Exceedingly Mundane

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Archive for July, 2006

Jul
31
Posted by Stace

Reviews

Sheesh, I was a couple of months behind on entering book and movie reviews in the Reviews section of our main website, Hambones.org. I just entered them all, and for what it’s worth, most of what I wrote was already covered here in this blog. I’ve gotten accustomed to just blogging about movies or books here, and not entering the reviews. I’m not sure if anyone reads them (except Gail, of course, LOL), but I did go ahead and catch up and enter them all.

I entered book reviews for the following:
“The Preservationist” by David Maine (here)
“Goodnight Nobody” by Jennifer Weiner (here)
“The Secret Life of Bees” by Sue Monk Kidd (here)
“Vanishing Acts” by Jodi Picoult (here)
“Shem Creek” by Dorothea Benton Frank (here)
“Memoirs of a Geisha” by Arthur Golden (here)

And movie reviews for:
Finding Neverland (here)
Because of Winn Dixie ((here)
Failure to Launch (here)
Walk the Line (here)
Memoirs of a Geisha (here)

WHEW! I think I’m caught up now. Tim is watching Underworld:Evolution tonight, but I’m not. I’m waiting for Treasure Hunters, I like that show. I doubt there will be a review of Underworld, since I didn’t watch it. I have also read the first 2 books in the Tucker Mills trilogy, but I won’t write a review until I’ve read them all, and then I’ll write one to cover all three books. Taking the easy way out, yessirreebob! πŸ™‚

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Jul
31
Posted by Stace

Training Camp Pictures

Well, surprisingly enough, a few of you guys commented that you wanted to see pictures from the training camp practices we attended over the weekend. I was pretty surprised! But, since you asked (and even if you hadn’t, hehehe), I thought I would post some pictures.

Let me just state this for the record – it’s hot here in July and August. I feel for these guys. The sun was broiling, it was humid, those are really big guys, and they are decked out in a lot of black apparel and shoulder pads. I know they are past hot. But, it’s good conditioning for them. Saturday was tolerable (morning, some clouds) and Sunday was downright unbearable (96º, high humidity, not a cloud in the sky). The sun was beating down Sunday afternoon, no clouds to cover the sun and it was beyond humid. We didn’t stay the entire time. That should tell you something. Tim is a die-hard fan and for him to leave before practice is over speaks volumes. It was sooo hot.

OK, recap. We went Saturday to the morning practice on the “upper field”, which is just a practice field at the local college where they are holding training camp. There’s also a small stadium at the college where they hold the other practices (including the one we went to Sunday PM). This practice field doesn’t have bleachers, so they had thrown up some temporary bleachers at the end of the practice area, so we were not on a sideline view. I didn’t get great pictures because there was always players, trainers, assistants, coaches, etc, standing around blocking my view.

If I had been with this official camera guy, I might have gotten good pictures:
Camera Guy

Then again, I am scared of heights, so I wouldn’t want to be up there with him:
Camera Rig

I got scared just watching them lift him up with that huge hydraulic machine. 😯

Sunday, we went to the afternoon practice at the stadium. I was hoping this was going to be better for taking pictures, since it was a regular field with bleachers, and a sideline view. I could not have been more wrong. It was so hot, I just wanted to drink water and Powerade (2 dollars a bottle, you can’t bring in your own drinks) and fan myself with the program. So, I didn’t get nearly as many pictures. We didn’t stay as long because it was so hot, and the main attraction, number one draft pick Reggie Bush, was not there. Bush was the second overall draft pick, behind Mario Williams, but had held out for a couple of days on his contract negotiations. The local paper had said he was supposed to be there on Sunday, so we were excited. Of course, he didn’t show up, and is supposed to be here today. I don’t think we’ll make it today though. Too hot!

OK, lots more pictures, with explanations, on the extended page. Check them out if you would like!

Read the rest of this entry »

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Jul
31
Posted by Stace

Monday Madness Meme

Monday Madness Meme

1. Do you have a photo blog? If so, feel free to share the link with us!No separate photo blog, but I post pictures here frequently, I have a Flickr account on my sidebar to the right, and I post family and vacation pictures on our regular website, Hambones.

2. How many pets do you own, and what are their names? If none, have you had a favorite pet in the past? None currently, but I’m wanting to get another dog. We lost my beloved Sally too long ago and I’m ready for a new dog. On a happy note, my sister Suzanne just got a new dog, her name is Nevada and she looks so beautiful. Check out the top two or three posts on her blog, here.

3. How many times a week does the carpet in your house get vacuumed? No carpet? How many times a MONTH do your floors get mopped? Carpet gets vacuumed at least once a week, sometimes twice. Floors get swept and mopped once a week. Which, unfortunately is today, Mondays I do carpet and the kitchen floors. Tuesdays I do the bathrooms and bathroom floors. Yuck.

4. Which room in your house do you spend the most time in? That’s probably a toss-up between the den and office (where my computer is!)

5. Have you read any good books lately? I have read 43 books so far this year and enjoyed almost every single one of them, for different reasons. Of the last few that I have read, I probably most enjoyed Shem Creek and The Secret Life of Bees. You can check out all the books I’ve read this year and last year at the top of my blog, or click here.

6. What is your biggest source of news? (Newspaper? Television? Radio? Other?) Hmm, I probably would have to say a toss-up between the Internet and local newspaper.

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Jul
30
Posted by Stace

Catch-up

Saturday turned out to be a pretty busy day for us. And Sunday looks to be much of the same. Here’s what we’ve been up to:

  • Went to the Saints morning practice on Saturday. I took a lot of pictures and still have to load them either onto our main website or get them ready to post here. I’m going to wait since we’re going back again this afternoon (Sunday)
  • Tim went to the driving range and hit a couple of buckets of balls Saturday afternoon. Stacy went shopping and ran some errands (I had a couple of things to return)
  • We went out to eat dinner (date night, yeah!) at a new local Mexican place called Cazadores. We both really enjoyed it. The food was really good, the service was great, and the chips and salsa were good. Always a selling point with us and Mexican places, we like that we can get chips right away and prefer them to be hot and crispy and not greasy. We’ll definitely go back and eat there again πŸ˜†
  • We rented 2 movies from our list, one for Tim (Underworld:Evolution) and one for Stacy (Memoirs of a Geisha). We watched my movie last night and will watch Tim’s soon
  • We’re headed back out into the upper 90 degree heat this afternoon to go to another Saints practice. More pictures will be taken, and hopefully, we’ll get our first look at top draft pick Reggie Bush. He’s rumored to be showing up for camp today. This, of course, is after we’ve already spent several hours in the heat at the golf course. Tim wants to play golf and has coerced me into going with him. I might melt down completely before the day is over.
  • Stacy is wheedling and coercing Tim into picking up take-out Chinese for supper tonight, after we leave the training camp practice. I am craving Chinese really bad and we haven’t had it in a while (according to Stacy, Tim could go for years and be happy with not eating Chinese food). I can’t wait :mrgreen:
  • We’ll watch 2 shows on TV tonight that I rather enjoy: The 4400 on USA network and then The Revolution series on the History Channel. Tim’s movie will have to wait until another night (I hope). Either way, I won’t watch Underworld, I will read instead. Am enjoying my new book, “A Good Yarn” by Debbie Macomber. I have to finish it soon so I can get started on the 3 I got from the library on Friday.
  • Have a great day everyone!

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    Jul
    29
    Posted by Stace

    Training Camp

    Training Camp started yesterday! Tim’s beloved Saints are holding their training camp for the first time ever, here in our hometown. We’re both pretty excited (although, I think, he’s more excited than I am!) We’re headed out to the early AM practice today, and I’m going to take my camera and practice my sports mode and various photography skills. Maybe the AM practice will be cooler than the PM practice!

    Hope everybody has a great day!

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    Jul
    28
    Posted by Stace

    Library Books

    I went to the library this afternoon and got 3 books that I had seen mentioned on other people’s blogs, either in a book review, something they are currently reading, or a meme. I’ve just added them to my sidebar, under the “up next to read” section.

    I wanted to give a shout-out to these nice ladies for mentioning them on their blog in the first place πŸ™‚

    1. The Falls by Joyce Carol Oates mentioned at Southern Fried Girl’s blog… hopefully, here (blogger doesn’t always like me!)

    2. I Do (But I Don’t) by Cara Lockwood, mentioned by Debi at her blog, Caught Between Worlds… hopefully, here

    3. Jewels of the Sun by Nora Roberts (first of a trilogy), mentioned at Yellow Roses Garden’s blog… hopefully, here.

    Thanks ladies, for the book reviews and tips!

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    Jul
    28
    Posted by Stace

    Friday Feast Meme

    Friday Feast Meme

    Friday, July 28, 2006
    Feast One-Hundred & Four

    Appetizer
    What’s the funniest dream you can remember having?
    I rarely ever remember my dreams, and what bits and pieces I do remember are never funny. More like weird, confused or even downright upsetting. I apparently do not dream happy or funny dreams!

    Soup
    If you were a dog, what breed would you be, and why?
    I would have to say a golden retriever. They are my favorite breed of dogs, what I’ve had all my life. They are sweet, lovable, devoted, loyal, always happy, always wanting to please.

    Salad
    Continue this sentence: “I get confused when…”
    I have to figure out how to take something apart or put something together. I’m not mechanical and I don’t see how things go together.

    Main Course
    Name two things that need to be done, but you are procrastinating in completing.
    Oh my – just two?! I’m the world’s worst procrastinator. I need to clean out the coil burners on my stovetop (I have an old stove, I want a new smoothtop one, wah!) since they are really dirty. I also need to start decluttering and cleaning our home office. It’s a nightmare in there!

    Dessert
    When was the last time you tried something new, and what was it?
    The first thing that comes to mind is the alligator that Tim made me try! We went to Islamorada Fish Company in Bass Pro Shop and he ordered alligator for our appetizer. It was…. kinda chewy!

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    Jul
    27
    Posted by Stace

    Thursday Thirteen #7

    Thirteen Things in My Refrigerator

    Thanks to Chaotic Home for the banner!

    This week, I’m posting 13 things that I always have in my refrigerator these days. Some with pictures, some with recipe links. Enjoy!

    1. Milk – we drink only fat-free skim, but we drink a lot. For the two of us, we go through 2-3 gallons a week!

    2. Orange Juice – my hubby doesn’t drink it, just me. I only drink pulp-free, I’m picky that way πŸ™‚

    Milk and OJ on the door

    3. Eggs – thankfully, I’ve never listened to the PTB (powers that be) who said eggs were bad for you. I buy eggs every week, and we eat them a lot. I boil them to add to salads, I make egg salad, chicken salad, tuna salad, salmon salad, etc for lunch often. We eat a lot of breakfast food, even at night. I love to bake, and most of my recipes call for eggs.

    4. Yogurt – the hubby won’t touch this with a ten foot pole. Thank goodness, they’re all mine. My yogurt of choice:

    Yoplait Yogurt

    5. Creamer – my husband will only drink plain, black coffee. I can’t drink it that way. I have to add Splenda and some kind of flavored creamer. Lately, it’s been fat-free french vanilla and this one, fat free cinnamon vanilla creme:

    Creamer

    6. Hoisin Sauce – love this stuff. I use it for this salmon recipe, as well as for this Cooking Light Chicken and Cabbage dish, and these chicken “buns” that my husband says tastes sort of like the “yakimandu” he ate while stationed in Korea. We love hoisin!

    Hoisin Sauce

    7. Hershey’s Chocolate syrup – gotta have chocolate milk sometimes! We also always pour chocolate syrup over homemade vanilla ice cream.

    Hershey's Chocolate Syrup

    8. Allegro Spicy Marinade – my husband will only grill steaks if we marinate them in this stuff, he adores it:

    Allegro Spicy Marinade

    9. Marinated Mushrooms – I have been buying these things for years from Sam’s Club. We both love them. I keep them on hand to toss into green salads, and we love to just eat them right from the jar!

