What was that about the United States Postal Service cutting delivery service one day a week? I wouldn't get mail on Saturdays anymore, or maybe not on Tuesdays, you say?? Surely this must be one of the early warning signs of a society in decline.

The week of the Ham: Last Sunday, after church, Bob and I stopped at Kroger's and picked up a few things. Kretschmar Hams were on sale, so we bought one that was marked down from thirty-seven to twenty-two dollars, with Kroger card, of course. When we got home, Bob cut it in half and used the Food Saver to seal up one half and put it in the freezer. I decided it might be fun to see how many meals we could get from eleven dollars worth of tasty Kretschmar Ham, so on Monday night, we had ham slices with au gratin potatoes and broccoli. Tuesday night I served up this ham and noodle casserole. Wednesday night, we took a break from ham. Then, Thursday, we had a ham and potato casserole, and finally on Sunday evening, a delicious ham and cheesey potato soup. That's four meals from half a ham, plus, Rob ate a couple of ham sandwiches, and believe it or not, there's still a couple of slices leftover, and a baggie with some ham snacks for Maddie, The Amazing Barking Dog, and little Roxanne, when she comes to visit us. That other half is going to have to stay in the freezer for some time, because I'm mighty sick of ham and don't really want to see another one until Easter.

My friend, Cheryl, alerted me to this turkey sighting at the snowmancam last week. I also saw snowmobilers, deer, and squirrels. I hope you're remembering to check it periodically.

Last week, on her blog, my niece Megan had a very clever number thing going on, so I'm copying her and here are just a few of my numbers for the week:

8 Number of squirrels eating on the deck at one time, while

5 squirrels ate at the feeders in the back and

4 more nervously darted back and forth in the woods, waiting for an opportunity to advance and......

20 Number of years that Rob has been on the planet. Happy Birthday Rob!

From the Archives: How about a picture of Rob, when he posed as the mascot for our March of Dimes Walkathon team in 1990, as The Healthy Baby. Rob weighed nine pounds and eight ounces at birth, so he was, indeed healthy.

To celebrate his birthday, we took Rob and Candace out to eat on Saturday night at Baker Street, a fairly new restaurant in Fort Wayne. Lindsey and Brent had made plans to eat at St. Elmo's in Indy that night with Rachel and Justin, but Rachel was sick, so, they decided to come on up and surprise Rob by joining us. (hope you're better, Rachel) We had 9:00 PM reservations, but did not get seated until 9:40. (Isn't that why you MAKE reservations, so you don't have to wait 40 minutes to be seated?) I thought the food was good, but the service - not so good. Lindsey is starting a new restaurant blog, so she'll be commenting on our experience there, I believe. Anyway, they did have, what I thought to be, some very nice pretzel-like bread with mustard-butter. Here's Rob and poor Candace, who had to be at work at 5:30 AM on both Saturday and Sunday

Lindsey and Brent sample the Creme Brulee trio. By the way, I'll be teaching a class on Creme Brulee and Baklava on February 10th, at the Park Department, if you are interested.

Recipe of the Week: I thought that the tastiest ham dish from this very long week of ham consumption, was Sunday's soup, so here is the recipe:

Renee's Homemade Ham, Cheese, and Potato Soup

3 cups potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 cups water

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup onion, chopped fine

1 garlic clove, chopped fine

4 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

4 cups milk

12 oz. Velveeta cheese, grated

2 cups ham, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon red pepper

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

1 cup each, cooked broccoli and cauliflower (optional)

Bring water, salt and potatoes to boil. Cook until soft. Meanwhile, cook onion and garlic in butter for 3 minutes in Dutch oven. Drain potatoes and sit aside.

Gradually add flour to onion and stir well. Pour milk in, one cup at a time. Cook over medium heat until hot. Lower heat and add remaining ingredients. Stir until cheese is melted. Let soup simmer 10 to 20 minutes before serving. A meal in itself!

"If I had a mine shaft, I don't think I would just abandon it. There's got to be a better way!" Jack Handey