Category: HELPFUL HINTS

Good morning. I hope everyone had a great week. I’m having an off morning so will just get to it.

Be sure to link up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for Happy homemaker Monday and with Laura at I’m an Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday.

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW & THE WEATHER OUTSIDE

Today is gorgeous so far, but last week and the rest of this week have and are scheduled to be up, down and sideways with weather changes by many degrees and thunderstorms.

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE

HONEY NUT CHEERIOS, BANANA & GREEN TEA

CRAFTS / PROJECTS

I have a few sketches going, a little dishrag crocheting and a mixed media project that I’m searching for all the parts

ON MY MIND / THINGS THAT ARE MAKING ME HAPPY / FAVORITE PHOTO FROM THE CAMERA

It has been a tough 7 months around here. First we lost our sweet angel Whiskey over Memorial day, then we lost our sweet Sady at the end of January and today we said goodbye to our Gunny. It doesn’t matter that they ALL lived past their life expectancy, but it does make us feel a little better to know we could pamper them all their lives. They brought us such joy.

St. Patrick’s Day would have been his 16th birthday – extremely old for his breed. Unfortunately, hip dysplasia and cancer finally took over and his pain level was intolerable for him and for us to see him in such pain forced a trip to the emergency vet yesterday.

7 years ago Christmas while we were in Texas taking care of my aunt I was in a Kohl’s store shopping for, well for Christmas gifts.  I saw this great selection of ornaments and was looking for a golden retriever and a black lab for our tree. I found the golden and then reached for the black lab just as another woman did also.  We laughed and started talking. Long story short she and her husband had just moved to Texas also and were looking for new ornaments.  The ironic kicker here is that as we talked we found that we had come from neighboring towns on the west coast.  We kept talking and found that our dogs had the same birth date (St. Patrick’s Day), and talking further we discovered that they were from the same litter! Her Chester and my Gunner were brothers! Talk about a small world!! 😀

This is one of my favorite recent picture of Gunny.

INSPIRATION

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE / WEEKLY TO DO LIST & HOUSE PROJECTS

• LAUNDRY… quite a few loads this week, towels, bedding and clothing
• LIVING AREAS… I did a lot of sorting, donating and packing over the weekend and plan on doing a deep clean today and tomorrow
• KITCHEN… pretty clean, but need to mop badly
  
• STUDIO… is mainly storage these days so nothing going on there
• YARD… nothing much after the weekend storms, just too wet to do anything
• BLOG… some more recipe updating, future post planning and next year’s holiday post planning

CURRENTLY READING & TV / DVR

• I’m now reading WITCHFUL THINKING HAPPILY EVERLASTING BOOK #4

COMEDIES

• BIG BANG THEORY, YOUNG SHELDON, LIFE IN PIECES, THE GOOD PLACE, AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE, SPEECHLESS, GREAT NEWS

MILITARY, POLITICAL & CRIME DRAMAS and a couple that qualify as comedies

• NCIS, NCIS NEW ORLEANS and NCIS LA, CRIMINAL MINDS, WISDOM OF THE CROWD, S.W.A.T., MADAM SECRETARY, SCANDAL, DESIGNATED SURVIVOR, BRAVE, VALOR, SEAL TEAM, BLINDSPOT, MACGYVER, SCORPION, LAW & ORDER SVU, BLUE BLOODS, HAWAII 5-0, ELEMENTARY, CHICAGO FIRE, CHICAGO PD, CHICAGO MED, 911

DRAMAS & REALITY

• THE GOOD DOCTOR, THIS IS US, THE RESIDENT, the AMAZING RACE just ended and DANCING WITH THE STARS will be beginning

SYFY

• Z NATION, the WALKING DEAD, FLASH, SUPERGIRL, DC LEGENDS, ORVILLE, ONCE UPON A TIME, THE X-FILES, SUPERNATURAL
  

COOKING

• GUY’S GROCERY GAMES, BEAT BOBBY FLAY, BOBBY AND DAMARIS, BAKED IN VERMONT, KID’S BAKING CHAMPIONSHIP, WORST COOKS IN AMERICA, MASTER CHEF JR. is starting soon
  

MENU PLANS FOR THE WEEK

	MON	TUES	WED	THUR	FRI	SAT	SUN
B-FAST 2X DAY	HONEY NUT CHEERIOS, BANANA & GREEN TEA	HONEY NUT CHEERIOS, BANANA & GREEN TEA	HONEY NUT CHEERIOS, BANANA & GREEN TEA	HONEY NUT CHEERIOS, BANANA & GREEN TEA	HONEY NUT CHEERIOS, BANANA & GREEN TEA	BAKED EGGS	FRENCH TOAST CASSEROLE
SNACK 2X a day	PROTEIN DRINK	PROTEIN DRINK	PROTEIN DRINK	PROTEIN DRINK	PROTEIN DRINK	PROTEIN DRINK	PROTEIN DRINK
LUNCH 2-4 OZ. PROTEIN	GRILLED CHICKEN BREAST	CHERRY YOGURT	PEACH YOGURT	CHERRY YOGURT	PEACH YOGURT	GRILLED CHICKEN BREAST	GRILLED CHICKEN BREAST
DINNER 3 ounces PROTEIN and small salad	BARRAMUNDI	FISHY CHICKEN STIR FRY	BUFFALO CHICKEN FRITES	FONTINA STUFFED CHICKEN	OUT FOR HUBBY’S BIRTHDAY	BLACK BEAN SALSA CHEDDAR CHICKEN	TERIYAKI SEX ON A STICK

SUCCESSFUL RECIPE LINKS FROM LAST WEEK

• TOMATO SWISS STEAK
• PICKLE FRIES

HEALTH & BEAUTY TIPS

HOMEMAKING/COOKING TIPS

GOOD MORNING! Here we are in week 8 of 2018 and a long weekend too.

