A Mystery Trip

I'm going to be MIA for the next couple of days. I planned a "mystery trip" for my friends. I'm picking them up in the morning. They have no idea where we're going or what we're doing. It's going to be fun. We'll be back on Wednesday afternoon. I'll report back then---I'm not taking my computer---GASP!! How will I survive? Oh yeah, I'll have my phone!

Until then, here are a few things:

I came across this in my desk drawer and realized that I've never scrapbooked about my business. My business cards were hot pink so that the people that needed me the most could find it amongst their chaotic piles. For whatever reason, it scanned light pink. Sometimes, I miss the business.

 Here's something I do in my spare time---unravel messy, vintage fibers. I just wind it up until I reach some knots. It will go in to some of my class kits. I cannot sit without something to do.

 So, last week, I took Butch's computer in to the Apple store. He broke the hinge to the lid to his MacBook Air. He wouldn't take it in because he said they would charge him $400 to fix it. It was driving me crazy. And---they fixed it for FREE!!! Sometimes, if you want something done, you just have to do it your self.

 I can't remember for sure who gave me this for Christmas---I think it was Sandy. But, I love it.

 This is why---that little rubber tip is for using the keypad on your phone. It works great!

This is really random---but I was having a hard time getting my earring in the second hole, so I just poked a new one. That one wasn't right, so I poked another. When I got home, I realized that I had still missed the mark. So, I poked another hole---3 in one day. I'm going to wear my diamonds tomorrow, so it's going to be interesting if I have to make yet one more hole. 

I'm watching the Bachelor finale---there's about $70 riding on it. It's down to Pam and I for the money. I hope I win!!

Later...

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Operation Organization

You are going to be surprised at what I suggest you do this week: put together your Net Worth Statement---or---Financial Statement.

This is the perfect time to do it. You are receiving all of your tax information right now. It's an easy way to remember everything you have. And, you've already cleaned out your files in January so it should be pretty easy to gather the information. It's a pretty simple process and shouldn't take more than an hour or two. Start gathering the following information and make a simple list:

What you have (assets):
cash/savings
investments
retirement accounts (IRA's---401K's---profit sharing)
life insurance cash value
auto(s) value (may have to check the "blue book" for the value.
recreational vehicles
home value (just get the market comps for your neighborhood)
personal possessions (think in terms of what you would get if you had a garage sale and sold all your stuff)

What you owe (liabilities):
Mortgage
2nd mortgage
School loans
Auto(s) loan
Personal loan
Credit Cards

What you have -minus- what you owe is your Networth.
There is something satisfying about seeing where you are financially. On the other hand, it could also be a "wake up call" to take action to get things under control.

Here's how your financial statement will look:

Your Name 

Financial Statement---March 2013

Assets:

Cash                                                          $$$$

Investments                                               $$$$ 

Life insurance cash value                          $$$$

401K or other retirement                           $$$$

Home                                                        $$$$

Vacation home (for those of you lucky enough to have one)

Autos:

2006 whatever                                          $$$$

2012 whatever

Personal Possessions                                 $$$$

                                      Total                  $$$$$

Liabilities

Home                                                     $$$$$$

2nd Mortgage

School Loans

Auto Loans

Credit Card debt

Personal Loan

                                      Total                $$$$$$

Net Worth                                            $$$$$$

(subtract the liabilities from the assets to arrive at your Net worth)   

If you have to subtract your assets from your liabilities---you better get a second job. Sorry.   

There you go---your assignment for this week. I don't need to know your financial details, but if you've never done a financial statement before, I'd like to know what you think about it.  

On the other hand, if your financial statement renders you more wealthy than you thought---you might want to invest in the 19 million home here in Nashville where the tv show Nashville was/is filmed. The mansion is not too far from me, so you could visit me regularly!                                                          

  

Cajun Dinner

OMG! What a success!! We worked hard, but it was worth it. Our guests had such a good time and the food was so delicious. 

Bruce and Karolyn are from Lafayette, LA and have been our friends for 25+ years now. Our children grew up together. We started auctioning Cajun dinners sometime in the mid-nineties for various fund raisers. Last fall, I was working on the dinner/auction for Christ the King (the church they've always belonged to---that we just joined last year). I volunteered all of us for another Cajun dinner---unbeknownst to them---I knew they would "be on board." I'm lucky like that! My friends are willing to go along with any of my schemes!

Here's a picture of the table before the guests arrived. Darn, I just realized I should have taken a close-up picture of the crawfish plates. You can see a tiny bottle of Tobasco on the left. They were the table favors for the men. The women got pralines seen in the cellophane bags. They literally melt in your mouth. The secret ingredient is buttermilk. I just realized that I need to get the Broussard's permission before I share any of their recipes. 

Bruce and Karolyn. We all had on our Mardi Gras beads and pins. Bruce has his own chef coat with his name embroidered on it.

Butch giving Bruce a hand with the green beans---not really. We served a 5 course dinner:

Corn and Crab Bisque

Barbecue Shrimp with French bread

Raspberry Sorbet 

Entree (crawfish pie, green beans with andouille, and a shrimp and eggplant casserole, French bread)

Broussard Banana Crepes Flambe (the flaming didn't work because we turned on the vent that sucked all the Grand Marnier fumes out---thus, they wouldn't ignite). 

Here's Karolyn giving the demonstration for the crepes.

There were 8 people and the 4 of us. The party started at 6 and they left about 8:45. We finished up the cleaning and sat down with a glass of wine to go over the evening's events. 

Our guests each had 2 cocktails before dinner, drank 6 bottles of wine and 4 HUGE pitchers of water. I couldn't believe it. Believe me, we were generous in our food portions. But still, after the party, as I was doing dishes, a couple of the men came in to thank us, and then did this. Luckily we had exactly 2 pieces of French bread left.

They paid $800 for the meal---I'm not sure yet what it cost us---but they were happy! I think next year, we might have a bidding war on our hands! That's okay with us---the more money raised, the better. Fund raising. That just reminds me. I'm good at it! But, then I remind myself, I'm retired!

Easter's in the House!

As this crazy, busy weekend begins, I thought I'd whip off a blog entry. I'm starting with decorating for Easter. Since we were having our poker group here last night, I figured it was time.

I love decorating the entry table. Basically, there's really no "decorating" involved. Just pile up a bunch of stuff---and I always have to include books!

 This is my kitchen centerpiece---just a nest full of pretty eggs and a few flowers.

This little vignette features my needlepoint eggs that I did last year. Notice the tiny spools of thread with the eggs in the front of the larger eggs? That's the craft project we're doing today with Steph's friends.

So everything was going along smoothly as I was ready for poker by 4 p.m. Butch and I started our poker group 25 years ago. We meet once a month. The guys play poker, the girls go out to dinner. Since it's Lent, I got meatless pizzas from Papa Murphy's. I made a new cake----from The Cake Doctor.  It's a cookbook with all cakes starting with cake mixes. I didn't have time to really study each recipe, so I decided that I was just going to open the book and whatever cake was there, I was making. Turns out that I picked a Snickerdoodle Cake. All you do is take a white cake mix and add 1 tsp. cinnamon---mix and bake according to the package directions. Make a butter cream frosting and add 1 tsp. of cinnamon to that too. It's good, but didn't really taste like a snickerdoodle. But, hey, it's cake. Enough said.

When I got home, the guys were still playing. I opened up the refrigerator to see this:

Butch forgot to put out the snacks! Actually, I have to take some of the blame because that's what I normally do. But one of the couples arrived 15 minutes early. You know how crucial those last 15 minutes before a party are. I completely forgot to get out the salsa and crab spread. When I asked Butch about it, he said he thought I took it in to the sunroom where we ladies had our before dinner drinks. I felt bad for the guys. A couple of them said they were wondering why the food was so lame! Joking of course. Oh well, it's to Steph's benefit now. I'm bringing it to her house this morning for her friends.

One last thing. I added Jordan's senior portrait to the wall in the entry. Too bad the background on her picture is so dark.

Next report will be about our Cajun dinner. I'll be sure to add a few of the recipes. I'm off to make the Corn and Crab Bisque now. Hope everyone is having a great weekend so far.

What's Happenin'

Outside my window: A little grey, still very cold. We might get snow. I can only hope!

I am thinking: How I need to figure out how to motivate myself to get back to working out. Traveling lately has interrupted the habit. It's so hard to get back to it when I'd rather do other things.

I am thankful for: Other people's leftovers! I was at Karolyn's last night cooking for our Cajun dinner Saturday night. She sent me home with Santa Fe stew, chicken salad, potato salad and pasta salad. A godsend.

From the kitchen: Mindy has requested a family dinner for Sunday with a family favorite meal---polish sausage, sauerkraut, mashed potatoes and peas.

I am wearing: I always seem to be in my robe as I write my blog entries in the early morning.

I am hoping: to get a hair appointment on Saturday, but I haven't heard from my friend/hairdresser. That's not like her. I hope everything is okay.

I am reading: Sarah's Game. So far, so good. I'm only 50 pages in to it. 

I am busy creating: I'm not really doing anything right now except for The History Project. I'm just getting ready for AYM today and Steph's craft project for friends on Saturday.

I'm bummed: that I received this 2 1/2 years after mom died:

It's hardly worth going after---$14.63 divided by 7 isn't much. In fact, my siblings have told me to keep their share. The problem is that the estate has been officially closed for 2 years now. 

I'd let it go, but Jennifer pointed out that  mom would be really mad to know that Discover had any of her money. Soooo, I called mom's bank where we had the estate account. Of course, the manager that was there then is no longer with that bank. The new branch manager never bothered to call me back. Sorry, mom, but it's just not worth the hassle to me.

 I am hearing: the local news on tv.

Around the house and garden: I really am hoping to get my dining room cleaned out this week. We'll see.

In other news: Stephanie and Merrill have finally started their own business. 

Apparently, it has been a dream of theirs since high school. More on the business later.

Thus, M&S Partners is born!

One of my favorite things right now: Stitching on my new project. Karolyn and I took a 2 day workshop last week. It was a lot of fun---and due to a miscommunication---very expensive. Had we known, we probably wouldn't have done it. But the fact remains, we NEVER sit down for 5 hours straight to stitch. Plus, it's so much fun to learn new stitches.

 We each chose our own color scheme. Here's mine. Actually, there's a little more orange than I wanted, but that's okay. I didn't want to bother manipulating the fibers to remove the orange.

Karolyn picked a purple and green color scheme. This looks like it has a lot of blue, but really, it's more purple. 

I appreciate - my cleaning lady, Margarita. It's so nice to come home to a clean house and fresh sheets.

I remember - so many things as I continue with The History Project. I haven't written the story yet, but the prompt for this week was birthday. I've got a good story---just need to get it written.

I forget -what I went in to a room for. Happens all the time. I usually don't remember until I go back to where I was. Then I'll remember. It usually doesn't happen twice in a row.

I regret - That I've now wasted time I should have used working out.

How the weekend is shaping up: We have poker here on Friday night. Since we can't have meat on Friday during Lent, I've decided to pick up Papa Murphy's pizza. I'll make a good salad and dessert. Don't know what yet, but I better figure it out. I have to get to the grocery store.

Saturday will be a hair appointment (I hope), Steph's house for her craft party and then Saturday night is the Cajun dinner that we auctioned off at our Church fund raiser. We partner with Bruce (Stephen) and Karolyn Broussard (the Cajuns) to prepare and serve the dinner. This year, it went for $800. We hadn't done it in a number of years, but I have a feeling it's "back on!" I'll share the menu along with pictures on Sunday (or Monday).

That's about it for now....

National Honor Society

Yesterday we were at St. Cecilia for Morgan's National Honor Society induction and induction in the the National Math Honor Society. Of course I had to snap some photos:

 Morgan wants to be a photographer. She showed us some of her work that is featured on the wall in the theater.

 And another one. She photoshopped all the photos to change colors on this and above.

 Just a little glimpse in to her life. I love the "my life is a whirlwind"---she needs to be prepared, it doesn't slow down.

 I had to take her picture next to the statue of St. Cecilia. She just rolls her eyes at me.

 It had been awhile since I was at SCA. The sad part is that I hardly know any of the teachers or staff anymore. I did see a few parents that I still know.

 I thought this was an interesting sticker on the paper towels in the bathroom reminding the girls that they come from trees.

 The school newspaper sure has changed! Actually, this is a pretty good idea to post it on the inside door to the stalls. That way no one can say they didn't know something was going on.

SCA is the oldest school in Nashville---started in 1860. Originally, it was a boarding school for girls. Here is just a little bit of her history:
The Academy's early years were inextricably bound up with the Civil War. The first commencement exercises were held in June of 1862. Miss Doyle of Tennessee and Miss Schipp of Kentucky graduated in the concert hall, which had been constructed in 1861, despite the war, to meet a growing enrollment. Lanterns borrowed from the railroad lit up the grounds, as over a thousand guests gathered to hear Reverend Mr. McDonald, a Scottish Presbyterian minister, deliver St. Cecilia's first baccalaureate address.

Lee surrendered in April, but the school session continued until June 1865. That summer the girls returned to homes which had been ruined or abandoned. In September of 1865, St. Cecilia opened with a greatly reduced student body. Many of the debts owed to the Academy went unpaid. Deprived of its income, the school could not pay its own debts and the property was sold at public auction in September of 1867.

Although the Bishop purchased the school and returned it to the sisters, he later decided to close it because he was convinced that the congregation could never pay the debt. The sisters were told to return to Ohio, but they begged to stay and promised to extricate the Academy from financial collapse.

Morgan is our second generation of St. Cecilia girls. We are sure proud of that girl!

A Little Behind

I guess you noticed that I missed Operation Organization this week. Well, I didn't even get my organizing done last week. I'm just so busy right now. I'm meeting myself coming and going. After this weekend, things should calm down a little.

What's got me so busy---you ask? Several things---classes, going out-of-town, planning dinners for a couple of social events---and the fact that Butch and I have started a new business. I'm still in the learning stage, but basically, if you are interested in saving money on your utilities (cable, phone, internet, security system---and in some places, gas and electric---anywhere in the world) contact me. I'll soon post in more detail and share with your our savings. I've been skeptical, but then when we got our new bills and can actually see big savings, I'm "sold." Enough of that.

This past weekend, we went on our Eads' girls annual scrapbook retreat. We go to a state park. About all I can say about that is that you can rely on the cabins being clean. They are old and not very nice, but they are really cheap. We were pleasantly surprised to find that we got a remodeled one. It was very nice---except for this:

 Yes, you are seeing correctly. They are mushrooms---growing in the kitchen next to the refrigerator.

This is what we awoke to the next morning. 

 This is how big they were by Sunday morning. Apparently, they did not put the base moulding back on after painting. It sort of creeped us out. Mushrooms are a fungus which makes us wonder how clean the place really is. Eeeewwww!

 I had planned to make Sandy's Cranberry Orange Muffins. I had a feeling getting fresh cranberries at this time of year could be a problem. The lady in produce said I could find them in the freezer section, Well, they didn't have any frozen cranberries. I decided to substitute frozen blueberries. So exactly what is "fun" about blueberries and what does that have to do with healthy and firm? Anyway, the substitution didn't work. Even though I rinsed them, the muffins came out grey and the texture was off. I ended up throwing them out. In hindsight, I should have just bought fresh blueberries. That thought never entered my mind while I was in the store.

 The Eads girls brought these. Apparently, Lays had some sort of contest to come up with new flavors of chips. The chicken & waffle ones were as gross as they sound. Mindy hit the nail on the head---think chicken bouillon and syrup. What's NOT to like about cheesy garlic bread?

I brought these new appetizer/snacks. Connie was telling me that Amanda had them at a party. A little search on Pinterest and I found a recipe:
Bacon Appetizers
Club crackers
brown sugar
bacon

Put about a teaspoon of brown sugar on the cracker. Cut the bacon in half and wrap around the cracker.  Line them up on a cooling rack and bake on top of a cookie sheet (make sure it has edges to catch the grease). Bake at 250 degrees for 2 hours. (Yep, 2 hours). They will get dark, but that's okay. They were delicious---sort of that sweet salty thing---but not chicken and syrup.

 Here are the girls---from the left---Marci, Sara, Stephanie, Mindy and Bridget. We missed Sandy this year, but due to Greg's travel schedule and their relative "newness" to Charlotte, she just couldn't leave. She'll be with us next year.

We did get a lot of scrapbooking, card making, stitching, and organizing done. Steph sorted photos. Sara sorted recipes. But, above all, there was a lot of laughter. We always have a good time and poke good-natured fun at each other.

I'll be posting the layouts on the AYM blog here. But not yet. Maybe later today. I'm off to Morgan's National Honor Society Induction and on to Butch's eye doctor for a procedure---then cooking with Karolyn later this afternoon for our Cajun dinner on Saturday night. I'm already tired!

No "Operation Organization" for me this week. Take the time off or catch up on something from previous weeks. Click on the link above to find out what we've done so far.