Ho Hum, Ta dum, La Rum...

I am sitting on the couch reminiscing of the past week. What a wonderful past few days!

We drove into Kansas on Christmas Eve. It was Brrrrrr-REEZING! Boscoe was happy to be home. We had delicious smells swirl under our noses as we trudged up the driveway. Chinese 5 Spice Turkey will make your taste buds crazy! Dad had been cooking all day and yielded Turkey, Sautéed Cabbage, Jasmine Rice, Chili, Salsa, Eggs with Soy Sauce, Tortilla chips, Stir Fried Turkey...and the list goes on!

Christmas morning I was up to prepare a Christmas breakfast for everyone but my dad beat me to it! He was awake a 5:30 a.m. making Kow Peik Sen. (We have different traditions at our house but we roll with Dad's punches at his house.) We ate and recapped our lives since the last time we were together. We watched a lot of funny videos of William and waited for Kim to come over to open gifts. Wonderful thought felt gifts that had been carefully selected. It was such a fun evening. We finished it off by driving through the Isle of Lights in Winfield. There have been a lot of additions since 2006 (The last time I drove through there.) The best part was seeing a dedication sign for Misha Davis. She was my best friend in High School. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about her. I miss you so much my friend. I can't wait to see you again!

December 26th was a fun time spent with my mom. We went to her house where she greeted us with her own Pho divinity. Being at mom's house always means mouth-watering foods. We exchanged gifts and went to do some shopping. We visited one of her favorite Vietnamese Jewelry Stores where she tried to convince Carl I needed a 3-carat diamond. Not needed, sinfully coveted... we simply walked away and thought about what we would do if we had the 5 thousand dollars the ring was being sold for! We ventured to 2 Asian Markets where Ranee stocked up on, otherwise known as, "exotic" foods in the middle of Wyoming. I told her to move to Texas already cause the wild sheep are tired of looking at her. Ha! Hopefully my sister will be able to come visit soon.

On Saturday we stopped by Sue and Den's to see Lisa and Vay. Vay likes me much better on the telephone. She's so big and cuddly and cute! Sorry the visit was so short sis! It sure was good to give you a hug at least!

Sunday was a great day at Church as usual. Sacrament was full of great speakers, Sunday school is always a blast and the lessons in Relief Society were terrific!

Monday I went in to take an aptitude test for the job I interviewed the last week and it was so difficult! It had all of these fractions and math silliness that I prefer not to indulge in on any other normal day. The gal told me that Matt (CEO) preferred to call me and speak to me personally. That made me nervous because of the test but I spoke to him at 8:00 p.m. after he flew into town and he offered me the job! You are now visiting the blog of the Admin. Assist. for Residential Leasing and Management. Guess what? I LOVE IT.

Tuesday was my first day and I loved it from the get go. The girls are super nice and Matt's awesome. His wife also pops into the office once a week and she is pretty great too. It's going to be a lot of fun! Busy but not extremely high pressure.

Wednesday night we had a New Year's Eve party. It was so much fun! It never fails to amaze me; we know a fabulous group of people here that we call friends! Here are some photos. You can see the kids loved the toy room and how happy we all are to be together! (Mary Jane, You'll have to email me the pictures you took too :)

P.S. You'll never guess how much the party cost! Granted, everyone brought a little some'in some'in, so that helped me a lot! 15 adults, 6 kids and 3 babies total 24 people. Grand total for party: $26.08!

Menu:
20 pounds Chicken with Rose's Secret Barbecue Sauce
10 pounds Baked Poatoes 6 pounds real Bacon bits (Thank you for Guajardo's Sour Cream & Zmolick's plethora of Cheddar Cheese)
4 pounds Pasta Salad
1 jar El Pinto's Hot Salsa (On sale at Brookeshire Brother's for ONE DOLLAR! Chips compliments of Guajardo Family)
1 Baked Bean Layer Dip
1 Three layered Vanilla Cake with Milk Chocolate Frosting and Caramel Drizzle
2 Dozen Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 1/2 Dozen Fudge Brownies (Yummy Yum! Thanks MJ and Bryan!)

It was a huge success and lots of fun. The award for being "Addicted to Parties" goes to Josh! If it weren't for him and Xan's food storage, we might not have been able to afford the party! LOL.

The kids had a rousing game of hide'n'seek, we all lit fireworks and twirled sparklers. The more daring and/or talented sang the night away with karaoke. What a fun night!

I hope everyone's New Year was as wonderful as ours was. We're only sad to have missed our families and our friends who couldn't be here. We missed you and love you lots!



Thursday we had the day off. I have been extremely happy for Sundays since I get to sleep in until 7:00 a.m. yesterday I slept until 8:00 a.m.! It was so nice! Church is switching to 10:30 a.m. for Sacrament so maybe we can stay up a little latr on Saturdays now. I'll let you know how that goes.

The cleaning was calling my name so I put on my fuzzy slippers and out came the Rosie.

Josh and Xan came over and thy helped with the cleaning festivities. Josh vacuumed and Xan helped me to do some dishes.

While the boys went off to find an adventure, we started to bead a gift for our friend Allison’s Birthday. It turned out Carl and Josh jetted of to Frisbee Golf. Carl doesn't have any discs so he borrowed Matt Hong's. (Thanks Matt!)

I forgot to take picture of the goodies we made for Alison but here is necklace I came up with:



So sorry my neck is wrinkly and old looking, they say to always moisturize before modeling jewelry. Ah, well.

Well, we won't be eating "out" again until 2010...

We are on our happy way to Kansas. It rained for about 15 minutes and it's 73 degrees on I45 North.

Boscoe is snuggly in his Ohio State Blanket.


Gas was a great deal this morning!

Carl's monster truck only took $40.00 to fill to the brim! We even had to squeeze the last few cents into the tank.

Now, back to the post on hand. We decided since we have been doing so great with our hunger challenges and we have cut our grocery bill from $400.00/month to $120.00/month, we deserved a little special holiday treat. We decided to indulge in a McDonald's breakfast!

OH MY GOARSCH!!!

Guess how much it was for the two of us. Did you guess NINE DOLLARS AND SIXTY CENTS?! $9.60 or NINE SIXTY? Anyway you say it, it would still shock me!

We will resume our hunger challenge. In fact, we like it. The thrill of a good deal always makes people happy. The enjoyment of great tasting food is ten-fold when you know you're hitting a terrific budget to boot!

That's it for now. Merry Christmas Eve!!!

I don't think they make a box big enough...

If there was a box big enough, could you wrap that for me?

Most of you know how I think without end. It's most like the Lamb Chops song, incessant...Ya know, "This is the song that never ends....Yes it goes on and on my friends..." My brain waves resemble a pattern Superman, hopped up on a boat load of caffeine, would leave in the sky. It definitely keeps everyday life interesting!

Today, I have a job interview. It is for a Real Estate Administrative position. I'm a little bit nervous and a little bit excited! (A feeling that I wish could be packaged as part of "gift".)I have so much energy and no children to run after! That's a lot of biscuits!

