My visitors are in town

...and I actually MADE dinner!

When my family comes in town, we normally go out to eat for dinner. Yesterday I decided to be brave and COOK dinner.

What did I make? Mahogany beef stew. It's an idea that I got from this wonderful site. I made a HUGE batch. I actually bought a 4-pound slab of beef chuck. That darn "stew" beef at the store cost TWICE as much as the uncut version. So I cubed the beef myself. AHH!!!

This stew is a good choice for our group because I wasn't sure about what veggies my sister's kids would like. Instead of the veggies in the stew? I made a big salad. I also chose to make some cornbread (in cupcake form) along with egg noodles instead of rice.

It took about 2 hours total to make dinner. I did deviate from the recipe a little bit, but it was still tasty.

Ingredients:

• Olive oil
• 3 1/2 pounds beef chuck (cubed)
• 1 large yellow onion (chopped fine)
• 1 can (14 1/2 oz) diced tomatoes (mine had oregano, garlic & basil)
• 1/2 cup hoisin sauce
• 1/2 tsp chopped garlic (there was garlic in the tomatoes but we love garlic so I added more)
  

Instructions:

1. Large heave pot - high flame
2. Pour in olive oil & heat up
3. ADD salt & pepper to meat
4. Brown meat on all sides
5. Push browned meat to edges of pot.
   
6. REDUCE heat to medium flame.
7. ADD more olive oil if necessary (I didn't add any as there was enough fluid from the meat).
8. ADD chopped onions to the center of the pot until golden brown - 10 to 15 minutes.
   
9. ADD tomatoes & seasonings. Mix well.
10. ADD hoisin sauce. Mix well.
11. Bring to boil.
    
12. REDUCE heat to simmer & cover. Cook 30-45 minutes and stir occasionally.
    
13. ADD additional veggies. I opted for sliced carrots & some green pepper.
    
14. ADD water if you think the sauce is getting too thick.
15. COVER and simmer for an additional 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.

In the end? We demolished the meal. Not a sliver of salad left. There were only about 3 tiny pieces of beef left. A couple of cornbread cupcakes were placed in the fridge. The extra noodles were placed in the freezer.

For this non-cook? It was great to see that everyone had enough to eat. AND they actually ate.

You better watch out

You better not cry

Better not pout

I'm telling you why...

My sister is coming to town! My sister is coming to town!

Yes!

Sis#2, Jello and their 3 kids (Mickey, Kay, & Theo) will be swinging on by around mid-day. What time that actually equates to is up in the air. But I figure sometime after 12-noon. Ya see, they are early birds when it comes to traveling. If they head out for a destination, it's not uncommon for them to leave their house at midnight or 3am. Depends on their destination. The Hubs is always flabbergasted when he finds out their departure time. And they DRIVE places. All together. Mammoth. San Francisco. But the thing is? Sis#2 loves to drive in the open road, so she switches out with Jello. Whereas me? I let the Hubs drive.

But they'll be here today. I'm headed to the grocery store for supplies. Food. AH!!!!

Moving and boucng around

The kidlings are enjoying the Wii tremendously.

We have had to monitor the kidlings daily use.

I got on for the first time yesterday afternoon. The kidlings got a kick watching me play tennis. Of course, I did poorly the first couple of times. It was so cute when the kidlings kept encouraging me. My own cheer squad.

Last night the Hubs got on for the first time. He used to play tennis during college. Not competitively. Just to keep fit. So he got a wee bit frustrated playing. But I do think he'll be playing with the kids a bit.

YEAH!

So the kidlings aren't just sitting around for vacation. They aren't sitting while I'm working. They're bouncing around and cheering for each other. And that makes me happy.

They're enjoying the Wii. It's clearly they're favorite gift this season.

What's YOUR kids favorite holiday gift?

We're back

We had a good Christmas.

It was fun.

They both still believe in Santa.

I'm at that crazed state

Right now it's 11:25pm. I just logged off from work.

I worked all day on a special project. One where I chose NOT to log into Skype or email lest my attention would be averted to other things. I worked for about 6 or 7 hours on the project.

I logged into email after the kidlings were in bed. I had 50+ emails. Uh...what?

I witttled that down to about 20 emails that I still need to work on. I'll get to those tomorrow.

But tomorrow? I am going to be a crazy lady.

Tomorrow is my last full day at home. We're driving up to see the ILs first thing Wednesday. We're spending the night as well. Uh. No. We will NOT be spending the night at their house. I've already mentioned how we don't feel comfortable spending even one night there. We prefer the ability to spread out at a hotel.

Anyway...tomorrow? The day that actually starts in about 35 minutes? Is going to be crazy. I plan on working. And baking cookies with the kids. Oh yeah. Packing. And then wrapping gifts after the kids are in bed. I haven't wrapped ANY of the kids' gifts from Santa (that means toys). I also still have to wrap the clothes from my Mom. ARGH!

I feel like that scene in Home Alone where Kevin is running around with his arms waving all above his head. THAT is how my head feels.

Not only do I have to wrap these things, but I also have to REHIDE them. And I still have to chat with the Hubs on how I'm going to get the gifts from Santa under the tree before we leave the house on Wednesday. We need to coordinate. We have to do this EVERY year. Because we either go to visit my family or his family for Christmas. So each year we coordinate how to get the kids OUT of the house while I get all the wrapped gifts from their hiding places and under the tree. So when we come home? The kids know that Santa has visited our house. I'm tired just THINKING about it!

So who knows if I'll actually be calm enough to log in and write up another post in the next day or so. Or will my mind be cluttered and my body a messy old lump of mush? [sigh] It's the holiday season. I've just got to roll with it. It only happens once a year. And it's definitely worth it to see the look of joy and wonder on my kids faces when they open their gifts.

An observation while shopping

As you know, yesterday we went to the mall. Oh fun!

But I must say that our visit to the mall was an eye-opener.

An eye-opener that a TON of ladies just don't watch What Not To Wear.

I just don't understand the fascination with super skinny jeans. The kind of jeans that follow your every curve from your hips to your ankles. Talk about uncomfortable! Granted, I'm sure some are wearing jeans with spandex in them. So it must be a tad more comfortable.

The sheer number of teenage girls and ladies wearing the skinny jeans made my head spin. I felt like I was the only one in the mall wearing boot-cut jeans. Like I was the anomaly.

But ladies?

LADIES!

Those kind of pencil jeans are made for people who are slender. Skinny. STICK thin.

For those of us who are more curvy? Please don't wear those pencil jeans. Just DON'T! Just say NO! Those pencil jeans do not look good at all. AT ALL! The jeans just emphasize how shapely your hips are. It makes your hips look 3x as big because of how the leg sections are cut. Seriously.What's even of an issue is when you wear the skinny jeans with a tiny top. A top that stops at your waist. Ugh.

Ladies, please think about what looks good on YOU. Don't bend to what everyone else is wearing. Please.

Caught and in trouble

Do y'all remember last month when I wrote about my city's annual bike race? And the hit-and-run that occurred?

It turns out that they've found the gentleman who caused the accident. Apparently, he's been indicted on a single count of leaving the scene of an accident causing serious physical injury. Is that ALL? I mean, he collided into TEN cyclists who had the GREEN light. He was going in the opposite direction and turned left INTO them. Granted, the man stopped his car. But he got out and analyzed what happened. And then got back into his vehicle and left. FIVE cyclists were injured. On cyclist suffered a serious brain injury and is still in a hospital in Phoenix. His family is not accepting any interviews.

Now do you think the man who caused the accident should only get one single count of leaving the scene of the accident?

Think about it.

[thinking]

[thinking]

[thinking]

Does it matter that the man is a Navy veteran?

Does it matter that the man helped work on the atomic bomb during WWI just before it was used?

Does it matter that the man is 91 years old?

If it was a younger person, I do think that there would be more charges. I do. I know he's an older man. But really!

My head just aches about the entire situation.

A family outing where I didn't have a blast

We went to the mall Yes. ALL together.

As y'all know. I detest shopping. I dislike visiting the mall. I avoid going to the mall with the kids. I detest going to the mall as a family this close to Christmas.

I felt it was a big MESS.

We had to park in the nosebleed section. WAY out on the edge of the parking lot. On the other side of the curb where we parked? Was a river. Yes. We were on the very edge of the parking lot mall. So we had to treak into the mall..

But WHY did we venture to the mall that I avoid? Because the Hubs wanted ME to pick out the gifts that HE would be giving me. Ummm...isn't that the reason why I cc'd him on the list I gave to his sister (who is my Santa this year from his side of the family). This way he could coordinate with her and split up the list. Easy-peasy, right? No. Because the Hubs just waited until his sister was done shopping. And then waited until yesterday to shop for me. So off to the mall we went. To a place that I dislike going to. To pick out my own gifts. Merry Christmas to me!

Yes. I'm being sassy. I'm being sarcastic. But I gave him the list. A range of items from housewares to clothing. For clothing, I provided a variety of colors to choose from along with the type of clothing and the size I need. And yet? There I was pointing things out.

The Hubs is definitely not one of those who can arrange a surprise. He doesn't have the skills for that. You know. The pre-planning. Getting things organized WELL in advance. He's not into that. Everything is last minute. SO much like my own father. Totally frustrating!

By the way....all of the Hubs gifts were wrapped and under the tree on Friday. The Hubs and the kids didn't see anything I purchased. So not only will the Hubs be surprised, but the kids as well.

[sigh]

But what did I enjoy? I enjoyed eating lunch out with the Hubs and the kids at a restaurant. We held hands. We cuddled. We colored. We laughed. We ate our lunch. It was loads of fun. Even the slow and not-attentive gal who served us could ruin our time together. And when I mean non-attentive, I mean that both the Hubs and my drink glasses were empty before she asked us if we wanted a refill. And our glasses were not amidst the chaos of our table but on the edge closest to the aisle.

So I guess that bit of fun at lunch well compensated for the fieldtrip into the mall, eh?