Happy Sunday

First, the banana bread.

It had to cook a little longer than I thought.

But it was YUMMY!

I guess they loved it.

This is what it looked like this afternoon.

(It will be gone before bed tonight...)

This might be my new favorite food.

I found it on one of my favorite blogs I follow every day.

http://budgetbytes.blogspot.com/2012/08/spicy-noodles-204-recipe-102-serving.html

She calls it Dragon Noodles.

In the comments lots of folks said it was like Pad Thai - but I've never had that.

It is seriously easy and delicious!

I made a double batch last night to go with dinner.

And then I made another double batch today for lunch (and lunch tomorrow).

The girls are coming online.

Red doesn't lay.  And Blondie hasn't started yet after her molt.

But the other 5 each gave me an egg today.

Good thing too!

The neighbors told me they have been saving cartons for me.

Today while we were at church, they dropped them by the barn.

There are probably 200 egg cartons!

Better get to work girls!

Big World

It's a big world out there!

Especially when you are a tiny little baby.

The newest girls are one week old.

So it was time for them to meet the great outdoors.

Tiny, up front, is FIESTY!

She'll jump at and peck your hand.

We'll work on that.

Their wing feathers and tiny tail tufts are coming in.

Here's a glimpse of what we call 

Chicken TV.

Now I'm baking the first banana bread I've made in YEARS!

It just came out of the oven, so not sure how it will taste.

But it looks pretty good!

I started out using Sister Myrna Stanford's recipe, but realized it called for

sugar but didn't give an amount.

So I called Mom.

Who discovered she doesn't have a banana bread recipe with her in Tucson!

Which reminded me I have a recipe box full of recipes in the cupboard.

And presto!

There was HER recipe!

So I'm sure this will be delicious!

(I added walnuts... Mom's recipe doesn't call for them, since Nancy is severely allergic)

Not Fair!

It's not fair they don't make cute stuff for old people.

I saw this the other day.

I WANT IT!!!

Too bad it was a size 6.

In little girls.

Cute though, eh?

Merry Christmas!

We did it a little backwards this year.

With Jim and Sabrina leaving last night to take the train to North Carolina

to spend the holidays with her Mother,

we decided to "have Christmas" yesterday morning.

We got up and opened presents.

Everybody was pleased with what they gave and received.

Kyle finally grew a beard.

We decided he looked like Yukon Cornelius (or whatever his name is)

from the Rudolph movie.

He said it was so warm, it instantly fogged up his glasses.

I realized (too late) that I didn't take any other pictures of the family!

Sheesh.

We certainly had a good time though.

We've been working on the annual puzzle.

This one took HOURS.  

The grass was a real pain in the neck.

I finally gave up, so Kyle took it as a personal challenge.

And he got it done!

We took a break, and then started another.

This one was smaller and easier.

We got smart and did the boring brown first.

LOL

This is as close to a puppy as we are getting.

Thank goodness!

(And the "peeps" are growing - looking good!  Some of them are getting wing feathers already!)

Last night Jim and Sabrina left.

Catching their train by the skin of their teeth.

(He was working on a banner for a client)

Rod had to go deliver fuel.

So it was just Kyle and I at the annual

Santa on the Fire Truck event.

The town downsized it a little this year.

A police car leading the way,

A fire truck,

The the Marine Rescue unit with Santa and his elves.

Another fire truck tossing candy

and a final police truck.

They were pretty deadly with that candy.

Just about took Kyle out!

But we picked up a nice bunch of peppermints to give to the horses.

We finished up with fajitas at Chilis.

And then home to play Dirt 3 on his XBox.

I hope you are all having a wonderful day with family, friends, and loved ones.

Have a Merry Christmas!!!!!

Early Christmas!

Wee!!!

Rod surprised me with an early Christmas gift this afternoon!

4 Super Cute little 2-day old 

Buff Orpington chicks!

This is what they will look like when they grow up.

But for now, they look like this!

Excuse my finger... it's hard to take pictures/videos inside a small Rubbermaid tub.

Visitor

I guess while I was out of town

we had a visitor.

Right in the house.

Like, in the living room.

Buddy

He likes to stand on the patio.

And then he falls asleep.

There's a roof, so it's nice and shady.

Sometimes I even turn on the fan.

But I guess the other day he wandered right on in!

Maybe he saw the Christmas tree and thought it would be ok.

Whatever.

Sabrina shooed him back out again.

I have always been afraid he would come in and crack my tiles.

But my floor is fine.

Silly boy!

Speaking of silly boys...

The dogs have some new friends...

The neighbor's hogs have started getting out of their pen.

They like to run up and down the fence-line with the dogs.

He (the neighbor) was out hunting and came upon these two tiny

female baby hogs.

So he picked them up and stuck them in his pocket!

Look at them NOW!

They are pets - not bacon.

Yet.

What Are You Listening To?

I'm really enjoying listening to Christmas Music this year.

I found a radio station that plays mostly older music.

Andy Williams

Anne Murray

Bing Crosby

Dean Martin 

(was he drunk ALL the time?)

But I was thinking...

I remember those old Firestone albums

Mom and Dad had.

Wasn't there a Julie Andrews Christmas album?

How come nobody plays that?

She has such a beautiful voice.

And a gratuitous picture of "what's for dinner"...

I don't know what the bottom guys are all about.

But I can't get rid of them...

Done for 2012

I'm sitting here,

waiting for my two

Yup, two

students to finish their final exam.

And then I am DONE teaching for 2012!

2013, here I come.

February 1, 2013

will be my 14 year anniversary.

It's a good thing I LOVE teaching this class!

Two classes (sometimes 3) per month

Times 12 months

Times 14 years

Is a LOT of insurance!

(And a lot of times to tell the same joke/story over and over and over and over....)

PS - they both passed.
Great way to end the year!

Private Tutor

I started my class this morning here in Winter Garden

with 5 students.

(As required by the company...)

At the end of the first hour, one lady left.

Her son had a court appointment at 9:30 and she needed to be there.

Then her husband has surgery and she needs to be there.

And she has 30 hours of continuing education due for another license.

She only has this week to complete it.

So.

She left.

Then there were 4.

At the end of the second hour, another lady left.

She is studying to be a nurse.

She is taking her finals starting today.

She had a major exam at 10:00.

So.

She left.

Then there were 3.

At the end of the first session, I discovered one student

was the Regional Vice President's husband.

He was only there to round out the five so we could have class.

But he has NO interest in joining the business or getting a license.

So.

He left.

Then there were 2.

It's lunch break.

Anybody care to wager on whether / how long the others will last?

Sigh.

I'm not a big fan of holding class the weekend before the weekend before Christmas.

But it is what it is.

As long as I have one... I'll keep teaching.

Private Tutor anyone?

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

In other news...
My chicken coop made the "cut"!

We are number 2 on "The Art of Doing Stuff".

One of my favorite blogs.
Written by a Canadian - she has hosted many TV shows in Canada.
I don't know her.
But I love her blog.

Check it out!

http://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/readers-chicken-coops-your-photos/

History in the Making

Today is the VERY LAST TIME we will ever see a duplicate number in the date.

Today is 12-12-12.

There will be no 13-13-13.

So let’s make this historic day special.

SMILE at everyone you meet.

Wish them a Merry Christmas!

I don’t often take pictures of the sunrise.

I don’t often have my camera with me in the mornings when I feed.

But this morning I brought it along (iPod) so I could listen to music.

But WOW what a pretty sunrise!

I was out there a little early (with the mosquitoes) decorating the front gate.

Looks festive – if I do say so myself!

We have lights on the front fence

(white only)

But the gate was looking a little sad.

I usually have silver garland, but last year I threw it away.

It was looking OLD.

So.

Happy 12-12-12.

And

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Committee Member

I'm now an official member of our Committee.

Had to do my Oath.

There was no spit involved.

But there WAS a plate of chocolates...

(We have a great Town Clerk!)

Sounds like they have some big plans for the trails and greenways

in our little town.

It will be interesting to see where this goes.

We have our first "work party"

January 5.

Of course, I'll be out of town.

But Rod is going to be my "Alternate".

Meanwhile, the Chairman would like to see the trails from the back of a horse.

(He's walked, and ridden a bike, and seen some of them from 

his kayak... but hasn't ever ridden a horse back there before.)

I'm thinking about inviting him to ride CJ out there with me

over the Christmas break.

We'll see.

Meanwhile,

Kyle and I went to WalMart to get the week's groceries.

Picked up some fresh mushrooms and sirloin steak.

He fried up the mushrooms with some fresh garlic in butter.

They were AWESOME.

The steak, on the other hand, will likely be fed to the dogs.

Not sure they'll be able to eat it though.

It was possibly tougher than shoe leather.

Sigh.

The salad was good though...

Jupiter?

The girls are   S L O W L Y  coming back online.

Sometimes when they start laying again

their plumbing needs a little reworking.

And sometimes you get interesting looking eggs.

Case in point...

It appears Rocky thinks she is Jupiter!

Check out her rings...

In other news.

On Friday, on my way down to Boynton,

I saw this truck ahead of me on the highway.

Doesn't it remind you of the Flintstone car with the

giant hunk of meat on the roof?

Had a good class this weekend.

Passed everybody but one.

That's pretty good!

Tomorrow night I have my first 

Trails and Greenways Committee meeting.

But first I have to do my "Oath of Office".

They take this stuff seriously in my town.

Hopefully I don't have to spit and then shake hands.

Coming Back On Line

We have 8 chickens in our little herd.

(Yes, I know chickens are flocks...

but we refer to the girls as "herd-o-birds")

They have been going through a fall molt.

Which means nobody was laying.

Last week I got ONE egg.

Then two...

Today we are up to FOUR!

Tonight I let them out to free range in the pasture for awhile.

Aren't they pretty?

Ta Da!

So.

I would like to introduce you to the newest member

of the Town Trails and Greenways Committee.

ME!

I'm FINALLY doing my civic duty.

By serving on a town committee.

I'm kind of looking forward to it.

I'm the only female on the board.

And it looks like I might be "the horse person" on the board.

Our town is a rural town.

As you enter town, there is a sign.

Welcome to the Town of ____________,

An Equestrian Community.

But we also have a pretty large bike presence.

Our trails are great for biking.

And for years and years we have coexisted with no problem.

Recently, they closed the trails directly behind my house and made them bike only.

Ha.

I still ride Andy back there now and again.

The BIG bike guy is my neighbor across the street.

He is also on Trails and Greenways.

This is going to be fun.

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

In other news.

I should probably mention.
I left the church.

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

A couple of weeks ago, Rod and I attended our annual Tithing Settlement with the Bishop.

Church lets out at 12:30.
Our appointment was at 3.

So we went home and ate some lunch.

When we returned, the Bishop was in the Clerk's Office.

He turned to me and asked if I had left the church.

I said
"Well, just long enough to get some lunch...."

He said...

Well, Rod's membership records state he is married to a non-member.
So I was just concerned you had left the church.

WHY am I always the last to know these things?????
(The Clerk is working on it...)

Happy. Truly Happy.

This year for Thanksgiving, our church had a Devotional. 

As usual, there was only a small group who attended.

(But hopefully word will get out and it will get bigger…

This was the first one…)

It was the brainchild of our seminary teacher.

(Their ward back in Utah used to do it, and she loved the idea…)

She gave an excellent mini-lesson on thankfulness.

She is a great teacher – the kids are lucky to have her start their day each day!

One thing she asked us to do was focus on the first person who

Popped into your mind when she said the word “Happy”.

I know LOTS of happy people.

Specifically in my family.

We are a happy family.

We are absolutely NOT perfect.

If you look closely, each member of my family has issues.

Plenty of them.

But, without a doubt, the first person who popped in my head

Was my sister, Nancy.

(In this picture she is freezing, sitting on a bleacher, and suffering from

RAGING FOOD POISONING.

Do NOT order takeout Chinese in a strange city from a hotel…)

Typical of the other members of our family (and probably yours as well)

She has had her share (and more) of challenges.

But through it all,

She smiles.

Back to the devotional.

Sister Samuels asked us to each think of WHY that person was happy.

I immediately thought how blessed Nancy is to have a STRONG core family. 

And close friends. 

And the gospel. 

She makes sure to start each day with prayer and scripture and meditation.

And to touch base with each family member (multiple times)

and with her several friends.

And no matter what is going on in her life, she is always serving others.

But then, as we went around the room, Brother Samuels said something profound.

(He does that a lot…)

He said the person he was thinking about had NO reason to be happy at the moment.

But he said, this person had made a conscious decision to BE happy.

Hmmmmmm

Yup. 

I like that.

I know that, in my own life, that is a decision I made years ago.

Life is what it is.

You can focus on all the “wah, wah, look at what is happening”

Or

You can wake up each day and DECIDE that right now

In this moment

You are going to be HAPPY.

And Nancy is a great ambassador for that.

Way to go Nanc!

LOVE YOU!

update

The browser we use at work was invented in 1812 and no longer supports ... well nearly anything.

This amazing post is brought to you courtesy of my free 3g on my kindle.  Its a bit better than posting using my phone.  Which is a little better than a rock and chissel.  All this to say future posts will need to be done at home.  At night.  From my laptop.  Which means I wil try to remember to do it...

Meanwhile.  Happy Thursday!

Two finger typing is not as fun or efficient as one would think......

Oh yah...  And the girls have been on strike since the time change.  But it appeaars we have a Scab...somebody is crossing the picket line.  Hopefully she can talk some of her sisters into joining her.  One egg a day isnt really cutting it.

Sticky

We've been having some "preview to winter" weather here lately.

Yah, I know.

I shouldn't whine about lows in the 50's and highs in the 70's.

But for Florida in November.

That's COLD!

And with the chilly weather (and wind)

comes lower than normal humidity.

We usually have 80+ percent humidity levels.

But this week it's been more like 40-ish.

Not only are my lips feeling it,

but so are my horses.

After our great ride on Saturday,

The boys wanted to roll.

In the front yard.

Where we have several oak trees.

Who are losing their leaves.

Resulting in.....

Love static electricity!  

LOL

Back to "life"

The Thanksgiving (also known as "Eat Everything In Sight") holiday has ended.

Surprisingly, even with an 18 pound turkey

we don't have that many leftovers.

Which is a bummer.

I was hoping to get out of cooking for awhile.

LOL

HEY!!!  BIG NEWS!!!

Last night I made turkey noodle soup.

And it didn't taste like water someone waved a turkey over.

It was actually YUMMY!

Good thing, too.  I made a BIG pot.

Maybe the reason we don't have much turkey left is I got lazy.

I didn't feel like "picking" the turkey after the meal.

So I tossed the entire carcass in the stock pot.

Including all the back meat.

Simmered it on the stove.

For about 36 hours.

Maybe longer.

I'm not sure.

Last night I picked out all the bones.

Ended up with a gallon ziplock bag full of meat.

And skin.

And innards.

It's for the dogs.

Also a milk jug (washed out) full of turkey stock.

Also for the dogs.

I still have turkey stock in my freezer from the last turkey.

Also.

The gravy rocked.

Just saying.

Meanwhile - here's a video to make you smile.

Has nothing to do with anything.

And then he tried again.

This is what we do for fun around here.

Have a great Monday!

(I'm doing a little Cyber Monday shopping...)

Happy Happy!

We've had a busy couple of days.

First there was Thanksgiving.

We had a great time up at Tim and Angie's.

Unfortunately, Rod and Sabrina were both working.

So we did it all again Friday at our house.

Kyle went to work at Samuels.

Jim and Rod went to Tractor Supply to buy fencing stuff.

And Sabrina and I cooked up a STORM.

I tried something new.

I always bake my turkey in a bag.

It's faster, easier, and moist.

But I'm getting a little uncomfortable with cooking in plastic.

Wonder what it leaches into the food.

And besides, I forgot to buy one.

LOL

So I did it the good old fashioned way.

I used a nice big roaster pan with a rack in it.

Poured some chicken broth in the bottom.

Added some poultry seasoning, onions and celery.

Stuffed some butter up under the skin.

Rubbed poultry seasoning all over the outside.

Covered it with heavy foil.

Put it in the oven.

And then we went outside and sat in the sun and enjoyed the beautiful weather while reading books.

(Oh yah, I went for a horseback ride earlier in the morning.  Rod was sleeping...)

It was GREAT!

Moist.  Tender.  Yummy.

The kids wanted a "traditional" menu.

That means

mashed and gravy.  (Sabrina and I ROCKED the gravy this year!)

Sweet potatoes with marshmallows.

Green bean casserole (yuck - but they like it)

Broccoli and cheese.

Stuffing.

Cranberry Jelly From a Can!

We broke the patio table we usually use when we eat at a table.
Guess I've drug it across the patio too many times...  LOL

So we used the kitchen table.
It wasn't big enough when we had 2 little boys.
Now that we have 5 adults... its cozy!
But luckily we have a LONG counter in the kitchen.
so we served buffet style.
And then we sat and ate and talked and talked.

And then we put up the tree.

Let the Christmas Season BEGIN!

Soup and more Soup

So I had a couple of requests for the soup recipe from yesterday.

It was VERY well received at our pot luck thing at work.

So, here it is.

With all credit going to BYU.

I attended for summer term and fall semester.

Then I recognized I was wasting my parent's hard earned tuition money.

And I went home.

Where I got a job in an industry I was already well equipped for.

And have been in, in one way or another, ever since.

This is just about the only thing I remember from of my stint at BYU.

(although I DID weave an awesome pillow cover on a huge floor loom...)

(and retrained a champion barrel racer {horse} who had gone sour and would try to kill anyone (specifically the director's daughter) who rode him into an arena with barrels in it...)

(and discovered that my thyroid quit working, thus causing me to gain a gazillion pounds)

BYU Broccoli Cheese Soup

serves 4

1 stick butter

1 cup velveeta, cubed

4 cups milk

1/2 bag fine egg noodles

Normally I make it on the stove top in a pan.

Yesterday I doubled the recipe and made it in a crockpot - high for 3 hours.

It was good!

It would have been a little better if I had a REAL spoon to stir the noodles with so they

didn't turn into a blob.

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

When I got home from work, Sabrina had a huge crockpot full of

Crockpot Potato Soup

cooking.

Can I just say.

YUM!

We went grocery shopping for the big feast on Friday.

We are going to family on Thursday, but since Rod and Sabrina are both working and will

miss the big feast, we are doing it all again on Friday at our house. 

Just for us 5.

By the time we got home, put everything away, and fed the animals,

Kyle got home from working outside all day (outside).

We were chilled.

And hungry.

And that soup HIT THE SPOT.
(And there was lots left over - some in the fridge for Rod's lunch today, and
some in my lunchbox for lunch for ME today.
And some for anybody else who wants it for lunch today...)

HAPPY HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY!

What is WRONG With These People???

Last night Kyle and I went to our local Walmart

to get some groceries.

My office is having a "Thanksgiving Feast" thing today.

I'm making BYU Broccoli Cheese Soup.

So I needed some "stuff".

They were playing Christmas music.

Now, they played some of my favorites, and I was hard pressed not to sing along.

But in the back of my head, I just KNEW I was going to be sick unto death

of this music by the end of December.



Old ad - this year it's Nov 23.  But whatever.
I love the sentiment.



PEOPLE.

Christmas season does NOT officially begin

until Santa crosses the finish line

at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!

Sheesh.



Weekend

Third weekend of the month - which means Orlando weekend.

I left a little early and got to my hotel in time to stop next door at Panera Bread.

Got a bowl of broccoli cheese soup and a half turkey/avocado sandwich to go.

Sat in my hotel room and had a YUMMY dinner and then to bed early.

But when I got to school on Friday morning

it was quiet and dark.

Inside as well as outside.

I got out all my supplies for my class.

It was still quiet.

At 7:45 (class starts at 8) a car drove up.

And a single student came in.

A few minutes later another student came in.

And that's how it stood at 8:45.

Which is when I called my boss and cancelled the class.

The checkbook won't be happy about it.

But I caught a cold.

So I was actually kinda pleased to have the weekend to get better.

Stopped by the office on the way back into town and did about 4 hours.

And then home.

Poor Rod chose to sleep on the couch so he didn't get sick.

It's kinda going around the family.

So far he and Kyle are safe.

I've been taking mega doses of D3 and Oil of Oregano.

And I'm doing MUCH better.

Poor Sabrina has pneumonia.

And Jim has a bad cold.

So we are trying to keep our germs to ourselves and get better before Thanksgiving.

But enough about that.

Thursday afternoon Kyle and I went for a nice long walk in the woods.

The "thing" on the trail is our Jack Russel, Ozzie.

And, of course, Kyle had to go off trail and "climb" a tree.

The "bicycle people" built a new boardwalk through the old "Faith Trail" section.

It's a nice trail.

Even if the entire section (not just the wooden path) is closed to horses.

Don't get me started.

In fact they closed an OLD trail we've used for, 12+ years?

What's interesting is, it's not even their property.

Belongs to a friend of ours.

Anyway.

(rant rant rant)

It was a good walk.

A beautiful afternoon.

I hate winter.

The sun goes down WAY too early.

It really cuts into my "outside" time.

Speaking of outside.

Saturday was a GREAT outside day.

Our fabulous neighbors hired Kyle to manage their animals on the weekends.

And also offered to let the guys borrow their tractor (for just a fuel refill!)

NIRVANA!

Their horse, Slider, was endlessly fascinated.

Rod spent a couple of hours and smoothed out the back pasture.

It looks so much nicer out there now.

Plus he fixed the old swimming pool spot.

The boys hooked up the little seeder and did a

gazillion laps of the property,

spreading winter rye.

I supervised.

It's what I'm good at.

Kyle handled quality control.

It should be all bright green out there in a week or so!

We celebrated by burning a bunch of the old, rotting wood

the previous owner left piled up against the back fence.

Yes, we are pyromaniacs.

Why do you ask?