I love my life!

This weekend pretty much rocked!  It’s easier to tell you why with bullet points:

• We won $9 in the lottery.  We never win anything, so this was huge for us.  As the Computer Guy said, “Wow.  That’ll almost buy us 3 gallons of gas.”
• I made garlic cheese grits for dinner and everyone liked them.  If you cook for a family of picky eaters, then you know how huge this is.  Not quick to prepare, but pretty simple and so good that my husband practically licked the pan.  Oh, and they were impressive looking, too.  See?    *recipe below

• I learned a knew coupon system from my friend Peace.  I used it this weekend at CVS.  I spent $10 out of pocket and got $30 of stuff for free.  Thank you, Peace!
• I sent an email to Jennifer of Conversion Diary and told her that I’ll be in Austin in a few weeks…does she want to get together?  It felt a bit stalker-y and I hoped she wouldn’t be weirded out.  She wasn’t!   In fact, she said “that sounds great!! I’ve been a big fan of your blog for a while, so I’m excited at the chance to meet you in person.”   OMg!  Jennifer Fulwiler reads my blog and is a fan!   (Okay, now I’ve crossed into creepy stalker-y….but she can’t back out now!  You’ve all seen it. She said yes!)
• I’m in 5th place for Best Parenting Blog on the Blogger’s Choice Awards!  5th place!  Have you voted yet?  I’m literally 4 votes from 3rd.  ( 32 from 2nd and  63 from first)  If you have a moment….can you give me your vote?  Thanks!  ***Update!  I’m in 3rd!  Thank you!  Only 59 votes and I win!
• I started scrubbing the kitchen floor by hand, and #4 said “That looks fun.  Can I help?”  Um…yeah…

• She then told me that it would be even better if we could sing the song Cinderella did when she scrubbed the floor.   Thank you Pandora radio.  We sang and scrubbed for 1 1/2 hours.
• When they heard the singing, #’s 1 and 2 came in to join the fun.  They ended up serenading us from the counter.  A little Mulan music and they were belting it out! I love that this is still cool in our house

Garlic cheese grits.  (I halved the recipe for our family.  It makes a lot!)

2 eggs
1 cup white quick grits
4 cups water
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried mustard
16 ounces Velveeta cheese
1 stick of butter or margarine

Put water, garlic and mustard in a pan and bring to a boil; add grits.  Cook according to grits package directions until grits are thickened.  While grits are cooking, chop cheese and butter into small pieces.  When grits are cooked, add cheese and butter and stir until melted (heat off).  Set aside for approximately 20 minutes.

Separate egg whites and yolks. Fold yolks into the grits, cheese, butter mixture.

Beat egg whites until they stand in peaks.  Fold half of the mixture into the grits.  Spread the remaining half of whites on top like you do when adding meringue to a pie.

Bake grits at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.  Remove from oven.  Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes.  Mixture will thicken as it cools.