Monday, April 27, 2009

Beaches and Pina Colada's

 Brea's Mommy asked an Aloha Friday question:

If you could have any job in the world what would you want to do?


I answered that I would want to be a Beach Tester & Virgin Pina Colada Drinker.

I would love to travel all the beaches in the world and rate them. A good two weeks at each place ought to give me enough information to write a critique, don't ya think? And of course I will have to have my Pina Colada's and some chocolate- might have to be candy coated chocolate, because I like my beaches warm!! Thanks for getting me thinking about my favorites things today!!!

Of course I would want my family to be with me.  So I would still want to be a mom and wife.
I really doubt that this is a real job but fantasy jobs are what I really want right now.  I need some time away from the real cares of this world.  So I am off reading and delving into a bit of fantasy.  I am way tooo stressed and need to take care of myself for a bit.



So I am off to a beach with a good book, but maybe I won't be having a Pina Colada, it will be ice water and maybe some homemade buttermilk!

First, I'm going to finish New Moon, yes I know that I am slow in picking the book up and starting it.  But I just picked it up yesterday and I only have 40 pages to go.  Yes, I read nearly all afternoon.  But today I have started my 2 loaves of bread and done some Blogging.

Second, I'll be getting Eclipse off the bookshelf and devouring it.  Then I'll decide if I go on to Breaking Dawn and maybe the last couple of Harry Potter's I have be hoarding.  I just don't want to run out of these authors work.

I have pretty much run out of Louis L'Amour works and I hate that.  He is one of my overall favorite writers.  I hate it that he has passed away.  I am grateful to his kids for publishing everything they can that he created.  He is so talented.  In my humble opinion.

Anyway, I am off to my beach hut.  Which means my bedroom.  Of course my tub is the ocean water.  My carpet is the sand.  And my door is my barricade to the present.  I hope to be back soon.  So my love to you all.  I will return and be feeling much better.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

My Aloha Friday for April 24th



Dishes, Dishes Who Does the Dishes?

Now that we answered how we like to do the dishes, I am curious as to who does the dishes in your home.

My Hubby does more than his fair share of loading the dishwasher.  He has always been really good at that.  I love him for the help he gives me on this account.  I get the kids involved as much as I can, but I lost my magic 'doing the dishes' wand and can't seem to get them moving in that department as much.  

They do help in other areas, so I trade and am usually quite content.  We all have both our favorite chores and natural talents and that means we can negotiate chores, in my humble opinion.

So in my home the dishes are mostly done by Hubby, however, the pots and pans are usually mine.  Go figure.....

So in your home:

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My question to you this week is:

Who does the dishes in your Home?

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for posting! Now jump back to Kailani's An Island Life
for other fun questions.


************************
Check out my other posts for these meme's:

Everything Is Fine - We Were Just Witnesses

This is from Tuesday night, April 21st.


Well Sooo much has happened again in my life. Isn’t that the way it goes? Slow then hurried. Nothing going on then everything going on at once? Whose life isn’t like that?

So I wanted to say something about when Angel and I went to pick up Hubby and Pilot from their quick go to Gallup, New Mexico to pick up the now fixed broken down bus. I was going to let Hubby drive because he almost always drives. 99% of the time he drives when I am in the car. But this time Angel wanted to keep her seat and so I thought that maybe Hubby would be tired after driving for nearly 10 hours and so I would volunteer. Pilot hated that ‘cuz he wanted the front seat but I convinced him to let Angel stay there and I would drive home.

So we left the shop. I was going to take I2-15 South to go home, but decided at the last minute that I would take I15 instead. I had to make a few lane changes and was watching where I needed to go and all of the sudden I hear this loud crash and then skidding and out in front of us was a pickup truck going sideways in a spin and then a skid from the left side of the freeway to the right side emergency lane. Or as my Hubby says, he started in lane 1, then was in lane 2 clipped the backend of the Ford PU he was trying to pass and spun 2 times and parked in the emergency lane where his car began to leak radiator fluid and his right front tire went flat. The other truck kept control and pulled over out of travel way in front of us.

We pulled over to see if they needed any assistance. I called 911 and Hubby checked for medical. They were both alright, no immediate injuries. Thank heavens. Pilot was able to tell me where we were, exit # and name of freeway. What? You are saying, how come you didn’t know? Well, I have been known to have memory problems and this is just another manifestation that it is there. But all is well. I could have figured it out on my own, but it was faster to rely on his help and actually let him help.

None of us were freaked out, but then it wasn’t that bad. It delayed these guys by at least 30 minutes, us too, but we could have left when we found out they were fine. But we stayed. It turned out fine though. We weren’t in a hurry and we love to help so we stayed.

Hubby said it was pretty funny when the HWY Patrol showed up, the Officer asked who was involved, because all three men we talking together. One guy said as he pointed to the other driver, “he hit me.” The other guy said, “I hit him,” as he pointed to the other driver. Hubby said, “This guy in the Nissan truck started in lane 1, then was in lane 2 clipped the backend of the Ford PU he was trying to pass and spun 2 times and parked in the emergency lane where his car began to leak radiator fluid and his right front tire went flat. The Ford truck kept control and pulled over out of travel up there front of us.” The Officer said as he looked at my Hubby, “I need your statement.” Then gave Hubby a statement form to fill out. I laughed, Hubby was in his element. He is so good with descriptions of things like this.


Hubby stayed and talked with the Paramedics, fire crew members and the officers. He was having a good time. I wish he could be back at the Hospital or somewhere with Fire/Medical. Maybe someday.


I was truly surprised that I was not nervous or upset. I was driving straight towards the spinning truck. We must have been far enough back that I was not seeing an eminent collusion wit h us. I have been in the situation a couple of times where cars have been hit and were hurtling towards the car I was driving or passenger in and I was truly scared that they would be hitting us. But this time I was not worried. I still let Hubby drive home. The kids felt more secure I am thinking, but I think he felt better being in charge as well. Not that he doesn’t trust me, I just think he likes being our protector and he wanted the control of making sure we got home safely. Does that make sense? I hope it does.

This was a good time to teach the kids that even if you are a good driver, mistakes can happen. The Nissan driver misjudged where the truck in front of him was as he was changing lanes. The Ford driver was just heading home after being away from his family working for six days. He wasn’t doing anything wrong and was hit and he was delayed.

Another thing we could teach our kids was that drinking can impair your decisions. The Nissan driver said he had had a couple of beers two hour prior to the accident. I do wonder what his blood alcohol count was. He might have been impaired when his misjudged the situation. So just by his admission of having a couple of drinks, I can teach my kids that drinking and driving don’t mix. Not that they haven’t had plenty of examples already, they have, but I just hope they learn from it.

We also taught them to stop and help, if appropriate. The men didn’t really need us this time. But we could have offered bottled water, we had bottles in the car. A phone, a blanket, a place to sit, someone to talk to. Sometimes just having someone near is helpful. We wanted to offer our witness to the accident so that the truth was definite and no one could try to lie.

Well after all that, we did arrive home safely. Answered a lot of questions from the kids, many of them pertaining to the accident and what if’s. And heard a lot of, “I’m never going to do’s”, it was really an experience. A good one, and no one luckily was seriously hurt. The Ford driver thought he might have a bit of whiplash, but hopefully nothing else.

I hope the driver of the Nissan did not have an alcohol reading. He was on his way to meet his wife to see their preemie baby at the hospital. I hope he still got to go there. But if he was drinking, then I hope he was rewarded with his consequences.

An ambulance and fire truck were sent to the scene. The paramedics said they were told there were serious injuries. By whom were they told, I wonder? Because I told them I did not believe there were any injuries and the 911/Hwy Patrol said to call back if I found out differently. I did not call back.

So when the Ambulance got there, the Paramedics pulled out their back board, the gurney and all their bags. Then they went to the back truck, found out all was fine, turned around and reloaded all their equipment. They did check out the drivers to make sure they were fine.

Monday, April 20, 2009

My Make-Do Monday for April 20th



is a carnival dedicated to sharing the creative,
frugal or even humble ways we’re making-do with what we have
or what we can acquire in a frugal way.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

My Make Do Note Pad

So today came and I wasn't ready for Make Do Monday. Well I had plenty of ideas and I wanted one that would be new so I decided to fix my problem of note paper. It seems I a lot of times just need a small piece of paper to jot down a note on.

Like a web address so that Hubby can print something for me. (I don't stay hooked up to a printer and for some reason we can't get the Toshiba Laptop to print to his printer anyway.)

Or I can jot a phone number or street address. Or even a simple recipe. Most of the time I take the laptop to the kitchen when I need to make something from a recipe online or in my documents. But if it is a small, or quick recipe, I jot down the numbers and take the note to the kitchen. Most of you would remember a small recipe, but my memory isn't so great in that department anymore. Bummer!

So I have been using old business cards as note paper for years now. Don't ask how, but I have plenty. But the problem with that is they scatter and get borrowed for other projects. So I figure if I make them into a note pad type thing, maybe I can keep some by the computer so I have them when I need them.

So here is my solution:

Elmers Glue
Business Cards
Elastic Band



I stacked the cards evenly and then put the elastic around the edges.












Then I smeared glue on the one edge I wanted to be the top. Pilot suggests doing a couple of layers. I haven't tried it yet, but it may make a better bond.



When the glue dried, it looked just like a storebought notepad.



Do you see the chocolate? Yes, what project can be worked on without a bit of chocolate nearby?

Pilot picked it up from the store the other day with me in mind, he said. It is a Ganache Torte. Day old, well maybe week old, it definitely needed milk with it. But it is the thought that counts!! Right?!


Now I can jot a note and take it with me. Unless, someone else thinks this is cool and they borrow it for their own use!!! Possible, but I will set down the law when everyone gets back home!! lol...........................


Another Easy Peasy Project!! Useful, Make-Do and I am happy.


<><><><><><><><><><><><>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for visiting with me today and leave me a comment if you have the time.
Now jump back to Ann's site for more ideas.

Sharinskishe
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Check out my other posts for these meme's:

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Sunday Today

Happy Birthday to Grandpa A!!!

------------




I had so much to say today. But time has flown and I have forgotten my ideas. I hate it when that happens!!

I just spent 2 hours in the car going to Hubby's work and back to get him a car so he can drive to work in the morning and I can stay home and get Angel off to school. WHEW! I HATE the drive to his work!!!

I am glad that I don't have to get up early to leave by 5am now. It is going to be fine now. All I will have to worry about is picking him up when he gets back. Bummer, I still have to do a pick up!!

The weather was awesome today. Warm and sunny, a little light breeze, but not cold.


BUT...... THE..... BEST....... PART..... ABOUT..... TODAY..... WAS:

Pilot was set apart as a Teacher in the Aaronic Priesthood!! This means he can now help prepare the Sunday Sacrament. My parents were able to be with us as he was ordained. I am grateful for their support.

I can not believe he is 14!!! He is growing up so fast. I am proud of his desire to serve the Lord. I have good children. I thank Heavenly Father for them.

I hope you all had a wonderful day.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Update on Pizza Buns

So for tonight we had Pizza Buns again! Yes, two days in a row! I know, we are not very creative are we? In any case, I made the same amount of dough and we had tons of leftovers. I was able to let them rise a bit more than yesterdays, hence they sure looked like a lot more. Last night I made 8 large filled buns. Today I made 15 just right sized filled buns.

This time I filled 10 of them with the sausage, mushroom, cheese and sauce mix. Then 3 buns were only filled with cheese. And 2 I made into Resurrection Buns- well sort of.

Check out Ann's recipe for Resurrection Buns, these are awesome! The ones we made were delicious, so I am sure that if I followed Ann's recipe and used my homemade dough they would be out of this world!!! Good!!! Tasty!!!!

Now to tell you why I only made 2 Resurrection Buns. I made the bread dough a little different tonight. I added Italian seasoning, about 1 tablespoon, to my dough and about a 1/2 cup of grated cheese. I thought this would be grand with the pizza filling. It really was delicious, I think better than plain. Oh we also put cheese on the top of the buns before we stuck them in the oven. Made them so awesome!!

But back to the Resurrection Buns. I thought that because the dough had become a bit savory with the cheese and spices, it would not be a good sweet host for the marshmallow. OK, I was wrong!! Weird as it may seem, the dessert bun was delicious! And we did not even put the cinnamin and sugar on them!! Go figure!! I think I will be making them again.

I also used dried hard marshmallows. Someone forgot to seal up the bag and they have become petrified. But they worked just fine!! Sorry no pictures of the baked product, because I forgot and they went to fast anyway.




On the above cookie sheet: the bottom row has 3 cheese filled, then the ones with red on them are the Pizza filling filled Buns, the 2 at the top are the Resurrection Buns, still raising for maximum fluffiness.


Here is the link to the original Pizza Bun post/recipe.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Well The Other Babies Are Here

Willow gave birth to 6 healthy babies tonight. This was her first batch and she had a hard time, but not as hard as her mom had during her first time.

She has 2 brown and white ones and 4 calico!! I was very surprised when the first calico came, I was actually really excited. I love calico cats!!! Then I was happy when the next one came, it just got better and better!! 4 calicos, unbelievable!!! They are sooooo cute. I will have photos later.

Willow is being very protective of them. She is being a wonderful mom. I did not need to be worried, she is taking care of them gently and lovingly. She is a good mom. She has not left them for four hours.

She wasn't sure what was happening when she first went into labor. I stayed with her throughout all the births. I didn't help very much. She did a beautiful job.

Here is one photo I took with the light off. She is on the kitchen floor, easy cleanup. When we go to bed we will move them into the Powder room for the night. Then since the weather is warming up very nicely, they will go outside to their outside quarters.

Then mommy can come and go as she pleases. She can mouse when she wants and potty and all that without getting us to let her out.

----------------

If you missed the post about BeBe's new babies, click here. They came last Friday.

My Food on Fridays for April 17th







Today we are making Pizza Balls. This is a recipe that can be done by all ages.



Pizza Balls

Toppings--- Innerds
(any normal pizza topping)
cheese, grated
small or chopped meat, precooked
small or chopped vegies, precooked
pizza sauce

I took a gallon sized zip lock storage bag and put in the sausage and crumbled it in the bag. Then I added about a cup to a cup in a half of shredded cheese, I have a colby montery jack bagged mix. (I used 2 hand fulls actually) Then I added a small can of sliced mushrooms, minus the 5 lrg slices I ate. Then i poured about a half a cup of pizza sauce in with it, enough to wet it. Then I tossed it around. I put it back in the fridge to wait for the dough to be ready.



Dough
(we use our favorite dinner roll recipe)
3 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 pkg yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
1 1/2 Tbs oil (we use peanut)
1 cup warm water
1 tsp salt
1 egg

Put all ingredients into bread maker and let it do the work. Let it rise once in machine and then do a quick knead down.


Oil your hands and separate the dough into 12 balls. Let rest.

Again with oiled hands, Roll balls into rounds and fill with preferred 'toppings' and then pinch dough closed on top.


I took about a fourth a cup of filling and put it in the center of the dough round. Then I pulled up the sides and pinched them together on the top.




Then fit filled balls (pinched side up) into your oiled muffin tin. I usually let them rise about 15 to 30 minutes. It usually depends on how much time we have until we want to eat. Bake about 12 to 15 minutes at 350 degrees F, or until bread dough is done.


These are very very hot right out of the oven, I love them super hot, but take caution with the kids. The sauce and cheese, like on any hot pizza, holds a lot of heat.

You can also fill your dough with tuna salad mix, chicken salad mix, bbq meat mixture, ham cubes and cheese, taco meat and cheese, or refried beans and cheese w/olives, and have a 'Hot Pot' Sandwich. Try them with apple pie filling and a sugar glaze for dessert.

Serve with a light green salad, shredded lettuce, tomato, cukes, avocado chunks, carrot gratings, etc.

We made them again and did a few changes to the dough. So check here for more info:


Oil or Flour for your hands?

For the last 10 years or so, I have been putting flour on my hands to handle bread dough. It usually keeps the dough from sticking to my hands.

I tried putting oil on my hands about a week ago and that works awesome!! I think I read in a recipe to oil your hands, if not, it was oil your bowl and I decided to try my hands. I just have no memory of why I tried the oil. I hate that, not remembering stuff.

The oil was great, there was no sticking and it keeps the dough from drying out. I remember doing this years ago and thought to myself that it was a good trick. But somewhere I forgot it.

The best thing is I don't put as much extra flour into my wonderful dough as I do when I flour my hands and flour the dough to take the sticky away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Return to Ann's Blog for the Food on Fridays carnival and find more posts that might be anything remotely related to food.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Check out my other posts for these meme's:

My Aloha Friday for April 17th



Dishes


Growing up we had 8 people living in our home. We did not have a dishwasher or should I say we did not have an automatic dishwasher. We actually had plenty of dishwashers, my dad would always say.

I remember that washing dishes was a real 'chore' for us. We always would complain and cause trouble because we did not want to do such a hard job. Oh, boy, what babies we were!!!

Even when we got an automatic dishwasher we still didn't want to do the dishes. It still took toooooooo long!!!

(one day we timed the emptying and refilling of the dishwasher- less than 10 minutes! unreal..... Emptying usually takes me about 3 minutes these days.)

My children are going through that phase, "it takes so long, mom. I don't have time." Bunk!!! Angel could have emptied the dishwasher yesterday as she waited for her friend to pick her up. But she wouldn't, because it would take too long. Actually she could have filled it up too before her ride came. I didn't push it. But she is facing consequences today. That is even better for me, anyway.

Now that I am grown up, at least I think I am grown up, I enjoy washing dishes more that I used to. I don't do them by hand often, but as I am washing the non-dishwasher items and large pans, I can think and enjoy time to myself. No One wants to join me in the kitchen for cleanup, so other than the bathroom, cleanup time is a chance for alone time. LOL......

You don't have to think about what you are doing as you wash, so your thoughts can be totally on something you want to think about. It can be a time of reflection, self study, listening to music or book on tape. This time can effectively be manipulated to what you want your mind focusing on. You shouldn't have very many interruptions either!!

In my practically perfect life, I would like to ban the Dishwasher and begin doing the dishes by hand and assign that chore to me and me alone. Then I can take advantage of the free time it would allow my brain to enjoy!!! I may do this---- someday......... So now I would like to know:

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My question to you this week is:

Do you like to do dishes by hand?
or
Do you prefer to use the dishwasher?

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for posting! Now jump back to Kailani's An Island Life

for other fun questions.

************************

Check out my other posts for these meme's:


Monday, April 13, 2009

My Make-Do Monday for April 13


Make-Do Mondays

is a carnival dedicated to sharing the creative,
frugal or even humble ways we’re making-do with what we have
or what we can acquire in a frugal way.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Well, since I don't have a clue to what to write today, I will just start typing. What have I Made-Do with lately?

Oh yes! I have one. Last Friday at my nieces Wedding Reception, we had a door into the gym at the Church that would not stay open. They wanted the door open so the guests could easily find their way to the party.

My brother, the father of the bride, who is also a good Make-Doer, told me he couldn't get the door to stay open. And then he ran off to be photographed! It was time for the Wedding Reception Photos. So I took it upon myself to get that door open. I also grabbed my kids so we could work out a solution together- anything to get them thinking and innovating is top on my list of things to do with them.

I come from a very innovative family. My father, his father and family before them, were always making do and inventing. I always say I come by it naturally, but I believe I was taught how to Make-Do by example. All I can say is, Thanks, to all those who help me figure things out!!

Anyway back to the 'door' problem. Hubby tried to get the door's hardware to do it's thing, but the hardware was missing a nut or something. So my kids started hunting for a door stop. Some of our other buildings have door stops in the classrooms. But they couldn't find one. Hubby and Pilot tried a towel or something cloth- again no go. We put a chair in front of it and that worked, but the chair was not pretty and it stuck out and just wasn't going to work for me.

So I went and sat in a cushy chair. On the end table were some papers. I picked up a brochure and folded it until it was a wedge shaped thing. I sent Angel up to Pilot who was by the door for him to try it. I heard him say 'doesn't work. So I picked up a couple more brochures and papers and folded them all together and made a bigger wedge. I took this to the door and with help from Hubby's shoe, we got it wedged under the door and the door was open tight!

Woooo-whooo !! It worked. I personally saw it work for 3 hours. I was proud of all of us working together to get that door to stay open. I know my kids got some great experience of thinking and innovating. It was a good success for us.

<><><><><><><><><><>


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Return to Ann's Blog for the Food on Fridays carnival and find more posts that might be anything remotely related to food.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Check out my other posts for these meme's: