Key Issues

Although during my trip with Melissa I saw amazing sights every day, I was constantly challenged with "things" happening to me.

I am generally a glass half full kind of girl, but during this trip, some days I saw the glass as half empty.

Much like Murphy's Law says, "If something can go wrong, it will."

And sometimes like Murphy's law states, "If anything simply cannot go wrong, it will anyway."

And then there are the times in life that when, "Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse."

So begins my story.

The first thing that you receive upon signing in to board the cruise ship is a key. Like this one.



You have to keep this key with you at all times. It is your life line on the ship so to speak.

You need this key to check you out as you leave the ship, and you also need it to check yourself back in as you board the ship.

Then if you want to purchase anything on the ship such as a Diet Coke or say four prescriptions in the infirmary, plus the cost of your doctor's office visit (but that is for another post), then the ship would use this card to charge the purchases to your account.

And last, but most importantly, it is the key to your cabin.

So, Melissa told me to be sure that I don't lose this key, because I would need it all of the time.

Well, as it turns out, losing my key was never the problem for me.

Apparently the only problem with me and my key was simply me. And my skin.

Let me explain.

We both received our first keys, and both of our keys worked perfectly for the first day.

Then on day two, I was very surprised to find out that my key would not work to let me open our cabin door.

So, I had to go to the purser's desk to ask for a new one. They then informed me that I had more than likely deactivated my key because I kept it too close to my camera. That seemed reasonable, so I made sure to keep it no where near my camera.
And since Melissa kept her key in her camera bag, I volunteered to hold her key for her as well.

Interestingly enough, the next day, neither of our keys worked. So, once again, I found myself in line at the purser's desk, along with Melissa.

Here we are. We had just left the pool to go shower and change.



Only to find out that neither of our keys worked.



So, they issued us new keys. Melissa went straight to the room to shower and change, but I had to go down to the infirmary first for my kidney infection issues (but again, that is for another post).

I returned from the infirmary, only to discover that my key did not work again. Melissa's, however, worked just fine.

Sigh.

So, I showered and changed and went down for the third time to the purser's desk to get another key. They looked at me rather strangely. They asked me if I was keeping it near my camera. I said no. They asked me if it was in my purse with my cell phone. I said no. (I didn't have a purse or a cell phone, but that is also for another post.)

I politely informed them that I had only been to the infirmary and straight to my cabin. The key had been in my hand the entire time.

So they gave me the third key.

The next day I was back at the purser's desk for my fourth key.

The day after that, as I was crying at the purser's desk for the fifth time, I asked the sweet lady who was on duty that morning, "Am I deactivating my room key? Is it my skin that is messing it up?"

She looked at me very sweetly and said in her gentlest voice, "It's very rare, but it does happen."

Sigh.

So, she went to a drawer behind her desk, and pulled out this envelope.



She took my fifth new room key and slid it into the envelope.



Then she gently said trying not to humiliate me any further, "Let's try this. Carry it in the envelope so that you don't have to touch it as much, and maybe it will continue working for you."

Sigh.

Bless her sweet heart. It sounded good in theory. And it did work. For two more days. But I looked at Melissa and said in my best Scarlet O'Hara voice , "As God and you as my witnesses, I am not going to the purser's desk for a sixth key!"

As Murphy's Law states, "Smile... tomorrow will be worse."

Sigh.

Grilling Goodness With Tina And Friends

My sweet bloggy friend, Tina, from the Golden Goodness blog has started this fun new meme for Fridays. It is called "Grilling Goodness." Each Friday Tina will ask (and answer) eight questions, and she would like all of her readers to do the same.

So, without further ado, I am joining Tina and her friends by posting my first edition of "Grilling Goodness."

Let's get the party started!

1. Do you snort when you laugh?

Only when I have a mouth full of Diet Coke, unfortunately.

Sigh.

2. Do you have any idea why we don't sneeze in our sleep? Wild guess?

Maybe, but this is just a scientific guess, we don't sneeze in our sleep because we are simply too tired to sneeze? And I, of course, don't want to disturb Baby Girl while she is resting. ;)



3. Do you give much thought to astrology?

Only when I like what it says. (*kidding, of course*) I used to give it a lot of thought when I was a teenager living through one teenage tragedy after another, but now, I don't. Unless, of course, it says that I am going to come in to a big fortune. ;)



4. What is the most expensive thing you've purchased this year?



My sweet husband gave me a gift certificate for a Vera Bradley purse in Java Blue. Sigh. I love it! I am hoping to make one more expensive purchase around Christmas time. A Vera Bradley purse in the yummiest shade of Frankly Scarlet.



But if this doesn't work out, I have a back up plan. I will just make Tina give me hers.

I'm just saying. ;)

5. What kind of shampoo do you use? Loyally?

I use (and very loyally, I must say) Wella Color Preserve Smoothing Shampoo and Conditioner. I buy it at the salon where Melissa works and performs all of her hair related miracles.



6. Whose music are you really diggin' right now?



Don't judge. It's not nice!

7. What is your favorite thing about the Fall?

Oh, everything! I love the leaves changing colors and falling everywhere, not to mention the cool crisp breeze that always messes up my hair. The fall also brings with it all of the joy of the Peanuts gang and their holiday specials on television.



Sigh.

8. Do you have a GPS?

Yes, but I call mine an SJM.



He is my sweet hubby, and he is all the directions I need rolled into one yummy device.;)

And now, to quote Tina, "Copy the questions and haul them over to your blog to post your answers. Invite your friends and we'll have a grand ole time!"

Ready. Set. Go play!!

Chicken Spinach Lasagna Casserole

I recently made a new chicken dish that I found the recipe for. It was easy and delicious! And if you had some leftover chicken (which I, unfortunately, did not), it would be even easier.

So, if you would like to, come join me in the kitchen as I make Chicken Spinach Lasagna Casserole.

Here is everything that you will need to make this yummy dish.



Just a note before I begin: I baked some chicken breasts and cut them up prior to starting this recipe, but like I said, if you used leftover chicken it would be really simple. I also boiled the lasagna noodles prior to the assembly phase, but I did not want to bore you with pictures of that....Plus, I sort of forgot to take pictures of that part. ;)

The first thing that I did was dump one cup of shredded Sharp Cheddar cheese into this big mixing bowl.



Then I dumped one cup of shredded Mild Cheddar cheese into the bowl. (You can use whatever kind of cheese you like; just make sure you use two cups.)



Now Tina and Shelly, if you are reading this, just close your eyes for this next part. I chopped up one third of a cup of onion to dump in the bowl. (*sniff*sniff*)



Now it's time to add a dash or seven of salt. (Just please don't say anything about this ingredient to Shannon. Thanks!)



In Crazyville we like a lot of black pepper, so I added just the right amount for us, but feel free to add the amount of pepper that would be right for you and your family.



Next on the list was one tablespoon of cornstarch. I don't know what the cornstarch is for, but I am a rule follower, so I added it.



Then I threw in one tablespoon of soy sauce. Like so.



The recipe called for one cup of sour cream. I had the fat free kind on hand, so I used that, and it worked beautifully.



Then it said to add one third a cup of mayonnaise. All I had was Miracle Whip, but it worked very well also.



Next up on the ingredient list was one can of Cream of Mushroom soup, so I dumped the whole can into the bowl. Like so.



This is the hardest part of the entire recipe. You have to add 10 ounces of frozen spinach that has been thawed and drained. Just make sure to get all of the water out of it that is humanly possible. I'm just saying.

Once you have successfully done that, just throw it into the bowl. So to speak.



The last ingredient that I added to the mix was two cups of cut up (or shredded) chicken breast.



Now it was time to mix it all together. Like so.



After all of the mixing nonsense was over, I lightly sprayed my 9x13 baking dish with a non-stick cooking spray.



Then I laid my first layer of lasagna noodles in the pan....I used about 5 noodles...(You just want them to cover the bottom of the pan.)



Next, I put half of the chicken spinach mixture on top of the noodles......



And spread it evenly all over the noodles....Like so.



Then I added the second layer of noodles.



Followed by the remainder of the chicken spinach mixture.



And I spread it evenly all over and made it look like this.



Now comes the topping, which Shannon said was the best part of the dish.

I dumped one cup of Grated Parmesan cheese on top of the casserole.



And spread it all over until it completely covered the dish.



Last, but certainly not least, I added one cup of chopped pecans.



Then spread them out until the whole casserole was covered with them as well.



After everything was all put together, I popped all of this yummy smelling chicken goodness into the oven, which had been preheated to 350 degrees, and I let it bake uncovered for one hour.

When I pulled it out of the oven, it looked just like this.



Sigh.

All you have left to do at this point is to serve it up in your beautiful dishes (or paper plates, if you prefer).



Take a bite.

Close your eyes.

Sigh.

Repeat.

Shannon loved this dish so much, that after dinner, he took me for a dip.;)



Sigh.

(Just a little note: I recently made this dish a second time, but instead of using lasagna noodles and layering the recipe, I mixed all of the ingredients together with small shell shaped pasta. It was a little easier, and over all, we liked the texture even better.)

When I mixed everything together, it looked like this.



And this is what it looked like served up in my dishes. (It was easier to cut out of the pan than the lasagna noodles were.)



Sigh.

You can, of course, make it either of the two ways, and it will still be delicious; I just thought you might like knowing of another way to put this dish together.

(Sort of ) Wordless Wednesday

After being at the hospital with my dad for a week, I returned home Friday afternoon, only to have Daniel greet me as I entered the living room.

The first words out of his mouth were, "Hi, Mom! I'm out of clean pants to wear. I had to wear my swim trunks today, because they were the only thing clean in my closet."



Sigh.

Proverbs 31:21
She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.