Outside Temp: 62 F (It had a high of 97 outside today, which was fine, since we weren't home most of the day.)
What I cooked today:
Nothing: we were in town most of the day, so we ate out.
Update:
Totally busy day today!
I started the day with my 'list'. I was pretty sure we wouldn't make all the items, but I knew that if I didn't write it down, I would forget something.
We both worked for a few hours, then went into town for Ryan's lab draw. While there, we found that he had a small pinprick hole in his line. Which kind of sucks.
We called the hospital and checked in with the attending doctor. She called to UCLA, to find out the exact specifications of his line, and tried to get us set up with a repair. Of course, we've been trying to get this information for months, but it somehow fell through the cracks. It usually takes a crisis to get things worked out.
We found out the specifications, and hopefully, a repair kit is ordered and will be in soon. We hoped that if they had one in stock, we could bring him in tomorrow morning to have it repaired, but no luck. So, our doctor told us to keep an eye on it (the line) and him, to make sure he's not showing any symptoms of infection. Odds are that he has had this hole in his line for at least a few days, if not, a few weeks. And he's handling it just fine. As long as we keep the line clean and keep the pressure to a minimum.
So, our plan now, if he continues to behave and not spike a fever or anything silly, we'll go in on Monday or Tuesday for a line repair.
After all that drama, we went over to a clinic, so I could give my drug test 'donation'. Oh yea, if you call it that, people will forget that they are peeing in a cup so that they can work for you. 'I'm so generous... I've giving you a donation'. Extremely stupid term.
But, now it's done, and (assuming I pass), I will legally be able to work for the USPS. Which means that our postmistress will have another person to call when she can't make it into work because of a snow storm (or something equally annoying)..
After that, we made a few more stops (drug store, meat warehouse, bakery, another drug store, Chili's for lunch, Staples for school supplies), then went over to the theater to see Brave. Really cute movie and I enjoyed it, although, apparently I didn't read enough to understand how the bear comes into it. That kind of surprised me! And yes, I cried at the end.
We stopped for ice cream on the way home. Which is always a good thing. Ryan ate his entire cone of Wild and Reckless, which is awesome in it's own right.
The house got up to 89 degrees inside today, so you can imagine how annoyingly stuffy and hot it was when we got home. But, we just opened up the windows and let all that cool night air in, and within an hour, it was cool and comfortable. Now, if I could only do something about the bugs...
Showing posts with label Great Falls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Great Falls. Show all posts
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Sunday, June 17, 2012
June 17, 2012
Outside Temp: 54 F (It was a great temperature today. While we were in Great Falls, it rained here, but we missed it!)
What I cooked today:
Scrambled Eggs: For Father's Day, I made breakfast for Patrick. Of course, I couldn't justify an entire breakfast with bacon and sausage, since there were no kids to eat it up. But I did spoil him with some scrambled eggs with cheese, overcooked, just like he likes it!
Update:
It was kind of a strange Father's Day, with only one kid here. The kids did call up from California to say 'Happy Father's Day', but in all honesty, it just wasn't the same. Oh well, it's a Hallmark holiday anyway, right?
Grandpa, Ryan, Patrick and I did manage to have an outing this afternoon, which was fun.
Our first stop was at the dump. I know, classic, right? We filled up the truck and headed over there to get rid of garbage. Then we stopped in Belt to drop off some tomato plants. Which brought us to the church, where we were dropping off plants for our priest. Which then turned into a 2 hour conversation with the four of us (Ryan was playing around the yard) about politics and philosophy and history. It was great, but I felt bad since our priest was just settling down for a nap, and we used up all his 'nap' time!
After that chat, we headed over to our Aunt and Uncle's house (also in Belt) for another hour long conversation. It is always great to chat, and most of the time, we are there with a big group of people, so we don't get to have one-on-one chat time. This was great and I love spending time with them.
By this time, it was almost 5pm, and it was time for dinner. We were going to head up to Monarch for steaks, but, since it was Father's Day, we thought it might be packed, so we headed into Great Falls instead. Which meant that we couldn't waste a perfectly good trip into town. We stopped at the drug store, and the hardware store, and the grocery store, AND had a great dinner out!
By the time we got home, Ryan was exhausted and ready for bed. I think I might be right there with him! I do have some work I need to be doing, but my bed is calling to me. Perhaps I can work in the morning...
What I cooked today:
Scrambled Eggs: For Father's Day, I made breakfast for Patrick. Of course, I couldn't justify an entire breakfast with bacon and sausage, since there were no kids to eat it up. But I did spoil him with some scrambled eggs with cheese, overcooked, just like he likes it!
Update:
It was kind of a strange Father's Day, with only one kid here. The kids did call up from California to say 'Happy Father's Day', but in all honesty, it just wasn't the same. Oh well, it's a Hallmark holiday anyway, right?
Grandpa, Ryan, Patrick and I did manage to have an outing this afternoon, which was fun.
Our first stop was at the dump. I know, classic, right? We filled up the truck and headed over there to get rid of garbage. Then we stopped in Belt to drop off some tomato plants. Which brought us to the church, where we were dropping off plants for our priest. Which then turned into a 2 hour conversation with the four of us (Ryan was playing around the yard) about politics and philosophy and history. It was great, but I felt bad since our priest was just settling down for a nap, and we used up all his 'nap' time!
After that chat, we headed over to our Aunt and Uncle's house (also in Belt) for another hour long conversation. It is always great to chat, and most of the time, we are there with a big group of people, so we don't get to have one-on-one chat time. This was great and I love spending time with them.
By this time, it was almost 5pm, and it was time for dinner. We were going to head up to Monarch for steaks, but, since it was Father's Day, we thought it might be packed, so we headed into Great Falls instead. Which meant that we couldn't waste a perfectly good trip into town. We stopped at the drug store, and the hardware store, and the grocery store, AND had a great dinner out!
By the time we got home, Ryan was exhausted and ready for bed. I think I might be right there with him! I do have some work I need to be doing, but my bed is calling to me. Perhaps I can work in the morning...
Thursday, January 26, 2012
January 26, 2012
Outside Temp: 32 F (the wind has died down, a little. Of course, the car door almost got pulled off when I opened the door, but at least I'm not worried about the house blowing away.)
What I cooked today:
Burgers and Mashed Potatoes: Somehow, on those days I go into town, I really feel absolutely no desire to make dinner. But, of course, the family still wants to eat. Greedy people. We used the ground beef from Cascade Meats, for burgers for the first time. Patrick was amazed at how good it tasted. Who knew there was a such a difference in beef?
Update:
We have plans for tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday, so I decided to make my weekly run into town today, rather than wait until this weekend.
Patrick's mom had something she needed me to pick up from downtown Great Falls. Now, Great Falls has different sections, just like any town. And the downtown area is an older area, that probably was big and new, about 50 years ago. It's not bad, just older. A few homeless people and a few kids loitering. But not bad.
So, I went to park my car about 1/2 a block from where I needed to go. And then I realized it had a parking meter. Hmmm, change. Change is necessary when you park at a parking meter. Change would be good right about now. So, I put the car into park, pulled out the keys and tossed them on the dashboard, while I went scrounging around for some loose change. There was nothing (or at least no money, lots of trash and misc crap) in the center console of the car or on the dashboard. So, I went searching in my purse. Knowing that I did this last weekend, at the game, looking for that extra quarter to get some just food from the concession stand, I wasn't surprised to find no change at the bottom of my purse. I kept searching, in pockets that I don't usually use. I felt my fingers close around a few coins, praying that they were not pennies. Ahhh, nickles. Whew.
I grabbed my purse and went up to the meter. 6 minutes per nickel. Shouldn't take more than 15 minutes, so I put my last 3 nickels in the meter and headed up the street.
I got the things I needed and headed back to the car about 10 minutes later. As I was walking up to the car, I patted my pockets, looking for the keys. Nothing. Hmm, maybe in my purse. So, I reached into my purse, while I shook it, hoping to hear that jangling of the keys. Nothing. As I reached the car, I looked through the front windshield. There were my keys, sitting on the dashboard, right where I'd left them.
Which made me immediately think of two different options.
Either a) Downtown isn't that bad of a place and what nice people are in Great Falls.
or b) My car looks so dirty and lame, that no one in their right mind would try to steal it.
I figure it's closer to b). See, that's why I keep my car so dirty!
As I may have mentioned before, we sometimes have problems with the house were renting. Lately, we have been having trouble with our septic system. It started back in October, when the main bathroom started backing up, with water from the sink filling up the bathtub. And the toilet stopped flushing correctly. We've been using the master bathroom for the last few months, until we finally got around to calling a plumber. (yea, I know, it's been 3 months... we are that lazy!)
So, the last day or two, the master bathroom began having the same problems. The toilet stopped flushing correctly, but would finally empty after about 10-15 minutes. And the shower would stop draining after about 5 minutes in the shower.
We finally decided it was time to call a plumber. The company we called said it sounded like the septic tank needed to be drained. So, the next question is the obvious one... where is the septic tank? And can we actually access it?
Patrick spent a few hours outside in the back yard, looking around for the septic cover. The plumbing company said they could try looking for it, but if it was buried under frozen ground, we would be out of luck. Most of the ground seemed pretty hard, but we didn't know if it was frozen, or just hard. Fortunately, the e-mail we sent to the owner had a response, giving us an area to at least look in. We finally found the tank cover, thank goodness! Unfortunately, the plumber can't come out until Saturday.
So, until then, I've warned the kids, 2-3 minute showers, laundry is being done at the parent's place, dishes are being done in a filled bucket of warm soapy water, not running the water for 30 minutes. There is no real way to stop from using the toilet, but I'm thinking of investing in a chamber pot... anyone know where I can find one? (ewwwww.... shudder....shudder)
Right now, I'm trying (really, really trying) to see this as a humbling experience. I will never take advantage of working plumbing again! And it gives us one more reason to look a little harder into a new place to stay!
What I cooked today:
Burgers and Mashed Potatoes: Somehow, on those days I go into town, I really feel absolutely no desire to make dinner. But, of course, the family still wants to eat. Greedy people. We used the ground beef from Cascade Meats, for burgers for the first time. Patrick was amazed at how good it tasted. Who knew there was a such a difference in beef?
Update:
We have plans for tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday, so I decided to make my weekly run into town today, rather than wait until this weekend.
Patrick's mom had something she needed me to pick up from downtown Great Falls. Now, Great Falls has different sections, just like any town. And the downtown area is an older area, that probably was big and new, about 50 years ago. It's not bad, just older. A few homeless people and a few kids loitering. But not bad.
So, I went to park my car about 1/2 a block from where I needed to go. And then I realized it had a parking meter. Hmmm, change. Change is necessary when you park at a parking meter. Change would be good right about now. So, I put the car into park, pulled out the keys and tossed them on the dashboard, while I went scrounging around for some loose change. There was nothing (or at least no money, lots of trash and misc crap) in the center console of the car or on the dashboard. So, I went searching in my purse. Knowing that I did this last weekend, at the game, looking for that extra quarter to get some just food from the concession stand, I wasn't surprised to find no change at the bottom of my purse. I kept searching, in pockets that I don't usually use. I felt my fingers close around a few coins, praying that they were not pennies. Ahhh, nickles. Whew.
I grabbed my purse and went up to the meter. 6 minutes per nickel. Shouldn't take more than 15 minutes, so I put my last 3 nickels in the meter and headed up the street.
I got the things I needed and headed back to the car about 10 minutes later. As I was walking up to the car, I patted my pockets, looking for the keys. Nothing. Hmm, maybe in my purse. So, I reached into my purse, while I shook it, hoping to hear that jangling of the keys. Nothing. As I reached the car, I looked through the front windshield. There were my keys, sitting on the dashboard, right where I'd left them.
Which made me immediately think of two different options.
Either a) Downtown isn't that bad of a place and what nice people are in Great Falls.
or b) My car looks so dirty and lame, that no one in their right mind would try to steal it.
I figure it's closer to b). See, that's why I keep my car so dirty!
As I may have mentioned before, we sometimes have problems with the house were renting. Lately, we have been having trouble with our septic system. It started back in October, when the main bathroom started backing up, with water from the sink filling up the bathtub. And the toilet stopped flushing correctly. We've been using the master bathroom for the last few months, until we finally got around to calling a plumber. (yea, I know, it's been 3 months... we are that lazy!)
So, the last day or two, the master bathroom began having the same problems. The toilet stopped flushing correctly, but would finally empty after about 10-15 minutes. And the shower would stop draining after about 5 minutes in the shower.
We finally decided it was time to call a plumber. The company we called said it sounded like the septic tank needed to be drained. So, the next question is the obvious one... where is the septic tank? And can we actually access it?
Patrick spent a few hours outside in the back yard, looking around for the septic cover. The plumbing company said they could try looking for it, but if it was buried under frozen ground, we would be out of luck. Most of the ground seemed pretty hard, but we didn't know if it was frozen, or just hard. Fortunately, the e-mail we sent to the owner had a response, giving us an area to at least look in. We finally found the tank cover, thank goodness! Unfortunately, the plumber can't come out until Saturday.
So, until then, I've warned the kids, 2-3 minute showers, laundry is being done at the parent's place, dishes are being done in a filled bucket of warm soapy water, not running the water for 30 minutes. There is no real way to stop from using the toilet, but I'm thinking of investing in a chamber pot... anyone know where I can find one? (ewwwww.... shudder....shudder)
Right now, I'm trying (really, really trying) to see this as a humbling experience. I will never take advantage of working plumbing again! And it gives us one more reason to look a little harder into a new place to stay!
Sunday, December 11, 2011
December 11, 2011
Outside Temp: 17 F (it was pretty outside today, around mid 30's - 40's... )
What I cooked today:
Pumpkin Bread French Toast: So, I had a loaf of really dry pumpkin bread from last week (I used too much flour and the bread was terrible), and I thought that if I made it into french toast, it might make up for some of the dryness. It did, and the toast wasn't totally dry, but I don't think the eggs went with the pumpkin. It was edible, but not great. Hopefully, I will never mess up the pumpkin bread again, so I shouldn't ever have to make it again like this. Katie and Connor asked me to make regular french toast; it was that bad.
Chili: After shopping all day, we made chili for dinner, which worked out fine. Of course, I wasn't really paying attention, and I didn't make enough. Just enough for each of us to have 1 bowl, instead of seconds and thirds, like usual. Oh well, it worked.
Update:
We went into town today, since we had no idea what the kids wanted for Christmas. We brought them over to Wal-Mart and had them walk around the toy section, letting us know what they wanted. A few things were kind of a surprise, like the desire for board games like Operation, Sorry! and Risk. Ahh, classics! Connor and Allen both wanted Legos, which, while annoying, isn't that surprising.
Then we looked at the BB guns, which really, really got Allen's attention. He wanted the Ruger, with a scope, for about $100. For a BB gun. Jeez... We'll have to see about that one. We had been planning on getting a BB gun for the kids anyway, but I'm not sure I can justify $100 for one. "But it is SOOO cool, Mom!" :)
After that, I remembered someone telling me about a meat store in town, where I could get my meat for cheaper. So, we drove through the old parts of Great Falls, looking at all the stores and shops. Old Great Falls is neat, because there isn't really separate residential and commercial sections... they are mixed together. You might have a store or shop, right next to a house, and then another store on the other side. They also have one way streets, which are kind of cool.
One place that really caught our attention is below:
We both looked at it, and thought we read it wrong. Then we read it again. Then we started laughing. When we saw the horse trailer in the back, we finally understood.
The funniest part was when the kids, who were in the back, asked us why we were laughing so hard. So, of course, this turned into a 'teachable' moment. :)
What I cooked today:
Pumpkin Bread French Toast: So, I had a loaf of really dry pumpkin bread from last week (I used too much flour and the bread was terrible), and I thought that if I made it into french toast, it might make up for some of the dryness. It did, and the toast wasn't totally dry, but I don't think the eggs went with the pumpkin. It was edible, but not great. Hopefully, I will never mess up the pumpkin bread again, so I shouldn't ever have to make it again like this. Katie and Connor asked me to make regular french toast; it was that bad.
Chili: After shopping all day, we made chili for dinner, which worked out fine. Of course, I wasn't really paying attention, and I didn't make enough. Just enough for each of us to have 1 bowl, instead of seconds and thirds, like usual. Oh well, it worked.
Update:
We went into town today, since we had no idea what the kids wanted for Christmas. We brought them over to Wal-Mart and had them walk around the toy section, letting us know what they wanted. A few things were kind of a surprise, like the desire for board games like Operation, Sorry! and Risk. Ahh, classics! Connor and Allen both wanted Legos, which, while annoying, isn't that surprising.
Then we looked at the BB guns, which really, really got Allen's attention. He wanted the Ruger, with a scope, for about $100. For a BB gun. Jeez... We'll have to see about that one. We had been planning on getting a BB gun for the kids anyway, but I'm not sure I can justify $100 for one. "But it is SOOO cool, Mom!" :)
After that, I remembered someone telling me about a meat store in town, where I could get my meat for cheaper. So, we drove through the old parts of Great Falls, looking at all the stores and shops. Old Great Falls is neat, because there isn't really separate residential and commercial sections... they are mixed together. You might have a store or shop, right next to a house, and then another store on the other side. They also have one way streets, which are kind of cool.
One place that really caught our attention is below:
 |  |
We both looked at it, and thought we read it wrong. Then we read it again. Then we started laughing. When we saw the horse trailer in the back, we finally understood.
The funniest part was when the kids, who were in the back, asked us why we were laughing so hard. So, of course, this turned into a 'teachable' moment. :)
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