Pe'pe' la' Pew Strikes

I have lived out here in the country for 3 years now, and even down south drove frequently down country roads populated with wildlife for near 10 years. The only critter to this point that I can recall ever hitting is a squirrel. No opossum, no raccoons, no deer (knock-on-wood). So what do you think I finally run into this past Friday? Pe'pe' la Pew. No, I didn't kill him. I just ran right over him, right between my two front tires, and must have scared the bejezus out of him because he got me good. Not only does the outside of my car smell, but the interior as well. For a couple days you could smell my car if you were standing within 20 feet of it, but that seems to be disappearing. The interior is still reeking. I have hung up one of those car scent things in the hope of ridding the foul smell, but it just seems to be making it worse. Now my car smells.....flowery/fruity/piney/skunky. I've been told that when your dog gets sprayed, the 'cure' is to bath them in tomato juice or tomato soup, but I don't think this is a practical solution for my car. I welcome any suggestions.

The Fall Festival was enjoyable. Seems to grow every year. Went with my two sons and one of their friends. The two older boys went their way and the youngest went his and left mom to stroll around all by herself. I guess it's not 'cool' to be seen with mom when your a teenager. I try to find the positive in any situation......well I found the positive side to my husband being out of a job - I wasn't even tempted to spend any money at the festival! And I didn't need any of that greasy/fattening food anyway, but boy did it smell good!!

Had a job interview yesterday at Linens N Things. I love that store! It went well and I'm pretty sure I'll get the job if I want it but I have another interview this afternoon and told the manager at LNT that I would know which I wanted by late this afternoon. Never got a call from the store I really would have liked to work at......Cabela's. That would have been cool, but I don't have the luxury of waiting for a particular job. Need to start getting some money coming in, even if it's not that much. Oh well....anybody need some towels?

Fall Festival

Just a quick update.....washer is still working good (did you expect anything less?!), and luckily no more major appliance breakdowns.

This weekend is the annual Clinton Fall Festival and I am looking forward to taking my younger son tomorrow. I always enjoy walking around there and looking at the creativity of others. Not to mention the good food! Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Washer update

Now I know why appliances cost so much. They use more hardware and other doodads than they need. After taking this machine apart and making some minor adjustments (at least that's what I like to think I did by shaking and moving it around) then reasembling it, it works fine! Minus a few screw's and a couple plastic thingy's. Not to mention that my butt is soaking wet from the drain pipe laying on the floor and....well....the water had to go somewhere. Okay, so I learned something. My hubby should be so proud!

Now for those of you thinking that I just had too much laundry in there to begin with and didn't distibute the weight properly.....well...go eat a banana. (Don't ask me where that came from but it was the nicest thing I could think of at the moment).

Not just a pretty face! Now, let me go finish my laundry.......

Washing machine woe's

Jimminy Cricket, Fiddlesticks and Fudgesicle!!!! Just what I needed right now. My handyman is out of town and my washing machine goes on the fritz. I'm trying to get caught up on laundry and I hear this terrible racket coming from the laundry room. Now there have been times when the clothes just aren't distributed quite right and it gets off kiltered and does a little waltz across the laundry room floor, but this was much more! I tried rearranging the clothes a couple times then it occurres to me that the tub is not sitting quite like it is supposed to. It's almost like it has dropped out of the grooves or what ever holds it in place. So when you turn it on, the tub is wildly rotating in the metal casing surrounding it. Ok, I have one of two choices here.....1) being the somewhat self sufficient woman that I am, and fairly good with tools, I can try and take this apart and fix it myself, or 2) wait for hubby to get home at the end of the week and in the mean time go to the laundry-mat (I hate that!). Hmmm, I think I'll have a drink and think about this one. (It's 5:00 somewhere!) I'll continue this later and let you know how it turns out.....

Another afternoon at the Emergency Room

3:45 p.m. the phone rings...."Mom, you need to check me out and meet me at the emergency room!" This was my 17 yr. old. I asked him what happened and he tells me that his younger brother had gotten hit on the head by another student with a book. He then tells me he had a seizure and his eyes are bloodshot. (I can hear shaking in his voice) My first thought was that my younger son had been transported to the hospital, but when I ask him where his brother is he tells me he's right there in the office with him. I ask him if I have to come there to check him out and he says he is going to leave right then to get him to the hopital as soon as possible and the office is telling him they are going to suspend him if he leaves. I tell him to give the phone to the secretary. I ask her if what my son is telling me is acurate (thinking he might be over reacting). She says that he appears to be fine and his irises look normal. (I'm thinking 'Irises? What do the irises of the eyes have to do with anything? Don't you look at pupils?' ) She says the bell is going to be ringing in 10 min. I tell her to just allow my children to be checked out now but to come immediately home so that I can look at him and see his condition.

I wait 10 min or so and call them on their cell to see where they are. Oldest son answers and says they are on the way to the hospital. Younger son is fading in and out of conciousness and is acting really weird. I tell him I'll meet him there.

When I get to the hospital he has already been admitted and doctor and 2-3 nurses are all over him. They are looking at his eyes, checking vitals and about to hook him up to an IV. They ask me if he is allergic to anything? Now I am beginning to worry. "No, he's not allergic to anything" "Is he on any medication?" I tell them one medicine he is on. My son is panicking because of the IV needle and is making no sense what so ever. The nurse says when he first came in he didn't know where he was. He thought he was still in the car. He can not follow the direction of her finger, or answer any questions coherently. Just looking at him you can tell there is something wrong. They finally get the IV in and we get him calmed down a bit. He says that he is cold and I comment that it stays warmer longer in GA. The nurse asks if that is where we are from, then asks my son what city? He has this blank look on his face. I ask him again "What city did we live in down in GA?" He still just stares. After asking another time or two he answers...."Redneck" I crack up! "Yes, honey, we are GA rednecks but what city did we live in?" He says "Near Alex" (this was his best friend in GA) Well at least I know he is thinking. I remind him it was Fayetteville, and he seems to acknowledge that.

They now take him to get a cat-scan. I take this opportunity to talk to my other son about what exactly happened. It seems they were messing around in the hall before class and my older son grabbed his brother and held his arms behind him and said "Ok, who wants a piece of him?" Brothers being brothers. My youngest sons friend takes his Geometry book and bops him on the head. Everyone tells me it wasn't that hard. But that's when my son just collapses. His brother had to hold him up. They get him to come around and he at first seems to be ok. He pushes his brother away and they all go to class. Shortly after that a boy from youngest sons class comes into older sons class and tells him that he needs to come get his brother. This child is apparently familiar with some medical training and tells him that his brother is exhibiting classic signs of a concussion. Older son gets his brother and they go to the office.
*side note here.....teachers, aware of what has happened, are trying to discipline these kids rather than take a concern for my son

concussion
n 1: injury to the brain caused by a blow; usually resulting in loss of consciousness 2: any violent blow

My son returns from the cat scan. He is acting better and we sit and wait for the results. While waiting we talk and he slowly begins to act more and more like himself. I think the fluids from IV helped, along with some rest. Anyway, the results come back normal and they say he has a concussion and just needs to be watched. I have to wake him every 3-4 hours tonight. But he should be ok. Thank you God.

So that was my afternoon. And the weekend has just started!

Recipe time again - Not just 'grilled pork chops"

Okay, time for another recipe. Tried this yesterday and not quite sure what makes it so good but it makes all the difference in the world. I despise dry pork chops, but these come out so moist and tasty I don't think I'll fix them any other way again. I've marinated meats many times but this is a brine. Don't ask me. I just followed the recipe and they were great!

Brined Grecian Pork Chops

1/2 c. kosher salt
1/2 c. dark brown sugar
2 c. hot water
12 crushed black peppercorns
1 lg. onion, unpeeled and quartered
3 bay leaves
3 cups very cold water or ice
4 bone-in pork chops at least 1-inch thick
2 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. lemon zest
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. freshly ground pepper
3 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary leaves
(or 1 Tbsp. crushed dried)
2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil

1. Dissolve salt and sugar in hot water. Add peppercorns, onion, bay leaves and cold water or ice.
2. Place pork chops in a large nonreactive container or extra-large resealable plastic bag. Cover with brine and allow to brine at least 1 1/2 hours but not longer than 3 hours. (Thinner chops will require less time.)
3. In a small bowl, combine garlic, lemon zest and juice, pepper, rosemary and olive oil. Mash together with the back of a spoon.
4. Preheat grill to high heat.
5. Remove chops from brine. Pat dry with paper towels. Rub with lemon-herb paste allowing some to adhere. Grill 2-3 minutes per side to sear. Reduce heat or move to cooler section of the grill and continue grilling 8-10 minutes per side.
6. Remove from grill and tent with foil. Allow to rest 5 minutes before serving.

I honestly didn't think that something like this would do a whole lot, but they really were good. You just have to try for yourself. Hope you enjoy as much as my family and I did!

Nothing Exciting

Sorry about the lack in posts. Not a whole lot going on with me these days. Hubby still out on strike and no perspective jobs in sight. He has been home 24/7, and I just haven't had much time to sit at computer. At least for the next two weeks he has something to keep him busy and get his mind off of things a bit. Doing some military duty this week and this coming weekend and then going out of town next week for a military excercise.

I have been putting in applications at a number of places, so I'll be working more. At least for a while till we get our feet back on the ground. Things will work out. This is just a little bump in the road. I've got great shocks and strong faith!

Labor day weekend

Well, we ended up going to Buffalo after all. First time I have ever left my kids alone for an extended period of time. But being 17, 15, and 14 Hub felt they were old enough to take care of themselves for 2 days. I have neighbors on both sides and they assured me they would keep an eye on the house and be there if the kids needed them. All in all they did good. One small incident but no one ended up in hopital or jail, and the house didn't burn down so I guess it was a success?

We left Sat. morning. It was about a 6 hour drive and made it on one tank of gas. Not too bad. Spent the afternoon sitting around talking, then played some horseshoes till dark then ate some dinner and then played Euchre till midnight or so. Honestly didn't drink much which really surprised me because usually these are our "drinking" buddies! Guess I just wasn't in the mood.
Oh, and I went to mass Sat afternoon so I wouldn't have to wake early next morning.

Sunday, still woke kinda early, 7 a.m.,....old habits die hard. We enjoyed coffee and hung around house till noon then drove into Buffalo for the National Wing Festival. Walked around and looked at a bunch of old cars. There was a car show going on. I guess it's a guy thing. Then went inside bought tickets and proceeded to try wings from around the country. A bit pricey though. They charged $.50 a wing. Tickets were $1.00 so you got two wings per ticket. And actually you got 2 wing 'sections'. But I enjoyed walking around enjoying the perfect weather and some good food. My favorite was from a place in Buffalo and it was a smoked jalapeno flavor. The hottest was supposed to be from Larry's called "Scary Larry", yea, it was hot but I told them they needed to work on it and I'd be back next year. Also had a stuffed hot wax pepper that was really good and gave me a great idea for something to use my peppers in the garden for.

After enjoying a nice afternoon there we headed back to our friends house for more horse shoes, dinner and euchre. Dinner was awsome!! We had brought them some zucchini from our garden so Cindy and I made our own recipe and we had stuffed zucchini that turned out fantastic! I'll have to post the recipe we kinda came up with. Oh, and day 2 still only had a few beers. I must be coming down with something!

Left about 9:30 Monday morning, drive back was good, not much traffic at all. Not too surprising with the cost of gas these days. Got home and kids had the house looking fairly good. I'm proud of them, but I did miss them!

I am going to leave Billy Ray Cyrus on but this is a newer video. I really like this one too, although I've never heard it on the radio. Really sweet song and video with his daughter.

Hope everyone else had an enjoyable holiday weekend!