THE PARTY IS OVER...

Everyone had a great time at the party. I survived. Mostly because Chewbaca decided to stay home and take a nap. The theme was Pirates of the Carribbean. Big Girl ordered cup cakes instead of cake which meant serving was so much easier and the kids liked it better.

Granddaughter wants to be a spy or detective. Here she was trying on her disguises she got out of the machine. Pretty good huh? Big Girl decided to try her hand at it.

Grandson had a great time playing with old friends. Some he had not seen in a couple of years. Some were new.

I was glad when it was all over. The pizza was lousy but I am picky. They didn't have much selection until after I suffered through a pepperoni slice. I wanted spinach and they finally put that out. I didn't eat any at that point. I was already dreaming about starting my diet. So much so that I dragged out my Low Carb bible and pulled some ideas off them. I rarely use a recipe 100%. I typically change them to my tastes. I had a great idea for a chicken artichoke pasta salad. I was a good girl. I used whole wheat pasta.

Here is the recipe:

CHICKEN ARTICHOKE WHOLE WHEAT PASTA SALAD

1 14oz box whole wheat pasta of choice - I usedPenne - cooked to your taste

I can of quartered artichokes

2 cups diced rotisserie chicken breasts

1/4 -1/2 Cup of Roasted Garlic Oil - the one I used was made with Canola and Olive oils

2 Tbsp of Pesto of choice

1 pkg of sundried tomatoes - You could use fresh

Garnish with fresh Cilantro - optional

I tried to calculate the calories and other nutritional information based on the serving amounts. This is for 10 servings. Don't hold me to the values, I am new at this. Ps...I didn't hijack this photo. I took it myself which you can probably tell.

CALORIES 150 TOTAL FAT 5g
SAT FAT 1g
TRANS FAT 0g
POLY FAT 0.5g
MON FAT 1g
CHOLESTEROL 50 mg
SODIUM 41.6
CARBS 0
DIETARY FIBER 0
SUGAR 0
PROTEIN 17.36
SERVINGS 10

SUNDAY FUNDAY

It is the one day when they come here... isn't that from a song? I can tell you that I was so tired yesterday that when I slept last night I flipped over on my back, not a good thing for someone with sleep apnea, and that I didn't move at all. None. So when I woke up I was stoved up. My back was screaming and my neck had pain shooting up through it. Oh for a pain pill to get you through that first hour when you can barely move. Didn't have any. Must find a drug dealer in the near future.

So I sat in pain for a long time. Drinking coffee with my fav hazelnut creamer. Watching a movie. Enjoying the silence before the herd wakes up. Grandson #1 and granddaughter both try to out do each other, tattle on each other, boss each other, did I say out do each other? They are driving me nuts. Grandson #2 may be cutting more teeth or perhaps it is just a cold. He has taken to whining, something he has never done, and he sounds very similar to Chewbaca from Star Wars. It makes me want to poke crochet needles into my eardrums to silence my world. Knitting needles sound more appropriate but I don't knit.

Now we are all doing the shuffle to successfully get everyone showered and at the pizza parlor by two. Grandson #1 turned 8 a week ago but his party is today. Being born a few days after Christmas has always left him shafted on the party side of things. People are always out of town for the holidays. This time we are doing it differently. Hopefully he will have a wonderful time and hopefully I will survive it.

It is a shame this pizza joint doesn't serve beer. Not that I am a beer drinker but you take what you can get. Someone scarfed all my champagne recently so I can't make myself a mimosa before I go. The only thing available is Canadian Whiskey, my drink of choice, but I can't do that this time of the day. I would probably not be able to control myself and then I would be snockered by 6 pm and feel like ass all day tomorrow. Mimosas are perfect. Not that much alcohol, just enough to mellow you out, plus you get your vitamin C.

Oh well, hope they have good pizza. It will totally be off the chart for my eating healthier but tomorrow is a new day. I bet they even have chocolate pizza........

Quote for today:

When you have reached the end of your rope......tie a knot and hang on.

I think this is by Benjamin Franklin but it may be Thomas Jefferson.... Sorry to be so brain dead but Chewy is distracting me....

Later: I searched online and found that it is Thomas Jefferson, although some reported it was Theordore Roosevelt and some said Eleanor Roosevelt. If you know the answer please let me know.

COLLARD GREENS AND BLACK EYED PEAS

Happy New Year 2009

I don't know if greens and black eyed peas and pork are just a southern thing or not. Hubby cooked a pork loin, opened cans of collard greens and black eyed peas. Everything was fine except for the peas. I don't like most beans or peas in a can because they are too dry. The greens were something I had purchased a while back. They were seasoned perfectly and even had a smoky flavor. I rarely do the veggie in the can thing. I prefer fresh or frozen. I informed him last night that this is the meal for New Years day not eve. He begged to differ. I didn't argue.

So I had black eyed peas, not the ones above, and greens for breakfast to get a head start on luck. No one else will eat the greens. They don't care for them too much. I couldn't find the pork loin so I assume it was all eaten last night. I do have Canadian bacon in the fridge so I will eat some of that to help boost my good luck for 2009. As if.

I don't cook meals that often anymore. I end up working so late that the kids have to eat before I could prepare something most times. When I do cook I cook a lot. Sometimes I get in the kitchen and make chicken and sausage gumbo, meatloaf and roast a couple of chickens. I don't cook enough for one meal. I generally cook enough of each for 4 or more meals. I freeze portions and hubby can pull whatever he likes out of the freezer.

I am not a meatloaf fan but he is. So I have learned to make it where I can tolerate it and put extra things in to make sure the kids are getting secret servings of veggies. I usually start with 5 lbs of lean ground beef and add a couple pounds of ground turkey. I chop up celery, onions and garlic real fine and saute them in olive oil. I then put them in the meat mixture with chopped up mushrooms, oatmeal, Dales, eggs, salt, pepper and some crushed tomatoes. I like mine well done. He doesn't.

I was perusing blogs this morning. I noticed that some show their weekly menu. Are they for real? Everything sounded like something I would go out to eat. Meaning complex and not the normal fare. I know around here there are nights the kids get Tyson chicken nuggets and tator tots or fries with a veggie. They love it. Hubby does to because it is quick and easy. These children, well oldest grandson, would not eat some of those meals. He was not so picky when he was younger. Now he thinks he should eat at McDonald's or Burger King, depending on the toy. That comes from his mother working three jobs at one time. Drive through fast food was the norm.

Some blogs were discussing their 2008 and what they planned on doing in 2009. Well my 2008 was extremely depressing so I wouldn't want to bore anyone with all the gory details. All I can hope for in 2009 is for things to be better than 2008. I went through extreme phases last year being angry, depressed and feeling guilty for feeling angry and depressed. I would sometimes rotate through these emotions at rapid fire speed for hours.

What I dream about doing is living in the country, as long as I have high speed internet, and having a garden and peace and quiet. Leaning how to compost and dry veggies and other assorted "Mother Earth" things. I can do without the cable tv and other conveniences but I can't live without the internet. It isn't just for blogging or shopping. I work from home so it is a necessity. In case you haven't noticed yet I am a very impatient person. Using dial up is not an option.

My sister and I have discussed living on our family property in Louisiana. We figure if we get a small travel trailer to start we will be okay. I can hang with my sister because she doesn't talk much. I love people and I have to talk to them every day. Not have to as in forced to but must. I feel out of place if I don't talk to my bff's. They keep me sane. They let me bitch. They sympathize.

There are days when I stop working, sit in front of the tv and immerse myself into a show so deeply that I don't hear hubby speaking. Then I get a loud shout to pay attention. There are times when I do not want to talk. I don't want to listen either. I have started pausing, love that Tivo, and then start the show back. I think he gets it then that I don't really want to talk...or listen. Sometimes I want to scream...soon as I start a movie he starts wanting to talk. Hello...what is the point of watching the movie if you are going to talk the whole time.