Example:

I have been experimenting with my extreme frugal side. Yesterday, I got a smokin' hot deal on Pork Butt Roast at H-E-B. $0.67/pound! Yeah. AMAZING (love that store!)

Once the little porker was in my happy little hands, paid for and totally mine, we went home to visit the little house on the prairie side of Rose. (I would have felt extra special if we were on the ranch in Wyoming. No central heat, wood burning stove and enough power to use 2 juice savvy modern things. Two outlets or 1 light bulb, one outlet. 1 light bulb and the microwave could be on at a time... More on that later.)

I cut away the meat from the bone. It yielded, beautifully:
1 - 0.9/lb of Pork Fat
1 - 3.0/lb Roast with Bone
1 - 1.0/lb Boneless Roast Sliced
2 - 1.0/lb Boneless Roast(s)
2 - 2.0/lb Boneless Roast(s)

With this I will boil the Bone-In Roast for Stock and use the meat for Pork Roast and Sauerkraut (This is what I did last week and it was scrum-di-li-umptious!) I bagged and froze the 4 Boneless Roasts. Sliced Pork is marinating in Chinese Barbeque Spice. I cooked the Pork Fat in cubes for Chicharonnes (Pork Rinds)in an oil-free Fry Daddy which rendered the purest Lard after straining! I then baked homemade dinner rolls with the lard...OH MAN! The only part I will throw out is the Bone. THAT is pioneering to the fullest and you know what? It was a lot of fun and I can't wait to do it again! (That would have to be part 2 of the Christmas gift, if I could box that up.)

We have been limbo-ing the idea of going to Kansas to spend my dad's last Christmas in the State's with him. After much thought, we have indeed decided to go. (Chaulk that up to number 3 please.)

Jordan is coming down from Dallas to stay with Boscoe while we are away. That means I get to feed him and his friend from Ohio tonight. I love a giant food spread! That means I get to cook it up extra special! (Say it with me: FOUR.)

Life is so great. I have so much to be thankful for. The blessings can really add up!

5. Health
6. Love
7. Roof over my head
8. Clothes on my back
9. Means to support my family
10. LIFE

Ok. That's not all but it's enough for today.

OH we also recieved a beautiful gift in the mail. Carl was so happy, he put it together and hung it up outside (under his Christmas lights) before he had a chance to do anything else.



Thank you!!!

One day I might look back at this and laugh but Saturday was NOT that day.

A record for the books:

Since our living room ceiling is about as high as the stars, Carl and I decided that the tree would be best if we lifted it up on a crown of bricks to give it a little boost. 24 bricks and a small hollow foundation later, we hoisted our 8 foot tree onto the bricks and CRACK! The loud sound still resonates in my head and sends shivers down my spine. I could have DIED. Well more like CRY but you know what I mean. Emphasis on DIED! Lol… Any who. SO. We jimmy rigged it up with a few college books where the broken leg would have been after building a solid 5’X5’ foundation. Beautimus!

That was only the beginning. I never like to do things 50% and this was a reminder of why we should always give 100%. To recieve 100% YOU MUST ALWAYS GIVE 100%.

Zooming back to present/past, Saturday morning. (Walgreens was having a super fantastic sale on Icicle lights so I bought some for the outside of our house.) We hadn’t bought any lights this year because we didn’t have a ladder. Carl was explaining how it would mean the world to him to string Christmas lights for the very first time on his house so I bought him some. We borrowed the neighbor’s ladder and up he went. In his excitement…. The lights were strung that we needed a 20’ extension cord to get to the power source. Eye, yi yi!

Being the frugal (TIGHTWAD) that I am, I wanted to use the 2 - 8’ extension cords that we already had. I had one under the Christmas Tree but we didn’t really need it so I climbed under there to yank it out….



TIMBER!

YES. The entire tree came tumbling down. Ornaments were flying like World War III shrapnel. The super-fluffed gold gilded bow took flight and all 5 foot of me was trapped under the 8 foot evergreen monster.

I cried. More like sobbed. I was a gigantic snotty mess.

Carl had that twitching vein thing over his eyebrow since he told me not to do it.

He he. I guess it is kind of funny now that I’m reliving it. Do your husbands get the twitching eye brow vein when they’re kind of sort of right? LOL.

He said: “Well, I guess it’s kind of my fault because I strung the lights backwards. Let’s go to Lowe’s and we’ll get a “real tree” stand. I’ll need some blocks of wood but it will be secure for all the years to come this way and we’ll get the lights lit.”

Him’s a good one.

I hope your weekend was as good as mine (because I only want the best for you) but I also hope it wasn’t as good as mine (as awful of that sounds) because having a Christmas tree topple over your little body is not the way I would want you to have spend your Saturday!

We should be a cartoon.

Busy Friday!

Another day in the life of ME.

5:00 a.m. Pack Carl’s Lunch, Do dishes, Make Pork’n’Sauerkraut Stew.
6:00 a.m. Check email. Cook Chicken Wings. Read through Grocery Store Circulars. Count up Monthly Grocery costs thus far for December. Update Grocery Price List.
8:00 a.m. Get Ready for the day and find my most reputable “Teacher Outfit”.
9:00 a.m. Go to Wal-Mart
10:30 a.m. Make Bonnie’s Ornament. Add Scripture to Lori’s Ornament
11:30 a.m. Go to Josh’s School
2:15 p.m. Fight traffic
3:15 p.m. Go Visit Teach with Bonnie
4:40 p.m. Do dishes, Call MJ, Call Carrie back
5:15 p.m. Talk to Carl on the phone and do laundry. Re-learned auto fill for grocery price book.
6:45 p.m. Go to Josh and Xan’s for dinner.

Today has been eventful already! As we were preparing for Carl’s first Saturday off work in MONTHS… He went to take Boscoe out for a walk. Carl came back inside to tell me about the stuff the neighbors had on their curb. (He’s an Olympic Gold Medalist for Dumpster Diving!) We actually know of someone in need of some Christmas presents so we scooped this up in hopes that it will help! (If not, I guess * sadly* I will just have to keep it. JUST KIDDING! This is seriously a great addition to our playroom/game room.) Carl found a little Castle with a “rock climb”, a perch with a wheel and look out thingy slide and swing! How handy that will come when we’re babysitting!



Mary Jane and the boys are coming over tonight for pizza and cookie decorating so we’ll see how baby Penn and Isaac likes it. I’ll let you know how it goes!

New Year Tradition Hunger Challenge

The other night we had company for dinner and they had never had Pork Roast and Sauerkraut. Carl said this is an Ohio Family Tradition t have this meal for the New Year. Since we often have “special meals” through out the years, we decided to be thankful for all the years by having this dinner. I’m proud to report that the hunger challenge was a success totaling: $2.89!

