Let's Party - Happy Homemaker Monday

Welcome, come on inside my world for a bit. 

This is a new to me blog and I plan to visit and post random thoughts, photos, recipes and whatever I feel along my journey. Come on along and stay for a cup of coffee and a cinnamon roll fresh from the oven. I have been visiting your blogs for several years and I enjoy every single one of them!

 ~jackiesee~

I am joining Sandra over at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom Blog for her Monday Series

HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY

and following her prompts posted on her Happy Homemaker posts.

However, I am not an early morning person,

so I am writing my post sitting here on a late  Sunday Night

while I journal, recover and rest.

The Weather:

Typical for February here in the Ozarks.  Tonight we have spotty rain. Again we find ourselves on the edge of a rain storm which is typical for our part of the Ozarks. 

It might rain, it might not, it might rain a little, it might not.

As I look outside my window:

It is 62°, strong winds blowing from the south making our flags stand straight out, and the pond is white capping. I love looking out my dining room window and watching the reflections of the security lights and moon across the water.  The three flag poles are especially pretty at night.

Right now I am:

I am in full healing and maintaining mode. I had a terrible night, preceded by horrible days. Standing up rocking back and forth on m feet. My body frozen with my muscles and tendons locked so bad I could not swallow or comfortably breathe. At two different times I thought about the emergency room. But I hung in there and about 6 am I could lay down and finally swallow and breathe enough to not tingle everywhere. My oxygen level stayed at 99% so I knew I was getting air but my chest and airway were so dry and stiff I felt like I was choking.  I thank Jesus, Mother Mary, and God for giving me the mental strength to not panic and for bringing me healing. I know that I WILL have a better day tomorrow. Fibromyalgia sucks. Period.

Thinking and pondering:

How our lives have changed since our daughter died in June. Not just the loss but the physical changes that have greatly effected us.  Some say it was the covid virus, the vaccines, the dirty air, etc.  But both myself and my husband have had a big change in our stamina, sleep, appetite, patience, and ambition.

On my bedside table:

I am sitting at my dining room table looking out my windows hoping for some rain from a storm very close by. My table has been turned into my desk, with two plants seeking more sunshine, puffs with lotion, pepto-bismol tablets, my journal and a macrame plant hanger that I cannot decide where to hang.  My night stand only has a lamp, tissues, and a bottle of water.

On my TV today:

I watch very little television. I do try to catch a press conference, speech, or something to our security. I hate politics, paid political opinions, and think that the networks have pushed too much sexual content for a long time.  I wish I could get into watching Vlogs but after 40 years as a clerical support person I find staring at computer screen very boring.  I do however sometimes listen to cooking you tube videos and music concerts on my beats headphones.

Listening to:

Nothing but ringing in my ears since this fibro flare started. Annoying. Tomorrow will be better, I know.

On the lunch plate:

toast earlier

On the dinner plate:

I can't plan my weeks meals by day. I use to when we worked and had a regular schedule. But being semi-retired and old, we now eat whenever we close out our outside day and come together in the late afternoon or evening. I deal with nausea, so some days I cook when I can and what I can and just put it in the fridge to be eaten whenever. I also cook for my Mom who is in a nursing home and needs her foods fixed her way.

Yesterday I made, for the first time, short ribs from our beef we bought last fall.  I hated to throw any part of the beef away so I had them cut it all up.  I followed Paula Deens process but used my own spices. The broth was delicious and the carrots were beyond good.  However, we found the short ribs very greasy, fatty, and a lot to dig though to find the beef.  We ate a few. Then I ended up cleaning and chopping only to find a small amount of beef meat. I decided next recipe I will try making a bone broth from the cooking process. Then i will strain the liquids, chill it and remove the fat then use it for a soup.

On the dinner menu this week:

If we go out:

Gebhardts Fried Chicken on Monday (dinner out) Afterall it is Noodle Monday!!!!

Papas Pizza $10.99 on Tuesday

Meat: 

Steak Sirloin, shrimp; bacon, tuna, pork chops, beef tips, lean ground beef (spaghetti?)

Main dish ideas:

Spaghetti, onion bombs, marinated steak, grilled shrimp or shrimp scampi, pork chops grilled with grilled vegetables, beef tips in gravy

Sides: 

macaroni and cheese with bacon, zucchini, beets, green beans and new potatoes, onion rings, roasted mini peppers, cucumbers in vinegar or with italian dressing or pasta salad without pasta, apples, hoping for strawberries pork chops?

Homemade hot rolls for the beef tips?

Skillet Corn Bread for

Appetizers or Brunch:

Lil Smokies with bacon and bbq sauce

ham, turkey and cheese roll ups

potato skins with cheese, bacon, onion

I want to make some skillet bread, a recipe I got from a blog friend - A Pioneer Womam at Heart.

I need to make another chocolate cake for my brother, and another for my mom and us.

I have home made pie dough in the freezer so maybe try my hand at handpies?

On my reading pile:

Recipe blogs, Pinterest, having a hard time wearing my glasses for long.

On my to-do list:

Play with  this new blog

Take Mom her deliveries and food

Take more photos

Cook more stuff I enjoy making

Bake more stuff I enjoy baking

Slow down, the world is moving so fast

Try to enjoy my camera

Plans for the week:

None.  My brothers birthday is in a few days. He wants no party, no dinner out, no company. We already gave him a Bday present, a KC chiefs Super Bowl shirt and a yetti mug. I will bake him a chocolate cake and take it him and then come home.

What I am creating:

Plants, I love my plants.  I recently found some very small bottle with twist lids and used them to hold small plant cuttings.  I have zip loc bags and bags and more bags of my Mom's jewelry. It is a lot of inexpensive, mostly Avon, costume stuff that has knots, needs to be cleaned, and anything made with floss, cord or string is snapping and beads and charms are everywhere.  I have been trying to come up with an idea to use them. So I dropped some beads, dangles, and charms into a very small glass bottle with a twist lid. I set them on the window sills and they were pretty. I have so many trimmings off my plants that I removed the lids and added spider plant babies and english ivy babies. I love them.

My simple pleasures:

Feeling good, having energy, being able to concentrate.  I try hard overcome a lot to reach these goals. Soft clothes, beat sound blocking headphones with music, soft blankets. 

Looking around the house:

Not sure. I have only a few soft lights on, on purpose, until I feel better, thehubs is in charge. Pray for him, please.

From the Camera:

Bible Verse - Devotional:

NOTE: Happy Monday morning!  We had no damage from the winds last night and no rain either.  The wind is blowing and it is 62℉ with sunshine. I am staying inside today, resting.  Thank you for joining the party!