Just for poops, giggles and hopefully savings.

I think Friday when I go to the grocery armed with my list I'm going to do a little bit more research. You see, I don't like what we have been spending on groceries. About $75 a week. Now, thats not too bad when you figure in a bottle of wine and some snackies but... Every week I make a menu which I use to make my grocery list. My grocery list is, well.. a little detailed.


When I need something I just highlight it, or highlight the blank line and write it in. This list is in the same order as the grocery store isles. If I don't need something in an isle I don't go down it. Usually, on a weekday using the self-checkout (I love those!) I can get the shopping done in 30 minutes or less. When I make my menu for next week I'm going to try and squeeze some 'blood from a turnip', in my opinion thats all you should do with turnips- YUK! I'm going to challenge myself to only spend about $8 to feed us per day, or $56 a week. This shouldn't be too hard considering Mike's breakfast of granola bars, chicken breasts, ground beef and pork are all bought at Sam's once a month and aren't figured in to the weekly grocery budget. Although, I'm not willing to cut my weekly bottle of wine. I drink the cheap stuff, less than $4 a bottle. But its worth a lot more than that to sit in a bubble bath with a glass of wine and a good book a few nights a week. I'll give it a try and give you an update.

I'm gonna get you, Cheerio!

Such determination and dedication! The boy likes his Cheerios and gets quite upset when he can't quite get the last few in the bowl. I was just telling Gryffin this morning that I remember when I had to spoon feed him mush and now he's feeding himself like a big boy. I like this way better and not just because I don't wear more food than he eats anymore. I miss that little baby boy, but I sure do like the big boy he's becoming.

Don't have long to chat this morning. After a couple days of feeling like microwaved poo and a few days of being lazy my house looks like a the dust bunny brigade came through and dirtied all of our clothes. Ah well- death, taxes and house work- the only things in life you can really count on. Better get on with the latter, start on the middle and hopefully put off the first for a very long time!

Hey!

Are you in there? I know you're in there. Come out before I come in!

Before/During

Gryffin helped Mike install some shelves. Helped being a completely subjective word. But i think inspite of all the ups and downs he really did enjoy 'assisting' his Dad.

After

After a long days work, Gryffin has a new room. He officially broke it in this morning and trashed the joint with toys. I will take that as his little decorator touch, but its going to be cleaned up at bed time.

Lil' Stinker

Shew-eee something in here stinks! I think it just may be my butt.
Poor little Gryffin has yet another cold. He had a pretty rough night, coughing and soaking himself and the bed TWICE! Not to mention all the encrusted snot on his face. There are times when I wish he were out of the crib just so I could climb in bed with him and snuggle cuddle to make it better. But then again, I know who would end up sleeping in the pee spot.
Today we took a trip to get him more medicine. The only kind we can get him to take are those stips. He sees a chewable tablet or a liquid and it takes both Mike and I to hold him down. What did parents do before those things?
Right now he is thankfully taking his nap, which is the only reason I can type, sit down or drink anything.

Not from a can...

These are the home made cinnamon rolls I made Christmas morning, minus a few. They turned out really good and were pretty easy.
Oh yeah, and I took the picture with my new fancy digital camera. Thank you Honey, ranks right up there with my Dyson!

We survived!

Christmas is over for another year. Gryffin made out like a bandit, so much so that my living room looks like a toy store exploded. I think this weekend we are going to pack up some of his baby toys to make room.
This weekend is New Year's. I know a lot of people make resolutions around this time. Me? I made a resolution years ago not to make any more resolutions. I got tired of disappointing myself when I couldn't fulfill them. How about any of you? Tell me about the resolutions you are making. We don't go anywhere to celebrate. This is the night where all the drunk novices take to the roads, I'd rather take my chances on a regular weekend when the pro's are doing it. It's been years since I've been able to stay up till midnight anyway.

Merry Kiss-a-moose!

Yeah, some may think that is sacrilege but I don't. I haven't found anywhere in the Bible where December 25th is proclaimed Jesus birthday. Nor do I find anywhere that tells us to celebrate it, only to commemorate his death. In my research, I have found where ancient Christians started celebrating during this time to coincide with the pagans who were celebrating the Winter Solstice and used this time to try and convert them.
I know many of you feel different and that is great. Diversity is a wonderful thing. Especially in this country where many have fought for the right to say what they feel and practice the religion of their choice without persecution.
So, Merry Kiss-a-moose and Merry Christmas, I wish you all peace, tolerance and love in the New Year.

Santa, define good?

The picture is better than last years. The experience; however, was not . We arrived at The Santa House about a quarter to five. At five Santa had to go feed the reindeer. Since we were still in line we decided to get something to eat and come back at six. A little Chinese buffet later we arrived back at, again a quarter till. The line was already a good size and all Gryffin wanted to do was walk around. Ok, no big deal except that he refuses to hold hands. I don't know where the kid got it but he wants to do everything himself. So we took turns following him around until it was quite evident that he was stumbling more than walking. We then took turns holding him and getting our shoulders snotted on because he was screaming 'UUUuuuup'- to him any change in altitude is up. Finally we were next in line! He calmed down so we let him climb up and down the two stairs that led to Santa's lair. The overgrown, fresh from the trailer park elf came to the door and welcomed us in. Gryffin saw Santa, then he saw Elmo . I hate to admit it, but my son likes Elmo. Don't tell anyone because I will die of embarrassment. Anyway, I directed him toward Santa who was holding out a candy cane. The kid doesnt' recognize candy so he kind of freaked out. He plopped down on the floor and started to cry. Santa got a little dismayed and was really kind trying to coax a smile out of him. I picked Gryffin up and put him on Santa's lap, still crying. Bad Mommy, bad bad Mommy. The elf acted quickly, making Elmo giggle and talk where upon he snapped this picture. I then asked Gryffin if he wanted his ball and the kid let out a loud 'YEAH!'. While Mike and I paid and waited for the pictures to print out, Santa was pretty cool. He asked Gryffin about his ball and played with him a little. Then it was time to go, all hell broke loose again. This time because he didn't want to go. Argh! I have to admit, Santa was impressive this year. His beard was real, he didn't have a body odor problem and at least he was smart enough to drink the Peppermint Schnapps so no one would notice. Anyway, to make a long story longer, we got back in the car, Gryffin still screaming so I unwrapped a little of the candy cane and let him taste it. He wasn't much on the taste but there was no way we were going to be able to pry that thing out of his chubby little fingers. Its over for another year, when I will remember to swig on that Peppermint Schnapps before going.
Merry Christmas!

Expecting a visit from my muther this evening. Mike is lucky enough to have errands to run while she's here. I just take comfort in knowing that she isn't here to see me. Basically, I use her as a babysitter for an hour while I do stuff around the house.
I had to go to the Post Office this morning. I was expecting to wait in a very long line but it was deserted! Yeah! Although I found out that the wait is not in the Post Office itself but in getting your item delivered. Their 2 day delivery has now been changed to 3 or 4. Tis the season.
Today I still have laundry and a dust and vacuum on my To Do's. Ain't bad.

So many things to do and so little time left to do them!
I baked 3 dozen cinnamon roll cookies for a food day at work for Mike's Boss tomorrow. I still have to ice them, but that won't take long. I also made a batch of peanut brittle today. I tried to make a double batch the other day and I got peanut chews. I thought I could save them by covering them in chocolate but in the couple of days they sat in the baggie they melded into one ginormous peanut block! No more double batches, just multiple ones.
Luckily I've already made all my cookie dough for my party Sunday. Just scoop and bake! Of course, there is still the cleaning and de-dogging. I love my dogs, but they sure can smell. For snackies (to counteract the sugar high of cookie sampling) I plan on making baked crab rangoon, Cheezit chicken fingers in fat free and parmesaen/garlic. Along with some spicey nuts and a veggie platter and dips, I hope its enough.

