If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting Suncoast Scribe!

We have been making this in our family for about 30 years and as Christmas gets closer, I start digging out recipes like this one. It really lends itself to the season.

Cake:
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1 package yellow cake mix
1 package vanilla instant pudding
4 eggs
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup dark rum (80 proof)
Glaze:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark rum (80 proof)

Preheat oven to 325º. Grease and flour 10″ tube or 12-cup Bundt pan. Sprinkle nuts over bottom of pan. Mix all cake ingredients together. Pour batter over nuts. Bake 1 hour. Cool.

Invert cake on serving plate. Prick top. Drizzle and smooth glaze evenly over top and sides. Allow cake to absorb glaze. Repeat until glaze is used up.

FOR GLAZE: Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in water and sugar. Boil’ 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove heat and stir in rum.

Like this is any surprise? 

Here are some stats from the National Center for Health Statistics:

• 12,792 divorces in January-February 2006
• 14,079 divorces in January-February 2007
• 15,301 divorces in January-February 2008

Florida is a “no fault” state. You can file for divorce for any reason you like. You can wake up one morning, as one attorney explained to me, roll over and decide you do not like your husband’s hair. That is reason enough for Florida!

Initially, a no fault divorce was designed to protect battered wives. They abusive husbands could not refuse them a divorce and hold them in a marriage. Good for them, sincerely. However, for the rest of us it means if you have an impulsive spouse (as I did), there is no recourse. If they file, you have to legally reply or the courts will simply grant them everything they ask for in the filing. Sad, but true.

So, of course the divorce rate in Florida is going up. It’s cheaper and easier than getting married. There is no mandatory time for a legal separation, like in Virginia and other states. File those papers, hash it out, sign and go.

..but, there is more than a grain of truth here.

I was on the fence before about getting up and doing any shopping on Black Friday. In fact, even after going through the ads in the paper this morning, I was unsure if it was really worth it. I only saw a handful of things I thought might be worth my time and money.

Somehow, though I ended up with a list of 7 stores I want to try and go to. Some are actually only back-up plans if items I want at other stores are not available. I’m most intimidated about Toys R Us. I went last year and the line was long, the crowds cranky, and the 2nd line to get into the electronics section was hideous. Last year I was not interested in the electronics, but this year I want to try and buy some games for the Nintendo DS I just ordered for my daughter on Amazon. The DS is being sold in bundles at all the stores tomorrow and includes games that look pathetically worthless. The pink DS I want is the same price everywhere, so I just decided on Amazon since I had over $35 in gift certificates that needed to be used there.

I’m not sure you will find me anywhere at 4 a.m. I might get up and go around 8, though. I do not enjoy the pushing crowds or the fist-fights. My dad says he called his local Wal-Mart and since they are open 24-hours, they are not closing and re-opening the store for Black Friday. They are letting people inside and will simply have the Door Buster items on the floor in shrink wrap. At 5 a.m. they will cut the shrink wrap. Anyone else see the problem there? I would not want to be within 100 yards of that mess.

In the past, I have allowed my daughter to choose one fairly expensive Christmas gift and then supplemented with a generous handful of lesser gifts. Sine I buy throughout the year, she ends up with dozens of things each Christmas, many of them quite nice. I just happen to be able to buy more by taking advantage of fantastic sales throughout the year.

I was going to pass on a a high-end gift this year and stick with the styling head I have been talking about, as well as some Hannah Montana t-shirts, makeup kits, a PC video game, and assorted princess items. Oh, and a computer with a flat panel monitor that a teacher at school gave me to give my daughter.

However, Gigi reminded me that she has wanted a Nintendo DS for the last year now. It’s not prohibitively expensive, but in light of the economics of our times and my dogged determination to save for a house, I have to think twice before just running out to buy one. The console retails for around $130 and each game is about another $30. How long will it be relevant before I need to chuck the whole kit and caboodle for the next great thing?

Any comments? I would love to hear from any of you who think the DS is worth it.

