Random thoughts

January is already almost half over.  I just don’t know where the time goes anymore.  We are 12 days into the month, and I am already wishing it was vacation time—not necessarily wishing it was summer, just ready for some time off.

However, I am extremely thankful that I have a job.  In response to the poor economy, my employer cut all 40-hour week hourly employees to 36-hours/week. This cutback did not affect me, because I am salaried, but it did affect many of my friends.  Please pray for them, that they will find ways to adjust to 8 hours less pay per pay period.  Also, pray for me, because as a salaried employee, we are now required to work 4 more hours per week. Adjustments, adjustments.

Since the kids got their Underoos for Christmas, L now thinks he is Batman.  He usually has a blanket draped around his back like a cape and he “flies” through the house….really sounds more like an elephant, but I don’t think an elephant can fly.  Anyway, it is kinda cute, yet gets on my nerves after a while.

Dad had minor out-patient surgery today.  Talked to him a while ago…states that he feels fine now, but will likely be sore in the am.

Hub had a health scare on Friday….scared me to death too.  Being treated for an infection right now, and will have f/u in 2 weeks to reassess and make a game plan. Please pray for a speedy recovery for him.

Another note about hub….he took the RN exam on January 7th and PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  YEAH!!!!!!!!!!! I am so proud of him.

I have found Facebook this past week and have reconnected with many friends from high school.  It has been a treat to find people and see how they are doing.  After high school, me and my best friend had a really bad fight and we had not talked to each other in15+ years.  About 2 months ago, I felt the conviction that I needed to tell her I was sorry ( think it was after one of our Sunday School lessons or one of Bro.Ray’s sermons), but I didn’t know how to find her.  I found her on Myspace and sent her a message.  About 7 days had passed and I had decided that she just didn’t want to talk to me.  I prayed about it some more, and a few days later, I got a response.  We have emailed back and forth and hooked up on Facebook.  This has been an answered prayer for me.  I don’t know that we will ever be “best” friends again, but at least I have told her “I’m sorry” and we have each other’s address and phone numbers.  Hopefully we will get together soon.

I joined the running ministry at church last week.  I ran 3 miles on Saturday in the cold, misting rain.  Where was everyone? Me and 2 other people showed.  It was my first run since New Years Eve and my time stank. But at least I ran the whole 3 miles.  I really prefer running in the neighborhood than on the trail. But I know this,   I have absolutely got to get more runs in if I’m going to be able to do the half-marathon in April.

Well, this has already been an emotionally draining, stressful, yet fulfilling 2 weeks (yes, I know that sounds crazy with that combination of words).  How have you all been?

America’s New Super Heroes

Oh, it’s just C and L modeling the Underoos Santa brought them for Christmas.  C loves having his picture made.

Today began the first week of the new year.  I hope everyone has a blessed week!  Tomorrow is back to the 5 day work week.  It will be hard to get back in the groove after having short weeks for the past 2 weeks.

Goodbye to 2008, Hello to 2009 and Happy Anniversary Hubbie!

That’s a mouthful.  Today is the last day of 2008. This year has flown by. It seems like yesterday, we were ringing in 2008.

That being said, 2008 has been a busy year for us. I helped install Sodexho’s At Your Request Room Service Meal Ordering System at work, which was a huge undertaking.  My family and my BFF’s fam went on vacation together in July for 2 weeks and had a blast. Then school started….my baby started pre-K and he loves it, so that makes me proud of him. Then school started for hub…his last semester.  He graduated with honors on 12/12/08…..HALLELUJAH!!!!  Now we are waiting for him to get approval to take his boards.

6 years ago tonight, hub and I got married in Las Vegas, Nevada.  I wish we were back there tonight celebrating. Instead, we are hanging out at home. I had today off and was able to finish getting up all of my Christmas decorations, I washed a couple loads of clothes and I got in a 4 mile run.  I was so excited considering that, due to hubs schedule, I haven’t been able to run since around the first of November.  But, I can already tell I will be feeling it tomorrow.

I hope everyone has a very safe New Years Eve!  See you in 2009!

Happy Anniversary to the LOVE OF MY LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The weekend before Christmas

Wow, can you believe that Christmas is 4 days away?  This month has flown by.  Actually, the year has just disappeared quickly.

Friday, I took off and hub and I went to Opryland Hotel to celebrate hub graduating from nursing school (12/12/08) and our anniversary early (12/31).  Much thanks to MIL and FIL for keeping the boys so we could go!!! I had heard horror stories of how insanely busy Opry Mills and Opryland Hotel had been and quite frankly, I wasn’t necessarily looking forward to going.  But, the good Lord obviously wanted me to have a good time.  We got to Opry Mills around 1000, and much to my surprise, the crowd was not bad.  We stayed till about 2:00 pm and even when we left, the crowd had not grown to more than I could stand.  When we went to check in at Opryland Hotel, we only had to stand in line for about 10-15 minutes (compared to the hour and fifteen minutes my good friend T had the weekend before), and we got in our room 30 minutes early (once T got checked in, they had to wait over an hour for their room to be cleaned).  We walked around the hotel, and in all my years going to Opryland at Christmas, I have never seen fewer people.  I was blessed!!!!!  God knows that I don’t do well in crowds and they stress me out!

Saturday, when we got home, my MIL was standing in my kitchen with the mop.  Turns out, our sink sprang a MAJOR leak.  When she let the water out, it all ran out in the floor.  After investigating the problem, turns out that all of my cleaning with Clorox CleanUp caused my plastic sink drain to collapse.  So hub had to run to Ace Supply and Uncle Lee’s before they closed to get parts.  Also, 3/4 of the lights on my Christmas tree stopped working, which was a major stressor for me. But hub and FIL found out that one of the cords came loose and they were able to fix that as well. Last night, the youth at church kept the kids for Parents night out.  Well, hub had to go to work at 7p last night, so me and T went to Madisonville to Applebees to celebrate her birthday, which is today.  We had a great time.

Today, we went to church.  I got up at 0740 and had to get me and the boys ready and be out of the house by 0815.   I backed out of the driveway at 0817, only 2 minutes past my goal, which I thought was pretty good.  The boys wore their Christmas outfits and I thought they looked too cute (but I am biased!!).  We had a Christmas party in Sunday School and had a bunch of good food.  After we got home from church, I have been catching up on laundry.  I am trying to make my Christmas dinner menu and a grocery list to get those last minute things I am needing.  I have got to look to things that can be prepared ahead of time, such as desserts and some appetizers (like I can mix up my sausage balls and put them in the fridge, then bake them the day of).  What are your Christmas dinner plans/menus?  Do you have dinner at your house or do you go somewhere?  After hub and I got married, I started doing dinner at our house so we could have more time with his kids, rather than spending all of our time with them running from place to place.  Now everyone just comes to our house.

Below are some pics from our fabulous weekend.  Man, does a girl need some alone time with the love of her life!!!!

Me and hub in front of a waterfall in the Opryland Hotel (sorry, you can’t see the waterfall in the pic, but I promise it is there)

The Nativity Scene, outdoors.  They moved it this year.

A view of the lights in the hotel from our balcony.

I just liked this Reindeer!

The boys this morning before Church.

And this last pic is of the boys on Santa’s Lap at the Preschool Christmas Party 12/14/08 at Second Baptist Church.

It’s been awhile……..

Man, has it been ever so busy in our household.  Between hub working 36 hour shifts, doing 120 hours of clinicals, ballgames, and just doing the “busy” things of this time of year, I haven’t had a whole lot of time to blog.  As a matter of fact, I haven’t had a whole lot of time to do anything.

I must say that we have a HUGE praise in our lives….hub graduated nursing school on Friday night!!! YEAH!!!!!  And, to brag on him a little, he received the Nursing Achievement Award for his class.  We are all very proud of him.

This weekend has been crazy, but it seems like any more, they all are.  M had a ballgame Friday night and Saturday afternoon.  Hub and J went deer hunting Saturday morning, and of course on a day that I didn’t have to get up, the boys were up at 0615.  This morning, when they had to get up, they were still asleep at 0730….isn’t that the way it goes.  Saturday night, we went to a dinner for all of the local coroners, which had super food.  Today, we had C’s Sunday School class party at Bouncing B’s and then the preschool Christmas party at church.  The boys got to sit on Santa’s lap, so when we get the pics uploaded, I’ll post one.  Too cute!  After that, hub had to go to Lexington for more work stuff and we came home and changed and went back to church for the Christmas Cantata, which was awesome.

And this upcoming week is busy as well.  Hopefully we won’t get all of that ice the weather says we will get.  I love me some snow, but I’m not real crazy about ice.  Have a good week!

Icing

I absolutely LOVE homemade Cream Cheese Icing (or Frosting, depending upon the part of the country you are from).  I made a Pumpkin Roll for Thanksgiving (which turned into a semi-disaster, didn’t it Sis?). But the best part of the pumpkin roll is the icing. YUMMY.  I think I could make a batch and eat it by itself.  Anyone else share this affinity?

Most of the local bloggers have posted that they can’t believe it is December.  Well, neither can I.  I do love Christmas.  I enjoy my Christmas Tree, I enjoy shopping (I try to get it done prior to Black Friday because there isn’t any amount of money that you could give me to fight the crowds), and I am really enjoying the kids enjoying preparations for Christmas this year.  L says that Santa is going to bring him a bag of black coal and switches because he stays in trouble.

December brings about a time of business.  Basketball season starts (M plays ball for MNHS Lady Stars), we have Christmas parties, Hub GRADUATES nursing school 12/12 (HALLELUJAH!!!!!!), Hub finishes clinicals for school then needs to finish clinical hours for work before year end, and it just goes on.  But I love this time of year.  I love that it is finally cold! And we had a few flakes of snow yesterday!

And finally, I am thankful for the real meaning of Christmas.  It is easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the season, but we shouldn’t forget to give thanks to God our Father for the birth of Jesus, our Savior! That is truly the icing on the cake, isn’t it?

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

As promised, here is the recipe for the Chicken Enchilada Casserole I made.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

1 (4 1/2 to 5 pound) Whole Chicken (I used a package of chicken thighs)

2 T Butter or Margarine

1 Medium Onion, diced

1 Medium Green Bell Pepper, diced

1 Garlic Clove, minced

1 (10 3/4 oz) Can Cream of Mushroom Soup

1 (10 3/4 oz) Can Cream of Chicken Soup

2 (10 oz) Cans Ro-Tel, drained

1 tsp. Dried Oregano

1 tsp. Ground Cumin

1 tsp. Mexican-Style Chili Powder

3 Cups Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Corn Tortillas, cut into strips

I made a few modifications to this recipe.  To make it more simple, I cooked my chicken overnight and all day the next day in the crock pot.  I threw in about 5 chicken bouillon cubes to make a rich chicken stock, which I used to make the boys noodles.  Remove chicken, skin, bone and shred.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Melt butter or margarine in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add onion and saute 6 to 7 minutes or until tender.  Add bell pepper (which I did not have) and garlic; saute 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in 3/4 cup broth (or do not drain ro-tel for additional liquid), cream of mushroom and next 5 ingredients.  Cook, stirring occasionally, 8 minutes.

Shred chicken into bite size pieces, if you haven’t done so already.  Layer half of chicken in a lightly greased 13 x 9 inch baking dish.  Top with half of soup mixture and 1 cup Cheddar cheese.  Cover with half of corn tortilla strips.  Repeat layers until you run out of ingredients (once or twice).  Top with remaining 1 cup cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes to 1 hour or until bubbly and cheese is golden brown.  Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Yield: 8-10 servings

1 tsp. chili powder and 1/8 tsp. ground red pepper  may be substituted for Mexican-style chili powder.

Things I used to make recipe lower in fat:  I did not use the butter/margarine.  I sprayed my skillet with non-stick cooking spray.  I used the reduced fat cream soups and 2% milk cheese (low-fat).

Something I did use that I would not advise….I only had flour tortillas and they ended up being the consistency of a dumpling.  I would definitely recommend corn tortillas.

Anyway, it was very quick and easy. And made lots of left overs.  Maggie, I would think this would be one that would freeze well.  Enjoy!

The Wild

Not to be confused with Disney’s “The Wild”, but that terminology pretty much sums up my life over the past two weeks and will likely continue through the end of January. I feel like K over at A Changed Heart.  Hub is trying to finish up his 120 hours of clinicals he must do before he graduates RN school Dec.12th.  If all goes as scheduled, he will be through with those hours on December 1st.  Then, he has to go to Lexington to do required clinical hours for work. And now, at work he will be on a 3-paramedic rotation, likely through the end of January (meaning he works every 3rd day).  And, he is scheduled several 36 hour shifts throughout the month of December. Thus far, he hasn’t had a day off since 11/15 and isn’t scheduled to have a day off until 11/28.

On the home front, I am trying to keep everyone else where they need to be, keep the clothes cleaned, keep the house picked up, so on and so forth.  On Friday, I took a day off.  Hub and I were supposed to go to Nashville Christmas shopping, but he had to go to Lexington to interview for his open paramedic position.  I pondered working, but then decided that I needed that day.  I got my Christmas tree put up and completely decorated, put the trees up in M’s room and the boy’s room, took our new kitten to the vet, and ran 3 1/2 miles.  I was so pleased with my run because I hadn’t ran on the road for about 2 1/2 weeks or longer. I was afraid that I would have lost all I had gained, but was pleasantly surprised.  My legs are still sore, but it wasn’t a hard run.  I am still trying to decide if I want to do the Music City Half Marathon in April.  I need to train more; hopefully after the first of the year, I will be able to do so.

Yesterday, I had to go to Bowling Green to take some leftover wedding reception supplies back to The Party Place.  I had both boys with me, so we had a wild trip.  Dad was supposed to go with me, but he had gotten the stomach bug on Thursday and felt it best not to go.  Anyway, trying to keep up with them in the mall is tiring.  I bought a sweater in New York & Company on clearance. When I went to take the tags off, I noticed it had a hole in it. So now I am going to have to make another trip to BG to take it back.  I am going to try to go tomorrow after work; Dad said he would go along then.  I bought a few gifts. If anyone needs lotion, you need to head on over to Bath & Body Works.  They had their classics (like Warm Vanilla Sugar) lotions, body creams, butters, hand cream, etc. 7 for $35 with the eighth one free.  So that was around $4.35 cents a bottle. Makes excellent teachers gifts.  Plus I had a coupon for $10 off when you spent $30, so that was eight bottles of lotion/body cream, etc. for $20!  And I had a different coupon for a free antibacterial item if you spent $10, and they let me use that one too.  Talk about great teachers gifts.  When I checked out, they gave me another $10 off if you spend $30, so I may get 8 more bottles of lotion when I go tomorrow so I can have some on hand if I need a quick gift.

I am excited to have a short work week this week, but that means more work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  Oh, and to add to my craziness, the prn Dietitian that works for me resigned her position, by email none the less, on Tuesday, just in enough time that she wouldn’t be obligated to work the days she had agreed to work for me in December.  Isn’t that great.  So if any one out there knows a Registered Dietitian needing a job, send them my way!

What are your plans for Thanksgiving? Hub has to work, but I am going to take the boys to his Grandmother’s house.  On Saturday, we will be having M’s sweet sixteen birthday party at 2BC.  Sunday, we will be recuperating from the weekend.  I’d like to take the boys to see Santa Claus, but don’t know when that will happen.

I did manage to cook supper on Friday night.  I found a great Chicken Enchilada Casserole Recipe that I will likely share in another post.  Quick, easy and tasty.  And made lots of leftovers!  YEAH!!!!

Hope everyone has a good week!

Total bummer

I have searched Bath & Body Works high and low for Twisted Peppermint Fragrance Oil.  The sales staff assured me that they just hadn’t received it in stock.  Well, I got desperate.  I emailed Bath & Body’s customer service team and I waited for their response (24-48 hour turn around it said) and I was pleasantly surprised when I received my response within 24 hours.  I was not thrilled with their response, however.  It went something like this:

“We regret to inform you that Twisted Peppermint will not be available in the Home Fragrance line this year.”  HOW COULD THEY?????  I mean, Twisted Peppermint oil is totally awesome.  Am I the only one out there disappointed?  Let me hear from you!!

Blessings

Today has been a fantastic day, a day of celebration, a day of blessings for both myself and my family.  First, for my big blessing.  M & J got to stay with us longer today (because of the second blessing) and they got to go to church with me and the boys (hub is doing clinicals today).  After Sunday School, both M & J told me how much they enjoyed our class. M said that it made her want to go home and read Jonah chapter 2. It is so great to hear your children tell you how much they enjoy being in church and Sunday School, especially if it is a class they have never attended or a church they don’t regularly attend.  It truly knocked my socks off.  I was thankful that I got to experience that time with them.

On to my second blessing, of many today.  About 4 months ago, I set my FIL up with a super, super lady from our church, who I had gotten to know before her husband passed away on our LTC unit at the hospital.  Needless to say, they hit it off quite well and were married on November 10th. Now, I have a new MIL, my boys have a Grandmother and we are just tickled that they are so happy.  You can tell when you see them together that they were made for each other. We (myself and her family) gave them a reception this afternoon, and below are some pics of the event.

Now we are on to planning our next party.  M turns “Sweet 16″ on November 29th.  We are having her a birthday party  that night at 2BC.  All of our friends are invited to help us celebrate.  More details to come….