Likes and dislikes- either way they're blessings!

I like swiss chard and collard greens (when cooked in bacon), I like jicama and I do not like edamame. I like my MIL because she babysits my kid even when his pink eye has come back along with diarhea. I like my husband because he lets me sit on the couch for a whole day because I feel ucky and I like my son because he, well he's just sweet. I like knowing that when the weather is cold, wet and windy I don't have to go anywhere. I like that my regular coffee joint is FINALLY putting in a drive through! And I like that our almost 13 year old husky, Mojo still plays like a puppy.
What have you learned that you liked this weekend?

St Patty's early

Last night our inner Leprechans came out and we hit a local Irish pub & restaruant. I was a little disappointed in the limited Irish fare, but this is the Midwest where bar food rules. Mike had a beef and mushroom pie that I envied and I had a whiskey & butter chicken. Of course, Mike had to have a Guiness and I got an Irish coffee, non-sissy style (no whip cream). Sorry but any self respecting Irishman I've ever met would never have whip cream in his coffee. Heck, they liked more whiskey than coffee!
After dinner we ran some errands. Mike made me buy clothes- Grrrr. And we picked out some movies. By the time we got home we were too tired to watch them though!
We actually got to sleep until 9 am this morning. NINE! Now Mike is off to get the Pickle and I am off to drink some American coffee.
Have a great weekend!

Miracle of all miracles!

This month something happened that I never thought would. Gryffin called me Mama! Woo-hoo-yippy-skippy! Gryffin in his almost 2 years had never called me that. If you asked him where Mama was he would point to me, but he would never say it. He held power over me and he knew how to use it. I tried bribery (cookies, TV, toys), I tried threats (no cookies, no TV, no toys) heck, I even told him that he wasn't allowed to get his driverse license until he called me Mama! Last month progress was made, he started calling me Dah-ee just like Mike. Hey, at least it was nice. Then he finally figured it out and out of the blue... Ta-Da. I'm the Mama! I bet you can see the smile on my face from there.

yup, I'm a heal.

This is what my husband brought home, along with some strawberries (my fave). To ease my conscious he did say that they weren't for Valentines Day, but because the market had them on sale- and because he loved me. Ok, maybe it didn't easy my conscious that much afterall.

Enjoy your VD!

Don't get your undies in a bunch, VD- Valentine's Day. We don't celebrate it around here. I told Mike long ago that if he had to take one day out of the year to let me know how much I mean to him then he is doing a pretty crap job the other 364. Yeah, yeah, bah humbug and all that. But seriously folks would you rather have:
an overpriced bunch of flowers that are going to wilt in a few days
some bobble that will turn your skin green
yet another stuffed animal
or a high priced bobble that by the time you get it paid off its Valentine's Day again?
What about flowers on a normal, nothing, just because kind of day? Or a bobble that you can pawn if things go bad? Always the pesimist.
Me? I want a clean house and the laundry caught up. Wait, I want that everyday.
Anyway, who can think of romance after listening to the speech Bush gave today. Has there ever been a president that just gave a yes or no answer to a question from the press? 'Cause all I heard was the same hem-haw over and over.
Ok, I'll stop with the politics. I took some pictures of the snow this morning and I was going to post them so my desert dwelling clan could remember what it was like but all I ended up with was pictures of the streaks on my windows! And there was NO WAY I was going outside to get a better one when the temperature was a whopping, stand back now, prepare yourself- 7 degrees. Break out the sandals! Yeah, I'm just being a poo-pooer again. I actually like snow. And I got to find out that the 4 wheel drive on the Jeep still works yesterday. And there is nothing better than having a hot cup of cocoa on a snowy night, especially if it has some Bailey's in it.

Shew, eBay exhaustion

For the past three days I have been listing a gagillion things on eBay.... Mostly Gryffin's outgrown but still in great shape clothes, shoes, etc and some of my clothes that I just never wore. It got to the point where I just started listing things in lots based on sizes. I hope no one gets scared off by the shipping cost, but those many items are HEAVY! Today I freecycled four large trash bags of stuff. I think we may find 4 square feet of space added to the house. Hey, with a house as small as ours you will take every inch you can get!
I am attempting my first beef stew today. The first thing I discovered about this culinary adventure is that I need a bigger crock pot. Who does 1.5 quarts feed- Ewoks?! I doubt it, they swing around a lot and work up an appetite. Garden gnomes? Maybe, afterall they are made out concrete. But certainly not a family of two and a 1/2!

Going postal!

So I'm sitting here trying to balance the checkbook and I find a bunch of charges from Paypal. I go the Paypal site only to discover that a bunch of labels I TRIED to print through the Post Office site were charged to my account. Eventhough I never was able to print a label- you can't print a media mail label at home. Boy I wish they would tell you that somewhere on their site. I got no labels, I got charged for 3 labels and some fee that froze my account. Grrrr. Through rain, sleet, snow or hail they'll deliver but not through their website. This in addition to get a new account with our credit card company because of fraudulent activity and have to set up all my auto-pays again, I'm going POSTAL!
I know it will all work out in the end. Mostly because I'm a feisty little red-head and when it comes to losing money I get mean. Didn't their mamma's tell them that red-heads have a terrible temper?

Cabbage, who knew?

Last night I tried another new recipe. I'm surprised I got it right because Mike and I have been suffering from this weird type of flu. We just had chills and aches and pains. The aches and pains were so bad it was painful to even think about moving. Mike is over it, I'm on the end of it and Thanks to God, Gryffin hasn't gotten it. Anyway, I thought I would post the recipe, mostly for my Dad, because it contains the Holy Trinity of his cooking- onions, garlic and potatoes.

Keilbasa & Cabbage
4 slices bacon
2 T sugar
1 onion, chopped
2 tsp garlic, minced
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp season salt
1 medium head cabbage, sliced
1 lb Polish Keilbasa, sliced thick

In a large deep skillet fry the bacon over medium high heat until browned. Remove from pan, reserving drippings, and place on paper towels to drain.
Stir water, sugar, onions, garlic, red pepper flakes and seasoned salt into drippings. Add cabbage and stir to coat. Cover and cook on low for about 10 minutes.
Add the kielbasa. Cook covered for another 10-15 minutes. Serve hot and crumble bacon over the top.
I served this with roasted potatoes. Just chop some taters into bite size pieces and place in a zip-top bag. Drizzle with olive oil, season salt and crushed red pepper flakes. Shake the bag to coat every piece and pour onto a baking sheet. Bake in a 425 degree oven until tender.
I think this meal for 6 cost about $4 or $5 total! Easy, cheap and yummy- that's my Holy Trinity of cooking!