Blueberry Cheesecake Muffins

Ingredients
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/3 cup sugar, PLUS
* 2-3 Tablespoons sugar (depending on sweetness of the berries)
* 3 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon almond extract ** Can be left out **
* 1/4 cup melted butter
* 1/3 cup plain yogurt ** I used Vanilla Yogurt instead **
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2/3 cup ricotta cheese
* 2 eggs
* 1 cup blueberries

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375ºF. Grease 8-10 muffins tins.
2. In a large bowl combine with a wire whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt until well blended.
3. In a medium-sized bowl beat together the almond extracts, vanilla extract, melted butter, ricotta cheese, and eggs. Add to flour mixture. Carefully fold in the blueberries. Batter will be soft and lumpy.
4. Fill the muffin cups 2/3 full and bake 20 minutes

I seriously wish that I was heading South. I’d like to take a trip. The Orlando vacations are looking good, really, other than it being hurricane season. I don’t like storms at all, so storm season in the South wouldn’t be fun. I just need some sort of vacation, some time away from here, time to be free of responsibility.

Not going to happen, I know, but it’s nice to think about.

I saw something yesterday that really made me wonder about how trashed our economy really is. I saw a couple of used Harleys along side the road for sale. It made me sad, really, because no one likes to or wants to sell their motorcycle. It’s got to be a bad state of the economy for people to do that.

I mean, I’ve seen people sell their bikes after getting a new one, but these were practically brand new, and I’m sure there was a heck of a price tag on them. How desperate can people be to sell a Harley? Seriously. They usually trade them in for new ones unless they’re really hurting.

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• 17:58 You know it’s a good day when you come home sore from picking fruit. #

I had a day, hopefully you did too.

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• 15:14 I see a fail whale… first in a while.. silly twitter #

I had a day, hopefully you did too.

Twitter me this.. Twitter me that…

• 11:30 Glad to have ‘net back.. they need to stop crashing in Norwich. #
• 12:47 New blog post: Great Advice www.tyralyn.com/archives/1058 #

I had a day, hopefully you did too.

So during the 8 hours before I went to bed and had no Internet connection, I cracked into Breaking Dawn. I got 320 pages in before my eyes got to the point where I couldn’t read. At that point, I went to bed and watched Big Brother After Dark for 3 hours. Why wasn’t I asleep? I had a sinus headache and really couldn’t be bothered to get up to get anything.

I am enjoying the book so far. It’s not what I expected, really. The different perspectives are interesting. I think she’s really onto something with that. Meyer has Twilight, from Edward’s perspective in the works. I will definitely be reading that.

So, time for me to read more. Happy Saturday!

Twitter me this.. Twitter me that…

• 19:19 No net again. wtf? #
• 11:30 Glad to have ‘net back.. they need to stop crashing in Norwich. #
• 12:47 New blog post: Great Advice www.tyralyn.com/archives/1058 #

I had a day, hopefully you did too.

Twitter me this.. Twitter me that…

• 19:19 No net again. wtf? #
• 11:30 Glad to have ‘net back.. they need to stop crashing in Norwich. #
• 12:47 New blog post: Great Advice www.tyralyn.com/archives/1058 #

I had a day, hopefully you did too.

Find stuff you love to do and do it.

Seriously, since I’ve stopped trying to be the person people thought I should be and doing what I *want* to do, I’ve been a much more pleasant person to be around. For instance, I’m going to be starting classes for tax prep shortly because it’s what I want to do. I don’t have to, I could choose not to, but I want to. Am I doing it for a job opportunity? Not really. I could get hired by Jackson Hewitt when I’m done, but it’s not guaranteed and I’m okay with that. I’m not sure I would want the job. I’d take it if offered because I can always use the money.

What made me decide that I wanted to take the classes? I wanted to be more informed on the tax laws. I wanted to be more informed on what deductions there are that there weren’t. I also quite enjoyed the two semesters of tax classes I took in college, so I figured that I could try it again, outside of an educational setting.

