Suzy Homemaker

Sadly enough, my Suzy Homemaker of the Year award has been revoked--and immediately I thought of my Hospice friends (who will NOT be surprised!).

You see, I was making this lovely beef stew I found in a recipe book -even! You know, one of those wonderful magazines that come monthly, or seasonally or whatever. And I was almost even following the recipe and it called for bacon. Easy enough, right? Wrong! The Dad often cooks bacon for breakfast and, after he puts it in the skillet to cook, he goes and does dozens of things: even goes down the drive to get the paper--and the bacon turns out so beautifully crisp and "right", so I tried it. I put those little bacon chunks right into the pan and went off to do stuff. Well, I was also editing some photos to print and lost track of time. I also didn't think about the fact that he turns the heat down to almost off while he does all his stuff. Sure enough, after a while I smelled a funny smell. Scampering in, I found the kitchen all smoky and nasty. The Bacon? Oh yes, it was little charred piles of nothingness lying pitifully in that burned up skillet which I carried outside and forgot for a day or so.

I do remember now that when we lived in Lake Geneva, one of the kids was commissioned to wave the basement door back and forth to keep the smoke alarm from going off when I cooked much. The smoke alarm didn't go off, says The Dad because it is far enough from the kitchen that the smoke didn't get down the hall yet. Finally the smoke has gone from the house but for a while I wasn't sure it was ever going.

The stew? Well, it was fine without the bacon. After that gross error, I put some extra stuff in and forgot about the nice recipe and it tastes almost as good as it would have with bacon. Even found some leftover rice and kasha to put in--now I know something(!) to do with kasha!

Now, Teresa, what was it you wanted me to bring to that hospice carry-in?

Our New Addition

Well, here he is: our new addition! It is a 5-Speed, 4 Wheel Drive 99 Geo Tracker with a bunch of miles but not nearly as many as either of our vehicles. It may become my car as I don't have the problem shifting that The Dad does. OK, so I also love red cars and it almost looks like a JEEP which I have always wanted. It looks new and The Dad DID have our mechanic check it out. He says it is great. And I can take the top down even. I am happy!!! Oh, it also has a trailer hitch so The Dad can pull his trailer around with it when he gets big things (like a generator, maybe?) instead of using our cars. He will try and sell his Alero.

Highlight of our Trip-Smokies

We did it!! I have wanted to go to the Smokies and hike for many years--probably has been 20 since we did. So here we went and guess what we saw. Yep, a real Duff's!! We went back to Pigeon Forge 3 times at least to find it open--but finally it was open and we had dinner there. OK, so it wasn't quite what we had remembered, and we won't do it again...Well, we were disappointed and it doesn't have the revolving buffet table either. The lady said it hadn't for about 30 years. Nonetheless, we did it!

I had a wonderful time in the Smokies anyway. I wanted to spend money in the tourist-y places just once in my life; so I did! I was happy with what I got and probably won't do it ever again but I had the $$ and wanted to try. I do think I got some good things for the little guys and was proud of them. I shopped in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge and in some National Park rest area. What fun.

The scenery was beautiful and the weather was fabulous! What better time to go??!! The Dad bought a generator on e bay in Johnson City and used that as an excuse to go--he knew I would be thrilled and I was. I think I wore a huge smile the whole time. We stayed at JBC and walked around there and was amazed at the changes! Yes, the girls can wear jeans and the couples can hold hands on campus--at least they were. I visited with my friend, Kathy Wheeler, for a bit and had a great time. Campus is beautiful and so big!!! The mountains are, of course, indescribably. We will go back--maybe at Dogwood Festival time.

Oh yes, we got the generator home in The Dad's usual fashion: tied and strapped securely in, no, ON the back of the trunk. It was embarrassing if I had thought about it but we ARE from KY and it didn't look nearly as- ummm, how can I say this?-gauche as the trip I made down from Wisconsin to KY with a rocking chair tied to the TOP of my car....

I will try and post a photo or 2 of the mountains but I just can't wait to post a photo of our newest acquisition in my next blog...Until Later then....