Carole's Thoughtful Spot

Oh, So Good to be Back in the 'Dacks!

2012-05-22T21:33:00.001-04:00

Look! Our little place, still just as we left it last fall, hooray!!

Coffee, Mimosas and the Chronicle on a crisp Adirondack morning. Nothin' better.

The fish were biting!

And here is *my* fishing gear! Yes, this was my Mother's Day present - a new fishing rod of my own, some lures and a fishing license! I only caught one fish, but the hours spent sitting on the pier with my feet dangling in the water, gazing at the lake were wonderfully relaxing.

Our daughter caught more fish than I did, and that was even with spending half her time swimming and rescuing our snagged lures, lol.

Priceless. Thank you, Lord!

The end.

My Mother's Day, One Day Early

2012-05-12T23:09:00.000-04:00

Kentucky Fried Chicken "bucket" (with free chocolate chip cake) = about $20.00

Fun day with my family eating KFC, walking along the beach of the Hudson River in Kingston, NY and finding 16 geocaches = priceless. :-D

That's the Kingston Rhinecliff bridge in the distance.

I also got my Mother's Day present, which was a total surprise to me, but very awesome and thoughtful! It's late and I don't have any pictures yet, but it's not discount perfumes, or jewelry or anything like that. I'll give you a hint - it's something I can use a lot up at the cabin... I'll take pictures and show you soon what I got.

What did you do for Mother's Day? What nice presents did *you* get?

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all my Mommy Bloggin' and Blog Readin' Peeps!

The end.

Seedling World!

2012-05-10T21:13:00.001-04:00

That's what our sunroom is like this time of year! :-)

We've been taking them outside little by little to "harden them off". The first year of our garden we didn't even know we were supposed to harden them off and then when we planted our seedlings in the garden they all slumped over and looked on the verge of death for about two weeks before they started to revive and grow again. Last year we tried hardening them off but clearly we didn't do it right because the same thing happened. So we're trying again to succeed at starting seedlings inside and then successfully transplant them to our garden without the "slumping death's door" two week period.

Do you harden off your garden plants? How do *you* do it??

The end.

More Thoughts Too Short for a Whole Blog Post

2012-05-08T20:06:00.000-04:00

One of the waterfalls at Kent Falls State Park in Ct.

I think that employee cafeterias at nuclear plants should serve "Tuna Meltdowns" instead of "Tuna Melts".

Have you ever wondered, if you dug a hole right where you are and kept going until you reached the other side of the world, where you would end up? Well check this out and you can see: http://www.antipodemap.com/ Just drag the map until the red pin is on your location. I'd end up coming out off the coast of Australia.

My computer geek Husband can write computer programs to save thousands of people in the event of an emergency, but he needs my help to use the Hallmark Card creator program.

I'm wearing my fitbit for the first time today and so far I have supposedly taken 15,909 steps. I think it's probably right. (I was at the gym this morning and did the elliptical and treadmill, then later I went grocery shopping.) Supposedly that translates to about 7.5 miles. I wore it to bed last night and tracked my sleep - according to the fitbit I got 5 hours and 38 minutes of sleep. I think it's about right. I need more sleep!! :-P

At first I thought Pinterest was stupid, but now I like it.

I don't know what is going on lately with the kitties - maybe some sort of territorial dispute or bid for "top cat" - but we've had quite a few cat fights lately. You know when they decide to have them? In the middle of the night. Guess where? In the middle of our bed. Niiiiiiiiiiiice. I'm ready to set up some pls lasers as a boundary around the bed - one false move will trigger ceiling mounted water guns! Either you behave yourselves on the bed, or <said in Soup Nazi voice> no bed for you!

Do you have cats (or dogs) that get into fights at inconvenient times or places??

The end.

Do You Know What a Muffler Man Is?

2012-05-06T21:29:00.001-04:00

This handsome fella was photographed by the Husband in Elmsford, NY.

From Wikipedia:

"Muffler Men (or Muffler Man) is a term used to describe large molded fiberglass sculptures that are placed as advertising icons, roadside attractions or for decorative purposes, predominantly in the United States. Standing approximately 20 feet tall, the first figure was a Paul Bunyan character designed to hold his axe. Derivatives of that figure were widely used to hold full-sized car mufflers, tires, or other items promoting various roadside businesses."

