December 30th

Okay, I admit that I am the world's worst blogger. I don't know where the time goes but it just does. So here it is almost my favorite time of year when I get to make New Year's resolutions and weed out some junk in the house. I am actually looking forward to going to Staples today and buying my new planner. I don't know what it is about New Years but I tend to equate it to the first day of school. New notebooks, sharp pencils, etc. such fun!!! Actually it's more fun when you are no longer in school.

Just a recap of what has gone on since October.

Tom and I went to St. Mary's, GA and St. Simon's Island, GA for our vacation and had a wonderful time. The day before we left his 84 year old aunt fell at her home. She fractured her pelvic bone and has been in and out of the hospital and nursing home ever since. Yesterday she was transported back to the nursing home after a six day stay in the hospital.
Not a fun holiday season for her at all.
While we were on vacation we celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary at our favorite restaurant in St. Simon's. Delaney's is a very small restaurant with about 20 tables. The food is wonderful!!! I always eat way too much.

Thanksgiving was spent with my mother in law. My mom and sister went to Clearwater to spend the day with our friend Mary (she is the lady who sells us our Siamese kitties). Lucky me...I had the pleasure of having lunch with Missy, Bett, Andi, Sherry and of course Griffin!! What an adorable child!!! He has the most beautiful eyelashes I have her seen...I'm jealous!!

December was the most busy month of the year. We had something planned every weekend. It has been overwhelming to say the least. Tom and I bartended two parties, he took a trip to Connecticut to see the children, Jasmine got locked in the linen closet for 5 hours, we had a house full of folks on the 26th...Coco and Rajah were the hit of the party and decided they did not want to be isolated from the crowd...Jasmine didn't want any part of the party ( can't say I blame her), Tom's aunt and uncle from South Carolina arrived on Friday, we were scheduled to go to an after Christmas party last night but we were both snoozing in the living room at 6:30pm and decided we were not going to get dressed up and go out. Once that decision was made I promptly jumped into my flannel pants and fell asleep on the sofa. I had a wonderful evening!!!

I still have two more days to try and figure out how to get pictures on to my computer...we'll see if I can do it. Tomorrow night Tom and I are going to stay home with the "kids." We like to stay home on New Year's eve. Tom usually fixes an awesome dinner...the last blow out before the diets begin. I'll be thinking about my resolutions for 2008 and will try to post them tomorrow.

Have a wonderful day and do something fun....I think I might be like my cats today...lazy!!! All three are sound asleep on the bed, each on their own pillow. It's a wonderful life!

Happy Fall Y'all

Hello everyone,

Where has the time gone? I"m soooooooooooooooo happy that it is Fall. We actually had cooler
weather this weekend...wind and lower humidity. I LOVE IT!!!

Just a quick update as to what has been happening at the cat house. We have learned that Coco can now tell time. Dinner for the "kids" is 6:30 pm. If it gets close to 6:25 pm Coco begins to "talk" to us...LOUDLY. She is such a clever child! I think she would qualify for the gifted program at the local schools. Rajah has suddenly become very clingy. He wants a lap and he wants to cuddle. His newest trick is to get between Tom and I in the bed and sing his little heart out. Of course like all good parents we encourage this behavior and then we go back to sleep. Jumpin' Jasmine is on springs. She is so fast that it isn't funny. She flies around the house and doesn't care what gets in her way. I guess you would say she is a strong willed child.

I went to the Stampin' Up Regional Convention with my friend, Christy, on Saturday. What an awesome day!!! Everyone received a stamp set and we actually made 6 different projects. I learned so many new techinques. I have to start using chip board...the possibilites are endless!!
I also had the opportunity to use a crop-a-dile...it is way too cool. When I explained to Tom how it worked he said "order one." I guess he is a little tired of me asking him how to use the eyelet setter everytime I get the urge to use an eyelet. We were provided a box lunch at the convention. I don't eat lunch, but I did pick at the turkey and the chips. I brought my package of oatmeal raisin cookies home. Since the package had two cookies I gave one to Tom after we had dinner and I decided to eat the other one. I went into the kitchen to get something to drink and when I returned to the living room what do you think I found? Are you ready?..................

One oatmeal raisin cookie was now half of a cookie....Coco Chanel had stolen the cookie and had eatten over half of it! Cats aren't supposed to eat sweets! I know she is a pig-o-pottomus and now I am certain she has some goat mixed in. Never a dull moment around the house.

Thank you all for the prayers and kind words for my cousin. She is doing well and we are now have 5 months to go with her tour. My Mom has sent care packages and they have been well received. Thank you for the great ideas...I found a cool lip balm package at Bath & Bodyworks that I know she will enjoy.

Must run and feed the kids

Hugs,
robin

I Love My Life

I Love My Life!!

It's true, I really do Love my life. What more could I ask for? I have a fantastic husband, who cooks for me every night and enjoys it. Three wonderful furry kids, Rajah is on my lap purring...he got tired of sleeping at my feet. A great family..my Mom and Sister are the best...Mom gives the best hugs and always tells me she Loves me and my Sister, Beth , is awesome; she always finds bargains and wants to share them. She is one of the most thoughtful people I know; very caring and always thinking of others...puts me to shame! My house is comfortable for Tom, Rajah, Jasmine, Coco and myself...it's a bit cluttered at the moment but that is only temporary. I have a great job...tomorrow I start a new project so there is never a dull moment. I have a great friends for which I am truely thankful. Yes, I have a wonderful life.

My cousin, Shannon, is a major in the US Airforce. She is currently stationed in Kuwait. Shannon is 35 and the mother of Ryan, who will be 4 on Dec. 31st, and Liam, who is just 5 months old. J.D., Shannon's husband, is also a major in the US Airforce and is holding down the homefront in Virginia. I can't imagine having to leave two small children and my husband for a six month "visit" to Kuwait. I have been in touch with Shannon and she is doing well. The weather is 115 degrees...can you imagine?? And I think Florida is hot! Please keep this family in your prayers. Shannon is supposed to have a six month tour which should bring her home in March.

Does anyone have any ideas for fun stuff to mail to Kuwait???

Hugs to all!!

Long Weekend and Summer Cleaning

I love long weekends...especially when they start on a Wednesday at 5:00pm, which is exactly how mine did!

This has been an awesome week. The painters arrived at 8:00am on Monday and by 5:30pm Tuesday they were finished!!! Hurray!!! I am soooooo happy!!!!!!!!!!! Wednesday was my last work day until September 4th..how cool is that? It has been forever since my last break from work. Thursday was spent with a paint brush in my hand. I've finally finished all the trim work from when Tom and I painted the dining room and hallway. It took me all of 4 hours, now how is lame is that. I never should have waited so long but now it is finished! We also did a second coat of paint on Friday. We have pocket doors in the house so we have to really let everything harden up before proceeding. I had to put kilz on two of the doors, it's hard to cover up pink and blue (1960's colors). The "pink" bathroom, which is now black and white, has a pocket door. Tom needed it painted and chose bright white; the problem is the door and framework look gray. I just noticed it at 6:30 this morning. He's still sleeping...I'm not sure I want to tell him it needs to be another color. Maybe it looks gray because it isn't light out yet...we'll see.

I'm in the process of putting the house back together after having it torn up for the past 6 months. I actually walked in my closet yesterday afternoon. It was such a great feeling. We are also weeding out a lot of "stuff." What a chore. Tom loves to read and has a bijillion books. When we were putting them back on the bookshelf he made a give away pile. So far we have a large shopping bag and a box loaded with hard backs and paperbacks for the Friends of the Library. We're not done yet. We had to throw away one paperback...ouch...we hate to throw away a book, but this one was in very poor condition. This morning we will go through the two bookcases in the bedroom...they are packed too! It's amazing how we accumulate things and how hard it is to let go of some of it. Having to put everything back in place has been good for me. I am the ultimate pack rat. I'm hoping on Monday I will be able to put my scrapbooking and stamping space back together. The Florida room looks great at the moment because my stuff is not cluttering it up. I'm going to try and I do mean try to organize my things. I think my problem is storing all the memoribilia that needs to go into scrapbooks...I have some in the Florida room, some in my closet, some in storage containers and it takes me forever to get it all together. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm thinking maybe some file folders and storing that way.

Tomorrow we are going to Orlando. Tom wants to see the new Harry Potter movie and the only place to see it is at Pleasure Island in Disney Village...what a hardship!

Today we are off to Lakeland. A visit to Bed Bath and Beyond is on the agenda. I need a new iron. My old faithful Norelco no longer will spritz my clothes. It's lasted me over 10 years so no complaints for a $35.00 iron. We are going to meet my Mom and Sister for an early dinner which will be fun.

Rajah, Jasmine and Coco are very happy the house is getting back to normal. Rajah has been very fussy for the past few days. He hates having to spend time in a bedroom unless it is his decision. He has been clingy and wants to be held all the time; such a cat. The "girls" think organizing is a great game; they are in to everything.

I think my coffee is waiting for me...have a wonderful and safe Labor Day weekend!!

Catnip and Crayons

I now have a greater appreciation for mothers with small children. My sweet darling Coco Chanel found one of the many catnip mice this afternoon. As the house is very quiet, Tom is in Connecticut with his children and the food chanel is not on, I decided to get some much needed stamping done. Hmmm, this was NOT to be! Coco had to keep bringing me her mouse and setting it in the middle of my project. Of course like any good mother I threw the mouse for her to play chase or fetch...which ever you choose. Coco is a bit like a dog...she loves to fetch...what kind of siamese is that??? Anyway she brought the mouse to me for the umpteenth time and I threw it from the Florida room into the hallway. You have to admire cats, they can really run fast if they can put their whole weight into a pounce...which is what she did and in the process scattered my watercolor crayons. Now, this should not be a big deal, but those that know me understand that I keep my stamps, pens and crayons in tip top shape. I like my pencils with a fine point at all times...no exceptions. To my horror three of my watercolor crayons have been broken in half!!! Such a tragedy and so trivial. I'm thankful it was just crayons that were broken in half and not a piece of china that I wouldn't be able to replace. So in a small way my heart goes out to those with toddlers that get into everything. I've never had to cat proof my home before Jasmine and Coco came along; my other children have always been well mannered. Somehow I think I have missed the boat with these two.

I decided to take a day for me. The intention was to stamp and scrap for the better part of the day, but that was not to be. I was up very early because the girls decided to play chase over me...sometimes it is safer to get up than to lie in a bed when cats are running over you. I did some cleaning, had some coffee and then decided to get a pedicure. I love pedicures. I went to Nail Creations and a gentleman by the name of Michael gave me the best foot and leg massage ever! I thought I was going to fall asleep in the spa chair. After the pedicure I went to Sherwin Williams to purchase some paint samples for the bedroom. Tom and I want our room to be yellow and we had selected a shade from the paint chips called "Glad Yellow" makes me think of a happy color. I decided to get one other shade "lantern light" just to be on the safe side...good thing I did. Glad Yellow looks like egg yolks on my wall. I can't wait for Tom's reaction. Lantern light isn't too bad, but I will be headed to Porter Paints some time next week to try Citizens Bank yellow on my walls....I can't wait until the painting is done!!!

Tomorrow I am headed to Clearwater with my Mom and Sister. We are going to visit our cat breeder, Mary. I can't wait to see all the kittens...always makes me want one, but on the other hand kittens are a lot of work. I don't think poor Rajah could take another girl in the house. He has all he can handle with the two that he has.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend. I'm going to catch up on some magazine reading and believe it or not, when I'm finished with them they are going in the trash. I am the ultimate pack rat and there comes a time when enough is enough. Good thing Tom is away this weekend....I'm not going to tell him how many cooking magazines went into the hobo today.

Curious Coco

Happy Sunday to All!!
I've a few new "tails" to tell, and mostly about my sweet Coco Chanel. Where to start, her newest so called trick is to jump on my back everytime I bend over. Last week I was doing the daily scooping and as usual the little sweetie landed on my back. Like any good mother I told her to get off, I'm beginning to look like a road map from scratches from the back claws...and I keep them trimmed too! Anyway, Coco listened and jumped from my back to the top of the shower curtain rod where she was teetering and trying her best to gain her balance. Of course I'm panicing because I don't want her to fall and hurt herself on the shower tile. She was rescued and told not to do that again.

The week before my Mom and Sister took a short trip to St. Simons Island and spent a day in Savannah. Mom brought back some pralines from the Riverstreet Candy Factory...ohh soooooooooooooo good and rich with all that butter..yummy! Mom had packaged them in two ziploc bags and I put them on the kitchen counter by my bread basket. The next afternoon I asked Tom if he took the pralines to work. He said no and didn't realize we had them. Go figure. I can smell candy a mile away. I didn't think too much of it because I thought maybe I had put them in the basket. The following morning as I made my way to the kitchen for a cup of tea I noticed something on the floor in the Florida room. And what do you think I found????? One ziploc bag containing a few remains and a few crumbs of pecans from two pralines. Yes, it is true, Coco strikes again!! It is a miracle that she wasn't sick. Mom asked if I called the vet and I have to admit it never crossed my mind...guess I better think about that the next time my pigopottamus eats something she shouldn't. I figured she survived a rubberband so pralines shouldn't be that bad...could she be part goat and can you believe a cat ate pecans???

And what else has happend in such a short time...hmm, there was the Sunday afternoon where I was relaxing on the sofa and she brought me the little bag with a button in it (the kind that comes with a new blouse), I thought that was thoughtful. Of course I had to take that away from her pdq. After the button incident she took it upon herself to bring me a whole jar of vaseline. I use vaseline on my lips at night, I guess she thought they looked dry. Isn't she considerate???

An up to the minute update...all three of my precious babies are snuggled together on one bed pillow taking much needed naps. Rajah is in the middle surrounded by his girls, such a sweet picture. My sister just sent me a link to a cattery in Massachusettes. It seems my Jasmine's brother has won several awards and has been named cat of the year! How cool! He looks just like Jasmine. The neat thing is that my sweet Robin Mary, who I lost last year,is their great grandmother...makes me proud!

Andi had mentioned Stuff The Bus which is an awesome project. My sister, Beth, is a teacher in Polk County. She has participated in a project called Fill-A-Bucket for several years and encouraged me to do the same.
I started three years ago and love it! This project is for children who are from very low income families. Each Christmas,buckets are filled with soap, shampoo, conditioner, deoderant, combs, brushes, face clothes and towels, toothpaste and toothbrushes, and a small toy/book. It has been said that some of the children that receive these buckets take some of the items and give them as Christmas presents to other family members. How thoughtful is that? So...today I was reading the circulars in the paper. CVS was having a bang-up sale on shampoo and conditioner and toothpaste. Can you imagine shampoo and conditioner for .77 cents? Aim Toothpaste for .99 cents! I was so excited. I went to CVS this afternoon and had a field day...the best part,no limits as to how many you could buy! I can't wait to go tomorrow!!! My point is, the simple things that we take for granted and can't imagine living without like soap and toothpaste are so appreciated by those who really have to struggle to get by. If you know of a similar project in your area or have a local mission or homeless shelter please consider donating everyday items...it means so much more than you know to those in need.

Hugs to All and Wishing you a Wonderful Week!

Weekend & Coco

What a weekend! I have been so busy and it has been great!!

First the good news, the bed got delivered and just as the delivery men were leaving the repair man showed up to fix my washing machine...guess what, nothing was wrong with the machine. I guess it just got off balance. $40.00 later I have peace of mind and prayers were answered. I really didn't want to think of buying a new appliance right now. I have other things to spend money on...like clothes and rubber stamps!

Friday night around 10:00 we decided to hit the sack. We fell right to sleep and were awakened to the phone ringing (of course I panic) at midnight...there was a fire in Bartow and the director of emergency services could not get in touch with the director of public relations...so of course you contact the executive director. Tom had to go to the fire and I decided to go with him. 33 units were involved in the fire...that's alot of folks to relocate. We got home around 2:30 and were up again at 7:00.
Off for a haircut at 10:00 and possibly a pedicure. All got accomplished with some shopping in between. Tom had a volunteer picnic to attend and off I went again to do more shopping. I met Andi at Beleza Boutique. What a great store. I'm already kicking myself for not picking up the scented drawer liner paper..I'll make another trip this week. After all it's on my way home and I need to visit the Winterset Office.

As I was relaxing on the sofa last night, exhausted from my wonderful day of pampering myself and shopping, my sweet little Coco "puff" Chanel brought me a plastic bag containing a button. No big deal, I learned not to leave those little bags hanging around. All of a sudden she came running back into the living room carrying a jar of vaseline in her mouth and dropped it on my chest. I use vaseline on my lips at night to keep them from drying out...my child is a thief!!! (Strong too)

Today was an open house at my friend Christy's house. We had a great time stamping and garage sale-ing. For every $50.00 placed in an order we got to choose a brand new stamp set..fun, fun, fun!!! The new ink colors are soooooooooooooo cool! I can't wait to experiment.

