Cut calories in your salad dressing

I've figured out a great way to cut back on the calories in your salad dressing. I mix 1 T of Hidden Valley Hickory Bacon and Onion Ranch with 1 T of BBQ sauce. 1 T of the ranch only has 55 calories and 1 T of bbq sauce only has 25 calories. I also added a 1/2 t of lemon juice to my dressing today since there are no calories in it. There are 110 calories in 2 T of the ranch by itself and only 80 calories in 2 T of the bbq ranch. The bbq ranch is absolutely delicious and, because the bbq sauce has such a strong taste, it flavors your salad more but takes less to do it.

This is what happens when you play with matches - unsupervised

This is a picture of the smoke plume from the Wallow Fire. It was taken by someone by the name of Leslee Wessel. I do not know this person but liked the ominousness of this photo.

The fire is now 18% contained (woohoo!) and has exceeded the Rodeo-Chedeski Fire acreage. It has consumed in excess of 469,000 acres. And it HAS crossed the border into New Mexico. The total cost so far is over $31 million.

I have heard a very disturbing rumor - actually several. But this by far is the worst one I've heard. That the idiots who left their campfire unattended ACTUALLY left it attended . . . . . by their 2 defenseless dogs who were tied to a tree. They ran like cowards and left the dogs behind to perish in the fire. That just broke my heart for those dogs. But I do not believe that they will have died in vain if this is indeed true. There were still tags attached to the remains so they will be able to track these idiots down that way.

These idiots should make the stupid news. Couldn't that be compared to leaving your phone number with the hot bank teller that you're robbing?

God Bless Firefighters!

The Wallow Fire is now 10% contained but has consumed over 452,000 acres. With only 10% containment, I'm just going to speculate that it will surpass the Rodeo-Chedeski Fire in acreage consumed.

I shouldn't really say "only 10% containment". When you receive a 10% discount at a store, it's nice but really doesn't amount to a whole lot. But when you have 10% of a wildfire that has burned for over 2 weeks now, you want to do cartwheels. I guess the beauty of 10% is in the eye of the beholder.

But more than anything, GOD BLESS THE FIREFIGHTERS!!! They have fought tirelessly to try to get the upper hand on this fire. They have literally been in harm's way. They have sacrificed their personal comfort to be here, doing what they do. THEY ARE AWESOME!

Inspirational blogs

If ever you want to be reminded of how simple your life is, I have 2 blogs for you to look at.

First, read Alice Pyne's blog at alicepyne.blogspot.com. This young English girl is only 15 and terminally ill. This blog is about her bucket list. (Note: consider helping her with part of her bucket list by signing up to be a bone marrow donor)

The second is by Stephanie Nielson. Her blog is nieniedialogues.blogspot.com. Stephanie survived a horrific plane crash in rural Arizona a couple of years ago. In her blog, she shares her motherhood experiences but, more than that, she shares her recovery with you. The surgeries, the skin grafts, EVERYTHING.

Both of these women will amaze you.

EEEEEWWWWW . . . . .

A couple of weeks ago, the Hot Tamale planned a daytrip and took me to the Arizona Science Center exhibit "Body Worlds and the Brain". I had been wanting to see this exhibit F - O - R - E - V - E - R ! I thought that seeing what our insides look like would be so fascinating. I also expected for him to hate every second of it. I was wrong.

When I was viewing the first portion of the exhibit, I overheard a boy tell his dad that is was "so cool but kinda gross". My sentiments exactly.

I ended up dragging my Hottie through the exhibit, trying to get him to go faster and stop reading everything. While there were many portions that were extremely interesting and fascinating, there were parts that left me very disturbed.

The body parts (bones, organs, partial bodies, body slices) that were on display were interesting. They had a set of healthy lungs, a set of smokers lungs and a set of coalminers lungs on display in one case. It was shocking how much worse the coalminers lungs were than the smokers lungs. It was also absolutely fascinating to see kidneys with various types of diseases. They had a heart that showed a mitral valve repair (I have a family member who has had one of those done). They had all kinds of organs that had tumors in them. The PARTS were all so cool.

The part that I had trouble with was the WHOLE bodies on display, especially the babies and the pregnant woman. I think it was because you could see their faces and that was when you realized that what you were looking at had been an actual living human being.

There were so many parents who were there with young children. I left there so traumatized that I fail to see how taking a child, of any age, to this exhibit would be beneficial to their well-being. Educational, perhaps, but traumatizing.

Here's your sign ! ! ! ! !

What is with all the idiots running around Arizona intentionally setting fires or just leaving their campfires unattended?!?!?! Are they really that stupid?
WHY?????
Why would someone do that? They seem to be willing to risk everyone else's homes, lives and livelihood but not their own.

I think they should figure out who is setting these fires, make them stand there and watch while someone else burns down their home and then they should all be banished to a habitat for firestarters in the middle of a burn area to live in a tent for the rest of their days. (That would also include Velinda Jo Idiot who set the Chedeski fire but who that spineless twit US attorney refused to prosecute.)

But I guess that is just wishful thinking . . .

PS to the Wallow Fire

This is what the Wallow Fire looked like from space on June 6, 2011. This picture was taken by NASA's AQUA satellite. They stripped away the smoke to show how large the fire and burn areas actually are (Last estimation that I heard - double the size of New York City). I know that it looks small but believe me when I say - It isn't.

After I let Baby Bro know that NASA had taken pictures from space, a customer walked into his work who actually worked for NASA and was one of the guys taking the pictures so that was TOTALLY AWESOME!

Wallow Fire in Arizona

This is a picture of the Wallow Fire currently burning in Eastern Arizona. (This picture was NOT taken by me.) There are thousands who have been displaced by this fire and who may have lost their homes or, at the very least, have had to deal with the stress of being out of their homes. There have also been many with special needs who have been evacuated who cannot go to a regular shelter. This fire is 0% contained and has burned over 600 square miles and at least 16 structures.

Anyone who wants to help can do so through many charities - mainly the Salvation Army and the Red Cross. But you may also check with whatever church you belong to and see if they have anything in place. But most of all, pray for the safety of those putting their lives on the line to fight this fire as well as the many who are currently battling other wildfires. Pray for the safety and well-being of those who are being affected by these fires. Pray for moisture to be sent to the southwest where it is so desperately needed. That is what is probably needed the most. Pray. Light candles at your church. Attend prayer meetings. Pray in whatever form that you practice.

Times like these bring out the best in people as well as the worst. There are many who will try to take advantage of those who have been affected by this fire and the other fires that are currently burning throughout the southwest. Be very cautious of the "charities" that you may go through as there may be many out there that are scams.

I live in an area many miles away from the Wallow Fire but was in the area when the Rodeo-Chedeski Fire occurred back in 2002 and had to be evacuated. I also remember, as a child, camping in the Porter Mountain area in Lakeside, AZ, during a forest fire and having to be evacuated. We had to drive out through the fire in a pickup truck that had several campers in the bed that were covered with wet blankets and sleeping bags. My Dad never stopped or slowed down driving through that fire. He had the lives of others who depended on him, including the lives of 3 of his children. He got ALL of us out of harm's way, safe and sound. Ironically, that particular fire got within 2 feet (yes feet) of the campsite but didn't do any damage.

Final bid

The final bid on this unique headpiece was in excess of $130,000. And all of that money went to charity.