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He beat me home. Sadly, he didn’t fold the laundry or run the dishwasher, but he’s home safe and sound and took me out to dinner. Best yet: He didn’t complain because I didn’t fold the laundry or run the DW.
The happiest sounds are wafting from my bedroom right now…kisses, belly laughs and “I love yous.”
Have I ever mentioned how lucky I am?
*UPDATE*
He folded the laundry for me 
Love him.
I’ve been using Bloglines forevah to stalk blogs in order to stay on top of some of my favorite friends in the Blogishpere. Well, those who have used Bloglines have probably noticed that, from time to time, blogs randomly disappear. When I only had a handful, versus the entire internet I now stalk keep up with, I could tell who fell off. Now I don’t realize someone has vanished until it smacks me one day that I haven’t seen anything from them in a while or they comment on a post. I find them and realize that their lives are still rolling on despite the fact I’ve not been following along.
Bloglines is easy to use so I like it. How about Google reader? or any other stalking trolling ideas? Please share your thoughts. If it wasn’t for her saying hi and wishing Will happy homecoming, I would have missed Spacemom’s car getting jacked by a golf ball and all her other turns of events and life’s happenings.
That was the question again today about Will coming home from AT. “Yellow or white airplane mommy? Just kiddin’. White ’cause yellow is Big Bird.”
I’m glad to have him on his way home. I think he’s going to be home earlier than anticipated because his phone is off and when I talked to him at 7 this morning two planes had already left, but he didn’t know when his flight was. There are roughly 4,000 of them coming home today. I really wasn’t expecting him until the wee hours of tomorrow morning based on their original plan. Hopefully I’ll make it home before him (doubtful, but slightly possible) to do a quick pickup. Otherwise, here’s to hoping he decides to fold that load of laundry and run the dishwasher.
I work in a small town that now has 4 gas stations.
Gas station “M” Is owned by the same folks who own an “M” in a neighboring city so their gas prices are always the same.
Same story with gas station “B”.
Gas station “S” is family owned and operated and they pretty much do their own thing.
Gas station “A” is the new kid in town.
Gas prices in town are always the same, or within a few pennies, at the three existing stations. However, if I travel to the next “big” city to go to Wol Mrt or something, gas there is, on average, ten cents cheaper than the town I work in, but I don’t buy gas there because 1. I’m usually not in that town when I need gas and 2. I typically buy gas from “M” because I have their Maztercard and I get 5% back on my gas purchases at their stations, plus I got 10% for the first sixty days. At $3.79 gallon, 5% back is an okay thing. (As an aside: I work in SC and the gas tax for SC is cheaper than NC so it’s always cheaper to buy my gas in SC)
Well, another shake up in the small town when “A” opened with a price of $3.73. That made “M” do the same thing. While I’d love to support “A” in an effort to bitch slap those who have monopolized the gas market in small town, I want/need my 5% back. So, until I get a generic Maztercard or Viza that gives me my 5%, I’m going to buy from “M”. Wednesday I filled up for $3.69.
My little side of beef is this: You know they aren’t putting themselves in a position to not make a profit; nobody is in business to lose money. Their profits may not be as much, but they aren’t losing money. If we have the “wiggle” room for a gas-war, why can’t we use that “wiggle” room so people can afford to drive to work and feed their families? I don’t have the magic solution, but it’s odd to me people who price gouge after a disaster (i.e. a $300 generator marked up to $1000) are arrested and pay consequences, why can’t the same be done for oil companies? It’s gouging. I don’t care how you slice it, dice it or fry it up. It is what it is.
Also, I think we should elect a group of housewives or single gals or anyone who has to balance a household budget to fill the Presidency; middle class, working people who have to make their money last every month. I’d also suggest we put a Great Clips at the White House. I’ve had a $100 haircut and I’ve had a $15 haircut; they turned out about the same. Go figure.
