NEW DISCOVERY!!!

I may well start to shop at "The Walmarts" again now that I have found these there! The package says: " healthy, reduced carb, high protein Lavash bread". The things are like a tortilla ( 'cept they are rectangular and bigger than a sheet of 8 1/2 by 11 paper) and have flax, oa bran, and whole wheat flour as the main ingredients. The nutrition info says that 1/2 lavash has 50 cals, 2 g fat, 7 carbs and 3 fiber. Ok, so that means that there are 4 grams of effective carbs, right? So, I can eat a WHOLE one for 100 calories, 4 fat and 8 carbs? I am SO into that, cause I hate to be able to have only half of anything.

I'm thinking that these might even trump Arnold's sandwich rounds. I may not have to go to Chattanooga to get those now. These are in my very own Walmarts. Of course, they will probably never have them again. Anticipating that, I bought all they had.

Go to Walmart today. Buy some Lavash breads. They also have scrub tops marked down to $3.00. Buy some of those too, whether you wear them or not!

Gname the Gnome

I finally found the perfect gnome for my infant flower garden.......he was lurking with some other "less cool" gnomic persons at the Dollar General. Anyway, he is now liberated and smokin his pipe in my baby hostas.

Now he needs a name.....any suggestions?

First sprouts

This morning I watered my zucchini pot....there was not a sprout in sight. Then tonight when I got home from work....these little babies were poking their heads up. Amazing that they can grow that much in just one day! We are gonna have so much squash that it won't be funny. It might taste like coffee though, because I use spent coffee grounds in the pots with the dirt and other "organic fertilizer."
This weekend...raised tomato beds. Yeah!

Proof that Some Babies are NOT So Cute!

These little guys are so interesting......and full of sharp little teeth! Unfortunately, opossums like to hang out in the road and often get hit by cars. In this case, the mom was hit by the car, and a good Samaritan stopped and got the babies. They don't require bottle feeding so much at this size, they eat special recipe possum mush. Don't ask me what is in it....it varies every day.
It won't be very long and this one will be set free to suck eggs and generally make a nusiance of herself, as opossums do!

Finally!

We have watched and wiggled this deciduous upper left central incisor for three months and finally, today, it gave way! The permanent tooth is already peeking through. I just hope the other one comes out before this one comes in so we can have pictures with no front teeth!

Zucchini anyone?

I don't ever spell "zucchini" the same way twice, but I know what it is when I see it. Today I planted some seeds in starter pots.....hopefully a couple of them will come up. My children will love watching them bloom and make some little green squash. My girl and I will eat them, but the men of the family are squash wimps and won't even consider it.

With my luck, every seed will sprout and every plant will make about 10 squash a day and there will be WAY more than we can eat, so those of you in close proximity in about 6 weeks better turn off your porch lights and act like you aren't at home when you see us coming or you may be the recipient of a lots of big green things!

Monday.........

Another rainy Monday.......wouldn't it have been great to sleep late and sit around in pajamas all day? Our day started out all wrong. The girl child was "frowin up" and it is the other one's birthday, so he was high as a kite. It was hard to get him settled enough to eat breakfast ( birthday cake) and keep her in a place where she had easy access to a garbage can. Anyway, now it is late afternoon and the sickness has passed for the most part and most all the patients have gone home. Tonight, the family will be getting leftover ham and potato salad from yesterday and I am going to climb Mount Washmore and see about getting a few loads of laundry done while I read my book. I figure that it will be an early night........

Easter 2009

Precious, aren't they? Thanks for the pictures, Papa. We had a great day, now everyone is resting while it rains. Fabulous time for a nap, don't you think?

Pineapple Casserole

Pineapple Casserole ala Us...

Ok, my child asked me if this was a Paula Deen Recipe, and I didn't remember it being so, but as it turns out, she does have a version of it on the Food Network website. I make it a little differently, so I guess it is ok to post.

Ingredients:

3 cans pineapple chunks, drained with juice reserved.

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

1/4 -1/2 cup splenda ( or you could use sugar)

1/4 cup plain flour

1/4 cup pineapple juice

30-35 Ritz crackers

1 stick of cold butter - you can use margarine, but why?

Put the drained pineapple and the cheese in a big bowl. Add the splenda and flour and stir around to coat. Add the pineapple juice and mix well. Spoon into a greased casserole dish,

then top evenly with the crushed ritz crackers. Cut the butter into small pieces and dot the top.

Bake at about 350 for 30 minutes or until the cheese is melty and it is a little bubbly around the edges.

There were 6 of us eating here today and we purt-near ate this whole thing, so double it if you got a crowd, because it is really good. ( We did have other food too, we just were pigs on this)

I think there is about a half cup of it left in there right now and if I sneak in there, maybe no one will see me gettin' it and I won't have to share!

Easter Sunday

Here are my little "peeps" at church this morning. It was a full house, everyone behaved their best and we came home and had a big lunch and a nap. Now we are waiting out a little thunderstorm and hoping to get a little laundry done. The children are in a sugar coma from all the candy, birthday cake, and ice cream. Tomorrow is the big one's birthday, so the festivities are still not quite over. I celebrated with pineapple/cheese casserole today ...... it was so good! The recipe is simple, and so very buttery good! I'll post it as soon as I get a picture. I promise.

Littlest patient of the day

Springtime always brings with it new orphan and injured wildlife babies, and I have to say...spring has done "sprung". We got this little guy in a couple of days ago. He was pretty dehydrated when he came in, and his left front leg still isn't working just right, but so far he is hanging in there.

Something evidently tried to eat him without success. He has an injury to his beak, which may heal and allow him to eat normally. So far, we have force fed him, but as he grows stronger, he will likely eat on his own.

We have a bunch of squirrel orphans right now and a few fading baby opossums, and I expect the songbirds will burst out in a couple of weeks......more fun for everyone!

"Traditional Build"

I have been so enjoying the HBO series, "No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency". It is based on the books by Alexander McCall Smith, which I read way long ago. The main character is a woman from Botswana who inherits a large herd of cattle when her father dies. She sells the cows and opens a detective agency. Then she hires a quirky secretary and together they solve mysteries against the rich backdrop of African culture. I would recommend that you read the books and watch the series at the same time. In fact, when I was watching the pilot, I was tickled to finally see the characters as they were intended. It just slays me that Mma Ramotswe calls herself.
"A woman of traditional build." (That means fat. really). The show is full of funny moments, but you have to wait for them. It is not an action packed , car crashing, shooting bad guys thing. It has more of a "sitting by the pond with a fishing pole" pace.

It comes on HBO on Sunday night, but the is repeated several times during the week. Watch it!

Read this.....

On recommendation from Sarah, I read this book this week, and I have only two words to say : READ IT! It is fiction, but it really gives some insight into the things that we all want to know.

Get it today. You won't regret it.

Running Low on Arnold's

Things will be desperate around here in about a week. I just opened the next to last package of Arnold's sandwich thins. Somebody is going to have to go to Chattanooga or Florida. MUST. HAVE. MORE. Oh it really isn't that desperate, but I am gonna have to send Hippy Chick some $$ to ship me some. I emailed the company and they don't do direct shipment and I called one grocery store here to see if they would order them for me. The bakery manager was out, so I talked to the general grocery person and he acted like I was crazy. Well, I guess I may be, but these things are awesome and they minimally affect my glucose, so I need them.

So everyone who is in this area, call your Schnuck's and tell them you too want Arnold's products and I will work on a way to get them here too. Anything that lets all us "extra-sweet" people have some toast and sandwiches is worth trying to get! Hmmm....maybe the manager of the commissary at the Navy Base????? Joyce, are you reading this???

Sunday am

I have been paying the girl child to pull the errant grass and weeds that is taking over the patio and she has been faithful at doing it whenever she goes outside. But................. She has a hard time maintaining her pace because THIS puppy keeps trying to climb in her lap and lick her in the face and pull the clumps out of her hands.

She says that Bella pesters her because BELLA wants to get on the swingset. Who am I to say, she may be a dog whisperer.

They are thick as thieves. It is a pretty good spot in life for a hand-me-down, hypoglycemic, Christmas puppy.

Even the hardest workers deserve a little play-time!

Starting TODAY!!!!!!

Drake and Zeke reviewed this book and interviewed the author on their show the other day and I have decided to not only read it, but take her advice. Supposedly, cleaning out your closet not only gets rid of stuff you don't need, but helps you re-organize your mind as well. Hmmmm.

My family has a lot of "stuff"...... a lot. Much of it is useless, yet we continue to keep it in boxes and bags and on the floor and in the closet and on the shelves. It collects dust and looks bad, and makes me feel crowded. The kid's rooms, well - I just don't know where to even start in there. My pile of junk consists mostly of books and magazines. The magazines I have no trouble tossing, even if I haven't read them, but the hardcover books, well...they are really hard to let go of. Luckily, I know other people who read, so maybe I can pass some of those along.

I am thinking that I may take Gail Blanke's advice and start with tossing out just 50 things and see where that takes us. I am thinking that if I throw out just one or two things a day, my people might not feel the loss so much. In fact, they likely wouldn't even know I have done it. First thing to go is going to be the box of odds and ends toys in the garage. That will only count for one thing though. Then all the collected crap in my pantry. Laundry room cabinet- gonna be empty.

Hopefully if I get a small start today, I can keep it going. I've already taken several items to the trash can, but now it is full and I'll have to wait until after the pickup today to put anything else in. I am also thinking that one garbage bag full could go to work with me each day and either go home with someone else or into the dumpster.

Any of you have any good ideas about purging the junk? I'd be interested to hear!