Spring Time Concerts

Ooo Lookie here!

We've got countdowns ticking down to the Willie Nelson concert in Abilene in March

and Jimmy Buffett in Dallas in May :)

Chili, Cake & Pink Flamingos

It was quite an eventful Saturday..

and I didn't have to cook all day. :)

First was the "Chili Day" at the Civic Center, and Walter had given us tickets to go there for lunch. However, David and I don't eat beef, and so we ended up having some cobbler and ice cream for lunch!

On the way home, we couldn't help but stare at this huge pink lawn flamingo that had been put up in town. Pretty cool.

Later that evening, the whole family convened over at Stephanie's house to celebrate her 40th birthday. Mike had catered food from Harold's Barbecue and had a cake specially made to resemble blown glass ( Stephanie, besides being a teacher, also has her own blown glass business ), as well as a chocolate cake.

Judith and Sabrina putting together a vintage dolly











“Jesus replied: "
'Love the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your mind.'
This is the first and greatest commandment.
And the second is like it:
'Love your neighbor as yourself.”

- Matthew 22:37-39

Total Lunar Eclipse & Letti Thursday

So who else caught the eclipse?

If I had better equipment I would have done better, but I don't think I did too shabbily.

And it was stuffed chicken breasts ( with spinach, cream cheese and bits of ham ), fried rice & stir fried veges for dinner :)

Psalm 72:5

He will endure as long as the sun,
as long as the moon,
through all generations.

Feeling Better & Multiple Projects

Thank God,

after a week of feeling like the pits, I am finally much better and even went to Taco Tuesday :) David's tummy was a little iffy the past two days, but he ate breakfast and lunch today, so we're thinking the worst is over :)

Also, we've had handyman Ray working with us on projects that have waited too long to be worked on. Finally, there is light at the end of the tunnel as far as the cattery goes, the medicine cabinet finally went up in the "girl's bathroom", the shower in the "girl's bathroom" is fixed and working, the plumbing outside the house is sorted out to make more sense, the coils and coils of cable and telephone line wire are tidied up and underground and under the house... and yet there are still so many more things yet to be done..... But never fear, Ray is here :) For a good many months, I'm sure :)

Valentine's and Stomach Flu

It's been a tough few days..

what with all the retching and nausea. The first day was all about running to the toilet with churning and cramping insides.. then came the nausea, loss of appetite and barfing.

Out the window flew our plans of a nice Letti's Thursday / Valentine's Day with the boys. We did bring them out to Cracker Barrel, though,where I had a bit of soup. But 15 minutes in, I had to excuse myself to go to the bathroom to puke my guts out.

This morning, I tried to have a bit of bland ol' chicken soup and managed to keep THAT down for like half an hour. I think I've probably kept down, in these past 3 days, about 15 pieces of crackers, 3/4 bowl of chicken noodle soup and a piece of Jicama.

My stomach hurts partly because I'm hungry, but when I eat anything, my stomach hurts even more, and I start to throw up.

This is getting to be quite tedious.

The only thing I seem to be able to tolerate is Diet Coke. Other than the hydration factor, it's zero calories, which doesn't really do anything for me right now.

Anyway, on the plus side, I received several things in the mail this week from family and friends, as well as Valentiney stuff from David, so it was all good. :)

Here's the Valentine Bear and Flowers and DARK CHOCOLATE

It was a good thing I managed to savour one of those dark chocolate pieces before all this nonsense started. Bleh.

Then, I received several items in the mail which helped brighten up my day..

First was a pair of golden ( chocolate ) piggies that Jumbledmind had sent me and David. Yay.. love ya, sis.

And Syukur, sweet sweet Syukur, sent me a Anuar Zain CD, all the way from Malaysia, knowing that I like Anuar Zain and how deprived I've been of all kinds of things Malaysian. Yay, Hurray for Syukur!

Last but not least, the first issue of Good Housekeeping came ( 2 years FREE SUBSCRIPTION ) thanks to AdPerk .. We had already received 2 issues of Popular Science, and so it was sweet to get the Good HouseKeeping too. Hurray!

Update : Half a bowl of cream of chicken eaten at dinner, still holding up !

Psalm 41:3
The LORD will sustain him
on his sickbed and restore him
from his bed of illness.

Cleanliness..

It is a pleasure to have (parts of) a kitchen..

that are clean and nice to work with, so you can at least work and cook feeling all fresh and comfortable,

(heheh)

Our home is a humble double-wide mobile home, and it came with all the simple ( sometimes really weird ) mobile home fixtures, and we never really had to change much ( other than the hideous wallpaper ). But one of the things that really got to me was the kitchen sink faucet that leaked a little at first ( into the sink, not under the sink, thank heavens ), and then it got worse and worse, and finally its little strainer thingy where the water comes out decided to go kaput as well. So we put in a new faucet and ahhh..it's sweet :) . Doesn't take all that much to make me happy..

Our fridge also came with the house ( the people that lived in the mobile home before, couldn't make the payments and so it was repossessed, and before they moved out, they left it in QUITE A STATE, but they also a few major appliances there ), and it works well, but I've kinda neglected to clean it after a while.. So yesterday was the major taking out and cleaning and putting back in of the fridginess... Ahh.. it's all clean and sorted out now :)

Leviticus 14:48
"But if the priest comes to examine it
and the mildew has not spread
after the house has been plastered,
he shall pronounce the house clean,
because the mildew is gone

Chinese New Year Spread

I tried my best..

1. Won Ton Soup

2. Stir Fried Noodles

3. Stir Fry Green Beans





4. Kinda Kung Pao Chicken





5. Sweet and Sour Fried Fish

( I tried to emulate my grandmother's recipe - should have taken notes while I could have...- and adjusted to da boyz' tastes )

Ding Ding Ding.. The Dinner Bell Rings...




"And he said unto them,
Go ye into all the world,
and preach the gospel
to every creature."

~Mark 16:15~

Happy Chinese New Year

Another Chinese New Year away from home

Will have to try and do better next time :)

This year, Chinese New Year coincides with Letti Thursday with da boyz, so we'll see what I can whip up that would be Chinesey, and yet American enough :) And that the boys don't feel hungry an hour later.

( I don't get that.. I was totally satiated for more than just a few hours each time after a meal in malaysia, and I'd never even heard of the chinese food hunger thing till I got here!! )

Psalm 107:9

For he satisfies the thirsty
and fills the hungry with good things.

Feel Good Stuff

Food is so hard to photograph,

but I'm still learning :)

Here's the egg in a nest/egg in a hole/toad in the hole/egg and a half or what else you may call it I made for breakfast today, with a heart shaped cookie cutter. Hard to see the shape in this shot.. :)

We watched The Bucket List yesterday night.. definitely a 2 thumbs up from David and me. I still remember watching Morgan Freeman in the old Electric Company days :) Like, how CAN you go wrong with Morgan Freeman? The man's played God and the President of the United States! :)