Hot Chocoolate

          Stop.Listen has now entered the 21^st century!! This is good news! If you have facebook it is completely free to take a couple seconds and click “Like.” So please share the love! Thanks!

It’s still been snowing and snowing here lately and since I have not had to go anywhere, I love it! I've included a pic of the latest dumping. Right now it looks absolutely beautiful outside because the sun finally came up.

One of my favorite winter traditions back at home is hot cocoa. I have memories of sledding and playing outside for a couple hours and then coming inside for a cup of cocoa with marshmallows on top- more the better. I’ve tried different kinds of cocoa from the store but nothing beats my mom’s recipe. It’s easy to make and you can cut down or double the size depending on how many people you are entertaining. It's delicious!

Quick and Easy Hot Chocolate

4 c powdered milk
¼ c +1 T cocoa powder
1 ¼ c cane juice crystals
pinch of salt
10 cups water
2 cups milk, half n half, or cream

In a large stock pot combine everything except the milk. Stir with a wire whisk and heat on medium until all is very hot and dissolved being careful not to boil. Remove from heat and add the milk. Serve in mugs with a few mini-marshmallows on the side.

 

Christmas in Denmark    

In the United States usually the gift and stocking tradition is based on Santa coming down your chimney and bringing you your gifts, ho ho ho. It’s different in Denmark though. Starting the 1^st of December the Christmas stockings are put up and every morning the kids awake to see what “the Elves” have brought them. Kinda cute.

My previous TSA post was only talking about airports and such. It sounds like Big Sis wants scanners and TSA checkpoints at bus stations and other various public places. I think we have a bit of a problem... how is treating US citizens like criminals really helping? Obama did promise more jobs and such, so maybe this is his way of helping that one out.

And that's Emily reporting to you from Denmark

You're SOOOO Vain

Carly Simon sings a song “You’re so Vain.” When I was growing up my music exposure was limited and I heard that song for the first time in the movie “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.” One of my favorites as far as typical chick flicks go. I'm sure that had something to do with Matthew McConaughey. There’s a line in the song that goes “I had some dreams, they were clouds in my coffee, clouds in my coffee.” Now I’m sure there’s a real and official interpretation of that line, but I haven’t bothered to use Google and look it up. Here’s what I believe it means.

I was house-sitting for a family a few months ago. They have this beautiful sweet kitty who does not like alone time. It was one of those mornings where you really needed your coffee and I gave in to the desire. I made myself coffee and then went for the milk. I can go without sugar… but I really do like my milk. I poured it in and to my dismay, all these white flakes jumped to the top. So in the song, my interpretation would be dreams gone sour. Never drink coffee or any beverage when there are white flakes at the top. 

In China the one child rule is under discussion. Apparently China would like extra workers and additional members for a society that is growing older. In my family I’m one of eight. It’s strange to think of only being allowed to have one child. If my parents had lived in China I would not exist. Stop.Listen would not exist. I think one day I would like to go to China and see it. It is a country that is indeed fascinating. Maybe if a family is allowed two children China will have more girls!  

On a side note, I try not to discriminate by saying things like “I don’t like all people who live in Antarctica!”  Sha Zukang a UN official for China said “I don’t like Americans” amongst a lot more. It must be tiring to have to put on an open and negotiating peaceful front all the time. In politics it’s all about diplomacy. If your opening words are insulting your chance of influencing the second party is pretty much nil. Unless they dig the insult thing.  When it comes to politics or religion one could talk until their face was blue and the other person would likely still stick to their guns. That’s why I find debating somewhat pointless. Nobody wants to change their mind! Most people I know hate change. If there’s change I’m initiating, I’ll initiate it as slow as I can. The end result is something we’re pleased with but the getting there is a difficult process. 

To burn or not to burn. I don’t know what your opinion is… but if it was any other book besides the Koran I doubt anybody would care. 

And that’s Emily reporting to you live from Sk- Washington. 

By the way, I just read an article that discussed the use of facebook as a correlation to one’s narcissism tendencies. Interesting.  I’m starting to feel defensive. 

Facebook, Snookie, Weddings, and Homework

I think we should put our hands together and give a round of applause for Facebook. They are going to have an IPO in the future. 2012 to be exact. My response “I’m totally going to invest in THAT.” I know Facebook has been getting a bad rap in the news lately and rightly so. However, despite all that, no one on my friends list has deleted their FB.  Kind of goes inline with, if you can’t see it, it must not exist. Look at it in terms of “oh, Aunt Vilma got her jewelry stolen!” “Oh, that is just terrible.” blah blah blah, the end. (unless you were going to inherit something from Aunt Vilma, then maybe a different story). Then look at it like: “Our house was broken in to!” “Go out and change all the locks, get a new security system, etc….”

We all know who Snookie is, right? I didn’t until this morning but I do know about the 10% tax for tanning salons. How lame is that? I’ve never gone to one, I usually get a sufficient amount of tanning done in the summer from God’s yellow sun. You know how they say the sun causes skin cancer? Well, I’ve heard it two ways. Some people also say it’s the sunscreen. Have you ever looked at the ingredient list on one of those bottles? ICK. There is the “good” kind of sunscreen that only has a few ingredients but one looks extremely pale after the application. I never used to use sunscreen until I came to CA. Now if I spend a day at the beach I use it. I really hate sunburns.

I was talking with a friend the other day and I mentioned that “I hate weddings.” It wasn’t a total off the wall random comment because there was a wedding going on in the vicinity. I do hate weddings though. The last wedding I participated in, I really put in my dues. I helped in the kitchen and with clean up afterwards. You only do that when it’s a reallllly good friend getting married. At the end of the event I was on my hands and knees cleaning a floor. One of the bridesmaids walks by and is like “Oh, everyone’s working so hard! Hehe!” Oh yes, so funny. Mind you, the only thing she did was walk the isle and complain about not getting forks and enough food. But that’s not why I hate weddings. They usually are all the same with a tiny bit of variation (I guess that‘s called tradition) and they can cost a fortune. The fortune I’m talking about does not compare to the 3 million Miss. Clinton is having spent on her wedding but it is still substantial. Therefore, I have decided, I shall not have a wedding. I shall have a huge reception party. Half the stress and twice the fun.

I’m including a picture of myself in this blog post, I generally do not do that. Yesterday I spent 1.5 hours scraping the sides of a dock. I have never been more sore in a million different place. I almost fell out of bed this morning. I just didn't want anyone to think I was all play and no work.

And that’s Emily reporting to you live from HB, California.

I’m only extremely tardy in this post due to spending 10 hours on one homework problem and still remaining unsatisfied with the answer I came up with. Sometimes I guess you just have to learn to let go.