French Dip Sandwiches

Good Tuesday morning!

The Gallery Pics are from last night's First Official Volleyball Games of the season. We played Bottenfield and Hueytown... and won both matches. It was a fun evening!

CONTEST! CONTEST! CONTEST! - Since Project 365 is quickly coming to an end, I feel a contest is necessary in order to properly celebrate this HUGE milestone. Here are the rules.

1. I have looked at the first 362 pictures in Project 365. (Pictures 363, 364 and 365 will be taken AFTER the contest begins, so they do NOT count.) I have picked my SIX favorite photos.

2. You must guess at least ONE of my favorites to win a $15 gift certificate to your favorite restaurant!

3. But wait! That would be too difficult, wouldn't it? I mean, there are 362 PICTURES to choose from! That is why I am giving you TEN guesses! That's right! TEN!

4. Leave your TEN guesses in my Comment Section Tuesday OR Wednesday of this week! (You can also e-mail or send me a message via Facebook.)

5. You will need to specify which photos you think are my favorites by putting the day OR date of the pic. (For example, "Day 161, Day 5, Day 43, Day 62, Day 322, etc., etc.")

6. In the event of multiple winners, the FIRST person who correctly guesses ONE of my favorite SIX pictures will win the $15 gift certificate. Any other correct "guessers" will receive a smaller (but fun) prize.

7. I will announce the winner bright and early Thursday morning, August 26, 2010!

Get busy, Girls!

RANDOMNESS - B-12, Baby - Part One - When the boys were little and Roxie was a baby, Mikie went out of town for a weekend men's conference. I had encouraged him to go and enjoy himself. He rarely took time off.

Everything was going fine. The boys were... well, they were boys. Roxie was a dream baby. We ate, played, napped, ran errands and ate some more. We were a well-oiled machine. That is not to say we didn't miss Mikie. Of course we did. But I was glad he was away having a good time.

And then it happened. Fun fact for you... I have a tendency to have strep throat every one to two years. When I have strep throat, I get a golf ball size lump on the right side of my throat. You can actually see it when you are standing directly in front of me.

As soon as the golf ball appears, I also have trouble swallowing because of pain and, well... the golf ball, you see.

Within a few hours after "receiving" the golf ball, I begin running a terribly high fever. (Once it got up to 101.6 degrees! If you haven't been able to tell prior to today's little story, I have ZERO pain tolerance!)

I woke up the morning after Mikie had left with a golf ball in my throat. What to do? What to do?

My parents had left town a week earlier for their fall vacation. My sister had three little ones of her own to take care of, and she certainly didn't need to be exposed to Golf Ball Strep. Naturally, the golf ball appeared on a Saturday, so my doctor's office was closed! It was going to be a long weekend.

As my illness progressed (and I felt worse and worse), I parented from the couch, and prayed for Mikie's bus to return home sooner than later.

The next day was much, much worse. I didn't even make it to the couch. I was in the floor all day. But it was going to be okay. Mikie was coming home early that very afternoon. We would survive.

And then I received "The Call." "Hi, Babe. We're going to be a few hours later than I had thought. The bus just broke down."

"What?" I croaked.

"The bus broke down. But they are sending another one to pick us up, and I'll be home around 8:00 or 9:00 tonight." Mike was a little in the dark about how sick I was. I hadn't told him I was "floor parenting," because I wanted him to have a good time and there really wasn't anything he could do about it since he didn't have his own transportation.

"I don't think I'm going to make it that long," I whispered.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"I didn't want to tell you until you got home, but I have 'Golf Ball Strep.' And it's bad. It's REAL bad!"

"Hang in there. I'll be home in a few more hours."

"Yeah. Well, I'm going to need to go to the Emergency Room when you get home."

"Belinda. It's a sore throat. I'll pick up some throat lozenges and Tylenol before I come home." Mike had grown accustomed to my over-dramatic illnesses... and it was obvious he had never suffered from Golf Ball Strep. A throat lozenge wasn't going to cut it!

"IF I am still alive when you get home, and IF I haven't already called an ambulance to take me to the hospital... I WILL NEED to go to the Emergency Room!" Then he said something about loving me, missing me and seeing me and the kids soon (blah, blah, blah)... and he was gone.

Since you all know I did survive, it isn't much of a cliff hanger, but because of the unbelievable length of this tiny story, I will finish Part Two tomorrow!

French Dip Sandwiches

I copied this simple, simple recipe from a fellow blogger, Becky Higgins. She has a great Recipe section, and I've been trying her recipes for over two years now. I haven't been disappointed. Of course, this caught my eye because it requires the use of my FAVORITE cooking apparatus... the crock pot!

In a crock pot, place the following:

Rump Roast
1 can beef consomme’
1 can beef broth
1 can French onion soup mix
Sandwich rolls (your favorite)

1. Cook the rump roast on high for several hours (until meat shreds with a fork).

2. Slice sandwich rolls in half lengthwise.

3. Place provolone cheese on the halves, and place the rolls “face up” on a baking sheet or baking stone. Broil on low for just a few minutes, until the cheese is melted. (Take them out before they get too brown around the edges).

4. Shred the meat in all the juices. Place the meat on the rolls and serve sandwiches with a small dipping bowl of the French dip juices.

Easy, delicious and depending on the size of your roast (and family), there will be plenty of leftovers for a busy night during the fall.

Have a terrific Tuesday. I'm going to be out and about buying rump roasts today! (And I guess you know what the picture for Project 365 will probably be.) Wednesday's Wisdom, Tradition and Randomness should NOT be missed. Come visit if you get the chance.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda