Sunday, May 31, 2009

Grilling Something Different 2009 #2

A few weeks ago we did our 1st Grilling something different for 2009 #1 which was Beer Can Chicken.
Today we tried 2 new recipes on the grill, I found a recipe in the Summer 2009 Kraft Food & Family magazine for Barbecued Chicken Packets that I planned to grill today.
Our neighbor who lives to fish when he's not working brought over a bag of Salmon for us, not being a big fish eater, I told Todd you make the salmon for yourself on the grill and I will make the chicken.
The pictures below are all the items on the grill. The salmon is on the left in the grilling basket, the BBQ Chicken are in the aluminum packets (if you would like to see what they look like, go to www.kraft.com and look them up by name). The other chicken breasts on the grill are for future chicken recipes.
The fisherman neighbor advised Todd to soak the Salmon in 7-up for about 30 mins before preparing. We did that and then sprinkled McCormicks Grillmates for Salmon on it before putting them in the grilling basket. I did try a small piece and for me it was pretty good considering I am not a fish eater. Jordan tried it and really liked it and Todd loved it. He even has left overs for lunch this week.
As for the chicken packet all it was was 1 boneless chicken breast, BBQ sauce, a pineapple slice and a green pepper ring all in foil. It was like a sweet and sour chicken, if I make it again, I will make rice with it.
More grilling in the weeks ahead I am sure. Enjoy our pictures.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Card 22 of 52 for 2009

Here is a Father's Day card that we made at stamp camp last weekend.
We used masking tape to give it a foe-leather look. Slightly messy but neat to do.

Garage Sale Weekend

My sister hosted a garage sale this weekend. Yesterday the weather was gorgeous, so much so that it almost was a little too hot. I wore Jeans and a regular t-shirt and was getting quite warm. Today I dressed in shorts, a tank top and a jacket thinking I was going to be able to take the jacket off. Well the weather was nice but chilly. The sun finally came out sometime in the afternoon and right around the time the sale was ending I was just about ready to take the jacket off. I really was hoping to get a little sun today but no such luck. We did do quite well at the sale. Now we are storing everything that didn't sell until September when we have a garage sale here.
After the sale Todd was a sweetheart and treated the 2 of us to dinner out. We went to a restaurant in downtown Westmont called Absolutely Delicious. We had never eaten there before and wanted to give it a try. Not a lot to choose from on the menu, but it was a nice restaurant. We were able to eat outside which was rather enjoyable.

Now I am waiting for Todd to start a fire so I can make a S'more for dessert.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Card 21 of 52 for 2009

This is a card we made at the last stamp camp. It is a shadowbox card, I got the idea from one of my favorite stamping bloggers Dawn Griffith. It's such a cute idea. The card flattens to be put in an envelope then once it is taken out of the envelope you can stand it up. Fun, fun!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Wipeout


Sorry Todd, Jordan and I are taking over the TV at 7:00pm to watch Wipeout.

So glad it is back again this summer. We are ready to have a good laugh at some of these fools! Summer Silly Fun TV!


Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Hulu

I found a fun website over the weekend Hulu it's a website that has all types of videos television episodes and clips. I spent Sunday night watching SNL skits and tonight watch old Dick Van Dyke shows.
Fun to do when nothing else is on TV.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day!
Remember those who fought for our FREEDOM!
Our plans for today is to go watch Ethan in the Memorial Day/Village's 50th Anniversary Parade and BBQ. Got to BBQ on Memorial day. Seems like yet again it will be a little chilly on Memorial Day. What's with that?
Enjoy the day!

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Psychic Readings

A friend of mine at work sees a psychic every 6 months, she has come to work with stories on how her “psychic” has always been correct in her predictions. She mentioned that everything that Anastasia (the psychic) tells you usually happens within 6 months.
Well a group of ladies at work, wanted to give it a try so we went on Friday evening. I have always wanted to give it a try. As you read this, if you think some of the things that were said are about you, it might just be, I know exactly who everyone and everything she mention refers to except for 1, but that might be someone or something that happens in the near future.
So here is the transcript of my reading, take it for what it is.

