Archive for November, 2009
Our friends at Thanksgiving yesterday were admiring the mini laptop that Jeff bought me for my birthday. (It’s an Asus Eee PC.) I still can’t believe that he found laptop deals that were so awesome … he got it for way cheap! Anyway, I’m still loving it. I want to knit a sleeve to protect it but just haven’t found the time. The tiny keys make it a challenge to type sometimes, but it’s no big deal. Jeff installed Linux on it (Ubuntu), and so far I’m enjoying that. Hard to get used to, though, and different from Windows!
My father-in-law is so difficult to shop for at Christmastime. He’s into a bunch of stuff that I really don’t “get,” like ham radio, computer equipment, etc. Thing is, I know that he would love some discount cigars. He’s a cigar smoker ~ at least, he was the last time we visited. We just don’t want to encourage him to smoke, though! So I think we should come up with something different. He’s a huge Tony Stewart fan, though, as are we ~ so maybe something along those lines. Hmm. Any ideas for a hard-to-buy-for guy?
I’ve noticed such a difference with this new anti-anxiety medication. I no longer have the desire to eat, eat, eat all the time, and my body’s “I’m full!” signal seems to be working again. Some mornings, I force myself to eat breakfast only because I know that I have to take my pill with food. And in the evenings, I don’t feel the urge to get something sweet to snack on ~ I’m still full from dinner. This medicine is really working wonders for me. Of course, I need to exercise, too. I have a Kettlebell system as well as EA Active for the Wii, and I love to take walks. And there’s the elliptical machine in our basement ~ guess I’d better jump on that, too, huh? :)
My inlaws have a pond in their front yard, and I think it’s really neat. This past summer when we visited Indiana, we went for a paddle boat ride. I hadn’t been on one of those in such a long time! Of course, they have to buy lots of pond supplies to keep the water healthy and clean ~ but I’d think it would be worth it. We have a small drainage stream in our side yard that would be neat to landscape someday and build a bridge over. I can see all kinds of pretty rocks, plants, etc. along the “banks.” We’ll just add that to our long list of home improvement projects! :)
Is it bad that I’m already starting to think about plans for our 10th wedding anniversary in June? :) I just know that our big day will be here before we know it, and I want to have some kind of plan in place. No clue how we’d find someone to watch the kids, however. They’ve never spent a night apart from us. Should we taken them with us? In a way, though, it would be so nice to have time together as a couple to just hang out, relax, and talk. I might check into Outer Banks rentals since neither one of us has been to North Carolina. Or, we could find a neat place here in New York State to vacation. Anyway, it’s fun daydreaming about it! :)
I remember so well the day that my husband and I went to the home improvement store to pick out our house faucets. Geez ~ I didn’t know the difference between American Standard sinks and Kohler, but we learned quickly! I remember feeling absolutely overwhelmed at all of the different decisions we had to make. I couldn’t quite imagine how it would all come together, and frankly, I’m very glad to be finished with that part! But looking at everything now, I am very happy.
My husband and I moved from Indiana to New York in June 2000, right after getting back from our honeymoon. We checked into all sorts of cross country moving companies but decided that it would be cheaper to move on our own. It was quite an experience. I remember driving our big moving truck into Albany, NY, and thinking how unfamiliar everything looked. I figured that I would never find my way around. But now, nine years later, we know so much more about this area! Hard to believe that next year will be our 10th anniversary of moving to the Empire State!
I found this recipe in my Gooseberry Patch desk calendar and thought that I would pass it along. It sounds very good. If you make it, let me know how you enjoy it! (I’d probably use cream of chicken soup instead, though.)
Turkey-Almond Casserole
2 10-3/4 oz. cans cream of mushroom soup
1/2 C mayonnaise
1/2 C sour cream
2 TB. onion, chopped
2 TB. lemon juice
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
5 C. cooked turkey, cubed
3 C cooked rice
4 stalks celery, chopped
8-oz. can sliced water chestnuts, drained
1 1/4 C. sliced almonds, divided
1 1/2 C. round buttery cracker crumbs
1/3 C butter, melted
Combine soup, mayonnaise, sour cream, onion, lemon juice, salt, and pepper in a large bowl; mix well. Stir in turkey, rice, celery, water chestnuts, and 1 C almonds. Transfer to a greased 13″x9″ baking pan; set aside. Mix remaining almonds, cracker crumbs, and butter; sprinkle over top. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes until bubbly and golden. Serves 6. Source: Gooseberry Patch 2009 Calendar.
We have a nice tv stand in our bonus room. (Well, it’s really an entertainment center.) Thing is, once we purchase a flat-screen TV to hang on the wall, we’ll have to figure out something to do with that entertainment center. Maybe we can put it in our bedroom, but better yet ~ our basement would be a great place for it. I’d love to have a little mini family room down there, even though it gets kind of cold during the winter! It would be fun to have a place down there to relax, and we have plenty of CDs and DVDs that we could store there.
It would be lots of fun to look up information about orlando vacations and dream about taking our kids to Disney World someday. I think that it will mean a lot more to them when they’re older, though. My parents, when they were here visiting us this weekend, talked about maybe us coming to visit them and then going to Dollywood in Tennessee. The kids would love that. I’ve been there once before. They would have so much fun stuff for the kids, and it’s great for adults, too!
