Lynne, I'm so happy our smilies are working! Yea!!!
Well, it was a very long day at work! I had one and half buckets full!
It made the day go by fast, though, so that's kind of nice.
Laura, looks like you had fun playing around in here by yourself today! Sorry you're sick, though. You've been sick quite a lot lately. I have been so blessed not to be sick during this tax season. I don't think I could have stood one more thing on my shoulders. I don't know if I mentioned this or not (this is where my old age is really showing because I probably told you all about this just yesterday and can't even remember), but this past week has been horrible for me. I have been on the verge of a full blown panic attack at any given minute and I think it's just the pressure from everything. Rick, taking care of Rick's mom, work, Dr.'s appointments, my daughter's school things. It's a lot for me and I don't handle pressure well at all. So it is quite remarkable that I haven't come down sick with something. The boss's granddaughter was in the office today and she has pneumonia.
Just what the boss does NOT need!
Brenda, I love gravy. I love gravy so much that I set out determined to make the best gravy I possibly could and I've done it...but I'm one of those cooks who doesn't measure. However, I will give you the best tips I possibly can. Fry up about 4 slices of diced bacon until it's almost crispy (you can fry up sausage, too, if you prefer). Add in a small amount of finely diced onion and let the onion fry in the bacon grease until the onions start to turn golden brown. Next, add in about 1/2 to 3/4 cup flour. Depending on how much oil is in the pan from the bacon, you may have to add in a little extra oil or butter. You want the flour to kind of disolve in the oil. However, I never have so much oil in the pan that the it looks soupy. Allow the flour to cook a little bit to get rid of the pasty taste and then start adding in the milk. Start with 1 cup of milk and stir it in. As it cooks, it will thicken, so add a little more milk, like maybe 1/4 cup at a time. Continue to let it cook. While it's cooking, add in fresh ground pepper and salt. I also like to throw in some sugar...maybe a couple teaspoons of sugar. It's seems to round out that flavor and give it a hint of depth. Cook the gravy until it's the desired consistancy that you like. Some people like it super thick, some like it on the thinner side. Be sure you taste to make sure you've got enough salt and pepper. If you want a big pan of gravy, you'll need to use probably about 1 cup of flour.
Now, if you've made fried chicken or chicken fried steak, you'll add a small amount of finely diced onion and stir it around in the pan to loosen up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Next add in your flour. Cook the flour in the grease for a few minutes and then start pouring in the milk, starting with 1 to 1 1/2 cups. This time, instead of adding in salt, add in some chicken bouillion, lots of ground pepper, a little sugar and there you have it. You just let it cook and add a little more milk as you think it needs it until it's the right thickness for you. Yum! Now I'm hungry for chicken fried steak!
Let me know when you give it a try.
Well, the girls are in their glory right now watching movies, drinking StarBucks and eating popcorn. When I pulled in the garage, I could hear the loud laughter and I almost wanted to back out. After a very long day, hearing high pitched squeals doesn't settle well on the nerves, so I sent them outside for a while. I'm going to move them into the living room now because they are all laying on my bed watching a movie and I want to go lay down on my own bed! Boy, I am so tired!
I'll talk to you all in the morning!
Hurray! I'm so glad you finally made it. 
I ordered extra memory for it online, but it is the wrong "chip" for lack of a better description. I'm a little miffed at DH because he told me to go ahead and order it. He should've at least checked that it was the right one. Now I have to send it back and wait for another. 
Maybe I'll just buy it at a store here to save time.
Did I scare everyone away?