Kitchen For Dummies

I'm telling you I get more and more air-headed as the years pass by.

As I've probably mentioned before, my calling in the ward is to visit/deliver goodies to each sister on their birthday. It's almost a daily task. As a matter of fact, in the first 15 days of February there were 13 birthdays.

One of Monday's birthdays was a sister on my VT route, so I made her a plate of cookies.

As I finished gathering everything together (the cards, the Hershey kisses, addresses) I asked David to finish the last pan of cookies and to put them in the oven. He did. What a nice boy.

Sigh...

We jumped in the car to go make my drop-offs, leaving the pan of cookies in the oven, and leaving Maddie (too sick to get off the couch) at home.

Fate would I have it that the sisters would be extra chatty, I was gone longer than usual and when I got home the first smell that greated me was the yumminess of the carmel from the Snickers that melted on top of the cookies. The next smell was charcoal.

Yup. The cookies, still in the oven, were burnt to a crisp. Black.

I never used to do stuff like this.

Okay, fine. I did. But it's easier to blame it on my old age.

Cooking 101

I'll give you this 'tip' before I tell you about my big blunder.

Like most people, I buy the big bag of frozen boneless chicken breasts.

Last week I tried a little experiment. As if having them ready to go in the freezer wasn't convenient enough, I cooked the entire bag and kept them in the fridge.

As I went through the week I'd grab (ahem) a couple here and a couple there, cube them up and put them in whatever (chicken noodle soup, chili, stir fry). It made dinner preparation a lot easier and helped me to choose chicken over hamburger.

I'll tell you about my cooking blunder um, some other time.

Home Again

Monday is a holiday.

I stayed home yesterday after The Storm.

Throw in Maddie with a fever today, and I'm home for a nice, long break. 5 days, to be exact.

The storm, or blizzard as it's been officially called, hit us hard here in E.M. People were stuck in their cars for 5+ hours, as well as kids on school busses (in the dark, no food, no bathrooms). Rumor has it a baby was born in somewhere out there. One child had to spend the night with stranded faculty at our elementary school, 160 at another. It really is a miracle that Maddie and Isaac made it home Wednesday night.

The official report was that we got 11 inches of snow, but it combined with the wind (70 mph gusts) to paralyze our fast-growing community, giving us a lot of attention. There is only one road in to E.M. and the new and improved transportation plan is many years down the road. Ugh!

I'm not sure what Maddie is sick with. Fever, stomach ache, and sore throat. There is a big virus going through the ward/neighborhood. Is it our turn? Sigh. I've got a big pot of chicken noodle soup on the stove. Maybe the two of us can chase this bug off. She'll be devastated if she misses Savannah's hair/nails/make up/movie birthday party tomorrow.

I'm very much ready for spring, especially because I know that back home spring is just weeks, maybe even days away. I love spring. I love blossoms. But when looking out the window all I see is snow, snow and more snow.

So Random

Sheesh! I haven't been over here in forever. Okay, it's been less than 2 weeks, but it feels longer.

The snow just won't stop. It's snowing right now. It's going to snow all day and in to the night. We are forecasted to have sunshine the next several days and get up over 40 degrees, but I'm not holding my breath.

I think I'm edgy again. Too much going on maybe? Or rather too much to think about. School... Church...President Hinckley's passing and the change of First Presidency...School again...The kids... Should we buy a house yet? How long are the prices going to be low? Are they going to get lower? School...My thoughts are (obviously) all over the place... Much of you back home are sick. I'd love to bring you some chicken & dumplings soup. And juice. More random thoughts...parent teacher conference for Maddie and Isaac today. Parent teacher conference for myself is less than two weeks away...David...School...Kids...The bruises are starting to show from when I slipped on the ice and fell Monday night...I'd like some new clothes...Am I going to catch the cold that's going around?

I swear I have adult on-set ADD.

These issues are constatly swirling around in my head.

I need some movement. No, not in my bowels. Movement, movement. Exercise. I'm sure that's the cure (either that or chocolate). I need to get outside; soak up some sun. Suddenly I'm turning in to a Cheryl Crow song. First the mono, now the weather. I'm never going to be able to be active again.

Uh. The bell rang. Until next time...

The Week in Review?

I wonder. Should I recap the last few weeks? Or should I just move on? Maybe some highlights. Or rather lowlights. Either way, it's probably just a bunch of rambling. David has been gone. A lot. Yesterday was the first Saturday we've spent together since (I think) mid-November. It was good. We wondered around the mall, which I'm sorry, but none of the malls here compare to back home. We stopped by the Pet Store and in doing so caused a major melt-down by the Madison. We were just going to look at the Pet Store. We we firm before we went there that we would go in as a family of four and come out the same way. But Maddie fell in love with some puppies...ya da ya da ya da. Cry. Cry. Cry. (PS) I'm flattered that she actually thought I had $800 to spend on a dog. Routine and life don't stop while David is away. Isaac had another big project due this week, Pine Wood Derby and a basketball game; all three of those consuming our Wednesday. We sure learned a lot about Steve Young this week. Meanwhile, David was 5 states away lounging with the celebrities. Okay, not really lounging. He had two big tests (which he did really well on), but was entertained in between by the likes of Jerry Seinfeld, Martina McBride, the Blue Man Group, Salma Hayek and (gasp!) Hannah Montana. Yeah. I'll let you imagine the Madison's reaction over missing out on that. I didn't make it to Park City for the Sundance Film Festival. I really wanted to go. I missed out on some of my favorite people. However, I'm not sorry that I missed that scummy ol' Collin Farrel. Now, I wasn't going to go down this path. But really? How could I not? Heath. (big sigh). What a shock. What a tragedy. What a freak-out I had on Tuesday when the news broke about his (I'm going to call it accidental) death. It really makes the heart hurt. If you haven't already, watch his movie Four Feathers. You'll love it. And finally, something to leave you with:

Are You Surviving The Strike?

It appears that we'll never get back to our TV favorites.

We'll never know if Meredith and Derrick are really and truly finished. Will Izzy and George ever make a go of it in the sack? Will we ever know if Addison can find the man who can make her a mommy?

Now I'm hearing rumors that this is carrying over in to the next season.

Ugh!

Just in the nick of time, Scott is back! Yes ladies, Scott Baio is 46 and Pregnant!

I'm part-way through Sunday's season premiere episode. I know I'm a weirdo, but I really do enjoy this trash. It keeps me rivetted. And! The music is so 80s. I love it!

Tonight's premiere snuck up on me. It's already time for American Idol to start. Time flies! Let's hope that this season's choice cities produce more and better performers. I heard that Paula has already had a melt-down.

Last week David re-signed up for NetFlix. I've been thinking that they're probably basking in the writer's strike. With slim pickin's on TV, is it safe to bet that their business is booming? This evening's flick is Star Wars - A New Hope. There is something so nastalgic and comforting about sitting in front of this old favorite.

We don't usually watch a movie for FHE, but last night we watched Singles Ward 2 that we borrowed from Sandy. Cute. I love Kirby, but the first movie was better.

Prediction: It's winter and we're running out of things to watch. With nothing else to do, I predict that a baby boom is heading our way.

But not at my house.

Nouns

People. Places. Things.