I voted in the VA primary today

Hubby stayed home again today, he’s feeling a bit better, but still grumpy!  He didn’t get much resting done though because the insurance representative finally showed up and he left in time for us to head downtown and to vote in the Potomac Primary.

We got a bit of snow last night which caused the schools to close and it has been snowing and sleeting a good portion of the day.  We froze our butts off while standing outside for close to an hour with the adjuster, ended the appointment with a nice cup of hot chocolate, Hubby would have, I’m sure, preferred a beer.

Can’t wait to hear the results of the voting that went on today.  The voting location that we use wasn’t crowded in the least, but then we were only in there for approximately 10 minutes.  This was actually the easiest and quickest time yet that we have experienced. 

Time to watch the evening news!

Got Milk?

This was just too funny not to post here. I love milk, but hate it when it comes out of your nose!

milk

Now a Corp President

One of my brothers used to work with this remarkable man, Jim Majeski, years ago.  In fact some of the family got to know him on a more personal basis and attended some festive occasions way back when.  Seems that they have kept in touch through out the years and Mr. Majeski sent him this the other day.  It is pretty exciting news for him

Monday, ugh….

Had to stay home from work today, Hubby is still ill and we are having the coldest temperatures we’ve had all winter, think I’ll light a fire in the fireplace tonight. Got a call first thing this a.m. from the insurance company and they are sending a claims representative out today to check out the fallen tree in the back yard.  I’m not looking forward to going outside to the backyard in this freezing temperature withe him, and poor Hubby insists on getting bundled up so he can join us and ask questions also.  Looks like I will need plenty of chicken soup to get us through this one, hot chocolate for me though!

Oh the weather outside is frightful

The wind is howling so hard and so loud that I barely heard the knocking at the front door, we have a doorbell just for that use but people around here tend to only knock.  A neighbor from a few houses down, came by to inform us that she had heard a loud noise outside and noticed that a tree had come down in our backyard.  So with that sudden news, Hubby as quickly as he could, climbed out of bed, we all threw on our warm clothes and went out back to check it out. 

Oh the horror of it all! It seems that our next door neighbor now has one of his trees in our backyard.  What a mess it is.  The tree has landed right in our beautiful back part of the yard that we have been working so hard at making it a nice sitting area for us to enjoy.  It didn’t get our garden, though it did take out a few of the lawn chairs, plus the fallen tree also clipped the back of the garage, took out the old satellite dish and there are now pieces of tree everywhere and boy is Hubby hopping mad.  We have had several talks with this neighbor concerning several of the old and rotting trees in his yard that we were afraid were going to come down, right where this tree is right now. I guess talk time is over.

A call to our well paid insurance company has been made and it looks like we have our work cut out for us for the next few weeks.  Hey, on the lighter side of it all, maybe we will get some firewood out of the deal, the cost of heating oil is killing us this year.

 

Are there any safe investments still out there?

I have been doing some research as of late and have found a cool web site which describes what I think would be a great place to put some of our money, a place that is secure and could possibly get a nice return on our investments.

Their high yield investments are safe and with a high return rate (12%) on first trust deeds looks great to us. This web site describes in length the opportunities and how you can get started making our money work for us.

It sounds like a great way for us to add to our IRA portfolio or as a retirement income.

My little one is growing up!

Our youngest rides the school bus to school, the bus stop is at the street corner and is only a few houses down, but we can’t see the corner from our house.  We have always made it a point to walk with him to the stop and wait with him for the bus to come, but it seems that those days are coming to an end.  Not that I enjoy standing on the corner every a.m. in all kinds of weather conditions with a bunch of unruly children, but I do enjoy knowing that my child has boarded the bus safely.

We had a talk with him and it seems that he no longer feels comfortable with one of us there with him anymore, so it looks like next week might be a giant stepping stone in his quest for independence.

I should be happy, but……….       

My happy

Crème brûlée French toast

Saw this recipe on T.V. the other day and wanted to share it here.

Crème brûlée French toast

From Epicurious.com

This highly rated recipe from Epicurious.com is a cinch to prepare — and one of the tastiest breakfasts you’ll ever eat.

Why not marry two of the most delicious dishes of all — crème brûlée and French Toast? This easy and extremely popular recipe can be prepared the night before and baked in the oven the next morning. You can spice it up even more by cutting the bread with heart-shaped cookie cutters and then serving it to your loved one on Valentine’s Day.

Although the Diehls use large slices from a round loaf of bread and remove the crust, we also tried the recipe with a baguette, leaving the crust on, and found it just as delicious. At La Maison, challah is often the bread of choice.

INGREDIENTS

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons corn syrup

An 8- to 9-inch round loaf country-style bread

5 large eggs

1 1/2 cups half-and-half

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon Grand Marnier

1/4 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

In a small heavy saucepan melt butter with brown sugar and corn syrup over moderate heat, stirring, until smooth and pour into a 13- by 9- by 2-inch baking dish. Cut six 1-inch thick slices from center portion of bread, reserving ends for another use, and trim crusts. Arrange bread slices in one layer in baking dish, squeezing them slightly to fit.

In a bowl whisk together eggs, half-and-half, vanilla, Grand Marnier, and salt until combined well and pour evenly over bread. Chill bread mixture, covered, at least 8 hours and up to 1 day.

Preheat oven to 350° F and bring bread to room temperature.

Bake bread mixture, uncovered, in middle of oven until puffed and edges are pale golden, 35 to 40 minutes.

Serve hot French toast immediately.

Whitewater rafting in the Poconos

Premier whitewater rafting on the Lehigh River in the Poconos, Pennsylvania.  Wow, sounds good to me.  I haven’t gone rafting in such a very long time, probably since my teenager was little.  I remember going to a place in West Virginia with my sister and her kids and having a blast rafting down the whitewaters.

I really am tired of winter and am thinking of things that we can do come summer time.  The Poconos is PA is a great place any time of the year and I’m sure that there is tons of  FUN for all abilities and ages.

Guess we will be busy this summer watching Cher in Las Vegas and Lehigh River rafting in the Poconos in PA, sounds like a good start in my planning calendar.

Making plans for Friday “Date Night”

Am hoping that this Friday evening hubby and I will go out to dine at the new Red Lobster here in our neighborhood.  For Christmas my sister sent us gift cards for Red Lobster and I have been anxious to use them but we haven’t gone out for a “Date Night” since the holidays.  I love that restaurant, great seafood that is affordable and there is no need to get too dressed up for the meal.  Now I just need to figure out what movie is out that we both will enjoy, that can be the challenge.  Hubby will eat anything, anytime, anywhere, but picking a movie that makes us both happy isn’t always easy.  I’m sure there is something out there that I can find that will please us both.