MISSING FOLLOWERS ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

Does anyone know why my "followers" don't show up on my sidebar anymore?  I haven't changed anything or done anything, but they've been missing for quite awhile.  Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated!  I love my followers and I miss them :)!

UPDATE!  Now here is something really strange.  One of my AWESOME FOLLOWERS commented that she can see my followers  so I clicked on the link to my blog from her blog and I could see them too.  The difference is, my blog opened in Mozilla  Firefox and I typically use Internet Explorer.  So, if you use Internet Explorer, please let me know if you can see my followers.  Veeerrrrry  inteeeereesting! 

Area VIII Winner

Last week was the Missouri State FFA Convention in Columbia.  If you ever get a chance to go to an FFA convention, trust me, it's an experience.  You will see more blue corduroy than you can imagine.  And lots of kids with smiling faces.  FFA kids are happy kids.

Cole was the Area VIII Winner in Beef Production.  That means he was one of the top 16 in the State of Missouri in this particular "contest."  FFA is all about contests.  Some kids are on teams for their "contest", and some kids enter "contests" individually. 

Eldon's Parliamentary Procedure Team won first place AGAIN!  This is the team Cole was on last year that took first at State and FIRST IN NATIONALS!!!  And, Eldon's Ag Sales Team won first place at State!  WAY TO GO ELDON FFA!!!!!

Cole was announced on stage for winning Area VIII Beef Production. 

I wish these pictures were better, but it was dark inside the Hearnes Center, and it is HARD to take pictures in the dark.  Several kids from Eldon were Area winners.  Again, I am so proud of Eldon FFA.

Since Cole is a senior, this will be his last Missouri FFA Convention.  In a year and a half he will be on stage at National Convention accepting his American Degree.  WOW!!  Yes, we will be there, and I'll be taking pictures.  I hope you never get tired of seeing pictures of my kids :)! 



It's Suppertime!!

Do you ever wonder what people have for supper?  I do.  I see people on TV eat salads for supper, with no meat.  Or they have smoked salmon, or tuna sandwiches.  I hear my friends talk about eating lots of Hamburger Helper.  And I have a few very lucky friends who say "my husband does all the cooking."  Uh, my husband doesn't cook.  He grills, but he doesn't cook.  He doesn't clean up either.  But that's another post!

So, here is what WE had for supper last night.  Fried pork loin chops, green beans and roasted potatoes.  It was delicious.

My family loves my roasted potatoes.  They are incredibly easy to make, and delicious, if I do say so myself.  Start by preheating your oven to 425, and spraying your baking dish with "Pam" or, if you're like me, use Great Value.  I'm all about saving money. I usually make this in a 9 x 13 pan.  But, Cole wasn't home last night, and I'm low-carbing it (again) so I made a smaller size than usual.  I didn't take pictures of my peeling and slicing the potatoes.  Just peel 'em, cut 'em in bite sized pieces and throw 'em in the pan.  You know you can do it!!

Next, take about 1/2 an onion (I use a whole onion when I make the 9x13 size), chop it in small pieces, and put it in with the potatoes.

Drizzle this with olive oil.  Now I've never measured it, but I'm guessing I used about 1/4 cup in this size pan.  I probably use close to 1/2 cup of olive oil when I use a 9x13.  Then I took 1/2 stick of butter, cut it in small pieces, and put it in.  Again, I use one stick of butter when I make this 9 x 13 size.  Salt and pepper to taste.  I like Kosher salt.  I just think the bigger flakes of salt stick to the potatoes and really give it a good salty flavor.  But it's a free country, so you can use whatever salt you like. 

Bake these for one hour at 425 and honestly, you won't believe how delicious they are.  They will be a little bit crispy on the edges, and soft and tasty on the inside.  Be sure to use plenty of salt and pepper, and butter, and olive oil!!!  YUM!!! 

We also had green beans.  We eat a lot of green beans at our house.  Home canned green beans.  They are, without a doubt, the best.  I don't like store bought green beans.  I can eat 'em, but I don't like 'em.  That's why we grow a garden and spend hours and hours canning green beans.  So we can have home canned green beans for supper.  Here's how we like 'em.

Take three slices of bacon, slice into small pieces, and put in a pan. 

