Just So You Know

Over the next few days (which in real people time will probably equal out to weeks, but in my crazy bar time..I mean days) I will be attempting a redecorating and vamping of my blog. And just so you know, I'm not exactly a wiz when it comes to this type of stuff, so it will take a little while, and will probably look odd for my first couple of attempts. Just stick with me. And hopefully this blog will be a lot easier to navigate, as well as have places for all my fun information. Thanks!

Cookin' Up a Storm

I know you all have been awaiting what was on the books last week for our dinners. So here's what we had (and even if you weren't waiting to take a look into our new favorite meals, too bad. You're still gonna see...that is, if you continue reading. Which I hope you do.)


Sunday:
           entree: grilled steaks
           sides: corn on the cob and grilled veggies

Monday:
            entree: teryaki beef shiskabobs
            sides: baked potatoes

Tuesday:
            entree: meatloaf
            sides: mashed potatoes and veggies

Wednesday:
                 entree: chicken bot boi

Thursday:
              entree: crockpot Italian chicken and pasta

Friday:
         entree: philly stuffed peppers
         sides: fajita rice

Saturday:
             left overs

Looks tasty. Right? Well it was. So be jealous.

I feel like I'm getting really good at this meal planning thing. It would be super fantastic if my schedules were made more than 2 weeks at a time, that way I could maybe plan a whole month at one time. Then, instead of going to the store once a week (which just to be frank can give me a huge headache. I'm there for at least an hour just so I can find the best deals) I can go on one big shopping spree in the beginning of the month. And speaking of all of that, now that I'm getting good at planning the food...somebody PLEASE help me to find the best deals. Where do you go to shop, where do you go to get coupons.....anything that helps, share your knowledge. I've been doing pretty well in keeping our costs down, but any way I can lower it even more, the better it will be! Please, and thank you!








  

Our Three Leg Dog

As promised, here is the update on Rascal (my dog, who resides with my parents). Just to update everyone who might not have seen my last post. Friday morning we found out that at some point Rascal had sprained his ankle. So after being prescribed some meds, Mom loaded him back into her car at the end of the work day, and took him home. Well, sometime over the weekend, he re-injured himself. When Mom got up to go to work on Monday morning, she noticed that his whole leg was swollen. Rascal then got loaded back into the car and taken back to the vet with Mom.

Rascal-Monday afternoon at the vet. You can see how swollen his right front leg is.

Later that morning, I got a phone call letting me know that Rascal was back at the vet, and it turns out he had broken his leg, up by his shoulder. It also turned out that there was a spot on his bone, which the doctor thought to be a tumor, the starts of bone cancer. So we had 3 options. 1.Take him to another vet and have an orthopedic surgery done to repair the bone. 2. Remove the leg, and send a piece of the bone out for further testing. 3. The worse one...have him put to sleep. Well, we decided for option 2. We thought it was the best. Rascal is only 10 years old and this is the only health issue he has ever had, so we saw no reason to put him to sleep. With the surgery to repair the bone, it would cost way to much, and there might be the chance that it didn't work because of the possible bone cancer. With removing the leg, we at least got Rascal out of pain and are able to learn more about what might have been wrong in the first place.

Yesterday morning, Rascal had his surgery. Mom called me as soon as he was out of and let me know everything went smoothly. He was starting to come out of the anesthesia and already moving around a little and sitting up. When they went to take a sample of the bone for testing..they discovered that it was so deteriorated and almost jelly like. He was really lucky that the break wasn't more severe. So, that's where we are with Rascal. We should know something more from the testings next week. Hopefully everything is okay now. When I went to see him today he was just as happy as ever. Even let me take him outside for a few minutes and walk him around in the sunshine. He is already healing quickly and is pretty quickly adjusting to having three legs...even if he does wobble just a little bit.  

           

This was a few hours after surgery. Up and happy. Feeling much better.

 

Both of these were today. Outside, walkin', enjoying the sunshine. 

Rascal, ever since you were a puppy we knew there was something about you that we would absolutely cherish. You are silly and awkward at times, but in the end of the day just love to play and be loved.  You are so brave, and even after it all, continue to love and have a smile on your face. You really are a trooper. 

     

Secret 1 Revealed & Other Things

I know you all have been anxiously awaiting for me to stop being so dadgum vague about some of the going ons around here. I know I had already told everyone that Josh was no longer bartending..however, I left you all in the dark about what his next step in life would be. Well, my friends, wait no longer. Shortly after leaving the world of mixologist, Josh took on a job as a customer service rep at Convergy's. For those of you who don't know, Convergy's is a local call center, working with mega companies, like Direct TV and others.

Last Monday, Josh started training for his "big boy job". He will have 3 weeks of training, 2 weeks of transition, and then be on his own to take all customer service related calls. He is pretty excited to be taking this next step in his life, and is really hoping that it is the perfect fit for him. We get benefits, the possibility of a set schedule for him, as well as lots of perks. It really seems like a great company, and it will also give Josh the chance for advancement not only in his career..but also with his education. We are excited. Unfortunately, it's still nights, but that could last just a short time. It really all just depends on what is available at the time his training ends.

On his first day, we didn't plan very well, and he had to purchase his dinner from the lunch room..which let's just be honest, it's a place with tables and overpriced food from a vending machine. After being told of the prices and selection of food, I went out and bought him is very own lunch box and started to put together lunches/dinners for him. I got really excited about this. It gave me a chance to once again get super organized and OCD. Rather than describing it...I'll just show you.

Josh laughs at me...but really I know he loves it. He gets to have samiches everyday (his fav) and can just reach into the fridge grab what he wants..and BOOM! His lunch is packed. I am a miracle working mighty mouse. haha. 

So there ya go. All is revealed. At least about that. We still have a few other secrets. Be patient. 

On another note, we had a very busy weekend. On Friday, we met up with Amy and Jonathan for dinner and fun at Riverbend. It had been waaay too long since we all got to hang out, and we all had a blast. 

Then, on Sunday we had my parents over for a little Father's Day cook-out. Most of the afternoon the boys spent their time looking at Josh's car, trying to figure out why it won't work (it hasn't worked in about a year now..in case no one knew) while Mom and I sat around talking and looking at the newspaper. Once the boys got cleaned up and us girls finally decided what would be for dinner, we fired up the grill for some tasty steaks and veggies.

 Afterward we played some cards until it was too dark to see, and Dad was about to fall asleep. It was a really good day, and we were really happy we were all off from work and able to spend the day together. 

And..just on a side-note...if you all could keep my dog..actually my parents' dog in your thoughts and prayers. Over the weekend he sprained his ankle..no big deal right? Well, before my mom went to work this morning, she noticed his leg was even more swollen than before. She loaded him back into the car and took him to work with her. Turns out he not only had broken his leg, rather high up, but that he most likely has bone cancer. We are unsure as to how he broke his leg...but because of the possible cancer, the leg can not be saved. They are going to amputating the entire leg tomorrow. The good thing about doing this is that hopefully the tumor will be gone, and we can also send out the bone for testing to see where we need to go from there. He is a super sweet dog, and is in so much pain right now. I will update on his condition as soon as I know more. 

what's been cookin'??

What's been for dinner, you ask?? Well, we have been cookin' up some good stuff here at the O'Dell household. And when I say  we, I really mean me. Except for Tuesday. Tuesday Josh cooked...well grilled. Which is cooking for him.Ok, so here's what's been on the menu:

• Monday: we were on our own for dinner. i had to be at work at 2, so that didn't really leave a whole lot of time precook anything for dinner. oops.

• Tuesday:

            entree- grilled pork ribs
            sides- pasta salad
                     baby veggie medley

• Wednesday: 

                entree- stove top chicken (crock pot)

• Thursday:

             entree- Mexican lasagna

• Friday: out to eat!

• Saturday: left overs

I really didn't do that much cooking this week, but with working all but 2 days of Riverbend; I really didn't have a whole lot of time. We are really proud of ourselves for keeping this up 2 weeks in a row now, and I have even started pre-making stuff for Josh's lunches. But more on all of that later!

I Really Do Cook!

That's right...you saw correctly. I really do cook. I know some of you (mostly my family) find this hard to believe since I'm very rarely home. Well, it is true. And I have proof. Not only do I have pictures of the food, a dinner menu and all of  most of a grocery list pulled together for next week, but I have one very happy, belly filled husband.

So see, it is true. I can be domestic. It just takes a lil pushing. And boy have we had some life altering events in the past couple of weeks. Some of you already know a good amount of the details, and some of you don't. But for now, I will just stick to one part of it, Josh lost his job. We are coping with it and really looking at it as a blessing rather anything else. Josh has not been happy where he worked for quite sometime, and has for the past month or so been putting his resume out there, going on job interviews, etc.  Unfortunately, we would have rather him be leaving the bar life on his terms rather than the way it  happened. But, it's all okay. It really has made us step back and re-evaluate our situation. We have decided to stop going out so much and spend more time at home with each other, friends, and family.

Which has lead me to being domestic. Sunday afternoon I went to the grocery store to pick up some a lot of groceries. But hey, our house was BARE. Not even a mouse could find a crumb, so really, it had to be done. Plus, it will make it easier every time I go back, right? Right...I knew you would agree. Anyways, I'm just babbling now. I'm sure you are dying to know what's been for dinner. So here ya go:

• SUNDAY:

                    entree- grilled steaks

                    sides- mashed potatoes 

                              broccoli with cheese

                       **Sorry, no picture**

• MONDAY:

                     entree- grilled bbq chicken

                     sides- potato salad

                              corn on the cob 

                              asparagus salad

• TUESDAY

                     entree- nachos/tacos

• WEDNESDAY

                      entree- spaghetti and meatballs

                      sides- salad

                               garlic bread

• THURSDAY

                      entree- chicken stir fry

• FRIDAY

                      entree- sloppy joes

                      sides- french fries/ tater tots
                  **Sorry, no picture...Josh was in charge of the picture, 
                      and I swear he thinks I'm silly for photographing every meal. Maybe I am?**

• SATURDAY

                       left overs! 

So far everything has been super tasty, and we have really been enjoying cooking at home. And for some good news, if all paperwork goes through, Josh will start training at Convergys Monday afternoon. It only starts out as part time, but he can still get benefits, and a little money is better than no money. He is excited to start something new, and after a few months he could possible be up for full-time status, as well as a set schedule. And who knows, this could open doors for other opportunities. And even though he will be training at nights, I still have meals planned out for him to have when he gets home. Which I will post later.

 There are still a few other things going on in our life that I'm still not putting public, but thoughts and prayers would be appreciated. All will become known in due time. But we are okay, and trying to stay positive. Finding out it's the little things that count the most, sometimes it's the hard lessons that make it all clear. And because of it, we will be stronger.

June Goals

This month I will NOT be doing any goals. There could possibly be big changes around our household, and until we figure everything out, I don't want to make too many big plans for around the house. Have no worries dear friends, I will keep you posted when we are ready to let everyone know...everything is good and we are happy and healthy. I don't want to freak anybody out.  But we will be spending a lot of time with each other and hopefully with friends and family to make this a really good month. Hopefully I will resume my goal setting behavior in July....and with fingers crossed, some things will get done around here...but I'm not really counting on it!

That's all for now, I'm really hoping that within a week we can start letting everybody in and I won't have to be so vague anymore. Just be thinking about us, pass us a lot of good vibes, and keep fingers crossed. We would really appreciate it!

Oh, the Month of May

Dear May,

I don't know what happened. I had so much planned for you. However, it seems that you came and left within a blink of the eye. And while we had our ups together, you also brought a fair amount of downs. I'm not completely sad to see you leave, I know that our friend June will have a lot of *hopefully* good moments for us, and fun, exciting changes. Please don't hate me and please come back to see me next year. Maybe then we can have more time together and get a lot of things accomplished.

Sincerely,


P.S. All I got done was reading. I read 3 whole books. That's it.