Yes, This Happened, to Me

Read this post at your own risk and there are some risks.  A song stuck in your head and a gross picture are just around the corner.  And me whining, a little.  Don't say that you weren't warned because you were warned.

 

On Sunday, my sisters broke into a song for me.  Since we are a non-singing family, no exceptions, this was strange.  That said, it was a very fitting song for me.  Kathi and Jodi sang! They couldn't resist. This song can get stuck in your head easily and you may be singing or humming it for days.

 

  My Favorite Things from The Sound of Music

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens,
bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens,
brown paper packages tied up with strings,
these are a few of my favorite things.

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels,
door bells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles.
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings.
these are a few of my favorite things.

Girls in a white dresses with a blue satin sashes,
snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes,
silver white winters that melt into springs,
these are a few of my favorite things.

When the dog bites, when the bee stings,
when I'm feeling sad,
I simply remember my favorite things,
and then I don't feel so bad. 

The chorus was highlighted, just for me.

 

It wasn't that long ago that we celebrated Christmas and I shared my unfortunate Christmas Eve waspbeespider bite incident on the blog.  Now it seems as though holidays are prime time for me to have a mishap.

 

Here's the story, in my own words.

 

On Valentine's evening Hubby and I decided to walk to dinner at Mark and Karen's house.  It was still light, and Saturday was a gorgeous February day.  We met a woman out walking her dog.  We greeted each other and then just as we met on the sidewalk, the dog bit me. 

 

Yes, you read that correctly.  It could only happened to me.  I know you're all thinking that because I am truly the most goofy accident prone person out there.

 

I wasn't scared of the dog, I wasn't coming at the dog, I wasn't feeling threated.  I was simply on the arm of my one true love walking to what I knew would be a lovely evening with friends.  Not a care in the world, when that dog bit my thigh.  Hard.

 

The owner insisted that her dog, Abby didn't bite.  No actually, Abby does bite.  The owner wanted to talk about it and I just wanted to get to dinner.  Well actually, I just wanted to get to Mark and Karen's bathroom so I could pull down my jeans and see the damage.  It felt as though I was bleeding but a bad bruise can feel that way.  It hurt!

 

I did ask if the dog had her shots and the owner assured me that she does have all of the dog's shots current. I want to believe that is true because of the broken skin.  But the owner was also insisting that her dog doesn't bite.  So, you can understand why I'm a tad worried.  After all, the dog that doesn't bite had just bitten me.  Yesterday, I talked to someone who does a lot of walking in our neighborhood,  she lives close to the dog and she  told me that the dog has bitten a neighbor boy.  Hmmm. 

I did feel bad for the owner because she loves her dog and she felt so bad for me.

I am fine, however; I'll be crossing to the other side of the street when I meet dogs on my walks.

And I'll be cautious on the next holiday, Memorial Day. 

Frostbite, falling off a cliff, what's next?

Any guesses?

 

In the meantime, sing it with me.

 

When the dog bites, when the bee stings,
when I'm feeling sad,
I simply remember my favorite things,
and then I don't feel so bad. 



Love Weekend 2015

 It was a lovely Love Week at the Stone House and all of the other places we went to celebrate.

On Friday evening we had old and new friends over for a traditional Valentine's dinner.  The only consistent menu item is the heart shaped meatloaf.  I did make a different recipe this year.  Though no two meatloaves have ever been the same at our house. I don't usually follow a recipe.  I just add whatever I want to add and it usually turns out just fine.  This year though I followed the following recipe.  Well, as best I can, I always change recipes just a bit.

 

Stove Top Meatloaf

2 lb. lean ground beef ***I use one pound of Jimmy Dean Hot Sausage and 1 pound of ground beef

1 pkg. (6 oz.) STOVE TOP Stuffing Mix for Chicken

1 cup water

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup KRAFT Original Barbecue Sauce, divided *** I used ketchup and I don't top with ketchup.

Heat oven to 375°F. Place meat, stuffing mix, water, eggs and 1/4 cup barbecue sauce in bowl.

Mix just until blended.

Shape into loaf in 13x9-inch baking dish. *** I shape it as a heart.

Top with remaining barbecue sauce. Bake 1 hour or until done (160ºF). 

My former high school Spanish teacher and our dear friend, Senorita Adelene, joined us for dinner.  New friends, Les and Marlene joined us and we had a delightful evening getting to know them.



 On Valentine's evening we had dinner at Mark and Karen's house.  She fussed, he grilled and we felt spoiled and loved.  Vern and Shelly were there too.  Many of my readers will be happy to know that it was decided to bring back the Garden Party in 2015.  After a two year break we are going to try to find a date for August.

 Karen made Coeur à la Crème for dessert.  Mark's Mom made it when he was growing up and gave Karen the ceramic pan that is necessary for the recipe so that she could make it for Mark too.  Ohmyheavenlycreamygoodness!

It was served with a raspberry sauce.  Karen baked shortbread cookies, had an assortment of chocolates and a tawny port to serve with the Coeur à la Crème.

Diets, clean eating, eat less, move more were not spoken of or thought of for one evening.

 

Hubby and I are very thankful to celebrate 27 years of marriage and Valentine's Day in the same week.  It's a lovely week and this year was no exception.

 

I am a little behind on my blog posts so look for more coming up this week.

 

Happy President's Day-

Love Week 2015

It's LOVE WEEK!  Today Hubby and I are celebrating 27 years of marriage.  I still think he's the best thing that ever happened to me.  Yesterday, he proved it again.  I was in the city all day.  I came home to flowers, clean sheets and a lot of progress on the Aloha. 

I'm a lucky girl, for sure.

We're not in Hawaii right now, but it is our favorite spot.

 

Tomorrow our friend, Ad is coming over for a Valentine dinner.  Yes, there is a heart shaped meatloaf on the menu.  I am going to try a new meatloaf recipe.

 

We've been invited out for a Valentine dinner on Saturday night by our dear friends, Mark and Karen.

It's always lovely and special at their house.

 

I got a box of chocolates today from one of my favorite guys.

 

All in all a lovely LoVe Week.  I hope you're all feelin' the love too.

 

And lastly, a gentle reminder to my guys to remember to do something sweet for your sweethearts.

 

The Guys' First Car

Sam bought a yellow Honda CRX after high school.  It got good gas mileage and it was a fun little car.  After Sam joined the army, Max turned sixteen and he bought it from Sam.

 Max drove it through high school and college.

Max bought a pick up truck and was going to sell the CRX.  He hoped to put the money towards his student loan.  Sadly, sometime on Thursday night or early Friday morning someone stole the CRX.

This wasn't the ending we wanted for our guys' first car.  So many good memories for Sam and Max with this little yellow car.  It was reliable and economical and fun.

Now some dirty, rotten criminal took it and is probably wrecking it.

Shame on them.  It's a sad ending, for sure.

The Wedding Closet

On Monday afternoon my sisters and I met at our parents' home.  Our Mom has been telling us to clean out the  wedding closet  for a long time.  We kept ignoring her, but we started to think that she really meant it this time.  Threats were made that every thing would be given away.  There is talk of a possible move to town for my folks.  Not in the immediate future but someday.

 

The wedding closet was always so great because it was packed with wedding dresses, JSB dresses, prom dresses, and many, many bridesmaid dresses.  Oh my, did we have fun reminiscing and laughing.  So many memories of good times and special occasions. 

Though not everyone got a fairy tale ending or a happily ever after.  Some of the weddings we were bridesmaids for ended in divorce or death.

 

 Jodi's dress from Arie and Alice's wedding had dyed to match mules and gloves.  Stunning in a classic sheath style with shoulder bows.  I should have gotten a close up of the shoes, they are really pretty.

 My senior year JSB dress was a Gunne Sax dress that I bought at the Nordstrom Place Two in downtown Bellingham. It opened that year.   It was a pretty big deal first of all to have a dress that wasn't homemade and secondly a dress from Nordstrom.  Exciting stuff for this small town girl!   I used my own money that I made working at the Lynden Library as a page.

 Kathi was in a lot of weddings.  So many weddings that she can't remember in whose wedding she wore this lovely blue dress.  Obviously, it was either hot or very stressful as there were perspiration stains.  Actually most of the blue dresses got tossed for that reason, they just didn't age well.

 If you recognize the dress, give us a shout.  We're curious.

 Dyed to match shoes in every color and size were in the closet.

 We put on our veils,  Yeah, the dresses don't fit.  Some of the dresses I took home are tiny.  Sadly, at the time I thought I was fat.  I'd love to be "that fat" again!

Three generations of wedding dresses were in the wedding closet. Both of our Grandmas' wedding dresses were stored there.  Some things went into Mom's cedar chest.  We each took home a sister's bride maid dress from our own weddings.  I mentioned getting rid of some the dresses.  I was told not under any circumstances because my granddaughters will love to play dress up at my house some day.

So now, I have to start a wedding closet at my house.  Seriously.



Hello There

Hello, hello friends.

I am alive, sadly though, my laptop died.  It's not very efficient to post from the tablet or my iPhone.  My Magic Bullet also bit the dust.  And the Seahawks lost the Super Bowl.  That's three so hopefully we are finished with dust biting here at the Stone House.

Hubby and I had the same day off yesterday so shopping was in order.  A new laptop, a magic bullet were purchased.  The laptop has Windows 8 so there is a learning curve.  I actually got some photos loaded and am checking in to let you know I am still kicking.

 Hubby has been busy working on the '57 Aloha.  Yes, we need walls before we take off on a camping trip.  But we have most cabinets and a vehicle to tow her with so there is hope.

The Seahawks lost the game but not my heart.  Of course, it was a big disappointment.  But what a fun season we had watching them regroup and get to the big dance.  We hosted a Blue Friday dinner party.  Hubby worked on Sunday, he got home by halftime so we enjoyed the game until the last play.  It is what it is and I can't wait for the new season. GO HAWKS!