Happy Friday again! Is it EVER going to stop raining? I actually saw sunshine when I woke up this morning, but then now I see clouds moving in. My back yard is pure mush and the dogs are horribly nasty muddy and they've smeared it all over my patio chair cushions and all over the green turf, so whenever we go outside, we track mud all over my white kitchen floor, which I scrubbed on my hands and knees last week. Are my cleaning efforts all in vain? Maybe not, since everything was clean, at least for a day or so. I mean, we WOULD have the rainiest June ever the week I steam clean my carpet! Only me, only me. I can say though that last night, going in and out to cook some burgers on our new charcoal grill, was well worth tracking mud from here to yonder. That's right...my mother-in-law bought us a grill. After 4 years of marriage, we finally had our first backyard grilling experience, and the burgers turned out awesomer than awesome. I have a very special secret recipe which we learned about at a tailgate before a Mississippi State football game last fall, and I kind of added my own little "kick" to it.....here it is....the guy making them called them "Dawg" burgers, but we have named them "Tiger" burgers:

Tiger Burger Recipe:

In a large bowl, dump 1 packette Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing mix (just the powder) per pound of hamburger meat. Using your hands, mix the meat and the ranch powder together thoroughly. Roll the meat into individual balls and put them on a plate, set aside. (You can make the patties as big or small as you want, but the size we make ours, we can usually make about 3 patties per pound of meat.)

In a small saucepan, stir together, on medium heat, the following:

1 cup BBQ sauce (We use Kraft Hickory Smoke flavor)
1/2 cup worchestire sauce
4 tbsp butter
2 tbsp garlic salt
3 tbsp Louisiana hot sauce

Once the butter melts into the mixture, reduce the heat to low, and simmer as long as you like.

On the grill, brush the sauce on to each side of the burgers as desired.

As soon as the burgers come off the grill, put a slice of American cheese on top to melt it, if desired.

THERE, now YOU have the secret recipe, and these are the best burgers you will ever eat in your life, in our opinion at least. I could've kept it a secret, but it's too good to not share.

I have been having some freaky dreams the last couple nights (what else is new?). The first one took place Wednesday night. I dreamed that I went to the dentist for a routine checkup/cleaning, and the dentist looked in my mouth and then his eyes got really big and he said "Oh my goodness....you have this huge cancer growing in your mouth, and you have to go to the hospital right now and have surgery, or it could spread to your brain or to your lungs, and once that happens, it'll be too late," and I told him "Well I have been having these really bad headaches for the last several weeks, maybe a month," and he said "You definitely need to be seen right away because it could already be too late." So immediately I went to the hospital, to check myself in. Well the guy at the window asked me for my insurance, which I don't have any, so he said he had to have like $475 up front, and I said "Well I don't have any money," and he insisted that he HAD to have it, which I insisted that I didn't have it, and I went on to say that I have 2 little kids at home and a mortgage, and he just said "Sorry, that's life" and they refused to treat me, so I had to just go home. I woke up literally CRYING. I was relieved it was only a dream, but at the same time it really made me wonder what WOULD happen if I have to have some major medical stuff done? Just sit at home and die? I have no health insurance at all.

The other dream, I had last night. I dreamed I was going to start taking organ lessons from my old piano teacher. I had to take the kids with me, and for some reason, I also had the cat with me in the car. So I got there, and unloaded Travis and went in. It was the same house, but a different lady came to the door. I asked her what happened to the OLD Mrs. Dooney (my piano teacher's name), and she informed me that Mrs. Dooney passed away years ago, and that she was her daughter. What was so weird was that the inside of the house was a lot bigger than it actually was, and we walked through these huge hallways to get to where the organ was. We sat down to the organ and she started explaining some stuff to me, and then I realized that I LEFT JACOB IN THE CAR!!! I've always had a fear of doing that, but in my dream, I DID it! As I was getting Jacob out of his car seat, the cat darted out of the car and into some woods behind this house. So there I am, carting Jacob on one hip (I left Travis with the piano teacher), chasing the cat into the woods. The cat started climbing up a tree and I tried to reach her and she just clawed at me, and then I finally grabbed her and she scratched my hands and arms really bad, so I dropped her, and she kept running from me, and I was yelling for HELP, and a group of maybe 7 or 8 people were walking by and they stopped and helped me with Jacob while I chased the cat. I finally caught her and threw her back in the car, and then I grabbed Jacob and went back inside the house to get Travis, and the piano teacher was very "disappointed in me" for leaving my son with her, and I said "That's fine, I won't be needing any lessons from you anyway." And then I woke up.

Anyway, I'm supposed to be at my Mom's house at 10 this morning to help her pull weeds. I was supposed to clean her house today, to help her get ready for the 4th of July party she's having tomorrow, but she cleaned it the other day because she had "company" Thursday, which generally means that the part of my family that has disowned me 4 years ago was there. I told her that I was really counting on getting to clean because I needed the money to buy Travis' birthday stuff (cake & decorations), so she said I could come help her pull weeds to work for the money. I guess I'm the type person that feels bad getting a handout from someone...I'd rather work for the money. So I have to get a shower, get dressed, get the kids dressed, pack a diaper bag, and be on my merry way.