Family Fried Food Extravaganza!

So yesterday, some of my loyal readers (hi mom-in-law and mom-in-law's co-worker) pointed out to me it had been 41 days since I updated my blog! Whoa! 

That got me thinkin'....

Noah coulda built an ark in that amount of time... 

and I haven't built anything in that amount of time...

I really haven't done much in that amount of time at all... 

but I have been able to spend some time with family....

and I have eaten several meals in the past 41 days.... 

including one that I'm sure my arteries haven't forgiven me for...

Enter the 

Family Fried Food Extravaganza!

(we didn't get t-shirts made, but looking back, an "I survived the Family Fried Food Extravaganza" memento seems appropriate)

Here's what happened: my dad takes an annual fishing trip where he a group of guys go spend a few days in boats and they bring back fish with the intention of freezing it and frying it before they go fishing again.

Needing the ability to fry large amount of fish, or using it as an excuse to buy a new toy that is propane powered, Dad got a turkey fryer.  

After we fried fish one weekend and realized how good it was, it got us to thinkin' about what else we could fry.  

And the 

Family Fried Food Extravaganza 

was born!

We actually started with homemade doughnuts so they wouldn't end up with a flavor of onion or hot dog.  (kudos to my mom for thinking of that before it was too late.... and who doesn't like to start a meal with dessert?)

We made cheese sticks, mini-corn dogs, 

 

...vegetables, mushrooms, onion rings ...

But we balanced it out with some chicken and beef kabobs and pasta salad along with homemade lemonade... delish!

We fried and ate all afternoon and then we'd take a break before we'd eat a little and then fry something else.

The young kids had a good time....

...playing with the big kids (their great-grandparents.)

But too much fried food can make a person sleepy and a blanket under a shade tree works for people of all sizes to take a snooze!

(disclaimer: while it was fun, I don't actually think this is a healthy diet.  Don't write me and tell me we're ruining our lives or setting these kids up for heart disease.  If you actually believe that, lighten up and have a doughnut.  After all, the family that fries together stays together!) 

A note on perseverance and inspirational sayings...

Here's the thing...I've gotten addicted to Pinterest. 

And one of the most popular things about Pinterest is the sayings, the posters, the inspirational signs and notes and what-nots.  I have a board dedicated to the lovely ones that catch my eye.  

But the thing that has me conflicted is that I think some of them are a buncha crap.  Sorry for the lack of discretion... 

From Pinterest

With the situation I'm in (looking for work and feeling like I'm spinning my wheels and twiddling my thumbs waiting for people to call me back.. and side rant... anyone applied for jobs lately?! It sucks because so often, you apply through an online form and never even know if it got to the right place!  grrrrrr...) and living in a cramped apartment with three dogs that have a yard the size of a putting green to do their business in (actually, a putting green is probably bigger).  I'm really trying to stay positive, but it's hard to dream big or move the mountains if they're in your way when you're spending time waiting on someone else to JUST CALL ME BACK! 

I think everyone has their own version of inspiration and mine centers around humor and reminding me not to take myself too seriously.

So instead of turning to the internets for advice on how to make the impossible possible or some other one- liner of crap, I turn there for a laugh.

Some of the things on my Pinterest board that I use for encouragement include:

From Pinterest and here

From Pinterest and Here

More from Pinterest and here

I really am, though.  From Pinterest and here

From Pinterest and here

From Pinterest

And this one, which is the closest thing to inspirational IMO.

From Pinterest and This Blog

After all, in my little world, the most inspiring thing I have going for me is a Hubs that appreciates me, prays for me and who wakes me up each morning (as he's going to work and I'm staying in bed for another two hours because I have nothing to do) with a kiss and says, "good luck today, honey."

And that is the most inspiration I need, just someone to believe in me. 

(blogger's note: after writing this post and scheduling it for a few days later, I got a job offer!  Pending a drug test and background check, I'll be starting a new job in the middle of July!  Now, if I can just stay clean... ha ha! - that's funny because anyone who knows me IRL knows that's far from a problem)  

Booby-Trap!

One weekend before it got really hot and gross, one of my cousins and I spend some time helping our Grandparents clean up their upstairs.  

It includes two bedrooms and the attic and my Grandma had gotten it on her brain that she needed to be cleaning it up.  Granted, it's a mess with stuff stacked and piled everywhere, but the two bedrooms raised three kids.  And since the grandparents are getting older, they really don't have any reason to be spending time up there, let alone going up and down the stairs.  So, cousin, Grandma and I spent a day working in the first bedroom and got it straightened up some.  In the process, Grandma let me take home a few treasured items that I remembered playing with as a kid.  

One of those treasurers being Booby-Trap, the game by Parker Brothers. 

And because we were having a family get-together the following day (and because Hubs hadn't ever played before) I took it to the parents' house.

The object of the game is to load up three different-sized pieces into a spring loaded, pressurized rectangle and to take turns pulling out pieces and not pull out ones that have pressure on them (or something like that)

Little Mister really had fun playing, but I think most of the fun came from the 'snap!' the contraption makes and because he got to yell, "Booby-Trap!"

Little Miss was playing, too, but certainly wasn't following the rules...

.... because she kept trying to chew on the pieces! 

We had fun and didn't lose or break any of the pieces, so I count it as success!

Cute Summer Kiddos

We've been blessed with some pretty cute nieces and nephews.  It's not something we can help and certainly not something we're complaining about, but it does make it awfully hard to narrow down which pics of them to put on here!

We've been able to spend some time with them having summer fun.  And while these pics are only of about a quarter of all the kiddos, these are some of the photos I already have loaded onto the computer (and my MIL's been hounding me about not having blogged in a while).  So until I have something more meaningful to say, here's some cute summer fun pictures (from Memorial Day weekend) to update the ol' blog!

Why is it always that the fuzzy pics are some of the cutest?

He decided he didn't need a napkin, that he'd get it all using his tongue!

Hubs played some t-ball...

and pushed the swing for a while.

Awe, nothing cuter than some hot, sweaty brotherly love!  :)

He'd wear his sunglasses, but only if they' were pushed up on his head!

Nice to know someone thinks I'm funny!

And these two took turns pulling each other around in the wagon!

Wordless Wednesday... a dog's life

There is a part of this man's heart that will never be filled by anyone or any critter other than this dog, his best buddy.

I needed a fix

Hubs was out doing a show for work and left me here in this little apartment for over a week.  Since I haven't found a new job yet, we're still on money lock-down.  That means retail therapy for entertainment was out of the question, as was a daily fountain diet coke.  (I did sneak in a couple over the course of the week that I paid for with pocket change to ease the guilt)

Before Hubs left, I already had a rack of ribs thawing in the fridge, so I fixed those for lunch one day and ate on them through supper.

I've recently learned I have an addiction.... to DIY projects.  And when Hubs was outta town I realized just how badly I needed a fix.  Imagine my delight when I was digging around in a box of still-packed up cleaning supplies and found these babies... two brand new cans of white spray paint.

Clearly, these were the answers to my prayers and I had to paint something, but what could become my victim project?

Our table!  In all fairness, this isn't our "real' kitchen table, it's an old desk table that may or may not have come from a previous employer when the department was moving to a new building.  It was in my office in our old house and was eventually banished to the basement.  (But, because it was in the basement, it was one of the last things to be packed and when we needed just some sort of flat space in the apartment kitchen, it was the easy answer.)

Then, after having one coat of paint on the table, I got to looking at our furniture -- our tired, dog-hair covered furniture. I ripped it all apart (like I took the cushions off the couch, not like tearing fabric or anything drastic) and cleaned it.  I stared at the ottoman, with it's dog drool stained spots (I promise, they're just drool, nothing else!) and decided to slip cover it.  I had a large painter's drop cloth that I had covering the ottoman and couch and decided it needed a more tailored look.  

You'll notice my "helpers" were never far away.  No surprise on how the furniture got covered in dog hair!

After another coat of paint on the table and slipcovering the ottoman, I laid out the extra slipcover fabric and decided to slip cover the couch too.  Looking back, I'm wondering if the paint fumes had taken over my decision making abilities!

But I came up a little bit short of fabric and disassembled a slip that I made for our bench to rob some of the fabric off it to finish the couch...

And then I redid the now-shorter bench slip cover. I'm gonna add some ruffles to the bottom of it, just about 4-6 inches worth to make it a little bit more flashy and then I'd like to paint the legs white.  But that'll have to wait until Hubs leaves town again.  (The whole project (slipcovering and the table) took me about three days.)

FYI - If you are ever going to attempt to cut anything in a straight line (fabric, paper, etc) you must invest in these tools -- a healing cutter mat, a roller cutter thingy and a clear ruler thingamajig.  They will make your life so much easier!  Mine are Olfa brand and I LOVE THEM!  (the mat has to be stored flat, but fits right under the couch.... brilliant idea of my mother's!)

Oh yeah, and I eventually finished the table, too!

Here's hoping I get a job soon... I'm running out of furniture to cover and tables to paint!

A year? Really?

My bloggy buddies and some of the peeps I know IRL got together for a bloggy birthday brunch to celebrate one year of blogging.  Who knew a year would come and go so fast?! I can't believe I've been on this corny highway for a year now.  

Honestly though, I've kinda been on autopilot.  I looked and if I've been calling this blog home for a year, or approx. 52 weeks, and I've only had 57 posts, that's not a very high average of posts per week.  

Happy birthday to all my bloggy friends and here's to the next year!

Operation: Relocation is moving along well.  (I'm so proud of myself for coming up with that "operation: relocation" phrase.... I'm a dork for words like that) 

We've gotten settled as much as we are going to for the next few months.  I still really need a job.  Not only because I like to be able to buy pretty things and crafty crap, but I'm really getting bored sitting around here! 

This was the night we moved in... notice the boxes everywhere and tuckered out pooch from traveling

This is the living room area.  Hubs is sweeping up the cobwebs that were in the corners and on the textured walls.  I think the curtains are ugly, but he keeps reminding me that they aren't mine and I only have to live with them for a few months. 

This is Hubs' RC Max D truck that he ran into the kitchen table and dumped over and broke a couple candle holder/vase thingys.  This was night #4.

We do a lot of bumming during the day..all of us except Hubs.  (After all, someone has to work around here!)

I've done a fair amount of cooking and some baking because I've got time on my hands.  This is a sour cream cake with chocolate chips from Heather's pig pen. 

This is the view from my kitchen window.

I also spent one day doing nothing but cooking ahead. Three pounds of sausage, one pound of hamburger, two pounds of bacon and four ham steaks diced into cubes later, I had a buncha stuff in the freezer ready to go.  The Freezer Mama I know would be so proud!  I also diced up two green onions.  (All this cutting, I might add, was done with ONE 5 inch paring knife from the dollar store.  I'm pretty classy like that!)

And that's what I've been up to, over here in the flatlands.  It's not much, but it's keeping me busy!