Midweek Ramblings

Since I posted so much about the weekend I thought I'd do another post.  Monday I put a rump roast in the slow cooker and made French Dip sandwiches for supper with my potato salad.  It was a fabulous meal.  I used the leftovers the next day for another sandwich along with a bit of leftover potato salad.  I used frozen mini baguettes for the bread since we don't have any stores that have bread like this fresh.  This received 2 thumbs up from Matt.

Slow Cooker French Dip (from Fix It and Forget It Cookbook)

3 lb rump roast
1 onion, sliced
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 beef bouillon cube (I used 1 tsp of bouillon paste)

Put everything in the slow cooker.  Add water to just cover roast.  I cooked this on high for 2 hours and then low for 4 hours.  I used frozen mini baguettes.  This made enough for 2 meals so I cut the roast in half and put half of the roast and juices in a container in the freezer for a future meal.

We had a quick flurry early in the week and I was blessed to have this wonderful view as I work from home now.  As they're predicting 10-12 inches of snow between tonight and tomorrow morning I will probably be viewing this again as I work.

Weekend Ramblings - March 30th

Saturday Menu: 

Lunch: Cobb Salad
Supper:  Dinner Theater at The Art Center

The morning was disappointing.  With temps being predicted to be well over 50' I had expected to be outside to enjoy the warmth of spring but the winds were 20 mph or higher and it just wasn't the kind of weather to be outside in.

My first stop Saturday when I left for my errands was to stop at Goodwill.  I picked up several more sheets.  I think I have enough to do a red, white and blue rug next or maybe a table runner.  While I was there I noticed a large oak computer desk with hutch for $40.  I mentioned it to Matt when I got home so we ended up going back and he liked it enough to buy it.  He's been wanting a larger desk.

We attended  the dinner theater at The Arts Center.  The play was Relative Values and was about 3 hours long.  They were in the final act when the fire alarm started going off.  Nobody knew why it was going off.  They checked for a fire and found nothing.  They couldn't get the alarm off.  The couple on the stage when it occurred started ad-libbing about the situation.  It was pretty amusing.  Fortunately they found somebody to turn it off.  Since the play was a British comedy they served roast beef, scalloped potatoes, carrots, and a roll.

Sunday Menu:

Breakfast: Easy Cheese Danish
Lunch: Leftover Cobb Salad
Supper:  Italian subs and pasta salad

Temps were wonderful with a high just over 50'.  After my disappointment with the weather Saturday I didn't expect much today.  I did take the furkids out for a wander around the neighborhood.  Matt was outside and he came in and told me to come outside to see something.  It seemed like a million geese in multiple groups flying over head.  They just kept coming.  It's a wonderful sign of spring.

My morning and the early part of the afternoon was spent working on the rag rug.  I ripped it totally out and started over, ripped out part of it again and finally finished it today!  The rug consisted of 4 sheets that I ripped up into 2" strips and crocheted.  I can't wait to for Matt to build my twining frame so I can twine/weave them.  Trying to get the corners right can be difficult.

Since I planned to work on the rug most of the day, I decided to make something for breakfast.  I frequently pick up a package of cheese danish for the weekends. This Easy Cheese Danish was so easy and so good! I found the recipe on Pinterest.  It was super easy to make and I got 2 thumbs up from Matt.

Basically it's just 1 roll of crescent rolls.  Mix 1/2 cup sugar and 1 tsp vanilla with room temp package of cream cheese.  Roll out crescent rolls and smush the lines together so they don't pull apart - so you have a large rectangle.  Cut in lines diagonally about every 1" to fold over.  Smear cheese mixture down center and then pull sections in alternating so they appear to be braided.  I decided to put this on parchment paper on the baking sheet for ease of clean up.  Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes and allow to cool.  Mix 1 cup powdered sugar, 3-4 tablespoons of cream, and 1 tsp vanilla.  Drizzle over.  I was surprised at how much this made.  We have enough left for breakfast tomorrow if he doesn't eat it for a snack tonight.

