A peek at our Christmas

Our Christmas was very, very low-key.

We woke up Christmas morning to the usual.  Paul went to work.  I had to finish cleaning the house.

Paul went and picked up the kids at the airport about 6:30 and then after Cris' arrival....the festivities began.

It began with the decision as to what china we would be using this year.  The china Mary gave me many years ago (on the left) or Paul's grandmother's china which is very old (on the right).  I used a little of both.  Don't get to use them.....only a couple of times a year, but I really cherish both of these sets.

Dinner was on the stove cooking.  The feast would be pot roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, and crescent rolls.

We also don't do dessert often....only special holidays.  I think the pumpkin cheesecake was a big hit!

And our little Christmas tree with the stockings and a couple of presents for the kids underneath it.  We have decided to open gifts on December 28th......not only to celebrate Christmas, but to celebrate Paul's birthday.  Plus it gives the kids a couple of extra days to get shopping and buy their gifts.

After staying up very late playing Milles Borne......it was time to call it a night. 

 

Oh how I enjoyed this quiet Christmas spent with my little family.

Fun times

This week has been filled with doing lots of fun stuff.

Not the typical boring, only working, kind of week

 

Got to blow off an afternoon and go with Paul out to the

Restaurant Depot to see how much stuff will fit in the new vehicle.

 

Not too bad.  We totally filled that thing up.  Love our new car!

And I just noticed that my little pony is in the picture too.

I've gotten to go out and get stocking stuffers.  I love doing that.  So much fun to find economical and fun things to put in their stockings.  Hope they enjoy it as much as I do.  I have pictures of what I put in each one of them, however.......don't want to post them and ruin a surprise for someone.

The stockings are stuffed and sitting by the fireplace.  Looks like we got Texas sized stockings this year.  Hope someone remembers to put something in mine (other than the stuff I already bought myself)

And we went out and splurged $1.94 on a Christmas tree. 

After all, you can't have Christmas without the tree!

 

 

How we spent our day

Isn't funny how some days don't turn out the way you originally plan them?

Today, for instance.  I have housecleaning, laundry, paperwork, meal planning, and last minute stocking stuffers to get.

Instead, we decided we needed to take the new vehicle into the dealer and get an extra key made for it.  It had to be programmed and was going to take about 3 hours.....so we were going to go to Academy and pick up some of those last minute stocking items.

But no.....didn't make it to Academy.  Instead, we had to take the 120 mile round trip out to Deer Park to pick up the ONLY motor in Houston so we could get the vent hood repaired today.  It broke yesterday and really needed to be fixed today.

However, the trip to Deer Park included big bridges and driving through the chemical plants.

  (photos courtesy of my-co pilot)

We did manage to sneak in a quick visit to Academy after running that errand and before we stopped at the dealership. 

Didn't get home until 4pm and then the rest of my day has been spent doing some of the important things that couldn't wait.

It might not have been the way we originally planned the day, but at least I got to hang out with the husband.  Doesn't matter what we're doing......I always seem to have a good time hanging out with him.

Fa la la la la la la la......bah humbug!

Can't believe it's almost the end of another year and another Christmas.  This house won't be celebrating much of a Christmas.  But at least I'll have my whole family here again this year.

When I look at it.....it seems to have whizzed by.  But then, when I stop and really think about it -- I remember all the amazing fun we've had this year.  I have also remembered all the hard work we've put in this year.

This picture sits in my bathroom and I look at it each morning and am thankful for the life that my husband works hard to provide for us.  I remember the fun that we had on this trip and all the other trips we are lucky enough to get to enjoy.  I smile when I look at my handsome husband, the guy that I was so blessed to have found.  I look at it and remind myself that I just need to get my butt in gear and work a little harder and the next fun adventure will be just around the corner.

 

And trust me........the next adventure is just around the corner!

Soup Adventure....Day 2, etc.

Part of our reasoning behind the soup adventure was so that we would stop eating such big and heavy meals at 10pm at night and then go to bed.  That's our life.  Can't change the dinner time very easily, so we are trying to change the diet.

If you think eating soup every night is easy.....it's not.  Lots of prep goes into every pot of soup.  But, we are eating home made food and not canned stuff.  Yay us!

Tonight's soup was:

Here's the final product......a creamy soup filled with potatoes, chicken, and egg noodles, and veggies

VERDICT:  Paul liked it.  Me not so much.  I personally like the other potato chicken soup I make.  Not sure if we'll keep this one or not.  However, the crusty bread that we ate on the side with it was delicious!

Now to change subjects.  We managed to get out last Saturday night to see a special band that was playing Led Zeppelin songs and there was no cover if you brought in an unwrapped toy.  This was the 3rd year that we have attended this event.  The music is always awesome.

We didn't get there until 10:30pm and the opening band was still playing.  We were shocked to see it was a band of 14 year old boys.......and they were amazing!  These kids have a bright future.

And to end this evening.....I want to give a shout out to my little sister who surprised me today with my birthday present arriving in the mail.  This beautiful evergreen wreath -- which promptly got hung on the front door.  Thank you Penny......it's beautiful!

What makes it even more special is that it will be the ONLY Christmas decoration we are hanging this year.  Bah humbug to us!  No decorations at the Gainor house this year due to too many other things going on and I just don't feel like getting it all out and then having to put it all away again.

Besides that.......I spent a whole evening helping this girl get her brand new Christmas tree and decorations up in New Mexico.

The Great Soup Adventure....#1

Tonight's entrée was the first night of us experimenting with new soups.

I've always been a little fearful of using ground turkey instead of ground beef, because I am a big beef eater.......but here's what we chose for our first one:

Here's the final product:

VERDICT:  Delicious. 

 

I loved it.  Paul liked it. 

I added shredded Parmesan to the top of mine.  Paul added Tobasco to his.

We ate it with Jalapeno Cornbread.

 

This recipe will earn a spot in our regular soup rotation.

 

 

In case you've been wondering

I'm back.  Just to let you know that I am still alive and breathing.

And in no particular order........here's a pictorial review of what we've been up to since we last "talked":

 Tried a new pasta........

 ......and made some Pasta Fagioli soup.  It was pretty good....just needs some recipe tweaking next time I make it and then it will be amazing!

 Ate some home made tacos, because life is better when you're eating tacos

 Cleaned my desk off.  Maybe I'll feel more professional (and motivated) if my desk is clean

 Ordering PZ supplies and a few small Christmas items online. 

Also having to spend time playing with that little dog.  She drives me crazy.

Framing this awesome picture that I took in London, where it will hang on our master bathroom wall.   We didn't like it in this frame........so we did this:

 

New frame.  Looks way better.  I really really love this picture.  Good memories

 

 Took a few hours off one day and visited IKEA.  Stopped at a restaurant on our way home and I seriously had the BEST tacos I've ever had in my life.  These things were amazing.
Paul opted for a hummus veggie sandwich on pita bread.  We'll definitely visit this place again.

 Messing up the house more as we begin the process of cleaning out the "game room" (aka junk room) and setting it up as our exercise room.  I'll have more pictures of this project later.  This was just the mess it created as we worked.

 

 It also spilled outside to the front porch.  (FYI....here it is 2 weeks later and we're only partially done and can't seem to find the time to work on it again.  We spent our Thanksgiving Day on it since it's the only day off we've had for awhile)

 We did stop cleaning for awhile to enjoy a small dinner with Paul, Cris, and I

 It was so nice, quiet, and stress free and I SERIOUSLY made the best stuffing I have ever made.  We all agreed we could have made a meal of just eating stuffing.

We had to get up early one morning and make a bunch of pizzas for a school

 

 We've been eating lots of really great soups lately and decided that soup was going to be our primary meal at least 5 nights a week.  That means doing research and finding all sorts of yummy soup recipes, making shopping lists, and hitting the kitchen.  Can't wait to try some of these.

 And last but not least, having to deal with this crap.  We were part of a group of small business owners that met with local law enforcement and our State Representative to discuss how we can all work together to stop all the crime in our area.

This is not something that I ever want to have to see again.

 

 

Give me some cheese..........

..........to go with my "whine".

It seriously has been a crappy week. 

I have a bunch of pictures that I was going to download.....but I don't feel like it.

It's been a crappy week.

I'll see you tomorrow.

The Reader's Digest Version

What a whirlwind of a week.

Don't have time to sit and jot it all down.......so you're going to get the abbreviated version.

Starting with last week.....payroll, busy with work, had to work in store, busy with work.

Left for Albuquerque very early on Friday morning (I left the house at 4am).

Spent Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday in New Mexico. 

Landed at Houston airport 11pm Monday night.

Arrived at my home at 1am from the airport.  My wonderful husband and my cute little dog were waiting on the front porch for me.  That really made me feel good.

I'm home.  Things to get caught up on.  Had to force husband to go to doctor.  He's been sick for almost 2 weeks.  He has bronchitis.  He's getting better with medication.

Don't have my pictures downloaded from the camera yet, but I will share what happened to be on my phone.

Whew........I'm tired.  But I can't wait to share the newest adventures with you.

