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Timing & Thankfulness

We are finally moved. It has been almost a month since I have posted anything. It is wonderful to finally be back in a house (no we weren’t living in a car) and Randy is most grateful for a garage again. It has always been such fun to move and have the adventure of exploring a new area and decorating a new house. But…I was never 70 before and I have to admit that this move was much harder than anticipated. Back in December, when we looked at this wonderful house that we now call home, I truly thought that this would be my most organized move. But here we were in February when we actually did move, and I felt that it was my most disorganized move. But I have to get to the core of this text. You will notice that the title includes the words “timing” and “thankfulness”. Let me begin about a year ago….

February, 2020, our landlord for the condo where we were living decided she was tired of being a landlord and called to tell me that she was going to put the condo on the market to sell. Well, because Covid had hit and Randy was now working from home, the condo truly was getting smaller and smaller by the day. In my mind, I just figured that because I really wanted out of there and God knew we needed a house that had 3 bedrooms for him to have a place to office, the place would sell quickly. After all, hadn’t I prayed that it would sell quickly and given God the desires of my heart? When will I ever learn to quit treating God like a Geanie? Our landlord had a tenant in another one of her rental houses that expressed his desire to move into our place. Well, my goodness, this was going to be great. He came and looked at our place and said, “yes, he wanted to move right in and would take over our lease so we could move”. I couldn’t wait for our landlord to call to tell us that indeed Tom would be moving in and we could begin to start looking for a place to move. So that night I began to box things up, just knowing that this was going to be easy and so much fun to look for a house. Well, as days turned into weeks, Tom could not get the financing he needed to “buy” the place and our landlord didn’t want to be a landlord anymore, but wanted to sell the place. So there we were, stuck in the middle of Tom wanting to move in and the landlord not allowing him to rent. Time after time, landlord would call and say, “don’t get your hopes up high, but I think Tom has worked out a deal and will be able to get financing. So I would once again, begin to pack more boxes, just knowing that we would be out of there. Summer came and went and fall was now upon us. Every once in a while, we would get a call that got our hopes up. The realtor only showed the place 3 times, but Tom was still in the picture. Only, he had given up trying to get financing. I kept thinking that maybe our landlord would give in to him leasing and let him move in, but to no avail. In November, Randy and I sat down one evening to talk about the situation. We knew our lease was not up until the end of April so we still had 5 months to go. After thinking and praying about this, we both felt that we needed a plan. Because Randy works all week, the packing would be pretty much up to me. So we decided to start looking for a place that would become available March 1st. We knew that would have us paying double rent for March and April, but we also knew that I would need time to look for a house, pack and get us out of there by the end of April. That would give us two months to do what we needed to do. And that became our plan. Well, December 4th, I was online looking, like I had begun to do the last couple of weeks. A house in a neighborhood that we had driven through many times, popped up and it was exactly what we had set our limit at. I showed it to Randy and he said, lets call our friend, Jack and ask him to call to see if it will be available March 1st. So I did. Jack called us back and said that the owner said it would be available Feb 1st and that he wouldn’t hold it until March. That if we wanted it, we would have to take it as of Feb 1st. We had counted on paying double rent for 2 months, but not 3. But we both wanted to go see it. So we did. As we stood out in the street talking to Jack about it, Randy told Jack that we would take it. I ask him if he was sure and he said, “yes, I think we need to take it, as it’s exactly what we have been looking for and it is one story and what we want to pay.” So Jack called the owner and told him we wanted it. As only God can do, on the way home that evening, we both remembered that Randy had received a bonus in the mail the day before that would almost cover February’s rent on the new place. As we continued to drive, I began to just tear up thinking about that and how God’s timing is always so perfect. But it gets better. We continue to pack up and December comes and goes. It is now the end of January and we are busy little beavers packing and getting things in order to move February 12th. Jodi, our daughter comes in from Phoenix to help with the move. We have Cameron and Jason who each came and began to move things into the new place as of February 1st. Well, and this is what amazes me. Our landlord from the condo calls to tell us that Tom wants to move into the condo and she is going to let him have a 6 month lease, if he will agree to buy it after the 6 months. And he wanted to move in March 1st. March 1st…..as I sit and type this, I can’t help but cry thinking of God’s goodness. We ended up not having to pay our out lease for March and April. Today is March 2nd and I received a call from the landlord who has become our friend. Tom was moving in today to the condo and she was typing out our deposit to sent back to us and needed our new address. Why do we ever doubt God’s timing or His goodness? Yes, it wasn’t in the time I thought it should be, but this was even better. It showed me just how amazing His timing is and how it is always perfect. We are truly so thankful for this house and for God’s provision to us. We cannot thank Him enough. When we let Him do things His way, they seem to always be so much sweeter than the plan had gone the way I expected it to. Am so very thankful for the best pantry I have ever had, a house full of windows that always is such a HUGE priority to me and Randy has his garage……God is so good and we are so thankful for the blessings He bestows upon us. I pray that we will be a lighthouse for Him and share the gospel when opportunities arise in this new place, which He has given to us.

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Masks Warning

You can thank me later! Tuesday morning began like any other day. I got up, opened up my Diet DrPepper and sat down to read my devotion of the day. Decided to then make breakfast for Randy and I before heading to the Dr to see about a problem I have been having with my hip. Since I knew I would have to get on the industrial scale the dr has installed that looks like and is almost large enough to weigh an 18 wheeler, I decided to eat light that morning . I didn’t want the Dr fussing at me for gaining weight these last 6 months! So we ate a light breakfast of scrambled eggs with cheese. Toast (but without jelly, trying to stay “light”), sausage patties and juice. We skipped fried potatoes that morning. Didn’t want to take any chances of adding a pound or two. Feeling pretty cocky and Positive that I could still zip my jeans to dress nice for dr appointment. I drove to the appointment feeling pretty spiffy that Dr would look at me and say, “trudy I’m so proud of you, you did great these last 6 months and didn’t gain the Covid weight most people have gained!” When the Dr assistant came to walk me back, we chatted and she stopped me in front of the heavy metal floor scale that weighs folks! I told her it would take me a min to disrobe all the unnecessary cloths that I knew would add pounds! So I proceeded to take off my coat, my vest, my earrings, my bracelet and shoes! When I began to remove my mask she stopped me and said, ” oh Ms Trudy, you have to keep your mask on”. What??? But that is unnecessary baggage and might effect the scales! So very unhappily leaving the mask on, I glanced to the image the red light was projecting on the wall from the scale! Lo and Behold, just as I had warned the lady who was writing down the info she was seeing, the masks had indeed caused a 10 lb difference since last dr visit! So please ladies and gentlemen, be careful which mask you wear to weigh in. Some of them have hidden weights in them. They might look small and flimsy but beware!!! They are not what you want to be caught in when having to weigh in at dr office! Be sure and choose a mask that does not have these weights! No matter the light versions of meals you consume before going will not be enough to keep the scales down if you are wearing the wrong masks!!!! Please pass this on so others will be in the know! And to think that Randy and I went without the normal large order of French fries that we have along with our double double hamburger at In and Out the night before the appointment! If I had known about this we would not have sacrificed the fries! This is so sad that we were never warned about this! Am now on a search for a new masks that has no writing or pictures or any weights secretly sewed in them. And by the way, all of you who were mailed pretty little lime green masks that has Humana written in large white letters….that screens “I am A Senior Citizen”, throw that one out also!

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Tis So Sweet

Tis So Sweet is now available on Amazon $12 and is full of wonderful testimonies from woman who have so sweetly shared their hearts! Bake a cookie, scone, pie or cake, from the many recipes in the book! Sit and read stories of Gods faithfulness to women, who have gone thru a difficult season but chose to put their trust in the One who gives us hope and peace! Thanks to Barbi Wright Briscoe, Becky Frame, Christi Schwalk, Debbie Stuart,Dee Smith, Dianne Bryant, Haley Stuart Taylor, Holly Hawkins Shivers, Linda Perry, Simone Monroe, Sylvia Gilmour and Wyndi Geren for your willingness of opening up your heart to us! May God be glorified through these declarations!

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Tuesday Taco Soup

I know it is still Monday, but what a great soup this would be to make tomorrow for your dinner. Finally made it to the store for groceries. Because of eating at home so much and trying to think of different meals, other than the weekly spaghetti, meatloaf, tacos, or friend chicken, I was really in the mood to think of some new things to make. As I stood there on the aisle with the hamburger meat, I began to think of taco soup. From there, I started thinking about sloppy joes, homemade nachos, baked pork ribs and homemade chicken noodle soup. As soon as I put away the groceries, I started the taco soup. We just finished dinner and both of us sat there and said how much we enjoyed it. All that to say, I thought I would share the recipe with you. Sometimes the recipes (that really aren’t a recipe but just items you throw in to cook together end up being really better than you hoped). Remember I was making this for 2 people but it still made enough for us to have for lunch tomorrow, even though we both ate 2 bowls tonight.

1/2 lb ground round

1/2 large onion

2 medium carrots, diced (or 1 large carrot)

1 large potato, peeled and diced

1/2 green bell pepper, rinsed and diced

2 celery ribs, finely diced

1/2 can (8.75 oz) whole kernel corn, drained

1 (14.5 oz) can petite diced tomatoes with juice

1 small can (8 oz) of tomato sauce

1 can Ranch Style Beans, not drained (use juice and all)

2 cups water

1 teas garlic powder, salt & pepper to taste

1 teas Goya Adobo Seasoning

Brown the hamburger meat in a large cooking pot with the celery, onion and bell pepper. Sprinkle the Goya Adobo seasoning and garlic over the meat as it cooks.

Add the rest of ingredients and cover. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 2-3 hours, depending on how large or small you diced the carrots or potatoes. After 1 1/2 hours, I removed soup from the oven to check on it. I ended up adding about 1 more cup of water to the mixture and continued baking for another 1 1/2 hours.

Top with garnish, such as fried tortilla strips, fresh cilantro, sour cream and shredded cheese. I fried tortillas and sprinkle sharp Cheddar cheese on them. Placed in a preheated 450 degree oven until cheese melted and served them along side the soup. A great soup for a cold evening!

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Creamy Chicken Florentine Bake

Another recipe I found when trying to consolidate magazines. Yes, I do use recipes sometimes that are not from Paula Deen, but I don’t think I have ever made any of her recipes that just didn’t “hit it out of the ballpark.” So once again, thank Paula for just a good comfort food recipe.

1 1/2 cups whole milk

1 cup half & half

1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese

1/2 pound zeta pasta, cooked according to directions on package

2 cups fresh baby spinach

1 rotisserie chicken, meat shredded, skin and bones discarded

1 (14 oz) can quartered artichoke hearts, drained

2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teas salt

1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400. Spray a deep 13×9 (well, it just so happens that I have a deep 9×13 baking pan from Paula Deen bakeware that I use constantly) with cooking spray.

In a large saucepan, bring milk and half & half to a boil over medium heat; cook, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes. Stir in mozzarella until melted and sauce has thickened slightly. Stir in cooked pasta and spinach.

In a large bowl, stir together pasta mixture, chicken , artichokes, tomatoes, garlic and salt until well blended. (I will also add about 1/2 teas fresh ground pepper). Pour into prepared pan and cover with foil.

Bake until hot and hubby, about 20 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake until cheese is melted, about 10 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving with garlic bread and fresh salad.

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Chile Cheese Fries Casserole

Maybe because it is cold outside, and maybe because Randy and I went to Snuffers a couple of weeks ago to pig out on their amazing fries that have melted cheddar all over them with bacon bits and green onion with Ranch Dressing to dip them in (as if they needed extra flavor?), this recipe caught my eye when I was going through a pile of magazines last night. But, At Mr. Please Get Rid of Some of The Magazines So We Don’t Have to Move Them, suggestion, I decided to go through them and cut out the recipes I wanted to keep and throw the rest away. That is so hard to do. I keep thinking, “what if my taste change and in 5 years, the recipe I’m throwing away today, might actually sound good to me and then I don’t have it anymore”. But I guess that is why Google was invented. Anyway, back to this recipe, it sounded like a dish that would be so fun to eat on a Friday night when you are sitting having dinner in the Living Room watching a movie. So here it is…see what you think. It is taken from Cooking with Paula Deen. Please do not tell her I threw out some of her magazines. I would hate to ruin my chances of one day meeting her and telling her that she is the best cook EVER!

1 lb ground chuck

2 (15.5 oz) cans chile beans

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes

1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes with green chiles (mild or regular)

1 tables Worcestershire sauce

1 (2 lb) bag of crinkle-cut frozen fries

4 cups shredded Cheddar cheese, divided

Garnish: diced green onion, pickled sliced jalapeños, and my suggestion, green onion and Ranch Dressing

In a large Dutch oven, cook the beef over medium heat until browned and crumbly. Drain well. Stir in the beans, tomatoes and Worcestershire. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally for about an hour.

