Bare pantry

My son cleaned out our pantry (dry goods) about 10 days or so ago. My son, who is 24, works in Retail/Grocery so he's the king of expiration dates. He went through and tossed anything that was expired. I had to fight to get him to leave some canned stuff alone. Mostly I let him do it because if we haven't eaten it by now, we aren't going to eat it.

I need to do the two basement freezers some Monday night during the winter. Trash day is Tuesday and I don't want the feral cats making a mess I have to clean up.

We have empty shelves..lol. There is a certain comfort level in having a full pantry. I'm trying to resist the urge to fill them up again just so they look like we have enough food.

Can you guess the oldest thing we had in the pantry?

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, they say.

I'm not sure that's true.  lol  I have been MIA for a while here.  I want to get back to posting semi regularly.  I'm just not sure what direction I want to go with this blog. 

Here's tonight's Facebook post:

Woo Hoo!!! Scored some great savings by purchasing my son's college books on Amazon.com. All new through the school bookstore would have been $264 with all used being $230. Combo of new and used ordered tonight from Amazon is $118.21 + Amazon Prime Shipping.

Okay, probably not exciting to anyone but me, but it's  start.  Hopefully, it won't be another year before I post again.   

A funny after the blizzard.....

My son opens the front door for his first look outside. He comes back saying,  "I see you have been working diligently on clearing the snow today."

Is there supposed to be a path there?

I chuckle, then snort, then chuckle some more.

He asks, "Do you wish to go anywhere tomorrow?"

Me, "No."

Mom and I had discussed staying put until it was warm enough to be out shoveling which should be tomorrow afternoon or Monday. Temps didn't get up as much as they were supposed to with a high of about 3° with a nasty bitter wind.

He grins, "Oh...Great!", he heads back upstairs happy as a lark. He does most of the shoveling.

The perfect birthday present is....

an omelet made by my son, a birthday cake made by my son, and dishes washed by my son (even though he's allergic to dish soap). Notice the theme. *lol*

Oh, and he made sure I got to lick the beaters and bowl! That's almost better than the cake :D

Oh the joys of a literal son :)

Last night before bed, I readied the dishwasher and told kiddo to start it after his shower. I casually mentioned that if he felt like it, I would appreciate his washing the pots & pans by hand. I also mentioned that it was no biggie if he didn't. Well, he did :) However, he left the two big Tupperware bowls, as well as, the mixing bowl unwashed. I just noticed that the ice cream scoops are still dirty as well. *roflol*

For the record, my son usually does what I ask with very little fussing. What fussing he does is usually good-natured ribbing that brings a smile to everyone's face. He's simply not detail oriented in the kitchen chores. I was not surprised or upset at all. I'm blessed that he did the chore that I requested considering how tired he was when I asked.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday to you dear son,

Happy birthday to you.

My baby is 18 today!!!!!!!

WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!

Ruby Tuesday

Ruby Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Teach over at Work of The Poet.  The basic premise is to post a picture (your own) with either a little red or a lot of red.


I thought I would jump back into posting on a few memes this week.  I recently though I was back in the zone for bloggind, but was sadly mistaken.  Hopefully, I get past the intention stage this time :)

Nothing fancy about the picture I choose this week.  My poor son had a terrible time last night during our Scrabble games.  He kept getting stuck with vowels.  Amazingly he still won 2 of the 3 games we played. 

It's funny.  I suggested playing Scrabble over a week ago.  My son balked and groaned.  Basically he behaved like a typical teenage boy who did not want to entertain his mother.  I said, "We will play soon."  I brought the game out, set it on the living room table, and basically forgot about it.  Tonight he cleared the table, set up the game and insisted on playing tonight. It was a fun 4 hours.  We even managed to cook dinner and make Kool-Aid with lots of laughter and fun throughout the night.

We have pulled out the Sequence game which is brand new.  We played it years ago at a friend's house, and she bought it for my son.  For some reason, it was never opened.  We sort of lost interest in games for a while.  We'll be playing that tomorrow later today or tomorrow.  I may even be able to get mom to join us. She won't play Scrabble. 

Now if I could just find the Skipbo cards.  They have gone missing which is weird as I tend to keep those things very handy :)

Thank you for visiting.  You can find more participants at Work of The Poet.

Teenagers are weird creatures.

Thursday: Roast night.

The boy balks at riding his bike to the store for carrots for tonight's roast. He balks even louder when I send him a second time for more. They were A LOT cheaper than I thought. Two minutes after getting home, he offers to peel potatoes and carrots. About 15 minutes later, he offers me his Reese's PB cup. He had bought one for each of us.


Friday:  Chili night. 

I throw hamburger in microwave to thaw before running to store to grab ingredients.  Come home and start frying hamburger while kiddo volunteers to peel onions.  Claims he wants to learn how?!?!  I notice that I am out of chili powder.  Why couldn't notice that before my first trip to the store when I was checking my ingredients?!?!  While I have to make a second trip to the store for chili powder, my son cuts the onions up while keeping an eye on the meat.  After I get back he volunteers to open all the cans (tomatoes & beans).  He willingly rinses all of the empty cans for recycling and starts cleaning up.  He even vacuums my rugs in the kitchen (two runners for the dogs as they slip on the vinyl).


Weird boy that I have :)

U, V, W, X, Y & Z are for.....

I'm finally finishing this up. Sorry for taking so long.

(fonts are being goofy)

UND
@

Grand Forks

Wild Turkey

First wild turkey we have seen since moving to MN 16 yrs ago. We see flocks of them back home in WI.

Young'uns

My kiddo (16) and my niece (18) right after her graduation in 2007. Oh to be that young again :)

X-Ray

Photo of my MRI x-ray
The date (yellow box, bottom right) 9/11/2001
Yep, moments after The Towers fell, I was stuck in a long tube.

Zoo Visit

Dolphin Show at MN Zoo

Kiddo horsing around after the show

Be sure to check out ">Quilldancer to find who else participated in the Alphabet project.

THANK FOR HOSTING THIS Quilly

I noticed something tonight.

Tonight while having fellowship with some ladies from church, I noticed that I am rather negative when speaking about my son. When asked how he is, I have been answering "crabby" or "typical teen." I don't know where this terrible habit came from, but I am going break it.

I have never been one to believe in the rotten teen years. We've had some pretty great ones. I think that is in large part due to my attitude going into this time.

Mom's good attitude + Great kid = Great teen experience

I always knew there would be unique challenges being a single mom rearing a son, but I always disliked the negativity that surrounds teenagers. I have always felt it wasn't deserved. I didn't want to assume my son would be rotten or unbearable. I wanted to think the best of him. Somewhere I lost track of that.

Pro 10:19
In the multitude of words, sin is not lacking; but he who holds back his lips is wise.

Pro 16:24
Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.

Pro 18:8
The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.

Ecc 10:12
The words of a wise mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow him.

Jas 3:1-18
My brothers, do not be many teachers, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.
For in many things we all offend. If anyone does not offend in word, the same is a full-grown man, able also to bridle the whole body.
Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, so that they may obey us, and we turn about their whole body.
Behold also the ships being so great, and driven by fierce winds, yet they are turned about with a very small rudder, where the impulse of him steering desires.
Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. Behold how little a fire kindles how large a forest!
And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. So the tongue is set among our members, spotting all the body and inflaming the course of nature, and being inflamed by hell.
For every kind of animals, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of sea-animals, is tamed, and has been tamed by mankind.
But no one can tame the tongue, it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
By this we bless God, even the Father. And by this we curse men, who have come into being according to the image of God.
Out of the same mouth proceeds blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
Does a fountain send forth at the same hole the sweet and the bitter?
Can the fig tree, my brothers, bear olive berries; or a vine, figs? So no fountain can yield both salt water and fresh.
Who is wise and knowing among you? Let him show his works by his good conduct with meekness of wisdom.
But if you have bitter jealousy and strife in your hearts, do not glory and lie against the truth.
This is not the wisdom coming down from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
For where envying and strife are, there is confusion and every foul deed.
But the wisdom that is from above is first truly pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.
And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Picture of teen as was requested :)

He rarely smiles in pictures so this is best I could get. I just measured him the other night and he's a quarter inch shy of 5'8" tall. I can't believe he turns 17 at the end of the month. Time has flown...mostly :)

Taking a teen boy jeans shopping.

He's been complaining that he needed jeans for a couple of months. Whining that he only had a couple of pair that fit. Yesterday, he even showed me how far down he had to pull the waist to not be wearing high waters. So what if half his tush was showing that is what long shirts are for!!!!!

Seriously, his shirts do cover so much I have no clue what still fits. I was still getting several pairs in the wash so why would I believe he has NO jeans to wear. He explained that they keep getting tossed on the floor and needed rewashing. I told him to fold them and hand them to me so I could donate them.

Anyway, we went to Gordman's to jean shop. I figured maybe 1 pair this month and 1 pair next month and so on until he had 4 or 5 pair. I was pleasantly surprised at the prices. Several name brand jeans were $19.99 and $24.99. I told him if he could find 2 for $20, I would get them. Eventually, he did. Why do stores over stuff their racks?!?! UGH!!!! While he was trying on his jeans, I found a in-store credit receipt for $18 so I ended up paying about $25 for 2 pair of name brand jeans. The in-store credit was from a gift card I gave him about 4 years ago.

I told him we would try to get him another pair next month since the prices were so good. For now, he has about 4 pair that fit and he can wear without displaying his manly boxers to the world if his shirt rides up :)

Sunday morning ramblings

Okay, this a weird Sunday morning. First off, I haven't really sleep since Saturday afternoon. I sleep days and up nights...comes from working nights for so many years.

I am kinda bummed as I don't have the money to gas up the van and drive to church. It's 120 mile round trip. I guess I'll have to listen to a podcast or something.....after I take a nap. *lol*

Kiddo wanted to bake some stuffed chicken breasts and asked me to foil the cookie sheet. I ripped the foil and laid it on the pan. Here's the ensuing conversation.

Me: That's all you need to do. I usually wrap it around the edges, but I'm a perfectionist.
Him: I don't care. I just use the foil to make you happy.
Me: We do it to keep from having to scrap burnt dripping off the pan.
Him: I still don't care. I don't wash that pan; you do.

At this point I am ready to smack the kid. *LOL*

The dogs needed food and the store is only open until 2pm on Sundays so I had to go this morning. It's about -4° with the wind at 5mph and a real feel of -9°. The humidity is at 73% which means snow will be coming soon. Guess what I wear to the store: sweat pants, long sleeve t-shirt and a sweatshirt. No coat, no hat, but I did take my mittens for driving which I put on after I left the store. Yeah, I'm weird. The only part of me cold was my hands; glad I grabbed my mittens. Actually it feels pretty warm after -30° with -25° wind chills.

Smokie has happily munched on her share of the dog food which cost me $10 for a 8# bag. SHEESH!!!!! I usually get a 50# bag for $15 at Sam's Club. Oh the joy of living in a small town!!!!

I can say something really nice. I left the car running while I was in the store and post office. I also left my purse in the car at the post office. No fear of anyone stealing stuff. Joys of living in a small town.


Sleeping off the euphoria of having food after going a day without dog food...they did have skits (dog biscuits a'plenty). BRAT!

Kiddo turned 16 last week! (Jan 25th)

It's looking like he may live to be an adult yet :)

I can't believe it's been 16 YEARS since the lovable twerp was born. I'm amazed at him even when I'm irritated beyond belief with this kid. He's smart. He's gentle. He's thoughtful (most of the time). He's teachable. He's been shaving for 2 years now and is up to twice a week. *lol* He's got the normal teen attitude that really drives me crazy some days and other days it's okay.

Oh and he's not driving until he's 18 for various reasons, but mostly because I'm not a fan of minors behind the wheel.

(okay this will make two posts in one day. MIRACLES never cease!)

I just realized....

I never answered my son's question. I want a blog because it's the in thing to do these days. How's that for a mature attitude. *lol* Seriously, I love all the stuff available on the internet. Blogs are a great way to express oneself in a relatively safe environment. I have a website, but that takes more work than this so I've let it get stale. With any luck, I won't forget it's here. *lol*

why do YOU want a blog???

That is what my son asked me. He asked with that attitude that teen boys exhibit about their mom's interests. I'm sure you can guess what attitude I'm referring to here. The what are you thinking, who wants to read your thoughts, for stoopid, you're an idiot attitude. It's the attitude that makes me want to smack him. Of course, I can't, but I would like to do so.

That feeling is not going away anytime soon. He's being bratty over something else now. He lost his cell phone and apparently feels put out that I've instructed him to continue searching for it. I mean...really...how could I ask him to do such a thing?!?! Grrrrr....smacking him sounds really good. I know self-control is best...reigning in my thoughts of bodily harm is better.