The way I see it

started a new blog

2008-06-30T21:16:00.002-04:00

I started a new blog so I won't be updating this one anymore.
The new blog is The Enchanted Hovel.

Feast One Hundred and Ninety Five

2008-06-27T21:44:00.004-04:00

Appetizer

What is the weather like today where you live? - it was over cast drizzly & muggy all day

Soup

On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how career-minded are you? - for my career as a housewife & lady of leisure it's a 10 LOL, for going back into the world of 9 to 5 office work it's like a 4.

Salad

What type of window coverings do you have in your home? Blinds, curtains, shutters, etc.? - curtains in all the rooms, the bedrooms also have shades.

Main Course

Name something that instantly cheers you up. - hearing one of my favorite songs on the radio.

Dessert

How many times do you hit the snooze button on a typical morning? - I'm not a snoozer; the alarm is not near my bed so I have to get up to shut & then I'm up for good.

I found Friday feast here

I have a new man in my life

2008-06-02T22:45:00.003-04:00

He is a BIG 3 year old rottweiler that we adopted today :-) We have been looking for a dog for a while now but between bad tempers, illnesses, old age, too far of a distance nothing ever worked out until now. Our application was approved last week so it has been a long wait til today, we barely slept last night. He doesn't seem to like his new bed yet, he stood on it twice & sat on it for a second but when it came to nap time he laid right on the floor. I usually have off on Tuesdays but unfortunately not tomorrow. I feel bad leaving him alone on his first full day here but since I go in a little late & hubby gets home fairly early it will only be a few hours.
We had a full day today that started with an early morning ride to get him, then paperwork, a chat about us, him, his previous owners etc. Our return trip was longer since it got a lot hotter by the time we were ready to head home, we stopped to buy him tons of stuff in the pet store, we also stopped halfway to buy some water & let him stretch his legs. Once we were home he got a tour of the house, went for 3 walks around the property, one walk off the property, he even walked through a creek without batting an eye, we had some play time in the yard. I'm off to bed since I didn't nap when him & his daddy did & I'm very very tired.

2008-05-26T11:23:00.002-04:00

Today is Memorial Day, so hang your flag proudly & remember those that gave their lives serving our country because that is what it's all about. Memorial Day is not a beach/bbq/appliance sale holiday.
On my local news this morning they mentioned that the oldest living World War I is being honored at the age of 107! God Bless him!
Also on the local news was something about baby picture etiquette. They were saying how parents email/send too many pictures of their baby to friends & relatives, how you get these cards that are just pictures of the kids/baby eating, etc - where is the rest of the family?, do we have to put them in the photo album?, no one but you cares if your baby is wearing a bowl of peas on it's head, & your baby really isn't that cute. I thought it was quite amusing. It also reminded me of hubby teasing me about a message board I used to frequent; he called it the ugly baby board because a lot of people used signatures with photos of their children.

Do you know that as of yesterday there are still 2 giant pandas missing after the earthquake in China?

I woke up extremely early today. I've changed the guest room bed, washed & hung 2 loads of laundry, put away the towels I washed yesterday (that reminds me I still have to put away my clothes), swept & Swiffered the kitchen, hall & bathroom, & straightened up the kitchen. After this post I'm going to eat some ~~dinner~~ lunch & then head outside to do some gardening & yardwork.

2008-05-20T21:06:00.003-04:00

I had a pretty productive day today, all I missed was calling my aunt & doing my nails. I went to the bank, gas station, & grocery store. I stopped in CVS too cause I just HAD to get 2 new lipsticks LOL; really I went there for a few items that were on sale & just happened to go down the make-up aisle when I finished. Came home & did some laundry, cleaned my kitchen & put my bathroom back together - still waiting for the last towel bar which is supposed to come tomorrow. The little bar we wound up putting by the sink for hand towels & the round one for the hand towel may be going into hubby's bathroom.
I stumbled across a blog post about outside clotheslines & how they imply poverty. I find this very strange. I have a dryer, an outside clothesline, & an indoor rack. I love hang drying my laundry. Everything smells & feels so nice in my opinion. I really only use the dryer in the dead of winter when I get backed up on linens.
For dinner I made pulled pork with tater tots & coleslaw. I try to make as much as I can from scratch when I cook, today it was the coleslaw & bbq sauce. Oh, & I made brownies too. Hubby wants burgers for dinner tomorrow but that's going to be too similar to what we ate tonight as far as side dishes & having 'sandwiches' again. I hate having similar stuff 2 nights in a row so I'm not sure what I'll do.
Our bird under the awning has been here for at least a week & after dinner I noticed one baby. The chipmunks are back, there are goslings here in the community - 3 families so far. I've noticed a few on one of the roads I take to work as well. Two of the young deer that were here this winter are showing antler bumps.

