Olympic Plush Challenge Submission

This is sandie the penguin. She kept seeing all of these visitors that were talking about the olympics. One day, she snuck out and found a keeper watching figure skating on tv. Sandie became entranced by it.

She wanted shoes of her own, but couldn't find any. She found some white children boots and jammed her webbed feet into them. Back in the penguin enclave, she pretends to glide around, with an occasional triple spin jump.

The visitors noticed sandie and her antics, and the penguin exhibit has become one of the most popular exhibits at our local zoo...

Plush Olympic Challenge from Schmancy

What was I thinking when I signed up for this? I know, I know. I really wanted to participate, but I have almost zero free time this month. *sigh*

My task is to create a plush something or other in the category of figure skating. The due date is Feb 26th. Today is Feb 24th. Eek!

The reason why I'm so busy, is I've been busy trying to squeeze some practice in before I head off to the US Women's Curling Nationals in Kalamazoo, MI from March 6-14th. Between getting practice in, there are regular game days, paying attention to my hubby and my beagle, and getting in some housework and chores. I also have my regular day job as quality assurance (software tester). February is especially trying, because I have tickets to the Olympics. Last Saturday we saw the women's qualifiers (curling). This Saturday I get to see the men's gold match.

I originally wanted to make a plushie figure skating octopus. I had a whole story created for him too. I'm having to change it to a penguin. This is what has been created so far,and it has all been hand sewn. Crossing fingers that I get this completed before Friday.

Oh yeah, to all the plush people, here's a shameless plug for my curling team. We're trying to win a sponsorship from Prilosec OTC for $1000. Votes/popularity count in the final decision. You can login and vote every day. If you could just login and vote once, I'd really appreciate it. Team Hambley is listed in the sports section here : http://www.officialsponsor.com/applications/view/1501

Trip to the Olympics!

I went with my husband to the Vancouver Centre to watch the Saturday 2 pm women's qualifiers draw. It was a pretty awesome draw to go to. There were two games with extra ends - USA Vs Great Britain and China Vs Germany. Both USA and China won.

It was very exciting to attend. Canada was not playing this draw so the crowd chanted loudly for USA.

If you can make it to Vancouver, I highly recommend it. I'll try and post a few photos when I get home. I managed to snag some photos of the teams during their practices.

Next Sarturday my husband and I will be headed to watch the Men's Gold.

Best hubby in the world

I have got the best hubby in the world. He recently got me a new battery for my MacBook Pro! I can go around without being beholden to a charger again!

Today I got a hair cut during lunch. I don't think Jer likes it. Its okay. I always forget how much I hate bangs until I get them. However, I haven't changed my hair in 3 years so needed something different. Back to the drawing board I guess.

By the way, thanks to everyone for voting for Team Hambley to win a Prilosec OTC sponsorship. We are in 2nd place on the sports page with 576 votes. We are 125 votes away from Old Guy Who Wants to Play His Favorite Sport. Keep voting! You can login and vote once a day!

http://www.officialsponsor.com/applications/view/1501

Curling, curling everywhere!

It seems like everyone is getting into curling with the Olympics! On Saturday February 14th, the Simpsons had an episode where Homer and Marge were participating in the Olympics as a Mixed Doubles team (Mixed Doubles is currently not an Olympic event). Weeks before that, the Olympic men's team Shuster has appeared on various shows such as Jay Leno and one with Stephen Colbert.

This morning, as I went to Google, I discovered their image today is celebrating curling! Yay.

Agile NW Conference

Attending the Agile NW Conference, courtesy of the company that I work at.

In the morning they started off with breakfast and opening ceremonies. Breakfast was full of carb-o-licious food I had to avoid. Pastries galore and beverages full of sugar. There was also a big huge bowl of fruit and large containers of coffee and hot water.

Opening ceremonies explained how open spaces forum worked. People put the topic that they wanted to present or discuss on a piece of paper with their name (they would run it) and then go to the microphone to announce it. I'm used to being in a class of people where no one raises their hand. There was a rush to pen and paper and topics spilling to both Tuesday and Wednesday were posted.

My two favorite sessions were my first two sessions. Both of them were interactive. Diana L presented "Where's My Key", about learning languages. She taught sign language, a kind of pidgin english. Today I still remember the items she taught us: What's that?, a stick, a rock, a black pen, a red pen, and one dollar.

The second session was presented by Chris Sims. He had three different agile 'games'. One where we estimated how many invitations we could make, the second passing around baseballs, and the third estimating how long it would take to eat various pieces of fruit.

Today, headed towards Day Two.

Thank you for voting! We still need more votes!!

Thanks to everyone for taking the 2 minutes out of their day to vote for my curling team, Team Hambley, on the Prilosec OTC official sponsorship page.

