I love making plans...

Maybe I ought to find the kind of job where I get to plan out things. Logistics?
With my DIL Seneca's birthday party coming up this weekend- it looks like all 7 of my kids will be together. Last time that happened was on our rafting trip nearly 2 years ago, I think. Of course, it isn't a done deal yet- who knows if everyone planning to come will get to be there?

It should also put all of my grandkids together. They have all been together before- but now there are more of them to gather. It might even turn out that most of my Mom's great grandkids will be together.

Dan and Sam are planning to go home with Becky. They are really excited about it- it has been a long time since they have gone for a visit. They have been doing well in their school work- already doing mostly 8th grade curriculum. (Some areas high school curriculum, other areas they are a bit.... behind. Like spelling.) They are hoping to get to drive home, as well. (As opposed to flying home). They want to take their paintball stuff with them.

On the downside of ALL of us going to DFW... we will have to take the TSD. Jaffa and Drover, the carsick mutts. Why is it some dogs are prone to carsickness? We are going down one day, back the next. I was all for chaining them outside, but Mr C says no.

We have a lot to squeeze into our trip... Seneca's party, getting over to see Aunt Jean, and visiting Granny at the rest home. Unless we get started at the crap of dawn, we won't even arrive until mid-afternoon. And we do have to head home Sunday. I sure hope we can get some family pictures squeezed in.

Yesterday, I was typing away on my blog and must have hit some stray key combination... because it posted before I was even finished typing. I waited to see what the computer was suddenly doing this time... and it went right to displaying my post! Oh well. So I ended with the recipe and everything else went into the cyber landfill. Last night, we just did wings- the easy way. Sprayed my pans with oil spray, spread the frozen wings on the pans, sprayed the wings, and baked them. Swapped the pans from top to bottom halfway through, drained off the accumulated liquids, resprayed the wings, and baked them until they were lightly browned. had some salad, corn, and ranchies on the side.

Hmmm... I wonder if I ought to try to make it to the candle outlet before our trip?

Monday

With having most of Saturday off, the work weekend went by quickly. It was very, very slow on Sunday- again with 4 people on the job. So I left just over an hour early. Surprised Mr C- who hadn't thought of anything for dinner. I made an enchilada casserole. It was tasty. (I grabbed the idea from Notes From The Trenches, but never even read her recipe- so this one was all mine).

Enchilada Casserole

Mix one large can enchilada sauce with one can condensed tomato soup. Pour over browned ground beef, which I sauteed with onions. Add some corn and some sliced black olives, and some fat free sour cream (Don't let the kids see you add this- or your DH if he doesn't like sour cream!). While this simmers, grease a casserole dish. Cut several corn tortillas into halves. Put a thin layer of the meat sauce. (My meat sauce was very runny). Cover sauce with tortillas. Add a heavy layer of sauce, and some cheese. Repeat. Top with a handful of crushed tortilla chips. Bake in 350* oven til hot and bubbly... about 20 minutes. I let it set for about 5-10 minutes before serving.

Blizzard!

Ok, not as blizzardy as many places got it. Mr C woke me this morning... leaving me with about 8 minutes to be dressed and out the door to be at work on time. It was sprinkling when I left the house, and began to sleet as I headed to work. By the time I arrived (I only live 8 miles) it was sleeting so hard I was literally covered by the time I dashed from the car in the door. The sleet soon changed to snow. We had me, boss, two newbies on the job... and virtually no customers. I volunteered to cut the work force... and went home about 9:30. I scraped over an inch of snow off the car windshield (I'd been inside an hour and a half) and it was "drifted" deeper on the back glass. The road home was slippery slush.
This soon melted off. Then it began again, as the storm circled around to hit us afresh. So we have had snow all day. At the end of March. In the SOUTH.
I haven't done much today... got one load on to wash and cooked a DEELICIOUSSS roast beast.

Tom wanted to do a drive by on a place that just came on the market. We found the road, but not the house. After wandering about the back roads for 45 minutes, we stumbled onto a road we knew and came on home. Wouldn't a place on "Coon Hollow" Road just be so "us"?

Dan and Sam are out building a snow palace. Temps tomorrow are supposed to be in the upper 60's.

Oh, and it looks like we WILL get to go to Senequa's birthday bash next weekend. So far, plans are falling into place. Woo hoo!

Another Book completed...

I sent the photo book for Tom's Mom's birthday off to be printed last night. I was really tempted to have it sent here first, a) so I could see it, and b) it is still a couple of weeks until her birthday. But finance won out... why pay for shipping it twice?
I got started on the next one- for mother's day- a little while ago.
****************
Some updates from previous posts:
Ben did get me my new mini-blinds the next day. They are hung up on clean windows and look quite nice.
I have vacuumed my room- except deep under the bed- which would require help for the bed to be disassembled and removed from the room. The front room and hallway are squeaky clean... though the school work bookcase is still in shambles.

The power outage that we suspected was caused by a co-workers car- was indeed their car. They missed a turn on the unfamiliar road. All four of the family members were in the vehicle, and are all just fine- other than being shaken up and bruised. This happened at the very same corner where Matt's Dad hit a pack of coyotes while making the corner from the opposite direction. Our road is rife with 90* turns- and someone keeps removing the warning signs.
*****************
I got an unexpected day off today... Matt's Dad is working from home. So far, I really haven't accomplished anything useful. (Except to order Seneca's birthday present). The next two birthdays I have to worry about are Tommy's on April 22nd, and Bill Joe's on the 29th. I am open to suggestions for gift ideas for them. Being a somewhat practical person (except for this photo thing), I have trouble giving gifts that aren't useful. Ben suggested getting Tommy a sword. Um... it ain't happening. With a few weeks to think it over... I hope to come up with something for each that is both useful and appreciated.
******************

I suppose I ought to get off the computer now and do SOMETHING. Maybe vacuum the rugs again, LOL.

PB4UGO is one year old....

I have had a heap of fun writing here, though mostly it is mundane drivel. I enjoy all the comments- even if they are mostly from my family. This has been a fun way to stay in touch. I can share pictures and funny stories, or just the blatherings of day to day stuff here.

The blog's title, PB4UGO, came from a license plate on a mini-van near where we used to live in SW Oklahoma. The subtitles have changed from time to time during the past year, with the current one coming from my Mom, in one of her comments. My herd sure seems to have stampeded these days.

Thanks for reading! Have a blessed day!

Dirty Pictures

Here are the pictures taken of my first use of the Dyson on just the 9x5 area rugs. That is a LOT of dirt. I bet some of it may have been with us since Marlow.
I did more cleaning yesterday- my first real opportunity to try out some of the features of the vacuum.
Between the hardwood floors, cobwebs, and miniblinds... I filled the tank a second time.

I finally did give up and toss some of the miniblinds... they were too damaged to salvage, even after cleaning. A few months back, Jaffa, our Beagle/Rat Terrier mix cat was sitting on the window sill barking at everything that moved guarding the house, when someone knocked on the door. In his leap from the windowsill, he got tangled in the cord to the miniblind. Finding himself tangled and restrained... he struggled, yelped, thrashed, screamed like he was being murdered, and ripped down the blinds... which broke into semi-salvageable bits. The broken blinds have been put up with, until I was cleaning yesterday.
I took that blind down, and sent Ben to WM for new ones.... among other errands.
Ben came back without new blinds. He couldn't FIND them. Yes. My son who works at WM couldn't find miniblinds. With the innate reluctance of true males, he also didn't ASK anyone where to find them. So I hung a blanket up last night.

We haven't got any of the rain from the collision of fronts moving across the nation, but we sure have had wind. LOTS of wind. Howling, screeching winds, that switch directions several times a minute. Not good for sleeping... with the closed doors rattling like ghosts are trapped behind them.
**************
Got a call from Bill yesterday.... he is officially judged and decreed to be Nickole's custodial parent. She appears to be allergic to Pampers brand diapers... and is up to 8 lbs. 8 oz at just under 1 month old.
**************
Got a call from Chris yesterday... reminding all of Seneca's birthday party set for the first weekend in April.
*************
Got a call from Becky yesterday.... Ty'ger is doing well at potty training.
****************
DIDN'T get a call from Tommy..... no reason why I should have. He is working full time at one job and having a trial run at another job- and possible career- as a farrier.

Have a blessed day!

Wow!

I got home from work yesterday evening, and Mr C said he hadn't fixed anything for dinner yet. Then he asked me if I would like to go out and eat.

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now, for many people, this is not a "wow" moment... much less a WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But I can count on one hand... with fingers left over..... the number of times in 24 years and 7 months of marriage that my DH has suggested, voluntarily, that we go out and eat.
Unless we are travelling, we MIGHT average eating out once a year. Probably less. Mr C just does NOT eat out.

So we all went to the Hunan Buffet in Siloam Springs. It was good.
*************************

My work weekend was .... annoying. It is my job to put out the labels when products have a change in price. The labels are printed with a leading label indicating which product section the items can be found in, as well as in what numbered order they are found. I have been having more and more trouble locating products where they ought to be. How hard is it to go to the Car Polish section and change the labels on items 3, 4, 19, 22, 56?
Hard... when the products have been scrambled like eggs and my numbered items go 6, 7, 52,96, 12, 3, 9..
I thought it was a "simple" mistake. Except when I went to correct it, I had to totally re-do entire sections. A case of One Thing Leads To Another. I literally spent two days correcting the Appearance Chemicals (20 ft section x 6 shelves) and the Maintenance Chemicals (16 ft x 7 shelves). I found eight different products "missing" that should have been on the display shelves. I located them in the storage room. Their tags had been removed from the shelves and just "whatever" set on the shelves. It took two full days to set it all to right.
*********************************

My new vacuum cleaner came on Friday. While the only "carpet" I have in this house is two 9x5 area rugs, I am tired of dog hair all over the couches as well. I got a model that promises to work well on hard floors, and has plenty of attachments to use on the furniture, cobwebs and various other places a vacuum comes in handy. Mr C had it all put together when I got home Friday, and had tested it on ONE of the rugs. He left the other rug for me. The large dust catching canister had almost two cups of dirt and dog hair... from ONE rug. (Yes, I took pictures... I will post them later when Ben wakes up,so I can use his computer.) Once the twins are on their school work this morning, I will be playing with my Dyson. It is a refurbished model, so it was far less expensive than the brand new ones. Stay tuned for "dirty pictures"!
**************************

Ahhh Spring....

I forced myself out yesterday afternoon and got my hair cut. Just a simple layer cut, top of the collar length. And cutie patootie little "bangs". Mr C noticed my haircut today. So it must not have been too bad. Not like the time he freaked out and told me to "put on a hat... and find someone who could "fix it" right away!".

I have been fighting my printer all morning. I tried cleaning the rollers, as it keeps wadding up the paper... or printing half a page, stops rolling through, and prints the rest of the page in one spot. I waste more time fighting the printer than teaching. After "working" on the rollers... the ink cartridge carrier went to trying to beat a hole in the side of the printer. "WHAM!" back up for a running start.... "WHAM!"
Over and over.

I finally got it readjusted back to "normal"... which for this printer is working part time.

Mr C reluctantly says he guesses he will have to go buy a new computer and printer. Whatever will I do without my windows 98? *sarcasm* (He didn't say WHEN)

Mr C has gone to town to procure some mower tires. The mowers tires are Original Equipment... and we got the mower in '98 or '99. They have been plugged, patched, slimed, and babied along for several years now. He gave me a filter number to take to work with me today and try to match. Mowing season is about to begin. Back in Marlow... mowing season usually lasted to about mid June... requiring twice a week mowing from late Februaury to late June... then resume again in late September to mid- November. The blast-furnace heat and lack of rain would make the grass a crisp hay color during the height of the summer.

I suppose it is time for me to get busy with the pre- work chores around here. have a great day.

Thursday

This is "Friday" for Tom, and for Matt. And "Sunday" for me. Back to Oreilly's tomorrow.
I don't feel like I have accomplished anything all week. I packaged up a box of gifts for Nickole on Monday. Went to town... left the box at home. Tuesday, I went to the store... reminding myself to mail that box on the way. I forgot to take it with me. Yesterday I went to the library... didn't even THINK about mailing the box. So I sent Ben, along with some money, to mail it. I'm sure you'd be surprised to hear... Ben forgot the box. Maybe a special trip... Oh wait, we tried that! So instead of little Nickole having her goodies today- which she would have if the box had gone Monday- it sits here mocking me.

