SPRINGY SALAD AND SOME SMALL TALK

I've been meeting more and bloggers who are vegetarians, and it's been encouraging me to try new ideas for healthier eating - sometimes(lol).  Most arugula salads tend to add pear or apples, but this recipe is a little bit different.  It's still simple to make though.

ARUGULA SALAD W/ WALNUTS
Ingredients
3/4 Cup Walnut Pieces
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
2 Tbsp. Apricot Preserves
2 Tbsp White Wine Vinegar
2 Tbsp Minced Red Onion
1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard

1/4 Tsp Salt
1/8 Tsp Pepper
1 Pkg Baby Arugula( 5 Oz)
2 Endive, about 8 oz., halved crosswise, cut lengthwise in 1/4" wide strips(are you really going to measure this-lol)
1 Container (16 Oz.) Grape Tomatoes

DIRECTIONS
In a small skillet, cook the walnuts over medium heat, stirring occasionally until fragrant and toasted, about 5 minutes.  Transfer to a plate and cool.

In a large serving bowl, whisk together oil, preserves, vinegar, onion, mustard, salt & pepper until blended.  Add the arugula, endive, tomatoes and walnuts, tossing until coated. Serve immediately.

I WANT THAT HOUSE!
Have you been house hunting, or thinking about moving into a new place?  I've found the perfect spot in Atherton California, which according to Bloomberg is the wealthiest place in the United States.  In fact, this city has an average household income of close to $444,000.

Right now this 6 bedroom/8 bath home located at 147 Stockbridge Avenue can be yours for the bargain price of $15,500,000.00, making your mortgage about 80,000 a month!


MALL LOVE

Cary Towne Mall

As a kid, hanging out at the mall seemed so fun because there were all these neat stores, and it seemed like they became larger and larger with each new place I visited.  Now, the mall that's closest to me hardly has any of the stores I remember, and there's not much traffic either.  To be honest, I love a good deal, and don't find many at the local malls these days, so I don't even visit as much as I used to.

Mall of America

Still, there are lots of malls that continue to be exciting, and some have sizes that are massive.

In the US, the largest mall is The Mall of America, located in Bloomington Minnesota, which not only boasts over 500 well known stores and boutiques and is visited by about 40 million people each year, but it also comes with an actual amusement park!  During the week they close at 9:30pm.

Dubai Mall

Dubai Mall Aquarium

If that's not big enough, and you have the time and energy to visit close to 650 stores on 4 floors, head to the Dubai Mall.  But if you don't want to shop, visit the huge aquarium that's there for your viewing pleasure, or grab a meal at one of their fantastic restaurants.  You can stay out late here, because this mall closes at 11pm.

AMAZON IS AT THE TOP
Remember those blog posts about finding jobs on Amazon, getting deals and sales, and those brick and mortar bookstores?  Well, all that and more has paid off for the Amazon Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos who is worth a whopping $123 billion dollars, making him #1 on Forbes Billionaires List, and dropping Bill Gates to #3.  If that's not enough, he also owns the Washington Post.

SHOW YOUR CAT SOME LOVE
Have you ever thought about writing that adorable furbaby in your home a personalized letter?  If you grab A Letter to My Cat, you'll see an anthology of love letters from celebrities and music stars that will make you smile.  The book also includes fantastic profiles and pictures of these special pets.

Making Money Moves
Are you witty with words, funny, or good with writing short little blurbs?  If so, Calypso Cards is looking for you, and it's a great way to earn some extra cash.  Click on this link below for submission rules and other pertinent information. Accepted submissions pay $50 each.  Submissions .

On March 14, https://wordswisps.blogspot.com/ recommended a writer that I had never heard of in one of her posts, but he's actually very well known. When you read Mark's work, you'll realize very quickly that he has a potty mouth, but it absolutely takes nothing away from his ability to eloquently discuss the core of toxic and/or abusive relationships.

Something about the quoted phrase below has resonated with me since early March, and I print this with his permission.  

"You don’t want to bargain with your father for love, or your friends for companionship, or your boss for respect. Why? Because feeling like you have to manipulate people into loving or respecting you feels shitty. It undermines the whole project. If you have to convince someone to love you, then they don’t love you. If you have to cajole someone into respecting you, then they don’t respect you. The most precious and important things in life cannot be bargained with. To try to do so destroys them." Mark Manson - https://markmanson.net/how-to-grow-up.

If you remember my post, "Sometimes It's Time to Start Over", back in January, this is a powerful reminder to do everything you can to get out of your abusive situation.

That person you love is not only mistreating you, but he or she is going around town assassinating your character and lying about what's really going on in your home. 

No matter what you do, you're never going to be respected or treated properly. That meal that took you four hours to cook is going to have something wrong with it.  The 40 pounds you gained due to stress, and the 50 pounds lost in a month just won't be enough.  He or she will do everything possible to portray you as the bad guy, and everyone he/she tells will believe you're the enemy or crazy. The lies and cheating won't ever end. Meanwhile, the attempt to wear you down emotionally will be relentless, and this person is NEVER going to change. 

Any physical violence will only intensify. If you're nose is broken now, next week it could be your arm.  In a few days, you'll need to hide a black eye with makeup or a hat. The month after that, you could be in the hospital or even worse - dead.

Talk to someone you trust,(not a gossipy friend or family member!) save money, write everything down, and maintain secrecy.  Also feel free to contact the national Domestic Hotline for help via their chat line http://www.thehotline.org/ or by calling 1−800−799−7233

MIX IT UP MONDAY

Have you ever started eating something that tasted so yummy, and you couldn't stop?  Lately, I've been absolutely hooked on Halo Mandarin Oranges because they are so sweet and delicious.  They are about 37-40 calories each and have NO seeds! Sometimes they can be a little pricey, but I had a coupon for a FREE bag, which I used at Walmart.  However, Aldi's sells them at bargain prices.  What treat can't you get enough of these days?

HELP THE TROOPS
Do you have duplicate copies of books, or doing some Spring decluttering around the house?  If so, wwww.booksforsoldiers.com has been around since 2003 and needs books, games, cds and care packages to send to the troops that are overseas. Another suggestion for book donations is  http://www.operationpaperback.org which has been around since 1999.  These are both non-profit agencies.

Barbie's & 4 Furbies from McDonald's Happy Meals - 1999

DO YOU HAVE ONE?
Barbie has been around since March 1959, and Mattel has sold more than 1 billion dolls.  I've collected quite a few over the years. Many have been sold,or given away to my granddaughter, but I still have hundreds of them.  

By the way, if you happen to have $9000 lying around, you could score a vintage mint in box Barbie# 4 from eBay that's currently for sale.

But if you happen to have these dolls just sitting around the house, you may be surprised that they could still be worth lots of cash.  Holiday Barbie, and other collector dolls as recent as 2010 may be considered valuable.

And don't forget about those old clothes from back in the day, especially if they're still in the package.

RETAIL STUFF
Did you know that when you return an item to the store, it may be actually tracked by a company called Retail Equation?  Certain stores capture your personal information to see how often returns are being made.  Customers who are returning items frequently, or suspected of suspicious activity, (return abuse/return fraud) could be flagged and barred from making future returns.  Retail stores report losses in the millions because of this problem.

A few stores that are known to use this company for reports are Sephora, CVS Pharmacy, Home Depot, JC Penney and Victoria's Secret.

Many years ago,  a friend used to purchase clothing for parties and other events, then return it on Monday.  It didn't matter how many times I tried to convince her not to do it, she happily kept tucking price tags under her sleeves for months. YIKES! She outgrew this after about a year, but I can imagine that these days they would have been waiting for her at the door to tell her NO before she even headed to the Customer Service Desk. (lol)  These days, she owns a salon in Texas, has 6 grandkids, and says she has very little time to shop these days.

ANIMAL LOVE
I absolutely love the Animal Planet because they  provide some really neat programs.  So this weekend, I watched The Zoo, which focuses on a zoo in Bronx New York.  Now before you get all excited, the director of this zoo is nothing like Jack Hanna from the Columbus Zoo. (lol)  He's very laid back, and you don't even see much of him.  But you do see his wife and all the other people who interact with the animals in such a loving manner.  

