Around Here

I logged 8 total blog entries in blog-happy January. Feeling guilty for spending so much time blogging, meant that I put myself in blog time-out for the remainder of the month. It's February now, which means that...I'm baaaaacccckk!

We've had a few hiccups around here in the last few weeks of January {really, the last few months if I'm being honest, but I won't go into all of that}. Ben's truck was recently diagnosed with a leaky water pump. Rather than shelling out the astronomical amount of money the dealership wanted us to pay, we put a band-aid on the problem {i.e. filled it up with coolant} and decided to wait until we found a better price to fix it. They also warned us that it would be in need of a brake job in the very near future. Why is right when you are getting close to paying off a vehicle is when it starts to break down?

On Friday, Ben went for a bike ride after work. He's found mountain biking to be a fun and challenging form of exercise and a nice stress outlet. We recently added clip in bike pedals and he just purchased a new pair of mountain bike cleats {in fact he was really still getting used to them and adjusting them to the right tightness}. He headed out to the Red Bug Trail at Elinor-Klapp Phipps Park, which was a bit more challenging than the Munson Trail he's been riding. The trail beat him up to say the least. At one point he tipped over and couldn't get his cleat out of the clips fast enough. He pushed himself back up with his right hand and heard two pops in his thumb. Apparently, he took the brunt of his weight on his thumb and sprained it pretty good. At first he thought, "oh crap", then he wiggled it around and it felt fine, so he proceeded on. By the time he got home, the thumb had swollen up. I later discovered a nice big scrape on his elbow and a baseball sized bruise on his left hip {which he was trying to hide from me}. He went to urgent care over the weekend and had it x-rayed and they told him to keep doing what he was doing {R.I.C.E} and if it wasn't better after 3-4 days to call the doctor. When it didn't feel better by Sunday night, he decided to cancel his Monday and Tuesday appointments and go see an orthopedist for further investigation. We are now awaiting his MRI results and hoping he won't have a Stener Lesion {which is basically a torn or ruptured ligament} which requires surgery to fix. He's had this same thumb injury {called Gamekeepers Thumb or Skiers Thumb} back in his Trojan football days {he'd been totally mortified to know that I just checked and am now going to boast that he still holds the school record for longest interception return - they have the year wrong though, he was not in high school in 1983}. He wore a cast for about 3 weeks and it was all better. Let's just hope and pray that is all that it takes! For now he's pretty useless at work and at home {it's hard to bathe children or wash dishes with bum thumb}. He's keeping busy with some admin stuff at work that needs to be done, but he's itching to get these results and figure out when he can go back to work {and working out}.

Among other great fiascoes, our washing machine decided to dump a whole tub of water on the laundry room floor on Sunday night. Luckily, we had a wet/dry shop vac that helped suck up the water and it was a good opportunity to remove that lint, dust and dog hair buildup that had found its way to the nether regions of our laundry room floor {I have such a knack for finding the positive in every situation, don't I?}. My mom came to the rescue with a printed list of instructions from the Internet on fixing our washing machine, so we wouldn't have to purchase a new one {do you see a trend of trying not to spending money, here?}. Turns out, I had just washed some pillows and odd items that caused the spillage and there wasn't anything functionally wrong with the machine. Good save, MOM!

I'm a little torn on the outcome of this event. Between the time that I had thought the washer was kaput and when it resumed washing, I researched and found this Samsung washer and matching dryer and developed quite an affinity. Best Buy even has 0% financing for up to 2 years, which makes the deal even more enticing. I'm dreaming of the space saving and organization that I can do in my laundry room with this washer/dryer combo! For now, I will just covet and bide my time until they can be mine!

Needless to say, we will get through this rough patch {with lots of prayers and positive thinking}. We have a lot to be thankful for, like the two happy, healthy children that fill up our love tanks when we are running on fumes. I just love how angelic they both look in this photo. Makes you think that they can do no wrong, right?

Speaking of the little ones, I don't know about you, but meal times at my house are more than stressful. They are downright run-amok insanity! Usually, I'm trying to cook while Paige is fussing to be picked up or she is pulling everything out of the cabinets. I'm tripping over stuff and the dog left and right while I try not to catch the house on fire. Meanwhile, Jack is watching a movie or playing a game and is constantly calling me to do something, "I'm thirsty!", "I need a snack!", "Can you press play?", "Can you help me with this?", "Mom, come see this!", "Paige is turning off the TV!". I'm usually running around like a chicken with my head cut off. After we all get settled to eat and I pour a big glass of wine {which takes a lifetime in itself to pee, wash hands, get everyone's food and drink, change cups, pick a prayer, pray, cheers, etc, etc}, Paige is making a mess, Jack won't eat, Paige gets up to play, Jack wants to go play, Paige starts pulling at me to get up and play and madness ensues. It's enough to make anyone throw in the towel and head to Chick-fil-A. Even the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. So, I find myself more and more trying to pick quick and easy meals that everyone will love. One of my favorite easy weeknight dinner options is homemade pizza. It's not as hard as it sounds and it's more nutritional {and cheaper} than Pizza Hut delivery and far tastier than DiGiorno. But since I don't really even care too much for pizza {strange because Italian is one of my favorite foods}, I sometimes opt for a yummy Cheeseburger Pizza instead. Believe me when I say, that I realize this isn't gourmet by any means, I'm simply sharing because it is good and easy.

First purchase a premade pizza dough. I prefer Publix dough in the bakery department {they even make a delicious multigrain option}, but if you don't have Publix or maybe they are out, then Pillsbury will do in a pinch.

Now get the rest of your toppings:

Cheeseburger Pizza

Pizza dough

1 lb. ground beef

1 8 oz. can tomato sauce {ketchup can be substituted}

1 c. of Monterey Jack shredded cheese, divided

2 Roma tomatoes

Sliced kosher dill pickles {I prefer Claussen Sandwich Slices}, diced

Yellow mustard

Thousand Island dressing for dipping

Preheat oven according to package instructions. Brown the ground beef and drain on paper towels. Pat and shape dough to desired thickness according to package directions on a well greased baking sheet. Spoon about one-half to two-thirds of the tomato sauce evenly over dough, leaving a 1" border around edges. Sprinkle about 1/2 c. of cheese over sauce. Top with ground beef, tomatoes and diced pickles. Top with remaining cheese and squirt desired amount of mustard over the top. Bake according to time instructions on dough. Serve with Thousand Island dressing dipping sauce.

Clearly it is a favorite at our house!