What is wrong with this turkey?

HI! Come on in and let's chat. I'll tell you all about our Thanksgiving. I got the turkey ready and into the oven by 9:00. I was given a new roaster to try. A nice new open one like you see on all those cooking shows. Usually, I do the turkey in my Nesco roaster. So, alright, I will try this "new" roaster. About 11:00 I thought, I should be smelling that turkey by now. I went to check on it. It was cooking but did not look much different then when I put it in. Hmmm. I put the oven thermometer in to check the oven. It read 350, just like I had it set. A 12 pound turkey should cook in 4 hours and it was in for 2 already and not much of a change. Went back to getting other things done and ready for dinner. About 12:15 I check the turkey again, thinking I need to start basting this bird. The darn thing still looks the same as when I put it the oven. What the heck is going on? I, again, check the temp in the oven with a different thermometer. Reads 350. I'm thinking that my 2:00 meal is just not gonna happen. At 12:45 everybody is here and hungry. My daughter-in-law, Rose, and I go check the bird again. Doesn't look good. We keep basting it. At 1:30, it is getting brown but still looks undone. We check it with a meat thermometer. It is about 150. At 2:00 I could not take it anymore. I got out the Nesco, put the turkey in it. We kept on basting it. Rose was standing by the roaster, with hands over it, encouraging the turkey to cook. Telling it how nice it was and how good it was going to be. Finally, at 3:00 it was done. It took 6 hours to cook a 12 pound turkey. It was not frozen, I buy fresh. We sat down to eat about 3:20-30. The turkey was good but not as tender as usual. Note to self: cook turkey in Nesco, always. You got to wonder: how long did it take to kill this turkey? In the 30 years I have cooked a turkey,I have never had this happen. Do you know what could have gone wrong?
After the clean up we had our Christmas. Presents were opened. Then the boys got into the X-box and games. Last we will hear from them for a few hours!
About 8:00 we had ham and a bunch of snack foods. The ham cooked just fine in the very same oven as that darn turkey. With our tummies full for the second time it was time to call it a night.

Black Friday! I went to Walmart around 2 pm to get a haircut. Thankfully I had an appointment. The parking lot was beyond full. I parked over by the Sam's Club gas station. After I was done I went to pick up coffee. I was lucky and a check out opened up just as I was walking up. That was luck. I could have used that luck while cooking that turkey. We stayed in the rest of the day.

Today, we met Mel's cousins at Wausau Mine for lunch. We had a nice visit and a just ok lunch. I mailed out my Christmas cards today. I cleaned up around the house, did laundry, and started gathering clothes to take along. I think we may leave on Wednesday. We still have to check out the weather for this week. Once we are on the road I do not know when or where I will have internet service. Thus, my posts may become quite sparse at times.
Tomorrow we take our granddaughter to lunch and then shopping for her birthday. Her birthday is Dec 20, but we will not be here. I will also drop my house plants off at a friends for the winter.
Till next time.
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles

Shits and giggles

I have spent the last 2 days in the kitchen getting ready for the big day. I baked 7 dozen yeast rolls, made 3 different kinds of pies, the stuffing is ready for the oven and sweet potatoes are ready. Washed up the china, the wine glasses and set the table. All I have to do tomorrow is pop the ole boy (Tom) in the oven, make the mashed potatoes, gravy and warm up some other foods.
After we clean up from stuffing our selves we will open Christmas presents. Later, about 6:30 we will have ham and other goodies to snack on. Then I will probably collapse! This is the first I have really sat down all day. My legs hurt, my back hurts...well I just hurt.

After my shower tonight I got on the scale. Just for shits and giggles. Wow, I lost 5 pounds. I looked all over and I just can not find them! I hope I lost them for good. :>) This past August I refused to do my weekly weights because it was so depressing to see nothing happen. Then, one day, I got couragous and stepped on the evil scale... low and behold.. I lost 18 pounds! It has been a slow battle but, don't you worry, tomorrow the food will win again! For those who do not know why I have this battle... I quit smoking about _ _ pounds ago! I knew I would gain weight but come on...it can stop now. Once we get in the south-south west I can do more walking and jogging. I have been walking here but we now have snow and some icy spots, so, no jogging.
Happy Thanksgiving! Don't gobble to much! (ya, right)
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles

Senior Discount?

