Tuesday I decided to go to a nearby town to return a few items and do a little shopping. The closest mall to me is about 30 miles away and I haven’t been in a while but after being there yesterday and seeing a few stores that had closed, I think I decided to just wait and shop more when I’m in Jackson….bigger city, more stores, better malls, etc. But it was an outing, I made my returns and it was something different to do that day. When I got home I put away some of the things I got and then went upstairs to check my email. I hadn’t been in the room long when I heard a loud noise coming from downstairs, maybe in the kitchen under the room I was in and it sounded like someone had dropped stuff on the floor or was leaning on the door trying to get it open! I’m just a naturally scared, skittish person to start with but when there’s noises involved I don’t do well at all. I hoped it was Don but didn’t hear him say anything so I pulled my cell phone out and dialed him. When he answered I almost whispered, “Where are you”; he tells me he’s in the middle of a farmer’s field like 30+ miles from home. I lost it then, got very teary and told him, “there’s somebody in the house”.
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This past weekend Don & I flew to Houston to surprise our son for his birthday, a belated birthday surprise. We were in Charlotte a couple of weekends ago when Trent had his birthday so SK decided to have a family get together for him after his big day and for it to be a surprise. We flew out on Friday about midday to spend the weekend. We just hung out and visited mostly; D & T went to the driving range on Saturday and we had to fly back home Sunday for D to teach a class at church. And of course we got to play with the babies, hadn’t seen them since Thanksgiving so that was fun.
I totally forgot to take pictures during the birthday party! I was rather bummed when I realized that none of us had gotten camera out at all………so all I really got from the weekend are pictures of the little ones.
AC in her dress up dress
Gray just goofing around and for some unknown reason, he started making signs with his hands! How do you know at 4 to do that, maybe he’s seen it somewhere and is copying.
And I got one when they were taking naps…..I love sleeping kids! T & SK had moved a big bed out of G’s room and put twin beds in for them to share the room for a while because they like to be together, but for their nap they ended up on the same bed.
For the birthday dinner we had Catfish Allison, a specialty dish made by a local restaurant/tea room here in the Mississippi Delta. I’ve had it before at the restaurant but have never known the recipe or that I could even get it! But SK had the recipe so click below on “more” in case you want to see the recipe, it’s really good but NOT low fat at all! Mississippi farm raised catfish all the way out in TX!
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Recently several people have told me that Lifetime would be showing movies on Monday nights that were made from Nora Roberts books, Stacy was one of those people. I think another one was my SIL’s grandmother….the cutest, prettiest, spunkiest little church going Southern lady. When I went to Charlotte to see my daughter a few weeks ago, Jeremy’s grandmother was there. Her name is Jane, she lost her husband in September and it’s been hard on her. She is very personable and I have always really enjoyed her and we had a great visit while I was there. I think she might be in her 70’s or late 70’s, not sure, but you’d never know it because she acts & seems so young. We got to talking about books and reading and she told me about these movies being shown on Lifetime and I think she’s read Nora Roberts before. I have only read one book by her, Montana Sky. I took it on vacation this summer and finished it off pretty quick! It will be one of the movies but I hadn’t read the other three books, so after talking to Jane, I decided I’d read the others and watch all of them. I just finished Angels Fall yesterday! It has more bad language and some steamy scenes in it than I usually like to read but it was quite a book! I was surprised this summer when I read Montana Sky to find that it had some murder mystery to it….just didn’t know what to expect from her stuff I think. It had me guessing right up til the very end. This time I was able to correctly guess from the beginning who I thought the guilty party was! I’m not sure the show will be as good as the book, not sure I can see Heather Locklear playing the main character either. And the main guy? From what I’ve seen on the website, I’m not sure they found someone as “hunky” as I think the character was written!
Tonight is 24 night for us so I’ll have to tape the movie on Lifetime. In case any of you read Nora Roberts books you might want to check these movies out; they should be tonight and the next 3 Mondays. I don’t have Tivo so I’m not up-to-date with that but my VCR will be going. Maybe I’ll be able to watch it tomorrow!
Updated: I watched the tape and I’m thinking it was only so-so, not too great but don’t know if that’s just me. I don’t usually watch this station a lot, and sometimes I think their movies are a little cheesy. It just didn’t seem to develop the characters or story much I thought.
Maybe this week I’ll be better about following my plan! Got a little sidetracked last week with being out of town some and next week starts a whole new set of problems, but I’ll save that for another post. Check out Laura’s place for more menus this week. Hope it’s a good one for you!
Monday………Parmesan baked salmon, green beans
Tuesday………Meat loaf, potato, veggie (didn’t get around to this one last week!)
Wednesday….church supper
Thursday…….Salmon cakes
Friday………..Foil Pack Chicken & Mushroom Dinner
weekend……I’d like to try maybe a soup with barley in it, still looking for a recipe!
We also might eat out this week, so one or more of these might not happen but it’s good to have a plan!
