Three Times In One Day

Today must be one of those days. I worked and worked and got almost the entire house clean - floors mopped, one bathroom scrubbed, vacuumed, dusted, mirrors clean, etc. After almost 8 hours of cleaning and laundry, I ran out of steam after I vacuumed my bedroom, so tomorrow, my bedroom and bathroom, along with my regular chores. I love to do it. It makes me feel so good when it is done. It is challenging, and trying, but good. I also made a dinner using the tasteless little shrimp that were filling my freezer...We were given elk meat by a dear friend at church who is moving -(I hope he realizes just how much he blessed us!!!), and I had to make room, so I sauteed the shrimp in olive oil, garlic and red pepper flakes, mixed it with some cooked pasta, and topped with mozzarella cheese. A good dinner for the guys and lunch tomorrow for both. We also had a limb break on our lemon tree in the big winds we had, so the guys took down the limb, got the lemons, we all squeezed and we canned 12 quarts of lemon juice (my freezer has tons in it already).

A busy day, indeed. But, I did have a moment, after the kitchen has been cleaned again, to reflect on the life of a dear friend. Gregg died suddenly this morning. I get emails from him all of the time. The other day, he sent a picture of a redneck with a DUI conviction: a guy on a bike with a deer over his shoulders. This morning, one of the emails I received was a warning about a new breast cancer. He is sensitive to cancer...his dear wife Joyce battled cancer, and has won. I read the emails, and deleted them, as usual. No big deal, I thought. MOre tomorrow. But, there will be no more tomorrow. Gregg shared everything via email: from funny pics, to health warnings, to politics, to...well just about everything. I took all for granted. I thought they would just keep on coming, but they won't.

Gregg was Dee's fried for more than 30 years. I just keep thinking about seeing him at Allison's wedding reception, at Ethan's wedding reception. Joyce was very ill at Allison's, and yet both of them came...all the way from Tucson, just to be with us. They came to Ethan's. Gregg was like the brother Dee never had (1 boy, 5 sisters!). I don't know if I ever told him just how much it meant to have him there for my sweetheart...what a difference he made. It didn't matter to him that we were Mormon...Dee joined the church during their friendship, and it just didn't matter to him. They were friends, and that is all that mattered. You don't find friends like that.

Dee called Gregg last Sunday night. I am so glad he did! They talked work, and politics, and worries. It was a good call. I want to tell you to take a moment...think of those people who stand by you, who help you, who hold you up, who send you email. Don't ever take them for granted. It takes just one moment to change everything.

I Miss...

One of the hardest things you will ever have to do is to let your children and grandbabies move to another state. I sat and talked to my sweet Adam, and to my dear Allison last night. All I could do is wish that I could be there in Vegas to help her, to watch sweet Adam and Grace when she has to go to a meeting, to hear about the birthday party that Adam went to, to see Grace and all her "babies"! Oh, how I miss them...

So Very Sad

Dee just got a phone call at work...his dear friend, Gregg Ellicksen, died suddenly of a heart attack this morning. Gregg has been his friend since high school. They worked together at Bill Johnson's Big Apple. He was in our wedding. He would ALWAYS send us a Christmas card. He would stop in and visit all the time. They built cars together. Our kids always referred to him as the guy with the neat race car! When he moved to Tucson, with his dear Joyce, he would stay in touch and still visit. He was there for our kids' weddings, even though he really didn't know them that well, and it was quite a distance to drive. He emailed us all of the time. Dee was his best man when he married Joyce...(I got to be the deejay for the ceremony!) He was just what you call a true blue friend. He didn't care what our religion, what our politics, or anything. He just wanted to be a friend, and a good friend he was. We will truly miss him!

Good Things

Dee's anticipted May trip to India for work has been cancelled (his Honeywell division has no travel budget). This is great news, and sad news.

The Glad:
I hate it when he is gone, and he would have had to be gone "three weeks on the ground" which adds four more days for traveling, making it gone almost four weeks. I surely would have perished! I am totally dependent on him, even after 29 years! I love his sweet kisses, his warm hugs, and his ever encouraging "I love you's".I love his snoring and muttering in his sleep, the sound of his singing, working in the yard with him, and sometimes I can stay awake to watch a movie...at least the beginning and the end! I love him for ALL he does here, too. That pool looks great all the time because he cares for it, and it seems to sense when he is gone, and so it goes cuckoo when he is away. He cares for our cars: changing oil, fixing various problems that 1990's cars get, and even cleans it out for me after weeks of driving the "pigs" to school! He makes everything nice and wonderful, and makes sure I am happy. No one does it like him!

No worries about what food he is in contact with. He can't eat onions, and that severely limits what Indian food he can eat. They try to help in their cooking but they don't understand. And then, he will get some fruit, etc. off the street, and I worry that the knife used to chop that coconut was used for something unsavory before that...or that maybe they haven't cleaned things so well. Sanitary conditions around the world are not the same as here...and sometimes things here are pretty bad!

The sad:
He was really looking forward to going to the Bangalore 2nd Branch of the Church. He just loved the people in India at church. They were kind and humble and positive and grateful for their blessings, even though it seems to us that they have little!

He really had made progress with the people he was working with in helping them get an engine for Honeywell into production. He is very patient (I hear the phone meetings at night.) He likes the people he works with. The only problem is that the room they use for the telephone meetings echoes badly...another sad...he wanted them to get a rug for the floor or wall...and now, no rug, but then, again, meetings are off as well.

He gets no excursions. He would use his Saturday for an adventure. He went to a maharajah's palace, and a zoo last trip. He also took many pics of the people and lifestyle. He loves to learn about new things, and this was a great opportunity.

No projects at home...for Suzzy. I had planned on FINALLY getting my room fixed up from the storm 12 years ago. My ceiling is in less than stellar condition, and we just ran out of money when we got to the master bedroom. I had planned to have him fix the ceiling before he left, and help me install/build the built in shelves I wanted, and then I was going to move the bed, and paint the walls my favorite Sage Green. (I had planned that we would save on gas, food, etc. with the money we wouldn't be spending for the 3 1/2 weeks he was gone, so I could by a sheet of drywall, some mud, a couple of sheets of plywood, and a can or two of paint.)

No spices. He found some Indian spices when he was there last time. I have a little saffron that he got for cheap! And he found the most wonderful cinnamon...it was in bark form. At first, we would just hand "sand" it off, but I got a spice grinder at a yard sale, so I was ready for new cinnamon.

No Christmas projects for Suzzy. I have to keep myself VERY busy when he is away. I hate tv, so my evenings get long. I am making my daughters in law and older daughter things for Christmas. I cannot say what, but I hope that, while my gifts will not officially cost a lot, they will become something they will treasure from me...something that will be in their homes long past me! I will still do them, just not get them done. I even thought to cut out my ornaments for next year and get them going. I need to do that anyway...maybe if I was busy in the evening, I would not hear the hershey kisses calling me!

Furlough worries. I was so sure that we would save so much money with me not cooking and him not driving to work for weeks that the first furlough week, which we were going to schedule for when he got back, would be no problem. I am just a worry wart. This month, I have cut back, and saved over $300 from the food budget, while still maintaining our 3 month supply and our year's supply. I have tried new things, made smaller portions, and had great meals! And I buy nothing else, so it is working, and maybe it won't be so bad, and it will be wonderful to have him home for an additional week!

I think the good far far outweighs the bad, but I am sad for him. He is concerned about work and this was something he felt very valued in. I am happy for me...sad for him!

More Food Experiments

I received two tomatillos and a few of various kinds of chilis in my Food Club Box this week. So, on my way home from taking Nate to track practice, I stopped at Food City and got a couple of pounds of tomatillos (on sale) and some cilantro. After the power was on, and they had gone to Mesa, I washed and sliced the tomatillos in half, roasted them with all the chilis under the broiler, and proceeded to make some tomatillo salsa. I put 4 small roasted chilis, the tomatillos, cilantro, lime juice, and salt in my food processor and let it go. It looks great...but it is soooo hot (at least for me!) I fear it is only good to remove paint from a barn!

In My Corner of the World Today

Hearing:

My dear sweet hubby softly snoring as he sits on the couch near me and takes a quick nap. He has spent the whole day working on the yard drip system (1+ acre and many leaks) and monitoring as the electrical portion of our solar power system was hooked up. He leaves in a little over an hour to drive some of our ward's young men out to the temple to perform baptisms for the dead. What a great blessing he is in my life.
The dishwasher runningwhich means that our power has been turned back on. I was nuts this morning when I couldn't wash, dry, blow dry, vacuum, compute, or anything. I love electricity.
Kayty singing. She just adds so much to our home. She is ALWAYS singing something!
Doran and Nathan banging - Nathan is cutting out rusty spots on that 1960 truck he is restoring and then cutting a new piece of metal and welding it in. He has learned sooooo much on this project!!

Tasting -
Pecans - they are so wonderful from Costco!
Banana Sugar Free Popsicle - only a few left before price increase and box size decrease, so I am enjoying every last one!

Seeing -
My beautiful swimming pool and my freshly mown lawn-I sure can't wait for the water to be warmer, though I don't want the temp outside to get warmer!
A house waiting to be vacuumed - at least I will have time when everyone goes out to do my work, though I had wanted to begin making my kids' Christmas gifts...I decided to make something for each one.
Pictures of my sweet family-I am so blessed. My sons married wonderful women...would not trade Cameo or Danyel for all the money in the world! And Mike, my daughter's husband, is simply the best son in law ever. Though my daughter lives in Vegas, I know Mike is there to take care of them, to bless them, and I am comforted. I have the most awesome children in the world, and I am very, very proud of what each and every one has accomplished and of who the are!!! And then there are those sweet, wonderful grandbabies of mine...I think of them all the time, and I miss them, but I gain great happiness knowing how much Allison does to make them happy!

Smelling-
Clean dishes - don't you love that clean dish smell the dishwasher gives!
Cranberry lotion - Kayty just loaded my Christmas stocking with the best Ulta lotion this year. I used up one Hot Cocoa lotion, and now I am on to the Cranberry...so nice!
Sloppy joes - dinner before the guys go to the temple

Feeling -
Keys on my keyboard - I love the computer and the opportunity it gives me to share. I would love to write someday, and, while I am totally untrained, at least I get some early practice until I can be educated.
Missing someone...

What are you doing?

Using My Resources!

We are trying to be very careful about our spending, saving for the furlough weeks that Doran has to take for the rest of the year. I always planned meals and kept track of our spending, but now I try even harder to do it all better and cheaper. I had heard about the Westside Food Bank Food Club from a friend's blog, and had gone and purchased some items near Christmas...the meat was wonderful, and I used most of the staples, and veggies. I went again with Dorrie yesterday. I only got a $13 pantry box...no meat, but the haul I got was incredible. I got 2 cases of Gatorade -great for a football/discus and shotput athlete. I got 8 loaves of bread (French bread used for French toast this morning and garlic toast tonight) rolls, hamburger buns (sloppy joes tomorrow), canned goods, cakes, candies, - what to do with 2 large loaves of rye bread I am trying to discover. I also got tons of veggies...2 head of lettuce, 2 big bunches of celery, dry red peppers (great in Dee's kung pao), jalapenos, tomatillos, four yellow squash, dried red peppers, beans, pintos, rice, corn flakes, 12 boxes of grape tomatoes, and just tons of stuff. It took me quite a while to put it away.

So, today, for my planned dinner, I made Lasagna. I had thawed 1 pound of ground turkey meat. For the sauce, I cut up the fennel I received in the box yesterday and sauteed it with the garlic and then added Italian seasoning,salt, and red pepper flakes and 1 1/2 super large cans of crushed tomatoes. That made enough sauce for 2 lasagnas...plus I had cottage cheese frozen that I had gotten on sale...mixed that with Parmesan cheese I had from a clearance, and some oregano. I also had an eggplant from yesterday that I had no clue what to do with, so I peeled, thin sliced, and browned the slices in a Cooking sprayed pan. To assemble, I put sauce on the bottom, then lasagna noodles, then the eggplant slices (covered the bottom layer of both lasagnas) then sauce, then cottage/Parmesan/oregano mixture, then mozzarella (2 pound bag I got on sale last week for 3.99!)I kept layering, and topped with the mozzarella. I had enough for two pans of lasagna, plus I made a little one for Nate's lunch (and our snacking pleasure) out of the extra. Still have some mozzarella left, too. And Kayty didn't figure out about the eggplant or the fennel until her second helping, when Nathan "kindly" pointed out that she had eaten that. It was so fun to try something new.

It's interesting. This is the first month I have really cut back. I am very careful at WalMart...no shopping the store, just goal oriented visits. No extra shopping. Planned meals. One or two meatless meals a week (Nathan still isn't used to lentils!) And I feel I have accomplished a lot!!