Finally Friday!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
I love this time of year but this year is probably one of our more quiet Halloweens. We never have trick-or-treaters (which is fine with me) because we live in the country so they just don't come out. We had thought about having a Halloween party like we used to but decided against that since all of our friends have children and would be out with their trick-or-treaters. So, we are at home and both of us are on the computer with my honey doing work and me just wasting time!
Well, I just got home from spending time with my parents. We went to one of the biggest arts and crafts show in our state. It happens once a month all year long. I had never been before so I was excited about going. I am glad to be home, got some Christmas shopping done and am now ready to get some rest!! If you caught one of my earlier blogs about another show we had gone to where I ranted about the people who bring dogs and small babies to shows will want to know about this show. Well, there were tons of dogs, lots of babies (even an 11 day old baby girl) and lots of carts and scooters. I was prepared so they didn't bother me as much as before but they were still a little annoying! I only wanted to slap a couple of people and that was after being there two days!! There was a lot of cute things and as usual, my mom and I would look at things and say, "We could make that for a whole lot less.". Maybe this time we will! Anyway, it is late and I am pooped.
Happy Halloween Everyone!! I look forward to seeing your little ghosts and goblins pictures if you decide to post some. :)

Busy, busy, busy. . . . . . .

ok, so I wasn't that busy but I feel like I have been running around like a crazy woman. Today my grandmom came to town and took my mom and I to lunch. We had a good lunch and then went shopping. Although we only went to two different stores, I was so tired when we were done. During this shopping trip, I was able to accomplish a couple of things I had been looking for like 1) new pants, 2) a cream colored short sleeved shirt, 3) some plastic farm animals (thanks Mrs. H. for the other animals) and best of all. . . . . . . .I was able to get 10 free cigar boxes. 10 FREE CIGAR BOXES! I really lucked out on that one because the guy at the cigar store said that the other clerks charged $3.00 a box but he just gave them away. WOO WHOO!!! I was excited about everything I found. You are probably asking yourself, why is she looking for plastic farm animals and cigar boxes. Well, I mentioned in my weekend blog that I had worked on my dioramas for the 10 plagues, well, I have had some difficulties in finding the supplies I needed. I had snagged some plastic school boxes from my mom and was putting the plagues in those but I really hated keeping my moms boxes occupied for an indefinite amount of time. Now that I have the cigar boxes, the dioramas can be permanent! Yippee!!
Well, we voted tonight. I am glad to get that over with! Well, that is all I have time for today. I am subbing in a music class tomorrow so I need to get some sleep!

Monday Madness

Ok, so Monday hasn't been too bad. The weather is absolutely wonderful and I am getting ready to go for a quick walk!

I can not believe that it is now less than 2 months until Christmas. I am hoping that this Christmas is much better than last year.

Well, I didn't get my walk in today because, well, life just sometimes gets in the way. With that said, I want to ask those of you who pop over here from time to time to please put my Aunt K on your prayer list. She has bravely been fighting breast cancer and her tests results today show that she will have to keep fighting very hard against this cancer. The chemo that she has been taking has not been working. The tumors in her liver are still there and bigger and they think she has one in her lung now. Please pray for her and her family.

Weekend Update

Oh my, I am really behind on my blogging. Even though we didn't have much planned for the weekend, it was busy. Saturday I worked on the church bulletin and November calendar for church, cooked for the church luncheon, went to a "thank you for helping me move dinner" and then ended the day by finishing up my first 2 dioramas for the 10 plagues for bible class the next day. Sunday was church, luncheon, a little shopping (didn't find anything), church and then a visit with the in-laws. Now on to the new week!!

Thursday Update!

Since I haven't taken the time to learn how to download the pics from my camera, I decided to share a few of my halloween decorations by taking the pictures on my computer. They aren't very good but hopefully I can download my camera and you can see the good ones!

Well, today I subbed in a 5th grade classroom who since school began has had 5 different subs. The teacher has been out on maternity leave and her co-teacher (one teaches all things English/science & the other teaches math studies) has been out for the same reason. Oh, my stars, these students were so wild. The two groups I had were probably the worst I have ever had and to make matters worse, I had the worst lesson plans to "try" to work from. I was totally exhausted this afternoon by the time I got home. Tomorrow I get to go back and do it all again!

Today's high was 69 degrees. I am loving it! Unfortunately, we didn't get any rain when the cold front came in. I am so hoping for a COLD winter this year (of course, our house is so not weather proofed so I will probably complain about being cold when I am at home). I would really love some snow but ice would be nice too! Well, that is all I have time for tonight. I am going to one of my former student's baseball game.

