rockncook

Unike, I'm joining you on the not working too hard deal. I feel a little under the weather today, and got a slow start. Just got that first load of laundry in about 10 mins ago, and I'm changing our dinner plans to grilled cheese sandwiches and soup LOL. Cat, I sure hope you get to feeling better. I know migraines can knock some people down for awhile, even if you catch them before they fully take hold. Peaceful, does indeed sound like an emotional process. I hope everything is going OK for you there. Snowmom, I hope you're doing OK, too.

Hil, Just a quick note to let you know I"m thinking about you and praying for you.

You know, a few years ago I took a walk through the cemetary in the small town where my mom lives, and noticed the same thing. I had assumed there was a fire or something, but never really thought about looking it up. Thank you for providing this information. I know we're all careful, but man, that's frightening!

Oh darlin, it WILL take you awhile to get used to taking help AND to some things being OK. I STILL hate laundry being on the floor in the laundry room and the floor not being vacuumed, but I'm getting better with some things. Most of the people that come in to my house, know that I work full time, have a husband that works two jobs, and have kids to take care of. They are usually in a somewhat similar situation, and don't mind a bit of messy-ness. Those that would care, I don't particularly worry about-they probably won't be here for long! I remember once a Jehovah's witness came to the door fairly early one summer morning. We'd had a cool start to the day, so I'd mixed up several batches of muffins to bake before it got hot, the kids weren't dressed yet, and I hadn't showered yet. I was covered in flour and my hair was icky. As we were discussing he (rudely, I thought) brought up the cleanliness being next to Godliness issue. While I've never been keen on Jehovah's Witnesses, I've always been polite, listened, and thanked them for their time. On that day I told them to leave and to make sure not to come back, LOL. They have NO idea what my life is like, and it's not theirs to pass judgement. We don't always live like that, but they had no idea (and didn't want to take the time to learn), so I politely told them to leave. Those that know you understand your difficulties, and won't mind if there's dishes in the sink (or in the sink, on the counter, on the stove, and on the table LOL). Those that do mind such things either don't know you, don't care about you, or don't care to know you. Their loss. Of course, the hardest part is getting to the point where YOU don't mind those things! Letting go is always the hardest part, and you'll do it when you're darn good and ready! In the meantime, come back here for your daily hugs!

SUCH GOOD NEWS! Congrats!

Good morning everyone! I couldn't think of a synonym for cold that started with a T. It IS cold today. I love it! Today I'm going to bake something, brownies for sure and probably something else. Work on the living room, do some laundry and work on preps. Yesterday was a good day overall, and I slept soooooooooooo good last night cause it was cooler. We're having camp out chili dogs for dinner tonight. So yummy on a cold day (good on a warm one, too!)

I am heartbroken that I never got to know this lady you all speak so highly of. My thoughts and prayers are with her friends and family .

Alie Jo, What I have done during high allergy season, or when I have a cold, is to put whatever EO I'm using on cotton balls, and then put them in a freezer baggie so I can keep it in my purse and then inhale as needed. The cotton balls seem to last longer than the tissues. The EO will degrade plastic, so the freezer bags last longer than regular sandwich baggies. Also...I was watching this show a few weekends ago about this mom in Arkansas that has FIFTEEN children. Phew! Anyway, what she had done with each of her children is to put a schedule up on the wall, with each individual time block in the day with a sticky note that said what they'd be working on that day. The sticky ntoes could be moved around to reprioritize if something didn't get done the day before. When they first showed it, I was overwhelmed, but something that the mom said was "We hardly EVER finish everything on the schedule, but it's a goal." That explains the sticky notes, instead of something written more permanently. Doing it that way, she can reprioritize as needed, and still feel more organized about getting things done. Sometimes the hardest part is telling yourself "It's OK that I didn't get everything done today." That is something that I have a really hard time dealing with personally. Having a more flexible system would free me up emotionally-because I would see the ways that it could be moved around and changed on a given day. There are things that come up that you just can't anticipate, or put off for another day. The reality of it is, when you're taking care of someone, be that children, or adults that can't take care of it all themselves, you simply cannot do it all, my dear. and it's OK to ask for some help. It's OK to have more drive thru dinners than usual, or more tv dinners. It's OK that not all the socks are clean. It's OK that you didn't get the dishes done after dinner (I personally, have not gotten all the dishes done after dinner in about 6 years-my youngest son is 5 1/2 LOL). Tell yourself that these things are OK. (And here's my biggest one, when most overwhelmed: ITS OK TO USE PAPER PLATES!) Celebrate each thing that you DO get done. Hey! I made the bed today and I didn't have time to get to it all week! Now I can take that bubblebath and not sit there the whole time making a list in my head of all the stuff that didn't get done! Look in to, or ask a friend to look in to, whether your husbands particular situation qualifies you for any type of in home help. It may be covered by insurance. Something as little as a visiting nurse for a few hours a week would free you up to take care of something else or relax. Talk to someone about your church about getting some help there-having someone help for laundry or provide a few casseroles for the freezer would do wonders for "taking care of" things. Maybe one of your neighbors can lend you a teenager for a few hours a week-heck, I've got two of those I'd send you if you were closer! Most of all, do what you're doing. Let those scary things out of the dark closet, keep talking about it, and keep coming back here when you need it. Here's to make sure you feel hugged some today! Much love, Mommy of 5

