Menu Plan Monday

It was a very productive weekend for us. Friday we toured 2 Parochial elementarty schools. We dicded on one of them. There are 4 school districts that will provide busses to the school. Then we spent the weekend working on the house. Our basement is presentable. We have taken enough books to the second hand book store to generate $91, and got our 10x10 storage unit 2/3rds full.

Our menu for the week:

Mon - Leftover Cheeseburger sloppy joes

Tues - Turkey cutlets and rice

Wed - Meatloaf

Thurs - Pork chops

Fri - Stuffed shells

This is going to be difficult. I will not be home until after they rest of the family goes to their evening activities (all week).

For more Menus - check out Laura's blog

Another list of tasks:

Today is Hubby's last day at his employers. His new job starts Monday.

[Rant mode on] This new job of Hubby's has office hours 7 -4:30 M-Th and 4 hours on Friday. The boys catch the school bus at 7:05. So Mom is going to have to shift her schedule. Yuck! Can I say that I am a tru-blue morning person? I like being one of the first ones in the office. I'll be lucky if I I make it to the office by 8:45. Then I tend to run out of steam about 3:30. Since I won't be levaing the office until 5:30 or so, I will most likely miss most of my boy's baseball games. But better me than coach Dad!

On the upside, I will be able to reinstate a workout routine. If I keep getting up at my current 4:45. I can be at the gym at 5:00 am. I'll reach home just a Hubby is close to walking out the door. I'll be able to grab a quick shower and then roll the boys out of bed. My waist line sure could use the exercise. I stopped exercising about November when I started carpooling and fortunately I did not gain weight as I feared. [Rant mode off]

Tomorrow I am taking a vacation day. I have a call in to make a visit to one school and when they call me back with a time, I will schedule a second candidate school. I suppose we'll do some more driving around looking at neighborhoods.

Menu Plan Monday

Hey Everyone, This was one of those weeneds where I'm glad it's Monday and I can sit at my desk most of the day. I ran a concession stand in a high school cafeteria for 13 hours Saturday and did some mroe purginf/packing/cleaning. Hey Laura, I hope by next weekend to post pictures of my clean craft area that I started on during your 30-day Organizational Challenge.

Monday - Cheeseburger Sloppy Joes. I'v got my Salisbury steak recipe below..

Tuesday - Chicken breasts

Wednesday - Spaghetti

Thursday - Stroganoff

Friday - Salmon

Salisbury Steak

1 lb ground beef

chopped onion

1/2 cup plain bread crumbs

1 slightly beaten egg

1/4 c Campbell's Golden Mushroom Soup.

Combine the above and genlty form into 5 or 6 patties.

Bake 350 deg for 30 minutes

Drain off the excess grease. Mix the remaining soup with 1/3 c water. Pour over patties and bake another 5 minutes.

Check Out Laura's Blog for more menus

My Worries

So I am going to park my list here so that at work I can slow down, read my emails and understand what they are saying before I start to answer them.

• gotta get the house decluttered, cleaned and painted for selling
• I need to get it looking better in case my cousing and her Finacee come to look at it
• If they decide not to buy it, will re have to replace the cement driveway?
• Can we get our money's worth out of it?
• Should we relace the kitchen floor?
• What about the carpet?
• What kind of Child care arrangements should I make for the summer for the 7 YO? Should I find a place close to Hubby's new workplace? That way I could drop him off on my way to work and Dad could pick him up. He will be playing baseball near the current home this summer.
• Should I sign the 11 YO up for the mid summer wrestling camp? It is 9 a - 2p. Then there is the sticky issue of transportation.
• Can I find a golf camp? He'd really like to do that.
• Can we afford the kind of house we'd really like?
• Will I be able to get the boys in a Catholic school? Which one? Should I put them on a waiting list?

Faith in Action

Now I have written before about how we are Catholic, send our kids to Catholic school, attend Mass Sundays and most Holy Days, and say grace before meals; but we tend to be rather private about our Faith. Of course this week I saw where Catholics were admonished to Confess sins of Omission about when we failed to proclaim the Word. Kind of Funny. Reading about other Chritian women living, acting and bloggin about their Faith is a lot of what has attracted me to the blogsphere.

But lately there has been a glimpse of Faith in action. This past weekend my parents visitied with the couple who they were very close to in the Early years of their marriage. Ucle B's Alcolholism along with moves following jobs, and chasing after grow children forced them apart. I am Happy to say Uncle B is clean and sober. He brough up several topice related to the Church and Catholicism and discussions ensued. At one point he looks at my Mom and says "J, you are usually jumping in here with something to say." Mom replies "I'm just very happy my kids are willing to discuss this and they have good points and are in line with the Church."

Another occurance this week is that our Parish has a traveling crucifix program where a family prayer for voacations for the week. Hubby signed us up for this week since it is between Wrestling season and baseball season. So while we say grace before meals at home, we do not generally take the time to pray as a family. Sunday night when Hubby announced it was time to pray, both boys came running with their Rosaries in hand. The each had a change to pick out a prayer to say. While we did not say the rosary, we said some of the prayers from it.

The way my family lives is the way both Hubby and I were raised. I guess we are doing something right. But we could always do more. I want to make it a point to find time to say the rosary with the boys on occasion. Since I started to say it myself when I am driving home from work, I know I can say it in less than 20 minutes. Maybe our next long car trip I'll do it. Oh yeah, the 11 Yo wants a new, nicer Rosary. I want a second one. I leave the one that decorated my First Communion cake in my car.

Menu Plan Monday

Here's My menu for the week:

Mon- Ground Beef night - Salisbury Steak, Mashed potatoes and corn

Tues - Wrestling club meeting - Chicken in the crockpot

Wed - Hubby and the 11 YO will practice wrestling - Leftovers" I froze last week's leftovers - so there are a couple of serviings of Cheesburger sloppy joes, Chicken breasts and Pork roast

Thurs - Pork Chops

Friday - Tuna casserole

For more Menus check out Laura's blog

Ultimate Blog Party

Janice and Susan over a 5 Minutes for Mom are hosting a blog party. So at the last minute, I decided to attend.

I am Maggie. I have a great husband and two sons, 11 and 7. Both boys play sports all year long. (They are both high energy and need an outlet otherwise I might duct tape them to the wall.) Hubby loves to coach them an is an excellent coach even though he did not play much sports growing up.

I aslo work outside the home as a manager of email for a large University. Right now we live 50 miles from my office. However we are no in a transition phase. This week Hubby accepted a new job offer closer to my job. We are preparing our house for selling and hope to move over the summer.

My blog is my journal. I have not told many people that I know in real life about my blog. But I enjoy the virtual world here. I am much more comfortable typing my thoughts than picking up a phone. But I love to talk in person.

So welcome. And Check out 5 Mintes for Mom for links to more new blogs.

The Light at the end of the tunnel

Forever-bruary (Or February for you purists) always feel like it drags on for me. This one has been particulary brutal. We experienced 6 days of cancelled school, 4 Sundays of wrestling tournments and hubby going on job interviews.

Yesterday Hubby accepted a new job. He is giving notice at his current job today. We will be moving South. His job is much closer to mine. Beleive it or not, the 11YO is actually looking forward to chaging schools. He always has taken change well. He makes up his mind that it is happening and he needs to go with the flow. The 7 YO is complaining. I am excited.

So I am back to my basement. In december I participated in Laura's Organizational Challenge to clean up the craft area of my basement. You can read about it in this post. I was unable to complete it in time for the challenge and then Chirtmas came with all of the wrapping paper and card-making. So while the stuff sitting on top of my cutting talbe and my counter changed, it was all still there. In anticipation of moving, I have been working on it.

So look for more reports in the coming days.

Menu Plan Monday

Mon - Meatloaf

Tues- Pork Chops

Wed - Baked Chicken breasts

Thurs - Pork Roast

Fri - Krispy Krunchy Cod from Market Day

Hi All, Pork was on sale this week, so I am planning to fix it twice this week. It also does well in the crockpot. I had picked up a beef roast but put it back when I saw the prok roast for half the cost. I will be home in time to cook the chops Tuesday and the roast will go int the crockpot for Thrusday.

For more great Menu's, stop by Laura's Blog

Ash Wednesday

So Hubby is not a morning person. Changes to the Morning Routine get him pretty flustered. And add in an ADHD 11 YO and a 7YO who likes to push his brother's buttons and you have chaos.