We are currently sitting in 3rd place for the most votes in the sports section with 298 votes. 34 votes away from 2nd place.

You can login to vote every day. The first day of judging is Feb 22nd, and that date is closing in fast. If you can talk your significant other, your friends and coworkers to voting for us at least once, we appreciate every vote!

Thanks again!

http://www.officialsponsor.com/applications/view/1501

The video isn't working on our application page yet, but the tech folks at Prilosec OTC are working on fixing it.

You can also catch it here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyQxHn6ThOA

Mixed Spiel done.

The 2010 Mixed Spiel is done. My team won the first two games, then lost with the last shot in the 8th end. My skip needed to hit and stick, and the rock over curled.

Today, my hubby took me to Mae's Cafe for breakfast. I had the Popeye omelet : Bacon, spinach, and some swiss cheese. I wasn't about to eat hashbrowns, so I agreed to grits on the side. I took one spoonful and decided that I don't like grits.

After breakfast we headed to the club for practice. The finals hadn't started yet. I ended up subbing on Charlie Smith's team, and we beat the opposing team 9 - 1 after 4 ends. The other team decided to shake.

Jeremy got a little practice in, working on his out turn. Then we stayed around to socialize and watch the final Scotties game, where Jennifer Jones took her 3rd championship in a row, beating out PEI.

2010 Mixed Spiel Game 1

Team Calcagno won game one of the mixed spiel. The beginning of the game was as little rocky, but we finally settled down in the last three ends to take control.

Our next game is at 11:30 am against Beth and Sara's mixed team.

Toast to the Senior Women's National Champions!

Prilosec OTC sponsorship : Please vote for Team Hambley!

I submitted an application to Prilosec OTC for a sponsorship for my curling team. They approved it the other day. Now its up to people voting and the judges review of my submission.

You need to register before you can vote. You can vote with the same email address once a day. Please vote!

http://www.officialsponsor.com/applications/view/1501

Thanks so much.

Two national titles on the same day!

Saturday, January 30, 2010, the Vukich rink won the US Women's National title and the Beighton rink won the US Junior Men's National title. The Vukich rink is headed to Russia for World playdowns, and has the oldest woman to win a national title Betty Kozai at age 81. The Beighton rink will be headed to Switzerland.

On a not as exciting note, my team had a fun time playing in the Washington State Mixed playdowns, but did not make it to Nationals. Our third game of the day did not matter. Team Guzman and Team Lehto had some fun, only playing to 4 ends. A couple of new rules : only 2 takes outs were allowed, and a mulligan (where the skip flashed his shot) was repeated.

After the 2nd end, we all stacked brooms and had a shot of Sambuca. I (having made it to the 8th day of the South Beach diet - no carbs, no sugar, no alcohol) had to pass. Team Lehto had participated in some serious pre-funking before our game. Darren had a couple of falls, one incredibly spectacular fall, in which he managed to turtle back and not hit his head. Patti from Team Lehto, and Benj our skip also managed to fall.

I'm not so sure it was a good thing going into a competition without eating complex carbs. Having lost five pounds last week and knowing I was on day 8 also made it hard for me to cave. I settled on eating a spoonful of peanut butter during a 5th end break.

Today is day 9. That means only 6 more days before I go into Phase 2. There have been a few accidental cheats along the way. A couple of small carrots from a strained chicken noodle soup. Half a crouton on a salad, where the croutons had to be picked off. I have managed to avoid several temptations.

I avoided Tim Bits that the hubby brought home on day one. I also was very sad not to attend Baconpalooza night last Monday, courtesy of Team Beth C/Enns. I avoided all the baked goods brought into work on top of the company lunch ...pizza.

This 2nd time around, the South Beach diet has been much harder. I've been tired, irritable, and fuzzy headed. Ketosis? Maybe. I'm waiting for the cravings of sugar and starches to stop, which is what Phase 1 is supposed to accomplish. At this time, I would be incredibly happy with an apple and half a piece of whole wheat bread with some peanut butter on it.

Mixed Playdowns this weekend!

This weekend are the Mixed Playdowns at the Seattle Granite Curling Club. My team is playing at 9 am, 2 pm, and 7 pm. I am up at 6:15 am to prep breakfast and to try to wake up. It is too early. Meh.

Last weekend was the Women's Bonspiel at the club. My team, comprising of Lysa Hambley, Em Good, Beth C, Sara Skulec, and myself won the C bracket. We won our first game on Saturday, lost our 2nd game which dropped us to the C bracket, and then won the next 3 games. We played a total of 3 games on Saturday and 2 games on Sunday. Our prize: a champagne goblet with Seattle Granite etched in it and a bottle of wine.

