Have you ever tried to go get your children’s holiday photo’s done and something always goes wrong?  Well, that is where I am at with our picture taking.  Everytime that I make an appointment for my daughter to get her pictures done, something always happens to her. 

For the last three times, she was all ready and fell!!  Of  course this made her eyes all blotchy.  On another occasion she banged into something and cut her face.  Go figure.   I’m serious though, something always happens to her.

I can’t wait to get her pictures done.  But something always goes wrong.  How can I get her from point A to point B without her getting injured or emotional?  Any idea’s?  How are you making out with Santa and the picture process?

Serves 4-6

Experiment by adding different cheeses – intensely flavored ones such as old cheddar, Gruyère or blue cheese are best. It’s a great way to get rid of leftover cheese bits you might have lurking in the fridge.  You can also add a can of tuna if your tastebuds desire!!

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. (250 g) dry macaroni
Salt
2 Tbsp. (30 mL) butter or margarine
3 Tbsp. (45 mL) flour
1/2 tsp. (2.5 mL) dry mustard (optional)
2 1/2 cups (625 mL) milk
2 cups (500 mL) grated old cheddar cheese, or half cheddar and half Monterey Jack
Bread Crumb Topping (optional)
2-3 slices bread, torn into pieces
1-2 Tbsp. (15-30 mL) butter or margarine
1/4 cup (60 mL) grated Parmesan (optional)

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the pasta until it’s tender but not mushy. Drain well in a colander and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

In the empty pot (no need to wash it out), melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and mustard and stir well with a whisk, cooking for a minute or so until the mixture starts to turn golden. Stir in the milk and bring the sauce to a boil, whisking constantly. The sauce must reach a full boil in order for the flour to reach its full thickening potential. Reduce the heat and simmer for a few minutes, until the mixture is nice and thick.

Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the cheese until it melts. Add salt to taste, then stir in the drained pasta. If you want a bread crumb topping, pulse the bread, butter and Parmesan in a food processor until the bread turns to crumbs and the mixture is well blended. Pour the macaroni and cheese into an appropriately sized baking dish and top with the bread crumbs or additional cheese. (It can be made up to 24 hours ahead and refrigerated in the baking dish; sprinkle with the crumb mixture or cheese right before you bake it.) Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the topping is golden and it’s bubbly around the edges.

In a earlier post named, PET PEEVES,

I talked to you about how my husband thinks that he is helping me with housework, but in fact he is unconsciously giving me double the work.

I had talked about how he puts everything in a pile, whites, darks, towels and delicates don’t stand a chance when my husband thinks that he  is helping with laundry duty.  I had also discussed how after the washer and dryer are finished doing all the work it comes up stairs and lands on a couch or bed until I decide to fold it.

In some causes, my husband thinks that doing “laundry” is a favor or courtesy to me.  But a lot of the time when he is, “helping me” is consists of him doing his own laundry.  I am looking at my couch today, because I just working the last four days, and there are five loads of laundry that need to be folded.

I wish you could see the steam coming out of my ears……

He hasn’t done anything in the last four days, why, just why couldn’t he fold the clean laundry, now it is wrinkly and has to be put back in the dryer so that they will be foldable.

I feel like my husband has this secret radar that women just don’t realize that their men have to irritate us.  Why is it that a chore that would have taken a short time now consists of double amenability.

I’ve actually been present when women are discussing how men purposely mess chores up, to be at odds with their partner and in turn, their partner think that it is just easier to take the responsibilities on, themselves. 

What better of an approach though.  Why can’t we get away with that?  Why can’t we just acted dumb, lazy or have no ambition and get away with it?  Why can’t we stay on the computer all day long and then at the end of the day say, “what are you making for supper?”  What a life it would be!! 

Does anybody have any tricks for me to manipulate my husband into doing laundry?  How can I get him to care that everything is on my shoulders and that I am getting burnt out?