Exceedingly Mundane

Here I go, swiping from fellow bloggers again! As seen here on Dawn’s blog:

Condiments

1. What do you like on a hot dog? Mayonnaise and mustard. No ketchup unless Tim makes me. I can do onion but I’m not fond of relish. I like sauerkraut on my brats, but that’s not technically a hot dog. Just lots of mayo, please.

2. What do you like on a hamburger? Lots of mayo, some mustard, one drop of ketchup. A slice of dill pickle. Some red onion. If I feel like I can have the extra calories, some cheese.

3. What do you like on a baked potato? Load it up, baby! Everything – butter, sour cream, bacon bits, cheese, anything. Yummy, I love loaded potatoes 🙂

4. What do you like on a slice of toast? Butter and jelly. I’ll eat most any kind of jelly, as long as it’s smooth, without chunks like slivers of orange in orange marmalade. My favorite would be grape or strawberry or raspberry, I guess.

5. What do you like in a cup of coffee or tea? Coffee, I need Splenda and some flavored creamer (not the powdered kind). In tea, I need sugar. In hot tea, I usually use honey or Splenda.

And, along the same lines, how about an easy Question of the Day: Spring is around the corner, and we’ll be grilling out more. Let’s say we’re having a cookout at our house, and you’re invited. We’re grilling out hamburgers and hotdogs – which would you pick? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Today’s Question of the Day is a bit different from the others I have asked in the past. Today, I’d like to give you a hypothetical situation and see what you would do.

Let’s say that someone you’re close to, a family member or friend, gives you a gift of a scented toiletry item. For example, a bottle of perfume, some scented body wash or body lotion. You’re thrilled because you love this type of stuff! But, after you use it a couple of times, you realize you don’t like the scent. What do you do?

Do you keep it and use it anyway? Do you use it and then once you realize you don’t like it, do you … throw it away? Put it away in a cabinet or drawer and forget about it? Do you give it to another friend for her to try? What would you do?

Leave me a comment and let me know!

Hope everyone has a great weekend! We’re going to be busy. It’s beautiful outside and we have some stuff to do – pruning, weeding, cleaning up, etc. I also have a really long list of things that need to be worked on and fixed on my new laptop. Then, there’s housework. Who knows how much of which will get done! 🙂

My blog buddy Heidi, over at God’s Grace in Practice, asked if I had asked a “Question of the Day” about pillows – and I have not. Great idea, thanks Heidi!

How many pillows do you sleep with on your bed? What kind of pillows are they? We’re sort of particular about our pillows. Tim has a problem with feathers and down, so I never buy down pillows and we can’t sleep under a down comforter. I buy synthetic pillows or down alternative. I always try to get some that say “hypoallergenic”, because those seem to do better for us. I don’t have a problem with feathers or down, but if Tim is sneezing all night and miserable, then I do have trouble sleeping! Anyway, we just sleep with two plain, regular sized pillows. No extra pillows, no body pillows. I do wash them fairly often, at least every few months, and more often in the summer when it’s hotter. I probably wash them every month or so in the hot part of the year. I replace them when they are looking bad. Which, for Tim, is sooner than me. He scrunches his pillow up when he sleeps, and his gets broken down and lumpy a lot faster than mine. I don’t keep track, but I probably buy new pillows every 12-16 months.

Oh, and for the record, since I was blogging about this, I just went and put our pillows into the washer. Hehehehe! 😀

So, thanks to Heidi, that’s today’s Question of the Day: How many pillows do you sleep with, and what kind? Anything out of the ordinary? Do you wash them regularly or replace them often?

I haven’t been blogging a lot lately. Life seems to get in the way sometimes, huh? But, today, I wanted to ask a question of the day. I always love reading everyone’s answers! Today’s question is all about how you start your day. Do you eat breakfast in the morning? I know a lot of people don’t, and that’s ok too, but it’s just not us.

We’re breakfast people in our house. We were both raised by moms who thought we should start the day off right. Tim’s mom used to get up every single morning and fix them a big breakfast before they got on the bus. Breakfast was big in my house too, and to this day, it’s one of my favorite kinds of food. I have fond memories of my dad fixing pancakes on an old Presto electric griddle we used to have. We eat breakfast every morning here, and we often have breakfast foods for dinner. At least once a week, sometimes more. In fact, I love breakfast food so much, that one year for my birthday, I asked Tim to take me out to eat breakfast rather than dinner. 😀

On an average weekday, we have coffee, juice and a bowl of cereal. We keep two kinds of cereal in the house lately. Tim is on a Raisin Bran Crunch kick, and I’m on a Yogurt Cheerios kick, although I love the Raisin Bran crunch too. On the weekends, we either have cereal or maybe eggs, sausage and grits or even pancakes or waffles.

So, that’s today’s Question of the Day: Do you eat breakfast? Does everyone in your house eat something different? Do you eat at home, in the car, at your desk at work, or not at all? Do you eat the same thing every day or something different every day? Do you eat a big breakfast on the weekends? Do you just skip breakfast all together and wait for lunch?! Inquiring minds want to know 😀

I mentioned in a previous post that Tim and I ended up eating out on Tuesday night, while we were out shopping for replacement parts for our website’s servers. We tossed around several suggestions of places we both like to eat, that we had been to before. Believe me, we don’t have any trouble finding places to eat out! We both love to eat, we both love food and we both like to eat out. And we do, quite often.

Anyway, a new place opened near our house, a chain restaurant that is new to our area. Neither of us had eaten at one of these restaurants before, and since it’s a sports/family themed type place, we thought it would be perfect. There’s a local sports bar and grill near our house that we love, and we wanted to check this place out.

Well, let’s just say that I didn’t think it was that great. My food was mediocre at best, although Tim says his was good. We realize the place is new, and so when the service was slow, we were very understanding. We assumed the servers and kitchen staff were still learning, but we do get exasperated when we don’t see our waitress for the entire meal and we run out of our drinks (water/ Diet Coke). We’re not particularly fussy about restaurants in general – I worked in the restaurant industry some in high school and college and I know first hand just how hard it is to wait tables and dish up food. We’re really good tippers because of that, if the food and service are good.

I won’t name the place by name, because believe it or not, this post is not a rant and rave about this particular restaurant. Instead, it’s a in-general thing – in general, how do you decide about going back to a restaurant you weren’t overly thrilled with? Tim liked it better than I did, even though I told him I’d be glad to try it again and get something else on the menu. But – I do draw the line somewhere. I will give this place one or two more times and then if the food and service don’t get any better, I’d rather cross it off my list. There’s just too many good places here to eat, for me to keep going back to a place I really don’t enjoy.

So, that’s today’s Question of the Day: If you and your spouse/family go to a new restaurant and someone is not happy with the food/service/environment, how many times will you go back to try them again? Will you not go back? Will you give it one more shot and then that’s it? Three strikes and you’re out? Or will you keep going back because someone else in your family likes it and wants to go there? Leave me a comment and let me know!

I’m going to piggyback off of my Project365 photo from the other day, since it’s gotten a lot of comments. Of course, many of you may have already commented and sort of answered this question over there. 🙄

I blogged about the new Cherry Coke Zero that I found at our Kroger the other day, and bought. I’ve since found it at our Super Walmart and also our Target, by the way. Anyway, we’ve tried it and we really love it. Actually, the whole “Coke Zero” thing is new for us. I was buying Diet Coke and didn’t even think to try Coke Zero. Then, I read on someones blog about it and gave it a try, and now, of course, we’re hooked.

So that’s today’s Question of the Day: Do you drink soft drinks? If so, are you loyal to a certain brand and flavor, and just drink a certain one? Which one? If not, why do you not drink soft drinks, because of the caffeine, carbonation, calories or what? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Today’s Question of the Day is a short one – can you drive a stick shift? I can only drive an automatic, as I have never learned to drive a manual transmission. It’s something that I know I should know how to do, and I realize I should have learned, but I never did. When Tim and I got married, he had a truck with a stick shift and I never could drive it anywhere. Even in an emergency, which always worried Tim. So when he got a new truck, he made sure to get an automatic so that I could drive it. Now, I often take his rather than mine, because it’s easier and bigger and it drives great!

So, that’s today’s Question of the Day – can you drive a stick shift? As a bonus, do you have a standard or automatic transmission in the vehicle you drive most often? Could you drive one if you had to? And, any other interesting tidbits you might like to provide!

P.S. My sister Gail‘s blog is called “More Than A Song” and she almost always titles her blog posts with either lyrics from a song or a song title. This might possibly be the first time I’ve done that – do you know who sings this old song “Baby, you can drive my car…. Yes, I’m gonna be a star…” 🙂

Time for another Question of the Day! I had a survey up on our main website, but it only got 3 responses, so I thought I would ask the same question here. Do you have any wish lists online? I use Amazon’s wish list system, but I know there are others out there, although I can’t think of any off the top of my head! Do you use Amazon or another site, or do you not have a wish list? What is on your wish list? Mine has books, movies, kitchen items, personal items, etc. In fact, I have several separate lists at Amazon, by category.

So, that’s today’s Question of the Day: Do you have a wish list at Amazon? What kind of items are on it? Do you ever order for yourself from your wish list, or do others order things for you from your list? Leave me a comment and let me know!

It’s time for another “Question of the Day”. Today, I’d like to talk about milk. I know a lot of people don’t drink milk, and that’s cool, but we are definitely milk drinkers in our house. There’s just two of us, and we usually go through about 2 gallons a week. We have milk every morning on our cereal, and we usually have milk at night. Sometimes with cookies or something sweet, and sometimes it’s just milk. If we have breakfast food for dinner, we often stir Hershey’s syrup into milk and have chocolate milk with dinner. We love milk. But, here’s the thing, we drink only skim milk. We can’t afford the calories of the higher-fat content milks. Love them, but we’re perfectly happy with skim milk. I went through a phase where I drank soy milk, but I haven’t done that in a while. I mostly stick to skim.

On a related note, our milk has gotten really high here. I always buy the store brand, and at my Walmart last week, one gallon of skim milk was $3.36. I was shocked! Of course, it could be worse. A small, half gallon carton of organic milk is that much, but still. Thankfully, our Kroger runs a sale fairly often, and sells their store brand of milk 2 gallons for $5.00.

So, that’s today’s Question of the Day: Do you drink milk? If so, what kind (whole, 1%, 2%, skim, organic, soy, etc) and how much do you usually drink in a week’s time? If you remember, how much do you pay for milk where you live? Inquiring minds want to know!

Today’s exhilarating post is all about soap. Yes, the difference between using bar soap and body wash. It’s always a thrill a minute here at “Exceedingly Mundane” folks! 😀

I’ve discovered yet another generational thing, at least in our family. When we have house guests of a certain age, they don’t understand why we have this bottle of stuff in the shower/tub called “Body Wash”. They are always like “where is the soap?”, which to them, means a bar of soap. Now, most everyone under the age of 50 understands the concept of a liquid body wash, but some don’t. So, I’ve learned to keep a bar or two of soap on hand for certain overnight guests to our home.

But for us, we like and use body wash. Tim, thankfully, was willing to try switching years ago (even though I was worried he would think it was girly and not try it!) and decided he likes it. He likes the Lever 2000 brand, so I keep us stockpiled with that body wash. Me, I love the ones from Bath and Body Works, but I also buy some cheaper stuff (Suave, store brand) to use from time to time. My current body wash favorite is B&BW Cherry Blossom. Love the stuff.

So, how about you? What do you use? I’d love for you to leave me a comment and answer today’s “Question of the Day“. What kind of soap do you use at your house, bar soap or body wash? Do you have a brand preference? Do you use the smelly, girly stuff or just something utilitarian, just to get you clean and half-way fresh smelling?!

Have a great day, everyone!

This is a dual purpose blog post. It’s something I’ve been wanting to blog about since it turned colder, and it’s also my photo of the day for my Project365:

Yup, it’s socks! Snuggle-up, cozy-up, lounge around kind of socks. I love these things! I wear them all the time in the winter. My hands and feet seem to stay cold this time of year, and I usually wear two pair of socks when I’m around the house for any length of time. I wear a pair of white athletic socks, then one of my snuggle socks. It helps keep my feet warm!

You see, I have self-diagnosed myself with something my grandmother had, and I think my mother had also. It’s called Raynaud’s and in its milder forms, it really just means poor circulation to the extremities, resulting in cold hands and cold feet. As it worsens, your extremities become increasingly colder and start turning white, blue and red. Now, no doctor has ever told me I have this, but I think I do. My hands and feet are cold year round, but its much worse in winter. I have often been known to wear gloves inside in the winter, and usually 2 pair of socks and even shoes or slippers. Once my feet or hands get cold, I get cold all over and it takes quite a bit to warm me up.

Aside from that medical oddity, I just love these big comfy socks. So, that’s today’s Question of the Day: Do you have any of these cuddle socks that you wear? Or do you have a big pair of comfy slippers or something else to keep your feet warm when it’s cold outside? Or are you so hot-natured that you don’t need these kinds of things? Inquiring minds want to know 🙂

Yesterday, I visited one of my favorite blogs, Vader’s Mom. She just happens to be Stacy too! What, a great name, huh? LOL!

She posted here about her fridge, and I decided to play along. This is also my photo for today, and I’m posting it here rather than at my photoblog. Thanks, Stacy, for letting me swipe this idea and use it here.

I wish my fridge was nice and new. We want to get new appliances, but the washer and dryer we bought in December is going to put a hold on any new appliances for a while. This lovely white tiny refrigerator is about 14 years old and we really need a new one. We want to get a stainless side-by-side, but right now, that’s just a dream.

Anyway, the front of my fridge is your basic hodge-podge. I love putting photos on there, and I have Christmas cards I put on the side that hang up there all year. On the front is a collection of magnets from places we’ve been, the menu for the week, coupons to the Christian bookstore, things I’ve cut out of the newspaper, photos, etc. There’s also a dry erase board where I write reminder notes, or Tim’s “honey-do” list. You’ll notice that is really short right now. I have a bigger list on a piece of paper of things I want him to do before our Super Bowl party on Sunday. LOL

So, here’s my fridge…feel free to play along at your own blog. Leave me a note if you do, and I’ll come on over and check it out 😀

The front:

The side, where I put some Christmas cards. I fix my cereal and coffee on the countertop next to the fridge every morning, so I get to see these smiling faces every morning!

I’m going to cheat and piggyback off of yesterday’s post about calendars. I blogged about the fact that I’m a throwback to a previous generation. As much as I love technology and all of the geeky things available to us today, I still hang on to some older things. Case in point – calendars. I use electronic ones constantly, but I still have a paper one hanging on my wall near my computer.

Same with newspapers. I read news online, watch it on TV, listen to it on the radio sporadically, and still, we get a newspaper delivered daily. It’s something I’ve done since I was out of college and living on my own. I grew up in a household where you read the morning paper over coffee (and in my mom’s case, with a cigarette in your hand, while you worked the crossword puzzle). It’s something I’ve never completely let go of, although these days, I’m as likely to read the paper in the evenings as much as I am in the mornings.

I do love getting a paper for several other reasons. I love getting the localized news, the neighborhood kind of news. I love seeing the recipes and articles in our food section. I like our Entertainment section that comes out on Thursdays. I like being able to grab the paper and look up a movie time if we’re running out to a movie. But most of all, I love the coupons and circular ads on the weekends!!!

So, that’s today’s Question of the Day – do you get a newspaper delivered to your house? If so, it is daily or just on the weekends? If not, how do you prefer to get your news, on the computer, tv or what source?

Today’s photo over on my photoblog is of the calendar I have hanging near my computer. It’s from Local Girl, a very sweet blogger who lives in Hawaii. She gave away a couple of calendars earlier this month, and I was tickled pink that she drew my name out of a hat and sent me this beautiful calendar. The pictures are gorgeous and it reminds me of her, and of the state I hope to visit one day before I die.

But, back to the topic at hand – today’s topic is calendars. I’m a throwback to the old guard, I still like to have a paper calendar around. When I was working every day in an office, I had a daily calendar on my desk (Far Side, Dilbert, dogs, Bible verses, something with a picture or new thought every day), and also one hanging on my wall. Now, I like to have one on my wall in my office at home. I use the calendar on the computer a ton, and rely on it heavily; I’d definitely be lost without Outlook and the reminders and alarms. I also have my calendar synchronized to my PDA, which I take with me everywhere. But, still, I cannot completely let go of my paper calendar. Same with the newspaper (another topic for another day) and even a landline phone. I think I’m a throwback to the previous generation. I still want to hang onto those things, even though I embrace the newer things like electronic calendars I can carry with me, the ubiquitous cell phone and even reading my news online.

So, that’s today’s Question of the Day – how about you? Do you have a paper calendar? At home, at work or both? Do you use electronic calendars? Or both? What works for you? Leave me a comment and let me know… inquiring minds and nosy bloggers like myself would like to know!

I’ve been doing the Project 365 every day this year, and so far I really like it. Some days, it is really hard to come up with a photograph, and I am so totally going to steal some ideas from some of the other participants for future photos. 😀 But really, one of the best things about this project is all of the nice new bloggers I have met. There are some really nice ladies who are doing this project, and I enjoy visiting not only their Project365 photo blog, but also their “regular” blogs. One of these is Tiggerprrr’s blog. She posted a photo yesterday on her photo blog of her new shoes. See, she has plantar fascitis, and it really hurts to walk, especially inside her house on her hardwood floors. Her doctor recommended she get better shoes and wear them inside the house.

Believe it or not, this is something I was going to blog about (I’m trying to keep a list of ideas as I think of them, not when I sit down to blog and I’m drawing a total blank about anything worthwhile or interesting to say).

Anyway, I’m a total homebody and when I’m at home, I like to be really cozy and comfortable. I wear sloppy clothes, I don’t usually put on make-up if I’m going to be home all day, and I don’t wear shoes around the house. I think the “Flylady” always recommends that you get up and get dressed first thing every day, as part of your routine. Now, I get dressed (although some mornings, you can find me sitting way too long at the computer, still clad in my PJ’s), but I don’t put on shoes. I just don’t like wearing shoes around the house. In the summer, I go barefoot. In the winter I put on socks. On really cold days, I might put on TWO pair of socks, but I don’t put on shoes.

So, that’s today’s Question of the Day – when you’re going to be home for a long stretch of time, say all day, do you wear shoes around the house? Do you just wear socks or go barefoot? Do you wear slippers or houseshoes, or what? Inquiring minds want to know!