Race City Chihuahua

Meet the newest addition to my ever growing family! Her name is "Sugar" and she belongs to my nephew Nathan and his family. Now she is just 8 weeks old and is quite the little charmer! Seems that she thinks she rules the house here whenever she comes to visit. Of course my Sadie Bella & Lucky are not to sure what to make of her as of yet. Sadie Bella though does act as if she is Sugar's Mom. LOL I caught her the other day licking her all over and being playful with her and all. But of course Lucky just snarls at her and then goes outside to bask in the sun. Sort of like "Well, you are getting on my last nerve!" :-) I just laugh at them all and think to myself that I truly have gone to the dogs!!!!




So, anyway this past Tuesday, Natan came over with his daughter Kaydence to visit while his wife was at work. We were sitting around doing much of nothing but listening to KayKay being vocal. For being 8 months old she sure has a good set of lungs on her! Well Sugar had to go outside to take care of business. Of course we do not let her go out there by herself right now. So Nathan picked her up and off he went. About the time he headed out the door my phone rang. So he grabbed Kaydence to go out with them. While on the phone I heard all of the dogs raising such a ruckus. The next thing I knew I heard Lil Sugar howling in pain. I quickly got off the phone and got up to see my neighbors Rottweiler on my back porch. Of course "Max" is a friendly Rotty and such a big old baby. But Lord knows he has not been over in ages. Let alone climbed the fence in the last 6 months. To say I was surprise is putting it mildly!!! Before I could get the door opened Nathan came flying through it with Sugar and Kay Kay and said "I think her leg is broke!" I just stared at him and then said whos?" He said Sugars.... I took her from him and look at her front left leg. She was howling up a storm. For such a small dog she sure could howl! After inspecting her it appeared her leg was broke. I immediately called my vet. Unfortunately he had just left his office. Now it was just 6:00 PM. which was the way my luck was going this past couple of weeks! So his nurse told me to take her to the Emergency Vets office. Well I got ready to hit the road. But first I had to make sure that Max got back into his yard. Which his owner had already got him back there. Then asked what happened. We told him how Max decided to visit, and in the process of climbing the fence to come play with Sadie Bella and Lucky, he accidently ran over Sugar! Guess she was so small he did not see her. :-( Luckily for us my neighbor said he would take care of all of the vet bills. Just let him know how Sugar was and all. After that I called Mike as I headed out for the 20 mile one way trip with Sugar curled on my chest.



Well we got there and had to wait. Seems the "Full Moon made for a busy night at the Vets office. Yep, the evilness was out in full swing for the animals. The vet finally got us back there and after the exam, and x-ray it did not sound good. Nope, the surgeon thought Sugars growth plate had been broken!!!! I just cried, and cried. She recommended that I leave her overnight and let the head surgeon take a look at her and call me in the morning. So that is what I did. Of course I said my see ya in the morning to Sugar for I left and just cried all the way home.


We got the call from the head surgeon about 9 am and he said that the leg was broke at the wrist area and the growth plate was pushed out. But he did not recommend the $1200.00 suregery. WHEW, talk about relief. Instead he wanted to push the growth plate back into place and put her into a cast. I told him that sounded good. he next told me we could come pick her up after lunch. So about 12 noon I went to get Sugar. Talk about love, and tears of joy. Oh my how happy she was to see me and I to see her. As for the ride home, it truly was a challenging one. But she is now safely back home. And Max is got a new collar to keep him back in his yard. Seems that his battery had died in his that keeps him inside his yard. As for the Vet bill........ well the grand total so far that I had to pay in full was $583.42. :-() Was it worth it???? You bet your sweet hiney it was. Will I be reimbursed by my neighbor? Yep, at the first of the month! Thank ya sweet Jesus. And thank goodness for VISA!!!!!!

Going Insane

A picture is worth a 1000 words!!!!! So it has been said.... And this one truly describes me for the last week. That life around my parts of the woods has not been easy this last few days. Nope that my sister and her two boys have been arguing so much that I am ready to just run away!!!!

Now mind you I truly do love them all and hate it when they disagree. More so when they put me in the middle of their arguments! But it seems that every since their Dad passed away almost two years ago that the two sons and their Mom argue alot! And the sad part of it is that it 9 times out of ten is over stupid crap!

Of course I am not going into details here! let me just say it has to do with my sister and her daughter-in-law! Enough said..... The point is that life is to short to spend it fighting over things that really should not have been started out as a disagreement to begin with! Plus to put me in the middle of!

When you think about it, family and friends are all we truly have in this world. Except for the dear Lord above. That is if you do believe in him. Which I do 100%!!!!! For me I enjoy as much time as I can get with them all. Which in my opinion is not enough time! Guess you could say because of work schedules, distance away from each other, etc. So when we do get together I surely do not want it spent in ugliness!!! No sirree..... Instead I want to spend it making memories! Plus enjoying it to the fullest.....

Of course we all know there will be some disagreements and not everything will be all sugar and spice. :-) But we can hope it will be! And who knows 9 times out of 10 it is. You could say that I am one who just wants us all to get along. Could i be asking for way to much???? Naw, don't think so. Yet, certain ones think I am. Well, in my house it is play by my rules, or just don't bother coming by. Cause I hate stress! Lord knows these past few years I have had more than my share!!!!!! Yet, somehow I have survived it! Maybe it is because I am meant to! ROFL

Whatever the reason may be, I just know that I have gone "Insane" this past week! So therefore I am going to take some much needed me time and get things back to normal! Even if I have to become a you know what in order to do it! (YIKES) So say a prayer that it does not come to that.

In closing I did get me a new camera!!!! YEAHHHHH So now I can begin taking pictures again. I truly did not realized how much I missed it. First though I got to read all of the instructions that came with it. UGH... This is not my favorite part. It must be done, so I know what I am doing! Wish me luck and look out.

Till my next posting (which I will try to keep up to date with) know you all are in my thoughts and prayers. Blessings to all. Now I am off to locate my mind! HeeHee

Annette

Winter Wonderland

Oh my what a "Winter Wonderland" we have! This is what I awoke to Tuesday, morning. Now mind you that I just could not sit at home. No sirree.... I just had to go out and get me some look see and of course pictures. The little child inside of me wanted to have some fun. So, of course my dear sweet hubby Mike, decided that we would go out. But before we even got started my friend of over 34 years called. Yep, seems that Pam had the same idea too! Only she had a major problem... Her automatic garage door had come off track! Yep, and it was just barely hanging on up nabove her SUV! Well Mike and I went down to rescue her SUV. Needless to say we saved the day for her.

Well, after the great start to our day, we set off to get us some breakfast. The only thing that was not to crowded was Denny's. The restaurant was crowded and short staffed. But that did not dampen our spirits. We did enjoy ourselves. Plus the snow was so beautiful to look at and see. After we got done eating we went back to Pams' house and Mike decided he needed to go home and do some shoveling! So Pam and I took off to have a look around at everything.

As you can tell in my slideshow we got some beautiful & wonderful pictures. The Interstate 77 was backed up heading towards Charlotte. But yet heading northbound towards Virginia was no problems at all to get through. Lord how we felt bad for those heading Southbound... We seen lots of power lines down, as well as trees. Which in the one picture we had pulled sideways to take it. And of course a vehicle was coming at us! Needless to say, Pam was screaming, "Hurry up and take the picture of that damn tree down! Here comes a car!' Talk about laughing our heads off!!!!!!! We two are truly crazy women on the loose when we get together. But what fun we do have! The other pictures are of Lake Norman, and I will admit the snow around it and all sure was gorgeous. Now I did manage to get someones snowman in one too. This was at the Gold Course!

Just know that by the time we got back home we had seen all kinds of lovely sights and truly enjoyed ourselves. Plus Mike was just finishing up his shoveling duties. Oh yeah, even my babies, Sadie Bella & Lucky loved the snow too! And to end the day we had snowball fights! For me the kid inside had a wonderful and fun filled day.

Enjoy the slideshow. And know I wish that all of you could have been here with us to enjoy it!

Monday Morning Music

Brooks & Dunn More CMT Music More CMT Music Videos

Okay, first please go to the end of my blog and hit the pause button on my music player. THANKS!!!!!!!

Now this past Thursday, February, 18, 2008, marks the second anniversary of my Moms' death. That we lost her to Alzheimers. Although the Doctors gave it the fancy name of "Muti-Infacted Dementia." To us it still was the same as Alzheimers. She fought it for 7 years. Believe me when I say it sure was not an easy thing watching my Mom go through it. Nor was it easy on the family. More so my older sister Brenda. She was the primary caregiver. That Lord bless her heart, Brenda always seems to be the one who takes care of us all when we get sick, hurt, or whatever. She just has such much love inside of her that she just can not help but take care of us all. So I know she has a special place in heaven when it is her time to go.

Anyway, back to this video. The first time I heard it, I just cried my eyes out.... That to me it was like the good Lord was trying to tell me something. Or show me something, seeing how I was raised on a farm/ranch! Not sure what, but I just felt like it was a sign of something to come. Or maybe about something I needed to do! See I kept hearing this song every time I cut on the radio. Plus seeing the video when I would trun on the TV! Well, you see it hit me like a ton of brick what the message was from it!

That this past Thursday, as I was wondering through the house doing some housework, I just all of a sudden just started crying. And for no reason. Or so I thought! Then as I went to get some tissues I noticed the date on the calender. Well it hit me, that the date was 2 years since I lost my Mom! Let me tell you it sure has not been an easy two years. We not only lost my Mom then. But also my cousin, within a month of her, as well as my brother-in-law, within 5 months of her passing. Then I was put into the hospital that August with kidney stones and Gallbladder trouble! Yes, it sure was not a good year! But somehow I made it through. As did the rest of my family along side of me. But this video got me to thinking that I never really grieved my Moms' death untill this past Thursday! And that for me is really sad.

So I guess the breakdown of it all is this. That when I started crying Thursday, it all just came gushing out of me. The anger, the "WHY," and everything else. That I know now why this song kept playing over and over again! It was doing so because I needed to let go of everything. Cause my Mom, use to tell me that "When you fall down, you simply get back up, and go at it again!" And Lord knows she was right!

So please enjoy the video, get your tissues out and know that I am alright now! Plus it is a beautiful sunshiny day here in North Carolina.

Exercising My Brain......

Good morning to you all! So where have I been hiding out lately? Well I have been exercising my brain this past week over at my favorite game web site! LOL Let me tell you it sure is addicting!

That I first discovered it back in 2001. It sort of was by accident. See I was bored and decided to search around for some games to play. Next thing I knew BAM this game site appeared out of no where and I got hooked! Needless to say by the next year I signed up as a member and have been one ever since.

Now the site is called POGO. And it truly has all kinds of cool games. Plus they are constantly adding new ones. There is a lot of different variations of Solitaire to play. Plus they have Jigsaw puzzles, find a word, Tri-Peaks, Yahtzee, Bowling, and Lottso. Not to forget Euchre, Canasta, Gin, Pinochle, Hearts, and Bridge too. And oh yeah tons of other ones you may like! I mean there are so many to choose from I just love them all! See what I mean about being addicted to it! LOL

Of course now all of this does come with a price.... But hey it is worth it to me. Because I have met a lot of crazy, wonderful people. Plus made some good friends on there too. And I even have what they call a "Mini." That is a person who I can style and profile like me. :-) Now they even have challenges each week where you get badges too! Right now I have 1006 badges. So see you can tell where I spend a lot of time.

Of course going back to the title of my post today leads me to this. That by playing these games it helps me to keep my brain active! Just by having to think before I make a move in Chess, or checkers I am having to do some serious thinking. Cause I do like to win. Though losing does not hurt either. Plus when you are trying to play and chat at the same time it takes alot of brain power to concentrate! So see I am still having to exercise my old brain too! All in all for me it just helps me to keep my mental status more alert and keen. That yes I do exercise it in other ways, but I get alot of enjoyment this way too! Plus have fun at the same time.

Well if any of you are looking for fun and excitement will you not join me? It is the least you could do for your brain. As well as your sanity! I know it sure does help mine at times! So look for the link over on my sidebar! Hope to see you soon.

And as for the cost ...it is only $39.99

Another "Tastier Tuesday # 3"

Todays' recipes are ones without meat! YEAH... That I do love to try and make these with fresh vegetables whenever possible. But if none are in season, then the canned ones will have to do. (sniff, sniff) Still though they are just as tasty! And so sorry, but my camera is out of commission. Therefore, no pictures today. All I can say is once I get a new camera, I will come back & edit this post and put some in. Till then just imagine how they would look! :-)

MaeMaw McNeely's Squash Casserole

INGREDIENTS:

Herb Seasoned Stuffing
5 - medium Squash (or 3 cups)
1 - medium Onion

1/2 - Cup of Milk
1 - Egg Beaten
1- 10 3/4 oz. Can of Cream of Chicken Soup
1/2 - Stick of Margarine
1 - Cup Grated Cheese


PREPARATION:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Next grease a 2 quart casserole dish. Then take your Squash and either slice it or dice it up into bite size pieces. Also do this for your Onions. Take your Herb Stuffing Mix and use enough of it to make an even layer across the bottom of the greased cassserole dish. Once you have done this, then add your Squash and Onions on top of it.
Now in a medium size or large mixing bowl mix together your 1/2 cup of Milk and 1 Beaten Egg. Next add your Cream of Chicken soup, and your 1/2 stick of Margarine. Mix it all together good.
Okay, now we take this mixture and pour it over the top of the stuff in the casserole dish. Then we take the 1 cup of Grated Cheese and spread it over all of this. Top it off with the rest of the herb Seasoning Mix. Make sure to spread it out as evenly as possible! Bake at 325 degrees for 35 minutes. This usually will feed anywhere from 4 to 6 people.


