Back with birthdays, beef, and best music ever!!

   

 

 Birthday time for the boys in Late January.  We celebrated at a restaurant in town.  Tom turned 23, Ken is not a teen any longer.  He is now the big  20!

 

 

 

 

  

They have come a long way from trucks and puppets for their gifts.  What do you get young men that are on their own?   Tom has been working at an electronics shop and has moved into his own place.  There he can eat, sleep, paint, make music, anyting he wants at any time.  He is close enough to stores to shop for what he needs.  All walking distance, of  course.  Including work.

Ken has moved back out our way, but is still sharing living quarters with a friend he met through work.  He is back to driving quite a distance back and forth, but  he likes being in a house rather than in a trailer.  These guys rented an older house (we're talking old!)  with big wood trim, winding staircase.  The catch is, it needs a lot of  TLC.  A real guy house to keep them busy.

While we were at the restaurant, they must have had a bus trip to town for the local retirement home.   There were a group of ladies there that were wearing red hats.   One was very talkative when passing by our table.   On her final way out, she talked to the boys telling them how much she loved  people.   Then she went on and told them they had the best dumplings here at the restaurant.   One thing led to another and she shared her old German recipe she used to use.  I will have to remember:   one egg for the pot, one for the person.   Don't beat the egg, but stir in just enough flour to consistancy.  Roll out and cut or dry.  She recomended cooking right away!   :o)

I had been sending little cany hearts in Tom's lunch bag the first few days of February.   Then, on Valentines day, we went down to the locally owned diner for the Valentines Buffet.   Tom loves his buffet!  It really was home cooked, beef, baked chicken, ham.   It was more getting out for something different but not going to far.  It was nice seeing many friends there.

February was also the month to stock the freezer.   Friends that have beef cows sold us a side.  Tom had to work, but after hanging  for two weeks or so, the girls and I headed over to help cut and wrap.  As with the pork, I had to tally it up.  Hamburg: 90#, steaks and roasts: 147#.   There weren't many roasts though.  Tom wanted steaks to enjoy.  Some of these round steaks might as well be roasts.  They are as big as a dinner plate! 

I really packed it in the freezer.  I came across the fat that Mr. Beef  Keeper gave us.  The last time we had it, I didn't have a clue how to use it.  He helped me out and explained what I did wrong.   This time I cooked it slow.  Thinking it would never melt ( I forgot to cut it into smaller strips) the fat line increased.   You are to melt it until the solids are just a slight darker, or else you may get a meaty flavor in your cooking.   Then you strain it through a cheese cloth to collect all the "chittlin's".   I had three small dessert bread pans that I poured it into.   You set it in the fridge to cool  and then pop them out and wrap them in plastic wrap.  You can keep them in there, or in the freezer depending on how fast you will use them.  Pretty Cool!  You can see what a gallon bag of scraps melted down to.

Rebekah is pocketing some change for a car.  She has got a job at the local retirement home.  Challenging, but she likes it.  She takes care of two "streets" on her shift.  Anything from house keeping to taking care of the needs of the elders.  Two weeks of orientation and training and she is on her own.  She will need to save, save, save because she also recieved confirmation in the mail.

SHE HAS BEEN ACCEPTED TO EDINBORO! 

So she will be starting in the fall.   She is attending as undecided, but she still is leaning to TSS.  Helping with the kids in elementary school.

So, Christmas Day, we were all opening gifts.   I love all my practical gifts.   Tom had bought me a new item for the kitchen.  It was a row of three crockpots.  You can cook meat, potato, and vedgie all at the same time.  Bam!  Dinner is done.   These are the things I like.    He had also got me a new pair of long johns.  I can always use those.  Under the jeans, dresses, to bed even though we have an electric blanket.   I was thankful.  But then he said, "Turn it over."  On the back I found two tickets to ......George and Reba!   They were coming to Cleveland!    BEST EVER! 

So last Friday night we had Ken come out to stay with Jess because Becky had to work late.  The weather couldn't be any better.   The snow had melted and it wasn't bitter cold.  We got there early enough to eat  at a restaurant right outside the arena.  It was called The Harry Buffalo.   The wait wasn't to bad, and the food was good.   But not as good as THE CONCERT!

Tom had ordered the tickets as soon as they started selling.  He wasn't sure how the seats would be.   The arena has a round stage in the middle and we were hoping we wouldn't be looking at their backs all night.   Wrong!   It was the stage, then  the floor seats (which I really would not have wanted)  and then the sections started upward.  We were the third row up, middle section.    How great is that?

There were actually three artists.  The concert started at exactly 7:00. There was LeeAnn Womack, Reba, then George.

LeeAnn Womack sang for about half an hour.  I only knew one of her songs.   Then Reba came out.   Over an hour of her great music and entertainment. She brought out LeeAnn and sang a duet that I had heard on the radio. Then back to her songs.    She is as much Reba as you would expect.   Tom really likes her.   Great preformer.

Then, what we all were waiting for.  One of the great country preformers.   He came out and said, "You've seen  LeeAnn, and you've seen Reba.  Now it's MY turn!"    The hoopin' and hollerin started.   So good, so good.

Can't think of any other preformer I would want to see.

He played almost two hours.  Just not enough time to cover thirty years of hits.

 

 

HAPPY!  HAPPY! HAPPY!