Exceedingly Mundane

Tim and I have been tossing around several big ticket items to get for the house. New flooring, a new stove/range, and several other things are on the agenda. I also have been looking for a Wii to get for Tim, but haven’t been able to find one in stock anywhere. Another thing we talked about getting was a treadmill. I was really resisting that, because I didn’t want a “crutch” to keep us from taking Beau out on a walk. We haven’t walked much lately, between Tim hurting his knee, his work schedule, the weather, etc. The list is long, but basically, none of us were getting much exercise.

Tim woke up Saturday morning and decided we should go get a treadmill we had seen at Sam’s. So we did! It’s an early anniversary present, as our wedding anniversary is coming up in a couple of weeks. 🙂

The thing is a LOT bigger than I thought it was going to be. We really don’t have room for it in our tiny house. I had wanted to put it in our spare bedroom that serves as our office. But a) we don’t have room without a major cleaning and overhaul and b) Tim didn’t want me to be on it while he was working. He works from home almost every day, and he didn’t want me in there distracting him while he was trying to work. That left the den and the garage. We’re trying it out in the den for a while, but boy – it does NOT go with my idea of home furnishing and home decor 🙂 It’s basically an eyesore, but we are enjoying it so far. I like having it in front of the TV, so I can catch up on stuff I’ve recorded or watch something on TV. The treadmill does have a plug for the iPod, so I can listen to music while I walk, instead of watching TV. Right now, I’m enjoying TV 🙂

We’ve only had it 3 days, but so far we’ve both used it every day. Tim is jogging some, and I’m just walking. Tim is convinced that we will keep up with it, but I’m worried that the newness will wear off sooner or later. Tim says if we start not using it as much, or it REALLY bothers me being in the middle of the den, that we can move it out to the garage. But, I keep telling him – I won’t use it in the garage in the summer. When it’s 100 degrees outside, I don’t plan to be in the garage, which is basically a sauna, on the treadmill.

Anyway, it’s a great new toy and so far we are really enjoying it! Tim has even gotten Beau on it twice! We watch a lot more of “The Dog Whisperer” since we got Beau, and we’ve seen Cesar putting dogs on the treadmill. After Beau’s first attempt, we decided that those dogs get in a lot of time on the treadmill before they put them on TV! Beau is going to take a few more times before he’s really comfortable on it 🙂

So, I’ll post a couple of “Questions of the Day” and a photo on the inside page. Click for more!
Read the rest of this entry »

I posted a “Question of the Day” last week, about telephone etiquette. For whatever reason, my husband decided to do his once or twice yearly quick perusal of my blog (no, he doesn’t read it regularly. He might read it four or five times a year, I’m just being snarky this morning!) and he latched onto that post. He proceeded to tell me that was a great question, and that I should do a follow-up question. Since Tim always has great ideas, I had to ask his follow-up question! 🙂

So, let’s say someone calls your house or cell phone after hours. It might be later at night than you would normally answer the phone, or earlier in the morning. You answer, or you see on caller id it’s someone you know, maybe a family member or friend, so you answer the phone. But — you were asleep! Do you be straightforward and say “hey, I was asleep, you woke me up!” or do you immediately lie and act like you were awake or it was ok or whatever?

Tim is always the “I was awake, it’s fine” kind of answer. Me, I’m not so sweet. It’s not that I want people to feel bad, but I am a girl who loves my sleep. If I’m asleep and the phone wakes me up, I’m usually pretty grumpy. Even if I wasn’t, I’m usually too sleepy to put together cohesive thoughts and fabricate a lie. I won’t jump out and scream “good grief, you woke me up!”, but I will admit it if someone asks. Tim won’t however. It’s funny, though, because people can usually tell. They usually call him on it and say “you WERE asleep, I can tell!”.

