Three for Thursday: The Prodigal Meme Returns

Well hey there!

Look who and what is back. Me and Three for Thursday!

Katy from The House of Estrogen asked me if I could muster up a 3 for TH revival for the day while she is busy doing whatever a mom of four adorable little girls does. Just between you and me, I think this a clever little ploy to pull me back into the blogging world. And I have to admit...it just might work. We shall see.

So Three for Thursday is here today. I'm not exactly sure where it will be next week, but it will BE somewhere. I'll keep you updated.

Until then, why not join in today? Make sure to write your own 3 for TH post on your blog and link back below for a chance to win a threesome prize! (Not enough time today? Four for Friday works for me!)

Happy Thursday!

Three wedding day memories: (“Oh they say when you’re married in June, you’re a bride all your life!”)

1. In a rather spontaneous and overly excited moment, I leaped into Joe’s arms ripping out the zipper up the entire back of my beautiful wedding dress. I spent the rest of our wedding evening pinned together with dozens of safety pins.

2. My parents driving us the entire hour and a half car ride home from the wedding ceremony in my dad’s limo with the barrier window down the entire time. (Why didn’t I roll that stupid thing up?!)

3. Sneaking away from the crowds for a few minutes in between the ceremony and the reception to go pay my overdue cell phone bill.


Three guy movies I actually like:

1. Terminator Salvation

2. The Matrix

3. Star Wars (all 6 of them!)


Three things that I will try to sneak into heaven: (You can’t take it with you? Watch me!)

1. CHOCOLATE! Of course!

2. Some loud rock music

3. Joe


Three 4th of July traditions: ("Oh say can you seeeeeee...")

1. Eat peanuts and drink cream soda in the bottles

2. Watch fireworks getting as close to them as possible. I love to be right under them. The louder and scarier the better!

3. Dancing to loud music in my parents’ back yard.


Three words that describe me: (Only three?!)

1. Loud- Loud music, loud singing, loud activities, loud parenting, loud laughing. I don’t do much quietly.

2. Oxymoron (Did I just call myself a “moron”?)- I love crowds of people, but I love to be alone. I am loud, but I like some peace and quiet. I want to go out, but I want to stay home. I’m depressed, but I’m happy. I love my kids, but they sure drive me crazy. etc, etc, etc.

3. Tall- I’m 5’10” and proud of every inch. At least every inch in height.


Three favorite summer time desserts:

1. Cherry flavored Icees

2. Homemade ice cream

3. Chocolate (It never goes out of season!)


Three fictional characters I would like to meet in real life:

1. Anne of Green Gables. We would be kindred spirits.

2. Dwight Schrute from The Office. There has to be someone out there that is that crazy.

3. Superman. I kind of maybe sort of had a thing for him for a while. Lois Lane can take a hike!


Three group games that I could play over and over and over again:

1. Fag Tag (So inappropriately named, but what else do you call it?? People stand in linked arm pairs in a circle. One person is “it” and has to tag another person who is running around. The running around person can link arms with any pair and the person on the opposite side of the new linked pair has to start running away from the person who is “it”. Of course if the running person gets tagged, they are “it” and the roles reverse.)

2. The board game of Life

3. Signs (Everyone sits in a circle and each person has a self-created secret sign, such as scratching your head, patting your leg, winking three times, etc. One person stands in the middle as the circle passes their signs around. One person begins, slyly signs their own sign then passes it on by signing someone else’s sign. That person accepts it by signing their own sign and again passes it on by signing someone else’s sign. The person in the middle is trying to catch who has the sign before they can pass it on. If they catch the person before they pass it, that person is then “it”. Hilarious!)


Three favorite summer time TV shows:

1. We don’t have TV

2. but SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE

3. is on Hulu.com!! Woohoo!!!


Three pictures:



Cee and Jeigh in our new bike trailer. The thing I like about this picture is that these girls are going to end up looking so much alike. This is like looking at Present Day Jeigh and 5 month old Jeigh. Crazy! It's like they have the same parents or something...




Cee learned how to spit. And does it all. the. time.




I really wish my kids would stop thinking snails are better than action figures or dolls. I'm getting creeped out finding them hanging around and sliming stuff up all over the house. *shudder*


***I can't get the link up tool to work right now and I don't have time to wrastle with it. Please leave your link in the comment section and I will pick a winner from there on Sunday night. Thanks!!***

A Winner and an Announcement

First of all, congrats to Lana at The Jeremy Cook Family for winning the prize for last week's 3 for TH. She won when I picked the third number in my street address, #2. Congrats Lana! I will get your threesome prize sent out sometime this week.

Second of all, I am going to go on a bit of a blogging hiatus. I really don't know how long. I am deactivating my Facebook account too. No drama. No hard feelings. I just feel the need to unplug for a bit. I hear it can be very liberating!

Who knows how long this will last? I'll probably deactivate FB and post this post and then have a million incredible ideas for blog posts and ways to manage my time for effectively. Ha!

If you need to reach me, you can email me at hangingsilver{at}gmail{dot}com.

And if you're having tons of fun with the 3 for TH posts, my dear friend Katy is going to take over for me for a bit. You can find her at The House of Estrogen. Don't worry. You are in capable and clever hands.

Thank you to all of you who read and follow and comment here at Hanging by a Silver Lining! I'll see you on the flip side. Promise. :)

P.S. I'll most likely still be checking in a couple times a week over at The Jolly Green Giant. Part of the reason I need to simplify here.

Of Chums and Chicken, Craisin, and Cashew Bowtie Pasta Salad

My dear friend Carli came for a visit yesterday. We've been trying to plan a get-together since...Well since I moved to Utah four months ago! It really was getting rather ridiculous that we couldn't seem to coordinate our schedules together to make it happen.

Psst...

It was 93% my fault.

With Carli's help, I finally admitted something to myself: I am busy. I went and got a life after all. That's all well and good, but it makes me sad to be "too busy" to simply have a lunch/play date with a friend. There's something wrong with the world when you begin to feel like you don't have time for friends.

I'm glad we finally made it work out. Thanks for coming Carli!

And thanks for being so patient with me and my fickle scheduling skills.

And thanks for liking the lunch I made!



Anyone want the recipe???

This is a great spring/summer salad! My little sister Camille served this at her wedding reception. It's a perfect combination of savory and sweet, crunchy and soft. If you give it a try let me know how you like it!

Chicken, Craisin, and Cashew Bow-Tie Pasta Salad or 3 C Salad

4 cups cooked chicken breasts, diced (*Feeling lazy? Use an already-cooked rotisserie chicken from the store. Just pull off the meat and dice it.)
6 cups bow-tie pasta, cooked al-dente (*I think the trick to this salad is to make sure the pasta is really, truly al dente. Cook it until it seems to still have a bit of "crunch" to it in the middle. Trust me. It works!)
1 and 1/2 cups green grapes, sliced in half
1 and 1/2 cups red grapes, sliced in half
2 (5 ounce) cans water chestnuts, drained and quartered (*eh...I would leave this out.)
1 (10 ounce) can pineapple tidbits, drained (*Leave this out too. Or don't. Whatever.)
2 cups celery, thinly sliced
1/2 cup scallions, thinly sliced (green onions)
2 cups cashews, whole and halves
2 cups craisins (dried cranberries)

Dressing:

1 (16 ounce) bottle Hidden Valley brand coleslaw dressing
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup Miracle Whip

How to:
(Hint: This a great salad to make the night before. Giving it time to soak up the dressing makes a world of difference.)

1. In a large bowl mix all salad ingredients together, except cashews and craisins
2. Whip together dressing ingredients.
3. Toss dressing with the mixture in the large bowl.
4. Mix in cashews and craisins right before serving.

Three for Thursday

Three of my favorite Pandora.com stations:
1. Glee cast(a bit of Disney, Michael Jackson, and those debauched, angelic-voiced Glee kids)
2. Alison Kraus (nothing like a little bluegrass to take me back to the good ol' days)
3. Lenka (when I'm feeling a little melancholy)

Three lessons learned since I have graduated from high school:
1. I did right not to marry the kind of boy I was just certain was "right" for me.
2. I should have paid better attention to my grades. Time and money are precious. But so are friends. Balance. Balance is what I should have aimed for.
3. Hometown, Idaho isn't such a bad place after all.

Three people I was remembering on Memorial Day:
1. Auntie Jane
2. Grandpa Miles
3. Gma Riley

Three favorite YouTube videos:
1. Anything by the Shaytards
2. Be warned: Not for the faint of heart! Seriously. Don't watch this unless you have a strong stomach.
3. Kid History (Parts 1-4)

Three bad habits:
1. Telling people what crazy kids I have when they try to tell me what great kids I have. Example: Someone says about my daughter: "Oh my! She has gorgeous eyes!" to which I reply "Yeah, but she looks a little homeless right now." I HATE that I do that!
2. Pulling out my hair strand by strand when sitting idly watching TV.
3. Forgetting life lessons already learned.

