Weekly Wrap-Up for September 11 2020

So for the last few months I have been rather silent around here beyond reviews. For the last year and a half we have been on a rollercoaster ride of trying to find a retirement assignment, finding out the military eliminated our current duty assignment and more. In December, we found out we were moving to a new duty station in Charlotte for our last duty assignment. The move came quickly and without a lot of time to prepare.

In February, we moved, spent roughly a month living in hotels while the military movers packed our home in Texas up and then us traveling to North Carolina and finally trying to find somewhere to live in our “new-to-my husband and children” town. We are in Charlotte, NC somewhere I became familiar with as a girl. From 1978 to 1987 we lived close to Charlotte, and my first actual job was at Carowinds. It thrilled me with the idea my children would get to visit the theme park I worked out. But then COVID-19 occurred, and our ideas for this past spring and summer went out the window.

Yet, today, I think back and remember where I was on this day in 2001 when the World Trade Center buildings, the Pentagon and a place in Pennsylvania changed forever when airplanes crashed into these areas. I think of all those who lost loved ones, of all the children who grew up without a parent or parents, and even those children who lost their lives that day.

I think of the brave men and women who answered the call of their country and willingly stepped up to defend the United States. On this day, may our country remember what happened that day and the emotions and courage that came forth from the ashes.

May we never forget 9-11!

Weekly Wrap-Up for the week ending January 13, 2019

So this week, we resumed some semblance of normalcy around our home.  String, Band, and Tennis also resumed.  So once again, people are practicing their instruments.  Also, it meant I am having to drive people from point A to point B, since we only have two vehicles currently and our oldest son needs to drive the truck to get to and from work.

For Thursday being the first time our youngest son went back to tennis, I felt he did really good.  This afternoon he went out with some friends to practice tennis for about an hour so we will see how that goes.

Our family became the proud owners of two Instant Pots in the last two months, so we have been using them for cooking.  Last night, we attempted to make cubed steak in the Instant Pot.  However, we ran into technical difficulties.  We coated the meat with flour and added flour to the beef broth to make a gravy.  Unfortunately, it wanted to try to burn, so we wound up restarting twice before putting that meal on hold and fixing something else.  But, we plan on trying again, with just browning the meat and putting the beef broth in the Instant Pot and once the meat is done, we will make the gravy.  I will let you know how it turns out.  One thing we made this past week in the Instant Pot that turned out really good is Georgia style, Brunswick Stew.  I love how the pork, chicken, lima beans, and vinegar-based barbecue sauce all come together to make a really tasty dish.  Of course, the potatoes, onions, and corn and okra we put in it helped also.  Using a whole chicken we cooked into the Instant Pot and some of the leftover Pioneer Woman Dr. Pepper pulled pork made it really good.  Also, we added some extra vinegar to kick it up a little.

During the last month, we also acquired an Air Fryer, so be watching for me to share what we are cooking in it.  If you have any favorite recipes for an air fryer, I would love for you to share them with me.  Part of what took so long for us to purchase one was trying to find one large enough for our family.

So what is going on where you are?  I would love to hear from you.  Also, if you have an Instant Pot and have any favorite recipes, I would love to hear from you about them as well.