Tuesday Thoughts or Something Like That

Today I wondered all day what I was going to make with the hamburger I was thawing out. My honey was being picky about what he wanted to eat so I was wracking my poor, tired brain for something spectacular. Well, the brain wasn't working so I went to the Internet (oh, it is important that you know that I need to go grocery shopping so there isn't much in the house!) and did a search. I found something that looked interesting. Let me tell you, it turned out wonderful so I decided to share the recipe with my blog friends!

Macaroni and Beef Casserole
1/2 # ground beef,brown off in pan,drain (I season my meat with garlic, black/red pepper mix & garlic powder)
1 (10 3/4 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup (low-sodium is fine, but for best results don't use low-fat)
1/2 can milk (measure using empty soup can after you've added soup)
1 (8-oz) box elbow macaroni ( I used farfalli)
1 cup grated extra sharp Cheddar cheese
1/4 cup diced green peppers (optional) I omitted
1/4 cup mayonnaise (for best results don't use Miracle Whip or fat-free mayonnaise)
1 (4-oz can) sliced mushrooms (optional)
black pepper to taste

Cook macaroni in boiling water until slightly underdone and drain. Grate cheese and dice peppers if using.Mix all ingredients in oven-proof mixing bowl until evenly combined or mix in a regular mixing bowl and transfer to a glass Pyrex casserole dish. This will look pale and strange compared to other macaroni and cheese recipes, but it's as it should be.
Bake at 425 degrees for about 25 minutes or until top is lightly browned and bubbly but not scorched.Serves 4 generous portions and can be doubled or tripled easily. Add diced onions and/or leftover ham, turkey, or chicken as a variation if you please. This is a very forgiving recipe my mother found somewhere many years ago; it's also very good eaten cold from the refrigerator for a midnight snack.

This was really good. My honey enjoyed it and it is something he would like again!

I am going to go off on a little rant. . . . . .there is not much on tv so I flipped to Bravo to see what was on (not much as usual) but I am sitting here typing so I didn't ever go somewhere else. As I sit here I started listed to "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" and I began thinking, are these woman for real? They are so ridiculous, they think that the world revolves around them, that no one else measures up to them and do they really think that they are housewives? I am pretty sure that they wouldn't know how to do house or yardwork if it reached up and slapped them in their plastic surgeon created faces!! Anyway, no wonder so many people have problems in this country. Ok, I am done (oh, and I changed channels before I threw something at my tv).

This weekend we celebrated G-mom's 85th birthday. About 35 people came to the party. It was really good to see old friends and family that we had not seen in a while. G-mom enjoyed it also.

I am looking for something and I hope that maybe someone out there in blogger land can give me some recommendations. I am looking for some clips to attach to wood so I can clip paper to wood blocks. If anyone has any idea where to get some, please let me know!! :)

This afternoon I looked out of my living room window and hanging out near our propane tank were out two youngest calves. They looked so cute out there. I was only able to get a picture of one because the other was behind a tree and they were quickly getting away from me. When I learn how to download the pictures off of my camera, I will show you what they look like. They are so pretty and I love having them around the house. That is one thing I will really miss when my honey and I get a home of our own. Hopefully G-mom or mommy will let us buy one or two from them so we can watch them from our new place. I love our little cows. :)

Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to put some pics of my halloween decor on here.

Happy Fall Ya'll

What time does it start?

Today I subbed in the other school district where I live. It is the first time I have subbed there but I did do my student teaching there. Anyway, the times for this particular job on the internet said that it began at 7:45 am and ended at 2:45 pm. I walked in the door at 7:45 and the office ladies were writing passes for the students. The sub lady took me to my classroom where my students were lined up and waiting for me to get there. I looked at the plans (after I finally found them) and guess what, my plans started at 7:30 am. Well, long story short, teachers have to be there at 7:15 and pick up their kids at 7:30. They ask me to teach Friday and Monday for the same teacher so I guess it was ok.

The weather here is wonderful! Unfortunately it won't last long. We finally got rain yesterday and it is currently 70 degrees and very cloudy. Lovin it!

Don't you hate it when you lose something and you know it was there but now you can't find it anywhere? I hate that, it makes me so stinking mad. Anyway, that is all for today. It is almost the weekend.

Happy Fall ya'll!

I am pretty sure. . . .

that I was not meant to teach kindergarten. I subbed in a kindergarten class today and I am so tired I can hardly stand it! I don't think that 1st grade is where I want to be either. I am thinking 2nd, 3rd or 4th will be the best "fit" for me. Anyway, that is how I spent my day.

Tomorrow is my grandmother's 85th birthday so I am not working tomorrow so I can spend time with her and some of the family that is here from out of town. We are having a party for her this weekend so we will be pretty busy celebrating! I hope she enjoys her special days!

Thats all for now.
Happy Fall Ya'll!

