The best game EVERRRRRR!!

That would be "Words With Friends."  Think online Scrabble, that you can play with lots of people all at once, any time of day. The beauty of it is you don't have to sit around a table and wait for someone to find a word.  That can take a lot of time ya know?!  I know people who need to have a timer when playing the Scrabble board game. With WWF you don't need that and you can play whenever. There's no huge pressure to take your time, as long as it's not too many days apart. AND the best part is you can plunk letters in to "create" words and the program will tell you if it is indeed a word. My hubby calls this cheating, I call it being resourceful.  There are many, MANY times when I end up with three "i"s at the very end of the game. I's are not that easy to place, truth be told. Plus it's fun with the "word check"ing feature you can find all sorts of words, that you never imagined. For instance "qi." Yeap it's a word on WWF. It however is not registering as a word on this blogger. Hmmmmmmm....  Anyway, I do love this game and currently have eight games going with three different people.

I should also mention today, I went with one of my BFFs to a local restaurant. My BFF said she dreamed about Belgium waffles with ice cream and guess what she ordered. Belgium waffles with strawberries and ice cream for breakfast!!

I ordered boring french toast with pecans. But, that was so, sooooooooooo good!

So there you have it.  What game I love and what I did today. Later!

Coupon link

Here's a handy dandy coupon link that I found with my nifty magazine "All You." It is a teense bit annoying, because you have to download a coupons printer thingymabob. And then if you're me, you have to figure out where the heck they are printing from, etc.... I did figure it out. I printed 4 coupons and they are all good until mid November. And they are for things I will use. Yay!

http://coupons.allyou.com/Couponweb/Offers.aspx?pid=14803&nid=10&zid=rd17

I might become a couponaholic, but, no way will I ever be an extreme couponer. Those people are crazy. I don't need 300 bottles of dish detergent or 200 boxes of cat food. AND the time it takes to prepare for these extreme shopping adventures. Hours and hours and hours.  I definitely do not have patience for that.  That's is for the moment. Till next time!

Extreme couponing?!

I think not! But, I did go to Walmart today and save $15.00 with coupons!!! WhooHOO!!! I still spent way too much money, per usual at Wally World.  I have had a subscription to the "All You" magazine for a while and the big draw is the many, MANY coupons throughout. My lovely SIL asked me if I used the coupons and I said, "No." Well, duh.... What is wrong with me?!?! So, I found the last three issues and clipped away. I only had a short time to shop, since I had to hurry back to the orthodontist to pick up C#1 and C#2 from their torture. Anyway, I was so happy to hear that my bill dropped $15.00 buckaroos and I had only used half of the coupons I had brought. Now if I made a plan and gave myself more time, I could save even more!!!

The only downside of this, is the bags of candy that are calling me!! Two of the lovely coupons were for "fun" size candy. You know, the size you can eat 2 or 5 and they were "fun" so they definitely don't count as a full size candy bar. HUGE WIN! Ummmmmmm.... Yeah. Not really. The children and hubby were pleased with my lovely purchases, though.

Any way, I am watch "Extreme Couponing." for inspiration or maybe so I can just shake my head in disbelief. This woman paid $25.00 for over $550.00 worth of food, etcetera. INSANE!  I definitely don't plan on going that far. I will just stick to clipping out of my magazine and possibly pick up a Sunday paper, just for fun!

Must have been a milestone.

Both C#1 & C#2 are both in the double digits.  I am having a hard time getting my mind around it. Not sure if it's just me feeling older or maybe it's a mild case of panic?!?  I am deathly afraid of the teenage years and alas they are upon me.  WHAT AM I GONNA DO?!?! I've considered farming the children off to their grandparents. I figure they've already done this. They must be pros. Right?  It's almost like when you leave the hospital after having a baby. They push you out the door with a "Good luck!" And you're like what? Me? What am I supposed to do? I don't have instructions?  Of course, we muddle along for better or for worse.  I just need to be thankful that we have all survived the last 10+ years.

I have younger siblings who have felt the need to populate the earth, too. One of them asked me if I ever felt that "wanna have another one twinge"? I can say with absolute certainty "NO WAY, NO HOW!"  I have been told that once the first one goes off to kindergarten, I would have this longing. Wellllll.... C#1 hopped onto the bus that first day of school and there were NO tears. N.O.N.E.  When it was C#2's turn --- Yet, again, no tears. Not even a mist.

