Stalker? Me?

I have had a few embarrassing moments in my life.  I've forgotten most of them. I only remember the really horrifying ones. If you want to read how I put my foot in my mouth, read here.  Or, you can check out here for another red-faced moment. But, this story may possibly be one of my most embarrassing moments. I can't believe I'm going to share this, but here goes...


This unfortunate event happend many years ago. It happened on the last day of VBS (Vacation Bible School), which was on a Thursday night. Hubby had stopped by the church building for some reason, which is now forgotten. As Jennee, my Amazing Daughter, and I were getting in the car to leave, the last words he said to me were, "I'll see you at home."


(Oh dear, I'm starting to sweat...but I think it could be a hot flash! One moment please while I fan myself.) OK. Now, where was I? Hubby was in his pick-up truck and pulled out of the parking lot, and we were right behind him. (Remember, I said it was dark out.) Surprisingly, Hubby turned off on a different road, which happens to lead to Bob Evans restaurant.


"Well, he never said anything about going there." Translation: If he's going for dessert, I'm going too! (But, why is he going for dessert?)


Jennee said, "Mom, are you sure that's Dad?"


"Of course, it is. He was right in front of us."


We came to Bob Evans--and drove right past it. "Well, that's weird. Where is he going?"


Jennee said, "Are you sure that's Dad?"


"Of course, it is. He was right in front of us. But, where is he going? Oh, I know. He must have to do an estimate for some gutters."


So, we continue following, this turn, then that turn. When he turns into the driveway, I sit at the end of the street. It would be silly and unprofessional for us to pull in behind him while he's giving an estimate.


For some reason, it didn't occur to me that it was too dark to give an estimate. But, as we were waiting, Jennee again said, "Mom, are you sure that's Dad?"


"Of course it is. He was right in front of us."


I watched as "Hubby" got out of the truck, then got back in and started backing out of the driveway. I was a bit confused. What's he doing?


Again, Jennee with her crazy question.


He pulled out, and I calmly started following. Then he pulled over to the side, and I fell in right behind him.


It was at that point that I noticed the logo on the back of this truck was different than the one I remembered seeing--and there seemed to be a woman sitting in the passenger side.


OHhhhhhhhhhh Crrrrrraaaaaaaaaap!!!! "Jennee, why didn't you say something???"  


So, at this point a couple of different scenerios were racing through my head.
1) Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you were my husband, and I thought you/he was going out for dessert with out me.  
No, that didn't sound good.


2) I thought you were my husband and I wanted to see where he was going.
No, too stalkish.


In the end, I couldn't think of a logical explanation that didn't make me sound like a fruit cake, so before he got out of his truck, I quickly sped away.


I felt kind of bad, because they had no explanation on why some woman was stalking them. But, it was either put their fears at ease or save face. I chose to save face.


When we finally got home, Hubby said, "Where have you been?" 
"It's a long story, and I don't wanna talk about it."  Of course, Jennee was more than happy to provide every little detail.  


I still, to this day, don't know how that truck got between me and hubby.    I wonder how his story goes.

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Almost Wordless Wednesday

Some sights of Kansas...

Even though most of my pictures of Kansas show flat lands, I was surprised that Kansas was actually pretty hilly!

We made an unscheduled stop at Fort Hays. We stopped on a Sunday, and it was closed. That's why it looks so empty.

Pretty cool statue of a buffalo

The barracks

I think this was the artillitry building, but I could be wrong.

There used to be buildings all along here. Actually, it formed a big circle.

Storm's a comin'

Just playin' around with the camera.

Next stop...Colorado.

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Try it, You'll like it! Tuesday - Sour Cream Cheese Enchiladas

This was our first introduction to making Mexican food. It is not at all spicey, so if you like a little heat, feel free to add some jalapenos! The original recipe calls for only 8 oz. of sour cream, but   we were always fighting over the sauce, so I doubled the sour cream. At our house, this is known as "Chinese Enchiladas". When the kiddos were little, that's what they thought we were saying! 

So, if you try this, I hope you'll like it!

Sour Cream Cheese Enchiladas
1 lb. ground beef
1 chopped onion
16 oz. sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup catsup
1/4 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. cumin
Salt and garlic powder to taste
1 pkg. flour tortillas
1 pkg. Monteray Jack cheese

Brown beef and onions together.

Add the next five ingredients. Season with garlic powder and salt.

 Mix together and heat, then remove from heat.

 Grate cheese.

Warm the tortillas in the microwave for about 45 seconds or so, just so they are pliable and won't crack when you try to roll them. 
Divide cheese evenly into each tortilla.

 Wrap the tortillas and place in casserole dish. (It is usually a tight fit, and I have to put 2 along the bottom of the dish.)  Pour mixture over the top and bake at 325 degrees for about 30 minutes.

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Almost (Never!) Wordless Wednesday

Waaay back in July, Hubby and I took a road trip out West, and I'm just now getting around to posting the second edition of photos for your (hopefully) viewing pleasure.  We stopped in Abilene, Kansas to go to the Dwight D. Eisenhower Museum. There is not much else to see in Abilene, Kansas. This definitely qualifies as "Small Town, USA."

President Eisenhower

The home of the President, before and after serving his term

The living room where many dignitaries visited

Maime's inagural gown. She did not have designer gowns, but this one is quite beautiful

Hubby and Ike

I always liked this picture, now it's a statue in the museum

Hmmmm, could this possibly be true?

If you eat at this restaurant....

... This is what you will be served.  Everybody gets the same thing! There were no complaints.

A ride in a horse-drawn carriage is available

I like the posts

There are windmills as far as the eye can see in Kansas. I wonder how much electricity they produce!

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Try it, You'll like it! Tuesday

Disclaimer: I'm going to try, try, try to have a regular Tuesday post to feature recipes that I enjoy eating. This is going to take a lot of discipline and planning, and obviously, regular posting. These are not necessarily my best traits, but I'm willing to give it a shot. So, bear with me, and don't judge me too harshly, if I don't make it every Tuesday.


I do enjoy making things to eat, but the reason for going to all the trouble of making something is because I like to eat practically anything that will not eat me first!


Oh, and also, my favorite things to make usually meet two critieria--it's quick and easy. (Tasty, too, but that goes without saying!)


With that being said,  here is how I make Eggplant Parmesan. This is the first recipe I ever tried for Eggplant Parmesan, and I love it! I'm not exactly sure what makes it so delicious. It may be the fresh tomato taste, or all the fresh basil. Or, possibly the fresh Parmesan cheese. All that "freshness" is just sooo good. I found this recipe in "Eat, Cheat and Melt Away the Fat" by Suzanne Somers. 

Eggplant Parmesan
1 recipe Sweet Tomato Sauce (follows)

1 large eggplant, sliced thin
1-2 eggs
1-2 Tbsp. milk
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 pound mozzarella, thinly sliced or shredded
1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh basil leaves

Mix milk and egg together in shallow dish to make an egg wash. In a seperate dish, put Parmesan cheese. (I will also mix some "canned" parmesan, just to stretch out the fresh.) Dip eggplant slices first into egg wash, then into  parmesan cheese.


 Heat oil in a skillet and fry eggplant slices till nicely browned. 

Spoon several tablespoons of the Sweet Tomato Sauce into a 9 x 13 casserole dish. Layer eggplant over the sauce. 


Add another layer of Sauce, then mozzarella cheese, more Parmesan cheese, if desired. Continue layering like you would lasagna. Top with sauce, mozzeralla cheese, and sprinkle with fresh basil.

Bake 30-40 minutes until cheese is bubbling in 375 degree oven. Let cool about 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Sweet Tomato Sauce
(Make this first!)
1 large onion
8 fresh ripe tomatoes (I use Romas or plum tomatoes)
1/4 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic


Chop onion in food processor until finely minced. Heat a skillet on medium heat. Add olive oil. When oil is hot, add onions and cook until translucent, about 4-5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another minute. While onions are cooking, coarsley chop tomatoes in the food processor. After onions have been cooked, add chopped tomatoes, and reduce heat. Simmer 30 - 45 minutes until sauce thickens a little.

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Top 10 Television Shows

Alex J. Cavanaugh is hosting a bloghop on 10 Top Television Shows. I found this bloghop through my Amazing Daughter's blog, Cheap Therapy. So, with that said, I will give out my list, in no particular order.
(There are no pictures because my official blog instructor is not here to give me step by step instructions. I did try on my own, but as you can see, was not successful!)

1. I love Lucy - still a funny show. I just watched the "chocolate factory" episode, and it still made me laugh.


2.  The Dick van Dyke Show - created by Carl Reiner. I have always loved this show. No one can cry like "Laura"......"o-o-o-h-h-h-h  R-o-o-b-b-b!

3.  The Andy Giffith Show - Barney with his nervous ways and bugged out eyes, and Andy and his gentle and patient ways with Barney make this a great family-friendly show.

4.  Columbo - the crumpled up trench coat, and his "oh. just one more thing."

5.  Magnum P.I. - What can I say, I had a crush on Tom Selleck!

6.  House - the medical terms sound like jibberish to me, and House is rude, crude, arrogant, and brilliant.

7.  Chuck - He's such a cute spy. His co-workers at the Buy More are creepy and funny. I love the conservative, patriot spy, "John Casey". He has pictures of Ronald Reagan on his walls, and is always cleaning his weapons. He would rather grunt than speak, and he grunts so well. (I'm sure male viewers have completely different reasons for watching the show.)

8.  Monk - the most obsessive-compulsive character on TV. The worst thing about the show is that I found myself becoming "Monkish". Sometimes I would find myself saying, "That would drive Monk crazy!"

9.  Everybody Loves Raymond - I didn't start watching this show until it was in reruns. No matter how many times I've seen an episode, it always makes me laugh. Of course, if that was my real life, I would want to shoot myself!

10.  Arrested Development - one sane brother is trying to keep a weathly, self-absorbed family together.

That's my list. What's on your list?

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Happy Constitution Day!

Have you ever heard of Constitution Day?  Neither have I. I mean, I started hearing people mentioning it, but didn't realize it was an official holiday.  Apparently, it's been around for quite some time in one form or another.


The purpose of Constitution Day is to celebrate the ratification of our Constitution, which was signed on September 17, 1787, by 39 men who had spent the previous three months writing, debating, hashing out differences, and finally agreeing on our Constitution.  This day also recognizes all who were born in the United States, or by naturalization, have become citizens.


The celebration came about due to William Randolph Hearst working toward the creation of a holiday to celebrate citizenship in 1939. The following year, Congress designated the third Monday in May as "I am an American Day".  But, on February 29, 1952, Congress renamed it "Citizenship Day", and  changed the date to September 17. 


So, whether you want to call it Citizenship Day or Constitution Day, celebrate your citizenship by reading the United States Constitution. You might be surprised by what it says (or doesn't say.)


"WE THE PEOPLE, of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."  If you're intriqued enough to continue, click here.


And, while I'm on the subject of  our Constitution, have you ever considered reading your State Constitution? I confess that I had never even thought about it until very recently, and it's on my list of things to do.  There may be some interesting things in there.


I'll close with a quote on why our Constitution is so special..."I had a copy of the Soviet Constitution and I read it with great interest.  And I saw all kinds of terms in there that sound just exactly like our own: 'freedom of assembly' and 'freedom of speech' and so forth.  Of course, they don't allow them to have those things, but they're in there in the consitution.  But, I began to wonder about the other constitutions--everyone has one--and our own, and why so much emphasis is on ours.  And then I found out, and the answer was very simple--that's why you didn't notice it at first.  But it is so great that it tells the entire difference.  All those other constitutions are documents that say, "We the government, allow the people the following rights", and our Constitution says, "We the People, allow the government the following privileges and rights."  We give our permission to government to do the things that it does.  And that's the whole story of the difference--why we're unique in the world and why no matter what our troubles may be, we're going to overcome."--Ronald Reagan

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Time for the Fair

Fall is here, and in Wayne County, Ohio that means it's time for the fair. Once or twice in my life I've attended a fair during the summer, but it just seems so...weird. Fair time means cool, brisk weather. The aroma of french fries, Italian sausage, cotton candy, elephant ears and donuts is enhanced by the cooler weather. (In my humble opinion.)Usually, on at least one of those days it rains, which brings the unique aroma of wet straw and manure. Can't you just smell it?

Every year, we have the same conversation. It goes something like this:
Daughter:  Are you going to the fair?
Me:  No, it's boring. Nothing ever changes.
Daughter:  Oh. I wanted to see So & So's concert. (Always a country singer-sometimes current, sometimes not.)
Me: Yeah, that might be a good show. OK. I'll go. Do you want to go to the 6:30 show?
Daughter:  No. (Rolling her eyes. I don't see her do it, but I can feel it!)  I don't get off work till 7:30. We'll have to go to the 8:30 show. (She's thinking, "DUH!)
Me: Oh yeah, I forgort. 8:30, huh. (Thinking to myself: that means we won't get home till 10:00- Hope I can stay awake!)

So, we bought our tickets,which have gone up considerably in price! From $6 to $10! I almost reconsidered, but relented at the last minute.

Monday night, Amazing Daughter and I went to see Luke Bryan. He's fairly new on the country music scene. One of his songs is, "rain makes corn, corn makes whiskey". Early in the show, he complained that the donut trailer was too close to the grandstand, because the smell of the donuts was driving him crazy. By the next song, someone handed him two boxes of Lerch's Donuts--a Wayne County Fair staple. He opened the box--the donuts are covered with sugar--took one,  then handed one to every band member. He ate it then said, "Man, that's good". (He didn't actually say "man", but something quite close!) "Now, I need a big glass of milk!"  I wondered how he would be able to sing with that greasy, sugary, (and delicious) donut going down his throat. But, it did not seem to affect him at all, and he gave a great show.

This amazing photo was stolen from my daughter, but, hey, it's on my computer! Thanks, Jennee!

The only reason to go to the fair

See all that sugar? They don't last long!

We also had tickets to see "Little Big Town", which I'm sorry to say was not nearly as good a show as Luke Bryan. I like their songs, but when you hear them all at once, they sound pretty much the same. News must have gone out about the "donut incident" because, they asked and received donuts. It just seemed more contrived and not nearly as endearing.

(My photo) Little Big Town 

Also, during Fair Week, my Mom, Sis, and I get together to watch the horse races. We do the walk-through, go to the Grange Building where there is a food demonstration, for the and samples, then load ourselves down with greasy, over-priced fair food. With food in hand, we head over to the Grandstand to watch the horse races. Every year we skip buying the program, it is $2 after all! After the races, we say that next year we are going to buy a program! We have a very scientific way of picking horses--by the color of the silks. That system works good for my Mom. Her horses almost always come in first or second. My Sis's horses usually come in second or third. And more often than not, my horses are bringing up the rear. It's probably a good thing that I never bet!

Horse races--my horse isn't in the picture yet!

So much for not going to the Fair this year. I'm sure next year will be exactly the same!

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Cha-cha-cha-changes

There's a new change in my life. Yesterday was my first day in a regular-part-time job. Yep, I'm going to be babysitting the nine-month daughter of some friends. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I have to be at their house by 9:00 each morning, and it's only till 1:00.  She did great after the first 10 minutes of screaming her lungs out!  He works at home, so they need someone to watch her so he can actually get work done. Really, it was OK. I'm just wondering how the day after day part will be.  But, this will give us some much needed extra cash. And, they can work around our crazy schedule of going to see our granddaughter every three months.  And, I was able to get a couple of future blogs written down on paper while she napped.  (And, I know it's bad grammer to start sentences with "and", but, sometimes I like to break the rules! Shocking, I know, Jennee!) Who knows? Maybe this will actually improve my blogging!

Really, my biggest issue is that I can't piddle-diddle around in the morning, drinking coffee, in my robe, getting absolutely nothing done! So, maybe this will be a good thing, after all.

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Gotta love grandkids!

Hubby (aka Pappy) and I (aka Grammy) just got back from a visit with our granddaughter and son. She is now four and a half. She loves to play in enclosed places. Sometimes we have to play "Witch". I have to be the witch and put her in the closet. This is not my favorite game! Mostly because I have to be the witch!

I'm the witch!

In the closet. She's cuter so her picture is bigger.

                

This week, she found the clothes dryer. She crawled in and just sat there. It brought back memories of her dad when he was a baby. He liked to crawl into small places. He would crawl into the kitchen cupboards and push out all the pots and pans so there would be plenty of room for him. He also liked to crawl into the dryer every time I did laundry. I would post his cute little picture, but it is in his scrapbook.

I told her this little story about dad. I pulled out the scrapbook so she and dad could find the picture. She found the picture of dad in the dryer, and thought it was funny. She and dad continued to look at pictures. She saw pictures of Hubby and I and asked dad, "Who are they?".  Dad said, "That's Grammy and Pappy." Without missing a beat, she looked at me and said, "What happened to you?"

Before

After

 We got old, Sweetie! Yep, gotta love the grandkids!

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Photos of 8/28

This was a few days before the event

Making our way to the Lincoln Memorial

There was already a big line by 8 AM

Crowds forming at the WWII Memorial

Our Crew of Seven plus Four that we met up with

That's a lot of people

Restoring Honor

More people

The Fly-Over of Geese

Glenn Beck

Sarah Palin

American Heroes - Tom Kirk, Eddy Wright, Marcus Luttrell

Old Glory

Small sampling of people

Lincoln Memorial

"Scar" of the Washington Monument

Washington Monument on 8/25   "Laus Deo"

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