This week

This week was a busy one, like most of them in the Creamer household. However, a few events stand out in my memory.

One - Zachary came in over last weekend for a visit. He went to church with us, and then we all went out to eat at BJs before he headed back.

We were happy to get a little bit of time with him. Can't you tell? I also found my new favorite drink - an Irish root beer.

A mixture of Jameson, Irish cream, butterscotch schnapps, and BJs root beer, this drink is dangerously easy to drink and so good!

Two - George took me to a fabulous lunch at the FSU University Center Club on Tuesday.

We are so glad to be members, and we really enjoyed the food as well as the view.

Three -  I had an appointment today for a node on my thyroid. Doctor says she's not worried, and it will probably go away on its own. I am so relieved!

Four - Last, but not least, the Megan and Danny were off today for the fall holiday (the schools decided to give Yom Kippur off) and went to stay with the grandparents. George is working. These things mean that I have a night alone (with Harley) to watch as much Outlander as I want!

Its been a great week, and this is the perfect end!

More inspiration

Last night, after the house was quiet, I was trying to think of something to make for breakfast today to make use of my week-old bananas and/or blueberries before they went completely bad. I had seen Giada at Home last week, and I remembered that she made a Blueberry-Banana bread.

Perfect! I love baking at night, and I like to think the smell of baked goods gives the kids good dreams.

This morning, Megan and I made use of our leftover cajun ingredients and some others to create an Andouille, potato and egg scramble to have with the bread.

Megan was inspired to help by our "Creamer Cooking Camp" and has become an expert sausage slicer.

For the scramble, we used one Andouille link, one cup of cooked hashbrowns (we had some leftover refrigerated hashbrowns from another breakfast), 1/4 cup red onion, 1/4 cup red bell pepper, 2 beaten eggs, and 3 Tbsp. shredded cheddar. First, you place 1 Tbsp. of butter in a non-stick pan, adding onions and peppers when hot. Add the sausage and cook until sausage slices are lightly browned on both sides. Add the hashbrowns and continue to cook until the potatoes are heated through. Add the egg and cheese and stir until the eggs are fully cooked. That's it! Such and easy way to use leftovers, and an easy way to continue the inspiration to create in the kids.

Welcome home, Megan!

Megan was gone for 5 1/2 days, and during that time, George and Danny went into a deep depression. OK, maybe not a deep depression, but definintely a significant funk. We missed her smile, her humor, and most of all the love that she pours out daily. Danny woke up with tears in his eyes, and George was generally grumpy. This is not to say that they didn't have fun with their alone time running errands and snuggling until noon (while it rained every day!), but we were all ready for her to come home on Saturday. Danny and I went to pick her up at the church at 5:30, and here she's saying hey to her dad (who was working).

Recognize the outfit? She had to wear most of her outfits twice as she was limited to one small suitcase and a backback for everything including clothes for 6 days, linens, towels and all toiletries. She had an awesome time the whole week, and she regaled us with stories of her adventures. For example, she told us about Ransom Cafe, a network of churches that hold a soup kitchen for the homeless in different locations around Mobile. Megan stepped out of her comfort zone and took orders, delivered food, and socialized with the folks she was serving. During her lunch break, she met a homeless family and talked to them about her experience while asking about theirs. It was very eye-opennig for my sheltered girl. She also spent some time at a Mobile nursing home, playing bingo and singing hymns and gospel tunes for the residents. 

Between the work and the worship, she was inspired...and exhausted. On Sunday, after being immersed in all of the activity for the week, she actually missed church because she slept all morning. After waking up, she needed some quiet time, so we sat and watched create tv where Megan found her new favorite show, b. organic. In this show based out of Iowa Public Television, the host (Michelle Beschen) show folks how to create a natural lifestyle by making everyday fun from recycled and reused treasures, getting kids outside, and using natural organic products. Their website, borganic.net, has tons of project ideas to get folks inspired about living the natural lifestyle. The kids even got inspired, and built a fort in the living room (it was raining outside - shocker!).

Megan says you're never too old to build a fort. We had a super relaxing weekend, and I know her week will be spent recovering in the quiet comfort of her room. Welcome home, Megan!

Danny's Latest Obsession

Lately, Danny has been obsessed (OK, all of us have) with watching Duck Dynasty and the adventures of the Robertson family. He's been so obsessed about it that we had to find a Duck Commander duck call for him.

He has carried it since we bought it, and he loves trying out the different calls and sounds. Bonus - it is orange (Danny's favorite color), and it has DC (for Duck Commander) imprinted on it, and Danny likes to believe the DC stands for Daniel Creamer and it was meant for him. Whatever makes him happy, I say.

Megan loves the show too, and her favorite character is Uncle Si. In fact, she quotes the following line perfectly:
"I'm the master of distractions. A couple of hand gestures and - Bam! - I'll pull the underwear clean off your butt!"
My kids have the best sense of humor.

Thank you, iCarly!

One of the kids' favorite shows is iCarly, a Nickelodeon show from a few years ago about a teenager with an online variety show. Their favorite character is Spencer, older brother and guardian to Carly and chef extraordinaire. One of Spencer's favorite dinners to make for Carly is spaghetti tacos, and since the kids love the show, they have occasionally asked me to make them, but I've never had the makings when asked. It seems they also got a taste for them when Grandma Gilbert made them spaghetti tacos on their trip to Jacksonville. So, this weekend, after making spaghetti for Sunday dinner, I had some leftovers. I bought some Ortega taco shells (the sturdiest and the tastiest brand of hard shells I've found), and last night we finally had spaghetti tacos.

Man, were they good! Thank you, iCarly, for giving me a great idea for making leftovers fun!

Memorial Day Weekend, Part Deux

After all of the fun we had on Saturday, our weekend came crashing to a halt due to Tropical Storm Beryl. We attempted to head out of Jax before the storm came on shore, but the wind was really picking up as we were leaving. In fact, the whitecaps on the St. Johns looked more like ocean waves than river ripples, and by the time we got to Lake City, we hit one of the outer bands. Nothing like blinding rain and wind to calm nerved on the interstate!

Memorial Day was also a wet one, with a small reprieve at the pool. After a failed attempt to go to a rainy-day movie, we went out for dinner and then came home to get ready for school and work on Tuesday (boo!). After the kids went to bed, George and I watched one of the British series he got me for my birthday, Whitechapel.

Whitechapel is a series set in the historic Whitechapel area of London. It is a many-layered story of detectives who, though placed together through unfortunate circumstances, unite to track and ultimately catch a killer who is re-enacting the Jack the Ripper killings of the late 1800s. It is wonderfully well-researched series, and we really enjoyed watching it unfold. I highly recommend it, but make sure you have the English subtitles on - even I had trougle with some of the phrases.

A weekend of gardening, fun, relaxation, and GOT

This weekend, mainly on Friday, I tended to my front porch garden that I had planted just prior to our Jacksonville trip. This year, I again have herbs,

hanging strawberry plants,

and a grape tomato plant.

On Saturday morning, after karate, I took the kids out our friend Beth's house for Maya's birthday party. They had a great time on the newly installed zipline

and then bouncing for hours.

Ah, the love between brother and sister.

I guess she'd had enough love and the payback began. Meanwhile, I hung out in party central, complete with comfy chairs and a cover band to complete my relaxing afternoon.

We had a great time. Thanks, again, Beth for inviting us!

Sunday was pretty relaxing, too. Other than church and some Easter shopping, not much happened until 9pm, when Game of Thrones, season 2 premiered on HBO.

George and I were glued to the tube, and we can't wait until next Sunday!

It's Saturday night, and you know what that means...

The Vicar of Dibley is on tonight! On this first night of work for Sergeant Creamer, I was wondering what was going to fill my time, and the light bulb came on! British comedy night on PBS, and my favorite, The Vicar of Dibley, is on at 10. Can't wait to see what antics the Dibley parish council is up to tonight. Yes, I know they're all re-runs. Yes, I know I have the whole series on dvd (excluding the later specials - one day I'll get The Immaculate Collection, but until then, I'll make do). But I can't help it, especially when Jim wears this on the show:

"No, no, no" - Yes that is an FSU Seminoles ball cap! (Don't worry if you didn't get the reference - it's for the nerds like me who have actually seen it.)  Gotta go make a cuppa tea and get ready.

Good night!

My soap opera

I have never been a big fan of the TV soap opera. I tinkered with the Bold and the Beautiful as a teen just to see how many names they could come up with that originated from land formations (Ridge, etc.). I also tried watching Santa Barbara for a while in high school, but when A Martinez and his wife (don't remember their names on the show) picked up a magic rock off a Hawaiian beach and bad things started happening, I had to put an end to it. I loved the movie Soap, which made fun of the soap opera culture as much as I loved Zoolander and its take on models. But now I have a confession to make. I am a fan of one of the "soapiest" shows I've seen, and I love it! It is Downton Abbey,

and after I watched Series One on Masterpiece Theatre last year, I was hooked. I couldn't wait for more of the World War I era British drama. Now that Series 2 is playing, I again am eager to watch each episode. The loathing I feel for Thomas and the modern-woman sympathy I feel for Lady Sybil are the main emotions I feel on Sunday night (or if I'm busy, when I get a chance to watch the DVR recorded episode). I feel almost guilty, but I figure 36+ years is long enough to go without a soap addiction. Besides, this soap is British, and we all know about that obsession. Watch it, you'll be hooked too!

Awesome video!

This music video is hilarious, and pretty much sums up the entire Whole Foods subculture (warning - it does have one curse word in it, so view by yourself before you let the little kiddies watch). Having said that, I want a Whole Foods in Tallahassee! I am so upset that we don't have one, especially since we're supposed to be so much like Austin.  Oh well, I guess we can judge from afar.

CreateTV is now in Tallahassee!

Last year, we were in Austin, TX around this time. Every day while George was in class, I would explore the city and then relax in the hotel room watching a PBS station called CreateTV (nothing puts me to sleep like Rick Steves' voice). I absolutely loved it and commented to George that I wish we had it here in Tallahassee. It has shows that are just about cooking (no competitions involved), gardening, travel, and even old episodes of This Old House. Imagine my surprise when I was channel surfing on Wednesday, and I found CreateTV! I was so excited that I immediately went through the programming guide (it is Comcast channel 202 for those of you in Tallahassee that are interested) and set shows to record while I am at work. If I only had time to watch them all!