We told ourselves on the way to pick Oliver up 2 weeks ago that this time around we would be smarter. He would not sleep with us, and we would be in control. We would be the strict parents that we should have been to our kids.
Oliver sleeps with us and has us all figured out. Because I have tried so hard to sit and be patient by the fake grass pad, I constantly say, “Oliver, come over to the potty pad and go potty.” Then I praise him if he goes and give him a treat. Today I realized that he is playing us. He has begun to walk over to the potty pad and stands there for a second and comes over to me expecting his treat. Because it had not dawned on me that a dog can’t pee in 2 seconds, I had been giving him treats each time he “looked” like he was peeing.’
For the first week both Randy and I took turns getting ready. We wanted to be sure that someone was constantly right there in case Oliver needed to go potty. After a week of that, I told Randy that we have got to get our life back. So we ordered a doggie play pen. Oh my gosh, if I had known how wonderful these things are, I might have even used them with my kids. I just never realized that you can put a dog in them and go take a shower, make a cake, do laundry. All these can be accomplished without a little doggie constantly sniffing around the house, making you crazy because you forgot to write down the last time he peed and you run around trying to grab him to take him to the fake grass. After my firstborn, I gave away the play pen. I just was not one to be able to walk by a crying child and ignore his pleadings to “get me out of this thing.” Oh but now…I have no trouble walking by Oliver in his pen, with a smile on my face, just because I can. Of course, that is after I have made sure I have all his toys from around the house and put them in. The thought of him getting bored breaks my heart. I have learned to ignore that cute little whimpering for at least 5 minutes before feeling sorry for him.
A few days ago, Randy gave Oliver an old tennis shoe to chew on. I told him I thought that was a bad idea but he insisted that Oliver would be happy with that and not try to chew on his new tennis shoes. We found that Oliver likes new shoes more than old ones.
Our daughter, Jodi got a new puppy the same weekend as we did. Hers is a female Lhasa Apso named, Myah. When these two puppies get together, they are absolutely adorable, but Myah seems to be the more aggressive one. We come home from letting them play and find that it has wiped Oliver out. So he sleeps for hours. Until it is time to go to bed. When we turn the lights out about 10:30, Oliver is wide awake. We are just too old for this. We thought our nights of having to stay up with little ones was over. I have always got so bored with people talking nonstop about their pets. I’m really not a dog or cat person, but Randy has wanted a dog for quite some time. Since He broke his shoulder about 6 weeks ago, I gave in thinking how great it would be for him to have a dog to just sit with him on his lap and keep him company while he recoups from the accident. Oliver only likes to sit on my lap. So I have slowly become a dog person. Randy thinks maybe a little to much of a dog person. I found a pet photographer coupon on Groupon. We are headed to Pets Mart to pick out the perfect little outfit for his pictures. No, I’m going ga ga over him, but we are having wallet sized photos of Oliver made for family and friends for Christmas. We had to take some of the pictures of our grandkids out of our wallets to make room for Oliver’s pictures. After all, the grandkids don’t even sit in our laps anymore. Yes, he sleeps like that!
Hearts In Tune
There is a gospel group called Hearts in Tune, which is a favorite of mine. This morning upon hearing more of the tragedy that is going on not only in Dallas, but over the world, those words just kept coming to me, “Hearts in Tune.” It is so very sad to me to listen to commentator after commentator in the media discussing the events taking place. Most of them continue to stress more gun control, more laws and more government programs, thinking that will solve the problem that is taking place in our world.
Never before has our country had such “freedoms”, so many policies and so many programs, all aimed at making America great. In spite of all of the above, America has continued to decline, morally, spiritual and economically. Our families institutions are being destroyed, along with our children, who will be growing up in a world where anything goes. We have continued to push God out of our lives, our families, government and out of some of our churches. We push for more gun control, yet we continue to kill innocent babies. We march for equal rights, when all the time, more rights just bring more confusion and more turmoil.
When will our leaders realize that no matter the policies, programs and laws, until our country falls on its knees in acknowledgment that we need God, hearts will never be “in tune”. What our country needs is a heart that follows after God and his laws. He has promised us that if we follow His plan and His commands, our land will be blessed. What is it going to take to turn us back to Him? I think we are seeing what it will take, more violence, more sin and more “freedoms” which really don’t make us free at all. Our freedom must be in God and God alone, then and only then will we be free to live the lives that He intended.
Mesa Musings
We have been living here now for 2 months and have had much to learn and think about. This is not Texas, nor is it California. Arizona has a personality all it’s own. Somedays, when we get CBS alerts every hour, declaring that someone has been shot or stabbed, we feel that we are living in the Wild Wild West.
Other days, when we are out, and people constantly strike up a conversation with us just waiting in line or sitting waiting for our car’s to be cleaned, we feel that we live in the South, the home of hospitality. Then there are times, when our neighbors come over and just walk in and hug us and are excited that a Christian has moved in next door, we feel that we are living in the Bible Belt.
Yes, we have found that folks out here ask us if we are Christians. It is certainly a place which has such a diversity of people, all of which combine to make this a place that has already warmed our hearts (except for the shootings, which so far, has kept to a different part of Phoenix)
This past Tuesday, we attended the Bible Study here at the clubhouse where we live and then went to a potluck dinner, which is held the first Tues of the month here at Las Palmas Grand. I felt like I was in the fellowship hall at First Bapt church again. It has been so many years since I have been to a potluck dinner. After a opening prayer blessing, we all got up to feast on all the food that had been brought. There was meatloaf, Jello Salads, Pasta salads, ribs, roast, you name it, we had it. I took Randy’s request, my cream cheese pound cake with strawberry sauce. We met new people and even signed up to bowl on Thurs evenings and I signed up for art class. Randy’s arm is still keeping him from doing to much, so he said he would go and watch me make a fool of myself…I mean bowl! We also discovered that in order for us to fit in with this Pot Luck group, we should have brought our own divided trays, you know the kind; like the kind that we use to use in school. They are plastic and have a place for your utensils, a place for your cup and then a couple of places for different foods. Not me, missy, we brought the biggest plates we had in order to fit more food. We are Southern Baptist and grew up on Pot luck dinners, we know that some little divided tray that fits maybe two different kinds of food was not going to cut it with his couple. Our plates allowed us to get more foods at one time, thus avoiding so many trips back to the tables, which in all honesty, is always so embarrassing as I think people must think, “how much food can that girl eat, hasn’t she been up there 3 or 4 times already. Our plates only require a couple of trips. Personally the others should learn from us and bring undivided large plates. Less trips; more food! One of the first things you learn at church dinners.
We sat at a table that had two of the sweetest couples. This is the part of the story that I’m not sure I should share, but it just is such a part of what we are having to get use to. One of the couples who sat with us was a little older than we are. How do I know this, well…a couple of reasons. For starters, when we began to talk and share that we were new, they began to tell us about the Mesa Senior Citizen Center. I glanced at Randy and he just smiled at me, like “don’t be rude, you will be there in a few years.” But it was when they invited us to go to lunch with them that I just felt like I was 80 years old. They raved about how good the lunches were at this Senior Center and they went every day and ate for $3.50 which included their milk, coffee & water. Now, I am not saying that there is anything wrong with going to the Senior Center, but for lunch ever day? Do they not know that there is a Sonic down the street where you can get a hamburger with fries and a cherry coke for almost the same price? It was at this point that I told Randy, that until we were to old to drive or our stomachs couldn’t take grease anymore, he had to promise me that we would not do that. Even if the food there is the greatest since sliced bread, we would still drive through In & Out, Whataburger or Sonic. I’m just not ready to hit the Senior Centers quite yet.
Hopefully for a few years, do not go looking for us at any Senior Center, unless of course they are serving Tex-Mex or Hamburgers & Fries!
Seniors We Might Be, But Sonic is the Perfect Place for ME!
Monsoons, Meatloaf & Munchkin
I’m back…..finally! Between caring for a hubby with one arm right now and trying to train a little new Munchkin we are calling Oliver Leopold, I feel like I am in a house with a new baby. The only difference between a new puppy and a baby is the baby at least poo poos in a diaper instead of the floor. This past week we experienced our first monsoon, which after hearing from folks out here, we truly expected a little more excitement. After living in California with earthquakes and in Texas where lightning and heavy rains are as common as nachos, we found ourselves sitting there watching the heavy rains discussing what we would have for dinner with Randy looked at me and said, “don’t you think we should have meatloaf during the monsoon?” So that is exactly what we had. He reminded me that I had not fixed meatloaf since leaving Dallas the first of March. Randy fell the night before our things arrived to move in and fractured his shoulder in two places and dislocated it also. So we call him the one armed bandit now. Being today is his birthday, we didn’t get to do to much as he says that he feels like either a little kid or a really old man because I have to cut up his food, (but he loves the fact that I have to do his hair, he is getting very spoiled)
Today a recipe showed up on FB and it sounded delicious. It is an Italian Lemon Cake and I have to make it. But today I had to make German Chocolate Cake, which is a tradition for his special day. But this week, as soon as the last crumb is gone from the GCC, this lemon cake will be in the oven. I have to tell you that when I looked up different recipes for the frosting for the GCC, I came across one that used light brown sugar instead of regular granulated sugar. It is really good. In fact, both of us think we like it a little better than the normal frosting that you see on the package of Bakers German Chocolate. So live a little the next time you make one and try using the brown sugar instead of the white. Just gives it a little more caramel flavor. So back to the recipe for the Italian Lemon cake and Happy Fourth of July!
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teas baking powder
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup sour cream
4 tablespoons lemon juice
zest of 2 lemons (about 2 tables)
1 teas vanilla
Preheat oven to 300 Grease and flour baking pan
Sift flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In another bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in the sour cream, lemon juice, vanilla and lemon zest.
Mix half of the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Mix in the buttermilk and then add in the remaining flour mixture. Mix just until the flour disappears. Pour the cake batter into the prepared bundt pan.
Bake for 60-70 min or until cake tests done. Remove cake from oven and allow to cool for 5-10 min. Turn cake over onto cake platter.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar, or frost with cream cheese frosting.
Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight
Even though this is the title to an old song it describes our weather here in Phoenix today and all this week. Since today is father’s Day and we are having a pretty heavy meal of chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, gravy and hot rolls for dinner,I wanted it to and on the cool note so I made the frozen strawberry pie with whipped cream for our dessert. After the dinner fiasco last Wednesday night I have actually made myself get back in the kitchen, get my recipes out and began to cook again. Friday night I made an Italian spaghetti soup that ended up delicious with olive bread toasted and then last night we had pineapple cheeseburgers for dinner. Since the heat is forcing us to stay inside more I figured that The best thing I could do was cook and bake. The strawberry pie recipe is under Valentines Strawberry Pie recipe from February, 2015 posts. Here is the recipe for the soup:
Italian Spaghetti Soup
3 links of mild sweet Italian Sausage (take out of the casing)
1 small onion, chopped
1 small green bell pepper, chopped
3 ribs of celery, chopped
1 16 oz can of chopped tomatoes
2 cups of chicken broth
1 zucchini cut into 4 vertical pieces then cut into small bite size pieces
2 carrots
1/3 cup of chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup of butternut squash,cubed very small or can of white navy beans, drained
1 teas Italian Seasoning
3 garlic cloves, chopped
Spray a Dutch oven with Pam. Sauté and crumble the sausage as it cooks until no longer pink. Add the onion and rest of ingredients to pan. Stir until well combined. Add lid and bake in 300 degree oven for 4 to 5 hours or until veggies are tender. When soup is done, remove from oven and cook, according to directions, about4 oz of thin spaghetti, breaking noodles as you add to the boiling water. When spaghetti is done, drain almost all of water, leaving a little to add with the spaghetti to the soup mixture. Salt and pepper soup as desired. Serve with toasted garlic kalamata olive bread and sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top of soup.
Adjusting to Arizona
We have been here since April 19th and in our new house since May 11th. Maybe it’s because we are old and not as easy to adjust to new surroundings, but my goodness, how young would we need to be to adjust to the heat, and yards adorned with nothing but rocks and cacti? Also, we have never seen so many electric scooters, tattoos and folks wearing black socks with white tennis shoes. Apparently they have never been visited by the fashion police.
In spite of the afore mentioned observations, we have to say that we really do feel at home here and are enjoying the casualness and friendliness of our community. This past Wednesday evening we invited a new friend to dinner. She was the lady who we met through Airbnb when we leased her casita behind her house until we could get moved in to our house. We owe so much to Diana. She is the lady who owned her own construction company and sent out her employees to our new place to do most of the work on our house. So I wanted to show her how much we both appreciated her kindness to us. Because I have not really cooked or baked but about 3 times since the first of March when we moved out of our house in Dallas, I guess that my cooking skills took a nosedive (to say the least, more like hit rock bottom). Because I had not cooked in a while or had company over for dinner, I decided to make an old standby, the one pot spaghetti with garlic bread, capresse and baked Parmesan zucchini sticks.
How hard can that be? Diana arrived at 6 and I put out olive tapenade with homemade garlic toast. Since we stil have boxes which we had taken to storage on Saturday, just to get them out of ou sight for a couple of months, things are still missing from my kitchen, like bowls to eat spaghetti from. So Wednesday afternoon, after deciding to make something “safe”, I headed out the door to stores around our neighborhood to see if I could find some bowls. I could not find any of the large flat bowls, other than just round soup bowls. But At Walmart I found a beautiful little turquoise cut glass bowl and matching plate, made by Pioneer women. So deciding to just use my China bowls that evening, I headed home. I washed my new purchases and went on with my cooking. Following the recipe exactly, I began to cook, feeling very prideful that Diana was in for a great evening of Italian food and would probably walk away thinking, “wow, boy can that Texas girl cook!” Well, the spaghetti was in the pot, waiting to be turned on, the bread was buttered with garlic and herbs just waiting to be put in the oven and the capresse was in the fridge. Diana arrives and we visit and show her around the house that her employees had helped us transform. All of us had stood around snacking on the olive tapenade and garlic toasts and visited. It old Diana and Randy to go ahead and sit and I would serve the meal. When I lifted the lid to the spaghetti, it was a pot of mush. I panicked and tried to pick out the noodles which had not turned to mush, but just could not find enough for her, much less all 3 of us. Quickly I apologized and told her that I don’t know what I did, but we just could not eat the pot of mush. Well, at least we had good garlic bread in the oven, but when I went to take it out, it was hard as a rock. What is happening? I grabbed the plate of tapenade and put it on the table and said that we would just have a dinner of capresse and tapenade. The zucchini sticks were also mush and I instantly just threw them out. I have never, in 40 years cooked a meal like that. And for guest, I just was such an embarrassment. Lucky for me, she loves strawberries and I had made fresh strawberry pie with whipped cream. Trying to be fancy, I had saved some of the larger strawberries and dipped them n chocolate to top off each piece of pie. Pulse the strawberries were really tart. She was kind enough to say that she thought it was the end of strawberry season and that was probably why they did not taste very good. I didn’t see the chocolate covered strawberries in the fridge until I was cleaning up after she went home. At least had they been on top, the dessert would have looked pretty. The grandkids ended up eating them the next day. Then tonight, two days later, I got out my new acquired Pioneer woman plate which I had used Wednesday night. I carried it to the table where I had made more garlice bread for our dinner tonight. During the meal, I saw Rany peeling something off that plate. When I looked over, he was removing the Pioneer sticker off of the front of it. WHAT????Had I washed that and used it Wednesday evening with the sticker still on the front of it? I have not been in this town for 2 months and I have already done enough to earn a reputation as being the worst cook from Texas to settle here. It scares me to think what she was really thinking on her way home, “please Lord, don’t even make me go back and eat at their house again.” We may have to move again. I just don’t think I can take the stares of folks that might have talked to Diana that next day. If she ever does come back, I think we will just take her out to eat. It will be much safer for my reputation as a cooking blog contributor.
Old Man In Ojai
Since it is almost Fathers Day this old post came up in my FB memory today! When I Reread it to Randy just now he looked at me and said,”look It’s been 3 years and I’m still using a cane, still eating donuts but in a new place to go exploring”! That’s my hubby! He is always ready to go see what mischief we can get into !
Yesterday we planned a trip to go explore a new place about a 2 hour drive from our house. It is a beautiful little town nestled in the valley just east of Santa Barbara. Friends have told us that we just have to go and see this place, as it is truly a great little place to spend the day. So we had made up our minds that this weekend, we were going to get out of the hustle bustle of schedules and just eat anything we wanted and go explore. So Saturday morning, we got in the car and headed out. I had told Randy to make this an official “exploring, do anything kind of day” we would need to start off pretty soon with some junk food, so we decide to find a Starbucks knowing that we could always munch on their lemon loaf cake and down that…
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Police, DMV & Storage
Since we are once again headed to storage today here in Arizona, this brought back so many memories!
Yesterday didn’t turn out exactly like I had planned. I had studied the DMV handbook until I knew every question that might be ask of me on the written test. It was going to be exciting to tell my kids, who think that ” poor mom can’t remember anything anymore” that I passed my test on the first try. The appointment was at 1:30 so, since I am still the type who likes to get to her tests plenty early, we arrive at 1. When we walk in, I notice that certainly, normal people, such as myself (yes, I do like to think of myself as normal, although I’m sure some of you might disagree) had surely hired someone to take their place to avoid standing in the 3 deep 10 foot long line to tell them I was there for my 1:30 appt. Looking around the huge room, all…
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VBS Is A Life Saver
It is that time of year again, when you see more mini vans circling the church parking lots|
My daughter called this morning on her way home from dropping Caleb, our 3 year old grandson off at Vacation Bible School. I asked her, ‘oh I thought he went last week to VBS” and she politely told me he did, but this was another one. In the sweetest little voice she could muster, she remarked, “mom, don’t judge me”. Now, I began to think that maybe she was just wanting Caleb to have a definite idea of if he might want to be a preacher when he grew up and she was showing him what it would be like to be around the church all day, every day. But before I could begin to quote the Ten Commandments, she told me that she had signed him up for 4 different VBS’s this summer, as a way to keep her sanity. Now, I do admit that Caleb is rather, hum…how…
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SouthernWestern Hospitality
It is time to speak up. During my 60 years of living in Texas, you hear and observe hospitality in many different ways. When we lived in California for about 5 yrs off and on, we discovered that hospitality certainly was alive and well in the neighborhoods where we lived, even though we lived in what was called, “LALA land”. Now that we have moved to Arizona, I just had to write to brag a little bit on the people here. Maybe Randy and I walk around with a sign on our backs which we cannot see that says, “we are old, please help us” because out of the many trips which we have made to Home Depot and Lowes due to the redo of the house we bought, I cannot tell you how many times, we have been approached by men who spot us loading things from the cart to our car, or returning unused boxes of tiles, or boards or cans of paint. Each time, different men have come over to ask if we need help loading or unloading. With a smile on their face. Today, Randy (yes still with the sling on his arm) rode with me to the store. We were getting in our car with a little bag of groceries, which I carried and a very nice man who had parked in front of us, came walking over to ask Randy if he could help him close his car door. Randy graciously thanked him and said, thanks, but he could close it. The gentleman wanted to be sure, so he waited in 103 weather to be sure Randy could indeed close his door before he walked off. He then smiled and waved and left. Seriously, what is wrong with these people? Do they not realize that they do not live in the South and they are not suppose to be this friendly? I called Jodi when we got home to ask her if she ever noticed how friendly everyone is here. She said, “isn’t it amazing, Mom? Everywhere you go, even cashiers at the store start up conversations with you.”
I acknowledged that yes, I had noticed that no matter where we are, people just start talking to me. One of the first questions that they ask me is where I am from. I don’t know if it is my Dallas big hair that gives me away as not being a Arizona native or if I do possess just a tad of a southern accent. But we have just been so pleasantly surprised at the genuine conversation which we have seen.
It seems like forever since I have posted a recipe. But that is about to change. Tomorrow, our “stuff” comes. I will have my baking dishes, our silverware, dishes, linens, measuring cups, mixer,canisters, and all my wonderful Paula Deen cookbooks, which I hid underneath some sheets, since Randy had told me that I had to throw out most of my magazines, as he didn’t want to rent a pod just for my recipe books and magazines. So tomorrow, is the day I have waited for for almost 4 months. Wonder what recipe will catch my eye to post? Whatever it is, I bet it will be something cool, as it is suppose to be 115 tomorrow while we are unloading boxes.
Confession time: today we bought a can of whipped cream and prepared chocolate pudding from the gorcery store. Randy could not believe he saw me reach in the case and retrieve store bought, canned whipped cream. I told him that if he ever told anyone, his other arm might somehow become dislocated also. What is a girl to do, when it is so hot outside and she has no mixer or bowls to make her own?
So here is to Arizona, the most friendly southern-western state west of the Mississippi River. We have already fallen in love with the beauty and the hospitality. Randy thinks I just like it here because every day is a good hair day, since no humidity. It would be so nice if I could see my good no humid hair, but it is so dry my contacts are so stuck on my eyeball, I don’t see very well. We have no toll roads here, but the extra cash is being spent on moisturizers and breathable underwear. I have given up worrying about my upper arms showing. The state uniform here is sleeveless everything. Guess self-tanning lotion will be my next purchase. You know what they say, if the cellulite is fat, it doesn’t look as bad. Maybe I will get a tattoo of a giant Hershey Kiss on my upper arm. That should hide the wrinkles pretty well. Folks will just think the chocolate kiss is beginning to melt in this awful heat.
Chocolate Castles 