10 Things I'm Thankful For On Twitter

Thanksgiving is that magical time in between Halloween and Christmas - unless you're a retailer, and it's that little bump in front of Black Friday. Either way, we all have something to be thankful for. Here's my somewhat irreverant but totally me list.

• I am grateful for the break that Twitter gives me from school work. Yes, I might finish my work quicker, but I'd also need more haircolor to cover up the grays.

• I am thankful for all the nice people who want to help me make money while whitening my teeth with these "secret" methods that every 4th person seems to know but me.

• I am thankful for the music loving sites out there like @freeonlineeradio and @blipfm who let me play music my way because of their wide selections of music.

• I am thankful for the shoe-loving people out there who have allowed me to feel good about not knowing (or wanting to know) how many pairs of shoes I have.

• I am grateful for the education that I receive daily about stuff like Zhu Zhu pets. I heard about here before I ever saw them on TV.

• I am grateful for emoticons and avatars and all the other pictures that make Twitter fun. Sometimes I forget who I'm talking to - especially close to holidays, but love the pictures.

• I am thankful for Twitter parties. Nothing says concentration like lines and lines of rapidly moving text to make you really, really focus (and develop strong bladder muscles).

• I am grateful for all the nice mobile Twitter clients that allow me to take my addiction on the road. It's all about productivity, isn't it? Why should the bathroom stop me from tweeting?

• I'm thankful for features like "Block and Report Spam". It is my personal weapon of choice against the hordes of "cigar smoking Britney bots" out there. Nothing say #win like watching that avatar disappear.

• I am grateful to know that, no matter what time of day, someone is on, tweeting about their day, some contest, a recipe, non-exploding sweet potatoes and any number of things. It's an insomniac's delight.

So, what are you thankful for?

From the Dr. Oz Website: Gisela's Recipes for Success

Top Ten Signs of Twitter Contest Addiction

1. Every message ends with one or more hashtags.

2. You stop blow-drying your hair because you thought you heard the ringorang bell.

3. You need extra caffeine the next morning because one of your contests was ending. tweet tweet zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

4. You wake up early so you won't miss that pesky twrivia question - and then you wonder you are dragging through the day.

5. You check your Twitter client while you're waiting at the stoplight, at McDonald's, at Starbucks and in the bathroom.

6. You discover that Twitter is good for weight loss because you find yourself running to the computer whenever you hear the tweet.

7. You do your nails in between tweets. You eat between tweets. Heck, you live between tweets.

8. You consider the breadcrumbs on your keyboard as signs of your dedication to your contests; besides, it was a long night.

9. You hit the refresh button constantly (or check who the company recently followed) so you won't miss the winner's name all the while chanting "please be me, please be me".

AND THE BEST WAY TO TELL THAT YOU ARE ADDICTED TO TWITTER AND CONTESTS IS....

10. If you have ever felt that sense of "What do I do with myself?" whenever Twitter is down (and did I mention hashtags?)

Twitter's True Value

Waiting for the moments to tick by was murder. "Is it over yet - why isn't it over yet?"My friends know that,for three weeks in a row, I had entered the Fiji Water Facebook contest to win a gift card to Benihana. I had to create a haiku - a three line poem with very specific syllable lengths. Whoever had the most people to click "like" under his or her haiku would win the gift card.

Week 1 - left in the dust. Resolved to start earlier. (started too late)
Week 2 - Started earlier, smoked in the end by late entry. (started too early)
Week 3 - my friends convinced me to try again, and I put my poem in about two days before the end (timed just right).

Was the lesson proof of my mantra of Never Give Up, Never Surrender? Not quite.

The lesson learned was about the true value of Twitter.

The true value of Twitter is in the connections that you make with others - the friends that you make. I've been on Twitter for awhile, and at first, I had no earthly idea what it was about. I didn't know what to tweet and who to tweet it to, but slowly, after looking around and finding things that interested me, Twitter finally started to make sense.

The day I started entering contests was the beginning of a new experience for me on Twitter. I started seeing familiar names, and we started talking. Any time of day or night, someone was on that I could talk to, or just vicariously enjoy their tweets. Contest people are a community unto themselves, and even when we are all chasing the same prize, we understand that most of us are not going to win. We are happy for the winner, and happier still if it happens to be one of our ever-widening circle of friends. We support each other.

Such was the case when I entered the Fiji Water contest for the third time. My contest buddies convinced me to try for the third time because they were sure that I could win; I wasn't convinced. I enjoy playing with words, so I entered because the challenge of coming up with another haiku was more than my brain could ignore. I went to the site and sat there with my finger poised over the "Share" button. Should I? Should I wait? Yes, and no - now or never time. I hit the key, and there it was, for all the world to see.

I told my friends that it was there, and they went to work. The message started going out, telling followers that their friend was in a contest and needed their vote. I kept getting messages from people telling me that they voted for my poem, or that they had their husbands or boyfriends vote for it too. If they could do that, I could work hard too, so I went to Facebook to look for votes.

I learned some great lessons along the way. I learned that if you ask people for help, they're happy to help. I learned that, more often than not, if you ask for their vote, you get it. I learned that my bright, funny twitter friends are the most supportive group of people that I may ever meet.

After a day of down-to-the-wire updates and probably a thousand page refreshes, the time finally ran out. The third time did prove to be the charm. Thanks to Fiji Water for your contention that 3 can be a lucky number. Most of all, thank you to my friends. I couldn't have done it without your encouragement, your cheerleading and your votes.

That, is Twitter's true value.

Tomatoes for Dessert? Green Tomato Pie

A sweet tomato pie? Yes, there is such a thing, and it is absolutely delicious! It specifies green tomatoes, but I have made it with ripe tomatoes too, and it's just as good. I included the recipe for pastry too, but if you want to save time, just get the ready made dough and roll it out. No one will ever know!


Pastry
2 2/3 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup shortening
7 to 8 tablespoons cold water


Filling
1 1/3 cups sugar
¼ cup plus 3 tablespoons Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1 ¼ teaspoons ground nutmeg or ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups green tomato slices, cut into fourths
1 ¼ teaspoons grated lemon peel
¼ cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon butter or margarine

Directions

1. In medium bowl, mix 2 2/3 cups flour and 1 teaspoon salt. Cut in shortening, using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through ingredients in opposite directions), until particles are size of small peas. Sprinkle with cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost cleans side of bowl (1 to 2 teaspoons more water can be added if necessary).

2. Gather pastry into a ball. Divide in half and shape into 2 flattened rounds on lightly floured surface. Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate about 45 minutes or until dough is firm and cold, yet pliable. This allows the shortening to become slightly firm, which helps make the baked pastry more flaky. If refrigerated longer, let pastry soften slightly before rolling.

3. Heat oven to 425°F. With floured rolling pin, roll one pastry round into round 2 inches larger than upside-down 10-inch glass pie plate. Fold pastry into fourths; place in pie plate. Unfold and ease into plate, pressing firmly against bottom and side.

4. In large bowl, mix sugar, 1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons flour, the nutmeg and 1 teaspoon salt. Add tomatoes, lemon peel and lemon juice; toss to coat. Turn into pastry-lined pie plate. Cut butter into small pieces; sprinkle over tomatoes. Trim overhanging edge of pastry 1/2 inch from rim of plate.

5. Roll other round of pastry. Fold into fourths and cut slits so steam can escape. Unfold top pastry over filling; trim overhanging edge 1 inch from rim of plate. Fold and roll top edge under lower edge, pressing on rim to seal; flute as desired. Cover edge with 2- to 3-inch strip of foil to prevent excessive browning.

6. Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust, removing foil for last 15 minutes of baking. Serve warm.

Soup's On - in the Tomato Soup Cake!

Tomato soup for dessert? Absolutely. Try this cake recipe and enjoy the taste of a moist spice cake. Don't like tomatoes - no problem. The spicy taste is there but it's not tomato-ey at all.


INGREDIENTS
2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/3 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 can condensed tomato soup
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1/2 cup water
1 container cream cheese frosting

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat two 8-inch round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray and lightly flour.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, and cinnamon; mix well. Add the soup, oil, eggs, and water and beat until well combined.
3. Pour into the cake pans and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pans, then remove to a platter and frost with the cream cheese frosting.

Chocolate Cake to Die for - Heavenly Tomato Cake

What you will love about this cake is the way that the tomato juice moistens the cake without adding a tomato taste. Bake it for the holidays and answer that chocolate fix!



Ingredients:
1/2 c margarine
1/2 c shortening
2 c sugar
2 eggs
1/4 c cocoa
2 c flour
1 tsp. soda
1/2 c tomato juice
1 c hot water
1 1/2 c miniature marshmallows
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Cream together margarine, shortening and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Sift together cocoa, flour and soda. Add to creamed mixture mixing thoroughly. Combine tomato juice, hot water and marshmallows; add to bater. Add vanilla. Batter will be think and marshmallows will come to top. Pour into a 15 1/2 by 10 1/2 by 1 in pan. Bake in 350 degrees, preheated oven for 35 minutes. Ice while hot.

Icing:
1/2 c margarine
1/4 c tomato juice
2 tbsp water
4 Tbsp cocoa
1/4 tsp salt 1 box powdered sugar
1 c chopped pecans toasted

combine margarine, tomato juice, water, cocoa and salt; heat until boiling. Pour over powdered sugar and beat well. add nuts and spread on hot cake.

Adventures with My RubiksTouchCube - Week 1

This was the sound that greeted me once I figured out how to scramble the cube. Brainiac that I am, I tried to do something with the colorful cube before I read the little manual that came with it. Mistake. If you want to get the most out of the experience, read the manual.

The first thing that you hear is the little digital tune that it plays when you turn it on. It sits there in all its brightly lit wonder, daring you to scramble it and see if you can solve the mystery that is the digital cube. If you dare, you push the "S", and in 40 moves, the cube scrambles itself. Let the solving begin.

Unlike the old Rubiks cube that you manually moved rows around on, there are no moving parts with the RubiksTouchCube. Like my favorite iPhone, you move the rows by sliding your finger across the row that you wish to move. Hint: Only the rows on the top move, so if you want to change the ones on other sides, you have to turn the cube over to that row.

Each side of the cube has one symbol embedded into the center cube. These symbols allow you to turn the cube on and off, adjust the sound, undo scramble, hint and solve. So, you don't need to feel totally helpless. The cube will give you hints; it's hard to miss something blinking at you. If you give up, the cube will solve it for you. That in itself was amazing to watch.

So, how have I done after a week? I almost had it solved. I had the top and bottom squares all in one color. However, on each of the remaining four, the center square was the wrong color. I was proud of myself, so proud that I just didn't understand why I could not just do the same thing the next time.

The bottom line for the RubiksTouchCube? It is a big, beautiful, colorful cube of fun. I think that my son and I are going to have to share.

Under the Dome Giveaway by RKCharron

Imagine if you awoke to find your community enclosed in a dome? No one can get in, and no one can get out. Resources are dwindling, and nerves are frayed. The citizens of Chesters Mills have chosen sides, and the fight for the soul of the town is on.

Sound exciting? It was to me, so that's why I entered the Under the Dome Giveaway sponsored by RKCharron. It is the Collector's edition of the book, and for a Stephen King fan like me, that is a wonderful prize. After all, anyone who follows me on Twitter knows that I've been trying to win one from ScribnerBooks since they started giving them away. Still bookless, but still trying.

If you'd like a chance to win this collector's edition, just click on the link, follow the instructions and Good Luck!

To enter the contest, click the title of this post. It will take you to the giveaway page.

My "Fall" Friday

I sat there on the sidewalk, wondering if anyone saw me. The first thing I looked at was my phone; face down on the sidewalk, I didn't want to pick it up and see a cracked face. That was a win - my phone wasn't broken. I didn't notice until I got back into the department that I noticed that I broke a nail.

What did I do?  I did a face plant right on the sidewalk after getting out of my car. My stupid flip flop got caught and I went flying. So there,  I am right on track - one bandaged thumb,one scraped knee one scraped elbow and nothing broken except one for one chipped nail.

Why am I on track? I have one good fall every 10 years or so. I didn't notice the pattern until I was out of high school. There was the waxy floor slide and wall bounce of junior high, the "I almost drowned" fall off a guy's shoulder during a game in a college pool, the platform shoes butt plant at my state director's feet, and now the flip-flop fiasco of my 40's. It's just me, and so far nothing has been hurt but my pride.

At least one good thing came out of it. While I was icing my knee, there was a loud knock on the door. It was the FEDEX guy with my RubiksTouchCube. Maybe someone did see me fall after all, and gave me a little present for my "boo boo". It's pretty enough to make me almost forget my knee.