Preheat oven to 450. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with for. Spray foil with Pam. Spread the frozen fries onto prepared pan. Bake for 25 minutes. Reduce oven to 400. Reserve 2 cups of the fries, but place the remaining fries in the bottom of a greased 13×9″ baking dish. Sprinkle 2 cups of the cheese over fries. Using a slotted spoon, spoon chile mixture over cheese. Now spread the rest of the fries over this and use remaining cheese to sprinkle over the fries.

Bake until hot and bubbly, about 20 minutes. Let stand for about 5-10 minutes and garnish as desired.

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Love Y’all

Well, I did it again, Sunday, when closing the video of making roast for dinner, I signed off with “bye, love ya’ll” Randy looked at me and said, “love y’all?” I am in such a habit of always ending phone conversations with our kids and family (and yes, even friends) that it just comes out before I think. Randy reminded me after he shut off the video of the times past when, because of this habit, a repairman thought I was after him. As the man (who I had never met before) left the kitchen, headed for the front door, I thanked him and said, “love you”. When he turned around and looked at me, I started laughing and told him I was sorry. That I was just in the habit of saying that to our kids each time they left. Thank goodness, Randy was home to back up my story. Then there was the time when I was trying to get the City of Pasadena to start our water service when we had moved out there. Because Randy knows that I am patient enough to stay on the line when they put you on hold, he figures that it is best to let me do the phone calling for new service so he can just sit and drink his coffee. So at the end of the conversation, I had not only thanked the man for his help, but I ended with “thanks so much and I love you.” Before I could explain, the guy hung up the phone and Randy just looked at me and said, “you know, we have a chance here to begin a whole new life. A life that doesn’t include you telling every person you know that you love them and making them wonder if California doesn’t have another weird stalker moving in.” I gave Randy the evil eye and said, “what would Jesus do?”

A few years back when email was pretty new, I had my son come over and help me get an email address and show me how to customize a signature. It was so exciting. Because I had never emailed anyone before, I guess I thought what reason would I have to email anyone besides family, so I customized my signature with “hugs and kisses, Trudy”

Well some time passed and as with all new things, the email caught on and we, like all of you began to use it to correspond with friends and people who we learned also used email. One Sunday after church, Randy and I talked on the way home about how awesome the choir sounded that day and I told him that after lunch I was going to sit down and write an email to the choir director telling him what a blessing it was to have this beautiful choir lead us in worship. Forgetting about my customized signature, I sent off an email to him forgetting that it was signed with “hugs and kisses, Trudy” Of course I never received an email back. The poor guy was probably scared that there was a stalker in the congregation and that stalker happened to be a lady who had had his wife in her home for lunch more than once. As soon as I could, I changed my signature and wrote to his wife and explained the situation. I didn’t want her to think that I was after her husband and might slip something awful in her food, next time she came for lunch.

One of our family members who will remain anonymous, use to kid me all the time about me calling everyone honey. He told me I would make a great waitress in a southern restaurant. Bless His heart, I told him I loved him before hanging up on him. So maybe it is best for me to live in the South, instead of California or Arizona….love ya’ll!

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Sunday Southern Roast

On Sunday, I posted a video of this wonderful roast that has been on our tables since the 70’s. Our families have loved it and everyone who has been in our home have told me that it is great. Because it makes such a thick rich gravy, you don’t have to worry about making a gravy or adding a packet of brown gravy. It makes it’s own. Give it a try and let me know what you think. It is easy and always turns out great.

1 chuck roast (I always use chuck roast as it has such a great flavor and it more moist than rump roasts)

1 can (10 1/2 oz) can cream of mushroom soup

1 can (10 1/2 oz) French Onion Soup

2-3 tables Kikoman Soy Sauce

2 teas dried parsley flakes

Garlic Powder and ground black pepper to taste

In a roasting pan or Dutch Oven, which has been sprayed with Pam, heat 2 teas olive oil and then add the roast to the heated oil. As you brown one side of the roast, sprinkle the pepper, garlic powder and half of the parsley flakes on the top side. After a few minutes, turn the roast over to brown the other side, adding the rest of the parsley, garlic and pepper. Before pouring the soups over the roast, sprinkle the Kikoman sauce over the roast then add both cans of soup to the pan, being sure the roast is covered with the mushroom soup and some of the French Onion soup. The French Onion soup will spill over to the sides of the roast. Depending on the size of the roast, add anywhere from 1/2 can to a whole can of water to the pan. In the small roast I made Sunday (was about 1 lb for the two of us), I used about 1/2 can of water. Do not add any salt to the roast as it has plenty from the soups and Soy Sauce.

