Post-birthday ramble

It's freezing cold and windy here. All weekend we're supposed to be getting some real winter weather.

Yes, I had a birthday as my post title says. The big 5-0. Goody. I had a lovely celebration with just the kids at home and Hubs and I'll have the grown-moved-away kids and grandkids over soon for a bigger to-do.

On my birthday (Thursday to be precise) I woke to my 15 yo daughter fixing me a delicious omelet. Then Hubs came in with some roses in a pretty red vase.



Then Littlest went out to run errands with Hubs (who took off work for my birthday) and returned home with these. Wasn't that sweet of her?



The white lilies smell so sweet! They overpowered the roses!

For supper I asked Hubs if he would make me a steak, baked potato and a salad like Olive Garden's. It was amazingly good! (no pics, sorry)

Son had to work that night, so we waited till he got home to have presents and cake. I requested a tres leche cake and boy, was it good! I don't think there's a better cake than tres leche. If it were only a little bigger. It disappeared too fast.

The kids presented me with several of my favorite foods as gifts (these are within their price ranges): I got guacamole chips and coffee and cream chocolates from ALDI - one from each of the girls - and a Whitman sampler from Hubs. I asked Hubs if I could pick one big gift out for myself. He obliged, so I'm trying to decide what to get. And Son gave me another favorite candy: Almond Roca! I love having a candy stash I can go to whenever I like and I can stretch this stuff out pretty far. The kids always joke about my ability to wait a long time to eat my part of anything we buy, goody-wise. They have theirs eaten up in a day. Mine lasts for months.

The next day I was surprised by a package in the mail from sweet Teresa. She sent me the most awesome book about British hymns and their history in gorgeous pictures. And the book has a cd that accompanies it with the songs mentioned in the book. How cool is that?

And her card has a magnet on the front that will go on my fridge right after I'm done posting this. Thank you so much again, Teresa!!



My parents were also very generous to me and now I have some extra money to spend. On what I don't know. But I look forward to trying to figure it out.

I made another batch of kale chips again. This time I used whole kale rather than chopped. It was easier to remove the stems, but it did require a good washing, unlike the bagged kind. So both have their good and their bad. I think I'd rather wash and rip into smaller pieces than hunt for every piece of stem. They turned out delicious, as usual. This is my third batch and I must now keep these in the house at all times. They are so good and so nutritious! Crunchy and cheesy and salty. Mmmmmmm. Yes, dried green veggies are yum-o!



Son had a great idea for a pizza combo that we've had twice now. You use 4-cheese Alfredo sauce as the pizza sauce and sprinkle kale chips on top, not too heavy. Then you top with grated Parmesan. We add a little Mozzarella, too, although he didn't use it the first time he made it. This combo tastes a lot like the spinach pizza at our local Stevi B's pizza. Yummy!

Hubs has a good idea for another pizza combo I'd like to try: an Olive Garden pizza! Black olives, red onion, pepperoncinis, tomato slices, grated parmesan. Not sure which type of sauce he'd pick, but maybe a creamy Italian or the 4-cheese Alfredo? Must experiment!

Last night we watched an amazing movie on Netflix. It's called Miracle of the Bells starring Fred MacMurray, Frank Sinatra and an incredible actress by the name of Alida Valli. If you watch it keep the tissues within reach. It's a very moving story.

I've discovered that water pills (OTC diuretics) will make your period run late. Dern! I took them each day this week because they really help with the bloating, but I'm now 3 days late because of them. But at least I feel better than I thought I would. Wonder how long it could delay things?

Are you ready for the 2-hour Downton Abbey episode tomorrow night? We're recording it to watch later. Could things become any more convoluted in this series? lol My, my.

Ryan proposed to our daughter, Angie last night! We've very, very happy about this!

Well, I think my ramble is over for now. God bless you all. Have a lovely day of rest tomorrow!