April at a Glance...

Apr 1 - Dublin Coddle with Irish Soda Bread.  Cooking big batch meals to restock the freezer with work lunches for Carey.

Apr 3 - Another of the guys' favorites...meatloaf w/ baked potato and corn.  

Apr 4 - Fourteen weeks into the year, and I'm a little behind in the reading challenge at only 11 challenge books read.

Apr 10 - We made a good start in cleaning and re-organizing the craft room/office, which had been a dumping ground for too long.  Kasey gifted me a whole day to help me get it cleaned out.  Still a long way to go.  Right now the contents are spread over the rest of the house.  A LOT will go to garage sale or donations.  The rest will find its way back in a more organized way. 

Apr 11 - New bungee desk chair as part of the craft room/office redo; I had one at my old office for years, and can't say enough good things about them.  Picked this one up at the Container Store.  Super-easy assembly.

Apr 13 - Fun day with old and new friends at OnStage, and getting to see the new Stampin' Up! catalog and play with new products.

Apr 15 - semi-annual dentist visit

Apr 16 - an early anniversary dinner

Apr 17 - 43 years!

Apr 18 - work

Apr 19 - appointment with my hematologist followed by a little blood letting.  Since they take it from my port, it doesn't just flow out into a bag.  They have to pull it out a syringe at a time.  They use those biggest ones and fill them to about where I marked a red line at the bottom.

This many equals about a pint.  Took almost an hour this time to fill them all. 

Note to self:  Do not skip breakfast, give up a pint of blood, and then go to IKEA.  😵

Apr 20 - leftovers of the happy variety

 Apr 22 - I've been pestering Carey for years for a vintage pickup...a real one...to drive.  I saw this charm in the James Avery jewelry catalog, and texted the photo of it to him, saying I am willing to temporarily make do with one of these.

Apr 23 - Second of four work days this week.

Apr 24 - A work day of a different kind.

Apr 25 - Planned overs; ordered extra chicken tenders on Wednesday, so there would be enough to add to salad on Thursday.

 Apr 26 - Training video at work means doodling happens.

Apr 27 - Was checking an empty file cabinet to make sure it was indeed empty before relegating it to the garage.  In one drawer I saw a small metal item...a single earring.  A closer look and I found its mate in a back corner of the drawer.  I have absolutely no recollection of where these came from, but a dab of toothpaste on a washcloth and a couple minutes of polishing, and I was wearing them.

Apr 28 - After Sunday family supper, we played our regular game of Yahtzee.  Jared got FIVE Yahtzees (with the help of his secret weapon...he swears that Kasey's dog Sarge blows on the dice for him).  He saved his score card for posterity, because none of us are likely to see a score like that again.  LOL

Apr 29 - Rudy got an email from his vet wishing him a happy birthday.  He's such a good sport; he wasn't even mad at me for forgetting.  Isn't he a fine specimen of three-year-old terrier?

Apr 30 - Proof that I love my husband...liver and onions with pan fried potatoes (and broccoli which he doesn't really like, but he can't have everything his way).  I prepared a LOT, so was able to make five individual servings for the freezer for him to take for work lunches.

And that wraps up April!  One-third of 2019 is behind us!

March at a glance...

Mar 1 - the first of the month is my day to thoroughly scrub any grungy kitchen jobs I have (drains, etc) with the sponge that has been in use for the past month.  Then I discard the old sponge, and put a new sponge in use.

Mar 2 - Still loving and appreciating my knives.  Having good tools at the ready make me happy.

Mar 3 - Updated mantel.  I switched out the 'L' and 'V' from February's 'LOVE' and put in the 'H' and 'M' which will probably stay up for awhile.  On the left is a cylinder vase of antique white buttons and a vintage Westie cast-iron doorstop that was a gift from a dear friend.  I love rounding up things from around the house and giving them center stage for awhile.

Mar 4 - Winter temperatures here, but the men of the house are watching the boys of summer do some spring training on television.

Mar 6 - Beans and cornbread.  I like mine with a drizzle of molasses over the top.  

Mar 10 - Making cinnamon rolls for Sunday family supper.

Mar 11 thru 15 -  working all week

Mar 16 - Delicious samples at the library program on Irish Soda Bread.  DEEElicious.  And they even provided Irish butter molded into four-leafed clover.  :)

Mar 17 - Sent my men off for some male bonding...the Grand Canyon and spring training baseball (live on the field, not just on tv this time).  

Mar 18 - at home medical testing

Mar 22 - made a card and popped it in the mail

Mar 24 - a kitchen day.  Baked a cake for Sunday family dinner.  Made these cracker snacks for the quilt retreat this week.  And made Spanish rice for tomorrow night's retreat meal.

Mar 25 - first project at the quilt retreat...stops and starts...redesigning on the fly

 Mar 26 - As ye sew, sew shall ye rip.

Mar 30 - a day trip to see m-i-l.  A spring day is a good day to drive across Texas.

Mar 31 - completing online surveys for free Sonic drinks.  This is the first one I've ever seen that says free Route 44 "with any food purchase."  Hope this isn't the new norm; I rarely buy food too.  Received this one yesterday while en route to m-i-l's; hoping it's location specific.

February at a glance...

Feb 1 - attended a funeral at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery with full military honors.  Very moving.

Feb 3 - Sunday family supper and Yahtzee!

Feb 8 - More banana bread...this time with chocolate chips.  One piece eaten, the rest individually packaged for freezer for Carey to take to work.

Feb 9 - What do you mean it's too cold to play outside?  It doesn't seem to be bothering the squirrels!

Feb 10 - late night crafting

Feb 14 - Chocolate-covered strawberries...mmmmmm

Feb 17 - Sunday family supper and Yahtzee...again.

Feb 20 - Shrimp Alfredo in spaghetti squash bowls

Feb 22 - filling out passport renewal application

Feb 23 - Gorgeous day with interesting clouds

Feb 26 - prices going up, but this station still lower than any others

Feb 27 - my friend Debbie in Seattle sent me a box of goodies for Valentine's Day.  It included some specialty chocolate bars.  They all had lovely wrappers, but one was so beautiful that I used it to make her a thank you card.  She's a card maker too, so I'm pretty sure she will see the beauty as well as the humor in this.  :)