Happy New Year!

I'm just finishing up the day at my office.

And then it's home for a lovely long weekend.

Baby it's COLD outside.

I just came back from lunch.

Needed to run to my local health food store

for some vegetable glycerin

so my ice cream doesn't freeze into a 

rock solid mass.

Anyhow.

I'm looking forward to a nice,

quiet,

relaxing,

long

weekend.

Other than taking down the tree...

There isn't much I HAVE to do.

Rod and I might ride the horses.

I might do some cooking for the 

coming week.

And I might just relax.

Sounds wonderful.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Christmas 2016

We had a wonderful Christmas this year.

Of course it started out with the traditional

Indialantic Santa on the Fire Truck

Kyle said "Wow, that Santa looks like

he's about 23... too young!"

Rod replied with an "ahem!  I was only about

that age when I was Santa on the fire truck

for the first time!"

Hahahahahahahaha

It was a pretty short group this year.

We found them (we drive around town

watching and listening and then pull over

on the next corner to stand and yell)

but they weren't doing their rounds,

they were on a call!

I guess they left a bunch of them there.

Once we found them again later,

it was just the police escort,

a fire truck

and a rescue truck with a trailer

holding Santa, Mrs. Claus and some elves.

BUT

they threw GOOD candy this year!

Rod got a SNICKERS!

Then off to Denny's for the traditional

"The Santa Clause" Christmas Eve dinner.

It wasn't nearly as busy this year.

But the food was still good.

And the company was GREAT!

Christmas morning was SO different than

most years.

We slept in.

We went to church!

We came home and had breakfast.

And then Jim and Sabrina came over

and we opened gifts!

(There were no stockings / Santa gifts under the tree

this year... Mrs. Santa kind of dropped the ball...)

But it was a wonderful day

and everybody was happy.

Rod and Kyle made a candle holder

from a hunk of the oak tree they cut down last year

held up by two horse shoes painted black.

It is gorgeous and goes with my table perfectly!

They also made the napkin holders

out of more horseshoes.

PERFECT!

Then we pushed them out of the way and

spread out Kyle's custom puzzle.

It's a pretty hard puzzle.

But we had a LOT of fun working on it!

This is the picture I used.

Cropped a little more off the left side

so there is only 1 set of pine trees.

He took this picture one morning

while riding his long board.

We got lots done on the first sitting!

And then our eyes went buggy.

(Kyle did the bottom, I did the top)

It was sort of a "food themed" Christmas for me.

Jim got each of us an Air Fryer

and I got each of us (Jim and (I) a pressure cooker!

Between the two of us we are GOING to

learn to eat well!

(Kyle was pretty excited about the elevated choices!)

Mom and Dad sent us a lovely

towel warmer you plug in your bathroom.

It makes your towels warm and moist.

But unfortunately my towels are already

warm and moist.

(We had 83 degrees and 87% humidity on

Christmas Day!)

So, we took it back to the store

and traded it for an electric

ICE CREAM MAKER.

Something we will use daily and think

of them (with FOND, ice cream-ie happy thoughts!)

(And an oil Mister so I don't have to buy

yucky, chemical filled, Pam spray any more!

Here's to delicious, healthy avocado oil spray!)

Spent yesterday morning re-arranging the

kitchen island / shelf unit.

Other than the blender

(which is on the kitchen counter next to

all my canisters that hold my

smoothie ingredients)

THIS is our official cooking station!

We made AWESOME french fries in the

air fryer.  And a terrific roast in the 

pressure cooker.  (Plus beef gravy, green beans, 

Rhodes dough rolls, and Pop's fruit salad...)

Tonight I'm excited to make

roasted brussel sprouts in the air fryer,

BBQ country style pork ribs in the

pressure cooker,

and Moose Track ice cream in the

ice cream maker!

(ALL on plan!)

Sounds YUMMY!

Rod also got me this fabulous (HEAVY)

cast iron / enamel dutch oven and several

nice, new replacement enamel frying pans.

I'm pretty hard on my pans.

I make bacon and eggs or sausage and eggs

or french toast EVERY morning and they get

pretty worn out.

(Ignore the nasty, chemical filled Pam spray! Notice

the lovely avocado oil just waiting to be poured

into my nifty new Misto thingie... lol)

(Also notice my awesome heirloom salt/pepper shakers!)

Jim and Kyle are requesting pineapple upside down cake

in the dutch oven PRONTO!

(not on plan, but they will love it anyway!)

They are predicting "winter" on Friday.

(High of 62)

So I'm predicting a big dutch oven full

of broccoli / cheddar soup for dinner!

YUM!

All - in - all a DELICIOUS Christmas!

Neighbors

We lived in the city for 19 years.

We knew the neighbors on both sides of us.

But ... we weren't a "neighborhood".

Maybe it was just me.

Now that we live out in the "country"

we finally have NEIGHBORS!

(ok, excuse the pun, we do have

horses in the "neigh"borhood,

but that's not what I mean... lol)

We TALK!

We know when one goes in the hospital.

We know when somebody's dog

is having MORE surgery.

We notice (and watch out) when 

folks are out of town.

We catch each other's animals

and bring them home.

(Our's or their's... either works...)

Saturday evening Rod went out

to feed our cows.

Sir Loin was standing by the fence

watching intently.

That generally means the bobcat is there.

Rod called Kyle to bring his rifle.

Nope.  Not the bobcat.

The neighbor's BULL and a calf.

Somehow Jogger and one of the babies

made it from Brock's on the north of us

to Rick's UNFENCED property on the south of us.

Skipping our MULTIPLE FENCED property 

in the middle.

Neat trick!

And getting them BACK to their own pasture

was also a pretty neat trick which involved

the donkey and goats getting out

and ending up locked in the arena next door.

(Not to mention an hour of "wrangling")

I just got an email from another neighbor.

"FedEx just tied a gift to your front gate.

Do you want me to bring it to my house until

somebody comes home?"

Neighbors.

They are AWESOME!

The Santa Clause

We FINALLY had time to decorate

our tree last night.

It's been sitting, 

all pretty

and fragrant

and naked

for several days.

But last night Rod put the lights on

and then we put on the decorations

(NO GLASS)

(*crazy puppy)

and garland.

We bought a REALLY bushy one.

Couldn't put very many ornaments

on it anyways.

It looks really pretty!

And while we were decorating,

Kyle was flipping through channels

and found The Santa Clause

(and The Santa Clause 2)

They were on different channels.

So every time there was a commercial

he switched to the other one.

It was a little confusing.

But Tim Allen is HYSTERICAL!

We laughed and laughed and laughed!

Still haven't seen White Christmas

or Its A Wonderful Life yet

so it's not officially the Christmas Season,

but we're working on it.

New "Winter" Coat

I ordered a new "winter" coat

from a company in China.

It reminded me of the gorgeous

coat Mom bought me when I went to 

Utah back in 1977.

(It felt like it took from 1977 to arrive...)

I still have that coat.

I haven't worn it in 35 years.

I have broken umpteen million hangers.

It weighs about a gazillion pounds.

But it's so PRETTY!

LOL

This one is perfect for Florida winters.

It was cold this morning when I left the house.

The car thermometer said 60.

But it was lightly raining,

so it felt more like 55.

Hahahahaha

Anyhow.

I was snuggly warm.

Yes, I took a selfie in the office bathroom.

It has knit raglan sleeves

and a light wool A swing body.

With pockets in the side seam.

More evidence that 

Americans / Canadians

slouch.

The pockets are in the side seams.

I have to really stand up straight

and put my shoulders back

to put my hands comfortably in them.

It also has GIANT buttons.

I would wear a black trash bag

if it had giant buttons.

LOL

It also has a really pretty pleat

in the back.

Pretty hard to take a picture of 

your back.

But it's SO pretty!

(My earrings say HoHoHo)

3.2.1 Lift Off

There was an absolutely gorgeous

rocket launch last night.

It was nice and clear so when

they lit the candle,

it really brightened up the 

whole sky line.

There are lots of trees

(not to mention the curve of the Earth)

between us and Cape Canaveral

but it was still a really bright glow.

And then it rose up above the horizon

and then above the tree line

and gosh it was pretty.

And FAST!

Photo shamelessly stolen from a Facebook post

Smaller than the shuttles.

But seemed quicker.

It is such fun to watch them at night.

Not only can you see the flare

of the engines when there is 

booster separation,

you can also see the boosters

actually fall off and watch

them as they drop to the ocean.

It was really weirdly quiet though.

We waited and waited and there

was never any "bumbling" 

(that's what the kids have always 

called the sound of the engines).

It was great to see another 

successful launch

and know that we are back in 

the Space Business (at least a little bit).

(It was a military satellite carrying

extra bandwidth for the military) 

Late to the Party (as usual)

You probably already know this.

I've known it for a long time.

But I've never tried it.

I don't often make things with shredded chicken.

But tonight we are having the missionaries

over for dinner again.
One of our favorites is leaving tomorrow

to go back to Idaho.

We invited them over and asked them

what they wanted...

And he requested chicken enchilladas.

I've never made those before.

Obviously, I've never SPELLED that before.

LOL

But I have seen a THM recipe around

for about a year that everybody raves about.

So I said sure, and pulled out my

trusty iPad.

(It's on her blog)

I knew it would take quite a while to 

cook the chicken,

shred the chicken,

make the sauce,

assemble the enchiladas,

and then bake the thing.

So I did everything except bake them

yesterday.

I used my Pressure Cooker (my old one,

I haven't opened my new one yet...)

and did up a big package of 

skinless, boneless chicken breasts.

It was fast,

easy,

and they were SUPER tender!

(Bonus!  I got about a quart of chicken broth!)

Then I put them in my

regular mix master

(since I don't have a KitchenAid)

(which has been my excuse for not trying this sooner...)

(Yup, that's Rod in the background.)

(And we still have the giant map on the wall

showing all the places the guys made deliveries)

We could take it down since nobody

is driving anymore,

but honestly the missionaries get a kick

out of pointing out where they live.

Anyhow.

Back to the chicken.

I stuck it all in the bowl

and turned it on.

It literally took less than 30 seconds.

I let it run longer because it was FUN!

But it was done earlier.

Seriously!

This would have taken me forever

with 2 forks.

Well, to be perfectly honest,

I wouldn't have done it.

Which is why I never make recipes

with shredded chicken.

Shredding sounds like a pain in the neck.

But this is EASY!

And FAST!

And FUN!

Took longer to wash my bowl

than it did to shred my chicken!

(But I had to wash my bowl, cuz I used

it again to make a yummy THM friendly

chocolate cake...)

TRY IT!

YOU WILL LIKE IT!

(unless you've already been doing it for years

and you are sitting there snickering at my silliness...)

The Eagle (Buffaloe) Has Landed

I guess.

I was in bed, kind of watching a Christmas movie

on Hallmark at about 1:30 this morning.

Hopped up and checked out the tack room

window - no big white truck in the yard.

Next thing I knew, it was 2:28.

Rod took a quick peak and the truck was there.

But all the lights were off in the house.

So Kyle has arrived!

And is ASLEEP.

YEA!!!!!

This morning he is either...

a) still asleep

b) already unpacked the trailer and returned it

c) sitting on the couch binge watching

all the Alaska shows he missed in the

past 6 months...

LOL

Either way, he is home.

Safe and sound.

Can't wait for 4:00 to roll around

so I can go home and give him a HUG!

Last Leg?

He made it to Shreveport, LA last night.

Stopped just before midnight.

Made for a LONG day of driving.

But the roads were clear so that's good.

He has one last LONG day of driving

again today.

Depending on what time he left,

he will be home tonight some time.

YEA!!!!!!!

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

In other news,

we had the Sister Missionaries over for dinner

last night.  They don't have the car this week

so I picked them up on my way home from work.

When we got to the farm they helped me

and we fed all the animals.

They are both from farm backgrounds

so were happy to spend some time

smelling the horses.

Rod stopped at the Dr. and got the stitches

out of his shoulder incision (basal cell)

and then stopped at Publix for some fried chicken

and fixin's and then to the feed store

for 5 bales of hay for the horses.

We were just finishing up feeding when he arrived

so we unloaded the hay and then went

inside for dinner.

I have discovered that eating "off plan"

isn't good for me.

I had some fried chicken, red potato salad,

coleslaw, cottage cheese with strawberries

blended in the food processor for desert

and a raging headache and upper GI discomfort

to finish up.

Yeah.

I guess that's it for me.

I've been eating clean all week and didn't have

any problems.

Guess it's an indication which way my 

body prefers I eat.

I'll just have to be careful when I'm out of town

and eating in restaurants.

Heading Across the Country

I don't have any pictures.

He was driving.

It was snowing.

He was watching the road.

He made it to Grants, New Mexico last night.

He got stuck on a highway for an hour or two

waiting for them to clear up a crash.

And there was some heavy snow in Salt Lake

as he was driving through.

But all in all he did fine.

So far.

They were predicting icy road conditions

starting at Grants, so he stopped there

at a truck stop to spend the night

and wait for the sun and the snow plows.

I think he'll be glad to get into Texas!

(Not to mention Florida - it's going to be 84 today)

Thanks for keeping him in your prayers.

I know it helped to keep him safe!

On The Road Again (Again)

Cue Willie Nelson.

Kyle is heading home.

He got his trailer on Saturday and got it all loaded up.

He kept out his TV,

bedding and stool.

Then realized he was going to have

to stay there for 2 more days

so unpacked his big chair.

This morning he got everything

all loaded up again.

In the snow.

Wearing Chucks.

(canvas sneakers for those without

young men hanging around...)

So his feet got COLD!

They were predicting 18 - 30 inches over night

so he was pleased to wake up to this

light dusting.

He said the highways are nice and clear.

It's snowing just enough to keep his

windshield wipers on their lowest setting.

Keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

He should make it home by Wednesday or Thursday.

Just depends on how hard he pushes.

But for now...

He is 

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

Early Birthday Present

I got home LATE last night

from teaching school.

When I got home,

Rod had a wonderful surprise for me!

These were his raw supplies.

Here we are in mid production...

And here we are with my brand new

light fixture over the kitchen sink!

It is so beautiful!

And nice and bright.

I won't have any trouble washing my eggs now!

*And he used LED lights, so it's inexpensive

to run and puts out NO HEAT!

Which is awesome when it's a gazillion degrees 

outside and you're standing in the window 

and the afternoon sun is blazing through.

I LOVE IT!

(BONUS - it matches my new kitchen table!)

Gearing Up

I'm heading out of town.

Again.

Rod will be home though.

He has a list longer than his arm

of things he wants / needs to do

this weekend.

In all his spare time.

HAhahahahahahahahahahahaha

Anyhow.

I believe I already mentioned earlier,
we are having people over for 

Thanksgiving Dinner.

I don't normally do that.

Back in the olden days, the family

was almost all up in Gainesville

for the annual motocross races,

enjoying turkey under a tent

in the horrible,

hot and windy

or freezing and windy

November Gainesville weather.

I was always grateful to stay home.

And then we closed the shop

and we sometimes went to Tim and Angie's

house for Thanksgiving dinner.

But this year Jim and Sabrina have

plans to go camping up in the 

Ocala National Forest

for the long weekend.

We are going to have a Thanksgiving Breakfast

before they leave town.

Kyle is still in Utah.

He will be having Thanksgiving dinner with 

some friends who live out there.

Rod and I were going to just have a

nice, quiet, thanksgiving / birthday dinner.

Just the two of us.

But then he decided to invite a couple of

his Home Teaching Sisters who were

going to be alone.

And then he was talking to another friend

and ended up inviting him and his wife.

So it will be 6 of us for dinner.

I plan to spend much of this weekend

working on the menu / shopping list.

(My students have lots of built in - 

work-on-it-by-yourself 

kind of stuff this weekend)

(A 2 hour "mid term" on Saturday morning,
2 hours of "review" videos,

and a 2 hour "final exam" on Sunday evening)

Anyhow.

I'm pretty sure I know what I'm serving.

Just need to finalize it.

Most of what I'm making is 

Trim Healthy Mama compliant.

Although it's not Thanksgiving without Rhodes rolls.

So there will be those.

And I'll TRY not to eat more than a dozen.

Anyhow.

I'm super excited about it.

Today's the Day!

Today is the day the Parental Units

take possession of their new HOME!

SO EXCITING!

And to add to the excitement, the

Tour de Tucson

passes right up their main street,

so although that might make things

difficult on Saturday,

if they get everything done Friday

*as planned (hahahahaha)

Saturday could see them on the side

of the road cheering for all those

folks racing for the gold!

Meanwhile, on our home front,

things are cruising along smoothly.

We have tithing settlement tonight.

I'm teaching again this weekend.

Rod's arm is looking better.

*considering it looks awful...

The Dr took a HUGE hunk out of his arm

so there are LOTS and LOTS of stitches

and a nice little pucker at the top.

Mom would have made me rip it out

and start over if MY sewing had

looked like that.

But I guess you work with what you

have to work with.

He gets his stitches out tomorrow.

And then maybe it will look better.

For now it's pretty angry red.

But it isn't causing him much discomfort,

so that's good.

Speaking of discomfort...

we are having a bunch of people over

for Thanksgiving dinner this year.

RAMP UP my level of discomfort!!!!!

They are all good friends,

and we will have a good time.

But entertaining was a gene I wasn't 

standing in the correct line to receive.

Not sure HOW I'm related to the rest

of my family that rolls out the red carpet

at the drop of a hat without blinking an eye.

Thank goodness ROD has that gene.

I'm going out of town this weekend and

leaving it all up to him.

(hahahahahahahaha)

Happy Happy Friday!

This has been a weird week.

Speaking of weird.

That's a weird word.

I before E except after C

except as in WEIRD!

Sorry, lost control a little there...

So, it has been a little weird.

Good, but weird.

First, I was OFF this past weekend.

Now that is WEIRD!

(And my dreams this week reflected that...

I've been having nightmares every night

about teaching.

Last night I was teaching in a garage

and couldn't get any WiFi signal.

And later (after I woke up and then

went back to sleep) it turned out

it was a 4-day-in-a-row class,

which I can't teach anymore because

of my other job... but there I was!)

It's stressful.

LOL

Anyhow.

It was wonderful to get to spend the 

weekend with my darling husband.

We went up to the feed mill to get

a huge load of feed for the critters.

That's always enjoyable.

We took the horses for a ride in the woods

for the first time in nearly a YEAR!

That was awesome!

The horses did really well, especially

considering they are basically retired now.

Andy's arthritis flared a little,

but he still did really well.

We had a friend come over to show us

his Roku system and help us decide 

whether we should ditch satellite and go with

something else.

We got about half done putting up a new

gate in the back of the pasture

so we can ride the horses without

having to go out on the road.

(I don't love riding on the road, even though

the majority of people in our neighborhood 

are really friendly and respectful, still...

And it hurts Andy's hip...)

(And it's BORING)

We went to church, it was nice to see

all the people I don't get to see often.

I did lots of cooking so we had lots of 

food for the week...

All-in-all it was a great weekend.

Monday was back to work.

And then Tuesday Rod had some melanoma

removed from his arm.

No pictures.

You are welcome.

(grin)

We both took the day off, thinking we could

go riding again and finish the gate.

But he isn't allowed to lift, push or pull for 2 weeks.

So, no.

Instead, we relaxed.

(And somewhere in there we went to Lowe's

and bought a piece of really cool ceramic tile

that looks like a plank of old barn board...

we are thinking of using it to resurface our kitchen

counter tops..)

(We looked at it all weekend and then returned it.)

(We like it, but aren't anywhere near ready to do it...)

(I want to screen-in the patio first...)

WAY more bang for our buck!

Oh, and I took Rod to Waffle House (as promised)

as a reward for being a good patient.

He was a REALLY good patient.

It was pretty gross.

(I watched for a minute and then ordered

an electronic rat zapper on Amazon... lol)

(Thanks Reid!!!!)

Wednesday was back to work for both of us.

Except for some reason I didn't get any mail at 

the office, which meant I didn't get any work.

Which meant sitting all day trying to look busy.

How about NO!

I told my supervisor I had a "headache" and

she gave me permission to go home "sick".

Which was AWESOME!

Took Andy for another ride for about 45 minutes.

It was so nice!

And did more cooking.

And repainted our front gate people. 

They've faded really really badly,

so I painted them black.

They need another coat, but ok for now...

Thursday was back to work.

And this morning, here I am again.

I'm working this weekend.

So no more weirdness (and maybe no more

dreams to disturb my sleep!)

And THIS is what I'm having for lunch today.

(I've been 100% "on plan" for a couple of weeks

and am down 10 pounds!  YIPPEEE!)

From the bottom up...

Yummy sugar free Balsamic Vinaigrette

then a layer of shredded cheese

then a layer of real bacon bits

then a layer of fresh mushrooms

then a BUNCH of fresh baby spinach.

Is it lunch time yet?????

LOL

Daylight Savings Time

Now that the majority of my family lives in Arizona

and Arizona refuses to play the Daylight Savings Game...

I just wanted to share what you are MISSING!

Its AWESOME.

BTW - we are now only TWO hours apart.

Instead of the insane THREE.

So I'm only 2 hours ahead in my productivity.

Except for Rozann.

She's already up and doing amazing things

while I'm still in bed.

Sick.

Out Doors

With the approach of late fall / early winter

it's more tempting to go out of doors.

(it's tough to get excited about doing

stuff outside when it's a gazillion degrees

and a hundred gazillion % humidity)

But now that the weather is GORGEOUS...

It was the perfect evening for a ride.

Light breeze,

nobody else was out there,

the trails were nice and dry

and the horses were cooperating.

There were no flies until the very end.

(the mosquitoes etc came out as the sun

was thinking about going down...)

Andy needed some Bute (horse tylenol)

when we got home for his arthritic hip,

but he was in a good mood the whole

ride and even cooperated when he

got tangled up in a vine.

(Silly boy never lifts his feet when he walks...)

We weren't the only people enjoying

the great outdoors...

We were just WARMER!

Kyle got to experience

FRESH POWDER!

DEEP fresh powder.

And, of course, the Florida boy was wearing SHORTS!

He was the ONLY person to brave the new snow.

Said there were NO foot prints.

(that includes bears, mountain lions, etc...)

It was neat to be out there first!

This was his first experience with early snow.

And it was pretty breath-taking!

Quote

As you enter the patient door at my office

the receptionist has a large white board.

She likes to put an inspirational quote up 

every day.

This was our quote for the day:

Wednesday, Nov 2, 2016

"We should certainly count our blessings,

but we should also make our blessings count."

-Neal A Maxwell

I'm pretty positive I'm the only member here.

I know for sure she's not a member.

Which means she likely found it on FB.

Which is cool!

Speaking of cool, in the bottom left corner

she usually also puts a random fact.

Today's fact:

Did you know:

Polar Bears are left handed!

Huh, who knew!

Radio

I got a package in the mail yesterday.

Rozann is an AWESOME packer.

And Mom always has everything under control. 

And now all is right with the world.

Pumpkin Rolls

We are having a Halloween Haunting potluck

today at work.

Somehow I became the "food woman".

Which is weird, cuz nothing on the

pot luck board is edible for me.

LOL

But...

(it's because nobody says ANYTHING

at our monthly "team meetings", so I 

decided to think of something to pipe up about...

FOOD!)

Anyhow.

Today the theme is Halloween food.

We are having all sorts of interesting things.

This is my contribution.

It's a Rhodes dough roll that is supposed

to look like a pumpkin.

I made a LOT of them.

Rod had the brilliant idea of sprinkling the tops

with the cheese powder from a box of

macaroni and cheese.

They were simple, and turned out cute!

(And, ssshhh, delicious, I just had one with

my breakfast smoothie...)

Instructions:

Thaw Rhodes dough rolls until thawed but not risen.

Flatten with a greased hand.

Cut five or so slits into the sides.

(I think my cuts were too big, they look like

flowers instead of pumpkins)

(I didn't cut as deep in my "test" run and they were better)

Let them rise for another hour or so.

Stick half a pretzel stick (or whatever you

have that looks "stem-ish") in the center.

Sprinkle with cheese or just spray with butter.

Bake @ 350 for 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

So easy, even I could do it!