P.S.  These pictures will all make sense to you at a later time....but in the meantime - enjoy!

 

 

Hello......how are you today!

Hope you've missed me.  I've missed posting here.

I've lots to tell you.  However, can't do it "write" now.

We've had Halloween, I've worked TONS of hours, we've been to Tucson, and I'm getting ready to go to Albuquerque to play in 3 days.

It's payroll week -- so I need to focus on getting all this stuff done before I leave.

However, I'll leave you with this awesome picture:

 

I did this on a slot machine in Tucson!

Yahoo!!!  Hope to repeat this in New Mexico.

 

See ya all soon......keep checking back for another exciting post!

All things therapeutic

I feel that by changing things around the house all the time......you are putting a fresh little excitement and spark into your life.  That's why I feel like things constantly change around here.

I love my guest room.  It's probably one of my most favorite rooms in the house.  The color on the walls is so relaxing and peaceful to me and I have enjoyed finding fun stuff to hang in there.

Thanks to Cris, we now have a new addition to that room.

But first, let's take a small trip down memory lane:

Here's the bed right after we first made the transformation in October, 2013

Here's the room with new bedding and recently relocated pictures on the wall

And voila.....here is the room with the new headboard.  I love it.....makes everything look all tied together.  However, I don't like that the picture is not centered over the bed.....so that means I need to get someone to help me move the bed.  Stuff like that really bothers me.

And here's the dog that thinks she needs to get on every bed no matter what room we are in.  But I don't want you to think that she's spoiled or anything like that!

Lots of changes happening in our house......watch for more pictures!

A pictorial review of what we did this week

Life is busy in our household (always).

What has Paul and Debbie been doing this week:

Got away for a couple of hours and headed downtown with the top down on the Mustang to go to the Bayou City Art Festival.  It was such a gloriously beautiful day.  Perfect day to walk around and look at all kinds of interesting things.

This event is huge and there was LOTS of things to see

 

We've been dealing with a potential lawsuit from the EPA we were served with.  Complicated, but it involves a hazardous waste dump and where the company who empties our grease trap dumps.   If we don't pay.....they are threatening legal action.

 

(I would like to point out that we actually are not guilty of any of this at all and likely that 90% of the other 5000 companies they are suing.....they are just trying to collect $6 million dollars it took to clean up the site and the owner of the site has disappeared.  So now they are trying to collect from all the companies that dumped there AND all the companies that hired them to dump there.  Just another pain in the butt thing to deal with.  There is currently 600 companies in this original lawsuit and potentially 1000's more will be added if they don't pay)

We've been spending almost every single night in the hot tub.  The best part of our day!

We've also had a roofing company out this week that told us our roof did have hail damage.  So....next step is our insurance company adjuster coming out next week to verify it.  Then we will begin the process of getting a new roof on the house.

We just happened to be sitting on the front porch when it happened and got some great pictures and a video.  How's that for evidence?

 

Things that Debbie has been up to this week:

Backing up all the stuff on my old computer and putting it on my new computer.  This process has taken 3 days......and then there was the little problem with the power going out for a bit when I only had 83% of it backed up.  Just another day at the office.

Saw this seasoning mix in the grocery store the other day and was giving it a try to see if it made better meatloaf than my old "tried and true" recipe.

Verdict:  Delicioius!  Served it up with a side of loaded baked potato casserole.  We seasoned up those potatoes with some of our very own homegrown pecquin peppers.

We've had a great crop of these all summer long and the plants are still covered with at least 100 peppers.  They have such a delicious peppery and HOT HOT HOT taste!

 

I've been having to stop and clean up stupid messes (from both animal and human)

 

Last night I made some delicious beef fajita quesadillas topped with pico and guac.  Yummy!

 

Cris and I installed a new ceiling fan in the kitchen.  We've got a couple more of these to do.  I should say Cris did most of the work......I was just the helper.

 

 

 

What did Paul do this week:

 

Since all the pictures he take on his phone download to my Dropbox.....it's fun to look at what he's taking pictures of. 

 

This looks like some information he needed when he want to the hardware store to replace one of the light ballasts in the store.

He was out getting apartment maps for our drivers the other day and this new complex didn't have any......so he took a picture of their sign with the site map on it.  Very clever Paul!

Looks like he took a copy of the AC repair bill to send to the landlord.  They called us about our A/C leaking on the roof.  Always something that needs repaired around this place.

 

And lastly.......Paul's been making yummy and delicious pizzas all week.  This was our dinner the other night -- 1/2 Jerk Chicken and 1/2 Firecracker on a deep dish.