you know it's bad when it's worse than that

I had 'fun' today. Let me set the stage. I'm at the doctors office.

Flat on my back. I'm not exactly relaxed.

Like I can relax when she's doing that!

But the fact that I couldn't relax wasn't helping and she was having trouble seeing what she needed to see.

And it's not what you're thinking either!

I was at the dentist!!! I like my dentist.

I like her a lot. But she's doing a new screening.

It sounded like a good idea so I went on ahead with it.

I was not a happy girl.

I found out I have a very strong tongue and it doesn't like to be pushed out of the way so a light can be shoved what feels like all the way down my throat.

Imagine that!

A defense mechanism to being choked gagged while flat on my back. Who knew!

I sat up after it was finally over and thought to myself....

this is worse than a trip to the gyn!

My girlie doctor will be so proud.

She's moving up!

busy week and a little something yummy

We had a busy week during spring break. That's why you didn't see much of me. We also celebrated a birthday (a couple of times). And had some cump-ny too. The IL's visited and we had a wonderful visit. I took them out to eat for lunches on Thursday and Friday. And we also enjoyed a little bit of local fun. We went to a fun factory that has tours. And on Friday, they took Boo to the mall to walk around. She enjoyed some one on one time with them. And I took the afternoon to do some important stuff like reading some blogs folding clothes.

I also made big dinners Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights. Well kinda anyway. Wednesday I made turkey burgers. It's not exactly a big meal, but it makes six patties and I didn't have to freeze the extras like I do when I make it for 'just us'. And Friday night I made roasted chicken and veggies with rice. It was all very good. Oh yes.. and birthday cake.

And Thursday night I just made a roast. Well...not just a roast. But the best roast ever! There's a story behind The. Best. Roast. Ever. One day early in my married life, I was visiting a friend. She and I would hang out all day sometimes in her kitchen while she did this or that.. or worked on a craft project or something. It was a fun time for us and sometimes I don't know if we realized it or not. Anyway... one day I was over there and after a while I mentioned I was beginning to get hungry. Now this girl has always been sort of the grandmotherly type, or maybe she's just a good southern girl, because she always had a little something on hand if the munchies set in. So she proceeded to tell me my 'options' from her freezer. And one of them was roast. I kinda just sat there. Roast??? Well. ok. I guess.

I had eaten my fair share of roast growing up and I was not too impressed with it, to tell you the truth. The gravy was always kinda watery and the meat wasn't always tender and it was a bit of a hassle to make. So when she said roast, it didn't conjure up the best images.

But my options were few that day. So I decided I would have to could handle the roast. Well, I was pleasantly surprised. I couldn't stop raving about this roast! And of course, asked her how to make it. Because if roast could taste like that, then I wanted a piece of that action for myself! To my delight, the recipe isn't hard at all. And *gasp*...I can make it in the crock pot. Love. It!

Now that you're probably slobbering all over the keyboard, I'll tell you how it's done! : )


These are the two key ingredients! Tony's Creole Seasoning and

two pouches of McCormick's brown gravy mix. That's it.

Well, except for the roast and potatoes, that is! You put the roast in the crock pot.

I trim the meat of the weird layer of fat on the bottom of the roast.

I didn't do that in my younger days. But I do now. And

if it's a big roast, it might be a good idea to cut it in half

because of cooking it in the crock pot and core temperatures

and the 'danger zone' and all that junk.

Anyhoo...

You put the roast in and sprinkle some Tony's on it. If you're more liberal

with it, the whole thing will have more zip, since this is a spicy seasoning.

But also keep in mind, it's mostly salt. So... use it accordingly.

I tend to do a light sprinkle and it just adds that little something

special without fire shooting off anybody's tongue or anything.

Then you cut up some potatoes and put them around the roast. After that you mix up the gravy mixes with water in a shaker container (or put it in a measuring cup and stir with a fork to get out most of the clumps etc) and pour it over the meat and potatoes. I then refill the container with water and pour over it all until the gravy just about covers most of the stuff in the crock pot. I know this runs against all the crock pot wisdom that's out there about not needing to add liquids bla bla bla. But hello..you're making dinner and gravy too! Put it on high for a little while to kick start the cooking and then turn it to low 'all day'... or 8 or so hours.

Here's what I do when it's time to eat. I take out the meat and potatoes and put them in a dish and cover them with foil to keep them warm and let the meat 'rest'. Then ladle some of the gravy into a sauce pan and start bringing it to a boil. While that's happening, I take some cornstarch and water and mix that together... probably about 1 1/2 tablespoons of each...I'm just guessing...and pour that into the gravy and stir with a whisk. It will thicken up pretty quickly.

I usually make dinner rolls to take advantage of the deee-lish gravy. And a salad or steamed broccoli is nice to go along side. Gather the fam. Your dinner is ready!

