A Sweeeeeeeeet Treat!!!
Mathew stopped by this afternoon and insisted
I go Trick Or Treating with him!
We only stopped at ONE house... but LOOK what he got!!!
I thought it should have come with a pumpkin!
Now... if we can just get one for Derek...
a car...
not a pumpkin...
HIS shop day is Sunday!
Tuesday Tid-bits...
I saw a bumper sticker this weekend that said
Some days all I want to be
is a missing person!
Didja ever feel like that? LOL!
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Amanda's office is giving her a "Little Girl Shower" in celebration of the very near arrival of our darling Little Luz! It is to be held this Friday and because she doesn't read my blog I can SAY that! (and because the girl who's throwing it for her told her not to make ANY plans for Friday!!! LOL!) Anyway... The most excited soon to be Nana in the WORLD has been invited to the big event - and I can't WAIT!!! I'm sO excited! It's going to be so much fun to see what all her work friends have gotten her! I guess I need to go SHOPPING too - to get something that she doesn't KNOW I've bought! Hmmmm....
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A non-blogging friend shared a recipe with me the other day for a really YUMMY Enchilada Casserole. I made it last night for dinner and it was D-Lish-Us!!! And scrumptious too! I know ONE some of you like to get your hands on new recipes from time to time - and this one really IS worth having. I bought the wrong sauce - I bought taco sauce instead of enchilada sauce - and so I ended up MAKING homemade enchilada sauce... I don't know if that made a difference or not - but MAN it was GOOD! So... here's the recipe! Tell me... do you think it was put out by the Ortega people?
* 1 pound ground beef or turkey
* 1 small onion, chopped
* 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
* 1 16-oz. jarORTEGA Salsa - Thick & Chunky (Medium)
* 1 can 16-oz.ORTEGA Refried Beans
* 1 can 10-oz.ORTEGA Enchilada Sauce
* 1 can 2.25-oz. sliced ripe olives
* 10 6-inch corn tortillas, sliced in half
* 2 cups shredded mild cheddar cheese, divided
Directions
PREHEAT oven to 375ºF.
COOK beef, onion and garlic in large skillet until beef is browned; drain. Stir in salsa, beans, enchilada sauce and olives. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cook, stirring frequently, for 5 to 6 minutes.
LAYER half of corn tortillas on bottom of greased 13x9-inch baking dish. Cover with half of meat sauce; sprinkle with 1 cup cheese. Repeat layers. Bake, covered, for 20 minutes. Remove cover; bake for additional 5 minutes or until bubbly and cheese is melted. Garnish with green onions before serving, if desired.
And by the way... I'm not sure how much fat or calories are in the brand name enchilada sauce - but MY sauce was fat free ... and very low calorie and sodium! The whole recipe was really WAY low fat!!! (well... I did use 2% cheese... and low carb tortillas!) Topped it with light sour creme too!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I got another "treat" yesterday... this time
from Imma (Alice) - who I thank most kindly.
Since tomorrow is Trick Or Treats and I have my
own agenda, I will pass this treat on today!
Before I pass it on, I also wish to thank Hootin Anni - who started this wholevirtual Trick or Treat thing happenin' AND who was the creator OFthese sweet treats! See her blog for all the details!!
Now, I will pass this treat on to:
My good buddy, Quilly who has not gotten one
from any other source that I know of!
And who is certainly in NEED of a sweet treat!
(not that OC doesn't count... because he does)
(all the way up to 10, I bet!)
(without even using his fingers!)
Okay!
So... if the rest of y'all want a treat tomorrow,
you'll just have to stop back by here and knock
on the door! And behave yourselves...
I'll be watching...
Friday Feast #166 ~ ... and Aloha Friday!!!
Wanna Play?Appetizer
Name a great website you would recommend to others.
I LOVE Beth Moore and her Bible studies... and I have been visiting her personal blog for quite a few months now... she is sO funny and so sweet! She shares it with her daughter, Amanda - and they just share themselves beautifully! It's The LPM Blog - The Living Proof Ministries -- but it's really more personal than business! Try it if you like her!
Soup
On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 as highest), how often do you dream at night?
Almost NEVER! And I'm glad because I hardly ever have a GOOD dream! I always have nightmares when I do dream -- so I'm glad I don't!
Salad
Did you have a pet as a child? If so, what kind and what was its name?
Oh! I had LOTS of pets as a child! I had little painted turtles and kittens and puppies ... and my Dad kept an aquarium and was into havin' guppies! A name huh? Well, I think the first kitten that I got to name was Teddy. He was an in/out kitty and got hit by a car. I scooped him up and carried him to the home of a vet who lived in our neighborhood. He tried to save him, but it wasn't happening.... *sigh*
Main Course
If you had the chance to star in a commercial, what would you choose to advertise?
Well, now... you knOw I can't just throw myself out there for ANY old product! It would have to be something REALLY good! Something FABULOUS! Something AMAZING! Something I would get to KEEP! Like a bright red Leer Jet!
Dessert
What is your favorite kind of hard candy?
HARD candy? You mean as in NON-chocolate??? You don't mean like that squeeze chocolate SHELL that hardens when it gets on the ice cream - right? You mean like really HARD candy??? Oy! I don't usually EAT that stuff! Hmmmm... favorite kind? Oh I know! My brother brought some of those coffee flavored Nips here one time -- and they were GOOD! I did like them! Yea... coffee flavored Nips! That'll do!
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My question this week is:What woodland creature do you most resemble?
And why?
MY Answer:
I think I most resemble a squirrel!
NOT because I'm little - that's for sure!
But because I'm frisky and playful and ...
I have a bushy tail? LOL!
Labels: Aloha Friday, Friday Feast
The Numbers Are Dropping...
As of this afternoon Mathew and Carol will be officially moved in to their new apartment! They are sO excited! (I am so excited too!) This is his 2nd time "moving out on his own" -- we both hope it sticks this time! He seems to like his sales job, and he's doing well with it. I've read that the furniture market is not doing so well because the housing market
is not doing so well sucks! So if he's able to keep his head above water NOW, then when the market opens back up again, he should really do quite well!
Since
Amanda & Hector are now living in Bowie - and soon to be adopting beautiful
Luz... and
Krysti is away at college... that leaves us with only
Derek left at home! (and two cats and the dog...) What an odd feeling! He is really very low maintenance -- except for the occasional disastrous calamity, he pretty much takes care of himself! Of course, there IS the car thing... he's still using mine! But he will be purchasing something new in the next week or two.
So... I've quit my job... my kids are almost all gone. I'm down to only 3 pets. I have a new seat on the Hub's motorcycle... Hm. What shall I do with myself??? Only God knows... and so far He's not saying! But I'll just BET you He has SOMEthing in mind! You just wait... and keep watching this blog! In the meantime... I think I'll work on turning Mathew's old room back into a guest room / Luz room!!!
Wordless Wednesday ... and 10 - 20 - 30
Wordless Wednesday ... Lake Wateree
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Wordy Wednesday... 10, 20, 30... I found this meme over at Susan's yesterday. It hurt my brain to try to remember back this far - but I did it! The idea is to tell "what you were doing" 10, 20 and 30 years ago! Easy - right? *nods* Here we go!
10 years ago - I was 40 years old, living where I am, and substitute teaching in the Elementary school. Amanda was 21, Mathew was 10 and the twins were 8. This means that I was still vice president of the PTA and our school's representative to the County Council of PTA's. Amanda was in the Army and I was missing her. Mathew & Derek were involved in baseball and soccer - and I was team mom for at least two of those teams! Krysti was playing softball that year! Dennis has worked in the same place for as long as I've known him and was doing the same job he is now -- sketching blueprints for the sheet metal company he works for! We were probably at the height of our "busy quotient" at this point in our lives!
20 years ago - I was 30 years old. Dennis and I had been married for a year and I was still doing sheet metal work. Amanda was 11, and had just started Middle school. Mathew was 10 months old and would soon (very soon) develop an upper respiratory infection that would turn into pneumonia and cost me almost 2 months work - and a ton of worry! Our house was brand new - we had just moved into it in March, and I was busy busy busy making it our "home".
30 years ago - I was 20 years old. (WOW! Was I really?) *whew*... Amanda was just a baby. I was living back at home with my mother, receiving Welfare because I WANTED to be a stay-at-home mom. We were living in Quince Orchard apartments in Gaithersburg and Dennis wasn't even an idea that had formed yet! I was a Catholic, and attended St. Rose of Lima church in Germantown WHEN I attended. (like Christmas and Easter back then!) At that time I was very "homey" and into "natural" -- I made all my own bread! Amanda never tasted store bought bread until she was about 4 years old ... she was AMAZED that we could go to the store and buy it!!! I was also honing my sewing skills and before long would be making 90% of the clothes that she wore! (boy did that get old quick!) LOL! But it did save money! I'm not sure that would be true anymore -- we didn't have Walmart back then! (did I just say "back then"???) It really was cheaper to buy material and make clothes than to buy what was on the rack! I did not yet have a car and so was dependent upon either my mother to take me places ... or my feet and Amanda's stroller! Public transportation was not much of an option as Gaithersburg was still fairly rural at that time. We did have a little strip shopping center a few blocks away though - and it even had a grocery store - so I made out pretty well -- AND it kept me in shape!!! (though I still thought I was fat...) Hm... those were the days!
Do YOU wanna take a trip down memory lane? Let me know if you do! I'll come visit!
Labels: meme's, WW
Laughter... The BEST Medicine
Ya know... I didn't GO to Savannah to SEE Savannah. Savannah was just sort of the icing on the Friendship Cake. I went there to visit with a group of ladies that I have become SO close friends with through this wonderful world of blogging! Of course, we did do a little sight seeing - and that was FUN! But I have to tell ya... the best ... the very BEST part of the gathering was the laughter! And one night stands out above all others. Two of our little giggle-butts got going and we really feared the rest of us would get NO sleep this night! Yes! Daisy and Jen were still up giggling at 3:00 in the morning --- looooooong after I had locked them out of my room! (but not before I captured a good bit on ... pixels)
It all started when Jen decided to spray paint her hair purple! (in all honesty - we had the spray on hand because the plan HAD been that all the gals would paint their hair the night I dyed mine... but somehow that night got entirely too busy and too fun, and we simply forgot to do it!) So Jen and I went out (secretly) and she sprayed her hair...
