Something to look forward to

On the schedule: the repeat of the endoscopy is scheduled for Tuesday the 30th of December. I am hoping Becky will be able to be here for that... otherwise Mr C is going to have to take the morning off. Or maybe my Mom can come up.

Becky and Stephen already had plans to come up towards the end of the month- which I thought I had mentioned to Mr C. He was really excited to find it out last night. He is hoping Tommy is planning to come as well.
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I was getting ready for my main errand yesterday- going to the post office to mail Chris' birthday card... (and an O'Reilly's calendar!) when Ben volunteered to go do it for me. I also had a package going overseas, to an internet friend in Athens, Greece. Ben did the errand, along with one of his own. (Have I mentioned lately how great it is to have older kids with driver's licenses? Thanks, Benny!)
Once Matthew went home, the boys and I made the trek over to Sam's in Rogers. I seldom seem to make it to Sam's. I think I did pretty well, sticking to basic necessities.

I get Dawn dishwashing liquid there, then pour a small amount into the Dawn Direct Foam bottle. I dilute it down tremendously- and the Sam's size bottle lasts about a year. Tom says that the diluted dish soap is not as effective as the actual Direct Foam refill... but since everyone would still use the same number of squirts, regardless of effect- this works just fine for us. I have been using the same Direct Foam bottle for over a year. The boys all believe that the Electrasol Powerball Dishwasher detergent tablets work the best of all the brands of dishwasher detergents we have tried... so we got a big carton of those.

We got out of Sam's at 5:30. That is a VERY BAD time to be in the Bentonville/ Rogers area. Even on a clear evening... which yesterday was NOT... there is literally bumper to bumper traffic. We walked out of Sam's to find a freezing mist falling. The trunk of the car was frozen shut. By the time we had the groceries loaded, we were icicles. Then into the fray. The first two miles took more than fifteen minutes. The next two miles took slightly longer, as the five lane road funneled to two lanes. The closer we got to home, the more the mist was turning to snow... and not a gentle snow, but one borne on 30 mph winds. It blew right on through without sticking, so we have no accumulation at all.

Once we got the groceries situated... we made roast beast 'french dip' sammiches. Just as the onions were almost perfectly caramelized, we added sliced portabello mushrooms and sauteed them until they were tender. MM MMM MM! (Take deli sliced roast beef, put it on to heat in some onion soup broth {We use cheap powdered onion soup mix and water}. In a heavy skillet, caramelize sliced onions in a small amount of olive oil. You can add the portabello mushrooms, or not!. Grill some split hoagie rolls in another skillet {or under your broiler, or toaster them}. Top the toasted bread with the roast beef, onions, and some sliced swiss cheese. Serve with the onion soup for dipping.)

Today's chore will be trying to re-arrange the cupboards and freezer so that we can store all of our groceries more effectively. Mr C is tired of having to rummage through everything to find what he is looking for. I also hope to get my "round tuits" on making some divinity and some pecan pralines.

Time to get on with the day!