Well better late than never I always say!

I know, I know, for a daily rave I am really slow and this week even more so.  I was doggie sitting at my dear brothers house til this morning and now I am home.  I did get some sewing done.  Many Christmas projects I am checking off my list, and many more, I am afraid, won't get done.  There is 1 gift I have to get done and that is for my mom.  So anyway, That is why I am late in posting. Oh, FYI, I will post a pic of my moms gift after Christmas so as not to inadvertently give the gift up.   I will try to post some of the gifts as I can.  I just have to be able to do it without the recipient getting the heads up.
 I have a lot of news for those that don't know it yet, I am going to be a grandma again.  Second time for me.  The baby is due in July.  My dd and her hubby are expecting their second child then.  So I guess you could say I am officially in the grandparent phase of my life.  Ya know with one grandchild you're "new" to this grandparenting thing.  Now I am official.
In addition to that I got the job I wanted and so you probably won't here much from me from Dec 15th til the first of the new year.  I will be working both jobs til I transfer fully over to my new job in the first of the year.  So I will have an awesome pay check for that week, but then I take a huge pay cut for this new job.  It will be worth it in that I will be off weekends to spend with my hubby and boys.  Get to start going back to church.  Definitely gonna have to be watching the pennies though.  So if I get a chance I will update more before my marathon work weeks coming up.  Not to wish my life away, but I am soooo looking forward to the first of the year.  You guys have a great day!

Chocolate a la Shea

I am coming to you from my sattellite office aka, my parents house (smile).  In fact this blog post is brought to you by my dads computer. 
I spent a wonderfully busy day with my mom and my niece cooking the food, and I do mean food (lots of it) for our Thanksgiving dinner.  Seriously people, don't let Biggest loser know.  Days will come, probably Friday, when I will get back on the road to healthy eating, but today all bets are off!  One of the treats calling my name today is a concoction of my niece called Chocolate a la Shea.  What follows is a recipe for shear heaven in a 9X13 pan.

Chocolate a la Shea

1 cup self rising flour
1 stick margarine (or butter)
1/2 cup nuts, chopped
2 sm pkgs instant choc pudding mix
3 cups milk
1 8 oz pkg cream cheese
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 lg carton cool whip

Blend together the flour and margarine(butter) with a fork or pastry knife.  Add the nuts.  Spread in the bottom of a 9X13 pan.  Bake this @ 350 for 15 minutes or until just brown.  Cool.  Mix together cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar and 1/2 carton of cool whip.  Spread over the first layer.  Mix the pudding mix, milk, and other 1/2 cup powdered sugar until it thickens.  Spread over the top.  Top with the rest of the coolwhip.  Chill.  You can garnish with chopped nuts or shaved chocolate if you are tempted to.  We were tempted.  LOL.

Yall have a great Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

This years Thanksgiving is bittersweet in that I won't get to spend Thanksgiving with my sister and her family.  My Brother in Law is fresh out of the hospital and so they are taking Thanksgiving at home with their family.  That is about the only glitch in my day.  You see even with that little glitch, I have so much to be thankful for. First and foremost my brother in law is out of the hospital, and home with his family. I still get to spend Thanksgiving with my family, my brother and his girlfirend, as well as my parents.  Our home is still standing when there are so many up north and around the country who have no home or electricity. My husband and kids are here.  That brings to mind a gratitude to our military and their families.  Their sacrifice is so great.  It cannot be repaid.   Both my husband and I are employed and I know there are many who are searching for jobs in this economy.  The list of blessings goes on and on.  We are so very blessed, and for that I have to take a moment and really remember Thanksgiving.  It is more than just the holiday between Halloween and Christmas.  It is a time where we are to stop and Thank God for the blessings we do have.  It is only right to show gratitude for everything given to us by our heavenly Father.  In the midst of struggle it is hard to see the good things you have.  Maybe it is the optimist in me, but I believe there is always some little blessing to hold onto.  They may be hard to find, but they are there. Even if the only blessing is the fact that Christ died for us to pay our penalty for sin.  That's is more than enough.   We have grace.  We deserve nothing, but that grace is everything.  

So please, during this time of Thanksgiving.  Give the day its proper time and give God his proper praise.  There will be time enough for shopping, cooking, parties, eating, etc; all the wonderful trappings of Christmas.  But take this time to praise the God who sent his Son for the most special gift of all.  After the praises, we can celebrate Christs birth all the more.  

When it rains it pours

WOW!  I sure am glad I have my emergency fund. It started with the refrigerator dying.  It kept making this loud "CHUNKA, CHUNKA, CHUNKA" noise and so we replaced it.  We were able to leave the emergency fund alone, and pay cash for a new fridge, but we weren't able to put any extra toward the credit card which was the plan "A".  We no more get the fridge and the dryer stops working.  I called the repair guy who listens to what it is doing over the phone (basically a "hummmm" but without turning on).  The verdict?  The motor is gone.  His words "I wouldn't put another motor in that one".  Okay, still not too bad because I have a clothes line and I can hang clothes.  Testing out those homesteady skills.  So then Saturday night I am cleaning the boys bathroom (seriously needed a hazmat suit UGH!) and found a pretty good sized crack in the tub.  Kay so the tub needs replacing   Okay.  Fine.  They can shower in our shower until we can save up to replace the tub.  Noooooo Problem.

Merrily we roll along....

Enter Mona.  She is our Pitt bull/rat terrier mix and a sweeter dog you will not find


Sorry for the blurry picture, but she is hard to capture.  Kind like Lockness.  Lol.  See that sweet face?  Okay hold that thought
Mona is a chewer.  She chews anything she can reach: eye glasses, shoes, my sofa, the deck, you get the picture.  Anyway, apparently she got nervous while I was gone to work and she was outside with the other dogs (the men had gone to Florida for a my father in laws 90th birthday.  KUDOS!).  She got into the shed and found a swimming noodle and ate it.  Not the whole thing ya know cause she has to watch her girlish figure.  Yea.  But she ate enough to put her in the doggie hospital over night to the tune of $451.  That is the total so far.  If this too doesn't pass(eye roll), we could be looking at surgery which could put it over $1000.  So after all the other bleeding gaps in our budget that we were able to plug with duc tape, this one could most likely hit our emergency fund the worst.  Now I know that is what it is there for, but it is hard to get that emergency fund back on track.  Not to mention Christmas and tax season are fast approaching. So at 8:30 this morning I will call the vet to see if she passed anything or if I am to sign my life away.  Oh well, "all the best laid plans of mice and men".....

She is cute though......



Update on Mona.  Never been so glad to hear a doggie pooped!  No surgery!  So only half of my emergency fund will be taken.  I can live with that.  Picking her up after lunch.

OOOH BOYEEEE! Connie I need you!

Yesterday I had a friend give me a deer.  I am paying the processing fee of $60, but the deer was 85 lbs.  I realize a lot of that will go to waste, but still a good deal on meat.   This is why I need you Connie.  I figured you would have some awesome how to's in prep as well as some great recipes due to your experience hunting.  Still cant message you or comment on your site.  I tried the numbers and for some reason I am not getting things right even now.  I have done those little "checks" before and never had a problem.  Anyway, if you see this, I could use the help.
In other news, I am flying solo this weekend.  My men have traveled to Florida for my FIL 90th Birthday.  Way to go JOHN!   I had to work or would have gone.  But here I am .  I am taking this advantage to clean and get some yard work done.  I am still digging and shelling peanuts.  Up to about 9 lbs so far and I am no where near done yet.  My yard, I fear won't be nice and neat come winter.  Winter is getting here faster than I can clean out.  I am not complaining though.  There are people up north in a much worse situation.  Prayers going up for them.
Speaking of up north.  There cannot be a better example of the need to be prepared for any situation.  This was a once in 100 year storm.  In other words, no one alive today ever experienced a storm like this and so would have been unprepared for the scope.  Follow that with the Nor Easter and you get a very unique situation.  If you are one of those that says "the government will take care of us", you might want to pay attention to how well that is going and decide to take care of yourself.  Sandy and the Nor Easter are showing me where I have holes in my preps.  I have lamps for light, a grill and Coleman stove to cook on as well as a pantry, but have no really good way to heat, aside from a kerosene heater, if we have no power.  If I use my grill and Coleman stove to cook, I have to use them outside.  That is fine if it is relatively warm outside, but in the middle of an ice storm, the thought of standing outside to cook a hot meal doesn't thrill me in the least.  What I am looking into is getting a wood stove.  It would act as heat and cooking if I needed it to.  I would have it installed with all the heat resistant tiles, platform etc. Still toying with it, but I want to get it sooner rather than later.
I would love, love, love to see more people taking this initiative.  It doesn't have to be an end of the world as we know it situation.  What you need to prepare for are: power outages from ice or thunderstorms, hurricanes, a job layoff, etc.  Everyday type emergencies.  If you don't currently prepare for emergencies, I ask for you to please consider doing it.  Have a great day!

Rubic is 17!

So my youngest is 17 now.  His Birthday was spent with a few friends (you know who you are) and his new Halo 4 game. Do I feel old yet?  Nahhhhhh yes.  Yes I do.  I remember like yesterday when he was born; eyes tightly shut according to the midwife.  He opens one eye and looks around to see if everything is OK and then relaxes.  My dh says he was asleep when he was born.  I was a little busy at the time so not sure what to believe.  All I know is he was (and is ) beautiful.  He keeps me laughing.  I have enjoyed the time we have gotten to spend together "doing school".  He is very thoughtful and diligent about his subject which is a wonderful surprise blessing.  Happy Birthday my boy.  I am very proud of you and the man you are becoming.  Love you bunches.

Finally getting my house in order

During the summer months my house usually goes to rak and ruin, especially when the canning starts.  It is everything I can do to keep dishes and laundry up, much less anything detailed.  I am still working on digging peanuts and potatoes, but things have slowed to the extent I am able to focus inwardly to my long neglected house.  I have managed to reclaim the man cave, dining room and living room.  This morning I got a bee in my bonnet and started going through drawers in my kitchen and dining room.  Everything got organized and cleaned.  It is amazing the things you find that you forgot you had.  What is worse is finding the things you forgot you had and now you have a duplicate.  Yea, way to stock up mom!  Lol.  I would think there is a frugal lesson to be had here.  Organization.  Organization is a frugal accessory.  When money is tight, no one needs two things of wood glue, or plummers putty, etc.  Now finding extra WD40 is a blessing, but the other things you don't use so much.  Plus if you are er ahh impulsive like me, and one morning you are cleaning the kitchen only to decide you want to clean and organize your kitchen junk drawers, where you find a little broken Christmas angel that needs glueing.  While searching for the glue(you find two) you realize you also need to clean out the art drawer ,where you find a screw driver and determine the tool drawers needs cleaning.  While cleaning out the tool drawer you find the wood glue (two) and think "ya know I could go ahead and glue that chair" and then you glue the chair and.....
NO!  I am not ADD!  I just like to multitask...alot...
Anyhoo.  For a multitasker like me it is nice to be organized enough to be able to quickly lay my hands on what I need. Seems like organization is something I need to get in the habit of using.  So I guess there is my New Years resolution.  A bit early, but hey, at least I have one this year that doesn't include a diet.  
Pkay, I have waxed on long enough.  I need to get back to work.  Have a great day all.