Have a fun week ahead!!!:)

Patience

I'm home from work this morning, trying to be patient and constructive while awaiting the delivery of a new matress and boxspring. Tom and I bought what we thought was a great pillowtop matress about 4-5 years ago. We hate the thing. It is hot and we can't roll over in the bed. By no means was this an inexpensive matress. So last weekend we decided to take a drive to Orlando and visit the Original Matress Factory. We found a bed that we liked, they made it to our specifications, which is good..we need something with a lot of support, and now I wait. We are so looking forward to a good nights sleep.

Since Tom had a 7:30 am meeting we were up pretty early. I decided to get the bedroom ready for our new arrival. I stripped the bed and started the laundry. A head start on the weekend!! Or so I thought. While I was unloading the dishwasher Jasmine kept meowing at the door that leads down to our utility room. Some times she can be such a pest...like now, she wants to say hello and has typed her own message by walking on the keyboard. bbbbb (I had to delete the rest of her message). All of a sudden I thougt something smelled rather hot. The washing machine had decided to really bang during the spin cycle...you guessed it...I'm now waiting for the repair man. I am so fortunate to have found someone that can come out to the house this morning. You never realize how much you use the washing machine until it doesn't work...Hope I didn't burn up the motor! I learned a valuable lesson, my Jasmine might be pesky but she is just as smart as she is beautiful; she knew something wasn't right. She'll receive an extra special treat for dinner tonight...she loves catfish.

Thank you all for the birthday wishes. One of my goals for the year is to finally learn how to post pictures on my blog. Reading the book of instructions on my camera would help alot don't you think?

Off to trim some rubber stamps. Have a great weekend!

Happy 4th of July

Where or where has the time gone??? It has been over a month since my last post...okay, I'm a little lazy, but after I look at a computer for the better part of the day I'm a little brain dead.

We had an early start to the day. Tom and I were out of bed by 5:00am..how sick is that when you have a day off??? I know I'll be able to sleep later tomorrow morning. The neat thing is the potato salad was made by 6:o0am and the house was cleaned and the laundry done by 9:00am. I have the rest of the day to do what ever makes me happy!! I think I will stamp some cards and try to complete my Colorado pictures. I am so far behind in scrapping it just isn't funny.

All of my precious angels are sound asleep at 10:00am (this would include my sweet baboo, Tom). I guess waking early isn't working for them. They wouldn't have been able to have slept too late this morning anyway, the neighbors were mowing their lawn at 7:15...how considerate, especially since they kept going by bedroom window.

I'm off to Belk's soon to buy some hose. I'm down to my last pair and their looking pretty bad. I'm supposed to have lunch tomorrow with our bank president...we're going to have the "what do you want to be when you grow up chat." Doesn't that sound like fun?

I hope you enjoy your 4th of July. Our flag is flying (it's a special one since it belonged to my father in law...we really need a new one) and we have a very slight breeze today so it looks nice in the front of the house.

Stay safe with the fire crackers!

Cat Duty & Jasmine

While my Mom and Sister are away on vacation in South Carolina I have cat duty. After work today I went over to their house to check on the "kids". As I suspected, they were very excited to see me today. Mee-Tu told me all about his day. Chablis demanded to be chased and Truffles played hide and seek...any idea as to who was hiding? I finally found her in my sisters bedroom on her dresser. When I spoke to my sister this evening she informed me that Truffles was sulking. Okay, I learned a new cat trick...and I thought I knew them all! Little Kiwi didn't have too much to say, which really surprised my sister. Kiwi is the voice of the people at my Mom's house; I guess that is only when they are home. There is something about having pets. After a few days away from them you are really ready to see them again and that is exactly how my Mom and Sister are feeling. (Although Beth, my sister, did admit that the first night away from home she slept great...no cats pushing her out of the bed and no legs falling asleep because a little someone was sleeping on them.)
I expect them home late Thursday or Friday.

My Jasmine has an ear ache...OUCH!!! She has been digging at her ear and has her ear out to the side of her head...holding it horizontal instead of vertical. Her ears are as clean as can be, so I'm not too sure what is going on. I've rubbed her ears down by the ear drum and that seems to be the sensitive area...off to the vets by Thursday if there isn't an improvement. Michele, the vets wife, has taught me the two day rule...if there isn't an improvement in two days it's off to see Dr. Adey. At the moment my sweet kitten is bathing Coco on the spare bed...I'm so glad they are comfortable. Such spoiled girls, but isn't that the way real life should be???

Memorial Day Weekend

I love three day weekends!!

It was my turn to work at the bank on Saturday. What a great day! I have to admit that I am selfish when it comes to Saturday banking. I don't usually mind working on the long weekends only because I still get two full days off! So much better than working a long week and then half a day and all of a sudden you are back at the same old grind. Anyway, Saturday morning was spent in Auburndale waiting for customers to cash their checks or make deposits, chatting with the teller on duty and browsing through Martha Stewart's Living magazines...talk about a tough day at the office. Then off to Sherwin Williams to look at more paint samples for the interior of the house, no we still have not decided on wall colors...I mean, how tough is it to pick a neutral wall color???? After that we headed to BAI, beauty alliance, which is for licensed professionals only. Needed some shampoo and conditioner for a friend of mine and picked up some awesome shampoo for us too. Here's a tip, if you happen to use a lot of hair products like gel, mousse, and spray you might want to try Redken's hair creme...takes all the junk out of your hair and leaves it way soft...so soft that today I didn't use conditioner. For you fine hair gals like myself use this product on weekends when you don't have much going on. Of course a weekly trip to Lowes was in order, have to get the bird food. And then, Tom's favorite stop...Publix. Thank the Lord he loves to cook!

