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Showing posts from 2018

New Ventures....

It has been a terribly long time since there has been a post that made any sense on this site... and don’t worry nothing will change any time soon. This writer however, is expanding not just the waistline but also my technological horizons! It is a bit frustrating at my age to be so technologically challenged. This is the year to address that so I am enrolled in two different yet similar classes to enhance my knowledge.. (I sound kinda professional, don’t ya think? :) So slowly I am working through the assignments in this new course and at the bottom of one page is an “Action Step”. In this one it states “take out a post-it note and write ‘My website will ALWAYS be a work in progress!’...” What?!?! No where in the outline or even in the supply list did it say anything about buying post-it notes!!!! I live in lower BFE and no one sells post-it notes and much less it is 25 miles to the nearest store!  Where am I supposed to get post-it notes at this time of night?!?!?! On that same p

Black Friday posted on small Saturday

Well Black Friday came and left and this little shopper stayed home... well at work anyway. I haven’t had any regrets about not shopping on this day since the one time I did shop on Black Friday. About 24 years ago I decided, unwisely, to darken the door of WalMart in order obtain a “deal”. It ended in a very bad way, although I did get the item that I ventured in for. Ever since that trip I really have not had the desire to join the festivities of that day. The advent of online shopping has really taken the stress out of shopping for me. Which leads me to the day before Thanksgiving, when to my surprise a spiralizer for my kitchen aid mixer arrived in the mail! I had forgotten that I decided to order it. It was a tough decision but apparently I had decided in favor of the item.  Soon I will try it out but for now I have been using my new dicer attachment... I absolutely love it! Carrots and potatoes beware! Since receiving these items in the mail three cupboards have been cleaned

Silence is dangerous to a blog

After thoughtlessly thinking I could take a break from blogging many things happened, Now to decide whether I share them going forward from the cut off of the blog or backwards so my memory is better. Either way here's to hoping everyone had a Thanksgiving to remember in whatever way they really wanted to. Our family with it's many branches, joined at number four's house. It is a cute little ranch with a basement and very minimal furniture (keeps her tweens from bringing home more than  one friend at a time) Each family was to bring two dishes and show up. numbers 1-3 did not intend to come for one reason or another. Nor did 7 &8. Number 5 was designated to cook the turkey but it was not completely done so we carved off about half, grabbed the nuwave oven and all of our dishes for the event and headed in to drop me off at work. The plan was to let the rest gather until I could get done. On the way my staff on duty called to see when I would be arriving and I let them kn

It's been awhile... and it will be even longer before the next post

Well it's been a while since I have been able to squeeze a post into my day.  It would have been shorter if the two that were in draft form had ever made it to the finish line.  However that is neither here nor there.  Lots has happened this past month to include two lightening strikes and the loss of two modems, the final crack in the pool filter and the rush to save 14,000 gallons of water, and emergency trip to the vet for a cat and emergency trip for the author for  an suspected MI after surgery and most recently a rowdy girls night in for all the granddaughters, biological and stolen :). It as been an adventure trying work and recover, I have had to leave early more than once and when you are used to driving yourself every where, being chauffeured is hard! Honestly, I never thought trying bounce back would be so, so challenging. Life goes on, I guess. That was the last surgery I will agree to willingly for sure.  The weather has been cool at night and hot during the day un

How to live without a cell phone... Because you have no idea where it is this week.

Do you ever sit and reminisce about the days without cell phones? I confess I have but mostly when I leave the thing somewhere and it takes a total stranger calling me to let me know they have found it. That was the case this week. Father's Day was a fun day and seemingly benign for events... sort of.  So on with the week! Monday was just another day at work it seemed and then it was time to go home. During the day DH decided to clean the fish tank. Our conversation the day before revealed that he was feeding the fish in addition to me feeding them before I left the house each day. This explained why the thing was so stinking cloudy you could hardly see any fish! I arrived home to the usual "what did you get me?!" from the youngest. All residents except cats and puppies were outside to greet me. Dinner was decided on and we went inside to get started on the evening. I started the main part went up to the second floor and saw all the fish in a big bowl! The really dirt

Happy Father's Day....or what else could go wrong?

Today was Father's Day, at least in the United States anyway.  Fun was planned by the youngest of the oldest group of kids so off we went to her home with kids and puppies in tow. Mary is usually the child to host the holiday events and this was different only because no one showed but us. She had food for an army and ... well we are not an army.  They have direct TV so DH is always willing to go and sit on their couch and slee... I mean watch whatever game is on.  Lunch was burgers and brats by the menu plan, however when it turned out that we were alone, the seven of us instead of 19 the meal was adjusted and Philly Cheese steak sandwiches were enjoyed. After the feast it was water ballon time for the littles! Of course the bigs had to fill the water balloons for the littles and they ended up just as wet.  The puppies all got bathed by Mary and I and they were just as cute and quiet as puppies could be. With all that excitement it was soon time to return home and work on things

How to tour a house with very little time... Uninvited.

