Friday, July 10, 2009

Tag — with a Guest Blogger!

I was tagged in a new way by both Mari and Bonnie. In this version of tag, the person who is 'it' tells a story with a bunch of different blog names in the story, and if your blog name is in the story, consider yourself tagged.

Get it?

And like in the original, real, game of tag, I think you can be it more than once. You know, if you're slow. So I felt free to use Mari and Bonnie's blog names in the story.

Except that I didn't write it. I had a guest blogger. My very first one. My hubby! He wrote a story for me.

I gave him a piece of paper with blog names and said, "Please put as many of these into as short and funny of a story as you can," and that was it. He wrote it in Word, and I copied it and pasted it over here.

Only his story isn't short. But it is funny.

And since he's guest blogging, please read it.

Thank you.

My Vacation.

Oh, I Take Joy in telling you the story of my vacation to Cherry Hill Cottage for the celebration of Callapidder Days. I say this of course with facetiousness leaping off my tongue. In My Little Corner of the World vacations are a rarity, but being the Money Saving Mom this was the year. A lot of people like to take vacations to exotic destinations, but not us; we were going to be Kicking It In Crazyville. Yep, that’s where the cottage is located, Crazyville. Really, Take 90 West until it ends, spits you right out in Crazyville. The name fits the place.

It started harmlessly enough; the day was a Simple Beauty. With a little Creative Organizing in the back of the van, we finally got all of our luggage loaded. You see, when it comes to traveling I’m not The Simple Wife. I like my own pillows — all four of them. I like my children to have their own pillows — all four of them. There are just certain necessities. To be honest, my husband is really The Lazy Organizer, and doesn’t enjoy trying to fit the entire Home Sanctuary into the minivan. I'm an Organizing Junkie and look forward to the challenge! My husband’s idea for “Controlling My Chaos” is packing one change of clothes and a tent. That is so…….native, and definitely would not make me The Happy Housewife.

Tuesday was our first full day in Crazyville. It was over a hundred degrees outside so all I wanted to do was stay in The Inspired Room of the Heritage Schoolhouse. It was named so because that’s where Mr. Reece and Mr. Jeather, pronounced like an 'H' because he was of Spanish descent, had the "inspiration" to change the name of the town from Heritage to Crazyville. The room inspired me to stay inside where it was cool. That evening we went to a small local playhouse and saw a rendition of the famous play “Confessions of a Pioneer Woman.” Hubby’s theory is that they took Little House on the Prairie storylines and changed Laura’s name to Bea. Needless to say, Our Quiverfull as a whole was not happy. We had a couple of boy “arrows” that were “so bored I think I’m going to die.” That’s ok, the next night was their night.

Wednesday was just as hot, if not hotter than Tuesday. The highlight of the day was our introduction to Lady Beatrice de’Ville. So famous was she, that the town folk just knew her as The Queen B. We’d never met such a popular stray cat. A little later we went to the local fudge shop and had vanilla pencils and Chocolate Ink pens. Very creative! Other than that the day was spent sitting by the pond watching each other sweat. That evening we had big things planned. First, we were going to an open air, albeit hot air, concert featuring My Five Men, and then we were going to be treated to a big Crazyville tradition (they wouldn’t tell us what). The concert was interesting, you might even say entertaining in a comedic sort of way. It seems that My Five Men had a lot in common with Milli Vanilli. Unfortunately, when man number five succumbed to the heat, they had no one left to play their tape. You might say they instantly transitioned into the 4 Reluctant Entertainers. After dark our host told us it was about time for us to go to Farmer Joe’s and see what Crazyville was all about. The boys went Crazy when we found out that we were Goin’ Cow Tippin’. Now we had a couple of girl “arrows” that refused to leave the quiver. I’m with the girls — this night I’m MomE & Loving It. Hubby says that Joe turns out to be quite the Tip Junkie. Cool thing was he was quite the tipper on tippin’. He lived up to his reputation in these parts as the top tipper, and is now the envy of my boys.

Thursday was another hundred degree day. Hubby and the boys couldn’t fathom the thought of returning to the playhouse to see the production of “Confessions of an Apron Queen.” Hubby said he feared it may be a play about Martha Stewart. Don’t even ask what my thoughts were about Ol' Mother Nature. I’ll just say that I started referring to her as the Big BooMama. The day started relatively cool, and my initial thought was It's a Bubble Bath Day. Unfortunately, the only bubbles I saw this day were the ones resulting from the sweat boiling on my skin. I don’t think a cold bubble bath would be much fun. Hubby was very supportive. He reminded me that his idea was to camp in Yellowstone Park, and the high temperature that day was seventy-one. It slapped me right back to reality. Sleeping on the ground in a tent, watching my family getting eaten by a bear, or a wolf pack, or….do buffalo eat people too? I now found appreciation in hundred degree days. That night I said a small, simple prayer, “God, please Bring The Rain.”

I woke up early on Friday thankful it was the last day of our vacation. We would be heading home tomorrow on 90 East. A soft rain was falling, an answered prayer. Hubby was watching the History Channel. The kids were lined up at the window quietly watching the Backyard Birds. I got on the computer, and while surfing the net and Blogging Along, our Blissfully Domestic cottage turned into a house of horrors. You see, on this otherwise quiet rainy day, The Queen B invaded The Sparrow's Nest. The Bless Our Nest sign the kids had made at the craft shop earlier in the week and which Hubby had nailed under the nest was knocked down. As I ran outside to assess the damage, I hit the wet porch and the next thing I know I’m Looking Towards Heaven. Though slow in responding and initially a bit irritated, Hubby came to my resue. He had been watching the Ignorant Historian explain how General Lee led the Union Forces across the Potomac River into Canada during Operation Desert Storm, but he took me to the hospital where everything checked out ok. When we got back to the cottage Hubby showed the kids how the hospital had Freebies 4 Mom; namely, a neck brace for precautionary purposes, nice yellow socks with grippies (which Hubby joked would help on the slick porch) and a large bottle of Motrin. Then Hubby broke the news; turns out that the Sparrows had found a new Nesting Place and hadn’t set up residence in their nest this year.

We returned home on Saturday. I recovered. Hubby unloaded and cleaned, although he didn’t check the boys pants pockets prior to washing and drying the clothes. I’m beginning to think I need to start Learning to Trust Hubby to plan our vacations, but right now I’m really enjoying My Blessed Life at home where I have more than 5 Minutes for Books.

Oh no, gotta go. I hope what I hear is not Hubby drying Rocks In My Dryer again.


Thanks for the story, Hubby. You did a great job! I also appreciate how you told everyone how many pillows I have and how you put all my current Yellowstone issues into the story. Really.

And in case you forgot, that was ink pens you were drying in my dryer. Please don't try rocks.


Oh, My Kids

Recently Mari did a post with some familiar, and not so familiar, sayings, and how they were completed by first graders. Just for fun, I thought I'd run them by my kids, just finishing up 3rd, 6th and 9th grades. In their defense, they did get some of them exactly right, so I didn't even bother to put those down. I just put the ones down that were funny...but, I didn't tell you who said what.

Except that I will tell you that Caboose doesn't think much of kissing.

Unless you get married.

Which he never plans on doing.

Except when I asked him before I did this post he said, "I might." Although I don't know how he's going to get around the kissing part.

Okay, here goes:

People in glass houses shouldn't . . . get undressed without having any blinds.
. . . dance naked.
. . . sing bad that would break the glass.

Strike while the . . . moon is up.

Never underestimate the power of . . . pink.
. . . youth.
. . . love.
. . . babies.

You can lead a horse to water but . . . you can't lead water to the horse.

Laugh and the world laughs with you . . . cry and the world cries with you.
. . . don't laugh otherwise.

A miss is as good as a . . . mister.
. . . guess.
. . . strike.

A bird in the hand . . . eats crackers.

The pen is mightier than . . . the pig.
. . . the mouth.

An idle mind is . . . stupid.

Where there is smoke, there is . . . cigarettes.

Happy is the bride who . . . kisses the man.

Children should be seen and not . . . kissed.

You get out of something what you . . . paid for it.

When the blind lead the blind . . . they run into a tree.

Seems a little bit like what my kids were doing with each other. Good thing there were no trees in the house.


Thursday, July 9, 2009

The Great Changeover

Last week it was time.

So I went to the top of my closet and got another perfect purse.

Because it was time to change from the perfect purse in spring green, to the perfect purse in a bright summer pink.

I store the ones I'm not using with old towels or t-shirts, or some combination of the two. It helps them to keep their shape.

All the stuff moved over

and ready to go.

Whether it feels like summer here or not!

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

A Delicious Dinner

All four of the kids oohed and aahed over this one. I hadn't made it in at least a year, maybe two, so they didn't really remember it. I bought the really big bag of frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts from Sam's Club, so I doubled everything in the recipe for our family. We only had two pieces of chicken left. I think three of my four kids ate two pieces each!

I served the chicken with fresh vegetables and ranch dressing, and a spinach salad. I put sliced strawberries, some almonds, shredded cheese from a bag and Marzetti's spinach salad dressing on it. I mix the dressing up half dressing/half water so it's not quite so thick before I toss the salad.



Basil Grilled Chicken
reprinted from a Southern Living recipe card I got in the mail years ago

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
3/4 tsp coarsely ground pepper
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 Tbsp minced fresh basil
1 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
Fresh basil sprigs (optional)

Press 3/4 tsp pepper into meaty sides of chicken breast halves. Combine 1/3 cup melted butter and 1/4 cup chopped basil; stir well. Brush chicken lightly with melted butter mixture.

Combine 1/2 cup softened butter, 2 tablespoons basil, Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Beat at low speed of an electric mixer until mixture is well blended and smooth. Transfer to a small serving bowl; set aside. (I just mixed it up really well with a spoon. I also used regular basil from the spice aisle here, even though I used fresh basil in the first step. I know, I'm a rebel.)

Grill chicken over medium coals 8 - 10 minutes on each side, basting frequently with remaining melted butter mixture. Serve grilled chicken with basil-butter mixture (I didn't do this; we used it all basting). Garnish with fresh basil sprigs, if desired (I didn't do this either).

We will be making this next week when company comes!

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Menu Plan Monday — July 6th

I'm looking forward to another week of grilling. One of the recipes from last week I will be using tomorrow. We had so much food in the fridge last week we ate leftovers more than even I could anticipate.

MondayBasil Grilled Chicken. This is super yummy and has lots of flavor. I have the chicken already thawed in the refrigerator, I just have to get the fresh basil. They were out at the store the other day, I guess in anticipation of the holiday.

TuesdayCajun Spice Rub on a meat to be chosen when I get to the store and see what's on sale. I haven't tried this but have had the recipe printed out for a while, so now that we have the grill I'm going to give it a go.

WednesdayLexington-Style Grilled Chicken. This is a new recipe and sounds really good. It makes a lot so we should have leftovers, too.

Thursday — Leftovers.

FridayMarinated Grilled Flank Steak. This also includes a recipe for BLT Smashed Potatoes. We'll see how adventuresome I get.

Saturday — Probably the Chicken Spaghetti I have the chicken for in the freezer. We're having company come to town on this day (I'll tell you more later) and it's a pretty easy dish to make and throw in the oven.

Sunday — Eat out since we ate in all week!

I hope some of the new grilling marinades work out, because I hope to grill some when we have company. This week I'm also going to try to make Homemade Drizzle Popcorn. I'll be nice to Hubby and not use peanut butter so he can have some though, unless we eat it all before he gets home from work!

For more great menu ideas and recipes, go visit Laura, The Organizing Junkie.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

My Favorite Color Combo

Of course it has nothing to do with my favorite color, blue.

You may or may not remember, and may or may not have even read, that I love orange and fuschia together.

My Bible:

My 'in-the-house' shoes:

My little zippered case I use to carry my blue iPod in my purse. It helps me keep the dust that escapes from my Altoid tin from getting all over it. I bought this from Joanne, The Simple Wife, and it's very well made, super cute, and I just love it.

So when I went to Sam's on Friday and found a fresh stock of Gerbera daisies, my favorite, in not only orange, but fuschia, I bought a bunch of both. I had just gotten a small bunch of five yellow ones at Wal-Mart the night before since Sam's had not been having any, but I just couldn't pass them up. I did pass up the salmon pink colored ones.

So here some of them are on my kitchen table (the orange didn't come out very well),

on the kitchen counter,

and in my bathroom.


Here are a couple of the fuschia ones mixed with the yellow ones.

It's a happy weekend at my house!



Friday, July 3, 2009

Dessert or Dinner?

A few months ago when Hubby and I were walking around Bed, Bath & Beyond, we found a funnel cake kit. It had a red plastic pitcher with a special spout, a red plastic shaker for your powdered sugar, and mix for regular funnel cakes and apple/cinnamon funnel cakes. Of course the apple/cinnamon doesn't sound too good to me, but that's another issue.

The box got tucked away in the kitchen cabinet, and for some reason we forgot all about it. When I was digging around for all our pitchers Wednesday night before the boil order went into effect (yep, you read that right, and as of Thursday night at midnight it was still on), I found the box. I made a command decision that as soon as the kids had macaroni and cheese for dinner, they could have funnel cakes for dessert.

Hubby and I would just have them for dinner.

Here's one of the five. It's a beautiful sight to behold.

It must be a Southern thing, because when Hubby went to work on Thursday he was still blubbering about it, and people didn't know what they were. One guy asked if it was like a waffle; another guy asked if it was like a volcano cake.

Now we just need to find refill mixes to go along with the red plastic funnel cake pitcher. We'll be making a trip back to the store soon to see if they sell those too.

Then I may have to start working these into my weekly menu plans.

 
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