thirtyandholding

A Tale As Old As Time

2011-02-14T08:00:00.001-06:00

Saturday LJ and I took the 5 year old Hayden to see Beauty and the Beast's Broadway Tour production.

www.nonnascafe.com/

Before we went to the theatre, we went out for lunch to Nonna's Italian Cafe.

Oh my, YUM!!!

She took at pic of Nana!

Hayden wore a hand-me-down Christmas dress from 8 year old grand, Nicolee (all 3 girlees had matching dresses from Nana 2 Christmases ago). She was beautiful and received SO many compliments on her hair, dress and manners.

We found lots of photos ops!

We attended the pre-performance discussion and at the end the speaker had a little trivia game.

Hayden WON!!

She answered probably 5 questions!

(No one noticed that LJ was prompting her for some of them

--a few were her own answers)

Hayden did very well and acted quite the lady the entire time.

One more family member in love with live theatre!!!

Snowmageddon

2011-02-13T19:21:00.000-06:00

Kinda funny that I didn't post during the imposed homebound days. We did what we could to keep things hopping:

21st Century Storytelling

Baby J had surgery during the midst of the huge snowstorm. We went back last week for his followup appt. I got to watch the girls while Momma, Daddy and J were in with the doc. We read books, played I Spy, Follow the Leader and Copy Cat. (the receptionists were laughing at Nana as she fell on the floor after Girlee J fell down an I "followed the leader". Baby J is doing GREAT! Whatta praise!!

Watching the hospital parking lot while waiting for Baby J's appointment

The weather was so bad, this church canceled "Grace"!!!

View from our house up the driveway to the road.

Since girlee J was developing a sniffle and the temps were perilously low, Nana brought the snow indoors. I put snow in the shower. They probably played for over an hour!!

View from up above the barn down to the house.

Finally the temps are in the 60's and Sweet Hubby has cleared the whole driveway. We can all get out and about now (except maybe my little bitty car... it doesn't like bad weather.)

12345 Days

2011-02-06T01:50:00.005-06:00

That's

TWELVE THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED FORTY-FIVE

days!

1 2 3 4 5
We have a widget on the laptop, it's called

St Valentine's.

It keeps track of days.

I programmed in our wedding date:

August 20, 1977.

So that you don't have to do the math,

we've been married for almost 33½ years.

This summer will be 34!

Considering the average length of marriage is just 24 years

(down from 37 in 1980),

I'm very proud of our nuptials' longevity.

I love you honey!

Some other statistics to ponder:

Percentage of population that is married: 59% (down from 62% in 1990, 72% in 1970)

Percentage of population that has never married: 24%

Percentage of population that is divorced: 10% (up from 8% in 1990, 6% in 1980)

Percentage of population that is widowed: 7%

Median age at first marriage: Males: 26.9
Females: 25.3

Median age at first divorce: Males: 30.5
Females: 29

Median age at second marriage: Males: 34
Females: 32

Median age at second divorce: Males: 39.3
Females: 37

Median duration of first marriages that end in divorce: Males: 7.8 years
Females: 7.9 years

Median duration of second marriages that end in divorce: Males: 7.3 years
Females: 6.8 years

Median number of years people wait to remarry after their first divorce: Males: 3.3 years
Females: 3.1 years

Percentage of married people who reach their 5th, 10th, and 15th anniversaries: 5th: 82%
10th: 65%
15th: 52%

Percentage of married people who reach their 25th, 35th, and 50th anniversaries: 25th: 33%
35th: 20%
50th: 5%

Percentage of people who have ever been married by the age of 25: Males: 32%
Females: 50%

Percentage of people who have ever been married by the age of 35: Males: 77%
Females: 84%

Percentage of people who have ever been married by the age of 45: Males: 87%
Females: 90%

Percentage of people who have ever been married by the age of 55: Both males and females: 95%

Number of unmarried couples living together: 5.5 million

Percentage of unmarried couples living together that are male-female unions: 89%

from divorce mag

Wicked weather

2011-02-01T20:40:00.001-06:00

Much of the middle of the country is gripped in the

Great Blizzard of 2011.

Or Snowpocalypse. Or Snowmaggedon.

Some reasons why we should be off the road...

Even the snowplows are having trouble:

Joplin Globe

Things can get hairy:

from my insurance agent

Please stay home, be safe, be alive!!!

PS: This is what happens when you forget to roll your windows up on the 80° day before the Epic Blizzard of 2011 begins:

joe-ks.com

What did you GIVE in 2010?

2011-01-06T19:34:00.000-06:00

On January 2, I posted on my facebook status that I was going to ask my students "What did you give in 2010?", (as opposed to what did they get) -- via @sanmccarron on Twitter
Here are a few of their responses:

Volunteer a lot of my time
Support to family
Love & Happiness
Friendship
Gift of Music
Respect
Blood
My life to Christ

Also at the beginning of the year I have students fill out a Bucket List of just 10 things they want to do/accomplish in their lives. This idea was adapted from Marcia Ritter at the 2009 MOEFACS Summer Conference. Here are just a few:

Save a life
Be the best teacher ever
Meet my dad
Aplogize for my mistakes & mean it!
Pass Personal Finance w/an A :-)
Give someone $1000 just because...
Learn the banjo
Visit every country in the world
Get over my fear of heights
Take over my father's business
Visit the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World
Pay for someone to go to college

Hope this improves your day!!!

End to My 87+ Day Weekend

2010-08-22T20:40:00.000-05:00

Today is the official end to my 87 (+ 7) day weekend.

Teachers don't get paid for Summer,

so I consider it a weekend.

+ 7 is because we had construction delays at school so start for this school year was pushed back a week.

A bonus as my Summer was packed full!!

These are the places I went this Summer,

in order (yes I went to Boston twice):

Lexington, Kentucky

Kentucky State House

Virginia Beach

Washington DC

Arlington National Cemetary

Alexandria Virginia

Pennsylvania Amish Country

Cape Cod

Woods Hole, Falmouth, Massachusetts

My Aunt & Uncle's back deck at the Cape

"Codzilla" on Boston Harbor

Upstate New York and Lake Ontario

Sackett's Harbor

Catalanos' home

Sackett's Harbor

Nicolee's First Violin Recital!

