Be sure to join Happy Homemaker Monday with our host, Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom
LAST WEEK RECAPPED
Monday morning was spent fighting with the first exhaust fan! You have to love (or really hate) builders sometimes! The fan was put in from below BEFORE the ceiling and whoever installed it obviously didn’t care whether or not it was ever going to need to be replaced one day. Mind you this was an area with ZERO attic access also. The installation screws were angled downward AND stripped! A downward angle means that when they then installed the ceiling they were now inaccessible without breaking out drywall and doing major repair so we spent the better part of 2 hours prying the old unit out of the joists as gently as possible. It only took 20 minutes to install the new one! Of course the ventilation size on the new ones was an inch larger so we did have to adapt from the original 3 inch to the new 4 inch. Where there’s a will, there’s a way! I gre up watching MacGeyver LOL 😀 and hubby says I’m the female version!
Most of Tuesday was spent at the VA dealing with hubby’s change in doctors and meeting a new team. We then did Taco Tuesday and came home so I could get the BBQ sauce done for Sunday’s competition.
Wednesday was a repeat of Monday except worse, because of the tight quarters in the attic! I spent over an hour in a face mask up in the attic working on breaking the housing loose from the screws with a pry bar. We also found that the drywall had been weirdly pieced in above the laundry room and was already broken from the top side so it will require much more repair. But, MacGeyver won again as we were able to reinforce the fan area from in the attic making it only a cosmetic repair from the laundry room side. We were about to get cleaned up when our friend and neighbor suggested we share a load of mulch/bark for the front yards that he was about to go get. Since we were already hot and sweaty it seemed like the prudent thing to do so we didn’t have to haul the individual bags next week.
Thursday was also a busy day. I got the car washed, did the shopping for the Eagles, the OFFYCE, myself for the BBQ needs and got a pedicure before I came home to deep clean the laundry room and .
Friday was spent helping my bestie set things up for the Eagle’s yard sale that corresponded with our neighbor town’s ALL CITY WIDE garage sale on Saturday. After that was done I came home to make the BBQ MAC & CHEESE, assemble the parts for the BBQ BAKED BEANS, smoke the cream cheese and make the BBQ CHEESECAKE for Sunday’s entries for the BBQ.
Saturday was the actual garage sale and it went really well considering the weather took a nosedive and became cold, windy and rainy. The rain and wind were inconsistent making it a wet and LONG day!!!! . In the afternoon I made the Blackberry Jalapeno jam for the Brisket on a Biscuits we were entering in the BBQ competition as well as the pans of biscuits. I started the slow cooker of beans for the competition and let them go through the night to enhance the flavors.
Sunday was FINALLY the BBQ and we had such a good time. The weather had turned quite cool on Friday afternoon and Saturday was downright cold. It stayed VERY cloudy and cool through the BBQ and the wind kicked up, but it’s the Pacific North West so we roll with the punches, ESPECIALLY in May! We have a wonderful OFFYCE team made up of Siana, one of my besties, her daughter Hetaher and son-in-law Tony along with my book club bestie Nicole, her hubby Dan as well as my hubby and I. Dan took 1st in one of the beef categories for his Carne Asada Meatballs, but Nicole gets the credit since it was her idea!!!! Dan’s brisket was the bomb also, Tony’s burnt ends rocked and Heather’s Pig Shots were so yummy!!!!😋 My BBQ Baked Beans were pretty yummy too! The 1st place aprons this year were so tiny too!! We talked about framing his for the wall since it’s too small for him to actually wear.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY 
THE WEATHER OUTSIDE
Our lows are still in the low 40’s and the weatherman say we’re going to be in the 70’s, but after last week I’mm taking it one day at a time! May weather seems to be changing on the drop of a hat these days! I pulled a few hoodies back out and am keeping layers handy.
TO DO, APPOINTMENTS, DVR/TV & PROJECTS
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THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS, TRAVEL, APPOINTMENTS, MENUS & DVR/TV
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- LAUNDRY & CLEANING Pretty caught up, but I’m still trying to the stains out of the jeans I wore in the attic last week 🙁 I had cut my arm and got blood on them that just won’t come out!!!!
- GROCERIES & ERRANDS Wednesday will be shopping day for us, the Eagles and the OFFYCE.
- APPOINTMENTS, PROJECTS & TRAVELS Thursday will be a long day at the VA again for hubby.
- RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING
- DVR/TV
- THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY completed projects… organized and clean dresser drawers… books that draw me into their world… the feel of fresh sheets…
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READING TIME
The book club that my girlfriend and I belonged to died a natural death and we decided to start our “own” two person club. We’ve read Books #1 & #2, EVERYTHING WE KEEP and EVERYTHING WE LEFT BEHIND and are about to start the last book #3, EVERYTHING WE GIVE.
“Award-winning photographer Ian Collins made only one mistake in life, but it cost his mother her freedom and destroyed their family, leaving Ian to practically raise himself. For years he’s been estranged from his father, and his mother has lived off the grid. For just as long, he has searched for her.
Now, Ian seemingly has it all—national recognition for his photographs; his loving wife, Aimee; and their adoring daughter, Caty. Only two things elude him: a feature in National Geographic and finding his mother. When the prized magazine offers him his dream project on the same day that Aimee’s ex-fiancé, James, returns bearing a message for Ian but putting a strain on his marriage, Ian must make a choice: chase after a coveted assignment or reconnect with a mysterious woman who might hold the key to putting his past to rest. But the stakes are high, because Ian could lose the one thing he holds most dear: his family.”
FUNNIES
MENU PLANS
BREAKFAST is always a work in progress for me – these days it is generally a few sips of coffee and a fruit yogurt 😀
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5/18 MONDAY
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5/19 TUESDAY
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5/20 WEDNESDAY
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5/21 THURSDAY |
5/22 FRIDAY
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5/23 SATURDAY
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5/24 SUNDAY
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DINNER
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CORN/YOYO clean out refrigerator night or you’re on your own
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CORN/YOYO clean out refrigerator night or you’re on your own
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CHICKEN ORECCHIETTE with BROWN BUTTER WALNUT SAUCE
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OLD SOUTH PORK LOIN with GLAZED CARROTS AND BABY POTATOES
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MEATBALL PARMIGIANO with BAKED TOMATO BASIL ORZO
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CORN/YOYO clean out refrigerator night or you’re on your own
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BAKED PORK CHOPS with NUTTY BROCCOLI GRATINS
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DESSERT
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STICKY RAISIN BRAN MUFFINS
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FAVORITE PHOTOS FROM THE CAMERA
The BBQ went wonderfully and we raised A LOT of money for the Children’s Foundation! We just started participating last year. Someone took the group shots, but they haven’t made it my way yet 🙂 These are from my phone – In order they are this year’s winning apron, last year’s winning apron, my BBQ cheesecakes, Dan & his apron, Diana and her guys, judging rules, Heater and Tony and Heather in her familiar stance 🙂
INSPIRATIONS
LIFE TIP
HOMEMAKING / COOKING TIP
COOKING THURSDAY RECIPES COMING UP THIS WEEK
- CAJUN COLA GLAZED PORK LOIN
- SLOW COOKED BROWN SUGAR CORNED BEEF
- PINEAPPLE PEACH OR CHERRY BREAD PUDDING
COOKING THURSDAY RECIPE LINKS FROM LAST WEEK
