Tippy Tuesday

Like I said in the previous post, I am heading to Nashville but I didn't want to leave you hanging for your Tuesday tip.

So since beautiful weather is here or just around the corner here is a great tip. I've been doing it for years and it works great for me. I hang my clothes on the line. I don't fuss with the washcloths or under clothes because that takes too much time or I just don't want to broadcast my entire wardrobe to the whole neighborhood. Oh, you say you don't like rough towels or stiff jeans, then do this...when nearly dry put them in the dryer for 15 minutes. I think the rough towels help to exfoliate your skin so I like them that way. Nothing beats fresh smelling laundry.

One thing that you need to watch for are neighbors that like to burn leaves and such. Now that stinks so if that happens just bring them in and use the dryer. I've saved a lot of $$$$$ this way. A secret( I didn't even own a dryer till 2001) I use a drying rack for the rest.

Hello Nashville!

I am heading on a trip today for a couple day get away with my dear friend, Donna. We thought it'd be a fun and rewarding thing to do to get out. Last time we went on a trip was back in the 90's and we had our 2 little girls with us when we went to the Amish country of I think Middleburg, Ohio. This time we are both going to attempt to NOT make a fool of our self LINE DANCING for the very first time. Well, actually *I* had an experience at my dads senior center once or twice YEARS ago, so I hope I don't make Donna look too silly. hehe. I told her I was up for the challenge since we will never see these people again who cares how we look, we're more into having fun than giving a darn how stiff we might look on a dance floor. We'll do some shopping, chatting and of course there will be chocolate eaten too. Yano, girl things. Bet you thought I was going to TN, nope, there is a Nashville, Indiana and that's the one we are heading to. I'll give you a report when I get back in a few days.

Please Pray

There is a family I've been following; Brittany's water broke while on a business trip to D.C several weeks ago and obviously couldn't head back home. Her husband has been by her side every day of 5+ weeks. They're 900 miles from home and no relatives in town, except when the grandparents come for a weekend visit with their 17 month old son. Their baby was born a couple days ago and needs prayer for underdeveloped lungs and more. Please say a prayer for Gaines' lungs to develop as well as the staff and doctors. Come follow their story here: http://www.beauandbrittanydaniel.blogspot.com/

Multi Tasking

Multi tasking doesn't always work well for me. Our water is supposed to be shut off and boiled later today (they're doing water line work) so I was getting my "stock pile" of water while I kissed Sam good-bye for the day and then headed up stairs to get some cups to load into the dishwasher, but then I decided to check on Stellen's recovery (blog on the computer) so about 20 minutes later I went down with the cups and OH LOOK WHAT I FORGOT was happening in the kitchen. At least it was on low flow.

Tippy Tuesday

Easter weekend my sister was here and she wanted something to do in the kitchen so I gave here a recipe and the ingredients, I looked over and this is what she did with the recipe card, it's not leaning against the glass either. Just a plain ol spring clothes pin upside down.

Buny Brunch

Jayde picking up her eggs filled with candy with mommy. Guess mom and dad get candy.

Jayde and Maddie, her friend

Here she is helping me put together an Easter egg picture frame.

all ready to hunt down the eggs

Here is goofy face Blake with the candy he got out of the eggs he hunted down. He used Jayde's basket because it was bigger.

I know this is old but I need to put it on here so some of you can see what we did at the bunny brunch. Blake had a soccer game and so I had the pleasure of Jayde all by myself, till Jennifer and Blake came later.

Pay It Forward

The other day I was at the the mall, I walked over to Burger King at the food concourse and ordered a Dr. Pepper. The cashier filled me up a cup and said "here you go". *I* said, "What your not taking my money"? "No, that's alright" was the answer. I said, "you sure?" "Yes, I am sure, have a nice day" "Alright, thanks", I said.



Alright so I attempt to pay it forward (yano pass on the same good deed) the woman behind me just arrived and did not see or hear any of what went on so I attempted to give her a dollar toward her bill. I know it's not much but hey she had 2 small girls so any bit should be appreciated. I asked her if she ever heard the saying pay it forward, and she had, so I explained to her I wanted to help toward her bill. SHE REFUSED!!



Next woman behind her heard this whole thing, she looked well off and she too didn't want to take it, I told her I was trying to pay it forward and to please give me some help here. (with a smile) she cautiously took it and said she would donate it someplace. I said that was awesome.
she ate her lunch and waved bye to me as she left.

Just last night I was at McDonald's and I didn't take my purse, I had cash in my pocket but was short 17 cents. lol, I asked the cashier if he would take $8.00 he just looked at me. The guy waiting for his food offered me some change. Wasn't that a nice thing. I was embarrassed but what could I do. I told him he was very kind and to have a fun evening.

Did you ever pay it forward?

An Afternoon At The Park

Jayde all ready to slide down to gramma

We went to the park one afternoon, it was so lovely and the kids had a great time. Can you guess what day it was?

They have this really BIG swing there, I think it's great because even children with challenges can enjoy swinging safely.

And of course Blake, he enjoys the bouncy animals still, amongst other things.

Tippy Tuesday

Another kitchen tip, I tried this one out a few weeks back and it works very nicely. When you want to freeze dinner casseroles (like if you make an extra)but don't want to take your dishes and pans out of commission for a number of days, line your pans with Saran Wrap (or the like), put your food in, cover, (so it doesn't dry out), when frozen solid, dump or lift the Saran wrap out of the pan. Wrap food, Ziploc it, label it and write which pan you used so you can bake it in the right pan.






What tips do you have?

O Happy Day

To borrow a phrase from Whoopie Goldberg in Sister Act (a very entertaining funny movie, I might add), today is a great day:

Today is Good Friday, the day that Jesus was crucified for our sins, however horrible of an ordeal He had to suffer, He did this for all of us, including you, so that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life.

THIS IS MY 100th POST!!!!!

Sam decided today to call off work (to spend the day with ME). He rarely ever calls off work and to do it because of ME, makes me feel really special.

We got up at our regular time (6:00 A.M.) we didn't sleep in.

He took me out to breakfast.

On the way to breakfast we picked up a LARGE CLEAR bag full of toys including a swing with the chain included and the chain is even covered in the protective coating so no fingers get pinched, AND it was in good condition, for Blake's swing set (OK, yes, we,..well *I* dumpster dived) but I know the people and she said last night when I stopped to take all I wanted. :-) Last night we stopped and loaded up a sand table that the kids will have fun with, minus 2 legs. More on this stuff in another post.

Over breakfast, Sam told me that his customer where he has been consulting has extended him 2 more weeks. (this is his 3rd extension). (He's been working contract for this customer since Jan of 2008)

My sister and brother-in-law are on their way here for a few days.

Tonight at church there will be at least 30 individuals getting baptized.

When Jennifer came over this morning to get that big plastic bag from the garbage (above) Sam and I decided to keep Jayde for a few hours while she went to work. It was great having JUST "Jayde time". (But I thought we were going to break Blake's heart, he is the one that gets to stay here w/o Jayde all the time). To my delight he was a just a tad sad but Jennifer said he could come back and ride his new bike after she was done working.

Terrified Toddler

I know I've posted this adorable,but tormented child before but I need it again to go with my 2 line story. I just don't know how much more I can put her thru. Perhaps parade clowns will be next? She looks so pathetic I just had to share her Easter picture:

Then of course her Santa picture with big brother Blake, who isn't quite sure what to think of it all either.

Sorry Jayde, grandma DOES really love you. Both pictures were MY bright idea.

Food For The Hungry

A couple weeks ago it was our turn to cook up food for Serve City/Chosen. Our church helps a shelter, and one of the things we do for them is a family (or couple families in our case) signs up for a Sunday dinner. We meal plan, purchase the food, prepare, take it to them, SERVE them, make several extra plates to leave behind, bring home the rest and divvy up what is left between our 2 families. So on Saturday Sam and I set out to purchase all the food. What we bought was (I should have taken a picture, guess I didn't think of the packaged food picture):
8# of ground round
5# of bagged salad
5# of mozzarella cheese
140 oz of diced tomatoes
2# of shredded cheddar cheese
2# carrots
celery leaves (they charged me 3 cents) did they really need the 3 pennies? I'm not complaining, it's just weird, the produce guy put a upc code on that read 25cents but rang up 3 cents.
40 oz of pasta shells
3# of spaghetti sauce
6 onions (Monica had these on hand) That is the other family a.k.a Tom's wife or Cori, Seth and Joel's mom. They're part of several post so I thought I'd tell you who she is.
1# tomato paste from Monica's pantry
7-2 litters of pop Monica had these on hand
1# of bacon bits
2 mega size cans of green beans
We borrowed the salad dressing from our church refrig.

Whew! I think that's all for the food. I had a recipe I've been wanting to try and it was called Gorilla casserole (feeds 20 hungry people) I took from this recipe and another and multiplied it by 3. We're supposed to cook for 40 but we like left overs and NEVER want to run out of food. Second and THIRD helpings are ALWAYS offered.

I dropped Sam off at home and headed over to Monica's and we cooked on Saturday.

Here are some pictures:

We had a HUGE pot (not pictured)that took a long time to boil water for the pasta but it worked.

This is the tomato mixture with added spices

Cori browned up ALL 8 pounds of burger in 2 frying pans while Monica and I chopped up carrots, onions, and celery leaves.We eventually dumped the meat mixture in the big pot of tomato mixture and then I scooped it evenly into 2 large pans.We cleaned up the kitchen and I took the pots home to keep in my refrig till the next day when Tom stopped after church to take one home to bake and I baked the other one in my oven. We met at Chosen and the folks there were so gracious telling us how much they appreciate all the meat we put in and it tasted so delicious.

Monica's mom made the dessert and it was really good. Some kind of pumpkin and peach bars.

In the very top picture you can see how we over did it, these dishes are the left overs plus another 9x13 pan not pictured. This works for me because I'm having company for Easter and this will be our Saturday dinner.

Mmmmm...THAT Smell

I was awake at 3 A.M. and couldn't fall back to sleep, thinking of all the post I want to tackle so I decided to get busy. I crawled out of bed at 3:45 but did some other things around the house instead.



Finally, I couldn't take it any longer, I was cold, the furnace is on HOLD at 64 till later in the morning so what I did was....I pulled out the space heater, took off the plastic bag , plugged it in and on she goes to heat up the computer room. I got the smell you get in the fall of the first run of the furnace. I have to keep reminding myself "it's only temporary", it WILL get warm again. :-)




We had flurries on Monday so I decided to dress a little wintery for the day.

Tub of Blue Kool-Aid?

Nope, this is a tub filling with blue jean water on RINSE CYCLE I've washed these jeans at least 4 times and this is the water I am still getting. Even my purse is turning blue from bumping along my hip. Today, when I was at Kroger I took a Clorox wipe to my purse, it cleaned up well.

Tippy Tuesday

I had such a busy day yesterday running around getting bargains and then my grandchildren came and then dinner time and then I had to fly out the door to work. (no I'm not a fairy) [or anything with wings] Anyhoo, I just remembered I forgot to share my Tuesday Tip so I will give you two this week:


When the bills come due, I write 10 days before due date on envelope and the amount. I paper clip the bills together in order of due date. This way even if your busy and don't get to them that "due date" you still have a couple day buffer. I've been doing this for over 5 years!

Next, how would you like a kitchen tip, something that can make your time with dinner prep a snap...I buy bulk hamburger and brown it all up in 2 frying pans, drain off as much grease as I possibly can. I even dab it with paper towels. THEN I freeze it in 1 pound containers. I have plenty of Tupperware square aways and I have found that a container packed full and making sure you get it in the corners too will do. Plenty of recipe's call for 1# and so I take it out and defrost it or let it sit over night in refrig. and its ready by dinner time. You can defrost 2 at a time or as much as you need.

What tips do you have to share?

Enjoy.

Bargains From Last Week

I think the pictures say it all, so I will let them speak.

As you can see, I was able to snatch up a bunch of yogurt and then 2 bundles of 216 ct. wipes all for a grand total of $7.52. I like yogurt and it's good for a snack anytime of day.

Below you will see 8 packs of Cheetos I even picked up a couple bags for my son-in-law, Jim, he enjoys HOT tasting food so the flaming hot ones are for him. I did try them and can not eat more than 2 at a time, so at that rate, they will be stale. I didn't want them anyway, just needed a sample. Then with Blake wanting fruit snacks I threw in a box and yahoo, my total was....drum roll please...44cents, FOR EVERYTHING IN THE PICTURE. To make things more exciting I used my gift card I got when purchasing the razors in a previous post. I just may take up shopping for others, oh, wait, I already do that for my church food pantry.

P.S. I just couldn't keep my hands still they had to have their 2 cents.

SPRING

I just love the sight of these trees, however; I could do with out the bees. When I take Lilah for a walk up the sidewalk the entire walk is lined with these beautiful trees and they smell so extraordinary! (Is that even a fragrance?) Go ahead and click on the picture it's beautiful enlarged.

Snakes Alive or dead!

I should warn you this one is rated GRAPHIC and if you get squarmy about snakes, you might want to pass this one up.

Yesterday was a beautiful day and so I decided to dig out weeds. My ambition didn't last long because out slithered a SNAKE, well, I of course had to chop it up, poor thing was still moving so I chopped and chopped till it finally was still. I didn't want to make the poor, ugly, scary thing suffer, I just wanted to kill it and throw it in the woods so the other snakes could see the danger of lurking around MY yard.

On my way thru the garage to get my camera (cause I knew you needed to see this) I found another one IN the garage! NO way...I knew I couldn't lose this guy or I'd turn grey over night with worry of where he went and when will he show his ugly face again. I GOT HIM!! I wasn't nice about it either, with each chop I screamed for him, (or was it for my fear of snakes) he tried to get away but I kept pushing him more toward the driveway and once there, I slid him and chopped him up on the rough cement driveway. Yip, I did, then he got to join his dead friend in the woods.

Don't worry my friends, if I catch you in my garage, I will restrain myself from grabbing the shovel. But you best be a friend of mine or your getting chopped up, you ARE now all forewarned!!!!

Your not going to beleive what I did afterwards....I picked up my 5 year old nephew and took him for a ride to the park, once there we took a walk in the woods. I knew he would do a lot of talking so he could scare away any snakes. Thanks Joel for being there when I needed you most.

After our trail walk we went to both playgrounds and he and I had a lot of fun. I love nice spring days, they make me happy.

After this post, I know your ready for a pretty sight so here comes one. Look above (next post).

How To Get Cheap Snacks

Print off some Target Market Pantry Fruit Snack coupons for 1.00 and if you can't get the FREE ones at the store cause they're all GONE, get the 10 pack for 59¢. Some reason mine rang up 52¢ but get a few of them so you have enough for the TEAM. 59¢ divided by 10 (in each box)=LESS THAN 6¢ a pack! How cheap is that! Sign up for an early snack week or just hang onto them till your week. Am I brilliant or what!!!???

I actually sent this to my daughter as an idea for Blakes soccer team snack she will be providing one week. Anybody can get into the game though.

What A RELIEF!!!

And I'm not talking about R-O-L-A-I-D-S (remember that commercial "how do you spell relief: ROLAIDS") ok, nuf being silly.

Today, I spent a while on the phone I had to call several billing departments because back on Dec 24 I had a procedure, had to go back and have a biopsy (I'm fine) more bills due to testing the biopsy and then the insurance denied it cause they said I had other insurance that needed billed FIRST but I really didn't. We're thinking it was the option to use cobra when Sam quit his job he held in Lafayette back in '07, we never made a payment for the insurance and naturally we never used it.

ALOT of phone calls and aggravation to get the insurance to bill the right insurance company, man what a hassle, let me tell you, I've been working on this since February. I don't mind paying my bills when they come due, as long as I am responsible for them; and I didn't feel I was this time so today I figured enough time had passed and so I was checking thru several of them with phone calls and the news is: I DON'T owe anything. NOTHING, ZIP, ZERO and that makes me happy! We would have had to pay $560+ $180+$62 =$802.00 that we get to KEEP!

Thank you God for what I used to call LOUSY insurance.