Thanksgiving

   Due to work obligations our Thanksgiving took place on Saturday. At first it sort of bothered me being that it was on Saturday but then I thought you know what..holidays are honestly in your heart not regulated by a calendar day!! We've done Thanksgiving in August and Cmas in Oct due to my brother's military schedule so I thought I'm just going with the flow :) So as tradition our day started off with awesome cinnamon rolls. My mother always fixed these on Thanksgiving morning for us and I continue that tradition with my kiddo :)

  Our meal was awesome. Even though my mother in law (who donated the turkey as her part of the dinner) managed to find a 3 legged turkey!! LOL Only at the Hacienda do you have Steve start carving his awesome Cajun deep fried turkey to see...another leg. We all laughed about it.
  Kaya was a huge help this year. She completely made the pumpkin pies. She's getting so good at breaking eggs and mixing much SLOWER so it doesn't slop out of the bowl. Her pies were beautiful and delicious. 

Kaya also helped this year fix dressing with her Mammaw W. There is NOONE that makes a better dressing than my Mamma lol Bread, sage, chicken broth, boiled meat from the giblets/neck of the turkey all come together to make one of my fave sides! Kaya also helped with the green bean (or as we all call it slimy bean casserole lol) casserole that her grandma's like and with the sweet potatoes. Our meal came out pretty awesome this year.

 We had cajun deep fried turkey, sweet potatoes,baked beans, deviled eggs, green bean casserole, mash potatoes,turkey gravy, mac n cheese, rolls/biscuits, pumpkin pie and cheesecake. Every bit of it homemade :) Everyone at way too much. But the most important thing about the meal wasn't the food on the table, how long it took to fix or if it was homemade...it was the people sitting around the table and the love <3

Cajun, creole butter injected turkey ready for the fryer 

Our feast :) 

Kaya making homemade dressing with her Mammaw

Gotta love croup :(

 Gave Kaya breathing treatments but knew that the cough was hanging on too long, too tight. Yep, time for our yearly round of croup. Interestingly enough adults actually can get croup we just don't realize it. We get a cold, then the cough hangs on and it's tight and we have a form of croup. Which I had been coughing the week prior so that is probably what started Kaya with the cold. 
   Finally nailed an appt from her Dr (not liking this office combined situation...love our dr, love her nursing staff, love the office staff..hate the appt schedule etc) at the after hours clinic and got the diagnosis:
  "Yes Miss Kaya, you have your yearly croup."
   So off to the store to pick up her steroid (yeah..makes her cry one minute, very cranky the next) that she has to take for 3 days. Already have her machine and meds for it. 
  She is feeling better and able to play but it took what feels forever for her cough to lighten up. Nothing is worse than that deep cough in the middle of the night. I think we all crashed last night from simply no sleep!!

Project in the works :)

   We have been simplifying lots of areas of our life and one thing we have been focusing on is better use of our land/gardens and home. This project is going to focus on my utility room.
  It's a nice utility room but the design sort of wasted space. I have been wanting a pantry forever and we debated hard on doing one in the garage simply because of the chance of moisture etc. So the other night Steve was getting something out of the utility room and said 
  "Why don't we make this into our walk in pantry? We can still keep the left side as the utility room...washer, dryer and such. But if we take out the cabinet on the right side I could build you a pantry?"
  The man knows the words to get to my heart lmbo 
  We really don't use the cabinet/counter in the utility room that much. It's got more hodge podge stuff stored in it than useful things and I rarely use the counter to fold clothes etc. I would get alot more use out of a pantry.
  So Steve has designed the plans. We will remove the counter/cabinet and it'll go to the garage to be used for a work bench (which we need). I'll paint where the counter was the same color of cabin red to match that wall. Then he will build a 2ft wide 7ft high, 6ft long shelving box(much like the way we started our box for the seed shelving he built me). Then we will put in five shelves at a certain height to accommodate cans being stacked two rows high (really you can't stack them higher than that anyway or they will fall). The top shelf which is near the ceiling will be where I'll put the rest of my family treasures...old cutting board etc. The shelving will be plywood that sits onto the shelf frame. I may put material or felt on the wood ..not sure. 
  The new pantry will have enough room that I can put my clothes baskets underneath (opening up my floor plan) as well as smaller rubber made totes for what I want. Then I will have a section built with either slant style shelving or with wire racks for extra spices. And I will also have room for extras like shampoo, paper towels you name it. I will also have a shelf for the gadgets I use but not everyday.
  I'm going to paint the wood a primitive cabin red/tan to match the decor and then Steve is going to make an ole fashion sign that says pantry. I'm thinking too about putting peg board on the one side then I can hang my broom there or I could get creative with things to hang there. Lots of ideas.
  I'm about half way through getting the room ready for the cabinet to pull out. Kaya feeling blah this weekend altered plans but that's ok :)
  I'm going to post before and after pics once we are done!!

Revving up....

  The Hacienda started revving up for the holidays last month and we are soon to hit holiday number 2..Thanksgiving. I LOVE the simplicity of this holiday, the simple focus on gratitude, family and abundance of the non materialistic type. This year we will also kick off Hanukkah on the same day (we are not Jewish but Kaya loves the story of the miracle of the oil and we also celebrate by reading the book, doing latkes etc. We do not do a menorah or 8 days of gifts etc as we are not Jewish. I simply like her expanding her culture horizon :) )
  This year I was the lucky gal (insert sarcasm) that drew a shift to work on Thanksgiving day and on Black Friday. I've often worked overnight on Thanksgiving to prepare for Black Friday but this year I work a day shift..which I'm thankful for..but the shift hits square in the day that I can't do dinner here as I've done traditionally since Steve and I married. It bothered me at first...till I remembered when it came to my brother's leave time in the service we've done Thanksgiving in Oct, in Jan and in August lol so truly there is no need to get upset about the date on the calendar..that's not what is important.
  I am upset about how the greed of America has led the way for people to think it's ok to leave their family tables to shop for "Great bargains" or the excuses that are deemed ok that people have to work that day. I realistically know a dr, a nurse, an ambulance driver etc will probably work and while I hate they have to..it's reasonable that the job they do is 24/7. People needing a 2 dollar toaster is NOT a reasonable excuse for a business to be open or people to shop.
  I was told this year from someone that "It is so horrible retail stores are starting the sales at 4pm! Now I have to leave my family dinner hours early to get the bargain. That is not fair to customers." I literally bit my tongue..seriously? Have we become such a nation of materialistic greed that it's ok for one person to miss their family time and meal as long as it's accommodating your family meal and your time to hit a sale? That it's horrible that YOU have to leave your dinner an hour early while my family has NO dinner together? 
  I wish sometimes people would think then open their mouths. I know some people will say it's ok to be open, that we should be happy it's extra money for Christmas. Obviously those people have also lost the true meaning of Cmas! It's NOT materialism, it's not simply gifts and it's not money. I've never shopped Black Friday nor do I ever plan to and I tend to think less harsh of people that do shop that day simply because it's been around forever. Stores forcing sales to Thanksgiving Day is relevantly new and there is one reason it's done....
  BECAUSE PEOPLE WILL SHOP THAT DAY AND MAKE THE STORES MONEY!!!
  If people don't shop, then the next year simple bottom line profit reports will determine if a store is open. 
  So while at first I was upset that our Thanksgiving meal would be on the Saturday after turkey day I reminded myself that it's not the date on the calendar it's the people at the table that makes the meal. Do I hate working that day? Yep, but I also know I have to have a job. Blunt statement...I don't work Thursday I lose my holiday pay and take an unapproved day. Sounds not too terrible for a person like me that never misses..but what if something happens later in the year that I HAVE to be home for..Steve has a relapse, Kaya is sick..whatever..I have to remember that being thankful comes in many forms...So I am thankful to have the ability to put food on my family's table, thankful to have the family that will eat with us on Saturday and thankful to have a job.

Interesting article on simplified living

 http://www.viralnova.com/tiny-house/
 
  I thought this was a really interesting article on simplified living. Granted I couldn't live in that tight of a space  but it's a very nice article on young couples starting out as well as how to simplify what you have. 
  We of course do not live in a McMansion lol but we do not live in a house this small. I've often wondered though why so many people are amazed by small house living when back in the day most people had small houses and many raised large families in them.
  I think if a person likes a big house and wants all the "bling" lol it's fine. I don't think they should be judged as long as they are happy. But I often wonder how many people desire the big home to impress friends/family and neighbors more than they need/want the space.
  I do like how the article hits on living a more deliberate lifestyle..knowing that we DO leave a foot print on this Earth no matter what some choose to think. I've often said we do not own the Earth we are simply borrowing it ..and we will choose what is left to our children, to our grandchildren. I'd much rather they have some beautiful scenery, clean air and drinkable water than I would tract housing, huge mansions, and industrial parks. 
  I try to remember it this way: Kaya is my most prized possession and I want to start her out well in life mentally/physically and spiritually and I also want to leave her a world that she can enjoy.
  So interesting article..and the view they have from their property is priceless!!

Crazy weather!!

   First it turned off cold, then warmed up with a chance of rain. By the time I got off work Sunday you could "feel" the storm coming. The humidity at work was so high that the paper would barely go through the printers. By 4pm Sunday evening the storms started popping up.
  Our sky went completely black, tornado alarms went off and Kaya grabbed her Ipad, Bella and a blanket and we headed to the closet. Steve checked on the weather while we stayed in the closet in case.
  Round one was completely freaky. The skys went completely black, the wind howled and it rained. Then suddenly it stopped, the clouds parted to let the sun out and then it was like the black clouds gobbled up the sun!! We knew when it did that and got completely still it was bad! A tornado touched down just a few miles from us. Thankfully no one was hurt.
  Round two for us was mainly rain and wind but did put a tree through a woman's house the next town over. 
  Eth and Em called to check on us after it hit them and we called to check on them after it hit us!! Very thankful that even though the tornado hit just the town over from them that they were ok!
  Interestingly enough when the storm hit here the barometric pressure was so high that it actually popped canning lids on sealed jars!!! That is some scary stuff when you put it all together.
  Very thankful we were safe, our thoughts go out to those in IL that were not so lucky and to the family of the person that died in Washington IN. 
  Mother Nature sure does what she pleases when she pleases...and lately the weather has been insane!

Whatta week!

  My seven day week is always a long one by Sunday. By Saturday morning I find myself wishing I could hit the snooze..and by Saturday night I'm thinking I should have taken a vacation day for Sunday LOL I'm thankful I only have to do them basically once a month.
  This has been a busy interesting week but the lovely cold bug has hit. Gotta love weather that goes from rain, to spitting snow, to 18 degrees at night back to the mid 60's with chance for severe storms and tornados!! Perfect weather to assist the cold bug. I'm thinking tomorrow after work it's going to be an early pj type of evening, maybe some hot chocolate (if I can bat my eyes enough at Steve LOL),cuddling in bed...and covering myself in Vicks!!! 
  Kaya made her first pan of homemade sausage gravy this week and the girl rocked it!! I started the roux for her but she told me how much flour. I added the milk but she did all the stirring and the gravy came out..perfect!! My Dad was up for supper (no sane person turns down biscuits, sausage patties, sausage gravy, and scrambled eggs!! lol) and told her that she made good gravy. She looked at him and said "I know something about making gravy!" LOL I absolutely love every moment I have with her!! She was singing while doing the gravy and her song had the line "I love cooking with my Mamma. She knows how to fix everything and she's totally rock and roll". Never been called rock n roll in my life lmbo so I'm not questioning it :)
  Steve's weight loss has been a good thing for him..but his wedding band being the spinner type you can't resize it..not a good thing. We've searched for the last two nights for his wedding band and it's really driving him nuts he cannot find it. He's taken our bed completely apart, even the slats because he was afraid when he put the blankets on the bed it might have slipped between the slats. No such luck. I've looked under the bed, against the walls, under the edge of the bookcases, you name it. It can't have grown feet and walked off so I guess tomorrow evening or Monday I'm going to have to pull everything away from the wall and see if by some fluke it's standing upright against the wood trim. That happened once before and eagle eye Kaya found it. 
  At least Kaya tried to make Steve feel better about the wedding band. "You are still the same man, the same daddy and the same husband even if you don't have a ring on. You could wear Mommy's!!" LOL
  Can say Kaya made me laugh tonight when she came trekking through the frontroom in her sports bra, underwear and Finn hat, ran into our bedroom, plopped onto the bed and started singing into the fan! LOL I don't know what was better..her song, her attire or her giggles :)
  So typical fun week at the Hacienda. Thankful for the two legged smile I have and for the hubby I have. 
  

Proof life is always fun at the Hacienda lol Found this lovely item this evening on my memory bench...Uncle Si with a beautiful bow. Kaya loves Duck Dynasty and especially Si. I guess he needed a little sprucing up! LOL :)