Tuesday, A Cow, Christmas Sausage Balls

 Okay, I went back to my dentist Tuesday  after going to the dentist and endodontist on Friday. He pecked around on my teeth and the tooth hurting is the one with abscess. I told him I was confused and that other teeth were hurting. Well, he said that having an abscess would really mess up all a person's teeth and it would be hard to know what was going on until I got the abscessed one fixed. So, I left with nothing done. 

We went by the PO, my house, and Belk.  I had no mail, felt relaxed sitting in my yard, and Belk's was cleaned out! 

By 11 am, we were done. Tommy asked me, "what now?" I suggested getting something to eat and going home to B'ham. He suggested going to Dutch Oven Bakery--Amish store. This was a shock as it is about 15 miles out the highway. So, we went and got a sandwich and halved it. This is a $3.99 deal, and I got one tiny piece of candy for dessert--peanut butter for him and pecan for me. 

Even though it was 33F outdoors, we decided to have a picnic at the picnic table they have out next to a fence with a pasture right on the other side. Someone else got the table first, so we ate in the car. They have two other tables, but they are the five or six sided kind and Tommy cannot get his walker to a table end to eat. 

Once before, I took a picture of a cow lying next to the fence. Last time we were there and eating in the car, a cow came loping along and went to stand near the table. This time, the same brown cow showed up and looked at the four people eating. When they left, one guy got up and fed something to the cow. Next time, we are going to take something to feed him. He is one smart cow! 

Then, shockingly, Tommy suggested we keep going past the bakery and see what there was to see. Shocking! 

As we pulled onto and crossed over the four lane divided highway, a state trooper pulled us over. It seems Tommy was going 47 mph in a 60 mph zone and in the left lane. He had plenty of open highway to get up to speed and move to the right lane. I was again shocked. The man always goes straight for the right lane and annoys me pulling in and out to move to pass someone. Then going right back to the right lane. So, he got a warning. 

Once at home, I went straight to the bedroom and put on a nightgown and went to bed for a nap, getting up at 5:30. I could have slept longer but then I would still be up at midnight with a full night's sleep under my belt.  

Dinner was not happening around here! Finally, I gathered things from the shelves--pouch of Idahoan potatoes, can of Hormel Roast Beef and Gravy, and English peas. It took all of 15 minutes to get it from can to plate. I am not sure if there is any nutrition in those potatoes, but they filled up a hole. 

Today, since I keep forgetting to thaw chicken in the refrigerator, I am going to put a couple of packages in water to thaw quickly and put it in a cooking bag. We will have chicken for eating and freezing for later. 

Cancelling cleaners. Explanation later.

My children loved sausage balls. Sometimes I made sausage balls to take to parties at Christmas. I was mean and did not let them have any. Okay, they had one but wanted many more.  BUT, I promised if they would be good for the babysitter and be asleep when I arrived back at home, I would make sausage balls for breakfast. They were so enthusiastic about party food for breakfast. 

Actually, husband was outraged. Think about it--sausage, biscuit, and dairy product. What is the problem? I was up early in the morning mixing sausage balls and baking them. I loved doing that!

I fed my children unconventional foods for breakfast. But, all of it was just food in a different form than a breakfast food. Did you feed your children different food for breakfast as a Christmas treat? 

$3400 later

His car is fixed, new axle, tires rotated, and something done to front brakes. Tommy has been driving with an axle that needed replacing--$3400. He berates me for telling "that noise" needs to be checked. I wonder how it would have felt for it to completely ++fail?

I got an estimate from the same place, Pep Boys, for two hvac door actuator for over $1600. This thing is the door that opens and closes when you change from ac to heat. Today, on the way to Cullman, Tommy was freezing and I was feeling heat. As it turns out, the door was stuck/broken closed. So, we had to turn his side off completely and close the vents. He was only getting frigid air.That plus the loud rat-a-tat-tat is enough to drive a person batty. As it turns out, this is a problem will al Impalas. Well, they are making no more Impalas, I hear. I did not know this car has dual controls, one for each side of the car.

Before we left home this morning, I scrambled four eggs for Tommy and me. He was a pain and refused to eat any. He eats them anywhere except when I make them. So, I ate all four eggs. Again! I have to quit that. However, the amount of protein I had kept me full and until lunch. I usually do not need to eat until around 1 pm after I eat 2 eggs.

We went to the free lunch and had turkey soup, cornbread muffins, pickle, unsweetened tea, and dessert. There were peas in the soup, so I ate none of the soup, just picked out the bit of turkey. It's good I had the eggs! I did not eat cornbread muffins or the pickle. Tommy ate my bowl of soup, only leaving some of the broth.

We got my mail, visited the bursar at the hospital. It turns out that the reason I was turned over to collections is that Medicare rejected a test I had done. I had to call Medicare for another rejected charge. I have no idea why this is happening over and over. It is stressful when I have no idea what I owe and why. I had a few other things to do. We went to the store out in the country owned by the Mennonites I got a couple of pieces of candy and looked around.

Over under a tree are two picnic tables near the Mennonite store and right near a fence. We were surprised to see a cow lying right next to the fence. We drove over near the picnic table on the way out. Over beyond the cow was a goat lying in the grass. I wondered if the cow was waiting on people with their lunches. And, was the goat and cow friends. There are many goats and cows in the field. The weather was perfect with few skies in a lovely blue sky, 62 degrees by noon.

As soon as we arrived home, the shop called and we had to go right back out to get the car. Tommy had undressed. and was not eager to go out. I did not want to get out early! I had put potatoes in the oven, so it all worked out well.

I used one dish for dinner where I cooked the beef patties last night. So, dishwashing will be easy, thankfully.

Tomorrow, I will make potato soup. Tommy has consented to peel potatoes. YAY!