Then take about 1/2 of an onion, chop it up, and add it to the bacon, and fry for, oh, I don't know, 3 or 4 minutes.

Then add a can of these babies.  Or if you don't have these, I GUESS you can use store bought green beans.  And I'll feel sorry for you.  But sprinkle Lawry's seasoning salt on them, whichever you use. 

Now, the thing with home canned green beans, you don't just heat them up, you have to cook them.  I cook mine about 30 minutes and boy are they delicious.  Seriously.  I hated green beans when I was a kid.  Hated them.  But my mom never made them like this :)!

And for the MEAT of the meal, I fried up some boneless pork loin chops.  Nothing hard here.  I just sprinkle them with salt and pepper, and dredge them in flour.

Then fry them up until they're nice and crispy and golden brown. 

Folks, it doesn't get any better than this.  To quote a famous tv chef, YUM-O!!!!!!!  Our meal was total comfort food.  It was delicious, it was filling, and it was healthy.  Uh, about that healthy part????  I guess two outa three ain't bad (name the band that sang that song!)

So, next time you're wondering what to fix for dinner, here's an idea for ya!  I promise, you will LOVE IT!!!

Too Busy

Do you ever feel like you have way too much to do?  Way too much going on?  I know, I know, you're all rolling your eyes and saying "welcome to my world!"  These past few months it just seems like every single moment of my time is spoken for.  Cole is running track.  They have two meets a week, typically Tuesdays and Thursdays.  And of course, I'm one of those moms who hates to miss anything my kids are doing so, with a couple of exceptions, I have been at his track meets.  In fact, my legs are peeling from a massive sunburn I got a week and a half ago at a track meet.  Aren't you glad I shared that with you???   Alex has been playing club volleyball.  We spent a couple Saturdays ago in St. Louis at an all day tournament.  We spent last weekend in Lee's Summit at an all day tournament.  And this Saturday we are going BACK to St. Louis for, you guessed it, another all day tournament.

Cole graduates from high school in three and a half weeks.  Sometime this week I have GOT to get his graduation announcements addressed and mailed.  I've got to put together pictures for a slide show.  I don't know if I'm dragging my feet on this because I just have so much going on I don't have time to really get focused on it, or if every time I think of him graduating from high school it takes my breath away, so I try to put it off, by putting off all the things that go with it.

Regular followers will know that I haven't been posting much lately.  Hardly any at all.  I've taken on more responsibility at work lately, and this is the busiest time of the year.  And we've taken on a new client which, again, means more work for me.  I work late once in awhile, and I've had to come in a Saturday or two just to keep my head above water.

I AM NOT COMPLAINING!!!  I am so thankful to have a job.  I am so thankful to have kids who are involved, and want me involved in their lives.  But sometimes, don't you just wish you could slow things down a little? 

So, in case you were wondering, this is what has been going on in my life.  And things are going to slow down a little bit for me.  As I said, this is Alex's last week of volleyball, so after this Saturday, I'll be back to having two weekend days instead of just one.  Cole has three more weeks of school, which means three more weeks of track and then I won't be spending two nights a week at a track meet.  Both of these are bittersweet.  I love watching my kids do anything, and while Alex has three more years to play high school volleyball, Cole will start college in the fall and he won't be involved in athletics.  That will be a huge change for us.  Cole has been playing on a sports team since he was in second grade.  I can't COUNT the HOURS I've spent sitting on a bleacher watching him play something, and I wouldn't trade those hours for the world. Memories I will cherish for the rest of my life.

I'm hoping to be able to spend a little more time blogging.  I enjoy it so much.  Just throwing my random thoughts out there and hoping somebody will identify with something I've said.  That it will make someone smile in the middle of a busy day.  That is my idea of a good blog post. 

So, thanks for thinking of me everybody.  And thanks for sticking around.  I promise to blog a little more regularly in the future.  Hope things in your world are wonderful!  Blessings to you all my blogging friends! 

$3.79 PER GALLON

$3.79 is the price for one gallon of gasoline in Jefferson City.  $3.79.  In my opinion, this is absolutely ridiculous.  There is no shortage of oil.  There is no reason for gasoline prices to be this high, except for greed on the part of the oil companies.

I know there isn't anything we can do about it.  We have to buy it.  But, I just had to give my opinion.  Thanks for listening.