Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!!!

Congratulations to you both on your 49th wedding anniversary! Thank you for being wonderful parents. You have shown, by example, the importance of love, family, perseverance, forgiveness and committment. We wish you many more years of love and happiness!

The Groovy Room and the Basement

I thought I would show off all my hard work that I did in the Groovy Room. This room was completely packed, floor to ceiling, wall to wall. You could only step into the room and step back out. I organized boxes and now you can walk into the room. YAY! But.....
... this is what happened to the rest of the basement. It's ok. Most of this will be repacked and stored in the Groovy Room. There's still plenty of space in there. And, if I fill the room up again, you won't be able to see how ugly it is.

Another 3-day weekend

I love having 3 day weekends. I could get used to this. I have 10 Fridays off in the summer for my new job. Friday was busy for me. I had to make tons of phone calls and appointments. Bruce had to go to the vet for his annual vaccinations. He got his nails trimmed and he cried. I was sad for him. His nails were so long we called him Mr. Clickety. He made a lot of noise on the bare floors. This is better now.

Justin made a second batch of homemade macoroni salad. Many years ago he put his own recipe on the internet. The recipe was copied/imported into many cooking websites. You can google his name and find many versions of his recipe with reviews. He doesn't like that the websites have changed the recipe from the original.
We also had "Pudding Delight" for dessert again. Justin invented this too. A very quick instant dessert. And super yummy. It's just like pie.

Saturday and Sunday I worked on the "groovy room". We took all the boxes out of the room, organized and sorted them, and put them back. We really made more of a mess than we did cleaning up. The room was so full you could just step into the doorway. It was solid boxes and stuff. Now you can walk in and see stacks of boxes against the walls. We still have a lot of boxes to sort and repack.

I also did grocery shopping and laundry. I got to talk to the family alot on the phone. Andrea also shared some of her wedding ideas with me. Mark and Justin cut down another tree and trimmed many branches on others. It looks so much better now.

I'm wondering when we will get caught up and be able to do something fun. Or do nothing at all, which is fun too!

Happy Birthday Dad!!

Today is my Dad's birthday. I wish I could be there to have birthday cake (or pie, or brownies, or rice krispy treats....) with him to celebrate. Just think, on your next birthday you won't even have to go to work. Dad, we are thinking of you and hope you have a great birthday!

A Box-O-Meat

Well you will soon find out (if you didn't know already) that much of our life revolves around food. You know that I love cookbooks and cookbooklets. But do I ever cook from them? Rarely. But it's still fun to read and look at the pictures. And the Food Network! This is one of the top cable tv channels. Fun stuff!

Yesterday I went to Costco to stock up. I went hungry, which was not good because I bought a lot of stuff. They had samples, but I only tried one thing. Mickey Mouse chicken nuggets. I do not recommend this. I am an expert at all things chicken nuggets and tenders and these nuggets were gross. I guess if I was in kindergarten they would be wonderful.

Of course I stocked up on my meat. Hamburger, sirloin steak, roast beef, and pork chops. I have to divide and freeze everything now and it should last a while.

My new Costco has different stuff than my old Costco. This will take some getting used to. A big jug of peanut butter pretzels, and cases of black olives, pasta, pudding, and water.

I tried a new chip. BBQ Pop Chips. They are similar to potato chips, but very light like rice chips. I like them, but not too many at a time. I think I liked the sesame/sea salt rice chips better. I don't think Costco sells the rice chips anymore. I couldn't find them at the old or new Costco. That's why I decided to try these BBQ Pop Chips.

Justin has been wanting english muffin pizzas for a long time. I had sausage, black olive, and mozzarella on mine. Mark and Justin also added ricotta, onion, and mushroom. This was a nice treat. Very yummy!

And Justin made dessert...

Crumbled chocolate chip cookies, with chocolate pudding, sour gummy worms and whipped cream. I wanted seconds!

My dog sleeps in a box

Yes, that's little Toby in his box, aka bed. As you can see from the look on his face, he does not like this at all. Mom made him the box. It's just the right size and it slides under my bed during the day. If Toby sleeps in the box, I will not have dog hair and stinky dog smell in my bed. But... if only everyone will follow this new rule. It seems that Mom (who is not here in IL) and me (who is here, but can't help the cute pitiful face of a little puppy) are the only ones who think the rule is a good idea. I even gave Toby his very own Chicago Bulls fleece blanket. I think Toby would like the box if I slept there with him. But I don't fit in the box (I don't shed fur or stink either). Well... I will keep trying to get him to sleep in his box!

Happy Birthday Andrea!!!

We were so lucky to be able to spend Andrea's 25th birthday with her. We celebrated early because she is back in Georgia for the actual day.

And her "Birth Day"...

Isn't she cute!!! Andrea had a full head of hair. She looked just like her Daddy. Or did she look like a sour patch kid!!! Ha-ha... you know I love you Binky!

Engaged!!!

Andrea & Ryan are engaged!!! We are so happy for them and thrilled to have Ryan be part of our family. I wish them a lifetime of love and happiness!



We loved every minute of Andrea's visit this weekend. Except for the airline problems coming here and going home. Andrea was able to have all her favorite Chicago foods while she was here. Italian beef from Portillo's, Chicago hotdogs from Maxwells, deep dish pizza from Giordano's, and Fannie Mae candy! I offered Culver's custard, but she preferred Dairy Queen.

Miss you tons, Binky-Roo!

Behind on movie watching

My Dad and Ryan lent me movies to watch. I don't know what I've been doing, but I haven't watch any movies yet. I NEED to watch these movies! Don't they look fun? I wish there were more hours in a day.

Dogs love sunbathing

I wish I could lay in the sun and warm up. It's so cold outside. The dogs have a way of finding the tiniest amount of sunlight coming through the windows. Of course they nap wherever the sunshine is. These 2 pups always end up together. I read an article online about the top 10 dog and cat names. The article also listed the most unusual names. My favorite dog name from the list is "Bam-Ba-mm Noodle Butt".

See for yourself at: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/28540800/ns/today-today_pets_and_animals/?GT1=43001

Someday... a scrapbook room...

I received this beautiful cabinet from my Mom & Dad for my birthday. It's in storage until we move. Then I will put together an awesome scrapbook room like the ones I look at online. I got the yellow storage tins at Michaels. I don't know why I call it a scrapbook room, because I really don't do much scrapbooking. I do more cards, ATCs, and other papercrafts. Of course the room will be YELLOW!

Dinner for one

I'm on my own for dinner tonight. I'm having soup and shrimp. My favorite soup is Mrs. Grass chicken soup. The soup with the golden nugget. I noticed the logo on the box of shrimp. The SeaPak Shrimp Co. is from St. Simons Island, GA. The side panel has a map showing the location of St. Simons Island and a picture of the St. Simons Island Lighthouse. Many years ago we came to Georgia for my brothers wedding. We took a ride to St. Simons Island. This made me wonder where my other food is from. Mrs. Grass Soup is a Heinz product from Pittsburg, PA. The Crosse & Blackwell Cocktail Sauce is Smucker product from Ripon, WI. Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. That's a nice variety of states for a delicious dinner.

Clementines from Spain

I love Clementines. I don't know if there is a difference between tangerines, tangelos, or clementines. It doesn't matter, because I like them all.

2010... A New Year

A new year and a new start. I am starting this blog so I can stop the google-ing in my head. Mark teases me about this all the time. Did you see the commercial for this syndrome? Search engine overload. My mind can't keep up with my fingers when I'm online.