Dec 27. 2009

We are offically snowed in. There is a man in town who kinda looks out for B. He's friends with her landlord. B got her van stuck about halfway up the driveway. While we were working on that, B walked up the rest of the driveway and saw that someone had tried to come in. C had gotten stuck and almost tore up his truck, trying to plow us out. WE have both vans stuck. Ours near the house and her's about half-way up the driveway. J is coming by, to take B to Walmart for a few things. Eggs, bread, and cat food. We are also out of cat litter, used it all trying to get her unstuck. She may look for sand instead. I walked up, after they got the van stuck halfway up the driveway, and gee is it deep up there.. There is one snow drift that is hip high on me. C left behind a broken snow shovel handle and I was using it to prod the ground in front of me, and check snow depth, and at a few places it was up to the handle of the thing. I'm guessing it's at least 2 foot tall I fell into the ditch and it was hip high on me. One of the drifts is up to my waist. I wanted J or B to take a picture of me near one of the drifts. We are not going to be out of the 20's until Wed. and then it's only going to be 35 and another chance of snow...

Add to that. MaCoy called J last night with a really good chance at a job in Lower Georgia. We would love to go to any job, right now. but this one would be warm. It's just above where Georgia and Flordia meet at the ocean.

We need to find a local fax machine. that doesn't cost a whole lot to send from, because they have a 15 page application.

Merry Christmas

We had a white Christmas. With blowing and drifting snow. I don't recomend trying to drive in it unless your young, healthy and able to walk any great distance in it. Josh and Makeya were over for most of the day. They are young and healthy. Josh, Beth and Jerry went to town for a bit, then back while MaKeya and I kept each other company. Dinner was not a large as Thanksgiving but we each ate our fill and had plenty of left-overs as well. I recieved enough fleece to make my own fleece tye blanket. Jerry gave Beth a set of bookmarks and I gave her a bracelet. All in all it was a good day. No fighting and only a little fussing early in the day. After dinner, and finishing up watching the second night in the museum movie, the "Kids" went to the city to find an arcade and watch Avatar. Beth says it's Awsome.

White Christmas

If the forcast is to be believed, We are going to get socked with snow, starting Thursday afternoon and going through to Friday evening. According to what I've found. we could get as little as 3 inches of snow and as much as 10 inches. If only this had happened when our kids were younger, much younger. All the pets have been brought in, tonight. The garage door closed. I didn't realize that we only have a couple of jugs of water left. The house has running water, but the landlord doesn't recomend that we drink it. It's ok for cooking (boiling) and cleaning and bathing though. I asked Hubby to take the empty jugs to the van. don't know if we will refill them in the morning, wait until afternoon. or wait until the day after Christmas. We don't have much left in the account, and need to watch carefully every penny. Luckly, A box I was expecting came in from my daughter in Tennessee. In it was a few things I had ordered and paid for, back in September. Hubby already knows what his gift is. A Harly Davidson Calendar. Darling Daughter hasn't a clue that she's even getting something under her tree. I hope to surprise her with a couple of items. One from her Dad and one from me.

We are expecting company for dinner. First we were, then we were not. then we are again. yikes, how is a woman to keep up with it all? DD said that the Ham is on the dock at work, will bring it home tonight. I picked up enough other goodies (she paid for them) to cover the rest of the meal. I did do a bit of baking and candy making this evening. I made a banana nut bread and some mashed potatoe candy. I should make up some vanilla pudding as well. I keep saying I'm going to, then forget that I wanted to.

I "hear" my brother is expecting some snow and will having some fun with his dogs. I wish him the best of it, for sure, because I really don't like the cold any more. I don't know why we can't have snow and 75F degrees .. would be so nice if we could. I do hope that, sometime in the future, Hubby and I could go visit him in Alaska. It would be fun to see where he lives and meet the people he hangs with.

I don't do much "Hanging" myself. We are never in a place long enough to really get to know any one well. That is one of the draw backs of working construction. Sometimes we get lucky and can be in a place for a couple of years, other times, we are only in a place a few weeks. Just when I get to where I know my way around well, we up and move, again.

Hubby is still job hunting. Construction jobs are hard to find at this time of the year. I know that it may be spring before he is working again. A lot will depend on the Money and who gets the contracts. We keep jumping when his phone rings, but it's not about a job.

Here lately it's been ringing with someone asking if he would like to go back to college. Um. NO. would help if we had a way to pay for college. He tells them to remove his name and number and hangs up on them. But I keep wondering why he gets those calls and I don't. He got scam calls about a "Bank of Kansas City" having trouble with the card.. There is no "Bank of Kansas City". Every time we do get a call that even remotely says the cards have been comprmises (sp) We call our bank and talk to one of the tellers. They apprecate that we call first. We will give them all the infor we can, and they then contact the Banking commision or who ever and let them know what new scams are going on. it's truly a sad time when even your bank account can be ripped off.


here is the banana bread recipe I made this evening

Banana Bread

½ cup softened butter

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 cup mashed bananas (about 2 very ripe bananas)

2 cups flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tesp nutmeg

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

1 cup chopped walnuts , reserve a few for the top of the bread

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream butter and sugar together. Add one egg at a time and beat until smooth. Blend in the mashed bananas.

In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and nuts.

Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture until well blended.

Grease (or use baking spray) one regular size loaf pan or 4 mini loaf pans. Add batter and bake for 1 hour for the larger loaf or 35 minutes for the smaller loaves. Do not overbake. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes then remove from pans and let cool on wire rack.

And here is the Mashed Potato Candy recipe as well

Mashed Potato Candy

1/4 C Hot Mashed Potatoes

1 3/4 C Powder Sugar

1 1/2 c Flake Coconut

1/4 tsp Orange Zest (any Citris Zest will work)

3/4 C Chopped Nuts

1 tsp melted Butter

1/2 tsp Vanilla

Combine potatoes and butter. Add sugar and beat well. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Drop by spoon onto wax paper covered cookie sheet, or form into a roll, chill and slice. Keep in closed container.

These are a family favorite every year, And any kid can make them...

From My Mom's recipe box.

What's wrong with hand made ???

Beth is meeting up with the friend of a friend this weekend, (tomorrow) She's not sure what she wants to wear. Wants to drop by Walmart and pick up some ear-rings. When I suggested that I could make a set of ear-rings to go with what ever she wanted to wear, you would have thought I had suggested she go naked or something like that.

What is wrong with wearing something your Mom has made, just for you?

I wasn't going to make "OLD" woman ear-rings. I have some great patterns for Modern, hip (Is hip still the kewl word?) that I thought would be welcomed as I could really match the color to the outfit... NOOooo.

Guess I'll just have to make and wear them, myself.

catching up, Jerry is now 55

Jerry is now up to speed. Yep, he turned the double nickel today. He's 55. Hard to believe that when we first met that we would still be going strong this many years later as well. I don't have any gifts for him this year. I will be making him a cake here in a bit. Chocolate Cake. Don't know what will be for dinner, yet. Chicken most likely. What else, I don't know. Maybe some mashed potatoes since he likes them, a lot.

It's been a hazy day here, Hard to think of a cold day as being hazy but it has been. I had to ask Jerry if it was me or was it hazy.. he said it wasn't me.

We "May" have a white Christmas this year. According to the long range forecast, there is a good chance of snow Christmas Eve and Christmas day.. First time in a long time what I've seen snow at Christmas.

We took Beth's overall's to the laundry matt to dry them. Took 7 quarters to do it. They were noisy and I think that's one reason she asked me to do it this way. I washed them here at her home. it got us out of the house for a bit, as well. Directv has turned us off. IF RAC Had done what we paid for (Insurance for in case or lay off) we would have been able to pay for the service and not be without tv right now. I feel bad for Jerry though. I can catch up on my one soap via the internet, but it's not as easy to catch up on Survivor. He was so looking forward to watching the final this Sunday.. We wanted to know how they were going to go from 5 to 2 and then the reading of the votes in an hour. The reunion show we usually skip. I know we can find out Monday, via the net, who won, but it's more fun to watch the show.

The house is too quiet without tv. driving me up a wall. I don't often turn on a radio, but I may have to at this rate.

Beth's tree is up.

Tonight, I walked Rocky, and one of the outside dogs, (Sam from the farm) wanted in, badly. It's very cold out. He came in before I could get Rocky to come into the house and I tripped as I came in through the door, Which caused me to stumble and fall into some plastic shelfing Beth has by her television. She has been asking me to empty those shelfs and move them so she could put up her Christmas Tree. The shelves got moved and the tree is up and the lights are on it. Not by my design, but because of my tripping. At least nothing was broken on the shelfs and I only have a couple of bruses, not counting my ego, of course.
This is the third fall I've taken this month. First was my fault. I was trying to put on my shoe on my right foot and fell backward off the arm of the couch onto the couch but that contiuned to a roll onto the floor before I finally stopped. The second was, I was taking out the cat box to empty it when I slipped on some ice and fell right as I was tossing the contents of the box out toward the fence. I landed on my knees that time. No hurts, just mad because me feet went out from under me and I ended up landing in icy mud. This time, My shoes caught in the carpet as I came throught the door while I was trying to pull Rocky away from Sam, who had run to Jerry, which brought Macon from the other room to see who was in and Macon wanted to start a fight with Sam. Sam had to go back outside while I caught my breath. Once we got the mess of all the cd's and dvd's off the floor, I put the large dog crate (kennel) together in the bathroom and brought Sam back in, out of the cold. That is what he wanted any way in the first place, in out of the cold. He's very content to be in the bathroom on an old blanket in there.

I said I wasn't going to empty those shelfs for Beth while she wasn't here.. I was right. I sure didn't mean to fall into them, but it did get her to clean them herself.

For Today... Dec 9, 2009

For Today... Dec 9, 2009

8 pm

Outside my window... Right now it's dark, but earlier today we had some sunshine and high clouds after yesterday and last nights snow. We got about 4 inches of snow overnight. The wind was up and cold though.

I am thinking... It's cold outside. About 10 am, I let Same loose to run and warm up. He doesn't like our dogs much, but needed to be able to run and warm up. Since our dogs are inside most of the time and we don't just open the door for them to go out, it wasn't fair to Sam at all. Jerry wasn't happy, but lives with it. I put a bucket of water out for the dogs, in the garage and it was frozen a couple of hours later.

I am thankful for... Beth letting us stay at her home, while her father is between jobs, again. He's looking but not having any luck in finding any thing, right now. She spent the day (her night) with a friend who lives only a couple of blocks from her job. That was she could get in to work in this nasty weather. We are able to take care of her animals and run her van to keep it working while she's there.

From the kitchen... Jerry sliced off a few pieces from a turkey ham and fried them. We also had friend potatoes and french cut green beans. I had a salad.

I am wearing...Maroon sweat pants. a flowered top that goes well with the pants and a purple sweatshirt.

I am reading...emails

I am hoping... That the weather warms up soon, We need to take a few tubs back to storage. Also hoping that Jerry gets a job call, soon.

I am creating...nothing today

I am hearing... Ghost Hunters on the tv in the other room.

Around the house... doing dishes and laundry.

A few plans for the rest of the week.. wait out the cold and snow, take a few things to storage. stay packed and ready to go.

For Today... Dec 07 09

For Today... Dec 07 09

Outside my window... Light Gray,, the sky is full of clouds ready to dump some snow on us, again. We got snow over-night and we are going to get more according to the forecast. much more. 5 inches more. Not what I wanted to hear.

I am thinking... Not much is going on around here. Not much is going to be goind on, either.

I am thankful for... A van that stays warm when we drive. We went to town for a few things. I finally got some shoes. Not what I was looking for, but they will do if (when) the deep stuff gets here.

From the kitchen... Jerry picked out ham slices and beef rice for dinner. I found some salad on sale.

I am wearing... brown sweatpants and a printed dark purple top. I have my purple sweat shirt on over that. I'm cold.

I am hoping... That we get a phone call soon. Jerry got a call, from a friend, today who is also looking for work as well. It is good to know we are not the only ones going through this, but dis-heartening as well, knowing so many others are. I know of about 8 who have called him over the last three to four weeks, asking if he's working or if he's heard of a job any where that might be hiring. Not good at all to hear of so many good people trying to find a job, withing our own small circle.

I am creating... Nothing at this time

I am hearing... tv in the background. some Christmas music on my computer

Around the house... Not much, dishes, laundry and floor sweeping.


A few plans for the rest of the week... I still plan on grilling steaks tomorrow evening and having s'more for dessert, outside over the grill. That is, if we get snow. If not then the plan will be for Wed night.

been one of "those" days

It's been "one of those" days. Nothing I say seems "right". nothing I do, is enough, and I'm to the point of, just saying "Screw It."

Oh, it's ok for me to do the cleaning, but don't speak when people are over. Even if "people" happens to be our nephew and his wife..

I'm getting plenty fed up with my daughter dismissing any thing I saw as useless.

I've not been around the last 52 years in a bubble. And I sure as Hell don't accept this sort of treatment from my own kids. IF we were not over a barrel right now, I'd be giving her the ear-full instead of writing about it in a blog.

I am really to the point that, once we leave here, taking every thing that is our and either shoving it into storage, or breaking it so she can't use it. and never come back here again excpet to pick up the stuff in storage. No stopping at her home, even.

I so want to just say Screw it, to her, and take the tv, phone service, the van she drives and the insurance we pay for it away from her.

V-8 Vegetable Beef Crockpot Soup

V-8 Vegetable Beef Crockpot Soup

1 lb. lean ground beef
48 oz. tomato-vegetable juice (i.e. V-8) cocktail
2 (16 oz.) pkg. frozen mixed vegetables

Brown ground beef, and drain.
Transfer to crockpot and add tomato-vegetable juice cocktail and frozen
mixed vegetables.
Cook on high for one hour, then reduce heat to low and cook for 6 to 8
hours.

~ A Christmas Blessing ~

~ A Christmas Blessing ~

May your Christmas be filled with beautiful hours
And memories lovely to hold,
To enhance and embellish the days of your years,
Like angel wings sprinkled with gold.
May Christmas spirit, in all of its joy,
Touch the depths of your soul with delight,
And may blessings in bushels, abundant and rich,
Light every path of your life.

- Frankie Davis Oviatt

a family update

Hello, Beth is back at work. Hurray. All I heard for 2 weeks was how she wanted to go back to work.. now I can hear "why did I want to go back". Love it. She was a bit stressed about what all the fellows would tease her about, being out for almost 3 weeks. But it turned out to be almost all good. She's on a weight lifting limit of 25 pounds. So, even the couple of men who don't think a "woman" should be doing that sort of work, are willing to pitch in and do the heavy lifting for her. I think that, by now, she's proved her ability to do that job, and then some. Wouldn't you know. Just a few days before she had the emergancy surgery, she had just gotten her first Perfect Attendance award. Did I mention, she's the only female on that shift? Believe me, she can give as good as she gets.. sometimes to the discomfort of the males she's working with. what they don't realize, most of the time, is she has an older brother and sister. Add to that, her father has worked construction for more than all of her life, and can tell the tales of the shinagians that go on. She does try to remind the fellows, often, she's a Christian, and they respect that. The stories will still be told, but they do get cleaned up a bit, I'm sure. All in all, it's great that she's back at work.

Jerry is still job hunting. Late Fall, early Winter is a tough time to be job hunting when you work construction in any ecomony. This is just harder right now. He has been told by a few larger companies that they plan on adding to the work force, after the first of the year. That's a long time off, when all you have is every other week, un-employment coming in and bills to pay, and try to keep back enough to be able to drive to the job, and rent a motel room for 2 weeks (before the first pay check can come in) We are holding our own, for now. The man we are buying the van and car from, is understanding, but he has to have money comeing is. We have to finish payong off the camper, before we can move it. Which I would love to do, since renting a campground spot is much cheaper than a motel. We are still holding out hope on some money coming in to cover that and putting a hitch on the van as well.

I have the house cleaned up, beans in a pot, It's a cold day here so a pot of beans and some corn bread sound good. I'll be browning up some hamburger with some taco seasonings to put in, soon. Add a can of tomato paste and some finely chopped onion (shh,, don't tell Jerry or Beth) and we have a pot of "Almost chili".

I'm going through our stuff, repacking what I can, and making a list of things I need to replace while I'm at it. Since I have to carry all my clothes with us, with no storage, I have to figure out how many of my sweat pants I want to turn into shorts next late spring and get rid of the shorts that I no longer want to wear. I have two dresses, to keep. I want/need to make a dress to see if I really like the pattern. As much as I like how it looks on the enevelope, I never know for sure until after it gets made and I wear it a bit.

I have no gifts for my family, right now. They all understand that. They do know that I give to them throughout the year so not having a Christma Gift isn't a big deal, except to me. I also know that they are each having to deal with hard times as well. Our oldest daughter hasn't worked in over a year now. She's planing on going back to Colleg early in 2010. I hope she can find a way to do it. There are no factory jobs left near enough to her home to get to and still pay all the bills. The whole town is really feeling the bite of the one major indrustry closing it's doors last year.Still, She's doing well. She still has plenty of hope. that once she finishes school she can find a different job to do that will do more than just make the ends meet.

For Today... Dec 1, 2009

For Today... Dec 1, 2009

Outside my window...(noon) The Sun is shining but we are in for a weather change according to the forecast. I notice that more and more of the grass is turning yellow and losing it's green quickly now. Even some of the brush that is on the edge of this property is more yellow than the green it was just last week. ( 5pm ) the window I sit at, on my computer faces East, The sun is setting and I can see the moon just at the top of the trees now. Laege and bright. It was a pleasent day and I spent about an hour outside with the dogs. We walked around the edge of this place and they got to explor the weeds and the trails where the deer jump the fences.

I am thinking...(noon) I better spend some time outside today, because it will soon be too cold for me to want to stay out.( 5pm ) I'm glade I got out for a bit, this afternoon with the dogs.

From the kitchen... Jerry said he may make spegettie. I pulled hamburger and some chicken out of the freezer so both could thaw. I'm hoping more for the chicken than the burger. If he saves the burger, I'll put it in a pot of beans I plan to make tomorrow. (7pm) I made the Chicken. A little hot oil in the skillet, some seasoning and a sprinkle of Mrs. Dash then covered with a lid after 20 minutes turned over, seasoned the other side and put the lid back on. Heated up a can of Corn (starch) and a can of french cut Green Beans. Warmed up two dinner rolls each. I only ate 1/2 of my chicken and cut the other half in to bite sized pieces to use tomorrow.

I am wearing...(noon) Brown Sweatpants and a light blue tshirt


I am hoping...(noon) That the phone rings with a job for Jerry very soon. He expressed his frustration in it not ringing last night. He is as ready as I am, to get out of here and back on our own. Living with Beth is a blessing but not our desire ( 5pm ) Still waiting for that phone call. As bad as things seem, we know we are at least in a good place. It could be much worse, we could be homeless with no place to go.

I am creating...(noon) I just finished the unicorn block for a quilt I want to make. I have to go back on line and find the other stencils that I wanted for the other blocks. They are lost on my laptop.

I am hearing... the Tv in the background, as well as the drying running and the washer as well. ( 5pm ) I've got my mp3 player going. right now it's "I don't want to miss a thing". I don't know who sings it.

Around the house... (noon)I just swept the bathroom floor. I made the breakfast this morning, Buttermilk pancakes. Not one was left over.

( 5pm ) I did work on our stuff a bit. I got my suitcase unburied, and straighted out. Sorted if you will. I have put some of Jerry's clothes on a broken chair in the room to get them out of my way. This is not going to go quickly.

(7pm) Jerry got a little miffed when I told him to wash his dishes after dinner. the water was in the sink. only takes a minute and I didn't ask him to wash any thing else but his plate and fork. You would think I was asking him to go milk a cow or some other chore like that. When he cooks, I do the dishes, when I cook, I still end up doing the dishes, I think I'm going to try to get him into the habit of washing up his own plate, after meals by having the water already in the sink, waiting for him.

One of my favorite things...(noon) Haveing control of the tv for a couple of hours. I miss that, during the day, when Jerry is home.

A few plans for the rest of the week... (noon)I have got to straighten up the middle bedroom and repack our things. I can't find any thing I want or need quickly, right now.