Exceedingly Mundane

I know not everyone has an iPhone, but I do, and I LOVE mine! Tim and I got ours over a year ago, for each of our birthdays, so we’ve had them about a year and a half now.

I download free apps all the time, but only a very few pay ones. I go through phases of my favorite apps on the iPhone, but here’s what I am really liking lately:

Grocery IQ - my new grocery shopping app. I downloaded Splash Shopper when I first got my iPhone, because I had used it for several years on my Palm Pilot. And I really liked it on the Palm. On the iPhone, I don’t like it so much. It’s slow, its cumbersome, and you can really tell that it wasn’t designed from the ground up to use the iPhones many features, as Grocery IQ is. Grocery IQ is now one of my most used apps, and at 99 cents, was a steal

Bejeweled for the iPhone - I have loved this game for years! I played it on my desktop for years, then when I joined Facebook, I found it on there and played. I must say though, that the iPhone version for me is the most fun! It has 3 modes, and I like being able to play in timed or untimed mode, as well as being able to save my game and come back to it later. Plus, they have it connected to Facebook now, the Blitz version, so I can play there and have it post my score at Facebook (of course, it seems harder to score big on the phone version!) It was a little pricey, 2.99 when I bought it, but hey, I had credit in the iTunes store so it was a great buy for me!

One of the first apps I downloaded is still my most used - the Facebook app and the iTV app. Both have recently had big upgrades, and they are much improved. I really enjoy both, and love what they allow me to do from my phone. The iTV app not only shows me tv listings, movie listings, let us watch clips and even full length shows (although I haven’t done that), but most important to me - it lets me handle my Netflix queue from within iTV. I had another Netflix app, to manage my queue, but I don’t need it since iTV lets me do that, and more. The Facebook app is really nice, and much improved. I like that you can take photos from your phone and easily upload them.

There’s more, but those are a few of my favorites. I like the Weather Channel app too, especially to see the radar for my area. I twitter from my phone alot, and I personally like Tweetdeck, although I have 2 other free apps loaded on my phone. I go through phases with games, but have recently liked both Toobz (like the old game Pipe I used to play on my desktop computer) and Boxed In. I like playing Scramble on my phone too, because it interfaces with my Scramble on Facebook. However, my scores are really low from the phone.. for some reason, it’s harder to type in words quickly with your fingertip as opposed to using a keyboard on the computer, hahaha!
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My walking buddy and I are attempting to transition to jogging. She wants to do the C25K program, which takes you from the couch to running a 5K in 9 weeks (or in our case, probably a lot longer, LOL!) She has an iPhone too, so we both downloaded the C25K app, which tells us when to walk, when to jog, warm up, cool down, etc. I like using the app (2.99) versus the free podcasts, because the app lets you play your own music on your phone, rather than using the canned music that comes with the podcast. I have a walking playlist, of music that I like, so that makes it a lot nicer.

OK, I will end with a picture that proves that we are not the only ones who are addicted to our iPhones! Chris and Liz come over to hang out sometimes, and Chris has an iPhone. Usually one of them is playing on his, and sometimes, one of them will borrow one of ours, and it looks like this in the living room:

If you have a smartphone, whether its an iPhone, Blackberry or other, what apps or programs do you use the most? Some for fun, some for productivity? Leave me a comment and let me know! Oh, and …Have a great day!

P.S. I’ve had this post in my drafts for a while, but had never gotten around to posting it! With Apple’s announcement yesterday about the new iPad, it made me think about it. I think I want one of the new iPads, but we’ll have to give it some thought and see how it does. And try to justify the cost.
How about you, are you interested in getting an iPad?

I’ve gotten into a habit of asking a “Question of the Day” here at my blog. How I got into the habit of doing it, I will never know. But I really enjoy hearing what other people think about things, big or small, or what items you use in your daily life or how you feel about certain products, or current events or lots of other things. I think it’s a great way to learn about my blog friends, share a little something about myself, as well as see how many things we share in common vs things we are different about. That’s one thing I’ve definitely learned as I’ve aged - we all have a lot more in common than we think, and we all have differences. God made us unique, in big ways and small, and I like exploring that.

