Sheet Pan Suppers Rock

OK, I have to admit. I'm lazy. I love to cook but I hate cleaning up, so I'm a huge fan of anything that can be cooked in one pot, pan or in this case sheet pan.

Yesterday I made a fabulous dinner of cubed potatoes, smoked sausage and brussel spouts all on a sheet pan.

The potatoes where done with olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder and paprika mixture...the sprouts had olive oil and natures seasonings on them

Today was a sheet pan chicken parm, which was delicious except the chicken breasts obviously came from a chicken the size of a turkey.

My Favorite Authors

Bilbo  has a fabulous post on his blog about his favorite authors. These are authors whose books you buy, just because you know they are going to be winners every time.

I have very odd taste in books. I run the gamut from romance to mystery to sci-fi and many spots in between.

Here are a few of my favorite authors.

Sarah Morgan: Sarah is romance writer. A lot of her early books were for the Presents line, which I was never a huge fan of, but in recent years, she's stepped out of the shadows of the sheikh's and is writing longer series books and they are all so wonderful. The O'Neill Brothers trilogy is one of my favorites. (And Sarah writes the best Christmas stories EVER)

Heather Wardell: Heather is one of the only authors I have ever met. She writes women's fiction that makes you think. There's always a touch of romance there, but it isn't the gushy kind. My favorite book is Planning to Live. You can't finish this one without shedding a tear or two or twenty.

Phillipa Gregory: I have always loved historical fiction that involved the royals. My first favorite author, who is sadly no longer with us was Jean Plaidy. Phillipa's Tudor novels are some of my very favorites, after all, how can you not be fascinated with Henry VIII.

Janet Evanovich: I'm a huge fan of the Stephanie Plum series, though I do think it has gone on a little to long. We're up to book 23 now. I'm not as apt to buy her books these days as to take them out of the library, but they still are good fun, for what its worth.

Meg Cabot: Most people know her for her Princess Diaries series, but I love her Heather Wells Mysteries which are really funny and just plain fun reads.

Richard Paul Evans:  Yes, his books are sappy, but they warm my heart. I've read so many of them and if you handed me his latest, I would read it without question.

C.W. Gortner: C.W. Gortner writes some fabulous historical fiction. I've recently read his book, Marlene that was about Dietrich and it was fabulous.

There really are too many authors that I love...Amanda Stevens who writes the Graveyard Queen books which are beyond fabulous. Holly Jacobs, a PA author who writes the best romances and of course Terry Pratchett, who has gone on..as well as Joyce and Jim Lavene

Oh My Country

I have strong political beliefs.

Since November I've kept quiet. My heart hurts for my country. I thought, I hoped that perhaps things wouldn't be as bad as they seemed they would be since "he who shall not be named" was elected

Last weekend I had my eyes on the Women's march on Washington.

This weekend the ban on Muslims has just left me horrified. I understand the need for secure borders, but what is happening is not right and not what America is about.

I have never wanted to get involved in a protest so much before this.

We can't let this country change this way quietly.

Getting Back To Music

Ah music...there's good, there's bad and there's WTF.

I had one of our "plays everything" station..and then this song came on...

I'm not exactly sure what to say about it, except it probably will end up an ear worm, which is very seldom a good thing.

The old lady in me says..god...I miss when songs had meaning...or something....that definitely isn't this.

Steak Night

Oh how I love it when Giant Eagle puts strip steaks on sale.

Yum!

Some butter spray in the pan.

Some Montreal seasoning on the steaks

Baked potatoes in the oven...

And a pot of cheesy broccoli and wild rice soup in a pot.

It really can't get better than this.

My house smells divine and everything was thrown together pretty easily.

I found the soup recipe in a Taste Of Home Fast Fixes With Mixes Cookbook. Super easy and very tasty.

Life is good when the food is good

I've vanished again

Mom's heart has been acting up again.

She's been having a lot of issues on Saturday mornings which is making getting the laundry done a bit of a challenge.

Why?

Yes, I own a home.

No I don't have a washer dryer, because I don't have the money to rewire my basement and then buy two new machines.

So yeah, once a week, I trek down to the local laundromat and wash my clothes.  I'm actually kind of thankful for it, because washing and drying the four loads would probably take longer to do at home than the 2 hours it takes me when I go to the laundromat.

The only problem is there are certain times of the day when you just don't want to be there.

You know when the people that only do the laundry once a month are there and you can't get a washer or a dryer.

And today she had another spell...

