THANK GOD for good landladies!!!

God bless our landlady! She may be a little batty and have control issues, but stinkin' heck I love that woman! When our hot water heater started leaking a few months ago, we called and told her, and less than an hour later, we had a brand new one. My husband called and told her last week that our a/c was acting up, and that we had all kinds of mildew in the caulking of the tub that no amount of cleaner would get rid of. The same day he called her, she had the a/c guy out here. He changed the filter and put some more freon in the unit. Then this morning, the plumber shows up at 8:30 (we didn't know he was coming). He looked at the bathroom (and was as disgusted as I was, and if it tells you anything I had dubbed it "the scary shower"). He said he'd call her and tell her what he thought and would get back to us. Less than 20 minutes later he called back and said, "I got the go-ahead from [our landlady] - we're gonna put a new bathtub and shower unit in. Can we start now?" I practically shouted YES, and he said, "I'll have my guys there in a few minutes." Ten minutes later, they were already ripping out the gross tub! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!!!!!!!! Words can not describe how happy this whole thing makes me! And guess what? IT GETS BETTER! I know, you're wondering how it could possibly get any better than a brand spanking new tub & shower, right?? Well, the landlady came over to check out the bathroom for herself (like I said, control issues - I understand, it's her house, she wants to be sure), and looked in the bathroom. She sighed and said, "Well I guess I'd better call my electrician, too." I was baffled, but said nothing and listened as she called her electrician and said, "{electrician's name}, this is ______. I was calling to get a quote. I have plumbers at {our address} and they are installing a new bathtub and shower unit, and I figured it's about time to put in an overhead light and fan. Call me back and give me an estimate." Right now the only light we have in the bathroom is right above the sink, so the shower is dark and kinda scary unless we use 100 watt light bulbs (there are 3 in there) - so the shower is slightly more illuminated and the rest of the bathroom looks like the lights from a football field, it's so bright, lol! So the electrician is coming Tuesday morning at 8 a.m., and the plumbers will be finished by Monday evening. it's funny because they had to unhook the toilet to get the old tub out (it was sooooooo gross), so my husband was the bathroom taxi today, lol! He took the baby to Kroger to pee, then took the oldest to his mom's to pee, and then we all went to wal mart to pee! (And we wound up getting a bottle of 85 SPF sunblock, so it wasn't a completely wasted trip.) I've been taking pictures of the plumbers' progress, though I wasn't able to get in there to get a picture of the disgusting mildew that had been growing behind the thin plastic shower lining! EW!!!

The scary shower before:





after they began ripping the old tub/shower out:



This is what it looked like at quitting time today:



The only bad thing is that the bathroom is on the other side of the room my two younger girls share. Apparently in their drilling, they took a chunk out of the adjoining wall, and none of us noticed until I was tucking the girls in tonight... I just hope I remember to tell the landlady, because she'll be on the warpath!

On another high note, my stepdaughter got into the US okay in the wee hours of the morning this morning, and there's only 4 days left until we GET HER!!! OH YEAH!

I signed up online and got a coupon for a free Recipe Inspirations packet from McCormick. I chose the "Quesadilla Casserole" spice packet, and it looks really interesting. It's all the spices you need for the dish, and it has the recipe on the back. Check it out:



Quesadilla Casserole
2 t chili powder
1 t ground cumin
1 t minced garlic
1/2 t oregano leaves
1/2 t crushed red pepper (optional)
1 lb ground beef
1/2 c chopped onion
2 8-oz cans tomato sauce
1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 8 3/4 oz can whole corn kernels, undrained
1 4.5 oz can chopped green chiles, undrained
6 8-inch flour tortillas
2 c shredded cheddar cheese

1. brown beef and onion in large skillet on medium-high heat, drain. Add tomato sauce, beans, corn and green chiles, mix well. Stir in all of the spices EXCEPT for the red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Add red pepper to taste, if desired.

2. Spread 1/2 cup of the beef mixture on the bottom of a 13x9x2 inch baking dish sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Top with 3 of the tortillas, overlapping as needed. Layer with 1/2 of the remaining beef mixture and 1/2 of the cheese. Repeat with remaining tortillas, beef mixture, and cheese.

3. Bake in a preheated 350 degree (F) oven for 15 minutes or until heated through. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

I'll probably omit the beans when I make it, since I personally am not a big bean fan, but otherwise it sounds really good. My oldest will probably eat it with a dollop of sour cream on top, too. She always puts sour cream on top of the tacos when we have taco night, lol.

I have been so worried about my license. Last spring I got a seatbelt ticket (I pulled into the public library's parking lot and unfastened my seatbelt before I parked, and the cop gave me a ticket. In retrospect, I should've gone to court and fought it, but it's only $20, so why bother? It's literally the only ticket I've EVER gotten), and I waited for a while before it got paid. I was afraid my license was suspended this whole time, so I've been paranoid and refusing to drive. My husband was fed up with me! We went to the BMV yesterday, and it turns out my license has been just fine since about three days after the ticket was finally paid! GAH!!!! My worrying was all for nothing!

Looking forward to Tuesday... we're going early to the theater to wait in line, since we have tickets for the midnight showing of Eclipse. My stepdaughter comes at 7, so she'll be with us. SO MUCH FREAKING FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!