.’

‘What that tell you?’ asked Tonto.

The Lone Ranger ponders for a minute then says, ‘Astronomically speaking, it tells me there are millions of galaxies. Time wise, it appears to be approximately a quarter past three in the morning. Theologically, the Lord is all powerful, and we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What does it tell you, Tonto?’

‘You dumber than buffalo shit. Someone stole tent.’

A first grade teacher was talking to her class about the effects of a person who stutters. She explained that they can’t help it and that they are never in any real danger. Just then, Mary raised her hand and said, “Teacher, that’s not true”. The little girl went on….”We had a cat who stuttered. There was a big rotweiler that lived over the fence from our house and we could hear it barking at our cat who liked to tease it by sitting there and stuttering. One day, the dog broke thru the fence and came after our cat. She just sat there with her hair raised and back arched going “Ssssss, Sssss, Sssss”, and before she could say “shit”, the dog ate her”.

The teacher had to leave the room.

Its hard to believe that today marks the one year anniversary of Leroi Moore’s death.  Although he may be gone, his music and influence on the band will always exist.  DMB’s latest album, Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King is a great tribute to Leroi and to the band itself.

“We’ll be drinking big whiskey while we dance and sing,” “Why I Am.” “And when my story ends, it’s gonna end with him/Heaven or hell/I’m going down with the GrooGrux King.”

Rest in peace Leroi….

Leroi Moore

Frozen Crabs & the Blonde Stewardess

A lawyer boarded an airplane in New Orleans with a box of frozen crabs and asked a blonde stewardess to take care of them for him.

She took the box and promised to put it in the crew’s refrigerator.. He advised her that he was holding her personally responsible for them staying frozen, mentioning in a very haughty manner that he was a lawyer, and proceeded to rant at her about what would happen if she let them thaw out.

Needless to say, she was annoyed by his behavior.

Shortly before landing in New York , she used the intercom to announce to the entire cabin, “Would the gentleman who gave me the crabs in New Orleans, please raise your hand?”

Not one hand went up … so she took them home and ate them.

Two lessons here:

1. Lawyers aren’t as smart as they think they are.

2. Blonde’s aren’t as dumb as most folks think

I went to the doctor for my yearly physical.

The nurse starts with certain basics.

How much do you weigh?’ she asks. I reply 135

The nurse puts me on the scale. It turns out my weight is 180.

The nurse asks, ‘Your height?’ I say 5 foot 8.

The nurse checks and sees that I only measure 5′2″.

She then takes my blood pressure and tells me it is very high.

“Of course it’s high!” I scream, “When I came in here I was tall and slender! Now I’m short and fat!”

She put me on Prozac. What a bitch.

Happy Birthday Donahan Bella Luna of Tri-Ste!  You are 2 years old today!!!

It’s hard to believe that two years ago that you were born and that you were just a thought in our minds.  I remember going to your house and seeing all your brothers and sisters and having a hard time determining which puppy we wanted to bring home.

We are SO happy that we chose you to be in our family!  You are great companion to all of us (even Domino!!) and we couldn’t imagine life without you!  You are a wonderful dog, full of vigor and zest!  There is never a dull moment when you are around!

We are looking forward to MANY more years with you!  We can’t wait for the adventures to unfold!!

So enjoy your day (even though it will be spent in the ring) little Bella!  We love you lots!!!

Baby Bella

Bella