Happy Thanksgiving

I am the worst picture taker ever. 

I did not take any pictures of the FAMILY. 

Years from now nobody will care that the cheesecake looked like a turkey, or the napkins were folded.

They will wonder WHO was there, and what they looked like. 

But I did not take a single picture of the family!!!

Karin, however, did get a video of me .... acting like a dog.....

Which will NOT be posted. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

I can't claim any of these beautiful tables as my own. But I did use them for "inspiration" for my Thanksgiving table this year.

David took some photos for me. 

Usually I never see the photos he takes for me......

Have yet to see MY table photos.....

So......... I borrowed my inspiration pics. (Pinterest rocks)

Since we did our turkey day on Saturday, I will spend this actual Thanksgiving day home alone. 

But I will be productive! 

I am going to clean out the office upstairs and set it up for my new side business. 

If you saw the post a few days ago I had shown my "before" pictures of the office.

It still looks like that.

But I will truly get it cleaned up over the four day weekend. 

Honest. 

I hope.

At least a start.

But I am putting my tree up on Friday............ that takes most of the day..........

And I am going to Wendover with my friend Lisa on Sunday.............

Ok......... so maybe I can at least make a dent in it on Thursday and Saturday. 

I hope. 

Really.

I do.

My Philosophy This Year..........

I have more than enough. I have so much stuff that I have no room for it. 

I have a family who is very blessed and really doesn't need more "stuff". 

At least not stuff that is just stuff.

Stuff you can really use..... is good.

Stuff you actually do want.... is fine.

But to spend money on a gift that you don't even know if the person wants, or likes, is dumb. 

Especially if you do not have "unlimited" funds. 

It is more likely you have some extra spending money THROUGHOUT the year.... not just in December. 

At least that is true for me. 

Because in December my car insurance comes due. 

In December I have airline tickets to pay for (usually). 

And add to that having to buy "stuff" for a zillion people........ it causes stress.

And stress destroys the holiday spirit.

And "stuff" is not what this holiday is about. 

Last year I opted to give a gift of a spa day to the girls. 

A day when all four of us could go out and have an experience. 

Together.

Ok, so here it is a year later and we never did it because we could not all get the same moment in time off....

But, it is the thought that counts right? 

And it's still good for next year. 

Maybe we won't be able to go all four of us at once. Together.

Maybe I will have to modify it....and take one at a time. 

But we will get there. 

So, for me it isn't about "stuff" anymore.

I want to give "experiences". 

I wish I was rich enough to book a cruise or trip to Hawaii for the entire family.

Maybe someday. 

But not this year.

So it will be experiences I can afford. 

And hopefully they will appreciate it.

I think they will.

Because they are pretty awesome. 

And if I do get them "stuff" it will be "stuff" I know they REALLY REALLY want/need. 

Like the double stroller. 

To welcome my grandson to the world. 

I know it will be used. A LOT. 

That's a present I am happy to get. 

I have ideas for what I am going to give everybody. 

It may not be "stuff" that clutters up the house.

But hopefully it can be happy experiences that they smile back on. 

Merry Christmas.

I'm not ready for this.

My dad signed a DNR today. The witnessing nurse signed it. My sister signed it. That makes it official that my dad is now on DNR status. Which, for those, who don't know... means "Do Not Resuscitate."

If anything should happen to him, he does not want to be brought back. No life support. No heroic measures, nothing.

I understand this. I also do not want to be put on life support if something happens to me.

But........... the idea of losing my dad is freaking me out.

I'm not ready to be the "older generation" and be the daughter with no parents at all.

I'm not ready to handle the fact that I won't be able to turn to my dad for help if needed.

I'm not READY to deal with this.

I'm still dad's little girl.

I'm not ready for this. Not at all.

Hopefully he still has a long time left, but I think he doesn't.

And he thinks he doesn't.

And ................... that really makes me panic.

Operation Reorganization - Part 1. Face Your Fears.

The upstairs "Office" has become a hoarding paradise. A catch-all for every box, piece of paper, years of receipts, torn apart electronics, etc.... that has come through my front door.

People coming over? Quick, pick everything up and put it upstairs in the office.

Close the door.

Well, I want to start a home business and I was seriously thinking I had to buy a desk or table of some sort and set it up in my FRONT living room.

And yesterday it hit me.... My gosh, Michelle, you have a whole room upstairs that is already set up as an office. Why do you not use that?

Well........ I answered myself........ (because I do talk to myself... somebody has to)........ I can't even step foot in that office. I can't even open the door. I can't see the floor.

I have been following a gal who is phenomenal and such an inspiration to me. And she has transformed herself over the past two years. She just ran the New York Marathon last week. And she has been cleaning and organizing her house and posting it. It has been such an inspiration to me. Seriously. She rocks. So I decided if she can do it (and she has SEVEN kids... while I have just one at home who never shows his head outside of his room unless he's hungry).  If she can do all this.... so can I.

I walked upstairs to take the "before" photos. (Shown above) and it overwhelmed me. I lost my burst of energy and felt suddenly lost. I had no idea where to start.

I told her this. And she said these words. "Start in one corner. Or just one box. Go. Do it. Now. "

And those words "Go. Do it. Now." really motivated me.

So I grabbed two black garbage bags and headed up to the beast.

45 minutes later, I had filled the bags.

I barely made a dent in the room.

But it was a beginning.

And each day I will do a little bit more.

And it should start to look better very quickly.