Pork and Sauerkraut entrée
($1.70)
Ingredients:
1.5 pounds Pork Shoulder Roast (Hand carved away from bone) $1.16
1 TBSP Salt ($0.02)
.5 pound Cabbage ($0.25)
1 cup Distilled Vinegar ($0.17)
2 cups water
2 sliced carrots ($0.09)
1 TBSP Cornstarch ($0.01)

Directions:
Chop/slice cabbage into shreds (like Sauerkraut consistency.) Add Water, Vinegar and salt to large pot with cabbage. Boil until cabbage is translucent. (EASY FAST CHEAP SAUERKRAUT!) At this point you can either cook the roast in the cabbage with the carrots on the stove or put the roast in a pan, pour cabbage over roast sprinkle carrots slices over the cabbage and bake in oven at 400 degrees until pork is done. I put it in the oven for presentation’s sake. Once Meat is finished I spoon out drippings to make gravy on stove. Whisk in cornstarch and let thicken.

Mashed Potatoes:
($0.35)
Ingredients:
4 Large Russet Potatoes ($0.15)
½ cup Milk ($0.10)
1 TBSP Margarine/Butter ($0.10)
5 cups water

Directions: Boil Water and Potatoes until tender. Strain. Mix/Mash with milk and margarine/butter.

Frozen Broccoli:
Ingredients:
1/4 a Package of frozen Broccoli ($0.25)
1 TBSP Water

Directions:
Put in Microwave safe dish. Add 1 TBSP water and nuke for 4 minutes.

8 Dinner Rolls ($0.24)
See http://imabucket.blogspot.com/2008/11/i-got-that-lovin-feelingohhhhh-that.html for recipe.

Thank you Martha!

Martha Brockenbrough that is! I saw this on MSN and I just had to shout out loud… ”Amen, sister!” It’s not that I have great grammar. In fact: It’s rather lousy and I can publicly admit that I perceive to know more than I let on. I also goof more than not-goof, obvious proof that I should proof-read more often. Humpffff. If you what like to see the epitome of “Ruffle Rose’s Feathers.” Clink here and grammar-On with your bad self!

Sooooo…. Paraphernalia. It’s one of my most favoritest (see what I mean? I make crap up all the time..LOL) words. The story of Visit Teaching Paraphernalia…

I have never had a Visit Teaching Companion and I have also never Visit Taught before. I’m a little scared. I talked to Bonnie yesterday and told her that she would need to share her wisdom with me. She promised to share her knowledge if I would share my cookies. Ha ha. It’s a give and take relationship. We’re going to have so much fun! One thing that I remember about my Visiting Teachers from NM is that they always brought a little something. Nothing big and nothing expensive but something small and meaningful that brought much happiness to my day. I would like to mirror my wonderful mentors and take a little happiness when we go visit our sister. Her name starts with an L…

After much doodling, I was happy with the “L” ornament.



Excuse my paper bag. It’s wrinkled. The crease lines are prominent. It’s also stuffed full of homamade cereal bars, s'more's snack bars, Pumpkin Drop Cookies and a Dino Cookie for her little one, therefore bulging at the seams. I’m OK with that. Nothing says sisterhood like red sheer ribbon with pink fuzzy-sparkly fur detailing. I hope she likes it!




We had company over for dinner last night. THE VERY FIRST!!! Xan and Josh invited us to their house for a pot luck last week and we wanted to return the favor! It is the beginning of a wonderful friendship and a weekly ritual (we hope) to have all the families from Church come over. (At different times until we have more seating. Hehe!) I should have taken some pictures but I forgot. Carl and I were talking after they went home and he said, " I just want everyone to know we have an open door policy for our friends. People should always feel like they have a place to go."

I thought that was sooo sweet. I just had to share that sensitive side to Carl. With that being said, let me know when ya wanna come over for dinner! We're ready to have ya!

I hope y'all are having as good of a day as I am. If you're not, "Smile, I love you!"

It couldn't be more accurate!

Found this on a friend's blog... What a fun test! It got me to a perfect T!

Howdy Holidays from Us

Boscoe was soooo sad that he wasn't included in our digital Christmas montage...

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Here you go little spoiled rotten furry child 'o' mine.

Have a great day!

Mexican Meal for 3 Amigos = $2.33

We had such a wonderful Monday!

We had a friend from New Mexico come into town. She is actually one of Sue’s friends from Church. She is currently staying in a small town about 1 ½ hours away from us and taking care of her Mother-in-law. To make a long story short, the last time she flew out of Houston, it cost her almost $90.00 to park her car! If you’re thinking, “ACK!” Yeah, me too!

So, I was talking about the hunger challenge in yesterday’s post. The extra person helped and we beat the challenge with 67 cents to spare! (Falls short of recouping the 68 cents form the pizza!) I think we’re going to have Mary Jane’s Family over so we can: a.) share a meal with a fabulous family, b.) beat the challenge fair and square or c.) All of the above with a tasty spread to boot! What’dya say MJ? You up for the challenge? LOL.

Boscoe was a very good boy while Miriam was visiting. We chatted and got to know each other. I am so sad to have taken her to the airport today! The great thing is that she does a lot of Temple work and we live about 15 minutes away so we have decided that she will come here to stay when she comes to the Houston Temple. It will be so much fun to have her here! She is also a massage therapist; a dang good one at that! She offered her services while she was here and good gracious! I can barely keep my eyes open now! That was over 12 hours ago. (I told you she was good!) Carl made fun of me because I told her I was so happy that she was here because I had so much fun. Carl interrupted with, “You don’t have to suck up, she already agreed to give you a massage!” That hubby… He loves to embarrass me! LOL.

Any who… We had Carne Adovada Tacos with Sautéed Onions. Homemade Corn Tortillas, Beans and Spanish Rice for dinner. It was mighty filling and very scrumptious! We are having a few friends over tomorrow night and I am seriously contemplating re-living the experience because…well. Making tortillas is fun! I’ll let you know what I decide. Recipes as follows if you care to try them out!

Carne Adovada Meat Filling
2 Chile Pods ($0.08)
½ pound shredded pork ($0.50)
½ tsp garlic powder ($0.03)
1/ tsp salt ($0.0020 We’ll round up to a penny)
2 Cups water

Boil Chile Pods in water. Let cool to room temperature. Put liquid and Chiles into blender and blend until smooth. Keep 1 Tbsp for Onions if you like. Add Chile Sauce and all other ingredients together and cover. Cook on Medium heat while preparing rest of food. I usually check this often to see if more water needs to be added to prevent burning. You want the meat to be tender but not swimming in broth.

Sautéed Onions
1 Medium Onion Sliced ($0.25)
1 Tbsp Butter or Margarine ($0.09)

Sautee Butter and Onions in pan with Chile sauce if you reserved some. Cool on Medium-Low to simmer down until the onions are translucent.

Kidney Beans
1 Can Kidney Beans ($0.50)
¼ tsp Mexican Chili Powder ($0.01)

Warm beans and powder on stove or in microwave.

Rice and Tomatoes
1 Cup Rice ($0.27)
½ can tomatoes with diced Chiles ($0.25)
¼ tsp Salt ($0.01)

Make rice according to package directions. Stir in Tomatoes and salt.

I make the tortillas last because they are best when served warm.

Corn Tortillas
½ cup Corn Meal $0.04
1 Cup Flour $0.09
1 egg $0.14
¼ tsp Salt ($0.01)
1 ½ cups water
1 Tbsp cooking Oil ($0.05)

Mix all ingredients together. Spread Oil on griddle just to coat. Pour ½ ladle of mixture onto a hot griddle like a pancake. When Tortilla is ready to be flipped, the edges will pull away from griddle on their own. Flip to other side and put on plate. Cover with a dish towel to keep them warm until all 12 tortillas are done.

Bless the food and enjoy your fiesta!

If Bocoe ate pizza...

We would have met the Hunger Challenge. ($1 per person per meal) I missed it by 68 cents! This was still too good to pass up sharing!



Carl’s Favorite Pizza Pie
$0.24 Sauce
$0.51 Crust
$1.93 Toppings
---------------
$2.68 per 14” 3-Topping Pizza (Corporate Chain’s Large Size)

Price vary depending on what toppings you use. I often find Shredded Cheese on sale. If you buy big chunks from the Deli and shred it yourself, you can really get good savings that way too. I was just lazy the last time I went to the grocery store. I hope you try this out. Don’t be afraid of pizza. It’s sooo easy!

Tomato Sauce (Enough Sauce for two 14” pizzas)
Ingredients
1- 8 oz can of Tomato Sauce ($0.24)
1/5 Green Bell Pepper Chopped ($0.10)
1/4 Small Onion Chopped ($0.06)
1 tsp Garlic Powder ($0.03)
1 tsp Italian Seasoning ($0.03)
1 Tbsp Corn Starch ($0.01)
1 cup Water

Directions:
Put all but Corn Starch and Water into Blender. (Carl loves veggies but dislikes chunks of onion on his pizza, also a great way to get picky children/husbands to get the veggies by blending them. If they can’t see it, are they REALLY eating it? LOL) Pour sauce into sauce pan. Pour water into blender to get remaining goodness out of there! Swish water around and add liquid to sauce in pan. Whisk in corn starch and warm to thicken.

Pizza Crust (Yields one 14” thin crust)
Ingredients:
1 package Jiffy Pizza Crust Mix ($0.49)
1/4 cup Corn Meal – OPTIONAL ($0.02)

Directions:
Make Pizza Crust according to package instructions. I use corn meal on my pizza stone. Makes it taste like take out! (With a dine in price!)

Toppings
1 Beef Bratwurst Chopped ($0.50)
15 Pepperoni Slices ($0.33)
½ Jalapeno Pepper finely diced ($0.10)
4 oz of shredded Cheese ($1.00)

Directions:
Spread sauce on crust. Add toppings (Meat first Cheese Last). Bake at 450F for 15 minutes or until crust is brown and cheese is melted.

More then you ever wanted to know...

Where has the time gone? It seems like only yesterday I was trying to figure out how eBlogger worked. Now it's my 101st post! Technically, it's my 100th but I felt as if the Elf Yourself video deserved it's own. If you have not Elfed yourself; I highly recommend it! Who knew you could really move and shake it like that? Ha ha.

Following in my sister-in-law’s blog-tastical shoes...I will post 101 random things you may not know about me to commemorate this day.

1. I was the youngest Miss Laos Kansas to have won the Laos New Year Pageant. (At the tender age of 13.)
2. Carl and I were engaged before we even admitted to being boyfriend/girlfriend.
3. We were married in 23 days.
4. I am an expert knot-tak-er-a-part-er. When I was busy being a pain in church, at an early age, my dad tied a shoelace into bountiful knots and made me concentrate on untying them.
5. I love to read.
6. I was on a Pizza Hut commercial that was aired at the movie theatres in Winfield, KS. In 2000-2001.
7. I was interviewed for a chapter in the book Moving Stories, Telling Places. My story was published in a book about Cowley County in Kansas. Mainly I was portrayed like an air head by the writers because I was one back then. (Ha!)
8. New and shiny things make me extremely happy.
9. I am a Member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
10. I’m not perfect but I know the Gospel is.
11. I have a subscription to “This Old House”.
12. My favorite R&B song is the McDonald’s McNugget Commercial.
13. I was sustained and set apart to be the Relief Society Home, Family, and Personal Enrichment Leader today. (I AM SO EXCITED!!!)
14. I like to create my own recipes of dinner favorites.
15. Once I get dressed for the day, I seldom change. (Example. If I’m at work in business attire, I rarely change into any thing else other than pj’s when I get home.)
16. I want to be an Optometrist when I grow up.
17. I have 2 sisters. 1 half brother and 5 adopted brothers and sisters.
18. I did not know my paternal grandparent’s names until this year. My maternal grandparent’s names are still a mystery.
19. I fit into a child’s booster seat until I was 21.
20. Rosemarie is my first name; not my first and middle. Rosemarie Lynne is my first and middle name.
21. Sengmany was the surname my father chose when we came to America.
22. Wolverine is my favorite comic book character.
23. I used to collect baseball cards when I was in 5th grade.
24. I was placed in an advanced Algebra class when I was in 3rd grade. I almost failed Algebra in 6th grade.
25. I wrote an Editorial for the Winfield Courier in 6th grade.
26. I was the first Laotian baby born in Winfield, Ks.
27. Monopoly is my favorite Board game. I used to have 3 day marathons with Amy starting on Friday afternoons until Sunday night.
28. I have been to Asia and Europe.
29. I prefer text messages over voicemails, snail mail over email and email over faxes.
30. I want a billion children!
31. Carl and I plan to adopt a child.
32. Pink and Green are my favorite colors.
33. I was able to check myself in and out of school by the age of 13 without parent consent.
34. My first job was a secretary’s assistant in 6th grade.
35. The first time I learned to drive a standard, my dad had me drive 50 miles from Wichita to Winfield. I was 14. (Through 4 cities. TERRIFYING!)
36. I wrecked my first car when I was 16 on Martin Luther King Jr. day.
37. I love Baseball.
38. I don’t understand football. AT ALL. I cheered once on accident at a football game when the “other” team scored a touch down because I didn’t realize the teams switched goals at half time.
39. I always give my trust completely when I meet someone new.
40. I rarely eat dessert or sweets but I make them every meal.
41. I played the clarinet in Middle School.
42. I weight lifted in high school and maxed out at 350 pounds free squat. 455 pounds box squat.
43. I was the StuCo president in 7th grade.
44. I was the DECA Co-President in High School.
45. I like to put up dry wall.
45. Wrapping presents is my favorite craft.
46. Christmas is my favorite holiday.
47. I love to plan weddings.
48. I was Mother Nature in the 5th grade play.
49. My first school memory is playing on the teeter totter with Darcie Moore in Kindergarten.
50. I own roughly 75 purses.
51. I own over 100 pair of shoes. 3 are tennis shoes, 3 are flats and 10 flip flops. The rest are heels.
52. I couldn’t live without my cell phone. It does everything. Email, navigation, text, pictures, videos…ect.
53. I believe Verizon is the best cell phone network available. (Even though I worked at Sprint for 6 months.)
54. My dream car is a Mercedes SLR McLaren - Roadster Convertible
55. I eat crushed red pepper or ground cayenne at every meal.
56. Sleeping until 7:00 a.m. is “sleeping in” for us.
57. I was kicked out of Tennis class on the first day when I was 8.
58. I talk too much.
59. I get extremely sad about “famous people”. I mean, come on… They make HOW MUCH MONEY?
60. I don’t like to swim. AT ALL. But I want a swimming pool. Or a pond. Any body of water in my backyard. So long as I don’t have to go in it.
61. I love having my feet touched. Lucky for me, my dog loves feet and I do too.
62. In 6th grade I made a pact with Amy that we would never eat anything green. Sorry Ames, I broke that pact about 6 days later.
63. I sleep with an eye mask. I never thought they worked until my sister bought me one this year.
64. I have a great memory. Dates and times are easy for me to remember.
65. I went to community college my junior and senior year. I started at Emporia State University but do not have a degree.
66. I am terrified to go back to school.
67. I love being outdoors but I am not particularly fond of the sun. I prefer cloudy, slightly overcast or just plain cold.
68. I used to Tat doilies (Like when I was 10) but forgot how to now.
69. I put on make-up everyday. Foundation and lippie (gloss or stick) are mandatory. Eyes are usually required but sometimes is as simple as liner.
70. I wish I wasn’t so dependent on make up but I sort of like being such a girl.
71. I played basketball and was sad to be the shortest girl on the team because I was great at boxing people out with my bubble butt but horrible at dribbling the ball down the court.
72. I wanted to be Miss America when I was a young girl. I also wanted to be a race car driver. It was always one extreme or another.
73. I tore down the garage in our backyard with my dad’s pick up truck when I was 3, with my dad in it. It was an accident.
74. I can speak Laos but cannot write the language.
75. I can speak a little French and Spanish.
76. I’m trying to see if I can take the Hunger Challenge. It’s where you spend $1 dollar or less per meal per person. I think it would be a lot easier if there were more than two of us. I’ll post the more successful recipes here.
77. I am trying to vacuum less. Monday, Wednesday, Friday’s are my days. Once in the afternoon.
78. I love to host themed dinner parties and dress up!
79. I own a Karaoke Machine and frequently take breaks during the day to sing a song.
80. I love the Goodwill. I donate and have been known to buy my own things back… I guess it’s a good thing!
81. I’ve always wanted a blonde haired/Blue eyed child.
82. I’m narcissistic that I feel ashamed of it sometimes. However I much rather love myself and everything about me than to be sad about who I am and have low self esteem.
83. I try to bring people up everyday.
84. I can also be seriously sassy and get my point across point blank.
85. I have been in the Ataris’ tour bus. My friend dated the lead singer.
86. I desperately want to be apart of the studio audience at Good Day Houston.
87. I own 15 pairs of black slacks.
88. The first movie I remember seeing in the theatres is My Girl.
89. My first celebrity crush was Jonathan Taylor Thomas.
90. I worked at Pizza Hut for 5 years.
91. I have worked for 13 years.
92. I prefer Dinty Moore Soups over any other.
93. I buy Christmas Gifts throughout the entire year.
94. Clowns scare me.
95. I love to cross stitch.
96. I research at least one recipe online everyday.
97. I believe in love at first sight.
98. Hazel eyes are my favorite and I’m pretty lucky Carl has them.
99. I’m so happy I married Carl!
100. I am severly addicted to blogging!
101. I love reading your blogs!

