Happy Birthday America!

My husband has to work today. Of course he does. I mean, it's only the Fourth of July. So I cased this adorable idea from here and intended to make them for his staff. I bought everything at Michaels to make them in time for the Fourth.


Too bad no one in California sells LifeSavers in a roll anymore. When did that happen? Now they come in a tin? Who in the world wants a firecracker tin? I had to scratch the idea. The closest thing I could find was a tube of breath mints. You can't hardly spend a day sucking on breath mints and feeling very good about it so I scrapped the idea. Does anyone need a million yards of red, white, and blue stars?

On another note (haha) check out this classic performance. It gives me goosepimples EVERY TIME.

Stamping Out Loud

Carl is back to working nights which means I have to stay quiet in the day while he sleeps. Not an easy task. Thankyouverymuch. Over the weekend I went over to my friend Laura's (the Queen of all that is stamping) to do what almost every military wife does. Stamp. We cased this card from http://www.stampwithjill.com/ and had a marvelous time being loud and silly.

It only took us a few hours to make one set each. Well, it probably took less time than that since we started by clearing out space in her cabinet for all my stamping stuff. I hate dragging it all over there every time and since Laura is one of the nicest girls I know, she promptly stuffed all of her neat and organized things into a box so I could mess up a shelf in her house. Move over sista, I'm moving in!

Works For Me Wednesday

I can't "officially" participate in Works for me Wednesday since I have a private blog, but I visit every week. You can go there too. WFMW is a "blog carnival" that my friend Shannon hosts. Basically, the idea is that on Wednesday you post a little tip you've learned on any (G-rated) topic--anything that has "worked for you" in making your life easier.

Oh my, and if you have the time (and you can always link back later) you will learn so much.

Now that the bloggity business of explaining WFMW has been handled, here is my contribution:

Microwave Cleaning.

Possibly the nastiest job on the planet. My husband never uses a cover.

Ever.

Splatter abounds in the microwave. Eck.

Since we no longer have a housekeeper I had to tackle this one on my own. Since I HATE cleaning, I, of course, had to come up with a "work smarter, not harder" plan.

Some company used to make wet paper towels in a package that you could cook and they cleaned your microwave. I thought it was genius but I've never been able to find them again. Apparently, someone thought they could do it better.

And there it was.

I soaked an old rag in water and placed it in a dish in the microwave. I cooked it on HIGH for about 4 minutes. After the timer went off I let it set for about 2 more minutes. The steam took action! I put on a glove and used the HOT (hot hot hot- be careful) rag to wipe down the microwave and - wah lah- sparkly clean.

That's all I did. I'm on cleaning vacation now and it's Hungry Husband's turn. Only one of us can look good. It's either me or the house.

GratuiTuesday

It's time for a little shout out to the Lord, so you know it must be GratuiTuesday, where I can be vocally thankful for something in my life.

Almost exactly one year ago, my sweet baby Divita was diagnosed with Addison's disease. It is a disease that causes the Adrenal Glands to atrophy and can be fatal. It's a tough disease to get under control, in part because very few Veterinarians understand it and because of the massive financial commitment required to treat it. All too often the beloved family pet dies before the diagnosis can be made. We were lucky.

Now we are in California and we haven't had much luck finding a Vet that understands the disease. We have cycled through 7 Vets and one serious crash that landed us in the Santa Barbara ER. I have a hard time getting my fears about this disease under control but there is one person that really helps me.

So today I am thankful for my friend Elizabeth. She has a dog, Raider, that also has Addison's Disease. She is an amazing canine lover that understands the disease like no one else I've met. She lets me email her all of the crazy questions I come up with and I can call her in the middle of the night from the ER with all my worries. She understands my undying love for Divita (and Bruiser) and doesn't think I'm crazy for it. We talk about our dogs and have built a wonderful friendship. She might be in California this year and I'm going to drive 7 hours each way to meet her. She's worth it!

She is my angel and today I am thankful for her knowledge and friendship. I hope that someday I can repay her for all that she has done for me.

My boy

My sweet "beer and wings boy", Bruiser, is wicked thoughtful.  He found this loverly shirt with his picture on it and bought it for me.  In Italian it reads: "I kiss my dog on the mouth".  So sweet. 

Serving Size

My husband prepared himself a bowl of cereal for breakfast.  And I'm the one with the weight problem?

Massive Smoke Inhalation Never Hurt Anyone

You may have heard we have a little fire problem here in California when the land gets too dry and the wind blows.  Little problem with fire.  What do you do when the weather is gorgeous and the alert system warns that you should stay inside, you ask?  You golf.  Right.  Nothing like going out where the wind blows and walking miles on end to ensure that you will have no smoke in your asthma ridden lungs.  

Oh the things we do for the men we love.  See the beautiful haze in the background?  That's just blinding, eye-burning love.

Because I don't have any children handy...

Well, and because my ovaries tell me that these are the cutest kids I will ever have.  Of course, my ovaries are not to be trusted, they have betrayed me before.

Also, I feel bad that I complain about my kids so much, and I want you to know that if I did not KNOW that they are the most gorgeous creatures to ever grace....hmmmm, I said that already, didn't I?  Anyway, if they weren't so beautiful, I would complain about the cost to raise them much more.  Just call me Shallow Mom.  Maybe I should change my Blogspot to shallowmom.blogspot.com.  I bet it's not yet taken.  

Look at those cute little noses.  Don't you just want to take little bites out of their faces?  I know I'm not supposed to have favorites, but the one above was my favorite for 6 and 1/2 years.  The one on the right has to be my favorite little stinker.    Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go make cuddles in their soft and freshly shaved fur.

Yum!

Hey look! A recipe!

You know how there are all those blogs out there that post gorgeous, mouth-watering recipes, and there are photographs of the ingredients all symmetrically arranged on the counter, the lighting is just perfect and you just swear you can actually hear a pot bubbling cheerfully on the stove?

Well this is not one of those blogs.

If you ever see a recipe posted at this blog, you can be sure it has been posted because:

A) It was cheap.

B) I had the ingredients on hand; and

C) There were only a few.

D) It will get me out of the kitchen as quickly as possible.

Those are the only recipes I use.

Ever.

Actually, one time I took a dish to a potlock and it contained dill weed.  I am proud of that.  Dill weed is an exotic ingredient, by my standards.

Anyway, back to my recipe.  I found it on a Crock-Pot blog and I fixed it for my husband last week when the temperatures on base were over 100 degrees for several days without air--it was a hit with hungry husband.

BBQ Porkloin Sammies

Ingredients:

A pork loin

A couple cans of Diet Coke

BBQ Sauce

Put the pork loin in the Crockpot and cover it with the Diet Coke and about a cup of BBQ sauce.  Cook on low all day (8-9 hours).  Shred the meat.  It will fall apart.  Top with a little more BBQ sauce and serve on onion buns.  I topped ours with cole slaw to help beat the heat.  

Enjoy!

We're Baaaacccckkkkk!!!

Sorry about the blogging vacation. A lot has happened in the last couple months. I only intended to take of a few weeks to prepare for finals when...well...Divita got sick. Then Bruiser got sick. Then I had trouble at work. It just spiraled out of control and then...well...no posts. So we're back and will be posting again. Hopefully I haven't lost my blogging MoJo.

Love J