Just the usual....

It's been so busy here I haven't had time to chat.

So, let's see, a run-down of my week.

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Wednesday after work I came home & made a Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake for our Thanksgiving party at work on Thursday. We had fish fillets & tator-tots for supper.

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Thursday was the Thanksgiving party and as usual there was an overwhealming spread of totally yummy food! Lots of stuffings & desserts, and a couple of different options for yams & green-bean-casseroles as well. *grin* Man, I really think that the folks at my library can probably out do any church-potluck you can find me. We're really a bunch of fantastic cooks!

Unfortunately Thursday night I also got hit by a tummy bug that's been going around. I had 2 coworkers out all last week and I suspect this bug is probably the reason. Anyway, it kept me up half the night.

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Friday I got up, ran DD to school along with the canned & boxed food bought for the Thanksgiving food drive, and stopped in to let the librarian know that I wouldn't be volunteering. I was so tired & felt so crappy that it just wasn't going to work, me doing any work at the school that day. DD got to go see a African Dance instructor & demonstrator as a field trip. She said it was lots of fun because instead of just talking about it and demonstrating the dances, he had the kids get up on stage with him & try as well.

In the mean time, after dropping her off at school I went over to the grocery store & got my weekly shopping done. I also swung into the hardware store & bought her a mini-leatherman. It was $32 dollars for the MINI version. *sigh* DH was giving me heck for getting her a good quality tool, instead of a cheap-o version. I reminded him that he has no problem shelling out for good quality hockey gear, so why should I skimp on something that is at least as handy?!?!? (And later got a good jab in when he stated that DD needed a new goalie stick & that it shouldn't cost more than $40 or $50. I reminded him that THAT is more expensive than some CHRISTMAS GIFTS I could think of, and will wear out a heck of a lot sooner. *grin* He just stuck out his tongue & told me to "hush". *wink*)

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Saturday, yesterday, we started out very early. We were up at 6:30 so that we could have DD at her hockey game on Ft. Wainwright (the army post between North Pole and Fairbanks) and properly geared up by 8:15. Rather than driving all the way around the post to the front-gate, we met my dad at his place just about a mile outside the back gate, and he took us on in his jeep. Thank goodness for military retiree parents!!!! *grin* Instead of having to stop take a half-hour at the front gate getting a single-use temp-pass for DH's truck, all we had to do was show our id's at the back-gate, with Dad. Since he was driving a vehical that already had the military sticker on it, our effort (and our time) wasn't greater.

DD's team won the game 9 to 3. Not the shut-out DD was hoping for, but certainly not a bad result for her team, either. The thing is, age-wise these two teams are very evenly matched. Evidently NOT skill-wise, though.

After retrieving our truck from Dad's we went back into town for a goalie stick for DD (the blade on the old one was cracking & peeling apart) then to Sam's club for dog-food and a couple of other things that we can't get at the grocery stores. (Bulk fish, for example!) We picked up a couple of 6-packs of CFL's while there and DH came home replaced almost all the light-bulbs (those that weren't already CFL's) in the house. (He forgot the lights in the "hall", as I just discovered this morning, but as he doesn't ever use that light I suspect he really did just space about those bulbs.) The irony is that he's still not doing it out of concern for the environment, but more because all of his friends report the money they've saved on their electric bills, having CFL's in their lights instead of regular bulbs. Well, whatever it takes!!!!! I've always known he's a guy who follows his wallet instead of his heart. *sigh*

When we finally got home, I spent the next few hours cleaning house. I finally got the top of my dresser cleaned off of all the junk I had piled up there. (Only to pile some more back, when I realized that it was stuff I still wanted or needed, but didn't have any other place for.) I got started on the pot of Split-pea soup I decided to make instead of Chicken noodle, and then set to cleaning up the kitchen & living room a bit when Dad showed up over half an hour earlier than I thought. LOL He consistently shows up early, presumably to help, but I think moreso because he's lonely at home & knows there'll be activity & noise & people at my place. *grin* Ok. And not long after Dad showed up, our next-door neighbours called to ask when dinner was. (We HAD extended the invitation the night before when they brought over a couple of plates piled with beer-batter fried halibut chunks & tator-tots left from THEIR supper.) So, I told them about 6 pm, and sure enough they showed up promptly at 6. All I had left to do was make sure the 5-cheese garlic-bread was completely heated through and serve up dinner. It was very, very yummy. Not only did I have a big ol' ham-bone (left from my ham a couple of weekends ago), but I also threw in 1-1/2 onion; a cup & a half of chopped celery; 2 hand-sized potatoes (chopped, with skin on); a half a head of cabbage that I had left from the last time I made kimchi, chopped somewhat finely; 3 cloves of garlic, chopped; salt, pepper & a small handful of red-pepper flakes; and a bag & a half of split-peas. VERY, VERY Yummy!!!! And with giving J & T a big bowl to take home, and Dad a slightly smaller bowl, that left us with just enough for DH to take for lunch on Monday, and no extra.

