My life and thoughts

A cake for my young man

2009-07-07T20:21:00.002-04:00

We had a barbeque at Shawn's parent's house to celebrate both Shawn and Nick's birthdays. Nick wanted a lemon cake so I did my best to make him one. I had some lemon extract that I added to a white cake mix. I also tinted the cake mix green as it is his favorite color. I decided to tint the frosting yellow since we were attempting to make a lemon cake. I had kept a small bit of frosting off to the side and tinted that green and used it to write on the cake. Nick thought the beaters looked really cool. He compared them to easter eggs.

The finished product. It didn't have a strong lemon taste but everyone got a kick out of the cake being colored. We used vanilla frosting.

I had also made Samantha's cake this year. We had always purchased their cakes in the past. I think the kids appreciated these cakes more than any of the ones that we bought.

My "garden"

2009-07-07T19:56:00.002-04:00

We are trying container gardening this year. We are doing it with our next door neighbors. We have a wide variety of items as I wanted to see what would work for us. These are the two tomato plants on the neighbor's patio. We have Grape and Early Girls.

Sweet peas at the top, cucumber in other big pot. Arugala in top small pot and cilantro in other small pot.

Brussel sprouts in the big pot and sweet basil in the small one on the corner.

Straight neck squash.

These were all planted the weekend after Memorial Day. We have added a few more items to the "garden". I will post pictures of those in another post.

I'm Still Alive

2009-05-28T21:41:00.002-04:00

Things have been a bit hectic around here. I'm going to try to catch on posting about the vacation tomorrow.

I wish I had thought to take a picture of our breakfast on Sunday. I put Nicholas to work as my sous chef. We had "dunky" eggs, bacon and homemade hashbrowns that had onion and mushrooms in them with toast on the side. He seems to enjoy cooking. He has stated to Grandma (my MIL) that "Miss Erin is teaching me to cook". I'm trying to teach him the basics and how to be frugal when preparing meals.

We got an awesome deal on eggs at a local store this weekend. 1 dozen large eggs were 2/$1. There was a limit of 6 so we grabbed the limit. I filled up the spaces in the fridge door. I had 4 eggs left out of one package. The door only holds 20 eggs. I took those 4 eggs plus another dozen and hard boiled them. We try to keep hard boiled eggs on hand as Shawn will take them with him to work as quick and easy protein. It can get confusing though when we have cartons of non hard boiled eggs in the fridge also. I think I found my solution today though. I had picked up a 4 pack of liquid food coloring when I made heart pancakes for Valentine's Day breakfast. I pulled the bottle of green out and put some in the water that I was boiling the eggs in along with a splash of white vinegar. My idea worked. Now it's very easy to tell which eggs are hard boiled. They are the green ones.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-14T23:25:00.002-04:00

VACATION!!!!

2009-04-12T22:55:00.003-04:00

Well, we are currently in Fayetteville. We spent Friday and Saturday night in Pigeon Forge, TN. Dollywood was our destination on Saturday. Had a great time there and will discuss further in another post.

I think I will be waddling this whole vacation. We have eaten at buffets for 3 nights in a row. Friday night we ate at Duff's . Shawn had remembered eating there when he was younger with his family. We were not too impressed now. Saturday night we dined at Wood Fire Grill Buffet. It's part of the Western Sizzlin company. We loved it. Tonight we dined at Golden Corral . It was as good as I remember from growing up. It was also great to get real Sweet Tea that I didn't have to make. I joked with the waitress that she could just bring a pitcher to the table and leave it for me.

We been so far to The Lost Sea in Sweetwater, TN and Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, TN. We plan on making a trip to the NC aquarium at Fort Fisher and taking the kids to see the ocean while we are there. They have never seen the ocean. I grew up visiting the ocean. I guess I took it for granted that everyone has seen the ocean not thinking about the fact that most of the country is landlocked. We have a few other ideas up our sleeves but not sure what will happen yet.

I have pictures from The Lost Sea and Dollywood that I will post in separate posts about each attraction.

Talk to ya'll later.

Is it Thursday yet?

2009-03-27T14:00:00.001-04:00

Make that Holy Thursday (4/9). We will be leaving that night on vacation. I'm so ready for it. We're starting to warm up here but I just looked at the weather widgets in my sidebar and it's 55 here and 68 in my hometown. We're going to my hometown.

Dinner tonight will be fish due to it being Friday during Lent.

Time for the Big Dance!

2009-03-19T12:16:00.002-04:00

This is one of the times of the year that I look forward to the most. I grew up in ACC country. I was born and raised in North Carolina watching 3 of the greatest college basketball coaches ever. For those who can't figure it out, I'm talking about Dean Smith (UNC), Jimmy V (NC State) and Coach K (Duke).

I'm expecting this to be an interesting tourney in my household as there is the possibility of the Championship game being a Michigan team (Michigan or MSU) vs a North Carolina team (UNC or Duke). I have my brackets set up as it being MSU vs UNC. Of course the Tarheels will prevail just like they did when they met MSU at Ford Field (site of this year's Final Four) back in December during the Big 10/ACC Challenge. If my bracket holds up, ya'll may hear some serious screaming coming from my household on the evening of April 6th as Shawn and I would be on opposite sides of the living room yelling at the television and trash talking to each other.

Shawn has stated that he hates dealing with me during Tourney time as he knows I'm going to trash talk about the Big 10. ACC rules in College Basketball!

A 12 Year Old's Cake

2009-03-11T20:22:00.002-04:00

Samantha decided she wanted a homemade cake for her birthday. She wanted a chocolate cake with vanilla frosting. I had some food coloring left from when I dyed the pancake batter red for Valentine's Day. We had heart pancakes. Back on subject now, Samantha's favorite color is purple. I asked her if she wanted white icing or if she wanted me to try to make it purple. As seen in the picture, she chose purple. I didn't get a picture of the candles lit though as I was the one holding the cake but they were cool.

I'm a Crochet Nerd

2009-03-11T19:40:00.003-04:00

Well, I'm still making the totes. Here are a few of my latest and the yarn combinations I have already for future bags.

Country blue and tan in cotton yarnNavy blue & white in acrylic yarn. This one was done as a gift but has already gotten me two orders.

These colors are really bright. I think it will make a fun beach bag.

Pink camo yarn. I'm thinking this one for a friend's teenage daughter.

More bright colors.

Girlie colors.

Samantha wants these colors for one of her bags. She also wants one that is pink and green.

More girlie colors.

I also made two other bags that I don't have pictures of. One was made totally out of the multi color yarn with the pink. It was for my niece. The other was a all red one. Shawn's ex bought it from me.

I've looked at a few websites for the possibility of selling these. I'm also going to look into local craft shows. I might enlist my mother in law for those as she knits the washcloths.

Busy Day

2009-03-07T11:27:00.002-05:00

We're celebrating Samantha's 12th birthday today. Her party will be this afternoon at my inlaws' house.

I gave her the option of a store bought cake or homemade cake. She decided on a homemade cake. I currently have a Chocolate Fudge cake in the oven along with a beef roast for lunch. The cake will have Vanilla icing. Shawn and Nicholas found some cool candles when they went shopping this morning. The flame is the color of the candle. There are 6 different colors in the package and 2 candles of each color. I'm going to do my best to get pictures of them later.

What I've been up to lately

2009-02-14T08:22:00.002-05:00

I have gotten back into crocheting. I found a free pattern on a website for a market tote. I decided to give it a try with some yarn I had at home. I liked the way it came out and have been making lots of them. The pattern calls for cotton yarn but I have also used acrylic yarn.

This one is made from acrylic yarn and was made for my best friend's daughter.
This one is from cotton yarn and was made for my mother in law.
Another acrylic one made for my best friend.
Made with cotton yarn. Wasn't made for anyone. I'm thinking I might keep it. I like the way the colors go. I'm currently working on this one. Made with cotton yarn. It's for my consumers' mom.

I'm debating about making these up and selling them. Right now, I'm making them for friends and family.

What Comfort Food Are You?

2009-02-06T20:41:00.002-05:00

You Are Mac and Cheese

When you are stressed out, you seek safety above everything else.

And nothing is more nourishing than a big warm plate of carbs.

Taking risks takes a toll on you, and you prefer your comfort food to be old fashioned.

You're the type of person who could eat the same meal every night, especially when life is hard.

What Comfort Food Are You?

A cute craft *Updated link

2009-01-29T08:51:00.003-05:00

I received my February 2009 issue of Family Fun yesterday. As I was flipping through it the Quadropus caught my eye. It's on page 24 for those that want to see. I haven't found it on their site yet but will link it later if they put it up. The link is now up.

I'm planning on making several of these. I want to make one for each of my two consumers. I also want to make some for the POHI classrooms at Samantha's former elementary school. I will be sewing everything rather than using hot glue in order to make them sturdier.

I will take and post pictures as I make them. I'm off work tomorrow so I plan on getting the supplies I need to make them.

What's For Dinner?

2009-01-25T10:50:00.002-05:00

Here's what is planned for our table this week:

1/25 - Chicken thighs, Broccoli cheese rice, pears

1/26 - Biscuits & gravy

1/27 - Fettucini Alfredo with turkey

1/28 - Breakfast for dinner (probably eggs, sausage links and HM hashbrowns)

1/29 - Tuna Helper

1/30 - Hamburgers, chips

1/31 - Pasta w/sauce, Texas Toast garlic bread

2/01 - Up in the air but might be pork chops

My ears have finally.....

2009-01-19T08:26:00.002-05:00

stopped ringing. I hinted the other day that Samantha and I would be doing something last night.