On Sunday we had "cat duty." My Mom and sister are on vacation in South Carolina and our job is to go to their house and do the cat chores. They have four siamese...Truffles, Chablis, Kiwi and Mee-Tu. I'm sad to say that last week they had to put dear little Qwill to rest. Poor little guy had kidney failure; he was a trooper to the end. On a happy note, the other four are doing fine. Chablis is a chocolate point with a terrible flaw...she has a pink nose! Obviously not show quality but she is a character. She will turn 5 on June 1st. I've been told by my sister that we will be having a birthday party and a "gotcha day" party for Kiwi and Mee-tu next week. I'm sure my sister will be serving something tasty for all of us to enjoy. Kiwi and Mee-Tu are siblings and were adopted last June. Kiwi is a sassy girl, like my Jasmine, and Mee-Tu is a sweet little boy whose tail was somewhat chewed off by his mother. Originally, Kiwi was to be adopted, but the more Mom and Beth thought about it they just knew they couldn't leave her little brother with the stubby tail...hence, Mee-Tu became an addition to the family. Truffles is the grande dame of the house. I just love her! She stands on her tip toes when you scratch her back and the most amazing thing is she has no teeth! Two years ago my sister made the decision to have Truffles' teeth extracted due to severe mouth sores. The poor kitty would go to the vets office for shots and she would be okay for a while but then couldn't eat. She got very thin and the vet suggested removing the teeth. Lo and behold, the old gal is off the shots, she has gained a ton of weight and chases after the kittens like she was one herself! Ah, the miracles of dentistry!

Today we had a nice quiet kind of day. We are working on putting our utility room back together..a muti-day job. We have a lot of stuff from Tom's parent's house. It is very difficult to part with treasures, but I really don't think we will ever use a canvas tent...the holiday inn is as rough as I get.

Over all, a great weekend spent with my best friend, my sweet husband.
I'm lucky; Tom never makes me feel guilty if I don't feel like cleaning, he strongly encourages my hobbies ( how great is that ) and he tells me to chill when I say it's time for me to work on my most frequent hobby...laundry.

I hope you all have had a special weekend with your loved ones!

recipes

I'm very behind in sending my easy recipes...so here are two of them.

Chicken Surpise:

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
Cream of Chicken Soup
Swiss Cheese
1 Stick of Butter melted
Stove Top Stuffing - chicken flavored 1 box

Place chicken breasts in baking dish. Pour soup over chicken and spread evenly. Cover with cheese (I always use swiss, but have heard muenster is very good). Mix the stuffing mix with the melted butter and scatter over the cheese topped chicken. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake another 15 minutes until brown and bubbly.


Crispy Chicken Tenders


Chicken Tenders
Hot Sauce
French Fried Onion Rings


Dip chicken tenders in your favorite hot sauce ( we marinate ours for about 30 minutes to an hour but you really don't have to) roll the chicken
tenders in crushed onion rings. Place on a baking sheet (spray with Pam)
and bake at 450 for 10-12 minutes. You can also spray the top of the chicken with Pam, but we usually do not.


Enjoy!

May Update

Hi,

Sorry again about the delay in a new post. Life has been hectic, but I have decided that hectic is the new normal. I will send the recipes to you soon, promise!

Our house repairs have been coming along nicely. The air conditioners have been removed and the walls look soooo much better. The house has been pressure washed and painted and it looks much fresher...I love it!!!
The cats haven't been too keen on the strangers around the house, but they are troopers and only have to endure a few more visitors. We have decided to have the interior painted by professionals. Too much of a hassle for us, especially since Tom's knees are so bad. After the painting we plan on tiling the Florida room and the backsplash in the kitchen; of course doing the kitchen will probably mean a new stove...Tom wants a commercial one. (He's got great dreams)

Our littles ones are still into everything. I made chocolate chip cookies last weekend and stored as many of them as I could in tupperware, the remainder went into a ziploc bag. I never thought the girls would bother a ziploc bag until I was awakend in the wee hours of the morning with bag of cookies in my bedroom...I was not pleased. And yes, it was my dear sweet Coco Chanel who had the sweet tooth. I hope she enjoyed the crumbs. Coco has been very busy with her new Teddy. She is on her third bear; she has this thing about chewing off their right ear. Her latest trick is to give Teddy a drink. All week long she has been trying to drown her bear. I find Teddy face down in the water bowl almost every morning. On the morning Teddy isn't taking a swim he is either drying in the drain board or being flung across my bed. Teddy can hold a lot of water...he might be part camel.

Tomorrow I am off to Clearwater with my Mom and sister. We are going to spend Mother's Day with our friend, Mary, who is the cat breeder. I can't wait to see all of the kittens...might tempt me to buy another.

Tom is in Connecticut for the weekend visiting his children. Jessica has completed her Freshman year of college and Tom is going to be bring a load of "stuff" back home for her. Time flies. His son turned 17 on May 1st...it seems like yesterday that he was a skinny little 8 year old boy with a dreadful ear infection, but he was quite the trooper as he was on vacation in Florida...makes me feel old.

I went to the local Scrapbook Studio today...what fun! Last weekend I spent National Scrapbook Day at my friend Christy's house. It was the most wonderful day. I got 7 pages done, which is quite an accomplishment for me. I was working on my pictures from Colorado and today I found some really cute 3d pieces for my title page. What a great day!!!

Off to find an old postage stamp of Colorado to add to my title page. I have to dig out the postage stamp album and see what I can come up with.

Happy Mother's Day to all!!

House Repairs

Hello!

What a week with the house repairs. Tom and I have taken our antique bed down every day this week while the contractor worked at the house. Let me tell you, I'm over it. If God had wanted me to be a furniture mover he would have given me a sign years ago. Tom and I have become pros at moving the mattress into the hall and coraling the "kids" into the front bedroom. My house is looking better, but what a mess. There is dust everywhere and a ton of dirt everyday on my new floors. Good thing I don't mind sweeping. We thought the workers would be finished today...nope, they'll be back Monday....along with the house painters. I've got to decide on the front door color, nothing jumps at me. Anyway, I spent the morning in the front bedroom with the kids because they tend to be more calm if I'm with them when workers are in the house. Little did I realize that Jasmine does not like workers outside of the house. Tom says that Jasmine's bread isn't quite baked, but she really is a smart kitty. The minute the contractor's truck pulled up to the house she started to growl. I guess you could call her a "guard cat" like in ancient times when the Siamese would guard the jewels in the palaces of Siam. How cool is that? I'm sure Monday will be interesting when the house gets pressure washed. Will let you know how that turns out. The other big adventure of the day was when Jasmine learned how to open the vertical blinds at 6:45am. Not just walking through them, but by pulling the cord to let light into the bedroom; obviously she felt it was time for her parents to get up. Wasn't that considerate? And last but not least, my dear little Coco "Puff" Chanel is sporting a white tipped paw...she stepped in paint and it won't come off...I'm thinking she wanted to try out a french manicure.

Now on to important stuff. My friend, Missy, is in a "what to fix for dinner" dilema, of which Tom and I find ourselves in frequently. We get tired of the same old stuff. So, how about if we share our usuals and see if we can't get some new ideas?

Some easy dinners that we cook are listed below.

Marinated chicken tenders rolled in french fried onions ( this is in the diabetic cookbook and really easy to make)

Chicken Surprise (really easy)

Chicken Picata (not complicated and oh so good, especially if you like mushrooms and lemons)

Sauteed veggies over pasta

Chicken & Yellow Rice (the olives make the difference)

Beer Can Chicken...the leftovers are great to use in the chicken & yellow rice or in a green salad

Baked Ziti..guaranteed leftovers..the pasta seems to multiply.

Let me know if you need any recipes and I'll be happy to share!

Have a fun weekend!

Back for a Chat

Hello!!

Once again I am waaaaaaaaaaayyy behind in the blogging. I think I might just be a once a month blogger for the time being. Lets see, so many things have been going on. Both of our little darlings are a year old and they haven't slowed down one bit. Infact I do believe they have sped up! The new floors really help them run and slide faster...just what we needed. We are getting some construction work done on the house next week...can't wait for that...the old wall unit a/c's are finally coming out!!!
We can only guess that when the house was originally built it did not have central heat and air. All I can say is thank God it has it now! Next we will have the exterior painted...can't wait for that either, we are in dire need of the paint job.

Throughout all of the construction and upheval my sweet little Jasmine has learned how to growl. She doesn't like the front door to open and be startled...I think it must have something to do with the floors being installed. Coco Chanel is as cool as a cucumber. She is sound asleep on the bed with her head resting on the pillow...What a life! Rajah is the trooper, still putting up with the "kids". He leads them on an adventure everyday by playing tour guide in the utility room; he is very thoughtful, especially when I have to try and catch all three of them.

Got to run, Tom has dinner ready...hope to talk to you all soon!

Long Time No Update!

Hi All, Sorry it has been so long since I've last updated my post. We have had major computer problems and it has been a real inconvenience. Anyway, as you can tell the paragraph problem is plaguing me once again..such is life. I'll just look like one big run on sentance. Today is my Coco Chanel's first birthday!!! Her day started out with her Daddy singing happy birthday to her before we even got out of bed..the best part was that she sang back! My children are sooo smart. We just got back from a weekend in New Orleans. Had a great time and the kids were very happy to have their parents back under control. I have to admit that I slept great the whole time we were away. The second night we were back Jasmine decided to play on my dresser...not a good choice. After the dresser she moved into the bathroom where she had an aqua painter hidden for her enjoyment. Of course she found this joy at 3:30am. Such a clever girl! I was up and down with my little darlings for an hour. Thanks to their antics I over slept until 7:00am....not a good thing. I have been slow all week. Going away is great, but I have to admit that I am a die hard homebody at heart. Even though the house is torn up at the moment I love being with my own stuff. When the floors are complete and everything is tidy again I will feel a thousand times better, but in the mean time that Dorothy chick had the right idea...there is no place like home.

What will they think of next?

What a busy weekend...and another one is on the way. This past weekend was so strange...on Saturday Tom and I were kind of pokey. We had to bartend for a doctor's wedding and because Tom's knees are so cranky I wanted him to do nothing but rest. We really didn't do too much of anything during the day, but when I went to make up our bed I had to laugh. One of our dear sweet girls had put a rubber stamp on my side of the bed. Now, I admit, it is totally my fault for not properly securing my rubber stamp set that I just purchased from Christy, but I really thought it was rather funny. At least one of the girls placed the stamp on the right side of the bed. Aren't they clever? And just in case you are wondering how I know it was one of the girls...face it folks, Rajah has too much class to steal rubber stamps. He is very well behaved, I think it is because he grew up with older cats in the house. WonTon and Cricket must have set him straight from the get go! ( I sure do miss those two.)

We made it through the wedding, very nice but a killer on the body. I have a new respect for waiters and waitresses, but that is another story. We got home from the wedding after six hours of bartending, waiting tables and washing dishes. ( This was a private party at the bride and groom's home). Trust me when I say that at 10:30pm I was not amused to find another Hummel music box on the living room floor. This time I was not very lucky. My little Hummel girl was decapitated and her arm had been amputated!! I have to say that I feel it was Jasmine who decided to play in the wall unit; she loves anything that is up high. I am going to try and repair the music box. I'm glad it wasn't one from my Grandmother's gift shop. If it doesn't go back together then I know it is time for me to get rid of it; after all it is just "stuff", but I still don't like the fact that one of them is into my things. Such naughty girls, but I wouldn't trade them for a million bucks.

Naughty Kitties

Three days of good behavior has to come to an end at some point in time...it happened last night. Tom's aunt and uncle and their daughter and son in law are visiting from South Carolina. Due to our house being topsy turvey with paint and new floors on the way we were unable to provide lodging accomodations, so my mother in law is housing the younger folks and Tom's aunt is housing the older folks. Tom's Aunt Betty has recently relocated to Winter Haven and since Aunt Pat was not familiar with the area we had to drive her and Uncle Art to Aunt Betty's home. All of this took place around 8:30 last night. The kids were great during dinner...no begging for ribs or smoked chicken...they were saving the naughtiness up while we were gone. We got back home around 9:15 and much to my dismay one or maybe more of my little darlings had climbed into our wall unit and had knocked down one of my hummel music boxes!! The nerve of the little beasts...the music box was in two pieces and I was not amused to say the least. Fortunately I was able to put the music box back together. I have had my wooden hummel music boxes since I was a little kid...they came from my Grandmother's gift shop and I do treasure them. My kids received a stearn warning that they were not to touch my treasures again..of course I don't trust that they will mind me...Jasmine has a mind of her own and the word "no" certainly does not apply to her!

At the moment, all is quiet in the house. Rajah put himself back to bed under the blanket. Jasmine is sound asleep on the sofa and Coco is curled up next to her. The kids love the weekend because we are home with them and they get a good deal of their parents attention. Our only big adventure so far today is when the girls decided to crawl inside the dishwasher..and it was Tom who got in trouble because he was not polite when he asked them to remove themselves from the appliance. I might just have to teach him some manners too!!

Hope everyone has a dandy weekend!

All is quiet on the home front

I can't believe that I am actually saying that all is quiet at home. It's official...Coco has not stolen anything in 3 days. The bread has remained on the counter. The hot cross buns stayed on the counter and I can't say anything about the carton of mushrooms she stole because we were able to salvage them. After months of antics my kids appear to be taking a breather from causing havoc in the house. I know they are just faking me out. Someone is up to something and I just haven't figured it out yet.

My friend, Andi, listed her 5 favorite beauty products...my list includes more than five but I will adhere to the limit:

1. Mary Kay 3 in 1 cleanser...twice a day without fail
2. Mary Kay moisturizer...twice a day without fail...I hate wrinkles
3. Bare Minerals foundation...works wonders for my skin...no more clogged pores from liquid foundation (my husband loves this product on me)
4. Sable eyeliner
5. Frosted Rose lipstick from Mary Kay

I could go on and on because this is just a wee list of all the stuff I use on a daily basis. I think the next list should be at least 10 items.

Must run, my Coco is gnawing off her Teddy's ear and don't think she needs to swallow it...and just when I thought the house was too quiet and not filled with adventure!!
TTFN.

Oh, how time flies

Hi everyone,

I can't believe it has been over a month since I've last updated my Cattales. And oh, the tales I can tell!!

Oh my gosh, I have paragraph power tonight...I feel soooooooooooooo special!!!

I'll just start with the latest. As some of you know my house was built in 1961 and until recently has not had too many upgrades. The week after next we will finally get some new flooring. I'm so excited I really can't see straight! In preparation of the blessed event of flooring installation we decided to paint. Actually, I decided to paint and Tom didn't have a choice. We chose a wonderful shade of green, spinach white. Sounds yucky doesn't it? But actually it is just lovely and exactly what we both wanted. I feel like we have a new home! After I about worked the dog out of my poor arthritic husband I decided we needed to repaint the hallways...off to Lowes we went and we found Navajo White...it's an awesome color...have to admit that my ex husband and I used it in on the exterior of our home in Largo. I think Tom liked the color because it had a native american name in it...which is fine by me because it has worked wonders in the halls. Anyway, during all of this painting stuff we decided to put all of the kids in the front bedroom because we didn't want tails turning green and white. The kids were pretty upset today as yesterday they spent the day in confinement. When we had finished the second coat of spinich green in the dining room and the ceilings had been painted in the hallway we went to Lowes. About an hour later we returned home and were greeted by 3 very naughty siamese cats. Some how they had opened the pocket door of the bedroom. No harm was done and noone was wearing any paint. I just can't believe they opened the door...it's heavy for cats that weigh around ten pounds. All I can say is that I have brillant children and I must praise them for their creativity. I also have to say that at the moment the girls are asleep in their cuddle bed and my dear sweet Rajah is resting in front of the dehumidifier...he can't stand to be cold and they did exert an awful lot of energy opening that door.

We are painting again tomorrow. Will try to keep you updated on the antics of the kids...hopefully there will not be any closet openings tonight..Coco just loves to open Tom's gentlemans chest in the middle of the night and remove the clothes that are stored in there. Talk to you soon!!

Bathtub Buddies & Little Ted

What a week and it is only Tuesday! I've decided the 4 day work week works best for me, and I don't mean 10 hour days either! I'm so looking forward to the long weeken. Here we go with the paragraph thing again...sorry in advance for the rambling. On Sunday evening we decided that Coco's "Teddy" really needed to be retired. He had lost an arm, an ear, his eyes weren't right and his brains(the stuffing) were being pulled from his brown head. With a clean linen closet I was able to locate the new "Teddy." Of course both girls are in love with Little Ted as I call him, but Coco really adores the little guy. Last night while the Gators were playing the Buckeyes, Coco decided to play fetch with Little Ted. I think Tom and I were more tired than she was. I'm always amazed when cats play fetch...it's such a dog trick. Anyway, I went to bed at 10:15 to read (I really didn't care who won the ball game) the girls followed me to bed and by 12:30 when the Gators had claimed victory Tom made it into the bedroom. The girls decided it was time to play fetch. We tried to throw Little Ted out of the bedroom but it didn't work. Finally, we had to put Little Ted to bed inside of the nightstand drawer. Trust me, there is nothing worse than an unhappy Siamese kitten. Coco checked the nightstand for her buddy, she managed to open the bedroom closet sliding door(it was totally closed, so she is stronger than I thought)and then finally she and Jasmine decided to wrestle in the bathtub. I'm a quiet person. I prefer my home to be quiet...I make my husband turn the volume down on the television almost every night, so you can imagine at 12:45am I want the house to be quiet...not so last night. It was like a thundering herd of cattle in my bathtub. They even know how to pull the drain stopper out of the tub. On a daily basis I ask Tom where he got these kittens...and his reply is always the same...out of the back seat of the car, where you put them.

