Popcorn Chicken

First off, I'd like to say, that I love popcorn chicken. I used to order chicken strips at every restaurant I went to, and then break them up into bite size pieces. I have since branched out, and get a little wild and crazy and order something other than chicken strips, but that's not the point here. Popcorn chicken is the best thing since sliced bread in the world of a "bite size piece chicken strip eater."

I don't really understand why they call it popcorn chicken though. They don't puff up from little tiny pieces of chicken when under extreme heat. I don't know of anyone that "pops up" a whole batch right before a movie. I can't imagine that they would taste good with Goobers or Milk Duds mixed in, or even drenched with butter. And above all that, I never get popcorn chicken that is actually the size of popcorn.

In case you hadn't figured it out, I'm currently eating popcorn chicken along with some Waldorf Salad (which I don't understand the name of either, but I bought it in my 'quest to be healthier') I would say at least 1/3, if not more, of the pieces of 'popcorn' chicken are bigger than a fun-sized candy bar. Probably close to another 1/3 may be the correct size to be considered popcorn like, but don't have any chicken in them, thus cancelling the "chicken" out of the name. "Popcorn" or "chicken" seems to be missing in at least 2/3 of the pieces!!

Oh, how wonderful it is to be done with exams for a few weeks, so that I can focus on the more important things in life, like popcorn chicken...

We're all good at something...

Aaron is really good at making fancy-schmancy meals, like the one he made me on Valentines Day, when everything (and I do mean everything) was heart shaped. I'm even amazed by the fact that he can make yummy meatloaf with no recipe, well, basically anything without a recipe. You can see how great my cooking skills must be, which brings me to my next point.

I'm really good at using a microwave (thank you Mom!!) Aaron is closing Lobby Bar tonight, which means he had to be to work at 7:30. Generally if he's working and I'm not, I try to make him dinner. So tonight, while he was getting ready, I whipped up an "amazing" meal. We had chicken patties(microwaved), cottage cheese(straight from the container), and Mac N' Cheese (Easy Mac, so also microwaved). Aaron was, or at least pretended to be, happy with the meal and complimented the macaroni, because he can never get it to the right 'creaminess' like I did. He was surprised when I told him that it was Easy Mac and he continued to compliment my skills. Isn't he wonderful??

Dinner Conversation

Does everyone's dinner conversation center around work the way my family's does?? I realize that part of it might be because a large number of us all work at the Gateway, but I was over at my parent's for dinner tonight with Aaron, my brother and his fiance, and 2 of my cousins, and I swear at least 75% of our conversation centered around work. My brother and Becky have a wedding to plan and my cousin, Susan, is about 6 months pregnant, yet all we talked about was work. I even tried to pull people away to look at pics of Becky's wedding dress, but to no avail!!

The good news is, I didn't eat myself sick tonight. For the last two nights, I've eaten and eaten until I basically feel like I'm going to puke. I'd also like everyone to know that we made some of the best Scotcharoos EVER this weekend. We also made S'Mores brownies and bought 5 bags of Halloween candy, so we've been fattening up for the winter. Mmmmm...so good.

Comments requested...

...and I'd prefer if they were from real people and not just spam!! It's very upsetting when the only comments I get are from random people trying to get me to go to their website :-(

Any Survivor fans reading this?? Because if you are, you'll know what I'm talking about. I swear that at least 3 people would have died in last nights season premiere if they hadn't had a nurse practitioner on their team. I'll admit that I like watching reality TV and I probably won't stop, but it was scary to watch last night!!

Anyhow, I survived (haha, I was just talking about Survivor) my first test of the semester and my first blue book test of my college career. I have two more next week and two the week after that, but they're not blue book tests, so I feel a little better about them from the start!!

We're going camping next weekend in the CR area for my little brother's 4th birthday. Steve has had camping experience (in our backyard, tee-hee) but we're not ready to try taking Nick and Steve camping with us. We're also pretty sure that Aaron's parents aren't going to want to watch both grand-pups. If anyone wants to watch two amazing dogs for the weekend, or even one of them, let us know. We'd be more than happy to make your dreams come true!! Just look at how adorable they are:

"Aaron the Animal Trainer" getting the boys to perform amazing tricks!! Crikies that's good dog training!!

The key is broken between the "K" and ";"

...so please forgive any typos, well, at least if the type involves a missing "L." I start off with the norm, describing our puppies' newest accomplishments. Steve can roll over now. We think he's been able to forever now, but he's just started as a result of trying to be better than the puppy. The puppy hasn't really picked up any new tricks, but he has gotten much better at sitting, shaking, and laying down. Nick loves going into his cage now, because he gets a "big boy" treat. We've realized how big he's gotten, he weighs about 20 pounds now (he started out at 13, 3 weeks ago). He's a lot longer too. Tee-hee. Nick just ran into his cage as I was writing. Apparenty he thinks it's bedtime!!

So, if you reside in the Ames/Des Moines area, I'd definitely recommend going to the Funny Bone if you're trying to find something fun to do. Aaron and I went yesterday evening with his cousin Jeff and Jeff's girlfriend Sarah. We saw a comedian named "Cowboy Bill" and he was very entertaining. After he started on the poop jokes, I couldn't stop laughing!! We're already talking about going back to see a hypnotist in October sometime.

*GOOD NEWS FLASH* Aaron and I both have next weekend off (the 17th and 18th) and we don't have any plans. Even more exciting, is that it's the first of three weekends in a row that we'll have off.

I think we're going to sneak off into the bedroom soon, because Nick is LOVING his cage. He keeps walking into it and looking at us like "Why aren't you closing me in guys?? I'm ready to sleep!!" And for your enjoyment, I'll add in a picture of him :-D I took it about 3 minutes ago when he was in his cage with both of his ears flipped up.
Have a great weekend everyone!! (Beat Iowa!! Go Cyclones!!)