My ENT Appointment

I met with Dr. McGhee today to see what is up with my left ear. Well, it's what I expected... I have a hole the size of a penhead in my left eardrum. I go back in 6 weeks to see if it has healed up...and we'll decide what to do from there. The good news is he doesn't want to do a Tympanoplasty if he can help it!!! I had this done on my right ear about 10 years ago and have a rare thing where your jugular bulb rests in your middle ear...and normally you have a bone that protects that...well of course, I don't! So we don't want to deal with that again if we can help it. We'll just pray it heals and I can get some of my hearing back!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Bye Bye Fall....and HELLO CHRISTMAS!!!!

My stylish work outfit!

Mr. Attic Man

All our Christmas stuff!


Ok, so you think I'm nuts...but Luke helped me get the Christmas down yesterday. He decided that I was SO stylish in my "work" outfit that he wanted to take a pic...so I let him. Go ahead, laugh, but I was ready to work! It took me most of last night to get the mantle and my Gingerbread men all out. I'm still not completely done with it, but I'll post pics when it's finished. For now, enjoy looking at all of our junk!!!

Branson here we come!

Luke and I had the best time this weekend in Branson...my most favorite place in the whole world! We left early on Saturday morning and dropped Madison Murphy off at Dr. Mike's. (Uncle Nick stayed with everyone else, but she's a little special so she goes to Dr. Mike's). We stopped at the Gilbert Cafe in Gilbert, AR. I, of course, had to pet the dogs outside which was great! I had the Catfish Po Boy and Luke ate the Smoked Turkey Sandwhich. We even shared a bread pudding for dessert. It's to die for!

Then it was onto Branson. We went to the Tanger Mall, the Red Roof Mall, and then checked into our hotel. We decided to rest for a bit and then head on down to Branson Landings. They have a great Mexican Restraunt there we were wanting to eat at again. We waited for over and hour and a half to sit down, but it was well worth it. I didn't think I could take all the noise with my ear still acting up so we ate outside on the patio. We were able to watch the water show while we ate which was cool.

Sunday morning we finished up our shopping and going back to the Landings. We got a great deal at Belk and bought Luke 3 pairs of jeans for 35 bucks! We also went shopping at Lids...a hat store. Luke has such a big head (not his ego at all...yeah right haha!!!) that he has a hard time finding a hat. He has a hat right now that was Alabama, but he really wanted an Arkansas one. He found the one he wanted but it was 25 bucks! So because it had a sticker on it to "Buy 2 for 20 bucks) we looked and looked and LOOKED for another hat. Well, I don't really wear hats, but I did try on a Georgia Dawgs one for Jaime Deen. Which was kinda funny considering I was wearing my Paula shirt. Of course, the Dawgs didn't have the sticker deal so we found another one. Only it's not the Dawgs, but I'll just say it is because it has a dog on it! Oh to save a few dollars for Luke!

We stopped in the Bass Pro too! Well you can enjoy the pics. We had a blast. On the ear note, I go to the ENT on Monday, October 29th to see what he has to say. We'll see!!!

A Happy Cookie Accident

I was in the mood to make some cookies to take with us this weekend. So what did I grab?? Well the Paula Deen Baking Magazine of course. I spotted these Butterscotch Cookies that sounded good and I did have all the ingredients...so I went to work. While mixing up the batter I thought it was kind of thick, but it still tasted ok. Well it was thick for a reason...it called for 1 CUP of butter and I only put 1 stick. (that's only a 1/2 c.) So I baked them anyway and they are more cake-like but still good. Mom reminded me of how many calories I just saved and how Dad would probably eat these too! Thought I would share the recipe:

Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies
1 c. butter, softened (I only used 1/2c)
1 1/2 c. firmly packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 t. vanilla
2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
2 c. quick cooking oats
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
1 pkg. butterscotch chips
1 c. chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350. Cream together butter and brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add flour, oats, soda, salt, and beat together til mixed. Then stir in butterscotch chips and pecans (might have to use your fingers if you don't add the whole stick of butter).

** They are cake-like cookies, so if you like a soft one make it with one stick. If you like a crunchy one, I'm sure 2 sticks would do that for ya!

Enjoy!

The Dr. Visit

I had a visit with Dr. Cathcart to see how my ear was doing yesterday. The good news is my ear drum is fine but the canal was still really swollen. She put me on some ear drops to do 4 times a day and it's not hurting anymore but I can't hear a thing!!! Oh well....maybe soon I'll be able to hear!

On a positive note, Luke and I leave in the morning for Branson. We'll stay overnight and come home on Sunday. I was hoping to do this last weekend, but we didn't needless to say. I can't wait to go, so today it's housework...other than staying on the couch 4 times to let the drops do their magic!

I'll have pics of Branson soon!
Have a great weekend blog world!

My Week So Far

Well this week has been a lot of fun...NOT!!! Ellen wrote me the sweetest comment on another post saying that I was probably busy doing some fall things or baking....I wish. It started Friday night around 11 with a 101 fever. I have an ear infection and sinus infection. The sinus part has gone away thanks to the ZPack, the ear part...not so lucky. I'm on Prednisone now and am calling at 8 am. to see the Dr. again. My ear is killing me!!! I haven't had one this bad in a long time and I'm always careful with my ears because of the tubes that I've had and even a Tympanoplasty.

Not that I didn't think about baking anything and I have been doing a little housework so I don't feel like a complete bum. The Prednisone makes me not sleep so I stay up thinking of EVERYTHING...it's great! HAHA!!! Well I'll keep ya'll posted on my ear....hopefully after today I won't hear my heartbeat in it anymore!

