Some of this and some of that with a pile of poo

It was sixteen mean degrees when I loaded my car headed for Louisiana Monday morning from south Alabama. It was cold…..the frost was so heavy and looked like a cotton blanket of snow. The sun was peeking around the corner of the morning in search for the day. Now I know all you snow bounders are laughing and saying ha! But I’m talking about south Alabama where we sometimes wear shorts in the winter..! Smiling....


So off down the road I make my way with approximately an hour and a half of back country road driving before I hit Interstate 65 South at Evergreen. Prayers said, it was a beautiful clean morning…everything seemed so fresh. And everything was fresh right down to the fresh smell of chicken litter. What is chicken litter you ask?  Poop!...... from a chicken. In the country there are many chicken houses where they raise chickens, for the ones we eat and for the eggs too. So, with all those chickens come the poop and it smells really….well its hard to describe…I’ll just say it was fresh and bad :)  Even so, driving through the country is fantastic. Then you hit the maniac interstate where its every man for himself. You have two options; Go at least the speed limit or you’ll get ran over, or fly with the best of them...so fly is what I did. I made good time…landing in Slidell Louisiana in less than 5 hours. My flight had a lay-over there at the Hobby Lobby….swooning…oh yes….found some left over Christmas items marked to 90% off…..heck they should have just given it away…but I was proud of the fun things I found and only had to pay 10% of the price!!! Look------

...yes there was a little minor easily repairable damage.....

a couple of missing stars, no problem.

The large wooden tree trio was $17.99, I paid $1.80 and will gladly replace the stars or not.

The leaning tower of jingle bells tree was $7.99, I only paid 80 cents...it just needs a little TLC glue!

The other two trees were .40 cents and $1.30.

I can definitely see the forest through the trees here!

...and look at these goodies. The glass miniture tree topper was $2.99. I paid a mere 3o cents for it!

And it's PINK!

The rustic mini star topper was $1.99, I paid 20 cents...with pleasure :)

 

My total cost for all these crafty goodies was only $4.80!

Original price $47.94.

Can you say Happy with me?

I also got some beautiful material which I am going to be making a camera strap cover out of….will share that later. After boarding again with my goodies I made my way on through New Orleans….ugg! Now please tell me how you pay your respects for a funeral possession on a 4 lane interstate going through NO. Down south in Alabama we pull off on the side of the road until it passes. That was totally out of the question…don’t laugh but I almost ran over the policeman on his motorcycle when he quickly pulled over in front to of me and stopped….yes I said stopped, on the interstate, *the possession line had to change lanes*. Oh my….Thank you Lord for not letting me hit him.

After spending the afternoon with Richard and Holly *nice* my official pet-sitting duties have began this morning. Many prayers said, their flight left the New Orleans airport this morning at 6…headed for Miami, Florida. After they left home at 4:15 a.m., I got my first text message from Holly at 5:11.
It said:  Here @ airport! Loves u!
Next message 5:40 saying:  On plane! C ya! Loves!
Next message at 7:28:  Just hit the wheels on the ground! It was amazing! I got some pics! We went over Lake Eufaula! Loves!...
*Lake Eufaula is very near our home in Alabama and this was Holly’s first flight…not Richard’s, he has his pilot’s license.*  They had an hour and a half layover in Atlanta before boarding again for Miami. Freckles…the dog, woke up at 10:15...I let her outside to do her business and let her back in for a treat. By 10:25 she is looking for H&R, her mommy and daddy….she begins to whine and gets that sad look on her face…………pitiful I tell you! At 11:05 I got the final call….

"We have landed again safe and sound in Miami!"  YaY!

 Thank you dear Lord for hearing my prayers!

Speaking of prayers…I have a prayer request for a family in our church. Mr. Harold lost his life to cancer Sunday night, but he has not lost it away from God. He was welcomed into the kingdom with wide open arms and songs of praise, where he will live eternally in heavenly bliss. His family is left here with our comforting words and prayers of encouragement. He will be missed by many including his two daughters and their families; and a lovely wife. *Mr. Harold’s wife retired from the same place my husband works. A sweet, sweet woman of faith*

Duty calls...back to the pet sitting…..I’m accustomed to the poo one cat makes…..Holly and Richard have 4…need I say more? Other than that and the sound-barrier-breaking-zoom of jets taking off at this Air station military base….All is pretty quiet and uneventful.

For those who asked and those who would have:

Speedy Southwest Spaghetti Pie
8 ounces of spaghetti…I use angel hair
½ cup milk
1 egg
one pound ground pork, I use Italian Sausages
1 med. Onion chopped
1 med. Bell pepper, chopped
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 TBS chili powder
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp. dried oregano
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp black pepper
1 15-16 oz. can tomato sauce
4 oz. grated Monterey Jack Cheese, with jalapeño peppers, about 1 cup
4 oz. grated cheddar cheese, about 1 cup

Bring large pot of water to boil for pasta. Add some salt to taste. Cook according to pkg. directions or until al dente. Drain. Preheat oven to 425* Whisk together milk and egg and mix with hot pasta. Spread mixture in buttered/sprayed 9x13 baking dish. While pasta is boiling, cook pork, onion, bell pepper and garlic together in large skillet for about 6 minutes on medium. Heat until pork is cooked through. Drain off excess fat or rinse. Stir in chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt and black pepper and cook about 2 minutes. Stir in tomato sauce and cook about 2 more minutes. Spread meat sauce over pasta in baking dish. Sprinkle both cheeses evenly over the top. Bake for about 10 minutes until cheese is melted and casserole gets all bubbly . Let stand 5 minutes before cutting into squares. Serve with a salad and some homemade bread. 4-6 servings
1/6 of recipe contains:
454 calories
29 grams protein
20 grams fat
39 grams carbohydrate
850 mg sodium
111 mg cholesterol
Now didn’t you just want to know that to spoil your appetite for this. And these figures do not include the homemade bread….. Man I’m doomed.




PS...Freckles in outside laying in the warm sunshine sulking.