Can I come over?

just poppin' in

Just poppin' in to let ya know I did a little bit of house work on the ole bloggy.

I hadn't updated my blog roll in ages.

I have a few new readers. Or two.

And I wanted you to be included in my updated list!

And it's always fun to find new blogs.

And these are a few more I enjoy...

so here ya go.

she's part Irish, ya know

This is a picture of Miss Boo at 14 days.

Sometimes I think she hasn't changed very much in the face. Sure, she's gotten more mature and grown some hair, but sometimes I go in a kiss her on the nose while she's drying her hair with a towel because I can cover up the hair and it's like she's a baby again. **awwww!!!**

She has always been a funny girl. When she was probably a little less than two, I bought a set of magnetic letters for her, thinking she'd stick them to the frig and stay out my way while I made dinner. Well... she couldn't care less about sticking them on anything. Instead she'd bring the letters to me one by one and say wha'dat? I'd tell her it's an R. It's an M. It's an S. On and on it would go. One day she came to me with a C and asked me what it was. I told her it was a C. She said looks like a G and walked away.

When she was old enough to understand her birthday and other holidays, she realized having a birthday on St. Patrick's Day was a mixed bag. For one thing, she had to wear green to school every year on her birthday.. lest she be pinched. Which she hated because her favorite color was and is pink, of course. But the thing we had a hard time helping her understand was the fact that being born on St. Pat's does NOT make her part Irish.

She still doesn't believe us. I'm kidding! sorta.

why do I do this?

Somebody asked me the other day why I do this blog thing. I honestly didn't know the exact reason why. I thought about it for a long time before I took the plunge, so to speak. I knew I saw a community out there that I wanted to be a part of. It looked too fun for one thing. And I also saw some very real faith out there too. There were certain stories I gravitated toward and wondered if I had anything to contribute. I guess there are several reasons why I do this...

One of the reasons is because sometimes it's nice to have someone to share things with. The kind of stuff that sometimes makes IRL (in real life) friends uncomfortable. An example of that would be grief.

And yet, I wouldn't say that this blog is about grief. I have my moments, but that's not really who I am. And my IRL friends know that. But still there are times when I feel the need to share things or have an outlet but I wouldn't necessarily want to burden an IRL friend, if that makes sense. I know sometimes when I am having a Bub moment, I feel like I'm dumping on them or I don't want them to feel like they don't know what to say. Even though that's ok. And yet I've taken this journey of grief and God has shown me a thing or two about it... and beautifully carried me places I didn't even know I could go. And He continues to give me more of Himself in this process.

Sometimes God has things to say. Maybe about grief. Maybe about life. Or about a verse I've been reading. Or a certain topic. I try to be open to what He wants to say and often use this as a way to put down 'on paper' the things God is showing me. And I think that's pretty amazing.

But other days, I'm in a funny mood. Not that I'm all that funny, mind you. But you know what I mean. Sometimes when life happens, God lets us see the funny side of it. And that's pretty cool too.

And other days I'm stressed out or needing God and it feels better just to come here and say so. Some days I'm just in a tizzy about the crazy lady at Walmart, ya know?

And still other days... wow I sound a little scattered. Sometimes I wonder about my 'blog voice'. I feel like such a serious writer saying that. Which makes me laugh. **pause LOL** Ok... where was I.. oh yes... I read other people's blogs and they seem to have a more consistent voice. And then I read mine and I feel like I'm all over the place. Am I?

Anyway...that's who I am. And why I do this. Who are you? Why do you do this?

oh how times have changed

The hubs has been programming since his early teens. So it's no surprise that we've had at least one computer in our house from the very beginning.

I can remember going to now defunkt Comp USA and standing there and standing there because his mouse or his keyboard died and the selection of a new one just about drove me nuts. What's the big deal??? You read the box. You find one. You buy it. Done! I stood off to the side and displayed my best eye rolls and audible sighs many a time while he painstakingly selected his replacement whatever.

Well... this morning my keyboard broke.

We went to Best Buy to check out replacements. It was almost like The Three Bears. This one is too gummy... this one is too clicky.... this one is shaped weird... this one has the delete key in the wrong (!!!) place.

And the hubs is standing off to the side laughing at me. Every time this happens, he loooves to recall how I used to get all upset at the time he took way back then. Now I understand. Oh, how times have changed.

a kitty with a view

Now that we've had some (not today) warm days, she's been interested

in getting off her furry blanket on the couch and checking out her favorite windows..

from her favorite lazy spots.

She seems to like this one spot in the hallway.

She can look this way and see out a window...

She can look that way and see out a window.....

yes my house is small. : )

And she can also check for squirrels and birdies

and the occasional bunny from here too.

The unspoken rule in the house is don't put your silverware

on the table. Appetizing, huh?