Place lid on baking pan and Place roast in a preheated 325 oven. Check the roast after about 1 1/2 hours to be sure you don’t need to add water. I added about another 1/2 can when I added 6 carrots to the roast after baking it for 1 1/2 hours. Then continued roasting it for another 2 hours. Depending on how large your roast is, will depend upon roasting time. The soups along with the Kikoman sauce make a wonderful thick gravy that you will love poured over mashed potatoes.

Daily Thoughts

Once Upon A Time

Since it’s the Magical Season where we are suppose to be cheerful and joyous, Randy is being saved from being a victim on a 48 Hours episode!

The story begins like this….

Once Upon a Time there was a husband named Randy. Because his wife Trudy had been having some hip and leg pain, and the pain was worse at night when she slept (or tried to sleep but could not because her leg hurt so badly) he shared that maybe it was time for them to buy a new mattress! Well, Princess Bakesalot spoke up and said “what if we buy a new mattress and find out that the pain is still bad and we spent all that money for nothing, when I could have had a brand new sparkly newcrown”. Mr. I Have a Great Idea says ,

” I know, let’s switch out our king mattress for the newer more firm Queen mattress that is in the guest room before we go buy a new one! That way we can see if having a better mattress will help you before we waste money on a new one!”

Well, Princess Bakesalot agreed that indeed they should try it. After all. how hard could it be? So working together they decided to drag the queen mattress from the guest room to the master bedroom and would just put the queen mattress on top of the king mattress so they wouldn’t have drag the king mattress to the other room. Since all the elves were off on holiday from being so tired from Christmas, the couple decided that they still had it in them to make this change! As they discovered, the queen mattress did not have any handles on the sides to help hold or guide it! Mr IHAGI told the Princess if she could just walk backwards holding onto the end to guide it, he would be at the other end to push! All was well until they tried to hoist it over the footboard and knocked over a lamp and desk accessories! As the mattress finally cleared the footboard, the Princess fell backwards onto the floor with the mattress on top of her! She proudly picked herself up and declared that she was fine and they proceeded down the hallway. Upon arriving in the master bedroom, once again trying to hoist it now over the king footboard, they discovered that there was no way on Gods Green Earth that either of them would be able to climb into bed without the use of a 8′ ladder or a cannon to shoot them onto it! So at this point they felt that they now needed to lean the queen mattress over to the wall and remove the king mattress so they could put the queen mattress on the box springs! At least with a good running, start they might be able to get up on this “higher than they were use to” mattress! the king mattress had handles that allowed them to grab onto to hustle it over the footboard since there was not enough room to move it to the side! After as much breath that it took to”huff and puff to blow your house down” the king mattress was now off the box springs and covered the doorway to the bathroom! But alas, the couple decided that at this point it was easier to walk down the hall to the guest bathroom than to try to move the king size mattress! This is how it will stay until we move in 3 weeks! Neither Mr IHAGI or Princess Bakesalot have the energy to change it again!

The moral of the story is this….

Go to a mattress store that allows you To buy mattress with a 30 day return policy and be sure to have lots of ice to put on your hip, your leg and your foot if you attempt this terrible ordeal!

Am hoping the sweeping goes down enough in my foot that will allow me to walk to the bedroom tonight to try out the new mattress!

Also, if you’re wondering why Mr IHAGI and Princess Bakesalot did not just sleep in the guest bedroom the answer is very simple. The Princess is afraid of lizards and a month ago a lizard was spotted in that bedroom which was never found! The End!

Daily Thoughts · Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

This year is so different but as I sit here without being with kids and and family I can’t help but think of some of the gifts that I am treasuring this year. We went to Christmas Eve service last night! Did we wish we had family around us? Of course but, we are so blessed to be able to belong to a church that is open and has such new music! That is another gift! Ears for hearing the Carols of the season and eyes to see the gorgeous lights that sparkle in trees and outline houses and bushes! Yes we are missing being with family this year! But Joy comes in the Morning and “this too shall pass!” Rejoice in the God of our salvation and give thanks for the things that are given to us by our Creator! And of course, our greatest gift of All…Christ the King of Kings, who because of his birth, we have salvation!

From our hearts to yours, Merry Christmas! Go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born! He is the True Light of the world!

Luke 2