Kingston, ON

Rocheport, MO

Missouri River Town

Heber Spring, Arkansas

"Canned Sunshine" Fresh Peach Jam

Harvard Square, Boston

Lobster Roll!

Boston Freedom Trail

"Old Ironsides" USS Constitution

Niagara-on-the-Lake & Niagara Falls

"Whirlpool" Jet Boat on the Niagara River

http://www.whirlpooljet.com/

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Cincinnati, Ohio

Covered Bridges

Parke County, Indiana

Anheiser Busch Brewery Tour

St Louis

Eielson AFB, North Pole & Fairbanks, AK

My Tiffany


That's the Eielson AFB runway behind the Momma & twins

and Home

my own back deck

As the Beach Boys wrote, "I Get Around"

It's been fun and exhausting at times but

I LOOOOVVVVVVE to travel

so I won't complain.

We'll just have to see what next Summer brings.

Hopefully I can post a little more this School Year.

So Goodbye Summer ~~ Hello 2010-2011 School Year!!

♫♪ I GOTTA FEELIN' ♪ THIS YEAR'S GONNA ♪♫ BE A GREAT ♫ GREAT ♪ YEAR ♪♫ !!

BRING IT!!

Random

2010-07-09T22:53:00.000-05:00

Nothing special,
just a few random photos of things that have been going on,
or just the nothingness of Summer.

Today I put together a fruit salad.
As the bowl gets lower,
I'll add more fruit
and the juices just get sweeter and sweeter!

so far: watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple, strawberries, cherries, peaches

Y'know, pitting cherries is a messy job.


don't worry, we don't let it go bad, starting a fresh batch every few days

Don't text & drive.

theology is a little "off" but the message is taken

There is nothing better than finding fruit that is ready to eat instead of the selection you have to leave in a brown bag on your counter and hope that it'll be palatable in a few days.

My simple lunch today.

I love how the sky reflects in the glasstop of the stove

Yesterday I saw these daisy glasses.

Tiffany L♥VES daisies!!

from Pier 1

I have some ferry children...

Right now Tif & Doc & Nicolee

are on a ferry from Seattle to Alaska.

Lindsey is taking the ferry from Woods Hole

to the Vineyard tomorrow.

As another week closes,

I'm enjoying what's left of my long long weekend,

my 87 day weekend.

Corncakes: Fourth of July leftovers?

2010-07-05T17:40:00.000-05:00

I was looking through my July copy of

Better Homes & Gardens magazine this morning

and came upon this recipe:

Oh my... I have leftover corn on the cob!

So I came in from working (a little) in the yard, while Sweet Hubby was still out mowing and put this together for lunch!

I didn't make the relish, didn't make an entire batch and changed up a few things a little tiny bit, but...

YUM!

To begin with, there was just the 2 of us so I halved the recipe.

Cut the kernels off 2 leftover ears of corn.

Dice a quarter of an onion and sauteé with the corn in about a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet until the onions are tender.

Meanwhile, as the corn & onions are cooking,

mix together one egg and ~~½ cup buttermilk~~.

Well... I didn't have any buttermilk,

but I had ½ cup milk that was questionable,

so I added a litte vinegar (½ tsp?) to simulate buttermilk.

Add 3/8 cup of ~~instant polenta mix~~ and ¼ cup flour.

I used Jiffy mix.
(BHG's recipe calls for polenta mix ... oh well)

Next add ¾ teaspoon baking powder,
scant ½ teaspoon baking soda,
and ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
OR
a seasoning salt.
(I used Miracle Blend from Alden Mills)

When the onions and corn kernels are tender
half the mix is to be processed until smooth.
I was too lazy to get out my food processor
so I used my Pampered Chef chopper.

I hardly ever use it
and the amount I needed to chop was perfect.

Next add both the processed corn/onion mix

and the rest from the pan to the liquid mixture and blend.

Drop about ¼ cup mix into heated olive oil in a skillet

and brown on both sides.

They may not be pretty

but they are yummy!

I served with sour cream and homemade

The Pioneer Woman's Restaurant Style Salsa

Shaybert's Corn Cakes

olive oil
1 cup fresh cooked corn kernels

¼ cup chopped onion

½ cup ~~buttermilk~~ (see above)

1 egg, lightly beaten

3/8 cup Jiffy cornbread mix

¼ cup flour

¾ tsp baking powder

scant 1 tsp baking soda

¼ Miracle Blend seasoning

PW Salsa

sour cream

What do you do on the Fourth of July?

2010-06-30T07:31:00.041-05:00

our flag

The July edition of Womans Day Magazine published the results of a little poll asking what readers do for the Fourth of July.

Have a barbecue?

clipartguide.com

Watch fireworks?

2008

Go to a parade?

2008

We usually do all 3! In fact, this year, we'll be walking in the local parade alongside our church float, handing out flags to the parade goers!!!

Or nothin' special:

Tiffany's toesies!!!

How would you answer? Or what else do you do?

Please leave a comment.

Here are the magazine's results:

How do you spend the Fourth of July:

Having a barbecue.................13%

Watching fireworks...............12%

Going to a parade....................1%

All of the above......................58%

I don't do anything special...15%

Wrinkled Ladies

2010-06-29T13:33:00.000-05:00

Nuff said!

Twelve Thousand Days!!!

2010-06-28T07:53:00.000-05:00

I have a widget on my desktop.

I love this photo of Country Club Plaza, KC, at Christmastime

It's called Saint-Valentin from Yahoo widgets.

I chose to show how many days

Sweet Hubby and I have been married.

And today,

it's TWELVE THOUSAND days!!!

I don't know, I think it sound pretty impressive!!!

This August will be our 33rd wedding anniversary and recently the only thing my hubby said he would change is

he would have married me sooner.

Isn't that sweet?

Here's to another Twelve Thousand days!

I love you honey!

Dadsense

2010-06-20T03:03:00.004-05:00

Happy Father's Day!

In response to my Mother's Day post

is equal time for the men on Dad's Day:

I ♥ Eyelet

2010-06-18T11:49:00.001-05:00

When I was putting away laundry this morning,
I noticed a pattern in my wardrobe:

It appears I ♥ EYELET!

Eyelet: a lightweight fabric pierced by small holes finished with stitching and often laid out in flowerlike designs (dictionary.com)

Even in PINK:

I even buy eyelet tops for my daughter (she loves daisies)

I bought eyelet dresses for all 3 grandgirlees for Easter.

But alas, since none were here, I have no photos.

(edit: I found one)

And what am I wearing as I put away my above-mentioned laundry?

I ♥ EYELET!

Historic Paddock Arcade of Watertown

2010-06-09T10:19:00.006-05:00

world-city-photos.org

When my mom & I went to Paris post 9/11
(a fantastic travel deal that couldn't be passed up),

we wandered just for fun.

I remember entering some indoor streets,

kinda like shopping malls, but not.

Very old.

Full of design and visual delight.

Imagine my interest when I read G's (Aunt Snow) post about Parisian Passages or Arcades.

So that's what those were!

Aunt Snow did a follow up post about American Arcades.

Skip to this week:

I am visiting my daughter in Watertown, NY.

She and her little family will only live here less than 3 2 more weeks.

Her hubby is going active US Air Force

and they are moving to Alaska.

Back to my visit, we are trying to fit in some of the activities that we haven't had a chance for in the week and a half I'm here.

We were hungry for lunch and she said there was a café in this little shopping mall off the Square.

It was just a cute little old fashioned space.

Guess what it is called?

(If you read the title of the post, then maybe you've guessed.)

It's the historic Paddock Arcade.

Take a walk through with us

and imagine how it was 160 years ago.

Apparently the Paddock Arcade

(named after local developer Loveland Paddock)

was only the second Shopping Arcade built in the United States.

The first was in Providence, Rhode Island, 1819.

Tif said she and her friend used to sit at the internet coffee house and do their Bible Study together.

Upstairs are offices:

Apparently, there was a third level that was covered over maybe in the 1920's?

But the drop glass ceiling still allows plenty of light.

And it has been in continual use since its opening in 1850,

from Watertown website

giving it the distinction as the longest operating shopping mall in the United States!

Love, l♥ve, LOVE the stores' hanging signs (shingles?):

The name "arcade" is an architectural term derived from the word arch.

Once I read that, I said,
"Duh!" ha ha

Meaning I didn't figure it out on my own.

I love the little mail slots.

Oh, they just don't make them like they used to, eh?

Fudgy Fudge Brownies

2010-06-07T07:00:00.000-05:00

Went to Tif and Dave's friends' last night.

After pizza Annie made Fudgy Fudge Brownies.

She just whipped them up and yum!

Annie made two batches, and it's a good thing she did,

the first batch went fast!

Click on the name of the recipe up top

or go to cooks.com and search for Fudgy Fudge Brownies.

More Randomness

2010-06-05T19:34:00.000-05:00

More fun in the last coupla days!

Found these cute tees for the little girlees:

"Sorry, Daddy says NO dating"

"Pretty like my Mommy"

Comparing arm color between Christy & me:

Hmmmmmm!

Bought Sweet Hubby a tee shirt at the Virginia Beach Fishing Pier Tackle Shop:

Trying to keep Jay from stealing it!

And whenever Sweet Hubby goes fishing

around the lake, Momma Kitty follows...

and usually pesters him,

sometimes even batting at the fish until he gives one up!

Have an awesome weekend!!!

PINK is Back with a Blast to the Past!

2010-06-05T05:48:00.025-05:00

Long time... no PINK!!!

When my girlfriend posted this photo from 1990 on Facebook yesterday,

I knew I had to use it for Beverly's Pink Saturday. 20 years!!!

This was Ladies' Retreat with our Sunday School class.

As cabin leader, I came up with the theme "Moonlight and Roses" and the tee shirts for our cabin.

We were the non-sleeping cabin, the rowdies (thus the moonlight)

and we decorated our cabin with fervor (the roses).

Oh, that's me up front. I'm one of maybe two with no perm.
Look at the high waisted jeans

...and the colored socks!

...and the rolled sleeves!

What was my "baby's" reaction?

"Mom, you were SKINNY!" She's disinherited!

Enjoy, and please visit other Pink Saturday sites.

Randomness

2010-06-03T14:09:00.000-05:00

I've just been uploading photos from my iPhone to my 'puter and decided to post these faves:

Goofy chicken:

I went out this morning to see how my garden is faring

in my almost constant absence.

There is one tomato on one of the vines.

But... my strawberries are ripe

and I picked about a pound today!

Oh my the scent was overwhelming!!!

YUM!

Strawberry shortcake tonite!!!

I just got back from Cape Cod.

I drove out with my Baby.

She is doing an internship in the Boston area.

She'll be staying at my Aunt & Uncle's.

We did a little touristing along the way which I will blog about another time.

But this is a priceless photo. Why?

Because she swears she does NOT cook!

The grilled corn was the best ever! Mmmmm!

And here is a sweet photo.

My beautiful Aunt,

but so is that Eggplant Parmagiana also a beautiful thing:

And my Uncle.

My mother's only sibling.

They are both so loving and gracious.

And a hoot to boot!

And finally,

these flowers were on my Aunt's table at the Cape.

A simple arrangement in a square vase with glass rocks in the bottom.

Some hosta leaves for greens and

rhododendrons that were in bloom.

Stunning!

So when I got home,

I tried to duplicate it with

a $5 square vase from WM,

some rocks from Humarock last summer,

hydrangeas from my yard and hostas.

What do you think?

Okay, off to Upstate NY tomorrow... later!

CODZILLA!

2010-05-19T15:32:00.036-05:00

I originally saw this on American Idol's Boston auditions.

I stood up in my living room aghast! Why had I bothered with the stinkin' Duck Tours last summer if I coulda been rockin' on the water with this bad boy.

As the school year wound down
and I looked forward to my 87 day weekend,
one word had been on the tip of my tongue:

CODZILLA...

Well...

Sunday, we went.

If you visit Boston, go for it. We had a blast!!!
(click on the name to visit the site)

CODZILLA!!!

Momisms

2010-05-09T14:40:00.000-05:00

Happy Mother's Day!

Fun on Saturday!

2010-05-01T09:26:00.000-05:00

Day Trip!

2010-04-28T19:23:00.001-05:00

Saturday we decided to take a trip
with the little girlees and head to Tulsa.

We started out on the Will Rogers Turnpike and stopped at the World’s Largest McDonald’s.

Inside the lobby there is a mini-Will Rogers Museum.

I’m kinda partial to Will Rogers. He was a man of great character, whit and um, well, I went to Will Rogers Elementary School in Santa Monica, CA!

(cool sculpture, huh?)

I didn’t know the difference between Will Rogers and Roy Rogers at the time… but I do now!

It had been so long since we had been that way that we went too far and missed the turnoff.

First stop was the Tulsa Flea Market at the Fairgrounds.

Time for lunch so we stopped at a Subway.
On the way back to the car, Pop spied this donut shoppe. and stepped inside to get some goodies for the girlees.
I spied the sky.
Wasn’t it a gorgeous day???

Next up was the Tulsa Aquarium

It’s real name is the Oklahoma Aquarium!

Jay didn’t know that all injectible medicines are tested with the blood of the Horseshoe Crab. Did you?

There he is!

Oooooooo, the famous Moray Eel:

This is the first time I’ve noticed,
Pop wore a fishing shirt to the Aquarium.

Look at their little friend!!!

Shark Attack!
Aaaaaa-a-a-aahhhhh-h-cccccc-c-ckkk-k-k!!!

You can tell who’s the big sister here… and everybody knows it!

Nana and Pop and 3 of the grands!!!

Hmmmmm, these two kinda look alike:

View Full Album

After a few errands, we spied dinner:

Oh my, we love our Jack in the Box Tacos!!!
After ordering a few…

We ordered just as many to take home!

As we exited the turnpike on the way home,
we were treated to the most unbelievable
HUGE rainbow!

Although you can only see a small corner of it,
it was gigantic!

Pine Valley Eggs

2010-04-27T07:28:00.003-05:00

We’ve been making Pine Valley Eggs for as long as I can remember.

Sweet Hubby worked at Pine Valley Bible Camp as a teen. When we lived in Cali we annually went to Family Camp, Ladies’ Retreat, the kids went to Youth Camps. Tif roller skated on the Dining hall slab while Sweet Hubby helped work on the building. I used to go up and help decorate the Dining Hall for Christmas. Tif worked there as a teen. Tif met her Doc there. Doc worked at the camp. Doc was Jay’s counselor one summer. Tif and Doc’s wedding was at the Camp. Doc’s parents worked and met and were married there.
PVBC has a special place in our hearts.

And Pine Valley Eggs has a special place in our family recipe book!

In order to be more efficient when serving Eggs & Bacon, the cooks at PVBC would add the bacon to the scrambled eggs. That way there were no bacon hogs.

Sweet Hubby cooked Pine Valley Eggs when he was cook for the Awana Boys Campout in the desert.

It’s very easy. I cut the bacon in to 1-2” pieces and fry up crispy.

Drain grease and set aside until needed:

Next wipe out the pan,

but leave enough bacon grease

so that the eggs don’t stick.

2+ eggs per person:

Scramble your eggs:

Add to your preheated pan:

Keep scrambling the eggs until not quite set:

Stir in the bacon:

And gently toss until eggs are done.

Oh this is making me hungry!

Serve and Enjoy!

It’s great for breakfast on the run, when everyone can’t sit down to eat together. It can be ready on the stove. Even stuffed in a tortilla as needed. Just add a little cheese and salsa!

Tiffany introduced Pine Valley Eggs to Camp Barnabas when she worked there. It’s a great way to mask the taste of “powdered eggs”!

Shave and a Haircut... two bits???

2010-04-11T22:13:00.000-05:00

Poor trees!

photo: google

Okay, I know that our area has had several very bad ice storms in the past few years.

photo: US Dept of Health & Human Services

Hundred$ of thousand$ if not a few million dollar$

has been spent to restore power

when trees have damaged power lines.
But really, is this necessary?

What I'd really like to know is,

why can't we join the 21st Century

and go underground?

You know we're going to have another storm eventually!!!

You can see where the homeowner

begged the tree trimmers to save the tree:

Hey there... you're next:

Sorry I didn't get my car out of the shot, I stopped though!

Tea for Two 1987

2010-04-05T08:34:00.001-05:00

Tea for Two

1987

It started with her drinking all of my tea,

After pouring a cup intended for me.

I'd turn for a moment with something to do
And Lindsey would sip it before I was through.

I never would get to finish my cup,
Frustrated and worn out, I almost gave up.

Then just today, I poured her her own.
We'll have a tea party as if she were grown.

Even though Lindsey isn't' quite two,
She gets her own cup-- (and I get mine too!)

Easter Brunch

2010-04-04T13:46:00.000-05:00

The Christ is Risen!

He is risen INDEED!

Happy Easter... the most important day in all of Christendom.
More important than Christmas,
because without Easter,

Christmas would be just another birthday.

Sweet Hubby and I didn't make it to Sonrise Service.

We decided to be lazy and go to 8:15 Service instead.

We didn't stay for the kiddy Egg Hunt either because it was just the two of us, no grandgirlees...!

So when we got home I made a nice light brunch.

I saw this recipe in Midwest Living

And here's my version
ready to go in the oven:

All done:

Topped with cheese and served with fresh fruit--YUMMY:

While these were in the oven,

I enjoyed some Peeps Chocolate:

Oops, all gone!

And for Dinner tonight?

