Exceedingly Mundane

Today’s Christmas-themed “Question of the Day” is an easy one! It’s all about the presents or gifts under your tree. Do you wrap more presents using wrapping paper or do you use more gift bags? Do you try to wrap your presents as you go, or do you have one marathon wrapping session? Does your wrapping paper have a color theme or other theme? Or is it a mish-mash of colors, patterns and styles?

Here’s my answers – I try to wrap most of my presents, and I use an assortment of paper. Not the expensive stuff, or something with a nice coordinating theme. I buy a lot of paper from Walmart and Target the day-after Christmas and put it up for the next year. It’s whatever colors or patterns or paper catch my eye. It’s a total riot of color under my tree, not well-coordinated at all 😀 I try to wrap as I go, but I usually end up having at least one marathon wrapping session. I like to put on a Christmas movie and wrap while watching one of my favorite classics. Tim will help if I ask him – he’s good about doing the paper, then I do the bows, tags, etc. He won’t volunteer but he will help if I ask 🙂 I usually end up putting a couple of things in gift bags, but I try not to overdo it on the bags. I think it’s more fun to unwrap something on Christmas morning, rather than just opening the top of a bag and finding the present under a layer of tissue paper.

Oh, and for the record, I have only wrapped one present so far this year. I hope to get started today. The weather is dreary (raining and sleeting, we were supposed to get snow flurries, but so far, nada) and it’s a good day to stay inside and try to wrap some presents.

How about you? Do you have a well-coordinated tree as far as the presents and gifts go? Are there a lot of bags under your tree? Are you up late on Christmas Eve, still trying to wrap everything and get it under the tree, or do you have yours wrapped a couple of weeks (or months?!) ahead of time? Leave me a comment and let me know!

If you visit here much, you’ve probably read a reference or two to the fact that Tim is working from home full-time. We both love it, especially me! It’s been such a blessing to have him here, and for us to be able to spend so much time together. We converted one of our spare bedrooms years ago into a computer room/scrapbook room. Since we run our own website (Hambones.org), we have several computers back there already. When he started working from home part-time, he worked some in the den and kitchen, but that is hard on your back to sit for long periods of time at a non-computer chair/desk. Then, he moved to the computer room/office and we got me a laptop to use in the den and kitchen (where I spend most of my time anyway!). We have a computer desk and chair, but the chair is probably 11 or 12 years old and not ergonomic in any way.

Tim has been having problems with his upper back and shoulders for nearly two weeks now. Yesterday, he got up and decided to go to the doctor to get it x-rayed and checked out. But, by lunchtime, he talked himself out of going, saying it was starting to feel better. He’s been using a heating pad, and we have been applying those heat patches to his back a couple of times a day. FYI – Tim is not a guy who gets sick or has physical problems. He’s as healthy as an ox. When he gets a headache, he doesn’t even like to take a Tylenol. He prefers to just “tough it out”. 🙂

Anyway, I suggested that maybe it was time to look at getting a) a new computer chair for him to sit in all day and maybe b) a new mattress for our bed. Our mattress is 9 or 10 years old – does anyone know if that’s about the lifespan of a mattress/box springs?

So, last night, we went and got Tim a new chair. He picked it out, and then when we got it home, I was told that I was going to be putting it together!

Tada - instead of Tim "Tool Time", we have Stacy Tool Time...

Concentrating (I normally stick my tongue in the side of my mouth when I concentrate!)

Posing

So, now Tim has a nice new chair to sit in all day. And at night, he works nights sometimes too, like last night. Poor thing. I’m so proud of him, he works so hard to support us and give us a comfortable, happy life 🙂

P.S. Tim said to add that he “loves a woman who can build a chair!!” 🙄

Another long, rambling, assorted post 🙂

Our new great-nephew that was born yesterday now has a name – Max Colton. We got an email with a photo of the new family and they looked tired, but very happy. This makes our sixth great niece or nephew. We have another one on the “other side” of my family who we haven’t met – Henry was born in April but we have yet to see him. He and his big brother and sister are coming on Thanksgiving though, so we’ll get to meet him next week!

I did my weekly grocery shopping yesterday. I’m so happy to be finding two of my favorite seasonal things at the store right now – the Coffeemate flavored creamers (got Gingerbread this week) and the Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash. I can drink my body weight in that stuff, I love it. And I have to stock up, by the week of Christmas or the week after, it will be gone in our stores here.