I'm always happy to win, but the only time I've won money is with Jeremy at last year's Novice spiel in Langley. I've won a pin, a bronze medal, drink tickets, and now, a bottle of wine and a champagne goblet. Next year, my plans are to be in the money. :D

I've been terribly cranky and tired since last Saturday. I went on the South Beach diet to lose about 10 lbs before the US Women's Nationals. No simple carbs and refined sugars. Gah. This 2nd time of being on the diet has been much harder than the first time.

Of course, it is also curling season, where all sorts of tasty carbs: breads and desserts are paraded in front of me. Sigh. 5 lbs down. 5 lbs to go before I start phase 2. Here's hoping I can hold to it with three 10 end games coming up today.

My next sport to participate in?

Came across this on my RSS feed. Looks like FUN!!

http://emeraldcitytrapeze.com/

Chocolate for choice, year 3

Thursday was an interesting day.

My friend Maya and I stopped by the Crawfish King and had a spicy Gulf Shrimp dinner before heading to the Chocolate for Choice event held by Naral.

I accidentally bumped my bench back into the table behind me. Because of it, I ended up having a 5 minute conversation with the older couple sitting there. They were very eager to talk about the different restaurants they had eaten at in the Seattle area, and the woman said how she used to volunteer at Naral many years ago.

We met Jonna and Lisa at Safeco Field. Inside we were browsing the silent auctions. I snagged a table for us (there were only 3 tables this year). Jonna bought a round of wine. We filled our plates full of chocolate and I placed a bid on an item in the silent auction, which I eventually won. Two 4 week lessons for learning to row for crew at Lake Union.

I went to buy the next round of wine and ended up being carded. When I brought out my license, the bartender looked at the date, looked at me and exclaimed, "Lookin' goooood!"

On the way home, I was driving behind a bus. The bus stopped less than a mile from my house. Two high school boys dropped off, threw their skateboards on the ground in front of them, then proceeded to pee in some poor homeowner's yard.

An interesting day.

Trip to the dentist.

I went to the dentist's office last week.

I had a fantastic visit. I warned they hygienist that I was tired and that I might fall asleep. However, I was also worried that I wouldn't be able to keep my mouth open.

She came up with a great solution. There was a little foam block that she found. We wedged it between my molars to keep my mouth open. I must have been really tired, because I DID fall asleep for about half an hour.

Crazy.

Fruity Moti Bars

I've baked a total of 3 recipes from the Cookie Book I borrowed from the library. The Apricot Chews are my favorite so far.

1/2 cup finely cut dried apricots
1/2 cup raisins
1/3 cup water
1 cup All purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon soda
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup drained crushed pineapple
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Confectioner's sugar

Oven 350 degrees (makes 24 bars --how tiny are the bars supposed to be??)

In large saucepan combine apricots, raisins and water. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally until water is absorbed. Cool slightly.

Add remaining ingredients except confectioner's sugar. Blend well. Spread in greased 9 inch square pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. While warm, cut in bars. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.


I also made these the day before.

Split Levels

Chocolate Fillng:
1 cup (6 oz package) semi sweet chocolate pieces
1 (3 oz) package cream cheese
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons sesame seed
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Crumb Crust:
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter softened
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Oven 375 degrees (makes 24 bars)

In saucepan combine chocolate, cream cheese and milk. Melt over low heat stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in remaining filling ingredients. Blend well. Set aside.

In large mixer bowl combine all crust ingredients. Blend well with mixer until particles are fine.

Press half of crumb crust mixture in greased 11x17 pan. Spread with filling. Sprinkle rest of crumbs over filling.

Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes. Cool

Cyndy's Side Comments so far:
I don't think this recipe is really for an 11 x 17 pan. I ended up having to make a double batch of crust. Waiting for it to finish baking....

Beagles and beer

Here is Jeremy's cousin Brian's beagle, Jessie.

They were having a little bit of fun with her. Jessie doesn't look like she is enjoying her costume.

1967 Maple Peanut Yummies

Can the 1967 Pillsbury's Bake-Off Cookie Book stand the test of time?

Maple Peanut Yummies

1 3/4 cups Pillsbury's Best All Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup crunch peanut butter
1/3 cup maple syrup (note, do NOT use syrup that expired 2 years ago)
1 egg

Oven 350 degrees F.

In a large mixer bowl combine all ingredients. Blend well with mixer.
Shape into balls using a rounded teaspoon for each. Place on ungreased cookie sheets; flatten with a fork, criss-cross fashion.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. Cool. Makes 48 to 54 cookies.

Edited:
12 minutes later. Cookies are a little dry and need a little more sugar or maple syrup.

First big foosball win against the hubby!!

Woot!

I got my first big foosball win against my hubby today. There was NO handicap! Yeah....

On another note, I found a new favorite mashup to walk the dog to by DJ Earworm http://djearworm.com/. United State of Pop 2009 (Blame it on the pop)