Saturday Vacation Day

We had a fun Saturday. It was like taking a day off from all the ordinary things you have to do on Saturday. In the early morning I got my grocery shopping done and we took some things to the hazardous waste recycle and also dropped some things off at the Thrift Store. In the afternoon we drove to Northgate Mall to pick up our granddaughter. We brought her back to our house where she played with the dog, teased Grandpa, ate a little, watched a little TV and just had some fun.

Then we went to a small local festival where we had snow cones, walked around and she played in the bouncy obstacle course. We then tried out a new place for dinner called Shake N Go where we had delicious hamburgers, fries and shakes.

Then we met her parents in Seattle to drop her off, did the drive-thru at Krispy Kreme and came home. It was a nice day.

Friday

It was cloudy and overcast today. I went into the office about 7:15 and worked till about noon. On the way home I stopped for some lunch at Taco Bell and ran some errands around Southcenter. When I got home Wally was working on the interior window frame. The drapes are down and tomorrow we have some touch up painting to do. Then I can take some pictures and put the drapes back up. We went to Home Depot and priced patio doors and looked at vertical blinds.

Tonight we did a quick trip to Walmart after dinner. That's pretty much been my day. I'm cleaning one kitchen drawer out this evening. Looking forward to the weekend.

What's for Dinner Saturday

This will end my one week of what's for dinner at our house. Saturday night we had build your own pork tacos. I marinated pork in Lawry's Mexican Chile and Lime marinade, then cut it up in little pieces and cooked it in a skillet. I heated flour tortilla's on the comal. We had home made salsa, avocado, cilantro, shredded cheese, shredded lettuce, and black beans. I realize now I forgot the tomatoes. It was all delicious.

Dragon Boat Races

Today I experienced Dragon Boat racing for the first time. I first heard about it 4 or 5 years ago when they started a group in Kent. I've wanted to go see what they were about for the last two years. Last year when I arrived at Lake Meridian I was on the wrong day!

Today I went to Lake Meridian about 12:30 and stayed for two hours. It was blissful sitting at the edge of the lake. It was so beautiful. There was shade when you needed it and lots of sun.

The races had been going on all day long. When I arrived they were in the semi-finals. They race four boats at a time. Once they get in position on the lake the race lasts less than three minutes. It looks like a lot of fun.

I have a friend who belongs to the Kent Women's group called Ladies of the Lake. In the summer they practice three days a week on the lake. They can sign up to participate in the races or just enjoy the practices.

Groups came from all over the place to participate. Here is some information on Dragon Boat racing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dragon_boat&oldid=198269374

What's for Dinner Friday

Tonight we had ham slices with roasted red potatoes, green beans, french bread and the leftover frozen vegetables from I think two nights ago.

The recipe for the roasted red potatoes is on the Lipton Onion Soup Mix box. They are delicious. All you do is wash the potatoes (I use red potatoes with skins on) and cut into chunks, toss with olive oil and the dry soup mix and then spread in one layer on a greased baking sheet (I use olive oil spray for that). They bake at 425 for about 25 minutes. They get crisp on the outside and are so tasty.

And after dinner I sat quietly at the table and read the entire People magazine which I picked up at the store this afternoon.

What's for Dinner Thursday

A night off from cooking. I was able to attend a quilting class tonight. We picked up Subway 5.00 sandwiches earlier in the day. That way I had something to eat on my way to class and Wally had a sandwich to eat whenever he was ready. I left Wayne money and he picked himself up something to eat later.

What's for Dinner Wednesday

It was one of those long busy days full of activity. Worked all day from home. One trip to the doctor's office for routine blood work, two trips to the lawnmower shop, to Curves for exercise, came home, put chicken in the oven and went out and mowed the front lawn.

For a simple but good dinner, just look in your freezer. I took a bunch of Costco frozen chicken strips from the freezer and put them in a 9 x 13 pan. Looked in the pantry for sauces and decided on sweet and sour sauce. Poured it over the chicken and added a little less than half a bottle of water, covered it with aluminum foil and let it cook. After about 25 minutes I removed the cover and added pineapple chunks and continued cooking until the chicken was cooked through.