When this was done, she suddenly remembered the tongue tattoos I had bought -- also for the night of the slumber party -- which had also been forgotten! So we went into the kitchen (secretly) and she chose a tattoo!
This one says "Hug Me"
Then we went off to find the others ... who were playing in the computer room... The Laziest Daisy of them all was in a heated SNOOD tournament with Handsome Mr. Mike! Sweet Sandy was the cheerleader! However, the fun was only getting ready to begin...
In walks Jen...
... which tickled Daisy's fancy to no end...
... causing a real OH WOW moment!
(now you know... the fingers are W's and the mouth is an O!)
Of course... what ONE does in Savannah, must be done by all... or at least partially... so it was only a few moments before the rest of us were sporting tongue tattoos also!
There was even a DAISY for Daisy!
Now mind you... if it were not for the fact that Sandy and I both used the tattoos too, we would have
sworn that they were laced with
crack! (we know they weren't - because imagine
this - Sandy and
I stayed
sane!) From this moment forward Jen and Daisy were a
RIOT! 
Over the course of the week, these two had developed
their own "sign language". As Jen explains it "neither one
of us
understands it - but we
have it!" They proceeded to
speak their unintelligible sign language to each other for
the next
several hours !!!
Sandy and I finally got so tired we could hardly see straight and we went to bed! I was laying in bed reading, and had JUST fallen asleep (was sort of in that inbetween stage between reality and dreamland...) when I suddenly had TWO other people lying on top of me in my weeee itty bitty little cot of a single bed!!! Truly! I was sleeping on the trundle part of a trundle bed - perfect for just ME - but not so perfect for THREE! Thankfully the bed did NOT collapse as I would have hated to have to give Sandy THAT news in the morning!!! LOL! I squirmed out of the mess (oh yes - they were TICKLING me!) OY! (total conspiracy, I tell ya!)
I snapped this as they were in absolute HYSTERICS
over the whole thing! Notice that Jen is getting purple
hair paint all over MY pillow!!! LOL!
In an attempt to calm themselves they took a deep breath
and tried a moment (brief moment) of meditation...
It was a nice try ...
... but a complete failure!
Ohhhhhh well!
Ya gotta LOVE 'em!
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On a side note...
Hubby MISSED me while I was gone!
Look what he got me!
I will be riding in
comfort from now on!
(it is very hard to go long distances on the back of a
motorcycle with nothing to lean on... I appreciate
that he took care of this for me!)
You can BET we will be riding this weekend! :)
Labels: Blogger Babes
It's A Color Thing!
So... HOW much trouble can bloggin' babes get into when they get together? Well! For THIS girl the options are limitless!!! But last night... at our all girl, girly girl, slumber party... it came down to this! We all know I've always been a red-head. An ORANGE head, if you will! But I've craved to experience a little change! I"ve tried highlights and lowlights - but it always comes out looking the same... no change! (maybe grayer...) I WANT CHANGE!!! Mid-life crisis??? Maybe!
Monday we shopped for the color --
so last night it was just a matter of doing the deed!
Heeeeeere we go!
So Sandy... you've done this before?
Sure, sure, sure... LOTS o' times!
Okie dokie then! We're off!
(just slightly...)
Noooo turnin' back now!
Ohhhhhhhh boy.......
Is it soup yet???
Well... let's have a look here...
Dry it off! Let's SEE!!!
Well! I'm a RED redhead now!!!
Whad'ya think?
Labels: Blogger Babes
I thought it should have come with a pumpkin!
COOK beef, onion and garlic in large skillet until beef is browned; drain. Stir in salsa, beans, enchilada sauce and olives. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cook, stirring frequently, for 5 to 6 minutes.
Before I pass it on, I also wish to thank Hootin Anni - who started this whole
It's just me riding on the back of the bike! 
THIS is NOT what I had in mind when I said 
My man LOVES this game!
HE plays the game with a little finesse...
ME? Yea.... not so much!
Join the blogroll. Visit participants.
This one says "Hug Me"
... which tickled Daisy's fancy to no end...
... causing a real OH WOW moment!
There was even a DAISY for Daisy!
Over the course of the week, these two had developed
I snapped this as they were in absolute HYSTERICS
It was a nice try ...
... but a complete failure!
Ohhhhhh well!
Hubby MISSED me while I was gone!
Dinner at Baba's... This woman KNOWS how to make a dessert!
Shopping...
*sigh* 
I, on the other hand, "get" it QUITE RIGHT!!!
Susan (being the school teacher) tried really hard to
... But some things are IMPOSSIBLE!
and while THIS fan was not quite big enough to
...We DID eventually find one that was
So Sandy... you've done this before?
Sure, sure, sure... LOTS o' times!
Okie dokie then! We're off!
Noooo turnin' back now!
Ohhhhhhhh boy.......
Is it soup yet???
Well... let's have a look here...
Dry it off! Let's SEE!!!
Well! I'm a RED redhead now!!!
