More Swap-Bot Stuff

After some thought I've decided to NOT post pictures of what I'm sending. Most people like "surprises" and if they happen to sneak a peek over here they're going to see what they're getting. :)

Last night's post was made about 15 minutes before I was going to bed so I didn't have time to get into what I actually like to swap. Most of my swaps consist of Kawaii. Kawaii means "cute" in Japanese. It covers a wide variety of items including, but not limited to brands such as: Sanrio, Crux, Q-lia, Kamio, Pool Cool, Cram Cream, etc.. If you don't feel like googling it, think "Hello Kitty" who is probably the most popular Kawaii character in the US. My favorite characters are of course Hello Kitty, Rilakkuma and lately I've also been into Fairy Tale World, most especially Alice in Wonderland and Little Red Riding Hood.
I'm also big into swapping stationary items. I run a "note card" swap every month and I try to run a pen swap or at least join one every month. This month I went a little overboard and I'm in 4 pen swaps. Probably because I have a new love. The PaperMate InkJoy pens and I'm bound and determined to make sure all of my friends get one... lol

In the last few months 90% of the swaps I've been in are group only swaps. I'm tired of getting flaked on (when your partner doesn't send out their items) and I'm tired of people not sending the required items or just flat out sending garbage.
That being said here are the swaps I'm in at the moment. If you see one you'd like to participate in and you're not in that group just send a request to join. As long as you meet the rules of that particular group you're most likely going to be invited. :)

• Pen Swap #2a (USA only)
• The $15 Pen-Pal Supplies Swap
• I❤K: February Kawaii Sticker Flakes
• My Favorite Pen
• Another Addy Label Swap
• I❤K: February Kawaii Sticker Sack
• I❤K: February Kawaii 4x6 Memos
• ♫ Kawaii Slams for February ♫
• ⤳ Leap Day Kawaii ⤳
• Leap Day Postcard Swap – International
• Luck o' the Irish Notecard - 100 Rated US Swappers
• Pens! Oh Pens! How I Love Thee!

I also really enjoy profile swaps and if your rating is good enough and you have enough swaps under your belt I'm into higher dollar private swaps.
I'm easy though, if you're interested in any sort of private swap just drop me a comment (with your username) or send me a message on swap-bot. My username is rachelcdoyle. :)

Happy swapping folks!
Rachel

Things I like to do!

So, I've been a member of Swap-Bot.com for 4.5 years now. I was pretty inactive for awhile because of health issues and I was just too busy to be able to devote time into participating.
For the last 10 months or so though I've been swapping left and right.
Since I started blogging again, I've mostly kept to recipes and not too personal information. I had A LOT of crappy things going on in my life for the last 3 or 4 years but things are starting to fall back into place and so as I'm passing my blog address around to my fellow swappers you regular readers might be seeing things that confuse you.
I could take a crap load of time and space explaining to you exactly what swap-bot is but I provided a link and if you're really *THAT* interested feel free to follow it and check it out. In a nutshell, swap-bot is a pretty cool website that you can use to meet other people who love sending and receiving "snail mail" as much as I do. I used to pen-pal quite a bit but since the internet took over the world that really died down. Some people think it's the end of the world to have to write a letter with a pen on a piece of paper and actually put a stamp on an envelope. I, on the other hand LOVE IT!
At swap-bot you can swap pretty much anything you can think of. Letters, crafts, craft supplies...ok I could go on and on but really, I linked to it already.

The point of this post is to introduce people to swap-bot as well as say "hi" to my fellow swappers and start posting pictures of some of the cool stuff I get to send and receive.

If you have any questions though, feel free to drop me a comment or an email and ask away (rachelcdoyle@gmail.com).

Thanks!
Me <3

The Best Pork Chops EVER!

Pork Chops with Fresh Tomato, Onion, Garlic, and Feta

Ok, I'm going to post this recipe "as written" and then put my changes at the bottom. I didn't go crazy changing anything, I just modified it a little to our tastes.

