The Simple Life at Home

But now we are down to the nitty-gritty.  Now that I'm working, I need simple, easy stuff in my life.  So here's what I did.  I went through that list, picked out our family's favorites that were also EASY.  Easy was really, really important.  I allowed myself one day a week to do something more time-intensive, but mostly I want the quick and simple recipes.  Here is one month's worth of menu plans:

Pot roast in the crockpot with vegetables

Tacos

Mahlouba

Open (I do this once a week to try something new or go out or order take out)

Mezze (Hummous, tabouleh, cheeses, olives, deli meat, kubbeh, etc.)

Koosa Mahshi (Lebanese stuffed squash)

Lasagna

Open

Sandwiches

Cauliflower Soup

Open

Bezella (An Arabic beef stew)

Curry Cajun Chicken

Corn Chowder

Shepherd's Pie

Open

So those are the weekly menus.  I'm going to be working on developing weekly shopping lists to go along with them, so I'll post them once I've got them ready.  It makes it a breeze to do your menu planning and shopping when you've got it all laid out in front of you already.  And four weeks is still plenty of time to rotate menus so that you don't get bored with the dishes.  

Making life easy.  Works for me!!!!  For more ideas that work for busy women, visit We Are THAT Family.

Late April.

106 degrees.

I have so many things in my life to be grateful for today, it's easy to write this post.  Things are going pretty well in life right now.

It seems as though the issues at work have been resolved.  I'm not sure what was said, but the woman we've been having a problem with was called into the principal's office yesterday.  They spoke for about an hour and when she came out it was like she was a different person.  All day today, she's been friendly, helpful and even chatty!  I'm hopeful that the change will last.  It's been so much more pleasant and relaxed. 

Also ever since I went to the doctor again and got an inhaler, I've been sleeping better and feeling better.  May God bless whoever created inhalers and Ventolin.  I'm not a hundred percent up to snuff, but it's nice to be able to breathe deeply without gasping for air.

I had a great day yesterday.  Even though I had to suffer through the Middle School talent show.  There were some really good acts and, well, then there weren't.  I found the pogo sticking set to Arabic music particularly odd.  But I give them props for having the guts to get up and do it on stage!!  Thanks to all of you who dropped by with birthday wishes.  It was so sweet to hear from you!  And special thanks to Hubby, who sent me the most amazing flowers at work.  Even though I specifically told him I wanted him to do that (LOL!!! I'm  a little pushy, huh?!), I didn't really expect him too.  Flowers are extremely expensive here and it was definitely a luxury.

I'm thankful for the changes I'm seeing in my daughter since her trip to Jordan.  While there is still plenty of 14-year-old-girl attitude in her, I do notice that she is beginning to strive to be more Christ-like.  That was my prayer throughout her trip and I'm grateful for His work in her.

God is good.  Our family has gone through so much turmoil and transition in the past 18 months and it has not always been easy.  I've often felt like there would never be light at the end of the tunnel.  But He is faithful and I honestly feel like we have emerged from the tunnel into a beautiful forest.  The sunlight may not be as bright through the tree canopy, but it's there and we can enjoy the journey through the forest until God moves us out into the bright sunshine.

For more Thankful Thursday posts, be sure to visit Women Taking A Stand.

That's not why I'm considering changing my name.

After feeling better for a few days, I've since taken a turn for the worse again.  Fortunately, I'm not in pain and I still feel pretty good for the most part.  But I've still been having coughing fits and now those fits are finished up with my windpipe completely closing up, leaving me gasping for air.  Picture those movies where the character is asthmatic and is in the throes of a severe attack, gasping and frantically searching for an inhaler.  That's what it's been like for the last 3 or 4 days.  I cough for about 30 seconds and then gasp for air for another 30-60 seconds.  It's a terrifying feeling to be totally unable to breathe!

It got to the point today that my boss sent me home from work early.  I went back to the hospital to get re-checked and the doctor (bless her heart!) prescribed an inhaler for me.  I'm hoping that that will help tremendously.

Oh, and I may have some news on the job situation tomorrow.  I've been promised that the problem will be resolved as soon as one woman returns from vacation and that should be in the next day or two.  I wasn't told exactly what the resolution would be, but whatever it is, I just want things to be peaceful and settled.  I'll keep you posted.

Like blatantly lie and expect the entire world to believe them.

If you watched this week's episode of Survivor, you know that Coach shared a little bit of his life story with the world.  It was quite interesting. Interesting in the "I'm completely out of my mind to think that anyone would believe any part of this story" way.  

Now, Coach has already proven himself to be utterly delusional.  Consistently referring to himself as "The Dragonslayer," insisting that he started the whole Samurai-hairstyle thing, taking credit for strategy decisions that he had no part in other than to jump on someone else's coattails, and more.  But two things stuck out last night that just left our family in stitches.

First, as the show opened we got to see Coach standing hip-deep in water doing some kind of strange warrior-posing type thing.  Last week's version of this was better since it was scored to this rising crescendo of music.  (Note to self: contact show producers and ask them to make this a regular feature.)  As his tribemates made fun of him when he emerged from the water, he informed them that he was doing Chong-Ram, which of course no one had ever heard of.  That, according to Coach, is because it is un-Google-able and not on Wikipedia because it is only taught by Tibetan monks and he had to go to a monastery to learn it.  Now it seems to me that most of those martial arts things that are taught in those monasteries are, in fact, able to be found with a quick search.  But not the one Coach does, oh no!

Then to top it off, he decides to share a fireside story that night. In this story, he is dropped by military helicopter from several feet off the ground into the jungles of Peru.  As he is kayaking down the Amazon, he is suddenly attacked by a group of short, indigenous people.  They beat him with clubs, tie him to a stake in a hut and continue to beat him with clubs.  Through some stroke of "Coach-ness" he manages to escape his bonds, sneak out of the hut and escape with his kayak.

As his tribe sat in stunned silence, only Brendan was able to say anything to confront this outrageous story, asking, "How much does it cost to get a military helicopter to do that?"  Coach replies, "Nothing.  I pulled some strings."  Because don't all college soccer coaches have favors to call in with the Peruvian military?  Oh, and by the way, National Geographic wanted to follow him along on his journey and document it, but told them no because it was just about him and his personal journey.  Uh-huh.

I don't know why I felt compelled to share this story on the blog.  I guess it was just so funny to me that people can make things up like this.  Now, if he comes up with some kind of proof that the story is true, I will eat my words and happily post an apology.  But for now, it just seems like Survivor has found the most mentally delusional person they've ever had.