The Household Guide to Dying - Review

The Household Guide to Dying is a moving, witty, and uplifting novel about Delia, who writes an acerbic and wildly popular household advice column. When Delia realizes that she will lose her long battle with cancer, she decides to organize her remaining months—and her husband and children’s future lives without her—the same way she has always ordered their household, and she knows just what to do. She will leave a list for her daughter’s future wedding; fill the freezer with homemade sausages, stews, and sauces; and even (maddeningly) offer her husband suggestions for a new wife. She’ll compile a lifetime’s worth of advice for her children, and she’ll even write the ultimate “Household Guide to Dying” for her fans. There is one item on her list, however, that proves too much even for “Dear Delia,” and it is the single greatest task she had set for herself. Yet just as Delia is coming to terms with this, an unexpected visitor helps her believe in her life’s worth in a way that no list ever could.

Imbued with Delia’s love for food, Jane Austen, clucking hens, and fragrant gardens, and interspersed with her secrets to making a pot of tea, removing wine stains from lace, and the ingredients to the perfect wedding cake, this is a gorgeously crafted novel that captures the reader—heart and mind—and expands our understanding of a meaningful life.

I found this book to be easy to read word wise, but hard to read topic wise. I’m very emotional and cry over Hallmark commercials, so this topic hit me pretty hard. Don’t worry, the book is filled with plenty of humor so it isn’t all doom and gloom, but like Darly pointed out …
see more Lolcats and funny pictures :D

If you have a box of tissues and don’t mind a good cry then check out The Household Guide to Dying by Debra Adelaide.

Thanks www.mother-talk.com for another great book!

Kellogg's® Eggo Bake Shop™ Twists- Review

New!
Kellogg's® Eggo Bake Shop™ Twists Apple & Strawberry

Like most families, mine always loves to wake up to the smell of fresh baked pastries for breakfast. But like most Moms on a typical morning, I lack both the time and energy to bake or make a trip to the bakery. Here breakfast is usually a “fend for yourself” situation. Recognizing this issue, Eggo, maker of the breakfasts we've loved for years, has come up with a whole new way for our own families to make their way to the kitchen for a fresh, aromatic pastry.

Eggo has introduced Eggo Bake Shop™ Twists, its first microwaveable pastry that combines soft, pull-apart dough sprinkled with sugar crystals and delicious Strawberry or Apple filling made with real fruit. And, in just 2 minutes and 25 seconds, your family can enjoy a warm, bakery-like breakfast, without the run to the bakery.

Darly & I tried these last night for our dessert. (hee hee!) I was please with how simple it was to make these. This is a product that Darly can make for herself without my help. YAY! Just pop one in the microwave for 25 seconds on high and let it cool for 2 minutes without opening the door.

And we were both pleased with how good these tasted, these pastries are both very yummy. Darly really liked the apple cuz she just loves cinnamon. I have a feeling that she will gobble these up before DH gets home from his trip.

Here’s a link to the Kellogg’s website for more info Strawberry or Apple. I’m sure your family will love them too.

wholy buckets!

and exploding toilets!

Tonight we have one of Darly's friends staying over. DH & I were downstairs talking when she flushed the toilet. We heard a very weird noise followed shortly by both girls screaming!

We ran upstairs and DH found the tank of the toilet spewing water. The girls assumed that this was all water out of the bowl and were totally grossed out, but it was all fresh tank water.

At first (after shutting off the water!) we thought that somehow the float valve had just worked itself off and once that was screwed back on would work fine...but alas cheap plastic parts don't last so well. It seems that the float valve is toast as well as the connection from the wall to the tank...the water intake valve may be toast too. ugh!

Now I have a load of towels to wash. Fun! Any ideas on when my house is going to stop breaking?

well that was pretty much uneventful!

Well my visit with the gym was mostly uneventful. They apologized that I was made to feel that I couldn’t just talk to them and said if I have any other questions to feel free to ask…so that’s good.
Here is a copy of the email that I sent to the gymnastics gym and then in italics will be their answer.


I would really like this email to go to the gym’s owner too, but seeing as that info is “hush-hush” I guess this will have to do.
It turns out that the new owners are really hands off (except for the hiring of Mr Coach as manager when we liked the former manager!) and they own multiple gyms. Its 3 guys who own gyms all over the area. side note: I believe that the reason for hiring Mr Coach as the manager instead of keeping the other guy(OG) on as manager is that OG was interested in buying the gym.

That’s the first issue I would like to address. Why is everything so hush-hush with the gym? Why is it that we do not know who the current owner is officially? Shouldn’t this info be published in the newsletter? I know that I am not the only parent who wants to know who we are dealing with. All we have heard is rumors. The real newsletter in your gym is the rumor mill.
well I was told that they would be happy to tell me anything I want to know, I just have to ask…the same for the other parents. I guess then that no one feels comfortable enough to talk to them. I was also told that there was a small blurb about the new owner in the April 08 newsletter. (it didn’t mention who the owner was though) And that they don’t put the owner’s name in the newsletter because they’re hands off. Really anything we need to deal with should go through Mr Coach & the office manager.

I would like to learn what my daughter’s current level means. I’ve been told that she is in the Pre-Team 1 class. But I have heard from others that this level class will never move up to compete...if this is true, then why is the class called “team?” And if it isn’t true you should really make this clear. See it’s more of this rumor business. We are paying for you to teach our children, I feel that we are entitled to know what each level means. There were mixed messages here. Some of the girls in the Pre-Team 1 class were moved up due to enrollment issues (not enough girls for either class so they were combined) and the majority of those girls do not have what it takes to be on the team. However the rest of the girls that were moved into the Pre-Team 1 class (Darly included) will have the opportunity to move up to the next levels and compete if they wish.

And speaking of teaching. I know that finding a good coach is difficult but why have you been hanging onto Darly’s current coach when she is working so many other jobs that she cannot fulfill her position at the gym? I am getting really sick of my daughter’s class being substituted by lower level coaches. To me having a lower level coach sub this class is a HUGE waste of my money...she can practice the stuff she already knows at home. We should not have to pay for private lessons for our kids to learn what we are already paying you to teach them in the regular classes. They are very frustrated with this situation as well and have been trying very hard to find another coach to fill this spot. Unfortunately they haven’t had much luck. They have been running an ad for a new coach since December (note: this coach has had the job that keeps her away since October!) but have had very few folks answer the ad and then to be even more frustrating they’ve had 3 people set up interviews and then just NOT show up! One of the main issues is trying to find someone who can teach the skills who actually LIKES kids. And I totally understand this.

Why was the Pre-Team 1 class subbed by Mr Coach on the 19th making the class go over ratio and the girls stand around waiting instead of by Darly’s former coach who only had two students in his class that night? Mr Coach felt that it would be in the girls’ best interest for him to sub so they could try some new skills. (former coach knows these skills too) the other coach however, is a recreational coach and not a competition coach.

Speaking of a huge waste of money...why was a TV set installed in the lobby? No one is watching the set and the only thing having it in there does is create more noise in an already noisy space. The continual loop of the US Women’s Gymnastics team getting ROBBED of their medals is not inspiring to anyone. Seeing as you have already wasted the money on this thing could you at least turn the volume down on it so that our eardrums are not bombarded with sound decibels over 85 (If a sound reaches 85 dB or stronger, it can cause permanent damage to your hearing.) others who are in the gym at earlier times often have the younger siblings in with them and the TV is a “good” distraction for the younger kids. They have received feedback from many who are happy with the new TV. However they do realize that by the time I get there it is BLASTING and will try to turn it down at that hour…but I can remind them too.



All in all I think it went pretty well. I’m glad to have the pre-team class thing straightened out. This week there are a lot of kids who won’t be in the gym for Spring Break (even though the gym is breaking next week!) so Darly will have a really small class. I hope she gets lots of time to work on her skills. And I will be telling the other parents about everything that happened.

Listerine Total Care

Remember the dental headaches that DH had a while back? Well for now it seems that he’s got his mouth all cleared up, we’ll see. I’m really hoping that we can find a way to avoid all of this for everyone in the family. DH’s entire family has bad teeth, but my family has good teeth…we’re hoping that Darly got my teeth!

I was really excited to get to try out the latest product from LISTERINE®… LISTERINE® TOTAL CARE.

With our ever growing to-do lists it can be so easy to neglect our personal oral health, but with 92% of adults ages 20 to 64 experiencing dental decay in our permanent teeth at some point in our lives, proper oral care routines and preventive dental care visits prove more essential than ever for achieving a cleaner, healthier mouth. We need to take notes from what we tell our kids - by doing simple things regularly including brushing, flossing and rinsing twice daily and visiting your dentist twice a year for preventative care, you can avoid bigger problems down the line that require painful oral procedures and may cost thousands of dollars. An alarming recent survey by Cigna indicates that 41 percent of Americans are taking worse care of their health because of the economy.

LISTERINE® TOTAL CARE, Anticavity Fluoride Mouthwash, now available, is the only fluoride mouthwash that contains six benefits in one:

· Helping to prevent cavities
· Restoring enamel
· Strengthening teeth
· Killing bad breath germs
· Freshening breath
· Fighting unsightly plaque above the gum line

Darly & I have both tried it and like how it feels (although Darly can’t keep swishing for an entire minute…we may have her try less though). For me it probably helps that the product is purple. ;) We even talked DH into trying it too. We’ll see if he keeps up with it. LOL!

Head over to http://www.listerine.com/ to print out a coupon for $2 off!

updates on the update. LOL!

Well Mr Coach called me about my email. But since I was still mad at him I deleted the call...so then I had to email him back. I said in the email I would rather deal with this via email. He emailed back that "due to the nature of my email" he wanted to see me in person. ACK! I so hate confrontations. But then I got to thinking... "hello?" I'm in the right here. He's the one who has screwed up. So I'm going to meet with him on Tuesday...which is when Darly's next tuition is due. I may be driving straight over to the other gym in town afterward, we'll see.

And then the dishwasher... DH started off from the very beginning wanting to know if I wanted a new one. I told him that I really didn't care as long as I had one that worked. So DH started trying to see if he could fix the it. But he wasn't able to figure out right off what was wrong with it. He felt that it was probably something with the motor (that's what it sounded like to me) and was worried that this was just the beginning of things going wrong with it. The lower rack is already rusting. He kept trying to get me to decide what to do about it and I kept making him make the decision. I really hated spending the money on a new one when we just finished buying the new stove.

So after a bit he did decide that we should go get a new one. Sunday after lunch we hopped into my car and headed over to our local big box hardware store. They don't carry ANY in stock...you have to order them from Dallas! We go to store #2 and same thing! And same at store #3 as well! This was crazy! A dishwasher isn't something that you just buy on a whim, usually you buy one because your old one had died or your remodeling the house. Either way you want it NOW. sigh

Ding-dong sales guy at big box hardware store #1 tried to talk me into buying a more expensive dishwasher but he didn't have much of a leg to stand on cuz that one had to be ordered too! Note to ding-dong: Upselling only works if you actually have the product in the store!

I ended up ordering the dishwasher online from home. After doing research online about what I wanted featurewise I went with a Maytag from Homedepot.com. It should be delivered on Saturday and hopefully DH can get it installed then cuz he goes out of town on Sunday and then I'll have to wait another week. handwashing is so boring. LOL!

Neosporin

Can you believe the weather we’ve been having this winter? It seems the country has had a flip flop for where the weather goes. Out here in Colorado it has been such a mild winter that our trees and plants have already all started budding out. I sure hope for their sakes that we don’t get a late snowfall cuz that will cause the trees to lose their branches.

At any rate Darly has been outside as much as possible playing with her friends, climbing trees and play structures. So far we haven’t had any injuries…YET! But I’m sure it’s coming…it’s a part of being a kid. Hey am I the only one who hoped that their kid would never have any cuts or scars? Yeah? Figures!

So are you ready for this spring and summer? Have you checked out your first aid kit to make sure all your stuff is up to date and not expired? If so, what is the expiration date of your anti-biotic ointment? If you haven’t, go check it now…I’ll wait… take a minute to investigate your medicine cabinet and prepare for the inevitable scrapes and cuts that outdoor activities bring. Ensure that you are armed with plenty of bandages and antibiotic ointment, such as NEOSPORIN®. Most importantly, be sure that all medicines and products are up-to-date and have not expired.

It turns out that 40% of homes have an expired topical antibiotic in the medicine cabinet, an important issue as some products may lose their effectiveness once they reach their expiration date. The folks at NEOSPORIN® invite you to investigate your first aid supplies and share with your readers via our next blog tour just how old your tubes of NEOSPORIN® are. We bet you might be surprised at some of the dates, and we invite you to ask your readers to check the expiration date on their tubes as well.

Well the good news is that I couldn’t find any expired medications in my first aid kit…the bad news is that I couldn’t find any of the medications in my first aid kit!!! :o I’m not sure what was up with my first aid kits but it looks as if the last person to use the Neosporin didn’t put it back. I know it was pretty old though.

I guess it is a good thing that I now have brand new NEOSPORIN® ointment and cream to put in my first aid kits for when we go to the park and camping this summer. I’m also excited to try out the new NEOSPORIN® Neo to Go! Spray.
And I’ve also had my first chance to try out my new Neo to Go! Spray. DH scraped his hand yesterday while working on the house. It was nice to be able to just spray the boo boo and then cover it up. Course then it was my turn to try it out as I burned my hand while cooking dinner. Pout!

I’m kinda excited to pop this in my first aid kit that I take to the park for us to use this summer.

more updates

well in the continuing gymnastics saga...  Darly admitted a few days after her class on the 12th that having Mr Coach wasn't too bad.  She actually liked that he had them working on flips...she just didn't want to do all the conditioning.

However, by yesterday (the 19th) she had changed her mind and DID NOT want Mr Coach.  And unfortunately Mr Coach had other ideas.  See at the same time as Darly's class there are two other groups classes of girls in the gym.  Last night the class level that is right above Darly's had only two girls show up.  That coach noticed that Mr Coach had too many girls when he combined his class with Darly's, so he asked Mr Coach if he should teach some of the girls...but Mr Coach is a stubborn knuckle head and told him no.  So Coach B had two girls and Mr Coach had 9.  sigh  This meant that all the girls in Mr Coach's class got to wait around for their turn instead of getting to spread out.
I'll be emailing Mr Coach later because this was a dumb idea on his part.  Darly spent her class planning a slow and painful death for Mr Coach.  I'm going to see if I can find a way to cc Mr Coach's boss too.

yes, I know that Darly picks up on my anger and frustration about this.  But I want my daughter to have a good time and learn the skills that she wants to learn.  I don't need her twisted by Mr Coach into a competition machine.  If we wanted to compete we would have moved to TX or OK where they have good coaches.

okay enough of that rant...for now. ;o)

yesterday Darly and I went to unload my dishwasher only to discover that the dishes in it were not clean.  Hummm I looked and found that not only were the dishes not clean they now all had dried on food.  :p  So I grabbed my Dawn Power Disolver and sprayed the worst looking ones and set the dishwasher up to run again.  but it didn't run.  It got a tiny bit of water in it and then it quit while making a something is stuck in the engine noise!  GrEAT!  so Darly got a lesson on how to wash dishes by hand.  I was washing the dishes along with Darly to try to get them done faster...we both ended up a bit wet, but we had fun.  When DH came home he just sighed and asked if I wanted a new dishwasher.  While it would be nice to finally have all my kitchen appliances be the same color (the dishwasher is the last of the black appliances left from the previous owner) we could really stand to not spend more money after all of DH's dental work.  But I did some research on dishwashers anyway.
I was really disappointed that even on the website for the manufacturer they did not include pictures of how the racks in the dishwasher are.  Instead they had a picture of the door and the controls.  Ummm hello?  I don't care what the controls look like...I want to see how you have the racks set up.

So now I get to drive over to Home Depot to look at dishwashers.  Although we will probably buy the dishwasher someplace else online. 

The gym saga continues...

I haven't been mentioning Darly's gymnastics gym much lately because things were going really well...her coach had been there for almost all of Feb. Well last week the coach was not there at all for Darly's class.

I think that I've mentioned that the only way any info gets passed at this gym is through the grapevine. So much of what we know is rumor. Well on Tuesday night I learned from a mother that our coach had taken another job with a major sports team in our area. I decided to pass this info to the gym's office manager who didn't know anything about it. Needless to say the management is not happy with the coach and I was told they are trying to replace her. It is just difficult to find a higher level recreational coach with a personality.

The Tuesday night class was coached by T who Darly didn't like. What didn't Darly like? LOL! She didn't like that when a girl fell off of the bar that T went to go spot her. This happened once when it was Darly's turn on the bar with T spotting and another girl fell off the other bar...so Darly had to wait...and then it happened again when Darly fell off the bar. Darly didn't appreciate being babied on the bar. sigh!

Thursday night Darly's class was added to the next level up's class. Darly absolutely HATES this coach. I'm not a fan either. He has the personality of...hummm what does he have the personality of? I guess it is safe to say that this coach doesn't have very good people skills. He has said many things that have upset the girls. However, last Thursday the class went really well except for one part. The coach set up an obstacle course to have the girls work on conditioning...only he had them run it until they were all out of breath. I was about to stick my head in and tell him to quit it, but Darly didn't give me any indication that she needed to stop. We talked and next time (if there is one) she'll give me a signal and I'll tell the coach to quit for her since she doesn't have the nerve to just go sit down. However, after they finished this he had them work on some skills that Darly needed to work on. But Coach no-personality only gives positive feedback if you get the skill 100% perfect...so I was trying to give Darly some kudos for getting her front handspring better than before.

Last night I decided I would look on the sports team websites and see if I could figure out what Darly's coach does for these teams. I wasn't able to find anything there so I googled her. I don't know why but she has a page on LinkedIn that list all her current jobs. and WOW this gal is busy! It turns out that she really only works for one company that has both the area sporting teams that she's working for...but she is doing two jobs for them. (neither job was close to anything the moms at the gym were spreading around! So I'll have to give them all the real deal tonight!) She also works as a receptionist for two other companies! So she is currently working 5 jobs. And while I get that she's young and probably needs the money all these jobs pull in, I don't understand taking a job that you KNOW will make you not be able to work at your other job...she did know that the sport team jobs would prevent her from being able to work at the gym. I think the only reason she still has her gym job is that they cannot find someone else to do the job. sigh! Perhaps the gym has begged her to not quit until they get someone else in there...I don't know. To me that seems like the only possible answer.

Thwarted again!

This weekend Darly was invited to a sleepover party. The party started around noon on Saturday and she wouldn't be home until after noon on Sunday.

One would think that this would be the perfect time for DH & I to have a little alone time.

However you would be WRONG!!!

Remember that trip to the dentist that DH took the other day? Well when they took his x-rays they noticed a black spot on the root of one of his teeth. And DH suddenly rembembers that this particular tooth has been bugging him lately. DH did go get a second opinion on his teeth on Friday and had his one crown replaced there at the visit. The second dentist also pointed out the spot on the root and recommended that he see an oral surgeon for a possible root canal.

By the time DH got home on Friday evening, he was miserable. And other than take pain killers he wasn't able to do anything because his dentist & oral surgeon were both closed for the weekend. sigh!

So DH was on a soft food diet and popping pain killers...as few as possible of course because one should never admit that you're really weak and in pain, so you just take enough to take the edge off! (NOT ME! if I'm in pain and I'm popping 4 or 5 of those babies!) So instead of taking enough motrin to make him feel comfortable, DH would take just one.

Instead of spending time alone with DH, he worked on our Tax return and we discussed his will. He also has me working on my will too.

What a lovely weekend!

DR headaches for DH

Today DH took off from work for two appointments.

His first appointment was to the dentist. This was the first time he used this dentist. He came home with an Estimate of stuff wrong with his mouth that could cost us close to $2,000. (that's our co-pay! our insurance gets to pay close to $5,000!) But DH thinks the guy is trying to rip him off because he only mentioned one cavity in the exam room but when the estimate came up there were two listed. The dentist also feels that DH should get his one tooth that has a rather large filling replaced with a crown (or whatever you call the procedure)...not because there is anything wrong with the tooth...but just because the tooth "could" break. DH isn't inclinded to do this because he has had this particular filling in the tooth for over 20 years and never had a problem with it. So since he feels the dentist might just be looking to pay for a new car he is getting a second opinion. I don't know if DH will follow my advice or not but I hope he does.

Then DH went to see the eye doctor. That went okay except the office overcharged him for the visit. He should have only paid $40, but they charged him $85. DH decides to call up the insurance company to straighten it out. They tell him to call the doctor's office. The doctor's office tells him that they couldn't bill the visit to his insurance because it was just a regular exam. DH calls the insurance because we are supposed to get an eye exam. The insurance tells him that YES we get an eye exam... call back to the Doctor's office... she can't figure this out...call back to the insurance...oh yeah, we switched vision coverage providers you need to tell them that it's now Sprectra...call to DR's office...now we need the member ID number...none of the numbers on our insurance card seem to work...call to insurance...that's because the number is this number minus the last two digits...call back to the DR office... FINALLY! it works, but because the credit card charge already went through they have to issue a check!

What a pain!

But Darly needs to see the eye doctor and probably the dentist too. We aren't going to that dentist, but will go to that eye doctor because we've seen her before. However, I know to NOT get charged the wrong price.

Smashing TVs - well not on purpose!

Tonight DH & I tried to get the 35 inch TV that a friend gave us out of my car and into the house.

While backing the car out of our driveway and back into the garage the TV flew into the back window of my car! Lucky that window is very strong (cuz I made it fly into it earlier).

We got the car turned around and then started trying to get the tv into the house. We had the tv completely out of the car and were doing good until we got to the stairs. I put my one foot on the stair and attempted to lift...and No go!

I've never seen my body totally refuse to do something like that. I didn't let the tv fall completely but it was really close. We got one corner on the stair and had to balance the TV on it for a bit to move the car and then set the TV on the garage floor.

I can move the tv all over the place now that it's on the strip of carpet...just can't lift it!

DH is going to ask some folks at work tomorrow if they'll help us get it in the house and set up.

I feel so weak!

The Mighty Queens of Freeville - Book Review

I was recently given the opportunity to read The Mighty Queens of Freeville by Amy Dickinson.

Here’s what the publisher had to say about the book…

Amy Dickinson is best known for her “Ask Amy” advice column and weekly contribution to NPR. She can now add author to her resume, and her book, The Mighty Queens of Freeville, is one that all women should add to their reading list. The moving book tells the story of Amy’s life as a divorced single mom. As she travels with her daughter across the country, often finding herself back in Freeville, the small town where she grew up and her family still lives, she poetically recounts her tales of love, loss, and life with wit and eloquence. The story, ultimately, is not just about Amy, but about the woman in her life “who have led small lives of great consequence in a tiny place.” This book will honestly have you both laughing and crying, while reminding you that, often, the best place to be is at home.

My take:

I found The Mighty Queens of Freeville an interesting read. It seems that the women in Amy’s family are doomed to be single mothers who overcome despite their circumstances. Amy shares with us the “warts and all” version of putting her life back together after her husband strands her in a foreign country for another woman. I found the strength of these women inspiring and the continual mistakes of the Ex-husbands to be humorous.

My workout rating: 40 minutes. ;)

I would like to thank the Moms at Mother Talk for the opportunity to read this book!

Carpet Fresh Carpet and Room Odor Eliminator - Review

Those of you who read my blog regularly know how busy our life is here. So anything that helps to make things easier/quicker/etc… is greedily accepted. I was recently asked to try out Carpet Fresh Carpet and Room Odor Eliminator. One stinky dog + two rabbits + work boots + snow boots + constantly running out the door to go do something else… well you can see that this came at the perfect time!



Advertised as:
The Solution for Busy Moms
As a busy mom, you know that keeping carpets smelling fresh is a tough job!

How it works

Carpet Fresh Quick-Dry Foam delivers odor-fighting agents deep into carpet fibers. The Quick-Dry Foam works without vacuuming and dries in minutes, leaving the entire room smelling fresh.

Key Features

Specially formulated odor-eliminators go deep into carpet fibers to eliminate trapped odors.
Light, quick-drying foam dries in minutes and will not leave a residue.
Safe to use around children and pets. Use as directed. (Aerosol products should not be used near birds.)

Versatility

Carpet Fresh Quick-Dry foam reaches places where air fresheners can’t, and also works great on washable fabrics, including drapes, car interiors and more.

Choose Your Fragrance
Carpet Fresh Carpet and Room Odor Eliminator Quick-Dry Foam is available in a wide array of fragrances.
Choose from:
Super Pet (light floral scent)
Morning Rain
Apple Cinnamon
Country Potpourri
Fresh Scent

Just spray and walk away!

To learn more about how Carpet Fresh Carpet and Room Odor Eliminator helps busy moms and to access our product locator please visit www.carpetfreshbrand.com/fresh-solutions There’s also a link to a coupon!

I got my hands on the Carpet Fresh Carpet and Room Odor Eliminator Morning Rain scent and first gave it a shot in the living room because the foam needs to disappear and dry before using the area. Well I was very surprised at how quickly the foam disappeared and dried (someone knows that busy folks don’t need to be waiting around for this stuff to work!) The scent is pleasant without being overpowering…a good thing in a house full of sensitive noses. And while it seemed like it might be difficult to keep everyone off the area while it dried, the quick drying action of the foam was dry in no time and we were able to use the area right away. So then I hit the dog's favorite sleeping spot, seeing as I wasn't in that room she didn't have any problem staying away (with the help of some plastic tote bins ;o) ) Once the area was dry she went right back to go rescent it. @@ Dogs just don't get that we don't want the house to smell like they do...sigh! I wonder if I can spray this on the dog?

Just kidding!

I would like to thank the Moms at Mom Central and Carpet Fresh for this opportunity!

Making my house smell yummy for someone else!

Sunday I was asked if I would make soup for tomorrow night's Soup Supper at my Church and I said I would. But then I had to figure out what soup to bring. I wanted something folks would eat, something not too hard to make and something that wasn't all that expensive.

My answer? Homemade Chicken Soup

And to make it less expensive I'm making my Chicken stock myself...which is making my entire house smell yummy. :p

I bought 1 almost 4 pound chicken - raw and two soup veggie bags. These are bags of just what you need to make soup...two carrots, two stalks of celery, one onion (unless there are two small ones) some potatoes and some turnips. I usually don't use the turnips, but the other veggies are all handy to have and it's much more convienient than having to buy an entire package of carrots & a whole thing of celery that will just go bad.

So right now I have my cut up chicken in the slow cooker simmering with one package of veggies...I decided that since this is just the stock that I would try it with the turnips. I'm going to let this keep cooking until later and these veggies have given up all the goodness they can. Then I'll let everything cool this evening so I can cut up the chicken tomorrow and not burn myself.

Tomorrow I'll put the other onion in the pot with some oil and cook it a bit, then add the carrots & celery and the chicken stock. Cook that until the veggies are done and add the Noodles to cook them. The chicken will go in last since it's already completely cooked. I might add a touch of garlic...I don't know yet.

DH wants to go to the Soup Supper because he wants to eat all the yummy soups. Darly doesn't like soup (weird kid!) so if we go, she'll bring a sandwich.

Quick Chick and Noodle Soup
Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray

Prep Time: 15 min Inactive Prep Time: 0 min Cook Time: 15 min Level:
Easy Serves:
2 quarts of soup, 4 big bowls
Ingredients
2 tablespoons (2 turns around the pan) extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
1 parsnip, peeled and chopped Omitted (didn't have any!)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
2 bay leaves, fresh or dried
Salt and pepper
6 cups good quality chicken stock (making it myself!)
1 pound (the average weight of 1 package) chicken breast tenders, diced (using the stock chicken)
1/2 pound wide egg noodles
A handful fresh parsley, chopped
A handful fresh dill, chopped
Directions
Place a large pot over moderate heat and add extra-virgin olive oil. Work close to the stove and add vegetables to the pot as you chop, in the order they are listed.
Add bay leaves and season vegetables with salt and pepper, to taste. Add stock to the pot and raise flame to bring liquid to a boil. Add diced chicken tenderloins, return soup to a boil, and reduce heat back to
moderate. Cook chicken 2 minutes and add noodles. Cook soup an additional 6 minutes or until noodles are tender and remove soup from the heat.
Stir in parsley and dill, remove bay leaves and serve. This is a thick soup. Add up to 2 cups of water if you like chicken soup with lots of broth.

note: since I'm using cooked chicken, I'm shuffling the recipe a bit.