How Well She Knows Me!

How well she knows the routine at our house.  I do things everyday... little things that I do only for my own benefit... but my girl doesn't miss the significance of the routine.  She knows how things work around here!  She could run this house with her hands tied behind her back, I'm sure of it.

I'm sure you don't understand the significance of this picture, so allow me to explain.

It is routine for me to leave my tea cup on the stove-top all day.  It lies in wait for the next cup of tea.  In fact, I may use the same cup for a couple days.  Usually, it is put in the dishwasher only if I'm headed to bed, and there's room in the dishwasher.  Otherwise... it waits.  Everyone knows it's mine.  What I didn't realize is that anyone else might think the stove-top is a "safe" zone for their to-be-used-again cup of the day!

Yesterday, I found my girl's orange juice glass snuggled up next to my tea cup.  When I asked her about it, she grinned from ear to ear.  Guilty as charged.  Afterall, she might want some more orange juice later...  Also, she knows my maddening clean-up skills.  What?  You left your cup on the table?  It's gone baby!  G-O-N-E!

That's my girl.  She doesn't miss a trick!

When Life Gives You Too Much Spinach...

... make a spinach quiche!

My kids thought I was out to get them for sure, but I just HAD to find a way to use up all of the spinach that I had purchased for a little salad bar at the graduation party.  Granted, it might not be "salad" to you, but at our house, it is the salad green of choice (mostly).  We don't have anything against other greens, but spinach seems to stay nicer longer at our house.  Therefore, it was what I chose for the party -- for better or worse.

My kids would tell you "for worse," because now I had to think of ways to use it up.  We couldn't consume it fast enough by just eating a little salad with our dinners.  I decided to cook it all down, and make a spinach quiche of some kind for dinner.  I chose a crustless "Impossible Spinach Pie" recipe that I found HERE. I changed it up just a bit by adding a few strips of leftover bacon, cooked and crumbled.  It was delicious.  I loved it.

My husband was kind (though cooked spinach is not his favorite) and was ?glad? (I think) to eat it knowing I was being thrifty and using up what we had on-hand.  The kids?  Not so much.  While we eat raw baby spinach, cooked spinach has not really been in our repertoire -- if you know what I mean.

Here's the recipe with my variations.  Of course, all credit goes to Cooks.com, and to Bisquick before them. Once upon a time, I was a card-carrying member of The Bisquick Recipe Club.  I saw a million variations of this Impossible Pie idea.  I'm sure the recipe originated with Bisquick.

Impossible Spinach-Bacon Pie

{* my variations}

10 oz. frozen spinach, thawed, chopped*, and drained

1 cup shredded Swiss cheese

1 handful chopped green* onions

4-6 slices bacon*, cooked and crumbled (I used pre-cooked)

1½ cup milk

3 eggs

¾ cup Bisquick baking mix

1 tsp. salt

¼ tsp. pepper

¼ tsp. ground nutmeg

Heat oven to 375F.  Grease pie plate.  Mix spinach, cheese, onion, and bacon in plate.

Beat remaining ingredients until smooth.  Pour into pie plate.

Bake about 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool five minutes before serving.

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Today, I'm thinking a lot about friends far and near who are experiencing hard times in one form or another, be it health issues, financial issues, kid issues -- or a combination of them all.  As I write this, I just received an e-mail from a blogging friend who said she prayed for me today.  I've never met her, but we enjoy a sweet on-line friendship, and I am ever-thankful for her friendship and yours, friends.

Life is hard, and let's be honest.  It gets harder every day.  This world is so messed up on many levels -- and you all know we could go on and on about that.  It could really drag us down if we let it.  I don't know about you, but I choose to look for the good.  I choose to find the joy.  I choose to make Spinach Quiche... when life gives me too much spinach!

Now, go forth and encourage one another.  Pray for one another!

Oh, and eat your spinach!  xo

Long Live the Blimp!

No matter how long we live here, we won't grow tired of seeing "our" blimp: The Spirit of Goodyear.  It lives in the neighborhood, and (as I'm sure I've mentioned before) it is often seen in the skies overhead.  O-F-T-E-N.  Just sayin'.  

One day last week, we headed out to our favorite flea market, and found that the blimp was following us along the way.  Reminiscent of our balloon-chasing days [okay, it was ONE TIME], we made a few quick turns, and found ourselves hot on the blimp's trail, trying to reach it before it touched down.  Unlike balloon-chasing, we knew where the blimp would land.

Well, let's say we assumed it would land.

Or not.  It seemed to be teasing us.  It got close, but... the ground crew seemed to be busy with other things -- so we knew it was a no-go.

And off it went again -- into the wild blue yonder.

Well, okay, it didn't really go all that far.  It swung a wide circle -- all the time within view, and then, next thing you know, it disappeared behind the hanger and reappeared close to the ground.

While we had been waiting for it to circle around, the ground crew made their appearance.  Everyone got into place.  Also, a shuttle bus dropped off a group of people, likely there for a ride.  There was much activity around the gondola.  And we took the opportunity to take some pictures!

An interesting side note?  My hubby had pulled into a parking lot at the hangar so we could watch the goings-on.  He was still in the driver's seat calling out pictures for the kids and I to take just a few steps away at the fence, while the kids and I were following his bidding... more or less.  "Get a picture of Mom with the blimp!" he called.  Right.  Then, Mom gets home and reviews all the pictures.  Once again, we didn't get Dad in any pictures.  And Dad didn't offer himself up for any photo ops.  He is very sneaky, that man!  Someday, I hope his great-great-grandchildren will know that he was a part of this family.  *humpf

All aboard?  Stations everyone.  Here we go again!

Long live The Spirit of Goodyear!

Do you have a favorite landmark or sight where you live that you never get tired of seeing?

And Now, Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Programming

Well, my sweet hubby goes back to work on Monday.  The stay-cation is over.  It was great -- and really like a vacation in some aspects.  I didn't work very hard all week.  I didn't have to cook much due to graduation party leftovers and shared cooking duty with some other folks (who might have been restaurant/fast food cooks).  I didn't get much laundry done.  And, we enjoyed a few adventure days.  The best part was that we were able to take some drives, and have some adventures with even our security guard along for the ride!  Best adventures ever when he is a willing participant, because that means we're all together.  There's nothing that makes this mama happier -- even if we're all together doing nothing in particular, like flip-flopping through the local flea market bartering for Wii games.  (Me and my bad self might have totally stepped in to show my girl some bartering bravery.  Because really?  I'm never going to see these people again.  What do I have to lose?*  LOL)

*Please do not take this opportunity to remind me that I might see them on our weekly visit NEXT week.  I'll totally lose my nerve!

We also enjoyed some rain last week, and some cooler summer days and nights that reminded me of the summers of my youth. Remember?  When you used to take a jacket if you were going out in the evening? That is not typical for us around here.  But, I love those cool summer nights.  We call it "great sleepin' weather!"

Because of these cooler temps, the air-conditioning has been mostly-off.  Unless you count the night that I had just laid down, only to hear the hum of the mosquito truck.  Do you have those where you live?  It's a humming yellow-lighted truck with a sprayer on the back.  Kills bugs dead.  Well... that might be somebody else's slogan, but you get my drift.

It was kind of like The Night Before Christmas with a clatter out on the lawn, except this time, Mama rose from her bed to see what was the matter.  Oh holy cow.  Let me tell you that when the mosquito truck comes around, you don't want your windows open.  El-Stinko!  Luckily, it was really on someone else's "lawn" that I heard the clatter, and we battened down the hatches before it got to us.  Yep.  Air-conditioning on that night.

I've already shared about the graduation party, and time spent with family.  Also, we got to enjoy a mostly spontaneous visit with friends when we returned things we'd borrowed for the graduation party.  Old, old friends.  Iced tea.  Shoes off.  Reclining sofas.  Yep, it's just like home when we go there. Every time.

One day, we headed out on an hour-long drive to find a burger place.  We found it.  We weren't all that impressed, and we agreed that it wasn't worth the drive.  Plus: ZERO atmosphere.  Sorry, but I am totally into atmosphere.

The drive, however was beautiful -- like the photo below.

Okay, we got a late start and were taking the fast route.  But, on the way home...

Aaaaaah, yes.
Country roads, take me home.

Oh.  I am home.

Is that laundry I hear calling?  It might just be the wrong number.  *wink
Stay tuned.  I'll share more adventuring on Tuesday!

Staycation

We are enjoying some much-needed down-time this week.

My sister-in-law asked me if we had done a lot of fun stuff this summer.  I said it kind of felt like we started with a bang: GRADUATION.  Then we waited and prepared for our daughter's trip to Chicago.  Then we waited for her to return home.  Then we waited and prepared for our son's graduation party.  Now, our big summer events are past, and we are just being.  It feels kind of good, I'm not gonna lie.  I'm not planning or waiting for anything.

So far this week, we enjoyed one fabulous fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants day with my hubby's sister and her family.  We visited and ate lots of graduation party leftovers together, and then headed off on boy and girl adventures.  The dads went to see a movie, while the moms took six girls to a butterfly exhibit.  Really.  I couldn't wait to get some pictures with the girls and the butterflies... But alas, we arrived to find that they were closed on Monday, so it was off to a park for a little activity.  Luckily, I was able to get some pictures of the girls there before the rain came.

Cousins: 7, 9, 10, 8, 12, and 15 [my girl].

More rain came yesterday, but we got some things checked off our "TO DO" list.

I can't wait to see what today brings!  I guess I AM waiting for something.... some Staycation Adventures!  Bring 'em on!

What are you up to this week?