Random Thoughts...Food, Firearms, and Fun

Friday was my Friday to leave work at 12, and I took full advantage of that. We had friends coming in from Kentucky for the weekend, and I wanted to be sure the house was very clean. Mac met me for lunch, and then we headed home and started cleaning. I tackled the bathroom, kitchen, and living room while he tackled the spare room. Everything was in great shape by 3:30. They got to our house around 7, and we had dinner. John and Laura cooked dinner--bacon-wrapped meatballs, homemade pasta sauce, and spaghetti. It was very yummy, and it was nice to not cook for once! John and Laura arrived in York so early on Friday that they checked in to the hotel Friday, so they could nap, rather than waiting until we were ready for them. While I was disappointed, at least we have a very clean house now! On Saturday, we went to breakfast and a gun show. After the gun show, we all headed back to the house, and Mac gathered up several guns so we could head to the range. We shot handguns first, then ri...

On Sunday, Mac and I transported four puppies, a pug, and a border collie mix that was supposed to be about a year old, but looked more like 6 months, if that! We did our usual Harrisburg to Hamburg run, as Mac was eyeing up a gun at Cabela’s, and it worked well to go scope it out and decide if we were buying it. He sold one of his old rifles that he’s never shot, and fronted his overtime money from working last week, and left with the rifle. It’s his new antelope/mule deer hunting rifle. We save aluminum cans, and rather than throw them in our recycling bin, he saves those and takes them to a scrap dealer occasionally. That’s his baby, and typically, he spends that money however he wants. He took those on Friday, and received $90, so he put that, plus a little extra cash towards it as well. Net out-of-pocket cost=$275. Of that, $200 is his overtime money that we’ll see next payday (yes, I fronted him the money, as we could do it, and I really didn’t want to deal with a trip up th...

I know I don’t spend enough time praising Mac, or thanking him, as in the day-to-day efforts of being DINKS, maintaining the house, taking care of the dogs, and doing rescue transports, things like saying thank you often fall to the wayside. I try to always thank him, but I know I can do better. Likewise, I know far too often, I don’t sing his praises!  He starts his workday before I start mine, as he works four, ten-hour days, yet since we’ve been married, I’ll wake up with him, and I’ll take care of getting coffee ready and packing his lunch. I’m a light sleeper, so it’s not a huge issue that I take care of the coffee and his lunch. I feel like I’m sending him off with a solid meal and his daily coffee, and I know he appreciates it. He routinely thanks me, but lately, he’s taken to cleaning out the coffeemaker before bed, rinsing it out, throwing out the old coffee, and placing a new filter into the basket. He never tells me that he took care of it, so it’s always a ...

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!

We had an adventure packed weekend. I worked a bit late on Friday, so when I got home, I immediately started lunch. We had knishes that we picked up when we were last at Costco. They were very good, although they'd have been better with sauerkraut. I napped after lunch, while Mac cut the grass. I wanted to go to a semi-local BBQ restaurant, but by the time Mac showered and was ready to go, we wouldn't have made it there until after they closed. So, instead, we hit our local Qdoba, and then did a bit of grocery shopping. Mac always teases me about my choices for veggies for dinners, so I left it up to him to select veggies! On Saturday, we were going to have the Dream Dinners Crispy Salsa Ranch Chicken for dinner, but I had a few mystery shops to do, so we decided to push those until later in the day, and then check out a different BBQ restaurant for dinner. The BBQ restaurant was very good, and their dry rub was incredible, but neither Mac nor I were enamored with their sauces...

Our February Dream Dinners session was this past Saturday. Our order included 78 servings, as I'd decided that I had to try the Layered Ravioli Bake, even though I had another 36 servings, and Tiff had 36 servings. What I didn't know when I placed the order was that it was good I planned to do that. Our order included: Crispy French Onion Chicken (2 6-servings) Layered Ravioli Bake (1 6-serving, 1 3-serving) Buffalo Ranch Chicken (1 6-serving, 1 3-serving) Cattleman's Pie (1 6-serving, 1 3-serving) Terracotta Chicken with Pita & Hummus (1 6-serving) Cola & Lime Tender Pork Roast (2 6-servings) Arroz Con Pollo (1 6-serving) Tuscan Steaks (1 3-serving) Creamy Chicken Risotto (1 3-serving) Cheese Lover's Manicotti (1 3-serving) Spitfire Beef Roast with Mashed Potatoes (1 6 serving) Mac drove us to Dream Dinners, because he wanted to go to Cabela's, as they were sponsoring an NRA weekend--join or renew your NRA membership for $35, and receive a $...

I saved the Dream Dinners Slow Cooked BBQ Beef with Baby Bakers for Saturday. I figured that I'd get it ready in the crock pot Friday night, and that Mac could turn it on once he got home from hunting on Saturday morning. I knew that Saturday, after the Dress for Success Professional Women's Group workshop, I wouldn't feel up to cooking, so I thought this was a great way to still have a nice dinner, while not going back out after getting home from the workshop. We had a rifle shipped to Cabela's in Hamburg, and we had until Wednesday, December 5 to pick it up there. We wanted to pick it up by Tuesday, December 4, because of a coupon offer they had, where you could save $20 on a $150 purchase. We planned on heading there on Sunday morning. Saturday morning, Mac and I went hunting, before the workshop. Yes, I went hunting in business attire, with a blaze orange coat and hat added to my outfit. Dedicated, right? I then headed to the workshop, and still managed to arriv...