So, in keeping with the title of my blog, today’s Question of the Day is just about as mundane as you can get What kind of toothpaste do you use? I have always really liked it that when Tim and I got married, we never had issues with the toothpaste. The toilet seat going up and down, yes, that’s a big one in our house, but the toothpaste has never been an issue. We both use Crest and tend to like the same type flavors and textures. We’ve transitioned to gel over the last few years, but both grew up with plain old paste. We’re both kind of funny about the toothpaste tube. Tim is just as likely as his OCD-wife to squeeze from the middle, but then be diligent about squeezing it up and keeping it near the top.

OK, so how about you? Do you use one kind in your house and everyone is happy, or do you buy multiple brands, multiple flavors, multiple kinds? Have you ever changed because someone else was using a different kind and it was just easier to switch? Do you even care?! LOL! Leave me a comment and let me know!

Super Bowl bound, baby, Super Bowl bound! For the first time in 43 years, the New Orleans Saints are finally going to their first Super Bowl

Tim and I have never missed a game together in the last 15 years. We’ve watched them play horribly, play well, break our hearts, and make us happier than we could have believed as a Saints fan.

Tonight’s Vikings game was hard-won, they both played a really good, really close, really nerve-wracking game. The Colts are going to be even harder to play.

But tonight, we’re happy. Happy and excited and a little disbelieving that it has finally happened. I can barely talk, I’m so hoarse from all the yelling and screaming we’ve done for the last few hours. It’s good though, now, it’s all good

Who Dat!

OK, so I totally and completely hijacked Karen’s post here, and stole all of her cute ideas I have a lot of these same pet peeves, and I scored exactly the same on the cute little quizzes.

I don’t cuss in real life, so it is definitely not something I do on my blog or on Twitter or Facebook. See how you do:

Created by Oatmeal

I have a lot of the same issues with words and spelling. Although, I do think I use “alot” for “a lot” occasionally here on the ole blog. Sort of, I am not thinking of it as two words, since I tend to use “a lot” as one slurred together word. The others, I think I’m better at. It certainly helped having an English teacher (substitute) / crossword puzzle fanatic for a mom, it helped me a lot growing up with spelling and grammar!

Created by Oatmeal

Thanks again to Karen, and to theoatmeal.com website (new one for me!) for sharing these! If you play along on your blog, or take the quiz to get your score, be sure to let me know

I’ve been using a PC since the early 1980’s. The first PC I used was an IBM PC XT, with no internal hard drive, and 2 external 5 1/4″ floppy drives. Things have certainly come a long way! I now carry a PC thousands of times more powerful in the palm of my hand, and it doubles as my cell phone (my iPhone)

Windows has been my mainstay for quite a while now. Not because I like it, but more out of necessity. Tim is a Linux guy, but I am fairly mainstream in the apps I use and things I do. We’re going to buy a Macbook soon, hopefully this year if things work out. I think we’ll both be a lot happier in a Mac environment than a Windows one. In the meantime, I’m still using Windows. I stopped using IE years ago and switched to Firefox. But I had problems with Firefox late last year, and I tried Google Chrome. I didn’t like it at first, but it sort of grew one me. It seems faster and I like the way it loads.

I’ve been pretty happy with it, and am sticking with it for now. At least until we can get a Mac in the house, LOL!

How about you? Are you a PC or Mac user? Which browser do you use?

I haven’t done a meme in a really really REALLY long time! When I first started blogging (more on that soon, I’m coming up on my 5 year anniversary), I did a lot of memes. As in two or three or maybe four a week. I think there were more memes back then, or maybe more interesting ones. But, I’ve seen this one before and liked it, and have read several responses to this one lately on the blogs I like to read. So, thanks for the inspiration, my bloggy buddies, and thanks to Linda at 2nd Cup of Coffee for doing this Here’s her post with this past week’s meme, which I’m doing ultra late!

1. When was the last time you craved a food–what was it, and did you cave? I crave chocolate all the time, and I always cave. Always. I crave Chinese food fairly often but don’t get it that frequently. That, however, makes it all the more better!

2. M & M’s or Skittles? M&M’s, but I do love both

3. Have you ever read the Bible completely through? No, but I want to. I’m just not sure I can get through all of the Old Testament, but I do want and need to try.

4. How long does it take you to really wake up in the morning? At least an hour. I’m not kidding. A shower and coffee and breakfast help, but I’m not a morning person. It takes me a while.

5. Have you ever been on a cruise? If not, would you like to? Yes, for my senior trip in high school. Tim and I want to go on at least one or two, one to Alaska and one to some part of the Caribbean.

6. Who is your favorite actress? Oooh, that’s a hard one! I guess I’ll say Meryl Streep since I just saw Julie & Julia last week. This might change depending on what movie I’ve seen lately

7. ______ is something that I will just never understand.
People who are rude and inconsiderate, people who pull out and make me slam on my brakes, people who pierce or tatoo every part of their body, etc. This list could be really long!

8. How much of a technology junkie are you? On a scale of 1 to 10, I think I’m probably a 14 or 15

9. Do you enjoy selecting greeting cards for people, or is it more of a cultural “have to” for you? Sigh. I wish I did, but I think greeting cards are so grossly overpriced and most get tossed in the trash a few minutes or days after they are received. I do love to get them though, but I think a lot of the ones I send are to people who really just don’t care.

10. When was the last time you got a new style/haircut? Double sigh. I am not adventurous at all with my hair. It’s changed very little in twenty years probably. Although I will say that I am growing it out for Tim, and it’s longer now than it’s been since I was in school. Not sure how long I can keep it like this though

11. What do you enjoy shopping for most? Food and books. I dislike shopping for traditional girl things like clothes, shoes, purses, make-up, etc. I know, I’m weird.

12. What’s the last thing you think of before you leave the house? The normal “did I cut that off” things. The stove, the coffee pot, my hair dryer, curling iron or flat iron, etc. I worry about what could happen in the house while we’re gone and Beau is left trapped, unable to get out if he needed to. It worries me constantly.

For the second time in franchise history, the New Orleans Saints are going to the NFC Championship game! For my darling Tim, a lifelong Saints fan, it’s another dream come true! We’re just hoping that we do better this time around. Three years ago, the Saints won their playoff game, and then went to Soldier Field in Chicago to play the Bears for the NFC Championship and a right to play in the Super Bowl.

We were there! I’ve never been so cold in my life In case you weren’t reading my blog then (Jan 2007), here’s a couple of pictures:

This time around, we will probably stay home and watch from the comfort of our warm, dry, comfy sofa. This game is in New Orleans and is a lot closer, but I don’t think we’re going to go this time around. We’ve been to a lot of games in the Superdome in our life, and this one would be the best ever, but I think we’re going to save the money and stay home We’re still really excited though, and hoping for the best. This time, they play at home, and not in 22º and snow, so hopefully they’ll do a lot better!

WHO DAT!

P.S. If you’re someone who usually comes to our yearly Super Bowl party, just a friendly notice: If the Saints do win this coming week and go to the Super Bowl, we will not, I REPEAT NOT, be having our Super Bowl party! It’s too hard for me to watch the game with a house full of people, food to fix, drinks to shuttle, things to pick up and clean up, kids and adults to play with, talk to and hang out with. I’ll need to focus all of my attention on the game, so we won’t be having a party

We watch a LOT of TV around here. I used to list all the shows we watch in my sidebar, but I took it off a while ago — the list just got too long!

We have a lot of shows that we are excited about, that are returning. To mention a few: Chuck, NCIS and NCIS: LA, Leverage, The Mentalist, Fringe, V (not sure when it’s coming back on, but we really liked it), Bones, etc. We’re also pretty pumped about the new Survivor: Heroes vs Villains. I hope it’s a good one! We also like a lot of the USA shows like Psych, Burn Notice, White Collar and In Plain Sight. I’m on the fence about a few, most notably Heroes.

Being Jack Bauer addicts, we’re really excited about 24! We’re also going to try the new show that comes on this Sunday with 24, Human Target. I hope it’s good Also coming back is the final season of Lost. I’m a bit conflicted about it, wondering how they are going to finish it and how satisfied or dissatisfied we will be. Sigh. I would give it up, but I like to complete things, so I feel compelled to finish out the series.

Another spring show that we used to watch is American Idol — but we’re going to give that one up. We weren’t huge Paula fans, but we hated that they let her go. I always liked the dynamic of Randy, Paula and Simon. Last year, I was just not thrilled with Kara, and I do NOT like Ellen DeGeneres. So, we had already decided to just skip Idol this time, and now this week, they’ve come out and announced that Simon will leave after this year. I’m a little confused about the new show that he will come out with in 2011, the X-Factor. It sounds just like Idol to me!

OK, just some rambling… if you are excited about any show coming on, leave me a comment and let me know. I know most people are not tv junkies like we are

It’s not a novel concept, but it is one I like to do from time to time on my blog, and I am always trying to work to be better about. I’m talking about being grateful for something, anything, everything. We’re so very blessed, my husband and I, and we try to be mindful of that. I think an “attitude of gratitude” is a wonderful thing, and something I want to do more of on here.

Today, I’m grateful for water, specifically hot water! I blogged before that our hot water heater went out last week, but we still had cold water. I was so grateful, first for just water period, and then when our hot water heater was replaced. Hot water is wonderful on cold days. Cold showers, washing dishes in a sink full of cold water, etc, are not fun. Today, I scrubbed our bathrooms, and it was so nice to be able to crank it over to really warm and not get my hands frozen trying to clean.

Plus, in the large town nearby, they are having serious water problems. Schools are out today, city and state offices are closed, the DMV is even closed (so, you know it’s serious!), etc. All because they have over 100 water main breaks in the city. We are not on the same water system, and I’m so grateful. To have water, and to have hot water!

How about you? What is one thing, big or small, that you’re grateful for today? You don’t have to explain it, but you can Leave me a comment and let me know!

Ok, I’m obviously running out of things to blog about! I am constantly drawn to food blogs, recipes, cookbooks, grocery stores, food, Food Network, shows on the Travel Channel about food, etc. To say I love to eat is a gross understatement. To say I love to cook is apt on some days, and on other days, couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Today has been a good day. I’ve cooked twice, LOL! I made a loaf of banana bread and some potato soup for supper. We had sandwiches for lunch, and I had oatmeal for breakfast.

How about you, what did you eat today? Do you have something that you eat every day or something that you have on certain days like Saturday or Sunday?

Leave me a comment and let me know!

Can you believe this weather? It’s so cold! I remember reading late last summer and going into fall, that they were predicting a colder than normal winter for us this year. I was excited (and still am!), because I knew it would help kill the mosquitoes and fleas and stuff. However - I didn’t think it would get quite this cold! It’s been cold all week, and the forecast for the next two days are for the HIGHS to be below freezing!! That’s really, really, unusual for us. Plus, the lows the next three nights are forecast to be in the teens, with wind chills in the single digits or near zero. Baby, that’s cold!

On the bright side, we have heat, and we now have HOT WATER! If you read my previous post, you know we had our old hot water heater go out, and it was a bit of an ordeal to get the new one installed. But, it’s in now and it’s working great. I can wash dishes and not have my hands get frostbitten Hot showers and hot baths have never, even felt so good or been more appreciated around here

So, I’m assuming that it’s cold where most of you out there in bloggy-ville live… what’s your favorite thing to do when it gets this cold? Do you like to snuggle up under a blanket, by a warm fire, drink hot tea or cocoa? Do you live for a bowl of hot soup or some other comfort food? What’s your favorite thing about the cold? If you can think of one, LOL!

Leave me a comment and let me know, and remember — Stay Warm!

We’re having some really cold weather lately, and it is forecast to be this way for the next 7-10 days. Last summer, our air conditioning unit went out, and we sweated a bit during a heat wave, getting it replaced. At the same time, we also had them replace the heating portion and the blower, and now, I’m so glad we did! Our central heat is running, and it’s warm and toasty in the house.

However, not so with our hot water heater - it went out yesterday. I had run the washing machine and dishwasher. Tim had gone out in the yard and noticed a little stream of water running in the yard, and came back in to ask, what are you doing, did you by any chance leave the water hose on outside? No, I had not been outside, just inside running the washer and dishwasher. Come to find out, it was neither of those, but the hot water heater (which in our house, is located in the attic). The hot water heater is original to the house, so it was nearing the end of its life span. It had some kind of clog, and it was overflowing from the water drip pan beneath it. Also, there was a pipe on the outside of our house that was just running water, like a water hose or water faucet opened up would do. What a pain!

It’s been an ordeal ever since. Tim trying to go to Lowe’s and buy a new one, trying to get it installed himself, then trying to get a plumber (or the installation people that Lowe’s use) to install it, etc. Come to find out, the one we bought at Lowe’s is too wide to go through the tiny opening up the stairs into our attic. And even better - Lowe’s doesn’t sell one that narrow, nor does any place in town. Apparently, ours is so old that they don’t make them that narrow any more. We’d have to go way down on the gallon capacity to get one that would fit, which is not what we want to do. Switching to a tankless system would be nice, but that’s cost and time prohibitive right now. We really don’t want to be without hot water that long. So, Tim is trying to do what he does best…. “rig” it. Sigh.

Don’t get me wrong - it’s an inconvenience, but I know it could be a lot worse! I still have heat, so I’m warm. We still have cold water, so we can brush our teeth, boil water on the stove, flush the toilets, etc. I tried to be all 1800’s “pioneer girl” last night and heat up big soup pots of water on the stove and take to the bathtub to try to take a warm bath. After 5 pots of boiling water, the water in the tub was getting cold, and it was less than an inch deep, so it was not the best bath I’ve ever had! However, it was a lot better than a freezing cold one, and I know I’ll appreciate a hot shower all that much more once we do get this fixed!

It’s always something, with a house, isn’t it?! LOL!

Happy New Year and here’s to a wonderful 2010! I hope to keep up with the blog, at least some, in the new year. I had a couple of long breaks in 2009, and missed out on “documenting” some of the things we were doing, and things going on. I hope that I can do a little more of keeping up in the new year.

I won’t go back and blog about Christmas, although it was a good one. We had three Christmases - one at home for me and Tim on Christmas Eve, one at my sister Gail’s with her family and my dad on Christmas Day, and one on the next day (Saturday) with Tim’s family. We had a great time seeing everyone and hanging out. We brought our nephew Zack (14) back with us on Saturday and he stayed several days. Tim took him to play golf, we took him out to eat every day (bad for the waistline, but nice not to have to cook or clean up much!), we went to see Sherlock Holmes, and we played a lot of Wii!

I fell short of my reading goals for the year 2009. I only read 59 books which is not a lot for me. I think I also failed to blog at all about any book during the year. I have been doing updates and “blurbs” (not reviews, I am not very good at writing reviews of books) over at GoodReads, so hopefully if you are a reader too, we are hooked up over there. I didn’t complete either reading challenge that I joined, although I was close, just one or two books short. I won’t join any this year, I think, but just read for the sheer pleasure of it.

We’re trying to get back into a routine, after the holidays and Tim having a week off from work. Routine is a good thing for me. I thrive on it and suffer when I get out of my schedules and routines.

The weather outside is frightful! Or delightful, depending on which camp you’re from I love the cold weather, but only when I get to stay inside, have the heat running, drink hot tea or hot cocoa, and bundle up under my favorite afghan, LOL! The highs this week are predicted to not go out of the 30’s and 40’s, so that is cold for us, definitely winter. I always appreciate my creature comforts more during weather like this!

Hope everyone had a very blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year - here’s to a great 2010 for all!