I love my hubby but he has to be the most sensitive person in the world. It can wear you out living with someone that you have to watch everything you say because it will hurt his feelings. My girls have even said "he is such a girl". I don't mind solitude. I enjoy it. That is part of the reason I get up so early. It is my alone time. While everyone else sleeps it is just me. He can't stand being alone.

When I was in Dallas for nine months he hated it. I hated it. I hated it because I had no yard or outdoor area living in a hotel. The biggest thing I hated about it was the nightly phone call where I listened to him bitch and moan about Baby Girl driving him nuts or other things. He can exaggerate which is something I do not like. It got to the point that I dreaded the nightly call. Let me just say those calls made my life a fucking hell. One month before I came home I finally lost it. I couldn't take it anymore. One can only stand to listen to the same damn whining for so long. Months of frustration flew out of me and I hung up. At least he was at home, slept in his bed, had his own things and yard, etc.


Did I mention that I have no patience? Thought so. Although, if you think about that last paragraph you would think I was a very patient person. I am not. I am a kind and caring person. That is until you mess with me. I have had to warn some people not to mistake my kindness for weakness. Sometimes people want to mess with me, such as that psycho from work, but you usually learn rather quickly that I am not a pushover. I have a very strong aversion to someone trying to interfere in my life, personal or business.

Wow... where did all that come from? Oh right. It was from ME. I am a very strong woman. Not so much physically anymore but mentally I am fierce. Most people would have collapsed under the pressure I have been under the last year or two. Even hubby says I don't know how you do it. Hello...did I have a choice? It isn't like you can lay down, curl up into a ball and it will go away. And for the record, if he dealt with things it wouldn't all be on me. So there. As my mother used to say "Stick that in your pipe and smoke it".

Okay. So I obviously have some issues and anger that is coming out today. I truly wish for peace and harmony, the end to world hunger and war. I hope that everyone has an awesome 2009. Wow. I can't believe it is here.

Gotta go. I need chocolate. Oops...that would get me in trouble.... This chocolate....

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I hope everyone survived. I was doubtful I would... I took a few photos although there were a large amount that weren't quite in focus. Probably due to my spirits of the alcohol kind.

We tried to make things special but it is hard when you are so busy, haven't completely unpacked everything and don't know where most things are. Granddaughter has never had a traditional Christmas with a tree. Her grandparents, she is my Baby Girls step daughter, are of some religion which will remain nameless that does not celebrate Christmas or birthdays. She has never had a birthday party. We were all set to do one when her "grandparents" demanded she come home. Blah... humbug.

The kids were so cute. They wrote letters to Santa asked for verification that he was real. Of course Santa verified them but I "dumb ass" didn't scan them before he wrote on them. And of course Santa had his cookies and milk.
















Earlier that evening grandson #1 and granddaughter made a gingerbread house. They were so proud of themselves. They had a lot of fun. Hubby kept saying it is late and they need to get a bath and go to bed. I said I didn't care if they were covered in crud and didn't have a bath let them have some fun.










Christmas morning grandson #2, aka Baby Candy, got a Go Diego Go tricycle thing. He has not gotten off of it since without a fight. Poor thing can't reach the pedals but he pushes it everywhere and his vroom vroom can be heard all day long. I want to squeeze him.















I thought I would get all gourmet with Tyler Florence's prime rib. You can see that I had all my garlic chopped up and smashed, rosemary, horseradish, kosher salt. I was so oooh, it will be great. I love garlic. I love horseradish. I didn't take an after picture. I was so scared I was going to ruin this $50.00 chunk of beef because I was a little leery of the rosemary on it. Well, it didn't get cooked enough. Finally hubby said he could grill steaks off it for a few because it was way too rare. I like medium. You would think with all the things I put on it you would be able to taste it. Nope. Hubby said it was actually a little bland. What the hellllll.... so much for being all gourmet. Well at least my roasted asparagus and brussel sprouts turned out well.

WHAT I MISS

I miss living near the beach. I used to live near Gulf Shores, Al. I love smelling the salt air and the smell of the different plants that grow on the beach. This painting is from a photograph I took of my daughters the first time they went to the beach. We lived in this huge two story house in Loxley, Al. The thing I liked about living there the most was the produce market two blocks from my home. Awesome fresh veggies except from December to February. I had grape vines, banana trees, blueberries and apples.

I miss working at the Eastern Shore Art Center and Museum. That was the most awesome job ever. Surrounded by art and artists every day was so wonderful. I loved it when we had a new exhibit. It was like Christmas opening gifts. It was so inspiring. Since I worked there I could take classes for free when I had the time. I took a live model sculpting class. Fortunately we had a very hot young med student as a model. And yes... he was totally naked. See.......

I miss having the time to paint. It is truly one of the most gratifying things I have ever done. I took classes from an artist in Mobile for a short period. Then I decided to go to school and enrolled in business classes. I had already had basic accounting so when I went to the first class, accounting, I was bored to tears. I got up in the middle of the class and canceled all the business courses and signed up for art classes. What a joy. All of my classes were at the art museum that I later ended up working at. Here are a couple of my paintings.

I miss my baby girl that is stuck at Ramstein because all the flights keep getting canceled. She is in a cheerful mood because right now it feels like an adventure. Earlier she thought she would fly into Charlotte, NC and rent a car. Then she thought it would be Washington state, wow. Now it is where ever they can get a plane to. We are still hoping for Charlotte and she will rent and share a car with her new friends that live in Florida. She was the sweetest little thing when she was small. This is her at 3. And this is her all grown up. I used to have that body....with less boobs. I was less gifted in that area... ahem.

But most of all I really miss are all the people that have left us. I miss my mother and father and especially my grandmother. I also lost my brother and my aunt who was like a mother to me this year. I really love some of these old pictures. My mother as a girl and my father as a young man in the Air Force.

This is my grandmother Lennie. She was probably 14 or 15. She was the worlds best cook and never used a recipe. I would rather eat her butterbeans than ice cream or cheesecake any day. My aunt, the mermaid, was like my mother and especially so since I lost mine so long ago. She lost her battle to cancer in June. My brother lost his life in May due to a heartattack brought on by years of alcoholism. He was a very kind and giving person but obviously not a happy on the inside.

And for your funny today...... Me eating dirt.....I obviously thought it was chocolate.

TECHY TARD HERE

I was scolded by baby girl last night. Mom....why haven't you posted anything lately? The truth is I have been unsuccessfully trying to move my blog to my dot com. I tried it once before without success and now I have tried again, without success. I had someone helping but the first attempt left my dot com linked to google. Sooooo I am waiting on the help desk of my host. Yep... tard for sure.



So baby girl is trying to come home this week. That will all depend on whether she gets 5000 things taken care of and can get Sugar, her adorable white dog, flown out on a commercial flight. She and the granddaughter are flying military and hopefully without constant delays since it is all standby.



She has started her own blog but only posted once. She is at http://www.drivinmisscrazy.blogspot.com/. Every time I hear the phrase "Driving Miss Crazy" I think about how it came to be. Big girl and baby girl can really come up with some crazy antics sometimes. Big girl was going to move the car and baby girl jumps in the back seat....don't know why. But big girl said "What do you think this is....... Driving Miss Crazy?". Well you would just have to know the relationship these two have to understand. Many times while driving home from work I wondered if I had enough cash to make it out of town and across several states before I was missed. The two of them and their fighting, playing and other escapades had me taking prozac. The only thing that kept me from running away was the guilt over leaving hubby alone to defend himself.

This is Big Girl and Baby Girl during a rare loving moment which I am sure was brought on by various shots of dark and mysterious liquors along with a dose of Red Bull.












Back when most people had only one phone line I had two. Somehow with two teenage girls they still managed to fight over the damn phone. Then to make matters worse they would each get on a phone line and call me about the other....at the same time....while I was at work. It was maddening. Then 30 minutes later they would call me giggling and snorting and acting like they were 10. So now you don't have to wonder why I was taking prozac. Actually I think it should be a requirement if you have teenagers.


So today I am chatting with baby girl while she is cleaning. I am also cleaning up my jewelry making mess. I can now see the work surface. So we were on the phone for probably a couple of hours. Sometimes we talked sometimes we didn't. Sometimes I got preoccupied with my task and half way heard what she was saying... sorry baby girl. You know your moma does that sometimes. Anyway I hear her say something about "she is licking her nipples". So I immediately think of Sugar the sweet dog but ask who. So then she says granddaughter is pulling her skin and licking her nipples. I think she was being sarcastic because I was so lame for asking who. But the truth is I never did clarify that.... Ewwww...... Let's just go with it was Sugar and I am an idiot for not listening closely enough. Besides....I think it is physically impossible for a child with no breasts to do that....unless she has a giraffe neck.

But I am very very excited and hope that they do make it home this week. It will be a house full. A house full of laughter, tears, probably a few squabbles and just a lot of fun too.

MY THANKSGIVING

I had a very relaxing day yesterday. Big Baby Girl ordered a fried turkey. I would rather have had a smoked one but she ordered it. When my hubby got home with it I was shocked at how small it seemed. Oh well. But for the cost of that turkey I thought we could have had great steaks. It isn't like I am this big fan of turkey. It really isn't my thing.

I got up and made two pans of cornbread for my standard cornbread dressing. It is the most simple thing but my daughters seem to love it. I make the best buttermilk cornbread using a store bought cornbread mix like White Lilly or Aunt Jemima. I use buttermilk instead of milk. I add to the cooked and finely crumbled cornbread lightly cooked one large onion and several stalks of celery. I make a liquid mixture of two beaten eggs along with two boxes of low sodium chicken broth. I add pepper to that as well. I poor that in and mix all of it very well. To save time and washing dishes I do all of this in the pan I am cooking it in. I then add more broth if needed. I cover in foil and bake at 400 for an hour and then remove the foil and cook until it gets golden brown on top. Nothing fancy at all.


I made the standard green bean casserole. BBG (Big Baby Girl) made a dish called Spinach Maria and it was good along with a corn casserole. Basically this is what we had. Since we are all on crazy schedules we really didn't eat together. BBG and her friend ate, I had a small helping of everything later because the mimosas were starting to get to me. DH ate late in the evening. Same as he always does.

I took a few snapshots playing around. It was fun. I have had this camera almost two years and I still don't know all of what it will do. I took some shots of DH, BGG and #1Grandson. Oh and my little boy Oliver. Best photos I have ever gotten of my little pooch. He is a trip. All in all we had a nice relaxing day.

THANKSGIVING AND FAMILY

I have read several blogs with people making fun (I hope) of their family that is coming to visit. I have seen some that basically attacks their mothers. I know that it is probably just to make for entertaining reading. I find it amusing but at the same time it makes me uncomfortable.

I lost my mother in 1992. A few days ago was the 16th anniversary of her death. It was very hard on all of us to lose her so soon. I would love to have my mother over for Thanksgiving. No we did not always have a harmonious relationship. We almost never agreed on some things. But hey... she came from a different time than I did. Her insecurities and inability to support herself in a descent lifestyle made me what I am today.

I vowed that I would never be as insecure as her. I knew I never ever wanted to be dependent on anyone. Not to say there weren't short periods of time that I did. Thankfully I learned to fight and claw and work and slave to get to a point in my life where I can safely say I can support myself without someone elses help. I owe all of that to my mother.

I never faulted my mother or anyone else for that matter for their beliefs. I feel that we are all entitled to feel as we do no matter how uneducated a belief I may feel that it is. Some people find change hard and next to impossible. They are not comfortable with it. I am. My life is one change, move, event, learning experience after another. They are not always pleasurable. I do feel that in life we should all always strive to improve, better, educate, enlighten ourselves. I think that if you stop growing you are just going backwards.

Now that I have gotten that off my chest I do hope that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving.