To the left is Jacob...our little southern boy. He and his Mommy and Daddy...better known as Kristi & Eric went to a wedding in Dallas, Texas over last weekend. I think he looks so adorable in his new suit. He looks so grown up.

Jacob is just starting to talk (he's not quite 18 months) and his Mom told me today that he is talking with a southern accent. How cute!! I can't wait to hear it. I never thought we'd have a grandson that is a little southern gentleman. I suppose he will also say Yes ma'am and No sir. There's nothing wrong with being polite. I'm sure the majority of people will love it.

What a shocker on American Idol last night. Melissa went home which most people kind of expected. But Lisa and Ace in the bottom three was really not expected at this time in the contest. There could be one reason for the number of votes Kevin is getting. There is a web site with a pretty large following of people that power vote for the worst contestant to try and change what should be happening on American Idol. their web site is http://www.votefortheworst.com if you want to check it out! I don't know if they are big enough to throw a wrench in 32,000,000 votes. It would really be interesting to know!! The theme for next week is songs from the 50's. Barry Manilow will perform on the results show .

I am still having a lot of fatigue but it's to be expected in the last couple of days because I haven't slept more than 2 hours the last 2 nights. Makes for a pretty exhausted day that next day.

Today was a terrible day for pain. I wonder if there's a front coming in or somthing like that. I just can hardly walk through the house without excruciating pain. How disappointing. There's always tomorrow....

We had another very good supper tonight. I had seen one of the cooking shows and they made a moist delicious looking beef brisket. I had looked for a brisket at the store last week and asked the meat manager if they had a beef brisket...he showed me the corned beef bisket. That's not what I wanted but then last night when I went there I noticed they had a brisket in so I took it because there was only one! I wondered if they'd gotten it because of me??

Following are the recipes for the brisket. The brisket calls for sweet vermouth which somehow I knew was alcohol..don't know how I knew but it gives such a good flavor to the meet that I would NOT leave it out unless you have to.Also be sure and don't trim off the fat cap on the one side of the brisket..that also helps with flavor. If I hadn't known that I would have trimmed off all the fat and then it might have been dry. It was very cheap (the vermouth) and made the flavor of the beef absolutely delicious. I sent Wayne to the liquor store at noon today to get the vermouth and it was only $4.00 plus a little change

BRISKET

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

1 ( 3 1/2 pound) first cut brisket, with "fat cap" and DO NOT TRIM

3 tablespoons sweet paprika

1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus to taste for brisket

Freshly ground black pepper

6 medium yellow onions (you can bet I didn't use even half that amount)

1 1/2 cups sweet vermouth

4 cups low-sodium chicken broth.

8 mediun sized carrots, peeled and cut in thirds (forgot to put these in this time)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Heat the oil in a large heavy bottomed Dutch oven over medium high heat until beginning to smoke. Season the brisket generously with the paprika, salt and pepper. Place fat side down in the dutch oven and cook until brown on all sides, about 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer the meat to a plate and set aside.

Discard about half the fat, then add the onions and cook over medium heat until browned and tender, about 10 minutes. Pour in the vermouth and cook until reduced by about half. Nestle the brisket into the onions fat side up, add the broth; bring to a simmer and bake, covered, until the brisket is fork tender, about 30-45 minutes more. (I cooked mine a little longer because I went to the store with Katie while it cooked)

Transfer the brisket to a cutting board, cut the fat off the top and thinly slice the meat across the grain. Return the meat to the braising liquid, and serve immediately or cool to room temperature in the sauce, cover and then refrigerate overnight. When ready to serve, reheat in the sauce.

This recipe is from a show called "How To Boil Water". It is a show that teaches beginner cooks how to cook. He is an excellent teacher and everything he makes looks delicious and the ones I have made also taste delicious:)

I apologize ahead of time for any typos. I am so tired that I've fallen asleep 3 times while typing this. Maybe tonight I'll sleep better!!