Enough already!

Ok people, listen up. This is THANKSGIVING WEEK. It is NOT the start of the Christmas season. That happens on FRIDAY. FIVE MORE DAYS. You can't handle FIVE MEASLY MORE DAYS???

I am at peace with the fact that the stores put their Christmas stuff out in August, but...

The Christmas decorations are already up (and lit up at night) on the streetlights in town. My neighbors have their Christmas tree up and decorated (as a caveat, I will forgive them for this if I happen to notice that their soldier son is home for Thanksgiving, because that will signify to me that they are doing Christmas and Thanksgiving at the same time this year). The radio station I listen to at work has been playing Christmas music for over a week. Home Depot is playing nonstop Christmas music.

ONE FREAKING HOLIDAY AT A TIME, PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm all for shopping early, in fact I've already got half of mine done, but this whole "let's celebrate the season already" thing is getting out of control...

Now this is a Saturday night!

Just have to say, there is nothing more exciting in life than sitting at work on a Saturday night, printing envelopes and cutting inserts.

Really.

You should try it sometime!

:-P

Hey OJ!

People who are truly innocent don't write books making up ways that they would commit the crime. People who are truly innocent mourn the ones they loved. And they certainly don't go on Fox news giving lengthy interviews about how they would have done it, had they had the chance.

Just a tip.

This week's menu

I'm on vacation this week, so I'm taking some time to get my kitchen in order and do some serious menu planning. I'm going to pull out my cookbooks and all my internet printouts and come up with a list of all the food I used to make that I never make anymore, mainly because I can never remember what I used to make! There are also a ton of new recipes that I've been wanting to try. The biggest challenge is figuring out what to make first! Larry's still not over the Great Creamed Salmon Disaster of 2002, so I have to be careful to spread out the new stuff.

Here's this week's menu (you'll notice it looks an awful lot like last week's menu. Let's just say we were less than diligent about eating at home last week).

Sunday: Taco salad

Monday: Kielbasa and Cabbage (and I'm eating the leftovers for breakfast - yum,yum!)

Today: "More" casserole - a family recipe of Larry's. I guess they call it that because everyone always wants more. It is very good!

Wednesday: Mom and I are going to the beach for the day, so I'll probably pick up a pizza on the way home

Thursday: Roasted sticky chicken (this is a new recipe I keep hearing about)

Friday: Stuffed peppers (this is great because the filling is already made and in my freezer, so I just have to thaw the filling, parboil the peppers, throw some cheese on top and bake. Easy peasy!)

Saturday: I have Spanish Rice casserole on my list (recipe from www.tammysrecipes.com), but now that I think about it, Larry won't be home for dinner that night so I can make something he doesn't like. Hmm...the possibilities...it may be time to break out the Manwich can!

FREEEEEEEEEEEEEDOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've been listening to the Dave Ramsey show (www.daveramsey.com)on KEX when I'm out and about after 7 p.m. Which isn't very often, so sometimes I listen to the podcasts on the computer. Anyway, every Friday people who are debt free (sometimes including their house, sometimes not) call up and scream "I'M DEBT FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!" And then he plays the clip from Braveheart where Mel Gibson is screaming FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!!!! as the torturers disembowel him...

Anyway, we paid off the car this week, so now it's our turn: WE'RE DEBT FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! except the house. Woo hoo! This has been my ultimate goal of late; if we don't have any debt payments then we can easily live off my salary for a while if we have to (barring any major unforeseen snafus, of course). And now we get to build up our savings to make that even easier. WOO HOO!

We don't totally follow Dave's plan, but I certainly respect it. It makes sense. We aren't ready to give up our credit card because we love the perks (Home Depot gift cards - you can never have too many of those!). And we certainly aren't ready to put 15% of our salaries in our retirement accounts. But I'm all for the debt snowball, and getting an emergency fund in place. And I get the concept of not buying stuff till you can afford it, but boy that's hard to put into practice! :-)

So we sat down this morning, armed with our revised budget and a giant list of projects we want to save up for. Now, if I can just give up my Starbucks habit and stop spending so darn much on groceries, we'll probably be ok!

A new cookbook!

Anyone who has ever spent any time at all talking food with me probably knows that I am a HUGE fan of the vegan lunchbox blog (veganlunchbox.blogspot.com). Well...the author has written her very own Vegan Lunchbox Cookbook! I just ordered it. I'm SO EXCITED. I'm not vegan, and I don't have kids, but this is the coolest thing I've seen in a long time. So many fabulous ideas! Lots of stuff I'm planning to experiment with. Yay! Another cookbook for my collection!

They tore down my grandparents' house

Mom emailed last night and told us. She also asked us not to say anything to Grandpa about it - she doesn't want him to know.

I knew it would happen. They lived in the middle of Microsoft land and all around them rich people were buying up nice, normal houses and tearing them down and building huge monstrocities that totally filled up the lots. My grandparents' house stuck out like a sore thumb, and not just because the trim (and there was a lot of it) was painted Pepto pink.

I'm really bummed about it, and I wish I could have driven past it one last time.

But, I guess I can still visit it on Google Earth, until, of course, they update their photos.

Time marches on...

This week's menu

Perhaps making a menu will return me to some kind of "I want to cook at home" state? Here's what's on tap for this week.

Menu – 10/22 – 10/28


Sunday: Salisbury Steak
Buttered Noodles
Steamed Broccoli

Monday: Baked Chicken Indonesian Style
Rice Pilaf
Green Beans

Tuesday: More Casserole
Peas

Wednesday: Kielbasa and Cabbage

Thursday: Hot Pepper Garlic Chicken
Baked Potatoes
Corn

Friday: Taco Salad

Saturday: Tuna Casserole
Veggie of choice

For Tom

Dear Tom,

I went to your funeral yesterday. It was a very nice service, and lots of people from all parts of your life were there. Steve did a good job - you chose well. I didn't know you well, but from the first note of Taps I was in tears. You did so much good for so many people. And my opinion of you was shared by all - you were a gruff guy with a heart of gold.

You will be missed. I will miss seeing you in the halls, laughing under my breath when you don't say hi, just say my name in that short, clipped style you had in return to my cheerful hello. I will miss seeing that bright yellow car in the parking lot, at work and at Home Depot - it seems like you spent as much time in that store as we do, because I saw you there A LOT. We will miss your instant willingness to volunteer for any event we happen to be having - whether it was working with kids at a craft table or getting up at the crack of dawn on a Sunday to stand on a street corner during a race. And yes, we'll even miss your continual pleas for a golf tournament.

Rest in peace, Tom, and know that your work here will continue. You trained up a lot of good people.

We'll see you when we get there.

Dinner Friday

I went home sick on Friday, so dinner was whatever I could grab easily. Turned out to be a giant carb-fest. And it was good.

Leftover ham and hash brown casserole
corn
roasted garlic bread