Oh what a morning…

It is cold here this morning.  It was about 15 when I got up but  It has warmed up some now.  I still  have snow on my car from yesterday.  The snow didn’t amount to much, about 1 and 1/2 inches.  More snow up north of here.  It is only 6 more days till the first day of Spring.

My telephone service is out  this morning.  Thank heaven for a cell phone.  I have to keep in touch with my family as several family members are going through health issues right now.  I switched from Comcast to iTV-3 about a year ago.  The customer service from Comcast was very poor.  I like iTV-3 for their customer service.  The worst thing about them is that the telephone service is sometimes sporadic.  That is irritating!  Would I go back to Comcast?  NO!!  Not even for those promised $200 visa cards I keep getting in the mail from them.  To me the most important thing about a cable company is customer service and reliability.

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for my friend Mari in Spain who learning to speak English.  Stop by and say hi to Mari if you have a chance.  She is a very talented artist.

spo·rad·ic

[spuh-rad-ik]

adjective

1.

(of similar things or occurrences) appearing or happening at irregular intervals in time; occasional:sporadic renewals of enthusiasm.

2.

appearing in scattered or isolated instances, as a disease.

3.

isolated, as a single instance of something; being or occurring apart from others.

 

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Oh, Oh, just as I am sitting here typing this the telephone service is back up so I guess I will quit complaining and just thank God for this beautiful sunshiny day. 

Take care.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Monday Morning Madness…

Well, I am not mad, actually I am happy to see another day.  What I don’t like is that our winter weather watch has turned into a winter weather warning for 3 – 7 inches of freezing rain and snow.  This nice mess is to begin tonight and last until Wednesday.  This means another emergency run to the store this morning and to Wal*Mart.  The temp right now is 26 degrees and cloudy.

I started watching the fashion parade at the Oscars last night when the cable went out.  What I didn’t realize was that the telephone and internet had already been out for about 3 hours.  My sister had been trying to reach me for a couple of hours and she even called my daughter.  So today I am not bragging on ITV-3.  I don’t know what the problem was. My phone service would go out a lot at Comcast in addition to a bunch of other stuff so I still think I have the better of the two now.

I think my laundry is ready to put in the dryer so I will catch you all later.

Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Whew, all done…

The guys came yesterday morning around 10:30 and said they were finished with a job and could they get started early.  In my best Mae West imitation, I said come on in boys!

Seriously, these were two of the nicest young men.  They were extremely courteous.  I enjoyed talking to them as they were working and they fixed everything just as I requested.  I now have a corded phone in addition to my cordless ones.  Some information is not really safe to give out over a cordless phone.

 

Jonathan and Zach were very professional.  Note the booties on Jonathan’s feet.  Those booties were put on each time they came in the house and taken off when they went outdoors.  They were very careful to clean up as they went along.  This is a local company out of Peoria.  Now if I want customer service it will be a local call and hopefully they will all be able to speak English.  PLUS, and this is a biggie for me, service calls are free unless they are coming to install something new in your home.  Comcast charged for every time they put a foot in your door.  I am still cringing from the poor customer service I got from Comcast last week.

I have two boxes of stuff to return to Comcast this morning and I will be leaving soon to do that.  I hope you all have a great day.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

A note for my recipe blog followers…

I had to delete my recipe blog because of some major problems with it.  I have redone it and moved it to another spot.  If you would like to follow on this recipe blog my new address is http://msbethmariesrecipes.blogspot.com/

I hope you  will continue to follow me at my new blog.  Thank you so much and happy cooking.

It is an iffy day, chilly, 37 degrees and snow flurrying.  I have been out and about, to Wal*Mart, to pay my rent, Kroger and on to the bank.  I barely got home in time to watch Y&R and you all know that is one thing I hate to miss.  The show is bordering on the ridiculous right now but I think that is helping me to stay sane. 

I finally got everything all settled with the cable company.  I spoke to a very nice young lady and everything was settled in a gracious, courteous way.

Now I just need to get some energy to do the dishes and some dusting and vacuuming.  Will I, or won’t I??  That is the question.  Well, obviously I will clean up the dishes because I don’t like a messy kitchen.  I cleaned the dreaded bathroom yesterday so that is done for a few days.

So, I guess I had best get up off my rear end and get busy.  I hope you all are having a good Tuesday.  Say safe and be happy!

  Beth

What happened to Spring??