The Linen Closet

Oh happy day!!! I completed my 2006 New Year's resolution. I cleaned out the linen closet. My dear sweet husband went to Home Depot and bought lined willow baskets for me before he went to have my 30,000 mile check up at the Toyota dealership..and what was I doing while he did stuff for me....I went stamping!!! I had a wonderful time and spent more than I had planned for, but a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do. Anyway, it was a great way to spend Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon we went to a memorial service for a former co-workers husband..very sad. When we got home I decided to tackle the closet. Some stuff is going to a local high school's yard sale, some went in the trash and the rest is getting organized in the baskets. Of course all three kids helped me in the closet project. They each took a turn sitting in the baskets, jumping on the shelves and digging in the linens...so thoughtful of them. It is so nice to be able to walk in the closet. I guess I accomplished two resolutions, last years and the one about not procrastinating, which is very difficult for me.

This afternoon we had to go to another service for a customer of mine. My 94 year old friend passed away on the 3rd. He was a funny little man who had alienated his family. Very sad, as none of his family members were at the funeral home. My kitties are sound asleep after getting their bellies full of chicken and rice. They have been very well behaved today...scary!!!

We Broke A Resolution..Already

Well, we've already had to edit this post because someone by the name of Jasmine decided to walk on the key board...isn't she clever! Oh this paragraph problem is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo annoying. The girls really were trying to be extra good for the New Year, but since their "Auntie Andi" mentioned something about the cat food can I've decided to share the story. Tuesday night, around 11:00pm, we were in bed reading and one of the girls was playing with something. It was a constant clicking and clattering noise, very annoying, so I looked over the side of the bed and my sweet little Coco Puff had a small can she was playing with. I reached over and took the can away from her and found that it was an empty can of kitten food. A brand that she hasn't eaten in months...God only knows where she has had this tin can hidden. Thankfully the cans are always rinsed out after we feed them. All I can say is that I have thieves for children and they hoard their little treasures. I handed the can to Tom and his response was, "what would you like for me to do with this?" I couldn't believe he said that...my response..."throw it away, you are closer to the kitchen." Now I want you all to know that I feel like a bad housekeeper because I really do try to stay on top of things, I just can't figure out where they hid that little can! My sister laughed and said I had forgotten what it was like to have a pair of kittens. I told her that when I had Won Ton and Cricket I never had such problems. She said WonTon and Cricket were duds and too well behaved. My sister is such a helpful girl, and of course I love her very much! I've spoken to Jasmine and Coco about stealing things out of the kitchen trash; they have promised not to steal again...until the next time.

The Girls

Our girls are just too cool. At the moment they are bathing in front of the dehumidifier in the front bedroom...such smart children, staying warm and cozy. The house was so cold when I came in from work this afternoon...okay, so it was around 70 degrees, but it was really damp and in Florida when it is really damp and 70 degrees it chills me right to the bones, in fact I had to put my flannel pants on (comfort clothes). Coco has pressed her little body to the dehumidifier just like my sweet lilac point siamese Robin Mary used to do. Robin Mary was an incredible little cat. The breeder named her after me and when she came to live with us at the age of 6 I added Mary to her name (after the breeder); two Robin's in one house is too confusing. I've decided the girls have made a resolution to be well behaved for the new year...no incidents to speak of unless you count the block of Irish Cheddar that Coco stole from the kitchen counter and gnawed on like a mouse. Okay, it was my fault for leaving the cheese on the kitchen counter, but I was trying to get it to room temperature...I have learned my lesson..and by the way, Coco is feeling fine after helping herself to a little appetizer. I still can't start a new paragraph so here's the latest scoop. My mother in law has found herself a cat. Somehow it followed her home from the neighbors yard and it was soooooooooo starved for attention that she let it in her house. She went to Publix and bought cat food and a disposable litter box and at the moment the cat is asleep on her sofa. The cat has a flea collar on so it might just be that my mother in law has cat-napped someones pet...we'll see what happens. I just bet that my mother in law will be sharing her bed with a grey kitty...more tomorrow.

Happy New Year!!

Another year gone by. Can you believe it? 2006 went by awfully fast...maybe it's because I'm getting older, but I swear Christmas comes sooner every year. We had a quiet New Year's Eve, which was fine with me. Usually we plan a special dinner but not this year. Tom had some oysters and I had left over pea soup. Sounds real exciting doesn't it? We spent the evening watching movies on the Hallmark channel...some party people we are. The neighbors had some bottle rockets and sparklers going off, Rajah wasn't fazed at all but the girls thought the firecrackers were just too rude. The noise interrupted their sleep and they did not appreciate being woken up...such spoiled children. The neighborhood is very quiet this morning. I feel very sorry for the ones that aren't feeling well this morning, but Tom and I feel great and are looking forward to an exciting year ahead. I have to admit that I did not achieve my 2006 New Year's resolution which was to clean out my walk in linen closet ( I can't walk in it). Perhaps this year I will get around to reorganizing it..I had a brainstorm yesterday as to how I could tackle the monster, so I think I will check out K-Mart, Lowes and Home Depot and JoAnne's for some inexpensive baskets to use for storage. Resolution #1...spend more time with family. Resolution #2...attempt to be more organized. ( this would include being less of a pack rat) Resolution #3...keep up with my friends. Resolution #4...be less of a procrastinator. Resolutin #5...exercise on a regular basis (I really need to get back on that treadmill). I have a lot more things I would like to accomplish this year so I might just do a scrapbook page of my goals for the year and see what I actually do accomplish. Off to write my thank you notes for the Christmas gifts we received (I'm a little behind). Wishing you all a healthy, happy and blessed New Year!!!!!