*sigh*
I haven’t grocery shopped yet this week so pickings for dinner were slim and I thought we’d have a nice girl’s night out at a sandwich place. Whatever. O’s dinner tonight: Brownie and potato chips. It was the best I could do and with the wailing and screaming she was doing. However, I was eventually able to bribe her into eating one triangle of her peanut butter (no jelly) sandwich by offering up the cherry off my Brownie Delight sundae, which was slathered with cool whip and chocolate sauce. I ate my dinner first, so my dessert was in the proper order.
I can’t explain it. It just happened. I’m proud to say it took two years, two months and 28 days for me to cave that hard on a meal.
Weight Watchers? Back on track tomorrow. Tonight I needed comfort and chocolate.
When you need/want to blog about something, but can’t. Not even with being able to slap on a password.
This is a yummy, light treat I thought I’d share.
4 red delicious apples (depending on size of apples, I sometimes just use 3)
1 (15 oz.) can crushed pineapple (undrained)
1 (1 oz.) box butterscotch instant pudding (I use fat free/sugar free)
1 (8 oz.) tub Cool Whip (I use light or fat free)
- I puree my pineapple in my food processor to make it a bit more fine, but you don’t have to.
- Chop apples into bite sized pieces
- Mix pineapple with pudding mix.
- Fold in Cool Whip until well mixed.
- Fold in apples.
- Chill in refrigerator for at least four hours.
Store left overs in refrigerator. Usually it’s all eaten within two or three days at our house so I don’t know how long it will last. A lot of times I’ll half the recipe and it turns out just fine. You can buy 7 oz. cans of crushed pineapple.
Bon appetit.
Over at Sarge Charlie’s place, I linked up for this week’s Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt started by TN Chick. This week’s theme was shoes. When I saw the topic, I knew I had to participate. In true Susan fashion, I’m late…
First, the Ghetto fabulous shoes Will insisted we buy for Fabul-O. They kind of grew on me after awhile, but we weren’t fortunate to ever find another pair in her size. And, in case you are interested in knowing, NO we are not still actively looking She wore these for the first time from Chongqing to Guangzhou. It’s hard to believe her feet were that tiny just over two short years ago. (If I’m not mistaken, they are a size 2 and she was 13 mos. old)
My second favorite shoes picture is one I took of Will’s combat boots he wore in support of OIF III. I’ll never forget the day I came home from work to his foot locker sitting on the front porch. I knew it was the first step in them preparing to come home, but I lost it. For my family, it was the first step in preparing for homecoming, but for others who received a footlocker it was the belongings coming home of a lost loved one.
These boots were buried at the very bottom and were covered in sand and dust. I ran my fingers over them memorizing the feel and wondered what stories they would tell if boots could talk. As dusty as they were, I didn’t put them away. I couldn’t. I put them in the same in-the-way place Will always took his boots off when he came home. It made it oddly cozy for me. When he was home safe and sound, I made him put his boots away, the same way I always do.
I found this over at Smith’s Family Adventures and decided to play along. It was such a sour week for me and her post made me smile.
So, here goes…
I will send a gift (of my choosing!) to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this “PIF” exchange, & who make the same pledge on their blog.
The only thing you have to do in return is PAY IT FORWARD – on your own blog.
So, if you want a goodie from me & you are willing to do the same on your blog, let me know!
(Note that you will need to give me your snail mail address, which we can work out over private email!!)
Hope you’ll do it, too.
This post has absolutely nothing to do with lobster. Nothing.
I’m crabby today and felt I needed to get it out there for all the world to see. I deserve some credit keeping my sense of humor intact by referencing another crustacean. When I said lob-stah out loud, it actually brought 1/8 of a grin to my quickly aging face whereas crabby did nothing except make me scowl.
It has been a rough week on me and I’m not sure why. Part of it is that I’m sleepy. I’ve been having trouble sleeping for a few nights. No, it’s not because Will is gone. Usually when he’s not here for short periods, I get more sleep because I’m not kicking him in the shins for snoring and constantly rolling him over. Last night I could barely keep my eyes open so I negotiated a little bit of an early bedtime with Fabul-O by letting her pick out the book: Green Eggs and Ham, much to my dismay. We read it. She hemmed and hawed, but went off to sleep. I created, what should have been, the most positively perfect conditions for a blissful night of slumber. At 8:30 I settled in between crisp fresh linens, a/c was set at 68, ceiling fan on, pillows fluffed and lights out. I laid there and nothing. I laid there for an HOUR waiting for me to drift off to sleep. Nope. Grrr… The last time I remember seeing the clock was at 12:47. The next time I saw the clock was 1:33 when O woke up. It was after 3:30 when I finally got back to sleep.
So, today you know I have fresh linens, I caved on Dr. Se uss and I’m sleepy. Tonight’s dinner: left overs. Tonight’s bedtime: early.
I don’t like Dr. Se uss books. I mean, I like them, but they are the absolute hardest books in the world for me to read out loud, at least the ones I’ve attempted. Cracks Olivia up. What cracks her up even more is Will sucks at it worse than I do.
The Little Red Hen is a favorite. Beatrix Potter stories annoy her and all she wants to know is why Peter wore a jacket; he’s a bunny. If we read a different story by B.P., she wants to know where Peter is and why he wears a jacket. It’s time to investigate some new books. I swear we’ve read the words off the pages of our my her favorites, but the kid is a creature of habit and doesn’t like to mix up the routine. Two days ago when the earth came to a screeching halt, it was because I asked her to brush her teeth before she took a bath. Sorry about that.
Per Marlee’s request, here are two recipes for Lasagna Roll Ups. The first takes a bit more time, but is soooo yummy (sans mushrooms and spinach…we aren’t mushroom or spinach eaters)
From Cooking Light. Serves 4 (2 rolls each)
Lasagna:
8 uncooked lasagna noodles (I use Ronzoni Healthy Harvest pasta)
4 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 (8-ounce) package presliced mushrooms
1 (6-ounce) package fresh baby spinach (we don’t use spinach so I sub 1/2 lb. ground beef)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1/4 cup minced fresh basil, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
Sauce:
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (7-ounce) bottle roasted red bell peppers, undrained
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
Preparation:
To prepare lasagna, cook noodles according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain and rinse under cold water. Drain.
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, mushrooms, spinach, and 3 garlic cloves; sauté 5 minutes or until onion and mushrooms are tender. Remove from heat, and stir in cheeses, 2 tablespoons basil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper.
To prepare sauce, place vinegar and remaining ingredients in a blender; process until smooth.
Place cooked noodles on flat surface; spread 1/4 cup cheese mixture over each noodle. Roll up noodles, jelly-roll fashion, starting with short side. Place the rolls, seam sides down, bake covered at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons basil. Let rest 5-10 minutes before serving.
Easy Peasy Version (from Ronzoni website, modfied for roll ups)
Serves 4 (2 rolls each)
1lb ground beef (I use about 1/2 lb)
3 cups (26 oz jar) spaghetti sauce
1 1/2 cups water
1 3/4 cups (15 oz container) ricotta cheese
2 cups (8 oz) shredded mozzarella or Monterrey Jack cheese, divided
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
8 pieces lasagna noodles
Directions:
1. In pot, bring slightly salted water to a boil and cook 8 noodles per package directions. Drain and set aside, in a single layer, on waxed paper or aluminum foil to keep from sticking together.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. In 3-quart saucepan over medium-high heat, brown meat; drain.
4. Add spaghetti sauce and water; simmer about 10 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, in medium bowl, stir together ricotta cheese, one-half mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, eggs, parsley, salt and pepper.
6. Pour about 1 cup sauce on bottom of an 8×8-inch baking dish.
7. Divide cheese mixture into 8 sections and spread along length of noodle. I like to put some additional sauce in my roll up so I take 1 cup of the remaining sauce and spoon it down the center of each roll.