Our destination last night was Joe Louis Arena. It was the venue for a concert by The Jonas Brothers. I do believe that the crowd that was there last night was louder than any crowd I've heard there for a hockey game. (Joe Louis Arena is where the Detroit Red Wings play)

Several times I picked Samantha up out of her chair and held her so that she could see the stage better. They did have 3 huge projection screens showing the boys close up. I think Samantha was surprised that I was able to recognize most of the songs within the opening notes.

It was a great show and was enjoyed by all. It was Samantha's first concert. She talked to Grandma (Shawn's mom) on the drive home and was commenting that she didn't think she would be able to go to sleep.

I can't believe my "Samzilla" is getting this old.

Who put me in the freezer?

2009-01-17T07:52:00.002-05:00

I'm ready to be finished with our frigid weather. I only went outside yesterday when I absolutely had to. I'm off work for the weekend. I'm starting to enjoy the fact that I have the weekends off now. I've only had a Monday-Friday job one other time in my employment history. I've almost always worked retail which has some of the craziest hours.

Samantha and I have plans for Sunday evening which include her mother, Samantha's friend and her mother. I'll will post details on Monday about it.

We're waiting to hear from our mechanic today about Shawn's car. The radiator blew on him yesterday. Samantha and I had to go back out last night and pick him up from the mechanic's work. Hopefully it won't be too major of a bill. Our mechanic (Nicholas' best friend's dad) will let us know whether it can be repaired or if it would be better/less expensive to replace it. We are dealing with a 1973 Plymouth Satellite Regent. Think Brady Bunch station wagon. The Bradys drove a 1971 model.

Well, they just stated on the news that no more sub zero temps for a few days. We are expecting to get 3-4" of new snow by sunset though with another 1-2" overnight. I'm really beginning to hate winter. (Sorry Shirla. I know you love it).

BRRRRRRRRRRR.....

2009-01-16T05:36:00.002-05:00

Well, we are currently at -7F. Our wind chill is -22F. Our high is expected to be 7F. I will be working a longer day today as most of the area schools are closing.

Speaking of school closings, our local FOX station has a cool feature. I was signed up via our NBC station to receive e-mail alerts when the kids' schools are closed. Our FOX station does the same thing but also offers text messages. I signed up for the text messages this morning for each of the kids' schools, districts and transportation districts. Samantha is transported by two different districts. I got up at 4:30 am to check on closings. I then signed up for and verified the text messages. As I was getting ready, I received a text that Samantha's district was closed. She originally had a 1/2 day today. I called Shawn's ex to let her know telling her that I was getting ready to head out the door to come to her house. While I was letting my car warm up and getting the ice off the windshield I received the text that Nicholas' district was closed. With that text I knew that I would be working longer hours today and would not be able to help out Shawn's ex. My best friend is Samantha's caregiver but she is currently unable to do her job due to a medical emergency. We will have Samantha this weekend and Nicholas will be going to his aunt's. The visit to his aunt was already in the plans for this weekend as it was not our scheduled weekend.

Menu Plan 1/12 - 1/18

2009-01-11T16:17:00.002-05:00

Monday: Beef roast with veggies in crockpot

Tuesday: Turkey a la king with peas

Wednesday: Stroganoff using l/o roast from Monday

Thursday: Soup & sandwiches (turkey most likely)

Friday: Chicken Helper Fettucini Alfredo made with turkey

Saturday: Pork ribs, Broccoli rice, Fruit cocktail

Sunday: ?????? Shawn suggested doing a CORN night but we usually don't have too many leftovers as most are sent with him for lunches. I'll come up with something. It might be soup and sandwiches again as we have a decent amount of canned soup and I'd like to get rid of it.

We'll see how this week goes with starting my new job.

Stayed pretty close.....

2009-01-11T15:35:00.007-05:00

to the original menu plan for last week. I didn't get pictures of all the meals though.

Sunday's dinner: pork ribs, peas, garlic italiano rice a roni
Monday's meal: We started with salad.....

and finished with pasta with sauce and texas toast garlic bread.

Tuesday started with another salad. Meal was sliced turkey served over sliced french bread, peas and garlic mashed taters.

Wednesday we ate at Big Boy on the way home from Shawn's work. I had the Big Boy & fries special that came with a drink. Shawn had the soup & salad bar.

Thursday's dinner was pork steak that I coated with potato chips left from Christmas that I crushed up. We also had green beans and pierogies.

Friday's dinner I didn't get a picture of but we had breakfast for dinner. We had "dunker" eggs, bacon and toast.

Saturday I cooked a whole turkey and then stripped it. I have two good size bowls of meat. I separated white and dark meat. I also have two bowls of homemade stock. For dinner we had: turkey, cranberry stuffing, peas and cranberry sauce.

We mainly ate off what we had this week and I know it helped having a plan.

This coming week was a bit harder to plan as I'm starting a new job. I'll be working in the afternoon/early evening so I have to come up with different meal ideas.

A small step to help

2009-01-06T13:53:00.001-05:00

What's for dinner?

2009-01-04T08:09:00.003-05:00

Part of my plans for the new year include planning a menu for the week since we are trying to eat healthier. I'm also trying to trim our grocery budget some. I made my menu yesterday after rearranging the kitchen cabinets to determine exactly what we had. We have almost everything on hand for this week's menu. I do have to pick up a few items but should be able to keep it under $20. Our Saturday dinner will look like a holiday meal. We didn't cook big meals for Thanksgiving or Christmas. We got a turkey for 84 cents/lb. I know it's not a great price but I'm interested in seeing how far I can make it stretch. I got 4 meals and 64 oz of HM stock from a whole chicken I cooked on NYE.

This week's menu:

1/4 - Pork ribs, roasted garlic rice a roni, peas
1/5 - Pasta w/sauce, salad, pudding
1/6 - OnCor Frozen Turkey Meal, mashed taters, peas
1/7 - Pork Steak, Pierogies, green beans
1/8 - Breakfast for dinner
1/9 - CORN
1/10 - Turkey, stuffing, mashed taters, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce

1/11 - Turkey a la king (or similar creation)

I hope to post pictures of dinner each night. We'll see how that goes. Shawn thinks I'm weird to take pictures of our food. He has asked me before when I was taking pictures, "Does everyone need to see everything we eat?".

A New Year

2009-01-01T11:45:00.005-05:00

First, I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year. I hope that everyone's 2009 is better than 2008.

I've been absent for a few weeks. I recently received some medical news that put me into a funk. I'm coming out of it now. I'll know more about the situation in about 6 weeks.

In just under 3 months, I'll be having to get my Vitamin D levels rechecked. Normal levels are 25-30. I'm at 9. I'm currently taking 50000 units of Vitamin D once a week for 12 weeks. They will then check my levels and see where it is.

Other than the Vitamin D issue and the other issue my physical came out pretty good. I do need to lower my total cholesterol as I'm at the very top of normal. I also need to bring my HDL (good) up some and bring the LDL (bad) down although my levels are not horrible.

I have a family history on both sides with high blood pressure but my reading in the office was 110/80. Granted, I rarely cook with salt and try not to eat high amounts of sodium.

Diabetes also runs on both sides of my family especially my mother's. My fasting blood sugar though was 82.

All other tests came out fine. My weight is high but I knew that going in. We did get a Wii as a family gift from Shawn's parents. We then got the Wii Fit. I've been doing my best to do 20-30 minutes on the Wii Fit total for the day.

I Hate Snow! Part 2

2008-12-19T20:46:00.003-05:00

Well, here's an update to our snow storm. These pictures were taken just after 5 pm today.

The approach to our stairwell. This is after they had run the snowblower for the 2nd time today on it.

One of neighbor's vehicle buried under snow and plowed/drifted in.

I drive the Aztek that's in this picture. This was what I had to drive over when I came back from my appointment.

Another view of the cars. If I recall correctly, the one next to me that's covered didn't move all day.

Looking out my back door.

You can come get your snow anytime Shirla!

I Hate Snow!

2008-12-19T07:55:00.003-05:00

I'm a GRITS (Girl Raised In The South). If we got as much snow as we've gotten here in the past two hours my hometown would be totally shut down. Most, if not all, of the schools here in Metro Detroit are closed today. They are forecasting 3" south of Detroit and possibly up to a foot of snow north of Detroit. We live right on the edge of the line that divides the 6"-9" section and the 9"+ section. This is what my fleece looked like after just a few minutes outside to take pics.

The back end of my vehicle. I should go out and brush it off but figure I will do that while I let it warm up.

My footprints on the walkway. We had 2"-3" at that time.

This pic is out the back door. This is my bistro set.

Video taken about 7:30 am. Snow had been falling for just over 2 hours.

I wouldn't mind this if I didn't have to go out in it. I have an appointment at 11 am and then will be picking up the kids tonight. Luckily, this system is scheduled to be over about 4 pm.

Who Made Mother Nature Mad At Me?

2008-12-18T11:42:00.003-05:00

Ok, somebody got Mother Nature mad at me. I had an ugly commute home on Tuesday due to a snowstorm. We got about 3 inches from that storm.

Overnight until tomorrow afternoon we have a Winter Storm Warning up for our area. They are calling for 6 to 10 inches of snow tomorrow. I have an appointment tomorrow at 11 am. Luckily it's not that far from home.

I'll take some pics tomorrow as we're getting hit. Looking out the window now all I see is white.

He Said, She Said

2008-12-14T23:17:00.002-05:00

Received this in an e-mail today. Thought it was pretty cute, especially the last line.

He said.......She said

Marriage (Part I )

Typical macho man married typical good-looking lady, and after the wedding, he laid down the following rules:" I'll be home when I want, if I want and at what time I want -- and I don't expect any hassle from you. I expect a great dinner to be on the table unless I tell you that I won't be home for dinner.
I'll go hunting, fishing, boozing, and card-playing when I want with my old buddies, and don't you give me a hard time about it.Those are my rules. Any comments?"

His new bride said: "No, that's fine with me. Just understand that there will be sexhere at seven o'clock every night...whether you're here or not."

(DARN SHE'S GOOD!)

******************* *****************************

Marriage (Part II)

Husband and wife had a bitter quarrel on the day of their 40th wedding anniversary!

The husband yells, "When you die, I'm getting you a headstone that reads, 'Here Lies My Wife -- Cold As Ever'!"

"Yeah?" she replies. "When you die, I'm getting you a headstone that reads, 'Here Lies My Husband -- Stiff At Last'!"

(HE ASKED FOR IT!)

*********************************** ******

Marriage (Part III)

Husband (a doctor) and his wife are having a fight at the breakfast table. Husband gets up in a rage and says, "And you are no good in bed either," and storms out of the house.

After some time he realizes he was nasty and decides to make amends and rings her up. She comes to the phone after many rings, and the irritated husband says, "What took you so long to answer to the phone?"

She says, "I was in bed." "In bed this early, doing what?" "Getting a second opinion!"

(YEP, HE HAD THAT COMING, TOO!)

*****************************************

Marriage (Part IV)

A man has six children and is very proud of his achievement.He is so proud of himself, that he starts calling hiswife," Mother of Six" in spite of her objections.

One night, they go to a party. The man decides that it is time to go home and wants to find out if his wife is ready to leave as well. He shouts at the top of his voice, "Shall we go home Mother of Six?"

His wife, irritated by her husband's lack of discretion, shouts right back, "Any time you're ready, Father of Four."

(RIGHT ON, LADY!)

*****************************************

THE SILENT TREATMENT

A man and his wife were having some problems at home and were giving each other the silent treatment.Suddenly the man realized that the next day he would need his wife to wake him at 5:00 AM for an early morning business flight.Not wanting to be the first to break the silence (and LOSE), he wrote on a piece of paper, "Please wake me at 5:00 AM." He left it where he knew she would find it.

The next morning the man woke up, only to discover itwas 9:00 AM and he had missed his flight. Furious, he was about to go to see why his wife hadn't wakened him when he noticed a piece of paper by the bed. The paper said, "It is 5:00 AM. Wake up."

Men are not equipped for these kinds of contests.

*****************************************

God may have created man before woman, but there is always a rough draft before the masterpiece.

What Type of Christmas Tree Are You?

2008-12-14T19:25:00.001-05:00

Found this on Julieann's blog:

What Christmas Tree Are You?

I am:

You Are a Cranberry and Popcorn Strung Tree
Christmas is all about showcasing your creative talents.From cookies to nicely wrapped presents, your unique creations impress everyone.

A Visit From An Elf

2008-12-09T18:16:00.002-05:00

I used to post often on an AOL message board. We have been doing a Santa Swap for as long as I've been on the board. A few years ago during one of the swaps, the Elf Wars started. It is said that there are only two sides: Elf Eater or Elf Protector. Supposedly, you can not be neutral on the matter.

Samantha and I put the 3 foot tree up in the kids' room on Sunday. As we were decorating it I came across this little guy. I don't recall him from previous years. I guess he has decided that I am an Elf Protector. He is perched up at the top of the tree keeping an eye over the room and the Sugar Pigs.

Saturday Snow

2008-12-09T18:02:00.002-05:00

This was the scene out the back door late Saturday morning. We ended up with maybe 2 inches of snow. It is going away today as we've had a steady rain today along with above freezing temperatures.

Are You A Jackie Or A Marilyn?

2008-12-05T23:28:00.001-05:00

Found this on another blog:

Your result for Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz...

You Are an Ingrid!

You are an Ingrid -- "I am unique"

Ingrids have sensitive feelings and are warm and perceptive.

How to Get Along with Me

* Give me plenty of compliments. They mean a lot to me.
* Be a supportive friend or partner. Help me to learn to love and value myself.
* Respect me for my special gifts of intuition and vision.
* Though I don't always want to be cheered up when I'm feeling melancholy, I sometimes like to have someone lighten me up a little.
* Don't tell me I'm too sensitive or that I'm overreacting!

What I Like About Being an Ingrid

* my ability to find meaning in life and to experience feeling at a deep level
* my ability to establish warm connections with people
* admiring what is noble, truthful, and beautiful in life
* my creativity, intuition, and sense of humor
* being unique and being seen as unique by others
* having aesthetic sensibilities
* being able to easily pick up the feelings of people around me

What's Hard About Being an Ingrid

* experiencing dark moods of emptiness and despair
* feelings of self-hatred and shame; believing I don't deserve to be loved
* feeling guilty when I disappoint people
* feeling hurt or attacked when someone misundertands me
* expecting too much from myself and life
* fearing being abandoned
* obsessing over resentments
* longing for what I don't have

Ingrids as Children Often

* have active imaginations: play creatively alone or organize playmates in original games
* are very sensitive
* feel that they don't fit in
* believe they are missing something that other people have
* attach themselves to idealized teachers, heroes, artists, etc.
* become antiauthoritarian or rebellious when criticized or not understood
* feel lonely or abandoned (perhaps as a result of a death or their parents' divorce)

Ingrids as Parents

* help their children become who they really are
* support their children's creativity and originality
* are good at helping their children get in touch with their feelings
* are sometimes overly critical or overly protective
* are usually very good with children if not too self-absorbed

Take Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz at

http://www.okcupid.com/tests/are-you-a-jackie-or-a-marilyn-or-someone-else-mad-menera-female-icon-quiz

For Shirla

2008-12-05T20:48:00.001-05:00

This is what I saw out my back door today. It was a very brief shower though.

Thursday's Dinner 12/4

2008-12-05T20:35:00.002-05:00

I felt a little sorry for Shawn after my Tarheels beat his Spartans Wednesday night. I stopped by Meijer on the way home from helping a friend. I picked up some steaks, bagged salad, fresh mushrooms and stuffed portabellos. I cooked them up along with some Baby Red instant potatos and Crescent Rounds. Shawn was pleasantly surprised to come home to this meal.

My "new" pans

2008-12-05T13:32:00.002-05:00

Shawn brought home a surprise the other day. He located these pans while he was working. The pans that are stacked on top of each other share the same lid. I used these Thursday night to cook dinner in. I have included a picture of the bottom of the pans in case anyone knows anything about this brand. There is a lone T-Fal pan. It's the one with the one red spot in the middle.

A House Divided *PIC ADDED

2008-12-04T00:41:00.004-05:00

Well, Shawn and I got some interesting looks tonight at Ford Field. Normally football is the name of the game at this stadium. Tonight though it was the site of one of the games of the 2008 ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Tonight's game was Michigan State vs North Carolina. As the title of the post indicates, we are a house divided. Shawn was born and raised in Michigan while I was born and raised in North Carolina. We both chose to support our respective teams with our clothing choices tonight. I hope to edit this post tomorrow with pics of our outfits.

MSU put up a valiant effort but UNC took them to school. Final score: UNC 98 - MSU 63. I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of Carolina Blue I saw in the crowd. Shawn and I had an enjoyable evening for about $60 (tickets, parking and refreshments). Tonight's game was a test run for the city as Ford Field is the site of the Final Four for this season's NCAA Tournament.

I hope to be seeing my Tarheels back in town in March/April. Also, before I have any haters from the Big 10 say anything, I will root for a Big 10 team as long as they are not playing an ACC team.

Search & Shop For Kids

2008-11-30T17:43:00.005-05:00

Ok, the title can be a bit misleading. Some may have noticed that I added something new to my sidebar. The POHI Parents Group that we are involved with for Samantha's school has teamed up with GoodSearch. The button below will link you right to a search page for our organization. The group raises funds to help provide equipment and/or supplies that are necessary for the children but the school may not be able to obtain in their budget.

The way it works is that you would use GoodSearch just as you would use Yahoo!, Google, etc. For each regular search (images searches don't count), the group earns 1 cent. There is also a program called GoodShop. It teams with numerous merchants. You would go to the merchant's website through a link with GoodShop and a portion of your purchase would be donated to the group.

Feel free to look at the site and make up your own mind. If you have any questions please ask. I will answer any question asked. If I don't know the answer, I will find it for you.

C.O.R.N.

2008-11-26T18:11:00.003-05:00

We had some interesting meals this weekend and lots of leftovers. I decided to have a CORN (Clean Out Refrigerator Night) dinner.

I combined:

1 lb box of uncooked radiatore
1 cup (?) cubed ham (not sure on amount, just cubed up some from the half ham we had this weekend)
1/2 jar salsa
1/2 can black olives (I sliced them up)
1 small onion sliced
1 can tomato soup
1 can water
leftover chili with beans that Shawn & Nick used when trying to make nachos this weekend
shredded colby cheese

I combined them all in a 9x13 casserole dish and currently have it in the oven at 350 degrees. We'll see how it comes out.

Another Kroger Trip

2008-11-21T11:51:00.003-05:00

I got home from yesterday's trip and sat down with my coupons and started matching things up. I went today armed with a whole pile of coupons. I felt sorry for the person behind me although both them and the cashier asked me to write down the websites for ShortCuts and CellFire.

Here's what I got today. I started writing down prices and coupons I used but stopped partway through. I'll post totals at the end.

1 box Corn Chex

1 box Rice Chex

2 box Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa mix

1 bottle Tabasco sauce

3 Betty Crocker cake mix

1 Kotex pads

1 Betty Crocker Frosting

2 cans Libby's pumpkin

1 Suave lotion

2 Colgate toothpastes

2 cans Progresso soup

1 Goody Ouchless ponytail holders

2 5lb Domino sugar

8 cans Kroger sweet peas

4 cans Kroger green beans

4 cans Kroger french style green beans (donated to food drive at storage place to get 10% off rent for the month)

4 cans Kroger corn

10 boxes Uncle Ben's rice

1 box Active Lifestyle instant oatmeal

4 pouches Bettty Crocker potatoes

4 pouches Idahoan potatoes

4 bags Pillsbury frozen dinner rolls

2 cans Reddi Whip

2 boxes GoGurt

1 Pillsbury Dough Sheets

2 Pillsbury Ready To Bake Cookies

3 Buddig Deli Cuts Ham

6 Yoplait yogurt

2 pomegranates

2 cans Grands biscuits

3 cans Crescent rounds

2 boxes Green Giant veggies

1 Kraft Bagel-fuls

1 Pepperidge Farm Texas Toast

2 Coffee Mate liquid creamer

I think I have everything listed. Everything is in the pictures though. Now for the totals.

Total Coupons: $99.45

Total Savings: 58%

Total Spent: $71.72

Target & Kroger

2008-11-20T17:51:00.002-05:00

I made a trip to Kroger & Target today. I did pretty good at both stores. I recently discovered ShortCuts and CellFire. Both sites allow you to load E-coupons onto your Kroger loyalty card that you can stack with Manufacturer coupons. They also have coupons on ShortCuts for Kroger brand items. I also found some awesome Manager's Specials (MS) at Kroger.

What I got at Kroger:

1 24 pk Ice Mountain Water - Free with coupon Kroger mailed me
2 loaves Kroger Wheat Bread - $1 for one, $0.49 for one (MS)
1 loaf Jewish Rye Bread - $0.89 (MS)
1 Betty Crocker Frosting - $1.67 minus $0.55 coupon from Shortcuts
2 15 stick packs Juicy Fruit
2 15 stick packs Big Red
2 15 stick packs WinterFresh - All the gums were 10/$10 and there were coupons by them for B1G1
2 14 piece packs Orbit gum - $1.19/pack on B1G1 special
5 Honeycrisp apples - $1.98/lb. - $5.17 minus $1.50 off $5 of fresh fruit from Kroger mailing
3 cans Pilsbury Crescent rolls - 3/$5 minus 2 $0.50 Shortcuts coupons and $0.75/3 Blinkie
2 boxes Green Giant Veggies - 10/$10 minus $0.50 Shortcuts coupon
2 Healthy Choice microwave soups - They rang up $2.69 but I thought they were a different price. I did have a $0.45/2 blinkie.
3 Betty Crocker Cake Mixes - 10/$10 minus $0.50 Shortcuts coupon - Looks like they gave me a Shortcuts $0.50 off frosting one off them also
1 Betty Crocker Double Chocolate Cookie Mix - $2.29 minus $0.55 Shortcuts
1 pkg Kroger Shredded Cheese - 3/$5 minus $0.45 Shortcuts
3 pkgs Ore-Ida Steam & Mash potatoes - 2/$6 minus $1 Shortcuts, 2 $1 manuf. coupons and 1 manuf coupon for B2G1 (We weren't that impressed when I tried them for SheSpeaks but for $1/pkg we'll take them)
1 pkg Private Selection German Chocolate cake ice cream - $2.50 minus $0.75 Shortcuts
2 Pilsbury Ready to Bake Cookies - 2/$5 minus $0.50 Shortcuts and $1.50/2 Blinkie
1 box Active Lifestyle Instant Oatmeal - $1.99 Free with E-coupon from Cellfire
2 12 oz pkgs of deli style Honey Ham lunch meat - $0.99 each (MS)
4 pkgs Kraft 2% chunk cheese (Colby) - $0.65 each (MS)
2 pkgs Kraft 2% chunk cheese (Mild Cheddar) - $0.75 each (MS)
2 pkgs Kraft 2% chunk cheese (Sharp Cheddar) - $0.50 each (MS)
1 box Peperidge Farm Texas Toast - $2.50 minus $1 Cellfire
1 Old El Paso Enchilada Dinner Kit - $3.19 minus $0.50 Shortcuts

Total Spent (after $9.50 bottle return and $0.25 bag credit): $32.82

Target's haul was much smaller but was better overall savings I think.

2 3.5 lb bags of Kitten Chow - $4.19 each minus $4 internet coupon for each
2 bags Friskies cat treats - $2.89 each minus $3 internet coupon for each
1 pkg Goody Ouchless ponytail holders - $2.19 minus $2 internet coupon
1 bag Flat Earth Veggie Crisps - $2.50 minus $1 peelie
2 boxes Betty Crocker Roasted Garlic Taters - $0.79 each minus $1/2 manuf. coupon
1 box Market Pantry tea bags - $1.87

I do get a 10% discount at Target due to my job. I had a total discount of $2.14. There is also no tax on food in Michigan. I did pay $0.88 tax on the cat products that I will be giving to my Mother-in-law who recently got a new kitten.

Total paid at Target: $3.04

Having Some Fun With Santa

2008-11-13T21:41:00.000-05:00

Those from KF will get a kick out of this:

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

2008-10-31T14:29:00.001-04:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

MAY YOU GET ALL TREATS AND NO TRICKS!

Monday's Dinner

2008-10-31T13:07:00.003-04:00

This was Monday's dinner. It's the only night I've really cooked dinner so far this week. I made the meat and veggies in the crockpot. We had: Corned Beef Brisket, onions/carrots/mushrooms cooked in crockpot with corned beef and butter, mashed taters with HM gravy and my humble attempt at biscuits.

My attempt at biscuits

2008-10-31T12:31:00.003-04:00

As part of dinner on Monday I decided to try my hand at making biscuits as we didn't have any "Whomp" biscuits.

I only had two ingredients: Baking Mix and milk

Adding the milk into the mix
All mixed up

Before rolling on the floured counter. I forgot to take a picture of it all rolled out. That's where the problem was. I rolled it too thin.

Some of the finished product. The rolled ones are the product of using up the scraps left after cutting out the biscuits.

I think my main problem was that I rolled it out too thin. I might try it again. Let's just say that these were not the best part of dinner.

Yummy In My Tummy

2008-10-30T12:16:00.002-04:00

I have a POHI Parents Group meeting tonight. We will be getting the prizes for the sucker pull at conferences organized. The group is purchasing pizza to eat while we are working. I figured I'd bring dessert. These are Devil's Food cupcakes with Cream Cheese frosting. I had to make sure to take pictures of these since I didn't last week and Shirla called me on it.

I've been playing around with a Cookie & Cupcake Decorating kit I picked up on Holiday clearance. I only got 20 of the 24 cupcakes I made frosted but it's ok because that's all that would fit on my tray.

Long day

2008-10-22T20:02:00.002-04:00

First, The Who rocked last night. We had some great seats and the guys put on an awesome show. Ringo Starr's son was the drummer last night. We got home just before midnight last night. We were then up at 4:20 in order to get going for the day. I dropped Shawn off at his coworker's house and then headed to Shawn's ex's house to get the kids off to school. After getting them off, I went to help a friend out until 3 pm. As I stated in yesterday's post I switched shifts with someone so I was scheduled today 4-7pm. I ended up leaving at 6 pm as we had some appointments not show up. I'm going to head to bed shortly as I'm about ready to crash.

One last word about the concert last night. It was hilarious to hear Pete Townsend's description of Eric Clapton from back in the day.

Dinner out tonight

2008-10-21T13:09:00.003-04:00

Well, I was supposed to work tonight 5-8. I switched with someone though so that I would be able to pick up Shawn and we could get to The Palace. Back in August, we won tickets before you could buy them to see The Who. I had to run out to the radio station today to pick up the tickets. I just realized I need to look up where our seats are. I do know from glancing at the section that we are in the upper bowl. Can't complain for free tickets. They don't allow pictures or video at this concert so unfortunately I won't have anything to share. We will grab something to eat at the concert. I think we will both be "zombies" tomorrow as we will be getting up at 4:15 am tomorrow morning.

Steak & Cupcakes

2008-10-16T16:49:00.002-04:00

I'll post more details later but my house is smelling so good right now. I have cupcakes in the oven. The steak comes into play with dinner. I have no idea what to make as the sides though. I'm debating fried okra and something else. Maybe some greens??? I need to figure this out. Hopefully Shawn won't call while I have the cupcakes in the oven needing a ride home.

The Mystery Dish

2008-10-14T13:35:00.004-04:00

I can't say exactly how this turned out as I battled my sinuses this weekend so my tastebuds were way off. Here's what I did with ingredients I listed on Saturday.

The ingredients: Eggplant, spaghetti sauce, mozzarella cheese, ground turkey and canned mushrooms. I browned the ground turkey with some minced garlic. While it was cooking, I sliced the eggplant lengthwise. I then started layers in my Pampered Chef square baker. Each layer had eggplant, turkey.....

then spaghetti sauce and mushrooms................ topped off with cheese....
This is just out of the oven. I cooked at 350 for 30-45 minutes.
This picture came out a bit blurry. The family seemed to enjoy it though. Nicholas did comment that it was good and even stated that he usually doesn't like eggplant.

And Shirla, I think the new kisses taste just like pumpkin pie.

New recipe?

2008-10-11T19:31:00.001-04:00

I have a dish in the oven right now that I made up. If it comes out good, I'll post what I did with pictures. It involves eggplant, ground turkey, mushrooms, spaghetti sauce and mozzarella cheese.

First there was Fred......

2008-10-09T21:30:00.002-04:00

Well, it started with Julieann and Fred , then came Shirla and Wanda and then Crystal and Carl . We don't have room for a big one at our place but I think we found the newest additions to Fred's family.

This is Mr. Green Jeans and he hangs out on our back door.
This little guy is Randy. He welcomes guests on the front door.

Been Some Time....

2008-10-07T12:51:00.005-04:00

I haven't posted much lately as life has been pretty busy around here. I haven't been cooking as much lately either. It's been lots of YOYO nights around here.

I did cook this last Monday (9/29) though. It's a recipe that I got off an AOL message board. I don't recall which board or the original poster anymore. I will post the recipe with my notes.

Crockpot Chicken & Dumplings

Ingredients:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut in small chunks
2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup (I have used cream of mushroom with no problems. I've also used one family size can instead of two small cans)
1/4 cup onion, finely diced (I usually do 1/2 an onion)
2 cups water
2 10 oz packages refrigerated biscuits
1 chicken bouillon cube (I use powdered bouillon)

I did add some fresh mushrooms I had to this batch. That's why they're in the picture.

Directions:

Combine all ingredients, except biscuits, in slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for 5 to 6 hours. 30 minutes before serving, tear biscuit dough into 1-inch pieces. Add biscuit dough to slow cooker; stirring gently. Cover and cook on HIGH for an additional 30 minutes or until biscuits are fluffed up and cooked through.

I have made this dish many times for the whole family and everyone gobbles it up.

My latest shopping trip

2008-09-26T13:24:00.003-04:00

Well, we had a new Meijer open in our city. Their grand opening is this week. I received a mailing that had a card in it to get $10 off if I spent $50 or more. The card is good for 4 weeks. There was also a coupon in the ad that gave you a $20 voucher if you filled a new or transferred prescription at the new store. I had one that I transferred. Cost me $5 but got me the $20. I also took back the returnables (bottles/cans) that we had so $4.40 in bottle slips. I'm going to put my total at the end.

Here's what I got:

2 cans store brand biscuits
20 oz pkg chicken breast tenders
1 head lettuce
1 V05 shampoo
2 Suave body washes (bonus size: 18 oz for 12 oz price)
2 boxes Barilla Whole Grain penne
1.88 lb green grapes
1.40 lb black grapes
3 rolls (1 lb each) store brand ground turkey
2 boxes Stove Top
1 pkg Aunt Millie's hot dog buns
1 pkg Aunt Millie's hamburger buns
12 bottles (32 oz each) Powerade
3 dozen large eggs
1 24 oz tub small curd cottage cheese
1 box (17 oz) Froot Loops
1 box (17 oz) Apple Jacks
2 pkgs Dole Salad Mix (did Romaine for both)
1 bag organic blue tortilla chips
3 kiwi
4 bottles (50 oz) Purex laundry detergent
2 rolls Breakfast Sausage (can't remember brand name right now)
3 loaves Aunt Millie's Butter Top Wheat bread
1 box Noodle Roni
2 pkgs McCormick Stroganoff seasoning
1 pkg fresh sliced mushrooms
3 pkgs Steak (markdown)

According to my receipt:

Total Meijer Promotions: 30.00
Total Non-Coupon Savings: 50.49

My Total Amount Paid: 30.99

I also got a case of 12 bottles of lemon flavored sweetened iced tea for free as they were giving it out as I was walking in. I told the guys I would like to take it back to my car as I was afraid they might not be there when I came out. Turns out they weren't. Between the tea and Powerade, we are set for drinks for Shawn's lunch for some time.

What I got for $12.33

2008-09-24T12:08:00.001-04:00

I took advantage of a deal that Target has this week on General Mills cereal so if you subtract the $5 giftcard that I got, I only spent $7.33 for everything pictured here. This is what I got from Target and Dollar Tree. Target has General Mills cereal 4/$11. I went in with 3 $1 off/1 coupons for Cheerios. Here's what I got at Target:

3 boxes Cheerios on sale for $2.75 each - $8.25
1 box Cinnamon Toast Crunch - $1.99 (was priced lower than sale price)
1 Johnson's Buddies Grip Soap - $0.99
1 bag Candy Corn (for DH) - $1.66

I had the 3 $1 coupons for the Cheerios and a $1 coupon on Johnson's Buddies. I also have a Team Member discount of 10% and my state does not charge tax on food. My grand total after all coupons and discounts was $8.15 and I also got a $5 gift card so I technically got all of the items for $3.15.

At Dollar Tree, I picked up the two plates (one dark, one light) as I'm going to try to take some cool pictures of the food I create. I also picked up the basket in order to put fruit in on the counter so we don't have it all over the place. The hamburger buns are for tonight's dinner. I spent $4.18 at Dollar Tree.

I think I did pretty well. Last night and this morning I was going through many of the magazines I recieve for free and pulled out the coupons I saw in there. I used to be a "coupon queen" but started slacking off when we moved. I need to get back into them for the items we use. I will probably only use them though if I can get the item for less than what I can get it at Aldi or Save-a-Lot as that is where we have been doing the majority of our shopping lately. Doing our shopping there though, I think I have finally gotten Shawn to see the reason why I have so many of the "green bags". Granted, he has taken one of them over as his "lunch bag".

Somewhat Menu For The Week

2008-09-22T15:08:00.003-04:00

With the way the economy is today we are trying to squeeze everything we can out of our grocery budget. I've been trying to make enough for dinner that will have leftovers for Shawn to take to work. He's been using one of my "green bags (reusable shopping bag)" as his lunch bag. He told me his buddies at work call it his purse. I've tried menu planning before but it didn't work out too well. I'm going to try again though. I only have through Friday as we'll probably go grocery shopping at Meijer on Friday. We just had a new one open in our neighborhood and they sent us a Grand Opening Savings Card. Starting this week, for the next four weeks, if we spend $50 or more, we get $10 off. For those that don't have Meijer it would be similar to a Wal-Mart Supercenter or a Super K-Mart. We get the bedding for the pigs there so that will be almost $7 of the $50. I've already looked at their ad online and marked down the deals and what we need. Ok, enough rambling and on to the menu for the week:

Monday

Steak

Pierogies

Chopped Collard Greens

Fruit Cocktail

*Monday's Menu has become Tuesday's meal as Shawn didn't get off work until 8 pm Monday. I think I will take off the original Thursday dinner and push Tuesday to Wednesday and Wednesday to Thursday.

Tuesday

Hamburgers

Onion Rings

Tomatoes

HM Brownie Bites

Wednesday

Shrimp Monterey

Salad

Tomatoes and Cucumbers

Ice Cream or Popsicles

Thursday

Fish

Onion Rings

Hush Puppies

????

Friday

Sliced Steak w/HM Gravy over Rice

Green Beans

Peaches

Cupcakes (if I make them)

Cute Coupon Organizer

2008-09-22T12:08:00.002-04:00

While reading through the blogs I follow, I came across this blog ( $ Moms Helping Mom Save Money $ )by way of one that I follow. They are giving away a really cute coupon organizer. I know I'm trying to figure out the best way to sort and store mine.

Last night's dinner and a potato review

2008-09-21T14:46:00.002-04:00

I was picked to test the new Steam n' Mash potatoes from Ore-Ida through She Speaks. I received my package that included a potato masher, one coupon for a free package and 10 $1 off coupons. I picked up my free package last week and let Nicholas pick the flavor. He chose the Garlic flavor. I made them with last night's dinner. We were not that impressed.

The packaging is eye catching. It states that there is supposed to have 7 servings. Once I made them though, I could tell that their 7 servings would not equate to 7 servings in my family. Shawn does physical labor at his job and Nicholas is a growing teenage boy. This is the amount of potatos we had after adding the milk and mashing.
This was my plate last night. Samantha had less potatos then me. Nicholas had about the same amount and Shawn had more. I did have to reheat the prepared potatos in the microwave as they weren't warm enough. I don't believe that we will be purchasing these potatos again.

Soundtrack to my life

2008-09-15T20:30:00.006-04:00

Stole this from Gail's blog:

IF YOUR LIFE WAS A MOVIE, WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK BE?

So, here's how it works:
1)Open your library .(iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc.)
2)Put it on "shuffle"
3)Press "play"
4)For every question, type the song that's playing
5)When you go to a new question, press the "next" button
6)Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool[so,you can erase my song "answers",grab your ipod and answer the questions yourownself.]

Opening Credits: Cotton Eyed Joe by Rednex
Waking Up: Cherokee by Europe
First Day At School: Rock You Like A Hurricane by The Scorpions
Falling In Love:Walk This Way by Aerosmith & Run DMC
Fight Song: The Look of Love, Pt. 1 by ABC
Breaking Up: Hot Rod Lincoln by Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen
Life: West End Girls by Pet Shop Boys
Driving: Panama by Van Halen
Wedding: Our House by Crowded House
Birth of Child: I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor
Final Battle: Bad to the Bone by George Thoroughgood
Death Scene: AM Radio by Everclear
Funeral Song: Burning Down The House by Talking Heads
End Credits: Obsession by Animotion

This was out of 217 songs I have on my MP3 player. No IPOD here. Well, I can't wait to see everyone's list. I have to say I busted out laughing several times making mine. The two that had me laughing the hardest was Birth of Child and Final Battle.

The Next Morning

2008-09-15T08:32:00.003-04:00

I was able to get some better pictures now that I have some light. This picture was taken just after 8 am this morning. I estimate the water level has gone down about 1 foot. Last night you could not see the vegitation that is poking through the water. This picture shows where the water level was. On the left side is a line of debris left when the water started receding.

I have tons of errands to run today. I need to get off this computer and get to doing them. No clue what's for dinner tonight.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

2008-09-14T22:16:00.004-04:00

Well, I think we may be done with the rain for today. Over the weekend, our "lake" gained back all the water it had lost. Also, the creek that separates our complex from the business next door is so swollen right now. I'm going to try to get some pictures in the morning. I believe we have a flood warning until sometime tomorrow morning. I just went and looked at the creek again. It has gotten bigger since the last time I looked. The picture about was taken about 10:20 pm today. The pic is grainy as I had to take it without my flash in order to get the water to show up. I could not believe how big it had become.

I realize I'm complaining about rain when there are others that have faced much worse in the aftermath of the recent hurricanes. I grew up in NC so I completely understand the magnitude of hurricanes. My thoughts are with those that have been affected by the hurricanes.

Day with the boy

2008-09-12T15:28:00.002-04:00

After getting Samantha on the bus this morning, I got Nicholas up and ready. We left their mother's and headed to our place. Fed him breakfast. Let him basically have control of the television with veto power by me. Had lunch and then headed to Dave & Buster's. We have $50 in vouchers from My Coke Rewards. We each got a power card. He has .1 credits left on his. I have somewhere around 5 credits, I think. We played various ticket games and ended up with 557 tickets. We also played a game of air hockey. I think the "boy child" thought he was going to beat me but I won by a score of 7 to 5. I think he was a bit amazed to see how well I can play Centipede. Sometimes I think he believes I know nothing about video games.

I let him choose dinner tonight so we will be having Hamburgers. I plan on making HM Steak Fries and will probably have cucumbers on the side.

The visiting nurse will be there for Samantha at 6 pm so we will arrive at their mother's between 5:30 and 5:45. Once the nurse is done, we will head back home or head to pick up Shawn.

An interesting Election video

2008-09-11T19:34:00.003-04:00

*Video temporarily taken out.

For those that know me & my family, pay close attention to the voter that gets "poked in the rear".

September 11th.... A Day We Will Never Forget

2008-09-11T10:16:00.002-04:00

A good starter

2008-09-10T09:09:00.002-04:00

I was reading another blog via Google reader and the author had posted a dip that they make using cream cheese and sweet & spicy salsa. It reminded me of this dip that I made for Christmas dinner. This is two bricks of cream cheese, 1 can of baby shrimp (drained) and cocktail sauce. It went over pretty well.

New Job Update

2008-09-09T19:50:00.002-04:00

Well, it's only a small update. I am currently waiting for one agency to find out from another agency if I'm eligible. If this works out I will be a very happy camper. For those that want to know more, e-mail me. I will only give out more information that way right now.

A puzzle, flowers and two bottles

2008-09-08T07:35:00.002-04:00

I know, interesting post title. It was the best I could come up with for this collection of pictures.

We finally finished the puzzle that we started at the beginning of August when Nicholas was here on vacation. It will sit on the table completed until this Friday so he can see that it's complete. Then into the box and the donation pile it will go.
Shawn picked up this bottle while I was in another store. He was looking for a vase but wasn't impressed with their selection. This bottle has a cork topper but we will only be using it as a vase.
The reason we got the above bottle. Shawn bought me flowers while we out running our errands. I had mentioned to Shawn that I wanted a bottle like the ones below for my olive oil. We found these at a local dollar store although the price was $1.25 each. I picked up one of each design because......

I'm using one for my vegetable oil and one for my EVOO. The left bottle is vegetable oil and the right bottle is EVOO. I think they will come in very handy soon as I'm going to be teaching my neighbor how to cook. Oh, I might have the possibility of another job. I'll keep ya'll posted.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

2008-09-05T09:26:00.002-04:00

I should be back in bed trying to get a few more hours sleep but it's not going to happen. Shawn & I got up at 4:15 am. We got him to his co-worker's house and then I headed to his ex's house. Today was a test run for my new "job" starting next week. I will be helping out by getting the kids on the bus.

Shawn fixed dinner last night as he was home first. We had chicken nuggets, stuffing and green beans.

Getting ready for some early mornings

2008-09-02T20:48:00.002-04:00

No picture of dinner tonight. It was simple. "Shake & Bake" pork chops and zucchini & summer squash sauteed together.

I was approached on Thursday by the kids' mother about helping her with getting the kids on the bus once she starts back to work. Samantha is scheduled for the bus at 7:10 and Nicholas at 7:50. Their mother has to leave by 6:30 for her revised schedule at her job. Shawn was able to work out a deal with someone at his job to meet up with them for a ride to work. That means though that I will be at his ex's house about 5:30. Shawn talked with her this evening to see if that was ok with her. She stated that it was ok. We will be doing a test run of everything on Friday and I will start on Tuesday.

I already told Shawn that I'm going to premake an easy breakfast (i.e. egg sandwich or set up oatmeal) the night before so that I can have something to eat. I do know I'll be taking my sweet tea with me.

For Crystal

2008-08-31T19:59:00.003-04:00

These are for Crystal since she reprimanded me for my large bar pan.

These are my rectangle flat stone and my square baker.

Well, history will be made this November....

2008-08-29T12:46:00.002-04:00

We will either have the first African American President or the first female Vice President. I normally wouldn't blog about politics but this caught my attention. I am a registered Republican although I have voted Democrat at times. Both Shawn and I voted on the Democratic ticket in the Primary in order to vote uncommited so as to keep a vote from Clinton.

I'm going to have to research some more on Governor Palin. So far I think that she may help Sen. McCain win over some of the female voters. I'm interested in hearing what Shawn thinks of Gov. Palin.

All I can say is this is sure going to be one interesting election.

I did it!

2008-08-29T09:14:00.004-04:00

The HM steak fries came out awesome. Shawn was raving that they were perfect.

This is the cut up potatoes before I drizzled them with oil.
Close up after drizzled with oil and sprinkled with Seasoned Salt.Cooked them about 30-35 minutes at 400 degrees. This is just after coming out of the oven.
JUST YUMMY LOOKING!
Dinner plated. This is Shawn's plate.

Something's Fishy.......

2008-08-28T17:17:00.001-04:00

and it would be dinner. We'll be having breaded fish fillets for dinner tonight. I'm thinking about trying to make some HM steak fries. We'll definitely have mac & cheese but not sure on the rest yet. I'll take pictures when trying to make the fries and will post how they turned out.

Dinner & Pictures

2008-08-26T21:01:00.002-04:00

This was tonight's dinner. I took a steak I got on special and sliced it up. Cooked it up with some garlic, HM beef gravy and l/o green beans. Served it over rice. Side was sauteed zucchini, summer squash and onions.
This is the photo display we currently have in the bathroom. They are pictures that I have taken at the various amusement parks we have been to. The string of things in the corner is our "eye spys" and photo keychains we have collected over the years. My sister joked that she had plenty to look at if she had to be in there for some time.

Lunner anyone?

2008-08-25T08:45:00.003-04:00

We had lunner yesterday. It was either a late lunch or early dinner depending on which way you look at it. We had Baked chicken breasts with Frankenmuth Seasoning, Smashed bacon potatoes, broccoli and whomp biscuits. Samantha and I had Root Beer popsicles for dessert and the boys had Fudge Ripple ice cream.

Tonight's dinner will be boiled dinner. We picked up some cabbage at a decent price the other day. I'll add onions, carrots, celery, potatoes and smoked sausage. I need to finish up the split pea soup I made in the slow cooker the other day.

Sammi Miami & Skunk Face

2008-08-24T12:06:00.004-04:00

Well, Samantha (Sammi Miami) got to see Chocolate (Skunk Face) for the first time in about 6 weeks. We brought her to our place last night and will be returning her and Nicholas to their Mother this evening. I took some pictures last night of "little mama" and her "baby boy" but haven't gotten them uploaded yet. I will edit this post once I have them on the computer.

One park in two states

2008-08-21T21:05:00.004-04:00

Our featured park today is Carowinds. I grew up with this park, literally. It was started in the year that I was born. The reason for the title is that this is the only amusement park I know of that is in two states. It's address is in North Carolina but you enter the parking lot in South Carolina. I will explain more about the two states thing with the last picture.

One of the wooden roller coasters at the park. It was a fun little ride.
The far end of Hurler as you approach it.
Carolina Cyclone is a steel coaster with two loops, a double corkscrew and a helix. Pretty simple design but quite fun.
Vortex is a stand up roller coaster. I've only ridden one stand up and that is Mantis at Cedar Point. I think I'll keep it that way.
Now for the two state explanation. This signpost is just inside the Main Entrance. The brick "line" that I'm standing on and the sign post is on is the "state line". If I recall correctly, from this view, North Carolina is on the left and South Carolina is on the right. I have a picture from 2006 when we took the kids that has Nicholas standing right in front of the sign post with it splitting him in half. He wanted to be able to say that he had been in two places at once.

New Picture

2008-08-20T07:41:00.005-04:00

I decided I wanted to change the picture in my title bar. The new picture is of the ride Calypso at Cedar Point taken on Opening Day 2008. Shawn was off riding Blue Streak so I decided to experiment with my camera. The above picture was taken with my flash off and the ride was about 1/2 speed. I've decided I'm going to put a few of my "interesting" pictures in this post. If you click on a picture it should bring it up larger.

The picture below is the same ride but at full speed. It probably would be clearer if I had used a tripod but I don't feel like dragging one to the park.
This is Corkscrew (1st roller coaster to take you upside down 3 times, twice over the midway). Corkscrew made it's debut in 1976. Power Tower is in the near background. Top Thrill Dragster can be seen through the corkscrew of Corkscrew. I call this picture "Ghost Train". This is the teardrop loop on Mantis (stand up coaster). The train enters the loop from the right and exits the left. The "ghost train" is the blur that you see going around the loop. I thought the title was appropriate since this picture was taken during Halloweekends. The lift hill for Mantis is the first thing you see through the loop. The structures for Iron Dragon (suspended roller coaster) and Top Thrill Dragster are in the background.

I did manipulate this picture on my computer some. I played with the color. This was taken July 4, 2007. It's of Gemini's twin trains cresting the lift hill. What I love about how this picture turned out is the trains switched colors. In the original picture, the closest train would be blue and the furthest one would be red. I had this as my desktop background for the longest time. I currently have the pic I have in the title bar.
This is the Gemini station. It's empty because Shawn & I were the only ones up there other than the Gemini crew. We had just gotten up to the platform when it started pouring rain. We decided to wait it out on the platform to stay dry. We were there 30-45 minutes. We had some interesting conversation with the crew though. They got a giggle on Closing Day when we showed up just before the park closed and waited on the platform to ride the final train of the Season. This was fun. Maybe I'll do it with some of the other parks we've been to.

Tired Tuesday

2008-08-19T14:43:00.002-04:00

Well, I was not a happy camper when the alarm went off at 5 am today. I got out of bed though and got changed to take Shawn to work. I let him drive as I needed to still finish waking up. As Shawn was getting out of the car at work he realized he didn't have his work radio with them. I found out from him where he'd be working today. I then drove home and got his radio. Stopped at Target to put some minutes on his cell phone and then went searching for him. I had a 2 square mile area that I had to look in. Luckily, I know his truck number so I don't have to stop and look at the driver as all the trash and yard waste trucks are "grab arm" trucks where the driver doesn't have to get out if it's just the curbie cart. I found the trash truck, then the recycle truck and then Shawn. He does yard waste during Compost season. I told him there were minutes on his phone, gave him his radio and a 20 oz Coke bottle filled with sweet tea. I figured he could use it. I have to giggle at him sometimes. He was born and raised in the Metro Detroit area but he gets upset if I don't have sweet tea made. When we first met he thought it was too sweet. Now he orders it if he has it as an option and has become somewhat of a sweet tea snob. I'm somewhat the same though. I usually won't order sweet tea north of Kentucky although I did find a Big Boy in Ohio that was pretty good.

Went to my appointment at noon and then headed to Wal-Mart Supercenter. I'm upset with them right now as they had a box of 100 tea bags for 96 cents as recently as a month ago. I bought two boxes at that time. I use 8 tea bags for a 3 quart pitcher. When I went to buy more today I couldn't find them. Picked up the rest of my list and got two things not on my list. They had fresh corn 8/$2 and fresh green beans for 77 cents/lb.

Now I'm debating what I want to make for dinner. I was originally thinking tacos & burritos. Now I'm thinking I might take some pork chops out of the freezer and have them with salad, corn on the cob and some other side. Decisions, decisions. I think it will depend on what time Shawn gets off work as I have to go pick him up.

Monday, Monday

2008-08-18T18:30:00.002-04:00

Well, I've been putzing around today. I've done 3 loads of laundry (except for putting up), cycled the dishwasher, made 3 gallons of sweet tea, organized some of the kitchen cabinets, made the bed and figured out what's for dinner. I still need to run the vacuum cleaner. I need to get bedding and pellets for the guinea pigs. If I get it tonight, I might change out their cage. I think I'm going to wait until tomorrow though as I'll be getting up with Shawn and taking him to work so that I will have the vehicle as I have an appointment tomorrow at Noon. It's going to be a long day. Shawn gets up at 5 am as he works in the next county over and starts at 6 am.

Still Waiting....

2008-08-15T16:02:00.003-04:00

Well, they towed the van to the collision shop on Wednesday. We went yesterday and signed the paperwork they needed. They told us it would be at least a few days before they knew anything.

I'm debating about going to Urgent Care or the ER. I'm a little sore in my right shoulder area and it sometimes feels like it's going up my neck some. I'm going to see how I feel when Shawn gets home. I don't work again until Sunday so maybe I'll see how I'm feeling.

Dinner tonight is going to be simple. Spaghetti with meat sauce, broccoli and french loaf.

I need to get back to the housework as everything that was in the van is now in the front room. There had been extra stuff in there as Shawn had put everything from the Aztek in it when we took Nicholas to Canada's Wonderland.

Ready to cry UPDATE with pictures

2008-08-12T20:37:00.003-04:00

UPDATE: 8-13-08

One small boo boo and one big boo boo.

The picture below is of my left leg just below the knee. The "circle" in approximately the middle of the picture is my boo boo from the accident. Basically I got dry skin scraped off.

Now for the big boo boo. This is what my "baby" looks like. I missed the phone call from the collision shop taking these pictures. I took from all sides but am only including two pictures on here.

Well, my "baby" decided she wanted to see what the tail end of a Dodge Dakota 4x4 truck tasted like. Her front end looks a mess right now. Both headlights are smashed, hood is folded and radiator is pushed in. Airbags never went off but FIL thinks that may be due to the fact that my bumper probably went under the truck. I did drive it home but we are waiting for a call back from the collision shop that the insurance company suggested. I was in no shape to take pictures today but I will try to get some tomorrow.

Last night's dinner, puzzle pain and a Mayoral Mess

2008-08-12T08:59:00.004-04:00

This was last night's dinner. BBQ Chicken leg quarters, zucchini, summer squash and onions sauteed together and "whomp" biscuits. I had made enough for Shawn to take some for lunch today but he walked out the door this morning leaving it in the fridge. We have been working on this puzzle for over a week now. Nicholas wanted to put it together while he was here on vacation. We started it the evening of Saturday the 2nd. I have one piece in the upper left that is becoming my nemisis.
Lastly, for those who don't know I'm in the Metro Detroit area. Right now on the local stations they are showing the hearing on whether or not Detroit's Mayor violated his bond on his latest charge. I believe that Kwame Kilpatrick should step down from office. There are some that say that those who live in the suburbs have no say in what happens in the city. This situation though is affecting not just the city of Detroit but the surrounding area including the entire state of Michigan. I believe he is causing this area to have a huge "black eye". This all stems from an alleged party at the Manoogian Mansion (Mayoral residence) in 2002. This is just my two cents.

All "Quiet" on the home front

2008-08-10T21:13:00.003-04:00

Well, we are back to being pretty "quiet" around here. Shawn's vacation ended today so we took Nicholas back to his mother tonight. We did get to spend some time with Samantha when we got there. Although I like the quiet at times, I miss the kids when they are not here.

We did have a little incident here though with Nicholas. I was giving him a facial mask to try to help with his skin. As I was putting on the mask, I thought something looked weird. When I went to take the mask off, I figured out what was wrong. He was missing part of his eyebrows. He had worn a rolled up bandana around his head covering his eyebrows starting with when we picked him up for vacation. When asked about it, he told me that he did it on a whim at his mother's house. He pulled them out with his fingers. According to our neighbor, they should grow back in somewhat fast. We are just hoping that he didn't pull hard enough to cause damage. If he caused damage, his eyebrows could grow in "freckled".

Food Question

2008-08-07T09:45:00.002-04:00

Ok, I have a question. How do you make Macaroni Salad? Shawn & I have differing views on what goes in it. Shawn thinks elbows, peas, tuna and Miracle Whip. I think pasta (usually elbows), peas, onion, cut up pickles, Miracle Whip and sometimes cubed cheese and hard boiled eggs.

This subject came up because we are meeting up with Nicholas' best friends family today at Stony Creek Metro Park . We're planning on having a cookout and are sharing the responsibility of the food. Shawn decided HE wanted Macaroni Salad. He said that he was going to make it. Well, he slept in this morning, so I made it. I did it my way and he says that I did it wrong. Maybe it's a Northern/Southern thing.

What do you think?

WHO are you?

2008-08-06T15:29:00.005-04:00

Well, on Tuesday, Shawn and I both made it on the top 10 list for a midday radio show that Shawn usually listens to. They mentioned that there was supposedly a Sunday Night Football cookbook coming out. They wanted other recipes for the cookbook. Keep in mind that this is a sports station. Shawn came in at #10 and I came in at #8. They were doing a random drawing to win two tickets to see The Who in October at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Guess WHO won? We don't know which entry won but we're going to see The Who on October 21st.