Our St Patricks day celebration meal was postponed until yesterday... I didn't have any ground pork for our eggrolls. Tom asked me what do eggrolls have to do with St Patricks day? They have cabbage in them! We had the eggrolls yesterday- and they sure were good. (Tuesday we did my own interpretation of sesame chicken. I left off the glaze -also my own interpretation, and served it on the side. Tom liked the chicken.)

I never did get out and get my hair trimmed/cut. I did get what pictures I had of Mr C's family uploaded to shutterfly- from the library. On Ben's computer, (which is faster than mine, even though we are on the same dial-up line), takes about 15 to 45 minutes PER PICTURE to upload. At the library, whoo hoo! I had 50 photos loaded in less than 8 minutes... including log in time! I could learn to love high speed internet in nothing flat. Oh well... for now, I continue to practice my Jedi patience skills.
The book is coming along quite well. I wish I had more/ better pictures to choose from. You know how it used to be... you send the not-quite-good shots off to the relatives (like me), keeping the best pictures for your own albums and for your parents. So the ones I have aren't particularly stellar. Oh well- I gave them all a chance to be represented in better pictures. It isn't turning out anything like I had originally envisioned.

Well, enough time has passed on here that the Post Office ought to be open. I'm out the door- box in hand!

Today's mail really made my day!

View Project at Shutterfly

This book was made for me by my Mom. Thanks, Mom, I love it!

Good end to a Bad Week...

To start with the ending, Mom and Ralph came up to visit. Anytime I see family, it is good! They brought a piece of furniture for a friend of mine, and are picking up a pampered chef item Mom bought at that last party I went to.

The week got off on the wrong foot with the "loss" of the house. Not so much the house itself, but the hope that we would be in our own place for garden season. I showed up at O's on Friday, and learned that my closest co-worker had quit/ was fired. Got home, and discovered Mr C was upset over something, which had me crying myself to sleep.

I have been trying to put together a photo book for Tom's mom for her birthday, like I have done for both of my parents. I asked Tom's brother and three sisters for some pictures that I don't have access to. Two of the sisters were emailed, one I spoke to in person, and I followed up with handwritten letters to all three sisters. Yesterday I got an email from one of the sisters, informing me that the three of them had discussed my project among themselves, and decided that they didn't care to participate, citing that any pictures they could provide would be ones their Mom already had copies of. I had already been pushing their brother for pictures, every time he and Tom would talk on the phone for the last two or three weeks, I would just say "Pictures!" to remind him.

I have to say that my feelings are really hurt, more so than my project. Not one of the sisters actually discussed the project with ME... they discussed it among themselves. Yes, I do know that their mother probably already has copies of these pictures... buried in boxes and drawers and tattered little plastic albums. I thought it would be nice to include all of her children in a very nice BOOK... an actual book... along with photos of their children and grandchildren. As I tried to talk to Tom's brother to let him off the hook, he came on the phone already griping about having to look for pictures and what a stupid idea it was in the first place... I ended up screaming at him to "Shut up and listen to me for a change". (I hate it when I lose my composure so bad that I scream at someone, and I almost never tell anyone to "shut up". It is just rude, and I don't DO that. But I did.

Since I already prepaid my book, I will go ahead and make it with what pictures I have. It is sure to be rather biased towards Tom's kids and grandkids, since I happen to have more photos of them than I do of his siblings and their children.

As I laid in bed trying to sleep last night, I was really overcome with hurt. I feel dismissed by Tom's sisters. After almost 25 years as "part of the family"... I wonder if I have been merely tolerated and have just been too stupid to realize it. Tom's brother and I have been fairly close, and talk a couple of times a month. A couple of months ago, he suggested that I ought to "let" Tom come to Ohio for a visit without me.
I have never tried to stop him from going to visit his family without me.
Thinking back through the years, I realized that most of the occasions where Tom and his siblings have been able to all get together, it has been without me.
In the dark of night, with all the stress of everything that has happened lately, I wondered if that was by accident or design? You'd think that in 25 years, I would have been in the family get togethers more than the three or four non-funeral gatherings that have happened.
So I spent another night crying myself to sleep.

Just stepping back to take a look at Tom's family dynamics, and where I fit in. Maybe I am not as much a part of it as I had thought I was.

Thanks for reading!

Heigh Ho Heigh Ho....

Off to work I go... in another hour, anyway.
Last night's chicken was fairly successful. I pre-cooked some rice, adding 1/2 cup of orange juice to the required amount of water, plus a teaspoon of Bell's Salt Free Tomato Basil seasoning, and about a teaspoon of citrus zest... which I had saved and dried myself. (Fresh would have been good, but I didn't have any oranges).
Once the rice was done, I sprayed a casserole dish with non-stick spray. I combined 2 cans of cream of * soup, a half a cup of chopped onions, one half can of milk, and another half cup of orange juice. (I used one can of fat free cream of mushroom, one of fat free cream of celery). I dumped this into the greased casserole dish, and topped it with the uncooked chicken. I sprinkled it generously with more of the Bell's SFTB seasoning, and sealed it over with aluminum foil. I baked it at 325* for just over an hour... until the chicken was done. (May have taken less time except the breasts were large and still partly frozen).
This was a variation of my Aunt Jean's baked chicken and rice dish.

Hmmm... guess I ought to be thinking of what is to be fixed tonight... or I will be eating goulash all week.

The sleet/snow has moved on, we are in the 40's right now and warming back up.

I best get busy on my last minute stuff... noon will be here all too soon.

SLEET!!!

Yep, we are getting weather.
Ben and the twins ran out to do my errands before Ben has to go to work, and it began earnestly sleeting before they arrived back. It is still "pouring down". Ben said they think they set a record for speed at WM, in and out with the goods in 17 minutes. Sam chose a different pair of shoes, and exchanged the pair I had got him for these.
I figure Matt's Mom may show up early today... catching a bad headache about the time she notices the sleet.
Meanwhile, I cleaned the kitchen... it just doesn't ever get "finished" these days, it seems. I laid out some chicken to thaw for supper. I haven't decided how I will torment prepare it yet. It will be in the oven, though, to help keep the place warmed up!

Chilly Weather...

March had another lion's roar this week. After more than a week of very pleasant spring weather, we are back into the upper 20's and mid 30's. Today's forecast calls for freezing rain or snow. Maybe.

Yesterday I took advantage of the cooler temperatures to make a pot of chili. Somehow, it just isn't a summer dish. It turned out pretty well, I thought. But now we also have plenty of leftovers: enchiladas, a grilled pork steak, and chili.

The grey weather, the cold... my glum mood... all seem to fit together pretty well. I just want to sleep. I gave serious consideration to a nap yesterday, but never did lay down. I figured a late nap would keep me awake half the night. I slept well, and sure didn't want to "rise and shine" this morning.

I didn't make it out to buy dog food yesterday, or the day before. The boys went to the library yesterday (Ben drove) but I just stayed home. I forgot to tell them to get dog food. I am thinking that when Ben wakes up today, I will send him for dog food... and maybe take Sam to exchange the sneakers for something he will wear. If Benny doesn't go, I will wait until Matthew goes home and run to town before supper.

Dan and Sam have started the next level in much of their schoolwork. We got the new "Building Thinking Skills", which is actually divided into two books. I am using them simultaneously. I failed to lay my hands on my Saxon 8/7 book, but did come up with the Saxon Algebra 1/2 course. After looking it over, I decided it was probably a better choice than the 8/7 anyway.

We got some interesting mail yesterday. Two identical envelopes, one addressed to Benjamin C**** and the other addressed to Stan C****. Upon discovering that these were information packets regarding a graduation ceremony for GED students, we surmised that "Stan" must be "Stephen", which is Tommy's first name. I have no idea how they came up with "Stan". However, the ceremony is the same date as a small family reunion in Ohio, and neither Ben nor Tommy seemed too keen on the ceremony anyway. (May 9th).

So, more of the same old stuff around here. Hope you have a wonderful day, whatever you are doing.

Ponderings

A couple of months ago we looked at a house that was sold the same day we looked at it. I took that very well, saying that it just wasn't the place God has in mind for us. Once I had told our extended family that we are not getting the house we made the offer on this week... several of them repeated to me that this was just NOT the place God has for us.

Nola, (my friend and daughter Becky's MIL), has been posting Bible verses on her blog. A recent one was the verse about God giving his children good and perfect gifts. Why would I think that God would not want a better place for us than this mobile home? The two things it had going for it were the shop, and it had a few acres.
Against it were its size... smaller than we are now in- which is already too small. It was in a 'ranchette' division, where the family going out plinking would be impossible. It had city water... which is barely tolerable when visiting. I'd really hate having to drink it full time. It needed several repairs- which factored into our offer.
Why would God place us in a house where we would be cramped and miserable?
He wouldn't. So He graciously blocked the deal. He prevented us from boxing ourselves into the wrong place.
I can cast aside the "we can make it work", and "maybe it won't be so bad". I can forget about trying to fit my bookcases and homeschooling supplies into a place that had no good place to keep them.
I am far from 'sour grapes' this morning. I am relieved.
Thankful.
And full of hope that God will get us to the right place at the right time.

Charlie Brown makes his run at the football....

And Lucy yanks it away.

What did I expect?

I got fed up with waiting and waiting... and called the real estate agent for the second time today. (She still had not returned my first call... no explanations as to why she didn't call when she said she would, nor why she had not returned my call from four hours ago.)

The counter- offer was FULL ASKING PRICE.

The homeowner is not budging off it.

"It was appraised for more than this just two months ago".

Yeah. And how many offers has he had? One besides ours, and the other fell through.... and it has been on the market for a number of months.

Tom may have gone for a reasonable compromise... but not this.

With Apologies to Laurie's Andrew...

This morning, among horrendous groans of protest, I assigned a preliminary report worksheet on the state of Arkansas. (The groans were because it was from a 4th grade book... and I am working with 7th graders... and because I also doubled the report to include Oklahoma, since we live pretty much on the state line and may soon be moved back to Oklahoma).

Sam was working on Arkansas first, and declared he would "not disdignify his report by using the word razorback in it."

Disdignify.

Mr C says I have to tell him it isn't a real word.
Sometime.

Still holding my breath...

Tom had me call the real estate lady yesterday and make our offer. (Mr C just does NOT make phone calls). She was going to call the home owner and see if he accepts it, and then call us at six pm last night. She STILL hasn't called! I would think she would of at least had the courtesy to let us know SOMETHING... such as she couldn't get hold of the owner- or that the owner is thinking it over.

How hard can it be to get hold of the owner?
While the real estate agent hasn't come out and said so, I have figured out that the owner is another agent in her own office. She showed us the property next door to this one, which is also for sale. In the garage were stacks of real estate signs for the same company. When she forgot the key to show us this place the second time, she went next door and got it... and the owner who "met us at the property" is the same guy in the family photo's next door. She introduced him as "Gerald"... and in the yellow pages ad, "Gerald #####" is listed as an agent in this woman's same real estate office. (I love detective novels and TV shows... I was paying attention!)
So yell over the top of the cubicle already... "Gerald, there is an offer on your property!" and call us back.
We have sold a house before... the guy certainly must already know how much he is willing to accept for the place.

Yeah. Maybe I am a bit impatient.
************************
I got Dan and Sam sneakers yesterday. I KNOW better than to buy shoes for a kid not with me. But I did. Sam says they are OK in length, but too tight.
They are an EXTRA WIDE. There is NO WAY they are too tight. I told him if he didn't like them I would take them back... but I still didn't believe they were too tight. Finally, the problem is admitted... they expose his ankles.
It is one of those little idiosyncrasies we all have tucked away some place. Sam wants a shoe that "supports" his ankles.

I thought I was doing so well on my errands yesterday, pulling into the driveway at noon. Except my car clock had not been set ahead yet... and it was ONE in the afternoon. Mr C was leaving back to work from his lunch, rather than just getting home.

I had stopped and put my check in the bank, stopped at Sears and priced stoves, got the shoes, went to WM and got shorts, undies, and A shirts for the boys, went to Lowes and priced stoves (found the one I WANT!... but it probably isn't the one I will GET), then stopped at the grocery store in Gentry to shop the ending sale for last week. The new sale starts tomorrow, and I want stuff from both flyers. Matt was pretty good. He thought about pitching a fit in Lowes... but I dissuaded him of the notion pretty quick.
*******************
We have had gorgeous weather the last several days, though windy. Daffodils are blooming everywhere. The weather guessers keep predicting storms... and the storms keep missing us entirely. Was it two, or three, years ago this month that the tornado took the shingles off our roof? Tom let play Matt play outside ALL DAY Sunday. I asked him if he had put sunscreen on him, and Tom looked at me like I had two heads.
Yesterday, I thought Matt had a high fever when he woke up... until I realized it was sunburn. He was upset that I refused to let him play outside. He was not blistered, but it wouldn't take much more sun. If it is nice today, he can go out for a little while. Mr C doesn't realize it takes awhile to get tanned enough to stay outside for an extended time.
************************
Well, That's about all for this morning. I'm back to waiting on word from the agent!

Hold that football, Lucy!

Charlie Brown (me!) is setting up to kick it between the goalposts.

At the risk of being premature in the announcement, Mr C says we ARE going to put in an offer on the house in Colcord. We did a second, hour-long inspection of the place on Friday, and told the agent that IF we put in an offer it would be no later than today. This morning when Mr C left for work, it was YES we will put in an offer.

After 5 years (this month) of renting, I am thrilled... even if it is less SF than we have now. To make up for the loss of square feet, this place has a 24x30 shop with a concrete floor and electricity. Much of the stuff currently stored in the laundry room and on the front porch will go to live in the shop. I will probably have to give my tree to Laurie and Andrew... it can soar to new heights in their dome! (I have several of its "babies".)
Stay tuned for the outcome of this venture...
*********************

The boys and I need to go procure sneakers and undies today. In my usual procrastinating manner, I was going to put it off until this afternoon. But if we are otherwise occupied in doing "offer" paperwork, the shoes or the offer would be postponed for another day ... if I don't go do it this morning. So we are preparing to run errands. I need to stop at Lowes and at Sears to price stoves and vaccuum cleaners. (just as if we are REALLY taking the house!)
I also intend to stop at the local grocery store and take advantage of their latest canned goods by the case sale.
****
The boys... actually Daniel and Matthew... are ready to go, so I suppose it is time I hit post... brushed my hair and got under way!

Have a blessed day!

Turkey makes you slee...snzzzzzzzzzzz

I ought to be plenty refreshed and well slept this morning. I couldn't hold my eyes open by 7:30 last night. I fought it until almost 8 pm, then gave in and went to bed. Tom came in yawning as I was putting my PJs on, saying he couldn't figure out why he was so sleepy.

I offered the explanation that it was the turkey I had made for supper. Back in November and December, when turkey prices were really low, I bought several. After thawing in the fridge for a couple of days, I decided yesterday's bird was thawed enough to cook. In a slow oven... 250*-300*, I figured it would take a good four and a half or five hours. I put it on to cook shortly after noon. By 1:30, the little auto-pop timer had sprung.

NO WAY!

I left it to cook another half hour before figuring I better test it. Sure enough, it was falling off the bones done.

Dan and Sam and I "tested" it for flavor. MMMM. (We repeated the test several times during the afternoon to be sure!)

But it sure makes a person sleepy. I slept hard all night, and could have kept right on snoozing this morning, except that I have to go meet a lady and pick up some girl scout cookies I ordered.

Gasket replacement..

I think I may need a new gasket. I was sooo fed up with the stupid "SOGO search Engine" that pops up, unrequested, about 15 times a day... that I decided to find a free virus scan/ fix. The first couple I tried told me upfront that they did not support windows 98. I finally found one that didn't reject my windows outright.
Until after I spent 55 minutes downloading it.

The SOGO nuisance requires completely closing the window I am working in, once it appears. I cannot go forward with anything in that window. Many times, I have to completely turn off the computer using the push button hold down. NOT good for the computer.

I really may need a new gasket. Steam is still escaping around my ears.

The misadventures of Beans and Cornbread...

It's what's for dinner.
Being raised in the south, this means PINTO beans. Not having a handy dandy hambone, I had Ben pick up "about 1/4 lb of ham, or 3 slices" of deli ham for seasoning. The slices were HUGE... and cost nearly $8.00! Yikes. That's what I get for not going myself!
The next misadventure of the meal was trying to make the cornbread. My dry ingredients include a small amount of white sugar. Non-negotiable. I looked for 45 minutes for my canister of white sugar... scorching the butter that was melting in the cast iron skillet in the oven during my search. Sugar found... I was adding the "wet" ingredients, milk and eggs.
Guys, is it really so difficult to MARK the hard boiled eggs in some manner? I'm sure you would have all had a huge laugh at the look on my face when I cracked the hard boiled egg into my bowl!

