The Alaska Experiment!

Holy smokes! This may just be my new favorite show!

The Alaska Experiment!

Oatmeal pt. 2

So today I tried the whole oatmeal/rice cooker idea and it worked great! My only suggestion is that if you make a single serving, don't let it sit on "warm" for too long.

It was great, though...i threw the oatmeal and raisins and water in the rice cooker and then went upstairs to finish drying/curling my hair. When I came down, it was all cooked and ready to eat...so good! I definitely see me eating a lot more oatmeal in the future!

Oatmeal

I love oatmeal with raisins in it, but for some reason I just hate taking the time to stand in front of the stove and cook it. In the last couple of days, however, I've read several blog posts from people who cook their oatmeal in their rice cooker! What a great idea! So, this week I intend to experiment with it and see how it turns out. Most of what I've read says to use a 2:1 ratio of water to oats. No harm in giving it a try, right?

Catch up!

It's been a few days since I've been able to post...so some short comments to catch up...

1) Our internet and cable have been on the fritz the last week or so. The cable has been working in the living room and our bedroom, but not the extra bedrooms. The internet hasn't been working at all...hence no posting. The hubby managed to get the internet up and running again, but hasn't been able to fix the cable. He thinks a connection in the attic may have come loose...at least we have internet again!

2) We went to Seattle yesterday to see Celtic Women. It was such an awesome concert, I just loved it. So good to get away from home for a day, too!

3) After the concert we ate dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. Yummy! I had the best shrimp scampi I've EVER had. The apple crisp wasn't bad either!

4) Lastly, we met up with our son and his fiance' at the movies and watched 88 Minutes. What a horrible movie. It was gruesome and violent and really, really stupid. Don't they make good movies anymore?

5) I'm finished with my antibiotics, but still sick. Will I ever stop coughing? I am determined I am going to get better!


Last but not least....Happy Birthday to my awesome Mom! I love you bunches! :)

ugh.

There is snow in the forecast for Friday and Saturday.
I have pnuemonia.
Does life get any better? ha.

Sunshine, please?!

How nice was our weather on Friday and Saturday? It got up to 82 degrees on Saturday and I spent the day outside working in the yard, then went and visited with some friends who live out on Hood Canal. Perfect, perfect weather! Today it's cold. I don't just mean 60ish cold, I mean 40ish cold. and I am SO tired of it. I am a California girl, through and through, and I CAN NOT take anymore of this cold weather. Living in the Pacific Northwest has it's perks. It's a beautiful part of the country. When the weather's nice, like it was on Saturday, it doesn't get much better. But, those days usually only roll around on a consistent basis from July thru August, and somewhat into September. The other nine months of the year it's gray, and cold, and rainy. Once March and April roll around and we've had six months of cruddy weather, I'm ready for a break. I need a vacation. p.s. as I type this the sun has begun to peak through the clouds! Please let it stay around!

geography

I found this game on the internet...check it out!

My score? 88%, average error 31 miles...darn that Delaware!

ReStore!

We are in the process of remodeling/fixing up a couple of rental units that we own. Every year we seem to go through this process with 3 or 4 units. It would be a lot easier to make money in the rental business if tenants weren't so hard on the units!

Habitat for Humanity recently opened a store in our town, so Friday I went down and looked around for some kitchen cabinets that could be used in our rental. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find any cabinets, but I did have a fun time looking around at all the different items they had in the store.

Need a door? There were at least a couple dozen! Roof felting...rolls and rolls! Lots of light fixtures, several kitchen and bathroom sinks, and lots of this and that, but no kitchen cabinets. The Habitat store in Olympia is much bigger and although I've driven by it a couple times, I've never actually gone in. I think the next trip to Olympia, might just involve a trip downtown to their Re-use store to look around and see what I can find.

On the mend

I am slowly but surely starting to feel better and have high hopes that I will be back to "normal" (lol) within another week or so. I am finally sleeping a little bit better and have been able to resume most of my daily chores without having to stop every fifteen minutes to rest and catch my breath. I'm coughing up a storm, but even that is slowly subsiding. A friend warned me that after being sick for two weeks and finally being on the mend, she relapsed and ended up on antibiotics. Her husband ended up in the hospital with pnuemonia...definitely not a place I want to go! So, I'm taking things slowly and resting as much as I can.

Perhaps one of the most difficult things about being sick is that I have been unable to spend time with my grandkids. I'm so used to being around them on a daily basis that spending the better part of the last two weeks away from them has caused me to miss them terribly! I definitely don't want them to get sick with this horrible flu, though!

Tomorrow is supposed to be warm and sunny and I'm looking forward to getting out in my yard and doing some work. I don't anticipate getting a whole lot done, but there's so much to do that any little bit will help! I had high hopes of planting a garden this year, but I'm not sure that it's going to get done since I've been so sick and have so little energy. Maybe just a few tomato plants will have to suffice! I guess God always has a way of making us slow down!

peer pressure

The good thing about being sick all week is it gave me lots of time to rest. I'm still exhausted, but at least I was able to lay in bed all week! I have been officially diagnosed with the flu. I caved to peer pressure and went to the doctor yesterday, against my better judgment. She only confirmed what I already knew; that I had the flu, and that I needed to rest and I'd feel better in a week or two. Duh. For that I'm going to get to pay $75.

I knew better than to go in to the doctor's office, but everyone kept telling me I should go, it might be something else...bronchitis, pnuemonia...I might need antibiotics. I knew it was the flu and nothing more. Next time I go with my gut instinct.

On the brighter side, in the last week I used no gas, spent no money, and got caught up on all the episodes of Keeping up with the Kardashians and Snoop Dogg's Fatherhood that I've missed out on. Who knew E! had so many good shows on? What more could a girl ask for?

Pride in a job well done

Now here's a man who takes pride in his work...I love it!


ht to Susan D.

Let's party!

Three of my grandchildren were baptized on Saturday at the local Catholic church. After a beautiful service, my son-in-law and daughter and the godparents hosted a very fun, traditional Mexican baptism party. There were over 200 people in attendance! For my gift, I purchased flowers and made arrangements for the centerpieces of the tables, with some help from one of my friends. They turned out really nice, if I do say so myself!



We had chicken, rice, beans, fruit salad, vegetable trays, tortillas, green salad and pasta salad. The food was delicious, and after that, cake for dessert! It was very much like a wedding reception, with a live band and dancing well into the night. Although I've yet to get used to the idea of having huge parties to celebrate every occasion, I am learning to appreciate the hispanic culture more and more; especially, the idea of how family is embraced and celebrated at every occasion and how children, although taught to be extremely respectful, are allowed and encouraged to be at every celebration and occasion. They're never thought of as a burden, but are always welcomed with open arms.

water

I am incredibly sick. I haven't been out of bed for more than five minutes since Sunday. I don't remember being this sick in years. Anyways...i love this video posted by my friend Brittlee and thought I'd post it too...