Don't let me get behind!

BUG ME!!

 

Friday...

 

Emmi cracks me up. She sat in my lap peeling the paper off her crayons. Then she got an idea. She made "pictures" for everyone in the family! She took those tiny little bits of paper and tore them to ittsy bitsy pieces and would hand them to me and tell me who it belonged to. And she remembered the shapes and just who they belong to! I mixed two up and she caught me. Nooo! Aunt Darlene! lol Okay. I promise to do better. But we did not really deliver them. No, when the sweeper came out it gobbled them up. So sorry everyone. I love kids. What imaginations!

 

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Our meal Friday was a good one. I made homemade spaghetti sauce and did a big pan of rigatoni.

 

RIGATONI - sort of

 

I didn't have the right kind of noodles, not even penne to substitute. Instead I used the little bit of rotini I had and the little bit of elbow macaroni I had.

 

I didn't have a hunk of mozarella or provolone, but I had a hunk of co-jack. Good substitute.

 

The sauce was good. I had some leftover crushed tomatoes I needed to use up. I mixed that with browned hamburger, mushrooms, sauteed onions and peppers (red, yellow and green). Of course I put in a good glob of minced garlic (from the jar in the frig), and Italian seasoning. And fennel. Like the taste that throws in.

 

And that's it. Mix it up, bake at 350 until bubbly and enjoy!

 

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I wish this cold weather would invade my bedroom! I've had the window open all week and four fans going. The heater vent is closed. And we keep the thermostat set on 66 anyhow. Our room is STILL the hottest in the house! ugh

 

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I've been spending my wind down times watching Christmas and Halloween movies I have recorded. Who ever said that you can only watch them during the holiday season? I'm enjoying them!

 

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Saturday...

 

We still had lots of coupons for meal deals for Cliff's birthday so we decided to pick one for our brunch. The IHOP one was a good one. Free Rooty Tooty Fresh and Fruity meal for him. I got one of the new Hashbrown Stacks. It was great! The hashbrowns were kind of skimpy on the bottom, but that's fine. I'm not cutting out all carbs, but I'm cutting down. It was piled with a tomato slice, spinach, mushrooms and onions, cheese, an egg, and hollandaise sauce. They called it that. It was really a light cheese sauce.

 

When we got home, I spend the rest of the day working on one of the books I'm writing. I had so many jumbled notes!! I organized it and have it on a flash drive to work on wherever I am. I was tired, but felt very accomplished.

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Sunday...

 

I just couldn't sleep Saturday night. It made for a really tough time. Sunday was the 4th anniversary of Mom's death. I don't think I'll ever get to where certain days, certain things, don't bring me to tears.

 

It would have been easier to get through if Cliff hadn't had to work. We'd have done something to keep busy. I couldn't even concentrate on the Superbowl. And I LIKE football, the commercials, halftime show and general hype. If I'd been with a crowd it would have been better.

 

We did take Mom Sage her meds, but I was way too upset to even go in. Some people think I'm nuts to get so upset still, but they just don't understand how close my family is/was.

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I've got a pretty hard week ahead, but I plan to do my best to stick with all the cooking and cleaning I've been doing. For supper, I made a sort of marsala. It was a Macaroni Grille brand mix I picked up for pennies.

 

The chicken was dredged in seasoned flour, then browned in a little olive oil. Add wine, water and a seasoning pack. I decided to also add some fresh spinach and mushrooms.

 

I had a can of seasoned cabbage in the cupboard that needed to be used so that's what I used for a veggie to go with it.

I had a "decadent cinnamon swirl cake" in the cupboard to make and Corry had dropped off some over-ripe bananas so I did the cake and banana bread.

 

By the time I sat down to eat, the day had gone long. I was a wreck. I broke down and drank a coke. I've only had two since October. I'm not sure I even like them any more!

 

And...my sugar was still very, very low when I took it.

 

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I did start the filing. I HATE that job! I did the fast sort. All the things to be shredded are now in a bag waiting and the things to actually go in the files are in another. One step at a time. Especially when you've procrastinated to the point you'd easily be name queen of the procrastinators!!

 

I also clipped coupons and put them in my coupon file. And in the middle of it all, I found the book for the convection oven. Just might do some changing and bring that baby upstairs.

 

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Blog 164 was to be about negativity. I was sure I'd be doing one on that subject. But every time I sit down to start, the only thing that goes to my mind is that I HATE NEGATIVITY. Nothing else. I just hate it!

 

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Monday...

 

Today was Goulash day. Cliff and I got to thinking we hadn't had it in a while and it got me really hungry for it. And it's easy to make.

 

Goulash

 

Brown 2# hamburger.

Add a thinly sliced onion.

After it's all brown, add a glop of garlic, 3/4 c. catsup, 2T worchestershire, 1T brown sugar, 2t paprika, 1/2t dry mustart a dash of cayenne pepper and 1 1/2 c. water.

I had to thicken it a bit so I added a little cornstarch.

Sure tasted good! Emmi will like it tomorrow. She loves pasta.

 

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Mystery solved! The package to my brother for Christmas was returned. Wrong address.

 

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After watching Hawaii 5-0 tonight, I got to wondering. Don't parents still set up a code word for their kids? Our kids had a code word. If a stranger tried to pick them up and didn't know the code word, they knew we hadn't sent them. It just seems that because the world is so much more dangerous and scary these day that all families need to have a code word. Do you?

 

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I am way beyond tired tonight. I need to "hang up" and go to bed. Night all...

 

~~Mama Sage