Long time no post

It's been awhile so I thought I should get on here and post something.  I had a great birthday which was Thanksgiving Day this year.  My husband surprised me by getting me 2 things I'd been wanting for a long time.  I had added them to my amazon wishlist and was planning on saving up for them. So far every time I'd saved up some money something would come up and I'd end up spending it on one of my boys.  Of course I could have asked my husband to give them some money but sometimes (and especially some things) I want to come from me.  The look on their face when I give them the money when they thought I didn't have any is priceless.  They know I don't have much money so it means more to them and they are always more than willing to help

me with things around the house to make up for it.  My oldest son had a job for a while and he was always buying me gifts.  He even bought me a Keurig for Christmas and I know that cost a lot.  So that shows that it comes back around and it isn't about the gift but the love.

Anyway, speaking of love, my husband told me there was this big box by the door and I should go check it out.  This was a few days early.  I was shocked that the box was so big.  It was HUGE.  I had been feeling really bad the past few weeks.  My hands hurt and I've very weak all over so both my boys helped me open the box.  They both had this grin on their faces and I could tell they already knew what it was.  They got me a Kitchenaid mixer in the prettiest shade of pistachio green.  I have been wanting one of those since forever.  There was also this small gift and it turned out to be Rocksmith 2014 for the xbox 360. It comes with a cable that has a usb plug on one end and a standard guitar hookup on the other end.  I've wanting to play the guitar for a long time and I have a very nice electric guitar that was another gift from my husband.  It is an Eddie Van Haylen Wolfgang special which they stopped making around 97 I think.

I've been wanting to learn how to play my guitar for so long but something always got in my way. My health was my biggest obstacle and by the time I got the guitar out, hooked up and tuned up I would be exhausted. Rocksmith basically simplifies everything so I can start playing quicker and that helps a lot. I just plug the guitar in to the xbox and it acts like the amp.  You tune the guitar with the program which is very quick.  I'm usually tuned up in less than a minute.  The electric tuner I got is not just for guitar so it could be used for my son's violin as well.  My problem was that I would be trying to tune to the wrong octave (when I first started out) and I'd break strings.  Rocksmith's tuner has this line that moves up and down and you line it up with the string to get it in tune.  It also has numbers that are positive or negative so you can be sure you are turning the peg the right direction. After a week of using it I've already gotten to where I can hear when it is off and can tune it myself.  Mainly the big E string is what I start with and I tune it to what sounds good to me and then I check myself to be sure.  Then I've been tuning the other strings off of that one.  The first few times I checked it with the rocksmith tuner after that and it was in tune.  Now when I feel bad and have no energy I can just sit back on the couch and play without it plugged in.

I am still learning about the Rocksmith program and there are still things to learn but it was bothering me that most of the time it doesn't show the name of the notes or the strings (like the strings played open are E A D G B E in order).  They use a graphic of the neck of a guitar that lies horizontally across the bottom of the screen.  The strings are color coded and they indicate which note to play by color.  I was getting frustrated because I didn't want to learn red string, green string, yellow string.  I wanted to learn by the notes.  I used to play piano in high school and learned to read music so it is weird to not know which note I'm hearing.  I have some books and I've been looking online for more information.

My favorite website so far is www.justinguitar.com.  I have been going through his free beginner lessons and I have been learning a lot.  My fingers are very sore now but I can feel the tips starting to toughen up already.  I've learned two cords now and I really want to play a song!  Maybe I could learn a simple Christmas song before Christmas.

Fishy Business and Bones

I finally started feeling better yesterday and then I promptly overdid it.  Since the shoes with the arch support seemed to keep my feet from hurting I decided to get some exercise on my stationary bike.  I did 15 minutes while I read.  15 minutes is a lot for me.  I also did a load of laundry, mopped the bathroom floor and cleaned a little in the bathtub.  Then I told my husband we should go on a little date tomorrow and go eat somewhere.  I should never do that because every time I do I can never get out of bed the next day.  I hurt all night and couldn't sleep for a long, long time.  After I finally fell asleep I was out all day.

I woke up to an asthma attack around 7 pm.  That was fun.  <-- sarcasm  I can only assume it was set off by the bleach I used.  I really need to quit using that stuff.  

My husband was super sweet and made dinner.  He made potato soup in the crock pot and has Rhodes (frozen) bread rising.  If he didn't make something one of my boys would have.  Son #2 likes to cook things like pizza and spaghetti.  Son #1 often makes stir fry/fried rice or chicken fettuccine. I'm very blessed.  

I've been sitting here staring at my 55 gallon fish tank for a few minutes and trying to count my fish. Not long ago I bought about 16 or so new fish, including 6 male guppies. The prettiest one with the royal blue body and aqua tail was dead by morning but that was the only guppy I've removed.  Now there are only 2 swimming around but no floaters or sinkers.  I think Sid, the Bala shark, is getting hungry or something.  They said they should be fine in with him but since I'm not finding any dead guppies....  or parts of guppies...  hmmm  I need to turn the castle over but I hate to freak out Waldo the upside-down catfish and Raymond the super-skittish plecostomus.  I checked the water and things look good there.  I don't think I'll be buying any more guppies.  They were not intended to be feeder fish.  

The reason I ended up with a Bala shark is because I went into Petco (only place in town to get fish now besides Walmart) and they had some small ones.  My tank was almost empty since the ones I had were very old.  I asked about the Bala sharks (which were only about an inch long) and told them the size of my tank etc.  Well, she sold me 6 of them but didn't think it was important to tell me they could each get 10"!  My tank is not big enough for that but next morning a few were dead and I went back in to talk to them.  Turns out their tank had ich and a bunch at the store had died too.  I started to notice some white spots on a few of them and I treated the tank.  I ended up with only this one surviving out of the 6 and Sid still acts a little weird at times like it affected his widdle-bitty fish brain.  Sometimes he looks like he is chasing his tail going in tight circles.  He could be a circus fish! They told me to wait a certain amount of time (weeks) to let things normalize in the tank before getting more but insisted that I get at least 4 more so he can school.  When I finally went back in there there was a different girl and she looked at me like I was crazy.  She said they are like tinfoil barbs and get the same size (10 - 12").   So now I just have the one and he seems to doing okay. Since the other girl was obviously clueless I don't know if the weird spinning in circles thing is normal for that type of fish or not.  I *think* he seems to get agitated and swim around fast while kind of flipping side to side when he is hungry.  That is a guess but usually I put food in there and then he seems to settle down.  He eats a lot and seems to like blood worms the most.  I really like him so I'll keep him as long as I can.  If he starts eating or picking on my larger fishes I'll have to take him back for adopting out.  I'd be sad though.

Anyway, here are a few songs from Bones Season 3.

From Episode 5 - Young Men Dead by Black Angels 

I like the 70's psychedelic feel this group has.  If you like it and have some time you can keep listening.  This is a playlist with a TON of their music.

From Episode 7 - Bandstand in the Sky by Pete Yorn

 

It turns out that this song was written after the death of Jeff Buckley who drowned.  Very sad.

From Episode 8 - Sail Away by Madrugada

I just want to sail away

From it all

Freedom is impossible

This I know

From Episode 10 - a very fitting video called Bones by the Killers

My favorite part is at 3:10 - 3:12

From Episode 13- Fountain by Sara Lov

I hate to say it but I really find this song annoying.

 

You

The natural state of motherhood is unselfishness. When you become a mother, you are no longer the center of your own universe. You relinquish that position to your children. -Jessica Lange 

This is a beautiful song.  It was on Bones Season 2 episode 16.  I know I have at least one other song by this singer but I can't believe I've never heard this one before now.  It is about a baby and it is so touching.  I remember feeling like this when my boys were little and still do now that they are young men.... only know they know.  I used to take care of them but now my boys take care of me.  When I am in pain and can't get out of bed they make sure I have eaten or drink enough water.  They check on me like I used to check on them.  They are my life and will always be.

This song from Episode 17 is very sad.  It makes me think back to those times when I held my babies and the times I listened to them giggle, the times I cleaned up skinned knees or read bedtime stories.  Later, as they grew I admired them for their thinking and ability to do things for themselves.  Now that they are pretty much grown I know that eventually they will leave home and I'll be alone again.  Of course, I do have my husband but my heart will always long for my boys.  Right now I have a special bond with my youngest son, Son #2 who is 17.  He is a night owl like I am and sometimes when he can't sleep he will come out here and talk to me for hours.  He tells me about things that happened in school, things he learned, things he saw online and found funny, sad or interesting.  I love that boy so much.  He is very much like his dad and also looks like him. He is also like my younger brother though and he always makes me laugh.  

I just hope that when my boys leave home that they will always come back.  

 

Quiche Capisce?

A friend of mine posted on her blog about a quiche recipe she was trying.  This month she is trying something new every day so it is pretty interesting.  You should go check it out.  When I read about the quiche I realized I had never tried it either.  I think maybe I ate a tiny little baby party quiche one time but I'm not really sure now.  I have never even thought about making one before.  So I printed up the recipe and told my husband about it.  After I listed off the different ingredients and the changes I was thinking of he was all for trying it.  He does the grocery shopping since it is pretty taxing for me but he got the stuff for it within a few days.

I made the first one last night (meaning Sunday) and I kept messing up and having to cleverly fix a bunch of things.  I don't do a lot of cooking these days because I get so wiped out so fast.  My boys help a LOT with the cooking.  Son #2, who is 17, does the most.  I think he enjoys it like his dad.  Son #1, who is 20, likes to cook also but he is a little OCD and doesn't like to cook or handle certain things because of the consistency or whatever.  He still helps a lot when needed.  I'm very blessed with those two.

Anyway, Sunday when I decided I was going to make this thing they were not available and I had been feeling bad already.  I couldn't get it off my mind though and my husband was hoping I would make it.  So I decided that I could handle it if I planned things and used my on-feet time wisely.  I was so proud of myself when I finally pushed the dish in the oven and then I turned around and saw a measuring cup with milk in it still sitting on the counter.  Oh shoot!  I quickly but not too quickly pulled it back out, dumped the milk in it and used a fork to mix it in.  Then I put it back in the oven even more carefully because it was pretty full.  I set the timer for 19 minutes (which means I have a minute to get up and over to the stove).  The recipe said to reduce the temperature but when I went to do that is was already that temperature.  Ugh.  So I turned it up to where it should have been for 10 minutes and then cooked it for 10 minutes at the lower temperature.  It was obviously done and no way there was any liquid left in that thing.  The crust around the edge was a nice shade of burnt brown and not very tasty but the rest of it, including the quiche itself, was pretty darned good.  I was pretty happy with myself when my husband wanted more and then after a little bit came back and finished it off.  Of course neither one of my boys would even try it.  They wont eat eggs.

Today (Monday) my husband called from work and wanted to know what we needed to have it again. Well, well, well... I think someone likes quiche.  He grabbed some more sausage and two more of the roll out pie crusts from Safeway on the way home.

The original recipe is here if you are interested but I'm going to tell you how I made it BAD (meaning the opposite of healthy)  I was really hoping to get my picky family to like something new.  I can always healthy it up later but if they know it has skim milk and fat free cheese they wouldn't even try it.  It has sausage in it anyway.

Ingredients:

• 1 – 9 inch pie shell  (I used the refrigerated roll out ones from Safeway and they are pretty good)
• 3/4 pounds hot or sweet sausage (I used Jimmie Dean half maple pork and half HOT pork)
• Half white onion chopped
• 1 1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese (I mixed in a little mozzarella)
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 1/4 cup 2% milk
• Weber Roasted Garlic & Herb seasoning (from walmart)
• A little Garlic Salt in the egg mixture
• Lots of fresh ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425.
2. Bake shell in for 7 min or until it just golden.
3. While shell is baking, cook sausage with the onion and Weber garlic seasoning.  Drain and mix sausage and cheese in a bowl.  Add pepper to taste.
4. Spread the mixture in the bottom of the pie shell.
5. Whisk together eggs, half and half and milk in bowl.  (Make sure nothing gets left sitting on the counter in a measuring up!)  Add a little garlic salt and pepper.  Pour egg mixture over sausage mixture and bake on baking sheet for 20 minutes.

**At this point I added mozzarella and bacon on top and added foil to the already-starting-to-burn crust

1. Reduce oven temperature to 350 and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes until center of quiche is no longer runny.  

AND WAH LA!  Quiche ala FATTENING

This one was at least as good as the first one.  The first one used apple wood smoked sausage and that was darned good too.  The toppings cleverly hid the top and Son #2 actually ate a slice not realizing he was eating eggs.  YAYAYAYAYAY!  <-- This is where I would have done a flip if it wouldn't have killed me.

I figured out a clever little trick while making this and next time I'll do it a little earlier.  I'll make another little demo post for that later since I've been sitting for way too long and not feeling so hot.  

Click here to see my quick picture tutorial.