I ended up with about 30 yards of fabric, originally around $300 and paid $80. While I was out, I picked up a new cutting mat, figuring the one I've been using is nearly 20 years old. I have no idea what I'm going to do with all of this cloth.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Stash Report - July 26 2011
I can't do a proper stash report for my fabric collection but I do have to brag on the awesome additions I made. A new Joann's is being built so the one close to my house is closing. I knew at some point they would start selling fabric by the bolt. Sure enough - at 75% off!
I ended up with about 30 yards of fabric, originally around $300 and paid $80. While I was out, I picked up a new cutting mat, figuring the one I've been using is nearly 20 years old. I have no idea what I'm going to do with all of this cloth.
I ended up with about 30 yards of fabric, originally around $300 and paid $80. While I was out, I picked up a new cutting mat, figuring the one I've been using is nearly 20 years old. I have no idea what I'm going to do with all of this cloth.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Sunday In My City - July 24, 2011
For Sunday in My City today is highlighting NOT SUNDAY and NOT MY CITY! How about Tuesday in Nashville, Tennessee?
I had to go to Nashville for work and the locals took me to one of their favorite spots for dinner, Monell's. It's southern favorites (fried chicken, greens, biscuits and strawberry shortcake) served family style. There is no way to leave that place hungry, absolutely impossible. I even passed up the fried chicken all together because I wanted seconds of the pot roast. Isn't pot roast something that is PERFECT for a snowy cold day? Yeah, well I was warming up my insides and dreaming of snow while I simmered in the heat of the absolute hottest day of the decade. It didn't matter, it was delicious.
I had to go to Nashville for work and the locals took me to one of their favorite spots for dinner, Monell's. It's southern favorites (fried chicken, greens, biscuits and strawberry shortcake) served family style. There is no way to leave that place hungry, absolutely impossible. I even passed up the fried chicken all together because I wanted seconds of the pot roast. Isn't pot roast something that is PERFECT for a snowy cold day? Yeah, well I was warming up my insides and dreaming of snow while I simmered in the heat of the absolute hottest day of the decade. It didn't matter, it was delicious.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Saturday Survey - Tomatoes
Tomatoes - love 'em or hate 'em?
If you love 'em, how do you like them best?
I have never liked raw tomatoes. The closest I'll come to eating a fresh, off the vine tomato is in pico de gallo. Now in sauces and soups? Love them. Funny thing though, back in first grade, the height of my tomato phobia, I discovered ketchup was made from tomatoes and I stopped eating it. I will special order my hamburgers without it, yes, even today. Well, except McDonalds. It's much too much of a pain in the ass to special order food at MD's so I suck up my hamburger as is, but they're the only ones allowed to get away with it. My french fries are dipped in mustard, never ketchup.
Go ahead and say it, "FREAK". I know. My eating habits are the subject of continuous marvel for my coworkers. At least the ketchup thing I can sort of explain.
If you love 'em, how do you like them best?
I have never liked raw tomatoes. The closest I'll come to eating a fresh, off the vine tomato is in pico de gallo. Now in sauces and soups? Love them. Funny thing though, back in first grade, the height of my tomato phobia, I discovered ketchup was made from tomatoes and I stopped eating it. I will special order my hamburgers without it, yes, even today. Well, except McDonalds. It's much too much of a pain in the ass to special order food at MD's so I suck up my hamburger as is, but they're the only ones allowed to get away with it. My french fries are dipped in mustard, never ketchup.
Go ahead and say it, "FREAK". I know. My eating habits are the subject of continuous marvel for my coworkers. At least the ketchup thing I can sort of explain.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Friday Fragments - July 22, 2011
HAPPY FRIDAY!!!
Saturday was the baby shower. Winnie The Pooh is the nursery theme so the expecting couple (yes boys were at the shower!!!) received a lot of Pooh. Grandma here had to interject a little of her favorite character, TIGGER! He's so obnoxious, just like me.
On the way home I saw this guy:
Yes, he is driving with his foot dangling out of the window. Does anyone else hear their mother screaming that a big truck is going to come by and chop his foot off????
Monday I met up with one of my internet friends. She and her family were in town for a mini vacation, taking the kids to the zoo, Grants Farm, and the Magic House (a science museum for little kids, very interactive). I was hoping to take her to a local favorite Ted Drewes for frozen custard but there isn't any place for indoor dining. After spending the day at the zoo, my husband figured she probably would appreciate someplace with air conditioning. So we opted for dinner at Culvers. I still got some frozen custard, but best of all was sitting with a friend and catching up on life since we last saw each other. This is the second internet friend my husband has met and I think he's finally getting that this group of women may be crazy in their own right, but they aren't scary crazy.
We have three planters filled with six foot tall tomato plants. Last week we had twenty close-to-ripe tomatoes. One morning we got up and every damn tomato was GONE. My husband was CONVINCED a person had stolen our precious tomatoes, but I suspected raccoons. He argued there wasn't any half eaten fruit laying on the ground, it had to be a person. Closer inspection shows broken branches where a chubby beast balanced on the planter rims, holding onto the tomato cage to pluck his golden prizes. We have another twenty tomatoes, much smaller this time. I'm not sure what I can do to battle raccoons. I'm thinking bringing back the predators, AKA three big dogs, to my backyard might save the tomatoes. Otherwise I'm going to have to check into chicken wire, bells, a scarecrow and rigged spikes of death.
Not much else is going on in my little world. It's hot. The news talking about the heat isn't making it any less hot. I'm grateful to be stuck in an office with bone chilling cold at the moment. I remember too well when I worked for the school district, lugging computers through closed up buildings with the AC off for the summer. Sitting in the stifling rooms, reconfiguring the systems, chugging gallons of water, and my kneecaps sweating.
In six months I'll be bitching about the freezing temps. By the way, I can tolerate the heat much much better than the cold.
Saturday was the baby shower. Winnie The Pooh is the nursery theme so the expecting couple (yes boys were at the shower!!!) received a lot of Pooh. Grandma here had to interject a little of her favorite character, TIGGER! He's so obnoxious, just like me.
On the way home I saw this guy:
Monday I met up with one of my internet friends. She and her family were in town for a mini vacation, taking the kids to the zoo, Grants Farm, and the Magic House (a science museum for little kids, very interactive). I was hoping to take her to a local favorite Ted Drewes for frozen custard but there isn't any place for indoor dining. After spending the day at the zoo, my husband figured she probably would appreciate someplace with air conditioning. So we opted for dinner at Culvers. I still got some frozen custard, but best of all was sitting with a friend and catching up on life since we last saw each other. This is the second internet friend my husband has met and I think he's finally getting that this group of women may be crazy in their own right, but they aren't scary crazy.
We have three planters filled with six foot tall tomato plants. Last week we had twenty close-to-ripe tomatoes. One morning we got up and every damn tomato was GONE. My husband was CONVINCED a person had stolen our precious tomatoes, but I suspected raccoons. He argued there wasn't any half eaten fruit laying on the ground, it had to be a person. Closer inspection shows broken branches where a chubby beast balanced on the planter rims, holding onto the tomato cage to pluck his golden prizes. We have another twenty tomatoes, much smaller this time. I'm not sure what I can do to battle raccoons. I'm thinking bringing back the predators, AKA three big dogs, to my backyard might save the tomatoes. Otherwise I'm going to have to check into chicken wire, bells, a scarecrow and rigged spikes of death.
Not much else is going on in my little world. It's hot. The news talking about the heat isn't making it any less hot. I'm grateful to be stuck in an office with bone chilling cold at the moment. I remember too well when I worked for the school district, lugging computers through closed up buildings with the AC off for the summer. Sitting in the stifling rooms, reconfiguring the systems, chugging gallons of water, and my kneecaps sweating.
In six months I'll be bitching about the freezing temps. By the way, I can tolerate the heat much much better than the cold.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Birthday Party Blog Hop - Other People's Birthdays
A couple weeks ago we threw a surprise party for dear friend, Ripcord. She's the youngster of the group, just now turning 40. Her husband took her out to dinner with two other couples while the rest of us loaded up on a trolley. Oh we were a sight to behold pulling up to the front of the restaurant. We had EVERYONE'S attention, EXCEPT birthday girl. She's such a dipshit.
We loaded up, took the kids to Ted Drewes for frozen custard and the tooled around town after ditching the kids (at a house with supervision - geez, we're not THAT bad of parents). We didn't cover as much of the town as hoped, but it didn't really matter with four coolers stocked with beer.
Somebody mentioned that there is a new bar with a mechanical bull and that got the birthday girl all excited, so we HAD TO GO.
She was surprised, everyone had fun, and it was not like anyone else's birthday ever! I think that makes it a success.
We loaded up, took the kids to Ted Drewes for frozen custard and the tooled around town after ditching the kids (at a house with supervision - geez, we're not THAT bad of parents). We didn't cover as much of the town as hoped, but it didn't really matter with four coolers stocked with beer.
Somebody mentioned that there is a new bar with a mechanical bull and that got the birthday girl all excited, so we HAD TO GO.
(random picture from another bar, Sybergs)
She was surprised, everyone had fun, and it was not like anyone else's birthday ever! I think that makes it a success.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
CSA Box 7/19/11
Wow, three weeks have gone by and I haven't posted an update on my CSA boxes.
First week of July we had:
•Carrots - still in the fridge
•Peaches - finally used up
•Bison Burgers - ate for Dinner Sunday night, quite yummy
•Cabbage - had to throw away
•Bell pepper - threw away
•Honey wheat bread - Ate a half of loaf, other half still in fridge
•Squash - diced up and roasted on grill.
•Shitake mushrooms - sauteed, but not nearly as good as the first batch a couple weeks prior
•Another bean soup mix - probably won't be used until fall at this rate
Second week of July:
•8 ears of corn - shared some with his mom, ate what was left Sunday with our bison burgers
•Tomatoes - as always, gone in a matter of days (hours)
•Imo's salad dressing - local pizza chain, wildly popular with the locals but out-of-towners usually hate it. Haven't opened it yet, but will use it all up when we do.
•Peaches - combined with previous weeks peaches many were shared with his mom, the rest were made into cobbler
•Pickling cucumbers - sliced up with onion and vinaigrette dressing. It made a lot and I wasn't able to eat all of it
•Bell peppers - lost in the back of the fridge, will need to be thrown away
•Organic dark chocolate - finished off this afternoon
This week:
•2 eggplants - one was diced up and mixed with ground beef, tomato sauce, basil, garlic and baked in a pie shell with shredded mozzarella on top. We unanimously agreed the pie shell sucked with this combo and scraped it out. Otherwise was quite tasty. Still have another eggplant to use somehow.
•Billy Goat potato chips - locally produced chips. Broke into those today and it was hard not to finish them off.
•Fresh basil - used with eggplant mixture but still have a TON left.
•Beets - we enjoyed the last batch prepared like baked potatoes with olive oil and salt wrapped in foil, so waiting to do that again.
•Green beans - had to throw out the last batch which is sad because I love sauteed green beans. Hoping to use these soon
•1 dozen eggs - haven't finished off our other eggs yet, but will soon
•Tomatoes - gone
•Blackberries - There isn't much, but it sure looks like something that would be good in pancake batter
•Breakfast sausage - Had eggs and sausage for breakfast on Sunday, finished off the sausage tonight in with fried potatoes and onions and a side of scrambled eggs.
Sooo... there has been a lot of thrown out food and that has not been ideal considering what we're paying for the boxes of food. Still we're being forced to expand outside of our regular menus to find ways to incorporate more vegetables into our diet. We love that there is more to these boxes than just vegetables.