Sister Stacy called this morning and wanted to know if I wanted to come see her today; our Dad was going to drive to her house and I could go eat lunch with them. I had to make a quick decision since it was 9:30, 90 miles & a 1 1/2 hr. drive away! Hubby was going to be close by there for a golf lesson and a dermatologist appt. to get a skin cancer place cut off, so on the spur of the moment I decided to ride with him. (Sometimes the spontaneous trips are the best.) Stacy came to pick me up, literally on the side of the highway. We ate lunch at Jason’s Deli (yummy!) and then went with Dad to Sam’s. I don’t always think that they have the best prices on every item but I did buy one thing that I’ve bought there in the past……..a HUGE bag of bread flour! It always seems like a good idea at the time; you know, 25 lbs for just over $5. Can’t get it that cheap in the grocery but when I get it home I wonder if I’ve lost my mind. I’ll leave it in this big bag until early next week when I feed my starter and make bread again. But then I’ll have to put it all in several big ziplock bags and freeze it. I think it lasted quite a while the last time I bought it but I sort of remember thinking that I wouldn’t buy this big bag again! But today, I did…………and I hope I’m glad of it next week!
I’m just now getting around to taking the pictures off my camera that I took while in Charlotte last week. We went for Katelyn’s first birthday party and had fun visiting. I think the birthday girl had fun too!
All you really need are some presents and yummy cake…………..
Boxes are good because she was mostly interesting in climbing ON them.
A little unsure of the cake at first but then got into it……she got a little dazed after eating it, probably from too much sugar!
Bath time is always fun too, gotta get all that icing off.
Ok, I’m sure that was more fun for me than you but I just wanted to post some of them anyway.
I need to get back into a routine of doing this; so supper doesn’t sneak up on me without having a plan and so I can shop more efficiently! Check out Laura’s place for more great menu ideas.
Monday……….Crockpot Chicken Santa Fe, one of our favorites and easy to adjust in case we invite friends over to watch 24 tonight!
Tuesday……….Baked Salmon, veggies
Wednesday…..Church supper
Thursday……..Meat loaf, potatoes, broccoli (new crockpot recipe I might try, if not then I’ll make mini meat loaves)
Friday…………baked catfish
Sat/Sunday…..TBD
I saw this at Dawn’s place and thought it looked like fun so I swiped it to do! We enjoy playing Scattegories; this was a little harder than I first thought it might be.
Rules: Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following…They must be REAL places, names, things…NOTHING made up! If you can’t think of anything, skip it. Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1st initial. You CAN’T use your name for the boy/girl name question.
Your name: Gail
1. Famous Athlete: Gale Sayers
2. 4 letter word: gate, game, goal
3. Street name: Grand Boulevard
4. Color: green
5. Gifts/presents: Golf clubs
6. Vehicles: Grand Prix
7. Tropical Locations: Galapagos Islands
8. College Majors: Graphic Design
9. Dairy Products: Gorgonzola cheese
10. Things in a Souvenir Shop: globes
11. Boy Name: George
12. Girl Name: Grace
13. Movie Titles: Goodnight and Good Luck
14. Alcohol: gin
15. Occupations: Geologist
16. Flowers: Gladiolas
17. Celebrities: George Clooney
18. Magazines: Good Housekeeping
19. U.S. Cities: Greensboro, North Carolina
20. Pro Sports Teams: Green Bay Packers
21. Something Found in a kitchen: grater
22. Reason for Being Late: Game went into overtime
23. Something You Throw Away: Gauze bandage
24. Things You Shout: Get out!
25. Cartoon Character: Goofy
I won’t tag anyone specifically but I hope some of you will play along! Let me know so I can come read your answers. Stacy, why don’t you do this one when you get back!
I love soup most anytime and could easily eat it weekly. But usually we have it a bit more when the weather is cold. I’ve been gone for about a week and have done no cooking in that time! So to ease back into it, and because the weather is really cold here, I decided to make soup for supper tonight. Salmon chowder, something I really like!
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I’m in Charlotte and having a good time! We had a fun birthday party and time to visit and play. Kathryn and I might run errands and shop a bit today but unfortunately I’ll be limited in what I can buy, it has to fit on the plane if I bring it home. Don flew home Sunday so he could teach a class at church. Tomorrow I’ll be home and back into a routine, I hope! Maybe I’ll get to post a few pictures later.
We were so excited about the Saints game this weekend! What a great game, looking forward to the next one. Hope you all had a good weekend and hope your Monday is a good one.
“We’re gonna have a good time”
This sweet little girl is ONE today! I can’t believe it.
She’s having a party on Saturday and I’m going to the party……….I might hug her and squeeze her and kiss her!
“The time is now, the day is here, One Day More!”
My girls would know it without the music but they don’t read this! Oh well…….
I got tagged by Kelli in December for this meme and did a post a couple of weeks ago on this. It’s still going around and now I’m tagged by the lovely Dianne for this one again!
