Wings and things

Not the airplane kind but the chicken kind. Mr. Right’s absolutely fave is a buffalo Hot Wing diner that I make using Frank’s Red Hot sauce. It is super easy and super yummy a great diner for our family with beer for him and wine for me. I bake the wings (see recipe in Meals for Two) and set 5 wings aside after they are baked for the Little Dude he does not like the Hot Sauce. The Potato Skins are some skins and some slices I hate left over potatoes so instead of scooping out the mush and saving it for later I just bake them until crispy. The diner takes about an hour and a half to make and it is one of our favorites. Yum yum.

He is coming home !!!!

I really did not think that he was going to make it home before the 17^th of February, he left on the 27^th of January. I was wrong and I am so very excited to admit that I was wrong because in about 8 hours he is going to walk through that door. I know I am sappy because I am still madly silly in love with this man 15 years after he met me in a coffee shop (very long story for another day) actually a hell of a lot more today than 15 years ago – funny how that works. Anyway I was thinking about how excited I am and I know that many wives experience the same type of rush and excitement when their pilot comes home after a trip. I figured I would document today. Continued in In the life of the Whirly Wife

Maintenance flights

I am not sure how it works in the airplane world but the helicopter world flying consist of transportation, cargo, patrol, observation, shuttling aircraft or pilots and maintenance flights. I think that many people forget about how important maintenance is not only to the company but to the pilot and to the pilot’s family. The company my husband works for is very safety oriented, much more so than others in the industry. I am grateful for their commitment and attitude of no expense spared when it comes to maintenance and pilot safety. Continued in the In the life of the Whirly Wife

Playdough follow up

Ok so I did that little post on playdough yesterday with a side note that it made someone's dog sick. This morning my dog ate two figurines that we made yesterday and upchucked his breakfast playdough included, promptly after eating the playdough. So I say NOT edible.

Homemade playdough

Several months ago I went over to a friend’s friend’s house and she was telling us how she made playdough. All the kids played with it at they had great fun. My son has had clay forever and that is what we have been using for play time we build houses and trains etc. Lately he has been playing with a little friend of his and she has playdough factory and he loves it. Continued in Hanger Rats

Project on a cold cold day.

So Little Dude is really into building things and shows about building buildings, playgrounds, skyscrapers, ect. He has also been really into this cartoon about three superheroes and their adventures in their little city. So last night while getting ready for bed we dreamed up a project of building a city. Continued in Hanger Rats

It is sooo very cold outside!

 

It is soo very cold outside. The wind is howling and it is 38 degrees and I know that for you folks up North 38 degrees is warm and you all are probably reading this shaking your heads but to us Southern birds it is freaking cold and miserable. I can deal with 102 degree heat but I feel like I can’t function in weather this cold.

Continued in In the life of the Whirly Wife

Gołąbki – Stuffed Cabbage

This is one of my most favorite Polish meals. This recipe makes a lot so I freeze them in sauce and they are great reheated. Enjoy. (Full recipe in Meals for Two)

Ready or not here I come.

Daddy and son were playing hide and seek. I am sure that you have heard me sing prizes to my husband for being the best player ever. He turns into a kid around our son and just gets creative and has a blast playing. While they were playing hide and seek daddy hid under our computer desk, son found him right away because he is too tall and could not squash his six one under the desk (it’s a built in) and his feet stuck out.  Daddy hid in the closet, behind the door in the bathroom, behind the couch, in the laundry room. But the behind the suitcase under the blanket was the most successful. Our little guy ran by him like three times and did not notice daddy hiding there. Awesome hiding daddy, and kudos on being able to squeeze yourself into that tight spot between the cabinet and wall. It is so much fun when daddy is home.

Ok this like NEVER happens to me.

I know that some people can shop and save $90 plus on their grocery bill and pay only $30.00 for a bunch of items (to see an amazing coupon saver check out Runblondi26). I am nowhere near that good of a shopper. I just don’t know how to do that my hat comes off to her and I hope that maybe just once in my life I will manage to save like that. Once in a while I get lucky and I manage to save close to 50% of my grocery bill. Today I ran out to buy bread and some stuff for lunch for tomorrow and I had few coupons – and I scored. I did learn that the best savings you can get are when the item is on sale and then you have a manufacturer’s coupon. I get my coupons on line because I never think to buy a Sunday paper. Our stores will not allow you to double or triple coupons except on very few special days so the doubling of coupons just is not working for me. Today Kroger had crazy savings buy 10 save $5.00 so they had caned veggies for $0.32 per can and pizza for $2.49 and a ton of other items. I had additional coupons for some of the items and ended up saving $19.50 on a $45.23 bill. The cool thing is that I bought fresh veggies and some fruits dairy products and just everyday stuff that you need. I know it is not fabulous savings but I am darn proud of myself and I wanted to share with you.