Oye..

Not one that landed her in the ER...but one that kept me house bound until this afternoon.

Doing the laundry at 3:30 PM is not fun, especially when there is a greedy woman hogging all the high capacity washers.

Grrr

Happy New Year

2017 is here. Let's hope it is better than 2016 but I can't for the life of me figure out how that can happen.

There are things to look forward to this year though.

~ Doctor Who sometimes this spring.

~ Sherlock (NOW!)

Hmmmm

I can't seem to think of anything else right now.

Ending The Year With A Bang

Mom is back in the hospital.

She's getting to be like dad now. Every few months she has a spell.

She's got 1 functioning kidney which is only going at 25%

We've got her on restricted fluids.

I don't even know what I can feed her. Everything seems to work against her and yet we still want her to get nourishment.

It is beyond frustrating.

I'm not ready to be an orphan, because I need her too much. I know that I'm 42 years old and I should have things together, but I don't.

Mom is my rock.

I don't know what I'll do without her, and frankly right now I'm terrified, for my own selfish reasons. I'm just glad she's stable and dialysis hasn't been brought up yet.

Getting Organized

I'm doing my best to get my life sorted out in the new year.

I'm also going to make my life less stressful in the new year.

I plan to limit my time on Facebook, because that site has caused my nerves to spiral out of control with all the political hatred.

I can't take it.

I really want to hide under a rock for the year and just bask in all the books I've acquired in the last year.

My reading has declined in the years since my father got sick and passed. I want to change that. I want to embrace all the books in my life as they are far more important than facebook games and making my blood pressure go through the roof.

I also hope to go back to enjoying music again, which I haven't really done in ages. I probably stopped loving music, when I started writing reviews for stuff that I didn't want to listen to.

I want to get my book collection cleaned up and my TBR pile shrunk.

Are these resolutions?

Maybe.

To me they are just goals that I may or may not accomplish in the coming year.

In A Year Of Sadness...Things That Make Me Happy

OK, Debbie Reynolds dies one day after her daughter....a few hours after telling her son that she missed her daughter so much, she wanted to be with her.

So if that doesn't make you cry, you are inhuman.

So to keep myself from getting too depressed about all the death...

Things that make me happy

~ My furbabies

~ My family (though not all the time)

~ Good tv shows like Sherlock, Doctor Who and even People Of Earth for a bit of mindless fun.

~ Good books...heck at this point even bad books that can transport you somewhere else.

~ Chocolate

~ Starbucks coffee

~ Cookbooks

~ Baking

The Year Of The Reaper

My friend, Jennifer shared this on her facebook today.

How true this is.

It seems like the amount of celebrity deaths was truly astronomical this year.

It probably isn't but the ones that passed were ones that were really beloved and influential in many lives

David Bowie, Glenn Frey, Prince, 2/3 of Emerson Lake and Palmer, Leonard Cohen, Pete Burns and George Michael to name but a few of the musical deaths...

Alan Thicke, Florence Henderson, Doris Roberts, Alan Young are a few from the TV front...

And today, Carrie Fisher.

Hey, Reaper! Don't you need some crappy politicians? Washington is full of them?

Can we pull a Torchwood, Miracle Day please?

You know..a day when no one dies.

RIP George Michael

2016 proves that its not yet done making the world a dimmer place.

On Christmas the world lost George Michael, who started his career as one half of the pop duo Wham!

I remember absolutely loving songs like Wake Me Up (Before You Go Go), Freedom and Careless Whisper and I'm Your Man.

His solo career was filled with controversy starting with the single I Want Your Sex and Faith. (with the video that definitely featured George's good side) If you don't know what I speak, look up the video and you'll see.

Then there's his coming out and a sex scandal or two.

That's where I must stop and pause...because so many of the posts I've seen today have had rude comments about this man's sexuality.

I don't care who he slept with.

The world lost a talented man. If you have nothing nice to say, keep your trap shut.

2016 the year the music died.

A Semi Homemade Christmas

I always enjoyed Sandra Lee's Food Network show, back before she was the first lady of New York and had to deal with breast cancer.

This year, I decided I wanted a fairly stress free holiday, so I did a lot of semi-homemade baking.

What is that you ask?

I made quite a few wonderful cake mix cookies.

Each cookie made about 3 dozen depending on the recipe and they were really delicious.

I made the Andes Candies cookie which I found a few years back from Six Sister's Stuff. Then I did a strawberry coconut and pineapple coconut pecan cookie..and then an orange cookie...all from mixes and all delicious.

Everything wasn't all semi homemade though. I did make my mother's fudge nuggets and the cathedral candy..palmiers and my favorite cookie, Oreo cream cheese .

All in all everything worked out pretty nicely and was still fabulously yummy.

A Cool Purchase

I had to stop at my local library to pick up a Douglas Adams book that I wanted to read. There I found groups of books tied together with a little string and a bow.

Book bundles for $2.00.

They had 4 or 5 books of similar genres together.

How great of an idea was that?

I had to buy one.

Would you have expected any less.

A great way to sell used books at the library and make things cute while helping the library.

Remembering Misty

Its been 10 years and 1 day since my Misty kitty passed away in my arms. I wasn't really thinking about it, though she is a cat that I talk about often (along with my two baby Muckers that I loved so dearly)

This morning my Dewey (who is a girl...but the name suits her) crawled on my lap and I just started crying, because Dewey and Misty are two peas in a pod.

This is Misty with her buddy Oogie

This is by Dewey Doo eating ...which is her favorite activity. Its right up there with sleeping and walking across my laptop.

Two sweet girls that I love so much.

Sadness, I Has It

I think I've used this blog title before.

Its Christmastime and its time for holiday baking, only I don't know what to make and I'm always sad that there's not enough people to eat all the cookies that I bake.

My dad was the one with the sweet tooth. He devoured cookies like they were going out of style.

There's no one that eats cookies like he did and there's not that many people I can gift cookies too either.

It makes me sad.

There are so many things I want to make. Brownie Truffles....Peppermint Fudge...

~sigh~


I miss my Daddy.

Christmas Shopping

I used to love shopping. It used to be the thing I enjoyed the most in life

At some time I became a responsible adult and now it is probably my most hated thing I have to do.

Christmas shopping is something I do mostly online, though I have to say, I found a lot of nifty gifts at KMart.

Why does the holiday have to be so much about gimmie gimmie gimmie?

I'm sick of going broke and working myself to death for people that don't care. I'm broke enough as it is!

I'll be cooking for people that don't give a crap..and now I'm buying presents for them?

This isn't right.

Grrrrr

And this is why so many people hate the holiday season.

Waiting For Good TV

I think Christmas is the only day when I might find a show that's enjoyable to watch. (Well besides The Librarians on Sunday night)

I've given up on Big Bang Theory, which jumped that proverbial shark a few seasons ago. Its getting less and less funny with each episode.

I'm not a huge cop drama fan or a med show fan either, so there's just nothing on for me anymore.

I'm waiting on Doctor Who and Sherlock.

On a plus there is the Hairspray live special on tomorrow. That may be worth watching, because I love that musical, and there's actually a pretty good cast for this one. (Heck even Ariana Grande is pretty good..and Martin Short is downright awesome)

But I miss having a show or two that I really MUST WATCH and right now, there's just nothing. I can take or leave just about everything that's on.

There's just nothing quirky enough for me anymore. Everything I loved in the last few years got the ax in the first season or less, Forever, Selfie, Super Fun Night.

I'm left watching reruns of The Jeffersons, All In The Family and Barney Miller.

~sigh~

Comfort Food

These days after Thanksgiving I've been enjoying the left over turkey. Since I've been in charge of Thanksgiving dinner for the last few years, I've come up with some recipes that help get rid of all that extra bird.

This year..I just stuck with my stuffed shells..and there still was a gallon freezer bag full.

I did remember one thing that I enjoyed when I was younger.

Turkey sandwiches.

Nothing fancy...none of that stuff you see on food network or the morning talk shows.

My perfect sandwich is a slice of white bread, turkey with a touch of salt and Miracle Whip folded in half.

That is pure turkey perfection in my book.

I haven't had Miracle Whip in ages. I'm used to using mayo in the shells recipe and that's the main ingredient in all my favorite dips, so there was no reason to buy it lately.

I'm glad I did.

Good food memories and good food.

I still have a YUGE amount of turkey leftover.

Random Photo Post

I'm quite surprised at the quality of photos my cell phone takes some time. These shots were taken a few weeks ago, when I was stuck doing my laundry in Monongahela. While I waited for everything to dry, I took a short walk. It was early morning and I was really awestruck by the steeple at the Methodist church.

The early morning light really made it look beautiful.

The Joys of Thanksgiving

This is what a stress free Thanksgiving looks like.

Happy Thanksgiving

I wish all my blogging friends in the US a wonderful holiday.

May your day be filled with good food, fun and very few political arguments.

The hardest thing I've ever done

A little over 2 months ago, I gave up soda.

I quit cold turkey.

I thought by now the cravings would have gone away.

I've actually had dreams about drinking a coke? How sad is that?

Of course, I've also had a dream where I hugged Hillary Clinton too...so my dreams are a little odd. (I'd rather hug President Obama and Vice President Biden)

I don't know how much longer I can go without a can of soda...it is hurting....even my flavored sparkling water isn't helping.

How will I ever survive?

Christmas Cookie?

A friend shared this recipe on Facebook..and really...I didn't want to lose it because I may make them for Christmas if I have a working stove.

Cos right now my oven is tripping the breaker and I don't know whether to call an electrician or someone to come and look at the oven.

BUCKEYE BROWNIE COOKIES

Print
makes 24 cookies
INGREDIENTS
• 1 box (18-19 oz) Brownie mix
• ¼ cup butter, melted
• ½ cup cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 egg
• ¾ cup peanut butter
• ¾ cup powdered sugar
• ¾ cup chocolate frosting
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. In a medium bowl combine brownie mix, butter, cream cheese and egg. Stir until dough comes together, it will be very thick and sticky. I used my hands.
4. Form rounded tablespoons sized portions of dough into balls, placing on baking sheet about 2 inches apart, making an indentation with your thumb in the center of each.
5. In another bowl stir together peanut butter and powdered sugar. Form peanut butter into teaspoon sized balls and press into the indentations in the brownie cookies.
6. Press peanut butter down slightly because the peanut butter won't spread and you don't want the cookies to be too tall.
7. Bake for 10-12 minutes until edges are set.
8. Transfer to wire rack to cool.
9. When cooled top each cookie with about a tablespoon of chocolate frosting.
NOTES
Use a fudge frosting....or a can of frosting also works......

Adapted from Pillsbury

Let's Talk About Climate Change

OK, some of you don't believe that climate change is real.

I feel sorry for you.

The climate of the earth has been changing...

Dinosaurs are gone...we've had an ice age.

Sure with some there was an meteor or something that caused the changes to the planet, but what about what's going on now.

Why are the ice caps melting?

I think what people really don't understand is that in the last 200 years we've had more developments that caused us to use our natural resources. Coal and other fossil fuels send gases into our environment. Not to mention what we do when we drill.

I wasn't the best student when it comes to science, but I understand that there have been changes in the weather where I live in the 42 years that I've been alive.

I remember there would be days at a time when it would rain. I can't really remember when we had all day rains for any amount of time.

Our changing weather patterns alone should make people wonder.

How much of this is man made?

Heck if its even a small percentage, why don't we want to do something so that we don't speed it along. After all, this is the planet we hope our children and grandchildren etc will make their home.

Why do we want to waste money on coal when we could be researching clean energy. Why aren't there more wind farms?
\
Seriously, why would you want your husband, father, brother, child working in a coal mine?

Yes, we need more blue collar jobs, because not everyone is suited for college, but couldn't they be in industries that aren't sending our planet to hell.

Granted if you are like me and keep a tin foil hat in the closet you might think, "Hey, Mars might have had life and look at it now."

Maybe I'll just wait for the aliens to come and take us somewhere else.

Coping With The Election Results

Once again...I just feel like we've been screwed.

I can't feel any amount of optimism in this election, only sadness.

I want to do something, but I don't know what.

Our country is broken.

When an election is literally split down the middle and one candidate wins the popular vote and another wins the electoral college (bullshit). This is something that happened only 5 times in our nation's history and one of those times was 16 years ago.

I don't know which of Trump's possible policies scare me the most. His total lack of belief in climate change?

His treatment of women and care for their issues?

His disregard for LGBT rights?

All of this because people think he's going to bring back the Steel Industry?

I just don't see how that can happen.

Why can't we create jobs in renewable energy?

Oh and that wall? Yeah there's no way that is going to happen.

My poor country

I Feel No Better Today

I'm sorry, I can't feel any better about what's going to happen to our country.

Our environment is going to be forgotten...so screw the planet.

I want to feel good about my country.

I realize we need jobs, but why can't they be in industries that make the world better, and possibly inhabitable for thousands of more years.

When we have a leader whose children are into big game hunting, I'm not only saddened, I'm sickened.

I hate killing animals for sport.

I'm totally disgusted by everything that involves this man.

Someone posted this poem in a facebook group I'm in...

First They Came - By Pastor Martin Niemoller
When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn't a Jew.
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

What Has Become Of My Country

I will always be liberal.

Why?

I care what happens to people. Not all poor people are lazy. Not all people were meant for college.

I care what happens to the environment. Yes, the earth is changing...call it what you will, but remember we've made so many advances in the last 200 years, that it is really likely our intelligence is hurting the planet. I find it hard to believe people can't see past their own lifespan.

I believe in a woman's right to choose. I don't believe abortion should be a form of birth control. I actually believe condoms should be passed out like candy. I think our children need to be better educated about their bodies and how difficult it is to raise a child in this world.

I believe that everyone should be able to have health care. (Mind you I don't agree with the part of the law that penalizes you if you don't)

I do believe in the 2nd Amendment but I also believe their are people (That may in fact be law abiding citizens most of the time) that shouldn't own a gun. I also don't believe that more guns is the answer to everything.

However, the country has spoken.

I am sad for our country, but I pray that the candidate elected is different than what we've seen in 2 years of campaigning.

I pray to whatever higher power might be listening that we get through this and maybe he won't be as bad as he seems.

Happy Election Day

I will be so glad when today is over.

I'm sick of all the Hillary bashing. she may not be the most perfect candidate but she has a brain. I'm also sick of people berating President Obama.

How the hell could he have accomplished much when Congress won't do their job.

It must be nice to have a job that pays in many instances 6 figures and assholes like Marco Rubio who doesn't even show up, keep running...and if he wins..so help me God, we have proof that their is something in the water in Florida that affects the brain cells.

We want change but when we have someone that might bring it about without causing WWIII we pick on him.

Let's hope when we wake up tomorrow there's a new president and its one we can live with

Book Recommendation

I usually only recommend books on my book blog, but this book definitely is worth mentioning.

It is the story of Victoria Woodhull, who was the first woman to run for President of the United States.

Its a work of historical fiction, but its really a well researched novel and one I had a hard time putting down.

I don't usually read 400 page novels in a day, but that is pretty much what happened with this book.

Victoria's life is a rags to riches story, Her father was an abusive drunk who used his daughters to make money.  Yes, in that way too. Victoria and her sister Tenny are also spiritualists.

So there's a lot of crazy stuff involving this family.

If you like novels involving history, this is a great one to try.

My review will be up at my book blog tomorrow

Everyone Needs To Chill Out

I've come to the conclusion that when it comes to the holidays Americans if not the world, need to chill the fuck out.

We make everything to damn hard and we make ourselves crazy for a few days that end much too quickly. It usually leaves us depressed too.

Our expectations are high and the outcome is very seldom what we want.

We all need to stop worrying about stuff.

Here are some things to think about.

Thanksgiving is just another dinner.

No one needs thousands of dollars worth of presents.

2 days shouldn't make you crazy or broke.

Chill out. Make turkey, your potato of choice, stuffing and a veggie and enjoy your meal.

Buy nice gifts that you can afford.

Chill out.

Oh and if a store clerk says Happy Holidays and not Merry Christmas..

REALLY CHILL THE FUCK OUT!

Christ can still be in Christmas without the world ramming him down everyone's throats.

CHILL OUT

Going From Bad To Worse

Allow me to share the things that have gone on in my week.

~ Furnace decided to have issues this week. Thankfully it was a reasonable fix.

~ Nephew dropped a small salad fork down the drain in the kitchen, thus allowing us to get the new faucet there that we've been wanting for over a year. That was $180.00

~ I get home today and the stove isn't working. Twice it tripped the breaker. Everything is working find now, but that was beyond scary.

I just want some uneventful days that don't cause me grief.

I think I deserve it.

Make This Election Be Over

I can't watch tv anymore.

The political ads are wrecking my blood pressure.

I hate our two candidates for senator in PA. Both suck.

I hate Donald Trump with a passion that cannot be described.

I am resorting to watching channels like Antenna TV and Me TV because they don't show as many of those ads. They prefer to show ads about suing drug companies for killing us or giving us cancer

The only new show I'm really enjoying is The Durrells of Corfu on Masterpiece.

All I want to do is sleep and ignore the world, cos its way too crazy. Wake me to vote on Nov 8 and then again on Nov 9, if its safe to stay in the country.

The Truest Thing I Ever Found On Facebook

Are We In A Freefall?