    Marinated Mushrooms

    10. On the Border Salsa – another item I’ve been buying for years from Sam’s Club. We really like this jarred salsa. We use it for chips, obviously, but mostly I use it to cook with. I make this shredded chicken to use in a chicken version of taco salad, in enchiladas, or just rolled up in tortillas for a quick wrap. I also use salsa for this recipe for Crockpot Chicken Santa Fe. This is one of my favorite things to make; not surpisingly, I just made it a few days ago!

    On the Border Salsa

    11. Maple Syrup – I buy this at Sam’s Club too…. We both love pancakes, and I love to make this Maple BBQ pulled chicken to have on sandwiches. We both really prefer it to bbq or sloppy joes.

    Maple Syrup

    12. Lipton Diet Green Tea – I’ve been on a kick with these this summer. I love these things:

    Lipton Diet Green Tea bottles

    13. Sourdough Bread Starter This is the sourdough bread starter that my sister graciously shared with me several months ago. (hard to see in the picture, I took this picture on Wednesday, the day I “feed” it and it sort of bubbles at the top). I love to bake and love to make bread. I have a bread machine that I’ve used for years and years, but we love this stuff too… nothing like homemade bread hot out of the oven, even in the summer!

    Sourdough Bread Starter

    Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

    The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. ItÒ€ℒs easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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    Jul
    26
    Posted by Stace

    More Free DVD’s

    I blogged several weeks ago about the free DVD offer from Kellogg’s and how we were collecting coupons from our favorite cereal boxes. I mailed off the first two and then a third request, and yesterday, we got our other two movies. Here’s what we got, totally free, except for the stamp to mail the envelope:

    Free Kellogg's DVD's

    We have 3 coupons toward another movie, but now they are not printing these on the Kellogg’s cereal boxes any more. I haven’t been able to find them for several weeks now, so I guess that’s the end of our free movies! It was nice while it lasted – I so love to get freebies and fun things in the mail!

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    Jul
    26
    Posted by Stace

    Just Ain’t Fair

    I’m sorry, but it’s just not right that this thing is labeled “lowfat”! Look at the very bottom, it says, really small “a lowfat creamy blend of Starbucks coffee and milk”. Yeah, lowfat, right. Now, don’t get me wrong – it is really good. The problem is that this bottle is small, and I can drink it in the blink of an eye. It has 200 calories for this one itsy bitsy teenie weenie bottle:

    Frappuccino

    It’s just not right. That’s all I’m saying. πŸ™„

    P.S. This blog entry reminds me of a segment I saw last week on “The View”. They had a nutritionist on, who was talking about how many summer drinks were making women add extra, hidden calories to their diet. I was shocked at how many calories some of these drinks have. Check out the extended page for a section I’ve cut and pasted from their website.

    Read the rest of this entry »

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    Jul
    25
    Posted by Stace

    Meme-ology

    OK, I’ve seen this rather long meme posted on a lot of blogs, and I thought it was high time I played along. I swiped it from Dawn, who said she swiped it from Divine Reality. It’s long, so be sure to click the link to read them all, if you’re so inclined πŸ™‚

    Meme-ology

    GRUB-OLOGY

    What is your salad dressing of choice? Usually a balsamic vinaigrette or honey mustard

    What is your favorite fast food restaurant? Sonic!

    What is your favorite sit down restaurant? Tough to choose, maybe a local Italian or Chinese place

    On average, what size tip do you leave at a restaurant? on average, about 15%

    What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of? Not sure, but maybe some Chinese or Italian, a little more variety in there than say, maybe, pizza

    Name three foods you detest above all others. Beets, oysters, turnip greens

    What is your favorite dish to order in a Chinese restaurant? Either sesame chicken or a shrimp/cabbage dish at one place (but I’ve never seen it at any other Chinese place!)

    What are your pizza toppings of choice? pepperoni and mushroom or ham and pineapple

    What do you like to put on your toast? butter and grape jelly

    What is your favorite type of gum? lately, I’ve been getting Trident strawberry-lime

    TECH-OLOGY

    Number of contacts in your cell phone? 60

    Number of contacts in your email address book? about 100, didn’t count

    What is your wallpaper on your computer? a beach scene, ocean, palm trees (came with Windows XP I think)

    What is your screensaver on your computer? lakes, streams, waterfalls. Got a water theme going here right now!

    Are there naked pictures saved on your computer? Heavens no. Unless you count a random picture or two of some niece or nephew having their diaper changed πŸ™‚

    How many land line phones do you have in your house? 5

    How many televisions are in your house? 3

    What kitchen appliance do you use the least? Hmmm, I have several I use only sporadically, but they still get used. Don’t use the blender that often. Haven’t used the Foreman lately because Tim usually grills out.

    What is the format of the radio station you listen to the most? country

    How many sex toys do you own that require batteries? None. Duh.

    Continued on extended page….
    Read the rest of this entry »

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    Moonlight on the Millpond by Lori WickI finished the first book in the “Tucker Mills Trilogy” by Christian author Lori Wick last night, “Moonlight on the Millpond.” My mother-in-law had loaned me the first two, and is finishing the last one. These are quaint, charming books, set in the 1830’s in a small New England village. This book mostly covers the love story between two main characters, Jace and Maddie. I look forward to reading what happens to them next!

    For the record, that makes #42 for me so far this year, with a total of 14,853 pages read. Up next is the next book in this trilogy, “Just Above a Whisper”. After that, I may head back to the library and snoop around, or I might just pick a book from my own bookshelf πŸ™‚ After all, I have about 14 over there in my to-be-read list!

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    Jul
    24
    Posted by Stace

    Hummingbird

    I’ve tried a couple of times, with little to no success, to get a picture of some of the hummingbirds that are visiting my feeder this summer. Most of the ones I have taken in the past have been blurry, but I finally had a little bit of success Sunday afternoon. I know my camera has a good zoom and I’ve been frustrated that I haven’t been able to get a picture that is clear and zoomed in on the bird itself and not the feeder or the background. I’m seriously considering buying myself a “Photography for Dummies” book so I can learn something. My camera has a lot of nice features and I basically don’t have a clue how to use most of them!

    Here’s one, and I’m putting a couple more on the extended entry, so click the link if you’d like to see…

    Hummingbird

    Read the rest of this entry »

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    Jul
    24
    Posted by Stace

    Soy Nuts

    I got a few comments in my Monday Madness post below that basically said “what are soy nuts?” Here’s what they look like:

    Soy Nuts

    Don and Gail had some at their house and I tasted them, and they are really good. Crunchy and salty. I found them in Walmart, in a display on the edge of my produce section. This display has several kinds of “healthy” snacks like trail mix, dried fruit, yogurt covered raisins, etc, and they also have 2 kinds of these soy nuts. I’m trying to be good and only get a small handful at a time. They are sort of addictive though, because of the salt, I think. They’re very small, smaller even than English peas, tiny little things.

    Hope that helps!

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    Jul
    24
    Posted by Stace

    Monday Madness Meme

    Monday Madness Meme

    1. I won’t eat past 8 o’clock in the evening. No later than 8 PM, if I can help it, and I really prefer to eat before 7 PM. I ate late with Don, Gail and Tim one night recently, at about 9 PM, and that was a huge mistake. I will do my best not to do that again

    2. My favorite subject for photographing is Tim! It used to be our puppy dog Sally, and I still miss her. I want a new dog!

    3. I use Kodak or Adobe Photoshop Elements most often to edit my photographs. Actually, I do very little editing of my photographs. I mainly only take out red-eye, sometimes a little cropping, and I size them down to include them on my blog. I need to learn to do more in Adobe, but I just haven’t taken the time to learn.

    4. If I’m having trouble sleeping, I usually take a Tylenol PM.

    5. When I’m hungry for a snack, I usually eat something sweet, or something salty!!!! This one is really hard to answer, it depends on how hungry I am, what is around for me to snack on, and the biggie – if I want something sweet or something salty. I normally choose sweets (chocolate, usually), but lately I’ve been snacking on sunflower seeds and soy nuts (roasted and salted).

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