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Good Tuesday morning!

The Gallery pics today are from two of the Smithsonians. There aren't a ton of "people" pics, but I'll do better tomorrow adding some of those.

Roxie is enjoying her visit with her Grandma and Grandpa. She's working the garden every day this week so she's a little farm girl. She has taken her camera, so I'm sure Friday I'll have some contributions from her week away in the Gallery, also.

Josh Update - With the the steroids, Benedryl and one or two other medications he has to take for the remainder of the week, Josh had an "almost" hive-free day Monday. He was able to go to football practice this morning, and he was excited. We will not know if his original medication will still be effective until sometime next week when he isn't taking all of the other "stuff." However, we are thankful to get the initial reaction under control so quickly. I'll let you know next week how he does when everything is "back to normal."

Today, I'm sharing an Erma story with you. We're having a little "Christmas in July," (which I usually loathe) but it's Erma and it's funny so I'll make an exception. (Tomorrow, I will share my favorite Becky Freeman story. It's about her son's graduation. Go figure!)

Family Christmas Newsletter

I regard the family Christmas newsletter with a mixture of nausea and jealousy -- nausea because I could never abide by anyone organized enough to chronicle a year of activities; jealous because our family never does anything that I can talk about on a religious holiday.

For years I have been assaulted with Frieda and Fred's camping adventures, Marcia and Willard's bright children and Ginny and Jesse's kitchen table version of "The Night Before Christmas."

"You know something?" I announced at dinner the other night. "We're a pretty exciting family. This year, instead of the usual traditional Christmas card, why don't we make up a newsletter?"

"What would we say in it?" asked a son.

"What everyone else says. We could put down all the interesting things we did last year. For instance, you kids tell me anything you did in school that was memorable." Silence. "This is no time for modesty. Just spit out any award or recognition you received throughout the school year."

Finally, after five minutes, one son said, "I passed my eye examination."

"See?" I said excitedly. "I knew if we just thought about it a bit -- now, where have we been that's exciting?"

"We got lost that Sunday and went by the Industrial School where you told us one of your uncles made license plates."

"I don't think our Christmas list wants to read about that," I said. "Let's see, have I been anyplace?"

"You went to that Sarah Coventry jewelry party last spring."

"How about that?" I said excitedly. "Now, keep going. Anyone get promoted? Married? Divorced? Hospitalized? Retired? Give birth?" Silence.

"Anyone say anything clever last year? How about a year before that? Did anyone compose a song? Write a letter? Belch after dinner?" Silence.

"Anyone protest anything? Stop biting their nails? Scrape a chair in the library reading room? Get up in the morning before ten?" Silence

"Anyone lick a stamp? Kick the dog? Wash their gym suit? Sit up straight in class? Replace a light bulb? Breathe in and out?"

They all sat there silently contemplating their year. Finally, I brought out a box of Christmas cards.

"What are you doing? We thought you were going to send out a family newsletter for Christmas?"

"No sense antagonizing the poor devils who sit around and do nothing all year."

Taken from Forever, Erma.

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This recipe came from a website called www.noblepig.com. I check it now and again for recipes, and this one caught my attention because of the simplicity (Code for I CAN DO THIS... I THINK!). Also, it looks like a Krystal cheeseburger which my guys all love. It was a win/win combination.

You will need:

2 pounds lean hamburger meat
Onion flakes
Seasoning salt
Onion - thinly sliced (optional)
6 to 7 cheese slices (your preference)
Sara Lee Dinner Rolls
Cheeseburger fixins'

1. Sprinkle bottom of a 9" x 13" pan with onion flakes.

2. Press hamburger meat flat in pan. Sprinkle meat with seasoning salt. Add thinly sliced onion on top of meat.

3. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. Drain any grease. (Meat will shrink in pan.

4. Top with cheese slices. Put in oven for 5 more minutes so cheese will melt.

5. Using a pizza cutter, cut into small squares to fit in the Sara Lee Dinner Rolls. Add a dill pickle.

6. Place Sliders on a platter in the middle of the table... and stand back.

That's it, guys! It's that simple, popular and tasty! As I said before, we had them for the 4th, and they were gone.

Fortunately, I had cooked a small barbecue pork loin in the oven about 40 to 45 minutes (mesquite barbecue pork loin from Wal-Mart for $6.98). Mike cut the pork loin into small pieces, and we used Sara Lee Dinner Rolls (again) to make mini-barbecue pork loin sandwiches. And they were gone in a matter of seconds, too.

Twenty roasted hot dogs cooked in the slow cooker (2 1/2 hours on low) finished the meat part of our meal, along with twice baked mashed potatoes and baked barbecue beans. Try it some time... I think you'll like it!

Have a great Tuesday. Make some Sliders tonight. Tomorrow we'll have our weekly Seasonal Tradition to look forward to, as well as another set of pics from the Washington trip. I hope I'm not boring you. There were 132 pics of the Shenandoah Valley alone. At least I was considerate enough to just use five. (I'm thinking about using the other 127 for our Family Christmas Card this coming year!)

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