Ok, so it’s been a few days since I have been posting here.  Ok, so it’s been a few months.  Alright! Several months.  I’m so lame, but in my defense, I have racked up a lot of happenings in 2018!  The best happenings…..drum roll….. two new grand babies!  Harper Lee and Wyatt Lane have entered the clan and “Granny” couldn’t be more proud!

Before I get all into my baby presentation I thought I should keep sort of a timeline going here.  Sooo,  did Randy complete his barn project?  Did I get my bathroom metamorphesized? Well, lets just say that I think I am a little closer to that checkered flag.  Of course that would not have been possible without the help of my dear husband.  Just a little trim around the tub/shower and a little caulking around the tile and we can call it good.  The barn needs its electrical wires connected to the outlets and some gravel on its floor.  I’m going to press for the finish line this weekend and hopefully emerge the victor.

The barn’s purpose is to house the manly stuff, you know, like the mighty swathing machine (otherwise known as a zero turn lawn mower), a garden slaying tiller, the killer Kawasaki KDX and of course the all terrain four wheeler family fleet.  I felt very special to have a small corner for my few garden implements and wheel barrow. So putting aside this building’s functionality looking at it on the outside…this barn is so cute!  How could this little cupcake be looked upon as manly??

And look, my garden is just right there handy!

 

Surely it wouldn’t take an act of (let’s not use the word Congress right now) legislation to fashion a wooden platform under there, yes, there where that silver truck is, for a planting station, sink, the possibilities are endless!  Cute chairs to admire the garden, a few wind chimes, and maybe even a ceiling fan!  And after I convince Randy of the value this would create for our property he might just decide right then and there to call the barn company back to come and erect another one that’s not as cute and away from the garden that could hold all his stuff.  I amaze myself sometimes.

Uh hum…reality check.  Ok, back to my real world.

The “Golden Girls” bathroom, if I do say so myself, is looking pretty cute itself.

 

There is one thing that Randy and I are in complete agreement on; the man barn project was much, much, much less painful for us.

Our house was built in 1976 when folks were living the dream if they were fortunate enough to have wood paneling throughout their entire house.  They were especially popular in neighborhoods if they had gaudy wallpaper stuck to some of that wood paneling and hung in their bathroom.  Yep, you guessed it and to make things even more interesting the sheet rock behind these hideous looking walls (we got lucky here, the wild printed wallpaper had been painted over with a lovely tan 🙄) looked like it had been ripped out of another unfortunate bathroom and flung up in ours to save money.

Needless to say the bathroom journey was long and indeed painful.  But we stayed married, that’s the good news.

 

I guess Randy became a little intimidated by my progress because my dad showed up eager to get in there and give him a hand on some shed demolition (actually he had already offered to come over and help but I like the idea of intimidating my husband with my manual labor.)

So anyway, Dad shows up and poof! The shed is on the ground!

The felling of the shed consisted of a really big chain and a 3/4 ton “hunkin” Dodge Ram.  Randy and Dad are demolition machines!  I offered my assistance but they didn’t appear to be interested much.  I did get in on the tedious nail removal though, I guess I was considered “help” at that point and handed a claw hammer and a “cat paw”.  For those of you who are not familiar with a cat paw, it is a tool used specifically to remove stubborn nails from stubborn material such as old and rusty tin. 

 

It works really well and kept me from saying bad things and abandoning my post as alternate nail puller.  Even with my cool nail pulling tool, I didn’t feel all that important out there in the manly shed work force, but I stayed the course with them until the mission was accomplished.

At the end of the day I was really surprised at how much we got done and how good the spot looked.  Our youngest, Wes, had hauled off the massive bulk of the throw away stuff Saturday morning to the dump and the trailer was then empty and ready for more.  The stack of lumber would go aboard but the stack of rusty tin would stay behind for one of Randy’s coworkers to come and rid us of a lot of it to use for projects.  Jake swooped in at the end of the day to be the site inspector and make sure everything was up to snuff.

I have managed to get all the hideous paneling off the bathroom walls but have not made near the progress the guys have.

I may have to incorporate Jake’s help on the bathroom project so I can post some considerable progress on MY project.

 

 

 

So it looks like Randy has made some pretty amazing progress with the shed demo.
Since I had to work last Saturday, it put me a little behind him with my bathroom project.  Seriously, work becomes highly overrated when I have pressing matters at home to tend to.

 

I tried to catch up the best I  could but in my defense, I have details that have to be addressed, such as removing all the hardware without damaging it because I want to try my hand at painting it and reusing it.

 

 

Do ya see that cable sticking out of the wall?  Who has cable TV in their bathroom???  Trust me, the bathtub is not comfortable enough to stay in there long enough to watch TV,  but since there is a little stall at the end of the vanity with a hidden makeup mirror and a stool to sit on, I suppose putting on makeup and doing hair in the 70s and 80s took much longer and entertainment was needed.

 

 

The popcorn ceiling is officially gone!  Randy has got to step it up if he wants to keep up with me!!  There’s a whole lot of shakin going on here for sure!!  I wonder if Jake has been as much help to him out there at the shed as he has been to me in the bathroom; he has done his fair share of sniffing out dust bunnies, tasting chunks of particle board and carrying debris that is stuck to the bottom of his paws  out into the rest of the house.  I don’t know what I would do without him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Announcing the renouncing of the 70s bathroom!

 

Yea I know I’ve added some accents here and there including my mom’s lovely lighthouse painting but honestly, you take all that away and it’s downright uuugly!  Josh, the eldest often refers to it affectionately as “The Golden Girls” bathroom, I mean, look at that Formica for crying out loud!  It’s suppose to “resemble” marble.  I guess I shouldn’t be so judgmental, back in the day they were still experiencing with budget friendly solutions for creating a more expensive look but this stuff belongs in a 1974 Better Homes and Gardens magazine.

We recently added satellite TV to our home.  We had been proudly “dish-free” for 4 years using a digital antenna instead.  More and more frequently college football games are aired on good ‘ol ESPN and so when the 2017 championships rolled around we decided to take the plunge again and add satellite to our expense list so we could enjoy a bigger variety of entertainment.  Sounds simple and innocent enough, right?

One thing led to another and we have become maniacs, recording movies by the dozen (until the free subscription runs out of course), watching fix it shows and before you know it I am hooked on Fixer Upper.  Chip and Joanna Gaines are the highlighted super stars in my DVR collection.  As Randy and I  munch away on our snacks and enjoy watching some pretty hideous looking homes transform magically into perfect living spaces with incredible style, the remodeling bug starts to nibble.  Yep, the Golden Girls bathroom is my first real reformation battle I must conquer (kinda sounds patriotic doesn’t it.)  We’ve painted a couple of rooms and changed out some light fixtures but that is about the extent of our remodeling to the house after four years.  It’s time for change!

I guess I am not the only one to be bitten by the pesky remodeling bug.  Randy has decided our old shed has got to go.  It didn’t really serve its purpose when we first moved here let alone what its function is now after four years!  Making sure everything gets wet when it rains but providing adequate refuge for all the critters in the area, I guess that’s something.

The new one will hold our four wheelers, mowers, yard and garden equipment, etc. with a carport on one side to park the flat bed trailer under.

This will obviously be an ongoing post, so stay tuned!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have returned to my posting after a holiday hiatus.  Not realizing that the holidays suck up so much of your time, energy and thought processes, I casually began my usual shopping and compiling of lists in early November and was lured into the clutches  of over thinking, over planning and  allowing the holidays to consume my creative innards overall.

Mom returned to her usual activities too.  She belongs to a quilting circle and they meet once a month to quilt, eat and visit.  Or is it eat, visit and quilt.  I’m not sure the order but they have a good time and she enjoys the friendships it brings.

With winter in full swing Mom decided on  bringing chili as her dish for their first meeting after the holidays, the ultimate comfort food!  This chili experience turned out to be anything but comforting.

Apparently the recipe she used ended up with more spice than the normal palate could easily ingest without major discomfort of the mouth, probably the throat too, heck, maybe even the lungs.

Luckily Mom was using a large crockpot.  She commenced to adding all the non-spicy ingredients she could think of to tone the stuff down so it wouldn’t burn anyone’s face off.  Her new ingredient list included the likes of more tomatoes, sauce, beans,  a tablespoon of peanut butter (yes, peanut butter), broth, cumin and more cumin.  By the time she was finished dumping all the stuff in she could barely run a spoon through it without spilling it over the sides.

Finally it was time to bid John adieu, grab her things including the basket containing the crockpot of chili.  I’m not exactly sure when the misstep occurred or if there was a misstep or if the crockpot was to blame but something definitely went very wrong and the basket and/or crockpot went askew and the chili poured out onto the sidewalk.  My horrified, panic -stricken little mother struggled back to the house and into the kitchen to assess the damage, it was colossal.  There was a string of chili from the sidewalk all the way to the kitchen sink.  John tried to reassure her that it would be okay but she was perfectly certain that it would not.

Since Mom had created such a massive amount of chili with her add-ins she had removed some of it from the pot to keep it from being too full and possibly cause a mess (uh hmm), she was able to salvage an acceptable amount of chili to take to quilting.
After trying to clean up her shoes, jeans and coat, she decided it would be best to just change all of her clothes and spend the cleaning time on the basket and crockpot.  Her second attempt at departure was a little more hurried so out the back door she fled only to find herself nearly tripping on some curious and hungry crows checking out the chili on the sidewalk!  She didn’t have time or the patience at this point to deal with chili eating crows at her doorstep so she just left them to it and made a beeline for the car.

Arriving an hour late, Mom made it without further incident to the kitchen area at the church where they meet.  I think her friends could tell something was a little off with her and someone suggested they just heat things up and eat rather than have her tearing right into the quilt they had been working on.  I think they deserve some kudos for their quick decision making skills.

Mom was expecting to return home and clean the sidewalk and back door entrance but as she approached the site of the spill there was nothing, not a bean even left on the sidewalk or surrounding area.  She noticed a lone honeybee, circling around where the chili once was probably sensing that there had been a food source there and not too long ago.  Apparently there was not even any residue left to scrounge, it buzzed off rather slowly.

Now that the chore of cleaning up outside had disappeared she only had the kitchen and clothing items to check off her list for the day.  Maybe John cleaned it all up for her or maybe John let the crows in.

 

 

 

What do ya do when you have a half package of frozen Italian meatballs and a half package of fresh spinach leaves in your fridge?  You make Italian Meatball Soup of course!  How I ended up with only a half of a package of meatballs I can’t recall and the sad part is that they haven’t been in the freezer but just a few weeks.  Beats me, not going to spend much time dwelling on that one.  The spinach is easy peasy–mix with a little Romaine for your week night salads and you end up with a partial package, simple.

Here is a soup that will come together in a snap and is delicious on its own with crusty bread or served with a salad.

Ingredients: (These are portions you would use if you had a full size of meatballs and spinach)

1 quart jar of chicken stock

1 26 oz pkg frozen Italian style meatballs

1 15.5 oz can cannellini beans

1 15 oz can diced new potatoes

1 6 oz pkg fresh spinach leaves

1 t garlic salt

1/2 t black pepper

1/2 t ground oregano

1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 c heavy cream

Directions:

Combine first 4 ingredients and bring to a boil in a large pot.  Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes.  I used my own chicken stock I had in the freezer.  If I use store bought, I like Kitchen Basics 32 oz, much better than plain chicken broth.  Here is the brand of meatballs I used, got them at Walmart.

While the soup is simmering, chop the spinach and add to pot.  Next blend in your garlic salt, pepper and oregano.  If I had plenty of time and had my druthers, I would saute some minced fresh garlic instead of using garlic salt but, hey, we are talking quick and easy here.  If you only have oregano leaves, simply take the 1/2 teaspoon and grind it with your fingers to release the extra flavor.  Simmer for another 5 minutes.  Stir in the cream and cheese.  I used half and half instead of heavy cream but every creamy soup recipe I have seen calls for heavy cream so I just threw that in to blend in with the other souper recipes.  Get it? Souper? Super?  Nevermind.

Hope you like it! Me and Randy sure did!  There are still 2 servings left so Jake hasn’t gotten to sample any of the leftovers yet.  I’ll post his review later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was a busy weekend for us with some hauling,  assembling and a birthday dinner thrown in the mix, but good news, we not only survived but had a blast!

Taylor’s birthday isn’t until the 9th but she has some wild and crazy plans with her friends next weekend so we thought if we were going to insert ourselves into her birthday month we better act and seize this weekend while we had the chance.  I mean really, what could be more wild and crazy than spending the weekend with the parents.  Don’t answer that.  She arrived Friday evening and we rocked out with a Mexican homemade dinner and some Blue Bloods on TV, wow!!  We were on the road to some weekend freakish fun times!!

Saturday morning greeted us with dense fog and a general all around gloomy  feel but we weren’t in the mood to be deterred because we had some big plans! Yes sir!  My dad moved into a retirement community last week and he had a few straggle items we needed to pick up from the house, namely, the antique grandfather clock he gave us, so off we went, to Grandpa’s house we go!  With no wienie dog in tow!  I had to explain to Jake that we wasn’t going to let him or his paws get in on any of the delicate moving of a grandfather clock.  He didn’t care about the whys he just wanted to go wherever we were going, so I bribed him with a treat and we left.

Back at home, after the clock was unloaded and set back up per Dad’s instructions (by Randy and Taylor, me and Jake just looked on and threw in a supervised word here and there),  we set the pendulum to swinging but it wouldn’t stay swinging, after a few minutes it would stop.  Apparently,  grandfather clocks are a sensitive business!!  To date I am still fine tuning the thing.  I have learned about the causes of one becoming out of beat and what to do about it, the chiming at odd times and wrong number of chimes, a fix I haven’t tried yet; all thanks to clockdepot.com.  It’s a work in progress but I don’t give up easily.  Jake hasn’t thrown his 2 cents worth in yet and doesn’t appear too impressed with the new piece of furniture but I think it’s beautiful!

 

With the day rapidly passing by I had to save the clocking for another day and get to Walmart to wrap up my grocery shopping list for the dinner on Sunday, this included a new gas grill for the steak grilling!  Below is a sequence of photos telling the assembly story of the new grill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Sunday my dad and the rest of the kiddos showed up for the best game in town, heck yea!  Party at our house!!  Woo hoo!!  Let the steak grillin begin!!  We are so much fun sometimes we can hardly stand ourselves.

 

It’s Tuesday night and I needed my beauty sleep.  I wasn’t going to work the next morning but I was taking Mom to the doctor’s office for her skin cancer surgery.  Usually I hear Jake if he whines but not at two something in the morning, it takes quite a commotion to wake me up, I’m in my REM sleep, sleeping, soundly.  A commotion is just what I got.  I went from sweet slumber to hyper alert hysteria in the blink of a once sleeping eye.  It was Randy, “Becky! Jake’s whining!!.”  Realizing there was no earthquake or home  invasion going on, I slid out of bed and mechanically shuffled to the bathroom to fill up the dog bowl so Jake could have his drink that he had snubbed before bed.  It’s always a drink he wants during the night, nothing else seems to be important enough to raise his head from the blanket.

As I made it back to the crate and sat the bowl down and Jake began lapping, agitation set in.  “Don’t be yelling at me!” I yelled to my husband lying motionless in the bed, undisturbed.  Once Jake was satisfied and ready for me to get the bowl out of his way so he could get some sleep, I thought I better make my nightly trip to the bathroom even though it usually occurs much later in the night.  Coming back to bed the agitation hadn’t worn off yet.  “You could try waking me up without startling the crap out of  me!”  I guess I thought if I sounded mean and hateful enough it would make me sleep better.  Randy muttered something in response but I couldn’t make it out.  I didn’t ask him to repeat it, he might have done a better job at being mean and hateful than me and I wasn’t having any of that.

By morning I was over the night’s events, glad to have them behind me.  I got up at 6 with Randy, tended to all of Jake’s needs, kissed my man and headed out to pick up Mom, coffee mug in hand.  Mom strolled out the back door looking fairly alert but I noticed her shirt was only half buttoned.  I sighed and smiled.  My mom is so cute.  As soon as she opened the door to get in beside me I said in my best sweet and patient, daughterly tone “Mom, did you know your shirt isn’t buttoned?”  She answered very quick and nonchalant-like.  “Oh yea! I always wait til the last minute to put this shirt on so I don’t spill anything on it!  I thought I would just finish buttoning it in here!”  Ok, so much for my willingness to doubt my mother’s cognitive skills, she will probably still  be playing along with the Jeopardy contestants long after I’m in the wing for patients with dementia!

The Oklahoma Cancer Specialists are located close to Bass Pro Shop.  After surviving morning rush hour traffic, we pulled into the parking lot with time to spare.  The receptionist took Mom’s name and she was quickly called back.  We learned that the doctor would take off a layer of the area on her nose and forehead with the cancer, test it in the lab, and continue the process until there were no more cancer cells.  With each layer testing I could go back with her while she waited.   After the usual Q&A with the nurse and picture taking of the spots to be worked on she told me it was about time to start and I left with Mom’s purse.

With very little time spent on my grooming regimen before I left the house, I went straight from the waiting room to the women’s restroom by the fourth floor elevators to put on a little more makeup and have a look at my hair.  Closing the door, I looked around for a hook to hang Mom’s tiny purse on.  No hook.  I knew my mom would not want me to set her purse on the floor so I eyed the sink, it was nice and dry, perfect!  I sat it down; the next few seconds were a flurry of chaos.

Eager to unload some of the baggage I was carrying including my purse with my tablet in it, I hadn’t noticed the sink had an automatic faucet and it gushed water out as soon as I sat the purse down in it.  In my panic I dropped my purse on the floor, yelled something, I don’t remember what exactly, but it started with “OH NO!”, and I scrambled to get Mom’s trapped little purse out from under the waterfall.  Suddenly I was a little girl again and I could see I was headed for a scolding and a spanking after this!  I had to get her phone and key fob out and fast!  The electronic dispenser could not roll the paper towels out fast enough.  Once the phone and key fob were snatched out and inspected my panic eased a bit and I laid them aside since they appeared dry.  Thank God.  After I got the dispenser to give up a few more towels I spread them on the floor and dumped the contents of the purse onto them.  And then I spotted the familiar looking bank envelopes, yes envelopes, pleural, there were more than one.  That could only mean one thing, cash.   Who carries wads of cash anymore?!  Mom, that’s who!  Oh no, surely this wasn’t happening to me!  While I was peeling the soaked bills out and layering them in between even more towels someone tried to get into the bathroom two separate times; I’m sure with the towel dispenser running nonstop they quickly walked away fearing what might be inside.

The book of checks only had a wet corner, whew.  Finally I had most of the water sopped up leaving only the paper things and the phone case wet.  By the time I left the restroom her little purse looked like a gift bag with tissue paper sticking out of it because I had stuffed so many paper towels in it so it they would soak up the remaining moisture.  I skulked back to the waiting room wondering how I was going to explain the happenings to Mom.  I was also wishing I had had a pair of Depends on before entering the restroom and facing the ambush.