And I am going to post Susie's words on my fridge. "Go. Do it. Now".

Because something about them.............. made me get up and do it.

Chicken Rice Soup

chicken broth base along with water

fresh carrots, peeled and sliced

celery, chopped

The finished dish... mm mm good

rotisserie chicken

sweet Vidalia onion

leftover white rice

Secret ingredient

I had a bunch of white rice leftover and was getting sick of fried rice. So I decided to make some chicken rice soup. Start out by peeling and chopping a sweet onion (I used two onions but I was making a pretty big pot of soup and I love onions), and some carrots. (I used three large carrots but next time I will use more). Chop up some celery. (I used about 6 stalks).

In a large pot, heat some olive oil (I actually used peanut oil this time because it was closer to me than the olive oil) over med-hi heat and then toss in the veggies and some fresh minced garlic. (I used three large cloves, but I like lots of garlic). Cook and stir about 5 to 8 minutes. Then dump the chicken broth on it, bring to a boil, turn down to low and cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, pull all the chicken meat off the pre-cooked delicious rotisserie chicken you bought. (I LOVE rotisserie chickens!). Cut it into bite size pieces.

After the veggies have simmered for the 20 minutes, throw in all the chicken, and whatever leftover rice you have (I happened to have about 3 cups worth and I put it ALL in there).  You should now add a couple of cups of water and whatever spices you want. I only used some lemon pepper seasoning, and a little salt. Then, this part is totally optional, but I put in a packet of Sazon con azafran which makes the soup yellow and gives it a mild saffron flavor. I love using Sazon in a lot of cooking.

Just warm the soup through and eat!  Tastes even better the next day! I brought some for the gals at work and they went CRAZY over it.

Oddly, I have never made chicken rice soup before..... so this was my first time. I basically took my chicken noodle soup recipe and replaced the noodles with the rice. I am very pleased with how it turned out. Even David ate two or three bowls of it!

If you prefer a "creamy" consistency you could add a can of cream of chicken soup, or a can of cream of mushroom soup at the end. I liked the thinner consistency this time. The rice really absorbs the liquid so you may have to add a lot of water. I think I added 5 cups water in addition to the broth. I was surprised the rice absorbed liquid (seeing as how it is already cooked), but it totally did.

Delicious and I will make it again and again.

Quick Guide to Ingredients

2 large sweet onions, peeled and chopped
3 (or more) carrots, peeled and sliced
6 stalks of celery, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced (I use a garlic press)

1 whole rotisserie chicken, discard skin, and chop up all the meat on the chicken.
3 cups of cooked (leftover) white or brown rice. (I used white)

48 oz Chicken Broth
3 to 5 cups of water
Sazon con azafran (optional)
seasonings as desired: I used salt, pepper, lemon pepper. You could add whatever you want.

Vewy Owiental Sunday

I have been craving oriental food lately and eating a lot of home made stir fry. 

So I decided that would be the menu for this Sunday's family dinner. 

I'm making everything from scratch except the sweet and sour pork, That will come from Costco.

My rice and veggies are quite good.

I'm going to make noodles with peanut sauce. I have made this before but it has been awhile. 

Bryttan likes fried tofu, and actually so did I when I tried it, so I am making some of that.

It can be dipped in a variety of sauces. I plan to use the peanut sauce for half the batch and the other half  will be plain and can be dipped in either soy sauce, or teriyaki, or oyster sauce, or hoisin sauce.  Or eaten plain. 

I made some pineapple coconut rice pudding the other night. It's eh. It's ok, but I think I won't make it again. 

However, I have a couple other rice pudding recipes to try so maybe one of those for dessert. 

And of course, good Fortune Cookie from a store. 

Confucious say.... good ruck with all the food. 

Totally Freaky Dream I had Last Night

In my dream I had just arrived at work and everybody was really upset. I learned all communication was down. No phone, no cell phone, no internet, no radio. Still had electricity, but just no communication.

Some of us got in a car and went to the gas station down the street. You could buy stuff and gas but only with cash. No credit cards or debit cards could be used because there was no communication with the banks.  I was suddenly alone in my own car and flying down the road to Chase bank to use the ATM to get out as much cash as I could. But the ATM was already empty and a sign was on it saying out of order. I went inside and the teller told me I could get $500 in cash but no more than that. And she gave me small bills but said soon she would be out of small bills. 

Then I was at home and there was still no phone, no TV, no internet. No netflix, no amazon, nothing. People were outside in the street talking and nobody had a clue what was going on. We couldn't get information from any sources. 

Then I was at Village Inn and looking at the newspaper machine they have in the front. There was a big headline that said all communication in the United States was destroyed. Somebody hacked into the communication satellites and caused them to self-destruct. But ONLY in the US. All other areas of the world were fine. 

The only way to communicate was by short-wave radio. 

There was no mail. Businesses were shutting down. Utilities were staying on. We still would have water and electricity. But no packages would be delivered, no orders to stores, no regular postal mail. 

Hospitals would still function. Newspapers would print what they could learn from word of mouth or through people with short wave radios. 

There would be no news from the government. No planes flying at all because communication towers were down and radar was down.  (all this info was in the newspaper)

And then there was a letter from a terrorist in the newspaper saying that they wouldn't kill American Citizens because crippling the communications is more effective and would wipe out life for the entire US. It would cause complete collapse of the economy. 

I couldn't contact ANYBODY to see how they were and all I felt was EXTREME panic. 

I woke up breathing heavy. It was FREAKY.