I'd Like It If. . .

. . .It just stayed off of the roads!

Namaste.

New Toy

I got a pretty kewl new toy for Christmas. . .
It speeds up the cooking time - one round of cooking cranks out all the sandwiches for my family.
I'm looking forward to the increased productivity of pancake flipping as well!

Yes, that is my sandwich in the lower right-hand corner.
The only one with wheat bread and low-fat cheese. . .And pickles.
Why in the world would someone want grilled cheese without pickles?

Namaste.

Story

There once was a man who was putting plywood in the attic to make a floor.
"Only step on the beams!", he repeated to his kids over and over again.

"Crash" was heard throughout the house.
The man's son's foot slipped off of a beam and went through the drywall to the hallway below.
Luckily, the only injured party of the crash was the drywall.
A direct quote of what was said by the man cannot be posted on this family friendly blog.

Later that day, the man's uncle had repaired the hole in the hallway's ceiling and all was right in the world. The uncle did such quick work that the hole wasn't recorded for prosperity. The man and his daughter were putting the finishing touches on the attic's new floor.

"Crash" was heard throughout the house.
Yes, the man had to eat some crow as his foot slipped off of the same beam.

And so a second hole had to be repaired by the man's uncle.
And this time, caught on film.
Namaste.

A Little Snow

We got a little bit of snow. . .
Just a bit. . .
We're supposed to get more tonight. . .
Just a little bit. . .

Don't know when I'll get my car back on the road. . .

SERIOUS NOTE: We were not in an accident, we just slid off of the road.
No one was hurt, but we, obviously, are not going anywhere today.

PS. Happy 16th Birthday CBoy! Love ya!

Namaste.

Gee-man-nee

MBB and the kids like LaRosa's pizza.
I will admit that I am more of a Pizza Hut gal, but I can stomach LaRosa's if I get light sauce.

For those of you who do not have a LaRosa's, it is a local Italian / Pizza restaurant chain all over town. They have one phone number for pick-up / delivery orders. When you place the order, they send the order to the correct location, but you are not talking to someone in that correct location. We always pick-up our orders on our way home - we live too far away for them to deliver.

Recently, I have had some bad experiences with LaRosa's. . .
Probably 4 of the last 6 orders have been wrong.
I think our order (we have two variations) is pretty basic, so this is an amazement to me.

Yesterday, it became 5 of the last 7 and I was fed up.
On my way home, I happened to glance at the receipt to make sure that MaBell and my pizza said light sauce and saw that they ran MBB and OB's pizza was listed wrong.
I turned around and headed back.

Here was the hard part.
No one in the restaurant did anything wrong, but I was fed up!
I didn't want to go off on someone there, so I about bit my tongue off.

The manager of the kitchen (I think) was very understanding and offered me more than I expected.
I got my pizza remade (my request). . .
I got the incorrect pizza for free (they were going to throw it out anyway). . .
I got a credit on my account for my next order. . .

OK, even though I am still ticked that the person that answers the phone can't type what they hear into the computer correctly (even when I double checked the item that ended up wrong). . .
The customer service in the restaurant rocks. :)

Namaste.

Cosmetic Changes

When we first moved in, we changed the kitchen so that it is now primarily stainless steel and rod iron black. We also tore out the wall between the kitchen and the dining room so that it pretty much one big room.

The light in the dining room really didn't go with our silver / black color scheme.
Luckily, Craig's List came through for us AGAIN and the light now looks like it belongs!

Big change, hmmm?



MBB was in the process of tearing out the old light when I quickly snapped the picture.
My apologies for the poor quality photo!



Namaste.

Another "Forward"

I have a few posts ready to go, but they need pictures that are currently residing on my memory card. So, until I find a few moments to edit and upload pictures, the posts will sit by waiting. :)

Until then, here is an email "forward" that I will share here. . .

Things that make me go "Hmmmmm?"