6 Weird Things about me………..most of these are repeats from last time.
1. Most nights before I go to sleep I have to flip my pillow over to the other side.
2. I was sorta scared to get my ears pierced til I was way grown! Now I wish I hadn’t waited so long, earrings for pierced ears are SO much cuter!
3. Trying to do anything in Excel makes me crazy, I don’t understand it and don’t like it!
4. Have never had a broken bone…….(although I’m a little hesitant to write that now, my left hand/wrist has been hurting for a week or more and it’s hard to pick anything up with it. Only thing I can think of that might have happened is falling in the wet carport during Christmas but my hand didn’t start hurting til a few days after. Hubby thinks I “hyperextended” it whatever that is! I’m trying to decide if anything should be done about it)
5. I have to have something on my lips at almost all times……I LOVE softlips!
6. I didn’t have a dog or cat or pet when growing up……Don thinks this is very weird! He says I was deprived, he had a ton of pets while growing up. We have tried to make sure our kids had them so we’ve had a few dogs over the years and we still have the 2 cats that belong to E.
I’m not tagging anyone this time but please play along! Post it on your blog so I can read it or leave me a comment and tell me ALL about yourself!
Shannon over at Rocks In My Dryer hosts Works for Me Wednesday each week. There’s always many great ideas for the home & family there but this week is themed and all about eating well and healthy recipes/tips. So I decided to play this week and share a salad dressing recipe that I’ll make and keep in the fridge. Be sure to visit Shannon for all the other Works for me Wednesday participants.
Fat Free Honey Mustard Dressing
1/4 c. fat free mayo
1/4 c. Dijon mustard
1/4 c. honey
1 T. prepared mustard
1 T. white vinegar
1/8 t. paprika
Combine ingredients and mix well by hand. Store in covered container in fridge. (I know a lot of people don’t like the fat free mayo but when mixed with the other ingredients, this is really very good)
Salmon is a fish that is good for you and we try to have it once or twice a week; I’ve cooked it many ways but this is my all time favorite for baking. It comes out good just about every single time!
Maple Hoisin Glazed Salmon
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
2 – 6 oz salmon fillets (about 1 inch thick)
Preheat oven to 400.
Combine first 4 ingredients in a small bowl; stir with a whisk. Place salmon, skin side down, in a pyrex pan coated with cooking spray or lined with foil. Brush fillets with maple mixture. Bake 15-18 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork (it might depend on the thickness of your fish). Baste once with mixture if you’d like (sometimes I forget to do this!). I use any remaining sauce to serve over fish when it comes out.
My youngest child was home last night and he thought he wasn’t going to like the salmon when he saw what we were having (he won’t eat fish much), but after supper he told me how good it was!
Sister Stacy tagged me for this meme; a little more difficult for me to do these where I have to come up with something personal. I figured Stacy didn’t want to know any more about me than she already does! (or anyone else) But here’s a stab at this one.
1. As a child, what did you always say you wanted to be when you grew up? As a child, I don’t honestly think I ever really thought about it or said that there was something I wanted to do; not that I recall anyway! When I was a young teenager I would dream about being on Broadway or singing or something like that….when I was in college I wanted to get married and have a family. That one I’ve done and am still doing I guess!
2. If you had to choose one thing that you’ve always dreamed of doing, what would it be? What is stopping you? I guess I’d be a backup singer for someone! Or be in something on stage. What is stopping me? The obvious! No talent when it comes to those kinds of things, it’s just a dream! I’m too old to do it now and then there’s always the shyness fear thing; I would never be able to put myself in front of people to do something, much less a ton of people.
3. Who is your biggest fan? I would hope it would be Don and my kids; the kids haven’t quite gotten there yet and I don’t really have any fans.
4. What bible study or book (besides the obvious-the Bible) has most impacted your life to date? All of the Beth Moore bible studies that I’ve done with my women’s group have just been wonderful; I think we’ve done most of them and it’s hard to pick one. “A Woman’s Heart” was special because it was the first one we did; I loved “Believing God” also and this last one, “Daniel” was meaningful for the times we live in today.
5. When are you the happiest? When my relationship with the Lord is on track. When I’m with my family or friends having a good time. When I’m reading in a cozy spot and maybe a flavored coffee to go with that. When things at home are organized. Being able to stay home, that has been a blessing.
Today I’ll not tag anyone specific, because I’m running out of people to tag! And because I’m not being able to get to some people’s blogs that are on blogger, so some people might be having blogger trouble today!
But I would love for any of you (1 or 2) that read this to play along! Post it on your blog and be sure to let me know so I can read your answers or post it in my comments.
I’m not sure I should really post my menu this week because it’s a short week for me! But maybe it will help me at least get a meal on the table for a few days.
Monday……..Quesadillas, and something to go with them but I need an idea
Tuesday…….Grilled salmon, veggies
Wednesday….church supper
Thursday……Baked chicken, but then again we might eat out this day!
Friday and following…..visiting kids for birthday party
Hmmm, I might like having a short week of cooking!