Let me be clear.... I do love my children and would do anything for them.  But, before you have children, you need someone to tell you it's HARD work!  Of course, that wouldn't have helped. All those cute babies and the "baby" friends are all encouraging of that endeavor --- AKA misery loves company.  This doesn't all come to light until AFTER you have squeezed out baby #1.  Of course, it does seem like those big decisions, moments in life, turn out to be a lot harder to deal with after said event, than before.  I guess this is my word of caution. I do love my life and the people in it.  I just want to help those who are wearing "rose colored glasses" with the reality of things.

Any way, that is my thought for today.  More to come ---  I promise! :)

Birthday food pictures

Here is the cake. As you can see it is huge aka "TOO.MUCH.CAKE"!! About 1/2 of it was eaten and I was able to give some away for some peeps who didn't make it to the party.

And then there was salad (I know not very exciting.)

And then the main course -- Baked fettuccine alfredo with chicken and bread (not pictured.)

Everyone seemed satisfied. So ,I will call that a success.

Now it's time for breakfast..... LATER!

A busy, busy day!

Well the good news is I go my car back!!  And it was $200 less than what they quoted. Of course, that might be on purpose, so it doesn't feel soooooooooo bad when you get the bill at the end.

After we/I picked up my car, the rest of the family went home and I got to go to "Meet the Teacher Night." I liked all of the teachers and was happy to "make sense" of some of the complaints from C#1. He was complaining of working in groups and having difficulty dealing with the other classmates who weren't pulling their load. I know exactly what he means, but, at the teacher thing, it was explained without my even asking!

Right now I should be cleaning the house and preparing for the birthday party for C#2. But, alas, I am blogging and procrastinating. Which I am the queen of, in case you didn't know. Like I said before, I am not too worried about the clean house.  The guests are all family (except for C#2's friend, but, she doesn't care) so there is no real expectation and if there is, welllllllllllllllllllllllllll you know that I care (not at all.)  


Yesterday I went cake shopping with the birthday girl. I had a small list, but, her primary was cookies for school and the right cake. We found the perfect sugar cookies with the thick, delicious frosting. Sadly they only came in a pack of 21 and for all the students and teachers to get on we needed at least 26. I had to break down and buy two packages and am now forced to eat the rest at home. I know, I know.... The sacrifice is huge (well it might be if I decide to eat them ALL, which I would, if I dared.) They are that good! We also had to pick out a cake. She did not think that a 1/4 sheet cake was enough. We are going to have 15+ people, but, a lot of those people are very little and I am sure they won't be cake happy --- at least I am sure their parent's aren't going to let them be. She picked out a 1/2 sheet cake, anyway. I think she liked the balloons that were on it. All I can say is that there is there is TO.MUCH.CAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I know what tasty treat I will be bringing to Bible Class on Sunday!

I will be making chicken alfredo, baguette bread, and salad for dinner.  I hope to get that started very soon, since we will be eating dinner kind of early to accomodate soccer practices (my nephew's) and the many little people with earlier bedtimes.  I am sure it will be a success. Maybe I will clean, but, I will probably just focus on the food. Who cares how clean the house is, if the food is good? Not me!  I will make sure to take pictures of the food and post them next time.... I better get started, because dinner needs to be ready in five hours and company will be here in four!!  YIKES!

Be thankful in all things....

Even if it challenges your bank account! That is the lesson I am supposed to be learning, courtesy of my car. I finally got the PITA car towed, yesterday. The towing company is very busy (putting it mildly) and it was picked up after scheduled hours.  I don't think I was charged extra. I called the towing company in the morning and was informed that it would be a while, since the truck they needed to tow my PITA car, was busy. The way the car was dragged out of the garage and into the driveway, was at a tricky angle, which required a specific truck.

Anyway, I called the mechanic today and they notified me that they were getting it in the shop at that very moment. I am sure that was loads of fun, since the stupid thing would not shift gears -- aka stuck in park. I probably don't want to know how they got it into the garage part of the shop. Ughhhhhhhhhhh!

One and a half hours later the lovely mechanic called with the damages. Many dollars later it will supposedly be fixed. The mechanic said it was labor intensive. That just figures. It has been over a year since I have had any major issues with said vehicle (now I just jinxed myself -- for sure.)  I just might have my PITA automobile back tomorrow. I won't hold my breath.

But, I know my situation and bills are far less than lots of my neighbors. So in that, I will be thankful.

Apples, Pears and Grapes. OH MY!

This weekend started with rolling my car out of the garage and then dragging it out. EEEEKKKK!  The hubby assured me that he was being nicer than the tow guys, which I am sure is 100% true. Now the car is stuck at a weird angle in the driveway. We hope to have that issue rectified this week --- but, who knows.

Then I started a homemade tomato sauce from my French cuisine book a la Julia Child. I have slightly more tomatoes than I can handle, but, not enough to can or do anything long  lasting with them. I gave some of them to two of my friends to lessen the load. Anyway, back to the Julia recipe. After about 3-4 hours simmering in the crock pot, it was deeeeeelicious!!!!! Miss J knows her stuff!!  The picture doesn't do it justice and the fact that it's half gone.....

While the tomato sauce cooked, I made some apple and pear crisp.  Let me say it was the BEST crisp I have EVER had. I think it has to do with the recipe being very heavy on the butter. I even cut half a stick of butter OUT of the recipe. The recipe came from an Ina Garten ~ Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. Her name should be Ina "Butter" Garten, because she sureeeeeeeeeeeeeee loves her butter. On a side note: she is a chef, I appreciate, since I know she likes and eats her food.

After I finished making the crisp, the hubby, had the brilliant idea of picking some of the concord grapes, that grew nicely this year AND then making a pie.  I found a fairly simple recipe from a set lovely cookbooks, that my BFF gave me.  It was "fairly" simple because there was some "work" involved with said grapes. In case you don't know, Concord grapes have seeds and you don't want seeds in your pie!!  I immediately nominated the hubby for the job of squeezing each little grape and saving the skins. Which he did!! I said I would help if he did that part. Come to find out the most annoying part was actually getting the seeds out of the pulp, after it was boiled (the hubby did that part, too.) We sat over the pulp for a good while, picking them out, once we found a sieve that sort of worked. Once that task was done we baked the bottom part and I proceeded to make the topping and the pie crust leaves, to make it look pretty.  After the crumb topping was added and baked, again, we stuck it in the fridge overnight, since it is a pie you eat cold.  The hubby got it out after lunch and gave everyone a piece.  We were all a little bit apprehensive since the grapes were sweet, but, a teensy bit tart.  Let me just say it was deeeeeeeeeelicious!! Success!! Not  that I want to hurry up and make it over and over, since the whole grape process can be quite tedious.  Maybe once a year or twice, if I'm feeling really ambitious?!?! And the hubby is willing to squeeze hundreds of little grapes.  Here's a picture of it's deliciousness:

Hopefully this week proves to be productive. I have a birthday party to plan for, but, thankfully it's "only" family showing up, so I don't have to over clean or anything. YAY ME!! 

Till next time....

It breaks my heart...

My favorite place to browse when the hubby gets his hair cut went under water and they lost all sorts of books. My favoritist section was the bargain books in the basement.  I am sure they are all here in these piles.

 I still can't get over the piles and piles of stuff out on the curbs. I have heard a lot of people will not be returning to their homes.  It is all so very sad.....

Annnnnnnnd now I'm stuck.

I went to my BFFs house yesterday and helped empty her flood damaged house.  But, first we did a little bit of a "re-group" and chatted over coffee at the mini "coffee bar" I brought.

I then helped my BFF clear the cupboards in her kitchen. These bags were then dumped at the curb.

This was seen all over this street and many, many others.  And the mud. Really nasty and stinky. It is really sad to see so much loss, everywhere.

I had planned on going out today and helping clear out my BFFs house, but, after loading the car, my car wouldn't shift!!! I called the hubby and informed him of my predicament. As I was speaking to him, I noticed that there was a noticable leak of  some sort. The fluid was yellow-ish.  I was apparently not going anywhere today. AND I was not happy about it. 

The hubby came home and figured out the problem. I have a blown brake line. Now the trick is to get the thing out of park, since, I cannot shift the car. It is a good thing I didn't get out of the house today. It would have been a bad thing to be out and about if the brake line decided to fail.  So alas, I am stuck for a while. The mechanic I usually take my vehicle to is under water as well. I guess, I will have to be patient.   

My problem does seem very trivial compared to what is happening around me (which it is -- trivial.)  Families losing everything and the destruction of so many things and peoples lives.  My prayers will continue to go out to all of the families affected by this and I hope to help, again, very soon.

Here's some after...

Here's some during the flood and after the water receded shots of my BFFs house. The black thing at the middle right is the TOP of the trampoline safety net.

And after the water receded.

What's heart wrenching is that, this family had to do the same clean up in 2006 --- ugh!  There are lots of people coming out to help.  And once I get off the hill, I will be helping, too.

Day #2

The kids had their second "snow" day today. Everything is still under a state of emergency and flooded. The hubby made it to work, but, had to get some crazy back road directions from his boss, on how to get there. His normal route is under water.  Here is a picture to give you an idea of what it's like at the bottom of the hill....

