Exceedingly Mundane

I know a lot of bloggers aren’t avid readers, but I am one of those who is. I read a lot more since Tim took up golf, LOL! I ended up reading 88 books last year (get it, 88 in 08?!), and will once again shoot for 75 or more this year. 2007 was my highest year ever, when I read 104 books. I’m not sure I’ll top 100 ever again, but it was nice to do it that time.

Anyway, I’ve read a whopping one book so far this year. 😀 We are staying pretty busy and I haven’t had much time to read. We have gotten some new games for the Wii lately, plus it’s hunting and football season (Tim’s other hobbies besides golf). Maybe once the Super Bowl is over, I’ll have a little more time to read.

I was in Sam’s Club last weekend, stocking up on a few things, and I went to check out the books. Being an avid reader, I look at the book section in any store I go to (Walmart, Target, Sam’s and of course bookstores). I was really surprised to see that Sam’s is now selling the Sony E-reader. I was also surprised at its size. Not only is it smaller than I thought, but that thing is thin. I think the product info said it is 1/3 of an inch thick. I held my iPhone up to it and it is bigger than that, but it’s still a very manageable size. I guess seeing these things in person, as opposed to online, really makes a difference. I’ve heard so much about Amazon’s Kindle but I have never seen one in person. I have been thinking off and on, for a while now, about whether I would like one of these one day or not.

I’ve had a blog post brewing in my head for months, about the pros and cons of printed books versus electronic books. About the way things will go in the future and if these things will even be around in 10 years. Or if the way of the printed book is going to some day be like trying to find a coin-operated pay phone.

I, for one, am not sure that I’ll ever be able to transition from printed books to a digital reader. I think I like holding a book in my hand and turning the page. But I do know this, I think I could convert to a digital reader a whole lot quicker than audiobooks. I’ve tried those, and they just don’t work for me. Hearing someone else read to me just doesn’t work for me, I like to read myself and “hear” my own voice in my head. If that makes any sense at all. However, I must admit, after seeing this e-reader in person, it makes me think that on some level I might really like it. I certainly love all of the other electronic gadgets in my life and have adapted to them quite well. One of the biggest drawbacks for me, I think, is not being able to get books free from the library, but having to always pay for them. If my library ever starts offering free downloads to a digital reader, that might really propel me into getting one.

OK, so, if you’re a reader, or even if you’re not, I’d love to hear what you think. Today’s Question of the Day is – do you have a Sony Digital Reader or an Amazon Kindle, and if not, do you think you might ever get one? Do you think digital books will be the way in the future, or do you think printed books, bookstores, libraries and the like are here to stay for our foreseeable lifetime?

Leave me a comment and let me know! Happy Reading!

I know everyone is busy, as are we. I thought a quick poll would be the best way to blog right about now! 🙂

Today’s Christmas-themed poll is always a favorite of mine. My tree and my Snow Village are some of my most favorite decorations, and I always love hearing about what other people have and how they decorate at their house. Everyone has their own traditions and reasons, and it’s always fun for me to read about them.

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Feel free to leave a comment about what you have at your house, if it’s the same every year, different every year or this year for a certain reason, or whatever. Or just vote and go about your business of being a Happy Elf this joyous Christmas season! 😀

Merry Christmas!

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!!” 🙄

It seems that the only thing I post about lately is either a Question of the Day or a poll, but hey, they’re fun and I enjoy doing them! I really enjoyed reading everyone’s answers on last week’s Thanksgiving polls. We had a really good Thanksgiving. My dad stayed with us for four days, and then we celebrated Tim’s birthday over the weekend. Needless to say, we’ve been really busy.

I took a lot of photos over Thanksgiving and have posted some on my Flickr account. Family shots 😀

So, since Christmas is just a couple of weeks away, and I have yet to buy the first present, I thought I’d at least try to get my decorations up. I got my Snow Village put up on Friday, and Sunday night, I worked on the tree. We still have the outside decorations and lights to do, but I’m not sure they’re going to get done this year. Tim does those, most of them on a ladder, and he’s feeling quite a bit of pain in his back and shoulder. He’s not sure if he pulled a muscle or has a pinched nerve (I personally think he swings a golf club entirely too much, LOL!), but it hurts from his neck down to his shoulders and upper back. So, the outside lights might not get up for a while, if at all 🙁

While I was getting ready to put up our tree (yes, it’s artificial), I had to move furniture. It made me wonder – does anyone else have to move things around to put up a Christmas tree? So, that’s today’s Question of the Day — do you have to move furniture or other stuff to make room for your tree, or any of your Christmas decorations? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Hope you’re all having a wonderful Thanksgiving! I’ve got one last poll for you:

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As for me, I will more than likely stay as far away from a store on Friday as humanly possible!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

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I know there are probably too many choices to list, but here’s a few to pick from. Hopefully one of them comes close to fitting your plans for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. Gobble Gobble – Happy Thanksgiving!

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Today’s Question of the Day is in the form of a poll. I think a lot of bloggers simply like to vote and move on, but feel free to leave a comment if you’d like! Today’s poll/QOTD is about what wakes you up in the mornings. Choose one and vote, although I realize that most people might have more than one answer. I wake up naturally most days, because I don’t have to be anyplace at a specific time. But on days where I need to be somewhere early and on Sundays (because we go to an early church service), I have to set my alarm. And then, I am always aggravated that the alarm went off in my ear and woke me up! 🙂

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Hope you have a wonderful day, thanks for playing along!

I’ve got another Question of the Day for you. Would you put on your blog, or somewhere else online, what your weight is? I read a lot of blogs, and have read several where women have been going on a diet, or trying to work out more, or trying to lose weight, and they post their current weight out there for the whole world to see. I don’t like to think I’m vain or weird or whatever, but I really don’t want the whole world to know what I weigh. So I won’t be posting my weight or sharing it with anyone.

How about you? Have you posted that type of personal info before, or would you, on your blog? Or are you like me and would rather keep that tidbit to yourself? Leave me a comment and let me know. I don’t want to know how much you weigh, just whether you are comfortable posting that info on the Internet. 🙂

Have a great day!

Everyone knows that old saying – An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Luckily, I have always liked apples, and along with bananas, they are a fairly year-round fruit in our house. I’m trying to eat more apples lately, especially at this time of the year. Something about fall makes me want to buy and eat apples. I have made 2 batches of Crockpot Applesauce lately and have been loving that.

So today’s Question of the Day is all about apples. Do you have a favorite kind of apple? Do you like sweet apples or tart apples? Do you only like your apples in something else or not at all? Tim and I differ on apples. He likes the sweet red ones, like a good Fuji or Gala. I like the tart green Granny Smith ones. But this time of year, I love to buy HoneyCrisp apples. They are a fairly recent discovery, either last fall or the year before, and I only heard about them on a blog. I wish I could remember whose! I do like those though and found some really good ones recently at our Fresh Market.

How about you, what kind of apple do you like? Leave me a comment and answer today’s QOTD! 🙂

P.S. Thanks to Michelle for suggesting this for a QOTD!

Today’s Question of the Day is an easy one. What’s your favorite dessert to order at a restaurant? As an added bonus, do you order dessert very often when you eat out, or just on special occasions like a birthday or anniversary? Do you like to try something new or something the restaurant is known for, or do you stick to your favorite?

My answer is fairly easy, although I can’t pick one thing. I love desserts and sweets to much! 🙂 I will almost always choose tiramisu if we’re at an Italian place. I usually choose something chocolate if we’re at any other kind of restaurant, although on rare occasions, I do like cheesecake. But I mostly go for the chocolate! I don’t usually have dessert unless it’s a special occasion or I am just starving and didn’t have a very big entree. Tim can usually talk me into ordering dessert though. It’ s not that hard to twist my arm!

Leave me a comment and let me know about you and dessert!

No, I’m not going to blog about how to boil water. I am, however, going to blog about something equally mundane and probably a bit inane 😀

My very odd “Question of the Day” is this – how do you boil water? As in, do you boil it in your microwave, on the stovetop in a pan or in a kettle or maybe even an electric kettle? I’m not talking about for cooking pasta or veggies or anything. Say you’re going to make tea or hot cocoa, how do you heat up the water?

I’ve about decided that I’m the only person on the planet who does this in the microwave. Maybe it’s bad for us and I don’t realize it, with all of those microwaves zapping my water for hot tea or hot chocolate. I have debated off and on for years about whether to buy a kettle for my stovetop. While I’d like one, I could never justify the cost or mostly, the space to store it when I’m not using it. I don’t make a lot of hot tea or cocoa in the summer, but hopefully fall and then winter will be here soon, and I will be drinking more hot beverages.

So, even though this has to rank up there as the world’s dumbest question of the day ever, please leave me a comment and let me know – how do you boil water for tea or cocoa?

Have a wonderful day!

This is an odd “Question of the Day“. But, I think it’s a universal topic for most women.

My question is this – do you shave your legs every day? It’s a big thing with me. I have to shave them every day. If I’m sick or just totally lazy and don’t shave my legs, then I absolutely cannot go to sleep at night. It feels like a big hairy caterpillar on my legs, and they poke into my other leg or cut Tim or something. I can’t get comfortable if they haven’t been shaven. So, even though I’m not fond of it, I shave them every.single.day. 365 days a year. I am not sure if it’s just me, so leave me a comment and let me know. Do you shave your legs every day? If so, is there a reason, or just hygiene? If not, does it not bother you?

Oh, and I use a Venus razor these days. I gave up disposables a long time ago. I use Skintimate shave gel, mostly because I can buy it in 3 or 4 packs at Sam’s Club. Gotta keep plenty of razor blades and shaving gel on hand. Since, you know, I have to shave my legs every day. 😀

Have a great day! If you can, after reading a blog post like this, LOL!

We just got back from our weekend getaway, so this is still in my head. Can you believe that while we were gone, I actually thought of a Question of the Day! This one is about your travel toiletries – do you check to see what the hotel has available or do you just go ahead and pack your own? For example, if the room has a hair dryer, do you pack yours anyway? If the hotel has a certain line of products in the room (shampoo, conditioner, lotion, soap, etc) do you just use what is there, or do you pack your own?

I’m a pack my own kind of girl. Of course, I am also a “take everything but the kitchen sink” kind of girl! To be fair, we mostly drive places so I am able to pack more and take more. When we fly, I do try to pack less and might forgo the hair dryer and a few things. But overall, I like to take my stuff with me. I have mildly sensitive skin and prefer to take my own facial cleaner and lotion. I don’t mind using the soap provided in the hotel and usually do. I also prefer to take small travel bottles of my shampoo and conditioner – since my hair is color-treated, I prefer to use my regular stuff.

How about you? Do you take all of your travel toiletries with you, or do you just use what is in the hotel? And if you don’t use it, or just use part of the container … do you leave it behind or take it home with you? Leave me a comment and let me know 😀

Have a great day!