Exceedingly Mundane

Weekly boring update, take seven!

Glad that… Tim finished my jewelry holder that he had been making me! He started on it a week or two ago, and we had to make a couple of trips to Lowe’s and then across town to Hobby Lobby to get knobs. It looks great, and is so wonderful for holding so many of my necklaces! I have 3 jewelry drawers built into my dresser in the bedroom, I’ve had them for years and love them, but I have so many necklaces (I never get rid of jewelry, most of it comes back in style one way or another eventually), that I needed more room for necklaces, they were constantly getting tangled and mixed up.

Sad that… There’s only one more episode of Downton Abbey. Sniff sniff.

Something that makes me happy…. we finally got a flag bracket installed and our American flag hanging out front!

Book I’m reading: Reading “No One to Trust” by Lynette Eason. It was a great paced book about a couple in witness protection (except that the wife had no idea her husband was not who he said he was). I loved it except (mini-spoiler), it had a bad mafia boss who kept pet snakes! ::shiver:: Really enjoyed it, and then moved on to the second in the Wings of the Nightingale series by Sarah Sundin, “On Distant Shores”. I read the first earlier this year and enjoyed it so much that I bought the other two in the series. These are Christian historical romances, set during WWII, about flight nurses. Finished that one Sunday and downloaded one from the library, a Dan Walsh book entitled “When Night Comes”.

Things we ate: Sunday night, we grilled out before it started raining – alFresco chicken burgers (I had mine plain, no bread), mixed grill veggies (asparagus, onions and mushrooms was what I had on hand) and grilled pineapple. Monday, we were really off schedule from Tim’s near all-nighter on Sunday night, so we didn’t eat lunch till nearly 3 PM. By supper, what I had planned to cook didn’t happen, as neither of us were really all that hungry. So Tim had leftovers and I had an egg sandwich with fruit. Tuesday, I made an old recipe, chicken crescents, and heated up some store-bought soup. Wednesday, I tried another new recipe, for a crockpot mexican enchilada style casserole. Once again, mixed reactions, Tim really liked it and I … did not. Luckily, he was happy to eat leftovers the next couple of days. I also made a new recipe for a baked oatmeal that I really liked and had several mornings for breakfast. Saturday we had a late lunch after Tim finished playing golf. I let him pick, and he picked… drumroll please!!! No surprise here, he picked Dickey’s BBQ rather than anything else in town. I cooked for a friend whose mom had passed away, and kept us back a smidge, so we ate that on Sunday (maple bbq pulled chicken, coleslaw, chips, chocolate chip skillet cookie and banana bread for breakfast). I am happier on the days we eat leftovers, I am not really in much of a cooking mood these days 🙁

Grilled aspargus, onions and mushrooms in my favorite grilling basket:

New baked oatmeal (yes, I added chocolate chips, chocolate makes everything better!):

TV and Movies: Last Sunday night, we finished up the last Garage Sale mystery that I had recorded on the DVR, I think there have been 4 of those so far and we’ve watched them all. I’m really happy that Tim will watch some of these Hallmark mysteries with me. I like that they are clean and easy to watch, just like the cozy mysteries I like to read. Ready for them to make more! This weekend, we watched a couple more I had recorded on the DVR from free preview weekends. Blended, with Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler, and then Last Vegas with Robert deNiro, Michael Douglas and Morgan Freeman. The rest of the week, we watched our regular shows.

Random Thought du Jour: Today is a Leap Day. I feel really sorry for people born on February 29 that only get to celebrate every four years. And I don’t remember why we have an extra day every four years, I guess I need to google that and learn something new today! I’m a little sad that January and February are over. I love my two month hibernation period when it’s colder, darker, wetter and I can stay inside and enjoy the solitude. Spring is just around the corner, and the time changes soon! 🙂

Hope everyone is having a great day!

Weekly boring update, take six! This one is short and sweet, not a lot going on this week and very little to blog about 🙁

Glad that… Things are quiet and nothing earth-shattering is going on! Nice, quiet, even-keeled week. We had a beautiful sunset on Tuesday; I dragged out the big camera and took a few shots, but believe me, it was more breathtaking earlier, I took a wee bit too long to get my camera:

Sad that… I tried a new recipe for frosted brownies to take to Bible Study this week. They were ok, but nowhere near as good as my regular brownies. Why I try new recipes sometimes, I don’t understand. I sort of feel like I threw away many dollars worth of ingredients trying something new 🙁