I do need to pay for my books, and find out when it starts and stuff. They called me twice Thursday and still haven’t gotten the email they were supposed to send. So yeah. Onward to getting caught up.

Made by kandysmindfreak

So much going on, so little time to get it done. It sucks, especially when I’m trying to work on stuff that requires the Internet and my Internet goes down for multiple hours. I was doing fine, then all of the sudden my connection started to drop. After a few minutes, it died totally. About a month ago, my ISP died for over 30 hours. Now, it died for at least 8 hours. I went to bed at Midnight and it was still down, after going down around 4pm.

I had to wonder, since I know they had router issues, if they had used cisco routers if the problem wouldn’t have occurred. I’m sure we’ll never get an answer, since we didn’t last time. Oh well. Life will go on. I survived without the Internet, but it definitely put me behind.

Finally, after 10 years I got a marker on my father’s grave site. It’s simple, but effective. I felt a lot better after getting it into the ground today. It just felt right. It’s not set straight, however, but there isn’t a whole lot I could do about it. The ground is incredibly rocky and I kept hitting large, flat rocks as I tried to dig down deep enough for the stakes to set fully in the ground. I don’t intend to have it there as the permanent marker, I just needed to have *something* there. It felt wrong to leave it unmarked, especially after 10 years. It’s not been easy for me, honestly, to get to the point where I needed to do this.

It’s hard sometimes for people to understand what it’s like to lose a parent. It’s not like losing a friend or family member, really, unless they were the one(s) who raised you. I’ve heard so many times that it will get easier in time, but it doesn’t really. It never gets easier, but it does become part of the norm. It took me a lot of years to finally get to the point where I didn’t want to cry at the mention of my father. Honestly, I’ve avoided going to the cemetery for quite a while because it was too hard. I need to make it a habit of going more, though, since no one seems to be taking care of that cemetery any more.

I have so much more that I want to say, but I’m not sure about saying it now, especially with Sakka dealing with the loss of her mother. Plus it’s hard to put the words together sometimes. Perhaps later. We’ll see.

If it isn’t one thing, it’s another with my life, I swear. Today’s bit of headdesk is courtesy of Rob’s Health Insurance!

We got notice in the mail for a trip to the doctor. We get one today for the first trip to his new PCP that was in May. This isn’t unusual, since they’re months behind. The problem is, the doctor listed on the statement is NOT the doctor that he saw. Now, we’re going to a private practice with one MD, so it should show his name, right? Right.

The name on the EOB? Joseph W Kraut Jr MD. Dr WHO??? I call the insurance company, they can’t talk to me cuz I’m not authorized. Fine, no problem. I Google the name and come up with an Oncology specialist in.. CALIFORNIA! I kid you not. So, I call the doctor’s office and ask them if the billing would be in someone else’s name. She gives me some name that starts with a B as a possible billing name. So I told her the name on the statement and get “Uhhh I’ve never heard of him.”

Lovely, right? We have to take the letter and his insurance card in tomorrow so they can check into it. I just really give up. I’d like one day, just one, where I’m not dealing with some stupid bullshit.

Flickr is pissing me off greatly. I have a ton of pictures to upload, but I still have a freaking free account so it only shows the most recent 200. Did I mention that all my crochet pictures are now hidden? Oh and.. they’re integrated with my ravelry account. From the looks of it, the links are still alive, but still. Eventually money won’t suck so much and I’ll be able to upgrade. For now, though? Everything will have to go on Picasa, and I don’t really have a ton of space left there either.

Google needs to make their accounts share space. I have far more room on my gmail than I’ll ever need for email. I have far less room than I need for pictures, though. Blah! Oh well.

With vacation season winding down, it’s getting cheaper to travel. Why is this? Most places are trying to draw in last minute vacation goers with great deals to boost their numbers a bit to make it a good vacation season. This isn’t unusual, so that’s why you need to take advantage of the best deals you can find.

For instance, if you’re headed to Branson then you need to check out the packages that are offered and see if you can find one that fits your vacation needs. Packages offered by Branson Getaways start at $455 for a 3 Days/2 Night stay at Clarion, 2 adult tickets to Pierce Arrow and Mickey Gilley. You can go so far as to purchase a package for $782 for a 5 Days/4 Nights stay at Branson Settle Inn, 2 adult tickets to Magnificent Seven, Dixie Stampede and Shoji Tabuchi.

That’s not even the family packages. If you’re looking to take a family trip to Branson, you can pay $824 for a 4 Days/3 Nights stay at Presidential Condo, 2 adult & 2 kids tickets (ages 4 - 11 yrs) to Haygoods, Ride the Ducks and Hamner Barber Variety Show.

Those are just a few of the packages, you can find great deals for your vacation that suit your needs.

Some days I wonder why I get out of bed. I hurt so much that it’s hard to get up and get moving a lot of times. I’ve been thinking that maybe a massage would be helpful to loosen up the issues. I have a couple friends who do massage therapy but they live too far away for me to be able to use their services. It sucks, really, because I have issues with strange people touching me anywhere. I don’t even really like doctors touching me, but I’ve finally gotten over it.

Meh, I live with the pain, I accept the pain, I do the best that I can and move on with my life. What else can I do, really?

‘Twilight’ release moves to Nov. 21

Thanks to Angel for pointing out that there was a date change for Twilight. I hadn’t seen *this* headline! This makes me so much happier. I will be able to see Twilight sooner than I thought. I want to reread the book before hand though. I also need to read the newest one as soon as I get it. That softens the blow of Harry Potter being moved, sort of. I think, even more strongly now, that the change for the HP release is because of the change for Twilight. Why would WB release the change 2 days after the change of Twilight was announced? There has to be a reason…

Next Harry Potter movie pushed back to July, 2009

Seriously.. wtf? From November to next July? Are they scared of Twilight coming out in December? That’s ridiculous! They are just going to piss off a whole lot of fans, including me. I was planning on seeing it, then Twilight the following month. There is NO reason for them to have done it. Oh wait, they have no big summer movies year, so they think that Harry will be it. Well screw you, Warner Bros. You just made a lot of enemies! I would love to see people protest opening weekend next July, seriously. I know I’d like to. I may wait until it’s near the end of it’s run to see it.

I’m home, pictures are uploaded to Flickr and Picasa - Will have more tomorrow.. many more.. going to bed
Will have things to post about tomorrow.

* Dr Update
* George Kaye
* Fireworks

I have a doctor’s appointment this afternoon, I made it last week. The thing is, I normally get a confirmation call 2 days prior to the appointment. It just dawned on me that I didn’t get one this time. I wonder if my appointment isn’t in the system. If that’s the case, I’m going to be super pissed off. I don’t like going over there for no good reason, and that would be one of those situations.

I should have gone to the library this morning to print out my blood sugar listing, but I can’t be bothered doing it, since it’s only a handful of readings and I can easily write them out on a piece of paper. We didn’t need to go to the Valley, so why make a special trip just to print stuff out? It’s a waste of gas and time and gave us a chance to do a load of laundry instead and get it hung out.

I’m slightly cranky this morning, but there’s no real valid reason as to why, outside of the stupid phone ringing at 8am again this morning. There really needs to be a law against calling before at least 10am unless it’s really f’n important. >:| Anyway, I should get some crap done before it’s time for my appointment. Have a happy Friday, folks.

Made by goodgal996

So every year when it comes time for Rob to have his vacation, I sit down and think about where we can go and what we can do. One of the things that came up this year was the idea of exploring New Jersey waterparks since it’s not that far of a drive to New Jersey.

The idea of a family beach vacation sounds like a lot of fun, since I rarely ever spend time out in the sun. I haven’t been to a beach before, so that would be different for me. I have been to a beach front lake, but that’s a totally different type of beach. It would be a great thing to take a real vacation away from my home town.

The idea of driving a few hours to New Jersey to explore beaches and waterparks sounds like a great idea. Summer is wrapping up, however, so perhaps it’s an idea for next years vacation plans. I know I’m going to do it one year, I just haven’t figured out what year it’s going to be, since money ends up being tight every year. Maybe if I plan early, I can get the money saved up by next June to take a small trip like that.

So, I have shunned hoodies for a long time, mostly because I’m not a fan of things on my head. However, I’ve noticed over the last few years that the winters aren’t nearly as cold as they used to be. Also, I’m not out in the cold for extended periods. Mostly it’s to go to and from the car or house or store. So a heavy winter coat is too hot for me.

I figured that this winter, rather than killing myself with my winter coat, I’d pick up a couple of hoodies to wear instead. So far, I have two that I bought from people in fatshionista, which makes me quite happy. I love both of them. Especially the black one I just got. *see picture* Mom got a big kick out of it when I told her about it.

I want a zip up hoodie still, then I’ll be satisfied and stop buying them. Maybe. Anyway, I’m done babbling about clothing.

I only have one thing left on my things to post about list! *faint* I’m shocked that I finally got through the list of stuff. Just in time for me to add new things to it starting tomorrow. Yeah that’s not a joke. Tomorrow and Saturday will be out of touch days for me. It’s going to be crazy busy, in a good way. I should have plenty of pictures Saturday too.

I’ve decided that since my 2-3 yr old television is going bad already, I’m going to have to get a new television. This does not make me happy, in a sense, because of the money factor. On the bright side, it will be a flat panel LCD, possibly HD, but I haven’t decided on that just yet.

I should get some stuff done so I’m not totally useless today, even though I want to be. Being useless isn’t always a bad thing. *nods sagely*

made by blizzardskies

“Hey baby, are your legs tired? Cuz you’ve been runnin’ through my mind all night.”

Think you can do better? Think you can win Victory Hair with a better pick-up line than that? I’m sure a good majority of the people who read this blog can. I know I can!

If you think you can, you might want to check out the Ultimate Flirting Championship sponsored by Extreme Style by VO5 and put your flirting abilities to the test.

You know you want to flirt, who doesn’t? Why not have a little fun while you’re at it? You never know, you might actually out flirt everyone else!

Cast members returning for 30th `Dallas’ reunion - Yahoo News.

DALLAS - J.R., Bobby, Sue Ellen and other members of the Ewing clan are getting back together for a “Dallas” reunion party.

Cast members of the popular prime-time soap opera that ran from 1978-91 will return to the Southfork Ranch north of Dallas on Nov. 8 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the show. Several key actors, including Larry Hagman, Linda Gray and Patrick Duffy, have confirmed they will attend.

Hagman, who played central character J.R. Ewing, a scheming oil baron and cattle rancher, said he is looking forward to the event.

“I may not be able to do the 40th,” said Hagman, 76, in an interview with The Dallas Morning News. “Thirty years is pretty good, and the show is still very popular.”

The reunion at the ranch in suburban Parker, north of Dallas, is open to the public. Tickets go on sale Aug. 22 and will cost between $100 and $1,000. The event will include fireworks, a country music concert, a question-and-answer session with the cast and tours of the mansion.

The show is perhaps best known for the “who shot J.R.?” cliffhanger that concluded the 1979-1980 season in which Hagman’s character was blasted within an inch of his life. (The shooter turned out to be J.R. Ewing’s sister-in-law, Kristin.)

“Dallas” featured the antics of a wealthy Texas clan that punched, slapped, drank, cavorted and schemed to gain control of the family fortune. The reunion promises to be tamer.

“Larry and I will have a bowl of Mueslix and a small shot of prune juice and be in bed by 9 o’clock,” Duffy, who played Bobby Ewing, told the newspaper. “We’ll let people file by the bed and watch us go to sleep. I think we can hang with the best of them until midnight.”