I also went clothes shopping yesterday. I wish I were one of those kind of women who actually loved shopping for clothes, but I’m not. It’s a tedious chore for me. I do a lot better when I have someone go with me, but alas, no takers. I concentrated on sweaters and tops yesterday. I didn’t even try any pants, jeans or skirts on. This time of year, I mostly wear pants to church (rebel that I am), since I’m so cold. I think it probably looks odd to wear my three pair of black pants over and over, but hey, that’s what I am doing. I did buy some new sweaters and tops though. I tried on a dozen or more pairs of flats and boots and came away empty handed. I’ll have to go again and look for those.

I am starting to get a little panicked about Christmas. Thanksgiving is so late this year, and then Tim’s birthday is two days after Thanksgiving, so I won’t have a chance to start until after then. But, we are having our Christmas with my in-laws the weekend before Christmas, so that only leaves me a couple of weeks to get things and get them wrapped. I’m getting zero ideas from people (HINT HINT), and I really need some help and suggestions. HINT HINT.

I’m enjoying the heck out of my new iPhone. It’s so nice to be able to take it with me places and still be in touch. Tim and I both have downloaded a ton of free apps for the thing and it’s so easy and so fun. I have only downloaded one pay app – the shopping app that I have used for years on my Palm Pilot (SplashShopper). It’s not as user friendly as it was on the Palm, but at least I have all of my info. If you have an iPhone (or I guess a Blackberry, not sure they work the same where applications are concerned), which applications do you have and which ones do you really like?

Finally, Beau is the constant joy in my life. Tim and I talk about it all the time. The dog has such personality and so much energy. And he’s very vocal. He’s gotten to where he growls and barks a lot to communicate with us, in different ways. It’s very cute! And I’m also happy to say that this dip in cool weather has perked up his appetite! When we got him, he was skin and bones and it’s been my mission ever since to put some weight on him. Some days, he won’t eat much at all. Lately, he’s eating really well and that makes me happy. I took some photos of him in the past few days that I wanted to share:

1. Can you see him?

2. Maybe a close up will help – I had to part the shrub and zoom in, he was wedged inside this big shrub we have, hunting for lizards:

3. Beau takes every step that Tim takes, he loves and adores him. I’m constantly singing the Aerosmith song “I don’t want to miss a thing”, because he doesn’t want to miss anything Tim does, says or anywhere he goes. He rarely feels that way about me, but this morning, he was quite interested in the laundry. I did two loads and I bet I have 8 pictures of him doing this:

That’s my Beau baby!

What goes up, must come down. And so it goes after a really nice birthday weekend, after Tim got me lots of great stuff, let me pick where to eat out two nights in a row (calories, oh the calories!), and I generally had a lovely time. Alas, it’s back to normal now 🙂

* The weather here is wonderful. Almost fall-like! Upper 40’s or low 50’s at night, and 70’s during the day is wonderful for us. I’ve turned the A/C off and am opening the windows as much as possible. We haven’t turned the heat on yet, and I hope to prolong that as long as possible. Our electric and gas bill might look a smidge better!

* Monday 10/20 marked the two year anniversary of the day we first saw Beau and brought him home to be ours! Poor thing, he had to celebrate by going to the vet for his yearly check-up. Overall, he’s healthy and he’s such a good boy when we go in, they all comment about it. But he has persistent ear infections that we all thought were caused by food allergies. After taking another culture and examining him head to toe, his vet now thinks it could be something else, either a thyroid problem or just a nasty infection we can’t get rid of. So, we’ve got an oral antibiotic to give him for two weeks, and a newly mixed set of ear drops that have to be put in his poor ears for 7 days. I hope that helps. He has seriously had dirty, bothersome ears since the day we adopted him. But overall, I think he’s healthy and happy. I know he’s happy! We talk about it all the time – how much joy he brings to our lives, what a wonderful dog he is, how much he’s learned, and how well he’s adapted to our routines and what we ask of him. Beau no longer gets car sick, hooray! He’s eating 1-3 bowls of dry food a day, although he hasn’t gained any weight (all that running around and exercise with Tim). His favorite thing to do is hunt squirrels and lizards. His second favorite thing to do is to go to the golf course with Tim. He pulls the hand cart that holds Tim’s golf clubs and bag and walks with Tim for 18 holes. Tim says he LOVES it! I want Tim to take him hunting this winter, and I think that will become his new favorite thing 🙂

* I have a jury summons for next week. 🙁 At least it’s only for a week this time, and not a month like last time when I had a federal summons. So, if I don’t post much next week, you’ll know why…

* Our cable/DVR is through Comcast, and they finally got around to scheduling the On-Demand updates here. They warned us that they would wipe out our DVR and start over. I got up this morning (they were supposed to do it all last night) and nothing has changed. The good news is that they haven’t erased our DVR yet, but we don’t have the new On Demand stuff either. I wish they’d go ahead and do it – setting up all of our shows to record is going to be a pain. I seriously don’t know how we lived without a DVR for so long, we both love that thing to death. Greatest invention in a long time 😀

* I got a new Wii game for my birthday. I wanted to try to get one that I *might* be good at. Every game I get, Tim is wonderful at, right away, and blows me away. I think it’s just a guy thing – guys are just a lot better at video games. So, I asked for (and bought myself!) Dance Dance Revolution 2. I tried it a little and let me tell you – I have got to be the most uncoordinated person on the planet. I don’t know if I’m ever going to figure that game out. Plus, apparently I have zero rhythm. 🙁

Hope you have a great day – thanks for stopping by to visit! 😀

Most of you who come here know that we have a furry child – Beau. I talk about him a lot and post a lot of pictures of him. What you might not know is that a) he’s our second furry child and b) I take a ridiculous amount of photos of him that I don’t post.

Our first furry child was a golden retriever and Irish setter mix named Sally. I didn’t have a blog when we had her, so she doesn’t get mentioned here much. Poor thing, she would have loved all of the attention 🙂 She was the sweetest, smartest dog ever. I promise! 😀

When she died, I was heartbroken for months, but wanted to get another dog about 2-3 months later. Tim made me wait 3 years and 2 weeks. Then, we got Beau.

I thought that Beau would be my baby. He was my birthday gift, and I got to name him and I thought by picking a male dog, he would love me more than he loved Tim. I could not have been more wrong. That dog lives for Tim. He allows me in his world because I feed him. 😀

Anyway, I digress. Sally had several habits that Beau has never had and vice versa. But lately, in the last couple of months, we have noticed that Beau has suddenly picked up a habit that Sally exhibited from the first day I brought her home. She loved to curl up in the corner behind the kitchen table, and she loved to hide behind the kitchen chairs and even under the table if she could crawl in. Tim always said it was because she was a scaredy-cat, and she was. But, Beau isn’t scared of anything, he’s a very brash and cocky male dog. So, why he is suddenly doing this is a mystery to me. Maybe it’s cooler back there, who knows?!

So, it was very surprising to both of us that Beau has started hiding out behind the chairs, just like our Sally girl used to:

I still miss Sally, but I love my Beau baby to death. Even if he does hide from us sometimes 🙂

Another weekend out of the way, hard to believe it’s nearly the end of August. We spent the day Saturday at my in-laws, celebrating my mother-in-law’s birthday. It has been raining here since then, off and on. It rained almost all day on Sunday, so we spent a lot of time watching TV, playing the Wii and watching movies. We watched Vantage Point, which we saw when it first came out in the theater. Then Tim watched an older movie without me, The Forgotten. All in all a good weekend 🙂

Monday means it’s back to the grind. I do a lot of cleaning on Mondays. Every Monday morning, I do a big cleaning of the kitchen, breakfast room and laundry, commonly known as Beau’s space. He is allowed on the ceramic tile, so needless to say, this area gets pretty dirty. I sweep it every day, sometimes two or three times a day, and I mop with my Swiffer sporadically throughout the week. But on Mondays, everything gets taken out and it gets cleaned top to bottom. If the weather is nice (not freezing cold, not burning hot, and not raining), then Beau is relegated to the deck for the hour or so it takes to clean everything. If its rainy like it is today, he gets shoved out in the laundry room:

He hates being out there. He seems to be a bit claustrophobic at times. He’s always SO happy to come out!

Lots more cleaning on the agenda for today. Tonight, I’m going to make something I haven’t made in a long time. Very little cooking involved, as I’m taking the easy way out. It’s called Tortellini with Portobella mushrooms and I am using a jar of alfredo sauce, so it won’t take more than about 20 minutes. I’ve made a homemade sauce before, using low-fat cream cheese, which is good and probably a ton healthier, but I’m going to take the easy way out tonight. And of course, you know its a pasta dish, which is NOT Tim’s favorite, so I don’t make it often. In fact, we probably haven’t had it in 2 or 3 years, but I’m looking forward to it. It has portobella mushrooms, which I love (Shhh, don’t tell Tim there’s no meat!). The recipe is here.

Hope everyone had a nice weekend and is having a great Monday, getting the new week off to a great start!

My two favorite males in the whole wide world! Oh, and this picture could also be captioned “Beau and his favorite human being, Tim” 😀 You’d never know that that dog was my birthday present almost two years ago. He literally runs by me to get to Tim. He follows Tim everywhere. Me, he barely gives me the time of day!

I’ve got Dad’s floppy hat on, so I’m ready to go outside and help mow the grass and weedeat around the flower beds 😀

I’m ready, let’s go!!!

In response to my post below, the first commenter (Desert Songbird) requested a video of Beau. Well, that is so much easier said than done, and so much more the norm for most people! We have a 10 year old tape camcorder, so that’s out of the question. One of my older digital cameras did have a movie option, so I do use it sporadically. My new Canon DSLR doesn’t have a video capability, so I don’t tend to do anything but still photography very often.

However…

I did take a video of Beau a couple of weeks ago, in late July. He LOVES to go to the golf course with Tim. It’s their new thing to do together. They go 2-3 times a week and Beau gets so excited, he gets very vocal. That’s what the movie is of. Of course, for 10 minutes before this, he was barking nonstop. I didn’t think you’d want to see that video, of him barking constantly. This video (hopefully, if I did this right) has him singing and wailing a little bit 😀

The link is here, at Google Video. Or I think it is. This is my first video too. Beau and I don’t have a clue about all of this stuff 😀

Well, I tried to embed the video, but that didn’t work. Click on the link above, the red word “here” 😀

Click here to see one of the best videos I’ve seen in a long time. Of course, I’m a dog lover and I love seeing stories about special dogs. And their owners. I think you’ll like this one!

I thought I’d also throw in a fairly recent picture of my baby. We think he’s as smart as the dog on the video, but we’re very biased. Beau has learned a lot of commands in the last year or two. When we got him, he knew zero commands. Now, he knows about 25!

Have a wonderful day!

I haven’t played the Camera Critters meme in a couple of weeks… thought I’d remedy that today.

One of Beau’s many daily chores around the house:

P.S. Beau says “I’d do it anyway, but they always give me a treat for this particular job. So, I’m always happy to go out in the mornings and bring those lazy bums their newspaper” 😀

I haven’t posted any pictures of my Beau in oh… at least a week or more! That’s just not right. He’s too cute not to post pictures of more often 🙂

I know, I know. He looks the same as always. Nothing new or unique about these photos. Except that he’s so cute and lovable and we adore him. He’s gotta get some face time here, too 😀

What? Doesn’t every dog have a big fluffy, high-rise bed like this? 😀

We’ve been busy this weekend, getting stuff done! More on that later, but suffice it to say, we’re cleaning out the garage and repainting the floor (not the walls, just the floor). All of the stuff in the garage had to be moved, so I put all of Beau’s beds in the kitchen. While trying to cook last night, I moved them around and stacked them all up. He decided he really liked his triple-decker bed. He’s been laying on them ever since!

Back soon with more info on our weekend and lots more pictures. Hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day and remember our fallen heroes.

Here’s my third entry for the Camera Critters weekly photo meme. Click here if you’d like to go play along. As for me, I never seem to have trouble taking photos of my Beau Baby!

Tim said to call this one: “How about a Coke Zero and a hot dog?”
I would have captioned it: “Everyone at our house drinks Coke Zero!”
Either way, he’s the cutest pooch on our block!

I played along for the first time last week, and thought I would again this week. I actually don’t have a new photo to post, but I do have one I took a couple of weeks ago that I have not yet posted. If you’d like to play, go here to check out all of the details!

Beau was playing behind the fence a couple of weeks ago, near the ditch. Tim was out hitting his golf balls and reported that Beau started barking incessantly. When he finally went to check out what he was upset about, he found him barking at a turtle. Tim brought the turtle back near our house, and said I should get my camera. Beau was really quite unsure about the turtle, and he “played” with it and barked at it for a long, long time 🙂

So, I guess you get two critters for the price of one this week! Have a great day