2008-05-13T21:39:00.004-04:00

My bathroom stuff came!! Except for the shower rod, that's coming tomorrow (so says UPS) Have I mentioned that I'm an idiot? When I ordered everything I didn't notice that the towel bar was only 18 inches. I thought the box was a little on the short size & when I pulled it out I was like wtf?? Needless to say I took it as a sign that I HAD to order the double towel bar so I did. It's so similar I don't think anyone but me will realize they aren't from the same set (& whoever reads this of course LOL) I'm thinking of putting the small bar on the back of the door or under the window; I have to get hubby to hold them up for me so I can see how they look.
I picked up a new towel set today, can't put old towels on new rods after all. Was also looking for more accessories (cup, garbage, stuff like that) but I didn't see any I liked. I also got a pair of capris, a new eye shadow & a new mascara.
Did a very little bit of grocery shopping & a load of laundry. Took my mom out for breakfast since I didn't see her on Mother's Day & we both had off today.
For dinner tonight I made baked ziti with sausage & now it's almost cookie time :-)

2008-05-12T21:35:00.003-04:00

My toilet is fixed! no more man bath for me :-)

I don't know if I'm doing a full menu plan post this week so if you want menus go to http://orgjunkie.com/category/menu-plan-monday.
All I have so far is -
Sunday: spiral ham, mashed potatoes, corn fritters (using mexicorn) & pineapple.
Monday: beef & veggie stir fry with fried rice (I made, not take-out)
The reason is because I haven't gone shopping yet & I don't know if I'm going to just use what I have in the freezer or throw in some new stuff.

I asked hubby if he wanted anything for dessert since I was craving sweets but couldn't think of anything. He said he was OK with his Oreos. Finally around 9 o'clock I made a quick batch of peanut butter cookies. I made a few of them like thumbprint cookies & blopped on some grape jelly. They were very nice with a cup of tea :-)

2008-05-11T20:29:00.003-04:00

I have a pretty cantaloupe bathroom!! Unfortunately I have no toilet; when hubby took it up so we could paint behind it he noticed some part was all rusted so he needs to replace it. Another unfortunate incident, I had to pee around 5 AM this morning. This is usually a quick stumble across the hall. Today it was putting on my glasses, trudging down the hall through the kitchen & down the stairs to use the man bath. Luckily I didn't bounce/trip/fall into anything since I didn't turn on any lights.

We haven't put up the new accessories because they are being delivered on Tuesday, most of them anyway. My new shower rod is coming in a separate order for some reason & UPS is telling me my house does not exist (this happens every time the regular guy has off) The package that came last week was a computer part for hubby.

2008-05-09T21:13:00.004-04:00

The taco salad I was planning to make last night I made tonight. While we were eating hubby asked if dinner was on my blog this week.
me: yeah, why?
hubby: what if I start putting dinner reviews on your blog?
me: I wouldn't mind but just remember if you say bad stuff I can delete it
That got us both laughing. I think it's a neat idea but hubby's computer time is mostly gaming so I don't really see him doing it.

I went back to Walmart today to see if there were any other dead discounted flowers but no luck. Then I went across the street to see if Kmart had any but they didn't either.

Tomorrow I'm working a short shift so we're going to paint my bathroom!!

P.S. For the past month or so I've been hearing this rustling under the windows between 10:30 & 11. Last night I happened to be outside when the rustler came by - it was a skunk. I just sat there & watched it til it left so it didn't get scared. Now I know to bring my camera out at night too.

2008-05-07T21:40:00.003-04:00

I think my mother jinxed me. About 2 weeks ago she told me not to buy her anything for Mother's Day. I laughed & said 'ma, I haven't listened to you for 40 years I'm not going to start now'. I went to pick up the gift I was planning last week & couldn't find it. Over the weekend I came up with another idea so I went to pick that up today. I found what I wanted but not a nice style so I didn't get that either. I did finally find something that I'm kind of eh about but I know she'll like it. I have to work tomorrow & Saturday so I wanted to have something in case my journey on Friday doesn't pan out either.
Hubby was working close to home yesterday, when I found out I told him he should have come home for lunch. Well he came home for lunch today but I wasn't home. Good thing our upstairs door was partially open (so he said) & unlocked cause he didn't have his keys. Also good that he has a ladder in his truck cause that's how he got in. To teach me a lesson (I have a bad habit of forgetting to lock that door when I run errands) he hid my laptop which I had left in the living room. The only reason I didn't call the police when I realized it was missing was because:
1. there was a glass in the living room that wasn't there in the morning
2. the partially open door was locked on the hand knob, see? I noticed it was open this afternoon so why wouldn't I have noticed if it was open before I left?
3. the laptop 'burglar' left the powercord, graphic tablet & camera behind.
I finally planted my flowers, all I have left is herb & veggie transfers but hubby wants to make me a dirt mix first. Our grass seems to be growing in slowly, we're thinking we might have to reseed some areas.
Here's a picture of how most mornings are by us (I took this around 6:30 AM yesterday)

P.S. I entered by first blog give away contest; please wish me luck - the prize is 2 Cuisinart food processors!!

menu for week of May 5th

2008-05-06T21:57:00.003-04:00

Sunday: I worked so hubby made burgers, fries & baked beans with salad.
Monday: pork chops (seasoned & breaded with wheat flour), pierogies with sauteed onions, green & wax beans, chocolate chip cookies.
Tuesday: roast chicken & potatoes with paprika & other seasonings, peas & carrots (I really wanted to make creamed peas but didn't have any plain peas) , salad & I made another batch of 'fake' chocolate chips.
Wednesday: spaghetti with sausage - hubby's request. I might bake for real tomorrow depending how my day goes.
Thursday: taco salad (seasoned ground beef, rice , beans, large tossed salad, Tostitoes)
Friday: as of now I'm thinking leftovers

Stop by http://orgjunkie.com/category/menu-plan-monday for more menu ideas.

2008-05-06T21:07:00.004-04:00

I did a little bit of shopping on Friday. I picked up a new knife set, a Betty Crocker apron with chocolate chip cookies on it. I found purple tulips in Walmart for 75¢, too bad there was only one plant. There were a lot of reduced plants that were half dead from the few nights of frost we had but nothing else caught my eye. My mom got real lucky, she found some plants for 25¢.
What did I do today? I fixed up my blog template a little bit, did the usual straightening up, Easy-offed the oven, made dinner & a batch of cookies, I cheated on those, they were Pillsbury refrigerator ones. Spent some time yapping on the phone, made my grocery list for tomorrow, goofed around online - big surprise.
After a week of browsing I finally ordered new bathroom accessories. This was no easy task since I don't like open ended toilet paper holders nor do I like round hand towel holders & that's what most of the sets have. The set I finally settled on did have the round hand towel but the toilet paper one is closed. The bad part is this set didn't have a double towel bar which I was hoping to get but I didn't want to get mismatched pieces.
The reason for the new accessories is because we took down the wallpaper last weekend. Hubby has a few holes to fill & then I can paint! I spent a good part of today steam cleaning in there since hubby sanded & primed without using a drop cloth so I had dust & little white specks everywhere.
When we picked up the paint we bought some plants, veggies & flowers; hopefully now that we are a little more used to it here we will have better luck with our garden this year. Last year only 3 cucumbers grew & they were pretty small.
Our next project (I think) is going to be painting our porches; we're both tired of looking at that ugly grey wood.

2008-04-21T14:14:00.003-04:00

So last week I had 2 new readers here on my blog & both of them complimented my menu plans :-) One was a fellowette blogger, the other was a work friend who said she wanted to start eating at my house LOL & guess what? I've invited her over for dinner this week. So thank you J & T, & thank you Laura for starting menu plan Mondays.
My grandma once told me "the way to a mans heart is through his stomach", she must have known I was eventually going to be with hubby cause for us this is very true. As long as I keep him well fed everything is fine.
Today's adventurous day was 2 loads of wash - I just love hanging laundry outside! I made the beds - when I get home from work late (like last night) I sometimes sleep in the guest room. I do this because a late night for me could be 3 am & hubby gets up at 5:30 so it's better for both of us. I tidy-ed up the kitchen & bathroom, put up fresh towels & oven mitts. Took a walk to the compost pile, picked up some twigs on the way back. It's never too early to start twig collecting for fires in the fall; hubby loves his wood burning stove. I have my sausage browned & my sauce simmering for dinner tonight.
I'll probably be back later.

menu plan Monday April 21st

2008-04-21T14:01:00.002-04:00

Monday: spaghetti with sausage & garlic bread
Tuesday: I have to work so hubby will probably eat leftover spaghetti
Wednesday: oven 'fried' chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy & corn fritters
Thursday: Taco salad (taco seasoned meat, large tossed salad) rice & beans, mixed tropical fruit
Friday: pork chops with stuffing, peas & carrots, applesauce

Want more menus? Go to http://orgjunkie.com/category/menu-plan-monday

2008-04-14T15:07:00.003-04:00

My day so far today - I was lazy. I did 2 loads of wash this morning & decided I didn't feel like leaving the house today. The only downside of this is I'm making beef burgundy for dinner & was planning to serve it over noodles but I don't have noodles. I'm still debating mashed or twice baked potatoes. I made the bed, straightened up the kitchen & changed my garden flag to a ladybug one. I went blog stalking & just put a spice cake in the oven, more laziness - it's from a box, then I actually put on some shoes & went to the compost pile.
Speaking of shoes, I re-arranged one of my shoe shelves to make room for a new pair of engineer boots I bought on Friday. My old ones are so beat up but I was having a hard time finding a replacement pair. I picked up a pair like a month ago & was so happy, not to mention I got them on sale. Luckily I kept the old ones; I wore the new ones in the house for a day & hated them. They were just too uncomfortable.

menu plan Monday week of April 7th

2008-04-08T17:04:00.003-04:00

I'm a little late at getting this up, & the last 2 Mondays have just snuck right past me.

Monday: spaghetti & meatballs with Italian bread
Tuesday: pulled pork (simmering as I type), corn on the cob, onion rings & coleslaw
Wednesday: turkey breast, stuffing, green beans & cranberry sauce; salad
Thursday: sausage with rice & mixed veggies; salad
Friday: oven 'fried' chicken, mashed potatoes, coleslaw (if any is left), cornbread

for more menu plans click http://orgjunkie.com/category/menu-plan-monday

2008-04-07T15:59:00.002-04:00

We painted the family room yesterday, we'll probably do the second coat this weekend. It's funny, my least favorite colors are yellow, orange & green; the family room is yellow -I've decided on white for the trim, the (what will eventually be a) nursery is green & I'm planning orange for my bathroom. I have the new paint for the downstairs bathroom too so that should be done in the next couple of weeks, as well as the new laundry room.
Last week hubby re-built the staircase, made the banister & finished the columns around the old steel support poles. One of these days I'll start adding some pictures.

2008-04-05T23:27:00.002-04:00

Just a small post for now. So I work in a resort with hundreds of people. I like most of the people I've met. There are 2 people in the housekeeping department that make me twitch so it's good that I don't see either of them too often. For starters they are both always complaining about the mess they come across in their areas. Uhm, hello? Housekeeping jobs kind of guarantee you will be working with messes. The second irritation is that neither of them are good at cleaning! They do the bare minimum. If these 2 were responsible for rooms I couldn't even imagine the complaints we'd get. I have seen them leave behind garbage, not clean floors, leave tables dirty. The reason I'm mentioning this now is because I got to see one of the lazy asses tonight. I still had the bar open when Messkeeper 2 came in to 'clean' - my 3 garbage bins were emptied & Mk2 left. Yes, that's all that was done.
Can't wait til next week when I get to see Mk1 twice because my regular housekeeping person has off.

Menu plan Monday March 17th

2008-03-17T16:14:00.003-04:00

Sunday: hubby wanted Chinese take-out
Monday: hubby wanted to finish his left-over Chinese food
Tuesday: oven 'fried' chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, gravy
Wednesday: I had to work so I made a pot of sauce before I left, hubby made spaghetti
Thursday: sausage & peppers in whole wheat pitas, potato salad & green beans
Friday: taco chicken with rice, beans, & salad
Saturday: I was working, hubby ate the leftover fried chicken

http://orgjunkie.com/category/menu-plan-monday has more menus.

Menu Plan Monday March 10th

2008-03-10T12:34:00.005-04:00

I've been wanting to do this for a while but since I don't always have my menus planned on Sunday or Monday I never did it. Finally I've decided to do it a little different & will post what I made last week, which I hope is OK.

Sunday: Spaghetti Bolognese with meatballs & garlic bread
Monday: Roast chicken & potatoes with broccoli, salad
Tuesday: Pot Roast (celery, onions & carrots) with cornbread & salad
Wednesday: Sausage, rice & mixed vegetables, salad
Thursday: Strip steaks with sauteed mushrooms, mashed potatoes with chives, creamed corn, salad
Friday: Lamb chops pan cooked with honey mustard, the leftover rice (I added Sazon to it) & a different variety of mixed vegetables (I use Birds Eye steam fresh varieties), salad
Saturday: I worked Saturday night so hubby picked up a pizza

Check out http://orgjunkie.com/category/menu-plan-monday to see more menus.

2008-03-09T14:08:00.000-04:00

So much for posting weekly updates last month. Between Valentine's weekend, winter breaks, Presidents Day weekend, & filling in for a sick co- worker I worked a lot in February. There were 2 weeks where hubby & I barely saw each other. We both also got whatever kind of sickness that has been traveling around. Things are finally getting back to normal. My mom spent a few days here with us last week since she lives in a flood zone; with all of the rain & warm temperatures we just decided it would be easier to make her come here & wait it out. Luckily there was no flooding near her house this time.
On the home front - the family room is coming along very nicely. Latest projects down there have been relocating & rewiring all of our electrical wires for the house, ya know that big box that has all the circuit breakers & stuff? We have 3 boxes, one for the breakers, one for the timer & I really don't know what the other one is. They were scattered around so hubby has them all together, he also grouped wires & breakers together & then made a little closet type room for it all. He's even going to label all the breakers just for me :-)
We had a crappy staircase leading down there, pretty much a 2 x 4 as the main post & another as the 'banister', not to mention open stairs. The stairs are now 2 inches wider & closed, we'll probably get the new post & banister this week.
The 3 steel support poles are now covered in shapes similar to what our staircase post will be. Our biggest expense for finishing down there is going to be carpet. Luckily when I was running the figures by hubby I had figured them out wrong, but still, covering a 1200 square foot area is going to cost us a few bucks. We are considering a nice neutral berber for the entire area as well as the stairs & then splurging on a nice plushy area rug for the tv area.
I've decided on a buttery yellow for the walls & ceiling only the trim is giving me trouble, I'm leaning towards a caramel color but I still have time to decide.

2008-01-27T11:53:00.001-05:00

So I'm mainly here to add a link for a friends new blog but since I'm here I'll make a post.
Let's see, I'm still working at the resort. Some monotony has set in but I'm still very glad to be working there. Obviously I've been working inside so I've met & worked with the entire staff & they are definitely the coolest department on the resort!
We've got a lot more snow this year compared to last year; nothing over at a foot at one time yet but it's been snowing almost daily since Thanksgiving week. About 2 weeks ago we had a few days in the 60's so everything melted but came right back. All this snow made us realize the patio rocks were a dumb idea since we are afraid we'll break them with the plow so once spring comes they're gone.,
I have driven in the snow, ice, sleet, & slush which is something I don't usually do but I can't be taking off from work every time the roads are messy.
I got to see the bear!! I think it was back in November. It had just turned dark so I couldn't get a good picture. S/he walked right across the entire width of our yard (after sneaking up on hubby near the garage) then headed towards the compost pile before wandering off into the woods.
My kitchen has been repainted, it looks so pretty. I really need to set up some before & after pictures of the house. Now hubby is insisting I get a new counter & cook top, who am I to argue? I've also started looking at new sinks & over the stove microwaves. Really, if I need a new cook top I need a new hood & my microwave is getting old so why not, right?
He finally admitted that the color he painted his bathroom was gross & let me buy a new color. I have yet to paint since he's been rebuilding our entire lower level & that's where the bathroom is.
He's added new lights, new outlets, new pipes, re-insulated & sheet rocked, we have speaker wires throughout for surround sound, wires ready for an alarm system.He also built me a new laundry room & moved everything in there (washer, dryer, sink, water heater) Meanwhile I'm still waiting for 6 nails to re-hang my pictures & calender -eye roll-
I'm sure there's more but that's all I'm typing now. I'm going to blog at least once a week even if it's something dumb. Hmmm, I could always make fun of people I meet at work when I have nothing else to write about.
Ciao for now!

2007-09-23T18:26:00.001-04:00

In honor of the end of summer...
here's to citified Virginians, flashing badges, riding the little bus, window lickers, being retarded, wiggers, snooty New Yorkers, putting your nose up in the air, blow up dolls, bikers, Harleys, rude & rich Connecticut people, drinking Bad Attitudes, Captain Morgan's & margaritas, inventing Limp Dicks, chasing everyone away, making fun of everyone, old men & their knee socks, bourbon for breakfast, flies in bottles, being totally politically incorrect & celebrating the last day of summer by laughing our asses off!
Still waiting for the shimmy LOL

& now for the first day of fall...the indoor projects have begun! Hubby picked up some paint yesterday for the kitchen & the downstairs bathroom. He did the first coat in the bathroom. I'm not thrilled with it but it's his bathroom so I let him have the final say. He also ran a new cable wire for me in the living room & added some new outlets & lights in the family room.
The kitchen & my bathroom have been 'fallified' as I've been calling it; new curtains, tablecloth & place mats in the kitchen, new curtains, bathmats & shower curtain in the bathroom.
Saw a porcupine by the mailbox last week, they're a lot bigger than I thought & it definitely wasn't afraid that I was about 10 feet away. I didn't have my camera that day & I haven't seen it since :-(

2007-09-02T19:28:00.001-04:00

So my birthday has come & gone...I'm still accepting presents though. Hubby was so cute. I didn't ask for the day off since I would have jut sat home alone missing my friends so when I got home he got Chinese food for dinner & surprised me with a cake. Sometimes he's such a good boy! I'd also like to thank the Yankees for beating Boston not just on my birthday but all 3 games!!
I had my first shift at one of the indoor bars; it was like a whole new world. Still loving the job although yesterday was crazy busy & I was all alone. Then dumb ass me said OK when they asked if I could fill in for a few hours at the dining room. That wasn't so much fun & I didn't know anyone except the few people I got drunk during lunch.
Newest critters in the yard are skunks, at least 3. I have pictures but as usual I'm too lazy to go get the camera right now.
We have even more grass than last month & we've added some plants to our rock wall area.
Think that's all for now; my online time is losing priority because of work :-(

2007-08-12T20:27:00.001-04:00

I got myself a new job almost a month ago. I am bar tending at a couples only resort. It is sooo much fun! The staff is fantastic, most of the guests are pleasant, the atmosphere is comfortable, I just love it! I have been working the outdoor pool bar which is where I'll probably be until summer ends. There are 5 bars at the resort & we wear different outfits for different shifts & different days; how can that not be fun? I really doubt I'll ever get bored.
Last weekend we went to my cousin M's for a graduation/birthday party. She moved to PA almost 3 years ago & I haven't seen her family for about 2 years. It was really good to see them, I didn't realize how much I missed them until I saw them. It's so funny... M, her brother B, & myself are all within 3 years of each other, we all got married within 11 months of each other, we all bought new houses in the last 3 years. The only thing we haven't done close together was babies, they are both way ahead of me there LOL
Friday I got to see K!!!!!! There was a slim chance it wasn't going to work out but it did :-) I also got to see my favorite nephews & nieces who I haven't seen for almost a year since I moved so far away. We were all a little sad saying good-bye since we're not sure when we'll se each other again.
I bought some outside plants & flowers...those damned deer ate my flowers! I'm so mad. I feed them half of my kitchen when they come over & then they have to go eat my flowers.
Think that's all for now, just wanted to update since I've been slacking.