Morning everyone! It's supposed to be pretty warm today, but by Wednesday we'll be down to a high of 57. I'm planning some baking for this week for sure! Yesterday I made fried chicken for dinner, and that took a few hours, LOL. I hardly ever make it cause it takes so long unless I do two skillets at the same time. I had cooked up a brisket a few days ago and made some stew for DH's lunches yesterday with half of it. The other half will be made in to chili. Ended up with quite a bit of broth to freeze as well. I cooked up 10 lbs of leg quarters on Friday and yesterday I put up most of the broth to freeze, in 1 cup batches, so when someone is sick we can thaw a bit at a time. Today I'll get the chicken picked and put up the rest of the broth. We also re-arranged the living room. There is so much more space now. I hate wasted space in a small room, so we took care of that pretty well. Today I will be doing the chicken, putting some more chicken in italian dressing to marinade, doing laundry and finishing up the kitchen. I am this close to actually having a completely clean kitchen for at least a few hours today. It usually seems that by the time I get the dishes all done, it's time for dinner, LOL. Have a wonderful day!

Alie Jo, My sister had anxiety attacks, and one of the things she was told to get rid of them was to find the TRUE source of what was causing her the anxiety. I don't remember the particulars of when she would have her attacks, but the true source was her abusive ex. It took a lot of soul searching to find the true source, and that usually isn't very easy. Once she could deal with the true source (it boiled down to making her most damaged part of her heart believe she was actually safe), the anxiety attacks went away-but it certainly didn't happen overnight. Since your DH is so sensitive to scents, perhaps try putting a tissue with lavender EO underneath your pillow case. It may be easier for him to return to bed. These ladies have made excellent suggestions, and I don't have more. I just wanted to say to remember that we love you more than we could ever tell you, and please come to talk if you need to.

unike, I meant to tell you earlier that I was glad to see you posting again. I was actually rather productive today. I got one set of pantry shelves organized, cleaned the laundry room, did weekly shopping, and put together another set of pantry shelves. Oh, and some dishes, LOL. I asked DH to cook dinner tonight, fish sticks and mac and cheese, and he did it, but is now seriously grumpy about it. I have been working and I think it's only fair that he pitch in like that once in awhile. It was an easy dinner and I have a burr (finish that saying however you wish!) about him being grmpy about it. We're going to go watch a movie now. Talk to you ladies soon!

I'm so excited to see so many new names here! I haven't had a lot of time to post, but I have been reading when I can and I hope you all find as comfy a home here as I have, and learn as much, too. Thanks for joining us!

OH yay! Such fantastic news. I just made a bunch of pasta salad for lunches for DH, but I'll share with you ladies, too! What a reason to party! I'm so happy for your family!

