Welcome to Life Through Bifocals

Life is not always clear and easy to figure out. So grab a cup of coffee and your bifocals and let's see what we can see.

Friday, April 29, 2011

WOW WHAT A WEEK IT HAS BEEN!

What a week it has been!  If you watch the 3 big news stations you see all sorts of things about today's big wedding. Yes it is fun to see a normal girl become a princess. Prince charming, horse drawn coach and all! It's fun to dress up and pretend that they will live happily ever after. But what really bothers me is the amount of time these 3 stations are giving this story! Really!? All day, every day, talking about what Kate's hair will look like, the color of her dress - will it have long sleeves or short?  Do we really need to know what she will eat for breakfast today?  Is that news?  Look below:


Turn the channel over to some of the cable channels and you will see what is happening in our own country. The tornadoes that have been happening here in the southern states over the past few days -it breaks my heart.  I hear from some "Well, what can I do?" There is a lot you can do. Here are just a few suggestions

1.    Pray! Those people need so much. They may not know if loved ones are alive and have no way to reach them. They need your prayers for safety, shelter, food, clothes, to find loved ones and for peace of mind and spirit.



2. Donate. You can send money to the Red Cross - test REDCROSS to 90999 to give $10.00. Donate to the Salvation Army, or your local church to relay your donation down to a sister church down south and let them decide how best to spend it. They may use it to cook meals, wash clothes, but blankets or baby formula, you can be sure they will use it to help others.


3.    Donate blood. There are injured people down there and the doctors need your blood to help save lives.



4.    For those living down there or near the towns, if something blows your way- photos, birth certificates, wedding photos, purses, wallets or anything else, turn it in to local police. Some people lost everything and getting something back will mean the world to them. Wouldn't you love a picture of the person you just lost? Or even to find your purse or important documents.

5. Pray some more. They need all the prayers you can give.  Have a great weekend everyone and I'll see you Monday, Lord Willing.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Out With The Long and In With The Short!



Spring showed up here Wednesday! The temperature's went up to the low 70's! I celebrated by packing up MOST of these dark colored, long sleeves shirts and sweaters and replaced them with-


Short sleeved, light colored shirts!  I did keep a few long sleeve sweaters for those "Just-in-case" days where mother nature wants to laugh at me.  But the heavy sweaters, long bulky coats, dark colors, turtle necks, flannels, long johns, knee socks, leg warmers, and heavy duty winter wear have been inspected and either tossed out, donated, or packed away for the attic till some time in the fall.  In it's place are the short sleeve, sleeveless, light colored, swim suit cover ups, shorts, ankle socks, and anything Spring-worthy is  either hanging up or in the dresser!  I love Spring!  We even opened the windows and as I type this sitting on our bed, Becke, the wonder dog is sleeping on the bed under the ceiling fan, which is on!!!!

Are you ready for Spring?

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Wednesday Hodgepodge: April Edition


I really don't know how Joyce's does it, but every week she comes up with the questions that we all answer. Thank you Joyce and you all can join in the fun too. Click the button and join in there, or answer here.

1. What is something that bothers you if it is not done perfectly?
I want the towels folded only one way so I have to do it.  I have no idea why it bothers me if they are folded differently but it does so I fold them and the sheets.  I really only want them folded one way. Weird huh?

2. What is one of your best childhood memories?
My Grannie (dad's mom) was a very short woman. I don't think she was even 5 feet tall. She never cut her hair but always wore it in a tight bun on top of her head. So one day, she was watching my sister and I and she fell asleep on the couch so my sister and I took her hair down to see how long it was.  She woke up and starting laughing as all this hair came tumbling down. She stood up and although she was under 5 feet tall, her hair came down below her butt.  So it was really long!  She though it was funny and we had a good laugh over it.   My sister and I had really short hair and never saw so much hair on a person!

3. Do you plan to watch the Royal Wedding and when was the last time you wore a hat?
Well I have to work on Friday so I will most likely watch it before I go to work so I will miss the actual wedding at 11 am. It will be on the news later, so I will watch it later.   I don't remember the last time I wore a hat. I really don't wear them at all. I don't have a "hat face".

4. Where do you fall in the birth order in your family? Do you think this has influenced your personality?
I'm the youngest of 3.  The baby. The last one. I don't know if it influenced my personality.  I do believe that my personality was formed more by the way I was treated rather than my birth order.

5. Where do you think you spend most of your money?
We have grand kids, where do you think?

6. When you need to confront someone would you rather communicate in person, on the phone, by email or by letter? Why?
If I can, I will confront in person. It's only fair I feel to do so in person.  I have confronted someone in a letter when distance was great. I don't think I've ever do so by email - that seems too impersonal.  I also don't think I've do so on the phone.  That too seems pretty impersonal.

7. Dodge ball, freeze tag, kickball or jump rope? You have to pick one.
Have to pick one!!! I pick freeze tag. I like to see the poses the others have to hold until they are un-frozen, some of them can be funny.

8. Insert your own random thought here.



This is the scarf that I made to wear to the newest Harry Potter movie - the Final Harry Potter Movie.  I'm so excited. I'm in the house of RavenClaw you know.  Are you going to see the new/last movie?

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Recipe of the week: Sausage, Egg & Cheese Muffin



Don't these look good!  Can you believe they are Low Carb!  Don't you love it when you come up with something that just works for you.  Well here is my take on the Sausage, Egg & Cheese Muffin!

Ingredients:
6 Eggs
6 Sausage patties (I used brown and serve type)
3 ounces of 2 different types of cheese for a total of 6 ounces (I used Cheddar and Swiss)
A little bit of heavy cream

In a bowl, scramble the eggs with the heavy cream. Spray the sides and bottom of your large muffin pan. The kind that holds 6 large muffins.  In the bottom of each muffin place the brown and serve sausage (break them up a bit). If you use regular sausage, then pre-cook them and drain out the fat.
Pour the scrambled eggs about 1/2 up the muffin tin, cover with a bit of each of the cheese's and then add the rest of the eggs, top with the remaining of the cheese.



Bake 20 minutes in the oven (I used our toaster oven) at 350 degrees.  Cook until a knife comes out clean. Then enjoy!


They cook up nice and tall and brown beautifully. The best part, each muffin has 2 carbs so you can really enjoy them.  How's that for easy!  I don't miss having the english muffin sandwich type of breakfast - this is SOOOOO much better.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Weekend Review: Really - Spring?


So what is wrong with this picture?  It's a cute mini flag among the flowers and if you look close you will see snow on the ground! Go ahead, enlarge the photo! That's right, Saturday it was 32 degrees and we got snow!  Later in the day, it warmed up a bit and rained like mad!  It was the perfect spring day to go shopping, clean the house (well at least the kitchen), take a nap and work on getting in a few more miles in the fitness challenge.

I did get up to 743.1 miles this week and I really felt good about that!  I'm thinking that I deserve some sort of treat once I get to 800 miles.  Any ideas what would make a good reward?  I'm thinking of a new purse, or a plant for the yard but any other ideas would be welcome. 

Sunday, Easter was a beautiful day. It was mostly cloudy with a 20% change of rain so of course it did rain up our way off and on all afternoon.  We didn't get to be with our grand daughters, there schedule and hubby's need for sleep didn't match up but we still had a good ham lunch and our small group met in the evening.  We are aiming for some grand daughters time on Tuesday.  How was your Easter?

Friday, April 22, 2011

Earth Day: Love the Planet



"In the Beginning God made the heaven and the earth. And the earth was waste and without form; and it was dark on the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving on the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light; and there was  light."   Gen. 1: 1-3

Enjoy the world that the Lord made and be good to each other!  See you Monday. 

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Warning: Freeze Tag is Dangerous!


When I was growing up we played outside all summer, in shorts, barefoot, short sleeves, no sunblock, cheap .99 cent sunglasses maybe, but base ball hats most defently.   We would eat our breakfast and then head outside. Here is a short walk down memory lane.

We got up to watch TV shows like this:


We ate a bowl of cereal like this:


And we went outside to play games like these:
Tag Foot ball

Kick Ball

Hula Hoop

Hopstoch
and one of my favorites
Marbles!

We would play until lunch time, then stop just long enough to eat a bologna sandwich. After lunch we would  go back outside and do it all again until the street lights came on. Then we'd go home, eat dinner, take a bath and fall into bed tired and happy.  

Now in the State of NY, at some summer day camp, Freeze Tag is not allowed because it's dangerous!! So what are parents sending their kids to camp to do? Sit around and watch TV? Play computer games and get fat?  No wonder we have a generation of overweight kids. Get them outside and let them play, get dirty and get skinned knee's.  Imagination is great!  Let them be a kid!!!

Ok, My rant is over.  Enjoy your day and tell me about your childhood games! Me, I'm going to go play either Freeze Tag or hide and seek!  

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Wednesday Hodgepodge: The Easter Edition


Joyce did it again, came up with questions! Click her button above and join in the fun.

1. What are your plans for Easter Day/weekend?
To be 100% honest, we have not made plans yet. Our daughter had some surgery and she will most likely want to stay home and continue to rest, so we may go over for a bit and play with the grand girls but we haven't even talked about it. We may hang out here.  I'll keep you posted.

2. Besides Jesus, what one person from The Bible would you most like to meet and why?
When I was little, and wanted something in the store, my mother would ask "Who do you think you are, the Queen of Sheba?" I never knew who she was so one day I looked her up and then the next time my mom asked the question I quickly said "Yes - because she got what she wanted!" My mother was not impressed.  So IF she is available and in heaven, I would like to meet her.  If she is not then Barnabas because he was the "son of encouragement."

3. What is one modern day convenience you didn't have as a child that was easy to live without?
We didn't have a microwave so that would be my pick.


4. Are you more right brained or left brained? If you don't know what that means there is an interesting little quiz here.
Ok so first I had to take the quiz: the result was Left Brained (55% to 45% Right) but not by much since I cant make up my mind He  he...

5. What is something you intended to do today but didn't? Why?
I intended to cook a big dinner but didn't because Hubby went to bed to get some sleep before he went to work (Midnight shift) so I just had a small something and made him something different and put it in the microwave so he could reheat when he got up.

6. Cadbury Creme Eggs or Reeses peanut butter?
Oh come on!!! Reese Peanut Butter all the way baby! However they don't make a low carb version so I'll take some Russle Stover chocolate, thank you.  (Is Hubby reading the blog today?)


7. Who was your favorite cartoon character when you were a child?
Huckleberry Hound, I loved that blue dog! I wonder if that is one reason I love hubby so much, he likes the color blue and he's a cop.... Hummmmmm.



8. Insert your own random thought here.


The real reason for Easter! Let us never forget!

Happy Easter Everyone

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Recipe of the week: Banana Cream Muffins

Another recipe that I tried recently from the Carbquik website was the Banana Muffin recipe but of course I changed a few things. My changes are in ( ).


Carbquik Recipe: Banana Muffins



Ingredients:
8 oz butter, softened
4 oz cream cheese, softened
5 large eggs
1/2 c splenda (Used part Splenda and part Nevella)
1 small package banana SF pudding mix (Used the Banana Cream SF pudding mix)
1 cup Carbquik
1 cup whey protein powder (I used vanilla)(Designer Whey-vanilla)
1 t baking powder
2 t vanilla


Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 12 muffin tins or line with muffin cups. Mix the butter, cream cheese, splenda and dry pudding mix.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition. Add the vanilla. Mix in the carquik, whey protein powder and baking powder and beat thoroughly on low speed.
Pour into muffin pans and bake 20-25 minutes till lightly brown on top.



I used a smaller pan for the muffins so each one came to less than 1 carb each because the whole batch comes to 20 carbs. Now divide that by 24 (the number of "muffins" I got) and the math comes to .833333 each!  So I can have 3 of these for 2.49 carbs!  Oh yes, add bacon, sausage or chicken and again I have a lot that I can have to eat without a lot of carbs.  I'm liking that!!

Monday, April 18, 2011

Weekend Review: 400/800 Mile Challenge


All the gals over at Ellie's place are really moving along and I think the nice weather has many out and working the yard. Because of that many of them have really done a great job this week. I too had a great week!  By Saturday I was so tired that I only managed to get in a short walk with Becke and some time on the stepper.  I was wondering why I was so tired and then I added up my miles for the week.  55.25 miles! No wonder my legs were tired!  My YTD miles is 678.22!  Click on the button above and see how the others are doing. We all respond very well to encouragement and we don't bite!
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Saturday a group of us got together to have a BBQ and I just want to thank Rich for braving the 36 degree windy and raw temps to stand by the grill cooking (alone - mind you with 2 grills going) all that chicken and beef tips while we all watched from the 72 degree house drinking hot tea, coffee and talking up a storm!  We had a celebration of life as one of our group was about to go into the hospital for more chemo and then a stem cell transplant. We laughed, shared stories, ate, and prayed for great reports on his health.  We were six couples, all but one have been married over 30 years and that couple has been married for 25 years so we had lots of stories to tell.  





One person in the group made a cake for Hubby as Sunday was his birthday and since we were celebrating life, she thought to celebrate his life as well.  Now the story behind the rabbit cake is that during our Sunday small group studies, we somehow end up chasing rabbits (you know going off topic) and we do it so often that we now have a small toy rabbit and when we are chasing one, the rabbit gets tossed to remind us all to get back on track. Well since Hubby is the one chasing rabbits, she made him a rabbit cake!  




Sunday was the actual Birthday of Hubby. I wish I had the vocabulary to describe how much his man means to me.  He makes me happy every day of my life. He is a wonderful provider but more importantly he makes me feel loved, safe, secure, important, valued, worthy and happy.When we first met, we didn't like each other.  He thought I was a snob and I thought he was a slob.  We were both wrong and fell in love and have been laughing ever since.  Life is not always easy, but together we feel we can conquer the world! I am so glad to have him in my life.  






Since he really loves whoopie pies, he got a whoopie pie cake!   And my "Little Cousin" made him some small whoopie pies as well, the portable type. He was very touched by her thoughtfulness.   What did you do this past weekend?

Friday, April 15, 2011

I Declare:????

Snow out at our house!!






Almost  - this is the last bit of snow under the deck.


Ready for grand children to play.  Spring is good!

Get out and enjoy some Spring. See you Monday, Lord Willing.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

The Year? And the Events From The Year of my Birth


Here is picture of me with my grand father (my mom's dad). He died a few months later and I have no memory of him but I do have this photo.

What else do I have from the year I was born?  Well.......

Godzilla was born!!! What a cute baby.

Play Doh was invented.
Fellowship of the Ring was published. 
Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka and ends racial segregation.
The Catholic church declared watching Mass on TV does not fulfill the weekly obligation. 

The polio vaccine was given to children for the first time.


The first Fender Stratocaster was made.

Peanut M&M's were created (Thank you!)

M&M's slogan "The Milk Chocolate melts in your mouth, not in your hand" was first said.

The first non stick pan was invented.


The World Series was broadcasted in color for the first time.  NY Giants defeated Cleveland (4-0)

Unemployment was 5.6%

Cost of a gallon of Gas 22 CENTS!!!

Cost of a new car $1700.00

Movie Ticket 70 Cents. And the top Movie.


Monthly Rent $85.00.

The Tonight Show was first aired with Steve Allen as the host.


Marilyn Monroe married Joe DeMaggio.


The year ---1954
I guess I saw the Godzilla Movie. And didn't get any M&M's!

So What happened the year you were born? Go ahead - Google it!!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Hodgepodge Wednesday: A little of this/A little of that



Joyce  over at From This Side of The Pond, did it again, she came up with a fun hodgepodge of questions to help us all know each other. When I posted this Joyce's button was down but if you click on the button on the right side, you can jump over and join us.

1. Would you rather talk to everyone at a crowded party for a short time or have a significant conversation with two people?
I would rather have a conversation with two people, especially if I know them. I really am very shy.  That is another reason I love blogging.

2. What objects do you remember from your parent's living room?
We had two TVs in our living room. Both B&W. One on top of the other, one for the picture and one for sound.  My dad was Scottish and there was no reason to toss out a TV just because the sound didn't work or the picture was gone - combine them.  Remember the day when each house only had a TV in the living room!  Now it's not uncommon to have them in the bathroom!  Oh how times have changed.
 
3. Do you hog the bed? Steal the covers? Snore?
No, in fact, I can go bed and when I wake up the covers are so smooth that I don't even have to really make it, just slide out and smooth it over. I don't seal the covers and also don't snore.  I just lay down and I'm gone....now the problem is I can't stay that way!

4. Speaking of Easter dinner....what is your favorite way to cook/eat lamb? Or does just the thought of that make you squeamish? If you're not cooking lamb what will be your entree du jour on Easter Sunday?
Ham with Pineapple sauce is what we will have.  Sweet potatoes, green beans and hot cross buns will round out the meal. Not sure about dessert yet.  I'm thinking something with coconut.....

5. Let's throw some politics into this week's mix-oooohhh...Do you know the whereabouts of your birth certificate and when was the last time you had to produce it to prove you're you?
Yes I do know where it is.  I had to pull it out a while back and knew exactly where it was. It is worn out after all this time and yellow but still readable.  Since I also legally changed my name, I have the change of name with the birth certificate! 

6. As a child, how did people describe you?
Shy - quiet - clumsy.  In many ways that is still true. 

7. What do you complain about the most?
Having too much to do and not enough help getting it all done. Don't most women have the same issue? Please tell me that they do?  I don't want to be the only one.....

8. Insert your own random thought here.
Look for the gifts waiting for you today.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Recipe of the week: Morning Glory Muffin Squares


Carbquik is my new best friend. I found out that in some places, a person can get this in the store, but up here I had to order it on line.  On the box are several recipes and I plan to make many of the them but the first one I made came from there website. I did make some changes and they are in the ( )

Morning Glory Muffin Squares

Streusel Topping:
1/2 cup Carbquik
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/3 cup Splenda (I used part Splenda and part Nevella)
2 Tbs. firm butter

Muffins:

2 cups Carbquik
1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/4-1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup raisins (optional-I left this out)
2 Tbs. splenda or other sweetener
2/3 cup CarbCountdown milk (I did sub 1/3 cup heavy cream and 1/3 cup water)
2 Tbs. oil
1 egg


Instructions:
Heat oven to 375. In a small bowl mix the streusel ingredients, cutting in the butter, using fork until mixture it crumbly.
In a large bowl, stir 2 cups Carbquik, pumpkin pie spice, nuts, carrots, raisins (optional), and sweetener. Stir in milk, oil, and egg. Pour into ungreased 8 inch square pan. Sprinkle with streusel.
Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 30 minutes before serving. Serve warm. Makes 9 servings.
This gave us 9 large squares of yummy goodness.


Each square come out to 3.6 carbs each and they are pretty big, add some bacon to it and you have a really good low carb breakfast! Oh yes and did I tell you it was good!  Well it was, a bit of carrot flavor in it from the shredded carrots.  You can bet I'll be making this again and soon!

Monday, April 11, 2011

Weekend Review: Life in the North East/ 400Mile Challenge

I found the 3rd snowman!  I knew he was there under the snow someplace. I took the picture and quickly took all 3 out of the ground and put them away before Mother Nature decided that I was looking for more of the white stuff gave it to me!


We had a lot of melting this weekend and even had temps up in the high 60's so out I went and started to  rake around the snowbanks.

Becke kept sitting near the snow banks and I must admit that raking around them sure does look funny but it needed to be down.

It's brown - all brown but with the leaves gone, the snow melting and some Spring decorations up, it's feeling more like Spring every day.

Before
The rusty Shepherd Crook gets a new coat of black spray paint and the yard starts to look fresh again.

After
Even with the snow here and there, it's looking great and we had the windows open and heat off for a bit each day.  Oh how I love Spring.





I checked with Ellie, the creator of the Fitness Challenge to see if yard work would count towards my miles and she said "YEP! Anything that gets your body moving and your heart pumping can be counted."  So Because she OK the yard work, I counted it.  Grand total for the week became  62.95 with a YTD (Year To Date) total of 622.97. Click the button above and join in with Ellie and the others who are moving it and loosing it!!  
How was your weekend?