Atlantic City

Yet another nice few days in Atlantic City. We drove down in Mike's new car (more on that later--I need to get a picture) and met John and family there.

If I'd walked back out an hour after we arrived, I'd be ten dollars richer. Ha, ha. I kept putting the money back in as I usually do and came home with 4 cents. But my bills are paid and we own our house, so all is fine. We 'break even' considering the (almost) free room and a BOGO buffet.

I found a few new games I like:

How could I resist a game with dogs? I also played and won a bit (then lost) on a game called "OMG, Kittens!" I have about 8 different games I stick to. Mike says he likes the ones that entertain you a bit, not just those ones with Bars and Sevens. I agree!

The Willie Wonka game was a lot of fun, too!

Beautiful Tulips

The  tulips and daffodils I planted in my old garden last fall are coming up nicely!

Julie the Dog

Mike's Uncle Jimmy is now in assisted living, and we are taking care of his dog, Julie. On the first day she arrived here (Monday), she kept looking at the front door. I know she was waiting for Jimmy to come back. I feel so bad for her, and it must be hard on Uncle Jimmy, too. Mike says we can take the dog to visit him, and he can see her on the weekends too.

By today (Wednesday), Julie has settled in just fine. She is a very good dog and house-broken. We don't know how old she is, but she isn't young.

She's very friendly and likes to sit on my lap!

Northport

Mike and I parked at Northport Harbor for the first time this year. It isn't as crowded as it is going to be, and it was nice looking out at the water.

Mike has a lot on his mind these days. He's got a deposit on a car that's being shipped up from Jersey. It's a 2015, last year's model, but has lots of extras and low mileage. Of course, if he doesn't like it, he won't take it.

Then he's got retirement with Social Security coming up soon. Apparently, he can only make a certain amount from working (dividends and pension don't count) so he'll be cutting back on that. I think it's stupid. You pay into SS all your life, so you should be able to collect it without a lot of hassle about working on the side, too.

Sunday, he's going with his brother John to move Uncle Jimmy into a new assisted living place. We might be getting Jimmy's dog, Julie. She's a nice old girl and she will love our yard. We'll see what happens.

Shrimp Parmigiana

I made Shrimp Parmigiana tonight and it came out so good! It was an experiment based on another shrimp recipe.

Basically, it went like this:

I sprayed a 9x13 pan with Pam, then added a little olive oil that I spread with a piece of waxed paper.

I put a little bit of jarred sauce in there, too. (Actually, I only had about half a jar of Ragu but it was enough.)

I laid raw, jumbo shrimp in a single layer, then sprinkled on a variety of Italian spices, plus some red pepper flakes.

Topped that with parmigiana cheese (I saw that rather than parmesan because it came in a block, not in a green can. Nothing against the green can, btw--but that's another post.) and some shreddedmozzarella.

Put the pan in a 350 degree oven and baked for 15 minutes while noodles cooked. I would make sure to have spaghetti or linguini next time around, though. I think it would be better. These days, though, I try to use what I have on hand.

Sunday Dinner, April 3

Michael, Megan and Katherine were here today. We had Mike's sauce with  my  meatballs, plus brasciole and sausage. Angelina came by, too.

The kids are watching a Star Wars movie, which didn't make Katherine very happy. But after dinner she entertained herself with her metal detector:

Alas, she didn't find anything. Then again, it was too cold out to play for long. We actually woke up to snow on the ground!

And I think I am coming down with the cold Jamie had earlier in the week...