He is really baking!

I love to cook and bake. Not that hard to figure out. My husband likes to eat what I cook as long as I don’t go to creative but he does not cook. Let me give you some examples that will clearly explain to you exactly how little my husband knows about cooking. He can set a calzone on fire in a microwave oven, he has also managed to set popcorn on fire in a popcorn maker, my friend threw him out of our kitchen when he was helplessly trying to control macaroni and cheese that was overflowing all over the stove top (I was not at home). You get the picture. The guy is amazing at most things that he tries but a disaster in the kitchen. (I love you baby) Continued in Hanger Rats

Employed on my terms

Source

Ok so I am a stay at home mom, but once in a while I need to do something other than teaching our son. Since no HR department will hire an HR person who works when she wants to, I came across a perfect solution that works. I substitute teach - this position allows me to work when I want to which also means that our son gets to stay home with us, we get to take trips and have family tme as we choose to plan it. Our son gets time with mommy when daddy is away and when mommy is at work he gets daddy son time. Win win.

After 7 months of not working I returned to subbing today. I woke up at 5:30am, rolled out of bed, got dressed in professional attire, put on my make up and went downstairs. I ate breakfast standing up while renewing books at the library and packing my lunch. I wrote a honey do list for my husband and I headed out the door. I was covering for a speech teacher but since there was a mix up I only ended up covering  part of the day and was home by 9am. Way easy day, and what a sweet way to get re-entered into work. It was a little weird leaving this morning, sneaking out trying not to wake up anyone and being in the car alone, eating alone – can you tell I am not used to being alone. I thought at one point in the car “I didn’t check on my son!” – I didn’t want to wake him but it felt strange not to have seen him in the morning and kissing him. It also felt wonderful seeing all the teachers I have come to know over the last three years and catching up with them, put on pretty cloths and do something new.

I enjoy substitute teaching as it lets me into a new environment and it is fun to see the highschoolers , it takes me back in time. I usually sub for the math department because it is my favorite subject. The sweet thing about this job is the fact that I make my schedule and being married to a pilot it allows tremendous flexibility, keeping me involved in the work place at the same time. I am very lucky to have such a good thing going.

Entertaining heaven

I absolutely love entertaining so I do it quite often. Sometimes it is a pot luck party and everyone brings an appetizer, it is a wonderful way to taste many different things from different kitchens. Other times it is a private diner party that is more intimate time to catch up or just enjoy company.  Entertaining by my definition is an evening of friends getting together and enjoying great food and wine and of course beer for the men.

Tonight I had a diner party. My dear friend and her husband joined us for diner. Even though she lives a stone’s throw away we have not seen each other since October so there was so much to catch up on.  I was really looking forward to having our friends over to share an evening and talk about the highs and lows of last few months.  In addition to the fabulous company we had great food and wine.

I served an Italian Herb Chicken and a wonderful polish potato dumpling as a veggie I served Honeyd Carrots and corn. For desert my friend brought a wonderful cheese cake and I had some fabulous Mocha Crinkles and brownies. The brownies were Betty Crocker so there is really no recipe to share.

 

Italian Herb Chicken

Honeyed Carrots

Mocha Crinkles

 I am just thrilled when I get to entertain. Our house has the perfect set up and not much makes me happier than cooking for my family and friends. I am not a fabulous cook but it is an area that gives me an outlet for my creativity so when my husband is home and I get a day or two of entertaining our friends I get so excited. I come up with fun menus or just an appetizer or two either way it is very satisfying.  I try to plan these get togethers when my husband is home but from time to time I do a girls night only. Either way it is always fun and this weekend was especially cool because I got to do a potluck and a diner party. Thanks Love.

Omelet

This is an easy yummy breakfast that my 3 1/2 yr old requests with regularity. So I thought I would share it. Recipe in Meals for two

And now I am a bread maker

After yesterday’s adventures to put it lightly I had a very productive day today. It began with playing with my son hide and seek then we cleaned the garage, washed my broken car, collected all the leaves from our back yard, washed the back deck, went for a 3 mile hike with a friend and her mom and met a friend at a park for play date then came home to make bread.

I think that I was so determined to have a good day that I just kept going like the energizer bunny. I really miss my husband and I tend to make myself very busy when I miss him.

I was a bit nervous about making the bread since I have never done that before and I don’t have a bread machine. None the less I had no bread and husband highly recommended not driving my car with the clutch on the fritz, and even though I could walk to the store, or ask someone for help my friend talked me into trying my hand at bread baking. Why not it is a wonderful opportunity. So I got the recipe from Food.com and it came out delish. I think I will be trying my hand at more types of bread beyond the French bread. All in all a very good day indeed.