Meals On Wheels

Yesterday, I took Allison and Jen (a co-worker of hers) subs and had lunch with them. Today, I picked Gage up from Pre-School, picked up a pizza, and then we went to the nursing home to have lunch with Allison. After visiting both Grandma and Grandpa, I took Gage to Day Care. I think I'm going to have to put a meter on my car and start charging a delivery fee. Then Gage could be proud of me for having a job :)

Do Real Cowboys Suck Their Thumbs??

Out Of The Mouths Of Babes

After church today, Allison and I were talking about my volunteering to work at the Hostfest. I told her I signed up for a shift on Wednesday and one on Friday. From the back seat, Gage offers up, "Are you FINALLY going to get a job, Grandma?"

New Church

Allison and I took the boys to Peace Lutheran Church in Burlington today. I really enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and it's a very child friendly place :)

I can hardly stand to even walk into Bethany since Jim died. It brings back too many happy and sad memories for me and last night's wedding there was no exception. I almost had to leave and would've if it wouldn't have caused a disturbance. I'm sure those around me wondered why I was so emotionally invested in the wedding of my niece. I'm thrilled for her and wish her much love, however, the fact that I was sobbing my eyes out had nothing to do with her.

I feel getting active in church again would probably be a good thing for me and maybe joining a new one will be the answer. At any rate, I volunteered to work two shifts this week at the Hostfest for Peace Lutheran and Allison and I are planning to attend their community dinner with the boys on Wednesday night.

He's Kidding, Right??!??

The phone rang at 7:50AM. Jameson on the other end, "Grandma? Can I spend the night cuz I don't get to see you very much."
Guess who's in my bed, snoring??

Ingenuity

I have these skewer type things that I use to close up a turkey after I stuff it. I only have 6. It's not like I'm cheap or anything but I look for them in stores every Fall and for the life of me I cannot find them. Today, while stuffing a turkey, I tore a bit of the skin over the breast and didn't have enough skewers to mend it. So, instead of having any of my cornbread stuffing fall out during the roasting process, I came up with this remedy. Who would've thunk an everyday thing like a safety pin would save my stuffing? I think I'm going to look for more giant safety pins and keep them with my turkey skewers. It worked like a charm :)

Oh, and by the way?? Those are thin slices of butter under the breast skin. Helps keep the white meat moist :)

Sarah's Apple Cake :)

Oops! The right side of the cake rose above the decorative apple slices but can I get an "E" for effort??

My, Oh, My, What a Pie!!

Well, cake actually but it's harder to rhyme :) I've got Sarah's Apple Cake in the oven and it is smelling sooooooooo good!!! Nothing like the aroma of cinnamon wafting through the house on a beautiful Fall day.

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons orange juice
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 apples, peeled, quartered, thinly sliced and tossed with:
1 tablespoon cinnamon
5 tablespoons sugar
*Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add oil, orange juice, eggs and vanilla; beat until smooth. Pour into greased and floured 9 inch springform pan. Arrange apple slices around the edge of the cake so that they are standing rounded sides up with pointed edges pressed into batter, making three concentric rings around the center of the pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 1-3/4 hours or until toothpick comes out dry. Cool on wire rack for 30 minutes. Run sharp knife tip around edges and remove sides of springform pan. Cool completely and dust with powdered sugar.

I went to the store to look for cinnamon ice cream to serve with this but had no luck :( With all the ice cream flavors out there, you'd think cinnamon would be a no brainer. Maybe I need to call Haagen Dazs.
I settled for coffee and butter pecan.

Simply Christmas

Vince Gill & Amy Grant
DCU Center,
Worcester, MA
Fri, Dec 12, 2008 07:30 PM

YIPPPPEEEE! Sarah got us tickets! I've seen Vince Gill three times but never with Amy Grant and never singing a Christmas concert. I'm thrilled!

Sunflower Cookies

Jane needed treats for work tomorrow so I made Rolled Out Sugar Cookies. The frosting is flavored with fresh lemon juice and they kind of look like sunflowers. Quite appropriate for this time of year in this part of the country. Oh, and I also made a sun so Jane could taste-test the cookies tonight :)

Silly Little Boy

Gage spent an hour or so with me this morning while his Mommy got her teeth cleaned. He wanted scrambled eggs and pancakes so I reluctantly made them, pretty confident that he wouldn't eat them anyway. He took one bite of the eggs and asked if I had any dip for them. Thinking fast, I dotted his eggs with ketchup and told him that's the way Grandpa Jim always liked his scrambled eggs. Much to my surprise, he gobbled them all up, along with four pancakes.
Little does he know that Jim actually put mustard on his scrambled eggs. Oh, well, I sent him home with a full tummy :)

Karaoke

Clancy and Bridget lit up the stage at the Starlite Saturday night :)

Why Is It???

Yesterday, after I'd walked Stella and dropped her off at the groomer's, I decided not to get cleaned up and just wallow in my filth all day. And I did. When we went for our evening walk, a big, white SUV honked and pulled to the side of the road. It was my friend Nancy and her husband, Steve. Of course I hadn't seen Steve for about two years. I'm sure he was impressed with how well I've aged. NOT!
Nancy was driving and Steve was in the front passenger seat. She had never seen Stella before and asked if she could pet her because she'd heard what soft fur Havanese have. So, I reached over Steve and handed Stella to Nancy. I'm sure he noticed I smelled like a goat, not to mention that I looked like the wrath of God. How come when I'm all cleaned up with my hair fixed and make-up on, I don't see anyone I know?

Just Another Day In Paradise!

BLAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cooking For One...

Sucks, actually. I don't mind eating breakfast alone, I almost always have. It's my time to read the paper and wake up but lunch and supper are the pits. Today I made lunch and took it to the nursing home and had lunch with Allison.
Tonight, I made fettucine carbonara and had my Mom over. Tomorrow night, I'm having Allison, Karter, Jameson, Gage and my Mom over for supper. Right now I hate my life!

Today's Lesson

Just because you're trying to figure out how to transfer a picture from your camera's internal memory to your computer doesn't mean you shouldn't check on strange noises coming from the kitchen. When I finally uploaded the picture I took of Jewel Saturday night, I decided to investigate. Good thing I'm gaga for Stella because I found her sitting in my kitchen sink finishing off the onion bagel I had on the counter for tomorrow's breakfast. Upon further investigation, I discovered she'd also eaten all the butter off the butter dish that was beside the bagel. Wonder if she buttered the bagel before she ate it???SHE'S IN BIG TROUBLE, MISTER!!!

Jewel

Jane, Deb and I went to see Jewel in concert at Four Bears Casino on Saturday night. Great concert!

Two Things

Yippee! I'm having lunch with Joe today and the Homemakers are coming over for drinks and appetizers this evening. Nnniiiiiiiiice!!! :)

Switching It Up

It was 70 degrees and beautiful out around 6:00PM today. Stella and I changed our route and walked to Broadway and back. She loved it but there isn't sidewalk all the way like there is on our regular route.

Errand Boy

I had a bazillion errands to run today but thought I'd start out with lunch. I met Allison and Gage at Mi Mexico and enjoyed a shrimp chimichanga. Errr, minus the shrimp Gage stole off my plate :)
When we left, he insisted he was coming with me. I walked him to Allison's car and he started to cry. I didn't have the heart to make him go home with her, so I gave in and took him with me. As we walked to my car, I told him he couldn't complain because we were going to be doing a lot of running around.

Bless his little heart, he was an angel. We got everything done and then stopped at the nursing home. Grandma was taking a nap so we woke her up. Gage crawled in bed next to her so she could love him up. On the way home, I told him how nice it was that he did that. He said, "I do it because she's my grandma and I love her and she's gonna die pretty soon anyway."
Kids... they're so honest.

Thanks Jane ;)

Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained.
Abdicate (v.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.

YSL TOUCHE ECLAT

See Below

Must Have

This stuff is the best beauty secret I have ever found, bar none! I can't believe how many people told me how good I looked right after I started using it. I just ordered two more because I got free shipping AND because I would hate to ever run out. If you've got dark circles under your eyes, this will be your new best friend! Trust me :)

WHEW!

Arrived at Allison's again at 5:30 this morning. The boys were awake before she made it to work. They got dressed and we drove to town and picked up breakfast at McDonald's. I took them to the Lutheran church in Burlington and signed them up for Sunday School. They were pretty apprehensive about staying, so I stayed with them. Everyone was so friendly and nice, it looks like it would be a good church to go to. Hopefully, they'll continue to go.
We picked up lunch at The Pita Pit and took it to the nursing home so we could eat with Allison again today. Jameson fell asleep on the way home and came inside and went straight to his room where he slept for about 2-1/2 hours.
I made a pizza for supper and Karter walked in the door just as I was finished cleaning up the kitchen. He was busy unloading his vehicle so I bathed the kids before I left.
I'm so glad I have nothing planned for tomorrow.

Another 5:00AM Start

I hit Allison's driveway at 5:23 this morning. As I was getting out of my car, I heard Jameson holler, "Grandma's here!" Yep, both boys were up and waiting for me.

We were eating pancakes by 6:00AM and playing firefighters by 6:30AM! After threatening them with death to get them to brush their teeth, we went to my house around 10:30 so I could get ready for the public. We picked up lunch and took it to the nursing home so they could eat with their Mom and see where she's working now. We visited Grandma Roll and my Dad and then went to K-Mart to get the new toys I'd bribed them with earlier :) We stopped and rented movies and then picked up a few things from the grocery store.

When we got back to their house, I made a big batch of chocolate chip cookies while they fought, whined, complained and tattled on each other. After the cookies, I made supper, tricked them into eating it and then gave them both baths and made them put their jammies on.

When Allison got home at 7:00PM, the house was all picked up, the dished were all done, the boys were clean and ready for bed and there were 7 dozen fresh cookies on her counter. Grandma's tired.

Allison asked if Stella could spend the night with her tonight but I think she's secretly holding her ransom so I will return again tomorrow at 5:30AM.

I Do Not Shine At 5:00AM

I was up at five and out the door by 5:18 AM. Stella thought I'd lost my mind. I got back home at 7:45 AM, read the paper while eating breakfast and went back to bed until 9:45 AM. It is now 11:35 AM and I am still sitting here in my jammies feeling slightly dazed. I think I'll take Stella for a walk and then maybe I'll feel like getting cleaned up. At this point, it's doubtful.

It Was A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood!

The sun was shining, there wasn't any wind and it was in the upper 60's. A perfect day in my opinion :)
I had lunch with Joe, did a bunch of errands and took my Mom out for dinner. Stella also got walked twice :)

A Laundry Dog???

Last time I washed clothes, every time the dryer quit, Stella would go into the laundry room, sit by the dryer and cry. It didn't matter if she was sleeping, she would look up, cock her head and trot off to the laundry room.

So, who would believe me if I told them my dog alerts me when my clothes are dry? Yeah, that's what I thought too so I passed it off as a fluke.

Well, yesterday, I once again did laundry and Stella again, jumped up and ran into the laundry room, sat by the dryer and cried every freaking time the dryer quit. After five loads of clothes, I started to think it's no fluke.

Today, I washed my sheets. Stella was all sprawled out in the other computer chair, sleeping away when the dryer quit. As if on cue, she woke up, jumped down and once again trotted off to the laundry room to sit by the dryer and cry. Apparently she doesn't like wrinkled clothes because as soon as I empty the dryer, she merrily goes about her own business. Silly dog :)

:(

The most I ever did for you was to outlive you. But that is much. - Edna St. Vincent Millay