Saturday To Do List - NOTHING!

I am officially taking today OFF! Wow - the past two days have been hectic, babysitting for Brayden and preparing food and house for the poker party last night. The food was a great success -- meatball subs followed by the Ice Cream Sandwich Cake. Man food! Our electricity went out around 11pm, but because we have a candle-chandalier in the dining room, the guys continued to play by candlelight! The game broke up around 12:30am. Me, I fell asleep at 7:30, woke up around 10pm! I was just plain worn out from babysitting for Brayden (who was just a titch fussy -- I think he's coming down with another cold or perhaps it's allergies?) and cleaning house and cooking. Didn't spend the evening quilting as I anticipated, but now I'm all rested up and ready to rock n' roll in the quilt room today! The house is exceptionally clean, I've got a refrigerator (and freezer) full of meatballs, it's way too hot outside to do any yard or garden work (high 90's with very high humidity) so..... I plan on doing a whole lot of nothing today and resting up afterwards! Yippy!!! I love days like this! OK, one exception - I do want to change sheets on the masterbedroom and guest room beds. But that's no big deal and won't take me 30 minutes total. I'm going to go get that done as soon as I post this, and then it's an official NO HOUSEWORK OR COOKING kind of day. YAY! A note about the Ice Cream cake (recipe below). I thought it was a bit over-the-top sweet for my taste. The men loved it. I also think it definitely needed chopped nuts in the chocolate filling. It was VERY easy to make -- took a total of about 15 minutes, and froze nicely. Before wrapping the aluminum foil up and over the top, I put six toothpicks on the top to help tent the foil so it wouldn't pull off the frosting before it froze. That worked well. I also took it out of the freezer once it was frozen, and patched and missing frosting spots, moved it off the alum foil and onto a platter, then put alum foil over the top (still with toothpicks). This cake easily serves 12 as you do not want to cut big thick pieces -- just too rich for that! But otherwise, it's a good recipe. Scale of 1 to 10 I think I'll rate it a 7, but I think the guys would rate it a 9.

Gramma bought me a Sit n' Spin!

Oy Vay! What a long day!

I knew today was going to be busy but it's 8:30pm and I've still got things to do. Jeff was out of Jury Duty by 11:30pm, so he came home and started shampoo'ing carpets while I went grocery shopping. I unloaded the car, put groceries away, wrapped up a frozen pork loin I bought and had cut into boneless chops and roasts, then did a bit of cleaning, but was generally "land locked" downstairs because all the carpets were wet! So I did head to my quilt room for about an hour, working on a "big boy bib" for Brayden, since he makes such a terrible mess now that he's feeding himself and needs a large bib that covers ALL of him (is it possible to make one that also covers the high chair?? LOL). Then we had to drive to the mechanic's to pick up Jeff's car. Normally this is a 10 minute ride, but the road between here and there was closed (!) and we had to take about a 10 mile detour, only to get stuck at a train crossing for a VERY long and VERY slow train! Once we'd picked up his car, we decided to come back another way, and got caught up in traffic jams at every turn. What should have taken us 20 minutes took well over an hour. Tonight I made 5 lbs of ground beef into meatballs. Some will go to make meatball subs for the poker party tomorrow night, but since I was already making them, I decided to triple the amount and make some for the freezer too. So four batches of meatballs later, that's done. While the last batch was in the oven, (yes, I bake mine) I put together the ice cream sandwich cake. I will say I'd wish I'd omitted the oreo cookies -- possibly put in chopped walnuts or pecans instead. They were just too bulky in the frosting, for my taste. But oh well, I followed the recipe and it looks good. It did take more than the 8 oz of Cool Whip called for -- probably about 12 ounces when all is said and done. Luckily, I had an extra container of Cool Whip in the freezer, so no second run to the grocery store necessary. Tonight we need to get the furniture back in place once the carpets are dry, and I've got to straighten and dust the shelves in my office. The rest of my office is done and looks good -- just forgot these few shelves. It's been a long day and my back feels it. Time for some Motrin and Ice and sit down for a bit. Brayden is here tomorrow, so we'll have to run around again at 5pm after he leaves and clean up toys, sweep or even wash the kitchen floor, etc.