This moring there was a 2 hour school delay due to ice and fog. I suggested to Hubby (from the road and my wonderful Blue tooth speaker phone) that he take the boys to work with him. (Last week during snow days his Boss said that was possible) and then at 9:30 drive them back to school. You can do that when your are within 5 miles.

So he forgets that it is Ash Wednesday (he knew last night because he was contemplating Chinese Food Wednesday) and he takes the boys to McDonald's for breakfast. The 7 YO - despite warnings from Dad that it was slick and icy jumps out of the van, slips and fall backwards and hits his head on the van. Hubby looks and does not see anything and they go in and order breakfast.

Then the Manager looks at him and asks "What is wrong with your eye?" He had a big, bleeding cut. Hubby calls me and asks where he should take them. I look at the phonebook. The Urgent cares do not open for at leaset an hour. So off to the ER they go. Fortunately he's ok, he got some steri strips and a "no wrestling" order.

Basement cleaning report

I took a vacation day yesterday since the boys were off. The 11 YO had a Doctor's appointment at 11:20. But they spent the night at the neighbor's house. So after spending time on the internet, I ventured intot he basement. My target: my laundry area. I decied to hold off on my craft area until we have come up with a storage solution.

I did not take pictures, but lets just say that this area has been ignored as an area that needs regular cleaning. I did purge one garbage bag of stuff - some craft paints that I have not used in 5 years, old milk and joiuce containers that I had fileld with water, put in my freezer to take up freezer space and serve as an emergency supply of water around Y2K. Then as the boys started eating more, I started using my freezer more and those containers got dumped into the stationary tub (the side without the washer drain).

Then my broom and I attacked cobwebs and dust on the walls and on the floor. I wiped laundry detergent off of my washer, cleaned out the stationary tub, swept up the remnants of the dryer sheets and the hangers that had fallen behind the dryer.

Hubby said I accomplished a lot. He was impressed. I'm almost embarrassed that I have not found the time to clean the area well in years. Just the cursory swipe of a broom when it really needed it. Then again, I am lucky to get my bathroom cleaned once a week.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday - I'm off today - I'm going to put stuff together for Mon and Tues. Also, Lent starts with Ash Wednesday this week. So for this Catholic family, that means meatless Wednesday as well a Fridays until Easter. .

I will do something with Chicken today and make Hamburger Sloppy joes to warm up tomorrow since we have a meeting at 6:00

Wed - Grilled Cheese and Tomato soup for the kids, Clam Chowder for Mom and Dad.

Thursday -

Friday - The boys want Tuna noodle casserole. I love fish. I might make myself a piece of Salmon.

Saturday- Pizza.

Sunday - All day wrestling. We will have to eat fromt he concession stand. Yuck! They search bags for food and drinks. I an smuggle in a serving of tuna salad and crackers, but that's it. Saturday - Pizza

For more menus, Check out Laura's blog

ed: Oh the typos...

Digging out

So I am so geeky that I had to take this picture and send it to my co-workes with the title of "My Hero". We had 6-7 inches of snow then another inch or 2 of sleet. I worked form home Tuesday and Wednesday. Hubby stayed home Tuesday. Wednesday he ventured off to work in my 4WD truck. He called a few minutes later. "Please don't take the van out, I almost got stuck." Now I am not a homebody by any stretch of the imagination. So I bristle at being asked to stay home. But this guy finally came by. He left a huge pile of snow and ice at the end of the driveway. I did shoo the boys out of the house and we walked to the library so the 11YO could get some references for his science expo project. But I did ventue out in the van in the evening to Wrestling Practice.

Ice Ice Baby

First there were about 4 inches of snow, then about 10:00 am came freezing rain and sleet. It's supposed to switch back over to snow later tonight. parts North of us are experiencing blizzard conditions. We all stayed home today. Hubby and I both did some work from home. I don't know that I will make the 50 mile trek to work tomorrow.

I have time to cook. But what? I had a mild panic. I have chicken. But Hubby and the 7 YO had chicken for lunch. So we are having hamburgers. But I took a quick inventory of my cupboards and freezer. We will not starve. (And there is a super mega mart within walking distance).

