Well that was a chore

I got to thinking today that I had not written anything in seven months and people may begin to think that there is nothing on my mind. So I took a moment to scroll through some of my older posts. Much to my dismay many of them no longer had any pictures. I realized of coarse that they had been linked to my msn spaces and that is no longer in existence. Consequently I just spent the last couple of hours pulling up each entry on writer to delete the box with an X in it and replace it with a picture linked back to my photo bucket albums. Oh and did i mention searching through my photos on my computer to upload the ones that were not on photo bucket yet? Having finally finished all of that I completely forgot what I was going to say in the first place.

Spring Fever

So, Earth Day was last Wednesday and I celebrated it by laying in bed with a migraine and sleeping with the TV on. Not really the best way to help the planet. So yesterday after work I felt all inspired to do something.

We have had this three tier corner thing sitting next to our front porch for about a year now with Jeremy’s chives and a few empty pots. I really wanted to get a few more pots and some flowers to put on it. I thought it would be pretty and then that thing would look on purpose and not like we just had nowhere else to put it.

By the time I had all the pots in place Julian had brought my big blue pot from the back yard for me and put it on the corner of the porch. I stood there admiring my work and feeling like something was missing. I needed something to hang from the two hooks that I had taken the jack-o-lanterns off of. While that was still bothering me I went to get my wind chime to hang in the upper part of the V posts. While I was setting up the ladder I hung it on the hook so I could use two hand and Ashton said that he liked it there. Well that decided it for me and I went back to get my other chimes. I did end up having one to hang in the V.

While Jeremy and I were shopping for the flowers and pots he came across some perennials that he really liked and we decided to get them and plant them in front of the corner piece. By the time I had finished the pots we had come up with a better place for them. That project would have to wait for after work today though because I was too tired to do any more. I did take a picture of the before on this one though.

That spot is so hard to mow because it is basically a hole that I am guessing was a round garden at one time.

When I got home from work today I sent Jeremy to the store to get some weed block to roll out in what would be our new garden and while he did that I mowed the lawn. Then if you’ll notice there are two bricks that are a little more curved than the others so I dropped them in the driveway to break them if half. (That was kind of fun.) Anyway he finally got home and I let him remove the grass. We used it to fill some holes in the back yard. I did the stuff closest to the rose while Jeremy rested. When we were ready to put the dirt in we discovered that he had accidentally grabbed the bags of bark. So back to the store to return the two unopened bags and get soil. Well he got a couple more plants while he was there.

I am quite happy with the end result. We had a lot of weed block, one bag of soil and half a bag of bark left so I went with my new theory of, “If it’s hard to mow it’s got to go.”

Ok, so it is not real pretty just yet. the roots of this tree are the worst for mowing over and now I wont have to. I will post a new blog when this project gets completed. Except for the two broken bricks this really doesn’t look bad from a distance.

My OCD Moment

Well it started with a rather frustrating day at work last Saturday. Or maybe it really began the night before when I could not get to sleep and did everything in my power to not start organizing my closet. I woke up tired and by the time I got off work I just wanted to feel better and found myself doing something I have never done before. I shopped for new clothes. (yes I have shopped for clothes before just not as a way to make myself feel better) When I got home I went into the bedroom to put away my new clothes and was again struck by the sudden compulsion to reorganize my closet. (I was tripping over my shoes again) So I started out by putting a load of laundry on and kicking the rest into the hallway. I threw everything from my closet onto my bed and then spent like a half and hour or so vacuuming the floor. You’ll notice in the pictures that we are not talking about a lot of floor here. Fortunately Melaina was too busy with Niki to make fun of me for this. By the time I got all the laundry done everything was put where I wanted it. You may think this is the end. You would be wrong. I followed all of this with pictures to send to my Mom and Sister. What follows is the email I sent them. 

