More on Expiration Dates

It seems many of my friends were skeptical about the contents of my refrigerator and my character deficit regarding expiration dates. I assure you, every word was true with no exagerations. Since I busted myself, however, this may not continue to be a problem at our house. It seems Allister has help keeping us free of expired products in our home. Last night, Wendy and her family came to enjoy a delcious birthday dinner, prepared by me, (well, OK, the cheese cake was prepared by Mrs. Smith) including sirloin steak, twice baked potatoes and grilled asparagus. Wendy looked over the steak sauce, picked up this one and said, "Hmmm, I better check the expiration date." You guessed it...it was expired: September 2007. That's hardly expired at all in my estimation, but it's gone now.

A Poem for Wendy's Birthday

A Cradle Song

The angels are stooping
Above your bed;
They weary of trooping
With the whimpering dead.
God's laughing in Heaven
To see you so good;
The Sailing Seven
Are gay with His mood.
I sigh that kiss you,
For I must own
That I shall miss you
When you have grown.
William Butler Yeats

Daddy

Today is my daddy's birthday. He always had a big smile just like this one for everyone. He was patient,kind and loving. I loved him very much. I wonder if birthday's are celebrated in heaven.

This photo of Daddy and me right before my graduation from nursing school made me think of a letter to the editor that was in our local newspaper last week. Someone was concerned about MRSA staph and thought that nurses should wear white again,instead of colored scrubs so the germs would show up on our uniforms.

An adventure on the River

Monday, Basil, M and E took a trip on our downtown river, which is looking more and more beautiful these days. It is a wonderful place to walk and get outdoors and see families enjoying each other and God's creation. Z and I stood on the bank waiting for disaster, but their trip was uneventful except for lots of laughter. We have some critters in this river called Nutria. They are huge rats and are very unattractive, but probably harmless. They did not show up, however, and the boaters only had ducks and fish for companions.

Courtney and Z

Z and E made scrapbooks this weekend. E made one about his week with us in New Mexico in October and Z looked through my old photos and found enough photos of flowers to fill this little scrapbook. She only wanted flowers in her book and only certain flowers. She eliminated all flowers that she classified as "weird". This is a little album is a gift I bought for my mother when I found out I was pregnant with our first daughter, Jenny. On the front is : SOG with PIP. That stands for silly old grandmother with pictures in purse. Isn't it great that we have blogs for silly old grandmothers now!

Z and Iz are Two

We also had a little birthday party for Z and Iz. Their birthdays are October 1 and October 27. Wendy made them a race track cake. I calls Z "Wane". "No, No, Wane", he yells as Z heads toward the street. These two guys are nuts about Papa. Iz found this photo of him and Papa in my stash and took it home with him.

Our Weekend with Courtney and her family

Courtney and her family came to visit this weekend. I planned to have an early Thanksgiving on Saturday but I set the oven on fire trying to cook a turkey. I think I forgot to put holes in the turkey bag and the juice leaked out on the bottom of the oven. It was only a small fire, though and I got my oven cleaned by M the next day. The turkey didn't get done in time for supper but we had it on Sunday. I had lots of help in the kitchen this weekend. E cleaned all my cabinets with Murphy's Oil and the refrigerator police,aka, Allister checked my expiration dates and threw away 5 jars of mayonnaise. He even found another expired jar in my pantry, never opened. I don't pay much attention to expiration dates. To me, they just mean the company wants me to buy something new, but I do see how old mayonnaise could cause a problem and I am glad to have it all out of the fridge. I never use it anyway, I only use fat free mayonnaise: one of my many attempts to convince myself I am trying to cook and eat healthy. Allister has also checked the expiration dates on the medications in my bathroom in the past. He found some real treasures in there... some stuff that had expired before he was born. Be prepared for his favorite question if he ever comes to visit you: "How long has this stuff been in here?"