Nana Nets' Broccoli Casserole

INGREDIENTS:

1- Cup Rice
1- Small Jar Cheez-Wiz
1- 10 3/4 oz. Can of Cream of Mushroom Soup
1- 10 oz size package of frozen Broccoli (or larger)
1/2 - Cup Chopped Celery
1/2 - Cup Chopped Onion
1/2 - Cup Margarine

PREPARATION:

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Now cook your rice according to the directions on the box. While it is cooking you can grease a 2 or 3 quart casserole dish. Then saute your onions and celery in the margarine. Next you can either microwave or cook your frozen Broccoli. The choice is yours. Plus depending on how much time you have to cook it! Then you take all of the other ingredients and mix them together in a large mixing bowl. Now that the rice is done cooking add it to the other ingredients in the mixing bowl. Mix together thoroughly. Finally you take it and pour it into the greased casserole dish. Bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes. This usually serves 4 to 6 people.

Well there you have it. Two of my favorite family recipes. Enjoy, and let me know if you give them a try. Plus Jeanne, I want to know how you did with them! :-) Cause I know how you love the Broccoli Casserole!

Have fun and get outside and get your Vitamin D today from the sunshine!

Nana Net

Valentine Ideas For Hubbies

I just got through watching my local Morning News Rising Show and really got a good laugh from it. See there is this man on it that use to be the weather guy at night. But he got the boot due to his addiction to alcohol, etc. So after much needed rehab, and all they brought him back for the morning show. Anyway, he was talking about what to give your husbands, boyfriends, etc. for Valentines Day as gifts. Needless to say, by the tiome he was done I was rolling with laughter. Which is something I have not done in a while. And I truly did need it.

So here was his ideas and comments......

Buy them tickets to their favorite sporting event.
Send them off for a weekend of golfing.
A Spa package gift. (Cause they need to be pampered too) HaHa
Rent them a cabin in the woods to go fishing with their buddies.
Give them a pre-printed coupon (1 you made yourself) to go out with their friends. (Ya know a night of male bonding)

Now this was just a few things he said. But of course we ladies could come up with our own ideas! The main thing he was trying to say (which he did) is that "Men just want to get away from their wives/girlfriends!" Which is what got me to laughing so hard I about fell off of the couch. And to that point my husband looked at me and said, "Ya know he has a point!" Well, that is when I looked at him and replied, "Is it not time for you to go to work?" LOL

Oh well, just another day here in paradise! Enjoy this weekend and let me know some of your ideas!

It's Back----"Tastier Tuesdays"

Yes, you read right! My recipes are in order and ready to go. So let me get started. Todays recipe is one that my family just loves. They are for ever asking me to cook it all the time! To which I do not mind doing. But sometimes I do get tired of just eating Fried Chicken. Which is why I also sometimes add Chicken and Yellow Rice to the table too! It makes for something different to go along with the rest of the meal. So here you all go two recipes today! Hope you enjoy them.




NANA NETS FRIED CHICKEN

INGREDIENTS:

2 1/2 - 3 pounds Chicken (or all Chicken Breasts 6 here)
2 - Cups Flour
4 - Eggs
3 - Cups Milk
2 to 3 inches of oil
Brown paper Bag or a Gallon Size Baggie
Garlic Salt
Pepper
Seasoning Mix
Deep Frying Pan (Either Cast Iron or Calphalon)
Cook on Medium to Medium High Heat


PREPARATION:

First you can take your chicken and either leave the skin on it or take it off. It is up to you. Either way, make sure to rinse off the chicken good. Take your eggs and break them open into a deep, big bowl. Next add your milk and mix this together real good. Next add your chicken to it. Then put it into the refrigerator and let it sit in there for 20 to 30 mintues. Then take your frying pan and add the 2 to 3 inches of oil to it. Heat until a drop of water sizzles in the pan when you drop it into it. Next take the flour, garlic salt, pepper, and seasoning mix and put it all together into the brown bag/plastic baggie. Shake it all up good. Then start adding your chicken pieces one at a time to it. Being sure to shake them up inside of it. Of course making sure to hold the bag closed! Now add the pieces (large ones first) one at a time. Put a lid onto the pan and let them cook for 8 to 12 minutes. Then turn them over with a thong or fork. Do this continually each side every 8 to 12 minutes, or untill both sides are crispy brown and the juices run clear. It usually takes me 45 to 60 minutes to cook the Fried Chicken!






Chicken & Yellow Rice

INGREDIENTS:

1 (2-3) pound Whole Chicken
1 - 10 oz Package Vigo Saffron Yellow Rice


PREPARATION:

First wash off your chicken good. Then take your whole chicken and put it into a large pot and boil it until it is done. That is when the juices are running clear! Next take it out of the pot and put it into a bowl and let it cool off. Next take the broth it was boiled in and drain some of it off. Checking for any bones that have come off in it. Be sure to get those out( I strain mine into another pot). Next debone the chicken. Then you take the pot of brioth and bring it to a boil. Add your yellow rice to it and stir. Then start adding your chicken to it. (I take my chicken and make it into little slices, etc) Be sure to cut the heat down to medium while doing this. Also, to keep stirring it. You do not want it sticking to the bottom of the pot. It should take about 20 to 30 minutes to cook now. Make sure the rice is completely cooked before taking it out of the pot. Walla, there you have it, a nice dish of Chicken and Yellow Rice.

You can also make this to go with Chicken and Dumplings. Which is something my late Mom did everytime she made the Chicken and Dumplings for us!

Hope you enjoy making these two recipes and good luck. Enjoy the week and blessings to you all.

Nana Net

Super Bowl Sunday

Ok, I got to admit that the game was one of the best ones I have watched in a long time. More so during the 4th quarter! I truly thought the Arizona Cardnials had it won. But yet, deep down inside knew they had left too much time on the clock for old Ben and his Steelers! Which proved to be true. UGH!!!!!!

That yes, I am a Football Junkie. Even though none of my favorite teams made it to the Super Bowl this year. And NO, one of them was not the Carolina Panthers. More about that another day. LOL That I grew up watching football, and baseball mainly. Plus playing it too. Mainly cause I was raised in the country. And was sort of what you would call a tom-boy. I preferred the blue jeans and t-shirts over the dresses and dress clothes!

Still though back to the game last night. It at first was sort of boring. Plus some bad calls were made. Especially when the one Steeler player (#92) did not get thrown out for the personal foul there towards the end of the game. Yet I really was more interested in seeing the commercials. Plus was all pumped up to see "Bruce Springsteen" and his band! Oh yeah, and he surely did not disappoint this here girl! He still can rock and roll....

As to the ads, there sure were some that had me shaking my head thinking "What the devil!" Especially the ones for "Godaddy.com!" I mean where was the decency and morals at when they decided to air those? I guess they went down the crapper on those! Now my favorite ones had to do with the clydesdale horse. More so when he decided to fetch! LOL Talk about creativity being put into play! And then the one of true love. Who would of thought of that type of ad? My hubby Mike said he like the one dealing with the Dorito ad. You know where the guy bites into the Dorito chip and the womans clothes rip off her body, etc. Leave it to a man to like that kind of commercial! ROFL I just gave him one of my you know what looks! To which he just gave me a grin. UGH!

Oh well, now that it is over I guess we can wait another year to see if Budweiser wins out again in the Super Bowl ads. Plus if the next game will be just as exciting or not! Let's hope so.

Cell Phones

I have been having issues with cell phones and the people who have them! Needless to say that is why I am writing about them today. That is seems to be that here lately whenever I try to call certain people they just do not answer! Instead all I get is their voice mail! UGH!!!!!

That yeah, maybe they might have left it at home. Or could have it cut off, or even may be talking on it. The thought even occured to me that "Hell, they just do not want to talk to me!" Still though, sometimes they do not even return the call after I leave a voice message! Now how rude is that?

To me if you have a cell phone do you not think that the polite thing to do would be to answer the call? Then say, "Hey, I am in the middle of something, etc. and I will call you back, etc. Or better yet at least return the call at your earliest convience?

That if you can not do that then why bother having a cell phone? Maybe because you want to try and keep up with the Jones, or keep up with the in crowd. Whatever the reason just think about it.... The person who is trying to call you may be someone who needs your help. Or they might just need some guidance. Plus there may be a true emergency and they need to get a hold of you. You truly never really know untill you answer that call!

So next time that cell phone rings and you see that it is someone you really do not want to talk to. It might do you good to think twice about not taking that call! Because I know that if it really was a true emergency I sure would not leave a voice message saying so! Would you?