Menu Planning

I am back on the Menu Planning track.  Our schedule was so hectic there for a few weeks (my husband was working a butt load of overtime at work).  Now that we have some normalcy back, I am back to planning and organizing.  

The first thing I did this time is I wrote down a master list of stuff that my family loves (or would at least try).  That helped tremendously.  I still need to take everything out of my "pantry" (it's really a deep dark dungeon of a long cabinet) and see what all I have.  I also need to do the same for my fridge (hello yogurt that has been in there since Christmas).  But, I have our menu for this week.

Monday

Copycat Chick-fil-a chicken - baked not fried.  

Hubby went to help a friend with his resume.  Kiddo loved this one and she is hugely picky.  

Next time I will totally spray the wire rack before putting the chicken on it.

I tweaked this recipe from here.  

Tuesday

Leftovers for Elexis/ Summer Sausage Stir Fry 

Wednesday

Child has church with friends so we usually grab something out.  I am thinking Subway.

Thursday

Slow Cooker Beef and Broccoli

They will like broccoli, they will like broccoli, they will like broccoli...

If I say it enough, will it come true?? haha

Friday

Hot dogs

We have a musical and need something easy

Saturday

I am going to batch make meatballs so I we will definitely have some type of meatball dish.

I am thinking Meatball sub on a stick. 

My family loves food on a stick

Sunday

Roasted Maple Glazed Pork Tenderloin 

or some other pork variation.

 

I am trying to get to monthly planning, so I can do a big shopping trip for essentials and just make small ones for fresh stuff.  My goal next month is to do two weeks of planning at a time.  Crossing my fingers.  

Last Week:

Okay...I am back.  Last Week was just as busy as the previous week.  

On Monday: Everyone was home because of the holiday.  My husband's aunt came in from VA to help take care of Granny after her surgery.  We both took Granny to her pre-op stuff.  I also cleaned and tried to get caught up on laundry.  When schedules get out of whack, my house usually pays the consequences.  

Tuesday: I went and played Bingo with Wilma at the Senior Center.  Granny wasn't there because her other daughter was here.  I told Wilma I would still come even though Granny wouldn't be there for three weeks.  I got stopped every few feet from everyone asking how Granny was doing and to say they were all glad that I got there so quickly.  I have really really become fond of these elder people.  So many of them gave me hugs and they kissed my cheeks.  It's like having 40 grandparents.  I love it.  After the center, I went and got my oil changed (and had to unexpectedly buy a new tire).

Wednesday:  Granny had surgery.  I was up there with hubby's family.  Everything went well.  She had a bladder sling put in (not the mesh).  Took Elexis and her best friend (my other daughter) to church.  I went back to the hospital after I dropped them off.  

Thursday:  Finally got to visit with my sister after she got finished across the street.  We got to talk for over an hour and I am glad that we will be making these a weekly thing.  

Friday: I went to visit my really good friend who was also my daughter's 5th grade teacher at school.  I had an awesome visit with her (while her kids were in Music). 

Saturday: Birthday party for one of my other really good friend's daughter.  We also stayed longer than the party because we were having such a good time visiting).  My daughter and I also spent a good portion of the day in our PJ's watching movies (one was The Sandlot...one of my favorites).  

Today:  We went to church.  Came home had lunch and then packed up the cello for my daughter's guest conductor workshop and concert.  After we dropped her off, hubby and I spent some good quality time together while waiting to go back for the concert.  We went to Michael's and the bookstore.  

I have also done a lot of reading (because of a lot of the waiting I have done).  I finished reading Divergent and Insurgent and started Alligiant.  My family can't wait until the Divergent movie comes out next month.  Definitely going to see it.  

Okay; you are all pretty much caught up on life up to this point.  This week is also shaping up to be a busy week.  Hopefully it won't be too bad.  Next post I do will be about some of the changes that have been happening.  

A little time to breathe

I have had the craziest two weeks.  It involved a lot of time at the hospital (none of which was for me).  It has also involved a lot of positive change (my word of the year) for me personally.  I hope to get back to blogging more regularly.  I have missed this.  

As you all know, I go to the Senior Citizen Center on Monday's to play dominos with my husband's grandma and a 91 year old lady named Wilma.  I really look forward to Monday's because I love going to the center and seeing my elderly friends.  Thursday before last I was sweeping my floor, preparing for my sister to come over (the one that lives 20 minutes away that I hadn't seen in 2 years until Christmas...turns out one of her clients is one of my neighbors (she is an OT)).  I got a phone call where I didn't recognize the number.  Normally I don't take these calls, but this time I decided to. I am glad I did.  It was the Senior Center and my husband's granny had collapsed and was barely breathing.  Talk about a freak out moment.  Lucky for me, we live 2 minutes away from the center.  I dropped my broom where it was and headed over.  I got there just as the First Response (who shares the same parking lot as the Center) got there.  She had regained consciousness by the time we both got there (thats good), but she couldn't comprehend that she had blacked out.  She kept saying she didn't.   The director of the center told me that they saw her slumped over and the guy sitting next to her was trying to save her from falling out of her chair.  She wasn't breathing but making a gurgling sound.  When Granny first started going there, my mother in law and I decided to put me down as the emergency contact because I could get to her first.  It's a good thing to, because it took me a solid 30 minutes (and a tearful conversation for my husband) to get a hold of my mother in law.  We all decided she needed to go to the ER just to get checked out and find out what happened.  My MIL, my husband, and his uncle (Granny's son) all met me at the ER.  I went to go pick my daughter up from school, I called my mom to tell her about the experience.  While I was talking to her, my dad beeped in on her end and she said she would call me back.  She called me right back and told me that my dad was on his way to the emergency room because his lung doctor thought he had double pneumonia and needed to go to the ER to get his breathing under control.  So I had two people who I am very close to go to the ER within 3 hours of each other.  They were at two different hospitals (they couldn't make it convenient on me...haha) and both were in Room 18 (weird).  They kept Granny until Saturday and ran all kinds of tests (including CAT scans and MRI).  On a side note: Granny was scheduled to have surgery the following Wednesday (this past Wednesday) and her twin sister died a year ago on Monday from a brain aneurism.  They kept my dad until Monday and because they had him so pumped up with steroids, he developed medicinal diabetes (luckily after he got out of the hospital, his blood sugar level went back down to normal).  Last weekend was pretty much a blur of hospitals.  Luckily my daughter was out of school on Friday and Monday.  

Friday: I went to Elexis' parent teacher conference.  She is doing very well.  Her lowest grade was a 94 (which she has now brought up to a 99).  I got the recommendations from her teachers on what classes she should take next year when she is a FRESHMAN...wahhh.  We got all her classes picked out and she is now enrolled.  When did I get old enough to have a Freshman?? 

Saturday: Daughter went to her cousin's house to stay the night, so hubby and I went to the movies for a date night.  We saw About Last Night.  It was really funny, but really sexual.  

Sunday: Church and together time for me and hubs.  We rode the motorcycle to visit my dad in the hospital and then picked up the kiddo.  

I think I will end there and continue this in a separate post.  

Sunday Stealing

Fifteen Meme

from Liv Rants  

What was your first job like? I worked at a valet car wash.  I vacuumed and dried cars.  It lasted three weeks.
It’s a typical Sunday, how are you spending it? church, family, internet
What was the happiest day of your life? The night my daughter was born.  
What was the best decision you ever made? Marrying my husband
Tell your go-to “pretend” game as a child (who was your alter-ego?) private investigator with my cousins.  I went by my real name.
What email service do you use? gmail
What fandoms would you consider yourself a part of? not sure, I think I leave that to my daughter.
Do you use anything on your lips? (eg. Chapstick, gloss, balm, lipstick) Chapstick religiously and lipstick when I wear makeup.
How many devices do you own which can access the internet? Myself - 3  Household - 9
Last strong smell you can remember smelling? A building that burned yesterday; it still smelled horrible today
If you had to move your birthday to another date, which one would you choose and why? May 1.  Before school lets out but far away from Christmas.
Inspiration behind your blog title? My life around the musical theatre stage
If you could spend a rainy day with anyone in the world, who would you choose and why? My family, because I love spending time with them playing games or watching movies
Is there a foreign culture that you love? Possibly Greek or Italian
Do you have a favorite soft drink? Diet A&W Root Beer.  

Sunday Stealing

Books Meme

from Be Your Own Hero  

Book Survey!

• 1:Favorite children's book The Little Engine that Could or Skippy Jon Jones
• 2:The last book you've read Divergent
• 3:Books on your "to read" list Allegiant
• 4:Top 5 authors JK Rowling, Suzanne Collins, Janet Evanovich, Dr. Suess, Laura Ingalls Wilder
• 5:Favorite genres Mysteries, Chick Lit, Utopian/Dystopian, 
• 6:A book that has made you extremely mad Middle of the series books for being cliffhangers
• 7:A book that you've cried over Marley and Me
• 8:A book that made you laugh out loud Pretty much any book I have read. 
• 9:Fiction or nonfiction? Fiction
• 10:First book you've read by your favorite author Little House on the Prairie
• 11:Best book-to-movie adaption So far Catching Fire
• 12:Do you read comics/manga? no
• 13:Hardcovers or Paperbacks? For collecting; Hardcover.  For reading: Paperback
• 14:Do you buy books as soon as they come out or wait a while? It depends
• 15:Do you buy books spontaneously without any prior knowledge of what happens in it? All the time
• 16:Have you ever bought a book based on the cover alone? Again, all the time
• 17:Where do you usually buy your books? Barnes and Noble or electronically
• 18:Book that had a strong impact on you Where the Red Fern Grows
• 19:Historical or science fiction? Sometimes.  My daughter has been getting me more and more into it.
• 20:Dystopian or Utopian? Absolutely
• 21:Worst book-to-move adaption? The Cat in the Hat
• 22:Book that should have a movie adaption? I tend to like books to stay books
• 23:The first book you've fallen in love with Where the Red Fern Grows
• 24:Humor or angst? Humor
• 25:How many books do you own? At least 4 bookcases full.  We are huge readers in our family
• 26:Do you go the library? All the time
• 27:How many books do you read a year? Lately not enough, but I am getting back in to it.
• 28:Favorite "required reading" book? To Kill a Mockingbird and A Time to Kill
• 29:Favorite quote? "A brave man acknowledges the strength of others." - Divergent
• 30:A book you absolutely hate Water For Elephants - Ugh

Sunday Social

I have seen this around and always wanted to participate.  Now is as good as of a time as any.

1. What is your favorite thing to watch on a girls night? If by girls night you mean me and my daughter...pretty much anything Disney or animated.  I think we are going to begin a Harry Potter marathon though.  

2. What is your favorite thing to watch on your day off?  I am a full time domestic engineer.  Therefore everyday is my day off, now if I could just get to relax on those days off...because oh wait, I don't have days off...but I like to watch HGTV in the evenings.
3. What is your favorite thing to watch when you’re sick?  I haven't been sick in years, so I couldn't tell you.  But, I would guess I would want to watch the inside of my eyelids.  
4. What is the last movie you saw in the theater?  Yesterday we saw The Lego Movie before that; Frozen sing-a-long

source

5. What are your top three favorite movies or tv shows?  Movies: 1. Beauty and the Beast, 2. Fast and Furious series 3. Grease  TV Shows:  1. Hart of Dixie, 2. Mike and Molly 3. How I Met Your Mother or Big Bang Theory.  I chose my non-HGTV favorites.  

Sunday Stealing

Cupid's Questions Meme

from Kodelaine  

1.)Do you like Valentine's Day?  Not really.  I find it to be a very commercialized holiday.  I do semi celebrate for Elexis, but my husband and I do not exchange gifts, cards, flowers or go out to dinner.  
2.)Are you going to celebrate it? We get Elexis a small gift, but otherwise...no
3.)Celebrate Valentine's Day with Friends or someone Special?  I prefer friends and family
4.)Pink or red? Pink
5.)Candy Hearts OR cards? I like to photograph candy hearts so I choose those
6.)A short kiss or a big hug?  "Hi, my name is Olaf and I like warm hugs"
7.)What are your plans for V-day?  Parent teacher conferences and I am going to break out the beach wear.  It supposed to be 58*...haha
8.)What would be the best gift to receive? A trip
9.)Would get back with any of your ex's for V-day?  Heck no...they are ex's for a reason
10.)Is there a food or beverage you associate with V-day?  chocolate covered strawberries
11.) What are your thoughts on "Love at first sight"? Become friends first
12.)Do you think people who have dated can stay friends?  sometimes...depends on how long and level of friendship before dating
13.) If you could go back in time and give yourself one piece of advice about dating or relationships what would it be? live a little.  

Harry Potter

Yes, I am fifteen years late on the whole Harry Potter train (Hogwarts Express..haha).  I had not read any of the books nor seen any of the movies.  I have now done one of those things.  I finished reading the series last night.  I cried.  Over the past couple of months I have grown to really love these characters.  I now get all the hype around them.  J.K. has such a way with words that I actually felt these people were real.  I laughed and cried a lot while reading them.  Certain deaths affected me more than others.  I almost didn't read the 7th book after someone dies at the end of the 6th book.  But, I picked it up and read all 759 pages in about 4 days.  I couldn't put it down.  I am really excited to see the movies now.  I am one of those that wait until I have read the book before I see the movie.  

The next series I have started is the Divergent series.  The first movie comes out in March and I have already started the book.  My daughter has read all of them a couple of times (same thing with the HP's and Hunger Games series).  She is the one who gets us excited to read them.  Her poor Language Arts teacher is constantly trying to find Elexis new books to read.  She doesn't really like Teen Romance/everyday life type books.  She is more into the dytopian society and science fiction type books.  I am just happy she reads a lot.  But...she gets that from both her mom and her dad.  We are both huge readers.  My child would rather get new books than make up or nail polish (sorry Lizzy).  

If you have read the Harry Potters or seen the movies, which one is your favorite? 

February Goals

Okay so it's already the fifth and I haven't made my goal post yet.  So here goes...

Lets begin with January's goals:

1. Post regularly - starting right now, lets forget the past week, even though I am going to catch up on Stealing Sunday, I like doing those.  Ehh, I did okay.  I still would like to post more often than I do.  But I did lose a little bit of mojo.  It's coming back.

2.  Create and stick with a menu plan all month - so far so good this month, lets keep it up.  I have so far stayed good with this.  Sometimes I have to take it day by day because of our ever evolving schedule, but I have cooked most nights.  

3. Reconnect spiritually - Downloaded YouVersion on my computer and I am doing a few Bible studies  Every day I do this.  

4.  Get back to the gym - Now that Elexis is back in school, this should be easier Yes!  And not only that, I am up to running 1.8 miles on the treadmill without walking.  Furthest I have ever ran.  

5.  Declutter at least one room - I have already kind of reorganized my kitchen. Ehh, not so much.  No motivation because all I want to do is hibernate.  

6. Take more pictures.  - I haven't picked up my camera for about a week. I took pictures last week that I have edited, but I haven't posted.  It's too cold to go outside.  

7. Get school stuff worked out - start with figuring out what I want to do...haha.  I think I have it figured out.  Now I need to wait for Fall enrollment and figure out which school I want to go to.  

Ok, not bad.  A little more green than red.  I can handle that.  Now let's get on to February.

1.  Keep up with my blogs more regularly.  - I have a few things I want to talk about but kind of afraid of "laying it all out there".  I love the friendships I have made through all this and I want to continue to nurture.

2.  Keep the menu plan - It makes grocery shopping easier.  And knowing what we are eating is a big bonus.

3.  My gym goal this month is to be up to running for 27 minutes on the treadmill.  I don't know distance yet.  Right now I am running 22 minutes and I get 1.8.  I am trying to gradually increase it.  I only run every other day though.

4.  Get motivated to clean my house - I need to get back on a cleaning schedule.  It worked very well.

5.  Still want to declutter - maybe the bathroom first??  It's little...

6.  Complete a house project - I have a giant list.  I need to start tackling it.

7.  Get creative with my camera - I guess it's time to start doing food pictures again.  I can do those inside.

8. Get creative in general - Valentine's Day should help with that.  Elexis and I will make valentine goodies for her friends.  I personally don't like V-Day, but I do get into the spirit for Elexis.

9. Stick to my budget - I did extremely well with this in January.  Now hopefully that will carry over into this month.

Sunday Stealing (on a Monday...)

Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost Meme

from:  BlackPanther

1. Put your music player of choice on shuffle and list the first song Secrets by One Republic
2. If you could spend a week anywhere in the world, where would it be and why? Would you take anyone with you?  I a going to pick somewhere I have already been because I only get a week.  I pick NYC.  I love the electricity of the City.  I would take my daughter and we would go to a lot of shows and do a lot of shopping.  If I had a month, I would go to Greece.  Also, it was a hard choice (came down to eeny, meeny, miney, moe) between NYC and Disney World.  
3. What is your preferred writing implement? (eg. Blue pen, pencil, green pen) Purple Ink Pen Quote from Willy Wonka Jr. : Always think positive...write it purple ink Charlie, purple ink.
4. When did you go on your first trip alone (without your parents)? After I got married.  Went to San Antonio for our honeymoon.
5. Do you have connections to any celebrities (even minor)? List them.  My third or fourth cousin is Lee Majors (the Fall Guy).  
6. Name 3 items you could pick up from where you are.  A coffee cup, a purple ink pen, and a memory card for my camera.
7. How would you describe your sense of humor? I don't know...slapstick or second grade.  I think a lot of things are funny.
8. Do you ever play board games or other non-computer games? Got any favorites?  Yes, yes, yes...I LOVE board games and card games.  E and I played Rummy yesterday.  My favorite is Disney Trivia or Trivial Pursuit or Monopoly or Skip Bo
9. A musical artist you love that isn’t well known. Sadly, I think all mine are well known
10. A musical artist you love that is well known. Maroon 5
11. What is your desktop background currently? A pink flamingo picture that I took.
12. Last person you talked to, and through what you talked to them April, my daughter's voice teacher in person. 
13. What do you carry your money in? I have a coach wristlet that I got on sale for $15.  I hate purses.  
14. What timekeeping devices are in the room you are currently in? My computer, phone and cable box
15. What kind of headphones do you use? Earbuds from my iPhone and a pair of Minnie Mouse ihome headphones
16. What musical artists have you seen perform live? Maroon 5 twice, Tim McGraw (7 times), Faith Hill, Dixie Chicks, George Straight, Martina McBride, Jessica Simpson, Simple Plan, Good Charlotte, Bon Jovi, Bangles (first concert), I am sure there are more...
17. How often do you clear your browser history? Never.  I am boring.  I don't search for interesting stuff.
18. What’s the best job you’ve ever had? Besides Mom; either Starbucks or Gift Store
19. What’s the worst job you’ve ever had? telemarketing for 2 weeks.
20. What magazines do you read, if any? People, US Weekly, HGTV, House Beautiful, Good Housekeeping, Family Circle, Redbook, All You, Cooking Light, Food Network, Better Homes and Gardens, This Old House, Cosmo, Fitness, Popular Photography, Redbook...I could go on and on...  I have an app on my phone and iPad called Next Issue.  I have unlimited access to a ton of magazines and I pay a monthly fee.  It has saved me so much money.  I used to spend close to $75 a month in magazine subscriptions.