Friday May 22, 2009
“Shuffle the cards, make 3 piles and make a wish, don’t tell me the wish”
“If someone dies, do you want to know?” Me: “Yes, tell me everything”
-“A light complexioned boy is thinking about moving out, it could be an apartment or school or whatever”
-“I see you around a lot of men, do you work where there is a lot of men?” Me: No
“Well then you’re going to some doings where there’s more men then women.”
_”Salt and Pepper grey man doesn’t feel good. 60-68 Black hair with a little bit of grey”
_”Looks like you have has some tears but your tears are going to be going away a little bit. Things will get better for you, starting in July.
_”You're a little anxious, you want things done yesterday, calm down. When’s your birthday?” Me: April –“Calm down, calm down.” Me: How true
“Your wish is very good. 2 good surprises around your wish card, very good. Be patient honey, don’t be over anxious. Whenever you are anxious nothing comes out.”
_”Going to be disappointed in a dark grey and medium one, I don’t know if they are younger or older.”
_”Medium complexioned girl and a light guy getting married; big wedding. They’re in their 20’s there young.”
_”Around job you get a little bit aggravated with job. Who’s this real light lady around your job? She’s a fricken pill. Watch her, don’t tell her too much of your business she’s a noisy busy body.” Me: “Oh yeah, I know who you are talkin’ about.” –“She’s the type to run to the boss to make points.”
_”If you can find a better job with more money or benefits you’re gone. You do the work and everyone else is walkin’ around. Light hair and darker one at work, watch out the less you tell people the better off you are. They don’t need to know your business.”
_”I see a young girl anywhere from 14-17 very smart in school.”
_”You’ve got happiness coming, you’ve got change coming, things are going to get better for you.”
_”4 trips, I don’t know where but I see travel.”
_”You are kind of disappointed in a light in a light to medium complexioned man. He wants to be babied; he wants attention, who is this? He wants attention, he drives everyone crazy.”
_”Older lady doesn’t feel good 70-85, it could be in your family but doesn’t have to be your family. Not going to die or nothing, just doesn’t feel well.”
_”You get extra money, put it on the side. I see a raise, bonus, different department, different job or promotion.” Me: “It happened this week.”
_”I don’t know, you’re thinking about buying one piece of furniture for one room; from now until Chirstmas.”
_”I get a little boy anywhere from 8-14 very good with sports”
_”I don’t know, I see school around you, are you going to take a class?” Me: “No”- “Maybe it’s someone else, someone is thinking about taking a class at school”
_”Do you go to garage sales?” Me:”We are going to have one.”-“No, this is like you are going to buy something that might be worth a lot of money.”

_ Darker looking man, Italian skin, gotta watch his lower back, he might pick up something heavy and knock his back out of wack.”
_”You are going to be concerned about an older lady who does not feel good, she’s not going to die she just doesn’t feel good. Could be family, friend, neighbor, could be anyone.”
_”I don’t know you’ll be invited to 4 doings; 2 of them your bringing gifts, birthdays, weddings, whatever.”

_”Something or someone is aggravating you today, are you a little pissed off about something?” Me: “I was yesterday” –“Whatever it is, it will blow over.” Be patient, don’t be over anxious, take one day at a time.”
_”Changes around the home, redecorating or moving”
_”Are you Italian?” Me: No _”Greek?” Me:”Yes”- “I am too, were your parents born here?”Me: “My mother was”- “My parents were born in Greece.” Me:”My grandparents were born in Greece.”
_”But you have happiness coming, changes, think positive. Don’t be over anxious take one day at a time. You worry about everybody and feel sorry for everybody.”
_”I get a man and a lady watching over you like a guardian angel. 2 people.”
-“You get extra money put it on the side”
-“I get a boy 18-22 drives too fast, gonna get a speeding ticket, he better watch. Either speeding or drinking and driving, has to watch.”
_”It looks like someone is going away to school. Young person; college or something.”
_”But you have happiness coming, be patient, don’t be over anxious.”
_"I get a neighbor around you; very nosey, she wants to know everything that goes around in your house. What town do you live in?” Me:”Wdge” _"Very very nosey. Oh, my customer lives in Wdge.”
_”But you have good cards, good things coming, don’t be anxious. Your wish card is beautiful honey.”
_”Watch your knees, your knees might hurt you. Might have arthritis, or water on the knee.”
_”Just be patient, things are gonna get better. Real real nice.”
_You’re kind of picky who your friends are, you don’t trust a lot of people” Me:”That’s right.” _”You watch who comes in and out of your house too.”
_”Be patient.”

