Category: Family

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Chilly for Chili

This weekend is supposed to be very chilly.  After receiving buckets of snow and rain all in the same day we are now going to freeze and so is the fallen precipitation.  Nothing goes better on cold day than a piping bowl of chili.

I was surfing the Internet for a new recipe for chili because I do not think that I want to use my old standby.  I came across multiple recipes for chicken chili.  I have never had chicken chili but it sounds delicious!  Many of these recipes call for corn in it which makes it even more hearty and yummy.  Currently, I am undecided on whether I am going to use water, chicken broth or cream of chicken soup as a base.  I really think water will be too bland and cream of chicken soup too creamy therefore I guess my only option will be the chicken broth.

The best part of both recipes is that the whole thing goes into my crock pot.  I love my crock pot.  Have to throw all the ingredients in and leave it for the day!

slow cooker
Chile In A Crock Pot
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Music in the family

My oldest son has decided to take up music as his life’s ambition. I will support this dream because I love my son and I love music. I have bought him a Reason Drum kit and it seems that Reason drum kits are the top of the line and that is what he wants to fill his dream.

All of the musicians that I know here in music city are talking about the royalty free music sites and this has gotten my son to talking about royalty free music and I am not sure if he know a lot about it or not, I love the music sites here in Nashville and I hope to see my son playing there someday soon.

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Medicare for Mom

As I have mentioned briefly, I care for my 74 year old mother. She came to live with me almost three years ago after taking a bad fall. I love her to death but honestly with her doctor appointments, and prescription refills all the time, it can feel like a part time job. She sees her regular doctor every two months, her cardiologist every three months, and then there are the quarterly appointments to have her pacemaker checked. Luckily, I have a job that allows me to leave and take her to her appointments without any trouble.

We are fortunate that she has good health insurance, including medicare part d. Most of her prescriptions are very inexpensive and very affordable. One, new prescription is $80 per month which is steep! We are fortunate that she is actually on very few prescriptions considering her heart problems.

She is worth it though and has always been there for me, throughout my entire life. I am happy that I am able to have her live with me and care for her. I will never be able to repay her for everything she has done for me in my life, but this feels like a small step towards that.

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Flower Care

This year was pretty much a disaster as far as my back yard. Usually I would be reaping the rewards of a small backyard garden and giving extra produce to friends, neighbors, family and co workers. Between the weather being crazy and my lack of interest and energy this year, it just didn’t work out.

I did manage to get a few tomato plants that are producing although usually there are plenty of red ones on the vine by now. But they are taking their time in ripening. It is actually a bit better for me because I can only use and give so many tomatoes in the first week of August.

This year’s month August is being call Autumn in August, even some of the bushes and trees are totally confused at to what time of the year it is. There has been several mornings that I have gone outside, the wind is blowing and it’s overcast, that I have witnessed a good amount of leaves on the ground as well a a bunch of leaves being tossed around in the cool breeze.

I think I will back off on some of the food items in the garden next year. A nice break from this yearly chore. I would love to start planting some nicer plants and buses around the yard.

I have all winter to learn what I need to know and do for caring for orchids and all the other beautiful and colorful flowers that I am looking forward to tend to next spring and summer. I can’t wait to start getting all the seeds and flower catalogs that I always find in my mailbox right before the up and coming spring plantings.

In the mean time I’ll be looking around online to do a bit of research which will make all the decisions as an educated consumer.

 

 

 

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Back To School

Right now we are being over loaded with commercials about Back To School. All the supplies are on sale in an effort to make sure all of the little kiddies will have everything they need to wear and use while in school for the 2014-2015 school year.

It is hard to believe that in just a few short years we will be watching our daughter climb up the stairs that lead into the big yellow school bus. That bus will be taking her to school and away from our 24/7 watch. It will be exciting but scary for all of us, not something that I’m looking forward to at all.

school supply and school bus
Time For The School Buses
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Sweet Emptiness

Eliminating and staying away from desserts and sweets can be a challenging task for many individuals.  For some reason the human body for most has a natural response to crave sugar. The strength of craving depends on the individual.  Some people have a need to eat something sweet after every meal. One option for a sweet treat is candy.

There is a variety of choices when it comes to candy. Everything from chocolate to sweet to sour. There literally is something for everyone. They say “variety is the spice of life” however, in this case I think perhaps our country has too many varieties.

Having all of these options makes obtaining the fill for a person’s craving too easy in my opinion. The United States has an obesity problem. Eating candy and sweets does not help shed the pounds. Desserts and candy are pure empty calories that leave an individual craving more, creating a vicious circle.

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Play time

With a little extra money this week we bought us a wii, and we love it like no other gaming system we have ever had. Nintendo has a hit as far as I am concerned, we love the wii sports and wii games discs. My grandson has got a lot of fun out of the tanks on the wii play disc and I have become a pro at bowling and tennis on the wii sports disc.

We bought our wii system from Save Buckets, they have a great website with so much to choose from and great prices that I have not been able to beat anywhere on the internet. I will be checking on this great site for more games to go with our new wii system.

I can not wait to get more games for us to play on our wii system and I think that getting new games will be very exciting for our grandson and us. I am not so old that playing games is still a blast and a great way to pass the time of day. David has had a blast making the mii’s for the different players and he is pretty good at it even though he is only six years old.

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Insert Foot

Sometimes people should have a mute button. I wished that the person I was conversing with had had one today. I would have gladly pushed it before she released way too much information.

Luckily for her the information she released was not that harmful but could have been saved for inside of her head! Oh well unfortunately people do not have a mute button and we can really only truly be responsible for our own actions.  However, these same actions do have the ability sometimes to effect others. Therefore what would really be nice is to have the ability to scan and mute any words/ actions that could impact other peoples lives. This is all a dream of course.

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Heat

This year I don’t have to guess what to purchase to give to my dad on Father’s Day. I have already found a great website with an awesome selection of Heat Guns, Soldering Irons and Hot Knives to pick from to order for him. Now I just have to decide on which one to actually purchase. Father’s Day is only a few short weeks away so I better hurry up and pick one. I’m sure he would love any of them.

Heat
Hot Knife Cutters and Heat Guns
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Durham Air Conditioning

The days that I could call my kid brother for my heating and/or air conditioning issues are unfortunately long gone. He discovered that he has a real talent with computers and he hasn’t had anything to do with anything else since.

So on the down side I have to locate and hire my own Durham air conditioning service when I need help. On the other hand I can always count on him to help me with my computers!