GROW UP!

I have a real pet peeve that I am going to rant on today - people who think of themselves as responsible adults yet they get their feelings hurt over and over and even worse, they are always telling people they got their feelings hurt.  I just want to go up to them and say "GROW UP!" Someone doesn't come over to speak to them - they get their feelings hurt.  Someone did this for one person and not for them - they get their feelings hurt.  Someone forgot their birthday - they get their feelings hurt.  Someone has some material possession which they cannot have - they get their feelings hurt.  Someones children treat their parents better than their children treat them - they get their feelings hurt.  Someones child is a starter on the team and their child is surely better than that one - they get their feelings hurt. (That one really bothers me because they teach their child to react in this same way.) Someone is asked to participate in something and they weren't - they get their feelings hurt.  The list can go on forever.  They get their feelings hurt over the small and the not so small.  No one or no thing in life is quite good enough for them - ever. I know the Lord must have blessed me with the gift of over looking most things in life that people do that annoy or should upset me and for that I am SO thankful!  My motto is life is too short to get upset over the little things.  But I also feel life is too short to let the rather large things in life upset you too. 

I think this concept came across to me probably after having a child.  I realized then that life is NOT about me.  So many parents never realize that.  They still want life to be all about them and their children take second place.  Excuse me!  If you want to have first place, then don't conceive children.  Once you have a child, you move on to second base.  They are your responsibility and they should come first.  You should WANT them to be first.  They need their clothes washed, their tummies fed, their minds stimulated, their bodies hugged, their souls loved, their bottoms spanked, their attitudes corrected - the list goes on and on.  It is your job, your duty, your hearts desire to do these things for them.  More than likely, there will not be any time left for you for at least 18 years.  Does that sound awful?  Then you are probably getting your feelings hurt on a daily basis.  You should have so much love in you for that child that it is no more about you, but about caring for them.  When you become selfless like this, then you stop getting your feelings hurt.  That is the beginning of this process. 

You begin seeing your life as how can I help those I love, and maybe even those I don't love, rather than how can everyone help me. Selfishness is the root to getting those feelings hurt.  It is not all about you. You should want to help others and be glad they do not have to help you! There are lessons to be learned when you feel you have been wronged and that is how I try to look at life.  Maybe the Lord put that unjust thing in my life to teach me something.  Don't get your feelings hurt.  Learn from it. You are responsible for making YOUR life good or bad.  NO ONE ELSE is.  Not your spouse, not your children, not your co-workers - YOU.  If you find yourself in the position of having hurt feelings more often than you should, look at yourself for the solution and not to others.  Maybe keep a log of when you get your feelings hurt and what the situation was.  You may be surprised at how often this happens.  When reading over the log, you may even be surprised at how childish the things are that hurt your feelings.  If it were someone else getting their feelings hurt over this, would you think they were being petty?  Concentrate on helping to make others happy.  Forgive the person that hurt your feelings. Ask Jesus to change you. Acts 20:35 says, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."  I say, if you concentrate more on giving, you will have less hurt feelings.  Life is not always fair.  It is how you deal with the unfair times that shows the world the real you.

Have a Blessed Day!

Removing Mundane

I wanted to share with you a few new decorative items I have added to my house in recent days.  Thought it might prompt a new idea for your house!

The first one is with apothecary jars.  I have always had an attraction to jars.  I love how there are so many shapes, sizes and colors.  And apothecary jars are even more wonderful.  They just shimmer and make the house feel so clean.  I know that might be weird but that is what they do for me.  Now mind you, if they aren't sparkling clean, they won't give me that feeling.  The nice thing is the large variety of things you can put into the jars to make them work in your home.  Most of you know my home is not a girlie home.  Every man that walks into my home says how much they love my house.  I know.  My husband is blessed to have a wife like me.  (Smile)  I have always had some tomboy in me and that comes out in my decorating style.  So apothecary jars didn't quite fit in.....until now.  I finally found something that would make them work in my home!

Old games!  I found this old bingo set at a garage sale for 10 cents!  I bet the lady would want it back if she could see it now.  As a child, I played hours of bingo with my family and friends.  This brings back warm and fuzzy feelings for me every time I look at those jars sitting right above my office desk.  Another thing I found was this -

Old wooden dominoes.  A piece or two was missing but that didn't matter to me at all.  I found these at the Canton, TX Flea Market and because of their large size, there were enough pieces to fill this jar and a jar for Whitney too.  If you have never been to this flea market, and you love looking at junk and even new things, it is touted to be the largest flea market in the world.  Honestly, if you stay close by (which is hard to do due to the size of this event) and shopped the entire weekend, I dare say you could not walk the entire event.  To find the really neat things, you have to shop the outside vendors.  These dominoes came from a little elderly black couple that had set up shop.  He was so sweet about telling me there was a missing piece.  I am thinking I don't care cause I am decorating with them, but I acted disappointed.  Then when I got ready to pay, he sent me to his wife.  That was one smart little old man! ha  Still looking for old Scrabble games.  Those little wooden letters would look so cute displayed in another apothecary jar.  Never think they are only for lemons, plums and apples.  Think outside the box.  That is what makes a home unique.

The next item I got was from Pottery Barn and was a lot more than 10 cents for sure and my husband posted on Facebook that it looks like the old time dryers women used to dry their hair.  It is my touch of contemporary added to my relaxed home.  See what you think.

Sorry the second picture is dark.  I am not a professional photographer and don't really care as much about the quality as the affect on the look of my room.  That lamp is so heavy that I could barely carry it from my office, where I assembled it, to my living room - maybe 20'.  It is real quality.  I think it has to weigh that much due to the boom arm that sticks so far out.  If you like this lamp and want to order it, make sure you read the size and know for sure it really is 52" wide!  It takes a rather large space to display this lamp but I think it updated the living room just a bit.  I think every house needs a mixture of styles.  Nothing bores me more than a truly traditional house that is matchy, matchy.  I look for the unusual and figure out how to make it work in the house.  Speaking of unusual, take a look at this.

It is an old, stained window frame that my LOVING husband so GRACIOUSLY hung for me.  Another heavy piece, hung in a difficult place, but I knew he could handle it. I put some hooks into the frame before he hung it and have plans to change the things hanging on it from time to time.  Of course, it would look good with nothing hanging, but it gives me an outlet to change things around.  That piece may stay with the house should we ever sell.  It took quite a bit to get it into place. 

Hope this inspires you to look for something besides a painting to add to your walls.  I love paintings, but a house full of one type of thing gets mundane and boring.  Kind of like people with only one interest in their lives!  Broaden your horizons whether it is in the home or in your self.  The more things you try, the more chances you have of getting it right.  We all fail sometimes but it is those who learn from failure that go further in life.

Have a Blessed day!

Cooking, Making Memories, Etc.

My daughter reminded me that it has been 5 weeks since I have posted.  I know you are all having withdrawals.  NOT.  What have I been doing?  Well, there have been two baby showers to give, one family birthday to celebrate, Dallas market to attend, 4 weeks of no voice, super bowl party for a few friends, re-purposing a room in our house, etc. This has to have been the busiest January and February in my life.  I thought winter was suppose to be slow.  And in between all of that we had three large snows.  Texas never has three snows in three years, let alone in one year. 

Living in the country when it snows is absolutely the best.  It is the ultimate in peaceful and I am at a time in my life that peaceful is just heavenly.  Since I office from my home, I really can't claim to have a snow day.  My computer still works, but for a couple of those days, I did take a break to sit by the fire and enjoy a bowl of chili.  Did you ever wonder what people up north that get snow after snow do for food?  In Texas, if it snows, we eat chili.  After three snows, I am tired of chili.  What if I lived where it snowed all the time?  Would we get to where we could eat other things with snow on the ground?  I even noticed on Facebook how everyone here was making chili.  It got rather comical.  There won't be anymore chili in this house until next winter I can assure you. 
Tonight I made a new salad dressing recipe a friend gave me.  She said she really didn't enjoy eating lettuce until a friend gave her this recipe.  Now she takes romaine, cuts it up, applies this dressing and eats it daily and it sure can't be as fattening as that favorite white creamy stuff we all love to eat. The other wonderful thing about this dressing is that you do NOT refrigerate it.  Leave it in the cabinet, pantry, on the counter or wherever you decide to store it.  Here is the recipe:

3/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup water
2 Tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons garlic salt
Shake and store in cabinet.  Do not refrigerate.

Very simple, light and makes eating lettuce a whole lot easier.  Of course, it would be good on a whole salad with all the fixin's too.  I just didn't happen to have any of that stuff tonight.  I served it with frozen P.F. Chang dinner that took 11 minutes to heat.  If you have never tried the P.F. Chang meals in the bag, they are great.  I cooked a little rice to go with it.  What an easy meal!

Aren't we blessed that we live in a society where there are easy meals?  I love telling the story about making lasagne that took two days.  One day to make the sauce so it could blend the flavors and then the next day to put the lasagne together.  When Sam's Club opened and I bought a Stouffer's Lasagne and served it to the family one night, Gary made the comment that he liked that one better than the other ones I normally made.  He had no clue it was a frozen store bought one.  Well, needless to say, that recipe has never been used by me since then.  I love to cook and I don't feel guilty taking short cuts on a good meal, but I refuse to take a store bought anything to a party.  The whole fun of a party is sharing a good recipe!  I can remember my mother taking so much pride in her cooking when we would have "dinner on the grounds" at church.  All the women would try to out do the other ones.  The one that sticks out in my mind the most was when we were taking two coconut meringue pies to one of these gatherings along with the rest of a meal.  That is when everyone had a car with a back seat and floor board.  Remember those days?  None of the SUV's for transporting everything - and no seat belts or car seats!  Mother always drove to church because Dad was the pastor and would go earlier than we would.  That meant my older sister got the front seat and my younger sister and I always had to sit in the back seat.  We pulled up to the little country church and I hopped down out of the seat to get out of the car.  Dear me.  Not a good feeling.  The pies were under my feet.  My shoe went down into one of the pies.  Thank heavens it had Saran Wrap on it!  I think I might have squenched my mother's Spirit that day at church.  It was truly a day for making memories! I hardly ever make a coconut pie without thinking about that day so many, many years ago. 

Have a Blessed Day!

Organizing Recipes

As many of you know, I got an ipad a few months ago and absolutely love it.  I love reading books on it.  You can make the font as small or as large as you need as well as read in the dark.  That comes in handy sometimes when your significant other likes to go to sleep before you do.  You can even read it while you are on the tread mill.  I love playing Words With Friends on it.  Totally addicted to that! Cathyst in case you need a new playing partner.  I use it to keep up with friends on Facebook.  It is just my new best friend.

Last week I had to make several desserts for our annual chili lunch so I decided I should put the recipes on my ipad and use it for my reference.  Several years ago, I started saving all my favorite recipes as pdf. files on my computer.  When someone asked me to send them the recipe, all I had to do was attach the file, rather than type it each time.  I thought that was wonderful.  Well, as wonderful as that is, having all these favorites on my ipad is even more wonderful. 



Actually, I started out with it right by my mixer.  This might not be the best thing to do.  At one point I looked and there was a sprinkling of powder sugar all over the ipad.  I might suggest you put it on an adjoining cabinet, a little bit away from the action.  There is an option to make the recipe fit the screen.  Almost makes cooking a lot of fun.

Just a quick little over view of how you do this, in case you got an ipad for Christmas.  First, you need to have the Adobe Reader App.  Mine is on the second row, far right side.

Then you need to make a folder in Adobe Reader to hold all the recipes.  Mine was ingeniously named Recipes.  :)  Kind of hard to see, but you get the idea.



There are several ways to transfer your files into Adobe Reader.  Open the reader, and at the top on the left side is a blue ball that says info.  Touch the ball and it will tell you how to transfer the files depending on where you have them stored.

A little hint is to use the wrench in the upper right hand corner. Choose the files you want to move, click on Move at the bottom of the page and then on Done at the top of the page.  Go to the folder where you want to store these files and repeat the process using Paste instead of Move. Be sure to click on Done after each action.  After you have all the files transferred to Adobe Reader and in the Recipe Folder, you can click on the recipe and voila' - start cooking.







If you have any questions, just email me and I will help you figure it out.  It is really very simple.  If you don't have an ipad yet, I suggest you start collecting your recipes on to your computer so you will be ready to transfer them when you do.  I also have the Food Network App on the ipad so I can access all the recipes I have saved on that website.  There are so many possibilities with the ipad.  Organizing and locating your favorite recipes has never been easier or more fun.

Have a Blessed Day!

Real Freedom to Be Ourselves

Yesterday we had our 7th Annual Chili Lunch in the barn.  This is something that Gary and I look forward to every year.  This year we had 70 pounds of meat, 20 bags of Frito's, 2 chocolate Heath bar cakes, 2 Ooey, Gooey cakes, 3 large recipes of banana pudding, 1 coconut cake, 7 dozen chocolate chip cookies, and all the trimmings you need for wonderful chili.  I handle cooking the desserts and Gary is in charge of the chili making.  We forgot to get the camera out until about halfway through the event, but this will give you an idea of the crowd size.....people coming and going for 2 hours.

I think it is an event that everyone enjoys, because no matter what the weather, we always have a crowd. 

This year we had an extra special good time as seen in the following picture:

When this guy walked in, he got just the reaction you would think.  Everyone in the barn started laughing and all the women sure needed a picture with him.  After all, who in the world would wear this jacket?  Someone comfortable with his manhood for sure!  Maybe a drug rep?  Maybe a comic?  Maybe someone that knows he is loved?  Maybe someone over 50?  Maybe all of the above.

My son-in-law, so I was told, questioned if the person in this picture just walked into this large group with that jacket on - as if he couldn't comprehend someone doing that!  That was when I started thinking about at what point this happens in life. Do you think real freedom is before kindergarten and after 50, or does it happen when we all become empty nesters?  Now we don't have to worry about embarrassing our kids, so we can return to being ourselves once again.  Is that it?  When do we feel free to be ourselves once again?  When are we secure in ourselves enough to walk into a room loving the fact that everyone will look and laugh?  It is really a freedom from peer pressure isn't it!  A freedom from making our kids pass out from embarrassment. 

 No matter when it happens, or how it happens, it is wonderful.  There is so much fun to be had in the world, if only we didn't take ourselves so seriously; if only we didn't let others impressions of us take charge of our lives.  Teenagers could learn a lot from their parents.  Be yourselves.  Don't we all love being around people who can be themselves, be relaxed no matter what the situation. They cause all the rest of us to have a whole lot of fun.  Oh, if we could all be that way! 

I am glad to be a friend of Donnie Wattinger - even if we all have a question of his manhood now.  :)

Have a Blessed Day!

My Husband Fell in Love Tonight

Even though I can barely talk and haven't been able to talk most of the week, being the loving wife I am, I cooked dinner for Gary tonight.  I might should mention that he has been cooking for me all week.  Maybe he felt a little sorry for me since I have felt terrible this week, but I think the real reason is because I bought him a new electric smoker for Christmas.  If anyone needs any meat, we probably have it and it is probably already smoked for you! He has cooked pork chops, roast and baby back ribs so far and has a brisket that he is getting ready to go on tomorrow.  He is loving his new Bradley smoker. 

Back to me....well maybe not!  Gary loves the Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana.  It is a potato based soup with bacon and sausage in it.  I looked on Copy Kat Recipes and found one to make for him.  I did GOOD!

He LOVED it!  I ate one bowl and he ate one bowl.  Then he had a second bowl and after that this is what I saw.......



Just had to have a little more so he was eating out of the pan directly!  Glad there was no one else that wanted any! LOL  But wait!!!!!  He gets more desperate!!

Oh heck!  Just go for the whole thing.  Well, maybe he posed for that last one just to give you gals a laugh.  You know how he loves getting attention from the women.  Needless to say, the soup was all devoured and if we ever open a restaurant, this will be one of two soups served.  (He is always talking about what we will serve should we ever open one - which we are NOT ever going to do!!)

I will give you the recipe just in case you want to make your husband happy too!  Here is the brand of sausage I used.

Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana

Yield: 8 servings (Guess Gary ate at least 6 of those, ha)

1 1/2 cup spicey sausage links

2 medium potatoes, cut in half lengthwise and then cut into 1/4" slices

3/4 cup diced onions

6 slices bacon

1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic

2 cups Kale leaves, cut in bite size pieces

2 Tablespoons chicken base

1 quart water

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

Since my sausage were fully cooked, I sliced them in half lengthwise and grilled them for a few minutes.  Then I cut them in 1/2 inch slices.

While they are grilling, place onions and bacon in skillet and cook over medium heat until onions are almost clear.  Remove bacon and crumble.  (I used the pre-cooked bacon so I used a little olive oil in the pan to saute the onions.) Add garlic to the onions and cook an additional 1 minute.  Add chicken base, water, and potatoes.  Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.  Add crumble bacon, sausage, kale and cream.  Simmer 4 minutes and serve.  I reserved some bacon for garnish.



Hope you enjoy this as much as HE  we did.  If you have a meat eater like I do, it is a hearty meal for him.

Have a Blessed Day!

A Lesson from our Vacation

Gary and I took advantage of the slow time between Christmas and New Years to escape for a few days.  This used to be our tradition several years ago before basketball games started interrupting.  Now that we are empty nesters again I hope we keep the tradition going.  We have enjoyed taking the old Tahoe and just seeing where it might take us.  We get off the beaten path of interstate travel to see America.  This time, we decided on Savannah and Charleston and what a neat place they both are!  I chose a few of our favorite pictures to just give you a slight taste of what we enjoyed.  The first was Savannah.



We stayed at The Marshall House which is Savannah's oldest hotel and it was wonderful as you can see from the pictures.  The bottom right picture had nothing to do with the hotel, but everything to do with Paula Deen and The Lady and Son's restaurant.  That is her version of chicken pot pie and was it ever yummy!

The next leg of our trip was to Charleston.

It is so much larger than Savannah and we absolutely loved it!  It is a great place to fly in for a few days and fly back out if that is the kind of getaway you prefer.  There is so much to do there and a car is not necessary.  We learned a lot about the Civil War and saw many beautiful mansions and churches.  I could have spent an entire day just photographing gates!  My kind of place for sure.

It is also the place where I told Gary I found my next blog idea.....on Compromise.

Would you think the couple that built this house would ever have to compromise?  If you really look at the picture, it stands out dramatically.  She wore hooped skirts and wanted a round porch and he preferred square porches so this house is how they compromised - well maybe rather than compromise, they each got their way, but the poor house got compromised on the design for sure. 

Life is that way, full of compromises especially when you are married and/or have children.  No one ever gets their way all the time.  We have to compromise for different reasons.  Maybe there isn't enough money to do it your way.  Be strong and resist the temptation to live beyond your means.  If you have to charge something in order to have it, then you need to rethink the desires of your heart.  It doesn't hurt to wait until you have saved the money first, and then buy it.  New concept to many I know, but so much more rewarding when you feel you have worked for something. 

Maybe the spouse just doesn't like your way.  Step back and look at it from their view point.  Perhaps they have a better idea or at least an idea where the two of you might meet in the middle.  Don't be so strong willed to think you are always right.  You aren't.  We all can be wrong at times. 

Maybe the child really wants something that you do not feel is best for them.  Look at the situation and see if there is a way to compromise, or, are you just being selfish and wanting your way and not taking the childs view point into consideration.  Don't say no, just to be saying no.  The child needs to feel like they win sometimes! ha  Of course we can't compromise on convictions and moral principles in life, but on other things it can be a give and take world. 

I know it always seems like you are the one that does the giving and never gets to do the taking, but it really isn't that way, if you could stand out of your situation and look at it from another view point. Everyone compromises in their own way.  If they don't, they lead a sad life of selfishness.  Don't look at compromising as not getting your way.  Look at it as a way to grow closer to your spouse and your children.  You are working together for the good of the family and after all, isn't that what be all want in life - to make strong families with lots of wonderful memories.  Compromise is not a negative thing, but so much more a very positive thing in life.  It is a sign of maturity.  It means putting others first before our wants and that is what being a great parent is all about.
Have a Blessed day!