Here's the link to the list if you want to see our entries:
http://www.971theticket.com/pages/1179770.php

or here's the list:

Other recipes for the Sunday Night Football cook book...
10) Deacon Jones' recipe for the cookbook was rejected because it only had one ingrediant: 1 quart of vodka. J-S Flying Robot---Belle Isle
9) Mike Williams how to put a buffet together. Craig---Madison
8) Reggie Bush: Rump Roast. Mrs. Karsch's Garbage Man---The Kitchen Cooking Southern Food
7) Ricky Williams' Pot Roast. Bill---New Hudson
6) Fernando Rodney's Artichoke Dip. Lawson---Novi
5) Mike Tyson could tell you how to cook the children and heart of Lennox Lewis. Cruz---Your Mom's House
4) Ron Artest's Crazy Bread. Dan---NYC
3) Rebecca Lobo could make some killer Horseradish. Adam---Work
2) Joe Tiller's "What's In My Mouth" Casserole Surprise. BeadGrl---Farmington Hills
1) Roger Clemens' Non-Alcoholic Party Platter: Virgin Mary..or Cindy or Jessica. Darrell---Selfridge

Update..... with pics

2008-08-04T16:39:00.005-04:00

This is the lift hill for Wild Beast. If I recall correctly, it's the tallest wooden roller coaster in Canada.
This is an inverted coaster (ski-lift style seats). My guys waited almost 2 hours to ride this. It got a new name this year due to not being able to use the Paramount movie names anymore. It used to be called Top Gun.
My "boys" walking into the Time Warp roller coaster. This roller coaster does not have a traditional lift hill. The spiral lift hill is in the background of the pic.
My guys on Time Warp. They are on the right hand side of the car when you're looking at it. I didn't do much due to my sunburn that I got on Saturday.
Waiting in line for Behemoth (tallest steel coaster in Canada). It just opened this year. It is just over 200 ft tall which seems small in comparison to some of the coasters we have in the USA.

I found this in Wal-Mart and couldn't stop laughing. I told Shawn that nobody would believe me without a picture.
Everything in Canada has two languages on it. This was one of the ketchup packets that we got with our onion rings.
Waffle & Ice Cream Sandwich. Shawn said they used to sell these at Cedar Point. He was somewhat disappointed with Canada's Wonderland's offering.
This was in the bathroom in the rest area on the 401.
My guys heading out on Wild Beast.

I have more pictures and some video. I'll probably post a link to my Photobucket when I get them uploaded there.

Back in the USA

2008-08-04T10:31:00.003-04:00

I'm in the process of getting the pictures on the computer. We crossed the border into Canada about 5 am on Sunday morning and crossed back into the USA just before 2 am Monday morning. We got home about 3 am and unloaded kid and vehicle. Both guys are still sleeping. I have no idea why I'm awake. Nicholas enjoyed himself. I think he rode almost every coaster there. We did get to watch a Security guard jump the fence while we were eating lunch and flush out a group of kids that were in the trees smoking something they shouldn't be.

I'll update once I have pics ready.

TGIF!

2008-08-01T18:19:00.004-04:00

Well, I'm awaiting my husband's arrival home. He will be on vacation once he leaves work today. I will be working next week but will have time off to spend with Shawn & Nicholas. We have a busy weekend planned.

Saturday:

Pick up Nicholas at 11 am

Head to Red Oaks to meet up with my BF & her family. Her daughter (my "niece") wanted to go there for her birthday gathering.

After Red Oaks we will head back to BF's house for a cookout.

Leave either late Saturday night or early Sunday morning for Canada

Sunday:

Visit Canada's Wonderland . Shawn & I went in June but this will be Nicholas' first visit to the park. The picture at the top of the post is from our trip on June 1st.I can't wait to take him on Vortex. I know Shawn is ready to take him on Behemoth.

I don't know yet if we're going to stay over Sunday and visit Toronto on Monday.

I called Customs & Border Patrol this morning to find out if Nicholas needed a photo ID to cross the border. We only need his birth certificate although Shawn & I need both photo ID and birth certificate.

I'm doing something with steak tonight although I have no clue what yet.

My Sweet Husband

2008-07-31T08:59:00.002-04:00

Samantha had a follow up appointment with the surgeon yesterday morning. They took off her bags and 2 of her 3 tubes. Hopefully at the next visit in two weeks she will have the last one removed. Both Shawn & ex practiced with the catheters. I stayed off to the side as someone wasn't happy I was in the room. I originally was going to stay out as I was told the rooms were very small. When I mentioned to the staff that I was going to stay out, I was told there was enough room for all of us. It was stressful but I think it went well.

When we got home from the appointment, Shawn talked to his boss on the radio and was told they didn't have a truck for him. Therefore, he didn't have to go to work. He then decided that we would pack some food and our swimsuits. We then headed to Sandusky. We spent about an hour at Soak City and then went into Cedar Point. It was a good stress relief for both of us.

We both go back to work today. Shawn is already at work and I work 3-7. We might have a friend from Ohio up to visit for a few days.

Pancakes & Sausage

2008-07-29T08:28:00.002-04:00

That's what I'm currently eating for breakfast. I thought for sure I would get up to find that Shawn had taken it with him to work. It's leftovers from dinner last night. I had planned on sausage, eggs and toast. Shawn decided he wanted pancakes too. Well, he got what he wanted. I had just sausage and eggs last night. I made up a container though with 3 pancakes and 4 sausage links and that's what I'm eating.

I'm a little more "perky" today. I heard Shawn get up this morning but I didn't get out of bed. I was comfy cozy.

Working today 3-7. We'll see how that goes. I was only scheduled 3-7 yesterday. I had been out running errands and got done faster than I thought. Therefore, I headed to work rather than home as I was closer to work. I arrived about 1:35. I went and put my bag away and was getting ready to go check out some things in the store when I got asked about covering the studio. The way my manager asked was not the best way so I didn't understand what she wanted at first. When I hesitated, she blew up at me. I kept my calm, especially since this was right in front of the trainer. I basically asked her, "What do you want me to do"? Turns out the manager wanted to go home (scheduled 10-7), the trainer had a "splitting headache" and wanted to go back to the hotel room and the other associate was going to take the manager's hours but needed to get something to eat. If it had all been explained to me like that, I would have not hesitated.

Exhausted

2008-07-28T08:06:00.002-04:00

That's how I felt yesterday when I got home. Original schedule was 2-6. On Saturday I got told 10-7. I worked 10-8 taking maybe 15 minutes to scarf down my leftovers from dinner out the night before. I got home about 8:30 to Shawn jokingly saying "You remembered where you live". He had been expecting me to get off at 7:00 and I didn't have the time to call him and tell him it would be later. He made battered fish filets, mac & cheese w/tuna, mixed veggies for dinner. I was in bed just after 10. I did wake up shortly before Shawn left around 5:30 but then I crawled back in bed. The alarm went off at 7 so I've been up just over an hour.

Quick Check-In

2008-07-26T23:07:00.003-04:00

Just checking in real quick. Originally I was scheduled 2-6 for Saturday and Sunday. Saturday I ended up working 9-6:30. Sunday I am now scheduled 10-7.

One good thing about this evening was I didn't have to cook. Shawn, Nicholas & I went to BD's Mongolian Barbecue for dinner. Shawn & I have been there numerous times (we had our first date there) but it was Nicholas' first time.

Dinner and training

2008-07-24T09:13:00.005-04:00

This was last night's dinner. I cooked up some frozen hamburgers and then cut them up. I heated them up with a family size can of cream of mushroom soup and served over rice with peas on the side.

Today starts digital training at my job. I'm interested in seeing what our camera room looks like with the table missing. I'm nervous about going digital since I'm worked with our film system for the past 7 1/2 years. Training is from 3-7 today and 1-9 tomorrow.

Also, Samantha is having some complications from her surgery and therefore will have to be in a certain position for several months on a specialty mattress. Due to that fact, we will not be able to bring her to our home. We will be having to make visits with her at Shawn's ex's residence.

Shawn just called me and told me I don't have to plan a dinner tonight. His work is having their Safety Barbecue today. He plans on waddling in the door tonight. Therefore, we are doing YOYO for tonight.

1930's Housewife

2008-07-23T20:19:00.001-04:00

I saw this on Crystal's blog and then Julieann's and decided to take it. Here are my results:

As a 1930s wife, I am
Very Superior

http://www.magatsu.net/maritaltest/">Take the test!

Last night's dinner

2008-07-23T15:58:00.003-04:00

We had salisbury steak, green beans and garlic & herb rice.

New title picture

2008-07-23T09:27:00.003-04:00

Well, I got my new picture up. I just took it this morning. I'm sitting in my computer chair. I need to get my butt out of the chair and get some housework done. I rearranged the kitchen yesterday and think I'm attacking the kids' room today. I also need to stop by the complex office and put in another maintenance request for our door. The paint on it had started bubbling and coming off in the winter. I informed the maintenance manager of it when it started. She stated that it would have to wait until the weather got warmer. I understood that. I guess nobody had made an acutal note of it because it never got done. I submitted a request earlier this month and they came and painted it. I think a better job could have been done on it. I need to take pictures before I go to the office. I do have pictures from when it first started "bubbling". I think the part that is bugging me the most about it is that they only scraped a small section and then painted the bare section. It is a very visible area when you are approaching our door. Also, they chose to paint the door with it closed even though I was home. Therefore, we have a border of the old paint around the entire door.

Well, talked to the office and they have told me that as long as the door keeps the heat/cold/rain out and isn't busted down that it is fine painted the way it is.

First post on a blog made some time ago

2008-07-22T22:22:00.000-04:00

Well, I have decided I'm going to do my best to keep up a blog. I am going to try to post at least once a day although it might be every other day to start. I don't expect there to be any rhyme or reason to what I post.

I do know that I need to take another picture of myself tomorrow. I'm not that crazy about the one I have at the top of the blog right now. It's a self portrait from our former neighbors' wedding on NYE 2006.