Morning, ladies, It is cool here this morning, but supposed to be mid 80s by afternoon. We really need some rain to cut down on all of this ragweed. Went back to the store yesterday (new sale started) and got 35 lbs of chicken thighs at $.59/lb. I'd have gotten more but I'm out of room in the freezer. This weekend I'm going to clean out some more of the shed and then put signs up that I'm looking for used freezers. Having money to buy this stuff is such a nice luxury after everything we've been through the last year. Today I'm going to boil some chicken so we have it on hand for quick meals. I took half a brisket out to thaw so I can cook it up for some lunches for DH-chili and stew. Dinner tonight is beef and gravy cooked in the crock. I saw a commercial last night for these crock pot helper meals. Has everything you need in one of those vacumn pack containers, you just dump it in the crock. I can't imagine the price you'd pay for those. You could make it on the weekend and freeze it for FAR cheaper, but that's me LOL. I got the living room done yesterday, my clothes are all organized. Now if I could only get the kitchen so organized LOL. I'm buying storage stuff in a few weeks so that will really help a lot. OK, back to working in the kitchen!

Morning ladies, I made it in the morning! By three whole minutes! This morning I got all of our clothes organized. We are in such a small space right now, when I dug out the school clothes we were really in a space crunch. We have a very full dresser and a set of shelves, but now everything is organized. I went to the store yesterday and bought 12 lbs of chicken breasts for $.99/lb. I love using breasts for fried chicken. When I make some room in the freezer I am going to buy some thighs, they are on sale this week for $.59/lb. I also picked up some orange juice "reduced for quick sale" so I froze those. I need to make up some lunches for DH, I have been neglecting that duty lately. I'm going to pick up some dressing at the store today and make some pasta salads, and then do some chili and stew for him. I need to do some serious work in the kitchen, I kind of neglected that yesterday, too. After everyone being sick I think I just needed a slow day.

Afternoon everyone! I haven't gotten much done today. At least not at home. Have gotten quite a bit crossed off my work to do list, though. Winter preps...not quite there, but my huge direct deposit did finally come out of my work account, so it's on the way to the bank. I plan on using a hefty chunk of that to do some work on Winter preps. I need another set of shelves, and some Rubbermaid type containers. The cats haven't rid us completely of mice yet, and I opened one of my flour bags to find it buggy, so I need some harder plastic, and I"m going to see if I can find any diatomaceas (sp?) earth this weekend. I was doing OK on that word as far as diatomac...then I just coudln't remember the rest, LOL. Not having enough of those big storage bins really bummed me out this week-dog food was on sale and I knew that without good storage for it, the bugs and mice would have a field day on it. I found a lot of land that I want in town. Does'nt have a house on it, and it's not for sale, but it's fenced off and no one is living or planting on it. It's a good sized lot. This town used to be a coal mining town, so the majority of what is the "old town" is teeny lots with the houses close to each other. When you get up north of Main St. you start getting into the "new town" (houses still average about 50 years old), the lots are much larger and not nearly as close neighbors. Old town is close to the store and the post office and not bad from the school, but with the tiny lots. New town is far from the store and the PO but close to the school, with large lots. With only having one car, and the store closing at 5 in the winter, would be nice to be close to it, cause they have great sales. The lot I want is in the Old part of town but it's large. It's perfect for now, LOL. OK, I'm back to work!

Oooh, I get to clarify.... The oregano oil is excellent for sinus inflammation-which for us right now is caused by the allergies. We should be using essential oil straight, dripped on to a kleenex or cotton ball and sniffed that way, but what we ended up being able to get out here in the boonies was a solution of 27% oregano EO blended with olive oil. Still pretty potent, but we have to use it more often. With it mixed like this we can also use it in food or mix it in water and drink it, which seems to be having the best long term effects and keeping the sinuses clear. Very very nasty, though, LOL. I mean, it would be good in a pasta sauce, but drinking it in water takes your breath away hehe.

HUGE garden. My 5 year old son's hollow leg gets longer every day!

Theyd, I'm a little late to the party, but I just wanted to offer hugs and prayers for you. And yes, you DID deserve the party. Taking care of a loved one is so very hard, with so few thanks, and the reward is sometimes very hard to see. I think you are a tremendous woman, and I'm proud to know you!

Morning, Ladies! It's so nice to be able to get here in the mornings now! I got the kids off to school, ate breakfast, made some tea, and got a load of laundry in to wash. I'm reading work emails in between doing chores. We didn't get much done this weekend, so today will be a big catch up day. Ragweed pollen is off the charts here and everyone is just miserable. I picked up some oregano oil that has helped a lot, but it is just vile to take unless it's put into food. If this doesn't get better soon I'll be making a huge pot of pasta, LOL. We got a few sprinkles last night so that helped a bit, but I'm thinking, if we don't get rain, we're all gonna be miserable again soon! I am forced to agree about the dishes. I absolutely hate doing them! There are three adults and three kids, one old enough to help with dishes, but because I do the cooking, I get stuck with most of the dishes-otherwise there's nothing to cook with. My roommate mary suggested a strike on Saturday when DH was sitting on his butt doing nothing, and I almost said I should strike about being the only one to do dishes, but I kept my mouth shut. I feel like I have to choose my battles and this is not one I'm ready to have at the moment. Anyway, other than that, things are going great. Unike, I'm glad that the hurricane seems to have gone away from your family. Nice to have all that prep work done, though. Snow, I'm glad your DS got a job. OK, I'm off to mix up some dog food!

These freeze really well. I usually make 8 dozen and then take them out as need be for quick breakfasts or snacks. (And nothing to make our newbie get a false pos on her drug test!!) French Breakfast Muffins 1/3 c Shortening 1/2 c Sugar 1 Egg 1 1/2 c Flour 1 1/2 ts Baking powder 1/2 ts Salt 1/4 ts Nutmeg 1/2 c Milk 1/2 c Sugar 1 ts Cinnamon 1/2 c Butter; melted Heat oven to 350 deg. Grease 15 muffin cups (depends on the size of your muffin tins). Mix thoroughly, shortening, 1/2 c. sugar and the egg. Stir in flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg alternately with milk. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake 20 to 25 minutes. Mix 1/2 c. sugar and the cinnamon. Immediately after baking, roll puffs in melted butter, then in cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Good afternoon, I cannot believe this hurricane season! I am praying for everyone in the path of these beasts. I've lived in tornado areas until recently and those scare the heck out of me-but even with those we didn't have so many close ones in such a short time span. I am saddened at the sheer numbers of people who are losing homes and businesses. I am wondering if some of the people that evac'd for the first one have been able to even go home again in the last 3 weeks, and now this one. I was a lazy bones today. I washed some dishes, did some laundry, took meat out to thaw (polish sausage and potatoes tonight) and then read for awhile before work. I got some time all by myself, totally and completely alone, and decided I was going to enjoy it. The kids don't have school tomorrow, so I think we'll go on some adventure in the morning before it gets too hot.

Wow, unike, what a situation. How wonderful that you're getting some executive help! Cat, glad that DH is feeling a bit better today. I go through the same thing with my dh everytime he's home on a weekday. Today I didn't get much "stuff" done. It was the second day of school, so I just dropped them off in the lunch room. Came home and did some dishes, some laundry, and got stuff ready for dinner. We're having mexican lasagne in the CP tonight. Sooooooooo yummy. Things have been slowly picking up. Work is going well. Same field, but working for myself now, and no commitments, so when I do find another job, I'll be able to quit easily. DH is getting very frustrated at his job, though. His boss is often crabby about none of the shop orders getting done. But they have TWO guys to work in the shop, one does exclusively auto and the other is DH. DH has been out of the shop almost completely the last two weeks, doing window installs, measurements, etc., that it's no wonder the shop orders haven't been getting done. There's no one there to do them! But the boss won't allow overtime and won't hire someone else. Very frustrating situation. The boss rants on about how the company is in the poor house, yet he and his wife are both driving 2 year old vehicles. Not sure I quite get that-wife works for the company so it is their SOLE source of income. The company has no money but THEY have money for two new vehicles. The math just doesn't add up. Anyway. I'm going to call today and remind dh to get the estimate on the cabin windows, so we can get that done and hopefully get moved into the cabin before it gets too cold. Then we can start seriously house hunting. I hadn't realized just how long it would take us to start picking up again, but I'm glad we're finally there.

Hi, Bobbie, Nice to meet you! I've loved it here since the first day I came. So many like minds, but we all seem to be able to embrace our differences, which really makes me happy! See ya around the boards!

Hi newbies!