HAPPY HOMEMAKER & MENU PLAN MONDAY

It's another Monday... you know what that means. It's time to link up with Sandra over at Diary of a Stay at home mom and Laurie at I'm an Organizing Junkie for Happy Homemaker and Menu Plan Monday.

I had a good Valentine's weekend.  We stayed home and BBQed Steaks with baked potatoes and hubby's favorite for dessert - cheesecake! Plus NASCAR started on Saturday!

Thanks go to my wonderful physical therapist who is treating the "whole" person and not just my knee.  She is very surprised that not 1 doctor put me through physical therapy after any of the 5 major surgeries I had in 2 years that zapped my strength and muscle tone and is not surprised by how weak I have been, but is happy with the path I'm on to become "whole" again! I've also started a new vitamin regime and have a lot of new found energy so this post is a little fuller than normal!

BREAKFAST AS I WRITE:

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE
THIS MORNING:
A little overcast, but with the supposed promise of sunny skies by lunch.  The nights have been clear and downright cold though making it cold and flu season with a hint of ear infection!! Very misleading as it is only sunny and somewhat nice for about 4 hours and then it's bone chilling damp cold and miserable again.

FOR THE WEEK:
Pretty much the same, but less and less promise of sun and more and more promise of dreary skies as the week progresses.

TO DO LIST
TODAY:

• Physical therapy
• Dog grooming

THIS WEEK:

• Laundry
• Cleaning
• Paperwork up the ying yang

CURRENTLY READING

• Barefoot Season  - Three Sisters Book #3 Evening Stars by Susan Mallery

TELEVISION & DVR

A couple of new or returning shows start this week,

• Perception
• Rizzoli & Isles
• The Odd Couple remake
• Vikings on the history channel (hubby has a thing for Norway)

but I'm still working off the DVR from last week.

• Castle
• Scandal
• State of Affairs
• Justified
• Sleepy Hollow

PLAY TIME (If I can find any)

I built a new framework for my weekly menu and recipe links.  It is still not exactly what I'm looking for, but I'll keep working on it. I also changed up last week's menu and made quite a few experimental recipes and was quite happy with the results.  Recipe links below.

 Menu Plan Monday hosted by Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie

	BREAKFAST	DINNER	DESSERT
MONDAY	Onion & cheese eggs with Toast	C.O.R.N.
TUESDAY	Bagel & cream cheese	Oven BBQ Chicken
WEDNESDAY	Yogurt with Blueberries & Granola	Y.O.Y.O.
THURSDAY	Yogurt with Blueberries & Granola	Chicken Scallopini in Brandy Sauce
FRIDAY	Yogurt with Blueberries & Granola	All Day Meatballs
SATURDAY	Baked Eggs	Country Chicken Cassoulet	Sea Salt & Caramel Rice Krispie Treats
SUNDAY	Buttermilk Pancakes	Laverne DeFazio Roast

LAST WEEK'S RECIPE LINKS

• Molasses Ginger Brownie Bars with Mocha Ginger Cream Cheese Frosting
• French Onion Soup with Mac & Cheese Croutons
• Sweet & Spicy Mandarin Tangerine Chicken
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Sticky Buns
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Sticky Buns/Spiral Cake
• Blackberry Relish
• Scotch Eggs

NEW RECIPES I FOUND THIS WEEK TO TRY IN THE NEAR FUTURE

• Pineapple Skirt Steak
• Ham & Asparagus Stuffed Chicken
• Country French Chicken and Rice
• Chunky Beef Ragu

MY FAVORITE PHOTO FROM LAST WEEK

It is a very strange winter, definitely the kind where you are always fighting a cold. Warm then cold...  dry then VERY wet... rain, but no snow pack... Early bulbs that then freeze and strange fungal growths on tree roots.

BLOGS TO CHECK OUT

I keep looking for new and inspiring blogs, but honestly so many have huge ad sections or pop ups nowadays that just annoy me!

HOMEMAKING TIP

One of the worst things is reaching for an onion or potato to find that they have rotted. And a lot of people don't know not to store them together.  I've always used baskets, but they can become cumbersome and messy. I found these bags at Lakeside collection and they are a big help at keeping things fresh, organized, clean and they are color coded too.  All the onion skins and eyes end up in the bags instead of the shelves.  They were relatively inexpensive too.

ON MY MIND LATELY

If the people who walk the aisles of the local grocery store and walmart drove their cars the same way they drive their shopping carts there would be an accident every 10 feet and you couldn't drive down the street.

PRAYING FOR & INSPIRATION

I'm praying for the courage and strength to deal with the VA (AGAIN) while we continue through this process.

I also pray for forgiveness for everything I called the "WITCH" from my primary care doctor's office last week.

I LOVE my primary care doctor.  She unfortunately works for a University system that has taken on the practice that there is NO need for actual nurses or professionals in the office and they staff with untrained or at least not well trained and uncaring people who have the compassion, understanding and follow through of a gnat.  They also use a voicemail system that allows them to ignore, avoid (you choose) calls.  I have pages and pages of documented calls that only reached voicemail that have YET to be answered by them.  Recently I had to resort to a certified letter to get a referral placed 3 months after the doctor originally requested it.

And that wasn't the first time a referral fell through the system.  The first time they kept faxing to the WRONG insurance company - a company I have never been affiliated with and I only know this thanks to a front office girl telling me.  Obviously she will remain nameless to protect her.  By the time the referral went through 2 months later, the specialist was no longer accepting my insurance and I had to start the process over.  In all from the time the first referral was requested to me actually being seen by a specialist and then having to start over again 3 months had passed.

This time I have had to cancel and reschedule with a specialist twice and this 3rd referral was extremely time sensitive!  Their inability to perform even simple functions has not only ticked me off and forced me to make dozens of unnecessary calls to follow up (basically doing their job for them), rearrange my schedule not once, but twice and not only inconvenienced me, but also the specialist's office staff and patients.

Don't get me wrong - it's not that she didn't deserve EVERY single word as do the worthless office staff she works with, just that I shouldn't have said it all.