Cornbread?
YIKES!
I forgot it was in the oven. It is QUITE a toasty brown.
Hope I do better when I cook the turkey I have thawing, tomorrow or the next day!

Did you pay the electric bill?

Less than 2 minutes before Mr C got home last night, our power went out. It is prone to occasional lapses, normally coming back on within a few seconds. Last night, it didn't. Mr C turned on the generator, as I finished up supper. We had a very quiet meal by candlelight (and lamp... via the generator.) Then Mr C decided he better go get some more gasoline, as we didn't know how long we would be without power.

He called a few moments later... just at last sharp corner before our road straightens out... a car was smashed into a pole. The power company was already on the scene. There was no one in the car when Mr C went by... but he is pretty sure it is one of my American Eagle co-workers, Brandon's, car. It is a small red car with an LSU bumpersticker. Pretty distinctive here in the AR Razorback/ OU territory. Tom said he remembered seeing a woman driving the car meeting him as he drove home- so the accident may have involved Thomasina, Brandon's wife. We have said prayers for them, for whoever was driving the car.

Power was restored just before 1 this morning.

What a week!

Tyrel at Chris' house

We made our trip to DFW last week, arriving Monday afternoon. Chris and Seneca came over for supper, bringing Jade, Amber, and Gavin. Daniel and Sam went home with them, as they have more sleeping room than my Mom does.

Tuesday, I went to the airport and picked up Becky and Tyrel. We went to see Chris and Seneca at their house. Sam had been asking if we could eat lunch at Pancho's Mexican Buffet... so we all headed that way. The twins once again went home with Chris and Seneca, while my Mom, Becky, and I went to our favorite local thrift store, and then on to see my Granny. Granny was napping, so we didn't stay at all. From the rest home, we went to see my Aunt Jean... and she didn't let us dig through her garage after all, looking for photos.

Becky and I dropped Mom off at her house and headed back to Chris' to get the twins. We visited a short while, then headed back to Mom's for supper... where we bake a couple of Papa Murphy's Take and Bake Double Pizza's. Those were GOOD!

Supper wasn't much more than finished when I got a call from Bill, who put LR on. She was thinking she might be in labor, though not having regular contractions. I suggested a nap after a warm bath. Less than an hour later, we got the call, LR was at the hospital... her water had broken and labor was happening. I decided that we would sleep at Mom's then head out to Duncan the next morning.
Gavin says Ice Cream is GOOD!

















Chris holding Gavin, Becky holding Tyrel, Daniel, Samuel, Jade and Amber February 25, 2009


The call for baby's birth came shortly after midnight! Becky and Ty were trying to sleep on one love seat, I was on the couch, and Dan and Sam had staked out bits of carpet to sleep for the night... we were very cozy. Morning got off to a chaotic start... several things had been left at Chris' and we had to head back there before heading to Oklahoma. We finally arrived about noon.

Baby Nickole was precious, so tiny and perfect! She has red-blonde peach fuzz, exactly like my niece. After visiting awhile,we went to Bill's house. We then learned that Nickole wasn't being released from the hospital after all, and that Bill and Glynna were staying with her, so Becky and I decided NOT to stay at Bill's. We headed back to Arkansas at 7pm. Taking the turnpike, we made great time, getting home by 11:30.
This was a good move, as it began to snow on Friday! It snowed all day Saturday. It covered the ground, but really didn't "stick". It was a fine, powdery snow. It was useless for snowballs or building snowmen.

Which is how we ended up having Becky and Ty here for an unexpected visit. I dropped them off at the airport this morning. Stephen has been anxious to get them home. Dan went with me, and we ran our errands, leaving Ben and Sam with Matthew. I got Alana's birthday gift in the mail... she will be 6 on Thursday, and my Dad will see the anniversary of his birth pass on Friday. (He says he gave up birthdays!). I sent Tom's Mom a package she requested, and mailed off Becky's stuff. (Cheaper to mail than to pay extra for a checked bag!)

Work was busy... and now I am back to the same old same old.