OK,  I'm supporting Hillary Clinton. (I'd rather be supporting Bernie Sanders, but that wasn't to be.)

Not because I like her 100%, the lady has a lot of baggage, but as a politician, I think she has more political know how than The Donald.

What scares me is that now that Trump's run is going down, what is the rest of the world thinking of us, for letting this kind of man come this far. And more so, why did it take these types of comments, as opposed to the other nasty shit that's come out of his mouth, to get the GOP to distance themselves from this scumbag?

What scares me, is there are things going on with Russia, and it isn't making the news, because of  The Donald and the fact that everyone is campaigning.

I shake my head at our country.

Dear NRA and all your sheep

I am totally sick of all the commercials saying that the Democrats and Hillary Clinton are going to take away the right to own guns.

Each commercial features a woman who would otherwise be killed without her weapon.

FYI, it would take a constitutional AMENDMENT to get rid of the right to keep and bear arms.

It also takes 7 years to amend the constitution, and that depends on how hard its fought, and we all know this would be fought.

Guess what people.

That means it will never happen. Not even with the most liberal government.

So these ads are nothing but scare tactics.

And with a do nothing congress, regulation can't even happen, so your right to arm yourself as well as the US military isn't going to happen, not matter how many people are killed by mentally unstable people or terrorists.

Sincerely,

Someone that's sick of all the damn lies.

The Best Laid Plans

I meant to be a better blogger.

Then mom ended up in the hospital last week.

That kind of sends life into a tailspin.

There are things going wrong in the house..

I'm stressed.

I need a vacation...

Or at least a nap.

Remembering 9/11

I have mixed feelings about all the posts today.

We lost a lot of lives to this act of terror. Many were hurt and plenty are still suffering because they played a part in the search and rescue effort. (There illnesses being conveniently forgotten by our do nothing Congress)

All these Never Forget...

No one is...

No is going to forget the 7th of December either, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

The casualty numbers on both of these attacks were close. 9/11 is higher by about 400 if the sites I read were correct, and those deaths were mostly civilian.

However in the grand scheme of things, I think Pearl Harbor Day is more important not to forget, as America was finally dragged into the Second World War. This was truly a war for our freedom and the freedom of Europe from the Nazi regime.

I've been reading more and more about that war. It is hard to believe how one country can spew so much hatred....until I start thinking about current times.

It makes me sad.

Is history trying to repeat itself?

Can we overcome our hatred for different religious and ethnic groups?

I hope so, because I'd like to think we are better than this.

We banded together in times of crisis, why does that love fade away so quickly.

New Forget...but not just on the memorial of the incident....every day.

Friendly Fill Ins

I need memes. I haven't done any in yonks. Maybe that will help me be a better blogger?

Ya think?

Here are this week's fill ins

1. I can’t wait for the new season of Doctor Who on television.  (Christmas special, but no new season until April 2017)

2. In my home, my kitchen sink needs to be repaired. (There's a crazy pipe that refuses to stay connected causing a huge wet mess under the sink)

3.I thought I lost Dewey twice, but both times she escaped I was able to retrieve her, first from the window the second time with a plate of spaghetti.  Yes, my cat loves spaghetti.

4.Once, I found the Spandau Ballet CD  Parade at CD Warehouse, for a super cheap price considering it was out of print.

Mingo Park

Not much going on...so I thought I'd share some pictures of Mingo Park that I took yesterday

Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day

Today is the day when we remember those pets that have gone

Allow me to share some of  the furbabies that I miss. I can't find pictures easily of all of them....like my first Itchy, Mutchka, Buddah and Misty, though I think their photos are on the sidebar of the blog

These are the furbabies that have gone on in the last few years. I don't have a photo of JayJay or PurrBee either, my lovely dogs, that made my life so happy.

Even if their photos aren't here, I love and miss all my pets that have gone on to greener pastures.

Anatomy of a Perfect Afternoon

It was farmer's market day today! Yay!

Nothing is better than the market, a cup of cold brew coffee from Little City Coffee and a crazy awesome gyro from The Gyro Man.

Life doesn't get much better than this!

Oh and I'm in love with the Gazebo at Chess Park in Monongahela

Hey She Likes It

3 of my kitties had birthdays this week.

Midnight and Mr. Rimba (Skimbleshanks) were born on the 23 and their sister KitKat was born on the 24th.

I bought them this nify little scratching post for their 8th birthday.

I can't believe that they are that old already. It makes me said to think they are getting old. I love my fur babies so very much.