Spinach Salad

Grilled Pesto Salmon

Yellow Rice
Sauteéd Zucchini

Canned Peas (Sweet Hubby's fave)
White Chocolate Dipped Strawberries
Angel Food Cake

Pink Saturday, sort of

2010-04-03T22:05:00.000-05:00

I didn't get around to participating in

Beverly's Pink Saturday.

But these photos didn't happen until today anyhow.

Here are my girlees, mostly in pink!

Happy to find a pink reel at Bass Pro:

Mommy and Girlee:

Sweet girlee in her great grands' Native Ozark garden:

And all the way across the Country in Upstate NY,

a gorgeous Spring Day

was spent at the golf course.

For some reason, this cart chauffeur

doesn't look too thrilled!

Ohhh I love these girls.

(didn't get her mommy in the pic, b/c she was behind the camera... but there's the Doc!)

And my other girlee is far away in Santiago, Chile.

No photos yet!

And please have a Blessed Easter,

remembering the day that Heaven

triumphed over death!!

Hallelujah!

For Sale

2010-03-11T19:03:00.001-06:00

My son in law

(whose birthday is today,
Happy Birthday Dr. Dave)

is nearing the end of his medical residency

and will go active United States Air Force July 1st.

Because of that, Tif and Dave's adorable 1910 Craftsman in Upstate New York,

their first home, is on the market:

I'm going to miss these Craftsman French Doors.

They are beyond "yum"!

And the coffered ceiling!

Oh my. Sigh!

And the view of Thompson Park:

Yes, that's the view from their curb.

The view is even better from Nicolee's window:

Another "For Sale" sign has just gone up!

It's upstairs in Nicolee's bedroom!

On Buttercup's door:

Nicolee was a bit upset when she first saw it,

but it is what it is.

Is Buttercup going to move with them

when they leave H20 Town?

Or is Buttercup looking for a new family?

We are all waiting to hear.

Here's a closer look:

Painted Furniture

2010-02-22T20:24:00.000-06:00

I like to paint.

I'm not very good, but I enjoy myself.

I particularly enjoy painting furniture.

Wish I had photos of the many I have given away.

Oh well.

Hope you like the ones here.

Yorkshire Pudding and Popover Chicken Recipes

2010-02-14T17:36:00.001-06:00

I posted a comment on Susan's post at Between Naps on the Back Porch when she wrote about her experience with Yorkshire Pudding at Christmas and never noticed back on Dec 31 that she asked for the recipe. Then today I recieved a comment from "Anonymous" wishing I had posted the recipe for Popovers and Popover Chicken. I thought I had posted the recipe at some point, but alas, I am afraid that is not so.

So, here is my recipe for Yorkshire Pudding, followed by the recipe for Popover Chicken.
I don't remember when my mom first started making Yorkshire Pudding. It is so ingrained in my memories. She always tried to be a gourmet-ish cook and I continue to cling to my faves.

Roast "Beast", Yorkshire Pudding, au jus and a few other items are traditional Christmas fare around here. We've whittled out anything that is not a fave so we can enjoy the best in decadent delight. We make double and triple batches of Yorkshire Pudding because some doesn't even make it to the table.

No need to buy a "popover" pan. I use my Nana's old tin muffin pans. They are stained and ugly but work just fine.

Yorkshire Pudding
Yield 1+ dozen

1 Cup flour

½ tsp salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

Mix until well blended and smooth. Chill minimum 1 hour.

Preheat oven 375° F.

Place dab of solid shortening in each muffin cup, heat in oven. When melted, pour batter ½ full. Bake 30 minutes until nicely browned and nicely puffed up.

Serve w/ au jus
(I use Campbell's Double Strength Beef Broth, diluted)

Popover Chicken
One cut up chicken or 6-8 chicken pieces
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
½ "can" milk
1 recipe Yorkshire Pudding/Popover batter (above)

I use a cut up chicken. You can use your favorite pieces or even boneless skinless breasts, but I find the boneless skinless ends up dry and not as yummy.

Prepare one recipe of Yorkshire Pudding and chill in fridge while browning chicken.
.
Brown the chicken pieces in one of two ways:

Lay chicken skin-side down in a single layer in a 9X13" glass baking dish. Brown in oven At 375° for 1/2 hour, then turn and brown another 15 minutes. Drain fat and continue.
Brown both sides of chicken in skillet in a small amount of oil or spray pan with non-stick spray. When nicely browned, transfer chicken in a single layer to a 9X13" glass baking dish that has been sprayed with non-stick spray and place in 375° oven about 3 minutes until dish heats up and then continue.

While 9X13" pan is still hot from the oven, pour Yorkshire Pudding/Popover batter over chicken.

Bake for 30+ minutes.

Meanwhile, make a gravy/sauce by mixing the Cream of Chicken Soup using ½ can of milk and heating.

Chicken Popover is done when the batter is puffed up and nicely browned. Check to make sure the middle is done.

Serve a piece of chicken by spooning out the chicken and popover together. Top with "sauce". Serve with rice or potatoes, green salad and veggie of choice.

Enjoy!

Pink Valentine Saturday!!!

2010-02-13T01:03:00.000-06:00

It's been forever since I've participated in Pink Saturday.

While up in Columbia 2 weeks ago visiting Jay! & Christy and the little girlees, we again went to the Upper Crust Bakery/Restaurant.

They already had a nice supply of Valentine Cookies.

Aren't they fun?

They inspire me to replicate them.

And just because I can,

I'm including a photo of the Mischievous Kitty.

Isn't she cute?

Be sure to visit Beverly and the Parade of Pink Saturday Fun!

Rock-A-Thon 2010 for CMN

2010-02-07T21:49:00.000-06:00

My students are raising money for
Children's Miracle Network,
this year's national service project for FCCLA.

Rock-A-Thon 2010 is now history!

We had a great time.

We started out with a little dancing:

(a little Cha Cha Slide)

(a little Thriller?)

I Tweeted and updated on Facebook:

$466 was raised by 7 FCCLA members!

Michelle said her favorite part was Cranium!

My favorite part was when I posted that

we were eating hot homemade pizza at 2:45 am:

I got comments from 2 former FCCLA officers.

"We want to come! Plz????

If we show up will you let us in?"

You bet I let them in!

They stayed for about an hour.

They actually worked in my room a little,

spiffing things up like they used to.

Ate some pizza, of course.

It was a blast to catch up with them.

It was just as if they were still in our chapter!

Thanks for stopping by Christian and Crystal!

Please come back again and

join Alumni & Associates!

Here's a retro photo from 2008:

The money brought in from this year's Rock-a-Thon

brings our total for Children's Miracle Network to

$1566 so far this year.

We still have a few more plans...

selling Crushes for your crush

for Valentine's Day during FCCLA Week,

then there's Hot Chocolate & Cappuccino profits.

FCCLA Rocks!

I crashed!

Rock On!

Project 365-2010 Caldone's

2010-01-14T22:21:00.000-06:00

Tonight we had some errands to run in town so we went out to eat first.

I have been following Caldone's on Twitter

and reading their website,

but this was the first time we had a chance to go in.

My photo for today is of our guitar player.

When we first walked in,

I thought he was a mannequin!

But he wasn't!

He serenaded the room all during our dinner!

Everything was delish!

The bread w/oil & balsamic.

Sweet Hubby's soup:

Sweet Hubby had Pork Florentine:

(really yum)

I had Saffron Scallops with filo pastry:

I had already taken my first bite when I recognized

that the pastry was in the shape of a fish!

FUN!

We will definitely be back!

BTW..

Since I didn't take a photo,

you can't prove that I ordered the cannoli!

Project 365-2010 Dewreathing the Lions

2010-01-13T20:13:00.000-06:00

Finally got around to taking the Christmas wreaths off the lions that are at the entrance to our driveway:

They are now NAKED!

Project 365-2010 Surfer Girl

2010-01-12T20:09:00.000-06:00

As I drove on our road today,

the song "Surfer Girl" came on the radio.

I thought the contrast was hysterical:

This California Girl could go snow surfin' down our hill!

(Sorry it's blurry. "auto-focus" in a hurry)

Project 365-2010 1-11-10 Buses

2010-01-11T20:57:00.000-06:00

Back to school today.

It felt like a long long day.

A lot of us were weary by the end.

But one more down!

Project 365-2010 Jan 9 & 10

2010-01-10T21:12:00.001-06:00

Yesterday I got out of the house and you know what?

The roads weren't that bad!

We stopped by the Post Office before heading up to town.

Here we are parked in front of the Post Office.

1-9-2010

I'm waiting for Sweet Hubby to come out

from picking up our mail.

We don't get rural delivery,

so we have a PO Box.

The only other establishments in our little town are

a coupla churches (including ours)

and the convenience store.

When we first moved to MO,

the convenience store was called

"Guns, Gas & Groceries".

Now it's called One Stop.

Today's pic was going to be a snapshot

of the "bearcoon" my son carved

with a chainsaw back when he was in high school.

And then I had a chance to pass some barns.

You know how I love barns.

These are 2 barns that nobody loves.

~sigh~

But when we got home from church

and our running around,

this is what we found out our window.

I am still appalled that our neighbor,

an adult, started jumping up and down

on the ice right off his dock.

And then he and his friend walked out to the middle.

1-10-2010

They eventually walked all the way across

and sat below our house on the bank.

That's when I went out and asked who they were.

I thought it was some idiotic teens goofing off.

There have been reports of at least 5 broken ice/lake deaths

across the country that I know of during THIS cold snap.

Sweet Hubby is sick of my ranting

about the potential for disaster.

At least they are okay.

Front Yard Cicles

2010-01-08T20:05:00.002-06:00

Across the country in Upstate New York,

they have much more snow than we do
but it's warmer today!

Of course, that's not saying much

with our highs in the single digits.

My big grandgirlee finally got her Christmas presents from her Pop and me.

She was in Cali with her other grands for the Holidays

so I mailed the gifts a little late.

And the only thing Nicolee asked for was a glasses case.

MAN are they hard to find...

without looking like granny cases.

But I found two and this one was the true find!

I personalized it and she loved it.

Look closely, she already put her glasses inside!

We got her "other" stuff of course.

Oh I miss her,

but she is pretty adept at texting,

so we "talk" often.

Project-365 200th Post!!!

2010-01-08T15:47:00.000-06:00

Well I'm a few days behind but I'll try to catch up

1-6-2010

Wednesday the lake was covered with snow:

1-7-2010

Yesterday:

We've been having trouble with our well freezing,

so when Sweet Hubby got home from work yesterday,

we removed the wishing well and

surrounded the wellhead with hay bales.

(we weren't done here, I just snapped a pic before Sweet Hubby made me get back to work)

The wind picked up,

and the patterns on the lake are gorgeous!

1-8-2010

Today is the coldest day of the year so far

(what? 8 days in?)

and for some reason, while we do have water, there is none in the kitchen.

Sorry the sink is dirty... no water!

And yes,

I just noticed that this is my 200th post. I may have one or two that did not get published, but the Dashboard says 200!

That's it for the fanfare, no prizes or parties.

But I will leave you with this pic Jay! just sent,

getting the little girlees ready to go outside in this weather:

Project-365 1-5-2010

2010-01-05T16:12:00.000-06:00

I was emptying the dishwasher and as I began to put away my new whisk that I bought at Pier One, it just lit up in the afternoon sun!

Project 365 1-4-2010

2010-01-04T17:36:00.000-06:00

Teacher meetings this morning.

And they've already called tomorrow as a Snow Day.

Icy, snow covered back roads are too dangerous for transporting school children.

Makes me crazy to think of all those teen drivers on the road too.

My Snow Day goal is to sort through my office.

Two probates and three years of paperwork awaits.

Tomorrow is just sort...

filing will come later.

Project-365 1-3-2010

2010-01-03T13:09:00.000-06:00

More snow.
The forecasts say this is to be quite a Winter.

It is beautiful.

Project-365 1-2-2010

2010-01-02T19:59:00.000-06:00

Okay, it's not the best quality photo, taken with my iPhone whilst walking into the theatre.

But I finally decided to join in and go see Avatar.

Sweet Hubby didn't take too much convincing.

He, Jay!, Christy & LJ went to see it before Christmas while

I got to stay home with the little girlees!!!

So today, to get out of the house, I asked him to take me to see the movie.

I have spent this 2 week Christmas Break/Vacation doing nothing!!!

It has been very relaxing, but very very unproductive. I blame the weather.

However I shall return to school well rested, in mind, body and spirit.

And because I always have an opinion, Avatar was very good.

Star Trek was better, but Avatar will win more awards.

(Photo: Avatar Official Movie Website)

Gettin' Goosed!

2010-01-01T20:50:00.001-06:00

The Canada Geese are back. Why so early?

It's just now getting really cold!

They are noisy and pesky.

They eat away at the grass and the lake bank.

They have already destroyed the little island in the lake.

It used to be big enough to swim to and sit next to the little tree/bush.

Now there is only the bush sticking out of the water.

Sad.

So when I was leaning over the deck railing

griping about the geese,

Sweet Hubby commented,
"So what am I supposed to do about it?"

I answered, "Shoo them away!"

So he did.

At first he just walked down the hill and some moved off.

Then as he got close to the bank

he threw a chunk of ice he'd picked up

(not AT any of them)

and BOY did they start to squawking!

They sure told him how unhappy they were with moving.

BTW, they're back.

Project-365 1-1-2010

2010-01-01T12:12:00.000-06:00

I don't know how successful I'm going to be,

but I am attempting to join the 365-Project,

taking and posting a photo every day of the year.

Of course if any of my travel goals come to fruition during this 2010, I may have some major lapses.

For New Year's Day, we had our traditional Christmas Brunch Eggs Benedict.

Hmmm, I wrote Christmas?

So why are we having it again on New Year's?

Simply because we can.

Eggs Benedict w/ Martinelli's Sparkling Cider

I've been making Eggs Benedict for as long as I can remember.

I don't even remember the first time I ate it.

My mom loved to attempt to prepare classics

and Hollandaise was one of her favorites.

I do recall lucking out for my

Food Science Final back in college.

I drew Hollandaise (an emulsion)...

it almost felt like cheating.

My roommate drew fudge and could not get it to come out right. Needless to say, I aced the final.

These days I prepare Hollandaise in the blender.

But I still can make it in a double boiler

(or 2 saucepans stacked in each other)

when requested away from a blender.

BLUE MOON on New Year's Eve

2009-12-31T00:30:00.010-06:00

This New Year's Eve is the first BLUE MOON in twenty years!

How cool is that?

A Blue Moon is the second full moon in a month.

There have been songs written about it.

The term Blue Moon has been around for about 400 years,

and used to mean "never".

But it has more recently come to mean rarely, or special.

Enjoy this special extra full moon of 2009,

the last of the year,

the last of the decade.

Oh!

...And Happy New Year!

Be safe.

Be sober.

Kiss the ones you love!

Nap Movies

2009-12-30T12:27:00.002-06:00

Do you have favorite movies that you pull out

when you need a nice nap on the couch?
This doesn't mean that they are boring movies.
On the contrary, they calm and soothe.

I have several.

The first I remember, and which still works great, is

"While You Were Sleeping."

Perfect title for a nap, eh?

Here are some others in no particular order:

"You've Got Mail":

"Sleepless in Seattle":

"Tortilla Soup":

"Return to Me":

"Anne of Green Gables":

The entire gabillion hours PBS/Canadian series w/Megan Follows

"Twilight":

"Mr & Mrs Smith":

"10 Things I Hate About You":

"50 First Dates":

"The Matrix":

The first one, this is mostly Tif and LJ's

"Ocean's Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, etc.":

Anything with Clooney and Pitt

...of course the original Rat Pack version is the best:

There is no more "cool" like those cats.

"Pretty Woman":

"Pirates of the Caribbean":

Any of the 3:

So at any time I may add more as I think of it!

Agree? Disagree?

Do you have any more to add?

Y-A-W-N!!!

I think I'm gonna go take a nap!

Mirror Wars

2009-12-29T21:35:00.000-06:00

What is a mirror war?

Well it started out very nice!

Sweet Hubby wrote this on my mirror:

Behold the eye of beauty

I left it up because it was so sweet.

Then another day he wrote this:

Does this make my chin look fat?

So I wrote this:

THIS'll make your chin fat!

Stay tuned!

Christmas Beauty

2009-12-28T09:07:00.002-06:00

How could anyone doubt Intelligent Design, fail to see God's Hand in the beauty in such a morning as this?

Our White Christmas Morning was dazzling!

Needed sunglasses while preparing breakfast!

And Twilight just as gorgeous:

How can evening sky be so BLUE?

To God Be the Glory, Great Things He Hath Done!

Christmas Decorating 2009

2009-12-27T21:07:00.000-06:00

I didn't do much decorating this Christmas.

Here are just a few of the little bits I did in the dining room.

A few glitzies in the cloché on the dining room table:

A wreath on the dining room fixture:

Sweet hubby finally "lit up" the buffet:

and a closeup of the mini birdbath:

I told ya it wasn't much, but it was enough!

Champagne Saucers...

2009-12-26T01:13:00.026-06:00

...because that's what the champagne glasses for our wedding are called, saucers...or coupes.

The May Company, Mission Valley, San Diego, May Department Stores, now Macy's

I fell in love with this design while working at the May Company (above) and never bought any more pieces than just those for the wedding. I wonder why? Maybe I should buy more? I dunno. But we brought out various crystal pieces for Christmas Eve Brunch (Eggs Benedict) for the sparkling cider. It just makes it more special.

So while we were enjoying the cider, we discussed the types of glasses we were using. Jay and Sweet Hubby were using Princess House Pilsners.

Princess House Pilsners

I had an unknown cut wine glass and Christy and LJ were using the above mentioned champagne glasses. We couldn't remember the "name" of the shape of the stemware. I knew they were champagne glasses, but flutes have become more en vogue of late and I couldn't name the style of my stemware.