This post is going to be a little different.. I have an accomplice.  She is a co-worker and we both were up for a little adventure yesterday.  The day started off early and she had offered to come in and cover the cart while I went to my pre-op appointment.  When she arrived we had no plans of doing what we ultimately ended up doing.  She took over the cart and I headed out to my appointment.  Then the daughter of one of my favorite resident's called and asked if I would meet her at her Dad's house and pick up a tangerine tree that he had planted years ago.  She is having an estate sale and did not want the tree to go to just anyone.  She and have become friends over the years and remained friends even after her Dad's death last year. In fact if I had a drinking buddy, it would be her. We share food porn (when my phone will let me send pictures) and secrets that I would never tell anyone else...ANYONE! So of course I will go over and meet her. The plan is to go on my way ba

A new phone!!!!!..... again ;(

This has been very hard to be without a phone... in some ways very "freeing" and in others very frustrating.  Now it seems my new phone was delivered but I cannot find the package.  UPS does not always leave it at the door.  Probably because it can be confusing trying to find the correct door.  But the web site says it is here and I will find it before it rains... I hope.  T here are plants that must be put into ground tonight too. A last minute run to Walmart yielded more things for me to try and kill. With 18 minutes left on the instant pot for chicken noodle soup I think I will go stick them in ground and look around for the phone too. Back inside with one minute to spare! And we found the phone! Now for the soup and then put the phone together. Oh  my  it wants me to insert the SIM card but there isn't a little tool to open the tray... Surely there is a little tool in this house somewhere.  I may just put this in the car and try to do it at work tomorrow.  I wor

More Bone Broth...

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 Another fun night of making bone broth. Of course it still needs another hour of cooking in the instant pot but that is just something that must be done. I hope it turns out as I did not include a pig foot or a beef foot in the pot. :( During the procedure I discovered that my particular pressure cooker will only do up to an hour at a time so the process as whole took longer than the directions called for. We will see what happens. I am waiting for the pot to "release" so that I can set it for another hour and then head out the door. I intend to leave work by noon so that I could take the kiddos to monkey business and get some studying done while they play. Right now they are on the trampoline and have been since 0555 this morning... good thing our closest neighbor is a group of pigs! The "natural" release process is going very slow and I need to leave for work so.... I might just try to speed things along. Tomorrow I get to be at work at 0600 to pass meds.

Making bone broth tonight.... or roasting ox tail for a good cause (they say)

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Yes! I am roasting Ox tail as I type this... wasn't my first choice to make bone broth with but I want to try to make it in the instant pot and it calls for 2 pounds of meaty bones and Ox tail was suggested. The package that I picked up with all the other soup or dog bones as some refer to them as, weighed two pounds. It was also meaty and on the list so in the oven it roasts. There are five minutes left on the timer, then it goes into a pot to simmer. The original plan was to do the 48 hour method on the stove over the Holiday weekend but since I am blessed with the honor of working all weekend the instant pot method was more appealing. So the ox tail is roasted and it really doesn't look bad! I suppose if I came in and didn't know it was Ox tail I might think it was a "rib" dish or something. It is "golden" looking as the recipe says it should be and into the instant pot it goes with 3 quarts of purified water and two tablespoons of apple cider

How to go crazy one day at a time....

Work at my job... daily

To Rain or Not to Rain on this Birthday parade.

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We have had gloomy skies for three days now and no significant amount of moisture to justify it. Of course in town they have had plenty just none to speak of out here. It has been too cold to swim and too windy to play much outside. But today was the baby's first Birthday party so we were going out whether or not it rained.   My friend had asked to borrow a punch bowl and of course I said yes... and then for three days had nightmares that I forgot the punch bowl. So when I got up this morning I washed that punch bowl and put it in the car! Then it was time to package the gifts and drop the littles off at "aunties" for some much needed quiet time for me. Before the party began birthday baby and I went to the store. She got to ride in her new big girl seat! Then we met up with mama and miss Sandy dressed her up in a beautiful dress and mama put her tiara on! The kids that came to the party played the piñata and lots of treats fell out! But none for the Birthd

Free Plant food, motion sensor LED bulbs, asparagus and rhubarb....

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Who knew?! I have been scooping water out of the fish tank for years now.. okay it was fish jar before last August. But still it is great for starting pants! So I have been watering our plants with the "fish" water for as long as we have had fish. But I didn't realize it would be good for starting say, a spider plant. I am going to try that on my sweet potato sprouts and see what happens! I am thinking of buying some motion sensor LED lights. Not sure what brand might be good but today when I go out to look for a first birthday gift today I think I will price these and see if I can find something that might work for us. It is hard to believe that one year ago "squeakers" was born! Tomorrow is her party. Her mom is having it in the chapel at our work, lots of room all the guests! T he weather is very cloudy but no rain so far so the clothes are going on the line any way. All the chicks are getting their feathers and don't seem all that bothered by the

Armed Forces Day

Today is Armed Forces Day. Not something taught that often in school any more. But it is important, it is a day that was started to recognize those who serve the country, all the armed forces not just one branch. Our particular family is one that has multiple branches represented. So for us the day may seem prominent. I suppose that families that do not have military ties may honor this day too. Growing up I only remember hearing of this day in grade school. only vaguely. We didn't color pictures or have parties around it, but somehow I do remember that it was taught. As my own kids went to school they did not seem to hear about it at school. We still honored it and Flag Day, Memorial Day, Veteran's Day, 4th of July and the other more well known holidays. Then came homeschooling.. this frees families up to recognize what they find important. All that said.. How do you teach the importance of and the history of a day that isn't acknowledge by the society as a whole? 

Fire drills oh wait that is rea!!!!l

Ever start your day and think "wow today is going to go just right!" Yeah me neither... I arrived at my first MD office to do what needed to be done only to be told.. "sorry no can do". So I moved on to the next office where things went waaaay better. Heading down to the next office I received a very disturbing text. So I called the textee and ...what of course that is a word! I just put those letters together and made it. Obviously I do not have any followers so I can make words up and I did. Back to the subject at hand.. it seems someone gave the wrong type of insulin to another someone and that someone doesn't see well so of course trusting the person who handed it to them, injected himself with 3.5 times the amount that was ordered of that particular insulin. His ordered dose is 10 IU and he got 35 IU and it was a fast acting not a long acting. So aborting the next stop was in order. As I tried to reach the MD for the resident I was also trying to give d

All is well that ends well... or at least that ends..

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Today is the first day of forever.... and that is just one day sometimes. The yogurt was set up perfectly this morning! Even better than any time before! I took a picture of it this morning before sticking it in the fridge Perfectly yummy looking! The taste was perfect too! The littlest little didn't think it was sweet enough but that is not unexpected. We went for our walk tonight there happened to be a baby calf in the  road and that just made the Littles day. They started running towards the poor thing and it started running away FAST! This was very disappointing to the littles. I had my phone with me and not once did I think to take picture. I just kept screaming for the littlest Little to get back here as that calf is bigger than you! She assured me she could pick him up and take him over the fence and return him to his mama. Good lord child you will be the death of me! So we get to the end of the road and there are three dogs that seem to be hungry and they start

If you are going to lie... keep 'em straight

It is the weekend! The littles were treated to a trip to the zoo with Auntie today. Usually she sends a boatload of pictures back via text messages... not this time! She said if she turned her eyes away for a second one or both darted off in different directions lol. I know the feeling all too well. We are homebodies for that very reason :)  Not that we don't go anywhere but it is calculated when we do since generally I go it alone or with one of my adult kids. We strategically plan rest area trips and the night time stops etc... And there is very little shopping involved. Side trips... yes but shopping no. While the kids enjoyed the outing I stayed behind and tried to clean one thing. Then the phone call came, it seems a brand new employee couldn't make it to work... again. These are things I am so over with it's like last year, I am so over it. I chatted with the person and let them know this is the last time. In fact they could just come and see me on Monday and w

Wind, clouds and more wind...

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It seems to be way too early to be up but we are and the youngest has been awake for several hours. The wind was blowing most of the night and the sky is filled with clouds this morning. I am kept awake by the wind and the Little most nights and I consume way too much caffeine at night! Where have the days gone when I had energy to stay awake longer than those in my care and get things done? Most days have an emotional drain that just sucks the life energy out of me. I can feel this day won't be much different as it is wacky Wednesday. So that means three hours of a five year old whining about not getting to go somewhere or do something because the older is gone. Not fun :( Maybe I'll think of something today while I'm gone that will work to keep her entertained and maintain my sanity...lol and maybe it's too late! My sister called me late last month to share that she would be traveling to Limon sometime in May for a funeral and would be coming here as well! When my s

What a relief!

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This morning was a bit strange around the yellow house. I decided not to go into work early as I knew I had to stay late... so why bother right? The littles woke early too and I marked the workbook pages and to my surprise they grabbed their books and complained how much homework that they had as they started writing out the answers! Teen years will be a blast! My sister from Oklahoma is coming to visit this month. I just told the littles and they are so excited! She is bringing two baby ducks so we must get a pond ready for the little quackers or they will try to swim in our pool. The last two that we had did that and it was a challenge to keep them out of the pool. Mostly I wasn't able to keep them out, then one day they were missing. We don't live in a suburb so assumed the circle of life had taken it's course and they had become lunch. About two months later I was cleaning the attic room... for what I do not know, and I ran across a dead rat in a cage. That'

Chaos vs More Chaos,

Chaos! This is a daily event at the yellow house. Just when I think I am getting up waaay ahead of the rest of the house... the five year old notices and the day begins with a bang. A bang and a crash and of course a spill. Good Morning! And where is my phone... again I am perplexed at how I can put something in a spot or so I think I did. I had it when I got up, even sent some messages this morning. My best guess is that it has been taken by a small child and not to be surrendered until dead. The new set up of having the two tower computers in the kitchen for the kids to do "work" on is not working out that well. So today I am rearranging ... again. I miss the dining room table so off with the computers and back to school desks for those. The games are going back into the cabinet where they were stored before and a lock is going on the door when I am not here to supervise. There are two 2.5 gallon zip lock bags with game pieces in them from the last two "sessions&qu

Curriculum vs Free style, Broody hen and Happy Birthday!

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This morning thumbing through the latest curriculum that was purchased, disappointment tried to sneak it's ugly veil over me. The books were chosen because this is the same curriculum that we used for number 7 & 8 in the beginning. Then I started reading the teacher's book and realized DH is not going to read this nor follow any of the activities that are suggested. This solidifies my thoughts that evening shift is the way I need to go or Baylor's for the time being.  There were doubts as to whether the girls are getting enough and looking through these books assured me we are doing okay. It's not perfect but Free style isn't failing. We won't do all the things in these manuals because we actually have covered a lot of it without clear guidelines. We will be sticking to the basics and plugging along. Reading what others have done can be inspiring and frustrating knowing we aren't doing that yet and may not get there. It has been a very busy week!

The morning comes waay too early some days.

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The morning comes and as a usual weekday it is way too early for me.  But get up and get started I do, because things will happen if I don't ... bad things like flooding sinks and milk on the carpet LOL. this morning we are having French toast sticks and DH thinks I have time to fill out paperwork for the charter school he wants the girls in. I am not sure on the charter school thing. Yes I wonder constantly if they are getting enough school work here at home and yes I know they do not always. (hmm wonder why...) But I am not ready nor are they to plunge into that get up and get moving on someone else's terms. Especially with this stuff on the ground! We have curriculum all over this house and it won't teach itself.  On my days off I do what I can we usually spend 6-8 hours doing "school" to make up for the time missed while I am at work. As I get ready to walk out the door this morning I hear yelling upstairs and I go to check on it. Oh the morning radio ne

When your escape plan is foiled...

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It was a cold morning to start out and only got worse... reference a former post with warm weather and it makes the day seem even colder. But I had a plan or so I thought. I had a plan yesterday too... that didn't work out so hot.. but that was a different circumstance all together. Based one the events of yesterday at work I went home and got a little crazy with the "cooking". I think it is one way I am able to de-stress and I NEEDED to de-stress!  My first thought yesterday morning before anything happened was "I am going to make egg noodles for dinner tonight" I actually thought about it very early in the morning so it lingered :) Egg noodles are a found memory from childhood and they aren't hard to make just a bit time consuming. When my grandmother lived with us she would make them for us. She baked a lot it seemed like any way. She made a biscuit like treat called "bukti" some of them she filled with cottage cheese and others with jelly

Never take anger to bed...

This work day started like any other in my life lately. I got up made the kids breakfast, folded a load of laundry, placed another in the dryer.  Gathered up what I felt I needed for the day and gave the girls their worksheets for the day asked DH to please help them with the tasks. As I headed into the job that I just fought for last week after seeing it posted online, I wondered why I did that. Was it because I really want the job, was it because I was not too happy to see it was posted and I am in the position already? Perhaps I just like a good challenge and fighting to keep the position I am in seemed the right thing to do at the time. I do know I care about these people and there has been so much change in the last 10 months I really don't know how they would react. As I drove towards town part of me felt uneasy, not up to the task of defending my ground. After all it was ground I really didn't mind the idea of giving up two months ago. The feeling was just not going

How do you explain rural postage to a small child?

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Today not much got done except gathering eggs and cooking dinner. Oh and writing to a Gramma! Now this Gramma is out of our state and a certain someone likes to mail her copy work every once in a while. This requires a large manila envelope instead of a standard #10 envelope. The postage is always iffy on these so instead of making a trip to the post office that is 22 miles away we can put the package in the mailbox and the carrier will pick it up weigh it and leave us a note on how much is due. For some reason I cannot make it any easier to understand. The 7 year old has learned that you put a stamp on things before they go into the mailbox (my fault entirely). Now she cannot wrap her brain around it being okay to put something in there without said stamp. Here is the youngest watching the rooster from her own "roost"! Adapt and overcome! Currently they are making a story with stickers. But the questions repeat about whether the lady in the red truck will take the lette