I was beginning to worry that they weren't going to like the gift much. Several of my other kitties have taken up residence in the box that it came in.

(There's one cat in the box right now)

I was pleasantly surprised to wake up this morning to find KitKat on the perch.

Remembering

Yesterday I was doing a lot of thinking. I probably hurt myself doing it too.

I was thinking about my grandmother and how time and finances keep me from keeping her grave the way I'd like to.

As I talked to my mother about that, we discussed the graves of my great parents. There's not much family left to put flowers on their graves either.

It had been awhile since I was at Belle Vernon Cemetery, but today I went, just to see if I could remember where everyone was.

It took awhile, but I did find Grandma and Grandpap Wasicek.

Then I went in search of my aunts and uncles.

The grave I took a picture of is my Aunt Faith, who was truly an amazing woman. I wish I would have had a better chance to get to know her. She was one of the only members from my grandmother's side of the family that lived long enough for me to have any memories of. She was at my gram's 100th birthday party in 2007.

She traveled the world and wrote poetry and painted. She was a beautiful lady too. Very elegant and dignified.

I miss her and my grandmother so much

Clarify This For Me

I always make the mistake of reading political posts on Facebook.

I never should do that, for several reasons:

1. It makes my blood boil.

2. It makes me question the intelligence level of most individuals in this country.

The one thing I don't understand when people are bashing Hillary Clinton is their use of the word warmonger.

Huh?

So let me get this straight, carpet bombing Isis is fine but helping Syria is not? Voting for the war in Iraq was bad, even though a good deal of Congress voted the same way...cos they were lied to by the Commander in Chief about weapons of mass destruction?

I'm still in belief that most people who don't like her are scared of her because she has more balls than they do. (Bigger ones too, I'm sure) I also think she's smarter than most of them too.

One thing is for sure..I'll be glad when Nov 9th comes around, but for the most part, I'm terrified of that day too.

Clarify This For Me

I always make the mistake of reading political posts on Facebook.

I never should do that, for several reasons:

1. It makes my blood boil.

2. It makes me question the intelligence level of most individuals in this country.

The one thing I don't understand when people are bashing Hillary Clinton is their use of the word warmonger.

Huh?

So let me get this straight, carpet bombing Isis is fine but helping Syria is not? Voting for the war in Iraq was bad, even though a good deal of Congress voted the same way...cos they were lied to by the Commander in Chief about weapons of mass destruction?

I'm still in belief that most people who don't like her are scared of her because she has more balls than they do. (Bigger ones too, I'm sure) I also think she's smarter than most of them too.

One thing is for sure..I'll be glad when Nov 9th comes around, but for the most part, I'm terrified of that day too.

Dealing With The World's Problems

I've come to the conclusion that if "Public Displays of Affection" were made illegal there would be much less hatred in the world.

I've never been a huge fan of people sucking face etc in public. I'm the first to shout, "Get a room!"

Why?

There's a time and a place for everything.

Hand holding, hugs, a peck on the cheek are acceptable forms of affection when you are out in the world.

No one needs to see you swapping spit with your partner. I don't care what your sexuality is.  If more people kept there bedroom business to themselves maybe more people would be less inclined to hate someone.

Of course that means people would have to stop caring about what people do in the privacy of their own homes.

Seriously.

Why do we care so much about who we do the horizontal mambo with? And why do we hate people for it?

If they aren't doing it with you, it isn't hurting you, so suck up buttercup and DEAL WITH IT!

Rushing The Season

I was at the store yesterday doing  my usual shopping when I came upon the creamers.

One part of the store had all the pumpkin stuff. (geeze)

The creamers were all ready for Christmas.

CHRISTMAS

Spiced Latte, Marshmallow Hot Chocolate, Peppermint Mocha (Not to mention pumpkin spice on the other side of the refrigerator case)

Can I just say that this is absolutely nuts.

It is the middle of August.

Isn't it bad enough that Halloween candy is out. (Seriously decorations I can deal with but if I buy Halloween candy now, it will be eaten long before anyone can come knockin' at the door).

I can't even begin to think of either holiday when its so darn hot outside that when you step out of your door you start to melt.

PS...any city dwellers see flying roaches yet?

Days Gone By

I went to the Farmer's Market in Monongahela today. Its my favorite market in the Mon Valley. They have everything. Three local farmers come, a local coffee shop has drinks, there's other food vendors and a lady with jellies, jams and relishes.