I have: Large can of chicken, 3 cans of black beans, a can of baked beans, 2 cans of tuna, a can of salmon, a can of corned beef, Several jars of Peanut Butter (a 3-fer sale), dry whole milk, about a gallon and a half of fresh milk, Ground beef, ground chuck, frozen meatballs, frozen crab cakes, hamburger patties, cheese (mozzarella, cheddar, american, provalone, a dozen eggs, a bag of chicken breasts, spagehtti noodles, egg noodles, cottage cheese, frozen veggies, canned fruit, bread, canned veggies, a ferw canned soups.

"Relax Mom," I'm telling myself. "Nobody is going to starve. So what if there are no macaroni noodles to make mac and cheese to go with the burgers. Make a pan of brownies and everyone will be happy."

Menu Plan Monday

Ok, Here goes:

Monday - I got to work this AM and realized I forgot to pull out Ground beef for Salisbury steaks. So I guess it will be frozen hamburger patties. I have buns in the freezer.

Tuesday - This might depend. They are predicting a winter storm. If that happens. I may work from home. We also had a board meeting scheduled for last Tuesday postponed to This day. Maybe Chicke with Squash.

Wednesday - Wrestling practice night. Chicken Noodle soup (from the can)

Thursday - Salisbury steak

Friday - Breakfast for dinner.

Now I need to remember to email this entry to Hubby so he knows what to start when he gets home. He just emailed me that lots of his co-workers are planning to take work home tonight so they can work from home tomorrow. I was planning to do the same. Last Tuesday it took me 3.5 horus to get home in the snow storm. Yuck.

For more Menu's check out Laura's blog

Slow cooker dinner disaster...

So I have the gadget pcitured here. It plugs right into the oputlet and you plus your crockpot into the bottom. You press the Cook time button to set it for 4 or 6 hours at high or 8 or 10 hours at low. After the cooking time, it reduces the power so that the food is kept warm. Since I am out of the house for close to 12 horus a day, this works well.

Except when you forget to turn the knob on the crockpot from off to high.

I came home to raw chicken breast in my crockpot. I threw them away and opened a can of spaghetti sauce and boiled a pot of noodles. Maybe next time.

Slow Cooker Thursday

It's been a while since I participated. I ran out of new ideas. I need to have recipes that will stand up to 10-12 hours in the cooker. I do have one of those gadgets that switched the cooker to warm after 8 or 10 hours.

Anyways: Today my Slow cooker has chicken breasts in it.

4 Chicken breasts

1 pkg dry itialian dressing mix

1 1/2 cups of water

Cook on low 8-10 hours.

Join Sandra for more great recipes

School's in session

So, for the first time this week, school is open. That makes life easier on Mom and Dad. The daycare we send the 7 YO too opens one hour later on days when school is closed. So it does not open until 8:00. Hubby got very flustered when he tried to drop the 7 YO off Tuesday morning at 7:30. So that's why the boy spent Tuesday at work with Dad. Dad has a class today that started promptly at 8:00 AM. He was dissapointed when I said I was unable to stay home until 8:00 to drop off the boy. He's not real happy with me carpooling.

But the 7YO asked this morning if he could come to work with me like he did Monday. He enjoyed it and he was very good. If all else fails, it is an option. Especially since I have an office with a door. A few books, an MP3 Player and a gameboy. Add in Mom's ID with that can double as a debit card and and an introduction to the lunchroom ladies. What more could a boy want.

Snow Day

This is the third day of no school. The first two days were becasue of sever cold. We only get these 0 degree mornings with -20 windchills every three years or so. They worry about kids waiting for buses out in this cold. Monday the 7YO went to work with Mom, Tuesday he went with Dad. His Daycare does not open until 8:00 when school is cancelled.

I'm working from home today. It took me 3-1/2 hours to get home in the snow yesterday. The University I work out was closed until 10 AM and my building was going to be closed at Noon to fix an electrical problem that took the power down for and hour yesterday. See the Dueling computers:
















Boys working and playing

Menu Plan Monday

Mon - Ground beef night - Ground beef is thawing. _ Not sure whether to make Meatloaf or Cheeseburger sloppy joes.
Tues - Chicken breasts - baked
Wed - Cheeseburgers from frozen patties
Thurs - MAc and Cheese
Fri - Frozen DiGiorno pizza (on sale this week, 2/$9)

For more menus check out Laura's site.