Dancing

There are some thing that I do and I do well...and there are some things I do that I love to do and really do not do well but will do it anyway.

That is dancing.

I love to go out and dance. I will dance with anyone. And yes my husband does not mind as long as I know who I am going home with or to. Now there is a new place in town called the Pickin Palace. They have food, music and dancing. I love to go on Saturday night and listen to the music. And maybe I will get the chance to dance. Sometimes I dance with Don. He just loves to get up and shake his thing. He is fun to dance with. Last night he was there but he brought a "Friend". She was beautiful. Is Beautiful. From Costa Rica. I am happy for him. But I lost my partner for the night.

But that is Ok...I had a new one. Now my husband was there. And JD asked me if he would mind. I laughed and said not at all. JD is a great dancer. He is full of energy. And extremely hard to keep up with. He is also 90 years old. He celebrated his 90th birthday in September and he is still going. We danced several dances together. And he was not even breathing heavy but, I on the other hand, was sucking wind. He was just plain fun to talk to and to dance with.

Now do not get me wrong, I did dance with my husband. We did a slow dance. But he really can dance. And he is not happy when I have a hard time following. I would love to take dance lessons to learn how to do the dance steps. But I do live in the middle of nowhere and there are no dance studios. Plus Shawn is an over the road truck driver. And getting lessons when he is home would be hard to plan. Of course I would want to take lessons with him.

So I dance. Not great at it. But I do shake my own thing to the music and love every minute of it.

Donkey Basketball

OK so when you live in a small town sometimes finding entertainment is not an easy thing. But when something does come up you kind of jump at the chance to go. Tonight happened to be Donkey Basketball. The Hemphill Booster club wanted to raise money for their scholarships for students in athletics. So this was the brain child of Stacey.

Stacey saw this once a few years back at another school and thought it would go over well here. She contacted the person that coordinated it at that school and was told they made a ton of money. A ton equals over 4 thousand. That is a ton to a small town. She got the particulars and brought it to the booster club meeting and they voted and it was a definite Yes.

Stacey sent me an email asking if I would be able to help out. I told her I would love to so I was placed in charge of the ticket sales at the door.

I got there at 5:20 PM ready to go. The game did not start until 6:30 so I thought I would have a little peace before things started to pick up. I was wrong. It started right off. People were coming and coming and coming. And I had no help. One of the other ladies saw the mass at the door and was gracious enough to come and help me.

Lets put it this way...I really did not see the first half of the game. The stream of people did not stop. They just kept coming. I did hear the laughter and Ohh's from the crowd though. Every time I would look over to see on of the riders on the floor after being thrown off, bucked off or just plain fallen off their gallant stead.

At half time I took the money bag and counted the nights take. Any one who decided to come after I left my post received the gift of the second half of the game for free. I sold 108 tickets at the door. And took in over 250 pre-sold tickets from people. No for a little town that is pretty darn good. All in all we took in over $2100. And that is not including the concession stands earnings.

I did manage to to see the last quarter of the game. There was one donkey that just decided he was not going to do any more. The rider tried and tried to get the animal to go but he was not going to budge at all. The rider even got off and tried to give him a push but the donkey was having none of that. And not to mention a few that were thrown off because their donkeys were just rebellious and decided to buck.

Now the riders were the coaches from Hemphill High against I really do not know who they were. But they all played a very good game. Well for being on the back of a donkey trying to shoot baskets. I will not mention the fact that the Basketball coach could not make a single basket. Oh wait, I did mention it. Yes it is true. Every shot he attempted missed the basket by miles. My son actually got a kick out of this. Since this is his Drivers ed teacher.

So if you ever have the opportunity to see a donkey basketball game I do recommend it. It is a real hoot. Plus you might also be contributing to a good cause.

Wildlife

So today I was looking out of my window and saw a woodpecker on the tree. Now this was a Woody Woodpecker Woodpecker. He was beautiful. See them in the winter and early spring. The stop by to say hi on their migration south for the winter.

Living in the middle of no where you see all sorts of wild things. It is kinda cool and I love it. My favorite is my owl...and yes he is my owl. He is a great horned owl and comes to my property in the spring but I hear him sometime early in the morning in the winter. My son said "Mom you cannot own the owl he is not yours." well yeah but I love that owl and I love listening to him and I think he comes to the trees in the back yard to serenade me...lol. And yes he serenades me..Hoots and flies overhead. He is beautiful.

The other great birds of prey I see are Hawks and Bald Eagles. They fly over with full wing span and cast shadows down below it it very impressive. But there are egrets, pelicans, cranes, blue jays (plus other jays), cardinals and so so many more.

But those are just the birds. The hill that I live on used to be called fox ridge...and you should know that it does live up to its name. There is a fox (or maybe there are more) that comes by every now and then, Deer of course. Coyotes. And believe it or not I actually saw a Bobcat. Now I have heard rummer that there is a black panther in the are and also a bear. But I have not seen them.

Now, I have heard a boar. I have not seen them but I have definitely heard them. I was working late and it was really dark out and I head it squealing.

I have no neighbors and a lot of woods so it is ideal for seeing all kinds of wildlife.

Now on Saturday night the wildlife gets a little wilder. There is a new place in town called the Pickin' Palace. Of course I live in a dry town so of course they do not server alcohol but you can BYOB. They have a live band and you BYOB. And things seem to get a little fun the later the night gets the more fun it gets. Always have had a great time going there on Saturdays...might have to go out this Saturday to see the wildlife in action again.

Music lessons

So life in a small town has very few things to keep you busy. In Texas Football is king. you go to the field in the fall and root for your team...but when the season is over there is hunting, fishing and nothing much else to do.

So when you get a new music store that opens up in town that offers lessons...you kinda go for it. So I sign my son up for that.

I bought him a guitar a year ago Christmas. I even bought him music lessons on video. But he never did anything with it. So one on one lessons seemed like the way to go.

He had his first lesson was this evening and he actually enjoyed it. He learned the frets, finger numbers and string numbers. And he actually learned 2 chords. And the instructor thought he did very well. Gave great praise...just what a 15 year old needs to hear.

I wait with baited breathe to see if he will actually continue with this or this will go the way of the piano lessons, the rock collection, and various other endeavors.

Grill Mexican Chicken Salad

I tried this on on my family the other day and it really hit the spot. And it is good for you to boot (do not tell my son).

4 Chicken Breasts
Lime Juice
Taco Seasoning (see my earlier post)
1 can Black Beans, drained and rinsed
1 can Mexican Corn, drained (you can use regular sweet corn)
2 avocados, diced
1 Mango, diced
1 bag mixed greens
Salsa

Marinade chicken breasts in lime juice, 1-4 hours. Remove and discard juice. Sprinkle with taco seasoning. Grill until no longer pink. Remove and slice into thin strips. Mix corn and black beans. Place mixed greens onto plate, top with Bean/corn mix, add mango and avocado. Use Salsa as dressing.

Eating Right

When you work, have a family, clean the house, do the shopping, pay the bills...well you get the picture...It is hard to eat right.

I try to make nutritious meals but sometimes doing the quick thing is the easiest. But quick sometimes means High Fat, Calories, and Salt and very little nutritional value.

Now doing the quick thing is not a bad thing. But doing it often is. There are nights that we do finger foods. These are in the frozen food isle and are things like mini tacos and potato skins. Yeah these things are not good for us. They are quick, and OK I admit it, they taste good.

If you want to eat healthier or even try to lose a few pounds denying yourself will only kill your goals. The idea is to have a little and do not over indulge. So every now and then it is OK to have a small piece of cake. Or go out to eat at your favorite restaurant, skip the appetizers and share your dessert. (that is my favorite way to cut down on calories).

I hope to post some tips that might help you (and that have worked for me) and maybe learn a few things in the process.

Hectic Hectic Hectic

Wow working from home can be really hectic. It is so hard and really tempting to do house work that needs to be done. You sneak away for a few minutes to throw a load in the wash or dryer but I really want to take the day of to get the rest of the house clean as well. I know that will be frowned on.

I really think it is amusing when I tell people I work out of my house that they think I have time to do everything else as well. I work a full time job. I have set hours I must work. I can not drop everything to run out and this and that.

But honestly I would not trade this for traffic, office gossip or bad office coffee. I am happy right where I am.

Monday Menu

So, living far away from all the restaurants and fast food joints it makes eating at home a necessity. Plus the economy has been lousy so eating at home makes more sense. But I work a full time job and sometimes I need to do quick dinners. But I like taste too.

So I have decided to share a recipe or two with all of you.

This first one is actually to make Taco seasoning. It can be used it a multitude of different other recipes. And it is easy and cheaper than buying it from the store. And honestly I like the taste of this one better than most of the store. You can make it mild or spicy or in between.

Taco Seasoning

1 Tbs. Chili Powder
1/4 tsp. Garilc Powder
1/4 tsp. Onion Powder
1/4 tsp. Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
1/4 tsp. Dried Oregano
1/2 tsp. Paprika
1 1/2 tsp. Ground Cumin
1 tsp. Sea Salt
1 tsp. Black Pepper

In a small container mix everything together. Store in an air tight container for up to 6 months.

Notes: This makes a meduim heat Taco Seasoning. If you want a milder seasoning reduce the Crushed Red Pepper Flakes. If you want it hotter add more.

If you do not have Sea Salt you can use regular salt, but reduce it by about 1/8 tsp.

Hold on to this recipe because it can be used in other recipes that require Taco Seasoning.

Enjoy!

Hello All

Welcome,

My name is Melinda. I am a married mother of 1 who, one day, got tired of the city life and moved to the country. OK so I do miss a lot of things about the Chicago area. Chinese food, fast food, museums close by and the such. However I do not miss the traffic, drive by shooting (and yes Lansing IL had a few of those), the very noticeable drugs and the schools.

But here in Hemphill, TX we are doing just fine and adjusting. We do not have close fast food places. The nearest McDonald's is 45 minutes away. And the nearest big city is Houston which is about a 3 hour drive. But living in a very small town (pop. 1100) has its benefits.

I know my neighbors. My son is in a school where the class size is about 20 per class and he is is doing great. He is on the football team and gets a lot of play time. I see a lot of wildlife. we live by a lake which is fun to go play on. It is warm pretty much all year with only a little bit of cold time. I could go on and on.

So I am blogging my life here in itty bitty vs. the big ole city. About what I am learning and where I might be going.

Take care,
Melinda