Today I bought a jalapeno jelly, which got me thinking to days when my daddy was still with us and mom was able to get around.

Why is this jalapeno jelly part of my memories?

Well when we'd go to Lancaster on one of our summer jaunts, we'd always go to Kitchen Kettle Village and they had all sorts of great jellies, etc.

Dad would sample them all.

One of the things we'd get there, before all the gourmet jellies made it to our side of the state, was red pepper jam and jalepeno jam. It tastes best on a fancier cracker with cream cheese to cut the heat.

We sat at the kitchen table and have our snacks.

I miss that so much.

I know that things change in life, but why do the good things have to slip away?

A Good Mail Day

I got 4 books in the mail today.

Can I get a woot for that?

Cos you know I need more books. (Kinda like I need a hole in my head)

I can't wait to dive into one of them. Unfortunately I've got a TBR pile extending around the globe, so I'm not sure when I'm getting to these three, but oh look how pretty they are.

What books have you bought recently?

Look At My Shelfies

Blame this post on Bilbo. He's lucky, he has pretty bookcases. Mine are, well, they are the $19.99 variety that you pick up at Ollie's Bargain Outlet whenever they have them in stock.

As you can see, there's a little bit of everything lurking about on my shelves, but the one case is dedicated to Doctor Who and Terry Pratchett's Discworld. (I sadly don't have the whole collection there).

Before I go any further with this, I want to say something.

My name is Andrea and I'm a book a holic. I am nowhere near the road to recovery. I'm most likely on the road to a book store or on Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

This is one of my "neat" book shelves. Notice the lovely cat statue with glowing eyes sitting on top of this one.

I had to remove the books from the top shelf for him and put down a piece of cardboard so his little leggies didn't get stuck.

My Mokey isn't exactly the brightest crayon in the box. Nope, he isn't.

I originally had my Stephanie Plum novels on top, along with the True Blood series. (One series I've read all of, the other I keep telling myself I'll read one October in celebration of Halloween)

Yeah, I'm crazy like that.

My TBR (to be read) pile is out of control and I don't care.

I just love books.

Here's further proof that I do indeed have a problem.

And yes, I even donated a lot when we moved last year. I'm not even showing you the inside of my walk in closet, that has more books than clothes.

Food Snobbery

Where to begin...where to begin.

1. I hate click bait recipes that say..."You'll never use spaghetti sauce in a jar again."

Let me tell you people. I work. I don't have time, or the inclination to make spaghetti sauce from scratch. Plus I can get some pretty awesome sauces for much less.

2. Overzealous housewives: You know who I'm talking about. The kind that make fancy cakes and cupcakes and decorate everything. Seriously, I don't have time for that. My cakes get made in a 9 x 13 pan, m'kay.

3. Not everything is going to be plated perfectly. Life is all about comfort food, and comfort food is seldom gorgeous, but it is tasty.

4. Chain restaurants are good, so Food Network guys, F-off. I like Applebees, Outback etc....

All in all, most of the time, I eat because it tastes good.

I could go on an on about this, but this is enough for now.

Andrea 0 Car 100

I have a headache.

Sway bar went in my car.

At 4:00 pm.

I was lucky to make it to the shop and have it fixed before they closed.

I was even luckier that it was under $100.00.

Now if someone could tell my head that it could have been much worse, because I have a splitting headache now.

Its at times like this when I wish I had a horse.

Have I mentioned lately that I want, no need a vacation.

Beauty Around Me

I don't get out much anymore but that's no excuse not to find something beautiful in this world.

There are pretty things out there, even if the rest of the world seems to be going crazy.

(cough, cough, Donald Trump supporters)

Today I found beauty in the butterflies that were having a lovely time on the thistle outside of my office.

It may not be a beautiful beach or someplace new and different, but it is beauty that is around me every day.

I challenge you to find something beautiful in your world each week.

The Grandma Bunny

Little bunny rabbits make me think about my grandma, which is nice,  because I've been haunted by the last image I've had of her for a very long time.

See, I was the one that found her after she passed.

The first time I saw a bunny in her yard, I could see her smiling face again.

My grandmother loved to see bunnies in her yard. Her face would light up like a child's when there was one bouncing around the yard.

This bunny has been hanging around near my office for awhile. What's special about this little fluff butt is that he lets me get pretty close. Close enough to get a decent picture with minimal zoom.

I know if my grandma could see this little guy she'd be beaming.

Love you grandma, and I miss you so much.