You know...I used to wonder why my mom has such a hard time sleeping, and now I think I know.  You see, my mom is a person who has ideas churning in her brain all the time, and she's always thinking about how to execute those ideas.  Well...many ideas seem so far and yet so close most of the time, so you just sit all night thinking of possibilities.  Well, I'm having one of those moments right now, where I just keep thinking of the same thing over and over again, and I just can't sleep.  An hour ago, I was nearly falling over my bed, getting ready to have heavenly dream.  Then I realized that I hadn't brushed my teeth or washed my face.  I did that, and suddenly inspiration came for me for a few verses of the song I started earlier today.  That's all and good except the song was too good for sleep, except I'm a 'no sleep no work' type of person, so I can't really think of anything anyways (my brain's too dead by this point).  After that, I HAD to think becoming a touring sensation and making a difference in millions of lives.  Dreams that only teenagers dare to dream.  Dreams that I'm holding on to as long as possible because I see adulthood marching right towards me, and I'm afraid of being afraid! 

What I really wanted this summer was to play music with my friends, except I live an hour away from all of them and I can't drive.  The only person who comes to visit me is my boyfriend, and although we would really like to work on music, the moment he comes over, my baby brother takes reign on him and we're both occupied by never ending yells and screams of whininess (and some happiness).  And although, I do love my baby brother, and I enjoy playing with him.  There comes a time when I wonder, why the hell do I end up doing hardly anything every single day except watch disney channel and talk baby.  On the other hand, one of my sisters is stuck on neopets and does NOTHING but chat and play neopets all day.  My other sister is obsessed with fashion and manga, and as she aspires to be a fashion designer or designer of some sort, I have no problems with her muling over magazines and fashion websites all day long.  What I really want is for someone to play the songs that I've written, which have piled up one after one cause I've written, at least, one every week since I got back home.

But here I am...stuck in house prison cause my parents want me home.  They treat me like I'm twelve, and I still have a curfew.  I'm obligated to watch after my sisters and to make sure they study (even though neither one of them care a hoot about what I tell them to do) and to ensure the happiness of my little brother, who has become all too spoiled.  I swear, next summer, I'm gonna move in with a friend down in Clear Lake and not come back and live here.  I've got a senior thesis project to prepare for, and I really can't deal with distractions at every corner.  There's a reason why I don't have two kids and a baby.  It's not my time.  I've got other things to do.  I'm not a mom, and moms shouldn't be treated like twelve year olds.  Stay here was fun for the first week.  I'm done and over it!  Thank God I'll be going back to NY in July.  I can't stand this place any longer.  And thank God for Donovan.  Without him, I'd be slowly going insane.

I came up with a fabulous recipe tonight for a really cheap meal because I've become the queen of cheap food.  Cheap quality food, if I may add, but still cheap none the less.  And what could be cheaper than beans and rice!

So here's what I used.

Can of Black Beans .99
Can of Red Kidney Beans .99
2 Celery Stalks 2.00 for a huge bundle of celery
Can Diced Tomatoes 1.39
Yellow Onion .69
Assorted Bell Peppers 1.34
---------
Total 5.40
Tax .43
----
Grand total $5.83

Start out with the onions diced.  While that's cooking, start chopping the bell peppers, and throw that in.  Then chop up the diced celeries and throw that in.  All this can be done with everything else cooking.  Stir it around well and cook for 3 minutes or so.  Then throw in the two cans of beans, which I only drained half way.  Cook that for awhile and toss in half a can diced tomatoes for more flavor.  Of course, add salt (eyeball it), and you can add grounded pepper too, but I didn't cause it's at my new apartment.  However, I did luckily have my Creole seasoning which is perfect for this sort of stuff.  I highly recommend it.  Actually, it's a must have.  Then I threw in some frozen corn that I had in the freezer, and voila!  I was done.  I brought it all to a boil and just let it simmered for 45 minutes or so cause I really like the beans soft.

As you can see, that was an insanely cheap meal especially if you already have many of those items stocked.  You can save money too by buying dry beans and soaking them.  One pack is probably equal to 3 cans of beans, and it only cost .99 usually.  I was just too lazy to soak them although I have them.  Soaking your own beans is also better because it makes you less "gas"sy...supposedly.  If you add some water (watch out though because the beans should have a lot of water content in it), you can make soup out of it.  Just add  some shredded cheese on top if you're just golden.

It took me 15 minutes to get everything prepared and in the pot, but if you're a faster chopper, it might only take you 10 mins.  I had my meal with rice and it was delicious.  Although, I'd imagine you could serve it with bread too and have an equally grand ol' time.  From the looks of my pot, I'm guessing this will last me for 4 meals, so if you're serving for four, this would be a very cheap way to get a good dinner.

I HATE THE NEW CYWORLD.  Yes, Hate.  GIVE US BACK THE OLD ONE!

Glenn Beck

Freddi and I have been listening to this audio book called "The Inconvenient Book" by Glenn Beck.  He's got some really interesting things to say about Global Warming (or not) and Muslim extremism.  Some of his muslim stuff is a bit over the top, but I like his segment about global warming.

I would definitely recommend his book regardless, but if you don't want to buy anything, you should check out his audio program online.

http://www.glennbeck.com/audio/

This is such an odd pairing that I'm just stunned. It kind of works..kind of. They sound good on the choruses. http://youtube.com/watch?v=UFNu_JES7WE