8. Roll up and place seam side down in baking dish.
9. Cover rolls with remaining sauce and prinkle with mozzarella cheese.
10. Cover with foil. Bake 30 minutes.
11. Remove foil; bake additional 10 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Let stand 5-10 minutes before serving.
We have lived in our little house for 9 years and PomPom has lived with us for eight of those. (For new blog stoppers-by, PomPom is our Shih Tzu and first born) Her stool sits in front of the same window looking out into our same corner of the earth so she sees the same stuff over and over and over. Sooo, why is it every.single.day when “Frodo,” the knotted up Shih Tzu from down the street, goes for a walk with his owner, PomPom barks like it’s brand new and she won’t stop it for anything.
Here is my plea in case PomPom decides to check in on the blog: Please.stop.the.barking. You’re driving me insane.
The other screaming you hear? Oh, it’s just a glass of Chardonnay and a brownie. I’ll take care of those with nary a raised tone.
Poor Will is having to miss a couple of days of mosquito warfare this week for a root canal. This is the second root canal this tooth has seen; the first was done about 12 years ago. Sad thing is no good drugs pain medication will be prescribed. Something about mixing narcotics and weapons. He had some problems with it once or twice, but it hasn’t bothered him in years and, honestly, I thought he had already had it fixed. My advice to him from afar is Liquid Tylenol kicks ass.
***Updated post***
Sadly, Will won’t be having his root canal. He got hurt yesterday doing whatever it was he was doing. For that they give the good drugs prescribed pain medication, hence me not knowing exactly what was happening. Something about polka-dotted bunnies and the Jedi. Just kidding, but he was still pretty loopy this afternoon so I’ll have to wait until euphoria fades to find out exactly what’s ailing him.
Feel better, Soldier boy.
At the top of the ‘ol blog page, you’ll find a new page titled “What’s Cooking.” Well, in an effort to stop eating out so freaking much and to control the spread of our girth, I planned out 60 meals to cook at home. No two main dishes are repeated, although sides are. The meat may change up (pork vs. chicken) and there’s usually a non-starchy veggie even though you may not see it listed. However, this is the basis on which my grocery list is formed. These are easy-peasy and don’t require a lot of time, which I have very, very little of. Also, depending on how you cook them, the meals are relatively healthy. Sadly, Fabul-O is the only one at our house who most always gets a well-rounded meal. Us? We toss up to see who gets cereal and who gets popcorn. Seriously.
I love summertime because of all the fresh fruits and veggies. Salads are a staple at Chateau L and I love making my own fresh salad dressings.
So, check ‘em out and let me know what you think.
Our office closed early today because the town it is in experienced a black out. At first we weren’t sure if it was just our end of town so I hopped in the car and ran an errand. Nope whole town with no power. Well, except for the time and temp sign at one bank. Go figure. Cruising downtown to the post office, all the Main Street shop owners and goers were on the sidewalk scratching their heads. First amazing event I experienced in the town was when Subway got new booths a few years ago. I think there are 4 stop lights. There’s something to be said for a small town.
So, after an afternoon of errand catching up and girl talk we found our way home. I wasn’t sure what was on my agenda for the evening until Olivia pulled me by the hand into my office and informed me we were having my birthday party (stop back by in July to wish me a happy one!) Then she asked, “Did you bring the cake?” I suppose it’s a good thing I picked up an angel food cake at the grocery store otherwise I would have ruined the party.
Gotta run…time to sing.
Last Saturday Olivia and I took a day trip to visit Karen, Scott and Gwen. We had a great visit and the girls played together like old friends.
I have a Grip-EZ melon/pineapple cutter and I love it.
I used it for the first time tonight to cut a little watermelon I bought and it worked like a charm! Made perfect little slices and O and I ate watermelon until our bellies couldn’t hold any more.
Yes, I’m a gadget girl.
Olivia walks into my office and this is how it went. By the way, she was fully clothed 3 minutes ago when I sent her to put her shoes up.
Me: You’re naked!
O: I know.
Me: Why are you naked?
O: Because I took my clothes off, silly goosey.
I love it when she puts me in my place.