Book I’m reading: Finished reading “Midnight on the Mississippi” by Mary Ellis – it’s a library download. I was very discouraged to see a small notice on my library’s digital website that they are changing systems, and I will have nearly a month long period where I can’t download titles. You would think that I don’t have approximately 1300 free and paid books in my Kindle cloud reader. Sigh. No, I’m just a wee bit upset that my library won’t let me download for a few weeks, LOL! Anyway, Midnight on the Mississippi was good and that was my first book by Mary Ellis but hopefully won’t be my last. Went back to the one I had been reading before, “Blue Moon Bay” by Lisa Wingate. Finished it Saturday and started a new one, another library download, “No One to Trust” by Lynette Eason. I always enjoy her books, and look! Another library download while I still can! 😀

Things we ate: Sunday, Tim surprised me after church and offered to take me out to eat Chinese! My favorite, so he knows I never turn down an offer like that. We ate so much at lunch that I didn’t have to cook Sunday night, we just had popcorn. Monday, we were both feeling bad for indulging so much lately that I just fixed us each a huge salad. Tuesday, I made pork chops with sauerkraut. Wednesday, I had to bake to take food to Bible Study Thursday morning (frosted brownies), so I took the easy route and made a big pot of taco soup. Thursday, I was in the mood for breakfast food (yes, again), so we had egg mcmuffins, grits and sausage for supper after Tim got in from playing golf. Friday and Saturday, we had a big lunch out both days, so we ended up eating either cereal or popcorn for supper.

TV and Movies: Nothing stand out here, regular shows and lots of back episodes of “Brain Games”. They had a marathon last weekend and I recording approximately 30 episodes, it seems like, on the DVR. We’re working through them one or two a night. Watched all the regulars like Blacklist (not as creepy this week, thank goodness), Elementary, Blue Bloods, Hawaii Five O, NCIS, etc.

Something that makes me happy: – new chalkboard art crafted by my husband (I’ve figured him out, each time I change the wreaths on the door for a new holiday, he keys in on drawing a new design on his coffee bean jar!):

Fun Thing We Did: – Tried a new-to-us restaurant, a chain called Genghis Grill. We were across town running errands and stopped in to try the “create your own stir fry” concept. Mine was really good, and Tim enjoyed his. I used mostly ginger and citrus seasoning and he used hotter stuff, so we were both happy 🙂

Random Thought du Jour: Does anyone else feel guilty to spend money going through the car wash? I grew up washing cars in the driveway. You drag out the garden hose, get some soap and wash it. It’s cheap, but it is work. Tim really enjoys driving the vehicles through the car wash. Now, don’t get me wrong, I like having a clean vehicle and I’m even giddier knowing he thinks of me and does mine for me. But I always feel more than a wee bit guilty that we’re spending that money driving through the car wash….

Hope everyone is having a great day!

Weekly boring update, take five! Nothing really exciting going on this week. Tim is having to work every weekend in February, but he took off one day of vacation during the week to go play golf when it was warm. He’s starting to get antsy for the time to change and him to switch to golf mode. Which means I will turn into a golf widow for 7-8 months. Sigh.

Goofy thing that happened… We were watching this week’s Elementary, and there was a character on there that is a high functioning autistic. She’s interested in Sherlock and they had her in a couple of spots on the show. Tim looked at me and said, “she reminds me of you!”. I’m like, you think I’m autistic? He was like, well, she’s literal and routine oriented and very honest and that’s you. I still can’t figure out if he meant it as a compliment or a put-down. 😀

Glad that… Happy to report that I tackled my Walmart list/trip this week. We were a lot poorer when I left, but we aren’t out of anything now! 🙂

Sad that… Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia passed away over the weekend. The court had a balance between conservatives and liberals and I’m afraid that the scales are going to tip away from the conservative side. Very sad day indeed.

Book I’m reading: Finished “With Every Letter” by Sarah Sundin, very good book! Started “Blue Moon Bay” by Lisa Wingate, second in the Moses Lake series. I was only about 25% through with that one when one became available at my library’s download site (I’ve been on the wait list for a few weeks). So I downloaded and started on that one, “Midnight on the Mississippi” by Mary Ellis. This is a new author to me, so I’m hoping that it’s a good one 🙂

Things we ate: Sunday night, we had wings while watching the Super Bowl. Monday, we had tomato soup and grilled cheese, something I’ve been craving for a while. Tuesday I made a crockpot ravioli and a big salad. Wednesday night, from a choice of 3 items, Tim picked eggs in purgatory again (we had bacon and cheese grits with them again, any one want to guess why he picked this one?!). Thursday night, I got Tim to grill out, we had grilled salmon, grilled asparagus and wild rice. Friday night we had chili dogs and chips. Saturday we ran late to Lowe’s, so rather than coming in late and fixing food, we swung thru Chick-Fil-A and got sandwiches. Yummy!

TV and Movies: I don’t think we watched any movies this week! We were mostly watching regular TV shows from the DVR. I truly think the only thing we watch live all year long is the Super Bowl, and that was a struggle. Tim was constantly grabbing the remote to fast forward thru the commercials, and I was like, “I wanna watch the commercials!!!” It doesn’t take long to form SOME new habits, now does it?! 🙂 DVR’s have definitely changed the way we watch tv. We never watch a show live and rarely watch it on even the same night it is on. We gave up on Duck Dynasty and deleted it from the DVR. We tried a couple of episodes of Brain Games and liked it. We’re nerdy that way 🙂 Kept up with our regular stuff on the DVR (NCIS x3, Limitless, Scorpion, Blacklist, Elementary, Blue Bloods, etc). Looking forward to Survivor starting back next week.

Something that makes me happy: – I came in Thursday to discover an early Valentines happy from my sweetheart!!!

Fun Thing We Did: – It won’t seem like fun to anyone else, but we went to Sam’s together 🙂 Tim also went with me into HomeGoods first and we bought some new kitchen glasses for him. He *hates* stores like Home Goods, so this was a biggie for him. He does, however, like Sam’s so he will go there willingly with me. We walked out with a cart full and a couple of hundred dollars poorer. I’d call that fun, but I am rather odd 🙂

Random Thought du Jour: OK, this random thought popped into my head one day. I was skimming through some of Amazon’s deal of the day that they have. I kept seeing a bluetooth shower speaker. I’ve seen shower speakers for years, long before there was a cell phone in existence. I don’t quite think I’ve ever understood the allure of a shower speaker. I know people sing in the shower, although I am not one of those people. And my husband was in the military so he takes very quick showers. So I guess I just don’t get it. Do you have a shower speaker, have you ever had one, or do you know of anyone who has ever had one? And secondly – do you sing in the shower?! 🙂

Hope everyone is having a great day!

I saw this posted on Facebook, by Sandra at Diary of a Stay Home Mom, so I swiped it for some blogging material!

HAVE YOU EVER:
Snuck out: Nope, I was a pretty non-rebellious person in my youth
Broken a bone: Not yet
Cried myself to sleep: many times
Been arrested: No way Jose
Felt lonely: Yes
Been depressed: Yes

WHAT’S YOUR:
Birthday: October 18, every single year (though I think moms need the cake and presents, they did all the work!)
Biggest fear: Alzheimers
Dream job: current lack of job!
Dream car: I don’t really have one but when I was a teenager, it was a mustang!
Dream house: Living in it right now!

DO YOU:
Like someone: lots of people!
Love someone: lots of people, especially Tim
Have tattoos: never
Have piercings: just my ears, and I waited till college for that and still cried like a baby
Party: i was never a party girl, party to me is pajamas and hot cocoa on a Friday night!

FAVORITE:
Artist: Casting Crowns, MercyMe and lately I’m liking Adele all over again
Movie: good grief, I could never pick just one! Star Wars, Star Trek, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings
Song: nothing really jumps out
Netflix series: don’t have/watch Netflix
Book: can’t pick one, but several have stuck with me – Safely Home by Randy Alcorn, The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers, etc
Color: red or green (I’m a Christmas loving girl!)
Animal: dogs

THIS OR THAT:
Twitter or Facebook: Facebook
Twitter or Instagram: Instagam
Facebook or Instagram: tied
Coke or Pepsi: neither, I can’t tolerate caffeine, but I do like root beer and Sprite!
Tea or coffee: both, more during the cooler months
Tacos or pizza: both!
Winter or summer: winter

WOULD YOU EVER:
Get married: thankfully my prince finally came!
Have kids: i wish it had been possible
Swim with sharks: heavens no!
Eat rotten food: good grief, what kind of question is that?
Marry a foreigner: probably not, I’m intensely patriotic. Thankfully Tim is too, and a veteran to boot!

Feel free to swipe, copy and paste or borrow at will 🙂

Weekly boring update, take four! Nothing really exciting, except we did a lot of eating out 🙂

Good thing that happened… I was treated to lots of surprises this week by my sweet husband. First, I got a surprise night off from cooking on Tuesday! I get emails from Sonic about any kind of special they have, as well as new food and stuff they offer. I always forward them to Tim and always he answers back, thanks but no thanks 🙂 This time, however, he decided to take me up on my offer! I pushed back Tuesday’s meal plan till Wednesday and we drove to Sonic Tuesday night for burgers and drinks 🙂 I love doing fun things like that, unplanned, in the middle of the week 😀 And THEN… two days later, he called after I finished Bible Study on Thursday and offered to take me on a lunch date. We went to a local Mexican place and had a quick lunch. SO! Two unplanned, middle of the week, splurge dates. My kind of week!

Sad that… my tinnitus has been acting up. In addition to the normal high pitched screeching I hear in my ears, now my right ear is doing the pulse-thumping thing. It’s called pulsatile tinnitus and it really drives me nuts. I’ve often thought that Van Gogh must have had tinnitus, to drive him mad enough to cut off his own ear. 🙁

Book I’m reading: I read 8 books in January! Great month of reading for me 🙂 Read “Critical Pursuit” by Janice Cantore. Started “With Every Letter” by Sarah Sundin. I am really enjoying it, so I went ahead and purchased the other two in this series, since they were on sale at Amazon. I’m looking forward to reading them soon.

Things we ate: Sunday night, we had an Al Fresco chicken burger along with some salad and fruit. Monday was salad night – I made a quinoa salad with sun dried tomatoes and artichokes, and we had a huge green salad. Tuesday I had something planned, but we went to Sonic instead 🙂 Wednesday we had chicken quesadillas, mexican rice, pinto beans and an avocado salad. Thursday, we had a big lunch out so, we just had a quick supper of leftovers. Friday I offered to cook, but he picked salad from the choices I gave him (sigh, the boy has a lot of willpower that I do not possess!). Saturday I made ribs, cole slaw and sweet potatoes. Sunday we ate out after church with friends (Mexican again) and then I’m planning wings and snacks for the Super Bowl. We had originally planned to have a Super Bowl party, but the first few people I talked to in January said they already had other plans, so we nixed it for this year. Maybe next year!

TV and Movies: This was a week of movie watching in our house! I watched my regular daily shows/cooking shows some afternoons. But in the evenings, there hasn’t been a lot of our shared shows to watch together. Apparently we watch a lot on CBS, and they haven’t had any new shows this week, they must be waiting till after they air the Super Bowl tonight. We did watch Blacklist and Elementary. Tim and I watched several of my Hallmark movies together: a Murder She Baked movie (Peach Cobbler mystery); A Bone to Pick, an Aurora Teagarden mystery and the first Flower Shop mystery: Mum’s the Word. I watched “The Hundred Foot Journey” by myself and loved it! It was right up my alley – Helen Mirren and food! 🙂 Friday night we watched Thor: Dark World again. Saturday we watched an old one on the DVR, XMen Origins: Wolverine. I think a lot of our shows come back this week (all the NCIS, Tim’s favorite Limitless, Blue Bloods, Hawaii Five-O, etc, all on CBS) so we should do more tv and less movies this coming week.

Something that makes me happy: – Tim continues to use his chalkboard art skills to update the coffee bean jar. Here’s what he drew me for Valentines Day:

Fun Thing We Did: – bought tickets to a Third Day / Steven Curtis Chapman concert at our church. Can’t wait for that, they’ll be here in April. 🙂

Random Thought du Jour: I need to go to Walmart soon. I have certain items I only get there and tend to stay away from Walmart when at all possible. There are certain items I just won’t buy at Kroger though, so a Walmart trip is going to be coming up soon. Now, take note, I haven’t stepped foot in our Walmart since before Christmas, so I have a lot of things on my list to get. Sigh. I wish we had a Target closer, but they are a lot further away. And I think Target is more expensive for the things I’m looking to buy. Which do you prefer – Target or Walmart?

Hope everyone is having a great day!

Wow, I’ve been blogging eleven years today! That’s really very hard for me to believe. I mean, I certainly haven’t kept up with daily blogging and there were probably a few years in there where I only blogged a few times during the year, but still. Eleven years!

We’re still hosting our own website, and my blog software is probably 6 or 7 years old, maybe more! It really needs updating, and I really need to clean things up around here. I recently switched to a different theme, an old one I had downloaded and never used. But it’s all still horribly out of date. I just don’t seem to have the time or inclination to work on it much. And mostly because Tim would have to step in and help a lot with it, and he’s truly not interested 🙂

I used to do a lot of memes and participate in regular stuff, like weekly and monthly prompts. I don’t think there are as many of those as there used to be. I did find one, on Facebook, that I might share in a few days or week or so.

But, here I am. Back into a blogging phase, eleven years after my first post, and still enjoying it!

Have anniversary to my little blog 🙂 And hope if anyone is out there still reading, you have a great day! 😀