Busy day

As I mentioned before, Jeff has a poker party here Friday (tomorrow) evening. So today and tomorrow are preparation for that. Unfortunately, my back "went out" completely yesterday morning. For the entire day I had great difficulty sitting down, bending, picking anything up, and standing in one spot for any period of time. I was home alone with Brayden, and bless his heart, he was absolutely wonderful and I didn't need to call Jeff to come home or DD to come get the baby. We walked around the yard a bit (walking is what seems to be the only comfortable thing I can do!), Brayden carrying a 2 foot dowel that he was pretending was a weed-wacker. LOL We went out to the vegetable garden and found green beans ready to pick. I picked a few and he and I munched on the fresh raw green beans, and he LOVED them! Thattaboy! He had concord grapes last week fresh off the vine, but they were a bit sour and he didn't care for them at all (as in - he popped one in his mouth and promptly looked at me with the "What on earth are you feeding me??!" look of his!) So I was a little surprised he was willing to test something else straight from the garden. But try them he did - and begged for more! I couldn't pick Brayden up at all, so when it was time for his nap, I handed him his bottle and told him it was rest time -- so he took his bottle and hiked up the stairs and headed to the bed! Sometimes I can't believe this little guy is for real! LOL! Temps in the afternoon were mid and high 90's, so it was too hot to go outside for very long. A few times Brayden wanted to do something I couldn't do because of the back pain, so I just explained that Gramma had an "ouchie" on my back and I needed to sit for a bit. He'd bring me one of his books and sit in my lap to read, or he sat and played with his toys on the family room floor. I'd purchased a Sit n'Spin at a yard sale last week, and introduced it to Brayden while he was here. He took to that like a duck to water! LOL! I didn't even have to show him what to do! I think it's genetic -- DD Mary and DS JJ spent MANY a happy hour on their Sit n' Spins! I had to help Brayden sit down on it, but once I did, he was good to go :) The other thing I simply cannot do when my back is out is vaccuum. Something about the position when moving the vac back and forth really hurts my back. But Brayden was upset that the kitchen floor had crumbs on it, so I got out the vac anyway. And he vaccuumed FOR me! Did a darn good job too. I have a video of it on my other blog but guess I should move it over here, since it's unrelated to quilting. So here it is: My back is feeling 50% better today, and I have a long two days ahead of me. Jeff took the next two days off to help, and what happens?? He gets called in for Jury Duty!! THURSDAY TO DO LIST

• Dust/polish dining room - done
• Clean desk in office, dust office - done
• Clean downstairs bathroom - Jeff volunteered to do this
• Grocery shopping - done
• Make meatballs (for subs) and ice cream cake - done!
• Windex windows at front door - done
• Sweep front porch and walkway - done
• Set timer on fountain - done
• Good general pickup - done

Lastly, (before I go get to work!) I want to mention the FISCHER PRICE TOY RECALL. I just bought Brayden an Elmo car, which he absolutely loves and played with a lot. This morning I heard about the recall on the news and checked the recall website and sure enough, the Elmo car is on the list. There are a LOT of toys on the list, so if you've bought any toys in the past several months, please check the list!!!

I'm a NASCAR fan

I love NASCAR. Jeff and I rarely miss a race and we both participate in fantasy racing on ESPN. I was a serious Dale Earnhardt fan and miss him to this day. Tony Stewart is, at the moment, my favorite driver. For all you NASCAR fans, here's a video worth watching. Some drivers were hurt, but none seriously that my memory recalls, and none fatally. The DE crash is not in here (I wouldn't post the video if it was.) So why do we watch NASCAR races? This is why. In what other sport can you see this kind of action and mayhem and have no one get seriously injured?

Such a waste of time

One of my errands today was taking me down I-75 for 30 miles into northern Kentucky, so I had Jeff's car, since mine has been declared legally on it's last legs by "our mechanic" and I refuse to drive it any further than the mile-away WallyWorld. I normally take an audio book with me and enjoy the drive. I always check Cincinnati traffic cameras before I leave, because traffic jams on a hot day just don't do anything for me! I left the house around 9:30am, figuring to get down and back before the 90plus degree weather hit later today. I didn't get 10 miles down the road when I ran smack into a full-stop traffic jam... ARGH! I was doing OK with that... I mean, I can just sit and listen to my audio book, sip the coffee I brought with me --life certainly could be worse, right? But then I happened to glance down at my dashboard -- to see that the car was overheating! It did this once before on the way to Cincinnati when Jeff was driving, but I have a real THING about being broken down along the highway. I called Jeff on the cell phone (I was right in front of where he works!) and my cell phone was dying! LOL! He said to just pull over and park for 5 minutes because sometimes the fan gets stuck (?), but I just decided to forget about the trip, got off at the next exit and headed back home.

I am SO over cars that don't work right. I swear I go into a panic attack if a car so much as burps, and I am just beyond upset that both of our cars have problems right now. Jeff will take his car to the mechanic Wednesday PM, so that will leave us with just my JUNK for the following two days.

I love my husband dearly, but I swear, the older he gets the more rusted shut his pockets get! I NEED A NEW CAR!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday's To Do List

It's errand day today, so most of my day will be spent out and about.

• Make bed - done
• Jeff's breakfast - done
• Pack Jeff's lunch - done
• Dishes out of dishwasher - done
• Clean kitchen sink - done
• Mail B's birthday card
• Grocery shopping, bank, post office, misc. shopping
• Start gathering things to sell on Ebay and donate

I've decided it's time to rid myself of some things I've been waffling about selling on Ebay. I have a lot of (really good and pricey) yarn boxed up down in the basement, some other non-quilt craft items in my quilt room (particularly embroidery projects and transfers) and miscellaneous items that are just taking up space but not being appreciated. I'm going to start gathering them and have one long selling-spree on Ebay. I'm also going to freecycle a lot of books and kitchen items that are no longer being used. Time for a major decluttering around here!

Keeping life F-U-N

Jeff and I celebrated our 29th anniversary on July 22nd. We have officially been with each other longer than we have been without each other. How cool is that?!? I happen to be married to the world's BEST husband. There's not a day that goes by that he doesn't make me laugh, and that really seems important to both of us. We enjoy each other's company, we share many interests and yet we also respect each other's right to have individual interests. He is an amazing man, wonderful father to our two grown children, and adored by our grandson. He does housework (I'm not kidding!), he attacks "Honey Dew" lists like they are the most important thing in the world, and he never gets himself a cup of coffee without asking me if I'd like one too. He actually LIKES the fact that I'm a housewife -- and I try my best to take good care of him and show him how much I appreciate his hard work for the good life we have. On the other hand, some days the man deserves a medal for staying married to me. Case in point: My 12-year-old SUV has been officially declared dead by the world's best mechanic, but for some accountant-like reason, we're not replacing it until it has gasped it's last breath. I live in fear of breaking down along the road somewhere. When I need to go any distance, Jeff and I swap cars and he drives mine to work. I'm actually hoping it will die while he's driving it, so we can get on with getting a new car. But as long as the one moves forward, it's "good enough" in Jeff's book. I do have a WallyWorld within a 1 mile driving distance of my house, so I will drive my car there -- figuring I could walk home if it broke down along the way. Thursday later afternoon I went grocery shopping at WallyWorld (hate the store - hate the fact that for now I'm forced to shop there - hate the fact they make me grocery shop on one side of the store and then force me to walk a zillion miles to the other side of the store to get cat food! Hate the fact they make their money on me being an impulse buyer -- ha! fooled them! I've got "sticking to the list" down to a fine art just to spite them!). Apparently, Jeff got out of work early and arrived home before I did. JUST as I was pulling into the garage, my cell phone rang. I shut the car off and answered it. "Hi - just wanted to make sure you're OK - the car's OK?" My sweet husband looking out for me, as usual... My response? "Nope. I was just going to call you. The car won't start and I'm sitting here in the parking lot with a load of melting frozen food. Can you come rescue me?" His reaction was as expected - a bit of panic, a lot of "I'm so glad I was home when this happened" and immediate "I'm on my way!" Now remember, I'm 10 feet away sitting in my car in the garage! LOL! It didn't take him 10 seconds to come running out the door (You could practically SEE his Superman cape flapping along behind him -- he was on his way to rescue me!). He got 3 feet across the garage and realized he was standing in front of my car, and looked up. I smiled and waved :) Hahahaha. Love it. Love it. Love it. Eventually, we had a good laugh :) Took him a few minutes though! He deserves a medal, honest!!!

Monday's To Do List

I've lately come to the realization that Monday's are just a non-productive day for me. So instead of wasting my day feeling guilty about not getting any housework done, I've decided to accept it and just deal with it :) How much easier life will be if I'm not beating myself up every Monday! So my To Do list today is short, sweet, and quilt related.

• Clean up kitchen, wipe down counters, dishes into dishwasher - done
• Finish laundry - 1 load left in dryer - done
• Sweep kitchen - done
• Re-program thermostat up two degrees (for this week's 90 degree weather) - done
• Make bed - done
• Make Jeff's breakfast - done (English muffin, scrambled eggs)
• Pack Jeff's lunch - done
• Run dishwasher and put dishes away - done
• Clean and re-organize quilt room - done
• Empty upstairs trash cans - done
• Clean cat box - done
• Added: Wash Kitchen Floor - done
• Added: Clean master bath - done

That's not so bad! I can live with that! Jeff has poker here this Friday night. This is a group of 7 guys that have played poker together for 20 years. They play once a month and rotate houses, so we only have it here about every 7th month. I have to come up with something to feed them - dinner and dessert. I saw a great recipe for an ice cream sandwich cake I want to try (but would never make just for Jeff and I because we'd eat it all!), but still have to think of the main course. I think it will be something like meatball subs or pork barbeque on kaiser rolls (it's a southern thang), but haven't decided yet. Here's the recipe for the SO-EASY ICE CREAM CAKE From the Kraft Food & Family magazine - subscribe for FREE at kraftfoods.com 1/2 cup fudge ice cream topping, warmed 1 tub (8 oz) Cool Whip, thawed 1 pkg (4-serving size) Jello Chocolate flavor instant pudding 8 oreo cookies 12 vanilla ice cream sandwiches Pour the fudge topping into a medium bowl. Stir in 1 cup of the whipped topping with a wire whisk until it's well blended. Add in the dry pudding mix; stir 2 minutes or until well blended. The consistency of the fudge topping can vary depending on what brand you purchase. If it's too thick, stir in 1/4 cup milk to thin. Chop the Oreo cookies roughly into chunks. Stir into the pudding mixture. Arrange 4 layers of ice cream sandwiches side by side on a 24 x 12 inch piece of aluminum foil. Top with half of the pudding mixture. Repeat the layers. Top last layer of pudding mixture with remaining 4 ice cream sandwiches. Frost the top and sides with remaining Cool Whip (it doesn't have to look perfect). Bring up the foil around sides and fold top and ends loosely to seal. Freeze at least four hours before serving. Let stand at room temp to soften slightly before serving. Makes 12 servings. I was just remembering that when the kids were young and we had poker here, it meant I would have to clean for a solid week to get the house ready! Now I just need to wax the dining room table and give the downstairs bathroom a quick clean and possibly wash the kitchen floor on Friday (Brayden is feeding himself now and my floor is taking the brunt of his learning this new skill!). It's so much easier to keep things clean than to run around like a maniac because someone's coming into the house. Thank you Flylady!!

Great Weekend

Friday was DD's 26th birthday, so we offered to keep Brayden overnight and all day Saturday. What a wonderful time we had! Since we had so much rain on Friday, DH and Brayden went out and played in the giant puddle at the end of our driveway, and he had so much fun splashing and dancing! He came inside absolutely soaked, got some clean clothes and we had dinner. We played with his cars for a bit, then read him his favorite books and gave him a bath. By 8:30 he was sound asleep without any fussing at all.

On Saturday Brayden didn't wake up until 8:30 (!), and woke up full of "squeeze hugs" and smiles. What a joy that child is. We had breakfast, then he and DH went outside to fix "the turtle" -- our fountain in the front yard that has water coming out of a turtle's mouth. Brayden was a great help -- he dumped buckets of water and handed Jeff paper towels. Although we can't understand what he's saying yet, you can understand that he was giving some good solid advice through the whole thing! Cute as a button.

Next we headed to the local library where he picked out 3 books, and helped DH carry videos. He loved going into the adult section of the library and started counting books and running his hands along their spines. I can only hope he grows up to the library as much as I do.

From there we went yard sale-ing for a bit. Brayden picked out a .25 truck and we bought him a Sit-and-Spin for $1. Haven't introduced him to the Sit and Spin yet, but it was one of my kids' favorite toys so I think he'll enjoy it. Then it was on to the local public park and playground, Keehner Park. Although it was a hot, humid day (mid to high 80's), the playground is in the woods and it was cool and comfortable. Brayden climbed through his first tunnel (that I know of) and had a ball sliding and on the swings.

We headed home about 2pm and did whatever we needed to to keep Brayden awake until we got home. Poor little guy was pooped! He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, and he slept until 4:30. Shortly after that I took him home. I almost hated to give him back but both DH and I were worn out!

Today, Sunday, we were up early and decided to go to Turtle Creek flea market just to see what we could find. I did purchase some thread, a stuffed monkey for Brayden (he needs something to cuddle with when he stays overnight here), and some fresh tomatoes and green peppers. On the way home we stopped to buy some bacon to have BLT's for dinner, but DH decided he wanted ribs, so we bought those and had them for dinner. BLT's will be tomorrow night. The ribs came out PERFECT - so tender and juicy. I steamed them with dried rosemary at 250 degrees for four hours, then popped them in Montgomery Inn BBQ sauce. We also had baked sweet potatoes (we shared one potatoe), homemade coleslaw and homemade cornbread.

While we watched the Brickyard 400 (yay Tony!!!) , I sewed about a dozen yoyo's to go on a new quilt, and cooked our dinner during commercials. Everything was really delicious! Here's my really easy recipe for cole slaw:

COLESLAW

1 bag of pre-shredded coleslaw (for our 2 servings, I used about 1/4 of the bag)

1/2 cup mayo (I use Hellman's Canola Oil mayo)

1 tbsp Splenda (you can use sugar)

1 tbsp white vinegar

1/4 tsp celery salt

Mix the mayo, splenda, white vinegar and celery salt and adjust the vinegar and splenda to taste. Pour this over the shredded colesaw and mix thoroughly. Cover bowl in plastic wrap and let sit in the fridge for at least one hour.