Food

We love tacos and burritos in this family.  I mean, LOVE them.  Even though I know everyone loves “Taco Tuesday,” we generally only have them on Fridays or Saturdays, since they contain beans.  But we’ll go through 2.5 pounds of meat/ protein easily in one meal, and still wish we had more.  

I found a recipe for a very basic shredded chicken cooked in the Instant Pot (found here) and have adapted it to work for taco/ burrito/ whatever nights, but we also like ground beef, carnitas, and even chopped up cremini mushrooms when we’re wanting to lighten things up.  And, provided I don’t mix up the measurements for cayenne and paprika in the taco seasoning mix (I’ve only done it once, but they’ll NEVER let me live it down!  lol), they always turn out amazing.  But not tofu.  I just can’t bring myself to eat it.  It’s a textural thing.

However, the past 3-4 times we’ve had burrito night, Miss V has fallen asleep before it’s ready, and slept right through it.  Which is SUPER frustrating, since she LOVES making herself burritos.  I honestly just can’t understand HOW she does it!  She’ll be wide awake and messaging me one minute, then BAM!  Fast asleep the next.  

Then she’ll complain about having missed it until we have them again, which typically isn’t that often, though thanks to Lent and “meatless Fridays,” we’ve had them fairly frequently in recent days.  But it’s such a simple meal to put together, especially when you only have to cook the mushrooms and heat the beans, sometimes cook rice, and then you’re done, that I think maybe we should have them more often.

She used to be like this with “circle steaks,“ which was something my mom taught me to make ages ago.  It’s just ground beef, garlic, salt, and pepper, then you form it into little circular patties, smaller than the palm of your hand, that you cook in a little butter in a pan.  We always had them with mashed potatoes and veggies, but like clockwork, she would pass out early on nights we were having them.  It was the weirdest thing!

So what about you?  Are there any meals you make that people in your family skip like that?  Or maybe you’re the one who falls asleep while eating?  Tell me about it!

Water Woes

I may have mentioned it before, but we live on 40 acres in the middle of nowhere.  We have a well for water, and most of the time that isn’t a problem.  When the house was first build, my dad had a whole house filtration system installed, and it does a fairly good job of making the water taste really good.  However, back when we had cows, and they broke through the fencing all the time, we had a TON of water troubles.  

It seemed I was always fixing this or that line because the cows had busted it open AGAIN.  Well, this past Friday night/ early Saturday morning, somewhere about in the 2am range, I went to take a shower and BAM!  No water.  So I went outside, and discovered water EVERYWHERE.  It busted AT the well.  So I killed the water at the breaker, which is the only sure way to stop it running, and discovered the source of the leak.  I *thought* it would be an easy fix, just glue two pieces that had somehow slipped apart back together.  So I did that, and went to bed.  The next morning, around 9am, when I went out to turn the water back on, I discovered an even bigger problem. 

That part isn’t a 2-piece fitting.  It split the piece itself in two.  So, being as how at that point I had only gotten about 4 hours sleep, I did what any sensible exhausted person would do.  I went back to bed for a few hours.  lol  And then I got up, got dressed, and went to the nearest home improvement store and got the parts I needed to fix it.  The one thing I lacked, however, was a pair of channellocks/ vice grips, so I called a wonderful neighbour of mine to borrow the necessary tool, and instead, he came over and helped me fix it.  Yay good neighbours!

So then, of course, we had to wait the requisite 2 hours for the glue to set and cure, but in the end, we had working water again.  You don’t really appreciate having water until you don’t have it for an extended period of time.  Oh, and because we run on well water, when the well isn’t working, the toilets don’t work either.  Because there’s no flow to move the water in/ out of them.  So we _ REALLY_ appreciate it when we have water!

So...

Next week, my son and DIL (daughter-in-law, for those who don’t know) have their first official meeting with her midwife.  My DIL and I went last week to check a birthing centre out, and she made the decision that she wanted to go the midwife/ birthing centre route with this pregnancy instead of using an OB/GYN and a hospital.  She didn’t really like how the hospital and nurses made her feel with her first pregnancy, and feels the birthing centre is a much better option.  We met with the midwife, who seemed super sweet, and discussed different options available to her.  So if they want me to go, we’ll be going with them, and I’ll watch Little Flower so they can talk with the midwife. I know they’re excited this time around, and Oldest Son is impressed that they encourage dads to be involved as they do.  But the best part about this birthing centre?  The front garden!

They had so many flowers!  They even had violets, from what I could tell!  She DID say that she didn’t have any mums, though, and I think I understand why.  They’re mainly annuals, and her garden looked to be mainly perennials.  lol

After the midwife, we took Miss V to the dermatologist to have a wary dealt with.  She was hoping they would burn it off right then and there, but instead they tried freezing it, and she’ll have to wait several weeks to know if it worked or not.  But oh well, such is life!

I really do t know why she took this picture, but since it was there, I added it.  lol  Hey, you can’t see my soda-stained roof in it!  But that’s a story for another time.  lol

Then, after the dermatologist, we decided to satisfy our sweet tooth and went to a frozen yogurt place.  It was good, and the baby enjoyed it.  But we all agreed that it was not likely to receive a second visit.  It was SUPER expensive for the little we got, and none of us really felt it was worth the price.  🤷🏻‍♀️

Of course, I took pictures of my sweet Little Flower eating her noms while we were there, because I just can’t resist a chance to capture her precious little face on camera.  I love her so much!

And, of course, no trip to Tallahassee would be complete without a stop at Trader Joe’s!  We got some apples, some cookies, and a whole lot of good stuff.  I got a bag of “autumn glory” apples, and they are SOOO good!  I could have eaten the entire bag by myself, they were so good!  I was good, though, and didn’t buy a bunch of stuff I didn’t need, so I’m sorta proud of myself for that.  🙂

Well, that’s it from up here in rural north Florida.  Not really all that much going on, but we still manage to get by.  🙂

Whoops!

Oldest Son had a birthday on 8, March.  His 22nd Day of Life’s Gift, to be precise.  So of course, we had cake.  However he is lactose intolerant (though he gets upset with me if I try to make foods that can accommodate his ailment.  He just loves dairy products.  🤷🏻‍♀️), so the traditional Carvel ice cream cake was out of the question.  Instead, we just picked one up at the local grocery store, and had that.  It was a good cake and all, but it never occurred to me to NOT to hand a number 2 birthday candle to the little Flower.

Can’t see the problem?  Try this one.

Should look more like that.  NOW do you see why this was a bad decision on my part?  Yep, little Flower ATE THE CANDLE.  😂🤣  I don’t know WHAT was going on in my head when I did that, but we all laughed when we saw it!  Things only a 2yo would do, right?  Gotta remember not to do that until she’s a bit older.  But good for a laugh, and we can all look back and have a chuckle over it, especially when she’s 22 and having her birthday.  🙂

I suffer from terrible insomnia, among other things.  I believe it’s a side issue related to the bipolar disorder, but I haven’t proven that yet.  For example, right now it is 3:12am on a Thursday as I’m laying in bed writing this, and I find myself completely unable to sleep.  It’s a terrible affliction, insomnia, and it gets really old, really quick.  But there’s simply nothing I can do about it, since I can’t/ won’t take sleeping meds, due to my history with them not working and the horrible side effects they have on me.  So I’m trying to find more productive uses for my sleepless nights, but so far Netflix and Bejeweled have been my only companions on those nights when sleep alludes me.  

The problem with having insomnia is, though, that that’s also when all these thoughts start jumbling around in my head, and I just can’t make them stop.  And they get worse when I have no one to talk to, which is frequently the problem at times between 10pm and 8am.  Because once I’ve FINALLY fallen asleep, the next day I don’t generally remember any of what was going through my head the night before.  Not that I really have anyone to talk to during the day, either, but at least there are a couple better options than nothing and no one.  

So I’m thinking I might start writing here when I get these insomnia-driven thought-tornadoes going, and just save them until I feel like posting them.  Maybe it’ll be good for me to at least get the thoughts out, even though I know no one actually reads this thing.  So I’ll start now.

Earlier tonight, as I was sitting on the loveseat, which is my usual position when I’m not at the dining room table or in my bed, covered in kittens, and I started thinking that I want to start sewing again.  I used to sew all the time, but once I started working, I just lost track of it.  I still bought loads of fabric, I just never made what I bought the fabric to make.  So as I was sitting there, being used as a bed by Rocky and Lilum, I realised I miss sewing.  Oh, obligatory photo of cute kittens.  Because reasons. 

Rocky is the little black one in front, and Lilum is the calico behind him.  They both believe my chest is the best bed in the world.  lol

He wanted me to stop talking, I guess.  lol

Now back to what I was saying.  I’ll get these ideas, and then, the next day, if I actually remember them in the first place, I don’t want to do them anymore.  My sister says it’s the bipolar, that I’m having these manic moments when I can’t sleep, and then, the next day, the depression keeps me from accomplishing any of it. I guess it could be worse.  Creative tendencies shouldn’t be too difficult to handle, right?

Oh boy...

... here we go again!  Or at least, we think it’s here we go again.  It seems, despite vigilant attempts to prevent it, Oldest Son’s dog may have managed to knock up Miss V’s chihuahua.  This is said chihuahua, the crazy thing.

This will be her second pregnancy in her 7+ years with us, and I am NOT looking forward to it.  Though admittedly, her last one DID mellow her out noticeably, it just didn’t stick around long after the pups were born.  And this time, the doggy-baby-daddy is a bit larger than the Pomeranian who was the first one.  He’s a sweet little boy, but he just couldn’t resist her feminine wiles, and I guess we’ll know for certain within the new couple of weeks, but I just...  UGH!!!  We don’t need this at the moment.  But we’ll deal with it, as we always do.  I just hope her pregnancy and delivery is as easy as her first one was.  We didn’t even know she had given birth the last time, she was so quiet about it.  So now I have yet another thing to deal with, but I’m not going to worry about it until I know for certain.  I’ll keep updating as we find out!

Aaahh...

Sometimes, after a day at work, my feet positively ache.  And so far, nothing but laying down with my legs raised above heart level for about 2 hours is all that has helped.  But the other day, I stumbled upon this recipe for a foot soak, and I fell in LOVE with it.  It smells wonderful, and actually helps my feet feel better in 20 minutes FLAT.  I just dumped the required amount into my foot bath (a Christmas gift from my daughter 2 years ago) and 20 minutes later...  aaahh...  no more sore feet and I can still smell the peppermint! I did add the essential oil to it, as I didn’t feel the tea had enough oomph on its own, and let it run.  Ooh, the relief was amazing!  I’ve had to make more because my kids are just as in love with it as I am.  lol

Ignore my messy floor, it needs a good cleaning, and I just haven’t had the time or desire to clean it.  lol  The only “problem” with it, and it’s really not even a real problem, hence the quotation marks, is that if you use the peppermint tea in it, you’ll end up with teensy tiny bits of peppermint tea in a ring around your feet.  So not really a problem at all, just a personal preference.  I’m going to make up a big jar of it to keep on-hand for days when I come home with aching feet.  So thank you, Erin at Suburban Simplicity, for a great foot soak recipe that has helped keep me from suffering from aching feet!