Monday, Monday!

Hey Ya'll,

What a day this has been.  I had to get up early to go have my yearly mammogram/ torture survival test.  Everything is fine though, so I guess it is worth being sqwushed- if that's a word!

I left the diagnostic center and headed to Office Depot to stock up on sale items, then to Starbucks for my Venti, nonfat, extra hot chai.  Mmmmm!  I next headed to Kroger for milk, then headed back home.  Once home, I had to package up things to mail off to the kids from my mother.  The lines at the post office were longer than they had been before Christmas!

  I finally got things sent off, then headed to Michael's to get more supplies for my Etsy shop.  I must have spent an hour and a half just wandering around, checking out all the sales, and figuring out what I really just couldn't live without. $75 dollars poorer, I headed back home-EXHAUSTED!

I got myself some more tea, and sat down at the computer to catch up on all of my web sites.  Two emails, a blog, Facebook, and my shop.  Lots of going back and forth.

It was relatively warm here again today, up to 52*.  It was even warm enough for husband Ben to go out and cut the grass.  Strange to be doing that in December, but it needed it, and he got the last of the leaves  ground up to help fertilize the lawn.

Ben is an avid cyclist, so he plans to go ride tomorrow morning.  It is supposed to be 55* tomorrow.  Almost feels tropical, compared to the low teens expected next week. Ben even cleaned out the last remains of our vegetable garden.  We had a good crop of kale this year.  I usually don't care for it that much, but it is good for you.  I found a great , simple recipe for it though, and I love it.  Here it is:

                                                             Kale Chips

Wash and thoroughly dry the kale, then slice off the large, tough middle veins.  Cut the kale into bite size pieces, not too small. Preheat oven to 350* Line a cookie sheet with

parchment paper.  Toss the kale with some olive oil , just enough to lightly coat the leaves, and sprinkle with some kosher or sea salt.  Bake 10 to 15 minutes or just til the leaves begin to curl and brown.  They end up being nice and crispy, and very tasty- Not yucky like you anti- greens people might think! Try it out, you will like it!

Well, it's time to get back to work.  Hope to hear from you soon.  Mary