Did you know what a Muffler Man is? Have you ever seen one? It's sort of a little hobby of ours - spotting them. You never know where you might see one!

This is probably my favorite one. It was in all places, Chincoteague, VA - sort of out in the middle of nowhere, as you can see. I would love to know the story behind this guy - I wonder what he was advertising??

Have you ever seen any cool Muffler Men?

The end.

I Cooked Something I Saw on Another Blog - Banana Bread

2012-05-03T20:16:00.000-04:00

Whoops. These were a little past their prime... I remembered a couple of years ago I had rotten bananas and I asked my blog readers for a good recipe for banana bread ('cause that's what ya do with rotten bananas). I got some great suggestions, and I tried one of the recipes (which came out great, btw). This time I thought I'd hunt down that old blog post and try one of the other recipes suggested. I decided to try my good bloggy buddy Rebecca's recipe, which you can find here ---> Basic Banana Bread. (She has a lot of other GREAT recipes on that Wow Chow Cooking btw, so be sure to browse around.)

Something I liked about her recipe was that the ingredients were all things I had on hand. (I hate when you have to buy uncommon ingredients for a recipe, then you're left with half a jar of whatsit that cost $6.00 that's going to sit in your pantry and gather dust.) Anyway, the recipe was easy peasy and it turned out beautifully. Sorry for this rather horrible picture, but lately it seems the Husband almost always seems to have the camera (due to the have-to-find-one-geocache-every-day mission we're on). I resorted to using the webcam, which is probably better suited for Skype-ing, ActConferencing.com audio conferencing and taking Facebook profile pictures, but where there's a will there's a way! It's kind of been putting a crimp in my blogging not having the camera always around to take pics of stuff that happens. Anyhoo...

(No, it's not burnt on the side, it's just the crapp-o webcam. But it's proof that I did make it, if nothing else, lol! Not that I would ever lie to you. Speaking of that, it's amazing some of the things I've heard of that bloggers have made up, but I digress...)

I did add the half a cup of walnuts that was suggested as an option in her recipe. I REALLY like nuts in banana bread, so they were definitely going in. What I loved about this recipe is the bread actually has a very light and almost delicate texture - not heavy and rubbery-moist like some banana breads. It also has a nice firm "crust" and the slices hold together really nicely when cut - not crumbly. This would be a good recipe for company because it presents so beautifully. Oh, and it's DELICIOUS! I would definitely make this again. Two thumbs up!! :-D

The end.

More Thoughts Too Short For a Whole Blog Post

2012-04-29T20:39:00.000-04:00

This was dinner one evening recently.

My best friend's parents (whom I love) were up visiting for the weekend. Mr. "F" is a mechanical genius and knows how to fix anything and everything. When they come to visit, he always helps the Husband fix whatever is wrong around the house. They happened to be working outside and were using my truck to jump something they were working on, when they noticed a lot of corrosion on my battery terminal. Mrs. "F" and I were about to leave for a little shopping, so we stood around watching and chit chatting. While we were waiting, Mr. "F" decided to play a little trick on me, and asked me if I could find the distributor. So as I'm looking around in the engine compartment for a distributor (that my truck doesn't have) I spot A DEAD MOUSE!!!!!! IN MY ENGINE!!!! Gross!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A big bug landed on our flat screen tv last night while we were watching the NASCAR race. It just happened to land on the screen on "pit road" and it was really funny as we watched it nearly get hit by the cars, lol.

Speaking of NASCAR... Dear Dale Earnhardt Jr., PLEASE SHAVE OFF THE BEARD ALREADY!!!!!

Although it's not ideal to wake up in the morning pinned in place by my kitty cats laying on me, I'm secretly flattered and happy they want to be with me. :-)

I mentioned in a previous post that I had some birthday money burning a hole in my pocket. I decided to buy a fit bit (it's an amazing fitness tracking device), and some sandals. A gadget and some shoes - two of my favorite things! :-D

ALMOST TIME TO BE GOIN' TO THE CABIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was at the gym the other day, and a guy got on a treadmill a couple down from me. Every so often he'd let out a huge burp. ??? Ok, I know I haven't been going to the gym that long, and maybe I'm not fully aware of all the nuances and etiquette of the whole "gym thing", but....is letting out huge burps while you're exercising something I shouldn't be surprised at, or what?? I mean, I could totally understand if maybe one "slipped out" or something, but the dude was like the Burpmaster General.

The end.

Why I Have Never Attempted to Play a Wind Instrument

2012-04-27T16:21:00.002-04:00

I know I've mentioned before that I play the piano. I also play the guitar a little, and the ukulele a little. I don't know if I'll ever have the opportunity to learn any other instruments, but one instrument I thought would be cool to play is the clarinet. Or the flute. Or any wind instrument, really. (My cousin used to play the flute and she named her flute "Doug". Ya know, as in Doug Flute - the football player, ha ha...)

I was browsing on Buffet Crampon Instruments & Accessories at some of their instruments, thinking about what I would play if I had the extra money to take lessons and buy any instrument I wanted. Not only are the instruments beautiful, but even the cases for them are gorgeous. Our daughter has a rental violin right now (from a totally different company) and the case for hers is like a piece of doody compared to these cases (although I certainly wouldn't expect anything good for a rental - I've just never seen such nice instruments and cases).

However, the thing that has always deterred me from ever trying a wind instrument is that when I get really nervous, I get short of breath. So I worried that if I were in a recital or performance, and got nervous I'd either faint, or not be able to play my instrument. I can't imagine I'm the only one who feels this way, yet I've never seen a tuba player fall over in a dead faint during a performance, or a clarinet player only be able to squeak out tiny notes at a concert... Maybe it just doesn't happen? Or I'm just weird. Probably the latter.

Maybe when I'm rich and famous I'll get a funky clarinet like this one I saw on the Buffet Crampon website (learn how to play it), invite everyone for a recital, and you can all sit in suspense as you wait to see if I faint, or if I pull it off. :-)

The end.

Happy Cats in Tents!

2012-04-27T06:56:00.003-04:00

More Thoughts Too Short for a Whole Blog Post

2012-04-22T11:50:00.000-04:00

Some of our daughters "cool rocks"...and stuff...

Since there won't be any new episodes of Gold Rush for who knows how long, I've been watching Deadliest Catch on Netflix. That show stresses me out. Every single time they show anyone throwing the rope/buoy all I watch is their feet to see if this is one of the times a guy gets tangled and either goes overboard or ALMOST goes overboard. I almost can't watch this show.

A few years back my father went to France, and came back with a love for goat cheese. I totally laughed at him. So then I tried it, and it turns out I love goat cheese too. (If you've never tried it, you definitely should AND it's lower in fat than most other cheese...so you can eat more! :-) My favorite is Chavrie in the "pyramid" - spreads soooo smooth.

I haven't posted about it, but we have our garden tilled and we have a bunch of seeds planted in the garden, and a bunch of seedlings in pots taking over our sunroom. We are thinking maybe THIS is the year we have some real success with our garden. :-P

The gym thing has been going well. The other day there was a gal complaining that the soap dispensers in the showers were often out of soap. Now, when I say there is a "soap dispenser" in the shower, I mean it's the kind they put by the sink to use to wash your hands. Only a tiny squirt of soap comes out. Truthfully, I figured they were really only there in case you forgot your own soap or body wash - I didn't think anyone would be using 30 tiny squirts from a hand soap dispenser as their means of washing up in the shower.

Ha ha! Our daughter is hooked on the show "Saved By the Bell" on Netflix! (I'm sure I've seen every single episode.) Didn't we all have a little crush on Zack? (Or Kelly if you're a guy, lol!) Have you seen the actors who played Zack and Kelly lately? To the right is a recent photo (courtesy of TMZ) when the two actors happened to meet at a charity event. They're both still really cute, aren't they? :-)

I have mixed feelings about the televangelist Joyce Meyers, but, I liked her page on Facebook and I enjoy the inspirational/encouraging things she posts - here is today's: "Every believer has a ministry. It may not be a public one, but you've got a ministry to your children, your spouse, your family, to God." Also, Rick Warren (who, amongst many other things, wrote the NYT best seller "Purpose Driven Life") posts really great, thought provoking posts - another great page to "like".

This is a really cool (and short) YouTube video from Alaska of a bald eagle, a fox and two cats all on one woman's porch. If you check out some of her other videos, you'll see the eagle is a frequent visitor. How cool would that be, to have a bald eagle just sitting on your porch??

The end.

So, Explain This to Me...