Left to right: pj's for tonight, corduroy, denim, other pj's. Top drawer: two slips, my old tummy sucker (just in case), six bra's (yes I got new ones) and panties. Middle drawer: light socks, medium socks and dark socks across the back and tights and pantyhose in front. Bottom drawer: all my sandals and flip flops. Every shoe in it's place

 

look nothing to trip over

 

ok left to right: 3/4 sleeve shirts that look like two layers, short sleeve look like two layers, long sleeve blouses, 3/4 sleeve blouses, short sleeve blouses, short sleeve knits with collar, sleeveless blouses, sleeveless knits with collar, 3/4 sleeve top w/out collar, short sleeve w/out collar, long sleeve knits, 3/4 sleeve knits, short sleeve knits (aka T-shirts), sleeveless, empty hangers, casual slacks on fold over pants hanger, city shorts, Capri's, slacks, knee length skirts, long skirts, dresses and scarves. Robe on hook. Shelf left to right: blankets, sheets and pillow cases, winter hats, snow sweaters (likely to go away cause they're from the 80's), two stacks of assorted sweater with two active wear outfits on bottom of right stack.

 

  Left to right: new top and shoes, new top and shorts, new top and pants, new top

 

Ultimately this was more of a day than a moment but hey I have clothes for spring and summer and my closet is clean. The end result is much better than if I had eaten junk food to feel better.

My bed is not a litter box!!!

Well I had the pleasant surprise when I crawled into bed last night of finding that yet again one of the cats urinated on my bed. I have tried so many different products to eliminate both the smell and the problem. I can’t exactly keep the door closed because I can’t get Cougar to come out from under the bed and I don’t want her trapped in my room. Plus when the heater comes on I get cooked. I had a product that took out the stain and the odor but after it ran out the can got thrown out and I don’t remember what it was. So, I used this pet odor stuff last night and then had to use the hair drier on it before I could put clean sheets on. Then today I was looking under my sink in the kitchen and found that I have smoke odor eliminator. It is a zep product and is commercial grade. I had bought it for use in my car. Anyway I read the can and it says quickly eliminates odors caused by cigars, cigarettes, Body waste, garbage, animals and fire damage. So I stripped my bed and sprayed the mattress. I really hope this works. There is nothing worse than thinking you have cleaned something and then waking to find that your body heat has reactivated the smell. Cat piss is NOT a pleasant smell to wake up to. I love my animals but once again I find myself asking … Why do I have five cats?

            Cougar                                      Sirus Black       

          Moon Shadow                               Wicket

                     Beef

         (the primary suspect)

Hey this does work with windows live writer

I really like using windows live writer and therefore have been reluctant to change the way I blog. Turns out that I can use writer and post to this blog without the copy and paste technique that I have been using for so long and will likely not continue to use windows live spaces. None of my friends are on it anyway. I find that I have little to no interest in myspace anymore but I still have a couple of friends who have yet to convert to facebook so for them I guess I will still paste my blog there. Now I just need to see if there is a way to transfer my archives to this site. Ah the challenges of technology.

Hair Color

I was in Safeway today and happened to be passing the hair color section. I stopped to see what kind of selection they had. I have been considering dying my hair for a while now and Jeremy said he would like it if I went blonde. I knew I wanted a subtle change so I chose Clarol Hydrience #16 Dark Blonde. Ok, talk about subtle. It is essentially the same color I had before minus what Julian so kindly referred to as my “platinum blonde” hairs and slightly lighter underneath where my hair always gets extremely dark in the winter. It did bring out a bit more of the red highlights which I like.  Over all I am not unhappy with it.

before after

SNAP-Ed Connection: Recipes Finder

My cousin Carrina wrote about this website in her blog and I thought I would pass it on to all of you:

My cheap and oh-so-good noodle bowl got me thinking. A couple of years ago, I discovered the USDA's online recipe-finder tool (http://recipefinder.nal.usda.gov/). It features a sizeable database of easy, generally healthy, and very economical recipes. Each recipe has been analyzed for cost and nutritional content. Many of the recipes are submitted by nutritionists who are trying to get people to eat healthily while using food stamps. This makes it a great place to go to find basic, bare-bones recipes that cost between 30 and 90 cents a person (some more). Then, if you decide that you want to splurge on kale or use leftover green onions, you can do that - but in most cases, you don't have to go out and buy something crazy just because it holds the recipe together. And, the database is incredibly searchable, since it's partly intended for social workers to use to get their nutrition messages across.

Here are just a few of the many ways you can search:

-Nutrition Education Topic (Calcium-Rich Food; Whole Grains; Less Saturated Fat, Trans Fat and Cholesterol)

-Theme (Ready in 30 Minutes Or Less, Food Resource Management)

-Menu Items (self-explanatory)

-Ingredients

-Ratings

-Audience (Parents of young children, Middle Eastern, Southern, Vegetarian)

-Cooking Equipment (Microwave, Wok, No Cooking Required, Stovetop/Hot Plate)

-And: recipe cost! Yes, you can actually specify that your search results cost less than a certain amount per serving and/or recipe.

There are even official-looking Nutrition Facts with each recipe, as well as a shopping list feature (you can browse through recipes, click "Add to shopping list" when one looks good, and then view your list to see what you'll need).

In honor of our crappy economy, I've decided to start using this website a lot more. It's such a great tool! In fact, I may try to cook things from it every day this week. I'll let you know how they turn out.
So, tonight we're having Spaghetti With Lentils, which is kind of cheating because it's the first recipe I ever used off of this site when I first discovered it.

Posted by Carrina

Thank you Carrina for letting me repost part of your blog in my own.

SNAP-Ed Connection: Recipes Finder

About Face

I have been thinking about wearing makeup more regularly and have even talked a bit with my friend Jane about it. There are a combination of reasons for this train of thought. First off I have put a lot of work into updating my wardrobe. Finding comfortable business casual clothing that fits well, is age appropriate and figure flattering. What better way to finish off my new look than with nice subtle makeup? Next reason being that I am currently unhappy with the way my skin looks. I am noticing that the closer I get to forty the more my carelessness during my younger years in the sun is starting to show. Lastly, my Hunny bunny likes it. The main thing holding me back is what will it do to my sensitive skin and what will I use to take it off? Those are actually rhetorical questions. I knew the answers I just had done nothing about it yet. I've been stalling. Partly because I have very little experience with cosmetics. I wasn't really sure where to start. Or that is what I told myself every time I found myself looking at the makeup in the grocery store when I went to pick up milk or Walmart when I was getting TP and kitty litter. So, all this stalling left me borrowing Melaina's makeup when I decided to wear makeup to my Grandpa's birthday party on Saturday. Not good. After only four hours I had developed one of those very painful, very deep, very large blemishes on my cheek. As a result I had to part my hair to the opposite side in order to hide it for that last couple of days. No more stalling. Time to make a plan and take some action. Step one get my skin healthy. I called Heather and asked her to help me get resigned up with Arbonne International. I considered just ordering from her but I like getting a discount and being able to sell it to my friends if they want it. Arbonne is the one thing I know I can trust to use on my face. I am so excited to get my skin feeling and looking good again.

Step 1

Catching Up

Well I haven't written in a long time. (almost three months) So here are the highlights.

November: Jeremy was working and Julian was healing well. We went to my Moms for thanksgiving and I got to have Friday off so I was able to help them get their Christmas decorations up and Grandma let me decorate her apartment too. Melaina didn't get to be in the thanksgiving parade but she saw her friends on TV. I was training in the Cash office at work and still getting a lot of hours.

December: We decorated our house in blue silver and white Christmas decorations. Jeremy got December pretty much off because his contract ended and that meant nothing until after the holidays. Julian got his boot off right before the snow. We all had fun building a snow slide and snow forts out of the snow I shoveled off the driveway. Our friends flew in from Kansas to visit with his family and us for the holidays. Christmas was fun. I worked a short shift in the morning on Christmas eve and when I got home we celebrated with the kids. They went to there Dads house for Christmas day and Jeremy and I just stayed home and had a nice quiet day. The Saturday after Christmas the snow was finally melting and we went to celebrate Christmas with Julian's family. It was at Sherry's house and her street was still deep with slush. The next day (my birthday) we finally made it down to my moms to celebrate Christmas and birthdays. It was a lot of fun.

January: Jeremy and I had our nine year anniversary. I have gotten quite good at the cash office and Jeremy started his second week of his new job today. This is a long call so that gives me some hope. Travis and Deb (the friends who came to visit) decided to stay and are actually staying with us for three months. Travis had his first day of work the same day as Jeremy. After his three months of training he will be a maintenance supervisor at an apartment complex in Kent and they will get an apartment then. My hours have been cut back. (normal for retail after the holidays) I had my six month review day before yesterday and I did well. I got a raise. I expect to do better at my one year. I have very high expectations for myself.

So, there you have it. Life is busy but Life is GOOD.

Always willing to try something new

Well my sweet cousin is using blogger so I thought since I had to create a profile in order to follow her blog I would try it out and see if I like it better than my current blogging tool. We'll see.