Random Thoughts...Food, Firearms, and Fun

The stabbing at the high school near Pittsburgh hit far too close to home. I grew up 10 minutes from Franklin Regional. I took tennis lessons at Franklin Regional High School's tennis courts. I took the SATs at the high school. I was in the band in high school, and watched/played at football games there. One of my friends from high school was caught for underage drinking at one of those football games. My orthodontist's office was across the street from the high school campus. It's very close to home for me. Too close, really, as some of my friends who still live in the area have kids who go to school in that district. One of them posted on her facebook page that they found out her daughter's elementary school, which is on the same campus as the high school, was closed right before heading out to get the bus. I hope and pray that all victims recover with minimal mental and physical scars, and I hope that since the kid who did this is still alive, they can find out w...

It's been raining since early yesterday morning, and it's going to continue raining until at least this evening. Our yard looks like a mud pit, and the dogs are refusing to venture outside! We were supposed to meet a friend in Breezewood to walk the Abandoned Turnpike today, but opted not to do that in this weather. After a Dream Dinners Bacon Breakfast Frittata and coffee, Mac helped me fold the clean laundry, and I started the first load of dirty laundry. That's now in the dryer, and the next load of laundry is in the washing machine. I hate laundry, and as such, it always piles up because I keep delaying doing it. We're having beef barley soup for dinner, along with beer bread. I'm also going to whip up a batch of brownies, although I think those will be taken in to work tomorrow, as a gift to my coworkers. Today is a good day to hunker down and bake. The beef barley soup is from the freezer. I prepared a few batches a few months ago, and this is the last bag...

Here's my latest Yahoo article! http://voices.yahoo.com/harrisburg-pa-area-dog-parks-12585631.html?cat=8 One of these days, I'll post the story of the German Shepherd at the dog park in Lower Allen Township!

Since I've been frequenting Dream Dinners for almost two years, I can now easily explain exactly why I love Dream Dinners. I first visited Dream Dinners at the suggestion of a friend, when I inquired about once a month cooking. I was concerned about the logistics of once-a-month cooking, including the logistics of the prep work, doing a large grocery shopping, and storing the food before prepping it. I love cooking, and I love taking care of Mac, knowing that I'm preparing healthy meals, but I hate the prep work, and with our kitchen being so small, I hate the clean-up. If I did the prep work at home, I'd fill both sinks before I'd finished the prep work, and would then need to wash dishes at least once before finishing the prep work. Our rule has always been that if I cook, Mac takes care of the dishes, and if I he cooks, I take care of the dishes. When he and I discussed once-a-month cooking, he was not happy about the thought of all of the cleaning! A friend me...

I wrote another article for Yahoo: http://voices.yahoo.com/selecting-ncaa-brackets-easy-12579051.html

Yesterday, we picked up Rolly, a senior black lab, who needed a place to bed down for the night on his way to a rescue in New England. He then had to be north of Harrisburg by 7 AM. His ride was finishing breakfast when we arrived, so he was on the road a few minutes early. I came home, napped for a bit, and then Mac's phone rang at 9 AM. I've been up since then. My transport to Hamburg was about 30 minutes early, so it was good that I was ready to go! Mac was at some meeting at the Masonic Center, so I was on my own, which wasn't too bad. The pups left Hamburg about 35 minutes ahead of schedule, so I had a few minutes to shop. Shortly after heading back, I received a text message that tonight's overnights (two Australian Shepherd mixes) were going to be about 30 minutes late, which meant that I could've spent a bit more time at Cabela's, but I was rather happy to leave! I'm now home with both overnighters and my two, and I'm ready for a nap!

I had my Dream Dinners session tonight. Mac was going to come with me, and then we were going to do some shopping nearby. We arrived, and there were so many people there that Mac opted to do the shopping while I prepared the Dream Dinners order. It was really busy, but I was only preparing four meals, although I was preparing two each of two of them (Chicken and Pasta with Lemon and Artichoke Sauce and Southwest Pork Carnitas with Chipotle Maple Corn) and three each of two of them (Cattleman's Pie and Creamy Chicken Florentine Tortellini). My other two were Fast Lane meals (Central Park Garlic Chicken with Roasted Heirloom Potatoes and Sage and Parmesan Boneless Pork Chops with Toasted Onion Potato Wedges). In preparing the Cattleman's Pie, one adds the onions and carrots in one bag, and the peas and parsley in another. However, the peas and carrots are next to each other in the back, and the onions are in front of the peas, with the parsley in front of the carrots. To me, ...