Ayen's ramblings..

What's the best thing about your mom?

My mom was the sweetest and calmest person I knew. I loved her smile. She was also very creative. I miss her so much!  

They had this on the news today. An indian baby is tossed from several feet for good health. It's the 3rd one on this clip. Poor baby! They said no baby has been harmed yet though. If I was the mom, I would definitely not let them do that to my baby.. The video from the TV station shows it better than the one from youtube below.

I read the article here by a guy whose line of work is in petroleum.

1. Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the early morning when the
ground temperature is still cold. Remember that all service stations have
their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the more dense
the gasoline, when it gets warmer gasoline expands, so buying in the
afternoon or in the evening....your gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the
petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the gasoline,
diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products plays an important role.

A 1-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But the
service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps.

2. When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a
fast mode. If you look you will see that the trigger has three (3) stages:
low, middle, and high. In slow mode you should be pumping on low speed,
thereby minimizing the vapors that are created while you are pumping. All hoses
at the pump have a vapor return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some
of the liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapor. Those vapors are being
sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you're getting
less worth for your money.

3. One of the most important tips is to fill up when your gas tank is HALF
FULL or HALF EMPTY. The reason for this is, the more gas you have in
your tank the less air occupying its empty space. Gasoline evaporates faster
than you can imagine. Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating
roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the gas and the
atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation. Unlike service stations,
here where I work, every truck that we load is temperature compensated so
that every gallon is actually the exact amount.

4. Another reminder, if there is a gasoline truck pumping into the storage
tanks when you stop to buy gas, DO NOT fill up--most likely the
gasoline is being stirred up as the gas is being delivered, and you might pick up
some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom.

Hope this will help you get the most value for your money.

When was the last time you drove out of town?

Early April when we went to Gainesville to buy A's formal gown.

I bought some Nestle La lechera condensed milk last week and I've been craving some fruit salad. I was excited to see that it wasn't in a can. I can just use some whenever I felt like having some.  I finally bought some fruit cocktail today so I could make some fruit salad.

This recipe below is the closest I could find to how I made it before except I didn't add a banana or add maraschino cherries since the fruit cocktail already has some. I do wanna add some macapuno though. I know there are other  variations out there. I also like the fruit salad that has some pineapples and oranges. It's usually green in color. I can't think of the name right now. I usually buy it pre-made from our local grocery store.

Any other tips on how to make fruit salad?

Ingredients:

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 (15.25 ounce) cans fruit cocktail
• 3 tablespoons maraschino cherries, halved
• 1 banana, sliced

Instructions:

Blend together the cream cheese and condensed milk until smooth. Drain the juice from 1 can of the fruit cocktail and add to cream cheese mixture. Add the other can with all its juice, cherries and banana. Mix together. Add extra condensed milk to sweeten if desired. Cover with saran wrap and chill. Mix before serving.

What indulgence always makes your grocery list?

Haagen Dazs pineapple and coconut ice cream. Yumm!

Also, flips chocolate pretzels and brownies.

We eat a lot of junk food. LOL

"The sky broke like an egg into full sunset and the water caught fire." -- Pamela Hansford Johnson
Show us a self-taken picture of the sunset.
Submitted by Connie.

Aw shoot!  This is a sunrise. oh well.. I love this pic. It was nice to wake up and see this outside. This was taken several months ago.

Florida sunrise

Her video Experience Philippines! is making me home sick. aaaah....

I can't wait to see the other videos! I wanna go to that mall! It would be nice to go shopping and find a lot of things that fit!

They finally opened the Peterbrooke Chocolatier in the shopping center today. Woohooo!

I was able to contain myself and took some pictures before I ate some. LOL

yumm!

I'm in salty/chocolatey heaven!