• 1 Pork Tenderloin
• 4-6 Russet Potatoes
• Butter
• Garlic Salt to taste

Herb & Mustard Crust

(I basically eye-balled all measurements )

• 1/4 c Grainy Mustard of your choice (I used a Deli Style with Horseradish added to it)
• 1 Tbl Onion salt
• 1 Tbl Rosemary
• 1 1/2 tsp Thyme
• 1 tsp Ground Sage
• 1 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1 tsp Black Pepper (can used fresh cracked peppercorns instead)
• 2 tsp Liquid Smoke (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. (To me this is a magic temperature!)

Mix all the crust ingredients into a small bowl. In glass baking pan (I used 11 x 8 ) rub the tenderloin with the mustard mixture. Make sure to rub it into all sides. Let sit in pan.

In the mean while, slice the potatoes lengthwise into wedges. Place gently around the edges of the tenderloin. Top with pats of butter and sprinkle with garlic salt.

Insert meat thermometer into thickest part of loin and place into oven. Cook until you have an internal temp of at least 145-150 degrees.

By the time the loin is done the potatoes should be tender and will have soaked up many of the flavors from the pork juices.

I made this for dinner tonight! It was delicious!

Well two Arizona Cardinals fans showed their team spirit a little more than… umm, was legal on the unsuspecting Donovan McNabb, quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. You can read the whole story on ESPN‘s website, but basically it went as follows:

While at his off-season home in Chandler, AZ, McNabb was visited on several occasions by a couple of local pranksters. The two men apparently left silly things behind at McNabb’s house… One, a flag representing the Cardinals and the other was a box with some more fan-tastic statements written on them. Nothing obscene, just showing their excitement. Then they did something stupid… Their last prank landed them in with the cops. They used diesel fuel to burn cheers into the lawn. They caused much damage that McNabb could not ignore.

Here’s where they truly showed their intelligence. Remember the box that was left? The one with the writing on it? Well there was also an address label leading the cops straight to the prankster’s house!

Moral of the story? Don’t leave your address label on the box you intend to offend someone with!  Or was it, use someone else’s address label? No that wasn’t it… Maybe, something like don’t cause permanent damage when harassing a NFL quarterback. Oh wait, I’m sure it was obey the laws and keep your team spirit civil else you might end up in serious trouble…

So here’s to all you sports fans and keeping your team spirit under control

Originally, I took a break from the Internet almost completely due to the monitor making me so nauseated during my pregnancy.  Well I had my newest addition to my family in November 2008! And I tell you what, he has been a handful ever since! I had forgotten what it was like to have a newborn. It’s all to quickly coming back to me!

Only recently have I been back online. Mostly to check email and keep in touch with long distance family and friends. But today something happened. When I checked my email I was notified I had recently received a comment on a post that was back in May of 2008 entitled Dating Single Mothers. Intrigued, I read what the gentleman had to say, and I use the term “gentleman” loosely! I was so surprised by his anger towards single moms that I could not let his comment go without some kind of reply. So I logged in and approved it then sent my own reply. In all honesty I have to feel sorry for someone that is so obviously disgusted with a substantial percentage of the nations adult women.

So here I am. Sitting here, finding the time to blog again. I was excited by the fact that I’m being heard! I have a mysterious and very angry individual to thank for it. So I thank you “Carl” for inspiring me to come back to my blog and share my opinionated thoughts yet again with the online world!

I suppose its her right to what she wants, but it amazes me that a 22 year old well schooled virgin suddenly decides to auction herself off. I mean seriously people. Why hold on to it for so long just to make it into something so cheap? Cheap… Hmph. I guess it’s not really that cheap after all if she’s intending to pay for he Master’s Degree with it. So maybe cheap isn’t the right word, but it’s obviously not priceless either!

In post on Interested-Participant they say she’s admitting to being a prostitute and is only negotiating a price. The thought that comes to mind is the degradation involved in haggling over sex and if I would want a woman who is paying for her masters in Marriage & Family Therapy by selling off her maidenhood couceling me in the areas of marriage or family. I mean what kind of values would she be counciling a marriage over?

