With our time in Texas coming to an end, I decided that it might be time to start cleaning out the freezer. It's just a little freezer. How long can it take?
It turns out that a freezer is like a woman's purse. The inside is about 3 times larger than the outside. Where did this stuff come from? I don't like to cook and hate the grocery store so I'm perplexed but I have to figure out what to do with it all.
So...you are going to help find some ideas for making kid-friendly meals in the easiest ways possible, preferably with around 5 ingredients! No exotic food (that's to you, Carol) and we clearly are not vegetarians, so spare us the lentils and tofu.
Here are the contents of our freezer:
7 lbs. catfish fillets
2.4 lbs ground chuck
1 lb bacon
11 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 lbs smoked sausage
1 lb Jimmy Dean sausage
1 pkg Litl Smokies
2 boxes meatballs
2 fillet Mignon
3 lbs beef sirloin fillets
3.5 lbs beef strip loin
1.5 lbs ground beef patties
3.5 lbs hot dogs
5 lbs boneless pork chops
5 mini hot dogs
3 lbs frozen broccoli
3 lbs corn
1 bag steamed rice
1/2 bag chicken fries
5 lbs golden crinkles
4 lbs pizza rolls
2 boxes taquitos
1 pie crust
3 bags dinner rolls
2 lbs steam-N-mash
1 tray rolls
Feel free to post your suggestions as comments or send them via email...tiffanifortune@yahoo.com.
Thanks! Next week, cleaning out the pantry!!!
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Kingston upon Thames
Some info on our new town...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston_upon_Thames
http://www.kingston.gov.uk/default.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston_upon_Thames
http://www.kingston.gov.uk/default.htm
Monday, May 18, 2009
An Eye Twitch
Some of my favorite literary heroines get eye twitches during stressful events. I always thought this twitch was one of those tools authors use to spice up their writing, for example, rather than say, "He walked in the door and she got mad," it sounds more interesting to say, "He walked in the door and her eye began to twitch."
Lately, every time I hear the word "move", my left eye twitches. It twitches really bad when I type the word "move". I can hardly see right now. We may have to come up with a euphemism for move. (twitch, twitch)
After much debate and massive input from friends and family (which was mostly ignored), Kevin has chosen a house. Just as you may suspect, I am saying that KEVIN chose the house so that if I hate it, I can blame him. He is completely aware of this and I am expecting him to develop his own eye twitch any day now.
Drum roll, please....
Kevin chose the house in Kingston Upon Thames. That would be the 3rd house on our list. The little house. The one that is only 1635 square feet. The one that is closest to his job.
Being close to Kevin's job is a good idea but I don't know where we are going to put all of our stuff. We decided that the last time we lived in a place this small was when we lived in New Jersey (the 2nd time), around 12 years ago. Not only is there one more of us now, we are ALL bigger than we were then and we have SOOOO much more stuff!
But, being close to Kevin's job will mean that he is with us more, and that is very important. After all, if he had to spend 2 or more hours commuting every day, it would almost defeat the point of us moving there. Hmmmm....It is probably best to avoid that line of thinking.
We have not yet sold our current house (twitch, twitch) but we decided that we are going to leave the US the last week of June anyway. Our very small house in England will be ready for us July 1, so we may as well get going.
Speaking of our current house, I really want to know who in this world willingly makes their bed every morning? I am seriously considering moving our bedroom furniture into storage and throwing down some sleeping bags just to get out of making that bed every day. It is a huge bed but I don't really think it would matter. It's just not something I want to do first thing every day. It's like starting every day in the most boring way possible. What kind of day can you look forward to when it starts out like that?
And it really isn't all that easy to keep the house in "show condition" all the time. Any of the time. Ever.
Kevin and I have the same cleaning disorder, the one where the more we clean, the messier everything gets. Kevin spent most of the weekend "cleaning" the garage (ie., examining every item in the garage that he either forgot he owned or never knew he owned, cleaning it with the proper tools, disassembling it then throwing it away or giving it to Chris) while I spent most of the weekend further cleaning the office (ie., making sure that the 4 boxes of files that we are storing are all chronologically and alphabetically ordered and that all file folders have labels that are printed in the same font, Georgia 14, just like this blog).
I wonder why it takes us so long to get stuff done? Do you think the people who viewed the house today will understand why the disgusting toilet brush was soaking in the bathtub? I forgot to hide it because I found more folders to label!
OK, so I may have a twitching eye and hair that is falling out but, darn it, if we ever get audited by the IRS, they are going to be very impressed with my filing system!
Lately, every time I hear the word "move", my left eye twitches. It twitches really bad when I type the word "move". I can hardly see right now. We may have to come up with a euphemism for move. (twitch, twitch)
After much debate and massive input from friends and family (which was mostly ignored), Kevin has chosen a house. Just as you may suspect, I am saying that KEVIN chose the house so that if I hate it, I can blame him. He is completely aware of this and I am expecting him to develop his own eye twitch any day now.
Drum roll, please....
Kevin chose the house in Kingston Upon Thames. That would be the 3rd house on our list. The little house. The one that is only 1635 square feet. The one that is closest to his job.
Being close to Kevin's job is a good idea but I don't know where we are going to put all of our stuff. We decided that the last time we lived in a place this small was when we lived in New Jersey (the 2nd time), around 12 years ago. Not only is there one more of us now, we are ALL bigger than we were then and we have SOOOO much more stuff!
But, being close to Kevin's job will mean that he is with us more, and that is very important. After all, if he had to spend 2 or more hours commuting every day, it would almost defeat the point of us moving there. Hmmmm....It is probably best to avoid that line of thinking.
We have not yet sold our current house (twitch, twitch) but we decided that we are going to leave the US the last week of June anyway. Our very small house in England will be ready for us July 1, so we may as well get going.
Speaking of our current house, I really want to know who in this world willingly makes their bed every morning? I am seriously considering moving our bedroom furniture into storage and throwing down some sleeping bags just to get out of making that bed every day. It is a huge bed but I don't really think it would matter. It's just not something I want to do first thing every day. It's like starting every day in the most boring way possible. What kind of day can you look forward to when it starts out like that?
And it really isn't all that easy to keep the house in "show condition" all the time. Any of the time. Ever.
Kevin and I have the same cleaning disorder, the one where the more we clean, the messier everything gets. Kevin spent most of the weekend "cleaning" the garage (ie., examining every item in the garage that he either forgot he owned or never knew he owned, cleaning it with the proper tools, disassembling it then throwing it away or giving it to Chris) while I spent most of the weekend further cleaning the office (ie., making sure that the 4 boxes of files that we are storing are all chronologically and alphabetically ordered and that all file folders have labels that are printed in the same font, Georgia 14, just like this blog).
I wonder why it takes us so long to get stuff done? Do you think the people who viewed the house today will understand why the disgusting toilet brush was soaking in the bathtub? I forgot to hide it because I found more folders to label!
OK, so I may have a twitching eye and hair that is falling out but, darn it, if we ever get audited by the IRS, they are going to be very impressed with my filing system!
Friday, May 15, 2009
What Did She Say?
Teenagers. Grrrrr....I can't understand a word my daughter says. If she isn't mumbling, she's talking faster than the speed of light. Even when she does speak in an audible voice and at a normal rate, most of the time, she still doesn't make sense.
This morning, some time before 6 am, as I am denying that it is time to get up, the teenager in question comes roaring into our bedroom in a panic. "The power went out!", she shouts and runs out of the room.
Rolling over, I mumbled to Kevin, "What did she say? The power is out? It can't be out. The lights are on."
Kevin grunts.
As the teenager continues her panicked rant (No power means no flat iron. No flat iron means no perfect hair. No perfect hair means bad day for all.), I stumble across the landing and into the kid's apartment. Sure enough, a flip of the switch confirms her story. There is no power on that side of the house.
Teenager continues flailing around while I stumble back to my room to get Kevin to check the breaker box. While I'm dragging Kevin out the bed, teenager decides to be proactive and fix the breaker herself. The door opens, shuts and then opens again a few seconds later.
I shouted down the stairs, "Dad will fix it," and heard her shout back very calmly, "Good. There's a possum in the pool."
What? "Kevin, did she say there was a possum in the pool?" Kevin grunts.
Maybe my brain just delivered the wrong translation. "What?" I shouted.
"A-possum-in-the-pool," she over-articulates, slowly, as if I am dim as well as deaf.
I trip down the stairs, still half asleep, and peek out the window. (I'm no idiot. I won't go outside until I do a little recon.)
Guess what? There was a possum in the pool. Here is the pictorial proof.
This morning, some time before 6 am, as I am denying that it is time to get up, the teenager in question comes roaring into our bedroom in a panic. "The power went out!", she shouts and runs out of the room.
Rolling over, I mumbled to Kevin, "What did she say? The power is out? It can't be out. The lights are on."
Kevin grunts.
As the teenager continues her panicked rant (No power means no flat iron. No flat iron means no perfect hair. No perfect hair means bad day for all.), I stumble across the landing and into the kid's apartment. Sure enough, a flip of the switch confirms her story. There is no power on that side of the house.
Teenager continues flailing around while I stumble back to my room to get Kevin to check the breaker box. While I'm dragging Kevin out the bed, teenager decides to be proactive and fix the breaker herself. The door opens, shuts and then opens again a few seconds later.
I shouted down the stairs, "Dad will fix it," and heard her shout back very calmly, "Good. There's a possum in the pool."
What? "Kevin, did she say there was a possum in the pool?" Kevin grunts.
Maybe my brain just delivered the wrong translation. "What?" I shouted.
"A-possum-in-the-pool," she over-articulates, slowly, as if I am dim as well as deaf.
I trip down the stairs, still half asleep, and peek out the window. (I'm no idiot. I won't go outside until I do a little recon.)
Guess what? There was a possum in the pool. Here is the pictorial proof.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Mother's Day 2009
Happy Mother's Day!
Since Kevin has been in London for 2 weeks and just returned last night, today is an even more rewarding Mother's Day. What better gift could I have than being able to say, "Go ask your dad."?
OK, there is one better gift. Some time alone. Just me, alone at home, with the dog and all my favorite toys. Doesn't that sound wonderful?
Men and kids don't understand this desire to be alone, though. They had planned to take me to see the new Star Trek movie which they know I want to see. (This is much better than the year they took me bowling. Bowling? Does that sound like something I would want to do on Mother's Day?) Going to the movies is a good idea but do you know who else goes to the movies on Mother's Day? Right, other families. Families = kids = lots of little people that I probably know. I adore all my students but I don't really want to hang out with them on Mother's Day. Got the picture?
So, I sent Kevin and the kids off to the movies and decided to spend this quiet time blogging (and bragging) about my Mother's Day gift.
My hubby has a very strong desire to buy me jewelry for every event. Since I don't wear much jewelry (don't even have my wedding ring on right now), and since he and I have very different tastes in jewelry, I placed a "NO Jewelry" restriction on all gifts a few years ago. Instead of abiding by my wishes, he has made it his life's endeavor to "fairly" circumvent the rules. Sneaky man.
This year, my Mother's Day gift is not jewelry, oh no, no breaking the rules in this family. It is a flash drive. Can he help it that the flash drive is encased in a beautiful Swarovsky encrusted, heart-shaped pendant? It is tech, NOT jewelry. Whatever. It's a pretty darn good gift!
This is not t
he first non-jewelry gift I have gotten. It seems we may have started a trend. The first was also a pendant and much more girly.
As my previous blog posts have shown, I am not the only one who enjoys interesting gadgets, though. Kevin finds plenty of opportunities to sate his desire for the unseen, unusual, and sometimes useless! His poker buddies are never far from his mind w
hen he keeps this poker chip USB drive in his pocket. We are all waiting for the time when he will try to play it!
One more Mother's Day is almost behind us and I have another gift planned for myself tonight. When Kevin and the kids get home from the movies, I'm sending them to do the grocery shopping! See, Kevin, I can be sneaky, too!
Since Kevin has been in London for 2 weeks and just returned last night, today is an even more rewarding Mother's Day. What better gift could I have than being able to say, "Go ask your dad."?
OK, there is one better gift. Some time alone. Just me, alone at home, with the dog and all my favorite toys. Doesn't that sound wonderful?
Men and kids don't understand this desire to be alone, though. They had planned to take me to see the new Star Trek movie which they know I want to see. (This is much better than the year they took me bowling. Bowling? Does that sound like something I would want to do on Mother's Day?) Going to the movies is a good idea but do you know who else goes to the movies on Mother's Day? Right, other families. Families = kids = lots of little people that I probably know. I adore all my students but I don't really want to hang out with them on Mother's Day. Got the picture?
So, I sent Kevin and the kids off to the movies and decided to spend this quiet time blogging (and bragging) about my Mother's Day gift.
My hubby has a very strong desire to buy me jewelry for every event. Since I don't wear much jewelry (don't even have my wedding ring on right now), and since he and I have very different tastes in jewelry, I placed a "NO Jewelry" restriction on all gifts a few years ago. Instead of abiding by my wishes, he has made it his life's endeavor to "fairly" circumvent the rules. Sneaky man.
This year, my Mother's Day gift is not jewelry, oh no, no breaking the rules in this family. It is a flash drive. Can he help it that the flash drive is encased in a beautiful Swarovsky encrusted, heart-shaped pendant? It is tech, NOT jewelry. Whatever. It's a pretty darn good gift!
This is not t
he first non-jewelry gift I have gotten. It seems we may have started a trend. The first was also a pendant and much more girly.As my previous blog posts have shown, I am not the only one who enjoys interesting gadgets, though. Kevin finds plenty of opportunities to sate his desire for the unseen, unusual, and sometimes useless! His poker buddies are never far from his mind w
hen he keeps this poker chip USB drive in his pocket. We are all waiting for the time when he will try to play it!One more Mother's Day is almost behind us and I have another gift planned for myself tonight. When Kevin and the kids get home from the movies, I'm sending them to do the grocery shopping! See, Kevin, I can be sneaky, too!
Thursday, May 7, 2009
A Place to Live
No, we haven't sold our house yet but we have already started shopping for a house in London. This evening, while I was still trying sleep off the remainders of a whopping migraine, Kevin called and gave Taylor the latest "perfect house". This is the 3rd perfect house that Kevin has found.
The second house was a surprising find but quickly went to the top of my list. It is located in the town of Leatherhead. (Any of you old guys listen to the group called The Choir back in the 80s? "Walking down Kingston Road, in the little town of
Leatherhead. Guess I'm on my own, though I will never be alone..." Yes, it is THAT Leatherhead!)
This house has 5 bedrooms and is bigger than others in our price range, but still not as big as our current house. Kevin's trip would be a little longer and we might have to re-prioritize our school list but at least all of our stuff will fit in it!
Today, Kevin's latest
perfect house made me roll my eyes at first but it has some redeeming points. On the down side, it is tiny. Only 1635 square feet. That is almost half the size of our current house. On the up side, it is really, REALLY close to Kevin's work.
What do you think? Click on each picture to discover more information about each house and give us your opinion.
The first perfect house is/was a bungalow in Weybridge. I like the house ju
st fine and it is close to one of the schools on our list and a reasonable trip on the train to Kevin's office. Kevin, however isn't really WOW'd by the house so he continues the search.
st fine and it is close to one of the schools on our list and a reasonable trip on the train to Kevin's office. Kevin, however isn't really WOW'd by the house so he continues the search.The second house was a surprising find but quickly went to the top of my list. It is located in the town of Leatherhead. (Any of you old guys listen to the group called The Choir back in the 80s? "Walking down Kingston Road, in the little town of
Leatherhead. Guess I'm on my own, though I will never be alone..." Yes, it is THAT Leatherhead!)This house has 5 bedrooms and is bigger than others in our price range, but still not as big as our current house. Kevin's trip would be a little longer and we might have to re-prioritize our school list but at least all of our stuff will fit in it!
Today, Kevin's latest
perfect house made me roll my eyes at first but it has some redeeming points. On the down side, it is tiny. Only 1635 square feet. That is almost half the size of our current house. On the up side, it is really, REALLY close to Kevin's work.What do you think? Click on each picture to discover more information about each house and give us your opinion.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
How Many Google Searches Does it Take to Clean Out the Garage?
We all hate articles that begin with disclaimers but, for the health of my marriage, I must make one. I met my husband in 1974 and my life has never been the same, which is true since I don't really remember much of life before then. We have been married for 16 years and I have never loved him as much as I do right now.
But, alas, he has let me down. It's all about the garage. Remember the picture from a previous post? The Sandford and Sons garage? Yes, Kevin is both Sandford and his son.
Earlier this week, with our Open House quickly approaching and Kevin in London, I decided to take on the garage. That's right, just me and the garage. Winner takes all. The story goes something like this...
Prologue...In the married people world the word "our" has many meanings. By virtue of being husband and wife, officially, everything is "ours". Our house, our mortgage, our bills, our furniture, etc. But we all know better than that, right? For example, everyone within a 200 mile radius understands that when I say "our office", I really mean "my office". The same goes for "our boat"...the boat that I have only seen one time and have no idea where it is currently located. Definitely "his".
It probably goes without saying that "our garage" is really a space that belongs to Kevin. I think the only thing out there that can be considered real community property is the freezer. And, no, our cars don't fit in the garage.
Chapter 1: Everything in its place - The process for moving overseas starts with analyzing every possession in order to determine its future. What is going with us, what is going into storage and what is just going. The first sweep is mostly stuff that needs to go. But where do you put all your "stuff" when your house goes on the market? In the past, we have used the guest room or the office as a dumping ground but can't do that this time. I guess that is how the garage got so stuffed.
Or, maybe not. Maybe the truth is that we just own too much crap and are way too disorganized to handle it all.
So, to get control of the garage, I needed to apply an analytical strategy. How hard can this be? It's a square space, after all, so grab the graph paper and the measuring tape and lets get it done.
Chapter 2: What is it? - So maybe it isn't going to be that easy. I started to get a sense of why Kevin was avoiding this job. It's totally overwhelming. What IS this stuff? How can I organize it if I don't know what it is?
A plan! A plan! I need a plan!
The Plan
Step one: Line up and label boxes by category.
Step two: Decide which category an item belongs in and place in correct box.
OK. That's a good start. Hmmmm....if it is Benelli, Beretta, Winchester or Remington, it goes into the "gun stuff" box. But what about this thing (brand new) that is Remington brand but says it is a dehumidifier? Better go look that one up. Turns out, it is a dehumidifier for a gun safe. I guess it is fair to assume that the big safe looking thing on the wall is a gun safe. Wonder what's in it?
Moving on, all the fishing stuff goes into the "fishing stuff" box. Should I make different boxes for fly fishing, bass fishing, off-shore fishing, crab fishing, etc.? What about fishing clothing? Would he notice if I donated all those hideous, old man, Columbia fishing shirts? What about the vests that he insists on wearing with those lame Gilligan hats? Maybe not. I think my grandfather gave him some of those hats and I can't part with those.
Where do I put this thing? It looks like a scuba diving regulator. When was the last time Kevin went diving? Better put that in a box by itself.
Down toward the bottom of the pile, we discovered the golf stuff. Are those MY golf clubs? OMG, where did all these golf balls come from? Has Kevin been secretly scuba diving in the water hazards?
PAINT! How much paint does one family need? We have 18 gallons, 17 quarts and 21 cans of spray paint. Yikes! Anyone need some paint?
Chapter 3: Deciding when to give up - After 3 trips to the storage building and only 2 hours before our open house, I decided it was time to be satisfied with the mess being just a little less messy and throw in the towel. We still couldn't get a car in but at least we can get our bikes out. Plus, I now know what is in the garage, sort of.
Chapter 4: Confession-I really hate to admit that there was a lot of yelling happening during this whole story. That would be me yelling at anyone brave enough to pass in front of me. The kids have had enough experience with my moments to know that the wise thing to do is stay out of target range but I feel a little bad for the guy who was showing the house. Well, maybe he appreciates his own wife a little more after listening to me rail.
Epilogue: There is still much work to be done on the garage but I think I will leave it for when Kevin comes home. I wonder if he will notice that it looks a little different. I wonder if he will mind.
Jackson suggested that we put it all back the way it was before he comes home. That boy has an evil mind.
But, alas, he has let me down. It's all about the garage. Remember the picture from a previous post? The Sandford and Sons garage? Yes, Kevin is both Sandford and his son.
Earlier this week, with our Open House quickly approaching and Kevin in London, I decided to take on the garage. That's right, just me and the garage. Winner takes all. The story goes something like this...
Prologue...In the married people world the word "our" has many meanings. By virtue of being husband and wife, officially, everything is "ours". Our house, our mortgage, our bills, our furniture, etc. But we all know better than that, right? For example, everyone within a 200 mile radius understands that when I say "our office", I really mean "my office". The same goes for "our boat"...the boat that I have only seen one time and have no idea where it is currently located. Definitely "his".
It probably goes without saying that "our garage" is really a space that belongs to Kevin. I think the only thing out there that can be considered real community property is the freezer. And, no, our cars don't fit in the garage.
Chapter 1: Everything in its place - The process for moving overseas starts with analyzing every possession in order to determine its future. What is going with us, what is going into storage and what is just going. The first sweep is mostly stuff that needs to go. But where do you put all your "stuff" when your house goes on the market? In the past, we have used the guest room or the office as a dumping ground but can't do that this time. I guess that is how the garage got so stuffed.
Or, maybe not. Maybe the truth is that we just own too much crap and are way too disorganized to handle it all.
So, to get control of the garage, I needed to apply an analytical strategy. How hard can this be? It's a square space, after all, so grab the graph paper and the measuring tape and lets get it done.
Chapter 2: What is it? - So maybe it isn't going to be that easy. I started to get a sense of why Kevin was avoiding this job. It's totally overwhelming. What IS this stuff? How can I organize it if I don't know what it is?
A plan! A plan! I need a plan!
The Plan
Step one: Line up and label boxes by category.
Step two: Decide which category an item belongs in and place in correct box.
OK. That's a good start. Hmmmm....if it is Benelli, Beretta, Winchester or Remington, it goes into the "gun stuff" box. But what about this thing (brand new) that is Remington brand but says it is a dehumidifier? Better go look that one up. Turns out, it is a dehumidifier for a gun safe. I guess it is fair to assume that the big safe looking thing on the wall is a gun safe. Wonder what's in it?
Moving on, all the fishing stuff goes into the "fishing stuff" box. Should I make different boxes for fly fishing, bass fishing, off-shore fishing, crab fishing, etc.? What about fishing clothing? Would he notice if I donated all those hideous, old man, Columbia fishing shirts? What about the vests that he insists on wearing with those lame Gilligan hats? Maybe not. I think my grandfather gave him some of those hats and I can't part with those.
Where do I put this thing? It looks like a scuba diving regulator. When was the last time Kevin went diving? Better put that in a box by itself.
Down toward the bottom of the pile, we discovered the golf stuff. Are those MY golf clubs? OMG, where did all these golf balls come from? Has Kevin been secretly scuba diving in the water hazards?
PAINT! How much paint does one family need? We have 18 gallons, 17 quarts and 21 cans of spray paint. Yikes! Anyone need some paint?
Chapter 3: Deciding when to give up - After 3 trips to the storage building and only 2 hours before our open house, I decided it was time to be satisfied with the mess being just a little less messy and throw in the towel. We still couldn't get a car in but at least we can get our bikes out. Plus, I now know what is in the garage, sort of.
Chapter 4: Confession-I really hate to admit that there was a lot of yelling happening during this whole story. That would be me yelling at anyone brave enough to pass in front of me. The kids have had enough experience with my moments to know that the wise thing to do is stay out of target range but I feel a little bad for the guy who was showing the house. Well, maybe he appreciates his own wife a little more after listening to me rail.
Epilogue: There is still much work to be done on the garage but I think I will leave it for when Kevin comes home. I wonder if he will notice that it looks a little different. I wonder if he will mind.
Jackson suggested that we put it all back the way it was before he comes home. That boy has an evil mind.
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