Speak Now...or you know the drill!

Hey, it's a start, right?

2011-10-16T13:47:00.000-04:00

Ever spend an afternoon reading blogs thanks to Pinterest? That's what I did yesterday when I could barely move. Even better, they were organizing blogs, so my crazy mind starts thinking "Time to get moving, kiddo!" So this morning after taking my RA med/supplements PLUS Tylenol Arthritis, I decided to start on the kitchen. I did some cleaning out before middle child returned to campus this fall, but this time decided to really cut out some stuff. I mean, how many re-usable water bottles and hot/cold drink mugs do three people really need? Same for coffee cups, especially considering that we prefer mugs to coffee cups. Since I am ready to get rid of the coffee cups, might as well clean out those matching Lenox Blue Pinstripes saucers too. Hello space!

We don't have little ones anymore, so our household first aid kit is in our kitchen cabinets. I also shop at Costco, so I do tend to stock up on the meds we use around here. It was also good to have a quick inventory before cold and flu season hits, especially for hard candies that we prefer over those nasty chemical cough drops!

Didn't think to take "before" pictures, but here are the "afters":

These cabinets are on the left of my stove/microwave:

1st Cabinet:

2nd Cabinet:

3rd Cabinet:

I was pretty much wiped after doing three cabinets, but I am rather happy with the results so far. My head is ready to tackle the entire kitchen, but my body clearly says THAT IS ENOUGH. The joys of living with RA, but this is so much more than I could do yesterday so it's a win.

Excuse my lousy Blackberry camera skills, along with my rudimentary captioning on the photos. There's still nine cabinets, seven drawers, and one pantry to go in the kitchen. Add in a downstairs bathroom, one laundry area, one coat closet, and multiple cabinets and the outdoor pantry in the garage and I have a task ahead of me. Luckily, my last day at work for the season is next Saturday, so I should have plenty of time between then and next spring to really get our home de-cluttered and a lot more livable for us!

2011-09-22T16:11:00.001-04:00

Just joined a new BzzCampaign for Burts Bees! Looking forward to getting the items and sharing!

New job ramblings and more

2011-04-27T12:47:00.003-04:00

Yep, still here but certainly not utilizing the blog nearly as much as I could. Then again, I recently started a new job and between training and adjusting to the new routine has been time consuming. I'm now working for a local company in the Consumer Services Department. I really enjoy it so far, and was able not only to negotiate a daytime schedule but unpaid time off for my AOII Convention later this summer. I'm also able to arrange my schedule (within reason!) for high school tennis matches, various appointments and to get the day off to watch the Royal Wedding on Friday. Life is good for this working girl!

Now, my department serves ALL of North America and her corresponding time zones, so it's staffed 7 days week/14 hours day. Needless to say, I'm thrilled to have daytime hours even if I do have to work the occasional weekend morning or afternoon. Now if it would just stop raining around here!

Yeah, I forgot about this, didn't I?

2011-03-11T10:49:00.002-05:00

Might as well post something now that I've checked back in. You see, a sorority sister of mine gave up Facebook for Lent (ack!) She's still posting on her blog in the meantime, so since I missed seeing her gorgeous virtual self I checked out her blog...which led me to find a few other blogs I sorta kinda was following...which led me to update the decor and post something. So, here I am, again!

So, it's been cold around here...

2009-01-17T21:43:00.001-05:00

How cold, you ask? This cold, according to my van's thermometer on the drive to work Friday morning....

Hey, it's a Giveaway!

2009-01-12T10:44:00.002-05:00

I've been finding a bunch of new blogs to check out thanks to Twitter. What's better than inexpensive dinner ideas PLUS a giveaway for a Designer Lunch Tote? Thanks to Erin at $5 Dinners for the giveaway opportunity and a fun blog!

PS: Even better, these totes have a recycled canvas exterior, are insulated and come in some great colors. Yes, I want the pink one, of course!

I'm entered, are you?

It's Friday!

2009-01-02T12:20:00.002-05:00

I'm doing my very best to waste time in anticipation of Kentucky's third bowl game in three years this afternoon! Yes, I know that just about everyone and their brother is picking ECU to win. I don't care, because UK is playing!!! GO BIG BLUE!

While I'm on this 3/3 kick...the rollercoaster that is the Columbus Blue Jackets have won three of their past three games with the last two being Steve Mason shutouts. Mason ended 2008--and is leading the NHL--with a 1.69 GAA, .938 save percentage, and FIVE shutouts!!! He's 19th in wins (12-7-1) too. Tonight is the Colorado Avalanche, who just happen to be one point ahead of us in the standings, sitting at #8 in the West. If the Jackets win tonight, well, I refuse to invoke any hockey gods out there by actually typing out the thought...but it would be a great way to start 2009!!!

On the College Acceptance front, we're up to 4 of 6 acceptances with Toledo being the most recent addition. All that's left are Michigan and Vanderbilt, and financial aid, and scholarship offers. Then we get to repeat the process this spring with DS#2!

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T19:33:00.003-05:00

We're celebrating the birth of 2009 with Fratelli's pizza (ah, real NY Pizza here in Central Ohio!! Thin and cheesy and fabulous!) Add to that lots of college football and the Blue Jackets vs. Anaheim later on, and it's a Happy New Year!

Spent the early part of the week cleaning out Mom's house. Filled a dumpster, and also filled up the front porch with items for donation. House was listed on the market yesterday afternoon, so if anyone is looking for a new home in Louisville give me a yell.

Took a break on Monday night for the UK-Central Michigan game in Lexington. I hadn't been back to Rupp Arena for a basketball game since Senior Night in 1988. DH, DS1 and DS3 were there with me and got to see UK Basketball in action. Best comment of the night was from DS3, who looked for me in the Lexington Center food court after getting his dinner...he said 'I looked for you since you were wearing blue, but then EVERYONE was wearing Blue. It was weird.' Ah, my people!!!! Go Big Blue!!

Yesterday was a Grand Slam!

2008-12-14T07:55:00.003-05:00

Where to begin?

1. Kentucky beats IU 72-54. Yes, I know IU is not exactly IU this year thanks to Kelvin Sampson's leftover mess. Still, we can all remember what happened last year (ugh!), it's still a rivalry game, and for about 15 minutes UK looked amazing on their way to the win.

2. Blue Jackets beat the Islanders 3-1. Kept the home game win streak alive, Mason with yet another win in goal, and Jason Chimera with a goal and the #1 star (yes, really.)

3. Trinity beats Simon Kenton 48-0 in the Kentucky Class 6-A State Championship game. Trinity, ranked #13 in the USA Today poll, marched to their 19th State Championship and 4th in a row!!! So, the real state championship game was last weekend when Trinity beat X, as I predicted to DH!

4. Lastly, Tebow didn't win it! Tebow didn't win it! Congrats to Sam Bradford for winning the Heisman Trophy. Kid had a heck of a season and deserved the recognition. Besides, if I never hear the name Tim Tebow again it would be much too soon.

Grand Slam for this fangirl!!!

More acceptances

2008-12-11T18:32:00.002-05:00

Oldest son adds Washington and Jefferson University and Ohio Northern University to the acceptance pile. Both offering initial scholarships comparable to Drexel.

Still waiting on Toledo, Vanderbilt and Michigan.

Come to Cabaret Night!

2008-11-11T17:30:00.003-05:00

I'm spending my week baking all sorts of goodies for Saturday night's first ever show choir Cabaret Night. Ryan is involved of course as a member of Show Choir, and he is also doing a spoken word piece with a violinist. I can't wait, although it's going to be a very busy day. If you are local please come--I've seen some of the silent auction baskets and they are amazing!

Doors and Silent Auction start at 6pm, show at 7pm, tickets are only $5.00 and all proceeds will benefit the Marysville Choral program!

Cheap Trick!

2008-11-03T21:57:00.005-05:00

My heart has belonged to Cheap Trick for 30 years and 15+ concerts throughout those years. Only The Beatles (and to be really honest...Donny Osmond) have held my heart for longer. Even though I already own every darned version of Cheap Trick at Budokan ever released I'll be at my local big box mega buy store bright and early on November 11th. Why? To purchase the latest re-re-re-release of Budokan, of course. In a Box Set. With a DVD of the actual concert. In Dolby 5.1 even.

I may blow out DH's surround sound system on November 11th, but oh boy, it WILL be worth it.

To be fair I did wear out my original Budokan, which was on 8-track. Even now I still "hear" the track changover during Big Eyes in my head!

First Acceptance Letter!

2008-11-01T22:04:00.002-04:00

My oldest son has officially been accepted to college! Drexel University has not only accepted my baby boy, but admitted him to their Honors College AND awarded him a nice scholarship!

No, he has not actually visited Drexel or even seriously considered them before they waived the application fees (and, I think the essay requirements to apply??) But they do have his major along with a solid co-op program. We'll see what happens next, since we haven't heard a thing yet from the other schools we know he's applying to. For that matter, perhaps this will motivate him to apply for some scholarships and finish any outstanding applications in the next few weeks.

Sniff...I'm such a proud Mommy!

My new favorite e-tailer!

2008-11-01T13:50:00.004-04:00

I love candles. Always have, always will, even sold Partylite for a while because I loved their products so much. Now that my stash is shrinking I started looking for a new source to feed my candle love. Thanks to the folks on the Lush forums, I decided to order some candle tarts from Laughing out Loud Candles & Soaps a while back. Pricing, service, and delivery time was excellent and the scents--fantastic! I'm particularly fond of Amish Quilt, Romeo Vanilla, Autumn Wreath and just about anything with a cinnamon scent. Today my house smells like Cinnamon Apple Delight! I haven't tried her bath and body items yet but the wax scents are definitely worth checking out. No, I'm not an employee or silent partner or anything like that, just a pleased customer.

Other than obsessing about candles today, I've been recipe searching on Recipezaar while baking a few goodies and doing laundry. I need to get out of my cooking rut and find some easy, teen-friendly, and leftover/freezer/reheating friendly meal ideas! Any suggestions? Plan to make Sloppy Chicken Enchiladas again from simpledailyrecipes.com for dinner since our local HS football team plays in their 1st playoff game in SEVEN years tonight! Go Monarchs!

Kentucky plays MSU at 2:30 (win and they are bowl eligible, but definitely not bowl guaranteed!) and then CBJ vs. Chicago on TV tonight. Let's see which version of the Jackets show up at Nationwide tonight, I'm hoping it's Thursday night's team but fear it will be Monday's.

I'm back...slowly

2008-10-31T07:32:00.002-04:00

The good stuff: Kentucky is 5-3, although only 1-3 in the SEC to date. Yes, UK can still earn a bowl game. Let's see what they do Saturday before contemplating further. Sounds like Randall Cobb earned a start at QB vs. Mississippi State. Works for me--Go Cats!

The who-knows stuff: My Blue Jackets finally put together a hockey game last night, beating Darth Foote and the Avs 4-2. Fourth win in 11 games to date. Could be worse, right?

The reason I haven't posted in weeks? My mom lost her battle with cancer on October 9, 2008 at 11:38pm. Hospice came in less than 30 minutes after I called, but since it was after midnight when they arrived the official date is 10/10/08. Some days are just bad and those are the good ones. The truly bad days are the ones where breathing hurts and going through the motions are futile. DH and I are heading back to Louisville next week to start dealing with the house. I miss her so much, I miss calling after leaving work, I miss telling her about the boys and the dogs, I even miss hearing her grumble. It's strange to be an orphan at my age and I hate everything about it.

Having typed my little rant, I can't say enough positive about Hosparus of Louisville. I wish she would have let me bring them in earlier than the last three weeks, but the assistance and care they gave was phenomenal. These men and women are truly angels on earth, and there are no words for how much I thank and appreciate everything they did for her.

Tuesday

2008-10-07T20:42:00.004-04:00

What a day.

While researching potential environmental education topics for work, I found the Disney Environmentality website. I *LOVE* my job!
I finally broke down and added the Best of XM to my Sirius subscription, just for the extra sports channels. Even better, channel 208 = NHL Home Ice = included with the internet radio player!
Was going to cook up pork chops with leftover rice for dinner, but no teriyaki sauce to be found. Grrr, I hate when that happens. Ended up doing a smorgasbord with burgers, pasta, and grilled cheese. Yes, I ate the grilled cheese!
Joined Twittermoms after seeing a plug from a GC/Facebook friend. I haven't explored it that much yet, but hope to find a corner for moms of teenagers.

Lastly, I'm trying to get myself mentally prepared to head to Louisville at a moment's notice. Mom's wonderful hospice nurse is scheduled to see her tomorrow afternoon and she's to call me afterwards. I'm off to pre-pack and take a nice long Lush bath. I should be watching the debate, but tonight, it just doesn't seem to matter.

Hey! I'm a banned book reader!

2008-10-06T21:33:00.003-04:00

I was checking out some blog links from my sorority's inCircle site, and one of my sisters blogged about the 2007 banned books list. I've read one (Huckleberry Finn) and have two in the household (good ole Huck and The Golden Compass).

Now, there's a handful of links for various "challenge" lists. I found one of my favorite books ever, A Wrinkle in Time, on the 1991 list. Then, on the 100 Most Frequently Challenged of 1990-2000 we've got just about everything Judy Blume ever wrote, a pile of my required HS reading titles including The Outsiders, Flowers for Algernon, Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn; and my beloved A Wrinkle in Time (#22!) Even Howard Stern's Private Parts made the list, and yes, I own that too! I take perverse pleasure in seeing Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men on the list, however if you're going to challenge a Steinbeck book it should be Grapes of Wrath because it was torture via the written word. Okay, so I personally feel reading any Steinbeck book is sick and sadistic torture. Even so, his books still shouldn't be banned.

To further highlight just how ludicrous the book banning types are, Where's Waldo made the above list. Seriously. It was #88. I don't even want to know why someone would challenge Where's Waldo...maybe someone couldn't find Waldo so decided to mount a Ban Waldo campaign? Seriously, it baffles the mind...

Weekend Update

2008-09-14T10:23:00.004-04:00

Yes, believe it or not I watched most of SNL through Weekend Update. The opener was brilliant, Michael Phelps could have been worse (loved Poehler "Mom" and real Mom!) I think I spotted that Guy Fieri from Food Network next to William Shatner. I hope Priceline paid for that plug!

Kentucky won a game last that historically they would have lost on the final play. I mean, I can list dozens of games through the years that UK lost in the last moments. Kentucky's kicker had a dreadful, and I mean dreadful, game, but there he was to kick a FG that would put us up by 9 with 20 seconds or so left. The only way you can lose in that situation, of course, is for MTSU to block the kick, recover the ball, and Hail Mary it down the field. Of course, this is EXACTLY what happened. I'm listening to the call online and I'm thinking "damn, here we go again" and flashing back to my last time in Commonwealth (which just happened to be the LSU game. No, not last year's game. Yeah, THAT one.) Somehow...some way...thanks to Robbie McAtee pulling down the MTSU guy who of course caught the Hail Mary around the ONE yard line...UK actually pulled victory from the pending jaws of defeat with time expired. The dreaded high ankle injury bug hit big time as well in the 1st half. Sheesh, thank heavens we have a bye week and one more non-SEC team scheduled before the SEC season starts.

While UK was trying really hard to lose their football game last night, USC was annihilating The OSU last night by a score of 35-3. Guess that will shut up everyone around here for a day or two. I hope.

Today's Foodie Post

2008-09-08T16:43:00.002-04:00

I did not fix the chicken noodle soup referenced in yesterday's post. Instead, we grilled out homemade burgers and I cooked up a few sides for dinner. Afterwards, I roasted a few pounds of bone-in chicken breasts for the soup recipe--now pushed to tomorrow since it's supposed to be rainy and cooler. I've got Sloppy Chicken Enchiladas in the oven for dinner now since it's soccer and show choir night.

I even packed up a lunch today, although it wasn't technically a cute little bento but in my lunchbox. A Laughing cow wedge with crackers, banana, vanilla yoplait and granola bar doesn't bento very well anyhow! I bought a lot of things that should work easily for bento lunches yesterday: mini cheese ravioli, chicken potstickers, carrots, crackers, salad fixings, and some granola (to mix with yogurt since I hear that's yummy). Fixed a big pot of rice for the week as well. Now to find a real bento box, or a tupperware with dividers that would work!

Weekend Sports Roundup

2008-09-07T20:43:00.004-04:00

Seriously, Andy Murray beat Rafael Nadal today in 4 sets. It's Andy Murray vs. Roger Federer for the US Open championship tomorrow afternoon. Seriously. I can't wait for the final tomorrow.

Kentucky beat Norfolk State 38-3 on Saturday to go 2-0. Norfolk State's band beat UK's band at halftime though. I hope someone YouTube's their show as I heard it was great. DH, oldest and youngest sons went to Ann Arbor for the game and brought home a win, matching sunburns, a bag filled with Michigan gear and the best souvenier cup ever (a travel mug instead of one of those huge flimsy plastic cups!) They got home in time for the ending of the Ole Miss (darn) and WVU games (oh yeah, and guess who's ranked #14 in this week's ESPN poll? That's right, ECU!)

Ohio State. Oh, poor Ohio State looked pathetic yesterday. For their sake, let's hope they simply completely overlooked Ohio U. If not, well, USC is going to have a lot of fun next weekend with them.

I refused to watch/listen to the Dolphins today, just on principle (and because here in Bengals/Browns/Steelers country the odds of getting a Dolphins game on TV is slim to none). I'm as sick of the words "Brett Favre" as I am of "Sarah Palin".

Speaking of the Republican VP nominee--and keeping this on a sports theme--all I'll say about her is that being a hockey mom DOES NOT mean she's qualified to be a heartbeat away from the Oval Office.

Hey, look what I found!

2008-09-07T12:44:00.002-04:00

My goal for the first two weeks of September was to cook dinners at home. It seems that even with planning, at least twice/week we're either going out for dinner or ordering in. I can cook, but I've really gotten out of the habit of anything outside of the tacos/chili/grilling (which I love but my men are sick and tired of!) routine.

I put together a menu plan for last week and this week and am doing well so far with it. The only variation was ordering Pizza Hut on Wednesday instead of fixing shrimp alfredo, because the high school girls' tennis team was doing a fundraiser where 20% of each order went to them. Worthy cause, we know girls on the team, and their pasta stuff wasn't all that bad. But I digress...

DS #3 asked the other day if I could make homemade chicken noodle soup along with the pot of white chili I was cooking up. I can do chili well, but soup? Soup and Sandwiches are actually on my menu plan, but I fully planned to open cans of the familiar red & white cans vs. making my own. The few times I've tried homemade soup have resulted in massive fails, even when using a starter mix or "soup kit" helper. Since I MUST go to the grocery today, I decided to type in "easy chicken soup" and was pointed to Simple Daily Recipes. Guess what I'm making after I get back (and get everything put away)?

Where has this website been all my life and why didn't I already have it bookmarked before now?

KENTUCKY WINS!!!!

2008-08-31T19:11:00.003-04:00

27-2, although that 2 was really courtesy of our QB throwing it away under pressure for your 2 point safety.

As a Kentucky fan, it's a very strange but blissful feeling to beat your in-state archrival two years in a row, in FOOTBALL. I could get VERY used to this! Thank you Myron Pryor!!! Thank you Defense! Thank you coaching staff, and THANK YOU to the Football Gods for giving Kentucky two wins in a row against lil' bro.

2008-08-31T14:03:00.001-04:00

Test photo!

Go Big Blue

2008-08-31T13:52:00.002-04:00

One hour and 38 minutes until the Kentucky Football season kicks off. I'm already unbearable to be around, and the waiting is sheer agony.

GO BIG BLUE!!!!

That pesky little thing called life

2008-08-17T15:30:00.007-04:00

So, just after I get motivated and start this blog the real world decides to distract me. Nope, not the Olympics although I've been overloading on them. This time it's the annoying cancer cells growing inside my mom which apparently are deciding that they want to cause all sorts of problems for her. Stupid, nasty disease wants to win and make my mom miserable in the process. Yes, I know it's eventually going to win, considering we think she's already outlived the original prognosis from a year ago. However, I'm not a fan of the "miserable" part because I hate to see her suffering. Stupid, nasty cancer indeed.

My favorite distraction lately has been the Olympics. Which leads me to a bit of a rant. Michael Phelps is really good and all, but could NBC shove him down our throats any more? While I'm at it, what about Jason Lezak? Come on, Phelps needed Lezak for two of those golds, especially in the 4 x 100 free relay. Then there's the rest of the relay swimmers...Aaron Piersol...Ryan Lochte...Cullen Jones...Garrett Weber-Gale...and the always interesting Brendan Hansen. They all have gold medals too, but it's all about Michael Phelps. I mean, Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson went GOLD and SILVER in the women's all-around, the first time the USA has ever been first & second in AA. I love the swimming events, but enough already.

As far as I'm concerned, Phelps should take a slice of his upcoming endorsement money (come on, you KNOW we'll be seeing Phelps everywhere soon!) and cut a check to Lezak. He earned it.

Off to watch whatever is airing right now, which is probably volleyball or handball or some other ball. Go Team USA!