Laying an egg together

Maleo Egg & Regular Chicken Egg

I learned that the Maleo Bird is addicted to peanuts and is totally monogamous, hanging out with each other most of the time.  The female lays an egg in the perfect spot, along with her mate and they never returns.  

Also porcupines aren't as scary as I thought they were.  For years it was thought that they attacked people by spraying those quills, but that's not true.They can be rubbed and petted just like dogs or cats.  They raise their quills, stomp their feet and back up towards the person who is making them nervous.  Because their quills come out rather easily, an animal who attacks them actually gets stuck with them.  Those they lose easily grow back.

What are you reading these days?

If you like chicken, today is your day!  

WACKY WORK IDEAS & AN ICE CREAM FREEBIE

Back in the day, it was a well known secret that I would play practical jokes on just about anyone at work, and sometimes it caused me to get into trouble. (lol)  No way could I get away with any of this now, and would be immediately terminated.

I put soap in the bathroom that turned your hands black.  I smeared vaseline on the customer service phones so they would stick to their ears, and once I called a 900 number (can you still make those anymore?) and transferred it to another person so they could hear some really raunchy sex talk.  

I laughed so hard as she called over all the rest of the service reps to listen.  I always wondered why she didn't just hang up the phone. (lol)

But the one time I got pats on the back and lots of thumbs ups was when I hired a stripper for my boss's birthday. 

At the time, I was an assistant to this tiny beautiful bombshell with a killer walk and a brilliant mind. She knew everything there was to know about the cable industry, and eventually worked her way up to become a vice president. She was also hooked on coca cola and came in every morning at 7:50am with a Giant Gulp from the 7-11. She had a really neat sense of humor, unless you screwed up. So if *Audrey power walked from her office back to the customer service area, everyone knew that somebody was in trouble.  

Eventually, she and I became really close, but I was a kid and liked to shock her. (lol)  One day, I got permission from Audrey's boss to hire a stripper for her 30th birthday, and I did the happy dance. After collecting money from her staff and all the managers, I hired this stripper who came dressed as an exterminator.  Yep, when he came in, she showed him where to spray, then went back to her office without a clue..

Meanwhile, almost every employee tried to find a way to peek into the office or hang out in the hallway while this was going on, and it was hard for me to control myself while this guy walked around faking it.  Eventually, he went back into the office to give her this fraudulent bill, and asked her to walk with him to get her approval.  

By then, there was this chair in the middle of the customer service department.  Somehow, this gorgeous guy got in front of her, ripped off his uniform,(he wore a thong) picked her up, put her on that chair, and by now, nearly 150 people squeezed into the office to see the show. He grinded, danced and smiled until she was red all over, and I clapped with glee.  She was a really good sport about it and loved her cake at the end.

All my friends and family were so glad when I outgrew this phase, and could rest easy that I wouldn't eventually end doing something so ludicrous I couldn't recover.

Ironically, now I'm the total opposite and very laid back.  Well mostly.  Sometimes I play small jokes on people. (lol) No strippers and nothing too wild.  Just give me a really good book or movie to watch, and a cheeseburger.

But what about you?  What's the craziest thing you've ever done?

DEALS
Did you know you can save up to 80% if visit www.amazon.com/outlet and the Warehouse?  Don't forget to search for coupons on the site too.

WE ALL SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM
Do you have a Dairy Queen in your neck of the woods?  If so, take advantage of a FREE soft serve cone on March 20.

YAHOO!
I don't use it much, but this search engine has been around since 1995. When the founders tried to use plain old Yahoo, they couldn't because it was already trademarked for barbeque sauce and canoes.  They didn't want to give up the name, so they added an exclamation point instead.

HAS THIS EVER HAPPENED TO YOU?
Usually I'm not bothered by long lines because it's the perfect opportunity to talk to the person behind me, read magazines or day dream.  So the other day in Walmart there were only two open registers, so I was chatting with the lady behind me about crafting.  Before I knew it, all hell broke loose up front.  

Apparently, someone jumped in front of another lady, and my goodness she was yelling for that lady to go to the back of the line.  The lady didn't want to go, and there was this screaming match.  Eventually, the lady who jumped in line just left her cart there, and left the store.  She refused to go to the back of that line.(lol)