Now that's a lot of snow!

If you haven't heard, the east coast got hit with quite a bit of snow. Where I am at in Maryland we got over 2 feet. I was all prepared for a weekend (and maybe an extra day or two if my work was closed) being snowed in. I went to the store and stocked up on the necesseties (Fritos, Diet Cherry Pepsi, toilet paper, etc) and with the Superbowl on Sunday it was going to be a nice weekend in.

This is where it gets good. Or not so good I guess.

On Friday night my husband and I got into a fight and I throw the remote at him. Well, he's standing by the television. I have terrible aim. I hit the television.

Wonderful.

It works but there is a huge crack like thing in the middle of the screen. And from the research I've done online it looks like it would cost more to fix it than to replace it (it's an LCD HDtv) so we decided to buy a new one. Normally we would just go to the store the next day and buy a new one. But there is over 2 feet of snow outside and no plows in sight. Plus, I don't think Best Buy was open anyway.

This is a view of our street. I put a bunch of pictures from the strom on my other blog.

Which brings us to today. My husband shoveled out our street so that we could get to Best Buy to buy a new television. Which we did. And now we are ready for the Superbowl. And I'm letting him hold the remote.

Ask and you shall receive!

Ok, so since several of you asked about my DELICIOUS (yes, I am partial) macaroni and cheese I thought I would bless you with my recipe.  I originally found it online but tweaked it a little.  Without further ado, here is my recipe for macaroni and cheese.

The Best Mac & Cheese EVER!

1 Tbs  Olive Oil

1 (16 oz) package rigatoni

8 Tbs butter (1 stick)

4 cups shredded cheese (any kind you like)

1 1/2 cups half and half

16 oz Velveeta cheese

2 eggs, beaten

salt and pepper to taste

Optional:  Seasoned bread crumbs and extra shredded cheese for topping

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C)

 

Bring a large pot of slightly salted water to a boil.  Add olive oil.

Add the pasta.  You can use any kind of pasta you want.  Cook according to package directions.  

I like rigatoni.

While the pasta is cooking I make the cheese sauce.  You can do it this way or just make the pasta and then make the cheese sauce after it’s done.  Either way, cube up the Velveeta.

In a medium saucepan melt the Velveeta cubes.

Next you will add your shredded cheese.  I used Cheddar and Cheddar Jack.  You can be a little fancier and use Mozzarella, Monterey Jack, Muenster, etc. 

Dump all 4 cups into the saucepan and stir occasionally.

Add the half and half.  Keep stirring.

Add the eggs.  Keep stirring.

Add salt and pepper to taste.  Once all the cheese is melted the sauce is done.  Set aside but stir occasionally.

Once the pasta is done cooking, drain well and return to the pot.  Cut up the stick of butter.

Toss it in the pot.  You can leave the heat off since the heat from the pasta and the pot will usually melt the butter fairly quickly.

Once the butter is melted put it in a 13x9 greased glass baking dish.

Although the cheese sauce looks good enough to eat as it is it will need to be poured over the noodles.

Like so.  Mix up the noodles and cheese so everything is nice and covered with the cheesy goodness.

If you want to you can sprinkle some extra cheese and breadcrumbs on the top.

Like so.  Now it’s ready to cook for about 35 minutes.  It should be hot and bubbling and you will have to have someone hold you back because it will be too hard to not jump in the oven and eat it.

Like so.

I just finished making mine and it is nice and cooled off so I’m outta here!  Enjoy!

Playing catch up

It seems it’s my favorite game.  Since I’m always playing it and all.  It never feels as if I’m ever caught up.  In my head I have quite a few posts that never quite materialized on here.  I have over 500 pictures on my camera that haven’t made it onto my computer.  There is money in my bank account that hasn’t quite made it to my credit card companies yet.  I have paperwork to mail out but it sits on my coffee table gathering dust.  What is my deal?  I don’t know if its lack of motivation or what but I seriously need to get my butt in gear.

So, in an effort (small as it may be) to get caught up here is a catch up post on what’s been going on with me.  There will be no rhyme or reason to any of it, just what spews forth from my fingers as I type.  So here goes:

• I think I am depressed.  I’m afraid to see anyone about it because I think it might affect me negatively if we pursue adoption in the future.  It was on the medical form that had to be filled out for the foster care application.  Lately I’ve been feeling pretty good but there have been some really low points.
• We are this (imagine my thumb and forefinger about an inch apart) close to mailing off the foster care paperwork.  I just need to fill in some credit card info (what debts we have) and I need to find out if my insurance will cover an adopted child with special needs.  I’ve been putting it off (mailing it) for various reasons.  One was because Courtney was out of work for awhile (he’s back now, thank goodness) and the other was me just holding out hope that we wouldn’t need to mail it in.  I’m not holding out hope for that anymore.  It WILL be mailed out this week.
• We’ve talked about going back to the infertility clinic to do an IUI.  I’ve been playing phone tag with my previous OB/GYN to have my medical records (all the infertility tests I had done) to my new OB/GYN (they only have records of my pregnancy and subsequent miscarriage).  I finally have the correct form to fill out and mail back.  Once the new doctor has my medical records I can have them call my insurance for authorization.  Can this be a bigger pain in my ass?  I think not.
• Tonight, at work, I registered the DUMBEST person I think I’ve ever met in my entire life.  On the form there are two lines for your address…Address Line 1 and Address Line 2.  Someone with an IQ of at least 75 or higher would probably be able to figure out how to fill it out but this genius had to ask what it meant.  Once I explained it to her she asked me how to spell her street name.   She then had to ask her friend what city and state she lived in.  Yeah, this person is going to be responsible for a human life.  I pity her unborn child.
• I cooked Thanksgiving dinner for the first time this year.  It was just me and my husband (long story about a fight with my brother) and it turned out perfect.  I gave myself a huge pat on the back for that one.        This turkey sat in our freezer for two years but let me tell you, it was delicious!

Courtney carving the bird.  I made the jammie pants he’s wearing.  He’s a carpenter, hence all the tools.

Our table.  The flash really washes out the pretty green walls in the kitchen.  Well, I think they are pretty.

Homemade mac and cheese.  My favorite.  I made this instead of mashed potatoes.  If I had the ingredients I’d make this right this second. SOOOOO GOOOD!

Stuffing from scratch.

I’m thinking about keeping a tray like this in the fridge at all times.  Better than chips and cookies I’m sure.

Homemade gravy.

Cornbread from scratch. 

Canned cranberry sauce.  I can’t help it.  I prefer the canned stuff.  I was going to make it myself but the store didn’t have any cranberries.

 

The plates were off our wedding registry.  I absolutely love them.  Each one has a different image on it.  The angel hitchhiking to heaven is my favorite while the Golden Gate bridge is my husband’s favorite.

• For Christmas we called a truce and went over my parents house to open some presents and eat dinner.  I didn’t really talk to my brother but everything went ok.  I got Beatles Rockband (the only thing I really wanted) and I got my husband Just Dance for Wii.  Such a fun game.  And good exercise I might add. 

Our dogs love Christmas.  They open presents.  Seriously.

Courtney playing Just Dance.

My dad couldn’t get enough of this game.  Way too funny.  And my mom told me he was sore as hell the next day.

My mom tried it once.

My youngest brother (not the one I haven’t been getting along with) even did it once.  I couldn’t talk him into doing it again.  I think he got video on his phone of me doing it but hopefully I’ll never see that footage. 

 

Well, that’s about as much as I can think of right now.  I don’t think I’m fully caught up yet but I’m closer than I was an hour ago.

Keeping my sanity

People have many ways to maintain their sanity.  The constant waiting and wondering you experience during infertility is a true test of patience. 

 

Some people do yoga.

Some people go running.

Some people meditate.

Me?

Well, I draw beards and mustaches on the kids in my class.

We were calling him Hobo Joe.

So, when we were outside, I told him to go under the rock climbing thingy and hold his hand out.  How could you not give your spare change to a hobo as cute as this???

And so today, I stayed sane.  Overall, a good day.

Him

I always thought the man I married would be my rock.

He was supposed to be someone I could turn to in my darkest hour and find comfort.

He was going to be understanding and sympathetic.

Instead, as I lay crying my eyes out next to him because I told him that he never acknowledged my due date when it passed, he says, "What did you want me to do? Give you a card? Tell you Happy Dead Baby Day?"

I'm still stunned. I'm still hurt. I still can't believe that those words came out of his mouth. How can someone be so hurtful and downright mean?

The anniversary of his father's death is coming up on November 1st. I'm wondering how he would feel about a "Happy Dead Dad Day" card? I'll have to check Hallmark to see if they have one but I believe that is one card they won't have.

Gentlemen, start your engines!

An old friend of my husband’s works for a Nascar racing team.  Kyle Busch, to be exact.  He stopped by last weekend and this beast had been parked outside our house for several days.

I believe that Nos is the main sponsor for Kyle Busch and my husband’s friend basically said he gets paid to throw parties.  

Now, I’m not a Nascar fan but he offered us a chance to go to a race and be on the infield.  So, a “hell yes!” was in order. 

We drove to Dover, DE early on Saturday morning to get there by 7:30 AM.  After getting to the hotel and getting settled we headed back out with his friend and headed onto the speedway.  I can now say that I have driven (well, I was in the car…that counts, right?) on an actual racetrack.  It was pretty cool. 

The giant Nos bus/mansion on wheels was parked on the infield and we helped set it up for party.    The people who came mostly worked for Nos corporate or Sunoco, who is another sponsor I believe.

  

Since it was early, we entertained ourselves while we waited for others to arrive.

They had set out Scrabble and Yahtzee, but I don’t think anyone actually played.  They mostly indulged in the free food and booze.

Before the race (which I found out later wasn’t the actual race, but a minor league race or something to that effect…the big race was on Sunday) we got a chance to meet Kyle Busch.

You know…this guy?  Don’t worry, I had no idea who he was either. 

But, he was awfully cute and an overall nice guy.  At least, from what I saw in the 10 minutes he was there.  And since I’ve met him and he was so awfully cute, I now had to root for him to win.  Besides, I didn’t really know much (or anything) about any of the other drivers.

The race didn’t start until 3 so it was a LONG day of waiting.  We watched the time trials.  They had these handheld tv thingys with headphones so you could listen to what was going on.

   

After the time trials there was a whole lot of nothing going on.  I was beat from being up since 5 AM and all I wanted was a nap.  Unfortunately there was nowhere to do so.  I was surrounded by drunken idiots and your typical redneck butt cracks.

By about 2:30 I could hardly keep my eyes open so I threw in the towel and went back to the hotel to take a much needed nap.  I had intended to come back to catch at least some of the race but it was such a pain in the rear to get back to the hotel that there was no way I was up to doing it again to go back.

I got a ride on a golf cart to the crossover bridge from a very nice gentleman but first he took me (and Courtney went with me back to the hotel) through the driver’s buses/mansions on wheels.  I had no idea that they stayed on the infield.  I would have thought that they would be staying in a fancy hotel.  He pointed out various driver’s buses but only a few names rang a bell.

  This one belonged to Dale Earnhardt Jr.  I did recognize that name.

After being dropped off at the crossover bridge they began introducing the drivers and I think what I was taking pictures of was an exhibition before the race.  I’m not sure.

I think this was Tony Stewart.  I’m ashamed to admit that I know this because of those cheesy Burger King commercials.

After leaving the speedway, we had to walk back to the hotel and I think it was about a mile or so.  We were supposed to have another golf cart waiting on the other side of the crossover bridge but we couldn’t find it so we had to walk.

The long walk definitely solidified the fact that I wasn’t going back to the race.  I was beat.  I fell asleep and stayed asleep until they came back around 7:30.  And I could have slept longer.  I would have loved to catch some of the race but oh well.  Maybe we’ll have another opportunity again someday