June Cleaver in Disguise

Congratulations to the North Forney High School percussion ensembles that went to competition in Conroe, TX.  They got superior ratings for their performances and came in 1st and 2nd out of 9 groups.

Disclaimer:  This is not my house, although I would LOVE to live in a house like this.  Okay, maybe not quite so run down, but the older the better.

When I got back from grocery shopping (which is scary in itself), I was putting the groceries away and I suddenly heard a beeping noise.  I ignored it for awhile and then had to go check to see what is was.  Beeping sounds are pretty common around here what with all of the video games, watches, cell phone, etc. we have around here, but this was coming from the laundry room.  I went in there and my Kenmore washing machine was trying to turn itself on.  I turned it off and went back to putting up the groceries.  It kept beeping.  Finally I just gave up turning it off.  Right now it's in there beeping away, trying to turn itself on.

I guess there's a glitch somewhere that's making it beep and all of the lights come on, but in a way I wish it was a ghost who could do laundry.  Wouldn't that be cool?  It didn't bother anybody or anything, just did laundry.  It would be better than having a maid (well, almost better), because you wouldn't have to pay it and all of your laundry would be nice and clean and put away.

On another note, I saved around $10 with coupons while I was shopping today.  Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on the way you look at it) there was a coupon hanging on the Oreos shelf that was buy a package of Oreos get a package of Oreo cakesters free.  That was just too good to pass up.

Maybe that's why we have a ghost. It's interested in the Oreo.  It better hurry and eat some, because they sure don't last long around this house.

If energy drinks will help me keep up with one through five year olds at our church's mother's day out, I will keep them in business by ordering CASES of the stuff.  They have soooo much energy.  Don't you wish they had USB ports and you could download some of that energy and use it on yourself.?  I sure do.  It's only 3:00 pm and I'm already thinking about bedtime.  Mercy I'm gettin' old.

I remember when I used to could sit on the floor for HOURS and then I just hopped up and went about my merry way.  Now I have to push myself up after about 5 minutes on the floor and then it takes another 5 minutes for my legs to quit hurting and start moving like they're supposed to.

My mom and her sisters used to sit around and watch us kids running around and they would always say "I sure wish I had some of that energy."  I used to think they were crazy.  I thought "I'm always going to have this much energy."  That's what I get for thinking.

Swimming used to be THE activity.  We couldn't wait to go to the lake or the swimming pool.  Any old place would do as long as there was water deep enough to swim in and it didn't matter how cold it was either (water or weather).  We would just jump in and have us a good old time.  Now my kids want to go swimming when it's 85 degrees out and I'm like "Have you lost your mind?  That water's going to be freezing."  Give me a nice big hot tub any day.

There are a lot of good things about getting older, but if we had that energy to go with age, there would be no stopping us.  Maybe that's why RedBull is so popular.

There's nothing like dealing with health insurance companies to make your blood pressure rise to very unhealthy levels.  It's like this EVERY YEAR.  The first time one of us goes to the doctor, I end up coming home and calling the insurance company because the doctor's office either says we don't have coverage or the coverage isn't what we think it is.  This year there were two issues:  they didn't have information on whether my children had additional health coverage (they don't and probably never will because my husband is the one whose company has insurance) and we hadn't filled out our online health assessment, so we didn't have the $500 in our account that we were expecting.

I filled out my health assessment (which, by the way, is a big waste of time for me and money for the company) a few minutes ago.  One of the questions was "What is your blood pressure?"  Well, when they took it in November for the mandatory health screening is was "108/71".  Today it's "through the roof/heartattack waiting to happen".  Another very important question was "How many alcoholic drinks do you have on a daily basis?" and they were kind enough to tell me how many ounces qualified as 1 drink.  Normally I go for weeks without taking one sip of alcohol, but today I want to have several.  They are driving me CRAZY!!!! 

On the up side, at least I found out before it was too late to take the online health assessment to get our $500.  On the down side, I have a 14 year old home with strep.

One of my friends on Facebook mentioned having hot chocolate and Kahlua.  That sounds really good right now.  Maybe I'll have some and go take my health assessment again.  By then at least one of my answers will have changed.

I keep repeating those words to myself, but it doesn't seem to be working.  It also doesn't help that I keep making recipes that are really good and really high in calories.  I have a high school reunion coming up (I'll just keep how many years my little secret) and I would love to lose about 10 pounds.  What with the rain, the cold weather and the good food, I'm not losing weight very fast.

I was thinking about going to play KENO with some ladies from church, but I just didn't get everything together in time to go.  We were going to all make a different kind of fudge for everyone to try.  I found this Cappucino Fudge recipe on Recipezaar.com.  Can you say heaven in every bite?  Even better, it's easy to make.  It took me about 20 minutes or so and was well worth every minute.

I think I'm going to drag my recumbant bike exerciser thingy into the middle of the living room floor.  Maybe if I see it sitting there I'll actually use it.  Nah, probably not.  Maybe tomorrow.

I made these last night and we were practically licking our plates to get the cheese sauce off (not really, but only because we were trying not to teach our 10-year-old that licking your plate is okay, although it totally crossed my mind once or twenty times).

I got this from The Living Proof Ministries blog.  If you haven't visited check it out.  It's written by Beth Moore and her daughters and is very uplifting.

Sunni's Cheesy Enchiladas

Ingredients:
(I always half this recipe)
24 flour tortillas
2 lbs. ground beef
2 lbs. Velveeta, cubed
2 cans Rotel tomatoes
4 (8-oz.) cartons sour cream
¼ cup butter
2 med. onions, chopped
1 dash garlic salt
Salt & pepper to taste

Brown meat with one chopped onion. Add garlic salt and salt and pepper. Drain. Coat large sauce pan with non-stick spray. Add sour cream and tomatoes, mix well. Add butter and heat on medium heat. Add Velveeta, stirring constantly. Add the remaining chopped onion. Turn heat to low and simmer for about 5 min. The cheese/butter should be melted by this point. Add a portion of the sauce to meat. Spoon meat mixture into tortillas. Lay in casserole dish, seam down. Pour remaining sauce over enchiladas. Cover and bake for 15 min. at 350 degrees.

We have a family of four (two really big eaters) and this was enough to halve and put one pan in the freezer for another night.  You could also make some Spanish rice and serve some chips and salsa to make it go even further.

Hubby and I were planning an entire dinner party around it.  Conversation:
"Now how many people can we feed with one recipe?"
" If we add rice and chips and refried beans we could invite another 3 or 4."
"How about margaritas with that?"  (Once again, not really, but they would be good since we would be going totally Mexican.)

If you try them let me know what you think. Did you want to lick your plate, too?