Sylph

1/3 cup salsa, medium or spicy
3 tbsp reduced-fat sour cream
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
3 cups canned black beans, drained and rinsed (about two 15.5 oz cans)
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
3/4 cup canned yellow corn, or fresh, cooked kernels
1/2 cup avocado, diced
1/2 cuo scallion(s), sliced
1/2 cup cilantro, fresh, chopped, or less to taste
6 cups romaine lettuce, shredded
2 oz Cabot Pepper Jack, or other brand, cubed or shredded
24 baked low-fat tortilla chips

* In a large bowl, stir together salsa, sour cream and vinegar until blended. Add beans, tomatoes, corn, avocado, scallions and cilantro; toss to mix and coat.

* Place 1 1/2 cups of lettuce on each of 4 serving plates; top each with 1 1/2 cups of bean mixture. Sprinkle each serving with 2 tablespoons of cheese; arrange 6 chips around edge of each plate. Yields 1 salad per serving.


8 points per serving

Love this video. :)

It's that time of year again. The work Secret Santa and Cookie Exchange time.

Reluctantly I put my name in again for Secret Santa. Once again I love the person I got and getting daily gifts for them has been fun and easy. The person who has me is actually following the directions (!) and I got a cute candle and a bar of soap yesterday ("Winter Solstice" scent from Whole Foods - lovely with patchouli, cedarwood and similar scents). Today I got a hot chocolate kit with cinnamon sticks and a mini grater. Cute, despite the fact that it was "best used by June 2008". Hello, regifting! (I'll be kind and leave it at that!)

The cookie exchange. Something I coordinated 2 years ago, and we had like twenty people participate. Each person was supposed to bake 6 dozen cookies, and leave with 6 dozen of other people's cookies. Somehow people arrived early, took more of other's dozens because "These aren't cookies, they're candies and you didn't spend any time making them" (yes, someone said that to someone else's face as they took 3 bags of the cookie/candies), and then one waltzed in when 3 of us were left, 30 mins after the thing was supposed to start. Sigh, it was a mess.

But I bucked up and organized it again this year, because my former 8th grade teacher, who retired last year and was disappointed that we didn't do it last Christmas, happens to be back subbing for someone on maternity leave. And she's just one of those people that you want to do nice things for, because she's so nice herself. So, another cookie exchange.

Others must have recalled the cookie exchange fiasco of 2006 and decided not to participate, because we only had 11 this year. Which simplified things: bake 10 dozen cookies, leave with 10 dozen. I set the date of Tuesday Dec. 16th before Thanksgiving, giving everyone plenty of time to pick a recipe and even start baking if they were so inclined. All I asked was to email me their recipe by last Friday. Copy, paste, print on recipe cards - voila!

Friday afternoon I get "Darn, I forgot to bring in my recipe - I'll CALL you this weekend and give it to you over the phone." Um, no. Email it to me. Monday I get a photo copy of a magazine page for another participant. I mean I know I am the typing teacher, but sheesh, quit being so lazy people.

Today, the day of the exchange, I get two emails from people saying they're dropping out last minute.

I know in the grand scheme of things it's no big deal. But this is the last year I do this at school, I swear.

I just spent 5 frickin' hours making these for a cookie exchange I have Tuesday. I didn't even use the sugared cranberries but rather a dark chocolate chip. I have to admit they look nice. Too bad I have no desire to eat one.


( Little Lemon Drops )

Love these photos:

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/11/the_next_president_of_the_unit.html


Love my husband.  Election night we were sitting at Panera Bread having dinner.  He asked my what my criteria were when voting on the non-partisan offices that were on the back of the ballot.  Sadly, I had not researched many of these offices so I was voting blindly for most of them.  I said that I had voted for whatever woman was running for each of the offices, just because they were women.  He laughed and said that's how he voted too, that we needed more women in office.  What a guy. :)  Now I just hope those women, if they were elected, know what they're doing! :)

http://www.armyofwomen.org/

I know more about breast cancer - its stages, its treatments, how scary it is, than I ever thought I would know.  And wigs?  Heck I feel I could open my own wig shop.  It's time we end this, and if participating in research will help lead to a cure, I'm there.

as discovered by my niece.

My sister was in the hospital Monday and Tuesday night, so her mother-in-law was at home with my niece and nephew. Tuesday my niece came home from school, went in through the garage as she always does, and couldn't find her grandma. She got worried and called her dad at the hospital and said grandma's car was there, but grandma wasn't. Dad told her to lock the doors and not let anyone in, that he was coming home.

Meanwhile, grandma, who is pretty hard of hearing, had gone out the front door to wait for the bus (they're just one house from the bus stop) and didn't hear M yelling for her in the house. Then M got absorbed in TV and didn't hear grandma trying to get back in.

Thank goodness the hospital is just a few miles down the road. :D

In other news, the neighbors were all a-buzz last night as we discovered a sex offender moved into the house diagonally across the street from us. There as a huge convention outside their house, and I have never seen so many people walk by, stop, and stare at a house. It's a weird situation as the homeowners are separated and this guy has a different last name, so we're not sure if he's renting a room there or what, and even if the woman that owns the house knows about his record. Much speculation going on.

Abbie loved it though, she got to play with Blitz and Boone for at least a half an hour, and was zonkered the rest of the night.

I haven't whined in awhile, I don't think. I'm due.

I hate having to go to work at 7AM. I am not a morning person and I so miss exercising before starting my day. I went for a jog twice this week in the 90+ heat of the afternoon, and I was sweaty and miserable when I got in. I hate taking two showers a day.

Hmm, think I just wasted a good whine. I'll have to do better next time.

I don't remember enjoying the Police concert quite so much when I was 13. Even though we weren't particularly close, we had great seats center stage. Sting...wow.. Sting looks excellent at 56. They sounded great and even Pooh had a good time. A high school friend of his worked on the stage for this concert and got video/pictures so hopefully we'll see those soon. In the meantime, I uploaded some of mine to YouTube... here's Wrapped Around your Finger - Stewart Copeland was amazing with his percussion:

Just as I am feeling optimistic about our trip to the Hellmouth, Pooh's sister calls. *sigh* Seems she and her family have escaped to New Jersey for a few days, leaving his brother and family for us to enjoy tomorrow. According to her, my niece is a major brat and my nephew has not gotten better in the four years that we've not seen them. Ouch.

Here's hoping that I don't post for a week. Oh and Pooh's dad is in the hopsital for dehydration, so at least we were smart to postpone out trip. And may the outlets prove themselves worthy.