The Speckled Goat

For Ca

2010-10-07T13:12:00.000-05:00

Amazing story of Team Hoyt

2010-03-27T17:34:00.000-05:00

For Jess, Lanie Joey & Grandma C

2010-03-27T15:58:00.002-05:00

Lanie, the giraffes are for you!
Momma

For Ca

2010-03-10T20:07:00.002-06:00

Love you!
Momma

Grandpa's second stroke

2010-03-05T21:32:00.007-06:00

I received a call from Grandma at 5:30 am Nebraska time on Wednesday, March 3, 2010. This is never a good omen, the early early morning phone call . . . and it was NOT good news. Grandpa C had suffered another massive stroke! Grandma told me the paramedics came to their house after Grandpa attempted to get out of bed (at approximately 12:00 am) and basically rolled to the floor and was unable to get up from there. He told Grandma C that he thought he was having another stroke and asked her to call 911. After this, his speech became very garbled. The paramedics did not even attempt to get Grandpa on a stretcher, but rather 4 of them carried him out to the ambulance. He was transported to Boulder City Hospital, then was promptly life flighted to Las Vegas Desert Springs Hospital where there was a stroke team standing by. He had no sensation or function of his entire left side and was unable to speak by this point. Unfortunately, since they could not pinpoint the exact time of the stroke, he was disqualified as a candidate for the clot busting drug TPA, which must be given within a 3 hour window of the onset of the stroke. So basically, there was nothing they could do.

My flight arrived in Las Vegas at 5:30 pm that evening, and Bill & Lois Keller (wonderful wonderful friends of the family) picked me up at the airport and took me directly to the hospital. I arrived to find my father in tears after taking to Jessica. He was so moved that she had called to let them know that she would try to smooth the way for his transfer to a rehab facility after he stabilized. I have never seen such emotion in my Dad.

Over the next several hours, we would see him vastly improve in function and speech. (All of this direct answer to prayer.) But he would also experience a pretty sharp set back when they discovered his heart was in atrial fibrillation. (This is a rhythm that can produce clots that can lodge in the brain and heart and cause more strokes or heart attacks or other ischemic events in the kidneys or bowels.) THIS was really a low blow. And this, they think, may have been the real culprit behind the stroke he had just experienced. They wonder if he has been in this bad heart rhythm off and on for a long time and no one had picked up on it. We won't know this side of eternity.

In the meantime, new docs had to see dad and new drugs had to be started to manage this afib and prevent another stroke. All of this seemed to take an eternity. We thought he would be discharged by 1-2 pm, and he actually left Desert Springs at 7:30 pm. The waiting. My god the waiting and wondering is the WORST. When will the medical community realize that taking 5 minutes to tell the patient what is happening & what the plan is, is critical to their EMOTIONAL HEALTH. Leaving patients in the dark is the WORST possible thing to do. It's borderline abusive in my opinion. To quote a highly respected authority on this: "hospitals can be such ASSHOLES". Truer words have never been spoken! (You know who you are.)

OK, deep breath. Again. BREATHE.

So ultimately he was discharged to Health South Rehabilitation Hospital in Henderson. He was transported by Dennis & Conrad, the drivers for the company, who by the way were ROCKSTARS. Here is a picture of the "stretcher transport" in progress:

He was very happy to get the hell away from the Desert Springs Hospital, thus all the big smiles. It was off to Health South. New, luxurious, friendly and fragrant, rehab facility. However, it was very very late and Grandma and I were in zombie mode by this time. In fact Grandma & I are presently in zombie mode, so it's off to bed for us now. I will post more later.
Thank you everyone for your prayers. (you know who you are!).
Our God is an awesome God.
Momma

For Joey

2009-12-23T10:12:00.004-06:00

By Mark Shultz - "He's My Son"

HIPPO BIRDY

2009-09-15T15:40:00.002-05:00

Thank you Jessica! I love them! Mommy

GRANDMA C IS 75!!

2009-07-18T21:52:00.027-05:00

Grandpa conceived of and orchestrated an elaborate plot to celebrate Grandma's 75th Birthday which happened on 7/17/09. This involved covertly arranging for me (and whoever could make it) to come to Nevada and show up unannounced to surprise Grandma C. I was sure she'd catch on and figure that something was up, but Grandpa was a sly fox and kept everything on the down low!

My flight arrived at 5:30 pm and one of G&G's best friends Pat Benke picked me up, with the plan to be the flower delivery lady. Grandpa had ordered a beautiful bouquet:

And Grandma was VERY surprised! I came in via the side route, so Grandma wouldn't see me sneaking in. I rang the doorbell and then rang again, then rang again. The look on Grandma's face began as annoyance (who keeps ringing the doorbell FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!) and then utter disbelief! Grandpa meanwhile was in the background tearing up! It was awesome! Grandma just sort of sputtered greetings!

Because Grandma was completely caught off guard, she was still in "stay at home and relax" attire & hairdo, so she got wisked away to the "beauty parlor" to prepare for Bruce & Pat and Olive Benke to come over a few minutes later for some 75th Birthday celebration cheer. We enjoyed birthday revelry and toasted to a 3/4 century birthday for Grandma. And drank wine! The Benke's are truly family.

This is Grandma C (aka GeeGee) the next night all dolled up ready to go for steak & lobster at the Hacienda Casino (in Boulder City), down by the Lake:

We were expecting to be just our little clan, Grandpa, Grandma & me, but when we arrived at the restaurant, there were Bruce, Pat & Olive awaiting. What a surprise! It was just fantastic, and then there was the great food! Steak & Lobster for Grandma & a beautiful Parfait (the diet went completely out the window!)

The birthday celebration just went on & on. Art sent flowers:

There were lots of cards from family & friends. We talked to Lanie, Jess & Joey on the phone & Bill & Lois called, as did Rose Marie. The most touching call was from Aidan, who said "I love you GeeGee" and made Grandma cry. Here is a picture of the little one who makes Grandmas everywhere tear up:

We also had lots of fun just hangin around (like we always do). Grandma & I got to do some beading which is always a blast:

And of course we went shopping! We hit Fry's and Trader Joes and Bed Bath & Beyond. Our shopping mojo was a little dampened by the fact it was 118 degrees. So we all agreed to do double shopping with the next visit. (Right Grandpa?) :-)

And apart from the decadent birthday dinner, we were good little boys and girls on our "all-healthy-all-the-time-diets". This was to die for (One Pot Chicken). You can tell just by looking at it how fantastic it is!

In summary, it was just a wonderful time together in every way.

Happy Birthday Grandma C!! We love you!

For this boy I prayed . . .

2009-03-25T21:31:00.003-05:00

"For this boy I prayed, and the Lord granted my request." I Samuel 1:27"

I read this quote on McMamma's blog (Stellan's name page) and I was reminded of sitting in a rocking chair in the upstairs corner room in the house on Laurel street, rocking Lanie and praying for Grandpa W (who was not in very good shape at the time) and praying for a baby boy.

It makes me weepy to remember. But I was blessed with such an amazingly wonderful little boy who has grown to be a young man that I am so very proud of.

Momma

Resisting My Resistance Training

2009-03-24T21:56:00.004-05:00

This is the way I feel most of the time.

What is Twitter?

2009-03-21T07:51:00.001-05:00

For Lanie who I miss and who I love

2009-03-04T12:28:00.000-06:00

Momma

Ca, Lanie & Joe --remember this? HAHAHAHAHAH

2009-02-28T14:24:00.004-06:00

I swear I never spent good money on this. Nor did I do this religiously for months on end.

But, I did find my old "logs" and apparently I did lose inches doing it. Of course my usual starvation diet de jour probably had more to do with the inch loss than anything.

I think I still have the tapes somewhere--Jess, whadayousay? Want to do "BodyFlex" wit yo momma?
hahaha!

Christmas at Grandma & Grandpa C's

2009-01-18T21:34:00.028-06:00

How wonderful to be with people you love, especially during the holidays. Grandma & Grandpa invited me to spend Christmas with them this year while the rest of the fam was knee deep in "life". So I got to sneak away for a wonderful 5 days of relaxation and shopping and playing. Does it get any better than that?

Short answer: No.

One of the things Gee Gee (aka Grandma C) excels at is making Christmas warm and bright. She always has! We had a lovely turkey dinner and opened cards and homemade presents from Aidan! We are so grateful to have such a loving family that is growing! (Jessica: YOU'RE DOIN IT RIGHT!!!) I get teared up when I remember our little group of 3 around the dinner table raising our glasses to toast the holiday and express our gratitude to get to be together for another Christmas. There's nothing like family! Grandma's Christmas tree is well, untraditional, but nonetheless, festive, and it was way more than was going on at my house, so I'll call it very "christmasy". There were gifts from Aidan and lovely cards that awaited opening on Christmas day (which actually turned out to be not exactly Christmas day (it's a long story), but we are an airline family, so there really is no such thing as "Christmas Day", it's "whatever works". HAHA.

We got to go see Bruce and Pat Benke, two of the coolest people on the planet, but this only stands to reason, because they have the DNA of THE coolest person of all: Bill Benke. (Bill, we miss you so.) Olive was there and was looking strong, which thrilled my heart, because it's been a bit of a tough row to hoe for her lately. It was so wonderful to see her in such good spirits. Bruce showed me a power point presentation (once an exec, always an exec) of a trip they made to the Holy Land and I of course, invited myself to go with them on their next trip. (I'm slowly learning social graces and protocols, but haven't really "arrived" in that dept yet. Sigh.) But anyway, the dinner Pat put on was Mexican and was GREAT. Here's the recipe. Be prepared to be WOWed.

"KING RANCH CHICKEN

Cook 1 large fryer. Bone and cut into bite-sized pieces. Soak 12 corn tortillas in boiling chicken stock until wilted (Don't leave too long as they'll fall apart.) Place layer of tortillas in a 9x12 baking dish. Layer chicken pieces over this. Then add in this order:
1 large chopped onion, sautéed if you want it softer (I don't)
½ lb. Grated cheddar cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup
Sprinkle garlic salt
1 can diced green chilies
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 can cream of mushroom soup
Crush and pour 1 can tomatoes with green chilies on top. Bake 30 minutes at 375 degrees. Serves 6"

Also, did you know that Grandma C is the best cook ever? In case you didn't realize this, the only reason I love to cook is because Grandma & Grandpa were my biggest cheerleaders when I was "experimenting" with cooking as a teenager. They threw all kinds of $$ into this (can you say, Time-Life auto renew Foods of the World Cookbook Set, I think I'm still getting those books every month, 35+ years later at $25 bucks a pop). Seriously though, what kind of parents would invite all of their friends over to be guinea pigs for their daughter's hopeful Chinese dinner (neither tried nor true). What risk takers! Anyway, did you know that Grandma C helped me peel 2,000 tiny black canned beans? This was because there were no "asian" grocery stores to buy specialty chinese "bean paste" in Boulder City Nevada in 1972. It was kinda "the sticks" back then. (Actually, I had no idea then what real "sticks" was. The entire state of Nebraska is what I could consider to be the ultimate "sticks". But I digress.) So it was a huge dinner party for G & Gs friends and I wore a silk kimono and was so exhausted from all the bean peeling I could barely enjoy the party. But the food was surprisingly good. I can't claim any sort of authenticity (with the exception of the kimono imported from one of my Dad's trips to Tokyo, but I have a recollection of it being different, unique and actually tasty! In other words a big success and I've loved cooking ever since. (I guess that makes me a recognition junkie?) I wish my memory would incude the actual menu! I just remember the "bean paste". HAHA.

So that leads me up to where I was originally going with this, and that is that we had such fantastic meals every day while I stayed at G&Gs. My favorite, shrimp curry, was, as usual, spectacular. For those not "in the loop" about the best dish ever invented, it is a milder, curried form of Pappadeaux's Shrimp Ettouffe. Heaven on a dish,to be honest. Here is a picture:

A close second is of course, Grandpa's Costco steaks: seared, medium-rare. OMG.

But the real jewel this year was the bar-b-qued turkey that Grandpa made on Grandpa's 27+ year old Sears Kenmore gas grill. A grill that is so crusted over with the remnants of a bazillion Christmas' past & dinner parties past, that it is barely recognizable. Of course it is the deep layered crusting that makes everything that comes out of it so INCREDIBLE. You can't buy this with all the money in the world. Although Grandma has already found one on eBay, and I'm seriously considering it, my hesitation is that I want G&G's crusties, not some strangers' crusties. (It's a family thing, amen?)

So here's a picture of the what will, I'm sure be handed down for generations:

And here's a picture of the master chef and THE Christmas BIRD. Wonderful.

We had a lovely dinner set on a lovely Christmas table and the holiday really was warm and bright!

Another fun thing we did was something called Skype. Skype is an internet program which makes video conferencing possible with people who live somewhere other than where you are, i.e., DALLAS. And because of this, we got to see Lanie, Joey & John, just for a few minutes, but oh, it was so precious. WE LOVE YOU SKYPE. We want more skyping with everyone. So clean up, put your shirts on and GET ONLINE!

Aother BIG DEAL was the shopping spree that those present at holiday time get to partake of when they visit Grandpa. It is a tradition. (And a wonderful one I might add). This year's trip was to Fry's (in year's past it has been to Crate & Barrel, Nebraska Furniture Mart, Chipperfield's Sears in Wahoo, Hinky Dinky, and I could go on and on and on and on.) We hauled away quite a bundle of electronic "toys".

The reason you don't see us in the above picture is because we are inside doing some serious damage to Grandpa's checking account!

Also, while I was G&G's guest, I got to stay in the "apartment", which is a 5 star suite for VIPS only. I was so very comfy. (I was not permitted to pee however. Well, actually, I was, but only briefly, 'cause it would be using up precious black water area for Quartzsite. After so much Reisling, of course, I simply could not comply with this rule. The outcome of this indiscretion was that Grandpa had to do an extra dump and fill at Quartzsite. Sorry Grandpa! But I really couldn't help it.) When it was time to "tuck in" each night I would open up the Truth for Life website and drift off to the incredible teaching of Allister Begg. One of the nights I literally sobbed till I couldn't breathe, his preaching was so powerful. Wireless internet is a WONDERFUL thing. It was the first time I had online access in the motorhome, and everybody that knows me knows that the internet is BIG in my life! So now I have this plush warm private apartment, the best preacher in the known universe, a full tummy, a pleasant Reiling buzz and the prospect of repeating it all again tomorrow. Oh my gosh, it was heaven on earth. No work, no worry, no stress. Just play.

Can I come again next year? (After revealing the details about Christmas at G&Gs there may be a mob next year!).

Love you guys,
Next post QUARTZSITE (probably in June at this rate!).
Caren

Happy Anniversary to Lanie & John

2009-01-08T23:07:00.002-06:00

We love you!!! Can't wait to see you!

Momma

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to JESSICA!

2009-01-06T10:37:00.002-06:00

Remember Strawberry Shortcake? Used to be your favorite!
Love you bunches,
Mommy

I HAZ PACKAGE!

2009-01-03T15:37:00.014-06:00

So, I'm at work like any other Friday, and afterwards, I stop at target to pick up some New Year's resolution diet food and to check out their sale purses, cause mine has had it. While I'm there, I get a text message from Lanie: "You haz package?"
I reply "I no haz package". Next mssg: "UPS says you do".

So now, I'm rushing home cause "I haz package".
Sure enough:

Upon closer inspection I notice it is from John:

And I'm wondering? WTH?
So I open.

!!!!
And there's dis card.

And now I'm bawling. I can barely make out the words "COACH".

And then I think, "no it can't be, it's just a pretty Coach box that Lanie has from buying something she probably shouldn't have, but I'm also starting to have butterflies in my stomach, because well, maybe, no . . . can't be.

Then, I openz:

And there is wrapping paper with little "c's" all over it and a gold sticker that says "Coach". Now the butterflies are in full out freak mode and starting to make their way up . . . and my cheeks are wet and my nose is running

OMG, I felt like Carrie Bradshaw when Aleksandr gave her the bazillion dollar designer dress with the big bow on the box and she was completely swept away.

Thank you girls and Joey. The best surprises are the ones that really are completely unexpected. (And floor you). What a huge surprise and I'm still overwhelmed by this generous gift. Thank you thank you thank you.
Love you all,
Mommy, Momma & Mom

P.S. Thank you.

For my Mommy

2008-12-29T23:02:00.004-06:00

who has never seen The Lion King

Just in case you want to sing along here are the lyrics:

Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba
Sithi uhm ingonyama

Nants ingonyama bagithi baba
Sithi uhhmm ingonyama
Ingonyama

Siyo Nqoba
Ingonyama

Ingonyama nengw' enamabala
Ingonyama nengw' enamabala
Ingonyama nengw' enamabala
Ingonyama nengw' enamabala
Ingonyama nengw' enamabala

From the day we arrive on the planet
And blinking, step into the sun
There's more to see than can ever be seen
More to do than can ever be done
There's far too much to take in here
More to find than can ever be found
But the sun rolling high
Through the sapphire sky
Keeps great and small on the endless round

It's the Circle of Life
And it moves us all
Through despair and hope
Through faith and love
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the Circle
The Circle of Life

It's the Circle of Life
And it moves us all
Through despair and hope
Through faith and love
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the Circle
The Circle of Life

Pictures of our house on the realtors website

2008-12-09T12:42:00.008-06:00

All I can say is that I'm tired of picking up after myself! I wanna throw my shoes on the floor and leave dishes in the sink!!! Somebody PLEASE buy this house.

Before & after pictures of the kitchen

2008-10-26T13:40:00.004-05:00

Before:

Wonderful Bird-day wishes from my girlz!

2008-09-22T22:10:00.004-05:00

I came home today to a gorgeous and fragrant bouquet of flowers and this after already receiving a fantastic Incredible Edible arrangement from my two favorite daughters in the world.

You guys are so precious to me. Thank you for the remembrance & for being the wonderful girls you are. My B-day has lasted a whole week! YAY!
Momma

Happy 55th Anniversary to Grandma & Grandpa C!!!!

2008-09-18T20:38:00.003-05:00

YAY!! We love you and wish we could be with you today.
Art & I send our love & wish you 55 more wonderful years together!!

Art & I are going to Plaza III on Saturday night for my birthday. It is where he proposed with the ring! So that's is sort of an anniversary too. Unfortunately I'm 20 lbs fatter, so I can't wear the little slinky number I wore that night. Then again, I'm 53, so probably shouldn't be wearing any "slinky numbers" anyway! I can't wait though!

Here's to GREAT marriages. I've lucky to have one now, Jessica's got one and Lanie's got one too! & Grandma & Grandpa C have the mother of all great marriages.
YAY!!
Happy Anniversary to you both! Loads of love,
Caren & Art

BTW, in case y'all were wondering: Lanie and John have "paper" for their gifts this year; Jess and David wood; Art & Caren wood.

G&G EMERALDS!!! WOOT!

Who Knew??????????

2008-09-11T22:39:00.005-05:00

Ok Grandma C. I guess you "suggested" to me once that these were good, but seriously. They are INSTANT mashed potatoes. Couldn't be "good", more like "passable" right? I totally dismissed the idea. Well guess what. I'm in Dallas, and needed something different to make other than the rice we've had two meals in a row now. I'm on the phone to Lanie who suggests the "Hungry Jack" instant potatoes that YOU recommended to her sometime back that she now swears by and by the way, she has in her cupboard, so I don't have to run out. Hmmmm. OK, I think, if I make these and they taste as bad as I expect them too, then it's Lanie's fault, right? The cook won't get blamed, so it's a win-win.

Guess what? THEY ARE OUT OF THIS WORLD!!!! How is that even possible? We are talking dehydrated flaked food here. Plus, and here's the really amazing thing, they take about 3 mins, start to finish.

I'm buying a truckload as soon as I get home. And stock in the company. I made pork tenderloin pillards in rosemary wine sauce with Hungry Jack mashed potatoes. The best meal I've had lately. Restaurants included!

I'm a believer! Call me Mom, when you get a chance.
Love,
Caren

Updating is a pain

2008-09-08T22:04:00.006-05:00

Well, we are thrilled with the remodeling so far. But we are sick of living in a sawdusty, no running water kitchen, go out to dinner every night life. They seriously are doing a super job though. Couldn't be happier with the transformation so far. We think it will really help with being competitive on the market, but what a pain!

As everybody knows by now, Art is a total neat freak. I'm slowly converting to his religion, but it has been a SLOW GO. Anyway, this torn up phase is even getting to ME, the queen of slovenliness.
Anyway, the countertops (engineered stone product) are AMAZINGLY beautiful. I'll post some "after" pics soon, but we have to get the wallpaper stripped and change out the green diamond tiles, but after that we should have a showcase kitchen.

Glitter Graphics are Baaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

2008-09-06T19:43:00.002-05:00

Grandma C loves Grandpa C!

The Garden

2008-09-03T19:12:00.012-05:00

Finally Grandma!!! I'm getting the pictures up of the garden. I've decided Moussaka needs to be a staple at our house. Art loves it! It's a perfect use for the eggplant and supposedly freezes well. We also love eggplant breaded in fresh bread crumbs and parmesean and fried until it's creamy inside. We almost made ourselves sick on this dish! Next I want to try Eggplant Lasagna & after that Eggplant Parmesean. We are eggplanted to death around here!

The garden:

The bellpeppers that ultimately will be red:

The eggplants (some of them):

The tomatoes (these are called "super fantastic" variety, but I'd say more of just "pretty good":

The cherry tomatoes which really are "super fantastic". Almost like candy!

And more eggplants:

The harvest:

And for the non-vegetable category: these are the Black Eyed Susans that really took off this year!

So that's it for now. Wish you could come over for some Moussaka! Love you, Caren

The Wallpaper

2008-09-01T21:54:00.007-05:00

I guess wallpaper is "out". Too bad we've got about 10K square feet of it and it's got to go before we can "downsize", aka sell da house.

So here we go. Someone just shoot me please.

I'll post some after picks if I survive it. :-) The good news is that when I go OCD on a remodel job, I forget to eat. YAY for my 2 lb weight loss in less than a week. I should be 100# in no time!

BTW, formica is also "out". I let you know how that turns out. Momma

Happy Birthday Grandma!

2008-07-17T05:55:00.000-05:00

Grandma is 74 today! Hooray! We love you!

I miss my girls!

2008-06-15T20:19:00.001-05:00

Must be time to head to Tejas. I also miss the good Dr. Edwards. Double reason to head to Tejas. See y'all soon. Momma

Did anyone notice Mom turning into a geeK?

2008-04-22T22:06:00.000-05:00

Well, it's official. Momma is a tech geek.

I just spent the last few days configuring Grandma C's new SONY Viao sweet a$$ system (which incidentally is a better system than any one of her children OR grandchildren currently own -- Sony 22 inch wide screen display with a 3 gig memory and I can't remember what else, but its huge). Grandpa threw down for this while I was in town. Grandpa of course, world renown for BIG toy purchases.

It was loaded with VISTA. (Oh no!!!!!)

NO PROBLEM!

The new geekette is Mommy. Mommy made Vista work with all of Grandma's 5 year old peripherals. And I didn't have to call John once. IT'S A MIRACLE.

My hire out rate is $350 an hour, but i'll cut the fam a break.

OK, first things first:
This is Grandpa's new favorite cup:

This is the tiny but awesome "Cacace" clan:

As you can see, mostly "casual" attire. My kind of vacation! We ate SOOOOOOOOOOOO well:

Grandma & Grandpa C are very involved in a "simplify your life" project, which involves shredding their gas station receipts from 1959 (among other things). This project, however, requires movement of said receipts into the living room first to be fed to their shredder (that eats paperclips). Since there are almost FORTY years of said receipts, it is going to take awhile! The boxes by the fireplace are a TINY fraction of what they are working on. Yeah Grandma & Grandpa! You are an inspiration to me to declutter too.

But the big news is Grandma's new computer.
VAIO® LT Series PC/TV All-In-OneIntel® Core™ 2 Duo T5450 (1.66GHz)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium: Series Features: 22" widescreen display, wall-mountable, wireless keyboard and mouse; 3GB memory, NVIDIA® graphics,

WHAT A SCREAMER!

WHAT A BLAST!

The pictures of Belize were amazing on this beast!

I had such a great time. Thank you Grandma & Grandpa! See you soon!

For all my children

2008-03-30T22:34:00.000-05:00

Hate vegetables? Try this.

2008-01-19T20:55:00.001-06:00

Buy a head of Cauliflower. Cut off the leaves and cut the "stem" off. Slice like a loaf of bread into 5/8" slices. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place cauliflower slices in a single layer on he parchment paper. Brush with reduced calorie butter spread that you have melted in your microwave oven. Sprinkle with salt & pepper. Place in the oven for 20 minutes. Turn over slices. Bake another 20 minutes. In the meantime, mix 3/4 cup breadcrumbs with 1 tbs of the melted butter spread, & 1/4 tsp salt. In a separate baking dish, in a shallow layer, bake these bread crumbs alongside the cauliflower, until golden brown. When the breadcrumbs are done, the Cauliflower is done. Remove both from oven. Chop some fresh parsley, mix in with the breadcrumbs, sprinkle bread crumbs over Cauliflower and serve. Your guests will lick the serving bowl clean.

All I can say is . . . speechless . . .

2007-12-01T21:40:00.001-06:00

Unbelieveable

Michael W. Smith - Agnus Dei

BATH TIME!

2007-12-01T12:59:00.000-06:00

YAY!! AIDAN!

How cute is this boy??????
Momma

Finally

2007-12-01T11:57:00.000-06:00

I've had so much fun lately visting the FAM. I got to go see Lanie & John in Texas, which also means I got to see AIDAN & Jessica & David. YAY. Here are some pictures from that trip:

See that ball? He liked it! Everything from here on out will be measured by how much pleasure it brings to Aidan!

While I was at Lanie and John's we did some SERIOUS relaxing and goofing off, including, but not limited to, kicking Gannon's a$$.

Lanie, your house looks so nice! I love the new table and how organized everything is. Being broke also serves the purpose of minimizing the clutter!

We ate out at Pappadeaux's which was great. Yes, that is a Martini!! It was great too. Shimp Ettouffe ROCKS MY WORLD. Jessica came immediately after work and it was VERY COOL to have a night out. Aidan, however is not quite ready for spicy Cajun . . . next visit I'm sure he'll be up for the blackened catfish with chipotle.

I also got to try Fish Tacos. Good, but not eye roll back. Ditto for the fried cornbread. Guess I need to mexican up my palate.

So anyway it was super fun, but not long enough. Work SO gets in the way.

Oh! I forgot to mention what a lovely and relaxing time Lanie & I had on the drive to the airport!

Next time I'll let this guy take me!

Momma

INCREDIBLE EDIBLE ARRANGEMENTS!

2007-10-28T22:25:00.000-05:00

All I can say is WOW!
On Friday, after a particularly rough work week (including extra shifts at the hospital) I came out to Clarkson West (my full time job) to find this amazing "bouquet" from my sweet darling daughter (Jess):

HOW COOL IS THAT????

And this is the way it looked 30 mintues later:

We normally don't have this kind of classiness around here--it has to be a Texas import . . . What I want to know is what genius came up with this idea and why wasn't it me???

Thank you honey!!!! I loved it (and so did everyone at the office--they all think you are very cool (well that's mainly because of Aidan, but the fruit bouquet just sealed it!).

Love you!
Mommy

For Grandma! This will make you laugh

2007-10-20T21:31:00.001-05:00

And I thought our dog was nutzo.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY AIDAN!!!!

I STILL LOVE HALLOWEEN!

2007-10-14T22:20:00.001-05:00

Ok, I can't seem to get past wanting my girls to stay 12 forever.

I went to the mall today trying to put together the "perfect" Hannah Montana costume to sell on eBay. What I didn't expect was the BUZZ I got. I suppose this is the reason I was so OCD about making your costumes--it would take me into the "ZONE"--you know, that place where you can fritter away hours and never come up for air, or to brush your teeth or (fill in the blank). Remember being Donald Duck Lanie? Do you know how long it took me to make the felt webbed feet?????????? Or how bought WonderWoman Jess? Capes? No problem. Wings? NO PROBLEM! The outfit had to be as close to perfect as humanly possible: no expense was spared--I remember putting in all nighters. All of this to avoid store bought CRAP. All of this to celebrate a satanic holiday!!

WHAT WAS I THINKING!!!!

Anyway, doin it again . . .

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330176526958

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=330176510564

The TWO best HANNAH MONTANA costumes money can buy.
Momma

Glitter Graphics!

2007-10-13T23:16:00.000-05:00

Wow! YAY I'm finally getting it!

For Joey - God will make a way . . .

2007-09-23T15:41:00.001-05:00

Ok, I'm a total blog slacker

2007-09-09T10:24:00.001-05:00

But it's not my fault! First off, let me show you the great pictures from our visit to Dallas while Jess & David went to Cabo.

This is the precious one Art & I had the pleasure of caring for (aka Mr. Peepers):

The most fun of all was gettin down carpet level and doing some serious block banging.

This is Aiden's favorite toy. I still have the music from it buzzing around my head!

The other times that were really fun were our daily morning walks (sorry no pics, because we forgot the camera EVERY time!) and dinner time!

I can't tell you how fantastic it is to be a Grandma!

Some special visitors came while we were on baby duty:
This is "Nana" (David's mommy)

And this is aunt Lanie:

Uncle John was there too, but he was the only one who had presence of mind to take pictures, so we don't have one of the photographer himself! We had a nice meal together -- and totally pigged out on "Fake Crab with yellow sauce" (again, no pictures, but fake crab in yellow sauce doesn't look that good anyway).

We truly had a glorious time. The best part of all was when Aiden would crawl up into your lap and bury his head in your chest--his giant baby hugs. His smile and giggle made us absolutely melt!

We wore out Ashby completely -- holding Aidan like an airplane (flyin low) and chasing her around the house! He loved it! Poor Ashby!!!

And this picture tells it all.

Thanks Jess & David for letting us come and be a part of your precious little one's life! We have such blessed memories!
Momma

Carman - The Champion - live, late 80s

2007-08-17T06:50:00.001-05:00

A blast from the past!

2007-08-16T21:54:00.000-05:00

All I can say is the Truth Project has been AMAZING. So many doubts laid to rest. I'm totally convinced that it takes more faith NOT to believe. Seriously. Anyway, I'm digging out all my dusty & scratched cds such as:
Amy Grant
Ray Boltz
Harvest
Hosanna Integrity Worship CDS
Mighty God
The Lord Reigns
All Hail King Jesus
Steve Green
We Are Called
and
CARMAN!

As Lanie would say . . .
WOOT!
I hope I did the youtube thingy right so you'all can watch THE CHAMPION just for nostalgia sake!

Remember the line "you shut your face, I wrote the book". What fun we had at the Carman concerts! I got chills when I listened to this cd again. And Witches Invitation! It's all on youtube! My God. There's so much out there at our fingertips.

Hope the video posts. Enjoy!
Momma
(I guess once a fanatic, always a fanatic!)

Just in case the youtube doesn't work right -- here's the link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3RqhIPYMpE

Tomato Tree

2007-07-18T15:23:00.000-05:00

Remember this little guy back in June?

And now:

Still, no tomatoes! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I wish this weather would break. 97 today.

Update on Joey's surgery: Everything went very well. He's home and on bedrest for 3 days (I'm sure he'll go stark ravin mad). Maybe he can take up crochet.
Anyway, he's doing well and everyone keep the prayers going up for his complete recovery, & especially for help with his smoking cessation. That's going to be the toughest. I'll keep everybody posted.

Momma

If it's not one thing . . .

2007-07-15T21:48:00.000-05:00

IT'S ANOTHER. Ok, so the cabbage loopers are exterminated. Thanks to industrial strenghth TRIAZICIDE. But now we have the weather. Apparently, if it gets hot enough (>90 degrees) the tomato pollen goes sterile. So instead of having a little tomato whereever there is a little yellow blossom, WE GOT NOTHING.

So Al Gore, we need some intervention.

I am happy to report however, that apparently ZUCCHINI loves the heat.

This is our first season's pick:

So while we were lamenting our lack of tomatoes and puny strawberries, the zucchini plant was making a MONSTER.

BTW, fried zucchini is to die for:

AND
It just so happens that I have the perfect tool for turning zucchini disks in the hot oil. It is the handy dandy EZ HOOK (a Quartzsite find!). It is brilliant in its simplicity:

and

IT IS:

which of course, explains its brilliant simplicity. To order online, go to EZHOOK.COM.

Art says he "afraid" of the E-Z Hook:

It does kinda look like an instrument of torture.

So anyway, here's the recipe girls for the best fried zucchini you've ever had:

MOMMA'S FRIED ZUCCHINI
1 honkin zucchini cut into 1/2 thick rounds
2 stale hoggie rolls, cuisinarted into fine crumbs
1/4 cup grated parmesean
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground pepper
1 egg beaten
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 cup vegetable oil

Make three separate bowls up: in one put the cornstarch, in another put the beaten egg, lastly, mix up the breadcrumbs with the cheese & the salt & pepper & place in the third dish.

Take each 1/2 inch round of zucchini and press it into the cornstarch (to coat both sides), then dip the round into the egg, lastly press the disk into the bread crumb mixture.

Heat vegetable oil in large skillet over low-medium heat (you don't want the oil too hot, or it will burn the bread crumb covered rounds. You can test it by sprinking a few of the bread crumbs in the oil--if they spatter and turn black right away, it's too hot. If they just soak in the oil, it's not hot enough. They should sizzle, but not darken.)

Fry in oil until golden brown on one side, then turn and fry till the other side is golden brown too. Drain on paper towels. Eat until silly or fat or both.

YMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.

Jess, I hope you are feeling better. Lanie, call me! I miss you. Both of you girls--please pray for your brother. His surgery is this Tuesday which also happens to be Grandma C's birthday. Happy 73rd Birthday Grandma!!!

Talk to everyone soon,
Love,
Momma & Grandmomma

2007-07-06T19:38:00.000-05:00

OK that's it. No more Mr. Nice Guy.
This is a "cabbage looper".

They call it a "looper" because it only has "feet" on the front of it's body and on the back. It moves along by humping it's back and scooting it's back "feet" up close to it's front "feet". It "loops" up it's body.

This is what it has done to our brussells sprouts.

This is MAXIMUM STRENGTH cabbage looper killer.

I'll let you know who wins.

On a happier note, we have some pretty flowers in the front:

And we have a tomato coming!

YAY!!! We should be overrun with veggies soon!

Home Again!

2007-06-30T08:49:00.000-05:00

We're home from Nevada! We had a lovely time with Grandma & Grandpa C being lazy and enjoying fabulous food, entertainment & shopping! We arrived on 6/21/07 and were greeted with care packages & cold drinks (G&G's specialty). The weather was uhm, WARM, to say the least:

So most of the time, we hibernated in the cool airconditioning, enjoying wonderful feasts at every meal and catching up on the latest (with the friends and family).

Grandma had a full menu designed & printed and posted to the refrigertor. !!
A sample of some of the yummies we were indulged with:

Blueberry French Toast

Talapia Filets with Sugar Snap Peas (girls you absolutely have to try this--not only is it unbelievably delicious, it makes a lovely presentation too--company food!)

We didn't get a picture, rats, but the Shrimp Curry the first night was killer.

G&G took us to the dam to show us the new bridge they are building so traffic does not have to snake accross the narrow highway on top of Boulder Dam (or is it Hoover Dam, I can't ever remember.) Anyway, it's quite a marvel of engineering this new bridge. The pictures don't do it justice:

Don't know who the dude is with the white hair & sunglasses!

Of course we hit the mall:

and Art is learning the careful science of being a "bag boy" from the world's best.

Most of the time we just kicked back and jawed, watched movies or napped! The perfect vacation. Thank you Grandma & Grandpa!

P.S. I forgot to mention that G&G let us stay in the motor home (all tricked out with an oatmeal cookie stash & wine!) Grandpa had put the slideout out to open up the living room and it was very, very comfortable--and if you've ever slept in the motorhome bed, you probably remember it is like a cloud (as in Sheraton bed!) It was like having our own apartment right next door. PERFECT.

When can we do this again???????????????

Aidan & Mommy playin' at Grandmas!

2007-06-17T18:06:00.000-05:00

This little cutie has stolen everyone's heart.
We love you Aidan!
GrandMomma

Aidan's Coming!

2007-06-15T14:08:00.000-05:00

We have your room ready honey! But what's really cool is your

NEW HIGH CHAIR! Check it out:

See you tomorrow! We can't wait.

Alert to Moms with young children: (This means you Jess!)

2007-06-12T13:54:00.000-05:00

Subject: Alcohol Hand Sanitizer and Children

Our dept. was just sent this message:
Ok. I don't know where to begin because the last 2 days of my life have been such a blur. Yesterday, my youngest daughter Halle who is 4 was rushed to the emergancy room by her father for being severely lethargic and incoherent. He was called to her school by the school secretary for being "very VERY sick." He told me that when he arrived that Halle was barely sitting in the chair. She couldn't hold her own head up and when he looked into her eyes, she couldn't focus them.
He immediately called me after he scooped her up and rushed her to the ER. When we got there, they ran blood test after blood test and did x-rays, every test imaginable. Her white blood cell count was normal; nothing was out of the ordinary. The ER doctor told us that he had done everything that he could do so he was sending her to Saint Francis for further test.
When we were leaving in the ambulance, her teacher had come to the ER and after questioning Halle 's classmates, we found out that she had licked hand sanitizer off her hand. Hand sanitizer, of all things. But it makes sense. These days they have all kinds of different scents and when you have a curious child, they are going to put all kinds of things in their mouths.
When we arrived at Saint Francis, we told the ER doctor there to check her blood alcohol level, which, yes we did get weird looks from it but they did it. The results were her blood alcohol level was 85% and this was 6 hours after we first took her. Theres no telling what it would have been if we would have tested it at the first ER.
Since then, her school and a few surrounding schools have taken this out of the classrooms of all the lower grade classes but whats to stop middle and high schoolers too? After doing research off the internet, we have found out that it only takes 3 squirts of the stuff to be fatal in a toddler. For her blood alcohol level to be so high was to compare someone her size to drinking something 120 proof. So please PLEASE don't disregard this because I don't ever want anyone to go thru what my family and I have gone thru. Today was a little better but not much. Please send this to everyone you know that has children or are having children. It doesn't matter what age. I just want people to know the dangers of this.

This comment is from Urban Legends and Folklore Regarding the Incident:

Comments: True. On May 14, 2007, Fox23-TV in Tulsa reported that 4-year-old Halle Butler of Okmulgee, Oklahoma was hospitalized with symptoms of intoxication after ingesting a small amount of hand sanitizer in her pre-kindergarten classroom.

The product, which consists of 62% ethyl alcohol (more than most hard liquors), had been applied to the children's hands by their teacher just before lunchtime, but instead of rubbing it in, Halle licked it off her skin and essentially got drunk. She was fine once the alcohol had worked its way through her system, but the incident threw such a fright into parents and administrators alike that further use of the product was banned in the school.

I should note that the email contains one apparent factual error (or perhaps it's only a typo), namely that the Halle 's blood alcohol level was measured at "85%" in the emergency room -- an impossibly high percentage. The author probably intended to write ".085"

A similar mishap was reported last January in Minneapolis , where 2-year-old Sydney Moe ate some of the hand sanitizer gel her mother kept by the sink and was rushed to the emergency room with a blood alcohol concentration of .10 percent -- legally drunk, by the statutes in most states. She, too, recovered quickly, but the Minnesota Poison Control Center warned that the high alcohol content of hand sanitizers and other common household products such as mouthwash and perfumes can pose a serious health threat to small children and should be kept out of their reach except under parental supervision. Some hand sanitizers contain isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol instead of ethyl alcohol, making them even more dangerous to ingest.

Fat Belly

2007-06-11T10:05:00.000-05:00

What what what???????????
Now my stomach flops up and down when I run on the treadmill? And it hurts?
THIS IS NEW! AND NOT GOOD!

Our new favorite recipe!

2007-06-10T09:01:00.000-05:00

Seafood enchiladas! Holy God! These definitely make the cookbook. It's from Allrecipes.com but "tweaked". Here's the recipe if you feel like splurging. (Downside: if they are less than 1000 calories each I'll be surprised. Of course you can't eat just one . . .)

SEAFOOD ENCHILADAS

INGREDIENTS
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 pound fresh crabmeat, chopped into ¾” chunks
1 pound fresh shrimp, peeled, deviened & chopped into ¾” chunks
1 can diced green chiles
8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
8 (10 inch) flour tortillas
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup sour cream
½ cup clam juice
1/2 cup butter, melted
5 tbs flour
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
2 tbs chopped green onions

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large skillet, saute onions & garlic in 1 tablespoon butter until transparent. Remove the skillet from heat and stir in chopped crabmeat and shrimp & one half cup of the shredded cheddar cheese. Make up the sauce; 1/2 cup butter melted in a skillet, stir in 5 tbs flour until a paste forms, cook & stir one minute or so to take the “raw” taste from the flour (but do not brown the flour). Stir in two cups of cream and whisk, bringing to a simmer. Stir in ½ cup of clam juice. Stir in 1 tsp of chili powder; 1 tsp cumin and ½ tsp of cayenne pepper & 1 tsp salt. Carefully pour simmering liquid into large stirring bowl containing ½ cup sour cream. (This will keep the sour cream from curdling). Mix one quarter of this sauce with the fried crabmeat, shrimp & onion garlic. Place a large spoonful of the mixture into each tortilla. Roll the tortillas up around the mixture and arrange the rolled tortillas in a 9x13 inch baking dish. (6 lengthwize, 2 sideways and crammed in!)
Pour remainder of sauce over the enchiladas, and sprinkle the whole pan with remaining cheese. Garnish top with chopped green onions, & sliced black olives.
Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes.
Serve garnished with avocado wedges.

Your men will rave. Mine did!

P.S. It helps a bunch to have a "shrimp" deveiner. Any kitchen supply has em, probably Williams-Sonoma too if you want to pay $25. HA!

Here's a picture of one--it's about 6" long: BTW, I wouldn't know of this if it wasn't for Grandma Cacace. Thank you Grandma for teaching me how to cook! Joey, Art, Scott & the rest of the "fam" thank you too!

LANIE'S Big Day is Coming

2007-06-08T10:46:00.001-05:00

Lanie is running in Alaska soon for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. She's running to raise money to help the society continue their fight against leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. This scourge recently touched Elaine's life in a very personal way when John's mom was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2006. (I'm happy to report that she has completed chemo and the lymphoma is now in remission. Our prayers continue to go up that it will stay that way).

A few facts: Since its founding in 1949, the Society has invested more than $483 million in research specifically targeting leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. They believe that innovations in blood cancer research hold the keys to curing all cancers. Treatments such as chemotherapy and bone marrow transplantation, originally developed for leukemia, are now standard treatments for many cancers. In addition to research support, the Society offers support groups, financial aid, information and advocacy programs for patients and their families.

This is a worthwhile cause! I'm so proud of her for doing this! Anyone who reads this and wants to join the cause can send a donation to Elaine Wagner's local Society chapter:

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
North Texas Chapter
8111 LBJ Freeway, Suite 425
Dallas, TX 75251
Direct Line (972) 354 8316

We'll be cheering you on Lanie, and hope you can figure out a way to provide live video to us of the event.

Dates: June 23, 2007 - Saturday (the day after Elaine's bird-day)

Location: Anchorage, AK
This marathon has been called an adventure collector's running experience. With the Chugach Mountains on the east and the Cook Inlet on the west, this course provides a sense of the beauty and majesty that is Alaska.

WE LOVE YOU LANIE!!!

JACK GEORGES comes through!

2007-06-06T07:24:00.000-05:00

YAY!! Finally sold something on Ebay. It's been a bit of a dry spell . . .
I love buying these beautiful things! Almost hate to sell them!! The Jack Georges dude apparently designs for "Coach". If I was a lawyer, I'd have to have one of these!

Speaking of that, I forgot to watch Boston Legal last night. That's one of my favorites! When Alan Shore goes on a rant, I'm spellbound! Can't say I agree with all of his arguments but he does make some great arguments.

Gardening in 2007

2007-06-04T08:57:00.000-05:00

Back in the saddle! Last year was devoted to Ebay so I didn't get a chance to play in the dirt. Not so this year!

First off: this is a "Tomato Tree". According to the good folks at Gardeners' Choice, this "Giant Tree Tomato" should bear 6" fruit. Grandma came up with the idea. The whole "tree" stands about 3" right now. Will keep everyone posted!

According to the add: "Giant Tree Tomato: Amazing Super-Species Looks Like A Fruit Tree Produces Bushels of Tomato Clusters Summer to Fall-- Basket after basket of juicy mouthwatering beauties up to 6 pounds each... so delicious, so succulent, just one sliced up tree tomato covers an entire slice of bread! A super-growing tree that z-o-o-m-s high as a man IN JUST 3 MONTHS! A living tomato factory so desperate to produce that for every tomato you pick one week, two more seem to jump forth to take its place. Grow In Yard As A Garden Wonder...Or As A Patio Showpiece! Non-Stop Fruit All Season Long! Supplies Are Limited - Make Sure You Do Not Miss Out - ACT NOW!"

;-) We'll see.

The "work" part of the garden was the landscaping. Last year when I planted the white petunias, we were beset by a type of green catepillar that destroyed the flowers FOR THE ENTIRE SEASON!!! Grrrrrr. I'm on the hunt for the little bastards and if they show their little furry faces, I'm gonna blast em.

We put in 44 petunia plants this year. We always think it's around 30 and we always have to go buy more!

But the best part of all this the veggie garden. This year we have eggplant, tomatoes, (and a tree tomato that's going to make 6" tomatoes hahahahah!) brussell sprouts (X 9 plants!--we love em) and a sweet red bell pepper. Strawberries are in too, but up on the tier. (Art gave up his "Dad's garden--for momma's strawberries--it must be love.)

And lastly, the herbs. Cooking with fresh herbs. THE BEST! From left to right: basil, chives, rosemary, oregano, thyme, dill. Not pictured: cilantro, parsely, sweet marjoram, more basil!

Got to get to work. Blah. This working nonsense really gets in the way. Amen?