Sorry I've been absent for awhile. My mood has been, well lets just say that I felt like going up to little kids and telling them that Santa was dead. Yeah, I've got that holiday spirit. I'm getting better though. Heck, I even wrapped a few presents. Of course, that was only because I couldn't find anywhere to hide them. Our tree will be decorated tomorrow night after Gryffin is asleep. Mike is obsesive compulsive about the lights so the actual decorations won't be hung until about 1 am. In years past we have gotten into disagreements about how the tree should be decorated. Disagreements so bad I went to bed and let him do it himself. I must say, he always does a wonderful job. Amazing how good a color blind (literally) guy can be at decorating. If I didn't know better I would question his sexuality.
I made a batch of 'Hair on your nuts' yesterday and they turned out much better than last year. I don't know if it was old spices or if I overcooked the nuts so I bought all new spices and watched those nuts cook like they were the season finale of Survivor. They aren't so spicey that they are hot, but they leave your mouth pretty warm after a handful. I think this is just right, personally. If you are interested, here is the recipe:
2 large egg whites
2/3 cup sugar
3 T Old Bay
1 t chili powder
1/2 t cayenne pepper
6 cups mixed nuts
1/2 stick butter, melted
1/3 c grated Parmesean
Preheat oven to 300 and line 2 baking sheets with foil and spray with nonstick spray. Beat eggs until foamy and gradually add sugar. Beat in seasonings. Stir in nuts, butter and cheese. Make sure all the nuts are coated then spread in an even layer on the baking sheets. Bake 30-40 minutes, stirring 1/2 way through. Imediately remove foil and let cool on a rack. Break apart and store in an airtight container. Make sure the nuts don't brown, you just want them toasted.

The week will be a vacation in comparison.

Mr Weatherman, I shake my finger at you. A particular finger, in fact. You are my sworn enemy now. When I have become a kung-fu master or my DNA mutates to give me super powers you are gonna get it!

These pictures show what we went through Thursday night in the ice storm. We lost a good portion of our fence, a chair from out patio set and a lot of sleep. I will spare you the pictures of the front yard, when you've seen one tree limb on the ground you've seen them all.

When I awoke Friday to the devestation I took comfort in the fact that our house did not incur any structural damage and that we still had power. Until 7 am when it went out. Gryffin and I toughed it out until about 10:30 am. It was cold in the house and getting colder. We went to the mall in hopes of power being restored in a few hours. Now, for me to spend a few hours walking around the mall the situation has got to be bad. I stopped a couple other places figuring at least I will get Christmas shopping done. About 2:30 I called Mike and found out that our power was going to be out for days, not hours. We packed our bags for my MIL's. The nursing home that Pa is in also was without power so we had him in tow as well. We left the dogs though, Siberian Husky's don't mind the cold.

We made several trips back to let them in and out between Friday night and Saturday afternoon. Being that Mike's Mom's house is over a half hour away we spent a lot of time in the car. By Saturday afternoon we had power. We are one of the few in our neighborhood that has power, even now. Lets just say that between a toddler and a man in the late stages of Alzheimers Mike and I were worn out. We wanted our home, our bed, our remote! I can only take so much TV Land!

Saturday evening we had dinner with Dianne(MIL), dropped Pa off at home and left Gryffin with Grandma. You see, two dogs plus two days of an unsupervised house equals dog hair on all the furniture. Saturday night was spent scrubbing the house down. Mike was a big help eventhough he was exhausted.

This morning I put up the Christmas tree, just the tree no decorations yet. Then I couldn't stand it anymore and picked up Gryffin. Hence, no decorations. Mike went out side to start cleaning up only to realize that everything was frozen solid. He did the best he could considering his chainsaw is broken and rigged the fence to keep the dogs in. Then- football. After a trip to the store for snacks and whiskey. Hey, after this weekend we need a drink! Or seven.

Yackity, yackity, Mr Weatherman. Shut your pie hole and give me some SNOW! You keep making these promises of 1-2 feet of it, but so far just cold rain. If its going to be miserable out there I at least want something pretty to look at. And may I remind you, Mr Weatherman, yesterday was 69 degrees so now are you not only shirking on your promise, you are going to give everyone a cold!