I know there are people out there who are close to impossible to buy gifts for. So, with that in mind, I am going to feature some of the cute t-shirt designs I have on hand. You can order them on an array of shits, hats, even boxers and things. If you happen to like one of my designs and want it on a different item, let me know and I will set that up for you and adjust it for minimal price mark-up – so you will get what you want and at a great price, too.

Here is my sexy, cute cupcake design…

So, I opened up the Kmart ad this morning that went out ot those who get the Sunday paper. We don’t get the Sunday paper, though, so it just came in the mail yesterday. Kmart has several different models of Barbie styling heads on sale for $9.99.

The pictures shows a plain looking Barbie head and one with a princess crown, etc. The text near the picture says that the assortment may vary from store to store. Neither head had hands showing, which seems to be a *must* for my daughter. I can just envision the 25 layers of nail polish she will apply in the first 24-hours.

So, it came down to me showing Gigi the various models online, so she can see the differences. She was the most enthusiastic about the Cloe Bratz torso model – although I understand that is not technically a Barbie head. Still, it IS in the back on my van as I type this, so it felt good to know I chose right.

Still, those $10 heads are appealing to the wallet. Wow, that last sentence sure came out sounding creepy.

I am a recent convert to the tradition of standing in line at insane pre-daylight hours on the day after Thanksgiving looking for “door-buster” sale prices. My family was always into it, but I was more interested in the extra sleep after turkey day.

Since my daughter has been born, I have been more interested in the Black Friday sales. Why? Well, toys and electronics tend to be the two shopping categories where you can find the honestly good deals on the day after Thanksgiving. I have stood in line at toy stores the last couple of years to buy items that already happened to b on my daughter’s wish list, so that I could snag the items at the best price of the season.

I’m already looking at the Black Friday ads that one can find all over the internet and trying to plan whether or not I will bother to get op at the crack of dawn on the day after Thanksgiving, and if so – which stores and in what order.

My daughter wants a Barbie styling head. I have been looking around and most of them retail for between $30 and $45, depending on the style. I found a Bratz styling head at Toys R Us that showed a $14.99 clearance price and even though the full price scanned, the manager honored the sign for me. A Bratz doll is not my first choice, since up until now I have been firm in not letting Gigi have Bratz – but, the price was right. However, it looks like if I want to get up early on Black Friday, I will be able to get a Barbie Island Princess styling head slash karaoke machine for $14.99. I might just have to make a switch.

And so, I leave you now. I need to get back to browsing Black Friday ads.

Not even a year ago, I was writing about how Mary Delgado punched her fiancé, Byron Velvick, in Pinellas County, busted open his lip, and made her infamous trip to the local jail. Now, she has been arrested once again, although this time it happened in Texas.

In case you need a pop-culture refresher, Delgado was the winner of the sixth season of The Bachelor and Velvick was said Bachelor.

Delgado was arrested Saturday night for public intoxication, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct at Lorina’s Cantina in Del Rio, Texas. Velvick is apparently still in her life. He is the one who bailed her out of the Val Verde County Correctional Facility.

You can’t second guess love, folks.

Last summer there was a scramble as teachers who were displaced after school closings in the district looked for new jobs. Many were accommodated by neighboring districts. Many went into lower-paying positions. It was hard times for all.

And now Pinellas County, in the Tampa Bay Area, has announced they are considering more school closing for next school year.

• Gulf Beaches Elementary in St. Pete Beach
• Kings Highway Elementary in Clearwater
• North Ward Elementary in Clearwater
• Palm Harbor Elementary in Palm Harbor
• Rio Vista Elementary in St. Petersburg

• They cite declining enrollment and an even tighter budget as the cause.

  Last year, the district considered 10 schools closure, but only three got the axe: Riviera Middle School, South Ward Elementary in Clearwater and Largo Elementary.

  Related Posts

  • John Graziano Update: The 911 Tapes
  • Snow in Tampa?
  • St. Petersburg’s “Pinellas Hope”
  • Faye Welcomes the School Year
  • Why the Bollea Family Just Should Not Drive

Ok, so I just wrote that article about using layaway and how people are using credit cards less than usual this Christmas shopping season. No sooner had I published the article than I found some cool, related stats on a study released today by the National Retail Federation.