I got the sugar cookies baked and that was about all. My back was killing me from standing so much. Cleaned up the kitchen and then I just veg'ed out in front of the tv.
Today I went to Sam's Club and got the goodies for Thanksgiving dinner. I have a few items to get at the IGA tomorrow that Sam's did not have. Tomorrow is senior day at the IGA so I have to wait till then.
Speaking of seniors... we were discussing senior discounts today and the places that offer them.I wondered... do funeral homes offer senior discounts? LOL
John came for dinner tonight. I made chop suey and crusty bread. Then he hit the cookies.... he took a bite of the sugar cookie, melted to the floor and said "you make the best sugar cookies." He can be quite dramatic sometimes.
I believe we should be able to blow this pop stand next Tuesday. For the past 5 years we have tried to get out of here right after Thanksgiving, only to leave around the 15th of Dec. Maybe this year will be different...maybe!
Mel wanted to go to Target to look at the grill they have on sale. We need a new grill because ours moved away from home. ( John took it when he moved. It actually was his.) It is a very nice grill. An amanna with 3 burners. We didn't buy it. Why? Idunno!
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles

Survival

I survived the weather! I don't think it got to 5 below last night. It was awful cold though. It did warm up today... 33! A real heat wave.
I went out this morning to craft sales. I brought a glass block with different colored Christmas lights in it. It is so pretty. I wish I had a camera to take a picture of it. I also hit a used rubber stamp sale. Woo who! I got a bunch of stamps for 20.00.
I have been baking the rest of the day. More cookies! Today I mixed the dough for the sugar cookies that I will make tomorrow. I baked pumpkin and ricotta cookies today. After the sugar cookies tomorrow I will make more butter cookies since they seem to be disappearing. Hmmm.
I am getting tired so...
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles

5 BELOW!!!

Yup, you read the title right. Tonight's low temp is going to be minus 5! It is cold outside, baby! I went for my walk this afternoon and thought my ears were going to fall off. I had put on a neck scarf along with my other winter garb, but no hat. Geez, walking west, I thought I was going to freeze to death. I only managed half of my usual walk. In 2 weeks we should be out of here and heading into warmer weather.
It has been quite here otherwise. I have gone to lunch again this week with a few friends to say "good-bye" for the winter. It is always hard to tell them good bye, but, at the same time I am thinking" I'M going where it is warm!" Brat, that is what I am!
I have been baking cookies but, Mel keeps eating them up. I am trying to get them done so I can give some to the kids and our neighbor. Oh well, I will just keep baking for a few more days. Next Tuesday I will start baking pies for Thanksgiving. Wednesday will get my sweet potatoes and salads going, along with the rolls. Thursday morning throw in the turkey and we are all set. Sounds so easy when I say it like that. If only it was!
Well I guess I better go put on my winter woolies to sleep in.
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles

Busy

The last few days have been busy. On Saturday I went to a Stamp and Scrap convention. That is for persons that either rubber stamp or make scrapbooks. I rubber stamp and make cards. It was so much fun seeing new products and how to use them. Many make and takes. I made 4 different cards. The only problem was.. I wanted everything I saw! It was a lot of fun. I met my friends Margo and Judy. I got home late afternoon. Mel said friends of ours called about going to dinner that evening. So I freshened up and they picked us up and we went out to Golden Coral. They had never been to one. We all ate quite well. Perhaps to well. We left Golden Coral and went to Lowe's and walked around some. Or should I say we waddled! That worked to help wear off some of fullness. They visited at our house for awhile. It was a very enjoyable day.
On Sunday we did more Christmas shopping. When we got home Mel took a nap and cleaned up around the house and did more laundry! I think I am done washing bedding, towels and such for the coach. I got my ironing done also. We had a lite dinner. I made chopped sirloin patties, rice and a salad. No dessert!
Monday I had an appointment and then met Lois for lunch. We had a nice lunch and then did some shopping. She had something to return to Target and also wanted to pick up a toy for her grandchildren. I stopped at Hallmark and we came home. We exchanged gifts. She gave me a really nice book on card making, a plaque to hang on my wall and a cross necklace. How nice is that! I also got her a necklace and she liked my towels at the house so I got her some. She was very happy also. While we were out it snowed. During lunch I looked out and it was like a blizzard! It did that for about 20 minutes then the sun came out. It kept doing that all day.
Today we went and brought an electric heater for the coach. Mel finally found one that puts out the 1500 watts it says it does. Cleaned up around the house and made dinner. We had pork chops, potatoes and peas. After that I went to get items I needed for baking cookies. Later Mel came to Best Buy with me to get the last present we have to buy!! Hooray! We are done. Now I have to wrap. :(
It has been cold here. I think todays high was 27. I did go for a walk with my neighbor Marlene. We get double exercise because we laugh so hard about stupid stuff when we are together. I just love her.
Who knows what tomorrow will bring. I do hope to get started on my cookies.
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles

Memory test!

Time to test my memory skills and see if I can remember what I did the past 4 days. Hahaha!
Tuesday... I got caught up on my paperwork. I have been lazy and did not do any for 2 months! It took 5 hours to get it all done but I kept at it. We are still in the green and good to go! ;) That evening we went out to dinner with friends Steve and Barb. We ate at Freddy's Mexican food. Yum-o! We all have chimi's of some sort and they were excellent. It was snowing while we were driving to Freddy's and by the time we left the snow was piling up. Wednesday.... I had my dentist appointment. Got the filling done on the tooth I broke. After that I did some shopping. I managed to get a few more presents and cross off another name on my list. Wednesday night John came for dinner and to move his fish around. Not move them out, move them around. He put his piranha in a separate 30 gallon tank. He is selling the tank, filter and piranha. Hopefully it sells for him. The other fish are still in the 50 gallon and I do not know what he plans to do with them. The 50 gallon he took to his apartment he has smaller,schools of fish in. A bit more exciting then the big fish he has here. Thursday.... cleaned house. Then we went on the hunt for a new electric heater for in the coach. I got Mel a Kill A Watt and he was checking the wattage on the heaters we have now. He was surprised to find that a 1500 watt heater does not put out 1500 watts. One put out 680 and the other 1100. Hmmm, so he started testing other heaters we have and the same thing. None put out the 1500 watts they said they do. We bought 2 differrent ones and checked them when we got home. Same story. So, the search is on for a heater that puts out 1500 watts! After dinner we settled in and watched Survivor and CSI. Today (Friday)..
I cleaned the office and went through the stuff I brought in from the coach that could freeze. I really down sized that stuff. Reorganized it all in boxes. Went through baskets I had in here loaded for the coach. Took some of the dishes and other things that could go out, out to the coach. All the while I was doing laundry. Got the filing done and now the office is nice and clean.
I have been working to downsize the items we take in the coach with us. This summer I went through everything in the coach and I took out stuff that has never been used and never will be used. Why was it in there? I have lots of storage now. We ran out to Home Depot and Menards to look at heaters and grabbed a sandwich for dinner. Came home to finish laundry and play on the computer!
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles

More laundry

It was cold today. The high was 32.9. The sun tried to peak out in the late afternoon but the clouds won. My neighbor and I were going to do our walk but it was 25 and windy. Forget that! So instead, we talked on the phone for almost an hour. Well, our jaws got a workout atleast!
We did go out today and do some Christmas shopping. Picked up a few gifts for the boys. After that I started laundry and made a quick run to the grocery store. I sure was surprised when I got home to find I had not only my items but someone elses also. So back to the store I went to return the bag that was not mine.
John came for dinner and to pick up the cat. We had marinated chicken, mashed taters, and corn. For dessert ..strawberry creme bars. We had a nice visit with John and heard all about his boring conference he attended.
This evening was spent finishing laundry, and watching television. I also did my nails.
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles

The "Wall"

It was 27 degrees when we got up this morning. The warmest it got today was 30. I think it is time we moved Thanksgiving to the middle of October! We celebrate our Thanksgiving and Christmas that day and then we leave. I do not like loading in the cold and snow. On a good note... we did not get the 3 inches of snow they said we were going to get.
I baked banana muffins today and got chicken marinating for tomorrow. After that I read a new cook book. For dinner we had spaghetti and meatballs. I guess the cook book did not inspire me much. :p
We watched a program today about the "The Wall" . The Vietnam memorial. I was surprised to learn that a group of vets from Wisconsin built a motorcycle and took it to the memorial and left it. The motorcycle was a memorial to the 14 missing in the war from Wisconsin. On the gas tank the name of all 14 men is painted on. The dog tags from the missing men are also hanging on the handlebars. How cool is that? I think the guys that did this have done a wonderful job. They are also building or have built a museum with everything people have left at the Wall. We have been to the Wall twice. It is an amazing place and it really plays on ones emotions. I look forward to going back and visiting both. Tuesday is Veterans Day and it is an honor to thank everyone of those brave men.
John should be arriving back home tonight from Chicago. I don't know if he is picking up the cat tonight or tomorrow. I hope tomorrow. After we hear from him I will go to Walmart to return some books. Walmart won't be busy at 9:00 at night, will it? LOL!
Till next time.
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles

Slow week

It has not been a very exciting week. Not much in news here.
We had snow this morning!! Yes, snow! It was staying on the ground too. As of now it is gone. I heard on the radio we could get up to 3 inches tonight.
I drove to Stevens Point today to go to a Holiday Boutique.(craft sale) Margo and I were to go but she had called this morning to say she was to sick to go. She has a really bad cold and did not sleep all night. So, off I went by myself. It was a 30 minute drive but it was relaxing. I didn't buy much. A snowflake necklace and earrings for me, a pottery garlic keeper for John and some almonds for Mel. Big spender, I am! I ran into my cousin and she told me about another sale in that town. It was a "home party sale". Products that you buy at home Parties such as Tupperware, pampered chef,stampin up etc.. I went to that and brought some Tupperware I had been looking for to use in the coach. It was cash and carry and no taxes. Such a deal! The tupperware was half price and with no sales tax. I also bought some hand lotion from a company called BeautiControl. They do home spa parties. Interesting products. Then I went over to the K Mart. Since ours closed I kinda miss that store. Didn't really buy anything but had fun looking around.
On my way home I stopped at Kitchens Collections and picked a few items. I wanted to get an oven mat for my toaster oven. I got the toaster oven yesterday at Sam's Club. We had gone to check out X-box games for our grandson and found this oven in the close outs. The box was damaged but the oven was fine and it was marked down half price. It is a nice Black and Decker one that is also a convention oven and big enough to cook a pizza!
That wraps up this week. Only 4 more weeks and we are out of here!
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles

3 days in the life of...?

I had a dentist appointment on Monday. I had a tooth chip and called and they made the appointment for Monday. Well , I thought it was an appointment. I arrived and they put me into the ER room. Dentist came in, looked at tooth and said it needed a small filling and they could that next week. What!? ( I saw the dentist for maybe 2 minutes) I was disappointed. I am tired of this sharp molar.
After that I ran some errands and picked up some groceries. Margo came over and we made cards till about 4:00. That is always fun and relaxing. John came for dinner. He wanted tuna casserole. It was so good and comforting. Cleaned up dishes and went for a walk with my neighbor.

Tuesday...Election Day! We had voted last week so no need for us to go out. I cleaned out all my flower pots and put them away. Put rose cones over the roses and raked leaves over the beds. Then we started cleaning the rest of leaves in the yard. Our yard is just to darn big! We worked for 5 hours and got it done!! Hooray! I took my aching body into the house and made Mel a hamburger and reheated tuna casserole for me. Watch the returns until my aching back was killing me and Idecided to try an epsom salt bath. I soaked for 30 minutes and felt like a new woman. Back to the results. Can anyone remember back when they would show the map of the US and all the southern states would be red and northern states were blue? (maybe I am aging myself!) Well we sure have come a long way baby. I could not believe that Obama had so many states. Wow! Now let us hope he will be a decent president. Maybe we better pray and not hope.

Wednesday.. Not much exciting today. We went to garage sale and found....nothing. Stopped and got milk and a few other items and came home. The rest of the day I cleaned house or tried. The phone just kept ringing. I think more people called today then in a whole month!! I got about half of the house clean. Made minute steaks, buttered noodles and corn for dinner. Fruit for dessert.

I think both Mel and I are getting anxious to get out of here and go south for the winter. I keep filling laundry baskets with things we will need and Mel asks what he can put out in the coach. I like to stage it all, look it over to see what I may have forgotten before we take anything out. Right now the office looks like a laundry with baskets full of clothes, bathroom items, kitchen stuff and whatever else. And lists... I make lists. Mel thinks I need lists for my lists. Maybe I have OCD?
Till next time.
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles

Boring day

Today was cloudy and windy. Not much happened today.
Started washing up things that need to go in the coach with us when we leave. That meant more laundry. Finished ironing.
Cleaned up downstairs. Now that John moved out I made the area a craft room. Have everything I need in one place again.
I am making meal in a peel for dinner. For dessert I made homemade pudding, yum!
I am tired today and my back has really been bothering me.
That's all for today.
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles

Another beautiful day. I met my friends at the craft sale. I didn't buy much of anything. I got a bracelet, some scrubbies and those towels that hand from a kitchen drawer handle. I got the towel for the coach. Just trying to go "green" and not use as many paper towels. We had lunch at the sale. Chicken dumpling soup and a chicken and gravy sandwich. It was good. We checked out the desserts but none of them appealed to us. After that we said our good byes and they will come over Monday to make cards again. I went to Shopko ( like a Walmart) and surrendered myself to buying some jeans in a size that fits better. Yes, I have put on a few pounds...ok maybe a few more! I am walking 45 minutes to an hour everyday and can not shed an pound let alone a ounce but, boy they sure do jump on for a ride. After that I came home. Shortly after arriving home my neighbor called and needed my help. She bought a chair for her husband for Christmas and needed help to get into the house before he saw it. So I went helped her carry it into the house and out to the enclosed patio. We covered it with a sheet ( It is in a box) and put other stuff around it. Shortly after I got back home again John arrived. He came to empty his 50 gallon fish tank and clean it. He has all his fish in the other 50 gallon tank right now. He got that done and Mel and I helped him load my van and take the tank and stand to his apartment. He will get it set up this week and then take his fish over. That means I don't have to feed those fish anymore!
He will be going to Chicago next Friday for work. Some week end conference for something. I imagine he will do the fish after that. Next Thursday he will bring Peanut (cat) here for us the take care of while he is gone. We are so happy to have Peanut here. We miss him so much since John moved on Sept.1.
After we got back from moving the tank and stand John cleaned up some down stairs and then left. I went to the grocery store and got rotisserie chicken for us for dinner. I took the left overs and made a nutty chicken salad for tomorrow's lunch.
In between all that I did some laundry. Where does all that laundry come from? I thought with John gone it would be much less. I am still not done. Although, I had more than usual because I had sheets and towels and such from the coach to do.
We did go and fuel up the coach today. $3.07 at Sam's Club. Now we are ready to roll after Thanksgiving.
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles