Menu Plan Monday

My husband must know I plan this out and post it because earlier today, he asked, what's on the menu for this week? He doesn't usually ask me that! I think he reads my blog in secret. And if you're reading this honey, the love letters in my "closet" piece don't exist. That was pure fiction. I just had to use the word paramour! Now on with the menu.

Monday - Mexican Chili - chicken breasts, can of black beans, can of corn, large picante sauce, and 2 cloves of pressed garlic. Let it slow cook for about four hours, and voila'! Eat over tortilla chips or rice. Add cheese, sour cream, and/or guacamole.

Tuesday - Spaghetti and meat sauce, sauteed zuchini, and garlic bread.

Wednesday - I'm taking hubby out for his birthday dinner.

Thursday - Guys night out. The kids and I will probably eat fast food.

Friday - Pizza night!

This is such an easy week for me! For more menu plans or ideas, visit organizing junkie by clicking here.

What's in Your Closet? (Sunday Scribblings)

The prompt at Sunday Scribblings this week is "miscellaneous." This is what popped into my head.

A handful of old love letters from a long-ago paramour.
Faded and yellowed with age.

Plastic bins, old photographs, childhood memories.
That photo for the dance and tumbling routine.
Yellow leotard, lace pinafore, Dutch hat, and wooden shoes.
Scrapbooks with detailed pages for every major holiday or event.

A green binder, a maroon binder
Old report cards, childhood drawings, college papers.

Pictures of those first ultrasounds for baby A and baby B.
Among them vaccination records and social security cards.
Birth certificates on fancy legal paper.
Savings bonds that mature in seven years.
An impenetrable firebox under lock and key.

Clothes in sizes too large, too small, and just right.
Shoes to match. Or not.

An autumn wreath of burgundy, gold, and green.
Perched on a top shelf hanging on for dear life.

Sheets, pillows, and blankets.
Ages since they were used.
The smell of inattention permeates them.

Christmas decorations tucked away for ten months of the year.
Colorful candy-cane candles, stocking hangers, next year’s Christmas cards.

Collectible LP’s, each meaningful in its own way.
Situated in a pink crate and dusty from sitting unused.

An ancient Avon box to hold gift wrap, ribbons, bows.
Bright, colorful gift bags of all sizes to suit one’s needs.

And what’s this?
I’ve been looking all over for this!
Serendipity!

To read more Sunday Scribblings, click here.

Pay it Forward Book Giveaway

Deadline approaching! January 31 is next Thursday. Free books!
I am giving away two books!

Number 1 is a paperback copy of Cutting Edge: Tom Clancy's #1 Power Plays, created by Tom Clancy and Martin Greenberg and written by Jerome Preisler. Set in Africa, two entities try to control a fiber-optic cable. Black-market commodities, terrorists, and kidnapping are involved.

Number 2 is a hard back copy with cover jacket of James Patterson's 5th Horseman. This was a number one "New York Times" bestseller. The Womens Murder Club, a fascinating hospital and courtroom thriller, is the 5th in the series (although you don't have to read 1-4 to enjoy the 5th book).


Here are the rules, compliments of Overwhelmed with Joy! who started the Exchange:
1) Approximately once a month, I'll pick a book to give away to one lucky reader (you don’t have to have a blog to enter). It may be a book that I've purchased new or used, or it may be a book that someone has shared with me that I really like.
2) Details on how you can enter to win will be listed below.
3) If you're the lucky winner of the book giveaway I ask that you, in turn, host a drawing to give away a book -- any book, it doesn't have to be the one you just won -- for free to one of your readers. If you mail books out using the media/book rate that the post office offers it's pretty inexpensive. If you don't have a blog, please donate the book to your local library or shelter once you've finished reading it.
4) If you're really motivated and want to host your own "Pay It Forward" giveaway at any time, feel free to grab the button above to use on your own blog. Just let Overwhelmed with Joy know so she can publish a post plugging your giveaway and directing readers your way!

To enter, simply leave a comment letting me know which book you would like to win. On January 15th, I will choose a winner via random number generator. Please make sure I have a way to contact you, too, if your e-mail isn't listed in your Blogger profile. And that's it! Good luck, have fun, and happy reading!

Scrolling Saturday

The purpose of Scrolling Saturday is to choose one of your archived posts and repost it for your new blogging buddies. This is a post from August 8, 2007:

I was reading another blog tonight (I'm sorry I don't remember which one - I hadn't learned about linky love at this point), and she brought up the idea of having an imaginary dinner party where you could invite anyone you wanted, real or imagined, alive or already gone, past, present, future. Who would you invite to your dinner party? Here's my list:

1. Jesus, so I could speak to him in his earthly form.
2. My daddy, because I miss him so much.
3. My son's imaginary friend Buddy and my daughter's imaginary friend Birdie. They could probably help me solve a lot of mysteries. That also takes care of #4.
5. The new superintendent of schools in my district who will be named in January of 2008.
6. Noah. I'd like to know about the planning and preparations for the flood and the convenant of the Rainbow.
7. The man who invented pantyhose (I'm sure it wasn't a woman), so I could ask him, "Why?"
8. My preacher, Jerry.
9. His wife, Kristine.
10. B., a religious mentor.
11. His wife, Ruth.
12. The entire Rascall Flatts band. That would make 15 guests, right?
16. Hunter Pence, the youngest new Astros ball player.

How about you?

For more Scrolling Saturday participants, click here.

Friday's Feast #7

Appetizer
How many times per day do you usually laugh?
Quite a few, but I'm not sure if they're all genuine laughs. My husband is pretty funny, and the kids crack me up a lot, but work is so stressful that I don't get to laugh there as much as I'd like to, mainly with the other adults (versus with the students).

Soup
What do your sunglasses look like?
Tortoiseshell-type frames with medium dark lenses, small to fit my face. Nothing special.

Salad
You win a free trip to anywhere on your continent, but you have to travel by train. Where do you go?
If that's the only way I could get to New York, that's where I'd go. I want to see it. My husband has been there once, and he isn't longing to go again. So... take me! Plane, train, auto. I don't care which one. I just want to see it and say I've been there.

Main Course
Name one thing you consider a great quality about living in your town/city.
Mild winters. Being close enough to a large city to have venues available for fine arts, museums, theater, dining, shopping, sporting events, lakes, rivers, and oceans, and so on. Oops. That wasn't one thing!

Dessert
If the sky could be another color, what color do you think would look best?
Light Pink. That's a pretty color.