We had a quiet, wet weekend.  We did go to the Farmer’s Market Saturday, but it was raining and my favorite vendors weren’t there so we headed to my favorite grocer with the best produce and did a little shopping and ate lunch at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants which is still kind of hard for me because of the spice, but I muddled through with a plain cheese quesadilla that I’m still munching on.  I’m giving doggy bags a new meaning with how many additional meals I get after we get home.

This was the official NASCAR season kickoff weekend at Daytona and the drivers did NOT disappoint.  It was action packed and fun.

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW & THE WEATHER OUTSIDE

We had to switch from heat to air conditioning this past weekend and I’m hoping this is not indicative of the weather to come.  We’re supposed to be in the mid to high 70’s with higher humidity and a chance of thunderstorms ALL week, but right now it’s just gray and foggy. I AM NOT READY for summer – I WANT SPRING!!!

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE

Honey Nut Cheerios with Banana and Green Tea

CRAFTS / PROJECTS

Nothing much right now.

ON MY MIND / THINGS THAT ARE MAKING ME HAPPY

• I was doing really well on the road to recovery when I developed a new bacterial infection.  The doctor put me on a serious antibiotic to fight it and I was doing really well for the first week.  On day 8 she decided to extend the prescription another week which seemed fine. But, 2 days later I ended up with severe side affects and have been pretty miserable since Saturday night, but I have stopped the medication and seem to be getting better though I need to call her office tomorrow when they open back up.
• I also tried on lots of clothes over the weekend and have several large donation piles again.  The weight loss is a double edge sword as I’m now smaller than my skinny clothes and are eventually going to need to buy new clothes and I am not fond of clothes shopping.

FAVORITE PHOTO FROM THE CAMERA

I have an elderly neighbor that lives alone that I often take dinner too or a batch of goodies when I make some for hubby.  The door bell rang the other day and she was standing there with these beautiful pink and red tulips for Valentine’s day as a thank you – She’s so sweet to me!

We also had some worrisome moments when Sady couldn’t quite be found.  But, the crematorium called me and explained what happened and then the sweet woman actually drove her remains to our local vet so we didn’t have to wait another week to be home where she belongs.  Nice people make such a HUGE difference in our lives!  I need to dig out the baby pictures for Sady, Dickens and Gunner to have them in the area too.

INSPIRATION

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE / WEEKLY TO DO LIST & HOUSE PROJECTS

• LAUNDRY… quite a few loads this week, towels, bedding and clothing as I’m still battling yet another infection
  
• LIVING AREAS… lots of mopping and vacuuming as we’re having a little rain each day – just enough to make a mess
  
• KITCHEN… I NEVER again want a kitchen that is a thoroughfare! Between hubby and the dog going in and out constantly it always needs cleaning!
  
• STUDIO… is mainly storage these days so nothing going on there
• YARD… I need to plant the barrels soon, but am waiting to make sure we don’t get a late freeze
  
• BLOG… some recipe updating, future post planning and holiday post planning

CURRENTLY READING & TELEVISION / DVR

OLYMPICS are on the DVR daily for awhile.  The winter Olympics are my absolute favorite and I watch them ALL! Thank goodness for DVR’s! 😀

• I’m now reading BOOK #11, Change of Fortune of JANA DELEON’S Miss Fortune series. It’s a fun read that makes you laugh out loud.

COMEDIES

• BIG BANG THEORY, YOUNG SHELDON
• THE GOOD PLACE, AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE, SPEECHLESS, GREAT NEWS
• BETTER LATE THAN NEVER, LIFE IN PIECES

MILITARY, POLITICAL & CRIME DRAMAS and a couple that qualify as comedies

• NCIS, NCIS NEW ORLEANS and NCIS LA, CRIMINAL MINDS, WISDOM OF THE CROWD, S.W.A.T.
• MADAM SECRETARY, SCANDAL, DESIGNATED SURVIVOR
• BRAVE, VALOR, SEAL TEAM, BLINDSPOT, MACGYVER, SCORPION
• LAW & ORDER SVU, BLUE BLOODS, HAWAII 5-0, ELEMENTARY
• CHICAGO FIRE, CHICAGO PD, CHICAGO MED, 911

DRAMAS

• THE GOOD DOCTOR, THIS IS US, THE RESIDENT

SYFY

• Z NATION, the WALKING DEAD, FLASH, SUPERGIRL, DC LEGENDS
• ORVILLE, ONCE UPON A TIME, THE X-FILES, THE ALIENIST starts later this week
  

COOKING

• GUY’S GROCERY GAMES, BEAT BOBBY FLAY, BOBBY AND DAMARIS, BAKED IN VERMONT
• KID’S BAKING CHAMPIONSHIP, WORST COOKS IN AMERICA
  

MENU PLANS FOR THE WEEK

SUCCESSFUL RECIPE LINKS FROM LAST WEEK

• CONEY ISLAND TATERS 
• MAGIC COOKIE BUTTER BARS 
• SPLIT PEA & HAM SOUP 
• CLASSIC CAESAR SALAD 
• CELERY SEED SALAD DRESSING 

HEALTH & BEAUTY TIPS

HOMEMAKING/COOKING TIP

Be sure to link up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for Happy homemaker Monday and with Laura at I’m an Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday.