Exceedingly Mundane

Feast One Hundred & Fifty
June 29th, 2007

Appetizer
How many pieces of jewelry do you wear most days? Most days, I only wear my wedding band. When I’m out and about, I will wear my engagement ring with it, my watch and a pair of earrings. Very rarely do I wear a necklace or bracelet, and never any other rings. I’m just not a jewelry kind of gal. And for that, my husband is truly grateful 😀

Soup
What is your favorite instrumental song? I think I need more coffee – I can barely think of any, much less my favorite. Let’s see, I like Kenny G, so I think his counts as instrumental. I also like some classical music and some movie soundtracks.

Salad
Who has a last name that you like? I love my last name! My husband’s name and that of his family is very important to me. In fact, back in April, I wrote a long post here on my father-in-law’s birthday, about our last name, and the things my FIL taught my husband by word and example.

Main Course
Name a popular movie you’ve never seen. Here we go again! The Wizard of Oz. I’ve never seen it and never will. Long story. I’ve also never seen Saving Private Ryan, The Passion of the Christ, and several others because I just didn’t think I could handle it.

Dessert
Fill in the blank: Nothing makes me ___________ like ____________. Nothing makes me happy like chocolate!

I finished a really cute, Christian chick-lit book last night, called “What a Girl Wants” by Kristin Billerbeck. This is the first in a series of books by this author (she has at least two different series that I know of), called the “Ashley Stockingdale novels”. I definitely want to read more of these and find out what happens next to Ashley. She also has a series called the “Spa Girls novels” and I may want to eventually read those too. Unfortunately, my library doesn’t have any books by this author, so I’m going to check sometime soon on their inter-library loan program and see if they can get them from a neighboring library system. If not, I might just have to break down and order them online 🙂

Anyway, this was a really cute book! Very light but very modern (think Jimmy Choo, Blackberrys and Lilly Pulitzer), about a patent attorney named Ashley Stockingdale, who lives in Silicon Valley and is an active member of her Christian singles group. She’s just turned 31 and she’s having trouble with where she is with her life, her job, her friends, her lack of chances to meet nice Christian men and a whole host of other things, including planning a wedding for her brother and his Chinese fiance, Mei Ling. This book was a really quick, very enjoyable read, and I can’t wait to get the next ones.

For the record, that makes 45 books read so far this year, for a total of 14,033 pages. Up next is a book by Anna Quindlen (I’ve never read her books) called “Blessings”. I hope it’s good!

Happy Reading!

Today’s question is suggested by Carrie.

What’s the most desperate thing you’ve read because it was the only available reading material?
If it was longer than a cereal box or an advertisement, did it turn out to be worth your while?

Gosh, I don’t think I’ve ever gotten desperate for something to read. I have a pretty good library branch not a mile from my house, so during their open hours, that is an option. The biggest factor is that I now keep a fairly decent TBR pile here at my house. I don’t like ending a book at 10:30 PM and not having another one lined up to read, you know?! Also, I subscribe to several magazines, and I have a pretty significant stack of those here at the ready, for me to read. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever run out of anything to read or not had something available.

Now, I have been known to read a cereal box or two in my time, though 🙂 Daily paper too, and most anything else I can get my hands on. But, these days, I try to always have a book with me, or something to read. Especially if I know I’m going to be somewhere that I might need to wait. I try to always be prepared 🙂

Happy Reading!

I’ve blogged here before, in various and sundry ways, about how I “collect” or “hoard” various household items. I blogged here recently about toilet paper and how I buy the really large packs at our warehouse club (Sam’s Club, no Costco here), because I really don’t want to run out. I see no need to run out of something I use on a daily basis. However, I can run down to Walmart and get toilet paper or paper towels if I need it. Unfortunately, this is not the case with everything that I use on a regular basis.

One thing I am really a packrat about is detergent:

That’s because I can’t just use any detergent in my new hE washer. I need and want to use the specially formatted hE detergent for front-loading washing machine. And get this – my Walmart and Kroger don’t carry the brand I like (in fact, Walmart only carries Tide, and I don’t like Tide detergent, at all). I can only find it at Target, and sometimes they don’t have it on the shelves. So, I tend to buy it when I find it and store it in my cabinet over the washing machine. I start to break out in hives and develop strange ticks if I am down to one or even two bottles. See, Tim has sensitive skin, and I’ve been using this All brand detergent, the Free and Clear one, for years. If I switch to anything else, his arms will break out into a mass of tiny red bumps. It’s the weirdest thing. He can tell if I use something else. So, I use the All Free and Clear – when I can find it. It’s hard to find here in the hE, and my big, huge, never-ending fear is that All is going to stop manufacturing it. They used to make it in a regular bottle, but now they only make it in their Small and Mighty bottle. I don’t know what I will do if they stop making it in the hE formula altogether. I can barely find it here, as it is. Sigh. So, when I do find it, I buy it. And hoard it.

So, we could go two ways with this, as in a Question of the Day. Your pick. We can ask the Question of the Day: What brand of detergent do you use and buy? Do you keep plenty on hand or do you just buy it as you need it. Or, we can go in a complete different direction and ask this Question of the Day – is there a product or item you really like and use, but you have a really hard time finding it where you live? So, when you do find it, you really stock up and hoard it like crazy?

Leave me a comment and let me know!

I know, I know, that’s a picture of a dog bone over there. But I already had that one and couldn’t find a cute picture of a human bone. I found some icky ones, but nothing cute, LOL!

Today’s “Question of the Day” is short and sweet – have you ever broken a bone?

My answer: I have never broken a bone, thankfully. I hope it stays that way. I am not really an adventurous sort, but I am klutzy. I have been very lucky to have not broken anything yet. My husband, on the other hand, is really, really lucky that he has never broken a bone. I’ve heard stories all of our married life of his exploits and escapades as a child, preteen, teenager and young man. I’m constantly amazed he never ended up in the hospital with a concussion or broken bone, or worse! It’s a miracle he survived his rough and rowdy upbringing. He grew up riding 4 wheelers and dirt bikes, out in the country, hunting and fishing and doing heaven only knows what else. He’s so lucky never to have broken anything.

So, how about you? Have you ever had a broken bone? If so, what got broken and how did it happen? Leave me a comment here, or if you’ve got a great story to tell, write about it at your own blog (but leave me a comment so I can come over and read it!).

Have a great day! 😀

Gosh, last week was not a good one for sticking to my menu. We ate out quite a bit and I didn’t make half the meals that I had planned. Oh well, there’s always this week to try and get back on track 🙂

As always, thanks to Laura, for hosting this every week!

Monday – Breakfast for Dinner: omelettes, al Fresco brand sausages (apple/maple flavor), hash browns

Tuesday – Chicken soft tacos (using meat made with this recipe), pinto beans

Wednesday – Light Night before Tim weighs in: either Grilled Chicken Salad or Tomato Soup & grilled cheese

Thursday – Chicken Quesadillas (use rest of tortillas left from Tuesday)

Friday – Date Night or Pizza

Saturday – TBD or spaghetti and meatballs

My mom passed away 5 years ago today. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of you and miss you, Dodie (that’s what we all called my mom).

My mom hated, hated to have her photo taken, so I have very few photos of her. I went through my scrapbook pages from several years ago and found this one from Thanksgiving 2000. My parents had come to our house to have dinner with us and Gail and her family.

I miss you Dodie. I’m glad you’re not suffering any more, but I still wish you were here for me to see and talk to. 🙂

Wow, someone thinks me or my blog rocks! I think it’s so cool, and many thanks to Trish and Annie for nominating me for the “Rockin Girl Blogger Awards”! It always warms my heart to find that someone, anyone, enjoys my blog and thinks it worthy of any type of mention. I think I must have the nicest, sweetest, most thoughtful set of blogging buddies a girl could have!

By the way, Trish’s post is here and Annie’s post is here. The reason I mention this is because both of them nominated some really other wonderful blogging ladies, many of whom I already read and enjoy. And who, I might add, I would have nominated myself, but they had already been tagged themselves.

OK, my turn to nominate. I think these ladies, and their blogs, totally rock, so go check them out!

Stacy aka Vader’s Mom – fellow booklover and fellow doggie mom, she rocks!

Karen, over at Write From Karen – great writer and fellow booklover, she always has something wonderful to say, and she rocks!

Dawn, at Thoughts from Along the Broken Road – fellow football fanatic, Disney lover and all around great blogger, she rocks!

Susie, at SusiePie.com – fellow booklover, awesome blogger, great Southern gal and we all know she does incredible blog design work – she rocks!

Judi, at Mommy to Two – fellow booklover, fellow food/recipe lover, she rocks!

Kim, at Kim’s Candor – fellow book lover and great Southern girl, she rocks!

Debi, at Nothing of Importance – fellow book lover, challenge joiner extraordinaire and amazing homeschooling mom, she rocks!

Sherry – at A Bibliomane Amidst Butterflies – fellow book lover, fellow recipe/food lover and amazing homeschooling mom, she rocks!

I could nominate many many more wonderful ladies, but I’ll stop here and hope they spread the love around 🙂 I really and truly think that all of the ladies whose blogs I visit and read are great, and you guys all rock! Thanks for visiting mine and making me feel like my blog is something more than “exceedingly mundane” 😀

Miss Southern Girl has tagged me with a Page 12 meme… and being a book-loving kind of gal, this one is a no-brainer!

You need to:

1. Pick up a book that is near to you
2. Go to page twelve in the book
3. Read the first two sentences and post it on your blog
4. Also post the book title and the name of the author
5. Tag 3 other people

OK, being that I have a bachelors in mathematics, I can do this one. Let’s see, page 12. Ok, here is page 12 of the current book I’m reading … “Murder on a Bad Hair Day” by Anne George:

Bonnie Blue shook her head. “No way you and Mary Alice could be sisters.”
“We were born at home, Bonnie Blue”.
“I look like Mama, blonde and little, and Sister looks like Daddy, big and brunette.”

OK, ok, maybe I can’t count. That was three sentences, but it helps put it into context. Patricia Anne and Mary Alice are the Southern Sisters, as in Southern Sisters mystery series. They live in Birmingham, AL and in this series of cozy mysteries, they find themselves in some odd and funny predicaments. Oddly enough, all involving murders!

Let’s see, I won’t tag anyone specifically, but feel free to play along. I’m such a rule breaker

Feast One Hundred & Forty Nine
June 22nd, 2007

Appetizer
Name a funny habit you have. Hmm, probably my habit of picking things up and putting them in their place. I don’t like things out of place for very long. I don’t like to sit down in the evenings to watch TV or a movie and know that I have dirty dishes in the kitchen or things that need to be done. Oooh! I also have this funny thing that I do with my bookmark. I was reading at my sister Gail’s one time and she commented that she does the same thing, so we’re odd together 🙂 When I’m reading a book, I take my bookmark and sort of lay it on my left shoulder. I have no idea why or why I started doing this.

Soup
If you could instantly know how to play a musical instrument, which one would you pick? Probably the piano

Salad
How long is your hair? Somewhere between my chin and my shoulders. I would like to grow it a little longer, about shoulder length, but it gets frizzy at a certain point and I usually end up chopping it.

Main Course
When was the last time you forgave someone, and who was it? Gosh, I have no idea. I am the one who needs forgiving most of the time. I have a temper and I get my feelings hurt too easily and get upset.

Dessert
What is your favorite kitchen appliance? Hmm, my favorite would be my red Kitchen-aid mixer. The one I use the most is either my crockpot or my toaster oven. Or lately, since we’re watching more movies, my microwave to pop popcorn 😀

I probably won’t do this very often, but I thought I’d throw out a couple of quick movie reviews. As I blogged about a couple of days ago (here), we just started our new Netflix trial membership. We’ve received our first three movies, and have watched two of them. One hit and one miss 🙂

The hit was “Deja Vu” with Denzel Washington. We both liked that one. It does have some violence and language to it, but we both really liked the plot. The miss was “Catch and Release“. My sister Gail was here when we watched it, and I don’t think she liked it much at all either. I wanted to like it, as I really like Jennifer Garner, but it just wasn’t a good movie for us. Too quirky and too immoral for our crew. Tim really and truly disliked it. When I asked him to rate these movies (on a scale of 1-10), he gave “Catch and Release” a 3 and “Deja Vu” an 8 or 9.

We also checked out the second Pirates movie. I had wanted to watch that one again to refresh my mind on the plot, before we go see Pirates 3 in the theater. We’ve been seeing a lot of sequels this summer. We’ve seen Spiderman 3, Oceans 13 and the 2nd Fantastic Four movie. This weekend or next, we’ll probably go see Pirates. We’re both really looking forward to the third Bourne movie coming out in August, also.

Up next for us from Netflix (remember, you can check my queue out on my sidebar, courtesy of the neat plug-in I installed) is one for Tim (“Flags of Our Fathers”) and one for me (“The Queen”). Lots of popcorn in my future 😀

School days, Golden Rule days…. June 21, 2007

Since school is out for the summer (in most places, at least), here’s a school-themed question for the week:

Do you have any old school books? Did you keep yours from college? Old textbooks from garage sales? Old workbooks from classes gone by?
How about your old notes, exams, papers? Do you save them? Or have they long since gone to the great Locker-in-the-sky?

Well, you know, I would honestly have to go up in the attic and look. I think we finally got around to throwing most of them away. At least mine; we might have some of Tim’s. I have absolutely no desire to hang on to my mathematics and extremely out-dated computer text books. I’m pretty sure that Tim has at least a couple still hanging around that he wants to keep as a reference. I would throw them away if I could, but alas, he might actually want to use them one day (*snort*). 🙄

As far as old notes and exams and papers go, I would say that it is all gone too. I might have a stray exam or report around here, but not much. I know I have one large Rubbermaid tote that has some things from my childhood, and I believe the last time I looked through it, I had some reports I did in elementary school and junior high. High level stuff, to be sure 😀

I finished a great book a day or so ago, “Thorn in My Heart” by Liz Curtis Higgs. I got this book via Stacy and Lauren, who very kindly passed it on to me to read. They had both enjoyed it, and now after reading it, I certainly understand why. This book is a retelling of the Biblical story of Jacob, Leah and Rachel, except it is set it in the Scottish Lowlands in the late 1700’s. There’s a ton of local Scottish dialect, culture and customs woven in with the more modernized version of the story. It’s a long book, but the story is fairly engrossing and the pages just flew by. I found myself not wanting the book to end, which is the sign of a wonderful book to me. There’s several more in this series, that I hope to read eventually. I’d recommend this book if you can “handle” the Scottish dialect that is interspersed in the book, as it’s a great story and a good read.

For the record, that makes 43 books read so far this year, for a total of 13, 494 pages read. Up next is the next book in the Anne George “Southern Sisters” mystery series, “Murder on a Bad Hair Day”. I won’t do a review for this one, as it is part of a nice little series. After that one, I will have to figure out what to read next. It might be “What a Girl Wants” by Kristin Billerbeck, but then again, it might be something else 🙂

Happy Reading!

Well, the much hoped-for rain was a near no-show at my house, although we did have a nice strong set of thunderstorms move through our area earlier today. We barely got enough rain to wet the pavement good (which means I’ll have to pull the sprinklers out tomorrow, boo-hoo). However, there was enough wind to knock down some large power lines somewhere. We were without power at our house for about 5 hours.

My sister Gail came this afternoon, right after the power went out, and we went shopping for a while. As she’s so fond of saying, “when the going gets tough, the tough go shopping”. We all went out and had a lot of Mexican food for supper afterwards. It was so nice to come back to lights, air conditioning, and computers and TV’s with power. 🙂

We’re back now and hopefully all is well. I think we’re going to watch our first Netflix movie that came in (Yeah!) and I’ll try to blog some soon about a book I just finished, and the movie we watch.

Have a good one 😀

I was so excited when I won one of the Netflix complimentary subscriptions that Nan, over at her blog “Life is Like a Lunchbox” gave away last month. I’ve been burning a path to my mailbox every day since then, waiting for the information packet to come in. I had nearly given up hope, but a month after I won it, the package came! Yeah! I was literally jumping up and down and both Tim and Beau were eyeing me like I had lost my mind 🙄 I just love winning things, love having “fun” stuff come in the mail, and I love to get practical things that we really and truly will use. This is one of them.

I setup our free trial late Saturday night and immediately began adding movies to our queue. I’ve had a blast ever since then, trying to find movies for us to get, and reordering them in our queue. I was a bit bummed to learn that Netflix does not ship movies out on Saturdays or Sundays. For some reason, I think I was equating them in my mind to Amazon or someplace that worked around the clock, 7 days a week, to ship me my goodies 🙂 Anyway, the long weekend over, my first movies were mailed late yesterday (Monday) and we are hoping they come in the mail today. I’m so excited, I can’t wait 😀

I also downloaded and installed a plug-in for my blog, to show what we have at home from Netflix and also what is up next in our queue. Check it out on my sidebar, below and on the right. I think it’s so cool!

OK, so for my question – I have a bunch of movies in our queue, but I’m always looking for more suggestions! If you’ve seen a good movie, especially one that might have been a “sleeper” or not a blockbuster type movie that you’ve seen and enjoyed, let me know what it is! We see a lot of movies at the theater when they come out, and rent even more, so I’ve actually had a hard time trying to find movies. I’m finding some older ones, and some of the new releases that we haven’t seen yet to add to our queue. But I’d love to get more ideas 🙂 Leave me a comment and let me know some movies I should get!