Exceedingly Mundane

We went to the German Fest near our house today, something I look forward to every fall. I love all the festivals and stuff, but I’m afraid I’m the only one. Tim is only interested in going to get food and not staying, so that’s what we did today. My dad drove up, and we all went and got bratwurst and sauerkraut (enough for lunch and dinner). I also bought a t-shirt (love their shirts, I have 3 of them already), some jarred sauerkraut and homemade German mustard. I meant to take my camera to get pictures for the blog, but of course… I forgot. 🙁

So, instead… I’ll post another scenic picture from our vacation last week. This time last week, we were in Callaway Gardens, GA. Tim and Don were playing lots of golf, and Gail and I were hanging out and checking out the grounds, butterfly conservatory, horticultural center, etc.

We went to the chapel on the grounds last Sunday, named after one of the lady Callaways, and it was so pretty. Wood and stone, in front of a lake. Very quiet and peaceful and I thought it was just beautiful. This was one of my most favorite pictures I took while we were gone, of the glass window in the church:

Here’s the chapel, and the window that I took the close-up picture above, of:

Sigh, I just loved how that first picture came out. So, it’s the Photo of the Day! Have a wonderful Sunday everyone!

You’d think we were still in vacation mode or something, seeing as how we can’t stay home! 🙂 We went to Sam’s Club last night and bought a cart full of things we probably didn’t need, then went to the Chinese buffet near our house. Which was an extra-special vacation-type treat for me, since I adore Chinese food and Tim barely tolerates it most of the time. So, he went the extra mile and took me. He was happy though – they had steaks and crab legs on their buffet too, so he was a happy camper!

This morning, we went to our nephew Zack’s football game (pee-wee type stuff), about an hour south of our house. We got to see some of Tim’s family, and watch the game and we had a great time. On the way home, I talked Tim into stopping at a roadside stand and letting me go in and look around.

It’s a big place and they had tons of canned jellies, preserves, honey, syrups, apple butters, vinaigrettes, etc, all from local producers and I really had to restrain myself! They also had a lot of fresh produce, and I knew I wanted to pick up a tomato and cucumber for tonight’s salad, and I wanted to get some sweet potatoes too. Their sweet potatoes looked good, and they were nearly half the price of what I pay in the grocery store (49 cents a pound vs the 98 cents I paid two days ago in the grocery). The sweet potatoes were up front and I stopped to look at them, and then wandered around, and being the forgetful soul that I am, I never went back. I told Tim when we were walking out, I can’t believe I forgot to go back and get some sweet potatoes!

Anyway, I did get some other stuff and had a good time looking. I should have taken my camera in, all of their produce looked pretty good, and I would have bought more if I had not just gone to the grocery two days ago. They had tons of mums and even some pansies, as well as gourds and lots of pumpkins and maize corn too, it was all very festive and autumnal! 🙂 We got all of this, for under $20.00 …

In case you’re wondering, that’s a jar of honey with the comb, a jar of cane syrup (those were Tim’s picks), a cucumber, a tomato, a bunch of plums and a HUGE bag of boiled peanuts. They smelled so good, that we just couldn’t resist.

It looks like rain outside, and we have an 80% chance of rain tonight, so I hope we’re going to stay in for the rest of the day. It’s 4:30 PM now, and I want to watch a few of the shows that we taped last week while we were gone on vacation, like NCIS, the Unit, and Dancing with the Stars. We watched the season premiere of Numb3rs last night and it was good 🙂

I have a lot of pictures from vacation that I want to post, but I just haven’t had time to transfer them to our main site (Hambones), nor size them down for my blog. They are mostly scenic pictures, of butterflies, flowers, churches, lighthouses, etc.

So, here’s one for today. It was a flower I had never seen before, but it was growing at the Horticultural Center at Callaway Gardens. It’s called a purple passion vine.

And, here’s how they were growing, up an arbor:

Have a great day everyone!

Day 1 of Post-Vacation – I’m still trying to get back on track and back into a routine. However, it’s not really going that well, either with blogging, or with “stuff” around the house. So, I may just chuck it all for the weekend and shoot for getting back on track next week! Sounds like a plan, doesn’t it?!!! I had wanted to catch up on some memes that I missed while I was gone, and also do the Friday Feast today, but I don’t think I’m going to make it. I did do the Fall Into Reading Challenge that I wanted to do, but I think I’ll have to wait till next week to get back on track with the other things in blogland. 🙂

As far as the rest of post-vacation stuff, it’s going slow but steady. On the way in, Tim stopped and filled up the vehicle for me, which was so sweet. He does this a lot, he knows I like to be left with a full tank as opposed to an empty one. He can be such a sweetheart when he puts his mind to it! 🙂 We unloaded and I unpacked yesterday, and started on the mountain of dirty laundry that we came home with. Still a long way to go on that, probably 3-4 more loads. I did go grocery shopping yesterday and we ate a grilled chicken salad last night for supper. We overate the entire time we were gone (hey, isn’t that what vacation is all about?!), and we are both feeling pretty chubby at the moment. I am going to make some chicken salad later, and then figure out what to cook this weekend. I plan to get back on track next week with my menu planning. I noticed that Laura over at OrgJunkie posted hers and was so sweet to mention me and my recipe section at Hambones – thanks Laura! Check it out here. I hope Laura liked the Chicken Santa Fe, it’s one of our favorites. In fact, I am probably going to make it tonight or tomorrow night for us to have.

TV – We also have a lot of taped TV shows to catch up on, although we did watch some while we were gone. We watched the premiere of Amazing Race while at Callaway Gardens, with Don and Gail. Then, I coerced Tim into watching “Dancing with the Stars” with me while in Savannah. 😀 I love that show! I missed all my daytime stuff – Oprah started this week, Martha is back on and Rachael Ray has started a new show. Gotta check those out sometime.

Photos – I got my photos from vacation transferred to my computer this morning, but I haven’t loaded them on Hambones yet, nor have I edited them or backed them up. I am trying to decide how many to post here on my blog, and if I should post them all in one huge post, or spread them out. I have mostly scenic pictures, so I was thinking of doing a “Photo of the Day” for a while.

Question of the Day – ok, last up is a question for today:

Since I just finished posting about the “Fall into Reading” challenge, I’m all bookish at the moment. So, the question is, what is the last book that you read and liked, and would recommend to someone else to read? It can be any kind of book, from the last week, month or year, I don’t care. 🙂

It’s always great to go on vacation, but it is always equally nice to come home! We just made it in, and I have tons to do. Just wanted to post and thank everyone for the nice wishes for us on our little trip. I’ll post more in the next few days and some pictures also, of our trip. We had a good time, but it is good to be home.

We got home a lot earlier than I had anticipated. That would be because you-know-who woke up at 3:30 AM and said “are you ready to get up and go?!” Sheesh, no — I don’t like to sleep! But I was ready to get home too and it is easier to drive with less traffic in the middle of the night! So, we got home a lot earlier than I had anticipated. The good news is that since we are not midnight pulling in, I will have a chance to go to the grocery store. I’m off for milk, juice, bread, eggs, etc; you know, the essentials!

OK, here’s a final vacation related Question of the Day:

When you come back from vacation, what is the first thing you do? Leave your answer in the comments… I look forward to reading them!

As for me, the first thing we always do is unload the car, then I start to unpack. I think it’s an OCD thing I have, I don’t just drop the luggage and stuff and leave it. I like to go ahead and unpack and get it “over with”. Today, right after I finish unpacking, I’m going to the grocery store. Those are the top two on my list this time around — How about you?!

Thought I would try to check in, while we have Internet access 🙂

We left Friday and spent the weekend with Gail (my sister) and Don at Callaway Gardens Georgia. The guys played golf on all 3 courses and Gail and I hung out and looked for something blooming. 🙄 They have the coolest butterfly conservatory there, and I took over 100 pictures of butterflies! We also toured the horticultural center and other spots at the resort, did a short trail, and also tagged along on 9 holes of golf with the guys. We had great weather and had a great time. We wished Gail and Don had been able to come with us on the last leg of our vacation, but they had to get home.

We left Monday and went to Warm Springs, Georgia. I realized I had lost my sunglasses (something I never do!) and we had to stop at a Dollar store and buy me some replacements. We toured the “Little White House” in Warm Springs and saw the only home that Franklin Delano Roosevelt ever owned. We also visited the springs and the water is warm, but not hot. They had a good museum there about Roosevelt, his presidency, his life and works, and his polio. We both love history, so this was a great little spot for us to visit.

We got to Savannah yesterday (Monday) and we love our hotel and location! We’re in the historic district, one block from the river and Riverwalk, in a historic inn that was originally built in the 1850’s as offices for cotton merchants. The ceilings are very high, we think 16′ tall, and the rooms have these huge windows. The first floor facade is cast iron, which was common for the time. We love our room, and the location and have done a lot of walking around and visiting sites in Savannah. We are hanging out in our room this afternoon (Tuesday) because it is dark and pouring rain! A line of thunderstorms are moving through, so we hope it will clear up later. There’s more we want to see, although Tim is not interested in touring some of the old houses that I had wanted to see. He said he’d go, but I hate to drag him when he’s not interested.

Anyway, just wanted to check in and say hello to everyone. I’m taking lots of pictures, and will post some after we get home. These are all scenic pictures though, there’s very few “people” pictures on this vacation, except for a couple that Gail took for us over the weekend. I have lots of pictures of butterflies, flowers, buildings, monuments and old buildings though!!! 😀

Have a great week, we’ll be home soon and I hope to return to daily blogging then!

We’re headed out on our vacation. I know we will have internet access from at least one place we are staying, but that is next week. I’m not sure how often I’ll be able to check in, but I will if I can and have time. 🙂 We are taking the laptop, just in case!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and week! See ya when we get back!

Well, I hate missing a Thursday Thirteen (I had a nice little streak going :roll:), but I just don’t have time to throw one together, much less visit anyone else. And I hate not being able to reciprocate, so I just decided to skip it this week. And next week as well, as we’ll be on vacation.

I have tons to do, lots of last minute vacation stuff. I have to make a list and start packing, as well as get all of our clothes washed today. We went last night and picked up a couple of new things (yeah!) for vacation. Mostly golf-related stuff for Tim, but I did get a new pair of jeans. Wishful thinking on my part, I think, that I will be able to wear jeans and not shorts!

We taped the results show of Dancing with the Stars and I was not surprised by the outcome. Totally forgot to tape Bones also, which is a good show. I’m looking forward to Survivor tonight! I hope our HD channel is going to broadcast it in HD, we love catching stuff on our new digital/HD line-up. I also have to get busy and make a list of shows to tape while we are gone. Lots of our favorites are going to be on while we’re off on vacation, and while we might get a chance to watch them, I don’t want to risk it! So, I want to try to tape as much as we can. On the list, the premiere of Amazing Race Sunday night, NCIS & The Unit next week, Dancing with the Stars, etc. We’ll also have to tape our football game on Sunday!

OK, since it went over well yesterday, we’ll try another Question of the Day:

Do you make an effort to clean up your house before you leave on vacation?

I do, it’s this weird obsessive thing I have. My husband always teases me that I’m cleaning up for the burglars. I think that mostly I just like everything to be as neat and orderly as possible when we get home. We’re usually tired from vacation, and have mountains of laundry to catch up on, as well as a bunch of other stuff that needs to be done when we get back. A dirty or messy house is not something I relish returning home to.

Leave me a comment and let me know if you share this pre-vacation cleaning syndrome! 🙂

I haven’t been blogging much lately, because I haven’t had a lot of time. First off, I’m still on my month-long federal jury summons, but so far I have not had to go in. I keep hearing those three little words I love – “Do. Not. Report.” and they make me so happy. 😆

Da Blog – I worked the other day on a new look for the blog. I know a lot of you don’t like it, either it’s too dark or too hard to read. I’m still looking for something else that will work, but in the mean time, I’m going to leave this one up. I just don’t have time to work on another one. Sorry, hope everyone understands!

Menu ramblings – I post my weekly menu every week, as part of a meme sponsored by Laura. I love doing this, but we don’t always stick to the plan! This has been one of those weeks (starting tonight, the rest of the menu probably won’t go according to plan!) I did make the Tortilla Torta on Monday, and it’s really just an easy layered enchilada pie. Very gooey, pretty good, and meatless too (shhh, don’t tell Tim!). I also made a quick dressing to go on a side salad. I surfed around and couldn’t find a Mexican type salad dressing, but I saw an idea and used it, and I really liked it. I took some low-fat Ranch salad dressing, mixed it with some plain non-fat yogurt, a squirt of lime juice and a bunch of cumin. Whisked it all together to taste and had it over a green salad. I really liked it and will do that again. Last night, I tried a new way to do chicken, with feta cheese. It was good, but next time I will use more feta. Basically, it’s just a baked chicken with feta inside. I pounded my chicken breasts flat, dipped them in beaten egg whites, then rolled in bread crumbs. On the inside, I put some feta then sort of rolled them up. Next time, I’ll definitely put more feta. You couldn’t taste it in half the chicken, but it was still good. I also sprayed the top of the bread crumbs with fat-free spray butter, so that made it crispier. Tim loves fried chicken, but I never fry things, so this is as close as he gets!

TV – I watched the season premiere of “Dancing with the Stars” last night, and loved it. I didn’t see the first few dancers (long story, we had a lady knock on the door who bought something at our garage sale and wanted HELP with it. Argh. To me, if you buy something at a garage sale, it’s “As Is”. I would NEVER drive back to someones house and ring their doorbell at dinnertime and ask for help.) Anyway, I didn’t see Tucker Carlson except in the recap at the end, but he looked very wooden. So did Harry Hamlin and Jerry Springer, so I’m not sure who will be the first to go. It sure looks like Mario Lopez will be the one to beat this time. He looked really good out there. I also checked out the show after it, “Men in Trees” and it was ok. I’m looking forward to Survivor starting tomorrow night. We always watch that show. 🙂

Vacation – I’ve been doing a bunch of vacation planning and printing out maps and itineraries. We leave in a couple of days on vacation, so the blogging will be sporadic from here on out until we get back. We will have internet access from some of our hotel spots, so I will try to check in and post if I have time. No guarantees, though! Since we’re driving, we will take the laptop and maybe I’ll be able to post some.

OK, I have to go run errands and maybe do a little shopping. Normally, when we go on vacation, I always get some new clothes. I haven’t bought a single thing for this trip so far, and I am thinking I need to!

So, that brings up a question of the day – when you go on vacation, do you usually get any new clothes for the trip? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Happy Birthday to my sister-in-law Amanda! We hope she has a great day, and a wonderful upcoming year!

Amanda has a blog here at Hambones, but she hasn’t had much time to post lately, so I won’t ask anyone to go there and post birthday greetings to her. She checks in here sometimes, so hopefully she will see this 🙂 Happy Birthday Amanda – have a wonderful day!!!

Are you ready… for some football????

We definitely are. Football season is our favorite time of year. Tim has always been a huge fan and I’ve learned, through the years, to love football as well. We like to go to games, play fantasy football in our league at Hambones, but mostly, watch our teams on TV. Now that we have the new hi-def plasma TV, we are very ready for football season to begin in earnest. Granted, we had the opening game on Thursday night, but today really starts football. First up, there’s Tim’s beloved Saints at noon, then the Packers at 3 PM, then the battle of the Manning brothers tonight. We’ve got our fantasy teams ready to go and have purchased StatTracker so we can get up-to-the minute stats in real time to follow our teams. Plus, I got us some “game day” food at the grocery store on Friday afternoon, so we’re all set. It’s gonna be a great day!

Well, our garage sale was a success, at least to us! We worked hard all week to pull stuff out of the attic, closets, cabinets, and get it all ready to go for this morning. Click on the extended entry to see a couple of pictures I snapped last night, inside the garage, of the stuff all laid out. It was dark, so they are not the greatest of pictures! And there was more, off to the sides…

We got up at 5:45 and had people here by 6 AM. We sold a lot of it, I’d say probably 80%, and what was left, we took to the local Goodwill after it was all over. The only thing we didn’t sell was our old entertainment center, so we’ll run an ad in the paper soon or try Craigslist.com and see if we can find it a nice home. We made more money than I had anticipated, which is always really nice!!! I guess that old adage is true … “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” 🙂

We’re both fairly tired now, so I don’t expect to do more than some housework and vegging for the rest of the day. Hope everyone else is having a good weekend!

Read the rest of this entry »

No, not the three little words you are probably thinking of. Although, normally, those are my favorite words in the English language. I’m not talking about “I Love You” today.

Today, I’m talking about these three little words – “Do. Not. Report.” These are my most favorite three little words in the English language right now. I have a month-long jury summons for federal court, and I have to call in every evening to see if I have to report the next day. I’ve been doing it since August 31, and so far I have not had to report. So, these three little words “Do. Not. Report.” that the little automated voice says to me each evening are now music to my ears.

I don’t mind the thought of jury duty. I have no problem doing my civic duty. The thing I have a problem with is this not knowing. I don’t know until each evening if the next day I will be able to do whatever I have planned or scheduled, or if I will have to shuck it all and go to the federal court. This involves getting up about 2 1/2 hours before I normally would (YUCK – and yes, I know, I’m spoiled that I get to sleep in on a regular basis). Then, there’s the whole morning getting ready thing, and then the fighting commuter traffic thing that I have gotten really used to avoiding.

Anyway, I’m just really hoping to hear “Do. Not. Report.” again today. Wish me luck!

As busy we’ve been the last two days, I was hoping for a more “quiet” day today. 🙂 So far, my wish has been granted!

Read the rest of this entry »

This is going to be a very busy weekend for us, this Labor Day weekend. Friday was very busy, and today is shaping up to be even more so.

Tim took the day off Friday, and we got a bunch of things done around the house. Then, Don and Gail came down, and the guys went to play golf late Friday afternoon. Gail and I hung out and watched TV. The guys played till dark, then we all went to eat a late supper at our favorite Mexican place.

We’ve got a really busy day ahead, and I’ll try to catch up here on the details tomorrow or Monday. I also need to blog about my month-long jury summons that started for federal court. So far, I haven’t had to report. More later!