Please tell me…

Not to say.. I promise to blog every day! I tried to promise myself that.. and I just can’t do it.. I can’t be witty and charming and all that good stuff every day.  The past two days.. lets just say, I’ve been PISSED OFF!  And my brother is at fault…  He has ruined yet another holiday for us.  Well, its not all him.. its his Ex.  The have a very complicated, hateful, mean relationship.  She manipulates everything and everyone she comes in contact with.  So.. she is on my list, along with my brother.  We were supposed to have company for my kids spring break.. My Mom, my brother and my nephew.  Its the one thing that Hubs, the kids and I have been looking forward to since December.. maybe November.  But, since SHE is so jealous, and doesn’t want to let my family enjoy one ounce of fun.. she’s spoiled it.  My brother has to be in court with her while they were supposed to be up here.. and now no one is coming.. And we are seriously bummed!  So, I’m online trying to find fun things to do closer to home.  My Mom had offered to treat us all to a bunch of fun things while they were here.. and since we had just finished paying for the Explorer repairs, and payed taxes on the Miata.. our cash flow isn’t what it would need to be to do all of the things everyone promised the kids.. so, seriously.. I’m Pissed, and there isn’t any other word to use..

I’d better get busy!!

I know, I know.. I’m lazy!  I am.  I blame it on anything.. business, ADD, kids, hubs.. anything!  But basically, lately, I’m just lazy!  And I don’t know what to do about it.  I’m craving Spring like a mad woman!!!  I mean, is it natural to sit at the computer, reading blogs.. all morning???  Some days I will sit here, and realize its almost noon!  And Hubs will be home and wonder what I’ve been doing all morning~!! LOL!  I’ve tried the timer method, 20 minutes of cleaning to 20 minutes of computer time.. this doesn’t work for me!  And now, I’ve found Blissfully Domestic Living.. and their forums.. oh Lordy.. now I’ll never get off of my butt!  I will sit and learn how to be blissfully domestic, without actually doing it!!  Whoo Hoo!!!   I’ve just joined, and now I’m posting like a mad woman.. I mean, 5 or 6 in one day.. and I’m way behind, so I need to read through the old posts to see what I’ve been missing!  How am I going to find time to write in my own blog???   Topics like, “Favorite Comfy Pajamas” and “Cloth or Paper Napkins” these are things I should post in my own blog about, but I’m lured in.. and I read, and i HAVE to respond!!!  They NEED my opinion.. right???  My blogging friend Marie posted about “the one that got away.”  Well,  I had to post there too.. and I’m doing all of this while typing out this blog.. which probably makes NO sense!  Now.. if you go there, make sure you come back here.. and tell me to get off of my butt!!!

  I’m getting off of the computer now.. I have my son’s IKEA bed to put together.. Pictures to Follow! 

A SUPER Award~~!!

Kathryn at 4URPets gave me this award!  Its a You Cheer Me Up Award.  I love it!!!  Lucy is my favorite!

I am passing it along to……………………..

Drum Roll Please~~!!!!

Marie at  Watch the Wind Blow By

  She’s another Navy Wife that is a beginner blogger.. One place that I stop by any day that I’m online. 

Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

  I love going  here and ESPECIALLY  love her pictures of South Africa, where she is from.  She’s an Air Force Wife that lives in SUNNY Arizona…

Wednesday..

Ugh.. I’m having a blah day.. blah blah blah~!  Ever have one of these days?  I have laundry to do, I have a house that could use a little attention.. and what have I done??  Well, other than watch “The Queen” on On Demand.. hardly a thing!!!  Its a cloudy day, its cold outside.. blah!  I’m not exactly sure why I’m posting.. I guess so I can say, “At least I blogged today.. ” LOL!  Have any of  you watched “The Queen”?   I rented it when it came out on video and never got to watch it.  So, today I sat down and watched it.. alone~!  I thought it was great.. and it gave me a new view on the Monarchy.  I always pictured the Queen Mum as such a sweet lady.. not so in the movie!!  And Prince Phillip.. hmm… I guess I figured he was like the Queen Mum.  I was impressed by it, and I’m glad I finally got to watch it.  I do feel guilty that not even one load of laundry got done, but what the heck, I never  hardly ever , well, I try not to watch movies during the week!  LOL!!!  But, when else could I watch “Memoirs of a Geisha” or “The Queen” without any interruptions, deep sighs, or eye rolling… so, I will continue to watch movies during the day, occasionally!

   I do have to take Ali to softball practice today.. her first of the year.  Jojo starts next week… I don’t think anyone told anyone that its cold outside.. Not exactly Baseball weather.  In my mind.. baseball is when its HOT!  I always am reminded of something that another mother told me when we lived in Port Orchard.. “If we don’t play in the rain, we don’t play!”   Well, since my kids love it.. they play in the rain.  So, I’ll probably bring my last library book to read while they are practicing.  She hates it when I watch.. its that pre-teen thing.  I’m just hoping that at least ONE girl that she knows from school is on her team.  Her coach seems very nice though.. Updates on this activity to come!!

  Dinner tonight is Meatball sandwiches and Tater tots.  I also made a salad so that we have a little green in there~  I stuck the meatballs and sauce in the crockpot at noon, so dinner will be ready when we get home~

Monday~ (and Tuesday!!)

**Edit:  This was complete on Monday.. then, our cable went out.. was out alllllllll day!** 

What a great title?  Don’t you think?  Personally.. some Monday’s I love!  Today is one of them.  We spent allllll day yesterday in the car, well, at least most of it!  And me, without my camera!!

  We left home around 10:00 yesterday morning.. Planned on leaving at 9:00, forgot to set our alarm!   We headed down to the ferry which is about a 30 minute drive.  Good thing we didn’t leave early though, because we didn’t look at cancellations and the 10:30 ferry was cancelled because the tide was so low~  But we got there.. we waited, and waited, and waited.. and finally the ferry got there, we left at noon. 

This isn’t our ferry.. but one that is similar.  We’ve had a lot of trouble with our ferry’s here in Washington the past few months.. and this one just got car service back after a few months without it!  So, we docked at the Picture Perfect town of Port Townsend..

  Here is a view from the water.. Thank You Google Images!!

From there we drove South to Gig Harbor (driving through Port Orchard, where we used to live)     Here is Gig Harbor.

  While we were there.. we bought this..

  Its a 1995 Mazda Miata!  Its my Anniversary Gift/Better Gas Milage car!  Yeah~!!!!!  Or it’s what I call.. My Motorcycle!  This isn’t the one we got, but it’s as close as I can find on Google Images!  I’ll post more pictures when we pick it up next weekend…

 After test driving the car and getting to know the GREAT couple that are selling it we were STARVING!  So, we went over this… Tacoma Narrows Bridge.. We hadn’t been on the  new Bridge.. so that was fun, as fun as crossing a bridge on a windy day can be… lol!  Then onto food!!!  We had to make a stop at one of our favorites…  and we did.. we did taste the Joy in our Panda Express!  Its the little things in life that make us happy when we don’t have them available to us all of the time!  After stuffing ourselves with Fatty Yummmmmy Chinese food we headed here…

   Yeah!!  Who doesn’t love a trip to Ikea on a Sunday afternoon??  Obviously everyone in Seattle had the same plan as us!  We fondly call Ikea, herd shopping.  You follow the arrows, along with everyone else.. like you are being herded through the store!  Don’t get me wrong, We LOVE this store!!  We were there to buy bedroom furniture for my son.. a 14 year old boy.. who doesn’t care!  Crazy Child!!!  We settled on this… Its a Black-brown color in full size.  And this… Just the one on the left, with the dog.. also in Black-brown.  We got him the nightstand too.. boy it was so much fun being there with cranky kids, and cranky hubs.. and we got the very last bed…

  I also picked up a few  Bag clips

and a pair of scissors,  one of these Kitchen Dish Scrubber.. I like these.. they have suction on the bottom of it.  Fun with Dish washing!!!  And this… New cutting board.. mine was gross… I won’t even go into that!!  Oh yeah.. had to get SOMETHING for the little princess… so she picked out  a Green (not the color I would have picked out) Mosquito Netting ring for her room.. We’ll see what it looks like when we get it up this week..

Then we paid, we loaded the stuff up.. and we came home..

 Windmill in Oak Harbor..  Like I said.. I’m glad its Monday and I can be home!!

Soooo.. what did you do on Sunday???

Ahhh.. Bread!

This is a post for my blog friend Karen over at My Yellow Farmhouse.  She just got a brand new bread machine.. I told her I’d post my easy as pie (I don’t understand that saying.. I find making pies VERY HARD!!!) White Bread Recipe.  Does anyone but my family eat White bread any more?  I use this for Pizza dough, bread sticks, rolls, and cinnamon rolls on the dough cycle; and for savory breads.. I’ve been known to add garlic, parmesan and cut up pepperoni chunks for a to die for addition to Friday Night Spaghetti.  Its also great with some Cheddar Cheese, Onion and Bacon Pieces with Potato Soup.. The possibilities are endless!  I’m a by eye adder (that makes no sense, but I can’t think of a more appropriate wording.)  I add about 1/4 cup of Cheese, a couple of tbs of Pepperoni or Bacon,  about a teaspoon of minced garlic or 1 tbs. of onion.  Just play around with it…

Here’s the recipe.. I even have it memorized- put the ingredients into the machine as directed by your model.  This is for a 2 lb. Machine.

8 oz warm water

1 oz milk

1 tbs. butter

1 teaspoon salt

3 cups Bread Flour (You can add 2 cups and one cup of whole wheat bread flour instead)

3 tbs. sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons of Bread Machine Yeast (I buy a jar and keep it in the freezer)

This works for a timed cycle or rapid or dough.  My machine beeps about 13 minutes into the kneading.. that is my signal to add extra’s to it (cheese, garlic, onion.. whatever) then just bake!  I use the Rapid Cycle the most.. I can put it in at 4:00 and have hot bread for dinner at 6:00.  My dough cycle lasts one hour.  Its a great All Purpose, tried and true recipe!

ENJOY!!!  And comment back if any of you try this!

Google Image Tag

This is a fun tag that I found on The Peterson’s Go Public.. You have to answer the following questions, but you can only do it with Google images–none of your own photos–not even when it asks for a picture of you.

what fun!!!

Here I go:::

1. My favorite Song:   Chains of Love, by Erasure.. it has always been my favorite song.. well, since it came out when I was in High School!!

I also have another one..  Summertime by Kenny Chesney.  My WHOLE little family knows all of the words to this one!!  EVEN HUBS!

2. my favorite author:   Debbie Macomber.  She even lives in Port Orchard, WA.  I used to live there!!!  Who knows, maybe we were neighbors??

3. My favorite Dessert:   Brownies.. in ALL of their chocolaty gooeyness.. yum!

4. Where I live:  Whidbey (Windy) Island, WA

5. My Job:  Mom     (sure I am)

6. My Favorite Color:   RED!!!  I LOVE RED!!!

7. Favorite Animal:    I Love me Some ESKIE KISSES!!  Little white balls of fluff who love their Momma!!!

8. My Bad Habit:   Its genetic.. my Mom does it too..

9. Favorite Food:   Real Pizza.. made in a brick oven.. Remember, I lived in Naples, Italy for 3 years.. where pizza was invented… I’m REALLY picky about my pizza!!  Actually ALL Italian food.. No Olive Garden for this girl!!!

10. Favorite Hobby:   Not literally.. but if there is something great on the side of the road.. its MINE!

11. My picture:

  I can’t find a Cara Picture that looks like me.. this is the closest I’ve found.. lol!!   There is a Cara that seems to take up the first few pictures.. Here she is:   And for Halloween..  Again.. NOT ME!!  I wish I had that body.. unfortunately, I look more like the cartoon!!

  This is an open tag.. try it if you like, it’s fun!!!

BUSTED!!!

I knew it would happen, but I figured that I had a couple of days at least to come up with a plan… but, it happened at 6:00 this morning!  I was getting up, making myself some coffee.. and the question…”Soooooo.. what are you going to do with the monstrosity in t he garage???”  To which I replied.. ” I don’t know of any monstrosities.. but I have a free hutch/bookcase out there”  With GREAT emphasis on the FREEEEE!!  In fact I think I said it a few times.  He laughed.. he knows me.  So, he’s decided we can look for a new desk and use it as a hutch for it (I actually want a table to use as a desk.. so this idea may work) painted black or white.. we haven’t decided.  We could also look around for a small dresser and marry the two pieces together to make a bookshelf to store movies or books, also painted black or white.  We both agree to take of the spindles though.  Not our style.. and maybe re-wire the light that is inside if we use it on a desk.  So, I’m not in trouble… but I did get the eye roll!!! 

Today I NEEEEEEED to clean my house.  I’ve been piddling around too much on the internet the past few days.. and my house is suffering!  I did organize a couple of kitchen drawers this morning while my daughter was eating breakfast.  Since we moved here in July, I’ve been trying to make my kitchen work for me a little better.  Someday I’ll have my dream kichen!!  A friend and I decided that the Navy base here hired Design School Drop-outs to design our kitchen.. or men, men who’ve never stepped foot in the kitchen!!  Even though its pretty large, its very hard to get organized, especially when you are like me, and have several sets of dishes to store.. (see this post..Busy Morning)  So, I’m doing my best to figure out the best way to get myself organized.. one of my usual New Year’s Resolutions.  Next step.. (insert scary music here) the Spice Cabinet!!!!!

  Tonight for dinner I’m trying a new recipe.. Jerk Chicken Nacho’s.. Hopefully everyone likes it.  Here’s the recipe:

Jerk Chicken Nacho’s

6 cups tortilla chips

3 cups diced or shredded cooked chicken

2 cups cheddar/jack blend cheese

2 tablespoons Jerk Spice (got this at the grocery store)

1 sm red or yellow pepper (using yellow)

1/2 red onion

2 tbs. fresh cilantro

1 lime

1/4 cup sour cream mixed w/ one additional teaspoon of the Jerk Spice.

 Arrange chips on a baking sheet.  Combine chicken, cheese and 1 tbs of the Jerk Spice.  Spread mixture over the chips and bake at 425  for about 7 minutes or until the cheese is melted.  While that is baking, dice the bell pepper and red onion,  juice half of the lime, and mix together with the remaining tbs. of Jerk Spice.  Spoon the mixture over the Nacho’s after taking them out of the oven.  Snip the cilantro over the top, and serve with slices of the remaining lime.  Mix the sour cream with 1 tsp. of Jerk Spice.  Put in a small baggie and snip the edge.. pipe over the Nacho’s.

Now…off to scour craigslist to find  a table, or dresser.. or somethin!!!

Quick… someone help me!!!

Give me a way to HIDE THIS!!!

(not the motorcycle, the hutch! LOL!)

It was free!  I have nowhere to put it, no where to store it.. but it was free, and I wanted it.  And now I have to hide it until I can give a good reason not to re-freecycle it!  Hubs is gonna freak!!  Now.. someone, give me a reason to keep it!!!!

What’s on Top?

I’ve been inspired by Lucinda over at Paperjunk-lc.  She did a blog that was inspired by this blog entry over at Kari and Kijsa.  What fun blogs.. Lucinda is a new blogger like me.. and I’m LOVING her kitchen remodel.. but this blog was about What’s on top of your Armoires.  I have a few.. being that we live in Military Housing.. I need all of the storage that I can get.. and I like to have it BEHIND CLOSED DOORS.    So, here’s what’s on top of my Armoires~