Our digital "gift" to you...

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

How hysterical is that?! Thanks Laura for sharing the fun!

Love, Us

The story of Grinchie

Let's start off by saying that diversity is a good. Being an Asian-American is who I am. (A side from being a knock out wife, killer cook and passionate blogger. HA! I'm funny at 6:00 a.m. on a Saturday. LOL.) At any rate. Being Asian American and being raised in the United States of America is the epitome of blessed. I have African American, Asian, Hispanic and Caucasian neighbors. We have integrated schools, a 78 year old man playing basketball somewhere in this great country of ours and...INSERT SOMETHING ELSE DIVERSE AND WONDERFUL HERE...

Yes, diversity is a beautiful thing. A gift from Heavenly Father. A sign that he loves us no matter what color, no matter what we look like. I believe this to the very core of my being. So...why do I find it so disturbing about the way Grinchie Looks?!

Within the multitude of Sugar Cookie People Land for the Ward Christmas Party...Can you find Grinchie?



If you can't, I will show you a close up:



Most Ward Christmas Parties I have been to generally involve sugar loaded, glazed eyeballed, CRAZY kids running around and poking their petite fingers into every dessert they can get their grimy paws on. These children in Spring Ward had the sugar-loaded-glassy-eyes thing going on but were well behaved. Maybe it's because I was sitting far way from the desserts but sitting in my chair and being in my shoes showed well behaved children. It was a good seat!

Oh yeah, so back to my original train of thought. I was thinking about poking fingers and germs and how the cookies I made carried their own little accoutrement's. I was contemplative on whether to individually wrap the cookies so people could shuffle though them and find that *perfect* cookie or just lay them out and take my chances on finding Sugar Cookie People canes and buttons flying through the air...

I settled on the individual packaging. While packing the cookies I decided I would not pack Grinchie. He had a name at this point because I felt like he looked so morbid and scary! I wrapped up and tied bows on the little baggies and felt a great sadness for my little Grinchie. I felt very compassionate and sad that I was going to leave the little cookie out. What if I were that little cookie and just wanted a little boy or girl to take me home, albeit eat me...but you know. I'm going out of my normal realm and inserted myself into Nutcracker Fairy Tale Land... What kind of loving Christlike person would I be if I left little Grinchie at home I'd be a cookie racist! I packaged Grinchie up and put him in the cookie corral.

When I went to fetch my platter at the end of the program I noticed that ALL of the cookies were gone. Even little Grinchie. It made me smile.

I'm not sure if someone thought, "If I don't take this cookie, no one will." Or, "Cool! A green cookie!" Maybe a child grabbed it because a cookie is a cookie. All I know is this. I learned something after an insane hour of obsessing over cookies.



(I told Carl of the humbling experience Grinchie gave me 3 times last night. He was a great husband that supportively listened to me every time but after the 3rd...he said calmly, "You already told me this."

I think I might tell him again tonight.

Ha ha ha.

She said Wah? Obviously, I'm still confused...

I was standing at the kitchen island peeling potatoes when I looked outside to see the neighbor girl kicking something into my yard. (Go back 3 weeks ago to when I walked out my front door and saw one egg smashed into the porch… Not a huge mess. In fact, its still there. It doesn’t bother me enough to snag the hose from the backyard. It’s bio-degradable and VERY close to my garden area.) Back to the little girl standing next to a blue Rubbermaid tub, kicking stuff into my yard; I watched her from the formal dining room window thinking, “I caught you, you little monster!” LOL. (Insert super dramatization and a demonic laugh here.) I walked outside and stood next to my car in the driveway for about 10 seconds until she noticed I was standing there.

