Category: At Home

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Quick Dinner

Last week while grocery shopping, I picked up something new. I came across some precooked meats that you can microwave and heat up in only 5 minutes. The selection included pot roast, beeftips, and pork roast. They also had a section of mashed potatoes in little plastic tubs that heat up in 4 minutes.

I thought they might be nice to keep on hand in case I want a fast dinner, and they were reasonably priced. So I bought one of each and have kept them in the refrigerator.

Tonight I am dog-tired and hot. I decided that I didn’t want to heat up the kitchen with the oven or stove. I pulled out the microwave tubs of beef tips and potatoes, and had dinner ready in 5 minutes. They were tasty and fast – and a bargain.

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Color My World

Do grown ups ever get to use crayons and color for fun? Or is that a big part of your creative childhood that has to get left behind after you reach a certain age?

I see crayons on the store shelves as part of the back to school push of products. I would love to buy a big box of crayons and spend a rainy afternoon coloring. Don’t laugh!

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Staying safe this weekend

I have absolutely no plans for this Labor Day weekend. I’d much rather stay home and kick back here. There are too many people on the road and to be honest, I’m afraid of drivers drinking. So I wish every one a Safe and fun Labor Day, a bit early.

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Touch of Homesick

My niece is a bit of a drama queen and frequently complains about feeling homesick when the family goes out of town to visit relatives or friends.

I have been away from the DC area (where I grew up) for several years now, and I have to admit that every once in a great while I feel a touch of homesickness. But I know in my heart that I do not live there anymore and there’s no “going home.” In fact, the house where I grew up was sold to another family within months of my high school graduation and the new people remodeled it. So that’s a closed chapter of my life.

Now it’s on to greater adventures, here in Nashville and beyond!

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Cute hand painted box

I was so excited to find this beautiful hand painted box for sale online when I was asked by my sister to help her find discount furniture at goods to furnish her new apartment. I don’t know how much the box costs, which is a little bit frustrating. The website doesn’t have a price listed, and has the notice to call them for a price. This puts me in mind of going to a restaurant and being given a menu without any prices listed.

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Broken Remote

The TV in my living room is operated by a remote control that came with the cable box. As long as I leave the TV set on channel 3, I can use the remote to change channels, adjust the volume, and turn off all the components from the couch.

For some strange reason, my dog decided to chew on the remote this morning after I left for work. When I came home, the chewed remote was laying in the middle of the floor. Arrrrg!

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Another Hot and Humid One

In a strange way I feel like I wasted a precious Saturday by not doing anything active. It was so awfully hot and humid that I just couldn’t bear to go outside any longer than needed to walk my dogs three times.

I walk them 3 times a day regardless of the weather. They need the outside for exercise and bladder relief. I need it for a chance to clear my head and build character.

It has been in the upper 90’s and low 100’s for a week. It was a good day to stay indoors and catch up with a little housework and some internet surfing.

Found some awesome photo blogs and links from them to others that were awesome, too. Several of them use a Nikon D300 camera for their work. I’m going to look into getting one – I’m so jealous.

It was a good day, although not very productive.

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Not Yo Mama’s Strollers

Folks, having a baby is expensive. We all know that. Not just the birthing part – but the cost of all the gear and clothing and supplies you need adds up really fast. Plus, the little rascals outgrow all those clothes really fast.

I wanted to buy a stroller for my friend, Jenny’s, baby shower next month. I thought that I might find something nice for about $40 or $50. So I started shopping on Ebay to see if there were any good deals or if shipping would make that impractical. Holy smokes! The strollers on Ebay are running $250 – $400 dollars!!!

For those of us not plugged into the baby scene, the idea of buying a stroller to push your kid around the park or mall has become buying a “Travel System.” These systems have car seats, permanent anchor bases for the car and convertible stroller frames with deep recessed cup holders, a cargo basket, removable washable covers and pads, front wheel shocks and all kinds of engineered mechanics for easy collapsing and assembly.

I’m suffering from sticker shock and making sure to refill my birth control pills for another 3- 5 year supply.

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Ants!

There were ants all over my computer desk this morning. I couldn’t understand it, because I do not eat or leave food anywhere near my computer. I have stacks and stacks of papers, but nothing sweet to attract ants. But there were dozens of them swarming all over my desk and as soon as I sat down, they started crawling up my arms and biting my hands and arms and some of them even got up on my neck.

Sorry to admit that I was freaking out. They were not army ants or anything big and fierce, but dang! Those little black “seed ants” can bite, too. I figured out that they were attracted to a little terrarium that my nephew had put next to my printer. He had filled a little plastic jar with dirt and bugs and worms that he found outside last weekend. I thought he took it home with him, but turns out that he left it on the corner of my desk and it sat there unnoticed all week.

I guess the bugs or worms started to die and decompose and attract the ants. It didn’t smell bad to me, but I’m sure that ants have a much greater sense of smell, as they were all over it. I knocked it over into a plastic bag and took it out to the dumpster. But the remaining ants fought back, swarming all over. So I had to spray my desk area with bug spray to kill them and it stinks of bug spray. But it sure did kill those ants.

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Strange Cartoons

Last night I spent a few minutes at my neighbors house. Her 3 year old was watching cartoons on the TV in the living while we visited. I couldn’t help but notice some of the cartoon dialogue.

I have to say that these cartoons are a little strange and it bothers me that children are watching them. I don’t see why cartoons for small children should have any reference to college age pranks, like panty raids. In my opinion, this is not appropriate for young children to hear and how would children even know what a panty raid is? Too strange and very disconcerting.