Three foods I will NEVER put in my mouth:
1. Balut
2. Lima beans
3. beer

Three things that sounded like a good idea at the time:
1. Joining the Disney Movie Club. Boy! Did they ever snag me in with that get 4 DVDs for $1.99 deal.
2. Going up against the 6 foot something Brazilian foreign exchange student in high school PE. One torn groin muscle later...
3. Letting my pet rabbits play in the same cage. "Mom, why are they doing that?"

Three plans for Father’s Day 2011:
1. Dream of the BBQ grill I wish I could surprise Joe with.
2. Go to church.
3. Bend over backwards to help the incredible father of my children enjoy his special day.

Three things that make me a “mean mom” (aka a GOOD mom):
1. Off to bed you go!
2. No goodies until you eat the truly good stuff.
3. We go to church whether you feel like it or not.

Three pictures:


On our visit home for the Memorial weekend, my mother-in-law (far right) swiped Cee for a picture with her coworkers. Five ladies in the same office have had granddaughters born in the last six months. Here's four of them.


I must have been in a purply mood that day. Cee and I are twinners.


The things that happen when you run to switch out the laundry from the washer to the dryer. Can you tell she really cares for this lineup?

Now that you think I am pretty twisted (hair pulling AND mega-zit popping?!) make sure to link up below for a chance to win a prize. I need a chance to redeem myself.

I Can See Clearly Now, the Money's Gone

Last week I found myself being pressured by a salesman. And I totally caved into his sales pitch.

I am now the proud (and rather befuddled) owner of not one, but TWO brand new pairs of...

EYE GLASSES?!

Glasses! Of all things to be pressured to buy.

I'm shaking my head as I write this.

How did one little weaselly salesman pressure me into buying two pairs of glasses that were not cheap by any definition?

The guy wasn't attractive. At all.

He didn't even have that presence that some salesmen have.

He was just pushy and really good at taking me on an all-expenses paid (me being the one who's paying all the expenses) guilt trip.

"Your son is practically blind! You don't want him to be blind for an entire week while we fix his old glasses do you? Do you?!"

Okay. That's not exactly how he said it, but that's how it came through my Be-a-Good-Mommy filter.

I don't know if eyeglass salesmen make a commission, but he also gave me some sob story about his mom having a really expensive surgery earlier that year and that he was now broke.

I think he was trying to connect with me.

Because obviously a mom of four kids is definitely broke.

At least that's what he assumed (and he would be just about right, but regardless!)

And since I am a mom of four kids and probably broke that's also why he decided to try to sell me every bell and whistle that can come with a pair of eye glasses.

Super sonic hydroponic superfluous lens coating does what exactly???

Even as I found myself agreeing to the purchase, I looked at him thinking to myself, "I don't really like you and how on earth did I let you convince me to do this?"

But the whole transaction took place so quickly that I didn't even really have time to say, "HOLD UP!!"

I'm not even sure I got the frames I wanted for myself or my son.

See, the eye doctor was incredibly nice. So nice I wanted to pick him up, take him home, and adopt him.

But I believe he may be in on the scheme.

During my eye exam he put those nasty little drops in my eyes to dilate them and by the time I found myself picking out frames I could hardly see my hand in front of my face. I couldn't even see the price tags on the frames.

Brilliant sales tactic, no? Blind 'em, then take 'em for all they're worth!

I was kind of lucky to make it out of there with my wallet still in my bag and all four children accounted for.

I think I may have needed an interpreter or mediator or lawyer just to purchase my glasses.

Or at least a nanny because I'm fairly certain my four kids were in on the heist too.

How was I supposed to make a clear-headed decision whilst repeatedly telling three of my kids to stop running around the office and to pick up the toys they had scattered all over, bouncing a fussy infant on my hip, and stopping the receptionists from feeding tootsie rolls to my milk allergy kid?

All while squinting through Bambi-sized pupils.

Car salesmen could learn a thing or two from the vision office.

3 for TH Prompt {02 June 2011}

1. Three of my favorite Pandora.com stations
2. Three lessons learned since I have graduated from high school
3. Three people I was remembering on Memorial Day
4. Three favorite YouTube videos
5. Three bad habits
6. Three foods I will NEVER put in my mouth
7. Three things that sounded like a good idea at the time
8. Three plans for Father’s Day 2011
9. Three things that make me a “mean mom” (aka a GOOD mom)
10. Three pictures

Feel free to change any of these prompts up to suit your needs.

Didn’t make it by Thursday and still want to join in? How about a “Four for Friday”? Or a “Six for Saturday”?

And remember to link up below the weekly 3 for TH after posting your own 3 for TH on your blog for a chance to win a three-some prize!

Make sure to link back to me at hangingbyasilverlining{dot}blogspot{dot}com so your followers who want to join in know where to get the prompts and prizes.

Or don't if you don't want the competition. :)