• If you have sex with a prostitute against her will, is it considered rape or shoplifting?
• Can you cry under water?
• How important does a person have to be before they are considered assassinated instead of just murdered?
• Why do you have to "put your two cents in"... but it's only a "penny for your thoughts"? Where's that extra penny going to?
• Why does a round pizza come in a square box?
• What disease did cured ham actually have?
• How is it that we put man on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage?
• Why is it that people say they "slept like a baby" when babies wake up like every two hours
• Why are you IN a movie, but you're ON TV?
• Why do doctors leave the room while you change? They're going to see you naked anyway.
• Why do toasters always have a setting that burns the toast to a horrible crisp, which no decent human being would eat?
• If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a stupid song about him?
• Can a hearse carrying a corpse drive in the carpool lane ?
• If the professor on Gilligan's Island can make a radio out of a coconut, why can't he fix a hole in a boat?
• Why does Goofy stand erect while Pluto remains on all fours? They're both dogs!
• If Wile E. Coyote had enough money to buy all that ACME crap, why didn't he just buy dinner?
• If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, what is baby oil made from?
• If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?
• Do the Alphabet song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star have the same tune?
  Why did you just try singing those two songs?
  
  Namaste.

Change

Yesterday brought about change.

Change for America.
Change for the World.
Change for You.
Change for Me.

I've decided that it doesn't matter:
If I like Obama or not.
If you like Obama or not.
If the World likes Obama or not.

We are in the midst of change and I am hopeful that, whether it is Obama, you, me and/or the World: All avenues will be looked at.
All questions will be asked.
All details will be investigated.

Change isn't such a bad thing, as long as it is responsible change.

Namaste.

Quote of the Day

Got this "Quote of the Day" in an email from MBB this morning:

Behold the Woman

"Whatever you give a woman, she will make greater. If you give her sperm, she'll
give you a baby. If you give her a house, she'll give you a home. If you give
her groceries, she'll give you a meal. If you give her a smile, she'll give you
her heart. She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her. So, if you give her
any crap, be ready to receive a ton of shit."

Sounds good to me! :)

Namaste.

Burrrrrrrrrr

Over the last month or so, I was always cold.
. . .I always wear my fleece at work.
. . .I am practically guzzling hot tea to warm my insides.
. . .The only time that I feel warm is in the shower or under two comforters.

Part of this may be due to not having air conditioning this past summer.
I got acclimated to the heat and was even cold at work in that A/C.

Then, I get to today.
TODAY, I AM EXTREMELY COLD!

I believe that we hit -4 when I was driving into work.
By the way, that was -20 with wind chill.
The electricity to the house went out at 6:40am and as of 1:30pm, is still out.
I am dreading going home if they don't get the electric back on soon!

Have I mentioned before that I miss Spring/Fall?

Namaste.

Success!

We have been having an issue with the litter pan not being used.
The first time, he couldn't get to the pan due to some remodeling issues.
The second time, the pan was pretty full.

After that. . .
Well. . .
The only thing that made sense is that he kept going in the same spot because he smelled it there.

So. . .
Last night, I scrubbed that area with some OxyClean (after adding it to boiling water). . .

AND. . .
Look what I found today!
In case you can't see it:
Namaste.

Ouch

OB's thumb doesn't look so good.
It looks so bad, in fact, that I am taking him to the doctor this afternoon to see if it is broke.
Yes, it is the thumb on his dominate hand.

What did he do, you ask?
Well, I guess they were fighting over the ball during practice the other day and SOMEHOW, someone stepped on his thumb.

If it still looks funky tonight, I'll post a picture.

With MaBell in a knee brace and OB with a splint on his thumb. . .
Gotta love basketball. . .NOT.

UPDATE:

OB's thumb is not broke, but he is out of basketball for 5-7 days.

In the first pic, it looks like he needs to clean under his fingernails. . .
Nope, they are clean.
That is a bruise that doesn't look as bad in the picture as it really does.

The back of his thumb is bruised too, but I couldn't get it to show up in the picture.


Namaste.

Figures. . .

SassyMarie: "A" should be next to "B".
OtherGuy: I disagree, "B" should be next to "C" and "D" next to "A".
SassyMarie: {changes, tests, finishes}

Three weeks later. . .

OtherGuy: "A" should be next to "B".
SassyMarie: {BITES TONGUE}

Namaste.

Love My Crockpot!

I swiped a recipe from Carmen and with a few modifications, it has been approved by my family.

You may laugh at that, but it is a serious feat to get my family to agree on new recipes.
MBB doesn't do vegetables (he does like Beef Vegetable Soup - go figure) and OB is very picky.
MaBell has the closest taste buds to mine, but even she surprises me on occasion.

Here is my altered version. I tried to find Carmen's version, but I unmarked it once I copied the recipe down and I can't seem to find it again.

Carmen's Beef and Rice Soup
2lbs Beef Stew Meat
2T Italian Seasoning
1t Garlic Powder
1t Salt (reduced-sodium kind)
1t Pepper
1/4c Onion Flakes
3 cups Brown Rice
20 baby carrots
2 cans Beef Broth
4 cups water

I cut the Beef Stew Meat into bite-size pieces after it was cooked.
Layer ingredients in Crock Pot (do not stir).
Cook on low for 8hrs.


My altered recipe is from memory. . .So if I typed something wrong, I'll try to fix it later.
Carmen's recipe called for a can of diced tomatoes which got eliminated. I'm still debating whether to put in half a can of tomato juice instead. I thought it tasted good, but MBB hates cooked tomatoes.
I also changed the seasoning (i.e. Onion Flakes instead of a real Onion, amounts of other things) and that may continue to change as I make it again - I'll keep you posted. I "think" that is all that I altered from Carmen's.

It didn't come out as a soup consistency, more of a casserole type dish.
Overall, this tasted REALLY good to me. I need to be careful not to make it too often and burn OB out on it.

Namaste.

I Like Fall!

Spring isn't bad either.

I am feeling a bit homesick for those two seasons.

Namaste.

It's Back!

And I'm pretty excited about it!
I am trying to get back to my lowest weight of my transformation.
Hopefully, this will help motivate me!

Currently, I am rooting for the black team.
One of the members reminds me of the kids' uncle.
His cousin reminds the rest of the family of someone who I haven't met.

NOTE: The logo is from here - I take no credit for it!

Namaste.

Personal Resolutions

My Personal Resolutions for 2009:

• Get to the gym AT LEAST three times a week.
• Eat healthier.
• Speak my mind in a manner that allows me to stand up for myself AND not be in attack mode.

Namaste.

Just Playing. . .

We have been having a blast with our new cat - though MBB thinks his name should be Chicken - he runs at every little noise!

I caught him napping in the dining room.
This seems to be his favorite place - right up against my curtains. . .
His current favorite toy seems to be rubber bands. . .
Since there recently was a rubber band war in our house, he has been helping me find all of them, but he isn't too happy when I take them.
MBB also got him to play with a magazine. . .
I think I need to get him some cat toys soon!
Namaste.

I'm Sore!

Thursday evening consisted of trimming out the living room with primer.
Friday was spent priming and painting, priming and painting - did I mention priming and painting?

The good news: the Living Room is PAINTED!
NO MORE TEAL!
(Except on the baseboards and molding - but I'm working on that one!)

Yes, I am still sore. . .
Yes, it is sooooo worth it!







Even after my nightmare experience on scaffolding at the condo, I did get up the nerve to get on the walk.

It was a bit more sturdy than the scaffolding and as long as no one else making it move, I muddled through. In other words, no one was allowed on it when I was on it~ :)







And here is a limited view of the finished product!

The first picture was just to prove that we did get the tall wall done! :D
OK, MBB got the tall wall done - that was the only one that us painters couldn't do (plus one other spot that Mr. Monkey Butt could reach). :)

The second one has all three colors that were painted - yes, three colors.
The side wall is the light gray.
The back wall (with the window) are medium gray.
The walls that outline the door alcove are dark gray.















Namaste.

Resolutions

We have one family resolution this year (at least that I know of):
To use all of the remodeling supplies that we purchased in the last week.

In order to give you some perspective on that purchase:
We are taking 11 months to pay for it. . .
We still have to pick up about 75% of it (maybe two or three trips with the truck?). . .

Our plan?
New closet in the Master Bedroom with organizers. . .
New closet in OB's Bedroom with organizers. . .
Tear out the old closet in MaBell's Bedroom. . .
Tear the Master Bathroom down to stud and put the new walls in. . .
Build a new Coat / Shoe Closet in the entryway. . .
Add insulation and drywall 80% of the concrete walls in the basement. . .

I am also trying to get a lot of painting done, but that wasn't in the big purchase.

We are starting: TODAY
(Technically we started last week, but we are working on it the first day of 2009. Second day too!)

Stay tuned for updates - both pictures and aches and pains.

Namaste.