Sorry it's been so long since I've posted. I do get on here daily to keep up with all my Pleo family so I really haven't deserted you or anything. So what's happening with me and mine??

1) Kookie got out of the hospital and went to a rehab facility. After a week, she had a relapse and was put back in the hospital (ICU again). Congestive heart failure that is compounded by renal failure which brings on congestive heart failure which is made worse by renal failure. You get the picture--it's a vicious cycle. Right now Kookie is combative and abusive in her language. Anne has requested that I not come up there right now because she doesn't want me to have to hear what Kookie's saying and because...

2) I'm still sick. The cough that had started to go away has come back...with a vengeance. I was up til 5 this morning with a constant cough. And that was with medicine in me! I got a couple of hours of sleep before I got up to get ready for church. I'm hoping it's not pneumonia. We'll find out soon--I have an appointment (regularly scheduled check up) with my oncologist on Thursday. I refuse to go to another doctor before then! Right now, Hall's is a constant companion. I did get out in the beautiful weather today between services because...

3) We went to a small airport to see a B-17 bomber like the one Wes' dad flew in during WWII. Pretty cool. Wes and Pami had seen it years before and even got to go aboard. This time we got to see a take-off and a landing! That just thrilled Wes so much. Pami, Joel and Diana were with us and we all had a great time. I even sneaked a nap in on the way there! Fortunately this airport is about an hour south of town so I had time to get one. I had a nice place to nap because...

4) We got a new (to us) car! We now own a 1997 Acura TL. Yep, a 14 year old car and I'm thrilled with it. "Only" 130,000 miles on it and the price was super. NO CAR PAYMENTS!! Actually, it's the nicest car we've ever owned. New, this thing cost $30,000 (14 years ago!!). It was well taken care of and still looks beautiful inside and out. Leather everything, sun roof, power seats, even the original floor mats which still look great! We were really needing a more reliable vehicle --my sweet purple van is still going but who knows for how much longer (250,000 miles on that baby)--but we didn't want car payments of any kind. So, tax refund and craigslist to the rescue! I found the listing the day it was posted and was the first (of many, many) to get in touch with the guy selling. Such a nice young man and he worked with us on the price. So, hopefully, no more rental cars for trips now. We got to drive with the sunroof open today because...

it was a beautiful day.

And I hope your week will be beautiful too. Love!

I don't usually post recipes. I *think* I'm an "OK" cook but most of my best stuff came from really good cooks and I just imitate. Works for me. The older I get, the simpler I cook--my days of complicated, time-consuming recipes are over. Been there, done that and now I just like simple, yummy tasting meals. I also like things that are easy on the budget. Who doesn't, these days, right? The one thing I buy is good meat. Now, granted, I wait for a sale on said good meat but I'd rather do without than buy cuts of meat I know I'll have a problem with (texture issues from way back). That means chicken breasts rather than whole chickens or any other part thereof. Also I'm picky about my beef roasts. I LOVE sirloin tips but will settle for a good top round or rump roast. Again, I watch the sales and can usually get them for a really good price so I'm really not being a spoiled brat here. I even get these wonderful roasts ground up into hamburger meat and they make outstanding meatloafs, hamburgers, etc AND usually cost much less per pound than the "extra lean" ground meat that is their equivalent.
So...I got a beautiful sirloin tip roast on sale this week and decided to put it in the crockpot overnight with potatoes and carrots. pretty simple. This time, however, I added golden mushroom soup and a little (half an envelope--it's all I had) of dry onion soup mix. I added enough water to just almost cover the potatoes. I didn't cut up the roast and I left the potatoes only halved. Oh, and I used canned carrots. I don't use enough carrots to buy fresh--they always go bad before I use them all. This morning I decided this would make an excellent beef stew. The meat was so tender I used a rubber spatula to chop it up in the crockpot. Then I took a potato masher and went after the potatoes. I still left large chunks but this served to thicken the sauce so there was no need to add anything else to thicken it. The result is a wonderful, flavorful stew with little effort involved! A pan of cornbread is in the oven as we speak so dinner will be officially done. The best thing is the lack of pots to clean! My kind of meal.

I am recovering nicely from bronchitis. The nagging cough is still with me but so much better! My sister, Kookie, is in the hospital (ICU) so I hope to get up there tomorrow to see her. I have been banned from going up there by my other sister because of me being sick. Anne worries too much. Wes has been so sweet to go up there to check on things for me though. Kookie is having to undergo daily dialysis since her kidneys don't seem to be functioning. We're really not sure what happened only that it appears a pain med she took suppressed her oxygen intake and she was unresponsive when her husband tried to wake her up. Now we're not certain if she may have brain damage. The lack of oxygen caused her kidneys to go on the blink which caused her blood chemistry to be completely messed up. She doesn't know where she is, who we are some of the time or why she's being kept in the bed. They have had to restrain her and still she fights. She's a strong woman and is wearing the poor ICU nurses out! It's really a sad situation for us all. Tomorrow is her 63rd b'day. This isn't how we planned on celebrating.

Hope everyone is enjoying the nice warm temps--unless you live in the frozen North. We'll be envying you come August but right now...not so much! Love !!

Sorry I've gone so long without updating. All is well around these parts and for that we are ever thankful.

My newest "project" for myself (and really for the whole family) is to get back to my menu planning, budget conscious, grocery buying mode. I am so much happier when I do this. I feel accomplished. I feel prepared since I know ahead of time what's for dinner. I don't know about you but that is the hardest thing for me about meal preparation--what to fix. So, I have my menu all planned out through Sunday. I fixed chili tonight and went ahead and mixed up a meatloaf to cook on Wednesday. Tomorrow night is cheesy chicken and rice in the crockpot. Chicken stew for Thursday, spaghetti on Friday, fish and fries Saturday and chicken pot pie for Sunday. Hopefully leftovers for lunch everyday. And I always keep eggs on hand since Diana and I both love them. I also managed NOT to buy any snack cakes, cookies, etc. A brownie mix was the extent of my sweet buying. I plan on Monday being my grocery day since that is Laurie's grocery day and we can go together. We had fun today shopping for great deals.

The weather remains cold this week. More talk of snow around the middle of the week but then a pretty good warm-up on the weekend. Those 60* temps will feel balmy! My fav weather dude here in B'ham says that the second half of the month should be much milder in temperature. Maybe that groundhog was right! I really don't mind the cold temps, only the high power bill they bring. I look so forward to those days when I can open the windows and turn off the heat/ac. Soon...

My sister has a new car. It's a Nissan Cube. Actually this is the second Cube she's had. The dealership offered a great deal on her used one as a trade-in. The interesting thing? It has no keyholes...anywhere. You push a button to start/stop the engine. The "key" is in the keyfob and it has to be within 10 feet of the car for it to start. No keyholes on the doors either--keyfob there too. She also has one of those back-up cameras and a built in GPS system. Pretty fun stuff. Hopefully soon we'll be able to get a nice used car but I'm sure we'll have to use actual keys in whatever we get!

OK, so that's all the news. Hope everyone is warm and safe. Love!

No, this isn't in response to anything in particular. I found this interesting...and a lesson I need.



"The problem with communication is the illusion that it has occurred." George Bernard Shaw

Communication occurs when someone understands you - not when you speak. Don't mistake speaking for communication.

Seems like just yesterday we were all concerned over the whole Y2K thing. And that's been over a decade ago...wow. Time marches on and pauses for no one. 2010 was another year of ups and downs. The downs were pretty tough--losing my sweet sister Melinda will forever mark my memories of this year. And ironically the "uppest" up I had occurred only the day before Mel's death--Pami and Joel's wedding. March was rather intense. I continued to get good news from my scans and hopefully continued to truly appreciate the gifts God has blessed me with. It was Wes' year for surgery and that turned out very well. I only wish we had done it sooner so he wouldn't have had to suffer with the periodic pain that hateful gallbladder provided. We traveled a bit--Ohio, North Carolina, Virginia and the Gulf Coast. 2010 saw a definite increase in my Civil War History knowledge! I also got to see my beloved Crimson Tide win the National Championship (ROLL TIDE)! A pretty good year, all in all.

2011? Well, we're starting out right. We greeted the New Year with our brethren. That always makes me happy. And we're starting a Bible reading program where we meet Sunday afternoons to discuss the week's reading. I think that will be great! Just the New Testament because we will be studying in the Old Testament this entire year in our Bible classes. So this will be helpful to keep us on track with our NT reading in addition to already having the OT readings. The men will be having their annual planning meeting next week to discuss other plans for the church here at North Bibb for the upcoming year. It's always exciting to hear what will be going on. The ladies have already kinda outlined our plans for the "extra-curricular" activities we do. This month, Amy (the Lurker) (Hi, Amy!) will be hosting a "How to prepare the Lord's supper bread" workshop at her home and we'll be throwing a baby shower for another Odom baby at the end of the month. We've got singings, bowling, scavenger hunts, ice cream socials, and other get-togethers planned out and willing hosts for each. It's so nice to spend time in addition to worship services with our brethren.

So, share with me your high and low lights of 2010. What are you looking forward to in 2011? I look forward to another year blessed with all of you. Love!!