Midweek Ramblings March 20

Today is the first day of Spring!  The geese have been flying overhead this week honking loudly their return.  Our yard has turned into a mud slide.  The dogs are hunting for the first bits of green grass to eat.  Spring has definitely arrived although I'm sure Winter will try to hold on a bit longer.

I started working from home Monday.  So much sooner than I thought.  It's been wonderful!  So much more relaxing.  I'm still trying to get my routine down.

Weekend Ramblings

Temps are finally coming up.  Today it was in the low 20's and I was outside in just a sweatshirt!  I am so looking forward to warmer temps.  I miss being outside.

I received really good news Friday.  My team leader informed me she's approved me to come home and work.  I do my training this week and hopefully within the next 2 weeks they'll have my computer built so I can come home.  I'm so excited to say the least.  I've never had anxiety issues before but working with that many people has produced feelings of anxiety.  The noise is another issue I'm having problems dealing with and with plans to hire more people it would have only gotten worse.  I think this will be a win-win situation.  I'll be less distracted and will be able to produce more work.

My crochet rug is coming along nicely although I ran out of the solid green before the end of the second row so I'll have to rip back to the start of that row and use another color.  I think the red sheet that I got last weekend will work well so I'll rip that into strips tomorrow and continue.  I'm estimating this rug will be 2 ft x 5 ft when I get it done and the sheets that I used cost me under $20.  I'm still debating if I want it in front of the couch or in the guest room next to the bed.

I ate some of the chow chow I made last weekend and it's pretty good.  A little sweeter than I like so I'll adjust to use less sugar the next time.

Last night we went to the Knights of Columbus for supper.  We've only been there for a wedding so it was our first time there for a regular meal.  We both decided to have fish since it was the special.  He had the beer battered fish and fries and I had the pan fried walleye.  Both were very tasty.  We both had salads and Matt voiced what I'd been thinking, the croutons were no where as good as my homemade ones are.  We've spoiled ourselves for sure.

Saturday Menu:

Lunch:  Taco Bell

Supper:  Turkey and bacon on ciabbata rolls, chips & dip

I woke up somewhat sluggish so I got a later than planned start to my errands.  Mailed a book out for my PaperBackBookExchange.  I also stopped at both Goodwill and Salvation Army and found some good buys.  I bought a suede purse and a teal tote for $2.50 each, some clothes, 3 books, a large throw and another sheet.  The throw I plan to use for a blanket on the bed in the guest room.  It's super soft and fluffy.

Once we ate lunch I got to work making some laundry detergent and then got started on the laundry.  Matt was enjoying an afternoon kicked back watching TV so I entertained myself looking at Pinterest and getting recipe ideas.  

Weekend Ramblings - March 2nd

We've plunged back into arctic temps again with last night hitting -26 (-50 windchill) and a high today of -12.  My home is feeling a bit chillier than normal but I guess that's to be expected considering the temps outside.  We're running over 40 degrees below the average temp for this time of year.  Hopefully by Thursday we'll be back up close to 30's again where we should be.  Many in our surrounding area are hitting all time records of days with temps below zero degrees.  It's too cold to snow and we haven't had a good snowfall since December.  I'm not sure how that will play out for the farmers this summer.

Saturday Menu:
Breakfast:  Cheese danish
Lunch: Babbs Coffee House
Supper:  Cube steaks, mashed potatoes, tomato gravy, and broccoli

To get out of the house this weekend we went to the Holistic Healing and Psychic Fair Saturday.  It was extremely small to what I'm use to in Michigan but it's the first year they've had one here in town.  Matt purchased a pair of dowsing rods to try working with.  They're pretty neat and I almost bought a pair myself.  I purchased a beautiful metal bowl to burn loose incense in.  We both had readings done; I had a palm reading and he had a tarot reading.  I'm always somewhat skeptical of readings but she hit her description of me pretty accurately including that someone who died when I was about 20 was one of my guardians.  I've always maintained that my Grandmother, who died when I was 20, was my guardian so it was neat to hear it from somebody else.  It actually brought tears to my eyes as she talked about her.  Parts of his reading were right on and other parts appeared to be way off.

Matt's been wanting to take me to Babb's since he was there this summer when his sister was visiting so we finally went for lunch.  It's a nice cafe/coffee house.  They had a cool table set up with high backed chairs with a HUGE chess board and pieces for people to use.  I wish I'd had my camera with me.  It will be a nice place to take a book or a tablet and kick back and read for a part of the afternoon or evening.  I'll definitely have to take my mom there when she visits next month.

While we were out I decided to stop at Goodwill and see what types of sheets they had and picked up 3 more (dark red, blue, and green).  We both found a couple books.  Matt was able to get the third book in a trilogy to finish off a set he'd bought the first two books of last weekend from another thrift store.  I found two beautiful boxes.  I'm not sure what I'll do with the wood one which is just beautiful but the embossed metal one I'm using on my desk to put my ear plugs and IPod cord in so Moo won't drop them off the table and drag them around the house (and yes she has done this).  We also stopped at another thrift store and Matt found the top of a butter dish with an owl on it for me.  I collect owls so I'm always on the lookout for one to add to my collection.

Sunday Menu:
Breakfast:  Fried eggs on English muffin bread (Bountiful Basket)
Lunch:  English muffin bread with jam (neither of us was super hungry)
Supper:  Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches with Bleu Cheese Dressing and steak fries

Today I worked on laundry and cleaned.  Once that was done I ripped up the green sheet and started crocheting a rag rug.  Matt has promised me he'll build me a loom to make twined rugs on once the ice melts so he can get into the shed to his tools so for now I'll have to be content to crochet if I want to make one.  This one will be a oval runner.  It's working up pretty quick.  I also made some Amish Chow Chow.  Chow Chow is a relish.  You can use pretty much any vegetable but I used the standard carrots, cauliflower, green beans, kidney beans, red pepper, and red onion for mine and then you store it in a sugar and vinegar mixture until it's pickled I guess would be the best way to describe it.  I filled a 2 qt jar and a pint jar.  The Amish eat it as a side to just about everything.  It can also be canned.  If I like it I will can some so when I get a pickled craving I can just pop a jar open.  I miss the wonderful pickled vegetables at the Indian restaurants. 

Weekend Ramblings

Another busy yet laid back weekend.  I'm enjoying these days off.  The house got cleaned, the laundry got done, and meals were prepared along with plenty of time to relax and take cat naps in the recline and read a good book while watching the Olympics.

Saturday Menu:
Breakfast:  Cheese Danish
Lunch: Italian Pasta Salad
Supper:  Chili Cheese Fries

Saturday Matt had to work.  He has to work Saturdays every 10th week which is really the whole weekend since he has the after hours phone to deal with.  I had great plans to knock out all the cleaning before 9 am (told you it was a great plan) then I'd run my errands to the post office and store before spending the rest of the day watching the Olympics and knitting or reading.  Unfortunately when I woke up I felt like I hadn't slept all night.  I did manage to get a load of laundry going before 9 am.  I think I left about 10:30 to run errands.  After getting back and eating some lunch I finally got a little bit of energy back and got the cleaning done before I had to pick up my Bountiful Basket. I even managed to get a phone call in to my oldest son in Texas.

My Bountiful Basket was wonderful again this week!  So much food, it's amazing.  My regular basket ($15) included:

7 tomatoes
1 head of Romaine lettuce
1 bunch of spinach
1 bunch (3) leeks
1 pound of carrots
4 avocados
2 acorn squash
1 pineapple
8 bananas
2 pounds of Granny Smith apples
10 tangerines (like Cuties or Halos)

I also ordered the Asian baskets which was huge as well.  I'm overflowing with greens that I need to figure out how to use up quickly.  I've come to the conclusion that I can't plan my menus until I get my basket so I can plan my meals around the baskets.  Otherwise, I'm going to end up with wasting good food.

