Weekend Wonders

We're only two days into October and 

I'm already ready to do this to my porch.  

Ain't they gorgeous??

I had a pretty awesome weekend.  I woke up both days to temps in the 40's, got to wear my new yoga pants and my favorite fluffy sweater and SOCKS.  Yay!!!

Larry and I had one and a half ('cause I went to church this morning) fabulous days together and got the shock of our entire DOC-controlled lives yesterday.  The vendor who provides the food for the visitation room has apparently decided that he's made enough money and he has abandoned us.  We've noticed during the past few weeks that the candy bars looked the same and I mentioned to Larry that I thought they were going to make us buy what was in there before they put anything different in there and I don't think I was too far from the truth.  We heard today that the company has filed bankruptcy, which completely blows my mind 'cause how can somebody file for bankruptcy when they're making a fortune off inmate families??!  $3.50 for six chicken wings.  That's 58 cents a piece.  I mean, come on now.  This ain't Hooter's.  It's ridiculous how these people take advantage of us because they CAN.  There is no competition.  You pay it or you do without.

Okay, to the shock.  I got a little sidetracked there.  Ha!  That's funny 'cause that's the name of the vendor.  Sidetrack Vending.  Anyway, so the two Coke machines stopped working and after about an hour of us sittin' there 'bout to DIE of thirst, the guards bring out cups and ice and two huge coolers of red Kool-Aid and water!!  

Those of you who know nothing of prison life probably are thinking, "So?  What's the big deal?"  Those of you who live the prison life probably feel heart palpitations bubbling up in your chest just reading about it because you know that this was HUGE.

In my 23 years of walking this walk with Larry, I can tell you that this nor anything remotely like this has ever happened.  The DOC plays this game about how important family time is and how that connection with loved ones is so vital to the rehabilitation of the guys unfortunate enough to live there but that's just it.  It's a game.  It's for the newspapers, for the TV interviews, for the show. They make it so difficult to even get in there to see your loved ones, the lonnnnng lines out in all kinds of weather, the scrutinizing of every stitch of clothing you have on, the nasty attitudes simply because you are there bothering them, forcing them to get up and work.  They'd rather you not be there and they let you know it.

Can you tell they're not really my favorite people?  Ha!  But I pray for them.  I pray for them to find other jobs.  :)

But what happened yesterday chipped away some of my discontent with them.  It was such a small gesture and to the outside world, it was something you'd expect in a situation like that.  A show of humanity, compassion, kindness.  I saw Jesus all over it.  Yep.  If you look hard enough, you can see Him in everything.  Even in cups of red Kool-Aid.

This weekend was pretty awesome. I got to love on and laugh with my baby, I got me some Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin stuff at Bath and Body Works (thanks, Mama!  I used my birthday gift card!), I opened my windows and let that cool air in while I got my house super duper clean, I went and got recharged for the week at church this morning and I made one of my favorite comfort suppers tonight.  Rosemary chicken and roasted potatoes.  Yum!!

Pretty awesome indeed.

...And My House Still Smells Like Bacon

You may remember me mentioning yesterday that I almost burned my house down making those asparagus spears wrapped in bacon for Thanksgiving dinner. No lie. See, I'm not the most careful person in the world. I pretty much fly by the seat of my pants mostly. I don't really see danger when I should and I probably don't take some things seriously when I should. I like living my life like that, I'd rather be a free spirit than be so tightly wound that I die of a heart attack at 50. That said, there are times when I know I should be more careful. And yesterday morning was one of those times.

I got up early so I could make my asparagus to take to Mama and Daddy's for dinner along with some green beans, Brussels sprouts and an apple cheese pie. I wrapped my asparagus spears in the bacon and put them on a cookie sheet (a FLAT cookie sheet), put them in the oven on 400 degrees and went to take my shower. When I came back into the kitchen, white smoke was rolling out of my oven! I opened the oven door and bacon grease was ALL OVER THE BOTTOM OF THE OVEN and I freaked out. The FIRST thing I did was go and Google "bacon grease oven fires" and guess what? They happen. A lot. Seems bacon fat is highly flammable (who knew?) and if it gets anywhere near the oven's element, it could very easily start a fire. Duh. I turned the temp down on the oven and took the cookie sheet out, trying to be careful not to spill even more grease onto the oven's floor. By this time, the fire alarm in the hallway was screaming YOU IDIOT YOU IDIOT over and over at me and I was scared to death. The oven was too hot to try to get the grease up so I moved the asparagus over to a cookie sheet WITH SIDES LIKE THE RECIPE SAID and prayed while they finished cooking. It all turned out beautifully. The asparagus was awesome and my oven didn't catch on fire. Lesson learned. That won't happen again. But, see, it takes things like that to get my attention. Drives my sister nuts.

I waited until my oven was ice cold before I left to go home to Mama's. While I waited, I fanned the fire alarm with towels and it finally shut up. God, that thing could wake the dead. And that ain't no bad thing since I'm the one it would be waking.

SO. I come home last night and start working to clean the oven. NO WAY could I go to bed with that thing all nasty like that. I wouldn't sleep a wink. I had some Easy Off way back in the cabinet under the sink and although I hate using it 'cause it makes me cough and gag and sneeze and it's terrible for the environment, I knew a mess like that called for Easy Off. I followed the directions and sprayed it in my oven, left it for the 20 minutes and came back. Most of the gunk came off but there was this one spot about the size of my hand that was still there. I tried scraping it with my fingernail. Nothing. I sprayed it with some more Easy Off and even though I turned my head away from it, I still coughed up half a kidney. I waited and still, that patch would not budge. I gave up on it, grabbed my bottle of Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Countertop Spray (in yummy Lemon Verbena, my favorite!!) and I cleaned up the door and any residue left behind by the Easy Off and was about to call it a night when I thought "what the heck?" and I sprayed that spot with Clean Day, too.

Guess what again??? When I wiped it lightly with my sponge, that crusty, dried, baked-on bacon grease spot came right up!!! I knew this stuff was awesome. I use it every day cleaning stuff and I LOVE IT SO MUCH. All of the Mrs. Meyer's products are made with natural essential oils, are biodegradable, phosphate-free and are never tested on animals. I use the whole line and I love every single thing. I like the Lemon Verbena the best and it makes my house smell so good and clean and fresh. I never dreamed my little bottle of Countertop Spray would cut baked-on grease, though.





Go ahead, little bottle of Countertop Spray.
Take a bow.