Black Friday

I am missing some brain cells, that is the only reason I can think of that I torture myself every year with getting up wayyyy before dawn and standing in the freezing cold. This year wasn't so bad, we started at Wal-mart where it is open 24 hours and you can at least be in out of the cold. I did manage to get most of my shopping done today. Nothing will beat the deal Chelle got, you'll have to ask her about it. I just have a few little odds and ends to gather up left. I even did half of my mom's shopping for her. We were on the road at 3:45am, finished up and got home around 4:45pm. Makes for a long day, but, on the plus side, I am almost done!
I was really saddened to hear that there were deaths over black Friday shopping around the country. There was a temporary Walmart employee that was trampled to death trying to open the doors. And there was two people SHOT to death in a Toysrus in California. My god, is saving a few $ worth a life? My sister in laws and I were just talking on the way home that this year people seemed to be more polite. Maybe that was just in our corner of the world.

I got it!!

I am SOOO excited, I ordered something for Christmas and it came early! Oh my oh my I can't wait!

Meanwhile, we are steadily working on removing staples and nails from the floors. The kitchen floor got mopped 3 times with ammonia water, then next time is going to be just a regular cleaner with maybe a little scent to it. It smells soo much better. I am really worried about the odor, maybe cuz I know what it was like. We are shooting for moving in the first part of January, and working from there on getting it the rest of the way. It is going to be hard living in a work in progress but so worth it.

My mom called me this morning, they are rearranging her medications because her EKG showed that she had had a heart attack. Since that was news to her, it was kinda surprising. They have been eliminating and adding different meds for a couple of months now, I just hope they get it figured out soon.

I am so excited about Black Friday shopping! I just got to figure out exactly when the ads come out, last year I was lucky that my sister in law had a paper with them in it. And of course, I have to get through Thanksgiving. I am being stubborn and making a feast, even though more then likely it will just be the six of us. I like having the left overs so that is my whole reasoning. I like turkey and butter sandwiches the next day the most because I usually end up stuffing myself on the veggie tray and dessert Thanksgiving day. AHHH I am getting hungry already!

Tuesday boredom

I have been trying new recipes that are less fattening and use more veggies. Trying to be a little more health conscience. I KNOW what I am supposed to be doing (balancing the diet, making a colorful display, varying the menu) all the things that my anal retentive home ec teacher taught us all those years ago. I know that. But here on planet reality, with 5 other members of my family that don't like this, that, those, and everything else, it gets challenging. SO I decided that they were going to eat what I fixed because, hey, what else are they going to eat? With that said, there have been a few shall we say less then thrilling meals around here lately. I did however hit upon one last night that everyone (except Mikey) liked. Dude even asked for seconds, that never happens. I got to thinking, I bet other people would like to try this yumm-o dish too! So here is the recipe




Chicken Alfredo

1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese, cubed
6 TBN butter or margarine
1/2 C. milk
1/2 tsn garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cubed (about 1 1/2 C)
2 C frozen broccoli, thawed
2 small zucchini, julienned
1/2 C julienned sweet red pepper
6 oz fettuccine, cooked and drained

In a skillet over low heat, melt cream cheese and butter; stir until smooth. Add milk, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Cook and stir for 3 minutes or until thickened. Add chicken, broccoli, zucchini and red pepper. Cook over medium heat for 3 minutes. Reduce heat, cover and cook 5 minutes longer or until vegetables are tender. Serve over fettuccine. YIELD: 4-6 servings


I doubled everything except the red pepper, we aren't big pepper fans. It was good and could very easily be adapted to whatever tastes you prefer. Enjoy!

some things

I have been super busy lately. Last week I went and had Thanksgiving dinner with my mom and Grandma at the nursing home where G'ma has lived for the last few years. She has extreme dementia, doesn't even remember her name most of them time. It is really sad and very difficult for me to try to converse with her. Anyway, she had a good 45 minutes of at least talking (instead of the usual glazed over stare). One of the things she said to my mom while we were chatting with her is "I like the way she does things" (referring to me of course), my mom replied, 'yeah, mom, you always have'. It kinda made me smile a little. It was so difficult when were getting ready to leave, she was getting tired, and we asked if she was ready to go back to her room, and in this little girl voice she said no. Oh the guilt.
Mike and I have started cleaning the house. For those of you that don't know, we found a house (finally!) but it needed major cleaning. Scratch that, major shoveling. I am not kidding or exaggerating as I tend to do, we removed 9 truck loads of garbage out of this house. I can not even begin to describe the nastiness. The mice had been living there freely for sometime. Even under the carpet on the stairs. OMG! But now, after a couple of days of hard labor (thanks guys!) it is down to the original hard wood floors and they are going to be BEE_YOUT_A_FULL when we get them resanded. Lots of work but the owner is an extremely nice guy that is willing to work with us and give us a really good deal.
On a much, much sadder note, one of my aunts died last week. I wasn't really close to her because we haven't lived close to her for many decades, but she was always very sweet to me when I was a little girl. I don't really remember her well but I do remember that she was nice and made me feel good. It is true what they say, children don't remember the words you say but how it made them feel.

Such disappointment

So I took Dude to the allergist yesterday to get his blood drawn to check his level of allergy. He first tested at 1.4, six months later he tested at 1.2. That is why they told me to come back in November to get tested again because if his level goes below a 1, they will do a challenge on him. That is where they make him eat peanuts and stuff in the office to expose his system to it slowly. Basically, he wouldn't be classified as allergic anymore, so I was UBER excited to take him up there. We checked in and I paid my $25 co-pay, I sat in the waiting room for 10 minutes, then they called us back. They took us and got his weight and height and put us in a room. The doctor came in, filled out a form and told me to come back in January to get his blood tested, he didn't want to do it that day. We were back out in the waiting room on our way out the door less then 2 minutes after we were called back. So we have to take him back in two more months to finally get his blood checked, cross fingers for us. Meanwhile, he can't have peanut butter anything or anything with peanuts still. I am so glad I found soy butter. It tastes like a cheap peanut butter but Dude doesn't know the difference and thinks he is getting a special treat.

A little something

This is a little quilt I threw together and finished up for a gift for my newest niece.





















This is the back, a little easier to see the pattern of the Tink material.

You gotta love Mondays

Nothing catastrophic to report, glorious weather though. Kinda quiet weekend, after the sugar induced bedlam of Friday night. We took the kids out trick or treating, Dude was so excited; he got to go with Riles. They were both vampires, Wendy and I had a good giggle over that one cuz neither of us knew what the other was dressing as.
Let me just say now, I love myspace. It lets me get in touch with people I used to know without being a gold member. That just irritates me, "hey, 3 people wanna get in touch, and for just $25, you can find out who" Argh It is really neat to see the photos of their current lives and trip down memory lane a little.
I am having a hard time with Bubba, we can not make him understand the importance of his education. He understands the material, can do the work, isn't struggling academically with anything they have thrown at him. BUT, he refuses to take his time to make it neat, follow the rules as far as making complete sentences or use punctuation. He has gotten an F on three different papers now, not because he didn't have the right answers but because he refuses to use grammar. I am soo frustrated with it. Then there is Chick, when I tell her I am disappointed with her grades because I know she can do better all she hears is I want her on the honor roll. Yeah, that would be nice but I don't really care about that. I care about my kids living up to their potential. SIGH