Sloppy Joes

Good Tuesday morning!

I have added a couple more pictures from the family luncheon from this past Sunday. I've also added a pic of Roxie and Mikie at her volleyball game last night. I don't think I need to say anything about the outcome.

NOTE TO LEANNA - You are right. Beverly doesn't look like me at all, but she looks exactly like my Dad. I, on the other hand, am the exact replica of my mother (19 years younger). Thank you for your kind words. They will be remembered when I have my next blog contest.

NOTE TO CAM - I miss you! If you get a chance this week, let me know how everyone is doing.

NOTE TO JOAN - Thanks for the warning! I'm sure AP is a great driver. I'll be keeping my eye on him as he travels life's highway... or at least Tarrant Road. Tell him congratulations, and to be careful out there. There's a lot of 48 year-old women on the road who probably shouldn't be driving with their significantly diminished mental capacity!

AUSTIN UPDATE - He's doing well. He comes home on weekends and since band camp and classes start a little later in the day, he gets to stay Sunday night and leave early Monday morning. We're loving that right now.

Classes start Wednesday which means band camp will officially be over and the band will only practice from 4:15 until 5:45 each afternoon (except for Thursdays which have a slightly longer practice). Which means he'll be coming home this Friday night for the first football game against Hoover. Which means... Well, I don't exactly know what it means except I'm really looking forward to Friday night now (and not because of the football game).

He's anxious to meet some kids at the Baptist Campus Ministries and in his classes. He still hasn't been homesick (which is good because I couldn't stand it if I thought he was miserable). It is still incredibly hard to watch him drive away every Monday morning knowing it will be several days before we see him again, but we're all learning to let go. (Code for MIKIE'S HAVING TO PRY MY COLD, BONY FINGERS FROM AROUND HIS ANKLES EACH AND EVERY MONDAY BEFORE HE CLIMBS INTO HIS TRUCK.)

Topic of the Week - 40 IS THE NEW 30... AND OTHER STUPID MYTHS

I'm going to skip my 42nd year for private reasons. (I bet you didn't think I was private about anything, did you?) It's too difficult to talk about, so we're simply going to skip number 42.

On that note, we will now enter my 43rd year of life. Josh's illness completely shut him down December 5 of my 43rd year on this earth. If I had any idea what was coming or how long our family would be totally incapacitated, I'm not sure what I would have done. One of the positives that has come from the illness is the ability to live one day at a time. It was definitely not something I had ever tried to do before.

I had always loved to plan, or rather imagine... parties, trips, weddings, grandchildren, our retirement, etc., etc. But when Josh became sick, all of that ended. I could plan or imagine all I wanted, but the reality was staring me right in the face. All we had was the moment we were living in. Nothing more. Nothing less. For over two years, looking ahead was too painful because we couldn't see enough improvement to imagine what our lives were going to be, much less if our lives would once again be good, or full, or joyful. Survival was our one and only goal.

We would wake up in the morning, put one foot in front of the other and march through the day until it was time to put our head on our pillows that night. And God gave us the grace to make it through each day one day at a time.

My 43rd year and my 44th years of life would have to be called "The Years of Surviving Joshua's Illness While Keeping Our Family Together." Not creative, but very, very accurate.

The up-side to these two years is I hardly noticed my osteoarthritis and perimenopausal symptoms at all. No time to dwell on ME, ME, ME. (But just so you know... still no hot flashes. Exactly how long can one person stay perimenopausal? Where are the hot flashes?)

I also noticed during this time gravity was starting to make an appearance in the body department... which is fine. This happens to everyone. Luckily for me, during this period of time I was (and continue to do so) sticking $10 every pay period into an envelope for an entire body lift for some time during my 50s. That's right, folks. And I'm not even going to pretend I didn't have work done when it happens. I'm going to be very loud and proud. (With my luck, I'll end up on a TV show about the worst plastic surgery mistakes in the history of the world... but as I said above, I now try to live day by day. I'm not going to worry about that one right this minute!)

For those of you who do not know Josh's story, you can click on my sidebar under Josh's Journey to read a tiny bit about the last four years. It was, and continues to be, the main reason I started the blog.

Wow! Today was pretty much a downer, wasn't it? Years 45 and 46 have some serious complications in them, also, but I think I can make them a bit more amusing. Let's just say, I'm on a first-name basis with ALL of the paramedics in Gardendale... and it isn't from calling them for CPR emergencies. You'll have to come back tomorrow to let me explain!

Sloppy Joes

Well, it is getting to be that time of the year again... fall. And in the fall, I love to eat chili and sloppy joes and beef stew, etc., etc. This recipe came from the August/September 2009 Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Magazine. (Why haven't you bought this magazine yet? I can't emphasize enough how good and pretty and useful each and every issue has been. What is the problem?)

Okay. Enough fussing. Here's a simple little recipe from her new issue.

You will need:

1 pound ground chuck
1 cup water
4 tablespoons tomato paste
3 tablespoons barbecue sauce, Bull's Eye or other favorite
2 tablespoons onion soup mix, Lipton
4 sesame seed hamburger buns
2 cups prepared coleslaw (optional)

1. In a large skillet, cook ground chuck over medium-high heat until browned and crumbly. Drain. Stir in 1 cup of water, tomato paste, barbecue sauce and soup mix until combined. Bring to a boil. reduce heat and simmer for 4 to 5 minutes or until thickened.

2. To serve, spoon ground chuck mixture evenly over bottom halves of buns. Top each with 1/2 cup of coleslaw. Cover with top halves of buns and serve immediately.

Nothing against Sandra. I think she is a genius, but I do not believe in putting coleslaw on sloppy joes. I know many of you probably do the same thing, but the combo doesn't make any sense to me at all. To me, it would be like putting a garden salad on top of your steak. Put it to the side, people! Put it to the side! That is just my opinion and that's why it is "optional."

However, I think a sesame seed bun makes everything taste better, don't you? Make these ahead of time, and come home and enjoy something homemade on a busy night when you ordinarily would have picked up fast food.

Have a terrific Tuesday. It's supposed to start heating up again in Alabama, but we certainly enjoyed the pre-fall-like weather while it was here. Check in tomorrow for another tradition for your family to try and the new section (Wednesday Wisdom). I'll also continue pontificating (good word... I hope it means what I think it means because this is supposed to be a G-rated blog) about the decade known as the 40s.

Take care, and I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda