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...

I've been volunteering with an organization for years, and have enjoyed it quite a bit, although at times, my volunteer and work activities seem to clash. I've been swamped at work. I've been working overtime and on weekends, and quite frankly, am looking forward to only having two rescue transports, a wine tasting and pig roast, rehearsal for Eastern Star, and lunch with a friend this weekend. I should add that I'm taking Friday off, as I needed to try to squeeze in Dream Dinners at some point and I simply could not find the time in the next week or so to do that without taking Friday off from work! I'd expressed my schedule to those in charge at the volunteer organization, and had been assured that they understood that work was my first priority. Unfortunately, no one there seems to recognize this, as they keep asking me to do things, and then only after I've completed it and pointed out that I've been swamped, have I received the response of, "Oh, ...

Where it seemed that everything that could go wrong did? That describes my day yesterday. I broke the dryer in multiple ways--I dropped the lint basket behind the dryer, and in trying to retrieve it, pulled the vent tube away from the vent area in the wall, dented the tube, and then in trying to reattach everything, pulled it away from the dryer too. Then, in sliding the dryer back in place, I broke the dryer door latch. I then made the mistake of cooking dinner, which was really lousy. So, I cooked something else, and overcooked that dinner. I opted for bed before I could ruin anything else yesterday. I guess the positives in all of this are: We've now cleaned out the vent portion of the dryer, which we should do occasionally. I have a reason not to deal with laundry until we get the door latch I ate less than I would've had dinner been wonderful.

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...

Not long ago, I complained about having to do laundry, and how I dislike it! I've been trying to keep the laundry from piling up, in part because I think that the more laundry there is, the less likely I am to tackle it, since it will take ages, and will look like I've not made any progress for quite a while. With that in mind, I've developed a new Sunday routine. Mac and I have breakfast, then I start laundry. It is typically 2-3 loads of laundry, although some weeks, it's 4-5. It doesn't take too long, and Mac doesn't mind, as it gives him time to reload in the basement. It's working well so far. I may not get everything folded and put away by Sunday night, but at least the amount of laundry is minimal!

With Mac home now and back to work, I'm back to cooking. We had leftovers last night, because we both were so exhausted that heating up leftovers was about as much energy as we cared to expend! Dream Dinners for the week are: Thursday--Chicken Yakitori Friday--Baked Potato Chicken Sunday--Antelope Chili, made in the crock pot Sunday's dinner is pending Mac's approval. We're going to end up eating out on Saturday. I have a wedding, plus then I have to pick up a boxer and move her to Lebanon, then pick up a foster dog in Mechanicsburg. Bonnie is the foster dog, and she's staying with us for about a week. So, since my Saturday is crazy, I have no idea what we're going to do for food, other than I know I'm not cooking! I do know that I need to make room in the freezer by our November 3 Dream Dinners session, because right now, I barely have room! I have one 6-serving that's Tiffany's in my freezer. It ended up with my meals at our October session,...