All in a Days Work

I've had the flu for the past several days. The biggest symptom that really got me down was the tiredness. It couldn't have come at the worst time either! On Jared's birthday I was so wiped out Amber had to make the Jello cheesecake, and instead of Mom's spaghetti we had Dad's soup. This year's birthday will be very memorable for Jared, but hopefully it will be one that he can still look back fondly on for all of the family moments that we had when the power went off for about 6 hours. As we were sitting down to our soup that Steve had made, the power died, then revived for ten seconds, and then everything went dark and quiet.

After dinner we sent the kids to get on their pj's and get ready for bed while it was still semi-light. When it was dark we gathered in the living room and sang songs. Many of the songs were some we hadn't sung for years. We realized that our younger kids didn't know all of the songs, so we have some (fun!) work to do. They ended up all sleeping in the living room in their sleeping bags and on the couches. I'm hoping that it added a fun element to his birthday that wouldn't have happened any other way.

I did finally make him his spaghetti dinner. It is his favorite. I also bought some garlic bread and made homemade chocolate chip cookies.

Here is my Primavera Sauce Recipe:

1 lb Hamburger
1 medium sized Onion
3 medium sized cloves Garlic
5 - 8 oz cans (40 oz) Tomato Sauce
1 1/4 tsp (to 1 1/2 tsp depending on your taste) Oregano
1 tsp Basil
1 tsp (or 1 1/4 tsp depending on your taste) Salt
1 tsp Sugar
1/4 - 1/3 cup Parmesan Cheese

Brown Hamburger, Onion, and Garlic in a large sauce pan. Add the rest of the ingredients EXCEPT the Parmesan Cheese. After tasting and adding the extra Salt and/or Oregano if needed, then add the Parmesan Cheese. Heat through.

My cookies recipe is the same as the Nestle Toll House Cookie Recipe. My only suggestion there is to let your butter/margarine sit out and soften to room temperature and DON'T use the microwave. To speed up the softening process, simply cut your butter/margarine into 2 TBS pieces or smaller.

Jared has asked for chicks for his birthday present again this year. He likes to raise them and sell them. I'm thinking of buying him some at the same time as I buy myself some Rhode Island Reds (just found out I can buy them on April 9th!). He is leaning toward Red Stars (aka Golden Sex Links). They are great layers, since they are a cross between the best white egg layer (Leghorn) and the best brown egg layer (Rhode Island Red). They mature early and start laying eggs early. He could feasibly quadruple his (my) money by selling them at 16 weeks old. It would have been best to start raising them in February so that he could sell a newly laying hen in June, but as it is he'll be able to sell them in August instead.

It was time last Monday (March 24th) to start seeds for Swiss Chard, Eggplant, Lettuce, Peppers and Tomatoes to be ready to plant outdoors with May 12th being the Last Spring Frost. I need to get those planted today! I am trying to rig another plant light for these as they will be the 2nd seed tray and I don't have existing room. My seedlings that I planted about a month ago are beautiful! I did plant some spinach seeds outdoors last week. I saw some volunteer plants growing and figured I'd try to get some more. I don't know if it will work, but it can't hurt to try.

I am feeling a lot better today after having that yucky flu bug. I seem to have more energy. Hurray! Maybe I'll plant those seeds today and figure out the lighting over the course of the next couple of days. Seeds don't need light to germinate, so I'll have a few days wiggle room.

Michael is ready to help me with my animal chores now, so I'm off!