Mexican Turkey Meatloaf

What you need:
* 1 pound of ground turkey
* 2 eggs
* 1 cup of rolled oats
* 1/2 cup of shredded cheese
* 1 teaspoon of basil
* 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
* 1/2 cup chopped onion
* 1/2 tomato (diced)
* Dash of salt and pepper
* Dash or two of lemon pepper seasoning

What to do:
* In large bowl, mix - ground turkey, 2 eggs, rolled oats, cheese, basil, cilantro, onion, tomato, salt, pepper,
   &  lemon pepper
* Spray muffin tin/glassware with cooking spray (very well)
* Place meat mixture into tin/glassware
* Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 10-15 minutes

***Here is a sauce that goes GREAT on top***
Sauce:
* 1 can of tomato sauce
* 1 teaspoon of oil
* A few dashes of garlic
* 1 pinch of oregano

* Let it come to a boil, stirring constantly
* Reduce heat to simmer.
* Simmer for 10 minutes
* Drizzle on top of meatloaf

First Love

It has been said that one never forgets their first love. Some may argue this fact, I, however, cannot. I remember like it was yesterday. My first love...I knew he was "the one" the moment I first laid eyes on him. He was everything a woman could want in a man. He had the hair that was the envy of every man, a voice that made your heart skip a beat, piercing eyes that could see into your very soul, and no matter the situation, you would be safe because of him. Every girl needs a hero...he was mine. I spoke to my mom and dad of him often...I shared with them my dreams and plans for a future with him. I am sure they were thrilled to know that we were going to build a house next to them and live "happily ever after".

 My first love, he was the man that could get out of any situation with just a pocketknife and a string.  He went against the most powerful and cunningest of men...and won, because of his knowledge of chemistry, physics, and technology. His name can be found in many of my diary entries...I just knew we were meant to be...I mean we both shared a common fear of heights, what more of a sign did I need?

Unfortunately, our ways parted. The year was 1992, I remember like it was yesterday. The time came when I no longer could could turn on my TV and tune into ABC, for this was our standing date every week. My heart was broken. I had loved this man since I was 3 years old...6 years later...it was all gone. Time heals all wounds, but the heart never forgets.

I write all this to say, that thanks to a couple of sources, I have once again been reunited with him, my love from long ago. It was awkward at first. Not sure I even wanted to go down that road again. I didn't want my perspective now to change the perfect perspective I had back then. Fortunately, even after all this time, nothing had changed. He is still just as handsome as he was back then, just as witty, intelligent, and his ability to make a weapon out of a piece of gum and duct tape still amazes me just as much as before.

Netflix, thank you...thank you...thank you. Thank you for bringing MacGyver to your instant streaming list. I have already streamed 3 episodes on my iPad...and I am loving every minute of it. Speaking of which...it is time to get back to another episode. We have A LOT of catching up to do.

MacGyver, my first love.

All In A Day's Work

This was my Friday.

5:30 a.m. alarm goes off. Time to get up....except, wait. WHAT TIME IS IT????? 6:30 This cannot be good. How did I "snooze" for an extra HOUR? I need to leave my house by 6:50 to get  Lil' Man dropped off, get my Sonic drink, and be at school by 7:45 for morning duty. So, yes, this is when I had a sneaking suspicion my Friday could be interesting. I did leave my house by 7:05, hit minimal traffic, dropped off Lil' Man with Miss Christine, and made it to work at 7:44, just in time for my hallway duty. Notice I did not add in my Sonic stop...this is because something had to give...and my Rt. 44 Diet Dr. Pepper had to be it.

Work day was good. Enjoyed some good laughs with co-workers. Seriously, love the people I work with. My students are doing AWESOME at regrouping with addition...Yes, my FIRST GRADERS are not only regrouping...but they are explaining the process! None of that "carry the one" stuff...they are using vocab words and are understanding why they are having to regroup...I.love.it.

Speaking of math, here is a story for you. So, yesterday we (first grade) were outside at recess and everyone was having a good time playing and enjoying the great weather. Whistle blows. Recess is over. Kids line up and we get ready to go inside. Well, the grade that comes outside after us was at a field trip and so the playground was going to be free for awhile longer. We let the kids play for 10 extra minutes. EXTRA RECESS the kids were ecstatic...all except one student...my student. One of my boys was NOT happy about this. He went to the corner of the playground and started crying. I went to see what was wrong. I was so worried something had happened or someone had said something. After A LOT of coaxing (not from me, he was so upset I had to have someone come and talk to him) we finally discovered why he was so upset. He did not want extra recess because...he wanted to go back to class and do math!!!!! Now, let me explain to you that it has taken a lot of effort to motivate this student. It was months before I could get in completed work from him. He had no confidence in himself and could not even identify his numbers to 10 accurately. I hope you can feel my excitement, pride, ELATION when I heard he was upset about extra recess because he was wanting to go start our math lesson. This is why I love being a teacher. This little incident today was such an inspiration/reminder to me of the impact we can have on our kids.

Change of pace. I have picked up Lil' Man and we are finally home. It is 6:00. I debate what I should do...clean house, make dinner, "troll" (as a friend once said) Facebook? I went outside to let my chickens out of their house and run around for awhile and decided I was going to mow the lawn. It needed it and I wasn't sure when L was going to have a chance to do it. I learned from my mom if you see something that needs to be done, do it. Don't wait to be asked. So I got the lawn mower out, got Lil' Man, and we sat down, I started the mower and began mowing the lawn. (I was ban from using the riding lawn mower when I lived at home with my parents. I apparently have poor visual judgement when on it...I ran over a stump or two. I was really excited to be using one again.) Lil' Man and I were having a good time mowing and mowing...when out of the corner of my eye I saw this monster sized brown thing scurrying across my lawn. I quickly turned the steering wheel of my mower to head in that direction. (Thankfully I remembered to pull up the blade RIGHT before I ran over the extension cord that was strewn across the yard) As I got closer, a chill ran through my body. I can deal with just about any thing - snakes, mice, certain insects..whatever. There is one thing that can stop me in my tracks and make me feel FEAR. Spiders. I hate them. Hate them. Hate them. So what was scurrying across my lawn...a huge TARANTULA. Ugh. I hate spiders.

Back to better things. Lil' Man and I went into the garden to water all the plants and we had some very exciting surprises awaiting us. Look and see - 

Our blackberry bushes are producing berries

My green bean plants are about to break through

The zucchini plants are really doing great

A closer look at the zucchini plant

Cucumber plants are on their way

My cucumber bed (ignore the outside of the bed...we are still working on everything)

RADISHES!!!

Hot peppers 

Sweet peppers

Bell peppers (green, red, and yellow)

Tomatoes

Friday. It was a good day, but by the time it was all over I was EXHAUSTED and fell asleep in no time. I really wanted to post this yesterday...I was just too tired. I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their weekend.