Last week, I blogged about singing in the shower, and whether or not you actually got *in* the shower to clean it. I made a reference to the fact that I sing when I’m driving in my car. Usually only if I’m in there by myself, and sometimes, depending on the song, I get sort of loud and really start belting it out.
So, that is today’s Question of the Day – do you sing when you’re driving in your car?
I’ve got to scrub down our shower today. I try to do this once a week, and I hate doing it. I really have to get in the shower to scrub it down good, but I hate getting in there {gasp, naked} with all of those chemicals. I’ve tried spraying and scrubbing the shower walls (and shower door) down while fully clothed and I always end up getting wet. Today it’s really cold again, so I just take a really hot shower and scrub down the shower walls before getting my shower.
Today’s Question of the Day is a two-fer: Do you actually get *in* your shower to scrub it? And the biggie – do you sing in the shower? Not when you’re cleaning it, but on a regular day. On any given day, do you sing while you’re in the shower?
I never do, it’s just something I have never done. Singing at the top of my lungs while I’m dusting or vacuuming, or while I’m driving in my car is a completely different story, so I’ll save that question for another day. Today, tell us if you or anyone in your family sings while they’re in the shower. Tim does, on rare occasions, if he’s in a really good mood and has just heard a song he likes and is still singing it. Oops, he probably wouldn’t have wanted me to put that here! 😳
Leave me a comment and let me know!
The book that I just finished (“A Year of Pleasures” by Elizabeth Berg) contained quite a few words that I have never run across. I always like to think of myself as a person with a pretty good vocabulary, but this is one of those books that makes me rethink that statement. It seems I found quite a few words that I have no idea what they mean. I’m one of these readers who likes to know all of the words in a sentence, so I tend to stop and look them up. If I run across a word that I’m pretty sure I know what it means but I am not completely sure how it’s pronounced, I will often just “make up” a pronunciation in my head and keep going. But a definition, that one always stops me in my tracks. I have to stop and look it up if I can’t figure it out.
Anyway, here’s some of the ones I ran across:
somnambulate– it means to sleep walk
exophthalmic – condition marked by protruding eyeballs
aphorism – an adage
sybaritic – marked by pleasure and luxury
(P.S. You can click on the link above and not only see the definition, but hear the pronunciation. If you’re silly like me and like to hear how things are pronounced. 🙂 )
So, that’s today’s Question of the Day: If you’re reading a book or article and run across a word you do not know the meaning of, do you stop and look it up or do you just try to make up a definition and keep going? Leave me a comment and let me know 🙂
I have some bookshelves that need cleaning out (and a myriad of other cleaning out, purging and organizing projects that I *want* to do but never seem to get started). One of the bookshelves contains a bunch of old annuals or yearbooks from when Tim and I were in school.
I don’t ever look at them, but I can’t seem to throw them out. I really need this shelf space though, for books I have bought over the last year and books I received for birthday and Christmas last year.
So, that’s today’s Question of the Day: Do you have annuals or yearbooks from your school years? If so, do you still have them “out” somewhere, or are they packed up? Or were you stronger than me and have you gotten rid of them? Inquiring minds want to know!
I blogged the other day about how one of the first things I do every day is to make the bed, and asked everyone to comment about whether or not they make their bed every day. To my surprise, I got a lot of feedback! It was wonderful!!! 
So, this time we’re going to talk about towels. I think this one will definitely have me in the minority!
I wash towels on Tuesday (get the alliteration?!). Once a week. When we take a bath or a shower, we hang the towel back up and let it dry, to use it again the next day. I know a bunch of people don’t do that, they like to throw the towel out and get a fresh one. My husband was like that. It took him a while to “come around” to my way of thinking. We came from completely different backgrounds and totally different ways of looking at this. I came from a family of girls. We didn’t get that dirty and sweaty and nasty, and my mom’s philosophy was, you take a bath or shower, so you’re CLEAN when you towel off. You use the towel just to dry off your clean body. My husband, on the other hand, came from a family of all boys. And outside boys, they grew up on a farm and would often come in dirty or nasty after working, being in the chicken house, hunting, fishing or whatever. They used a towel and threw it in the dirty clothes to be washed. So, I explained my way to Tim and he agreed to try it that way. He understood the logic behind “you are supposed to come out of the shower clean, so the towel is just to dry you off”. Now, in the summer, when it’s really hot here, I do wash the towels more often. We’re not too gross. Well, maybe we are. That’s the point of this post 🙂
That’s today’s Question of the Day: When you use a bath towel, do you throw it in the dirty clothes or do you hang it up to dry and use it again? Do you want or need a new towel every time you get out of the shower? And, along the same lines, how often do you wash towels in your house? Leave me a comment and let me know!
Right around Christmas, I had a few days where I was not feeling very well. I wasn’t near-death kind of sick, just sort of run down, with a bad sore throat, a headache and I sort of ached all over. I was afraid it might have been the flu, but after I got some rest, took some Tylenol and sucked back a few Chloraseptic lozenges, I started to feel better.
I don’t get “near-death” sick very often. I don’t run fever much, and I have only thrown up 2 or 3 times in the last 10-11 years. But, if I do ever get really sick, we have a problem in our house. Tim and I treat sickness and feeling bad completely different. Completely.
When I’m sick, I like to have a little bit of attention paid to me. I know, I am probably asking a lot, but that’s what I like and it’s what I had growing up. If I didn’t feel good, my mom would mother me and make me chicken noodle soup (Campbells, from a can!), get me some Sprite or give me some crackers every few hours. She’d check on me and see how I was feeling. Personally, I don’t think that’s a lot to ask, but if you were to ask my husband that, you would not get that kind of answer. Tim, when he doesn’t feel good, wants to be left completely, totally and utterly alone. Don’t talk to him, don’t offer to bring him food or get him something to drink, don’t try to get him a Tylenol, just leave him alone. For hours or days on end. He doesn’t like to be touched, talked to, or basically even share the same room with me or anyone else. Me, I’m the polar opposite. I like those things. I don’t like to be in a dark room, all alone and left to die.
A couple of years ago, I was pretty sick. I was running fever and I was pretty weak. I laid down in bed (something I rarely do, so you’d think that would have tipped Tim off) and turned off the lights, tv, radio, etc. I had the door open, and apparently he looked in on me once, closed the door, and then proceeded to not come in for nearly 10 hours. TEN HOURS. After I woke up a few hours later, I lay there miserable, wondering, is he going to offer to bring me something to drink since I’m too weak to get up and get it myself? Will he offer me some soup or crackers since I’m too sick to open a can of Campbells chicken noodle and feed myself? Nope, nothing. I could have died and he wouldn’t have noticed.
I know, I’m going to get a lot of snide comments here. I have come to learn from Tim that apparently I’m asking for way too much. Apparently, I can learn to leave him alone and try not to talk to him, but he can’t learn to check on me (tsk, tsk, there I go again, being snarky) and get me a Sprite. 🙄 Now, before you pipe up and say what a bad wife I am, please let me state for the record, I really don’t think I am that bad. I am not asking to be petted and baby’d to death, just a cursory check and an offer of medicine or food every now and then would be nice. I love Tim to death and I know he loves me and I know he wouldn’t knowingly let me lay there and die. At least, I don’t think he would 😀
Ok, here’s today’s Question of the Day: How do you act when you’re sick? Do you want to be left alone or do you like a little attention? Does your spouse or family share the same way of thinking, or are there a lot of polar opposites in your home on this matter? Leave me a comment and let me know 🙂
I have several topics rolling around in my head that I want to blog about. However, I can’t seem to decide which one to start with. I probably need to jot them down somewhere or start some draft blog posts, because a lot of the time I can’t think of a single thing to blog about. Nothing, nada.
Anyway, I thought I’d start at the beginning of my day. One of the first things I do every morning is make the bed. It’s something I was raised with. I can’t ever remember a time when my mom let me slide and not make the bed. I’m sure when I was very little, she did it for me, but I don’t remember those days. I can remember being older and living at home, and she always wanted the bed made. Since I’ve been grown and living on my own, it’s something that I have always, always done. And I mean 365 days a year always. Even when I’m sick. I make the bed every day. It must be some kind of weird gene I have!
So that’s today’s Question of the Day: Do you make your bed every day? Or does it just not matter to you? If you do, is it something your mom or someone else insisted on or taught you?
Have a great day everyone! I hope to get busy today with cleaning and getting things back to normal. I’ve made stabs over the last couple of weeks at keeping things picked up and semi-presentable looking, but I haven’t really done much cleaning, and my house shows it. We need some serious cleaning around here 🙄
Well, it appears that Christmas has come early to our house!
We’ve had company for the last few days, and will for a few more days. Then, we’ll hit the road to visit both sides of our family over the 3 day Christmas weekend. We’ll open presents in three places, and visit with lots of family. We’re really looking forward to it.
Yesterday (Tuesday), I was going to wash the sheets on our guest bed, since Round 1 of our company was leaving, and Round 2 was headed in that evening. I tried 6 times to wash the sheets. Either the tub was full of sudsy water when it finished, or else when the cycle finished, the sheets were dirty. And I do mean dirty, with lint and gunk and grass and dirt. I’m not sure where all the gunk is coming from. Tim checked some stuff and opened up part of the washer trying to fix it. We decided it was time for a new set. After all, I bought this set after I got out of college and it is nineteen (yes, 19!) years old. I think that’s a decent life cycle, so we decided it was time to get a new set. Merry Christmas to me!:roll:
We went to Sears and got one of the new hE washer and dryer sets with the pedestals. They didn’t have them all in the warehouse locally, so they had to get them from another warehouse. So, I have to wait a couple of days for them to arrive. In the mean time, I already had 3 loads of clothes, sheets and towels waiting to be washed. By the time they get here on Friday, I’m sure that will double. And boy, I sure hope they get here on Friday like they promised. Otherwise, we’re going to run out of clean towels and underwear before Christmas is over! 😆
I’ll post a picture of them once they’re here… nothing more exciting that new appliances for Christmas! We’re also needing a dishwasher, and I actually thought I would get that for Christmas. I’ve been having trouble with our dishwasher for several months now. A couple of the tines have broken off, and the main problem is that the detergent doesn’t dispense half of the time. Ours has a little flip-open door on the door of the dishwasher and about half the time when it’s finished, that door has never popped open and the detergent is in there all gunked up. So, I have been thinking it’s time to get a new dishwasher. A quieter one is the main thing I’m after. Ours sounds like a jet engine taking off!
I told Tim the other day… 2007 is going to be the Year of the Appliance for us!
OK, how about a Question of the Day: Do you have a major appliance in your house that you want or need to buy, or replace? Something that is old and nearly worn out, or just something you’d like to get a newer version of? Leave me a comment and let me know!
Our out of town company (Round 1) is still here, and the guys went hunting yesterday. They didn’t get a deer, which doesn’t surprise me, since it’s so warm here. It’s not really hunting weather, not when it gets up to around 75º during the day 🙄 I think they had a good time though, and then we all watched Monday Night Football when they got back.
Before they got back, though, I had a chance to pop in a Christmas movie and have a little girl time. Believe it or not, I had never seen “White Christmas”. It’s my sister Gail‘s favorite Christmas movie, I think, so I thought I would buy it and watch it. Well. It was a good movie, but it really wasn’t very Christmas-y! I think that’s the case with a lot of the older Christmas movies that they might have come out at Christmas or maybe had one Christmas scene in them, but they aren’t really all that Christmas-y. Tim will never watch “White Christmas” with me, that’s for sure. Too much singing and dancing in it for him!
I also own “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “The Bishop’s Wife” on DVD and I must say, I think I like those movies better as Christmas movies. Those still are my two favorites. I also really like Holiday Inn (but I don’t own that one on DVD, maybe next year!) and I like to catch “Christmas in Connecticut” on TV when it comes on. We also saw “The Polar Express” on TV a week or so ago and it was good.
So, that’s today’s Question of the Day: Do you have a favorite Christmas movie? One that you watch every year? One that really says “Christmas” to you, for whatever reason. Leave me a comment and let me know!
I’ve got that song from “The Sound of Music” in my head… raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens. I heard a Christmas version of it yesterday (by Rod Stewart) on one of my Christmas CD’s:
[audio:http://www.hambones.org/blogs/stacy/mp3/MyFavoriteThings.mp3]
My Favorite Things by Rod Stewart (From the NBC Collection Christmas CD)
Anyway, it got me to thinking about some of my favorite things at Christmas time.
I absolutely love pulling out all of my Christmas decorations. I love to open up the ornament boxes and go through my ornaments. We get one every time we go somewhere on vacation, and of course, we have some that are very sentimental for different reasons. Sometimes I buy one in the summer (on vacation) or I buy one after Christmas and then put it up. So, each year when I open up my Christmas boxes, I get all excited to find a new ornament or decoration, or remember one that has special meaning to me. I really am just like a kid at Christmas when I open up the boxes and start to pull everything out! 😀
I have several Dept 56 Snow Village pieces as well, that I put out during the holiday season. I guess you could say that I was “collecting” them for a while, but then I ran out of room to display them, so that put an end to my “collecting” of Snow Village. 🙄
One thing I decided I really like a few years ago are snowmen. So, I started “collecting” some of those. Now, I use the word “collecting” very loosely – I don’t acquire massive collections of anything. I just find some that I like or have room for (which is always the overriding factor) and then once I reach my limit, that’s it. But, over the years I have collected Snow Village pieces, carolers and now snowmen. The snowmen are currently my favorite and these little guys make me smile every time I see them:
Then, there’s some others on my tree and scattered around the house:
So, that’s my Question of the Day: What are some of your favorite things at Christmas? Do you have a certain theme or decoration that has special meaning for you? Do you have a favorite decoration or stocking or angel on your tree that is a favorite you love to put out every year? Leave me a comment and let me know!
You can always tell when it’s the holiday season at my house, because I start going nuts, buying these flavored coffee creamers from Coffee-Mate. Last year, I was a total gingerbread-aholic, only buying the Gingerbread flavored creamer. This year, after trying the Peppermint Mocha drink at Starbucks, I decided to “branch out” and get the Peppermint one as well. I like both of them, and love having all of these flavors at the holidays. I haven’t tried their Eggnog flavor yet, because I’m not a huge eggnog fan. Last year, I bought a small container of eggnog-flavored soy milk and it was just so-so. Not sure I’ll go that route this year. I’d much rather have flavored coffee or hot chocolate!
When it gets to be fall and winter here and it’s chillier, I love drinking “warm” drinks. I have just recently picked up coffee (about 2 or 3 years ago), but I have always loved hot chocolate. I make my own mix and give it out as Christmas gifts to friends and family, and we always keep some for us to have in the winter. Gail and I used to make a spiced tea mix, and I might want to go back and dig out that recipe and make some of that this year, as well. Gail also makes a good cappuccino mix, and I have a toffee coffee mix from a good friend of mine that is really good. I also will drink hot tea this time of year, which I never do during the summer months. I like having a cup of hot herbal tea at night (decaf, of course) when it’s cold and I’m wanting something hot to drink.
So, that’s today’s Question of the Day: Do you have a favorite drink you like to drink this time of year? Something seasonal or brings back memories, or just something you like the taste of. Maybe it’s a certain flavor of coffee, hot chocolate, hot apple cider, hot tea or something else? What’s your favorite?! I’d love to know 🙂
Slowly, over the years, I have been buying Christmas CD’s. I absolutely love Christmas music, but I sort of hate to spend the money on a CD that I really only listen to for a month or so out of the year. I don’t spend a lot of money on music to begin with, and before I got my iPod, I mostly listened to the radio. But, I do love Christmas music and so I would splurge and buy myself one CD every year or two.
Then, a few years ago, I discovered the CD’s that Target marketed at the holiday season. They are called “Sounds of the Season” and they usually run them at really good prices, like 5.99 or 6.99. They used to do them by genre, and I would almost always buy the country music one. I have several of those, probably 5 or 6. I bought the NBC one last year that has a mix of music by artists like Rob Thomas, Amy Grant, Michael Buble, Gavin DeGraw, Chris Botti, etc, and I do love that one. I also have some other Christmas CD’s by artist, like Harry Connick, Clay Aiken, Celine Dion, and I have one of Billboard classics from years ago that has the original versions of White Christmas, etc on them (and it’s a great CD!) Anyway, I got excited about looking for the new music in Target this year, only to be disappointed that they’ve changed their format. Now, they have them by artist, which is great, but I really miss them doing them by genre (like country or jazz or the NBC collection). This year, the featured artists seem to be Enya, John Legend and Lionel Richie. I might want to get the John Legend one, but I looked at it, and there’s only 6 tracks on there (for 5.99, so a buck a song, which is the same as iTunes). Sigh. I always hate it when I find something I really like and then they go and change it on me 😆
Anyway, here’s some of the older “Sounds of the Season” CD’s that I have bought at Target…
Last year, I started uploading some of my Christmas CD’s to my iPod and I made a Christmas playlist. This year, I have uploaded a few more, and there are probably 2-3 more that I want to get on there. Now that I have my iHome iPod/clock radio (check it out here), I can pop my iPod in and listen to my Christmas music while I’m in our bedroom or bathroom. I also load up our CD changer in the living room with all Christmas music, so that I can listen in there.
So, that brings us to today’s Question of the Day: Do you have a lot of Christmas music? Do you listen to your CD’s in the car, on the computer, on your iPod or just around the house? Do you have a favorite Christmas CD or maybe a favorite artist that you love to hear sing Christmas music?
We spent all day Friday at my in-laws, and Tim went hunting with his dad and my dad. No deer, though. My mother-in-law and I put out most of her Christmas decorations, which was fun. So, on Saturday, I hood-winked Tim into staying away from the golf course (he was not happy about that), and helping me get out all of our Christmas tree, lights and decorations.
He started unpacking the tree (yes, we have an artificial tree) and the first branch he pulled down, broke and fell off the tree. Well. He said he could try to fix it. Since it was a plastic piece that broke and not a metal one that was welded, he said the only thing he could do was *duct tape* it back to the frame. Um, how about we go shopping for a new tree ?! Actually, it was his idea, and even though I hated to spend the money, I agreed. What I realized later on was that he had an ulterior motive – he wanted to buy a pre-lit tree so that he could get out of his yearly duty of stringing the lights on the Christmas tree!!! See, I have always thought it would be “fun” and “sweet” and “memorable” for both of us to decorate our tree together. Tim, on the other hand, thinks it is not any of those things and has absolutely no interest in it. So, shortly after we got married, we arrived at a compromise – he’d put the tree together and put on the lights and I would do the ornaments and decorations. Now, with the pre-lit tree, he has just shirked all of his Christmas duties.
We looked at a couple of stores and finally found one we both liked at Target – a 7 1/2 foot prelit tree with white lights and a fragrance module. The fragrance thing is scented oil that really does smell just like a fresh cut tree. I love it but it is strong and Tim says it is too overpowering. So, right now, I plug it in for about an hour a day, then he makes me unplug it and put it in the garage! 🙄
Tim and Beau put up the outdoor lights yesterday, then we got the tree up last night, and also watched our alma mater win their final regular-season game on TV. They will now play for the conference championship, and if they win, they’ll go to the Liberty Bowl. Woot-Woot!
I’m finishing the rest of the decorations this afternoon, including my Snow Village. In the mean time, here’s the tree:
Regular “Auto” mode on my camera:
And one in “Candlelight” mode on my camera:
Lastly, how about a Question of the Day:
Do you have a real or artificial tree at your house? Is it already up or when will you put it up?
P.S. I seem to be having trouble figuring out the best way to take a photo of this thing lit up! Leave me a comment and let me know what settings you put your camera on to take the best picture of a lit Christmas tree. What mode or settings or … whatever! Thanks!!!!
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I know it’s a day early, but I’m not sure how much time I’ll have to blog for the next day or so. So, I wanted to be sure to wish everyone a very joyous, and safe, holiday.
We’re going to one of my husband’s aunt’s house, and will see a ton of family. We usually spend Thanksgiving with my side of the family, but both of my sisters had other plans this year, so we’ll go to Tim’s mom’s extended family. There are often anywhere from 50 to 80 people there, and it will be nice to see everyone, and there will be a ton of food. I honestly don’t know what all they will have, but I’m hoping for some turkey or ham! They often do chicken, since there’s so many people to feed, and one of his aunts makes the best chicken and dumplings. But, something inside of me just really wants turkey for Thanksgiving! My side of the family always has a turkey, with dressing (we don’t call it stuffing around here!), cranberry sauce, veggies and my Broccoli casserole, which I will make later today to take to Tim’s family’s house.
So, that brings us to today’s Question of the Day:
Do you eat turkey on Thanksgiving? Or maybe ham or is it something altogether different? What’s your favorite dish to eat on Thanksgiving?
Hope you all have a wonderful holiday!
I was cruising one of my favorite message boards the other day, Scrapbook Addict, and saw a great poll that someone had started. It is about your favorite jammies! Now, this is a topic that is near and dear to my heart this time of year! I posted the other day about changing my sheets out to warmer ones (read more about that here, and lodge your comment if you haven’t already!) and switching out to warmer, thicker, cozier pajamas this time of year is a big thing for me.
I have a ton more winter pj’s than I do summer ones. It’s something about the more comfy ones that are thicker and softer and more snuggly that really appeals to me. I have several pair of winter ones, but I have one pair that I just love. I snapped a quick picture this morning, but it doesn’t do them justice 😆
These are so warm and snuggly, and I have some big thick purple socks that I wear with them.
OK, so, I’ve come clean about my love of comfy pj’s in the fall and winter. That brings us to today’s Question of the Day:
Do you have a favorite pair of pajamas? Do you have a snuggly pair you like to wear this time of year to warm you up or just be more comfortable in? Do you just wear an old t-shirt and bottoms or maybe a gown or maybe you go all out with silk pj’s? Or something else? Leave me a comment and let me know!