Rogaska Gallia

So after watching Julie & Julia, I decided to investigate. Not only are the wedding goblets Rogaska Gallia (I remembered the Gallia), but they are known as Coupes or Saucers!! On Ebay they call them sherbets... uh, no.

But most fun was the little trivia I found on Wikipedia:
"The champagne coupe or champagne saucer is the saucer-shaped stem glass once used for serving champagne, but now more commonly used for certain cocktails such as daiquiris. Legend has it the shape of the glass was modeled on the breast of Marie Antoinette, Josephine de Beauharnais, Madame de Pompadour or one of several other French aristocrats, although this is almost certainly false. (But it was a good story, huh?) The glass was designed especially for champagne in England in 1663, preceding those aristocrats by almost a century.
The coupe has fallen out of fashion except for traditional occasions such as weddings.Modern aficionados consider it inappropriate for the current style of very dry champagnes, versus the sweeter champagnes popularized when the coupe came into fashion in the 1930s. Its broad surface area means that the champagne quickly loses its carbonation."

www.martinellis.com

Well, it works just fine for sparkling cider!!! Mystery solved!

Joyeux Noël

2009-12-25T09:59:00.002-06:00

(photo: Christmas Eve 11pm)

Christmas Morning is quiet and white!

About 5 inches!

We haven't had a White Christmas in a very long time.

Last one I remember was back in the early '90's

when we borrowed a coworker's cabin in Big Bear Cali

and woke up to a foot of snow.

We snuggled in and enjoyed the novelty!

Of course, by the time we left the day after,

there was not one inch of untouched white stuff

in that quarter acre yard... the kids had seen to that!

Each year we have lived here, we try to add a few more items to our bank.

This is a view from across the lake.

Um, we didn't have the STAR up yet, may have to go out tonite and get a shot of that:

We keep hoping our neighbors will join in the fun,

so that WE have something to look at across the lake, but so far... nuthin'.

Notice that the tree w/presents is out on the dock!

It was H's turn to put the angel on top of the tree this year.

We left the tree top barren until the little girlees arrived:

The little girlees were dressed up so cute for Christmas Eve:

I bought the little girlees cute little Christmas dresses,

but unfortunately,

because of the Winter Storm Warning,

Jay and Christy and the girlees scooted out of here last night instead of this morning

ahead of the storm so they could get to the outlaws safely.
So I'll just get to see photos of them in their finery!

Lindsey gave me a really cool HUGE whisk for Christmas..

I haven't gotten to play with it yet, because

Baby J LOVED it!!!

She thought it was the coolest thing!

Baby J discovered Dill Dip and just about finished off the bowl by herself!

Across the country, in San Diego,

the other part of the family is enjoying a warm Christmas

(in contrast to Upstate NY where they live)!

Here's my snoofie Nicolee on Christmas Eve:

Last night as we went to bed, the snow began to stick.

A pic snapped from out our bedroom window just before heading to bed:

A quiet relaxing day for Sweet Hubby, LJ & I to celebrate our Saviour's birth!

If the roads clear, we may venture out to a movie... or 2!

Nana McGreal's Pumpkin Bread

2009-11-30T21:44:00.000-06:00

We just returned from Boston for Thanksgiving.

Imagine our delight when my Nana's Pumpkin Bread recipe was served by Aunt Elena. I had no idea Nana had a pumpkin bread recipe. My son Jay loooooovvves just about anything pumpkin. Well, so do most all of us.

And then we went to dinner at lifetime friends' Annette & Phil's house. Annette not only made Pumpkin Bread too but it was the same recipe!!!!! NANA'S!! (Annette grew up next door to my Nana.)

So here for your pleasure, is my Nana's Pumpkin Bread recipe, brought to you by Aunt Elena and my friend Annette. Thank you for preserving this family treat ladies!

Nana McGreal's Pumpkin Bread

3c sugar

4 eggs

1c salad oil

2/3 H20

1 can pumpkin pie mix

3 1/2 c sifted flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

Beat first 5 ingredients.

Add dry & mix together.

Bake @350 degrees 1 hour

(raisins? nuts?)

Beautiful Sunset

2009-11-08T22:25:00.000-06:00

Just wanted to brag on the fantastic sunset this evening.

This photo does it no justice, the colors were much more vibrant and full.

Enjoy:

Operation Christmas Child

2009-11-04T22:08:00.003-06:00

It's allover the blogs, allover facebook.

I've never seen so much discussion as this year. I'm talking about the Christmastime outreach project by Samaritan's Purse, Operation Christmas Child.

Samaritan's Purse was begun by Franklin Graham, Billy Graham's son. First time I heard about Samaritan's Purse was from our friend Dennis Agajanian who became involved early on in the ministry, way back before Operation Christmas Child even got started. I know he has been performing for Billy Graham Ministries and Crusades for years:

(had Dennis' kids in Sunday School and later Youth Group back in the day).

Operation Christmas Child has been hand delivering gift boxes to children around the world since 1993 in over 100 countries.

Not only providing gifts, but sharing the love and hope of Jesus Christ with these children.

Won't you join in & fill a box or two or twelve with your children and your family for other children around the world? It's a great way to start the Holidays, a great Holiday tradition.

I've been filling boxes for the last 5 years. My FCCLA kids started me on it... they'd done so since before I arrived at our school.

Gift ideas include:

Cars
Trucks
Small ball
Teddy bear
Finger puppet
Jigsaw
Yo-yo
Balloons
Small musical instrument
Felt pens
Pens
Pencils

Puzzle book
Pencil case
Stickers
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Gloves
Scarf
Sunglasses,
Cap Rubber
Colouring book
Notepad
Pencil sharpener

But don't delay, in order to get the boxes to the children in time for Christmas, we have to do our part way early. Go to the Operation Christmas Child link at the top of the page to find the drop off location nearest you. Drop off begins November 16 and ends November 23.

There is a small donation you'll need to include in the box to defray shipping costs. See the website for information.