A good, real, unrestrained, hearty laugh is a sort of glorified internal massage, performed rapidly and automatically. It manipulates and revitalizes corners and unexplored crannies of the system that are unresponsive to most other exercise methods. ~Author unknown, from an editorial in New York Tribune, quoted in Quotations for Special Occasions by Maud van Buren

Monday Madness

Happy Columbus Day!!

Supper Menu

Monday: 4 cheese lasagna & garlic bread

Tuesday: leftovers

Wednesday: leftovers or something after church

Thursday: fishsticks, mac & cheese

Friday: out with family

Halloween Poem

H - harvest time is getting near
A- apple pie and autumn leaves
L- lots of halloween candy
L- leaves all over the ground
O- orange and other harvest colors
W- winter is on it's way
E- early frost
E- enjoying a little bit cooler weather
N- November is almost here
by: Giggles

Have a great week.

Happy Fall Ya'll!

Weekend Wrap up!

Today my honey, my mommy and my little sis went to the Scarecrow Festival. There was so much cute stuff to look at but we were good and didn't buy much. I got a really cute pumpkin yard stake, my honey got some almond brittle and my sis did some Christmas shopping. Oh, mom bought a funnel cake. Yummo! Although we had a really good time, we had questions that just weren't and probably never will be answered. Here is a sampling of our questions. . .why do you bring babies and young children to an outside craft show? Your strollers are a pain in the other people around you, their feet, knees, shins, etc. Your huge wagons are a pain because they are always in the way. Please find a babysitter, you, your children and those around you will be happier. Please don't get me wrong, I love children but I do not enjoy being run over by strollers, wagons and having to listen to you and your child arguing about shopping or listen to your very hot, unhappy baby screaming at the top of its lungs because it is miserable. An outside craft show is definitely not the place for a weeks old baby. Next, dogs. . . .why do you take a dog to an outside craft show? They, like the children are miserable and get in the paying customers way while they are trying to shop. Lastly, your attire. . . .please take a look in the mirror before you leave your house. The general public would appreciate it. OK, enough of my rant. We did have a good time but it was hot, too many dogs, too many kids and not enough space!!

This evening me and my honey went to DQ and I finally got a pumpkin pie blizzard. They are so good! Then we went to the in-laws and picked up broken concrete chunks to fill in some of the holes in our driveway.

Last night we finally got to eat cake and open presents for my birthday. I got some really nice gifts. My honey got me some perfume and a shirt, parent unit got my diploma framed (it looks awesome), in laws got me earrings, G-mom 1 got me a Christmas craft idea book, G-mom 2 gave me $, little sis gave me hook board for my cute measuring spoons she gave me last year and a cute bookmark, and friend gave me a pretty shirt. Great gifts + good cake=good day!!

Well, I am wrapping this up for the evening. I hope everyone had a great week.

Happy fall ya'll!

Thoughtful Thursday

I heard this in a devotional at church a couple of weeks ago and then I got it in an e-mail today so I decided to share it.

Cell phone vs. Bible
Ever wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phone?
What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?
What if we flipped through it several time a day?
What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?
What if we used it to receive messages from the text?
What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?
What if we gave it to Kids as gifts?
What if we used it when we traveled?
What if we used it in case of emergency?
This is something to make you go....hmm...where is my Bible?
Oh, and one more thing. Unlike our cell phone, we don't have to worry about our Bible being disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill.
Makes you stop and think 'where are my priorities? And no dropped calls!

It really makes you think doesn't it?

Well, this afternoon I went to the funeral of an old family friend. Well, he really wasn't that old, he was only 61. As I sat and listened to the service (and to my dad who lead singing; he did an awesome job!) I remember things about growing up with his family that I hadn't thought about in years. I remembered the very first cokefloat we ever had. He picked us all up from swimming lessons and took us to Dairy Queen for the yummy treat. I remember going to dinners at their house and playing for hours, borrowing movies from them because they had cable and we didn't, visiting his feed store. It had been so long since I thought of his family in that way. It is terrible how as we grow up we so often grow apart from the people who meant so much in our young lives.

Well, on to something more upbeat! I want to say "Thank you" to Jennifer at Trading Ashes for Beauty who honored my blog with the Smile Award. I was so shocked to get the award. I promise to share the award as soon as I get it all figured out! Thank you again Jennifer! I really needed it because this has been one of the most difficult years I have ever had. Here is something for you to think about. . . . Always remember to be happy because you never know who's falling in love with your smile. ~Author Unknown

Well, I am going to go for now. My honey has come home so we can go celebrate my birthday!

Interesting fact: Laughing lowers levels of stress hormones and strengthens the immune system. Six-year-olds laugh an average of 300 times a day. Adults only laugh 15 to 100 times a day. I think that we adults need to stop taking ourselves so seriously and spend more time laughing!!

Happy fall ya'll!! :)

Random Ramblings

Well, so far, nothing really exciting has happened this week. Yesterday my mom brought the rest of my stuff home that I had stored at her house during Hurricane Ike. I have gotten the pictures back on the wall but I haven't gotten all of them back in their spots around the house. I finally finished decorating for Halloween! I am excited about that. Oh, and today I subbed in Art. It was so much fun. The kids were great, the teachers around me talked to me and they want me to be their sub when they are out. It was a much better experience than all of the others!! I had K-4th and I think I have decided that I do not want to teach Kindergarten. They are tooooo needy!

My honey and I are watching the show Dirty Jobs and we were discussing how cranberries grow. Since neither one of us know a thing about cranberries, I used the world wide web to find out. The OceanSpray website popped up with the information we needed. It is interesting that they grow in a bog and it is really interesting to see them harvested. Something new to stick in the somewhat useless information file! Dirty Jobs is such an interesting show (well the ones that aren't truely revolting are interesting!) and Mike Rowe does such a good job and he is so funny. I would not watch it if he weren't on it. Here is something to ponder about the food we eat. . . . . .do you know where pineapples grow? In a tree? In the ground? On a vine? Stay tuned to find out.

Last night my honey wanted taco salad so that is what I made and he had some red jalapeno peppers and he ask me to cut them up and roast them in the oven. I did and I found that it takes several and I do mean several hand washings to get all of the hot juice off of your hands. I burned my lip and I got it in my eye. Just remember to wash, wash, wash or let your husband roast his own own jalapenos!.

Well, it has been a long day and I am ready to sleep. Thanks for stopping by and taking a peak. I had hoped to get a chance to visit some other blogs tonight but it is too late so I will do that tomorrow. Good night John Boy. . . . .oh, wait, he doesn't live here!

Happy Fall to you all!

I almost forgot to tell you about pineapples. . . .they grow in the ground! I thought they grew on trees!

Tantalizing Thursday

Well, we finally made it to October. Someones (mine) birthday (mine) is coming up (mine) but I won't mention (mine) any names (mine)! Oh, my g-mom (grandmother) and bro - in - law share their birth date which is this month. So they (and me) get to celebrate their b-days for the whole month!

Enough about birthdays. I guess I will talk about work. So far I have only subbed one day (this week) (today) at a school I hadn't been to before. Although I don't really liked subbing, I have learned some very useful information. I have found that most adults at the schools I sub at seem to look down their noses at the "subs". I went another day with only one or two adults talking to me. When I become "real" teacher, I will be friendly to all subs and help them as much as possible. I never did learn where the faculty bathroom was today. Enough whining about work. . . .I had a good time with my 3rd graders I taught today. I wouldn't mind working with this group again.

Since I haven't cooked lately or added any new recipes, I decided today was the day to add a yummy Rachael Ray recipe. If you make this, you have to let me know how it is. Well, I guess that is all for today. Hope everyone has a wonderful fall weekend.

Mean Green Tortilla Soup

Ingredients
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups water
3 ears of corn, kernels removed (reserve shaved corn cobs)
1 package corn tortillas, cut into strips
4 tablespoons EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil, divided
1 package (3 pieces) chicken thighs or breasts
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, grated
2 teaspoon cumin
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped
10 to 12 tomatillos, husks removed - can substitute a jar of chunky salsa verde sauce
2 cups cilantro, chopped
Zest and juice of 2 limes
2 cups jack cheese, shredded
3 avocados, chopped (optional)

Preparation: Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large pot, bring the chicken stock and water to a bubble with the reserved corn cobs and let simmer for about 10 minutes.

Place the corn tortilla strips onto a baking sheet and spray them with some cooking spray. Transfer to the oven and bake until crispy, 10 minutes.

Preheat a skillet over medium-high heat with some EVOO about 2 turns around the pan. Add the chicken, browning on all sides, then place into the oven for about 7-8 minutes, until juices run clear and no pink remains in the center. Once the chicken is done cooking, remove from oven and let rest before cutting into strips.
Preheat a heavy-bottomed pot with remaining 2 tablespoons of EVOO. Add the onion, garlic and cumin, and cook till soft, about 3-4 minutes. Add the corn kernels along with the jalapeño.

While the veggies are cooking, puree the tomatillos in a food processor until somewhat smooth. Add the purée, stock and chicken to the pot along with the veggies.

Simmer for 10-15 minutes. Remove the soup from the heat and add in the cilantro, lime zest and juice, and serve it up garnished with a big handful of jack cheese, tortilla and avocado.