New Recipe - Chicken Carbonara Deluxe

I'm always trying new recipes. This one I got from Betty Crocker online. It was delicious and very easy to make. Try it you'll like it. I added mushrooms which were a yummy touch! I also, made it less fattening by using turkey bacon. It was a hit! The recipe is below.


1 package (7 ounces) spaghetti
8 slices bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 cups cut-up cooked chicken
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup whipping (heavy) cream


1. Cook and drain spaghetti as directed on package.
2. While spaghetti is cooking, cook bacon in 3-quart saucepan over low heat 8 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until crisp. Remove bacon from saucepan with slotted spoon; drain. Drain fat from saucepan, reserving 1 tablespoon in saucepan.
3. Cook onion and garlic in bacon fat over medium heat about 3 minutes, stirring frequently, until onion is tender. Stir in spaghetti, chicken, cheese and whipping cream. Cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through. Toss with bacon.

My Selection for the Oscar, "Cutest Baby"

Here she is my great-neice Maddie. Isn't she adorable? I think she should get this year's Oscar for "Cutiest Baby, 2007." I saw her for the first time on Friday. (By the way Marlene & Karen the Chicken pizza was fab!)
I enjoyed getting to know her--she didn't even cry when I held her! I'm glad I went to see her, otherwise I probably wouldn't get a chance to see her until she is one year old.
New Topic.......... It's starting........... the snow. It rained all morning and now a kind of icy snow is pinging against my window. Well, at least the major snow has missed us this time. I think it landed mostly north of us. Will we have enough precip. for ANOTHER snow day? Stay tuned!

Winter Blah's

Yes, I think I have definitely come down with a case of the winter blah's. Symptoms: dreaming at work about hot chocolate, a blazing fire and just going home to my nice warm bed. I got home from work, and took a 1 hour nap. Then I watched the news for an hour. I finally roused myself up to eat a bowl of cereal. I'm surprised that I'm actually writing this. Well, I'm just waiting for Survivor Fiji to come on!
New subject - Now I don't know if you're an American Idol fan or not. I watch sporadically. But there is a Flint native (no pun intended) named LaKisha Jones who is in the running and is quite an amazing singer. She went to Flint Northern which is one of the schools that I'm assigned to. Anyway, check her out.
All for now.....

Big Sister - Little Sister

I grew up only having big sisters. Maybe I will write about that another time. I have never had a little sister. However, that is all about to change. I have applied to become a BIG (that's what they call it) through the Big Brothers-Big Sisters organization. The case worker came over to the house yesterday and had quite a lengthy list of questions. Many of the questions were about making and keeping friendships and how do I maintain them, etc. Well, of course I immediately thought of my old (not in age) friend Laura. It was easy to talk about how we became friends and maintained our friendship after all these years! Laura now has her first grandchild, so I guess that makes her a grandma! She is back in Michigan, so one of these days I'm going to visit her and her son Ken and her new grandchild whose name I think is Rose. Imagine that! Anyway, I'm looking forward to being the Big Sister for once and can't wait to meet my Little Sister.

Nothing to Complain About

Today I was put to shame by one of my new mentors. Let me back up. I was late getting to work. I didn't have time to eat breakfast. It was freezing cold outside. My coffee was cold. I had to rush. I think you get the picture. At 9:30 I packed my stuff and myself back into my car and headed toward the school where I was to meet my new mentor Mrs. Ham. The parking lot was crowded, I had to park what felt like football fields away from the front door. There was a brisk wind whipping my coat and purse. By the time I got into the school my nose was running and my eyes had watered and spotted up my glasses. I won't even get into what the wind did to my hair. The principal was reprimanding a student and the mentor was late.
A few minutes later, a stooped over little old woman shuffled into to the office. I thought surely this could not be Mrs. Ham. The secretary greeted her, "good morning Mrs. Ham." I thought to myself, "are you kidding me?" We were introduced and chatted for a few minutes. She had on a huge fur coat (not a fur collar like the one my grandma wore with the face still attached!) but a full length coat. She pulled off her scarf revealing her long, but thinning white hair. This time just like grandma's. I thought wow she's old. I carefully slipped her file of info. out of my briefcase to sneak a look at her application. Her birth date was ##, ## 17. "What?" I almost shouted 17, are you kidding me? It took me a few minutes to do the math (not my best subject) and shortly realized she was 90 years old. Here she was, freezing sub-zero weather, coming to a meeting where she would begin to mentor an elementary student from the hood. As we began the process the principal, Ms. James, asked her, "what have you been doing lately Mrs. Ham?" She replied, "Well I'm taking a college course, online!" I almost fell out of my chair--literally. I left that meeting with a promise to myself that next time I feel a whine coming on I had better remember Mrs. Ham!
P.S. She left the building a little before me, but got way ahead of me. I was going to drive up to her and offer a ride home, because i thought surely she walked over, but she soon got into a little tan car that started right up. I didn't stick around to wait for our paths to cross on the roads though.....

Top 10 Reasons Not to Attend the Camper/RV Show

1. The warm sugary cinnamon nuts cost $6.00
2. It' too cold to walk from the parking lot to the show.
3. You have to pay with cash.
4. If you don't have cash you have to walk outside again, get in your car and go to the atm.
5. It's too cold to walk from the parking lot to the show, again! (see #4)
6. You have to go up and down the steps to get into each RV.
7. You wish it was summer and you could go camping.
8. You might run into the neighbor you don't like.
9. You get tempted to sell your house and buy the $80,00 fifth wheel to save money.
10. You walk out with a sales agreement to the new $5000 pop-up you just bought.

Upon further reflection, It was cool to go up into the expensive campers and dream. Also, the pop-up camper will not be bought and we decided to borrow the neighbors cabin tent instead. Made reservations to go camping at Higgins Lake in June!

Second Attempt

Ok, so this is my second attempt at blogging. Will i stick to it this time? I don't know. It seems I never know what to say. Is my life that boring? My sisters seem to be able to make their every day activites somehow seem interesting.
So it's Saturday and I have paid the bills, cleaned the kitchen, taken my shower, fed the dogs and la la la. I am going to the camper show later. Whoopie! Maybe I will have more to say about that tomorrow!