Girl: (Looking like a deer caught in the headlights.)
Rose: "Is that ice?"
Girl: "Yes"
Rose: "Why are you wasting all that ice?"
Girl: "Cuz we don’t need it."
Rose: (Still staring at her.)
Girl: "Well, someone egged our house last night."
Rose: "Really? Someone egged our house too."
Girl: "Last night?"
Rose: "No but I got an egg on my porch. Still sitting there."
Girl: "So you live there?"
Rose: "Yep."
Girl: (Disappointed that I wasn’t an alien inhabit of the house across the street from her.) "The person who did it lives at the end of the block."
Rose: "That’s not very nice. (Puts hands in pockets and turns to go in.) "Well, nice to meet you."
Girl: (STOPS kicking ice into my yard.)

My first instinct was to go outside and tell her to pick up every piece of ice off my lawn but I felt calm when I talked to her. It’s only ice. I guess all she needed was an association with the neighbor who actually lives in the house. How kicking ice into my yard and her house getting egged last night makes a connection: Beats me. But at least I met the neighbor girl. She was nice...er...you know what I mean.

I started to take some pictures of the jewelry I’ve been making but I am a little embarrassed because I don’t feel like taking pictures of jewelry. I felt like taking pictures of the highly photogenic cookies I made last night! LOL. I promise to take better pictures of the jewelry, it’s just I’m too lazy to get out my light box and props….

They say a man’s stomach is the way to his heart. This is very true. I don’t believe Carl would love me as much if I didn’t cook, however, I think more so than the food part, Carl married me for the ability to incorporate the Jurassic Era into his desserts.

Any time he feels sick, or having a hard day or even if he’s happy and I want to heighten that experience; Dinosaurs will work like magic! (When I feel sick, diamonds work wonders for my heart and stomach. LOL. If someone could only bake me those!)

(Carl was feeling a little icky yesterday. I hopped him up on DayQuil so hopefully he will feel better by tonight for our Ward Souper Christmas Party! I’m making Potato Soup for the first time, wish me luck!)

As I shopped at Super Target, I was pushing my cart (hurriedly passed all the things I did not need) through the kitchen isle (Those sneaky) Target Architects have the kitchen gadgets aisle open facing the cart pushing masses! Something fun caught my eye!

DynoByte Sandwich Cutter!
(Get yours here! http://www.organize.com/dinosaur-crust-cutter.html)



It cuts off the crust and makes 2 Dinosaur shaped sandwiches! I have seen the idea utilizing actual cookie cutters but I wasn’t very interested when seeing all the wasted sandwich! What I love about this (And the reasoning behind using it for cookies!) is that I get 2 cookies in one stamp motion! I was able to make dough, roll dough, and stamp 2 dozen dinosaur cookies in 30 minutes. Yes, that’s right folks, I said 30 MINUTES! (While scouring my FOUR INGREDIENT COOKBOOKS by Linda Coffee and Emily Cale last week, I found a recipe for Butter Cake. The Butter Cake came out more like a giant sugar cookie, so I used the recipes for cookies last night! OH MAN. Try it. Love it. LIVE IT for the rest of your cookie life!)

Butter Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup Sugar
2 Cups Flour
1 cup Butter or Margarine
1 Egg slightly beaten

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together. Place dough on greased and floured round cake pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve Warm with fresh fruit.

(For cookies, I just lightly floured a surface, roll out and stamp away! This cake/cookies barely rise so I bake until they’re lightly browned around the edges. 10-15 minutes depending on how thick you like to make your cookies. Also, MAKE SURE GREASE/FLOUR your pans generously because this WILL STICK. Or use parchment paper. Oh how Rosie loves parchment paper!)

Cookie P.S. Since the dough barely rises, I was able to shape and mold some of it to make the cookies 2-D. If you look closely enough to the pictures up there, you can see that some of the Dinos have muscular legs or arms. One of them I formed completely freehand to look like a Tara dactyl!

Let it snow...Let it snow...

You may be thinking to yourself, "Rose, Rose, oh my silly little Rosie. You’re in Texas and it was 77 degrees yesterday…"

With that in mind…. I am ecstatic to report that IT SNOWED TODAY!!!



It’s starting to feel a little more like December around here!

30 degrees and little snow flurries sent Carl home! He stayed nice and warm bundled up with BOSCOE! Hahaha. If you thought I was going to say ME; I’ll tell you, I was in the kitchen. LOL.



I made some Beef Jerky and sent it to work with Carl on Monday for lunch with sticky rice. I have had steady orders since! We have several kinds available at $5.00 a package. What do you think of the names?

~ Sassy Sweet Belle (Brown Sugar Sweet n’ Jalapeno Spicy)
~ Streets of Thailand (Original Thai Flavor)
~ Thai Hot (5 Pepper: Habenero, Jalapeno, Cayenne, Black and White Peppers)
~ Astronaut Fajitas (Lemon Pepper)

Beef Jerky is so easy to make and a guilty pleasure I enjoy to munch on! In this adventure we all win!

Right after my glorious post Sunday night, I sadly report that the little block box behind our fridge went out. OH! The sheer panic I felt that I would lose everything in the freezer! I text a few people hoping they might know someone, anyone that they might have a friend of a friend’s sister’s aunt’s uncle’s grandfather had a fridge, to no avail. Beth did tell me that if I kept the doors closed than everything would be good for 2 hours. That settled my nerves! We found a refrigerator on Craigslist for 150.00. We offered 100.00 and we settled at 125.00 on either side of the bartering field. It’s a 1990’s model. Older White side-by-side but it will serve its purpose until we can get the replacement compressor part. I just despise the thought of having to buy another stainless steel fridge or a black one. They’re so stinkin’ expensive! I may just put canned goods in there until that part comes in. At least it’s extra storage!

The rest of the week has been dedicated to cleaning, cooking and dabbling in some Czech Seed Beads. I’ve been too busy wrapping beads around my little fingers to snap photos so hopefully I will be able to post some tomorrow!

(P.S. Tanya, I made some jewelry that would have been super fab on your gorgeous girl for her dance! HTML is not allowed on comments so I will post that set tomorrow too!)

Ok, so there I was...

What a wonderful super fabulous kind of day!

Since Texas is playing Green Bay: Carl is inevitably glued to the couch and a TV screen. That gives me time for my self-indulgence.

Blogging.

I sometimes wonder if my need to scribe in this electronic diary will subside when I have children. By lurking into the depths of my blog list, I see that my passion may increase with my need to keep my family’s daily proceedings in a memoir as well. Regardless, I look forward to looking back next year to see what my life was like in 2008!

As I sat in Sacrament meeting today, I started to think about the number one question I have been answering within the last few months. “What brought you to Spring, Tx?” Truthfully, Carl and I came here on a whim. I was asked this question last night when we went to a potluck at a friend’s house and well… You would think that we would have come up with a better answer by now. However, we have never really had an answer. Carl does work for Valero down in the ship channel of Texas but we didn’t know for certain that he would be working there. He was with Jacobs when he first came down here in July and went to Higdon after that. Higdon took him to Dallas for a few months before we came back here so he could work for Valero! We don’t have any of our biological family here nor did we know of any close friends that lived here when we decided to buy this house. WE DIDN’T HAVE A GENUINE ANSWER FOR THIS QUESTION; until today.