Sunday Menu:
Breakfast: English Muffin bread (last Bountiful Basket delivery) with jam
Lunch: Leftover shepherd's pie for me and a turkey & ham ciabatta sandwich for Matt
Supper:  Chicken Stir-fry (using several items from this week's Asian basket delivery)

We watched a lot of the Olympics again today.  Matt is a HUGE fan of watching them.   He had to field several calls which  started at 8 am on the work phone.  Since I had a ton of bananas leftover from my last basket that I needed to use, I decided to make chocolate covered bananas and freeze them.  They're not pretty but they taste good.  This is the first time I've done this and my chocolate started seizing up on about half way through so I cut the pieces in half and used a knife to slather some chocolate on one and then put another piece on top to make a sandwich. 

Finally managed to get the sheets I bought at Goodwill ripped into 2" strips today. I wound the first sheet into a ball after I made the strips and it took way to long so I threw the rest of the strips into plastic grocery bags.  I'm thinking that some small laundry baskets might be a good way to organize them.  That way I can just grab a strip when I need one instead of having to unroll it first from a ball.  I'm still debating whether to buy a loom or wait and let Matt make me one; although, that will be a while before he can get into the shed to his tools and I'm not sure I want to wait that long.  I need a dark green and a dark blue sheet yet to do the rugs. 

My reading today was What the Amish Can Teach Us About the Simple Life by Georgia Varozza.  Information wise I would say this has been the best of the three books I've read recently on the Amish and simple living.  Some of the ideas she gives are in other sources but she has information that she obtained having grown up with Amish relatives.  I want to get her canning book next. 

Weekend Rambling

Another cold although less windy weekend.  I ended up having something of a long weekend since I had to take Friday off due to Lacey being sick.  She decided to rip open a brand new bag of dog food Thursday while we were at work and gorged herself.  Of course once I got home she proceeded to start vomiting a good portion of it back up all over the carpets.  She is my problem child.  Thankfully when I ordered the bar soap for my laundry soap I decided to buy a bottle of the liquid soap as well (also in peppermint scent) so it masked the smell wonderfully.  I was concerned about diarrhea Friday so I decided to stay home and play it safe because diarrhea and carpets do not go well together.

Lacey the Problem Child

Saturday:
Breakfast: Donuts
Lunch:  I had leftover ravioli and Matt made a PB&J
Dinner:  Brats and coleslaw with cranberries and sunflower seeds

Sunday: 
Breakfast:  Egg in a Hole
Lunch:  Leftover brocolli cheddar soup and roll
Supper:  Chicken and noodles with mashed potatoes (I've been craving this for weeks!)


I got myself motivated early and cleaned the bedroom and bath along with running a couple loads of laundry and working out on the treadmill before I headed out to do some thrift store and grocery shopping.  I'd planned to hit 2 of the thrift stores in town but hit a jackpot at Goodwill so I didn't bother with Salvation Army.  I picked up several queen and king size sheets for a rug project I'm getting ready to start.  I think I paid about $10 for all 4 sheets, which should make a rug from what I've read.  I may go back and pick up the other green striped sheet just in case.  I also picked up 2 Patterson novels for Matt and several books for myself.

My afternoon was spent canning beef & vegetable soup.  I canned 6 quarts of soup.   While the soup base was simmering on the stove I put together a pie using some of the Gala apples and pear apples (asian pears?) from the Bountiful Basket along with some leftover cherry berry smoothie mix I had in the freezer.  It wasn't bad for a thrown together treat especially with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  I'd planned to can some of the 25 pounds of carrots I bought but Matt doesn't want them "mushy" so I guess I'll have to freeze them instead.

After I got done with that I was ready to kick back and watch the Olympics with Matt.  Matt and I both spent a good portion of the weekend kicking back.  I have been feeling mentally exhausted.  I think all the mandatory overtime is starting to wear on me.  I could use a vacation but since that's not on the calendar any time soon this mini vacation helped.  I really wish I had snowshoes or cross country skis so I could try that and do some skijoring and snowshoeing with the dogs.  I'm sure some good outdoor exercise would do me a world of good.  Hopefully next winter.

My reading for the weekend included a mystery and a romance.  I downloaded a free Kindle book called A Shot in the Bark by C.A. Newsome.  Excellent book and I will definitely be purchasing her next 2 books in the series.  The book centers around a dog park so dog lovers will definitely enjoy this book.  I worked on Mansfield Park.  The movie is not my favorite Austen movie and the book is turning out to be the same which is causing me to not be enthusiastic about finishing it.  Thankfully I have over a month to finish it for the discussion group.  I just keep getting annoyed she doesn't seem to have any backbone and she's so timid.  I also purchased A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg and started that.  For some romance I read One Magic Moment by Lynn Kurland.  I adore Kurland's books about time travel.  I thought I had all them and to discover one at Goodwill that I didn't have was so exciting.   This one is definitely up on my favorites list.

Cold and Windy Weekend Ramblings Part II

Our lazy winter weekend continued today.  I woke up to blowing snow with winds gusting to over 50 mph.  The roads were not plowed and there was a "No Travel Advisory" out due to ground blizzard conditions.  Matt ventured out and got stuck twice trying to get to the end of the road.  Good day to stay home as far as I'm concerned.  Unfortunately the dogs are starting to get cabin fever.

Lazy Day Menu 2:
Breakfast: Cheerios (Matt didn't want anything so I'm trying to use them before they go stale)
Lunch: Taco salad
Supper:  Homemade pizza.

Supper was supposed to have been Pho soup but I realized while I was explaining what it was to Matt's sister this afternoon that I'd forgotten to get the bok choy for it.  As I wasn't going out in this miserable weather to try to find some I had to come up with an alternative plan.  Matt offered to brave the roads for a pizza which was when I explained I had all the makings for one here since he prefers homemade anyway.  It's a great reason to have extra food in the pantry.  Continuation of cleaning and my house smells wonderfully of Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Magic Soap.  Final loads of laundry were done.

Today I started reading Money Secrets of the Amish - Finding True Abundance in Simplicity, Sharing, and Saving by Lorilee Craker.  I had bought another book to read for today but this came up as a suggestion and after reading about it I decided to buy it and read it today.  Lorilee is a modern Mennonite.  A modern Mennonite is one that you wouldn't know is Mennonite from their clothes or anything else.  The women don't wear coverings and wear pants and they can drive cars.  I'm only about 40% of the way through the book.  Her concept is to figure out how the Amish can live abundantly even in rough financial times and still thrive and figure out how to use those concepts in our modern lives.  She was able to speak with different Amish people; an Amish Bishop, a family that saved $400,000 over 20 years to buy a farm of their own while renting a farm and raising 14 children, and a banker that serves mostly Amish to name a few.  One of the conclusions is that you have to have a goal such as a farm to work towards.  It's got me rethinking ways I can tighten my belt so we can get a camper and make a trip to Mount Rushmore this summer.  This will be another book I'll reread to catch things I missed during the first reading.  Some of the usual things like shopping thrift stores and such are included but she's coming from nearly a shopaholic starting point.  I'm curious to see how the rest of the book is.

Cold and Windy Weekend Ramblings

Friday night I went to bed singing "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas".  When I let the dogs out before heading for bed it had started snowing and the song popped into my head.  Needless to say I don't think Matt was too impressed when I walked into the bedroom singing it.  With forecasts of plunging temps, blizzard conditions, and just plain nasty weather I decided I wasn't leaving the house this weekend unless it was an emergency and fortunately none occurred.

After watching the news Thursday night I decided to go grocery shopping Friday after work so it would be done.  When I got home Friday I was amazed to find a box from Amazon with my soap bars in it I'd ordered. They said it would be here Friday but rarely does anything arrive when they tell me it will especially in this type of weather.  My first project for Saturday was laundry soap making.

Matt and I both sort of agreed it was a kick back and read type of day so that's what we did along with watching a Harry Potter marathon.  Sometimes you need to take a vacation even at home for mental health.  I did manage to get some cleaning and vacuuming done along with several loads of laundry and I baked cookies in between chapters.   

Lazy Day Menu for Saturday:
Breakfast:  Donuts - Matt had a craving for some so he did a store trip to get some
Lunch: Turkey and Bacon with Provolone on ciabatta bread and chips and dip
Supper:  Chicken stir-fry and rice

These cookies I found on Pinterest and they are wonderful.  I used 1 cup M&M's and 1 cup mini chocolate chips.

My reading choices this weekend have been Amish based.  I've been reading 50 Shades of Gray and I think I needed a mental cleansing.  I grew up near the large Bremen / Nappanee Amish community and they've always fascinated me.  Amish Acres was one of my favorite places to visit.  There use to be several Amish run family style restaurants that were my absolute favorite place to eat but they've unfortunately closed.  I've always said I was born in the wrong era.  I get angry with all the Amish bashing shows on of late.  Just like any religious community it has it's good and bad eggs in it.  From my experience with the Amish they are a good group of people. 

Today I read Almost Amish by Nancy Sleeth.  Her and her husband have a ministry called Blessed Earth  and speak about living more simply.  During one of their discussions someone asked "What, are you Amish?" which sparked thought for her and ultimately the book.  It's all about living more simply and she uses the examples of the Amish to show it can be done.  This is a Christian book so she also uses lots of biblical references to go along with the Amish examples.  It's an interesting book.  I doubt they would have been able to have done all they did if her husband hadn't been a doctor making a nice income before he decided to leave medicine to focus on their simple living ministry.  Granted they were wise with the money he made but they probably would not have been able to do many of the things they've done if they hadn't been able to build up that nest egg.  There are a lot of good ideas though and it's a good book to get ideas from. I will reread this again.

Weekend Ramblings

It was a beautiful weekend with temps in the 30's.  It feels absolutely balmy! The snow is melting and everything just looks dirty.  I prefer the look of pristine snow after a fresh snowfall.  I'd planned on taking the dogs out for a walk but Saturday morning I woke up with my plantar fasciitis starting to flare in my left foot and by Sunday it was full blown.  I was not happy to say the least at not being able to go out and enjoy the weather.

Our weekend started out a bit different then we anticipated.  We were kicked back watching TV after supper when the texts started.  After several texts and phone calls Matt ended up having to go help his buddy out.  The guy had tried to save a few bucks on his dish installation.  When he went to drill a hole he hit something (big blue flash) and then half his house was without electricity.  It was something of a drama trying to find somebody that had the gauge wire he needed for repairs and to find an electrician.  Good news is he has electricity again!  While Matt was out I decided to watch a chic flick movie and started watching the Downton Abbey season 1 while knitting on my sock.

Saturday was a sleep in day for a change.  Woke up about 5 and let the dogs out and fed everybody and went back to bed.  Unbelievably the crew let me sleep until 8!  Pretty boring stuff, basically just cleaning and laundry.  When I had kids around I swear I spent more time picking up their toys to be able to vacuum then I spent vacuuming.  Now I spend my time picking up dog bones and toys before I vacuum.  Am I the only one that has this problem?

 Matt spent the day cleaning out the drain in the spare bathroom shower, installing a new shower head, and putting a new toilet seat on.  As I said, boring stuff.

 This is what my mudroom pantry area looked like this morning (Sunday).  Pretty messy to say the least.  I will say I'm not the sole reason this area is so messy as there were several things that were put in this area that didn't belong there.  This was my project while Matt was out ice fishing.  Unfortunately no fish were brought home.

 This is the same area with all my wonderful beans added.  I put all my empty jars in the boxes underneath the shelving.  Bottom shelf is drinks; water, case of wine, and pop.  Second shelf up has my potatoes, onions, and acorn squash on it.  Third shelf up has my dill pickles and salsa I canned in the fall along with the chickpeas that I canned last weekend.  I may move the cans of applesauce I have left to this shelf too.  Fourth shelf up has my kidney beans, pinto bean mix, and Great Northern beans.  Top shelf has my pressure canner and one of my large pots for canning.

Before putting everything on the shelves I bought rolls of plastic Contact shelf liners and cut them to the length of the shelves.  Basically a roll did one shelf with a bit left over.  I decided on the plastic since it was 1) thin and 2) easy to clean.  Matt wanted to put plywood on the shelves I didn't want that thickness added and if any of the jars broke for any reason we'd probably have to pitch the plywood and get new since it would damage the wood.

 Matt gifted me with a second set of shelves.  For now it's stuck in length-wise by the freezer.  I'm not liking this arrangements so this will most likely be moved once I figure out how to move things around in that room.  I plan on canning some ham & bean soup and vegetable soup so the shelves on this unit will hold those and any other items I decide to can.

Apparently all the work I did wore Moo out.  Doesn't she look exhausted laying there!

New Year's Ramblings

Happy New Years!  I hope everybody has an awesome and blessed year.  2013 was a wild year for us to say the least.  Hopefully the blessings we've had follow us into the New Year and continue to grow and expand for us.  I have high hopes for this coming year!

After being sick for the past 2 weeks I'm finally starting to feel a smidge better.  It's just not fair to be sick for not just 1 but 2 holidays!  I've got a cough that is typically not too bad in the morning, but gets progressively worse through the day and just drains me.  I've started applying eucalyptus oil at night, which might be why it's lighter in the morning. 

We barely made it to see the New Year last night.  Matt fell asleep in his chair about 10 and woke up just before midnight so he could open the champagne.  After we drank our champagne it was off to bed for us. I know we're dull.  I did offer to take Matt out for supper if he wanted but he decided he'd rather stay in so I went ahead with the taco salad I had on the menu.  When I made the menu up for the week I'd forgotten it was New Year's. 

The pups actually let us sleep in until nearly 8 this morning! Considering it was -22 out, I can't blame them for not wanting to venture out.  When I opened the door to let them out it was lightly snowing. I was surprised as cold as it was.  We've gotten maybe an inch over the past 2 days.  Matt was happy because a lot of our snow had melted a couple days ago when we had a heatwave of 36' and he's been wanting to take the snowmobile out so any snow is a good news to him.

It just hasn't felt like Christmas this year for me so I decided to take down the tree today and put everything away.  It went pretty quickly too.  What a mess the needles made though.  Even though Matt made sure it was watered the needles dried out and they were as sharp as a sewing needle.  I don't think we'll go with this type of tree next year.  It was pretty though.  As you can see the cats pulled down the lights and branches on the bottom of the tree.  I'm glad we put the tree on the linoleum entry way in front of the door.  Trying to get all those needles up off the carpet would have been a nightmare.  I had a heaping dustpan full of needles. 

Otherwise our day was pretty laid back.  I finally got my new Garmin Nuvi that Matt got me for Christmas out and uploaded the updates to it so it's ready to go.  I also did a couple posts for the blog and caught up reading some blogs.  Matt offered to go out and pick something up for supper after I had several coughing attacks, which was sweet of him, but I wanted to have a nice meal for our first day of the New Year so I prepared meatloaf, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, and gravy.  It was very filling and comforting.  I've read that you should start the New Year like you want it to progress and I feel cooking food ourselves instead of eating out so much, especially since we have such limited options, is very important.  We also were able to watch the Red Wings play today even if they did lose.  Our channels rarely have their games on so it's a special treat when we can watch them.  I washed the bedding and vacuumed all the rooms.  Boring, but it's what I needed.

I walked into the bedroom to put away some laundry and found Moo trying to take over one of the dog blankets for a catnap.  Lacey decided to join her and you can see her glaring at me like it's my fault.