Mom was a real sport, she even thought the whole thing was funny!  No scolding, no spanking!  She’s the best mom ever.  She stopped by the restroom on the ground floor while I went to get the car.  I urged caution against using the robotic sink for anything other than washing her hands.

The nice doctor and nurses awarded Mom’s endurance of the super painful deadening shots with a huge bandage on her nose and forehead and a little ice pack.  The pack was still hard so we found a pharmacy store and I got her some of those instant ice packs.  As we were leaving she pulled down the visor to get a gander at herself while figuring out how to strategically place the pack in the right spot.  She said she looked like a hawk with a big beak.  Luckily it would be coming off in two days.

On virtually every trip we take to the Tulsa area, Zoe’s Kitchen and the Goodwill store in Glenpool are must dos but Mom wasn’t feeling it so we left the big city and retreated back to our rural surroundings.  Back at her house we had a sandwich with John and she expressed to him her dislike of the whole hawk beak thing.  He told her it was better to have the beak than to have kept what was underneath.  She didn’t seem to take a whole lot of comfort in that.  I had a feeling it was going to be a long two days.  Since my brother Danny and his wife Carol will be doing the return trip with her to get the bandages removed, I probably should warn them of the trap awaiting them should they need to go to the restroom.

 

Mom’s after picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After making the Salsa Chicken recipe my mom shared with me many times, I found myself one evening with boneless, skinless chicken breasts and nothing new in mind to do with them.  In times like these I like  to venture out so I decided to “re-create”the Salsa Chicken recipe.  The original recipe calls for sprinkling the breasts with taco seasoning; I did this to these, but I combined different ingredients for the sauce.

Ingredients:

4 T Taco Seasoning

1 14 oz can cream of chicken soup

1 4 oz can chopped green chilies

1 T ground cumin

juice of 1 lime

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 c shredded Monterey Jack cheese

2 T chopped cilantro (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray 13x9x2 Baking dish with no-stick spray.  Place chicken breasts in prepared baking dish and sprinkle well with  taco seasing.  Combine the cream of chicken soup, green chilies, 1 T cumin, juice of 1 lime.  Cover with sauce.   Bake uncovered for 20-25 min, depending on size of breasts, sprinkle cheese on top and bake for additional 5 minutes.  Meat thermometer should read 165 degrees.  Top with chopped cilantro.

I served this dish with Mexican rice and sautéed spinach.

Note:  I had a little salsa verde and added that to my sauce. If you like yours a little “greener” you can use green chili enchilada sauce instead of the cream of chicken.

 

 

 

I’m sure most of you have had tuna or salmon patties at some point in life, and the dish has probably earned a mediocre “meh” review at best for most folks.  Sure, it’s great to keep the canned fishes in the pantry for scraping a meal together when you are in need of going to the grocery store or the food budget is tight but I enjoy the the whole meal, mainly the sides though, you know, the ones with mac and cheese and green beans or fried okra and corn.  I decided my just average tuna patty needed kicking up a notch!

INGREDIENTS:

2 – 12 oz cans of tuna in water (I used one solid white and one chunk light)

2 eggs, beaten

1 T Cajun seasoning (I use Old Bay or Slap Ya Mama)

1 t garlic powder

1/2 c corn flake crumbs (or your favorite)

Panko Crumbs for dredging

DIRECTIONS:

Drain tuna and combine with remaining ingredients except the Panko crumbs.  Form large patties and dredge in the Panko crumbs, coating both sides.  Heat skillet with about a 1/2 inch of oil to medium-high heat and fry patties until golden brown.

Makes 5-6 large patties

Note:  Adjust spices to your taste.  If your seasoning does not contain salt just add it extra.  I fried the patties in peanut oil and served with fried okra, corn on the cob, sliced tomatoes, onions and Margaret Holmes seasoned red beans and rice.  Delicious!