I listened to testimonies. I looked at the faces of the women and families I have become close to in a matter of ONE week. I am remembering more names than I would believe I could ever remember. I realized today that the reason we moved to Spring, Texas is because Heavenly Father wants us to be here. I can’t explain it. I just know that when I knew the answer that came to me; there was no doubt in my mind.

I have been in a lot of wards considering my short time as a member of the Church after baptism. I have not been to one that has made me feel so loved and welcomed so genuinely!

As I sat with my new friend MJ last night, we got onto the subject of blogging. How wonderful to find out that lots of the women have blogs! Not very many people I knew in NM blogged! I just can’t express how blessed I feel!

Goarsch. (Ya know, the sound Goofy from Disney says it.) When I thought life couldn’t get much better… The prince, the stead, the castle… I got the Kingdom too.

Thank you Father. I love you!

I just feel so happy.

Adventures of Boscoe

Flash back to Thursday night please.....

(Thank you!)

*Rustle* Rustle* Rustle* (Hear toys being shifted in a basket for approx. 5 minutes)

Carl: "Boscoe. What are you doing?!" (Gets up from couch and goes to formal dining room)

Carl: (Scratches head) "OH."


Jump to Friday night...

Carl: (In formal dining room) "Rose...Were you messing with Boscoe's bones?"

Rose: (In kitchen cleaning up after dinner) "No, why?"

Carl: "Come here."

Rose: (Walking into dining room and sighing because she was tired.) "What?"

Rose: (In formal dining room.) "Oh."



He lined all his bones up like a bone buffet!

We found this quite shocking but when we sent the picture to his foster dad, John just said, “He’s so goofy.” Apparently, this isn’t his first rodeo; he’s rounded up bones in the past!

Today

I caught him with (what must have been) the most appetizing bone of them all! I flashed photos while he gnawed on this one for a good hour and a half. (I’m such a dork. I know, right?!)







After a good chew, he decided he was tired of being the *New* Calvin Klein underwear model… (ya know, if he wore things like underwear…)



He walked into the living room.

I quickly hunted him down like the paparazzi I am, to catch him with his eyes closed. Now before you go thinking, “Awe. What a cute baby…” Just know this, my dear friends, HE WAS FAKIN’ IT!

Yep! As I photographed his little brains out: he peeked open one eye long enough to see that I was still there! He quickly shut the peeper back shut again. I know he was praying….



“I WISH MOMMY WOULD JUST GO AWAY!”

Life goes by so slowly....

At least that’s what the verse says in “Unchained Melody”.

I have been insanely busy and kept thinking I had nothing to blog about. That is until I start cleaning out the memory card in my cell phone. It’s all coming back to me now! BONUS: Kim sent me some really funny pictures from NASA that I have to share.

OH and then I found a picture of a really great meal we had last week. Some of you might have received a text message on it because it was super easy to make, Head Chef delicious and well, simply cheap to prepare! We’ll call it Frugal-licious. Or NOT…



Chilosh

Ingredients:
1 – 10oz can of Diced Tomatoes (We use the kind with green chiles) (50 cents)
1 – 15.50z can of Dark Red Kidney Beans (57 cents)
1 ½ cup of Macaroni Noodles (25 cents)
4 TBSP of Italian Dressing (35 cents)

Directions:
Boil water in a large pot. Add Italian dressing, Tomatoes and Kidney Beans (Drained) in a saucepan and cook “sauce” on medium heat until noodles are ready (that you usethe large pot of water for). Very important not to rinse your noodles when they are cooked and strained, this way the sauce will stick on the noodles and fill with the Italian Tomato Sauce. Pour noodles into a serving dish or divide onto individual plates/bowls. Top with sauce and serve immediately. This made 9 cups prepared.

Carl and I each had 4 cups a piece and I had a nice breakfast come morning time! We were also full to the brim (skipping desert!) at the low cost of $1.67 total. (0.185 cents per cup!)

NASA FUN!

Kim and the Yod-ster



Apbun and an alien gal



Dad and Apbun. I don't think they were ready.



Life Size Space Ship Model



Life Size Space Ship Model with us under there



Life Size Lunar Landing Diorama (I LOVE DIORAMAS!)



Kim’s Star Wars Angels Pose



Carl, “Up, up and AWAY!”.




I’m not sure if this commercial is airing nation wide…but if it is not, this is one of the reason’s why I love living in (a suburb of) the 4th largest city in the nation! Just hear me out and give it a listen. It’s catchy and really funny!



Hahaha. I sometimes sing this song to Carl. He just laughs at me.

BTW… We haven’t put any new pics up of our little guy.

He’s getting ready for bed time. Since he can’t sleep on the bed, he likes to sleep on the matching sham…



Ohhhhh. and P.S. You really don't have to read much further if you rather, I just think it will be great to look back one day and know where I was and what I was doing on particular days so I'm going to write aout my CRAZY Thursday :)

Thursday, December 4, 2008

5:00 am - Wake up, pack Carl's Lunch, Do dishes.
6:00 am - Shower and get ready for th day
7:00 am - Take picture of my fabulous haircut and sing Johnny's praises
8:00 am - Go to HEB grocery store
9:00 am - get a call from the security alarm company to get home and meet and officer because the alarm has been tripped. Meet Constable and he tells me that Boscoe may have tripped the alarm. The front door was open but any burglar might have done what he did. Open door, walk in, see Boscoe, walk out. Haha.
9:30 am - Head towards Church building to help set up for Relief Society Progressive Dinner
12:30 pm - Go to Asia Market to buy egg roll and spring roll shells. Indulge in a Yeo's Soy Milk. Ohhhh yes.
2:00 pm - Start Nuer Toon (Thai Slow Cooked Beef Stew) for Carl. Make Egg Roll Filling. Pull out egg roll wrappers to thaw at room temp for 30 minutes. Make 15 cups of rice. Make checklist. Pack giant plastic tub with Karaoke Machine (Speaker and Mic for announcing), 3 power strips, 1 extension cord, Scriptures, Purse, serving utensils. Get Phone call from Carrie. She asked me to go to Sister Pitts' house to pick up dip before going back to Church to finish decorating.
3:00 pm - Let Boscoe wreck havoc in the backyard. Pack rice in warmer, put in plastic container. Wrap Egg Rolls. Do Dishes. Fix hair, apply lipgloss and text Carl directions on how to eat dinner. LOL.
4:00 pm - Head across town to pick up dip. Re-arrange car. Call Carrie because I don't know if Aldine Westfield cuts to I45 South and ont frontage road or if I would be forced onto Hardy Toll Road (Without any cash...)
4:45 pm - Get to church. Set up Christmas Tree. Plug in all twinkle lights in the Gymnasium. Set up "sound system". Turn off overhead lights. Re-arrange chairs in Primary room. Set up Nativity Scenes on tables.
6:30 pm - Relief Society goes outside for carols around a bon fire and appetizers. Clean up Fire pit area.
7:00 pm - Serve Dinner.
7:30 pm - Eat with the rest of the girls.
8:00 pm - Start to clean Gym. Go to Primary Room and join R.S. to hear about the greatest gift of te Season. The gift we can give to Him this year. (Very good talk)
9:00 pm - Dessert
9:15 pm - Clean EVERYTHING up.
11:30 pm - Fall a sleep mid-sentence while talking to Carl...

Whew! Next week is the Ward Christmas Party. Man! We should have just kept the twinkle lights up!

Price Check!

It (Was 6:09 a.m. when I started this post...) and you would not believe it’s December if you were in Texas!



(Yes, we still have lots of green, green leaves on the trees. Thank you to those of you who post such wonderful leathery orange and red leaves on your blogs for me!)

The past few days I have woken up at 5:30 a.m. and have had to put on a long fleece robe before venturing out of a warm bed… Imagine my surprise when I got up and didn’t feel Brrrrrrrr…. The weather channel reports that it is currently 68 degrees today, from 38 degrees yesterday!

I had forgotten to publish a post about H~E~B LOVE. H~E~B is a grocery store about 0.67 miles from my house. It is my new FAVORITE grocery store. In case you’re curios: Here~Everything’s~Better. Isn’t that absolutely adorable? As I looked through the grocery store mailers, H~E~B was the price guru!

I had bought a slew of things from Target and Wal-Mart already but look at everything I got for 30 bucks at H~E~B! That is a 15 pound turkey!!! Turkey’s were going for 1.79/lb (Highest) and 0.79/lb (Lowest next to H~E~B). I was able to get our turkey at 0.29/lb with a 20.00 purchase.



15 pound Turkey, Quick Oats, Frozen Pumpkin Pie, 3 pounds Bacon, 5 pounds Self-Rising Flour, Cornstarch, 2 cans Green Beans, Evaporated Milk, Sweetened and Condensed Milk, 4 cans Cream of Mushroom Soup, 2 cans Diced tomatoes with green chiles, 1 pound bag frozen Brocolli, 2 – 8 ounce boxes of Frozen Spinach, Marshmallows, Milk Chocolate Chips, and 1 pound of Lard.

Milk: 2.99/gallon for whole milk.

Gasoline Here: 1.54
National Low: 1.09
National High: 3.61

How are prices in your area?


*******************************************************
P.S. Tamale production will be on hold until the holidays are over. Most families here have made enough to last for a few months and they also give Tamales away as gifts.

No need to fret! 'Dim Sum de Me' has received requests for Egg Rolls and Spring Rolls. Good thing Carl's co-workers love to eat, otherwise I was going to be out of a job. LOL!



12 Egg Rolls with Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce for $10.00



2 Spring Rolls with Peanut Dipping Sauce for $3.00

Little travels in a big city

Thanksgiving Day:


Carl: Dinner is like a tourist attraction for your camera.
Me: I'm Asian, be thankful we're not at Disneyland.
Carl: True...(in between a giant mouthful of food) Cheese!

Friday:
We got cleaned the house and got bedrooms ready for Dad, Apbun and Kim. We also ventured out to look at some cars. Texas is probably the best place to get a new used car! We called one dealership on a vehicle we saw online. When we got there, they had washed, detailed and pulled the car around. John, the car salesman, had the keys in his hands when we pulled up. THAT'S service right there!

Saturday:
I got to sleep in until 7:30! I suppose 2 hours after my internal alarm clock was pushing it because I shot up out of bed like I had missed a train...LOL. Everyone drove into town around 1:30 a.m. I made my dad a cup of Sleepytime Tea and partook of a cup with honey for myself. We talked until about 3:00 a.m. and went to bed.

We had one heck of an exciting day! Annie, William and Anna were going to Laos. Since the protestors have stormed the Bangkok Airport, they were not able to land in Thailand. Dad bought plane tickets to Hanoi, Vietnam instead. When they went to board the flight, the airline woudn't let them board because Vietnam is now requiring a Vietnamese Visa to connect in Hanoi because of the Taj Mahal and Bangkok problems. OK, some of you have heard this too many times, but I can't help how funny I find it to be! (I now know where my telephone sass come from.) So dad's trying to get the Visa thing straightened out and he's talking to a lady at the airlines over the phone. He says, and I quote, "Ohhhhh. So I need a specialist. (Pauses and calmly starts again in all seriousness.) I don't have one of those. I have you and you're special so look it up. Please." Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha!!! I almost died! We were in the truck in the Chinatown parking lot when he waived for us to go a head and walk around without him so I didn't get a chance to hear any more quick wit out of him...anyhow.

Houston Chinatown


We ate Pho at Pho 24. It took Kim and Carl's English, Apbun's and My Laos to absolutely confuse our waiter during 10 minutes of ordering. It took my dad 10 seconds to clear it all up in his perfect Vietnamese. LOL!

We were then off to NASA Space Center. I don't have any pcsyet...see later.

Afterwards, we drove down to Galveston Island to see what was there, what was demolished and what had been rebuilt since Hurricane Ike. I did't happen to get any picturs but when Kim or Apbun send some I will post them. It was amazing. Some of the buildings that were on the water had nothing but broken poles in the water... So very sad!

When we got back to the house, Annie called from Los Angeles International Airport and said there were still problems, so Dad booked a flight to LA. Carl and Apbun took him to the airport 10 minutes later.

Carl was very tired so he went off to bed with the Bubster-Boscoe-Butt. Kim, Apbun and I went to see Twilight. It was everything I knew it wouldn't be (The movies are NEVER as good as the book) yet, it was everything I knew it would be. I'm gonna have to just re-read the books though. Reading is like Church. People can tell you what they think something means and it may help with your own perception, however, it will never be as dear to yor heart as your own interpretation.

Sunday:
We got up and had some breakfast before venturing out to take the kiddos for some more sightseeing. The left on Sunday and really wanted to do some other "fun things". "Muh-unh she heyt young mowun deh?" Translation, "Tomorrow, what else fun are we going to do?" So went to:



I got my eye on this Nativity Scene by Jim Shore for my 2008 Collector's piece:



Afterwards we ventured to The Woodlands Mall:


It was gorgeous!

We came home to eat lunch before they headed on their way back to Kansas. I really miss everybody so hopefully we can plan something even more fun for Christmas!

P.S. Does anyone else in the world LOVE chewy Whoppers like I LOVE CHEWY WHOPPERS!? Now, now, before you get worked up or grossed out...they do not MAKE chewy whoppers, but sometimes, ustsometimes, I'm lucky and I get one that isn't crunchy. In fact, I loath crunchy Whoppers!! I'm either sorely disappointed or radiantly trumphant when eating these malted milk balls. Wanna know the travesty of this situation? Most people get the chewy ones when it's too late to give them to me. I always think about ths when I'm sad, it gives me hope. I think to myself, "At least I'm not eating a crunchy Whopper." LOL.