First week of July we had:
•Carrots - still in the fridge
•Peaches - finally used up
•Bison Burgers - ate for Dinner Sunday night, quite yummy
•Cabbage - had to throw away
•Bell pepper - threw away
•Honey wheat bread - Ate a half of loaf, other half still in fridge
•Squash - diced up and roasted on grill.
•Shitake mushrooms - sauteed, but not nearly as good as the first batch a couple weeks prior
•Another bean soup mix - probably won't be used until fall at this rate
Second week of July:
•8 ears of corn - shared some with his mom, ate what was left Sunday with our bison burgers
•Tomatoes - as always, gone in a matter of days (hours)
•Imo's salad dressing - local pizza chain, wildly popular with the locals but out-of-towners usually hate it. Haven't opened it yet, but will use it all up when we do.
•Peaches - combined with previous weeks peaches many were shared with his mom, the rest were made into cobbler
•Pickling cucumbers - sliced up with onion and vinaigrette dressing. It made a lot and I wasn't able to eat all of it
•Bell peppers - lost in the back of the fridge, will need to be thrown away
•Organic dark chocolate - finished off this afternoon
•2 eggplants - one was diced up and mixed with ground beef, tomato sauce, basil, garlic and baked in a pie shell with shredded mozzarella on top. We unanimously agreed the pie shell sucked with this combo and scraped it out. Otherwise was quite tasty. Still have another eggplant to use somehow.
•Billy Goat potato chips - locally produced chips. Broke into those today and it was hard not to finish them off.
•Fresh basil - used with eggplant mixture but still have a TON left.
•Beets - we enjoyed the last batch prepared like baked potatoes with olive oil and salt wrapped in foil, so waiting to do that again.
•Green beans - had to throw out the last batch which is sad because I love sauteed green beans. Hoping to use these soon
•1 dozen eggs - haven't finished off our other eggs yet, but will soon
•Tomatoes - gone
•Blackberries - There isn't much, but it sure looks like something that would be good in pancake batter
•Breakfast sausage - Had eggs and sausage for breakfast on Sunday, finished off the sausage tonight in with fried potatoes and onions and a side of scrambled eggs.
Sooo... there has been a lot of thrown out food and that has not been ideal considering what we're paying for the boxes of food. Still we're being forced to expand outside of our regular menus to find ways to incorporate more vegetables into our diet. We love that there is more to these boxes than just vegetables.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Sunday In My City - July 17, 2011
For today's post I'm going to look up and share the clouds - this was a couple weeks ago, a gathering storm, but one that didn't unload here, probably somewhere in central Illinois or Indiana.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Friday Fragments - July 15, 2011
Happy Friday!!!!
Wow! What a week!
We were at Walmart... you know I could make this into a game, "Guess What QandleQueen Saw At Walmart". But here's the thing, every single one of you would lose. We saw in the parking lot the Google Maps car. Yes, the vehicle that drives around snapping pictures of your neighborhood. It was a tiny car with California plates and a HUGE, GIGANTIC contraption on top with a thing that held the cameras. Quite cool. Sorry, I failed to whip out the camera for that awesomeness.
My highschool graduating class joined with the class above and below us - not that we were a small school, my class was over 350 alone. We decided to start holding informal reunions and the first one was last Friday night. There were about 30 people there, maybe more with those who floated in and out. In case you have never attended a reunion here are the key points that will be covered in every single conversation - your kids, your job, old teachers, parties.
I spent Tuesday and Wednesday in Nashville Tennessee. Sadly it was one of those trips where the location didn't matter because I spent the entire time in meetings. Four hours in the car down and back. The coworker stuck in the back with me, proclaimed I was the most annoying person in the car. My friends will readily agree with that statement. We did get to sample some delicious food, Tuesday night at Moselles for dinner (completely awesome, but maybe not on the hottest day of the year in an old building with weak AC) and then for lunch on Wednesday at Los Tres Amigos with the biggest ever fajita quesadilla. I've promised my Nashville friends that I will return (and not four years from now) so we can properly go out and enjoy the town.
If you remember, last year my husband was trying to get a mobile pizzeria off the ground. It lifted like a lead balloon and by January we closed shop, looking for a different way to sell our pizzas. Well, that took a strange turn with our pizza equipment parked at his uncle's house and yesterday he opened a furniture consignment shop. We're very excited about this venture so keep your fingers crossed that it takes off as promised.
Make sure to visit Mrs. 4444's and all of the other people playing in Friday Fragments...
Wow! What a week!
We were at Walmart... you know I could make this into a game, "Guess What QandleQueen Saw At Walmart". But here's the thing, every single one of you would lose. We saw in the parking lot the Google Maps car. Yes, the vehicle that drives around snapping pictures of your neighborhood. It was a tiny car with California plates and a HUGE, GIGANTIC contraption on top with a thing that held the cameras. Quite cool. Sorry, I failed to whip out the camera for that awesomeness.
My highschool graduating class joined with the class above and below us - not that we were a small school, my class was over 350 alone. We decided to start holding informal reunions and the first one was last Friday night. There were about 30 people there, maybe more with those who floated in and out. In case you have never attended a reunion here are the key points that will be covered in every single conversation - your kids, your job, old teachers, parties.
I spent Tuesday and Wednesday in Nashville Tennessee. Sadly it was one of those trips where the location didn't matter because I spent the entire time in meetings. Four hours in the car down and back. The coworker stuck in the back with me, proclaimed I was the most annoying person in the car. My friends will readily agree with that statement. We did get to sample some delicious food, Tuesday night at Moselles for dinner (completely awesome, but maybe not on the hottest day of the year in an old building with weak AC) and then for lunch on Wednesday at Los Tres Amigos with the biggest ever fajita quesadilla. I've promised my Nashville friends that I will return (and not four years from now) so we can properly go out and enjoy the town.
If you remember, last year my husband was trying to get a mobile pizzeria off the ground. It lifted like a lead balloon and by January we closed shop, looking for a different way to sell our pizzas. Well, that took a strange turn with our pizza equipment parked at his uncle's house and yesterday he opened a furniture consignment shop. We're very excited about this venture so keep your fingers crossed that it takes off as promised.
Make sure to visit Mrs. 4444's and all of the other people playing in Friday Fragments...
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Birthday Party Blog Hop - Local Celebrations
St. Louis is chock full of celebrations. Each of the little municipalities in the area have their own festivals and then the city of St. Louis hosts most of the bigger parties. Almost all of these are excuses to drink publicly - and St. Louisans love their beer (emphasis on local beer, specifically AB products).
Mardi Gras = drinking event
Cindo De Mayo = drinking event
Rib America (Memorial Day) = drinking event
Fourth of July = drinking event
Oktoberfest = drinking event
And of course, Saint Patrick's Day = HUGE drinking event
The Saturday previous to March 17 is the downtown parade and then on actual St. Patrick's Day is the Hiberian's Parade through Dogtown (one of the many neighborhoods of the city). All of the bars open in the morning and many do serve GREEN BEER.
We like to go to the downtown parade
Yes, we have St. Pat's beads!
Mardi Gras = drinking event
Cindo De Mayo = drinking event
Rib America (Memorial Day) = drinking event
Fourth of July = drinking event
Oktoberfest = drinking event
And of course, Saint Patrick's Day = HUGE drinking event
The Saturday previous to March 17 is the downtown parade and then on actual St. Patrick's Day is the Hiberian's Parade through Dogtown (one of the many neighborhoods of the city). All of the bars open in the morning and many do serve GREEN BEER.
We like to go to the downtown parade
Monday, July 11, 2011
The Headrest
So we bought a new car a couple of weeks ago (a cute little SUV). I've been having an issue with my hair. You know this is not a male problem and I'm sure no one thought about the stuff us women have sticking off the back of our heads - ponytails, clips...
Even with nothing in my hair I was still bashing the back of my head on the headrest no matter how far up or down I adjusted the thing. I got fed up and just yanked the entire headrest out of the chair. Well, that was fine and dandy, but if I was ever in an accident I was going to suffer a BADASS case of whiplash if my head wasn't completely lopped off.
So I pulled the car over again - uh, yeah, this all transpired while going to the store, at least I pulled over when I removed the headrest. I decided driving around without the headrest was a bad idea and pulled into a parking lot. Instead of replacing the headrest with top pointing forward (standard installation) I turned it around and had the pointy part facing the rear of the car.
PURE GENIUS!
The headrest is still able to pad my noggin in a wreck, but the rest of the time it isn't bouncing off my various hairstyles.
This serves as a Public Service Announcement - flip that headrest around if it's uncomfortable. TA DA!
Even with nothing in my hair I was still bashing the back of my head on the headrest no matter how far up or down I adjusted the thing. I got fed up and just yanked the entire headrest out of the chair. Well, that was fine and dandy, but if I was ever in an accident I was going to suffer a BADASS case of whiplash if my head wasn't completely lopped off.
So I pulled the car over again - uh, yeah, this all transpired while going to the store, at least I pulled over when I removed the headrest. I decided driving around without the headrest was a bad idea and pulled into a parking lot. Instead of replacing the headrest with top pointing forward (standard installation) I turned it around and had the pointy part facing the rear of the car.
PURE GENIUS!
The headrest is still able to pad my noggin in a wreck, but the rest of the time it isn't bouncing off my various hairstyles.
This serves as a Public Service Announcement - flip that headrest around if it's uncomfortable. TA DA!
Friday, July 08, 2011
Friday Fragments - July 8, 2011
Woo Hoo IT'S FRIDAY!!!!
I have NO idea what was wrong with me yesterday but I was all anxious and jittery and worried I couldn't get everything done. I had a seriously long list of things to do, most of them all had to be done at once. Somehow I persevered and managed to accomplish about 90%. It was just weird how I was so upset about the to-do list. That's not how I usually cope with stuff. Weird.
We decided to hold our Fourth of July BBQ on Sunday, inviting Hubby's family to come over. Well only his mom showed up, but it was okay. We spent the afternoon playing cards - he lost to his mom - 'bout time someone can whip his butt! I saw big ugly black clouds rolling our direction so I decided to get the grill going before the rain started, usually I'm late to the party. About ten minutes after I lit the briquettes the storm literally BLEW in. I've never seen anything like it. I think they said on the news it was 60 mph winds. I did manage to get the burgers cooked, but it took a while.
Just as we finished eating, my brother showed up. He looked like crap and was clearly dehydrated. We were hoping he would stick around for a little bit, at least take a nap if not stay overnight. He insisted he had to get back to Florida to finish building the fence for the dogs so we loaded him up with the extra burgers and whatever else we could throw at him. The dogs who were terrified of the rain, followed him outside like a bunch of little ducklings, all in a line, straight to his van. I made sure they had their food, bowls, extra water and Jack's soccer ball (it used to belong to my daughter, but he adopted it as his).
It's strange quiet in the house now the dogs are gone. It's amazing how we incorporated them into our routine, making sure they got outside first thing in the morning and let back in at night. No one has to worry about feeding them or checking if they have enough water. No one is barking about strange sounds in the middle of the night. On the upside, no more landmine cleanup or trying to figure out what the mystery sound was in the middle of the night.
I just decided what I want to do for my birthday. It's almost too late to make the plans but they might come together. If it does come out as I imagine it will involve spending the entire day with my mom and daughter. I'm going to keep the rest under wraps, but I guarantee you it will be one of those things that the three of us will thoroughly enjoy and the rest of the world will slowly nod their heads saying
"oooooookay, if that's what floats your boat."
Speaking of birthdays, link up your Fourth of July stories or anything that could be construed as a "National Celebration" with my post yesterday. The linky is active until Sunday and it doesn't have to be today's post, it could be something you posted a few years ago, in fact that's exactly what I did. I'm sharing a story that I posted back when I first started blogging. There will be another linky next Thursday focusing on "local" celebrations. Come on, play along, it's my self-proclaimed BIRTHDAY MONTH!
Of course, there's Mrs. 4444's linky to check out everyone's fragments and that's a must-do in "My Little World"
I have NO idea what was wrong with me yesterday but I was all anxious and jittery and worried I couldn't get everything done. I had a seriously long list of things to do, most of them all had to be done at once. Somehow I persevered and managed to accomplish about 90%. It was just weird how I was so upset about the to-do list. That's not how I usually cope with stuff. Weird.
We decided to hold our Fourth of July BBQ on Sunday, inviting Hubby's family to come over. Well only his mom showed up, but it was okay. We spent the afternoon playing cards - he lost to his mom - 'bout time someone can whip his butt! I saw big ugly black clouds rolling our direction so I decided to get the grill going before the rain started, usually I'm late to the party. About ten minutes after I lit the briquettes the storm literally BLEW in. I've never seen anything like it. I think they said on the news it was 60 mph winds. I did manage to get the burgers cooked, but it took a while.
Just as we finished eating, my brother showed up. He looked like crap and was clearly dehydrated. We were hoping he would stick around for a little bit, at least take a nap if not stay overnight. He insisted he had to get back to Florida to finish building the fence for the dogs so we loaded him up with the extra burgers and whatever else we could throw at him. The dogs who were terrified of the rain, followed him outside like a bunch of little ducklings, all in a line, straight to his van. I made sure they had their food, bowls, extra water and Jack's soccer ball (it used to belong to my daughter, but he adopted it as his).
It's strange quiet in the house now the dogs are gone. It's amazing how we incorporated them into our routine, making sure they got outside first thing in the morning and let back in at night. No one has to worry about feeding them or checking if they have enough water. No one is barking about strange sounds in the middle of the night. On the upside, no more landmine cleanup or trying to figure out what the mystery sound was in the middle of the night.
I just decided what I want to do for my birthday. It's almost too late to make the plans but they might come together. If it does come out as I imagine it will involve spending the entire day with my mom and daughter. I'm going to keep the rest under wraps, but I guarantee you it will be one of those things that the three of us will thoroughly enjoy and the rest of the world will slowly nod their heads saying
"oooooookay, if that's what floats your boat."
Speaking of birthdays, link up your Fourth of July stories or anything that could be construed as a "National Celebration" with my post yesterday. The linky is active until Sunday and it doesn't have to be today's post, it could be something you posted a few years ago, in fact that's exactly what I did. I'm sharing a story that I posted back when I first started blogging. There will be another linky next Thursday focusing on "local" celebrations. Come on, play along, it's my self-proclaimed BIRTHDAY MONTH!
Of course, there's Mrs. 4444's linky to check out everyone's fragments and that's a must-do in "My Little World"
Wednesday, July 06, 2011
Birthday Party Blog Hop - National Celebrations
Today is the first installment of birthday party blog hop so we're going to start with the largest parties possible - national celebrations. It's time to whip out those fireworks pictures!
Okay, okay, if you don't have fireworks pictures you can tell us about a memorable celebration and it doesn't have to be 4th of July, it could be another country's celebration. Like the trip I took for my 30th birthday ended up in September, smack dab in the middle of Mexico's Independence Day... VIVA MEXICO! Well okay, bad story because I don't remember much beyond the huge crowds and the dueling mariachi bands as our bus careened down the street side by side with another bus, each with a couple of mariachi guys trying to outdo the other.
So here are my pictures that I took at Disneyland several years ago.
And for my celebration, I actually don't have pictures of the specific event but I blogged about it several years ago. It was "A Very Red Neck Fourth" and happens to be the first thumbnail in the linky list below. ENJOY!
Here is a link-back button for you
Okay, okay, if you don't have fireworks pictures you can tell us about a memorable celebration and it doesn't have to be 4th of July, it could be another country's celebration. Like the trip I took for my 30th birthday ended up in September, smack dab in the middle of Mexico's Independence Day... VIVA MEXICO! Well okay, bad story because I don't remember much beyond the huge crowds and the dueling mariachi bands as our bus careened down the street side by side with another bus, each with a couple of mariachi guys trying to outdo the other.
So here are my pictures that I took at Disneyland several years ago.
And for my celebration, I actually don't have pictures of the specific event but I blogged about it several years ago. It was "A Very Red Neck Fourth" and happens to be the first thumbnail in the linky list below. ENJOY!
Here is a link-back button for you
Tuesday, July 05, 2011
Strollers and Dogs
You can accuse me of being a PMS'y crabass. I know I'll sound like an old woman in this little rant of mine, but here you go
PARK YOUR STROLLER! OMG, not every event is worthy of your precious child attending. If a stroller is necessary then please question the necessity of the child going in the first place. That the big fair at the park is a stroller-worthy event, but the fairway? Probably not. I cannot tell you how many times I've seen someone nearly trip over a stroller. It's hard enough to maneuver through a crowd without a stroller being in the way. I know, some things are unforeseeable. And yes, I have been the guilty party pushing the cumbersome stroller through a massive crowd. It didn't take much time for me to realize that the stroller at such an event was less about exposing my child to some fabulous experience than me failing to get a babysitter and still wanting to attend something that would result in a whining, fussing, rambunctious child in the middle of naptime that would need to be somehow restrained.
For my bigger complaint, why the hell must people bring their dogs to everydamnthing? I don't fully understand the dogs-as-children concept, but whatever floats your boat is fine by me. Dress them up, cart them around in your purse and hand feed them, I honestly don't care. But dragging your pooch to crowded outdoor events? Excessive. Do dogs really care about Marine Corps invasions on local riverfronts? Do they want to attend carnivals? Do they really need to sit outside and WATCH fireworks? I doubt it.
Last night I sat next to a family with three small children (no strollers), everyone toting a chair, and dad holding the leash to two scotty dogs. The dogs were fine as far as I could see and didn't cause a major nuisance, but it was just one more thing for passersby to step over. Aren't dogs usually freaked out by fireworks? It just seemed like an odd and really unnecessary event to bring dogs to.
PARK YOUR STROLLER! OMG, not every event is worthy of your precious child attending. If a stroller is necessary then please question the necessity of the child going in the first place. That the big fair at the park is a stroller-worthy event, but the fairway? Probably not. I cannot tell you how many times I've seen someone nearly trip over a stroller. It's hard enough to maneuver through a crowd without a stroller being in the way. I know, some things are unforeseeable. And yes, I have been the guilty party pushing the cumbersome stroller through a massive crowd. It didn't take much time for me to realize that the stroller at such an event was less about exposing my child to some fabulous experience than me failing to get a babysitter and still wanting to attend something that would result in a whining, fussing, rambunctious child in the middle of naptime that would need to be somehow restrained.
For my bigger complaint, why the hell must people bring their dogs to everydamnthing? I don't fully understand the dogs-as-children concept, but whatever floats your boat is fine by me. Dress them up, cart them around in your purse and hand feed them, I honestly don't care. But dragging your pooch to crowded outdoor events? Excessive. Do dogs really care about Marine Corps invasions on local riverfronts? Do they want to attend carnivals? Do they really need to sit outside and WATCH fireworks? I doubt it.
Last night I sat next to a family with three small children (no strollers), everyone toting a chair, and dad holding the leash to two scotty dogs. The dogs were fine as far as I could see and didn't cause a major nuisance, but it was just one more thing for passersby to step over. Aren't dogs usually freaked out by fireworks? It just seemed like an odd and really unnecessary event to bring dogs to.
Sunday, July 03, 2011
Sunday In My City - July 3, 2011
Welcome to the "Gateway to the West", St. Louis Missouri
I spent last weekend on the riverfront under the Gateway Arch for Marine Week. While I was there I snapped the obligatory pictures of the Arch and Laclede's Landing.
I spent last weekend on the riverfront under the Gateway Arch for Marine Week. While I was there I snapped the obligatory pictures of the Arch and Laclede's Landing.
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