Exceedingly Mundane

tidbits of random nothingness

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Feb
05
Posted by Stace

QOTD: Bagged Lettuce

I was surfing around a day or so ago (or maybe checking Twitter, I honestly can’t remember!), and I saw a link to this article, about washing bagged lettuce.

I normally watch The Today Show, so I didn’t see this segment on The Early Show. But, I must admit, I don’t always rewash those bags of pre-washed lettuce. I might think twice now! I try to buy heads of lettuce, or heads of romaine more precisely, and then wash them myself, run them through the salad spinner, and store in a gallon ziploc bag in my produce drawer. I have been buying some of those big plastic tubs of organic lettuce at either my grocery or at Fresh Market (our favorite spot to stop after church on Sunday and pick up food for lunch). I tend to not wash those either, but just pick out the lettuce and make a salad or whatever.

So, how about you… do you wash those pre-washed bags or tubs of lettuce again? Or do you not buy those and just buy heads of lettuce that you do wash yourself? Vote in the poll and let me know!

[poll id=”19″]

Oct
23
Posted by Stace

Flu Shot

I know it’s been talked about ad nauseum in the media, and I don’t want to get into a huge discussion here. But, I’d still like to know! Do you normally get flu shots for yourself or your family? And if not, do you plan on getting a flu shot this year, either the seasonal flu shot or the special H1N1 (swine) flu shot? I know the H1N1 flu is serious and more likely to affect younger people and children, and it’s a big concern.

As for me, I don’t plan on getting either one. I should have blogged about this years ago, but I don’t think I ever did. Years ago, when I worked full-time, my company offered flu shots to employees, as a preventive measure I’m sure. I got one (this was a very long time ago, maybe 18 years or so) and boom, a couple of days later I was sick. And I mean, very sick! I had the worse case of the flu I have ever had. I was out of commission for 5 or 6 days, and I could barely get up to go to the bathroom. I remember being miserable, and I remember laying there thinking, I am *never* going to get a flu shot, ever again! And so, to this day, I have not gotten a flu shot since. And you know what, I haven’t gotten the flu again either!

So, how about you? Vote in the poll or leave me a comment and let me know what you or you and your family are going to do this year about this.

Hope everyone is healthy and happy!

[poll id=”17″]

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Apr
30
Posted by Stace

Fortune Cookies

I have a long standing love affair with Chinese food. I never tried Chinese food until college, but liked it then. I didn’t get to go very often – until I started dating Tim. He goes through phases now, but when we met, he really loved going to eat Chinese. He taught me to eat with chopsticks on about our third or fourth date. To this day, I always eat that kind of food with chopsticks. We always ask in restaurants if they don’t bring them out, and we have a nice set at home that we use.

It’s funny, because Tim knows how much I love Chinese. We go to restaurants, and we get take-out, and I even do some easy Chinese type dishes at home to satisfy my cravings. Tim always knows that if he asks, I will always accept his offer to go out to eat Chinese. Tim has called on the way home from work before, with my having already started or finished cooking supper and said “Do you want to go eat Chinese tonight?” The answer is always, always – Yes! I have put up supper in tupperware containers for the next night and washed a sink full of dishes from cooking, then gone out to eat Chinese, LOL!

Anyway, like most people, we always have fun opening up our fortune cookies at the end of the meal, to see what we got. We went to a Chinese buffet for lunch a couple of weeks ago, when my dad was here and Tim’s dad was in the hospital. We all opened our fortune cookie before we left, and we were dumbfounded by one of them. We still can’t figure it out. It has to be some kind of misprint. I just don’t get it. Like I told Tim, maybe it means something in Chinese, but it is totally lost in the translation. Then again, it’s probably just a crappy fortune 🙂

See if you can decipher it, and see who lucked out with the bad one!

My Dad’s says – Find release from your cares, have a good time.

Mine says – Fame and fortune are coming your way.

Tim’s says – I spent the time prepare the song, while the song is not being sung.