Give me this day...

Can you say Yumerlicious? How about scrumptacular? No? What about delectamazing? Tried (yet another) bread recipe and this one turned out next to perfect. It even passed the PBJ and grilled cheese test. The recipe made two loaves so that should last us a week. The braided one for garlic cheese toast tonight with spaghetti and the sliced for sandwiches, French Toast or whatever later.
I didn't get the housework done like I wanted yesterday. I ran out of energy after Gryffin and I went for a walk and helped/watched Mike put up the Christmas lights. Oh well, at least the fresh air was nice.
Gryffin is currently down for a nap so maybe I will see about carrying some laundry down and some dusting.

Happy to be normal?

I've never been one to be accused of normalcy, but now I am proud to say things have become more normal around here. The Thanksgiving festivities are concluded and we made our usual weekend trip to Lowes today. Now Mike is outside working on the yard, Gryffin is asleep and I'm making pumpkin bread. Life is good at the moment.
Of course, my house is a DISASTER area. I don't think I've had the opportunity to really clean in a few weeks and if I don't vacuum soon we will have lovely grey wall to wall doghair carpeting. My MIL came over the other night and I was mortified when she said those inevitable words she always says when over here, "Can I use your bathroom?". Somehow I don't think she really needs to use it, if she does she is the fastest pee-er in the world! I just think she likes to check up on my housekeeping. I used to get offended, now I'm just like "Whatever, sit on my fuzzy toilet and breathe in my doghair air because I just don't have time to care anymore". Now, however, I'm starting to get a little grossed out by it. Since she is coming Tuesday to pick me up for a power shopping session I guess I better roll up my sleeves and scrub something/everything. Well, except the kitchen. No matter what my kitchen is clean. There may be a few dishes from the night before in the sink but that is about it. I can't stand to have a dirty kitchen, it wakes me in the middle of the night. Weird, huh? Well, I can sit here and continue to moan about it or I can do something to remedy it. (Now, if more people/relatives would adopt that way of thinking?!) Off to clean!

Turkey Day rehearsal is over. I just fixed a small dinner here in preparation for the BIG feast at my MIL's tomorrow. Luckily, all I have to do for that is green beans and a pineapple upside down cake.

I hope your Thanksgiving was full of things to give thanks for.

Gryffin just woke up, so I better go!

Happy Black Friday- stay away from the mall unless you are much braver than I!

Better...

The bread turned out edible today! Still a little heavy, but good flavor and crusty outside. Here is the recipe:

6 cups flour, all-purpose
1/2 Tablespoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 Tablespoon water, warm
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
1 Tablespoon honey
1 egg, beaten with 1T water
2 Tablespoons rolled oats

1. Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl. Combine the warm water and yeast in a small cup and allow to proof for 10 minutes.
Pour the yeast, buttermilk, and honey into the flour mixture and mix well. If the dough is so dry that some of the flour won't stick, add a bit more buttermilk or water. If the dough is too sticky to knead, more like a batter, add more flour by the tablespoon until the correct consistency is achieved.
Knead by machine or hand for approximately 10 minutes. Return the dough to the bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp cloth, and set aside to rise until the dough has doubled in size, approximately 90 minutes.
Divide the dough into 12 to 18 pieces. If you are a stickler you can scale them so that they are even, but I just cut them roughly the same size. Shape each piece into a neat ball and place in a round dish or spring-form pan close together.
2. When all of the rolls are in the pan, cover again with plastic or a damp towel and set aside to rise again for 45 minutes to an hour. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425.
3. Uncover the rolls and brush gently with the egg wash. Sprinkle on the grain topping, if you like. I used cracked wheat
4. Bake for approximately 40 minutes, until the rolls are firm and spring back when tapped.
5. Unmold the rolls from the pan and serve warm.

I used 2 round cake pans and put 9 pieces in each, but I baked them at the same time. It looks a little labor intensive but the actual work time was only about 15 minutes. The hard part is waiting for it to rise. I am not known for patience. Thats one reason I'm trying to get back into baking bread.