Category Archives: Paroxysm of Giggles

Quarterly Challenge #11

Challenge Accepted!, Paroxysm of Giggles

Sorry that I haven’t posted too much lately. I have a good excuse though. I’ve had meningitis. It totally sucks. But I’m getting better, thanks be to God. While I’ve been out — not counting the couple of weeks where all I could do is lie there and stare at the ceiling — I’ve been able to read a plethora of books. I even finished my Quarterly Challenge #10 with a couple days to spare! 🙂

But now we are entering a new month, and a new Quarterly Challenge! Here are the details of #11:

Note: Books listed in italics are ones that I *plan to read* for the particular category. Books listed in regular font *I have read*.

Duration: September 1, 2013 – November 30, 2013

We are a YA Book Club, so all books should be young adult (unless otherwise noted).

You have 3 months to read 10 YA books that satisfy following requirements:

1) Read a book that is a new release published in September, October or November of 2013. GoodReads offers lists of the most popular new releases by month, they might help you to make your choices – September, October and November (If you have difficulties obtaining these new books, you can read a release from the same months in 2012).
Allegiant by Veronica Roth

2) September 22-28 is Banned Books Week. Celebrate your freedom to read by reading a book that has been banned and/or challenged in any country. The American Library Association has several lists available, but you do not have to read from those lists nor does the book have to be YA.
1984 by George Orwell, completed 9/6

3) Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15-October 15) and read a book with a Hispanic main character. If you need ideas, REFORMA has a great list. Thanks, Neha, for an excellent GoodReads list.
I Will Save You by Matt de la Pena

4) Read a book that has been translated into English. Oliviasbooks has provided a great list.

5) September 19th is Talk Like a Pirate Day. Read a book about pirates or seafaring people. Some ideas can be found here.

6) Read a scary or horror book for Halloween.
Drought by Pam Bachorz

7) October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Read a book where any character is being abused or has been abused.

8) Celebrate World Post Day, October 9th, by reading an epistolary novel or real correspondence letters. Ideas can be found here.
Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding

9) November 12th is Chicken Soup for the Soul Day. Read a book with a heartwarming or uplifting story.

10) Reread a book that you loved to celebrate Book Lovers Day (first Saturday in November).

I will try to update my progress as I go! 🙂

7 Quick Takes: 7 x 7 Edition

7 Quick Takes Friday, Paroxysm of Giggles

On the way in to work today, I was inspired to write my quick takes in 7 x 7 style. 7 topics with 7 entries each. 🙂 Hopefully, I have enough to complete my quick takes! 🙂 Here goes!

— 1 —

Seven Things I Did Before Work:

Prayed Morning Prayer and the Office of the Readings
Prayed before the Lord exposed on the altar
Got a delicious Venti iced no-ice Caramel Macchiato
Got a delicious Spinach and Artichoke souffle
Walked leisurely around downtown Plymouth, enjoying the beautiful morning
Took and Instagrammed pictures of some flowers (taken downtown)
Brought “Moloka’i” to work; reading it for a book club

— 2 —

Seven Photos I Took This Morning:

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— 3 —

Seven Priests I Pray For:

Fr. John Riccardo – Click here for his podcasts
Fr. JJ Mech – St. Anastasia Parish Website
Fr. Eric Fedewa – St. Anastasia Parish Website
Fr. Steve Mateja – Click here for his podcasts
Fr. Clement Suhy – Click here for his podcasts
Fr. Stanley Obloj – St. Mark Parish Website
Fr. Lee Acervo – Fr. Acervo’s Corner (blog)

Not the complete list of priests I pray for… In case you are one of my priests and you feel left out… Don’t worry!

— 4 —

Seven Books I Need to Read Before 8/10, When They are Due Back at the Library:

A Tale of Two Pretties
Ancient Writers: Greece and Rome
Brideshead Revisited
Kill Me Softly
Moloka’i
The Monk Downstairs
Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker

— 5 —

Seven Devotions that can be Prayed Using Beads:

Dominican Rosary
Brigittine beads
Dolour beads
Immaculate Conception beads
Crown of Our Saviour
Chaplet of the Five Wounds
Crosier beads

Trivia: Did you know that, historically, the word “bead” or “bede” meant “prayer”?

— 6 —

Seven Things That I Need to Do Around My House, That Will Be Ignored for Yet Another Week:

Putting away the laundry
Washing all the dishes
Scrubbing the tub
Cleaning the computer room
Taking old furniture to some charity
Cleaning the garage
Decluttering

— 7 —

Seven Rides I Plan on Going On Tomorrow!

Gatekeeper
Raptor
Magnum
Maverick
Maxair
Windseeker
Thunder Canyon

Obviously… I’M GOING TO CEDAR POINT!!! 🙂

Gatekeeper at Cedar Point

God Bless!

For more Quick Takes, visit Jen at Conversion Diary!

Adventures in Mowing

Exciting Adventures of the Everyday, Paroxysm of Giggles

I haven’t been feeling well lately, and as a result a lot of things around the house have been rather neglected. Including my lawn. My shaggy, overgrown lawn.

A friend had offered to help with the lawn at one point, and I knew that it was time to (finally) ask for help!

This is how I asked:

Jack-jack! For the love of all that is holy, please send some grazing animals to my lawn. And where were you when I desperately needed a medical professional last night?!?!?! 🙂

And, because Jack-jack is AWESOME, he immediately offered to come over and help! 🙂 He said he might bring a helper, but I have since never heard if he actually brought a helper or not… Or who the helper may have been… If there was a Mystery Helper — Thank You!

On the morning that Jack-jack — he doesn’t actually call himself this; I have decided that this shall be his name after the most awesome superhero from the Incredibles — was to arrive to help with the yard, I sent him a couple important photos:

First, I have this stupid plant growing in my yard.
Poison Ivy
Poison Ivy

But I was thinking of his well-being and provided a towel and some soap, so that he could wash up (using the garden hose, LOL) in the unfortunate event that he came into contact with this unwelcome yard guest.

And, we couldn’t have our hero be without something to refresh him after his hard labors, could we?

I THINK NOT!

So, I offered the only thing I had: beer.

I don’t really drink, so it had been left in the freezer from when Fr. Eric came over for dinner. I figured that by the time Jack-jack was done with the lawn, it might have had time to thaw, yet still be cold. 🙂

So, I left the goodies on a box next to the lawnmower and gas can.
Beer and Soap

I made sure to leave 2 beers in case he did bring a helper. I didn’t think to leave a bottle opener, but providentially there was a magnetized one stuck to the side of the lockers in the garage right next to the beer.

…

When I got home, the first thing I noticed (after noting that the grass was mowed), was that my picnic table was now located in the middle of the yard, instead of where it normally resides on the concrete next to the garage.

Picnic Table in the Middle of the Yard

HAHAHA! Hilarious! I thought, “Jack-jack must want me to *use* this picnic table. I’ll have to arrange a picnic or BBQ soon.” How fun!

But there’s more! As I started to realize that more things were “out of place”, I ran around looking for all the changes in the yard. It was like the “Where’s Waldo” of patio furniture! 🙂 Delightful!

Jack had cleared off the sidewalk and porch:
Sidewalk and Front Porch

Moved a chair and a teapot to next to the back door:
Chair and Teapot by the Back Door

Moved a bench from the front patio area to the side of the house:
Bench on Side of House

Stuck a yard sign (that my mom had gotten and placed in the front flower bed) in the grass in the backyard:
Sign in the Backyard

And, finally, left the beer bottles by tomato and corn plant:
Finished Beer and Plants

He also left my Tony Hawk 4 game in the back door with a note that he and his fiancee, April, were praying for me! Awww! (And now I have to practice my video-skateboarding skills…)

THANKS JACK-JACK AND MYSTERY HELPER!

Not only was this incredibly helpful to me, but you made it SO MUCH FUN!!! 🙂

Love you guys! 🙂

Why I Get Sick…

Health & Medicine, Paroxysm of Giggles, ,

For funsies, I’m reading through my Anatomy and Physiology textbook and completing the study workbook (that I never used when I was actually *taking* the class).

Now, I got a lot of stuff wrong with me, but one of them is that I tend to accrue lactic acid like crazy. By “crazy”, I mean that on one of my studies, my lactic acid production upon exertion was something like 25 times normal.

So, let’s see what the trusty A/P text has to say about acidosis:

The normal pH of blood, for example, is 7.35 – 7.45. Acidosis, in which blood pH falls to 7.0 to 7.3, makes one feel disoriented and fatigued, and breathing may become difficult. — Hole’s Human Anatomy and Physiology, David Shier et al.

Um. Yep!

On to chaper 3! Where we will learn about cells, and the stupid, stupid cells within cells called mitochondria which SUCK. (At least, mine do!) 🙂

Mitochondrion
I couldn’t find a good, non-copyrighted, picture of a mitochondrion, so I drew one myself.

Eggvocado

Paroxysm of Giggles, Recipes, , ,

So, here we are again, uploading another recipe from the Facebook. Not that I necessarily want this to become a food blog or anything, but as it is a blog about life and adventure … sometimes trying out new recipes fits right in! 🙂

Eggvocado

Doesn’t it look good?

Okay, so here’s the recipe:

Avocado
Egg
Cayenne pepper (or spice of your choosing)
Cheese (optional)

Remove the seed/pit from the avocado. Scoop out a little more avocado to make the hole larger. Crack an egg into the hole. Sprinkle with spices and cheese as desired. Bake in the oven at 180 degrees until the egg is cooked to your preference.

Pro Tip: Cut a little off the back of the avocado so it doesn’t roll around in the oven.

Perhaps I’ll buy an avocado and some eggs and try this out this weekend. Perhaps…. 🙂

Hatchling

Humor of the Day, Jennspeak, Paroxysm of Giggles, , ,

I don’t know about you guys, but I really like Facebook. I don’t *love* it and I don’t *think* I’m addicted to it, but I think of it like the CNN of the things which matter most to me: my friends and family. I’d much rather hear about how their day is going, even if it is going like every other day, than hear about politics or whatever on the news. People and relationships are what matter most in this world and I like that I have a way to interact with many people on a daily basis. Relationships on Facebook may not be as deep as they are in person, but it is much better than the nothing they would be without Facebook.

Ok, enough with the Facebook rant. LOL.

The reason for today’s blog post is from something that a friend shared on her Facebook wall.

“It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for a bird to learn to fly while remaining an egg.

We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.”

~ Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis

This last part, “we must be hatched or go bad,” made me smile. Mostly because of an inside family joke.

See, growing up, my mom knew where my brother’s birth certificate was. But she couldn’t find mine. So, the joke began that I wasn’t actually *born* but hatched (like from an egg) into the family.

Every year on my birthday, my brother greets me with, “Happy Hatch Day, Hatchling!” And I think that’s pretty cool. That and my brother’s pretty awesome. I’m not sure anyone else could really pull that off.

Anyway, it just kind of gives me hope. You know. That maybe I’m on the right path in my life. 🙂

Happy Sunday!

A Lovely Morning

Exciting Adventures of the Everyday, Paroxysm of Giggles, , , , , , ,

Even though it was the day after a holiday where I stayed up late, I got up early this morning with the intention of going to the 6:30 am Mass at OLGC. 

When I got there, there was a disturbing lack of cars in the parking lot, although it was only 7 minutes until the start of Mass. Plus, there were a few cars *leaving*… Not a good sign.

It turns out that there is only a 9 am Mass today, which I wouldn’t be able to make. I sat in my car for about half an hour, watching all the birds, praying, and just enjoying the morning.

I headed into downtown Plymouth and was greeted by these pretty flowers on the corner of the street where I parked:

From 2013-07-05

Then, I decided to treat myself to breakfast at Panera. I got a breakfast sandwich and actually sat down in a seat by the window, looking out at other people starting their day.

Of course, I also stopped by the Starbucks next door and grabbed an iced mocha. 🙂

I went back to the church, to see if anyone had shown up yet to unlock the doors so I could pray, but as I was driving there, I saw Fr. John driving in the opposite direction… So, no praying in the church for me!

Instead, I took a photo in front of the Lourdes grotto:
Good Morning, OLGC!

And sent it to Fr. John. You know. So he wouldn’t miss me or something… LOL! 🙂 Fulfilled my duty as the annoying little sister for the day! Yay! 🙂

Only a Few Hours Left!

Blogging and Blog Friends, Paroxysm of Giggles

To try and find a new blog reader, as Google Reader is dying in just over 2 hours.

First, I tried Feedly, but for some reason, I cannot get this to work on my laptop and the app for my phone is a little clunky.

Next, is Bloglovin.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

I’m hoping that this one works a little better.

Ugh! Decisions, decisions.

What have you found that works well?

Cheesy Crispy Chicken

Paroxysm of Giggles, Recipes, ,

The latest “trend” is for people to share recipes on Facebook.

I love FB, don’t get me wrong, but I find it near-to-impossible to be able to go back and look something up — whether on your wall or someone else’s.

And I can guarantee you that I won’t be making that delicious-looking recipe tonight!

If it’s on FB, it might not have a link to a site. Which means that I can’t Pinterest it (where I keep most of my suggested recipes). And I don’t want to pay membership fees for one of the recipe sites to be able to upload the recipe there.

So…

Unless you suggest a better way (please!), I guess I will post them here, for future reference. 🙂

Doesn’t this just look delicious?!
Cheesy Crispy Chicken

And here’s how you make it:

2 lbs chicken tenders or 4 large chicken breasts
2 sleeves Ritz crackers
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup whole milk
3 cups cheddar cheese, grated
1 teaspoon dried parsley

Sauce:
1 10 ounce can cream of chicken soup
2 tablespoon sour cream
2 tablespoon butter

Crush crackers. If using chicken breasts and not tenders, cut each chicken breast into 3 large pieces. Pour the milk, cheese and cracker crumbs into 3 separate small pans. Toss the salt and pepper into the cracker crumbs and stir the mixture around to combine. Dip each piece of chicken into the milk and then the cheese. Press the cheese into the chicken with your fingers. Then press the cheesy coated chicken into the cracker crumbs and press it in.

Spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray and lay the chicken inside the pan. Sprinkle the dried parsley over the chicken. Cover the pan with tin foil and bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes. Remove the tin foil, bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until the edges of the chicken are golden brown and crispy.

In a medium sized sauce pan combine the cream of chicken soup, sour cream and butter with a whisk. Stir it over medium high heat until the sauce is nice and hot. Serve over the chicken.

So… Who wants to come over and try this with me?! 🙂

Delicious!

Paroxysm of Giggles

I’m starting to get hungry for lunch, so I opened my box of organics to see what I have.   I found a new kind of mango in there.   Smaller, yellow.

Sorry, I have no pictures.  It was devoured too quickly.

I’m addition to being perfectly juicy; it had a wonderfully mangoey flavor, plus something unexpected…

It was sour!   Not in a bad way, but like a Sour Patch Kid!

YUM!!!

I hope they still have these for my next delivery!   I might order a ton!   🙂