Ta-daaaaa!

I finally MADE myself tackle the bookcase yesterday. I was ready to throw in the towel shortly after starting . (Heck I was ready to throw in the towel before I EVER started!) This picture is of the finished book case, so you can surmise the mess it must have been before I started! I took off all the books that are well below the boys interest levels, and the completed school books from years past. The "baby" books and story books and beginning to read/ write books are in a box for Becky. I moved all the cookbooks I came across to a shelf on the opposite side of the kitchen. As I came across each cookbook, I found myself thumbing through it... and would snatch myself back from the brink of distraction to GET ON WITH IT!!!

The same with all those catalogs I had set aside to look through "later"... which became buried on the bookshelves. Many of these I just tossed... not daring to peek inside, lest I be tempted to spend the rest of the afternoon happily "looking". I tossed out school work... some from as far back as BECKY in the 7th grade. (Is there a 12 step program for pack rats?)
I set a few books aside that I thought Connor and Alana might enjoy.
I tossed old magazines I had saved that had interesting articles on "ORGANIZING YOUR HOME!"
Daniel staged an intervention at one point when I was looking for a place to move my basket of scented pine cones. (I had to move the pine cones to have a spot for the cook books)

"MOM. Mom. These pine cones don't have any scent left in them. They are just dusty and IN THE WAY." He made a move to throw them away. I suggested we could revive them with some scented oil. He says, "Or we could just get new scented pine cones later on... when we have some place to PUT them."
(I didn't even dig them back out of the trash.)

I haven't made any lesson plans yet. I need want a new lesson planner book. Of course, I know myself. I will diligently plan and log lessons for the first month and a half... then when the boys have the school lesson routine down, I lose track of the book and never write in it again. (That's been my track record for some 21 years of home schooling.) The lessons get done, I just fail to record the details. Every year, I think I will do better... and then, I don't. Guess a planner book is money better left unspent!

The library called and put in a special request for Daniel and Sam to schedule a time to work this week. So tomorrow we will be at the library by 10:00 am. (Provided my job doesn't go over in time!)

May you all have a blessed and productive day!

100 miles!

Today marks 100(+) miles since I started keeping track of my walking in July. I fluctuate between having lost 5-8 lbs. But I have stayed under 157 lbs.! (Down from 162 lbs.) I now have 51 days to make my last 50 miles of my goal. I try to walk every day, but sometimes, I can't. It looks like I should easily make my 150 mile goal by Oct. 20th. I have already worn holes in the linings of my "new" shoes.

I have mentioned several times that I need to tackle our "back to school" plans. So this morning while Tom and the twins went fishing... I looked at the bookcase mess where most of my homeschooling books are crammed located. After gazing at the bookcase for several minutes, I sighed. Then I got busy.

... and cleaned out four drawers in the kitchen. (They are clean and organized now, with things in Ziploc bags according to type!) The silverware and knife holders are washed and refilled. I also got three loads of laundry done, and chicken out to thaw for supper.

The bookcase remains a mess.

Daniel and Sam have been practicing "free running". This involves a lot of leaping, rolling, and climbing. They have watched many YouTube videos and even dragged mattresses out into the yard while they try to learn the flips (and falls!) involved. Since arriving back from fishing, all the guys are napping. (They caught and released two small fish.) No wonder the boys are worn out. Mr C sleeps more from boredom than fatigue.

The Library called this morning and actually SCHEDULED a time for the twins to work this week. They have a new book check-in system, and the boys will be demonstrating its use on Wednesday morning.

I suppose I ought to quit procrastinating on here, and go tackle that bookcase. Unless I am distracted by another drawer that just can't wait. Have a blessed day!

Busy Saturday....

I had a very light day at work today, home a little after 8:00am. Once home, the weather was soooo nice, I decided to take a REAL walk, instead of treadmilling. I measured out the distance from the Tilly Hill stop sign to the house at just over 1.2 miles. Since I know my car's mileometer is off by a good bit, I called my total walk 2.5 miles. I found that "actual" walking is a bit more difficult than treadmilling.... probably due to the fact that I can't set my treadmill as steep as the hills around here. Huffing down the second big hill, barely 1/4 into my walk, I was sadly remonstrating myself that I was going to have to climb back UUUUUUP this very hill.

The return trip wasn't nearly as bad as I had anticipated. I guess I caught my second wind... or maybe it was the fact I was headed home, like a barn soured old nag. I hadn't much more than arrived home (and pointed out the complete lack of Necessary paper) that Mr C decided we should head on to Wally World before the crowds hit. So off we went to Wally World.

Well before noon, I had put in my "day's work", been grocery shopping, and had done my daily exercise. Mr C and I have since been looking at houses, online. Most of the ones we REALLY liked were well out of our price range. *sigh* A great 4 bedroom for *only $950,900.*

I have also called or tried to call all the parental units that Mr C and I possess. I reached both my Mom and StepMom. But Mr. C's Mom wasn't home.

Mr. C's Mom was burglarised earlier this week. Thieves vandalized her bedroom and made off with nearly $4.00 in change, as well as her jewelry boxes, containing probably a couple hundred dollars worth of retail value jewelry. (Street value probably under $20) For this they DESTROYED her roll top desk, and her old cedar "hope" chest. They trashed her bedroom, and stole her peace of mind. If she finds out who did this, they may also get a piece OF her mind.

They did miss her earrings that Jack, her husband that passed away 5 years ago, gave her. These were in a decorated cardboard box I had done for her a couple of years ago. Who would want a cardboard box covered in tissue paper and ribbon bits? It was thrown aside, among her clothes and the contents of drawers and closets. At the time Jack passed, Arlene had only ONE of the earrings. She had somehow lost one, somewhere in the house. More than a year after he was gone, Arlene was looking at the remaining earring one day, and said, "Jack, if you are up there somewhere looking out for me, I sure wish you'd help me find the other earring!"

A few days later, she was cleaning her kitchen, and decided to dust under the stove. (Come on... who DUSTS under the stove?) (Oh sorry, probably many normal appearing people do this on occasion.) Anyway, she had a sock rubber banded to a yardstick, sweeping beneath the stove... when she dragged out her missing earring. Wow. Just, WOW. And the burglars missed this pair.

Now, on with the weekend. I need to go through the schooling books and see what we have vs. what we need for the coming school year. May you have a wonderful weekend! Thanks for reading!

All alone again...

Tom is at work, and the twins decided to try again to bike into Gentry. Yesterday, I had barely hit "publish" when they trooped in, defeated. Sam's bike had met with a major malfunction. He set out today on Ben's bike. The weather is only a couple of degrees warmer today than yesterday.

I have supper in the crockpot, sort of an enchilada casserole. Laundry churning, treadmilling done. The grocery list has been diligently updated... though I am sure we will find something missed!

Today, I had either the most freight, or maybe the second most freight I have had since I became "the" shipping and receiving person. It was after 10:00 when I got home, and I was only that fast because the guys pitched in and helped put freight away once they arrived. We got in a whole lot of stuff that goes on sale next Wednesday... some totally new to our store.

Hmmmm. I'm wondering why I am sitting here wracking my brain trying to think of just what else I had planned to talk about today.... when I could be having a nap? Maybe a nap will help me remember the rest...

Thanks for checking in!

Harder to let go and let grow.....

Daniel and Sam asked me the minute I pulled up from work, if they could go out riding their bikes. They wanted to ride on in to town... about 7 and a half miles away. I told them they could later, as the Gentry kids have already started school for the year. (We try not to flaunt homeschooling freedom in the faces of people. Today is PERFECT for biking.) So, they set off shortly after 1:00 pm.

Mr. C brought it up first... he worries about them going off "alone". But they have each other. And they are FOURTEEN years old. They are responsible and cautious. Tom speculated that maybe we worry more about the twins because they are our "babies". We began talking about the things we did growing up... roaming farther from home at younger ages. We let the older boys go off with hooligan friends, at a younger age.

I recalled one VERY scary incident resulting from Chris and Bill heading off with their hooligan friend Caleb. They had asked to ride their bikes in to Medicine Park (A couple of miles away). They wanted to take basketballs and fishing poles along. I vetoed the basketball... too much to try to handle on bikes if they were already taking fishing poles.

An hour and a half later, I get a call from Chris. He and Caleb are at the Post Office in town... and they can't find Bill! Despite my admonitions for them to stay together, Caleb and Chris left Bill behind... struggling with the basketball and fishing pole on his bike. When Bill failed to catch up with them later, they went back to the deserted pig trail of a road that went between the fish hatchery and the creek where they had left him. They found his bike, fishing pole, and the basketball scattered along the road... blood on the road... and no Bill. They had yelled and screamed and searched for him up and down the road... then headed to the post office to borrow the phone to call me.

I had my mail jeep, which seated ONE... and three kids from 3-8 years old. I couldn't leave them home alone and I had no place to strap them in, in my jeep. I only hesitated a moment before tossing them in the jeep and just having them sit on the floor, while I headed in to town. I passed by the bike, basketball, and fishing pole... saw the blood... and then was flagged down by a guy in a Fish Hatchery truck.

He had Bill with him.

Bill had wrecked his bike on the road and was pretty scraped up, with a couple of deep gashes. The Hatchery guys happened along about then and took him up to the Hatchery, got him cleaned up and bandaged. He had then tried calling home, but no one was there. (Because I was in a panic LOOKING for him!)

So I added Bill to the illegal passengers in my jeep and went on to the post office. The Postmistress was already well under way in organizing a local search party. (Small towns act fast!) She dismissed the gathering neighbors and called to cancel the Sheriff's department.

Chris and Caleb were relieved to see Bill. Chris was shaking. I'm thinking he was 13 then, so Bill would have been 11 or 12. Chris and Caleb rode their bikes on back to the house. (I had collected the fishing poles and basketball when I got Bill.) After dropping all the kids back at the house, I drove back for Bill's bike. What happened to "NO You CANNOT take the basketball"? and What happened to "STAY TOGETHER"?

So, Dan and Sam are going farther afield right now. But they are also older. And TWO boys are probably safer than THREE boys... just because the more boys you let loose together, the more trouble they are likely to get into!

Tom also had to fret that this will be the first adventure the twins have embarked on where I haven't insisted they take a cell phone. He was really regretting no more cell phones as they headed down the road. Sam made sure he gave me detailed road by road instructions of the route they would be taking to town. (I drive the direct route to work... the boys are taking all back roads- almost none of them paved.) I assured Sam that if they are very much later than I expect them to be, I WILL find them, no matter which route they take.

Fourteen. My boys.

Pepper-oni!

Today, the twins and I did as much pepper work as we intend to do at all. Dan roasted peppers on the grill. He and Sam peeled roasted peppers, and chopped them. We placed the chopped roasted peppers into small mounds on waxed paper and froze them... then placed the frozen mounds into Ziploc freezer bags. This will keep us from having to thaw and use a whole quart at a time of roasted hot peppers. Dan has been diligently stringing Chile and cayenne peppers to dry, and we have about a pound or more of fresh peppers. We have a gallon Ziploc of chopped bell peppers.

Yesterday I made my first ever batch of jalapeno jelly. It made six jars and a bit left over to sample. It jelled (a bit hard) but was sooooo good. It was flavorful, with a good bite.... even though I didn't use the cayenne pepper it called for to spice it up... or near as much bell pepper as the recipe required. Today, I made my second batch... and totally misread the recipe. You know the old adage: measure twice, cut once? Well, RE-READ the recipe with every ingredient. I added equal amounts of vinegar and sugar... and was supposed to have added 3X the sugar in proportion to the vinegar. So I tripled the vinegar... and when it wasn't jelling, I was blaming the pectin. I added more pectin... then discovered my mistake. The recipe cautioned, DO NOT DOUBLE.

And I had tripled it.

Then I couldn't find the "extra" pectin I had purchased yesterday. We looked and looked. I was panicking. I added the 2X more sugar, and 1X more pectin. I finally found a box of "sugar free" pectin. I used it and let the stuff boil like the dickens. (I added more roasted jalapenos as well.) Finally, I decided, for better or worse, to can the jelly. Or syrup.

It jelled! Hooray! The "leftover" amount I saved to see if it would jell, was perfect. I tried it. Holy Guacamole! This is Waaaay hotter than yesterday's batch! But so tasty!

Today's count was 17 jars of jalapeno jelly. We did 10 jars of "dill" pepper rings. 2 quarts of frozen roasted peppers. Totals of 23 jars of jelly, 16 jars of pepper rings, 2 quarts of whole pickled peppers, a gallon of chopped bell peppers, 2 quarts of fire roasted peppers, and several strings of drying Chile peppers. Plus enough left over fresh to burn the mouths and stomachs of brave ingesters for weeks to come.

Hot Time Tonight

Yesterday I got a call from my friend Wanda, whose son Matthew we used to babysit. Her DH Dale had been down to Wanda's Uncle's house, picking peppers. Dale cans copious amounts of veggies every year, including peppers. This week, he ran out of time. He has to leave for a week of training for his job, on Sunday. So Wanda called to ask me if we would like some peppers Dale wasn't going to be able to deal with. Of course, I said yes.

Last night Dale brought over a few bags of peppers of various types. There are bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, Anaheims, poblanos, chili, banana peppers... just about every kind of pepper one can imagine, except Tabasco and habanero peppers.

The boys separated the peppers by colors, and by varieties.

Today we went to town and got some fruit jars and some pectin. I forgot to get dill, and whole cloves of garlic.


So far we have made six half pints of roasted jalapeno jelly, eight quarts of banana (and other mixed pepper) slices, and two quarts of whole banana peppers, and at least a gallon ziplock of chopped bell peppers.We still have a ton to deal with!

Lovely Rain

It is raining out! Most of the storms have missed us recently, and the grass we have grown to enjoy has begun looking like the grass in SW Oklahoma does most of the year.

I had intended to cook a "beer can chicken" on the grill... except I lacked a can of beer. And the rain also would of made this more challenging. Instead, having already thawed the undismembered chicken, I fell back on this summer's best friend: the crock pot/ slow cooker. I softened 1/2 stick of butter (1/4 cup) and added some Bell's Tomato-Basil Salt free seasoning, some garlic powder, and onion powder. I loosened the skin on the chicken, and really stuffed the seasoned butter up under it, and slathered the rest of the butter over the outside of the skin. Then I put it in the crock pot on high... since it was already noon. Tom had had a sandwich for lunch, and failed to put away the fixings, so I used the remainder of an onion in on top of the chicken, then decided to add some of the bell pepper and onion seasoning mix I keep in the freezer. It smells sooooo goooood! Another two hours til supper though... so I turned it down to low. I set out some (boxed) Southwest Potatoes as a side dish, and will probably heat up either green beans or Ranchies to go with it.

I crossed the halfway mark of my (150 mile by Oct.20th) goal today! So far, I have lost about 5 lbs. It doesn't seem like much payoff for the effort, but I will keep it up! At least I have strengthened my knee so that I no longer need the knee brace just to walk.

I still haven't looked into what all the boys and I will be doing for school this coming year. I need to find a science curriculum, for sure. We have plenty of math, history, government, politics, and such materials on hand. MUST. GET. MOTIVATED!

The boys are self-motivated in many areas, like art and music. They have tended to drive us all a bit insane with some of their "future plans" to be in the steam powered world, and build a paying dirigible business... but! In all of their planning, they have had to do a lot of math and logistics, as well as research. (SHHH, don't mention it is educational!)

Oh, dinner is smelling way too good. Hope it tastes as good as it smells. (Brilliant idea... just had Dan go add a handful of fresh basil to the pot!)

Have a blessed day!

Another weekend goes by...

We really didn't do anything, not even housecleaning this weekend. I napped... a lot. It seems to be getting on into ragweed season, and sinus headaches have begun.

Mr C went in this morning and got the cars assessed and tagged in Siloam Springs. In the spirit of helping out with the cars, I took the Toyota in to have a recall issue taken care of. (We have been postponing this for over a year... bad us!) Now our windows have new bolts in them, and the dealership even washed the car. Wow.

While the boys and I were out on the mission east (Bentonville/ Rogers area), I figured we could kill several birds with this one stone. So we are at the library for the boys volunteer service. We have been to TWO bookstores and the bank.

Gosh, I drool at bookstores, and had NO money to spend. The boys were looking for a copy of the Redwall Cookbook. Neither bookstore had it, and we had already priced it on Amazon... so they put the money into my "online" account, and I ordered the book for them once we reached the library. The car dealership happened to have been between two bookstores, so we stopped in those... one before and one after having the car repaired.

I had planned to make soup from the leftover roast beef from yesterday, but with the time pressing on like it is, I will either have to do it on the stove top instead of the crock pot, or else decide on something entirely different for supper. I can always do the soup in the crock pot tomorrow.

The summer is barrelling away. It is past mid-August. I need to get on with making school plans and getting the new school year organized. Since Mr C has five weeks of vacation to kill between now and the end of the year, I have to plan school around those. Perhaps we can incorporate a visit to some of the museums in Ohio and even St. Louis as part of our curriculum this year. I know the twins (as well as ME!) want to go to the Circleville Pumpkin Festival. It starts ON my Birthday! Mr C said, "Oh we need to take little Kimber -Punkin to that!" Then he said, "But I guess she needs to be home with her daddy for her very first birthday."

On my walking, I am over 70 miles now! I should hit the halfway mark (150 miles by Oct 20th) in the next couple of days. And I am actually seeing some downward momentum on the scale... down to 155 lbs. consistently.

That's about all from here. Have a blessed day!

Careful what you say....

Yesterday, I expounded on the caution I use when arriving at work in the early morning hours. I was thinking about that said caution this morning as I arrived. I let the headlights scan behind the store, the side of the store... I checked alongside of the van and truck as I parked in my spot near the door. I looked all around the parking lot as I shut off the engine and got out of the car. I accidentally dropped my keys and bent to pick them up. Before I could "chirp" the car doors locked... there he was! Right there in front of me, between me and the door!

It was an older teen, all dressed in black- riding his skateboard up the ramp and across the sidewalk in front of me. I thought I was going to have to go home and change my clothes. He skated right on by without a word, barely glancing in my direction. Where he came from, I have no idea... it was as if he materialized right there on his skateboard.

I learned that no matter how cautious and observant I am, entering the parking lot, I should still be wary. There is no such thing as being too careful!

********
I just got a phone call from my BIL Bob. After I had written part of the sentence above the asterisks... They are there because I am completely changing topics. He chided me first of all for not being home yesterday... which I was- I just didn't have phone or internet all day.
Then he got to the point- Tom's Uncle Glenn passed away yesterday. I had spoken to Tom's Mom last weekend, and she said that Glenn had just found out he had cancer. The Doctors gave him 3 to 6 months to live. He was gone within the week. I haven't yet had a chance to tell Tom, since we no longer have cell phones. I don't know if he will try to fly to Ohio for the funeral or not. Please remember Tom's family in your prayers. This is the third sibling to pass away in less than a year, among Arlene's (Tom's mother's) family.

**************
On that note, I think I will close for now. Have a blessed day, and be sure you tell someone that you love, how you feel.

All the excitement here...

After I left work yesterday, there was a boatload of excitement on the small town where my particular O'Reilly's is located. Seems that a woman who operates the beauty salon directly across the street from O'Reilly's was accosted at gun point, tied up, and robbed of a few hundred dollars.

There were state police, helicopters, sirens... as FBI and other agencies descended on the small town. All the hubbub was because the authorities initially thought the robbers were escapees from an Arizona prison, who have left a path of mayhem across the nation. After seeing pictures of the escaped prisoners, the beauty shop owner says they were not the people who robbed her. All of the big time crime fighters have moved on, leaving the local police to try and figure out who DID rob the place.

As I have mentioned before, I get to work by 5:30 am. It is dark, and the town, for the most part, still sleeps. Not knowing anything at all about yesterday's "excitement", I am nevertheless cautious about getting into the building. I approach the parking lot, always from the side, where I habitually let my headlights scan behind the building, and the dumpster area. I always check behind and under the van and company truck as I drive up.

Once I stop, I have my keys ready to go... I park less than five steps from the door. I can be inside in just a few seconds. My keys have a "panic" button on them, which will set my car to honking and flashing lights. Inside, the door locks automatically behind me. Once inside, I have access to another panic button, which sends a silent alarm to the local police station, if I press it.

Working alone really doesn't bother me. As I have said before, I never think of myself as being alone. I don't "feel" alone. (Guess that is a side benefit of multiple personalities... I can keep myself company!) Too bad O'Reilly's has a company policy of no firearms on their premises!

Despite this being oil day, I found myself unable to stop 'neatening' several areas as I came to them... little sections of disarray that really bugged me. I haven't been given the go ahead to re-sequence the rotors since their numbers changed... so only a few very small areas were neatened today. I was home well before 9:00 am.

Much to my annoyance, I had barely gotten online when our phone and internet went down for several hours. Instead of goofing off here, I got quite a bit of laundry done, and a two hour nap in! I was in bed before 8:00 pm last night, especially to get up early and look for meteorites. I was up a good half hour before usual, and went out to watch the sky.

It was so warm and humid... like dog breath. I made my cup of tea and sat out on the porch steps. I hadn't much more than sat down, when FIVE small meteorites scratched the sky at the same time... very small and quickly gone. Soon, two really long lasting ones raced one another for several seconds. In the 20 or so minutes I was out there, I saw around 20 "falling stars". It was awesome. I love to sit and watch the stars. It is like floating in water... like I just become part of the night sky. I had turned off the alarm when I got up, as Tom had had a restless night and was finally sleeping well. I woke him as I had to leave for work.

I hope you have a great evening. I'm sure there will still be a few lingering meteorites out tonight if you haven't been out looking for them yet!

Summertime

It has really been hot here the last few days... right back up to where it was at the first of the month. But it IS August, so I guess hot weather is to be expected. Dan and Sam are out having a water balloon fight. They have had so much fun with those balloons.

Yesterday was a heavier than usual freight day, and I had three lines of stock lifts appear. Each line had to be inventoried, adjusted , then processed. Since it was almost 11:30 before I even finished my normal freight yesterday, I left the stock lift things for today. I finished regular freight by 9:00 and then spent the next hour and a half on the lifts. With tomorrow being Thursday (Oil Day), that will make 3 long days in a row.

After work yesterday, we went to the library, and then to WalMart for groceries. I don't feel like I had a chance to sit down all day! I got back from getting groceries, and found Tom still home "for lunch". It was after 4:00pm! He had gone out to the car to leave for work shortly after we left for errands. His battery had shorted out, and he still has the van in pieces. Since we no longer have the cell phones, all he could do was wait for me to get home.

He took my car back to work, then when he was off for the day, we went back up to O'Reilly's and got a battery. Happily, we had the right size in stock.

I went out yesterday morning and this morning before work to stargaze. I saw 2 shooting stars yesterday and one this morning. Not too bad considering I probably wasn't out more than 10 minutes either morning. The meteor shower is supposed to peak tonight between 2 and 4 am.

May you all have a blessed afternoon!

So Growing up

Today, Dan and Sam both worked for a neighbor, Anthony. Last year, Ben was his main helper. Today... the younger boys. Anthony does say, "BEN! You didn't have MY permission to move!"

The twins cleaned up the Koi pond, as well as piled leaves for burning.

Do I dare suggest we might try for Six Flags later this summer? I think it would be a blast. Don't know if it will happen yet or not. And how lame is your MOM going someplace like that with you?

Especially at 14.

Not much happened this weekend.
Tomorrow is the new work week.

I am sure hoping Becky will post about Ty's funnies the last few days. In case she doesn't:

We were talking on the phone this morning about writing my son / her brother Chris:

(Becky) "Ty is "writing" Chris. I remember "writing" letters at his age. I would scribble circles and squiggles and think I was writing cursive. Since I couldn't read cursive, I didn't know what it said!" (I laughed)
"Tyrel is writing from right to left, instead of left to right.... maybe he is writing Hebrew."

(Tyrel) "I not writing Hebrew! I writing CHRIS!"

I love my babies. And grandbabies.

Well tomorrow is another day back at work. Thankfully, it isn't difficult work, even if it is sometimes physically demanding. I hope you have all had a wonderful weekend! be blessed!

Heading into the weekend....

And nothing going on!

I did have an interesting dream last night... I went out and bought a red motorcycle and taught myself to ride it. Guess I am a responsible citizen, since I was concerned about getting insurance on it right away! In the dream, buying the motorcycle led to a big fight with Mr C.... since I didn't know how to ride one and didn't ask permission before making such a big purchase.

In reality.... I have never learned to ride a motorcycle because I am "intimidated" by having to switch gears. I had always thought one had to switch the gears in some sort of "H" pattern, as one does in a standard vehicle. Only lately have I learned that it is a simple 'tap' for each gear. Maybe I COULD learn to ride! In this dream with the motorcycle, I also lived in an upstairs apartment, and brought the motorcycle inside at night.

For supper tonight, I have brats ready to grill. I am also making home made Tater salad. I had a wonderful smoothie for lunch: Banana, blueberries, strawberries, pineapple, wheat germ, ground flax seed, orange juice, plain yogurt, and milk.

I seem to have (finally) broken the weight plateau... When I was ready for my shower after work this morning (and after treadmilling), I was so thrilled I must have stood there for five minutes admiring where the scale stopped. Yay!

We don't have anything at all planned for this weekend. The grass isn't even tall enough to mow. The groceries have already been purchased. Not a thing going on. Maybe we will lay out in the yard all night and see if we can see any shooting stars, even though the meteor shower peaks in the middle of next week.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Wow! Fruity!

Daniel and Sam and I went to Siloam Springs this afternoon.

I needed to go get some groceries, and a book of stamps. Tom said that last week, the fruit prices were lower by half at the WalMart there than at either the Jane, MO., WM or the Bentonville WM. Since there are even more post offices than there are WalMarts around here, and I had an entire stack of Connor's clothes to return- we went to Siloam.

They had blueberries for .86 a pint, as well as strawberries for .86 a carton. (Not sure just what size they consider a strawberry carton). So I got several of each. Peaches, plums, and nectarines were .50 a lb.

Once we got home, Dear sweet Daniel washed all the berries and laid them on trays to freeze before we bag them.

I put the last roast from the quarter of Dad's cow we bought earlier this year into the slow cooker this morning. Before we left, I added onions, carrots and potatoes in with the roast. Sam scraped the carrots, and washed the potatoes. He actually washed ALL the potatoes, since he found a rotten one in the bag. Then he cleaned up the mess from the bad tater, including mopping the floor where it had leaked.

I can tell who bought the taters! Had it been me.... I don't just grab the handiest bag and toss it in the cart. I look them over, and then give the bag a sniff test. These potatoes have only been here a week... so to be that bad, it had to have been bad when it was bought.

I got stuff to make some brats... in a manner we have only had them once, that I can recall. I do plan to grill them, but serve them up with a batch of onions and green peppers cooked together. (I may even grill those in a foil packet.) We will probably do that tomorrow.

Connor and Alana weren't home when we stopped his clothes by, but their friend next door took them for me. He had left so many clothes behind, I wonder what the boy has worn for the past week! Oh wait... being a boy- he probably wore what he had on. Unless someone notices the smell and forces a boy to bathe AND change clothes, boys tend to just keep on in whatever they are wearing. (Yes, I have had boys who would shower, then put back on the same stinky clothes!) Anyway, I missed getting to see the grandkids today.

Oh, have I mentioned... the scales finally budged! I am down below 160! (I have dropped down before, but came right back up. I have been this size for about five years, and it is hard to get down from a static weight!) Also, Today I crossed the 50 mile mark on my treadmilling. That is the equivalent of walking from my house to I-44 in Joplin, MO. Keeping track of the mileage and setting the 150 mile by Oct. 20th goal is what has kept me going on this. Treadmill walking is BORING!!!!!

That's all the not-so- news from here. Have a blessed day!

another fine day

I was home early today! Boss is trimming hours, so i had to leave as soon as I could get my regular stuff done. Once home, I did 2.1 miles on the treadmill and got fed and showered, and we were on our way to the library about 10:00 am.

Last night's supper was MMM MMM good. I was glad there was a little piece of chicken left, because that is what I had for breakfast. (If it is still breakfast after working all morning.) I had made this recipe in the oven before, but not the slow cooker. The slow cooker version was the best. EVER. If I need to run it by you again: Pour some Italian dressing over bonless/ skinless chicken, cover and cook. Served it with rice, green beans, cottage cheese and pineapple. (Your side dishes may vary.)

Oh, we had an "incident" at work Monday. Our driver, an older guy, had made a delivery to a shop. He was walking in to make his delivery, when he felt himself being pushed hard from behind.
The company truck was running him over!
He was knocked down and dragged a short ways as the truck backed over him... and saved from serious injury when the truck hit a solid object that stopped it. He was scraped and bruised, but otherwise OK. The truck was taken to a mechanic to check to see if it had a transmission problem that would of caused it to put itself into gear... but none was found. It's probable cause appears to be simple operator error. I am thankful our driver is OK! it is the first reportable injury for our store- ever.

We are supposed to get some rain tomorrow. It is also supposed to be a good 10 degrees cooler tomorrow, and for the rest of the week. I hope we do get the rain, we sure need it. Today's forecasted high was 102* Maybe this will end the hottest of the summer weather.

Have a blessed day!

26 Years

Today is the anniversary of the day I ran off and married a guy who confessed to liking me just 3 weeks before. We may have been a bit hasty in getting married, but 26 years later here we are still together, with an additional five kids and eight grand kids.

As Usual, we have no plans of any celebration to mark the 'event'. I have chicken cooking in the crock pot. (Boneless/skinless breasts simmering in Italian dressing. I had three remnant bottles of salad dressing... one was actually a bottle of balsamic cranberry vinaigrette . Pour over chicken and turn on low. Plan to serve with rice pilaf and some sort of veggies.)

I had a wonderful trip to DFW over the weekend. I saw my Mom, Ralph, my brother Roger, and my son Chris, Granny and others. I misplaced my wallet, which I discovered when I arrived to visit Chris. My ID was in my wallet. It had fallen from my purse into my "suitcase". Ralph offered to bring it up to me, but I suggested we meet him at the nursing home where Granny resides. The nursing home is halfway between downtown Ft Worth and Mom's house.

Mom and I arrived at the nursing home before Ralph did, and we were waiting outside when a car pulled in right next to us. It was my cousin Jeanie, who was as surprised to see us as we were to see her! She had brought her little tiny puppy to see Granny. Inside, Granny and Aunt Jean were already waiting in the lounge for Jeanie. They were surprised to see us!

Granny was more alert than I have seen her in nearly 2 years. It was obvious she recognised us on some level, and she managed several intelligible phrases. She exclaimed, "There you are!" quite plainly, and what sounded like "Where have you been?". Her eyes followed us and she was making an effort to speak to us. Ralph came inside, and Granny's eyes never left him. She made motions with her hands for him to come over by her.

We visited there for a little while, until I figured mom and I had better be on our way to see Chris before the Sunday After Church visitors made their way downtown. I needed a drink of water, and discovered the water dispenser near the front door of the nursing home was empty. Mom said she had seen a fountain back by where we had visited Granny. So I took my cup and headed back there. As I went by Granny again, Jeanie had just put the little puppy up near Granny's face. Granny exclaimed, loud and clear, "WHAT was THAT?" My Granny is still "in there"... she just can't communicate as well with us.

We had a good visit with Chris. Well, I did. I mostly hogged up the allotted visitation time.

Then Mom and I had lunch at El Chico's, and went to Thrift Town. Mostly just hanging out and looking at stuff, and visiting one another. We were too full of lunch to even think of supper that night! Monday morning, we went to Target. There really isn't a Target near me, so I don't go there often. Mom had a few items to pick up for her friend Bonnie, who is also in a nursing home. We wandered Target looking at "everything" and laughing at cards. I have always been one to buy a card on the spot if it is "perfect" for a person. (I found one for Bill Joe's birthday. I was too broke to get it, so Mom got it for me. His birthday isn't until the end of April, so I have it put away until then.)

Time to head to the airport came too soon. I had checked in and printed out my boarding pass from home. I got through security... even though they decided to "pat me down". I made sure of the gate, sat down for a minute, and decided I really HAD to have a drink. I set off walking to find some water for sale. And as long as I was walking, with plenty of time to spare, I counted off (over) 6/10ths of a mile. (I walked from American Gate A9 to A39, beyond, and back. I arrived back just as the plane began to board, so rested for a few minutes until it was my turn. Yay! I got my walk in, and it was MUCH more fun than a treadmill....even if I was lugging an extra 25 lbs. over my shoulder.

The guys made out fine without me. Their fishing trip was cut short when they became the bait... for mosquitoes. They did catch a few small fish, I was told.

************
Today was back to work. I had a LOT of outgoing freight, and worked until after 11:00. That was over 5 and a half hours without "making" work.

Thanks, Mom for having me down and feeding me all the delicious food that I didn't have to cook!

Have a blessed day, everyone!