It is cold outside!  37 degrees right now and windy with snow flurries.  What happened to the 60 and 70 degree temps we were enjoying last week?  Well, let it never be said that I let a chilly, breezy day keep me from going shopping.
 
First off to pick up my daughter then on to buy lotto tickets.  The Mega Millions jackpot right now is $312 million and the Powerball jackpot is at 125 million.  Then we went on to Sears to the final few days of the going out of business sale where I bought 3 pairs of shoes.  Next to McDonalds for a fish sandwich and a diet coke, then to Dollar General to pick up a few things, finishing up at the gas station to fill up the car.  Gas at most stations around town this morning is $3.65.9 a gallon.

By this time I have missed Y&R so I turn on the DVR to watch it.  Then this thought came into my mind to call ITV-3  to ask about their triple play pricing for cable, internet and telephone.  Wondering if by doing this I could finagle Comcast into giving me a better deal.  Turns out I can get exactly the same cable lineup, with DVR and unlimited phone for $45 per month less.  So now I have a bargaining chip to use with Comcast.  We will see if it does anything.    You know that old thing about not holding your breath?  Believe me, I am not holding my breath.

Miraculous day yesterday.  I was scheduled yesterday for a thyroid biopsy at a large hospital in Peoria.  Large enough that they have valet parking and trolleys inside the hospital.  Anyway back to the miracle.  I was on the table and in the gown awaiting the doctor.  I told the nurse that I had this same biopsy done in December of 2008.  My primary doctor’s nurse had copies of my previous ultrasounds but had not forwarded them on to the Doctor in Radiology.  Now getting back to the miracle.  The nurse told the doctor this and he came in and told me to wait a few minutes while he made a call.  He spoke to my doctor and found out that the nodule had not grown any in 2 years.  The doctor came back in and told me no biopsy was necessary, just to have another ultrasound in 1 year.  He told me to go home and enjoy myself and furthermore, there is no charge for today’s visit.  Then he went to the waiting room and spoke to my daughter.  This doctor whose name is Dr. Moresco has restored my faith in doctors.  I applaud him for his integrity.  I now have a new favorite doctor.  I asked him if I could use his name in my blog and he gave his permission. 

I think all of this activity this week has worn me out.  I plan to sleep in tomorrow morning.  I hope you all have a lovely weekend.  Stay safe and be happy!!

  Beth

Sunshine and 64 degrees…

and the Irish half of me wants to wish you all a very happy St. Patrick’s Day.  Well, I guess the Dutch half of me wants to wish you a happy day too. 

I have been out gallivanting all morning.  First to pay my cable bill, then to Wal*mart  and finally stopping by Eighth Street Station, formerly known as Grumpy Pete’s for lunch.  Lots of good things to eat on the buffet today.  BBQ beef ribs, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, fried chicken, lasagna plus the salad bar and cream of chicken soup.  Of course I didn’t eat all of these things but I will say the ribs were luscious!!

It is a beautiful day today, 64 degrees and bright sunshine.  I went out without a jacket this morning for the first time in many months.  The countdown to Spring is 3 days, 6 hours, 52 minutes and 2 seconds as I am typing this.  I am in the mood to do more spring cleaning, but not today as I ate too much lunch. 

I still find it hard to believe I have been here a year.  My cable company is raising my Triple Play rates and I need to check into that.  I hate to change companies as it involves a bunch of kaka, otherwise known as crap, so I guess I will stick with Comcast but I am going to try and get the deal I was promised for my second year.  Whew, that was a long sentence.  The English professor in me tells me to go back and change it and the lazy part of me says to forget it as it is fine just as it is.

I hope you all have a peaceful day.  Stay safe and be happy.

  Beth

OK, where do I start…

this post?  It is a sunshiny very bright, bitter cold Monday morning.  The temp was 9 degrees F (wind chill of 0) when I got up this morning.  I need to go out after a bit and start up the car and clean the ice and snow off it.  This will be the third day in a row I have had to do this and winter hasn’t officially started yet.

My internet service was down for several hours last night and still wasn’t up when I went to bed at 10:30.  My email service was down for awhile this morning.  I am so thoroughly disgusted with Comcast.  Always something is down, usually my telephone and internet at the same time.  I will definitely check into the new service when my contract is up in April.

I have been busy this morning making cherry date cookies, my daughter’s favorite kind.

Brown Sugar Fruit Drops

05 Jul 2007

by Beth Marie in Cookies

• 1 cup margarine or butter

• 2 cups brown sugar (packed)

• 2 eggs

• 1/2 cup buttermilk

• 3 & 1/2 cups flour

• 1 teaspoon soda

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 & 1/2 cups broken pecans

• 2 cups candied cherries, cut into halves

• 2 cups cut up dates

  Use mixer to thoroughly mix margarine, sugar, and eggs.  Mix the flour, soda and salt together.  Add to first mixture alternately with the buttermilk.  Fold in the cherries, dates and pecans.

  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Use baking sheet that you have sprayed with cooking spray.  Drop rounded teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto the baking sheet.  Bake 8 – 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

  Makes about 6 dozen cookies.  ***My daughter’s favorite cookie.

  I also add candied pineapple and extra cherries and walnuts so I get lots of cookies.  You need to make the dough up in a huge bowl, especially if you get carried away like I do with the fruit and nuts.  If you don’t have buttermilk, add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to milk to make 1/2 cup.

  I hope you all have a great week.

    Beth

Another gray November day…

and the temperature is hovering at 39 degrees.  I have been out and about this morning, first to get my hair cut, then out to pay my cable bill.  I had a nice little quarrel with Comcast as they tacked on a visit to my home that was supposed to be covered by the service maintenance plan I have.  Man, I am so unhappy with Comcast that I could spit nails.  My telephone service which is part of Triple Play goes out about once a week for an hour or two, sometimes for a whole afternoon.  When the phone goes out, my internet goes out, then I have to spend anywhere from 15 minutes on upward on my cell phone getting it all straightened out.  Frustrating as the devil!!

Then I took the ham and beans over to my daughter’s house.  For my friends in England and Australia that wanted to know about this dish, it is not like your pease porridge that you have.  It is made with Great Northern Beans.  After they have soaked (either in boiling water for 30 minutes, or overnight in cold water) you add water and cook them on top of the stove (or in a crockpot) along with some ham or bacon and other seasonings until they are done.  They are best served with hot cornbread.  Any leftover beans can be easily made into baked beans by adding catsup, brown sugar and a bit of mustard and baking for half an hour in a preheated 350 degree oven.

Perfect Homemade Cornbread

 

by Beth Marie in Breads

1 c. sifted flour
1/4 c. sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1 c. yellow cornmeal
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 c. milk
1/4 c. shortening

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix first 4 ingredients, add cornmeal and cut in shortening (use your electric mixer). Then add milk and eggs, stirring until all is moistened. Let stand for 5 minutes. Pour into greased 9"x9" pan. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.

I hope you are all having a great week.  Be happy!!

  Beth

75 Glorious beautiful degrees…

this Thursday.  I am thoroughly enjoying the last few days we have had this week. It is a good thing too because the 90 degree weather is back for the weekend.

I have been to have my hair cut, then grocery shop at Kroger, then Marcia and I went out for lunch. It is just wonderful to be out in the sunshine when the weather is like this.

It is expensive being close to a major grocery store as every time I am bored I get in the car and head out to grocery shop.  My freezer is full and the cupboard is full and I rarely cook.  I stocked up today on Lean Cuisine at $2 each, buy 4 and get one free.  I do cook either on Saturday or  Sunday.  My daughter and son in law stop by to eat with me a lot after church and this gives me a reason to cook.  Otherwise that is really the only decent meal I eat each week other than when I eat out.

I have noticed the geese do not like to graze (is that what you call it?) after the grass is mowed and it takes them a few days to come back afterwards.  They are really packing on the pounds, in preparation for winter I guess.

Finally Comcast is getting some competition here in town.  iTV3 is starting here.  I have checked them out online and a representative came to the door the other day.  I am not overly fond of Comcast because when one thing goes out they all seem to go out.  It takes forever and a hundred years to get help when you call them and then you spend half an hour  poking this and that in the modem.  Very disgusting.  Comcast does have one thing I like though, when you have the TV on and the phone rings, the telephone number and caller ID scroll across the bottom of the TV screen.

I am not in the mood to do housework.  I have had my 30 minute workout this morning plus a nice long walk.  I always park in the boonies when I go somewhere so that gives me a reason to walk.  When Jim was alive we had to park in the handicap parking because he was unable to walk but a short distance.

I hope the weekend to come is a good one for us all.  Get out and enjoy the fact that you are alive and the air that you breathe is free and you are able to speak your thoughts without fear of censorship.  Man, I love the USA  and I am so proud to be an American!

Beth