Hands deck of cards to me.
_”Just give me 7 cards for every question. Questions about anyone.”
Me:”My boys future.”
_”How old are they?” Me: “19 & 17”
_”The oldest one drives? The bigger ones gotta watch, I see a speeding ticket here. How old is the younger one? Me:”17” _”I have 2 girls that are crazy for the lighter guy, lighter skin, 2 girls that are crazy for him.”
Handed her 7 more cards
Me:”My health”
_”A little stressed out, try to calm down alright? You’re going to lose weight, 8-18lbs, watch for jealousy especially on the job.”
Handed her 7 cards
Me:”My husbands health “
_”Is he light, medium or dark complexion? Me:”Medium” _ “He doesn’t fell good sometimes. He’s gotta watch his lower back. Tell him if he’s pickin’ up something heavy, tell him to watch how he lifts it. He’s got to watch his lower back. He’s going to be worried about an older man who’s going to be sick. Does he had a dad?”
No more questions. (The reason I only had 3 questions is because my friend told us that we could ask one question at the end, but then Anastasia told me 7 question so I wasn't prepared and couldn't think of any. Now I can think of a ton.)
_“Think positive honey.”

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Promotion, Finally!

I was finally told today before the announcement was made that the promotion I have been waiting for for about 5 months finally was approved and sent through. They made the announcement to the rest of the department this afternoon (embarrassing, I asked that they just send out an e-mail, but nooo.)
Hopefully my pay increase will be on my next check. Not much is going to change to what I currently do, I have stepped up for about the last 5 months taking on more responsibility but now I am finally going to get paid for all the extra responsibilities. YEAH ME!!!

Monday, May 18, 2009

Congratulations Graduates

This year marks 5 Graduations amongst Todd's nieces and nephews
Congratulations to Kayla and Christina who both graduated from Colleges and I think will both be continuing on to work on their Masters
To Erin who graduated High School and will continue her education while attending College this fall.
And to Sydney and Ryan, they will both be graduating Junior High this year and continuing to High School.
I almost forgot Ethan's friend Jerry!

Saturday, May 16, 2009

A little change

Needed a little pink on my blog.
Plus I saw this background and thought of the birds nest and little baby robins in the nest that is occupying the top of our back door light. Every time we open the back door the mama bird flies away. I have seen the mouths of the babies open waiting for food.
We actually have 2 nests, one by the back door light and the other on the side of the house sitting on top of the gutter shoot.
Ahhh Spring.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Card 20 of 52 for 2009

I realized that I hadn't posted a card in awhile.
I got the idea for this card from Dawn Griffith.

With Sympathy

This morning our neighbor Mr. Harry passed away. He has been my neighbor for over 40 years. My memory of Mr. Harry is that he was soft spoken, always there to lend a hand or repair things my dad couldn't and always seemed to have every tool known to man if we ever needed to borrow one.
Enjoy heaven Mr. Harry!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

My Mothers Day

Happy Mothers Day!
This is the 1st time I have had a chance to sit and relax since 8:00am this morning.
Let me tell you about My Mothers Day:
I basically had to plan my own mothers day (as always, but at least I know I am going to do what I want) today sort of went the way I wanted until a few frustrations hit.
About a week ago I asked Ethan what his schedule was for Mothers Day, he said 2:30pm-8:30pm. Well out the window went my plan to go to BD Mongolian Grill to get my Tiara. So I decided breakfast would be a good thing to do. I wanted either Bob Evans or Omega. Omega is your typical Greek family style restaurant that is open 24 hrs 7days a week, anyone who lives in the area where I live knows Omega.
I looked up Bob Evan restaurant on line since the closest one to us closed a few years ago and found that the closest one was about 30 mins-40 mins away. I really wanted their omelet and their biscuits so that is what I chose. 3 of us were up by 6:30am; this is sleeping in for some of us; because some of us get up at 4:45am. We had to wake 1 member of the family to get up and shower so the rest of us could have breakfast.
The boys asked if I wanted my gifts now or after breakfast. I said "whenever" and then Ethan said "We didn't wrap them" and handed me an itunes gift card followed by Jordan handing me an Archivers gift card. I was happy with my gifts, they are both something I would use.
We had breakfast at Bob Evans which was so good that I skipped lunch. When we got home I decided to finish planting my flowers. These are the one that I actually put in the ground and not in pots. Well in order to do this I needed to clean up the area along with a few other spots that needed to be clean up. Let just say it ended up being more work then I had intended. It got to the point I was taking my frustrations out on Todd. I was dripping with sweat and here Todd was washing his motorcycle. Damn a little help here. He said I could have asked, I guess me bitching and moaning wasn't a good hint.
Once that was all resolved Todd did help and we got everything done except that I was about a 1/2 flat of flowers short. I at this point was done, I took a shower and asked for a ride on the motorcycle. Of course once we got on the bike a grey cloud followed us all around. Let just say I wish I would have taken a jacket, no rain but it was awful cold because of that stupid grey cloud. The sun peaked out here and there and when it did it was nice but it kept hiding on us. (Note: Ok, you may be thinking that I was sitting and relaxing on the bike. Um no, I was sitting and freezing on the bike.)
Once we got home I went to the store to purchase the 1/2 flat of flowers and an aluminum pan to use for dinner tonight, while Todd went and got the propane tank filled for the grill tonight. Below are before and after pictures of what Todd grilled for us for dinner. We made 2 of them. Pros and Cons are listed below the pictures.
Beer Can Chicken Raw:

The Cons: Chicken is Very slippery due to the olive oil smeared all over chicken before cooking.
Beer Can Chicken Cooked:


Cons: Getting the hot chicken off the beer can and slicing a hot chicken. I can carve a turkey no problem, I can't carve a chicken. Todd had trouble carving it too. Helpful hint: Make sure you calculate the cooking time vs the chicken size.
Pro: Really good! We used 2 different McCormick's Grill Mates as a rub on the inside and out of the chicken.

Not really a bad Mothers Day. I just now feel I need a day off to re-coup for this Mothers Day.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

A Sad Good-bye

A sad good-bye to actor, comedian and chef Dom DeLuise who passed away Monday evening. You will be missed.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Monsters vs Aliens


We went and saw Monsters vs Aliens last night in 3D. Having only experienced 3D either on TV or the 4D Shrek attraction at Universal Studios I found it rather fun. Some of the features in the movie actually felt like they were floating out in front of the screen. The movie was really good and funny too. This will be a movie we will have to purchase on DVD for the movie library
Here we are after the movie with our 3D glasses on.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Beautiful Day

What a great day. Not only was the weather perfect; but I feel like I actually got things done this weekend.
Yesterday got quite a bit done getting ready for a garage sale in a few weeks and today we accomplished our weekly grocery shopping, laundry, a ride on the motorcycle, having lunch at Long John Silver, stopping at Home Depot and getting 16 bags of top soil and potting soil then filling all the containers and with dirt for planting next weekend. While I filled the planters Todd took the Harley to see if the Bob Evan restaurant was still open in Plainflield so we can go there for breakfast next Sunday for Mothers Day. Once Ethan got off of work we had dinner and now we will finally go see Monsters and Aliens; something we have been wanting to see for a couple of weeks now but haven't had the opportunity to see it.
Todd and Ethan both ended up getting a little sun, Ethan from working outside all day and Todd taking that extra ride out to Plainfield.

It was a really good weekend!

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Still Going/Still Cleaning

I have been cleaning and organizing since about 8:00am and now taking a short break and then back to Spring Cleaning in the house. It is a gorgeous day out but we are inside trying to clean and get things ready to sell at the garage sale my sister will be having at the end of the month. We got 1/4 of the basement done, filled a garbage can and a recycling bin. Then when Todd went riding on the bike, Jordan and I attacked his closet.
This has to be done this weekend because our weekends are busy now until June.
In about an hour Todd leaves to go to see the Windy City Rollers. This is a the Roller Derby that he has gone to once before and enjoyed it. While he is away, I plan to attack the piles of Scrapbooking stuff I have and possibly get rid and/or organize it differently from how I currently have it.

Clean, Clean, Clean!

Friday, May 1, 2009

Addams Family

Tonight I felt rather exhausted and really didn't want to do much of anything. We purchased the Addams Family TV series on DVD for Christmas and decided to watch the 1st disc tonight. This was mindless television, something we really didn't have to pay real close attention to.