And for bonus points, vote in the poll!

[poll id=”12″]

Apr
27
Posted by Stace

Summer Movies

We always look forward to seeing a couple of “big screen” movies at our local theater in the summer. This year is no exception. In fact, I think there may be even more movies than usual that we are interested in seeing on the big screen! 🙂

How about you? Are there any movies you, or your family, are looking forward to seeing this summer? Leave me a comment, or vote in the poll. I’m sure there are more movies than this, but these are some of the ones we are interested in, or that I thought others might be interested in!

[poll id=”11″]

I think we’ll try to see Wolverine, Star Trek and Terminator at least, and maybe a couple of others. I’m sure there will be plenty that I’d be willing to wait on, for them to come out on DVD (for example, Night at the Museum 2). And I know we won’t see Harry Potter. I haven’t read the books and neither of us have seen any of the movies. I know, I know, we’re oddballs on the Harry Potter front 🙂

Have a great day 😀

Apr
01
Posted by Stace

Coffee or Tea?

When I met Tim, I didn’t drink coffee or tea. When we were dating, I started drinking sweet tea (it has to have sweetener in it, I can’t drink it unsweetened). I learned to drink the occasional hot tea over the years, mostly in the winter to warm up, or if I wanted something for a sore throat. I went about nine long years before I ever ventured into the coffee world. I remember it clearly – we were on vacation in Texas and for some reason, Tim kept badgering me to try coffee. I have learned to drink it over the years – again, like tea, it has to be highly sweetened and it must have a lot of creamer in it. Tim jokingly calls it “hot cocoa” because he said it doesn’t resemble coffee by the time I’m finished with mixing stuff in it. I call it “beige” or “khaki” because it has to look a very light color and not smell much like coffee for me to be able to knock it back 😀 Tim, on the other hand, only drinks it black.

When Tim started working part-time from home, we started making more coffee on a regular basis. When he proceeded to working full-time from home, our coffeemaker went into overdrive. We make, on average, 12 cups a day, 7 days a week, in our trusty little Cuisinart coffee pot. In case you’re math-challenged, that’s 84 cups a week. Needless to say, we go through a lot of coffee! And not just any coffee. Tim is very particular about his beans. He likes them dark and rich, a very good roast. We started out with Community Coffee and he was okay with that for a while. Somewhere along the way, he decided that wasn’t what he wanted, and we progressed to other beans and brands. We settled, surprisingly enough, on a whole bean from Sam’s Club – their Marques de Pavia brand (however you spell it!). We’ve been buying beans there, faithfully, for several years. The main thing I liked about buying our coffee there, was that it was in larger quantities, which we so desperately needed. Not to mention that it was cheaper than other brands. When our Fresh Market opened a year ago, we started buying beans occasionally in there, just to try. So far, Tim has liked all of them (no flavored beans, no decaf beans, please). But, they’re pricey, 9.99 a pound.

Then, around Christmas, I started having trouble finding our whole beans at Sam’s Club. I thought, it’s Christmas, they’ll get them back in soon. We bought beans at other places and “made do.” Then weeks turned into months, and we could never find our favorite beans. We had to even go so far as to start buying Starbucks at Sam’s Club. Much more costly, and honestly, I don’t like their coffee as much. I think the beans themselves smell bitter and too strong and I was not fond of the final product either (although Tim liked it). We were both so tickled to go into our Sam’s this past weekend, and find that they were once again carrying the Marques brand of bean. They had a breakfast blend, a medium blend, a French Roast blend, and Tim’s favorite – the dark roast. I tried to talk him into trying a different one, but he was happy to go back to his old standard. We “only” bought two bags. I’m hoping we didn’t make a mistake and they stop carrying them again, or they run out. We were both so happy to find them again – we’ve both mentioned it several times to each other since shopping there that “oh, I’m so glad to have our coffee back”. 😀 Yes, we’re nerds on a much grander scale than you know!

So, how about you? Are you a coffee drinker? A tea drinker? Both? Neither? Vote in the poll and leave me a comment if you want. I’m sure none of you are as avid about your drinks as we are (don’t get me started on the obscene amount of Coke Zero we purchase, that’s a whole ‘nother post!!!) 😀

Cheers!

[poll id=”10″]

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Dec
27
Posted by Stace

After the Holiday

It’s always just the slightest bit of a letdown to me after Christmas is over. We had three nice celebrations this year, and a wonderful Christmas. We went to my in-laws, to my sister’s and were actually able to stay home on Christmas Eve this year, which is a rare treat. Normally we travel on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but we had a great day to ourselves on Christmas Eve. I made my traditional sticky buns for breakfast, then a ham and several side dishes for our big Christmas meal at home.

After it’s all over though, I always have mixed emotions. For one thing, the tree always looks so lonely and sad with no presents under it. I still love seeing the tree and all the decorations and lights, but some part of me always wants to go ahead and get things taken down and put up for the year. My mom always took down the tree before the New Year, so we never left ours up for Epiphany. I am that same way, so I’m trying to decide when to take it all down. I started this morning, picking up a few things, but I still have a ton left to do. Just taking apart and packing up my Snow Village is a job 🙂

So, how about you… did you have a wonderful Christmas at your house? When does your tree and decorations come down? Soon after Christmas, by New Years, by Epiphany, or sometime after that? Vote and let me know!

[poll id=”8″]

Oh, and by the way, I’m trying out a new winter look on the blog – what do you think? Let me know if you have problems viewing anything 🙂 It’s sort of odd for me to be putting up this new look, considering it’s 76 degrees here right now. We spent most of our Christmas in short sleeves, as it’s been really warm here lately. Doesn’t feel like winter at all!

Have a great day!

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Dec
17
Posted by Stace

Poll – Your Tree and Lights

I know everyone is busy, as are we. I thought a quick poll would be the best way to blog right about now! 🙂

Today’s Christmas-themed poll is always a favorite of mine. My tree and my Snow Village are some of my most favorite decorations, and I always love hearing about what other people have and how they decorate at their house. Everyone has their own traditions and reasons, and it’s always fun for me to read about them.

[poll id=”7″]

Feel free to leave a comment about what you have at your house, if it’s the same every year, different every year or this year for a certain reason, or whatever. Or just vote and go about your business of being a Happy Elf this joyous Christmas season! 😀

Merry Christmas!

Nov
27
Posted by Stace

Poll – Black Friday

Hope you’re all having a wonderful Thanksgiving! I’ve got one last poll for you:

[poll id=”6″]

As for me, I will more than likely stay as far away from a store on Friday as humanly possible!

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Happy Thanksgiving!!!

[poll id=”5″]

Nov
24
Posted by Stace

Poll – Thanksgiving Plans

I know there are probably too many choices to list, but here’s a few to pick from. Hopefully one of them comes close to fitting your plans for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. Gobble Gobble – Happy Thanksgiving!

[poll id=”4″]

Nov
12
Posted by Stace

QOTD – What wakes you up?

Clock

Today’s Question of the Day is in the form of a poll. I think a lot of bloggers simply like to vote and move on, but feel free to leave a comment if you’d like! Today’s poll/QOTD is about what wakes you up in the mornings. Choose one and vote, although I realize that most people might have more than one answer. I wake up naturally most days, because I don’t have to be anyplace at a specific time. But on days where I need to be somewhere early and on Sundays (because we go to an early church service), I have to set my alarm. And then, I am always aggravated that the alarm went off in my ear and woke me up! 🙂

[poll id=”3″]

Hope you have a wonderful day, thanks for playing along!

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I’m really enjoying the new features that I have with the upgraded blog software that Tim installed for me. One thing I downloaded to try was a polling system. Not new to most bloggers, but new to me in this format. I thought I’d try one out and see how it goes. Please play along and let me know if you have any trouble with it!

[poll id=”2″]

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