They surveyed 8,758 consumers on their proposed holiday shopping habits and among other findings, they found that shoppers who will use credit cards as their primary method of paying for holiday gifts will fall when compared to a similar survey taken in 2007.

Yay for the American consumer public for finally getting it through their collective heads that credit is not the way to go. This has been a long time coming, although most people only finally saw the light this year before the presidential election and during the bank bailouts.

…but they last longer now, too.

Did you know that you can already get a 2009 Fun Card for Busch Gardens in Tampa? My daughter and I used to get our sometime at the beginning of any given year and then we would be able to get in to the park for the rest of the year on the same full-priced, one-day admission ticket.

The price for an adult Fun Card is going up 8 percent, to $69.95. The price for children ages 3 to 9 is going up 9 percent, to $59.95. However, you can start using these cards now and keep using them through the last day of 2009.

In January, Busch Gardens will replace the Fun Card with a “Pay for a Day” deal where you can get unlimited park visits without blackout dates for the price of a 2009 single-day admission. No news yet on those prices.

Despite what sounds like it might be a money losing venture for the park, their revenue is actually still very strong. They make their money off of parking, food, and other concessions from your repeat visits.

The seniors are doing their research papers right now. They have to research a career that interests them. I’ve had a good time helping them with the research, the outlines, the thesis statements, etc. I look forward to seeing rough drafts on Monday and delving into the editing portion.

Anyway, one of the boys came up to me early this week and said, “If I become a firefighter, will I have to pay taxes?”

I told him, “Of course you will.”

He looked at me with a blank face for a moment and then he finally said, “But Obama won the election and firefighters make less than $250k a year.”

“You will STILL have to pay income taxes,” I reiterated.

I went on to explain that Obama has promised to add an additional tax deduction for working people. He has said that the tax rate for middle income families will be less than it was during the Reagan years (not difficult to do, by the way), that families making less that $250k a year will not see a tax increase, and that middle income families will receive tax relief. The key word is relief, which in and of itself is a rather ambiguous word.

Nowhere does Obama say that middle income families will no longer have to pay taxes at all. However, SO many people came out of election season believing that. MANY voters think that their boat just bought the gravy train. As sorry as I feel for those who are uninformed, I also have to say that they could have avoided ignorance by doing a little light reading on Obama’s own website.

Foolishness.

Florida – land of temperate weather and a never-ending growing season. And yes, lots of bugs that thrive in our moist, warm state.

And now, University of Florida researchers say we should be on guard for several new species of cockroaches that have entered the state via lizard owners who buy them to feed their pets.

When those cockroaches escape, they breed happily and quickly in our warm environment. The breeds experts say Floridians need to be on the lookout for are: the Madagascar hissing cockroach, the Turkestan cockroach, lobster roach, and the orange spotted roach. Although Florida has banned the sale of new roach varieties for 20 years now, but the internet has made them easy for pet owners to obtain.

Since the Tampa Bay area is basically devoid of real celebrities, the Hogan family saga is what passes for celebrity gossip around here. And since it has been several weeks since our last tidbit of Hogan hijinks, I suppose it was past due for a new Hogan-ific story.

Linda Hogan says the real reason she is divorcing the Hulk (Terry Bollea) is that he was cheating on her with daughter Brooke’s (former) best friend Christiane Plante.

While Linda insists the reason for divorce is as simple as Hulk’s cheating, Hulk himself is not satisfied to let well enough alone. I suppose he’s just not one to put his tail respectfully between his legs and slink off into the beautiful Clearwater Beach sunset. Nope, he repeatedly and often fires back at Linda with accusations that she simply wants to be in the limelight.

Hulk’s lawyer, David Houston, released this statement:
“It is unfortunate Linda Hogan will do virtually anything to keep herself in the public spotlight. We are not going to demean this process nor the family any longer by responding to what amounts to pathetic pleas for attention.”

He can blow as much smoke as he wants, but I agree that Linda is justified with her simple statement about Hulk cheating. That says it all. We don’t even have to get into the fact that the person he cheating with was the MUCH-younger BFF of his own daughter. That’s the tacky icing on the creepy cake, so to speak.