Instead of white rice which would have been great, the guys ate leftover Spanish rice without complaining. I had a bag of frozen broccoli, cauliflower and carrots in the freezer which I cooked.

I also had a cantaloupe which I bought on Saturday and it was perfect today. I cut that up and I snacked on that with dinner also. It was a quick simple dinner and I didn't have to spend much time in the kitchen.

(If anyone knows where the spell check is in the blog, please let me know!)

House Project

I said, "you should move that window before it ruins the lawn." Too late!

Needs a second coat of the ivory paint and the gutters painted, but we're almost there.

What's for Dinner Tuesday

I had to go into the office today, so I had a turkey breast all ready in the crock pot and Wayne just had to take it out of the fridge and turn it on. I had a late afternoon invitation to join some friends I haven't seen in awhile. We met at a nice little Italian restaurant at 4:00 pm. We ordered chopped salads and visited for a couple of hours. It was a very nice break from the routine.

I got home about 6:30 and made instant mashed potatoes with gravy, opened a can of green beans and fed the guys.

What's for Dinner

I'm going to try and record one week of dinner's at our house just for fun.

Sunday, was flank steak with flour tortilla's and spanish rice.
Monday, we had angel hair pasta with ground beef in marinara, green salad, canned corn and the greatest bread. The bread is from Fred Meyer's and it's a long slender loaf of french bread which you bake at home and eat hot, dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Magazine Musings Add-On

Okay, I have to admit since I posted about the magazines a couple more have shown up in my mailbox!

9. Today's Creative Home Arts
10. Arthritis Today (yes, placing copies of magazines in Doctor's office will get people to buy suscriptions)

I'm not including my mailing of shopping catalogs, that will be another writing. Besides they are free until you start shopping.

Musings on Magazines

As I was driving in the car this afternoon deep in thought, I wondered if people knew this about me - I am a magazine freak. I have been for years. There is so much pleasure in sitting down at the kitchen table after the dinner dishes have been cleared and going through a magazine one page at a time.

I try to limit the number of subscriptions I have, but when I tallied them up I was surprised. Granted these days some magazines only come every two months.
Here is the list I came up with for my current subscriptions:
1. Reader's Digest (now in larger print for the husband)
2. Prevention
3. Ensign
4. Money (gift subscription Christmas 07)
5. Everyday Food by Martha Stewart (gift subscription Christmas 07)
6. Weight Watchers
7. Fon's and Porter's Quilting Mag
8. Better Homes and Gardens

I like to rotate my subscriptions, for example I probably won't renew Better Homes and Gardens and Weight Watchers when the time comes. In the past I subscribed to Sunset, and acquired a nice collection of gardening tips and recipes. I will subscribe to Reader's Digest my whole life, it's just that kind of magazine.

I guess you can tell a lot about a person by the magazines they read, kind of like the company they keep.

A real treat to me is when I'm traveling and I buy an Oprah or In Style magazine at the airport. Sometimes I break down at the grocery store and in addition to my bi-weekly People mag, I'll toss in a Shape magazine, or Women's Health or Martha Stewart. Yes, we are drawn to what is on the cover, aren't we?

I don't have the attention span to read books as often as I would like, I guess that's why I'm drawn to magazines. If I can read and learn something new in only 10 minutes I think that's great. Today while waiting in the Doctor's office I read about cooking homemade pizza on the grill. I think that just might be my next new subscription - Eating Well Magazine.

Happy reading!

Check out my cabin vacation pictures!

House Project Update

Before we left for vacation another section of siding and a new window were completed. (Still needs the second coat of paint - maybe this weekend).

More Baby News

Vanessa Grace Nielson was welcomed into the world on Saturday, June 28th. She weighed over 8 lbs and has lots of hair. She's still in the hospital and we pray she is improving each day. Congratulations to her parents and grandparents!