ShannonAlbert.com - June 2009

Seems some what anti-climactic but I was diagnosed with an ear infection today. Glad it was an easy fix but confused why it made me want to faint for about 24 hours. I know the fluids in the ear affect balance and all of that but I've had ear infections before and never felt dizzy or faint. Odd.

Good news is that after 1 dose of the two meds I was prescribed, the fog has lifted! I had no idea my mood was because I was actually sick. Glad it's gone though!

You'd think with the amazing inaugural celebrations, things going well at work, possible trip coming up, getting back to the gym, etc., that I would have something I want to talk about but I don't. I'm in The Funk this week that I can't climb out of it. Been changing into PJs as soon as dinner is done and not doing much else the rest of the night. I managed to fit in a board game and some TV viewing with Blake tonight which was an improvement over other nights this week.

On top of The Funk, I felt so much like fainting at work today that I had to call Andy to drive me home. The feeling to faint never did go away and I find myself looking around for places to fall, just in case. I'm calling the doctor tomorrow since this isn't my first episode of this but it is the worst.

Hoping tomorrow's sunshine and warmer temps will help melt The Funk away so I can get back to normal. And avoiding a fainting spell would be even better.

Misty posted some old pictures on Facebook and these two of us from high school are funny to me. Misty on the left, me on the right. Probably taken in 1990 when we were 15.

I decided to make our dinner of party foods while watching a documentary about Barack Obama. Tried a couple of new things while having some things we know we love.



Recipes:

Fondue Queso
Melted Velveeta with salsa on the stove and transferred to fondue pot

Li'l Smokies and Hot Dogs
Put smokies and cut up hot dogs into slow cooker with a bottle of bbq sauce. Turned on high for about an hour.

Fruit kabobs
Pretty self-explanatory. I used strawberries, cherries, blueberries and grapes this time.

Hot Pizza Dip
Made almost this exact recipe and so easy as only the microwave is required. I did use turkey pepperoni instead of regular pepperoni. Served with breadsticks.

Peanut Butter Cup Brownies
Prepare boxed brownie mix according to directions but pour into mini muffin tin using muffin cups. Fill just half way and then press peanut butter cup into the batter. Bake at 325 until done. Mine took 20 minutes. You can also make them using a regular sized muffin tin but the ratio of brownie to peanut butter cup is better in the smaller size (to me anyway).

My mom's famous punch recipe
I cut my mom's punch recipe to 1/3 of the normal serving since there were just 4 of us and it ended up being a good amount and let us have several refills. These are the amounts I used.

1 3oz. jello (I used strawberry to make it red punch but my mom has used all flavors to change the color according to the occasion)
1 c. boiling water
2 c. cold water
1 c. sugar
1 large can unsweetened pineapple juice
Ginger Ale

Mix jello with boiling water and stir until dissolved. Add cold water and stir. Add sugar and stir. Add pineapple juice and stir. Freeze in containers (I just used one mixing bowl this time but using a few smaller ones is easier sometimes). Thaw 4-6 hours ahead of time in refrigerator. Put some in punch bowl when ready to serve, break apart into smaller pieces and add Ginger Ale.