I’m not one to judge others moral values or beliefs. Honestly, I’m not. I’ve got skeletons in my closet, but I’m not publicizing them and trying to earn a coin from it. I don’t agree with her method or values but to each their own, right?

According to Dr. Dennis W. Neder any man that comes across a single mom should turn and run. He has written an article on Dating the Single Mother and I must protest his findings! I guess there are some single moms out there that are the money hungry irresponsible women that he describes here, but we do not ALL fall under that category. In fact, most of us DO NOT fall into that category! He made a few good points such as a any new beau would have to accept the fact that her children have a father that will be a part of the picture. He actually makes the statement referring to his argument of why not to date a single mom “find a woman without kids – they ARE out there!” What makes him so against single moms? Don’t we need and deserve love too? He then goes on to say “Ok, you won’t listen to reason, what should you do?” Are we really that bad?

My opinion? He sounds like a pig squealing put downs from his sty. But hey… That’s my opinion.

Can you imagine going through the drive-thru and being refused service because you have a disability?

Well that’s exactly what happened to Karen Putz when she went through the Steak & Shake drive-thru! The person at the window refused to take her order because she wouldn’t use the speaker. Umm, hello? She just told you she can’t hear you through the speaker! Does being incapable of using the speaker because of being deaf mean she should be denied the right to have a shake for her and her kids? Absolutely not! To read more go to Standing Up for a Friend & a Fellow Mom Blogger! I’m disgusted with her treatment!

I encourage you to join me helping to spread the word! I personally refuse to eat at any of our local restaurants until they have given her a sincere apology!

I can’t imagine what this kind of treatment would be like, but I can say this: Discrimination of any kind is an injustice to all society as a whole and I won’t stand for it!

Also, Karen’s original post can be found here Steak and Shake Denies Service.

I love to get presents! I love to get flowers! I think they smell wonderful and they are absolutely beautiful as a centerpiece. And, yes, they give me that special feeling that someone is thinking of me. Do I need an entire day dedicated to it? No, not really. I would prefer to get them on any other day for simply no reason other than they wanted to. But definitely not because my significant other felt they had to because of some huge overly commercialized holiday. To me, you can show so much more love without spending so much in cash!

What’s the basis for Valentine’s Day, anyway? Historically, there were many St. Valentine’s that can be linked to the holiday, but strangely not one of the St. Valentine’s that are linked to the history of the holiday had a whole lot to do with romance, except with the mention of a possible farewell message written by one St. Valentine, to his beloved before his execution which took place on February 14th in either 269 A.D. or 270 A.D., but instead they were martyrs for their beliefs in the Catholic Church.

Another possible link to the February holiday is the pagan festival of Lupercalia. This festival was in honor of the She-Wolf that suckled Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. The festival had links to fertility and easing the pain in childbirth as well as other beliefs not mentioned here. The Luperci (brotherhood of the wolf) ran the festival beginning with a sacrifice of two male goats and one dog, ending with a nude run through the streets smacking women with thongs cut from the skins of the sacrificial animals. Doesn’t sound too romantic to me!

There’s other speculation to the day being referred to by Chaucer. But honestly, Valentine’s Day as we know it today, comes down to this, in the 1840′s Valentine’s Day was reinvented by a man named Leigh Eric Schmidt. Later in 1847, Esther Howland, mass-produced paper lace embossed valentine’s and sold them in her father’s book and stationary store. And thus we have today’s traditional valentine card, but can we do anything simple? Of course, not! Which is why Valentine’s Day is now a multi-billion dollar market!

So, in the spirit of the holiday, go get the one you love (or just like) and treat them to something special, but realize its because you want to not because some historically significant event of love happened on this day and you need to honor it.

Some good ideas are the traditional card, box of chocolates, and flowers. Oh yeah, and you cant’ go wrong with jewelry right A few new ideas? What about treating her/him to a relaxing bath, or a weekend get-away? What are the interests of your special someone? Get them a good book to read! Or a subscription to their favorite magazine. Take them to some place special. There’s so much that you can do without spending a wad of cash.

Remember, show more, spend less