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Sunday. Today. Let's see.... DH and DD were up at 8 this morning for Goalie Clinic at the only indoor ice rink "in" North Pole. (Dad lives a 5 minute walk from that rink, though it was a roller rink when I was growing up.) The clinic session started at 9:30 and will run till 10:45 (just a few more minutes). I slept till 9 this morning before getting up, letting the dogs out then doing my 20 minutes of exercise. (I've been very lax about exercising the last couple of weeks. I need to get back on track.)

Tonight's supper is going to be sloppy joes. I've got some burger buns we had for burgers on Thursday night that didn't get used up. I need to use them so I have more room (and less tidying to do) for Thanksgiving.

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So DH told the MIL (on Wednesday, I believe it was) that she's got until tomorrow (Monday) afternoon to tell the FIL (or to get the SIL to tell the FIL) that SIL is having another baby. Supposedly the SIL was planning on springing the news on the FIL on Thanksgiving. (After the inlaws leave here they're heading to SIL's boyfriend's house for dessert.) Anyway, DH (and everybody else he's talked to) thinks the FIL will handle the news slightly better if he finds out before thanksgiving. And, seeing as FIL's got very high blood pressure and is already under a lot of strain (he & MIL aren't getting along at ALL, any more, and all she ever does is nag, nag, nag, which just shoots his BP higher & higher), we don't think it'd be a great ending to Thanksgiving, all of us racing to the ER because the FIL has a heart-attack. *sigh* Anyway, so if the MIL or SIL doesn't tell FIL about the newest pregnancy by tomorrow afternoon, DH is going to do it. Hell, the FIL's best friend knows the news, and has told DH that if DH chickens out, he's going to tell FIL himself! (FIL's best friend is DD's best friend's grandpa, and the dad of one of DH's best friends.) So, we'll see what happens.

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It started snowing again Thursday night (though Thursday started out rather bitterly cold at -20 that morning) and hasn't really stopped since. Oh, it's stopped SNOWING for an hour or two, but not more than that, and the sky stays overcast & gray.

Man...... Friday night, though, DD and I got to get a close-up look of some of these big, white flakes as they settled on DH's grill. It was really rather neat because it was warm enough that we could stand outside & with the porch-light at the back door lighting things up, we could point out individual flakes & compare the shapes & the points & the sizes of individual snowflakes. Of course we couldn't actually touch, and more than a few snow-flakes melted from the heat of our breath as we were trying to look more closely at them, but it was pretty fun!!!! And though I know that supposedly all snow-flakes have only 6 major points, I swear that's not true!!!! I saw one snowflake that looked like the inside of a bicycle wheel with about a dozen equally-sized small spokes that did not end in a rim. Another one I actually counted 7 points on. A few snowflakes looked to have 8 points. All very, very pretty!!!!!

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The menu this week is a simple one. At least, until Thursday it is. As I already said, we're having sloppy joes for supper tonight. Tomorrow night will either be hamburger helper or steak & baked potatoes. Tuesday night will be whichever DH doesn't make for supper tomorrow. Wednesday night we're going to have pizza. And Thursday will be Thanksgiving.

For Thanksgiving I'm making the turkey. Rubbed down with olive oil, salt, pepper, and italian seasoning. With a couple of stalks of celery & an onion stuffed inside, maybe.

Stuffing is going to be premade stuffing cubes, chopped onion, chopped celery, & a mix of chicken broth & cream-of-mushroom soup to moisten the bread cubes.

Mashed potatoes will be made with baby-reds, scrubbed with the skins still on, then mashed with half&half and real butter.

I'm making home-made yams this year. I'm going to be baking them, then mashing them with orange juice & brown sugar. Then topping with mini-marshmallows & baking.

The gravy is Heinz Homestyle turkey gravy and the cranberry sauce will be whatever brand of whole-berry sauce that I bought. (DH ONLY likes this heinz brand of gravy, and I'm not up to making cranberry sauce myself.) The rolls are also store-bought heat&eat flakey rolls.

I bought a couple of pounds of fresh asparagus that I'm just going to simmer lightly in lightly salted water & serve with butter. Nice & light & fresh & easy.

I DO have the ingredients for green-bean casserole, but I'm not convinced that we'll actually need it, with everything else I'll be making already.

I've got lots of pickled beets & beans & olives & such to make up a munchie platter, and the MIL will be bringing her crab-ball & crackers.

Dad's bringing dessert, though I'm not sure what he'll be bringing precisely. I think he may be leaning towards a pumpkin cheesecake, though. Which is perfectly fine with me!!!!! *grin*

Friday, for supper, we'll be having Turkey sandwiches. *BWG* Probably Saturday, too!!!!! *wink*

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So, that's a look at the past few days, and the coming week as it's already been planned. I hope y'all have had a great weekend.

Have a Blessed Day!