How Do You Coach? FMCA is in town!

Happy Thursday!

Boy do I have a lot on my mind, but not alot of time today to put the pen to the paper. Well, maybe fingers to the keyboard.  I started my new job this last Tuesday and am loving it! It feels really good to be back in the studio. Tomorrow will be the first day I'll be solo on the air. 

I got home late last night, and so did Harley Man. It was a late dinner - he put steaks on the grill around 9:00pm. He is busy -very busy- at work with 3000+ motorhomes on property. We're talking about the kind that people live in year round. Luxury motorhomes. Some are so large they could be towing a small home. There are seminars, a trade show, a couple of concerts and much more for all that attend. They had pet parade the other day which I caught the tail end of. Wish Miss Pippi and Mr. Pretzel would have been with me. I'm looking forward to seeing the sight of all of the motorhomes as well as attending the trade show this weekend. I caught a few vendors in the set up stages and there looked to be some very cute jewelry!

I LOVE the retro looking red and white one!

 Check out the Family Motor Coach Association~

 http://www.fmca.com/

Gotta run. Well, not run. Chat later. 

Grandma Becker's entry for June 20, 1990

"Up at 6:30. No rain today but looks rainy tonight. Hair at 9:30-did odds and ends. Cleaned bathrooms, fixed things for supper. Gerald home at 5:30. Went to Funeral Home. Saw all the family. Francis, Loren, Virginia, Jimmy. Heard that Naomi Bolton had a heart attack". 

It's a great day to be alive~make it a great day!

xoxo

Melody

Game of Throne. Do You?

I don't do it. AT ALL. It just grosses me out. Not sure why because there are a lot of people in the world that do it. In the loo! 

Reading in the bathroom. The loo-room. Well, June is National Reading in the Bathroom Month. Apparently the average American spends anywhere from 700 to 2000 hours on the throne in their lives. Now granted, I'm probably on the higher spectrum of those hours because of my self diagnosis with IBS. (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) Ohhhhh...tmi about the IBS?  Let's get back to reading. It's good for us.

I just prefer to go in, do my business and get out, maybe read in bed or the couch or on the deck when it's super nice out. When I was on the Mix Morning Show my partner and I had a disagreement about this subject. He read while in the bathroom. In fact one time he asked me to knock on the bathroom door to let him know when it was about 30 seconds to air time. Guess he had to catch up on the previous days happenings. Oh gosh, this grossed me out and I told him no. So he was on his own. Anyway, after that we had the discussion and had many, many calls that morning in support of keeping a library of books in the bathroom. Or a novel or crossword puzzle. Thinking back I believe the score was tipping in favor of people that do read in the bathroom. To each his or her own. 
 

I love retro pink (and green) bathrooms. Both my Grandma's had one, and in one of the rentals I've lived in it had a glorious pink bathroom with hot pink carpet as well. It was wonderful. I didn't read in it though.

There's even a contest from Uncle John's Bathroom Readers in honor of National Reading in the Bathroom Month. The Grand Prize is a complete library of in print Uncle John’s Bathroom Readers. If you are a bathroom reader you only have until June 30th to enter. 

http://bathroomreader.com/2013/05/2013-june-is-bathroom-reading-month-contest-rules/


By the way, it is pure coincidence National Reading in the Bathroom Month is in the same month that Fathers Day is?

Speaking of the bathroom, there is another discussion that is on going between Harley Man and myself. It's  about toilet paper. I like soft and gentle and he prefers bark. I'll get into that another time. 



Grandma Becker's entry for June 13, 1990
"Early shower-had breakfast and then a heavy shower came through - several of them. Gerald had oil changed and tire fixed. Went to Joe Luhring funeral. What a crowd!! Threatening rain but none in P.M. A very nice service-did not go to the cemetery. Home at 4:40-rested a while. "Shakeys" to eat and "500" here. Tired. Rain started at 10. Thunder and lightening."


It's a great day to be alive~make it a great day!

xoxo
Melody

You Are My Sunshine

However it may be I hope we all are somebody's sunshine is someway.

 

While getting ready this morning I had the telly tuned to the "Colorado Everyday Show" and caught this heart warming video. It instantly brought me back to when Grandpa Becker used to sing this song to Connie, DeAnn and myself. When we were old enough to learn the verses we sang with him. All he had to do is start it off and by the third word we were singing right along with him in the kitty car. That was the white Chevrolet. Their "good" car. It's where we really let it loose!

Grandpa Becker and Dustin. I don't think Dustin would like those pants today. 

I wish I had more pictures of both Grandpa & Grandma Becker & Grandpa and Grandma Pollock. But I have the memories.

Grandma Becker's entry for June 12, 1990

"Very windy. Washed-Gerald mowed lawn. Rain late afternoon-many storm warnings. Not stormy here - lucky again. Charlene here-brats, rolls, juice and milk. Gerald had to shut her windows. Byron said storm winds hit their farm yesterday."

It's a great day to be alive~make it a great day!

xoxo

Melody

"It's not true I had nothing on. I had the radio on." ~Marilyn Monroe

Stereo we grew up with. Used to love to lay on the floor listening to records and the radio while staring at the little green power light. I know, it doesn't take much.

So very, very, excited! I sure was hoping for a good -wait - fantastic day. I feel like I've been on pins and needles and trying not to think about it since last Thursday. Which is when "the" job interview was. It felt like it went well, but then over the weekend....well, waiting is very hard. 
  

My new position is with Fox Country 100.7 and I'll be keeping Gillette, WY company in the afternoon and driving them home Monday thru Friday. I can't wait to meet people at remotes and get involved in my new community!

Little did I know when I was little listening to the stereo growing up that one day I would be able to be one of those voices. Thinking back I'm sure the deejay's used to hate us. We used to crank call and ask if they had a refrigerator. And then ask if it was running and before we could say the rest of the lame brain joke....Click. Lame. And then we used to call and request the same song a million times. Thank gosh for no caller i.d. back then or Grandma Pollock would have a lot of explaining to do. Or we would to Grandpa Pollock! 
  
Can't wait to get back into the studio!! Watch out Wyoming! We have caller i.d. 

On the other hand it's kind of sad that kids today can't crank call. How long has it been since you've said crank call, anyway?!

Grandma Becker's entry for June 11, 1990
"Up at 6:30 - Soon clouds and a shower. Defrosted the freezer. Glad that is done. Fixed food to take to Connie, chicken & noodles, potato casserole and a raspberry pie. Went there 5:30 and then stopped to Randy's mothers. Home at 7 and had a sandwich at McDonald's."


It's a great day to be alive~make it a great day!

xoxo
Melody

Fishing. I Love Bobbers.

Lake Pepin

It's almost "Go Fishing Day." One of those bizarre holidays that I love to look up, I'll credit my days of radio show prep for that one. It's one of those things that is just interesting to me. Take for example today's bizarre holidays. Its 1) "National Gardening Exercise Day - where you are supposed to burn calories while digging around in the dirt, and 2) "Yo-Yo Day". Did you know that the worlds largest Yo-Yo weighs 256 pounds, and is on display at the National Yo-Yo museum? No? I didn't either so we both learned something today! 

"Go Fishing Day" is June 18 and it conjures up great memories growing up and spending summer weekends (when us girls didn't have a softball game) in Minnesota at Lake Pepin. On Friday mom would hurry from work and once she was home everything would be put into gear. Start packing.  Swimsuits, shorts, sweatshirts (it was cold on the mighty Mississippi in the wee morn. hours) sandals, and a pair of jeans, just in case of crappy weather. Then the really fun packing would begin. A couple dozen eggs, bread, packages of bacon, Crisco, butter (always Land O' Lakes, thank you) and other necessary food items so we wouldn't starve. Once everything was loaded, us three girls loaded in the truck or car and we were off. Always went the back roads through Charles City (we would stop there on the way home for a DQ) and those little towns that people always wave when you drive thru. During basketball season we beat Riceville on the road to the State Tourney. Riceville is one of those little towns on the way to Lake City. Well, after that season, every time we were driving through my dad would honk. Not once or twice, he made sure people knew we were there. I'll tell you about that story another time. What a GAME!!  We also called Riceville Ricepatty. I know. Not very mature. 

Getting back to "Go Fishing Day". I have so many fun memories from that lake, fishing, boat rides, water skiing.....oh yes. Skiing. A fun topic. My older sister asked her boyfriend (now hubs) Randy to experience our family time. Well, we talked him into trying to ski. He wasn't sure about that one. After all of us pleading with him he decided to go for it. After all, it's like riding a bike, right? You just need to get the hang of it. So anyway he decides to jump in from the side of the boat. Now Randy was a Parkersburg football guy. A muscular guy. He jumps in, and proceeds to go underneath the boat and he ended up clawing at the side of the boat like a wet cat trying to get out of that water. It wasn't a pretty site to behold. He was fine-no need to worry and he has went on to develop his skills. Although to this day I cannot tell you if he skied that day or even dipped his big toe in the water. 

Now I think it was on that same day we talked my dad into skiing as well. He hadn't done that for years, apparently. We were really persuasive that day! He donned not only one life jacket but two by putting on one of those types that are just around your waist.  Randy took the helm and dad lowered himself in the water. We were encouraging him on what to do, because we obviously we experts. Soon he was in place, skies pointed to the sky and seemed to look like he would just pop right out of the water. You know, because that's what first timers do. It had been years but isn't it like the bike riding deal? 

Randy throttled down and she was open all the way pulling dad out of the water. But as we were watching in horror he did a really weird flip and now he was being towed. Head first. And he wasn't letting go of the rope. Oh my gosh it was as if his head was glowing under one inch of water as we were speeding like he was up, gliding on the water. I think his head did glow and it was as if he was aerodynamic in the water. But he still wasn't letting go and we were getting a little worried as we turned a corner. The skies had come off a looong time ago. Finally we slowed to a stop. Dad came up and his head stopped glowing but he wasn't smiling. We tried not too. That, right then and there ended his career as a trick skier. 

So many great memories of growing up on that lake from the fish fry's, to both Grandpa and Grandma Pollock as well as Grandpa and Grandma Becker being with us, to the fun shops and great pizza nights. And so much more in between. And DeAnn's then boyfriend and now hubs Byron would take out his real trick skies and put on a show for us.

Later in life I was so fortunate to be able to take my kids with my mom and dad to that same lake. Casie took her first steps there. Great, great memories. I'm so glad that my grand kids have great parents in Casie and Lane that they take them fishing. I can't wait too either. Although this Grandma won't touch the bait-on the other hand, it's worth it and I'll learn.

Dustin & Casie

Kohle and Dustin

Memories. More to be made. And by the way, we didn't use bobbers. Darn it. They were so cute just bobbing up and down.


Grandma Becker's entry for May 28, 1990 (not today's actual)
"54 years ago today we were in Minneapolis around Lake Harriet. A pretty place. Washed this morning. Beautiful day but quite cloudy by noon. Clothes are drying. Hope they all will. Made macaroni and cheese, salmon patties and salad for dinner. It's "10" o'clock and Gerald is asleep under his newspaper - no mail today - Mem. Day.  Not much news today-went to pick up our flowers. Alberta & Casie were here. Beautiful flowers from Charles and Alan for anniversary.  Called Alan's".


It's a great day to be alive~make it a great day!

xoxo 

Melody

Warning. No chicken was hurt.

It's been a great day. Starting off with three cups of coffee. Brewed the same pod of Keurig coffee twice but what the heck.  Looking back I should have added a little bit of Baileys but I try to save that for the weekend. The sun was out and it looked to be a promising day on my horizon. Besides, I was on a Melody mission.

This last weekend proved to be very interesting in the life of myself as Harley Man clued me into some very interesting facts I had never known in all of my forty-nine years rotating around the sun.

Hope you are sitting down because this may shock you....wait.....for.....it......

Chicken Fried Steak isn't chicken.

It's BEEF. BEEF!! Like as in cubed STEAK! WTH?? I never in my being have ever, ever tried this-because I thought chicken shouldn't taste like steak. Sit back, and let me tell you how I came to learn of this truth. Well, during our little road trip this weekend through the Big Horn Mountains we ended up on the western edge at a quaint little town called Ten Sleep. And stopped to wet our whistle and have a bite to eat. One of their specials was Chicken Fried Steak in a Drunken Gravy. Now that sure got my attention and I proceeded to order a cheeseburger (I might add on a pretzel roll).  Harley Man decided the chick (lunch special, not the bar keep) was calling his name and ordered that straight up. Except for fries, not mashed.

Our meals came and mine was exceptionally good and Harley Man was sitting to my right raving how delish his chick was. I decided to try a tad of the gravy, after all, it was drunk. Oh my golly, dang, jiggity jang it was so incredibly wonderful. We both finished and waddled out to the truck for the trek back to Gillette.

Except this is where I learned the truth about the chick. It is actually beef. With pork in the drunk gravy. There isn't any chicken at all. Harley Man explained the concept behind the recipe's name. I am still trying to wrap my brain around this concept but came home and proceeded to locate a recipe and try it first hand! That, my friends, was my mission today.

Tonight I tried out a recipe I found, and tweaked it a little bit. I cannot believe this chic has been missing this comforting meal all of these years. I still need a little bit of refining it to my liking, but you can count on your sweet patootie that will be happening. Did I mention there is pork in the gravy?

This is the ground pork (pre-browning) with crushed red pepper flakes, garlic, onion, salt and of course a little pepper action. There is no chicken pictured. On a side note this is my Grandma Becker's mixing bowl. Love. 

This is the cubed steak after sitting and soaking up buttermilk and then dipping it from flour, into beaten eggs and milk, and then the final station of saltine cracks and planko crumbs. There is no chicken pictured.

This is it. Chicken Fried Steak with Drunken Gravy. There is no chicken pictured. 

No chicken was harmed in this process. 

Harley Man couldn't eat it all but said it was delicious. I did serve up a pretty big portion. 

There is one other thing I learned this weekend but let's just digest that there isn't any chicken in you know what recipe. I don't want to ruin your evening. And if you are in the town of Ten Sleep, you must visit the Ten Sleep Saloon and Steakhouse. Superb. We'll meet you!! 

I love to say drunken gravy. 


Grandma Becker's entry on June 4, 1990
"Wind gone down-just a little breeze. Cool but warmed up fast. Washed and at 11:00 we took Helen to Janesville for dinner. Home 1:30. Gerald got washing in. I put away. Rested and at 3:00 we went to Allison Nursing Home to see Earl. Very bad-stopped to see Vera-can't walk. Sits in wheel chair most of day. Earl passed away 10pm."


It's a great day to be alive~make it a great day.

xoxo 

Melody 

Farming skills. Even though I wear high heels.

It's been way to long since I've written. Not sure why since I've had plenty to write about. Since the last post I've gone back to Iowa to have my final surgery of reconstruction after being dealt the hand of breast cancer. More on that later. 

Since getting back about a week ago the weather here has been pretty dreary and rainy. Not anything like what my hometown has had to deal with. Water is just terrible to deal with-or maybe it's the aftermath of what flooding brings that is the worst.

Anyway, yesterday produced a beautiful, sunny, glorious day. Harley Man and I started the day going to Home Depot to check out the selection of veggies and herbs. We came home with tomatoes, bell peppers, sweet peppers, and of course the hot and spicy kind of pepper along with basil, parsley, and cilantro. Also weed killer, lawn fertilizer, potting soil, and a few tools. And lighter in the pocket book. 

Oh baby, this is going to be the start of wonderful, fun nights this summer in the kitchen, cooking and creating. Together. While using my farming skills during the planting of this great garden, I happened to look up and about 100 yards away and an antelope was just strolling by. I love this place now known as home. Wish I would have had my camera though. She was so pretty. Getting back to the garden, after everything was planted I realized there is room for more eats!! I think I'll get more tomato plants. Or maybe plant a small row of green beans.

Which reminds me of growing up and our garden on the farm. Oh my, the rows of beans went on and on - what seemed like forever and then some. Of course we canned the beans, froze the sweet corn, had oodles of cucumbers and sweet strawberries from that garden. Tell you more about our "corn days" later-what a process but great memories. So, I hated going out to what seemed like an acre of garden to pull those darn weeds. It was probably worse when all three of us girls had the chore gifted upon us. We would end up throwing little clods of dirt at each other and would eat more strawberries than anything.  Good times.

The produce from the garden through out the years growing up sure made for great winter meals and we had a little taste of summer on those cold nights.  

It's the start of a great summer.


Grandma Becker's entry on June 3, 1990
"Church early hour starts - 9:30am. Home at 11-chicken, potato, cranberries, green peas and Raspberry pie for dinner. Still rainy and wind. Went to see Ina at Bartles N. Home. 
Home and were we tired!!
Talked to Charles".

It's a great day to be alive~make it a great day!!

xoxo
Melody