2012-04-21T20:40:00.000-04:00

Ok, you know I'm a big fan of Gold Rush...so, I've checked out some "fan" websites/message boards. I was surprised to find one of the message boards I came across is full of "haters", and there is a Facebook page that does nothing but disparage the show and most of the people on it.

Normally, if I watch a show and I don't like it, I stop watching the show.

Isn't that what most people do?

I don't continue to watch the show I hate and THEN spend time AFTER the show posting messages ripping the show apart, nor do I take the time to set up a FACEBOOK PAGE solely for the purpose of spreading my hate.

These people truly have nothing else to do but spread their dislike of a show no one is forcing them to watch??

Maybe there is a better use of their time? Look for a cure for cancer? Dust something? Volunteer and make a positive difference in someone's life? Look for carpet cleaners holly springs nc?? Take a nap???

Life is short. I can't believe people spend time watching a show they hate, and then spend time making sure strangers on the internet know how much they hate that show. Does anyone understand this mentality??

The end.

Tea Party Birthday

2012-04-21T08:14:00.000-04:00

Isn't that gorgeous?? I was visiting my best friend "M" recently, and while we were there they had her daughter's "Tea Party" birthday. My best friend's Mom did most of the set up - she is amazing. (She's the one who taught me how to "do fondue" when they came to visit.) There were even edible flowers on each guest's saucer (I ate mine, just to try it. It wasn't bad.) I'm not sure what type of flower mine was, but those who had the mums and ate them said they were yucky. So if you're eating flowers, stay away from the mums.

The end.

I Had My Cake and Ate it Too

2012-04-18T11:39:00.000-04:00

No, that isn't *my* hand, lol!

I mentioned in a previous post that my birthday was coming up, and my most favorite kind of cake is the kind from a box/mix with frosting and I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to eat my favorite kind of cake TWICE in my birthday week!

The first time was the day before Easter - my future step-mom's sister made this great "Bunny Cake" and since it was close to my birthday, my Dad put candles in it and everyone sang Happy Birthday to me. It was chocolate inside and it was de-licious!! (And how cute is it??)

The second time was on Easter. We spent the day at my sister-in-law L's (which was really nice) and although I think we were all stuffed to the brim after a great dinner, there was quite an assortment of desserts. As my sister-in-law was pointing out what the different items were for dessert, she made sure that I heard her specifically say that the carrot cake she made was from a box - SWEET (wasn't that nice?)! :-D So of course I made a bee line for the carrot cake and I ended up having TWO pieces. (That's the cake pictured at the top of the post with my brother-in-law's hand about to engulf it.) By the time Easter/Birthday week was over I was ready to buy mounting brackets to hold my stomach up after all the great food I ate, but I decided to put the after-burners on at the gym instead and hope for the best.

So, for my birthday I got some spending money that is sort of burning a hole in my purse. I did use some of it to buy Season 1 and 2 of Discovery Channel's Gold Rush off iTunes, which I have been re-watching. But I still have some left... Any suggestions of what else I should treat myself to?? :-)

The end.

More Thoughts Too Short for a Whole Blog Post

2012-04-02T23:18:00.001-04:00

My main man Q-ee cat, chillin' on the window seat.

Quite some time ago we cut our satellite tv package way down and also signed up for Netflix (streaming). I know lots of people complain about Netflix, but to me, for $8/month I find PLENTY to watch. I mostly like to watch tv shows, but the Husband likes to watch movies. There are a lot of older movies on Netflix, and in the last few days we have watched some interesting selections of his - Deathrace 2000, Convoy and Planet of the Apes.

I've lost about 7lbs so far from going to the gym and just trying to be more careful about what I eat.

My birthday is coming soon. I like cake made from a mix (Duncan Hines or Pillsbury or whatever) with frosting from a can on top. Nobody makes those kind of cakes anymore, but that's my favorite. So that is what I shall have!

Our geocaching streak is now at 99 consecutive days of finding a geocache.

A bad thing about having a dog is that often times they don't let you sleep in on the weekend 'cause they either want to go out to do their business or they want breakfast, or both. Oh, and they shed.

I've mentioned before that I hate summer, and I hate sitting or standing out in the hot sun. Usually I seek out shade, however, my cousin built pergolas over his deck, and I was amazed that I was able to survive under it on a sunny day. And it's really pretty. A good compromise for sun-haters and sun-lovers.

Speaking of the hot sun, I already bought sunblock for this year. I'm ready.

Did you see they are making "Hot Tamales" jellybeans this year?!??! AWESOME! (Hot Tamales are my favorite candy.)

I don't feel people in general are getting mad enough about the high gas prices.

The inspiration for the name of this blog actually came from Winnie the Pooh and *his* "Thoughtful Spot" - "Pooh's Thoughtful Spot is located halfway between Pooh's house and Piglet's original house. It is protected from the wind and is a good spot for "deciding what to do today".

My all time favorite Winnie the Pooh quote is this:

Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. "Pooh?" he whispered.

"Yes, Piglet?"

"Nothing," said Piglet, taking Pooh's hand. "I just wanted to be sure of you."

- A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

The end.

Pan Fried Trout!

2012-04-01T20:29:00.000-04:00

And here's how the trout ended up! (See previous post.)

I'd never cooked freshly caught fish, but I searched the internet, watched a few YouTube videos and I think I was pretty successful. It was really delicious, and even though it had the bones still in it, we were able to sort of pick up the spine and lift up pretty much the whole skeleton of bones intact and remove it.

I decided to play it safe and I used a really basic recipe of dredging it in flour with salt and pepper, then frying it in some butter and oil. I fried it 5 minutes on each side, and it was done perfectly. We have more fish in the freezer to cook at a future time - if anyone has any suggestions or trout recipes of their own, please share! :-)

Did anyone else go out fishing on the first day of trout season? Did you have any luck?

The end.

Not An April Fool's Day Joke!

2012-04-01T13:26:00.000-04:00

This was the Husband's haul on the first day of the trout fishing season!! He was SO happy! I was still in bed when he got home (it was only 8:15am!) and so I asked him, "Why are you back already??" When he told me he caught the limit of trout, I was SO sure it was an April Fool's Day joke, lol.

So he told me about where he caught these beauties, and he resisted gloating as he walked past many other fisherman with his creel full on the way back to his car. It would have been a laugh if he had some funny tshirts to wear like, "Nyah, Nyah, Nyah, Nyah, Nyah!" Or, "Gotta go, caught the limit!" Or, "I could tell you where I caught these, but then I'd have to kill you." Lol...

Shortly I am going to cook two of them. I've never cooked a "freshly caught" fish before, so hopefully I will do them proud!

The end.

Am American Girl Scene in Place of My Christmas Village

2012-03-31T19:06:00.000-04:00

Sorry, not a very good shot, but it's an American Girl scene! Haven't done one of these in quite a while. Sadly, our daughter has almost outgrown the era of American Girl dolls, but they still come out now and then.

This is the table I had my Christmas Village set up on, which I only took down a few weeks ago. The Village People were sad that there was really no snow this winter, which kinda took away a little of the special charm of the village. Well, they'll be back in the fall. :-)

We're already getting the "itch" to go back up to our Adirondack cabin. One of the things I love about going up there is beach and the lake. The Husband used to talk about getting a pool here at our house, but I was never really that gung-ho on the idea. There's so much maintenance, and costly pool chemicals, plus all the laws and rules about having a swimming pool safety fence, a locking gate, etc. etc... It's easier just to go swimming in the lake!!! We probably won't go up until sometime in May, when the water is turned on. It seems like a long time to wait, but lately the time just seems to be flying by!

The end.

The Seedlings are Planted!

2012-03-29T21:45:00.000-04:00

Our garden has been started! We had to hunt for them a bit, and we spent a little more, but we planted all organic, non-GMO seeds. We're growing all the usual stuff - cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, hot peppers, broccoli, cabbage, pole beans, zucchini, lettuces, etc.

Has anyone else started their seeds? What are you planting?

The end.

More Thoughts Too Short for a Whole Blog Post

2012-03-21T22:07:00.000-04:00

Angel enjoying a sunny spot.

The gym has been going good - I've consistently been going at least 3 times a week, and I am now able to go an hour on the elliptical *and* keep my heart rate in the target range for "cardio". I think I've just about managed to work off my muffin top. I still have a long way to go though, to get to my goal.

I am addicted to the show "Gold Rush" on Discovery. Season 1 is on Netflix and I think I've watched the whole season twice, plus I watched it when it has aired on Discovery as well. Christo Doyle the executive producer tweeted a question asking what we'd like to see for season three, and I said I'd like to see some in-between-the-seasons shows, since Season 3 won't be on until this fall. He tweeted back, "Be careful what you wish for..." so at least it sounds like maybe we'll get a show or two (or three?) over the summer, to tide us over. There is one more "behind the scenes/aftershow" this Friday night on Discovery. I guess the last two were such ratings boons, they added this third one.

If our dog Tex was going to make a workout dvd, it would be called, "Texercise".

If I could eliminate any commercial on tv, it would be those excruciatingly annoying ones with the pig that goes "wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"! I don't even know what the company is that those commercials are for, but I feel like I want to shoot the tv like Elvis, every time one of them comes on.

Speaking of tv, one of our ancient tvs finally gave up the ghost and we got a flat screen tv. Welcome to the 21st century, right?

My husband replaced a faulty zone valve on our furnace last week. I got to be the assistant (it's times like that that I wish we had also had a son who would probably LOVE to be the assistant). Usually being the assistant is not very much fun, however, we didn't have to cut any pipes with concrete blades at diamond-blades.com, but rather had to melt solder to take apart pieces of pipe, and I got to do the blow torching for that. That was cool.

If you have an iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch, the app "Draw Something" is a lot of fun - kind of like the drawing/guessing part of the old board game Pictionary. Thankfully, it's not as prone to cheating like Words With Friends, although, a couple of times, a player has just written in words the thing I'm supposed to be guessing via a drawing. WTH??

My favorite color is purple, although I tend to wear a lot of pink/hot pink.

I'm watching the show "Doomsday Bunkers" on Discovery for the first time right now. The very first story from this episode is someone prepping in the event of the meltdown of our very own "local" nuclear power plant, Indian Point in Buchanon, NY. Nice.

The end.

Carole's Math

2012-03-19T12:47:00.000-04:00

One innocent kitty...

plus one tray of soil from the garden that we tested...

plus one overnight equals...

There were little dirt crumbs all over the counter and the floor. I know all you fellow cat owners are thinking the same thing we were that morning - can't believe they didn't go to the bathroom in there!!!! Lol...

The end.

More Thoughts Too Short for a Whole Blog Post

2012-03-09T20:42:00.000-05:00

Our sweet Angel Kitty hanging out on the toasty heating vent.

We had a sudden bout of warm weather and we discovered that the Daughter has hardly any short sleeve shirts from last year. I went out shopping while she was at school to the "usual" kid/tween stores only to realize that she has basically outgrown those stores. I bought her some shirts in a "regular" clothing store today. That was weird.

I am not really all that impressed with the Farmville new Hawaiian Farm.

I hate riding a bike. Who invented the bike seat?? Did the inventor say, let me think of the smallest, most uncomfortable thing to sit on and that will be the seat for a bike, or what???????? I even tried riding the stationary bike at the gym. Once. Luckily for me they have recumbent bikes also with COMFORTABLE SEATS. The only things I like about a bike is the cute baskets you can put on the front (my basket from childhood was white plastic "wicker" with flowers) or the cool bags like a cortech sport tail bag you can put on the back to carry stuff.

I still have my Christmas Village out, but yes, I know! It is time to put it away! I guess I kept waiting for a good snowstorm or two for the "Village People" to enjoy...the "Village People" are kind of sad about this non-winter we had. Speaking of the Village People, at our daughter's recent orchestra concert, one of the songs their orchestra played was "YMCA" it was cool!!

Have you watched the KONY 2012 video that's all over Facebook and the news? What an amazing use of social media!

Very exciting Iditarod this year! We're a little disappointed that Lance Mackey doesn't seem to be a real contender (although I wouldn't completely count him out just yet), but a great race so far. A woman, Aily Zirkle, is one of the front runners along with a father and son competing against one another (the Seaveys), to mention a few. I'd love to see Aily win, but they're all really amazing athletes especially the dogs!

Our daughter does an amazing dramatic reading of the song, "15 Miles on the Erie Canal". Lol...

It cracks me up when people say something is a "mute point". (It's "moot point" in case you didn't know.) "Walla" for "voila" is always good for a chuckle as well, lol... :-) Hey, I know not everyone is a great speller or a professor of English, it's cool. You can laugh at me when I'm making a recipe and can't figure out how to triple a recipe that calls for 2/3 of a cup of something. (I was never good with fractions. Or math, really...)

Our geocaching streak of consecutive days with a geocache find is up to 75 as of today. *I* found today's geocache while I was out shopping. :-D

The end.

Getting Ready to Get the Thousand Dollar Garden of Mistakes Goin' Again!!

2012-03-09T19:54:00.002-05:00

Freshly dug dirt from the garden, ready to be tested!

Maybe if we knew the condition of our soil, we could have a little more success this year...ya think??? :-)

Have you started preparations for your garden yet?

The end.

So, I've Actually Been Going to the Gym...

2012-03-09T19:47:00.001-05:00

Another recipe I want to try from Pinterest. I joined a gym so that hopefully I can still eat stuff like this. :-) Photo from Parttimehousewife.com

So it's been a month now and I thought I'd give you an update on how the gym is going. (In case you missed the previous post(s) about this, I am tired of dieting and although it would probably be easier to take a diet pill like apidextra, I decided to try getting rid of my "Christmas Blubber" by joining a gym.)

Well first of all, I am actually going - didn't just sign up and go two times and then give up, lol...

Surprisingly, I really really like going to the gym. Believe me, no one is more surprised about this than me. I've always hated exercise. My goal was to go to the gym at least 3 times a week, and I've met that goal and I think 3 out of the last four weeks I went four or five times a week. I haven't lost a ton of weight - only about 4-5 lbs so far, but I didn't expect weight to come off fast - just glad it's coming off. I'm also starting to really notice my endurance and strength increasing.

I mostly like to use the elliptical and the treadmill. They have tvs in front of all the machines and you can use earbuds with it to hear the sound, or put on closed captioning and just read what is being said (that's what I do). Definitely helps it from being too boring, and I've even noticed some days I don't even watch tv, I just daydream in my own little Carole World.

Do you go to a gym? What do you like to do at the gym?

The end.

A Good Bridal Shower or Housewarming Gift

2012-03-08T10:23:00.000-05:00

We have actually given this as a gift to a few couples that could appreciate the humor yet practicalness of it. I even decorated it with a nice big poof of curling ribbon around the handle to you know, fancy it up.

Yes, a plunger! Because here's the thing - who thinks to buy a plunger when they first get married or get their first apartment? You know when someone goes to buy a plunger it's because they need it. When you see someone on line at the hardware store or department store with a plunger, you know what they are going to be doing when they get home! Lol... And really, your first clog doesn't always happen at a time when it's convenient to run to the store. Wouldn't it be nice to have someone thoughtful, like me, suffer the embarrassment of standing in line with a plunger for you, so that your plunger is there next to your toilet, ready to tackle your first clog as man and wife?

(And geez, these new "water saving" toilets that only use like three tablespoons of water with each flush - builders should include a plunger for every toilet with each new house! I bet plunger sales sure have risen since these water saving toilets have become the norm!)

I hope you weren't eating while you read this. Sorry.

The end.

This is What I Made Today from Pinterest

2012-03-05T13:33:00.000-05:00

Easy Smores Cookies from realmomkitchen.com

In a recent post, I mentioned I was going to give Pinterest another go (the first time I checked it out, I felt it was very overwhelming). I found a few people to follow, and I found a few things to "pin", including this recipe for Easy Smores Cookies. I had to bake something for a kids' church meeting and I thought these would be a hit. I made them today and these were fast and easy to make, and came out almost as pretty as the picture above, lol.

If you've never checked out Pinterest.com before, it's kind of hard to explain, but it's kind of like your own virtual cork board that you can "pin" ideas to - craft ideas, recipes, photographs, fashion styles - all sorts of stuff - that others have already "pinned" to their "boards". Or you can pin your own stuff you find on the internet outside of Pinterest. It's kind of confusing, but there's a lot of cool ideas to check out. (I'm figuring I'm going to end up pinning 3,000 crafts/recipes/home decorating ideas that I'll never actually do... But I did make the cookies! :-)

I could use some other good "pinners" to follow, so if you're on Pinterest.com and want to leave me a link to your profile or someone you recommend, that would be cool. If you want to follow me, and my whopping four pins so far, feel free, lol - my name is "Carole Hudsonvalley".

Have *you* had any great wins or fails from Pinterest?

The end.