Thanks for the concern Ellen. And no, I don't mind at all keeping Carson. His hair cracks me up and he really is a sweet little boy. He's just having a hard time adjusting is all!

On a positive note I have been watching Paula Deen (duh why wouldn't I...) and she made some Symphony Brownies that look to die for. Make a regular brownie mix according to the package. Put 1/2 of it in a 9x13 lined with foil. Put 3 of the BIG Symphony Bars on top of the batter and pour the rest of the batter on top of it. I'm going to try them!!!! What's a few extra calories when you've eaten soup for days!!!

Bye Blog!

Gotta Love Tuesdays!

I went for my morning walk at Tyndall this morning and decided to make my weekly run to Walmart as well. I pulled into the Benton Walmart and wondered why there were so many cars at 7:30 am! Then, it hit me, it's Blue Hair Day! For those of you not familiar with blue hair day....its when all the "blue hairs" come out for discounts. It is usually Kroger that is the mad house....I know because as a teenager I helped Grandma many a Tuesday in the grocery store. It was pushing and shoving, and my all time favorite men jiggling their change standing in the MIDDLE of the aisle.

Well I decided to go ahead and go inside Walmart. I mainly needed groceries and of course that's where they all hang out! I also needed a new pill container. Mine is really ghetto and old and you have to keep it shut with a rubber band. Well I had completely forgotten about it being Tuesday...and let's just say you CANNOT get down the pill box aisle on Blue Hair Day. Don't even try it!!! They were everywhere!!!

Now you're probably thinking "Man Melissa, you have a thing against older people." I really don't at all. I would give anything to go back to the Kroger with Grandma and grocery shop. I just think older men should stay at home or not stand in the middle of their aisle and jiggle their change. And please people, keep to one side of the aisle...not the middle ok?

If you're wondering, I did make it home ok without anymore run-ins! I even picked up a few Christmas ornaments! As for loving Tuesdays, Luke and I look forward to NCIS and House. Mark Harmon is a babe for sure! And....well...House is....House and he just cracks me up! Have a great day ya'll!

Scrap Pink Crop

This Saturday Mom and I attended the ScrapPink Crop my friend Sheila hosted. It was wonderful! We had a delicious lunch of BBQ and we even had Moe's for dinner. We were able to get about 10 hours of cropping in. Mom completed 23 pages!!! The ladies we sat across from were very nice and friendly too. They had an IPod for one of the raffle tickets. I really, REALLY wanted that IPod. I'm not sure how much Mom and I put into the pot, but Mom won it!!! Of course, she gave it to me. I'm thrilled. I have already taken it for a walk this morning sporting my IPod and my new pink arm bank and it was so much better than carrying my CD player. Thanks Mom! We had such a good time!

Hot Springs Craft Show

Mom and I went to the Hot Springs Craft show this past Friday and had so much fun. This is a tradition that Mom, Aunt Debbi, and Grandma started many years ago. We always go to the craft show on the first Friday in October. Now, it's just Mom and I that are left to carry on the tradtion. It was held this year at a new facility which was hard to get used too. We saw a lot of crafts, junk, and even bought a few things. We also were able to enjoy those delicious little doughnuts the ladies make. They look weird, but they are SO good. They have a spice cake taste and of course they are fried....so how could they be bad? We even stopped by to enjoy the petting zoo. The kitten escaped from his cage and I had to put him back in it. He was going for the baby ducks! I think the head lady of the petting zoo thought I was trying to get another "pet" without paying....oh well! Enjoy the pics!

Rachel Rays' not so "YUM-OH" chicken...

Ok, so I watched Rachel Ray the other day while making our supper. She made her chicken tenders with sesame seeds and spices. They looked really good and "health-ful" as she likes to say. Let me just say that I don't like Rachel Ray at all...I'm a Paula sort of girl...and Rachel's voice and hand movements really grates on my nerves. Now Paula on the other hand I can totally relate too! I mean hello, she uses butter! Well back to Rachel's tenders. I followed the recipe exactly...sesame seeds, salt, pepper, minced onion, and baking them. They were really easy and smelled good. I fixed acorn squash, green beans, and muffins to go along with this gourmet meal...yeah right!

We sit down to eat and I let Luke try out the new recipe first. "Do you like it?" I ask patiently to see if my hard work has paid off....he responds, "They are Ok, do you like them?" They were so stinkin' salty I couldn't eat them....and for ME to say they are salty is something. I mean I'm like my Ma...I LOVE Salt!!!!

So all in all....I will never, ever make any of Rachel Rays dishes again. These tenders were not "health-ful" nor were they "Yummo" and of course they didn't even call for her blasted "EVOO" she makes me want to Gag. From now on I'll stick with Paula and her "Hey Ya'll"

And yes, the meal didn't go to a total waste. Luke ran to Popeyes and picked up a few chicken tenders for us. I was really wanting that acorn squash!!! What a wonderful hubby. I do have to say though this is maybe the 2nd time we have had to do this since we've been married, so it's not all that bad!

The Southern Living House Trip

I went this past Saturday with Christylee and Mrs. Nancy and some other Eagle Point Ladies to the Southern Living House in Hot Springs. We had such a fun time. I am so blessed to have Christylee and Mrs. Nancy in my life. We ate BBQ at McClards then headed to the house. It was fun to look through a designer house. To be honest though, it didn't blow my skirt up that much. There were some rooms that were neat, but a lot of wasted space in the house! I am looking forward to it opening back up for Christmas on November 17th. Enjoy the pics! (You can run your mouse over the pics to see the captions!)