Category: At Home

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All the little parts that you need

My sister recently got interested in going to a karaoke bar every week with some friends. Her husband decided to buy her a little karaoke machine to use at home. She was hoping to get a wireless microphone to use with the machine.

The microphone that came with the machine has a cord, and she likes to dance while she is singing. She finds herself almost tripping over the cord when she is dancing. The problem seems to be that she doesn’t know all of the different parts that she will need for the wireless microphone to work.

I am trying to help her find out, and have been trying to understand if the wireless microphones we have been finding have their own amplifier or not, and what she would be able to use for speakers. Can she use her current karaoke machine at all for any of that? Or her TV set? We are feeling pretty stupid right about now!

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Happy Thanksgiving

We’ve been busy wishing all our friends and family a Happy Thanksgiving. Went to the grocery store with a list of all the important things so we wouldn’t forget anything. I’m cooking fresh green beans, corn pudding, and the sweet potatoes – with mini-marshmallows and caramelized walnuts.

My sister is doing the turkey – it’s 26 pounds of terror if I had to deal with it. I have never cooked a turkey yet! I might make it until old age without having to deal with a big bird that is so easy to undercook or overcook and so hard to get thawed out safely and in time to get in the oven for a big crowd with high expectations. As long as someone else will cook the bird, I’ll be happy to do the rest.

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Did You Dress Up?

So many adults are claiming Halloween as their right to party, that I wonder if this is about the kids anymore? I mean, so many people are going out to parties tonight – will there be anyone home to hand out candy to the trick or treaters?

I am dressing up and going out – but I am staying home to hand out candy until after 9:00. I think there will be at least 40 or 50 kids coming to my house this year. But 9:00 is late for little kids, so that’s when I’m cutting out the porch light and stopping the giveaways. Then I will head downtown and find some of my friends at a club and have some adult fun, too.

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Keeping Your Child Active During the Summer

Once school is out for the summer, children don’t get as much play time. Sure, they might get to the park once in a while, but it isn’t a daily activity like playing in the schoolyard. Luckily, there are a few things that you can do to ensure that your child gets enough exercise when school is on hiatus.

Summer Camps

There are a number of different summer camps in Battle Creek MI that meet this purpose. These camps are aimed at not only keeping your children active, but also educating them in the process. There are a few different types of camps available, so have a look around to see what you can find.

Play Dates

Setting up a few play dates with your child’s friends works wonders because it allows them to get some exercise. If you are seriously committed to the cause, you can take turns hosting the event and allowing the other parents some time away.

Daycare

Even if you are a stay at home parent, putting your child in daycare for a few hours per week could be beneficial. Not only does it allow the child to interact with other kids, but it can also get him outside more often than he would at home.

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Halloween plans

As of right now, I’m not sure what I may be doing for Halloween. Usually by now, I’ve got my costume planned and candy has been bought, since the kids around my house usually don’t go out on actually Halloween night. Since it falls on a Monday this year and it’s a school night, they will be coming around on Saturday. I just hope it’s not cold and raining like it has been for the past few years. Sure spoils the kid’s fun.

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Guess I never thought about that before

Even though I grew up in a family of musicians, my own personal “hands-on” experience has been limited to childhood piano lessons. I used to watch my other family members play their instruments, and I enjoyed singing and dancing to the music that they played. I never really payed a lot of attention to the logistics of tuning any of their instruments. I guess that is why I was mildly surprised when Chuck was telling me that he was teaching Jack how to tune a drum set this weekend. I never really ever thought about having to tune up a drum!

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Stink Bugs

Maybe you’ve heard of “stink bugs” but I have never heard of these nasty creatures until just today.

We were sitting out on the patio chatting and I felt something brush against my toes. I looked down and there was a funny looking, flat bug – about the size of my fingernail. I didn’t know if it would bite or sting, so I knocked it onto the ground and stepped on it.

Big mistake! OMG! That nasty bug stinks BAD when you smash it. I don’t know what you are supposed to do to kills these nasty bugs without smashing them and stinking up the place. But there has GOT to be a way!

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Repair the credenza

I don’t know how the drawer guides on two of the drawers on the credenza in our dining room managed to get mangled and torn off. Yesterday I was looking for a new book of checks in the drawer where I keep the old check registers and books of checks and deposit slips, and the drawer came crashing down onto the floor. I was lucky it didn’t hit my foot! I found the mangled drawer guide inside the drawer. I don’t know who put it there, or when it was put there, but I was quite annoyed that nobody told me that it was broken so I could arrange to repair it! I hate when things like that happen!

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Tick Follow Up

The place on my back where the tick bit me is still red and swollen. What is totally weird is that it must have bit me in two other places before crawling over to the spot where i found it and pulled it off. I have these large red bumps on me that itch like crazy. But, no fever and no other symptoms. So i have been putting rubbing alcohol on them and I took a couple days of antibiotics – to be on the safe side.

So I am OK and much more vigilant about checking my dogs and myself each night for ticks.

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Tick!

Tonight I came in from mowing the lawn and trimming the bushes in front of the house and took a shower. I was rudely surprised to find a blood sucking tick on my back, just above my jeans belt. I was able to reach it and douse it with alcohol, then pulled it off. The whole area where that little bastard had latched onto me is red and swollen. I’m glad I found it right away and got it off of me. But I am worried that I might have some type of infection at the bite site. Guess I have to see if it gets any worse and then maybe go to the doctor for some meds.