So, how about you? If some one calls you while you’re asleep, just to chat or ask a question, not an emergency, do you tell them you were asleep? Do you automatically lie and say “it’s ok, I was awake”. Or do you care?! 🙂

Thanks Tim, for stopping by my blog, reading it and giving me a Question of the Day! I love you, sweetheart!

Well, what’s a girl to do when there’s no new questions posted over at Friday’s Feast? After all, I’ve been playing along over there for a couple of years now. So, I thought I’d babble a little about what’s going on with me, and incorporate that into a “Question of the Day”.

I’ve had a sore throat for the last couple of days. Some congestion and coughing, but nothing too serious. Not serious enough to go to the doctor for drugs. Just serious enough to bug me and for Tim and Beau to get tired of me being sickly and whiny. Yes, I’m whiny when I don’t feel well. 🙂 Anyway, I have been keeping up with most of the work around here, laundry, cleaning, some cooking and running errands. I think I’m going to take today and veg though. I did some yesterday. I sat down and watched some cooking shows I had on the DVR. I still have ALL of the Jane Austen movies from PBS on the DVR and I haven’t watched a single one. So, I’m hoping today to curl up on the couch and watch one. That’s not normal for me, though.

So, how about a “Question of the Day“, along these lines. Do you or your family ever plan or end up spending the day in your pajamas? This could be whether you’re sick, just needing a mental health day to yourself, or you plan a day to stay home and do family things together, in your PJ’s.

Oh, and just to clarify – I won’t be in my PJ’s. That seems to be something I cannot do. I will have to get a bath and get dressed. I also make the bed, every single day, 365 days a year. I won’t curl up in bed, or stay in my PJ’s all day, but I do hope to veg some on the couch later. 🙂

So – how about you? Do you ever take a day to just chill out and catch up on movies, books, reading, etc. Do you let everything else go? Do you only do this if you’re really sick or your kids are sick? Leave me a comment and let me know!

I’m recycling some old questions from the early years of my blog. You know, back when I only had 2 or 3 readers (Hello to my sisters!).

Today’s “Question of the Day” is all about telephone etiquette. With so many people carrying cell phones and being “available” with it 24×7, I think some people’s views of what’s acceptable with phones has changed. I know a lot of people have disconnected their home telephone and just use their cell. I know I see people, every single day, talking in every imaginable place in public – in their car, in the store, at a table in a restaurant, etc. So…

What time of day is too late to telephone someone? Or too early? Do you have a set time that you don’t usually telephone others before or after, or that you prefer that others don’t call you? Say, 8 AM and 10 PM? 6 AM and 11 PM? Or are you always open, always available? What if you’re at dinner with your family, do you still answer the phone? In the middle of a movie? What guidelines do you use for yourself and your family as far as the telephone goes? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Today’s Question of the Day is all about on-the-go breakfast items. I’m talking about things like pop-tarts and granola bars, things like that. There’s SO many varieties of granola and breakfast bars on my grocery store shelves. I think there’s more every month! Do you buy them and have them in your house? Do you eat them yourselves or does someone else, like your spouse or kids? If you do, what brands and flavors do you like?

As for me, I love the things, but I try really hard not to buy them and have them in the house. I loved Pop-Tarts growing up and would not only eat them for breakfast, but for snacks or nighttime, or anytime. The flavors I like (chocolate, strawberry, blueberry, etc) are very dangerous for me to have around. I am not quite as bad with granola bars and such, but I like those too. I find that granola bars aren’t quite enough for me, for breakfast or a snack. Seems like about 3 bites and then it’s gone, LOL! Tim likes the Quaker ones that have chocolate chips or peanut butter in them, so I bought those for a long time. I have also tried and liked several of the Caribou Coffee ones. Again, I try not to buy them, but boy, every time I go down the cereal aisle, I think there are more flavors and more options. I’ve been eyeing those sweet and salty ones lately and wondering if they are any good.

How about you? Do you buy or eat on-the-go breakfast items like Pop-Tarts or granola bars? Or do you have them around for someone else? Are they just morning items in your house, or afternoon or evening snack items, too? Leave me a comment and let me know! 🙂

Oh, and have a wonderful day!

Today’s “Question of the Day” is a kitchen-oriented one. As well as a nosy one! Do you have canisters in your kitchen? Are they out on the countertop, or in a pantry or cabinet? What do they look like? How many do you have and what do you store in them?

I have a set that I got when we got married. I found a link for the same set, except I have 4 in my set and not three. It’s called Pfaltzgraff Filigree and the link is here on Amazon. I really like them, and they have held up well through the years. I store my all-purpose flour, sugar, cornmeal and tea bags in my set of 4. Like my dishes, they are just plain white and lately, I’ve gotten tired of just plain white. I am trying to decide whether to try to get another set, or maybe just get some Tupperware or Snapware type containers and put my canister stuff in my pantry. That — of course — would require an act of Congress to actually clean out enough space in my pantry to put said canisters. I am a hoarder of the utmost extent and have a pantry that is overflowing. I literally have cans piled two high, four or five deep in my pantry.

Anyway, how about you? Do you have canisters in your kitchen? Where are they and what are in them? Leave me a comment and let me know, I really look forward to peeking into your kitchen! 😀

Today’s “Question of the Day” is short and sweet – do you text on your cellphone?

I think Tim and I are pretty up to date on most things electronic. We both love gadgets and are both fairly geeky, in a techie kind of way. However, the one area that we are woefully behind the times is that we don’t text on our phones. We use our phones to talk on, never texting. Occasionally, someone will text us, and we’ll call them back. I’m like, we don’t text, we have to pay per message and we just don’t use it. It doesn’t seem to stop people though, since it seems almost everyone we know does text.

So, how about you? Do you text on your phone? If so, do you text occasionally or are you an addict?!

I wish that I had a “real” menu to post this week. But, with Tim being out of town some on business and hunting the other days (before deer season ends around here), I’ll be alone for dinnertime almost every day this week. Which is ok by me, because that means less cooking! But it doesn’t make for an interesting post. 😀

The general idea when Tim is not here for supper is that I don’t cook. I don’t know how those of you who cook for one do it!!! I can’t seem to bring myself to cook when it’s just me. I can barely cook some days for the two of us, but most of the time I do, and I enjoy it. 🙂 Tim is a great guy to cook for. He likes to eat, always says something nice about what I prepare, and is always open to trying something new. When it’s just me though, I’m happy with something simple. A bowl of cereal or oatmeal. Some popcorn. A can of soup. A Lean Cuisine. Easy and no cooking required. This week, I plan to eat some leftover Chinese food for supper one or two nights, breakfast food one night and probably a Lean Cuisine another night. I’ll probably get back to cooking later in the week or next weekend, but right now I don’t have anything planned.

That said, I thought I’d ask a menu-planning/cooking “Question of the Day“: Let’s say you participate in Menu Plan Monday, or you occasionally browse online for recipes. What do you do when you find recipes you might want to try one day? Do you print them out and file them somewhere? Do you save them to your computer? If so, how and where do you save them (to a Word document, a cooking program, an email folder, etc)?

As for me, I do a mix of those things. Sometimes I go ahead and print them out. They get put in one of my infamous and ever growing “piles” in the kitchen or office. (The piles are for placing in a binder I started last year but am already behind on 🙁 ) Sometimes I go ahead and put them in my Mastercook software, in a “to-try” type cookbook. But, the majority of the time (and overwhelmingly so, probably 95% of the time), I put them in an email folder called “Recipes”. Which is great, except those are stored on my laptop that died. Which is supposed to be delivered back home to me today. So, we’ll see later today if I’ve still got all of those recipes, and a thousand other things, I had stored on my laptop. Sigh. 🙂

Leave me a comment and let me know what you do when you find a recipe online that you might want to try. And, have a great day!

I’m still easing into the New Year, how about you? I haven’t done a lot of the things I want to do, to start the new year off right. I hope to get back to a *much* healthier eating routine, and hopefully back into some exercise soon. I am behind on getting the house clean, so once I get a handle on that, I need to start on my new year things. Little things like a new calendar, new files for the new year, cleaning out last year’s files and clutter, etc. Backing up files and photos from the computer. Also on that list is a new devotional.

I bought and used a Guideposts daily devotional last year and I liked it. I have a copy of “My Utmost for his Highest” by Oswald Chambers that I am thinking I might use this year for my daily devotional. I need to get to the bookstore soon and see if I can find one I like better, or one geared more toward women or something. I’m really not quite sure what I want to use this year. So, I thought I’d throw this question out and see what you guys had to say.

So today’s “Question of the Day” is about a daily devotional – do you have one that you use? What brand or company or person authored it? Do you have a new one for this year, or a favorite from years past? Do you have an online devotional that you use or a site that you reference? Do you get a Scripture or thought every day by email? Do you have something else you do or would recommend? Leave me a comment and let me know. 🙂

Happy 2008!

I don’t have anything monumental to report on this New Years Day. Another new year (or as I like to say, “another day in paradise”!) It seems they are flying by at record speed!

2007 was a good year for us, and we’re looking forward to an equally wonderful 2008. We are very blessed and so very grateful for everything we have. Tim and I have each other, we’re healthy and happy, and we have Beau to keep us entertained. Tim has his golf and I have my books to keep us occupied, and we enjoy doing most everything else together. What more could you ask for? 🙂

I thought I’d start off the year with a quick and easy “Question of the Day:” Did you stay up last night to ring in the new year? Did you immediately go to bed after the stroke of midnight, or are you just a party animal?!

For us, we stayed up. Chris and Elizabeth came over to hang out and work on our annual New Years jigsaw puzzle with us (picture soon, when we finish!) We made it till midnight, and we even sat up later playing Text Twist on the computer (new high score for us, yeah!). As you can tell, we’re not big on partying or celebrating. 🙂

So, leave me a comment and let me know – did you stay up or not?!

Happy New Year to you!

Today’s Christmas-themed “Question of the Day” is all about lists. You know, “making a list and checking it twice”. 🙂 I mean, even Santa makes a list! I get a lot of ribbing year round in my family, because I’m a total list maker. I carry a PDA with me everywhere I go. It has all of my lists on it. I am also a post-it junkie. I put up post-it’s everywhere to remind me of things. I believe in planning, writing things down, and making lists.

So, it comes naturally to me to make a list. I try to make a list for family members who might want ideas for something to get us for Christmas. I also make lists of things to get others, that I carry with me everywhere. So, I make lists on both sides.

How about you? Do you fly by the seat of your pants, with no lists? Do you make lists for you and yours that you give to other parts of the family, or friends, or the in-laws? Do you make lists of everything you need to do, buy, cook, etc? I hope I’m not the only list-maker out there! 😀 Leave me a comment and let me know!

Today’s Christmas-themed “Question of the Day” is about nativities. Do you have one that you put out every year? Or more than one? Is it a small one indoors, or a large one outdoors? Does it have any special meaning or memories for you?

The reason I ask this question is because I do have a small nativity that I love and put out every year. My mother-in-law has wanted to visit the Holy Land her entire life, and she did go (prior to 9-11) when Tim and I were first married. She got each of us an olive wood Nativity in Bethlehem. It is all hand-carved and it’s just so special to us because she bought it for us in the Holy Land. I had never had a nativity before, and I love this one. I secretly wish for the Willow Tree nativity, but I just hate to ask for it because it is so expensive. I know that one year I will finally break down and tell Tim that I want it, and I know that he’d buy it if I really wanted it. Luckily, I don’t have room for it in this house, so it will have to be when we move to a bigger house. Whew! Anyway, I love my nativity and put it out every year:

So, how about you… do you have a nativity at your home? Or some other really special decoration that you put out that has special meaning for you? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Today’s Christmas-themed “Question of the Day” is all about your Christmas stockings. You know, “the stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there”. Love that story 🙂 So, do you hang stockings in your house? Are they on the mantle or somewhere else? How many do you have – one for each adult or just for the kids? Do your pets have stockings? Do you have stockings for your grandkids or someone else who might just be at your house on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, but who might not be there the entire season? Are your stockings homemade or store-bought? And lastly – do you do all the stocking preparations, or does your significant other, or someone else, help you do the obtaining and filling (you know, helping Santa out!)

Here’s my answers – we do hang stockings, and they go up on our mantle at the same time the tree goes up. They are fairly new, some I bought a couple of years ago at Target that sort of coordinate with my tree skirt. I want to get one for our furry child Beau, but Tim doesn’t think he needs one. Our last dog, Sally, had her own stocking and it hung on our mantle every year. Tim thought it was silly and so far (this is our second Christmas with Beau), I have not gotten one for Beau. It’s hard though. Since we don’t have kids, I would really like to have one for Beau that I could fill. Speaking of that – I fill Tim’s stocking and end up buying a couple of things for mine. For years, I tried to get him to buy me something for my stocking, but that’s pretty much a lost cause. If I don’t get something, mine is usually empty. Sometimes, he will stuff a smaller gift in mine, but it’s not a deliberate thing. 🙂 We don’t have stockings for anyone else, and we’re often not here on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning to do ours. But we will be this year. Now, I just have to find something for Tim’s stocking and help Santa out 😀

How about you? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Today’s Question of the Day is short and sweet. It’s cold outside and you’re all snuggled up at home. What’s your choice of something hot to drink this Christmas season? Do you like hot chocolate, with or without marshmallows? Do you drink hot apple cider or hot tea? Or would you rather have coffee?

My answer is all of the above! I love it all. I love hot cocoa and make my own mix every year that we give to family and friends. I love hot apple cider and make it at the holidays. I drink hot tea sometimes, although it’s not my first choice. Coffee is a near-daily item for me, but mostly just in the mornings. Tim is not a believer in decaf coffee, so I don’t ever buy it. So, coffee in the afternoons or evenings for me is a huge no-no. I can’t drink caffeine too late or I have trouble sleeping. Hot chocolate is good all day and night, though 😀

How about you? If you came over, what would you like a cup of to drink?!

I thought I’d start today asking one of a series of “Question of the Day” questions, about Christmas. We’re all alike, but we’re all different too, and I always love reading about how each of you celebrate, decorate, and commemorate Christmas. We’ll start off slow and easy this year, with the first question about your tree. 🙂

Are you going to put up a tree this year? Is it a real tree or an artificial tree? Are the ornaments an eclectic mixture, or very carefully chosen, as part of a theme or other plan? What color are the lights on your tree? And finally – is it up yet or not? If not, when do you put it up and take it down?

Ok, now for my answers! Our tree is up, and it’s an artificial pre-lit tree we bought last year (Tim’s job is to put up the tree and string the lights, so you can understand why he was so interested in getting a pre-lit tree!). We put it up the weekend after Thanksgiving. The ornaments are a very eclectic mixture – some from my childhood that I saved when my mom was going to throw them out, some from when I was single (pre-Tim, as we like to call it!), and the rest we’ve bought since we’ve been married. On most vacations, we try to get an ornament from where ever we’ve visited. Some, I just see at Target and like and buy 😀 This new tree is prelit with white lights, and I have been doing white lights on my tree for about 15 years now. I may eventually gravitate back to colored lights. I saw some really cool LED colored lights in the store this past weekend. Ours will stay up through Christmas, but I’ll have it down by New Years Eve.

Now, leave me a comment and let me know about you, your tree, who decorates it, what it has on it, etc. And have a very joyous holiday season!