 This is the "big" town closest to us. And it is swimming.

We are high and dry at our house. The power is back on and the internet is working. I feel very lucky and very sad at all of the devastation down below.  I know there will be a lot of work to be done once the water recedes and people can start cleaning up.

Today my hubby's parents and grandparents came over. They had to be evacuated from their house that was next to the river and they did not have any power. They were all evacuated via an airboat. The shelter they were at before being picked up by my parents last night had no power and very little lighting. Especially since they were picked up at night. Crazy!!

One of my BFF's house has gone under, too. She said it reached her second floor.   Thankfully my brother helped her out and rescued their cats and hamsters. It is all very awful. Especially when there is nothing you can do, at least for now.

Here's some more pics....

The local highway and the stuck truckers. They have since been able to move out.

One of my favorite diners is completely underwater, too.

This afternoon C#2 made a birthday cake for her Great Grandma's 90th birthday. It was a lemon supreme cake mix with homemade lemon buttercream frosting. It was really good. 

Anyway, let's hope that the water recedes quickly and that things can get back to normal -- even though that is going to take some work.....

Now I can relax.

The bus dropped the kids off about thirty minutes ago. Now I can relax. And no more posts for today!
LATERRRRRRRR!

The ongoing adventure...

The hubby made it home, but, the kids are still stuck at school. I am not entirely sure what to do. The rain hasn't let up. I'm thinking they may be having a sleepover at school tonight. UGH!!!  Please send some prayers that the rain stops and water recedes.  There is flooding/damage everywhere!!

Well that was highly entertaining..... NOT!

Today was the first day of school for C#1 and C#2.  Everyone got out of the house just fine. I then had plans for a "celebration" breakfast at a local diner. I was following a friend, since I didn't know where this place was located. I was almost to my BFFs house and the road to get to her house had flooded over. I decided to drive through it. I know, I know, not very smart. But, I did make it. On my way back out the road looked WAY worse, so I did a U-turn and went down another way.

We arrived at the diner and I made sure to order my breakfast right away, since I had last minute appointment. My food showed up very fast and when I was nearly finished, my cellphone rang. The lovely hubby was telling me that I should go home NOW!  I was already concerned with the water, since my BFFs house was in danger of flooding.  I had my route planned, but, was forced to go another way since the road was closed due to flooding under a bridge. The other route was better, only because it wasn't closed, but, there were a few spots where the water was running over from the ditches. I decided not to stay on that road and got on the highway. Thankfully it was doing okay. It wasn't under at all. But, then once I got off the highway, there were more spots where the water was over the road. I got one road away from home and there were two spots where the water was raging over the road. SHEEESHHHHHHHH! I live on a hill but, it was coming down so fast the ditches couldn't contain it. I finally made it to my road and thankfully it was mostly clear. Phewwwwwwww!!!!

Once I got home I texted the Hubby and BFF to let them know I didn't get washed away.  Then I noticed I missed a call for my appointment and that was cancelled because of all the rain. Then, I noticed the kids have an early dismissal. Then, my BFF posted pictures of her house and the water was all the way up to the house. AND it wasn't like that when I was there less than 2 hours before. AND the rain doesn't appear to be letting up. I just got a phone call from the hubby and he said this flash flooding might be as bad as a couple years ago, that caused tonsssssssss of damage.  I am hoping it lets up soon and that the kids and hubby get home safe!!

Haircuts

Since this was the final full week of summer vacation, I figured C#2 needed a haircut. I took her to the local Cost Cutters.  Seeing that I had an opportunity, I decided to get one, too.  My hair was at a good length --- but, that window of "goodness" lasts for about a week. Then my bangs would be too long and I would be tempted to grab the kitchen scissors and whack them off!!  I told the lovely hairstylist to take two inches off. When she was done it was all flat and wet (since I refuse to pay extra for a wash and dry.) I should state that it took me about a year to "figure" out how to style my hair. So, alas, I am almost back to square one. Thankfully, it does appear to be pliable, so all is not lost. Haircuts are such a tricky thing. Especially when you have a different stylist every time.

C#2 had her hair cut a teense bit shorter than before with more layers. It might look cute, if she (or I) took the time to style it. She's insisting that we make an extra effort on the first day of school. And I am sure, after that, she will get up, not brush it and be completely satisfied.  I know that it will only be a short time before she is going to drive me bonkers wanting to look all cute EVERY day.  I hope I have a couple years, before that drama.....  I won't hold my breath.

So there you have it. A tale about haircuts! :)