You're going to need:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 4 pork loin chops, 1 inch thick
• salt to taste
• black pepper to taste
• garlic powder to taste
• 1/2 pint red grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 pint yellow grape tomatoes, halved
• 3 cloves garlic, diced
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 2 1/2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
• 4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

Directions

1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onion and cook until golden brown. Set aside.
2. Heat 1/2 tablespoon oil in the skillet. Season pork chops with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, and place in the skillet. Cook to desired doneness. Set aside and keep warm.
3. Heat remaining oil in the skillet. Return onions to skillet, and stir in tomatoes, garlic, and basil. Cook and stir about 3 minutes, until tomatoes are tender. Mix in balsamic vinegar, and season with salt and pepper. Top chops with the onion and tomato mixture, and sprinkle with feta cheese to serve.

Here are my changes:
* I got the onions started cooking and then just cooked the chops with the onions on a lower heat so that the onions didn't go crispy or out-right burn. I then set the chops aside as directed and started working on the topping.
* I didn't bother with the measuring of the pints of tomatoes. I bought the standard size packages of red grape/yellow grape tomatoes (10.5 oz. each) and just used them ALL. It was a little more than called for but we love tomatoes.
* I didn't use a tablespoon of basil. I used 2 teaspoons.
* I didn't use a 2.5 teaspoons of balsamic vinegar, I used 1 tablespoon, which actually might be right around the "right" amount. I don't know measurements. I always have to google to find out how much of what goes into what. :P

I wish...

I was as witty and sassy as I was 3+ years ago. Maybe I'll try working on that again.

My Early Present To My Valentine.

Believe it or not I'm always struggling to find fun, unique and thoughtful presents for Gary. Sure, I can stick with the never-fail Barnes and Nobles gift cards, cash or Newegg gift certificates but sometimes I just like to be like... ya know?

This is what I came up with this year and you're more than welcome to steal it from me. I'm not very "crafty" so I'm pretty proud of my damn self!

I started with 20 to 25 Valentiney looking note cards with envelopes, a hole-puncher, a 1.5 inch metal book ring thingie (you can get them at office supply stores or at craft stores) and a crap ton of Valentine's stickers.
I sat down at my desk and started writing.
In each card I wrote something special just for him, little love notes, "pick me ups" and other random thoughts.
I sealed the envelope up. Then I punched a hole in the top left corner of each one and put them on the book ring. I decorated the front of the envelopes with stickers and rub-ons and left him directions to only open them on days he's feeling "down" because I've come to realize that my bi-polar ass isn't the only one to get down around here.

This is what the final project looked like.
NOW, keep in mind I'm NOT crafty so you'll probably make yours a lot prettier blah blah blah. I just keep telling myself it's what I wrote on the inside that matters! LOL

Another Quagmire Update

Thursday started off normal and the whole day was rather uneventful and boring. Gary got home from work around 4pm. I was sitting in the computer room when I heard him open the door. He came through to me about 5 minutes later and tells me that he doesn't know where Quagmire is because Quags usually comes running when Gary gets home. Anyway, I freak for a second. Maybe I had left him outside but I check the living room by the front door where Quagmire is usually sleeping and I see him there TRYING to stand up but failing miserably. 3 days later that sight haunts me. The little guy just wanted to come see his Daddy and couldn't.
Anyway, we figured he had just had another seizure and was getting over it. We didn't take him to the vet but I did call them to set up an appointment for this coming Monday. I explained that it was financial and of course they told me that wouldn't matter and if we needed to come in to just come in. We decided to wait it out because in the end there isn't anything they can do immediately for a seizure.

So, now it's 10:20 pm. I'm sound asleep and I wake up to Gary calling me telling me to come to him. Of course I'm in some sort of crazy daze because I had taken a sleeping pill and was out COLD. I stumble into the kitchen and see him there sitting with Quagmire. Quags is trembling pretty bad and trying to walk but can't do it. I'm FREAKING out at this point. In my sleepy head all I could think was that this was the big one and Gary had called me out to say goodbye. Quagmire recovered from this one pretty quickly after I got up. It had started at 10pm though so this one was much longer and more intense than the one 6 hours prior. I took him in the bedroom and was laying on the floor with my pillow next to his with every intention of sleeping on the floor with him but that got him all excited and he was pretty set on getting up in bed with us. He was even TRYING to jump into our bed but his legs are too short so it's just a cute little hop he does. Anyway, he sleeps with us and I'm up at 6:45 in the am to call his vet and make him an appointment. They had me bring him in right away so I do and once I'm there with him I go through everything that had happened the day before.

So, here we are on Saturday. He's a little lethargic, panting, thirsty (all symptoms of his new medication) and this is what the doctor is saying.

She said we COULD pay for an MRI for him. They don't do it but there is a vet downtown who will. The cost is $2500. She says it's not even something she recommends per say (because of the price) but that it is an option.
She started him on Phenobarbital and Bromide for seizures. He's on an aggressive dose because he had 2 in one day. He'll be on the Pheno for about 4 months. We'll test his blood then to make sure his Bromide level is high enough to stop seizures then they'll take him off the Pheno. It's a good med but the liver damage risk is much higher on Pheno than on Bromide and he already has a bad liver.

They're also going to test him for Cushings. Here's a link if you're interested in reading about THAT. He's got most of the symptoms except that he's a little young for when dogs usually get it.

I'll post more later when we get test results back. :)

Things that make me STABBY STABBY on Facebook

Things I hope to not see on FB in 2012:

1. Duck lips - no explanation needed. This also includes "holding the camera over your head".

2. Taking a picture of yourself in the mirror and posting it on FB. It's just... tacky and even more so when you've got the camera showing. Call me and I'll come snap some of you. That's for 12 year old kids (who shouldn't be on FB anyway) and very conceited people.

3. Song Lyrics - Seriously? Someone else wrote it and sang it and let's leave it that way. Write your own song.
Journey's "Small Town" lyric wars are the only exception.

4. #MOTHERFLIPPINHASHTAGS!!!!! 90% of you don't even USE Twitter so WHY do you use hashtags? #itdoesntmakeyoucooler

5. EVERY.SINGLE.FREAKIN.SONG.YOU.WATCHED.ON.YOUTUBE.TODAY. That's the reason 90% of the people I've blocked from seeing their news feeds are blocked.

6. People who use their kids/pets as profile pictures. That's what the photo albums are for. Unless YOU are in the picture with that animal or child it shouldn't be there. Special occasions like birthdays, anniversaries and things like that don't bother me but really? All the time? Every time someone comments when they use a kid or pet as a profile I think to myself, "A dog wouldn't say that".

7. Your bodily functions and schedule. How many times a day do you need to update? Sometimes I miss important things from friends and family because someone has filled my news feed up with about 15 posts in 15 minutes. I get to hear "I woke up" - "I ate breakfast" - "Took my morning poop!" - and so on and so forth. It's called Attention Whoring and it's not attractive. Just because people haven't acknowledged a post doesn't mean you have to change tones and make another one just for more attention. K?

8. If I see one more person throw their personal business on Facebook and then say "This is not any of your business" I might scream. If you don't want people in your business DONT PUT IT ON FACEBOOK!!!

9. Kids - I have VERY few kids on my friends list and I'm not going to censor myself because they are there. Don't have your kids request to be my friend because it's not going to happen. Kids should be seen and not heard... or seen actually. If you have to change your birthday to make it "legal" for you to be on FB then you shouldn't BE on FB.... you're too young. Period!

10. And last but certainly not least!!! This has gotten really bad in the last few months... but for the love of all that is good PLEASE stop bombarding my screen with all those stupid pictures with "positive and uplifting" quotes on them... or bitchy quotes, or girl power quotes, or love and romance quotes or anything along those lines at all. If you really really REALLY can't think of something on your own to say then just shut up? One a day would be acceptable but some people I know download and then upload them all to their FB posting 100's a week. It's killing me. It's turned into the world of "I can't think of anything to say so I'm just going to borrow someone else's shit to say."



DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT HAVE ANY ONE PERSON IN MIND. JUST BECAUSE YOU THINK THIS MIGHT BE ABOUT YOU DOES NOT MEAN THAT IT IS ABOUT YOU. IF YOU *DO* THINK IT'S ABOUT YOU THAN MAYBE YOU SHOULD RECONSIDER YOUR HABITS ON FACEBOOK. MAYBE YOU'RE JUST IRRITATING PEOPLE. :)
These are MY opinions and by no means am I stating that everyone thinks or should think this way. These are my opinions on my blog. You're probably only pissed off because you're guilty of one or all of them anyway. #kthnxbai