Italian Vegetable Soup with White Beans

2 (19-oz) cans cannellini beans, drained
1 (1-lb) pkg frozen mixed vegetables
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano, undrained
1 (12 oz) bottle vegetable juice cocktail
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1 1/2 oz (1/2 cup) uncooked penne or mostaccioli (tube-shaped pasta)
1/4 cup purchased pesto


1. In 3 to 4-quart slow cooker, combine all ingredients except penne and pesto; mix well.

2. Cover; cook on Low setting for 8 to 9 hours.

3. About 20 minutes before serving, stir penne into soup.  Increase heat setting to High; cover and cook for an additional 15-20 minutes or until penne is tender.

4.  To serve, top individual servings with 2 teaspoons pesto.

Playing alone

I never thought I would be happy about this, but my kid can play all by himself and can entertain himself for a good amount of time.

This morning, McCoy slid off our bed (a big bed, by the way) and walked into the living room.  We have been shutting the gate before we go to bed for this reason.  He played with his toys-- first walking over to his drum and playing it for a little while.  Then he brought one of his trains into our room and shared it with us.  He then moseyed on out and played with some other things.  We were both awake and listening carefully for unrelated toy sounds.  He came back in our room and grabbed a box of tissues (which I didn't know about at the time).  He went back to the living room, and things got quiet.  Very quiet.  So, I got out of bed and checked what he was doing.  He was starting to pull all the tissues out of the box.  I just chuckled a little bit and sat on the ground, using one of the tissues to blow my nose.  Politely, McCoy took another tissue out of the box and came over to me and wiped my nose.  What a sweet, polite little boy!

HotSpots

I have FlyLady to thank again for this term.  HotSpots are places that collect crap.  No matter how much you clean, it's always dirty.  Unfortunately for me, I have like twenty.  I'm going to try and list them here.

• Kitchen counters
• Snack bar
• Kitchen table
• Couches
• Stairs
• Rocking chair in my bedroom
• Dresser
• Piano bench and top of the piano

That's a lot of HotSpots.  I will need to get rid of all the clutter first so that I can concentrate on keeping them clean and clear for the month of January (and hopefully the whole year-- if the plan works.)  And because I don't work well under pressure, I'm going to chose two HotSpots a day to clean them up.  It's really important that once they are clean, they stay clean.  Perhaps, I should start with the one that is less likely to continue being dirty-- like the stairs.  My worse area is the kitchen counters, snack bar and kitchen table.  Those things just can't stay clean.  Well, I'm sure with intention, they could stay clean. 

Again, another list-- call me the List-Making-Queen!!  (And apparently I'm also the queen of the ----- dash.)

Jan. 1-- Kitchen table and couches

Jan. 2-- Kitchen counters and rocking chair

Jan. 3-- Dresser and stairs

Jan, 4-- Piano area and snack bar

I'll tell you what, I'll cross them off when I complete it.  And just for some accountability, I'll also put the REAL date next to it. Haha!

And as I type this post, McCoy is taking ALL the paper out of the recycling bin.  Yup.